Monday, August 31, 2009

I'm Fabulous!


My friend Tricia sent me this the other day and I feel honored to have received this award! Excited really! Because I know someone else out there is reading my blog...besides me!

There are two rules for receiving this award:
1. You must list 5 current obsessions.
2. You must pass this on to 5 people.

My 5 obsessions are...
1. The well-being of my family--all the time! Its crazy how I worry and obsess over them!
2. Ladybugs!  My daughter's room is in ladybugs so I'm always looking for decor and such in ladybugs!!
3. The need for a talent (see previous blog).
4. Getting my house clean and in order! We've been remodeling for 2 years and the mess is driving me crazy!
5. Shopping!

5 people I want to pass this award to...
1. Caryn - My cousin.  She introduced me to blogging and is my inspiration & extra motivation I need for cooking, baking and trying things new in the kitchen. 
2. Kelly - We don't really know each other but have talked briefly on email.  We have daughters the same age (they were born exactly one week apart) so its wonderful to read about her adventures with her daughter. She too is an inspiration.
3. Mrs. Organized - I'm new to this blog but I am bound and determined to get my house organized so with this blog I hope to find lots of ideas and inspiration.
4.  Rhoda - Also new to this blog but anything Southern has to be good.  Once again, inspiration comes from her thriftyness and eye for decorating.  The recipes aren't half bad either!
5.  Amanda - I have been following this blog for a while now and this one is so very dear to my heart.  Amanda doesn't know me but I have said many prayers for her, her husband Thomas their six babies.  Her faith and courage inspires me every day. 


Sunday, August 30, 2009

New Things

I have been wanting to learn how to make kolaches for a long time now. Its something I wish I had learned from my Mom but did not get the chance. Kolaches have been a family favorite for all my 37 years and then some! I have a 4-day weekend coming up so I thought this would be as good a time as any to try. Today I spent some time going through cookbooks and my Mom's recipes to find the best kolache recipe. I even called Aunt Mona, who is one of Mom's sisters. We love her kolaches. She talked with me about it and found her recipe that she thinks she got from Aunt Janet, another sister, but has tweaked a bit. This is the recipe she has been using for quite a while now so she's making a copy and putting it in the mail to me tomorrow. I have been trying a lot of new things lately...recipes I have always said I'd make but never have. I made homemade lasagna Saturday night. It wasn't great but I think still better than Stouffer's. I made some notes so I'll try again because it really wasn't hard to whip up. Sunday morning I made Monkey Bread which I have been wanting to do for a long time but for whatever reason I hadn't. Did this morning & needs one small tweak--it needs to bake longer than the recipe says. We had some doughy biscuits in there....but the done stuff was awesome! I love to cook and I love to bake, I just sometimes need a little motivation. My kids are my motivation. I want them to have lots of great memories and want to come home to Mom's cooking when they're grown and have their own families. I want there to be a special dish or dishes that only Mom can make. My Mom had lots of things that I love and am learning how to make. I don't think they'll ever be Mom perfected but they are pretty darn close! My new goal is to learn how to make all the recipes I've always wanted to know how to make...and I want to be good at it, comfortable with them so that I'll continue to make them. Kolaches are first on my list!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Cuteness

I have several pictures I've been wanting to share so I decided to put them all in one blog and talk about each of them. I feel bad because these all include Isabella and only one has Christopher in it. I'm going to make a point to try and capture him on film more often than I have been.

So just the other day Isabella was playing in her exersaucer squealing, talking and just having a good time while Jeff and I were taking care of things around the house. She got real quiet so I walked back in the living to see what she was doing. She had discovered herself in the mirror! These pictures just don't do the moment justice. She would lean back and then lean forward all the way touching her nose to the mirror to see herself. It was so cute.


Another view in the mirror....

Sunday we both were wearing our Luckenbach shirts so Christopher snapped a few pictures of us in them. Getting her to pose and smile isn't always the easiest but I think we look cute with our matching shirts!


Isabella has really started eating good for us. For a long time, she wanted nothing to do with baby food. She finally started accepting it mixed with rice cereal and formula. This particular day we were enjoying bananas mixed in....


My niece Makenna feeding Isabella her bottle. She's such a great little helper.


Big brother Christopher rocking his sister. I was trying to get some things together so he sat in the rocker with Bella and out she went. He was so proud of himself for putting her to sleep.


These next pictures were about the time Bella had been sitting up really good by herself. Just seems like one day she was wobbly and next day she was having no problems. My girl loves her binky!


My girl just being cute & sitting up pretty....with her binky!


I am so grateful and happy to have such a beautiful and healthy little girl. She brings such happiness to our lives every day...I know I laugh and smile a whole lot more now that she is with us. Christopher dotes on her every day and just adores her. We are truly blessed with these beautiful children of ours.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Singing & Back To School

Have you ever been so tired that all you wanted to do was lay down and go straight to sleep? But instead of falling into a peaceful sleep, your mind starts racing the minute your head hits the pillow. Even worse...you're hearing the same song over and over in your head and you can't make it go away. The harder you try to ignore all the millions of thing running around in your head, the harder it is to go to sleep and soon you find yourself laying in bed, staring at the ceiling wondering why you laid down in the first place because now you're wide awake thinking of all the other things you could be doing. Well girls, that was the case for me last night. I was tired...droopy eyes tired. So I got myself all ready for bed and laid down. And wouldn't you know it, my mind starting racing. I think at some point I did get a few winks in before Isabella started her stirring. After about 2 hours of stirring and fussing from both of us I finally got up and fixed her a cereal bottle thinking there was no way she was already hungry but let me tell you, she sucked that bottle down like it was her last one! After she went back to sleep, I laid down again. This time it wasn't a million things racing through my mind. No...this time it was singing in my head..."play the drum everyone, play the drum" "more, more!" This is from Isabella's Leap Frog Drum we play with daily. I could hear the music in my head and the girl singing, "play the drum everyone, play the drum." Over and over...I almost got up and played the drums! But somehow I was finally able to relax and get some rest before my precious baby girl starting her fidgeting again. Maybe tonight will be better. I can already feel the droopy eyes coming on.

BTW, it was the first day back to school for Christopher. 4th grade this year--the big man on campus! He had mixed feelings going back today. He was ready to see his friends. Not so much ready for the school work...but what kid is?!!? I have always tried to take pictures of him each year on the first day. As he gets older, this of course gets harder, especially taking any pictures at all at school. I did snap this one as he was coming out of the cafeteria heading to his classroom. See that smirk...he knew what I was doing.


This one I took of him and Isabella just before we loaded up and headed out for the day. So cute those kids of mine!


If you have kids headed back to school this week, I wish you a great school year, many blessings...and a great night's rest without the singing!

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Talents

I was just on Facebook this morning and found that some friends of mine are making bows for little girls and very cute burp cloths. I'm envious to say the least. I wish I had talent like that. Two of my sister-in-laws are also very talented. Brandie makes these beautiful blankets and burp cloths for babies. Aubrey makes gorgeous and delicious cakes. I also have a friend at work that can put goodie baskets together and attached beautiful bows and make it look like something you bought right out of a store! Now I know you're thinking...that's easy but if you could see these baskets, you'd be envious too. She can also wrap a gift like it was professionally done....but her first job was wrapping gifts at a lingerie store so I guess she did learn...but that's not my point! What can I do? Make rag blankets that takes no talent whatsoever! I'm just aggravated with myself and have been for a while now. I'm real good at shopping! But that sends money out of your pocket, not in your pocket--big difference! I can cook but not something I care to do for a living...and I'm not that good. I just wish I was disciplined enough to learn something new. And I don't know that its I'm not disciplined enough to learn it, its having the time. I do have a 10 year old and a 7 month old and I work full-time so I guess that adds some difficulty to the task. But dang it, why can't I be talented too! Make me feel better....is there something you wish you could do? Something or someone your envious of??

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Random Thoughts of the Day

I don't totally agree with all these thoughts I couldn't help but laugh at many of them. Also, having a sense of comfort knowing there is at least one other person in this world who has some of the same thoughts I do....


Random Thoughts of the Day:

I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.

Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?

Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase "Regards" again.

Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.

There is a great need for sarcasm font.

Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the fck was going on when I first saw it. I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.

How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.

A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.

Was learning cursive really necessary?

Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".

I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

My brother's Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads. Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired about the name. He explained, "Cuz we beat you, and you hate us." Classy, bro.

Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"

What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?

While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.

MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

Bad decisions make good stories

Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!

Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?

If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....

You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.

There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

"Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'

I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damnit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.

I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...

As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

I think that if, years down the road when I'm trying to have a kid, I find out that I'm sterile, most of my disappointment will stem from the fact that I was not aware of my condition in college.

Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.

Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet my ass everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...

My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?

It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.

I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimate d that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard before dinner.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Music

Music is a big part of my life. Its great therapy for me. I like different genres of music but my heart will always be in Country music. I have lots of favorites but there are some songs that seem like they were written just for me or just for my life. This song in particular by Gary Allan is one of them. I smile every time I hear it. It brings a sense of peace to me. It speaks the truth. There was a time in my life after my son died that I never thought life could be beautiful again. I was sad for such a long time but a lot of wonderful things have happened and I can see the beauty in life again. I love this song and I hope you like it too. The lyrics are below and here is link to CMT to listen and watch his video, http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/allan_gary/videos.jhtml

Life Ain't Always Beautiful

Life ain't always beautiful
Sometimes it's just plain hard
Life can knock you down
It can break your heart

Life ain't always beautiful
You think you're on your way
And it's just a dead end road
At the end of the day

But the struggles makes you stronger
And the changes make you wise
And happiness has it's own way
Of takin' its sweet time

No, life ain't always beautiful
Tears will fall sometimes
Life ain't always beautiful
But it's a beautiful ride

Life ain't always beautiful
Some days I miss your smile
I get tired of walkin'
All these lonely miles

And I wish for just one minute
I could see your pretty face
Guess I can dream
But life dont work that way

But the struggles makes me stronger
And the changes make me wise
And happiness has it's own way of takin' its sweet time

No, life ain't always beautiful
But I know I'll be fine
Hey, life ain't always beautiful
But its a beautiful ride
What a beautiful ride

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

George Strait Was Back In Town!!!

In case you didn't know....GEORGE STRAIT WAS HERE SATURDAY NIGHT AND I WAS THERE!!!!!!!!!!! I told you in a previous blog I would be there and I was. And it was awesome! I had such a good time that my chest has been hurting since early Sunday morning. The hubby tells me its from all the screaming and hollering I did at the concert...and let's be honest here. You know I did that and more! I just love George...he is by far the best country artist to me. He can just stand there and sing (which he does) and that is perfectly fine with me. Big ole thanks to my hubby for giving us the upgrade to sit closer to the action. Scoreboard Jeffery! My friend Judy joined Christopher and I at the concert. This was Judy's first time to see George. I think she loved it. This was also Christopher's first time to see George...and well, you'll see his reaction below in the pictures.

Me & Christopher while Blake Shelton is singing. BTW...he was AWESOME!! Lucky, lucky girl Miranda! He's definately a keeper!


Judy, Me & Christopher right before King George takes the stage. See all those adoring fans in the background. The show was sold out!

And there he is from our seats....King George himself. Thank goodness for big screens cuz I would have missed the shots of his back side...which is still hot by the way.


And here is my son Christopher.....sleeping through George Strait. Can you believe it? I wouldn't if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes and taken the picture for the proof. Like one of my friends said....if he didn't look so much like my family she'd swear he wasn't my son. Sleeping during George...that's just criminal. But I love him anyway...





Monday, August 3, 2009

Papparazzi


I don't know about the rest of you but me and my family are constantly having to dodge the paparazzi. They hound us like you would not believe but we've been lucky so far and not wound up in the tabloids. We've learned to be very quick and sneaky when it comes to them. Just to be safe, I picked up an oh so cute pair of ladybug sunglasses for Isabella. Here's a picture of her with them on hiding from the paparazzi. Just too cute!