My Hero!

Amy finished the LLS TNT Marathon this past weekend in Nashville, TN in 5:29!! How amazing is that? Here are a couple of pictures of my hero, my sister, my friend.

Amy looking fabulous!


My hero!


She has been not only a dear friend, but an inspiration to me in how I want to live my life. She exceeded her goal and raised nearly $4,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and she's an amazing mom to two beautiful kids. I wish miles didn't separate us like they do, but our hearts are always near each other.

You did it, Amy!! Thank you for honoring me, and thank you to everyone who helped Amy reach her goal. Thank you, thank you, thank you to each and everyone one of you from the bottom of my heart.

With much love and gratitude from Texas,
Brandy

Our little arteest...

Olivia has been drawing since she could hold a pen. I found these 'pieces' that she did when she was a mere 3 years old using a green marker and yellow highlighter. :-)



Her school district recently held a Spring Art Show and we were sent home a letter saying her art would be one of the ones presented at the education complex. They had selected 8-10 drawings per school, from elementary through high school. We were really excited that her work was getting recognized. But then we got a call saying that she was one of 22 selected as a Joan Slayton Dailey Art Award Recipient! She had won a $100 art scholarship and her piece would remain at the education complex! WOW! Talk about icing on the cake. So this past Thursday night was the ceremony where she was presented with her award. Let me tell you that these kids are all amazing and talented artists! We were blown away by not only her work but those of other kids. Here are some pics from the night. Although we don't get to keep her original work, we will be sent a framed copy and I will make sure she signs and dates it! :)

Big sis and lil sis after the ceremony...


Cute Seth...


Olivia had her pick for dinner and she chose Fuddruckers! Yumm-O! I thought the table we were sitting at was appropriately named for us! LOL!


Daddy and Olivia bein silly...


Seth and his milkshake mustache...


Olivia sitting with the award recipients before the ceremony starts...the little boy next to her is in the same class as Seth and his cool Giraffe won Best in Show!

Olivia getting her award...the lady next to her used to be their school principal for over 18 years until she retired a few years back. She was especially proud to have two BCE students there!

Olivia and her art teacher, Ms. Otero, posing in front of her painting. She also won a blue ribbon on top of everything else!

Olivia next to her painting and award certificate.

Olivia's Desert Painting


Olivia right before the ceremony.

We took up two whole tables! Go Vargas Family!

Nicholas waiting patiently with his Blockbuster game!

Olivia waiting for the ceremony to begin.

We are so proud of Olivia and her amazing talent. It was a wonderful evening that I will forever cherish.

Now, we get to go art supply shopping for the little arteest...move over Crayola...you are soooo yesterday! lol!

Love to all,

b

This week in pictures...

We made it to our first Astros game this season! Too bad we couldn't take all the kids, but Olivia and Seth had a good time.

If you look closely, you can see George and Barbara Bush right in the first row, front and center.


Gabriel and Seth posing for a picture...


Olivia and Seth giving me some smiles!

We had awesome dugout seats and the weather was perfect!

Look who we ran into on the way to our seats!

Valerie and Nicholas having some fun...

Aren't they cute?!?

Valerie got hold of some scissors and went to town on the right side of her head. So, we chopped her curls and we'll try growing it out one more time. LOL!

Hiding behind her ball...

Nicholas and Valerie having fun on Olivia's old Barbie car!

Seth loves frogs, and we have some that live in our yard. So, he made them their own Town Flag - Froggy Town!

Our neighbor has this tree in their backyard and every year we get to eat some of their yummy fruit that falls in our yard. The kids love these!

The weather has been cloudy, but this was one of our last sunrises we had seen in over a week.

This was an awesome find and I just had to share...While at Sam's we found this HUGE Lazy Susan...for $30! We snatched it up and it's certainly made our dinners much more smoother. These dishes are so wide, they can hold a 3lb roasted chicken cut up. We LOVE it!

I have so much more to post, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. Until then...

~Sweet Dreams~

b

Our corner of the world...

I want to try to post some sort of weekly, maybe daily, little observation of life photos. I love having my point and shoot camera because I can finally take pics on a whim. So, to get things started these pics are about a week's worth of daily observations. I'll start off with our cute little nephew/cousin - Jhonen. We got a chance to babysit him a few weeks ago and it was absolutely wild having a baby in the house again! Olivia's mommy instinct took over and then he was out before we knew it!




Ok, so this stretch of road is normally clear, in fact it's not uncommon for most drivers to drive at least 65/70 mph on this road (but not me, because that would be illegal as the speed limit is 50mph!). ;-) Well, Tuesday afternoon we were bumper to bumper from the get go, and about midway through we were able to see the cause of this back-up. Seems a tow truck had some mechanical problems. At least it wasn't the entire stretch of this road - that could have easily been an hour's wait!




Here's the view from my office. I love staring up from my computer monitor and seeing all those green trees! If you squint hard enough, you can see Downtown Houston in the background.



Monday morning during rush hour...the skies were bringing rain but the sun was able to peek through. A lovely sight if only for a matter of minutes!



Ok, I was waiting in line at Walmart Friday late night (such a waste of registers - 20+ and yet only 5 or so were open!) and this poor little boy was nodding off in his cart while his mom was paying. He was just so cute I had to pull out my camera!



Friday evening we had an awesome sunset. The first is from a parking lot I pulled into just to take the photo and the second was from my sideview mirror...even that view took my breath away!



The kids' pediatric doctor's office moved to a new building and it was very cool. Nicholas has been battling a cold/cough and we just wanted to be sure it wasn't in his lungs. I regret not taking more pics of the lobby and even restroom! They have a fish/ocean theme throughout the suite and we happened to be in the Killer Whale Room! Oh well, next time we go I'll shoot away.(Nicky was fine by the way!)

So, if you see a crazy woman toting a camera around and taking pics of the oddest things...it's probably me! LOL!

Love to all,

Brandy

What type of fruit are you????

I'm a Banana, and I don't even like Banana's...LOL! I stole this from Wullie's Blog, who borrowed it from another blog...and so forth... I thought this was cute and it pretty much summed me up, not bad for a 2 minute quiz.

So, what type of fruit are you?

You Are a Banana

You are mellow, easy going, and a total softie on the inside. People find it really easy to get along with you. You suit most tastes. And while you're very sweet, you're not boring or ordinary. You have an attraction to the exotic, and you could show up anywhere... doing almost anything! You are spirited, energetic, and a total kick to be around. You're also quite funny. Your sense of humor is on the goofy side, and it fits you well.

What Type of Fruit Are You?

xoxo,
B

Cancer Fundraising Goals...

Have you taken a peak at the link over there to your left??? Go ahead, I know you want to look! My dear friend Amy has now exceeded her goal of raising $3,4oo for the Leaukemia and Lymphoma Society!! She has collected $3,880 so far - WOW! She ROCKS!!! Her marathon is coming up in a few weeks (April 26th), so please say a prayer and wish her well. I will post an update after she crosses that finish line!!

I decided to participate in a walk myself, this one for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life® event. Here's My Personal Page . I set a goal of $100 because a) it's my first time doing an event like this and b) I'm terrified of it coming back too soon and I won't be able to finish what I started. I know that's not a very positive outlook, but right now I'm taking it day by day and I'm just trying to get through this first year with clean scans. But after reading Julie's blog, I was just moved to join her sister's team and walk in her honor and I plan on doing it with or without cancer!

BUT, please know that I'll be more than happy to exceed that initial goal. :)

Ok, I'm off to bed...as Valerie says....

Sweet Dreams...
Brandy

A Very Nice, Long Vacation...

I was off Thursday and Friday, and it was a much needed break on my poor body! I was able to catch my breath and feel like I'm not one step behind everyone else. So, while I was off I took advantage of the beautiful weather. The kids and I went to the park Friday afternoon. It was fun for all!

Nicholas and Valerie having fun on the slide...

Taking turns on the tire swing...

Love to all,

Brandy