Where the heck...?

Where are The Nadwodnys? 

Oh...we're still here. 

I just have to say... working in payroll and human resouces at the end/beginning of any year is OUT OF CONTROL!  Open Enrollment for insurance as well as wrapping up all the paychecks and decutions then making sure that all the next year stuff is correct...well...CRAZY, BUSY stuff people!  But...seriously - I love my job!!!  Time sure flies though!  :-)

Dylan has wrapped up his 1st marching season with his high school band and I am THRILLED to say that they WON STATE!!!  They are the Texas Class 5A State Champions!  So proud and excited to be a part of the Marcus High School Band.  GREAT JOB Everyone!

The above picture was taken just after the medallion cermoney at the school.  They received their gold UIL medal for the State Championships and the other medal is for placing 1st in the State 5A Bands of America Competition.  It was held the same weekend in October that the UIL competition was.  We went down there to cheer them on.  It was a BLAST!  So memorable.

Dylan also has been doing well in high school.  Still making good grades and making us very proud of his accomplishments!  We are blessed!

Riley is playing the saxophone and doing really well at that.  I think he sounds GREAT and he really seems to enjoy it.  He also is doing good with his studies.  He's holding all A's and a couple of B's in his classes.  He LOVES to play videos in his spare time - what 12 year old guy doesn't.  He's still a reader!  Momma loves that! :-)

The above picture is just one of him practicing - in his room. 

Well, short and sweet gotta run for now.  Hopefully I will post again soon (for my momma!  :-))





It's a Band thing!

Ooops...missed blogging that whole first month of school.  Sorry. 

Well, we're off and running - or marching should I say.  Dylan is in the Marcus High School Band - and loving it!  They are 2 games away from finishing the regular football season (marching season)  and they are also two competitions away from being done with the marching competition part of their school year too.  They have done SO well!  One show they placed 2nd, two shows they placed 1st.  They have also qualified to go to the state UIL competition.  So exciting!!!  Ron and I will be heading down to San Antonio for a day to watch that competition!  Exciting!  There are several other local high schools that made the state competition too and it's really interesting to see all the performances.  We're wishing everyone good luck!

By the way - Riley is playing saxophone in the middle school band and is sounding REALLY good!  I cannot wait to see his music career unfold!  (These boys make us really proud!)

Well, short and sweet...here's some pictures, of course!  :-)

Dylan in his "shadow" uniform - his "role" in the show with his brother Riley.

Dylan is 3rd from the right.  (they were capturing their Christmas card entire band photo)

A picture of the entire band at the end of the performance.  (they were trying to capture a shot for their Christmas card)

This is one of the final formations....LOVE when they march in lines toward us and play loudly!  Cool!!!



This is just before they move into formation to begin their show.  (I get a little choked up!  It's quite a show.  ALL of these kiddos should be SOOOOO proud!)



A momentous occasion

We officially have a high shooler (Dylan is in 9th) and a middle schooler (Riley is in 6th)
Oh my goodness!!!

Came and went

Well...August 2010 came and went...

Dylan started high school band camp (plays the trumpet).  Every day for 3 weeks!  Outside in the morning and evening.  Yes, people...in Texas...in 100 degree weather.  So proud of him for doing this!  It was quite a thrill to see him perform the school song and fight song at the first game with the entire band.  Makes a momma proud.

Dylan also turned 15 last week.  So now the driving instructions begin.  I truly an amazed, daily, that I am about to have a grown up as a child.  It's crazy!  It really seems like just yesterday I was holding my sweet first born son in my arms.

Riley started middle school and will turn 11 in just a few weeks.  That's a shock to my system too.  He really was my baby just a few short years ago.  But he's making a momma proud too.  He is also in band.  Playing the saxophone just like his dad!  :-)

They are both smart, good kids.  They truly are the best of both of us parents and make us so happy!

Ron and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary on August 18th.  While it was VERY hard to leave the boys behind (in capable hands - thanks MiMi) Ron and I spent a week in Key West, Florida.  Other than the humidity it was beautiful.  We had the beach to ourselves most mornings and enjoyed beautiful sunrises and sunsets in our oceanfront room.  We had a blast touring Duvall Street and Mallory Square.  The lighthouse was pretty cool.  Hemmingway house was very interesting as was The Little White House.  I really didn't realize there was so much to do there.  I was looking forward to a quiet week on the beach but was excited to actually have so much shopping and dining so close at hand.  We'll try a very laid back beach vacation for our 25th - promise!

Anyway - as the school year kicks off and the year winds down my work life is crazy busy - but it's all good!  We are very blessed to both have jobs and we love our quiet little life.

I'll leave ya'll with pics from our trip as well as our boys on the first day of school!  Enjoy!

A beautiful sunrise in Key West

Key Lime Pie!

Sunset at Mallory Square over Palm Island

1st night...ready to relax!

THE gathering place at sunset

Yummy Seafood!

Lunch view in Key Largo.

Front of The Little White House

Back of The Little White House

On our 20th anniversary in Key West (not loving that my hair was up but the humidity...AYE!!!)

At the beginning of a road!  (the end was on the other side of the street...yeah...we took a picture there too!  :-)

Our resort.  Southernmost on The Beach Key West.

Hemmingway House

We climbed to the top of the Key West Lighthouse.

I AM an island girl!

My relaxed hubby!

A beautiful spot!

Our beautiful ocean front room.

Us at the southernmost point in the continental U.S.!

Only 4 bags packed!  Ready to go!  (surprised myself!!!  we did ship a box home though!)

Summer Lovin'

Ooops! Where did June go? The boys got out of school. Dylan had high school band camp right away (going to be a freshman in high school). Then he got braces. Riley's just chilling. I've been working 4 long days to have some Friday free time and weekends off... The month is just gone!

Ron and I are planning to go to Key West for our 20th anniversary next month. Yea! :)

But...I'm sad we aren't going back to Destin this year. :(

This is the first time in a LONG time that we haven't went.

We're taking the boys to Schlitterbahn later this month so that should be fun.

We're also painting lots of stuff around here (the home). We're tackling bathroom cabinets, the boys bedrooms, the shed. We're staining and finishing the awning in the backyard we started a while back. We're also repainting the main areas of the house when we get done with all of the above. So...yeah...it's the year of taking care of some house things more so than the vacation relaxing thing. It's all good! We gotta take care of the place AND we're planning a BIG family trip for next year! ;-)

Anyway...just a quick update so you know we haven't fallen off the planet. And on that note...a pic of Destin to stare at anyway...sigh...

Under the big top

No we didn't go to the circus. :-) Ron and I went to see Jimmy Buffett on his Under The Big Top Tour.

Ron LOVES his music. It's the most played on his ipod. ;-) I like it too - just not THAT much.

We had a great time listening to the music and people watching. Those parrotheads (his fans) are INTERESTING!!!

I would go again.

Stuck in the snow? Heck no! It's spring - almost summer here!

Soooo...yeah....those snow pictues have been up waaaay toooo long!

Recently I went to Fredericksburg with some friends. We had a wonderful drive down seeing all the bluebonnets! Beautiful! We had a great time shopping too, of course.

While we were there we stopped at a "flower farm". The beautiful red poppies caught our eye from the road. What a joy to walk through the rows and rows of flowers. A real treat! It was a true reminder that spring is here. It'll be summer soon.

Here's a slide show of some of the pictures I took. (Yes - lots of poppy pictures - sorry. They were amazing!)

Snow Scenes

This was a pretty snowy winter here in the DFW area. One day we even broke the record and it snowed 12 inches in one day! The most ever! So before spring break hits in a few weeks take a moment to look at some of the pictures I captured. We sure had a blast!