My funny girl

Tonight while Brooklyn is away with her friends at church, I was putting away her laundry. As I walked past her door my leg hit something so I looked down and this is what I saw:
(you might have to click on the picture and blow it up to really see it)

As you can see, it is her Door Belle. So cute that she spelled "bell" that way. One of her best friends names is Belle--so that's the way she thinks it is spelled! ha ha
It took me a good 30 seconds to decipher what in the world the "instructions" were over there on the right side. It says:
*Blow
*on
*Strol (straw)
That straw is one of those really squeaky kind so if you blow on it, it sounds like a loud whistle. She is so funny. She locks her door all the time to keep her brother out and it drives me nuts when I can't get into her room...so I guess she decided she needed a door bell! She already asked me earlier today, "Mom, when's the soonest I can get a cell phone?" I said (while distracted by 3 things cooking on the stove at once) "umm, probably when your around 13." She replied, "ALL RIGHT!! Dad said I had to wait till I was 18!" Oh boy....are we there already??

A real crappy post

Today, as I was out mowing the yard (a.k.a. acre) I see Grant come running out to me with nothing but a towel wrapped around his little white bottom. I stop the mower and he screams "MOM! WILL YOU COME WIPE MY BUTT?"
Are you kidding me? Get off the mower while I'm dripping in sweat, covered in a zillion peices of dirt and grass and walk into the house so I can wipe someone ELSE's butt? No thanks.
Does anyone have any suggestions for getting a 4-year-old to learn how to wipe his OWN butt?
Remember that movie Big Daddy with Adam Sandler? The little boy says "I can wipe my own a$$" throughout the whole movie. I never realized what a BIG deal that was until this past year.
At first he would attempt to wipe his own butt...but he'd use an entire (and I am NOT exaggerating) roll of toilet paper to do it and then end up clogging the toilet. We are on a septic system out here...so that is a BIG no-no! Then we tried teaching him to only use a little bit of toilet paper but then he'd come out of the bathroom with crap smeared up to the middle of his back and all over his hands. Ugh! We actually went back and forth between those 2 extremes for a couple of weeks until finally we said he wasn't allowed to wipe his own butt anymore.
Of course that's not fair to him because everytime he asks us to come wipe his butt, we get mad at him and call him a "baby". I know, I know...that is SO wrong on SO many different levels...but hey---you come over and try it and see what nasty things don't escape from your mouth!
Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions for this, I would love to hear them. In just 15 days, he will be starting Pre-K at the big elementary school. I really don't want to have to come up to the school to wipe his butt every day!

The ring verdict:

Hey ya'll! Thanks to all of you for your great advice and comments on my ring dilemma. I don't know why I did it as a comment instead of a post...but if you go to that post and click on the comments, I left a big response to all of you. Its the 10th comment, I believe.

A poet and didn't know it

A few days ago Brooklyn got a free magazine from American Girl in the mail. It was her first experience with having a magazine all of her own and I think she thoroughly enjoyed it. Then a day or two later, her first issue of Highlights magazine came (thanks Grandma for the subscription!) In it they have a page of poems. Ones that kids have written and sent in. So...I started talking to her about poems and explaining that it's a lot like writing lyrics for a song. (that's something she can totally understand) So, we sat down to write a poem together. She was a little stumped at first and couldn't even think of a subject, so I suggested "school". This is what we came up with:

August is coming
that means school.
I like seeing my friends
but the work is NOT cool.

Music, math, reading and art,
It's all okay, but recess is the BEST part!

What will I wear on the first day?
What are my friends going to say?

I wonder who my teacher will be?
I just hope she'll like me.

Now I know it's not the most intelligent piece of work ever written, but I'm proud of her for it. I did a lot of it---but she did come up with the rhyming words. It's cute to watch her see that she CAN do something like this, even though she thought she couldn't. It bugs me (for me) that it's not consistent--meaning there are 4 lines in the first paragraph and then only 2 in the other paragraphs. Guess that's just the perfectionist coming out in me...and the grammar/English lover. Anyway, just thought I'd share this because it's a fun thing to do with your kids. You might end up with something really silly...but that's the fun of it--and its a great teaching tool since they get to practice their writing, their rhyming and sentence structure. A fun way to get them started is to make each line begin with the words "What if__________________"
For instance:
What if I lose my shoe?
What if the sky is not blue?

What if I forget to say Hi?
What if I start to cry?

and so on....Yes, it doesn't make much sense...but it can make for a really good giggle in the end and I can almost guarantee you, your kids will have fun with it!

Something Old, Something New

So....I want ya'lls opinions/advice on something:

I'm thinking about trading my wedding ring for a different one!!

I've actually done it once before, but it wasn't really my choice. The first ring Matt and I bought for me the prongs KEPT coming loose EVERY single time I would take it in to be checked, they had to send it off to be repaired. Finally Zales requested that I pick a different ring out. So I did. I went bigger and better. Currently I have a 1.10 carat emerald cut diamond solitare with a band beside it that has 4 small diamonds (2 on either side of the big one). I LOVE this ring and always have. Not a day has gone by that I didn't LOVE it.

However...

I also love the newer styles of rings that are out now that are more vintage looking and are set in either platinum or white gold. (mine is in yellow gold). I have checked into getting mine dipped to change the band color but I don't think that is what I want to do.

Anyway...

Last night while we were at the mall, we went into a jewelry store to have Matt's wedding ring sized. He's lost so much weight, that he can't even wear it anymore without it falling right off his finger!! Since mine is getting loose too and the band is actually broken on the underneath side and I am always looking....I decided to try on a particular ring that caught my eye. As soon as I put it on, it was love at first sight! and not just for me either...Matt also thought it was gorgeous and actually much prettier than the one I already have. It is absolutely my favorite ring I have ever tried on or seen EVER. I asked about trading and they said they would do that.

Here's a pic of the "new" ring, though I don't think this does it justice at ALL. It actually lets your finger show on the sides between the bands...and it has a diamond on the sides too--like if your looking at the prongs part.

So...here's the problem:

1. I love my ring and I really don't want to let it go. I get compliments on it all the time and jewlers always remark at what an unusual cut it is.

2. The new ring I am looking at actually cost quite a bit LESS than my current ring. Which sounds like a good thing...but actually, I have to spend double in order to do the exchange..which would mean paying more and I'd have to pick out more jewlery to equal to double the original cost. (oh darn!) I hope that makes sense. For instance, if I spent $1000 on my current ring, in order for them to do a trade, I have to spend $2000 (and I only have to pay $1000 and give them my ring).

3. I'm not real familiar with this jewlery store. It's Samuels. Anybody know anything about them??? We always buy our stuff from Zales or Kay's usually.

4. My diamond is valuable because it is a solitare. The one I'm looking at is just a bunch of littlier diamonds all bunched up to make it look like a big one.

5. I canNOT get this ring out of my mind. I have been thinking about it like---every couple of minutes since I took it off my finger last night!

So having read all that--what would you do?

Cheap Date

Last night, my mom had the kids over to spend the night so Matt and I decided to take advantage of a kid-free night and go out and do something. It was pretty last minute and we didn't really have time for a nice sit-down dinner and a movie, so we opted for a quick dinner. We got the $5 footlong deal at Subway and drank water. Next stop was GNC for a protein bar to snack on during the movie. (No way were we eating that calorie-loaded popcorn the cinema sells). Once we got to the movies (the $1.50 place) we overheard the guy at the counter say that Monday's are "Family Night" and that as long as you have 3 people, the tickets are only .50 cents. So, instead of paying $3 for our tickets, I just bought an extra one and only paid $1.50 total! ha ha (of course it about killed me to throw away that perfectly good extra ticket!) Lastly, since we didn't splurge on dinner or on popcorn, we went to Braum's for a cone of their Low-Fat Capiccino Chunky Chocolate frozen yogurt. YUM! Sinfully delicious! On the drive home, I started calculating and I think we actually went on a whole date and only spent a little over $10. That's pretty impressive for dinner, a movie with snacks and dessert!!

When we got home we decided we wanted to take some pictures of ourselves so we spent probably 20 minutes in weird positions trying to get a decent picture together on our cell phones. Since I am SO much shorter than him, I had to get on top of the kitchen counter and squat down and that was finally the "winning" shot! ha ha We were in a fit of giggles by the time that was all done, which was a perfect way to set the mood for the rest of the evening. ;o)

Here are a few pics of me and my skinny sexy sweetie that Brooklyn took before we left. Matt insisted on doing a "silly" one!

Here's one of me B. took while we were waiting on Matt to change shoes. He was wearing these really cute orange and brown striped leather flip-flops--but then he remembered he NEVER wears flip-flops to the movie theatre. "You never know what might crawl across your foot" is his reason. He does have a point!

Oh! and BTW, if you were wondering, we went and saw Made of Honor. It was really cute. Very funny and romantic and a total chic flick--but I know Matt enjoyed it even if he'd never admit it in front of his guy friends! :o)

Mr. Sleepy Head

Yesterday after church (we went to early service) we went out for lunch and then shopped for a few hours at the mall. It was a long and tiring day for a certain little guy (apparently!) ha ha I know I'm biased...but he is just SO DANG CUTE!!

The Best of Both Worlds!

If you have a daughter, you probably recognize that as the title song for Hannah Montana. Brooklyn has been waiting for WEEKS for this big live concert that was going to air on TV on Saturday, July 26th. She has asked me almost daily "how many more days, mom?" We were counting the hours down on Saturday and had our 3D glasses all ready and waiting. Then my neice, Chantel, came into town and we got completely distracted. At 7:49, we decided to all (me, Chantel, Brooklyn, my mom and my aunt) go and get our toenails done at this place that closed at 8. I called and the guy said he'd wait on us so we RUSHED out the door. At about 8:49, it hit me!! We were missing the show!!! AGHHHHH!!! Thankfully, I called Matt and had him start recording it so we got the 2nd half of the show. When I "broke the news" to Brooklyn that we had missed the first hour, she said, "That's okay. I'm over it. I'm kinda past Hannah Montana now."
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
First of all, that cracked me up. But secondly, how can my 7 year old be "past" Hannah Montana? She should just now be to the age that she's starting to like that stuff. What's next? Adult shows? She is growing up WAY too fast. I guess I'm partly to blame...but really, I want to keep her "little" for as long as possible.
When we got home that night, she did manage to 'make herself' endure watching the 2nd half of the show though! ha ha
Chantel and Brooklyn.


Chantel, Brooklyn and Me (au naturel)

The Mouse Pad: Consequence

Thanks to all of you who offered a suggestion on how to handle "The Mouse Pad Situation" and who enjoyed a giggle with me at my daughter's hilarious doodle. A special thanks goes to Teresa (a.k.a. Logzie) for giving me the "winning" suggestion. After a stinging swat to the rear and a long (and miserable for her) talk, Brooklyn will now work doing little jobs for me for the rest of the summer until she has earned enough money to buy me a new mouse pad. Yesterday she had the "pleasure" of shoveling the TMTC (too many too count) piles of dog dookey out of our back yard. She earned $1.00. If I remember right, the mouse pad was about $25, so I think by the time she earns that much, the lesson will be engrained in her brain about destroying other people's things and how hard we work to have the money to buy nice things.
As for the "special" mousepad---it's going in my scrapbook and will be something we will bust a gut over for the rest of our lives probably! I'm so glad I didn't try to clean it. Even if I could have gotten it clean--it's way more funny and "special" now. Of course, while this process is happening I can't let her see me giggling about it---so shhhh! Once the new mouse pad is purchased and the old one is "scrapped", I will explain to her that it is a cute doodle and that is why I am saving it, but that next time she wants to doodle, she needs to get out some paper. Someday when she's a mom, I can tell her the "rest of the story." (Amy E. remember hearing Paul Harvey say that every day in 6th grade during lunch? That Mr. Smith!!! ha ha)

I just want to {SCREAM!}

I just walked into my office to sit down to work. I happen to look down at my expensive, custom-made mouse pad from The Picture People with my sweet children's picture on it and THIS is what I saw:

The 500 calorie burrito

Today was my first day back to the gym in over a week (because of VBS last week). It felt GREAT! And...it felt GREAT to feel great finally. It seems like lately I've been really dragging in my work outs and my enthusiasm has just been zippo. Today, however, I felt energized and totally ready to kick butt--and I did. After my class, I even jumped on the elliptical and did 20 minute (interval training) and burned an extra 215 calories. I wore a heather-gray tank top today and by the time I left the gym-it looked like it was charcoal gray! I was so bummed that I forgot to wear my heart rate monitor since this is the first time since I got it that I really felt like I gave it my ALL in a work out. Anyway, I said all of that to say....I totally SCREWED up immediately following the gym. I took the kids to Taco Bueno. I had coupons...need I say more?

Ugh. I thought I was doing good by ONLY ordering myself a burrito and a water. I mean, how bad can a burrito be? All it had in it was meat, beans and cheese. I ate it feeling guiltier with every bite. I knew the first thing I was going to do when I got home was look up the nutritional info. To my dismay (but not to my surprise), I found out that a combo burrito from Taco Bell packs 507 calories! YIKES! Good thing it filled me up because at that rate, I can't afford to eat anything else until dinner! And then...it needs to be an extra-light dinner if I am going to ever lose any more weight.
Speaking of losing weight....I really try to refrain from talking about any weight-related issues on this blog anymore. For one, I know a lot of you don't really care to hear it...but #2: I don't need to talk about it on here since I can talk about it on my other blog now. http://p90xourjourney.blogspot.com
However...
I have realized that I am blogging more and more on that blog and less and less on here. It seems like a lot of what I have to say has to do with food and exercise...so I end up only journaling on that blog and then having nothing to say on this one.
Anyway, I'm still gonna try to keep them seperate...and keep this one about non-weight-related issues...but for today....you guys just have to grin-n-bear it! ha ha
I would challenge you all...take a second and look up a fast-food menu item that you routinely order (or it could be from a nice resturant). See if it surprises you...in a good way...or in a bad way. I should probably go look up Olive Garden's Zuppa Tuscana soup. That is my ALL TIME favorite thing and I order it all the time...but I'm bettin' it's WAY BAD. Anyway, let me know what you find out....:o)

You need one of these!!!

Last night, I snuck out of the house with my mom. Just me and her. It was magical! No kids = no whining and crying and fighting! Anyway, we had several errands to run and while I ran into Old Navy for a second, she went next door to Bed, Bath & Beyond. When we met back up at the car she said she had bought us something--one for me and one for her. (ohhh--yippee! I love suprises and presents!!) What she pulled from the bag though.....ummm....not exactly what I had in mind. It was a PedEgg. Usefull? --yes! But exciting??
After we 'shopped till we dropped' I crawled into my big wonderful bed and held my new little PedEgg in my hand. I thought I might as well give it a try. Away I went shaving and filing away. What I was left with was AMAZING! My feet have never been so fresh and soft! In just a couple of minutes, I had feet as flawless as my kids again! I have used many, many kinds of foot thingys in my lifetime because I am somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to my feet. I cannot STAND peeling polish or dirty toes or dirty bottoms of the feet, so I've tried my share of gadgets but NONE compare to the ease of this PedEgg or the result! Plus, ALL shavings are contained inside until you open it to clean it...so you can do it anywhere!
I know...thinking about shavings off your feet is gross and as far as I'm concerned--just GAG ME! but...hey it's a disappointing reality of life---we all get callused heels--and we all NEED a PedEgg! If you have a Bed, Bath & Beyond near you or a Linens-N-Things, you can pick one up for $9.99. I'll even send you a 20% off coupon if you give me your address. If you don't have one of those stores nearby, you can still order one online--just google PedEgg.
I honestly think if we all had one of these and used it, we could put pedicurists out of business! (not that I want to do that---but geez!! I just can't spend $30 on my feet every month!)
Another tip that you all might not know about...if you want your toes to LOOK like you've had a pedicure but don't want to pay for one...just go and have them paint your toenails. It costs anywhere from $5 -$7 and the polish will look perfect and last WAY longer than if you do it yourself. That's about the same price as an expensive bottle of nail polish, which isn't that bad. I think our place here charges $5 for a color and $7 for a french manicure.
Okay, enough talk about feet...I need to get back to work. Speaking of...did you guys know that I work for a podiatrist (foot doctor)? Ya, so if you ever have any foot questions, feel free to ask. I type about 11,000 lines a month ALL about peoples feet problems and solutions. :o) Not that I am a doctor by any means, but I can probably tell you what he would suggest if you went and saw him.

Okay...really...back to work.....:o)

Hey Ya'll!

I know, I haven't been here much lately. Just thought I'd drop in and say Hi to everyone while I have just a second. I think, starting on Monday, things will be back to "summer-normal" and I'll probably be blogging more regularly. I can't believe school starts in only 1 month from now! This summer is FLYING by! I'm SO not ready for it to end yet!!
Anyway, we had a long, fun day at the water park today and now I am pooped. I want nothing more than to put up my laptop and go crawl into my amazingly wonderful bed. so..I think I will...:o)

Busted!

***To my male readers...Guys, you might wanna skip this one.***
Okay, on a less serious note...(from my earlier post)...I have realized that my bust is shrinking. I thought it might be--because I've been noticing my bands on my bras were getting looser...but geez louise---I took a look in the mirror tonight and I think half the weight I've lost might have come from that area!! I am looking like a set of deflated balloons and if I continue to lose weight...well, I have to wonder if my ballons might wither away even more!?! It's such a different side of the fence for me to be on. I've spent the last 20 years of my life (yes, I said 20) wishing and hoping for a reduction. I've always been on the big side and I have HATED it every minute of my life. I blossomed WAYYY too early and by 6th grade I was wearing the same size bra that I wear right now! I believe my mom bought me my very first bra around the age of 6 or 7 and I've had one on ever since. Anyway, as you all probably noticed, I did the "Plastic Surgery Poll' recently and it appears that a lot of us would like to have a new set of "Balloons" on our bodies. Even though I've dreamt of it..I've never really ever seriously considered getting anything like this done. For one, I never thought I was "THAT" bad but for two, I just couldn't see spending that much money on something so vain. However, I am beginning to wonder if I shouldn't take the idea more seriously. I'm surprised all the time by people who've done it. I have several friends who have...and they don't regret it at all. It would certainly be nice not to have ridges in my shoulders and neck from all the hoisting up I have to do.
Tonight I mentioned it to Matt and he said he could definitely tell that I am shrinking and looking more and more deflated all the time. He's also supportive of me getting the surgery---or not---either way. Gosh....it seems crazy to even think about..but maybe I'll look into it....???!!!!
I can just imagine the thoughts going through your heads. I know which ones of you will say "Go for it!" and then there are some of you who will say "You don't need it" and then some of you will gawk that I am even talking about boobs on the world wide web! ha ha....
I guess this is me...probably a little too open and honest for the likes of some of ya...but still I have to be who I am on this blog and what fun is it when you have to candy-coat everything you want to say??!! I hope you all will just take what you like and throw out the rest! I appreciate all your comments and points of views!!
Love ya!

It's too late to apologize....

Something happened with a friend of mine last week...and the situation is eating at me. Makes me think of the song by Timbaland "Apologize". Not that the meaning of the song has anything to do with this situation...but still..the chorus says "It's too late to apologize" and that's how I feel about this. Since I canNOT seem to get it out of my mind, I thought I'd tell ya'll about it and see what you think. Of course, I am leaving out the specific details to protect identity...but you'll get the point I think.
So, I made a committment a couple of weeks ago to her to do something for her this past week. At first, I had said no because I knew it was going to be a busy week--with it being my birthday and having company come into town---but I knew she really needed help with this project and so I said I would do my best to help her out. (besides, she has ALWAYS helped me out when I needed it and so it was my turn to return the favor, I felt.) The day finally came and just as I thought, I was dreading it because I really just didn't have the time. We communicated with each other through several e-mails and everytime the mood was very relaxed and she was like "just whenever you can get it done will be fine." Well, long story short, after 3 days of trying to get it completed, I ended up telling her that I was almost done with it, but not quite and didn't know if she wanted to finish it up or if she wanted me to. That's when I realized that the mood about this was NOT relaxed as I had thought. The next string of e-mails were short and cut and dry (very NOT like her) and I knew she was MAD. I apologized over and over to the point of looking like an idiot begging for forgiveness. She ignored my offers to complete the task and my plea's for forgiveness and I haven't heard from her since. Because of the relationship that we have, we HAVE to see and talk to one another eventually...but I can't STAND this tension. I know I messed up. I admit that I should have given this committment top priority and gotten it done. I feel as though I dirtied my "name" and didn't keep my word and that feels awful. But what else can I do but tell her how sorry I am and offer to make it right?
I honestly don't think she has a right to be MAD at me. She might be frustrated that she had to finish up the last few minutes of something that I was supposed to have done for her...but I can't believe it is this big of a deal to her that she would downright ignore me and shut me out. I think I've probably done all that I could do at this point...but still, I find myself thinking about this and worrying about it non-stop. I guess it's just that nature inside of me that wants everyone to like me. I can't stand to think I've hurt someones feelings or not come through for them. That goes against everything that matters to me--everything I stand for. Yet, now--after the fact, what can I do?
Anyone have any suggestions?
Should I just try to forget about it? Should I say sorry again? Should I send her a card in the mail just reiterating how sorry I am? Should I just be short and cut-n-dry with her right back?
BTW..I HAVE prayed about it and asked God to soften her heart towards me and forgive me.

Wonderful Weekend

Well, what a lot of stuff I have to tell you about!

Let's see...first of all, Matt's little brother and his wife and their son came to visit us on Thursday night. It's always fun having them around...and the kids LOVE having their cousin, Jax to play with!

Friday we got up and went to the lake. The kids had a blast on the tube (including the adult-aged kids) and we all got plenty of sun.

After that we came home and grilled out dinner and the kids swam some more in the pool.

Saturday we (the girls and kids) slept till 10:00 am!!!! When I woke up, Matt had pretty much decided we needed to sell the boat. We've had our share of troubles with it and since Matt is the one who has to deal with it, plus he hates pulling that LONG trailer--I figured he should get to make the choices about it. I wasn't happy about it...but we listed it on Craig's list and we sold it almost immediately!

Saturday afternoon we headed to Incredible Pizza for some games and food. Right after we ate, they announced that they were having a Hula-hoop contest and that there would be prizes! I grabbed Brooklyn's hand and drug her over there. She ended up being too scared to do it, so I asked the guy with the microphone to ask if any other adults wanted to challenge me!! Sure enough, I got another mom and a dad to go up against me. Neither of them could hold a candle to my hot hula-hoopin hips though. :o) For some reason, hula-hooping has always come VERY natural to me and I think I could probably do it for hours on end without losing my rhythm. I ended up winning $10 in game cards!

Then a couple of hours later, they announced they were having a dance-off. This time, Brooklyn thought she would do it, so back over there we went. Both of the kids wanted to do it...but were too scared, so I got out there with them and danced too! I can't believe how un-self-conscious I was but I'm glad. We had so much fun!

After that, it was time for our company to go home. We bid them goodbye and then we headed to a store where Matt needed to exchange a pair of jeans. While there, I saw a dress I thought was cute on the clearance rack. I grabbed it and went to the dressing room to try it on. I got it on and half-way zipped up and then I couldn't get it the rest of the way zipped so I called Matt on his cell phone and asked him to come across the store from the mens section over to the womens. He "snuck" into the dressing room with me and tried to zip it up...but it wouldn't budge. Then he tried to unzip it and the zipper came apart (you know how the zipped up part splits?) I ended up having to have him go get a saleslady. She came into the dressing room and tried to either zip it up or unzip it...but no luck. By this time, the whole zipper had split and now you could see my bra strap on the top...and my thong on the bottom. Just GREAT! Long story short and after much sweating and trying....the salesgirl finally had to get scissors and CUT me out of the dress! Darn too because I was going to buy it!!!! Ha ha! Isn't that crazy? She did find another store that had one and offered to ship it it to me free.

Anyhow, now today...Sunday...nothing much to say. Sad that the weekend is already over. It's gonna be a busy week. I am doing the crafts for our VBS at church...so I'll be gone all week working on that. It'll be fun even though I'm not looking forward to trying to fit in my work and VBS and work outs and cooking and cleaning and all the other stuff....but it's just one week. Surely I can handle that?!!?!

Hope you all have a good week!

I am LOVED!!!

WOW! I had SO MANY phone calls and e-mails yesterday wishing me Happy Birthday! I really do have the BEST family and friends EVER! Thank you to every one of you who were so sweet with your kind words of encouragement about the age 30 and beyond!!

So, you've asked...what'd I do CRAZY and WILD for my birthday?
I went out and spent $37 on a box of Crest WhiteStrips (the 5 mintue kind) and I am whitening my teeth!! Ris-kay huh? HA HA
I am also doing my "special" pictures on Thur. Aug. 7th...so that'll be pretty WiLd too!!

This is it....saying Goodbye

(This is one of my favorite pictures! It's our old dog Sam and baby Grant! I'm pretending they are looking out the door watching my 20's float away--like a helium filled balloon--no chance of getting it back.)

Goodbye to my 20's. Today is my last day to be 20-anything. It's 3:28 pm and I am feeling the pressure BIG TIME to go do something STUPID as my one last childish and dumb rendezvous. I thought about going and getting some crazy (temporary) hair color and doing something wild with my hair tonight!!??

Anyway, knowing me...I'll end up being so busy that I won't have time for anything--but it's fun to think about anyway.

Maybe I'll just get out some of my "special" Carmen Electra "exercise" videos, get dressed "up" and "work out" for my hubby tonight. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.............

Kissin' it Goodbye!

Time keeps on slippin'....

into the future......

Hey ya'll. I don't have anything in particular to say at this moment...nor do I have but about 3 minutes...but I just wanted to say that

1. We are STILL sick around here. (getting REALLY tired of THAT!) I will break down and go to the dr. tomorrow if there isn't a significant change by then.

2. I MISS YOU GUYS!!!

3. I miss blogging!!!

4. I promise to catch up on all of your blogs a.s.a.p. I read Logzie's blog this morning (during breakfast) and I couldn't believe how much I have missed! Made me realize I feel like I don't know what any of you has been up to lately.

5. Thanks for all your comforting words about the big THREE OH. It's coming whether I like it or not...and now I only have 2 days left in my 20's. AUGHHHHHH!!!!!

Life's a Dance...you learn as you go

Whew, what a week. Don't know where it went actually...seeing as most of it was spent in bed. Ick. Being sick just doesn't work into my schedule. :o)

Seems like it's been SO long since I've really blogged, that I don't even know where to begin. There are a TON of things I haven't had time to tell ya'll -- but none of them are very big or important.

First of all, Matt FINALLY got his deer back! Yay! It looks so good in our living room as the "center peice" of the big wall. Matt says he can hang out there UNTIL he brings the REALLY big one home this fall! :o)

Okay, now I am skipping all the way to today because right now, at 11:51 pm...I honestly cannot think of anything else that happened last week!

So, today, after a whole week of being sick and in bed....we finally started on some antibiotics, got to feeling better...and headed off to the lake. Last night we went to BPS and got a new, big 2-man tube. Then today (after sleeping till 1 pm!!) we got up, packed up the boat and the truck, packed up the cooler and headed off to the lake. Since we took the boat in last week and had a few things fixed and everything tuned up (for a whopping $500) we were sure everything was good to go, other than fillin' er up with gas ($60). We finally got to the lake around 3 pm and found that the loading dock was WAY underwater. Nevertheless, we followed after the other boaters and just unloaded where the water met the grass. I had to back the truck into the water so deep that water was flooding into the floor of the truck!!! Finally we were in deep enough to get the boat off the trailer. Matt jumped in the boat to start it....but no luck. After trying and trying, we finally asked another boat to give us a jump. Still--nothing. It wouldn't even turn over. Talk about being frustrated. It's bad enough as it is...but to have just spent that much money on it to get it tuned up AND we had put 2 hours into getting everything ready and packed up...Ugh! But--thankfully Matt's dad stopped at the store and got us a new battery and brought it out and wha-lah...it worked!! It was nearly 5 pm before we finally got going in the water...but once we did...we had a great time!! Here are a few pics from our day:

Ohhhh.....is this REALLY the face of a THIRTY year old??? I can't believe my big, dreadful day is going to be here in only 5 days. Looking at this picture of me without a lick of make up on my face, hair air-dried makes me realize...I am not 18 anymore. I'm not even 28 anymore. I'm getting old. Darn!

And lastly-today while I was out on the tube with Grant, Brooklyn grabbed the camera and took a few self-portraits. I thought they were so cute, I just had to post them.

Me and my cutie-patootie-girl!

just a little note...

to say that I know it's been a while since I've read ya'll's blogs and commented on them.....but I promise, I'm workin' on it. Life has just been super busy and on top of that....Matt and I are both not feeling up to par. So much so, that I am actually IN bed and going to sleep right now...and it's only 9:20. That is VERY early for me.....but I know I need it.
Anyway, I do miss hearing (reading) about what you all have been up to and just as soon as I get a chance, I plan to play catch up on your blogs. In the meantime, I hope you are all having a great summer!