Letter to my son

Happy Birthday to my little Cannan ball!
9:30 PM 3.17.2010


8:02 PM 3.17.2010


8:38 PM 3.17.2010




Oh my little Cannan! Today is your 1st birthday and I have so many feelings about this that I don't quite know where to begin. I honestly never thought I would love being a mother so much. You have rocked our world and changed our lives in the most wonderful, amazing and beautiful way! I LOVE being your mommy and your daddy LOVES being your daddy. Looking back on this past year I would not change minute of our lives together. Your daddy is a full-time student and a professor's assitant at UMSL and I work from home most days. What I love about this is that we have been able to spend a lot of time together as a family during this 1st year of your life. We take none of this for granted because we know that this is an incredible blessing and rare opportunity that many families don't get to do. Many of our days are spent playing on the floor, reading books (when you'll sit still), talking to you about the new things you're exploring and learning about in the world and laughing at the many hilarious things you do and 'try' to say. Your first word was da-da. Your daddy told me that. Your second word was mama. I actually got to hear you say it for the first time. We live in St. Louis....Gateway to the West! On nice days we find any reason to get outside. You are mesmerized with all things outdoors. You started crawling at 4 1/2 months and walking at 8 1/2 months and you haven't stopped since. You are adventurous and fearless and I love it and it also scares me like nothing else. I want nothing more than to protect you my dear son but I realize that ultimately it is God who protects you and provides for you and he knows you from beginning to end. It is our deepest hope that someday you will KNOW and BELIEVE this too and that He will be your ROCK in times of both joy and trial.
Cannan, I hope you will always know just how much you are LOVED and WANTED. You have enriched our lives in the most beautiful way. Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

Christmas Part Deux

...I know I know. It is the end of February and I have no excuse for doing a Christmas Blog NOW. But, I am.

Enjoy :-)

Since all of the Flummer's were in San Antonio for Christmas we decided to go. We wrapped up the last day of the Coca Cola Holiday Happiness campaign on the 26th around 8pm. Matt & I came up with a master plan to drive all night in hopes that it would shorten the car ride and help Cannan sleep better. Double fisted coffees in hand we loaded up the Element, ice and snow behind us, warm sunshine and 70degrees on the horizon, destination...Southwest! Since I am the nocturnal one I agreed to take the second, late night/morning leg. I slept and Matt drove the first leg. A superb and wonderfully executed plan it was...until 6am. After sleeping two hours unsoundly I found myself carrying on multiple conversations in my head to keep myself awake. Did you know that southern Arkansas and northern Texas don't seem to be aware of the fact that 1) many americans drink coffee and 2) like it strong. Praying for a Starbucks or a Pilot or a Gas Station that wasn't called "Cum N Go" we continued on until we found an IHOP somewhere just north of Austin. Lovely!!! Cannan was well rested and we were a little delirious but hey, that's what road trips are about right!?!?

With our minds a bit scrambled and our eyes a tad hazy we made it just in time for an awesome Tex Mex lunch with the whole family!



The next morning it was Christmas all over again!

Cannan with his cousins: Bethany, Zachary & Jackson
















Cannan loved playing with all of his cousins and he really took to his cousin Bethany who was always right there to help him when it was time to eat...




We had a great time and although we might think twice next time we decide to drive 14 hours straight in the middle of the night with a 9 month old, it was worth it and a lot of fun...especially when Matt got a lap dance by Marilyn Monroe when the family took us out for dinner on his birthday. Ask him about it sometime...

A Little Christmas I

Since I was working on the Coca Cola project it meant that we needed to stay in St. Louis until the day after Christmas. It was pretty quiet around our house, which is actually how I prefer it. Cannan was 9 months and he was perfectly content with boxes & paper, but we got him a couple of books and a new pair of shoes since his feet seemed to be hitting the ground a lot more often. He is officially a walker...It was a Merry Christmas, with a beautiful fresh blanket of snow that we just HAD to get out and play in!

Spreading Happiness

In December I got hired by Coca Cola to run a short sampling program over the Holiday Season. It was part of the 'Spread Happiness' campaign, you probably saw some commercials, it was a really fun project where I got to hand pick a team of "Happy People" to help me sample miniature cans of Coca Cola to mall shoppers at select shopping malls around St. Louis...not a bad gig. The best part, I got to work with some of the greatest people!!!

Spreading Happiness!


I love these guys, SUCH troopers, it was SOOOOOO Cold!!!

Inevitable Changes + 11 New Resolves

I'm thinking of changing the name of my/our blog...it's SOOO LAST YEAR!!! Don't you think? Sometimes you just have to step away from the tree to see the forest (my favorite saying) and since I am part of a small flock I actually live IN the tree so it's hard to see the big picture...So, help me out...send me your thoughts...suggestions...I promise I won't be critical, you should have heard some of the ones Matt and I came up with. I'll spare you...fun times!

Okay, so moving on to the WHOPPING year of TWO THOUSAND AND ELEVEN!!! Seriously??? I really believed we'd be living the life of the Jetson's by now. I also thought that same thing in 2000, 2001, 2002, etc...I accidentally added an extra 0 in that last one and saw 20002...WHOA! Can you imagine THAT?!?!
Well anyway I knew it was time to put together a few goals for this year since I am super task oriented and I LOVE LOVE LOVE to go back and see how I've made progress...well here they are 11 RESOLVES for 2011….

1) Consistently EXERCISE…yoga, running, calisthenics. Maybe even tennis? I love tennis but it’s always hard to find someone to match my skill level…which is someone who can only hit the ball half the time.

2) To CHEER Matt on in his first Tri-Athlon. Hey, this is a goal for me as much for him. This means we need to eat better/differently AND I want to be SO ENCOURAGING so he can accomplish this. He has really wanted to do one for a long time and I know he will LOVE it. Ok, so for me...I'll run a 5K. How's that?

3) READ one book per month. I know this little goal may sound quite trifling but if you knew my reading habits over the past 9 months you’d realize this is actually a pretty lofty goal so I want to keep things realistic here...hey give me a break..my first thought was to read one book per WEEK!!! HA! That’s already out the window.

4) Regular FAMILY DINNER’s. A HUGE desire for both Matt and me. We've always believed that core family time is shared through communing around the dinner table. Real, sit down, nowhere else to go, talk about stuff, reconnecting time. I want to start this early in our little family so that it becomes a habit and something we all look forward to. It may not happen every night but at least 4-5 nights a week.

5) COMPLETE my WEDDING ALBUM. Yeah...I’m serious and yes, this year we will have been married 7 years. Stop judging me.

6) To be a BETTER LISTENER and ask twice as many questions as I answer.

7) To BLOOM WHERE I am PLANTED. Soon we will most likely be uprooting to a new city and a new home and I am getting tired of making new friends and trying to invest in relationships that I have no idea will last or fade away. I don’t want to arrive in that place tired and reserved. My goal is to give it all I’ve got...HA! that sounded SO cliché...but seriously, please pray for this. I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked if my father was in the military simply because I’ve lived in 9 states and counting. My parent’s are hippies and my husband LOVES school. ENOUGH!!! Praise God for a cool enough job that accommodates our life in boxes!

8) To LEARN how TO USE my new previously loved CAMERA. I want artwork for my walls...which leads me to my next resolve...

9) To make, create, photograph, design artwork for the walls...I’ve got some things in mind ya’ll ;-)

10) To stop being so analytical and realize that sometimes it just is what it is.

11) To LOVE MY HUSBAND better. I could write a book about the ways he loves me SO WELL. I love our life together and I’m determined to strive for SPIRITUAL DEPTH, LOVE and FRIENDSHIP in our marriage. Hard with a child. SOOOO worth it.

There are a few more I have in mind but I'll save those for a conversation over coffee where I can hear about YOURS too :-)

Happy TWENTY ELEVEN!

Oh, and just for fun...We had a White Christmas Eve. More pics to come on that topic.

Sweet Home Alabama

Almost every year for the past 6 years since Matt and I have been married we've always headed to his hometown in Alabama for Thanksgiving. This year was extra special because we now have a sweet little man named Cannan in tow! Going to the Flummer house for the Holidays is like walking into Mrs. Claus' home because it seems to magically transform into a Christmas castle overnight! Seriously! Sandra was a teacher for 30 years in the public school system and all of those Holiday gifts and treasures given to her from students through the years now hold a special place on display throughout her home at the Holidays. In addition to those sweet gifts, her father, John James Moon, loved Christmas too! Every year he could be found making the most unique Christmas decorations in his little backyard workshop out of wood, glass, ceramic and other materials that most people would never think to use. Everyone in her family has a creative streak and there are so many beautiful handmade things to look at and behind almost every one is a special face, time, place or memory to her. So, if you are ever around Alabama near the Holidays, I would highly recommend taking a detour over to the Flummer house. Don't worry, you won't be a stranger at all they will welcome you with open arms and a home cooked meal. That's just how they are.
With that being said...everything that you would normally see in the non-holiday months comes down and everything Christmas goes up....

















And here are the two lovebirds on Thanksgiving Day! While the house looks beautiful and the meal was unsurpassed by any other Thanksgiving meal I that I know of...Sandra was in her element being at home with family. But, I know it was no easy feat to pull off and she doesn't ever stress one bit.








Cannan's great Aunt Gloria and Uncle Terry.

We packed up and drove South

Like it does so often the south calls us to come home. At least it does for our little family. I love the North, the snow and crisp cold weather but I LOVE the warm blanket that is the south.

So, we packed our bags and headed down for a long southern Holiday. It was a special trip because my Aunt Dawn, who lives in Savannah had planned a special early Thanksgiving for the days that we had planned to be there and invited everyone...Cousins, Friends, New Babies, Grandpa, Just Sheryl, Uncle Donald, Crazy Aunt Jackie, who brought this amazing dessert that we won't mention by name but it involved pretzels, chocolate and peanut butter and it was super delicious!!! There were so many people there. It was great. We had a wonderful dinner and for the first time, Cannan started eating real food! Not just solid food because he's been eating that for awhile, I mean, turnip greens, stuffing, turkey, and courtesy of my wonderful rebellious aunt (this is where I get my streak from) and to my disapproval, he even got his fill of banana pudding...

Cannan & Dawn


One happy and stuffed little man...


I wish I would have thought to bring the camera out more but I was so excited to see and meet everyone that I forgot to take pictures, so I will just have to tell you a little about what is going on around us in the photos that I did manage to snap. My cousin Branndon and Stephanie brought my new baby [2nd] cousin, Autumn Tressie, who is named after my Grandmother and who I fell in love with in a matter of minutes. Truly. I already have a love for this baby girl that I cannot explain. I am kicking myself for not snapping a picture of her and her sweet mama.
Dawn loves animals and takes in strays wherever she can (including people, that's why she and I are so close ;-) so just outside, Cannan met his first Pigs, Sweetie & Wilbur and the dogs: Jadis, Travis, Lily, Selena and Yoda, she also has a bird, cats and I think a few other small caged animals. Who needs a petting zoo??? I have family that's got us covered!! Yes, it's a sort of like a miniature farm I guess you'd say. Anyway, wish I had gotten a picture of Cannan with those pigs. It was pretty funny watching him check out these new creatures that he's never seen before.

We had so much fun and look forward to the next visit!


Dawn, Cannan & Grandpa
He was fascinated with Grandpa's glasses!


Grandpa & Cannan had a good time playing on the floor. I'm not sure who wore who out first...









The Fam...Steve, Dawn, Cannan & Grandpa