Dear Diary

Our guinea pig, Jacky, lives the good life. He has it made. He eats all he wants, runs around, pops and jumps and squeals and generally has an all-round good time. He has been photographed reading, sleeping (note the pillow and blanket), listening to music, and much, much more.

All in all, it's GOOD to be a pig.

All for now,

Tricia

Ho Ho Hannah

I'm so glad Hannah still likes to mug for the camera. Decided to turn these jewels into a collage for all to see. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and all that jazz. The last two days have been horrible, crummy days, (car is back in the shop for more, thankfully minor, repairs until tomorrow), but I'm trying to maintain my sanity.

Creating collages with silly pictures of my girlie seemed the best way to do that. Notice "exercisin' Santa" on the second photo. What a doll!

All for now,
Tricia

Love is in the air collage

I've been missing playing with photos (while my computer was in the shop), so I decided it was time to create a new photo collage. For fun, I included the original photograph for you to compare with the finished collage.

I took the original shot after Hannah had spent the day at her school's fall fair, where she had her hair dyed with temporary pink and blue highlights! And the little stuffed chick is a beanie baby she won at the fair. (Notice the big "kiss" on her cheek. She made her daddy's heart stop a moment when she gleefully announced that a "big boy" had kissed her!) That was one happy girlie!

Enjoy!

From this:

To this:

Helicopters, hiking and Hannah

Well, we've certainly had quite a week. It started out with a bang on Labor Day. John and I took Hannah to Cleburne State Park to go hiking, complete with picnic and walking sticks. We ate our suppers right down at the lake, which was gorgeous. There was a light breeze and the heat of the day had disappeared, leaving us with the usual warm, muggy September evening temperatures. We laughed at Hannah as she kept her eye out for coyotes, armadillo, deer, bunnies--ANY kind of wildlife would have made her happy. Alas, we were alone except for the two-wheeled type (cyclists! ha!). But we had a great time anyway and Hannah was optimistic that we'd see some animals the next time!

The next day, Hannah came home really sick, with 104.0 degrees temp. She had chills and vomiting and was just one sick puppy. Poor baby, the temperature climbed to 104.7. We watched it very carefully, gave her ibuprofen and were ready to take her to the ER if need be. But thankfully her fever went down and we all breathed a sigh of relief. John and I washed and washed and WASHED our hands and so far, we've not gotten sick (as we cross our fingers). Surprisingly, Hannah was only out of school one day and by the middle of that day, her temp was normal.

So where do the helicopters come in? I'm glad you asked! DFW had a tremendous amount of rain in a short period of time, which produced flash flooding. While I was napping, John and Hannah heard a helicopter and looked out the window to see THREE of them, hovering across the street. Turns out all of the residents were having to evacuate and be rescued from their homes--the water rose that fast! The news channels covered the story and poor mom had to watch all of that, wondering how we were. She only called my cell, which was turned off while I blissfully slept (sorry, mom!); guess she didn't think we'd be home to answer our phone.

Anyway, our residence is a lot higher in elevation than those across the street, for which we were so grateful! Besides, with Hannah being sick, it would have been a nightmare to try to run out and go somewhere (and lose all our belongings as well!).

So ... a bit of excitement in the Williams household this week.

All for now,

Tricia

I never promised you a...

Hannah and I spent some fun time together painting with watercolors this afternoon. Then John got the idea for us to go out to eat (a rarity for the Williams' family). We were thinking of Olive Garden or On the Border, but I got the brilliant idea to go to Chuck E. Cheese. Hannah was beside herself! I have to admit, it's been years since we'd been there with my niece and nephew!

Anyway, first came the large mushroom pizza, and then fun and games! Air hockey, Daytona racing, basketball, etc. You name it, we played it! That was one happy girl!

All for now,
Tricia

Dream, daughter, dream

I pray for the sweetest dreams for you, my precious daughter. I love you dearly.

Happy Father's Day a little early

Here's a little taste of the family photos we took in the beautiful Fort Worth Botanic Garden. Be sure to read the poem I wrote dedicated to a wonderful father. This one's for you, John!

All for now,
Tricia

Lions and Tigers and Bears

Hannah and I had a wonderful time at the zoo on Easter. Her class went on an overnight trip to SeaWorld last week and John and I decided we didn't want to send Hannah on that trip. So I took Hannah to the zoo as a "consolation prize." We had a blast!

Because we were doing this all on the cheap, daddy simply dropped us off, so we only paid for the girls' tickets and no parking. We heard the lion roaring from pretty far away. We exchanged embarrassed smiles and giggles at the chimpanzees and their--ahem--bare bottoms hanging out. We saw bats, snakes, lions, tigers, bears, raptors, zebras, flamingoes, lemurs, a warthog, well, you get the idea. They even had a bug exhibit (not my favorite). The python and cobras were quite impresssssssive.

I think my favorite part was visiting the Texas Wild section. They had exhibits and animals from all sections of the state. I loved the Gulf Coast exhibit, where I touched a sea urchin, starfish, and skate (like a sting ray). I've never touched any of those before and that was fun. We even saw a sea turtle.

We were tired, hungry and very happy when we left the zoo. What a great way to spend Easter--celebrating not only the animals but the Creator who made them all!

All for now,
Tricia

Dinner is served (thank you, Hannah!)

10 years, 10 reasons I love Hannah

Well, I couldn't NOT post a birthday collage for Hannah, so here it is. The rule of thumb in graphic design is not to use more than three different fonts on one page--and I came in at three! Funny the things you learn in college that stick with you. I guess I should thank my publication design professor (no, not John, although he may have told me that tidbit as well). I'm not sure what "they" do if you break the rule--throw one in grammar jail??

Lately, at the end of the day, I seem to feel very tired and a little irritable (apologies to John and Hannah) and yet I have no idea what I accomplished that day. Today was a little better. I'm still learning some computer programs such as Microsoft Access. Sometimes it makes my brain a little numb, there's so much to learn, but it's still a lot of fun. Have no idea in the world what I'll do with all this technological savvy (ha!)--I might like to work for some small- to middle-size business eventually.

Okay, all for now,
Tricia

Texas winter fun

A Christmas Luau

So I come into the living room the other day and had to laugh--there's Hannah with a summer shirt on, a lei and a flower in her hair. What a bright spot she is in my day! And of course, she had to dress Jacky the guinea pig up in the same flower and lei. Lookin' good, piggie! ha!

John and Hannah equals FUN!

These pictures are so much fun! Since my computer is in the shop for mild repairs (at least I'm hoping), I've been using our older computer, which has older photos on the hard drive. I also didn't have many of my digital collage fun stuff or embellishments, but I thought this collage turned out pretty well.

These "retro" pix were taken in Kentucky. Hannah had banged up her chin while visiting auntie Pam and family in Florida, thus the "look-at-me bandage." Aunt Pam fixed Hannah's boo-boo up so well, in fact, that the girlie didn't need stitches! Thank you dear sister!

I wasn't a part of this "photo session," but it looks to me like John and Hannah took turns taking pictures of each other while playing in the backyard. The end results are a lot of fun. I especially like the closeup of John. He looks handsome, fun-loving and full of life, just like always.

hannah

I think I could just "melt" into these eyes.

Land Ho, the Williams family goes boating (retro pix)

Here's a fun scrapbook page. Hannah was about five years old when we took these pictures. "Oh captain, my captain John" looks as handsome as ever. And yes, aren't those life vests flattering--I practically look like America's Next Top Model in mine! ha!

Joie de Vivre, that's my Hannah!

Before winter leaves... a wintery pic of Hannah

Here is a scrapbook page I created of my winter "fairy," Miss Hannah. I do believe it is the only photo we took of her with her hat on--you know, good old unpredictable Texas winter weather! Didn't seem to be quite as cold this year as sometimes. (Or when it was, we didn't have our camera nearby.)

Anyway, she's such a cutie in this winter hat. Just had to share!

**Created with Paint Shop Pro X and my Autumn Leaves (Winter Kit) Digital Scrapbooking Book/CD.

Wacky hair Hannah page

Every year, Hannah's school has a Wacky Hair Day. This year we put school supplies in her hair, pencils, watercolor, glue, eraser, etc. I love the look on her face. She loves being silly!