2010 Wrap-Up

So I know I haven't been the best blogger in 2010. But since I spent all evening re-organizing my picture files, I decided to do a quick look over our family's memories from the past year! First, I will warn you that there are over 20 pictures in this post. And second, there are more of Emily than anyone else, but this is because she had a lot of big things happen this year (and I didn't even include her dance recital or soccer season)!

We started with a milestone--Emily lost her first tooth. She pulled it by herself when she was at daycare!


A few weeks later, we celebrated her 5th birthday with a Candyland party!


We were excited with the beginning of spring and planting our garden...this is the kids "helping" Dee. Notice they aren't even in the garden ;-)


And our family's first trip to The Happiest Place on Earth:


A successful Easter egg hunt with the cousins in Allen.


Ty turned 3, and we celebrated with a Peter Pan party!


It was time for Kindergarten Roundup, and someone was sure excited...


This was a big year for Miss Emily; here she is at her Pre-K Graduation.


As soon as school got out, Dee and I headed to Fredericksburg to celebrate 7 years of marriage.


We took a trip to see our Arkansas family, and we had fun with some Silly String...


and some poppers!


Emily broke the thumb-sucking habit, so we all went to Chuck E Cheese.


At church, we prayed over our "babies" the Sunday before their first day of kindergarten.


And here is my big girl...off to school! I guess I had a big milestone this day as well since I started teaching at a new school (middle school--eek)!


And with the start of school is the start of football; we got to meet our friends/rivals on the field after the Roo victory!


Did I mention the Roos (4A) were victorious over all of the other 3 KISD high schools (all 5A)?


Another year of Kangarette kids camp!


Aunt Amy, Carter, and baby Jackson came to visit. We were excited about watching the Longhorns play (they won this day); little did we know what the season had in store for UT fans...


Halloween with Woody and Jesse!


We kept the costumes around until Thanksgiving, so we could unite the entire Toy Story gang :-)


Speaking of Thanksgiving, Grammy and Pa rented a home on Lake Palestine where we all gathered for several days. This was definitely a highlight of our year.


I took lovely Christmas card pictures for my clients, but I had the worst time trying to get my own 2 to cooperate!


I got a new hair color (I know this is kind of a silly thing to remember, but there needed to be another picture of me in this post)!


We visited Santa at the mall, and no one cried...


We spent Christmas at home this year :-)


All in all, we were very blessed in 2010.


Happy New Year to our friends and family! Maybe 2011 will bring more blogging, and maybe I will find a way to be in more pictures...maybe but probably not ;-)

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you, Trcka Talk is updated!

I can't believe it's been 6 months since my last post! It's not like I have ever been a weekly blogger, but YIKES, this has been a long time. At least I can manage a FB status a few times a week, so that everyone knows I'm still alive.

If you know me, you know there's one thing I hate, and it's being a football widow the week of Halloween. It is so tiring to have to bring the kids to all of their Halloween/fall activities by myself. And this is my busy season with portraits, too. I am happy to say that this has been the least stressful and most productive Halloween week so far since becoming a Mommy. I actually had fun with the kids at our church Funival (instead of feeling ragged, stressed, worried, and overwhelmed like usual).

Additionally, I have almost caught up on photography work, and I have only stayed up past midnight once. All of this during the week of Halloween seems impossible, but I have had a little help...A few weeks ago, everyone in our lifegroup shared what we needed prayers and support for. Honestly, I felt lame and maybe a little selfish asking for help surviving a silly thing like Halloween, but I shared my request anyway. I told them that this time of year wears me down and that I needed prayers to survive, and WOW, God has been faithful this week!

Tomorrow evening, the weekend starts, and I am not going to be bogged down with pictures or grading papers. YAY! So to celebrate, here are a few pics of my sweeties dressed up for Funival. They were Woody and Jesse this year. I know Jesse is supposed to have a red hat, but Emily wanted a pink hat. I think this may have been my last year to have any influence on her costume choice because I had a hard time brainwashing her into wanting to be Jesse...she may be getting too old and wise for my tricks!



Sometimes, I wonder how my kids feel about their homemade, glued together Halloween costumes. But I have fun putting them together, and I know they enjoyed wearing them. My mom used her seamstress skills to sew Emily's chaps and Ty's vest. I painted the squares on Ty's shirt and glued the embellishments on Emily's shirt. I also glued her chaps onto her jeans. It works!

Sewing Project

So I finally decided to conquer my fear of the machine that taunts me every time I walk in my laundry room. No, it is not the washer or dryer. I store my sewing machine in my laundry room. I've been wanting to learn to sew since I was pregnant with Ty, but I'm super-intimidated by it. I've had my MIL and mom "help" (and by help, I mean do most of the work) me with a few projects before. But this time, I actually did it myself!

My mom made me thread my machine a zillion times, so I would remember and could do it when she's gone! Wanna see what I made?



I made the dress and tie. My mom and I decided that the dress would be cute with a kerchief, so my mom took one that I bought Emily last summer, and she figured out how to make it. I left the house to go run and errand, and by the time I got back, she had almost finished it!



I put this next picture here just because Ty's expression is so funny and so...Ty.



My favorite part was when Emily was watching me sew her dress. She said, "Mom, I can't believe I'm actually watching you sew!" And the part where she twirled and danced around in the dress I made her was pretty cool, too.

So how does Ty feel about the tie? Well, he insisted on wearing it with his Goofy t-shirt this afternoon. And he threw quite the fit when Dee wouldn't let him wear it to Wal-Mart!

Have a great week, everyone!

Happy Birthday to Ty!

April 10, 2007--a picture of Emily and "Ty" in the bluebonnets.
Every day, I was asking myself "How am I going to make it to May?"



Sorry if it's tiny--this was the first day we had our new camera, and we must have had it set on small jpeg.

April 10, 2010--a picture of Emily and Ty in the bluebonnets.



Not only have the kids changed, but I also think Mom may have figured out those camera settings ;-)

April 12, 2007

Surprise! I didn't have to find out how I was going to make it until May!



Age 1--Sometime around April 12, 2008 (poor 2nd child).



Age 2--April 12, 2009 (Easter Sunday)



2 days before turning 3--April 10, 2010



Happy birthday, Ty! Mommy, Daddy, and Emily love you. We can't wait to celebrate with you later today :-)

Since the time you were a baby, I have always had this verse on my heart for you.

Joshua 1:9
Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.

I can't wait to see you grow and change this year!

Funny Emily Follow-Up

We were on our way to dance, and I told Emily that we will go Easter dress shopping again after her class. She said, "We might not find a dress. So before you freak out, make sure you look at Target first."

If you don't get it, read yesterday's post. I love that girl!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Funny Emily

Just in case you were wondering, Emily doesn't miss a beat. I took the kids shopping tonight to try to find Easter clothes. Yes, I know I'm pushing it, but we've been so busy, and I haven't loved anything I've seen online. So we were heading into the K-Town mall to go to Gap Kids/Baby Gap. Emily asked if we were going to eat at the mall, and I said it depends on whether or not we find Easter clothes at Gap.

Here's the rest of our conversation:

E: Why, mommy?

M: Because if we don't find anything here, we're going to go to Temple and look at Marshall's.

E: But what if we don't find anything there?

M: Then, we will go to Macy's. And if we don't find anything there...(I paused because I was trying to figure out what I would do in this scenario)

E: (filling in while I paused): You'll freak out!

Silly, silly girl. We struck out tonight, but tomorrow after dance class, we will try a few other stores, and hopefully, I won't be freaking out by then!

Dee is in the Paper--The Sequel

Remember this article about Dee Trcka, the winning charm for the basketball team? We woke up this morning to find that he was written up in the paper again. This time, it brought tears to my eyes (it's okay--you can laugh at me). This Letter to the Editor was in the Killeen Daily Herald today. It is regarding Dee's freshman/JV White baseball team. He was in Lampasas at a tournament for the past 2 days.

The letter is about their exceptional behavior while eating pizza on Thursday. I have to be honest, his team doesn't win a lot of games due to lack of experience playing as children. But this is an important reminder (even to a super-competitive person like me) that participating in sports is about learning more than the fundamentals of a game.

Here is the text because I don't know how long KDH leaves these articles up, and I want to remember this.

Letters to the Editor
KHS baseball team had good manners
To the Editor:

My wife and I just finished lunch at Mr. Gatti’s in Lampasas.

While there, we were sharing the buffet line with the Killeen High baseball team (may have been freshman team).

Generally, being seated between a group of students and food can sometimes prove hazardous.

This was far from the case. We were met with excuse me, pardon me, yes ma’am, yes sir, and the all important words “Please and Thank you.”

After commenting to the coach about the team’s manners and returning to my table, my wife asked if I had also noticed that every member had their baseball caps off while inside eating.

We all know a coach has a lot of influence on their players, but I believe that this is a little deeper. The manners and politeness these young men displayed had to also come from caring teachers and parents.

We believe that when you see someone doing something right, you give credit for it.

Posted on Saturday, March 13, 2010 by Eddie and Janice Garner Lampasas


Sorry to embarrass you, babe. I love you!

Thoughts Continued

Since I am stuck at school with no students, I guess I have the perfect opportunity to finish posting about Lent. I figured if I am going to give something up, I wanted it to be something challenging for me; I wanted it to be a true sacrifice. However, I didn't want to sacrifice for the sake of sacrificing. I wanted to choose to do something that would help me to be a more godly wife and mother. In other words, I could give up chocolate or Starbucks, but I didn't see how that would help me improve my heart.

In case you don't know, I am not a morning person. I hate waking up. I can't wake up. I am always rushing in the mornings because I have hit my snooze button over and over for an hour or longer. Since August of 2005 when Emily started daycare, I have always stayed in bed while Dee gets up 20-30 minutes before me. I rush to get dressed while he clothes, feeds, and gathers belongings for our children. The only thing I contribute is brushing Emily's hair. And then, he takes them to daycare. I have pretty much spent the past 5 years pouting every morning about the fact that I can't be a stay at home mom; therefore, I have felt justified in making Dee do everything. I know I really need to get over it already.

Just so I feel a tiny bit better about myself, I do think I was justified when the kids were babies, and I was up nursing a baby during the night and using any spare moments at work to pump. But those days have been over for almost 2 years now (Ty will be 3 in April).

So I decided that for Lent, I would refrain from hitting snooze. I will set my alarm clock to a time that will allow me to get myself and the kids ready with time to spare, and I will make myself wake up when it goes off. And on weekends, I have to get up when the kids get up. And when Ty says he's hungry at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, I have to get up and cook for him instead of telling him to go get a box of raisins from the snack drawer. It is HARD, people. It is so hard for me that I don't know if I can do it, so I am publicly stating my goal to keep myself accountable.

I can say that as painful as it is for me to rise earlier than normal, I have loved spending the extra minutes with my kids as I help them get ready for the day. I have also been able to get myself ready at a slower pace, taking time to think and pray about the day ahead. And for some *strange* reason, the entire day seems to run more smoothly. I am still not a morning person, and I don't think I will ever be. But at least I don't have to be a rushed, cranky, chaotic, pouty mommy every morning!

Thoughts on Lent

For years, I have felt so proud to not be Catholic at this time of year. Watching friends “give up” something and eat fish on Fridays, I would dismiss it, thinking, “Jesus sacrificed his life for my sins, and he wants my whole life, not just a measly 40 days. So I don’t need to do that silly Lent thing!”

Last year, I read a very short blog post by Beverly Ross (y’all know this is Jenny Biz’s mom), and it got me thinking a little. Here is a link to her thoughts on Lent. Why not use the 40 days of Lent to do something special to better my relationship with God? I know we should sacrifice 365 days a year, but what’s wrong with putting an extra bit of focus right before Easter?

Dee’s family is Catholic, and when we spend Easter with them, we attend services together. Last Easter, I was completely moved by the “Renewal of Baptism” that the priest led us through. He spoke about the importance of moving past the 40 days of Lent with a new strength and commitment in our faith. Then, he asked the following series of questions, and the congregation replied "I do" to each question.

"Do you reject Satan? 


And all his works? 


And all his empty promises? 


Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth? 


Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father?

Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy (Catholic) church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?

God, the all-powerful Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has given us a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and forgiven all our sins. May he also keep us faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ forever and ever."

Wow! I felt like those were such powerful promises to make that day. I, personally, leave out the word Catholic when I apply this to myself (since I’m not Catholic—duh ☺), but other than that, I think these renewal vows are something any Christian could say “I do” to. Obviously, I found it meaningful because I kept the copy of the words to refer to throughout the year.

So between Beverly’s quick thought that she posted last year and seeing for myself the expectation that Lent leads you to renew your comittment to God, I made the decision to try out the sacrifice for 2010. I am running out of time (and writing too much), so I will have to post more about what I decided to give up later.

By the way, I am writing about Lent to help keep me accountable! I soooooo wanted to give up this morning, but I didn’t ☺

Exciting Week

I need to log on really quickly to document a special thing that happened this week. You already know if you saw my Facebook, but Emily lost her first baby tooth Wednesday, February 3, 2010. She pulled it by herself when she was at school. We discovered the tooth January 2, so it was almost a month from wiggly to tooth fairy. I have taken some really cute "missing tooth" pictures of her, and here is one of my favorites.



Well, even though I do like this picture, I also hate it because she looks WAY TOO BIG for a 4 year old. Yes, I can say that she's 4 for a few more weeks.

Two of a Kind

There is a little girl at church, and she is the female version of Ty, only she's almost a year younger. Like Ty, she is one of those kids that can't help but make you laugh! Her mom can basically get a preview of what her daughter will be doing one year from now by watching Ty now. So this morning, Amanda posted some very cute pictures of her girls in princess dresses. As soon as I saw the first picture, y'all, I remembered something very similar from last summer. What do you think about the resemblance?



I just took a screenshot to snag both pictures from our blogs since I don't have the full-size files with me at work this morning, but click the links above to see bigger images.

Okay, I need to quit playing on the computer and get to work! Happy Friday!

Star Student Day 3 (just in time)

I have been feeling yucky all day today, and I have had nothing to eat other than bread and crackers. But I am determined to get this post done!

Today, Emily had to select a book to share with her class. Last night, we chose her book, and she surprised me by not choosing Sleeping Beauty. She actually wanted to bring If You Take a Mouse to School, and she wanted to bring along her little mouse stuffed toy to go along with it. That was actually a gift from my Aunt Terri to Ty, but I let Emily "borrow" it!

The funny thing was when she woke up, she snuck 2 more books in the bag; my little bookworm couldn't choose just one! I discovered 2 American Girl books in her bag when I picked her up.

Enjoy some more photos of my little book-loving girl!

I took this picture of Emily in her Cinderella dress the first day I got my 85 mm f/1.8 lens. And this was when I was just learning about Photoshop, so I was using this image to try some new "tricks." Why don't I have this printed yet? I love it!



Emily and Ty Thanksgiving 2008 after our cousin PJ photoshoot.



*2009 Halloween, Little Einsteins June and Leo


Easter 2009 (Ty's 2nd Birthday)


Emily's 4th Birthday 2009


This picture was taken when I was trying to get some images to make her party invitations. I think I'll always remember that her 4th Birthday theme was My Little Ponies thanks to this pic!



Spring 2009 riding a pony at Life Group. What a big girl!

Star Student Day 2

So today, Emily had to choose 4 items from home to take to class. I let her choose by herself except for one time when she asked, "Sooooo, what do you think, Mom?"

She chose:

Ballet Slippers

Apron (made by her Grammy)

TuTu (made by her Aunt Tara)

Bitty Baby


Here are some more Emily pictures. Remember, I put a * by the ones that she took to school for her display.

*This is Emily with her dance teacher Miss Callie (April 2008).



What a fun memory for our kids--we got to play on UT's football field in the 2008 playoffs, and our kids got to go on the field after the game. Interestingly, the quarterback that led Lake Travis to a 71-6 victory over us in the Regional Quarterfinals is the same guy (Garrett Gilbert) who had the unexpected duty of filling in for Colt McCoy a couple of weeks ago.



Here is Emily enjoying our cruise (summer 2008), and she is wearing the pink dress she selected in Cozumel.



*At a friend's party about a year ago, Emily rode a horse for the first time!



Did I tell you these pictures are not in any specific order? Here's another cruise picture. This was taken on the pirate dress-up day that was held in the kid's camp.



Last summer, we spent a few days at Great Wolf Lodge, and we can't wait to go again!



*Grammy, Aunt Amy, Aunt Joy, and Aunt Wedgey (my little sis aka Christy) accompanied us to the American Girl Boutique and Bistro the week of Thanksgiving 2008. Emily, Bitty Baby, and I posed outside before entering the store. I highly recommend this experience (get reservations at the Bistro) for anyone who wants their little girls to enjoy being little girls!!!



I'm proud of myself! I have actually posted 2 days about this. Wednesday will be an easy post; she just has to select a book to share with the class. So if I don't do pictures, it will take me about 5 seconds to post. But I'll try to do pictures!