tutu modeling

Kailyn agreed to be a tutu model for my friend Shannon from S&G Photagraphy. The pictures turned out really great. I think we will get our family pictures taken again this fall some time. Shannon is soooooo amazing- a true artist.
Click here to see the pictures larger.

Joe Biden can sing!!! (auto-tuner can help anyone)

this made me laugh.

#1 Dad

It has been said that one of the most important things a women does in her life is to choose who will be the father of her children. When Travis was literally put in my path I had strung together a long list of stupid choices. I am soooooo glad that something in me recognized he was everything I would need and more and that I was able to make an amazingly brilliant choice when it really mattered. I rely on his love, friendship, strength and support more then I could ever express in words.

My kids are soooooo lucky to have him. It doesn't bother me at all that he is the favorite and that they treasure the relationship they have with him so much.

I am so grateful for the example he is to them and to me.

I gave the kids some scrapbooking supplies and they each made Travis a card.

Kailyn wrote this in hers

#1 Dad

My Dad is my hero my best friend

the coolest dude ever that ever lived

he shows me a path of being a parent

I love him more then anything

Allias wrote,

#1 Dad

You are the BEST anyone could have!!!

You are a star that stands out from the rest of the Dads!!

Awesome

Amazing

A in Dad/Father Skills

he also wrote this poem on the back of his card-

Thanks for influencing my life in a good way and always being their for support.

You're a Dad that really rules

especially when you are always there.

You're a great encouraging tool

and there when I need you

always for comfort and care,

I think of you as really cool.

Who would mess with the master, because I wouldn't dare.

Tyler made a chart showing off the difference in their Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3 skills with Travis' level being somewhere near the bottom and Tyler's level off the charts.

They aren't competitive or anything. He also wrote that even though his card was plain it was more meaningful and that he had wanted to get Travis a Halo 3 action figure but mom chose an MP3 player. He made sure to put Happy Father's Day and I love you!

I am also so grateful for my own dad and the friendship he and I share and for my step dad who has always been there for me and is so perfect for my mom. I love them both dearly.

So You Think You Can Dance

Overall I was disappointed with the show this week. My favorite part of the show was when they showed Evan's brother trying out for next season. That guy has serious talent. If he doesn't make the show they should totally hire him as a choreographer.

I am beginning to feel like they chose dancers that are amazingly technical but totally lacking in the personality department and this week even the dancing wasn't even that great. I didn't like the choreography on either of the hip hop routines and I thought the Tango Philip and Jeanine danced was probably the WORST I have ever seen.
I am also getting annoyed with the judges. They seem to cry over anything and I am starting to feel like this is going to be another classic example of the theory that when everyone is super no one will be.
I thought Brandon and Janette danced that insanely fast disco routine very well but I don't like either of them.
I enjoyed Max and Kayla's routine and I was sad to see Max go. There are sooooo many contemporary dancers this season and I thought Max had been fantastic so far. I would have rather seen Kapona go. I didn't like his solo at all and I hate it when they compare him to Mark from last season. They are NOTHING alike.
I liked Vitolio and Asuka's routine up until Mary started blubbering all over the place. Then I was like ummmmm yeah and the only other routine I thought was even half way decent was Johnathon and Karla. I agree with Mary that he danced it better then his own style. He really doesn't do his own style very well actually.
I also would have chosen to keep Ashley over Caitlin- even though I hated her solo.

I watched the show so late I didn't get to vote but if I would have probably voted for Vitolio and Asuka and possibly Kayla and Max.

Limer

My green kangaroo is celebrating his GOLDEN birthday today. He is now old enough to go to church dances, start high school in the fall and in his words--- He is another year closer to being able to date. I am sure all the girls can hardly wait!!!!!

Allias James was born June 14th 1995

I kissed Travis goodbye that morning and about two minutes later I had a pool of water at my feet. I didn't go into labor so they induced me that afternoon. He was born at 6:11 PM

He was my smallest baby weighing in at 7lbs 12 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long.
He was a few weeks early but I wasn't complaining. There were six Lisa Nelsons having babies at the same doctor's office at the same time but I am pretty sure I took home the right kid.

He was a daddy's boy right from the start.

He cried for the first two months of his life. After we figured out he was having digestion issues and put him on a special formula he became the sweetest baby ever.

His first word wasn't mommy or daddy. It was ball.

We called him Punkin until he was at least four.

After that we started calling him Limer or Linus.

He is my biggest helper around the house and the only one that keeps his room clean.

He has ALWAYS been concerned with making sure his outfit is just right!

Allias is such a great example to me. He has such a strong testimony of prayer. He says he even prays over the DVD player when it isn't working right, but he has also seen miracles happen because of his faith.

He is a great brother---- Kailyn and Tyler are soooo lucky to have him.

Win or lose he roots for the Seattle Seahawks, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Duke Blue Devils.

He is an AMAZING clarinet player and has been first or second (only twice) chair his entire middle school career.

I can't believe he is growing up.

Happy 14th Birthday Allias!!!!!! I am so proud to have you as my son!!!

So You Think You Can Dance!!!!!

I LOVE THIS SHOW!!!!!!! Even more then Idol.
This may be the most trained best technical dancers they have had in their top 20. I hope they have personalities to match.
My early favorites from the auditions/Vegas are
Asuka
Evan (I wish his brother would have made it too)
Phillip (I am pretty sure he will surprise me all year)
Vitolio (crazy that he grew up in an orphanage)

My Notes from the show
I ♥ Cat Deeley

Couple #1 Jeanine and Phillip
Love when the do "soft" hip-hop
Amazing Brilliant choreography
I can't even believe this is the first dance of the season. Soooo brilliant! I voted for them.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Couple #2 Asuka and Vitolio
Asuka could seriously be a model she is so pretty.
The dance was pretty good but I agree with what the judges are saying about personality and character. I like both of them though so I voted for them A LOT.

Couple #3 Karla and Johnathon
Not sure about them being paired up. I do like the Cha Cha danced to Poker Face though- pretty cool. Johnathon has way to much of a baby face to look sexy. LOL but he is pretty adorable.
Mary is annoying- I usually like her but wow she is even more over the top then normal tonight.

Couple #4 Randi and Evan
They are both so stinkin cute. I think I like Randi- she looks really cute with curls too. The Choreography is fantastic and I totally agree that they danced it very TALL. I voted for them.

Whoooaaaa Nelly there are wayyyyyy too many commercials!
Couple #5 Paris and Tony
YAY!!!! More Hip Hop
Super fast choreography for the first show of the season. I hope they can keep up its insane. They really don't have any chemistry but I don't agree with the judges they did just as well as anyone else so far.

Couple #6 Caitlin and Jason
I originally thought they picked the wrong sister for the top 20 but she is actually out dancing Jason. WOW!
And Mary is at it again. I hope she mellows a tiny bit.

Couple #7 Brandon and Janette
Brandon gets on my nerves for some reason. The dress is gorgeous. No chemistry but they danced decently. The last lift was CRAZY.

LOL at Mary's botox comment. I could totally tell that she got her lips done during the Vegas shows!

Couple #8 Ashley and Kapona
I LOVE Wade. This routine is totally mesmerizing but Mary was right during the auditions. Kapona dances like a girl.

Couple #9 Melissa and Ade
Kind of boring and I don't really like her. After the judges crazy praise I rewound it and watched again to see if I missed anything and it was nice but still bored me a bit.
Mary screaming isn't special anymore she has been doing it all night.

Couple #10 Kayla and Max
wow they look wayyyy good in rehearsals!!! Dang they soooo NAILED it. Kayla looks like she has been dancing ballroom her whole life. I am really liking her now. ♥ I voted for them too but was only able to get through a few times because the lines closed.


I am honestly going to hate seeing any of these guys go home. They are all really really good. I think they should let us watch them all dance for a few weeks and then start the voting!!!! Dial Idol shows everyone as being safe- maybe they know something we don't!

If Asuka and Vitolio get to stick around I hope they get a routine that shows off their personalities more.

LOVED

I picked up Allias from school in my Band Parent's Association outfit.
He laughed at me.
I told him he should be grateful I was going to work at the Mudcats concession stand to earn money for him to be in marching band.
He said, "I'm not grateful I feel sorry for you, not only do you have to pay for me to be in band you have to look like a dork while you are doing it."

We had a mother daughter night at church the other night. I told Kailyn it was time to go and she said, "I want to stay home with daddy, I have to see you every day."

I got an extra entry in a giveaway for posting this!

Click here----->Father's Day giveaway!
(you could win a 100 dollars from Western Union just for leaving a comment letting them know what would be the perfect Father's Day gift for your hubby)

This is the comment I left when I entered


The best Father's Day gift I could give my husband is a lawn mower. Ours broke and we are too broke to buy a new one so every week we have to call around and borrow one. Then borrow a trailer to pick up said lawn mover. Eventually we will probably run out of people to ask.

What I didn't share in my comment is that Travis has even went as far as to put his AC/refrigeration skills up for barter on Craigslist to try and get a lawn mower. Poor guy!

Builder in Chief

I stole this from Barack Obama's Teleprompter's Blog
Cracks me up!!!

Big Guy and I just got back from an impressive tour of the pyramids. They were an awe-inspiring site, and only would have been better if Big O hadn't made us all climb the damn things. Big Guy was most impressed with the size and architectural intricacies of the pyramids, and asked one of our guides, a wonderful old gentleman whose children have been living in the U.S. on expired tourist and student visas for the past five years, but who will shortly be given citizenship in lieu of a tip for the tour, if he could put the construction of the pyramids into modern day context. He couldn't. But Timmy Geithner, who had joined us on the tour, did: "Imagine that the national debt were a bunch of stones like the you see in the pyramids," Timmy told Big O. "Now imagine the American taxpayers are the Israelites and other slaves and you are their pharoah. Your slaves could build 15 more pyramids than the Egyptians did, and but it would take them 40 years less due to the population of the U.S."Big Guy clearly is proud that his efforts are building something bigger than the pyramids. But man, Geithner's a real downer on a road trip.

aaaaahhhhhhhhhh

Have you ever been so disgusted with the service you got somewhere that you vow and vow vocally to whoever will listen that you will never step foot in that establishment again? I can probably count the number of times this has happened to me on one hand. I am usually very easy going and likely to give rude or unhelpful people the benefit of the doubt. I am not one to lose my temper in public and it takes a lot to get me worked up enough to leave without buying what I came for.

I went to Food Lion this morning to get a few groceries. I wanted to write a check and get some cash back so I could take lunch money to Kailyn. I wandered around the store for an hour or so doing my shopping and talking on the phone and then I headed up to the front. At this point I was pretty much out of time and needed to get to the school ASAP.

A little back story I worked for Food Lion for a few years when Kailyn was a baby and I still keep in contact with a few of my former bosses- two of whom work at this particular store I was shopping at.

My groceries came to around 50 dollars and I wrote the check for 20 over. The cashier called for management approval (which isn't uncommon) and one of the managers came to the front. I recognized him as someone who has signed off on my checks before and I started a conversation with him. I asked him if Dave was working and he told me that he was on vacation that week. The manager then looks at my check and asks me if it is a new checking account. My check number was 390. I think I must have started this set with 001 or something. Anyway the manager goes on to tell me that I cannot write my check for over because the check number is under 500. I explained to him that I was a regular customer that I had written many checks for over. I even told him the names of the two managers who know me (both weren't there). He just stands there staring at me and says he is sorry but he can't take my check. I was LIVID to say the least. I tore my check up and threw it away- told the manager I would no longer be shopping there and that I was going to let Dave know what had happened. Over reaction? Probably but don't worry it gets better.
I decided that I needed to make a point to this manager so I came home and grabbed a book of checks starting with 521 (after making a slight detour at K's school to make sure she had money in her lunch account). I held the 390 check and the 521 check in front of his face and asked him to tell me the difference between the two. I was sooooo upset. He said they have different check numbers. I was like very good and that is the only difference. I kind of went off on the guy and then left. He just smiled at me the whole time saying nothing. I am sure he thinks I am a crazy wench but honestly I really wanted to punch him right in the mouth. I was really tempted to get a few things and go through the line with my 521 check just for spite.
I understand why low check numbers can present a problem- I have worked in CS for years but honestly I could open a new checkng account, order a box of checks today and have the check number start with 5555. aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh

Love at First Sight

Our family has a new addition and I seriously want to kidnap him. Welcome to the world little guy!!! Your Uncle Travis and Aunt Lisa love you already.

Cameron Li Lin

May 31st 2009 6:29am

7lbs 9 oz 20 1/2 inches

(I love his name sooooo much)

And way to go Jen. 20 hours of labor and then 3 hours of pushing to get him into the world. I am pretty sure she agrees he was totally worth it. I talked to Tyrone on the phone today I told him I thought the baby had Jen's eyes. He said he thought so too and he hoped they stayed that way because Jen's eyes were so beautiful! Too sweet.

We can't wait to see him in real life. We love you guys sooooo much! Congrats!