Girls Weekend in Florida

My longtime girlfriends from graduate school gather once a year, this time in Florida. We had a great time!

Vacation update

Hello, We're on vacation this week, but we have a computer with us, and a camera... so, thought I'd say hello via the blog. We started out in Oxnard, where we stayed at a hotel at the beach. It had a great pool, which the kids LOVED. And we had our bikes with us, (Jeff just bought one, with a seat on the back for Andrew), so we had a great time biking along the beach as a family. Julia loves to ride her bike!

With the Holman grandchildren all in one place (Brad and Kim and Kira were at the beach too), it was an opportunity not to be missed. Here are Nana and Grumps with Kira, Julia and Andrew, sitting on a great driftwood log Nana and Grumps found.

And we took the opportunity to get a rare picture of the four of us together. I have so few pictures of the whole family, since one or the other of us is always behind the camera.

We are in Big Bear now, but I haven't downloaded pictures from here yet. We've been having a great time exploring, climbing rocks, biking, boating, board gaming, and napping. Today we're going to try the ski lift which should be a fun new experience for the kids.

So long from here!

Intuit QuickBooks Jingle Generator

I'm very excited about this cool new marketing program my team launched late last week. Check out the video on YouTube. You can also follow Tommy Silk on Twitter (www.twitter.com/tommysilk), or be his friend on Facebook or MySpace. Be sure to create a jingle for your favorite small business and pass it along!

Julia and GG

We spent the morning at the beach yesterday for Julia's 4th birthday party. We had a fanstastic time, got great turnout, and even saw a pod of WHALES go by! There are tons of amazing pictures of all the fun. So many that I'm going to have to share them via shutterfly, or load a slideshow or something. But I'll put a few up here on the blog too, starting with this one of Julia and Jay. We were very glad GG was able to join us at the beach. And I must say she looked fabulous in her red sweater. Here's the birthday girl (complete with princess tiara) and her beautiful Great Grandmother on a driftwood log at the beach:

Happy 4th Birthday to Julia!

Julia is FOUR!

Today was such a fun day. It started with the opening of just one gift in the morning from Nana and Grumps, this darling ballet outfit complete with tiara. She LOVES it and wore it all day long.



This evening after Jeff and I got home from work, we gave her the "big gift", a brand new big girl bike. Here she is giving it a whirl around the driveway. Excited hardly describes it.

Here is the birthday girl with her cake. She put the candles in herself, with a little help from Andrew who added a 5th candle (one to grow on?!) The cake, per her request, was chocolate with pink icing and strawberries on top.

Andrew really enjoyed the cake too.

Today was just the beginning of a series of birthday related events. Tomorrow Benne and Grandpa come over to celebrate and, and then on Saturday we are meeting a bunch of Julia's friends at the beach for a Cinderalla Birthday Beach Bash. Turning four is the best!

Me and Maggie

 

Here she is, my new neice Maggie! Tiny and cute as a button. She was 4 days old in this picture (last Saturday.) So special to be able to hold a baby so young. Welcome to the family little Maggie!

New pictures of the kids

I've been posting everything but pictures of the kids these days, an unusual run for me. So, back to the roots of this blog. Here are some cute pictures Jeff took of the kids recently.

 

 

 

Maggie arrived today!

It has been a very happy day today for our family! Andrea and Craig welcomed a new baby girl into the family. She is absolutely adorable. Her name is Marguerite, or Maggie for short. (My middle name is Marguerite, and I am quite proud and pleased to have such a special connection to my new niece. )

I was very lucky to have been in the hospital when she was born, and so I got to meet her when she was less than a half an hour old. She weighs only 5 pounds, 13 ounces, which is really quite small. Very very small. She is perfect and completely adorable. Big blue eyes.

Andrea is doing very well. I spoke to her again this evening over the phone and she sounded in great spirits. She's floating on cloud nine.

I am also very proud to report that I was the first to change little Maggie's diaper, which was a messy, sticky treat. (Actually it wasn't technically a diaper change, since she wasn't even wearing a diaper, she was that new. So I cleaned her up and put on her very first diaper. The first diaper of a nearly continuous string for 3 or so years...!) Those tiny little arms and legs were flailing about, and she didn't like it one bit. Those newborn diapers are sure tiny. And believe it or not, it seemed big on little Maggie. How quickly we know she will grow.

I feel very privileged to be part of this special day for Maggie, Andrea and Craig. Congratulations to them, and a very warm welcome to Maggie!

Landscaping Inspiration

I'm testing a new way of showing a slideshow, this time through Picassa WebAlbums. How do you like this compared to Pictobrowser?

These pictures are from my friend Kristin's house. I love how she created texture on the ground with the squares. I have a shady side yard where not much will grow, and this could be a great way to create interest. She has a great sense of style.

New name for my blog

I decided I needed a better name for my blog than "Laurel's Blog." So, I changed it. I chose Set of the Sail because of the quote "Tis the set of the sail and not the gale Which determines the way they go." It's from this longer poem from Ella Wheeler Wilcox:

One ship sails east and another sails west
With the self-same winds that blow.
Tis the set of the sail and not the gale
Which determines the way they go.
As the winds of the sea are the ways of fate
As we voyage along through life,
Tis the act of the soul that determines the goal,
And not the calm or the strife.
-Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Credit for finding this poem goes to my father, who once, very long ago, gave me a copy of this quote, in a little frame. I have kept it for years, transferring it from one apartment and home to another, until I settled into my current home and gave it a more permanent and prominent place on my dresser top. I don't remember when my father gave it to me, nor what he said when he did, but I can guess that the quote touched him in the same way it touches me now. He probably has no idea that I have kept that little thing for so long, and that I have valued it as much as I have. He reads this blog, so I guess he knows now. : )

Sometimes I encounter people who are struggling, and I often want to give them this quote. I think embracing it in your own life is one of the most challenging feats you can accomplish, but if you do, one of the most meaningful and rewarding. So much of my personal history seems to evolve around my efforts to set my sail. So, it seems a fitting place from which to derive the new name of my blog. Thanks, Dad!