About Me

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Welcome to my blog. I'm a Mississippi country girl transplanted to Grapevine, TX. I have been blessed with a great husband, and my kiddos, Aleck and Ella. When I'm not eating bon bons on the couch, I am my kid's room mom, PTA member, Sunday School teacher, taxi driver, amateur photographer and personal chef. When I'm not doing those things, I'm running a small jewelry business, 2nd Amendment Jewelry (www.2ndamendmentjewelry.com), that I started with my twin sister, Glenda. It's a crazy and busy life, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in this world. I am so thankful for all the blessings in my life!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Smugmug Photo Gallery

I will be uploading pictures to Smugmug photo gallery. If you want to see more pictures, just click on the link on the top left corner of my blog. As time permits, I will be adding more pictures. The great thing about Smugmug is that it allows family and friends to copy pictures from the website, so you can download any picture that you want to your own computer in high resolution. My Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0 software exports to Smugmug, and this will make it much easier to keep my photos uploaded. Hope you enjoy.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Where animals go when Noah's Arc is overcrowded

I frequently find toys in cabinets and drawers. It makes me smile to know that Aleck has "hidden" something. Of course, this time, it was obvious that Aleck had been there by the pots and pans scattered all over the kitchen floor. I guess he thought the arc was a little cramped and the piggy needed some breathing room.





Monday, September 22, 2008

"Not Me!" Monday

So, I am totally hooked on MckMama's blog. You can check it out at the link below. MckMama has started this "Not me! Monday" blog carnival, and this is the first edition of a brutally honest post.


I did not bake my husband a birthday cake and then eat the entire thing almost single-handedly because he went out of town for 4 days.

Even though I was under the weather yesterday, I did not sleep until 10:00 a.m., go back to bed again from 11:00 a.m. until 1:30 p.m., and then take an afternoon nap from 4:30 p.m. until 6:00 p.m., and then go back to bed at 10:00 p.m.

I did not sleep through breakfast and lunch, and have a large chocolate McDonald's milkshake for supper. Since I am fanatical about feeding AJ healthy food, I did not let Eryn give him McDonald's french fries and chocolate shake, which, by the way, AJ did not absolutely love.

I did not multitask by folding laundry while sitting indian style on the floor to allow AJ to nurse.

I did not talk about MckMama's blog so much last week that my husband did not ask, "How's Big Mac's finger doing? Did he have to have stitches?"

I did not give AJ sour milk and not realize it until I used the milk in his sippy cup that he did not drink for cream in my coffee.

I did not let AJ nurse while I was going potty just to keep him from rummaging through all the bathroom drawers.

I did not tear up when AJ opened the bathroom drawer looking for Eryn's toothbrush, only to realize that the drawer was empty because she moved out this weekend to live with a college roommate.

Nope, I definitely did not do any of these things last week.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

New Beginnings

Eryn, my 20 year-old stepdaughter, moved in with a college roommate today. I am so proud of the young woman she is becoming, and so blessed to say that Eryn is one of my best friends. I am SO going to miss having Eryn in the house. I love you, Sweetie.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Making Mud Pies

AJ and I met Dede, Presley and Brooke at the park today. The weather was beautiful and we planned on eating lunch at the pavilion. The park has a huge field nearby and we were letting the kids run a little ahead of us while we took pictures. Dede and I were talking while the kids were sitting in the grass playing, or at least we thought they were sitting in the grass. I should have known that something was up for AJ to sit anywhere. Those that have seen him lately know that he runs 90 miles an hour from sunup to sundown. Anyway, when Dede and I walked up to where the kids were sitting, we realized why they were so content to sit in the grass. They were actually sitting in a mud puddle. We let them play long enough to snap some cute pictures, and then stripped them and did our best to clean them off in the water fountain.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Tom's Birthday










Today is Tom's birthday. He had to leave for a business trip this morning, so we celebrated last night. I made one of his favorite meals, chicken and dumplings, and we had birthday cake. Eryn and AJ helped blow out the candles.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

The Strong-willed Child

Who teaches a toddler to go limp and wiggle when you are trying to pick them up to carry them from point A to point B, but they would rather stay at point A? Just wondering. As far as I know, AJ has never witnessed this display, but he has mastered this performance perfectly.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Wordless Wednesday





* Note from Eryn: Even though it IS Wordless Wednesday, I just wanted ya'll to know that I was not at all upset about sharing my breakfast with Aleck. I had only just woken up and I'm not exactly a morning person. But Aleck is WAY too cute to resist, isn't he?!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Mother's Day Out



AJ started Mother's Day Out today. Tom stayed home from work today to be with me. I thought I would cry and be sad, but I really was OK. I'm sure having Tom with me made leaving AJ much easier. Tom, on the other hand, didn't do as well as I did. Tom was so nervous this morning that when we got to the church, Tom realized that he didn't have any shoes on. He had planned on wearing his flip flops and I guess he thought he had already put them in the car. He had to turn around and run home. It was hilarious!



We had an orientation after we left AJ in his room. At one point, I looked at Tom and he had tears in his eyes. He said the sweetest thing. He said, "It gives me comfort to know that AJ is with you every day and I know he is taken care of, so this is a big deal for me." AJ's room has a one-way mirror so we could peek in on him before we left the church. He was doing fine, just whining intermittently. My friend Sami's daughter, Charli, is in Aleck class and that should make AJ's transition easier.


Tom and I had a wonderful day together. We drove out to Grapevine Lake to check out the marina. Tom wants to buy a sailboat. We had lunch at this adorable bakery in Grapevine. I don't think Tom and I have been to lunch alone since AJ was born, 17 months ago. It was wonderful!!! I even had time to squeeze in a nap.

When we picked AJ up, he started crying when he saw us. His teachers, Mrs. Kay and Mrs. Ginger, said he cried off and on during the day but overall he did good. He actually took a 1 hour 15 minute nap, which surprised me. Normally, AJ naps 2-3 hours, but I wasn't sure he would nap at all today. AJ is accustomed to sleeping in his crib, in a dark room, in silence. He must have been exhausted! As you can see in one of the pictures, they have several cribs built into the wall, which is where he slept. He was in such a good mood when we got home and he played by himself most of the remainder of the afternoon. After just spending 5 hours around different toddlers, AJ was making different vocalizations that he had never made. It is amazing how fast toddlers pick things up. He wasn't fussy, but I still put him to bed at 7:00, an hour earlier than normal since his nap was shorter than normal. He went to sleep without even a peep.

In the future, I plan to work during Mother's Day Out so I don't have to see patients in the afternoon after Tom gets home from work. It will be so awesome that the only thing I have to do in the afternoon is think about what is for supper. Yay Mother's Day Out!!!!