Away in the Manger

Just had to share....Jenna reading her Away in a Manger book to our dog Angel. Not sure if Angel is terribly interested, but it was so cute to watch!



Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I think we will finish decorating the gingerbread house and head to Grandma W's house. Tomorrow night is a Christmas Party at Alyssa's work and she was sweet enough to invite me. Awww.... Then it will be time for Santa's arrival!!

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas! Here's to a healthy and happy 2008!

The highlight of my day

We went to the library's Christmas program tonight. They had the local Boy's and Girl's Club Choir sing. They did a fantastic job. Afterwards, they read a story to all the children and then there was a visit from the man in red. It was so nice to see Jenna interact with Santa. She sat right on his lap and had a conversation with him.



So sweet and so grown! I hope this weekend we can get our holiday decorations up. It'll be here before you know it!

Odd thoughts for the day...

When I get old and have to/want to move to a retirement home, will the retirement homes have wi-fi? Will I be able to bring my laptop?

Odd thoughts, indeed.

One more post before Novemeber is over!

This month has just flown by. It's hard to believe that tomorrow is December 1st. I'd better get busy with all the Christmas festivities or it will be Christmas and I won't have anything ready!

I do have one Christmas decoration out. My sweetie pie daughter Alyssa brought home a poinsettia for me. She is in a horticulture class this semester and they are making these in class. She put this one together all by herself and made the bow too!



In other big news, I am an auntie once again! My sister had her baby earlier this week. She is so precious! I got to hold her for a bit the other night...I could have held her all night long! I can't wait until I get to baby-sit her.

Jenna is pretty much over her cold/asthmatic issues. It gets her every year. I hope that this is something she'll grow out of.

And in other big news, my hard-working hubby finally found the TV of his dreams. He has been oggling these big flat panel tv's for quite some time now. On Black Friday, he saw the TV he wanted at a price he couldn't pass up. He wrangled a truck from the neighbors and before too long, the new TV was up in the new room. With the help of one of Alyssa's strong friends, we squeezed our couch up in the new room so he has something to sit on while he watches TV. I haven't seen my husband since!! No, no, no....just kidding! But if I ever start missing him, I know where to look first!

Happy last day of November!

Oh Happy Day!

Lots of good things happening over at our house. It's hard to say which is best, because they are all good.

The part finally came in for our dishwasher and now it is all fixed! My handwashing days have dwindled to an end. A big lesson learned there...no more chopsticks in the dishwasher!

The landscaper came yesterday. What a big difference! I had let one of my beds go. It really needed to be cleaned out. He cleaned it out plus planted the hydrangea that I had in a pot. He cut back the other one. Hopefully they'll both do well over the winter.



Right around the corner on the side of my house it this bush. Not sure what it is...camelia maybe? It is always pretty in the fall.


He cleaned out my other area where my rose bush is. I got some 'dead' mums last year and planted them. They are blooming this year.



He also replaced my two dead leyland cyprus trees, cut back the lantana and butterfly bushes, and added pinestraw to the existing bed. Getting those dead trees out of the back yard is a big improvement in itself. My favorite part of the job is the walkway around the pool deck. I had started this 2 summers ago with the plan of finishing it, but never did. He finished it up yesterday for me.



This took him about a day to complete...that includes going to pick up all the materials. It probably would have taken me a weekend if not two to get it done. Sometimes it is just worth it to hire the job out. The older I get the more I am coming to realize that. It's a done deal and all I have to do it go out and enjoy it!

Jenna learned a new trick while playing outside. Maybe not a new trick but she got the courage to try this. Jenna is definitely not a daredevil so this was a big deal to her...and me too :) Swinging on the wrong side of the swing like a monkey. LOL!



Have a wonderful weekend!

Frankie Hankie Nakey

Introducing the newest member of our family...Frankie Hankie Nakey.



I thought Jenna would like a fish so while we were out shopping, we stopped at PetSmart and picked up this betta. Then we had the task of naming him. I suggested Frankie the fish. Jenna liked that named, but as I was soon informed, he had to have three names...just like us. So he soon became Frankie Hankie Nakey. Now we have three dogs and one fish. Out of all the pets we have, I do believe that Frankie is the best. He's very quiet, not very needy at all, and doesn't chew on things he's not supposed to. I think he has moved right into the number one spot.

This past weekend, Jenna and I went to a Redneck get together. We had a blast...lots of kids for Jenna to play with so that was perfect for her. They had a pond, ducks, a big ol' sand pile, and a tire swing...all the kids were very happy! We cooked out on the grill and played a Hi Tech Redneck game around the campfire...great fun. One of my friends set up his 'wireless caching mobile' in the front yard. On the trailer he has a power generator and a satellite dish. Too funny!



The landscaper is coming on Friday..yay! I'm going to get some things done around the yard that have needed to get done for some time...new leyland cypruses to replace the ones that died, walkway around the pool deck, new corkscrew willow, cleaning out some flower beds, bringing in mulch, and cutting back bushes. I could do it myself, but I think I would pay a bigger price in back pain. Why risk it? Plus the thought of someone else doing it while I sit back and watch is sounding pretty good to me.

Until next time.....

Boo to You!

We had a fun time trick or treating tonight. Since the time hadn't changed yet, it was still daylight when we headed out. We got to see a lot of cool and somewhat scary Halloween decorations. I love this photo of Jenna...too funny. Dh got into the Halloween spirit too and wore his Eeyore costume.


I don't know how many times kids and parents too would holler out "Eeyore!" He got the most comments and even took time out to talk to a few children who were extra interested in seeing him. What a great guy!


We only had a couple of trick or treaters. I was going to give out snack bags to anyone who showed up. I am so proud of Jenna. She was ready for people to come trick or treat at our house and offered up her prize candy. I think she would have lots of fun handing out candy too. Maybe next year we will have more kids come by.

Alyssa is off at a haunted trail tonight. I bet she is having a fun time!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Halloween!!

A nice surprise!

This past weekend, Jenna and I went to a Halloween carnival. It was a lot of fun (although crowded!). One of the things there was to guess the candy in the jar. I got a call today saying that Jenna had won!! She had guessed 102 and there was 114. That's a pretty good guess. You should have seen her face when they handed her the whole jar of candy!




I've been getting ready for a scrapbook weekend next month. I think this is the 4th year that I've gone away to SDV (Scrapper's Dream Vacation). This year, we are headed to Myrtle Beach - woohoo! I'm so proud of myself...I've got lots of things organized and sorted, already to scrap. I hope to get a lot accomplished that weekend. This past year, I've been a little bit slack about keeping up with all the photos. This will be a good time to catch back up.

A big shout out to my parents! Tomorrow is their 36th anniversary! Happy Anniversary to you both!

A Busy Friday

Friday was a busy day for us. Alyssa had spirit day at school. It is homecoming weekend and everyone dressed up to show their school spirit...some more than others.

Here is Alyssa with her friend Jaye:



That night, Alyssa and some friends went to the game where I think her team won. I think Alyssa was there mostly to hang out with her friends and not necessarily watch the game. She had a good time and that is what matters.

Jenna and I went on a field trip with her class to Mike's farm. It's such a wonderful place. We went on a hay ride to the pumpkin patch, had homemade apple cider, watched a cowboy show, saw some animals, and enjoyed a picnic lunch. Lots of fun!



Note: For safety reasons, I've distorted Jenna's shirt. It doesn't really look like that.

Today we'll be enjoying a quiet Sunday around the house. I've been feeling the scrapping bug lately, so I may head into the scrap room. Here's one that I finished up last night. It was a class that I took in Charlotte in August...just now finishing it up and adding the photo.



Happy Sunday!

A treat for the working girl!

I've been working for almost 2 months now and the prospect of this job continuing for some time is looking pretty good. When I saw it on sale at Staples, I decided to go ahead and treat myself. I bought a HP Photosmart 7280 All-in-1 printer, fax, scanner, and copier. Woohoo! It's got several bells and whistles that I love already. The first draw...it is wireless! There isn't a clunky cord that is connected to my computer. I could put it in the bathroom and that bad boy would still print. How cool is that? The second...it has a 4x6 photo printer tray so I can print photos when I get ready. Matter of fact, I don't even have to have my computer on to print photos because it has its own card slots. Too cool! I didn't think this was a big deal before, but I have to say that I printed up a 4x6 and popped it in a frame in less than 2 minutes...and that includes time to find the file on my computer! Way cool to me! The icing on the cake...I now have more sapce on my desk since the I will no longer need a spot for my printer and scanner. Yay!!

Here's a pic of my new toy...



A BIG THANK YOU to my 'technologically superior' dh for installing this for me :D

We are all chugging along over here. Jenna participated in her walkathon on Friday. She walked 18 laps - yippee! I am very proud of her for her effort. Alyssa is getting ready to go to Homecoming this coming up weekend. The search for the perfect dress continues. **sigh** Kenneth is super busy at work but has started smiling a little bit more as December approaches. He is going to Orlando, Florida for a business trip around the second week of December and plans to use up his vacation to take the rest of the month off. That is enough to bring a smile to anyone's face...even mine as I'm sure a small honeydew list will somehow develop :) I'm doing well too...still enjoying my Starbucks, plus feeling more balanced between work and home life. I think we are all enjoying the cooler fall weather. If only we'd get a little rain...

Hope everyone has a beautiful week!

Take the time...

This is definitely worth 7 minutes of your life...absolutely amazing! Fantastically creative...and such a powerful reminder.

The BUCK stops here, baby!

I've never been a coffee drinker, but there is something about Starbucks that draws me in. I love their shops; I love the smell of their shops, the quaintness, the little wrappers they put around the drinks, I just don't like to drink coffee. Alyssa & K both like to drink the frappucinos. Alyssa's favorite is vanilla and K's is mocha. I was fine with buying Starbucks for them every once in a while...until I made the mistake of actually tasting one for myself.

Let me just say...I get it. I get why everyone thinks they are so good...IT'S BECAUSE THEY ARE!! They are creamy, smooth, caffeinated, and oh so good. How can one resist? And when they come in the cutie-patootie milk bottles and little carriers - well it is a done deal.



I'm on board with the rest of the Starbucks drinkers. We'll all have a Bucks Buzz together. Cheers!

And the winner is...

Some friends and I were discussing peanut butter. Peter Pan is now back on the shelves and they have an advertising campaign to get things back to normal. I'm concerned about buying it again, even though it was our favorite before all the recalls. We've been eating Skippy over here, and we've really liked it. So in the discussion, one of the ladies brings up 'natural' peanut butter. This is a whole new concept for me.

At Food Lion yesterday, I look at all the selections of natural peanut butter. I have to admit that the oil sitting on top is a little...okay a lot...nasty looking. I've learned since that it is the natural oil from the peanuts and not any type of synthetic oil....you probably know the type I'm thinking of, the same type of oil you get when you melt generic cheese. Nope, I won't buy that either.

But back to the peanut butter....I ended up buying Skippy's Natural PB, but the kind you don't have to stir. We had some other Skippy's left over and decided to put it to the test...I know that the natural is better health wise, but which one actually tastes better?



Enter in the tast tester...aka my dear ol' hubby. For those of you who know how picky his is over his banana pudding (how could I resist saying that??), he is equally as picky over his peanut butter.

So I put him to the test, no sniffing just tasting...although they both smell pretty yummy to me. The results....both peanut butters taste very similar, both very yummy. However, the NATURAL is just more pleasing to the palate. It is creamier and smoother, and would be better to spread on bread. From now on, we'll be a natural peanut butter kind of family.

Well, back to work...Have a great day all!

No Water Required

I'm feeling a bit 'fallish' and decided to bring out some of my fall decorations. I put the wreath on my door and added my scarecrow flag. I wanted to put some fall colored flowers in the yard, but with no signs of the drought ending, I'd really have to be careful and water them often. Instead of putting some poor, unsuspecting flowers through a long miserable, wilting death, I decided to do the next best thing...faux flowers! So off to Michael's I went. I think I spent less on them than I would for real flowers. And if I don't have to water them..well, that is all the better! Here is my old wheelbarrow. I had some really pretty summer flowers in it, but they didn't survive the heat and lack of water (see flowers on the ground). I split up my lilies this spring which are the green sprigs that you see. I am hoping that within a couple years time, they will start to multiply and be really pretty ground cover around the bird feeders and pine trees.



I hope to get into my other fall decorations and put them out tomorrow. Happy Fall, Y'all!

Creepy Crawlies

Something has been very busy in our neighborhood...actually from the looks of it, a lot of somethings have been very busy. This morning the dew is clinging to all these spider webs in the yard. After looking around, I've noticed it's not just my yard, but my neighbors' yard too.

Click on the photo for a better view.



These webs are so intricately done. Very interesting to look at. They remind me of the book/movie "Charlotte's Web". Just another sign that fall is here.

More later...but for now, I have to get back to work.

Welcome to Moe's!

I had the most fabulous day today. A bunch of local scrappers met at Archiver's in Raleigh for some shopping and lunch. As if that wasn't enough...one of the scrappers is a friend from England. She and her husband flew in to Raleigh/Durham for a week's vacation on the coast of NC. I was so thrilled to meet her. Such a wonderful couple. It was awesome to finally meet her IRL since we've been online friends a few years. The accent is absolutely delightful...I could listen for hours! I got to see other scrappy friends that I haven't seen for a while...just a marvelous time.

Here's our group at Archiver's...I'm sure Archiver's racked up this morning!



Jennifer (sacjlc), Janet (scrappychic), me, Jenn (jru10474), Rosemary, Carla (NCKelly) and Nicole is the one sitting.

For lunch, we went to Moe's Southwest Grill. Yummy!! I'd never been there before but I have heard their commercials on the radio. I got the John Coctostan plate...well, I'll let you figure out why this one had me cracking up. It was yummy & I'd get it again. Maybe I can talk K into a trip there. Here's the group eating at Moe's. Janet had to leave early but added to our group is Rosemary's hubby, Chris.



In other news...my dishwasher has gone kerplunk...er, is that kersplash? It's not washing dishes. It acts like it wants to but it just isn't getting any water. So, it is back to basics. It's been so long since I've washed dishes in the sink. And in honor of that momentous occasion...a picture of my sink...tada!



The first load of dishes was fun...a little reminiscent. I can remember washing dishes with my Grandma. She would wash and I would rinse...lots of good memories there. Well, the third sink full of dishes (remember my dishwasher was FULL of dirty dishes when it broke), well, to put it lightly, was not so fun. I have to call the Maytag man to come fix it and hopefully soon. Another you don't know what you got until it's gone story **sigh**

I'm hoping to have a little R&R this weekend. Hope everyone has a great weekend too!

50 is Fabulous

Happy Birthday to me...

Wow! What a great birthday! I had such a happy day...thanks to everyone who sent cards, called, posted messages, sent emails...it all just made for a wonderful birthday. I feel really special and really loved! Thirty five is going to be a great year - I can just feel it!

We all had a great laugh today when Alyssa gave me her present. She failed to read the whole bag; she only read the 'fabulous' part. I saw the bag, gasped, and then busted out laughing. Even though her mom is fabulous, she is very far from 50 ;) I told her she could save that and in 15 more years she could use the bag again. Too funny!




And a little present from Mother Nature...

K had tossed out an old piece of watermelon thinking that the birds would enjoy it. I went out this morning and there were two beautiful butterflies drinking up the sugar water. Unfortunately I got too close and one flew away. But I did get this pic of the one that stayed.



Thanks everyone for a great day!

Raleigh Red Wolf Ramble

Today I spent a half of a day geocaching. Some of my favorite geocaches involve 'WOLVES'. A couple of years ago, the City of Raleigh Arts Commission sponsored the most successful temporary public art festival Raleigh has ever seen, the Raleigh Red Wolf Ramble! The exhibit closed in April 2002 but some of the wolves are still around the city. There is a geocacher who has put out at least 25 caches that lead you to these spectacular wolves. Today, we went to find "El Lobo Latino". What a really neat wolf. The pic is not that good of me, but I wanted to share it because of the wolf.



The wolf is located at WRAL's TV station. Outside is this really neat piece of art.



I had to cut the day short so I could get home in time for the kids getting out of school. I love it when I get to see neat stuff like that. I wouldn't have seen it without my GPS.

Off to put Jenna to bed and then to do some work.

Hey There Delilah

Another song that just speaks to me...so very soulful, and sadly romantic. I never heard of this song until my friend Tracy pointed it out, and now I can't get it out of my head! Thanks Tracy! **wink, wink**



I had PTA training on Saturday. Wow...learned lots. I would have never thought that there was so much to learn. I am treasurer this year. We have plans to buy playground equipment for the school. We've got about half of the money raised and hope to raise the other half before Christmas. I **wish** the school district would fund playground equipment, but I think their budgets are strained also.

My birthday is coming up soon. Not only do I get to get a new driver's license, I have to add another number on to the year. I thank God that I made it this far, but how come I had to get here so quickly?

It's 9am...better get to work! HAGD!

Blessings in Disguise

I've been having a bit of trouble with my driver's side front tire. It has had a slow leak for a couple months. About every third day, I (and when I say I, I really mean K) would have to add some air to it. Sometimes I would add it, and it was a pain. The only up is that we have a small air compressor in the garage so at least it was convenient. When I went to get the oil changed, I told the Toyota service people about the leak and asked them to fix it. I assumed it was a nail or something. They could not find the leak, and I have to admit that I was a bit irritated. Aren't they trained to do things like this? This only meant more days of adding air to the tire.

Fast forward to today...I had enough of it and since I have a couple long trips planned, I wanted to make sure my tire was fixed. I took it to Firestone (where I bought the tires)and asked them to look at it. I told them of my problem and my run around with the Toyota people. The guy pulled up my account, and asked why I would take it to Toyota because they would fix it for FREE, and I like **free**. Apparently I had paid a nominal fee for some sort of Road Hazard insurance on the tires that covers if they have a leak. Yahoo! After inspecting the tire, they see that I have a small hole in the sidewall. I don't know what that means, but I guess it isn't good. They gave me a whole new tire for **free**! All I had to pay was the small fee for the hazard insurance again. After getting the tire for free, the fee was well worth it.

I didn't get what I wanted from the Toyota place, but in the long run, I got something much better from Firestone. I guess that can be applied to many things in life. Just my little blessing in disguise for the day.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I should be working...

I played a little hooky today. The adult in me should have stayed home and worked. The kid in me just wanted the day off. So today I went caching. My cache buddy had a doctor's appointment, so I took Angel with me. She gets so excited when she gets to go. She found her first cache all by herself today. We were in a wooded area. I was poking around in one area and when I turned to see what she was doing, she was sniffing at the cache. Way to go, Angel!! When I told K about this, he said that someone must have just eaten a cheeseburger before finding the cache so a cheeseburger smell would be on it LOL! You know, I wouldn't be surprised! I treated Angel with a cheeseburger for lunch for all her hard work. We found twenty all together...a really fun day.

After supper tonight, I should have done some work but I just didn't have it in me then either. I decided that I would straighten up my scrapbook table. Next thing you know, I'm putting together a layout! I've had this idea in mind for a bit, just needed to put it into action. Gotta love my goofy family :D



I won't be able to play hooky tomorrow. I guess I should do some work. **wink, wink**

The last hoorah...or almost the last

We headed down to the beach today for some fun. School started last Monday so it will probably be one of the last times we get to enjoy the water and sand. My parents, my sister and Zach, plus Jenna and I went for the afternoon. Jenna loves playing with Zach...or maybe I should say Jenna loves looking after Zach. Sometimes I see her with Zach and I think she really needs a little brother. That feeling only lasts until the next 'meltdown' and usually that isn't long. Then I realize that two is plenty. But you can't deny how cute they are together.


We had a fun time at the beach. We had brought some fried chicken for a picnic lunch. Afterwards, we did some swimming and the kids played in the sand. I was surprised how brave Jenna got towards the end of the day. She has been skittish with the waves but at the end, she went in right by herself. I was close by..camera in hand!



Back to the grind tomorrow...don't get to say that often! Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend!

My Wish For You

I heard this song today and just love it. I don't think it is a new song, but it's just the first time I've heard it.



Most of the time, I'm an 80's & 90's kind of gal, but today I was feeling a little bit country. I'm so glad that I did because I heard this song. Can you see a scrapbook page coming from the lyrics of this song?

Tomorrow we are headed to the beach for the day. I'm looking for a little relaxation. We'd better enjoy it while we can. I can tell that fall is approaching. The mornings and evenings seem a little cooler, which is very refreshing with all the heat we've had. Some of the leaves are starting to fall of of my corkscrew willow. It won't be long...fall is just around the corner. I have to admit that I'm a little bit anxious for some fall weather.

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their Labor Day weekend!

And they're off!

Today both of my kids headed back to school. Part of me was happy to have some free time back to myself but another part of me was already missing them. And to be honest, there is a big part of me that is dreading the alarm clock that will be waking me and the roosters up. I've never been much of an early morning person and unfortunately, both of my girls have taken after me on that. We were all up early this morning and ready a head of time. I was really surprised that Alyssa went to school more casual. Usually she is one to want to dress up for these types of occasions. Jenna wore her new jean skirt and a top. I was able to snap a couple pics of them before they left. They were so unbelievably sweet for so early in the morning. Alyssa is just thrilled that she no longer has to ride the bus to/from school. I can't blame her for that. I remember how glad I was to get off the school bus. Jenna was a little nervous for her first day, but she did great. She has the same first grade teacher that Alyssa had. I feel much more comfortable that I know the teacher. There are a few kids from her kindergarten class in her first grade class so that helps a bunch too.
While the girls are at school, I'll be focusing on my job. That still sounds pretty strange. I'm already spending the money in my head and I haven't even earned it yet! LOL!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Has it been 5 days?

We've had a little bit of car drama in our house this past week with K's car. It caused us to do a little bit of car shopping thinking that he would get another car to do his commute in. So far, the issue with his car has worked itself out and hopefully, it will continue to run fine. In our car shopping we found a gem of a car...a little white Honda Civic in excellent shape. When K decided to keep his car, we decided to offer it to Alyssa. There was a catch though...she has to help pay for her 'upgrade' in the Honda world. In the end, she decided that she wanted the car so she is now the proud driver of a 2000 Honda Civic. I think she will really enjoy her new ride!



My job is going really well. I'm learning more about fuel operations than I ever thought I would. I'm sure there is more to learn, but so far I am understanding it **well, for the most part**.

I had something really neat happen to me this week. A friend from high school contacted me through classmates.com. Talk about a big surprise but it **totally** made my week! It's hard to believe that it's been almost 20 years. A big SHOUT OUT to my friend Lee from ND! WOOHOO!!

I'm supposed to be working but got a little side tracked on my blog. It's been 5 days since I posted so I wanted to update. Have a great weekend everyone! It's our last weekend before school starts. We're hoping to make it a good one!

Even Hershey knows it!

This was on one of my Hershey kisses. Word spreads around fast! I guess I do ROCK!

Milk & Cookies...life is good!

Jenna had a friend stay over tonight. Some of you may recognize that cutie as Jenn's dd. It's amazing how much they have grown up. It seems like yesterday when we were going to playgroup together and then having lunch at McD's. **sigh** They had a great time playing. They swam until dark and then came in to play Barbies. It's so neat to listen to them have real 'conversations'. I had Alyssa run to the store for some chocolate chip cookies and we baked them together. Don't think I'm getting all happy homemaker on you again...I had Alyssa get the pull apart kind. Separate, bake, and eat! The girls thought this was great. So for their bedtime snack, we had milk and cookies. I forgot how good it is to dip a fresh cookie in milk. Yum, yum! Have I got anyone wanting chocolate chip cookies yet?

My hubby was Mr. MachoMan this weekend. He spent the majority of the weekend putting up sheetrock in our new room. He had to redo some of the electrical boxes too. It sure is coming a long nicely. He found a really neat tool to help make the cut outs for the wall sockets so much easier. I think he ended up with 6 sheets put up. That is a total of 12 sheets that we've put up in there. We have 4 more to put up and then we'll be ready for the next delivery of sheetrock. I'm not sure how many more we'll need. I'm guess 12 more for walls and then we'll have to do the ceiling. That'll be tough! I'll take some pics soon.

Hope everyone has a great Monday!

Why does being a good parent make me feel bad?

For the most part, I had a good day with Jenna. She had instigated an episode with Alyssa in which a hanger was thrown by Jenna at Alyssa. When Alyssa tries to defend herself, Jenna threatens to come tell. I know that is not the whole story when Jenna tells since Alyssa is 16, and well...she doesn't throw hangers or hit Jenna out of anger, even though if someone threw a hanger at me, I might be highly inclined to retaliate. After wading through all that and talking to Jenna about it, we went on with our day..having lunch with friends, renting a movie, and hanging out at home. We grabbed a bite to eat for supper and went shopping at Big Lots.

I guess I should mention saying that we've had a hard time with Jenna being whiny and having a sassy attitude. It's been going on for quite some time and we aren't having much luck in breaking that bad habit.

So tonight, at the register, she wanted candy and since she had behaved well in the store, I said yes. Right as I was paying the cashier, I said something to Jenna. The sassy and the whiny just popped right out of her. I was quite embarassed and irritated at the way my child has just talked to me. So quite calmly, I handed the candy to the cashier and said, "Have a treat on me" since I had already paid for it. Then I took Jenna's hand and out the store we went.

I can honestly say that I think I got her attention with leaving her candy at the store. I explained to her that I wasn't going to buy her candy if she was talking like that, etc, etc. She cried all the way home and honestly, I felt miserable. This is not the first disciplinary action for this behavior, but I think it was the roughest. It would have been so much easier to just give her the candy, but I just can't have her continue on like this, kwim? I sure hope this will help her learn the lesson.

I got a job!

Big news around here...I got a job! I am very excited, not only about having a job, but about having a paycheck! That is always the biggest draw to having a job. Another perk...I get to WORK AT HOME! How cool is that? I am working on a project that will ultimately be for CHEVRON. How cool is that?



The guy that I'm working for is very cool, extremely laid back, and is very worker friendly. I have to put in 40 hours a week, but I can make my own schedule. I could work 10 hours a day for 4 days, split it up, whatever I want to do as long as it is 40. With the kids going back to school in a week, I think this will be a perfect arrangement. A big THANK YOU to my sister for the hook up!

The kids will be back in school soon. Hard to believe that we'll be back to the grind once again. Getting up early will be such a shock to everyone...including me. I've been enjoying my 9am wake ups. We've been buying some school clothes and supplies in preparation for the big day. Alyssa will be a Junior and Jenna will be in 1st grade. Time sure does fly!

Hope everyone is staying cool...another 100 deg day here!

The Tooth Fairy is coming tonight!

After weeks and weeks of wanting the "wiggly" to come out, Jenna finally pulled it out! She was over at the neighbor's and came home with her tooth in the bag. Yeehaw! I'm so glad it is finally out. Now to get the next one out...it's been wiggly for a while too. Her adult teeth have already started coming in behind those so no snaggletooth smile for us. It was kind of hard to get a pic of her 'missing tooth'. I'm proud of her for finally pulling it all by herself!

Jenna and I went geocaching today. We saw this really neat lighthouse out in the middle of no where. I'm not quite sure what the story is on it, but it was neat to see.



We stopped by a John Deere museum. Lots of old tractors around there. I saw this old gas pump. Gas was 39 cents a gallon! I would have loved to filled up there!



We had a nice day today, but it was just too hot to stay out for long. I'm ready for some cooler weather...heck, even 85 would do nicely!

Betcha didn't know....

7 things you might not know about me...

I've been tagged and have spent a couple days thinking about this. I'm not sure if any of this is actually blog-worthy, but here goes..

1. Every night before I go to bed, I pop my back. Just a little twist and it pops. When I was having back trouble, my back wouldn't pop & it was very annoying. I'm happy to say that everything is back to normal now :)

2. Most of the time, when I eat pizza, I eat the toppings first, then the cheese, and then the crust.

3. It doesn't take much to get me to cry while watching a movie.

4. Speaking of movies, if a theater has two doors, I will always pick the second door. Usually everyone else picks the first door, so I always head for the second.

5. I am an ex-military brat and have lived a variety of places...Michigan, NC, SC, ND, GA, and Guam.

6. Even though I have tried to get published in sb magazines, the only thing I've gotten published was a photo in the local paper. I was taking a photography class and took a pic of a local landmark. The next week, it burnt down. It's very possible that my photo is the last ever that was taken of it. I sent it to the local paper and it was published on the front page!

7. Some of my local friends will know this but maybe my online friends won't....I have BIG feet. Not only do I wear a size 10, I have wide feet too. It is hard to find socks & shoes that are comfortable. I would love to be able to walk into any store & find lots of nice shoes my size.

When I finished writing this, I realized that I had done a layout about this a few years ago. Here is the layout I did...lots of other tidbits about me :)




I hope no one has fallen a sleep reading this! I'm off to tag a few other people!!

A Frosty Layout for a Hot Summer Day...

I worked on this layout last night. After all the heat we've had, a day with some snow would feel so good! The poem came from a swap that I participated in. I added some diamond glaze to the snowflake on the poem to give it some dimension and shine. I really like the simpleness of this layout...seems kind of peaceful...just like a snowy winter day.

I just checked our weather. To say it is hot is an understatement. I'm not sure if I've ever seen a heat index of 127 around here!! I do hope it is a misprint, but after stepping outside for a bit, I bet it is not.

Champion of the Week

Photo: MaryBeth, Alyssa, and Ashley at football practice

Alyssa has been working at Taco Bell for several weeks now. I've been really impressed with how well she is doing at her job and how well she is learning to manage her time. A few weeks ago, she was recognized at work for a job well done and given the title of "Service Champion". Yay Alyssa!! As a reward, she was given free meals the whole week. Just a few minutes ago, she called me to tell me that she has been recognized as "Champion of the Week"! Wow! That is awesome! I'm so proud of my baby!

School starts in a few weeks. I'm not sure if either one of my kids is ready to go back. Alyssa will be a junior and Jenna will be in first grade. We've already picked up some of their school supplies. I am going to get them both a new outfit for the first day of school. I'm sure they both will need new shoes too. I'll miss them when they go back but I will enjoy a little bit more quiet time :)

Hope everyone is staying cool on this scorcher of a day!

Heat Wave in the Carolinas!

I just took a look at the weather. It sure is going to be hot around here for the next little bit.



Jenna and I went to Target yesterday and there was a small rain shower while we were inside shopping. When we came out, you could see steam coming up off the parking lot surface. I guess the pavement was just so hot that the water was evaporating off very quickly. It was really an odd effect.

Stay cool everyone!

Better look quick...

I got a very useful book called Organization Tips for Scrapbookers at CKC and started reading through it the other night. I became very ~inspired~ to organize my scrapping space. I spent many hours yesterday going through my scrap area...organizing, cleaning, purging **gasp**, just making it a happier space. I am so pleased with the results **see above** I did such a great job with the reorganization that I have a complete 12X12 drawer that is EMPTY! How cool is that?

One of the biggest things I did yesterday is organize my acrylic stamps. There were all tossed into a drawer and each time I wanted to use them, I would have to dig through to get it. My hubby had a bunch of cd cases in the garage (long story) so I decided to help myself (Thanks K!) to about 2 dozen of them. I put all my acrylic stamps in side the cd cases and labeled them. This is going to make finding my stamps so much easier. It takes up a lot less room too. I think I am going to love that system.



I also took all my embellishments that were in a notebook style organizer and organized them by color. No more flipping through the whole book to see if I can find something I like. Now at least I have a good starting point for finding an embellishment. Yay!

I only have one shelf on my wall for flowers & such. I put my pink flowers in a wine type glass. I really like the look of that. I am in a color embellishment swap and once that is completed, I hope to add more colored wine glasses to the display. I had two large shelves in my other room, but I left them in that room when I moved my stuff. I think I will go get another shelf or two for this room. I really would like to display more. The picture on the wall was drawn by my neighbor. She comes to visit me often.



Here's to an organized & clean scrap area! Anyone want to take bets on how long this will last?