Monday, December 26, 2011

What's in a name?! :)

Taylor and I have been working on this since November and we've managed to keep it a HUGE secret. 
I love surprises! 
She has wanted to add Mingolla to her last name since she was about 15. Everything boils down to timing and the time has come. Here is the letter she gave her Dad, Grandma and Papa this year for Christmas. 

We are proud to introduce to you....Miss Taylor Rae Buck MINGOLLA!!!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Happy 20th Birthday Taylor Rae!

Happy Birthday Sweet girl!  we love and miss you and can't wait to see you!

Friday, December 9, 2011

Christmas 2011 Parade

Click to play this Smilebox slideshow
Create your own slideshow - Powered by Smilebox
Photo slideshow customized with Smilebox

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Izzy's Guitar concert!

We finally got the guitar to GA!  and Izzy wanted to do after school guitar lessons so we did that, too!  Here is the result of those lessons. We'll see if she wants to do it some more....

Note: go to the bottom of the page first and turn off the radio player I have on.

First song......WIPE OUT!

Next up......THRILLER!

and then there was.....MISSION IMPOSSIBLE!

and then there was this.....do YOU know what the song is?

and lastly......CAROL OF THE BELLS!  (This was her and Helen Marie's favorite of them all!)

Their instructor, Jonathan, said that they were actually his best class and that from going to nothing more than holding a guitar to this is a great achievement.

Tay sees her room for the first time!


Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Taylor's home!!!!!!!!!

Room makeover can now be revealed!  Happy Birthday Taylor Rae!!!!

What I started with...blank slate!


What she came home to......

TA-DA!!!!

This shot is the same angle as the one at the very beginning of this post showing you what I started with.

I took Steve's drafting table and made a vanity / work space for her here. The mirror was old and had some oxidation on it so to salvage it, I painted it black and put some polyurithane on it to make it shiny and then bought some wall decals in the form of a dandelion and put them over most of the problem areas on the mirror and then had them "blow" across the walls to the right and left of her mirror.

I made her a place to hang her earrings and play the role of "art" on her walls. I bought an old window ($10) and then put window screen on it with nail heads and hung it with green burlap ribbon from a crystal door knob. I bet this entire project cost me $15 tops. and it's so cute and functional. I need to make one for my
myself. 
 

  This is a close up of how the dandlions look on the wall. I love this color so much, it's like a buttery avocado!
 
We can't let her forget where she's from....

And THIS....believe it or not, was Izabella's changing table. I took off the top, sanded it down, painted it and put on some new knobs and vio-la! a brand new piece of furniture. This is where she'll put her TV and I'm going to get a piece of plexi to put on top of it to save it from scratches and I thought she could put pictures under it, too.


These are the 2 sayings that are hanging on the wall behind her bed....


And remember this? Because I did Tay's room, Izabella was jealous so we re-ARRANGED her room and now it's like a brand new room all over again...........


I love you Taylor Rae, you've been a blessing in my life and contiune to amaze me every day! 
Love, Susan

NOW........................... when will Mommy and Daddy get a makeover?!

Monday, November 7, 2011

Sneak Peek.....


Taylor wanted a sign on her door like the one Izabella got when I redid her room, so here you go!
All the hard work is done, now it's decorating time...the FUN stuff!  I love this green! 16 more days until she comes home and gets to see it! (hint...the sign has all the colors that are in the bedspread)

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Another room makeover coming soon!!!

AND I can't wait! Since Tay has moved in with us and will be here full time next Summer, it was time to make over her room, it's the only one in the house I've never touched. For 13 years, I think I was secretly waiting for this day to come and now it's here. I don't want to give away too much because it's going to be a total surprise and her birthday present that she'll get to "open" early. She and her roommate Emily are coming home for Thanksgiving, that's less than 25 days. I need to get busy!  I will try to post a before and after picture when it's done. But for now, you'll just have to wait!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Dr. Dave in the news!!!

Covenant unveils second surgical robot | Lubbock Online | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Happy 15th Anniversay Honey!

Ooo.... you make me live
whatever this world can give to me
It's you, you're all I see
Ooo... you make me live now honey

Ooo... you make me live
You're the best friend
that I ever had
I've been with you such a long time
You're my sunshine
And I want you to know
That my feelings are true
I really love you
You're my best friend

Ooo... you make me live
I've been wandering round
But I still come back to you
In rain or shine
You've stood by me
I'm happy, happy at home
You're my best friend.

You're the first one
When things turn out bad
You know I'll never be lonely
You're my only one
And I love
The things that you do
You're my best friend

Ooo... you make me live.
I'm happy, happy at home
You're my best friend

You're my best friend

Ooo... you make me live
You, you're my best friend.

Forever and always. Here's to the next 15! I love you more!

-Susan

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Hey there Stranger.....

My goodness....how time flies by. School, girl scouts, work and life just keeps on truckin... Let's see it has been since Feb since my last post, what has happened since then.

  • Valentine's day...
Flowers for Izabella from Me and Steve

These are all the cards from all of us to each other.


These are miniature orange roses, they lasted for about 3 weeks, they were so pretty.We hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day and were able to spend time with the ones that they love.
  • Girl Scout cookies are in and we are IN business....







  • Daddy's birthday...
Izabella likes to help me make Grandma's homemade icing for Daddy's birthday cake. This year, she wanted to decorate it, so we made some of it blue and voila!
He's been trying to diet so we had to make this on one of his "cheating days"...but yummy as always!
  • Getting the yard ready for this year....I think this is the BEST it's ever looked! Steve did a GREAT job!



  • Sleep in the Deep - Girl Scout overnight at the TN Aquarium...





  • Mother's Day

Friday, February 11, 2011

Jump Rope for Heart!

Thank you to everyone that helped with donations to Izabella's Jump Rope for Heart campaign. She earned $660 this year for this wonderful cause!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Busy..Busy..Busy...

Wow, I can hardly believe January is over and now we're almost 1/2 way into February. So much going on. Izabella's Brownie troop is selling girl scout cookies and she ended up selling 127 boxes. YAY! The troop is going to sell at several booths over the next few weeks and well see how many more we can sell. It's been fun.

Now, the Jump Rope for Heart is going on and she's trying to get more donations for that and she can't wait, because last year, she earned the most money at her school and then she came down with Strep throat and couldn't jump rope on the day of the event. She was so upset. So, we're doing it again this year.

Her Brownie troop is always working on another patch and this one is for Community Service and they've chosen the local animal shelter to work on. They are in the process of gathering donations of shredded paper, blankets, towels, wet cat/dog food, pillow cases and then they will take a tour of the facilities and then they will work with the cats. They will get to play with them, groom them, read to them and they will get to see what it's like at the shelter.

Izabella also got her 2nd report card a few weeks ago and it was straight A's again. She's really excited that she will be able to sign up for the Spelling Bee next year. They can't do that until they are in the 4th grade but she's already working on it. :)

We'll see what the rest of the month brings us....

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Time for some catch up....

Both of our computers have been on the blink since end of December so I haven't been able to update in a while so I'm going to go in reverse to get caught up. First up....Christmas!




Then...you might have heard that we got a little snow that shut the whole city down for an entire week....but it was beautiful and fun anyway! Mr. Tim took Izabella and Christina sledding at the school. Reminded me of when I used to find a underpass near loop 289 and I'd climb up the side and slide down. good times! who doesn't love snow?

Then...when the sun finally came out....it was time to get outside and have some fun with the pups!

and NOW you are up to date! We love and miss you all and can't wait to see you soon!