Taylor Swift - Kansas City 2011

Saturday was SUPER busy & exciting! I had two book signings with some fabulous awesome authors - Tamara Hart Heiner, Steve Westover, and Stephen Chase - at some fun book stores - Far West Country Store (Far West, MO) & Eden Bookshop (Liberty, MO). Both signings were fantastic! I got to talk to lots of people and sign books - which makes any author happy.  =)

But then . . . then the awesome awesome awesome part of the day began. (Yes, I totally meant to say awesome 3 times in a row.)

I met my hubby after my last signing, nabbed my daughter and off we went to see TAYLOR SWIFT!!!

It was our very first concert. What a fun thing to share together as a mother-daughter team. The concert itself was worth every single cent we paid for the tickets at Arrowhead Stadium. There were tons of fireworks, a snow storm, acrobats, dancers, and a flying balcony, just to mention a few of the cool extreme factors during the performance.Taylor's Sparks Fly video highlights the live concert. Isn't it awesome?



One of the best parts was being in a stadium with 50,000 other people who all sang every single word to every single song Taylor Swift performed. The energy was incredible! We had aisle seats, so we had extra room to dance. And man did we ever dance. And yell, scream, and chant! We were on our feet for the whole two hour concert - dancing and singing together.

 I had t-shirts made for MJ and I just for the concert. On the front it says "LONG LIVE - Remember This Moment" which is from our favorite Taylor Swift song, Long Live. This is definitely one of those mother-daughter moments I'll cherish forever, just for all the fun and laughter we shared.

Thanks for writing such incredible songs, Taylor!















September Blog Hop Winner

Before I log off for the day, I want to announce the winner of the Butterscotch Necklace. Thanks to Random.org for choosing the winner, which was #21 . . .

Laurie LC Lewis!

Please email me your snail mail info and I'll get the necklace out to you!

All Because Two People Fell in Love

This weekend is my 13th wedding anniversary. Some say that 13 is unlucky, but it's my hubby's favorite number. So I'm holding out for the best year ever!

With my anniversary approaching, our past, present, and future has been on my mind. I started going through our photo albums - both scrapbooks and everything digital. It's been fun to reminisce, to see how much we've grown (both in numbers, spiritually, and personally). I wanted to put together a brief photo collage - just one or two pictures of our family from each year. I'm such a visual person. This is what happens when two people fall in love . . . I can't wait to see what the next 13 years bring!

August 20th, 1998

I married my very best friend, John Ferguson.

He makes me laugh, curls up with me when I cry, and loves me perfectly.

Christmas 1999

Our first child, Isaac, was born in August.

He was such a happy little guy and made us into a real family.

August 2000

Isaac turns 1 year old!

 

Fast Forward to Fall 2003

I don't have my pictures scanned for the years between.  =)

Isaac (3) and his sister MJ (2) playing together at the Pumpkin Patch.

This was one year after Isaac was diagnosed with autism. I was so grateful he had MJ, his very best friend and favorite person to play with.

 August 2004

We welcomed another little boy to the Ferguson Clan - Rob!

 

Rob (2 weeks), Isaac (5) and MJ (3)

Isaac graduated preschool and started Kindergarten. 

MJ started preschool.

Mom and Dad stressed, but kept up their weekly date nights!

2005

A trip to Washington coast for a week as an anniversary trip . . . 

and lots of fun museum visits with the munchkins!

 

Isaac (6), MJ (4),  and Rob (1)

 

2006

Isaac (7) and Mom at the zoo.

MJ's Preschool graduation.

MJ (5) and Rob (2)

 

One December 27th, we buckled up and moved to Kansas!

2007

Our last little girl, Anna, was born in February.

Anna (hours old), Rob (2), Isaac (7), and MJ (6)

2008

 

Isaac's baptism (with Aunt Lindsey).

Isaac (8), MJ (7), Rob (3), and Anna (1)

Our first 5K together as a family (with Jill Hessler & her son).

2009

MJ's baptism on January 23rd

Isaac (9), MJ (8), Rob (4), Anna (2)

 Isaac (10) and MJ (8)

Rob (5) and Anna (2)

2010

We *heart* Special Olympics!

Isaac (11)

First Daddy-Daughter Dance

MJ (9) and Dad

Rob's Kindergarten Hoe Down (gotta love Kansas!)

Anna (3) and Rob (5)

2011

Isaac (then 11 - just turned 12!)

 

MJ (10)

 

 Rob (then 6 - just turned 7!) and Anna (4) at the Primary Talent Show

So many gorgeous, wonderful blessings. 

All because two people fell in love . . .

Happy 13th Anniversary, Sweetie!

Keeping Up with 1st Graders

Today I accompanied my first grader on his very first field trip. We went to a farm/orchard. It was totally fun and quite the work out. We were almost constantly walking for about four hours. My Fitness Pal chart better be liking my exercise today!  =)

Here are a few of our favorite pics:

 We saw lots of gourds of all different colors and sizes.

 We just might use some of these for our yearbook!

 Rob and I both laughed about this sign at the piglets pen!

 Rob's favorite animals we visited - this very loud, opinionated gaggle of geese!

 Me and my favorite first grader!

After we all got on the bus to head back to the school, Rob and I snuggled up. Then I fell asleep until we arrived back at our school - a little over an hour away!  Those first graders really know how to wear a mom out! 

Some Pennsylvania Love - Part One

It's been two years since I've been back home to Pennsylvania. Two years is way too long!

Each time I go home, I get all teary-eyed and feel so comforted as I drive through the Allegheny's thick green trees (or bright gold colors of the flaming foliage depending on the time of year). I have so many good memories of growing up there, exploring and hiking through the forests and mountain in my own back yard and all over the valley.

I got to take my munchkins to some of my childhood haunts, of which Flemington Park and Knobel's Amusement Park were their favorites!

I was surprised how many of the original playground equipment was still at Flemington park! The huge metal slides, the monkey bars, and the black horse merry-go round. The boys loved the diggers - which I still remember when they were new! We went across the way to the big wooden play area & climbed the metal "ship" ropes. Isaac even turned in super fast circles on the tire swing - at least until I told him the story of how my mom had taken my brother Harry and I to Burger King, then over to play at the park. The tire swing was my favorite! So I turned in circles as fast as I could - then ended up puking all over the ground! It was funny to laugh about with my kids. Here are some fun pics from Flemington Park:

 I totally remember playing on this exact same slide, the horse merry-go-round, and the older kid merry-go round a little further down - and quite a few other things as well. It was so fun to watch the kids enjoy them as much as I did!

 Both of my boys really enjoyed the diggers!

Monkey bars are a huge hit with my family. My kids were totally delighted to discover multiple sets of monkey bars of different sizes and shapes. Such fun!

After playing at the park, my sister said, "Who wants arritas?" The kids and I were all confused, trying to figure out what spanish word she was saying. Then we discover a Rita's is a restaurant that serves yummy ice cream and italian ices! It was the perfect thing to cool off!

Oklahoma Family Vacation - Part Three

This is my last post for our Oklahoma trip.

Of course, while we were on vacation spent quite a bit of time playing family games together. Rob - my five year old - became quite the Yahtzee champion. That boy has got the Yahtzee magic touch!

We played lots of games - Monopoly, Kings on a Corner, Skipbo, Disney Memory, Go Fish, and more! Anna was quite funny. She added her own little "MoJo" flavor to everything she did - a special way to shake the dice, a silly giggle, or a sassy little dance for whenever she did something great. She was such fun to play with!

I am going to end this series with our trip to the Botanical Gardens. At first glance, this destination looks really tiny - and definitely on the dinky side. We were super surprised when we started following the paths and discovered a HUGE set of gardens that went on and on and on! Our kids absolute favorite part was the Japanese Gazebo & pond. The pond looks totally disgusting - all green, yucky water. We watched some cute baby turtles swim around. As we were leaving, we discovered a bucket filled with fish food. We paid for a cup, then went over and tossed a few pebbles in - hoping for a few fishies. There were TONS of huge, color fish - all lurking under that yucky green water, just waiting for someone to toss them some food. We continued tossing in a little at a time. The kids laughed and laughed as the fish jumped over each other trying to get their fair share! It was a really fun surprise!

This concludes our pics from our Oklahoma Family Vacation. I hope everyone is having a great summer. Take advantage of every minute! The start of school is coming up!