Abbyism!

A conversation between Abby and a little boy playing at Chick Fil A!

Abby: What is your name?
Boy: Charlie!
Abby: Just like Charlie Brown, right??

They are ALL sleeping!!!!

I'm the only one that is awake and working!!! Even Papa is sleeping!!! I guess the football game wore him out! I wonder who won the game!!

By the way, we had another Hannah Montana Sleepover last night!! My girl loves them sleepovers. She told me this morning that she fell out of the bed last night. I remember a commotion but I didn't realize that she actually fell out of the bed. I know that she is a rough sleeper, so I chalked it up to that. She also snuggled up close to me during the night. I asked her if she did that because she fell out of the bed, and she said yes.

I'm really glad that she is taking a nap today because her incentive today is to go play outside. We are working on cleaning out our flower beds outside and she really enjoys helping me. Whatever makes you happy baby...That's what I say. Plus it doesn't hurt to have a little help in the garden!!
Lata....

Fall weather (I'm a sissy) and Gumbo

The weather here has started to cool off. I'm not sure if it a fluke because even for central Alabama this seems pretty early. Being from South Louisiana, I'm accustomed to Christmas' in shorts. I'm seriously considering making a gumbo either tonight or tomorrow night. My body still hasn't adjusted. It just doesn't seem right to make a gumbo in September. Gumbo's are for December- February.

I need to clean out the fireplace again, because we still have wood in it from last winter. I know, I'm lazy. Actually, I was hoping that Eric would do it and he hasn't done it yet. I also need to buy some firewood so that we will be ready.

My body isn't ready for cool weather. This morning, I walked Eric out and the thermometer read 48. I crawled back into bed after turning the heat up a little to knock the chill out. I know I'm a sissy!!!

Although, it does warm up in the afternoon, I'm still not up for it. It also reminds me that I'm an outsider. Everyone here seems to love this cool weather. Me, not so much!! I don't hate it, but I would rather it be warm. I guess that is why summer is my favorite season.

It is also hard to dress for the day when it is 50 in the morning and 80 in the afternoon. I guess that's why they invented jackets. Anyway, moral of the story...Gumbo at my house tomorrow night!!

Hannah Montana Party

Ok...so it was just Abby, Ryan, and me, but it was still fun. A couple of months ago, Disney channel aired the concert in 3D and it was pretty cool. We went to Wal-mart and picked up our 3D glasses. Abby was so excited. Actually, I've never seen her that excited before.




After the concert, we had a sleepover, except Ryan wasn't invited to the sleepover (sorry kid). Here are some pics from the sleepover:

Little Gangsta's

Ok...so I listen to rap music in the car with the kids. Not the hardcore rap and most of what I listen to is on the radio so it is edited, but it is still rap. The ringtone on my cell phone is Low by Flo-Rida. Everytime it rings Ryan sings and dances and everytime the song plays on the radio he screams phone.

Abby sings the Low song too and today she was singing Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis. She also loves Hannah Montana. We have to listen to the cd on the way to school and if Mommy would let on the way home too. Stay tuned for our Hannah Montana party post!!! (Exciting I know)

So the question is am raising culturally diverse individuals or just gangsta's???

Patriot Day

In honor of Patriot Day, I wanted to write a post about how I feel 7 years later. First of all, I told Abby about it this morning, complete with pictures from a book. She seemed to really understand (she understands a lot for her age). I didn't show her any gory pictures(in case you were wondering). But I did tell her that some bad people crashed airplanes into the WTC. Her reaction: "That makes me sad!!" I haven't gotten the why's yet, but I'm glad because I'm not sure that I want to explain that part to her. The flag at her school was at half mast, as was the flag at the car dealership that we went to today (that is another post, look for it soon). She didn't really notice that the flag at her school was at half mast, but she did notice the one at the car dealership (it is a really huge flag). She asked me, "Why isn't the flag all the way at the top??" I told her, "Remember what we talked about earlier? How those planes crashed into those buildings? We need to remember that. When you see at flag the is in the middle of the pole, you need to remember that something happened." She told me again, that it mad her sad to think of people crashing planes into the buildings. (That is all the details that I gave her BTW. I didn't really want her talking about it all day and I'm not sure if I really want her to understand it completely right now.)

Anyway, back to my feelings...I'm sure most of us remember exactly what we were doing when we heard the news. I was in my last semester in college. I had an 8 am class that morning. Normally, I ran late, but that morning for some reason I was a little early.

I remember that I parked my car at 7:45 and I walked straight to class. Class went on as usual because no one had heard the news yet. Before my 9:45 class started someone walked in and said that the "World Trade Center Towers had collapsed" and that was it. No elaboration or anything. BTW, this person wasn't very trustworthy, so I (being a skeptic) didn't think twice about it. Actually, I did think twice about it. I thought, how do TWO buildings fall down on the same day? This guy must be an idiot. After that class, Eric and I met up on campus as we usually do. We headed straight for the McDonald's near campus (because there was a TV there) and we were glued to the tube for most of the afternoon. I think that we both must have left at some point because we did have other classes to attend that day and I had work.

I don't remember anything after the McD's trip until I arrived at work. Everyone there was glued to the television also.

Next thing that I remember is getting home. My sister had the TV on and she was watching MTV News. WHAT??? Oh no this was not acceptable. Had my mother been there it would have been on CNN. I immediately changed the channel to some sort of normal news program and I watched the news come in all through the night.

My feelings today are somewhat similar to those that I felt on that day. The utter sadness has changed with time. I am no longer brought to tears by the pictures and accounts of what happened. Though, I did feel a little choked up this morning by the presidents speech at the Pentagon, I held it together. (No matter who you are, whether you like him or not, he was the President on that day and he, along with Guiliani, helped this nation through that tough time.)

Two years ago on 9/11, hubby and I watched World Trade Center with Nicholas Cage (we weren't actually with him). I think that everyone needs to watch this movie. I was particularly impressed with how they added in some comedic interludes at just the right time in the movie. I was really expecting to cry through the whole movie, but I didn't. The movie showed the true heroism and courage that all involved had within them.

I hope that everyone had their moment of silence and remembered (or tried to remember) exactly how they felt on the dreadful day. I know that I did (can you tell?)

Ok...I think that I'm done now. But before I go I want to leave you with this http://www.cassyfiano.com/2008/09/remembering-9-11-2. It is a blog I found while searching for 9/11 material. I thought it was very good. Hope you do too. And also, my song of choice for today would be Have You Forgotten? by Darryl Worley. Check it out!!!

Death by Butter Knife!?!?

I had no idea a butter knife could do so much damage!!! I was trying to open a new bottle of mayo and somehow my thumb came into contact with the sharpest part of a butter knife and it hurts like hell!!!

Moral of the story: Though it may look dull, don't underestimate its power!!!

Gustav (in a nutshell)!!!

Gustav was no Katrina or Rita that just goes to show ya when women get mad they break shit but when men get mad they just talk shit!!!!

Disclaimer: These are not my words but if I would have to describe this storm, this is how I would do it!!!

I love it!!!!

Please read these letters very carefully.


Letter #1: From Senator Barack H. Obama:

Dear (Former) President Putin:

I'm sorry to be writing this e-mail instead of meeting you in person, preferably in the Oval Office, where I belong. Soon, soon.

Nevertheless, and notwithstanding the foregoing, I felt it imperative that I express my concern about Russia's invasion of the tiny, democratically elected sovereign nation of Georgia.

It would appear that you are not familiar with my platform for change and hope War does not fit into this template and I am quite frankly at a loss for words to express my distress.

As the chosen leader of a new generation of Americans who speak a global language of peace, hope, harmony and change, this is simply unacceptable. Quite frankly, your actions pose potentially severe, long-term consequences I'm not sure what those might be, but they might not be nice or fun.

Please picture me looking very serious when I say that I respectfully request you to calm down. Life is but a flicker in time and we're but actors strutting and fretting. That is to say, we're all on this planetary journey together and our karma is interrelated and interdependent. Thus, it would seem that our differences are best resolved through words, not bombs.

It is said that war is a failure of diplomacy. I would submit that it is also counterintuitive. If my Kenyan father and my Kansan mother and my multinational upbringing taught me anything, it is that we are all One. That said, I am The One the world has been waiting for -- and you are, quite frankly, blocking my chi.

As soon as possible, I'd like to sit down and begin talking about how we can resolve these and other differences that threaten peace-loving people, which I'm sure includes you. I haven't looked into your eyes and would never presume to know your soul, but I do know that we share a common humanity and that we can all just get along.

Please do not fail me; I absolutely do not want to have to unleash the United Nations to deal with a matter which may be so easily resolved by two humanitarians such as you and I.

Yours in Global Harmony, President [in waiting] Barack Hussein Obama



Letter # 2: From Senator John McCain:

Hey, Putin.

Don't make me come over there.

McCain

One More Week

Let me preface this by saying that I was so excited when school (if you can call it that at 2 years old) let out for the summer. I wanted Abby to be here so we could do all kinds of fun things. I hope that she thought they were fun because it sure wore me out. This summer didn't go by very fast but we sure did a lot of things. I made sure that we were at the waterpark at least once a week. I also made sure that we went to the free movies, at least the ones that were worth it. I also made sure that we had our downtime at home.

Now that our summer is winding down and coming to an end, I am excited to say that I will have some free time on my hands. On Tuesday's and Thursday's, both kids will be in school and I will be alone for the first time in almost 2 years. Don't get me wrong, I love being with my kids, but it will be so awesome that I will have some alone time too. This summer, I have to at least two moms night's out. While they did help me to relax and spend time with grown ups, I still felt like I needed a little more time to myself. I am positive that I will be able to focus more on being a good mother to them and not get so irritated and short tempered. I will also get a lot more sewing done in this new found free time.

Odd Woman Out

Ok...so it is offical. I am the odd woman out. I found out a couple of weeks ago that my SIL is pregnant. She is due at the end of March. I just found out today that my sister is pregnant. She is due at the end of April. I just realized today that I am jealous. Not in a vengeful (sp) kind of way, but still. I am in no way ready for another child right now, but I do know that I would love to have another child someday. Anyway, I just want to say congratulations to these two wonderful ladies. Yay, I get to be an aunt twice in one year!!!!!!!!!! Geaux Me!!!!

I miss.....

I never thought I would be saying this, but I miss home. Louisiana that is. I miss everything about it...the weather, the streets, the partying, the festivals, and the food.

It is like they say, "You don't miss something until it is gone." Well that is how I feel. When we lived there, I hated that it was so humid and hot. Now that we live in Alabama, I miss the Louisiana hot (if that makes any sense). I absolutely miss the food and especially all the wonderful Cajun restaurants. Fezzo's was awesome. I have got to eat there next time we visit. I also miss Evangeline Maid bread. There is something about this bread. Every single person in Lafayette eats Evangeline Maid bread. Over here, we buy the Sunbeam bread and it is fairly close to EM but not close enough to say it is awesome.

I can't say that I miss my Community Coffee because when we moved here I bought a bunch of coffee and I haven't run out of it yet. I will have to get another stock up the next time we visit though.

What made me think of this post and realize that I truly missed home was for some reason I thought of the curve on Gloria Switch Road. We used to live off of GS Road and Abby used to go to the daycare that was at the curve. This came to mind and I just started thinking of all the things that I miss about Lafayette. Of course I haven't mentioned yet, but the thing I miss most is my family.

Menu Plan Monday-August 18-24

Ok...so I didn't post a menu last week. I wanted to but by the time I got around to it, it was already Wednesday. To say the least, we had a very busy week last week. I had a pool party on Monday, Tuesday was shopping day, Wednesday was a back to school party, Thursday we went to the planetarium and then to lunch, Friday was a playgroup at a friends house, and Saturday was a park playdate. It was a very busy week, but it was very fun and we did eat really good.

I am sooooo trying to space meals about two or even three weeks apart so that we don't feel like we are eating the same things over and over again. If some things look like they have been on a menu recently please forgive me. We are very picky people and it is hard to find new meals that everyone will love. Here goes this week's menu...

Monday--Round Steak and Gravy over Rice, Baked Beans (This is my favorite meal so if it were up to me we would eat this 365 days a year.)

Tuesday--Leftovers

Wednesday--Chicken Stew, rice, and green beans

Thursday--Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes

Friday--Breakfast night--Pancakes

Saturday--Crispy Stuffing Coated Chicken Breasts and Corn

Sunday--Beef Stew (I am going to try the recipe from the book Deliciously Deceptive)

Well I hope that you enjoyed your visit and don't forget to check out I'm an Organizing Junkie!!!

PS Here are a few blogs that are in the works for me. Abby and I had a Hannah Montana Party here a couple of weeks ago and I want to put up pics and write about it. We are also having a princess party on Wednesday. I will be posting pics and telling about our fun filled time. Anyway, have a good week.

Tylenol PM woes!!!

Ok so I have this sinus thing going on and it is not fun. During the day, I have been taking Tyenol Sinus and last night I decided to take Tylenol PM. I guess I thought that if I slept really good, maybe I could shake the sinus thing. Well, first of all, I DID NOT shake the sinus thing and secondly, I got almost no sleep at all. I woke up around 1 a.m. and absolutely could not go back to sleep. Not only could I not go back to sleep but I felt like I needed to move my arms. It was more of a restlessness. Of course, I woke hubby up. I didn't even realize that I was awake until he pulled me close to him. (I guess he thought I would stop tossing and turning if he was holding me.)

By the time 2 a.m. rolled around, I had had enough. I took some Benadryl thinking maybe that would work. Well, that didn't knock me out like would have hoped. I pulled the book out and started reading until the Benadryl kicked in. I guess that it did kick in because I didn't wake up until 9:00 this morning. Any other day this would have been a problem, but this morning I had help with the kids because my mom is here. Thank GOD for that!!!!

Menu Plan Monday-August 4-9

Again, last week went fairly smoothly. The Catalina Chicken did not turn out well at all though. Each time that I make this, it tastes different. I will put it on the menu one more time and if it doesn't taste right next time, it is out!!! Breakfast night is really a big hit over here. My plan was to do eggs and bacon (I love me some eggs and bacon) but I was overruled. Everyone wanted pancakes again. We had pancakes!!! Here is the plan for this week. My mom will be in town so she will be able to help me with some new recipes. Yay!!!

Monday--Hamburgers on the grill

Tuesday--Jambalaya

Wednesday---Leftovers

Thursday---Szechuan BBQ Chicken (Blue Momma's Recipe)

Friday---Chicken Nuggets and French Fries

Saturday---TBA

Sunday---Breakfast Night---Eggs and Bacon (Hopefully:-)

Hope you have a delicious week!!! Thanks for stopping by and check out my two favorite organizing and shopping blogs.
I'm an Organizing Junkie and Why ask Why... Carlie has been helping me cut my grocery bill down. I haven't saved as much money as her but 1-I don't get the paper anymore and 2-I don't buy it if I don't use it (meaning we are pretty brand specific people and won't use the off brand very much. If anybody has any other links or ideas on saving money on groceries, it would be much appreciated.

Not so good!!

Abby really had a rough day yesterday. For some reason, she wouldn't listen and she kept hitting Ryan. He is discovering how to talk and he keeps saying "Mine". Well, Abby doesn't like this one bit. Every time he says it, she either says it back to him or hits him. I know CRAZY!!! Most of the time there is nothing there when they say MINE. Even more crazy!!!

Ryan had his 18 month check up yesterday. He weighs 28 lbs and is 34 inches tall. He is in the 75th percentile for his weight and 90th percentile for his height. I guess he will be tall. The doctor said that he doing well. I also had a list of questions to ask him about Ryan. Things like: Is it ok that he drinks all the time? I fill his sippy cup and not 5 minutes later it is empty. I also asked the doctor about the screaming. Some of you know......THE SCREAM that comes out of my child. I asked the doctor if Ryan could really hear himself as loud as we do. (Thinking that maybe he had some hearing problems.) NOPE just being a boy. If he can get a reaction out of you or someone else by screaming, then he will scream.

Conclusion: I have perfectly normal children who scream, hit, disobey, and drink constantly. Kids what cha gonna do with em??? Love em right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I do....I sooooo do. (Even though it wasn't an awesome day.)

Menu Plan Monday-July 28-August 3, 2008

Well, last week was great again and dinner was on the table every night at around 6 or 6:30 as opposed to 7:30 or 8. This is good because the kids aren't as cranky and they are more willing to try the dinner that is placed in front of them. Anyway, here is the menu for this week.

Monday-Round Steak, Rice and Gravy with Baked Beans

Tuesday-Catalina Chicken with Mashed Potatoes

Wednesday-Leftovers

Thursday-Spaghetti and Meatballs, green beans and garlic bread

Friday-Breakfast night-Eggs and Bacon with toast

Saturday-Leftovers

Sunday-Mac and Cheese and Fishsticks


Check out I'm an Organizing Junkie for more menu plans and organizing tips.

Day 2 of Fun in the Sun

Today was our second day of Fun in the Sun!!! I didn't really plan on being in the sun this much all in one week, but that is what happened.

Yesterday, we went to the waterpark because I just realized that the waterpark will be closed during the week after August 8th. With that in mind, we will be at the waterpark a lot in the next couple of weeks.

We really had a good time yesterday. We started out at the wave pool which has a beach area and that got kinda crazy. All Ryan wanted to do was run away from me. So, we headed to the kiddie area. The kids really have a blast in this area. We stayed there for a little while and then we went in the lazy river. I have finally found out what works to get two kids in the lazy river and not having any drownings. They both had arm floaties and they both had rings around their waist. We stayed in the lazy river for two and a half rounds. That was pretty cool. When we got out of the river, we were in the old kids area so we checked it out a bit. Abby is still too young to play in this area, but I wanted to see what it was all about.

Ryan had a blast going down the "big" slide in the kiddie area. The only things that went wrong were one time I put him down on the concrete. He didn't have his footing just right and he fell and scraped his knee. Then a bigger kid was not watching where he was going and pretty much ran over Ryan. After that, Ryan had enough and decided that he wanted Momma to hold him the rest of the time. Momma said "I don't think so!! I think it is time to leave." So off we went. Of course, Abby didn't want to go. By the time we walked to the car she was ready. Of course, Ryan fell asleep on the way home.

Today, was day 2. We went to a friend's house for a pool party. It was really fun. Again, I put both kids in arm floaties and rings and it worked really well. I had more luck this time with bringing two kids to the pool and not being stressed out. Anyway, Abby did her own thing and Ryan was trying to do his own thing. All Ryan wants to do is do what Abby is doing, so I have to separate them so that he doesn't see what she is doing. Most of the time, he is not capable of doing what she does. Anyway, Ryan and I found our groove after eating a bunch of snacks.

Stay tuned for more fun in the sun as our summer quickly comes to an end.

PS I know that public schools start the first or second week of August, but my kids don't start school until September 1st. We will have almost a whole month with pretty much nothing to do. Even the free movies are finished the first week in August!!! This will save a lot of money on gas, though!!!

Help I have OCD

Hi!!! My name is Candice and I have a problem. I have a terrible case of OCD. I like to do things a certain way and if it doesn't go that way, I have trouble breathing. I know it sounds crazy but it's true. My house doesn't have to be in perfect order but certain things do have to be in a certain place.

Well, apparently, I am passing this on to my daughter. We had visitors this weekend and she told her Paw-Paw that he needs to put the seat back down when he leaves the bathroom. Now, this is the same girl that not even a week ago went to the potty and lifted up both seats. She was about the fall into the toilet when I got there. I asked her why she lifted them both up and she said, "That's what AJ (her cousin) does!!!" While that is true, my girl was holding on to the cabinet next to the toilet for dear life.

Anyway, back to the OCD thing. Papa folded some towels and I had to go and scream into a pillow. While he did fold them, they have to be folded a certain way or they will not fit into the cabinet. He sooooo did not fold them the right way. Anyway, that's all I have for now. Tune in next time and I will probably give you more OCD moments to laugh about.

Lata gata!!!

"Golf" of Mexico

I know that I didn't spell it like the body of water but I did that on purpose. You see, Abby has this thing where she just makes up a name for something. Her and Ryan have this set of toy golf clubs and they love to play with them. Well, the other day she told me that she forgot to put away her golf of mexico. Yes she said it just like that. At first I didn't know what she was talking about until I looked outside and her golf set was out in the yard.

Then today, she was putting away her skates and she saw Papa's golf clubs. "Momma, look!! That is Papa's "golf" of Mexico." Now you understand why I call her crazy girl.

Menu Plan Monday

Last week went pretty much according to the plan. The only thing that we deviated from was the Red Beans and Rice so I will add that to the menu this week. Here it goes...

Monday---Red Beans and Rice with Sausage

Tuesday---Sloppy Joes

Wednesday---Leftovers

Thursday---Szechuan Barbecue Chicken (See Blue Momma's Post here.)

Friday---Breakfast Night--French Toast

Saturday---Grilled Chicken

Sunday---Leftovers


Everyone loved the Breakfast Night so I will incorporate it into the weekly menu. We will alternate between different breakfast foods to keep it lively. Abby says that she pretends that she is eating at IHOP.

Weird Post

I wanted to try out the mobile blogging feature that is offered here!!!

Watching Madagascar!

Structured Chaos

Does that make any sense??? Today was total chaos. I let the kids make too many decisions and we ended up not doing much. I started out the morning balancing the checkbook, then I moved on to laundry and a little bit of house cleaning. I really did get a lot of work done before the kids woke up. Actually, Ryan woke up before me but I didn't get him out of his bed until 7:30 when he was full on crying. Not sure what is up with him, but he has been having some really weird poops lately. (I know TMI, right)

Anyway, we did our usual learning time and reading time but when we got to activity time, Abby couldn't make up her mind if she wanted to ride her bike or play in the backyard. We ended up back in the house because we were all thirsty and I really didn't want to be out there in the first place. (I had too much to do inside.)

On my nap break, I finished balancing the checkbook and get our finances in order for the rest of the month and made out my grocery list. This took up pretty much the whole nap time.

I made my spaghetti and meatball supper and just finished cleaning the kitchen and putting people to bed and now it's my turn.

Menu Plan Monday

So I decided that I would join some other moms and start menu planning. I have tried this in the past and I just gave up, but now I'm going to make a concerted effort and stick with it. I did this last week and while it didn't save me much money in the grocery store, I will stick with it. Hopefully, my grocery bill will start going down.

Anyway, here goes our menu for the week. If you see something that you would like the recipe for please post a comment and I will get it to you.

Monday--Spaghetti and Meatballs and garlic bread

Tuesday--Roast with Rice and Gravy (Paula Deen recipe), and some kind of vegetable (probably green beans)

Wednesday--Red Beans and Rice

Thursday--Leftovers

Friday--Breakfast Night at home (I will make either pancakes, waffles, or French Toast.)

Saturday--Tacos (We have company coming over and this is the easiest thing to cook, since they do not like to eat out.)

Sunday--Mac & Cheese and Fishsticks

I hope that I can remember to de-frost the roast. Every time that decide to make a roast, I go to cook and the roast is still frozen. Anyway, that's the plan. Hopefully, this week will go as smoothly as last week.

Cute commercial

This is my favorite commercial right now!!!

Stronger and Thicker

My girl just told me, "Hey mom, new clorox wipes are stronger and thicker AND they can clean anything." Then she went and spilled a cup of water!!!!

What's up with that?

Last night was like any other normal night around here...OR WAS IT??? We ate supper, had some ice cream, and got ready for bed just like usual. The only thing different???? I'm still not sure. The boys passed out...Eric went directly to bed at 9, he almost forgot to kiss the kids good night. Ryan usually cries in his bed for at least 10-15 minutes, but not last night. PASSED OUT

As for Abby and me, I cleaned up the kitchen and did some laundry. Then I went to lay down in bed and guess what...WIDE WAKE!!!! Since I couldn't sleep, I went into the living room to get my palm so that I could quietly play games in bed and I noticed that Abby was sitting up in her bed. I went in to tell her to lay down and try to sleep and she told me that she was having a "Care Bear Birthday Party" I so wanted to play that game with her but it was after 10 so I didn't want to go down that road. It sure would have been fun, though.

Anyway, what the heck was wrong with us last night? Were the stars out of line? Maybe it had to do with Venus??

Wow, That's a new record!!!

Ok, so for the most part Abby takes ok naps. Sometimes it takes her a while and other times it just doesn't happen. The one thing that I have learned with Abby is that I can't put her down too early. By that I mean that she doesn't usually take a nap until 3 or later. If I try to move naptime up at all, she doesn't take one. But if we don't talk about it until around or after 3, we are ok and we end up sleeping. Today, we learned, played games, and read books. Not a very active day at all. We read a book at 3 and then after the book, I told her that it was naptime. I got the usual "I don't want too's" and the "I'll take a nap in a little while", and then I held her for a little while and we talked. I told her that Mimi was taking her nap (I just got off the phone with her) and that if she took a nap at the same time as Mimi, she would dream about being with Mimi and playing with her. After I put her down, I did some laundry and cleaned up a little, then headed upstairs to do some sewing (I'm trying to make some pants for me). When I got upstairs, I put a timer on so that it would remind me to go and check on her to make sure that she was sleeping. I set the timer for 4 and I just checked on her and she is SLEEPING!!! That has got to be a record. A little over 20 minutes. YAY!!!

Our good day

Today was a really good day with Abby. She was very pleasant. I got frustrated with Ryan a lot today, but I kept my cool when talking to Abby. This morning we had to meet with someone to give them our highchair. I finally sold it on craigslist. We needed to leave the house before 9:30 this morning. I woke the kids up around 8:45 and told them, if they were good and brushed their teeth and got dressed without fussing, that we would go eat breakfast at Chick-Fil-A. Nobody fussed to brush teeth and get dressed (we don't really have problems with this). We left the house and got on the road. Being really sweet, Abby helped me keep Ryan in line. We met with the lady to give her the highchair and then we headed on to Chick-Fil-A. We ate breakfast and nobody cried when we left without going into the play room.

After we headed to Wal-Mart to use the money that we got for the highchair to get Ryan a booster seat. Abby and Ryan were really good listeners while we shopped at Wal-Mart. I didn't even have to put Abby in the cart. She stayed by me most of the time. They were so good they even got to pick out which coloring book they wanted. When we got home, we colored and played. Then we outside to eat lunch and play a bit. It was a little too hot to go outside but the kids really wanted to go out. It was a really nice day (so far). Now it is almost naptime and Abby has the "don't want's". We will see.

Is there a such thing???

Ok, here is the story...Ryan is a boy as I'm sure most of you know. And most of you that have one of each know that boys are a differnet species. It's not a bad thing but they are drastically different from girls. In 18 short months, Ryan has gone from a person that could do nothing for himself to a little boy who gets hurt...a lot. Last week, I noticed that one of his front teeth is chipped. At first, I couldn't imagine how that had happened, but after thinking about it I remembered that about 2 or 3 months ago he was trying to help me with the laundry. While trying to be helpful, he lost his balance and hit something (I couldn't tell if it was his chin or his mouth). At the time, I thought that he had just bite his lip, but now I'm thinking that maybe he chipped his tooth.

Abby didn't get hurt nearly as much of him and when she did she was sure to let me know, even if it wasn't that bad. Ryan only cries when he gets hurt really bad, like the laundry incident. The other day, Papa was playing with him and it got a little rough. Well, he bit his tongue. Now, you know that it hurts when you bite your tongue, but add in the chipped tooth and it had to really hurt. He cried a lot and I held him close and rocked him. All the while, trying to check and see if it would ever stop bleeding. When the bleeding started to slow down, I could tell that he had a little slit on his tongue. Ouch!!! Anyway, back to the story...

Is there a such thing as a macho-metro-sexual man??? If so, I'm probably raising him. Hubby says that because he is with girls all day long he is bound to pick up some habits, but I'm not too sure about that. I call Ryan my macho-metro-sexual little man. He has macho tendency's, like vrooming cars on my legs when I'm trying to pee and wrecking cars into each other (I taught him that). Then he has metro-sexual traits, such as when he falls down in the grass, he sticks his tongue out and says "UGH" actually it comes out more as an "EEEEEE". Anyway, I'm doing my best to raise him just the way he is. Hopefully, he won't turn out too bad.

Our crazy trip

So, I told you that we went to Louisiana this weekend and we had a good time. What I didn't tell you is that on Thursday (the day that we left) at about the halfway mark along the trip, we realized that we forgot to put some bags in the truck. These bags were already packed, but we just forgot to load them. One of them was the bed for Ryan and the other was the toiletry bag. You know one of the most important bags besides the clothes bag. Well anyway, we had to stop along the way to get all of the little items that you need to keep yourself clean and groomed. Silly, I know but it could only happen to us...

Today went by so fast

We just returned from a visit to Louisiana. We were there for my nephew, Anthony's 5th birthday party. It was a really good time. My sister rented a fun jump water slide for the weekend and the kids (and adults) went nuts. It really was fun sliding like that. I haven't done that in a long time. Anyway, my mom recently got a brand new computer (and it is really nice) so she gave me her old laptop computer. This is the most wonderful thing in the world. I am a free woman now. I can get on the computer any time I want without leaving the kids for an undetermined amount of time. Right now, I am blogging in the living room while watching a tv show during naptime. This is the best. If it wasn't for the laptop, I would have to decide which one I wanted to do watch tv or do work on the computer. AAAAAAHHHHHH freedom!!!!!!

Well, after the show is over I will be going upstairs to the dungeon to sew. The whole reason for the laptop is for sewing/embroidery purposes, but it doesn't hurt that I can check my email down here and look things up when I need to. Anyway, I have a lot of sewing projects to catch up on. I haven't sewn anything in a couple of weeks, because I was embroidering things and it is not easy to switch over from embroidery to sewing. Hopefully it will be a little easier with the laptop because I won't have to move the sewing machine, I will only have to move the laptop. Anyway, hopefully you will be hearing from me more often now. (Not sure if that is a good thing for you, but.....)

WWYD????

Let me preface by saying that 9/11 really freaked me out. I'm really cautious about doing things in public. Not that I cut it out totally but I'm not happy about being in public.

A couple of weeks ago, we decided to go shopping at the mall. I think it is probably the third time that we have been to the mall since last May. Anyway, we parked at the JCPenney entrance. Mind you, I notice everything. Before we parked, I noticed that a car was picking up a person with a stroller by the entrance, I didn't think anything of it. As we were walking to the entrance, the car passed in front of us and the people waved and said hello. Then I look at where the car was and I see it still there, "THE STROLLER!!" Now, as calmly as I can I start walking fast into the store and hubby is trailing behind me, Looking at me like I'm a crazy woman (which I am). We walk all the way through JCPenney and hubby asks if I'm running a marathon. I tell him discretely that it disturbed me that those people told us hi and that they left their stroller outside of JCPenney. I made him wait a while before going back through JCPenney (actually we ate supper at the food court which is a ways from JCP).

Obviously, nothing bad happened because I'm still here and you didn't hear about it on the news but I'm curious....In this post 9/11 world, would something like this freak you out??? Let me know what you think and if something similar has happened to you.

Cartoons & Pimps!!!

I know....What is she talking about??? Well, has anyone noticed that on Handy Manny, Manny never pays Kelly for the things that he buys from her???? And no ever pays Manny for fixing things...Conspiracy, huh??

My six random things

I guess it is not so random when you have to sit down and think about them. I just didn't want to write something that was on someone else's random list. Anyway, here goes....

1-I am so not a neat freak. My house is rarely "clean". I clean as I go. If the floor looks really bad I will sweep and hope that I don't have to mop it. I am definitely not a "slob" but with two kids how long can it stay really clean. I feel like the minute that I'm finished cleaning, it is dirty again and I will not spend my entire life just cleaning.

2-I love to make clothes. I would love to learn how to make other things like bows, etc. but I'm just not that coordinated. When I go shopping (if I go shopping for clothing either for me or my children), I look at the clothes to see which ones I could make (and usually it is all of them).

3-My favorite tv shows are Lost, Brothers & Sisters, and Grey's Anatomy. There are others but those are the ones on my DVR.

4-I am not the best parent but I do what works for me. I am too hard on Abby and too soft on Ryan. I can't find the balance, but I'm working on it.

5-Abby is just like me. We are both claustrophobic. She gets into a panic if you try to squeeze her too tight. I, on the other hand, have come close to knocking her out when she tried to kiss me. She was really close to my face and it was very disturbing. I explained to her that she needs to ask if she is just going to randomly kiss me. I know that sounds crazy but I keeps us all sane and injury free.

6-Ok now this one is really crazy. The only thing that I can drink out of a glass is milk. Not sure why but water, kool-aid and soda do not taste right when I drink them out of a glass. They must be consumed in a plastic cup.

I know you waited so long for those and I'm sure it was just killing you, right. I promise there is more randomness and if anyone else wants to know about them just let me know.

I tag My2Suns and mommydeuce and anyone else that feels they would like to contribute to the randomness.

Our first real dose of tornadic weather

Ok, some background here. I should have been a storm chaser. I love bad weather. When we lived in Louisiana, I actually wished that a hurricane would turn toward us. Not in a bad way, but I wanted to feel all the wind and rain. If hurricane Rita wouldn't have hit at night, I so would have been out there in the middle of it. (I know you are thinking that I'm crazy, right!!) Anyway.....

Friday, we had bad weather. I think everyone had bad weather on Friday. Well, Abby and I had an appointment to get our hair cut. We leave the house and it is just cloudy. We drive out of our neighborhood and lightning starts crashing all around us like in the movie "War of the Worlds." While I do not want to get struck by lightning, I'm not really that scared of it (remember there is a storm chaser in me somewhere). Ladeeda, we are driving along and it starts raining. Cool, I love rain. A few minutes later, it starts HAILING. Small HAIL, but nonetheless HAIL. The sky turns yellow and the sirens at the fire station start going off. POOPIN' IN MY PANTS NOW!!! Meanwhile, I'm listening to the radio and they are saying that everyone in the mall should be "IN A SAFE PLACE." I'm in my truck and we are in the vicinity of the mall. I'M NOT IN A SAFE PLACE. So, What do I do??? I FRRRREEEEAAAAKKKK OUT!!!!

I turn the truck around and head back home. Screw the hair cut, I didn't want to have to hunker down in a ditch with my 3 1/2 year old daughter. Wouldn't that have been a good headline??? Local mom rides out tornado in ditch with daughter!!!!

Anyway, here are some pics of the clouds when we got home.




























Side Note: About half an hour after these pictures were taken, the UPS man delivered a package to me.

Nasty Lizards

This is what I see when I opened my blinds the other day!!! No discretion!!! I guess I can expect more lizards crawling around in Abby's playhouse.

Things I learned about myself through my children

I love the rain. Whenever it rains, Abby can't wait to stand in it. At first I thought she was nuts, but now I know she gets it from me. When we first moved here, Abby and her Papa went to Home Depot to get some things for the house. While they were in the store, it started to rain outside. They had to run from the store to the truck and of course got wet in the process. She still remembers this day as vividly as when it happened.

I, along with my 3 other peeps, quote movies entirely too much. Our family dialogue sounds like a montage of different movies. Some adult movies and a lot of kids movies.

My friends say I talk funny. Sometimes, I am speaking normally and sometimes I really do speak another language.

I'm not a good friend. I haven't really had many friends in my life so I guess I don't know how to be one. Abby has so many friends and she is just 2, but then again she usually pushes her friends around or breaks her toys when she gets together with her friends.

I have numerous pet peeves. Too many to write here.

I don't appreciate things or people like I should. When people offer to help me, I usually decline because of selfish reasons. Most of the time, its because I usually don't finish a task completely before moving on to the next one. I think I have a touch of ADHD.

I'm not good at sharing, and as a result I have a hard time teaching this to my children. When Abby was first born, I didn't want anyone else to watch her besides daycare and me. If I couldn't be with her, I surely didn't want anyone else to be with her.

I feel overwhelmed sometimes just being alive. Does that make sense?? I started reading "The Purpose Driven Life" and I just don't get it. Am I the only one??? I thought that the book was supposed to answer questions for us not give us more.

Anyway, this is a really weird post but I feel really weird right now.

Doucet, out!!!! (From the movie, "Meet the Fockers!!!") (I love Ben Stiller!!)

Attitude

Why is it just as Abby is sort of calming down from the "terrible two's", Ryan picks up where she left off? Although, Ryan is the second he still throws me for a loop. Especially, when he knows he's not supposed to be doing something and then pitches a fit when I correct him.

The dude loves the trash can. Ours has a lid on it and he will constantly lift the lid and take things out of the trash can. Why are kids attracted to gross or harmful things???

One day at Publix, he threw a fit because he saw the "car cart" and I didn't put him in it. There is one particular car cart that doesn't have a buckle. On this particular day, that was the only car cart available and I didn't want to use it. He cried so loud throughout Publix that the guy in the bakery dept. came and gave him a cookie. It made him feel better, so that was good.

I can't think of anymore tantrums right now, so I will write about them some other time.

Songs

Every so often, I go through a phase where I absolutely love certain songs. I remember a couple of years ago, I was sitting in my cube (cubicle) at work and discussing different music with my co-worker/friend M. We loved a few songs that were out at the time and made a mixed CD (kinda like a mixed tape, remember those)!!! Well, I pulled out this CD the other day and laughed my butt off. Just to name a few of the songs, there was Lean Back-Terror Squad, Lose Control-Missy Elliott, Sugar (Gimme Some)-Trick Daddy, Switch-Will Smith, and Candy Shop-50 Cent. These are just a few of the songs that we would sing and dance to in our cubes. Yes, I admit it I love rap music. Who wouldn't???? Even my mom has a mixed tape (yes, an actual cassette tape) of random music such as Jump Around, and Can't Touch This.

My love for music probably started at a very young age of 3 or 4 when my mom enrolled me in dance class. When I was a little older, my mom and I would play a game in the car. She would have me guess who the singer was. Most of the time, I would get it right. Yay, me!!! BTW, I plan on doing this with my kids as soon as I can.

Right now, is one of those phases that I mentioned earlier. My absolute favorite band in the whole entire world is Matchbox 20, followed closely by the band Train. Matchbox 20 recently came back with a new album after a very long break. A couple of weekends ago, Abby and I went out to dinner with Following Kate. On the way home, I hear Abby mumbling in the backseat. It couldn't be because I have the radio as loud as it could go, right?? Well, she is singing!!! My dream of singing in the car with my girl has finally happened. She was singing, "Let's see how far we've come!!!" Not only was she singing a song that I really like, but she was singing a MB20 song. Will she be a fan just like me??? I hope so.

Now, she sings everything. The same night that she sang MB20, she asked me a very important question. "Mommy, does Papa like the 'Low, Low, Low' song???" I had to break her heart and tell her that Papa doesn't like the "Low, Low, Low" song, but that she should probably ask him. Of course, Papa doesn't like that song, Papa likes Nickelback and country songs.

Well, in analyzing my MB20 obsession, I have come to a very grim realization. My favorite songs by them is Rest Stop. This is a song about a girl who stops the car at a rest stop and tells her boyfriend/husband that she doesn't really care about him anymore. What does that say about me? I really do love my husband but this is a really good song. Should I be worried???

Anyway, enough thoughts to ponder. I almost forgot to tell you what is on my current playlist.

Low-Flo Rida
How Far We've Come- Matchbox 20
Love Song-Sara Bareilles
Clumsy-Fergie
See you Again-Miley Cyrus (love her music, not so much her dad)
Apologize-One Republic/Timbaland
Oh and Justin Timberlake needs to bring Sexy Back, again!!!!

Gotta go, no peeps this time, but it is very late or early in the morning. Need. Some. Sleep.
See Ya!!!

New Website

Well, I know that I haven't kept up with my blog lately but I have just been very busy trying to get a new website going. I have opened up Ladydoos to make customized clothing, gifts, and accessories for children. The website is nowhere near complete but there are a few things up there for you to browse through. We also have embroidery and monogramming capabilities for those of you who love to personalize your children's items. If there is something that you would like to see that we do not currently show, then please contact us and let us know. We look forward to hearing from you.

Green Goldfish and other tales from the kids world

Well, to start out with (cause I know that you are wondering about the Green Goldfish thing), Ryan loves goldfish and pretty much everything else that you could put in your mouth. But he really does love the goldfish. Anyway, the last time that I went grocery shopping I bought the colorful goldfish. Everytime that I give him goldfish for his snack he picks out all the other colors and eats them except for the green ones. Actually, one time he started throwing the green ones on the floor. How funny is that?

We had snow!!!

This was the kids first snow. They had a blast. Ryan kept falling in the snow and getting his pants all wet so we had to go in and change clothes. This was the result...



Kinda funny!!!! We had a blast in the snow. I almost cried when it stopped snowing. It was so beautiful. I wish it would snow every day even if it has to be cold all the time.

BTW, I am writing this while talking on the phone. So if it doesn't make any sense that would be why. Anyway, I hear my peeps so I gotta go. Talk to you later!!!