Monday, March 24, 2008

Easter additions to the family


Well Snickers (our momma cat) had 5 babies! She had 2 on Friday and then get this... the other 3 came yesterday afternoon (Easter)! You will only see 4 here in the photo as one of them didn't make it- but these four are really cute. I'm not a big cat person, but we do keep a couple outside (no indoor pets) to keep the snakes and such away. It actually does help because I've seen a couple snakes the cats have had for dinner- Ewww!!

Easter Day 2008

Easter morning- girls are excited & not quite awake :)
In their dresses before church.
Mommy with her angels :) (ps. mom I found the dress)
The annual home egg hunt is about to begin-check out Katelynn's face!
I think my oldest thought it was Florida and 110 degrees out-
Katelynn made a perfect dyed egg..

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Spring...ERRR.."Shoe" Cleaning!

I decided yesterday to start a little spring cleaning of my playroom and our shoes. I knew it would be a task to go through our shoes because well I just can't remember the last time it was done... so I enlisted the help of my middle child (Samantha) and she gladly said "Give me a challenge" :) Little did she know...

It started out pretty simple- only a few pair in this closet...



Then to the hanging shoe rack- it really did have a purpose....
then she looked at the "shoe box (aka..toy box-works great)" & said "this can't be that many"....
The sorting begins.... (sorry this one is blurry)
Oh my... Samantha come back!!! Looks like she's trying to crawl away..
Oh we forgot the laundry room.....
Well the final count.... 103 pair!!!!! in the play room only!!!!!!!!!!!! That doesn't count the laundry room, the closet photo and I just forgot I didn't check the girls bedroom closets- I know there are probably a total of about 15 more in those 2 closets!! YIKES! Shoes anyone??? :0)
HAPPY SPRING CLEANING!!

Monday, March 17, 2008

Fun in the Sun




Snickers (the one on the right) is VERY pregnant right now. She should have them any time- the cat beside her is her son from the previous litter.





Katelynn wants to be like big sister and play ball next year.
Just wanted to share some photos taken yesterday in the beautiful weather (It was about 75 and sunny!!). Everyone wanted to be outside and that's just what we did - enjoying some family time- pets included :)









Thursday, March 13, 2008

Love & Logic-

This is another post regarding the parenting class I was involved in today. It was titled "Love and Logic". I just want to give some quotes from the book and/or dvd that this comes from and you take what you want/need from it:
  • "Love allows children to grow through their mistakes. Logic allows them to live with the consequences of their choices."
  • 4 principles: 1) shared control- parents gain control by giving away the control they don't need. 2) shared thinking and decision making- parents provide opportunities for children to do the greatest amount of thinking and decision-making. 3) equal shares of consequences and empathy- an absence of parental anger causes a child to think and learn from his or her mistakes. 4) maintaining a child's self concept- improved self-concept leads to improved behavior and improved achievement.

Most of you know most of this and so do I, but it helps me to write it and read it to remember some basic principles.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Check out my Slide Show!



SNOW- yes we had snow- in March- in GEORGIA!! Hope you enjoy the slide. This was yesterday (3/8).

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Good Job Honey!!

To my honey, who probably won't read this, but I want to share good news. Bill has lost 20 lbs in 2 months! YEAH- I'm proud of him and I know he will loose more if he puts his mind to it. I can already tell he's lost it in his stomach and face.
I was down 2 more pounds this morning but my actual weigh in is tomorrow morning so I'll write again tomorrow night and let you know how I did. By my scales at home I've lost about 12 1/2 pounds. Instead of sitting on the couch watching tv tonight- I stood up and did stretches, jumping jacks and lunges while watching. It only lasted about 15 minutes, but it was better than sitting doing nothing. I also walked 1.2 miles today by myself which was a stretch because usually I need someone to motivate me to go with them, also this week my friend talked me into going to the gym with her and when it was time to go, she got called to work (sub) so she couldn't go- guess what i still went- in the POURING rain and storms I might add. I just feel better about these changes I've made this week and I needed to put it in writing. I hope everyone else is having a good week and if not then I hope this motivates you to get up and get moving. Stretch those muscles, play with the kids/grandkids, "walk" to the mailbox instead of drive, pick the farthest parking space outside the store etc, etc.. Goodnight.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Dating do's and don'ts

1. Do plan ahead... 2. Do stay close to home... 3. Do leave # for sitter... And in our case DON'T believe you'll actually get a real date out of it all!

Well if you read my last blog you remember that we were going on a "redneck date"... well plans change- on the way there I remind my wonderful hubby that we need to be home by at least 10:30 (we left at 4:45) because this is the time he told me to tell the sitter. When I told him this, he said "you know it's an hour to the race and by the time we get there and watch a little, we won't get to stay for the "main" race of the night".....( UGH!!!!) is how I am feeling at this point! So he says let's just go eat and see a movie (which we haven't seen a movie at the actual theater together in probably 12 years!). So ok, I'm kind of liking the "new" date plans as getting covered in dirt from the race track would not have been good for my new black suede shoes I chose to wear :) So we head to a seafood and steak restaurant that we have been told is really on the high dollar side but lucky me, I won a gift card there for $25.00 so this should cover at least half of it... I hope! So we get there, order our extremely expensive meal and just enjoy each other's company. Oh I forgot to mention that 5 minutes before the sitter arrived my middle child had thrown up! Yes I called the sitter and said that we would stay home because it's just not meant to be that we have a date (see previous blogs), but she said "no, it's not a problem, I'm sure she will be fine">>> little did she know. So anyway back to our food. I slipped off to the restroom at the end of the meal and when I returned my wonderful hubby (didn't I call him that already??- oh well it's pretty much true) had ordered desert- now if you have never tried "FRIED CHEESE CAKE with vanilla ice cream and caramel drizzled over the top"...OH MY-find it right now I promise you it's a must have!! I said, what's it going to cost us $8.00 per slice and he said no, only $6.00...so I was so relieved (NOT), but then he said well I ordered one for each of us....URGH!! But anyway I have to say that was the extremely BEST part of the evening!! So, we get to the movie theater, I tell Bill that I really need to call home before we sit down to this movie just to check on my little one and make sure she is no longer ill. He is reluctant to call, but says ok. Babysitter says "she's not hungry for dinner, but says she feels fine"... in my mind I know "I'm not hungry" means my stomach is just not right... so babysitter says - all ok, enjoy the movie. We buy the tickets, we stand in line for drink, get to front of line, order and "RING, RING"... it's my cell phone.. "Miss Tammy... Samantha just threw up and she wants her mommy".... so much for the movie, but at least I got my fried cheese cake and the $9.00 each we saved on the movie was much better spent paying the sitter for cleaning up the mess if you know what I mean!
Long story short (not really), It's just not meant to be that hubby and I have a "real date night"... don't get me wrong, we will try again....someday.... but it will be a while! Send me your date mishaps and comments, I'd love to hear them!