New words, New products

There's big. There's gigantic. There's enormous. And then there's Jag-normous. Maybe it's a word and I've just never heard it? Maybe my 4 year old's vocabulary is broader than mine.

Lately I have gotten in to a little routine as I bathe the kiddos that involves me rolling up my pants and sitting on the edge of the tub and soaking my feet while I bathe them. It always feels SO good to soak my tired feet in the warm soapy water after a long day and it always tickles the kids when I do. Tonight, Bubby took his little fingers and pointed at my feet and said, "Toes!" (Actually, it was a little more like "toeshh")

"That's right! Momma's toes! Where are Jeryn's toes?" I asked.

He pointed to his little toes peeking up out of the water and said, "Toeshh." Then he smiled at me.

"Good!" Now where's sissy's toes. He touched that little cute finger deliberately to her big toe..."Toeshh."

J and I started cheering for him and he was grinning from ear to ear. I was still looking in the water at all of our feet and said, " Aw, look at Bubby's little toes. He's got little toes, you have medium toes, and I have big toes."

"And Daddy has JagNOOORMous toes!" she exclaimed. With extra emphasis on the -normous part. I'm guessing that's a cross between gigantic and enormous, right?

I think Mario was half-way offended when he came in from outside and overheard us talking about it. His toes are quite normal. And I would say that they seem proportionate to his feet. They are neither teeny tiny, nor jagnormous, they are just right. I would post a picture of his toes, but he might really get a complex then. Ha!

Moving right along...well, last night I hosted a Pampered Chef party and it turned out to be a lot of fun!!! I went to the trouble to make the bannana pudding cheescake recipe I found out about from Kelly, whose friend Kasy was so kind to share the recipe.

About half way through, I realized how long it needed to actually chill, which was twice the amount of time until the party began. It was sooner than that when I discovered that I did not own a springform pan, but would proceed in the chesscake making process. Because once I have in my mind to do something, by gosh, it is going to be done!

Meanwhile I got a call and had to run and meet some clients to write an offer. Cut that time frame down to 1/4 the time needed to chill. I cranked the fridge down to the lowest setting, threw the still-warm cheescake on to the lowest shelf, and flew out the door. I decided if I could get back by thirty minutes before the party started, I could do an emergency freezer session.

I made it back exactly thirty minutes before the party started. And it was approximately thirty minutes AFTER the party was OVER when I remembered it was still in the freezer.

Uuugh! That was two hours of time not well spent, and now between the four of us, we have consumed almost the entire thing! I am taking what's left to work in the morning!

I am so excited about getting my Pampered Chef stuff though! We are not closing out the show until tomorrow night, so if you want to place an order, you still can! Just go here, and let me know what you want to order. I will email it to Vanessa and she will get you taken care of! Here are a few things I am getting:
Isn't this adorable? Can be used for butter and sour cream for potatoes, salsa and guacamole, candy dish, one girl even has in her bathroom with cotton balls and q-tips! Plus, you can pull the bowls out and use as icecream bowls! Can you say versatile??!

This is perhaps what I am most excited about...I am forevermore grating parts of my fingers when trying to use the tacky grater that I currently have. Also, once you have tasted freshly grated cheese, it's just better tasting. This can also be used to shred zuzhinni and a lot of other things!
Ahh...maybe I am a little more excited about his one. I will use this chopper to chop chicken, pecans, and a million other things!

And this little pinwheel thing will be worth the $9.50 because it helps crumble food like ground beef for even browning and seasoning.
Mini serving spatula is just $4.50 and after using the one my friend had, I decided I needed some Pampered Chef products!
I had a baking stone once and was so upset when it broke because I loved it! I used my rectangular baker ALL the time. I am looking forward to having the round baking stone again!
And I will probably add this dessert cookbook to my order because it has a ton of desserts for holidays throughout the year, not just Christmas. There were some really cute ideas that might be fun to take to office parties or J's school parties, so I'm thinking I'll get it too. $7.50

Well, it's late and I still have a ton of stuff to get ready for tomorrow. Good night.

She's got jokes...

Well my Saturday turned out differently than I had planned, but we still had a busy weekend, and a lot of fun!

Our office had been preparing for our second annual customer appreciation day. This is a day where we all invite our clients and sort of have a “family day” for them to enjoy. We grill hamburgers and hotdogs for them, offer hayrides, face painting, and games for the kids, live music, and weather permitting, try to have our company’s hot air balloon there.

A lot of work and planning goes into it, and Saturday was going to be the big day. Until we woke up and it was pouring down rain. And thundering. And J’s soccer game for the morning was cancelled due to lightening. This year, there were several agents that couldn’t participate when we had to change the date of the event, and we found out a week before the event that we could not get the balloon there on that day either. So it was just as well. So I spent the majority of my Saturday morning making phone calls to let people know that we were calling it off.

One of my friends and her family had planned to come to the event, so I called her to see if she wanted to take the kids somewhere else fun. So we met up that afternoon and let the kids burn off a little energy!

We met them a month or so before Jeryn was born and we have enjoyed their friendship so much. Since then, our girls have had swimming lessons and gymnastics together, and now they are in school together.
The girls...I hope they will ALWAYS be friends!

The boys...they are six weeks apart in age and have almost the same color hair!

On Friday, when we had met Heather for lunch, J had a kid’s meal from Quizno’s. In her sack were some little cardboard microphones that had jokes on them. You know, the kind of jokes that are on popsicle sticks and Laffy Taffy wrappers.

Example: What do you call a fish’s friend? A gill-friend!
And what is a pig that knows karate called? A pork chop!

You get the picture. Well, Jaiden thought they were hilarious! She wanted Mario to read them to her over and over. I guess he got tired of the same ones, so he said, “Let’s do our own!”

“Okay, Dad, you go first!”

“Why did mom throw the clock out of the window?”

“No, Dad, the girl…why did the girl throw the clock out of the window…”

“No, mom…”

“No, the girl…” (What can I say? She is like her momma and could argue with a rock).

“No J, this is my joke…Why did mom throw the clock out the window?”

She didn’t know why. “Because she wanted to see time fly!” Mario said.

J was laughing hysterically. “My turn! My turn!” she squealed.
“She looked around the car and then said, “Okay…why does air come out of the air vent?”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because it doesn’t want to!!”

Mario and I are both cracking up because it was so off the wall. It was so NOT funny, that it was funny! She sees the reaction and fires another one.

“How does the steering wheel turn around?!” she yelled from the back seat with extra enthusiasm.

Before we could answer, she shouted, “Because the wheels don’t turn!”

We were laughing so hard. Bubby was riding in his car seat just listening. Every time that we would explode with laughter, he would start cackling with us. By this time, I am digging out a pen and writing down those “jokes” of hers. Debate team, possibly…stand up comedian, not anytime in the near future! She is so stinkin’ cute.

There is no way that I can do the story justice by telling it here, it was one of those “just had to be there” moments. At any rate, we had a great Saturday with lots of laughs! Even if it wasn’t really funny.

Eats & Treats

Today was J's turn to bring snacks for her class at school. They send a bucket home with the student when it's their turn. We sent it back with cheese and crackers, Veggie Tales fruit snacks, and HI-C punch juice boxes. We had fun packing the bucket and delivering it to class!



And here is the other J still trying to rope like Daddy...



I was really looking forward to today because I had a special treat planned--meeting a fellow blogger and new friend, Heather. She was every bit as pretty and sweet as I had anticipated, and her little boy is adorable too! J & Connor hit it off and picked a table and were chatting it up before we got back to the table with our food! They really wanted to sit at the tall tables, which was funny because Jeryn was practically underneath the table in his highchair! I didn't take many pictures because we had our hands full with the kids, but here are a few!

Heather & Connor, I enjoyed meeting the two of you so much!


We have a very busy weekend ahead of us, so I will post soon!

You Had Me From Hello...

I don't think there is anyone who could honestly say that their life turned out exactly the way that they had planned. (Thank goodness, huh ?!) Tonight at dinner, Mario and I talked about what we had envisioned for ourselves as we were growing up. We have had discussions like this many times before, but I got tickled tonight when he admitted that he prayed earnestly to be 6'1"...the same height as his favorite basketball player at the time--Isaiah Thomas. I guess the Lord heard his prayers because he stands exactly 6'1"! We laughed, saying that if only he would have prayed to be 6'7", he could've been playing in the league right now! Ha!

Ten years ago I might have guessed that I would have been married by now, or at least getting close to it. I probably wouldn't have guessed that I would be the mother of two children already, and I'm pretty sure I would never have guessed that I would be involved in a career in real estate. I'm also quite certain that I would never have guessed the university that I would eventually graduate from, much less the area I ended up living in. To say the least, I was completely wrong about what God had in store for me!

One day, I plan to write the entire story of how we met down for the kids. But for now, as Mario & I celebrate five wonderful years together, I just want to take a few moments to emphasize how grateful I am for a wonderful man of God, and how grateful I am that the Lord orders our steps!

Five years ago, we walked out of our wedding reception and into the rest of our lives. I love this picture at the very end of our wedding album because it captured us leaving our reception...exhausted, but full of anticipation about spending our entire lives together. (That, and because Jamie is peeking out from between us with a box).

I will never forget the first words we spoke to one another or the exact spot I was standing when we did. I decided the same day that I met him that I was going to marry him! I'm not kidding... hence the title of today's post.

I guess he felt the same, because he announced to his cousin the first week we met that he had met his wife. Funny how there are some things you just know.

When I met his mom for the first time, she immediately made the connection to a photograph she had seen in a dorm room at OBU when they moved Mario in his freshman year. At the time I was dating someone at OBU, and he had a photograph of me in his room. San said that when she walked into the room and saw the picture, she knew that I was Mario's wife...seriously....and it didn't just stop there. She had a dream about both of our kids before they were born and described them both to a tee. Now maybe she's just a good guesser...but you tell me! :)

At any rate , we both set out to college in totally different places having no idea that our paths would cross. It's hard for me not to think about all that we would have missed out on had we allowed the difference in our skin colors to take precedence over how we cared for one another. In all honesty, we were already in love before we even realized the obvious difference. It just never was something that was an issue to either of us, and I'm so thankful for that!

It was weeks or maybe even months before we were kind of like, "Oh, did you notice that I'm black?"

"Yeah...what about me, you know I'm white right?"

"Sure...not a problem."

In reality, our conversation was much more profound than that, but that was just to show how little it truly mattered to us. And because we both felt like God was doing something in our lives, we just felt like he would work the rest of it all out. And he did. And the rest was history.

God has truly blessed us, and we are so thankful. In times of tragic loss and despair, he has comforted us and given us joy unspeakable. In times of worry and uncertainty, he has reminded us that he is still in control. He has joined our two families together in love, and blessed us with precious children and a family of our own!

Here are just a few random photos that I had handy on the computer and thought I would share:

Christmas morning in 2006 before we headed out for Flippin...

Out to dinner in Louisville when we went to the Kentucky Derby earlier this year...

And here we are today, celebrating five happy years of marriage!

Happy Anniversary, Mario! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

Toliet Brushes, Dishwashers, and Dolls

Last night the kids weren't ready to get out of the bath tub, so I walked to the sink and started brushing my teeth and washing my face. They were having a ball splashing and playing so I thought a few extra minutes couldn't hurt.

Between the bathtub and the commode (which I feel is a pretty normal place for a toilet brush) sits a cute little turtle toilet brush holder from Target that coordinates with the rest of the sea creatures bathroom theme. Jeryn is FOREVERMORE grabbing it and waving it in the air. I know I need to move it...but that's beside the point.

So last night as I'm brushing my teeth,washing my face, and talking with the kids I realize they are splashing extra loud. Big J is pretending to paddle little J around in a boat, and she is paddling hard. Cute, huh?

Except I didn't realize WHAT she was paddling with. I have been standing at armslength the entire time, but with all of the bath toys floating in the tub, I failed to realize that she was paddling with the TOILET BRUSH. Uh, gross! It would have made a great photo, but I did I mention I was grossed out??

So I grab it from her and she shouts, "Jeryn handed it to me!" I looked at him as if to ask, "Is that true?" He just laughed out loud. That stinker...

Just for the record, this is one of Bubby's favorite places in the house! He can be in another room of the house, but when he hears that dishwasher open…he comes runnin’! He just cracks me up! Today when I picked him up at NeNe’s he had obviously spilled something on the clothes I sent him in. He was in the bedroom and when he heard my voice he came FLYING out of the bedroom with his arms held out toward me. He turned the corner wearing a huge red t-shirt that was dragging the ground and smiling so big he could eat a banana sideways. Man I love that boy!

Last week he started something so cute. Of course, like any decent mother, I always test the temperature of his food before giving it to him. However, if I hand him something that is even remotely warm, he holds it right in front of his mouth and blows on it AS HARD AS HE CAN. And I don’t mean just a little, I’m talking vigorously! So funny…
Now there is a story behind this doll…
Her granny got her this for Christmas the year before last. Some of you moms may be familiar with the MyTwinn collection?? We cut a lock of J’s hair, and sent a picture of her in, and they made a doll that supposedly looks like her twin. (Debatable).

J has just now really taken an interest in the doll and has been toting her around. As a matter of fact, I slept with this doll’s toes poking me in the side all night (as if we had room for anyone else in the bed).

Let me emphasize that she is a very large doll…she doesn’t look as large in this picture as she really is. Earlier in the week, J had taken the doll in the car. I can’t imagine how it would be possible in my car to get lost in the junk, but somehow she did. I ran to pick up some lunch and as I reached back to grab my purse, the doll’s face was under my purse…I shrieked out loud before I realized it was the doll.

Ever so often we get a magazine from the doll company. They have never been looked at until now. This time, the magazine has become of the uptmost importance, and we must know where it is at all times. If milk were spilled on it at dinner time, heaven forbid we throw it away...salvage it for crying out loud! J has made a hobby out of looking through the magazine while lying in the bed tucked in, occupying the commode, and traveling. Oh, and she also commented that "Some people call it a magazine, and some people call it a catalog, but either one is okay."

So here's the reason for the story: Two days ago she was studying the magazine and noticed the real bunkbeds and the matchign doll bunkbeds in the photo. Very dramatically she suggested that she might need the doll bunk beds. Before I could even respond, she said, "Mom, I want bunk beds like these for myself (they were pink), but I don't need them...just the doll bunk beds, so don't even worry about getting bunk beds for me. Don' think about that, ok?"

Bless her heart--little does she know, Momma is thinking about keeping gas in her vehicle, not $128 doll bunk beds, let alone a new set of REAL bunk beds! Thank goodness she is so thoughtful that I didn't even have to tell her "no" on that. Now, if I can just figure out how to explain that the doll will nto be receiving bunk beds either...maybe I can swing the child&doll matching pajama set she's inquiring about.

Here she is working on her first homework assignment for pre-k. They had a review sheet for the letters and numbers they had learned this month. I'm so proud of this girl!

New NEWS!

My sister and I are always joking about how much we visit Kelly’s blog. We grew up with Kelly and she has been a dear friend since, well, forever! The longer I live, the more I am convinced that everybody in the world reads Kelly’s blog. In fact, I recently commented on someone’s blog in another state, that neither Kelly nor I have met, and found out later that she recognized me from Kelly’s blog!

Jamie and I joked that we were glad Kelly didn’t have a live traffic feed on her site because we would be embarrassed—we both admitted to checking it a minimum of three times a day! But the funniest thing said was one day when we were discussing how we never read or watch the news. In fact we were talking about how when people asked us questions related to recent news; we would play along and pretend like we knew what they were talking about!

Here’s an Example:
“Boy, things sure could be worse—we could be down in Houston picking up the pieces.”

“Yeah, I know that’s right…isn’t that a shame?” Then we scramble to find a paper or flip through the channels… “Oh, there was a hurricane recently?”

We laughed at ourselves and then my sister proudly said, “I don’t watch the news, I get all my news from Kelly’s blog!”

I cracked up! So, all of that being said, my sister is the one with the news today! Click here to check it out! Congratulations! I love being an AUNT!!

And this is a picture of my sweet nephew and niece wearing the shirts that J&L gave them when they told them the news! R’s says “I’m the Big Brother” and A’s says, “In the Middle!”
I am relieved she announced the news because I nearly let he cat out of the bag the day after I found out. They were waiting to tell R until after their doctor appointment. I told Mario’s mom in from of J without even thinking. I said, “My sister’s having a baby!” Sandra responded very enthusiastically and J immediately started jumping up and down saying, “Mom! Who’s your sister?! Who’s your sister???!!!...Mom! Tell me!”

I managed to get her distracted but I’ve been waiting for the light bulb to come on. I didn’t want her to run back and tell R before his parents even got the chance. I know she understands that Jamie and I are sisters--we have talked about that before. I guess she just forgot or thought I had another sister somewhere! I will tell her the news when she wakes up in the morning!

Nothing in Particular

Okay, a few of you inquired about the prayer calendar mentioned in my last post. You should be able to go here and print your own. So go, print one...print several! And USE it, USE it, USE it! I LOVE IT!

Thanks to my friend Kelly who gave me the suggestion on how to accomplish this for your convenience. You might have to sign up, but it's free. If you already have a google account, then it should be super easy.

We went to my parents last weekend and had a blast. Near the end of our trip, their power went out. We headed back a little early...got home...you guessed it--our power was out! So, we unpacked, repacked, and then headed to my in-laws to enjoy luxurious things like hot showers, refridgerated drinks, chi irons, and the wonderful sound of something besides complete stillness in the middle of the night!

Somewhere during all of that I came down with some sort of bug and was sick as a dog. Spent the first half of the week battling that...My sister posted some pictures from our trip to Flippin here.

If I remember right, she mentioned that our two oldest ones fought like cats and dogs the whole time, but I don't think she elaborated too much on that. It really is a little unusual for them to fight as much as they did. They have always loved playing together and for the most part get a long well. However, my mom had to referee a pretty intense argument that resulted in Jaiden making a fist and punching R as hard as she could in the stomach. He obviously knew he wasn't supposed to hit a girl, so he shoved her into the fence as hard as he could...all of this over the pony of course.

Mother, tickled as she was, had to put on her poker face and mediate. As she was driving the farm buggy back to the house she looked over and the kids were still going at it...J with her arms folded up mad and fussing with R. I was standing in mom's kitchen when they busted through the door:

"No, YOU started it!"

"Noooo...YOU started it..."

They woke up in a better humor the next day. When they did begin arguing over the pony again, mom threatened to "sell the pony" if they didn't straighten up. It seemed to work.

The rest of the week was busy, busy, busy! I still like to walk J into her classroom every morning but she insisted on being "dropped off." I insisted on taking her in and her response was, "Maybe next time."

My little man learned several new words this week. He said, "Sis-sy!" plain as day and it made his sister just beam! (and me to). He called his caretaker "Ne-Ne" which is what we've called her forever! He is also saying hat, horse, rope, ball, dada, momma and several other words. He mimicks every little thing we do.

He recently got his first pair of cowboy boots and a hat--he is so proud of them! He LOVES the horses. He SCREAMS if Mario goes outside without him, SCREAMS when we take him off of the horse, and SCREAMS when it is time to go back inside. Other than that, he is a pretty laid back guy! (A lot like his daddy) When I have to go somewhere, Mario usually has him watching calf-roping tapes when I get back. He is already trying to swing anything that resembles a rope above his little head...ribbons, belts, hatbands, video chargers, USB cords, etc...so cute!

J had her first soccer game today. I don't think they really kept score, but I'm pretty sure they beat us by more than I care to know. It is tough to keep the attention of 4 year olds, so hats off to the brave soul who volunteered to coach those sweet kids. He is so patient and good with them. It's going to be a lot of fun!