It's a wrap!

Everything is wrapped. Wrapped, bagged, tulled and tagged. I used tulle for my bows this year. WAY cute. I had so many different color rolls of tulle from the tutus I've been making. Decided to put it to use since I've not made any tutus lately. I will be making Miss K one for Valentine's Day though.

For the first time EVER...I will not spend Christmas Even running around like a chicken with my head cut off wrapping presents and making sure I have everything I need. I do have to make a trip in the morning to pick up a bag of coffee for my dad and a small gift for my stepmom. I thought I had everything, but I didn't. Dang it! So...tomorrow looks like this:

*Get up early and head to the Avenue to pick up the two missing gifts. I think they open at 9. I'll be there at 9:01.

*Drop off books and gift at my friend Amanda's house.

*Stop by another friend's house to drop of presents.

*Drop of my poor wrecked truck at the auto shop by noon.

Then we are heading home and STAYING! Brian, Miss K and I will be home on Christmas Eve spending time together. Making cookies, reading the Christmas story, maybe watch a Christmas movie. But it will be a LAID BACK day. I'd like to spend part of the day just picking things up and getting ready for our trip to Texas.

It's 2am and I need to get to bed. I've got things to do tomorrow! I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

Blog ya later!

UNDERINSURED DRIVERS SUCK!

I am not exactly 100% sure what we are dealing with yet, but it looks like Mr. I Didn't Even Bother To Ask You If You Were Okay, is not going to have a whole lot of liability coverage in his policy. Thank God my smarty husband made sure that we have awesome auto insurance. I'm still mad because in the Perfect World Of Hollye, if someone hits you and it is their fault, THEY OUGHT TO HAVE ENOUGH COVERAGE TO PAY FOR EVERYTHING! Apparently Tennessee just recently passed a law that sets a minimum for liability. I think that minimum is higher than what he had. It does into effect January 1, 2009. Not going to help me any.

Now, I am going to spend today going from adjuster to adjuster to get estimates on my car. I still don't have a rental car or a replacement car seat for Miss K. And that car seat is NOT cheap. ARG! We just can't catch a break!

I need to get going. I've got to drag K with me all over the place too and pick up a few things while I'm going and then get home and straighten up. Brian's parents will be here this evening...if they can make it out of snowbound Michigan.

Blog ya later!

And it just gets better.....

So, you read my "poor me" blog post last night. Well...today was worse. I was so excited a couple of months ago when we got a notice in the mail that our car loan had matured and would be paid off in December. The truck was paid off 12 days ago. Tonight on our way to meet a friend for dinner before taking the kids to church I was rear ended. I was at a dead stop and the guy hit me doing about 45mph. I freaked out. K was asleep and woke up screaming that her head hurt. I hit the emergency button on my OnStar and that brought the fire and rescue to the scene. I probably over reacted, but I was freaking out. Plus, the guy who plowed into me didn't get out of his car for awhile and the Volvo he pushed me into was driven by an 80 something year old woman. Long story short....I'm fine. My child is fine. My truck is wrecked, but drivable. I'm even more depressed because this is the LAST thing we need/can afford right now. I've got a headache and my body is sore. I may keep K at home from school tomorrow. I have a feeling she might be a little sore tomorrow.

This is probably going to screw up our trip to Houston for Christmas. Just great.

And to top things off....K had a Christmas program at school tonight. I wasn't going to take my camera because Tommy had his camera, but I decided to grab it anyway. I wish I had left it in the car. I screwed up and reformatted my memory card. Photos from her school Christmas program. Mom's group Christmas party. Our Polar Express trip. All the Thanksgiving photos. I'm sick to my stomach. Devastated. Off to find a recovery program.

Oh. Happy Birthday to my little brother Frank Shannon. (I still call him Frankie and I don't think he likes it. )

blog ya later.

It's 1 am and here I sit trying to wrap my brain around all the things that still need to be done. I'm listening to the washer and dryer hum away with my 4th and 5th load of the day. I'm never caught up. Never will be either. Fact of life.

I can't get into the Christmas Spirit. I think it's because of this whole GM thing. I worry every single day that they are going to announce the plant in Spring Hill is closing. It eats at me constantly. It has made buying Christmas presents not a pleasant experience this year. I pray every night that the Lord will see us through this mess. I keep hearing that it is only going to get worse. I pray that isn't so. Brian keeps telling me to not worry about it because there is nothing I can do. Let me call up Bob Corker and give him a piece of my mind. That might make me feel better. ARG. The more I think about it...the more upset it gets me. I think I might cry now.

Brian's parents will be here this weekend, so I have a ton of stuff to do between now and Saturday morning when they arrive. Today was a really busy day. Dropped K off at school. Party at K's school at 11. Ran to Kohl's. I have a whole post about a Christmas tree I will try and post tomorrow or Thursday. Then we went to Hobby Lobby. Office Max. Michael's, World Market, Hallmark, Barnes & Noble. Stopped at the library to pick up a book for my mom. Then had to hit the grocery store for a few things. I tried to do some banking at the ATM, but it was out of service and I wasn't in the mood to wait in the drive thru. Wednesday will be yet another busy day. K has her portraits at 9:20. I might squeeze a couple of stops in before I meet my awesome friend, kellidarrsuperstar and her daughter for lunch in downtown Franklin.

Tree is still no decorated. I keep saying that we are going to do it "tonight", but we've not done it yet. Monday night K wanted to watch the Misfit Toys, so we did that. Tonight we ate dinner a little late and watched the Misfit Toys AGAIN. Wednesday is Awanas, so we won't get it done Wednesday night either. Guess we will be putting the ornaments on Thursday. Gravy...I can't believe I am this far behind. I just haven't been in the mood.

My cards are finally done. I'll drop them in the mail tomorrow. I have never sent cards out this late ever.

It's late and I need to decide if I am going to bed or if I am going to work on a project or something. I have some sewing that needs to be done. Knowing me...I will be up until 4am trying to get it done. It has to be done for Thursday morning because they are gifts for K's classmates. WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF????

I'm going to bed.

blog ya later.

Getting ready for Christmas

It seems no matter how early I start doing holiday stuff, I never seem to be on top of things. I got my cards ordered today. Will pick those up tomorrow and get them addressed this weekend. I plan on getting my Christmas decorations up this weekend. That means a LOT of cleaning will have to take place. And I try to purge my decorations as I pull them out. I've got more decorations then I will ever use. I just have a hard time getting rid of stuff. Another busy, busy week for us. Wednesday is crazy. We are painting pottery in the morning at the Factory, so I will head over a little early and stop by Hobby Lobby. I need to get some more ribbon so that I can finish making the bows that I started while we were in Michigan. They are all tied, I just need some more ribbon to attach them to the clips. I also need to pick up a gift for the Christmas party for my mom's group. I think I am going to do a cute movie basket. I saw these really cute ceramic popcorn buckets at Hobby Lobby a couple of weeks ago. They are 50% off this week, so I hope they still have some. I'll get some movie candy and a Blockbuster gift card. I'll get it all put together and try to remember to take a picture of it. I love making things up like that. I've done movie buckets for couple's gifts before, but I've never used a ceramic bucket before. I also need to pick up some gifts for Brian's work. The plant has adopted a couple of families for Christmas. Brian's department selected a young girl. I signed up for a couple different things for her, so I need to get that taken care of and sent to work with Brian so that I can check that off my list. Then I have to go downtown for my weigh in. That's going to be a DISASTER! Going to Brian's parent's house always screws with my diet. Then we have to head BACK to Franklin so that Miss K can get her hair cut. Then we have dinner with friends at Chicken Nick's and K has Awanas. That's all just Wednesday! Geez.

We took K on the Polar Express Sunday. We had a great time. She even told Santa what she wanted. She was great with him...until he picked her up. Then she freaked out. Lord did she scream. I'll post the photos tomorrow. My camera is downstairs and I'm too lazy to go down and get it.

I need to decide if I am going to make my hot chocolate cones this year. I didn't make them last year. If I am going to make them...it needs to be done this weekend along with everything else that needs to be done! I would actually like to try and get some of them made tomorrow night to take to the Christmas party on Thursday. If I get them made, I get them made. If not, I am not going to stress about it. I am bad about trying to do a lot in one day.

Need to get serious about the Christmas list. Have NO idea what to get for Brian. I think I am going to have K make Brian's mom a plate with her handprints on it for Christmas. Tomorrow if my dad's birthday. Need to get that card in the mail. I still haven't mailed my nephew's birthday presents yet. Jen...if you are reading this, I PROMISE they will be in the mail this week.

And...the Baby Gotta Go came in today. So, the Santa gift is covered! ARG....I'm rambling now. I need to finish reading my book and head to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a VERY long day.

Blog ya later...with photos!

I'm in Michigan and I am freezing

I hate cold weather. When we lived in Michigan for those 9 months...I was miserable most of the time we were here. It was one of the coldest winters they had in YEARS. While it isn't that cold right now...anything that is below my age is too freaking cold for me. On the way here last night, we stopped to get gas in Indiana and it was freaking 18 degrees outside. That is NOT right. You have to remember...for the first 30 years of my life, I lived in Texas...the Houston area for 28 years and then Dallas for 2 years. And yes, it does get cold there, but it never lasted very long. In Michigan...it lasts for MONTHS. It's depressing.

So...we got into Michigan around 1am. Kennedy was so worked up that it was after 3am before she went to bed. She work up at 8am. What is wrong with my child? I love my sleep. When I can sleep...I can sleep for hours. Twelve hours of sleep is good for me. My child never sleeps. No more naps. I don't know how she does it. Crazy.

I was so excited a couple of weeks ago when we get a statement from the bank stating that our loan had matured and we were paying our last car payment. My Trailblazer will be paid off Dec. 4th. Now we will have two paid off cars. We really need the money right now. So...we drove to Michigan, no problem. This morning Brian discovers that my car is leaking some sort of fluid. He thinks it is the radiator. Why do these things happen? The truck is going to be paid off, so I guess it's time for me to pour a couple thousand dollars into it. WHY? Does the truck not realize we are in a huge recession and I don't have the money to be pouring into it right now? I thought paying the truck up would free up some money to pay off some stuff...guess the truck had other ideas. Dang it.

Before we left Nashville Saturday, we attended a birthday party for our neighbor who turned 6. It was a football themed party, so Brian wore his Michigan t-shirt. I wore my new Colts t-shirt. (Yes...I'm a Colts fan.) And Miss K wore her Michigan cheerleading outfit. We buy her one every year. The first year she was too young to know what it was, so she wore it, not problem. But last year and this year, she has not wanted to wear it. She would actually fight me when I attempted to put it one. When the birthday boy delivered the invitation, he asked K to wear her football clothes. I explained to her that he meant her "Go Blue" dress. So, I pulled it out and she had no problems wearing it. Actually, the minute I had her dressed, she ran to her dress up box because she needed her "shakers". (That's her word for pom poms.) She looked so stinkin' cute. I even put her hair in pigtails with yellow polka dot ribbons. I have a cute photo of her, but for some reason, Blogger won't let me upload anything right now. Even though Michigan got stomped yesterday, she still looked adorable!

ARG....I just saw the forecast for tomorrow...SNOW. Freaking snow. I hate snow. There isn't anything I like about it. Ick. And forgot my dang gloves. Guess I will be making a run to the store tomorrow to pick up a pair. If I have my way, I'll stay inside bundled up all day tomorrow. Oh...and in case you didn't know, I HATE SNOW! Good thing I brought some projects that I can work on while I am here and plenty of books to read.

I'm off to bed. We are having a birthday party for my MIL tomorrow morning with her sisters and her mom. Her actual birthday is Wednesday. Miss K has said that she wants to make Grandma a cake. Lots to do this week!

Blog ya later!

Photos....finally! And other random stuff

I actually took my camera somewhere! K had her Thanksgiving party at school on Thursday, so I took my camera and got a couple of cute shots. Then she had dance class and that evening was "parent viewing". We usually sit in the lobby and watch them on the closed circuit TV. It was so dang cute. So, I thought I would share a couple of photos from those two events. If you are on Facebook....you've already seen them!

We are leaving for Michigan tomorrow. We have a birthday party to attend tomorrow afternoon, so we will be headed out about 2:30ish. It means we will get there late, but atleast we will be there! Brian and his dad will probably spend some time hunting while we are there. They normally go everyday, but my father in law is currently going through radiation, so his energy level is pretty low. We will also celebrate my mother in law's birthday while we are there. Miss K has already told me she wants to make Grandma a cake and some party hats. I need to remember to pack up some craft supplies. Speaking of crafts....I will be taking a couple of projects with me to work on . Miss K has lost almost every single bow that I have bought for her. So, I went to Hobby Lobby and bought SEVENTEEN different colors of ribbon to make bows. Then my friend Martini bought 4 more colors, so that's 21 new bows. I'll be making two of each. One for Miss K and one for my friend's daughter. I've just decided not to let her wear bows to school anymore. That's where she has been losing them. Totally her fault. She takes them off and throws them on the ground if she is playing and they are bugging her. The last one she lost was left in the firetruck that came to visit them at school last week. So, there is some fireman in Nolensville riding around with a cream colored bow on his helmet! Anyway...I took a bow class for $20 because everytime the bow man came to the Galleria, I was spending $30 on bows. Now, I can spend 75 cents for a yard of ribbon and make the bow myself! I've made a couple and they turned out okay, so I am going to practice and make sure these look good. My other projects are to get my Christmas cards done, the birth announcements for my new nephew done, and a Christmas tutu made for K. I've got a couple of other small things I want to do, but I am not going to commit to them. I want to get some reading done while we are there. I need to get busy packing all this stuff up. When we go out of town, I let K take one tote with a lid. It's a small tote. She is allow to take anything that she can fit in there. It's funny to watch her think about what she is going to put in there. She empties it out and replaces things and then changes her mind. I'm going to let her work on that tonight. My goal tonight it to get all the clothes packed. Tomorrow I need to clean our my truck before the party. I'm a pack rat and there is so much crap in my truck. It's awful. I need to come up with some sort of system for K's stuff in the car. I thought about getting one of those organizers that hang on the back of the seat, but I think that would be a waste. Maybe a tote with a lid or a basket of some sort. I need to think on this more. All I know is my truck is a rolling trash can right now. And I can not blame any of it on K...it's all me.

Still enjoying a beautiful, clean, organized pantry. It's the only thing that is clean in our house right now. Brian was showing it off to my mom this evening. She was impressed. I took photos, but they didn't look so great. I'll take some when we get back and post them. My next two projects are the laundry room and K's closet. Both of them are a bit scary right now.

Well...I must get. Need to finish laundry and get packing!

Blog ya later!

Lots of stuff

First of all...head on over to my friend Lianna's blog and check out the awesome giveaway that she has going on. It's a Kindle! I've been wanting one of these, but couldn't bring myself to spend that kind of money. I'm crossing my fingers that I win this one!!!

Just trying to get ready to head out of town for Thanksgiving. Thursday is K's Thanksgiving dinner at school. I've made cookies and a cake so far. Tomorrow I will make green bean casserole. I went to Hobby Lobby today while K was at Awanas. They had all their fall stuff 80% off. I picked up a couple of baskets and a banner for the party. I didn't take the bags out of the car until like 11 this evening and that was when I realized that she didn't give me all my bags! CRAP. I hope that all the stuff she forgot to give me was the 80% off stuff. I need to look through my receipt again. I am going to call them first thing in the morning to see if they have my bag. If they do, I will have to RUN across town to pick it up, run back home and make the green beans and then head to school. ARG!

I've been getting a little bit of Christmas shopping done. Brian has still not given me any ideas. I have no idea what to get my parents or my inlaws. Although, my mom did give me two ideas today, so I will pick those up tomorrow while I am out. I am ordering K a couple of things from American Girl. My mom is getting her the high chair and I am getting her the bath tub. I sent my sister in law a link with some items there and I think she is going to order something too.

I'm stressing about about K's school. I got a call today that she got into another program here in town. That's great. The problem is...I don't want to pull her out of her current school. Plus, the other school only has one day open for her right now. But it is already a day that she goes to school. I need her to get into that other program because that is the place that has the Pre-K program that I want her to attend. And, if I wait until open enrollment, there is no way I will get in. If I get her in for just one day a week, that will give me a chance for early registration and she has a better chance at a spot. I've emailed the director of the school she attends right now to see if it would be possible to change one of the days that she attends. I just don't want to pull her out. She loves it there. I love it. The teachers are so wonderful. I need to call the other director tomorrow and tell her I am interested! I need that spot!!!!

Okay...I need to head to bed. I've got to be up in less than 5 hours to get stuff done before K needs to be at school. The next couple of days are going to be SUPER busy.

blog ya later!

Gettin' stuff done

I decided that today was a day I am going to get some stuff done! And I'm on a role so far. I've got the grocery shopping done for the week. My menu is made for the week. I've got a chicken cookie on the stove. We are having chicken spaghetti for dinner tonight. We love chicken spaghetti. There is laundry in the washer and the dryer. We are working on cleaning out the pantry right now. I didn't take before photos. I wish I had. I just got in the zone and started pulling everything out. Get this....THREE large trashbags FULL of stuff from the pantry. ARG. What a waste. Everything is on the floor right now. I've wiped the wire shelves off. I need to get the vacuum out and get all the cobwebs out of the corners. Then I need to lay the shelf liner that I bought at Costco over a month ago when I decided to finally clean the pantry. I've got canvas totes that I want to use for organizing the pantry. Right now I am taking a break. I'm getting ready to head back downstairs and start working some more. I will NOT go to bed tonight until the pantry is totally complete. I will take photos as soon as I am done. I think it is going to look great!

The only other thing I want to do today is get all the ceiling fans in the house cleaned. That is something I hate to do, but it needs to be done. It needs to be done more often than I do it....I know that. I just HATE to do it!

I might be back later today with photos.

blog ya later!

Barbie what?

Last year I bought Miss K a bunch of costumes to play dress up in after Halloween. Most of them I got for 75% off. So, I hit Target the other day with her and I was going through the costumes with her and she said something that cracked me up....

K: NO! I don't like that one.
Me: You don't like the wig?
K: I don't wanna be Barbie Montana.
Me: WHAT?
K: I don't wanna be Barbie Montana.
Me: Who? You mean Hannah Montana?
K: YES! Barbie Montana!

(she has a hot pink wig a la Britney Spears that she like to wear. It was part of the Stephanie costume from Lazy Town. I always call her Britney when she wears it. that's the only reason I even considered the costume. That and the microphone.)

We don't watch Hannah Montana. I know that she sees the commercials for it occasionally, but that's it. I think because she sees that her hair is long, blonde and straight like most of the Barbies are, she assumes that she is another Barbie. Like we have an Ariel Barbie and and Cinderella Barbie. So, she must be Barbie Montana. And apparently Miss K does not like Barbie Montana.

blog ya later.

Sad mommy day...

my child cut her beautiful hair. I cried when I saw the pile of hair on the floor. She knew I was mad and what she had done was WRONG because she put herself in the corner and didn't even question it when I told her she better not even think about getting out of it. Luckily, her hair dresser, Miss Honey didn't have any appointments open until Tuesday. If I had taken her in right then, I probably would have had her cut it all off. I think we will be able to just blend it in. You can't really tell when I pull it back in a bow unless I point it out. I know it's there...that's the problem. It bugs me.

Sad that her hair is a mess, but mad at myself for leaving her for 2 minutes with her scissors. She has used scissors hundreds of times and never attempted to cut her hair. I think she might have thought about cutting the dog's hair because later, I heard her ask Maxie, "do you want a new hair do?" I told her not to even think about it. So, she just brushed Maxie's ears real good. She thinks it's funny that Maxie has long ears. Oh well. Everyone I've spoken to has told me that it's a right of passage. That every kid does it. She better not ever do it again. Arg.

Blog ya later.

More Christmas shopping...

I got some more Christmas shopping done yesterday. One of my addictions that I can no longer afford is Longaberger. I still buy at least one basket a year....Miss K's Easter basket. Yes, my child hunts Easter eggs with a $100 basket....don't judge. Anyway, they were having a big sale yesterday on their pottery. Love their pottery. I only own one piece...a pie pan. My MIL owns more pieces than I can count. I think she has complete sets in like 5 colors and she also has the Christmas dishes. I would love to have the Christmas dishes. Anyway...the sale was on their mini loaf pans. Normally 2 for $29. They had them buy one get one free. So, I got 2 pans for $14.50. I actually ended up ordering 6 of them. Teacher gifts for K's MDO, a birthday gift for a friend. I'm going to probably donate one to a friend. If you are looking for a gift, these are awesome. It was suppose to be a one day only sale, but they had some outage issues with their website, so they have extended their sale until they run out of stock. So, check it out!

I'm still sick. I actually feel worse today than I did yesterday. The meds don't seem to be helping. We are suppose to go to Cheekwood tomorrow, but it is all going to depend on how I am feeling in the morning. I had lunch at Puffy Muffin with a couple of girlfriends today and I honestly felt like I was going to cough up a lung! Why do I seem to be getting worse instead of better????

arg.

blog ya later.

Photos

I got the proofs of our family photos! I can not wait to get the CD so I can order our Christmas cards! There are a lot of cute ones on there.

Another great giveaway!

My friend Lianna is having another giveaway on her blog and this one is right up my alley! Run over there and check it out. Let me just say two words....VERA BRADLEY!

You don't have to donate anything to win, but please read her story and her reason behind her giveaway. It's a story that many people can relate to in one way or another. Brian and I struggled to become parents, but not in the same way that Lianna and David are facing. But it was an emotional struggle all the same and one that was very heartbreaking at time. So, please take the time to read Lianna's story.

Well...we are off. Busy day. Errands to run. And Miss K has Awanas tonight. She still needs to learn her verse. It's John 3:16 and it's a little long for a 3 year old to learn. But I have faith in her!

blog ya later!

Christmas Shopping

I'm doing a little bit of on line Christmas shopping. My stepmom loves jewelry, so I am always on the look out for something new and funky for her. Last year I found some pieces that were made by a lady in Alabama while I was at a scrapbook retreat. She loved it. I loved it too and bought myself a similar piece! So, tonight I was looking on Etsy for different stuff. (I tried to get in touch with the lady who had the rub on listed that I wanted for Miss K's playroom. I emailed another lady that I bought a couple from before. She sent me a sample one and I LOVE it. Can't wait to get the room painted and done.) I found THIS seller that makes some neat stuff. I picked up a piece for my stepmom and a piece for myself. I'm slowly getting all my Christmas shopping done. I need to sit down and make my list of presents that have been bought and what still needs to be bought. My dad and my inlaws are always the hardest to buy for. So, if you have any ideas for gifts for parents who have everything, please pass those ideas on to me!

OH! I just saw this neat idea in the PBK catalog that would look great in K's playroom or even in our bonus room. I need to look into having some photos printed on canvas. Lots of ideas! Just need to DO something with them!!!

K and I were suppose to go to the library tomorrow for storytime. The downtown library here in Nashville has an awesome storytime. We love it. Singing, dancing, juggling...it's great. But, I've still feeling pretty rotten. I went to the CVS Minute Clinic this morning. I was checked for strep since that has been going around. I was negative. But I do have a sinus infection. I think I get like 3 or 4 a year. I hate it. I got some $76 medication. Hopefully that will kick this stuff pretty fast. I hate feeling like this. My head hurt so bad earlier that I could hardly keep my eyes open.

I've got to go to bed.

blog ya later!

Guest Room to Play Room

Our house has become overrun with Miss K's many toys. Most of it is my fault. I can never say no to her when she wants a toy and I want her to have all the fun things I didn't have as a kid. But, our space is limited. We have a spare bedroom, but honestly, we don't get visitors that often. Plus, we have a queen size aero bed that can be used when we do have company. So, we decided to do away with guest room and make it Miss K's play room. So far all we have done is take the bed apart in there. We needed the mattress for Miss K's big girl bed. Anyway...we keep saying that "this weekend" we are going to work on it, but we haven't. Stuff gets in the way or we just aren't motivated. I've been looking at ideas for what I want to do in there. I bought a PBK table from one of the mom's in my group. It's a bit beat up, but it works! I bought some unfinished chairs from Joann's. Right now I am going through paint samples to decide on wall color and the colors for the chairs. I have a hard time committing when it comes to paint. That is why things in my house are always half done. I've got it narrowed down to a couple of colors. I am leaning towards a green. I really like the apple green, but I think it is going to be a tad bit too dark for the room. I'm thinking I'll do with Seedling Green. It's almost a mint green color. It's nice and calming. There is a small section of the wall that is behind the door when it is open. I want to use chalk board paint on that section. I've not mentioned that to Brian yet. Not sure how he is going to react. Knowing him...he will just shake his head. As far as what to put on the walls, I need to start looking for some cute, inexpensive art work. I am going to go with another rub-on for the wall. I found this cute one on etsy.com that I really like. Instead of the star in the middle, I want a crown and I want to change the font. I think it will look really cute in there. We are also going to clean the closet out and store her tilt bin in there that has her toys in it. On the toy shelves...where she can not reach, I will store paints and things that I don't want her to play with unless she is supervised. I've got a lot of ideas. I just need to do it! I have a dentist appointment tomorrow, so after I get home, Brian and I will start working in there. Brian is off tomorrow, so he will hang out with K while I'm gone in the morning.

Well...I am going to bed. I'm going to make my list of things I need to pick up at Target in the morning. (I MIGHT check out the Halloween clearance for some dress up stuff for K.) Then I am going to drink some Nyquil, crawl in bed and read myself to sleep.

Blog ya later!

Family Photo Day!

It went better than I thought it would. It definately went better than last year! She cried quite a bit when we did them last year. Last year we went to the Greenway. This year we went to the Oaklands Historical House. It was a really beautiful place. I'd like to go back there when I have more time and take K out there and take photos of her playing. I'd like to play around with my camera a bit out there. Since my photographer, Jennifer Dunaway, was VERY pregnant, she told me she would try to get the proofs to me by Tuesday. I can't wait to get them.

Blog ya later.

Is it really November 1st?

I can not believe that it is already the first of November! This year has seemed to just fly by! I need to get into the holiday planning mode, but I just can't yet. Maybe after next week I will start thinking more about it. But I am going to take this week to just relax and regroup. All the Halloween stuff wore me out. I don't think my child has EVER eaten that much sugar. Tomorrow we will be getting our family photos done. Brian actually went shopping with me this evening for clothes to wear for the photos. I couldn't believe it. He didn't complain or anything. He hates to shop. He hasn't bought his own clothes in years. We are talking like 13 years. Maybe once or twice he's had to pick up a shirt or a pair of pants while he was on a business trip or if he wanted to play golf and didn't want to come home to pick up shorts. The rest of the time, I buy all his clothes. He likes it that way and so do I! I need to take better control of weeding out his closet though. He will wear stuff until I throw it away. Stains and all. He's oblivious to everything. As long as it covers his body, he thinks he is good to go. He's not real good with the matching of colors either. He's dressed Miss K in some crazy stuff. (I think he gets it from his mom because she dressed Miss K one day and I thought K dressed herself! I even asked Linda if she let K pick out her own clothes that day. The clothes didn't even come close to matching.)

Well...I'm going to get off this dang computer. Brian headed off to play poker with the guys. I am watching Texas/Tex Tech game and surfing the internet for some gift ideas for my parents and in laws. I'm going to attempt to go to bed here pretty soon. I've got a couple of things I want to do in the morning before we head out to get our photos done.

blog ya later!

Happy Halloween

It was a very busy day. Hair cut. Party. Playdate. Haircut for mommy. Trick or treating at Publix. Trick or treating in the neighborhood. Miss K had way too much sugar and got a tummy ache. Next year I am going to have to do better about controlling the sugar intake! Here are photos of the pumpkins that Brian carved for K. Since she was Sleeping Beauty for Halloween, we decided to make a Sleeping Beauty pumpkin. And since we had two pumpkins, Brian went ahead and did Cinderella's castle on the other one. I think they turned out pretty cute. Miss K was upset when it was time to get ready to head out to Trick or Treat. She told me that her Sleeping Beauty costume was just for the parade and she didn't want to wear it again. I asked her if she wanted to wear wings with it. I put the wings on her and she was all good. Sleeping Beauty with wings. Whatever works. But when it was time to head out, she took the wings off and made me put her coat on her. She threw a fit almost the entire time we were out. She finally decided to actually participate when we got to the final two houses. Maybe next year she be in a better mood. Mommy can only hope!

Blog ya later!

Why?

Can someone please explain to me why my child has to either run away or make a goofy face anytime I point a camera at her? I've not gotten one good photo of her and her best friend in ages because they both turn into goofballs when a camera comes out. I took this photo of the two of them last night before we headed out for Trunk or Treat after Awanas. They had a great time. A lot of the "trunks" let the kids pick their own goodies. When I took the candy out of K's bag today to put it in a bowl, I realized that my child prefers suckers over all other candy. Even over chocolate. Maybe she really isn't my child? Because NO child of mine would pass up chocolate for any reason whatsoever!

Can I just say that I am so glad that tomorrow is Halloween and it will finally be over. We just had so much stuff going on. Three parties, one trunk or treat, one Halloween parade and one night of trick or treating.

Tomorrow is over scheduled. I am still trying to figure out how I am going to get everything done. We are going to be back in the Cool Springs area again on Saturday for a birthday party at CEC, so maybe I can get the other errands done then. We have two birthday parties on Saturday. One from 12 - 2 and the other 2 -3:30. I still need to make a tutu for the birthday girl whose party is 12 - 2. Maybe I will work on that now while I am waiting for the laundry to be done. I've got clothes in the washer, clothes in the dryer and I need to start another load before I finally go to bed. It's already 12:45am. Wonder what time I'm finally going to get to bed?

Okay...I'm off to get some stuff done.

blog ya later.

Set and ready to go

I made 15 treat bags STUFFED full for Miss K's class. I went WAY overboard on the bags this year. I stamped tags for each one as well. I also made buckets with treats for both of her teachers whom I absolutely love and I am going to cry when the school year ends because Miss K will be too old to continue in the program there. I've got the veggie tray all made up for the party. The outfit that she is wearing tomorrow is in the dryer. (She wore it tonight for Awanas and Trunk or Treat.) I am a failure...the skirt did not get made. I let the freaking pattern intimidate me and I couldn't bring myself to cut the fabric. So disappointed in myself. I never mentioned it to K, so she doesn't know the difference, but I do. So, she will be wearing her skull and crossbones t-shirt, denim skirt and her orange and black stripped tights. I'll probably wash it again tomorrow after school and she will wear it again on Friday when we go for a Halloween playdate at a friend's house. Friday is going to be another SUPER busy day for us. Playdate across town. Then I have to come back to this side of town to drop K off at a friend's who is going to babysit for me while I go and get my hair done. I was suppose to get it done on Tuesday, but my hairdresser got stuck in Texas and they had to reschedule my appointment. Normally, I would just wait and do it when K is in school, but we are having our family photos done on Sunday and I've got to cover up all this gray! And I was thinking about getting my hair cut in an bob, but I saw a photo of myself the other day and with my the way it is, but I had it clipped back and I actually liked the way it looked. I'm thinking I will just have her trim it. Maybe I will go for the bob this spring when the weather warms up. Anyway....back to my plans for Friday. Friday evening we are having friends over so that their daughter can go TorTing with Miss K. Honestly? I'll be glad when Halloween is over. We are always so busy in October! I am dreading the holidays. I don't even want to think about it right now. It will start stressing me out.

And...because I thought this post needed a photo, meet Miss Pumpkin. She's sitting next to the Haunted House. Miss K made her at school on Tuesday. She was covered in paint. It did not come out of her clothes. And my husband wonders why my child has two wardrobes. One for school...clothes that I don't mind getting ruined because they WILL get ruined at school. (I honestly think those kids have a contest at school to see who can get the messiest. When school is out for the year, I will throw those clothes away. They won't even be worth it to donate to Goodwill!) And one for everyday wear which is 95% Gymboree. Actually, I think that there are only two outfits that are not Gymboree. One is Hartstrings and one is Gap Kids. How sad is it that I know this? A friend of mine came over on Sunday and I was giving her some of K's clothes that no longer fit and I swear her eyes popped out when she saw K's closet. It's a little out of control. I've got a little something in the works and I think I am going to start with K's closet. As soon as I get it going, I'll post more about it.

Lianna....I'm putting your package in the mail tomorrow morning.

I'm off to bed.

blog ya later!

Never looks like the photo on the box

So, tonight we decided after dinner to make our haunted gingerbread house. Here is Miss K showing you what our house is going to look like when it is all done... (Brian must be prepping her for a job on a game show because he kept telling her to hold her hands like "this" so that it looked like she is one of the Price is Right girls!)Brian and I are of the opinion that you need to be a professional in order for your house to look anything remotely similar to the one on the box. It looks jacked up, but we had fun doing it and that's all that matters. Miss K was eating the jelly beans instead of putting them on the house. She also decided to eat some of the black icing....nice. And also decided that there needed to be a piece of candy corn sticking out of the back of the house. You know what? It's her house, so if that's what she wanted, that's what she gets! Here is what our awesome hanuted house looks like:
Yea..I made the photo a little small. But, if you click on it, you can see the BIG photo. The house looks jacked up. Oh...you have to see the back of it too!
And you have to see the spider web that Brian put on the side of it as well. That turned out really neat looking. And to be honest...Brian did like 94% of the work. I did like 5% and Miss K did 1%. But it was fun! I did tell Brian that I was not going to buy the Christmas gingerbread house. We will just stick to decorating cookies on Christmas Eve for Santa! We had a blast doing that last year when my brother and his family were visiting us for Christmas. Well...it's late and I need to get to bed. Kennedy has a busy day tomorrow.

blog ya later!

Giveaway

The internet is a great thing. Recently, I've gotten back in touch with a number of people that I went to school with pretty much my entire public school life. One of those friends is Lianna Knight. I found Lianna through a blog of another friend. It's been great catching up with her and other friends through our blogs. So, Lianna and her husband have been struggling to have a baby. They have gone through two IVF procedures and have not be successful. They are currently saving for their third and what they hope is their final IVF. So, in order to raise money and to get their story out there, Lianna is hosting a "chip in". Check out her blog for her current giveaway. It's an awesome one! Check it out!

Halloween Parade

Today was our neighborhood's annual Halloween parade. This is the 4th year that it's been held. And this was the first year that I wasn't responsible for doing anything other than helping with the actual parade part. There are other things that go on as well. It was nice just to enjoy everything and not worry about making sure that things were going well. Anna, the lady who organized it all ROCKS. She had everything so well organized and it went to smoothly. And there were so many kiddos. You can tell that we had a population boom about 3 years ago here in the Village. It was a lot of fun. Miss K was so cute in her Sleeping Beauty costume. Her monkey was dressed as a puppy dog. We got the costume from Pottery Barn Kids last year after Halloween. They had costumes for some stuff animals they had and it fits monkey..it's a little big, but it works. And her Beary was Cinderella. Beary was dressed as Sleeping Beauty at first, but she decided to change the clothes. She has 4 princess outfits for her BAB. The other two are Snow White and Little Mermaid. The Little Mermaid outfit it so cute. It even has a red wig! So, I entered a pie in the pie contest. I made this great peanut butter pie that I think is pretty dang awesome. It's my friend Kennington's recipe. I took the pie down there, put my little tent sign in front of it and left it at that. I didn't vote. Why didn't I think to vote? Why? I lost. By one freakin' vote. My neighbor Ellen won with her chocolate chip pie. Ellen...if you are reading this, please email me your recipe. So, not only did I lose the pie contest, but I didn't even get a piece of the dang pie that I love so much! This evening I got all the goodie bags for K's class stuffed. I will put together her teacher's buckets later this week. Busy week for us, but it's going to be a lot of fun. K thinks the dressing up for Halloween thing is a blast. I'm a little disappointed in her costume already because the hem has already come out. She just needs to wear it a couple more time and then it will go into the dress up box for her to play with. I'm thinking that next year I'm going to try and get her to be Little Red Riding Hood. I saw a super cute costume on someone's blog the other day and I think K would look adorable in it. But...I've a whole year to decide! Well...I need to get in bed. It's late.

blog ya later!

Favorite toys right now...

Miss K has really gotten into pretending and make believe. One of her very favorite toys right now is a pizza set from Melissa and Doug that she got for her birthday last year. I can't tell you how many times a day I "eat" pizza and have tea. They also have a birthday cake set like the pizza one. I should have gotten it for her birthday, but I didn't think about it at the time. She is also really into this wood peanut butter and jelly lunch box set by Play Wonder. I had stopped by Goodwill one day to check out their book section. And the Goodwill close to my house is lucky in that it gets donations from Target. I found the PB&J set brand new, still sealed in the lunch box for $1.99. I snapped it right up and I'm glad I did. She loves it. She pretends to pack her lunch several times a day and then spreads it out on the floor while she watches Dora or something. It's cute. Of course, she is still all about her monkey. I'm actually a little concerned about the health of the monkey. She's not looking so good these days. I actually bought a couple of patterns to make some felt food for K's kitchen. But at this point, I'm not going to commit to anything. That dang skirt is still hanging over my head. The fabric is sitting on the table downstairs taunting me. Heck....I am going to do downstairs, do the dishes, (we just had AWESOME homemade chicken pot pie...this is the ONLY way I can get K to eat veggies.) get the dining room picked up and then I am going to sit down and attempt to get some work done on the skirt. I know I won't finish it. I'm going to probably be overly cautious because I don't want to mess up. And tomorrow is our neighborhood Halloween parade. The only thing I have to do for that is make a pie and help direct the parade from the front of the neighborhood to the playground and I am done. For once...I'm not the one having to do everything. For the past three years, my neighbor Amanda and I did EVERYTHING for just about any event that went on in our neighborhood. Got old REALLY fast.

Okay...I'm off to clean the kitchen. Maybe I'll blog later about my progress on the infamous skirt. This dang thing better at least be wearable!

blog ya later!

Call Dr. Phil, Mommy

Me: K...Mommy has a bad headache, please stop yelling.
K: Mommy, you don't feel good?
Me: No. I have a headache.
K: That means you are sick?
Me: Yes
K: Better call Dr. Phil.
Me: WHO?
K: Dr. Phil. He will make you feel all better.
Me: Dr. Phil?
K: Yes Mommy. Dr. Phil.
Me: Okay.
K: Here's a band aid for your face (she pretends to put a bandage on my face. I have no idea why.) And here is a puppet for you to snuggle with. (Again...she pretends to hand me a puppet. And again, I have no idea why. But she always pretends to hand me a puppet when I ask her to snuggle with me.)
Me: Thank you.
K: I love you Mommy.
Me: I love you too Boogie. (that's something we call her)

First of all...I do not watch Dr. Phil. I think the last time I saw his show was when Kennedy was an infant and I had issues with leaving the house at times. And there was that series about the one husband who was stalking his wife. Whack job. I watched that. Anyway...I have NO idea why she is telling me to call Dr. Phil. Her doctor is Dr. Carr and her dentist is Dr. Smithson, but we call her Ms. Sonia. Brian thinks that there is a Dr. Phil on one of the shows that she watches, but I've never heard it mentioned before. The funny thing is, this isn't the first time she said I needed to call Dr. Phil, but the first time I just laughed and thought it was funny. But apparently in her little mind, he is a doctor who can make mommy all better. She's a hoot.

Blog ya later!

Overwhelmed

I feel so overwhelmed right now. My mother has been going through chemo for the past month or so. This is her second round. Her body is not handling it well at all. She called me Tuesday and basically had a breakdown over the phone. Getting out of bed and going to work is about the extent of what she can do. She hasn't seen Miss K in weeks. She is upset because she can't take care of her cat and is afraid that she is going to have to get rid of her. I'm going to try and get in touch with a friend who lives in her complex and see if she can't "scoop the poop" for her a couple of times a week since I can't make it over there every day.So, after I dropped K off at school, I spent the day cleaning mom's apartment and going to the market for her. I ran out of time, so I didn't get to mop her floors or dust. Brian and I are headed back over there on Saturday so that he can change out a bunch of light bulbs for her and get her patio cleaned off. So, for the next 6 or so months, I will be cleaning mom's apartment and doing her shopping for her. Brian has said that he will help me out. I know that some of my friends who work think that I have all this time on my hands and doing this for my mom shouldn't be an issue, but I don't. I might be a stay at home mom, but I am never home. I feel like I am constantly running errands or going in for a doctor's or dentist appointment or taking Miss K her and there for all the things she has going on. The good thing about us going over to help mom out is that she will get a chance to see Miss K. If you are a praying kind of person, my mom REALLY needs some prayers. Chemo is suppose to help you get better, but my mom seems to be getting worse with every treatment. She is on a two week cycle of Procrit. (I think that is how you spell it.) It's $5000. Thank you Jesus for insurance. Her part is $100. If she does not respond to the Procrit, they are going to have to do a blood transfusion and that has her really freaked out.

So...the next 10 days are going to be so freaking busy for us! Friday we have a Halloween party. I've got my goodie bags made up with the tags on them. I made 30 crafts for the kids to make. Ghost or Pumpkin on a stick. We are also doing the lollipop ghost. I have offered to take my friend Kennington's daughter with us. Saturday is a day to just get stuff done. We will head over to mom's and get some stuff done and then I have a couple of projects that need to be done. Sunday is our neighborhood Halloween Parade and Potluck. I am entering the pie contest, but I am not doing the chili. I'm making a peanut butter pie. It's my friend Kennington's recipe and it's a hit every time I make it. It's so easy. I wonder if they will take points off if I don't make my own crust?

Next week is just as busy with stuff going on EVERY single day. And before anyone asks...NO THE DANG SKIRT IS NOT DONE. Tomorrow Miss K will be wearing a skull and crossbones with a bow rhinestone t-shirt, skirt, hot pink leggings and her hot pink Converse high tops. That dang skirt WILL be done by Wednesday because she is wearing it to Awanas for Trunk or Treat. She is wearing it to school for the Halloween party and she is wearing it on Friday when we spend the afternoon at a friend's house hanging out for a playdate. I WILL FINISH THAT SKIRT. I WILL FINISH THAT SKIRT. I WILL FINISH THAT SKIRT!

And I don't want to even talk about my diet. I'm an emotional eater, so this week, since we've been home, I've not been real good about watching what I eat. Heck, I drank a sweet tea from Sonic today. I didn't even realized I ordered it until I took a sip. I ALWAYS order diet Coke. What's wrong with me? I don't even want to think about going in for my weigh in next Thursday. Ellen, my dietician is not going to be happy with me. I need to start journaling again so I am accountable for what I'm eating. I hate doing that. ARG.

Okay...I've complained and whined enough for tonight.

blog ya later.

Things I learned while on vacation.....

*no matter what, my child will get sick and/or hurt while on vacation. I don't think we have been on one trip yet where she hasn't gotten sick or hurt, or both. (My friend Margie can vouch for this since my child has gotten sick at her house two years in a row.)

*giving my child Triaminic is like giving someone speed. I will never give that stuff to her again.

*being showered and in your PJs by 6:30pm is not a bad thing!

*I don't care for seafood all that much. Now, if it was crawfish, I would be all over that. But I honestly don't care for seafood. And the fact that we spent over $100 for a dinner that I thought sucked made it even worse.

*I do actually like the beach. Growing up, the only beach we ever went to was Galveston Island. I was not a fan of the beach. My reasoning was, I hated the sand and all the places it ends up. Being in Destin made me realize that I love the beach.

*I could honestly spend all day sitting on the beach reading. Give me a chair, an umbrella, some sunblock, ice cold Coronas with fresh limes and a stack of books and I am all good.

*I seriously suck at applying sunblock. When it comes to my child, I am awesome at it. When it comes to applying it to my own person...not so much. This tends to lead to some interesting sunburns.

*No matter what...I am not going to get a tan. I'm a red head.

*having Sesame Street podcasts on your iPod will come in handy when your child gets bored while eating at aboved mentioned seafood restuarant.

*doing absolutely nothing while on vacation is totally acceptable!

*it's never too early to start planning the next beach vacation!

I don't want to go home....

We have one more full day here in beautiful Destin and then we have to head back home. I could cry just thinking about going home. And the funny thing is...I use to hate the beach. But you have to realize that the only beach I grew up visiting as a child was Galveston. Miss K refers to that as the 'dirty beach'. She refers to Destin as the 'clean beach'. We have had such a great time this year. Last year we were here for a week. And in that week, we spent less than 2 hours at the beach. We spent most of our time at the pool. This year, we spent 4 hours at the beach the first day! My child actually liked the sand this time. She is still a little scared of the ocean. More so today since she got knocked over by a wave and it freaked her out. She also had a little incident at the pool today. She was playing with one of those noodle things and next thing you know, she is float in the middle of the pool (the shallow part) and she can't get her footing. She started to panic and freaked out. Daddy saved her. But she has enjoyed walking down the beach looking for "dollars" (sand dollars) and other shells. All in all...it's been a perfect vacation....just like last year. My only complaint? Not long enough! I honestly could sit on the beach all day long just reading and people watching. I love to people watch. My college roommate, Becky and I use to go out to clubs and we LOVED watching people. And let me tell you....people watching on the beach is an interesting experience!

Tomorrow evening I am planning on taking Miss K over to the beach dresses in one of her white Strasburg dresses and taking her photo. I meant to do that last year when we were here, but since she freaked out anytime she set foot on the sand, that didn't happen! We are going out for seafood tomorrow as well. I'm not a huge seafood person, but I've been craving it since we got into town. I'm not sure where we are going just yet. I've gotten a couple of recommendations, but we haven't decided. Heck....we will probably just end up at Landry's since it is right here next to the condo.


I've read 3 1/2 books since we left for vacation. The 1/2 is a book I check out from the library on creative families. Like I need to add anymore projects to my life. Right now I am downloading music from iTunes to my iPod. One day I am going to have to share my play list. I listen to a wide range of music. As soon as I can put my hands on my Phantom of the Opera CD, I am going to add it. Right now I am listening to John Mayer's Slow Dancing in a Burning Room over and over again. I love that song. I'm not normally a Mayer fan, but I do like his voice and I do love this song.

Well...it's late and I need to get to bed. Blog ya later!

Just random stuff....

Still trying to get the skirt thing sorted out. I'm about 95% sure I think I know what I am suppose to do. My friend Margie emailed me back and said that what I "thought" I was suppose to do is correct. So, maybe I will get the fabric cut out when/if Miss K goes down for a nap. Right now she is watching Dora Saves the Snow Princess and is eating mac n' cheese for lunch. I know...I'm a lazy mom. But I did make her scrambled eggs for breakfast!

Nothing exciting going on here at Casa de Cross. Just random things...

*the rub ons for K's room came in. I need to get them up on the wall. I don't want them to stay rolled up too long. I need to paint the rack first. I really need to get that room completed so I can move onto another room...like my bathroom that will probably never get done. And the playroom.

*need to return the bathing suits I ordered from Land's End. Did not fit. I ordered two new ones, but I have no idea if they will be delivered in time.

*need to make my list for things to do/pack before we head out for Destin. I am so ready for vacation. I just wish my child was not sick.

*tons of laundry that needs to be done.

*K and I spent the entire day in our pjs. Didn't bother getting dressed. She was sick. What's the point?

*I'm a little irritated about something and it probably sounds stupid. When Miss K has a party at school, they have a sign up sheet for the mom's to bring stuff in. I am always one of the first people to drop off. I checked for the sign up sheet and it wasn't there. I came back for pick up and there it was and people had already signed up. What makes me mad is the same people sign up for the same thing everytime. And they sign up for the easy stuff. Juice and paper products. I don't think that is fair. I end up with a veggie tray almost everytime. I would love to bring in a $4 bottle of juice and not worry about it. But no, I've got to spent $15 on a veggies to make a tray. I think that sucks. Veggies and fruit are so dang expensive these days.

*found chairs for K's PBK table. Now I just need to decide what color to paint the playroom so I can decide which color chairs to order.

*there is a baby shower at K's school tomorrow for the director of the MDO program. I think K is going to have to miss school and that makes me sad. I still have to drop off the gift and food that I said I would bring. (I offered to do this...no sign up sheet!)

*need to decide how many books I am going to take with me to the beach. I love to read. I plan on reading a lot while I am there. I need at least one book, if not two for the ride up. One for each day we are there and then one or two for the ride back.

Okay...I need to go make my to do list. It's 11pm and I just put on a chicken to cook. I am making homemade chicken potpie for dinner tomorrow night along with a salad. I did not go to sleep until 5am this morning. K woke me up at 8. I got about an hour nap when I made K lay down.

Need to get some stuff done since while everyone is asleep.

Blog ya later.

Skirt smirt...

Yes, I am still talking about that dang skirt. I finally sat down this evening and pulled everything out. I looked at the tutorial that goes with the skirt. Let me first say...I am a visual person. I learn by SEEING something. This tutorial comes with photos. EXCEPT....she does not use the cutting layout that I need for this skirt and it does not make a lick of sense to me. I'm going to cry. Once I get the fabric cut out....I'm home free. Well...then there is the elastic. But heck...I can't even get to the point where I can cut the dang pattern out of the fabric.

Margie...if you are reading this. Can I email you the snapshot of the cutting layout and YOU tell me what I am suppose to do? I emailed the lady who did the tutorial and she is suppose to email me back with "help", but I can't wait forever. Maybe K can wear it NEXT Halloween. DANG IT! I am tempted to go to Joann's tomorrow with my fabric and my pattern and BEG someone to explain to me in remedial terms what the freaking layout means.

I. Am. A. Loser.

Blog ya later. Maybe. If this skirt doesn't do me in before I leave for vacation.

She said...

Miss K: Mommy, I'm sick.
Mommy: I'm sorry.
Miss K: I think you are going to have to get another K.
Mommy: WHAT?
Miss K: Get a new K from the baby doctor.

At that point, I didn't know what to say, so I just started laughing. I have no idea where she comes up with this stuff!

K and Brian watching the Cowboys game....
K: Daddy, all your friends are on TV.
Brian: All my friends?
K: Yes! Go Daddy's friends! (she yelled go because I sctarted screaming when the Cowboys sent the game into overtime.)

Dang it...I forgot I need to spend my Gymbuck! Off to do some online shopping.

Blog ya later.

Pumpkin Patch Pals

We are lucky enough to have a number of pumpkin patches that are local to us. We actually have 2 within five miles of our house. The big one that we like is always busy. So, I made sure that when we made plans to go today, we got there early. They opened at 9. We got there at 9:30. By 10....the place was packed! But the girls had a great time. This was probably the first real outing for my friend Kennington. Her son is 2 1/2 weeks old. I've been helping her out the past couple of weeks and I've been taking her daughter with us Monday, Wednesday and Friday just to hang out and play. Give Miss K someone to play with. Gets Miss L out of the house and gives Kennington a break. It's really been fun having both of them in the car riding together. We've been teaching Miss L new songs and she has been learning bible verses with Miss K while we ride around in the car. I usually run them until they are at the point that they are going to drop. Then I take L home and her mom says she passes out for a couple of hours. Perfect! Anyway....the pumpkin patch was great. It was hot thought. And I refused to take my child to the pumpkin patch in shorts and a t-shirt. It's fall dang it! I put her in a fall outfit. It was toasty, but she was fine. We found the perfect pumpkins. I could have gotten 5 pumpkins from Wal-Mart for the price I paid for one pumpkin at the patch. But, it's all about the experience of picking out your own pumpkin. And she picked up a ton of different ones too. Fun, fun. The thing I noticed when I was going through the photos from today, most of the photos of Miss K are a side view or of the dang back of her head. She's at that stage now that when she sees the camera come out, she either gives me one of those cheesy grins or she takes off running. Little brat!

Well....I have a house full of poker playing men. Brian is hosting poker night this week. Oh fun. I am going to read a book and veg out in bed.

Blog ya later!

Finally....

I have a cleaned off workspace in my dining room so that I can start Miss K's skirt. Friday morning Miss K and two of her friends are taking dance class in the morning to make up for a class that they have missed. Then we are going to take them to McD's and let them eat, play and run until they are about ready to drop. Then take them home and put them down for a nap. So, while Miss K naps, I will be cutting out my pattern and fabric. I'm a little nervous about this. This is the first time I've actually made a garment for someone to wear. I hope it turns out cute. I also got a plain white long sleeve t-shirt. I'm going to cut out a star in the same fabric and applique it to the front of the shirt. This is probably what she will wear to a couple of parties that we will be attending for Halloween. The director said they could wear their costumes to school, but I don't think that would be a good idea. So, the skirt will be a cute idea.

And, thank goodness I had to clean for bunco. I found a Gymboree receipt that I've been looking for. I need to return a couple of things I bought for K that don't fit and I couldn't find the receipt. I paid full price for them and now they are like 60% off.

Bunco went well. I ended up going with pizza which was not cheap because no one has that $5 for 5 special anymore. I spent $50 for pizza. Ick. That didn't include drinks, salad, dessert and alcohol. Bunco is not cheap. Thankfully...I'm done and I won't have to host again for another year!

I don't have a busy weekend planned. Brian is hosting poker at our house Saturday night, so I will have to do food for that. They are pretty easy though. He's also golfing on Sunday. My plans for this weekend are simple. Get the skirt done and start getting ready for vacation. I got notification that both of my bathing suit orders have shipped. I'm hoping that I can get over to the spa and get a pedicure before we head out Thursday. I am not looking forward to the drive, but I can not wait to get to Destin. I love the condo that we are staying in. We stayed there last year. When I told Miss K we were going to the beach she told me, "I want to go to the clean beach. I don't want to go to the dirty beach." I am assuming that by the dirty beach, she is referring to Galveston Island since that is where we went last year for vacation with the entire family. We went to Destin after we went to Galveston. (No offense to Galveston Island at all. I grew up there and spent many a summer on that beach. But Destin is so much prettier!)

I must go to sleep. I had one margarita and I feel like I drank a gallon. My head is already pounding. This means tomorrow will probably not start out so well. ARG.

Blog ya later.

I've been tagged

I was tagged awhile ago by my friend Lianna, but I had to come up with seven random/weird facts about myself. I think I am pretty much a boring person, so this is probably going to be a bit on the boring side. Sorry if I bore anyone to sleep!

*I read an obscene amount of books. If I could do nothing but sit around all day and read, I would. My idea of a perfect vacation is me, a comfy place to sit/lay, a stack of books and some peace and quiet. And I read a lot of junk. Romance mainly. Brian calls it trash. I love chick lit too. I belong to a book club and they don't normally read things I would usually pick on my own, so I do read other things. I also have a friend that is an English teacher and I routinely check out what she is reading and will add a couple of those to my ever growing stack of books. The stack next to my bed is tall. I use to buy books by the bag fulls, but now I visit the library a couple of times a week. I also use Paperback Book Swap and Books Free. Thankfully I am married to a man who loves to read. Miss K is showing signs of loving books as much as we do.

*In my head I know how I want to decorate, paint and organize my house. But for some reason, I can't get the image in my head to become a reality. I'm working on this.

*I have major issues with completing projects. I've blogged about this one more than one occasion. I don't think there is any need to elaborate on this.

*I don't sleep. I want to sleep. I love sleep. Sleep is awesome. I just don't sleep. I started a clinical study in December and this is one of the side effects of the meds. They gave me sleeping pills, but they make me sluggish and I can't function. Believe it or not, I can function better without sleep than I can when I take the sleeping pills.

*I love to shop, but I hate to spend money on clothes for myself. I am a BARGAIN shopper. I am always looking for sales. I VERY rarely pay full price for clothing or shoes for myself. Now, when it comes to my child, I have no problem paying $100 for a dress that she will wear a couple of times. And I have a serious Gymboree addiction. I've known people who have to buy EVERY single piece of each line. I am no where near that bad, but I still have an addiction!

*I am addicted to Diet Coke. Before I started my diet, I would only drink Coke and sweet tea. As soon as I started the diet, I stopped drinking coke and tea all together. I made the switch to Diet Coke. Now, I can't drink anything else. We went to dinner last night at Chili's last night and the waitress accidentally brought me a Coke. I thought I was gag. It's just too dang sweet. But, there is an exception....I can not drink caffeine free diet coke. It makes me sick to my stomach. Unfortunately, the Chick-fil-a's around here only sell caffeine free diet coke. So, when we eat there, I have them mix the regular with the CF diet.

*This is probably going to sound really strange and I am not sure I can even explain this correctly. When I am watching a TV show or movie and I know that there is about to be an embarrassing scene coming up, I sometimes will change the channel. Why? Because I get embarrassed for that person. How weird am I? I hate seeing anyone embarrassed. It's a goofy quirk.

So, now I have to tag seven people. This is hard because I don't think but a handful of people even read my blog to begin with. I'll try. I'm going to tag my friend Margie over Missing Old Friends and meeting new ones and her sister Michelle at Pyrochan's World: Burning the Ground, my neighbor Ellen at Welcome to my blog. Won't you come on it?, my wildly hilarious friend Renee at Renee's Rambling of Page, Jack and Daisies, my newly expecting friend Jill at Our Life on Georgetown Drive, my super sweet friend Tracie at My Happy Life, and my other scrappy friend, Jennifer at Yes, I am Blessed.

Blog ya later!

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!

We are going on vacation! Back to Destin. Thank you hubby for telling me, "we're going, make the reservation" when I was on the fence about the whole thing. I just didn't want to spend the money. It will be money well spent. Plus, K will be out of school on Fall break. We had such a fantastic time last year when we went. I was bummed when Brian said he couldn't get off for vacation in October. So, this morning I ordered Miss K and I both new swimsuits. The ones she has are all too small and since I've lost almost 50 pounds...both of mine are too big. (go me!) I got her this way cute mermaid one at Land's End. I also got mine at Land's End, but it's just a plain black tank suit. I've heard a lot of people say how great these suits are. Hope they are right. Hope the suits fit both of us and I hope they get here in time. I need to get working on my list of things to do/pack/schedule for our trip. I've already got my pet sitter lined up. I'm lucky enough to have a young lady in my neighborhood who loves my dog. She walks Maxie twice a week for us. And she enjoys taking care of my bad cats too. She's wants to be a vet when she grows up, so she likes doing the pet sitting thing. Plus, her mom is one of my bunco friends, so I totally trust her. But, before I can really get into my plan making. I need to get ready for bunco. The only thing I've done so far is get all the prizes and my paper goods for dinner. I have no idea what I am cooking. I went from chili to to tacos and now I am thinking of just taking the easy way out and ordering pizza! And I've got cleaning to do. Lord do I have cleaning to do!

Well...I've wasted too much time on here today. Got to get going. Have to pick K up from school in an hour.

blog ya later!

I'm loving this weather

One thing I don't miss about living in Texas is the weather. Tennessee weather is great. The leaves are starting to change, so the colors are amazing. I'm taking Miss K and one of her friends to the park tomorrow, so I'm making sure that I take my camera so that I can get some photos. I've really slacked off on taking photos lately. Not good.

This weekend was nice. We had a birthday party to attend. Miss K was so cute. She handed all the presents to the birthday girl for her to open. It was so sweet. She also got a chance to kick a soccer ball around while we were there. She's a natural! I'm going to stop at Target on the way to the park tomorrow to get her a soccer ball. She loved it. I'm planning on signing her up for soccer in the spring. I hope it is something that she enjoys.

Sunday was a day spent getting stuff ready for storage. All the water stuff has been cleaned and is packed. Just needs to be put into the garage. But let's not talk about the garage. It's the place where stuff goes and is never seen again! We're actively working on that. One good thing happened today....all my yard work is done and I didn't even have to lift a finger. I love my husband for hiring a landscaper. And I tell you what, nothing makes your yard look better than fresh mulch. So, while the guy was doing the beds, I got my mums potted, my front porch cleaned off and my pumpkin door mat out. The front of the house looks great. The inside...not so great. And I've got a lot of work to do before Thursday because I've got bunco here. So, I still need to clean and I need to decide what I am going to cook. I was going to do chili, but I'm thinking not now. Heck...I might just order pizza. I hate to do that, but Thursdays are busy for me because Miss K has school and dance that day and she isn't done with dance until 5:30 and bunco starts at 6:30. Although, I think Brian said he could pick her up on his way home from work. We shall see...

Well...I need to get off this dang computer. I need to make my list of things that need to be done tomorrow. Miss K keeps begging me to plant flowers, so I am going to pick up some pansies for her to plant in the backyard. Brian and I are watching Amazing Race. (we can not stand Terrance!) Cold Case comes on next. We are picking up the living room and bubble wrapping the pieces of K's crib that need to be stored. She sees them in the hallway and keeps asking for her little bed. Sorry kiddo, I gave the mattress away to a friend's brother.

Blog ya later! (with pictures!)

SCORE!!!

Even though I am not doing the yard sale, there are a couple of things I am looking for. Since we are redoing our guest room into a playroom, we are getting rid of our desk, therefore we have no place for our files. I talked to my neighor tonight and told her I wasn't doing the sale, but I would be out in the morning for coffee and to look around. I mentioned I was looking for a 2 drawer filing cabinet. About 8:15 this evening, I got a call from the same neighbor. Her friend who is doing the sale with her brought over a filing cabinet! $2! YES!!! Then I saw this jumbled thing in a cardboard and I got excited. See...when I was buying stuff for Miss K's room, I got a lot of the stuff at Bombay before they closed. I fell in love with this antique white and pink chandelier. It was $100 and I was not going to spend that. I just couldn't justify it. But it goes PERFECTLY with the theme in her room. IT WAS IN THE CARDBOARD BOX MARKED $7! Brand new, never used! I scooped it up. It belonged to my friend. Then she pulled me aside and told me that since I had basically clothed her daughter for the first year of her life with all of Miss K's clothes to just take the chandelier. YES!! It's going to look so freaking cute in her room!!! I think in the morning I am going to get up and pull some of my big stuff out and take it across the street. My friend said that she would sell it for me. I've got some baby stuff I need to get rid. The little stuff is going to Goodwill.

Okay...I've been up since 5:30 this morning, so I am off to bed.

Blog ya later!

Hollye's Code of Holiday Conduct

I'm funny about holiday stuff. I won't put out Fall/Halloween stuff until October 1st. I REFUSE to put out anything Christmas related until December 1st. I will not even listen to Christmas music until December 1st. Well, here is it October 3rd and I am currently playing a Christmas CD in my truck. Faith Hill has a new CD out and it is Christmas music. It's sort of big band and I actually like it. Today was the first time that O'holy Night has made me cry. But, to be honest, I've had a rough couple of days, so I am good for a good crying episode!

Well...I made the decision to NOT garage sale this time. I'm going to sort, make lists and cart it all off to Goodwill. I've got some big ticket items that I will be listing on Craigslist. I'm also going to be selling a lot of Miss K's clothes. I donated a lot of stuff, but this is her Gymboree stuff, Janie & Jack, and boutique stuff that I refuse just to give to Goodwill. So, I'm hoping to get clothes washed and sorted this weekend and next week. My child has WAY too many clothes. I got upset because I couldn't find anything nice in my closet to wear out to dinner last night. Miss K has an entire closet full of new clothes, not to mention her dresser is full as well! I think once I lose 11 more pounds, I am going to have to buy some clothes that fit. I am tired of walking around with baggy butt jeans. Sad thing...I've also got a closet full of clothes and about 80% off it doesn't fit anymore.

Well, I need to go see what sort of destruction my child has left in the spare bedroom. We are in the process of making that room a playroom, so it's just a mess in there and she does her best to get into things that she KNOWS she isn't suppose to be messing with! Dang kid.

Blog ya later.

It wasn't bad at all...

So, the bra shopping wasn't bad at all. I was actually a little irritated. I walked into the store, started digging around in the drawers looking for what I thought might be my size. I grab a couple and head to the dressing room. The dressing room is right next to the register. There were three women working there. Did not say a single word to me. I found a bra that fit (2 sizes smaller than I wore last time I bought bras! GO ME!) I checked out and the only thing the sales girl said was, "would you like to apply for one of our credit cards?" Woman, have you not been watching the news? The LAST thing I need is a damn credit card! So, very uneventful shopping experience until......I took Miss K to Gymboree. I ordered a TON of stuff on line and never tried it on her. I knew that some of the stuff was not going to fit and I needed to exchange it, but I needed to try the stuff on her. The trying on was no problem at all. Until she needed to go to the potty. She went willingly to the bathroom, but the minute she saw the toilet, she lost it. I actually held her while she was sitting on it and she was FREAKING out. So, I had to go out to the truck and get the Royal Potty. Damn potty. The things we do for our children. I look like such a goof ball carrying a potty into a restroom that has a working toilet! So, after that I got her calmed down. When we got there, we were the only people in the store, so Miss K had to run of the place. She set her the chairs in front of the TV the way she likes them. (She put them in a certain order by color and lines them up like a train.) There are 3 chairs. One little girl. Happy, happy. Then in came a family with 3 or 4 kids. I can't remember. K was sitting in the orange chair hanging out. I asked her to stand up so I could try a dress on her. She stood next to the chair while I put the dress on her. I guess the little boy assumed that he could take the chair and sat in it. K flipped out. I am not one to correct someone else's children, so I told K we had to share. It just got worse from that point on. Screaming. I had them hold the stuff I want to get with my Gymbucks and we left. We get outside and she is begging me not to take her home. She doesn't want to go home. I think she thought I was going to make her take a nap. I'm not even going to fight that battle with her.

Goals didn't go so well today....

*got 3 loads of laundry done
*cooked dinner - turkey tenderloin, rice, green beans

That's it. I wasted a whole day and got nothing done. Loser.

Tomorrow is another day. Blog ya later.

I'm pissed, but it's my fault.

I have cats. One of them is the meanest cat in the world, Socks. Miss K refers to her as "mean cat". And she lives up to that name in every way. She was a happy and sweet kitten when we got her. Then I made this mistake of bringing home a second cat. I honestly don't think she ever forgave me for that. Tabby, who my dog walker, Delaynie has renamed "Meow's Alot" is one of the sweetest cats, but she is so lovable sometime that it can drive you nuts. And Tabby is one hairy cat. And if she gets stressed out...she sheds...a lot. Once I brought home Maxie, the first cocker spaniel, Socks became Satan's spawn. And when Betty Boop, the rescue cocker spaniel came to live with us, it was all out WAR. She's just a mean old cat. I think she is something like 12 years old. She's lost a number of teeth, but she can still bite pretty hard. And she makes it a point to bite my toes if she sees them sticking out from under the blankets when I am in bed. And she only bites me. Miss K is smart enough to stay away from her. And the dang cat doesn't hiss, she spits. It truly sounds like she is spitting at you when she gets mad.

ANYWAY...back to the point of this blog post... Two goals this week were to spend time cleaning the garage and the craft room. I sorted a couple of boxes in the garage earlier today and this evening I started working in the craft room. I keep the doors in there shut at all times, so I have no idea WHEN this happened, but I picked up a canvas bag that was sitting on a box FULL of paper. The damn cat peed on it. On the bag. Thankfully, it didn't get on anything else. At this point, I am angry. But the ONLY person I have to blame is myself. No one else. Then I pick up some home dec fabric that I bought to make drapes for my dining room. The damn cat peed on it too! I was so mad. And I KNOW that it was Socks. She is the one who does stuff like that. Tabby will just cry and cry if her litter box needs to be cleaned. Oh my goodness that cat is annoying when she wants something. Socks on the other hand is an agent of the devil sent here to torture me. I'm quite certain of this. And, I am not the type of person who gets rid of animals, but if I could find a home where I know that Socks would be well taken care of, I would give her away. She needs to be an only animals in a house. Our house has another cat and a dog. (Betty Boop passed away in May.)

Again...back to the point. If there weren't PILES of stuff all over my craft room, the dang cat wouldn't be peeing on stuff. ARG! And at this point, I seem to be just moving piles of stuff around. We are suppose to have a garage sale this weekend. I was planning on using the money to pay for part of my embroidery machine that I want to get. But I am seriously thinking of just making 500 trips up the street to the local Goodwill and giving everything to them and not messing with the yard sale. Brian keeps telling me that the tax write off it worth so much more than we will make in cash. At this point, I am SERIOUSLY considering it. But, if I go the Goodwill route, I have to set a deadline for getting all the crap out of the garage. What to do...what to do?

As for my goals today...
*I spent about an hour and 45 minutes working in the craft room and the garage. Almost two hours.
*I made dinner. Whole wheat pasta spaghetti. I'm really trying to like it, but it tasted like stale pasta to me. I've already got everything together for dinner tomorrow night.
*I took my book club book to the park with me. That's as close to reading as I got today. I have a feeling that I am not going to get the reading done. Which at this point doesn't matter a whole lot because I am not sure I am going to be able to attend the meeting anyway. I've got so much stuff to do.
*K's Halloween skirt? I've taken the pattern out of the envelope and looked at it. I also read the tutorial that I have for making the skirt from that specific pattern.

I think that's about it. I took Miss K and her friend for a playdate. We had Dippin' Dots ice cream at 10:30 this morning. Yes, I know, I'm going to be voted Mom of the Year for that. Then we went to the park and had a picnic and played on the playground. It was a fun day. Miss K goes to school tomorrow, so will be home working on stuff.

Sorry to be so long winded... Blog ya later!