My Majic Family

Posted by The Mac Fam at 3:50 PM | Permalink | Comments

I can only hope I look as good as she does when I am her age. I love you Grammy!!

Posted by The Mac Fam at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

My friend and fellow blogger Matt posed this question in his recent post, what was the best present you received and what was the best present you gave. For me personally the best thing I received was gift cards and money but I had the best time giving this year. Mostly b/c I love getting things for people that I know they really want. Here are some of the fun things I gave this year. I gave my best friend Jeanette a figurine from Willow which made her cry. She is so cute. My dad got the little boys a gameboy each but Brian and I were the ones who got the pleasure of seeing them open them. That was so great. Jared got a new bike. But the best present I gave this year was to my husband. Thanks to his best friend Rob who also happens to be one fourth of the group known as Pillar, Brian is going snowboarding in West Virginia for a weekend. I am not sure who was more excited, me or him. His face was a picture. Literally. See below. Here also, is a pic of the card I made to present to him.



After they got these gameboys, we barely heard another peep out of them the rest of the day.


Jared in this jacket we got him, he thinks he is very cool.


I know I am biased, but I think these are some good lookin' boys!

So, it's your turn now. What was the best thing you got and the best thing you gave. I really wanna know.

Posted by The Mac Fam at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments

Posted by The Mac Fam at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments

Just a little something to make you smile, or make Ronnie mad, one of the two.

Posted by The Mac Fam at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments

I have just had the most emotional weekend. There are a lot of contributing factors. 1. Attended a funeral Friday of a man who left this life much too soon. 2. My dad left Saturday for England for 3 weeks. On one hand I am ecstatic for him he will see his family again but on the other I miss him so terribly and can't imagine having Christmas with no parents. 3. I erased 3 picture files with a minimum of 15 pictures each. Can't recapture those images. And 4. I guess this sums up what really is making me fall apart. PMS. Basically I spent the better part of the weekend crying. There is so much more going on and life changing decisions are in the making but I am unable to disclose what those are at present. I will keep you up to date as I am able. Please pray for us. In order to make this post not totally depressing here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Dad with Jackson, Jared and Jayden


Me and Dad, oops he closed his eyes


Grammy (mom's mother) and dad (she bought him the jacket)


Jayden and Brian, I guess Rudolph was too much for him


My cousin Heather graduated Saturday


Heather and her dad

Posted by The Mac Fam at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments

I was surfing BE and came across this hilarious cartoon on Lisa's blog. Had to share it with the people who read mine. I love it!!

Posted by The Mac Fam at 4:31 PM | Permalink | Comments

Today, Thursday December 16th 2004 marks the 11th anniversary since my family (me, my son, Jared, sister Sarah, Dad and Mom) moved here to the United States from Lincoln England. Since that time my sister and I both got married, had kids (well I already had one but...), worked and quit several jobs between us, lived in numerous places, had countless birthdays, is this boring yet? Anyway, 18 months ago my husband took me back for my 30th birthday (crap, now you know how old I am hee hee) and my father leaves Saturday for 3 weeks to see his sister and brother for the first time since we left. So, here are a few of the sights from this wonderful place I was able to live.

View of Lincoln Cathedral


Lincoln Stonebow (this is really just a giant clock and a
place for people to riot on New Years Eve., at least when I lived there)


The Bailgate. This is tourist central. I worked in
3 different shops in this area.


Brian standing on Steep Hill, yes it really is.


Lincoln Castle


Big Ben in London


Buckingham Palace (The Queen happened to
be home on this day see the flag is up)


Although I am very thankful for the experience I am even more thankful to live here in the US.

Posted by The Mac Fam at 2:45 PM | Permalink | Comments

We are finished!! Well, for about 6 months anyway. On Monday December 13th we opened our 3rd Fuddruckers. Since I don't have much time or energy, here are the highlights.



We had a line out the door before we even opened.


Our first paying customers!


Our business partner and his family


Jeanette and her mother-in-law, Connie


Ronnie and his dad, Ronnie Sr.


Thats it in a nutshell. Everything has been so great since the opening and I finally remember what Brian looks like...hee hee.

Posted by The Mac Fam at 12:25 AM | Permalink | Comments

Wow, today is an exciting day for 3 very important people in our life.

Evan Reese who I affectionately refer to as "Eban" is 5 today.


Besty, my adorable friend from
Scottsdale is 28!


And my Uncle Joe ( I won't tell you
how old he is, hee hee)


Happy Birthday to all of you and we pray many blessings over you for the year to come. We love you guys!

Posted by The Mac Fam at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments

Very suddenly last night a great man went home to be with the Lord. George Tedford. He is survived by his wife Kay, 3 sons, 3 daughter-in-law's and 8 grandchildren. Please pray for peace and comfort during this most difficult time. They are the most wonderful close-knit family who all love the Lord. Services will be held later this week.

Posted by The Mac Fam at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments

I only have one second to post this. I am leaving in 15 minutes to attend the grand opening of our 3rd Fuddruckers!!! I am so excited. I will have a bunch of pics to post tomorrow but here are a few of my family that my grandma took from the V.I.P. Party yesterday. It was a huge success.

Grammy, Kristin and Jayden


Dad (he never smiles for pics)


Curtis (my cousin), Grammy, Kristin (his wife) and 2 of my kids


Jared


Me and Jackson


Jayden (cutie)


My Aunt and Uncle who drove 1&1/2 hours to attend.


And last but certainly not least, the man who makes it
the success it is. I love you Brian!!


There you have it! Be back later for all the info about the grand opening which I am leaving for right now! See ya!

Posted by The Mac Fam at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments

So, in a recent post I told you all how addicted to BE I was, am. Anyway, on most days between all the office work I have I surf between 50 and 100 blogs. And I gotta tell ya I have serious template envy. There are some really awesome templates out there. I would really love to change mine or even just jazz it up some but I don't want to lose all the "extras" I have added to the side bar and stuff. And I don't want to pay, yes I am cheap I admit it. There has to be someone out there who can help a lil ol' technology challenged chick. HELLLLLPPPPP! I am counting on YOU fellow BE surfers. Thanks!

Posted by The Mac Fam at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments

I want to share with you a story about my friends Martin and Betsy. I have known Betsy for about 4 years. We met when Brian and I became youth leaders. She was this young (well, she's still young) blonde, cute as a button chick with an adorable personality who changed her hair color as much as she changed her, well you know. I instantly liked her and loved being around her and hanging out any chance I got. What I also loved was how she sincerely loved my boys. Anyway, for the longest time we would just see each other during youth and youth events but all that changed when she got engaged to this equally adorable South African/Canadian named Martin. Martin and I met before they were even engaged and instantly hit it off (maybe b/c I am also Canadian). Betsy asked me or I asked her to work out together. I guess she wanted to get slim before she walked down the aisle (please, she was already slim). So, about 3 times a week we would get together and work out. At first it was a bit awkward and I think we laughed more than we worked but soon we got into a routine and I loved it. Then she came and stayed with me while my husband had to leave town for 6 weeks. At the time my middle son, Jackson was only 4 and a bit of a handful to say the very least. He is very strong-willed. Anyway, it seems that during this 6 weeks she stayed with us he got a spanking every morning (slight exaggeration) and it became a running joke with us that the morning wasn't complete if Jackson didn't get spanked. We would laugh and laugh. Well, yesterday morning (and this hasn't happened in forever) I thought of Betsy and smiled. Jackson had a rough morning and before school got a spanking. Ok, I am not cruel and do not love spanking my kids. I am thinking only Betsy will truly get this. (There is no need to call Family services)

So, anyway her and Martin got married and even asked my youngest son Jayden and my husband Brian to be apart of it. How honored were we. She was the most beautiful bride I think I have ever seen and it made it so special b/c we had watched this romance and they are so truly in love with each other.

.

The whole reason for this post is this: last year they moved away to Arizona to help pioneer a church called The Life at Scottsdale. It stinks they aren't here anymore and I have to admit, my waist line suffered slightly. But, that isn't the reason I miss them. We are friends and there are just certain people God brings into your life and you just know, no matter where life takes you you'll always be friends. Well, Martin and Betsy are those kind of people and even if our blogs are our only means of communication they will always be apart of my life.

I love you guys!!

Posted by The Mac Fam at 1:15 AM | Permalink | Comments

Well, I guess it's about time I gave some recognition to Blog Explosion which I joined about a month ago. I have to admit I wasn't really sure how well it would work if it worked at all. I have to say I am pretty impressed. I've had about a thousand hits to my site since joining and have found lots of interesting sites that I now frequent daily. The nicest thing about it for me was I didn't need anyone to explain it too me, hee hee. Anyone can understand how it works and once you see it working it's pretty cool and it's kind of addicting. So, if you surf in from BE leave me a quick comment to say you did and I will be by to visit you too!

Posted by The Mac Fam at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments

I guess Martha is still the Queen of creativity... hee hee

Hey, everybody:

Christmas will be tight this year for me, but I want to at least give you a little something. I've learned to make bedroom slippers out of maxi pads: You need four maxis to make a pair. Two of them get laid out flat, for the foot part. The other two wrap around the toe area to form the top. Tape or glue each side of the top pieces to the bottom of the foot part. Decorate the tops with whatever you desire, silk flowers, etc. These slippers are soft and Hygienic; Non-slip grip strips on the soles; built-in deodorant feature keeps feet smelling fresh. Just think, no more bending over to mop up spills; disposable and biodegradable; environmentally safe. Let me know what your shoe sizes are - shoes come in 3 convenient sizes: Regular, Light day, and Get out the Sand Bags. Check out the attached photo for a sneak peak at your wonderful gift! Happiest of holidays........Martha Stewart

Posted by The Mac Fam at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments

So, my sickness thing took a turn yesterday. That whole knife feeling when I swallowed changed into just a raw sore throat, head congestion and lots of drainage which of course also makes you feel nautious. I took the advice of several caring people and stayed home from work yesterday and stayed in bed. Today I am back at work, thanks for your prayers.

Anyway, the reason for this post is my oldest son. He has had a rough ride lately. Self-inflicted of course. He has been grounded from everything for like 6 weeks b/c he failed to turn in any of his math homework for the first nine weeks of school and got caught lying. This is a kid that all his teachers rave about. He is an A student when it comes to class work and tests but for some reason couldn't get the homework thing together b/c he was more focused on girls and hang time with his friends. You know I love this kid so much and am not going to let him suck in school when he has such unbelievable potential. We have had so many conversations about how I am fighting for him and I am on his side and I will do anything to help him but he has to make the right choices and tell me when assignments are due so I can help him. Not do it for him but help him. Okay, so you would think after 10 or so conversations like this and having no privileges for 6 weeks he would have it down. Not so. Last night I happened to say so when is part 2 of your History project due? And he was like oh yeah next Wednesday. And, I have to admit, I lost it. Wouldn't you? I wasn't yelling or anything but I was very passionate telling him that I can't keep doing this, that I am doing everything in my power to help him succeed and isn't he tired of not having a life and tired of having these conversations and on and on and he starts to cry. Well, so do I. My heart hurts. I love this kid so much and want him to be a success and I am begging him to tell me what I can do. But he has to make the choice to help himself. He went to bed upset and I cried and cried. There should be a support group for mom's of middle schoolers. So, I went to bed. I laid there and prayed and asked God to intervene and give me wisdom to say the right thing and you know what the Lord showed me? You probably know what I am going to say. He told me that this is the kind of thing that happens all the time with people. That God is sitting there begging us to make the right choices and that He is there all the time waiting to help us, wanting to help us and we break His heart daily b/c we don't make the right choices and we turn to each other before we turn to Him who has all the answers.

I am of the mindset that it is the parents job to make them do the right thing. Am I being too hard on my son? Please, if anyone has any advice I am very teachable.

Posted by The Mac Fam at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments