|
|||||||||||||||||||||
 October:
|
October 29, 2006, 6:53 pm The crayon saga... Fact #1: The darker the color of crayon, the more resistance it has to bleach. Fact #2: Every muscle in my body aches from squatting on the sidewalk yesterday while scrubbing the crayon marks (most of it came off, by the way, except for one drawing of a house that I decided adds character to my front yard - that and I was sooooo done with the tedious scrubbing and had absolutely no elbow grease left in me). November is in two days??? Where did October go? I guess I was expecting it to CRAWL since it was our last month before Andy comes home, but it FLEW. Why am I updating my blog? I need to get back to work!! :D October 28, 2006, 10:55 pm Claritin did not work for me... I took one two nights ago, and I didn't really notice much of a difference, so I took another one last night (since I had heard that you need to take Claritin daily for a while in order to see the wonderful allergy-fighting results). Yeah... the box SAYS "non drowsy" but I was good for NOTHING today because I was drowsy from the pill I took last night. It finally started wearing off about an hour ago (23 hours after I had taken the 24 hour pill). Back to square one! Ugh. Two and a half weeks to go... So, I have a lot to do before Andy gets home. I was under the weather the majority of the year (trying to gain my health back from a couple of miscarriages and the difficult pregnancy) so my plans of getting everything organized and perfect didn't exactly happen. I also acquired pets while he was gone, and they have done their fair share of damage (as have Darby and the boys). I know I grew up in a do-it-yourself handy-person household, but that doesn't mean that I acquired all those carpentry and martha-stewart skills!!! LOL Okay, so a couple of questions for my readers:
Okay, so that would be grand if anyone could answer those for me. Thanks. I'm sure I'll have more questions for you as I go along on my to-do list. And Andy, if you get a chance to read this... just expect to come home to an absolute dump and you won't be disappointed. :D Everyone else - I know Andy will be happy to just be home and I shouldn't stress about it, but I really want the place to look nice for him. :) October 27, 2006 Congratulations to my niece and her man on becoming... Mr & Mrs Adam and Andrea Van Meter Andrew, the kids, and I wish you all the happiness in the world! :) October 26, 2006, 10:23 pm Home, sweet home... Had a good time scrapbooking at the crop yesterday and a looooong day today. I rode with a friend to Austin (her daughter was an extra in the commercial with Jarvis). It took forever, but Jarvis had a good time and made 50 bucks. It gave us a little inside look at the joys of being a fledgling actor. Haha. It took around 5 hours to shoot the commercial and we had to be there very early, so we had to get up at 5 this morning. I'm beat. I'm glad we did it though. It was a fun experience, and I had a good time chatting with the other moms. A photo of Jacob from two days ago (it was actually cold here for a couple of days - it may have even gotten below 60 degrees at night, which is freezing for us), a photo of Jarvis from today (I forgot the stroller so I was holding Jacob, a too heavy diaper bag that needs to be cleaned out, a purse, and a camera so I did not get very many photos... I snapped this one while the kids were taking a snack break from the commercial), and a photo of my friend, Rhonda, holding Jacob today at the shoot.
October 25, 2006, 1:37 am tomorrow (uh, I mean... today) So I have to get up in 6 1/2 hours, yet I am still awake for some reason (oh yeah - it's because I don't sleep very well when Andy isn't here... he really needs to come home ~ THREE WEEKS PEOPLE!!!). Anyway, Brittany is the babysitter for a scrapbooking party tomorrow. I probably wouldn't have gone to the crop (crop: what scrapbookers call their get-togethers) if it weren't for Brittany needing a ride, because I have a lot of things I need to do. I do have a project I have been wanting to finish, so it'll be a good chance for me to get that done. I'm sure I'll be glad I went too, as it is fun sitting around scrapbooking with a bunch of other women. :) Here's another page I did last week when I was on my scrapbooking frenzy in my newly organized scrapbooking area/office (now organized down to the last eyelet, sticker, and button - it's so awesome to be organized!). :D
October 23, 2006, 4:53 pm a budding star? Jarvis is going to be an extra in a commercial. He auditioned on Friday and they called us today. 80-something kids tried out; four of them landed the lead parts and ten of them are extras (including Jarvis). The leads are getting paid big bucks, and the extras get a $50 gift certificate to Wal-Mart. It'll be fun and Jarvis is excited. Who knows - he may decide he enjoys this sort of thing and want to pursue a career in acting. How cool would it be if he ended up catching a break and making multi-million dollar movies so he can support me and Andy in our old age?! haha. :D Anyway, they're filming in Austin on Thursday - should be fun. i hate allergies... I think my allergies to the cat are getting worse, unfortunately. I did buy some Claritin, but it has just been sitting in my medicine cabinet. Does anyone that reads this take Claritin? Does it work or is it just a waste of time? I was thinking I need to go get some allergy tests done so I can figure out exactly what I am allergic to, but that would involve me having to actually call and make a dr. appt. and then actually go to the dr. to get the referral to the allergist and then go to the allergist - and that just all seems like WAY too much of a hassle! three weeks... I know I keep blogging about this, but I'm just so excited that the year is almost up! Andy will be home in about three weeks. Yay! I cannot WAIT!!! Our marriage just keeps getting better and better. I read a really great book about being a good wife while he was away and I am ready to put what I learned into action. We both have learned a lot during this year, and although we were extremely happy with our relationship when he left for Iraq, we have both come a long way and I have a feeling it's going to be even better when he comes home. :) October 21, 2006, 12:48 am Today is the anniversary of mine and Andy's wedding ceremony. We got married at the county clerk's office in the mall on July 23, 1994, and then after he returned from some Marine Corps training in California, we had our church ceremony and I moved to NC with him the following day. I can't believe twelve years has gone by since then. It just doesn't seem possible! I'm so excited that our marriage is so amazing and look forward to many, many, many more years with him. Happy Anniversary, Andrew... I love you! :) Today was such a busy day. I was gone alllllll day. Justice and I helped someone move and run errands most of the day. Then, I took Jarvis to an audition for a Veteran's Day commercial. He did really well, but there were quite a few other kids there auditioning. We'll find out in the next few days if they're going to hire him. The filming of the commercial is supposed to be next Thursday. We had never done anything like this before, so even if he doesn't get it, it was still a fun and interesting experience. :) I heard from Andy today for the first time in about a week. He was able to call me, and it was so good to hear his voice! His flight leaves in three weeks, so we should be seeing him in about 3 1/2 weeks. It's so exciting that the year is finally ending!!! :D October 19, 2006, 5:39 pm Amazingly enough... I did some mending today, which is a shock of all shocks. Seriously, I hate mending. Sewing holes together, hemming pants... ugh! But I must have gotten a wild hair up my rear today because I actually sewed the holes in Jarvis' furry pillow and Darby's nightgown. And I put Justice's bandana on my desk and out of the mending basket with plans of sewing it up later this evening. Now, before some of you say "but I thought you liked to sew", let me explain something. Sewing and mending have two different meanings to me. Sewing, to me, is creating something new - and that is something I enjoy. Mending... ugh... is repairing something that is probably ready for the trash anyway... prolonging the life of a worn out piece of clothing that will probably need mending again in another two weeks... and I can't stand doing it (and as a general rule, I either don't do the mending at all, or I throw the offending garment in the trash without trying to repair it). So while I was mending today, I thought, "maybe it's a state of mind", so I said things like "this is really fun" and "I LOVE mending" and "this isn't tedious and monotonous and boring at all" and ended up with "who am I kidding? this SUCKS!" The hair saga... I colored my hair yesterday. It definitely looks better, but there is still a gray cast to it. I'm afraid this is going to take a couple more attempts. Fun! :-| Planning... I've been finding out more about the Fort Lewis/Tacoma, WA area, and I'm really looking forward to moving. I don't know if I mentioned before, but we have a date now. Andrew has to be there May 10, 2007. It's just right around the corner. I can't wait! :) Pet peeves? Okay, let me get something off my chest. I know I'm not the best about making sure my grammar and punctuation are correct on my blog, but I think I do a fairly decent job of maintaining proper English. I format my posts more along the lines of how I would speak, rather than how I would type up a paper for an English professor, but... even with my improper use of periods meant for "and so on"... I do not think my grammar is TOO bad. That being said, it really bothers me when people use a period after each word in their sentence in order to make a point. It. is. really. annoying. When I'm reading a blog, and I see a sentence broken up with periods, I make a mental pause after each word (when the words should be flowing together in a complete sentence). I. hate. that. I mean really, is it getting on your nerves too? Because. it. is. getting. on. mine. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's... Super Jacob! We got Jacob's halloween costume yesterday. He looks so cute in it. Here's a couple photos of my Super Baby! :D
October 17, 2006, 4:33 pm Hair... I decided to wait a couple days before applying more hair color - you know, let my hair rest first (and condition it a couple more times). :) But I went out to Wal-Mart this afternoon and got the box of hair color (in broad daylight, but with my hair pulled up in a knot so the color wasn't as noticeable - haha). Hopefully it does the trick. I'll post a photo of the FINISHED results. Sorry, but I have to say a big, fat NO to all your requests for hair-disaster-photos. I'll gladly post embarrassing photos of any of you, but I prefer to keep the ones of myself to a minimum. LOL :D I can't resist... Like pretty much every other trip I've ever made to Wal-Mart or Target, I made a spontaneous purchase along with my hair color (is this just me? Or does everyone buy things that are NOT on their list in these stores? I just cannot resist all the deals! They see me coming a mile away and put all the tantalizing merchandise on shelves that they know I will walk past - I am so easily distracted by the shiny displays in the middle of the aisles). My unplanned purchase for today was 'Over the Hedge' along with the attached extra 'Hammy's Nutty-Fun DVD'. The kids were thrilled. (We LOVED this movie in the theater and have been calling Jarvis "Hammy" ever since we saw it, so I knew when I saw it was now on DVD that I had to buy it). :D A few quotes that have caught my eye recently... "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." - Ronald Reagan "Stop trying to please unpleasable people." - Merrill Markoe "Annoy a liberal. Work. Succeed. Be happy." - as seen on a bumper sticker October 15, 2006, 3:37 pm HAPPY {29th} BIRTHDAY TO MY GOOD FRIEND, MINDY! :) When bad highlights happen to good people... So, I decided to try and give myself high and low lights. I had been thinking about it for a few weeks, and last night, I decided it was time to give it a try. "How hard can it be?", I asked myself. I should have stopped when I mentioned this idea to Andrea a couple weeks back and she said, "Oh no. This sounds like it has disaster written all over it." You may recall that she was there for the Bozo-the-clown-orange-hair turned into shortest-ever-comparing-in-length-to-Susan-Powter's-hair, both catastrophes of September, 2003. Now, before you freak out, Andrew, I can fix this! I'm pretty sure I can make it look better. I mean, I think I can repair it. Um. I decided to use the foil method. After all, I had watched them overcharge me in the salon to do it and it really did not look difficult. I even looked for tips online. I got the front right and the front left done without much trouble, and then stared blankly at myself in the mirror thinking, "huh! I guess I didn't think about the fact that there is absolutely no way for me to do the foil to the back of my hair. Maybe I could see if Brittany will do it. No, she'll refuse to have any part of this debacle. Maybe if I stretch this way, and grow another arm to hold the handheld mirror while I hold the foil with one hand and apply the color with the other hand?" I ended up just applying random streaks to the back of my head with the little plastic brushes that came with the brown and blonde color (which only resulted in a few leopard-type-spots amongst the streaks). Surprisingly enough, the high/low lighting techniques I used didn't turn out too badly (especially where I used the foil - I think I could totally do this on someone else, just not again on myself), but I should have paid closer attention to the actual COLOR I was using. The highlights were supposed to be light blonde, but I now have some pretty decent looking lowlights that blend in well with my hair, along with a bunch of GRAY streaks. Yes, gray. Not light blonde, not any color blonde. But gray. I look 65. Okay, maybe not 65, but I certainly look like a freak. There will be no photos. Sorry. I will make a trip to Wally World tonight to purchase a new box of hair color after I'm certain I will not run into anyone I know (it's a school night for all my friends' kids, so we'll go after 8:30 or 9 pm), and hopefully by tomorrow, my overprocessed hair will look fabulous (good thing I just got that new bottle of deep conditioner!). I'll keep you posted. :) October 14, 2006, 2:53 pm Ashley is a boy... Okay, so I never really inspected his personal space... I figured that was an invasion of his privacy. I just took the word of the woman handing out kittens outside of Target. She said the kitten was a girl. Brittany recently decided to invade our cat's privacy, and informed me that he was in fact, a boy. She had inspected, wondered, compared to our neighbor's cat, and concluded that Ashley was definitely a boy. I just looked, and sure enough... Ashley is a boy. The sad thing is that this is not the first time that I have been wrong about the gender of one of our cats. It's not that I don't know how to tell the difference, per se, it's just that I don't WANT to look. :D It will be up to Justice to give his cat a new name. I'll keep you posted. Oh, by the way, he (still feels weird not to say she) has been much better behaved since we turned him into an indoor/outdoor cat. He gets all his rambunctiousness out in the great outdoors, and only comes inside for eating and napping. I'm actually starting to like him. Go figure. Some photos of Ashley-the-boy and Hannah (who we know is a girl - she has actually been to the vet and has papers LOL). Yes, Hannah is eating Ashley's head in that third photo. Don't worry - these are all in good fun. They love each other and playfight all the time. :)
all photos taken by Brittany Carden. October 13, 2006, 5:29 pm I did some more scrapbooking last night. Here are a couple more pages for your viewing pleasure (at least I hope it's a pleasure - haha). :D
October 12, 2006, 2:28 pm Scrapbooking is my favorite... I love to stay up late scrapbooking. The house is quiet since the kids are all asleep. I can play music, eat snacks, and play with all my photos and scrapbooking supplies. It's very peaceful and relaxing. :) Here are the pages I did last night (click to view them in more detail on ScrapSupply)...
October 11, 2006, 1:22 pm HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO PATRICK AND TO VICTORIA!!!! :) The secret revealed... Okay, since everyone wants to know, I'll go ahead and tell you. I was going to wait a while to be SURE, but honestly, I'm already convinced. Let me preface this by saying that I'm not selling anything, I don't work for the company, and I don't know anyone who does. It's just something I found that works! :) I have tried lots of things for energy. I have tried doing the no-sugar-and-no-white-flour thing and that SUCKED in every way (and I really didn't feel that much better). I have tried lots of different vitamins and didn't really notice much of a difference. I have been an exercise-a-holic and while that got me in better shape and provided a little more energy - it didn't really offer the effects that I was looking for (not that I'm knocking working out - it is defintely good to exercise, but I needed something more). I switched from regular tea to green tea, and I do think that has helped - I would say I have noticed a definite difference in my blood sugar levels since starting with the green tea. So green tea is my first 'secret' (not that it is a secret, but maybe everyone doesn't know that it is supposedly a wonder tea that helps with everything from diabetes to fighting cancer). Also, if you are a coffee drinker with a weight problem - they say that if you switch from coffee to green tea, and do nothing else, that you will lose at least ten pounds in six weeks (and you'll still be getting your caffeine fix). Then, I was looking for an article on the No Greater Joy website, and came across some health articles about some algae or something called Spirulina... a little more research and two message boards later, and I found myself ordering the SuperMom Vitamins. I figured for 36 bucks for a 3 months supply, it was worth a try. The first couple of days, I felt like crap (you know, that whole thing about when you put good things into your body, it takes a little time to get all the bad things out), but then I got this energy like I had never had. I have had health issues for a few years now (to do with problem pregnancies, miscarriages, blood sugar levels, allergies, possible endometriosis, etc.). So needless to say, my energy levels have been lacking. But for the last ten days or so I have had so much energy (even with a cold that I acquired along the way)! My house stays clean (something I was having a really hard time keeping up with and was almost to the point of hiring a maid), I'm getting all my errands run, when Josh was here we went all day every day and I was just fine... it's awesome! They make SuperDad Vitamins too (and you don't have to be a mom or dad - that's just what they named them - Josh noticed such a difference in me that he ordered the SuperDad Vitamins while he was here). Okay, so they are really, really working for me and I wanted to share my find with all of you. If you decide to try them, please post on the comments page and let us all know if and how they worked for you. :) October 8, 2006, 6:41 pm Jacob's week-before-he-turns-nine-months photo shoot... :)
October 8, 2006, 12:40 am I can't wait to tell everyone... I have a newfound energy and it rocks. I still eat like crap (well, I guess that would depend on who was judging - Kendra would say all I eat is garbage, but I'm sure there are others that would think I eat decently enough), I do not get enough sleep, I am on no schedule to speak of (mine and Andy's schedules are so different - for instance, I'm up late tonight waiting for him to wake up so we can chat on the i.m. before I go to sleep), I barely exercise - but I can go all day long without feeling groggy or worn out (and my house is so clean)! I'll share my secret soon. I want to make sure it's REAL. Josh visited this weekend and he noticed the difference so much that he is going to start doing what I am doing. Aren't you guys curious? Don't worry; I will tell you soon. After all, it's only been a week so I need to be sure this sticks. :) Coming soon... I want to add two new sections to my blog, maybe three. First, since I love sharing with others the things that I have discovered that work (refer to this post), I am going to add a section entitled "consumer reports from petra". I'm sure you all can't wait. :) The next one is movie reviews. I already add them from time to time, but I know you all want a comprehensive reference for when you are getting ready to head out to Hollywood Video - so don't fret, it's coming soon! The third one I might add - still thinking about it - is a section that showcases all of my favorite scrapbooking pages I've done/do. I already post some layouts on ScrapSupply, so I'm thinking this could get redundant. We'll see. Stay tuned! I'm still mulling over whether or not I want to make the 'consumer reports' and the 'movie reviews' interactive (where others can add their own reports and reviews and comments on the existing ones). We'll see. Feedback is appreciated on these topics. :D Britt's birthday... I will post Britt's 13-year-old photos later this week (we didn't get a chance for a photo shoot today, which I'm sure she was glad - LOL). She is having a "birthday week". She got a couple of gifts today (the next 10 in the Left Behind Kids series she has been reading [#31-40], along with a cute little basket for her room with a Hobby Lobby gift card inside - also a couple of things from Jarvis and Darby). She has a few more things coming though, including a day with me (like the one Justice got on his birthday [I'm so glad my kids love spending time with me and request alone time with me for their birthday]). :) I'll leave you with a cute photo of the day - Jacob was trying his best to get Hannah through the glass door in the dining room this morning. He's so cute - he was squealing the whole time. Then Josh took him out and had him pet Hannah through the fence and he thought it was hysterical when Hannah licked his hand. LOL
October 7, 2006, 2:36 am HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BRITTANY!!! :) I cannot believe I have a teenager! She is 13 years old today. It just seems so unreal. I am so very thankful to have such a wonderful daughter as Brittany! She is so helpful to me, not to mention brilliant, beautiful, giving, fun, and good. I am so proud of her. She isn't your typical run-of-the-mill teenager (the ones you see so often these days with the big attitude and the buckets full of selfishness). Brittany is amazing and God so blessed Andrew and I with an awesome daughter. :) I will be forcing her to do a birthday photo shoot sometime in the next few days, so stay tuned. :) October 7, 2006, 2:30 am Celebrity look-alikes... Matt posted this link on his blog and it looked like fun. I tried three different photos that I already had on my computer. It came up with different celebrities every time. LOL The only ones that showed up more than once were Juliana Marguiles, Jessica Simpson, and Tara Reid - and I don't think I look like ANY of them! Haha! The most disturbing part is that it came up with MEN in numbers 1 and 3.
October 4, 2006, 6:16 pm I am a genius... I make my children do chores. I obviously cannot clean everything myself, being the only adult with 5 children, plus I don't want spoiled brats for kids who never had to do anything for themselves (I know everyone knows someone like that who is now an adult and they are most likely still spoiled brats). :) That being said, there are times when motivation is a problem for them. Also, the kids standard of 'clean' and my standard of 'clean' are two entirely different things (I'm sure all you parents can identify with that one). Hannah (our dog) hangs out in the back yard most of the time. She is still a puppy, so if the kids leave a toy out there, it usually ends up in a million pieces all over the yard. Also, it is very windy here in the middle-of-nowhere-Texas, so other people's trash blows into our yard all the time. Needless to say, we have to clean the yard often (the kids are learning not to leave things laying around, but they still forget sometimes). Well, when I say "okay kids, go clean the trash out of the yard", usually they get the big, obvious pieces and I go out there (after they've taken about two hours to clean up two pieces of trash) and see about 8,000 more pieces that they missed. So today, I decided to make it more interesting for them (here comes the 'genius' part as referenced in the title of this post). I offered 5 cents for every piece of trash brought to me from our yard. I tell you, the yard has never been so clean! Justice, Jarvis, and Darby were running around like maniacs trying to get all the trash picked up before another kid got it. I am a genius! :D October 4, 2006, 12:07 am HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SPARKLE (a day late, sorry). :) Cutie pants... Jacob LOVES fruit of any kind. He ate this whole banana (see photo below). His absolute favorite so far is pineapple! He could eat them all day long. He loves eating!!! (p.s. check out his gorgeous eyes - isn't he adorable?). :)
October 3, 2006, 2:52 pm Darby... Darby asked Jesus to come into her heart the other day. We were/are all very happy. She had been asking questions about heaven and Jesus, etc. for quite some time and was finally ready and understood what it meant to be saved. By the way, if you are reading this and you don't know if you are going to heaven or to hell when you die, you can... Here are a couple of websites for you to read: http://www.inspiritnews.com/Question.html For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 September 30, 2006, 1:35 pm Just call me June Cleaver... How sad is it that at the top of my 'wish list' right now is a new washer and dryer and a new microwave?! Am I not supposed to have things like jewelry and new clothes on there? But no, I'm fantasizing about this, this, and this! :) Who doesn't love free stuff... I have been trying to get some things sold on ebay lately. Most recently, I sold some Avon things on there that I had received in a free goodie box at that Army spouse getaway in Dallas last month. Only one of the items did not sell, the Avon Solutions Cellu-Sculpt Anti-Cellulite lotion (google it for a description). So, the first one to email me that they want it (include your address if I don't have it), gets it free. (I've decided to start posting free stuff on my blog now and then before I list it on freecycle). :) September 29, 2006, 11:50 pm And with ten minutes to go in the day... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TANNER!!!! :D September 28, 2006, 12:05 am HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW! I love you baby! I wish you weren't so far away on your birthday, but I hope you have a good day anyway. You have presents on the way to you. Brittany, Justice, Jarvis, Darby and Jacob all wish you a very happy birthday as well! We all love you and miss you. :) September 27, 2006, 5:28 pm Happy birthday to Nathaniel (a.k.a. Binky), Daniel, and Stephanie!!!! :D :D :D I have been running all day long, granted a lot of it was spent at a ladies' scrapbooking thing (although two hours of it was spent waiting for Brittany at the dentist office), and I'm tired. I'm only home for a few minutes before taking the boys to RAs at church. Tomorrow morning, Justice and I are going to help a girl put her things into a storage unit (there is a few weeks lapse between when she is moving out of her apartment and when she gets her house on base). Friday, I am taking Justice to church for an RA campout and then watching a friends' four children so her and her husband can go out before he has to deploy to Iraq. Busy, busy. I enjoy doing or at the very least, don't mind doing, most of these things, but I do prefer to not have so many things scheduled. I like a slow paced, easy going life. Maybe Andy and I can move to a little bitty slow town when he gets out of the military - not TOO far from a big city though (because I do like being able to SHOP!!!). :D Tomorrow is Andy's birthday. Yeah, we are just now sending his box of gifts so he is just going to have to pretend his birthday is in a week and a half (the amount of time it takes for a box to get to him in Iraq). :D {I love you Andy!!!} September 26, 2006, 11:50 am Mama... Jacob said Mama. I had to go down to the housing office on base to help one of the wives with some mix up where they gave her house to someone else because they were calling the wrong number, so Brittany watched the baby again. She called me up as I was leaving the office and said "JACOB SAID MAMA!" I wasn't sure if I believed it or not, but I had a hard time waking up this morning when Jacob was crying in his crib as he does every morning around 7:30, so I left him in there crying for a couple minutes longer than usual, and it sounded like I heard a "Mama" amongst the cries. Well, he just finished eating lunch in his high chair (those little Gerber meat sticks for the first time, which he LOVED by the way) and the kids were in there with him. He decided he wanted to get out, but the other kids weren't done eating yet so they were just going to leave him until they were finished. That's when I heard it again - "Mama". I'm not sure he realizes what that sound means - he may have just discovered the "m" sound, but it was still very cute and it made me come in from the other room and get him out of his high chair!!! :) September 25, 2006, 5:40 pm Thoughts in a Target... The other day, I was able to spend two hours alone. It was quite the shock to my system, let me tell you! The boys were at a birthday party, and Brittany was watching the youngest two (Jake is finally old enough to be able to leave for a little bit - since he still nurses, I hadn't been able to leave him in case something happened and he wouldn't be able to eat, but now he is eating plenty of food and drinking juice, so it seems to works out). So I dropped the boys off and got some food, which I enjoyed with a book parked in the shade (with no noises - imagine that!). Then I went to Target. I decided to jot down a few of the thoughts I had while in there because 1) I was able to hear myself think for a change, 2) I was carrying a pen and paper anyway (because I had a list of things to buy) and 3) I thought it might be entertaining fodder for the blog. :) By the way, it was really nice having a little alone time - totally recharged my system. :) Target thoughts... -- 1,3,5,7,9, ooh those odd numbers sure are fine... 1,3,5,7,9, ooh those odd numbers sure are fine... (thought in a squeaky cheerleader voice) -- I'm everything I am because you looooooved meeee.... you give me hope and something else, and watermelon and blah, blah, blah... I'm everything I am because you loooooved me.... UGH... I don't even LIKE Celine Dion... why is this song stuck in my head anyway? I haven't heard it in years... I don't even know the lyrics... I'm everything I am because you loooooved me... I'm everything I am because you loooooved me... -- That is one scary looking woman! -- Oh my goodness!!! Kermit note paper??? I HAVE to buy that! -- Why is that little kid saying "bite me" over and over again? Does his mother not hear him? Did she teach it to him? Well, he sure seems to be entertaining himself. Maybe someone should walk over and actually bite him - I bet he'd shut up then. -- I think I could spend about a million dollars in here. I love this store. I wish we had a Super Target - this one is so small. -- Why don't they sell invitation size envelopes? How am I supposed to mail the cards I made? I guess I have to go to Wally World later. Then while getting in the car I thought... -- OW! That really hurt! And on the way home I thought... -- Why is the emergency signal on the radio so annoying? I'm turning it off - if it's important I'm not waiting around to hear the message because the incessant beeping is totally getting on my nerves. I wonder if anyone actually realizes that? If they have an emergency message, why don't they just SAY it? Why do we have to listen to the beeping? I don't get it. Maybe they should put me in charge of coming up with a new emergency signal! -- Is that blood? I guess I really did scrape my arm when I was getting into the car. I knew it hurt, but I didn't think I had drawn blood. Oh well. September 23, 2006, 11:07 pm A little late in the day, but better late than never... HAPPY 10th ANNIVERSARY TO TIMBERLY AND LEROY!!!!! :D and HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY TO KAILABERRY!!!!! :D September 22, 2006, 3:53 am anthem of i... Andrew has a blog. Yay. He and I spent several hours today (and yesterday - over the instant messenger) getting it set up and included a large amount of his poetry on there (transcribing the poetry took me a while; he is such an awesome poet!). Go visit it (click here). He'll be out on patrols for a couple of days, so I hope everyone will visit his blog, read his post and poetry, and leave some comments for him. :) burt's bees strikes again... I received this from FedEx today:
Andrew decided I needed some things to help me relax (he is so sweet!). The bee was a sugar cookie - isn't it too cute? Getting this today totally made me smile!! :D September 20, 2006, 12:15 pm So apparently I'm only updating about every three days. I guess I'm a slacker lately. :) All I have to say today is that I LOVE ANDREW! He is the most awesome husband I could ever hope for. It is amazing what God can do in a relationship if you simply let Him, and our relationship is nothing short of a miracle. Approximately eight more weeks until he comes home, and I cannot WAIT! :) September 17, 2006, 12:08 pm Not complaining, just updating everyone ... So a couple months or so ago, I wrote about my headaches and getting a night guard for my teeth. Well, I got the night guard a couple weeks ago. It seems to be helping a lot. I have not had near the amount of headaches I was having, but I still clench my jaw while I sleep - there is just a guard there to keep my teeth from grinding together. So far my jaw is still sore all the time, but I am only waking up with maybe one headache a week as opposed to the three or four per week I was having before. Yesterday was one of those days. Oh man - it was a doozy too. It was one of those I-cannot-function-worth-a-lick type headaches and I was good for nothing all day. Standing up made it feel like my head was going to fall off and nausea and a slight fever came along with it. Watching TV made me halfway forget how badly my head hurt so I laid on the couch and zoned out to Seinfeld DVDs for a while (that show is so funny, by the way). Last night, one of the soldiers in Andy's squad's wives called me to let me know she was going to the emergency room for a headache. I didn't tell her about mine. :) I guess people who don't get those type of headaches often freak out with the not-being-able-to-function that goes along with it. I am used to it. The kids were very helpful yesterday, and I am happy to say that I feel MUCH better today! Anyway, so my wisdom teeth are still really bothering me - I can't close my teeth together on one side and my gums are all red and swollen where one tooth keeps coming in more. I need to go see the oral surgeon for a consult (I'm supposed to call on the 18th, tomorrow, to see if I can get in that day - the oral surgeon that I'm going to is only at my dentist's office once or twice a monnth). So, if I can get the consult tomorrow, hopefully I can make an appointment to get my wisdom teeth out soon after Andy gets home (I need to wait until he is here because I'll need help with the kids, etc.). Okay, so this is a long update. Oh, I put a Pilates video on my Blockbuster Online DVD list, so I'll let you guys all know how that goes! I tried doing aerobics a few times last week, but I pulled my hip doing that (I have some issues with my hip that are leftover from my pregnancy with Jacob... a constant pain, pulling a muscle or something that causes lots of pain every time I exercise, and when I lie down on my side I cannot lift the leg at all because of nerve damage... yeah, yeah, I should see a doctor about that too, but one thing at a time here people!!!). Oh yeah, and the diabetes is still hanging around, but I think it's getting better. I have heard of people that had it up to 8 months or a year after having gestational diabetes, so I'm hoping that will be the case with me. We'll see. Seriously, I'm not complaining, just giving everyone an update... my life is wonderful and I am incredibly happy. I just have some health issues to attend to and hopefully, one day, I'll be back to normal. :) Blogs... Okay, so Theresa says she is thinking about starting a blog... how's that coming, Theresa? And Andrew said he will start one soon... Woo hoo!!! :D :D :D Who else? Any more takers??? Come on, people, it's FUN!!! :D September 14, 2006, 9:51 pm Join the rest of the world... I love blogging (obviously). I have several family members and several close friends who blog. But I have decided that not enough of you are doing it. Some of you who have blogs do not update them enough (*cough cough* Brittany, Kendra, Titus, etc.), but at least you have them and hopefully will continue to add to them on occasion. I have decided to name names ~ people that do not blog, but I really think that you should. I want to read what you have to say. I'm just going to start with a few, but if anyone else has names you want to add to the list, then throw them onto the comments page. My nominations for those who really need to get into the blogosphere are as follows: Theresa (my sister-in-law - {use your work computer}) Go to www.blogger.com and sign up - some of you already have a user name that includes blog space. You just have to start typing. :) Okay, that's enough for now. We'll see what my nomination success rate is with the ones listed above before I start adding more names. Be sure to add your nominees to the comments page! :D September 14, 2006, 5:19 pm Real food... I'm going to a ladies' fellowship at church tonight. They are serving salad and baked potatoes for dinner. Here's my question: Why do people, when serving a group of women, assume that we do not want MEAT?!?! Salad and a baked potato?! Okay, GREAT, but where is the rest of the meal?! Maybe I don't speak for all women; maybe I'm a freak of nature, but my ideal dinner includes, along with the salad and potatoes, a big, giant, thick, juicy steak!!! :) However, I am looking forward to the evening. I think it'll be a good time, and I'm sure the food will be wonderful, but I guarantee I'll still be hungry when I come home and will have to warm up a frozen pizza or something! :) Real Simple daily quote... "Treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you -- not because they are nice, but because you are." — Anonymous edited to add {9:51 pm}: The evening was nice. As previously thought, the salad and potato did not fill me up, but they were very, very good! September 12, 2006, 7:49 pm Nothing... I got on here to update my blog, but I really don't have anything to say today. I realize that's a bit odd for me, but I suppose there's a first time for everything! :) Since I have nothing to really discuss, I will share some little known facts about myself. In return, I would like for you all to share at least one little known fact about yourself on my comments page. :D
Survey says... You know those surveys that people send out in emails and tag one another with on their blogs? Well, I like them! There, I said it. I think they are fun. I love lists and I love filling out questionnaires (Andy always gives me his paperwork to fill out for him because I actually enjoy it and he'd rather not have to even look at it). So I've created a link below and one on my sidebar for surveys. I'm not going to "tag" anyone, but I'm going to put my answers there. And if you love surveys like me, then feel free to copy and paste it into your own blog or email. I'd love to read your answers too. :) September 10, 2006, 4:36 pm Today... HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY TO ZANE (Kendra's son)! :) HAPPY GRANDPARENTS DAY (to all the grandparents that read my blog)! :) More photos...
September 8, 2006 Justice is 11... Today was Justice's birthday! I can't believe he is eleven already. Where does the time go? We had a little party for him today - just us and some kids from the neighborhood (two sisters and a brother) that are good friends with my kids. Justice isn't a big fan of cake, so I was trying to think of something to do. Well, he loves Little Debbie snack cakes, so Brittany and I built him a cake out of those. It was a huge hit! :) I told Justice I was going to make him get cleaned up and do a photo shoot this weekend - he wasn't thrilled about that. We'll probably do that tomorrow or Sunday. Here are a few photos from the day. :)
September 7, 2006, 4:57 pm Organization and ebay... I have been getting a lot done this week (once I started feeling better). I got the shed all cleaned out and I only have a few more organizational things to do out there. Then today, I have been putting a bunch of stuff up on ebay and freecycle. I had gone through my closet a while back so I had some clothes to sell, along with some baby items I never did and/or never will use. There are a couple of bags of things in the shed I need to go through, and then I'll have more to list on ebay. Hopefully some of it will sell, because it is a HUGE hassle to take photos of everything and post it. It took me the better part of the afternoon to get it all up there (of course that included a few lots of clothing where I took the time to photograph each item separately and post them on a website for people to view before they bid). Jacob... Jacob is such a cutie, and you may be tired of hearing about it, but that's too bad because it's my blog. :D He stands up better and better all the time, and he took two steps a few days ago. He was standing at the corner of the couch and tried to go to the coffee table. He fell in the middle of the second step though. Not bad for 7 1/2 months old! :) He has also started dancing when he hears music - it's VERY cute. I need to get it on video. A couple of photos that Brittany took yesterday:
September 4, 2006, 10:57 pm heebie jeebies... We disgustingly found out last year around this time that Texas has a cricket season. A couple of the kids and I went to Hollywood Video to rent some movies and could barely make it through the door without becoming covered with the nasty little creatures. Then, as we drove through the gate on the way back home, we found the security guards standing about 100 feet away from the guard post because the crickets had forced them out {*shudder*}. I asked the security guard that was checking my ID what the deal was, and he replied "it's cricket season". GROSS! They were everywhere - all over our porch, trying to make their way into the house, at church, even inside (I almost went into very early labor with Jacob trying to avoid being jumped on while on my way to Sunday School). It was repulsive! As a result of this, I recalled cricket season from years earlier, when I was four years old. We lived near Houston, and Timberly and I would catch the crickets at church and carry them outside. Something, of course, that I would NEVER do now. Well, I am sad to say that cricket season is upon us again. Ashley (our cat) is FINALLY earning her keep around here. I just saw one of the little mongrels in the bathroom, so I sicced Ashley on it. One of the worst things about crickets is not only that they are bugs (I HATE all bugs, and I am using the strongest sense of the word HATE here), but that they are JUMPING bugs. If I try to step on one, it could possibly jump on me - and that completely freaks me out! Thankfully, I not only have the cat, but also Jarvis, who will simply pick the crickets up and carry them outside so they will not be harmed. Here's hoping that there are far fewer bugs in the cooler climate of Washington! September 3, 2006, 7:10 pm We're on the road to recovery here. Our cold virus apparently had a stomach bug that went along with it (great fun!), but I think we'll all be back to 100% within a few days (and I will get back to posting on a regular basis as soon as I get close to that 100%). I got to chat with Andy today - two more months until he comes home, and I cannot WAIT! :) |
||||||||||||||||||||
website created by petra carden 2006