...stay thirsty my friends

Cream of the Crop

There is this CD I have in my car of fun (ULTRA ANNOYING) kids songs that I'm learning for BSF. Kevin always cringed if he heard even 2 notes from one of these songs, and he'd turn it off as fast as he could. Then one day he saw Leah clapping along and bouncing her legs to the rhythm... and he asked me for a copy of the CD for his truck. Now he can be heard singing any number of "bean-bag songs" and he knows the word for "hello" in about 25 different languages... and he can sing them!

And that just one of the MANY reasons I believe Leah has the BEST daddy in the whole entire world!

Tonight after a LONG day of celebrations, I realized I hadn't gotten a daddy/daughter picture on Father's day, so we had a bedtime snapshot.
Reason #2... Since the day she was born, he has said her prayers with her every night before bed. Even when he's been out of town, he calls and says them on the phone with her. The list goes on and on... We are the luckiest girls in the world.

.

spit happens

On Saturday night, we were on our way to visit some friends and Leah was jabbering as usual... with mouth and hands. She's saying new words all the time now so I got out the camera to try and capture some of it. Instead I got this... (You may have to zoom in... the quality is really poor on this one for some reason)

I was blindly pointing the camera behind me from the front seat, so it wasn't until we got home and watched the video that we found out what had made her laugh so hard. I, too, have been known to "spray it" occasionally when I get too emphatic about what I'm saying. And I, too, usually get tickled with myself...

(and yes... sometimes I snort when I laugh)

current events

Leah has an opinion about everything... just ask her and she'll tell you!

I had to cut this down SO much to upload it... so if you ever want to see more, it's live and in person in the Curley house.... ALL...DAY...LONG! :)

It really does keep getting better and better.

her father's frown

She definitely has her father's "hard-to-tell-if-he's-seriously-concentrating-or-if-he's-really-mad-about-something" face... although in this particular case, I think its pretty clear she's mad at me about something. (...possibly the bad hair day?)

raindrops on roses

These are a few of her favorite things at 15 and 3/4 months old:

She likes food, but she REALLY likes to eat, raisins, grapes, watermelon, whipped cream, CHOCOLATE ice cream (but any flavor will do), ravioli, meatloaf, ketchup, sweet potato fries from Scotty P's, bread, anything from Luby's, apple juice (its mostly water) and milk... but only from a straw.

She spends her days taking good naps, organizing and re-organizing and re-re-organizing her stuff, being outside, re-organizing things outside, playing with the water hose, reading lots and lots of books, loving on Beans, dancing and twirling until she's dizzy, brushing her teeth, talking (in what language? we don't always know) putting coins in her piggy bank, and going on walks and wagon rides.

Two of Leah's favorite things these days at her Bitty and Pops' house:

My old, yellow baby blanket... (She likes to lay her head on it and pretend to sleep... and then wallow on it)

And her Pops' new haircut! (It seems to bring good luck!)

Her favorite thing at her Grannie and GranStan's house is..... Water!!!!!!!! (And working her ice cream truck... which is not pictured here... but its the first thing she does when she gets there!)

Memorable Memorial Day

For many reasons, some funny, some bizarre, some serious... this may be one of my most memorable Memorial Days.

• I rode Kevin's 4-wheeler for the first time. In fact this was the first time I've EVER ridden one! I wore my bicycle helmet the whole time. I looked pretty awesome. I did like it... I had tons of fun and Kevin is SO excited about this.
• When nature called and we were out in the middle of the country, I got to use Kevin's "Bumper Dumper" for the very first time. Such a lovely name for a lovely invention. And... I found it to be surprisingly comfortable. Click here if you can't remember what one looks like. (Kevin was SO excited about this too.)
• Leah got her first busted lip! We were playing and laughing. She giggled and ran from me and tripped over her own feet and busted it on the hardwood floor! She was VERY sad, for about 90 seconds. Then it was all better.

(This is a good look for me... I know!)

There's some cuteness to counteract the first picture. Little Curley is still keepin it red neck though.

So great fun was had by the Curley family this Memorial Day. But I couldn't help but be much more emotional and sentimental this year. This holiday is a day that we memorialize all who have died so that, in this great country, we may be safe. Our service men risk their very lives so that we may do as we please and truly not even have to give much thought to what it costs!

Last week, the most emotional part of my Uncle Richard's memorial service was when the Color Guard folded the flag and gave it to my Aunt Dianna. It is always an emotional thing to witness and I couldn't help but think about how lucky we all were that she didn't receive that flag any sooner than that day. He served for 4 years in the marines, for many years as a police officer and then many more as a firefighter. He selflessly served, fought, protected, saved and survived! So many people like him do SO MUCH for us, and we do so little to honor them or to thank them.

So today and EVERY DAY let's remember to thank them, pray for them and THANK GOD FOR THEM!