Glub, glub, glub....

Hello everyone!

Well, I'm at a semi-stopping point with the kindergarten scrapbooks. So I thought I'd come up for some air and say hey...so, HEY!!!

Have you missed me? I've missed ya'll!!!

Yesterday, I had to ask the class room mom if she remembered me signing up at the beginning of the school year, to take on this "minor" scrapbooking duty. She remebered vaguely...so I asked if she remembered if I happened to be drinking heavily that day. Didn't ring a bell with her. Me neither. :-) But sheesh...this is NO JOKE!!! Anyway, I mentioned that I'm at a "semi" stopping point. And I didn't say that ONLY because at night, I feel like I've been hit by a semi. But because I'm currently out of cardstock, LOL. That, in itself, is enough to stop, even a seasoned scrapbooker in her tracks!!!

Alrighty now, what has been going on (other than the books) since I spoke with you last? Well, I'm glad you asked. Grab a drink...here goes: (UPDATE 4/2: I made the pictures bigger so you can see them.)

~Me and my eldest daughter went on a shopping trip here. I absolutely LOVE-AH, this place. So much so, that I took my camera this time. What a super fun place to take pictures...so colorful, so organized, so embarassing for the person you're with, lol. "MOM! Tell me you're not taking pictures of HANGERS?!?!" WHAT??

~I also went back to my Italian roots and tried my hand at making Paella. What? You didn't know my roots were Italian? Well, I AM from New York you know...doesn't that count? No? Getouttaheah!! Anyway, the recipe that I had was from my great-great Italian grandfather. Maybe you've seen him before on The Food Network. Ok, ok...he's NOT my grandfather, but he is on Food Network. Alright...regardless of where I got the recipe from, this stuff is YUMMY! But beware, if you EVER try and make this, make sure you give yourself enough time to prepare everything. And unless you're cooking for a small army, cut the recipe down. It made a TON! Mine had chicken, shrimp and Italian smoked sausage in it. DEElish! ~Last Wednesday, Jayla had breakfast with her daddy at school. I am so glad they did this early this year. I remember when Markell was there, they had "donuts with dad", the last week of school. So it was kinda rushed. But this time, they did it early. Before Mother's Day even. So Mister M. was very excited about having this special time with his little lady. Here's a couple of the gifts Jayla made for her daddy:
Note: if you're not able to read what Jayla wrote about her dad, it says: My dad's name is Mark (Marque). He weighs 40 pounds and is 7 feet tall. He has black hair. When my dad cooks, he cooks sanun (salmon) the best. He is really good at checrs (checkers). I like when my dad and I play gams. I love my dad! Jayla *the words in italic are what she wrote*

~Every week in Jayla's class, one child gets to take Clifford the Big Red Dog home for the weekend. This past weekend was Jayla's turn. She was SO excited. When you take Clifford home, you're supposed to take him with you everywhere you go that weekend. And a picture has to be taken of the child with Clifford over that weekend. So guess where Clifford got to go? Yep! To soccer games :-). Then on Monday, the child has to read the "report" they wrote on what they did with Clifford. So cute!

~Speaking of soccer...the Stingrays are handling their business!!! :-) The big Stingrays played last Friday night and won 6 - 1. They played again on Saturday and won that one 6 - 1 too. Talk about exciting games. I'm so proud of those boys. Also on Saturday, it was time for soccer pictures. So as soon as I get Jayla's back, I'll share those with you. Jayla also had a game on Saturday and she looks AWESOME out there. I just love watching her play and really "get" the game. Oh, one more thing about the boys. They are doing SO well this season. And due to how they're "gelling" together, the coaches have agreed to let them play in an international tournament in July. We're all going to Disney World in Florida for an entire week of soccer and park hopping. They'll be playing with teams from all over the world. We're all so excited! Especially Jayla...she's been asking to go to Disney for the past 6 months, lol. GO STINGRAYS!!!

~And last but not least, Jayla got to go on her very first sleepover this past weekend. She was a little nervous about sleeping away from home. But she did great. I think she was too tired to even care that she wasn't at home :-). And as part of the party, the girls got to have a pedicure. Jayla was on top of the WORLD! She even told me that she doesn't want ME to do her toenails anymore, because the lady that did them at the salon, does a better job than I do. Well EXCUSE ME!!! LOL. They got to be "little lady's" for awhile and get pampered. There were massage chairs, bubbling blue water and the works. How fun!

Welp, that's about it for me. Jayla and I will be leaving for Mobile, Al on Saturday to visit my mom. Jayla is on Spring Break next week. So we're gonna go hang out with Granny.

Not sure if I'll talk with you all before I leave on Saturday. But if I don't, I hope you all have a wonderful week and I'll holla atcha when I get back. So in the meantime, Be Inspired...I am!! (Really, I am!) LOL