We welcome in a new year!

So, we've finally made it to the last 12 hours of the year 2006. Is anyone else reeling at this point and asking themselves where the hell this year went?!?!?! SO much has changed for us this year. Ryann is now almost 4 1/2 years old and is attending school. Kamri just turned 3 in October. Both girls are now taking tumbling every week. And, of course, a big one ~ we are now living in our very own home! And we had a new addition to our family this year ~ Charli the Lhasa Apso puppy.

If you haven't already, it's time to start making those new year's resolutions.....and make 'em good!!! Just for the hell of it, here are a couple of mine: 1) Drop those remaining 15 pounds that I've been working on! 2) Continue letting my hair grow out. 3) FINALLY start back to school so that I can eventually finish!! and (my favorite) 4) spend more time with my friends and family. Good luck to me and good luck to all of you!!!!

So, whatever your plans may be for tonight, PLEASE be careful and have LOTS of fun!!! We love you all and can't wait to ring in this new year!!!!! It's time for something new! Let's make this a good one!!!

Melony, Ryann, & Kamri : )

Merry Christmas!!!

This year, with the girls gone for Christmas, we didn't get to celebrate together until this morning. But, Santa made a special trip to our house last night. When the girls woke up this morning, they found that Santa had left a very special surprise for them. Both girls got a bike from Santa. After opening presents at home, we went to my parent's house to have Christmas with the rest of the family. And we're taking home a car FULL of stuff!! My family is VERY giving!! At this point, the girls and I are all exhausted and very much in need of some relaxation! So, we're going to go home and enjoy the rest of this week together. I'm going to post some pics from Christmas on flickr.

Hope everyone had a WONDERFUL Christmas and has a very fun New Years!!

Love to all!!

Melony, Ryann, & Kamri

They're gone.....

As of last night, both girls are gone for the holidays. They'll both come home on December 26th. So, of course, I'm a little sad. But I'm also glad that they'll be able to spend this Christmas with their dads and other family members. This will also give me a chance to get some things done around the house!! And, as tight as money has been lately, I haven't had a chance to do ANY Christmas shopping ~ so maybe I'll be able to do that this weekend. There's really not much that the girls need. So, it'll be interesting to see what Santa comes up with for them this year.

Kamri went to the dentist today in Houston. She had another tooth pulled. I had a really hard time with that knowing that I couldn't be there. But, Jason told me that she did wonderfully and that she's fine now. Still miss her and wish that I could give her a great big hug!!!

Anyhow, hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. Lots of lights and festive decorations. So pretty. If I don't have a chance to post anything before the big day, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and, of course, a happy and safe New Year!!

Love to all,
Melony : )

Oscar for Best Supporting Extra in a TV Drama

There are two TV shows that I watch pretty religiously. Grey's Anatomy (which I think everyone knows)....and Fox's Prison Break. Well, early last week one of my co-workers informed me that Prison Break would be filming here in the big thriving city of Greenville, Texas!! So, as a sort of joke, I submitted an application to be considered for a position as an extra. Apparently I wasn't the only one with this thought. There were 300 applications submitted to the casting agents. And only 30 people selected. SO, on Friday of last week and today (Monday) I was on the set of Prison Break!!! Friday was SUCH a long day......Casting call was at 6:30 AM....and we didn't break until 7:00 PM!! I was exhausted. But it was SO worth it!!! Granted, there was a lot of standing around and a lot of the time we felt like it was a game of "Hurry up and wait". But, I had a blast! That might have something to do with the fact that I appeared in several scenes with the four main stars, Wentworth Miller (Michael Scofield), Dominic Purcell (Lincoln Burrows), Paul Adelstein (Paul Kellerman), and Sarah Wayne Callies (Dr. Sara Tancredi)!!!!! For anyone who's never seen the show.....here is the link to the homepage. http://www.fox.com/prisonbreak/ Check it out!!!! The show that I'll be "starring" in (heeheehee) will air on the first Monday night in February. And of course, I'll be sending out a reminder email to everyone!! Here are some pics of the cast members I got a chance to work with....

Okay, other than that our life has been pretty mundane. We're trying to get ready for the Christmas Holidays. Both girls will be visiting their dads this year.....so, our Christmas will have to wait until after the 25th. They're actually coming home on the 26th. So, more information to come later. I'm really tired because I played make-believe all day!! So, I'm outta here.

Talk soon!!

Melony
aka "Best Supporting Extra"

2006 Holiday Ball

My company had it's annual Christmas party this past Saturday at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine. It was SO awesome!!! That was seriously the biggest hotel I've ever been in!! We had wonderful entertainment, dinner, dancing, drinks, and a fun time was had by all!! I've posted a few more pictures on flickr.

Kamri is finally back home. She was only gone for 4 days but it seemed like a lot longer. I'm not used to her being away from me!! Ryann, on the other hand, has been with her dad for over 3 weeks now ~ and I can't WAIT for Sunday when I get to go pick her up! We've all missed her SO MUCH!!!! I'm ready for my family to be at home again!

As we all know, this is the season of peace, joy, love.......and stress!!! So, everyone please be careful when you're out shopping or traveling to visit family!! And enjoy the time that you have to spend with your friends and family.

Love to all!

Melony

Me with the losers!!! ; )

Okay ~ all I'm going to say is THAT WAS AN AWESOME DAY!!! Gig Em Aggies!!!

Thanksgiving 2006

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! We celebrated ours a little early this year since other family planning created conflicts. But, regardless, we had a great time!! I've posted a couple pics on flickr.com. Check it out!!!

Seriously!!

Ryann is definitely MY daughter. About ten minutes ago, my mom and I were sitting in the kitchen talking about the fact that I missed my favorite show on Thursday night this week. I asked her if she recorded it and she said "yes". I said, "Okay, I'm going to go watch Grey's"......and then, without missing a beat, Ryann chimes in "Grey's Anatomy?" Seriously. My child is SO smart!!!! Okay ~ now I'm going to go watch Grey's. Seriously!! : )

Golfing

The girls and I went to play golf with my dad a couple of weekends ago and I finally got some pics. I've actually decided that Ryann is going to be a runner.....her idea of fun is to run in front of the golf cart while we drive. She'd rather run than ride.....she loves it!! Anyway here are a couple of pics ~ maybe we'll look back when they've gone pro and see where they started.

I know that I've been promising new pics for a while....I've finally got them uploaded. So check it out!! The Halloween pictures that I've been promising are up!!

Mel : )

It pays to exercise....

For any of you who don't already know, I've recently started a work-out regime......cause I want to lose weight. And thusfar, I've lost about 20 pounds! Yay me!

So, yesterday after work I went to the gym and was looking through my gym bag trying to find a new battery for my MP3. Finally I look in the last pocket available for inspection and what do I find??? My chapstick that I "lost" a couple of weeks ago......and what appears to be money. So, I pulled it out and was like cool ~ a $20!! Then upon further inspection I realized that there were two bills there. Two twenty dollar bills! I'm rich!!!

See, working out does pay!! ; )

A whole lot of nothing........

There's really not much to report right now ~ I just figured it had been a while since I'd posted anything new.

Ryann and Kamri are both doing wonderfully....growing and learning each and every day. There are days that I am just blown away by how incredibly smart they both are. Kamri has FINALLY mastered all of her colors....and can pronounce words that start with the letter "f". Until recently that was a struggle for her. For the longest time feet = peet, phone = pone, and five = pive. But now she's finally got it down! And what does my dad have to say about this?? "Hey, Kamri's saying f-words now"!!!!! Thanks for that, dad!

At this point, we're getting ready for the holiday season ~ trying to make plans with all of the families and for all of the parties! My company Christmas party is on December 2nd....and I'm way excited!! We get to go to the Gaylord Texan again ~ it's so beautiful!

That's about it for now......see, I told you ~ not a lot to report. And now, I'm tired and I want to go home!

Later,
Mel : )

Happy Birthday Kamri!!!!

Okay, I know that it's late ~ but we've been really busy lately!

Kamri turned three on October 16th!! We had her party on the 15th at our house.....and she had so much fun!!! There were so many people there!!! I'll post some pics from the party on Flickr.com. Thanks to everyone who was able to make it ~ we love you guys!!!!

The four-letter word.....almost!

Last night while the girls were playing together I heard what was the beginning of a skirmish between them. It didn't sound like anything major so I opted to let them "work it out". Then, to my absolute horror, I heard Ryann ~ my four year old angel of a daughter ~ belt out "Dammit"!!! I, of course, called her into the next room where I was sitting and asked her to explain what had just happened. It seems that Kamri had taken Ryann's purse and was looking through her wallet and "wouldn't give it back". So, in a moment of pure frustration, Ryann said "dammit". She knew that what she had done was wrong because before she relayed this story to me she stared at the floor and told me that she didn't want to be in trouble. And I know that this probably makes me a horrible parent - but for the life of me I couldn't help but laugh inwardly when she repeated the "bad word". It seems so odd to see your innocent little girly-girl use such a word! So, we called her Daddy and she had to tell him the story - and that was her punishment.....cause she did NOT want to tell her Daddy what she had said! Now, I think it's important that I also point out that this is not the first time that such foul language has escaped the mouth of my daughter......at one point several months ago she was heard using the "f-word"....glad I didn't hear that one!

After that, the rest of the evening seemed boring.

Kamri is very excited about her upcoming birthday. In fact, she's been talking about it since July!! I still haven't decided what to get for her......because I swear there's NOTHING this child needs except maybe clothes. But come on, that's just not fun when you're three!!! So, I'm taking her to get "big girl ears just like Ryann's" for her birthday and we'll see what else I can come up with!

Other than that, not a whole lot going on with us these days. Ryann started in an after-school program yesterday and will begin tumbling next Monday. She's really excited about that! And of course, she's still doing wonderfully in school.

I'm going to post several new pics of the girls on Flickr.com so check it out!! I'll include some of Kamri's birthday pics!

Love to all!!!!

Wonderful little terrors....

Okay - they did it to me again!! I'm literally at the end of my rope! Here's the story!

Yesterday morning, both girls woke up unusually early and decided that rather than wake up Mommy, they would make breakfast....for their babies.....in Kamri's room. So, I woke up and found both of them SURROUNDED by cereal on Kamri's floor! THREE BOXES OF IT!!! It was not fun to clean up....and it took quite a while to make sure that we got all of it. Especially with Charlie trying to help us!!! But, apple jacks and Charlie's tummy don't go well together!!

I don't have the pictures that I took here with me right now so I'll edit this post later and add them!

Other than that, our weekend was relatively uneventful...spent some time with Gamaw and Bapa......he took both of the girls to play golf while Mommy came to work yesterday...the girls had SO much fun! I wish that I could share pictures of THAT! But, my dad isn't the best at remembering stuff like that! I'll get some next time though. Other than that we just enjoyed the weather....we spent literally all afternoon outside yesterday....it was so wonderful!!!

Hope everyone's weekend was as sunny and cool as ours!

Texas A&M 45, Louisiana Tech 14

Again - I know it's still early in the season - - but I'm so thrilled with how it's going so far!!!

Gig 'em!!


Don't miss Saturday's upcoming game!!!!!

Actually......

There are times as a parent when your child says something that just absolutely blows you away! ONE of those times for me was last night.

Ryann and I were sitting on the couch talking about her day and what she had done while at school. And we were talking about something that her teacher had said to her....at that point she turned to me and said, "Actually, Ms. Bell didn't say that - she said.......". Sorry, I can't tell you what came out of her mouth after that because I got hung up on the "actually".......my child is 4 years old and she's already using the word "actually"!!!! I'm sure that this isn't the first time that she has used this word (and in the correct context at that!!!) - but it was the first time I have heard her! And, since then, she's said it several more times.

Lesson learned??? Ryann listens - - - and understands a lot of what is said to/around her!!!

We're really looking forward to this weekend. Not that we have much going on - but we tend to really cherish the weekends when the three of us get to spend time together!! Hope everyone enjoys theirs!!

Thought that it might be time for an update. Ryann is still doing wonderfully in school!! Her teachers are always telling me how incredibly smart she is.....see I told you that would happen! Kamri is still staying with Katrina (private sitter) and she really enjoys going. Now that school has started up again, she's the "big girl" there during the day. She often gets to play the part of helper since all of the other children there are younger than her. And Kamri definitely likes to help out!!! Katrina says that she's doing very very well and is just as smart as can be! She'll do great at school. Although, I'm not sure that she's going to be able to wait for her time to come.....everyday she wants me to take her to her sister's school. She'll be turning 3 on October 16th....I'll be sending out invitations soon!!

We are finally enjoying some cooler weather and we LOVE IT!!!!! The girls have been able to play outside, which is one of their favorite things to do. After months of scorching 100+ degree weather, we'll take temps in the 80s anytime!!!!

That's about it for us. We're all looking forward to the upcoming holidays. In October we have Kamri's birthday and Halloween!!! Then comes Thanksgiving and before we know it - Christmas will be here! I can't wait!

I'll post new pics of the girls soon!!!! Happy Weekend to everyone!!!!

Texas A&M 28, Army 24

I know that it's only the third game of the season, but so far, our guys have managed to maintain the undefeated status!!!!! And I'm totally excited about that!!!!
http://www.aggieathletics.com/

Gig 'Em Aggies!!!!!

Finally!

I seriously thought this weekend was NEVER going to get here! I'm so ready for a break....

On Tuesday night, Ryann and Kamri came running into my room at about 11:00 PM telling me that "Kamri broke something"....okay, several thoughts went through my head.
1) Is it already 6:00AM?
2) Was I dreaming when I checked to see if the girls were asleep at 9:00?
3) Has Kamri learned to fly??
4) What's broken and who's bleeding??

See, Kamri has a babygate at the entrance to her bedroom door because she has a tendency to get up in the middle of the night and wander aimlessly about the house. But, when Ryann was asked how Kamri was able to overcome this obstacle it became much more evident that this was a joint effort. The answer I got - - "I got a stool for her to stand on". So, the answer to #3 is, no, Kamri hasn't learned to fly - - she's figured out how to get over the babygate with the help of before mentioned big sister....Kamri's such a conniving little thing.

So, I'm stumbling zombie-like through the house, following the girls to the "broken flower thing". We arrive at the bathroom and suddenly I'm VERY AWAKE. That tends to happen when you step into cold water. The girls had been playing in the bathroom and had flooded the floor with soapy water - water which also contained shampoo, and lotion. There was water on the floor, the counter, in the tub, the trashcan, and on every other surface in sight. Needless to say, I was pretty lit.

So, after cleaning up this mess and sternly getting on to the girls, I'm trying to get them into clean/dry pj's, and I go into Ryann's room only to find.....you guessed it - more water!!!!!! ON THE CARPET, ON THE BED, ON THE NIGHTSTAND, IN THE DRAWERS!!! Oh, sorry....am I screaming?!?!?!

Long story semi-short is this: We cleaned up the mess, we got to bed late, we overslept, missed the bus and were all grumpy the next day, and we've hopefully learned our lessons.

Advice to all: MAKE SURE THE KIDS ARE ASLEEP!!!!!!!!

The End.

PS: The "broken flower thing" was a soap-dish that Ryann got for her birthday.....bet you thought I'd forget to explain that one! : )

Hitting Home

My mom called me last night to let me know that Jeff, a guy a couple of years younger than me that I grew up with and went to church with was killed yesterday by a bomb while serving time in Iraq. I have to tell you - until that moment, it hadn't really occured to me that this country is at war. But, suddenly it was all very real. A good guy, a guy that I used to hang out with, was the victim of that war. He leaves behind a 2 year old daughter who will never get to know her Daddy. It's incredibly sad. So, if you know anyone who is overseas, please remember them in your prayers daily. Because you never know - and if you're anything like me - you never think you'll see the name of someone that you know listed as a casualty of war.

http://www.legacy.com/WacoTrib/Obituaries.asp?Page=Notice&PersonID=19219812