hoarders

One day, you will see my son on the show Hoarders. He does not like to throw anything away! And everything that he wants to save must be hung on the refrigerator. It's quite embarrassing sometimes! I stopped to get him a cookie from McDonald's this week for doing such a good job at school. After handing him the cookie, I crumpled up the bag...you know...to throw away! BIG MISTAKE. The crocodile tears followed. "Momma, please don't frow that away! It has bicycles on it! Hang it on the fridge!" OUI.

And, do you know what these are?

Yes, they are scissors. They are little pictures of scissors that are on Levi's homework telling him to cut around the pictures he colors. When he cuts the pictures out, he refuses to cut through the little scissors and wants to save them. And, yes, HANG THEM ON THE FRIDGE!!! We are up to 12 pair of scissors on our fridge now. Lord, help me! ;)


And this picture has nothing to do with hoarding! I just think she's a cutie patootie!!! Had to break out the Halloween clothes (because they may not fit her in a couple more weeks!! Girl doesn't like to miss a meal!!)

proud sista

My brother recently signed up for the Ironman Kentucky!! He started a blog to keep track of his journey. He has begun training and will compete in August 2011. I added his blog title to my list, so feel free to keep up with him and encourage him. :)

http://ironparr8.blogspot.com/

Jeggings?? Really??...

I know you are dying to know about jeggings, but before I get there, let me give you some more details! :)

Saturday morning, Gretchen and I headed out for our big (dramatic music) 24 HOURS WITHOUT KIDS AND HUBBIES......!! Woot woot!! You can check out her blog here before I add a few details!

So, off we go!!

We headed to Brown County for the afternoon. I love that little town! It's just so quaint to walk around and smells wonderful!!! Mmmmm....

Oh, a shot of G when we arrived. If you don't know Gretchen very well, this is what you see her doing a LOT!

She has a very close relationship with her BlackBerry. ;)

Got some yummy hot drinks, walked around & shopped and then headed back to the hotel for a little down time. Um, do you know what this is?

Yes, it's a hotel key. Do you know how to use it??? Gretchen doesn't! Seriously, we stood outside the door for what seemed like 15 minutes while she tried to figure out how to open the door. (She doesn't get out much!!!) After resting, we had some yummy dinner, lots of laughing and then turned on the tv to chill for the night. I know you will be jealous, but, us being the crazy wild girls that we are - we were all snuggled up in our pj's and ready for bed at 9:30!! And, to top it all off, we got hooked on HSN. Yes, people, the home shopping network!! The designer on there was selling her Jeggings. Jeans and yet leggings. Elastic wasteband and all! OH MY WORD. We were dying! Now, if you own a pair of jeggings, forgive me. I will still be your friend, but I might laugh...just a little...or a lot. To each their own!!

I'm so happy that we got the chance to get away. Thanks, G, for a fun weekend!! And I have to give props to my awesome hubby that kept things running smoothly back home! Mags took a 3 hour nap for him on Saturday - she has NEVER done that for me! And, she slept until 9 the next morning - again, something she has never done for me! I was a little jealous, but happy that she did so well for him! Levi was excited because they built a fort in the living room while I was gone. He told me I can go away any time I want to!! Cute ;) Thanks, Babe!!!

silver linings

Ok, so I'm a compulsive liar. ;) I know I said I would update more...not sure what happened there. I fully intended to start updating more, but it just hasn't happened.


So, here are some random thoughts and/or questions for today.


When do you let your children stop running around in their underwear? Seriously, my eldest would be naked all the time if we let him!!


I'm ready for fall. These hot days are K I L L I N G me!! Ok, not really killing me, but you know what I mean!


I love caramel apples!


Oh, here's a cute pic! Mags has started playing in her Jumparoo. At first, she just sat in it for about 5 minutes and then would cry. Now, her feet touch the ground and she actually (this week!) has started bouncing. It's a-dorable!!!

And, one more. This is probably going to freak Jaime Mac out!!! But, seriously, when do they stop pooping out the back of their diaper??? Grrrrrr....



I got really into cleaning this week. At first, I was just going to organize my shoes...put the flip flops in the back and pull out the winter shoes. Then, something crazy happened and I pulled everything out of the closet and put it back in. It's totally re-organized and feels good! Yesterday I deep cleaned the house. You know...wipe down walls, clean baseboards, hands and knees cleaning.....the kind we all LOVE to do! ;)


Let's see....Oh, I have a crick in my neck.


We had a going away party for Paul & Gretchen last weekend. SAD. I mean, it was a good party and we had fun, but it just makes their leaving all the more real. :( One week from today, they will be packing up. NOT COOL, PEOPLE. But, there is a silver lining. Tomorrow, Gretchen & I get to go out all day and spend the night somewhere! You know, a last hoorah. Our men were sweet and told us to go do it before --THE MOVE--....{insert dramatic music}. So, there will be some funny updating on Sunday!


Gotta go feed Little Bit. :)

the 411

I haven't given up on my blog!! I just took a little break. ;)

What's been going on in our house???

Levi has been going to preschool for a little over a week now. He LOVES it and I'm so happy!! His teacher is awesome! Every Thursday, Levi has 'show & share' and he is allowed to take anything he wants to show the class, as long as it fits in his backpack. Last week, he chose to take his handcuffs. Geez. He's his papa's son!!!

Mags is growing like a weed. I'm serious!! She weighs about 16 pounds now! She has a 4 month appointment with the doctor on Tuesday, so I'm anxious to see her stats! She is rolling all over the place and totally has a belly laugh when Levi is around her. She adores her brother. It's precious.

Eric has been super busy at work, but that's what we are used to when school starts back. The first two days of school, he had to return some 250 phone calls from (some psycho) parents. I think things are beginning to calm down for him now at work and he's getting back into his routine. He has an incredibly stressful job and I've been so proud of him and how he handles himself!! :)

Me - well, people, I gotta be honest...I've been in a funk. I think I've been in a little bit of denial about a certain friend of mine moving. Like, if I don't think about it much, it won't really happen. But, honestly??? It's all I think about. :( I know....it's only 2 hours away....it's a great opportunity for them....our friendship will survive no matter what....we can chat on FB and text....but it still just blows chunks. So, other than being consumed with her moving, I've just been being a momma and trying to get out and enjoy this nice weather we've been having!! I love fall and am looking forward to football, fall tv shows and getting excited about the holidays!!

That's it in a nutshell! I promise to be a good girl and start updating more. :)

i'm 'bout to get obnoxious

That's right. I'm about to go on and on about my kid's first day of preschool. You can yawn if you want, just don't tell me you were yawning! ;)

Last night was a little "iffy". Levi started crying and saying he just wanted to stay home with me and Maggers and didn't want to leave us. But, this morning when he woke up, he seemed better and more willing to "TRY it out". :)

A few self portraits before we headed out:

Levi loved his backpack! I found him a green one - his favorite color. A backpack for preschool?? Seriously?? TEAR...

And a shot with Mags before we head out the door. Cuteness!

Okay, so Eric was there when we arrived and he took the rest of the pictures. You should have seen the parents there with cameras! SO FUNNY!! Look at my face in this picture! I know I was thinking "I don't know if I can do this! If we go left, we can bypass the teacher and just keep driving till we get home..."

A happy Levi awaits his turn to be greeted by the teacher!!

Ms. Vicki opens the door and Levi hops out...

Headed into school!

I did really good and only shed one tear out of my left eye! ;) It helped that Maggie pooped while we were waiting, so I had to stop and change her! :) Ha!!

After school, we went for milkshakes. Levi was so excited!!

I asked how he liked school and he said "It was good!" I asked what he did and he said "Oh, nothing." That's it. Nothing. I need details. I need descriptions. I need to know what friends he met and how they treated him. I need to know how he did eating lunch. I need to know if the teacher was nice. And I get "Nothing". Grrrrr...... I'll make him talk to me. If it's the last thing I do, I will get details!! :)

the post with no title

Ok, so I guess that is a title...kind of. I didn't really know what to title this one. I tossed around a few things:



"She's leaving on a jet plane..."

"She's leaving, on a midnight train to Bowling Green..."

"My BFF is leaving me and doesn't care" (with a dramatic sigh)

"Life sucks"



I guess those are somewhat overkill. :) A few weeks ago, Gretchen told me she needed to tell me something. It was one of those looks... like a guest has on Jerry Springer... "I'm pregnant with your brother's uncle and I won the lottery but spent it all on booze." So, I immediately thought she was going to tell me she was pregnant. Nope. She fidgeted around a lot. I kind of got the feeling it was going to be bad. I started imagining all kinds of things..."WHAT THEN??" She told me there was this opportunity and that they may have to move. GULP. I kind of got lightheaded and started to see those little spots...you know what I'm talking about. Kind of like you might faint, which wasn't a good thing because I was driving!!! I don't think I moved for a full minute and she finally said "say something!!!" And so began the whirlwind...



Paul got an awesome promotion and let me officially straight up say "I AM SO HAPPY FOR HIM"!!!!!!! He has worked so hard and they have struggled so much over the last few years and I'm am absolutely thankful for God's blessing on them. (I can say this now. At first, I wanted to hit him! ~kidding~) Now, don't get me wrong...I'm still not really able to talk about all this in person without crying, but it's getting easier. Bowling Green isn't that far...it's not like they are going to California or Iraq. I'd be really mad if they were going to Iraq! ;)



So, with all this said, there is a reason for this post! I got to go out - without kids! - on a date with Gretchen for a few hours. Eric has been working like a mad man at work and hasn't been home a lot which leaves me pulling my hair out by the end of a long week! He stayed home and sent me out to have some fun. Thanks, Babe!! We went to several different stores and did a little light shopping and had dinner at Cheddar's. YUM. It was so nice to just sit and talk and not worry with little voices or whines... Even lived it up and ordered a diet cherry coke! We had dessert at the Pie Kitchen and oh my word, it was good!!!



yup...chocolate cupcake with buttercream icing and chocolate chips... H E A V E N



Of course, the evening wouldn't be complete without a self portrait!

I'm going to miss you. So.Much. But, totally looking forward to fun weekends, lots of girl trips, lots of meeting half way for lunch, and of course, burning the phones up with texting. :) And yes, when my family says "Tracey has her phone out...how's Gretchen?", I'll be able to say "Great!" ;)