Anybody Out There?

So if I haven't posted in 18 months, does anyone bother to look at this? Well if you do, thanks for not giving up on me. I was inspired to post when I found a cool picture on my computer. I thought to myself, that would be a great picture for my blog. In order to see the picture, you'll have to actually go to my blog to see it, not just on your reader feed.

We've had quite the adventure this past while. I'll try to hit the major points...

We've had a great opportunity to housesit for our friends' parents this past year. We went from a 2000 sq ft townhouse to a 9,000 sq ft house. Keeping it clean has been a bit of a challenge. We have been able to host some decent sized parties, which of course makes me happy. Chloe and Cassie spend a good bit of time in the racquetball court that's in the basement, where they play tennis, soccer and have even turned it into a roller skating rink! All in all, it has been a fun house to live in. We rented out our townhouse and have been able to save some money to buy a new house. We have a contract on one, so please pray that everything works out!

With our move I decided to homeschool Chloe and Cassie for the year. Brian has always wanted me to do it, and I've always secretly wanted to. The year has been wonderful. I absolutely love having Chloe and Cassie with me every day. They are very organized and are able to do most of the work on their own. They even quiz each other on spelling tests, states and capitals, and Spanish. They are devoted to learning to play the piano, in the hope that we will allow them to learn new instruments soon. Chloe wants to learn to play the flute and Cassie is hoping to get a cello. I will be very sad to see them go back to school next year.

Addison still tries to rule the roost, she's very much like her mother. It's a daily issue in the house, who is in charge me or her... I usually win. She is quite the character. She has many expressions and you always know where you stand with her. She loves to dance and to sing. She wants to be big like her sisters. She makes me smile for more hours of the day than not :)

Halloween

We had a fantastic Halloween.
Addison really grasped the idea of trick-or-treating,
well the taking of candy anyway, right out of people's hands or buckets!

Our little Tinkerbell

Ginny Weasley & Luna Lovegood

the witches of Hogwarts and the pirate

I can't get enough of her!!!

Meka & I went as "Vanilla & Chocolate"

Something to talk about

There have been many "somethings" to talk about over the last neglected blogging year, but let's start with the biggies...

This past Thursday Brian and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. I am so grateful to have him in my life. Here's to the next 10 years(and many more)!

Last week Cassidy broke her leg in a bicycle collision. The poor girl has a full leg cast that will be on for 6-8 weeks, followed by a 4 week half leg cast, and then a boot for another 4 weeks. She is out of soccer, tennis, and anything active for 6 months! Fortunately for her, school starts back in 1 week, I think she's had enough Wii and TV to last a lifetime! I know it must be difficult for her to have to depend on someone else for every little thing, from getting a drink, to going to the bathroom, and getting up and down our many stairs(I should have some decent muscles by the end of this!) My heart just breaks for her. Her friends have been great, bringing activities and gifts and treats, and spending time with her. They are each excited to take turns pushing her around in her wheelchair at school.

Chloe has adjusted to being the sole person in charge of the daily chores, though a bit begrudgingly. She is very excited to start back to school and see all of her friends that she has missed over the summer due to several vacations(next post I promise.)

Addison, well, where to start? She's now 20 months old and rules the roost. She has a strong will, one that I fight throughout the day, whether it's her outfit, shoes, food or the biggest-sitting in her high chair to eat. She always gives in with a smile in the end, when she sees that I'm not going to budge. This strong will regulary leads to throwing herself on the floor and semi-screaming for about 30 seconds. Then she picks herself up off the ground and gives up the fight. So yes, she's a handful, BUT she is also a little sweetheart. She loves to blow kisses and receive kisses(but rarely gives them). Before she goes to sleep she has to receive a kiss from everyone in the family. She LOVES music and will dance to any song. Her favorites are any Taylor Swift song and Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now." She enjoys conducting music and singing along at church, though she has to be the one holding the book... She's not a huge fan of being away from her mom and dad, but after a few minutes of top-of-her-lungs screaming, she usually settles in just fine. She says many words and even more incoherent words that only she understands. She has a massive amount of hair that always seems to be in her face. One of the cutest things is watching her push the hair out of her face(that sounds lame now that I write it, but it really is cute!) She loves to "go bye-bye" and gets her shoes, and my shoes and purse as soon as she decides it's time. She adores her big sisters and wants to be just like them. She loves having her picture taken, but you better get it on the first try because there is NO guarantee that she will be willing to take a second one. Now let's back up a bit(if you're still reading)...At 15 months of age I was getting pretty tired of her crawling around and tearing up the knees of clothes, and that she couldn't wear any of her dresses(which was most of her wardrobe!) So I took matters into my own hands. I took her to the park, rolled up her leggings and let her scratch up her knees. She did not like this at all, so she started walking. Really? That's all it took, making my kid get bloody knees??? Why didn't I think of that sooner? Well now I know and am passing on the advice to anyone in need of it. Her cute little walk is more of a waddle, it always makes me laugh. She is a beautiful, sweet, and opinionated little girl, and I love her dearly.

Anyone want to hear about Hawaii?

Merry Christmas from the Campa Family

The big 8!!!

Today Chloe and Cassie are 8 years old. It has, as everyone says, flown by, but yet it seems like they've always been with us. It is such a blessing to have 2 wonderful, kind, thoughtful, loving, brave, spritual, and just amazing girls. Brian & I love them so very much. And Addison adores them completely.
Next Saturday they will be baptized into our church. They have been counting down the days until their baptism for quite some time now. My heart is overflowing with gratitude to my Heavenly Father for the incredible family that I have.

We are having a surprise birthday party for the girls in, well, 7.5 hours...It is a surprise for their friends as well, which is a fun twist.

The breakfast extravaganza will be followed by Gator Day! And then I will sing in a concert in the evening, with another on Sunday. It's a jam packed weekend. Oh, and Addison's birthday is in 5 days!!! So much to do, so little time.

My Resume (not for hire)

This post is all about me, well, sort-of. I just want everyone to understand why it is that I don't post very often. Here's what my life entails (my commitments):

for me:
Chords of Faith-Treasurer/accountant, and of course I sing in the choir
Tennis-playing on ALTA and soon to be USTA leagues each week (plus practices)

for kids:
PTA-too many jobs, averaging around 12 hours a week
Girl Scouts-just started our own troop (I know, what was I thinking?)
Chauffeur-soccer, tennis, playdates...
Piano lessons-I'm just an amateur, but it beats paying someone to teach them!
Voice lessons-not as much an amateur, and they love to sing
Tennis lessons-they prefer me to the tennis lessons I paid for, so here we go again

for church:
Choir director
Ward roadshow-ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

for family:
all that household stuff
lots of lovin'
and of course there's my full-time job-ADDISON

for job:
work about 20 hours a week


SO, to keep myself sane, I watch football, exercise (though I would like to do much more than I do), play with my friends, and try to have lots of quality time with the fam. And best of all, I take a leave of absence during the summers from almost everything! (except work unfortunately) To sum it all up, there's not much time for blogging...

Fun pictures of C&C

My friend Deanne is in photography school, and has taken some great pictures of Chloe and Cassidy. Here are my favorites:

Chloe underwater

Cassie

9 months

Addison update:
She is all over the place, and is definitely not afraid of falling down the stairs
-I have caught her by the leg on more than one occasion...
She does not like organic food, she would much rather have whatever daddy is eating!
According to my friends, she is good for babysitters
(hopefully they aren't trying to make me feel better.)
She can finally get to a sitting position on her own
She got 4 top teeth in this past weekend
And best of all, she knows how to smile for the camera!!!

AGC-8

Our little cutie is 8 months old!
She got to spend all summer long with family,
who loved to hold her, kiss her, and feed her all sorts of new and interesting food...
She got her bottom 2 teeth in at 7 months, but none since then.
She is sitting like a champ and hates to lie down.
She hasn't figured out how to get from laying down to sitting up,
nor is she crawling in the forward direction
--just scooching backwards, which infuriates her!
She is very mild tempered, has the best smile and is a fantastic sleeper.
However, she despises the falling asleep part,
I think she just wants to be part of the party.
She misses her entertaining sisters while they are at school
--I'm nowhere near as funny as they are.
When daddy comes home, she knows he's going to scoop her right up off the floor.
He's starting to speak Spanish to her, hopefully her big sisters will catch on too.
Oh and did I mention her luscious cheeks!?!

Back to School Pool Time Fun

Chloe and Cassie have a great group of friends at school.
They all get along really well and have a lot of fun together.
It will be fun to watch them grow up over the years.

First Day of School and New Do's

Chloe & Cassie
2nd Graders!

School started this past Monday. I was extremely tempted to tell the school that Chloe and Cassie had the swine flu, just so I could have a few more weeks with them. However, they were very eager to get back to school and see all of their friends, and especially to start 2nd grade!

Along with a new grade came new hair-do's. Chloe and Cassie both researched online the hair style they wanted, printed the pictures and took them to the salon. Chloe is the one in purple with the short bob. Cassie was supposed to stay long, but ended up picking a hair-cut pretty similar to Chloe's, just a tad bit longer. So much for people being able to tell them apart by their hair length...

Ok, so my big mistake yesterday(AT&T email that went out to everyone I've ever contacted, and even made it's way to my blog, 3 times!) has prompted me to finally post on here. Sometimes you have to hit the bottom before you can make your way back up, right?

5 Months Old

 

It's about time I share some pictures and tidbits about our little princess. Addison's nicknames include: The Princess, Addi-Boo, and Bugaboo. She is 5 months old already, I can hardly believe it. She is a very easy baby. She loves to be looked at, and talked to. She is in heaven when daddy comes home, because he immediately picks her up and carries her all over the place. In contrast, I hardly ever carry her around, I would never get anything done! Addison is such a smiley, happy baby. The only time she fusses is when she's hungry, tired, or needs a diaper change. She is quite the trooper hanging out in her stroller while I play tennis or go running. Fortunately she loves to be outside and have the wind blowing in her face. She enjoys her tubby time, even having water poured on her head-just as long as I'm singing to her all the while. Her favorite songs are The Wheels on the Bus(motions done with her feet instead of hands), our Goodmorning song, and a song that I made up to the melody of My Humps! She started eating food last week once we realized that she is very interested in that stuff that daddy is putting in his mouth at dinner time(she of course sits on his lap at dinner every night.) Carrots were first, and today we will start in with peas. Hopefully this will jumpstart a love for vegetables. She gets so excited when we call daddy on the phone, she just smiles and jabbers away. Recently she has started trying to eat the phone, so we may need to improvise. Last week she discovered her feet and plays with them all the time. 2 days ago her feet and mouth met, and have become best friends. Chloe and Cassie absolutely adore her. They read to her, sing to her, play with her, take her on walks, and get her out of her crib. Oh and they change her diapers (wet only). She scooches around a little bit on her belly, I do NOT look forward to her crawling. Maybe we'll just keep her on her back so she doesn't learn to crawl quite yet! Most importantly, she has been sleeping through the night 7-7 for a month now, with an occasional 5am snack. I feel well rested most days, and if not, it's my own fault...

All in all, she is heaven sent. We are so blessed to have her in our lives.

The Ligon Family