We are FAM-A LEE!!! :-)

Happy Sunday everyone. What a great weekend we had. No, we didn't do anything totally fabulous. But my mom came in town for a visit. So that made the weekend special. Let me tell you, my family, especially the women, LOVE to laugh. Have the tissue ready when me and my mom get together (both toilet paper and Kleenex) LOL. I LOVE laughing and I'm such a cut up...what can I say? It's a gift...LOL.

Well, this visit, I thought it would be nice to get some pictures of me, my mother and my sister. Fortunately, they were both willing. So, here we all are:














This is me and my mommy.














Being silly!














Awww, what a sweet momemt :-).













Mommy and my sister. (my sister hates taking pictures, so it was quite a feat to get her to take these. Thanks Kimmy!! Love ya girl)













Mommy and her girls.

That's it for now. Thanks for looking in on me and some of my family. Enjoy your week!

Happy 1st Birthday

Hello everyone. I hope this post finds you all well.

I know some of you are gonna think I'm crazy for what you're about to see. But for those of you who are pet, more specifically, DOG lovers like I am, you'll understand.

Today is our dog TRAE's 1st birthday. :-) We had no idea, almost a year ago, that we'd love this hairy guy so much! He has truly become an important part of our family. And we all love him dearly.

Well, without further delay, here are some pictures from Trae's birthday "party".

FROM THIS

(This is Trae on the first day we brought him home last October)

TO THIS

Ok, now you should've seen the look on the ladies face at Publix, when I asked for this cake. Once I told her that it was for a 1st birthday, she told me that they give you a free cake for your childs first birthday. She questioned the grin on my face, so I told her that the cake was actually for my puppy :-). She just laughed and said, "OoooK!" What a great excuse to have birthday cake from Publix. It's AWESOME!

I know this picture didn't come out too well. This is Trae having a piece of "his" birthday cake. I was lucky to get THIS picture...he licked the bowl CLEAN...all the way across the kitchen floor

:-).

Ok, that's it for now. Trae had a great day and loved all the additional attention he got today. It's good to be the BIRTHDAY BOY!!

Back to school - Part deaux

Not to worry everyone in blogland, I don't intend to do a day by day of my kids being back in school. I just had to share something funny with you. But before I get to that, let's just say that the bus system for the middle school kids leaves a little to be desired. First of all, school doesn't even BEGIN until 9:15am. And they get out at 4:15pm. What a day, huh?

Back to the busses, the morning bus is SUPPOSED to pick up at 8:33am. Yesterday, she didn't get here until 8:45am. I spoke to the driver and the poor thing was just confused. I told her how the route went last year and she thought that was better than the route she was given. However, my opinion means nothing considering I'm going by the route of the elementary school. Same kids...same street...what do I know? ANYWAY, she said it would take a few days for all the kinks to get worked out. And one of those "kinks" may be a later pick up for us. Markell has no problem with that, as he'll be able to sleep a little later (he thinks). Ok, now how's the afternoon schedule work, you ask? That bus didn't get to our stop until 5:00pm!!! I just KNEW Markell had gotten on the wrong bus and was just riding around West Cobb County! Once again, I talked to the driver and she informed me that there were issues with getting out of the school parking lot and no one knew what they were doing. Did I mention this is a brand new school and only the 2nd day it's actually been opened? This being the case, I kinda expected some confusion.

Anyway, today was a little better. She picked him up at 8:35am and dropped him off at 4:50pm. We're getting there.

Now, on to my cute "Jayla" story. This morning, I decided to let her sleep in an extra 15 minutes because I didn't have to do her hair (Alright you momma's of "brown" female children...ya'll know how user friendly the braids are?) Anyway, she comes knocking on my bedroom door 5 minutes before I was about to wake her. She asks if she can use the potty and if she can get in bed with me. I tell her "no" because it's time to get up, get breakfast and start getting ready for school. She stops suddenly and says to me, "AGAIN???" All I could do was laugh. The poor little thing has ZERO concept of time or how this whole "big school" thing works. And this is only the second day of PRE-school! It's gonna be a long year :-) LOL!!!

Thanks for your time.

Summer is over...{Back to school}

I can't believe that summer vacation is over. The kids went back to school today. Well, one went 'back' the other started today.

Our morning went off without a hitch. Both kids were very rested and looking forward to their day. Markell even got dressed without having to be told 5 times. He started Middle School today - wow, 6th grade already! He had this nervous/excited look on his face this morning. I guess going to a new school can be a little unnerving. He's funny though. We went to his sneak-a-peek on Friday and we saw him checking out the "ladies" as we walked down the hall. He even asked his dad to give him a little trim before school today....LOL. We're talking about a kid that normally whines, "Ahhh MAN! Do I have to get a haircut?" Now he's ASKING for one. What's up with THAT? :-)

Don't cha just love his shirt? He said this was one of those "gotta haves". It says 'Tough guys wear pink".

What a handsome guy. And he wears the pink well.

No, she's not throwing up gang signs...LOL. She was singing the "Pre-K" song she'd made up this morning.

Look at the sparkle in her eyes and the excitement on her face. This alone is what kept me from crying hysterically this morning. There was no way I could cry in front of her when she was so excited about going to school. Now, don't get me wrong, I did cry a little once we got to her class. But she was jumping around laughing and saying, 'Bye mommy, bye daddy. I love ya'll!". Her excitement made me excited for her.

I couldn't wait until it was time to pick her up today. She told me about her day the entire ride home. She's already looking forward to going back tomorrow.

Markell's day will be a little longer. Middle school starts at 9:15am and will end at 4:15pm. It'll be interesting to see how he adjusts to this change.

Anyway, that's it for today. I sure hope the rest of the school year goes as smoothly as today did. I'm inspired!!

Lunch at the Square

Hello everyone in blogland. Is it just me or is it HOT?!?!?! My goodness, it's ridiculous! Today my van therm was reading 102 degrees around noon. However, I'm not sure if that's REALLY how hot it was outside. Can't quite figure that whole thermostat in the car thing out. Regardless, it FELT like 100+ today.

Anyway, I decided that it would still be a nice day to get out and enjoy the day. So I called Applebee’s, placed our order to be picked up "Curbside" and we headed off to the Marietta Square for lunch (we being my MIL, Markell, Jayla and myself). After circling the Square, we finally found a parking spot, then on to a nice bench under a huge shade tree. There weren't too many people and the cool breeze was wonderful.

Needless to say, I had my camera in tow. So after, we ate I started taking pictures. I "thought" I was going to try and use a few of the features on my camera that I'd been too chicken to use prior to today. However, I only used two...portrait and whatever the little flower thing is called

:-). Amateur!

Ok, time to share the fruits of my “photography” labor. Enjoy.

My pretty girl! What's with the tilted head? She does that in 90% of the pictures I take of her. I think this is her "cutesie - I'm posing" pose.

Jayla caught off guard standing by the pretty fountain.

Ok, now what's up with being this handsome? Markell hates taking pictures. But he sure takes some good ones. What a looker!!!

These kids are so stinkin cute! They made these flowers look even prettier :-).

Well, that's it I guess. I tried to add one more, but blogger didn't want to cooperate. But I got the best of the kids on here. Thanks for looking.

Sharing my gift...

I know, I know...2 post in one day? And on a Sunday no less. Well, I had to. Now that I've had my nap, cooked & ate dinner, I can think straight. On my earlier post, I forgot to add that I finally got to wear the beautiful bracelet that Tangee sent me. I wore black & white to church this morning, so the bracelet matched perfectly.

Well, here I am, at 8 this morning "posing" :-). I had my DH take this picture of me...not realizing how sleepy I still looked. Not to mention, I wasn't wearing my glasses yet. So that too could explain why I look a little crazy. ANYWAY, if you look closely, you can see the pretty bracelet.

Thank you again, Tangee. I LOVE IT!!!

Time for a change

Hello all, I hope this entry finds you well. Being that this is a Sunday afternoon, I won't make this a long post. Not to mention, I'm starting to feel a nap coming on :-).

Well, as much as I love the color purple (the movie too), I thought it was time for a template change on my blog. Again, I loved the purple, but I was getting a little tired and bored with it. I wanted something a little more fun and cheerful. I even changed my profile picture and my friend, Diane, changed the banner for me. So, what do you think?

Oh well, that's all I have for now. My blinks are getting longer and longer :-). Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Just for the fun of it...

I have found myself looking through the Simple Scrapbooks - Scrapbook Shortcuts with Quizzes & Questions magazine yet again. And I stumbled on a quiz that I thought would be fun. Several of us have answered quizzes over the past few months, and the questions have all been a little different. This one, is gonna be fun because it gives you a chance to "LOOK BACK" at your childhood and just see how different your thoughts, desires and wants were from how they are in your adult life.

Before I answer these, I'd like to go ahead and get my tagging done :-). Alright ladies, you're on: Diane, Adrienne, Renee, Tangee, Tiffany, Muriel, Veronica, Brown English Muffin, and anyone else who may be interested. Thank you ladies, I look forward to seeing your answers

Quiz #3 Looking Back

1. What did you want to be when you grew up? I use to want to be a nurse, a "stewardess" (for you young 'uns, this is known as a flight attendant today...LOL), a teacher, a mom & a wife. I guess 4 outta 5 ain't bad, huh?)

2. How did you help out around the house? I was responsible for doing the dishes (prior to us getting a dishwasher in the mid 80's). I also had to empty all the trash cans in the house and of course clean my room (and my sisters).

3. What were you most afraid of? Being alone and ALL bugs :-).

4. Who was your first crush? My first "real" crush was on this guy named S. Worthy. (first name not given in an effort to protect the innocent..LOL). I was a cheerleader for the football team he played on, then we wound up going to the same highschool. He's a great friend of mine today.

5. Which childhood story do family and friends still tease you about? Hmmm, this is a hard one. I always tried VERY hard not to do things that would embarass me. But some things, can't be helped. Such as one time that I "thought" I was about to start my cycle. So I "secured" (obviously not too well) my trusty Stay Free pad in my underwear. Only to be outside with some friends (one being this guy that I liked) and I noticed the pad had slid down my leg and was hanging out the bottom of my pantsleg. ARGH!!! I'm not even sure how I got out of that situation :-). Fortunately, I only THOUGHT I was about to start. "Nothing messy to see here!" Thank GOD!

6. Which family vacation was your favorite? I'd have to say the year we went on a Carnival cruise to San Juan, Nassau and St. Thomas.

7. What did you do in the summertime? UGH...summertime as a child! Most of my summers were spent at home wandering around our neighborhood looking for someone to play with. But if I wasn't at home, I was spending the summer with my grandparents in Mobile, Alabama. Whew...doesn't get any better than that...NOT!!!

8. What did your childhood bedroom look like? I had this lovely turquoise blue SHAG carpet. My walls went back and forth between powder blue, pale pink and sunshine yellow. At one point, I had a beautiful SHINY brass bed. Then there was the bunk beds. Can't forget the ruffled sunshine yellow window treatments OR the pretty pastel patchwork design curtains (went with any color my walls and bedspreads happened to be). ARGH!!! Oh, and did I mention the HUGE album collection? I kept them ALL secured on my walls...so my little sister couldn't get to them. What a fashion statement!

9. As a child, what was your greatest talent? Not sure I had any talents. But I was told quite often that I could sing. By both friends and family. And I love to sing to this day.

10. What was the nicest thing your parents ever did for you? I'd have to say KEEP ME!!! :-)

Well, that's it. That was fun. Hope you all learned something about me. And I hope that what you've learned won't change your opinion of me...LOL!!! Be inspired.

Yes, ANOTHER quiz...

Ok, Diane, here's the 2nd one. I must confess, after reading your answers, I was hoping I wouldn't get tagged for this one. Looks a little complicated to me :-) You know I'm such an introvert...HAHAHA. Here goes!

1. Where did you live growing up? I was born in Queens, NY. I lived there until I was 5 when my parents divorced. Then I lived, albeit brief, in Mobile, AL. I then moved to Georgia and have lived here since 1972. So I guess this is actually where I grew up.

2. What did you like about growing up there? Nothing at first. But then when I weighed my options (NYC or Alabama), I figured it wasn't too bad a place to grow up.

3. What didn't you like? Can't think of anything I didn't like in particular. Into my teens, I merely thought of it as a place to live.

4. How did growing up there shape you? I'm not sure that actually growing up in Georgia is what shaped me. I think it was my friends and my mother. Both in good and bad ways.

5. How old was your house, what was unique about it? Well, we lived in an apartment for the first year we were here. That I hated. The house we moved to in Decatur, Ga was maybe 10 years old when we moved in in 1973. There was nothing really unique about it. Now that I think about it, it looks very similar to the "cookie cutter" starter homes being built today.

6. What did you love most about your home or hometown? LOVE is a pretty strong word. But the most memorable part about that house is that's where I brought my baby daughter home to.
7. Did your family do things with neighbor families? Yes. My mom was quite the social butterfly :-). Seems like there was something going on every weekend. Something like home decor parties, jewelry parties, adults getting together to play cards, etc. Maybe that's why I enjoy having company so much.

8. What places were within walking distance? My high school. And even though my mom thought my elementary school and the public park pool were within walking distance...THEY WEREN'T! Let's see, oh, a convenience store and a store called Richway which is now affectionately known as Target.

9. Where was your favorite place to go in your hometown? I use to love going to Richway. I even worked there for a while during my Junior & Senior years in high school. Every Saturday, we'd go roller skating...which I LOVED!

10. What did the kids in your neighborhood do for fun? We loved hanging out at the track and tennis court of our high school. It was about a block up the street. We also hung out at my friend, Dee Dee's house a lot. She had a pool. I thought her family was RICH! :-) We'd skate up and down the street and our favorite past time was doing cheers in my driveway.

UGH, that was a struggle! But I made it through. Thanks Diane! Alright, Tangee, Renee, Veronica, Muriel and anyone else I may have forgotten...you're up!!! You've been tagged.

Alright Diane, I'll bite...

Ok Mrs. May :-), I see that I've been tagged...twice. So this is my attempt at the first quiz. I actually saw these quizzes in the magazine you and I bought. But I didn't think I'd be challenged to do them :-). Well, here goes. My answers are highlighted in green.

1. Hamburger Helper or filet mignon? Fogo D' Chao. Nothing else needs to be said.
2. Van or sedan? What a mean question. Was this your idea, Diane?
3. Yellowstone Park or Disneyland? I've been to Disneyland once and that was in 1991...I wasn't too impressed then, I think Mickey and the crew were on vacation when we were there. Yellostone sounds nice.
4. McDonald's or Olive Garden? Ok, now this question is just unfair. I like both of these. However, these 2 places have NOTHING in common. But since I can only choose one, I'll pick the OG!
5. Board games or video games? I actually don't like either.
6. Snow bunnies or water babies? I HATE being cold, but I also have a fear of drowning :-). However, I LOVE the water.
7. Early birds or night owls? I am NOT a morning person by any stretch of the imagination. Not to mention I get the most done at night.
8. Road trip or air travel? I do like to travel, however sitting in a car any longer than 6 or 7 hours ranks up there with watching paint dry. Wish air travel wasn't so expensive.
9. White or wheat? White. I've been putting forth an effort to be a little healthier. So wheat is a good choice. However, white is pretty darn tasty too.
10. On the team or in the bleachers? On the team...under one condition. I'd like to be behind the scenes please. I'm not good at sports but I like to "help out" :-) Guess that means I need to have my hynie in the bleachers, huh? :-)

Alright lady, I did it. Hope you've been humoured :-). Tag time....Tangee, Renee, Veronica, Muriel, Tiffany and anybody else who has time :-). Be inspired!