Livin' Lovin' Laughing

Hello...

2009-07-10T22:13:00.002-04:00

my once again neglected blog... time to catch up..

The summer had been quite busy. To start.... a huge Congrats to my hubby who is the new Boys Head Basketball Coach at Excel Christian Academy. He has been the assistant for two years and is thrilled to now be the head coach! He has been busy with summer camps and practices to get the team ready for the upcoming season.

Victoria had her own basketball camp and had a great time, she also had swimming lessons and did fabulous!! We've had a great time with some friends at their pools and making new friends. Victoria has become a very good swimmer!

My brother and I went to a local car show... I've starting taking some photos and trying to decide if it's something I'd like to do more than just a hobby...Victoria & I went to a pie party, yummy...eating fresh veggies out of our garden...the ankle is thankfully doing pretty good, still not 100% but so much better!

After all the camps, vacation Bible school, and swim lessons things calmed down a bit and we headed to Myrtle Beach for our annual summer vacation. It was a fabulous week filled with trips to the pool & the beach, some shopping, putt-putt, golfing, movies and more. We had a great time and the kids love every minute with Gran & Grandpa.

We are glad to be home but soon I will be heading up to New York to visit with friends I have not seen in over 15 years since I moved to Georgia! I am very excited to see them again and am looking forward to a wonderful long weekend!

The other big news is the contest that I entered Victoria in.... to be on the cover of the Bartow Buzz magazine. Today was the last day for voting so now we are just waiting to see if she won!! Fingers crossed!!

I may add some pictures soon, but for now come visit me on Facebook and you can see all our summer adventure photos!

I'm here....

2009-05-23T20:12:00.005-04:00

sitting on the couch with my foot up, and tennis ball sized ankle wrapped in ice. What a way to spend the holiday weekend!!! Thought I'd be good and go to the gym this morning. Half way through Step class my foot slips and ankle goes crazy and on the floor I land. OUCH!!! I'm just mad about the whole stupid thing... had a list of things to do today... and so much for my running schedule for at least the next week!

In other news..... school's out!! Last day was yesterday for everyone around here. I have 2 & a half weeks left in my class and hoping it goes by quickly!

Victoria had a great finish to her soccer season with coach May! The Bulldogs only lost one game all season, they were a great bunch of players. She had a short awards morning for the end of 1st grade. And how funny that she comes home the day before school is out and gives herself homework from a workbook that she brought home, she's a smart girl!

The big Haircut!

2009-05-01T14:29:00.003-04:00

Trey got his first haircut this morning! He was such a big boy and did great.

Recap Part 2...

2009-04-20T21:12:00.005-04:00

The wedding...

The Aquarium...

Spring Break Recap....

2009-04-19T20:32:00.010-04:00

We had a great Spring Break just hanging out and having lots of family time.

It started with a beautiful wedding in the north GA mountains.

On Monday we spent the day at the GA Aquarium with my brother. We had tickets for first thing in the morning and it was so empty when we got there! Victoria just loves going to the Aquarium and Trey really had a great time. He and Gary would go a little ahead and then he would come back and get pull me on to show me what they had found. He was so cute and loved seeing all the fish!

Gary and Victoria spent a morning together and went to see Monsters vs. Aliens 3D.

Wednesday we went to my Alma Mater for an afternoon of family pictures. The kids did great especially since Trey had not gotten a nap. We went to 3 different parts of campus including the chapel that we got married in. It was quite a windy day but we got some really good pictures. We had a delicious dinner at Sonny's BBQ and stopped at a playground on the way home. It was a great family day!

Thursday we spent most of morning going around Cartersville finding things for a Scavenger Hunt that Gary and his co-workers were participating in. We got lots of great pictures... some kinds crazy pictures.... did win the Scavenger Hunt, but had loads of fun looking for things on the list.

Friday night my friend Andrea and I went to the Sugarland concert. We had a yummy dinner. And it was a fabulous concert!!!! I hope they come back to another location nearby, I want to see them again!! It was a nasty and stormy night but we lucked out and never even got rained on.

We spent Easter afternoon at mom & dad's house. Yummy food, egg hunting, playing outside... all kind of fun!

Then this past week we've been doing a bunch of yard work....weeding, using our new mower, mulching, planting flowers... the yard is looking pretty good!

And yesterday my baby turned TWO!! He spent the morning with Daddy, hanging out at the house. Then we watched Victoria play at her soccer game... headed home for some lunch and a nap. Then the family came over for some grilling. The kids played outside and we all had some birthday fun!

It's been a busy but great few weeks!

Well, I had more pictures to go with all our activities, but the weather's getting ugly again, so getting off the computer.

SUGARLAND!!!

2009-04-09T23:23:00.002-04:00

Going to the SUGARLAND concert tomorrow!! Can you tell I'm excited, lol!! Can't wait for a girls night out to see Sugarland!

Spring Break!

2009-04-03T12:03:00.003-04:00

This afternoon is the start of Spring Break for most of our family. Unfortunately my spring break was last week but since I don't work during the day it won't interfere too much... except that we're not going out of town.

Still lots planned... soccer game this afternoon, a wedding in the GA mountains tomorrow and a Final Four Party... GO UNC ... a trip to the GA aquarium, a family day of fun and pictures at Berry College, and the Sugarland concert!!!!

All while trying to find 50 things on a Scavenger Hunt list that my crazy hubby and a co-worker organized...we'll see how that goes!

Jan, I haven't forgotten about being tagged, just don't have all my pics on the laptop....so stay tuned. :)

Still here....

2009-03-16T20:17:00.007-04:00

Yes, I'm still here. Just haven't made the time to update, no real reason.

So... what's been happening... Basketball season is over and we having started soccer season for Victoria. She is extremely happy to have Coach Drew again. He coached her during her first 2 soccer seasons and he's great!!
Basketball awards...

Gary and Victoria had a fabulous time at a Father Daughter Dance...

Other than that it's just been normal stuff.... school, work and chasing after the kids. Trey had to check out Victoria's new booster seat and they had a great time swinging with Daddy.

Oh and completely surprising my mom for her 60th birthday!! Dad took her out of town for a few days and they had a houseful of people when they came home. We absolutely surprised her and it was great!!! This is one of the pictures we put together in a collage frame for mom of her kids & grandkids...

And a few pics from the party and afterwards...

We've starting planning activities for Spring Break since we've decided not to go out of town. We're going to the Aquarium one day, Victoria and I are heading to the GA mountains for a wedding and I'm going to see Sugarland in concert!!! I can't wait for that!

And we have a birthday party to plan.... Trey is going to be TWO next month! That's hard to believe!

Victoria finally lost a front tooth on Friday after it had been wiggling for a very long time!

That's about all. Hope all my blogging friends are doing great!

Picture overload ahead

2009-01-21T15:11:00.004-05:00

So, Victoria and I took our new camera out the other day and headed for a girls photo shoot around town. We started off in our fields, headed downtown, then by the river and covered bridge, and then back home to the boys.

Here is just a sampling of our pictures... Victoria did a great job taking pictures of me. If you are on Facebook, I posted more pictures there. I know there are lots here, but it was hard to choose since we took over 200!

Thanks!

2009-01-12T11:00:00.002-05:00

I have been meaning to say thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts and votes on the photos that I posted last month.

I chose the photo of the kids on the steps for the Christmas card and it turned out great! Then I chose the picture of me in the brown shirt and printed it and the picture of the kids in 5x7 size and framed them for Gary for Christmas. He's got them on his bedside table.

So, thanks again!

This week is pretty normal for us.... school, work, b-ball practice & games. The one exception to the norm is an appointment tomorrow with a professional organizer! I am very excited about this and hope that she can help add some organization to our crazy & chaotic house!

Waiting for a package...

2009-01-09T12:18:00.003-05:00

Everyone loves getting packages right!? The FedEx & UPS trucks are referred to as "The Package Truck" in our house.

When the kids were at my mom's over the holidays we went to the mall for some shopping and I was on the hunt for 2 things.... a jewelry armoire & a new smaller diaper bag. Well, it just wasn't my day.... the armoire that I wanted was on clearance at Target, great, right.... no because EVERY Target around was completely sold out and they aren't allowed to sell the display. I still haven't gotten one, not sure what I want now.

Then I just wanted a smaller diaper bag... we got a great one at our baby shower, but it's just too big now and we've been using the one from the hospital for quite a while but it is falling apart. You would think it wouldn't be hard to find a cute inexpensive small diaper bag... well, think again. Finally we go to Baby's R Us ... they have exactly what I want ... in PINK!! All the blue ones of that style were sold out. So to get back on topic... I ordered the diaper bag and should be getting a package very soon! We should also be getting our lens for our new camera soon, it was out of stock when we bought the camera!

Here is what should be arriving shortly.... isn't it cute?

Wow, 2 posts in one day... no, I'm not ill :)

It's Friday!

2009-01-09T11:56:00.002-05:00

Fridays are usually good days and today has been good so far.... but lately it means basketball games and tonight is no difference. The game part is good.... the bad part is that tonight's games are away games (far away) which means hubby probably won't be home until around midnight!
I wish the Eagles lots of luck and safe travels! Then tomorrow Victoria has her game in the morning and then hubby's team plays again in the evening, at least that game is at home, no traveling!

We're back into the school/work routine after the holidays. Unfortunately we've been dealing with a wet basement/garage since earlier this week. It seems to be all dried out now and we started moving things back in, but still lots do to.

I don't think I've ever truly made a New Year's resolution and this year is no different. I do have some things that I would like to accomplish so here are some of my goals...

enjoy time with the kids before they grow up too quick!
find more time for date nights with hubby - even if it's just popcorn & a movie
visiting with friends more often, old & new - whether it's online or in person
continue working out regularly
improve my healthy eating habits
blog more regularly
don't just waste time while on the computer - make it productive!
improve our All Cash Budget - make Dave proud
get organized with baby steps
scrapbook more often
learn how to use our new camera

I'm sure there is more, but that seems like plenty to keep me busy in 2009.

Have a great weekend!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T11:16:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year everyone. May 2009 be a great year for everyone and your families!!!

We are enjoying some time without the children and having some friends over! Have a great weekend!

Pictures!

2008-12-24T22:42:00.003-05:00

Some great pictures from our events over the last week....

Going to see Santa.... our picture was typical... Victoria sitting pretty and Trey crying and reaching for me!

A pot of Chili to celebrate my dad & Gary's birthdays... a great lunch but we missed mom, she wasn't feeling well and didn't make it over for lunch. Dad and Trey goofing around.

Victoria & I had a great girls day with friends ... the girls were so adorable walking hand in hand through the mall!

A beautiful sky on our way to breakfast Tuesday morning. God is good!

Merry Christmas to everyone!!

The holiday break has begun...

2008-12-22T20:47:00.002-05:00

Today was the first official day of Christmas break around here. Unfortunately over the weekend dd and I both seem to have come down with a cough and stuffy nose, but we still had a great weekend. Friday evening we surprised Gary by going to see his basketball team play, they didn't win, but played tough.

Saturday was hubby's birthday!! We all went to Victoria's b-ball game and then ..... yes, we're crazy ..... we went to the mall!!
It was crazy busy, but hubby found a great parking spot and the line for Santa wasn't too long. The picture was true to our kids styles.... Victoria's sitting pretty while Trey is screaming and reaching for me! After pictures we checked out a few stores and headed to Buffalo Wild Wing's for a birthday dinner. After that it was off to see a great display of Christmas lights at Life University.

Yesterday my brother and Dad came over for more birthday celebrations (dad's b-day was last week). Birthday lunch of Chili, cornbread & chicken dip ... Yum!!

Also yesterday a cold front moved in! This morning it was 18 degrees when we got up and in the 20s as we headed off to the gym.
The cold didn't stop us from having a great girls day out. We started at the gym were I won 2 of my 3 games of racquetball!! After that we headed out to the Mall of Georgia to meet up with my sweet friend up from Valdosta and her daughter for some lunch and shopping. The girls enjoyed a ride on the carousel and a train ride will the moms got to chat and catch up! We all did a little shopping and went home with some great finds. The girls were adorable walking through the mall hand in hand. It was a great day!

Hopefully you'll see pictures from all this fun soon, but now it is time for some cold medicine and a warm bed!

Neglected blog....

2008-12-17T13:28:00.004-05:00

Once again the poor blog is the last thing that gets attention when things get busy (though I seem to find time for Facebook still, lol).

Victoria had a great time last night at her school holiday program. She and 2 others proudly introduced the whole show. No pictures due to bad lighting and crummy seats though.

Time to pick a picture again.... trying to decide which put in a frame to give as a xmas gift... any suggestions... email me and I'll tell you who it's for if that helps decide.

Number 1...

Number 2...

Busy days ahead filled with basketball practices, games, last minute shopping, Santa pictures, birthday dinners and more!! I'm looking forward to meeting up with a friend and her daughter next week for lunch and some girl time!

I'll leave you with a family shot from Thanksgiving weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2008-11-26T11:47:00.002-05:00

I hope all my bloggy friends have a great Thanksgiving with your family and friends!

We had dinner at the in-law's on Sunday.... it was great to have the whole family together. We will head to my parents house on Thursday for a quiet day of playing and eating.

Then hubby and his brother will head out on Black Friday for their annual tradition .... crazy boys!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks!!

2008-11-19T08:48:00.002-05:00

After over an hour trying to get the Snapfish website to work (I had coupons) I finally gave up and ordered from Shutterfly.

Thanks for all the votes, number 5 it is. I hope they turn out good!

Help me decide....

2008-11-18T10:43:00.004-05:00

We took the kids across the street last night and took some pictures to use for this year's Christmas cards.... the problem is I can't decide!! Unfortunately Trey is watching Daddy in every shot and not looking at the camera.

Here they are...

Number One..

Number Two...

Number Three...

Number Four...

Number Five...

Let me know which you like the best... thanks!!

off track...

2008-11-13T10:46:00.002-05:00

I have not stayed on track for Flylady at all.... BUT I blame it on being sick.. Have had a nasty cold that I think I'm about over so not much cleaning at all. I am still getting to the gym. The official 6 weeks were over today but they are offering 'make-up' classes next week so I will be doing those too and then we will weigh and measure next Thursday.

Off to try to cross some things off my to do list before heading to work tonight and then a scrapping weekend!! I'm looking forward to sleeping in past 6:30am!!

Kick Butt Workout!

2008-11-06T11:29:00.003-05:00

So, I signed up for a 6-week training/nutrition class at my gym. It's week 5 and it's been going good. I had really started working out harder a few weeks before then so overall I have lost almost 12 lbs, 6 of those have been since starting the training class.

This morning there were only 6 of us (usually 8) and it was a great session! I have a feeling I will be quite sore tomorrow... but that's ok, sore is good. Then after our 45 min. training I went and played almost 30 minutes of racquetball. We had both worked out before we played and we were tired, but we had a couple of great games. I won the first and she won the second, no time for a tie-breaker this morning though.

On another note.... Trey is having a great time rediscovering a toy that has been in the basement for a while. He's driving away!

FlyLady & Lunch

2008-11-03T20:14:00.002-05:00

Weird combination I know, but I have started back to the FlyLady Challenge... my house is in need of some FlyLady help! Off to a pretty good start so far I think, just hope I can keep it up. One of the parts is journaling .... hopefully I will be better at blogging!

Then lunch.... I was starving at 11:30am thanks to the stupid time change. It drives me nuts and the poor kids are all off schedule! It is nice that I won't have to take a flashlight to get Victoria on the bus but then I'll be driving to work in the dark... the joys of time change...

Hubby has a work day tomorrow and the kids are out of school. I'm glad I voted early so I don't have to worry about fighting lines and all tomorrow.... good luck to those voting tomorrow.

Halloween...

2008-11-02T20:51:00.003-05:00

The Cookie Monster costume was adorable, but not so successful. So a polo shirt and khakis turned him into Daddy!

The boys...

Our little clown and little Daddy...

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-10-31T07:43:00.001-04:00

Hope everyone and all your children have a great Halloween. Our plan is for Trey to be Cookie Monster and Victoria, a clown. Trey did NOT like the costume yesterday when we tried it on, so we will see what happens tonight!

New items...

2008-10-23T13:52:00.002-04:00

Some new pottery items have been listed on Nicole's Creations Blog.

Check back often! And don't forget that the clipboards and notepads can be personalized; they are great gift ideas for teachers, coaches, busy moms, and that person who seems to have everything!

Online Class

2008-10-22T11:45:00.003-04:00

So I signed up for an online class with Jessica Sprague. This is something completely new to me, I've never taken any online classes or done any kind of digital scrapping. I guess we'll see how it goes! Anyone want to join me? By the way, it's FREE!

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-21T13:15:00.004-04:00

We had a great time visiting the Pumpkin Patch Sunday afternoon...

Great book...

2008-10-16T12:59:00.000-04:00

I've been super busy lately, but somehow I found time to read a book. The library at work has a swap cart and I picked this one up not long ago. After many nights of staying up reading way to late, I finished it last night.

Pick it up and enjoy a great read!

Surprise

2008-09-24T22:31:00.005-04:00

Hubby called today from the store to see if I needed anything.. nope... "Why are you at the store?" "Don't worry about it." he says.

Then he comes home with this......

I honestly don't remember the last time I got flowers 'just because'!
Thank you honey!

Coming Soon !!

2008-09-22T16:35:00.001-04:00

Check it out... Nicole's Creations and check back soon!

Baby clothes

2008-09-17T14:32:00.003-04:00

If you or anyone you know is in need of children's fall and winter clothes please let me know. I just listed a whole bunch on Craig's List for very cheap prices. I have girl's outfits from newborn to size 5 and 6 pairs of shoes. I have boy's outfits from newborn to 12 m. I also have a used walker and convertible floor toy that I have not listed yet.

Thanks!!

Updates...

2008-09-10T16:40:00.003-04:00

Well, the van has been losing air quickly in one tire, so no big trips for us till it is fixed. Not that we were planning any big trips, but no going far from the house. So it's the truck to work for me this week.

Got items for a big consignment sale tagged and dropped off, now I get to go shopping tomorrow and hope to see my pocket full of tickets (that means I'm selling lots).

Started a new nutrition program Monday with the help of a dear friend, Marie. We've reconnected on Facebook recently!

Had lunch with another friend today Amber and got to see her adorable little baby boy! We went to Chilli's and I actually did NOT get my favorite - Classic Nachos - and I did get steamed veggies (thanks to that new nutrition plan)!

I've decided to stop participating in the gift shop, Betty's Back Porch. It has become such a stress and not at all an enjoyment any more. The shop is not getting customers either, which does not help the situation.

I am thinking of starting a second blog which will have pictures of all my arts & crafts items for sale. Many of the items are great for holiday or birthday gifts, so stay tuned for that!

I had all these little bullets in front of my text but I guess blogger ate them all?!

Random Pictures....

2008-09-02T10:46:00.006-04:00

Some of my favorite pictures from the last month...

Victoria with her little brother sleeping in her lap, so cute!

A beautiful butterfly near my sil's pool.

Victoria and a few veggies from our garden...

Tybee Island in the rain of Tropical Storm Fay...

More Tybee Island shots...

An awesome shot of Victoria that my brother took...not sure why it's so little.

The Lighthouse...

My brother and I at the top of the lighthouse...

Savannah... we had dinner and spent some time walking around downtown Savannah.

Uncle Clint & a sleepy Trey on the way back to the car.

Pictures

2008-08-30T21:42:00.004-04:00

Ok, you really can't tell where she lost her tooth for 2 reasons. 1) She didn't quite smile big enough and 2) Her new tooth had already grown in so much that you really can't even tell she lost a tooth.
But here she is getting the tooth ready in her tooth fairy box...

Lost tooth!!

2008-08-29T10:49:00.001-04:00

Victoria lost her first tooth yesterday morning before school!!

Pictures coming soon.

Tagged by Jan...

2008-08-26T21:23:00.003-04:00

I received an "I love your blog tag" from Jan! Thanks!! I love your blog and you always inspire me to post

So here we go....
The rules:

I have to pick 7 of my favorite blogs and…

1. The winners can put the logo on their blog

2. Link the person you received your award from

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

4. Put links of those blogs on yours.

5. Leave a message on the blogs of the ones you’ve nominated.

1) Jan I know I shouldn't tag the person who tagged me, but I just love her blog and I love her.... I followed her from SIAS to TLC. No I wasn't very active in either one but she was a great supporter.... ok moving on.

2) Jenn I just love her weather blog and am so happy for her on her recent engagement!

3) Gary ScrappyGuy is a great photographer and an awesome digi scrapper.

4) Amber is a dear friend that I met through hubby's work. She's pretty new to the blog world and has a beautiful new baby.

5) Courtney is an awesome photographer and a scrapping buddy.

6) Meg is another great scrapping buddy and new to the blog world.

7) Rena is very new to blogging, a scrapping buddy, and she makes great handmade soaps.

Happy blogging!!

poor blog

2008-08-20T12:05:00.002-04:00

My blog has been neglected lately. Between family activities, school starting, and a thing called Facebook, I have not updated my blog. So come find me on Facebook and say hi!

In other news we are keeping our fingers crossed that Fay doesn't ruin our trip to Tybee Island this weekend, wish us luck!

What's going on?

2008-08-04T11:05:00.004-04:00

Quite a lot it seems...

We're finishing up swimming lessons tonight.

Gary went back to work Friday.

Open House is tomorrow evening.

We have an actual babysitter for tomorrow evening (first time it's not a family member watching either of the kids!)

School starts Thursday!

Cleaning up after hubby decided to rearrange our entire living room.

I guess that's all for now, I'm hoping to get some pictures on here during nap time today.

Birthday Girl!!

2008-07-23T13:15:00.003-04:00

Our little girl is 6 today!! I made bacon, eggs and biscuits for breakfast this morning. Then the kids and I headed off to the gym, they both love to play there while I get my workout in.

We gave her part of her gifts earlier, some colored pens, a notebook and Pez candy. There's a story behind the pens... she asked for colored pens for Christmas, Santa brought colored pens but they all wrote in black ink. She was very disappointed that they didn't write in colors. So for her birthday we found some great colored pens that WROTE in colored ink too!

Gramma just came by on her way home from a trip to Granny's. She got Victoria a great new scrapbook, a whole stash of scrapbook stickers and such and a new bathing suit! Perfect for her lessons this week and her pool party Saturday!

We're going to eat at Chili's after the baby's nap... then a few more gifts later :)

What's Up?

2008-07-20T21:26:00.005-04:00

That's a question that my friend Jan just recently asked.
So here -

going to the gym, working at the shop, planning for Victoria's birthday party next week, swimming lessons start tomorrow, riding my motorcycle (and taking it to work to save on gas $$), cleaning and some organizing, some scrapping and currently watching Design Star!

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks...

Trey hanging out with our cat...

The Fourth of July at the park, playing softball and soccer...

The kids in the bath, too cute!

We've lucked out with pacifiers and our kids, neither of them got attached to a pacifier, they treat it as any other toy playing with it here and there. When I saw Trey with the pacifier I just thought he looked adorable, this is a rare occasion and I just had to get a shot of him!

Gary and I attended a beautiful wedding of some friends last week... the happy newlyweds and hubby and I...

Have a great week!

Baby gate free!!

2008-07-14T10:50:00.003-04:00

Lol! We are enjoying not having to climb over baby gates! We dropped the kids off at Gramma's on Friday and they are staying until tomorrow.

We had a great time at a beautiful small wedding Friday night of 2 good friends.

Saturday I headed to Scrapbook Expo with the Peaches group and cropped after for a while. Hubby enjoyed the house to himself all day.

Not much going on today, some cleaning and maybe some scrapbooking in a bit.
And maybe a ride on the motorcycle, no rain on the radar any where for the first time in about a week!

Pictures...

2008-06-30T21:27:00.006-04:00

Pictures from last week...

The baseball game with the crazy Reggie character and Vanna White!

Hanging out at the beach and the pool...this first one is Victoria swimming on her own!

Yes, here he is just laying in the sand!

Our night out..

And our attempt at family photos on the beach, the wind was so bad...

We have a swimmer among us....

2008-06-28T08:40:00.003-04:00

Victoria and I had a great day yesterday. We started off going to the beach, built a great sandcastle with moat and a pool next door. We splashed around in the waves and took a walk to the pier.

We were supposed to play at the pool with a girl from a neighboring condo, but they were power washing the pool area so no play date.

So, we came home and had lunch, visited the local bead store and by the time we got back the pool area was done. She and I had a great time visiting with a baby at the pool and just playing around. Gran got her some goggles the other day and she has been jumping in with no one catching her! We practiced some swimming without her floaties but every time I let go of her hands she put her feet down. So we practiced a bit more and then she put her floaties back on. A bit later I was sitting out and she decided to practice with no floaties on her own. She gets out to the top of the steps and says she going to push off the bottom step.... as I watch her it was like slow motion for me to realize that SHE IS SWIMMING!!! No floaties, face IN the water, legs kicking, arms going, SWIMMING!!

I about jumped out of my seat, hopped in the pool and gave her a huge hug! So much for me drying off, lol. Her face just lit up as she realized what she had done! Then she kept practicing, pushing off from the step and just swimming away. We said that we'll have to show Daddy later and I made a comment that I would call him but I didn't have my phone with me. A great couple sitting next to us offered their phone and Daddy was soon at the pool watching his little girl swim on her own.

She is so excited to show Gran and Grandpa this morning and talking about her birthday pool party and swimming there next month.

After our pool adventure we cleaned up and had dinner. Then headed to the beach for some family photos. The wind was crazy!!! Trey was running around getting full of sand and therefore covered me in sand when I picked him up. Gran came down to get some pictures of the four of us, BUT all three sets of batteries that I had DIED! AAUGHH! Thankfully Gary had his film camera with us, but there is no telling how those pictures came out and we didn't get any of the four of us on the digital camera. The wind was really bad but I hope we got some shots, I think I got some good ones of the kids but I haven't looked through them yet.

The pool today, Panda movie this afternoon, and then time to pack it all up!

another shadow

2008-06-27T07:16:00.002-04:00

While Trey found his shadow on the beach, Victoria has been Gran's shadow all week long! Wherever Gran is you are sure to find Victoria.

Another morning at the beach yesterday, Gran and Grandpa joined us this time. Afterwards, lunch and to the pool for Victoria and Gran. Later in the evening hubby and I had a night out. We ate at Phillips Seafood, delicious crab cakes, stuffed flounder and shrimp but crummy service. Then we walked around Broadway at the Beach... found a scrapbook store, I contained myself and walked out with nothing...then a walk on the beach.

Breakfast out today, Chocolate pancakes... Victoria has been waiting for this breakfast since we got here!

Then to the beach maybe... the pool area is closed for power washing this morning, bummer!! To the park later and some family photos on the beach I hope.

My shadow

2008-06-25T17:21:00.003-04:00

This week I am trying to utilize my blog like a journal so I can remember moments to scrapbook about later (at my pace it will 2 years from now when I scrap these pictures).

Soo... this morning we hit the beach. Victoria never liked the sand much when she was little so we were curious about Trey's reaction. He didn't mind the sand at all... he was ALL BOY! Being in the water with me was the part that he didn't like much. He was digging in the sand and walking around. He did walk towards the water and sat right at the edge. Then laid back in the sand and the water... needless to say, he was COVERED in sand from his head to his toes! He really had a good time playing around.

The cutest part was when he found his shadow!! He was just standing on the beach and saw his shadow, then the arms started flapping around like a bird and he was just so interested and curious. He stood there for a good 5 minutes just waving his arms and watching his shadow, so Cute!!

Now he is crawling under my stool and getting himself caught like he is in a cage.

And how dare Grandpa accuse me of stealing and doing his Sudoku puzzle!! He usually has a Sudoku book here at the beach house that we will finish each other's puzzle if you leave it half done. No book this year, but he does the ones in the paper... he just came out of his bedroom and accused me of finishing his puzzle.... I wish I had found it, then I WOULD have done it :) Then he says that saying I would do his puzzle is just as bad as cursing... what are we going to do with him?? I need to make sure to find the paper tomorrow morning and DO THE SUDOKU!

At the beach...

2008-06-25T08:08:00.004-04:00

We are currently enjoying a relaxing week at the beach at Gran & Grandpa's condo. So far lots of time by the pool. We went to a minor league All-Stars baseball game last night, loads of fun and are planning to hit to beach this morning. And a night out tomorrow for hubby and I!

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far! I can't believe that June is almost over already. July should be quieter around our house, but we'll see what happens.

A few things about the ballgame that I don't want to forget...

Pelicans is the home team and they were very well represented on the Carolina league All-Star Team. One of the Pelicans won the Homerun Derby! They played against the California league All-Star Team. We sat next to the family of one of the pitchers of the California team, #19. That was pretty cool but I wished they had sat closer so they didn't have to yell up 2 rows all night long!

The Pelican mascot Splash was running around the stadium. Victoria tried twice to get a picture with him, but each time she got near him he was off to perform somewhere. Reggie, the Purple Party guy was awfully silly!! He was out on the field dancing, then his mom Regina showed up and was flirting with the home plate umpire. Reggie was signing autographs at the end of the game, so we thought cool, if we couldn't get a picture with Splash we'll go see Reggie.

All was good while waiting in line... Victoria was going to have him sign the back of her ticket...one of Reggie's helpers was talking to her... all still good... we're next in line... then I hear, "Mommy I don't want to!!" ... she got all upset! And we had been doing so good! So I handed Reggie her ticket which he signed and kissed for her and he tried to talk to her but that about made her worse... no picture with Reggie!

What else... hot dogs of course, Dippin Dots Ice Cream, Cheeseburger and Buffalo Tenders, fries with daddy.

For a little girl who is normally in bed at 7:30 she was great at 10:30pm when the game ended. She was so excited to see the fireworks after the game but once they started she was ready to go home!!! Too loud she said!

One of the best parts was the special guest who threw out the first pitch.... Vanna White!! One of Victoria's favorite things right now is to watch Wheel of Fortune just before bed. So when we saw in the paper that Vanna was going to be there we were very excited. She was riding in the back of a car around the field and we wathhed her as she rode right past us.

And.... The Carolina Team WON!

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-15T22:04:00.004-04:00

Happy Father's Day to all the great dads!

I am blessed that my dad lives close by and is such a part of my family's lives. Gramps loves to come visit and play with the kids. He was a great dad when I was growing up. I have him to thank for my love of motorcycles (which I have been riding again recently!!) and so much more!!

Dad and Trey on the day he was born ...

And of course I couldn't ask for a better daddy for our children. 'Little Bit' and 'Big Guy', as he calls them, just love their daddy with all their heart and with good reason. He is such a great dad, loves to spend time with them, playing around, reading with them, teaching them science and sports!

Gary and Victoria at a recent baseball game...

Remembering...

2008-06-15T21:45:00.004-04:00

Less than 10 minutes after posting about Mrs. Willo last week, we realized that we had lost one of our dogs.

Rocky was our cocker spaniel that we have had for almost 8 years. Gary and Victoria noticed that he didn't come to eat his dinner earlier in the evening and when Gary went to check on him again he realized that he had died in his sleep. Victoria happened to come down after going to bed already and we told her the news. She was quite upset and it took a while to calm her down and get her back to bed. After that night she has been very matter-of-fact about it all. She'll tell someone 'One of my dogs died. He was old and we think he was sick for a while, my dad buried him in the woods in our back yard." All very true but it's crazy how factual she is about it. She has now taken time every day to go out and brush Sammy (our golden retriever) and talk to him, he's been quite sad.

Here are some pictures that I found, they are both quite a few years old, I'm sure I have some more recent ones but these were the easiest to find.

The one is Mr. & Mrs. Willo and Victoria when she was just a week old. Then of course Rocky and Sammy playing at the park.

In other news... It's been a very busy week, we had VBS this past week. Both Victoria and Trey had a great time during the Olympic themed week. Trey and Andrew (a grandson of a close friend who's in the 7th grade) became great buddies. Andrew was so good with Trey and they were giving hugs and kisses before the week was over.

Things have been a bit slow at the gift shop so lately when I go to work I have been bringing my scrapbooking stuff. In the last 2 or 3 weeks I have gotten 14 pages done! This past week I was at the shop Thursday, Friday and Saturday, I think I got 6 pages done. Now the issue is pictures. I have scrapped all the I had ordered and our printer is low on ink... hopefully I can print a few more pictures before the ink totally runs out!

This week is going to be busy too, but I will be home with the kids by myself most of the week. Gary has a local basketball camp Mon- Wed, he'll be home after dinner. Then on Thursday they head to a camp in Tennessee and will be spending the night until Saturday evening. THEN we are supposed to leave VERY early Sunday morning to head to the beach for a week! I'm excited about going, but trying to get ready is going to be a bit crazy with hubby out of town.

I'll try to post some pictures of VBS, my layouts, and Father's Day before we go!

In Memory...

2008-06-09T20:54:00.003-04:00

Our dear friend and hubby's surrogate mom growing up, Carolyn Willoughby passed away. Her memorial service was last Tuesday in Peachtree City. Mrs. Willo (as we always called her) was an incredible lady. She was small in size but huge in heart and spirit. She shared her love with Christ with anyone and everyone that she met, always praying with and for anyone she knew. She loved her walks with friends and God. The memorial service was filled with friends and family who loved her and will miss her dearly. There were some wonderful stories told... a few about her love of health food, very untasty health food! Hubby and his brother were best friends with Mrs. Willo's two sons and spent MANY hours at their house. They were lucky enough to be able to ask what was for dinner each night. If it was wheat germ pizza or something similar they would go home and come back after dinner :) But Tuesday nights were Del Taco nights with Mr. Willo and the boys and Sundays were usually safe with Fried Egg Sandwiches. She made spinach pasta before spinach pasta was cool.

We love you and will miss you Mrs. Willo!

I need to look for a picture to scan and post.

Summer Stuff...

2008-06-04T10:54:00.005-04:00

warm days
basketball camp for Victoria
basketball practice for hubby
swinging on the porch
VBS next week
dinner on the grill
family time
reading
scrapbooking
walking
gym
climbing - Trey has been doing a LOT of climbing
friends
laundry
dishes
cleaning
budgeting

Thanks for the list idea Jan.

WHY are my bullets not showing up??

Kindergarten Graduation!

2008-05-23T10:03:00.007-04:00

She had the kindergarten graduation and celebration yesterday. All the K classes had a few songs and poems that they recited and then they did a number to 'New York, New York' Victoria was chosen as one of the dancers and was so excited about it. She had been practicing at home and did a great job!!!

Then they all lined up and said their name and received a certificate. She also won the Bus Award for excellent behavior on the bus. From what we understand each bus driver chose one student and she won for her bus, their were very few Kindergarteners who won this. We are so proud of her and she is very excited about First Grade.

More pictures soon.

No photos today....

2008-05-14T10:52:00.005-04:00

But some recent adventures to share...

We've been going on some family walks in the evenings, such beautiful weather lately and Victoria loves walking one of our dogs (the other is too slow moving for our hilly neighborhood). So Sunday evening we start out and she has the dog... we go to turn the corner and as we got left, the dog goes right and down goes the girl! We had told her again and again to hold the leash with 2 hands but with only one hand on it she hit the road pretty hard. Both knees scraped up, her left shoulder and the left side of her face near her eye. Overall she's fine but that put an end to that walk pretty quickly, came home and got her cleaned and bandages up.

Then Monday she was ready to go again, we tried taking both dogs but brought back the slow one. She hung on with both hands this time but wanted to push the stroller too. I thought she had bumped a pine cone in the road...nope, it was a little turtle! She didn't hurt him so I picked him up and we brought him across the street to the lake. Wish I had my camera for that one, he was so little and cute!

Had a teacher phone conference yesterday, end of the year testing, she did above average in every area! One section was working with sounds and the requirement was to do 25 in 60 seconds, she got 57! I think she's ready for first grade! She's pretty excited about it already.

Then this morning I had an appointment with a trainer at the gym. I have gained weight since Spring Break and have got to get some nutrition assistance and change up my workouts. Well, he had a motorcycle accident yesterday! Thankfully he's ok, sounds like he was just being stupid. So I worked with another trainer and one of her clients, it went ok but not what I was expecting and didn't really give me the foundation that I was hoping for so we will see what happens next with all that!

Last soccer game of this season is Saturday, then we're going to watch the Rome Braves baseball game that evening! Should be lots of fun.

P.S. If you are in the ATL area, turn on 11Alive news tomorrow morning from 5-7am and check out the little birthday boy's picture! A little late, but that's ok!

2008-05-13T08:17:00.003-04:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day.

My dad & brother met us at Shogun Japanese Steakhouse. (My mom was out of town visiting my grandma) The food was so yummy and Victoria loves watching them cook, she even requested a volcano because the last time we went the chef didn't make one.

Turns out I have a strained arch in my foot. So slowing down at the gym and going low impact for a couple of weeks, some new arch supports for my shoes and a pain reliever. Hopefully these things will help and the pain will soon be gone!

Off to fix breakfast.

In the last week...

2008-05-06T08:25:00.007-04:00

So much has been going on!

I'll start with the concert... SO MUCH FUN! The 11 of us plus our awesome driver met in Cartersville and headed to ATL. Traffic wasn't too bad until right around the Arena...but we got a decent parking space and went on to eat at the CNN Center. My friend and I had tickets separate from the rest of the group so after eating we went on to our seats. Daughtry had started playing and played a great set. I like his songs I've heard, but we don't watch American Idol, so not a crazed Daughtry fan like others we saw! I just saw on his site that his last stop with Bon Jovi was the ATL shows so I guess we are lucky to have seen him.

On a side note, I have to add a few antics that happened with my friend (who is adorably pregnant).... she thought Daughtry was about to play the trumpet at one point.. nope, just a megaphone. Then she thought Richie Sambora was Jon Bon Jovi's brother. :) Then it was my turn... like I said I'm not a huge Daughtry fan and when he played they did not use the jumbo screen and I really had no clue what he looks like. So then some guy comes out and starts singing with Jon... I had to ask, 'Who is that??' It was Chris Daughtry of course... well now I know what he looks like, lol. They sang AWESOME together! I did not get any pictures at the concert but some of the others did, hope to get a copy of them soon.

A huge thanks to Becky for getting the van and driver, to Tracy for being a great hostess, and to my friend Amber, for just being you!!

Here's a picture Victoria took while I was getting ready and one of me and Amber on the way to the concert.

So then the next day, up at 6am, worked at the shop and got home just before the bus, then off to teach that night, home at 9:30pm.... long day!

In the mean time, a friend had called earlier in the week to see if I would want to work with her at a catering job over the weekend. We got it worked out so the kids were taken care of. So I worked 5 hours Friday and then 5 more Saturday helping prepare a dinner for 225 people at a dinner theatre. Unfortunately I missed a get together with my family for my brother's birthday, but I did come home with a bit of $$.

Sunday was a meeting about upcoming events at Betty's Back Porch and yesterday was deciding that we are going to have to spend about $600 to get the transmission on the truck worked on, yikes!! But thanks to the Money Makeover that we've been working on, we will have the money for it. Woo hoo for us!

Saturday morning, hubby was working our little garden and getting it ready to plant later that day.... some storms were rolling in and the clouds were SO COOL!! I had to grab the camera and get a shot! They were smooth and curly and moving very fast. We did get some rain a bit later and soccer was canceled but the garden was planted that afternoon.

Jenn, do these have a certain name? A friend also saw them and her son just finished a weather unit in school, he was very curious about them.

And here's a cute shot of the boy.

Off to .....

2008-04-30T10:22:00.003-04:00

The BON JOVI concert tonight!!! Woohoo!! There's going to be 11 of us. We're renting a van, have a friend driving for us, it's going to be a blast!

Have a nice day!

He turned ONE!!!

2008-04-25T22:27:00.011-04:00

How has it happened?? My little baby turned one on April 18th!! Friday on his actual birthday he was not feeling good at all :( He had a fever and very grumpy, teeth bothering him and just all around not a happy boy. I had gotten him a cupcake for that afternoon. He was just like his sister was, when he got frosting on his fingers, all he wanted to do was shake it off... too cute. He had no interest in the whole singing and cupcake deal at all.
(Courtney, I tried to get a shot like you did on your site but I was not as successful as you.)

We were so afraid that we were going to have to cancel his party, but when he woke up Saturday there was no fever, he was in a great mood and certainly back to himself!

Some friends were unable to come at the last minute so it ended up just being family and we all had a great time. Again, he did not want to dig into the cake. Instead he was happy being fed with a fork, no icing though, just cake.

He is going to be the best dressed boy in the area with all the great clothes he got. He also loved his new truck, now he doesn't have to push around sister's pink and purple car!! Thank you so much to everyone!

The next day we turned his car seat around to the front... he wasn't sure what was going on, but I think he liked it!

And I'll leave you with our little clown... Last Friday they were finishing up a circus unit at school and the kids could dress like a clown, a ringleader etc. Thanks to Gran she was able to dress up as a clown and was so excited about it. She was just adorable!

Pottery!!

2008-04-25T21:32:00.003-04:00

I actually threw a piece this evening!! So glad to be able to get to work. It's going to take a little while to get back into it and get the hang of it all, but it's great to start back. Some of the clay seems a bit dry but I think I can work with it after it has a little help getting moisten.

Some pictures of my little area...

Pictures!!

2008-04-15T12:47:00.004-04:00

Here are some pictures from the last month or so...

Tulips in our front yard... Spring is here. (I think it is anyway, it was 35 degrees this morning) Jenn, I saw some Wisteria high in the trees on the way to work last week and thought of you, wish I had my camera with me.

Our belated Easter attire and family shots.

The garage/workshop/studio is coming out really good. We need to get the electrical set up to my wheel and the kiln and then we're ready to Throw again!! Pictures of that coming soon.

And some parting shots of the Little Man who is about to turn ONE on Friday! How has it been a year already??? We got giggling this morning while he was munching on his puff snacks.

A New Beginning...

2008-04-07T15:36:00.004-04:00

That's what TLC is calling a complete change in the company that was announced in an email sent out at 4pm on Friday afternoon. I had been a consultant with TLC (Top-Line Creations) for a while now but I had lost a lot of interest when their focus went to Digital Scrapbooking, not my cup of tea. Well after this new 'shuffle' that broad sided everyone I'm not sure I want to stay with the company anymore.

There are no longer consultants or down lines and no commission from sales. This really doesn't effect me as I have not been active in so long, but some others have made this their living and have been able to stay at home doing a wonderful job building their business... those are the ones that my thoughts go out to as they had absolutely no notice of these changes!!

Now it is a 'club' set-up; you pay a fee and get a discount and such. I have so much inventory right now that I am trying to get rid of, I have no interest in buying anything else right now. If you would like to get any TLC kits at a GREAT price please let me know... I'd love to sell some of my stuff!!

Many of the other consultants have already joined other companies but I just don't think the consultant thing is for me... maybe I've just never put the work in to make it successful for me like others do, but I just don't feel excited about it.

I am EXCITED about our MISSION ACCOMPLISHED over Spring Break. We got the baseboards and molding painted and attached in the basement and then got working on the garage!! It actually looks like a studio/workshop now. We have some minor things to work out (where to put those darn bicycles?!) and hopefully after careful spending and budgeting (that's a whole other post!) I can restock my clay and glazes and get to work!! Yippee!!

We had a Final Four Party Saturday night with some of hubbys basketball players. Unfortunately, UNC got beat by Kansas... big bummer!!

Also, got a picture in the mail of the afghan that I made, it looks great on her couch with one of her cats sitting on top of it, sounds like she really likes it!

I hope to post some pictures soon, family (belated) Easter pics, spring tulips, a clean garage and maybe more!

Have a great week everyone!

It's done...

2008-03-30T20:35:00.003-04:00

Here is the finished custom afghan that I have been working on for a bit. It is for a co-worker of my mom's. I matched the colors to a couch pillow she sent me, I hope she likes it!!

TAR HEELS to the FINAL FOUR!! Tip off Saturday night! Go Heels!

2008-03-28T16:58:00.006-04:00

Elite Eight!!

UNC beat up on Washington State last night so on to Elite Eight we go! We play Louisville tomorrow night to go to the Final Four!!

Other News...

oops, gotta go...update later :)

Ok, I'm back....

I didn't forget about or ignore Easter. Everyone else has great family Easter pictures and stories up but not so here. The girl was pretty sick all weekend with a high fever and strep so no bog Egg Hunts for us and no church for her and daddy. She was totally bummed that she didn't get to wear her pretty dress. The baby and I did go to my mom's to bring home leftovers from lunch and see if the Easter Bunny visited there :)

I'll try to get some pictures this Sunday with her all dressed up but now it's a big decision, lol... does she wear the original dress from Easter or a new dress that she got for Easter?!

She thinks she has her first loose tooth!! I call tell myself but she claims it feels a little loose, we will just have to wait and see.

Spring Break this week!! We've decided to stay home and work on some things around the house. Hoping to get my pottery equipment back in order so I can get back to work on my wheel!! Wish me luck, I think it's going to be a pretty big project.

2008-03-25T13:01:00.006-04:00

March Madness!!

March is rather crazy for basketball in our house. We have to see the NCAA selection show to see what teams made the top 64 and who will be playing for the NCAA championship. This year our Tar Heels are NUMBER 1 among all the teams and seeded #1 in the East Region.

I have to admit that I get pretty into all the basketball hype. Seems like I'm into it more so this year than in the past. I don't know if that's because UNC is so good this year or because I filled out a bracket. I actually sat and watched ESPN to learn a little more about the teams and see who the 'experts' thought would advance in each round.

Many games have already been played and they continue Thursday evening as the teams who have made it to the Sweet 16 battle it out to advance to the Elite Eight.

Party at our house if, no not if... WHEN UNC makes the FINAL FOUR!
GO TARHEELS!

In other news...

2008-03-17T20:37:00.002-04:00

I had such a great time this past weekend on a scrapbooking weekend with The ShareCroppers. We had 12 ladies in attendance and it was fabulous to catch up with friends and make some new ones. There was so much creative juice flowing, everyone was creating beautiful layouts and projects. Maggie circle layout inspired many of us to create our own version. Lisa had a wonderful triangle/pyramid design on one of her layouts that I know 2 of us used for inspiration.

Then of course there is all the sharing.... no worries if you forgot something or can't find the right color because someone in the room will have just what you need, and soon you will find yourself returning the favor, pay it forward.

I had started an album last month about our Summer Trip to New York in 2006 and I finished it this weekend!! Here are a number of the layouts that I finished this weekend.

Storms wreaked havoc

2008-03-17T16:49:00.004-04:00

Saturday's storms turned parts of Bartow County upside down. There were reports of a tornado on the road which our neighborhood is off of. Today the road to the east of us was down to one lane as I guess crews were still working and cleaning up debris. Part of hubby's rode to work was also littered with branches and debris all over.

There is a field across from our neighborhood... on the other side of the field has been a thick area of trees ... NOW we have a very different view as the majority of those trees are gone and all of a sudden we have a clear view of a side street and an auto body shop on that street.

It is still amazing to me that there were not more people injured or killed from all these storms. God's hand was certainly seen.

Here is a picture of what WAS a beautiful covered pavilion area at the Elementary school and a story in the local paper...

Storms, storms, and more storms!!!

2008-03-16T20:22:00.004-04:00

A record breaking 24 hours in Georgia! It all started Friday evening....

I was settled in at the CCA house cropping away when someone says to turn the tv on because there has been damage to the Georgia Dome. Turns out that an EF2 tornado went through downtown Atlanta,damaging the Dome, the CNN center, surrounding hotels and so much more. This happened during overtime of the SEC basketball games that were being held at the dome.... had overtime not happened thousands of people would be out on those streets when the tornado struck!

So we continued our crop weekend and apparently a storm hit our location about 5am that shook the house. I slept right threw it but others were up and on 'storm watch' and ready to get everyone else up if necessary. (thanks Lisa!)

Sometime around 11am we turned the tv back on and we see a whole line of storms coming across the Atlanta Metro area. At the time the worst storms were west of my house in Cartersville. There was rotation and a tornado was reported to have touched down in Polk county as the storms moved east. I called home and dh had taken the kids to Chick-fil-a for lunch and then headed to his parents house in downtown Cartersville. At the time they had left the house the weather was fine.

Needless to say I did not get any scrapping done in the next hour as I sat stressing and shaking while watching the tornadic cell move along the road that my neighborhood is on and heading straight for downtown Cartersville. Thankfully the tornadic action in the cells weakened as it moved east and to my knowledge there were no tornados that touched down in Cartersville.

I spoke to hubby and he, the kids and the rest of the family were fine. However there was severe weather (tornado?) just west of our neighborhood. Hubby found out that there was no power at our house so he headed back to pack up some things and the kids were going to spend the night at my mom's since we had no idea how long the power was going to be out. It was harder than expected to get back to our house, there were power line down and a mess just past our neighborhood. Police had a detour but people were trying to sneak past the cops by going through our neighborhood so the police would not let hubby on the street to our house. After much pleading and speaking to 2 officers he was let in to get to the house. In the meantime I was still at CCA trying to calm down after knowing that everyone was ok and that our house was still standing.

By now we realized that a very strong storm was heading towards the CCA house, picture 12 ladies worried that all their scrapbook papers and photos may be swept away in a tornado.... we grabbed pillows and purses, scoped out the best hallway and closet and stood watch ready to take cover.

Then someone yelled 'It's coming!' We all jumped up and grabbed out pillows thinking she has seen a twister outside.... turned out she just saw the winds and black clouds and meant that the storm was coming in our direction. So more watching and waiting... the worst went north of us, we did get some hail but no damage.

By dinner time all severe weather had moved out of the Atlanta area. The severe weather that hit near my house caused major damage to a few houses just a few miles from us and the covered picnic area and a brand new playground at daughter's school seems to be comnpletely ruined. There were no more police detours when I got home this afternoon so clean up has started quickly.

Amazingly only 2 people were killed in all these storms across Georgia. My heart goes out to their families.

A big thanks goes to WSB-2 for the detailed up-to-time coverage of all the storms.

Here is a clip from FOX that shows the damage near our house in Bartow County.
News clip

With all that said, it was an AWESOME weekend with the girls! I got over 20 pages completed and I finished my Summer Vacation trip to NY in 2006!! It was such a wonderful creative weekend, gotta love sharing ideas, supplies and being inspired by each other. So many beautiful pages and projects were made!

And by the way...
Happy St. Patricks Day!

Come party!

2008-03-11T09:53:00.004-04:00

This is my first blog party so I hope I'm doing this right!! Thanks for stopping by!

I'm Nicole, a stay-at-home during the day mom of 2. My daughter is in kindergarten and my baby is almost 11 months old and so ready to start walking. My hubby is a teacher and we've been married over 10 years. I feel most of my day consists of trying to make veggies yummy, wiping the veggies off the baby's face (and the floor) and then cleaning off the veggies again at the diaper changes :)

These two are why I love being a Mama...

I teach class at a local Technical College 2 nights a week. I also stay busy with craft and art projects
I have had to put my pottery on hold while my studio was turned into a family room, but I am still making bead jewelry, crocheting items, and making notecards. I love to scrapbook and take pictures of family and friends.

I'll admit, I love reality shows, Survivor and the Amazing Race are high on my list. Hubby and I also love CSI and NCIS.

That's a litle about me.
There are some really cool prizes for this year's blog party. I think my top 3 are...

# 52 Jendi Jean Bag
# 54 Mikarose gift certificate
# 127 Sassy Signs

Some of my other favs are #81, 109, 118, 119, 137, 142 & 145.

Stop by my blog anytime. Thanks for looking, enjoy the party and don't forget to leave a comment!

Still around...

2008-03-10T21:43:00.003-04:00

Yes, I'm still here. Obviously have not been keeping up with the blog too well since my last post was over a month ago. Some things never change, lol!

What's been going on??

I guess the big news was hubby's basketball team.... the Excel Eagles.

The Varsity team received a trophy for being runner-up in the region for the first time ever. They also qualified for state tournament and WON the first round game, going on to the second round. They lost the 2nd round game, but what an awesome season they had! It was such a hard decision when he was asked to coach back in the fall but we are most certainly glad that he decided to take it.

Our basement had been covered in clothes for the last few weeks getting ready to sell at a consignment sale. It was crazy going through all of her old baby clothes and even some of the baby's already. Sold quite a bit and looking forward to selling more in the fall sale!

In other news, we actually had a date night last weekend. A friend of mine had a birthday and about 8 couples went out to dinner. We got started a little late, but had a great meal, tried a new restaurant (new to us anyway) and met some new people.

The little man is cruising all over the place, trying to get up the steps when the gate is not up and about to start walking. He has been standing on his own for short periods of time and today took a stumbling step. Big sister is still just in love with him and wants to hold him as soon as she gets home.

Other than my back going 'pop' yesterday I've been doing well. Thank goodness for chiropractors!! Things at the shop are going slow but fairly well. Working on an afghan for a co-worker of my mom's, getting close to being done.

Upcoming... going to Camp Crop-a-Lot for a weekend of fun this weekend!! I'm so excited to see these ladies, haven't seen them in a couple of years. They were at CCA the week before the baby was born so I was not in attendance that weekend. I'm hoping to complete our summer trip to NY, we'll see how that goes.

Then beyond that is the baby's first birthday next month and the Bon Jovi concert at the end of April!! We've decided to stay home for Spring Break, save $$ and try to get some work done around the house, maybe a day trip to the Aquarium and surely a trip or two to the park.

ok, off to bed.

For all the parents...

2008-02-07T19:40:00.000-05:00

I've come across these recently thanks to some friends.

Pachelbel Bedtime

The Mom Song

And this one I just came across and got a good laugh from it!
Pachelbel Rant

Pink

2008-01-30T15:47:00.001-05:00

Thought I'd go pink for a while for Valentine's Day coming up.

More clearance

2008-01-30T11:46:00.000-05:00

Here's the shirt and pants that I found for the little girl on clearance. She was so excited to wear it to school today!

And here is Trey cruising around the couch the other day...

By the way... I had a great time at Camp-Crop-a-Lot this past weekend!! Didn't take any pictures, not sure how that happened, lol! But I got 29 pages of our Summer 2006 Trip done, very excited about that... I couldn't remember the last time that I actually scrapped a page for me! Loads of fun!

Clearance at Target

2008-01-29T22:38:00.000-05:00

Had some errands to run today and at Hobby Lobby one of Trey's socks came off again! So I decided that was enough, time to get some shoes just so his little socks will stay on. :)

Ended up walking out with 4 shirts for me, a new pair of pj pants for hubby, a pair of pants & a shirt for the girl and a pair of shoes for the baby.... ALL but the shoes were on clearance!! My shirts were $2.50-$3.50. $1.48 for Victoria's shirt, $6 for hubby's pants, very cool! Gotta love clearance! My red sweater was originally $24, $3.48 on sale!

Go see what you can find on clearance this week!

Random Sounds....

2008-01-24T13:04:00.001-05:00

Some random sounds at my house right now...

* The baby's toy singing.
* The windchimes on the front porch.
* Dogs barking.
* Me typing.
* Days of our Lives on tv.
* The cat eating... crunchy cat food!
* The baby giggling :)

I wish I heard hubby's car coming home so I can leave for my weekend at Camp-Crop-a-Lot with the peaches!!!

Ribbon Cutting

2008-01-13T20:05:00.001-05:00

We had the Ribbon Cutting with the Chamber of Commerce at the shop last Thursday. It went well and thankfully the rain held off and the weather was pretty good. I became the spokesperson, Gasp, and had to give a 30 minutes or less speech. Let's just say it was certainly less than 30 minutes, lol. But everyone said I did a good job. Four of the six of us ladies who are participating were able to attend so we all cut the ribbon together. We then mingled with the 20+ attendees from the Chamber and area businesses.

We're hoping they will all spread the word and sent lots of shoppers, everyone had good things to say say about the shop and our items.

I knew my mom was coming, she was going to help with Trey while I mingled and such. BUT my brother surprised me and came up as well, so cool! Afterwards we went to Red Lobster for a yummy lunch.

Here we are, the girls of Betty's Back Porch...

A week late but...

2008-01-07T14:29:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

As usual I am behind on my blogging. I would set that as a goal for this year but I'm setting realistic goals, lol! Anyone who visits my blog knows that keeping up with it is not very likely.

A very busy week ahead with back to school and work and the Ribbon Cutting with the Chamber of Commerce on Thursday at the shop. Hopefully things will settle down after that for a few weeks before I'm off to Camp-Crop-a-Lot for a weekend, woohoo!

Have a great day!

Holiday fun...

2007-12-23T20:46:00.000-05:00

Swinging on the front porch while daddy hung the Christmas lights...

Gramps came over for a visit and a nap :)

Crawling in and out of the bottom of teh saucer, too cute!!

my new projects...

2007-12-23T20:33:00.000-05:00

I altered clipboards for my Peachy gift swap and for Victoria's teacher gifts.

The other project I've been working on is altering notepads. Thanks to Debbie at Archiver's for the idea and her great examples!

old events, new pictures...

2007-12-13T21:05:00.000-05:00

Our little witch and baby Tigger...

Victoria's last soccer game, she is so proud of her trophy!

Mom gave me these beautiful roses as Congratulations for the new shop opening...

After cropping with the Peaches I met the family at Chili's for dinner for my birthday. I LOVE their nachos!! It was the first time Trey sat in a high chair outside of home. This was what was left of my cookie cake when I thought about taking a picture of it, it was yummy!

This great picture is the winner for our Christmas card this year. Nothing special, I was just taking pictures of the kids on the couch and caught these great smiles...

Thanksgiving... my first ever apple pie! Not a homeade crust but it sure was tasty!!

I just had to get a picture of this... Trey fell asleep in his carseat with a very strong grib on his little bug, too cute! And then we decorated our tree last weekend. Victoria was quite the helper hanging ornaments. She's certainly in the holiday spirit.

Gym Snobs!!!

2007-12-06T08:36:00.000-05:00

I just don't understand it!
First of all...
WHY do you have your hair and makeup PERFECT when you're coming to the gym???

So I went last night to a 5:00 BLT class. There was a bout 6 of us and we used the step for part of it. Then there was a Step class at 5:30, most of us stayed and left our steps sset up. Others came in for the 5:30 class. One lady set up a step up front and her friend proceeded to push a step completely from where it was way up front and center. One of the BLT ladies came back from getting a drink and said, "Did someone move a step? Wasn't there a step here?' It took me aminute to realize what had happened and I said, 'Yes, there was. She just moved it.' By now the friend looks at us and goes, 'Yea, I can't use a step so I moved it.' WHAT?? I don't care if you don't use the step, but WHY do you just move someone elses equipment? We said 'That step was her's, she had it set up already.' This lady just looked at us. 'Oh, sorry.' With no care at all.

Then I said something about the fans... and this lady and her friend say, 'Oh, we hate the fans, how can you sweat with the fans on?' HELLO, if you are working your butt off you WILL sweat.

THEN, as I watched the 2 of them during class I realized WHY they don't sweat, they DON'T do anything. Neither of them exerted any more energy than what is used to walk or march. Anytime there was a jog, or 'power' steps they just walked or marched. WHY BOTHER COMING?!

And as a result of the step getting moved that poor women took her step all the way to the back and other side of the room and set it up there.

I just don't understand!

ok, off to work at the shop.

My new toy!!

2007-11-23T19:19:00.000-05:00

Hubby got up and to the store at 4am and got me this...

Yup, I got a Cricut today as an early Christmas present. Hubby got a new monitor and couldn't wait till Christmas to open it so we both got new toys early. I always thought these were cool and this deal was just WAY TO GOOD to pass up!

I'm thankful for...

2007-11-22T20:03:00.000-05:00

My wonderful family.
My beautiful children and wonderful hubby.
All my friends near and far.
Our health and our home, our recently remodeled basement.
And so much more!

The baby is calling....

2007-11-22T19:58:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!!

I made my first apple pie for dinner today and it was yummy!! We had a great meal at mom's house and just had a fun day hanging around and eating lots.

I beat him!

2007-11-16T08:01:00.000-05:00

Thought I would try to beat the battle real quick last night and I did it on the first try!!! It opened up the next section of songs. Off to work at the shop today.

New Toy

2007-11-15T19:44:00.000-05:00

Got a new toy for my birthday....

My brother got me playing on his PS2 and then we got Guitar Hero 2 for the Xbox 360. I enjoy playing it but the songlist isn't real great. GH 3 on the other hand has an awesome variety of songs!! I got through one section last night and then a 'Battle' pops up! Now I have to beat some guy in a battle to move on to the next section of songs. In this battle mode you can hurt your opponent by shaking their notes, adding notes, increasing the difficulty etc. So we will see how long I get stuck on this!

I had a great time cropping with the Peaches. I got 7 pages done even though my pictures didn't come in on time. I'm going with some other friends to Archiver's tomorrow night but I am not organized at all, oh well, it's still fun! At least I'll have my pictures for tomorrow. After the crop I met hubby and the kids at Chili's .... LOVE their nachos, YUM! Then home to a cookie cake. That reminds me, I've got to get to the gym this weekend :)

In other news...
Getting ready for Thanksgiving break. I had lunch with the kindergarteners on Monday, Yummy school food :)

Today I had a lovely brunch with friends from church. Three of us have little baby boys and we are going to be in trouble when they get moving! There's no telling what they will be getting into.

Tomorrow I'm at Betty's Back Porch for the day. Saturday Victoria has another cooking class, her cousin is going with her and they are making Smashed potatoes and Homemade Stuffing. They are so excited! After that we're going to go watch Daddy's 'boys' play their first basketball game of the season. The away games are so far we will not be going to any of those but we're looking forward to the home games.

Everytime that I post lately I don't have access to my pictures... maybe I'll get some Halloween ones posted before 2008, lol.

This week...

2007-11-08T19:28:00.000-05:00

Hubby started coaching again! Yup, he is now the head JV and assistant Varsity coach of the boys high school basketball teams at a Christian Academy near by. It was something that came up very quickly in the middle of his thesis being due and a phone defense for it. But after much thought and prayers we decided that he would do it. The biggest downside is that we now have to get a sitter at least twice a week for the nights that I'm teaching. And on game night he will be home quite late especially on away games.... I have to remember the bedtime routine for Victoria, it's been so long since I put her to bed.

Victoria is excited about going to games again, it has been a while and she really enjoys them.

I had forgotten all about adding Halloween pictures here. I will try to soon, can't get to the pics right now.

Trey is in full food mode now. He is in his highchair and has had Peaches, Bananas and Peas with cereal. I found a site about making baby food and have starting doing that... we have carrots, bananas, applesauce and sweet potatoes in the freezer. Ice cube trays are great for this! Each serving is about an ounce so you can just take out what you need.

Frustration!! I'm going scrapbooking Saturday with the Peaches and my pictures that I ordered have not come yet! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they come tomorrow. yes, I have other pictures that I could work on, BUT I have this thing about working in order. We'll see what happens tomorrow!

Saturday is also my birthday, so after the crop I think the 4 of us are going out to eat.... any suggestions on where to go?? Nowhere is screaming out at me. Then we're having lunch at mom and dad's Sunday.

gotta go!

The big boy!

2007-10-29T11:25:00.000-04:00

Trey is my little supervisor when we work at the shop...

He's got his first teeth! Yup, seems like he's going to be the same as big sis and get two teeth at a time! Some 6 month shots...

Victoria got a new bike from her cousin. We spent all afternoon riding around the park and letting her get used to the new bike. She ended up riding over 2.5 miles!!

A little fuzzy, but one of my favorite recent pictures of me and my big girl!

Pictures!!

2007-10-29T10:50:00.000-04:00

The shop's Grand Opening is this Saturday! Here's a peek of some of my items; pottery, cards, jewelry, and more.

Betty's Back Porch

2007-10-18T19:51:00.000-04:00

This is a new shop in town that opened TODAY!!! I have a room full of my items.... pottery, jewelry, crocheted items, handmade cards and more.

We are very excited to finally be open and hope that the holiday shoppers will find lots of wonderful gifts.

Other items in the shop include birdhouses, painted furniture and sweatshirts, watercolors, and more.

I'll post pictures of my items soon!

Some Pictures....

2007-10-18T08:36:00.000-04:00

Just a few pictures taken last week. He turns 6 months old today!!!

Rain!!

2007-10-09T19:39:00.000-04:00

We had about 3 hours of steady rain this afternoon. I was working on cards and heard something upstairs and lo and behold it was rain and a storm!

Victoria has early release tomorrow and thinks it is so cool that she gets to come home early. Then she and hubby have the rest of the week off and next Monday too for Fall Break.

Well, back to work!

Sick...

2007-10-04T10:37:00.000-04:00

yup, that's me, I'm sick. I have a horrible cold and think I may be going to the doctor tomorrow to see if it is a sinus infection. ugh! And what perfect timing since tonight is my first night back to work for the fall quarter.

I'll try to catch up and post some pictures when I feel better!

Pink giveaway

2007-09-25T10:23:00.000-04:00

5 Minutes for Mom is giving away a Pink Dyson vacuum!!

A quote for today

2007-09-23T20:33:00.000-04:00

Families are like fudge--mostly sweet with a few nuts.
~Author Unknown

Thursday morning...

2007-09-20T08:51:00.000-04:00

That is today, just a thursday morning. I would have gone to the gym, but I was supposed to have a conference at Victoria's school at 8:45. But her teacher called earlier and had to rescheduke because of ITBS make-up testing. So my whole morning was planned around the conference and now it is all messed up. Not that I had any huge plans, but still! Now the conference is around noon.

Thought I would make a quick post while Trey is sleeping.

Took some pictures on Tuesday... 5 months old! Will try to get them uploaded soon, not sure if I got his smile at all, he was full of energy.

Unfortunately, the piles of laundry are calling my name. Have a great Thursday!

Remembering....

2007-09-11T16:44:00.001-04:00

Star Student

2007-09-09T17:23:00.000-04:00

Victoria is the Star Student this week!!! Every Friday she brings home the Kindergarten newsletter and this Friday it was announced that she is the Star Student of her class this week! We spent yesterday afternoon making her All About Me poster. We took this picture of the 4 of us to add to her poster after we realized we did not have a good picture of all of us since Trey was born.

Trey and I will go have lunch with her one day this week. I don't have anything going on so I asked Victoria what day she would like us to come... her answer... 'Tuesday, it's my favorite day!' So, Tuesday it is!

Soccer games started this weekend. We have a new coach who is very nice, but we miss coach Drew!

Today's Thoughts...

2007-09-07T10:28:00.000-04:00

A fun idea I got from Jan, some random thoughts about today and the weekend...

overslept
school
baby onsies
racquetball
long fingernails (scratches... ouch)
soccer
allergies
family
arts festival
drool
cards
xbox
errands
busy
food

The last one is thanks to the Service Foods delivery that we just got!! Check it out and let me know if you'd like a referral from us for them to come tell you all about it (you'd get a complimentary French silk pie). I can't wait to fix dinner!

Completely random fact..... Jennifer Garner has a dog named Martha Stewart, interesting!

Have a great weekend!

The Bus

2007-09-05T09:57:00.000-04:00

Here are a few pictures finally from Victoria's first bus ride. After that she kept asking to ride it home too. So now that the weather isn't in the triple digits anymore we let her take it home. There is a girl in her class that also rides her bus and they have been sitting together, so Victoria just loves the bus!

Neighborhood Storm...

2007-09-05T09:38:00.000-04:00

Catching up again...
Almost two weeks ago I decided to play some racquetball for the first time in over a year. While I was taking a break between games I got a call that we had 'severe' weather in our neighborhood. WHAT?! So I got a hold of hubby and everyone was ok, the main concern at the time was that he had the baby and had no warm water to warm a bottle for him and he was not a happy baby. Home I went... as I came up to the neighborhood the road was covered with branches, pinecones, pinestraw... once in the neighborhood I saw trampolines broken, decks damages and branches broken. The biggest thing was the big pine tree in OUR front yard. Thankfully it fell towards the road and not towards the house. Our sand box was tossed into the neighbors yard and a trampoline from neighbors behind us was in the lake across the street in front of us!!!

The tree is finally cleaned up after many hours of chainsaw work and hauling it away.

update

2007-08-14T22:12:00.000-04:00

just have a minute before bed...

the trip to the ER was thanks to half a cashew!! Victoria complaining of her throat hurting alot and was coughing like something went down the wrong way. she started geting a rash on her neck so I call our blue cross nurse line and said go straight to the ER. in the car her face and lips swelled all up and got red, the nurse took us straight back when i went to sign her home.. no waiting for us! The dr. and nurses were great but they had to stick Victoria 3 times before getting the IV line in her... she just wanted to go home!! Victoria did realy great and we got home about 9pm. So that was the excitement to the ER.

She rode the bus again today and now they moved the time back 10 minutes earlier, I'll have to get her up at almost 6am but she still wants to ride and is asking when she can ride it home.... when it gets cooler!!

Off to bed!

She's on the bus!

2007-08-13T07:22:00.000-04:00

Victoria is on the bus on her way to school!! After a trip to the ER last night (more on that later, she's fine) I wasn't sure if she'd still want to get up early to ride the bus, but she did. She woke up and was raring to go!

She did great, mommy.... not so great.

more later, the pictures I took came out awful, i'll see if i can find one decent one.