You stay classy, San Diego. I'm Ron Burgundy?

Well, I'm no Ron Burgundy, but San Diego was very classy!!! I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of being there!! I know that the kids loved it too!!

First off, flying with two kids was difficult but once we unloaded our checked luggage, it was almost smooth sailing. Of course, we still had 50 million carry on bags, but with kids you never know what is going to make them happy at any given moment. It could be a movie, a video game, a snack, or a coloring book. You just never know what will be the right thing to keep them from screaming.

Since I try to hype things up for the kids, I told them a little bit about flying the week before we left. I asked them who they wanted to sit with (in case we couldn't all sit together). Ryan picked Papa. Then he proceeds to tell me this story about how he (Ryan) will fly the plane and Papa will sit next to him (I'm guessing he would be the co-pilot in Ryan's story)! Well, as Ryan is telling me this story, he goes on to say that if there are any planes that get in our way, Papa will have to shoot them with his gun. (For the record, Ryan has no idea that Papa has a gun and I have no idea where he got the idea that if a plane is in front of another plane it has to be shot.) So now the kids are hyped up about flying in an airplane...Ryan wants to shoot anything that gets in our way and Abby, well she has flown before so she is just like (whatever, little dude)!!!

As we get ready to leave for the airport, Mommy has to listen to all her songs that she downloaded that has anything to do with California!! I LOVE CALI in the summertime, I'm going back to Cali (I don't think so), In the City (City of Compton), California Dreamin on such a winter's day, and of course I wish they all could be California girls!! And now we are on our way, but first while waiting for our first plane...we have to mention loud enough for a few people to hear, that Papa forget his gun. You know the one that he needs to use if there is another plane in our way;-)

After a smooth flight and a smooth transition into our rental, we arrive on the island of Coronado, California!!! (Story continues at a later time!! Stay tuned!!)

Update on the kids

Ok...so enough blogging about me and my sewing, right!! I want to update you on the things that the kids have been doing lately!!

Abby is growing and her behavior is changing daily. For the better that is!! It is really getting easier to deal with her and her behavior!! She is starting to understand consequences and privileges!! In my mind...it is about time. It only took 4 and a half years for this to sink in. I guess that is what you get when your child is hard headed, like you and your husband:-)

Ryan is potty training right now!! Before you stop reading because you heard enough about me potty training, he is surprisingly easier to train than Abby was. STOP reading here if you don't want to read about poop: Ryan pooped in the potty today and when he went to flush it he said, "Look mom, a nana (banana)!!" I could see a confused look on his face, as if to say, "Why would you flush a banana down the toilet?" Anyway, this was the most hilarious part of the day!!!

This past weekend was Memorial Weekend and we didn't have anything planned. On Saturday, we went to Talladega and toured the race track and the museum. It was quite an experience!! I actually enjoyed. There were a lot of cars and we even got to see the actual car that was used in the movie Talladega Nights!!! Sweet Baby Jesus, it was a site to see (LOL)!!!

Anyway, we are gearing up for summer in our household. This means lots of swimming in the pool and going to the waterpark!!! Hopefully, we will have a fun summer with lots of pictures and memories:-)

Stepping it up at bit!!

I'm guessing that if you follow me on facebook or twitter, you already know that I made a decision to get a new machine and take my business Butterflies and Rainbows to the next level!!! I am very excited about what this means for me!!

With this in mind, I have started a blog for my business!!! This will be a place that I can hear suggestions and ideas and also, show you what my customers are purchasing!!! Please check out my other blog here!! Please become a follower so that you can become a preferred customer and receive special offers and discount codes!!! Hope to see you there!!!

My not so WONDERFUL day!!!

Ok here it goes!!! This morning I woke up and thought, "Today is going to be a wonderful day!!!" I was going to remember everything and we were going to be on time!! How hard can that be right? Well, the morning was great up until 9:00 am, when I remembered in carpool that we were supposed to bring a flower for the crowning of Mary ceremony. The flower was on the table with all of the other things I was supposed to bring with me this morning, but I forgot to pick them up. Then I get to Ryan's school and I remember that on the table I forgot to bring something that I need to turn in today. UGH!!

I did remember to bring my sewing machine, because I knew that I needed to have it worked on. When I got to the Singer sewing store, the owner tells me that my machine has been used and abused and is on its last leg!! He gave me some options, which are pretty decent, but I will still have to cough up a lot of money that I don't really have right now. This puts me in a catch 22 position. Do I spend money on another machine so that I can continue my "business" or should I just drop the whole thing??? I have invested a lot of money in embroidery designs that will just be wasted because they are not tangible things that I can sell at a garage sale. I also have a ton of fabric that I would love to use to make new things, but I'm not too worried about that since I could re-sell this fabric, if needed. Anyway, I'm just all around bummed on that subject.

Next stop, Zaxby's!!! I love me some Zaxby's especially the sauce. In Louisiana, there is a restaurant called Raisin Cane's. It is very similar to Zaxby's but since it was my first love it will always be better:-) Anyway, since there are no Cane's restaurants here...Zaxby's it is!!! Back to the sauce. The sauce is like the icing on a cake. You just can't eat a cake without icing, so why should you eat the chicken fingers without sauce?? Guess what was left out of my order:-(


Then driving from Zaxby's back to school, I decided to take a new road that just opened up. It is the road that will lead to the new Super Target!!! I'm driving along and no one else seems to be on this road except for me. Then I get to the intersection that is familiar to me, and it is blocked off!!! Luckily it is not blocked off completely, so I sneak through the barricades and get on the road that I'm supposed to be on:-) All is well again!!! WRONG--because this is when I find out that my Zaxby's sauce is ranch dipping sauce instead!!

Well, getting it off of my chest has really helped me out!! I still want to cry but I'm going to suck it up and get over it:-)

Gotta go be a MOM:-) Happy Mother's Day!!!

Meme Fun!!!

I was tagged by Laura in a meme that asks me to consider things about who I am. So these are the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself and things that make you happy.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

I haven't done one of these things for my blog yet so here it goes:

1-I am from Louisiana and I'm proud to say that I'm a CAJUN!!! I eat boiled crawfish and gumbo and rice and gravy. I also love to eat "gratin" (GRAH-TAIN). It is the slightly burnt rice at the bottom of the rice pot:-) We try to speak French at home as much as we can. Some words we just don't know. If I say something to you and you have no idea what I'm talking about , just remember I'm CAJUN:-)

2-Summer is my favorite season. I love everything about it. The heat, the water, no school...

3-I have a BS in accounting and I'm not sure how or why they gave it to me. I hated every minute of my college studies. You would think that I would have changed my major?? If I could go back to school, I would go for teaching, meteorology, or pyschology!! I know those are totally random but you know any one of those would most likely be better than accounting.

4-I fuss my kids way too much!! I think that I do it to make my life easier, which in turn makes it harder. I think I just need to relax and only scream when it is a life or death situation.

5-My father passed away over ten years ago and I still miss him terribly. I just know that he is watching over my family and smiling!!!

I'm not going to tag anyone. Sorry, I think everyone has already done theirs.

The word of the day is...

Seriously!?!?!?! I know everybody has one of THOSE days, and today was mine. Yippee...NOT! Here is a little snippet of how my day went:

Woke up, brought Abby to school as usual, went to a wonderful playdate with Ryan, ate lunch with Ryan, went to pick up Abby from school, brought Abby to dance. Great day up until I had to go to Wal-Mart while Abby was at dance. Not a huge deal...right? WRONG!!! I loaded up the cart with items from my list, went to the SELF-CHECK OUT, rang up all my items, finished the transaction up until the point where you have to pay and dug aimlessly through my purse for my wallet...NOT. IN. THERE. I dug through my purse some more, thinking that maybe it would magically appear, when I found my checkbook. Then I thought, Great!! I can pay with a check!! Yay!! (Did I mention that when I was digging around for my wallet, I had exactly 10 minutes to get out of the store and pick up Abby from dance class?) I tell the lady that I want to pay with a check and we start that transaction. Then she asks for my drivers license number...It is in the wallet, that I don't have. She asks if I can go get it. I tell her that I now have 5 minutes before Abby's dance class ends and that I will have to come back.

At this point, I RUN back to the car with Ryan on my hip. He is screaming because we had to leave his brand new CARS backpack in the buggy since we didn't pay for anything. We get in the car and drive away. This is where it gets good! Everytime I push the gas on my Envoy, I spin out because the roads are wet. I was at a stop sign and was trying to turn left, my truck almost spun completely around. What's weird was that when I noticed that my tires were spinning, I let off the gas. Anyway, that happened pretty much all the way back to dance, probably because I was trying to hurry.

So I pick up Abby from dance and I was actually on time:-) We go BACK to Wal-Mart, and try to pay for our items. The debit card reader thing is broken. So again, I have to go back to the same lady and pay. Finally, I end my transaction and take my things home with me.

Thankfully on the way home, we hear a fun song to sing and dance to. So to all of you that saw the crazy woman singing and dancing in her truck, this is what I have for you...

Stacks on deck, patron on ice
We can pop bottles all night
And baby you can have whatever you like
I said you can have whatever you like!!!!

Peace out!!!!!!

Slacker

Has it really been that long since I blogged?? I honestly did not think it has been that long. Well, here I go...again!!

To catch you up since November, we had thanksgiving at my house. Mimi, Granny, and Paw Paw Ernest came over to celebrate with us. We had a really good time but I was really stressed. I always am. I was a part of 2 crafts shows in November and I took a lot of orders. Mostly bow holders. I was really excited that my business picked up that much for Christmas. It was such a blessing.

After all the orders were completed, we took a trip to Louisiana for Christmas. It was really fun. And can you believe this, I was actually excited to go. The only part that was not fun was trying to repack the car to come home. It is always hard to bring home three times what you went there with.

I had a birthday after christmas and just got a chance to go out for my "day" this past weekend. I had a really good time even though some of my friends couldn't make it.

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.