this and that

I feel like I should start out by writing "I will try to blog more. I promise to comment." about 100 times!! :-) Our summer has been slipping by quickly and I don't like it one bit! My days are really busy since I've started watching kids and with Eric gone almost every evening, it has been a hard transition. :( I don't feel like I am doing a very good job as a "single parent". It WILL get better, though! I promise, I am not complainin'.....just explainin'! {Okay, maybe I am complaining just a little!} Believe me, I am so fortunate with so many other things, so I try to focus on those things. It's just hard.

Blah.

Okay, so, Levi is going to VBS at my parent's church this week. The first night (Sunday) was great! He loved it. Last night didn't go so well. :( His buddy, Griffin, wasn't there and he cried. He is SOOO shy around people he doesn't know. It is really odd to me, because he is usually the life of the party, so to speak. He didn't want to go to his class and just wanted to hang out with my Dad. I took him home, more tears were shed, and we are starting fresh today. Griffin will be back tonight and things will be okay again. Poor boy...he got a super sensitive side from his Momma! ;)

Maggie is a wild woman. Period. She runs around jabbering, steals toys from her brother, and still will not leave a bow in her hair. ;) She cracks me up because she has recently taken to dancing (yes, we know she did not inherit this from me!). Any time she hears music...on a commercial, on the radio, when a toy plays...she shakes her booty and puffs her lips out. It is hilarious!

I have some really cute pics of the kids to post, but I have to figure out how to get them from my phone to the computer! We know how I am with technology!! I am in love with my kiddos. I love spending the days with them. I especially love nap time and bed time. Oops...was that out loud?!? ;)

one busy weekend!!

My weekend actually started on Thursday last week! (I cannot believe I am just now getting around to posting about my weekend!!!) It was such a great weekend and I don't want to forget anything about it! This is a very lengthy post...just a warning!

This is me. I am happy. Why? Cuz I got to do two of my favorite things.
I got to see Gretchen and eat at Kansai!! YUM! She will give you some sob story about me not wanting to try Sushi. Don't buy into it. It's a conspiracy. ;) We got to have some great chit chat time - ahhhh! We also went to see the movie Bridesmaids. Ohmygosh....can you believe the price of a diet coke? Highway robbery...

It was so fun to spend some time together!!! Love that girl. ;)

Move to Friday. For three weeks, my family and I had been planning a surprise birthday party for my Dad!!! The day was finally here. There were so many times I wanted to blog about it, but I had to wait. That was hard!! My mom had invited their Bible study group, their Sunday School class and some family. I believe about 55 attended. It was so.much.fun. :)

Suckers she ordered that we made into centerpieces

the cake table

Love the picture! It's him in his camo SWAT gear. ;)

A memory book we made for him

The guests had arrived and we were waiting to yell SURPRISE!

Not a good pic, but after we yelled surprise, he turned around to look behind him. He had NO IDEA what was going on! My mom had to tell him it was for him...for his birthday! It was priceless. He just kept shaking his head, unable to comprehend that we had pulled off a surprise!

Mom had food catered by Mark's Feed Store. YUMMY!

And, the kids singing happy birthday to their Papa! Precious!!

It really was such a fun night! Several of his family and friends submitted stories that I read and Dad had to guess which person the story was about. Most of them involved him and a gun! Ha!! Then my brother read a "Top 10 Reasons You Know You Are 60". Hi-larious! Things like "you can eat dinner at 4pm" "You don't have anything left to learn the hard way" "People call your house at 8 and ask if they woke you" My sister worked really hard and put together a slide show of pictures from when Dad was little all the way up until now. It was precious! We are blessed. My family Rocks!!! :)

So, moving on to Saturday! The kids and I met up with Jami, Gretchen and the kids! YEA! We ate a late breakfast and then headed to Outside In. These little kids bounced their hearts out!! So cute!

Contemplating the big slide...

Even Maggie got in on the fun!

We just gabbed.....what else did you expect?? ;)

If you are still reading, then bless your little heart!!! I told ya it was long!

Sunday was FATHER'S DAY! We had a very full, but good day. Church was amazing (as always!) and then we headed to my parents house to grill out. My dad opened his gift, which was exciting to us! We had put together a vacation album. It started with our very first family vacation (with grandkids). A lot of hours went into it, but we loved the finished product!!

The highlight of the day for Levi was going on a tractor ride. I cannot tell you how much he LOVES his Papa taking him out on the tractor. Period. They even went into the woods and saw a wild turkey!

Little baby girl.

Okay, Father's Day take two! We headed to Eric's parents house in the evening and had dinner with them and Eric's brothers family. Eric's Mom loves Miss Maggie May!

Maggie adores her Papa Phil

and her uncle Alan!

The cousins played on the trampoline and were FILTHY. I mean, disgusting. They loved it!

Papa and all the kids!

Eric's grandma was in town from Virginia, so we snapped one of her with her great-grandchildren! :)

We had such an unbelievable weekend! I can't believe it went so fast!! :) I am so thankful for my father-in-law, my Dad and for my husband! God has blessed me.

drumroll please...

I have arrived. I love that some of you commented "welcome to the year 2011" and "welcome to the dark side". That made me laugh out loud! When it comes to technology, I usually just try to hold off as long as possible and keep doing the same ol' thing. I always had a fit at work when our tech guys would come upgrade my computer. I didn't want to learn anything new!

I am very excited about my new phone, though! Isn't it pretty?

It is called the HTC Inspire. Ahhh, I love the name! Our neighbor, Todd, is a big wig for AT&T, so he took us phone shopping. We weren't going to go with AT&T, but we couldn't beat his offer! I was originally looking at the iPhone, but he talked me out of it for one reason. They are coming out with a 4G network and the iPhone isn't compatible with 4G. My Inspire (I hear the "Chariots of Fire" music when I say the name...) is! (Not that that really means anything to me because I don't know what all that mumbo jumbo means!)

And, because Jaime Mac wants a funny story, I'll give it to you! Picture this: Eric, Todd and I show up at the shop. Eric walks in and said "I want the best thing you have, blah, blah, blah..., an unlimited plan, blah, blah, blah..." and they picked out his phone. I, on the other hand, said I wanted something kind of pretty that I can text with, take adorable pics of my kids with, and get my email on. Todd handed me the Inspire and I had NO idea what to do with it. The screen was blank and I kind of shook it...nothing...I touched the screen....nothing....and I handed it back and said I don't know how to make it work! I felt like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman when they were at the opera and she picks up the binoculars and said "These are broken. Mine are broken!" ;) Todd gave me the "you've got to be kidding me" look and touched a little button and it lit up! Ha! He showed me a few things and I was sold. This evening, I've been having a little affair with my phone. You know what's sad?? When Levi first saw it, he turned it on, found the weather, and showed me where we can download games...all within 5 seconds. Oy.

So, there you have it peeps! That's my story and I'm stickin' to it! ;)

ramblings of my life

I feel like these have been the busiest two weeks that this homegirl has seen in a while! But, nothing special has really been happening. The kids and I have just been hanging out and playing. :) I love, Love, LOVE being home with them all day. The child care is going pretty well and I just remind myself (during the crazy times!) why I am doing it. God is faithful to provide me with patience and peace. I love it! I have Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off this week and am absolutely thrilled to see what kind of trouble the kids and I can get into! :-) After watching several other kids, mine seem like a breeze to take around town.

And can I give a big SHOUT out to this weather?! Ohmygosh...it has been wonderful! I have to chuckle because when we were having the mornings where it was 146 degrees before 9am, the kids would complain that it was too hot to play outside. Yesterday and today, one of them complained that it is too chilly! I gave them the "When I was your age, we played outside all day long..." story and booted them out into the backyard! Oh to be young with no worries! ;)

So, I'm gonna get my first "big girl" phone. I am excited. I've always just had the basic cheap-cuz-I'm-ghetto phone because I never wanted to pay for one that has bells and whistles. Since Eric is at a new job, he will be getting a new phone and wants me to upgrade. PEOPLE...this is huge. I'm gonna get one that I can get my email on and, you know, do all that other stuff on that people seem to think is so important! ;) We are going provider & phone shopping this weekend to see who has the best deals. I've always been a Verizon gal, but, heck...may switch things up!

mary lou vs hulk

She thinks she is Mary Lou Retton.

He thinks he is Hulk Hogan.

I'm just an innocent bystander.

big girl

Levi got invited to eat dinner with his friend, Kenzie, last night for her birthday. :) He was so excited!! So, it was just the girls hanging out. Look who kept a bow in her hair most of the evening...

She's getting so big. It makes me sad. I'm just really thankful that even though she wants to be independent a lot, she still LOVES to cuddle! She makes my heart happy.

vinegar

It has been pretty laid back the last few days around our pad! We've been trying to stay cool and think of fun things to do around the house. Of course, I'm SO thankful during these hot days that my parents pool is just a hop, skip and a jump away!! I have a little secret to share. Vinegar. On Saturday evening, the kids and I headed over to swim and Maggie took a BAD fall on the concrete. I felt like a horrible mom, but it happens to the best of us! Anyways, she missed a step and fell flat on her forehead and nose. Because I'm vain, the first thought that crossed my mind was "What will she look like for church???" ;) Of course, I thought that AFTER I thought "Is she ok???" Ha! I remembered that a girl from work told me that if you put vinegar on a bump right away, it won't bruise! I used to do this with Levi. Mom and I broke out the vinegar and Sunday morning, Maggie woke up bruise-less. Is that a word? Probably not! She had some scrapes on her nose, but nothing blog worthy!! YEA!!

Yesterday, we broke out the baby pool for the daycare kiddos! Maggie loved it. She played for a long time in it and just squealed!!

Of course, popsicles are a MUST in the heat!

Lovin' this time with my kiddos!!!