I met THE Pioneer Woman!

One of my favorite blogs to read is The Pioneer Woman.  I love her recipes and photography, and her funny stories about ranch life.  Her youngest son was born the day before Aaron, so I feel like we have a connection, ya know?  Ha!

I got her cookbook for Christmas a couple of years ago, and I LOVE it.  I make a lot of her recipes both from the cookbook and her blog.  She recently wrote a new book chronicling her love story with her husband, a cowboy (she was a city girl so it was an unlikely match).  She is on a book tour right now, and she came to Memphis to do signings!  I was so excited, I wrote it on my calendar as soon as the date was announced. 

Luckily, my sweet friend Amy knows I love PW, and she snagged me tickets for the autograph line a couple of weeks ago, which meant I got to be towards the front of the line at the signing!  THANKS A TON, Amy!

Mom and I went to the signing, and met my friend Regina there. Regina had saved us front-row seats since she got there super-early with her boys. THANKS, Regina! (I have great friends, huh?)

Here's Regina and I right up front!


Ree's husband, whom she calls "Marlboro Man" on her blog, was there and signing books as well. He's a real, live cowboy!


Regina getting books signed...


And we finally got to meet The Pioneer Woman herself! 


Ree was so down-to-earth and super sweet.


I told her about our babies being 1 day apart, and how I vividly remembered June 5, 2004, her son's birthday.  It's the day Reagan died, if you didn't know.  I was at a family reunion, in the early stages of labor. 





Gotta love random guy in the background!


And us with our autographed books!

Mother-Daughter Hair Cuts

A couple of weeks ago, Claire and I went on a Saturday morning for mother-daughter hair cuts.  I was in desperate need of a cut, and Claire's hair had gotten so long it was aggravating me and her daily.  It constantly had food and tough tangles in it, so she finally agreed to get it cut.  I was a bit sad to see some of the length go, but it has been so worth it to avoid the daily tears that accompanied hair brushing. 

I forgot to get a good before shot, but you can see how long it was here.




She has such beautiful hair, thick but fine and silky, so it has trouble staying up in ponytails. She prefers to wear it down so having a shorter cut has been so much better.  I'm hoping one day when she's able to take care of it more herself, she can grow it for Locks of Love.


My girl is so beautiful!


And it's done!


She wouldn't make a normal face for me.


I didn't get before shots of me (it was BAD) but we got some shots together afterwards.

Lit Chicks

As much as my blog seems to show that I'm not anyone but "Mommy", I do try to have a life *outside* of being a mom. While I love that job more than anything else I do, it's good to have an occasional break for some me-time. Being a mom and doing housework from morning till night 7 days a week can really wear on me! Sometimes I want my work day to end at 5:00 like normal people, but having the occasional night out is a good compromise!

One of my favorite ways to get out is book club! Our book club, called the "Lit Chicks" started a few years ago and has dwindled down to 6 of us who meet somewhat consistently. Some of us read the books faithfully, and some never get a chance to read a book, but we don't really care because that's not what it's all about. (Even though it is called "BOOK" club!) I enjoy the fun of knowing that if I'm reading a good book, I can talk to someone else about it because they read it too! It makes me more likely to take time during the week to sit down and read for a while, which is one of my favorite ways to unwind.

We rotate choosing books (we usually choose 2-3 books for the group to vote on) so we get to read a real variety of topics and styles. I love that we have gauged each others tastes well enough to know that certain styles of books tend to be picked by the same people. For example, I tend to like historical fiction, Amy likes light girly reads, Christine tends to pick books about kids, etc.

When we meet for book club, we're lucky if we get 10 minutes of actual book discussion, but the rest of the time we just chat and catch up. We all met in a playgroup but as our kids have gotten older and schedules have changed, our kids don't even see each other all that much any more. These girls are great friends and I look forward to reading books with them for many years to come!

And if you're interested, some of our recent books have been:

The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Look Again by Lisa Scottoline (I listened to this on audio on my spring break trip!)
The Christmas List by Richard Paul Evans
One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Flower for Elvis by Julia Shuster (I never had a chance to read this one!)
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Blind Your Ponies by Stanley Gordon West
The Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer (I only got through the first 2 books)
The Seamstress by Frances de Pontes Peebles

I try to keep my Shelfari page updated (every 2-3 months) and I have a link to that on the sidebar if you want to see more books I've read!

Christmas Traditions Dinner

One of my favorite events of the Christmas season is the Christmas Traditions Dinner held at our church. Ladies sign up to decorate and hostess a table, using their own place settings and centerpieces. A catered dinner is served, and there is music and a speaker. We also have a silent auction to benefit the Lottie Moon Christmas offering. It really is a wonderful evening!

Last year I decorated my table with my Grandmother's china, and invited her friends to sit at the table. It appears I started a tradtion, as they really enjoyed the evening and I had to do it again this year. It was my pleasure. I really enjoy having an excuse to get out the pretty stuff and be a hostess, especially since my home is not really large enough to host more than a couple of people.

And without further ado, here is the table!


The vase in the middle was always in a prominent place in Grandma's home, and now it's on my mantle. The dishes, silverware, and silver service are all family heirlooms. Even the embroidered table runner was made by my great grandmother.

A closer look...


A side note--I made those cute little boxes! I found a tutorial online and had so much fun making them. I put chocolate truffles inside for my guests to take home.

Because I'm just that crazy, this year I actually decorated two tables. I felt bad having my Christmas dishes (which are actually dollar store finds!) packed away when they needed more tables to seat everyone at the dinner. So I volunteered to decorate an extra table. I had fun with it because it was more Christmas-y.





(I made those boxes too! Aaron and I had a marathon box-making session the day before the dinner!)

I took pictures of EVERY other table, because I just love going back to look at them. Some of my favorites:
*My friend Angie painted rubber boots silver and used them to hold her cookie lollipops. Such a cute idea! You can get some of those cookies--check out www.paintedcookie.blogspot.com!
*I love the redbird plates. Something about them makes me smile.
*The Happy Birthday Jesus table had understated decor (plastic tablecloth, paper plates and plastic forks) with balloons and a chocolate birthday cake in the center. I loved how this pointed to the real Reason for the season!

Enjoy the pictures!

Gall Bladder Funnies

A couple of weeks ago I found out I have gall stones. I was having my third attack (since Hannah's birth), in serious pain in the bathroom floor, when I started realizing it might be my gall bladder. Gall stones are common in women who have had multiple pregnancies. We Googled it, and I talked to my sister-in-law who had her gall bladder removed 5 years ago, and I was convinced it was gall stones. A trip to the doctor and the imaging center for an ultrasound confirmed it.

I was scheduled to consult with the surgeon tomorrow, but on Sunday I had another mild attack and Monday I called the surgeon to see if I could move up the appointment and possibly get surgery this week. They had a cancellation for a Tuesday surgery, and I took it! Sign me up--get this thing out so my life can get back to normal!!

The surgery was laporoscopic, and went very well. I'm at home recovering nicely. The best part of the experience--the funny things that I said while coming out of the anesthesia.

As soon as I woke up, Chris told me my friend Allison had her baby that morning and had texted us a picture. I was so excited! I tried so hard to focus on the picture on the phone. Then I passed out again. I woke up a few minutes later, and Chris asked me if I remembered that Allison had her baby. "Allison had her baby??" I said excitedly. And he showed me the picture again, and I was excited about it all over again. He said we did this about 6 times, and I was excited all over again every time.

Before the surgery we had been joking about Chris getting a text from his girlfriend. So afterwards, he asked me, "What's your boyfriend's name?" and I said, "You're a goofball. But you could tell me your girlfriend's name right now and I wouldn't remember it." Ha!

Once when the nurse was by the bed, I must have heard her say something about calling in some prescriptions. I woke up and said, "Medicine Shoppe, 893-7400" then passed out again.

The nurse also asked "Do you need a note to go back to work?" and I said, "No, not unless my kids want one." Who says I wasn't all with it? I was making jokes!

When we were leaving, I remember thinking, "How can they send me home in this drunken state? I'm not even awake yet!!" I was sitting in the wheelchair next to the van while Chris put my bags in. I asked, "Oh, did you remember my clothes?" (I had remembered that when I took them off they put them in a bag under my hospital bed.) Chris looked at me funny and I looked down and said, "Oh, I'm wearing them." Chris said the nurse was cracking up at that one. I asked Chris later how I got them on, and he told me I sat on the side of the bed and he helped me get dressed. I really don't remember that!!

Chris said we kept having the same conversations over and over again. I was trying so hard to wake up but I couldn't make myself do it. I don't like feeling that way! But it sure made for some funny stories!

Mommy and her mini-me

I always thought Aaron was my mini-me, and that Claire looked more like Daddy. That is, until I saw this cute little picture of Claire, and it reminded me of a picture of me at age 2, wearing a blue dress and holding my Strawberry Shortcake doll. I dug the picture out of a box, and couldn't believe the resemblance!



I found a few more of me that look like Claire looking back at me!

Age 3, I think


age 4


age 2, the full picture

My new lens!

Today I went to the post office to pick up a mystery package we had missed on Saturday. Chris acted like he didn't know what it could be...but that little sneak knew all along it was the new lens he had ordered me for my camera!! I've had my SLR for over a year now and this is my first lens to get! I'm so excited! Happy Mother's Day to me!

It's a 50 mm f/1.8. It's not a zoom lens, which took a little getting used to (I had to physically back away from my subject when I needed more of it in the frame).

Now for you lens and camera geeks: the reason I wanted this particular lens is that I needed one that would go to a lower aperture than my other one. This one goes down to 1.8. I think my standard lens only goes to 2.8, or maybe 3.2. I can't remember--all I know is that it wasn't low enough. A lower aperture means I can shoot in lower light situations more easily. Low aperture means you get that fuzzy background which is so great for shots of faces. If I have my aperture set really low, I can have my shutter speed higher and still get a good shot. On my old lens, I would set my aperture as low as it would go, then I would still have to drop my shutter speed wayyyyy low which meant my pictures were wayyyyy blurry! In the photography class I took last summer the instructor said shutter speeds below 30 really require a tripod, otherwise you get camera shake, and I was having to go down to 10 or 15 with my regular lens to get properly exposed shots indoors.

Outdoors my old lens works great, but I wanted a good lens for getting snapshots indoors, without having to use the flash (I hate flash!). I had told Chris I wanted this new lens before the baby arrived, so this is my early Mother's Day gift!!

And without further ado, here are some cute shots I took the first few minutes of playing with my lens...

One of Claire's "looks". Her eyes are so very expressive!


Converted to B&W because I liked the look! Plus Aaron had spaghettios sauce on his face and the B&W hides it!


Could have used a slightly lower shutter speed to let in a little more light, but I still like this shot. Looks really good in B&W!


Silly Claire!


I'm sooooo very happy and excited!!!

How am I doing?

"How are you doing?" is one of my most asked questions lately!

I am 35 1/2 weeks pregnant, and doing pretty well! When I had the flu a couple of weeks ago, I honestly thought I would not get back to normal before the baby came. I guess I really thought it was all over and I would just be on the couch for the next month and a half. But I have made a great comeback, and any ache or pain I have now is really no big deal in the grand scheme of things--I think because I remember being in SO MUCH PAIN two weeks ago! This has done wonders for my outlook and moods!

I think the baby turned in the last couple of days, so instead of sitting transverse like she has been most of the pregnancy, I think she is head down. This has given me some relief from the sciatic pain (although occasionally I have a shooting pain if I move the wrong way), but I do believe my SI joint is still popping in and out which causes back pain. (My sister-in-law is a PT and explained the difference in the SI joint and sciatic nerve to me!)

I do waddle when I walk, especially since the baby has turned! People who see me have started noticing that I look "ready" so I think that means I am almost ready! I will have my next appointment on Monday so hopefully we will schedule my c-section and maybe do an ultrasound to see how little Hannah is growing. I can hardly wait to meet her!

I have been nesting since I have felt better. Claire is almost completely moved into Aaron's room. We ordered bunk beds that will arrive early next week--the kids are so excited about that. Once Claire is out of her bed, I can turn it back into a crib and put the baby bedding in. Today I wandered through Target trying to think of baby things I had forgotten to buy--I got pacifiers (secretly hoping this one is a thumb sucker like Claire because a thumb is so much easier to keep up with--but I certainly don't want to be without pacis!) and breastmilk storage bags. What else can I be forgetting? My experience with two other babies reminds me that babies really don't need all that much...just lots of love!

I cleaned out Aaron's closet to make more room for Claire's stuff, and I have rearranged the toys in the kid's room. I have cleaned my closet to make room for some of the junk sitting around in my room so I have room for the baby's bassinet. I have piles of stuff to donate to Goodwill and for Chris to take to the attic. I have the baby clothes cleaned, car seat ready (but not in the van yet)...what else do I need to do??????

I am getting sooooo ready!!!

Pregnancy Update...It's a...

It's a GIRL! We think...yesterday at my ultrasound they said the baby is breech and it was hard to get a good shot of her, but the tech was 90% sure she sees girl parts! She was moving all around and being fiesty, so the tech recommended I get as much rest as possible before this little fireball arrives! That's promising...

And an update to the ever-asked question "How are you feeling?"...

Not so great. My sciatic nerve is causing me all kinds of problems. It hurts nearly every day...some days all day whether I take Tylenol and rest or not. My nose and gums bleed alot, I get frequent headaches, and I'm hungry all the time (and there is entirely too much candy in this house right now!). I could go on and on. My other pregnancies didn't seem to be this rough, at least not this early, so I guess I'm just getting older. (And I'm still in my 20's...until July at least!)

But I know the aches and pains are worth it...I am feeling the baby move alot--even Chris has felt her move--and I love that feeling. I try not to belly ache too much about the side effects, because I know there's nothing I can do...I'm PREGNANT! The only solution is to get the baby out, and let's face it...that won't happen for almost 5 months. So I'm going to do my best to enjoy these moments and relish how "easy" it is with only two children!

New Year's Goals

It seems some people are very anti-new-year's-resolution. I, on the other hand, happen to like new beginnings, even if they come in the form of a new calendar year. I got a new year-long devotional book for Christmas, called Voices of the Faithful by Beth Moore. In the January introduction Beth comments about how new beginnings are a blessing from the Lord, and reminds us that we get a new beginning with each new day, week, month AND year. That is refreshing to me, because a year is a long time to wait for a new beginning!

So in light of my new beginning, I have outlined some goals (or resolutions, if you like that word).

• Have a daily devotional time with the Lord. I have not been as consistent with this in the last year as I want to be, so my goal is to carve out this time consistently. I'm already enjoying my new devotional book, so I look forward to reading that everyday. I'd also like to develop a Scripture memory plan.


• Reduce clutter. It drives Chris crazy and causes strife in our relationship at times, so am going to try to do better about keeping things straight. I think part of this will be slowing down and staying home more, making our home more of a priority. I will be more at peace with a cleaner home!
  
• Make time to craft on a regular basis. While Chris was away on his hunting trip last week I organized my craft area and had a great time scrapbooking. My goal, which Chris seems to be in agreement with, is to have one night each week where I do a light dinner (like sandwiches or pizza), and after the kids are up from nap and I'm done working (around 4:00), I get out my craft stuff to work on that night. He has agreed to do baths and bedtime on those nights! I'm shooting for Thursday nights. Crafting is therapeutic for me, and I think making time for it on a regular basis will be a great escape for me! Plus maybe I won't be so behind on my scrapbooks and have so many projects I want to do that never get done.


• Manage my time better. The big thing here is reducing my computer time! I tend to get sucked away when I'm on the computer, but I need to limit my time and pay more attention to other things that need to be done...like reducing clutter or cleaning!
  
• Pay closer attention to the budget. We have one, but Chris does most of our finances, and I do most of the spending, so it's too easy for me to just go spend without giving much thought to how we're doing on the budget. I'm not an excessive spender, but I still want to be more careful with our finances!
  

I have some action points written down for how to accomplish some of these. Here's to a great year in 2009!

A scrambled post

I have so many things on my mind!

*I can hardly believe Christmas is 3 days away! Only 2 days until our first family gathering! I am so excited about the kids getting their gifts, and doing all the traditional things like reading the Christmas story by firelight (or maybe a fire on Christmas Eve would scare Santa?), going to the Christmas Eve service at church, warm cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. The anticipation is killing me!

*Tomorrow is my mom's birthday. I am so excited about her gift this year--I have bought the two of us tickets to see TransSiberian Orchestra tomorrow night!! She is excited--she cried when I first told her because she would have liked for Grandma to go. I hardly ever get to do stuff with just my mom, so I'm looking forward to this.

*The kids have yet to see Santa! I'm hoping we can make it to the Enchanted Forest tomorrow, and they can sit on Santa's lap. This is one thing that hasn't been a high priority this year.

*I was tallying the kids gifts last night, trying to figure out what will be wrapped, what will be from Santa vs. Mom/Dad, and I realized Claire's gift count is higher than Aaron's (because his gifts were more expensive). I may have to go find a $10 toy or something for Aaron to even it out a bit! (I think that sounds crazy, as he will get plenty of toys!! But I'm still thinking about it...)

*I also realized that Aaron thinks Santa is bringing him a big garbage truck for Christmas, but he is getting that gift from Chris's grandmother, and we won't do that gift exchange until Friday. I am really hoping he is not disappointed all day on Christmas when Santa doesn't deliver it!

*My dad is coming to visit Friday. I'm looking forward to it! He never stays long, but I'm hoping he'll stay through Saturday evening at least.

*One of my best friends from high school is getting married Saturday. I'm so excited for her, and can hardly wait to attend the wedding!

*I have so many things to cook this week! I'm determined to make some homemade cinnamon rolls, plus I have to make enchiladas for one gathering, veggie soup and salad for another gathering, and au gratin potatoes and strawberry salad for another gathering. It's a good thing I love cooking!!

The one with the lost ring...

Thursday night we had parmesan chicken. I have a great recipe which involves smearing the chicken with a mayo and parmesan cheese mixture. Claire was standing in her chair next to the counter with me, and when I was ready to begin the smearing, I took off my wedding rings and put them on the counter.

Once I was done with the chicken, I washed my hands, put the chicken in the oven, and started to unload the dishwasher. Claire was still at the counter, and I asked her to come down and help me with the silverware. As she was walking to the dishwasher, I heard her say, "I have a ring!" (She had been chattering the whole time I breaded the chicken but sometimes I tune her out so maybe she was talking about the ring before...but I didn't catch it.) I looked down and saw she had my wedding band on her finger! I quickly grabbed it away and looked for my engagement ring. She didn't have it, it wasn't on the counter, and all she would tell me is, "I dropped it." Oh. My. Goodness.

I went into panic mode and looked all over the floor around her chair at the counter. I glanced in the garbage can under the counter (which has a lid!), in the open craft bin somewhat close to her chair, in the mess of play food in the floor by her kitchen a few feet away. I didn't see the ring anywhere!

I got more intentional about my search, patting her down to see if it was in her clothes. Then I sent Claire to her room so I could concentrate on the search and try not to panic in front of her! I was on my belly on the floor with the flashlight looking under the refrigerator! Whew, what a mess was under there! I searched in the craft bin, in the junk cluttering the counter, in the dishwasher, in the play food. Nowhere!

Chris got home and I was a frenzied mess. I managed to get the green beans and noodles cooking, then Chris and I tackled the garbage. I got a clean bag and we removed items from the trash one by one, inspecting them for the glint of my missing diamonds! It was a nasty job, as there was some really gross stuff in the trash, but I knew it had to be done!

After we thoroughly washed our hands, Chris continued the search in places I had already looked, and I got dinner on the table, despite my shaking hands. I picked at my food, and once we called dinner done, Chris pulled out the refrigerator. I cleaned the floor underneath (another nasty job!) and the grate on the front. We found some missing toys and magnets, but no ring. As Chris cleared dinner from the table, I swept the dining room, hoping I would somehow sweep up my ring. No such luck. I cried and cried.

After dinner Chris played with the kids while I continued searching and cleaning, and crying. I went through the trash...again! I kept thinking, "Why didn't I put my rings in the container on the window sill like I always do? We'll never be able to afford a ring like that again, not to mention the sentimental value of the ring I've worn for nearly 8 years now." Sob sob sob...

Chris had the idea to ask the neighbor for a metal detector. We feared maybe Claire had swallowed the ring. She normally doesn't put stuff in her mouth, but a couple of days before Chris caught her with a (closed!) safety pin in her mouth. We didn't really think she could have swallowed the ring, but since it was nowhere to be found, we thought it was a possibility. The neighbor's friend down the street had a metal detector, and we brought it to the house to run over Claire. She thought it was quite hilarious, as did Aaron. We had to hold her off the floor, because apparently there is metal in the floor of our house that kept registering. The metal detector didn't beep at all over her whole body, so we gave the metal detector back and sent the kids to bed.

I went back to the kitchen, laid on my belly, searching all over. I decided to search the corners of the room again, and there, behind the china cabinet, clear across the room from the counter Claire had been at, my ring lay there on the floor. How it got that far across the room is anyone's guess, but I was beyond relieved to have found it. I bounded out the door to the neighbor's driveway, where they were still congregated outside working on a car, and showed them my sparkly, newly-found ring!

What a happy ending to a crazy night! These rings are not leaving my finger again for a very, very long time!!

Another art project - Hatcher

Last week we had a birthday party to attend for Aaron's friend Hatcher. I scrapbook with his mom and she had been intrigued by my recent hobby of writing names with doodles. I had the idea to do names on notecards as gifts, so I used her as my guinea pig! Hatcher loves trains so I drew his name with a train car on each letter. I was very pleased with the outcome!

I scanned the name in, then put the .jpg onto notecards. Then I did some "gift cards" by printing several of the names on white cardstock, which I cut into little cards for her to include with gifts.

This is so much fun! Shelly raved about her new stationery and thinks I need to sell it. I can't fathom many people wanting to buy this, and I'm not sure how I would do it, but we'll see!

So stinkin' tired...

Thank you for all the kinds words and congratulations you offered! I am about 5 1/2 weeks pregnant, due around the end of May, according to my calculations.

I feel fine, but I get really run down during the 7:00 hour every night. Ironically, it's the hour that demands so much of my energy--cleaning up dinner, playing with the kids, bathtime, getting ready for bed, reading books, and tucking in. Whew! I'm more exhausted just typing it out.

Tonight I felt like I was going to collapse trying to do it all! Thankfully Chris jumped in and helped me get them in bed. I guess I can't complain too much if my only pregnancy symptom is fatigue--I know so many other moms who've had it much worse!! For some reason I've been blessed with easy pregnancies...KNOCK ON WOOD!!

I have been wondering why my belly is already pooching out at this early stage. Granted, it wasn't flat to begin with...but it feels kinda swollen already. I don't know what the deal is. I am so not ready for maternity clothes. (Although, I did pick up a few nice items at the consignment sale in August, anticipating a future pregnancy!)

Looking forward to a good 34 1/2 more weeks!

Because you know you wanted to see...

You know you wanted to see my scrapbook titles I referred to Saturday night. Or maybe I just want to show you! I'm pretty excited about finding new ways to do titles.

This one was fun to do. I just took crayons and made the letters in blocks. So easy! I like the effect.


This one took me a few minutes--I was copying the "Neptune" lettering from one of the books I have. It was fun to embellish it once I was done. I did chalk around the edge for a faded look. Clear beads are scattered around the page and look like water droplets.


This puppets page is one of my favorite. I absolutely love the title! I followed the "Button" lettering in the LMNOP book, then embellished it.

Here's the whole page--I used pieces of yarn that I had actually used as the puppets' hair.

Finally, the journaling box needed a little something, so embellished it with more buttons! They're so easy to draw!


This was the first time I've worked on my scrapbooking in a while, and now I'm very motivated to do more.

Calling all scrapbooking friends--I sense a crop in the works!

The Big Cut

Today was the day! I lost about 10 lbs of extra weight! At least, I had hoped, but it turns out an 11-inch ponytail really only weighs a few ounces.

I was so excited to get to my hair appointment today. I couldn't stop smiling! My faithful hair stylist, Jennifer, who I've been using for years, had known this was coming and I think she was pretty excited too! She thought it was strange to just cut straight across the ponytail like she did!
Right after we cut the ponytail, I heard my phone playing "Hail State!" which meant Chris was calling or texting me. I saw the text "Got hair?" so Jennifer snapped a picture of me holding the ponytail with the camera on my phone and we sent it back to Chris. We were both pretty giddy about doing that for some reason!

Then we flipped through a hair magazine because I had NO idea what I wanted to do with my hair. All I knew was "short short short". Typically I do the angled cut where it's chin-length or longer in front and gradually shorter to the back. I wanted something different--where the front part is a little short too, so after a few pages we found something that looked good to me and she started snipping away!

I was so excited to see my new 'do taking shape. When I left the shop all the other stylists wanted to see the ponytail and check out my new cut. One older lady had to pick up her jaw off the floor when she saw the ponytail I was holding (she had not seen me walk in). On the way to pick up the kids I lost count of how many times I flipped down my visor mirror to check out my hair. I couldn't keep my hands out of it all afternoon!

So, I'll end the suspense--I know you want to see pictures! I'm not happy with my "after" shot so I'm going to have to style my hair tomorrow morning and try to get a better shot so you can really tell how cute the cut is!

BEFORE----


AFTER--with Jennifer beaming with pride! Yes, she has pink hair right now!


I think with a little styling product (wow, I'm going to use PRODUCT now!) it will have more body and won't look as flat as it does in this picture.

I can't wait to send the ponytail to Locks of Love! I think I'll do this again in a couple of years--it was very rewarding.

What a compliment!

Yesterday I was sitting with Grandma when her doctor came in. Earlier in the day I had put a collage of family photos on the wall, and one of them was this one:



The doctor picked it up, looked at me, pointed to Claire's picture, and said, "Who is this?"

"That's my baby girl," I said proudly.

"What? You don't look old enough to have children--I thought you were in high school or maybe heading back to college."

"I'm 29 years old!" I replied. "I have two children."

"Well, you definitely don't look your age!" he said.

Today when he came in and saw me on my laptop, he said with a wink, "Whatcha got there, your homework?"

Gotta love lookin' young!

Beautiful Locks

Right now my hair is insanely long! For lack of a better picture--here is a shot from Claire's party:


I am ready to cut it! I have been growing it out for Locks of Love, a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to disadvantaged children. My friend Allison used to (or maybe still does!) grow her hair out and cut it off over and over to donate. You need 10 inches to donate, and I thought I had a little over eight. It turns out the way I was trying to measure it on my own I must have not been holding the ruler right, because Chris measured for me Monday and I have 11-12 inches!! I am so excited! I haven't set a cut date yet, but it will soon, baby, soon! I'm so tired of finding my long hairs all over the place, and I'm tired of blow drying it. In fact, many days I skip the blow dry and just pull it back in a ponytail. What style I have, right?

I am looking forward to a short 'do. I'm also so excited to be helping a young child, possibly a cancer patient, have a beautiful head of hair! I'll be sure to post before and after pics!

Garage Sale Fun!

I know you're all dying to know how the garage sale went. It was fun, and quite successful!

We spent a few hours Thursday night getting it all organized. My garage was JAM PACKED with stuff. It was overwhelming and amazing to see all that stuff. And sad--whoda thunk we had so much stuff in our closets and attics?

Saturday morning we were in the garage by 5:45 getting everything out...and had customers by 6:30! The morning flew by and we had a great time, laughing at the funny things customers would buy. There was this one glass speckled-y looking fish that Christi joked she would pay someone $1 if they decided to buy it. She chickened out when someone actually wanted it pretty early in the day--but she couldn't help snickering when she took the lady's quarter! It was funny because the lady was pretty excited about it.

We had fun haggling with people--I told Christi, "Say we have it marked $5, and they offer $3. Even if $3 is okay, say -- 'How 'bout $4?' and they almost always take it!" It was fun to see that work!

Toward the end of the morning we started making sales pitches on some items we really didn't want to hang on to. One girl was buying my purple shoes that I wore in a wedding, so I pointed out the dress they matched and managed to get them to buy that one and two other dresses! One lady was looking at my Mardi Gras masks and feather boa, and I made sure she knew I bought those IN New Orleans, so they were "authentic". She just laughed! It's true though!

We finished at 11:30, just as it was starting to storm. We made over $550, divided between Christi, me, and three other family members. I came out of the deal with a whopping $65, but it's good considering I didn't really have all that much stuff in the sale (most of it was Christi's). Most of my stuff was marked $.50 or $1, with a fewer higher priced items thrown in there. I can find something fun to do with an extra $65, for sure!

A Random Brain Dump

I have been crazy busy lately and I have so many thoughts swirling in my head. I thought y'all out there in cyber-space might want to know what's going on in my life. Yeah, right...but humor me, okay?

***Aaron's been in swimming lessons this week! He's having a blast. I think he might have a small crush on his teacher, Casey. He gets so giddy when he sees her! He's learning to use his ice cream scoops (his hands), how to kick in the water, how to go under, jump off the side, front and back float, and more! I don't expect he'll be swimming on his own at the end of this class, but he's already way more comfortable with water in his face. I hope to get some pictures of him at his lessons next week.

***I am in the midst of preparing for a garage sale! My sister-in-law and I decided pretty last minute to do a garage sale at my house on Saturday. She is getting ready to list her house for sale and I just have alot of junk. I'm serious--ALOT of junk. I think I might actually sell my prom dresses in this garage sale. Seriously--from 1995-1997...I have all my dance dresses! Think I could get a quarter for them? I'm also thinking now might be a good time to throw out the shoeboxes full of notes I passed with my girlfriends in high school. Yeah...I'm a dork and somehow those have stayed with me all these years. Under an inch of dust I'm sure. I wonder if someone would pay a dime for my box of notes?

***Claire's birthday is Monday! She has decided on a Pinkalicious birthday party with family. I'm excited about her gift, because since I got the playhouse for free, I had money to spend to buy her some of her favorite books that we usually check out from the library over and over again. She's getting Pinkalicious, Rattletrap Car, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Pete's a Pizza, To Market To Market, and a couple of more I can't remember at the moment. She's going to love it!

***We are in the midst of redecorating Chris's grandmother's house. Since his grandfather passed away in November, she has been going through the grieving process. I think she is at the point of wanting everything to be new, so this house she's lived in for 50 years is getting a makeover! My sister-in-law and I are making the decorating decisions, and Mammaw is having so much fun. We picked out new colors for all the rooms (they used to all be white!), and the paint job is done. We've picked out new carpet and linoleum, the hardwood floors in one bedroom have been exposed and are being refinished, she's getting all new living room furniture, and more. It's crazy how much the house is changing and how great it looks already! We are so happy to help her out with this. It's alot of fun. But making all the decisions makes me realize how crazy hard it would be to build my own house. Picking out every little detail would drive me bonkers!


Okay, how's that for a brain dump?