Mommy Matters!

Christmas is in the air!!!

2011-12-08T09:52:00.004-06:00

I can't believe it is Christmas! I love this time of year!!! The magic in the air, the excitement of the children, the joy of all the adults! I love the traditions that each family has and I love how those traditions change and grow with the family. I do miss some of our traditions from when Anna was tiny. My favorite use to be her feeding the tree! Such a simple task but such a joy for her. Now she just wants to water it cause it doesn't take as long lol.

I believe my favorite tradition that started for me 3 years ago. Is our elf Twinkle! He is so much fun for both me and Anna. He is a mischievous little guy doing all sorts of things around the house. My Mom and Dad would have had a blast with this if they had had them when I was little. If you don't have an elf on the shelf or have never heard of them check them out. Here are a few pictures of fun things you can do with them!!

Twinkle got bored and colored in Anna's coloring book. When we got home that afternoon he had finished the picture.
He created a zip line in our living room! Crazy elf lol.

He baked cookies when I went to pick Anna up. The oven was still warm when we got home.

He slipped into my purse the night before we were going to the tree farm to get our Christmas tree! He hung out with us all day!

He used makeup to leave a note on our bathroom mirror. He was reminding Anna to send Santa a letter.

He is so much fun. The joy on Anna's face every morning is worth the extra time and effort he takes. Not to mention it is fun for me to create so much mischief.

Other Christmas traditions I love and wait for all year include:

Going to the tree farm to find the perfect tree for our family! Anna and I have completely different taste in trees so this year it was more complicated lol. She likes trees that I call Charlie Brown trees simply because they are so small. I like the really big ones that would barely fit in our house lol. We compromised and got one that is probably close to 6 ft tall.

I love the nights of watching the old classic cartoons and also new classics like Polar Express. Oh and we can't forget adult movies like White Christmas! Throw in a little hot chocolate and Christmas tree all a glow and I am a happy girl lol.

Christmas gatherings both with friends and family are a lot of fun! Our Sunday School class does an ornament dirty Santa game! My family does the white elephant dirty Santa game. I like to steal presents just to add a little excitement lol.

Our church does a traditional service the weekend after Thanksgiving. It is the hanging of the green. It is a beautiful service that I truely love being a part of.

Singing all of the Christmas songs! Both the festive upbeat to the old hymns that have been around forever! My favorite secular song is Santa Baby and my favorite hymn is What Child is This! Music really is a huge part of Christmas for me!

I could really keep going with things I love to do at Christmas but I will stop at that. What is your favorite Christmas tradition?

Summertime Blues!

2011-09-20T08:27:00.004-06:00

I have had a long hard summer. I lost both of my Grandma's this summer. I can't tell you how much that hurts. Mostly cause I block it out. I am the queen of denial! I don't like pain and suffering therefore I just put it at the back of my mind and forget it. Of course that probably isn't the most healthy way to handle things but it is what it is. I can say that some good came out of this summer. I have reconnected with my family better than I could have ever asked for.

It was fun this summer watching Anna bond with her cousins. She had a blast dragging her smaller cousins around in a wagon, having a water balloon fight, playing in the sand and dirt, playing with chalk, pretending to be mama and who knows what else they got up to lol. She really bonded with my cousin Holly too. She had puppies at her house so Anna wanted to go there ALL the time! Of course sometimes that was just an excuse to go play with her kids. She especially bonded with Katie my cousins 3 year old little girl. Holly also went out and built a volcano out of sand and made it erupt with vinegar and baking soda or whatever it is you use together to make it blow up. The kids loved that!!!

I spent my time with Grandma Annie. I gave her mani pedis and talked and made sure she had food and drink. We watched Murder She Wrote and movies and talked. Grandma likes to talk. Some say I am a lot like my Grandma hmmm. She slept a lot so I did a lot of reading just sitting there with her. She has always lived 4 hours away so we have never been extra close physically but I always knew that Grandma was there if I needed her. I have lost that assurance now and I have to say even though I didn't call as much as I should and I didn't go see her as much as I should I feel a little lost without her. She started getting pretty sick in early July. Her kidneys started shutting down. She already had a bad heart and her body was just getting tired. She was 93 and I have to say up until recently she didn't act her age. I felt terrible in one way that she lingered so long cause she hurt and she was tired and well she was just done! On the other hand I thank God that I had time to spend with her. I had a chance that not many people get and I wouldn't change it.

Now before we went to see Grandma Annie we were with Grandma Caroline. She got sick fairly suddenly. One day she was ok and the next she was having surgery. Maybe not that quick cause she suffered with the pain before deciding to go to the hospital. She just never recovered from the surgery. She was moved to ICU not long after she went in the hospital and stayed there for somewhere around 2 or 3 weeks. It is all a blur for me. We would go hang out in the waiting room and go visit her during visiting hours. Anna actually enjoyed hanging out at the hospital and she always wanted to go with us. My Daddy and I would kinda take turns giving her a break from the hospital. Grandma Caroline had a brief period when she was awake enough for us to talk to but mostly they kept her sedated. When she was conscious though I managed to make her smile a few times (Well as much as she could with the tubes and all.) She was able to tell us she loved us and hear us tell her.

I will miss both of my Grandma's very much! They were both full of courage and spirit and spunk. They both thought of others before themselves and both loved completely. I am thankful I know they are both in heaven now. Grandma Annie is probably singing and dancing and they are both chatting with all of the people they lost.

Things I learned this summer:

You have 1 family don't waste time being stupid.

It is ok to get dirty! It will wash off (eventually).

Take time to go see the cows. Life will keep on going even if you take a minute to just breathe in the fresh air.

Let the people you love know it because sometimes you don't always have another chance.

Children can handle a lot more than we give them credit for.

Thank you plus a challenge!

2011-02-13T12:02:00.006-06:00

I was overwhelmed with the love and support after my last post. I wish you could see my facebook responses on here but you can't. Most of us have lost someone special to us at one time or another. I don't intend to keep dwelling on it because that is not how I deal with things. I am the queen of denial. You know forge ahead as if nothing is wrong. If you tell yourself something often enough you will eventually believe it, right?

That really goes both ways. If you tell yourself something bad over and over. "I look terrible" is a good example! Eventually you believe it and if someone says how beautiful you are you don't believe them. I am going to try a little experiment over the next month. I am going to tell myself something positive. The same thing over and over every day and see if I come any closer to believing it! Do you think it will work? My self-esteem is not the best, so this should be fun to see. Maybe I will even try it out on Chris and see how it works if you compliment someone each day with the same thing if they can start to perceive themselves in a different manner.

You are so BEAUTIFUL!!!

Does anyone want to join me in my challenge? If you do please let me know how it goes!!!

Listening to God

2011-02-08T08:13:00.004-06:00

A few weeks ago I had this urge to go visit my in-laws. I get along great with my in-laws but it isn't often that I get a whim to go see them. There are 2 very good reasons for that first of all because Anna is not a great traveler (she gets it from me) and second of all because they are here so often we don't have to. It had been Christmas since we had seen them and I just knew we needed to go visit. I told Chris that we needed to and he wasn't so sure lol. He wanted to just chill on our weekend and not worry about it. I convinced him that we needed too and even after I got sick on Wednesday I was determined to go. We left Friday after Anna got out of school. Saturday we went to breakfast and Anna stayed with Yia Yia and Pop most of the day. Her Daddy was in and out too but she was mainly Yia Yia and Pops for the day. They had a blast. Did a little shopping, played legos (Anna's favorite thing to do with Pop!) and colored and who knows what else lol. They just had the perfect day! Anna and I were staying with Aunt Casey and Chris stayed with his Mom and Dad. That is the way we do it when we visit for whatever reason lol. I have always thought of it as trying to give Aunt Casey a little time since Anna is always about Yia Yia and Pop when they are around. We left that night and everything was right in the world. We had no idea that less than 8 hours later our world would turn upside down.

Pop had been having some health issues. His legs were constantly swollen and his body was starting to swell as well, he was on a heart monitor because they wanted to watch it for a while (they did this every year or so.) Around 4:30 am his alarm on the monitor went off. Less than an hour later we lost our beloved Pop! Our family has suffered a great loss! Pop was a large part of the sparkle in our family. He was a fun-loving friend to anyone he met. He could have a fabulous conversation with a brick wall lol. I remember when Casey woke me up and told me my first thoughts were that this was a bad joke. Sure he wasn't the healthiest person around but Pop was larger than life he was going to be around forever. Chris says it best I think - He gave so freely with his big heart that he had nothing left for himself.

Now you wonder what all of this has to do with listening to God? I know without a shadow of doubt that God told me that we needed to go to visit! I know that for a few reasons. Pop loved his Anna more than anything and they needed that day of love for them both. I think I forgot to mention that they also made Valentine's Day cards. They made them for each other and us. We have the one Pop made for our whole family and that is a special gift! Anna now has the sweet memory of the day, doing all the things she loved with her Pop. If I hadn't listened to God she wouldn't have that. If I hadn't listened to God Lynn would have been home alone trying to deal with all of this. Chris would have never been able to forgive himself for not being there through this. If I had not listened to God we would have had a 2.5 hour trip after finding out he was gone. Casey would have been home alone when the call came in. You can sit there and think what you will but I know that my God was telling me to go home! My God loves me enough to put me where I need to be when I am needed.

He loves me enough to talk to me and have a relationship with me. I am not a perfect person. In fact, I have screwed up more than most! However, I am blessed to be loved by a perfect God that is forgiving! I have a long way to go before I can claim the perfect relationship with Him. I don't read my Bible as much as I should, instead I read novels. I pray to Him but I sometimes hold things back. I give things over to Him and then I take them back because well, I think I know how to handle it. I am trying real hard to be the person that He wants me to be and I still fall short most of the time. Through all of that He still talks to me! He still loves me and forgives me each and every time!!!

I thank God for that last day with Pop! I am thankful that I am assured that Pop feels 100% better now. That he is happy and talking the ear off of all of his friends and family that went ahead of him. We will always miss Pop, but I am so glad that I believe in Jesus and I know that one day we will see him again!

Does God talk to you? Have you slowed down to listen to Him lately? I know I need to slow down a lot more than I do! My church has just started a Bible Study Discerning the Voice of God. I am excited about it.

I have a kindergartener!!!

2010-08-30T10:36:00.004-06:00

We took Anna to her first day of Kindergarten! I can't believe my baby is in kindergarten. Where did the time go? It has apparently been stressing me out! I freaked out last night thinking I had put my phone in the washing machine in a pair of pants. I was seriously about in tears until I had Chris call my cell. It just seems like yesterday when she was coming home from the hospital. Does that mean that the time between now and high school is just a blink? I want to hold onto every moment I can. I try to memorize all the fun and silly things so that I can have it to remember.

For example: The way she loves to play games! Her favorite is eye spy!!! She loves to draw and read. She loves to ride her bike and climb trees. She loves to sing songs and if she doesn't know the words she just makes them up. She has the pretties smile that brightens up her whole face and puts the stars in her eyes. And her laugh is contagious. She has a great laugh!!! It is a lot like mine but even better because hers is well hers. lol We love to swim together. She is a great swimmer. She can do front flips and back flips. She can swim in the deep end without batting an eye. She loves to play ball and "chat". She likes to have picnics and a movie! We try to do it at least once a week.

I can't wait to see how today went for her but for now I need to go clean up my house. It is a mess! I haven't cleaned in a week just so I could soak her up every minute. Now it is back to work! I have to say I am glad though I can't stand living in a mess!!!

Oh one more thing! If anyone has fun lunch box ideas I would love to hear them. I would love to do something fun and interesting at least once a week for her.

#1 Favorite Christmas Memory

2010-01-07T09:43:00.003-06:00

I left a memory out yesterday. It is so special it deserved its own post!!!

The week leading up to Christmas I had Anna and Chris at home with me. Chris was in between jobs and Anna was out on Christmas break. Anna and I bought Chris a little something even though he and I weren't getting each other something. I wanted Anna to get him a little something. Anyway, I was in the floor doing the last of my wrapping including the present for Chris and several other things. Anna said, "Mama, where is your present". I told her that I wasn't wrapping one for myself. She said "OK , wait a minute" with her little mischieveous smile. She went behind the tree, took a present out of a gift bag that I hadn't closed up. She grabbed a Santa from the Polar Express movie that my Mom gave her a year or 2 ago and she put it in the bag. She then came and got the tape and proceeded to tape up the bag! She did it very efficiently going all across the top so that I couldn't peak! lol She then came around the tree and said "I got you a special present Mama." She has no idea that SHE is my special present!!! All I need is her and her Daddy! I didn't need a present but the thoughtfulness of that gesture really touched me. God has blessed me with a very precious little girl!!!

Christmas Memories 2009

2010-01-06T11:07:00.004-06:00

What a crazy Christmas holiday we had this year! We discovered how truly blessed we are and what an awesome God we serve!!! These may not be in order. I just wanted to jot them all down so we wouldn't forget.

In Oct. Chris found out he would be losing his job Dec. 18th. We knew that we would be ok. We both just had a peace about it all. Which I can assure you didn't come from either of us! We did continue life as normal, buckling down in a few areas financially. About a week or 2 before Chris's last day he got a call from a tech school and they wanted to see him that day. He was dressed casually cause they were packing up the school etc. So he ran home and changed and drove out to the interview (a little more than an hour away). Long story short he found out he was getting that job on the same day that he was signing his termination papers. By the way I should add in there he was not "fired" he was laid off cause they were closing the campus that he was working at. They probably knew they would do this when they hired him... That doesn't matter because our God is such a mighty God He had everything planned out perfectly!

Back to Christmas...

Yia Yia & Pop & Aunt Casey:

They all came to spend Wednesday afternoon through Sunday with us. Wednesday night we had a Low Country Boil! My friend Denise and her son Dustin came over and did that for us. Now I know that I am a southern girl and I live on the coast but I do NOT like seafood lol. However, the corn and potatoes were delicious lol. Everyone else raved about the whole thing and we heard about it all weekend!

CHRISTMAS EVE:

We had a lazy day. Yia Yia and Pop took Anna shopping so that we could put together the lego table they were giving Anna and also the Princess table from Santa. After we did that we (Chris, Casey and myself) went to grab lunch and to pick up a shrimp platter for the night. (yuck ;0) We came back home & I pulled together some spinach dip and some queso dip and opened the shrimp platter and a chicken nugget platter (from Anna's favorite place, Chick fil a). That was our dinner! It was yummy! We had a few peanut butter balls for dessert. We opened up all our presents and Anna was so funny! The second present she opened was the Cool School computer from a few ladies Chris had worked with. A very wonderful and thoughtful thing for them to do! She saw what it was and she started going " O O O I WANTED ONE OF THOSE FOR MYSELF!!!" She squealed with delight after each gift she opened. I wish I could have captured it on video! We finally got to crash at some point and she was almost instantly asleep!

SANTA:

I was able to find a Princess Jeep online for $75 for Anna from Santa! I was so excited about it and it was barely used! Pretty much perfect!!! Santa had a hard time getting it out of the garage and into the house. lol I didn't realize it was so HUGE. Chris brought it home and put it in our garage so it didn't look so big in there. Santa also brought her a Princess table with a dry erase table top. Oh and we can't forget a Cinderella baby. When she came out of the bedroom she zoned straight in on the baby that was sitting in the car. It took her a few minutes to even register the car! She got in it after that drove straight into the coffee table. She didn't have any room really! She eventually made her way over the the table where Santa had left her a note. He wrote on it "Merry Christmas Anna thank you for the cookies! See you next year. Santa" She loved that!!!

CHRISTMAS DAY:

After Santa was enjoyed for a while we ate a biscuit that Pop had bought from Anna's other favorite (Hardees). We also had a cookie cake kinda thing and lit candles and sang happy birthday to Jesus! We then played with some of her other toys until Grandma & Grandpa came in with more presents to open! Anna is definitely lacking for toys! She had a great time playing with them and opening more presents. Her favorite things were trying to run over Grandpa and sitting in the chair with Grandma listening to music. We had a non-traditional lunch of a mexican chicken dish that is super yummy! with mashed potatoes and green beans and a dump cake for dessert! Everything was tasty! That night Yia Yia, Casey, Chris, Anna and I piled into the car to go see Christmas lights at this house that is totally awesome! They blink lights to music they have set on a radio station. I can't even explain to make it as cool as it really is. Anna liked it so much that we had to go see it probably 6 times over about 2 weeks!

RIDGELAND LIGHTS:

One night a few weeks before Christmas we piled into Denise's car with Hannah and Nancy and all of us. We headed about an hour or more away and looked at some very cool lights set on a trail. We walked it and then had dinner at a place called Jasper's Porch. The food was pretty good but we were in there for almost 2 hours! After that we walked the trail again and then headed towards home singing all the way! It was a blast. We had to go by Denise's sisters house (her Mama said we had too lol) Her house was done up very cool including reindeers on the top of the house! Then we went out to the same house we went to on Christmas day! That was our first visit of the year there and I think it was probably the most fun. The group of friends we were with were just THAT much fun!!! We went to McDonalds afterwards and went through the drive thru. I am sure they thought we were drunk even though we hadn't had anything!!!

NEW YEARS EVE:

We went over to Denise's house and had pizza and played cards. We had a great time. laughing and cutting up. It is great to have such good friends! I am truly blessed and honestly they are the only thing that makes me sad to have to move. Hmmm, you think I could convince them to move with me? lol Denise let us spend the night at her house so that we didn't have to go out on the road.

Christmas!!!

2009-11-06T10:20:00.003-06:00

Christmas is just around the corner!!! I am getting geared up! I am planning my gift list. I am thinking about the candy I will make! I am thinking about decorations! Anna's Christmas tree is already up! We will put a real one in our living room so that will wait until after Thanksgiving. Probably the weekend after cause we have a Christmas show we are going to Saturday after Thanksgiving! I am excited!!! I love the holidays! I might even try to talk someone into shopping on Black Friday!!! I haven't looked at the sales pages although they are stacking up in my inbox!

What is something special you do at Christmas time? Do you have any fun or special traditions you do with your family?

Rest in Peace Papa George

2009-11-06T10:05:00.003-06:00

A week ago today my Grandfather passed away. He had been pretty sick for a while. His problems included a severe cancer right behind his airway. He was really struggling and now he doesn't have to struggle any more. He is at peace! I am relieved for him but I hate it for my Grandma! They were married for 40 years and now she is alone. I can't even imagine what she is experiencing. We had a lovely service done by my little cousin. I say little because he is 11 years younger than me but he is a good bit taller than I am. Anyway, that is beside the point. He did our service and I don't know that I have ever been to a better one. He is an amazing young man! The one thing that sticks out in my mind about the service is when he said: He thinks when we are called up, Jesus won't be the first person we will see. He thinks we will be reunited with all of the loved ones we have lost and then we will ALL go worship at the feet of Jesus. That is a beautiful sentiment to me. I like the idea that when I am called up I will get to see Papa George and my brother right away. I am going to hold onto that and I hope that my Grandma will too.

M.O.P.S.

2009-09-30T12:07:00.002-06:00

I am looking into starting a MOPS group at my church. If you or someone you know is involved with a Mothers Of Pre Schoolers group I would love to talk to you. Can you leave me a message?

I'm sorry can you repeat that!?!

2009-09-14T09:55:00.003-06:00

I have been a Christian since I was 15 years old. My parents started taking me to church when I was in 10th grade and I loved it instantly. The people were great and having a higher purpose was wonderful. For some reason when you are 15 it is easy to hear God but then as you grow older it is like you turn the volume down (or at least for me!) I am now 36 years old and finally I feel like I can hear God and this time I am really listening! I don't know what all He has in store for me but I am trusting in Him to show me the way. This week I had 3 visitors in my Sunday School class and I was so excited! It felt kinda like a reward for stepping up and doing what the Lord asked of me.

I am excited to finally feel like I am listening and acting on what He wants me to do. I feel like I am finally getting onto the right road after being lost and confused forever! It is almost like being on vacation, really! lol I have been trying to take Jesus where I wanted to go and lets just say He isn't someone that you can easily push along! Now that I am letting Him drive, I can kick back, take in the scenery, and let Him show me the way. Saying all of that doesn't mean that I am not doing anything. I think I am doing more now than I have in a long time but when He is driving it seems so much easier. I am drawing closer to Him through reading His word more often (I can't say daily yet) and praying more often and listening for Him. Sometimes He just wants us to be still and listen. I didn't think about that very much until recently (no wonder I couldn't hear him!) When is the last time you were still? I know it is hard to find time but sometimes you have to make the time and it is SO WORTH IT!!!

Day 5

2009-09-04T07:13:00.003-06:00

She cried and cried! All the way to school she begged me to take her home. I knew if I did take her home that battle would have been lost but the urge to turn that car around was SO strong! I continued down the road and we made it to school. She really started carrying on when we got there and I did our normal routine. I helped her get her stuff up and gave her a hug. I told her I had to go and I practically ran out the door cause the tears were coming down. It breaks my heart that this is so hard on her. I keep asking myself if it is something that I have done that made her need me so much. There is only one other little boy in the class having the same problem that Anna is having. So what causes this problem? What makes one child cry when they are going to school and another delight in it? The only thing that I can see that I have done that would have created this is the fact that she has been with me pretty much all the time. I mean I leave her with a friend every now and again and she goes to church to her class with no problem. But she has never been in daycare and I don't think I would change that just to have her go to school without crying. As a mom I know it is natural to question how we raise our children. To constantly wonder if we are ruining our childs life. Are they going to need therapy because of me? Seriously, all I know is that I can do the best I can and leave the rest up to God. I was listening to this radio program one day and it said something like: You can do better than your parents because you can learn from their mistakes, you can do the best as you see it but then you also have to pray regularly for God to make up for your mistakes to fill in the gaps so to speak. There is NO SUCH THING AS A PERFECT PARENT except for Our Father God! Don't try to be and don't claim to be but lean on Him to heal you and your child from your mistakes! I guess through my attentitiveness with Anna I haven't taught her the independance that she needs to get through this week but I know with my prayers she will make it through. I am going to hold onto that thought with both hands.

Psalm 18:30

³⁰ As for God, his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is flawless.
He is a shield
for all who take refuge in him.

My life

2009-09-03T11:31:00.004-06:00

We are on day 4 of this school thing. I am adjusting although I am not getting into a groove yet. Today we got there and Anna was not happy. She didn't want to stay and she was on the verge of tears. It broke my heart. Last night she tossed and turned and cried all through the night. I don't think she was awake for any of it. That broke my heart too. I like to think it is just because she is worn out! She seems to be making a few friends at school. She doesn't really talk much about what is going on but she seems happy when I pick her up.

Now about me! I am having to adjust to a quiet house. I think that is why I am not staying home so much. The house is TOO quiet! I feel like something is missing, ya know. I am going to have to come up with a game plan and work on that. Maybe next week I can figure it out.

Yesterday, I went to pick out our Small Group stuff! We are going to do The Love Dare. I am super excited about it. I haven't talked about it much on here but Chris and I have gone through a very rough patch. We are now on the way to happier days but I am hoping that this group can help make it even better! Every marriage has ups and downs! If we didn't have the downs we wouldn't appreciate the ups! The Love Dare teaches us how to reconnect and think about the other person, how to treat the other person etc. It is all Bible based and it is supposed to be wonderful for all couples. Whether, you are in good times or bad because you never know when the bad might hit you. It is better to be prepared and now how to deal with things. If you are interested you can watch the movie Fireproof! It has that cutie pie Kirk Cameron (my how I loved him when I was growing up, lol) in it.

I am in a season of change, as is Anna. We will come out on top because we are fighters and because we have the support of family, friends and most of all Our Jesus! I am trying to really rely on Him more! I am trying to listen to Him! I want to grow and learn and be the person that He intended.

2 Samuel 22:33

³³ It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.

My baby is a school girl!

2009-09-01T10:26:00.004-06:00

Yesterday my baby started in pre-k! I was worried about how it was going to go for her (and me lol.) Here is how it went:

Sunday night we were talking about it on and off and laying in bed I told her it was ok to be scared! I told her that I use to go to school and it is lots of fun! She asked me in a quiet little voice "were you scared"? I told her that yes I was scared but I made friends and started learning some neat stuff and I felt better. I told her that most people are scared when they do something new, you just have to make sure you don't let those feelings keep you from having fun and adjusting. She didn't really say anything and fell to sleep soon after that.

We woke up bright and early and I packed her lunch. I came to get her out of the bed and I told her how the morning would play out. We were going to drive her to school and help her put her things away and then we would have to leave. She started crying and saying she wanted to go with me. It broke my heart, of course! We have been reading a book called The Kissing Hand. So I reminded her of it and gave her a kissing hand (well 2 really) and kissing feet and kissing knees and a kissing belly! I told her I wanted to be sure she could find a kiss if she needed it. Well by that time she was giggling and smiling so we went and had breakfast and finished getting ready.

In the car, we went through again how proud we are of her and wonderful school was going to be for etc. Then her and her Daddy sang a song for the rest of the trip. We walked into the school and took her to her class. We helped her put her things up and I said OK baby we have to go now. She said ok, waved and said bye! I, of course, was trying to hold back the tears. I looked back through the window and Anna was waiting to find a chair and she was chewing on her little fingers. She was nervous and scared but she was such a big girl!!!

Today, she attempted to see if she could stay with me but she didn't try as hard as she did yesterday. She went into her class and didn't cry again! I couldn't be prouder. Maybe by the end of the week she will actually enjoy going (one can pray for it anyway!)

Wordless Wednesday

2009-08-12T06:41:00.001-06:00

This is hysterical!!!

Summer Camp

2009-08-11T12:29:00.004-06:00

I haven't done summer camp since I was a teenager. This year our church decided to do a Family Camp and I was excited. The closer it got to it the more I worried about how it would be at camp with a 4 year old. I worried so much that I toyed with the idea of backing out. However, the side of me that likes to have fun just couldn't do that. We left on Wednesday morning. It turned out to be mostly teenagers and their parents and people with smaller children. There were a hand full of adults without children or with older children. We had a great time.

We slept on bunk beds and watched the teenagers play pranks on each other. The preacher even got in on that! I had told my friend Denise about pranks we did like underwear up the flag pole and vaseline on the toilet seats. Thursday afternoon Denise had to GO so she went in the girls dorm. (We had moved out to a neutral dorm so we wouldn't be caught in the cross fire of the "war".) She went in and well lets just say she discovered that vaseline is still used as a prank at camp lol. She had never been to camp before and now she has been crissened, lol.

We had a talent show, I got to be the hostess. That was a ton of fun. If you are my friend on facebook you can see a few clips! We had devotionals together, time to bond with adults while the teenagers entertained the little ones. We had a camp fire and s'mores. The teenagers had a shaving cream fight and we had 2 teams that had a eating challenge. You know the kind where you get the nastiest stuff you can find and see who can eat it the fastest lol.

The best things about camp was that we made stronger friendships, we drew closer to our God, we started understanding each other a little more. If you ever have a chance to do Family Camp be the first one to sign up!!! It is well worth it!

Happy Birthday My Darling Anna

2009-07-31T13:06:00.005-06:00

4 years ago you came into this world kicking and screaming. You were a little tiny thing but you knew how to make your presence known. 4 years later you are still a little on the small side but when you decide to make your presence known there is no ignoring you. You are a delight to have around (most of the time lol). There is a quote out there that says something like Don't have children until you are prepared to have your heart walking around outside of your chest. That isn't it exactly but you get what I am saying. It is so true - I look at you and I know that you are my heart. You are the best of me and your Daddy. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. You are a blessing and I try not to take you for granted even on the days when you are driving me nuts.

Here is a summary of your birth story:

Your Daddy and I got pregnant after trying for a year. I had waited much longer for you than that but you were well worth the wait! We started having problems with the pregnancy when we were half way through. They noticed you were very small and there were times when you would get really still. I started seeing a specialist and having you monitored more often. They noticed you really weren't growing much and they decided you would need to come out early. After a false start they finally set the date (Your Great Grandma's birthday). They did a planned c-section so everything went as planned. Your Daddy and I assumed you would be going to Neonatal and I made him promise me no matter what he would stay with you and protect you. You came out and they checked you out and instead of going to Neonatal they sent you to the regular nursery. There you got your first bath screaming and carrying on the whole time. They put you under the baby warmer for a while and wouldn't bring you to me until I moved my toes. When they told me that is what I had to do to get you I started doing everything I could think of to get my toes to wiggle. They said I did that quicker than most Moms. That is how badly I wanted you in my arms. You are still a Mama's girl and I hope you will stay that way.

This next year is going to be full of changing and growing for both of us. You are going to start Pre-school in just a month. You are going to make new friends and learn so much. You are going to learn that Mommy isn't the only one that can fix things or make it better. You will learn that you can do so much more than you ever believed. In fact, you have already learned that in a few cases. You had a dance camp where you learned so much in one week. You even learned this week how to go down and touch the bottom of the 8 ft pool. You amaze me with your swimming skills! You will do great in school! You will adjust to not having Mommy around (hopefully very quickly). You will be a leader and a follower each in its on time. Maybe you will even learn to share toys and take turns.

Your future is bright! You can be and do anything!!! You are smart, funny and adventurous (at times) you will go far. I want to teach you to believe in yourself and no that you can depend on yourself if necessary. But I also want you to know that you are not alone! You will never be alone! Your Dad and I will always be here for you as will so many other people. But the best one to lean on is our God! He will never let you down and as long as you remember to rely on Him everything will be ok. I hope that you will find something to do with your life that makes you happy! I hope that one day you will find out how wonderful and rewarding it is to be a Mommy. I hope that you find a man that will treat you like a Princess or if you don't that you will treat yourself like a Princess! Because you are a Princess. You have been telling me lately that you are my Princess - I guess that means I am the Queen woo hoo.

I love you with all my heart! As the book says I love you to the moon and back!!! Happy Birthday my darling! I hope it is full of fun and laughter.

New Born

First Year

Second Year

Third Year

This Year

One Proud Mama

2009-07-26T19:20:00.001-06:00

Dance camp was last week and I was very worried about how it was going to play out. She did great (after the first day!) She even seemed to learn a lot in only a week. On Friday they did a "recital" for all the parents and I was so afraid that she wouldn't do anything with all of those parents watching her. She did a beautiful job. I was one proud mama!!! She is the one on the very end in black!!!

Worn Out

2009-07-16T05:51:00.002-06:00

I am so tired of all the bickering going on in my house with the 2 extra girls in it. I would like to appeal to you more experienced moms of multiple children on how you deal with it. Please share your secrets cause seriously it is driving me crazy.

I believe this morning I am going to sit them down and lay down the law. If anyone is unwilling to share and arguing follows the item will be taken away for 30 minutes and will come back to the person that requested it (as long as they requested nicely). If it happens again with the same item it will go away for the rest of the day. If they can't sit together and complain they are to close or whatever everyone will have to move. How does that sound? I don't want to be an ogre but come on can't we get along?

The younger one tends to say if you don't do "whatever" I am not going to play with you again. The older one can't decide if she wants the younger ones to play with her or leave her alone. She sends mixed signals and then gets mad if the little ones stop wanting to play with her. Anna just doesn't know how to share and thinks if someone gets something that looks fun she should get it. She is finally picking up on the take turns thing but sometimes it is still hard.

Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!!!

Best Baby Back Ribs Ever

2009-07-15T11:54:00.004-06:00

Bar-B-Que Ribs

Wash the ribs off
Put oil on your hands and rub over the ribs
Sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic and a little red pepper.
wrap tight in foil and bake at 300 degrees for 3 hours (if you are doing one rack)
Take out and open the top of the foil
The meaty part of the rib should be on top. Pour evenly your barbecue sauce of choice all over the top. We used a vidalia onion sauce and it was wonderful!!!
Cook for another 45 minutes or so (be sure not to burn your sauce)

This is how my mother-in-law told me to do it and I can tell you they are the best ribs ever!!!

For more great tips go HERE!

Here I am!

2009-07-11T15:00:00.004-06:00

So I have been Absent for so long I feel like I should reintroduce myself! Hi, my name is Candace and I am about to turn 36 years old. I have a daughter that is almost 4 but really going on 16, ya know. Anyway, I have been staying at home with her for some time and loving every minute of it. She is going to be starting preschool in the fall and I am scared and nervous about that. I am hoping to start back to school then too. I am going to go to Cosmetology School if I can get everything done in time. I have to start working on that Monday. I really just wanted to do the nail technology classes but they don't offer that separate from the hair. Oh well it won't hurt to know how to do hair, right?

Anna and I have been spending the majority time of the summer in the pool. Anna has learned how to swim as good as most of the older kids. She can even swim to the bottom of the pool and how to do flips. I love watching her in the pool! Next week I get to watch her learn how to dance! She is going to a dance camp and I am praying that she will cooperate lol.

As of this past week we have started watching 2 other little girls, 6 & 8 years old. They are a lot of fun. (most of the time, lol) We are getting on great though and I am sure that the longer we are together the better it will get. Since we have been keeping them we go to the pool twice a day, lol. Anna loves having them to play with. They are teaching her how to pretend, share and how to play nicely with friends.

So that is where I am at, where are you?

Wordless Wednesday - July 4th

2009-07-08T06:24:00.001-06:00

Where I come from

2009-06-26T06:58:00.004-06:00

I realized yesterday that everyone likes to know where they come from. Not just the people around them but how they acted and what they were like as a smaller child. Anna is already curious about her life as a baby. So this is for my Anna!

Where Anna came from:

Anna came from 2 parents that loved her so much before she was ever born. We were on pins and needles just waiting to make sure she would be ok because she was so very small. She wasn't growing very well in me and now I realize it was just because she was anxious to get out and see the world and be a HUGE part of it. As a baby she didn't sleep much. She would catch a few short naps but only if I were holding her. Or to be more accurate if I nursed her. She was a champion nurser lol. She started growing in leaps and bounds after she was out in the world. Her size never held her back though. She was trying to roll over at a young age and sitting up pretty young too. I would have to go back and check my notes to see exactly when. Anna never liked tv as a baby. Baby Einstein did absolutely NOTHING for her. Even now at almost 4 I am doing good to get her to watch 30 minutes for me to get something done without her under me lol. She loved to swing! Except she didn't like going front to back she preferred side to side. She wouldn't sleep in her crib until she was 4 months old at which point she started sleeping through the night! At 7 months we went on a fabulous vacation to Holden Beach where she decided that sleeping through the night was totally over rated! Her first belly laugh was 4.5 months old. We were watching White Christmas, a movie that I loved and will cherish even more now!

As Anna has been growing she has gone through a number of phases. Some that I would like to forget and others that I will hold on to too get me through the tough ones ;) She went through the NO phase! Everything was NO even if she really meant yes. She is still going through a phase where she hits. If she gets mad or is not getting her way she strikes out. She is a Drama Queen and has been since she was a baby. She started posing for pictures when she was old enough to realize what a camera was. She turns everything into a HUGE deal. Which can be good if it is something like a picnic and a movie. Not so great if she bumps her toe and her world crumbles!

I expected most of these things though cause she is so much like me. She picks through her food to see if there is something gross in there. She laughs with her whole body and soul. She feels other peoples pain so deeply that she will cry for them. She loves to snuggle but also likes to have her space. She also has a lot of her Daddy in her. She likes to scare people and play tricks on them. She moves very slow (sometimes) making sure everything is JUST so! She likes a variety of different foods. She doesn't like to be touched after 10:00 PM lol. She loves to put things together and take things apart. She has to have things done a certain way and she hates it if you change it up on her. For example, we have assigned seating at the table, we have to go a certain way into the grocery store etc.

She is a quirky little kid and I love discovering these things about her. She loves to help clean house and do laundry! Maybe we can keep her that way lol. Her favorite chore is wiping tables and stuff. Anything with spray!!! She loves her babies and takes very good care of them. She will be a great Mommy one day! She feeds them, changes there diaper, rocks them and plays with them. She even selects a lucky one to ride in the car with us where ever we are going. She hates to leave them in when we go to the store but I make her leave it. I am afraid if we left it somewhere the world would come to an end as we know it. Remember DRAMA QUEEN!!!

She loves swimming and is a little fish. She is doing extraordinary with it, she can swim the width of the pool without help, do flips under the water and swim down to touch the bottom of the pool with her fingertips. She loves to have picnics in the living room and watch a movie. She loves sitting out in our driveway and waving at people as they go by. I don't think she realizes how much joy she brings to the people driving by. I can see most of them looking tired after a long day and then they see her waving with such a cute smile and their faces brighten up and most of them wave back or honk the horn. She loves to ride her bike and climb things. She loves to play with her very good friends. She has so many now I never imagined she would have so many friends. She tends to get shy with new people but she is breaking away from that a little at the time. She loves getting her nails done and her hair too. She enjoys getting in the car and going as long as we don't have to drive to long. She likes to pretend like she is driving the car. Her favorite thing to do at the park is swing! She would swing for hours if you would stand there and push her lol. She is starting to learn how to do it herself but knows it is much easier if someone does it for her lol.

She doesn't like big crowds, she doesn't like putting away her toys (I think it is because she is thinking I am just going to get them back out later), she doesn't like bug bites, she doesn't like sitting still for to long, she doesn't like having to get a bath until she gets in (she loves it after she gets in), she doesn't like missing things, she doesn't like not being able to do something one of her friends can do.

She loves pretty much all fruits, she loves chips, plain or with salsa and sour cream or dips. she loves hot stuff, she loves sweets, she loves granola bars but her favorite snack is goldfish! Her favorite meal is chicken and pasta or either ham. She doesn't like broccoli, she doesn't like raisins, she doesn't like well I can't think of anything else at the moment.

Right now we are facing the 3-4 year old attitude. Sometimes I am trying so hard not to laugh when she gets it going. She just gets this look on her face and some of the things that come out of her mouth. Other times I just want to hang her up by her toe nails lol.

She is a delightful little girl and I am so blessed that God brought her to my life.

Timy Talk Tuesday

2009-05-19T06:45:00.003-06:00

I wish I had been writing stuff down. The stuff that comes out of Anna's mouth is not stuff I would ever dream up. Here are a few things that have just stuck with me.

* Last night we were flipping through the channels on tv and I said "TV stinks!" Next thing I know she is up smelling the tv lol. She turned to me and said "Which TV, Mom?"

* One Wednesday night on the way to church we saw the prettiest rainbow. We were talking about what it means etc. and she said "Mom, do you think rainbows get wet or do they stay dry?" She stumped me! Anyone know the answer to that one?

* Anna is all about swimming these days. We typically go to our community pool that has a specific opening and closing time. This past weekend we went to my aunt's house. They have a pool at there house. Saturday night we had a party and everyone got out of the pool for a while during the party. She looked out there at dusk and said "Hey Mama, is the pool closing now?" She was totally excited when she found out that it wasn't, that it NEVER closed!!!

For more Tiny Talk go HERE!

Mother's Day Video

2009-05-12T11:59:00.003-06:00

This is the video I created for church! Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day!!!

Starting the Summer off Right!!!

2009-05-06T14:16:00.000-06:00

Dancing with Anna!

2009-05-05T16:59:00.002-06:00

Being a Mom is so confusing sometimes. It is like a confusing dance (I have never been a good dancer!) that is ever changing! They are growing and changing and we are growing and changing as parents as well. This means that things will be different from one day to the next.

Anna and I have been feeling growing pains lately. That struggle for power. The I am a big girl and I want to do it myself. I try to give where I can and stand firm where I need too. On the flip side of that sometimes I seem to push her to hard. But then I wonder if it is to hard or if it is necessary. See a confusing dance! Y'all tell me I am not alone on the dance floor! Tell me that we will survive and make it to the next step!

Prayer and Angels

2009-05-04T13:50:00.003-06:00

Last Wednesday night our preacher talked about prayer. How there is a right spirit that you need to pray with to have God really hear you. I mean we could pray all day long for a Jaguar and well that is not going to be at the top of God's priority list ya know. It reminded me of the time that Chris and I spent at Ridgecrest. Our transportation was Chris's OLD truck. It was a great truck but well it was old. One day we left Ridgecrest to go to Ashville to eat or something and we had a problem. I can't remember if we prayed together but I know I was praying. Praying that 1) we could make it somewhere 2) we could find someone that could help us! We barely got out of Ridgecrest and we coasted up to a couple of old guys hanging out selling veggies and fruits. They checked out the truck and told us just what we needed and then went to get it for us. They said they were out there ALL the time but Chris and I never saw them before or after! They were a Godsend. An answer to our prayers! They didn't even let us pay them for the part and we were pretty broke so that was another Godsend. Our very own angels!!!

Prayers are answered every day. Yes, no or not now those are the answers that we get. We don't always have such a wonderful story to tell. They may be answered by a friend calling when we need someone or a positive pregnancy test that you have been waiting so anxiously for or by a new job that you needed or wanted desperately. Whatever it is you can be sure that God had His hand in it. Sometimes I like to do things with/for Anna and make her think that she has done it all by herself I like to think God is the same way. He decides when we are ready for something and then He will make it happen and often times we forget to thank Him because we think we did it ourselves!

Thank you God for always being in charge of my world! Thank you for all of the blessings you bestow on me! Thank you for loving me enough to forgive me of ALL my sins and helping me repair my life!

Whirlwind weekend!

2009-04-28T03:09:00.004-06:00

What a great weekend! Friday night I lounged around and watched Ghost Whisperer all by myself. No interruptions, no chatting through it. I really didn't know how to handle it but I soaked it up lol. Chris entertained Anna to give me a break since I have this cold. He was wonderful!!!

Saturday I got some more down time while Anna helped her Daddy do some yard work in the morning. I took a nice LONG hot shower! Which is pretty much unheard of for me lol. After lunch we got ready and headed downtown to the Sidewalk Chalk Festival. It was great fun. We have some super talented people out there. My idea of drawing with chalk is a smiley face lol. Anna was just excited to watch all the people and the dogs! She also got her face painted and did a craft and played some games! She had a great time and so did we. After a while we decided we were hot and we walked down to a pizza place that is So yummy but we don't go often because it is downtown. We enjoyed a leisure dinner because we knew that we didn't want to get back to the park to fast. Chris got a glimpse of the future while we were there. It seemed like girls were coming out of the wood work. There was a girl scout troop there and a teenager having a party. There fear of the future was palpable coming off Chris lol. The chattering and giggling, the silliness and LOUDNESS shook him to the core lol. It excited me and brought back so many memories! He said something about her not being that silly and I had to remind him how silly I was. I think he blocked it out or either I hid it from him because I wanted to impress him lol. Anyway, as soon as Chris could make his escape we were out of there and we walked back to the park. We settled in on a blanket we took and a chair for Chris and Anna's stroller and proceeded to wait for a movie to start. I know isn't that crazy a movie in the park! Anna was all excited - "We are watching a movie OUTSIDE!" She anxiously waited for it to start not running around like the other ones but focusing intently on the screen trying to will the movie to start! We got there kinda early but we got perfect seats. We were towards the front right beside the speakers. I was worried it would be to loud but it was perfect! Finding Nemo was the feature film and Anna loves that movie! She enjoyed the whole movie and ate her left over pizza during it so she even got to have a picnic lol.

Sunday of course is our church day! I made a hard decision last week. I decided I would step down from choir for a while. I am moving Anna up to children's church and out of the nursery. They typically do that at 4 but I need to do something to help prepare Anna for preschool and I was thinking this would be a good place to start. It hurts me because I love to sing and be a part of the worship like that but as always Anna comes first! The way our church does it is the kids get to stay through the first half of the service which is the music part and then they go to children's church afterwards while we have a sermon. Anna is so funny about who she will sit with I didn't want to just throw her out there with someone. Therefore, until she is a little more comfortable with this change I will sit with her. Honestly though after this Sunday I don't think it will be to long. I think she will sit with her friend McKenzie even if it is with an adult she doesn't know well. It was a relief when she held McKenzie's hand (McKenzie is 6 yrs old) and ran out of the church giggling and excited! We all took a nap that afternoon and it was kind of nice not having to worry about waking her up to get to choir practice! I always hated that part cause on Sunday she goes down for nap so late that it is usually a challenge letting her get enough sleep and still make it to choir on time.

So that was our very full weekend. Honestly, though this weekend really did make me appreciate where I live. To have so much to do that is family oriented is a great thing!

Sacrifices of a Daddy

2009-04-28T02:33:00.004-06:00

My husband is a great Daddy. I know that he feels inadequate (as many of us parents do) but he is so wrong! When Anna was about 18 months old we would stand in the window to wave him off to work. She would put on a huge smile and give her queenly wave. I know in so many ways that was bitter sweet. Sweet because his baby loved him enough to wave him off with a smile interrupting whatever she was doing at the moment just for him. Bitter because yet again he was leaving her. Today Anna cries if her Daddy is gone when she wakes up. She no longer waves him off but she does run to him and snuggle up until the very last second. I know that he hates leaving her. He is doing a great thing for her though. He is showing her how much he loves her by providing for her. He is showing her how to be dependable and consistent. He is showing her that it is important to be there for others and to stand by your commitments.

A fathers love is so important to a little girl. He is showing her how a man should treat a woman. He is showing her that she is special and deserves to be treated like a princess! He is also showing her that life isn't all about responsibilities and worries it is also about fun and laughter. My husband is teaching Anna all of these things and doesn't even realize it! He does these things effortlessly and still thinks himself inadequate.

He is teaching her of our Fathers love! She knows already that God loves her. She knows that Jesus loves her. She loves to talk about it and read her Bible! She will have a wonderful understanding of why we call God our Father as she grows up because she will be able to see that the love God has for each and every one of us is very much like the love a father feels for his child. It is an unconditional love, a love that grows as the relationship grows, a love that only wants to see good things, better things for the child, a love that disciplines not because it is fun but because you don't want the child to hurt or suffer not just now but always, it is a love that can never be destroyed! Nothing we do can take away a Fathers love or our Gods love! Hold on to that in all you do. Now that you will always have someone on your side!!!

Chris you should know that Anna adores you. She thinks you hung the moon just for her! Thank you for all that you teach our daughter and all that you do for her (and me)!

Anna you should know that your Daddy adores you. That all he does for you is out of love not duty! That you are his world!

Video Friday

2009-04-24T13:29:00.004-06:00

TGIF

2009-04-24T12:10:00.003-06:00

Its Friday and we have a fun weekend planned! Tonight I think Anna and her Daddy are going to have a date so that I can get some much needed rest to kick my cold. Tomorrow we are going to be busy busy busy. I will tell you all about it Monday! And of course Sunday is filled with church and good friends!

Hope you all have a great weekend!!!

Girly Hair

2009-04-19T12:04:00.004-06:00

I have found some great websites for little girls hair. I copied one style for Easter and it was really easy and I think pretty cute. I took part of one today and did it for church. It was a complicated hairstyle and I didn't think I could do it all but I love the little corkscrew look. So I did a half tail, as my daughter calls it, and twisted the hair for the corkscrew look. You have to split the hair in half twist both pieces in one direction then twist them together in the other direction. After doing that she decided she didn't like it and wanted a tail (ponytail) so I pulled all of her hair up together making one big tail with the twisted parts on top. I think it looks adorable.

This was my first time doing the corkscrews and they were pretty easy. I did it with the hair damp and I did redo it once so that I could make it a little tighter.

Spring cleaning the yard!

2009-04-17T12:59:00.003-06:00

My yard is a huge challenge for me! No, it isn't huge but it seems to get out of control rather often. If it isn't the flower bed in the front with more weeds than flowers it is the back yard with more weeds than grass. Anna and I worked out there several hours this morning. Working with my stacks of pine straw and cutting the grass, sweeping off the porch and cleaning Anna's outside toys. We worked so hard that we earned a picnic out there. Anna loves to be outside and being able to do all of this was wonderful for her. We even soaked up some sun after our picnic. I love hanging out with Anna. She makes everything so much more fun.

Hope you all can have a great friday! Enjoy some time in the great out doors with someone that makes you smile!

Fullfillment

2009-04-16T12:30:00.002-06:00

I have writers block!!!

My life has been full. Full of fun, full of learning, full of things to do, full of love, just plain old full! I haven't really been blogging much besides pictures because I have been to busy living my life. In one way I have really missed blogging. I have great ideas for a post and then I get busy again and poof it is gone. So instead of a lovely witty post you get my day!

Anna and I went to the park this morning. We had a great time with friends. Anna played hard and is now napping hard. YAY! She learned today that throwing rocks isn't a good idea! I don't know why she and her little friend thought it would be fun to throw rocks at each other. Anna (who has a great throw) threw one right into her friends head. Luckily it was a little rock and it hurt but it didn't bust her head or anything. My daughter looked so pleased with herself. I think she was thinking "yeah, I can really throw good!" I had to explain that throwing rocks was a very bad idea. So they went and started jumping up and down trying to tear leaves out of one of the tall trees! They also pushed each other on the swings, rode bikes together (even sharing each others) and played together beautifully!

After nap I hope to go out and get some work done in the back yard cause let me tell you it is NOT pretty!!! My weeds are growing to high and I still have stacks of pine straw where I raked them up and never took them out. Maybe I will post pictures if I can get enough done. I might even go get started on it while Anna finishes her nap. That is if I can get out the door without waking her up. She seems to have a radar that tells her when a door is opened while sleeping! It is crazy!

So I hope you are full and happy! See ya when I see ya! Probably tomorrow but maybe Monday!!!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-15T06:50:00.002-06:00

Happy Belated Birthday Hubby

2009-04-14T14:19:00.004-06:00

I didn't get this posted on his birthday but I am sure he won't mind. Chris and I have had a bumpy time of it lately. I like to think we are on the downward slope of that and are getting back into good times. I know that every marriage has ups and downs and the downs make you appreciate the ups. So to help us remember the ups and remember why we married each other here are some of my good memories.

1) This one will sound funny to you all but Chris will get it. Our first date and the drive back to my house (my parents house) it took about 20 minutes to get there and we were in his moms car. It was so warm and cozy inside the car and it wasn't awkward like I thought it would be. He kept having to dim the headlights cause there was so much traffic and the click, click of it just ingrained that memory into my head for some reason. I will never forget the laughter after about the 10th click, click that filled the car. We were just both so light and happy to be together!

2) We went to high school together and we would have lunch together. He would always put his head down if there were a lot of people around but if it were just the two of us he would talk and/or listen. That is one of the great things about him - he is a great listener!!!

3) We also went to church together. One of the things he thought was so cute was how I would always run around barefooted! I think it drives him crazy now cause I still do it sometimes lol.

4) We worked at Ridgecrest the summer after we graduated high school. We had so much fun. We walked in the rain together (a lot) and it never seemed to bother us much as long as we were together.

5) We would go get ice cream a lot there too (I gained SO much weight there). But it was always fun hanging out and talking. We did that a lot, somewhere along the way we stopped. We are trying to get back to that. You don't realized how important something is for your relationship until it is gone.

6) College - We went to one year of college together before I had to drop out. We loved meeting up after class and eating by the fountain or going to Hopeland Gardens and having a picnic there. Togetherness is a beautiful thing!

7) I forgot our first Christmas - We started dating in Nov. 1990 and I didn't know what to ask for so I asked for a pink paper clip lol. How silly is that! He found one and presented it to me in a ring box lol. He also gave me a beautiful pink sweater and matching skirt. He has always had good taste. In clothes and girls te he he!

8) We dated all through his college days and grew closer and closer. Always hanging out after my work and his classes. We talked a lot and played a lot. He didn't mind my child like playfullness, although he was way more mature than me lol. He would smile and shake his head at my silly antics.

9) We got married after he got his degree. We moved away from home (which was a good thing for us). We were very happy. I was having a little health issue that wasn't great for us but we got through it. I started doing temp work and he was working as a manager trainee for an electrical supply place. I couldn't cook worth a hoot. One night I cooked baked chicken. I baked it so long that it was dry as a bone. My wonderful hubby sat there and ate it even though I was begging him not to cause it was AWFUL!!!

10) Chris lost his job shortly there after and that took a toll on our relationship. We worked through it and even went on a trip to Vegas. It was fun to walk around and look and see and just be together. No stress, no worries - just us!

11) We use to babysit 2 little girls (they aren't so little anymore). I loved watching Chris with them. He had so much fun with them and wasn't afraid to play with them. It made me sure that he was going to be a good Daddy! I was right too!!!

12) Anna joined our family! He was so good with her. He cherished her and was in awe of her. It was/is amazing to watch him with her. He was/is so gentle and loving. It reminds me of all the good in us!

13) Laughter is not uncommon in our house. I love that and it is becoming more common now that Chris has a new job. Not to mention Anna is getting pretty funny lol.

This is to be continued...

Easter Picture Contest!

2009-04-13T12:11:00.003-06:00

I am entering a new to me contest lol. I think it has been around for a while but I am just finding it. Go HERE if you want to check it out. It is called iHeartFaces!

Works for me Wednesday

2009-04-08T05:58:00.000-06:00

When Chris started back to school for his Masters degree I discovered pretty quickly if I wanted something grilled I would have to do it myself. He was swamped with work, school and homework. I received a few quick lessons and off I went. Now I love to grill and don't tell Chris but I think I do better than him lol.

My favorite marinade is McCormick's Tomato, Garlic & Basil Marinade. I put it on for about 30 minutes usually but sometimes I will do it the night before. I put my grill on medium, unless I am in a hurry or waiting on something else to cook that will take a while. I put the chicken on the grill and give it just a few minutes on one side and then flip. After the initial flip I don't pay attention to the time. Chris says five minutes one side and then flip and repeat. I however don't wear a watch and I don't pay attention to time lol. I think I do it more often than that. Probably every 3 minutes or so. I do that until they "look" done. I will then get a knife and cut into the largest one to see if it is done. I think your average piece of chicken takes 20 minutes. If it has the bone in it will take longer. Pork chops don't usually take as long and hamburgers depending on thickness can run from 20 - 30 minutes.

Monday night we decided to take our pieces of chicken and make chicken sandwiches. Way better than even Chick-fil-a!

Oh another little tip for ya. I got it from Rachael Ray. I have tried numerous ways to make the perfect hamburger. I heard if you put a hole in the middle it would cook more evenly. That didn't really work for me. I bought a hamburger patty maker thing - you know the press that you can use to make perfectly shaped burgers. Then Rachael Ray said to make the center thinner and the outside thicker. As it cooks it would puff up in the middle and it would cook perfectly. Guess what, it works!!! I was so excited to find the way to make a perfect hamburger. So now I use my press thingy to make sure they are big enough and then I thicken up the edges! Much better than my charcoal looking burgers lol.

Mommyhood

2009-04-02T15:54:00.004-06:00

It is not always a fun job. It is not always an entertaining job. It is NEVER an easy job! But it is a rewarding job. Over the past few days/weeks I have seen Anna growing so much. The way she talks is changing and the way she acts with people well lets just say it is short of a miracle.

She is actually talking to some of the guys at church that before she would act all coy with. She has even given a few high fives! They have been working on that day for a very long time. She is learning proper english so her sentences don't sound as wacky as they did before. (Her studder is all gone too!) Best of all I have been successful at teaching her manners! That was very important to me and it is so rewarding to know that it has paid off! She says please and thank you like it is natural to her. Unless of course she is being shy and won't say anything! She says Ms. and Mr. not always right but she gets it in there most of the time. Today between her few little temper tantrums she has been such an amazing little girl. She came in and saw me doing the dishes and she brought her chair over and grabbed the silver ware and started putting them up! I mean, wow!!! I was just so impressed with that. So her reward was to do the Cha Cha Slide (her favorite dance ever lol). She loved it. Today we have also started doing a puzzle. It isn't a kids puzzle, it is a 550 piece puzzle. She is loving it. We have done the outer edges and now are working on the center. I thought I would share a picture with you guys!
Having a baby changes everything! Having a little girl (or boy) changes everything too. You learn things when they are a baby and then it goes out the window as they grow. Life is ever changing and I find that I am enjoying that! New challenges, new joys, new frustrations, new sorrows (like not being called Mommy any more!) Everything is new again!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-01T08:31:00.003-06:00

Mommy's little helper!

Lemon Cake

2009-03-30T18:37:00.004-06:00

My mother-in-laws birthday was Friday. They came down so that we could go to the ballet and I wanted to make a cake for my mil. She isn't much of a sweet person though so I thought I would try this cake out and let me just tell you it was delicious and the best part super easy to make.

Bake a lemon cake as directed on box

Let cool for 10 minutes and then remove from pans to cool completely

After they are cool make jello: 2 small boxes of lemon jello with 1 1/2 cups of milk mix thoroughly and poor onto the top of each cake. Do not let it set before putting it on the cake!

(I did one put the other on top of it and did it.)
Then you spread cool whip all over as the icing!

Anna added the sprinkles so she could have her flair on it!

Video Friday

2009-03-27T06:06:00.001-06:00

Yia Yia and Pop this is for you! It is from Aug 07 so she was barely 2.

Memories!

2009-03-27T04:49:00.001-06:00

Back in the day I would sing! I sing now but I like the comfort of singing in the choir. When I was a teen and a young adult I would actually do solos and duets! I loved our music director at church she was a very dear friend and I wish that I could find her again. I digress though, we had so much fun practicing music for my solos etc!

She had some different training techniques that I look back on and laugh. She would have me lay in the floor and sing down there. Apparently I didn't breathe from the diaphragm and laying on the floor pretty much makes you do that. She was instilling in me proper breathing and I think I still breathe correctly today! She wouldn't let me put my hands behind my back which I think is fairly normal but as a nervous young person that was hard. Keeping my hands in front or by my side was hard!

She kept trying to make me an alto because going high is sometimes a challenge for me although going low is too. She just thought that is were I should be. I hated being alto! I just couldn't get the hang of being low my voice just wanted to soar! She did discover that I tend to follow the people beside me so if she put altos on both sides I would usually go with them lol. Occasionally I would bust away from the crowd and go high again lol.

My solos included Love in Any Language and Thy Word. There were more but these were my favorites!

Do you like to sing? In front of people, alone or with a group? Do you like to sing high or low? What is your favorite song to sing?

To see more memories go HERE!

Spring cleaning the blog!

2009-03-26T18:32:00.001-06:00

Y'all tell me what you think about my new look! I am loving it but I think I like Anna's even better!

Learning!

2009-03-26T12:23:00.003-06:00

I have been a busy girl. I am learning to drive a stick shift ha. Isn't that great I am 35 years old and I am discovering that you never stop learning. I did learn how to drive a manual car ages ago but I was never very good at it. Now Chris is working about 40 minutes away from home and to save on gas he takes my car 2-3 days a week. That leaves me and Anna home with his truck. Anna and I don't like to stay home all day. There is just something in us that has to go even if it is just up the street for 10 minutes lol. So we have been taking his truck out for a spin here or there. I never wonder to far away from home and I make sure it is in the morning when there is not a lot of traffic. Anna loves it! She gets to sit in the front cause he has a single cab truck with no air bag. She also loves it when I do the whole whiplash thing lol. Which I tend to do from first to second gear for some reason. I am working on it and the more I drive it the better I get.

I have learned a few things through this process besides how to gear down when you slow down to turn or how to know when to change the gears. I have learned that driving an automatic is totally not driving lol. It is a leisure activity! Driving a stick is work! I can't even hardly have a conversation with Anna cause I am focusing on all the different aspects of driving! I have learned that I kinda like it lol. I never thought I would say that but I am enjoying the challenge of it. I like how Anna laughs at me or she points out all that she can see.

I think once I have this mastered I will have to find a new challenge! Something new to learn! Maybe I will learn how to do something totally crazy! Or maybe I will just learn something simple. Whatever it is I am glad to know that learning doesn't stop even after you are in your mid-30s. Even after or maybe especially after having a little one. I do realize that I learn things daily from Anna. Sometimes I do it so effortlessly that I don't even realize I am learning. Other times I am a very slow learner! Either that or she changes the rules on me a lot lol.

What have you learned lately? Something exciting or mundane? Something that makes you laugh or sigh with frustration?

Works for me Wednesday

2009-03-25T05:40:00.009-06:00

Pictures!!! I have a 3.5 year old that has thousands of pictures documenting her life! My husband thinks there are to many and well maybe there are but when she is older and these days are gone I know that I will be glad to have them. Back in the day we didn't have digital cameras and I have very few of me and my hubby when we were dating or even early on in our marriage. I hate that cause I am a picture-a-holic!

Doctoring Pictures - The pictures I do have from back in the day are not great quality. They were just point and shoot kinda pictures and were not doctored in any way. Today there is no reason to have a picture that doesn't look good. First of all if it is on the digital camera delete it if it is NO good! If it has potential take it into Picasa and tweak it! This is a free program that you can use to brighten a picture or darken a picture. Crop it and a number of other things. Use this program so that your memories are clear in years down the road. Of course, you can use photoshop or some other expensive program that is better but Picasa is a great alternative for those of us that don't have it and can't get it!

Up Close and Personal - My next photo tip is to get down and close with your little one. Don't be afraid to get on your knees to get the camera on their level. Of course, sometimes when I do that Anna thinks she needs to get on her knees but hey lol. You don't always have to center your little one in the picture. Like if you are at the beach you can let the water take up one side and your little one be on the other side. You don't always want to have your pictures taken from the same angle. You need to switch it up a little. You can do one with them looking up or profile pictures or even from behind. Some of my favorite pictures are taken as Anna walks away. I can get her hair swaying or the little bounce in her step. I also like to get pictures of her little hands and feet. Not typically alone lol but I do let them stand as a sort of focal point. And most importantly don't be afraid to get close ups of their face! Their precious faces change so fast when they are little even if we can't see it now we will be able to tell when they are 8 the subtle little changes. Or catching a glimmer in their eye or a twitchy little smirk or whatever. You don't want to miss out just because you think you always need the full body or are afraid to zoom in.

Posed vs candid - I do a little bit of both posed shots and candid shots. I get a lot of candid shots when we are playing outside. Climbing her favorite tree or blowing bubbles (a great way to get giggles) sidewalk chalk or any number of activities. I get a few posed out there but they usually have that fake smile that we obviously learn to do at a young age. Every now and then I can get a good posed picture but usually I have to rely on my candid shots.

Take a lot of pictures! - Don't be afraid to snap away. When you are relying on candid pictures you have to take a lot of pictures to catch the perfect one. Snap away and just delete the ones you don't like. Or if you are like me you will keep a lot of the outtakes because they are funny or cute or a good way to remember a particular day! All of your pictures don't have to be perfect!

For more Works for me Wednesday go HERE!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-25T05:37:00.000-06:00

Tiny Talk Tuesday!

2009-03-24T05:29:00.005-06:00

Anna is 3.5 now and sometimes the things that come out of her mouth suprise me. Or just crack me up lol.

Yesterday on the way home from the store we saw a guy walking beside the road.

A: Mom, you see that guy!

M: Yes, I do.

A: That is dangrous (dangerous). He needs time out! You aren't supposed to walk in the road!

M: That is right baby! It is dangerous to walk in the road!

We have terrible sand gnats here. They are tiny little gnats that actually bite and they hurt! Having said that Anna loves to be outside. If she is awake she would rather be outside! After coming in from one of our many trips out (I can't take them for long lol).

A: Mom!

M: Yes

A: Those bugs were terrble! (terrible) They were biting my arms!

For more Tiny Talk go HERE

St. Patrick's Day Parade

2009-03-18T08:15:00.003-06:00

Our parade is one of the largest in the USA. I took Anna for her first ever parade and my second time at the one here. We got there at 7:30 so we would have GREAT seats! We hung out with friends and snacked and played until it started at 10. Anna was enthralled with the parade. Really I think she liked that if she waved at someone the odds were they would wave back lol. That and there were tons of bands and horses and dogs in it. We were there until 2 and let me tell you I was wishin I had packed us a lunch. I will have to remember that for next year. Here are a few pictures from our day out there!

Happy St. Patty's Day

2009-03-17T08:10:00.001-06:00

Chocolate Chip Cookies!!

2009-03-13T13:49:00.002-06:00

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F.
COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, oil and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and/or nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

I should note that this is the Nestle Recipe with a few modifications. They are yummy!!! I am baking them right this moment for a youth party tonight!

WOW!

2009-03-12T12:47:00.004-06:00

One of my dearest friends at church is an English teacher at a High School. She is also a co-teacher for their Gospel Choir. (this is a public school!) She has told us numerous times how amazing they are and last night she gave us the opportunity to experience it first hand! These kids are incredible!!! These kids are amazing but don't take my word for it check them out. In the first one here you will see my friend Denise doing her favorite song! It isn't the full thing but you will get the idea of it and then I will put one without her and it will just be the kids!

If you want to see more go to youtube and type in my ID: Candacej73

Guitar music

2009-03-11T12:23:00.002-06:00

I love to sit and listen to someone play the guitar and sing. There is just something so soothing about it. This guy plays at our church and has been doing the music a lot on Wednesday nights. If you like guitar music check this video out!

If you are here for Wordless Wednesday go to the next post!

Wordless Wednesday - Daddy and his baby doll

2009-03-11T05:43:00.002-06:00

What is in your TRUNK!

2009-03-10T06:35:00.004-06:00

Yesterday I cleaned my car out! By cleaning out I mean EVERYTHING came out!!! I haven't done this since before Anna. I mean I have occasionally done a quick clean up if someone were going to ride with me whatever but that usually meant whatever was in the front of the car landed in the trunk! I decided that it was time for a complete clean yesterday so we spent the morning cleaning the inside. Taking out trash, cups and toys etc. Then cleaning the dash and stuff. We worked for a good hour and a half on it. Took a lunch and nap break and then hit the trunk and washed the outside. The trunk was full of stuff. I thought I would share with you a few things that I found in there and see what you think that says about me lol.

water wings from last summer!
a single shoe thats mate went flying out the window (last summer) it was Anna's favorite shoe!
About 4 pairs of MY shoes and 2 pairs of Anna's and 2 pairs of Chris's!
5 purses
3 of Anna's coats and 1 of mine
Anna's 2 Bibles
Some of Anna's papers from Sunday School
cups and a few other dishes
A few of Anna's babies
Christmas cookie cutters lol

So isn't that just terrible! Of course I left out that Anna's bike was in there and Chris's things from where he cleaned out his old office. Going to the grocery store and not having a place to put the groceries is what prompted this cleaning. It looks so good now that Chris accused me of taking it somewhere to have it detailed! Yes I am THAT good! (When I want to be!!!)

New Beginnings!

2009-03-08T12:29:00.007-06:00

I have spent the past 4 days soaking up some of the sunshine and airing my house out. I love when it is time to open the windows and let all of that fresh air flow through the house. I feel like life is getting a fresh start. I see the buds on the trees where the leaves are going to pop open any day and the green of the flowers that are breaking through the ground. All signs of Spring, my favorite season until Summer comes and the Fall and Winter lol. There are good things about each season. I love them all but Spring really is like a new beginning and what is not to love about that!

My new beginning comes this year and I am taking advantage of it. For a few years I have been in a funk and unable to release myself from it. I finally opened my heart and mind (which was the hardest of the two) around the fact that I am lovable! I am forgiven! I am an amazing person! Sounds kinda cocky or something when I read it but it is SO true. My God sent his son just for ME and well all of you too lol. But in my world He sent him for ME! He died on that cross for ME! As my preacher said this morning there is nothing I can face that he won't have my back. If I bang my head into the wall trying to figure things out, that is my fault cause he is always with ME! He WANTS to help ME! He WANTS to show ME what path to take! He WANTS ME to be happy! Jesus is MY friend and I praise God for making that possible! Have you had your new beginning?

My world is opening in bloom all around me and I am cherishing every moment! Knowing that God loved ME enough to provide beauty and a new beginning for the earth to show me exactly what he is talking about. God didn't make mistakes, He didn't do things and just wait to see what would happen. He knew that every year the winter would kill off most things and then in the Spring it would all come back even more beautiful than the year before. Just like the earth He wipes away our sin and brings us back even more beautiful than before. He continues to do that for us EVERY day! You ask him to forgive you for your sin (and yes we do continue to sin) and he forgets it. He is the only one that will truly forgive and forget!

Thank you Lord for giving me a fresh start! Thank you for helping me through my hard times! Thank you for forgiving me of my sins! Thank you for providing joy and peace and love in my world! Thank you for never giving up on me even when I gave up on myself and you!

Changes!

2009-03-05T14:32:00.003-06:00

My life is full of changes right now. Maybe that is why I haven't been blogging. I am trying to wrap my brain around everything going on. In a nut shell here is what is going on in my world!

Chris started a new job! After 11 years at the same place he is branching out with a wonderful opportunity!
I am trying to get things together to enroll Anna in preschool (shudder)
I have several friends that just had babies! Yeah I know that shouldn't effect me but ya know lol.
I was possibly going to keep a 1 year old during the day but that didn't work out.
Chris's Daddy was having heart issues. It was a scary time but all is well. He had a heart cath done and although there was 20 - 30% blockage they didn't think it was bad enough to warrant even a stint so that is great news.
I am doing more stuff for the church. I am working on their website just making some adjustments etc. and I started a Facebook profile and group for them.
I try to go up there at least once a week during the day just because it is a blessing to hang out with everyone up there. I always feel a little happier and connected after I leave.
Chris and I are going to move (I think) so that he can be closer to work. Which means I have a ton of stuff to do around the house, inside and out. With the weather so warm I just want to be outside!

Ok so when you list it out here like that it doesn't look like so much lol. I wonder why I feel like my life has been moving in the fast lane.

Anna is doing great. She is starting to grasp her ABC's. She can point out several of the letters etc. Her counting is still crazy but she can count 3 items. She knows her colors when she wants to and if she doesn't forget about it! She loves to be outside. She would spend all of her time out there if she could. We have been doing yard work and she gets excited when I mention it to her. She also loves to help clean the house. I will have to put her to work later cause the house definitely needs cleaning. She is a little jealous of her friends all having babies but she is taking it in stride. She is also taking in stride that her Daddy is starting a new job and we won't be going back to the old office. She goes back and forth about school. One day she is excited and the next she wants to know why I can't go with her.

Tiny Talk Tuesday

2009-03-03T07:25:00.001-06:00

I have been so busy lately. I feel bad for neglecting my blog. I am going to try to do better this week!

Anna is so funny and I don't write down most of what she says so I forget it. Here are a few things that have stuck with me over the past few weeks.

Have you guys seen the commercial for Progresso soups? You know the soup diet ones. Well, Anna has picked up the "It's working for you!" She says it all the time and if the commercial comes on even if she isn't paying attention to the tv she hears it and starts laughing and brings it to my attention.

I called my Grandma tonight to check on Papa George and I said Hey Grandma this is Candi. Anna said "Mama your Candace, you said it wrong! Your not Candi!"

We were laying in bed last night. Chris had come in late from class and had a sandwich. We were laying there and Chris's stomach was making noise. She said "Your stomach is grawling! It is saying thank you for the food!"

For more cute Tiny Talk go HERE

Wordless Wednesday

2009-02-25T07:13:00.002-06:00

I got sucked in!

2009-02-25T07:07:00.002-06:00

So I guess you can tell I haven't been around much huh. I have been sucked into the world of Facebook! My blogging time has been spent over there. I have also been sucked into doing our church website. I am having so much fun over there that sometimes I don't even make it over to Facebook. So after my infatuation dims a little I am sure I will come back over to my first love - Blogging!!! In the meantime bear with me! Love you guys!!! I haven't even read any of you in my reader lately I think I have 300+ sitting in there to be read! I really do love you guys though. I will come back soon!

Works for Me Wednesday

2009-02-17T06:33:00.004-06:00

Anna is 3.5 and a very head strong little girl. Lately, we have been dealing with I want to do this and I want it my way. I am sure there are tons of books out there that tell you how to deal with this. I have chosen not to read any of those books! My daughter is different she is not a cookie cutter kid (neither is yours!) all kids are different. What works to motivate Anna may not work for your child. I just thought I would share some things that work for me to get Anna to do either what I want or to change what she wants to suit me a little more.

1) I give Anna choices! I try to give her choices throughout the day! I will even let her go outside of those choices - sometimes! ie: Do you want to wear the pink shirt or the yellow one? If she says "I want to wear the blue one" if it is suitable for the days weather I say ok! Little ones like to have control just like we do. Or you can either go to the park or we can paint. You decide and that is what we will do. We will NOT do both! When she finishes the one she chose and wants to do the other I remind her she made her choice and we have to live with our choices! The more we can help them feel in control the more they don't mind letting us have a "turn" on the important things.

2) I keep things on her level but always try to boost her level. Meaning I won't talk to her like she is 16 but I don't baby her either. I use big words but I explain what they mean. Little ones want to learn, they are naturally curious. Sometimes you can divert their attention by giving a mini vocabulary lesson ;)

3) I break things down for her. If I want her to clean the living room and she just doesn't want to it is usually because it is overwhelming. (By clean the living room I mean her toys!) I will ask her to pick up her books. After she is done I ask her to pick up her blocks. After that I ask her to pick up her kitchen. When they are this little sometimes they still don't know where to start. I think about me and how overwhelmed I can get. I don't like to clean when it is in such a state I don't know where to start. I wish someone could break it down for me sometimes lol.

4) I make sure she understands there are consequences. If you don't let me brush your hair we will NOT be leaving. If you do not put on your shoes you will not be able to run outside with me, but I will be right back!

5) Say what you mean and mean what you say! If you say you aren't going to leave if you don't brush you hair. Don't give in after 15 minutes and put a cap on. If you stand your ground the next time that particular battle comes up it will be easier.

6) Be consistent! We don't like when the rules are changed on us so don't change the rules on your little one. I let my daughter jump off the couch. I know most of you probably think that is crazy. It started by me holding her hand and her jumping to get off and it snow balled. After I let her do it once I couldn't tell her she couldn't because that wouldn't make since to her. It wouldn't be fair. Now if it gets to the point where she is going to get hurt I will stop it. I will explain to her why the rules changed and come up with an alternative!

For more great tips go HERE!

Works for me Wednesday

2009-02-11T11:24:00.002-06:00

I love me some mashed potatoes! I have been making them for years. I feel like I make pretty good potatoes but over the years I have found different ways to tweak it to make it even better. Watching Rachel Ray one day I saw that she saved some starch water from her pasta and added it back into whatever she was preparing. I thought hmmm, I wonder if you could do that with potatoes? So here is what I do with my mashed potatoes:

Peal and dice potatoes (however many you think you need)
Cover with water and add salt
Bring to boil (cook until potatoes are very soft and crumbly)
Pour out some of the water and then pour a little into the bowl you will be mashing them in. Drain the rest off.
Add the potatoes to the bowl and then add butter. How much depends on how many potatoes you use. I typically do about 3 - 4 pounds of potatoes so I use 3/4 a stick of butter.
Occasionally, I will add a scoop of sour cream.
Add pepper and if it needs more salt.
Mash it all together and voila! (I use one of those hand held mashers or you can use your blender.)

I have tried several different ways of making them and this is the best (to me). It really doesn't take that long to do either. The longest part is the pealing. If you use low fat options for butter and sour cream if you add it it really isn't a terrible dish fat wise either.

If you have a great idea go HERE to share it or you can find other wonderful tips there as well!

Wordless Wednesday - Slumber Party Fun!

2009-02-11T07:39:00.002-06:00

I am still around!

2009-02-09T20:13:00.002-06:00

I am having a sleep over for Anna. Her little friend Allie is spending the night tonight and they are energized! Anyway, I don't have time to blog just thought I would entertain you with my self portrait.

Childhood Memories - Grandma's house

2009-02-06T08:28:00.006-06:00

I went to my Grandma's house earlier in the week and let me tell you that brought back memories.

We would ride through the pastures a lot. Sometimes on tailgates and sometimes on a trailer behind the truck. One time I was on the trailer sitting indian style. We hit a HUGE bump! I bounced up in the air at least a foot and landed back down indian style. I wanted to do it again!

Another time I was with my cousins. My little cousin Joey bounced off the tailgate and landed face first in the dirt. It didn't take him but a second to jump up and run to catch up to the truck.
We would walk through the same pasture trying to find arrow heads. My cousin that lived there would find them all the time. I never did! It was fun to look though. I always pretended we were walking the Trail of Tears or something.
We use to help my great uncle pick watermelons and different things. That was a lot of work but it was still fun. Just doing it together with cousins made it fun.
I remember laying out in the sun at my Grandma's house as I got older. I would take a ton of books and spent most of my time out there reading.
Oh and we did bond fires. Not so much in the summer but still. We would roast marshmallows and just hang out by the fire.
We would go swimming at a pond on my uncles land. That was fun then but now I wonder how I could do it - gross lol. I remember when I was probably 13 I had a swimsuit that had a string around the top. I was standing in the water waiting on everyone to get in and a fish grabbed my string and tried to swim away. I think that was one of the last times I got in there lol.
We would go into one of the bedrooms to play at night sometimes and my older cousin Cassie would tell us ghost stories about our Great Grandmother's house across the street. It was empty and run down so the stories seemed to fit it. She would say if you stay up until midnight you would hear chains going from room to room. Or sometimes you would see a light going from room to room. It really creeped me out lol.
Games! We played tons of games at Grandma's house. We played outside on a warm night a game that I have no idea what it is called but it was like a hide and seek game. We would say "Ain't no burglars out tonight, Grandma killed them all last night." Then we would walk around and see if we could find anyone. My brother was the best at this game. He would get in crazy places and then he would jump out and scare the pee right out of you!
We played another game inside when the adults were playing cards it was some kind of murder game. Can't remember what we called it lol. Basically you would use certain cards out of the deck and if you got one card like the ace you were the detective. If you got the joker you were the killer and you had to tap someone when the lights went out and they would be dead. The detective had to figure out by asking questions who did it.
We would also play with the adults. Canasta, Hand and Foot Canasta, Liverpool Rummy and I don't remember what else but we were always playing cards. I would also play a lot of Yahtzee with Grandma.
There was always something to do at Grandma's house. We climbed on the hay and ran around throwing berries at each other. It didn't matter what we did because we were together with cousins and family and outside in the fresh air and sunshine. Other than playing those games I really can't remember being inside. Well, of course to sleep because I require a lot of sleep lol.

I did a post earlier in the week of some of my Grandma's memories. Go HERE to check that out or go HERE to see more memories.

Born in 1918

2009-02-04T20:19:00.005-06:00

Annie Lottie Battle Lee was born January 3, 1918 in Schley County, GA. She is now 91 years old. Her mind and body are failing her and her childhood is never far from her mind.

She was born in a jail house. The daughter of a sheriff / gentleman farmer and a school teacher. For the winter months they lived in the jail house and the summertime they would live in the country on the farm. She had a handful of siblings and numerous friends both in the city and the country. Her idea of fun back in the day was a country dance at her parents home. They would remove all the furniture from one of the rooms and have chairs for a few guys to play guitars and violins or whatever and the rest would dance, laugh and talk. She also enjoyed going fishing with one of her brothers. Her mom wouldn't let her go to the creek where neighbors might see them (if it was on a Sunday). She insisted instead they walk through the woods to a creek no one would see them at. She seemed to think they might be against it because you weren't supposed to work on a Sunday but in Grandma's eyes that was all fun!

Her mom also curled her hair daily. She kept telling Anna how lucky she is that I only comb it and pull it up or braid it. She was tortured daily for the sake of big curls. I bet they were pretty though!

She remembers guys that would bring planes to open fields and would sale rides. If you have ever seen Divine Secrets of Ya Ya Sisterhood that is what it all sounded like.

She talked about out living almost all of her siblings and most of the other families in the area. I can't imagine how lonely that must feel. She said she wonders what purpose God still has for her, that He would keep her here for so long. I know He is keeping her here for me and all of the other grandchildren and great grands. I don't get to see her often enough but I love knowing she is there. I found myself more often than not over the past few days wanting to really open up to her. I know that her life has been full. She has done some things right and some things wrong, it makes it easier to want to talk to her.

I feel so blessed to have had my grandma around for so long. I wanted to document some of what she remembers for Anna to have.

Anna enjoyed our visit with Grandma this time. She was only frustrated when Grandma couldn't get in the floor to play games with her. I think it delighted Grandma that Anna wanted to play games so much. Grandma LOVES playing games. Any kind of game really. We played Dominoes and Anna did very well with it. That tickled Grandma. I am sure she is thinking ha she gets it from me! Anna is a little freaked out by Grandma's wheelchair. She kept worrying that Grandma was going to run over her. I don't know where this fear came from. Today before we left she helped move the wheel chair while Grandma was in it which seemed to relax her a little. Anna loved her recliner chair that lifts. Anna thought having a remote for a chair was the coolest thing ever! Grandma even let her lift her and move her all about for 10 or 15 minutes!

Wordless Wednesday!

2009-02-04T20:14:00.001-06:00

News Flash

2009-01-30T12:22:00.003-06:00

I have lost 8 EIGHT pounds since I started my weight loss journey on January 9th. Eight pounds!!! I am so excited.

I have been trying not to eat so much and exercise more. Anna really makes that much easier than ever before. She is all about moving her body lol. She wants to exercise ALL the time. I am afraid she gets that from her father. I have never been addicted to working out. To be honest I don't know if I ever will. I do however think I could get addicted to feeling the after effects of working out. You know the soreness of your muscles letting you know that you are working them. My stomach muscles hurt for 2 days after doing an ab workout. They don't hurt today and I miss it lol. I have joined a free weight loss website! It is awesome. They have trackers for food and for exercise. They have videos for you to work out to. I have joined the boot camp forum and am doing those videos. They are short which makes it easier to say ok it is JUST 10 minutes! Even though most of the time those 10 minutes kick my butt! I haven't really done any real exercising since before Anna. I mean sure chasing after Anna and playing with her is some exercise but to work each individual muscle and work to tone and shape things. Umm well no hasn't happened in a LONG while! It feels good to start taking care of ME.

What are you doing to take care of you?

She Totally Gets it from ME!

2009-01-29T11:18:00.005-06:00

This is typically something I would do over at my daughters site but I thought you guys had a right to know a little bit about me lol. Anna has been dying to paint for oh I don't know a week or maybe a month. I decided that since it was so very nasty out this morning we would do that today. So she worked out with me this morning and then we got right to the important stuff!

We have an art kit that I break out for just such an occasion. It has a few different kinds of paint. The kind you use with a brush and then finger paints. So we got these items out and spread paper on the floor in the kitchen and got busy! I hate to admit it but I had trouble with the paint you were supposed to use the brush. I tried wetting the brush and then rubbing it over the paint. That barely worked. I tried using my finger lol I know kinda defeating the purpose of the brush. Then finally I tried to wet the paint and then dip the brush into it and voila that worked!

The finger painting well you know that is a no-brainer! My kind of painting lol. I have always thought that I didn't have any artistic ability. Guess what y'all I can use kids paints and create a little turtle. Of course it is kinda like looking up at the clouds and trying to pick out a shape lol. Check this out!!!

Tell me you can totally see my turtle, right? Ha ha I know so anyway I looked over at what Anna was doing and look at what I see!

You can totally see her dolphin, right! Isn't that cool! Now mine is questionable at best so you know my title is totally bogus. She really gets any artistic ability from my hubby! While we were both all yucked up with paints I decided to do something that we could look back on and marvel at:

I think we will do this yearly and we can see how much her hand grows. How close it gets to being big like mine.

Stuttering

2009-01-28T20:11:00.005-06:00

My vibrant and very intelligent 3.5 year old has started stuttering lately. It is pretty much the first word of a sentence. Mainly when she begins the sentence with you or we. I was getting a little concerned about this especially when my father in law pointed it out.

I was talking to a friend of mine about it and she said the same thing happened with her nephew. The parents checked with a teacher of Psychology and were told it is a phase they sometimes go through. Of course, being the computer guru that I am I had to check it out. I found numerous websites pointing out that this happened to their children and that is completely normal. I had no idea that this could possibly happen. They say if your child does this to not interrupt them and to listen carefully to them. The phase should last no longer than a few months.

I can't tell y'all how relieved I was to read that. I was feeling like I was doing something terribly wrong. For her to go from speaking perfectly clear to stuttering I thought something traumatic had to have occurred. No, that isn't the case it is another phase; another sign that she is growing and learning. Apparently her mind is working so fast that is hard for her mouth to keep up with it sometimes. Now my husband and I just have to remember to not try to rush her or make her take her time. Just let her go with the flow and work it out for herself.

Did your little one go through this phase? If so how long did it last?

Wordless Wednesday - Tranquility

2009-01-27T15:52:00.000-06:00

Menu Monday

2009-01-26T07:56:00.003-06:00

It has taken me all morning to work this menu. Both Food Lion and Kroger have good sales today so I think I will go to both. I know such a pain huh but hey we do what we can to save a few bucks! Here is what I am looking at for this week.

Monday - lasagna

Tuesday - chicken and rice casserole

Wednesday - leftovers

Thursday - nachos w/chicken

Friday - Chicken Tetrazzini (see recipe below)

Saturday - hot dogs and fries

Sunday - left overs or sandwiches

According to my estimations I am $4 over budget. I wanted to try and get the frozen chicken packets. They are buy one get one free so I can get 2 for $13.00. We can eat off of those for several weeks saving me money down the road. However, I can't go over budget so we will see if I can work it out. I think I have a few numbers off and I might be able to cut a few things. I will let you know how it goes when I get back which will be a few hours at this rate. I can't seem to get my daughter motivated to get dressed. She has decided "I will just sit in the car!" Apparently she wants to stay in her pajamas lol.

for more menu ideas go HERE

Chicken Tetrazzini
10 oz. dry spaghetti -- (10 to 12)
3 cups grated cheese - Jack or Cheddar
3 Tbsp. margarine
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
1 can cream of mushroom soup -- (10 3/4 oz)
1 can cream of chicken soup -- (10 3/4 oz)
1 (10 3/4 oz) soup can milk
3 cups cooked diced chicken
salt & pepper

Cook spaghetti as directed until al dente; drain. Sauté onions in margarine. Mix onions and remaining ingredients with spaghetti in a large bowl. Put mixture in containers and freeze. To prepare for serving, thaw tetrazzini and put in a baking dish. Bake uncovered in a preheated 350* oven until bubbly, about 30-40 minutes.

I gor rid of the fur!

2009-01-24T16:19:00.003-06:00

My hair had gotten so long and heavy that it felt like I had a fur coat forever around my neck. I had it all chopped off and I am so excited!!! I love the way it turned out!! I think the lady called it the Victoria Beckham cut. You know one of the Spice Girls. Anywho here it is tell me what you think!

Before

After

I feel like I look 5 years younger lol. Of course don't look at my red face in the after pictures. I had just taken a hot shower and dryed my hair. I was HOT!

The Future!

2009-01-22T15:28:00.003-06:00

These two ladies are in for the biggest surprise of all. They now what they are having but that is just part of it. What will they look like? Will Shanda's baby have black hair or blond like his sister? Will Lori's baby have red hair like her Daddy's before he shaved it or brown or black hair like her brothers? What will they act like? Will one have a wild child and one have a calm one. Will Lori's be a little spit fire to keep up with her brothers and Shanda's be a little monkey like his sister? So many surprises packed in each belly! Will they grow up to find love in all the right places!?! Will they know that their Mommy's loved them even before they were born? Will they have dreams of being astronauts or doctors or teachers? Maybe they will even fall in love with each other and be a Princess with her Prince Charming! So many surprises! So much to discover!

for more Surprises go HERE!

Breastfeeding Works for Me!

2009-01-21T03:27:00.001-06:00

There are so many people in my virtual and real life that are pregnant. I thought I would run through a little bit of why I breastfed and what worked for me.

When I was pregnant I was certain that I would not breastfeed. I thought you want me to put what, where, to do what and for how long!?! I thought it was kinda gross and unnatural. My husband encouraged me to do it. He asked me to nurse her for just 6 weeks. I researched and found all of the benefits to it and decided I could do it for just 6 weeks. In the hospital Anna was so itty bitty that they wanted me to supplement. I had a hard time nursing the first time because I didn't have a clue as to what to do. I got so very frustrated! By this time the lactation lady was gone and the nurse I asked didn't have a clue. That night was a horrible night. I kept trying and I couldn't work it out. Which meant I had to supplement more. I hated it! The next morning as soon as the lactation consultant was on duty I had her come to my room. She showed me how to hold Anna and how to get her to latch on. It was a relief just knowing what to do. After that it got much easier but every time I had to supplement I hated it! Finally I decided to stop supplementing and see what happened. Guess what happened my milk came in and she got plenty from me. We nursed for almost 2 years. I loved every minute and I still miss it!

Tips I Wish I Had Known

Talk to the lactation person at the hospital as soon as you can after delivery. They say breastfeeding comes naturally but for a lot of moms it really doesn't.

Start putting Lansinoh on your nipp1es about 2 weeks before delivery. This will help prevent cracking when you first start nursing.

When you take your shower don't use soap on your nipp1es. That will simply dry them out which causes cracking or splitting.

Know that nursing is not always easy. Sometimes it is very HARD!

Don't be afraid to try the different positions. When Anna was first born she was so little we had to do the football hold (her feet down by my side and holding her head in my hand to get her there) as she got bigger that one didn't work so good so we had to go to the cradle hold (holding her across your stomach).

Pumping is even harder than nursing (or at least it was for me.) I never could figure it all out. Definitely talk to someone if you are going to need to pump!

RELAX!!! If you aren't relaxed you won't have a let down which will lead to a crying baby. I had this problem a few times and as soon as I could make myself relax it was all better.

Resign yourself to sleeping in a bra for a while. Otherwise you will have milk everywhere!

Be sure to get a nursing bra. Typically you will need a size larger than you have while you are pregnant. However, don't run out and buy 3 bras in that size buy 1 just in case, you might need one larger or smaller.

You don't need special pajamas or clothes really. You can get a night gown with buttons or if you wear pajamas you can either get one with a top with buttons or just pull it up and over.

You should not get blisters. If you are getting blisters the latch is wrong. See someone for help.

Buy stock in nursing pads. Don't forget to take them with you to the hospital. The minute your milk comes in you will start leaking.

Enjoy each and every moment of this special bonding. It doesn't matter if you do it for 6 weeks or 2 years it is an incredible bonding experience.

If or when you get engorged get a hot shower. It will do you wonders! If you are engorged enough you can even watch the milk shoot out.

You can use cabbage leaves to help engorgement as well but be careful because it will effect your supply if you use them to long.

To help boost your supply you can eat almonds and drink tons of water. There are also some things you can find at the health food stores to help like Fenugreek.

When they start getting teeth you will probably need to adjust the latch.

Never be afraid to ask for help. If you don't want to talk to someone you know or don't know anyone to ask go to Kellymom.com

Reasons to breastfeed

You always have milk! No carting stuff around with you.

You don't have to make bottles in the middle of the night or any other time.

You don't have to wash bottles!

It is the healthiest food for your baby.

It does create an amazing bond.

My husband's favorite: It is FREE!!!

Maybe this one is my husband's favorite: You get a nice pair of girls!

You can soothe your baby at the drop of a hat or a lift of a shirt. ;)

It is great when they are sick. It keeps them hydrated much better than anything else.

They tend to have fewer ear infections and colds, generally speaking. I know there are tons of bottle babies that don't have many either but as a whole this is true.

The Down side

You are the only one that can do it.

You might not be comfortable doing it in public at first. I use to sit in the car to do it or if I was shopping go to a dressing room. Anna was to nosey so she would constantly pop off and I didn't want to show my goods to the world.

You have to sleep in a bra lol.

I am not telling you to breastfeed or you are a horrible mother. I think it is a personal preference. It was much easier to me than bottles. I tell people all the time I took the lazy way out lol. I did occasionally supplement even after we brought her home but typically she would do that projectile spit up thing so I stopped doing that. Nursing worked for us and I hope to have the chance to do it again.

Incidentally, if you don't want to nurse you can use cabbage leaves in your bra to help dry yourself up.

What works for you? If you want more great tips go HERE!

Wordle Wednesday - My Daughters Eyes!

2009-01-20T18:19:00.001-06:00

Memory Lane Friday

2009-01-16T12:02:00.010-06:00

When I was in high school I loved football season. No I don't know a thing about it. Well, I do know an incomplete pass, a fumble and a touchdown but other than that I am totally clueless. I still loved football season! I loved the excitement of the game. We had an awesome football team! They were really good. The fans were constantly on their feet and the band was always playing fun music. I usually sat near the band so I could stomp and clap and sing. I would also spend a lot of time walking around chatting with friends and don't forget checking out the "tight ends". Oops did I say that?

I loved football so much that I had a short stint at flag girl. I really wasn't very good though. I was NOT coordinated at all! I quit after a short while. My senior year I went out for mascot. We had Spike a lovable Bulldog. I got to do a pep rally before tryouts and I was GOOD! My job was to "play" an electric guitar while running around dancing. Just so you know I CANNOT dance! Something happened though, I got in the bulldog suit and I knew no one but a handful of people knew it was me and I rocked the house! My then boyfriend (now hubby) didn't even know it was me at first. This was in my yearbook. I don't have a scanner so this is a picture of a picture that is why the quality isn't so great!

I didn't make it as the regular Spike. I was runner up. Apparently, Spike needed to be fit and be able to do things like push ups ha ha. I was asked to fill in for one game. It was an away game and it happened to be a game that we made like 50 some odd points. Now there is no way I could do push ups. After our first touch down the crowd was cheering me to do my thing, I thought well I will just do jumping jacks. I can do that even with this big ole suit on. Little did I know the team would go nuts getting touchdown after touchdown. Every time I would do jumping jacks in the bulldog suit the hat would bounce up. I was sure that it was going to pop off at any moment. Miraculously, it didn't but I don't know how. By the end of the night I was so sweaty and utterly exhausted. I was thanking my lucky stars that I wasn't the regular Spike lol.

This is my senior picture. Just wanted to show you how cute I was!

This was me and my best friend.

This was before I went out and rocked the house!

What about you? What stands out to you when you think High School Football?

If you want to join in and share your memories or just read others go to Girls in White Dresses!

I am also going to use this as my thematic photography post. These pictures are 17 years old! *shudder*

Weight Friday!

2009-01-16T02:08:00.001-06:00

So this week I haven't done exceptionally well. It has been so cold most of our playdates have been inside. I haven't done very much exercising. However, I have lost 1.5 pounds. I guess maybe I have done something right. I tried to do a fairly healthy menu and I haven't had much junk. I did make some sweet tea but I make myself have a cup of water before I can have the tea. Next week I will try to do better but I think it is going to be cold again. I will just have to make my menu healthy and stay away from the sweet tea!

What about you? Have you had any successes or failures? Do you have any tips?

Thursday Thirteen!

2009-01-15T14:32:00.004-06:00

13 stories you should read!

A heart breaking story about a sick little girl. Through a doctors eyes!
Mommy Wars. They continue even when your children get older!
A New Sheriff in Town. Isn't he a doll!
Growing and changing. Our kids as well as ourselves.
Got Sleep? This is an old one but still very good. Perfect for those of us still not getting a full nights sleep!
Pioneer Woman. Probably every one is reading her but if not here is her story on how she met her hubby and fell madly in love. Her whole blog is worth checking out though!
Start your day by eating a frog! I think I will have to try this lol.
This is a fabulous story about a key. It is great really go read it!
Veiled! A story of a family at Disney living in Texas but from Saudi Arabia.
A story about letting children learn some things on their own.
Carpet colors should be named after the kinds of dirt they will best hide.
Taking one "good" picture a day for one entire year.
Has your husband ever done this?

So what happened to Thursday Thirteen?

Works for me Wednesday!

2009-01-14T04:19:00.001-06:00

I have never been very good at making my bed. I am hoping to make it something that my daughter does without thinking. We started this morning letting her make her own bed. She did such a good job. Hopefully we can make this a habit she can carry with her through the years. This works for me. What works for you? For more great ideas go to Rocks in My Dryer!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-01-13T16:28:00.001-06:00

Tackle it Tuesday

2009-01-13T15:36:00.003-06:00

Today we decided to rearrange the living room. I am trying to find a way to keep my living room from cluttering up. I don't even know if that is possible but I think I like the way this looks. At least for now!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

2009-01-13T12:19:00.005-06:00

I haven't done this in a while so I thought I would join back in! I just love waiting to see what will come out of Anna's mouth on any given day. She is 3 for those of you that aren't regulars and she is very entertaining.

Mommy: To bad it isn't snowing instead of raining!
Anna: It's not cold enough Mama!

______________________________________________________

Anna: Mama, I have a boo boo on my thumb. I need a bam bam. (band aid)

______________________________________________________

Mommy: Come on Anna lets put these pajamas on.
Anna: No I want to wear my princess ones.
Mommy: Don't you know Anna all Cheerleaders are Princess's!
Anna: Pondering this, "oh ok, I will wear these."

______________________________________________________

Anna: I want to watch Sleeping B00ty!

For more cute Tiny Talk go HERE!

Menu Plan Monday

2009-01-12T16:14:00.004-06:00

Monday - Beef Roast with potato and onion casserole

Tuesday - Chili

Wednesday - leftovers

Thursday - Baby Shower for Shanda. We will probably have sandwiches or something before we go.

Friday - Birthday Party for Denise. Going to a Mexican Restaurant!

Saturday - Potato Soup

Sunday - Veggie Soup

Can you tell it is finally cool here? & I got a new crock pot!!! I am excited about breaking it in! Do you have any favorite crock pot recipes?

For more great menu ideas go HERE!

Where did my baby go?

2009-01-12T12:01:00.003-06:00

We walked into the building and there was complete chaos. Anna doesn't do well with chaos. It makes her nervous. She was nervous anyway because we were out of our element. Anna didn't hide behind me and she didn't cling to me. She stood in front of me watching all of the other children playing and talking. She watched them go to different play stations and do different things. I talked with the Director while she stood there in awe. Her one request before we went in was to see babies. The Director was more than happy to take us back. Anna looked at all of the babies and didn't say a lot. We finished up and left. As we walk out the door Anna complains. "Mommy, I want to go back! I want to see the babies again." My only thoughts were you are MY baby you are to young to go to school. And yet that is exactly what we were there for. We were there to see what kind of program they had and see what we needed to do to enroll her.

I can't believe my baby is going to go to school come August or September whenever they start. I kept thinking back to the day Anna was born. When she was still inside me. The truth is she is growing up. A fact she likes to share almost daily. She is not that same baby that would nurse for hours at a time or that would look around so very alert from the very beginning. She is not the toddler that depended on me to help her walk or eat or translate for her. She is a beautiful little girl that is getting ready for school. She is her own person with her own little personality.

Relationships with your baby are ever changing. So many different phases. Forever changing and growing personalities. It all creates a relationship that is never the same. Every day it is different. Anna keeps me on my toes every single day and I love it. I loved being her Mommy when she was a baby, even though I was exhausted. I loved being her Mommy when she was a toddler, even though she was not sure if she depended on me or herself. I love being her Mommy now, even though she isn't my baby anymore.

So do any of you have a good way to deal with the preschool blues?

Let's get Physical!

2009-01-09T18:07:00.005-06:00

Today I joined a group of ladies doing a 12 week fitness program. Humble Musings by Amy has created it and although I am a week behind I am going to give it a go! I hired a new fitness trainer and we got started today. She is the cutest, sweetest thing but boy does she crack that whip! We were walking along and all of a sudden I hear a horn honking. She had the nerve to honk her horn at me cause I wasn't going fast enough. She even had me running a little bit and well that NEVER happens! She wouldn't take any slack off of me. Although she did let me rest and even seemed to understand that I didn't really want to run when cars were coming by. She would always slow down for me at that point.

Doesn't she look like she gets great pleasure from torturing me! I figure if I keep going with her 5 - 6 days a week I should be able to loose at least a pound a week!

PS: I got my camera in the mail today! Yay!!!

Memories

2009-01-09T12:23:00.004-06:00

Girls in White Dresses is doing a new weekly meme. It is a weekly trip down memory lane. I love going down memory lane with the few memories that I do have so I thought I would join in.

I will start with one of the funny stories that my family likes to joke about. I was pretty young, I don't know how old I was really but somewhere around 6. I spent the night at my Grandma's house. I had/have this strange relationship with my step grandfather. I loved to antagonize him. I would stick my tongue out at him and then when he did it back I would tell my Grandma. She knew the game so she would fuss at him and baby me te he he. Well, this night I didn't want to sleep alone. I guess I was scared or something. I peeked around the corner of their bedroom where they were watching tv. Papa George saw me and asked me what was going on. I said "nuthin." He said "Do you want to sleep in here?". I of course said "yes". and then I told him he could have my room lol. I kicked him out of his own bed wasn't I nice. He was nice enough to go to the other bedroom for the night.

I am going to add to this with one of the stories about my brother. He was spending the night at this same Grandma's house. She told him to go get in the tub. She probably said "Go get in the bath and then get your pajamas on." So Robbie proceeded to walk around the tub leaving dirty footprints all around it. Never turning on the water! He went and changed and came back all dirty still lol. Grandma realized then that she had to be very specific with my brother lol!

Sucked in!

2009-01-08T13:05:00.004-06:00

A few of the young ladies at my church were gushing several weeks ago about a book series out. After listening for weeks about how wonderful, romantic and intriguing these books were I decided that my life could not go on unless I read them. Do you know what series I am talking about? If something else pops in your mind, do share I might need to read it too lol. Anyway back to the books! It is the Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer.

It is four books that are so entertaining and yes intriguing that I ended up reading all 4 books in a matter of a few weeks. In fact, I am embarrassed to say that I am rereading them lol. I can't even help myself. Stephenie Meyer must be one of the greatest writers ever. I found myself sitting on the edge of the seat anxious to see what was going to happen next. It is a story that involves vampires and love and tons of excitement. It was actually written for teenagers, I believe, which is probably why it is such a smooth easy read. I won't tell you all about it but I would encourage you to run out and buy all 4 of them. I had to wait 3 or 4 days in between the last 2 and I thought I was going to burst not knowing what happened.

Edite to add: Apparently this was Stephenie Meyer's frst published book. First completed book, can I say WOW! Stephenie you ROCK!

Honey, if you read this the movie would make a great Valentine's Day present. I believe it is coming out Feb. 14th.

By the way: This was not paid for by anyone. I just wanted to share with y'all a set of books that I love!

PS: Stephenie Meyer if you read this I had to borrow the books I would love my own copy!!! Oh and one for a giveaway would be great too! ;)

Wordless Wednesday!

2009-01-07T13:05:00.001-06:00

Happy Belated Birthday Grandma!

She turned 91 Jan. 3rd.

Me? A Role Model?

2009-01-06T13:08:00.005-06:00

My head is jumbled up with thoughts. Thoughts of the future and the present. I was laying in the bed with Anna for her nap and I was thinking. Thinking that one day many, MANY years from now that Anna may lay down with her little boy or girl and watch the leaves dancing in the wind. That everything we do will carry over into her adult life. Someone told me we all have role models. Some are good and some not so good. I so desperately want to be a good role model for Anna. Sometimes it scares me and I feel uncertain and afraid. Who am I to try to mold this wonderful little girl into anything? Then today I had a little insight (with help). We are what we think! If we have thoughts of doubt and fear, feelings of unworthiness etc. that is what we are going to put out there. If we have thoughts of love, hope, joy and happiness that is what we are going to put out there. For to long I have been putting out the wrong stuff. I have let feelings eat me alive and control my world. I have been working on me for a while but I think I have been treading water more than anything. Maybe this will be the year that I break free and become the woman God intended me to be.

What kind of model are you going to be? Anyone out there want to join me in offering words of encouragement every now and again? You know the buddy system lol.

I am lost!

2009-01-03T08:37:00.002-06:00

I left my camera in my mother-in-laws car and I feel lost. What am I going to do without it. I am sure I will see them in 2 or 3 weeks but come on we all know that is a long time to go without a camera with an adorable little girl in the house. What am I going to do?

Since I can't share pictures I will tell you some of the funny things she is saying these days.

Let's not talk about that/it. (From something she is in trouble for or how to do something; If she isn't interested tht is what she says.)
You are not sposed to do that! (She loves informing people when they do something silly, that they are not supposed to do that but it sounds so cute when she says it.)
She told her Pop "Don't getfor I need a biscuit tomorrow!" I love the way she says forget. It is totally backwards and adorable.
"What?" with her hand tossed in the air to emphasis it.
Her favorite question is still "Where are we going now?)
She propped her pillows up and started snoring. She peeked up and said "I like casey". (Sorry Casey it was too cute not to share.)

Changes from last year

2009-01-01T10:36:00.003-06:00

Anna went from a size 2T in pants to a size 4T. They are a little long but the 3T are to short.

Anna's vocabulary is pretty much clear all the time now. Last year I understood her pretty much all the time but others only understood her about 50% of the time.

She will actually sit and watch a little tv where as of the beginning of last year that wouldn't happen.

Anna can ride a bicycle. She learned how to ride a tricycle during last summer. Now has progressed to a big girl bike!

She can climb her tree and swing from a branch and drop to the ground. She has always enjoyed climbing it and she loves being able to do more with it. Although it is pretty scary for me lol.

She enjoys tumbling on the floor.

She enjoys jumping from the stool to the chair. Pulling it apart to see how far she can jump. I do have a limit for her on that one!

She enjoys getting together with her best friends Allie and Brooks.

We have play dates with Allie at least once a week usually twice a week. Brooks is a little harder to see but we try to see him at least once every two weeks. And of course we see them both at church.

She learned how to swim under the water and the basics of swimming on top.

About me:

I have read the entire Twilight series. I got sucked into that world and couldn't get out lol. I would highly recommend them to anyone. They are such an easy read and keep you wanting to turn the page.

I have started decluttering my house. It is a long process but I have made some progress.

I lost about 15 pounds this past year and I think I managed to keep it off. Maybe I can go for 20 this year.

I am going to start riding bikes with Anna to help with that.

OK so Anna was way more exciting than me lol.

Happy New Year y'all!!! May it be exciting for ALL of us!

Good Bye 2008!

2009-01-01T09:52:00.016-06:00

2008 is over. I have to say I am not disappointed to see it go. Odd years seem to be better for me for whatever reason lol. Here is a review of my 2008 in pictures!

January - At the park!

February - Climbing the tree (Still one of her favorite things to do)

March - Dying Easter eggs

April - Working at the car wash!

May - Our trip to the zoo with friends!

June - Fun at the beach!

July - Swimming Lessons

August - 3rd Birthday photo shoot!

September - Kicking her hills up!

October - Pumpkin fun with Daddy!

November - Playing so hard she crashed! (That NEVER happens)

December - fun at the park with friends!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-27T16:48:00.002-06:00

I hope every one had a very Merry Christmas. One filled with peace, love and tons of fun! I hope you got at least one thing on your wish list and that your children were thrilled with what they received.

Awesome Christmas Lights!

2008-12-20T08:39:00.002-06:00

I have lived in the same area for 12 years and I thought I knew all the cool places to see lights. I found out a week or so ago that I was SO wrong. There is a house that apparently goes all out every year. You set your radio to a certain station and then you can see the lights dancing in time with the music. It is so awesome. I am so excited to have found it - thanks to a friend!!! The first video is 4 minutes and a little bumpy with talking in the background but it is still cool. The second video is a little over a minute and not as bumpy lol. Anna was very wiggly and excited! Check them out and if you want to tell me about the lights in your area I would love to hear about it!

Anybody still out there?

2008-12-20T05:09:00.003-06:00

Hello?! I have been taking a bloggy break apparently. I didn't realize how long it had been since my last post. I have been a busy girl. Preparing for Christmas takes a lot of time and energy. Here are just a few things I have been doing. I have been making goodies like peanut butter balls and oreo truffles! Yumm! We made homemade ornaments with Anna. Snowman soup for my Sunday School kids. I have also read 3 of the 4 Twilight books. I got sucked in and haven't been able to get out lol. We've had Christmas parties and gone to look at lights. I am going to post a cool video of lights in a little while. I am trying to upload it right now.

Yesterday Anna and I went to the park. She was going crazy cause we hadn't had much fun time lately. We took her "bike" and she rode around the playground numerous times with me "chasing" her. I haven't decided if it is just sad or really great that it is almost Christmas and it is warm enough for shorts. On one hand I love being able to wear shorts but on the other it doesn't feel anything like Christmas should. Well, I need to wrap a few presents before everyone gets up. I will try to get that video up soon. It is worth watching!

Ornament Swap

2008-12-12T14:50:00.004-06:00

This is the beautiful ornament that I received from Janet. Isn't it lovely. Anna was so excited to hang a "lollipop" on the tree. I absolutely love it and it looks wonderful on our tree since we use a lot of red and white. Janet you must have been reading my mind! I don't have your blog to give you proper credit so if you happen to read this leave me a comment! Thanks again and I hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas!!!

Oh and thanks smoochiefrog for holding this wonderful swap!

The Candy Cane Story

2008-12-12T02:25:00.000-06:00

A candymaker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would remind people of the true meaning of Christmas; so he made the candy cane to incorporate several symbols for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ. He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy. White to symbolize the Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church, and the firmness of the promises of God.

The candymaker then shaped his cane into the form of a "J" to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to the earth as Savior. It could also represent the staff of the "Good Shepherd" with which He reaches down to to reclaim the fallen lambs who, like sheep, have gone astray.
Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candymaker stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received. The large red stripe was for the blood shed by Christ on the cross so that we could have the promise of eternal life.

This was copied from THIS website! This is going to be incorporated into a craft I am doing with my Sunday School class. I just thught I would share it with you guys too!

Christmas Cards - which one do you like

2008-12-09T13:46:00.003-06:00

I took Anna to a park near here for pictures today and also did some in front of the tree this morning. I want your opinion! Are any of them Christmas Card material?