Be Inspired...I am!!

What's been happenin???

2011-12-27T15:30:00.004-05:00

Wow, has it truly been over a month since I posted on my blog? I'm such a slacker!

But those of you who know me and have followed my blog for a while/more than a year, know that this is crazy busy time for us.

Ok, who am I kidding? It's a crazy time for EVERYONE! So with that in mind...I'm off the hook! :-)

Alright, since my last confession posting, a lot has happened. Why don't you sit a spell, grab a sip of something and read on.

You may remember in this post, I told you about a little "run in" I had with a box cutter? Well, I'm all healed up now. Went and got my stitches out after 10 days and a few hours later, the cut started to separate again. REALLY??? All is well now...other than a little tenderness now and again.

Jayla had her first sleepover this year. In the past, EVERYONE that she invites to her parties attends. That's not such a bad problem to have :-). So with that in mind, we decided not to invite the normal 14 - 16 guests. Just my luck all of them will come and I'll have to stay sober entertain them all...by myself!!

So we only invited 8 friends. And of those 8, 7 showed up and one couldn't spend the night. Not too bad! They had a blast.

I made them an ice cream cake using ice cream sandwiches, chocolate pudding mix, Oreos & Cool Whip.
YUMMY!!

Chocolate Fondue with marshmallows, pretzel sticks, pound cake,
and Rice Crispy Treats.

And of course a marshmallow eating contest!!

Then there's the dressing up for the fashion show.

Next, popcorn, crafts and a movie or 2.

And finally, at midnight...Zzzzzzz!! ;)

And in the morning, pancakes!!

Also for Jayla's 10th birthday, our awesome photographer friends did a photo shoot of her.

~~DRESSY~~

~~CASUAL~~

~~SOCCER~~

Forgot to give the photo overload warning :-). But I mean, look at her! She's so stinkin cute and photogenical (it is SO a word!) that I had a hard time choosing.

Anyhoo, I now have some new pics from Christmas...which is not surprising since I've been trying to do this post since the 21st, I think.
NOTE: My hubby has been on vacation since 12/15. He goes back to work on 1/3. And when he's home, he spends a lot of his time on his computer saving the world gaming. And when he's gaming, anything I do on my computer that entails anything other than simply READING slows his computer down *insert rolling eyes here*. SO...that's why it has taken me so dang long to do this post.

But being that I have shown you just about every picture that has been taken from the past couple of months in this one post...I will hold off on the Christmas ones. Not to mention, I'm tired of typing :-).

I'll holla....

My special birthday gift

2011-11-17T12:09:00.001-05:00

Check out this sweet birthday card that Jayla gave me today.

I just love that little girl!

OUCH!!!

2011-11-02T20:53:00.000-04:00

That's what I get!

I was working on yet another project for Jayla's new bedroom. And I almost sliced the tip of my ring finger off!

$25 co-pay, 30+ minutes of holding my hand over my heart/head, a V.E.R.Y painful numbing shot, 6 hairy stitches and a tetnus shot later...I'm all fixed up.

I neglected to take a picture of my injury...simply because I don't do too well blood & guts kinda stuff. Not to mention, I was too busy laughing at consoling Jayla because my injury was SO gross to her that it made her throw up!

Anyway, I'm all good now.

...and so is Jayla! ;-)

Pro in the making

2011-10-16T20:08:00.000-04:00

Check out my girl....

I just LOVE the determination on her face. She simply LOVES playing soccer. And it's such a joy to watch her play. What skills!!!

It's happening....

2011-09-26T19:05:00.002-04:00

Is this really happening to me??

AGAIN?!?

Some of you may remember this cute little kid....

Well, she ain't so "little" anymore! I mean, she's still physically little...she is only 9 you know! But my goodness she's growing up SOO fast!

I took her to get her hair done last week. And she BEGGED me to let her wear her hair down...like her "not brown" friends! LOL

Believe me when I tell you that I tried...with all my might, to not give in.

Just look how stinkin happy and cute she looks!!

I want so badly for her to stay that sweet, young, innocent little girl. I mean, she IS still all these things. But the "young" part is slowly creeping away from us.

Anyway, I'm gonna get all sappy if I continue with this post. sniff, sniff....

But I will say this, it is quite the adventure this time. Sadly, I don't really remember this part when my oldest was younger. I'm sure it has a little to do with my working full time and partially due to the fact she didn't want much to do with me/us most of the time. It was like she went to bed one night, woke up, came out of her room and she was a double "D" young lady! I just don't remember her "maturing".

Now that I'm home with Jayla and spending a ton of time with her, I'm seeing her turn into that beautiful little lady. She'll be 10 years old in about 2 months! Again I say...sniff, sniff!

I kinda wish it was ok to share a cute little conversation Jayla and I had here on my blog. But it's just not appropriate. However, I will say, that I'm thrilled that she's comfy enough to come to ME with her questions, as goofy as they may be :-).

I love this kid....

(sorry for the blurry picture. But it's still pretty cool. By the way...that's Jayla in the red & black...LOL! And coach daddy in the background, in the blue shirt.)

Remembering....

2011-09-11T13:55:00.000-04:00

Do you remember where you were when you heard the tragic news?

Take your seats everyone...school is back in session!

2011-09-01T15:45:00.000-04:00

Here we go again!

Summer is OVA! And class is in session.

Our Jayla is SO excited to be a 4th grader! In fact, on the first day of school, when I picked her up, she said, "Mom, I had the BEST first day of school EVER! Can I just stay here and you pick me up on Friday?"

REALLY?

And when I asked what was so exciting about the first day, she gave me this long run down...which included, "And guess what? We've got HOMEWORK! How awesome is THAT?"

REALLY??

I promise you, had I not been there when she was born, I'd swear she wasn't mine! I know she's her daddy's...but I'm not convinced she's mine! I HATED school! Daddy, on the other hand, loved it and was a great student to boot.

Ok, I was a mediocre great student too....I mean, I did what was needed to keep from getting an F pass my classes! But I did not ENJOY school.

Anyway, enough about me :-).

Yeah, so, 4th grade is the year the kids start getting the A, B, C type of grades. So we'll see how excited Jayla is after these first 9 weeks.

Along with school starting back, soccer season is also in full swing. YAY!!! I love soccer season! Jayla's team is moving up to U12, so it'll be interesting to see how this season goes. Nothing worse than being the underdog!

Stay tuned...

Another moment of nostalgia

2011-08-18T17:53:00.001-04:00

I was reading a blog today that really made me cry like a baby smile!

I truly love to hear stories from moms (or dads) about how their kids have, unbeknownst to the child, made a huge impact on their lives as parents. I have been very blessed (and continue to be) by the impact that my almost 10 year old, Jayla, has made on my life. My oldest, Briyanna, has made her share of impacts on me too. And now that she's older and a grown up, she's impacting me even more and more positively everyday. I'm so proud of Briyanna and how she's finding her way around "life" as an adult.

Those of you who have known me for quite some time have probably heard the following story about Jayla before. But as I mentioned, I was reading that beautiful mushy post today. And it just made me want to share this story again.

If you've already heard about this, and don't care to hear it again. This would be a good place to stop reading :-). However, I hope you don't because it's really sweet.

One day when Jayla was about 4, she and I were out running errands. She was strapped in her carseat in the back seat of our van. Her little chin propped up on the arm of her carseat as she just gazed out the window in silence.

Without warning, she blurts out, "Mom, I'm so glad you're my mommy!" To which I smiled and responded, "Aww, Jayla, I'm glad I'm your mommy too!" Still looking out the window, she tells me how she remembers seeing me driving to work one day before she was "sent to me". I asked her what she meant. She told me, "I showed you to God and told Him that I wanted YOU to be my mommy."

I then asked her how she knew me. To which she responded, "I told you! I showed you to God and told Him that I wanted you to be my mommy. But he made me wait for SOOO long to come see you!"

As I continued to drive, trying not to have a wreck from the shock, I asked Jayla what she was talking about. I asked, "How did you see me?" Without missing a beat (and rolling her eyes as if she couldn't believe I was asking such a dumb question), she said, "I saw you driving your black truck to work. And you were fussing about being in traffic again!" :-) So I asked her, "What black truck?" About this time, a Honda Passport drives past us. Jayla sits up quickly and says, "It was like THAT ONE, mommy! But it was black. Not a long truck".

I look at the truck passing by us and about burst into tears. Jayla then says to me, "Mommy, why do you think God made me wait SO long to come see you?" I told her I wasn't sure. But that God has His reasons for doing what He does (or doesn't do). Surprisingly enough, that answer was good enough for her. Because, as she turned back to look out the window again, she says, "Well, I'm glad He sent me here. Cuz I love me summa you!" :-)

This story still makes me a little misty. Although it may not seem like much when you first read it. The story behind the story is what makes it so special.

~First of all, me and Mister M. tried for 11 L.O.N.G. years to get pregnant. But being a 4 year old little girl, Jayla really had no concept of how LONG that really is. She just knew that God made her wait a LONG time to come to us.
~We found out we were pregnant with Jayla in March 2001. And in April of 2001, we traded our BLACK Rodeo SUV (which is the Isuzu version of the Honda Passport) for a Chevy Tahoe. Jayla had NEVER seen the Rodeo!
~She's probably right about the fussing about traffic part :-). I use drive 33 miles one way to work everyday! :-(

To this day, Jayla still tells me how happy she is that I'm her mom. But she has NO idea how glad I am that she's my daughter...my blessing the the 2nd power...my little angel.

Have any of you ever had moments with your kids where it just showed you how much of a blessing they REALLY are? Share...

We are the proud parents of a...

2011-08-15T09:08:00.000-04:00

4th Grader!!

I don't think I need to mention how RIDICULOUSLY excited she was to start school today! So I won't! :-)

Randomness

2011-07-27T10:03:00.000-04:00

Well it seems that today, I don't have much to write about.

I simply have random....or should I say ranDUMB, thoughts rolling around in my head. I have taken a couple pictures of things that I want to share with everyone because I'm bored, just as a fun thing to do.

Peep this...

~This is not randomness by ANY means!! This is downright YUMMINESS right here! We took a trip to the Dekalb Farmers Market last Friday and I just HAD to grab me two one of these baseball sized Chocolate Chip Macaroons! Oh my GOODNESS! And it had the nerve to still be warm. I've got one word for you...ORGAZMIC AWESOMENESS!!

~Ok, I admit...I'm a little anal planner. I have resisted the bigger-than-purse sized calendars for way too long! I have a bunch of stuff going on during the week. Especially when school is in. And that cute little pocket calendar just wasn't gonna cut it anymore. So for only $4, I came across this little gem. Lord knows I need it!!

~This picture is just adorable to me. Trae is SO tolerable of Jayla dressing him up. More tolerable than me, even.

~I found this picture on the internet. Not sure what I was searching for... I'm SURE it wasn't a LEGO wall though. But can you imagine how cool this would be to have in your room? No? :-)

See, I told you this would be a random post. Sad thing is, I'm sure there's more where this came from. So tell me what kind of "random" thing do you come across during your daily stroll through life?

SPECIAL EDITION Post

2011-07-18T13:34:00.000-04:00

Allow me to introduce my friend & special guest writer to my blog today, Mr. Greg Lang.

Greg "found" me and my blog a few years back when he was in the process of writing one of his books.

We had a brief phone interview where we chatted about my amazing super hero mothering skills or the lack thereof. :-) As well as what I enjoyed and struggled with being a mother to girls.

And honestly, the timing couldn't be better considering the last post I wrote.

So without further ado, I introduce to you, the author of......

Mr. Greg Lang!

Big Little Moments

When I began work on this book (Mom's Little Angel, HarperOne, 2009) I expected to be told stories that would prove to be very similar to those I had heard while writing Daddy’s Little Girl, but with a feminine twist. As mother and daughter stories came in, however, I found myself scratching my head. Instead of tall tales of heroic rescues in the middle of the night, or of profound life-altering discoveries and revelations that emerged from unexpected moments while in unexpected places and situations, I heard something very different. True, mothers do at times wear red capes and leap tall buildings and find ways to leave indelible memories of a time when words of wisdom from the ages were shared with their daughters, but more often than not I heard simple, sweet, gentle stories of moms being, well, moms.

Daughter after daughter told me stories of moms who kept the home smelling like fresh baked bread, sautéed onions and hot apple pie, who could mend a garment while blindfolded or nurse an injured doll or stuffed animal back to health. I heard of moms who were the calming, predictable and steady force in the household, unassuming and at times behind the scenes, yet always ready, willing and able to step up to whatever the challenge at hand may be and even wrestle it to the ground if necessary.

I was also told stories of how becoming a mother led a daughter to look back with renewed respect and appreciation for the mothering that had been given to her, for the unwavering love, support and devotion that flowed from a limitless reserve, for the sense of self that, perhaps, I think I’m beginning to understand, only a mother can help foster in a daughter.

When I turned to my wife and shared my observations with her, she (I swear she did) made that famous gesture of her mother’s, tossing her open palm in the air and ever so slightly rolling her eyes but not before giving me that look that silently screamed, “Duh!”

And then calming herself, realizing her perplexed husband needed her expertise, Jill explained everything to me.

“Dads like to address everything with an action plan,” she said. “If something’s gone wrong, you’ve got to fix it. When you hear that either of the girls are mad or unhappy, you immediately feel like you must get to the bottom of it so that it can be repaired. Moms understand that sometimes girls are just in a snit with a need to vent, whine and wail. There’s no need of an action plan or resolution for that, just let them do it.”

Before I could point out the frivolity of such a non-action plan, she went on.

“Just look at the stories you’ve been telling me about. Moms are consistently doing what mothers do, day in and day out, providing, comforting and caring. Dads rush in and fix things or come to the rescue and get credit for large gestures and major decisions, but really it’s the moms who quietly maintain the equilibrium in a family. Dads succeed at so many big moments because the moms have already handled so many more of the smaller moments.”

In spite of all my thinking and scribbling, writing late at night after the others have fallen asleep or jotting down notes while waiting for a traffic light to change, probing my brain looking for the profound truism that would serve as the central theme of this book, it wasn’t until that conversation with Jill that it all became so clear.

I guess I should have gone to my wife with my questions in the first place. She is, after all, both a mother and a daughter. It was she who told me the role of this book was to reassure moms that their position in their children’s lives, especially those of their daughters, is secured by all the many day to day things they do. It is by a mother constantly being there, constantly doing for them, making loving and nurturing small but meaningful gestures an everyday event in their lives, the unending giving of herself, that gives her children roots.

And so it is – just as mothers and fathers play different roles in their daughters’ lives, they make different imprints, too. As I mentioned in the introduction to this book, I believe my relationship with Meagan and Linley is more than it would otherwise be because of the help and influence of their mothers. I confess that when I made that statement I did not fully understand why I held it to be true. But now, thanks to Jill, I understand it ever so well.

I once wrote elsewhere that daughters need moms because dads cannot be everything for them. I know now, better than I did when I first put those words to paper, that daughters need moms to help them grow into the wonderful women they have the potential of becoming. In my family, this is proven each and every day.

http://www.amazon.com/Moms-Little-Angel-Stories-Daughters/dp/0061451509/ref=sr_1_24?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228859619&sr=1-24

I hope everyone enjoyed this excerpt from Greg's book. I did!

Greg, special thanks to you for your time and for sharing your special gift with me and my readers.

Have a great day, everyone!!

FUNway model

2011-07-16T18:53:00.000-04:00

I love having daughters!

And what's really fun right now is that my youngest, is a very girly girl! She LOVES pretend play, playing with her dolls, "cooking" in her oh so cool kitchen and playing dress up.

This is one of the delicious meals she made for me
:-).

Watching her play dress up has been super fun for me. If she's not wearing something of mine that I don't wear anymore, she's wearing one of her "fancy" dresses and sparkly high heeled shoes. We go to the thrift store sometimes and pick up dresses for a couple bucks and she's a happy camper. She even has a garment rack to hold them all.

We've also been blessed to have a friend who attends a Mardi Gras Ball every year. Being that she won't wear the same dress more than once...I mean, who WOULD? :-) She has more dresses than humanly necessary she knows what to do with. So being the good friend that she is, she gives them to J'Bear.

Tell ya what...let's take a look at some of the treasures that J'Bear has accumulated, shall we?

This is from our "wedding collection"
Simple & elegant. Perfect for that pretend beach wedding.

This is also from our wedding collection.
Complete with a "veil" in a lovely seafoam green.

From our "bridesmaid collection".
This is actually the skirt of a 2 piece ensemble :-).

Apparently Trae is not amused by this
bright pink ensemble with
mommy made pick ups
from our bridesmaid collection.
Maybe it's the shoes! :-)

This is her newest piece from
her "aluminum foil" collection :-).
Notice the jewels at neckline.

Another lovely dress from our
"Bridesmaid collection"
(it looks bright red on this picture.
But it's really a brick red almost burgundy.)

And this cute little number is from
our "party line".

We opted out of showing the powder blue dress from our "bridesmaid" line. J'Bear said that it was, "SOOO 2 weeks ago!" LOL

I just love how she's so creative and watches way too many fashion inspired TV shows to know that there are LINES of clothing designs.

What type of pretend play are your kids into these days that make them feel like such "grown ups"?

I'm starting to get tired of being nice....

2011-07-08T16:08:00.000-04:00

...DOGGONIT!!! If there is ONE thing that is frowned upon in our household, it's annoying phone calls!

ARGH!!!

I think I'm the only one in this house who knows, that when the phone rings, you're supposed to answer it. Everyone else kinda wanders around with that, Hmmm, I wonder what that ringing is-look on their face.

Ok, maybe the word, supposed to is a bit of a stretch. Especially since the invention of the Caller ID. But when those, "out of area", "unknown name/unknown number" things come up on the display, sometimes you just gotta answer it.

Here are a few that really get my big ole granny pannys in a wad:

~"Hello, can I speak with Mr./Mrs. _______ Bibbs" calls. Ok, Bibbs is not one of the most popular last names this side of the hemisphere. So I ASSUME that since there are so few of us, one would think that we all know eachother.

NEWS FLASH - we DON'T!

For the past few...ok, SEVERAL months, we have been getting calls from a collection agency for someone with the same last name as ours, but with a first name we do not know. When I tell Mr./Miss Collection person with an unrecognizable accent that, not only does this person not live here, but we don't even know them. I get a little salty attitude...as if I'm lyin' or somethin!

Trust me people, I am not harboring ANYONE in my home. There are enough people living here! So why do they ask me if I have a number where this mystery person can be reached?

REALLY?

I've had at least 3 - 4 collection people over the past year or so tell me that, Mr./Ms. Mystery person GAVE them our number, but they would remove it from their "list". And they have yet to do it. They've called twice this week already! ARGH!!

~"Hello, this is ______ calling from the Kidney Foundation/ADD/Disabled Vets, etc. And we were wondering if you have any gently worn clothes or household items you'd like to donate" calls. Alright, now this is a hard one. Because I'm all for helping folks out and donating stuff to a worthy cause.

However, I don't have old stuff to donate EVERY week!

I've even tried to tell them that, when/if I do have items to donate, I will contact them. They still call at least once every other week or so. Times are hard for everyone...who knows, I may need to start back wearing some of the clothes I was thinking about donating!

~Recordings from Mr/Ms. State Representative/Congressman calls. Look, with all the signs up and down the streets, posters stapled to telephone poles, stuff all over the news, and folks standing on street corners holding babies & waving. I KNOW it must be time to vote for something.

I do not need your recorded voice or the recorded voice of one of your posse calling me. That's enough to make me reconsider hitting the polls on your behalf.

~"Hello this is, so & so from such & such calling for Mister M." calls. Now these are the source of many thorns in my side.

FIRST of all, I HATE when people pronounce my husbands name incorrectly. If you are someone who "really appreciates his business", you'd know how to say his name.

Same stands true if you are a friend/associate of his.

Second of all, this is his WIFE!...if this is just a "courtesy call", why can't you talk to me?

Third of all, he's at WORK this time of day. So there's really no need for you to tell me that you'll call back tomorrow...cuz he'll be at work then too!

And more than likely, he's at work making money to pay whoever this is calling :-).

Ok, OK...I'm stepping down off my soapbox.

I've been wanting to blog about this for quite some time. But just haven't gotten around to it cuz I've been answering the dang phone all day...until the 2 calls came this week for some unknown "family" member!

So tell me, what are some of your annoyances? Other than this ridiculously long, nit-picky post of mine.

I have issues...

2011-06-22T14:26:00.000-04:00

Ok, I need your help.

Before I go any further, I'm sure those of you who really know me, are wondering how in the world I can make such under statements?

Of COURSE I have issues!

Of COURSE I need help!

DUH!!!

Anyway, I'm serious now...pay attention!! :-)

So, here's the thing. How do you "break up" with a company? I mean, what do you say, when they ask you WHY you're leaving them? That's the hardest thing for me to answer.

Case in point. For a few months now, we've tossed around the idea of switching security companies. We have had the OTHER company for the 12 years we've lived in this house. Never had to use them (really). In fact, we hardly even activate the thing unless we're all gone from the house.

Fast forwarding to yesterday. This guy comes by and gives us a pretty good sales pitch about ANOTHER company. Long story short, we decided to go with them. However, I will say that I wasn't too happy about the technician being in the area and "had time" to come on by and install the new equipment last night. Do you know he didn't leave here until after 10:30pm? ARGH!!

ANYWAY...today I had to call the OTHER company and "break up" with them. And of course they asked me why we were canceling our service. They went on and on about how they've been our security provider for the past 12 years and how the hate to see us leave. (well, we hate when your rates go up too...but you don't hear us whining...to you.) We've gotten the letters over the years telling us about the "slight" increase in charges. And we adjust accordingly.

Why can't they do that?

Why do they make you feel so bad about leaving them?

And WHY do you offer me a better rate or better service AFTER I tell you that we're "quitting" you?

So, are ya'll honest and tell them exactly why you're leaving? Do you tell them that you're going with another company? HELP???

Happy Fathers Day...a day late

2011-06-20T19:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there.

Just like Mothers Day, this sure is a low key day around the Bibbs household. Other than going to church (which was AWESOME, by the way!) we all just sat around and looked at eachother (and TV of course).

I called my dad to wish him a HFD, but he seemed a little distracted (by someone). So we didn't get to chat much. (I need to look into that...I'm his favorite only daughter!!!)

As far as the happenings at our house, as I said, it was very low key. In fact, I didn't even buy Mister M. a card this year. I know, I'm such a slacker wife.

Man, times are hard. And cards are expensive. And he could care less if he got one or not. However, Jayla came through like a champ and made daddy a card. I think those are his favs anyway. Hmmm, I may need to consider that next year.

Anyhoo, I guess Jayla thought that I felt bad because I didn't get a card for Fathers Day. Because she made me one too. Check this out...

See, I toldja...I AM the best mom ever! LOL

I can't wait to show these cards to Jayla when she gets to be a teenager. So cute! So special!

SO...what are some great (or not so great) gifts that you've received on your special Fathers/Mothers day? Do tell...

Whose line is it anyway?

2011-06-15T20:46:00.002-04:00

Me and Mister M. love to laugh and watch movies. Sadly, we don't watch them near as much as we'd like to. But thanks to some of the channels we have, we are able to catch a few good movies every now and again.

Another thing that we really enjoy doing, is talking in movie lines. I guess it's kind of an "inside" thing for us. But we are finding that a lot of people actually do it. So let's say it's an "IN" thing to do.

We're so HIP & COOL!

You know you wanna be like us! :-)

It's kinda fun to be out with friends, and an opportunity presents itself for me and/or Mister M. to blurt out one of our favorite movie lines.

Again, we're so HIP & COOL and weird & dorky!

Here are some of the movies we like to quote from:

"LIFE" (the one with Eddie Murphy & Martin Lawrence. NOT the one about nature & animals)
"The Color Purple" (ok, this one is most often quoted by me. As M-I-S-T-E-R doesn't really care for this movie.)
"The Proposal" (this is our most recent addition of movies. Surprisingly enough, Mister M. likes this "chick flick")
"Pulp Fiction" (like The Color Purple is for me, this is one that Mister M. quotes from quite a bit. And honestly, I usually have to ask, "What? What movie is that from?" He gets so frustrated...it's hilarious)
"Jackie Brown" (like Pulp Fiction, this is one of Misters favs)
"Shrek" - all of them (who doesn't enjoying quoting lines from Donkey?)
"O Brother Where Art Thou?" (If you've never seen this one, check it out. George Clooney shows a totally different side of himself in this flick. Too funny!)
"Wild Hogs" (John Travolta is hilarious in this movie. He's the main character we quote from this one.)
"The Nutty Professor/The Klumps" (the Eddie Murphy version)
"Friday" (Gotta love Chris Tucker & Ice Cube!)
"The 5th Element" (I'm a big fan of Bruce Willis)

**Added 6/16/11 @ 2:25pm**
I forgot about "Rush Hour" (I & II). And another one for Mister M., "Scarface". Surprisingly enough, the lines that he quotes from Scarface do NOT contain the "F" word :-).

I'm sure there are more. But this is all I can think of right now.

Now don't leave me out here hanging. TELL me that some of you talk "movie" too! If so, what are some of your favorite movies and/or movie lines?

So, what's on TV?

2011-06-10T11:36:00.002-04:00

Don't know what's gotten into me lately. But I've been watching quite a bit of TV.

Ok, wait...before I ride this horse any further, know that I'm actually not even at home that much :-).

But when I am home and I'm not either on Facebook, doing some type of craft, on Facebook, scrapbooking, cleaning/doing laundry or on Facebook...I'm watching TV. :-)

And not just ANY TV either. I LOVE reality "type" shows.

Not sure what I mean? Check this out....these are the types of shows that I enjoy filling the "empty" parts of my day with.

~What Not To Wear
~ Say Yes To the Dress
~Say Yes To The Dress: Big Bliss (This is for the big girls, aka, plus sized or "Full Figured")
~Platinum Brides
~My Fair Wedding with David Tutera (Mr. Tutera does some awesome wedding designs)
~Bridezillas (This is only a "sometimes". I get too angry when I watch this one)
*Are we seeing a trend here?
~American Justice
~The First 48
~Cold Case Files
*Oooo, another trend...
~It Only Hurts When I Laugh!
~Worlds Dumbest....
* I get a kick out of seeing people humiliate themselves.
~Man v Food
~Food Network: Challenge
~Amazing Wedding Cakes
~Divine Design (I love Candice Olson)

NOTE: Added 6/10/11 @ 12:47pm

Allow me to clear a couple things up. I don't watch ALL of the listed shows EVERYday! When I DO watch TV, these are shows that I look for and/or prefer to watch. Oh, and I forgot, I also enjoy watching professional soccer.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programs...LOL...I crack me up!!

(I'm thinking it would've been easier just to say that I like the A&E, TruTV, TLC & We TV channels, huh?)

Well, that's all I can think of right now. But there are some episodes of these shows that I'll watch over, and over, and over. You should see Mister M's face when he walks in our room and one of these shows (especially a wedding related show) is on our TV. Priceless! lol

So, do you think when I'm not at home out running errands, I should see a shrink? I mean, watching these types of shows should be called...SOME type of medical term! I mean, I have NO desire to get married again! NO desire to kill anyone. NO plans of trying ANY of the stunts I see people try on Tru TV! And NO desire to try most of the foods I see featured/prepared on the cooking shows. But I can decorate a mean birthday cake...just nothing like the ones they refer to as AMAZING!

But I sure do enjoy watching this stuff.

Note: I would, actually, like to appear on, "What Not To Wear". I mean have you seen how I dress myself? My 9 year old dresses herself better than I do...oh wait, now THAT'S a stretch.

But ya'll get what I'm saying, right?

So, tell me, what are some of your favorite "guilty pleasure" TV programs?

Moment of nostalgia...

2011-06-01T21:55:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone!

Not sure why this subject hit me today. But I was thinking that, in all the years that I've been doing this blog, I've never, at least I don't remember, told you guys about...ME!

Considering I've been on this lovely planet for a little over 40 years now...I won't bore you with my HERstory. I won't lay back on your "cyber sofa" and tell you what life was like when I was a child.

But what I will do, is share my past with you in pictures. A friend of mine got onto me recently for doing my last post without pictures. Well, sweetie...this one's for YOU!!! :-)

Before I get started with this walk down memory lane, I ask that you respect your elders...and DON'T LAUGH at my pictures! :-)

Got it?

Great! Ok...take my hand and let's get started, shall we?

6 or 7 months old
Are ya'll laughing already???

1st Birthday

Me and my momma.

Me & my momma again at my 5th birthday
(that was my FAVORITE dress! Purple velvet...
Don't get no better 'n nat!) lol

Me and my diddy at the Bronx Zoo!
I love you, Dad!!!

1st Grade
(I can hear ya'll...)

2nd Grade

My 1st Communion

YEP! I was a Girl Scout!
(What a GOOFY smile! Guess it went with that
GOOFY hairstyle!)

Me & my sister before my 7th grade graduation.

Sweet 16!

10th grade
Man, why didn't SOMEONE talk me outta the bangs & the
Flying Nun hairstyle and the AWFUL lipstick?
UGH!

Senior cap & gown photo
Class of '84 IN THA HOUSE!!!

Jr./Sr. Prom
(YES! I had a date...but this ain't and never has been about him!)

Dec. 17, 1988
My wedding day!

Glamour Shot moment
Leather...with the collar up...REALLY?

20th (2008) wedding anniversary photo shoot
(I just LOVE that man!)

Me & Bri...my oldest dear daughter!
We're so cool! :-)

Me and my OTHER favorite guy, Markell!

Me & J'Bear...my baby girl

Me...NOW!
Well, last Summer :-)

Welp, that's about all I have for now! Any questions? Comments? CONCERNS? Lol

Oh, wait, I do have one more....

This was the temperature here, in lovely, Powder Springs, Ga
at 11:15 this morning! At 1pm, it hit 100F!

Ok, seriously...that's all for today. :-) I'm OUT.....

That's a wrap...

2011-05-25T16:42:00.003-04:00

Well folks, today marks the end of a new era.

That "era" being 3rd grade!

Today was the last day of school for J'Bear. And needless to say, she's not quite excited. Sure, she's happy that she won't have to get up at 6:15 in the morning. Sure, she's even happy that there's no more homework. SURE, she's happy that there are no more "yucky" lunches :-).

What she's NOT happy about is not being able to see her teacher and her school friends. Nor is she happy about the fact that she's not "formally " learning during the day. (Not to worry...I'm gonna take care of the latter for her, lol)

3rd grade is a pivotal point in a childs educational career. At least here in Georgia it is. 3rd graders are not quite "babies" anymore. And they're not quite "big kids" either. They are (supposed to be) learning to be more responsible human beings. They are learning to write their names in cursive. Learning the multiplication tables and how to divide. And learning to do REAL projects/reports. And now, 95% of the owness is on the student! No more assignments where mom (or dad) have to do most of the work.

Also, 3rd grade was the year of STANDARDIZED TESTING! Good LAWD!!! This was NOT my idea of fun! There were 2 standardized test in the month of September ALONE! Both within a week of eachother. Then there is the CRCT test. The test students plan for all school year long. In fact, they are taught based on this one test. CRCT testing is a week long and it happens the week after returning from Spring Break, in April.

Nothing worse than seeing the kids all stressed out about this test. Reason being, there are a few grades where this test is more "important" than others. Here's how it works. For third graders to be promoted to the 4th grade, they have to pass the READING section of the CRCT. It helps if they do well in the other parts too. But being promoted is hinged on the reading portion. For 5th graders, they have to pass the reading AND math portions to be promoted to the 6th grade.

J'Bear struggles a little with reading. Well, not actually "reading" itself...she's actually an awesome reader and really enjoys it. The part she struggles with sometimes is comprehension. AND, she reads quickly. So by reading quickly, she's missing critical points like maybe, who said what. Kinda hard to explain.

ANYWAY, we she was really a little stressed by this upcoming test. In fact, her teacher even suggested some tutoring in the subject to help her S.L.O.W. down and take it all in, so to speak. So I she was on pins & needles waiting on test scores to come back.

When the scores came back, J'Bears teacher proudly told her that she in fact DID pass the reading portion. Boy, we were SOOO excited when we get that news.

Funny story; the day after Ms. C told J'Bear that she'd passed the reading portion, she told her that she'd also passed the math portion. To which J'Bear promptly announced, "YEAH BABY! I'm going to 6th grade!" LOL Uh, no sweetie, that's not how it works. Lol.

Anyhoo, that was a long way of saying that we can rest this summer break in knowing that J'Bear won't have to retest or possibly get kept back in 3rd grade. Come August, we'll have us a 4th grader. Yeah Baby!!

So in the meantime, I need to find a way to keep this 4th grader entertained over the summer. Hmmm, what to do? What to do? There won't be any family vacations this year (trying to pay off some debt). So me and J'Bear might have some short, not too long trips. We may try and head to Mobile to visit my mom. And we MAY try and hitch a ride to Nebraska with some of our friends. Then, there's the possibility of a extended weekend with the family to Savannah. We'll see!

What's everyone else up to this summer? Anything fun & exciting? Do tell...

Be careful of what you ask for...

2011-05-16T17:51:00.000-04:00

...Ok, we've all heard this saying before, "Be careful what you ask for"...and it continues, "because you just may get it?" Well, I've been asking for some Spring/Summer like weather and we haven't gotten it!

I can only speak for myself. But I do NOT like cold weather! Alright, hot weather is not my favorite either.

But in the interest of time, let's stick to the subject of COOL/COLD weather.

Here it is, May 16th and it's in the low 60's/high 50's here in Georgia. I'm so tired of grabbing a jacket and wearing long sleeves, I could SPIT! :-P

I do, however, realize that warmer weather will be here before we know it. And I'll be right here, doing another post about how stinkin HOT it is!

I admit it...I'm never very seldom satisfied! I don't like to be hot because it makes me sweat. And that's yet another thing I DON'T like. BUT, I don't like being cold either...especially when it's SUPPOSED to be hot! :-)

Now, is everyone as confused as I've made myself? Perfect! Sorry bout that! lol

It is DONE!!!

2011-05-05T17:07:00.000-04:00

Ok, so how long ago was it that I said I'd be working on that kitchen for my cute little friend? Oh, doesn't matter when I said it...cuz it's DONE!!!

YIPPY!!

And I still have an entire week before I have to deliver it to the little princess. Sad thing about that is, that gives me 7 more days to add more little girly details to it. :-)

So, wanna see it? Well, DO YA???

Okie dokie...Here it is....

The whole thing!

The Stove.
(YEP! that's a real oven rack)

Up close of the stove top.
(YEP! that's real "pictures" of gas flames, lol)

The refrigerator/freezer.
(YEP! It has an ice maker & water dispenser)
And the hanging butterfly on the freezer is a chalkboard.

The Sink.
(NOTE: that sink is pink...not the coraly/orangey color that it appears to be.)

Up close of the sink.
(YEP! There's "water" dripping out of the faucet) :-)

The stackable washer/dryer.
(YOU GUESSED IT...there's a window to look inside the washer.
It's simply an acrylic plate with "bubbles" in it to look like water.

Up close of the washer/dryer controls.

Well, whatcha think? I really like it! I love how girly & prissy it is. My little friend, Megan, is turning 5 next week. And my hope is to have it set up for her when she gets home from school on Thursday. Her mom does embroidery, And she's gonna put Megans name or something on a cute piece of fabric that will hang in the opening under the sink. So once we get that installed, I'll share another picture.

Anyway, that's it for now. This was SO much fun to build. And SO much easier than the first one I did. NOW, I know what to do!! :-)

I'm out...

I'm famous (in my own little world)

2011-04-20T19:16:00.000-04:00

Ok, so think back with me a couple of years. Remember Jayla asked for a "kitchen" for Christmas, and I made her one out of cardboard boxes? Well, guess what? A friend of mind asked me to make one for her daughters birthday next month.

I'm really excited about this. To this day, Jayla still plays with hers. I love when I walk into the playroom and Jayla is either "washing dishes", or getting something from the "fridge" or taking out a "load of laundry". Now my friend will get to experience that with her daughter.

I haven't started on it yet, as I have to finish buying the supplies. But as soon as I get done with it, I'll take pictures and share them here. In the meantime, if any of ya'll need a new kitchen built...HOLLA AT ME!! :-)

I have an answer for that...

2011-04-15T19:33:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone!

I started laughing when I typed the title to this post. Reason being, most of the time, I THINK I do have an answer...for most things :-). Which is probably why my 9 year old thinks I'm simply BRILLIANT! LOL But that's a different post for a different day.:-)

But the thing that made me choose this title was a comment that my dear friend, Brown English Muffin made on one of my earlier posts. What she said was, (and I quote), "dogs get yeast infections??? get out of here!!!" I found that funny because I thought the same thing when the vet told me that Trae had a yeast infection a couple years ago.

So, let's get back to the question...because, after all...I have answer for that :-). The answer is...wait for it...YES! Yes, dogs do get yeast infections. BUT they get them in their ears. Can you imagine? Anyway, a couple years ago when we first heard that Trae had this infection, I was immediately imagining that we'd have to shoot ole boys ears up with some Monistat 7. And honestly, I wasn't feeling it!

Anyway, I have now been informed (and so have you) and now know what to look for or smell.

Hmmm, this might be a new "thing" to start on my blog. I love doing research on the internet. So who knows maybe while I learn weird & strange things via my surfing, I'll share them here with my readers. But for now, I'm off to answer a question for my sweet little JaylaBear, "Mom, can I have some strawberry shortcake for dessert...WITHOUT the strawberries??" :-)

Until next time...I'm OUT!!

I had a code...

2011-04-05T15:25:00.000-04:00

...well, I thought I'd successfully made it through the Winter without catching a "code"! No such luck. And it wasn't just me either. Me and Mister M. were both under the weather.

Man, breathing sure is a luxury, isn't it? I mean, not only do you sound DUMB when you try to pronounce normal, everyday words such as cold/code or breath/breev. But you feel TERRIBLE!!! And at night?? FORGET about it!! Head colds are the worst!

Fortunately, I'm finally out of the "needing medication to sleep" phase of my cold. However, I'm now in the, "not too much better, hacking/coughing" phase. And I'm not talking about your innocent clearing your throat cough either. I'm talking about the, eye watering/can't catch your breath/here comes a lung kind of coughing. CHEEZ- WHIZ!!!

ANYWAY, hopefully this phase won't last too much longer and I'll be back to my normal self.

This week is Spring Break for us. Mister M. is even taking this week off from work. We're not gonna do much. Just keeping it close to home. J'Bear is going to a sleepover tonight then to Six Flags all day tomorrow with her cousins. And while she's gone, Mister M., his mom and me are going to the Farmers Market. Hmm, can't understand why J'Bear would rather go to an amusement park! LOL Other than that, I don't think we're doing too much.

Well, I think that's it for now. Ya'll enjoy the rest of your week. I'm out.....

Short post...

2011-03-28T10:11:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone!

Before I say ANOTHER word, let me say these 4 words...AHEM...

I'm READY for SPRING!!!

There, I said it!!! Fortunately, I'm not one of those people who suffer from allergies in the Spring. My body prefers to wait until the Fall to suffer from allergies :-). But I don't enjoy the stinkyness of the Bradford Pear trees here. Not only do the trees smell AWFUL...they deposit little white petals all over the universe and in my car windows. I know, I know...roll the windows up! :-).

Although it doesn't suffer with allergies, the soccer season does some suffering of it's own. It has been raining quite a bit lately which reeks HAVOC on soccer fields. So needless to say, we've had quite a few rain outs already. Nothing worse than having to make up games. Well, that's not necessarily true...I can think of a lot worse things. But you get what I'm saying.

Oh, before I go, has ANYONE out there ever had or considered obtaining pet insurance? I'll tell ya, I LOVE our dog, Trae, like nobody's business. But if we have to drop another $500+ on him again, I'm gonna slit my wrist!

Then...THEN...after we get ole boy home from his day at the vet/spa, he has the runs all over the place from all the shots he got AND the meds he has to take for his annual yeast infection. Are you KIDDING me?!? Then...Then...AND...he broke a tooth! A canine tooth no less. REALLY??? But just in case you're wondering, he's all better now :-). Us? Not so much! lol

That's it for now...be back soon!!

Ok, so.....

2011-03-07T14:46:00.000-05:00

...here's the thing. For almost the entire month of February, I was computerless.

There I was, about to print to some pictures for scrapbooking and my screen went black. No warning! No beeping noise! Just the quick little "monitor going to sleep" notice (as it often does when my computer has been inactive for a while and the screensaver is coming on). But this time, not even a screensaver. The monitor went to sleep and took my computer with it. I moved the mouse around a little...nothing! Hit a couple of keys...still nothing.

Fortunately, I live with and am married to my "technical administrator". So soon after mentioning to him that my monitor had decided to take a long nap, he quickly discovered that my motherboard kicked the bucket. Wait, or was it the fatherboard? I dunno! ANYWAY...it was some...PARENTboard and one other thing. :-) I found out though, that I should be thankful that it wasn't my hard drive.

Anyhoo, my computer sat on my craftroom floor in a couple pieces, waiting on the IRS to send us our tax returns so we could purchase the necessary parts for fix my computer. SIGH!!!

During my downtime, I watched a LOT of TV. Ya know, there's really not much on of interest these days. No wonder I spend so much time on my computer. :-)

Also while I was without a computer, Jayla was on her week long Winter break. She and I went to the park, we went for pizza for lunch one day, we went to Yogli Mogli (YUMMY! YUMMY) and worked on her first book report. YEP, her class had to do a book report while they were on a break! What this REALLY means is, the PARENTS have work to do over the break too :-(. I'm sure we did some other stuff too. But these things stick out in my mind. Doing the report more than anything else.

The kids had 7 - 8 people from history to chose from. Initially, Jayla had chosen Eleanor Roosevelt. But surprisingly enough, we weren't able to find many books on her. So she chose Mary McLeod Bethune. I read the book first, and was actually very impressed and surprised by her. Of course, there were some things I already knew about her. But I learned quite a bit more too. At first, Jayla wasn't too enthused about doing her first book report on Mrs. Bethune. But after reading the book she became very enthralled.

Long story short, the report had to be quite detailed and there were several criteria that had to be met. Jayla did her VERY best. Check out how well her VERY best was...

That's right...a 100!! Needless to say, we were VERY proud of our J'Bear!

A few days ago, we received the pictures back that we took just before Winter break. I just can't believe this kid is in the 3rd grade. Look at what a big girl she has become...

Where's my LITTLE girl? :-(...that's ok, I'll take this cutie any day of the week. :-)

Well, I think that's it for now. I'm sure I've got more stuff to share. But it's time to help with homework and get ready for soccer practice. So until my next post, ya'll enjoy your week!!

I won a Blogger "award"!

2011-01-17T17:42:00.000-05:00

My friend & fellow blogger, BEM, was sweet enough to present me with the "Stylish Blogger Award". Sadly, I don't have speech prepared :-). So I'll just tell her, "THANK YOU" and get on with it...

This is a pay-it-forward style award. Here are the rules:

Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this.
Share 8 things about yourself
Pay it forward to 8 bloggers that you have recently discovered (or not so recently)
Contact those bloggers and tell them about their awards.

Alrighty, here goes nothin....

I don't like to swallow when I'm in the shower! Weird huh? Not sure when this started or even why. But it just feels so strange to me to swallow while I'm taking a shower. It almost feels as if I'm drowning or something. So I try VERY hard not to do it.
Dr. Pepper is my most favorite drink on the planet! However, I love it SO MUCH that I don't even keep it in my house. I don't buy it by the 6-pack, by the 2-liter or by the case. It is one of my guilty pleasures and I only buy them...one at a time...on occasion when I go to the store or to a restaurant (fast food or otherwise). I have even been known to go to another fast food restaurant or store to buy a Dr. Pepper if the place I'm eating at doesn't offer it on their menu. And when Dr. Pepper is not available at a "sit down" restaurant, I order sweet tea with no lemon! Oh, and I have such great friends though, that for my birthday or Christmas, they buy me a case :-).
I would LOVE to be nominated to be on the TLC show, What Not To Wear (WNTW)! I really would. Since becoming a SAHM...ok, even before that, I have NEVER had a sense of style. In fact, I'm just shy of having the "I don't care!" state of mind. I like to keep it simple. I get up in the morning, throw on something that's clean (enough) and I'm out the door! My daily "uniform" consists of either jeans or sweatpants and a t-shirt or sweatshirt. I have NO one to impress...so why should I care? Going on that show would do wonders for me. I mean, who wouldn't want to spend $5000 on CLOTHES for themselves? In New York, even! I will say that I don't think I'd be too good of candidate when it came to getting my hair done though. I LOVE my grey streaked hair. And I like the length of my hair. Those 2 hair stylist on there like to cut hair...and I'm not down with that!
Piggy backing off of #3, the other thing about me is, I don't like to shop. Ok, let me clear this up a little; I don't like to shop for MYSELF! I have had issues with my weight for as long as I can remember. I've definitely weighed less than what I weigh now. But I've never weighed more than what I weigh now. However, even though I've not weighed more than my current weight, I still have a hard time finding clothes that fit me like I would want them to. Until about 2 years ago, the last time I purchased a pair of jeans for myself was the month before I found out that I was pregnant with Jayla. And THEN could only wear them for a few months. Prior to that, the last time I purchased jeans was in high school I think. Now shoes? That's another story! I CAN buy shoes for myself :-). When I'm able to shop, I'm in the store 10 minutes and I'm almost in tears because I get so frustrated with the selection of "plus sized" clothes. Then even more so with how things look on me. I'm over it!
I LOVE doing crafts! Almost any type of crafts make me happy. Several months after Markell left, Mister M. told me that I could turn the now empty room into a scrapbooking room. Which I did! Although scrapbooking is my "first love", I do enjoy doing other crafts. So my scrapbooking room is now simply a craft room. Not only do I scrapbook, I also make jewelry, sew, Duct Tape crafts and general crafts. LOVE to create!!!
Checking the mail is one of my favorite things to do everyday. I love hearing the mail truck driving up our street. Although my MIL gets most of the mail, I enjoy checking it. Honestly, it's one of the highlights of my day :-).
I was VERY hesitant about becoming a SAHM. I'd always thought that I'd be that person to retire from 50 years at a job. I never saw myself as the type of person to "stay at home". I'd hear other moms talk about volunteering at their kids' school. Shoot, not ME!!! Now, if I'm not running my MIL somewhere or running other errands, I'm at the school...volunteering. And ya know what? I LOVE it!!
Along with my fear of becoming a SAHM, I was also fearful of becoming a mini-van driving soccer mom. WELL...we all know how this story went! Lol I AM a soccer mom. I am also a soccer coaches wife. I drive around 8 months out of the year with folding outdoor chairs, cleats, shin guards, soccer balls and water bottles in my van. And not just any van, mind you...a mini van with THREE soccer ball magnets and a little soccer family on it!! THAT'S RIGHT!!!

Well, that's about it...mission accomplished! Now, what fellow bloggers/friends should I tag???

Jacki - Cuz I miss her!
Susie Q - Cuz she's a SUPER sweet lady and I'd LOVE to meet her IRL one day!
Jude - Cuz she's so stinkin cute & hilarious! And because her son is my daughters pen pal! :-)
Lauren - Cuz she's just about the sweetest thing! And we were instant "friends".
Lyn - Cuz she's amazing, has a beautiful smile and a beautiful story to tell.
Tanisha - Cuz she inspires me with her gift of scrapbooking creativity.
Cheryl - Cuz she's so sweet and shows her love of her family in her writings.
Tricia - Cuz she's SUPAH!!! :-)

Have fun!!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year...

2011-01-17T12:27:00.001-05:00

...and all the other holidays or events that have come and gone since my last post :-).

I've been running around like a crazy woman lately. In addition to spending time with Mister M. while he was on vacation. He usually takes the last 3 weeks of the year off. So I TRY not to spend too much time on my computer when he's home. Jayla was also home for 2 of those 3 weeks. So we were all just spending time together.

Anyway, what's been going on? Well, I'm sure you've all hear about all the crazy, snowy weather we've had here in Georgia? It was BEAUTIFUL!! But at the same time, it has now worn out it's welcome :-).

How bout a few pictures from our long week of snow? Oh, before I do that, Mister M. and I also celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary since my last post. Yay us!! :-)

CHRISTMAS

Jayla showing off her cute little Tweety Bird jacket
that Markell gave her.

The microphone she "always wanted!" :-) It even has an
applause button on it for when mom & dad aren't around :-).

This is the Christmas Moose that Jayla gave me and daddy :-).

BIG hug for Grandma!
(Grandma gave her the boots she's "always wanted!" :-)

Trae playing with his Christmas gift :-).

Jayla's other favorite gift...the Hoola Hoop

Still trying to figure out how this thing works :-).
Gotta give it to her...she's persistent.

NOTE: If you're ever looking for a Hoola - Hoop as a Christmas gift, don't check at Target. When we asked the sales person where we could find them, we were told that the Hoola - Hoop is a "seasonal" item. Ok, I get it...MOST of the time, you see kids playing with them in the Summer months. BUT...don't kids ride bikes and roller skate in the summer too? How come those items are sold at Christmas time? Just askin...

Side note: In case you're wondering, Jayla FINALLY got the hoola-hooping down to an art! Now, there's no stopping her! :-)

For the first time in FOREVER, we had a White Christmas!

This is what we woke up to last Sunday (1/9)

And due to what we woke up to last Sunday...this is what we had and did ALL week....

Jayla's FIRST TIME on a sled.

We found out that we have the perfect backyard for sledding.

"Alright mom, that's enough for one day...
I'm FREEZING!!"

One day, my friend Stacey and her kids came to our yard for sledding. They had a BLAST!!! Our fence took a beating :-). But the kids had a great time.

Even me and Stacey got in on the sledding fun!

Ok...I've seen enough snow! I will admit though, we had a BLAST!!!

The kids were out of school for an entire week due to the weather. If you know anything about Georgia...you know that snow isn't our problem...it's the ice afterwards. So to err on the side of caution, the schools and several businesses were closed last week. The kids received an extra...unexpected week out of school. In fact, this past Saturday was the first time I left the house (outside of going to the mailbox) since LAST Saturday (1/8). I was starting to get a little cabin fever. But tomorrow...it's back to our normal routines!

There's still snow on the ground...I'm looking at some of my neighbors yards now as I type. But the roads are clear of snow & ice. I will say this one last thing about the weather we just experienced...it FORCED families to spend time together and enjoy eachother. I heard a radio announcer say that he's predicting that the maternity wards are gonna be PACKED in September/October! LOL

Enjoy your day...

Day...ummmm....Be Thankful extended a few days :-)

2010-12-07T15:26:00.000-05:00

I realize that the "Thankful" posts were for the month of November. But I thought today was another day to be thankful.

Twenty-six years ago today, God blessed me with my beautiful daughter, Briyanna.

Newborn
December 7, 1984

18 months old
Not sure why I'm posting this one,
I just think it's SUPER cute :-).

And I'd like to take a(NOTHER) minute to wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

TODAY
(well, a week ago,lol)

Love you, Bri!!

Day 30 - Last, but not least, Be Thankful

2010-11-30T15:08:00.000-05:00

Today, Tuesday, on the last day of my Be Thankful posts, I am thankful for - ANSWERED PRAYERS!

Most of you know that I catch a bunch of slack from my friends (and family) about being (or WANTING to be) first in the carpool line at Jayla's school. :-) Well, I'm STILL that way :-).

Today, I was first in line. It's been raining off and on today (mostly ON!) So I wanted Jayla to be one of the first ones out. But I failed to realize that today, being first wasn't that great. Reason being, there are 5 "stops" in picking up the kids at her school. And #1 is the furthest away from where the kids are actually dismissed. So being that it was raining today, she'd get REALLY wet having to walk all the way down to the #1 spot. (Lesson learned by mommy)

Anyway, as I sat in my spot waiting for school to let out, the sky just OPENED up and it was POURING down raining. I could hardly see out of my windshield. So I said a little prayer, asking God to please, either stop or slow down the rain until all the kids were in their vehicles. The rain continued to fall and the wind picked up. But just as the last child walked into the gym (which is where car riders are dismissed from) and the final bell rang...the rain...STOPPED! :-) All I could do was smile and thank God for answering my prayer.

I don't doubt or question what God is able to do for those who love Him. But it's not often that a prayer of mine is answered almost IMMEDIATELY! Absolutely amazing!

Day 29 - Be Thankful

2010-11-29T21:30:00.000-05:00

Today, Monday, November 29th, I am thankful for - BEDTIME!

What a day!

Today wasn't abnormally crazy or anything. But I was really looking forward to bedtime. Not just for myself...but mostly for my 9 year old :-). Most of the time, she is WIRED in the evenings. And bedtime cannot come quick enough sometimes. All I hear in the play room is singing, dancing, and laughing. NONE of things are bad. It's just after a while, it just gets...um, loud :-).

I realize I should embrace these moments as they will be over in a few years. I've been blessed to hear these sounds from 2 other kids prior to Jayla.

And there are no sounds as pleasant as hearing your child enjoy life and having a good time. I guess, when you think about it, her having this "fun" in the evenings, makes an easy bedtime. By the time 9pm rolls around, she's BEAT! :-) We have never had any trouble with Jayla going to bed when it's time. For that, I am also thankful.

MY bedtime is the time I look forward to spending with Mister M. Although I "call it a night" soon after Jayla goes to bed, Mister M. and I are either talking & catching up with eachother or watching TV. So we may not even go to sleep ourselves until 11pm or so. Gotta love winding down at the end of a busy (or not so busy) day!

Day 28 - Be Thankful

2010-11-28T15:39:00.000-05:00

Today, Sunday, November 28th, I am thankful for - MY TRANSPORTATION

Ok, here's the thing...I cannot STAND my vehicle! There, I said it!

I CURRENTLY drive one of these....

2002 Nissan Quest

Add a couple layers of dirt, a few "dust" pictures on the windows, some door scratches & dings from bicycle handlebars/shopping carts, 3 soccer magnets, 1 school magnet, throw in a few Skittles & french fries, some soccer cleats, folding chairs and remove 2 of the Nissan lug nut covers off of one front and one rear tire, and this one would look EXACTLY like mine :-).

I USE to drive one of these....

2001 Chevy Tahoe

However, mine had some SEXY rims on the tires and NO giant scratch on the passenger door :-).

And I WANT to drive one of these... :-)

2010 Chevy Tahoe

Do we see a pattern here? No?!? Well, I'm kinda partial to a Chevy Tahoe. I LOVE being up high and let's face it, this is SO much sexier than a...than a...(I can't even SAY it!)...than a...m...mi...minivan!!! ARGH!!! :-)

But I must say, although I'm not fond of my Quest, I am SOOOO VERY thankful that I have a dependable mode of transportation. I do miss my Tahoe. But I DO NOT miss having a gas guzzler and a car payment. We purchased the Tahoe the month after we found out we were expecting J'Bear. And we kept it for almost 2 years. We traded it for the Quest because we found out we were expecting AGAIN (J'Bear was 14 months old). The Tahoe had a chunky monthly payment. And we had to quickly cut expenses somewhere considering we were about to have another baby. Getting rid of the Tahoe and getting the Quest was the best move for us.

Sadly, the week after we bought the Quest, I miscarried. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't wonder if the Tahoe was still at the dealership :-).

Good news is, we paid off the Quest in 8 months and for the past several years have had NO car payments. The Quest may not be visually appealing. But it is very dependable, doesn't guzzle gas, has (almost) enough room for all our STUFF. AND...has a VCR in it! LOL

I always said I didn't want to be one of those moms, that not only drove a minivan, but had magnets on it and spent my weekends chauffeuring around soccer players. But ya know what? I AM one of those moms! I'm a soccer mom/coaches wife...and I LOVE it! My minivan is not WHO I am...it's WHAT I drive! Although people honk their horns at me now, I'm thankful that I have something to safely drive my family & friends around in.

I'm still holding out for that new Tahoe though. Please send all donations to.....:-) LOL

Day 27 - Be Thankful

2010-11-27T19:13:00.000-05:00

Today, Saturday, November 27th, I am thankful for - JUNK MAIL (aka "good mail")!

Ya know what? It really is the highlight of my day to hear the mail truck drive down our street. Seriously! I love checking the mail. And my favorite thing to receive is JUNK MAIL, or good mail! Some people hate it...I love it! Why, you might ask? First, let's define what exactly is meant by JUMK MAIL.

Junk Mail consists of advertisements, coupons, magazines, credit card offers, catalogs, etc. So basically, anything BUT bills. I also enjoy receiving letters/cards (GOOD mail). You know....LETTERS, it's a handwritten "email" of sorts from a friend or family member. A letter!! :-) I don't receive them much, but I do enjoy getting them. J'Bear has recently become a Pen Pal with my friends son. And she just loves it! It's so cute to see the things they write about and how "to the point" they are. Nothing long, just quick questions & answers. Love it!

I need to find myself a pen pal.

I remember a while back when me and another friend chatted quite a bit, she would tell me how she had such a "good mail day". Good mail days included her receiving a new magazine or a visit from the UPS man :-). I mean, she's got a point...let's be real. Almost ANYTHING that the UPS man brings is GOOD, right?

Anyway, I think I defined it appropriately above...Junk mail is ANYTHING EXCEPT BILLS!!! :-) Ok, to some people bills may be junk mail, LOL. For the record, today was a good mail day...NO BILLS!!! :-)

Day 26 - Be Thankful

2010-11-26T18:56:00.000-05:00

Today, Friday, November 26th, I am thankful for - LEFT OVERS

...enough said! LOL

Day 25 - Be Thankful

2010-11-25T20:00:00.002-05:00

Today, November 25th, I am thankful for - FELLOWSHIP

I'll be honest, I was a little nervous about our Thanksgiving get together this year. Last year, we had Thanksgiving here at our house. And as in the past, we "discussed" who would host the festivities the following year. My SIL was the chosen one this year. My SIL is a single woman, she lives alone and quite frankly, isn't use to or accustomed to having a house full of people. Especially young kids running around. So needless to say, I was a little nervous about it. And from what it sounds like, she wasn't really looking forward to it.

BUT...we got to my SIL's house and she had it so beautifully decorated. Along with us bringing most of the main Thanksgiving staples, she also asked me to make 3 centerpieces for the tables. She was so excited that I chose to use fresh, Fall flowers and candles for the centerpieces. It just added to how nice everything was.

You guys, there was SO MUCH food! It all looked DEEElicious!!! My MIL (Bless her heart) cooked for 3 days prior to the big event. And good LAWD did my house smell DEVINE!!! :-)

The 20+ family members that were there all joined hands, forming a giant circle. And my husband said the most beautiful blessing. Making sure to not only bless the delicious food. But the preparers of the food, the hostess, and the FELLOWSHIP of family.

Doesn't get much better than that. Well, maybe if the Cowboys had won...LOL!

Day 24 - Be Thankful

2010-11-24T15:19:00.001-05:00

Today, November 24th, I am thankful for - DOWN TIME

Ok, most people who know me, know that I am NOT one to just...BE! If I'm not sleeping, I'd much rather be in my craftroom doing...SOMETHING! Or I'm out and about running errands or volunteering somewhere.

But I'll be honest, I do enjoy my down time. That's the time that I'm either laying in bed watching my many "guilty pleasure" shows. Or reading a magazine. Or doing a word search puzzle. Or just lying in bed talking and laughing with Mister M.

DOWN TIME...ROCKS!!

Days 21, 22 & 23 - Be Thankful

2010-11-23T15:00:00.000-05:00

SERIOUSLY??? I'm 3 days behind?

Trust me, it's NOT because I'm NOT thankful...it's because I'm FORGETFUL!! :-)

Ok, let's see....

On Sunday, day 21, I was thankful for - GORGEOUS WEATHER!!

Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day! Our U16 boys had a soccer tournament over the weekend and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. I won't even get into the actual game, as that's not what this post is about. I will just say that this weekend was a one that I was glad that we are a soccer family :-). Nothing better than being outside, enjoying friends/family & a beautiful day.

On Saturday after the games, we went to my sisters house to visit with my mom & her husband who were in town. My sister made a big ole pot of chili and I made a big ole pot of Santa Fe soup. The food & the fellowship were AWESOME! We didn't get home until 1am on Sunday morning! A great time was had by all.
(I will share pix soon.)

On Monday, day 22, I was thankful for - MISTER M. BEING ON VACATION

My hubby usually works from home on Mondays. He's been doing that for quite some time now. But for some reason, it seems a little different, a little more fun, when he's on VACATION as opposed to "working". He'll be on vacation all this week...and he makes sure that we know it! :-)

Oh Monday, me, Mister M. J'Bear and my MIL all ran errands together. Usually it's just me & my MIL (unless J'Bear is out of school). Our first stop was to the doctors office for my MIL's monthly bloodwork. Afterwards, we headed to the first grocery store. I'll tell ya, Mister M. & J'Bear do NOT make a good mix at the store :-). He's just a big ole kid!

Anyway, I just love that he's home with us this week and choosing to spend his vacation doing stuff with us. Although vacations when we get to travel somewhere are THE BEST...Mister M. being home with us is an awesome vacation too.

Today, Tuesday, day 23, I am thankful for - NAPTIME

Ok, if there's nothing else in the world that I'm good at, NAPS has got to be my #1 :-). I LOVE taking naps. And I'm not one of those sissy, 15, 20 or 30 minute nappers either! lol I nap for 2 - 3 HOURS!!! Especially when the weather is like it was today...kinda overcast, kinda gloomy, kinda chilly...you know what I mean! It's PERFECT napping weather.

I try very hard not to take naps during the work week. But I'll be honest, sometimes it's all I can do to stay awake. But on the weekends...or when everyone is at home (like this week) and there's nothing but lazy lounging going on around me...I'm ALL OVER taking a nap!!

Yeah, I'm a good napper! In fact, I think I'm gonna go take one now :-).

Day 20 - Be Thankful

2010-11-20T18:00:00.001-05:00

Today, November 20th, I am thankful for - JAYLA!!!

On Tuesday, November 20, 2001, after 11 LONG years of prayer (and trying), God sent me & Mister M. a beautiful blessing....

24 Hours old.

3 Months old.

1st Birthday.
(Look at that face! I LOVE it! She did NOT wanna touch
that cake, lol)

Pre-K
(Age 4)

Kindergarten
Age 5

1st Grade
Age 6

2nd Grade
Age 7

And here we are, 9 years later...and He continues to bless us with this BEAUTIFUL little lady!

TODAY!
...well, almost today :-)...she was 8 in this
3rd Grade picture, taken about a month ago.
She still looks like this :-).

Love you bunches, J'Bear!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just had to share...

2010-11-19T22:05:00.000-05:00

Hello again!

As I mentioned in my last Be Thankful post, I made the cake for J'Bears birthday party. Well, here are some pix.

Meet, Princess Tiana :-)

Princess Tiana & the cupcakes.

J'Bear hear her FAVORITE song...
Happy Birthday to YOU!!! cha,cha, cha :-)

Making a wish

Well, that's all I have for now. I'm POOPED!!! Ya'll have a great weekend.

Day 19 - Be Thankful

2010-11-19T17:36:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday, everyone!!! We made it!

Today, November 19th, I am thankful for - FRENCH DIP SANDWICHES!

Ok, I know those of you who have taken time to read this, are saying to yourselves, "Ok Dawn...get SERIOUS!" :-) See, here's the thing...I AM serious! I WAS gonna say that I'm thankful for "QUICKIES". But I know what some of you might have thought...so I decided against it, lol.

However, had I actually said, "QUICKIES", it would have tied in to what I'm thankful for today. Here's why...tomorrow is my J'Bears 9th birthday! And due to scheduling, we are having her birthday tonight...in an hour and 10 minutes to be exact.

This is how I spent my day today...listen fast! I dropped J'Bear off at school at 7:20am. Went directly to Walmart (not the one I normally go to) to pick up a few groceries AND to get the last of the items needed for J'Bears party. I get all of the items I need...ONLY to get to the TINY party section and find that they don't have the Princess & The Frog stuff that I need! SERIOUSLY!!! (NOTE: the reason this ticked me off was because I was just in another Walmart yesterday for my MIL, where they had all the stuff, but I needed, but it had to wait til today when we got paid) So, I walk around a few times...I guess hoping the stuff would drop from the rafters. Had I known what I needed wasn't gonna be there, I would've gone to the OTHER Walmart to get EVERYTHING!

Anyway, I leave one Walmart, drive the 20+ minutes to the OTHER Walmart, picked up the Princess stuff I needed. Then headed home. I got home around 9:15ish. And immediately started working on the Princess Tiana cake that I promised J'Bear. (pictures to follow in another post) That took me till noonish. After that, I iced the 24 cupcakes I'd made and sprayed them all purple & pink :-). THEN...at 1:30ish, I left to pick J'Bear up from school. Came home and finished setting up for the party.

Which brings me to the reason I'm thankful for French Dip Sandwiches. You may notice in my above commentary of what I did today, that I didn't mention breakfast or lunch? Well, that's cuz I didn't eat. And considering there will be 9 little girls here within the next hour, I had to fix a QUICKIE dinner. Get it? :-) So see, that's why I'm thankful for sandwiches today. I would not have had time to fix my normal, everyday, 4 course, gourmet meal for my family. LOL...who am I kidding?

So there...today, I am thankful for QUICKIE FRENCH DIP SANDWICHES!!! Talk to you tomorrow!!! (I hope...it's gonna be a long day...away from home. So Day 20 may be done along with Day 2). Maybe!!

Day 18 - Be Thankful

2010-11-18T19:28:00.001-05:00

Happy Thursday!!

Today, November 18th, I am thankful for - CALENDARS!!!

Oh my goodness, where on EARTH would I be if I didn't have a calendar (in almost EVERY main room of the house, in my purse and on my cell phone)? I am a planner by nature. But I am also an OVERscheduler (or over committer...you pick) and forgetter of things :-).

I've mentioned over the years, that I am big into volunteering at J'Bears school. And I admit, I have a problem with saying, "NO!" I do...I swear!! What's strange about this "problem" I seem to have is...although I like to volunteer and help out where I'm needed. I like to do it behind the scenes. I don't want people to know that it was ME who helped pull something together. Anyway, that's another THANKFUL thing for another day :-).

I have a calendar in my craft room with 5 different colored pens nearby. Pink is for J'Bear, Red is for Mister M., Turquoise is for my MIL, Green is for family events and Purple is for me. So as things need to be scheduled, I write them in the corresponding color on this calendar. In the kitchen, is the "Family" Calendar where each of us, including Trae (our doggie) has a column. MOST of the time, the same things that are on my craft room calendar, are on the kitchen calender. Then there's the yearly calender in our bedroom, which is just to glance at when we need to know what date falls on what day. THEN, there's the pocket sized calendar I keep in my purse...which is mainly there to take up space. Because I hardly write in it. LASTLY & most importantly, there's the calendar feature on my cell phone. It's used for everything I mentioned above :-).

So yes, I am thankful for calendars...I need to be, don't I? LOL Enjoy your evening!

Day 17 - Be Thankful

2010-11-17T07:00:00.003-05:00

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Today, November 17th, I am thankful for - BIRTHDAYS!!!

Yep, today is my 44th birthday! I know that any respectable woman doesn't tell her real age. But ya know what? I'm proud to be 44! I will admit, there are days that I actually look my age :-). But then there are other days that I look pretty darn good to be "my age".

I have truly been blessed with 44 years of life on this earth. And what an amazing life it has been. Sure, there are some things that I'd change or "alter" if I could. But then, I wouldn't be who I am today if certain things hadn't taken place in my life.

I pray that 44 isn't IT for me...that God will bless me with many, many more days/months/years on this earth. I've still got plenty of living to do. And I think I'll start...TODAY!!!

Enjoy your day!!

BIRTHDAY UPDATE: I just received these from my daddy! Thank you, daddy...I love you!!!

Day 16 - Be Thankful

2010-11-16T09:46:00.000-05:00

Mornin!

Today, November 16th, I am thankful for - CREATIVITY

I kinda feel like I was thankful for this already. But I didn't see it on my list of posts :-).

Anyway, I AM thankful for my creativity. I love being able to create something out of nothing. I'm a very visual person and I can see the potential in most things. My friends (and some of my family) get a little nervous when they say they like something, but won't buy it because of the price or whatever. And I tell them, "I bet I can MAKE that!" :-) Mister M. gets really nervous when he comes home and I've been "creating". He's just waiting on the day that he comes home from work and that screened porch, or that larger pantry has been built. LOL

Nah, I'm not that bad. Seriously!! But I DO love to make things. I'm a scrapbooker. I'm a jewelry maker. I'm a (amateur) seamstress. I've recently become a creator of all things Duct Tape :-). I LOVE Lowe's! I LOVE Michaels, JoAnns & Hobby Lobby!!! If I had an inexhaustible cash flow, these are the places I'd like to spend most of it :-).

God has given us all gifts. We are all good at SOMETHING. And I do think we're all CREATIVE in one way or another. How are you creative?

Day 15 - Be Thankful

2010-11-15T12:15:00.000-05:00

Hi ya'll!

Today, Monday, November 15th, I am thankful for - MONDAYS!!!

Yep, I said it! :-) I use to be like a bunch of other people out there and simply HATED Mondays. Welp, not anymore. I've had some really awesome things happen to me on a Monday. One thing that immediately comes to mind is, we found out we were pregnant with J'Bear (after trying & praying for 11 L.O.N.G. years!) on a Monday.

Monday is usually the beginning of the work week for most people. The first day of that long 5 day work week. C'mon is it THAT bad? I remember when I was working outside the home full time...and I'll admit it, I didn't like having to deal with all that first day of the week kinda STUFF! But think about it, if the work week started on, say a Wednesday, we'd complain about that too, wouldn't we? Ok, maybe it's just me :-).

But these days I'm really partial to Mondays because it's the day that Mister M. works from home. I try not to "bother" him. By simply TRYING to act like he's not here. But that's kinda difficult for me. I LOVE that he's just across the hall in the next room.

Anyway, that's what I'm thankful for today...Mondays!!! Hey look at it this way, think of Mondays as the beginning of something new. A day to finish up or start a new project...or WHATEVER! You'll never have another Monday like this one..Enjoy it!

Day 14 - Be Thankful

2010-11-14T13:14:00.000-05:00

Happy Sunday!!

Today, November 14th, I am thankful for - BEAUTIFUL WEATHER!

Ok, here's the thing...I NOT a fan of cold weather! And fortunately, it's not cold here...YET!!! But Georgia does have cold "potential" :-). I ran out to the store earlier today and it was about 65 degrees outside. GORGEOUS!!! We even had a soccer game yesterday afternoon and it was about 70 out. Beautiful glue skies and beautiful white clouds dotting the sky.

Although Mister M. tells me I'm no longer to say this. But I was born in NYC! And I thank my mom for moving me to the south. (although the circumstances could've been a little different. But we won't discuss that right now, lol). We moved to the south back in 1973. And honestly, I can't see us living anywhere else. Sure, it gets pretty dang cold here. And we even get, AHEM...a "snow like"substance from time to time in the winter :-). I think we get more ice than anything though.

I LOVE the Spring & the Fall. Those are my two favorite seasons. Cuz it's not HOT and it's not COLD. But if you've ever lived in or visited Georgia, that, "It's not HOT or COLD" thing is subject to change at any given moment. In the SUMMER, especially in August...it's just TOO DANG hot! And in the WINTER, especially February and/or March, it's just TOO DANG cold! ARGH!!! I hate wearing a coat. I mean everytime you get in the car to go somewhere, you've gotta take it off so you'll be comfy. Then put it back on when you get out. UGH!!! Oh and Winter is VERY deceiving...you look out the window, the sun is shining and the sky is beautiful and blue. Then you go outside and it's FA-Reezing!!! (what a sneaky trick!)

Then in Summer, I love having the air conditioner on in the car. Mister M. tells me I should just let the windows down and have "fresh" air. Well DUH...I might mess up my hair!!! :-) AND...and...why would I want HOT fresh air?

Anyway, I do love that the weather changes. I'm sure I'd get bored with the same type of weather all the time, wouldn't I? I have learned that God is gonna do what HE wants to do :-). And the cold/hot seasons are not going to go by any faster if I complain about it. SO...I just enjoy what we get...and I don't pitch a fit! LOL

Day 13 - Be Thankful

2010-11-13T12:28:00.000-05:00

Today, Saturday, November 13th, I am thankful for - WEEKENDS!

I LOVE the weekend! And I think I've gained a new perspective and enjoyment for weekends since I stopped working 6+ years ago. My weekends use to be spent running errands, grocery shopping or cleaning. Now, my weekends are spent ENJOYING my family and time with them. I don't waste my "days off" with rushing around and complaining about the weekend not being long enough to do the things I NEED to do. And don't let it be soccer season! All of the things I mentioned that need to be done, now need to be done around the game schedule.

NOT ANYMORE!!! God blessed my husband, which in turn blessed me, which in turn blessed my family, with me being able to quit working and stay at home to take care of my family. Errands, grocery shopping and cleaning can now be done during the week. Along with all the other things I CHOOSE to do! Weekends signify that the "normal" week has ENDED and it's time have some fun and actually ENJOY time with my family. My hubby is home. J'Bear is home. And life is good!

Oooo, gotta go...it's soccer season you know! :-D

Day 12 - Be Thankful

2010-11-12T09:28:00.000-05:00

Good morning!

Today, Friday, November 12th, I am thankful for - OTC Drugs (more specifically, ADVIL!)

Ok, I know, I know...this is probably not the appropriate thing to put that I'm thankful for. Maybe appropriate isn't the "appropriate" word either...but I AM thankful for Advil. Especially today (and last night). I have had a very dull tension headache since yesterday around 11A.M.ish. Yesterday, I think it was self induced. MAYBE I hadn't stopped to eat and what I actually had was a hunger headache. I get those quite often...but it's my own fault and I KNOW IT!

BUT...I'm not 100% convinced that the tension headache that I think I have now, is my fault. So what I waited too long to eat (again) last night. So what I'm a side sleeper and don't really know the proper way to sleep on a pillow that I can almost see through. So what I don't always wear my glasses when I spend long hours (broken up hours throughout the day) on my computer. SO WHAT I'm kinda stressing about how I'm going to entertain 10 little girls for Jayla's birthday party next week. SO...WHAT!!! :-)

Hmmm, maybe my current headache is self-induced...again! But the pillow part is NOT my fault! :-) Ya gotta give me that one!?!

ANYWAY...I am in fact thankful for Advil. I mean, people use OTC drugs during this time of year all the time...why not be thankful for them? LOL

Enjoy your day, everyone!

Day 11 - Be Thankful

2010-11-11T07:00:00.001-05:00

Today, November 11th, I am thankful for - OUR VETERANS!!!!

I am able to live in the land of the FREE...courtesy of the BRAVE!!!

Special thanks to ALL veterans, for ALL that you've done, for ALL that you're doing. And for ALL that you will do!!!

Days 9 & 10 - Be Thankful

2010-11-10T09:02:00.000-05:00

ARGH!!! I forgot again!!!

Yesterday, November 9th, I was thankful for - My weekly Girls Night Out (GNO)
Ok, I admit it, we women NEED time together to just...BE GIRLS!!! For a little over 6 years now, I have been TOTALLY blessed by having a weekly GNO with my friends. Our circle of friends has changed over the years...beginning with just 2 of us and has gotten as large 12! Some of the women have moved on for one reason or another, some have left & come back and there are those who are only able to come every so often. But for the most part, there's still quite a few of us who still make it a priority to get together.

Most of us are SAHM's and really NEED the "adult" interaction :-). When we first started GNO, we got together to scrapbook. That was the one thing most of us had in common. Then we made it into more of a "crafting" night. THEN...it evolved into where we are now, just a bunch of women getting together for a few hours just to fellowship, chat, eat, laugh, maybe a little crafting and even cry. We've gotten together to see the chick flicks that our husbands would NEVER accompany us to :-). We've gone out to dinner. We've met for coffee and/or dessert. Gone to a comedy club. And even gotten together for a girls weekend. WHATEVER we do, we just have fun and as I stated earlier, act like girls!

At one point or another over the past 6+ years, each of us has been at the point in our day/week where we simply CANNOT WAIT until GNO! We all need that down time and that release, so to speak from our everyday lives...that we LOVE!!

Today, Wednesday, November 10th - I am thank for MEMORIES!
Although as I type this it appears that I don't actually HAVE a memory, LOL (because I keep forgetting to do my "Be Thankful" posts). But I do! It's not a very good one...but I love the one I have :-). I became a scrapbooker for that very reason. I so enjoy looking back at pictures from "back in the day", to reminisce, to smile, to laugh and sometimes to cry. I remember when I became a mother. I remember when I became a wife. And I have the memory of when I became a mother...AGAIN! I love remembering birthdays, anniversaries, school events and those other special moments in my life.

I am SO thankful that God gave us memories. Can you imagine what life would be like if we couldn't look back at the good (and sometimes bad) experiences we've had? Or if we couldn't remember those that we've loved and lost? What a waste those experiences would be if they didn't come to mind from time to time.

I hope I remember to post tomorrow...LOL. Enjoy your day today...hopefully, it'll be one that you have fond memories of.

Day 8 - Be Thankful

2010-11-08T11:47:00.001-05:00

Today, Monday, November 8th, I am thankful for...

MY FRIENDS! Man, I have some of THE best friends EVER!!! I try and teach my 8 year old not to use the word "FRIEND" lightly. That's a huge label to give someone. But I guess when you're 8 ANY and EVERY person you meet is considered a "friend". It is easier to say than, "associate"! LOL :-)

But I have some people in my life that I have known since elementary school. And one, in particular, I consider to be one of my very best friends. In fact, we use to live on the same street back in the day and use to walk to school together. DeeDee is a year older than me. But we've known eachother since I was in the 1st grade and she was in 2nd. Sadly, we don't get to see eachother like we'd like to. But when we talk, it's like talked everyday for the past 10 years :-). I just love her!!

My other BFF :-) is Stacey! Stacey & I met about 4 months after I became a SAHM. And I am CONVINCED that God sent her to be in my life. Being a new SAHM mom, I was kinda lost and not sure where I fit in anymore. I mean, I had "friends" at work. But once I stopped working, I didn't see those people much. And communicating with them eventually came to an end. Sure, some of them I may chat with from time to time. But for the most part, those relationships are kinda over. Stacey moved here from Nebraska by way of Ohio. She too is a SAHM and when we met, she was pregnant with her 4th child. We met on a Monday as I was on my way to the bus stop on the first day of school to meet Markell. The first thing she asked me, after asking my name was if I was a scrapbooker :-). Next, she mentioned that she and some friends in Ohio use to get together once a week for GNO to scrapbook. That was right up my alley! I invited her to scrapbook with me that following Wednesday and we've met every week since then...and that was over 6 years ago.

I have also been blessed with some wonderful people that I consider my friends, via this BLOG. I've had the privilege of meeting some of you in person. But over the years, I've developed some awesome relationships with people I have yet to lay eyes on. Love you guys!!!

Love my FRIENDS!!! What an awesome gift God has given us in our friendships!!!

Days 6 & 7 - Be Thankful

2010-11-07T19:50:00.000-05:00

Ooops, sorry, I missed day 6 of being thankful. We headed to the soccer fields at 8:00am and didn't return until almost 9pm! So I kinda didn't have time to update. But I'm gonna catch up now.

~~~
Yesterday, Saturday, November 6th - I was thankful for MERCY!
God has shown me SO much mercy. Honestly, by no means am I terrible, hateful, mean or WHATEVER else is bad, kinda person. But I am also, by no means perfect or deserving of what I receive from God. He has TRULY blessed me with ALL of my needs and ya know, He often blesses me with my wants. I don't ask for much out of life, but I am human and there are things that I desire. And the Lord has shown me His mercy by blessing me with MANY of the desires of my heart. And for that MERCY, I am thankful.

Today, Sunday, November 7th - I am thankful for FAMILY!
I love my family! I TRULY do! Of course, we've had our difficult times and experiences that we'd rather not remember. But when the rubber hits the road, I am truly blessed by having every single one of these people in my life. For those of you in my family who are reading this, I LOVE YOU!!! And for those of you who don't read my blog, I LOVE YOU TOO!!! :-)

Enjoy your week, everyone!!

Day 5 - Be Thankful

2010-11-05T20:21:00.001-04:00

Today, Friday, November 5th, I am thankful for....

PAY DAY :-) - Ok, as most of you know, I have been blessed with the ability to be a SAHM (Stay At Home Mom). I have been home now a little over 6 years. And BOY is it overwhelming! Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE my life and wouldn't trade it for the world. But I am, by nature a worrier. And for the past 6 years, I have WORRIED that my husbands salary alone would be enough to take care of all our needs. Let alone our wants.

But to DATE...it has been proven, month after month. Year after year, that we can and DO meet all of our financial obligations.

I guess you're wondering what brought this "thought" about? Well, briefly, I had to go grocery shopping today. And it may be due to my current PMSing emotional state. But I had a major melt down at the grocery store today. From August to about January every year, we do kinda struggle a little bit financially. So many things happen around the same time frame and sometimes it's hard to get caught back up. But again, we DO! By the grace of God...we get caught up. Anyway, I went to the store today and it was a major shopping day. So I pretty much HAD to get one of everything :-). I get to the register with my full shopping cart, only to have the lady ring up everything, scan my $5.00 worth of coupons and drop the $214.44 total on me! I thought I'd pass out! That may not sound like a lot to some. But again, due to my current emotional state, I MELTED!! Mister M. worked from home today. So that added to my stress as I knew he'd be here when I got here with all this...STUFF!

Anyway, I come home, Mister M. comes down to help me unload the car and I lost it again. I wish you could've seen the look on Mister M. & his mothers face when I started to cry! They asked what was wrong and I told them how much I HATE grocery shopping, how much I HATE that everything costs so much, and how I HATE that I feel like I'm just throwing away Mister M's hard earned money. As he stood there with his mouth dropped open because I was literally...TRIPPIN! :-) He asked how much I'd spent. Hesitantly, I told him the amount. ONLY for him to say, "That's ALL?!?!" To which I almost passed out again :-). He then says, "Hmmm, I was expecting at LEAST $250 today, so you did GOOD!" HUH!!! Maybe next time I should ask what my "limit" is before I head out to do the shopping. At least then I don't have to embarrass myself by crying over GROCERIES.

THIS is why I'm thankful for PAYDAY!!! The blessing in all of this is, at least we HAVE the money to pay for what we need. Crazy thing is, I KNOW this. But it's still hard for me. See ya next time, Payday!!

Enjoy your day, everyone.

Day 4 - Be Thankful

2010-11-04T15:39:00.000-04:00

Today, Thursday, November 4th, I am thankful for....

WARMTH - It's a little on the chilly side here in the United States of Powder Springs, Georgia :-). And I am SO thankful that me and my family have warm clothes to wear, warm jackets to put on, heat in the car, heat in the house and warm cozy blankets to snuggle under. There are SO many people who don't have those things...for one reason or another. My thoughts & prayers are with them.

Enjoy your day, everyone.

Day 3 - Be Thankful

2010-11-03T10:24:00.000-04:00

Today on Wednesday, November 3nd, I am thankful for...

LAUGHTER!!! For those of you who know me, you know that I am just as silly as they come :-). I LOVE to laugh! There's nothing better than the sound of people (especially children) laughing! Laughing can sometime be a good work out for the body! And we've all heard, at one time or another, that laughter is good for the soul. Don't get me wrong, I'm serious when the situation calls for it. But for the most part, I find humor in just about every situation. I find that I laugh at myself more than anything :-). I'm gonna be something else when I get old(er), lol.

So, do yourself a favor and have a great laugh today. And to get you started, check out this funny commercial I saw recently. Ya'll know I love me some soccer...so this was right up my alley! :-)

Old Navy soccer commercial

Enjoy your day!! And have a laugh...on me!! ;)

Day 2 - Be Thankful

2010-11-02T10:38:00.000-04:00

Today on Tuesday, November 2nd, I am thankful for...

The gift of music & song. Thanks to a post on my friend Jacki's Facebook page today, I was inspired to go listen to a few music videos on YouTube from the movie, "The Fighting Temptations". I LOVE that movie! And even more than that, I love the MUSIC and singing in that movie. Ok...I love ALL kinds of music anyway and I love to sing (in the shower, in my car, at my desk, etc.) it's one of my (many) favorite past times.

Be Thankful

2010-11-01T16:56:00.000-04:00

My sweet friend, Miss Sue, challenged me (via Facebook)...in a round-about kinda way, to do a post every day during the month of November, telling what I am thankful for.

So, being the obedient friend that I am, :-) Here we go...

Today on Monday, November 1st, I am thankful for...
me, my family & my friends waking up this morning. God has blessed us with yet, another undeserved day. And for that, I am thankful.

Until tomorrow!!!

There comes a time...

2010-10-31T16:20:00.000-04:00

...in every woman's life, that she must try something new. But in MY case...I seem to try something new, in the crafting world anyway, on a weekly basis. :-)

My new craft (at the moment) is creating accessories with duct tape. Sounds crazy, but it's really cool! Some of you who are on Facebook, have already seen some of my creations.

But believe it or not, I've had several people ask to buy some of my items. SO...if you're interested, check out my new blog, http://dawncrafts.blogspot.com/.

In an effort not to bore my "Be Inspired" readers to tears, I thought it would be a good idea to create a place just for my crafts. So again, if you're interested, check it out. And if you're not, that's cool. Just keep visiting me here.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Talk soon!!

Our 3rd grader

2010-10-24T20:37:00.001-04:00

Happy Sunday to everyone!

Alright, here I go again...being a proud momma! I just can't believe how much J'Bear has changed/grown up over the years. Today, I pulled together all of her Fall pictures since she's been in school. And wow, what a difference.

PreK-Fall

Kindergarten-Fall

1st grade-Fall

2nd grade-Fall

This years picture. 3rd grade-Fall

She is quickly losing that "little girl" face and is turning into a young lady. But she still has that sweet smile!

Anyway, that's all for now. I just had to share :-). Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Talk soon!!

Commemorating Breast Cancer month with Duct Tape

2010-10-18T11:04:00.000-04:00

Here is another Duct Tape creation that I'm really proud of. And it couldn't have come at a better time. My daughter asked me to make her a Breast Cancer awareness tote bag out of duct tape. And who am I to not take on a challenge? :-)

The first picture is side 1 (black DT w/ Pink & white ribbon)

Side 2 (white DT w/ Pink & black ribbon)

Sides of bag.

I LOVE this bag. In fact, I think it's my favorite so far. It measures about 14"x10"x3.5".

Thanks for looking! Enjoy your day.

If it doesn't kill you...it'll only make you stronger...

2010-10-14T11:16:00.000-04:00

My goodness, a lot has changed on BLOGGER since I last posted. In fact, it's looking a little wonky. Not sure how to fix it. But I'll figure it out.

ANYWAY...how has everyone been? I can't tell you how many times I've attempted to do a post only to get distracted by something else (mostly Facebook) and totally forget. Well, today (Wednesday, 10/13), if it takes me a week, I'm gonna post something.:-)

In my last post, I mentioned that my oldest daughter was moving back home. At the time, we didn't know how long she'd be here. And quite frankly, we were a little scared to even guess :-). She, her dog, Diego and her attitude all moved in about a month ago. Again, we didn't know how long she'd be here. In fact, she had no idea either. But as soon as she noticed that some things just don't change at "home", she quickly started making plans to relocate yet again. I admit, it can be quite difficult and maybe a little embarrassing to have to move back in with your parents. Fortunately, I don't know this from personal experience. But I'm just guessing.

Needless to say, we've had our "issues" since she's been here. And I've tried REALLY hard not to be on her too much. As I know this can't be an easy adjustment for her. On her own, when she was 18, she decided to give it a go at being a "real grown up". And I must say, she's done pretty well. Made some mistakes along the way, as we all do. But some are a little more difficult to recover from than others. Which brings us to today. At the age of 25 (almost 26 in December), she had to move back home with mom, dad & little sister. Honestly, the attitude I can (kinda) deal with. But the dog pissin all over my house is yet another issue all it's own. Don't get me started!

I could go on and on about this. But I won't. I will spare you the gory details. But I will say this, her being back home has, in NO way, shape or form been an easy adjustment...for ANY of us. I will just add that some things never change. And attitudes, ungratefulness, selfishness and down right stubbornness, are some of the hardest to get over. Let it be known, though, that I TRULY love my daughter. I thank God for her everyday. I just pray that she gets things together really quickly so that she CAN have the desires of her heart. It's really hard to impress on someone, especially your child, that attitude is EVERYTHING! People are watching. And things CAN get worse if you don't fix those PERSONAL issues.

ALRIGHTY...enough about THAT!!! :-) On to everything else that's been going on. So hold on, cuz I'm bout to bring it....:-D

Soccer season has begun (well, it actually started back in August). Did I tell ya'll that already? Anyway...it has :-). J'Bear and her team (Brazil or Brasil, depending on where you're from) is doing really well this season. So far, they have won 3 of their 4 games. And I'm almost positive these wins have NOTHING to do with the BRIGHT, NEON, HIGHLIGHTER Yellow uniforms they got this season. Good GRACIOUS! Those things are bright. No wonder the teams they play can't score...the poor things can't SEE! LOL

J'bear scored for the first time in a really long time, a couple weeks ago. And I HEARD that it was an awesome goal. I wasn't there.:-( I was on a girls weekend getaway (more on that later). But she did score 2 goals last weekend. Those I did get to see. So now I feel better. :-). Here she is...

J'Bear ready for the Fall season in her Highlighter Yellow uniform.

J'Bear, Gracie and Ashlee

Quick side note. Since B and her dog have moved back in with us for a while, this is a common scene around our house. Poor J'Bear can't even have an afternoon snack in peace. LOL

Trae and Diego watching J'Bear have a snack :-).

Here's another common site in our house. Poor Trae is so tolerable of J'Bear dressing him up :-). Mister M. says I should be ashamed to show these, lol. I think it's adorable!

Trae all dressed up (and humiliated) :-)

Several weeks ago, Mister M. had his 25th high school class reunion. We had a BLAST! His class is SO close and I just love that. Fortunately, a bunch of us live in the same area and are able to get together. But the reunions are always so much fun. We can't believe we've been out of school now for 25 years! (26 for me!) But we still clean up pretty well ;-).

Mister M's 25th High School Reunion

As I mentioned earlier, the last weekend in September, me and 7 of my Girls Night Out crew decided to go on a girls weekend getaway. Our friend, Lisa, has a lake house about 2 hours from where we all live. So we decided to pack it up and head there for a much needed weekend. We've been planning this weekend for about 6 months. So we were all really excited to finally get away. Here are a few pictures from our stay...

Beautiful view of Lake Jackson.

Another beautiful lake view at sunset.

Me and my crew on our girls weekend getaway at the lake house.

We took a BUNCH of pictures! 3 of the 8 of us are professional photographers.

One of the girls that was with us, remembered that, years ago, I'd made some chicken for GNO one night. So back 6 months ago when we started planning this trip, she asked if I'd make more. Well, the girl doesn't forget a thing! So I had to "let my YES be YES" and fry up a batch. It was a huge hit. Needless to say, we ate pretty well that entire weekend.

The Fried Chicken is ready!

YES, there was drinking involved over the weekend! I made sure the old beverage bar was fully stocked with my DP. :-)

A little thirsty :-).

Takin it to the head!
I kinda like Dr. Pepper, LOL.

Lastly, as if I need another hobby...I found a new craft. I'm sure this has been around for a while. But I live a sheltered life and find out about things later than the average person :-).

I've been making accessories out of Duct Tape. How cool is that? They have SO many colors available now. When I think of Duct Tape, I think of the old silver stuff. Not anymore. Check out the colors and patterns that are available now...

My Duct Tape wallet (The prototype).

Zebra print wallet made for my oldest daughter.

Hello Kitty change purse f/ J'Bear.

And a purse to match.

Duct Tape tote bag.

Inside the tote.

Well, that's all I have for now. I know it was a long post. But the fact that I haven't been posting wasn't because I haven't had anything to share. So I just did one big dump :-). Thanks for reading! Enjoy the rest of your week. Until next time...I'm out!!!

Never say never...

2010-09-06T19:17:00.000-04:00

Well, a bunch has happened since my last post. (wow, that line reminded me of my old Catholic confession days). :-)

Anyway, I don't quite have all of my thoughts together right now to go into much detail about what's been going on lately. However, I will say that nothing terrible has happened and everyone is doing great. Just been really busy...as always.

BUT...the reason for my post title, "Never say never..." is very easy to explain and a lot of words are not necessary to say...

Our oldest daughter, Briyanna, is moving back home for a while.

Not much else I can say about that at this time. It is what it is! Stay tuned.......

3rd Grade...HERE SHE COMES!!

2010-08-06T15:40:00.001-04:00

Well, the summer is over and it's back to school for our J'Bear. Yesterday...YES!, on a Thursday, was the first day of school. And boy was she ready!

J'Bear was so ready to start school in fact, that the following conversations have taken place over the past few days.

Convo #1

Background info: Over the summer, Jayla was doing the 2nd - 3rd grade Bridge worksheets...you know, to keep her brain sharp over the summer. There was 1 worksheet per day - front & back."

M - "Jayla, Mrs. W said it might be a good idea for you to do the Bridge book over the summer, so that you will kinda be on top of things when you start back to school. What do you think about that?"

J - Oooo, can we go get one today? Maybe we can get the 3rd - 4th grade bridge too!!"

(Everyday, Jayla did these worksheets and read for 15+ minutes a day. Once we got the book, the conversation, went a little something like this...almost daily.)

J - "Mom, can I go ahead and do my worksheets?" OR "Mom, do I ONLY have to do one sheet a day?"

M - "Are you kidding me? :-)

Convo #2
J - "Mom, why does the summer have to be sooo LONG? No one asked me if *I* wanted a summer break from school!"
M - "Are you kidding me? :-)

Convo #3
M - "Jayla, on Sunday, you're gonna have to start back going to bed at 9pm. You know school starts on Thursday?"
J - "Awww MAN! I wanted to start going to bed at 8:30!"
M - "Are you kidding me? :-)

Convo #4
M - "Guess what? We're going to do a little school shopping for you today!"
J - "Mom, I don't mind if I have to wear my clothes from last year. But I think I will need a pair of sneakers because my other ones don't fit. I'm sorry you & daddy have to waste money on clothes for me every year!"
M - "Are you kidding me?"

And...Convo #5 (occurred this past Wednesday evening)
M - "Hey, let's go ahead and take out the outfit you wanna wear for your first day of school tomorrow."
J - "Ok! And after we do that, I'll go ahead and take my shower so you won't have to tell me to. I'm in 3rd grade now, so you won't have to tell me to take a shower ANYMORE!"
M - "Who are YOU kidding?!?" LOL
(That "promise" lasted all of one night. I had to tell her 4 times last night to take a shower!) LOL

The first day of school finally came and Jayla was up at 6:05am! When I went to wake her up, she was laying bed, with her eyes closed and this big goofy grin on her face :-). And she says to me, "SO...you must be looking for a little 3rd grader? WELL...HERE I AM!!! Let's get goin!"

Needless to say, the first day of school was, "The BEST day of her life!" I picked her up yesterday afternoon and she was telling all about her day...BEFORE she even got in the car :-). Then, she crashed and burned when we got home. Guess they worked her little brain to death.

Today, the 2nd day of school, was ALSO the best day of her life! Not sure how that works...but ok! Lol

Anyway, here's a couple pix of our 3rd grader.

Have a great weekend, everyone!!!

Here I am again...

2010-07-19T15:52:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone!!

I know my life has got to be a little crazy (but awesome) when, I remember that I started a post 5 days ago and never actually posted it!

As I always say, I'm not complaining...just pointing out the obvious....I'm BLOG lazy! :-)

But I will say that I have had so much fun this summer...and continue to. I've been trying to get better about hanging out with friends, hanging out with my family, doing fun things with Jayla and just trying to have fun without spending too much (or any) money.

In those times of "hanging out", I've also been trying to do better about taking pictures. What's the fun in doing all these things if there are no pictures to share the memory? So having said that, sit back and relax as I share some memories I've made over the past few weeks.

***

I very seldom remember to share pix of our sweet doggie, Trae. So here he is. I love how he seems to always look so disgusted when I make him take pictures :-). But look at that face! How can I resist?

Speaking of looking disgusted...how bout a humiliated look? :-) He's so tolerable of Jayla. He just sits there like a good boy and lets her do whatever to him. He's so sweet!

Soon after school let out, Jayla had one of her friends and soccer team mates, Ashlee come over for a sleepover. In these photos, you'll see that I gave the girls a Cucumber facial peel :-). They had so much fun peeling the mask off.

Jayla also got to attend her first VBS this summer. Our good friends that live down the street, attend a church that is just outside of our neighborhood. And they invited Jayla to attend VBS with them. She had a BLAST and is already talking about going back next Summer.

The next 2 pictures are J'bear dressed up for "Rock Star" day at VBS.

This photo is of J'Bear with her hair done up for "Crazy Hair Day" at VBS.

Here's Mr. Trae again. Poor thing, just looks exasperated with all the picture taking. I think he was trying to climb up on the bed to get away from Jayla :-).

For those of you who either know or know OF Jayla, you'll know that she is VERY girly! Still, at the age of 8, she LOVES pretend play and playing dress up.

These first 2 pix are of J'Bear in a dress I got for her (and altered) from the thrift store, that I paid $2.50 for! Which at first I felt bad about, considering it's a "Misses" dress and was priced at $10. But after getting to the check out and being asked if I was 55 or older by a cashier in training, I didn't bother to correct the trainer when he told the trainee that all kids clothes were $2.50! :-).

Dontcha just love the GIANT hem on the dress? lol

NOTE: I have since covered the deep drop in the back of this dress :-).

A good friend and I were chatting about our daughters one day. We were discussing their differences, with respect to how girly J'Bear is. She mentioned that her daughter is girly, but doesn't like to play dress up like Jayla does. Long story short, she told me that she had several formal dresses from different events she's been to or weddings she's been in. She hated to have to throw them away or allow them to continue collecting dust in her closed, so she offered to give them to Jayla.

So where does that leave me? That's leaves ME having to alter 7 womens dresses, sizes 8 - 12 down to a childs size 8! Fun stuff!!! (not so much!) But if it makes my daughters prissy life happier, I'll endure it.

Here are a couple more that I've altered (or attempted to alter). The first one is a mint green, former bridesmaid dress. I even made the shawl/wrap into a "veil".

This next one is the skirt of a 2 piece bridesmaid outfit. The skirt was the perfect length to make a dress out of :-).

For the 4th of July, we met up with some friends to see fireworks. Between the 5 families that were there, these are all the kids!

The moms/wives....

The dads/husbands....

The fireworks....

Ok, now these next few pictures were taken under duress :-). And before I go any further, let the records show that I'm not one who is easily talked into things. Nor am I much of a risk taker. For YEARS my friends, (one in particular...Stacey, who is next to me with the hat on) has been trying to get me to go hiking with her and our other friends.

Well, being that it was the weekend of the 4th, I OBVIOUSLY lost my mind and said yes! I mean, I don't even know HOW to hike. I had to call Stacey to find out, not only what I was supposed to take on this little excursion, but HOW I was supposed to take it! When she informed me that all I needed to do was take a back pack, I immediately had visions of The Disney Princesses and Dora the Explorer! THOSE are the only backpacks I know about!

Anyway, I managed to find one that was suitable for hiking. I mean, doesn't EVERYONE wear a pink & purple backpack hiking? :-)

Ok, when these first 3 pictures were taken, I was still pretty much in a good mood and kinda having fun! It was about 90 degrees outside. But being that we were by the water and mostly under trees, it wasn't too terrible.

Ok, NOW...the story has changed up a bit. As you can see, my facial expression has changed a little. And I am sweating like a wrestler! And poor little Jayla! Her only complaint was that she was HOT!...and seeing her life flash before her eyes, LOL :-). Fortunately, she was with her friends (most of which are pictured in the 4th of July photo).

Did I mention that not too long after this photo was taken, I almost fell off the side of a small cliff?!? ARGH!!! I was PISSED! Not at my friends...but at myself for thinking that I really wanted to go on this little outing.

But I did it and enjoyed the time with my friends. However, I have informed them to NEVER ask me to do this again. Simply because they said THIS was the easy trail! My body was TICKED off at me (and my friends) the next day!

Last weekend, we were invited to my sisters house for a get together for Markell. Ya'll remember him, right? Well, this was the first time we've seen him in almost a year. He's still so very handsome...however, not so much in the following picture, LOL.

Here's he's pictured with his cousins/my girls.

And of course I had to get a shot with him too. This young man is 15 years old now and is almost 6 feet tall! I miss him so much!!

Lastly, we got together this past weekend with some friends we haven't seen in AGES!! We met for dinner and just got caught up with eachother.

It's always so great to get together with old friends. And even greater to feel as if you're picking up from where you left off from the last time you saw one another. I love these guys!

That's it for now...I'm sure I'll have more to share in the coming weeks. Our summer break will be over in about 2 weeks. I can't believe how quickly it has gone by. But Jayla is ready to get back to her normal routine of soccer and school. You guys, she'll be in the 3rd grade this year!! My baby is growing up so fast.

Until we speak again, enjoy your week and I'll talk to you soon!

Now let's see...how do you do this again...

2010-06-03T15:31:00.001-04:00

I think I'd be doing myself a huge disservice if I didn't mention that I PLANNED on doing this post 2 days ago. However, the actual "disservice" was the fact that I'd spent well over an hour typing and adding photos, ONLY to correct the spelling of ONE SINGLE word...and I deleted the entire post! Pictures and all!! ARGH!!!

So needless to say, I needed these last 2 days to get over my pissedoffedness! (It's a word now!) :-)

ANYWAY...I'm over it now and am moving on.

Alrighty...let's see. As some of you may remember from my last post, I've had quite a few irons in the fire lately. But it's my own fault because I STILL have a problem saying, No! Don't get me wrong, I enjoy doing the things that I've said that I'l do. It's just that I say, "Yes" to too many things at once. But I'm not complaining...I've been blessed with my creativeness and I love that I can share that with people.

Case in point, my nephew got married over the weekend (Sunday) and I was asked back in February to do all the decorations. By decorations I mean...well, tell ya what, how bout I show you in pictures?

The Programs (96)

Me and a couple of my friends painted all of the handles black. I cut to size the pink...skuze me...FUSCHIA (in case the bride is reading this, lol) mats, the solid black and black & white sides of the fan/program, the vellum "special thanks" squares, AND did all the printing of the programs.

The Front of the Programs

The back of the Programs

The Orchid strands (14)

These were for the ceremony arch

The Card Box

The Boutonnieres

The Rose & Peony arch decorations

The Peony flower balls (14)

The initials of the bride & groom

These were for the escort card table. I hand painted and "blinged" them.

The Votive candles (48)

I printed each wrap and wrapped each votive holder. There were 4 of these per table at the reception.

The Ostrich feather centerpieces for the kids tables (2).

I also did 6 more centerpieces for the adult tables at the reception. They were 20" tall vases with White Orchids submerged in pink tinted water. I forgot to take pictures of those.

The jumping broom.

The Escort Cards (120+-)

I printed each of these, some twice and added Fuschia stones.

The Rose Pomanders (4)

Approximately 7" in diameter w/ hanging crystals. Decorations for the ceremony arch.

The Double Rose Pomander.

Approximately 10" in diameter w/ hanging crystals. Decorations for the ceremony arch.

The ceremony seating.

Peony flower balls were used to decorate the first seat of each row.

The decorated ceremony arch.

From first mention of this wedding, which was back in February (2010), the ceremony was going to be held outside under a gazebo. From February until the day before the wedding, my design plan was for the gazebo. Due to impending thunderstorms, we had to move the ceremony inside. So I had less than 24 hours to come up with a way to decorate an arch with all the stuff I'd made for a giant gazebo :-|. But I pulled it off and I LOVE it!! And the bride & groom loved it too. YAY!!

The Handsome Best Man (Mister M.), me and our daughters.

The Lovely Bride & Groom

Mr. & Mrs. Murphy

SO, that's one thing I've been working on for the past few months. I think I mentioned that I've been working on the scrapbook for Jayla's school. Well, fortunately, I have until July to finish that and turn it in. I'm almost done with that too, so that'll be one more thing off my plate.

Two weeks before school was out, Jayla had "Field Day". I use that term loosely, simply because, the "Field Day" that we all remember is no more. At least not at our school. The kids did the "Cha-Cha Slide" and the "Cupid Shuffle" for goodness sakes! But there was ONE event that Jayla really loved. The "World Cup Kick". That's where they had to kick a soccer ball into a goal. (See her in the picture? She's the cute one in the blue shirt that just kicked the ball with precision form!) LOL But still, it wasn't anything "competitive"...the kids just took turns kicking the ball. That's it!

This next picture shows Jayla at another "Field Day" event. They call it the "art station". WHA??? I call it the "crime scene station" :-). Check out the picture below Jayla. Doesn't that look like a crime scene?

Yes it does! :-) LOL

Oh and speaking of soccer... some of you may remember some of my posts from back in the fall. The little Brazilians had a rough season. I think the record at the end of that season was 1w-1t-8l. Poor little things.

But this past spring season was QUITE a different story. How bout a record of 9w-0t-1l!! They were AWESOME. I think the girls even felt a little different about this season. Example, after the regular Fall season they girls went to the playoffs. They lost both of the games they played that night. Although the girls were a little upset about losing...again, they were more concerned about who's parents brought refreshments! LOL But at in the playoffs after the Spring season, they did wind up losing those games. However, one of the losses was a tighter game. And the girls were all blubbering messes! They were SOOOO sad that they'd lost and they cried...cried HARD! Even in the midst of their tears they talked about what they "should've" done differently and how the "could've" played better. They get it now and they WANT to be the best. They'll get 'em next season.

Well, I think that's about it for now. I'm SURE there's something else I'm supposed to be doing :-). So until next time, take care. HUGS!!!

P.S. Yay! Me!! I made it through this time without deleting the entire post :-).

Change is good...

2010-04-14T12:56:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago, Jayla's teacher mentioned that Jayla seemed to be having a little trouble reading the board. She is already sitting at the front of the class. But I later found out that it wasn't JUST because she was sometimes having to squint to read what the teacher had written :-)...needless to say, we have a little social butterfly on our hands. I know...you're shocked! :-)

So I put it off for a couple weeks, just so we could make sure the squinting wasn't just for "show" or for attention. Jayla is quite the people pleaser and is always wanting to impress. And I've noticed that she squints when she's trying to figure something out. Not to mention, she has said that she thinks it's "cool" when I squint. Huh?

Do ya'll see where I'm going with this? LOL

ANYWAY..just before Spring Break, they had picture day at school. So I'll use this as the "BEFORE" photo.

She's so stinkin cute! But she looks so BIG! :-(

Then yesterday, I took her for her first "for real" eye doctor appointment. Low and behold, the girl is blind as a bat. Ok, I'm just kidding about the blind as a bat part :-). But she DOES in fact need glasses. To some extent, this didn't surprise me. I mean, I wear glasses, my mom & dad wear glasses, Mister M's mom & sisters wear glasses...so Jayla was just destined to have 4 eyes too, right? :-).

Well after having the really awesome (her words, not mine) experience of having air quickly blown into her eyes and having them dilated. Jayla had narrowed down her choices of specs to 4...ALL of which were pink of course :-).

And here are the winners. The black & PINK Barbie glasses.

I think she looks absolutely ADORABLE in them.

Normally, when Jayla hears the garage door go up, she squeals with excitement, "Daddy's home! Daddy's home!" and runs down to greet him at the door. However, yesterday it was a little different. When the door went up, I heard, "My glasses are home! My NEW GLASSES are home!!" LOL (I had daddy pick them up for us so we wouldn't have to wait around for the hour and 1/2 to have them made). But now that I look back, I'm not sure why we didn't wait. It's not like she could see anyway to even get her homework done. DUH! Dilation...remember? :-)

I haven't taken a photo of her in these yet, but due to her being a soccer player, the doc recommended she get prescription sport goggles too. Again...she looks adorable in those too.

Well, that's about all the news I have for today. Subject to change within the next few hours... Jayla has a follow up appt at the orthodontist today to see if she might need braces. ARGH!!! If she does, that's gonna have to wait...I'm still not use to her having glasses yet. But let me just go on record and say that, Jayla told me that she hopes she does have to get braces..."Mom, they're SO cool! And my friend even got some that are PINK!"

You're kidding me, right???

UPDATE: 9:41pm EST
Our visit to the orthodontist today was quite...um, interesting. They do an x-ray of Jayla's teeth and call us back to meet with the doctor. He looks in Jayla's mouth...then at his notes...then back in Jayla's mouth. He tells her to put her teeth together...then looks at his notes again. He then asks ME, "When she was here last year, did her top front teeth hit behind or in front of her bottom teeth?" Uhhh, really? I dunno! Then he says to Jayla, "You ARE Jayla Bibbs, aren't you?" Uhhh, REALLY? She answers, "Uhhh, yes I AM!" He goes on to tell me that he sees NO problem with her teeth whatsoever and seems to stop short of asking why we're even there. He then says he thinks her teeth look great and seem to be very healthy for a growing 8 year old. And that IF she does need braces, it won't be for at LEAST another 3 years or so, if at all. And sends us off with an order to come back in Janurary 2012!

SWEET!!!

And now, a word from our sponsor

2010-04-02T13:03:00.003-04:00

Hey there! Well, it's almost time for Spring Break! And to make it even better, it actually FEELS like Spring now. In fact, it could ALMOST feel like early Summer...but wouldn't that be considered Spring? I dunno...I'm just rambling :-).

Anyway, now that Winter seems to be gone for good now, I thought I'd share this picture that I took of Jayla the last time it "snowed". Ok, that and I forgot that I took it and just stumbled upon it :-).

School let out early (again) due to the inclement weather a few weeks ago. So what ELSE would a good mother like myself do when there's about to be a blizzard? I take my daughter to Michaels! DUH!! :-) We come out of the store and as we're walking to the car, I turn around and notice Jayla catching snow(flakes) on her tounge. And again, being the good mother that I am...I had my camera with me :-).

In between snowstorms and blizzards, we had a few pretty but cool days. One Sunday after church we went to Olive Garden for dinner. Jayla was wearing one of the new dresses that her aunt gave her and just HAD to pose for a picture. Isn't she the cutest thing? So glad I keep my camera with me most days.

Now some of you may have seen this next photo before. But a few years ago I made this layout for my mom for her birthday. This photo of my mom was actually from the June 4, 1964 issue of Jet Magazine where my mom was featured at the Jet Beauty. How cool is that?

Anyway, I receive a monthly email from an online scrapbooking magazine. Last month they were having a "Layout about Mom" contest. So I figured, what the hay, I'll enter. I submitted my layout about 4 weeks ago and simply forgot about it. I'll be darned if they didn't send me an email last night telling me that I WON! I couldn't believe it! I immediately thought I'd won simply because I was the only one who entered, LOL. However, I'll probably never find out if that's true, lol. Not sure what the prize is for winning, I'll receive it in the mail in a few weeks. I'll let ya know.

Welp, that's about all I've got for today. Oh shoot, I forgot about the FFF...it is Friday, isn't it? Here ya go...

Not that it would be out of the ordinary for me as of late, but I will probably not be posting anything for about a week or so. Me and my girls are heading to Alabama to visit my mom for Spring Break next week. SO, I hope ya'll have a wonderful Easter weekend and a great week next week. Talk to you soon.

Dawn

Game on...& Birthday wishes

2010-03-29T20:32:00.004-04:00

Well, here we are at the end of March and I have yet to hold up my end of the Blogging bargain. Problem is, there's only one of me...contrary to popular belief.

Along with all the other stuff I've gotten myself involved in, it is now soccer season. And I must say, this season is TOTALLY different than the last. You may remember, Jayla's team, Brazil was the newby to the U10 "circuit". And it showed by them losing all but ONE game. Ok, that's not totally accurate...their first game was a tie :-).

This season, however, has been MUCH better. They've only played 4 games thus far (due to a couple of rain outs). And of those 4, they have won 3. All of which were come backs from being behind by 1 - 3 goals. I am SO loving this season. Considering the girls haven't had much practice, again due to the rain, they are doing awesome so far.

I've been saying for quite some time that I wish you all could see my Jayla play. Well, I attempted (and I use that term loosely) to video some of a game from this weekend. Check them out...

WAIT...before you look at these videos, PLEASE NOTE #1 I am using a small camera with video "capabilities". #2 I've never used this feature on the camera before (guess this one should've been #1, huh?) #3 The sun was very bright :-) and #4 I've never used this feature on the camera before, LOL.

------------Ok, here's the thing...I can't figure out how to add a video to Blogger. Wasn't there a little button for that once upon a time? HUH!!!

Anyway, I'll go ahead and post what I've written so far and attempt to find the video adding link and I'll get back with you :-D.

Oh, and before I go, PLEASE join me in wishing my FAVORITE nephew a HAPPY 15th BIRTHDAY today! I just don't have any other words to say about that...other thank I can't believe he's FIFTEEN!!!

Markell's first Easter in 1995

And most recently (I think this was from last year) Don't have any recent pix of him. But as soon as I get one, I'll post it.

YAY...I made it to Friday (again)

2010-03-05T09:40:00.000-05:00

Ok, can a person have WAY TOO MANY irons in the fire?

I say, YES!!!

I am seriously thinking about going to a printing place and see if they can make a few duplicates of me. Let's see, I'll need the "School volunteer Dawn", "Errand running Dawn", "Soccer mom/Coaches wife Dawn", "Chauffeur Dawn", "Crafty/wedding planner Dawn", "Maid Dawn", "Chef Dawn" "Mom Dawn", "Blogging/Facebooking Dawn" :-).

I'm SURE there are more, but money is kinda tight these days, so this is all I can afford to make dups of for now :-). SHEESH!!!

Anyway, I can't/shouldn't complain. I'm blessed to have the health, energy and willingness to do all of these things simultaneously. So with that in mind, my life STILL rocks!!

Alrighty, speaking of all the things I have going on these days, I'd better get out of here and get my day started (again). But before I go, I want to share a sweet picture of my girls with you.

They look like a pretty slice of watermelon, don't they? :-) This was taken at Jayla's school on Special Family and Friends Day. This year, her sister, Briyanna came as Jayla's "special" guest. They're so cute (even if Briyanna does look a little tired, lol)

OH...and my goodness, I can't let this Friday get by without the Friday Flower Fix. So here's that for ya too.

Have a GREAT weekend and I'll holla atcha soon.

Toodles!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

2010-02-22T18:52:00.000-05:00

Today, I would like to wish a HAPPY, HAPPY Birthday to...

My bestess friend & buddy!
My companion!
My partner! (sometimes in crime, lol)
My soul mate!
My compadre!
My gift from God!
My LOVER!
My MAN!
My HUSBAND!

Happy birthday, Marque! I love you SO much!!!

WOW! The weatherman was right...this time :-)

2010-02-13T20:52:00.001-05:00

Hey ya'll!

Guess what? The weather"people" of Georgia said it was gonna snow here...AND IT DID!!!

Yesterday, we got a call from the school system saying that the schools would be closing an hour early due to "impending inclement weather". So I get to the school as I was told and I'll be darn if the flurries didn't start falling JUST as the kids were coming out of the building.

I grab my young un and we head to the grocery store along with the rest of the county. The parking lot was PACKED! And to think all I needed was apple juice and bananas :-). $50 later (yes, I picked up more than the aforementioned items), we're heading home. And when I say that we could hardly see 3 feet in front of us due to the, now heavy flurries, I mean it! It was amazing! And BEAUTIFUL!! Honestly, I was shocked at how quickly it started to stick. Jayla was BEEside herself! Yesterday was (one of) the coolest days ever in her 8 years of life :-).

The snow continued through the night and the following are the gorgeous results...

Yes, in the picture above, our dog is eating the snow! :-)

Everytime I see this picture it makes me laugh. Look at the smile on Trae's face! :-D

From what I understand, Georgia wasn't the only state hit with the cold white stuff! In fact, I read somewhere that 49 of the 50 states had snow yesterday and today. That's just cool to me! I hear more is headed here tomorrow too.

Ok, so my nephew is getting married in May. This is really exciting to me because I actually introduced him to the lady he's marrying. How cool is that? And...the news just gets "funner"...I will be doing 90% of the ceremony/reception decorating. I'm VERY excited about this too. So as I get things done, I'll share the pix with ya'll.

And speaking of sharing pix, how bout a flower fix? I haven't done one in a while. Hope you enjoy them!

Well, that's it for today. Hope to chat with ya'll in a couple days. Enjoy your weekend...enjoy the snow and be safe if you have to get out. Toodles!!

....Oh, I'm sorry about that...

2010-01-28T11:09:00.000-05:00

...sorry about what, you may ask? Well, here's the thing...I am a self-proclaimed peace keeper! However, I'm not convinced that that's necessarily a good thing.

Just recently, I had an exchange of messages with someone I consider to be a friend of mine (she knows who she is). And in those messages, I mentioned how I'd been trying to reach her and hadn't heard back from her. Long story short, I came to the conclusion that she was upset with me about something (I didn't even know what it could've been), so I "apologized" to her in the hopes of "rekindling" the friendship. She replied by saying, that I had absolutely not upset her. It was simply that she hadn't checked her messages in a while and/or she'd been busy. That's understandable and makes since to me.

Of course I was glad to hear that. However, I then started to question myself. "Now why do I do that?" "Why do I assume that situations (most of which are out of my control) are MY fault?"

I consider myself to be a pretty sympathetic and empathetic person. I am also aware that I am a VERY emotional person. It takes VERY little to make me cry or get "into" the emotion of a situation. I mean, I can be watching TV and a touching commercial comes on...and I will cry! Or at a minimum, I feel myself start to "well up".

Mister M. use to get on me about being this way. He'd often question why I was sorry or apologizing for something I had no control over. I mean, it could be something as ridiculous as me apologizing because it rained during a birthday party or something, lol. That's not MY fault!! But I FEEL sorry that it happened, know what I mean? Other natural disasters...those are not my fault either. But I'm sorry about it. I am also an emotional person on the other side of the spectrum. I cry at weddings...I cry when a baby is born...I cry when I get flowers...and I cry when other people cry (sometimes).

There was a time, early in my marriage that if Mister M ever got upset with me about something, I'd apologize for it...whether it was my fault or not. I guess that was my way of trying to keep the peace. I do NOT like people to be upset with me. I do NOT like to make people angry. And I can NOT fight, LOL! Maybe this is where it all stems from. I CAN'T fight! So I feel it's better to keep the peace, so to speak, so that I won't have to defend myself in a fist fight, LOL.

I dunno, this is just something I've often wondered about myself. What's really crazy is, I'm pretty sure that even though I have gotten my thoughts about this OUT in writing, I probably won't change. It's a part of my character. I wear my emotions/feelings right out there on my sleeve. I'm a very REAL person and I don't mind showing how I feel about things. As long as it doesn't upset anyone else, of course :-). What's funny is, I find that most people are caught off guard by my apologies or my emotional display. Simply because, like I said, it was out of my control. I guess I don't LOOK like I'd be an emotional person.

Yep, I'm one of those people who wants peace and equality around the world :-). I don't think that's too much to ask!

Ok, now ya'll have read about one of my "issues". Do YOU have a little "oddity" about yourself that you'd like to share? Is there something about your "character" that you question? Do you ever wonder, "Why do I do that?" Or "Why am I that way?"

Lie down on my "virtual" leather couch and let's discuss it...I'm listening :-). But beware, I may cry and apologize for it....

Sorry, for rambling and dumping on ya'll. See, I did it again.... ;-D

Castle Cakes & The Liar :-)

2010-01-15T19:52:00.003-05:00

Ok, if memory serves me correctly, on my last post, which happened to be on Christmas. I said that I was going to start posting here at LEAST once a week. WELL, Christmas was THREE weeks ago! ARGH!!! I'm such a liar & a loser!

...I have nothing to say for myself :-). I won't use the "I'm so busy lately" excuse (although it's true). How bout this one?..."I forgot!" lol That just doesn't even sound right.

Anyway, I have been kinda busy. Did I tell ya'll that I'm the Historian for Jayla's school this year? What is a school historian you ask? WELL...it's the historians job to do a scrapbook of all the PTA sponsored events that are held at the school for the current school year. Once the scrapbook is completed, it will be on display in the school lobby the following school year. That's cool!...I like to scrapbook...in fact, I do it when I find the time. But what's so strange about me being in this position is, someone actually NOMINATED me to do it. Problem is, I can't figure out for the life of me who would do this to me! I've asked everyone that I thought would want to tick me off...but no one owns up to it. :-) SO, with that...I am the 2009-2010 school historian. Having said all that, the school scrapbook is one of the many things I've been doing lately.

Also, my doggie has had some...issues. He apparently got into something in the yard (we are assuming that's what happened anyway) and it has caused him to itch like nobody's business! Poor thing turned all red and couldn't walk 10 steps without dropping to the floor to scratch. I called the vet to find out what I should do for him. Get this, they told me to give him a Benadryl! Well, ole boy doesn't like little pink pills! So I waited until Mister M. took his 3 week vacation. You may remember, Trae is a big ole doggie, and I just can't handle him at the vet by myself. We get the boy to the vet and he about chokes himself to death trying to "visit" the staff. (almost) nothing worse than hearing a dog hacking...for NOTHING really.

The vet comes in and immediately sees the redness on Trae's underbelly and now in his ears. He gives Trae a "quick" Cortizone shot in the hip, and I tell you...the itching stopped almost immediately! We are then told that Trae "simply" has a yeast infection.

Do WHAT?

He's a BOY! And those are his EARS!

How weird! Yep, he's got a yeast infection and it's actually pretty common in dogs. I've NEVER heard of that before, have you? Well, that explains why his whole head has been so funky lately :-).

Ok so now I'm thinking, "What does one (vet) give a MALE dog for a YEAST infection?" I hope it's nothing crazy cuz I'm not really looking forward to having to squirt some Monistat in my dogs ears! My MALE dog at that! I'm just sayin...

Anyway, we leave the vets office with 3 prescriptions, a bottle of ear wash, a reminder card to come back in 2 weeks and a BIG OLE FAT bill for...wait for it...$596!!!

...ya know, it sure takes the paramedics a long time to bring smelling salt to a vets office :-).

Ok, after I pick myself up from the floor and apply for a small loan, we're headed home. And I just loved it when the receptionist says to me, "Well Mrs. Bibbs, look at it this way...at least you don't have to buy him a car or pay his college tuition!" And that's supposed to make me look on the bright side? Anyway, we love our doggie. Four weeks later, the yeast infection is gone (no more smelly head), no more under belly redness and not as much scratching.

Fast forwarding to today, guess what I made today? A friend of mine whose daughter plays on Jayla's soccer team, is having her 9th birthday tomorrow. And she asked me to make the birthday cake. Check it out...

Cute, huh?

I'm a little nervous though. It was a little more difficult than I thought it would be. So I hope that doesn't show too much in the finished product. But I'll let you know how Kennedy liked her princess castle cake. Her favorite color is purple. So when she cuts into the cake, there will be purple icing between the layers :-).

Well, that's about all I have for today. Oh, how bout a Friday Flower Fix? Hmmm, let's see if I remember how to post pictures of flowers, lol.

Enjoy your weekend, my friends. See ya soon...I hope! ;)

I wanna Cardboard Kitchen for Christmas!

2009-12-25T13:08:00.001-05:00

Good morning everyone out there in Blogland!

MERRY CHRISTMAS to you ALL!!!

Ok, it's almost noon and I'm sure all of you are done opening your gifts. If you have children under the age, of let's say 30, the floor space under the tree was probably cleared in record time, lol. Well, having only one at home calls for some record setting too.

I know that you probably don't wanna spend a bunch of time reading blogs today...especially the blogs of those of us who hardly ever update anymore :-(. But I'm here today.

NormallyI don't make New Years resolutions, but I'm gonna make an exception this time.

AHEM...in 2010 (that looks really weird)...AHEM...in 2010, I, (state your name)...lol...Dawn Bibbs, will make EVERY attempt to update my blog at LEAST once per week. AND...get back to the business of doing the Friday Flower Fix on said blog. Ok, there, I said it...hope I can do it :-D.

Alrighty, GUESS what I did? Tell ye what, how bout I just show you and narrate as I go....

Photo #1 I built Jayla her very own...Cardboard Box Kitchen!

Let's take a tour, shall we?

Photo #2 The sink with a working clock, REAL Stainless steel faucet and sprayer.

Photo #3 The refrigerator w/ bottom freezer. And of course, water & ice in the door.

Photo #4 (My favorite appliance) The stove/oven/range (Not really sure what it's called these days, but you get the idea)

Photo #5 Close up of the stove.

Photo #6 Yes! That is a real oven rack :-).

Photo #7 And finally, the stacked washer & dryer complete with a view thru window and Tide (Front Loading detergent, of course) :-)

Well, that's it! I have been working on this kitchen for about 3 weeks and I'm proud to say that I only have 2 minor X-acto knife injuries, both on the same finger :-).

Jayla has been asking for a kitchen now for about 3 years. And we REFUSED to pay the ridiculous prices they charge for them (even the used ones)...I saw prices ranging from $100 - $400.

I'm assuming most 8 year olds aren't really into play kitchens. Because, although these kitchens cost a small fortune, they're very small. So I decided to get creative and make my own. Wanna know what I spent on Jayla's? Here's the breakdown.

Boxes - $8 (2 of them, we already had and I used Staples Rewards coupons and my $8 for the other)
2 frame mats - $3 (used for the front of the oven and the "water/ice" maker on fridge)
Tape - $6
Knobs - $0 (these were left over corner brackets for the Target wire cubes)
Pulls - $2 (dowel rods painted silver)
Silver & black paint - $0
Oven rack - $0
Faucet & sprayer - $10 (from salvage store)
Clock - $0 (made from old CD, transparency, number stickers & old clock parts)
Pink/White/Black "Tiles) - $0 (scrapbooking cardstock)
Bins - $3 (purchased from thrift store. used inside fridge/freezer)
Sink - $1.88 (Walmart)
Fabric - $4.00 (Hobby Lobby. Used for under sink & clock face.)

TOTAL spent - $33.88

Merry Christmas everyone! Talk to you soon.

Now serving #21...years of wedded BLISS

2009-12-17T18:20:00.027-05:00

Ok...maybe not the ENTIRE 21 years :-) (20 TOPS!)

Today, Thursday, December 17th is my 21st wedding anniversary. You may remember last year for our 20th, Mister M. gave me an AMAZING gift to showcase on my left ring finger for the next 20 years :-). So this year for our 21st, I just shined up the little beauty and continue to admire it ;).

Anyway, as in years past, we spent the day together at Jayla's Holiday breakfast and Christmas shopping for her. We always have such fun together. And we sure do love Toys R Us :-). Afterwards, we had Mexican food for lunch.

We will do our real anniversary celebration tomorrow night. Yep...you guessed it, we'll be dining at our favorite anniversary restaurant. Can't wait!! Thanks Briyanna, for watching Jayla for us :-).

1988

2009

Well, here we go...hand in hand into our future. Love you honey!

Ain't 8 GREAT...continued a couple of days late.

2009-11-22T19:52:00.002-05:00

Happy Sunday everyone!

Ok, ok...Imma couple days late doing the 2nd part of Jayla's birthday post. But in my own defense, we had Jayla's birthday party on Friday night and by the time we got home, I was BEAT! Then yesterday, we were at a soccer tournament all day and my daddy left to head back home. And again, I was tired.

SO...here I am today. Better late than never, I always say ;).

Alrighty, now back to the reason for this post. GUESS what I did? I made Jayla's birthday cake this year. I know, that's not that big a deal. But Jayla "requested" that I make it. Originally, she asked for a 2 or 3 TIERED cake. However, once I convinced her that she was turning 8 and not getting MARRIED, I was able to change her mind a bit. Anyway, her request wasn't simply that I make her cake. She wanted the layers to be 2 separate flavors (one devils food and the other white with confetti) and wanted me to cover those layers in...you ready for this? She wanted ME to cover the cake in fondant. Now this child can often be found in front of the TV watching the Food Network as well as other cooking channels. But her favorite shows are, the Food Network "Challenges", "Ace of Cakes, & "Cake Boss". So that's where she got the wild idea for *ME* to use fondant.

I'm up for a challenge! Let's do it!! This year we didn't really have a "theme"...we had more of a "pattern". Jayla is on this polka dot kick, so that's what we went with. Here's the front of the invitation that I made. The details of the party are on a striped background...similar to the Thank You card, pictured below.

The Thank You card.

Ok, here's how things progressed with the cake. First, there's no picture to prove it, but the 10" layers came out PERFECTLY!!

#1 "Dirty iced".

#2 Big ball of Fondant.

#3 Fondant rolled out. (Note, for quite a few weeks, I priced all the items I'd need to make this special cake. And a fondant icing roller was one of those items. The cheapest I found this special roller was $20! So I decided against that purchase...especially since I don't plan on using Fondant again any time soon. Then I read on line that a piece of PVC pipe would do the trick just as well. So after spending $2.13 at Home Depot, I had my own version of the "special fondant roller"! It worked PERFECTLY!)

#4 Fondant draped over the pre-iced cake.

#5 Smoothed fondant covered cake. (I was REALLY proud of this part) :-)

#6 Beginnings of the decorations.

#7 Taa-Daa...The finished cake!

#8 All lit up at the party.

#9 Inside :-).

Well, what do you think?

I have to say, I was really pleased with how this cake turned out. One, because it's been a LONG time since I've made a cake larger than 9" round. And two, because I've never used Fondant before. As I may have mentioned, I use to be a cake decorator at Kroger many, MANY moons ago. But we never used fondant. And another interesting thing came about with regards to this cake. As I was lighting the candles and we were singing happy birthday to Jayla, this lady, who was with another party came to our table and started taking pictures of the cake. Then she asked Mister M, where we got such a beautiful cake from. He told her that I made it. She then asked me if I made them for other people. I don't, but I gave her my contact card anyway. Who knows, I may get an order one day :-).

So this was an experience for me. Although my forearms are STILL sore from rolling out that hard mound of icing.

Oh, and one last picture....

Some of you may remember me telling you what a "funny man" my dad is? Well, as we were leaving the place where we had Jayla's party, I had my hands full with the left over cake and a couple other items. My dad walks up and asks if I need him to help me carry anything. As I'm about to answer, he takes the cake topper from me and sashays towards the door, LOL. Of ALL the things he could've taken from me, he takes the lightest thing. And he holds it up in front of himself, as pictured, and walks out the door. You should've seen how people were looking at him. He's a NUT!! :-)

ANYWAY, I think that's it for today. But before I go, tell me about something new YOU made or created, that you were really pleased with the turn out.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Ain't 8 GREAT?!?!?

2009-11-20T08:21:00.000-05:00

In 2001, on this very day...actually, it was a Tuesday...but you get the idea :-) this sweet little baby girl was born into this world!!

And today, in 2009. she's a BEAUTIFUL, funloving, vibrant, full of life 8 year old!

Happy, Happy, HAPPY birthday to my sweet little Jaylabear! I love you, baby!!

~~~

Stay tuned everyone...HOPEFULLY, another post will follow later on today. If all turns out well, I have something else birthday related that I need to share with you.

But before I go...guess what? THIS is my 500th post! And what a day for it to be on...my baby's 8th birthday. How cool is that??? I'm thinking about doing some sort of fun drawing for you guys to celebrate my 500th post. Stay tuned for that!

Enjoy your day!

Now serving #43 (and a day)

2009-11-18T12:22:00.000-05:00

Hey ya'll!!!

You're not gonna believe this, but I have logged onto Blogger about 3 - 4 times within the past couple of days. All with the intentions of doing a new post. Hopefully, that gives you an idea of how CRAZY busy life has been lately. AGAIN, I'm not complaining...just making conversation :-).

Anyhoo...I don't really have time right NOW to be posting either, but I'm MAKING time because I miss all my blogland friends. AND there are a few things I'd like to share with you. But I think, to make sure I get out EVERYthing I want to tell you...I'd better take little steps.

First things first...Jayla and the rest of the Brasil soccer team are finally done with their season. And what a season it was. Sadly, they only won one game. But it was the last game of the season. So at least they ended on a high note :-). Boy, I sure wish you guys could see Jayla play. I can't even put into words how good she is. And I'm not saying that just because she's my daughter. She REALLY is good!! And of the 12 girls on her team, she, and maybe one other little girl, are the only ones who play the ENTIRE game. Which usually lasts about an hour. Jayla never wants to come out for a break. Nor is scoring at the top of her "to do" list anymore. That girl simply wants to be the last line of defense and keep the other team from scoring. Of course, some get by her, but it's not without a fight :-). Anyway, our #17 has got it on LOCK! :-)

Secondly, guess who showed at my house on Monday? (those of you who have kept up with me over the years, probably already know the answer to this)...but it was my dad! My dad lives in New York! And from what he's told me, he flew to Tampa, Fl over the weekend to visit with a friend, then rented a car to come surprise me and Jayla for our birthdays. He'll be here all week. He's such a cool daddy!

My surprise visit from my dad leads me to my 3rd "nugget" of information. Since my last post, I have gotten a little older. Yesterday (17th) was my 43rd birthday! (Now my post title makes sense, huh?) I am now on my 2nd day of serving in my 43rd year of life :-). And I just want you to know, that I am TRULY blessed. You would not BELIEVE all the amazing birthday wishes I received from friends & family on my Facebook account. And then, my local friends are just as sweet as they can be! My friend Jacki and my friend Stacey must have gotten together and decided on a what to get me. (actually, I know they didn't...because they don't know eachother) But check this out...

LOL!

Jacki and I had plans to meet for lunch on my birthday, she was even gonna treat me. But then my dad showed up, came to lunch with us and treated BOTH of us...how cool is that? Stacey also got me a cutest coffee mug from this little coffee shop we frequent. So now next time we go there...which will be tomorrow night, I get free coffee! (from then on, every time I bring my mug in, I only have to pay $1 for a "refill".) SWEET!!

So about 45 minutes ago, my dad and I were walking downstairs and I see this van pull up in front of my house. And I say, "Hmmm, I wonder who that is in front of my house?" My dad answers, "Well, I dunno, but whoever it is has a big ole box of Dr. Pepper!" So he opens the door and ANOTHER one of my friends, Lynnetta, says, "Happy Birthday Dawn! Sorry I'm a day late!" You guys she went to Costco and bought me a HUGE case of Dr. Pepper! And I don't mean a case of 12 or 24...it's a case of 30!

Are ya'll seeing a trend here?

Do you think my friends know me pretty well? :-)

As far as the (combined) 5 tubes of lip balm/lip gloss that I received, I don't know if I should be offended or not. Did they get this for me because they know I love ANYTHING Dr. Pepper? Or because I have a dry lip problem? LOL

Thank you guys! Ya'll are the best.

Ok, I'm gonna end right here for now. Because there are a few things I should be doing :-). But I WILL be back to post soon, as there's yet another milestone event coming up at the end of this week...Stay Tuned!

Ya'll have a great week and I'll talk to you soon! Love ya!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T11:14:00.001-05:00

Happy November 1st everyone!

I don't know about you, but I'm STILL trying to figure out what happen to the last 10 months! My goodness, 2010 will be here in just a minute :-).

So, what did you all do for Halloween last night? Was it as cold and rainy where you are? It was pretty darn cool here and not really RAINY...well, not for long anyway. After the 10+- minute rain we had, it was just a heavy mist the rest of the evening. Talk about a bad hair halloween :-).

Anyway, the kids still had fun. Here are a few pix from our annual neighborhood hayride.

Here's the pretty little, Dr. Jayla.

And of course we can't take pictures of Jayla without the famous "head tilt" shot :-).

Here's the doctor and her cute little friends, Briah and sisters, Madison & Macy.

The doc again, with her cute little witchy friend, Briah :-).

And...the crew! We did have the hayride this year, but due to the rain, just the smaller kids road on the covered hayride. The older kids and all the parents just walked the neighborhood. In fact, Dr. Jayla said she enjoyed the, in her words, "Old school" way of trick or treating, lol. What does she know about "old school"? :-).

Of course we couldn't have a night of trick or treating without some Father/Son bonding :-). Nothing like a Pimp and his gangter son. Just warms my heart :-).

It was so funny...one of the other kids asked this dad what he was dressed up as. And without missing a beat, Greg answered, "I'm a...SUPERVISOR!" lol...Good save, Dad!

I didn't dress up for Halloween. But at my weekly GNO, we did have a bit of halloween get together. Check us out.

Ok, I decided to follow in my daughters footsteps and be a nurse. I'll tell ya, these scrubs are comfy :-). It took some coaxing for my boss, Dr. Jayla, to let me borrow her "heart listener" and blood pressure thingy. What can I say? I've gotta pay my dues in this (medical) business :-)..

Here's my good friend (and personal photographer), Cynthia, the SuperGirl!

Ya'll remember my good friend, Stacey, right? Well, this is what she looks like when she doesn't put make-up on, brush her teeth or do her hair :-). I think the picture in the background fits this moment, don't you? lol (The "red eyes" worked great for this shot, huh?)

Here's the lovely witch again!

Has anyone seen my good friend, Mandy's puppy?

Ohhh, there's the puppy! You see him? LOL Poor thing!

My good friend, the Grecian Goddess, Lisa F.

My other good photographer friend...Lisa S. ,the sister of Super Girl Cynthia.

Do ya'll remember hearing the story about the little boy, Falcon, who was thought to be floating away in a box that was attached to a giant milar balloon? Well, he was really a girl, my good friend Lynnetta. LOL!

Here's the whole gang. I just love all these guys! Who better to spend my Wednesday nights with?

Oh well, that's all I've got for today. It's a lazy day around here today. So I'm gonna go chill out with my family. Ya'll enjoy the rest of your weekend and have a great Sunday!!