Thankful

I love being a Mama. And I love being a Mama to these two girls!

Pumpkin Pickin'

Pumpkin Pickin', Food and Fun, we had a great time becausee you could come!!

Thanks friends for coming to my girls 4th birthday party at Berry Patch Farms. What a great day it was. My girl had 13 of her little friends at her party. How special is that??!! I was worried about her leaving all her friends back in Cali and it taking awhile to meet friends here in Georgia, but it has been great. We have met some very special friends here and are so thankful for them.

All the kids rode the hayride out to the pumpkin patch where they all picked out a pumpkin and then came back and decorated their pumpkins, went to the petting zoo, played on the playground and ate cake. It was a great day and we LOVE the pumpkin patch.

Fancy Nasty

No I did not mis-spell the title. Recently my daughter got a Fancy Nancy book from her Grandpa and Nini for her upcoming 4th Birthday. She loves Fancy Nancy. She loves that she is so "fancy and frilly." The funny thing is that she calls Fancy Nancy "Fancy NASTY." I fid that so funny. In fact while shopping lately, she saw a Fancy Nancy boardgame and yelled out, "Look Mama, It's Fancy NASTY. Fancy NASTY She's my favorite and so NASTY." What could I do.......I just laughed!

Blue Ridge, Georgia

So we packed up the girls and the car for a last minute trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was gorgeous. The trees were changing colors and the air was crisp. We rode the train to the TN/GA border. The kids had a lot of fun.

Proud. Just plain, proud.

Today is "voting day." The day I have the right to walk into my precint and cast my vote. Some may say that a single vote doesn't count. I don't believe that. In fact, I believe the opposite. Each and every persons vote DOES matter. Today as I drove up to my precint which happens to be at the Club House in the subdivision where I live I saw a line. And then I saw where the line began. I looked back at my 2 and 3 year old and thought, "Whew, what am I doing??!! This is not going to be a good experience." So as I parked the car and walked up to the end of the line I looked around. Looked at my watch. Wondered how long this would take. Gave my girls the third degree to be good. Stay out of the parking lot. No running around. Etc., etc., etc. Then it hit. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I have this privilege. The privilege to vote in America. Like so many other countries, people can't voice their choices and opinions. And I'm proud to live in America where I can voice my choice. As I stood there in line watching my girls holding hands and running around a tree, the tears began to flow. I thought to myself, "Instead of standing here in line upset because I have to wait a few hours to cast my vote and I know meltdown time is right around the corner, I'm going to be glad that I even have this opportunity." The opportunity to vote. To be proud to be an American. As I stood there with sunglasses on, and tears covering my cheeks I thought about my brother. I thought about how he is sleeping on rooftops in Iraq and how he sometimes sleeps in abandoned homes with rats and mice scurring around him and how dangerous the conditions are in which he lives in. I thought about him. And thought about him. And how thankful I am for him and all the others fighting for our freedom and for others freedom. Because of them, we have our freedom. We have choices. So today, as I stood in line, I made a conscious choice. Instead of being upset because I knew I was going to have to wait in line for hours, I choose to stand there with my head up high and thankful that I was given this opportunity. The opportunity to vote. The opportunity to voice my opinion. The opportunity to show my girls what their "Uncle Jonny" is fighting for.

Nice Girl

We were at the park today and I overheard (ok, I was really being nosey) my daughter and a group of about 4 older boys talking under the slide. They were playing in a fort for awhile and then I heard this:

Boys- That girl (pointing to my daughter) is going to be the "Sea Monster."
My Girl- I'm not a "Sea Monster." I'm a nice Girl. And Jesus likes nice Girls.

Oh, how that made me proud. And more proud that she spoke up to the older boys. And even more proud that she wants to be a nice girl for her, Jesus!

I just can't take it off!

My brother left for Iraq on Tuesday and I got this shirt when my mom and I were visiting him in TN last weekend. And that's right. I just can't take it off! The letters that spell A-R-M-Y just are a little reminder of him and what he is sacrificing for. More on my visit with him later. And some more pictures too!!

Fall. My most favorite time of the year!

I have my entire house decorated for the fall season. The above pictures are of my fireplace and mantel and our dining room. I also of course decorated the kitchen and foyer and porch. In my mind, it's never too early to get the decorating started. The great thing is I didn't have to spend a dime on any of these decorations. Along with my boxes of fall decorations, I looked around my house to see what I could use and rearrange. It was quite fun. And best of all, the girls love all the new decor in our home. Happy Fall Ya'll!!! :)

P.S.......If you have been wondering (the two of you!!) I haven't abandoned my blog just yet. I've had family in town and then went to Kentucky and Tennessee. And my brother left for Iraq. I have some posts in the works. Stay tunned.....

Lord of the Cord!

Let me set-up the scene:

We were leaving Dillards at Northpoint Mall yesterday and as we were leaving they were starting their nightly cleaning. There was a large vacuum cord in the middle of the walkway.

Me: "Watch out baby, there is a cord right here. Please watch out and don't trip."

My Girl: "Where is the Lord?"

Me: "No. Not the Lord. The cord."

(She thought I said the Lord.)

Even funnier because a lady walking by heard our short conversation and started laughing.

Done!

I'm so happy to say that I'm officially done with:

* My girls baby books. Am I the only one that takes almost four years to complete them? I mean, it's ridiculous. I have to go in my computer and find a picture of her crawling. Another picture having her 1st bath. Her 1st Birthday. Her 1st. Her 1st. Her 1st. It has been tedious. But I am done. Truly done. Every single line filled out. This has been an ongoing project and I'm so happy to say that these little books (that took 4 years to complete) will be safely tucked away in their Memory boxes. Not to come out for years to come!

*Caught up on my pictures. And this is huge for ME. I literally take thousands of pictures. And they cost money to print. And I'm tedious about it. One picture for the "family"album, one picture for my girls album, and one for sissy's album. After all the printing and sorting, I have promised myself to upload and print each month. I even wrote it on my calendar each month! It will be easier on my budget and more manageable for me.

*All my pictures are backed-up and on CD's. They are labeled with the year on it and tucked away in a CD case. I had to go back to 2004 to start the process. (Have I mentioned all of this has been SOOOOOOOOOO time consuming?)

*All videos have been transferred to DVD. Nothing fancy. No music or no editing.I didn't have the time for it. Just transferred to DVD. I had them transferring in the middleof the night. During the day. Take my girl to preschool, stop by the house to transfer another one while running errands. You get the idea!

*Caught up on my Christmas album. Every year since 2004 is in there. Every Christmas card. Every Christmas letter. (Our Christmas cards and letters.) Pictures from every year. I also typed up what we did each year. This album sits out on our table or mantel every Christmas. It's a fun way to look back at our Christmas every year.

Whew! That was a lot of work. But let me tell you, I'm so glad I'm done. If you are behind, go for it and do it. You will find it so worth it when it is all finished.

A GREAT deal!

So, yes, I have officially fallen off the face of this earth. Not really. I just have been super busy with other things. My girl recently started Preschool so of course we did some back-to-school shopping. We were shopping at the mall and went into the Disney Store (something I rarely do). Ever since my girls have been born, I have refused to put them in "character related" clothing. Not sure what it is, but I just don't like it. Looking in their closet you wouldn't find a Winnie the Pooh outfit or a Disney shirt. In fact, nothing in their rooms is character related. No wall murals of Winne the Pooh. No ugly Disney quilts with Goofy on them. I just have never been fond of "that" style. Please don't think I'm above character clothing, it's just not my style. And I know that the day will come (it already has) where I have to buy my girls their Princess, Strawberry Shortcake and Hello Kitty shirts, I just wanted to keep it in control as long as I could. I'm just glad they are girls and like Hello Kitty and such. Some of the others, I would probably die, if I had to buy! YUCKKKKYYYY!!

Anyways, back to the story. So we were at the mall. In the famous Disney Store. My girls running around like crazy women do the day of a HUGE sale.We found these aqua-light-up Little Mermaid shoes. My girls said, "Please, please, Mama?" My first thought was, "no." Until I saw the $2.99 price tag. Then I thought again. Sure, why not? After all, they are only $2.99. So we proceeded to try them on. Turns out she is in-between sizes. One will only fit her for a bit longer and the other is way too big fo now. So what do I do, buy both pairs, a pair for Sissy and call my girlfriend Lindsay as I know her daughter would want a pair too. So after my GREAT deal, we all left the store happy. And I might just visit that Disney Store again one day.

And please reassure me that I'm not the only one who doesn't care for character clothing. And I'm not the only one who has given up on the battle of character clothing.

UPDATE- one thing I forgot to mention. Since I'm not a fan of character clothing, I have always allowed my girls to wear character jammies and dress jammies to bed. They can pick. Princess, Barbie, Hello Kitty, Strawberry Shortcake, whatever they want. I think I can do that!!!

Princess Language

My girl- "Mommy. Can we just call our house a castle?"

Me- "Sure, baby. We can call it whatever you want."

My girl- "Ok. And we call sissy the queen and we are the princesses."

Me- "Sounds perfect to me. I love to be a princess."

My girl- "Well, Mommy. You ARE a princess."

Oh how I love her!!!

Happy Times

......are with Daddy on the golf course. They both love driving the cart. And telling Daddy to "go faaaaaster DaDa. Faaaaaaster DaDa." And I have to admit, that I love the golf course too. It gives me a sense of peacefulness. And not to mention it's beautiful. And we saw a Mama deer with her baby. Happy times. Happy times.

Did you know about "Best Friends Day?"

I sure didn't. Well, according to my girl, it is "Best Friends Day." She is running around the house shouting, "Happy Best Friends Day." And of course she is also shouting, "Sissy is my best friend." And she is getting Sissy to join in. Sissy is running around the house mimicking my girl in her two-year-old language saying, "Happy Best Friends Day Evertbody." It is so amazing to sit back and see their bond. This is all they have known. Eachother. My girl was 15 months old when Sissy was born. And Sissy is all she can remember. She won't ever remember NOT having a sister. And I love that. Yes, they do have their fights. And we have the occasional hair pullin' times. But more times than not, they are running around holding hands with not a care in the world. And I hope they will always have this special bond. A bond that only sisters share.

Change of plans!

The weather here in Georgia is SO different than the weather in California. It rains during the summer here. And when I say it rains. I mean like it literally dumps rain from the sky. Hence, why everything is so green. And I love that about GA. I'm not sold on the rain yet though. And the storms that go along with it. It takes some getting to used to. We were all heading out to dinner when all of a sudden we were caught in a pretty big storm. It started small and then rapidly got pretty bad. Lighting bolts were hitting the ground all around our car. The skies opened up and started dumping rain. A transformer blew and sparks flew everywhere. It was quite scary. I was holding on to Matt's hand for dear life. As were driving we decided that the weather was too bad to be driving in and that we weren't going to be able to head to dinner. So, instead we drove in a Target's parking lot. Matt literally dropped us off in the walkway to Target. The girls and I jumped out. Lighting bolts striking everywhere. We ran into Target. Got thru the door and took the girls shoes off and wiped down their soaked shoes and legs. I was literally sitting their ringing out our clothes. That is how much it was raining. Matt parked the car and ran in. He was soaked. So instead of heading to Taco Mac for dinner. We ended up at the food court in Target. And we stayed there for quite some time. Until the storm blew over.

My Girls!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! Sometimes I just can't get enough of these cuties. I mean, man, aren't they cute??!! I sure think so. My girls got their faces painted at the grand opening of our gym that we joined. They had some major fun with the clowns, playing basketball and getting some balloons and getting their faces painted. They loved it.

Especially Easy & Exciting Entertaining

One thing about me is that I love entertaining. I love themed party ideas. Whether it's a simple outdoor BBQ (or "cookout" for you southerners) or a planned dinner party, I love having a party. I usually coordinate the theme to match the season. That is what I like to do. For this Fourth of July we had some friends over for a BBQ, pool time and for some fireworks.

I love doing appetizers. And who doesn't like appetizers? I think they are essential. Especially if you have kids.

Here is the rundown on the 4th's Apps:

* Deviled Eggs, Candied Coated Pretzel Sticks, Cantaloupe Fruit Wedges (these are super Kid-Friendly and fun), Crusty Parmesan and Artichoke dip, and many, many other fun small snacks.

Dinner on the grill was:

* Mini Burgers and all the fixings. Potato Salad, Crunchy Broccoli Salad, Tater Tots (fun for the kids) and Corn on the Cobb.

Dessert was:

*Velvet Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting topped with Americana Jimmies (the girls had fun with these.) And of course we sang "Happy Birthday to Amercia."

Sipping (a must have at any party):

Beer for the boys. Raspberry Spritzers for the ladies. And Raspberry Rumble for the kiddos.

Here's to some easy entertaining! Cheers!

GRITS. Part 2.

"Yes, Maam."

Another southern thing has been floating around our house. And this is of course is a southern thing as well. My girl has been saying "Yes, Maam" to me, to her teachers, to my girlfriends, to the starbucks man. And yes I said man. I don't think she quite understands that she says "Yes, Maam" to females and "Yes, Sir" to males. As she has been caught saying, "Yes, Maam" to a man or two. Many of us around here have had a few laughs with this one!

"Bye. Bye, Mama. I'm going to Target."

Yes. These were the words of my girl. As my husband says, "she is a reincarnation of you." And that she is. I love to shop. She loves to shop. Like mother. Like daughter. So glad I have girls. God knows what's best. And He sure did bless me with my two little ladies!!!!

By the way- this was her outfit of choice. I think she was a little confused and thought she was possibly going to dance class with those frilly socks and bright white shoes!

G.R.I.T.S.- Girls Raised In The South. Part 1.

OK, so I think I'm going to start this GRITS thing as a series. Why you ask? Because my babies are changing and they are adapting to the good 'ole south and I want to document these things they say and do. And it's funny. And it's something I never knew was possible. Us. Living life in the south.

So today, My girl and Sissy were playing store and restaurant (Two of their favorite things to play. They are quite imaginative). Sissy was taking my girls order. She usually takes the order and then "cooks" it in her playroom. While taking her order she says:

"What do you want? Cheeseburg (for cheeseburger in her 2 year old language)? Brocli (for broccoli)? What do you want?"

My girls says." Sweet tea, please!"

Matt and I just looked at each other and said....WOW!!!! I guess my girl is picking up on everything around here. More than I thought!

As you all probably know. Sweet tea is a southern thing. If you were to ask someone for sweet tea in a restaurant in Cali they would look at you like you were crazy and ask you what it was. When I visited Birmingham, Alabama a few years ago we were at a Ruby Tuesday's and I asked for Iced Tea. The waitress brought it over and I dumped my sweet and low in it and proceeded to take a sip and was struck by the sweetness. Well sure enough, she brought me sweet tea. (FYI. Usually they ask you in restuarants around here if you want it sweet or unsweetened.) But that was my "Cali moment."