Soooo, Dawn, what have YOU been up to???

Hey ya'll.

Ok, I've come to the conclusion that, I'm either a VERY boring person, therefore, I don't have anything to blog about. OR, I have too many things going on, therefore, I don't have time to blog. Hmmm, which is it?............I got nuthin! :-)

A friend of mine told me that I'm not "boring"...but I think that sometimes my life may be a little mundane to my readers. So, I guess I kinda took a few days to figure out if, in fact me and/or my life are in fact boring. What did I come up with? I'm glad you asked.... Bottom line is...I just haven't had much to write about. Simple as that. :-)

And not that nothing has been going on around me, mind you...just not alot of blogworthy stuff. But, just to make myself, and maybe you guys, feel better, here's what I've been up to: (try to keep up...hee hee)

1. Did ya'll know that Jayla plays soccer & her daddy is a coach? LOL. Who wants to alert the media? Jayla has practice every Monday and Thursday evening from 6pm - 7pm. Since daddy coaches the big Stingrays, he has to hang around for their practice, which is from 7pm - 8:30pm. Jayla and I leave after her practice so we can prepare for school the next day. THEN, there are games on the weekends.

2. You may remember several posts back, I mentioned that I was having "issues" with asking my hubby if I could have Markell's old bedroom as my craft/scrapbooking room? Well, he said yes...in a roundabout kinda way. So, I've actually been working on trying to get that set up. I'm at a stand still with it though. Now, I'm trying to figure out what the "loan application" process is, as I need money to proceed. Loan application process? Yes, that's what I'm calling it. Being that I'm a SAHM, my cash flow is a little limited. So, I have to get "Dawn" money in spurts. Personally, I think it would be easier if I just had all the money in hand so that I can move on with my room. I've already chosen the paint color (as well as the primer color...hee hee). Other than that, I just need to purchase shelving, a clock, curtains and a lamp (and maybe a cool phone). Hubby was on vacation last week, so he moved 2 tables in there for me, YAY! SO, I guess that's where I've been spending most of my time...standing in this almost empty room trying to envision it as MY space. I'll keep you guys posted and will share before & after pix once it's done.

3. Jayla's 6th birthday is coming up next month. Along with trying to wrap my brain around the fact that my BABY is moving on to the "other hand" (albeit just one additional finger). I'm trying to plan her party. I try to keep the birthdays as fun as possible. So this year, Jayla will be having a Hawaiian Luau. How stinkin fun is that???

(NOTE: this picture has no "birthday" significance. I took this picture a couple weeks ago when we went to the State Fair on a field trip. I just thought it was cute and thought I'd break up all the talking, hee hee).

ANYWAY, back to this party. The difficult part has been trying to pick a day to have it. Her birthday is on the 20th, so that's out, being that it's on a Tuesday. So we were trying to decide if we should do it on the 24th or the 17th. The 24th is the Saturday after Thanksgiving and several of her friends will be out of town. BUT, my mom will be here and she's never been to one of Jayla's party's. So, we wanted to celebrate while Granny was here. THEN, the 17th is actually MY birthday and daddy didn't want to have her party that day, as we'd be going out to dinner later that evening. And we don't want to rush Jayla's party. OK, Mommy, make a decision already!!! Sheesh!!! Ok, we're gonna have Jayla's party on the 17th (AND the 24th) and go out for my birthday on the 16th. We're gonna have the big party on the 17th,with all her friends. Then a small family party on the 24th, so that my mom can help us celebrate. NOW...on with the planning!!! So exciting. I found the cutest flip-flop invitations on clearance at Target yesterday. So now I don't have to make them myself. As with everything, I'll keep ya'll posted on the upcoming event.

4. My poor puppy, Trae hasn't been to the vet since December of last year. So many unexpected expenses have come up since then (vehicles), that we just haven't had time to take him. Well, last week, while Daddy was on vacation, we took the ole boy to the vet. For some reason, this dude thinks that he's still under 10 pounds. He tried to sit in my lap as we drove him to his appt. Half of him was draped over my lap and the other half was in the back seat :-). Fortunately, the vet isn't that far away, so the inability for me to breathe wasn't really an issue for very long, lol. We get there and Trae is freaking out because there's this cat wandering around the lobby. I was SO glad that daddy was there, as there was NO way I could've handled that dog by myself. We were finally called into the examining room and they immediately took Trae to be weighed in. At a little over 2 years old, the guy is 70.6 pounds! And due to him still being under the age of 3, the doc says he may have about 5 - 10 more pounds to go until he's considered full grown. GREAT!!! Anyway, here he is...such a handsome "little" boy.

Well, that's about all I can think of right now. I'm SURE I've been up to more than this. But again, it's all that comes to mind at the moment. I'm still doing my volunteer work at Jayla's school. Still having my weekly girls nights. And still taking care of my family and home.

Now, life doesn't get much better than this. Seriously...I totally love my life. It may be boring to some. But I can't help but think that that's due to a lack of understanding my "job". Some people don't understand how the life of a SAHM can be exciting. Well trust me, it is. Sure, there are days that I wonder what I'm gonna do to get through the slow passing hours of the day. But you know what? My life is a gift & a blessing and I wouldn't have it any other way. Bottom line is, not only is my life exciting and fun, but it's fulfilling!!! I rest well at night and I'm safe in my own world. God makes sure of that every, single day!!! No wonder I'm so INSPIRED!!!

Oh, here's one more random picture. She's just TOO cute not to end this post on.

Ya'll have a GROOVY day (I am!)

What a SLACKER!!!

Hey ya'll.

Ok, OK...I admit it, I'm a SLACKER. I know I said in my post on Friday that I'd be back with a "better" post. Well, yesterday got away from me and I'm not getting back here until now. Well, I guess I didn't actually say WHEN I'd be back, huh?

ANYHOO...here I am. So, how's your weekend going so far? Mine is going pretty well. Let's see, here's the breakdown thus far:

~Friday, my MIL and I went to the grocery store. And I wound up spending $97! What's up with that? I didn't have but a couple things to get. I HATE when that happens.

~Later Friday evening, me and several of my gal pals got together for an event sponsored by this group. It was pretty nice. The theme was "birthdays". So we had a big ole birthday party for everybody. Afterwards, several of us went out for dessert. I had no idea there were still places on earth where people could smoke indoors. Well, this place we went had a smoking "section". So needless to say, we were all a little smokey smelling by the time we left. We all got a kick out of where our husbands thought we may have REALLY been that night :-).

~Yesterday, I jumped up at 6:30am because I thought it was a weekday and I had over slept :-). Marque quickly reminded me that it was Saturday. WHEW!!! Jayla had yet another 9am game. Only half of the other team showed up, so we had to forfeit. But we went ahead and played them anyway, it just didn't "count". So, let's keep up with tradition and say the Lil Stingrays won! LOL. Later in the day, the big Stingrays played. And BOY did they PLAY!!! They won 11 - 0!!! Talk about a BLOW OUT!!! Fortunately, the other teams coach knows our coaches and wasn't that upset about his team losing. He told our coaches that the Stingrays are an awesome team and he didn't think we were just "scoring at will" to be mean and to stack the score. I mean, c'mon...10 of the 16 boys that were there yesterday scored. So it was a great game. Only bad thing was, Jayla lost my Sapphire ring :-(. But it's partially my fault. I shouldn't have let her see it. She was sitting right in front of me and I was watching her with it. But I'm thinking that the game just got exciting and I totally forgot that she had it. So it didn't even dawn on me to ask her for it when she got up to go play with her friends...in the grass...behind me. When it finally hit me that I no longer had it on, it was too late. I was just thankful that I hadn't let her see my engagement/diamond ring instead...because she DID ask for that one. After the game, serveral of us went here, of all places, for dinner. (insert rolling eyes here) :-). It was fun though.

~Today, we went to church. The Stingrays have yet another game this afternoon at 4pm. And from what we here, this is gonna be their hardest game of the season. So hopefully, they'll keep up with their winning streak and not let the potential difficulty of todays team get the best of them. (6:45pm EST game update. Well, todays game was very difficult, just as we expected. But the boys played really well. However, not well enough. We lost 8 - 2 :-(. But like I said, they played really well and played THEIR game. It's just that the team we played has been playing U14 for 2 seasons longer than us. We just moved up this season. SO....having that in mind, our boys played they little hearts out. Well, there's always next weekend.)


ANYway...that's all I've got for now. I'll update later (maybe) with the outcome of todays game. Until then, ya'll enjoy the rest of your weekend.

BE INSPIRED...I am!!

Quick Friday Flower Fix...more later

Top of the mornin to ya'll! (well, considering it's 10:30am EST, I guess that makes it the middle of the morning, huh?) You people are so picky!! LOL

I'm actually typing this and thinking about my next move at the same time. I've gotta run out for a bit, so I'll give you your "FIX" now and I'll be back later with a little bit better post.

Ya'll enjoy now, ya hear?

I'll be BACK!! :-D

And NOW, ladies and gents.....

....I introduce to you...

The Cobb Futbol Club U8 Lil Stingrays

And the "STAR" player (in my eyes of course)

JAYLA

Isn't this just the cutest little team? Too bad all of them weren't there for picture day. We're missing about 3 other kids. I love how the coaches look so proud. The head coach is pictured on the left and beside him is his little pretty, Ashlee.

It's becoming common knowledge around the fields, that this is the cutest team in the league :-). I'd have to agree...so what my daughter has big ole bags under her eyes because is 8:15 IN THE MORNING!!! LOL

Weekend recap & Inspired to Inspire

Hey ya'll! It just dawned on me, that I haven't been much of an inspiration lately. Sorry. My intentions have been there...I guess I just haven't made it happen.

But today, I'm gonna start off with a little nugget of inspiration for ya. There's actually a reason behind today's quote...I'll explain in a minute.

"For the mother is and must be, whether she knows it or not, the greatest, strongest and most lasting teacher her children have."

Ok, I really like this quote. And the reason I chose it today is because it goes perfectly with my morning. Let's talk about it, shall we?

You may remember, last Monday, I started volunteering for one hour a week in Jayla's kindergarten class. Well, I went today and had a fun time with the kids. I got to work with a small group of 3 kids. We worked on a Columbus Day project. HOWEVER, (isn't there always a "however"?) There was this little girl working with me, and I'm sure she's a really sweet kid...HOWEVER, that chick kept sneezing and coughing on me!!! And she kept scooting her chair closer and closer to me. I don't mind her wanting to sit by me...but STOP freakin sneezing all over me!!! I told her several times to cover her mouth and/or turn her head. Shoot, even the other kids at the table were telling her the same thing. Finally, the teacher noticed that I was being immersed in snot & spit, so she told the girl to turn her head and go blow her nose. No WONDER they keep so many bottles of hand sanitizer around the classroom.

I said all this to say...it is NOT the teachers job to teach a child proper manners. Things like common courtesy, saying "please"/"thank you" and HYGIENE should be taught at home....and reinforced at school. But that's just me!!

Anyway, after we were done with our little project, I doused myself with a few pumps of the ole hand sanitizer...man, I was rubbing in on my arms like lotion, LOL. God FORBID I get a cold and give it to Jayla. That child would have a HISSY FIT if she missed a single day of school!!!

Alright, alright...enough about my morning. It was fun though. So, this weekend....Jayla had a game on Saturday, and as always...let's say they won, lol :-). Afterwards, we went home, took a little nap. Then headed over to the head coaches house for a little get together. The guys, which includes most of the big Stingrays, the 3 coaches and a few other parents went to play laser tag in the woods. Afterwards, they all came back to Coach's house for pizza, cookie cake, brownies and a bunch of other snacks. Everyone had a great time. And the food was YUMMY!!! Especially the Shrimp Bisque and home made salsa!

Sunday, we kinda slept late...so we didn't make it to church. Ooops! Then around 3pm we had to leave for the Stingrays game. My goodness, they played at a field up in God's country...45 minutes away from our house but only 1 - 2 hours South of TN!!! Let's put it this way, we were NOT in a place that we wanted to be in after dark...if you know what I mean :-D. I had to potty so bad by the time we got up there...but I held it because there was NOTHING nearby that even looked like a public restroom. And I'm not too fond of peeing in the woods. So I sat like a nice little girl and cheered on our Stingrays from my chair :-). No sudden jump ups or anything. And yes, they won...they BETTER had after driving all the way to Eastbumblefart, GA (NOTE: not technically the name of the town...I don't think). Oh, the score was 8 - 3...YAY STINGRAYS!!! After the game, about 4 families caravaned outta there and headed back to civilization for dinner at TGIFridays.

Ok, well, there you have it. That's my weekend in a nutshell. Next weekend promises to be just as exciting. Both teams play on Saturday then the big Stingrays play again on Sunday afternoon. Hopefully, in a town with more than one traffic light :-).

Have a groovy day. And remember, Be Inspired...I AM!!!

Happy Friday...with a little Flower Fix for good measure

Hey ya'll!! What a week. I think just about every blog I've read today is saying something about how busy this past week has been. Well, not to be mean, but I'm glad it's not just me :-).

I think I already mentioned what fun I had on Monday, volunteering at Jayla's school. Tuesday, I was supposed to have met a friend for breakfast. But I wasn't feeling it. So I hung around the house and cleaned up a little. Wednesday, is when the REAL fun began. I had to take my MIL to the doctor for what we THOUGHT would be a routine follow up appt. As we waited for the doctor to come in, mom and I discussed going out for breakfast after the appt. SO, the doc comes in and we all chatted a bit. She started asking us questions and then checked moms vital signs. You know, regular doctor appt stuff. Anyway, long story short...mom started getting dizzy and that really concerned the doctor. The dizziness took longer than it should've to pass. So the doctor wanted to schedule mom for an MRA scan. But get this...they can't do it at the office that we were at. It's now 11:30am and we have to be across town by 1pm AND pick Jayla up by 2. Hmmm, I'm good, but I ain't THAT good. I had to call daddy, give him the scoop on his mother then inform him that he'd get to join all the other mama's and papa's in the carpool line and pick up his little princess. Not a problem!

We make it to the other side of town in RECORD time. Thank GOD there was no traffic. And that the 6 cops we saw along the way were already occupied. It only took us 45 minutes to get there. We walk right in, mom gets her procedure done and we're walking out into...RAIN! Now we're both almost starving because we hadn't eaten all day. We head back to our side of town and all was well. Oh, and we got home about 5 minutes before daddy and Jayla. And wouldn't you know it...they come in with some wonderful smelling Chick Fil A...ARGH! I had my weekly girls night that night too. Needless to say, I was a zombie!!!

Let's see, Thursday. Yep, Thursday came...and went. And as for today, I'm meeting Colleen for a visit to Archivers and maybe some shoe shopping.

Tomorrow is soccer...assuming it doesn't rain and a birthday party. The big Stingrays don't play tomorrow, so it'll be a short visit at the fields. They play on Sunday....first time for everything.

Ok, that's all I've got for now. Oh, here's another Fall Flower Fix for ya!

Have a groovy weekend, my friends!!

Happy Monday!!!

Hello everyone! It's Monday AGAIN...where did the weekend go?

Oh my goodness, you guys...this past weekend was GORGEOUS!!! The sky was a beautiful shade of blue, without a cloud in site! Every once in a while, there was a nice breeze and the temp couldn't have been above 85. Perfect weather for soccer. Hey, I'm glad you brought that up...lol.

The Lil Stingrays played at 9am and let's just say they won :-). Jayla scored one goal, which was awesome. She seems to be really getting the hang of the rules and doesn't look so much to score all the time. She LOVES to be able to assist her team mates in scoring and loves to pass the ball. So she was very happy with only scoring once. Last season, it was so funny...every goal she scored she thought was worth 10 points each. So by the end of the game, let her tell it, she'd scored about 40 - 50 goals...LOL.

The Stingrays had their team pictures at 10:30 on Saturday morning. And this was a milestone in Stingray history. This was the first time in about 4 or 5 seasons that EVERY SINGLE player AND coach was there on picture day...AND on time!!! Now isn't it just our luck that this happens to be a season that Markell isn't there, so we may not get a team picture :-(. But all I can say is thank God for scanners! Doggonit...I'm gonna GET me a team picture!!!! After the pictures, we headed on up to the new fields that just opened. We were so excited that one of our games were scheduled there. The fields are BEAUTIFUL!!! The game got underway around noonish and it was ON AND POPPIN!!! LOL. I won't give you the play by play...I'll just put it in simple terms for you...the Stingrays ROCKED it!!! They won 10 - 3!!! What a game! It was so exciting. I just love watching those boys play together. It's amazing what playing with the same guys season after season will do for a team. I'm so proud of them.

After the game, several of us went out for Mexican food. I was so glad too, cuz I'd been craving a Fajita!!!

Then on Sunday, we went to Sunday School then listened to a wonderful sermon. Well, I only heard 1/2 of it. I don't know about you, but the smell of strong perfume gives me a headache. Two couples came in and sat near us (one in front of us and one behind) and the cologne/perfume they had on had a seat of it's own! Marque and I both sat there with our fingers across our upper lips trying to mask the smell. Oh my gosh, it was SO STRONG. 1/2 way through the service, my eyes were beginning to burn and the headache was kicking in big time. Marque looked over at me and said, "You and Jayla can go out if you want to!" Man, he didn't have to tell me but once! ARGH!!! Why do people do that? After church, we went out for a nice dinner. Oh how I love not having to cook on the weekends!

ANYWAY, today has been a fun day for me too. Today was my first day volunteering in Jayla's class. Every Monday for one hour, I get to help out in the class. Can you imagine...they asked ME to help with the "craft centers"! I had a really good time. And it was so cool to see Jayla being a "student". She's a really good kid. And her teacher says she's like that all the time. So I was glad that that wasn't a show for mommy :-). It was so funny, one little boy that sits at Jaylas table said, "Oooo, who's momma is THAT?" Jayla answered and said I was her mommy. The boy then said, "OH, I like yo momma!" Jayla quickly informed him of, not only how old I am, but how old I'll be on my birthday next month, LOL. Hmmm, I've still got it...even to 5 year olds :-).

Welp, that's about it for me today. Ya'll enjoy the rest of your day and I'll be talking to you soon! Be Inspired...I AM!!!

Friday Flower Fix & Weekend

Ok, before I get into todays (late) post...let me sit down and take a breath for a minute....................

I have been ripping and running ALL day today. I took Jayla to school this morning, came home, laid back down for about 45 minutes, then I was up and out again. Today, the kindergarten classes at Jayla's school went on a fieldtrip to the North Georgia State Fair. So, me along with about 5 other moms from our class tagged along. I've never been to the fair before and had been wanting to go. My friend, Stacey, has been several times and warned me that it might be pretty boring and stinky, lol. Well, let's put it this way, I didn't have "the time of my life", but it was fun. The weather was beautiful and the kids had a good time. None of the rides were running, as the time of day that we went is mainly for school/daycare field trips.

After waiting in line for quite a while, it was finally our turn to take a "hayride" (minus the hay) to the first attraction. The first attraction was the "stinky" part of the trip. There were several animals for the kids to look at. There were turkeys, goats, a zebra, donkey's, a giant yellow snake, ostrichs, parrotts, minature horses...OH MY!!! :-)

After that the kids had their picture made with a clown, they toured the crafts displays, then took a picture in front of a big ole green tractor, (remember, I'm the class photographer? :-D). After the photo stops, we headed into the second stinky part of the tour. This time, we saw horses, cows, ducks, emus (not sure I spelled that right), and chickens (NOTE: chickens look a LOT better when they are plucked, fried, placed between a warm hamburger bun with a slice of pickle and placed in a white bag with Chick Fil A written on it...but that's just me.) Oh, the kids also got to feed some goats...YUCK!!! Can you say "Pass the Purell hand sanitizer?!?!) Then it was on to the highlight of the entire field trip.....Mayfield icecream sandwiches and apple juice :-D.

Welp, that was about it for the field trip. The kids were exhausted and getting a little hot and hungry. So,we headed back to the entrance and onto the bus they went. After dropping off one of the moms back at the school, I was off to run my errands. Then back to the school to pick Jayla up. What a day!!

So, what have you guys got planned for the weekend? You're not gonna believe it...we've got soccer...hee hee. Jayla has a 9am game, AGAIN. Then the Stingrays have their team pictures followed by their game at noon. Other than that, I think that's all we've got going on this weekend. Well, I thank you all for your patience....here's your flower fix for the day.

Have a beautiful weekend and I'll be talkin' to ya soon!! Toodles!

It's all in the numbers (at least that's what Cheryl says)

Hello everyone. I was over at Cheryl's blog today and once again, her blog was chockful of fun. This time, she asked that we answer several questions about ourselves that had numbers in the answers. So check this out:

By the Numbers

1. Age I was when I first walked: in my late teens, I think, lol. Just kidding. Uh, 11 months old I think is what I was told.

2. Age of my very first memory: I would have to say 2 years old. I remember going to Montreal, Canada with my family for the Worlds Fair. And Lou Rawls was the entertainment.

3. Number of stitches I've had in my life: Over 20...right across my stomach (from an operation I had when I was 6 years old) And then your "standard issue" 2 or 3 in that "special area" after birthing my first child....guess she was in a hurry to get here, lol.

4. Number of broken bones I've had in my life: 2. I broke my toe when I was 17 and my ankle about 2 years ago.

5. Number of cars I've owned: 8

6. Number of countries I've visited: Uhhh, is Mobile, Alabama a country? Ok, ok...I guess not. 2, I guess (Montreal, Canada & Jamaica)

7. The age I was when I moved out of my parents' house: 21...right into my own apartment with my very own Avacado green kitchen countertops and burnt orange kitchen sink.

8. Number of ex-boyfriends in my past: 5 or 6...but I'd rather not dwell on my unhappy past. lol

9. Number of televisions in my house: 3

10. Number of days old I am right now: 14,922 (Cheryl suggested that you...go HERE, to this really cool site,to find out how many days you've been around!)

Now wasn't that fun? I've said it before...I LOVE doing stuff like this. And I'm sure, as long as Cheryl is around, I'll never be at a loss of questions to answer, lol. Love ya Cheryl. Now, it's ya'lls turn. Feel free to answer these in my comments or leave me a comment stating that you're gonna answer them on your own blog. Have fun!!

Inspired to INSPIRED...

Happy Monday everyone!

Can you believe it's already Monday again? The weekend was a blur to me...ok, all of last week is pretty much a blur.

But my quick recap of the weekend goes a little something like this:

~The Lil' Stingrays had their pictures made. Can't wait til those come back. I'll be sure to share when they do.

~I'll say that the Lil' Stingrays won their game...even though at this level they don't keep score; in my mind (and in Jayla's) they won, lol.

~Had a nice brunch at Steak N' Shake between games.

~The Big Stingrays played AWESOME and won 5 - 2!

~The rest of the weekend was spent watching football and soccer and napping.

Well, that's about all I've got for today. Oh, I did my Taebo workout this morning too. Aren't ya'll proud of me?

Here's your inspiration:

"I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the REAL things after all."

Have a beautiful week.