Busier By The Minute

Things have been just plain crazy around here in the last week. Who knew a stay-at-home mom could stay so blasted busy. I have had 2 Signature Homestyles shows, I sick little girl, and a baby boy that has decided that he doesn't want to sleep. How much more fun can I stand?

There is hope on the horizon. Tomorrow afternoon I leave to go to Atlanta to participate in a Creative Memories Focus Group. They call me and said we want your opinion on scrapbooking stuff, we will provide dinner, pay you $100 cash and pay for your room at a very nice hotel. I just couldn't say no. I get to sleep in a room all by myself, all night long, no kids crying, just me sleeping peacefully. Then I get to sleep late. Well, try to sleep in, I will probably wake up at 7am wide awake, just because. Isn't that the way it works.?

Friday starts our Creative Memories Regional Convention. We have dinner at 5:30pm, then a Mega Crop. I plan to scrapbook all day in my hotel room. I am just a gitty with excitement. There will be one other girl with me at the focus group, then two more show up to join us, then another on Friday. Five scrapbookers in a scrapbooking frenzy. Saturday morning we are in conference all day, then home on Saturday night.

Chris is getting to attend a christian men's conference with his friends. They leave Friday to play golf , then off the their fun.

The kids will be having a fun filled weekend with Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw. They will have a blast. They will eat everything in the house, build tents, push each other around in Grayson's dump truck, and stay up late. It will be a three ring circus at my house, I am so glad I will be gone.

I am looking so forward to some time away and most of all...some extra sleep.

TGIF

It is Friday and I couldn't be happier. I have big plans for the weekend. This afternoon I will pick up Sydney from school and drop off Grayson at mom's and head for the big town of Turin, GA. Don't blink, you might just miss it. Sydney and I are going to spend the night with my sister, Reynie, in her log cabin. I love going out there. It is so quiet and so beautiful. I will be doing a Creative Memories show tonight at her friend Jennifer's house. I love to talk about scrapbooking, so this should be lots of fun. Sydney will be my little helper. She loves to have one on one time with Mommy and Aunt Reynie. She will be in hog heaven. Then Saturday morning, I am sleeping in late, while Sydney goes and snuggles with Aunt Reynie in her bed and watches cartoons. We will be having breakfast with Ya-Ya and Pops, then off to a baby shower. Busy day, but full of fun.

Sunday will be church as usual. After church, I will be doing a Signature Homestyles show at my friend Rebecca's house. I also love to talk about decorating and organization, but too bad my house could use some more of it. As soon as I get it organized my son just happily drags it all out and throws it down the stairs or in the bathtub. If you can't find something, it is probably in one of those two places.

Should be lots of fun this weekend. Hope you all have a great one too. Leave a comment and let me know what your plans are for this glorious weekend.

Love/Hate Meme

Love/ Hate Meme

I love to eat: tacos and chocolate
I hate to eat: corn beef (What is up with all the little balls on it? Gross!)
I love to go: camping with my family and friends, out to dinner without kids, and shopping when I have the money.
I hate to go: grocery shopping
I love it when: my house is clean and my kids are sweet.
I hate it when: I can't find anything or finish a thought.
I love to see: my husband and kids playing together.
I hate to see: a animal hungry or hurt.
I love to hear: my husband and kids say "I love you!"
I hate to hear: a crying child.

Ok, Reynie here is your meme. Happy now?

Thursday Thirteen

Thursday Thirteen: 13 Things my son did today.

1. Emptied the bathroom drawer into the garden tub and squealed with delight the whole time.


2. Helped me with the laundry. When I say "helped" I mean…took the already folded clothes out of the basket and put them back into the dryer. He is such a big helper.


3. Pooped. Oh, I mean big time. This boy is a pooping machine and his Gammie fed him lots of grapes yesterday. Not pretty coming out and they sure don’t smell good either. Gross!


4. Threw hangers everywhere. I put them all neatly in the basket to take downstairs to hang up clothes and apparently they made him sick and they had to throw about.
   
5. Ate crackers and crumbled them all over the kitchen floor. Thank you, God, for the DustBuster.


6. Took a nap. Yippee!!!! 1 hour of peace.


7. Put markers in the VCR.
   
8. Aggravated his sister while she was on the toilet. "Mommy, Grayson is trying to flush the toilet while I’m on it" and "Mommy, Grayson is trying to put his hand in the toilet". Will today never end?
   
9. Screamed, cried, and pitched a big ole fit for not apparent reason. Boy, was that fun.


10. Played Barbies with Sydney. That was actually pretty sweet. He played with Ken.


11. Looked at one of my scrapbooks and talked to it the whole time. Too cute.


12. Put strange objects in his mouth, like a plastic mushroom. Where did that come from?


13. Snuggled with Mommy. That’s my little, sweet man no matter what he shoves in the VCR.

More Snow!!!

It has been so much fun today to watch it snow. How beautiful God's creation can be with it all covered in white. So far we have not gotten as much as we would have liked, but we have some snow, so we are not complaining. We have had some great family time. The kids have played hard, I have scrapbooked 18 pages, and Chris has been relaxing on the couch with the TV all to himself. We also ventured out in the snow as you can see below.

Above is Sydney and Grayson on the back deck. Are they not just the cutest kids in the whole wide world?

This is Grayson just as happy as can be to be in the snow. He had no idea what it was, but he just ran around with this huge smile on his face and squealing with delight.

This is Sydney and her first snowman. We did manage to gather enough snow for a small but extremely wonderful snowman. We are so proud of it.

It is snowing again. Hopefully, we will get a few more inches. But until then, I will enjoy sitting by the fire and watching the snow come down.

Thursday Thirteen

Thursday Thirteen: 13 Things I did last night.

1. Watched it snow.
2. Watched my daughter throw up.
3. Watched American Idol.
4. Watched my daughter throw up.
5. Watched a1` previously recorded Barefoot Contessa show.
6. Watched my daughter throw up.
7. Watched a previously recorded National Body Challenge.
8. Watched my daughter throw up.
9. Went to the bathroom to pee.
10. Watched my daughter throw up.
11. Watched another previously recorded Barefoot Contessa show.
12. Watched my daughter throw up.
13. Went to bed sometime after 1 a.m. just to get up 2 more times to watch my daughter throw up.

After a doctor visit this morning, we discovered that Sydney has Strep Throat. Say a prayer for us!

It's Snowing

I am so excited. We are in Anniston, Alabama at my parents house and it is snowing outside. J-Mom is calling everyone she knows to tell them. They moved up here in 2005 from Orlando, Florida, so when it snows she goes crazy. She is videoing and taking pictures, I think she is losing it.
I just want enough to make a snow angel or better yet a snowman. Yippee for the snow!

My Little Helping Boy

I have to start by telling you how I do laundry, so you will understand why this is so funny. My washer and dryer are located down stairs in my basement. Our basement is finished and open to the upstairs. We have a baby gate mounted to the wall to keep Grayson from tumbling down. I usually gather all the dirty clothes and throw them down the stairs, then sort them at the bottom in the laundry room. Well, yesterday morning my son wants to help, so he also tosses clothing over the gate. Of course, mine usually hit the bottom of the stairs, but his land on the top step. Still I praise him for all his help.

Yesterday afternoon all the laundry was done. I took the full laundry basket upstairs and started sorting laundry in my bedroom floor. My son decided to "help" again. He started taking pieces of clothing to the gate and tossing them over. Bless his heart, he tries. See below his handy work.

Clothes are not the only things he likes to throw over. We find toys, old toothbrushes, cord to the electric razor, spoons, cups, and sometimes-even food. I am not quite sure what is so fun about throwing things over, but Sydney did it too. She only threw shoes. My children always keep me laughing. Who knows what they will do next? Stay tuned…

My Crop

First, let me start by making a correction. Rebecca did 18 pages on Thursday night, not 12. Happy now, heifer?

Wow, we had a wonderful time at my crop on Saturday. Seven girls crammed in a basement working on their scrapbooks and listening to 80’s music. It was a blast. I am so proud of the girls they did a great job so I have to brag on their accomplishments.

Jennifer, she is working on her daughters first year album and completed 9 pages. Her daughter is 11, so only 10 more years to go. You go girl!

Renae, she is working on her Jamaica trip from this summer and completed 5 pages. She worked very hard; she had lots of pictures to organize and lots of talking to do. Keep your head high; you will be done in no time.

Rebecca, she is working on her family album and completed 28 pages. Ok, we all secretly hate her; she is working on October 2007 pages and is very organized. She has OCD, but is on medicine and it is not helping. Ha ha! She is my inspiration, so if she can do it so can I.

Rachel, she is also working on her family album and completed 15 pages, then went home and did 13 more for a total of 28 pages. Rebecca, her sister, went over to her house last weekend to help her get her scrapbook stuff organized (a sister with OCD does come in handy). Now Rachel is on a roll. Way to go!

Reynie, she is working on her wedding album and her goal was 5 pages, but she did 10. She works very slowly, she also has OCD and every page has to be just perfect. She was so proud as was I.

Me, I was working on my family and camping album and did 19 pages, then on Sunday did an additional 12 pages making my total 31 pages. I am so far behind, but I am on track now. I worked very hard and will continue to do so. My goal is to be working in the current by the end of the year. Wish me luck!

Last but not least is Sydney. She was working on her first scrapbook album all by herself. She did pictures of her zoo field trip and her birthday party at Justice. She did an awesome job; she was so excited to be scrapbooking with mommy. She walked around and showed everyone her Tinkerbell album. I am such a proud Momma!

I look so forward to crops. It is so nice having a little girl time. So, if you are scrapbooker and want to join us for a Saturday of cropping, eating, laughing, talking and just a general good time, you know where to find me.

Thanks to all the girls that came on Saturday. You guys are the best! A special THANKS to my sweet husband for giving me some time to play. You are the greatest husband in the world, I love you!

Scrapbooking, Decorating, Organizing, Oh My!

I am so excited about this weekend. I get to do all kinds of fun things. Tomorrow I am hosting a Creative Memories crop at my house. I have 5 or 6 people coming. It is so much more fun to crop when you have people there to cheer you along and "oooo" and "ahhh" over your pages. My friend, Rebecca, will be there and she is my biggest cheerleader. We have some unspoken competition going on who can't complete the most pages. I did 4 yesterday and was so proud of myself, then I get a text from the heifer. She did 12. I just have to hate her sometimes. Oh, well! She gives my inspiration...I will beat her...I know I will. My sister, Reynie, will also be there and she is our entertainment. I can't be in the same room with her without crying from laughter. She is such a nut and I love her to pieces. Also, in attendance should be Rachel, Rebecca's sister, Renae, friend and Sydney's teacher, Tara, my across the street neighbor, and possibly my sister-in-love, Leigh. Later Jordan, Rebecca's daughter, and Sydney will be joining us to crop. Sydney got a Kids Touch Digital camera for her birthday and lots of scrapbook stuff. I am picking up her pictures today. She is so excited about making her own REAL scrapbook.

After the crop we will be socializing and eating with Spencer, Rebecca, Jordan, and Alex. I will be making cheese dip and Rebecca is making Super Nachos. Yum-me! Rebecca and I will probably do some more scrapbooking and let the men supervise the kids. We also love to play cards, Skip-Bo and Phase 10. Who knows when the night will take us.

Sunday after church I am hosting a Signature Homestyles Open House. The new Spring and Summer catalog just came out with all the new, amazing products. I will be in a decorating and organizing frenzy.

So much fun girl stuff, I just can't stand it.

What am I doing?

Being a stay at home mom has been an eye opening experience. I thought my house would always be spotless, everything organized, fancy dinners, well-kept and well-behaved children, very little stress and free time galore. Was I in for a rude awakening or what? My house looks like a bomb has gone off. Toys everywhere, even though they were just picked up. As I type away my children are sweeping and mopping the floors, walls, and probably soon breaking something with the flying broom handle. Bless their hearts, they do try. I have no idea where anything is anymore. I know that if I could get it all organized, I think I could keep it that way. I just have way too much help trying to get it together, and not the kind of help I need. I still fix the easier thing I can get my hands on. I do try more new recipes, but they have to be easy. I am just plain worn out by the end of the day. My kids are...kids. Grayson gets more food on himself than in his mouth and Sydney somehow gets more ink and paint on herself than the paper. All their clothes look like they have never seen a washing machine and they do all the time. Sydney gets more time outs and spankings for arguing and talking back than anyone child. You think she would get the picture by now, but no such luck. Grayson's time is coming. He just is into everything and demands it now. I am stressed out and have no time to myself. I mean I don't even get to go to the bathroom without an audience. Despite all the craziness, I love being at home with my kids. I know this is where I belong. I guess it just takes time to get it all together. Any suggestions on making my life easier would be great. I am willing to take any and all advice. Say a prayer for me, I am losing my mind...that is, when I get the chance.

Happy Birthday, Sydney!

Today is my baby girl's 5th birthday. I can't believe she is so big. It is so sad that you seem to blink your eyes and they grow up. It seems like just yesterday she was this sweet little baby who was such a mommy's girl. Now, she is a big Daddy's girl and sassy as all get out. She is just like her Aunt Reynie, with a touch of OCD. Everything has to be just so-so and she has to look perfect before we leave the house. She is such a little princess. I love her so much.
This morning on the way to school we had a conversion about heaven and how you get there. I told her that when you ask Jesus into your heart, when you die you would go to heaven. She told me that when we said our prayers tonight that she wanted to ask Jesus in her heart. I was thrilled. I'm not sure she understands everything, but that's ok. Jesus will take her just as she is.

I can't believe she said that!

I can't believe I am going to tell this story, but it is just too funny not to tell. It all started New Year's Eve...I finally started my period after a two year absence due to pregnancy and nursing. Well, the discovery was made with both kids in the bathroom and Sydney (age 4) asking 4000 questions. Little did I know this would later haunt me.
We decided to spend New Year's with my Dad and J-Mom in Alabama, so we loaded up half the house for the overnight party. While visiting in the living room with my father, my daughter says, "Guess what, Paw-Paw? Did you know my mommy was bleeding out of her nu-nu?" I thought I would die. My Dad got up screaming, "TMI, what are you teaching these kids?" My husband, Chris, was sitting at the table trying to eat. He just about choked. I was in the floor crying, I was laughing so hard. I then had to explain to Sydney that we don't tell the general public about that kind of thing. It was just way too funny. I called my friend, Rebecca, to share with her and she said to just be glad she didn't announce it in line at the Hobby Lobby. She is so right.
I am sorry if this is TMI (too much information) for you, but Reynie said this is a story that needed to be on my blog. So blame her!

Thursday Thirteen

Thursday Thirteen: My New Year’s Resolutions

1. Lose weight – I know we all say the same thing every year, but I did good last year. I lost 20 lbs. and would like to lose 30 more this year. Of course, if I could lose 40 or 50 I would just run around naked all the time. How scary would that be?
2. Exercise more – This does not include chasing around my little boy, but an actual exercise routine.
3. Eat healthier – No daily chocolate, more salads, and no eating after 7pm. I guess I can give it a whirl.
4. Better time management – Of course whatever I plan will be out the window when I the children are in need of something.
5. Go out on a date with my husband at least once a month – Time to remember why we got married and what it was like before kids.
6. Take a trip without children – Again, time to remember why we got married and what it was like before kids.
7. Get basement organized – It seems to be a never-ending battle. It is an office, scrapbook room, play room, TV watching room and anything else room. This should be fun.
8. Paint bathroom and kitchen - I may get Chris to do this. It still counts no matter how it gets done.
9. Read my bible everyday – I am going to start getting up 30 minutes earlier to take time for God. Hopefully this will help me make it through the day without a breakdown.
10. Get caught up in my scrapbooking – Not too much to do: Sydney’s baby book to finish, 2 yr. old pre-school to finish, 3 yr. pre-school to start, Pre-K to start, Grayson’s baby book to start, camping album to catch up and family album to catch up. I really need to work on that time management.
11. Start an herb garden – Everyone on Food Network has fresh herb, so I why can’t I?
12. Stop procrastinating – Maybe I will do this next year…. Ok, this year…later this year.
13. Be more thoughtful – Send cards, make phone calls, make dinner for friends, just be a more giving and thoughtful human being.