Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

It's a Christmas Miracle!

I actually finished my Advent calendar! I kept putting it off and then I started and had some issues with some chipboard letters and glitter that made me want to toss the whole thing in the trash. I swore I was going to have it completed before Christmas. I finished the dang thing at 9:30 pm on Christmas Eve. I will probably end up reworking some of the numbers next Christmas, but for now, I can call it done. And there is a glare on the photo and I know it. I just don't want to go back downstairs and take another picture. I am too tired.

It's late and Miss K is still up. She has taken two 2 1/2 hour naps today. Her Christmas PJs are in the dryer. As soon as they are done, I am getting her dressed, take her photo and put her to bed. I've got a couple of gifts left to wrap, clean up my scrappy mess, straighten the living room and set out Santa gifts. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

"He's a really good daddy"

Friday night we dropped my mom off at the airport and then headed out for dinner at Wing Stop. We love Wing Stop. Since there is a Kroger in the same strip mall, I asked Brian if he didn't mind us grocery shopping so that I didn't have to fight the crowds tomorrow. (Well...I have to go back for bread since my crazy dog ate an entire loaf of bread in like 2 minutes.) Brian was pushing Miss K in the cart and singing Christmas songs to her while we were shopping. She was giggling at him and waving her hands in the air. A lady walks up to me and says, "He's a really good daddy." She took me by suprise, so my response to her was, "Pardon me?" I wasn't sure I heard her right. She repeated herself, smiled and walked away. I looked over at Brian who was singing "Here Comes Santa Claus" at the top of his lungs in Kroger and I know...he is an AWESOME daddy.

PHOTOS!!!

Can you believe it? I actually took photos today! Tonight we had our Christmas with my mom. She is leaving for Texas tomorrow to spend Christmas with my aunt. She is really looking forward to being off from work for a week. We had fun tonight. Miss K was a lunatic opening gifts. She has finally learned to rip the paper off. She was in her element...she is all about tearing up some paper! Meemee got Miss K a Blues Clues that dances and sings the ABC's. She was dancing with her. But her FAVORITE gift was this little "dust buster, Dusty". Doesn't really pick anything up, but she thought it was too funny. She will be in heaven on Christmas because Santa is bringing her the matching vaccum cleaner! Brian got a flash drive (I think that is what they are called.) and I got an American Express gift card. I am really wanting a Wishblade. But, but the time I finally save all the money, I will probably be over the wanting. Who knows.
Meemee was THRILLED with her gifts. She mentioned that she wished she had a collage picture frame, so I found her one holds 41 photos. I also gave her 41 photos to put in the frame. I didn't have time to put it together for her. She also got some coaster with photos of all 4 of her grandchildern on them. She got a piece of stoneware from Pampered Chef...her first piece. She was very excited about that. I knitted her a scraf and she told me how much it meant to her that I made something for her. Miss K gave her a calendar that has a photo of her on every month. She said that was her favorite gift. I told Brian that Miss K would be giving those for Christmas gifts every year! Can't wait for my dad and stepmom and my inlaws to get theirs. They love stuff like that.

So...are you ready for Christmas? I need to grocery shop in the morning and wrap presents while Miss K naps and before Brian gets home. I ordered him a skin for the lap top, but it still hasn't come in. Oh well. I'll print him out a photo of it. I've decided, next year, I am having a gift wrapping party. No cookie exchange...gift wrapping. You bring you paper, ribbons and bows and I will supply scissors, tape, wine and holiday cheer.

Okay...it is 11 and I started working on my Advent calendar last night. I had some "issues", so I hope to get most of it done tonight. I also started a mini album for Christmas. I got the spine and the cover done. I am not loving it yet, but give me some time.

Night!

No Mommy!

I think I jinxed myself this morning when I was talking to Annie about Miss K getting her photo take today. It was a DISASTER. Yep...it totally called for caps. Oh my. Crying so hard there were snot bubbles. Crying so hard that people were coming to look in the room to make sure we hadn't hung her up by her tiny little toes. Crying so hard that they were unable to take one single photo of my daughter dressed in her beautiful Christmas dress. Five minutes after we walked out of the studio, she is giggling and laughing and entertaining people at Subway. I think being sick was part of the crying, but the other part...GBS....grumpy baby syndrome. I wish they made some medication for this. I know they do for mommies...WINE. So, Christmas Eve morning before we head out to church, I hope to get a photo of her in front of the tree.

I got the last couple of gifts bought that I needed. My parents are always so hard to buy for and this year was even more so. I always end up getting them the same thing...gift card to Outback. Well, we got them that, but I wanted to get them some fun things. Things they could use for their new "adventure". So, I got my dad a Global clock. Tells the time in 32 countries. I also got them them beautiful coffee table book on Qatar, which is where they will be moving to.

Got more information on our move and it is ALL good. We found out what our part of the rent is going to be and it was a little less than we thought, so that is good. I still want to get the house on the market soon. (I might be giving you a call Amanda!) We are on the first floor which is great since I have two rotten dogs that will have to be walked. We get a garage! Yeah! I can take Miss K's wagon and some bigger things that I thought we were going to have to store or get rid of. I did tell Brian this evening that I was very sad and he was shocked because I've been telling him how much I've been looking forward to our move. I am looking forward to my inlaws spending more time with Miss K. I am looking forward to the fact that when we move back to Nashville, we will be moving into a new house. I am thankful that Miss K and I are able to go with Brian instead of seeing him every other weekend. I am very thankful for all of it. I am just so sad to leave my friends. Old friends and new friends. (Thank you Renee for your comment the other day.) Sad to pack away most of my household items and memories.

And...to the mommy who left her child in her stoller in the middle of the aisle at Target and then walked over to another aisle...yes, I was giving you the eye. Don't you know that there are crazies in this world and even at Target who will take your child!? That was probably your car I parked next to that had the dog locked in it with all the windows up.

Okay...off.

I promise that there will be some sort of photo tomorrow.

Not much...

I hate blogging without photos. But, I've not taken my camera out of the bag in a couple of weeks. Bad Hollye. I will be better about it in the coming days. Plus, I've got a sick child and I don't want to even attempt to take a photo of her. Suppose to get her Christmas photo taken tomorrow. I dunno about that! Nothing but constant whining the past week. Between her and Brian, I am ready to stick my head in the oven. Not that it would do anything...it's not gas!

Have you ever found something out about a "friend" and it made you sick to your stomach, your heart break and your head hurt?

Okay...just because I hate the no photo thing...here's one we took at Opryland a couple of weeks ago. Miss K wouldn't sit still.

Okay...later!

Yes Hollye, there is a Santa Claus

Brian finally got some information on our move. I am really irritated how his relocation specialist has handled all this. He has had to call her and ask her for any information that he has gotten from her. All his employees have been called by their specialist and given updates as things happen. It takes a lot to irritate my husband and I think he has reached that point with this lady. So...onto the news. Our original plans were to get a 3 bedroom unfurnished. Well, we were told that wasn't going to happen. 1 or 2 bedroom and it MUST be furnished. So, Brian called his relocation specialist on Thursday and asked her if we could get a 2 bedroom with a den. She was going to check into it, but didn't know if she could find one. (Brian has already called the complex where his employees were placed and found out they did have one. When you look on their website, it shows a 2 bedroom with a den and a 3 bedroom. Get this...they are they same exact floor plan. Brian was sure that they weren't going to let us have it. (We have to pay the difference for the apartment so I don't know why it is such a big deal to them.) Again, Brian called her this morning to get a status on the apartment seacrh. We got the 2 bedroom with a den! YEAH! THIS MEANS I WILL HAVE A SCRAPBOOK ROOM! I will have to share it with Miss K as a play room, but I am SO okay with that! We will be living here. And this is the floorplan. I just wonder how much more this is going to cost us per month. I think I need to push Brian to get our house on the market by the end of January. I know it will be a LOT of work, but with a little bit of help, I think we can do it.

Okay...I am off. Miss K is still croupy (is that a word?) and Brian is feeling worse today, but is still at work. I am going to try and get Miss K down for a quick nap and do more LAUNDRY. In my next life I am going to be wealthy and will hire someone JUST to do my laundry. I mean wash/dry, fold AND put away. I stink at the putting away part. Heck, I stink at all household chores.

Crying baby.....blog ya later!

Up to my ears in...

tulle
peppermint bark
hot chocolate
candy canes
cookies
wrapping paper
unwrapped gifts
late shipped gifts
unfinished projects
sickies in my house
slobbery baby kisses
unpacked Christmas decorations
LAUNDRY
holiday dinner menus
trip preparations
move preparations
stress

Christmas Tag

I've been tagged by Amber!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate. No egg nog for me. Ick!
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? They sit all nice and pretty under the tree.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White on tree. No lights on the house this year, but when we do, they are white
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No need to, I get slobbery, wet kisses about every 30 minutes these days from a 17 month old!
5. When do you put up your decorations? December 1st!
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Christmas cookies made by my wonderful mother in law!
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Tracking Santa on TV. Trying to stay up to see Santa.
8. When and how did you learn that Santa isn't real? I figured it out pretty early, but when I asked to make sure, I was told that if you didn't believe in Santa, then you didn't get gifts. So, I STILL believe in Santa.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We did when we were kids, but not now.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? SLOWLY. It's the 15th of December and I am not sure all the ornaments are on it yet. My tree is decorated with hand crafted ornaments taht I have collected over the years. I love the ornaments on my tree.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Can't stand it and I am about to move to the land of snow and ice. Can't you hear me crying about it?
12. Can you ice skate? Yep, but it's been forever.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Cabbage Patch doll. Still have her too!
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Remembering the reason for the season. Also spending time with my extended family since they all live so far away and Christmas is usually the only time we get to see everybody.
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Chocolate pir made by my best friend's mom, Mrs. Hewitt.
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Watching bowl games with my husband. We won't get to do that this year because of our move and my parent's move. This is going to be a sad season for us. More crying....can't you hear?

Jennie and Jill, you're next! ;)

Digital camera for $1.26

You read that right! About 3 months ago, Brian was given an award at work. The award was a $250 gift card and you got to pick the location from a large list. So...what to buy? It was Brian's award, so his to spend. He decided that he wanted a small digital camera. Something that was easy for him to use. He will use the Rebel, but he would prefer something smaller. So, he got a small Sony Cybershot. We went to pay and the total was $251.26. I handed the girl the stack of gift cards and she couldnt' believe it. So, I handed her $1.26 in cash and walked out of there with Brian's new digital camera. We also went shopping at Target with some gift cards, but even with a bunch of gift cards, we still shelled out some MONEY. But, we did get a wireless router. I am LOVING my new laptop. And my daddy informed me this evening that he is buying us all computer video cameras for Christmas so that he can see his grandkids often. That ought to be fun!

So, my happy place is having a HUGE sale. 40% off. Oh my! Miss K and I have some errands to run in the morning. I have to hit Hobby Lobby to pick up some tulle. I am making her this tutu for Christmas. She has decided that she would rather dance and walk on her toes than anything. That is how we spend our mornings in Miss K's house. So, I thought a tutu would be something fun for her to have. So, I guess on my run to Hermitage (yes superstar...I am going to Hermitage AGAIN!) I will HAVE to make a stop at Scrap It!

My goal is to be home by noon, feed Miss K, put her down for a nap and start making candy. I am so far behind on things I need to do, but I am DETERMINED to get every one of them done. That's right. I WILL get that Advent calendar done. It might be December 24th before it is done, but dang it, it will be done!

Oh...Brian looked at my blog posting from yesterday and the first thing he said was, "oh! I should have gotten a skin for the laptop." I yelled at him to stop reading. Now I am wondering if I should order it? What to do...what to do.

Santa came early!

Brian and I have been talking about what we wanted for Christmas for months. We are both the type of people that if we want something, we will just go out and buy it. He golf and I don't know much about golf, so I can't really buy him anything without him knowing. Same thing with me and scrapbooking. So, he mentioned laptop and I was right on that. So, Santa UPS Claus delivered my Dell Inspiron E1705 Monday. Can I just tell you that I am in LOVE with my laptop? Well...OUR laptop. Even Miss K likes it. We sat in bed with it yesterday watching a DVD and she thought it was great. Gotta love that 17 inch screen!

So, the only thing I really need to buy for Brian is come stocking stuffers. I am thinking of getting a skin for the laptop. Even though I would prefer a cute girly one, I think he would really appreciate the Michigan one. And even though I am not a graduate of the University of Michigan, I am a huge fan of their football team. (for the record, I am a University of Houston graduate.)

I came up with a couple of gifts for my parents. I got my dad this great clock that tells you the time in every time zone. I also ordered them a book on Qatar. That is where they are going to be living. I've been told that it is the richest oil area in the world. I was also told by several people that living there is pretty much just like living in the states. I am still nervous for them, but I am glad that my dad is being offered this chance and that he is finally doing something for himself and not for everyone else. I need to work on getting our passports. Which means I need to get Miss K's birth certificate corrected. Okay...rambling!

Okay..I am off. Miss K is sick...AGAIN. Up all night last night. Poor Brian, I was so tired that I couldn't stay up with her, so being the wonderful daddy that he is, he got up with her and sat in the bonus room with her until he got her to fall asleep. So, we are just hanging out at the house today. We are waiting on Comcast to come and replace our modemn. Sometime between 3-6. Only problem is it is located in my scrapbook room and you seriously can't even walk in there right now. As soon as Miss K goes down for a nap, I've got to "clear a path" so that he can actually get in there!

Brian should get some information on our relocation today. At least I hope. He starts work in Warren on the 2nd of January. I hope they have a place for us to live!

Miss K meets Santa

Well...here is the photo that I paid almost $22.00 for. Priceless, huh?

Cookies, Santa and a lot of time in the car!

Tomorrow I am attending a cookie exchange at the home of the super cute Amber. Now Amber has some strict rules on the cookies, so I searched for a recipe I thought would be fairly easy. I also wanted a recipe that was pretty big since I had to make 7 dozen. So, this morning, we got up and got going. Miss K watched her morning show and I addressed the rest of the Christmas cards. WOOHOO! Done! I started a load of laundry. With cloth diapering, I am always behind on the laundry. Miss K demanded a large breakfast this morning, so I cooked for her. Then we hung around upstairs playing with a bowl. I know...sounds funny, but she had a blast. She went down for a nap and I set out to make cookies! Now, I am not a cookie person. I'll eat them, but I've never had luck with making them. These cookies turned out just like they were suppose to, but let me tell you...it was a LOT of work. The cookie dough got too thick for the Kitchen Aid, so I had to knead it by hand. Then I had to make the cookies into 1 inch balls....by hand. After they baked, I had to hand drip them in glaze and then cover them with sprinkles before the glaze set. Miss K woke up before I was done, so she "helped". Her helping was eating the sprinkles. She had a grand time doing that. I am really looking forward to the cookie exchange.

Miss K and I spent a lot of time in the car the past couple of days. I've been trying to get the rest of my Christmas shopping done. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can get my parents? I don't want to get them anything big since they are leaving. I want to give them something they can use or something they can take with them. Yesterday we were in Hermitage AND Cool Springs doing shopping. Today we had to run to Murfreesboro to buy something to wear for our family portrait. I am so far behind on that. I usually have it done the first week of November! Then we headed BACK to Cool Springs to meet Brian and visit the "big man", Santa. That went over like a ton of bricks. I am posting the "before Santa" photo tonight. I'll post the Santa photo tomorrow.

Okay...I am off to make hot chocolate cones!

Please say a prayer for my dad and stepmom

My dad was up for a job in the Middle East. Things didn't pan out so he was planning on retiring at the end of next year. Great! Well, they called him back and offered him the trainer position. So, my dad and stepmom are headed to the Middle East after the first of the year. I am glad that he has this opprotunity and when he retires, he will have a nice nest egg to retire with. I am also very nervous and a bit sad. I don't see my dad very often, but I know that if I needed him, he is just a short 2 hour plane ride away. Now it will be a 24 hour plane ride. Makes me sad. The nervous part? Well...it's the Middle East. That should sum it up right there.

So, please say a prayer for my parents.

A Miss K funny

**I have to give you the "background" first. We have a cat named Socks. We call her Socksie and we kind of sing it when we say it.**

Last night we were in the car picking up Brian from the airport. Miss K took her socks off and was trying to hand them to Brian. He asked her if she can say socks. She doesn't say anything. Then he asked her if she could say Socksie. She says in...in the sing-song way and then starts going "meow meow" over and over again. I laughed so hard I started crying. She will usually either call the cat Socksie or Meow Meow, but she has never put the two together, so it was really funny. Guess you had to be there.

We are headed off to the doctor today. Miss K got hit with that virual infection that everyone seemed to have right after Thanksgiving. She also got the rash that I am told is also virual. Well, she is all better, but the rash has gotten worse and she keeps itching. When I put a onesie on her so she can't itch, she cried. It's a mess.

Hot Chocolate Recipe

Okay, I've had a number of people ask me for this recipe. It is a HUGE recipe. I am sure that you could cut it in half, but I don't. My neighbor and I share the hot chocolate, so we manage to use it all up on gifts and whatever we drink. It's really good. And to answer Christy, I did use icing bags once, but it was expensive because you need 2 bags per cone. I found a place on line to order them from. I can get 100 bags for less than $9. I order my bags from Great Scents. They have the BEST customer service and ship very fast. I normally use the 12 inch plain bags, but they ran out, so we are using the bigger bags with snowflakes on them this year.

And before some of you run out and make this...if you are going to see me at any Christmas event or gathering, you will most likely be getting one of the cones!

Here is the recipe. It is HUGE. The person I got it from says that she mixes her in a trash bag and then stores it in a tote. I just mix mine in the tote and store it there.

Hot Chocolate
4 pounds powdered milk (not Carnation brand. I used the Wal-Mart brand. It's a huge 4 pound box.)
1 package ( 2 pounds) powdered sugar
2 big (32 oz) jars of non dairy creamer (I just use the Wal-Mart brand)
2 big Nestle's Quick (It's about 4 pounds. This year I used 2 poubds of the Wal-Mart brand and 2 pounds of Nestle's.)

Then to make the chocolate you fill your cup about 1/3 full and add hot water.

Funny photo

We went to Opryland this morning to take photos. We weren't the only ones with that idea. Lots of people. Miss K was already getting tired, so we took photos quick, walked around a little and then headed out. I wanted to get a cute photo of her by the ponsettias, but she wasn't having anything to do with it. So, I sat down on the ground with her to take a photo. This one cracked me up when I saw it. She has this thing about pulling on her ears and I was trying to get her to stop and this is what the result was.

We did get a photo for our cards and I got those ordered this morning. They turned out okay. I also ordered the photo calendars for the grandparents. I am working on getting things crossed off my list!

Lots going on...but no photos!

I have so much that I need to do, but here I sit infront of this stupid computer. No wonder my house is a mess. I got to go to my 'happy place' today. I took a class from Sherri. I don't even remember signing up for the class, but I am glad that I got a chance to take it. It was nice to hang out and just chat with everyone. I am trying to get my fill of all things "scrapbook" before we move. Makes me cry just thinking about it. I just want to get through the holidays and deal with it afterwards.

So, I've got TONS of things to do tonight/tomorrow. I need to rearrange the downstairs living room so that we can put the tree up first thing in the morning. Brian is leaving for a business trip tomorrow evening and won't be back until Wednesday night. So, I want him to get the tree up so Miss K and I can decorate it while he is gone. Tonight I am going to mix up a HUGE batch of hot chocolate so that I can get working on my hot chocolate cones like I made last year. They were a huge hit and I've actually gotten orders for 100 of them from two of my friends who want to give them as Christmas gifts to the teachers at the schools their kids attend. Tomorrow morning we are headed to Opryland Hotel to take some photos. Hopefully one of them will turn out so that I can finally get my Christmas cards ordered and get the final photo for the calendars that I am ordering from Zazzle for the granparents. They have their calendars on sale for $9.99 and free shipping. Can't beat that!

I've got a Christmas party this week and a Cookie Exchange on Saturday, so I am going to be BUSY, BUSY while Brian is out of town. Oh well. That makes the time go by faster.

Hope that you are having a great weekend and that you are staying warm. I will hopefully get some photos uploaded soon. I made a slide show, but everytime I tried to place it on the blog, it messed up the format of the whole blog. I am not too good with this whole blog thing.

Charlie Brown Christmas

Another favorite! I can't wait for Miss K to be a little bit older so that she will want to actually watch the Peanut movies with me.

Advent

I am so making this! I saw this on her blog from last year and loved it. So, Miss K and I are headed out tomorrow to pick up supplies to make it. I am pretty sure I have everything except for the cookie sheet. I'll post it as soon as I am done

Emotions

Wow....it's been awhile. We have had so much going on in our household. We left Tennessee at 2:00 Tuesday afternoon and arrived a little after midnight in Michigan. Miss K did not go to sleep until 2:30am and she only napped for about an hour in the car. LONG trip, but she did so good. So, we spent 3 days in a hotel while Brian was in a workshop and then we headed to my inlaws house Friday after looking at some apartments and having lunch.

So...emotions. ALL over the place right now.

*Mad....I am sick again. I hate being sick and am really mad that I have to deal with this during the holidays. I am mad at myself for being so unorganized and not being able to bring some things with me that I wanted to.

*Happy...to be spending time with my inlaws. My sister in law and her husband will be here on Wednesday and I can't wait to see them. Have I ever mentioned that I love my inlaws? (That is not a joke...I LOVE my husband's immediate family.) Happy that my husband is off the entire week of Thanksgiving and can spend some quaility time with his family.

*Stress...stuff going on with Brian's job that he has asked me not to mention in detail on my blog. He is not stressed out about it, but I stress enough for both of us. And, my dog had a seizure about 3 hours into our drive and my Mom had to rush her to the vet. I cried and cried. I told Brian about an hour before we left that I had a bad feeling about going on the trip and then that happened. I hate that I wasn't the one to be there for her.

*Sad...Brian's grandfather has been in the hosptial for the past 3 days and we don't know when he will be getting out. Sad that my mother in law doesn't feel like she is "connecting" with Miss K. She took me by surprise when she said that. Miss K is not a cuddly, lovey baby. She is very independent and would rather play by herself than have someone play with her. Maybe that is my fault? Maybe I don't show her enough attention? Am I a bad Mommy?

*Irritated... We got some information from our relocation consultant and I am irritated with the "policy" and how they aren't willing to work with us on anything. So, it is looking like I will be storing 2000 sq. feet of household goods for a year. Did I ever happen to mention that I am a pack rat?. This also means that I am losing ALL of my scrapbook space.

*Thankful... My parents are NOT going to the Middle East for work. I know that my father was looking forward to the job, but I am so thankful that they are staying in the states. I wanted to be excited for them with this opprotunity, but it was hard to imagine them being so far away in an area where there is so much going on. I am thankful for my beautiful daughter and my wonderful, loving and supportive husband. I am thankful for my annoying, but loving family. Thankful that my mom is staying at my house and watching my doggies and kitties so that we can go on our trip.

Okay...I am off to bed. Brian and his dad get up at 4:30 to go hunting, so I need to get some things ready for him in the morning. Tomorrow my mother in law and I are going shopping. She wants to buy Miss K a new pair of shoes. Miss K is OBSESSED with shoes. Oh...Miss K has really come out of her shell on this trip. My MIL has an Amish girl, Gina that works for her. Miss K LOVES Gina. She gets so excited when she sees Gina and when she leaves, she will ask me, "Where she go?" She actually asks the question. She stayed with my MIL for about 2.5 hours while Brian and I took his Grandmother into Battle Creek to her chemo appointment. And my child, who usually cries everytime I leave her, did not cry one single time while we were gone. YEAH!

Okay...I've gone on and on about nothing. I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Sorry no photos this time. My inlaws still have dial up...too slow!

Yep, still alive.

Okay...the dogs aren't really going anywhere. There are days I would like to just open the front door and set them free (today was one of those days), but we won't be getting rid of them.

I was icky and under the weather on and off for about 3 weeks. Felt awful. Wednesday was the worst. I dropped Miss K off at school and said a prayer that she would not be fussy and whiney the entire time she was there, (she did great) and I came home and went to sleep. It must have been a 24 hour bug because Thursday I felt fine. Now, if the weather will stop acting up, things will be fine. It was freezing this morning and by this afternoon it was 78 degrees. What is up with that?

So, I bought Miss K the cutest Christmas dress last year on clearance. I loved it the minute I saw it and had to have it. I got it for a whooping $10. Looks just like this dress at Hanna Andersson. There is a very slight difference. Mine came with a cute little hat. Miss K does not wear hats. At least she didn't last year. I put one on and she would pull it off. It was a never ending battle. So, I thought I would start working on her early this year. She did really good about leaving the elephant head on for Halloween. I took the hat out and showed it to her and then it disappeared. She opened her dresser drawer and buried it in there. I found it today while I was getting her clothes out. I let her play with it and I set it on my head and the she tried to put it on her head and then on my head. Then she handed it to me and patted her head. I put it on her and she pranced around the house for 30 minutes with it on. She laughed when she saw herself in the mirror. She only wore it for about 5 minutes tonight when I showed my mom, but she wore it. I am going to work with her a little each day to see if I can't get her use to it. Since we are moving to Michigan in January, she is going to have to get use to wearing a hat. Not that I plan on being outside for extended periods of time this winter, but I do plan on leaving the house on ocassion!

GM is messing up my holiday plans for Thanksgiving! We spend Thanksgiving up in Michigan with my wonderful inlaws. So, our plans were to have Brian schedule a business trip the week after Thanksgiving and Miss K and I would check the area out and try and look at the corporate apartments we will be living in. Brian is on business trip this week and calls last night to tell me that most likely he will have to be in Michigan again next week, but we can just go a week earlier and do everything and then be there for Thanksgiving and then come home. HELLO? I've got a stuff already planned around our original 'plan'. Still up in the air and we probably won't know for sure until Friday afternoon. Monday is a plant holiday, so at least we will have an extra day to get stuff done if we do have to rush off to Michigan. But, that means I will have to miss Amber's class and I am really bummed about that!

Okay...enough complaining! I am off! Have an awesome weekend!

How did your day start out?

Mine started at 6:42 am when I woke up with my husband next to me. Not good. Why do you ask? He is usually sitting at his desk by 6:15 am. So, off to work he goes and Miss K and I get up. She gets changed and I get a shower. Bedroom door stays shut and all is good. For some reason, I had to go into the bonus room before I got dressed. So, I turned on the TV and Miss K sat on the floor playing with her toys. I went to get dressed. I was in my room for less than TWO MINUTES. I won't go into too much detail, but let's just say it involved Miss K, doggie poo, carpet, a wall, a trash can and a door. It is going to end with about 2 extra loads of laundry which is not good since I am about 3 days behind already and the carpets getting cleaned this afternoon. Spot cleaning is going to have to do until she does down for a nap. I have so much to do today...this just adds to it. I am so glad that Brian has a 4 day weekend.

I know...I am wasting time blogging. Off I go.

Anyone interested in owning a couple of cocker spaniels?

Happy Halloween from a Heffalump!

We were lucky enough to be invited to go TorTing with our wonderful friends, Tracie and Michelle. And someone I hope I get a chance to know better, Jennifer. We went to the town square out where Tracie lives. We were lucky enough that the rain held off long enough for the kiddos to get some goodies for their pumpkins. Miss K is not really too sure what to think about the whole Halloween thing. She pretty much stayed in her wagon and munched on animal crackers and pretzel. And the bad mommy that I am...I only took 3 photos of her! It was hard trying to handle her, the wagon and the camera and I just forgot! So, tonight we are meeting Daddy for dinner in Cool Springs and then we are going to the mall for some TorTing. Then we will hit Publix and then head home. I just don't want Miss K out in the rain.

Not spoiled, just high maintenance

Yep...that is chocolate frosty on her onesie. She wasn't feeling too good today and wouldn't eat anything. She took one bite of Daddy's vanilla frosty and then came to get a bite of my chocolate frosty. She spit it out. Maybe she no likey chocolate? If that is so, I think that she might have been switched at birth. Her mommy thinks chocolate is a food group all by itself!

Its The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

This is my all time favorite Charlie Brown "movie". I even had the book with the tape that read that book. I listened to it every night before I went to sleep...even in the summer. Love it! I can't wait for Miss K to be old enough to enjoy this with me!

I do actually scrapbook!

I am always talking about going to classes and crops, but I never really post anything. I know a lot of you are thinking...does she actually scrapbook? I do...ocassionally! So, I signed up to take an on line class and one of the first things was to decorate the cover of the album. I waited until the last minute to even start on mine. (I was in bed sick all day yesterday) So, the pressure was really on! I also decided to combine my class with a challenge from one of my yahoo groups. The challenge is called "Use Your Stash". Let's be honest here...I could probably compete in this challenge for well over a year and not run out of stuff! So, I used an SEI album that I've had sitting around forever. I think is it an 8 1/2 X 5 1/2, but I am not 100% sure. Paper is Scenic Route and Bazzill that is from Jenni Bowlin's April kit. (I am going to use all of the SR paper from this line to complete the album...all of which I already own.) The stickers are DB that I bought the last time HL had their 1/2 off stickers. Ribbon is from I have no idea where...maybe Joann's? And the H is one of the Lil' Davis chipboard letters that I got on clearance at HL. See...everything I used...I already had!! WOOHOO! I am planning on making everything in this album with stuff I already have. NO NEW STUFF!!!!

I don't know why the strip of Bazzill looks like it doesn't match the PP because it does!

What weighs 28 pounds, 7 ounces and is 30.2 inches long?

MY DAUGHTER! She's getting sooooo big! This is a common sight in our house right now. She is all about chairs and having her babies close by at all times. She is watching her DoodleBops DVDs and baby sitting her babies.

Another word

I was sitting on the sofa knitting a scarf for my mom and I hear Miss K saying something. I look up and she is walking across the room carrying a ball in each hand say..."booooooooooooooow". I started giggling because it sounded so funny. About 5 minutes later she was playing with something else and I asked her to bring me a ball. She ran over and grabbed one of them and brought me a "booooooooooooow"

Then, later that afternoon, I went to put some towels up that I had folded. I came back to this.... I have no idea how she got in there. I know that she couldn't get out. What you can't see is that her monkey, Carmen, is also in with her. Speaking of Carmen, we had bedtime without her last night. I was drawing Miss K's bath water. She had followed me in there. I turned around just in time to see her dunking Carmen. I asked her if she was giving Carmen a bath. She laughed dunked her again.

Today has been a strange day. She is sick still. But, she dragged her rocking chair into the middle of the living room, climbed up into it with her milk and watched Handy Manny for 15 minutes straight.

Okay...I am off to put Miss K down for her morning nap. Mommy is getting a morning nap today as well. I think I am coming down with whatever she has. Lots of fun.

Have an awesome day.

Lots to blog about

I've got a lot to blog about...let me see if I can get it all into one post.

*Miss K has a new word...SHOES. And let me tell you...that kid loves shoes. She wants you to put her shoes on her first thing in the morning. She walks around in a cloth diaper and a pair of Nike Shox in the morning...nothing else.

*Cloth Diapering. In the beginning I HATED it. I was ready to buy a vat of vasoline and just coat her up and keep using the disposable diapers. Then I remembered how much I spent on getting all the stuff. So, we kept doing it. Brian was a lot better about it than I was. I slowly started to not hate it. It is a lot of laundry, but I've sort of got that worked out now. Then I started to like cloth diapering. It's cute watching her walk around in her little cloth diaper. And 10 of the ones that we have are colored, so sometimes she has a hot pink bottom and sometimes it is yellow. Now I am loving cloth diapering. I wish I had started this from the beginning. I LOVE the Fuzzi Bunz diapers that we are using. We are still working on some issues with the nighttime diapers. But overall...It's great. Cloth diapering away from home has been a little interesting. I got some strange looks the other day while I was changing her in the ladies room at the mall. I am on the look out for some more diapers. I only have 13 right now. I would like to have about 24 so that I am not always worried about the laundry!

**Project - I actually did a project while I was at the last super crop at Scrap It. Three of the same thing to be exact. I took a class with Amber McDonald and we made these really cute tag books. I loved the way it turned out, so I decided to do something similar. I made a little book that was called "A Year Of K". I did a photo on one side of each tag and then on the back I wrote a couple of things that happened that month. I made one for my mom, my inlaws and my dad and step-mom. So far, I've given the books to my mom and my mother in law. They love them. I think they are pretty cute. I am getting ready to start a project for a friend of mine. I have all the pages sketched out, so it should be pretty easy. I am making the pages 6X6. I think I am going to go ahead and make 3 or 4 of them at the same time. I am thinking ahead for gifts!

Okay...I can't get it all in one post and Blogger is giving me problems. I'll have to post the rest of it in another post!

Hair by Daddy

Brian does 99% of the Miss K's baths. I do them if he is late getting home from playing a round of golf. This gives them some "bonding" time. Also gives Daddy a chance to practice his hair styling skills. Let's just say...Mommy will be responsible for the hair styling in this house!

Things are busy as usual here in Miss K's house. I got my calendar out this weekend and filled it all in with everything that we have going on. WHOA! I have so much stuff going on in the month of October! I really need to get to Texas to see my best friend's baby. So, I had to cancel a couple of things on my calendar so that Miss K and I can head down and visit. We are leaving on the 13th and will be back on the 20th. (I've got to be back so that I can attend the Fall Workshop at Scrap It! See...I've got my priorities straight! LOL!!!)

I am so looking forward to October. I LOVE everything about the fall. I love the weather, the decorations and the sweaters. I had Miss K in a little sweater the other day and she looked to stinkin' cute! I can't wait to head to the pumpkin patch and get our pumpkins. I am planning a Halloween party for my Mom's group. We are looking to head to the pumpkin patch for that as well. Busy, busy!

I've got some photos of a couple of classes that I took at Scrap It and a project that I completed for the grandparents. I'll have to upload those tomorrow. I am also working on a project for a friend. I plan on working on it tomorrow while Miss K is napping. I've gotten all the sketches done, so I just need to get all the stuff that I want to use for it and get it done. I am using the Oh Baby! Boy papers from Basic Grey. I think it will be really cute once I get it done!

Off to finish watching Ugly Betty.

Touchdown Michigan!

College football is big here in our household. Brian went to a Big 10 school and a devout follower of Michigan football. Today they played a team that, in recent years, they can't seem to beat. Well, that all changed today! I think it was Miss K in her spiffy new Michigan cheerleader outfit that brought Big Blue some good luck and to an awesome victory over the "not so fighting" Irish! Okay....maybe she wasn't the reason that they won, but I thought she looked pretty cute.

Since we were inside all day watching college football, I hope that we will be able to get out tomorrow and enjoy the beautiful weather and get some new photos of Miss K. Here lately she isn't smiling when I pull the camera out, so I seem to be struggling to get a good photo. I also need to take a couple of hours each day working on learning more about my camera. I'll add that to my list of all the other things I need to do. I am STILL lobbying for that 26 hour day!

I can't do it.

I haven't watched anything on TV pretaining to 9/11. I can't do it. I won't do it. I remember. Trust me. There is no way I could ever forget. I am flying my flag today...just like everyday, but that's all I can emotionally give today.

I wanted to spent the day reflecting on good things in my life. Miss K and I sat on the floor upstairs and looked at a photo album together. It is an album of photos taken of her the day she was born. She saw one of Brian and pointed to it and said "dada". She's a smart little cookie. Okay...let's just get it out in the open...she's not little. She's big. She is a big baby. But believe me, she isn't the biggest child I've ever seen. Okay...it's out there now. I pointed out who the people were and when I got to my dad, I pointed and said, "that's your pawpaw". She started clapping. Then she helped me fold towels. Well...she unfolded them as I folded them. (I did FOUR loads of towels today!)

Well, I need to go wake Miss K up from her nap so she will actually sleep tonight. My tap class starts back up tonight, so I am really looking forward to that. I hope everyone had a wonderful day.

Cheeky Carmen, Yard Sale and Renee

Cheeky Carmen is with Miss K constantly. Barry Sr.'s life was cut short by a tragic washing machine accident. So, Cheeky C is rarely out of Miss K's sight. I wouldn't dream of washing Carmen while Miss K is awake. I have to sneak in there and take her at night to give her a bath and put her back before the morning. But, it keeps her happy. Barry Sr. has been replaced by Barry Jr. who was born a couple of weeks ago at Build-A-Bear. She really likes BJ, but I like to make sure BJ stays at the house. Carmen goes EVERYWHERE.

I've been a BAD blogger lately. Too much stuff going on. We are getting ready for a HUGE yard sale in our community. If you are interested in coming, you can check out the ad here on Craiglist. We will be putting out just about 1/10 of the stuff that we own and it is a TON of stuff. It is CRAZY. I am the world's worst packrat. I don't get rid of anything. And I can't do anything in moderation. I have to go ALL out. When I only need one of something, I will end up buying ten. Now it is all coming back to bite me in the bum. This photo is just stuff that came out of ONE closet. And that isn't even all the stuff that came out of the closet! I am awful. I am in desparate need of Flylady. I say I am going to do it, but I just can't get motivated to. It's awful. And, my packrat ways have cost me MONEY. I was cleaning out a purse last night and I found a check from June of 2004 that someone had written me. Well, that is money lost! I can't cash that check now! Everything that is going out of the house for the yard sale will NOT be coming back inside. Everything will be loaded up in the truck and taken down to Goodwill. I have teh hardest time getting rid of stuff. I have been going back and forth over getting rid of or keeping one box of stuff. Why? Gifts. Things that people have given me. I hate the thought of hurting someone's feelings. Brian told me once the box went to the garage, the stuff wasn't coming back into the house. The box is still on the floor in the living room. I know I need to just let it go. It is just cluttering up my house and my life! I would be WAY too embarassed to let anyone in my house right now. And let's not even talk about my scrapbook room. I think I am just going to have to hire someone to come in and organize it for me. Any of you interested?

Okay...I am off to do a load of laundry and work on getting MORE stuff ready for the yard sale. I think I am even going to sell my Christmas dishes. The only thing I wouldn't even consider selling is my child and my Longaberger baskets. The dogs and cats are fair game after the week I have had with all of them. And I guess I will go ahead and keep Brian around as well!

Oh...my scrapbooking friend, Renee Camacho is now the Creative Director for Lil' Davis. I am lucky enough to be able to take classes from Renee here locally at Paper Moon. Congrats to Renee!

Haw-wee??

My child said that all day yesterday day...to me. I was pretty sure I knew what she was saying, but I didn't want to admit it. So last night my mother, who is staying with us while Brian is out of town, was playing with her and my beautiful daughter turns to me and says, "Haw-wee!" My mother yelled...she just said your name. NO!!!! My name is MOMMY. Not Hollye!!! I keep telling myself she is trying to say Halloween because I've been asking her what she wants to be for Halloween and telling her about all the stuff we are doing for Halloween.

$317.50

That what my inital investment into cloth diapering has cost me. That covers 12 Fuzzi Bunz Diapers, 12 Joey Bunz inserts, one Imse Vimse Nighttime diaper cover, 6 prefolded diapers, a diaper pail liner, some rice paper, and 2 wet bags. We will see how we can get by on just these for awhile. I am going to have to break down tomorrow and fork out $45 for Miss K some shoes. She is a walking machine now. Does not want to ride in the stroller at all. She has gotten a taste of the walking and that is all she wants to do!

Miss K's meemee wanted to babysit today since she hasn't got to see much of her lately, so I went and took a class from Renee Camacho. Loved both of the layouts, but the "Charm" one was by far my favorite. I just need to slap Miss K's photo on there, journal and it will be done. I'll post it as soon as I get a chance.

I wasn't able to make it to my Happy Place today to do Amber's Make & Take. I am really bummed, but my wallet isn't!

So, I went to pick up Miss K's Halloween costume from the Children's Place. I was thinking that she was going to be a duck. Then I happened into the Disney Store and I came across the Heffalump and I couldn't resist! I bought both of them. Which one do you think she should be? Well pooh....I can't find the Heffalump online. I'll have to do some more research or just put her in it and snap a photo!

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

***ETA*** I just spent $47.00 on detergent for the diapers. They recommend that you use Allen's Naturally to prevent build up in the diapers.

YEAH!!!!

So, Brian and I were sitting in the living room watching TV with the lights off letting Miss K wind down to get ready for bed. I look up and my child just walks pass me. You saw that right...WALKS. It was AWESOME! And she did it over and over and over again. She laughed about it. She seems to walk better when she is holding her stuff elephant in her hand.

MY BABY IS WALKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My heart is heavy

The past couple of days have been sort of unhappy for me. I have always thought of myself as a pretty nice and friendly person. I am a people person and love to surround myself with lots of friends. Lately I've felt shut out by a few people and I don't understand why. I've searched my mind, my heart and my soul to figure out what happened. I've shed quite a few tears in the past two days. Maybe I have failed somewhere in being a friend?

I just need to put my "big girl panties" on and get over it I guess. Can anyone say, "Pity Party for One"?

BTW....that whole list thing lasted one day. I've got to come up with a different plan. I would like to do Flylady, but I don't think I can keep up with it.

Spaghetti Monster

She LOVES spaghetti!

Two Words....CLOTH DIAPERS!

Yep...that's right. The dermatologist says that he is 99.9% sure that Miss K is allergic to disposable diapers. Oh Lord...help me! I've spent about the past 5 hours researching and I am just as confused as I was BEFORE I started reading about them. I call my wonderful mommy/scrapbooking friend Sherri this evening to see if she knew of a service or anything like that. She didn't, but she pointed me to the wonderful blog of Traci Turchin. Traci is a CDing mommy how seems to be a wealth of information. I emailed her earlier this evening and she was wonderful and offered to answer any questions that I have.

Okay...it is SUPER late and I need to get some sleep. I will try and blog later this weekend and actually post a photo! I am going to my happy place on Saturday for an all day crop, so I hope to get a couple of things completed. We shall see!

Nothing much....

So, I made the list of 5 things. I did manage a home cooked meal. I cleaned Miss K's room. I changed all the linens on the beds. I ran the dishwasher once, but messed the kitchen up when I was cooking...Brian cleaned the kitchen after Miss K went to bed. Those dang ferns didn't get repotted. In all fairness, it was pouring like crazy here yesterday.

I had planned to do all my errands today since Miss K and I were going to be out for a playdate. We ended up staying longer than I had originally planned, so by the time we left, we came straight home because she was beat. She went down for a nap and when she woke up, she screamed for 45 minutes straight. I can't tell if it the rash coming back, an ear infection or her teeth. I called Brian and told him to get his booty home because I was not feeling well and now I was dealing with a screaming child. 5 minutes before he got home, she stopped crying and was playing with her toys. WHAT?

Okay...I didn't make a list for tomorrow and I'm not going to. I am too tired and I have to go to bed before I drop.

And to my friend Jill....I will be praying for you and Miss Mattie tomorrow. I hope that the delivery goes smoothly and easy for you. I hope to see you soon!

Chicken Pot Pie, Banana Pudding and my list

Well, I've been saying for months now that I was going to really get some DEEP cleaning done on the house. I made this 'to do' list and it got WAY out of control. So, last night (or this morning since it was 2am when I decided this) I decided to toss out my current to do list and start over. I limit myself to FIVE things that must be done today. Here is my list...

1. Get the floor picked up in Miss K's room. (If you read yesterday, I have been working on getting her ready for the fall and that involves cleaning out her chest and her closet. That left a HUGE mess on the floor. I am not an organizer by ANY means!)

2. Change and wash linens on all beds.

3. A clean kitchen.

4. Re-pott front porch ferns.

5. Make a homecooked meal. (chicken pot pie!)

I know those sound easy, but if I put 20 items on my list...nothing gets done. I'll start one project and then get sidetracked and start on another. Before you know it, it is 6 pm and I am trying to decide what to make for dinner! Tomorrow's list will consist of errands since Miss K has a playdate at the mall. We might even end up with a Halloween costume while we are out tomorrow. I will post tomorrow and let you know if I got my 5 items on my list completed!

Here are the recipes for the stuff I made last night. We are actually having our pot pie tonight. My friend Stacy said that pot pie was great, so I am hoping that Miss K will eat this!

CHICKEN (or TURKEY) POT PIE
Filling: 1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 ½ cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2 ½ - 3 cups shredded cooked chicken or turkey 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1 package Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crusts (If you are going to make this for someone and take it to them, I suggest that you get the crusts that are in the pans already. You can invert one of them onto a cookie sheet and then use it to cover the pie. That way you don't have to worry about getting your pie pan back.)

1. Heat oven to 425F. Prepare pie crusts as directed on package for two-crust pie using 9” pie pan.
2. In a medium saucepan, melt margarine over medium heat. Add onion; cook 2 minutes or until tender. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until well blended. Gradually stir in broth and milk; cook, stirring constantly until bubbly and thickened.
3. Add chicken and mixed vegetables; remove from heat. Spoon chicken mixture into crust-lined pan. Top with second crust and flute; cut slits in several places.
4. Bake at 425F for 30-40 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Serves 6
(I cook a couple of whole chickens every couple of weeks. Then I debone and freeze the cooked chicken. That way I always have cooked chicken on hand. Sometimes I will freeze the broth, but I have limited freezer space, so I haven't lately.)


Hollye's Aunt Nancy's Banana Pudding

Ingreidents:
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
2 cups milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 tub of extra cream cool whip topping
4 bananas - sliced
vanilla wafers

Combine pudding mix, milk and condensed milk. Mix with hand mixer. Slowly fold in cool whip.

In large bowl, layer the bottom with the wafers, then banana slices, then pour pudding in. Keep layering until you are done. Top the pudding mixture with crushed wafers. Chill for at least 1 hour before chilling. **This is the best banana pudding recipe I have ever tasted. It is easy to make and it turns out great. I've been asked the the recipe everytime I take this dish to a function.

Okay...I must go feed my child and work on the kitchen while we are hanging out downstairs.

Getting ready for fall...

Yes, you heard that right. Even though is has been wicked hot, I 've been working on getting stuff ready for fall. Fall is my favorite time of year. And right now it is consignment sale season. Miss K is pretty much ready for fall. Between everything I bought for her at the end of the season last year, what she has received as gifts, what has been handed down to her and what I've gotten at consignment sales, she is set. All I really need is shoes and socks. Shoes are going to be a battle because she will scream until she manages to get them off her feet. I bought her a pair of Nike Shox and I left them on the floor and let her play with them. I caught her earlier trying to put her foot into one. I am hoping that by letting her play with them she will be more open to having them on her feet.

So, today I've been washing clothes and putting them in the bottom drawer of her chest. I am pulling out her old fall stuff and getting it ready to either go to a consignment sale, our community yard sale or donating. I am sorting toys and moving some stuff to her room for her to play with in there. I am also changing batteries in some of the toys. They are starting to sound a little "watery".

Well, I just laid Miss K down for a nap. I've got chicken to finish. I am making homemade pot pie for dinner. I am actually making two of them. My friend Stacy that I mentioned who is having twins has been on bed rest this past week. She told me the other night that she has pretty much been eating soup and nothing else. I don't think her hubby knows how to cook. So, I am making her dinner. I made homemade banana pudding last night and split that so that they will also have dessert. Guess I better get cooking!

Hope that you are enjoying your weekend.

Future Bag Lady?

So, Miss K has a cart that she pushes all over the house. And she picks up stuff that she find on the floor along the way. As I type this, the cart has the following items in it:

*3 dog toys
*DVD case
*memory card case
*Little People Tiger
*2 large plastic coins
*Glo Worm
*head band
*dog nail clippers
*1 piece of play mail
*1 Old Navy hanger
*teething toy
*cup
*Baby Einstein birthday balloon tied to the handle of the cart

Every couple of minutes or so, she will stop the cart and take things out of it. Throw them on the floor and then pick up some of the stuff, put it back in the cart on go about her merry way. Then when she passes by the pile of stuff on her way back, she will pick it up and add it to the cart. This goes on for awhile. It is so fun to watch. She likes to make piles. It can be anything...hangers, clothes. toys...whatever!

My child is freaking me out

Okay...when she learned to crawl up the stairs, I was scared to death. I mean, she did it like a day after she started crawling. I looked up and she was already half way up the stairs. Now, she had taught herself to crawl down the stairs. She will only do it on the 'two stair' case that we have. I won't let her get near the big stair case anymore. But now she has taught herself how to get out of our bed. She will throw her stuff animals on the floor, turn around and then slide to the floor on her belly. As long as she does it on the side of the bed, that's fine. But if she moves to the end of the bed, that could be dangerous. The foot board could possibly trip her on her way down. She is FEARLESS! And it totally freaks me out because I am the biggest chicken in the world. Speaking of chickens...I think Miss K might be a chicken for Halloween. I found the cutest outfit at BRU yesterday.

Okay...here is a photo of my fearless child going down the stairs...backwards.

No big news...

Just to clarify...my mother in law is really wonderful. I love her like she was my own mother. She didn't do or say anything to me. She asked an innocent question, but when I went to answer it, I saw something ugly in myself. No bad mother in law!

I am still SICK, SICK, SICK. I promised Brian that if I wasn't better tomorrow that I would go to the walk-in clinic. I hate being sick. At least Miss K is all better, or so it seems. Going to be a busy week next week, so I hope that I am all better by then.

And, a couple of ladies in the neighborhood are having a yard sale next Saturday, so I have decided to join in. In addition to some household items, I am going to be selling some scrapbook supplies. TONS of Stampin' Up! stamps, monthly kit clubs that I bought, but never got around to using and just about everything else under the sun that you would possibly need to scrapbook!

Oh...if any of you know of anyone in the Franklin area that babysits, please email me. I am looking for someone to watch Miss K one Monday a week from 8:30am - 11:30am for about 8 weeks. I want to take a quilt class and it is in the morning, so I really need a sitter.

Okay...off to eat dinner, put Miss K to bed and finish reading my book for my Monday night book club meeting.

Less is more....

I've got to keep telling myself that because I made a decision tonight. Tomorrow starts the REAL purging. My life and my house have gotten out of control. I am not just purging stuff, I am also purging some "problems" I haven't been able to let go of. I realized about a week ago, I didn't like myself very much. Didn't like the person I was becoming. It got put right in my face this past weekend by my wonderful mother in law. I don't think she even realized that she did it. But there is was...right there in my face and I was shocked at what I saw. I hope to purge my house, my mind and my soul over the next couple of weeks.

Okay....update on Miss K and her visit to Vandy. Okay, first of all...have we descended into the depths of Hades and I missed the memo? Geesh! It was wicked hot. I thought for sure that we were going to have to wait quite awhile since it was the "clinic". The minute the lady checking me in saw "friend of Dr. Robb" on the chart, they were super nice to me and Miss K. I waited...5 minutes for my appointment! FIVE MINUTES. That was like a record. Last time we were at Vandy we had the first appointment of the day and they were 30 minutes late. So, they looked at the MANY tubes of meds that I brought in. 7 different tubes and tubs of stuff that we have been given. That didn't even include any liquid meds that she took orally. They gave me another tube bringing the total to 8. Since the rash was not "active" at the moment, they told me to try this out and if it flarred back up, call them and they would work me in THAT day. She screamed like someone was killing her when we took her diaper off. They even sent a nurse in to help me because she was freaking out so bad. Now...we are in the 'wait and see' mode. Say a prayer that this rash goes away and my little firecracker will be itch free!

Did you say August 4th?

I've got a list (in my head) a mile long of stuff I need to do. Miss K is going to see a specialist tomorrow about a skin rash she has been battling since February. Dr. Hottie finally said that he has no idea what else to try, so it is off to a dermatologist. So, I call the one that they told me to call. I tell them everything and she gives me my appointment. Mind you...we have been dealing with this rash in her diaper area for almost 6 months and it is still on going. Anyway, I was pretty sure that I misunderstood her. Nope...OCTOBER 4th! Hello? Are you crazy? My child will have clawed herself raw by then! Thank God that I have a friend whose husband is a dermatology resident at Vandy and he just happens to work in this VERY office two days a week. Miss K will be seen tomorrow at 1:15pm by the head of the dermatology department at Vandy. I owe my friend and her husband. BIG TIME.

Okay...got to get going. Don't know if Brian will be working all day tomorrow or not because TVA pulled power from the plant this morning at 10am. Don't know when they are going to start back up. So he went golfing with his boss. The thought of a power outage freaks me out. My friend said that she has lived here for 25 years and it has never happen before. But I think we are dealing with a whole different situation. 105 degrees in North Dakota? Those people don't have air conditioning. They don't needed it 11 months out of the year.

I thought I would leave you with another photo of Miss K and her cake. In this one you can actually see the "cake". Okay...I'll put two photos up. One of the cake 'pre Miss K' and one 'post Miss K". Enjoy!

Before Miss K........

After Miss K.....

My friend Stacy

My friend Stacy started out as my neighbor Stacy. I was the first person who went over to welcome her to the neighborhood when she moved in. She always reminds me of that. She is a beautiful person and a fellow red head. Although, her hair is that bright red that I had in my younger years. Anyway.... I mentioned to her awhile ago that I had some left over ovulation kits if she was interested in them. She said she would give me a call. She called many months later....I looked and they were expired. I called her back and she said not to worry about it...she didn't need them anymore. YEAH!

So, I see beautiful Stacy on a video that my niece took of Miss K riding around in her wagon this weekend. I am shocked when I see Stacy. She looks REALLY pregnant and she isn't even 3 months along yet. So, she calls me this evening and was asking me for some addresses. I ask her if everything is okay. She started this nervous laugh and proceeds to tell me a story. It ended this way.... the ultrasound tech saying "uh oh...there is a 2nd heartbeat. You are having twins!" I think Stacy's hubby almost passed out. I do know that he started crying. I think they are both in shock right now. Faternal twins.

Remember those bottles I mentioned several weeks ago? They found a new home tonight...Stacy's house. She was very thankful. I told her that I was getting rid of a bunch of baby stuff, so she might find stuff on her front porch from time to time. I could hear her hubby in the background...not sure if he was laughing or crying.....

Cake Monster

Well, we ended up canceling the party with her friends, but since the family was here, we went ahead and did a party with just us. We had a great time and Miss K did me proud with the cake.

One MAD Mommy

An open letter to the Mother who brought her SICK child to Mother's Day Out-

WHY? Why did you bring your sick child to a place that is FULL of children? The nursery no less! Now my child has whatever your child has. Why am I so mad? Other than the fact that my child had been throwing up in her sleep and crying constantly...this is her BIRTHDAY weekend! Her paternal grandparents are here and her maternal grandparents will be here tomorrow. They all FLEW in to attend her FIRST birthday party that will most likely be cancelled because she is CONTAGIOUS, so none of her little friends will be able to attend. Insteas of enjoying my beautiful daughter and celebrating with our families, I am doing load after load of laundry. Did I already mention the throwing up? I spent so much time planning every little part of this party and spent more money that I care to even admit to. I personalized a gift for every one of her little friends that was coming to her party. I am just sick to my stomach now. And my child cries constantly because she is SICK!!! And there isn't anything I can do!

So, to the Mother who brought her sick child to Mother's Day Out...next time I will be looking for you!

My child doesn't want me to blog about her!

So, I typed up this long post about how emotional Miss K turning 1 for me has been. In the middle of the post, my computer started acting strange. She hit the reset button. Dang kid. I just realized something today. She is a year old and this is the first time in her life she has been in my scrapbook room. Not a lot of scrapping going on in Miss K's house the first year. The fact that you couldn't even WALK in my scrapbook room is the major reason! But, Miss K's birthday party is this weekend, so we are working on getting everything organized. My scrapbook room is not organized by any means, but Brian put stuff into boxes and stacked them. I will start working on the cleaning when Miss K and I get back from our vacation to Texas. (Okay...I can hear my child, but I can't see her. All I see is her high chair moving across the dining room floor!)

So, Miss K is a year old. Very emotional for me. I did tell Brian last night that I wanted another baby and then I started bawling. I know that we won't have another one and it isn't because we don't want one! (Now the high chair is going the other way...) I know that I should be thankful for Miss K and the fact that she is healthy for the most part. I will be honest with you...I didn't really want children. And now I can't imagine my life without this little fireball in it. Today she stacked some books up in the scrapbook room and I looked over and she was sitting in the stack. I laughed and then started crying. She is growing up so fast! She said bye-bye and uh-oh last night. Today I've been trying to teach her to say "one". I should have started working on that a lot sooner than her actual birthday!

Well..not photo for this post, but I will make sure I take one of her on her birthday and maybe post it later.

I have tap class tonight and then our families start arriving tomorrow, so you probably won't hear much from me for the next two weeks. Miss K and I are leaving for vacation on Sunday and will be back a week later. Lots of fun!!!

No more

This is what happens when you run your poor child all over town without a nap. As I was getting ready to back out of my parking space at the mall, I look in my rear view mirror and this is what I saw. She had only be in that seat for less than 60 seconds. One more week and Miss K is going to be a year old! I can't believe it! We are getting ready for the family to be here. My inlaws are driving in next Wednesday and my parents will get here next Friday. I am picking my niece up in Atlanta in two days. My brother and his family are on their way back from Disneyland, so I am meeting them to pick her up. Maybe she can keep Miss K entertained next week so I can get some stuff done before I have a house full of people for a birthday party!

Still getting the hang of my camera. Went and got a UV filter for it this afternoon. I am pretty rough on my stuff, so I don't want the lense to get damaged. Trying to decide which lense I want next and how much it is going to cost.

READ THE MANUAL!

I just started taking pictures with it and Brian was asking me all the stuff it would do. I dunno. Read the manual Hollye! Right now he is doing a photo shoot with the dogs. Miss K is asleep, so she will get her turn tomorrow! We are going to the Bounce Factory tomorrow with some other kiddos. Maybe I'll get some good photos then. I want to read the manual and sit down and play with it. I can't wait!!!

The pool that Brian built

Okay...he didn't really BUILD it, but he did have to dig the ground up to make it level and then set the pool and the pump up. We got a GREAT deal on this pool at TRU Friday. Too good to pass up. Plus I had a coupon, so that made it even a better deal. (BTW...as I am typing this, it is 9:30pm and my child is still up!!! Dang teeth!) I wanted a pool last year when I was huge, pregnant and miserable, but Brian said no. This summer has been even hotter, so when we found one for the right price, I begged a little more and now it is in the backyard. We got in this afternoon while my mom was visiting. I think we will be seeing a bit more of my mom now that we have the pool. She works in a warehouse and thinks our pool is just what see needs after working all day! Brian is going to have to take the pool down on Wednesday while Kennedy and I make a trip to Atlanta to pick up my niece for a visit. He needs to level the ground out a little more and wants to do it before Miss K's birthday party. That reminds me...I have got to finish those invites!!! I am a bad mommy. Waiting until the last minute for everything!

SIT!!!

Miss K has been saying a word for the past two days and we couldn't figure out what it was. I seriously thought she was saying *hit. Where did she hear that? Then tonight Brian told the dog to sit and she was right next to him saying "SIT"! Thank you Jesus! The word is SIT! I am constantly telling the dogs to sit and now I am constantly telling her sit SIT on her bottom and not stand on her car like she is a stunt woman and to not stand on her rocking dog like she is a trick rider. I thought she wasn't listening, but apparently she was because she can say it...she just won't do it!

She is also cutting two new teeth on top, so she has been waking up every night about midnight crying. She just went back down...so I am off to bed too.

Today was an important day

Yesterday Brian cleaned out the "baby" cabinet in the kitchen. All the bottles are sitting in a box ready to go wherever they need to go. My job was to toss all the nipples. They sat on the stove all day. And then today, I just tossed them. Believe it or not...it wasn't an easy thing to do. We did keep two bottles "incase of emergency", but we are pretty much a sippy cup house now. Then tonight we were sitting upstairs, she was pushing her little car all over the house and laughing. I looked at her and my eyes just stared watering. I can not believe that she is going to be a year old in 16 days. It's sad because I know that I will never have another baby in my house. She was the first baby that came home and she is going to be the last. We said from the beginning that one child was what we wanted and I am still happy with that. And then there are times when I want another baby NOW. I just wish that the decision was mine to make.

Today has been a cleaning day in our house. We are working on our bedroom. I am the world's worst housekeeper. I am fairly certain I was born without a cleaning gene. I got an extra shopping gene instead. I really need to work on that....

Okay, my child is asleep and I have a meeting with my MOMS club in the morning. I've got a few things that need to be done before I head to bed.

Have a great evening!

My husband ROCKS!

So, I've been selling a bunch of old stamps to downsize and make some money. I've been wanting a new camera, but I couldn't justify spending the money on the camera I really wanted. Earlier today Brian asked me how much I had saved for my camera. When I told him he said, "well, you are almost there." Then tonight he bought me this.....

YEAH!!! I can not wait for this baby to come in! And it will be here in time for Miss K's birthday. Can you believe it? She is going to be 1 on the 25th. A year ago at this time I was finishing up the nursery, going to movies with my husband, reading and preparing to be a mommy. Now I am cleaning pasta out of a wild child's ears after she has dinner, spending my days watching the Doddle Bops, attending storytime at the library and buying milk 2 gallons at a time. And you know what? I wouldn't change one minute of it. This past week she has started waving bye-bye and today she actually said 'bye-bye'. And when I ask her "where is Maxie?", she will look for the dogs. When I ask her where Mommy is, she will bang on my chest. It is so neat watching her learn all this stuff. I am not sure if we are close to walking yet, but let me tell you, she is a crawling machine. She is super fast!

Oh, did I tell you I am getting a new camera? WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Info about Wave Country

I got a number of emails asking me about Wave Country. Here is the link to the Metro website that has all the information for the park as well as the $1 off coupon.

http://www.nashville.gov/parks/wave_country.htm

Another busy day at Miss K's house. We are suppose to be leaving tomorrow to go out of town. I am still on the fence about actually going. Long story... Needless to say, I am thinking of staying home and spending the entire two weeks just hanging out with my little family. Brian and I don't spend nearly enough time together anymore. Like last night...I went to a Longaberger party and he was standing at the door when I got home so that he could run out and play poker with the guys.

Okay...gotta run. I've got a million and one things to do today if we are going out of town. If I don't blog ya before...have a safe and happy 4th of July.

Water Babies

We have discovered Wave Country and we LOVE it. They have an awesome baby pool and they keep is super clean and have a lifeguard watching the area. And the price is right...Miss K gets in free until she is 5 and it only cost $5 (with a coupon) for me! We have been twice and are planning on going back a couple of more times before they close. I took Miss K into the big wave pool while we were there and she thought it was so funny. She loved the waves. She loves the water. The last time I took her to the pool, I had to restrain her while I was putting sunblock on her because she was trying to get down and crawl into the water with the other kids. And she even has a tan. I coat her with sunblock several times when we are outside. I am thinking that she got her Daddy's skin coloring. Thank goodness...her mommy is as white as Casper! Anyway...we had a great time and Miss K loves spending time with her friends.

New baby

My best friend had her baby today. She was schedule for induction at 12:20am on Tuesday morning, but her water broke this morning. She went in and everything was going well, but no matter how much piticon they gave her, he wasn't coming. So, he was born via c-section about an hour ago. He weighed 7 pound 3 ounces and is 19 inches long. I keep saying he because, #1...they haven't named him yet and #2...I wouldn't use his name without his mommy saying it was okay. I am just excited that he is finally here!

Okay...it's late and I have a busy day tomorrow, so I'm off!

Mean Mommy

Okay...it was a rough day in Miss K's house today. She was laughing and giggling. She crawled over to me, stood up, leaned over and bit me...HARD. My immediate instinct was to tell her no and then I spatted her arm. Oh man. You would have thought I pulled her fingernails out. I just happened to be holding my camera when she bit me, so I pulled her up on my lap and I couldn't resist...I snapped her picture. She cried for awhile. Then I started singing to her and she noticed the camera and life was good again. After I got her calmed down and happy again, I went in the bathroom and cried. It was a rough day for mommy. I am sure if Miss K could talk, she would say, "Mean Mommy".

2Peas Blogging Challenge

1. FIRST NAME? Hollye
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Every doll my mother ever owned was named Hollye, so I guess I am named after the dolls.
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Last week
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? sometimes
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Smoked Turkey
6. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? 1 beautiful daughter
7. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I would like to think so
8. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? yes
9. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? I use it, but not a lot!
10. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? yep
11. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? ummm...no
13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? I own one pair of shoes that tie and I do untie them
14. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? For the most part
15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Blue Bell Chocolate Chip
16. SHOE SIZE? 9
17. RED OR PINK? Pink
18. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? my weight
19. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My grandfather
20. WHEN AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN? I was born Feb. 14, 1972 in Baytown, Texas
21. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? I have on denim capris and no shoes
22. WHAT IS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Pancakes with my daughter
23. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The Disney Channel on TV
24 IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
25. FAVORITE SMELL? Fresh baked bread
26. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED WITH ON THE PHONE? My friend Kennington
27. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU MEET? Their smile
28. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?. scrapbooking
29. FAVORITE DRINK? sweet tea
30. FAVORITE SPORT? college football
31. HAIR COLOR? red
32. EYE COLOR? brown
33. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? nope
34. FAVORITE FOOD? Mexican
35. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING? Both. I LOVE movies!
36. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Lilo and Stitch
37. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? white
38. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer
39. HUGS OR KISSES? I am greedy...BOTH!
40. FAVORITE DESSERT? Banana Pudding
41. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Time Traveler's Wife, The Devil Wears Prada
42. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? rain drops
43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? My daughter laughing
44. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles
45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Ummm...San Francisco, CA
46. IF YOU COULD PICK ANY TWO PEOPLE TO HAVE DINNER WITH, WHO WOULD THEY BE? My husband and my daughter

NEWSFLASH!

Brian doesn't start traveling for work until January, so we won't be moving until next year! YEAH!!!!

We are off to meet some friends for an afternoon of swimming! I'll post more later!

Hollye

A new week!

This weekend went by so fast. I got to spend the day at my happy place, Scrap It! on Saturday. I was so lucky to be able to share my table with the fabulous kellidarrsuperstar. She's great. I actually got THREE layouts done. I know you are thinking...you only got three layouts done!? But that is like a record for me. I am not a productive scrapbooker in a cropping setting, but I LOVE to go. It is always a blast and I get to see people that I only see once in awhile. The ever-so-fabulous Jenni Bowlin dropped by for a few minutes. If you don't know Jenni, check her out. She sells these awesome kits. Check her out!!!

Let's see....that was pretty much all we did this weekend. Oh, Brian put down a truckload of mulch in the yard. It looks pretty darn good. The only thing we got done on the house this weekend was we hung some prints in Miss K's room. That is it. I've got to get a schedule set and stick to it. I need Miss K to cooperate with me and actually let me do some stuff around this house. I am thinking of having a yard sale on Saturday. I have enough stuff in the garage to have a yard sale without taking anything out of the house! Yes, my secret is out...I am a PACK RAT. (Tracie....pick yourself up off of the floor!) Brian jokes that I still have clothes from when I was in jr. high. I've taken the first step...I've admitted I have a problem. Give me credit for that! Well...I just checked the 10-day weather forecast. Doesn't look like a yard sale is in the cards for me this weekend. Oh well!

So, I totally forgot to call my dad on Father's Day. I remembered at 10:52pm. I take that back. I called earlier this afternoon and there was no answer. I got busy and forgot. I called and woke him up. I'm so disappointed in myself. His present is sitting on my kitchen table. I'm a bad daughter. Miss K got her Daddy a great gift. She convinced me that we needed to get dressed up alike in these skirts that she made me buy at Old Navy. So, we went to the Picture People and had our photo taken. They turned out okay, but Miss K was pleased with them and her Daddy is happy to have a picture of his two favorite ladies to put on his desk at work. I need to scan the photo in.

We've got a busy week ahead of us. Tomorrow I've got to go to the bank and get Miss K's accounts set up. She got a nice chunk of money when she was born and I've just been holding onto the checks. I need to get them in the bank. Her great grandparents also sent us some cash to buy her a savings bond, so I need to get that taken care of.

Oh...I did get my curtains in my dining room mended. The dog from hell ripped them AGAIN. I refuse to spend money on curtains to replace them just to have the ripped up again. And, if I do breakdown and buy some, I am NOT spending a lot of money on them because we are selling the house!!!!! Why can't these dogs cooperate with me?

Less than 1/4th

I didn't get anything done today. I woke up about 3 this morning and couldn't even talk. I felt like I have been smoking 2 packs a day for 20 years when I cough. First thing I did was cancel the book club meeting. Don't want to infect anyone else and they all have tots at home. Went and picked up Miss K's grocery cart. She gets mad at it because it moves when she holds on to it. She yells at it. But she does like playing with the wheels. I am hoping that she starts walking and pushing it around. Came home and made some phone calls. Pressure washer....left a message. Set up quaterly pest control for next week. Termite pre-inspection set up for Thursday. Looked into P.O.D.S. Called Miss K's doctor to tell them her rash is getting worse. Made appointment for Maxie to see Dr. Singleton. So, I didn't really get anything done today. Just made a bunch of phone calls.

Brian is finally going to get some answers about our move to Michigan on Wednesday. So, hopefully we will have some idea of what to expect. General Motors is not moving us. Brian will be on a temp assignment. We have been talking about moving for about 6 months and then this fell into our laps. So, we sell the house and live in corporate housing for 12-18 months in Michigan. Save up some money to put down on a new house when we move back. I think we have decided on the Spring Hill area. That is close to the plant and in Williamson County.

Okay...off to bed. I've got to get everything that I was suppose to do today, done tomorrow plus my list for tomorrow and I haven't even started on that.