Lol Mary graduation was the last day I wore that stupid hat too. I did wear whites to work a lot but I could never keep that dang hat on my head and so very happy to not ever have to put it on again, lol. We had to wear it every day in school and every time I bent over mine fell off, lol. Can you believe I had just had a baby 2 weeks before that pic was taken? I was so afraid he would come in the middle of my board exam, lol. I started having labor pains that day and nearly didn't finish it. They wouldn't let us take our class pic until the results were in. We started out with a class of 54 and only about 10 of us made it. We sure had some tough teachers, lol. Turns out three of us sisters are nurses and the one that wasn't has a daughter thats a nurse, lol. Guess that runs in the family too. I also found out today the bone and joint problems do too. One of them has had both knees replaced and other both shoulders and they both have bad backs. Find out some good things and some bad things, lol. I sure hope that chiropractor can get me straight for this trip. I want to feel good while I'm there so badly! I love New Orleans. Guess I'll have to drink plenty of hurricaines then I won't know the difference, lol. Looks like we all like to go to casinoes too. Gotta get a car fixed and sold before we go so I will have some spending money.

Ok, now NO LAUGHING at my class pieces...... the pansies turned out ok, considering I had NEVER done this before, BUT the rose was a dissapointment...... Again pansies were a certified DD teacher, roses weren't. With the pansies we learned, using the big flat brush, then painted our piece with that same brush. Roses were learned (on the pratice plastic sheets) with the big fat brush, BUT then had to switch to the small one to paint on our board. Doesn't sound like a big thing, but (at least for me) it was......also as I said , we "learned" the grapevine wreath (supposed to be heart shaped....), & the wisteria on the wreath, but it was TOOOO much for 1 class. To me, the pieces look reveresed, it looks like I did the roses 1st, then the pansies. (There was about 18 months from 1 class to the next.). As I said, don't laugh..... Hazel (One thing I did learn was to get the clear plastic page protectors, the ones you slide paper into from the top, & put your practice page inside, so you paint on the plastic. They are cheap, & you get a bunch, so you can paint, take out the practice page & do it again, so you can see how you improve. Then you just wash them under the tap & use them again.....) Here is a link that might be useful:

Moccassin- I would love to see your swarovski stars tree! Since our wedding colors were blue and silver, I've always gotten ornaments in those colors. In the past few years, I've really fallen in love with crystal ornaments. I didn't even realize until I was putting up my tree and looking at the date written on each ornament, that the past 3 years have been crystal. This years is the Waterford snowflake, lasts years was a teardrop shaped crystal and a swarovski snowflake, the year before was a swarovski bird. All of the ornaments on the family tree in the living room are durable, nonbreakable ornaments. Hopefully, when my kids move out they will be like I was, and have a tree full of ornaments. Terri- beautiful tree but you do have to bring Rudy back! As we have all agreed on, its about the memories! I have so many ornaments and I love this time of year so much that I'm thinking I will snag a tall narrow tree after Christmas on clearance and put it in my dining room next year. I will keep my wedding tree in my room where it currently resides, my "elegant" tree in the living room and the brightly colored, all other ornaments, in the dining room. I already have a miniature tree for each of the girls that is 4 ft tall for them to have in their rooms but they are still young enough that they mess with ornaments so I haven't put them up in a few years. I can just see though, in 10 years I'm going to practically have a tree in every room!! As much as I admire my tree every year, I think I enjoy putting it up and taking it down the most. As I grab the seashell ornament and pack it away, I'm reminded of my trip to San Diego. When I grab my cute little snowman ornament, I'm instantly transported back to our weekend trip to San Antonio and the Macy's store I picked him up at. Every ornament is a little vessel of memories. I see them, touch them, and I'm right back at the moment in time and my life that I was when I got them. I think the fact that we only see/hold them once a year is part of what makes them so magical. That cheap, one dollar globe from the dollar store? We were flat broke, college kids but I still insisted on getting an ornament for the tree and that means just as much to me as the 75 dollar swarovski crystal does. It tells a story, specifically, our history. Where we once were and where we are now. That Pyrex I received as a wedding gift? I use it still, every single day but when I grab a loaf pan, I'm not flooded with memories of my wedding day, despite the fact that I received it on that day. I think only seeing and touching these special items for a short period of time each year makes them all the more special. This post was edited by Texas_Gem on Mon, Dec 15, 14 at 23:31

mr. gabriel cut his first tooth just yesterday! he will be 8 months old on saturday. he's doing great! i think he's gonna be one of those babies who skips crawling all together and just starts walking. he "walks" all over the place with help from whichever grownup can bend long enough without back pain. LOL! needless to say, we take turns! he has figured out quickly all about putting one foot in front of the other. melissa is in the process of putting gates up to keep him corralled. he LOVES to be in the pool!!! he splashes like crazy and doesn't care a bit about getting his face wet. :) thanks for asking about him! he is the light of my life. i'm going up tomorrow to spend the day with him. he has this cute little fake cry when he's getting tired but fighting sleep. it cracks me up! i laugh at him and he starts laughing back. i LOVE rocking him to sleep! he is eating lots of different foods and is drinking from a little cup!!