Surprise! You're 60.

You don't just wake up one day and think WOW! I'm 60.

NO - you have many years stacked up of sweat and hard work. Many many sleepless nights (sorry sleepless nights are kinda the thing of the moment around here)..and IF you're lucky ('cause that's all parenting is right? LUCK?) you have kids that love you and will throw you a SURPRISE birthday party.

I wish I could say that we were planning this for a long time - but that's not how we roll around here.

When I realized that my mom and dad were coming up to watch Indy's soccer game the day AFTER her 60th birthday (my goal is to use the numbers 60 as much as possible- I even have a picture with "60" in it:) I couldn't resist trying to grab as many siblings as possible and to form a plan with my dad (he's a really really really really good planner). So we grabbed some Brown Bag Burgers (the best on the face of the earth!) and surprised Gma Kathy. Of course it took awhile for the birthday girl to arrive and the kids were going crazy....so we colored pictures for Gma and practiced hiding and threw fat babies in the air.

(Remember the really really really good planner? He's planning for the day after Christmas here...)

Those are genuine smiles...it just doesn't get any better than that.

Happy 60th Birthday mom - we love you!

I Get Knocked Down...BUT I get up again

Aren't older brothers sooo cruel? They thought they were so funny when they found the afro.

I don't know where I'd be without Chumbawamba cheering me on...my only alternative yesterday was quoting William Ernest Henley "In the fell clutch of circumstance - I have not winced nor cried aloud" (only I DID cry...quite a few times) but today is a new day, and after hours of downloading (onto my husbands laptop :) he'll love it I'm sure - I can just hear him saying "Honey I'm so proud of you!") I'm connected with PS and my images once again :) (okay not ALL images...just the ones that were on my camera - waiting to be loved).

I'm finding "happy juice" this weekend in the form of my mother and sister and aunts and cousins...in the form of PF Chang's and Gammage Auditorium and Legally Blonde. I can't wait!

We interrupt this unusual bout of silence...

To report a complete system failure/meltdown of computer (and life - because aren't they connected??) I've been without a computer for almost a week and have been told it will be another 2 more weeks...I don't think I'll make it...I realize now how deep my computer addiction runs. Luckily my husband has graciously lent me his laptop (I'm waiting for him to start "renting" it to me).

On other random notes...I got to start my 3rd antibiotic in a month and now my day is filled with finding out all there is to know about hydrocele repair for McLaren (I'll leave everyone to their google search engines for that one ;).

The Holdsworths like to throw all the craziness into one big lump...thankfully the year is almost over, because there's not a whole lot of room left for anymore craziness!!

El' Gordita - 3 Months

Or just "El" for short. I feel guilty that I only get a few shots of this not-so-tiny girl every month. She changes daily and its hard to grab hold of these few, precious "happy" moments and hold on. I'm still sleep deprived, but I haven't given up on her yet - in fact she's taking what just might be her longest nap to date - going for 2 hours (okay she did wake up after 45 minutes, but a quick little binky helped her go back down). Still have hope every night, that it might be the night she goes for the gold. Here's to hope...in the meantime, here's what she's been up to..

*3 Month milestones:

-Smiles

-Talks, angelic-like...its like they come with these built-in self-preservation features like "I know I squirm and scratch in my crib all night long and make it impossible to get more than 4-5 hours of continuous sleep, so now I will make the MOST adorable angelic coos and sighs so that you will NOT throw me out the window." (not that I have ever thought that...okay maybe the other night around 4am...but only for a second)

-found her hands and holds them so sweetly and then tries to stuff both fists in her mouth and gnaw away on them noisely (as if she needs any more food?!)

-Hair control - a friend recommended some pommeade and water - works like a charm!

**Happy Birthday to my dear sweet mother...be happy that I'm too busy to track down pictures of you and post them everywhere!!

***If I ever get bored with photography, I think I'll head here...good inspiration (my favorite is the gold C3PO on page 4 - ignore the crude bumper sticker posts :)

UGH!!

The smell of fall is in the air - ugh!

The chill is starting to creep in at night and early morning - ugh!

Controlled burning makes it smell like people are already using their fireplaces - ugh!

I have to start finding shoes and socks and keeping them on my childrens feet - UGH UGH UGH!!

(On a side note - I grew up wearing sandals year round - birkenstocks to be exact...and no...I never wore them with socks.)

Ugh - I refuse to start burning my fall apple crisp candle for at least another week...

Broken Rib.

Okay...so its an "undiagnosed" broken rib, but I have the most excruciating pain when I cough or move - and since a friend informed me that you can't bruise fat - I'm going with the broken rib theory. After watching multiple re-runs of House with Matt, I feel that I am pretty familiar with the "ins & outs" of diagnostic medicine - and have let my mind wonder on the possibilities that a broken rib could lead to.

In addition to the possible broken rib, I have laryngitis, a sinus infection, a coughing 2 month old and a coughing 6 year old - who missed 2 days of school this week. But enough "woe is me"...lets get caught up on some family images. These were taken about 2months ago (Ella was a whopping 10 days old), but my family was all together and somewhat willing...and hey - I only had to Photoshop 8 heads...David and Jace were the winners of being perfect.

My favorites are always CHAOS.


Who is the biggest poser?? :)

Sorry Court - there was no head for you to change!

Mac 'n School

Is there ANYTHING cuter than a 3year old little boy?? YES. A 3 year old little boy WITH a speech impediment! (Grandma Kathy won't let him go too much longer, so I'm soaking it up and laughing all day long as he tries to talk to me seriously with a lisp and an innability to make a "k" sound)

McLaren is my first child to go to preschool. He's also my first child to ever pick up a pencil or crayon BEFORE entering kindergarten. Call it a 3rd child thing...who knows...but he loves it! I'm not complaining either...although I've yet to actually snag a nap before he gets home :) He insisted on wearing a dirty OLD B-dacks (speech imp. again) shirt his first day of school. He wouldn't let me talk him out of it. Oh well.