These Little Stripes of Mine

Self Adhesive Chandelier Shades…

2012-01-07T21:33:00.002-06:00

I found the perfect chandelier for my sunroom here is a picture of my chandelier.

So I went on a hunt to find some cute shades for my chandelier and I just didn’t have any luck. Not to mention how expensive they are I couldn’t believe how much they cost. They can range any were from $15 all the way up to $50 or more a shade. And I wanted something that would go with my patio furniture so I went to Wal-Mart and bought some extra pillows that I got on sale for $5 dollars it took two pillows to cover five shades.

Then, I went to Joann’s and bought five self adhesive chandelier shades. I made sure I had my 40% off coupon it cost me $36 for all five shades.

After buying all the ribbon and glue I had spent $56 for all five shades… YEAH I saved money and they turned out exactly how I wanted them to!

They are super easy to make not at all hard I love how they turned out!

My Sunroom...

2012-01-07T20:32:00.004-06:00

I finally got to decorate my sunroom and I LOVE it! I bought new furniture, light fixture, and stained the red wood around the windows. I used the $250 gift card that I won from Atkins along with the $300 they gave me for my story they posted on their website.

Here is the link check it out:
http://www.atkins.com//Program/Success-Stories/Lisa-Baldwin.aspx

I had to take a little out of savings to pay for some of it but it turned out so pretty I couldn’t be happier.

I bought the chandelier and made the shades check out my other post on how to do these they were super easy!

Here are a couple of pictures after our first snow last year…

I have enjoyed this room so much I love blogging out here and reading it’s my own little get away all to myself… NO BOYS ALLOWED!!!

New Beginnings...

2012-01-02T22:04:00.001-06:00

Insecurity it’s in all of us… That voice inside that tells us that we can’t do something that we're not good enough that we shouldn’t even try. And when we listen to the voice we hold ourselves back in ways we don’t even realize all because we’re scared to take a chance to face our fears to see what we are really capable of… What are you capable of??? What’s holding you back??? It’s a New Year you only live once so live it to the fullest... I know I am life is to short!!!

24 Things I'm Thankful For...

2011-11-24T00:32:00.009-06:00

So I originally wanted to do a post on my blog for every day up until Thanksgiving 24 days of what I’m thankful for since I didn’t do that I’m just going to post 24 days all at once. It’s crazy how my life has been so busy and I never have any time to sit down and blog. So here it goes all of the things that make me so thankful hope you all enjoy.

1.    The most important people in my life that means more than anything to me would be God and Jesus. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that who so ever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. I love the song from Jeremy Camp “This Man” and the meaning of the lyrics… Would you take the place of this man? My answer would be “YES” I owe everything to God nothing I have is mine it was giving to me by him and I’m so grateful for everything that he has giving me and entrusted in me. I love him more than words can ever describe he is my life my world my everything… Thank you for sacrificing your only son for us!

I can’t wait for the day that I get to meet you!

2.    My son Alec he’s my oldest I love him with all my heart and more he means the world to me. It still amazes me how different both my boys are. Alec has grown up to be such an amazing young man. His a junior this year in school and next year he will be a senior. How time flies I remember like it was yesterday when I had him and held him for the first time in my arms. I couldn’t be more proud to call him my son I love him so much!

3.    My Son Bailey he’s my youngest and such a loving and caring person. I love when I get home from work because every day he runs and hugs me and gives me kisses. I know this won’t last forever so I’m so grateful for it while it lasts. I had four sonograms when I was pregnant with him and all of them said he was going to be a girl. I’m thankful God gave me another son because he’s perfect and God knew that I needed another son not a daughter I wouldn’t change that for the world. You are my precious baby Bailey and I love you so very much!

4.    My Husband Robert I knew he was the one the moment we meet at Speed’s Pool Bar I knew we were going to get married I told my sister that a couple of days later. He truly is my soul mate don’t get me wrong we have our fights just like everyone else. But, I can say without a shadow of a doubt I know he loves me and I’m so grateful that God brought him into my life. I love him and I couldn’t be more proud to call him my husband thank you for always being there for and loving me no matter what!

5.    I’m grateful for my parents and my sister Kandi. Even though we don’t always see eye to eye on everything I love you guys so much. My life would not be anything if you weren’t a part of it. Thank you for always being there for me I appreciate it more then you will ever know.

6.    I’m grateful for my husband’s family. I’m truly grateful to have you guys in my life thank you for making me feel like I’m a part of your family. I love you guys so much and I’m so happy that I married Robert because I gained another mom and sister you guys are the best!!!

7.    I’m grateful for my best friend. God knew I needed a friend someone that would be there for me and never judge me and he gave me that friend her name is Jennifer Huntington. She is such an amazing person and I love her dearly. I have never had a friend that has been as loyal as her I can tell her anything and she wouldn’t tell a soul. She is there for me no matter what she is the one person that helped me through my weight lose and encouraged me daily. She is my best friend thank you Jennifer!

8.    I’m grateful for my job. It’s such an amazing job I work for BP America as Administrative Assistant/Accounts Payable. I love to go to work every day and I enjoy working with everyone up there especially Jennifer Sargent she has been a great friend. I work 10 hour days and have every other Friday and Monday off which gives me a four day weekend every other week. If the kids get sick or I do I can work from home. My boss doesn’t stand over my shoulders like most places he lets me do my job. It’s laid back it’s like a family up there and I’m truly grateful that God lead me to them.

9.    I’m grateful that Robert has an amazing job. He’s a Computer Programmer for Hastings Entertainment. With the way the economy is we both are very thankful that we have jobs.

10.    I’m grateful for my home and it’s a beautiful home. It keeps us warm when it’s cold and cold when it’s hot. There are so many people that don’t have a home or a place to live. We have been in this home for almost 3 years and there isn’t a day that doesn’t go by that I don’t thank God for giving it to us.

11.    I’m grateful for losing my weight and gaining my life back. This was the hardest thing that I have ever had to do because I’m a true fat kid at heart!

12.    I’m grateful that we were able to take a family vacation this year. We went to San Antonio, Texas for 7 days and had so much fun. We went to Six Flags and White Water Bay, the River Walk, Seaworld, the Zoo and the Caverns, and the best place ever Schlitterbahn.

13.    I’m thankful for our pets. We have a yellow lab and his name is Mojo and a Pomeranian named Mr. Muggles. We also have a very sweet fat cat that just loves me he’s my baby that cuddles next to me at night his name is Marley.

14.    I’m grateful for our church and pastor. It really is the BEST church ever. I love going there every Sunday and Wednesday.

15.    I’m extremely grateful for the Atkins diet. If it wasn’t for this program I wouldn’t have been able to lose my weight… Thank you for giving me my life back!

16.    I’m grateful for my family’s health. There are so many people that have some kind of illness I thank God every day for this. Cancer has affected so many people so be blessed if you are healthy and pray for the ones that aren’t. And send another pray to the ones that have lost loved ones to some kind of illness.

17.    Grateful for God’s blessings and prayer. I pray every day before I go to bed to thank God for everything he has given me and entrusted in me. I have a long list of friends and family that I pray for to watch over them and to take care of them. John 15:7 But, if you stay joined to me and my words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted! God walks with me every day and someday I will walk side by side with him what a glorious day this will be!

18.    I’m grateful that my husband loves to cook. Because this is one thing I can’t stand to do. Robert is one hell of a cook most of what he cooks I can’t eat but, the kids sure seem to enjoy it. Thank you honey for being such a great cook! His going to kill me for posting this picture but I just had to. He won the dessert contest at work.

19.    I’m grateful for my Friends. If I named them all individually, from wonderful acquaintances to tried and true friends, I'd have the rest of my list and more than 24. I don't have a large number of close friends, but I do know there are a lot of good people, near and far, who I can count on, who care about me, and who want only the best for me. I truly value my friends and will never have "enough" or too many.

20.    I’m very grateful for Choice. I love that every day I can choose to be happy. What’s better than that Fabulous!

21.    I’m grateful for Acceptance. I’m so thankful to those who accept me for who I am.

22.    I’m grateful for Thanksgiving dinner. It is always such good food we go with Robert’s parents to the Big Texan every year. After we eat lunch we go back to our house and play games.

23.    I’m grateful for Black Friday. Because there are so many sales that you can get great deals on. Plus, I love spending it with my sister Kandi it’s a tradition that we have done for the last 5 years and I love it. Thank you for going with me every year and standing in the cold with me you are the best sister ever!!!

24.    I’m grateful for blogs. I love writing mine and I love all the blogs I read thank you all for being my blog friends and I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving may God bless each and every one of you!

Atkins... Success Story Superstar

2011-10-03T00:22:00.004-05:00

You all know that I have lost a bunch of weight and I owe it all to Atkins and part to my determination to finally lose the weight. Atkins had a contest a couple of months ago called the “Success Story Superstar”

So I entered my story and was picked out of thousands of entries. I was one of the five finalists. I didn’t win but I was truly honored to have been picked. They do have the winner listed on their website along with the other three finalists and myself. Just click the link below and watch the video on the left side and you will see my pictures.

Atkins Story Superstar

The winner received a $5,000 credit card to any department store of their choice. Plus, they had another drawing last month in September and the winner from that drawing also will receive a $5,000 credit card to any department store of their choice. From those two winners they are picking a grand prize winner and that person wins a trip for the winner and a guest to Los Angeles, CA. transportation and two nights lodging at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel. Plus, professional make-up and hair for a photo shoot on set with Courtney Thorne-Smith. It doesn’t end there you also get a dinner at the Spago Beverly Hills restaurant and a cash allowance…

I was totally bummed that I didn’t win but I realized I did win I lost the weight and I couldn’t ask for anything more! That itself was a reward but all the finalists did receive a $250 credit card which Atkins didn’t have to do so it was just an added bonus on losing the weight!

Atkins has changed in so many ways it isn’t just meat and more meat. I promise if you are having a hard time and can’t get the weight off Atkins can help you. I live and breathe Atkins now it is my life and I cherish it and so should you!!!

My Weight Loss Progress...

2011-09-05T15:48:00.002-05:00

So as you all know I have been doing the Atkins for 1 year and 7 months. I have lost 124lbs total just a small teenage girl... LOL!!! I went from a tight size 26 to a size 8 and I wear a medium shirt now. I never in a million years thought I would ever be this size again. I owe everything to Atkins it isn’t a diet it’s a way of life that I will live by for the rest of my life.

Who knew that I had a neck and collar bones how I have missed them... LOL!!!

When I look at my before and after pictures it seems so surreal I feel like I’m living a dream and I’m going to wake up and be heavy again!!!

I have never felt this great and I just wanted to share it with you all!!!

BLT pasta salad

2011-09-05T13:34:00.010-05:00

We had a family cookout yesterday and I made this dish to go with the amazing brisket my husband smoked. Needless to say everyone liked it and it didn't taste like it was low carb at all.

I found this recipe at Cleverly Insprired she has lots of really good recipes but I could make this one Atkins friendly... It is to die for!!!

* YIELD: 6 Servings (68 carbs = 11 net carbs per 1 cup)
Ingredients
* 1 1/2 cups penne pasta (I use Atkins Penne Pasta or you can use Dream Fields)

* 1/4 cup olive oil

* 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

* 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

* 3 teaspoons Dijon mustard

* 1/2 teaspoon salt

* 10 strips packaged, precooked bacon

* 1 (7 oz.) bag baby spinach leaves

* 1 cup grape tomatoes cut in quarters

* 1/3 cup shaved Parmesan

Preparation
Cook pasta in a saucepan of boiling salted water, stirring often, until al dente. Drain, then rinse with cold water until it's cool. Transfer pasta to a large salad bowl. Add oil, onion, vinegar, mustard and salt, and then toss well.

Crisp bacon break into 1-inch pieces. Add to pasta with spinach, tomatoes and Parmesan cheese. Toss well and serve.

I hope you all enjoy it as much as we did!!!

Low Carb Peanut Butter Cookies...

2011-08-21T23:22:00.008-05:00

Preheat oven to 350
Blend together:
1 cup peanut butter (32 carbs)
25 – 30 drops of liquid Splenda (0 carbs)
1 egg (1 carb)
1 tsp vanilla (0 carbs)
4oz cream cheese (1 carb)

Form walnut-sized balls and place on cookie sheet.
Dip the tines of a fork in powder Splenda and press the cookies down (gently) in a cross-hatch pattern.

Bake for 12 minutes makes 25 cookies at 1.4 net carbs each!

Pro Extensions...

2011-08-21T22:19:00.002-05:00

Have you ever wanted long hair and just wish you could have it instantly. Will, wish no more I have the answer to your dilemma. Hair extensions, I had researched them for years and finally broke down and bought some. I have to say it was the best money I have ever spent. They clip into your hair and blend seamlessly. You can straighten with a flat iron, curl with a curling iron, or chemically treat them any color. If you don’t want to add length but you have really fine hair no worries any more you will have full and thick hair now. Short hair transforms into long, luxurious hair in a matter of minutes.

I bought two sets from Pro Extensions:

#4/27 Brown w/Blonde highlights, 10 inch
#4/28 dark Brown with Golden Blonde highlights, 14 inches

You can see in the pictures below that they matched perfectly. You can’t tell a difference between my hair and the extensions.

This is what my hair looked like before I put the extensions in:

This is when I first got them right out of the package.

After you wash them they get really thick and full. Here are a couple of pictures after I washed and curled them:

If you aren’t sure of what color to buy you can buy color swatches for $3.99. I didn’t buy the swatch I got lucky they matched perfectly! I spent a total of $124.98 and it was worth every penny.

They offer Express Shipping which is available for orders of $60 or more. If you order a 14” clip on set or longer, then your order will be upgraded to Free Express Shipping. I ordered mine late Friday night and got them Tuesday it was really quick shipping.

I promise if you buy them you won’t be disappointed I haven’t been I LOVE THEM!!!

Fredericksburg Herb Farm...

2011-08-14T22:04:00.003-05:00

On our way to San Antonio, Texas for our family vacation this year we went through Fredericksburg, Texas. I have been told what a great little town this is and it was an amazing town in Texas with German roots. You will find all kinds of things there from shops to many different restaurants.

We came across one restaurant called Fredericksburg Herb Farm it was just amazing it looked like a little town all by its self… A town within a town!

Here is a picture of the front of the place:

It was the neatest place I have ever been to. It wasn’t just a restaurant they also have cottages that you can rent. They are so cute it looked like a modern day “Little House on the Prairie”.

Here are a couple of Pictures:

Here are some that they are building right now:

The history of the cottages are that the German settlers would build these small “City Houses” to use on weekends when they came to town to buy provisions for the week and to also attend Sunday Church services. The Sunday House Cottages at the Farm are patterned after three of the most popular historical designs. Each bears its own color and herb name.

They also have a SPA… Yes you heard me a SPA this place has everything you won’t want to leave. Here is a picture of the SPA:

They also have little buildings in the back of the restaurant that are different little shops that you can buy gifts of herb-based products, soaps, and delightful décor items not to mention herbs of all kinds.

Here are a couple of pictures:

Now we are getting down to the restaurant it was AMAZING the food was so good. I have been doing the Atkins diet for over a year and had no problem staying on my diet here. My whole family enjoyed the food there wasn’t one piece of food left on any of our plates. And that’s a lot to be said about my 12 year old that is super picky. The only thing I would have to complain about would be the fact that the waitress didn’t tell us there wasn’t free refills so when you pay $20 for just drinks that’s a little expensive. $2.50 for each drink is a little pricey in my book. But, overall it was great food and great services I would defiantly return if I ever go to San Antonio again.

My Long Hiatus Is OVER…

2011-08-12T11:11:00.005-05:00

Ok, so this is my first blog post in a really long time! I am really excited to start blogging again! I'm hoping to blog more so I have something that I can enjoy looking back on. The last year has been so crazy from losing my weight to starting a new job.

If you haven’t noticed I got a much-needed blog facelift! I absolutely LOVE my blog design. It's just perfect. It was created by the talented Leah with Cutesie Blog Designs. You should check her out if you are in need of a new design. She is super sweet, has great prices, and is excellent about creating exactly what you want!

In case there does happen to be one person to stumble across my blog, I will tell you a little bit about our family. My husband (Robert) and I have been married for 17 years. We started dating when I was in high school, and got married when I graduated. Yup, we have been together for a VERY long time. I'm really blessed to have him. He is my best friend. He is an amazing father. Anyway, we both live and grew up in Amarillo, Texas. We have never lived anywhere else other than the Great panhandle. We have two amazing boys Alec is 16 and Bailey is 12 they are my whole world. There has never been a dull moment in our family I love them more than life itself!!! There are definitely challenging moments, but I wouldn't trade them for the world. Robert and I both are so grateful that God chose us to be their parents.

My Weight Loss Journey…

2010-10-17T16:44:00.024-05:00

I haven’t always been fat when I was in High School I weighed
125lbs but, yet I always thought I was fat… What I would do
now to have that body… I was young and stupid. I graduated and got
married right after we had two amazing boys I gained weight with both
of my pregnancies but always managed to lose it without any
problems. Shortly after I had my second child I started having
horrible stabbing pains in my lower stomach I didn’t know what was
wrong. I went to my gynecologist and was told that he thought I had endometriosis so he scheduled for me to go in
and have a laparoscopy. When I came out of recovery he informed me
that I did in fact have endometriosis. He stated he
removed some it but couldn’t get it all he also stated that it may
never give me a problem or it would come back with avenges.

Definition of endometriosis:
Endometriosis is a condition in which the tissue that normally
lines the uterus (endometrium) grows in other areas of the
body, causing pain, irregular bleeding, and possible infertility.

The tissue growth (implant) typically occurs in the pelvic area,
outside of the uterus, on the ovaries, bowel, rectum, bladder,
and the delicate lining of the pelvis. However, the implants can
occur in other areas of the body, too

For a whole year I didn’t have any problems and in 2003 it came back
with avenges and more. I was in so much pain I couldn’t wear my
jeans because I was so swollen and blotted. The only other option was
to go back in and see if it came back. During the surgery my doctor
had to give me a full hysterectomy which meant
removing my uterus, both ovaries, and both fallopian tubes, and any
remaining scar tissue or implants. When I woke up my Doctor told me
it was the worst case he had ever seen my whole right ovary was
attached the side of my stomach with scar tissue. They were able
to remove everything thank the LORD… I felt so much better like
a whole other person I never realized how much pain I was in until
after the surgery it was like night and day. But with everything
being removed it also meant that I would be going through menopause
at the age of 28. I refused to take hormone replacement therapy
because of the risk of breast cancer so I suffered some long
nights with horrible hot flashes. The worst part was the mood
swings I was a total BITCH I will be the first to say
this… I’m sure my husband would agree.

Before my surgery I weighed 140lbs one month after my
surgery I gained 25lbs I weighed 165lbs I remember this like it
was yesterday. I was sitting in my Doctors office and
I just cried my Doctor informed me at that time some women gain
weight and some loss weight. Unfortunately I gained the weight
he said when you go through menopause it slows down your metabolism
he stated I would have to watch what I ate from this point on. I never
ate well before my surgery because I really never had to it has been
the most difficult thing I have ever gone through. My weight
at that time was 253lbs I had enough… I told myself I will no
longer let this control my life!

February of this year was my 6 year mark since my surgery…
It was time for me to put the fork down and get on with my life!

Before pictures at my heaviest 253lbs:

After pictures I'm currently 150lbs I still have
20lbs to go but I will get there!

I’m so proud of myself it has been a very hard journey and will
always be. I’m a true fat kid I love bread, paste, rice, and potatoes
but I know I can’t have those things anymore. I'm in a tight 10 loss 12 I never thought I would get in this size again.

Do I choose to be fat or do I choose to be thin I choose
to be thin!!!

We are going to have a family picture taken next month to send out in
our Christmas cards... It's the first time in a long time that I actually
won't mind getting my picture taken.

Sweet Emery…

2010-10-17T15:24:00.008-05:00

My best friend Jennifer had her baby she was born on Tuesday,
September 21st. She weighed 4lbs 2 ½ ounces her name is
Emery Kate Huntington she is so beautiful I love this little girl!

Here are the pretty flowers my friend Holly made for me to
take to Jennifer and Emery:

The sweet little lamb sings “Now I lay me down to sleep”:

Here are some pictures after she got to go home… She is going
to be one spoiled little girl!

I stole this picture from Jennifer I just loved it and had to share
it with everyone… It’s so precious and sweet!

Girly Baby Shower…

2010-10-17T14:05:00.012-05:00

It has been forever since I posted last and I’m sorry for that
it really just seems like life has flown by!!!

My best friend Jennifer had her baby shower on Saturday,
August 28th and I’m just now posting pictures of it
again I’m sorry. I love doing parties and I was so excited when
Jennifer asked me to help with her shower.

There were four of us doing her shower Ashley, Elise, Deborah,
and me. Jennifer wanted a classy shower no theme just
brown, pink, and white so I tried my best to come up with
some ideas I think it turned out AWESOME I hope
you all enjoy.

Invitations I had made they turned out so pretty and girly!

This is the view from the entryway looking into the living room.
Ashley bought the tissue balls from Etsy they turned out
so pretty.

View from the dining room into the living room and entryway.

Entryway gift table she got lots of stuff!

Entryway guest gift boxes I made them. I took the invitation and
cropped the picture and used scrapblog.com I also bought light pink
and dark pink card stock and scrapbook punches. The centerpiece
was made by my friend Holly they are real flowers they turned out
so pretty. I bought the wire pregnant forms online and the wood
base from Wal-Mart.

A close up of the centerpiece in the entryway… Holly did
an amazing job!

The sign in book and more tissue balls:

The dessert table in the dining room it turned out so pretty. I made
the cupcake toppers they matched the gift boxes and invitations.
Another centerpiece my friend Holly made for this table. Elise
bought the cake and Deborah bought the cupcakes, cookies, and
punch. It turned out better than I had imagined it would!

I made these chocolate dipped fortune cookies I bought the fondant
flowers on etsy they turned out so pretty!

I also made water bottle labels which matched everything:

A close up of the centerpiece on the dessert table:

A close up of the cupcake toppers I made:

Me and Jennifer… She is the BEST!

All of us from left to right… Elise, Me, Jennifer, Ashley,
and Deborah:

And last the proud parents to be Jennifer and Noah… I love you guys
so much and I hope you loved the shower as much as I loved
doing it for you!

Graduation Day…

2010-05-31T17:41:00.018-05:00

So Saturday Craig Graduated it was a day of so many mixed emotions
I’m beyond words… I was more than anything so very proud
of him but I was also sad. His not little anymore and eventually
he won’t need me as much as he did but, on the other hand he has
turned into an amazing young man that Robert and I both
are so very proud of.

I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to have raised him and
more importantly I love him like my own… He is my SON!

Here’s a picture of Me, Craig, and Robert:

Graduation Ceremony Pictures:

My camera messed up and I didn’t get a picture of him walking
off the stage I was so mad! After the Graduation everyone
went back to our house and we had a cookout. Robert made the
best hamburgers and hotdogs we had a great time spending the day
with family and friends.

Here is a picture of his cake:

A picture of the whole family:

Craig got lots of money from family he really appreciated it…
Thank you everyone the grand total was $1350 dollars
which was AWESOME!

Senior Pictures and Graduation Invitation…

2010-05-31T16:22:00.014-05:00

So during the week that Craig was recovering I had his senior
pictures made the lady that did them is Carol McKinney…
She did an AWESOME job we took them outside down
around 6th street.

You can check out her blog and website here:

Caorl’s Blog

Carol’s Website

And now here are some of my most favorite pictures:

This is just some of them she really did an amazing job here
is a copy of his graduation invitation it turned out AWESOME I had
them done at Tiny Prints

An update and a party...

2010-05-31T14:23:00.009-05:00

So sorry that it has taken me so long to post what has been going
on with Craig we have just had so many things going on I
just haven’t been able to find the time to sit down. So Craig
got out of the hospital on Thursday, April 22nd and was doing
really good for about a week and a half. And then Saturday, May 15th
he woke me up because his chest was hurting so I got in the
car and took him to the hospital they did an echo and his heart was
inflamed again but the good news was that with the window cut
in the sack around the heart it prevented the fluid from collecting
around his heart again. Instead it drained into his stomach which
is what was causing him to throw up. It also was causing him
to be in a lot of pain from his heart being inflamed so the ER called
his Doctors office and got the on call Doctor. Who told the
ER Doctor to give Craig some anti-inflammatory pills along with some
pain medicine they also did a blood test because they thought he
might have Lupus. It has been the most frustrating and helpless
experience I have ever gone through it was so hard to have to
watch him in pain and feel so helpless because you can’t do
anything to help him. Needless to say his doing much better his
heart Doctor sent him to a specialist that did a bunch of blood work
and we should find something out this week. But that Doctor
prescribed him steroids to help with the inflammation Craig felt
a 100% better just in 1 day the Doctor also stated that she
doesn’t think he has Lupus but that he had a really bad
infection. We are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping she is
right and that our prayers have been answered and that he won’t
have to go through this ever again.

The one good thing after we left the ER on that Saturday and
with the help of the pain medicine Craig was able to go
to Prom I was so happy! He had been looking forward to going for
a long time he was going with a bunch of friends that he
meet up there but, I was able to get a picture of
him before he went.

Thank you everyone for all the posts I really do appreciate
all the prayers and thoughts... It is great to know that
I have such amazing friends!!

After I took his pictures I left to go to a good friend of mines
“Gender Reveal Party” it was really great to see everyone from
my old job at Prudential Ada, Realtors. My friend Jennifer
did an amazing job decorating her house here’s
a couple pictures.

So I got there late right after everyone found out what she was
having it’s a “GIRL” I’m so excited I can’t wait
to buy girly stuff.

Here’s a picture of my favorite friend in the whole world
Jennifer and her husband Noah.

I believe God knew I needed a true friend someone that I could
tell everything to a friend that wouldn’t judge me that
would listen and be there for me that’s why GOD brought
Jennifer into my life! She is such an amazing person and I’m
very grateful that she is a part of it… I couldn’t imagine anyone
that deserves to have a baby then her. And not just a baby
but a daughter someone that she can bring up to be just as
amazing as she is I love you Jennifer and wish you and Noah the
best… Thank you for being such an amazing person and
friend you are going to make such a “Wonderful MOM”!

Oh, here’s a picture of all the people that new she was having
a “GIRL” we are so smart!

Please Pray…

2010-04-18T18:31:00.009-05:00

Last Monday my nephew Craig that lives with us that we have raised
for 5 years was complaining about his neck hurting. My husband
and I both thought he pulled something in his neck from horse playing
on Saturday. My youngest Bailey had a birthday party he had 6
friends stay the night and they were all horse playing Craig was
picking them up with his shoulders and slamming them on the bed.

On Wednesday night he was still complaining that his neck was
hurting so I told him to go into BSA Urgent Care Center Thursday
morning. I was thinking they would just give him some
muscle relaxers and pain medicine but, what Craig failed to tell
us was that he was also having some discomfort in his chest
so when he went into the Urgent Care Center he told them.
They did an echo heart scan and found out his heart was enlarged
they immediately made an appointment that day with a heart doctor
at 1:00. I just started a new job and had my cell phone on
silent but Craig had called and left a message when I went to lunch
I found out what was going on. I called my husband and he meet
Craig over at the Doctors office. When they meet Dr. Slatton he
acted like it wasn’t anything big and basically told my husband
that if Craig had any discomfort to take some Aleve and he
made an appointment at 5:00 for him to come back and have an
ultrasound just to make sure everything was ok. He told my husband
that with Craig’s age he didn’t fill like it was anything big
and that they would mail us the results.

So my husband didn’t think he needed to go with him to the ultrasound
so Craig went by himself. While the guy was doing the ultrasound
he realized that Craig’s heart was swollen with a lot of fluid
around the sack of the heart. He immediately called Dr. Slatton and
they had Craig admitted into the hospital. Craig called me
freaking out and scared not sure what was going on I tried my
best to stay calm and to calm him down. But it was very difficult
not really sure what was going on I got in the car and drove over
to the hospital they admitted him into ICU and I was told that
they would have to insert a tube in the sack around his heart to remove
the fluid. We agreed to do the procedure and they did it Friday
afternoon he had some complications with the tube his heart rate
dropped and he was having a hard time breathing so they couldn’t leave
the tube in. Normally they would leave it in so if the fluid returned
it would drain and not cause more problems with the heart. Since
they couldn’t do this they keep doing ultrasounds and echos on his
heart to make sure it wasn’t returning. I was up at the hospital last
night with my husband and the nurse said he thought he would be
able to go home today, Sunday.

So when I got a call early this morning from Craig I thought it was
him calling for me to pick him up… The fluid around his heart had
came back he said... My heart fall I didn’t understand what was going on.
I immediately got dress and drove up there to find out that he
was going to have to have another surgery tomorrow afternoon.

What Craig has is “Pericardial Effusion” and since he had a bad
reaction to the tube the Doctor didn’t want to do that again. So his
going to cut a window in the sack around his heart it’s called “Subxiphoid Pericardial Window” what this means is that it will prevent the fluid
from collecting again. They will also be able to remove some of the
muscle from his heart and test it to find out for sure what is causing
all of these problems. The Doctor’s all think it’s a viral infection but
this test will tell us for sure. Craig is 18 years old he will
graduate in May he shouldn’t be going through this please pray that he
will get better and that everything will go well with his surgery
tomorrow I’ll keep everyone posted on how his doing.

Bathroom Update…

2010-03-21T21:03:00.016-05:00

It’s been crazy around our house one bathroom and five people trying
to use it every morning. We still have a long time before we
are done we finally got the mirror/medicine cabinet down.

Before:

After:

I was a little disappointed because it had sheetrock behind it I was
going to put sconces beside each side of the mirror can’t do that
now. But in the long run it does save me money so that’s always good!

Robert has mud all of the “OOPS” I made and I have taken all of the red
off the walls long story short when we pulled the mirror off
it pulled wallpaper off. It seems the people before us mudded over the
wallpaper but they forgot to seal the wallpaper first. Talk about
a huge mess almost as bad as removing the popcorn ceiling which
I have to do sometime this week before next weekend. My Dad and
Robert are going to start mudding the walls next weekend it will
probably be two or three coats because of the glue on the
walls from the tile. Then I have to paint the walls here is
the color I picked out.

It’s called “Olive Butter” you can buy it at Lowe’s it’s a part of
the Tuscan Accents collect it’s pricey you have to buy
the accent paint which is white and it costs $19.97 the base coat
cost $34.98 but, the paint goes along ways. Follow this link and you
can watch a video on how to do it www.valspar.com.

So I wanted to find a shower curtain that had Poppies all over
since they go with the Tuscan theme I went everywhere Bed Bath
and Beyond, Dillards, and Joann’s Fabric no one had it. So I got
online to see if I could find something and I bought this.

My Mother-N-Law is going to make it for me I just love the fabric it
was exactly what I was looking for. It wasn’t cheap but when it’s
finished it will have been worth it. So in May we are going to
have the countertops put in along with the tile around the
countertop this is what I’ve picked out.

Countertop Granite:

Tile around the countertop:

Then in June we are going to have the tile done around the bathtub/shower
this is what I’ve picked out:

And then half way up we are going to put in some decorative tile
this is the edging:

Here is what will go in the middle they are 6” tiles they will be installed
in a diamond pattern:

It all matches the tile we had installed on the floor when we moved in
here is the light fixture to go above my new mirror I bought
from Kirkland’s.

This is the light fixture to go in front of the bathtub:

And here are my decorating ideas for on top of countertop:
Topiaries:

Poppies in red and yellow:

Apothecary jars:

Orbs to fill the apothecary jars:

Japanese Grass:

So stay posted the next pictures I post will be after I paint the bathroom
and will have installed the light fixtures and mirror... Lot's more to come!

A Great Buy…

2010-03-21T19:38:00.007-05:00

So I had gone to Kirkland’s a couple of months ago and found these
really AWESOME pictures that I thought would be perfect in
my kitchen. The only problem was they had gold frames which I hate!
Everything in my house is either bronze or black so I taped and
papered the glass so that all was visible was the frame.

Here’s a picture:

I then spray painted them bronze here’s what they look like now:

They turned out so pretty I just love them and they match everything
in my house now. But, the best part is I only paid $15.00 for
each picture what a great buy… I love Kirkland’s!!!

New Remodeling Project…

2010-03-03T12:37:00.006-06:00

I have been so busy trying to remodel our main bathroom I have
such big plans I can’t wait until I’m finished.

Here are a couple of pictures when we first moved in… Please
don’t look at the mess!

Here is after we had the carpet removed and tile installed:

Now here are some of the pictures of me removing the tile
from the walls:

Before

After

Now for the ugly jail bars no more 1980’s:

Before

After

Now that horrible mirror I hate this thing:

Before

After:

I haven’t removed the whole mirror yet that’s another project for
this up coming Saturday because we don’t think there is
any sheetrock behind it. Which I hope there isn’t because my
hubby has to move the electrical for a light above the new mirror
and then I’m putting a sconce on each side of the mirror.

When I was removing the tile I had a couple of accident’s one was
by the half wall by the toilet. I was taking a piece of
tile off and all of a sudden four of them popped off leaving
a huge hole… Again thank GOD I have my Dad because there are a
lot of things I can do but there are some I can’t and this
is one of them.

My Dad is going to have to cut out the hole and put in a whole
new piece of sheetrock to fix this… OOPS!

He also has to put a piece of sheetrock were the toilet paper
holder was and above the sink were my new mirror is going.

Here are a couple of places that have to be patched… OOPS!

I’m going to end with a couple of pictures of my Boo Boo’s …

I did this to my hand…

Every time I took a piece of tile off my hand would slide down the wall against the glue you talk about pain!

I scrapped the mirror across my foot on this one…

Anyways watch for some more updates coming this weekend!!

My New Dining Room

2010-01-18T21:34:00.010-06:00

I’m so STOKED that I got to buy this I have
been begging Robert since we moved in to buy another table
to go in the breakfast nook. We bought our house 9 months ago
and I have had a folding table and chairs in the
breakfast nook since we moved in. However we do have a formal
dining room which has a table set but you can see the
breakfast nook from the kitchen and formal dining room… It was a
HUGE EYE SORE seeing an ugly folding table and chairs… LOL!!!

Long story short here's my new table…

Here’s another view of the kitchen…

Here’s my storage in the kitchen…

The one thing I can say about this house is we have tons of
storage this whole wall is cabinets. In the entryway I
have one big closet and another small one. In the hallway by
the kid’s rooms I have one huge closet…

And two smaller closets. By our bedroom I have another closet
every bedroom has a huge closet like this one that is what sold me
on this house…

Here’s the view of the bar and table…

Ok, now that you have finally gotten to see my kitchen you understand
why this will be the last room we redo. Here are some of the
things we have planned…

The countertop we picked out is Desert Brown Granite…

We are going to remove all the scalloped molding around the top
of the cabinets and the hutch with this molding…

And last but not least we are repainting the cabinets to look
like this:

I’m not sure what color I’m going to paint the walls yet I’m thinking
a tan. Any suggestions on a color would be greatly appreciated!

I almost forgot the worst part of all taking off the popcorn
ceiling...

The kitchen, breakfast nook, and the hallway going to utility room
it's a whole lot of popcorn to remove and retexture the ceilings...
SOOOOOOO not looking forward to this at all!!!

New Year Beginnings…

2010-01-17T19:10:00.008-06:00

So this year has been a GREAT year so far we have
made a couple of changes. Such as a new member to our family
Bailey had been bugging me about getting him a cat. So for two
weeks we checked the newspaper for a free kitten and could
never find one. So I final gave in and went to Petco and
bought him a cat.

His name is Marley and his just the sweetest cat ever when
we first brought him home Mojo licked him all over and
loved on him. The cat didn’t seem to care I think he had been
around other dogs before. Now Mr. Muggles on the other hand was
terrified of him he ran and hide from him now
they are best of buds.

Look at this sweet face…

This weekend Robert went to go look at buying either a Corvette
or a Camaro… Thank the Lord he went with the Camaro…

It’s our first brand new car which is exciting!!

2010 Chevy Camaro… WOO HOO!!!

The back seat isn’t very big and since Alec is taller than me I
had to seat in the back here’s a picture of Robert driving
and Alec in the front.

Since Robert bought his car I took money out of savings to buy my
dining room table that I have wanted it's going in the breakfast nook.

It was an awesome deal at:

The set included pub table with 6 counter height bar stools for
$451.00 yes I said $451.00… I have a big bar in the kitchen so we
had to buy two more bar stools to go around the bar
here’s a picture of my table.

It gets delivered tomorrow and I’m totally stoked I can’t wait…
When I get the kitchen all setup tomorrow I’ll post new pictures
of our kitchen.

I hope all of you have a blessed New Year!!!

Redoing the Sunroom…

2010-01-16T21:49:00.011-06:00

We have a sunroom that we haven’t done anything with I
really wasn’t sure what to do with it. It has two doors
and eight windows not including the windows from the
breakfast nook area. So I’ve come up with some
ideas on what I’m thinking the room should look like and
I wanted your opinion on it. So let me have it if you
don’t like it or if you have a better idea please let
me know.

I’m changing this room into my room it is going to be an
Office/Board Games/TV/Library Rooms pretty much everything
I like. This room is going to be “MY ROOM” my personal
little get away so keep this in mind.

The room is not very big it’s a 150 square feet which is
15 X 10:

Here is the first picture of the room this is looking from
the yard into the room:

This is the left side of the room:

This is what I want on this side of the room:

I want an outdoor sectional something like this I want this to
go on in the far corner of the room in an L shape:

I want this in front of the windows from the breakfast nook:

Then against the far corner small area of break I want this
ladder shelf:

If you look at the first picture from outside you will see the
small brick corner where I want this to go.

On this side of the room I want to put my desk:

Something like this desk:

I have to buy this chair from Pier One… It has red poppies
all over it!

But I will wait until it goes ½ off!!

I want pictures like these to go up above the desk:

The doors in this room have to be replaced:

The door coming from the breakfast nook I want this door:

And the door going outside I want this door:

Beside the sectional I want a small pub like table
something like this:

And I want two chairs something like this:

I want to be able to put board games on it so the kids can
play… If I let them LOL!!!!

Now the floor I haven’t really decided yet I was thinking about
staining the concrete or putting laminate wood or tile
like floors down. Something that I can do myself here’s what
I was thinking about:

Stained Concrete:

Laminated Tile:

Laminated Wood:

Any of these would be better than the carpet that’s in there
right now!!

The windows I wanted to put bamboo blinds on them something
like this:

And then sheer curtains to put across to give a little more
privacy:

I have already purchased this AWESOME light fixture:

This will go right over the coffee table.

I have no idea what I’m going to do about the brick should
I paint it or gloss it to make it really shiny? Any
suggestions on this would be great I know the wood around
the windows and doors I’m going to paint white so it
matches the doors. Robert’s going to texture the ceiling
and we are going to add baseboards and crown molding. I
was thinking about painting the brick tan but I’m not sure
how that would look I know my accent color is going to be red.

The only thing that I'm going to purchase new is the poppy chair,
blinds, doors, and flooring. Everything else I'm
going to hit the consignment stores, thrift stores, and garage
sales... Bargains thats what I want!

Anyways please help any suggestions would be
GREATLY APPRICATED!!!

Christmas Morning…

2009-12-30T12:32:00.009-06:00

We had a great Christmas I thought I would share some pictures of
the kids opening there gifts.

Bailey wanted the Tony Hawk: Ride with Skateboard so this
is what he got from Santa! Here’s a picture of him
riding and playing the game… It’s really a lot of fun
I had to try it out myself!!

Bailey opening up more gifts:

He thought I got him a fan but it was really his skateboard helmet…
Look at his expression it’s priceless!!

Alec wanted the new IPod Touch so that’s what Santa got him:

Here’s Alec opening up more of his gifts:

What a face I have no idea what that was for…

Here’s Craig and his Class Ring this is what Santa got him… He had
no idea it was such a surprise!!

His other big gift was a new computer he has a laptop but he
wanted a game computer he was sooooooo excited… He woke
everyone up Christmas morning saying … Santa came Santa Came come on Aunt Lisa get up… He was like a little kid in
a candy store!!!

Here he is opening up his computer:

Here’s a picture of Alec and Craig putting his computer
up in his room:

Here is a picture of his Uncle Robert, Alec, and him checking
out his AWESOME computer!!

We have truly been blessed this year I thank God daily for
everything we have … What a wonderful God we have!!

Christmas Tour

2009-12-24T09:17:00.010-06:00

Hello...

I follow this really AWESOME blog called Kellys Korner. Kelly is
just amazing she is a Christian and follows god in everything
she does she is an amazing person. Please check out her blog CLICK HERE. Kelly had blogged about her Christmas Decorations so
I thought I would do the same.

So WELCOME to my home! I'm excited to share my Christmas
decorations with all of you!

This is my gingerbread tree in our entryway I love my tree topper I
had her made a couple of years ago. This used to be our main
tree until last year I bought another one. I always wanted two trees.
Thank god I have such a great Mom because she has bought
most of my ornaments and decorations.

Heres the fireplace my Mom and I made the wreath and garland years
ago it turned out so pretty.

Heres a closeup of my ornaments…

I’m such a prefectionist that everything has to match including
the wrapping paper and name tags. I found these name tags last year
I bought all of them and it was a good thing because I can’t
find them any more.

Heres the tree in the Formal Dining/Living Room:

These are some of my most favorite pieces because my Mom bought
them they all play music!

This is one of my end tables:

I ran out of room so I had to go into the Kitchen:

Thank you for visiting our home. Psalms 126:3 says "He has done great
things for us and we are filled with Joy" and that is truly
how we feel. God has blessed us with three wonderful boys and
a new house this year we are very thankful this year. We truly
are celebrating Jesus as the reason for the season! Please come back
and visit any time!

Cookie Exchange with a little wine…

2009-12-24T08:10:00.012-06:00

We had a Cookie Exchange party last Thursday at
Sue Lawrence’s home. Theresa and Cathi from work put it together
it was so much FUN. This is how
it worked you had to make 84 cookies then you had to wrap 6
cookies in separate bags which, is a total of 14 bags.

Here’s a picture of my cookies:

Katina told me I was Bree from Desperate Housewives because my
cookies were perfect… Thanks!

Theresa and Cathi also provided everyone with wine, cheese,
and fruit it was also a wine tasting party.

Here are my results of the wine tasting

First Choice Beviamo Moscato D’Asti:

This wine was my favorite it is from Italy and it’s just AWESOME it stated like juice… I love wine
but I don’t like wine that has a bitter taste. If you are like me
then you have to try this wine it’s to die for!!!

My second choice Columbia Winery:

This is another fruity wine great with cookies or anything sweet!

My third choice Bloom Riesling:

This wine has a fruit flavor but it also has that bitter taste but
was very good!

Here’s some pictures from the party:

Here’s a picture of my cookies that I took home after the party:

Live… Laugh… Love… Have a glass of wine!!

Work Christmas Party...

2009-12-24T07:56:00.011-06:00

We had our Christmas party last Wednesday inside the
First United Bank. I’m just now getting around to blogging
about it we had breakfast and we played Dirty Santa.
My good friend Jennifer bought this really cute cheese
ball plate with a peppermint knife; it has a gingerbread
man on it. I WON it I was excited because I decorate my whole
house at Christmas time in gingerbread, she is the BEST!

Here’s a picture of my AWESOME plate I totally LOVE IT:

Jennifer won a bowl that was really cute here’s a picture of her
she was so excited:

She put her Christmas cards in it such a GREAT idea check out
her blog to see a picture CLICK HERE!

Here’s a picture of everyone in line for breakfast:

Here’s a picture of everyone after we sat down to eat:

Here’s a picture of Stephanie, Jennifer, and Me… I’m very blessed to
have such great friends at work:

Thanks Jennifer for being such a sweet friend and thinking of me you
truly are a GREAT FRIEND!

I can't wait to use my cheese ball plate tomorrow at
Christmas dinner!!!

Black Friday...

2009-12-03T13:06:00.007-06:00

Shopping the day after Thanksgiving…

My sister Kandi and I started at 10:30 pm on Thanksgiving at
Toys R Us which was crazy it looked something like this:

I was going to get the Apple I-Pod touch they had it for $199
with a $50 gift card great deal no one else had
anything this good.

When we got there at 10:30 pm it was already packed all the way
around the building no way was I going to wait in the
cold to buy it. So we went to Wal-Mart to order Craig’s class ring
this is the one I ordered him:

I ordered it in white gold instead of yellow I also had it engraved
with “Were so proud of you” this is his Santa gift. His also
getting a new computer he has a laptop but he wanted a game computer
he plays World of War Craft.

I went to the electronics department to check on the I-Pod and
tried to buy one but they wouldn’t let me because there
cash register was setup for the black Friday sale. So yes that
meant I had to come back at 5:00 am to get the I-Pod. It
wasn’t as good of a deal as Toys R Us but close it was $199 with
a $50 I-Tune gift card. I bought some other gifts while I
was there and then we decided around 3:00 to go and get
something to eat at Whataburger.

Then we went to Sears they opened at 4:00 am it was so crazy
I didn’t think I was going to be able to get my washer
and dryer. When we got inside the line was so long it was all
the way back in the electronics we stood in line for an
hour but I got very lucky I got my Christmas wish. It was even
nicer being able to pay cash for something it felt like a
huge accomplishment.

So heres a picture of my pretty washer and dryer:

I love them thanks Santa... "Robert" :o)

After I made this huge purchase I ran over to Wal-Mart to purchase
the I-pod and it was crazy packed we got there at 5:05 am… I got
it I was really lucky! So Black Friday was a huge hit for me
and I would do it again… and again…

This is me Spendisa… That’s the nickname my lovely husband gave me…
And you know what I’m proud of it I’m a girly girl!!

What I'm Most Thankful For...

2009-12-03T13:05:00.008-06:00

We had an awesome Thanksgiving, except that my Mom couldn’t be
here she had to work. My whole family, my sister Kandi
and her family, Robert’s parents, and my Dad all went to
the Big Texan for some really good food… They have
the best cajun turkey it is just so good! I forgot my camera so
I didn’t get any pictures but I found some on the internet.

After we ate we went back to my house and played the WII and
dominos with Robert’s parents we had such a great time. I
made cheesecake look how pretty it turned out…

Needless to say it didn’t last long it was ate and gone
within seconds!

I’m so thankful this year we have really been blessed in so
many ways. The first thing I’m thankful for is our new
house I love it and I’m so very proud of it God answered my prayers
when we found this house. When Robert and I both walked into it
we knew it was the one…

I’m very thankful that Robert and I both have really good jobs. I
can’t say I have ever had a job that I look forwarded to
going to every week. I have such great friends that I treasure
so much it really is an awesome place to work… I thank God
for bring Jennifer into my life she truly is a blessing!

We are debt free, we are so thankful for this. We own everything… no
credit card debit not too many people can say this we have
worked very hard over the last couple of years to achieve
this. Our motto is if we can’t pay cash for it then
we don’t need it…

Robert and I have had some rocky moments in the past… But with
God’s help and much soul searching this year has made us
much closer than we’ve ever been. I couldn’t and wouldn’t want
to imagine my life with anyone else!

I’m the most thankful for having my three kids they are my
world I love them more than life it’s self.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and God bless you and
all your families!

Remodeling Finished...

2009-12-02T22:54:00.014-06:00

We have finally finished the Entryway, Living Room,
Dining Room, and Hallways it has been a very long 7 months but
the results are so worth it. I’m going to share with
you before and after pictures again so if it’s your
first time to see our house you’ll understand why it
took so long.

Here is a before picture of the Living Room and Dining Room:

After Picture:

Dining Room before:

Dining Room after:

Here’s a close up of the décor in the Dining Room:

I don’t have a before picture of the Living Room here is the picture
of the Living Room now:

Here’s the fireplace I think the color on the walls really makes
it stand out!

Hallway by the kids rooms:

Before Entryway:

After Entryway:

I love how everything has turned out we still have a long ways to go
our next project will be the main bathroom. Then the master
bathroom and last the kitchen and then the back yard.

My Awesome Dad...

2009-12-02T17:26:00.013-06:00

I was on vacation last week… Yes, I know I never got a
chance to blog it was one crazy week!

First my Dad came over Monday to paint the skylight the people
that owned our house before must have had some
water damage. Needless, to say it was never fixed thank god
my Dad is a painter because I couldn’t have gotten on
a ladder up that high.

Our ceilings in the living room are about 10 feet tall and then
the skylight is another 8 feet up way to high for me.

It was very scary my Dad is 70 years old and has been retired
for 12 years I was very nervous that he was going to
get hurt. He was a total PRO like he had never stopped painting. I’m so very proud of my Dad I think that’s
why I try so hard to paint with perfection because
that’s how he is.

When he got all the way up on the ladder he had to turn around
and face the other direction and then stretch across to
paint the other side. It makes my stomach turn just thinking about it!!

Thanks Dad for all your help you are an AWESOME DAD!!

I Wish I Could Protect Him

2009-11-23T02:19:00.009-06:00

We had planned a great day with family to celebrate
Craig’s 18th birthday but it didn’t turn out the way I was
hoping for. On Friday my sister Craig’s mom called
to see if we were doing anything for his birthday I informed
her that we were going to have a party at 2:00 on
Saturday. She stated she would be there with Craig’s brother
but once again she disappointed him. I wish I could take
it all away… I wish I had never answered the phone
when she called so he wouldn’t have gotten hurt. My heart was
broken in a million pieces I can’t even imagine how he felt.

As a parent we try so hard to protect our kids but we can’t protect
them from everything… And unfortunately this is one that
I can’t protect him from. I’ll never forget what he said to me
when I talked to him that night “Aunt Lisa why couldn’t you
have been my mom” I just wanted to cry. I told him I may not
be your mom that gave birth to you but “YOUR MINE” I’m
not going anywhere I will always be here for you no matter what.

At that moment I knew his life would be changed forever even
more then before!

I love this kid more then life its self I would give my own
life for him… I’m so angry with my sister I hate her for doing
this to him again I will never understand how a mom could ever do this.
I thank god that Craig was brought into my life his a great
kid he never gets into trouble he has so much to offer this world
and I’m so proud of him.

Here are a couple of pictures from his birthday!

Craig and Bailey

David, Kandi, and Robert

Dawson

My parents

Robert’s mom Reba

Robert’s dad Bob

We all love you so much CRAIG more then you will ever know!!

Happy Late Halloween…

2009-11-10T12:30:00.013-06:00

I’m just now finally getting around to posting pictures of
the kids from Halloween. They had a BLAST dressing up
and seating outside and scaring all the little kids. I
haven’t seen Craig have this much fun in a very long time that
alone was priceless!

Here is a picture of Craig after he got ready:

I decorated the front porch with a chair and we
had really scary music playing:

Here is Alec after he got ready:

I borrowed both of these AWESOME costumes from
one of the Realtors at work Cathi Mairson she is
just so sweet… Thanks Cathi so much for letting the boys
borrow them.

Bailey and Dawson dressed up as the Grim Reaper:

I decorated the brick around the whole house with luminaries
it took me forever to cut out each face but they
turned out really cute!

Here’s a close up of one of the luminaries I made!

And here is a picture I took of all three of them after Halloween
it took me a long time to get them to do this but it
turned out really CUTE!

I can’t wait until next year to do this again!

A Busy Week... Or Should I Say Weeks!!

2009-10-18T01:23:00.024-05:00

I’ve had so much stuff going on lately and have really neglected
on blogging… Will a couple of weeks ago my
good friend and co-worker Jennifer
and I had a party up at work. What girl doesn’t love jewelry and
home décor my friend Deborah sells Premier Design Jewelry
and my other friend Katina has started this awesome business called
Uppercase Living. We had a really great time together just a bunch
of girls enjoying some girl time we all need this!

I got lots of goodies which I totally love I’m for sure a girly… girl
and proud of it! I forgot my camera at home so I have no
pictures I can’t believe it I never forget my camera!

Last week Bailey was sick at home with a very high fever I was
getting up every 4 to 6 hours checking his temperature I
was so scared. We have a great doctor that called all
weekend to check up on him.

He didn’t want me to take his picture because he was in his
underwear… LOL!

I also had to decorate the lockers for Alec’s football team which if
you know me I love to do craft stuff! I made a Sam’s run
with Robert’s Mom I bought tons of stuff for the kids goodie bags.
It included gatorade, flaming hot cheetos, beef jerky, and
Halloween candy here’s a picture of the mess.

I also had to make signs for each one of their lockers I didn’t
take a picture of the locker room it was kind of a mess
and didn’t smell to great I was ready to get
out of there… LOL!

They turned out AWESOME but it took forever 43 of these bad boys!!

I also ordered some mums from Theresa at work here’s a couple of
pictures of how they turned out.

Finally a picture of my babies aren’t they cute!!

Alec’s Dresser!

2009-09-22T16:36:00.006-05:00

A couple of weeks ago when I was in Lubbock Robert finally
painted Alec’s dresser. I have been asking him to do
this since May.

Here is a picture of the dresser before Robert painted it.

So he painted it and it turned out GREAT!

Alec does everything in Texas Tech so I looked all over for
draw knobs and I couldn’t find them any where. I
finally found some on Ebay I ordered them and the guy sent
me half of my order. He attached a note saying
his supplier would be shipping him more in the next week.
Will this went on I’m not joking a whole month
before I finally got the rest of my order in I was beyond
pissed! But oh will his dresser turned out
GREAT and that’s all that really mattered!

Here’s a close up of the draw knobs.

GO TECH!!!

More Remodeling Photos…

2009-09-22T13:40:00.010-05:00

It has been a long time since I’ve posted any pictures
of our remodeling. I was going to wait and do it
after everything was finished. But I can’t wait any
longer we painted the Formal Dining Room
scraped the ceilings and textured/painted
it. We also removed the brick wall divider and
had real hardwood floors installed!

BEFORE PICTURES:
This is when we first moved in you can see the BIG MESS!

This is after we removed the wall divider!

AFTER PICTURES:

We painted the Entryway and scrapped the ceiling off
textured/painted it. We also had real hardwood
floors installed in this room!

BEFORE PICTURES:

AFTER PICTURES:

I haven’t put up any pictures yet because I don’t want to get
them dirty when we scrap the ceiling off in the
Living Room. When I finally get everything up I will post
again the completed rooms all together! The floors are so
easy to take care of they turned out
BEAUTIFUL we couldn’t be happier!

Robert did an AWESOME job on texturing the ceilings!

Keep a look out for more pictures in the next couple of weeks!

Homecoming Traditions in Large Proportions!

2009-09-21T21:19:00.014-05:00

I have lived in Texas my whole life and the saying is true
everything in Texas is bigger! My son Alec is a freshman
this year and it was his first Homecoming dance…
which I was totally EXCITED because I got
to make a MUM for his girlfriend.
When I was in High School my Mom and me would
make my MUM every year it was so much fun!

Here’s a picture from my senior year … Don’t laugh it was the 90’s
and big curly hair was in style then!

You may ask yourself what in the heck is a MUM? The MUM consists of large silk mums (that you can't even see)
attached to a card board base where there is also sometimes
small stuffed bears or your school mascot, then lots
and lots of ribbons and sparkly trims, charms of all kinds,
cow bells, whistles, ribbons with yours and your
dates names on them embossed with glitter...even some of these
MUMS have battery powered lights on them!!

This is a tradition that started way back years ago to give the
girl you go to homecoming with a MUM... a
flower to wear to the game and dance to wear on her dress or
shirt. Well the MUM has grown to gigantic proportions
since I was in school!

Let me tell you they are not cheap either!! I paid $150.00 for Alec’s
girlfriends MUM if I had bought one just
like it already made it would have cost me $250.00 CRAZY I KNOW! But look at how GREAT it turned out!

I just had to share some more pictures from Homecoming
my senior year it for sure was the best year ever!

This is a picture of Me, and my Dad with my sister Kandi before the
Homecoming Game/Dance I was nominated for
Homecoming queen.

Here is a photo from the Homecoming game Sophia, Devian, and Me
were nominated and my best friend Jamie won.

God I miss those days … I feel so old!!

It is true everything is bigger in Texas even traditions!

Happy Birthday SIS!

2009-09-19T20:57:00.009-05:00

Last Friday was my sister Barbie’s birthday we all went to eat at Chili’s
and then we went to my sister Kandi’s house for ice cream sundays!

Here are the pictures from her birthday:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BARBIE WE LOVE YOU!

The Phone Call a Parent never wants!!

2009-09-04T14:02:00.008-05:00

I HAD A CAR ACCIDENT… My heart dropped the moment I heard those
words on the phone!

I was at work it was Tuesday of last week around 4:00 and
Craig calls “Aunt Lisa I had a car accident” my first
thought and words were are you “OK"? He replied “YES” and then
proceeded to tell me what happen.

He was in the school parking lot and was getting ready to turn
into a parking place and the car in front of him decided
to backup… He hit the side of Craig’s car. It messed his car up
pretty bad but was still drivable as long as he wasn’t
driving at night the left headlight doesn’t work.

Having to deal with the insurance company has been nothing
but a nightmare! Today we received the check in
the mail to get his car fixed. It is still a long process
I have to fax the forms that the claims adjuster gave
me to the body shop and then the body shop will let me know when I
can bring the car in. We can’t take the car in until the
body shop is ready to work on his car otherwise the
insurance company won’t pay for the rental car.

Which this means missing time at work to take his car in
getting a rental car and that’s a whole other
problem right there. The rental company won’t let a minor
drive the car his only 17 so what does that mean
Craig has to drive one of our cars… What an inconvenience this
whole thing has been and it’s not even
close to being over.

I’m so grateful that no one was hurt THANK GOD!

Oh… I forgot to mention that it wasn’t Craig’s fault it was
the other kids… If any of you have a teenage boy on
your car insurance you know how expensive it is. Can you imagine
how much higher it would be with a car accident
on there record.

Great Recipes...

2009-08-30T15:36:00.008-05:00

Garlic Chicken Farfalle

Oh. My. I just tried this recipe and OH MY. It is seriously the
most flavorful, most AMAZING tasting pasta I have EVER
had!!! Beats ANYTHING I’ve ever had at Olive Garden HANDS DOWN.
And it was soooooooo super amazingly easy,
you MUST try this. ASAP. I was simply stunned at how *flavorful*
it was!!! And how all the flavors just went together
perfectly!! I’ve had this recipe for several
weeks now and I cannot BELIEVE I didn’t make it sooner!!
I am kicking myself!!! I will be making this *all the time*.
Next person to come over to my house will get this.

Okay, onto the recipe!!!! I’m posting the recipe exactly
what was giving to me, but read afterwards for my
slight adjustments. But trust me this thing
does NOT need to be adjusted much!! :)

16 oz. Farfalle pasta
1 c. heavy whipping cream
3-4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
2 to 3 cloves garlic, crushed OR garlic salt
(I do a spoonful of crushed garlic)
1 Tbsp. pepper*
1/2 c. butter
1 lb. bacon, crumpled**
1/2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese
1 (12 oz) Lawry’s mesquite marinade with lime juice

*Seems like a lot of pepper, but it has a wonderful flavor
when everything mixes together. If you’re apprehensive, do less pepper.
You can always add more.

**We like to add 1 cup of mushrooms with the bacon while it’s cooking**

[ directions ]
Crock pot chicken and bottle of marinade on low for 6 hours. Pull marinated
chicken out of the juices, allow to cool a little bit, and
shred (I pull it apart). Set this aside. About a half-hour before
serving, boil the pasta. In a small saucepan, melt butter, add garlic, whipping
cream, pepper, parmesan cheese, and crumpled bacon/mushrooms. Whisk
together on low heat for 3-4 minutes. In a large bowl, pour
over cooked, drained pasta, add chicken and stir through. Sprinkle a
little bit more shredded parmesan cheese on top.

Oreo Delight

I don't usually love pudding, but in the context of this recipe, it's
not bad. In fact, I find this to be rather tasty.

35 Oreo cookies (1 whole pkg.) - I prefer mint flavor
6 Tbsp. margarine, melted
1 pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. sugar
2 Tbsp. milk
1 (12 oz.) tub Cool Whip, thawed
3 1/4 c. cold milk
2 pkg. instant Jell-O pudding
optional: more crushed Oreos and Andes Mint baking chips
to sprinkle on top

Mix crushed cookies and butter in medium bowl. Press firmly onto
bottom of 9" x 13" baking dish. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
Beat cream cheese, sugar, and 2 Tbsp. milk in medium
bowl with wire whisk until blended. Stir in 1 1/4 c. Cook Whip.
Spread over crust.

Pour 3 1/4 c. milk into bowl. Add both pudding mixes. Beat with wire
whisk for 2 minutes. Pour over cream cheese layer. Let
stand 5 minutes. Drop remaining Cool Whip over pudding
and spread. Sprinkle more crushed Oreos or Andes Mint baking chips
on top. Refrigerate at least 4 hours.

First Day of School...

2009-08-27T12:52:00.007-05:00

Yes I know I’m very late posting this it has just been so
crazy with working all day then coming home and cleaning
and cooking and more cleaning I just don’t have any time.

Here are some pictures of Craig:

I told you he does whatever he can not to take a picture…

I have to sneak up on him:

Here are Alec’s pictures:

This is when he said what are you doing MOM? I said taking some
pictures of you on your first day of HIGH SCHOOL. He said
why? I said because I can’t believe you are in HIGH SCHOOL! He said
what you feel OLD… :( I said NO…

I guess now I have that MOUTHY TEENAGER…

Here are Bailey’s pictures:

My little heart breaker we have little girls calling the house
all the time for him. I think I’m going to have my hands
full with this one!

He just melts my heart!!!

I can’t believe Craig is a senior this year and Alec is a freshmen they
are growing up WHY to fast... I GUESS I DO FEEL OLD!

Our Trip to Lubbock...

2009-08-27T12:23:00.010-05:00

So a couple of weeks ago Craig, Bailey and me went down
to Lubbock just to get out of town and relax.

So while we were down there Craig went to see ShineDown in
concert if you don’t know who they are
here's a picture:

Don’t feel bad I have no idea who they are either… LOL!

Bailey and I went to the movies to see G Force here's
a picture just in case you don’t know what I’m
talking about:

This movie was so funny and we saw it in 3D which was
AWESOME this is a really cute movie.

Before we went to sleep we took a picture …
Will when I say we I mean Bailey and me. I can never get Craig
to take pictures he runs and hides everytime.

We had a GREAT time and I didn’t want to come home …

Are You Ready For Some Football?

2009-08-17T20:04:00.014-05:00

We just found out that Alec...

Made first string on the freshmen football team at
Amarillo High School. I’m so excited words don’t even describe
how happy I am. I can’t wait to go to the games
and more importantly to go and support Alec!

I am SO ready for football season!! I am ready for some
power-hitting football! But more specifically, I am ready for
some Sandies football!

Way to go Alec we are so VERY VERY PROUD OF YOU!!

NO MORE SNORING...

2009-06-28T10:21:00.009-05:00

I love my hubby a lot we have been married for
15 years which is a very long time considering my nights
have been like this:

I have never gotten a good night’s sleep for as long as we
have been married in fact the last 5 years
I have either gotten up and gone to the couch or slept with my
youngest Bailey.

I finally decided that if he wasn’t going to fix the problem
whatever it may be then I’m going to do something
about it. So I called my kid’s ear Doctor
and setup an appointment to get fitted ear plugs:

And for the last two nights I have slept like this:

So now when I sleep I no longer here this:

But I know he still snores because the kids say that they can
still hear him at night. But I have finally gotten a
good night’s sleep WOO HOO….

Remodeling Updates...

2009-06-22T21:00:00.009-05:00

I finally got around to putting up the decor in the kids rooms
I thought I would share it with everyone.

First is Alec’s room he does everything in TEXAS TECH
my Dad painted his room Texas Tech gray which
I think turned out great. The one cool thing about his
room he has a bay window.

I finally got the pictures from the Tech football game
Robert and Alec went to so I could put them
in this AWESOME picture frame.

My Dad painted Bailey’s room a light blue I do everything in his
room in sports. It turned out really cool
and it matched his bedding that was done on accident.

Sorry about all the cords under the desk getting the hubby to
fix the mess is like pulling a tooth out… lol!

I didn’t paint my room I figured it matched my bedding and it looked ok.

I love the huge windows…

Here is a picture of the master bathroom it needs work … It’s on the
list of things to do…

The one cool thing about this house is it has a central vacuum
system so on Mother’s Day Robert bought me this.

I totally love this it is so much better than my old vacuum.

So we had the wood flooring installed in both the game room and
entry way I’m only going to show you the
entry way right now…

Don’t look at the mess because he still has to come back
tomorrow to install the molding and base boards. But we couldn’t
be happier with the job he did and the
way the floors turned out.

On that note I’m going to end this post with a picture of my
baby and Mr. Muggles.

"SOOOO MESSY"

2009-06-20T00:47:00.008-05:00

We have been so busy remodeling the house and Bailey is doing
football and Alec has been going camp. It has
been so crazy to tell you the truth I’m ready for it to
calm down for a while. After we are finished with
having the hardwood floors installed and painting the living room,
game room, hallways, and entry way we are going to
take a couple of months off and focus on
the outside of the house.

We are going to have new garage doors installed something
like this and I also want to put up a
pergola across both the doors:

I then want to put up stained shutters around each window
along with all new lighting I really want to
make it look Tuscan!

Here are a couple of pictures of what we are doing right
now the whole house has popcorn ceilings:

So we have been taking this down and it is SOOOOO MESSY take
a look for yourself…

What it looks like right now we haven’t mudded it yet or
textured it but we are working on it.

They are installing the wood flooring in the entryway tomorrow
so long UGLY TILE!

They finished installing the hardwood in the game room today…
It really looks pretty. They did a GREAT job we are so
pleased now if I can just finish painting
that would be great. I’m hoping I can finish up both rooms
this weekend and next week but with it being Fathers Day
weekend I don’t know how much I will get done. After
this is all done we still have the main bathroom, master bathroom
and the kitchen “WOO” we have lots to do but
we are getting there!

15 YEARS...

2009-06-14T22:32:00.012-05:00

On June 10th was our anniversary which makes it 15 years. It doesn’t
seem like we have been together that long
“HOW TIME FLIES BY”!

What I've learned so far...

• He really likes to push my buttons. My husband knows what
really ticks me off and every time he thinks he can get
away with it he pushes every button he can. Once he knows he's
gotten past the cut off point he turns and runs, knowing a
shoe, book, or something solid is going to be flying
towards his head.

• He is gross! Simply disgusting! My husband
will eat greasy food with his fingers and have it slathered
all over his face. Then he'll turn around and go
in for the kiss, not caring that at that moment his face and
hands are dripping with pizza grease. He'll leave chin
shavings in the sink because he says it makes the bathroom
look more 'Manly'.

• He is gentle and caring. Like when I'm
woken up to a lovely breakfast in bed. Granted it might be
as small as him bringing me a bowl of cereal, it's really
the thought that matters.

I wouldn’t change anything about him his My BEST FRIEND I thank
God every day for bring him into my life!

This is a picture of us when Robert was 19 and I was 17:

From Left to Right: Matt Adams Best Man, Jamie Proffitt Maid of Honor,
Me, and Robert:

Us 15 years later:

Today I marry my best friend ... the one who makes my life complete.
Today we pledge our love to each other ... without
reservation, for all eternity. Today we become one in Christ ...
a union created and blessed by God. "If we love
each other, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:12

~THE BIG 34~

2009-06-14T21:51:00.007-05:00

It was my BIRTHDAY on the 4th of June and I haven’t had a chance to
post how GREAT of a day it was.

So first off I went to work and my AWESOME friend
JENNIFER AND HER HUSBAND NOAH had decorated
my desk.

This was my expressions:

Then I saw my desk:

You are the BEST JENNIFER thanks for making my day so special!

Robert took me to lunch and the whole family went to eat
here for dinner that night:

Which is my favorite place to eat I love Italian food!

Then on Saturday Robert had everyone in the family over for cake
and ice cream. He got me this really cute card:

It was an AWESOME BIRTHDAY! Oh, and one of the best parts I got to
go shopping here:

Thanks, everyone for making it a birthday that I won’t forget!

$8,000 Tax Credit... It's for REAL!!

2009-06-02T20:24:00.017-05:00

I have had a lot of people question the $8,000 Tax Credit
for First Time Home Buyers. Will this is for REAL take a look
at our check.

We got it in the mail today I still can't believe that
the government is paying people free money to buy a house.
What is wrong with people come on get to your nearest real estate
company. But, if you live in Amarillo Texas there is only one company
to go to and that is PRUDENTIAL ADA, REALTORS. We have the BEST
Realtors in the world and we can answer all your questions about
the tax credit.

So if you are skeptical I hope I have proven to you it really isn't
a joke. Here is a little more information on the credit.

This credit also applies to anyone that hasn’t owned a home in the
last three years. Which, applied to us the great thing about the tax credit
is if you have already filed your taxes this year you can
do an amendment after you close on your house.
And guess what the government will send you an $8,000 dollar check
like we got above. There are some exceptions so you
would want to check with your CPA or a Realtor. So basically
you’re getting into a house with hardly anything out of your pocket.
You don't pay it back it's not a loan it's yours to
do whatever you want with it so use your imagination pay
off bills or take a vacation. The only catch to the money is you have
to stay in the home for 3 years otherwise you have
to pay the whole $8,000 back.

FYI on the tax credit go to this website:
www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com

What Paint Color…

2009-05-31T21:16:00.005-05:00

Ok I just can’t decide what to do in the two rooms they follow
together I was thinking tan but I’m just not sure. I do
everything in my house in Tuscany and I want to stay in that
color scheme I think. So if anyone has any
suggestions please help me…

This is one of my ideas its from the movie “Under the Tuscan Sun”
Robert doesn’t want yellow in the Living Room but I really
like it. I’m going to do a poll at the end of this post let me
know which idea I should go with.

The color of the wall behind her is the color I want to paint:

This is the basecoat – Two coats

Torchlight

This is the glaze – Heavily glaze

Honeycomb Glaze

This is another glaze – Lightly glaze, then mostly rag off

Butterscotch Glaze

Or here is the tan color I picked out

Craftsman Brown

Oh and here is a picture of the two rooms I’m talking about the Living
Room and Game Room that follow together.

All the paint colors are from Sherwin Williams ok now here’s the poll so
let me know what I should do… I need all the help I can get
my hubby just isn’t any help in this department so
I’m depending on all of you.

The Bricks Come Tumbling Down...

2009-05-31T19:12:00.007-05:00

We decided after we moved into our house that there was one thing that
we had to tear down. In between the Living Room and Game Room
there was this really weird brick divider and it
really looked odd. So we took the job head on and here are
some of the pictures of what it look like
before and after we tore it down.

This picture was while we were moving in so mind the mess:

Right before we started:

Not even half way there:

My kids really hated this project Robert would hit it with the
sledge hammer and then I would pick up the pieces
and put in a bucket. Then Alec would dump that in the wheel
barrel and when it got full Craig and Alec had to
dump it in the dumpster. Which I hope the
City of Amarillo doesn’t get to mad!

Yes, I know the carpet is missing but we are having beautiful
hardwood floors installed in a couple of weeks
I so can’t wait.

This is what it will look like:

It is called Virginia Mill Works Old World Oak Handscraped Flooring
from Lumber Liquidators we are also doing the entryway. But
before we do this we have to paint the walls and I’m thinking tan
but if you have any suggestions please please let me know
just leave a comment.

I can’t wait to post the new pictures of everything being completed
keep coming back so much more to come.

More Remodeling!!!

2009-05-30T11:36:00.007-05:00

Here is the picture of the entertainment center in the living room... This
was a huge chore we tore out shelves and molding.

This is what it looked like after taking everything out...

And this is what the finished product looks like...

It was really hard painting and glazing the cabinets I have painted all
my life my Dad is a retired painter so everything I know is
because of him. This technique was really hard you
have to make sure you take off or add the right amount of glaze
to everything. What is so bad I have to do this to
all the cabinets in the whole house so they all match. My kitchen
has tons of cabinets but like I said my Dad is a painter
and he is going to help me THANKS DAD!!

Here is a close up of the cabinet doors...

Here is a picture of the entertainment center with the fireplace...

I still have to paint the walls that’s what I’m working on
this weekend or should I say all week. The living
room and gameroom are combined so I have to paint two big rooms.

Here is a picture of the dining room...

My new light fixture...

I thought this was really cool I don’t know how many of you watch
Desperate Housewives but on the season finale my
canisters were on there...

My Mom bought them for me I just love everything that is
in the Tuscan theme...

If you want to see more of our remodeling please come back
I will post more this weekend...

WE HAVE A SOCK MONSTER...

2009-05-17T22:32:00.008-05:00

Ever since we moved into our new house...I've had my suspicions. Time
and time again...I would lose the mate to a favorite pair
of socks. My husband and I would talk about the sock monster
that must live in our house.

And then my husband went out to do the yard today and guess what
we found? Yes, loads and loads of missing socks
but no they weren’t the same. They looked like something ate
them and throw them up.

You guessed it my sweet little Pomeranian “Mr. Muggles” has
been eating the socks and when I say eating them he
eats them and then throws them up.

You would think after doing this the first time he wouldn’t do it
again but this dog has been eating everything. Not sure what
we need to do to get him to stop but it scares me to
death that it’s going to hurt him. He is my baby and I would be
devastated if something ever happen to him any
suggestions on what I can do to make him stop?
... PLEASE HELP

"The Best Realtor"

2009-05-17T22:12:00.004-05:00

We had the best Realtor ever Cindy Fogiel:

I also work for the best Real Estate Company ever:

Last week our Realtor Cindy Fogiel came by our new house and she
brought us a gift.

We have had so many compliments on it we totally love it Thanks so
much Cindy you truly are the “BEST”.

"Flower Pots"

2009-05-17T21:58:00.004-05:00

Here is the picture of the house before you can see the pots they
were terra cotta I spray painted them black.

I used Fortnight Lily in the center of the pot on each side of it
I put a pink Geranium then I used three purple salvia
around it. On the edge to drape down over the pot I used three
periwinkle and two variegated vine.

Here is after I painted the pots and planted the flowers:

Our next big job is doing the big flower bed in front of the
house along with painting the outside and changing all the light fixures around
the house. As you can tell I’m very proud of myself let’s just hope
I don’t kill them!!

"Our New Home"

2009-05-12T13:57:00.007-05:00

Ok… I’m going to post some pictures of our new house but we are in
the process of remodeling it so keep that in mind. It
was a foreclosure I’ve prayed every day
that the family that lost this home is ok it makes me very sad.
When they left the home they took every light
fixture with them so we had to buy all new ones.

Not that I’m complaining that gives a girl a reason to shop
which I love to do!

Here is a picture of the main bathroom before we put the ceramic tile
in “yes, that is carpet your eyes aren’t deceiving you”!

Here is the tile that I original picked out but when they came
and installed it yesterday they had the wrong tile.

Do you see the black and dark brown colors I totally loved this tile.
I was very upset and went up there and got a partial
refund which was nice but still upsetting they ordered and
installed the wrong tile. Long story short
the tile still turned out really nice here is the finished product.

And when I’m finished painting the cabinets to look like this.

And change the horrible paint from red to tan and yes the jail
bars and horrible mirror/medicine cabinet are going to.
I did order the same hardware on the cabinets
shown above which are going to look awesome. And here are the
light fixtures I’ve bought.

This is going above the vanity.

This is going above the bath tub.

After I’m finished I well repost new pictures I’m totally excited!

How many people does it take to put up a light fixture… lol!

Here is the finished product this is the game room or should I
say Robert’s pool table room.

And here is the ceiling fan in the living room.

Don’t worry the ugly wall color I’m repainting it tan with a
brown glaze which will look awesome with the hardwood
floors in the game room.

Here is Craig’s room which turned out really well my Dad is a
retired painter and he came over and painted all
of the kids rooms.

Craig’s room is in the Green Bay Packers so we painted the walls
Green Bay Packer yellow it’s bright!

His room is huge tons of space all the rooms are big. We totally
love it we are very lucky to have found it we got one
heck of a deal on it. We walked in with $40,000 equity who can
say that. Any way that’s it so far and lots more to come so
keep checking back.

Being a Mom...

2009-05-12T00:02:00.010-05:00

Before I was a Mom I made and ate hot meals.
I had unstained clothing.
I had quiet conversations on the phone.

Before I was a Mom I slept as late as I wanted.
And never worried about how late I got into bed.
I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.

Before I was a Mom I cleaned my house each day.
I never tripped over toys or forgot words to lullabies.

Before I was a Mom I didn't worry whether or not my
plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom I had never been puked on, pooped on,
spit on, peed on, or pinched by tiny fingers.
Before I was a Mom I had complete control of my mind, my
thoughts, my body and all my feelings. I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom I never held down a screaming child so
that doctors could do tests or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn't want to put it down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't
stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom I didn't know the feeling of having my
heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a Mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important.

Before I was a Mom I had never gotten up in the middle of
the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was OK.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache or
the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much......
......before I was a Mom.

I have the best kids ever Saturday when Bailey went on his shopping spree
after his birthday party. He told me he wanted to go look at
the toys so I told him to stay by the toys. The next thing I knew he
was running up to me with these pretty flowers. He
went up to the front and bought me some flowers for Mother's Day how
sweet is this kid! He said you deserve so much more Mom I love
you Happy Mother's Day you are the best Mom in the whole world. I just
wanted to cry I have the best kid in the whole world.

On Sunday morning I had to host an open house for one of the
realtors at my work. It was only from 2-4 and I made $50 bucks it was
the easiest money I have ever made. When I got home Alec and
Craig cleaned the whole house for me.

It's days like this you know you have done a great job as a parent!!!

Robert made his famous fajitas for dinner and his parents, grandma,
and Aunt Laneil came over for dinner. It was a great Mothers
day spending it with family I couldn't have asked for anything more!

Bailey's Birthday...

2009-05-11T23:04:00.010-05:00

We celebrated Bailey's birthday this last Saturday which his actual
birthday was April 7th. He is now 10 years old I can’t believe
it my baby is all grown up.

The reason his birthday was so late is we just bought a house
and we have been moving and unpacking for the last
two weeks. Yes, I know I’m a horrible parent right! It was
just way too hard to pack, move, unpack and have a
birthday party at the same time.

But he totally made out like a bandit we gave him $250 to buy
whatever he wanted he got another $145 from other people
which gives a total of $395. He was so excited to
go on a shopping spree and buy whatever he wanted. If you
didn’t already know his bike was stolen off
of our front porch at the old house so he bought himself a new bike.

He also had his friend Kylra stay the night and Alec had his
friend Shawn stay the night.

We bought pizza and they played video games and played with their
air soft guys at the park he had a great birthday!

I love you Bailey HAPPY “LATE” BIRTHDAY BABY!!!

~Happy Easter~

2009-04-12T21:57:00.014-05:00

We went to church this morning and what a great day. Not only because
it was Sunday the day to worship God but
today was extra special it is the day Jesus was
resurrected. What a glorious day today is I think we
all get lost in the true meaning of the
holidays. It’s not the Easter bunny or candy it’s about
Jesus so let’s not lose the real
meaning in what today is.

We go to
Hillside Christian Church and what an AWESOME
church it is. Today they did the cardboard
testimonies and lets just say by the time the service was
over I had mascara all over my face. If you
have never seen the cardboard testimonies
please watch the link below.

This video is from youtube.com and it's my church the gentlemen
in the stripped shirt is my pastor Tommy Politz.
I hope you all enjoy it!

After church we went home and celebrated Easter with Robert’s
family we made a huge lunch. We had a great time and
Bailey was very excited when the
Easter Bunny came!

Isn’t this Easter basket so cute!

I have been doing allot of this for the past three weeks!

Our closing date is April 22nd but nothing has gone smooth at all.
It’s a foreclosed home which is very sad but it’s the
government and they are so slow. They really make snails
look fast… lol!

Oh, and I bought myself this AWESOME picture from Kirkland’s and
these beautiful sconces online for the new house.

I can’t wait to move into our new house I’m so excited! I hope all
of you had a GREAT EASTER and GOD BLESS YOU ALL!

Mole Family...

2009-04-04T00:38:00.005-05:00

A papa mole, a mama mole,

And a baby mole all live together

In a little mole hole.

One day, papa mole sticks

His head

Out of the hole, sniffs the air

And said,

'Yum! I smell maple syrup!'

The mama mole sticks her head

Out of the hole,

Sniffs the air and said,

'Oh, Yum! I smell honey!'

Now baby mole is trying

To stick his head

Out of the hole to sniff the air, But can't

Because the bigger moles

Are in the way.

This makes him whine,

'Geez, all I can smell is....

MOLEASSES!

Mommies & Daddies‏...

2009-04-04T00:24:00.004-05:00

POSITION :
Mom, Mommy, Mama, Mum, Ma
Dad, Daddy, Dada, Pa, Pop

JOB DESCRIPTION :

Long term, team players needed, for challenging, permanent
work in an often chaotic environment.

Candidates must possess excellent communication and organ-
izational skills and be willing to work variable hours,
which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24
hour shifts on call.

Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive
camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments
in far away cities!

Travel expenses not reimbursed.
Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES :

For the rest of your life you must:

Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until
someone needs $5.

Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly.

Must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and
be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in
case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone
just crying wolf.

Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges,
such as small gadget repair,mysteriously sluggish toilets
and stuck zippers.

Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate
production of multiple homework projects.

Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings
for clients of all ages and mental outlooks.

Must be a willing to be indispensable one minute, an
embarrassment the next.

Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half
million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices.

Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.

Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality
of the end product.

Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial
work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION :

None.
Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without
complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills,
so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you.

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE :

None required unfortunately.
On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION :

Get this! You pay them!
Offering frequent raises and bonuses.
A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the
assumption that college will help them become financially
independent.

When you die, you give them whatever is left.
The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that
you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS :

While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition
reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are
offered; this job supplies limitless opportunities for
personal growth, unconditional love,and free hugs and kisses
for life if you play your cards right.

PARENTS in appreciation for everything you do on a daily basis,
please know that you are appreciated for the fabulous job you do.
** THERE IS NO RETIREMENT -- EVER!!!

Why Women Are Crabby‏

2009-03-29T01:12:00.007-05:00

We started to 'bud' in our blouses at 9 or 10 years old only to find
that anything that came in contact with those tender,
blooming buds hurt so bad it brought us to tears. So came
the ridiculously uncomfortable training bra
contraption that the boys in school would snap until we
had calluses on our backs.

Next, we get our periods in our early to mid-teens (or sooner).
Along with those budding boobs, we bloated, we
cramped, we got the hormone crankies, had to wear little
mattresses between our legs or insert tubular, packed
cotton rods in places we didn't even know we had.

Our next little rite of passage was having sex for the first
time which was about as much fun as having a
ramrod push your uterus through your nostrils (IF he did it
right and didn't end up with his little cart
before his horse), leaving us to wonder what all the
fuss was about.

Then it was off to Motherhood where we learned to live on dry
crackers and water for a few months so we didn't
spend the entire day leaning over Brother John . Of course,
amazing creatures that we are (and we are), we
learned to live with the growing little angels inside us steadily
kicking our innards night and day making us wonder
if we were preparing to have Rose mary's Baby.

Our once flat bellies looked like we swallowed a whole
watermelon and we pee'd our pants every time we
sneezed. When the big moment arrived, the dam in our blessed
Nether Regions invariably burst right in the
middle of the mall and we had to waddle, with our big
cartoon feet, moaning in pain all the way to the ER..

Then it was huff and puff and beg to die while the OB says,
'Please stop screaming, Mrs. Hear-me-roar, calm down
and push.' Just one more good push (more like 10), warranting
a strong, well-deserved impulse to punch the
%$#*@*#!* hubby and doctor square in the nose for making
us cram a wiggling, mushroom-headed 10 pound bowling
ball through a keyhole.

After that, it was time to raise those angels only to find
that when all that 'cute' wears off, the beautiful
little darlings morphed into walking, jabbering, wet, gooey,
snot-blowing, life-sucking little poop machines.

Then come their 'Teen Years.' Need I say more?

When the kids are almost grown, we women hit our voracious
sexual prime in our early 40's - while hubby had his somewhere
around his 18th birthday.

So we progress into the grand finale: 'The Menopause', the
Grandmother of all womanhood. It's either take HRT
and chance cancer in those now seasoned 'buds' or the
aforementioned Nether Regions, or, sweat like
a hog in July, wash your sheets and pillowcases daily and
bite the head off anything that moves.

Now, you ask WHY women seem to be more spiteful than men,
when men get off so easy, INCLUDING the icing
on life's cake: Being able to pee in the woods without
soaking their socks...

So, while I love being a woman, 'Womanhood' would make
the Great Gandhi a tad crabby. You think women are the
'weaker sex'? Yeah right.

Bite me.

Funny Jokes...

2009-03-25T22:07:00.008-05:00

If it wasn't for my good friend Jennifer at work I don't
think I would serve the whole day. We're buying a house and I've
been so stressed out at work. She sent me this
picture today and it made my day...lol I just had to
share it with all of you I hope you guys
enjoy it as much as I did.

My best friend sent me this email enjoy...

Two Plastic Bags

A little old lady is walking down the street, dragging two large
plastic garbage bags with her, one in each hand.
Unfortunately, there's a rip in one of the bags and
every once in a while a $20 falls out onto the pavement.
Noticing this, a policeman stops her. 'Ma'am,
there are $20 bills falling out of your bag' 'Oh really? Darn!'
says the little old lady. 'I'd better go back and see if
I can collect them. Thanks for the warning!' 'Well, now, not
so fast,' says the cop. 'How did you get
all that money? You didn't steal it, did you?' 'Oh, no,'
says the little old lady. 'You see, my back yard is right next
to the parking lot of the football stadium.
Each time there's a game, a lot of fans come and pee through
the bushes right into my flower beds! So, I go and
stand behind the bushes with a big hedge clipper and each
time someone sticks his little thingy through the
bushes, I say,' $20 or it comes off.' 'Well that seems only fair,'
laughs the cop. 'Okay, good luck!' 'By the way, what's
in the other bag?'

'Well,' says the little old lady, 'not everybody pays.'

Sweet Award...

2009-03-24T21:01:00.012-05:00

OK… I have not posted in like forever trying to buy a house is one
of the most stressful things. A couple of weeks ago I was
very surprised when I opened my email to
find this "sweet award"!

Please visit her blog at Suzie

Here is the description of the award:

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim
to find and be friends. They are not interested in
self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these
prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give
more attention to these writers. Deliver this award
to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include
this cleverly-written text into the
body of their award.”

Tanja
She is private so you may not be able to visit her blog.

Robin

Diaper Diva

Caroyln

Tammy

Cindy

April

Jennifer

Thank you all I have truly treasured your friendships more
then I can ever say!

-Big News-

2009-03-11T21:45:00.008-05:00

Ok, just so you know the reason why I haven’t been blogging is we
are buying a new house. Yes, I’m aware the economy
isn’t doing well but in Amarillo, Texas it is still
BOOMING… Thank GOD!

We’re going to put an offer on a house in the next couple
of days. We are just waiting on a couple of
things before we make the offer. That’s where you come in,
we need your prayers so the house that we love will still be available
when we get ready to make an offer. So please pray
that this AWESOME house doesn’t sell!

Oh, not sure if any of you are a ware of the $8,000 taxes credit
for first time home buyers. This credit also applies
to anyone that hasn’t owned a home in the last three years.
Which, applies to us we have been leasing the house
we are in right now. We decided that we needed something bigger
that fits our family. The great thing about the tax credit
is if you have already filed your taxes this
year you can do an amendment after you close on your house.
And guess what the government sends you an $8,000 dollar check.
There are some exceptions so you would want to
check with your CPA or a Realtor. So basically you’re
getting into a house with hardly anything out of your pocket.

FYI on the tax credit go to this website:
http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/2009/faq.php

Question
11. I read that the tax credit is "refundable." What does that mean?
The fact that the credit is refundable means that the home buyer
credit can be claimed even if the taxpayer has little
or no federal income tax liability to offset. Typically this involves
the government sending the taxpayer a check for a portion or
even all of the amount of the refundable tax credit.

For example, if a qualified home buyer expected, not withstanding
the tax credit, federal income tax liability of $5,000 and
had tax withholding of $4,000 for the year, then
without the tax credit the taxpayer would owe the IRS $1,000
on April 15th. Suppose now that the taxpayer qualified for
the $8,000 home buyer tax credit. As a result, the taxpayer
would receive a check for $7,000 ($8,000 minus the $1,000 owed).

More to come later...

TAKS TEST....

2009-03-11T20:30:00.013-05:00

TAKS stands for Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. The test
measures progress in reading, writing, English/language
arts, mathematics, science and social studies in student’s
grades 3-11. The problem is if they don’t pass this test they aren’t
promoted to the next grade. They are giving 3 times to pass it and
if they fail all 3 times they are held back. Even if they had
all A’s in every class this test determines if your child passes.

But, you're saying, "This shouldn't matter. If the test goes
over curriculum, then shouldn't they be able to take
the test, no problem?" This would be true, if the test did what
it was supposed to. The TAKS Test is supposed to be a standard by
which a student's knowledge of the curriculum is tested. But teachers
I have spoken with said the test does not match the curriculum
currently directed by the Texas Education Agency. So instead
of teaching what they're supposed to teach, they end up
teaching the TAKS test instead. One teacher I spoke with at my son's school
told me that at their school, they have instigated what are called "TAKS initiatives".

These "TAKS initiatives" are a set of guidelines and materials that
go over an aspect of the TAKS test per week. These
initiatives must be added into what other curriculum is already
in their teaching load. So instead of discussing literature
and history, or conducting experiments in science
class, students are learning how to take and pass a standardized test.

So what? With these children and high school students as our
future, it is our responsibility to make sure they are
educated to the best of our resources as a community
and a state. Instead of creating a test that actually judges a
student's progress and encourages innovative teaching in the
classroom, our legislature has created a false
sense of security that masks the real problem of under-funding
in the schools and underpaid teachers. In order to cover for the
short fallings of Governors Perry and Bush's
inability to cure the educational system, they have created
another roadblock in education.

Will I was just wondering what everyone’s opinion was on the TAKS
test. My kids took this test last week and I don’t
know about you guys but this test just makes me so DAMN mad!

I woke up early and made breakfast for all my kids which, included eggs,
bacon, and pancakes. When Bailey got up he said his stomach
hurt I sat with him at the table and tried to talk
to him. He just started crying he was so worried about the test.
I calmed him down and he ate some of his breakfast. But
before we left to go to school that morning he threw up. When
I finally got to his school he just started crying uncontrollably
it took me a good 10 minutes to get him to calm down.

What is wrong with this picture? Why would our government do
this to our children? Every child learns differently no one is the
same so to make them take a test is just wrong on so many
levels it’s like they want our children to be robots. I have never
been so upset over anything in my life!

I think it’s great to test kids to see if they are learning what
they have been taught. But when you make a 3rd grader
take this test I think that is going way too far. What is wrong
with our government? Why in hell would you put so much responsibility
on a child? I really want these questions answered.

I think all Moms should get together and create a test for our
government to take before they are elected into office. I'm sure not
even half of our government could even pass this test! All children
learn differently and to say each child should be the
same as all the rest of the world is wrong. We all need to
take a stand and get this STUPIED test thrown out!!

Ever wish you could redo your past?

2009-02-28T19:23:00.004-06:00

We are all giving choices look close enough and you can
see them every where. But, what do you do
if you see your life as a series of bad choices. Would you give
anything to have made different ones the question
is if you could go back and do it all
differently would you still be you?

I have always wondered what my life would’ve been like if I
had gone to college instead of getting
married when I did. I had a full scholarship to Texas Tech
in Fashion Design.

I won a contest my senior year in high school out of 400 entries
I won first place in all four categories. I will always
wonder what my life would’ve been like had I gone.

Everyone has got there own path. However you do it the
fact is the path your on the choices you
make define who you are!

Choices there the building blocks of our life they shape
our past, present and future.

And despite all the mistakes I’ve made every new day brings with
it new choices and a whole new world of possibilities.

Best Mommy Award...

2009-02-22T20:34:00.005-06:00

I received this award from Rose thank you for being
so sweet and remembering me. I want to pass this award
to all Moms that would like to participate!

The rules: 1. Show the award logo in your post. 2. Pick a picture
you have with your kiddo(s). 3. Post should include
your best experience as a Mom. 3. Nominate other blogger mom's
out there that you consider the best mom, like yourself.

Reasons I love being a Mom!

There are of course the obvious reasons... but the simple things
I think often get overlooked. The little tiring
joys of motherhood. Those things that aren't always
easy to do but you know that your babies cannot
survive without you and the trememdous love for them that keeps
you going with smiles!

"Slow down in life and see the gracious blessings that
God has given you!"

"Kidney Stone's...Oh the Pain"

2009-02-22T19:40:00.008-06:00

Will this last week was really crazy! I was sick last week with
a really bad sinus infection. Last Sunday I woke up
with this excruciating pain in my back I
new exactly what it was because unfortunately I have gone through
it before. I had another kidney stone let me
tell you the pain is far worse then anything you can ever
imagine it is worse then child birth.

I was out of work for a whole week and thank GOD I work for
such a great company that completely understood.

I found out Monday that I had not one but three of these bad boys!
I started feeling better on Thursday and thought
that I was going to pass it because
I really didn’t have much pain excepting when going to
the bathroom. But late that night I started hurting in my back and
stomach. So Friday I went back to the Doctor
again expecting to have surgery. My Doctor did another X-Ray
and apparently the three stones attached together and were heading out!!
Yes good news I was going to pass it but it was going
to hurt like nothing I have ever felt
before. At this point there is nothing they can do but
give me LOTS AND LOTS OF DRUGS!! I passed this bad boy Saturday
evening I heard it and I had to collect it…GROSS.

So if you have been wondering why I haven’t posted or commented
on your blog it was because of this. I still love
all of you very much and I’m truly glad that this is over and
I can get back to my life. On that note I
hope everyone has had a great week I can’t wait to
catch up on all your blog’s.

"Soooo...MAD"

2009-02-15T15:26:00.006-06:00

I woke up this morning and started cleaning house in the process I saw
someone walk on our porch. He grabbed my son Bailey’s bike
so I opened up the front door and started yelling
he looked back at me and kept going. I’m sure I looked
like a crazy person. I’ve been sick and my hair was all over and I
had my nightgown on. I was so pissed off I got in the car with
my other son Alec to go look for this punk kid.

I’m beginning to wonder what kind of neighborhood we live in!
We have lived in this house for 3 years now it is a
nice area with great schools. But something is
seriously wrong if you can’t even leave stuff on your front porch
because someone may steel it. We have had stuff stolen out of cars and
car windows busted in. What has this world turned in to?
What kind of parents could that boy have? Because let me tell
you my kids were brought up different they would never do anything like that.
What parent wouldn’t question there kid if they came
home with a new bike.

That bike was everything to my son! I would never wish harm
on anyone but I really hope he gets
what he deserves!!!

"Me and My Valentine"

2009-02-15T01:31:00.006-06:00

I had an AWESOME Valentine’s Day and I just had to share with everyone
what a GREAT husband I have!

First he sent me these wonderful flowers and candy to work on Friday.

He had planned a romantic dinner today at an Italian Restaurant but
unfortunately I have been sick. So instead of going
there he brought it to me. He had my sister watch the kids.
He went and picked up food and rented a movie that I have wanted to see.

Such a GREAT movie! He light candles and decorated the table it was
just so sweet after we ate we curled up on the couch
and watched the movie. It was for sure the best night ever.
I may have looked scary and like death ran me over but he made
me feel like a million dollars.

I have been doing little things for him every day since the 1st
of February here is a picture of some of the things
that I have given him.

And I gave him this.

I don’t think Valentine’s Day is about what you get it is about
who you spend it with and how that person makes
you feel. I’m truly the luckiest person in this world…
I love him with all my heart!

"To All My Blog Friends"

2009-02-08T18:52:00.011-06:00

I had some free time, so what did I do?
I checked the computer to see if I'd heard from you.

I used to walk out to a box to retrieve mail
But I'd rather get it instantly
than wait on the snail...

Checking my blog is always fun I usually get a joke or
greeting from someone. I feel so connected because on the other
end I know I've discovered a new found friend.

When I've had a hard day and need to share here I can
find a friend who will listen and care.

And to this friend I hope you know that I am always there for
you also. Isn't it a strange kind of bond we form?
It isn't exactly like the "norm"

But where is it written, face to face we have to be
for you to be a very good friend to me?

That little joke, or note, or even just a simple
"Hi" Could be like a ray of sunshine from the sky. So my
online-pals, this is dedicated to you. For all the smiles
you have gaven me.

May our friendship continue to grow and the warmth we feel
continue to flow.

"My First Blog Award"

2009-02-08T17:35:00.008-06:00

Today is just an AWESOME day thanks to a great friend the Purple Diva.
Please visit her blog when you get a chance. She gave me my
first Blog Awards...Yes, you heard me
she gave me TWO.

WOO…HOO

Thank you so much this truly made my day!

"What is a Friend"

2009-02-07T11:16:00.006-06:00

A friend might be someone who's there to provide support when times
are tough, or someone you can rely on to celebrate a
special moment with you.

Friends might come and go in your life, they might make you
laugh and cry, but most importantly of all they
love you for who you are. It doesn't matter what a person
looks like or what kind of clothes they wear, but
it's what's on the inside that counts. It's the actions they take,
no matter how big or small, to show you how much of a
good friend they are, and being there for you no matter what,
even when things are incredibly important!

What is a Friend?

Someone who will support you no matter what.

Someone you can trust and who won't judge you.

Someone who won't put you down or deliberately hurt your feelings,
but will show kindness and respect.

Someone who will love you not because they feel they have to because you're their friend, but because they choose to.

Someone whose company you enjoy and whose loyalty you can depend upon.

Someone who will be there no matter what your situation is.

Someone who is trustworthy and not afraid to tell
you the truth, no matter how hard it is sometimes.

Someone who can laugh when you laugh.

Someone who will stick around when things get rough.

Someone who makes you smile.

Someone who can accept you for who you are, and
just lend you an ear when you need to whine or complain.

Someone who will cry when you cry.

Someone who will give you room to change.

Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some
stay for a while and leave foot prints on our hearts.
And we are never, ever the same.
– Anonymous

"POLL... BE FRIENDS OR NOT"

2009-02-07T11:04:00.005-06:00

I have had something weighing very heavy on my heart that I
wanted to share. Have you ever had a friend that
pretended to be a friend but the moment you weren’t around they
talked about you. Being an adult I never would have
guessed that I would be going through this.
This is something teenagers do not adults we are supposed
to be better then this grown ups and act
our age…right!

After going through this with this person I decided that
it was better for us not to be friends. There are things that
she has done that I just can’t forgive her for!
I wish I was a better person and I could say I can but
I really feel like she will never change. I just dont need "DRAMA"
in my life any more!

I wanted to take a poll to see what everyone else would
do so be honest let me have it!

Valentine E-Card...

2009-02-05T19:48:00.005-06:00

I love these E-cards hope you all enjoy this!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

TEN GREAT WAYS TO KEEP THE ROMANCE ALIVE...

2009-02-04T17:31:00.004-06:00

1.Write love notes to one another, even if it’s just the word
“I love you” Leave them where your partner will
find them during the day.

2. Share a romantic meal. Prepare it together. Put candles
on the table. Dress up. Play your favorite music.
Unplug the phone and enjoy each other.

3. Give your partner the day off. Do your partner’s chores
for the day. Let them do whatever they want for
the whole day. When they get home, they’ll be ready
to thank you.

4. Find yourselves a new hobby, a chance for the two of you
to spend time together. You can try a couple’s sports
league, cooking workshops or dance classes.

5. Be spontaneous. Do something fun and silly, enter a kissing
contest, like the Netflix Greatest Kiss Contest.

6. Pack a picnic complete with candles and wine and take it
to a rooftop for a romantic midnight rendezvous.

7. Give your Relationship a fresh start with a fresh coat of paint.
Redecorate your bedroom to be more inviting and
have an incentive to spend more time there.

8. Go on a second honeymoon. If getting out to a tropical island
isn’t a feasible option, no problem…. just check
into a nice hotel one weekend, for some room service,
relaxation and romance.

9. Embrace your inner teenager and do something fun….go to a
theme park, stay out all night dancing or go to a
midnight movie.

10. Exchange gifts, but set the rule that it has to be something
homemade, like a mixed tape or a card. That way it
will come from the heart and mean much more.

Valentines Day Countdown...

2009-02-03T16:32:00.006-06:00

The French have long been known for romance. The Valentine’s
Day countdown is on and this couple is in a mad dash
to celebrate with romantic fervor.

Once in awhile you come across a truely romantic and inspiring
video. This French made short is one of my favorite
valentine videos. So sit back and enjoy Ma Valentine, I
know you will love it.

How to say I Love You in 100 Languages...

2009-02-02T22:26:00.008-06:00

English - I love you
Afrikaans - Ek het jou lief
Albanian - Te dua
Arabic - Ana behibak (to male)
Arabic - Ana behibek (to female)
Armenian - Yes kez sirumem
Bambara - M'bi fe
Bengali - Ami tomake bhalobashi (pronounced: Amee toe-ma-kee bhalo-bashee)
Belarusian - Ya tabe kahayu
Bisaya - Nahigugma ako kanimo
Bulgarian - Obicham te
Cambodian - Soro lahn nhee ah
Catalan - T'estimo
Cherokee - Tsi ge yu i
Cheyenne - Ne mohotatse
Chichewa - Ndimakukonda
Chinese
Cantonese - Ngo oiy ney a
Mandarin - Wo ai ni
Comanche - U kamakutu nu
(pronounced oo----ka-ma-koo-too-----nu) -- Thx Tony
Corsican - Ti tengu caru (to male)
Cree - Kisakihitin
Creol - Mi aime jou
Croatian - Volim te
Czech - Miluji te
Danish - Jeg Elsker Dig
Dutch - Ik hou van jou
Elvish - Amin mela lle (from The Lord of The Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien)
Esperanto - Mi amas vin
Estonian - Ma armastan sind
Ethiopian - Afgreki'
Faroese - Eg elski teg
Farsi - Doset daram
Filipino - Mahal kita
Finnish - Mina rakastan sinua
French - Je t'aime, Je t'adore
Frisian - Ik hald fan dy
Gaelic - Ta gra agam ort
Georgian - Mikvarhar
German - Ich liebe dich
Greek - S'agapo
Gujarati - Hoo thunay prem karoo choo
Hiligaynon - Palangga ko ikaw
Hawaiian - Aloha Au Ia`oe
Hebrew
To female - "ani ohev otach" (said by male) "ohevet Otach" (said by female)
To male - "ani ohev otcha" (said by male) "Ohevet ot'cha" (said by female)
Hiligaynon - Guina higugma ko ikaw
Hindi - Hum Tumhe Pyar Karte hae
Hmong - Kuv hlub koj
Hopi - Nu' umi unangwa'ta
Hungarian - Szeretlek
Icelandic - Eg elska tig
Ilonggo - Palangga ko ikaw
Indonesian - Saya cinta padamu
Inuit - Negligevapse
Irish - Taim i' ngra leat
Italian - Ti amo
Japanese - Aishiteru or Anata ga daisuki desu
Kannada - Naanu ninna preetisuttene
Kapampangan - Kaluguran daka
Kiswahili - Nakupenda
Konkani - Tu magel moga cho
Korean - Sarang Heyo or Nanun tangshinul sarang hamnida
Latin - Te amo
Latvian - Es tevi miilu
Lebanese - Bahibak
Lithuanian - Tave myliu
Luxembourgeois - Ech hun dech gaer
Macedonian - Te Sakam
Malay - Saya cintakan mu / Aku cinta padamu
Malayalam - Njan Ninne Premikunnu
Maltese - Inhobbok
Marathi - Me tula prem karto
Mohawk - Kanbhik
Moroccan - Ana moajaba bik
Nahuatl - Ni mits neki
Navaho - Ayor anosh'ni
Ndebele - Niyakutanda
Norwegian
Bokmaal - Jeg elsker deg
Nyonrsk - Eg elskar deg
Pandacan - Syota na kita!!
Pangasinan - Inaru Taka
Papiamento - Mi ta stimabo
Persian - Doo-set daaram
Pig Latin - Iay ovlay ouyay
Polish - Kocham Ciebie
Portuguese - Eu te amo
Romanian - Te iubesc
Russian - Ya tebya liubliu
Scot Gaelic - Tha gra\dh agam ort
Serbian - Volim te
Setswana - Ke a go rata
Sign Language - ,\,,/ (represents position of fingers when signing 'I Love You')
Sindhi - Maa tokhe pyar kendo ahyan
Sioux - Techihhila
Slovak - Lu`bim ta
Slovenian - Ljubim te
Spanish - Te quiero / Te amo
Swahili - Ninapenda wewe
Swedish - Jag alskar dig
Swiss-German - Ich lieb Di
Surinam - Mi lobi joe
Tagalog - Mahal kita
Taiwanese - Wa ga ei li
Tahitian - Ua Here Vau Ia Oe
Tamil - Nan unnai kathalikaraen
Telugu - Nenu ninnu premistunnanu
Thai
To female - Phom rak khun
To male - Chan rak khun
Informal - Rak te
Tunisian - Ha eh bak
Turkish - Seni Seviyorum
Ukrainian - Ya tebe kahayu
Urdu - mai aap say pyaar karta hoo
Vietnamese
To female - Anh ye^u em
To male - Em ye^u anh
Welsh - 'Rwy'n dy garu di
Yiddish - Ikh hob dikh
Yoruba - Mo ni fe
Zazi - Ezhele hezdege
Zuni - Tom ho' ichema

My Valentine...

2009-02-01T19:57:00.010-06:00

I'm going to post something every day about
Valentine's Day. What it means to me and what a special day
it really can be for you and your loved one!

Valentine's Day doesn't have to be one day a year. Love with
all of your heart and soul. Giving yourself
completely to someone can be scary, but there is
never a bad time to tell your loved one how you feel about them.

The most amazing gift you can give someone is your
heart. Cherish your time together and make every day Valentine's
Day but flowers don't hurt either!

Here is my favorite Valentine song and lyrics:

Martina McBride -- My Valentine

If there were no words
No way to speak
I would still hear you

If there were no tears
No way to feel inside
I'd still feel for you

And even if the sun refuse to shine
Even if romance ran out of rhyme
You would still have my heart
Until the end of time
You're all I need
My love, my Valentine

All of my life
I have been waiting for
All you give to me
You've opened my eyes
And shown me how to love unselfishly

I've dreamed of this a thousand times before
In my dreams I couldn't love you more
I will give you my heart
Until the end of time
You're all I need
My love, my Valentine

La da da
Da da da da

And even if the sun refuse to shine
Even if romance ran out of rhyme
You would still have my heart
Until the end of time
Cuz all I need
Is you, my Valentine

You're all I need
My love, my Valentine

Pay It Forward...

2009-01-25T19:46:00.001-06:00

I was at Kristine's blog and she posted this AWESOME post
and I was the 3rd person that commented her post how great is that!

The rules are as follow:

Pay It Forward Exchange is based on the concept of the movie
"Pay it forward". I will send a handmade gift to the first three
people who leave a comment to this post on my blog
requesting to join the PIF exchange. All the gifts will be
made and posted out 'sometime within the next year'. How exciting to
not know when your surprise package will arrive! What
you need to do in return, is pay it forward by making the same promise
on your blog. This Exchange is only open to those with
active websites or blogs. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PROMISE TO POST
THIS SAME 'PAY IT FORWARD' MESSAGE ONTO YOUR BLOG, WHICH
MUST BE ACTIVE IN ORDER TO PLAY. YOU WILL PAY
IT FORWARD TO THREE PEOPLE WHO COMMENT ON YOUR BLOG. I'd love
for you to join me! Will you? Other comments are
welcome, but only the first three will be my Pay It Forward
recipients. Come and join me who doesn't love a gift
or giving gifts???

This is such an inspirational idea thank you so much Kris for sharing
with us! I can't wait to see who comments.

Brought to you by the letter...

2009-01-24T19:29:00.002-06:00

Tanja, a new blog friend of mine has been practicing a new game on her
circle of bloggers. She chose the letter "C" for
me and I’m really excited about participating! So here
we go with my words:

1. Craig – My sweet nephew who I love with all my heart.

2. Casey – One of my best friends.

3. Chocolate – Yum….What person doesn’t love it!

4. Clothes – Hello I’m a girly girl I love clothes!

5. Cell phone – I don’t know what I would do without it.

6. Cherries – I can eat a whole bag of them!

7. Cartoons – Yes, I said it I love cartoons I’m a kid at heart.

8. Calla lily – One of my favorite flowers they are so pretty.

9. Coke – Sounds good right now I think I’ll go get one!

10. Casino – I love to go and relax and have fun and win
some money…Show me the money!

Ok... If you want to play, leave a comment on this post letting
me know, and I’ll assign you a letter. You write
about ten things you love that begin with your assigned
letter, and post it at your place. When people comment on your
list, you give them a letter, and the chain continues
on and on! Thanks for playing and have a fabulous weekend!

"MEANINGFUL"

2009-01-24T09:57:00.019-06:00

I was visiting Tara at

please go to her blog it is such an awesome blog!
She had posted this song it just made me cry please listen to it!

Dont Laugh At Me - Mark Wills

Don't Laugh at Me
by Mark Wills

I'm a little boy with glasses
The one they call the geek
A little girl who never smiles
'Cause I've got braces on my teeth
And I know how it feels
To cry myself to sleep

I'm that kid on every playground
Who's always chosen last
A single teenage mother
Tryin' to overcome my past
You don't have to be my friend
But is it too much to ask

Don't laugh at me
Don't call me names
Don't get your pleasure from my pain
In God's eyes we're all the same
Someday we'll all have perfect wings
Don't laugh at me

I'm the cripple on the corner
You've passed me on the street
And I wouldn't be out here beggin'
If I had enough to eat
And don't think I don't notice
That our eyes never meet

I lost my wife and little boy when
Someone cross that yellow line
The day we laid them in the ground
Is the day I lost my mind
And right now I'm down to holdin'
This little cardboard sign...so

Don't laugh at me
Don't call me names
Don't get your pleasure from my pain
In God's eyes we're all the same
Someday we'll all have perfect wings
Don't laugh at me

I'm fat, I'm thin, I'm short, I'm tall
I'm deaf, I'm blind, hey, aren't we all

Don't laugh at me
Don't call me names
Don't get your pleasure from my pain
In God's eyes we're all the same
Someday we'll all have perfect wings
Don't laugh at me

I have never heard of this song but what an amazing song I hope
it touches all of your hearts like it has mine.

"My thoughts"

2009-01-21T21:02:00.011-06:00

I was driving in a really nice neighborhood the other day let’s
just say million dollar homes.

I couldn’t help but wonder who could really afford
such nice homes and then I started wondering what perfect life’s
they must have. With their cute yards and perfect
families how nice there life must be.

It reminded me of this family!

But…Just because they have the perfect house, car, yard, and family
it really may not be all that perfect.

Then I remembered this book that I read a few months back will
I’ve read it a couple of times. It’s called the
“The Power of a Positive Mom” it really was a great
book if you haven’t read it you really should I promise it
will change your life. After reading this book I realized how
angry that I have gotten over the years instead of
complimenting my kids I had become more negative. You lose
track of the good qualities that people have
and you focus on parenting and guiding and loss track
of what's important. I believe that God helped me
in finding a better mom, wife, and person in myself that
day I purchased that book he answered my prayers.

Everyone looks at other Moms and think what amazing Moms
they are and how they wish they could be more
like them. There was this one part in the book that I really loved:

"Nobody's family can hang out the sign 'Nothing the matter Here.'
"Other families and other mothers may look like they have
it all together, but in reality they, like us, have
their good points along with their flaws, their challenges,
and their regrets.

After remembering this saying I realized that perfect
home and family may not be so perfect. They have problems just
like the rest us money, divorce, drugs, alcohol or a
loss of a job or loved one. So the next time that you see someone
just take the time to smile or even say hello because
that could just make a difference in that person’s life. I love
this saying “As one person I cannot change the world,
but I can change the world of one person.”!

I only have one word to say SIMPLICITY!

"YOU'VE BEEN TAGGED"

2009-01-16T00:37:00.011-06:00

I was visiting Keli's Blog
and she had posted a tag. It 's an easy tag so I'm gonna cooperate!

So here we go....

THE RULES
1. Go to your documents/pictures.
2. Go to your 6th file.
3. Go to your 6th picture.
4. Blog about it.
5. Tag 6 people to do the same.
6. Smile here is my 6th pic in my 6th file.

More fun than a tree full of monkeys!!! The kids and I went
to the zoo this summer and had a picnic. We had tons of fun that
day I got some really good pictures of the kids and some
neat pictures of the animals. Its times like
this that I really treasure the most. Spending the day
with my kids…eating McDonalds and just having fun together who
could ask for anything more!

Check out the rest of these pictures under my “August” posts.

Ok so I choice the following people:

Tanja
Robin
Carolyn

And anyone else that would like to join in on this fun tag
so blog away…blog away!!

Recap of my week!

2009-01-11T20:35:00.002-06:00

It’s been a while since I posted anything so I thought I would share
with everyone what has happened this last week.

Monday – Alec and I woke up with pinkeye this is so crazy I
haven’t had this since high school and that was a
long time ago…ha…ha…ha!

We both went to the doctor and got medicine but I wasn’t able to go into
work that day. With it being the end of the year and having to
close out the books it was not a good thing at all.

Tuesday – My husband woke up with pinkeye and was not very happy!

I got to work and let’s just say I really shouldn’t have missed
Monday I love accounting but I really hate this time of the
year! Long days and nights numbers just start to get
on my nerves at this point.

Wednesday – At work we are doing a diet contest
for four months. There are eleven of us we all pay $10
a month and who ever loses the most that month gets the money "$110".
The best news was when I weighed in I didn’t gain anything
from the holidays I maintained my weight WOO HOO!

Thursday – This is movie night with the family we bought
pizza and watched

Two really good movies if you haven’t watched
them yet you need to!

Friday – My Nephew that we are raising “Craig”
called me at work to tell me something he had done. Which we
had just talked about the consequences of what could
happen...and he did it anyways!!!

Why is it as a parent we teach them and explain to them
what can happen when they do something wrong.

But they do it anyways I remember my Mom telling me the same thing
and thinking she is just old and she doesn’t know what she
is talking about. Now that I’m older and wiser I realize that I
should have listened to her more often. I wish I
could fast forward time and show my kids this time in their
life when they realize that I was right and they
should of listened.

Why can’t life just be this simply and easy
instead of so stinking complicated?

Saturday – I took my sweet dog “Mr. Muggles” to
the vet because he has been sick. I couldn’t get him to come
out of his cage.

He is feeling so much better thanks to my AWESOME vet.

We had Alec’s birthday party which we really didn’t do anything
big he had a friend stay the night and they went to
the movies. Family came over for cake and ice cream and
he got money from everyone.

He is rich $410 dollars rich way too much money for a kid!

Sunday – We went to church this morning then when
I got home I made lunch for everyone. Then I started
on laundry and cleaning the house from top to bottom
which I hate.

To top everything off I haven’t taking one thing down
from Christmas yes I know its January. Not sure what is wrong
with me but after the holidays I really just don’t
feel like doing much of anything.

OK...I have finally taken all of my stuff down now and it
looks so bare I hate that. But it sure is
nice having every thing put up and out of the way.

This is the end of my crazy fun filled week and tomorrow
I will begin again I wonder what is in stored!

Word of the year for 2009...

2009-01-01T21:03:00.013-06:00

The word that I have chosen for 2009 is: SIMPLICITY.
I am going to really think long and hard about this word this year
and every way that I can apply it to my life.

SIMPLICITY: A clearness of expression; thinking
in an uncomplicated manner; an understanding of what's important
and what's not. Details that don't have a major impact are
omitted to keep things uncluttered.

Related words: honesty, straightforwardness, openness.

Isn't it funny that the more "things" we accumulate and commit
to the more bogged down and drained of energy we feel? This
effect’s my family so much so that at times it almost feels
paralyzing. To this end, we will accumulate less and give more
away, we will spend less and save more, I will organize my
space in my house so it is more functional, I will stop over
committing, and I will cherish the simple pleasures of life
that we often let slip by in the chaos of each day. I truly
believe that this emphasis on SIMPLICITY will
help to energize and strengthen my journey to health, well
being, and weight loss as I will have a renewed focus on the
truly important things in my life. I will stop letting the
little things prevent me from staying on track. I feel
rejuvenated with this commitment to a year of bringing the
components of SIMPLICITY to my family's life.

Just an excellent word, I think.

I've only begun to taste the possibilities.

As I do, goals for myself and this New Year will emerge.
I'll journal them, blog them, and most importantly,
I will keep them.

P.S. I got this idea from Tanja check out her Blog
when you get a chance. She gave the link to this Blog
this is such an awesome way to always be reminded of your
word of the year, is this not a cool idea? What a cool
tradition! Thanks Tanja

My New Year Resolutions....

2008-12-31T22:14:00.007-06:00

The New Year is upon us, and I have been thinking of
habits to give up or activities to begin doing. A New
Year's resolution is a good incentive for a positive
change in life. So with all due respect here it goes!

1. Diet
I promise to stay on weight watchers for the rest of
my life. Because it's not a weight loss it’s a life
change/commitment.

2. Exercise
I promise that I will go to the gym this year at
least 3 times a week.

3. Go to church
I promise no matter how tired or how long I've worked
I will go to church every Wednesday and Sunday.

4. Have more patience
I promise I will have more patience’s with my kids,
husband and everyone else.

5. Stop yelling
I promise that I will not yell anymore that I
will use my quiet voice when speaking!

6. Stop cursing
Yes, I said it I know I have a problem. I promise I
will not say another bad word ever again!

7. Go to school
I promise that I will go to college this new
year. Even if it's just a simple class like
cake decorating or yoga.

8. Take a trip
I promise that my family and I will take an
awesome trip this summer no matter what!

9. Enjoy life more
I promise that this year I'm going to take
my time enjoying life’s little moments instead
of just living in it.

10. Spend more time with my family
The most important of them all. I promise
that I will spend more time with my family
no matter what.

So, that's my top ten New Years Resolutions.
I've written them down lets see how successful
I am at keeping them. I hope that you have
more success than I've had in my resolutions
over the years.

Happy New Year Wish

My Happy New Year wish for you
Is for your best year yet,
A year where life is peaceful,
And what you want, you get.

A year in which you cherish
The past year’s memories,
And live your life each new day
Full of bright expectancies.

I wish for you a holiday
With happiness galore;
And when it’s done, I wish you
Happy New Year, and many more.

By Joanna Fuchs

Mojo & Us

2008-12-28T21:05:00.006-06:00

So today when I woke up Robert told me
to get ready he had a surprise for me.
So I got ready and we got in the car
and he still wouldn't tell me where we
were going.

We got to the movie theater and I still
had no idea. He amazes me sometimes its
just little things like this. I had told
him months ago that I wanted to go see
Marley & Me.

It really was a cute show not so sure I
would want my kids to see it. Robert and
I could relate to this movie. We have a
yellow lab he is our baby we love him so
much. His had a lot of health problems
here lately. His getting old and his health
is getting worse.

I have only seen Robert cry a few times
needless to say we both were crying in
this movie. It really touched both of our
hearts.

Here are a couple of photos from the movie.

Here are a couple of photos of our sweet baby "Mojo"...

My Baby's Growing Up!

2008-12-27T19:24:00.001-06:00

Tuesday, December 27, 1994 at 9:04AM I gave birth to a
beautiful baby boy. That was the best day of my life I
never new that I could love something or someone so much.

I can’t believe he turned 14 today were has my little
boy gone. The biggest mistake I made is the one that
most of us make while doing this. I did not live in the
moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the
moment is gone, captured only in photographs.

I wish I could remember what he ate, and how he played,
and how he sounded, and how he looked when he slept at
night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on
to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I
had treasured the doing a little more and the getting
it done a little less. Even today I’m not sure what
worked and what didn’t, what was me and was simply life.
When he was very small, I suppose I thought someday he
would become who he was because of what I’d done. Now I
suspect he simply grew into his true self because he
demanded in a thousand ways that I back off and let him
be. The books said to be relaxed and I was often tense,
matter-of-fact and I was sometimes over the top. And
look how it all turned out. I wound up with the best
son in the world. It just took me a while to figure
out who the expert was.

I Hope You Know

To My Son,
I hope you know how much I love you so,
I might embarrass you from time to time
By giving lots of love and needless kisses,
But you need to know Mom loves you so,
Before you were born I didn't know just
how much I would love you so,
But when I looked into your eyes for
the first time,
I felt my heart grow and grow,
A Mothers love is hard to explain,
Not ever will I feel the same,
Now that you are getting older I felt
the need to tell you,
Just how much I love you so,
Time may pass day after day or year
after year,
But the love I have for you grows
nearer and dearer to my heart each
day and year,
To My Son I hope you know just how much
I love you so.

By Rita Luna

Happy Birthday my sweet baby boy!

Family Time...

2008-12-27T18:53:00.001-06:00

Since Alec’s birthday is so close to Christmas
we always wait until the following weekend to
have his birthday party. I just don’t think
its right to include a birthday with a holiday
it should be on its own special day.

So we decided to go eat at Cheddar’s and go see
"Yes Man" at the movies. Alec also had his
friend Ben stay the night we had a really great
time. Here are couple of the photos that I took
while we were out.

Ben and Alec being goofy.

All of us having a really great time.

My sweet Bailey…

Here are a couple of photos from the movie
“Yes Man” it was so funny it is a must see!

TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS

2008-12-24T16:10:00.003-06:00

Just a week before Christmas I had a visitor.
This is how it happened. I just finished the
household chores for the night and was preparing
to go to bed, when I heard a noise in the front
of the house. I opened the door to the front
room and to my surprise, Santa himself stepped
out next to the fireplace.

"What are you doing?" I started to ask.
The words choked up in my throat and I
saw he had tears in his eyes. His usual
jolly manner was gone. Gone was the eager,
boisterous soul we all know. He then
answered me with a simple statement . . .

"TEACH THE CHILDREN!" I was puzzled.
What did he mean? He anticipated my
question and with one quick movement
brought forth a miniature toy bag from
behind the tree. As I stood bewildered,
Santa said, "Teach the children!

Teach them the old meaning of Christmas.
The meaning that now-a-days Christmas
has forgotten. "Santa then reached in
his bag and pulled out a FIR TREE and
placed it before the mantle.”Teach the
children that the pure green color of
the stately fir tree remains green all
year round, depicting the everlasting
hope of mankind, all the needles point
heavenward, making it a symbol of man's
thoughts turning toward heaven."

He again reached into his bag and
pulled out a brilliant STAR. "Teach
the children that the star was the
heavenly sign of promises long ago.
God promised a Savior for the world
and the star was the sign of
fulfillment of His promise."

He then reached into his bag and
pulled out a CANDLE. "Teach the
children that the candle symbolizes
that Christ is the light of the world,
and when we see this great light we
are reminded of He who displaces
the darkness."

Once again he reached into his bag
and removed a WREATH and placed it on
the tree. "Teach the children that the
wreath symbolizes the real nature of
love. Real love never ceases. Love is
one continuous round of affection."

He then pulled from his bag an ORNAMENT
of himself. "Teach the children that I,
Santa Claus, symbolize the generosity and
good will we feel during the month of
December."

He then brought out a HOLLY LEAF. "Teach
the children that the holly plant
represents immortality. It represents
the crown of thorns worn by our Savior.
The red holly berries represent the blood
shed by Him.

Next he pulled from his bag a GIFT and
said, "Teach the children that God so
loved the world that he gave his begotten
son." Thanks going to God for his
unspeakable gift.

Santa then reached in his bag and pulled
out a CANDY CANE and hung it on the tree.
"Teach the children that the candy cane
represents the shepherds' crook. The crook
on the staff helps to bring back strayed
sheep to the flock. The candy cane is the
symbol that we are our brother's keeper."

He reached in again and pulled out an ANGEL.
"Teach the children that it was the angels
that heralded in the glorious news of the
Savior's birth. The angels sang Glory to
God in the highest, on earth peace and
good will toward men."

Suddenly I heard a soft twinkling sound,
and from his bag he pulled out a BELL.
"Teach the children that as the lost
sheep are found by the sound of the bell,
it should ring mankind to the fold. The
bell symbolizes guidance and return.

Santa looked back and was pleased. He
looked back at me and I saw that the
twinkle was back in his eyes. He said,
"Remember, teach the children the true
meaning of Christmas and do not put me
in the center, for I am but a humble
servant of the One that is, and I bow
down to worship him, our LORD, our GOD."

SPENDING TIME WITH MY KIDS!

2008-12-14T17:16:00.016-06:00

Me and the kids yesterday made a huge gingerbread sugar cookie we had so much fun decorating it. My nephew Dawson stayed the night with us he is 3 years old.

Here is Dawson my nephew and Bailey my son decorating the cookie.

Anyways look at all of these pictures Dawson wouldn't stop making the same funny face.

Here is the 1st time trying to take there picture - Alec, Dawson, and Bailey.

Here is the 2nd time trying to retake this picture!

Here is the 3rd time trying to retake this picture at this point my oldest son Alec said forget it he wasn't going to do it again.

Here is a picture of the finished product it turned out really good being our first time and all!

I also made pecan turtle candies look at how "YUMMY" they turned out!

I really love this time of the year I love to bake and try new things. It is an experience I hope the kids treasure as much as I do!

HAVING A BAD DAY?

2008-12-12T23:09:00.004-06:00

A Christmas Story for people having a bad day:

When four of Santa's elves got sick, the trainee elves did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones, and Santa began to feel the Pre-Christmas pressure.

Then Mrs. Claus told Santa her Mother was coming to visit, which stressed Santa even more.

When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two others had jumped the fence and were out, Heaven knows where. Then when he began to load the sleigh, one of the floorboards cracked, the toy bag fell to the ground and all the toys were scattered.

Frustrated, Santa went in the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered the elves had drank all the cider and hidden the rum. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider jug, and it broke into hundreds of little glass pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found the mice had eaten all the straw off the end of the broom.

Just then the doorbell rang, and irritated Santa marched to the door, yanked it open, and there stood a little angel with a great big Christmas tree. The angel said very cheerfully, 'Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't this a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?'

And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.

THE BALDWIN ELF'S!

2008-12-07T18:29:00.004-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

CHRISTMAS AT OUR HOUSE!

2008-12-03T20:05:00.006-06:00

We finally got all of our Christmas stuff up so I thought I would share it with you. I love Christmas time it is my favorite season. I decorate every thing in my house in Gingerbread and Candies. I hope you all enjoy some of the fabulous decorations I have.

“Living Room”

“Office”

Decorations my Mom bought me

One of my favorite decorations

“Kitchen”

My mom has bought me tons of these Gingerbread houses that light up.

The kids and I had so much fun decorating this year hope you all enjoy!

THINGS I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS

2008-12-03T18:29:00.005-06:00

I would really like all of these items for Christmas. I hope my AMAZING HUSBAND well get them for me I'm going to start from the most important to the least important. So here I go hope every one enjoys!

"Scrapbook from Scrapblog" My friend Jennifer just bought one of these for her husband. It was just AWESOME I would love for Robert to take the time to make this for me.

"Fossil Castille Satchel" love the color and every thing!

"Jewelry from James Avery" I just love this set!

"Digital Scrapbooking Kits" So I can make my own personal designs for my Blog.

"Givenchy Amarige Perfume" I'm almost out so I need more.

"Makeup Bare Escentuals" I love this makeup.

"Clothes" you can never have to many clothes.

This is all I want from Santa!

BAYLOR VS TEXAS TECH

2008-11-29T21:05:00.003-06:00

Woot...Woot Texas Tech kicked the crude out of Baylor. Final score was Texas Tech 35 and Baylor 28. My son Alec and husband Robert got to go to the game today. Alec has been begging Robert and me to take him forever. My boss Greg got me tickets which was so AWESOME! Alec and Robert had so much fun it was a total BLAST they said!

Alec before they left for the game he was so EXCITED!

They had AWESOME seats (SEC-5 ROW-1 SEAT-7,8)

As you can see from this picture they were right up front for all the ACTION!

KICK THAT BUTT BOYS!!

ALL ABOUT CHRISTMAS

2008-11-28T18:40:00.009-06:00

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I'm all about pretty wrapping paper, ribbon and tags. I've never used a gift bag for Christmas (only birthdays), because of the peek-factor involved.

2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial, I am too worried about a real one catching fire just scares me.

3. When do you put up the tree? The week before Thanksgiving sometimes, two weeks before Thanksgiving just depends what we have going on.

4. When do you take the tree down? After the first of the year, by then I want to say good riddance to all the Christmas stuff and get my house cleaned up and back to normal.

5. Hot chocolate or apple cider? Hot chocolate with whipped cream for sure.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Some Barbie doll clothes that my Mom handmade. My Dad had been laid off from work and we didn't have a lot of money. So she went to the fabric store and got some scrapes of fabric for free. Then she made my sister and me dresses for our Barbie dolls. They were just beautiful all my friends loved them and wanted my Mom to make them some.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, the one that my Mom gave me.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My Nephew Craig he is just at that age everything is really expensive. He doesn't have a specific hobby so it can be very challenging!

9. Easiest person to buy for? Bailey he is still really young and he likes just about everything that is boyish.

10. Worst Christmas gift ever received? I can't recall ever receiving something I didn't like.

11. Mail or e-mail Christmas card? Do I even need to answer this? Definitely mail. Who doesn't love good mail. To me, if you're going to e-mail it, don't bother.

12. Favorite Christmas movie? Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer/Frosty the Snowman I'm still a kid at heart.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually the mid week of November but this year I didn't start until today.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Only in a White Elephant gift capacity or if it's something that I don't particularly care for but know someone who might enjoy or utilize it.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? All the homemade candies, cookies and fudge.

16. Clear lights or colored? Colored.

17. Favorite Christmas songs? Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Silent Night, Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Frosty the Snowman.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home!!! We make it a priority to be at home on Christmas morning to celebrate and open gifts. After that, all of Robert's family and mine come over for dinner.

19. Can you name Santa's reindeer? Dasher and Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cubit, Donner and Blitzen, and I recall the most famous reindeer of all...Rudolph the red nosed reindeer.

20. Angel or star on top of the tree? Neither. I have a Gingerbread man on the top of both my trees!

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? We open one present on Christmas Eve and all the rest get open on Christmas day.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Christmas stuff in the stores before Halloween and how overly commercialized Christmas has become!

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Everything is done in Gingerbread and Candies.

On that note...If you haven’t done it yet and you would like to, consider yourself tagged!!