Little Yellow Bird

Sheeple vs. Being Different

2011-09-02T10:55:00.002-05:00

I get so frustrated with Sheeple. You know who those people are.

They are the ones who buy outfits directly from the storefront window, exactly as they see them, because they don't have the creativity or guts to put together an original outfit.

They are the ones, who put their children in activities or sports at the age of three, just because so-and-so is doing it, without really considering the needs of their child.

They are the ones who end up being just like every other person, because it's easy, accessible, and requires no thinking on their part.

They are the ones who think, if it's good enough for my friend, it's good enough for me.

They are the ones who are content with the status quo, because to change something or to be different "just isn't done".

I don't want to offend, but I get so tired of these kinds of people. And yes, you may be one of them.

You may say, "but I like the comfort of my life, the predictability and ease in which I live". Good for you; to each their own. This post is to encourage those who are not content with just "being", not to belittle those who are.

I greatly admire those who aren't afraid to be themselves. I am lucky enough to know a couple of people who have the courage and fortitude to say, "I like myself just how I am, and poo on you if you don't feel the same way".

Brava, Angela Smith. A great mother, wife, sister, daughter, cousin. She is not afraid to be herself, even though she is "different" by society's standards. She is definitely NOT sheeple, and the world is better for it.

Bravo Ryan Redcorn. Most of you don't know him, and I myself have never had the opportunity to meet him yet, but he is a brilliant mind who believes in the Native American cause, even though it is not the most popular viewpoint in the country. He doesn't care about his popularity, but desperately seeks to change the minds of the uneducated and misinformed, to tell the world about his people and the suffering they have endured, which is covered up in a sugar coated, government issued education.

Bravo Mike Henson. I may be biased, but this man to me is the most special of them all. He struggles to bridge the gap between his Native Cherokees and the white worlds he was raised in. He is torn up inside on a daily basis with the knowledge that his children will never hear the language spoken fluently as he did, growing up around a full blood, traditional family. His heart aches because he is only able to teach his children what little he knows, which to me is quite a bit, but to him is barely scraping the edges. But does he give up? Does he say there is nothing I can do, it is the way it must be? Absolutely not. He practices his alphabet, written by Sequoyah himself. He learns hymns sung in the Cherokee language, then teaches them to our children. He attends storytellings, and singings that are conducted completely in Cherokee, and soaks up every second so that he can learn enough to bring home and keep the Cherokee ways alive, for our family but also for the sustainability of the Nation itself. I am proud of you.

Each person, each tribe, each nationality, each family, each individual has the responsibility to step up and make a difference whether it be small or large. I am proud to know a few people (and even more than I've listed) that do this on a daily basis in MANY different areas, and I just wanted to let them know how important they are.

If you know someone who isn't afraid, encourage them. Let them know how important their fortitude is for our collective future.

Be who you are, don't be afraid to stand out. You may be someone's inspiration; don't let them down.

Love, T.

New spot

2010-02-10T10:36:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that I've changed my blog location to here. I also have a new micro blogging site, that I will post small things on in between my larger posts; you can find that here.

I hope you come visit me at my new homes!

Love, T.

Long time, no see.

2009-07-06T13:31:00.003-05:00

Yep, it's been awhile. It seems I am only good at keeping up with one social networking site at a time, and because I've been spending more time on Facebook, I haven't had the time to blog. Not that I haven't been busy lately; with two vacations, a bi-state move, and a death in the family, I haven't even gotten around to hanging all my wall photos yet.

I am now living in Leesville, Louisiana. It's the town where Ft. Polk is located, but other than the base and a Walmart, we are isolated. No museums, zoo, really ANYTHING to do around here, I am sane only because our neighborhood just opened an awesome new pool just steps from our front door. It's perfect for Roman because it has this shallow platform area in the water for him to play in without having to wear floaties. He has NO fear of the water, so I've been trying to give him a small dose of what the water can do by letting him go under. The first couple of times, he was surprised, but after a few days, he loves going underwater! I was the same way, always loved the water. My grandma put me in swimming lessons at our local Red Cross when I was little; at the same neighborhood pool where she and the Baxters still live. :) Mrs. Stanley was my teacher, all Liberty kids and parents know that huge family...in fact, a couple of her kids were in my same swim class.

Anyway, this post was totally random, but I'll get back into the swing of things soon! I have a lot of random thoughts to share, and Roman's birthday party is this weekend, so I'll be posting about that also! Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!

Love, T.

Blogging on my Mom's Day Out!

2009-01-29T11:28:00.003-06:00

Hello, my wonderful readers! I would like to tell both of you Happy Thursday!

It's fairly obvious that I'm a Democrat; in fact, I'm pretty sure I've pretty much told anyone who's ever asked. But there's a Republican woman at whom I would LOVE to throw staplers, or anything else made of metal; Ann Coulter. This woman is the most inflammatory, offensive person I think I have ever seen...and I've been to OU/Texas! I obviously disagree with her on a policy level, but oh man, if she is supposed to be the spokesperson for the Christian right? That is TERRIFYING. Many videos of her exist online, but this is the most recent that I've seen, mostly because I avoid Fox News. She goes on The View to promote her latest liberal hate crime, and the best part is at the end when Whoopi gets her!

Okay, on to things that hopefully won't offend... My husband and I are looking for a new bed. I have major back problems (three surgeries in three years), and my bed just isn't working for me anymore. We've gone to the Sleep Number Bed store and tried it, and I think it will work, but $2500 for a bed is so expensive! Does anyone know of a bed you've tried that you think would work for someone with back issues? I like a semi-firm mattress, but it has to be soft at the same time, to keep the pressure points at a minimum.

So, we are getting down to the wire with Mike's job, which is scheduled to be completed on Febuary 21st. We still have NO idea where we will be going next; we've heard Georgia, South Carolina, and possibly Florida. But the one that scares us the most is Louisiana! We both have NO interest in living there, but unfortunately, we may not have a choice. We tried to find a job here in Little Rock, so we could stay, but so far, no luck. It's getting scarier by the day, but we are trusting in God to put us in the place He wants us.

That's it for now...I have to go work on Roman's Valentines for his class party, and get ready to pick him up from school at 2. Hope everyone is having a great day! It's almost the weekend!

Love, T.

Things I like and don't like today.

2009-01-21T13:57:00.005-06:00

Today I found this letter, and started bawling my eyes out. It reminds me of what a wonderful father my husband is, but also makes me so grateful that I had such a great relationship with my father growing up. I was always a daddy's girl, and that will never change!

I love the Margaret and Helen blog; they are hilarious Democrat bloggers, but this entry just moved me!

Anyone else watching the Bachelor this season? I'm usually not a fan of The Bachelor, just the Bachelorette, but since Jason is a leftover from the previous Bachelorette, I'm all in! :-) My favorites actually so far have meshed with J's; I really like Jillian, Molly, and Naomi, but can't STAND Shannon. That chick is soooo crazy...major stalker material!

On to the scrapbooking...So, here are some of the Christmas layouts I've been working on. By far, these are some of my favorite layouts I've ever done. Love the paper, love the embellishments, love what I've been able to do since I got my Cricut machine.

This one is for Roman's book. It's about his favorite Christmas gifts.

This page is about how we made our Christmas ornaments because we couldn't make it to our storage unit in Oklahoma to get our stash. The second picture shows one of the picture frames that we made. We hung individual pictures of all our family and our best friends. This was probably Roman's favorite part of the Christmas tree...he loved pointing at a frame and making us say the person's name! I also made snowflakes, stars, and trees on my Cricut, punched holes in them and hung them as ornaments.

Here is the general Christmas layout with a overview of photos from all our family visits. This one is Mike's favorite.

If anyone wants to know what paper, accents, etc that I used, just ask! Thanks for reading my rambling post!

Love, T.

Presidential Inauguration, The Obamas, and other randomness

2009-01-21T11:53:00.006-06:00

I know it's been awhile since I've blogged, but things have been busy around here. Roman came down with a virus that gave him a 104 degree fever, then once he was better, I came down with the same thing. I've also been trying to scrap all our Christmas photos, so I can start on Roman's Valentines. I'll post pictures of those later.

Like a lot of people, I've been watching all the Inaugural activities; the speeches, the parade, the interviews. But by far, my favorite interview was the one Barbara Walters did about a month ago with President Obama and Michelle. Both of the Obamas were so laid back, joking around with Barbara, and teasing each other. But the best part for me, was where they talked about parenting their children. They will still expect their girls to make their beds, do their chores, scoop their dog's poop, etc, even after moving into the White House, where typically they are waited on hand and foot. I loved how they talked about how they don't buy their children Christmas gifts, because they are so spoiled by the rest of the family, that they concentrate more on the actual meaning of Christmas, not on the secular aspect of "getting stuff". They discussed the fact that many of Obama's new staff had small children, so they were committed to making the White House a more "kid-friendly" place to be. It is obviously a work place, but for the Obamas and those who work 20 hour days, it is also home, and it is wonderful to see someone trying to make the best situation possible for their employees and their families.

I love that there will be small children in the White House again. I have to admit, it was always a fantasy of mine to be one of those kids who grew up there, even for a few years. Even if I had to make my own bed. :-)

Love, T.

Blessings from above AND below!

2008-12-14T15:44:00.004-06:00

I feel so completely blessed right now, and I HAVE to share my story.

We have been attending our church, First Assembly since December of last year. It was the first church that we visited, and the last. We fell in love with the church; the music, the nursery, the people were all so wonderful that we instantly fell in love. We went to First Look, which is a 15 minute or so meet and greet with Pastor Rod and Cindy, and Pastor Steve and Natalie, the same Natalie that you see all over my blog. :) A couple of months after we had been going there, we were invited to have Sunday lunch with the above Pastors, plus a few more staff members, like Ms. Pam, who we also adore. :) During that lunch Mike and Steve hit it off and Mike told Steve that he would come over and help him finish a bathroom remodel at their house...and that was how our friendship with Steve and Nat began. In the last 5 or 6 months or so, First Assembly has really become our home, the place we miss even if we are just traveling home for the weekend.

After Mom died, our Thanksgiving plans changed, since we were supposed to have Thanksgiving dinner with them here in Arkansas. Mike and I decided to go ahead and stay here for Thanksgiving, and we were planning on just having the holiday week to ourselves, but we were invited to have a Thanksgiving meal at P-Rod and Cindy's house with Steve and Nat, and several other friends and staff members from church. We had such a great time, and really felt at home there with everyone, and had a blast playing Rock Band 2...even Roman played the drums! (I will upload pics later...too cute!)

Cut to this weekend. This Sunday was Family Christmas at First Assembly, this being our first time to attend. There are three services, and we typically go to third service, but Steve told us that we definitely should try to attend as many services as we could, but definitely second service. He said he couldn't tell us why, but that we really should try to be there if possible. Later on, one of the children's pastors, Gary, told me that Steve didn't know it, but the church was going to honor him and Natalie, so to be sure and be there. I brought my camera and everything to take pictures of Steve and Nat, because I wanted to be sure to document this day for them. Well, they read the Christmas Story, and the next thing I hear is P-Rod saying that they would like Mike and Tara Henson to come up to the stage! I have NO idea what is going on, but we go up there and sit down on some comfy chairs onstage(the stage was decorated like a living room with couches, chairs, coffee table, etc.). P-Rod starts telling the story of Mom, how she thought she had laryngitis for a couple of weeks. She refused to go to the doctor, because they didn't have health insurance, but finally she was feeling so poorly that she went to the urgent care, where they diagnosed her with pneumonia. They gave her a steroid shot and some medication and sent her home, and she died in her sleep that night.

Then P-Rod started talking about how I was her only adult child, and how my only brother was autistic, and couldn't help with the funeral costs, so it fell to Mike and I. He also told how we had pulled Roman out of Mother's Day Out at church, because we were going to send that money to the funeral home; they were letting us make payments, or there would have been no way that we would have been able to even afford the funeral!

Then they proceeded to tell us that the church was donating a whole YEAR of free childcare for Roman, for both Tuesday AND Thursday (the only days they are open). He was only going one day a week because that was all we could really afford anyway. We were floored! What amazing generosity. Then, on top of that, they pull out this wicked cool 4Wheeler for Roman!

He rode it all over the stage for a minute or two, but then wanted Uncle Steve to help him off. We hugged everybody, said thank you, then were walking off the stage when P-Rod said, Mike, we also need to know what funeral home to make a check out to, because we are going to pay $2,000.00 towards the funeral costs. I started bawling all over again.

Can you believe how good God is to us when we are faithful? It's been such a struggle to pay our tithes, because we have needed every cent that we had, especially around the holidays. But we paid them anyway, and God rewarded us by being faithful to us. Isn't he amazing? I love my God and I love my church!

Love, T.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

2008-12-01T13:53:00.002-06:00

Hey all, I know I haven't been blogging in awhile, but I honestly just haven't had the words. Most of you know my mom passed away almost three weeks ago. It was unexpected and the reason unknown, so it has been tough. I've almost been avoiding writing a blog, because I know most people expect some profound thoughts and feelings to pour forth onto the page, but my mind is still frozen, I think. I will continue to blog, but it may take a while for me to be able to blog about everything that has happened. I do just want to sincerely thank everyone who prayed for me, and came by to wish me the best during the last few weeks. It has honestly meant so much to me, and I love you all!

Love, T.

I voted, did you?

2008-11-04T11:02:00.003-06:00

Come on people, it's time to vote! Exercise that American right; no matter who you vote for, it is imperative that you vote. Remember, if you don't vote, you can't gripe!

Take back the White House, woo-hoo! :-)

Love, T.

Family Fun Night!!! (AKA Halloween)

2008-11-03T13:08:00.002-06:00

Well, here's our little monster, um vampire! We went to Family Fun Night at our church, First Assembly instead of celebrating Halloween. They had a carnival rides, games, a petting zoo, costume contests, and the older kids also got to do stuff like make their own music video in front of a green screen, and Nintendo Wii competitions. Of course, Roman wasn't old enough to do much of the "cool" stuff, but he had a great time doing his own thing. First, he and his Daddy slid down one of those huge blow up slides. He had a grin on his face the whole time!

Then we ran into Uncle Steve, who had to give Roman some attention, OF COURSE. :-)

Then to get some pictures of Roman in his outfit, we put him down and let him run all over. He loves walking outside, anywhere actually; we call him Roamin' Roman. Isn't he a scary yet adorable vampire?!

Roman was scared at first of the animals; in fact, they had ponies hooked up where the kids could ride them, but he wanted no part of that! I took him to the petting zoo area, and he finally got comfortable petting the horses, and feeding them and the baby goats.

We also rode the mini train. He loved going over the speed bumps.

This was inside the M.A.C. Where you touched it, lightning showed up. He was excited that he was causing a reaction!

Kids were supposed to stand behind the line to throw the bean bags, but Roman wanted to dunk them in the pumpkin's mouth. I guess he's going to be a basketball player, not a football player!

He had his first piece of candy in the form of a strawberry sucker, which he picked out of a sucker tree. He enjoyed that sucker so much, that whenever we took it away from him so he could do an activity, he threw a hissy fit!

Here he had just had his first lick.

He tried sharing his sucker with his Aunt Natalie, but she wasn't in the mood to share. :-)

This is Ms. Jean, one of his favorite Sunday School teachers. She is so sweet!

Playing in the Preschool area.

Our family picture!

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Love, T.

If I'm gone, you'll know why...

2008-10-22T13:28:00.004-05:00

Okay, I may be putting all my "Tara Time" into an area other than blogging the next few weeks. Here is reason #1:

It came out yesterday, and I have been looking forward to it for about a year now, ever since I heard that it was coming out! It is a role-playing game, which is my favorite game genre. There aren't too many quality RPG's that are out there, but NEXT week, another awesome game is coming out!

I reserved my copy, and got this game case, which had a music cd and a poster inside! Not that I hang posters anymore, but it's still neat. The same game studio that created Oblivion (the whole reason I bought my 360), also did this game. The rumor is that Fallout 3 is Oblivion with guns and nuclear war, woo-hoo!!! Two endless RPG's in TWO weeks! Sigh. I am such a dork. :-) Thank you Mike for loving me anyway!

If anyone else has a xbox live, my gamertag is OblivionGirl. Hit me up, and we can play Fable II together!

Love, T.

Two wonderful years

2008-10-20T20:25:00.019-05:00

October 14th was my 2 year anniversary with my wonderful husband! Mike has already blogged about what we did on our special day here, so I thought I would just talk about our wedding day memories instead.

We had been dating for three years, when we decided to get married. It was a pretty low key decision, and because we wanted to get married in the fall, my favorite season, we only had a few weeks to plan! We had always been interested in a glass cathedral in Eureka Springs, so the same weekend we decided to get married, we took a little trip to visit the town and the cathedral to make sure that was what we wanted. Sure enough, we had a great time; Eureka is SOOO charming, and the church was absolutely gorgeous! We checked on availabilities, and it turned out that the only available date was just over six weeks away! That didn't leave us a lot of time, but it felt so right, that we didn't care. I booked the church, then Grandma and I went back to Eureka a few weekends later, to check out reception sites, photographers, florists, and a baker! Once those were taken care of, I found a dress, Mike found a tux, and I printed all our invitations on my home printer. I had to tie bows on every single one, so that took awhile, but believe it or not, we all pulled it off in time!

We picked out the rings (I actually didn't want a wedding band, just the one ring, but I didn't even get that until the night before the wedding, so I didn't wear it until I was married!), and my sister Lindsey and I headed off to Eureka two days before the wedding so we could be there in case something needed to be done.

Of course, everything went off without a hitch...well, except one. My sister, bless her heart, was supposed to have brought Mike's ring to the church, but she forgot it back at the honeymoon cottage! She didn't realize it until during the wedding, when she frantically tried to find a replacement ring for me to slip on Mike's finger! I ended up putting another of Mike's ring's that he wore on the other hand, on his ring finger. My aunt Glenna went to the cottage to get the ring after the ceremony, so he could wear it for the reception. It was extremely stressful, and I was so disappointed, but things happen, and everything turned out all right in the end!

We had a beautiful reception in an old hotel in downtown Eureka. We danced, ate, and had a lovely time visiting with our friends and family that made it down. All in all, it was a beautiful wedding, but more importantly, I have a WONDERFUL marriage, and isn't that the point?! I love you baby. Happy Anniversary!!!

Here are some of my favorite photographs from our wedding day.

My sister Lindsey and I, Charlie's Angel style!

My dress.

My amazing grandmother.

My sister and matron of honor!

My handsome soon-to-be hubby cheesing it up!

Mike and his best man, Jason.

Thorncrown Chapel. Isn't it amazing? If you look closely, you can see us at the front of the church getting hitched.

Our flower girl, Kayden. She is so precious!

Walking to the church. What a beautiful and exhilarating walk that was! I was so excited!

Daddy's Girl forever!

There's no turning back now!

It's official!!!

Us waiting to go into the reception...Glenna had just given Mike his ring. He's putting it on in the photo!

I love this picture...we look so happy!

About to walk in the reception hall as man and wife!

Our first dance.

Toasts.

My cake was gorgeous, but even better, it was THE BEST cake I had ever eaten. If you are ever in Eureka and need a cake, email me and I'll hook you up with this guy! Ours was red velvet, chocolate and lemon.

Dancing with daddy!

Mom and myself.

Amy and Ryan, friends from college.

Lindsey's son Kolton, and our ring-bearer.

My brother Ryan. He's special. :-)

Chris and Shelley (my cousin) and their beautiful daughter Jordyn!

Mike doing the "man dance".

Dancing with the girls.

Our bubbly exit!

I love looking back and remembering this day. What a lucky girl I am!!!

Love, T.

Hubby has a blog!!!

2008-10-20T14:59:00.002-05:00

Mike started his own blog! Everyone check it out...he's already posted about our anniversary. He beat me to it! Check it out here.

Love, T.

A very busy couple of weeks...the post that never ends!

2008-10-18T13:32:00.015-05:00

I've been absent the past week or so, because I've been on vacation! This past week was my family's annual vacation in Hot Springs, so we just hopped down there from Little Rock. My dad, stepmama Glenda, aunt Glenna and uncle Don all played golf every day except one, so we were left to our own devices during the day. Here are a ton of pictures from our days in Hot Springs.

This is behind BathHouse Row on Central. That white building is an old bath house and spa.

We think Roman looks like a rabbit in this one!

He can't say many words, but he talks back with baby talk!!!

Sitting in front of one of the "hot springs". The steam was making my back sweat!

We are trying to teach him the word "hot". This was a great example!

My handsome little man, running around in the park.

Thirty pounds of stink!

Thirty pounds of sweet!

Horsing around behind BathHouse Row.

Checking out a courtyard park in downtown Hot Springs.

He always has at least one car in his hands!

Look at those lips!!!

Here Roman is at the mall. He almost fell out of the fire truck when it started moving! I know I'm biased, but isn't he the cutest thing??

This is my dad's motorcycle. Mike's dad had one all through his growing up years, so he knows how to ride one. He only killed it once! :-)

Roman and PaPa playing at the park.

Roman thought PaPa would like to eat rocks. He was wrong.

Pushing the stroller.

He kept trying to climb UP the slide. He had it all backwards!

Walking around by Lake Catherine.

Throwing rocks in the lake. Roman would just laugh and laugh when they plopped in!

A rock in action. I think this pic is so neat!

Cousin Blake, being such a good Roman-sitter!

Yup, he is ALWAYS talking!

My grandma and I at the dam at the Lake.

Every year, we go to a seafood restaurant that sits right on Lake Hamilton, Fisherman's Wharf. We always sit outside, and this year, it was raining. The rain sounded so wonderful beating on the metal roof; it was such a neat atmosphere. Here's Blake and myself by the water.

Pa-Pa and Roman.

This was so sweet. I love this picture!

Some of the fam at our table.

This little duck was taking the brunt of the rainstorm, and was just hanging out, waiting for table scraps!

Blake has always been obsessed with cars, and Roman is following very closely in his footsteps! Blake set up all of Roman's small cars and then took Mater and Lightning(thanks Kris!), and wound them up until they smashed all the small cars, and made them fly in all directions! Blake thought it was pretty cool, and Roman has now learned that he can use his cars to destroy things. Greeeaaaaat. Thanks, B!

Okay, after a million pictures, I'll just say that we had a great time. It was so good to see all my family, and get to spend some time with them. It ended too quickly for my tastes!

Love, T.

Follow My Blog!

2008-10-08T21:29:00.002-05:00

Okay, those of you who read my blog (all four of you), you need to click on the "Follow this blog" link on the right hand side of the page. I only have one follower, and as awesome as my friend Steve-o is, I NEED MORE FOLLOWERS!!! Please? I follow all of your blogs, so it's really only fair! :-)

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

2008-10-08T15:49:00.004-05:00

I don't know why this year, but breast cancer awareness month has touched me in a way that it never has before. Maybe it is my "advancing" age, let's face it, I'm getting pretty close to 30! Or maybe it is that it does run in my family. My grandma Kerbo ( Leroy's mom) was a breast cancer survivor. I remember as a kid looking at the place where one of her breasts should have been, and wondering why it looked so scary. There were gouges in her chest where they removed it, and I was always fascinated by whatever it was that caused my grandma so much pain. I know that medicine wasn't as advanced as it is now, and I also know that there are ways to make it look like nothing ever happened to you. But I think it is important to remember that pain that so many women went through, not just physical, but emotional too.

This week, I watched Oprah, which in itself is rare, because I do NOT like Oprah (sorry, ladies, I know most of you love her!), but in watching her breast cancer awareness special episode, I learned a lot of things that I didn't know. Back when breast cancer was just becoming an issue, women weren't even allowed to say the word "breast". 70% of women with breast cancer do not have a history of breast cancer in their family. That means that many women will be surprised with the news that they have cancer, because like most women, you always think that cancer is something that happens to someone else. In reality, it is happening even to women in their early 30's. We've all read about the actress Christina Applegate who found out she had breast cancer at 36. This is so terrifying, and we all need to be responsible for our own health! You can get loads of information from www.komen.org.

And a final shout out to my friend Nat, who did the 'Race for the Cure', and bested last year's time by three minutes. Way to go girl!

-Tara

Roman's crib

2008-10-06T15:07:00.004-05:00

Blog-chatting with Ms. Judy, I realized just how amazing my husband is! Of course I knew (I married him, didn't I?), but this was a good reminder. When I was pregnant, the crib that I wanted for Baby Henson (we didn't know if he was a boy or a girl until I had him), was like $900. So, instead, we printed out a picture from the internet, and Mike built it himself. Of course, it wasn't perfect, but it was pretty darn close!!!

Mike, working hard!

The notches he hand cut into the ends.

Prepping for the paint job.

Putting it all together.

The finished product...DAYS before I had Roman! :-) Excuse the attire, I was wearing Mike's shorts because none of mine fit anymore!

Aren't I a lucky lady???

Henson-Flores game night!

2008-10-02T17:08:00.006-05:00

Tuesday night, we had game night with our friends Steve and Natalie. We ate pizza and breadsticks (yum!), and then played Cranium and Balderdash. Here are a few pics.

Here is a short video of Natalie trying to do a Star Performer. The answer was the song, "Stop, In The Name of Love", and she wasn't supposed to do anything but hum. No gestures, words or anything. She screws up instantly, and we all crack up at her!

This video is me acting out a Star Performer where I was trying to get Nat to guess "mermaid". I felt so stupid, but it was fun, I have to admit!

We always have a blast hanging out with Nat and Steve, and this visit was just as fun, if not more! I have to add that THE GIRLS BEAT THE BOYS AT CRANIUM!!! And there was nooooo asterisk next to our "W"!

Tara

My first crop

2008-10-01T18:37:00.005-05:00

Natalie and I went to our very first crop last Friday night. I don't have any pictures of us cropping (because of course I forgot the camera), but I do have a couple of pics of the pages I worked on.

I started Roman's book for his first year. Here is the Front of the Album.

And here is his first page.

I also scrapped a page for my 2008 album of just a couple of pics of Nat and I.

I have only been scrapping since we moved to Arkansas. My cousin Marna always tried to get me into it, but I never really had the time or interest. However, before I got married, my grandmother had bought me one of those pre-made scrapbook wedding albums, where you just plug in the pictures, and I loved the look of it, so I decided that I would give it a try. Here are the first two pages that I created. I didn't use the right glue on the first page, so the pictures are all lumpy, but here they are. It was all about Roman's first trip to the zoo.

There is a lot of blank space on the second page, because at that point, I didn't really know what I was doing, and I had NO embellishments to add, just leftovers from Roman's birthday invitations. They aren't the greatest, but they will always be special because they were the first!

Shortly after trying this, I decided to make father's day cards for all the men in our lives. Here are a couple of them.

I've never been very artsy-fartsy, but I really enjoy scrapping the thousands of pictures that I have taken! Cards aren't quite as fun, but I could get lost in the paper aisle at Hobby Lobby!!! Does anyone else scrap? I'd love to see your stuff!

Tara

Friendship

2008-09-17T09:52:00.005-05:00

Friendships were never my strong point growing up. Don't get me wrong, I had a lot of friends, but I was always a 'one best friend' kind of girl, just how I guess I was also a 'relationship' girl. (My husband calls this the All or Nothing Syndrome). I was popular in high school...sometimes I wonder why, since although I loved being around people, I have always been a brutally honest person, which could come across as being pretty snarky. Maybe that's why I never had very many close friends. I had a 'best friend' in high school, but at the time, she was a bad influence on me, and I ended up doing things that weren't really me, and alienating the friends that were more like me. Maybe it is that I spread myself too thin, not finding that one core friend group that I could really connect with, and sticking with them. And when that one close friendship ended, I was left with just a handful of lukewarm friends who had become each other's best friends.

It's only recently that I've learned how important friends are in your life. My husband has a huge handful of close friends that he has stayed in touch with over the years. I've always been a little jealous of that closeness, but I also understand that his friends filled in a void that was left by his family. Other than his grandparents, his family was not as supportive as, for instance, mine was. So maybe the reason he had so many close friends was because of this. I, however, have always been super close with my family. They are the best and closest people in my life.

Ever since Mike and I moved to Arkansas and had to start over, I've started to realize that I made a huge mistake in high school and college. Why didn't I put forth any effort to be the best friend I could be? I found a quote I liked: "The only way to have a friend is to be one." I think that was my problem in high school, college, and up until recently. The problem wasn't that I wasn't likeable or able to keep a friend, the problem was that I wasn't being a good friend to others. I was selfish, and figured that if I was happy in the friendship, then so were they. Cut to a year ago, when I could honestly say that I didn't have one good friend. I had LOTS of casual friends, but none that ever called just to talk to ME, and you know why? Because I never called just to talk to THEM.

"The most I can do for my friend, is simply be his friend." -Henry David Thoreau

"We love him because He first loved us." I John 4:9-10

Now, I have a friend that I adore, and I feel so blessed to have her in my life. But the biggest blessing is just being her friend first, because that is what makes me so happy. Not just to have a friend, but to be a friend. Friend, you know who you are...and I love you!

Tara

PS. More later on the last week...I've been swamped, but I will catch you all up! Ta for now!

The Wonder Place

2008-09-12T14:00:00.010-05:00

Last Saturday, Mike and I took Roman to this great place in West Little Rock called The Wonder Place. It's basically an indoor educational facility from babies on up. Roman had so much fun...he ran from center to center because he was so excited! His mama was excited too...mostly because I love the fact that they have a 'icky tub', where parents put any toy that their child has put in their mouth, so that they can hopefully curb germs that are CRAWLING all over the place. I know, cheap thrills. :-)

Here is Roman playing in the sandbox.

Peek-a-boo!

I was trying to get him to slide down, not crawl up!

Playing with the doll house. Yup, I need a baby girl!

There's a crazy man under the tree house!

I love this picture...the mirrors are so cool!

What a poser!

Playing at the water table.

Anywho, we had a blast, and we will definitely be going back!
Hope all is well!

Tara

First Day of School!

2008-09-12T11:52:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was Roman's first day of school! He is going to be going to a Church daycare program at least one day a week, maybe two days, if I don't miss him too much. I was only able to capture a couple of pics of before we left, but here they are...

His lunch box!

Roman, checking out his lunch box.

Okay, mama, I'm ready to go!

He had such a fun time...he LOVES going to play with his friends, and he' actually in the same room that his Sunday School class is in, so he felt really comfortable. He walked in the building with a big grin on his face, and I had to chase him down just to get a bye-bye kiss! He's a big boy now!

Much love,
Tara

Happy Birthday Mike!

2008-09-04T11:24:00.006-05:00

Well, yesterday was Mike's uh, 28th birthday (he paid me to say that). I had a semi-cool day planned of decorating the house, making him a birthday card from Roman, and baking him a cake. All of these things were supposed to be a surprise. Well, because of all the flooding here in LR, the power was out at his job site, so he came back home around 9am. There go all of my surprises down the drain! I decorate with him in the house, I bake the cake while he's in the dining room, and I just cancel the card-making. Well, we ended up going out to dinner at On The Border and having a fun time. Roman kept talking a kid sitting at the table next to us, which was pretty funny since we have no idea what he is saying!

So here are some pics of the evening.

Roman and I right before we left for dinner.

Pretty much the same picture, but I had to include it, because it was the first time I was able to put on my pre-pregnancy jeans! Woo-hoo!

Mike and Roman.

Dinner at OTB.

Red velvet cake...yum!

And lastly, this is a pic from exactly four years ago, when I threw a surprise birthday party for Mike in Tulsa, where we were living at the time. Do you think we've changed???

Labor Day at the Lake

2008-09-02T14:37:00.006-05:00

We didn't do anything fancy for Labor Day, but we did go to Greers Ferry Lake here in Arkansas. It was Roman's first trip to the lake, and he loved playing in the mud!

Mike was zooming him in and out of the water, which he thought was too cool!

Roman is obsessed with cars, so of course he had to have one of his old nasty cars to drive all over the beach.

Of course there are no pictures of me, because I am the Momarazzi!

Hope everyone had a safe Labor Day!

Tara

Am I just old, or are they really pathetic?

2008-09-02T12:06:00.003-05:00

So, I've known that the former NKOTB were making a comeback, but I hadn't seen any proof until 'The View' this morning. Did anyone see this? Five guys in their early to late 30's did an interview with an over-exuberant Elisabeth and Sherri, and told what they had all been doing in the FIFTEEN YEARS since they broke up. First of all, fifteen years? What in the world prompted them to think that their previous 14 year old fans (who are now 30, natch), would still be interested in the hip gyrating from MEN who have about 10 kids between them??? Of course, being a HUGE NKOTB fan back in my teen years, I had to watch them perform in order to really evaluate how effective their comeback was going to be. After watching them perform their new single "Single" (har har), I have to admit, I was embarrassed for them! Not only was it lame, it was LLLLAAAAMMMEEE. My teen idol, Joey Joe, was off-key, and Donnie, who I love in movies, was a wannabe rapper, rapping lyrics about attracting girls to his studly single self. Hellooooo, you're 40! Well, I gritted my teeth and kept watching, thinking that at least they were going to sing one of their old hits, "Step By Step". Oh. My. Gosh. Awful. Off-key, didn't even SOUND like the original. I was severely disappointed. Needless to say, the moral of the story is LEAVE IT IN YOUR PAST. Now I have to go take a shower. Ick. RIP New Kids.

This one goes out to my friend Kristen!

2008-08-29T22:20:00.003-05:00

Okay, so for my first official blog, I thought I would dedicate it to my friend Kristen. Even though I haven't seen her since her wedding two years ago (gorgeous!), I have and will always consider her one of my best friends. I am SO glad to be back in touch with her, that I am doing this post in her honor. Love you Kris!

Five Random Facts About Me:

1. If I could do anything I wanted for a whole day, it would be brunch at the Palace, lunch and unlimited shopping in SoHo, dinner in Little Italy, and sesame seed pancakes in Chinatown...You would have to roll me out of there!

2. The whole reason I started scrapbooking is because I thought the paper and stickers were pretty.

3. I ADORE television. My husband gives me crap for it, but there's nothing like a rerun of my favorite shows to give me a good pick-me-up. I watch tv while I scrapbook, while I work out, while I cook dinner...you get the idea. :) Sometimes I feel guilty for it...and then I remember I don't care!

4. I am currently learning how to create websites for businesses. I'm loving it!

5. I am a Christian AND a Democrat. Yes, it IS possible. Deal with it.