It is well with my soul

I think of my dad often but especially on Father's Day. I think of the life he lived - the life he lived well. I only knew him for 9 years but the impact he made will last a lifetime. He was the best father a girl could ask for. I thank God for the time I did have with him and things I learn from his example, even now. I love him dearly and I am comforted to know that this world was not his final resting place.

In Loving Memory of Howard Ray Allen Jr. (A.K.A. dad)

Happy Birthday, It's Amy's Birthday!

Happy Birthday little sis!!

I love ya! I always have.

Found this picture (of Amy and I) and it reminded me of Aubrey and Evie. For those of you who don't know, our daughters are about the same age difference as Amy and I. LOVE IT!

Here is a sweet picture of our sweet girls. Can you see the similarities of them and their moms?



You know how parents will tell cute stories about their kids OVER and OVER again? Some of them stick and some don't. One story has stuck in our family about my little sister which I will share with you.

We were at Disney Land in California visiting extended family and it was around Amy's birthday. She fell asleep in her stroller and could hear Donald's 50th birthday parade celebration. When she heard the Happy Birthday song, she raised up and said "They are singing Happy Birthday to me."
This story is always endearing to me. I am sure other family members have slightly different versions to this story but this is the one I tell from the accumulation of my recollection of that day and the 100+ times I have heard it:)

I love you Amy, and today I sing happy birthday to YOU!

This one's for you!
It doesn't say but this 50th birthday bash was in 1984, around Amy's 3rd birthday.

Be our guest, be our guest...

For a long time Aubrey had asked for one of her best friends, Harper, to stay the night. I was a little hesitant at first as to whether it was a good idea to have one. I didn't know how it would go with getting 2 excited 3 1/2 year olds to sleep. We invited sweet Harper over a few weeks ago, they had lots of fun and only stayed up til 11pm :) I was anticipating midnight so they exceeded my expectations :)

I took lots of pictures to share with Harper's parents (Aaron & Jennifer) and to reminisce about this event with Aubrey in the future. Here is our first friend sleepover in pictures:

Tuesday Meal Plan (is more like it)

Tuesday
B: Cheerios, Milk & Strawberries
L: Homemade Lunchables & Fruit Cup (at ACA)
D: Egg Salad (Aubrey will be gone to Grammy's & she doesn't care for this)

Wednesday:
B: Oatmeal&Raisins, bananas
L: Sandwiches, Wheat thins, green beans (at ACA)
D: *Hawaiian Chicken Salad


Thursday:
B: Green Eggs & Biscuits
L: Hot Dogs, veggies
D: Taco Salad

Friday:
B: Cheerios, Milk
L: Homemade Lunchables, Wheat thins & Fruit Cup (at ACA)
D: Breakfast Burritos

Saturday:
B: Oatmeal&Raisins, bananas
Then head to Bossier City (my niece, Evie, has a birthday party)
D: Spaghetti, garlic bread & salad

Sunday:
B: Cereal
L: Out for Father's Day :)
D: Zesty Chicken & Veggies



*Hawaiin Chicken Salad*
1 (13 1/2 oz.) can pineapple tidbits, reserving 2 tbsp. syrup
3 c. diced cooked chicken
1 c. diced celery
1/2 c. toasted slivered blanched almonds
3/4 c. vanilla yogurt
1/4 c. light mayo

Drain pineapple, reserving 2 tablespoons syrup. Mix pineapple with diced cooked chicken, diced celery and toasted slivered blanched almonds. Blend reserved pineapple syrup with yogurt and mayonnaise. Toss with chicken mixture. Chill.

"Sandy's his name, if you please!"

Every child should have an Aunt G' and Uncle Buss! We love hanging out with them. Thanks for being awesome for us and our kids always. They showered Aubrey with random little gifts, drew fun things with her, we played with Uncle Buss's old school farm set and laughed a lot. Needless to say, we had a great time in Austin!
Debbie picked me and Aubrey up, then went to Lufkin to pick up Renee' (AKA Aunt Nee') & baby Reid, then headed to Austin to see Aunt G' and Uncle Buss for a fun-filled weekend. One of the main events planned was to see the musical Annie.

Let me explain:
At the age of 4, Angie (Aunt G') had experienced Annie (the film) when it first came out - so it has been a classic in the Silverthorne household. Angie was so sweet and thoughtful to get tickets to see Annie (the musical) in Austin so Aubrey (along with Aunt G', Aunt Nee', Nana & myself) could experience the sweet red-head in person (Aubrey has been telling people we got to see "a real Annie on stage'). We loved it!! It was at the UT campus (where Darrell, Angie & Renee' went to college).
NOTE: To all you die hard Annie fans who have seen Annie the movie and not the musical, it is a little different. There are some songs that are the same but some are different which is pretty fun to hear a mix of new songs and good old staples like "Tomorrow." Wikipedia does a good job of explaining the stage to screen differences.

In preparation for our girls trip (Note to Aaron: I am only calling it a girls trip because just girls road in the car :) to Austin, Nana (Debbie) bought the movie Annie on DVD and Aubrey watched it a couple of times so she was pretty familiar with the story line, characters and songs.
Aubrey sang the song Tomorrow many times this past weekend and even made up her own about Sandy. After seeing the musical, she asks me to sing It's the Hard-Knock Life and Little Girls.

Back to Angie: Debbie got Angie the Annie outfit when she was little and has kept it all these years (that is just like Debbie to do that - THANKS) so she let Aubrey wear it this weekend which Aubrey was MORE THAN EXCITED about!!

ANGIE AT AGE 4

AUBREY AT AGE 3 (In the same dress & wig - yes, the wig had seen it's better days)


Also, here are some videos Angie took with her camera which are precious to me. You can also view (on YouTube) other videos she took that night of Aubrey as Annie.
Enjoy:


Oh yes, Aubrey nominated one of Angie and Aaron's dogs Sandy (AKA Sadie) and the other one Shoo-Shoo Baloney (AKA Scoop)

Other pictures from our fun trip:

Monday Meal Plan (6/8 - 6/14)

So I made this on Monday night! At least I got it out on Monday.
This is my second week to try this meal planning thing and I have to say that I am loving it!

I don't always stick with the menu but it is relieving to have the meals on hand and know I have all of the ingredients. My next goal is to stick to a budget for groceries each week :)




Monday:
B: Cereal, Juice
Lunch & Dinner provided by Amy since we were in Bossier City visiting (Thanks- we had a great time)

Tuesday:
B: Oatmeal, Eggs & Banana
L: Grilled Cheese, fruit
D: Taco Salad

Wednesday:
B: Cereal
L: Turkey meat, cheese & crackers (at ACA)
D: Chicken Salad, fruit

Thursday:
B: French Toast, fruit
L: Hot Dogs
D: Burritos, Salad

Friday:
B: Cereal
L: Sandwiches, fruit (at ACA)
D: Pizza

Saturday:
B: Green Eggs, Toast & Jelly (for fun I put green or blue food coloring in the eggs to make green eggs - Aubrey eats all of hers when I do that :)
L: Grilled Cheese, fruit
D: Zesty Italian Chicken, veggies

Sunday:
B: Cereal
L: Leftovers
D: Spaghetti, Salad, Garlic Toast

NOTE: The Zesty Italian Chicken is something I am going to try out that my mom makes. She just puts some uncooked chicken breasts in a pan and covers with Zesty Italian Dressing (I am going to use Kraft Zesty Italian & Marinade) - puts it in the oven at 450 degrees for 25 min. or until done. I am using tenderloins (they are thinner) so I will probably only put the oven at 375 degrees.

Has it been five years?

I know something is supposed to happen today.
I think I know what it is.
I just want to see how it plays out.
The end of an era.
The beginning of a new one.

Bring the cheese. I am ready.