Thrifty Thursday

My Thrifty Thursday tip for today is Grow Your Own Vegtables! Some might think you have to live in the country or have land or even have a green thumb to do it...but it's just not true. If you could steal a 5' x 3' peice of your back yard from your hubby...you could have plenty of room for a tomato plant, a couple of pepper plants and several onion plants.

This is all you have to do:

Before I planted my stuff, I used a rake to "grate" up the ground as good as I could and I tried to get all the weeds and grass out. Then I just dug a little hole (using my hand actually) and stuck the plant down in it. That's IT! Normally, I'd have to water it but thanks to the never-ending rain around here...I haven't even had to do that this year. I have spent a few afternoons picking weeds out of it, but other than that...there's nothing to it. The taste of fresh grown vegtables can't be beaten and plus, there is a bit of satisfaction when you cook a meal using all vegtables that you grew your own self! We have strawberry plants in our garden too and they are very easy too--except you don't get much fruit off of them in the first year. But...they are perineals so they come back year after year and produce a bigger crop each year (or so I'm told by my neighbor with an AMAZING garden!) Last year we had jalepeno's too...but this year I fogot to get them until it was too late. Oh ya, that reminds me..I should tell you that it is pretty much too late to plant a garden this year. (sorry!!) but keep this in the back of your mind for next spring! This is our 2nd year of having a garden and we LOVE it. Plus, think of how much money it saves you. You won't have to buy a tomato, bell pepper or onion ALL summer long. I have probably 100 tomatoes right now, 30 bell peppers and about 20 onions. I only have 5 tomoato plants...but each one has about 20 tomatoes on it (or more). I plant extra because I share them with my mom and dad and if I have more than we can use, we can give them to our friends.

Okay, I hope I've inspired you!

I just keep going and going and going...

Wow, it's almost 11 pm which means I have been up and going strong for 17 hours straight!!! No wonder I am exhausted!! There are a few minutes before "my show" comes on (Designed to Sell on HGTV at 11 pm) so I thought I'd blog. I am SO looking forward to plopping my booty down in my big comfy bed and watching a few minutes of TV before I doze off!
I did just what I wanted to today and got my work all done this morning AND I even went to the high school football field and ran 7 laps around the track (1 and 3/4 miles) in the RAIN while Brooklyn was at gymnastics! WooHoo!! I didn't actually "count" my calories today since I cooked stir-fry for dinner and I didn't know the numbers for everything, but I think it was a pretty healthy meal. I made meatballs out of lean ground turkey and had fresh peppers and onions from our garden in it with bean spouts, sugar snap peas and chunk pineapple all in a teriayki glaze over rice. YUMMMM!!! I did eat a small peice of banana nut bread afterwards too...but hey...I can't deprive myself completely! ha ha.
Tonight I rented a movie for Matt and his dad to watch (Wooly Boys) and I went upstairs and scrapbooked while Grant watched his movie (Elmo goes to Grouchland for the bajillionth time). I got 3 really cute pages done and then had to quit so I could put the kids to bed. Then it was off to the kitchen to do more dishes and clean up the counters. Fun, fun!
Anyway, well, it's 10:57 now, so I guess I will get up from here and make my way to the bedroom so I can get all settled in before my show. I swear every muscle in my body aches from all the extra working out I've been doing but it's bound to pay off eventually. (I've added some machines here lately while I am at the gym---working on abs and obliques).
Good night everyone! Wish me luck. I have to get up at 5:30 am again and try to get another couple of hours of work done before I can go to the gym. boy...it never ends...

Up and At'em

I am up. It's 5:43 a.m. and I am up. I Sooooo don't want to be up BUT I made a deal with myself last night that I could go to bed early if I promised I would get up at 5:30 a.m. and do my work. Ugh! It sounded like such a sweet deal last night. Now I feel like a walking, typing zombie with sand in my eyes. Why didn't I just say "no deal" and stay up late?
Oh well, anyway, I am just hoping I can stay awake long enough to get all this work done. The wonderful doctor that I work for (and I mean that literally) forgets to send me my work sometimes which is a bitter-sweet thing. It means I get a day or two off...but it also means that when he does send it, he will is going to send 2 or 3 days worth of work at one time. That is what happened yesterday...so I have about 3 hours of typing to do this morning and I am hoping to get it completed before the kiddos wake up. In the little fantasy land that I live in in my mind, I am also hoping to get 30 minutes in on the treadmill before they wake up too...but that would require them sleeping until about 9:30 which probably won't happen. I can always do the treadmill after they are up...but then it's more like an obstacle course because they try to run on it with me and I end up hopping over this one and kicking that one. It's no fun.
By the way, I should mention that I went to the doctor for my yearly girly visit on Monday and to my delight...their scale says I weight almost 6 pounds less than my scale at home says!!! According to their records, I am only up 3 pounds from last summer. What a nice surprise! (I was thinking I was up by about 10 pounds). Anyway, I realize that I shouldn't throw a party just yet...since really...my goal was to have LOST weight by this year, not gained! So...I am doubling up my efforts and going back to what worked for me so well when I first started losing my weight..which is 30 min on the treadmill every day except for the days I go to the gym for aerobics classes and limiting my calories to approx. 1200 a day. I know without a shadow of a doubt that this works for me...I just have to do it and not cheat. Isn't it crazy that I can cheat on my own self? It's like the bad me trys to sneak extra bites past the good me. Like if I eat it real fast before I give the good me a chance to think about it....then it'll be too late and she won't be able to stop me.
Okay, see what getting up during the 5 o'clock hour does to me. I have now split myself into two people and am talking about them as though they are seperate people. Coo-Coo! (hear a coo-coo clock sound)
Okay...I am off to work before I get any weirder this morning. Wish me lucky and speedy fast fingers...!! :o)

We welcome Peepaw to our home...

Last Thursday night, Matt's dad came to "live" with us. This has been planned for a while now..but he was just waiting for the right time. I say "live" because it's not permanent or anything...but he'll be staying with us until he can get his own place. The kids absolutely LOVE him so this is quite a treat for them. We've enjoyed having him around here too. It gives me a good excuse to make more special, yummy meals than we'd normally have and of course, with that...comes more desserts! Just what I DON'T need! I swear I feel like I am losing this battle with losing weight...the scale keeps inching up. I am up almost 10 pounds from last Summer which is completely depressing. It's like the more I work out..(which is up to 8 hours a week now besides what I do at home)...the more I seem to eat and the more I seem to gain. I guess I am going to HAVE to go back to counting my calories and restricting myself to 1200 if I am ever going to drop any weight. That is just SO hard to do when I'm cooking all this good stuff all the time. Anyway...this post was not supposed to be about weight. I was just going to tell you all about our house-guest and I also wanted to mention that we went and saw Evan Almighty tonight and it was really cute. I definitely recommend it. I mean...it wasn't the best movie EVER...but it was certainly entertaining and light. My parents and my grandma went too and they all liked it a lot. It's nice to see a sort of "biblical" movie out. On the flip side, we rented Norbit on Friday night and that was a dud. There were some funny parts..but it wasn't worth the $3.50 or 2 hours of my time. But then...if you like movies about grotesquely obese vulgar women..you just might enjoy it. Eddie Murphy plays 3 different parts in this movie (again) and one of them is the fat lady. Okay, well, I have gobs of work to do and the kids are standing here waiting on me so I better end. Hope you all had a good weekend!

Yippee!!!

While I was sitting here blogging...the doorbell rang and Yippey-Kai-I-A...it was my new phone! I am so excited I am practically giddy!

Here you see pictured the old CRAPPY phone and then beside it the new PERFECT phone!

Thrifty Thursday

Taking the idea of a Thrifty Thursday post from Amos and Logzie...I am posting my tip for this Thursday. Yes, I realize it is only Wednesday...but hey..I have to blog when I can and who knows if I'll get time tomorrow.

So...here is my tip. Get 1 pedicure this summer..then pamper yourself the rest of the season.

You all know I got a pedicure about a month ago. I wasn't that impressed with it...but they did clean up my toes very nicely and smooth out my heels and any rough spots. Well, the polish started getting old so I took it off and went to a different place yesterday to see how much they'd charge to just do a french manicure paint-job on my toes and hands. $10 each!! so it would have cost me $20 JUST to get them painted. Plus, Brooklyn wanted hers done and that would've been $5 for each of hers...so in all, it would have cost us $30. Instead, I went to Wal-Mart and bought cheap white polish for a buck, good Sally Hansen top/base coat polish for $4, a really nice 7-sided file for $3 and some really cute rhinestone nail decals for $3 and did them myself. I think they turned out pretty cute and I only spent $11 total and I can do it the rest of the summer for free. Here's what they turned out looking like. Not too shabby! Below are my toes and fingernails..above are Brooklyns.

Happy Father's Day!

Since we were at the lake on Father's Day and Amos was making us all breakfast, she shaped the "dads" pancakes in the shape of an "F" for Father's Day! Wasn't that sweet? Here is a pic of them with their breakfasts.

Just add it to the list...

It's official...on my list of things I want, you can go ahead and add boat and camper because this past weekend at the lake was So Much Fun! It's just "US". It's the one thing that our entire family can enjoy all at the same time. It was a completely spontaneous trip with absolutely no planning...but everything went perfectly (other than the rain) and we all left ready to plan the next trip. Our good friends, (Amos & family) came along too and they REALLY toughed it out and slept all together in a tent! My dad let us use his brand new camper so we really had it easy with air condtioning, running water and soft, comfy beds to sleep in. We even had use of the microwave and stove/oven. We still grilled all the meat...but the stove came in handy for pancakes, eggs and bacon the next morning (thanks to Amos for bringing all that yummy food-and making it!) Here are some pics. Here is a picture of Amos & her little guy Ryan. They were practicing fishing, which we never did actually get to do. Apparently it has rained SO much around here that the fish weren't biting at all. It was pretty crazy...some of the campsites were completely covered in water because of all of this rain we've gotten in the past month!


















This picture is of me and hubby smooching.



















Here's a pic of Matt & Ben just chillin' while the burgers were cooking. Notice the rainbow in the background. It sprinkled off and on the whole time we were there but not enough to dampen our moods.


This pic is of me and my daddy! I had thought I took this on my camera phone...but to my great surprise..it was on my regular camera! yay! It was SO super sweet of him to let us use his camper for this little trip! Thanks Dad! I love you so much!

Hook?

Okay, a few weeks ago Matt mentioned that I have a "hook" nose. I was like "WHAT?" I have always thought I had a cute nose...not too long, not too big, not to wide or thin...just right, so this completely caught me off guard. THEN...the other day I was showing my mom some pictures and she commented on how long my nose looks in pictures. Again..I was was surprised and bummed out. So..I took a pic of myself...profile view. What do ya'll think? and don't be nice--just tell me the truth. I can't handle it. I am a big girl.

Brush, Brush, Brush your teeth...

(I know..I am going overboard with that row, row, row your boat song :o)

Anyway, last Wednesday, all 4 of us loaded up and went to the dentist. Grant was just going along to watch since next time he will have a visit too..I wanted him to see what it's all about. All 3 of us (me, Matt & Brooklyn) got our teeth cleaned and no one had any cavities!! Hooray! I wasn't too worried about me or Matt...but I actually half-expected Brooklyn to have some...but nope..she was all clean and clear! Hooray! The best part is..the kids left the dentist SO excited about their teeth and all their new supplies. They each got a goodie-bag with a new toothbrush (Cinderella for B, and Mater for G.) as well as about 5 packages of toothpaste each, floss, flosser things AND a prize out of the treasure chest. They had SO much fun and wanted to come right home and get busy brushing their teeth using all their new skills. Thank God for Christian, friendly, gentle dentists and assistants!

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad

Tomorrow, June 21st is my mom and dad's 32nd wedding anniversary! I thought since I have a recent picture of them kissing...I should put it up for you all to see! hee hee

My mom had an eye lift surgery on May 25th and she is still healing up from that...so that is why the dark bruising under her eyes. No, my dad did not beat her up, contrary to what we all like to tease them about! Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad! I love you guys!

Aww Shuga, Shuga...you are my candy girl..and you've got me wanting you...

Brooklyn loves that old song and so when it came time to name our NEW solid white KITTY cat..."Sugar" just seemed to fit.

We were at the sprinkler park last Thursday when a lady walked up with a pet carrier full of "Free Kittens." I knew at that very moment that we'd be taking one home with us since we'd already been telling the kids they could get a kitty if we could find a free one. Right away Brooklyn picked up a female, solid white one and they began bonding. It was like they were meant for one another. While all the other kittens were biting and scratching and running around, this one just curled up in Brooklyn's arms and began to purr and fall asleep. I called Matt to make sure we were in agreement and he said yes as long as it stays outside (which was our plan all along...((we have mice)). The kids were ecstatic and after the sprinkler park, we went to Wal-Mart to get all the supplies. Here are a few pic's of the newest member of the Jones clan.

When we left for the lake Saturday Morning, Brooklyn was completely distraught that we couldn't bring Sugar along...so she started writing her little love notes all over the back patio. I thought it was so cute I snapped some pictures. But---when her daddy heard...it tugged on his heartstrings and he said, "Why don't we just let her bring her along?" Ha! What a hassel that turned out to be..(Amos..you know!! Sorry you had to be sleeping buddies with her!)

No FLIPPIN' Phone....

I have SO many things to blog about...and most of them are good...but right now..I am SO ticked off about my stupid cell phone. Sunday, while we were at the lake, it just suddenly, out-of-the-blue quits working. Not a single button on my keypad works. I can still receive calls...but I can't call anyone, look at any of my messages or pictures or retrieve my voice mails. I also can't access my contact list...which is where I store ALL of phone numbers for everyone I know. I can't believe how frustrating being withot my cell phone is! I have certainly come to depend on the dumb thing and now not having it is a major pain. Then...what really irks me is that I immediately called T-Mobile about the problem and the guy tells me I can try taking it back to the store where I got it. So, I call Wal-Mart since that's where I signed up for our service and the guy there is like, "Uh, duh...I dunno. You'll have to call back tomorrow and talk to someone else. I don't know anything about the phones." So today, I spend 30 minutes digging up the box to the phone, all the accessories and the recipet. Then I load the kids up and drive 25 minutes to that Wal-Mart. When I get there, I am told to go to customer service. Then the lady at customer service tells me to go to electronics. When I got back to electronics there was a girl there already trying to exchange a phone so I stand there and wait and Wait and WAIT....for about 45 minutes I stood there until finally I just decided to go do some shopping and then come back. Of course, though...when I got back there...there was another couple there discussing phones and I had to wait again. Eventually the guy gets over to help me and he tells me within 30 seconds that there is absolutely nothing he can do to help me since it has been more than 14 days (which is the amount of time they give you to return your phone should you decide you don't like it). I got my phone on April 9th...so obviously it's been longer than that...but it's not like I am deciding I don't like the dang phone...it doesn't WORK! ERGH! Anyway, by this point in my day, it's like 5:30 pm, the kids are acting like wild animals in the store, running and jumping and screeching and I am so mad I can hardly see straight so I just take my useless phone and leave.
Well, now it's 9:44 pm and I just got off the phone with T-Mobile and they are sending me a replacement phone. I have to pay shipping which is $15 but if they determine that my phone doesn't have any damage (that I did to it) then I get a new phone for free. If they decide that I've in some way damaged the phone, I have to pay $100 for the new phone. I'm not worried because the phone is in perfect condition except for that it doesn't work. The bad thing is that all my pictures and ringtones and stuff will all be lost. None of that saves to your sim card apparently..and since my keypad doesn't work, the lady said there is no way to retrieve that stuff. UGH! I had some GREAT pictures on there and this one especially that I took of me and my dad on Father's Day that I was hoping to do something special with. Oh well...what's done is done.
Anyway...one day soon hopefully, I will find time to blog about our trip to the lake and share some pictures with ya'll but for now, I need to get off here and get the kids into bed.
(**BTW, the word "flippin" in the title refers to my "flip" phone)

We're off to the lake...

We woke up this morning and decided to go camping at the lake...so when we get back (tomorrow night or maybe the next night) I'll post lots of pictures and stories! Love you all!

Those 3 little words...

My husband walked in from work this morning while I happened to be standing in the bathroom with my shirt lifted up scratching a mosquito bite on my side/back--and he said those 3 little words I LONG to hear, "You look skinny!" HOORAY!!! (hear the hallelujah chorus) Not that I've actually lost any weight...it's probably because the shorts I am wearing are hanging on my hips (I bought a sz. L instead of the M that fit because I wanted to be extra-comfy)---giving the appearance of "skinny-ness" but whatEVER..who cares WHY...That was the best 3 little words he could have said to me! Hee Hee

Cheap or Thrifty?

Okay, so tonight after I gave the kids a bath, I grabbed up undies and jammies for Brooke and then jammies for Grant and a pull up. Not a new pull up though. The one he's worn for the past couple of nights. Gross? I don't think so. I mean, he hasn't peed or poo'd in it...he's just worn it to sleep in. Does that make it dirty? I got to thinking about it and had to giggle to myself because I just can't see anyone else I know re-using pull ups day after day. I will use them until they either get "dirtied" or until they start falling apart. I just can't see throwing a perfectly good pull up away just because he's worn it for a little while. But what do ya'll think? Am I nuts? I know I am cheap and I know some of my friends think I am REALLY cheap...but that just seems thrifty to me. What do ya'll think? Does anyone else do that?

Mow, Mow, Mow the Lawn...

So...today I set out to mow (on our riding mower) the acre that is our yard as well as as much as I could stand to do of the field that is between ours and my parents house. In all, there are probably about 3-4 acres to be mowed...but that's quite a lot for one time...so anyway...while I was out mowing and the kids were supposed to be laying on the couch having "quiet time" watching a movie..Grant came walking out to me. I scooted up on the seat of the mower as much as I could and let him sit behind me, his back against the seat back and his chest against my back. So, we are going along just fine. I notice that his head is hitting my back every so often but didn't really think much about it because the field is pretty bumpy and it'd be hard for it not to bob around...BUT...then as I rounded a corner...he nearly fell off! He'd fallen asleep there wedged behind me and when I turned the sharp corner, I felt his body start falling out!!! THANK GOD I had quick reflexes and grabbed him before a catastrophe could have happened. I can't even allow my mind to go there...if he'd fallen off as I was turning...you can picture if if you want...but it turns my stomach to even think...
SO...I stopped the mower and took him inside and layed him down on the couch...and he woke right up. So I got him all comfy with his blankie and a sippy cup of chocolate milk and went back out to mow. But, no sooner did I get back out there and get going again before he was back out wanting to get back on with me. So, this time I put him on my lap in front and we got moving again. Then the next thing I knew...there he went again...sliding off to the side!! He'd fallen asleep again. This time I straightened him back up centered in the middle of my chest and for the next HOUR !! I mowed with one hand holding his head to me and the other hand steering! Whew! By the time I quit, my shoulders were burning in pain! One from holding his head/my arm very awkwardly for a straight hour and the other one because I'd been trying to steer a fast-moving, bumpy riding mower for a hour! I guess it was the loud motor and bumpiness that put him to sleep or something. So weird. Anyway, I just thought that was a funny story. I wish I'd had someone to take a picture because I am sure that was a sight! I wondered if the people driving by noticed. His hands/arms and legs were just hanging limp bouncing all around while I held his head still. Ha ha. The crazy things kids do!

Row, Row, Row your boat...

Saturday morning, Matt and I decided to take the kids fishing. Not just to the little pond out behind our house casting from the ground...but to an actual lake on a boat---something they've never done before. We had no idea what an experience we were in for!!! See if you can count how many "mistakes" we made!
First of all..the boat that Matt has is a 2-person boat that doesn't really have a bottom you step down into (in other words--no where for the kids) so we decided to take my brother's boat instead, which is also a 2 person boat but it's more of a canoe style and it's made of metal and much roomier than Matt's. We figured he and I would sit in the seats and the kids could sit down in the bottom of the boat. We hadn't counted on the fact that it was going to be a million degrees and that the metal of the boat would be sizzling hot. Also, this boat has a small hole in it near the top and we were a teensy bit concerned about that becoming a problem but we figured we'd just keep the boat tipped over a bit to the good side so the hole wouldn't be in the water. So, off we were...lifejackets, sunscreen and fishing poles in hand. On the way to the lake we decided we better stop and see if we could find some worms for the kids poles so they could just fish bobber-style. We found a little gas station near the lake that sold worms..so that was good...but we also found out that we had to buy a lake permit and a boat permit to fish off this lake (and that's per day that you go--so it doesn't last all summer or anything). So when Matt got back in the truck, he was a little perturbed that he'd just spent every cent in his pocket to buy the two permits and the box of worms. Oh well...so we head off and finally get there and get the boat unloaded off the truck and into the water along with the ice chest, some crackers and all our fishing gear. Right away we realize that this boat (that we've never been on before) is VERY tipsy. The kids are nervous right away as am I...but of course, I am concealing my anxiety completley for their sake...and plus...sometimes I can convince myself of something if I change the way I react to it. So anyway, we finally get all on and situated and turn on the motor and start drifting off into the lake. We find a place to drop the anchor and Matt worms up the kids poles while I start rubbing sunscreen all over them. (never mind the fact that I only broght Hawiian Tropic Dark Tanning Lotion SPF 6 with me!!) All the while we are doing this...every little move we make causes the boat to tip in that direction...and I mean TIP. There were a couple of times that the side of the boat was nearly level with the water! Anyway, we get the kids poles all set up and start casting ours...and of course they want to reel theirs in too...and we can't seem to find a way to convince them to just sit and watch the bobber. After a bit...I notice that we have floated quite a ways from where we dropped our anchor and Matt's like, "ya, I think the lake is too deep for this anchor" so basically we weren't anchored down at all. By this time, the kids are miserably hot and bored and I've rubbed sunscreen on them like every 10 minutes wondering if I put SPF6 on 5 times...does that equal out to SPF30? It feels like we are BAKING! Neither Matt or I is getting any real fishing done because every 2 seconds we were having to do something for the kids. Then the kids started saying they wanted to go home...and were relentless about it. (over and over and over..."I wanna go home now"-grant and "This is boring. I am hot."-brooklyn. Well meanwhile Matt is getting mad because he's spent all this time and money to do this with/for us and now everybody is whining. I eventually dipped both the kids off the side of the boat into the lake to try to cool them off...but it didn't last long. I ended up giving Brooklyn my seat and I sat on the end of the boat on the fiery-hot metal. Grant stood most of the time or else sat on the ice chest. None of us caught a thing although Matt did get one bite. It was such a crazy trip and Matt said he's NEVER taking the kids fishing again!!! (ha ha--the things we say when we're frustrated.) At least one good thing...the kids didn't end up getting sunburned. Matt and I did...but not too severely. Anyway, all in all...it was an experience to remember...but probably not the funnest memory my kids or husband will ever have. I enjoyed it but I would definitely like to go again just hubby and me and do some real fishing (and sun-bathing of course!)
After that, we came home, showered and went to a get together with our friends and then to the mall for a bit of shopping. While we were at the mall a big thunder/hail storm came through and Matt had to go to work so I took the kids home by myself and had a quiet night alone.
Well, the kids are hollering for me so I better end this. Hope you guys had a good weekend!

Bye lovely, long locks

So, on a total sudden impulse while driving to McDonald's to get the kids Happy Meals, I decided to swing by my hairdresser's salon and get the kids hair cut. Grant's looks the same as it always does after a cut...but Brooklyns! Well, we decided to go short for summer! She loves it and so does her Daddy...but me...it's gonna take some time for me to get used to. It's not that she doesn't look adorable...but I just LOVED her long hair. At least it grows...so she can be cool and carefree for summer and eventually, it will grow back out and make me happy again! hee hee

10 inches Off

In my senior year of high school we had to write a ballad. Mine was titled "10 Inches Off" and after what we did to Brooklyn's hair today...I thought sharing it with you would be appropriate! Hope you can read it. You may have to click on the picture and blow it up to read it.

Sunday Mornin' Cuties

This past week, I found some great deals at the Gap along with the fact that I had a 20% off coupon...so the kids got some new clothes. Here, Brooklyn is wearing her new dress that we got for 10 bucks and Grant's new shirt we got for 6 bucks. Pretty cute, I think. Plus, I took them out for lunch at a nice resturant by the mall that I had free kids meal coupons for. It was the DEAL of the CENTURY! I ordered off of the lunch menu so mine was $6.25. They each got free kids meals which included drinks and hot fudge sundae's for dessert plus their wonderful, huge meals. We ended up only paying $6.78 total AND we had plenty enough for us to all eat our left overs for dinner that night too! Wowee!!! I must add also that they behaved like perfect little angles while were at the resturant and you mom's out there know--that is no small thing! Hooray!

sleepy head

Sometimes late at night, I lay awake and watch him sleeping....(think Garth Brooks' song) Ha ha...no really...what I was going to say was...Sometimes late at night when I am up working, Grant will lay down next to my desk while he is waiting for me to put him to bed. This past weekend when he did it...he looked so cute with his arms spread out like this...I had to get a pic.

Things that make you go...ERGH!

I know this is silly for me to gripe about...but it gets under my skin and I just wanted to vent about it without anyone telling me I need to quit complaining!
Here lately, Brooklyn has begun answering the phone. She is very polite and well mannered and it is really a blessing because there are many times (like when I am trying to get Grant to go to sleep or I'm in the shower or working or something) that it is a huge help. As a matter of fact...there isn't ever a time I don't want her to answer the phone. BUT....what bugs me is that I've told her over and over that if she is going to get it...to holler "I'll get it!" so I don't bother to get up. Probably 5 times in the past 24 hours the phone has rang, I have dropped whatever it was I was doing (including one time when I almost had Grant to sleep) and RAN to get the phone only to have her answer it seconds before I got there. ERGH! Then on the other hand....when I just KNOW she's going to answer it...she doesn't and the call ends up going to the answering machine. ERGH! I know it's trivial and not that big of a deal...but just now, I was in the bathroom, drying my hair (which is a process --you girls understand) and I heard the phone ringing. I turned off the dryer, threw down my brush, opened the door and started sprinting for the phone....but she beat me to it. If I'd have known she was going to answer it...I could have just continued on with my hair. Am I totally crazy for letting this bug me?
I just wish I could find a way for her to remember to holler that she's gonna answer it.

Moo

I feel like a cow right now. Seriously. I don't know what's up with my body but I have had mega cramping all night long and I feel like my stomach is bloated to twice it's normal size. I had my little visitor last week..so it can't be that. Actually speaking of the "little visitor"---(cover your eyes guys...you don't want to hear about this)---I have been seeing less and less of Aunt Flo lately. I guess it's the effects of the IUD finally...but it's really weird. When that week comes around, I usually just have the teensyist bit of pink here and there but no need for any kind of paper-goods. That lasts for a week or so and then I'm done. So weird. I mean...in the tiniest corner in the furthest back compartment of my mind, I think about the possibility of being prego...but then I remind myself that I am and have always been SUPER paranoid about that and it's never true. (well, twice it was true...but that's all! ha ha) It's so foreign to me when women say that they never even thought about the fact that they could be pregnant when they are having nausea and sore boobs and are sleepy...etc. Every single time I get nauseous...that is the first thought in my mind. (and I didn't even have morning sickness so that's really goofy). Usually if my chest is sore, it's from doing too many push-ups the night before...but still, I always think, "what if?" Anyway, I don't know what's up with me tonight. I am wearing a pair of shorts right now that are my baggy pants. The ones I always save for when I feel extra-fluffy..and even they feel tight tonight. Yuck! Plus the cramping is weird too. Who knows?!?
So, to change the subject...have any of you ladies ever thought about laser hair removal? Obviously with summer here now...we are all digging out our swimsuits and that dreaded shaving ritual has to be done again. We had a cookout/swim party for our Sunday School class on Saturday and I did the "swimsuit shave" (if you don't know what I am talking about...see the post I did in July of 2006 titled "All kinds of smooth"). Well, now today, 3 days later...I am paying for it with little red ingrown hairs EVERYwhere! Ouch! So..the new thing I hear about on the radio all the time is Laser Hair Removal---and I am thinking about looking into it! I have no idea whatsoever about what it costs...but just imagine...no more shaving "there" anymore?!! Woohoo! I just hope they have a payment plan! ha ha
Another thing I am considering: getting my lips tatooed!! I know that sounds crazy---BUT---when I went to my friend, Keri's, wedding last weekend, I ran into an old friend who looked GORGEOUS. She started telling me that she'd gotten her make up tatooed on by this lady (a doctor) in the city at a big hospital and that it was the best thing she ever did. She actually got her eyeliner (upper and lower lids) done, her eyebrows and her lipliner and lipstick and it only cost $900 for all of it. All I want to do is the lips. She got this color done that was just called "natural" which is what I would want to. It's basically your natural lip color just a little darker than normal--and maybe just a bit pinker. Most of you probably already know...but I am a lipstick ADDICT. Majorly. I've never met anyone who wears lipstick more than I do. I put it on probably 10-20 times a day and even before I go to bed at night! It's partially because I HATE the way I look without it...but also because I've gotten used to my lips always having something on them making them moist and now I can't STAND for them to be dry. If I wake up in the middle of the night and my lips feel dry..I will actually get out of bed and get some Soft Lips to put on. So what do ya'll think? Do you think that is crazy? Do you know anyone who has done either of these things (the laser hair removal or make-up tatooing)??
Okay, well, I guess I better get off here. Matt just came by and saw that I was blogging instead of working and he made me feel guilty. (shame shame on me..I do have lots of work to do--but that's not nearly as much fun as gabbing about this stuff! :o)
Goodnight!

Memorial Day Weekend

***When you get down to the pictures...for some reason, they posted in opposite order of the way I described them...so it may be confusing..but I'm not gonna go back and fix them all...so good luck! (sorry!) I can't figure out this posting picture thing on blogger! Ergh!***

Wow, where'd this week go? I was totally gonna post about our Memorial Day weekend on Tuesday...and then now, here it is...Friday night and I am just now sitting down to do it. The bad thing about waiting this long is that I can't really remember what was interesting enough to blog about. Let's see...we left Saturday morning an hour later than planned (but that was what I expected would happen) ha! Anyway, we rolled into our "hometown" around 1:30 and had the "pleasure" (and I say that as sarcastically as possible) of looking around town for a vacant hotel room. Apparently there was some big golf tournament there this weekend...so rooms were sparse. We ended up staying at the 2nd place we went to but had to settle for a smoking room. Ick. It didn't smell too horribly bad though and it was WAY nicer than the first place we went. Plus...this is a SMALL town we're talking about and the next choice would have been a little hole-in-the-wall motel, so we were actually pretty excited to get this room. Anyway, first up on the agenda was for me and one of my old very good friends (and she was one of my bridesmaids) to meet up and go to a wedding (It was my best friend from high school getting married--and she was the maid of honor at my wedding.) Matt and the kids stayed and visited with his dad while we were gone. It was SO fun being with my old buddies again! Here are a couple of pics. The first one is of me and Joy, the next one is of the bride and groom (Keri & Steve)--check out that cool cake! Black and white zebra striped! The 3rd pic is of me and Keri.











Anyhow, so after the wedding, Joy dropped me off at Matt's grandmother's house where a bunch of family was waiting and we had a wonderful dinner and lots of entertainment from my kids. Here are a few pics from that: This first one is of Brooklyn dressed up. The 2nd one is of Matt's dad with Grant. The 3rd pic is of Matt's dad, his aunt Jenna and him. The 4th pic is of Matt's grandma, (we call her Nane) and Brooklyn entertaining us all and the 4th one is of Lindsay (Matt's little brother's wife) and me. For those of you who wondered...THIS side of the family is where Brooklyn gets her red hair.
So, while we were there--it started raining. And raining and raining and eventually flooding! By the time we left and got back to our hotel, cars were almost completely covered and some were literally floating around the hotel parking lot!!!!! It was crazy and like nothing I have ever seen before!

This pic was taken earlier in the day...but it was actually worse than that by that evening. I took pics but they are took dark to see. Also of interest: The hotel alarm went off that night and kept going off for over an hour!! We thought it might be the fire alarm at first, but they said it was just their alarm system and that they had to wait on some people to come and shut it off. By 11 pm, I was about to get REALLY mad...but then it finally went off. Oh and one more thing...our hotel room floor was flooded so it was soaking wet in there the whole weekend! We had to wear our flip-flops the whole time!



On Sunday, we got up and went to church with Matt's other grandma and got to hear our pastor from a long time ago (the one who married us). It was SOOOOOO good. After that, we went over to Matt's mom's for lunch. Her and her fiance, Duane, grilled burgers and had all kinds of other good stuff to eat. It was a great time and nice to be there with everyone. Matt's little brother, Cale and his wife Lindsay were there with their son Jaxon. It was his birthday that day too. My kids LOVE LOVE LOVE him and they were so excited to play with him. Here are some pics from that gathering:




That first pic is of Matt's mom (Nana), Duane (her fiance), Brooklyn and Grant. Bet you'll never guess who the 2nd pic is of! ha ha...The 3rd one is of Matt's grandma (Mamaw) with Brooklyn, Jaxon & Grant. The 4th pic is of Grant with Duane's motorcycle and the 4th one is of my CUTE BOYS! They were matching for church and they looked so handsome!



Lastly, on Monday morning, we got up and drove over to the town that my brother and his family live in. We had lunch with them and then my brother took Matt and I for a ride in his "hot rod"--an old camaro he's been fixing up. There aren't any seat belts in it and the speedometer doesn't work...but I guarantee you I was writing an obituary in my head! "Brother and sister die in an afternoon Memorial day drive" Ha Ha! I was certainly counting on my angels that ride! Here's a couple of pics of Matt and my brother Doug.


So as you can see...we had a fun and eventful weekend. Oh..I can't end just yet. I have one more funny story to tell! Right after we got to the hotel on Saturday, I decided to let Brooklyn go down to the front desk all by herself and get us some extra pillows. There is a balcony that overlooks the front desk so I thought I would just watch her the whole way. (She's been really into getting to be a big-independent girl lately.) Well, Grant started throwing a fit about her getting to go and him having to stay so I thought..."what the heck...it's the middle of the afternoon and hardly anyone is here...I'll just let him go." So...they get on the elevator and I tell her to push #1. So I am watching and waiting for them to get off on the bottom floor and walk over to the front desk and I never see them. Then all of a sudden I start hearing this blood curdling, shrieking screaming coming from the elevator! Well, obviously my heart DROPS into my stomach as I have NO idea what is going on! Finally (after what seemed like an eternity) the elevator opens up and it's Grant in there...all alone...shaking and screaming like crazy! I grabbed him up and then start going up, floor by floor trying to find Brooklyn. A couple of times when the elevator would open, there'd be someone there waiting or walking by and I said "Have you seen a little red-headed girl?" They'd say no so I kept going up. Well, I finally found her on the top floor. She told me what had happened is that when she got in, she pushed the #1 button...but apparently someone else had already pushed the top floor button for the elevator to come up...so they went up instead of down. When they got there, she got off to see where they were and the door closed leaving her on the top floor and Grant in the elevator all alone! Anyway...they were both crying then. She was afraid she was going to be in trouble and he was still scared to death. I kept thinking what a DUMB idea that was! Anyway, what was really bad was people kept coming up to me later on and saying, "did your kids ever find you?" and that really made me feel bad! Ha Ha. It's funny now...but it was pretty scary then. Poor Grant...he's still totally scared of elevators now!

Well, it's 11:27 pm and I probably should get to bed. It's been a long day and I have a big day ahead tomorrow. We are having a cookout/swim party for our Sunday School class and I have to clean the whole house before that! Whew! Have a good weekend!!!