The Life of ME!

Anniversaries

2012-01-26T20:56:00.000-06:00

I'm back! at least for one post!! We'll see how often I visit.

The most dreaded week of my life is fast approaching. I guess it's not really the entire week usually, just a few days of it. Last year the 1st week of February was by far the worst week of the year, possibly the last several years. I'm optimistic that this year will be better. For those that are wondering what in the world I am rambling about, the 6 year anniversary of Madyson's death is fast approaching. I saw this

on Pinterest the other day. It is oh so true. I do miss my sweet girl every day. It makes me sad to know MK will never really know her sister. It makes me sad to think of all the 1st we didn't get to have with her. Then I remember those 10 months we did get to have with her. Seeing her do more than the doctors thought she would. Watching her turn her head to look as she heard her Daddy come into a room and started talking. So many things she could do!!

Enough of the sappy stuff. I've made myself tear up and know I'll need the tears next week. Next week is also my 7 year anniversary!! We share it with my grandparents. This makes it extra special to me. Wes and I have been together since January 2002. 10 years! He drives me bananas but I can't imagine spending the last 10 or next 10 (or the follow 100 either) years with anyone else. We've been through a lot together. He works so hard to provide the best for MK and I. We miss him terribly when he's gone. Luckily we get to see him at least weekly (most of the year anyway). This is us just before Christmas.

here is my grandparents taken just before their 50th Anniversary back in 1999. Just kidding, I can't find the picture already online and am too lazy to hut it down and scan it tonight. Maybe this weekend, or at least before our anniversary I'll get it scanned.

I'm done blabbing for now, but hope to come back next week and do a blog on what's happening at work. It's too much to add to this blog.

2011-10-09T21:02:00.000-05:00

I've been super crafty lately. I have been very inspired by Pinterest. Since joining this site I have made several things. Today alone I made MK a dress and tights. Enough words, here's some pictures.

I made this a few weeks ago and did not like how they turned out. You couldn't really see the letters. I painted them white today a like it so much better. The letters just POP off the pages now.

MK helped me make her shirt. The ghost are her feet print in purple paint. She had fun helping me.

Take one of turning Daddy's shirt into a dress for MK. The arm holes were a little small and she did not like how it fit. I cut the sleeves off and came up with this....

I think you can tell from her facial expression she likes this one so much better!

Here is a Rapunzel wig I made MK from a tutorial I found on Pinterest.She loves it and has wore it a lot.

I have found a ton of ideas I can't wait to try. Come back often and see what else I come up with !

2011-09-21T20:11:00.000-05:00

I'm still trying to figure out why it is called the "terrible twos" because 3 is ten times worse than 2 was!! MK had 3 fits in the twenty minutes between getting out of the bath and into the bed! Good grief, she was insane!

In other news, Austin came to visit last night. They played pretty well together and both ate lots of spaghetti. Then they took a bath together. Aren't the cute in their hood towels?!?

October is one of our favorite months in the Hubbard house! Is it too early to wear Halloween shirts yet?!? I went to my cousin, Chrisy's house a few weeks ago and we started working on Halloween shirts for the kiddos.

This is MK's new shirt! I won a free photo shoot from a local photographer, Studio 846. Right after we won, she advertised for Halloween mini-sessions. I asked if we could do that for our free session. We will have Halloween/3.5 year old pictures taken on October 1st. Great way to start the Halloween season! My mom is making MK a shirt/tutu to go with her witch shirt.

MK is going to be Alice for Halloween. The day her costume came in she wore it and had me call her Alice all afternoon and evening.

I think she will get to wear it at least 3 times. We are going to Alabama to celebrate Super Y and Monkey's birthdays the end of the month. While we are there, Opp will have their trick or treating. Time of Wonder (daycare) has a Halloween parade and party on Halloween every year. The kids get to wear their costumes to daycare and then they have a parade to the offices in the complex. It was fun last year, so I know it will be a blast this year. Then of course she will get to wear it to go trick or treating on Halloween!

Did I mention all the people born in October?!? Lots of birthdays coming in the next few weeks!

Angel-versaries

2011-09-15T21:42:00.001-05:00

Today is the angel-versary of some very special friends sweet little baby. It is always a bitter sweet day to remember. It got me thinking of my sweet Princess Angel Butterfly. She should be in kindergarten this year. It doesn't seem like its been that long!

Look at that sweet baby! I miss her sooo much!!

Just in case you know others who have lost a child and are afraid to ask them about the child, don't be! We (as parents of angels) like to know others think of them as often as we do. Don't be afraid to ask or share memories of them. I can't wait until MK is old enough to really understand and know about her sister.

I hope to do a blog on what we are up to sometime next week. Stay tuned!

New beginnings!

2011-07-08T20:27:00.000-05:00

Again, I've waited forever to blog again! Since the last time I blogged, I've accepted a new job. I'll try to explain child welfare in Florida, then my new position will make a little more sense.

Sometime around 2001 the state of Florida began privatizing the child welfare system. They took bids from various agencies across the state to provide the services. In Hillsborough County (where Tampa is), the contract went to Hillsborough Kids, Inc. (HKI). They in turn have contracts with several agencies to provide various services. I currently work for one of those agencies, Camelot Community Care, Inc. in the adoption unit. I was hired as an adoption case manager in Feb. 2009 and have been the family finder for adoptions since July 2009.

Now, I'm going to tell you what family finders is. Family finding is a philosophy and way that child welfare should be done! It helps kids in foster care remain connected to their family. All to often in child welfare, a parent will tell workers that they have no family. The workers take them at their word and the kid ends up in foster care. In 2008 the Foster Connections Act was passed. It requires that ALL relatives up to the 5th degree (which is great aunts and uncles) be notified with in 30 days of a kid entering foster care. I'm pretty sure this is still not happening in most places. I have been working the back end of cases. I work with children that are available for adoption because their parent's parental rights were terminated by the courts. In the past, all relatives were told they could no longer have contact with children once their parent's parental rights were terminated. This is just a silly way of thinking! For the last two years I have been digging through case files looking for names of relatives that use to have a relationship with these kids. I have also met with lots of kids to see who is important to them and who they want me to find. Family Finding is not about a placement for kids, but lifetime connections.

Now to tie this all back together for you (if you're still reading at this point). I have taken a position at HKI as a Family Finding Coach. HKI is part of a research grant that is gathering data on family finding done with a coach versus family finding done without. I will be assisting others in doing family finding, while teaching them to make it part of their everyday work. I am looking forward to this new opportunity!

Sorry for no pictures this time!

2011-06-05T21:39:00.001-05:00

May was not quite as eventful as April! We are finally settled in our new apartment. I need to take some pictures of it. MK's room is a fairy haven, Tinker Bell is everywhere!

We went to Alabama the Wednesday before Memorial Day. We had a lot of to do while we were there. Thursday night my brother-in-law, Johnathan graduated from Charles Henderson High School.

Boppin with MK and Rayleigh after graduation.

MK waiting on Boppin to graduate

Sweet Rayleigh at graduation

MK had lots of fun and didn't really want to come home. She got to play with Alaina and Emma and stayed up WAAAY to late every night we were there!

She discovered dress up at Alaina's. She has played several times since we've been home. She also likes to play with Alain's cooking stuff better than her own!

MK as Rapunzel

MK swimming with Emma. These two had a ball playing together.

It was a great trip home, other than my continued headaches. I bumped my head on the trip up (on Wednesday) and have had pretty severe headaches since. I went to the ER on Saturday because the headaches had me in tears 2 different times that day. They did a CAT scan and said it didn't show anything. Thankfully as soon as I feel the pain starting, I can take some Tylenol, Aleve etc and they will go away. The pain is also becoming less dull, so hopefully it's getting better.

We joined the Loyal Order of the Moose/Women of the Moose a month or so ago. We have been going to the Moose Lodge on Sunday's for Game day. It has been a lot of fun. MK LOVES it! She has got to try so many new games. She has gotten pretty good at croquet and frisbee. She tried fishing for the 1st time today and could not get enough of it. I see more fishing in her future!

Fishing! (don't worry there was no hook on her line!)

Golfing with Daddy

Winning at Croquet. She has been appointed chairmen of the Rules committee, so we often play by MK rules. They change often!!

A few weeks ago we took MK and Ian to see Disney on Ice presents Toy Story 3. I made them both shirts to wear. They took a while, but turned out adorable!

I think they both loved it. MK says her favorite part was the Barbie part. The entire time Barbie and Ken were on the ice, she would look at them, then look at Ian. I'm not sure if she was trying to tell Ian he was her Ken or just to see if he was as interested as her. It was too cute either way!

Hopefully I'll get another blog up sooner rather than later!!

April Recap

2011-05-02T20:35:00.000-05:00

April has proved to be the busiest month I've had in a really long time! In case you live under a rock and didn't know, I do Relay for Life with Team Go Go at Temple Terrace Relay for Life. April started out with our team's biggest fund raiser. We have an auction and invite all our friends. We raised right at $7000 this year in just a few hours!!

Shot Stop pre auction

Raising money for a good cause! Our fearless leader playing auctioneer!!

The following week, Mom and Aunt Ninny came down on Wednesday. They got to watch MK at gymnastics. Because it is in the middle of the week, not many people ever come to Tampa when she has it. Thursday we woke up early and took MK to school then headed to the hospital just in time for Monkey's surgery. He did great! We worked on packing up the rest of our stuff for the big move on Friday. Friday I signed the lease for our new apartment with the plans to start moving little stuff. When I got to the apartment complex I was told the carpet had not been replaced yet and it would be 3 before we could get in. We went to visit Monkey at the hospital. He was still being a trooper and had to have very little pain meds. (He had crano something or other. The plates in his head were fused together and he didn't have a soft spot, so they went in and separated the plates.)

In recovery just after surgery. Sweet baby! Being in the hospital with all the equipment brought back lots of memories of being there with Maddy.

This was taken on Friday.

Wes got back to Tampa and after a visit to the hospital to see Monkey, we began loading up his plant truck like a moving truck. We had a few friends come help and we got most of our stuff in one load. We knew it would be a late night, so we left MK with Mom and Ninny at Brother's house. Saturday was MK's birthday party. Luckily it wasn't until 3 pm, so that gave us time to get things together. She had a GREAT turnout and got lots of stuff.

It was a Dr. Seuss theme. My mom made her shirt the night before to match her invitation that I had made. This is my favorite picture of her of the day!

Games with Daddy! They played Red Light, Green Light and Duck, Duck Goose

Lori was going to make the cake again this year, but wasn't feeling well. Mom and MK made the cupcakes on Friday night and Lori came and decorated them on Saturday before the party. We made a pull-apart Dr. Seuss hat and then had others with blue icing with fish on top for one fish two fish red fish blue fish. We also had green eggs (deviled eggs with green middle) and then just goldfish.

More eating! The camera died during eating and I didn't get any of her opening gifts. I think someone else did.

Our Relay was on April 15th, which was also MK's 3rd birthday. I got to the Relay site about noon on Friday to help set up the Survivor area. It was a great event! I had to leave at about 7:15 am to go to work. We work 2 Saturdays a year, of course it had to fall the same weekend as Relay and MK's birthday! I got home at about 12:30, so yes I was awake for more than 24 hours (minus the 1.5 hours I slept in a camp chair at Relay). I got up about 3:15 and we headed to Brother's to get MK. We ended up going to Chuck-E-Cheese for an impromptu birthday party for her. Jessica has recently moved to town and treated MK to pizza and fun at Chuck-E-Cheese! Brother, Nat and Mac also went with us. I went to bed the same time as MK! I also had to work Sunday because a co-worker and I have been teaching our adoptive parent classes on Sundays for the last 9 weeks. As you can guess I've been exhausted!!

Team Go Go ready for the 80s Lap. We won the team spirit award again! Team Go Go has won team spirit for 8 out of the last 9 years. We also have been in the top fund raising spot for quite a while too!

Committee members during opening ceremonies.

Our RFL theme was Turning the channel on Cancer. Our team chose CSI as our theme. Celebrating, Surviving, Inspiring! This was one of our campsite signs showing out most wanted. We also had signs showing our missing (former team members). Our team raised over $15,000 again this year!

The following weekend was Easter. We had a low key weekend. We went to Brother/Natalie's for Easter dinner. It was good to hang out with not much happening.

Hopefully I'll be better at keeping update!

Madyson Klaire and Madelyn Kate

2011-04-18T22:25:00.001-05:00

Both my girls birthdays are in April. As you'll see from my next post, April has been pretty hectic!

It really hit me the week leading up to Madyson's birthday that I should be having 2 birthday parties on that Saturday not just one. Due to scheduling, we had MK's birthday party the weekend before her birthday, which happen to be Maddy's birthday. It really doesn't seem like it has been 5 years since I first became a mom! That little girl touched SO SO many lives in her short little life. Here are some of my favorite pictures of her!

Maddy at 3 months

Maddy 6 months

She didn't have tempature control and her body temp had dropped to about 94 degrees.

Notice her dress....then look at the picture of MK below. Same dress, same age, totally different fit!

I thought it fitting for her to be a nurse, since so many nurses had been involved in her life!

One of my favorite of Me and Maddy!

Swimming!!

Sweet baby!

Love this little girl!

As hard as it is to believe that Maddy would have been 5, it is just as hard to believe that MK is 3! She is super smart. She knows all her letter sounds and can tell you what words start or end with. She can count to 20 by 1s and to 100 by 10s. She knows her birthday, my birthday month and several other peoples birthday month. She is very opinionated and does not mind telling anyone what she thinks. She has a say in what she wears and has more shoes than I do! She knows relationships, example that my mom is Gaga and Wesley's mom is Grandmother. She also knows aunts, cousins, uncles and can label people correctly. She is obsessed with all thinks Tinker Bell and likes most anything girlie. She has 20+ Barbies (some are Princesses) and loves to have tea parties with them. She has been taking gymnastics over a year and excelling at it. She loves her Gaga the most and I think she would live with her! She knows that we live in Tampa and that Gaga, Lulu and Y live in Opp, Alabama while Grandmother and Alaina live in Troy, Alabama.

I haven't taken her for her 3 year old check up yet (I should probably get that scheduled!!), but she weighs about 30lbs and is right at 3 feet tall. She is often mistaken for 4 or 5 years old.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of her over the last 3 years in no particular order!

1st birthday!

1st haircut! Thanks Ashley!!

2 years old!

Mk's 3 year old pictures, both boys were there so we tried to get a cousin's picture. this was the best we got!

MK 3 months, Happy Halloween!

Thank Heather for our 3rd birthday pictures!

MK loves the beach!

Santa brought her a car for Christmas 2010

She had just learned to play cribbage. It's a Carter tradition to play cribbage. Good thing she's smart and will be able to keep up with all those 15s.

Posing for Christmas pictures 2010

This is the same dress that Maddy had on in her Christmas picture above. Its hard to tell her, but it was no where as tight on MK as it was on Maddy my fatty!

Merry Christmas 2009

Christmas 2010

She loved the fireworks this past 4th of July. She kept saying "Oh my gosh"

Happy Halloween!

MK loves Lighting Hockey! She'd be glad to know they are in the playoffs and doing well. I forsee lots more hockey games in our future.

This is one of my favorite pictures of MK and Ian. They are best of friends!

Best friends being pirates. "Arrggghh!"

Sweet little baby!

My favorite picture of Me and MK

back when she 1st started nastics

getting nastic awards with Kingston.

another of my favorites!

Gaspirlla Jr. Classic Race was her 1st race. She loved it and has talked about it off an on since. She'll definitely be doing more races!

Another silly favorite

MK as Tink! She is obsessed with all thinks Tink.

Despite wanting all things Tink, she said she wanted a Tea party for her birthday. I felt her friends were a little young for a tea party this year, so we did a Dr. Seuss party for her birthday. She loves books and can "read" several of Dr. Seuss books. Word was out about her obsession with Tink and she got a LOT of Tinker Bell stuff for her birthday. Her room s completely Tink.

That's it for tonight. Hope you enjoyed the pictures! I'll try to get another on up in the next few days about our happenings over the last few months.

It's Christmas!!

2010-12-01T21:45:00.000-06:00

I've updated my blog to a Christmas layout. We plan to put up our Christmas decorations tomorrow. We going to the Tampa Christmas parade Saturday morning to see Santa. Hopefully I'll get a blog about our Thanksgiving trip to Alabama up sometime this week. Happy Holiday!!

Babies, Veteran's Day Parade and Halloween

2010-11-08T19:42:00.000-06:00

As always, we've been busy busy. Last Saturday we went to a Veteran's Day Parade.

MK and her new cousin Mac waiting for the adults to get ready to head out to the parade. There are so many possibilities for captions! Let me know what you are thinking

MK watching the parade. This is probably my favorite picture from the parade. It just captures so much.

Speaking of MK's new cousin, Mac.....

This handsome little guy was born Monday, October 25.

MK meeting Mac for the 1st time! She loves him to death. She is very helpful most of the time. When Nat was pregnant, we told her she had a monkey in her belly. MK has called him a monkey ever since. Now that he is here and has a name, she calls him Mac-a-Monkey (kinda like whack-a-mole, all one word)

The proud parents are my Brother and his fiancee, Nat. This was not long after she had had a c-section, thus the joyful look on her face!

The weekend before Mac's arrival, Wes, MK and I went to Alabama to help celebrate my nephew Y's 1st birthday. His actual birthday is the 26th, yep the day after Mac's!

While we were there, MK got her 1st haircut. She sat very still for Ashley and so proud of her haircut. Ashely cut so little that you can barely see it in the ziplock bag, but we saved it all! Wes wasn't so sure he wanted her hair cut.

MK and Y in their matching Halloween shirts with Aunt Stacy. Y in his pumpkin suit. He was the cutest pumpkin ever! His party was a costume optional. He and MK were the only ones that wore them, so they quickly changed into their matching shirts.

Y's awesome cake that his Aunt Dawn had made for him. It looked so real!

After returning from Alabama and welcoming Mac, it was time for Halloween. At first MK was dead set on being Mickey Mouse. She thankfully changed her mind and wanted to be Tinkerbell. She was the cutest Tink ever!

She actually got some use out of her costume this year. She wore it to Y's party, to her daycare Halloween parade and for Trick or Treating. Her best friend Ian's birthday was during all the craziness, so his Mom had his party on Halloween.

They were so sweet holding hands while trick or treating. They would run up to the door together, both knock, then when someone would answer, they would both say, "trick or treat". They used their manners and said, "Thank You" and "Happy Halloween" as they were leaving.

Mac got in on the dressing up too! He wore Y's costume from last year. Being exactly a year younger, I'm sure this will not be the last hand-me-down he gets from Y!

We are going to Alabama for Thanksgiving. It'll be lots of fun. I'm sure everyone will love on Mac. Hopefully MK will share!

2010-11-07T21:26:00.000-06:00

Again...I'm slacking on my blogging. I hope you like the new look. I'm gonna try to blog tomorrow night after MK is in bed. Come back and check it out!

Summer is drawing to a end...

2010-09-28T16:27:00.000-05:00

I unintentionally took a summer hiatus from blogging. We have had a busy summer. Since my last post the 1st part of July, MK, Lori and I drove to Alabama to get Wesley because his truck's transmission was/is messed up. We spent the weekend and got to visit with everyone. As always, it wasn't long enough. August begins our birthday season. Wesley is the 3rd and Brother the 25th. Brother always has a redneck hash run as part of his birthday celebration, so we all got out our best redneck gear. We had a combined 30th birthday party for them with an 80s theme. Natalie's birthday is Sept. 6th and our friend Lori's is Sept. 22. Lori also turned 30. We had a superhero/villian party for her. In case you can't tell, we love a reason to dress up! We also had gymnastics still and other random stuff. I put pictures from all summer in the below slide show.... enjoy!

This free photo slideshow made with Smilebox

October continues our birthday season and is the biggest month of the season. Our friend Ericka starts this months birthdays on the 4th, with me following on the 10 and her husband, Ben on the 14th. Its 31 for all of us... not sure what we are doing yet. Natalie is due the end of the month, but I don't think she'll make it that long. Super Y's 1st birthday is 10/26 and Lulu and B both call Halloween their birthday.... whooo... that's a lot of birthdays in 3 months!! Now that I think about it, its my entire immediate family with the exception of MK and my mom.

Halloween is a favorite time of year around our house, so we are in full planning mode for halloween! I'm going to try to blog at least once a week.... we'll see how that goes!

2 year check up

2010-07-06T21:30:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe that this little bundle is such a big girl!

She turned 2 in April. I took her today for her 2 year check up. She weighs 30 lbs and is 36.5 inches tall. Because I'm a nerd, I wanted to know where she fell percentile-wise with her age group, so I googled it:

At 22 months:
your child is 30 pounds, and that is
at the 90th percentile for weight.
your child is 36.5 inches, and that is
at greater than the 97th percentile for height.

I also read that your 2 year old height is half of your adult height. With that being said, MK is more than likely going to be about 6 feet tall. We'll have to wait and see!! It appears she is well on her way.

She is also a smart little thing. In my wanting to know where she falls compared to others her age, I was reading up on various development skills. She definitely meets ALL the 2 year old skills and most of the 3. She even meets several of the 5 year old skills.

Her skills include:
*Counting to 10 consistently in English and Spanish; she can sometimes count to 15 on her own and can count to 20 in English with help
*identify all her shapes
*identify at least 15 colors
*recognizing her name (both MK and Madelyn)
*recognizes extended family (that we only see every few months...some she's only seen once, but can point them out in pictures)
*sings a repertoire of 20 or so songs (some English some Spanish)
*recognizes some words (probably 10 or so regularly) on flash cards
*can follow 2 step directions, when she chooses too!!
*jump with both feet leaving the ground
*jump off objects...whether she's suppose to be on them or not!!
*climb on chairs (and ladders at gymnastics)
*brush her own teeth
*knows the entire alphabet and the sound most of the letters make

She is so prissy and sassy. She likes to have her toenails painted and her hair fixed. She has been requested "lipstick" aka lipgloss the last few weeks. She prefers to wear Natalie's heels to her shoes. This morning she was hanging out with Natalie while I took a shower. When I went to tell her I was out of the shower, she was in Natalie's bathroom "putting on make-up". She had Natalie's make-up brush and would rub it on the bar of soap then put it on her eyes and cheeks. She loves gymnastics and is getting pretty good at it. She practices it all the time, jumping and donkey kicking all over the place. She was moved up a class the beginning of this session, which normally requires you to be 3. She likes to boss Sabre around. She knows all the Disney princesses and most of the characters of all the Disney and Nick Jr shows.

I'm sure I've left a lot out, but that's my girl in a nutshell!!

Fathers Day and July 4th

2010-07-05T21:09:00.000-05:00

June disappeared before my eyes! The last time I blogged, we were getting ready to head to Alabama. We had a great trip and fit lots of visits in.

MK helped document the trip! She loves taking pictures and having her picture taken.

We started our visit in Troy. We met Wesley's parents at the park so MK could play. She had a great time playing with Poppa and Grandmother. It was a good visit. We then met the Bateman's at a local restaurant for dinner. We didn't get any pictures from dinner, but had a good time. Alaina has gotten SOO big!

MK and Hailey bug dressed alike. They are so cute together. MK follows Hailey around every where and Hailey just eats it up. We stayed at Michelle's most of the weekend, but due to all the events of the weekend we were only there at night.

far left Corey, back Dad, far right Uncle Richard, front with back to us- Brother.
they are playing cribbage. We grew up playing this at Grammie's. I had not played in YEARS, but got the hang of it pretty quickly.

MK learning to play cribbage. I told you we learned it young!!

The Aunts- Doris, Debbie and Stacy

Pops and Super Y hanging out during pictures.

MK waiting for her turn to be in pictures. Her hair had been done since early that morning, this was at about 5pm. I tried to re-do it but didn't have any more ponytail holders, so we did it with just the bows. It didn't work so well!! She was also VERY VERY tired. She got up early and had not had a nap.

I was holding Y and MK got a little jealous and wanted me to hold her too. Turned into a cute picture if I do say so myself!!

Group shot by Priceless Pix. Pam does great work. She took lots of pictures.

My favorite picture of the entire weekend! The girls hugging bye.

4th of July celebration

MK ready to celebrate the 4th in style. I made her shirt with the assistance from Mom, who came down to help us celebrate the 4th of July. This is the 2nd year she's been her for the 4th. We didn't do too much, but had a good time. We did some sewing and embroidering on Saturday and then went to Largo to hang out with Natalie's family on Sunday. Originally we were going to head over to Largo City Park and spend the day at the park and possibly participate in the record breaking Twist, but the rain spoiled that!

MK and Uncle Jay discussing which fireworks to do next, in the rain

This is what they ended up with.

Her reaction! It was priceless. She would tense up in anticipation then laugh and say AGAIN when the boom was over.

Uncle Jay showing us sparklers in the rain.

They ended up playing in the rain. Uncle Jay was showing her how to catch it with her tongue. She was soaked after they got finished, but Mommy had extra clothes for her!

It didn't stay dry too long! The rain stopped in time for us to head over to the park. Unfortunately it had rained so much that the field was mud puddle after mud puddle. MK played in the big one that was right behind us. We got a variety of looks from others in the crowd. Some people were in shock that I was letting her play in the mud, others looked jealous that they weren't playing in it! She ran and ran through it.

on of the over 500 fireworks pictures that Brother took. This was one of the best fireworks shows I have seen.

She was amazed by it! She kept saying "Oh My Gosh!" she would cover her face while she said it. Her response was as good as the fireworks show. The only bad part of the weekend was that Wesley was not here to enjoy it with us! We are super ready for him to be home!!!

2010-06-14T21:44:00.002-05:00

I'm playing with the Just Something I Whipped up linky party again this week! Hop on over to there site and see all the creativeness!

Summary Sunday

2010-06-13T21:22:00.000-05:00

Wow I didnt such a good job of blogging this week! At least there is always Summary Sundays to catch you up. Monday and Tuesday must have been pretty slow, because I'm not really remembering anything we did other than our regular routine. Monday I made a bag out of Dollar Tree place mats.

Before

After. The M is out of ribbon because I was too lazy to change my machine over to embroider. It turned out super cute if I do say so myself!! This was with two place mats.

Before; a place mat and a potholder

After; an awesome bag with a pocket on the outside!

Tuesday before Ian got here, MK and I made Father's Day gifts. I hope to get them in the mail this week so Wesley will get his by Saturday. No pictures yet because we can't ruin the surprise! MK and Ian both went to bed really well this week. I think they are finally getting use to going to bed with the other one around. I had worked some over time the last few weeks, so I took Wednesday off as a me day. I was able to get a lot of sewing done. I almost finished the t-shirt quilts I started on back in February or March.

I was so happy to get these done and delivered. I actually finished them on Friday evening, which happened to be Stroke's birthday! The quilts were made out of his old t-shirts. It was weird because I had the tv on in the background while I was finishing up Friday and kept seeing the American Caner Society's commercial for the official sponsor of birthdays. It was a weird that Stroke passed due to cancer, and the commercial kept playing as I was finishing his memorial quilt. More on the event below.

Wednesday was also awards night at gymnastics (it's every 8 weeks). So I had my camera with me and was able to get lots of pictures during class of her in action. She has improved so so so much since January.

Do warm-ups. Warm-up time is a bit crazy sometimes because all the 615 classes warm-up at the same time. MK has finally decided to pay attention during warm-ups.

She has started holding on all by herself. Coach Andrew has made several comments about how well she is doing.

Her class. There are a few that were in her class last time, but no one from her 1st session.

Thursday was a regular Thursday. I sewed on the quilt some more. Friday was pretty boring too! I got the batten put in both quilts Friday night. Saturday started way to early with MK waking up at 815. She got so whiney by 11 that I made her take a nap. She doesn't always take a nap on the weekends, but when she cries about every little thing, I know its time for a nap. After she woke up from her nap we got her bag packed and I took her to Ian's for the night. Thanks to Kim for keeping her!! I met up with Lori, Natalie and Brother. We headed over to the hash (a running club with a drinking problem for those newer readers). It was a memorial hash for a fellow hasher that last his battle with cancer a few years back. I never got to meet Stroke, but know he has made a HUGE impact on those that did know him. The money paid to participate in this particular hash all went to our Relay for Life team, Team Go Go. It was great seeing old friends and making new, all while raising money to kick cancer's ass!!
Today started earlier than Saturday and MK wasn't even here!! Ben brought Ayden over. Ayden spent the day with MK and I while his Mommy worked and his Daddy went on the Stroke memorial bike/motorcycle ride.

We are heading to Alabama on Thursday night, so there probably won't be a Sunday Summary next week. Hopefully I'll get a few blogs done during the week. I'm looking forward to cramming a lot into the visit. We'll be there from late Thursday until sometime Tuesday. The main reason we are going is for the Carter reunion. MK and I are planning on staying with Michelle and Hailey. We also hope to spend some time with Mom's side of the family. I'm going to try to fit a trip to Troy into the mix, but don't know if we'll be able to make that happen. I'd love to hand out with the mafia, it's been so long since we've seen them!!

2010-06-06T22:00:00.000-05:00

It's time for Summary Sunday! I didn't take a whole lot of pictures this week, so I'll just have to try to remember what we did! I'll start with Tuesday since last week's summary was on Monday and covered our sewing adventures. Tuesday I brought my work laptop home to work on a video presentation...nothing got done! Ian came to play so his Mom could go to volleyball. We love it when Ian comes to play!! Wednesday MK had gymnastics and did really well. There are two different set of events they do. She definitely does better on the one that includes zipline, bars, trampoline and vault. After we got home I got her fed and put to bed. I then did about 2 hours of work on a presentation that I had to give on Saturday. I'm drawing a blank on Thursday. I know I blogged and posted the awesome tshirt bag I made at work. Friday at work I was able to finalize our presentation. I have now learned to edit audio and video. We also unofficially found out we were selected to present at the Florida Dependency Summit. I'm super excited about that. The opportunity to spread the word about how child welfare should be done by including family whether the parents want them to know or not! While I was cooking dinner Sabre scratched on the backdoor so I opened it to let him out. The back porch/deck is all fenced so he can go be outside. Well MK decided to follow him. I thought she as just playing on the porch. I go to check on them and she is in the pool!

Saturday morning I had to work. I, along with Kelly and Trina, did a family finders presentation for the Hillsborough County Foster Parent Association. It was a good group that seemed very interested. Saturday afternoon I tried to do some embroidering and sewing, but realized Kim still had my memory card. I instead worked on the tshirt quilts that I have had since March-ish. I hope to take a day off this week from the extra time I've worked lately. If I do I'll work hard to get the quilts finished. MK took a nap about 330-530 so she was up for a while last night. Which means she slept in today! She slept til about 830!! Before we could get breakfast ready she was outside and ready to be in the pool. She did let me get her bathing suit on her before getting in. I posted on facebook that we were bored and Kim (a different Kim than the one with my memory card!) and Ian invited us to go to the park/beach.

Kim doesn't like the water, so I took both kids out to the "deep". The could both still stand and touch the bottom.

After all that swimming and playing in the sand, they drank lots and lots of water.

MK fell asleep on the way home. We just sat around and watch tv for a while. Natalie went to Famous Pizza and picked up some ziti and spaghetti. MK ate 3 helping of ziti and one of spaghetti!!

She made a HUGE mess. She even had it in her hair...the back of it! It was already past bedtime so I gave her a bath in the sink. She didn't really like it. She went to bed with no milk. This is a 1st, hopefully of many more nights. I'm now off to check facebook and go to bed!

Be sure to hop on over to the Creative Girl's blog and check out the other awesome blogs! There is a link on the side as well as below.

let's get crafty

2010-06-03T20:33:00.002-05:00

I was so upset I didn't get to post this last night, but work called. I saw this amazing projoct atThe T-Shirt Diaries a few days ago. I was at Target with a coworker who was buying a gift for one of her son's friends. She was going to look for a gift bag when I remembered the reusable tshirt bag. So she bought this:

I had left my sewing machine at Kim's house on Memorial Day and she happen to have brought it with her to work today. So when we got back to the office, I got to work. Shhh! Don't tell I was sewing at work!! It took less than 5 minutes to make this:

I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!! I can't wait to turn all my tshirts into bags!

Here are a few shirts/onesies I've embroidered lately.

A birthday gift for my best friend's now 7 year old daughter. She is also getting the color pencil holder I blogged about here.

Onesies' for my future nephew. Brother is an Alabama fan, Natalie a Florida...I did not want to make the onesies obvious that they were for the schools, but a little hint!

I hope to have a sewing/embroidering afternoon on Saturday.

Blog hop and Summary Sunday

2010-05-31T21:37:00.000-05:00

Let's start today's post with a big THANK YOU to our men and women of the armed forces. Without them we would not enjoy the freedoms we have.

I'm participating in another blog hop. I couldn't find the specific button, but that is a button for their main page. There are a lot of crafty links there with lots of awesome projects.

The long weekend threw me off, so I didn't realize it was Sunday. I'm going to do my Sunday Summary tonight. Last week was pretty uneventful. MK has yet another cold. I took her to the doctor on Monday. It was a new doctor that we wont be visiting again. The office staff were all great, but the doctor herself was horrible. I'm really starting to think the Plague Princess' (so dearly named by Lori) many colds might in actuality be allergies. I put this concern on the "why are you here" paper work. The doctor was in and out so fast I didn't have time to express my concerns. She prescribed some cough medicine and sent us on our way. Luckily there has been no fever, just cough and snot. I left work early to take her to the doctor. It worked out well because I ended up working late with some of our teens. We have a set of sisters that I've worked with a lot lately. The had run away over the weekend and I didn't find out until Monday morning. I talked them into telling me where they were about 430. Of course they were across town and it took me about 40 minutes to get to them. I then had to take them back to their placements. MK and I got home about 8ish.

Me, Lori and the Plague Princess at the Tampa Yankees game last week.

Tuesday Ian came to play while his mom went to volleyball. This happens most Tuesdays. We love when Ian comes to play! Wednesday we had gymnastics. MK was horrible!! We actually left at one point, but went back in to let her have a second chance. She was somewhat better, but still pretty whiny. Thursday was pretty uneventful, or at least it must have been because I don't remember anything about it. Friday I expected to get off early because we have gotten off early EVERY Friday prior to a holiday since I've worked at Camelot. We did NOT get off. BOO!! Saturday we had a lazy day at home and did some cleaning and preparing for the BBQ we had on Sunday. Sunday we hosted a Memorial Day BBQ. There were probably 25 adults and kids here. It was lots of great fun with friends. Today MK and I went to North Tampa to my friend Kim's house. Kim and I did some sewing/Embroidery while the kiddos played.

MK posing a few weeks ago on our Tarpon Springs adventure we took with Lori.

Dress redo

2010-05-29T21:25:00.000-05:00

So I didnt make it to get my "Who's who Wednesday", perhaps next week! Natalie was getting rid of some clothes that she wasn't going to wear any more. She had originally bought it to turn into a duct tape outfit. As she was throwing it away, she asked if I wanted it to make something for MK. I took it and have transformed it.

MK posing. She thought it was fun to stand on the table to take pictures.

here's the back and more poses!

We are having a Memorial Day bbq tomorrow and Monday I am headed to a friends house to sew so be prepared for more projects!

Not Me Monday

2010-05-24T21:49:00.000-05:00

So I'm playing along with the Not Me Monday blog hop that MckMama is hosting. When you get done reading here jump on over there and see what others didn't do.

I did NOT forget to take MKs blanket to daycare and we were NOT running late so she almost missed breakfast, nope NOT me. I got to work with an almost dead cell phone. I get a text from a coworker about some of our teens that had run away over the weekend. I did NOT spend all morning trying to negotiate with a 15 and 16 year old. I did NOT drive for 2 hours to pick them up and take them back to their placements. I am NOT 100% committed to them. I am NOT concerned more for them than any kids I've ever worked with. Nope NOT me!

Summary Sunday

2010-05-23T21:36:00.000-05:00

Be impressed, this is my 3rd blog since Wednesday. I hope to keep the pace up and eventually get to daily post. I was reading Mom Nonstop's blog the other day and I have to agree with her theme post. So I'm going to try to come up with a theme for each day of the week. Lots of other bloggers do this and it is fun to follow. I'm open to ideas, so leave me some comments with them. I think I'm going to start on Wednesday with "Who are they Wednesday". I plan to to start with doing a feature on people I regularly blog about then maybe take suggestions of other bloggers to feature through a blog hop or something.

We had such a busy weekend there is no way I can get it all in, so here is a picture review in no particular order!

Me Lori and MK at the Tampa Yankees Game.

MK ready to go to Kaz and Austin's party at the Splash Park

MK playing on the talking hopscotch at Al Lopez Park. She had a good time at Kyra's birthday.

MK sliding. It took her a while to warm-up to the slide, but she liked it.

MK and the newest member of our household posing for pictures.

MK really likes Sabre, she even likes her "house"

My favorite picture from Disney on Ice. I love Ian's shadow in the glass.

This was toward the end of the show. It was neat to see the ice on fire.

Saturday while I was cooking pancakes, MK was feeding Madyson. She saw the princess crown and had to wear it. We also found one for Madyson to wear.

sorry for the sideways pictures, I rotated them before I uploaded them, but Imageshack decided to put them back to their original state. This is MK at the Tampa Yankees game. I made her shirt for her. I was trying to get the picture of her shirt. This was the best she gave me.

And last, MK wearing her sunglasses after we got home from the game. She was wound up once she got inside. Luckily so was Sabre, so they played and laughed for about 30 minutes.

I hope to be back tomorrow night, perhaps with some creative theme! Oh it just hit me that Sunday will be "Summary Sundays". I challenge you to do a Summary Sunday post. Leave a comment so I can come check it out!

2010-05-21T21:14:00.000-05:00

I'm participating in The Girl Creative New Friend Friday blog hop and bonus Give away. They are giving away this super cute Initial bow holder, bow flip flops and matching hair bows. How adorable is it? Oh you want to see the stuff... you should go to Texas Monkey and check it out there. I'm loving the bows. MK needs 2 of all of them!!

We have a busy weekend ahead of us. We have a birthday party tomorrow for Miss Kyra and then a Tampa Yankees baseball game tomorrow night. Sunday we have a combo party for Mr. Austin and Mr. Kaz. I have yet to do any of their gifts yet. Nothing like the last minute!! Hopefully I'll get them all done in the morning.

I almost forgot..... Mk, Ian, Kim and I went to Disney on Icelast night. I still have to upload pictures. I'm off to do that now. I'll post one or two later.

2010-05-19T20:21:00.000-05:00

Two in two days. That has got to be a record for me! I had and am still having a lot of fun find new blogs and see lots of creativity. I haven't had time to make anything tonight because we had gymnastics then went to eat with Brother and Natalie.

Tomorrow night we are going with Ian and his Mommy, Kim, to see Disney on Ice. I'm really excited about it and hope the kids really enjoy it. I got the tickets through work for dirty cheap. I love a good deal! I plan on taking lots of pictures.

And just for fun and because I don't like to do a picture less post,

MK playing with her tea set she got for her birthday. I love the outfit she has on. My mom made it for her.

I'm off to blog hop and follow more fun bloggers.

Tuesday Tag-Along

2010-05-18T21:36:00.001-05:00

Here's how it works:

* Create a new Tuesday Tag-Along blog post. Include the Tuesday Tag-Along button by copying and pasting the code above. (You are also welcome to copy and paste these instructions in their entirety, or any portion of this Tuesday Tag-Along blog post!)
* Add your blog name and the URL of your TTA post to the MckLinky below.
* Follow Twee Poppets, the hostess blog listed in the first slot. Twee Poppets will follow you back! (Note: If you want Twee Poppets to follow you back, you MUST leave her a comment saying that you are a new follower and leave a link to your blog!)
* If you can, please follow the blogs in the three slots before you (e.g., if you're number 20, follow numbers 19, 18, and 17). This is not mandatory, but it will help ensure that everyone who signs up gets a few new followers!
* Follow as many other blogs as you want. The more you follow, the more that will follow you back! Be sure to tell them that you're following from Tuesday Tag-Along! You may also want to leave a link to your blog so they can return your follow more easily.
* When you get a new follower through Tuesday Tag-Along, be sure to follow them back! It's just common courtesy. :)

The weekly Tuesday Tag-Along MckLinky opens every Monday night at 8:59pm Pacific Standard Time (that's 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time), and the TTA blog post will be posted well in advance of that time. The MckLinky will be open to add your blog until 11:59pm Tuesday night. You then have all week long to visit blogs and return follows!

There is a new list every week. The link you enter one week will not carry over to the next week's MckLinky. Please link up again each week to join in the fun!

So go check out some neat blogs and add to your circle of blogs!!!

changes

2010-05-18T21:23:00.000-05:00

So I think I'm going to change my blog a bit. I want to try to start blogging more about crafty projects. Maybe even just post links to projects I want to try.

One project that I found today and tried as soon as I got home is a cloth pencil case. The tutorial can be found here When I saw it I knew I had to make one for Hailey. When they were here for MK's birthday she took her pencil case every where with her. I had bought her some mechanical color pencils, so I made it a bit taller to accommodate them.

Here it is with the color pencils in it.

and up close

and rolled up

This is a site I will be visiting often! Check it out, then come back and let me know what you think. Will you be making stuff from their site??

Madelyn Kate is 2

2010-04-25T09:23:00.003-05:00

Madelyn turned two on April 15th. It is hard to believe she is so grown! We started the day singing Happy Birthday to her. She wore her birthday outfit to school on Thursday.

I made her shirt and added the ruffle to the bottom of her pants. Natalie and I also made her bows for her pigtails, but she didn't have them when this picture was taken.

Wesley flew in from Nebraska mid morning. We went to Target to finish up buying stuff form MK's party. We also bought her gift from us. We bought her the Disney Princess Barbies. We also got cupcakes for her class. We went to school and surprised her with her Daddy. She was SSOO excited! She just stared at him the entire time. She didn't really want to eat her cupcake because she was too busy staring at Wesley.

We went out to eat that night with Brother at Chili's. Natalie wasn't feeling so well so she stayed home and rested. MK would not let me hold her or get her out of the car. She only wanted her Daddy. It was super cute and sweet.

Mom, Lulu, Michelle, Wyatt and Haiely got here about 2:15 am. The left Alabama about 6:30 and drove through the night. Wyatt was a bit fussy when he got here, which woke MK up. She was up for SEVERAL hours. We hung out Friday morning and then headed over to Clearwater Beach for lunch. Hailey (Michelle's 6 year old daughter) was all about the beach and requested to eat lunch on the beach. MK kept calling her Kailey instead of Hailey.

It was Wyatt's 1st beach trip. He liked the water, even though it was super cold. The kids had a great time. The girls played in the sand and were covered from head to toe! We went straight to the bath when we got home.

Friday night Natalie's family came over to meet our family. Brother grilled some yummy steaks and chicken. Natalie made some awesome sides and we had a good time hanging out.

Saturday started with Natalie making breakfast. MK ate 3 helpings of eggs. That girl loves to eat! The girls played all morning. Wesley attempted to put MK down for a nap after lunch, but she wasn't having it. We all headed over to the park about 230 to get ready for the party.

I was skeptical about how MK would behave since she had no nap, but she was great. She was starting to get a little fussy toward the end, but I think she was getting hungry.

The party was lots of fun. MK got lots of gifts and had lots of friends there. I think there were 15 or so kids and 20+ adults.

Crowd shot!

Lori made the awesome cupcakes! She did a great job. Everyone raved about how yummy they were. They were also super cute.

Uncle Jay helped MK blow out her candles. I'm not sure who blew harder...

Opening gifts. She was too funny when she opened them. Clothes she would just hand to me, toys she wanted to open right away and play with.

This is just too great of a picture not to share!!!

It was a great weekend that came to an end too soon!

***I was trying to add pictures, but imageshack is not cooperating! Hopefully it'll work later and I can add them***

Did you know

2010-04-22T20:33:00.000-05:00

Several of the blogs I follow have done a "25 Things you may not know about me". I decided I'd jump on the band wagon, so here goes.

1. Despite being a majorette for 4 years in high school and 3 years in college, I have a hard time staying on the beat.

2. I love talking about both my girls. So many people shy away when I tell them about Madyson because they are afraid to bring up sadness. We talk about her all the time. MK got a Cabbage Patch for her birthday named Madyson Klaire that was born 4/9/06 after her sister!

3. I like genealogy and family history. I don't understand how people do not know their family. Which makes my job as a family finder quite interesting since I research kids families.

4. I started a scrapbook in elementary school. It has Valentine cards from 2nd grade, newspaper articles about a NFL player from my home town and other random stuff. It is all just taped to pages of a book. Now that I think about it I am pretty sure MY Cabbage Patch's "adoption" papers are in it.

5. I played the flute and oboe in high school band. I only played the flute because I had to play an instrument to be a majorette and my Aunt Pam had a flute. I taught myself how to play the oboe only because I wasn't good at the flute and no one played the oboe, so I was the best at it.

6. I lettered in softball in 10th grade. I also played in 11th. We got a new coach my senior year and I didn't make the team.

7. I hope to one day own my own craft business. It will include scrapbooking stuff, sewing items and embroidery.

8. I was born and raised in Opp, Al. but lived in Maine for about 2 weeks just after I was born. I don't remember it but was told it was really cold!!

9. I got my ears pierced in Maine when I was about 4. I remember my Grammie telling me I screamed so loud they could hear me in Alabama. I don't remember anything else about the trip.

10. I like to read and have a wide variety of books in my collection. They range from fiction about abuse/neglect, Harry Potter series, to murder mysteries.

11. I use to struggle to get all my required accelerated readers points in elementary school because I didn't like to read the books on the required list.

12. My life plan when I was a senior in high school was to become a pediatrician.

13. I went to the University of South Alabama for 2 days and withdrew because it was too far from home and people I knew. Luckily for me Troy State was still on the quarter system and had not started their fall semester. I was able to get in and not miss any time.

14. I have a minor in Communicating with the Hearing Impaired, but was not able to teach MK sign language as a baby.

15. I have trouble makings friends because I did not have to make them when I was little. I have 2 cousins and a brother who are all within 10 months of my age. I had built in friends.

16. I love my job! I have had several jobs that I like, but none were as awesome as my current job. I'm excited about the opportunity to change the lives of kids and families and see it possible with this job more so than ever.

17. If it wasn't for my job, I would consider moving back to Alabama especially since Wesley is gone for such long periods of time.

18. I just saw a Harry Potter commercial that reminded me I have been looking forward to the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter since I found out they were building it over 2 years ago!

19. I want at least one more child, but Wesley doesn't really.

20. Growing up I did not realize we were poor. My Mom is awesome and did what she could to make sure we had all we wanted in addition to what we needed. I never didn't get to participate in something because of being poor.

21. Sitting on Grandma's front porch is one of my favorite past times. I was actually sitting on the porch with several relatives one spring afternoon when a car hit the porch. Grandma lives on Main Street in Opp. An older gentleman was on the way to the hospital because his daughter had been in a wreck. He had a heart attack on the way. He actually died while driving. His car crossed 4 lanes of traffic, jumped the curb and hit the bricks holding up the porch.

22. My first job was at Dairy Queen. I worked there for almost 3 years. I met one of my best friend there. We were inseparable for several years, but lost touch at about 19. She was in my wedding, but we didnt really talk before or after it. Thanks to facebook we've reconnected and talk every day.

23. I wanted an embroidery machine so I could put Madyson's name on everything because I was NEVER able to find my name on personalized items as a kid. Who knew i would like it so much!!

24. I am one of the most tech savvy people at work but at home I am the least! Guess that's what I get for living with nerds!!

25. I've never smoked. I haven't even taken a drag off a cigarette EVER! Most of my friends throughout life have been smokers.

Now it's your turn! If you've read all 25 of my facts, go write your own 25 and leave me a comment so I can come read yours.

I'll do a post about MKs birthday soon!!!

playing catch up

2010-03-16T20:54:00.001-05:00

Why do I wait so long between post? I'm on my computer every night, I just need to hop over here and blog!

I'm a "single" mom for the next few months. Wesley is in Nebraska working for Bonnie Plant Farm. He has worked for this company before. The good part of the job is that when the season is over, he is off until next February. Basically he works from February until August. He hopes to go back to school in his off season.

Madelyn will be two in a month! Where has time gone? It seems like just the other day I was at Michele's with Beth and found out I was pregnant with her. It is amazing how big she is. Her teachers at daycare have told me several times how smart she is. She can count to 15 in English and 10 in Spanish. She can also count to 5 in Chinese when she wants to. She loves to sing. Her favorite songs are ABCs, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Itsy Bitsy Spider and If You're Happy and You Know It. I've been trying for a little over a week to record her singing, but when she sees my phone she quits singing. I finally got her tonight while she was singing in the bath. I'll try to figure out how to get it online.

She is such a ham! She loves having her picture taken and likes to take self portraits. She has her "two year old" moments! They started about 4 months ago throwing tantrums when she didn't get her way. She has gotten pretty good at all out tantrums, laying on the floor kicking her feet, screaming, the whole nine yards. They seemed to get worse the 1st week after Wesley left, but luckily they have improved.

She is such a ham! She loves having her picture taken and is learning to take self portraits. She often holds up my cell phone and says "Cheese". She started taking gymnastics right after the 1st of the year. She seems to enjoy most of it. She doesn't really like the trampoline part, but does it a little longer each week. Every 8 weeks they have an awards night. Brother and Natalie were going to come watch and weren't able to make it. I didn't take the camera because I thought they were coming. I got a few with my phone.

This is her class plus one of the bigger kids getting their ribbons. She was quickly over it and more interested in the balloons.

Thanks to facebook I have reconnected with a best friend from high school. Life had caused us to drift apart, but we are back now! We talk most nights on facebook and are planning to hang out when I go home in April. I'm trying hard to talk her into coming down for a weekend. I think I've talked her into coming for MK's birthday party!!

Team Go Go

2010-02-22T21:00:00.000-06:00

I am so super excited to be a part of this great team!! We had our big fundraiser this past Saturday and let me tell you we have some generous friends! Because of the generosity of our friends, we were able to raise over $10,000 in one night. It was amazing to see how everyone came together in the effort to KICK CANCERS ASS! We are still working to meet our team goal. You can help by clicking on the badge.

This is a picture of the front of a quilt I've made out of tshirts that belonged to a former Team Go Go, Jim "Stroke" Sheffer. His wife donated the shirts about 2 years ago for the auction. The person that was originally going to make the quilt was unable to finish it. I hope to get it finished up in the next month or so and get it to the new owner.

I donated my seamstress services for another quilt. I think it sold for about $200. I haven't priced how much others charge to make tshirt quilts, but will be looking into as I've had several request to make others.

Go donate and help us KICK CANCERS ASS!!

New blogs and Relay for Life

2010-02-11T20:01:00.000-06:00

My Sister and cousin have both started a blog. They started it about 3 days ago and have blogged 3 times each! They are putting me to shame! Go check out their blogs and leave them a comment that I sent you. Let's see how many visitors they can get.

As many of you know I am raising money for the Relay for Life. I am half way there, but need your help. Our Relay event is just over a month away. If you want to help, visit my online donation page. Any amount helps in the fight against cancer. Let's KICK Cancer's ASS!!

Madyson Klaire

2010-02-09T21:14:00.000-06:00

Last week was the 3 year anniversary of Madyson's passing.

I miss and think about her every day. I love to hear MK say her sissy's name. She says, "Maa-son". We have pictures of Maddy up next to the pictures of MK. MK can point at the and tell us who is who. It is so sweet!!

My awesome Mom and Sister sent me flowers at work. It was totally unexpected and appreciated! It made my day a little brighter. Everyone asked what the flowers were for so I got to talk about Maddy. A lot of people are unsure whether they should say anything or ask questions, but honestly I love talking about her. She touched more lives in her short 10 months than most people do in a lifetime!!

About two weeks after Maddy's passing a high school classmate lost her son. He was only 5 months old. Every year as the anniversary of Maddy's death arrives i think of Amy and her family. Davis' death was completely unexpected. He was a healthy baby. I was prepared to deal with Maddy's death, because we had prepared ourselves two different times while she was in the hospital right after birth. Yes it was still emotional. yes it was all of a sudden. yes it was unexpected because she was as healthy as she could be. but we were prepared for her to have a shorter life than normal. hell, the doctors didn't think she would come home with us. We had a wonderful 10 months with her.

As the above scrapbook page says, Madyson and Davis will be FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS.

lots of scrappiness

2010-01-18T09:32:00.001-06:00

I participated in an online crop over at Everything Scrapp'n. It has proved to be a very productive weekend.

The crop is continuing today, so hopefully I'll get a few more pages done. There are a lot of fun challenges and lifts over in the forums. We are also chatting. come by and see us!

December 2009 -- What a whirlwind!

2010-01-04T22:13:00.000-06:00

My sister, who isn't a blogger, said I'm a bad blogger. I think I'm doing much better than I have in the past!

Hope your year ended as well as ours did. It seems we've had a whirlwind of people here in the last 3 weeks. It was great seeing so many people, but I'm glad to have our house back and be back on a regular schedule.

MK got quite confused with all the babies. She is use to seeing Ayden so when Wyatt got here she kept calling him Ayden. When she got use to Wyatt he left and Alaina came for a few days. MK of course called her Wyatt the first several days. She was a super big helper with all the babies.

I tried to get a good picture of MK and Wyatt so Mom would have a picture of the two of them together. The above was the best I could get all weekend. MK wasn't too into sitting still.

We got to enjoy Wyatt's 1st Christmas.

I made his stocking. Isn't is super cute?

MK had a great Christmas. She got a Leapster from Poppa and Grandmother. It's still a little advanced for her, but she's figuring it out quickly. Gaga (she decided she is calling my mom Gaga instead of Grannymomma) got her some pink legos. She loves them and plays with them every day. Santa brought her a stroller, cradle and carrier for her babies. She put her blocks in it and pushes them around.

I got to experience the other side of adoption during the holiday break. Sunii and Dell are now officially apart of their FOREVER FAMILY.

It was interesting to see how other local counties do things. I work in Hillsborough County (Tampa). Sunii and Dell's adoption was through Pinellas County (Clearwater area). In our county, no pictures are allowed until after all the offical stuff is done. In Pinellas, the Judge told everyone who wanted to take pictures to feel free move where ever they needed to in the court room whenever we needed to. I got some great pictures of Bobby and Chrisy being sworn in as well as the Judge signing the order.

At work we are throwing around the idea of challenging our friends to become a mentor for a youth in foster care. Want more information about how you can mentor? Leave me a message and I'll help point you in the right direction.

2009-12-05T10:55:00.000-06:00

Happy Holidays! We are gearing up for a busy December. Wesley family will be here the weekend of Dec 18th. My family will is coming down Christmas Eve and staying through the weekend. Then we have several friends coming down for the New Year. I'm looking forward to getting to see everyone. We did get to go home for Thanksgiving and say a lot of people, but it was too short. The drive just doesn't get any better though!! Boy has little Wyatt grown so much in a month. He looks like an entirely different kid than the one I saw at Halloween.

Wyatt with his Uncle Wesley.

Wyatt's Christmas pictures. Isn't he just adorable!! Pam at Priceless Pix does such a great job. She is the one that did out family pictures back in September. I haven't seen any of her work that I didn't like.

For those that don't know, I am helping raise money for Relay for Life. Anyone that donates at least $10 to me through the online system will get a free koozie from Misty's Kreations. I will put your name, initials or a design of your choice (limited to designs I have). After you donate leave me a comment here or on facebook to let me know what you want on your koozie. Right now my team, Team Go Go, is in 3rd place. Will you help us move to first?!?

Do you like my new background? I got it from Shel's Scrap blog. She has lots of neat designs. There is a link on the right side. Be sure to check out her designs!

I'm sure you also noticed my new header. Isn't it adorable! Christmas was one of the last things we celebrated with Madyson. It's hard to believe it's been almost 3 years without her!

MK is this year wearing the pajamas that Maddy wore for her 1st Christmas. In the pictures in my header, they have on the same dress. It's weird how somethings they wore about the same time then others are a year difference. We have pictures of Maddy up and MK will look at them and say "Maa son" It is too cute to hear her say her sister's name.

I'm hoping to take MK to the beach tomorrow and get some pictures of her in her Christmas dress to use for Christmas cards. She's not being real cooperative with me so far.

I was trying to get her to help me put up the tree but she wanted to show her Daddy the ornaments she found. This was Madyson's ornament from the Batemans, I think. Now I am second guessing myself. Maybe it was MK's ornament. I know it was from the Batemans!!

I'm going to leave you with a big ROLL TIDE! Let's ROLL over those Gators.

a year in review

2009-11-22T12:33:00.002-06:00

Is it really Thanksgiving already? Where has the year gone?

Here is a summary of our year.
Jan
Wesley was living in Brandon, FL with Brother and Gina. MK and I were living in Opp, AL with my Mom while I was looking for a job in the Tampa area. Wesley got laid off from the job he moved to Tampa for.
Cheryl and Justin got married. I was a bridesmaid. Wesley was an usher and MK was just cute!
Feb
Wesley and I celebrated our 4th anniversary. I got a job at Camelot Community Cares, Inc. MK and I moved to Florida with Wesley
Mar
Nothing major sticks out for March! Guess it was a quiet month.
April
MK turns 1!!

Lots of family came to see us and help celebrate MK's birthday. She had a beach party at the beach with a sandcastle birthday cake. She also walked on her own the day after her birthday. She hasn't slowed down yet!!!!
We find out MK will have a cousin later in the year. Lauren and Brandon are expecting.
May
May was again a slow month, nothing sticks out as happening.
June
Wesley parents come visit and we go to a family reunion in Seffner, FL (about an hour from where we live).

I think June is also when Joseph and Jess came to visit, but could be wrong on that. We move into an apartment to try to downsize and safe a little money. Wesley starts his job at Terminix thanks to Lost my Balls. MK starts at Ms. Teenas. She was hesitant at first, but warmed up to it and got to the point she didn't want to leave when I got there to pick her up.
July
Mom, Lauren and Brandon come down for the 4th. We do lots of swimming. We went to the bay to watch the fireworks.

MK and I ride to Alabama with Jenn and Grandma Sally for Sunii's birthday party. It was quick trip, but worth the ride.
Aug
Wesley begins the last year of his 20s with a birthday hash. Brother also celebrates turning 29. I think there was lots of drinking completed in August.

I got tickets to the Judas Priest concert through work.
I start a new position at work. I am now the Adoption Family Finder. I will be helping to build support networks for our teens getting ready to age out of care. I hope to have them a network of family that will be there for them when those of us that are paid to be there are no longer there.
Sept
We rode to Alabama with Aunt Debbie and Uncle John in their RV for the Labor Day holiday. That is definitely the way to go as far as traveling with a little one. we had family pictures taken while in Alabama by Priceless Pix.

We help the Murdocks welcome little Ayden into the world, and boy was he little!
Oct
October was, in it's usual fashion, a crazy month!
I celebrate the big 3-0 with a birthday hash. Okay, it wasn't really for my birthday but the Jolly Rogers H3 celebrated their 500th run on my birthday, so we had a big hashy party! A few days later Ericka also turned 3-0 and her not to be out done husband, Ben, rounded out the week of festivities with his 30th birthday. We co-hared a hash on Ben's birthday. It was lots of fun. Then we went for drinks at one of our favorite bars, Grind House.

I became an Aunt!! Landon Wyatt Behrens joined the world on 10/26 after giving his Mommy lots of labor pains. MK and I went to Alabama to see Wyatt Halloween weekend. It is also Wyatt's Mommy and Daddy's birthday on Halloween. MK was a Tampa Bay Pirate (okay maybe not a Tampa pirate, but cute one none the less!).

Brother becomes a home owner and moves his stuff to his new town home from the apartment.
Nov
We also move to Brother's new townhouse. It is super close to work!! MK starts at Time of Wonder daycare center, aka school.

This is a picture of her first artwork. It is hanging on the fridge!

This is the first time she has been in a center. She seems to like it, but cries when I leave her. The teachers say she is fine when I leave. She was the same way at Teenas. She also catches a cold in the first week she is there, so that adds to the clinginess. We are ending November with a trip to Alabama for Thanksgiving and the Iron Bowl. ROLL TIDE!!
Dec
We will be staying at home for Christmas. Wesley parents are coming down sometime the week before. My family is coming down on Christmas Eve and will stay a few days. Green and Dane (friends from Alabama) are coming down the end of the month and will be here to bring in 2010. Chrisy and crew will also be in town for the new year. Hopefully with Sunii and Dell as a permanent part of their family!

It's AUNT Misty to you....

2009-10-26T20:26:00.001-05:00

I'm officially an AUNT now. Several of my cousin's kids have called me Aunt Misty for a while now, but my sister and brother-in-law welcomed Landon Wyatt into the world at about 430 am. He was 7lbs and 11 oz and 19 in long.

Isn't he adorable??

Here is a picture of him with Mommy and Daddy

Lauren might kill me for the lovely picture, but it's already on facebook!!

We had a pretty busy weekend this past weekend other than Wyatt being born. Saturday morning I had to work a recruitment event for our kids awaiting adoption. It was the 1st recruitment even I had ever worked. It was a bit of chaos, but I think a lot of kids had families express interest in them.

This is a board of kids that are available. Thanks so much Krystina for cutting out 150 or so stars for us to put the kids name and ages on their pictures.

After work I went home and fed MK and got her down for a nap. Too bad she didn't get down until 140. We were suppose to be at a birthday party for Ian at 230 and it was about a 30 min drive. We were late, or did we just arrive in style?! We had a blast hanging out with everyone for Ian's 2nd birthday. His Grandparents bought him an awesome swing set but Mommy couldn't put it together by herself. The whole party revolved around getting it put together. MK and Ian ran around in the backyard while the adults put the swing set together.

They actually played together this time and not just near each other. They were so cute together. Ian can say Madelyn, which is a lot to say for a little one, but he does it wonderfully!

He was giving her a kiss. I missed the actual kiss on the forhead picture, but it was super cute.

I can't resist posting this face

she is SO expressive! I love it!!

Kim had pumpkins for us to carve, but we never got around to that. I did try to get some cute pictures of the kids with the pumpkins (which hearing MK say is adorable. She says "pu kin")

there was a ton more, but I think this post is picture heavy enough!! Stay tuned for pictures of our trip home to see Wyatt!

2009-10-08T20:13:00.000-05:00

I don't think I've posted pictures that we had taken Labor Day weekend, so here are some of my favorite.

New look... again!

2009-09-29T21:07:00.003-05:00

Several of my friends updated their blog backgrounds and inspired me to do the same. October is my favorite month, so I went with the Halloween theme for now. I plan to change it to Thanksgiving in Nov. and Christmas in Dec. We'll see how that works out.

It's been a while since I've given a good update on MK. She is getting way tall and is sassy as ever. I'm dreading the teenage years already!! Wesley was getting on to her the other day for messing with his PS3. She looked at him, rolled her eyes and continued with what she was doing. He was not amused. She has also started throwing tantrums when she hears the word NO.

She is talking non-stop. We can understand about half of it. Some her her favorite words are: Mommy, Daddy, puppy, kitty cat, Kywee (Kylee, who is her best friend ever at daycare), NeyNey (another daycare friend), Coco, Stewie, Stitch (all of which are dogs at daycare). She can tell you what most of her body parts are with a few exceptions, shoulder being one. When you ask her where her shoulder is she just says knee and points to her knees. She has been in a "big girl" bed for about a month. We tried it a few weeks before it actually happened, but she is there for good now. When we tell her it's time for bed, she grabs her bottle (yes she still prefers a bottle and at night we allow it. Actually we probably allow it more than we should during the weekend too, but it makes her happy!) and Ellie and off to her room she goes. She normally wakes up between 1-3 and comes in our room. No crying or hollering, just walks up to me and says up.

For those that don't know, Brother (yes that's what I call him) is buying a house in Tampa. We will be moving with him to continue to try to save money (He lives with us now). The house is about 2.5 miles from my office and at least 15 miles closer to Wesley's office. I'm sad that MK is having to leave Teena's, but it is just an overall wise decision. I know she will really miss Kywee and NeyNey. I'm sure she will miss Ms. Teena too, I know I will!! We are looking at a few centers. MK has always been at a home daycare, but because she is getting older I think a more structured program will be good for her. The specific center I am looking at has a really impressive website. I've also looked at their DCF ratings and they are all good. Brother plans to close on the house no later that Halloween.

Speaking of Halloween, my sister Lauren (or as MK calls her CuCu)is expecting about that time. Her actual due date is Nov. 9th, but I have a feeling little Landon Wyatt will make an appearance on his Mommy AND Daddy's birthday. Yep you read that right, his Mommy AND Daddy share a birthday.

Let me know how you like my changes.... you digging the festive backgrounds? What about the new signature?

August-Smagust

2009-09-11T21:18:00.002-05:00

Since Kristi so nicely pointed out that I skipped blogging in August, I thought it was time to do an update!

We've all been busy as normal. It seems Wesley is working all the time. He works long days and on Saturdays. He seems to be doing a good job and making all his target budgets. I have a new position/title at work. I am now the Adoption Family Finder. Sounds important doesn't it!?! I, along with 7 co-workers, are in a year long training for the Family Finders program. The training is 2 days a month for a year. It is so interesting and rewarding. We have only had 2 days of training, but have already done some amazing connecting. The purpose of the program is to develop a support network for kids in foster care that are getting ready to age out of the system. A lot of times the families believe that the children were adopted years ago. They have no idea that the kids are growing up in the system. I have also been helping fix data in our "wonderful" computer system that was just updated. Lots and lots of data did not convert like it should have, effecting payment for kids that were previously adopted as well as those in the process. I am not the FSFN (our computer system) guru.

MK is getting way to big. She is talking up a storm and saying anything she hears. Time to be more aware of what we say! She is again in a big girl bed. We tried it a few weeks ago, but her bed ended up back as a crib because she would not stay in it during nap time on the weekend. She really does great going to bed at night. We can tell her it is time to go night night with Ellie (her doll) and she goes to her room. She still needs help getting in but stays in it and goes to sleep. She usually wakes up in the middle of the night and ends up in our bed. The other night at about 130, I wake up (not sure why) and hear pages of a book turning. I look down and MK is in our room "reading" my book that I had on the night stand. To make it even cuter, she had on her glasses while she was reading. I'm not sure how long she had been up or when she came into our room!! It was too cute.

Blog with pictures to come .... soon.... ish?

Where did August go?

2009-08-22T18:46:00.002-05:00

Wow! Has it really been over a month since I did a blog entry?

I've been working on (with lots and lots of help from Chrisy) the Misty's Kreation website. Chrisy has a few other things preoccupying her time, so it is a slow process. She has just learned how to start at home dialysis, so she has been unable to work on the website. She's doing it all voluntarily so I'll take it as she can get it. Her little one start Kindergarden next week so she has also been getting ready for that. I have a feeling once school starts back she will have a little more free time during the day, so we can get the site up.

here are a few things I've done recently:

Backpack for Sunii. She is all excited about starting school!

Onesie I made for a coworker's little girl. I can't wait to see her in it. I got the idea from an outfit Alaina wore to Lauren's reception. Here is the original outfit

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think about my version.

Bib and matching onesie I did for my cousin Michael's new baby.

I've been working on an order for hasher friend over in Cocoa Beach. I'm excited about it. I will get pictures of it once the entire order is complete. I can't wait to see it on the models she is buying it for. The order includes a new item, Big Brother/Little Sister shirts. They have turned out super cute. I hope to do many more of them!

If you are on facebook, be sure to become a fan of Misty's Kreations. We are over 100 and growing daily.

The next time I will update you on what's been happening in our lives besides Misty's Kreations!

Welcome July!

2009-07-06T22:32:00.002-05:00

My Mom, sister and Brother-in-law came to visit for the long 4th of July weekend. We had lots of fun in the sun. Friday we had a low key day, hung out at the house and pool. Brother treated us to dinner at Rumba, a local island-style restaurant. It was yummy food.

MK enjoying a lemon while waiting on dinner. She is by far an entertainer!! Don't you just love that facial expression?!?

Saturday was our busiest day. We went to Paige's to swim with our friends. The pool at Paige's apartment is great.

My kid loves some water. She did take a break long enough to pause for a picture with me. She loves pictures too so it wasn't hard to convince her to sit still for it.

After the pool, we all changed clothes and headed to Victoria's (for those not familiar with Vic, she is Brother's new lady friend) house for some family fun time with her family. There was great food. MK had a good time barking back at the dog. The dog did not enjoy it so much and actually jumped at her twice. Luckily Vic came in and saved the day. We then went to Bayshore Drive to watch the fireworks over the bay. You could see fireworks in all directions around the bay. The main display was done several miles away at Channelside. We couldn't hear the fireworks, and I kept getting side tracked and not watching. I think I need the noise to keep me engaged.

Sunday we were going to the beach for some family pictures, but were too wore out and didn't make it. We did hang out at the pool at our apartment complex again.

I'll leave you with some digital scrap pages I did tonight from this weekend.

I hope to get some more pictures from this weekend done tomorrow.

until next time.....

Changes Everywhere

2009-06-29T15:32:00.002-05:00

MK has been experiences lots of changes lately. As I said in my last post, she started daycare a few weeks ago. She doesn't get a bottle at daycare, only a sippy cup. She is doing fine with that as she has been semi-using a sippy cup since she was about 6 months old. Ms. Teena says she sometimes starts to get upset when she sees some of the younger kids bottles, but is fine as soon as she gets her cup.

We've also started taking her to the potty. She is doing pretty good with this too. She pees in the potty at least 2 times a day and some days more. I usually take her 1st thing in the morning and she goes. I'll then take her a few times at night. She pees just about every time I put her on it. I think she understands that she is suppose to pee when she sits on it, but does not understand when she has to pee. She'll get there!!

MK has also slept in her bed all night the majority of the time since we've moved. I think she has ended up in the bed with Wesley and I 3 nights. This is huge. Prior to moving she was waking up between 1-3 and not settling down until we put her in the bed with us. Because it was the middle of the night, we honestly didn't try to hard. It was just easier to put her in the bed with us. This way we all got sleep.

We've been enjoying the pool at the apartment complex too. We've been the last several days. Yesterday Kim brought Ian over and Krystina brought Vaughn and Kyra over to swim with us. We got a few pictures, but of course they are on the laptop and I'm using the desktop. If you're my facebook friend I've uploaded them there.

2009-06-13T21:47:00.002-05:00

We are a two income family again! yay!! Thanks to a hasher friend, Lost My Balls (aka Doctor, aka Dad, aka Richard-- this is the name his Mom gave him!) Wesley starts at Terminex on Monday. He went for an interview Friday afternoon and got the job. I had taken the day off to stay with MK while he went to the interview. He called me about 1215 and told me to start looking for day cares. I got on the internet and began looking. I called a center in Dunedin, but really wanted a home daycare. I kept looking. I stumbled on Kathy's daycare website and blog. She is a scrapper and had lots of cute pictures of her kids scrapped. I called to see if she had any openings, but unfortunately she did not. She gave me Teena's number, who I immediately called. Luckily she had an opening. She gave me her blog address (you can also find a link on the side) and I went to check it out. She is also a scrapper and had lots and lots of cute pages of her kids that she had scrapped. We set up an appointment for Saturday afternoon. Wesley, MK and I headed over to her house this afternoon. MK loved it there. She has several dogs, which we all know MK loves dogs! Wesley and I also were very impressed. MK starts Monday!

Wesley's parents are in town for a family reunion. They arrived Friday about dinner. They treated us to a yummy meal at Smokey Bones. After dinner we met up with Brother, Victoria, Ben and Ericka. MK spent the night with Poppa and Grandmother in the hotel. We just hung out at the house listening to Ben and Brother reminisce about their Marine days. They are too funny!! At midnight the geeks that we are, we all jumped on facebook to sign up for our usernames. If you aren't my facebook friend, you can find me here .

This morning we got to sleep in til 930ish. MK is a good sleeper and likes to sleep in but it was good to not have to worry about her waking up and trying to escape the bed. Our bed is really high and she tries to get out and either gets stuck or falls, so we have to watch her. We met up with Wesley's parents and got some breakfast at IHOP then headed to Sam's for some groceries. Then it was time to go meet Ms. Teena. After that we had dinner at home.

Tomorrow we are headed to Sefner for the family reunion. Check back for pictures.

Misty

Family, Friend and Sun

2009-06-07T20:28:00.003-05:00

We had a pretty busy weekend. Saturday started bright and early with Sunii's graduation from pre-school at 9:30. I didn't get any pictures, but I will steal some from Chrisy or Jenn. Beth, Chrisy and Tot came down for the graduation and to pack up Sunii and Dell for the move to Pensacola. Yep, that's right they are officially placed at Chrisy's house now! YAY!! If everything goes as it should, they will be Youngs in the next 90 days. How exciting seeing my job from the opposite side. After graduation we grabbed a quick bite to eat at the Lucky Dill Deli. It was yummy, but we should have skipped it. Wesley, MK and I left breakfast and headed to Ben and Ericka's baby shower.

The proud parents-to-be opening gifts from the wonderful friends.

The diaper cake I previously posted was for them. Ericka was super surprised and loved it! There was a ton of food at the shower, thus we should have skipped breakfast!! We had a lot of fun hanging out with everyone and talking baby. Wesley and I both won prized in the various games. I got the most number of baby foods right by just looking at them. Wesley won the trivia game. MK had a blast running around every where. Ian was there and she kept saying "E AN" it was really cute. Later in the day MK was in her stroller and dropped the whistle she was playing with. Ian came over and picked it up for her. They are too cute together.

MK taking a break to read during the shower.

After the shower, we headed back to Jenn and Dave's to help them get all the kids stuff together and in Chrisy's car for the move to Pensacola. Jenn swears she is excited and not going to miss the kids. I on the other hand think she will miss them greatly. She made a good point by saying that if they were going to someone she didn't know it would be different. Now she will get to see them regularly and be the "cool" aunt! What a great payoff for all the years she dedicated to them.

Sunday started out as a lazy day, but ended with fun in the sun. MK and I accompanied by Victoria went to the the beach. Victoria brought a picnic lunch and we enjoyed the afternoon at the beach. Of course we took lots of pictures.

Look at that hair! she wouldn't keep a hat on so I greased her head up with sunblock.

Chasing sea gulls. She likes it when the birds get close to her. She would chase them around for a while, then come up to me and Vic and say "Hi" the go off again after the birds. She is so darn cute!

sooner than promised

2009-06-02T19:36:00.002-05:00

I think its safe to post these here, because I don't think Ben or Ericka read my blog. Let's hope not, I don't want to ruin the surprise!!

Diaper cake -- front view

Diaper Cake -- side view

Altered Picture frame for Ayden's 1st hash picture!

I hope they like them both!! I think they turned out cute.

Misty

I'm a Crafty Mother.......

2009-05-31T19:23:00.002-05:00

Yep that's right. This weekend I have been super crafty. I have some pictures to share, but other projects aren't yet done. I'll share them sometime next week.

This is from Memorial Day. MK and I went to our friend Paige's apartment complex for a BBQ and afternoon of swimming. Kim and Ian were also there. MK and Ian have seen each other a couple times before, but never really interacted.

here's another one from that day of them playing.

Me and MK in the pool. We had a great time with great friends. We are so lucky to have found a great group of friends so quickly! We really gotta thank Brother and/or Gina for introducing us to such a wonderful group.

I'm also working on a diaper cake for a shower next weekend. It is the best one I've made so far, if I do say so myself! I altered some embellishments to put on it, but had to let them dry. I'll get some good pictures and get them posted after the shower. I also altered a picture frame for the shower. Again, I'll post pictures after the shower, don't want to ruin the surprise!! I hope to get some embroidery done this week too.

fun crazy weekend

2009-05-17T18:42:00.004-05:00

The weekend was fun and full of craziness!! Friday I took the day off so Wesley could go take a test with Verizon for a possible job. He passed all the test and is waiting to hear from them for an interview. Unfortunately it is only part time, so it might not be financially smart for him to take it. We'll have to see.

Saturday morning we didn't do much, but the fun began just after lunch. Wesley left about 1 to go meet Gina to scout trail for the Hash , as they were the hares. I got MK's stuff ready and took her to Jenn and Dave's for the night.

Isn't the bow in her hair adorable?! Her hair is finally getting long enough to hold a bow without a headband. Yay!

I then headed over to Beer Belly's for the hash. I was early because traffic was not too bad. Lucky for me, Paige and Lori were also early. We got to see "The Son" and laugh at him. It was a homeless man that told us he was the son. He also told us he was black on the inside and white on the outside. Paige gave him $.50 and he was on his way after a brief time to talk to the voice in his head.

Paige, me and Lori in our Derby outfits for the Derby Hash

The hares (Wesley and Gina) finally arrived and the hash was underway.

Blessing of the hares.

After the extremely long trail, which caused me a HUGE blister on the ball of my foot before half way, we headed to the on-after at Beer Belly's. There was hashy karaoke, beer, food and fun. My friend from work, David and his friend, Jason, met up with us. I hope they were entertained... but I'll never know because he is too nice to say otherwise! Awesome Stephanie joined us after she left the derby (we didn't make it to the derby).

Steph was excited to hang out with derby girls, so we headed over to the derby after party at Tally Ho's. It got a bit awkward here, because Gina was with us, and Brother and Vic were there. Not such a good combo...ex girlfriend and new interest at the same bar. There was fun times, as Gina and Steph leg wrestled! We headed home about 130 am! It's been a long time since we stayed out that late. I enjoyed my ride on the crazy train, but prefer a boat so I can jump off into the deep end if I prefer!!!

Today, Wesley and I both woke up extremely sore, due to the long trail (have I mentioned how long it was??). I went and go MK from Jenn and Dave's. She did okay for her first time away from home for the night (well she has stayed at grandparent's before, but she was a lot smaller and doesn't remember it, not that she will remember this either!!). Jenn said MK preferred Dave over her and that she was a bit whiny for a good bit of the time. I'm sure it will get better the more she does it. We then went to have lunch with Jess and Joseph, who were in town from Alabama. Lunch was great and with great company!

This afternoon MK decided she really likes the kitchen. She has figured out how to get under our kitchen chair barricade.

She saw me coming with the camera and stopped, but she was headed under the chairs!

This is what she wanted to do when she got there!! She loves her sunglasses, and as you can see wears them all the time. This is her play pair, she also has a pair we keep in the car.

Hope you enjoyed hearing about our weekend as much as we enjoyed it!

2009-05-12T19:32:00.002-05:00

Did you know that I have the stinkin cutest little girl ever? Well, most of the time that is! She is learning so many new things everyday. Tonight while she was in the bath tub, she was 'swimming'. It was a bubble bath and she kept putting her face in the bubbles. She would come up out of the water with a bubble beard and mustache. it was too cute. After her bath we went to her room to get her pajamas. She was in just a towel. As soon as she hit the floor so I could get her pajamas out of the drawer, she took off to her toy box. She doesn't play in her room too often because it is upstairs and we stay down. She has toys in both places, but plays with the toys in her room less often. She kept pulling different dolls out of the toy box and looking at them. She would then hug them and put them back in the toy box. It was soo cute! She has two Raggedy Ann dolls, one as big as her and one little one. She found the little one 1st and looked it over. She then spotted the bigger one and kept looking from one to the other. I could tell she was comparing them. It was awesome watching her.

I've got some embroidering done recently. I have uploaded them to facebook. You can see them here I hope to get some more done tonight if MK will ever settle down and go to sleep. She is being clingy and wanting me to lay down with her, so I will end for now!

a quick hello

2009-05-05T21:15:00.002-05:00

before I head to bed. MK is still up (it's 1015!!) but luckily she's not ill or screaming. she gets restless when she is tired and fighting sleep. If we put her to bed we would endure screaming at the top of her lungs for extended periods of time. some nights she is good about going to bed in her bed, but others.. not so much!

We've decided she is going to be a girly girl. She got a purse for her birthday with lots of girly things in it, like money, lipstick and keys. she loves it and plays with it ALL the time. Today she got her diaper bag, which she emptied yesterday, and took it in the living room with the rest of her toys. She keeps getting it and throwing it over her shoulders and walking around with it. It is too cute. I'll try to get a picture of her doing it tomorrow. She also loves all technology. She loves 'talking' on the cell phone and playing with her daddy's game controllers.

She is crawling in my lap and started to get ill, so we are headed to bed!!

Fun with Photos thanks to Chez!

2009-04-30T22:15:00.002-05:00

When I was blog reading the last few days, Chez (I was totally going to link her blog, but i keep getting a 404 error) had posted about a site called Picnik where she edited and played with photos online. I had totally planed to scrapblog tonight, but that site wasn't cooperating with me. I decided to check out this other site. It is pretty simple to use and is very forgiving if you do something you don't like. Here is some pictures I edited

The last two are the same picture, as you can tell, I just did different stuff with them!

New look...

2009-04-27T22:32:00.002-05:00

I have a new look. Do you like it? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

2009-04-25T18:37:00.002-05:00

Yay for loyal readers who stick around after months and months of no blogs!

Last weekend we had Madelyn's 1st birthday party.

she had a big turn out and got lots and lots of clothes. Her party was at the beach, so she had a sand castle cake.

She really enjoyed it. The best part is that it was gluten free! My cousing Chandler was recently diagnoised with Celiac Disease and can't have gluten. While looking for a cake for MK, I found a local place that made gluten free cakes. It tasted good. Everyone reported that the strawberry was the best. It has half strawberry and half chocolate.

Here is MK eating the middle tower.

I've finally working at work. The first 8 weeks I was in training. I have 1 case with 5 kids. I look forward to learning all the adoption specific forms and finalizing my first (2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th) adoptions soon!

Here's to new blog beginning.....

2009-04-13T21:08:00.002-05:00

Or so I hope! It has been a really long time, longer than I have ever went between blogs. I have got a new job, moved to a new state and had lots of changes since my last blog. I'll try to summarize. I'm not sure what I last blogged because it's been sooo long. Wesley got a job in Tampa in November. I began looking for a job, and finally found one in Feburary. MK and I moved down the weekend before I started my job. I have returned to the world of child welfare as an adoption care manager. The state of Florida requires 8 weeks of training, which I will be finished with on Wednesday! Finally!! I think I will like my job, but it's hard to tell since I haven't done it yet.

We are super close to the beach, which is a great plus. I was going to put a really cute picture here, but the internet is being a tard. So go to my facebook to see them! I always update them there.

Mk is turning one in 2 days... where did the year go? It seems like just yesterday that I was getting ready to have her. She is so much fun right now. She learns something new every day. She is so close to walking, but won't let go. I've been told by several people they think she is going to do it on her birthday...which is highly possible.

That's our breif update. I am pledging to blog at least once a week now that life seems to have gotten settled. So check back often.

2009-01-19T10:53:00.003-06:00

What a horrible blogger I've become!! Just when I was doing semi-regular updates I go and not post for 2 months. Hopefully when we get moved and settled into our new routine blogging will become part of it. MK is screaming for me... I'll try to get back and do a real update later.

Where to start....??

2008-11-17T18:42:00.003-06:00

Lots of life changes since I've last blogged.

I'll start with Madelyn cause she's the cutest!!

She was a monkey at Halloween. We went to a few neighborhood houses and to a few friend's house. She slept a good portion of the time!! Here is she is as we got to the Bateman's

This is a picture of her with her Daddy and Big Poppa at Uncle Johnathan's last home football game.

She is getting so big and growning up so fast! She has been rolling over and going where ever she wanted to by rolling. She has in the last few days started getting up on her hands and knees. She was rocking a little bit on Saturday while we were watching football at the Bateman's. I videoed it so Wesley could see it.

[Upload your own video]

On to updates about Wesley and I. Wesley has gotten and started a new job. He now works at Gorilla Games in Oldsmar, Florida. This is in the Tampa area. He has been there for a week and seems to like it alot. He is staying with my Brother and Gina.

This brings us to me... I am in the process of moving to Opp to my Mom's. Most of my stuff is already in a storage shed in Opp. I am staying at Lauren's this week in Troy. It is Madelyn's last week at daycare. I'm a little sad cause she really like's Lynn's, but Beth is going to keep her for us. We will save a ton of money by me moving to Opp. It's about the same distance as far as going to work.

I am in the process of looking for a job in the Tampa area. The game plan is for me and Madelyn to move right after the 1st of the year. We are going to Tampa for Thanksgiving and then Wesley will be home for Christmas. His sister is getting married on the 10th of Jan so he'll stay in Alabama from Christmas until then. Hopefully I'll have a job lined up then and we'll be headed that way.

More Digital stuff

2008-10-15T22:00:00.003-05:00

So I'm teaching myself to use photoshop to scrap. it's actually pretty easy. I've gotten several LOs done in the last few nights.

That LO is for a challenge over at Chaos Lounge. It was to use all the elements of the kit in a LO. It's only my second LO using photoshop. I think it turned out pretty darn cute.

Here is the first one I did. I'm going to print it an let MK take it to Lynn for Halloween.

It was also using freebies. I'm not sure where I got them from. I was blog surfing and following links from other pages. I started out over on Kristin's blog, Digi Delights and bounced to several others. I'll research tomorrow and find out where it came from so I can give credit.

Leave some love and let me know you stopped by!

Birthday fun

2008-10-12T21:02:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday to ME! Last Friday was my birthday. It was a great day. Wesley had lots of surprises for me. He sent me white and yellow gerber daises at work. Then he told me we were going to eat. When we got to the restaurant, most of the mafia (for those that are confused, our group of friends is often referred to as the mafia because at Madyson's funeral they looked like the mafia walking up to Grandma's house) was there. I took the Monday before off to spend the day with my Mom and sister. Me and Lauren both had our hair highlighted. I think you can see it in some of the pictures I'm about to post below. Then we went and got Mom's tag for her new car. Next we headed to Montgomery to get Madelyn's 6 month pictures take. Hopefully I'll have a link to post to the previews soon.

Saturday I drove to Auburn (I know... what was I thinking going to Auburn!) to meet Deah! This is the second birthday in a row that I've got some whore time in.

Deah, Madelyn and Me before heading over to the Tiger Walk. Thanks Brandon for being out photographer!

This was Deah's first college football experience. It was crazy to me that she had never been to a college football game. I also learned that college football isn't such a big deal out of SEC territory. Even if it was Auburn, it was a fun atmosphere. Thanks to Deah's husband and the rest of the group for letting us hang out with you pregame.

This is how excited Madelyn was to be at an Auburn game!! haha she is a Roll Tide baby all the way.

After we left campus, Me and Madelyn headed over to see Emily, who I worked with when I worked at Lee County DHR. We had a good visit with her then headed home. Madelyn is pretty good on trips. She slept most of the way there and home.

Congrats to my hubby, the new college graduate!

2008-10-04T22:49:00.003-05:00

Well, the almost college graduate. He finishes up all his school work tomorrow with graduation and a diploma shortly to follow! As many of you know, he's been looking at different game companies he wants to work at. He went to Austin a few weeks back to a game developers conference to do some networking. He didn't really get many leads, but had a great time and did make some contacts in the industry. My Brother knows a programmer for a company in Tampa. Wesley has been talking to someone at that company. So at this moment, Tampa is looking the most promising.

There are the two loves of my life. We were at Charles Henderson High School's homecoming. Wesley's brother plays football for them. MK loves going places.

Mk got her ears pierced about a week ago! She was such a big girl. She barely cried. One of the home health nurses that I work with also owns a jewelry store. She brought the gun to work and did them in my office.

Aunt Lulu went with us to be the photographer and to take MK back to daycare after she got her ears pierced. I had to stay at work! (boo!!)

It seems I have absolutely no luck when it comes to computers. A few months ago, our external hard drive crashed. The week Wesley was gone to Austin for his game developers conference my desk top freaked out. I was cleaning that room and bumped the plug. It won't reboot. I do have the laptop that I can use, but it is old, slow and huge. It is a 17 inch monitor and I hate using it.

Madelyn is getting to be such a big girl. She can now hold her bottle by herself on a regular basis. That is when she wants to! She is starting to sit up on her own. She still needs a little help with that, but it won't be long when she won't need help. She loves to get the spoon when we are feeding her and "feed" herself.

She is also starting to scoot around a little. She's just starting this, but it won't be long before she will be able to go wherever she wants to.

2008-09-25T20:07:00.004-05:00

So my blog surfing has paid off. I won a give-a-way at Blush and Bashful Baby. You should go check them out. They have tons of cute bibs and burp cloths.

Look at this adorable face

Madelyn has started making this ducky looking face. It is so cute. I was able to get her picture while her Daddy was feeding her.

Isn't she the cutest baby you've ever seen?!?!

Here are some more layouts I've done

2008-09-21T14:56:00.002-05:00

I've done a little creating! yay for that.

Madelyn is growing so fast. Can you believe she is already 5 months old? She finds something new every day to amuse her. Some days it's her toes, other her fingers. She is so much fun to watch and play with.

She is a Daddy's girl. Wesley was gone to Austin last week for school and was missed by his little girl. She woke up about 11 on Thursday night when he got home. As soon as she saw him her face lit up. I handed her over to him and went back to bed. He said she stayed up talking to him for a while.

What are you reading?

2008-09-12T17:13:00.002-05:00

I'm currently re-reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in preparation for the new movie. Unfortunately the movie release has been pushed back, but hey, that just gives me more time to get the book read! I'll probably have a Harry movie party prior to the release.

Some exciting fun to keep you busy while you wait for the new movie, have a 10 year anniversary party for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Can you believe it's been 10 years since the 1st book was released? In honor of the the anniversary, Scholastic has some great prizes they are offering through Momdot.com Here's what you could win if you go check them out....
One (1) Grand Prize (retail value $195)

* Complete Box Set Books #1 - #7
* Copy of the 10th Anniversary Edition of ‘Sorcerer’s Stone’
* Collectible Harry Potter Gold Pin

Four (4) Runners Up (Retail Value $30 a piece)

* Copy of the 10th Anniversary Edition of ‘Sorcerer’s Stone’
* Collectible Harry Potter Gold Pin

Harry Potter rocks!!

blog surfing and babies

2008-09-09T21:56:00.004-05:00

I've been doing a lot of blog surfing lately. Did you realize how many blogs have give-aways? I sure didn't. I'll add some links tomorrow (they are book marked on my work computer so I can read them at lunch...don't tell!). I have added some of them to the places I go links on the right side.....toward the bottom, go see.

I don't think I blogged about it, but we went to Denim (maybe that is spelt right) Springs, LA the weekend the Hurricane Gustav hit Baton Rouge. We drove down with Wesley's parents on Saturday, went to his aunt's wedding and drove back Sunday. We got in the evacuation traffic on the way home. What was about a 5.5 hour drive on the way down was a 10ish hour drive on the way home. Luckily MK doesn't mind riding in the car. She was great the entire trip!

That's her on the way to he wedding. I was trying to get a good picture of her bracelet. She likes to wear it and doesn't mess with it when I put it on her.

Me and Madelyn waiting for the wedding to get started.

We went to Opp to Grandma's on Labor day to eat some yummy ribs and stuff. We finally were able to get Madelyn and Kylee together for pictures. Kylee is about a month older than MK.

Wesley always tells MK before we go to Opp ,"Don't let Kylee eat you".

She really tried to eat her arm! I'm sure it's because she like MK puts EVERY thing in her mouth, but it was really funny.

It looks like Madelyn is trying to get away from Kylee. Really when she rolled over she was just that far away from her. It was great fun and we still laugh when we see it.

Here is a better picture of Kylee in all her chubbiness! Just a side note, both girls went to the doctor yesterday for separate reasons. MK weighs 15.7 and Kylee weighs 21.3

busy busy busy

2008-09-08T12:54:00.002-05:00

It seems like forever since I've blogged. I was trying to do it so I could add some new pics of MK, but they are on the other computer. Maybe I'll add some soon.

I've been blog surfing a lot lately and found an awesome site that tells you all about give aways, discounts etc. You should check them out too. You can find them here.

MK is getting soo super big! She is 100% teething with drool EVERY where. She is constantly chewing on her hands and anything else she can get a hold of. She loves food and has even started grabbing the spoon when I'm feeding her and "helping" me get it to her mouth. She is so much fun.

I have recently learned that anyone can see my facebook pictures...even if you don't have a facebook account. Go here to see them.

Maybe she'll read this soon.. Happy birthday MJ!! Hope you are enjoying your trip. Can't wait to hear all about it!

Free Stuff

2008-08-29T13:37:00.002-05:00

Over at Girly Do's blog there is some free stuffy stuff. This is a great blog for unique hairstyles for little girls. I can't wait for MK to get enough hair that I can try out some of these 'dos. Go leave her a comment and you might win a prize. Be sure to let her know I sent you cause then I might get another prize!!

Carrots, Pears and Cereal

2008-08-20T21:50:00.005-05:00

Madelyn went to the pediatrician last Friday for her 4 month check up. She did really well considering she got 4 shots and had to drink a 5th vaccine. Dr. Z said to start introducing her to stage 1 baby foods. We had already started cereal. Friday night we started food. I'm not sure why, but I gave her carrots.

She wore it, but loved it! I also give her cereal too. Right now she is just eating at super time. I don't think it will be too long before we add breakfast.

Monday night I introduced pears. She was not crazy about them at all. She would turn her head and poke her lips out when I tried to give her a bite. She did eat the cereal. Tuesday night I tried pears again (Dr. Z said only introduce a new food every 3 days). It went much better Tuesday night. She ate them like she did the carrots. I'm not sure what we'll try next, but I'm sure it will be messy!!

Madelyn's Uncle Johnathan is playing high school football. I made her a "jersey" out of one of her onesies. I haven't' taken a picture yet, but will Friday while she is wearing it.

Here's a cute picture to leave you with:

hope those pictures aren't too big! I normally use imageshack to host pictures but it was being dumb so I used photobucket and am not sure it worked!!

pretty stuff`

2008-08-14T21:26:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Deah (visit her on the side link cause I'm too lazy to make her name a link!) I got an awesome new header to make my blog more me! I love the site and think I might start MK a digital scrap book using the site I made the header with. Deah pointed me in the right direction and now I'll point you.. visit scrapblog to see what you can make! look back for more creations.

2008-08-12T12:28:00.002-05:00

I've come to the realization that I suck at blogging. I have also made it my goal to blog once a week, which will never happen, but it's a goal.

Our external hard drive crashed over the weekend. All of Wesley's school stuff from the last year was on it, including all the stuff for his portfolio that he needs to have ready to show to people in just over a month. All our pictures were also on it. The most important ones are of Madyson. The rest can be replaced if need be. A little less important but all my embroidery files were also on there. Luckily most of them were free designs I had downloaded and can get again. Frankie and I had just recently shared designs, so she has most of them.

Wesley's Dad thinks the drive can be saved. He has ordered a piece to see. It should be here by the end of the week, so we'll know something this weekend, we hope!

I have entered Madelyn in a photo contest. Go here to vote for her. Voting is through Thursday. Vote daily, the baby with the most votes wins! If she wins this round there will be a final round the last week of the month. I'll post another link to it when voting starts.

wow i need to blog!

2008-08-06T16:10:00.000-05:00

I'll try to do that later tonight!

Swimming and Embroidery

2008-07-22T21:33:00.002-05:00

Not too much happening here, but I'm trying to blog more. Madelyn and I went swimming her Aunt Cheryl Sunday. Madelyn had a great time. She kicked and splashed for quite some time. I then held her on her stomach like she was swimming. She held her head up like the big girl she is already become.

Isn't she just the cutest ever?!?!

I've gotten some embroidery done. I have actually bought some appliqué fonts and started do that some.

A burp cloth I made for Emma. The E is appliqué and her name is just embroidered. I downloaded the name from Free Name Library . They have every name you can imagine spelt anyway you can think of. The best part, it's free!!

I made the burp cloth and appliquéd/embroidered it. Ignore the mess around it. That is my scrap table that I can't seem to find cause stuff keeps getting piled on top of it.

July so far

2008-07-17T18:10:00.002-05:00

July's been a pretty busy month. We kicked it off at the beach. Thanks to our wonderful host, the Youngs. Company was great, food was better!! We left home early Friday morning so that we were there in time to see the fireworks show that evening. They live in just the right place so we were able to see Pensacola Beach fireworks and Santa Rosa (I think that was the second place) show. We were surrounded by fireworks! It was lots of fun.

That's Madelyn watching the fireworks show. Her Grandmother made the flag dress for her. She didn't really care about the fireworks, she actually went to sleep not long after the picture.

Saturday we headed to the beach. The water was a bit cool, so we didn't let Madelyn get in. She slept in her stroller on the beach. Rio doesn't do the beach but had to go, so he sat up with Madelyn. Blake and Chandler went with us as well. Chandler really enjoyed the water once he let go of the death grip he had on his daddy.

If you look you can see Chandler waving at Wesley.

While we were swimming Wesley and Tot saw a fin. Their first thought was shark, turned out it was dolphins. We watched for a while and saw several. Further out than the first ones we saw some jumping. It was neat to watch.

We came home Sunday and had a good relaxing trip!!

I've gotten quite a bit of embroidery done. I have to change computers to upload pictures of my stuff. If you have myspace check out the pictures there. Misty's Myspace (you have to be my friend to see my pictures, so if you arent my friend send me a request!!) I'll try to get pictures uploaded later tonight or tomorrow.

Madelyn has begun making lots of noises and responding with sounds when we talk to her. It is the cutest sound ever!! I'm going to try to remember to video it next time.

it's a long one

2008-07-09T21:02:00.002-05:00

I've been meaning to blog for quite sometime now, but every time I thought about it I wasn't where I could upload pictures and boy do I have some pictures.

Since my last blog Brother and Gina came to visit for our class reunion. Yes my Brother and I graduated together. No we are not twins. I am only 10 months older and my birthday was late so I had to wait to start. We also graduated with 3 1st cousins. Brother and Gina got in on Thursday night. We went out to eat then hung out for a little bit. I had to work Friday so we didn't get to hang out too long. Brother and Gina, with the help of Lauren, kept Madelyn Friday.

That is Brother givin MK what I'm sure is great advice!

Friday night we ate spaghetti at Grandma's then headed back to Troy for some fun times at the Double Branch (a local bar for you whores that didn't know).

The first pictures are the girls. I'm not sure of the order cause I'm not looking at the picture, but Me, Jess, Gina and Nickie. The second is the guys, again not so sure of the order Brother, Joseph, Wesley, Geoffry and Blake.

Saturday we headed back to Opp to get ready for the reunion. I was on the planning committee and Brother was our class President. I don't have many pictures from the picnic cause I had to empty my memory card on Brother's laptop and he hasn't sent them to me yet.

The planning committee... Kerri, Amy, Me and Allison. None of which were class officers!!

Classmates that attended the evening event.

We had a great time. It was good catching up with old friends. We've mostly reconnected via mypsace or facebook so hopefully the next 10 years won't be so out of touch.

We also went to the beach/the Young's house (my cousin) for the 4th. I'll blog about it later.

I'll leave you with a picture of Madelyn Kate and her cute little smile that lights up her entire face, and mine!!

2008-06-12T22:07:00.002-05:00

work is almost back to normal. I'm not sure I know what normal is because we have been short a worker or had other crazy stuff going on since I moved to the waiver program. I hear it should be better by August.

Wesley is getting close to graduation and looking at jobs. We know he won't be able to get one in Alabama, so we are prepared to move. At the moment he is thinking the Austin area. None of my whores are there but I think I could survive. Raquel is only about 4 hours from Austin in Dallas.

Madelyn attended her first wedding last weekend. She slept through the entire thing, which was fine with me cause it meant she didn't cry.

The first picture from l to r Grandma, Mom with Madelyn and Me. The second of course, Me and MK. My aunt Glenda also attended but she was the photographer.

Madelyn also started laughing and smiling over the last week or so. She really reacts to her Daddy.

This is one of my favorite pictures of her. She was laughing at the camera flash.

We've got several new pictures of Madelyn. I'll try to get them upload to flickr this weekend. I'll post a link when I get them up.

I'm a comment whore and need some love, so if you are reading this be sure to leave a comment and let me know, Please!!

2008-06-06T21:27:00.002-05:00

I've been back at work 2 weeks. It is the same ole stuff. I thought I was going to have an easy time just doing paperwork, boy was I wrong. There is something in the water around here. Our clients are all going completely crazy. Paperwork that should have taken me 2 days took me over a week because my phone rang off the hook.

I have a few more cute Madelyn pictures to share.

We tried the whole swimming thing again. She slept the entire time again. Wesley tried putting her in the pool to wake her up, but she just screamed her head off. We put her back in her play pen, where she slept the entire day.

Wesley took this one sometime this week while I was at work (he picks her up in the afternoons). I think she really looks like her big sister in it. Here is the one of Madyson I think the one of Madelyn looks so much like...

what do you think?

back to work

2008-05-26T20:52:00.003-05:00

Has it really been 6 weeks? It sure doesn't seem like it, but tomorrow Madelyn will be 6 weeks old and I have to go back to work. I'll miss the lazy days at home with little to do besides hang out with Madelyn (with a little house work thrown in there). It'll be good to get back to a regular routine. Wesley is on vacation this week to keep Madelyn, then the next week she'll stay with her Grandmother.

Madelyn hanging out in the shade at the Schofield Family reunion on Saturday

Madelyn (in her bathing suit) sleeping in her stroller at Big Poppa's birthday dinner. The pool was waay too cold for her.

Yesterday day Wesley, Madelyn and I had a lazy day at home. None of us got out of our PJs. We watched Gone Baby Gone, The Valley of Ellah, and Michael Clayton. They were all good movies and worth watching. Gone Baby Gone was nominated for several awards, but I don't know what it won. The other two I had not heard of, but would definetly recommend them. The Valley of Ellah is about a solider who went missing after coming back from Iraq. His father (also former Army) goes to the base to get answers for himself. He ends up helping the detective. I won't tell you any more as not to ruin the movie.

I did get a little sewing done during my 6 weeks off. I recently found a program that will let me put letter together to make words, instead of having to embroider each letter individually.

That is a onesie I made for Madelyn. It is my favorite I've embroidered so far. I also made several burp cloths for my Grandma to give as gifts, but forgot to take pictures before I gave them to her.

It's getting late, I'm off to bed in preparation for back to work tomorrow....

I scrapped!!

2008-05-13T10:50:00.005-05:00

Yep you read that right, I actually got a page done.

Click to see bigger

Journaling says "A Mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them" It also has Madelyn's birthday, weight and length. The writing in white on the bottom right says "with all my" with the heart below it.

It's been a while, so leave me some comments telling me what you think.

I hope to get a mini book done in the next few days for a graduation gift. I'll post pictures when it's done. Yay for scrappin again!!

2008-05-07T15:59:00.002-05:00

Blogging is so much easier when I'm not working. I seem to be able to find plenty of time to get a blog done. Not a lot to report or blog on, but I know my faithful readers will be excited to see a post. Madelyn is starting to sleep a little better at night. She wakes up about every 4 hours now. She is also staying awake more during the day. I will be going back to work before I know it. Just a few more weeks, sad face. Wesley's Mom is going to keep Madelyn through the summer so we won't have daycare expense. YAY!!

I got some pictures in yesterday so hopefully I can get some scrapping done in the next week or so before I go back to work. It has been sooo long since I've actually sat down and did a LO. I've been busy with sewing and embroidery instead of scrapping. I have a few sewing projects I need to get finished before I go to Opp for Mother's day. So I'm off to be creative.

Survey for Deah

2008-05-05T11:40:00.000-05:00

I was cruising Whore blogs and decided to go see what Deah had been up to, really expecting to find only one new post since I had last visited because in the past, Deah has been as bad a blogger as me...girl surprised me and had tons of new stuff. One post was this survey. So I'm going to try to add a twist to how she did it and answer it with all pictures. I hope it don't get to long....

1. What is your occupation?

2. What color are your socks right now?

3. What are you listening to right now?

4. What was the last thing that you ate?

5. Can you drive a stick shift?

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone?

8. How old are you today?

9. Favorite drink?

10. What is your favorite sport to watch?

or

11. Have you ever dyed your hair?

Not completely died...just highlighted.

12. Pets?
Lucy and Dixie

13.Favorite food?

14. Last movie you watched?

15. Favorite Day of the year?

16. What do you do to vent anger?

17. What was your favorite toy as a child?

18. What is your favorite, fall or spring?

19. Hugs or kisses?

20. Cherry or Blueberry?

21. Living arrangements?

22. When was the last time you cried?

23. Who is the friend you have had the longest?

24. Craziest memory with that friend?
WAAAAAY too many

26. What are you afraid of?
Something happening to those I love

27. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers?

28. Favorite car?

29. Favorite cat breed?

30. Number of keys on your key ring?

31. How many years at your current job?

32. Favorite day of the week?

33. How many states have you lived in?
Just

34. How many countries have you been to?
just

35. Where would you want to retire to?
who's to say.....

36. What is your best childhood memory?
too many

37. What are the different jobs you have had in your life?

38. Piercings?
just my ears

39. Tattoos?

Now it's your turn. Leave me a comment so I know to check out your blog.

2008-04-29T14:44:00.000-05:00

Not much to blog about, but didn't want to go too long between post. I'm enjoying being at home with Madelyn. Lazy days are mostly what we do. It is great. I've fit a little sewing in at night. I finally spent my gift card to Everything Scrapp'n that UC gave me back in Feb. The stuff came in today. It's giving me the the itch to go clean off the scrap side of my table and get busy. We'll see if Madelyn cooperates with that!!

I finally took pictures of the baby book the Whores made. You can see it at We Scrap Better blog. It is several post down, so if you go looking for it, be sure to scroll down. It was such a great surprise when I got it in the mail. The Whores have been full of surprises. I got a package from MJ and Liz in the last few weeks. Both awesome stuff from my Target register. As an added bonus, if Madelyn outgrown them or gets to where she doesn't need them, they will be great scrap storage stuff!! MJ (and Dan) sent a closet organizer and Liz sent a set of wicker baskets. Thanks again girls (and Dan)!!

2008-04-19T21:46:00.000-05:00

I've finally found a minute to blog the last week. I know you have to be super impressed with the amount of blogs I've done lately... I think this makes at least 4 this month.

I've had several people ask about how labor went and all the other fun details...so be warned the next paragraph is about labor. Nothing to gruesome. Wesley and I got to the hosptial about 5 am. By time I was admitted and to a room it was about 530 when they started my IV with the pitocin drip. According to the monitors, I was already having contractions, but couldn't really feel them. The doctor came in about 715 and broke my water. Contractions got closer together, but I still couldn't really feel them. I think it was about every 3rd or 4th one that I felt. Once they started showing they were closer together, I went ahead and asked for my epidural. I got staydol (maybe that's spelt right) in my IV in the mean time. I really think this would have been enough to cover the pain because I was totally loopy once it hit me. I was with it and then all of the sudden had no care in the world. The nurse came in about 930 to check me and said I was dialated to about a 6. She told me to let her know when I felt pressure and she went ahead and called the doctor. It wasn't long before the pressure started. While the doctor was suiting up, I pushed once for the nurse. The doctor sat down and at 953 am, Madelyn Kate wiggled her way out with no more assistance from me. She has been wiggling the entire 9 months and hasn't stopped yet.

Prior to leaving they told us her bilrubin levels were slightly elevated, meaning she had jaundice. This is very common in breastfeed babies. We made an appointment to see the peditrician on Friday to have levels rechecked. They were a bit higher than they were at the hospital. We were told to let her be in front of a window and get sun light 3 times a day for at least 30 minutes and to make sure she eats at least 1-2 ounced every 3 hours. We went back today and her levels were back down. Yay for not having to have her little heel poked again tomorrow!!

Check back later for woes of feeding....

here are a few more pictures of the cuteness that is Madelyn Kate

go here for lots of Madelyn Kate pictures

We're home

2008-04-17T20:03:00.000-05:00

We're home from the hospital. I know everyone wants to see pictures, so I'll just get right to them....

I'll post about delivery and the hospital stay later.

don't be shocked...two post in a week!

2008-04-09T21:51:00.000-05:00

I have not only been a slacker as a blogger, but also on most things. I joined a Secret Sister swap back in February. We had to alter an item and send $10 worth of scrapbook stuff. I got Kelly, and she wanted a bag like my mom had made for a previous swap. I finished it tonight.

So that's her bag...let's see how long it takes me to get it in the mail~!

a close up of the embroidery.

I have had request for last minute belly pictures. So I had Wesley take them earlier tonight. Over look the mismatch clothes...I'm to the point I wear what fits whether it matches or not. I'll be 38 weeks on Friday.

This will probably be my last post til after Madelyn Kate gets here. I'll try to be a better blogger while I'm at home on leave, so check back often!

it's been a LONG while

2008-04-06T17:17:00.000-05:00

I am such a horrible blogger. I keep telling myself I'll be better, I'll blog more often, yet it doesn't happen. There has been soo much goin on in the last few months, that blogging gets pushed to the back burner. Let me try to catch everyone up (not that you don't already know what's been going on!)

February was not to eventful once we got through the first week. We had 3D ultrasound done. For those that haven't seen the pictures yet, they are on my myspace page. It was a really cool experience. I would recommend it to anyone that is pregnant. We got to see Madelyn Kate's face and other features. It was so super clear. If we have another child we will for sure do it again, we might ever opt for the video of the entire thing.

March was also not too exciting, even though it seems we stayed busy every weekend. My doctor didn't want me traveling more than 45 minutes after about week 34, so the weekend of my 34th week Wesley and I made a trip to Birmingham to see the Ezells. I had not been to see them since they moved. Kristy has been working her butt off, she's an accountant and it is their busy season. I had a baby shower at work and got lots of awesome things, including two hand made quilts. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law also organized a baby shower for me. It was at their church in Troy. Again, I got lots of awesome things. I also spent a lot of March packing. We found a house in Troy and moved on March 29th. I had most everything packed prior to everyone showing up to help us. My Mom was a big help. She came over several days when she got off work to help. I wouldn't have gotten it done without her. She did most of the lifting and moving full boxes. Saturday the 29th started early. We had a ton of family and friends show up to help. We had so much help we moved everything in one trip. I'm still working on unpacking and putting things away. A lot of this got done on the 29th thanks to Nickie Bateman hanging out and helping me. She wouldn't let me lift anything. Just wanted me to tell her where to put things. We got several rooms finished and the others started.
This past Tuesday morning was startled by my in-laws. They were beating on the door at 6:15 am. I had left my cell phone in the car the night before (this rarely happens) and no one could get up with me. They came to tell me that my aunt Cindy had taken my Mom to the ER. At this point they weren't sure what was wrong. I went and got my phone, that had also died and found a cord to hook it up to the laptop to get a little charge. Of course I had left my charger at work! I called my sister to see if she was in Troy. I then got dressed and headed to Opp. When I got there I was told that Mom would have to have surgery. Her appendix had ruptured. It was so infected that the surgeon left the wound open to heal from the inside out. I spent a lot of last week in Opp at the hospital. Mom was released yesterday afternoon. She is staying at Grandma's for a few days, mainly because Grandma insisted. I also had diapers and wipe baby shower yesterday afternoon. We have most everything we need, so a diapers and wipe shower was perfect. I got lots of diapers and wipes! We won't have to buy any for a while.

A quick baby update...
I'm not sure if I posted that I had to change doctors because the Opp hospital is not delivering babies anymore. I changed to one in Enterprise. It has really worked out for the best since I work in Enterprise. I can run to my appointments during lunch and not have to take any leave. At my last appointment the doctor thought she might be breech. We scheduled an ultrasound to confirm which way she as facing. Thank goodness she is not breech. I have new pictures and will try to scan them, but probably won't get around to it before she is born. Wesley and I have also decided we are going to use both Madelyn and Kate. I have said the entire time I wanted to call her by both names and Wesley agrees it will be easier. I think it will help keep people from shortening it to Maddy, which as you all know was Madyson.

Only 3 weeks left until my due date...will she be early or hang out late? I'll let you know!

sorry for the longness! maybe next time I won't wait 2 months to post.

yea for batteries!

2008-02-02T17:42:00.000-06:00

This might be a long one. I've finally got batteries so it will have some of my latest scrappiness and some long awaited belly pictures.

Let's start with some of my latest work.

This one was based on a challenge posted by Chez in our Whore group. Actually most of these are based on challenges posted in Whores.

This is my favorite one in Jess and Joseph's book. (if you are lucky enough to be my friend on myspace you can see more pages there) A book I've been working on since June. I feel horrible for just getting it done. I think they really liked it. I have one more page to do to finish it up, but Jess wanted to take it with her last night. I'll do the last page either later tonight or in the morning. I was going to take it to Joseph at the Bateman's superbowl party, but I've had something come up and I'm not going to be able to go. I'll have Wesley take it instead.

I'm also doing a weekend photo challenge with the Whores. The challenge was basically to take a word (or letter) with you all weekend and find unique backgrounds to take pictures of it. The purpose it to help see different perspectives and settings. I chose to simply take the letter M. It helps me see the past, present and future. My anniversary is Tuesday, so M is for Marriage. Today is the year anniversary of Madyson's death, so M is for Memories of Madyson. Not to get left out, Madelyn has been super active today, so I even took some belly pictures with the M for our future.

I just liked how this one turned out. I was just sitting around playing with the camera.

Wesley and I went to the cemetery this afternoon. I absolutely LOVE the flowers that are there. Tamra did and absolutely AWESOME job on the arrangement. I have to remember to get something to show her how much it means to us.

and the last one so far today is M and Madelyn.

You can't really get the true picture of how big Madelyn and my belly are in that picture....

yes it's next week

2008-01-29T21:43:00.001-06:00

and i don't have anything to post! I actually got some pages done, but need to get batteries for the camera so i can take some pictures. Hopefully this weekend. I know I said that last post...but we'll see.

And for those asking for belly pictures....again the camera needs batteries!! I'll work on that too!!

Here's to you

2008-01-19T18:49:00.000-06:00

So my resolution to be a better blogger isn't working out so well for me. I just forget about it by time I get home from work cause work has been crazy the last few weeks. I am transitioning into a new program at work while helpin train the girl that is replacing me in the old program. Needless to say I've been having to actually work. Things should be calming down some in the next week or so. I'm off Monday which is always a good thing! I plan on scrapping as much as possible that day and finishing Jess and Joseph's wedding book I've been working on since oh....June! yikes!! I know they are ready to get it back. I'll try to post pictures of some of it next week.

We are also looking to move back to Troy. For those of you out of staters...It is about 30 minutes north of where we live now in the cornfield. It is an actually city with things to do. Several of our friends live there now and we spend most weekends there. Wesley will save lots of gas money because it is closer to his work. Not to mention the gas we will save on the weekends. So we are not only looking for a house to rent, but also daycare for when Madelyn gets here. The renters market is Troy at this time is horrible!!! We hope to move by March so we can be settled before the baby gets here. I also think I'll have an actual craft/scrap room. That's super exciting to me.

look back next week for some scrappyness.

It's a New Year!

2008-01-03T17:57:00.000-06:00

Hope all my faithful readers (even though I know it is only about 2 of you! lol) had a great holiday. We stayed pretty busy through Christmas but slowed down some for New Years. We went to Blake's for the 2nd year. It was a small group, but fun.

This is one of my favorite pictures from that night. It is Wesley and Stephanie. Steph almost didn't come hang out with us. We talked her into it then she got lost and said she hated me when she got there. In a loving way of course!! After hanging out at the fire that wasn't keeping us warm, Steph and I ran to my house to get Rock Band. (my house is soo far from Blake!! You can see them from each other!) We set it up and jammed out for most of the rest of the night.

This isn't the best picture, but it is the only one with me in it. From left to right-- Me on Bass, Jeff aka poon-a-gin on drums and Steph on Guitar. We couldn't find anyone to be a singer for us. But we were the most awesome band ever. Jeff was by far the best drummer we've found out of everyone we've played with.

This is the only picture of me and Wesley taken that night. When not playin Rock Band, I was taking pictures with two cameras so needless to say I didn't make many pictures.

I've gotten a little scrapping done lately. I have yet to finish my Grandma's calendar I started as her Christmas present, but hope to get that done this weekend.
I did however scrap my ultrasound pictures.

click to make bigger and see details better....

I really like the second page, it is one of my favorite I've done. I'm not super crazy about the first page, but like it the more I look at it. I need feed back cause the Whores don't leave any love anymore when I post in there.

until next time.....

Bad Blogger

2007-12-26T19:16:00.002-06:00

I know I am a horrible blogger. I'm surprised if I have any readers at all! I've been busy making Christmas present and such. Here is a stocking I made for MJ for Secret Santa...

It's not perfect, but I think she liked it. It is definetly one of a kind.

I also made my mom and mother-in-law a desk calendar. Here is my MIL showing it off.

It's not the best picture of the calendar, but I can't find the one I took of it before I wrapped them.

I am also working on a regular calendar for my Grandma, I didn't get it finished by Christmas, but showed her what I have. i hope to have it done so she can begin using it in Jan. I know this only leaves a few days to get it done. I haven't taken any pictures of it yet, but maybe I will before I give it to her.

Here is a picture of the craziness of Christmas Morning at Grandma's.

There were probably close to 50 people there. Just a small crowd!

I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year's and make resolutions they can keep. On the subject of resolutions....I think I'll say I'm going to be a better little blogger. We'll see how well that works out!!!

Dog, cell phone and craftiness

2007-12-02T19:52:00.000-06:00

I know my title sounds crazy...but that's what the last few days have been. As usual we've been crazy busy. I have gotten most of my Christmas stuff out and up. I still have to decorate the tree, but I'm waiting to make sure the lights all still work. I have to get an extension cord tomorrow, so hopefully tomorrow night I'll get the tree done. I've looked for several years for new Christmas stockings for Wesley and I that I liked and have not been able to find any. I decided I was going to make them this year. I'm not quite done with them but...

I think I want to add ribbon or something to the top where it is turned down, so look back for new and improved Christmas stockings!

Wesley and I went to a friend's house for a hog cooking. Yep you read that right a hog cooking. I didn't think to take pictures of the hog cooking but I'm sure you can imagine. The took the hog, sliced him down the middle and put him over fire. You could still see the legs and head. It was a little weird, but quite yummy.

I normally don't go anywhere without my cell, but it was dying and Wesley had his, so I left mine at home charging while we went to the hog cooking. When I walk in the door, I see what I think is a remote control in the floor. The dog has used one of the remotes as a chew toy in the past. At closer inspection....it is, you guess it, my cell. The phone is unplugged, the battery is off and the phone in general is in about 5 pieces...

I put the battery back where it went, hoping to at least be able to get my numbers out of it. No luck! Of course I have no insurance...but will be getting it for mine, Lauren and Wesley's phone. Lauren's phone went flying out the window and broke. She got a new one, well it was refurbished. It worked about 2 days and the microphone went out. You could call her all day but you wouldn't be able to hear her. A cousin gave her another one...so hopefully we can talk to her again on Monday. I spent way more than I should have on a blackberry on ebay. Hopefully it'll be here by Tuesday, Wednesday at the latest.

so all you whores whose number I had...you'll have to give it to me again but wait til I get the new phone!

no pay at the pump?

2007-11-15T19:06:00.001-06:00

I was in Barbour County the other day for work. I meant to get gas while I was in Eufaula (the big city in Barbour County), but forgot. So I had to get gas in Clayton. Like I've already said Eufaula is the big city in the county. To help you get the true picture of Clayton, the only fast food place in Clayton is Subway. So back to the story, I was getting gas and didn't want to have to go inside. None of the three places to get gas had a pay at the pump. I knew Clayton was country, but that's just crazy!

oh the drama

2007-11-12T20:55:00.000-06:00

So my life has had a lot going on, to say the least. I think most of you know at least part of what has been going on. The main part really isn't my business to post on the internet, so I won't go into details. However, because of the way a friend handled a situation and my reaction to the situation, she isn't speaking to me. It has really been hard on me since she has been on of my best friends, and actually been the friend I've had the longest. I really miss her and know she is going through a situation that she needs people to be there for her. It is hard to be there for her if she won't let me. The thing is that she really isn't letting any of the people that have been there for her for the majority of her life support her. I know she is hurting, but you can't help those that don't want help. I'm trying not to get too stressed about it because of the baby.

That's what's been happening in Elba lately.

Broke Toe and OB appointment

2007-11-05T20:54:00.000-06:00

So I neglected to tell about my broke toe in my last blog. So Saturday we went to the Bateman's for football and some video games. The Bateman's bathroom door sometimes sticks and locks people in. Luckily they have other doors to the room. Well apparently someone didn't go unlock the door after they got locked in. I was going through the bedroom to the bathroom, when Nickie said something to me. I turned to talk to her and ran into the bed. I said a few choice words and told everyone I thought I had broken my toe. It hurt off and on all night, but nothing major. Sunday when I got up I couldn't hardly put pressure on that foot. My middle toe is all purple and black. I managed to get shoes on to go to Carmen's baby shower. The pain stopped after a few minutes of wearing shoes. I limped around at the shower and Wal-mart, but made it. Today my toe was really purple, but did not hurt unless I put pressure on at the wrong angle. I suppose it is getting better.

I went to the OB today. Not much to report. Go read my pregnancy blog for more details!

Guitar Hero III

2007-11-04T09:34:00.000-06:00

Not much been going on since our return from Orlando. We got Guitar Hero III while we were there at the supposed larges Virgin Mobile Store. We were going to get another guitar, so that Wesley and I would both have one, but they were sold out. We are making do borrowing Blakes and taking turns. We took it with us to Troy last night to the Bateman's. DJ brought his guitar so we could battle each other. I don't do as well under pressure, but still beat Nickie, Geoffrey and Joseph. Stephanie and Tony came over as well. I hate to admit it, but Stephanie beat me most times.

While we were in Orlando I got an invitation to my ex-sister-in-law's baby shower. I went last Thursday at lunch and got her some cute baby boy stuff. It all says Got Milk on it. I hope she likes it. I'm going to the shower later today. I need to go make her a birthday card as well, since her birthday is also today.

I go to the doctor on Monday, hopefully he'll schedule an ultrasound to find out the sex of this kid inside me! I'll update hopefully later that day.

Halloween Horror Nights 17

2007-10-30T22:00:00.000-05:00

So I've been a bad blogger. I haven't updated since shortly after I got back from California. Not too much has happened until this past weekend. I went with a group to Orlando for Halloween Horror Nights 17 at Universal studios. We had a blast.

This is the group that went to HHN17 on Friday night. I'll try to name everyone in order..starting in the back from left to right, then front right to left...
Stephanie, Tony, David, Sara, Joey, Gina, Beth, Nickie, Geoffrey, Wesley, Me, Lauren and Brother.

On Saturday, the group minus Sara, Beth and Joey went to Islands of Adventures.

This is the coaster riders on the Hulk. Geoffery, Tony, Lauren and I didn't ride most of the coaster rides because we get pukey. So we held stuff and took pictures. We got soaked on the water rides and it was great. For some reason I can ride water rides and not get sick. Pop-eye was the funniest to me, but you get the wettest on it....down to my under clothes.

We ended the weekend Sunday back at Universal, this time to enjoy the park without the haunted houses. We went to most of the attractions.

This is Me, Brother and Lauren waiting in line for Shrek 4D.

I took Monday off, thinking we would get up and head home and then I'd have time to recuperate....WRONG! We had to get mementos for friends and family that wasn't there. We thought we could get them at the little shops along the strip...WRONG again! Because of licensing, Universal stuff is only sold at Universal. So after several stops, we headed back to City Walk (just outside Universal/Island of Adventure) to get stuff and eat before heading home. We ate at Margarittaville. It was yummy. Most everyone got drinks in a souviner glass. Wesley informed me today it is a good beer stein. We didn't get home til about 2 am, and yes I worked today...so I am tired and going to bed now.

Go check on more pictures my myspace page....and leave some comments already!

2007-10-12T21:23:00.001-05:00

So I got my scrap stuff out with plans of doing a little scrapping. I pulled out some of the bigger stuff and kept finding buttons everywhere. I was like, wtf where are all these buttons coming from? Soon I realize not only were there buttons everywhere but also flowers and chipboard. After about an hour of sorting stuff I thought to take a picture to share.

I finally gave up sorting the buttons and put them in a ziplock bag. I'll get back to them. It is about half a quart size bag left to sort.

Tagged again

2007-10-09T18:37:00.000-05:00

I've Been Tagged (The Fours)

I was tagged by this whore named Kristi so I guess I better do it!

Here are the Fours.....

Job's I've Had:
1.Dairy Queen- It was my first job. I started working just after I turned 16 and stayed there until the summer after I graduated from high school. I had lots of great friends from the DQ and am sad to report it is no longer around.
2. Student worker- This is a two in one description. I first worked in the Distance Learning office but they did not need a worker after about a year of working there. I then went to the Counseling and Adaptive needs office to finish out my college years. I worked there for 3 years. Had tons of fun and got paid for it. We did a little work, but not too much.
3. Brittany's Restaurant- This has been my most favorite job. I started out as a server/waitress. I also bartended, played hostess and cooked. I worked here just over 2 years and made many life long friends. This is also where I met Wesley. After graduating college and moving to Opelika, I would often visit Brittany's when I was in Troy. One weekend I came through and it was a Chinesse Buffet. It was a sad day to see my favortie place no longer around.
4. Social worker- My first professional job was at Lee County DHR. I was a foster care worker. My case load was mostly teenagers that had been in car for a while and were going to be in care until they aged out. I loved working with this population. It was a great place to work, but a little to far from home. We spent more money in gas driving home on the weekends than we had. I also worked at Pike County DHR for a short time. I am now a social worker at the Health Department. It has been a great experience so far.

Movies I Could Watch Over & Over:
1. Dirty Dancing
2. Grease
3. Old School
4. Any Harry Potter

TV Shows I Watch:
1. Gilmore Girls
2. Heroes
3. Law & Order--any
4. Weeds

Places I've Lived:
1. Opp
2. Troy
3. Opelika
4. Weekhubberton (aka the cornfeld outside Elba)

Favorite Foods:
1. Pork Chops
2. Hash brown casserole
3. Macaroni and Cheese
4. Cereal

Favorite Colors:
1. Purple
2. Pink
3. Green
4. Blue

Places I'd Love to Be Now:
1. I'm good here
2.
3.
4.

Names I like but would not use for my children:
1. Jayme
2. Ryan (for a girl)
3. Alyssa
4. Lee

Now I'm Tagging:
1. MJ
2. Kelly
3. Aja
4. UC

Home at last

2007-10-09T11:41:00.000-05:00

So I've finally made it home from California. It was a really good trip. The flight there was great, especially for my first time flying. I had a great time with the whores. I, unlike some, got a lot done. I'd post pictures, but don't have my stuff to take pictures of...more on that a little later. The view was awesome.

MJ took me to see and get pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a neat touristy thing to do before heading home. We almost took too long, but made it to the airport just in time. After checking in and getting through security, I walked right up to the gate as my group was loading. We get in the air with no problems, until we get near Dallas. There was a thunderstorm in Dallas and we had to circle for what seemed like forever. Well this caused us to run low on fuel. We were sent to Oklahoma City to get more fuel. After circling forever then having to go to Oklahoma City and wait for a ground crew to re-fuel us, we did not land in Dallas til about 8:45. My flight to Birmingham was scheduled to leave at 8:25. We were told while circling that all flights out of Dallas were delayed and we should have no problems making out connections. So my two hour delay was apparantly not enough. The flight to Birmingham left without me, and several others. After finally finding someone to point us in the right direction, I was told that the next flight to Birmingham wasn't until 9:15 in the morning. I had already talked to Wesley and knew he was in Birmingham already. So the ticket clerk looked for other flights to near by airports. There was a flight to Atlanta at 9:10. Thank goodness it had plenty of seats on it. I was able to get on it. So I called Wesley and he drove the several additional hours to Atlanta. I finally made it to the plane and it appeared we were getting ready to taxi to the run way. A few last minute passengers boarded. This one lady came to the seat behind me. She was a bit rude, and actually took the bag of the man sitting next to me out of the over head to make room for her own bag. After a few minutes a secuirty guy came to this lady and asked her to get her stuff and go with him. She was rude and demanding to know why. He was very professional and told her he would explain when she was off the plane. She did not go with him. He came back a second time and nicely asked her to get off the plane. She again did not leave. She then began talking to the passengers sitting beside her telling them how badly American Airlines employees have been to her over the last 48 hours. After sitting for what seemed like forever, a flight attendant came to talk to the lady. She told her that the police had been called and she should make it easier on herself and get off the plane. The flight attendant was very matter of fact and professional with the lady. She finally got the point and left the plane. So after sitting for about 45 minutes waiting on this lady to get off the plane, we were finally ready to leave. I landed in Atlanta about midnight Alabama time. Wesley had a project to finish for school, so we drove most of the night and got home about 3 am.

Now I'm off to call the airline to find my luggage and hopefully have it delivered to me.

California here I come

2007-09-28T20:51:00.001-05:00

I'm super excited and getting nervous as my trip to California nears. I'm excited to meet the all of the Whores and to get some great scrappin done. On the other hand I'm nervous about flying for the first time, and alone. I'm sure all will be fine. I just got done packing up all my scrap stuff. I'm sure I'll be throwing clothes and stuff in the bag as I walk out the door, but that's how it always is.

A side note to those keepin up with my pregnancy. I went to the doctor yesterday. It was the first time I meet him. I like him and think he's gonna be a great doctor. He has delivered over 7000 babies. He is very concerned with preventing a re-occurrence of what happen with Madyson. He said to let him worry, even though he knows I will still do some worrying. He is going to have any test he can done to ensure everything is going as it should. Right now he is concerned that I am measuring about 2 weeks later than I should be. I'm going back in two weeks (10/9) for him to listen to the heartbeat. He will more than likely order another ultrasound then to have the baby re-measured. He said there was several reason that the baby could be measuring small, an he plans to monitor it closely.

Sorry there are no pictures this blog, but I will definitely post some from California when I get back....so stay tuned.

Dog gone Fun

2007-09-19T21:05:00.000-05:00

I was feeling a bit nauseous... thanks to the joys of pregnancy! So I made myself some popcorn to try to settle me some. It helped. Thank goodness. I did not eat the entire bag, and had it sittin on the counter when Wesley got home. We normally don't feed our dogs any table food. They think ice is a treat. Wesley threw a piece of popcorn at Lucy and she gobbled it up. Well he kept throwing it to both dogs. Lucy got to where she actually caught most of them in the air. The onces Dixie caught, she swallowed whole. I had just uploaded a picture of my grab bag for a swap I'm in (see bottom of this post for pictures of the grab bag) and had the camera with me. I started snapping pictures.

This one is of Dixie (on the left) and Lucy (on the right) trying to decide who was going to get this particular piece of popcorn.

As I mentioned earlier, I am in a grab bag swap in one of my myspace groups. We won't know what the scrap supplies we get, just what the outside of the "bag" is. Some people have done boxes, others have done buckets. I (with the assistance of my wonderful Mom) made a bag/purse.

Yea for me getting not one but two pictures on a blog!

Suprise call

2007-09-18T21:04:00.000-05:00

I've been driving back and forth to Montgomery (about 160 miles round trip for you non Alabamians) for training for work. Tomorrow will be the last day, thankfully. While driving I am listening to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It makes the drive seem shorter.

When I got home today, I checked my email and myspace as always. Then I decided to lay around til Wesley got home from Troy with pizza for dinner. While half listening to the news, my cell phone rang. I figured it was Wesley letting me know he was on his way home. I get up to find it and the caller ID says MJ . I didn't really think about it and answered it. MJ told me who she was, she of course said Michelle...lucky for her caller ID already identified her as MJ. She had just seen two famous (famous as scrappers can be) scrappers while shopping at an LSS (local scrapbook store...for you non-scrappers). She was really excited. I had no idea who she was talking about but was excited for her. As the whore she is, she of course took pictures. Check out her blog (linked above or to the side) for the pictures.

One day I'll be as cool as MJ and post pictures with all my blogs...until then just read it.