Here I am again...

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.

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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!

And the winner is....

Good morning everyone!

Have you guys had a good week? Ours has been pretty busy...but fun nonetheless.

Well let's see, what did we do this week that was so fun?

On Monday, Jayla started a 4 day long cheerleading camp. She's been looking forward to this since school ended back in May! The camp was only 2 hours long each day and held at a nearby highschool, which happens to be right up the street from the school she attends. Needless to say, she was a little nervous but excited all the same.

To make a long story short, the camp was merely just to teach the girls (ages 4 up to 8th grade), a few cheers/chants, a little dance routine and how to jump. Well, being that Jayla is a soccer player...this was gonna be interesting, LOL. The girl has super strong legs and is very fast. So again, it was gonna be interesting to see what she'd do with THIS sport.

Jayla was in a group of about fifteen 5 & 6 year olds. And on Tuesday, the instructors, who are cheerleaders at the high school, chose 4 or 5 girls to "represent" the group as the best jumpers. Well, Jayla was chosen. How cool is that? So of course, she practiced as often as she could...which reminds me, we need to get the ceiling fixed in the dining room, LOL. They taught the girls about 3 or 4 jumps, all of which Jayla did pretty well. Being that she's only 6, she was a little uncoordinated, but had some pretty good height.

ANYWAY...on Wednesday night, they had a jump off. And the senior cheerleaders were the judges. Jayla, along with 4 other little 6 year olds were called to the floor while the other 200+ girls looked on. And here's what happened... (Jayla is contestant #2, in the red skirt)

(NOTE: Please excuse this "amateur" video :-), especially the last few seconds. I didn't even know my camera could take videos let alone that it was still on, hee hee)

Like I said, she's been doing pretty well practicing her jumps. But these were her best jumps by far.

After this, the winner of the 5 year olds had to jump against the winner of the 6 year olds. And here's what happened...

NEEDLESS to say, we were very excited for our little Jaylabear.

She was so cute doing the cheers and dances. Check her out, "shaking what her momma gave her"...HAHAHA

Being that last night was the big HOORAH for the camp, Jayla asked daddy to come and watch her. He was very impressed with his little girl. But not so much with how loud 200 screaming girls can be, LOL (but not too loud) :-). All of the girls were given nice T-shirts and a certificate for participating. Jayla made a few new friends and is looking forward to doing the camp again next year.

So, let's see...other than the cheerleading camp, Jayla also went to a birthday party down at our neighborhood pool, we went to the FREE movie yesterday...along with half of the state of Georgia, to see Horton Hears a Who. Ya know, sitting in the VERY front row at the movie theatre is NO FUN! That screen is HUGE! Thank God I don't have Vertigo! lol Oh, and I FINALLY got my hair done this week too. I now look human again, hee hee.

I hadn't planned on posting a flower today, considering the overload from last week. So maybe I'll do a "pop up" flower post later in the week.

Ya'll got any big plans for the weekend? Jayla doesn't know it yet, but she's gonna have a special day with daddy and her cousins tomorrow. They are going to Six Flags! I'm gonna send the camera with Mister M., so hopefully he won't forget to use it :-D. Not sure what I'm gonna do with MYSELF tomorrow...but I'll think of something.

I hope ya'll have a great weekend!!! Toodles!

Where did THIS day come from?

Oh my goodness, is it Friday already? If this is how the summer is gonna be, I'm not ready! This week has FLOWN by. Sheesh!

But I will say that this week has reminded me of summers past. As you know, Markell has spent this week with us. It has been really nice having him here. Jayla just ADORES him. There have been several times that I've walked in a room to see what they are doing, and Jayla is either sitting on his lap, climbing on his back or trying to kiss him. It's so funny! And every so often, I'm having to get on them for running up and down the halls. If Markell looks at Jayla funny, like he's about to "get her", she starts screaming and laughing...LOUDLY!!! So needless to say, I've had to get use to that again. But it's been fun.

As I mentioned, on Monday, Mister M. was home for the holiday and he cooked on the grill. Man, we had that delicious grilled chicken, brats, potato salad and baked beans for 3 days straight. YUMMY!!! On Tuesday, when Mister M. got home from work, he advised us that he'd be working from home for the rest of the week. SWEET!!! I love when he's here.

Also on Tuesday, it was so beautiful here. I think it was about 85 degrees, give or take. So me and the kids went down to the pool. They had a great time.

Markell is so protective of Jayla...he just doesn't want anyone to know that :-). Anytime she'd cough or make ANY noise while they were in the pool, he's quickly go see if she was alright. Jayla is trying to get use to the water getting in her face and SWEARS that she holds her breath under water for HOURS at a time :-). And the couple of times that she'd loose her footing or would go under the water a little bit; Markell was right there. And Jayla would tell me, "Mom, Markell saved my life again!" They are so sweet together.

Earlier that day, I had to run to Hobby Lobby (Yes,I said I HAD to, lol). Every few minutes, I'd hear Jayla say, "Hey Markell, guess what? I need a kiss!" And he'd bend down, give her a kiss then pick her up and carry her for a few minutes. Anyway, I'm gonna cry if I keep going over in my mind (and typing to you guys), how they've just enjoyed eachother so much this week.

Yesterday, Markell went and spent the day with one of his old soccer buddies. They had a great time together. And that was the perfect time for me to wash and braid Jayla's hair. She's so cute :-).Today, we are going to our favorite place to have ice cream. Then I'll get to wash my own hair later on today...ARGH!!!

Anyway, it's been a really fun week here with Markell. I'm gonna miss him when he leaves tomorrow. It's been really cool going into the room where he slept and finding this....

EARLY one morning, Jayla snuck down the hall and jumped in bed with Markell. But that only happened once, as he started locking the door, LOL. Cute nonetheless.

Hey, have any of you ever had these before?

Oh my goodness, you guys...they are SOOO yummy! I got them from Walmart. But now that I may have to change my shopping ways (Thanks, BEM), I had to grab the big bag so they'd last a while, lol. This and the dried fruit and nuts trail mix is the snack of us soccer moms. YUMM-O!

Anyway, I think that's all I've got for today. Do you guys have any big plans for the weekend? I don't think we do. Other than Jayla going to a birthday party on Sunday afternoon. Well, whatever ya'll do, have fun and be careful. Oh, and before I forget...here's your FIX!

Take care!