8 Things

So I my good friend Jonni has tagged me so I'll be tagging some of you other bloggers on this as well...

Here's how to do this 8 THINGS thing:

- Mention the person that tagged you.
- Complete the lists of 8's.
- Tag 8 of your wonderful bloggy friends. In this case, I really only have 3 cause a lot of my friends don't blog.
- Go tell them you tagged them!

8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO:
My husband finding a job or maybe I should say the job finding him. He has been working his tail off trying to find one.
My 12 year anniversary this weekend.
Bunco once a month
Checking Facebook
Taking a bath every night.
My birthday
Mothers Day
Organizing this summer!

8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY
Set up for Splash Day/Field Day at my daughters school
Watched my girls play tug of war at school for field day and watched them argue about who won.
Wii Yoga
Soccer Practice for my kiddos
Ate Chalupas for dinner
Watched The Office
Talked to my mother on the phone as I do every day almost
Received an amazing gift from one of my good friends...so amazing..it made me cry.


8 THINGS I WISH I COULD DO
Go shopping.
Get a massage.
Say NO when someone asks me to volunteer-Ditto Jonni!
Design my own stationery.
Take a Photoshop, In Design, Illustrator class.
Get our roof fixed without having to mess with all the insurance stuff.
Help others as much as they've helped my family lately. This is a big one for me!

Find some motivation to straighten up some messes around here

8 SHOWS I WATCH
Hannity on Fox
American Idol
The Office
The Fox Report..The Fox News Channel
John and Kate Plus 8
Dancing With The Stars
Local News
Celebrity Apprentice

3 BLOGGERS TAGGED
YOU.


1.In His Time,Hohler!
2.The Georges
3.The Miller Family

Pretty Toes Required!

Spring is here......that time of year again
Alright ladies, it's that time of year once again!!! I think we need to be reminded of a few things. So my sisters, PLEASE, raise your big toes and repeat after me below...

The Open Toed Shoe Pledge
As a member of the Cute Girl Sisterhood, I pledge to follow the Rules when wearing sandals and other open-toe shoes:

I promise to always wear sandals that fit. My toes will not hang over and touch the ground, nor will my heels spill over the backs. And the sides and tops of my feet will not pudge out between the straps.

I will go polish-free or vow to keep the polish fresh, intact and chip-free.
I will not cheat and just touch up my big toe.

I will sand down any mounds of skin before they turn hard and yellow...

I will shave the hairs off my big toe.

I won't wear pantyhose even if my misinformed girlfriend, coworker, mother, sister tells me the toe seam really will stay under my toes if I tuck it there.

If a strap breaks, I won't duct-tape, pin, glue or tuck it back! into place hoping it will stay put. I will get my shoe fixed or toss it.

I will not live in corn denial; rather I will lean on my good friend Dr. Scholl's if my feet need him.

I will resist the urge to buy jelly shoes at Payless for the low, low price of $4.99 even if my feet are small enough to fit into the kids' sizes. This is out of concern for my safety, and the safety of others. No one can walk properly when standing in a pool of sweat and I would hate to take someone down with me as I fall and break my ankle.

I will take my toe ring off toward the end of the day if my toes swell and begin to look like Vienna sausages.

I will be brutally honest with my girlfriend/sister/coworker when she asks me if her feet are too ugly to wear sandals. Someone has to tell her that her toes are as long as my fingers and no sandal makes creepy feet look good.

I will promise if I wear flip flops that I will ensure that they actually flip and flop, making the correct noise while walking and I will swear NOT to slide or drag my feet while wearing them.
I will promise to go to my local nail salon at least once per season and have a real pedicure (they are about $20 or $25 and worth EVERY penny).

I will promise to throw away any white/off-white sandals that show signs of wear... nothing is tackier than dirty white sandals.

Don't ! keep this to yourself - pass it on to other sisters.

Going to a TEA Party!

We had a great day today attending a taxpayer tea party in Southlake. A#1 got to spend most of the time with us cause her sister was with Gee, her grandmother, shopping for a toy for her birthday and having lunch. I think A#1 thought it was great to have mom and dad all to herself even though the tea party part wasn't her favorite.
Here is A#1 and Flat Baloney among the crowd. We thought we'd take Flat Baloney with us because it was a big event and we could show her off. There were 1,000 people there including the locally famous Mark Davis from WBAP and Kelly Shackleford from the Free Market Foundation. She is against all these bailouts too. Just look at her below. This was her favorite sign...
We'll be taking Flat Baloney on many adventures so stay tuned for more photos.

It's Been A Hard Enough Life Lately

Hello everyone. Yes, I know I haven't written in a while, but it's been the worst month ever. Well..ok..not the worst month, but pretty bad. Actually, it's been bad for a few months.
It started with my grandfather being sick and in and of the hospital and assisted living facility. He got moved around so much, he didn't know where he was when he woke up everyday. Although after he had been awake for a little bit, he would realize it and his mind was all there. I felt so sorry for him, but I tried to keep his spirits up by visiting him once a week wherever he was located at the time to try and cheer him up. I would try to take the girls with me cause I knew that really made him happy. He passed away at the beginning of March. He seemed to be doing better....and then he just like that....he was gone. He had had congestive heart failure for a while and I guess it took his life. He was the most patient most mellow man I'd ever met. I don't think I ever heard him raise his voice. This is one of my favorite pics above with his new hat on from Christmas. When I was little, I remember him taking me to the store and he told me to pick out a toy. When we returned from our shopping trip, I had a G.I. Joe figure in my hand. I'm not sure why I picked that out cause I was far from being a tomboy.
I know it's never a good time for anyone to die and I know some day I will face the same fate, but I also know my grandfather is up in heaven maybe actually getting to play golf again like he used to or smoking his pipe. I loved him so much!


Then right before my grandfather passed away, Steven lost his job of 12 years at Microsoft. Yes...I said 12 years. With the economy being the way it is they are making cutbacks like everyone else. I was shocked, Steven was shocked. No warning, nothing. No severance and health benefits were cut off the day he was let go. And let me tell you...they covered EVERYTHING...I mean everything. I did not pay a cent to see a doctor or meds. They covered my physical therapy and I did more than 5 months worth.

This brings a new set of worries of course. I know this is in God's plan. He has a better one. I just keep asking Him to help me with patience and I keep hearing..... it's going to be ok. There are times when I panic, but I know He will see us through all of this. God is bigger than this.

Sooo this his how it's been in the Tipton household and some of you reading this have helped us out so much especially our church, school and friends. I am so humbled when I think about how giving and generous people have been. So to all of you who are praying for us, loving on us and supporting us! Thanks you!

Dia De Esteban

Today was Steven's 37th birthday and yes I am older than him as most of you know, but only by 9 months. When we woke up on Friday he said it's "Dia De Esteban" so I thought that might be a good title for my blog.
So we went to Texas De Brazil for dinner ( I call it the house of meat cause they continue to bring you different cuts of meat until you turn your little tag over that says stop). This is probably every man's favorite place to eat in Fort Worth. I like it because of the good bread and the huge salad bar. Good news is my kids ate for free and Steven had a coupon. He got a free meal for his birthday so it was well worth it and we still had room for Coca-Cola cake of course....Yum!
Steven and A#1 at the restaurant. Now this may seem a bit strange to you, but Texas De Brazil is also A#1's favorite restaurant. She ate a ton of meat Friday night. I'm not sure where she found room to put it all. Every time the waiters came over with the different kinds of meat she wanted to try every single one. She is definitely her father's daughter. Ha!
So this was from lunch above that day. I figured since we were celebrating the Day of Steven all day...that while he worked at home...we would go to Kincaids (my all time favorite) and have cheeseburgers. Really it was my mom's idea, but I happily agreed to go there. Here is A#1 above with the world's longest french fry...yes...I said french fry.
And to start out celebrating Dia De Esteban, we attended the play called "Miss Nelson Is Missing" at Casa Manana. My kids and I loved it! Here are A#1 and A#2 waiting in line for the show!
Well, that's it for now. Hope you enjoyed the photos and we sure did enjoy our day celebrating! I love you Steven and happy birthday!

More Amore!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

That's Amore!

Ahhhh....Isn't it gorgeous. I was just telling Steven how much I missed Italy. Thought I would finally go ahead and update my blog since I've almost been home a month now! I have soooo many pictures of Italy that I may have to just do a million posts to show them all. The picture above was taken in Sorrento overlooking the Almalfi Coast. We took this pic standing on our balcony. Beautiful!
Here is Steven and I at a local restaurant in Florence. The owner let us try a wine that he hadn't even put on his menu yet. It was from his family's vineyard.
This is a typical street in Italy. You would think no room for a car right? Wrong. Cars would come down these narrow streets and when they did you better get out of the way. There were no SUV's that I saw. Wouldn't be able to fit down the street.
This above picture and the one below was taken in Tuscany. What a sight!
So there are some of the pictures. Stay tuned for more! Ciao!