Wordless Wednesday

Tackle it Tuesday

Today I did a different type of tackle. I decided that instead of cleaning or whatever I wanted to do something fun (well sort of lol). I made some chicken and dumplins for the first time ever! It was actually very yummy for a first try. I think it had to much liquid in it so I will have to adjust that next time but it was pretty good. Anna didn't care for it so much but it usually takes her a few times to warm up to new foods.

That was my tackle what was yours? You can go to 5MFM to see more.

Weekend Review

We had a fun weekend. We headed up to the in-laws Thursday. Friday we went to the Silver Bluff High School football game. They were playing our old rivals Barnwell High. I was expecting this huge turn out with lots of activity. Music, cheers and all of that normal football stuff. What we found was a crowd that only half filled the stands. NO band on our side (apparently they were having a party that night) the cheerleaders barely cheered and the mascot wasn't even there. I was so disappointed in the changes. The only reason we stayed until the third quarter was almost over was because Anna LOVED it. She was so enthralled with the players and the people walking around. She was in awe of everything around her. She studied the plays like she wanted to learn exactly what to do if she were playing. She watched the people roaming around and even yelled Go Dogs all by herself and cheered throughout the whole game. We took her down to see the cheerleaders. She loved their outfits but they didn't do a cheer the whole time we were down there. I guess there was a lack of support because the team is already in the State Championships and this was the last game of the regular season but still it just seemed wrong!

Saturday and Sunday we just spent time with family messing around. Spending most of our time outside since the weather has finally decided to change into Fall! I love this weather!!! So this week is Halloween and Anna is going to be a ballerina! We will be going to a carnival at our church that should be lots of fun. I think some friends are going to go with us too so that should be fun. I will of course have pictures of that later. I wish I had pictures of the football game but like a nut I forgot the camera. I have a few on my phone but I have to figure out how to get them off lol. Well, I am going to enjoy the peace and quiet of nap time so I will talk to you all later!

Video Friday

This is me and Anna in Halloween costume lol! Just KIDDING!!! It is just a fun video Anna has fallen in love with. She is really enjoying this youtube stuff!

Oh and in honor of us going to see Silver Bluff -vs- Barnwell



Go DOGS!!!

Works for me Wednesday - Soft Feet

I have terrible feet! I HATE shoes and I run around barefoot as much as possible. Being a SAHM means that is a LOT and when I do wear shoes they tend to be sandals. In an attempt to find a way to make my feet a little softer and nicer I have searched far and wide for a miracle for them. Lotions and potions don't seem to work for me, well a little but they take a while. I like instant gratification! So I have found the best thing for me is to put vaseline on them every other night and wear socks to bed. Be sure to put the vaseline on just before the socks you don't want to go slip slidding away or anything lol. This really works for me (when I remember to do it lol) what works for you? For more great tips go to Rocks in my Dryer!

Wordless Wednesday!

The credit for the first to pictures go to my hubby! He did a fabulous job didn't he?

Why is it

when you are alone with your child or with people they are with often they are one way and then when they are in crowds or with people not seen often they are another way? Anna is a wonderful fun loving little girl that is silly and as witty as a 2 year old can be. However, this weekend when we met our friends at a festival Anna was all shy and quiet and withdrawn. I just don't get it. When we went to the Greek Festival it took her a little while to get comfortable in the crowd but she eventually did and then she didn't want to leave. So my question really is: is there anything I can do to ease her discomfort around crowds and people we don't see often enough? Many children don't have this problem so I don't know if there is something that I need to do that will help her with this. I don't guess it is really a problem lol. It is good that she doesn't just run off with strangers but...

Video Friday!

Anna has become obsessed with cows since our trip to the country. We have been looking at videos on youtube. We have found some interesting videos but this one is hysterical. So I thought y'all might enjoy a good laugh!

I'm getting published!

I can't believe it! Probably everyone that turns in a picture gets in the book lol. It doesn't matter I am still very excited. Go check it out. You can order the book if you want. Wow, my picture is going to be in there. It is called Endless Journeys. That is my picture. It is a beautiful home off of Forsyth Park in Savannah, GA.

All About ME!!!

Questions Provided By: Queen of Dirty Laundry

She was interviewed and I volunteered to let her interview me. Here are the questions she asked and my answers. If you want to volunteer to answer 5 little questions let me know by leaving a comment or send me an email. I would love to know more about all 3 of my readers lol!



1. You recently posted about visiting your Grandma. What's one of your favorite memories of visiting her as a child?

It is tough to pick out one memory because I really did spend a lot of time there as a child. Can I give you 2? The first one would have to be outside with my brother and cousins. We would play a game kind of like hide and seek but we would sing "Ain't no boogers (burglars) out tonight. Grandpa killed them all last night." I am sure there was more to the song but that is all I can remember. We played this a lot and my brother was the best hider he could scare the crap out of us younger kids and the older ones too. The other one would be playing in the bedroom with my cousins. We would tell scary stories about my great grandmothers house that was super old and falling down. My cousin told us that ghosts lived there now and if you listened and looked at midnight you could hear chains and see lights flashing on and off. I tried many times to stay up that late to see but I never made it.

2. It's obvious that Anna is the light of your life. Tell us something special about your pregnancy with her.

I had a difficult pregnancy so the delivery was the most special but we did have some great moments. Probably my favorite was when my hubby would read Dr. Seuss books to my belly and put me to sleep. I always told him that was his alone time with his daughter. I was sleeping so he had her all to himself.

3. Describe your dream house and where it would be located. Doesn't have to exist anywhere but your imagination.

My dream house would be on the beach with the mountains behind it. I want the best of both worlds. It would be spacious enough to have company and still have plenty of space for privacy. It would have bright colors and open spaces and HUGE windows. It would have soft and plush furniture and be comfortable for adults and kids alike. It would look like an older house but have all of the comforts of today. It would have a porch all the way around. Oh and don't forget the screen door that slaps shut everytime someone comes in or out. It would definitely have a dog door for Anna's dogs to run in and out.

4. You recently went to see Disney on Ice. Which Disney princess do you identify with most closely, and why?

Snow White lol! I am very gullible and would almost believe anything and I hate to hurt people's feelings. So I would have so believed that witch and eaten the apple! Thank goodness I have already met my Prince Charming so he could wake me up!

5. Based on her personality right now, what profession do you think Anna should go into as an adult?

Hmm, this is the hardest question! She has a great little personality and can be so many different things. However, based on today I could see her being a teacher or attorney moving up to judge lol. She is a little on the bossy side, argumentative and very clear on what she wants. She also likes to show you how she does things and helps other little ones (if they let her) figure things out. Or she could be a housekeeper cause she hates "mess" lol.

Leave me a comment saying “Interview me.” I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions. If you don’t have a valid email address on your blog, please provide one. You will update your blog with a post containing your answers to the questions. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Wordless Wednesday!

Pictures from Mytle Beach - Can you find the bird in the top 2 pictures?

Works for me Wednesday ~ Toddler sleep!

I am going to admit what I do/did to get Anna asleep. I have not done cry it out well except once which was a complete nightmare. When I was nursing I nursed her to sleep. When I weaned her I rocked her to sleep. We have now hit a new milestone. It is breaking my heart almost more than weaning did. She doesn't want to rock to sleep at night she wants to go lay in the bed with me. So when it is bed time she gives out night night love and we go climb in her bed. Sometimes it takes her a while to settle down but other times it takes her about 10 minutes. She is turning into such a big girl! She turned 2 in August and I knew the time would come for her to become independent but I didn't realize it would be so soon. So I guess the moral of my story is that all things come in due time. Patience will pay off. Two years of her life to be nurtured and loved and snuggled when she needed will just be a blip on the radar screen in years to come.

For my great tips go to Rocks in my Dryer!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

We have been traveling as you probably know so I haven't been writing down what Anna has been saying so hopefully I can remember some of it.

Her favorite word has been: More!

Any time we see anything that she likes she says "more!"
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Last week she was calling cows - shorshies. Finally by the time we left grandma's she realized they were cows and she would say cooowwwwsss - mmmoooooo lol
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Yesterday on the way home she was asking to see more cows or shorshies and if I said there weren't any out she would say "oh, they go night night!"
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We were coloring one day at the condo and I asked her what color is the sun and she said as she put her hands up over her face "bright - bright"
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If we tell her she can't do something she typically nods her head and says "oh, morrow" She thinks she can do everything tomorrow. or later!


For more cute kids go to NB7!

Home again, home again!

Boy is it good to be home! I have missed my home, my bed but most of all my husband! I feel guilty if you want to know the truth. Here I am enjoying our daughter doing things for fun and my poor hubby is stuck slaving away. Working on school stuff, work stuff and church stuff. He has been a real trooper not complaining to much lol. I hope you know my dearest, bestest friend that you are loved and appreciated and I don't intend to leave again without you for a while. Anna and I had fun but we missed you so much. Anna talked about you non stop and as you know she packed your picture in the suitcase this past weekend. She wanted to keep you close.

We had a great trip. It was wonderful getting away with just the girls. Casey and I stayed up until 1:30 am friday night just chatting. We haven't done that in a long time. Thank goodness I could take a nap with Anna the next day lol. The girls night out with Casey changed to us all going out. That was ok cause we went to this really yummy place called Joe's Crab Shack! I had a yummy steak with potatoes and corn on the cob. Anna had mac and cheese and corn on the cob ~ she cleaned her plate and then finished off my corn too lol. We ate outside on the water and Anna and I watched for alligators. We didn't see any of them but we did see some turtles swimming around below us. We walked around to the different shops and had a blast! My mother in law bought Anna a tractor with Santa driving it for the Christmas tree. She loves that ornament so much that she has been taking it everywhere. We stayed in this really cool condo called Barefoot Golf Resort. We walked to the marina each day so Anna could see the boats. She loves the water and boats and honestly anything outside lol. I didn't want to leave Sunday. It was so peaceful there but the real world called. Maybe next time we go Chris can go with us!

The sun rising above the swing bridge Saturday morning.

Anna running around acting silly one night at 9:30. She was like the energizer bunny!

Here she is looking across the marina. Work hard sweety and one day one of those can be yours!

We are off again!

Tomorrow we are heading off to the in-laws. Then Friday we are heading off to Myrtle Beach! YAY!!! I can't wait. Apparently we are staying in a condo that has a dock outside the window. So Anna can look out and see the water and the boats! She is going to LOVE that!

Tomorrow we will leave around lunch time so that she can nap most of the way there. Friday we will leave there after lunch so hopefully she will sleep most of the way to Myrtle Beach. The best part of the whole trip - are you ready? Saturday night my sis-in-law and I will get to have a girls night out while MIL and Anna have a girls night in woo hoo! I don't know what we will do but it will be nice getting out after dark lol.

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend. I will check in next week probably Monday!

Wordless Wednesday

You can read below about our time in the country!

Our time in the country!

We had a great trip. We ended up leaving Wednesday instead of Thursday because the weather was going down hill. So we headed out at lunch time and Anna slept for a good portion of the trip. That was nice! When she did wake up she sat in the seat and played and chatted with me so we didn't even stop. It was a 3.5 hour trip!

We got there and she was all shy with Grandma but she was quickly won over when Grandma let her go in and out the screen door through the screen (it was already broken). She was playing with the puppies well sorta lol. She was a little scared of them. Her dog is huge and old and these little tiny pups were playful and energetic. She finally adjusted to them and didn't freak out unless they nipped at her or jumped on her. She loved having freedom to come in and out without assistance. I sat inside in the door and watched her playing. She was content to just roam around and discover the world that she was in. She figured out pretty quickly how to climb in and out of the rail at Grandma's ramp so she did that a lot. She played in the (play) car in the yard and ran around with the puppies. After she was growing tired of that we decided to broaden her world a little more and went for a walk to see the cows. She LOVED the cows. They would moo and she would squeal and cheer. No wonder the cows would run from us lol. Through the course of the rest of the week I did teach her to be quiet so that we could get closer. We also saw and climbed on the tractor and the hay bales. She had so much fun I guess some things are passed down in the genes.

Things she didn't like: the noise of the house when it was full to bursting. The crowd at the reunion we went to because she didn't know hardly anyone there. Not being able to stay outside ALL the time lol. That is all I can think of that she didn't enjoy.

I enjoyed reliving a part of my youth. Walking down by the pasture. Taking a ride through the pasture on the back of a truck. Granite it was at night and Anna was a little freaked at first but it was fun. Picking pecans from my Great Grandma's tree and eating them. Visiting with cousins and Aunts and Uncles. Mostly visiting with Grandma! Letting her get to know Anna and learning more about her past as well. It was a joy to be with her and I hope that we can do it again.

Great Grandma's House!

This is the site of what used to be my Great-Grandma's house. You can't really tell a lot by the pictures but it held many happy memories for my Grandma and my Dad too. It had 2 fireplaces and 3 porches. I don't know how many bedrooms but enough for them to live cozily with I think 5 children. Maybe 6 I am not sure. The front porch had one door that opened up onto it and the other room didn't have a door onto it. The side porch was used for the washing machine and later a bathroom was added to it taking up most of the porch. My Grandma and her family only lived there during the summer for most of her life and spent the rest of the year in town over the jail house because her Daddy was the Sherriff in town. During the summer though he worked the farm on many - many acres of land. My Grandma was actually born in the jail house. How funny is that. She said that she delivered quite a few of her children in the house that was her parents. She was telling me about the trees they had; pecan trees that are still there and producing. She said they also had 2 pomegranate trees and a pear tree. They are still there but they are dead. They had pigs and chickens and cows. My Grandma's chore was milking the cows (her and one of her siblings). Her Mom would always get the eggs from the chickens. My Grandma now lives across the street from her childhood home. She has been there since 1959 and loves being so close to where she grew up. She likes being able to look out and see the trees that can bring back her childhood memories. I wish the house were still standing. I walked through it when I was a child before it became totally unstable. I would give anything to walk through and take photos and be able to record the past on film. Instead I have to write this up so that next week when I have forgotten all of this it will be here. I will be able to look it up at any time and Anna will be able to visualize her long ago ancestors. Anna is named for her Great Grandma and she was named after her mother so there is a long line of family tied into Anna's life. If any of my family reads this and wants to add something leave me a comment and I will take care of it. I love journaling true history!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Night Night

Life

My life is entertaining to say the least. Anna and I stay busy. Mainly because Anna doesn't like to chill out. I think she gets that from her Daddy. He has no idea how to relax. Even on the cruise we took several years ago; he couldn't really relax. Sitting on the boat could have been considered cruel and unusual punishment. Me on the other hand; I love to relax and chill out. Anywho, Our life is going to stay busy for the next few weeks. Chris is trying to finish up his Masters degree and is up to his eyeballs in stuff dealing with that. So I have decided that Anna and I will spend the next few weeks traveling on the weekends. That way he can focus on work and not feel guilty about not being here. I won't have to feel neglected because I will be doing something. Anna will be going which is what she loves. That way it is a win ~ win ~ win!

So this weekend we are going to a reunion for my Dad's family. My Grandfather had about 50 kids lol just kidding but he did have something like 12 kids with his first wife and 7 with my Grandma. So they have started all getting together once a year. My Grandfather has been gone since my Dad was 13 so it is kind of cool to get a glimpse of who he was. The main reason I am going though is to see my Grandma! She is 89 years old (90 in January). She is an inspiration to me with all of the trials and tribulations she has gone through. I didn't appreciate her when I was younger. Now I feel huge regrets for all of the time I missed out on with her because I was to self absorbed to go see her. So now I like to soak her up when I get the chance. It really does break my heart to go see her though. She has the same conversation over and over again. At least she still knows us and all that. I called her yesterday to let her know I was coming and she knew who I was before I even told her. That makes me feel good!

Next weekend we will be going somewhere with my sis in law and mil to celebrate sis's birthday! I guess we are still going somewhere who knows lol. I don't know where we will be going and I guess we might end up not going anywhere. However, Anna and I will still be going in that direction so that Chris can get some homework done.

So both of my blogs will be a little neglected over the next few weeks. I will probably be blogging early in the week and then not so much later in the week. Just thought I would pass this on to you guys!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Here is my little talker. Anna is 2 years old and chats from morning to night. A few of her conversations are as follows:

In the car I hear from the back seat.

Anna: Uh oh

Me: whats wrong baby?

Anna: Mommy, shoe.

Me: What about your shoe?

Anna: It's untied!

You could just hear the DUH behind it

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Occasionally she will spout out a long monologue that is only partially intelligable. Then she closes with OK? bye bye

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Word translation:

gug = hug

tension - attention

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Oh and we can't forget her favorite phrase at the moment. "I DONE". She used it all weekend. When she was ready to leave the Disney on Ice show, when she was tired of having her picture taken or any other occassion that she had just had enough of at the time.

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For more Tiny Talk go to NB7!

A whirlwind weekend!

I have been sick for almost a week but I didn't have time to even think about it this past weekend. It started off with us heading off to see family on Thursday early afternoon so that night we could take Anna to see Disney on Ice. It was a lot of fun and Anna really enjoyed it. Her favorite parts were Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs and I can't remember what the other one is called but you can see it in the picture. Anna never sits still more than a few minutes at the time. TV has never been a baby sitter in this house. However, she managed to sit totally still and absorbed in the show for a whole hour! By intermission she was ready to go so that was the end of that. It was a lot of fun though so I am glad that we went.

Friday, we went to a garden park that my hubby and I use to go have picnics at. We went with my mil and her sister. We took crackers and stuff for a snacky picnic. Anna had other ideas for the crackers and ended up feeding them to the fish. She had a blast as we walked around the park looking around and being silly. Aunt Cindy is the queen of silly. She is super smart and uses that to her advantage. Anna was thoroughly entertained. This whole time I have been sick not like pukey sick but all of the crude inside your body sick. So that night I bargained with the inlaws and told them if they wanted to let Anna sleep with them that night & I would stay at Aunt Casey's. This way I could take Nyquil and actually get some sleep and hopefully knock the crude out! They agreed instantly of course. So that night I got Anna to sleep in their bed and headed off to an amazing nights sleep.

Saturday, we hooked back up and had some silly time. An early lunch because we had a photoshoot that afternoon. Nap was perfectly timed and for once everything actually fell in place. She woke up just before I was about to go get her. We got her dressed and ready and out the door in record time. She did pretty good with her photo shoot we got about 3 good pictures. I even got a few on my camera too. She enjoyed playing in the water fountains they had there and then for the best part (in Anna's eyes) she got to ride a lawnmower (tractor). She wouldn't ride it when it was on but she enjoyed "driving" it. She spent the night with them that night too and that night really was the most amazing nights sleep. I slept like a log. I won't say a baby because we all know babies don't sleep that great lol.

Sunday, we headed back after lunch and I am so glad to be home. It is fun to go away but I love coming home. This coming weekend Anna and I are going to a family reunion. It will be a 4 hour drive that we will probably turn into at least 5 hours. Hopefully it will go well and we will have fun.