Ahhhh... Wordless Wednesday

10 Things Tuesday

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Cousins. My cousins, my kids' cousins, my cousin's kids, and so on, and so forth.




2. Staying home with the young 'uns. Do I pinch pennies? Yes. Do I fuss that they drive me bananas? Um...yes. Do I go too long between hair-cuts and wear sweatpants way too often? Affirmative. Don't really care, I'm still happier than ever. :)




3. That I was missed while we were gone. C'mon, doesn't it feel so good when someone says they missed you? It's like a hug.




4. Our dryer works again.




5. My husband's predictability. I knew he was going to say, "so when are we taking the tree down?" right after we opened the presents. He says it every year. It's comforting to me.




6. Those little ramen cup-o-soups. The girls love them; I love them.




7. My new planner from Anne. I am now praying for the wisdom to use the thing.




8. Speaking of my sister-in-law, I am thankful for her. She blesses me.




9. School and Mother's day out start next week! :)




10. I got MAMMA MIA for Christmas!!!!!!!!!

Hello

And lo, it came to pass...

Danna remembered that she had a blog.

Christmas was great, as is the usual for Christmases.

The girls got a dollhouse, scooters, and a life-size Barbie that scares the bejeebers out of my husband.

Jeff got a new t.v. and ...oooh ...surround sound! (yeah, I don't see why it's such a big deal, either)

Danna got a new camera since my old one totally pooped out. (My first comment - "Oh, take my picture holding my new camera!" She's a smart one, that Danna.)

I also got comfort and joy and all that.

The coolest thing, though, was actually meeting a blog friend.

Most of the blogs on my blog-roll are people I know well or knew once. There are a few,however, that I never met but feel like I know. Sorta like a pen-pal. I got to meet one of them Sunday.

It was awesome. I so prefer flesh and blood (side note: that's a gross phrase) friendships over just pen-pals. I tend to like people more than paper.

Now, here are some photos. Enjoy.

Nothing says "It's Christmas morning!" like super bed-head.Maddie danced and danced with this barbie (aka: Daddy's Worst Nightmare)Eliza, just a-lovin' on her sister.

Jace was liking the ladies. He kept giving them the eye and thought Sophie's tights were irrisistable.

And now, a few new classics:

Deck the holly with balls of toys...fa la la la la

Eliza Baby (this was a favorite, sung all day, every day)

And my favorite - We wish you a pinky toe.

I don't ask, because I'm afraid to know.

Tradition!

Yesterday, as I was lying there in the dentist's chair getting high off goofy gas and trying not to giggle at everything the hygienist was saying, I started thinking about traditions.

Now, you know I've said before that I don't like change. Well, the flip side of that is that I LOVE traditions!

We had a million, bazillion (roughly) growing up, especially around the holidays. My favorite, though, was the Christmas sing-a-long on the way to the grandparents house on Christmas day.

More specifically, the 12 days of Christmas sing-a-long.

There were four of us and we would each take a verse. Of course, I wanted to be 5 golden rings each year, so I could bust out my best Miss Piggy impression. Danny and I would inevitably whisper the word "dancing" to tease my mom and eventually he would just start singing the entire song like Beaker from the Muppets.

It is still one of my favorite memories from Christmas, because it repeated year after year.

My favorite new tradition that we have started with the girls is the opening of a present everyday. The presents are actually all the holiday movies, books, and cds that we own. We get them out of their big tub and wrap them in special paper (this year it was Tinkerbell).

Each morning the girls go open one of them. If it's a movie, they know we'll all watch it together with popcorn or hot chocolate (okay, both) and if it's music we'll dance, and if it's a book we'll have extra time to sit down and read during the day.

It's sort of like the Ramsey version of Advent.

Now, I want to know about your traditions! We are always looking for new things to try.

Wordless Wednesday

10 Things Tuesday

Today I am thankful for...

1. My husband. He stayed up all night last Wednesday, just a bleachin' and a scrubbin'.


2. I lost 6 pounds last week. hee hee


3. Hot chocolate


4. My girls love of the Christmas movies. We have already watched Elf and the Polar Express at least half a dozen times this year. Christmas movies are just about the only movies I truly enjoy!


5. Ink pens that actually work


6. ponytail holders


7. hand lotion from Bath and Body works. Right now I'm using some vanilla something-or-other, but what I really want is to use peppermint. Alas, I'm out!


8. The Dave Ramsey Plan. Jeff and I are thinking about doing the 7 baby steps. Woo woo!


9. Christmasy clothes on little kids. Can't get enough!


10. fingernail polish remover

It sure is Monday.

I'm a little embarrassed about the pity party I threw last week.

I thought about deleting that post, but just because I'm ashamed that I fussed, doesn't mean that I can pretend I didn't do it. Also, like my friend Crystal mentioned, I'll want to remember this particular Thanksgiving so I can laugh at it.

Anyhoots, as the lovely Janet Parkey has been known to say, "build a bridge and get over it!" And so I have.

Today, we were bored so we did mani/pedis. Sophie did the mani, Mads did the pedi.

Then, I let the girls have a bubble bath in the middle of the day.

They were having a "tea party" and I was reading Family Fun magazine. (Why yes, I am Nerd of the Year. Thanks for asking.)

All of a sudden Sophie squeals.

"Mads! Let's make mop water!"

Yes, we Ramseys sure know how to have a good time.

thanksgiving?

I find it ironic that Thanksgiving Day was the day I found it the hardest to be thankful.

Let me back up.

We are all packed and ready to go to Mountain View as soon as Jeff gets home from work on Wed. About 30 seconds before he walks in the door, Maddie hurls. And hurls some more. She has fever, so Jeff takes her to urgent care.

Turns out, she has an ear infection and we decide to drive to Mtn. View early in the morning.

Jeff leaves to get her medicine and about 30 seconds before he arrives home, Sophie hurls. Big time. Uh oh.

We get them settled in bed and an hour later we are changing the sheets. Put Mads in our bed and end up changing those sheets. Then we change their sheets again. Are you keeping up?

About 4:00, Sophie starts again, only now it's my turn. Now I am the sick one. There will be no trip to Mtn. View this Thanksgiving. And because we thought we would be traveling, there is no food in our house either. Thanksgiving dinner was chicken noodle soup and/or applesauce. Boo.

I feel like "The Woman Who Ruined Thanksgiving". Look for it on Lifetime sometime next year.

10 Things Tuesday

It's another thankful list!!! Tired of these, yet? Too bad! :)

1. Mad's awesome teachers this year. They are just so good to my little girl it chokes me up.
2. I get to see my Abby and Jude tomorrow!!!!! I miss those babies.
3. And, I get to finally hold my youngest nephew, Gabriel. (formerly known as Ike. Long story.)
4. The Wal-Mart wasn't all that busy tonight.
5. We live close enough to our family that we can drive to visit them. I've got to stop taking this for granted!
6. Hot chocolate. Ahhhhhhh........
7. Barrett's funny little e-mail today. I needed it.
8. Mom's health is improving! I'm so glad because she loves her some holidays and I was going to be super sad if she didn't feel good.
9. Pull-ups at night time. You know, just in case.
10. Black Friday is coming!!!!!!!

10 things Monday

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Ballet is over until January! It's fun! It's cute! It makes me have to get dressed on Mondays, which was previously known as stay-in-your-jammies-and-catch-up-on-laundry-all-day day. Woo woo, I get my Mondays back. Until January.
2. Finished my alterations ahead of schedule. Now I can sew for ... you guessed it - funsies!
3. This bowl of maple and brown sugar oatmeal that I am eating at 10:30 p.m. I felt like I was starving. (notice, Mom, I didn't say I was starving. My mom told me never to say that, folks.)
4. My sweet husband who is snuggling a little girl with an earache on the couch right now. She looks content for the first time in about an hour.
5. We had chicken tortilla soup (Jenny B's recipe) for supper tonight. There are never any leftovers!
6. I don't have to pack lunches tomorrow. It's Thanksgiving feast day at the girls' school. (probably from Chik-fil-a. They love some chik-fil-a at the First Presbyterian Pre-School)
7. Fuzzy socks.
8. My kitchen is nice and clean. Even the floor is mopped!
9. Clean sheets. It's clean sheets day. No bugs in there today!
10. Jeff has a short work week. Hooray for him! One of these days, I'll have one of those ...

Free at last!

Alright, dudes, this is the week that the nation is thankful, therefore I will be making 10 things lists every day until we leave for the big Mountain View (former home of Grandpa Jones).



Today, I am thankful for:

1. My parents got to come to church with us this morning! They never get to because they are always teaching at the old Center Hill C of C (and refuse to ask people to fill in for them).
2. I finished my last dress for 2008! From here on out I will only be smocking and sewing for funsies!!! Okay, at least through the holidays. And after I finish a couple of alterations. But then it's sewing for funsies!


3. My girls all had on matching dresses at church this morning. This makes me so happy! Do boy moms do this?


4. Speaking of boys, Maddie calls penguins - "bird-boys". Why is this on my thankful list, you ask? Hmmm... let me think ...well, she did say to Sophie, "hey, go stand by the bird-boy and I'll take your picture" and we laughed and laughed because a) we understood every word she said and b) she didn't have a camera. So, the answer is we laughed.


5. We have our Christmas tree up! We didn't do a whole lot of decorating, because we don't have any entertaining to do at home this year. However, Eliza is loving what we have. She walks up to the tree and stops and just cracks up. It's hilarious to her parents. And probably her grandparents, too, if they saw it. The rest of you would probably think it was wierd.


6. For the first time ever, we have Christmas lawn decorations! We finally put Lucy the scarecrow away and now have Lucy the penguin and Lucy the snowman. Currently they are sitting on our dining room table which makes it look very festive.


7. We sang some great songs at church this morning. That's always my favorite part of worship. Sorry, Brother Jimmy.


8. I ate an ENORMOUS waffle for lunch courtesy of Holiday Inn.


9. I had a pretty good hair day from the front! So it was kind of lumpy in the back, who cares. :)


10. I have a new Christmas c.d. - Chris Isaak. Fantastic.

Did you know...

that the chick who wrote the Twilight books was a stay-at-home mother of three?

Jeff has had an odd look in his eye ever since we heard that little bit of trivia on the news tonight.


I'm fairly certain I'll be getting paper and a pencil for Christmas this year.

Dinner

Me: Maddie, eat your peas.

Maddie: They taste like poop.

Me: They do not taste like poop. Eat your peas.

Maddie: They taste like chalk.

Me: They don't taste like chalk. Eat your peas.

Maddie: They are in my sleeve.

Me: They are not in your... oh, so they are.

Wordless Wednesday

10 Things Thursday

Things to be thankful for today!

1. My brother passed the bar!!!!!!!!! Way to go, Little Nekkid Danny!
2. Courtney kept Eliza and they had a great time. (So I was told ...)
3. I am now the proud owner of a fake tooth. hee hee (it will be Halloween every day from now on!)
4. The leaves are gorgeous, finally. The girls have had the best time playing in them. They even dragged their old nap mats outside and tried to take their nap out there. (no pictures because they also decided that they were too hot and, um, stripped. Sigh, one day we really need to teach them some modesty.)
5. We are going to see Nana and Papa and Uncle Greg tomorrow.
6. I had time to blowdry my hair today! And then I put it into a ponytail.
7. Talked to Jeff a lot during the day. We pretty much do this every day, and I am very thankful for this. It makes me happy. :)
8. The election is over.
9. The Holidays are here.
10. There is chocolate in my house.

Stuff we think is cool ... Nov. '08

Currently, we are obsessed with ...

• Spookley the Square Pumpkin. I'd never even heard of "square pumpkin" before this year, but let me tell you - he is it on a stick around here.

• All things Tinkerbell, of course.



• Our Christmas Countdown on the computer! Sophie and I love us some Christmas Cheer and spent almost an hour on-line yesterday, looking at lawn decorations. We think we have it narrowed down to a sparkly snowman (my fave) or a penguin. Because nothing says "Christmas Cheer" like a penguin in your yard.



• Trying out new potato soup recipes. I found one that uses cream cheese instead of milk and it's our new favorite. Still not quite as good as Colton's, though!



• Making funny faces.




• Dum Dum suckers. Um, I do not share this obsession with my children.



• "Spicy" candles



• Eliza's new obsession - chocolate!



• These songs: Alien in My Nose, Pop Fly, Jump Up, Pollywog in a Bog, and... the Dora theme song. You can't beat the classics.

Shout out to Mrs. Harr. Can you tell what these are? Thanks for the little bit of joy you sent us!







And, finally, am I the only one glad that Halloween is over? We had way too many festivals and such this year! Jeff and I dressed up. He went as "Handsome Daddy of 3" and I went as "Mommy in Need of a Haircut". (which is an improvement over last year's "Puffy Lady Who Just Had a Baby")





One last photo. This was a non-Halloween-related fall activity. (and I say, "hallelujah" to that.)



Our Sunday School Class did a Hayride. It reminded me of the old function days, although instead of holding hands under a quilt, I was holding little girls who weren't so sure about this whole hayride business. Of course, they ended up LOVING IT. Really, who doesn't?


51 Days til Christmas!!!!!!!

Love Song for Eliza

Well, we celebrated/mourned Eliza's first birthday/passing of her babyhood.

Yes, I know the previous statement is odd, a little sad and depressing. Sorry.

Sigh ... the thing is ... here's the thing: In the past, when we celebrate a "first birthday", we are also celebrating (sometimes secretly!) a new Ramsey on the way. It's been a constant cycle. One baby literally walking away from babyhood, one baby on the way. I guess it just makes me a little blue to see a chapter of our lives come to an end. I'm so so so not good with change.

Sigh...

Oh, but folks, what a wonderful, wonderful blessing she is.

When we were telling people that we were having a third daughter, the most hurtful thing people would say was, "Huh. Are you going to try for a boy?" As if, write this one off and try, try again.

If only they knew how AWESOME it is to raise one gender. Sure they may all be girls, but they are three totally different people with totally different personalities. I love how individual they are and I also love when I see something they all have in common.

Eliza is our most snuggly little girl by far, she thinks she is hilarious, she is a sweet little buddha-belly. She'd be an asset to any family, but I am so grateful that God placed her in ours.

10 Things Wednesday

What/who I am thankful for today ...

1. My friendly friend Heather, who lent me some equipment this past weekend. I especially appreciate it since she did all of this from her death bed .....




2. Chris and Polly Harrell, who graciously changed our small group from 4:30 to 7 so that we Ramseys and the Winters could attend.




3. I actually marked off all of the things on my work to-do list for the day. Woo hoo!




4. Visiting with J. Box today. It's just never boring. :)




5. Eliza has a bad case of diaper rash, but she didn't scream in the bath tub.




6. My new sweet cinnamon pumpkin hand soap.




7. I finally got my fall/winter clothes down from the attic. Okay, so I still wore jeans and a t-shirt today, but at least now I have options.




8. Dora's halloween dvd, so I could cook supper in relative peace.




9. We are having beans and corn bread for supper tomorrow night. And fried potatoes.




10. All the encouragement I have received the last few days. May God bless you all as you have blessed me!

3 Busy Days, 2 Tinkerbells, and a Sheep named Larry...

What a busy weekend!

Friday we did the playgroup thang ... one of these days I will actually take a picture of this. These gals and their kids are so much fun and it's just chat, chat, chat, chat, chat, chat until time to go home. That night we went to set up my dreaded booth (that's right I said we. I have the awesomest husband on the planet.) Not the easiest thing to do with 3 little girls. I didn't take a picture because folks, it wasn't picture-worthy. It didn't really matter, though. I'll get to that part in a minute!

Saturday:

Get up at 5:30 to be at church by 6:30. I'm on the board for the Better Life Counseling Center and we had our fundraiser/bike ride. Register all the riders then it's off to ...

Stop, Shop, and Stroll by 8:30! Time flew by. I mean FLEW. All said and done, I did very well. Don't want to talk about it too much, because that's bad manners. But, I will say this - Seeing people decide that something I made from scratch was worth paying for ... gave me a strange feeling. I'm pretty sure it was pride, and being prideful is a sin, so I'm still working this whole thing out. Best-seller? This minky dress:

Then my little bro and his college roommate Greg Kendall-Ball came over. I have raved over Greg's photography forever and a day, so for an early Christmas present Danny asked Greg to take some photos of the girls. They were in rare form (read: devil spawn), but he somehow managed to get some amazing photos. I'll definitely share them as soon as I get them!

Sunday: Church, then Nana and Papa and Uncle Greg come over from the View to celebrate Eliza's birthday (a little early). Great visit and we even went shopping! The girls picked out some toys for Miss Poops and have spent the majority of the last 24 hours playing with the toys themselves. The 2 year old (I won't mention her name) even got frustrated when Eliza tried to play with them herself. Ah... Christmas ought to be fun this year ...

Then the fall festival at the girls' school. Sophie and Maddie were Tinkerbell squared and Eliza was a ladybug. Eliza was completely enchanted by the light-up pumpkin.I don't know what it is, but kids in costumes are just the cutest things. This is the best one with Maddie in it. The camera has been placed in time-out and promises to behave at the church fall festival.

After the fall festival, we ran home, ate a sandwich, and the kids got in their jammies. Then we went to small group! We attempted to do our Bible study while the kids watched a movie and ate popcorn in the playroom. And by kids, I mean all of the kids. I've been finding the aftermath in Eliza's diaper all day. (ooh, Danna, don't talk about such gross things!)

Oh, at Bath and Body Works they were handing out little fuzzy sheep if you spent X amount. Nana and I each spent X, so we got 2 sheep. Sophie named hers Angelina Ballerina. Annnnndddd.... Maddie named hers... Larry.

Need help

This Saturday is Stop, Shop, and Stroll. I am a little stressed and ever-so-slightly behind with the dress-making, but that's cool. This ain't life or death, man.

Here is my delimma - I have a booth. Which means .... I have to set up said booth. Those of you who know me, know that this is my greatest nightmare. I have NO INNER VISION. Never give me a blank canvas, people.
Here is what I have to work with:
a table
some tall things that look like the sides of crates (courtesy of Mrs. A. Barrett)
Aaaaannnnnnnndddd ....... that's it.

Help! What should I do? IF this were you, how would you set it up? I have about 15-20 dresses to show, and I need to display my book of work and take orders.

IF this sounds like so much fun to you, we can have a date! Meet me at Highland Drive Baptist Church on Friday at 5:30, and we can knock this out and then I will pay for your supper. WOOO HOOO!

I'm a little desperate, folks.

Oh, and sorry for saying "ain't", Mom!

10 Things Tuesday

10 Things I'm thankful for!

1. New friend (Cara) who watched my littlest one today.


2. I have now completed phase 2 of Danna's Teeth Make-over.


3. The lipstick that Maddie smeared all over her face this morning came off easily. (did I mention it was picture day?)


4. Running with Ashleigh. It is quite possible that we do more chatting than anything else, but fortunately - she is one of the most interesting people I know. And she talks more than I do. :)


5. Finding super-cute shoes that Eliza will wear.


6. Sophie wasn't feeling her best this morning, but still begged to go to school.


7. I'm going to bed early tonight!


8. Stop, Shop, and Stroll is this weekend!


9. Eliza's love of spaghetti. Look! It's the great pumpkin!
10. This election madness is almost over! Can I get an amen?

You want me to touch what?

Sophie's Itinerary for a trip to the petting zoo:

• Whack the backside of a sheep. ..........Check.




• Snarl in the class picture. ......................Check.




• Throw a bunny. .........................Okay, it was more of a toss, but - check.

Well done, Sophie! Sure, I wish you had petted the sheep, smiled in the picture, cuddled the bunny, but ...it's not easy checking off everything on a to-do list. Proud of you, girl! Glad you had fun! Maybe next year we won't scream and run away from the chickens ...

Oh yeah, you DID touch a sleeping pig!

Eliza had fun, too!

She's part goat, I think

Did you hear the one about the 11 month old who ate the roll of toilet paper?

We'll let you know how it all comes out.

Probably goes real nice with that bath water she's so fond of drinking ...

10 Things Tuesday

These aren't really 10 things I am thankful for, but really just a list of things that I love.

1. I love it when people say nice things about others when they aren't around.


2. I love footprints. It's weird. Don't care.


3. I love Eliza's new habit of backing up to Jeff and I and sitting on our feet.


4. I love the dollar aisle at the Target.


5. I love the ladies in our ladies' Bible study!


6. I love it that some of my girlfriends can look like a million bucks just rolling out of bed. (but I still roll my eyes at them.)


7. I love donuts for breakfast.


8. I love Maddie's new enthusiasm for krunk (sp?) dancing. She has got some rad moves. :)


9. I love it when my husband has the day off.


10. I love new shampoo.

October is for Pumpkins

Today was Pick A Pumpkin Day!

First, the girls picked out the perfect Pumpkin picking outfits. (Hmmm... I wonder who Maddie's influence was ...)

Then we went to the Bennett's to look around.

Sophie got a tall skinny one.

Maddie got a short, really wide, "Cinderella" one.

They each got a baby one, for Eliza, they said.

Maddie informed me her pumpkin's name was Orange.

Sophie informed me pumpkins don't have names.

It was a good day.

7 Random Things

I've been tagged.

Again.

And you know I love it, folks. Just one more reason to make a list!

7 Random Danna Factoids:

1. First thing I wrote on my to do list today was, "write to-do list".


2. I base the success of my runs on how stinky I am when I get home.


3. I love cream cheese so much, I have been known to lick the excess off the knife.


4. I have a phobia about bugs in the sheets.


5. After dropping off the girls today, I was buckling Baby Eliza into her seat and thinking about how we would turn her seat around soon .... and started crying. Right there in the First Pres. parking lot.


6. I wish ... I had a fancy sewing machine.


7. The pregnancies made me belly get poochy and my rear-end disappear.

Now I tag all you bloggers who say you have bloggers' block!

Some photos:

Dancing with the Poops "What exactly are you doing there, girls?" says Eliza.

Playing their new favorite game - "sleepover".

2 Things

Alright, I have a couple of fun things to share today, kids.





Firstly (hmmm....is "firstly" a word? Maybe I should say first off or just a simple first. Why must I be so word-fancy? Now, where was I ....)


I was nominated for an award! I was nominated for an "I love your Blog Award" by my friend Julie. She's a dollface and so sweet for nominating me.

Now, I get to nominate four more! (This is sort of like a big "compliment tag".) It's difficult to just pick four, because I read every single one of the blogs on my blogroll when I get the time. Even though... I am a terrible commenter these days. Sorry, friends!

1. First blog I read a lot was Sandi. Her blog is a lot of things - sometimes funny, sometimes informative ... I've even shed a tear reading it. (And I hate to cry!) It's just a pleasant little blog.
2. Second one I'd like to nominate is Chandra. Our lives are totally different : she is the mother of one son - I have 3 girls; she lives right by NYC - I live in podunkville; she has good hair - you get the idea. But, despite all that, I think we might share a brain. (or at least a personality!)
3. Third is my friend Andria. She posts just about every day. Sometimes it's really goofy stuff and sometimes it's calm and reflective. Just like she is. :)
4. And fourth is Miss Kim. Just to read her "story" alone is worth a look at her blog. It's a good one, trust me!

And speaking of Miss Kim, mother of 3 Harrs, I won a fun game on her blog recently. It's the Pay It Forward game! The first 3 commenters on this post will receive something fun in the mail from me. Then, they will need to Pay It Forward themselves by posting and rewarding the first 3 commenters on their blogs! See, isn't that a fun little game?

Have a great day!

10 things Tuesday

10 Things I am thankful for about living in Jonesboro:

1. I grew up near here, so every now and then I get a "blast from the past" when people come home to visit their families. That's always fun.
2. Cost of living is awesomely low. (Yet, still I fuss over finances. Don't worry, I'm turning that over to God. :) )
3. We live 5 minutes (or less) from a state park.
4. We are a part of an incredible church family.
5. Close to both sets of grandparents in case of emergencies!
6. Friends we can depend on to watch our babies in a pinch (like for haircuts, dr. appts., etc.)
7. We live less than a minute from THE SONIC, kids.
8. If we just have to have some city-life, Memphis is less than an hour away. However, the need for city-life is getting less and less each year.
9. Nobody makes fun of you for driving a minivan, because they've probably got one, too.
10. I may joke about our extra long summer, but pretty soon the leaves will be amazing, we might get some snow, and in the spring the flowers will take your breath away.

I've got some more fun blogging things to share with you, but it will have to wait until tomorrow!

A rant

We all have mottos that we live our lives by that have nothing to do with our nationality or personal faith. Some I hope to pass on to my children such as "be kind to everyone" and "ALWAYS step out of the shower to pee".

Others seem to live their lives by this creed - "always put shoes on your baby".

Then, they like to push their constant-shoe philosophy onto me. Everywhere I go.

Granted, with each child I have gotten more lax about shoe-ing them. Now, folks, I am not anti-shoe. We have 2 big reasons why Eliza doesn't wear them more often:

1. Her foot keeps growing. We received some cute pink ones at the end of August that were too small. I took her in, fit her in the shoes, and exchanged them for the new pair. One month later the new ones are too small. I can't afford to keep buying her new shoes every month.



2. And, uh, she hates shoes.

Now there are small reasons like the hot weather, but really - what's the point? Most of the time she's on my hip in public. If I know she will be getting down, I'll put some shoes on her. (of course, then she just plops down on her booty and looks at me.) I just don't believe barefoot baby = negligent parent.

Just needed to get that off my chest. Stepping down from the soap-box . . .

Aunt Dusty Rocks

My little sister, whom I have referred to on more than one occasion as my "practice baby", turned 16 today.

I love her very much and can't believe how awesome she is turning out. :)

Can't say much more than that, because I don't want my blog to cry.

10 Things Tuesday

Alright, peeps, I'm feeling wordy. . . Today I am thankful for:

1. The dress I got for Maddie came in and it is twice as cute in person! Mads hardly ever gets new clothes, because a) she has cute hand-me-downs and I am way practical and b) she doesn't really care. But the mommy in me wants to make sure she gets something new every now and then. And, let's face it, I'm a sucker for chenille.
2. Girls' Night Out. Needed it.
3. A husband who encourages me to go to girls night out, before I strangle one of our fifty kids.
4. I didn't cancel my dental appointment. I usually do (and always want to.)
5. The girls are spending the night with my parents this weekend! It's called DATE NIGHT, folks.
6. Got lots of errands run today.
7. Sophie's new friends in her class. Today they met her at the door and grabbed her little hands and said, "c'mon, Sophie!" I don't really know why that made me feel so good. A mother worries, I guess.
8. I asked Mad who she played with today and she said," I played with Paula!" It's good to know that she loves her teacher... but, um ... okay, I should be thankful that she had someone to play with and stop stressing about it.
9. Finished two different Christmas dresses.
10. All this sunshine has been beautiful. Wish it was cooler, but I live in the south. We have about 2 days of spring, 7-8 months of mosquitoes and then the bitter cold rain (otherwise known as the muddy jean-cuff season). Evidently we are still in summer, no matter what the calendar says.

Oh me.

Raise your hand if ...

You have ever washed a dirty diaper in a load of clothes and didn't realize it until you were unloading them from the dryer.

Please, please, please raise your hand so I won't feel like such a dumdum.

10 Things Tuesday

1. Perfect running weather this morning. It was 56 degrees at 5:30 a.m. Perfect.
2. Ladies class this morning!
3. Met some new people at ladies' class.
4. Eliza only cried for about 10 minutes when I dropped her off during ladies class today.
5. And, my favorite thing, the prayer swap. This week I will be praying for Brooks; Sonya will be praying for me. Love it.
6. Jeff took the girls out for a while so I could get the kitchen floor scrubbed. I would choose scrubbing the floor, you ask? As long as I can get some time alone, I don't care what I am doing. :)
7. Found out a friend is expecting!
8. Found some pants that actually fit Sophie at the Target. Bought 4 pairs.
9. Ate fast food for lunch. And the fries were HOT. yum. Sorry if that is gross to anyone.
10. I think I have made a decision who to vote for. Now I just have to register ...

Overheard from the back seat:

Eliza - "ba ba aaa dada"

Maddie - "I already know that, Eliza!"

I must confess ...

1. I still really love the song, "Hold My Hand" by Hootie and the Blowfish. Never got tired of it.



2. My handwriting is atrocious. If this was handwritten, you couldn't read it.



3. None of my tupperware lids match my tupperware containers.



4. I LOVE Christmas! Not the whole present thing, but the decorating and the songs and the movies and the food and the atmosphere ... We put up our tree before Thanksgiving last year.



5. I think Mariah Carey is over-rated.



6. I don't really have road rage, mine is more parking lot rage.



7. I honestly hated SEVENTH GRADE. Pretty much every day of SEVENTH GRADE.



8. I cannot pull off trends.



9. Some weeks, I go to the Wal-mart everyday.



10. I don't understand football at all. BUT, I like to go to games.

And now...

Scary Bow-Head!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This will probably be our Halloween costume.

Whoa -oh, here she comes

she's a man-eater...

Yesterday, while picking up the girls, I stopped and talked to a friend of mine.

Sophie, my innocent angel, took this opportunity to say, "Carson, if you want to come over to my van, you can give me a kiss." I'm pretty sure her eyelashes were batting.

Obviously, I said, "atta girl!" and patted her on the back.

Are you CRAZY?! That is NOT what I did!

I hid my head in shame and vowed no more Hannah Montana.

In other news, these teething fevers have made Eliza lose her mind.

And here's a photo of her walking for out of town family. Ignore the mess. She loves pulling things off shelves these days.

That is all. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go put scarlet letters on all of Sophie's clothing.