Thank you Cheryl

& Cheyrl's Mom & Dad!!! Today I got to meet Cheryl's Mom and Dad. It was way cool. As her Mom said there are actually real people on the other side of the computer. They brought me this beautiful plant. Isn't it georgeous? I love the colors. Cheryl's Mom assured me that it is what Cheryl would have liked. Thank you all for the beautiful flowers! I will hang it on my back porch and think of Cheryl everytime I see it. Thank you Cheryl's Mom and Dad for taking the time to bring it to me and the trouble of finding my house. I am sorry I didn't find out your names lol. Although, I am sure you are used to being Cheryl's Mom and Dad! Anyway, thanks again and I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip!

Weekend Review!

We had an interesting weekend. Friday night my friend Angel had a "great" idea lol. She wanted to make shirts for the walk on Saturday. So we went to Walmart and got everything we thought we needed and headed back to my house. We started using some fabric spray paint that didn't seem to be working that great. So after making a mess on Anna's shirt I head back to walmart to get a fabric marker instead. I get back to discover that Anna had gotten all quiet on Angel and Chris and they discovered that she had given her baby open heart surgery and suctioned her nose. Funny thing is she didn't get it on the carpet or anything just the baby oh and her hands. We started working on the shirts again and didn't finish until around midnight. Anna and I headed to bed leaving poor Angel with it at 11 or so. Anna was in complete melt down mode but wouldn't lay down without me.

Saturday, we went to do the walk. We arrived late but we sure did look cool in our shirts. Mine is being washed but maybe I will share a pic later. We were going to do the Sidewalk Chalk Festival after the walk but Angel and Victoria decided not to go. Anna was so exhausted and about to meltdown again so we didn't go either. Of course, we came home and she slept in the car and then wouldn't go back to sleep ugh. I did get a nap though it was a great thing because I was melting down too lol.

Sunday was church of course and afterwards we went to lunch with our friend Denise. Oh but before I go on I came up with a great project for our Sunday School class. We are doing interviews with each child about their Mom or female guardian. We are going to show it (after being edited of course) during one of the services on Mother's Day. I can't wait to see how they turn out. I came up with the thought and I came up with the questions but Chris has done the interviews. That kinda makes me sad because it was my idea and I had it how I wanted it in my head lol. Oh well, I am sure he has done a great job. I had to stay in and referee the kids cause they were wild! Sunday night we went to a Korean Church Dedication. They use to share our facilities and were building there own. They finished a while ago and so they did the dedication and invited us. It lasted 2 hours and Anna was such a big girl sitting with me the whole time. She did play around a little with Kia in front of us but really she did great. After the service they fed us and let me just say I am soooo picky. I didn't eat a lot but Chris seemed to enjoy it. Anna not so much! It was nice though and they have a beautiful church. My favorite part was listening to their choir. I couldn't understand a word they said but I love the way they sound!

The American Dream!

Some days I feel like I am living the All American Dream! Sure I spend a lot of my days doing laundry, dishes and cleaning but inbetween all of that it is full of moments of laughter and fun with my daughter and on a smaller scale because somebody has to bring home the bacon my hubby. I feel like a woman of days of old since I am doing so many things without equipment. You know hanging out laundry and dishes by hand etc. Oh and don't forget my vegetable garden outside. I feel like I have the life that I always wanted. To a lot of people this will sound stupid and well insane. Not only do I do tons of house work but I also have to give up a lot of extras in life. At first this was hard for me and even still today some days it is really hard but for the most part not so much. Sure I splurge every now and then like last week I had a pedicure with a friend. I was desperate you see. Sandal season is upon us and my feet were just shameful! Shameful I tell ya!

I would like to say thank you to all of those who help make this dream possible. My in-laws that are so good to us and so very helpful! My friends that help entertain me and Anna on days when I just need to get out and about. My hubby and Anna for making my life so rewarding and fun!

Wordless Wednesday

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Anna has turned into quiet the chatter box. She is also getting to be very stubborn and vocal about it lol.

While shopping with her Yia Yia:

Yia Yia: Anna do you like this dress?
Anna: (Looked at the dress and simply shook her head) I not gonna wear that!

If I wear something new or something that she really likes she says: Mommy turn around (spinning her finger in a circle.)

I wanna wear jeans. I wanna wear that dress. These are the things I hear in the mornings. She has gotten very paticular in what she wants to wear lol.

Let's go out in the yard to pull weeds. Has been her sentence of the day.

I was getting my hair colored yesterday and Anna was sitting in the chair watching.

Anna: Mommy your hair is getting BIG!
Mommy: it is?
Anna: Yes it is.

Anna: Oh Mommy your hair is so pretty! Let me see. (she said this last part as she is grabbing strands of it to inspect lol) I tell you she is either going to go into fashion design or a hair stylist.

For more Tiny Talk you can go to NB7!

March for Babies!

I wouldn't typically do this but the cause is such a great one I thought why not! The March of Dimes is sponsoring a walk to raise money for the NICU babies and families. I am walking and I need sponsors. If you are interested in doing this please go here! You can give as much or as little as you want. Even if you give a dollar that is ok with me. If you don't give anything that is ok too! Thank you Cheryl for being my first sponsor! If you decide to sponsor me I will give you some linky love too :*)

Out of the Loop

You guys have been out of the loop for what 5 days now. Wow!!! I think that is the longest I have gone without blogging in a long time. Maybe that is why I was starting to twitch lol. We have been busy. Preparing for poker night and then spending time with family. It was a fun weekend. The guys said poker night was a success. I ended up doing the Mexican dip stuff, spinach dip, hamburgers and hot dogs and chips with dirt for dessert. My dirt looked very cool. I can't believe it but I forgot to get a picture for you guys. It was a nice relaxing weekend after Friday lol. Anna had a great time. She loves when we have visitors.

My Sunday school class was good this morning. We have decided to not follow our class curriculum and just follow our hearts. We are keeping with the theme of the month, sort of lol. The theme for this month has been joy. Some of our kids haven't always been in church so when asked what they wanted to study they decided they wanted to study some of the stories like this morning we studied Noah's Ark.

The cool thing is I didn't start going to church until I was older so I am learning details of the stories that I never knew. Like did you know that the ark was 1 and a half football fields long and about half as wide as the width of a football field. It was roughly 3 stories tall with 3 levels. Also, I didn't know that they had to wait 150 days before the water receded. Very cool stuff!

Well, someone is ready for bed. Have a good week!

Poker Night!

So I need the bloggy worlds help! We are hosting a poker night at our house for the first time ever. I am trying to plan my menu and I am unsure of what to make. Chris said they like to snack all night so I am trying to come up with foods that they can nibble on here and there. Here is what I am thinking so far and I would love some feed back with great new ideas. Let me clarify I would love great and EASY new ideas lol.

• Spinach Dip
• Throw up dip lol Sorry don't know the correct name - Velveeta cheese, beef and salsa
• I am torn between going down to the Mellow Mushroom and getting pizza or
• Homemade Chicken Salad or I guess I could do both (thoughts?)
• Diced up tomatoes and cucumbers, carrots and other fresh veggies (maybe, I have to run this by Chris. I don't know if they want healthy or junky lol)
• For dessert I am going to make Dirt Dessert in a beach sand pall

2 (8 oz.) cream cheese

2 (3 oz.) instant vanilla pudding

3 c. milk

2(16 oz.) Cool Whip

2 tsp. vanilla

1 lg. pkg. Oreo cookies

Gummy worms (optional)
Cream sugar and cream cheese. Beat milk, pudding and vanilla until thick, then add to cream cheese mixture. Fold in Cool Whip. Grind Oreo cookies in blender.
Layer Oreo mixture and creamy mixture, hiding gummy worms in flower pot, ending with cookie mixture on top. Chill overnight. Put flowers into "dirt" and surprise your guests when you serve your centerpiece for dessert! Makes enough for 2 pots.

Or I could scratch the pizza and chicken salad and have Chris grill Hamburgers and hot dogs and have potato salad, chips and maybe some baked beans. Hmmm, I am liking the sound of that. Actually what I may do is have him grill the burgers and dogs and I will make chicken salad. Then the guys can have some of each or have a variety to pick from. What are your thoughts? Do you have any other ideas? Please share them if you do!!!

Doggie, Doggie who stole your bone!

Isn't that a pretty baby! This is Harley she is my neighbors dog. My neighbor is trying to sell her house so we end up dog sitting on a regular bases. Harley is a sweet heart of a dog. And although she isn't around children often she does great with Anna. She really could care less about Anna for the most part except when Anna breaks out a noisy toy and then she gets excited. Yesterday we were out in the yard and Anna "cranked up" her lawn mower. Harley started doing the fastest figure eights around my yard. Maggie use to do that too but I think Harley is even faster than Maggie. She almost got in trouble though cause she ran through my garden at one point! Shame, shame!

Pictures from Trooper's 1st Party

Trooper is our friend that was having a birthday early. We threw together his party in a hurry so that his Daddy could be there. It was a fabulous party! Come back tomorrow and you can see some hysterical videos from it. Think helium and silly adults! Isn't that cake incredible?! The detail in it amazes me.

Tackle it Tuesday!

We have had a busy day. We have been to the grocery store, cleaned out the fridge and worked in the garden! Now that we have done the work ya'll just sit back and see how it looks!

Memory Lane Monday!

Being chased by a bull!!! Have you ever experienced this? It is very exciting lol. I was very little when this happened. We were visiting my Grandmother! She lives beside the house that she grew up in. Her brother (who has since passed away) lived across the street and still worked the farm. He had both cows that he would umm send to be slaughtered, I think. And he also grew crops. We used to go roam around on the farm and look at the cows and probably harass the cows (although I have never been cow tippin). Our favorite thing to do was walk along the trails and look for arrowheads. My cousin that lived there used to find them ALL the time. I think my brother might have found one or two.

Anyway, I am getting distracted lol. This one particular day, I am guessing it was summer. The sun was shining bright and it was hot. It was me, my brother that was 3 years older than me and my cousin that is probably 3 years older than my brother (well maybe a little more, I don't really know lol). We were walking around in the pasture and we always knew not to mess with the bull cause he was MEAN! I don't know what we did to tick him off but boy something set him off. I was little like maybe 4 years old or something. I have super short legs and always have so imagine this big ole bull and lil ole me lol. My cousin had me by the hand and I swear she dragged me all the way to the gate where we had to climb under it to get away from the bull. I think I might have even pooped in my pants I was so scared. It was very traumatic!

There are so many memories that I have on that farm. Picking watermelons, riding on the tractor bed and hitting a bump and flying up in the air at least 5 feet and landing in the exact position I started in, swimming in the pond and getting nibbled on by fish, collecting eggs from under the chickens and all sorts of other stuff. When I was little I never thought these were spectacular. They were just a part of going to see Grandma, now if I could go back in time I think that I would go back to one of those visits and enjoy it a little bit more. Maybe take more time to get to know Grandma better and help her more. Maybe just pay more attention to the details going on around me. I need to go visit my Grandma soon. She isn't doing so great any more and it upsets me to visit because she isn't the same lady. I believe she turned 90 this year. You can believe that the next time I am there I will be paying more attention to the details!

Lets see next week what should I talk about? Dancing in the streets with my friends or swim parties or summer camp?

Wonderful Weekend!

We had a nice relaxing weekend. My sis in law came to see us this weekend to celebrate Chris's birthday. She brought a chocolate cake of some sort and it was so YUMMY! Thank you Aunt Cakey! Friday I spent the day with my friend Angel getting stuff for her sons 1 year old birthday. They have decided to throw a party early so his Daddy can participate. He is military and will be out of town for a while. Friday night we went shopping with Aunt Cakey and had yummy Mexican food! Saturday we went to River Street. Ate lunch at the best Greek Restaurant ever. I will say that I was disappointed in River Street. I haven't been there in forever and they have changed it so much. They took out the old oak trees and put in these new wimpy trees. It really ruined the whole look for me. Not to mention when Summer time really kicks in it will be hotter than blue blazes. Oh well, I really don't get down there often anyway. Sunday we did church and Aunt Cakey had to go home. Then after the night service our friends Angel and David came over. You see Saturday night they were nice enough to bring by some Banana Pudding for Chris for his birthday. They didn't stay long because we had company and it was a little late. David was oh so devistated that he didn't get any Banana Pudding so we invited them over for dinner and dessert. Let me just say that David can put away some food lol. But you know when you feed some one it makes you feel good when they eat your food. I believe at this point both the Banana Pudding and the Chocolate cake are gone lol. We might have a taste of Banana Pudding left but not much. It was a lot of fun.

It is nice surrounding yourself with friends and family. It makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Maybe Casey and Angel will be nice enough to share their recipes with us so you guys can taste a little piece of heaven!

F~U~N Friday

We have had a great week. Doing some fabulously fun things. Our most spontaneous thing that we did though was finger painting in the tub. We were outside and got dirty and had to rinse off. To make it more exciting we used some sidewalk paint in the tub! She loved it and we washed the tub and her and had a great time.

For more fun ideas go to Letters to my Daughters!

Happy Birthday Hubby!

You are 35 years old today! Goodness was I 13 when we started dating? ha ha just kidding! Your birthday is very special to me because you are special to me. 35 years ago the love of my life entered the world it would be many years before we would meet but it was destined to happen. You are a very special man! Not just to me but to your daughter, your parents, your sister, your friends, your church family and mostly to our Lord! You are an awesome husband and an awesome Dad and we are truly blessed to have you in our lives.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Lynn and Charles for bringing him into the world and raising him to be such a great guy. Lynn, you had such a rough time having him I commend you for your strength. A strength that you show many times over. A strength that you passed down to your son (and daughter). One day I will have to share with you all Chris's birth story. I will have to get permission from both Lynn and Chris it was pretty difficult and I am sure it is hard to relive. We can know with all of our hearts though that both of them definitely have a purpose and reason for being!

Beach Bums!

I have had a super busy week! Tuesday was Chuck E Cheese which was formerly *Showbiz Pizza starring Billy Bobs. Wednesday we went to the Bamboo Farm to join our friends Lori and Brooks and today was the best day of all until tomorrow ;) We went to the beach again but this time with LOTS of friends. We had roughly 10 children there and 6 ladies there. It was so much fun. We flew kites, well one the other one was possessed I swear. We played in the sand and soaked up the sun (to much) and most of the kids played in the freezing cold water. Anna didn't want anything to do with the freezing cold water. We had a picnic lunch and tons of laughs. It was the perfect day!

* The answer to Trivia Tuesday!

Trivia Tuesday!

Anna and I met some friends at Chuck e Cheese today. We had a lot of fun. Anna loved the skeet ball thing and the thing where you whack the heads to make the things go down after they pop up. We played a few other things including a driving game where Anna drove us into the trees and down cliffs it was an eye opener for me. After that I have decided to let Chris teach her to drive lol.

So the trivia question is: What was the name of Chuck e Cheese before? By before I mean a LONG, LONG time ago. For some reason I keep thinking Billy Bobs but I just don't know. Does anyone else have any clue?

Weekend Review

What a fabulous weekend. We had a nice night Friday night. We just hung out and didn't really do much. We made pizzas and played outside. Saturday, Chris had to go to work so Anna and I did a little house work and ran to the store. We were having company over Saturday night and we had to get ready. It was our new friends Angel, David and Trooper. They came over around 6ish and we had dinner. I had cooked some mashed potatoes and mixed up a yummy salad with homemade dressing and croutons and Chris grilled us some chicken. Angel God Bless her made REAL Banana pudding. You know the kind that is served hot. My Dad makes that kind although I haven't had it in forever and a day. Hers was yummy and Chris fell in love. He said they can come over whenever they would like as long as she brings that lol. We had so much fun they have a wii and they were kind enough to bring it over for us to play. Well, I should amend that statement, they brought it over for David and Chris to play! They had so much fun and it was very entertaining watching them. They stayed until almost 11 and Anna and Trooper were both still awake. Anna was exhausted by the time we crawled into bed. She was out almost instantly. Sunday was church and then I got my haircut. You can see my new do HERE. Anna went down for her nap late and ended up sleeping for 3 hours! I couldn't believe it ~ that NEVER happens. We missed church because of it and just kind of chilled out the rest of the night. Oh wait I take that back I chilled, Chris and Anna did a little yard work!

Memory Lane Monday!

I have decided to try something new. I would like to document things that have happened in my life, you know for Anna to have or just for me to go back in time. If anyone would like to join me down this road leave me a message and a link and I will come read your stories!

My memory is kind of sketchy. I don't know why this is but it is. One of my first memories is from when I was a little girl of about 4 or 5. We were moving from this little yellow house in one town to a bigger brick house about 20 minutes away. I was upset as we pulled out of the driveway because my brother had either actually thrown something on the roof or pretended too. I can't remember if it was done or if he pretended. He was 3 years older than me and a brat lol. That is one of my most vivid memories.

The house that we were leaving held a few memories too. It was an older house. It had all hardwood floors, or as far as I can remember anyway. My bedroom had hardwood floors (what I wouldn't give for those today lol). Anyway, every night when I would go to bed I would run and dive onto the bed. The boards would creak every time you would hit it in a certain spot. I was terrified that monsters were going to grab my ankles and yank me under the bed. I guess even at such a young age I had a vivid imagination!

Next week I will tell you about the time I was chased by the bull at my Grandma's house! Come on join me down memory lane!

My new "Do"

OK so these aren't the best pictures because I took them myself. Maybe you can get the idea. I am loving it! It feels so light and liberating!

Hair styles

Lets talk hair! I am getting my hair cut in the next few days YAY! I am so tired of my hair. It is to long and to heavy and to hot! I want to go shorter but I can't go to short because hubby would hate it. I know, I know I shouldn't let him dictate my hair and I don't! If I did it would be past my butt! However, I don't want to go so short that he cringes any time he sees me. (Love ya babe!) So having said all that I do want to go a little shorter and I am considering putting in some layers or bangs or something. My MIL thinks I should do a wedge cut but I just don't know what to do. I am open to suggestions. I will try almost anything once after all it will grow back. So what should a girl with a round face and chubby cheeks do to her hair for some fun!

The Queen of Dirty Laundry has an Advice Forum every Friday. If you like to dole out advice or need advice head over to her place!

F~U~N Friday

Fun came in many different ways this week. It came when we were not trying, it came when we did try (just for a glimpse) and it came when we least expected it.

My hubby got in on the action without even knowing it. He came home from work one day and ended up under our coffee table. They were playing and having fun. They were going "Anybody in here" in these really funny voices.

When I attempted to inject some spontaneous fun into our day I didn't think it was going to work. It was a hot day and I thought we would have a little water fun. I got my water hose and splashed Anna and her slide so that she could slide down in the cool water. It hit her and she started crying *oops! She settled down though and started splashing in the water. So we quickly discovered she doesn't want to be splashed but to splash is ok lol.

The most fun we had though was playing in the dirt, oh I mean getting our garden ready. I thought this was work and would by no means be FUN! Anna had different thoughts about it though. This kid loves to get her hands dirty. She normally hates to be dirty but ever since I let her start helping me pull weeds she has discovered the joy of getting her hands dirty. Needless to say she was in heaven digging in the dirt. She gave me and my friend Angel "dirt baths" and did a "dirt dance". She laughed and played and thought that gardening was like the greatest thing EVER!

If you would like to see more fun ideas run over to Letters to my Daughters. If you want to add your ideas that would be great too!!!

Standing Back!

You might consider me terrible but I find great pleasure in standing back and watching Anna. By this I mean when she is trying to do something paticularly challenging I will stand back and see how she reacts to it. Mind you I would never leave her in a dangerous situation! I do so enjoy watching her working out how to climb through holes on her toy outside or how to manage getting one baby out of the stroller and another one in without putting either one down. It has been exciting watching how her little mind works. You can almost see the wheels turning in her head.

She is a very determined child and she almost always works it out one way or another. Occassionally if it is something extra tough she will say "Mommmmmy ~ help ME!" I don't mind that either. I like to see her learn and do for herself but a little part of me likes to be needed too. She has been working out how to go potty all by herself. You know she has been trained for some time but I always go with her and help her with her clothes and with washing her hands. Now she goes "I do it" even though she wants me to go with her she just wants me for moral support lol. I do have to help if she has on pants that button she hasn't gotten the hang of all that. It is probably my fault though cause I just jump in there for fear of wetting herself while trying to get her pants down lol.

I kind of got off on a tangent there lol. I was writing this because the other day I was watching her outside with her baby on her outdoor toy. She was working through something I don't even remember what she was trying to do but she was talking to the baby telling her what she was going to try. I couldn't help but laugh because she looked so like me at that moment. Since she was a baby I talk to her constantly. I tell her what we are going to do, why we were going to do it and all of the details as I go along. She was doing that with her baby and it was so very adorable. She and the baby worked it out and solved the puzzle without any help from me. It took her a few tries but she got it.

I haven't done the tiny talk in a few weeks but her language improves daily. She still has days where she is speaking in tongues but most of the time she is speaking in clear full sentences. Her favorite sentences start with "don't" like: Don't touch that, its mine! or Don't make that noise again! She is trying to work out the whole me, my or I thing so sometimes you will get: me go there! or something like that.

Well, my sunshine is up and ready for some Mommy and me time! Have fun!

Works for me Wednesday

Well with our greatest hits for todays topic I reviewed my previous posts and found the one with the largest amount of comments. Here it is please enjoy.

I have a very high needs toddler that likes to be the center of my world! She generally is but sometimes I have to cook dinner ;) So in the kitchen we have set up a drawer that has her toys in it. Some fake food, a bowl or two and some big serving spoons so that she can prepare her own dinner. She loves to go in the kitchen to "help" me cook dinner. I will assign her tasks and if she needs a little extra incentive to stay away from the stove or whatever I will even put a little water in her bowl and let her stir it up. This has worked great for us and she knows which drawer is hers and which ones are not. We also have a cabinet with tupper ware stuff in it that I will let her rummage through.

* I would like to add now that she is older she sits by the stove more often then not and I will let her help me put things in the pot or stir it before it gets to hot. I have also started giving her a bowl of beans to stir up (just the dry ones) they are of the mixed variety so we use it to work with colors. Oh and you can get a pot and put it in the sink and let her have old seasonings to "make" soup while you do whatever. This one is definitely a crowd pleaser!

So this works for me and Anna! If you want some more fabulous ideas head over to Rocks in My Dryer. Thanks for stopping by!!!

Wordless Wednesday

It's a garden!

It's not a secret garden and it won't have pretty flowers in it BUT it will have some scrumptious veggies in it! I am so excited about my garden I had to share it with you. My friend Angel came over and we tilled and sowed seeds. I felt like I was going back in time where people actually did reap what they sow on a regular basis. In today's world not a lot of people actually plant gardens. Maybe it is because we don't have enough time or enough land or enough energy. Whatever the reason I am thrilled that I made enough of all of them to do it. Now mind you when you look at the pictures it doesn't look like much but just give me a month or so and we will see what happens.

I couldn't have done this without Angels help! She borrowed a tiller from someone we go to church with and she was a ton of help in the whole process. She got down and dirty out there with us. She even taught Anna the dirt dance. If she wouldn't kill me I would've gotten a video of the two of them doing it and put it on here. You will just have to take my word for it that it was very entertaining and lots of fun. I even did it myself a few times practically bringing Angel to her knees with laughter!

I don't know if I am more excited about the garden being done or about having a good Christian friend to hang out with. We had so much fun. Doing things with a friend makes it a little more fun. We spent the full day together and had a blast. Angel even won Anna over which takes a while. By the end of the day Anna couldn't get enough of Angel and she was very sad to see them go. Although, she was very happy to get in the tub lol.

Check out our pictures!

Anna was demonstrating the dirt dance!

What a pretty dirty face!

"Mom, you aren't going to put this on the blog are you!?!"