Happy New Year!

Well, I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! It seems hard to believe that another year has passed... they seem to go by faster as I get older... I wonder why that is? Well, anyway, I just thought I'd share a few photos from our Christmas...

Christmas Morning - Trav & Tay

Trav - my little Gap model :)

3 generations of women ranging in age from 5 - 86!

Gram, me & Tay

Brother & Sister hugging on Christmas morning... now

that's a rare moment!

Just an update...

So... last Saturday Travis had his 1st basketball game... that was so cute! After that the 4 of us headed off to get our Christmas tree, and boy, was it cold out! Just wanted to quickly share a few before I head off to work & school...

Thanks for checking in :)

LouAnn

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's been a while, but I just wanted to add a quick little post to remind everyone that there is something to be thankful for. No matter what we are going through in our lives, personal, financial, whatever, somebody else is going through the same things. Some others have it worse off... I personally have a lot to be thankful for. I'm thankful for my 2 healthy, beautiful children! I'm thankful that my daughter has spunk (although it stresses me out) - she knows what she wants. My son, who's so thoughtful and obedient, is a true blessing as well...

So..... HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Eat up :)

And as usual... a couple of pics

My favorite goalie:

An innocent face:

3 more days....

I cannot stress enough - please vote! This is, in my opinion, the most important election in my years of voting. The economy is tanking, consumer confidence is way down and we are all stressed out and scared.

No matter who you decide to vote for each vote counts! I'll be there at the polls - hope to see you there!



ROCK THAT VOTE...

Happy Halloween...

Sharing a couple of pics from halloween...

MJ, Shane, Trav, Hannah, Aidan and Taylor (yes... she is Batman!)

Trav & Tay... I JUST THINK SHE ROCKS!

Trav does, too... he's so cute!

Hard work pays off... :)

So I just had finals in the 2 hardest classes I've taken so far... Critical Thinking & English Comp. My English Comp final was pretty easy, so I wasn't too worried about an A in that class, but Critical Thinking was hard! Depending on how I did on that final was going to determine how I did in the class for an overall grade. Well... I just received the following e-mail from my teacher (can you see my excitement??):

Hey LouAnn,
I just finished the grades. Congratulations! You got the second highest grade on the final exam: 178 out of 200 points and the highest grade in the class: 969 out of 1000 (A). In fact, you earned the only A in the class.

I am so proud that all my hard work paid off! I worked my butt off in both of those classes and between kids, soccer and work it was really hard. Mostly the guilt on having to spend so much time on this schoolwork that I really didn't want my family to suffer...Hence, sacrificing sleep.

Well, all for now... I'll post again later ~ Thanks for looking :)

LouAnn

It's a rare moment...

When my daughter actually allows me to photograph her...

And one of Trav, for good measure:

Happy Fall, Everyone!

2 cute kids...

Just sharing a couple from Saturday... it was a beautiful fall day - we went to Fort Foster in Kittery, which is a gorgeous park along the ocean... In all the years I've lived in Maine, it never ceases to amaze me how much of my own state I've never seen! Anyway, a friend of mine who I met at school asked if I would take pictures of her boys - thanks guys for letting me be a part of your memories!

Cute little guy...

Can you believe he's only 8?

Brothers...

Education...

I never realized until the last year how much I would value an education. Since returning to school a year ago I have learned so much and value it immensely. I have always considered myself a math person, and considering my degree program is in Accounting, I often wondered why I should have to take all these "useless" electives & "irrelevant" classes. Wow... I'm eating my words now!
I'm currently taking Critical Thinking and English Comp II... I am absolutely amazed how much I've been challenged and continue to learn - surprisingly I love it! Critical Thinking has forced me to evaluate my speaking (in a sense). It's about arguments: how to argue, evaluate arguments, write arguments, repair arguments and refute arguments (correctly). It's amazingly hard, but at the same time wonderful. I almost feel like I'm growing and changing for the better... crazy, huh??
In my English Comp class I have learned to appreciate literature so much more. I've always liked to read, but never realized how many of the classics I have never read... I tend to read less challenging novels, which are fine, but my reading list continues to grow and I will read all those books someday. I may have read (been forced to read) some in high school, but honestly I can't remember which ones and what they were about - I had no appreciation for them then. My reading list consists of:
Lord of the Flies
To Kill a Mockingbird (I know, huh?)
Pride & Prejudice (and other Jane Austen novels)
The Red Tent
Gulliver's Travels
War of the Worlds
Michael Creighton books and Flannery O'Connor as well...
Moby Dick
Of Mice and Men
The Great Gatsby
Weathering Heights
The Count of Monte Cristo

etc., etc., etc...

I have a lot of work ahead of me, don't I? But I feel so motivated to be even more educated...

When I decided a little over a year ago to go back to school I thought I was too old and I should forget about it, but thanks to the support of my family and friends I have realized that I'm not too old and I still have a full life ahead of me...

So, thank you for everyone who has supported me through this journey! I have 6 more classes (18 credits) until I have my Associate's Degree in Accounting, but I will continue after a small break to pursue my Bachelor's degree...

Love, LouAnn

My boy is 8!

I can't even believe it! It seems like just yesterday he was born... where does the time go? Her are just a few pics from his b-day on Friday (the 3rd) - we let him open some gifts before school... that made his day ;o )

a new bike (it seems so big!)

If anyone is out there...

Here's an update to our life:

It seems we constantly have something going on... between work/school/soccer/dance classes and plans every weekend I have failed to keep you all up to date.

A few weeks ago we were invited to a skate party - I have not roller skated since I was probably 12 or 13! Boy, was that fun! We now have a winter activity that is indoors when it's way too cold out to play!

All for now...back to studying. See you all soon!

Love, The Toveys

The Next Mia Hamm...

I must say my little girl has some natural ability! Took her to Trav's soccer clinic last night and of course, she had to bring her ball, too :)

1st Day of School

Well, my 1st born has entered the 3rd grade. This is his last year at Margaret Chase Smith school... Next year it's the "big school" with all the 6th graders - ugh... He also just lost his 1st tooth this weekend :o( Why must they grow up???

Dennis & Trav

Me & Trav

How can one child be so handsome?!

God... I just love this face!

It may be a while...

'Til my next post. Here we are... Labor Day weekend. After this weekend, life in the Tovey household will be completely chaotic, but I'll update as often as I can. Although, it is still "summer" according to our calendar, it is the end of summer in most people's eyes. School begins for us (Travis and I) on Tuesday, soccer season is officially here (Dennis is coaching Travis's team) and I mentally prepare for the very long winter ahead. I know we may not get snow for a couple months, a couple months goes by pretty quickly. I start to pull out sweaters, sweatshirts, jeans, jackets, hats, mittens, etc... I also begin to think about how nice it would be to move from here to a warmer climate, but also think about how much I would miss Maine. So, I just scheme on how we can make it to Florida for a vacation in the spring.
I must admit that I absolutely love Fall... the foliage is absolutely beautiful, apple picking, hay rides, carving pumpkins, getting ready for Halloween, taking pictures (of course) of my children in warm sweaters, trying to get them to cooperate for Christmas card photos, raking leaves then letting the kids jump in the piles.
The kids and I are also taking dance classes this year. Travis will try hip-hop, Taylor - ballet & tap, and I'm taking Jazz, tap & hip-hop. Our schedule will be as follows:

Monday: Taylor's dance class
Tuesday: I have school
Wednesday: Trav's soccer practice
Thursday: school for me again;Trav's dance class
Friday: nothing (yay!)
Saturday: soccer games (both kids)
Sunday night: Lou-Ann's dance classes

Of course, this is in addition to my job, Dennis's job & of course, homework ...eek! It looks worse on paper! Well, I suppose if I didn't keep busy I may get bored (??)

So... if nobody hears from me in a while, I'm still alive... (I hope)



and as usual I must share some pics:

My Handome Little Man

A very rare pic:'T'
Aaaaawww...
What a goober!
Trav on the far right at soccer practice...

Babies...

You gotta' love them... They're sweet, innocent, pure, (not to mention they smell wonderful!), warm, and the list goes on and on...

Last week I had the pleasure of photographing a 6 week old little boy - Oh, it made me just want to wrap him up and bring him home. He is absolutely beautiful! Thank you, 'Baby B' and to his mom, Shelly for letting me do this... Here are a few to share:

Thanks for looking ;0) Until next time....

LouAnn

Popping...

Ok... now this guy's insane! You gotta' watch this...

"The World I Live In Now"

This is the song my 7 year niece wrote... I must say I was pretty impressed when I listened to her sing it, but when I heard all the lyrics - Wow! :)








"I Know The World I Live In"


I think I know the world I live in now
I love the new faces I see right now
The world is saying all my words for me
Cause I'm silent and I can't talk
I can't breathe...

I'm happy just the way I am
I'm stuck inside my soul
I love the sky when it's blue
I love everything in my life
Cause it's not so perfect

Yeah

Everything is not what I planned to be...

by Miss "H"