Blog Sweet Blog

Lame Update

2009-07-27T22:33:00.001-04:00

I honestly cannot see how I could have one single reader on this blog any longer..... but I'll tell you this. I have a Facebook account now. Yeah, I don't know how to use it and I won't answer you if you text me, or whatever it's called. But I'm going to update some house pictures on there because we have been living in the house for over a month now.

Plus, I wanted to say that I have a photography website, finally, and you can find that at www.alongthewayphotography.com.

Later gator.

Fo Shizzle

2009-05-20T23:32:00.003-04:00

2 things that happened today that aren't even right:

Naydine answers me with a 'fo shizzle'. I had to ask her, "Um, what did you say?". With a repeat of, "Fo Shizzle". My response, "Yeah, you probably shouldn't say that". Crap. Crap Crap Crap.

And she tried to put a "NO BOYS ALLOWED SIGN" on her bedroom door. Only problem was, she put it on the inside, taped up with 4 Scratch-n-Sniff stickers, and it was a blank piece of paper.

Man.... I love that girl.

That's all I got.

ps. My house is almost done. Oh. My. Gosh.

My baby turned 2

2009-04-13T23:34:00.004-04:00

Yeah, he's certainly not a baby anymore. The day was a nice day, it started out at the hair salon. That did not end well. This would be his first professional haircut. He looks like he's 6 now. It's nuts.

I have no idea what this smile is all about. Honestly, I do not remember it. I just remember the crying:)

This was during the hair-cut intermission. The back is mostly done, the front is like Ace Ventura. Maybe I should have just left it this way??

After hair cuts, we went to Imagination Station with our friends and had a good 'ol time. Imagination Station, for those who don't live here, is a place with like 15 (actually, prob more but I don't want to exaggerate) different areas for kids to play. Dane is on the jet ski here..... with a goobery looking haircut..... and there's a full size raft on a water bed too!! And then the grocery store, a huge train, Veterinary clinic, doctor office, dress up with a stage puppets, and the list goes on. It's fun. The moms basically stand in the middle of the room and talk. That's why we love it:)

I taught him well. Push that cart, boy!!

And look at princess Nay in the background. She tells me that she is going to try on EVERY dress at ImagStn. She gets to about 3 and she's done.... ha.

I made these cupcakes for the kids.... just a little too time consuming for me. But probably the easiest, least time consuming recipe in this cupcake book my friend Tori gave me. Seriously, some of the coolest cupcakes in there but, I can't hang.

Typical, juice boxes and cupcakes. Nothing crazy here....

Party boy, you're doing everything. It makes me crazy to see you grow up like this!! You're talking all over the place and you have great manners. I love it. Don't stop.

We call you so many nicknames, you answer to Gabriel in the nursery. It's scary.... son, your name is NOT Gabriel. But it is Chumpy Lumpy, D Boy, Diesel, Dozer, Boo-G (boochie).... I know there are more but I'm brain dead right now.

You are in love with trains...... Anything loud is a choo-choo.

You love driving in the front seat of your dad's BMW. And you can because it's so old, there are no air bags. You CHILL up there. It's awesome. You just put your hand out the window and twirl your fingers in the breeze. You wear your little Oakley glasses and have the seat reclined back just a bit.... You are the bomb, kid.

You still kiss with your fish lips, all big and pouty. You still love to cuddle your mom and dad for a few minutes. Or maybe it's seconds. But I want to exaggerate that.

Your favorite movie has to be Wall-E right now. Sick.... you love TV. It's so sick. It's a good thing you can pretty much count to 10 or I'd be freaking out. And that you still love playing with cardboard boxes. At least I know that you don't have to have wads of color zipping by your face all day long:)

You love Chocolate milk from fast food restaurants. And your favorite food is MacNCheese, hands down. You shovel it in, Dozer.

You are still in your crib, but you love to hop into a big bed and pull the overs up to your chin. Man, it is so cute. I can't believe how much joy that one little act brings me!! It's adorable.

And I have to say that probably your favorite thing to do in the whole wide world is: TAKE A SHOWER. Honestly, it's ridiculous. You've definitely broke your mom and dad in for what's to come in the teenage years (hint, hint: Naydine). Thank you for that.

I don't to forget to say how good you are doing on the potty. You pooped on the potty the day before your birthday and I didn't know until like 15 min after you did it. Well, you did come and tell me but you said you did a "pee-pee". And son, THAT IS NO PEE-PEE. Pretty soon, you'll do it and we can say goodbye to buying Pampers and hello to that 10 speed. Sick.

You are a BLESSING!!! We thank Jesus for you everyday!! Love you, son!

45 days to go

2009-04-13T23:05:00.003-04:00

Thought I died, huh? Yeah, well, don't count me back in yet because I still could die. Talk about time-consuming!! Talk about so far over budget that I am shopping myself to death to find the best deals. I mean really??!?! It's getting old and I'm ready to be done. But I think it will be worth the anxiety:) I have some pictures even though everything is really rough still. The tile is mostly in, just a few more areas to go. And we finally got our doors, which was kind of holding everything up.

The 3 doors on the right are for Along the Way Photography..... The two on the left are the front door. Everybody is confused.

I have to say that I really like how the stone came out and matched well with the brick.

Dining....

Kitchen.....

We did that built-in hutch. Nope, we don't own china, I'm just putting all our plates/bowls/pasta bowls, etc in there. I love how much crap I can stack in there. Plus it's deep enough to put the large pasta serving bowls in. Yay! But we are eating way too much pasta around here. Bad.

The island, of course. We are putting the micro down there so the kids can just help themselves. Kidding. And to the right of that, the baskets for onions and potatoes, etc. The coolest part about this island will be the butcher block counter top we are getting.

Master shower.... I'm really looking forward to this shower because it's a steam shower. We opted out of doing a tub and went for the steam. We thought, financially, it would be a fair trade..... Not. So. Much. Eli calls it the $20,000 shower. haha.... It's not, but it feels like it! Anyway I think we can fit about 6 people in this shower. 3 standing and 3 sitting on the bench around the corner to the left. Bring your swim suite. Don't be gross.

Pebbles on the floor. We did this on the floor in the Tacoma remodel and I loved it.... round 2. Just a different color.

I have to comment on a few things about building this house..... We've done a full remodel before and lived in 3 houses prior to this, it's not a shocker that we have to pick stuff out, etc. But it's a lot of work to put everything together and be satisfied with how it turns out. NOTHING turns out exactly as you would imagine it. I used to be quick to critique another homeowners selections or vision, but after doing this project I'm not going to be that way anymore. Sometimes you are just never sure how it's going to look until you do it. Most of the time after it's done, you are not going to rip it out! Not that I've wanted to rip anything out:) I am also being tested in being content with what we can afford. There were so many other things that I wanted to do or had my heart set on an upgrade, but had to pass it up:(

I'm just looking forward to moving in and moving on with life!! It's going to be good and I can't wait to get started living there.

Gone and Done It.

2009-01-25T10:30:00.003-05:00

Yeah, we broke down and got an XBox and Guitar Hero. We've joined the rest of the world and have an Xbox, again. Not that my husband has ever been at a lack of video/computer games. It's just that, I think the XBox and GH were my Cmas present? haha..... weird!

We came back from MN and a few weeks later, we got 4"-5" snow here in NC!! What!! And it's been chilly! I'm over it. I can't wait for Spring. And blooming trees. And a finished house. Which I was really struggling this past week trying to pick a trim color. Normally I feel like I have a vision for the "big picture" and this time, not. so. much. Frustrating. But, we went really crazy and picked....... wait for it......... CREAM. hahahaha...... Look at the lower right hand of the picture. I've been painting some samples on the garage. Well, I guess you can't really tell...?? Anyway, they have most of the siding up and most of the brackets. I think I like the brackets..... They were originally going to have more arch, just slightly. But they were up when we got back from the Tundra and I think we're okay with them. Dang, look at that snow!

See those 2 gaping holes under the porch?? Smaller hole is for the front door. The larger is for the office doors. Can you see the Along the Way Photography sign hanging on the eave? Kidding. I'll be sure to use a bright neon sign for that.

Sneak peak of the dining area, which is in the kitchen.

Oh yeah, we also cut Dane's hair. He went straight from helmet head to a bowl cut. Hack job, by the way. He's pretty cute though! Let me update with a picture as soon as I give him an attitude readjustment. Man, he has been challenging lately! Terrible Twos, we are here.

I've been staying busy taking pictures, editing, house stuff, trying to keep up with the current house. Any prayers for the sale of the current house are greatly appreciated. :)

I also need to document that I caught Dane, about 10 days ago, sitting on the big toilet in my bathroom taking a pee. It was crazy. I heard water so I thought he was splashing in the toilet. I was ready to throw down, came around the corner and saw him sitting backwards on the pot doing his business. It was a joyous moment. That has been followed with cleaning poop up off the floor. I love it. Right. And speaking of poop, yesterday Naydine decided that she would give us a little surprise. She did a #2 yesterday afternoon and when Eli brought her to bed last night, he found it still sitting in the tub. Oh yeah, you read that right. IN THE TUB. She told him that she hid her poop. Really? She also told him that she did it in the toilet but she picked it out and hid it in the tub. Are you puking? Or laughing? Honestly.... both?

Ok, I have to go get stuff done!

In the Christmas Spirit

2008-12-20T22:29:00.006-05:00

Besides working on getting all my clients their Christmas cards and pictures, I've been busy with my family, too!! Fun stuff, I tell ya! They are just the most important thing in my life and I just love looking back on these pictures because, well, pictures do their job. They remind me of how much JOY my family brings to me and how funny my kids are!

Here is Naydine's first Christmas program and I got the classic pictures. First she sees me and waves.

And then she starts in with the fake cheese. Man, I love that girl:)

Last weekend we went with Tu and Ruthie over to the Carolina to check out all the deco and were able to get these night shots for their Cmas card. I loved these shots..... so pretty. It was a beautiful night. Minus Dane being a complete butt hole. Man, something is up with this child. Teething. It's got to be teething. Something! ugh...

Here we are inside the Carolina and I could barely take any pictures because Dane was completely insane running everywhere. Not cool with all the deco. Ugh.

And my camera-shy girl.....

Oh, here's the turd now. Dane, I love you but DANG BOY! Hey, at least you were going pee on the potty today:) Good boy!:) And you are saying please..... those are good things. Maybe you still will get a Christmas gift after all..... hehehe.

Oh yeah, did I mention it's been 70* the last 3 days. I didn't say sunny and 70*, just 70*. Which, my friends, I'm going to take. I'm headed to the tundra in a few days. Brrrrr!

Thought I should get an update of the house because when we get back, it surely better NOT look like this still! Heaven help me.....

Yeah, we have windows and a roof. Shingles, in the yard. It's been raining. We also have the guts. Most of the guts. And I have my kitchen island figured out. It felt good to get that nailed down. And, I think we have our stone picked out after today.

I feel so bad for our kids. We have been lugging them everywhere and all they do is sit in the truck and watch movies or get yelled at for being naughty in stores. Did I really think it was a good idea to bring Dane to pick out plumbing fixtures? No, I didn't but who in the crap is going to babysit during the day on a week day? They are all in high school!

Seriously, I can't wait for some down time. They deserve it!!

And for the record, Eli and I are doing awesome at being on the same page about picking everything out. So far, no arguments over who gets what and what color, etc. I know that won't last forever but, it feels nice to be agreeing with your husband:)

I Can't Sleep

2008-11-18T22:10:00.002-05:00

I'm laying in bed last night, listening to the sound of tiny feet coming down the stairs. It's approximately 1:45am. "Hi, Naydine", I said. "I can't sleep", replied Naydine. Yeah... well, neither could I. I think I was dreaming about editing pictures, which is like a sick nightmare. And I'm sure there are plenty out there that can completely relate, if you will even read this blog anymore!! I don't blame you! I'm a loser!!!

This is the sweet face that woke me again at 5:30am with, "I can't sleep". What the heck??!?!?! Was she awake in her bed from 1:45-5:30? I highly doubt it but dang, girl!

And this is the sweet face that woke about 1/2 an hour later. Just sleep a little longer guys... that's all I'm asking:)

How much has Dane changed since my last post?!?! He's a big boy now!

Here are the kids last week, working on the new house. Yes, we are still building a house. I'm sure you all thought we were digging a grave by now, not a foundation. No, we are still kicking.

And this was our house when I took this picture. Um.... I think it was last week?? Yeah... must be, we have roof trusses and maybe some other stuff now.... I don't know, I haven't been out there in a few days......

I probably have a million other things I could write about..... honestly, they are not coming to me. I mean, do you really want to hear about how I have waiting on galleries? Um, no, I doubt it. And I'm kind of ticked that I'm missing out on everybody's give aways. Crap, I should do a give away. I could give away my kids' Halloween candy. Ha. Kidding. But if I did a give away, then people would maybe come back to me??? Well, not that I had herds coming to view my page anyway but..... Am I supposed to win something first to start a give away?? No... I doubt it. But I did win one time...... just. one. time. DANG. YIPPIE.

Okay, check back. Maybe I'll be doing a give away. For the fun of it. Hey, maybe I should check my counter and see how many hits I've had:) hehehe....

Miss you all. xoxoxo.
J

Pee, Teeth and a Walkathon

2008-10-04T10:41:00.004-04:00

I'm at a loss for titles these days. Can you tell??

Dane is starting to potty train. No, he doesn't come tell us when he has to go. But, if you put him on the potty, he'll go. He'll push as hard as he can, normally he'll fart first, then a little bit of pee will come out. It is so dang cute.... oh my word.

So I bought him some underwear. They are kind of cool. Kind of cool until he crapped in them this morning and now I remember why I'm not really looking forward to the process of potty training. Ha....

Dane is also working on getting his top 2 teeth. Yeah, he'll be 18 months on the 9th. And yes, you are reading that correctly. He is working on getting his 3rd tooth. It looks huge. Hopefully my angel isn't going to have some huge baby buck teeth. haha..... but probable. They just look enormous!:)

We had Naydine's Walkathon at school yesterday. Thank you to all who donated!!

I'm about to post the Swank wall art on my photoblog. Check over there later. And just so you know, I am not claiming this photowall as an original idea. Why reinvent the wheel??

Terrible Blogger

2008-10-01T22:07:00.003-04:00

Yes, I am a TERRIBLE blogger. I NEVER do it lately. I just don't have time. I should have time, but I've been working on my photography blog. I have to get this together. Stuff is happening and I need to get on board.

Check it out here or use the link in the side bar. It's not finished, but it's a good start. And it will never be finished, it's a blog..... duh. Wow, that was a dumb thing to write.

Something very cool is happening tomorrow. I think. I did a photoshoot with the Swank Girls and we are putting up their Wall Art this week. omg.... I think it's going to be really cool. Swank is a coffee shoppe and handmade market in town. I love it in there. The girls, Jessica and Petra, make their own jewelry and stained glass. But they also have tons of other hand made items in there like bags, art, children's/baby clothes, just COOL STUFF! Anyway, we did a shoot featuring the girls and their handmade items and are putting it on the wall. They are both beautiful and their stuff is awesome, it was pretty easy for me to just press the shutter button. Look for an update on the photoblog as soon as it's on the wall!!

The only house update I have is that our lot is cleared and I'm guessing we'll have a foundation in next week. Sweeeeeeeet. Because I needed an office like, yesterday!

1001 Updates

2008-09-16T21:41:00.002-04:00

There's a lot going on around here. I have a ton to update on. Let's touch briefly on the highlights.

Naydine is back in pre-school. This year she is at Sandhills Classical Christian School and so far, so good. Her teacher actually attends our church, so we'll be seeing her 4 days a week! Here are her First Day of School pictures, back date to Sept. 3. Slacker mom takes 2 weeks to post these important photos of her firstborn. Oops.

I've borrowed this book from my friend Jessica. I need to be honest, my kids do not eat properly. I throw them hot dogs, chicken nuggets, corn dogs, waffles. These are my staples. SICK. When did I start this?? Oh yeah, when they stopped eating what I wanted to eat and I thought they were going to starve to death. Not that I expect them to eat fresh Sockeye Salmon off the grille with sauteed asparagus. Kidding... I only eat like that every once in a while.
I've made a couple of the recipes. And with all recipes, they must be tweaked. I'm basically making things like I always make them, but just adding pureed vegetables. Which is cool. I don't really care if my kids eat lowfat. I like Dane chubby and Naydine needs the fat. I've made the chocolate beet cake, which I know is delish because my MIL has made that for me before. Just made some chili tonight and I've also added sweet potato to some Velveeta shells the other day. I literally could not taste the difference. Some stuff I can, some I can't.
Naydine is doing pretty good with it. Dane, not so much.

Anybody else out there sneaking veggies into their kids meals??

Moving on.....

I've been doing some photo shoots lately. Which is taking up ALL my time. Editing them is RETARDED and FUN. Haha...... But most of all, TIME CONSUMING. I have started a photography blog, which I'm not ready to share with all my bloggy friends at this point, but be on the look out in the next few days. I have a good portion done but just need to add a few more pictures and details.
I have an interesting shoot on Friday. It's for the local D.A. who is going for re-election. She has asked me to shoot their 'Meet and Greet the Candidate' photos as well as some candid shots at the BBQ fundraiser. Cool, considering Elizabeth Dole is likely to be there!

I have a HOUSE UPDATE. I need a crowd cheer on this one people. We have approvals and we should be putting up the silt fence tomorrow, I believe. Which is a START. This is not technically breaking ground, but to me it is! hahaha.....

Other than that, anybody want to see a picture of the pottery I painted last Diva Night. Haha.... I didn't think so! I'll impress you at a later date!

Daddy's Pick

2008-08-30T13:50:00.002-04:00

Actually should be: Daddy's Pic. Eli took these pictures the other night when I was out with the girls. Dane is actually looking at the camera in 2 of these! Something he'll never do for me because he's too busy, you know, trying to hug and kiss and snuggle me. It's not that he's too busy playing trucks to look up. Don't be fooled:)

Been Eat'n Cookies

2008-08-30T09:45:00.004-04:00

I made these popsicookies the other day. Kinda fun. Naydine likes them!

It's my friend, Jessica's, birthday today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! We went out the other night and painted some pottery. It was a blast. The local shop here has Diva Night once a month. You can come in with your own wine, snacks, etc. and paint pottery for a couple hours. We really had a great time, a lot of laughs, and definitely looking forward to next month's Diva Night.

I've also been messing around with my camera. Trying to learn more, trying to be steady, etc. I'm going to do a shoot with my friends, Dean and Tori, tomorrow after church. I'm looking forward to it. Tori used to do some modeling, so, I'm thinking she should be easy!! hahaha...

Hope everybody is having a nice, long, relaxing weekend!!

New Lens

2008-08-26T15:05:00.003-04:00

Okay, so I haven't blogged in a while. I've been busy.

Since my last blog, we've been to Florida. I might have a few pictures to post, but nothing great. Eli has been back at work so, it's been hectic with the kids. Dane, he's started the terrible two's. Which is fine, he's just not taking too well to the fact that this life is not all about him. If that's the case, do most people even leave the terrible two's?

I bought a new lens. 28-135mm. The AF seems a little slow to me, but all I can really compare it to is the 50mm f/1.8. Which, I totally miss that DOF with this new lens. However, it is nice to have some range in the bag. Um, did y'all like my new lingo?? hahha.... whatever.

Here are a few shots with the new lens.....

Maybe I'll get with the program and do a real post soon!! Let me collect my thoughts. I know there is more stuff I would like to write about Dane because I don't want to forget them.

Off to the library, I promised Naydine!

Strawberry Shortcake: Recap

2008-08-11T20:54:00.002-04:00

The party went as well as a 3 y.o. party can go, I guess.

Great weather. Check.
Perfect cake. Check.
Juice boxes. Check.
Lunchables. Check.
Sick Birthday Girl. Check.

Yeah..... she was not feeling the best. But she made a go for it.

Here's the deal with the cake. Awesome, huh?? So, my friend Bootsie volunteered a few months back to bake a cake with her Strawberry Shortcake pan for the SS party. Well, let's just say, she skipped using the pan. This is actually our builder and his wife building this cake. Marshmallow fondant, buttercream icing, and fancy candle. This cake was awesome looking AND awesome tasting. So, thank you Bootsie and Jason!

Yes, she is jumping off the diving board. And LOVING it!! It's so funny. She's so small and she just jumps right off there. However, when I zoom up on her face in these pics, it looks scared! hahaha....

Yeah, a picture of me finally made the blog!! hahaha.... RARE!

Rock out, Jazzy!!

Dean and Tori. Thanks for coming guys!!

I think Ryder was the only child to finish all his cake! hahaha... Get it done, boy!!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes for Naydine!! She's "free" now! haha.... three......

Happy Birthday, baby

2008-08-10T21:42:00.003-04:00

Naydine, I cannot believe you are 3. It's impossible. Well, 3 years really isn't that many. But 6lb 14oz, 19 3/4" long, tiny baby girl, was a long time ago.

You are beautiful in so many different ways. Your heart, it is sooooo soft. You love your family. And you love your friends. And animals. And your soon to be friends. You are a good girl. Yes, you have your moments, but you ARE good.

You do no like to look at my camera... so this shot surprises me. Thanks, honey. I really wanted a birthday picture of you!!

You are going to start your new school soon. Again, I can't believe you do school. You really love school. If you didn't love it so much, I wouldn't send you till you were going to Kindergarten. This year you'll be at the Sandhills Classical Christian School. And if all goes well, and mom and dad can afford, I hope you can continue going there while we live in Southern Pines. Pretty soon you'll be able to write your name. You can almost say your name right. I'm sorry we gave you a big name. Well, not really. But you used to call yourself Teenie Deenie. And now you are saying, "Daydine". Very cute. I love it. You know your birthday is August 10. I want to say all the stuff that you know, but seriously, we'd be at this forever. A long time ago, you knew your mom was "Jaime" and your dad was "Eli". No, you don't know our phone number yet. Let's keep it that way. You are only 3.

I think you weigh about 25 pounds. Your hair is getting THICK. Your eyes are more grey than blue now. You look identical to your mother at age 3, but way skinnier and your hair is curlier. Most of your pants are still 18 months, shirts are 2T. Your shoe size is 6.5. Right now your favorite movie is Veggie Tales: Moe's Big Exit. You love your Moose A. Moose stuffed animal, Baby Born, your snugglies and dresses. This year, Strawberry Shortcake was your party theme. I wonder what next year will be?? I love wondering what you'll want to discover next!

Honey, you melt our hearts. We don't want you to get any bigger. But you will and we are going to love you BIGGER.

We love you!
Mom and Dad

Better Late than Never!

2008-08-03T15:37:00.001-04:00

Almost a month ago, I took these pictures for Amy and Josh of my nephew, Landen. Yeah, I'm just getting the CD ready for her now. I'm a slacker Aunty. Sorry guys! But here's a little preview of the CD that WILL BE IN THE MAIL THIS WEEK! I promise:) haha...

Play Date

2008-08-02T11:29:00.003-04:00

Yesterday we had a play date over at my friend Jessica's. Since my kids won't look at the camera anymore, I thought I should practice taking pictures of my friend's kids.

It was nice in their backyard, plenty of shade for a 95* day!! My kids basically just wanted to play in their playroom the entire time, by themselves. Aaahh, and I just let them! Peace and quiet:)

This is Ethan. He was hilarious! He was jumping in the mud and peeing all over the backyard. Hahaha....

And Ethan's brother, Evan...

And here is Jasper. She's been on the blog before, but when she was only 6 days old..... here she is at 3 months and has the cutest nickname, JAZZY. I love it!

Here's Jessica, filling up the huge pool. haha...

And here's Amelia.... she's also been on the blog before. She reminds me so much of Naydine when she was younger. Just so tiny...... I miss it!!

And here's Jazzy again.... She started smiling all over the place and I must have gotten excited because most of those shots turned out blurry. Ugh.... I hate when that happens.

We Have Sound

2008-07-31T13:44:00.002-04:00

I have the DVD player figured out in the truck. The sound can feed through a designated radio frequency. Easy enough! hahaha....

Now let's see about getting 20mpg.

My Strawberry Shortcake is Turning 3!

2008-07-30T00:20:00.003-04:00

Are you a good steward?

2008-07-29T23:24:00.004-04:00

To your finances, that is.

In full, "Are you a good steward to your finances"?

Has everybody read the 'Extreme Makeover' house faces foreclosure? Well, I read the small article tonight on Yahoo!TV and.... I'm pretty much disappointed. I don't know the reason these people ended up getting a house from Extreme Makeover:Home Edition, so maybe I'm talking before getting all the facts. But from the story, I get that they received the house and then borrowed against it, $450,000, to start a construction company and then went into foreclosure. And it just REALLY BUGS me that the article reads, "the latest victim of the foreclosure crisis".

Victim? Are you kidding me?? A victim of bankruptcy?? After you have been blessed with a house that is paid off?? I don't really have the words here but, maybe they are not responsible with their finances. It really just blows my mind.

The article also reads that Beazer Homes (the company that built their house) and its employees raised $250,000 additional for the "family, including scholarships for the couple's three children and a home maintenance fund".

I rarely watch this show, but when I do, it literally makes me cry. I just see what the network makes of these families, how hard they have it. And of course I never see the follow up story of how the family is doing after receiving this huge blessing. And then I see this today and I'm just so disappointed.

We actually had this sermon in church on Sunday. And I actually could never explain this well, or I'd be a pastor, but it was about the 3 ways you are in poverty.
1. Poverty by birth.
2. Poverty due to chastisement.
3. Poverty by choice.

What situation are these people from, 1, 2, or 3? I'm not judging, but maybe what these people needed was some help in managing finances and living within their means. A mortgage on a $450K home has to be around $3500+(-)/month. Can you imagine how much money you would need to make to live if that house payment were covered?

I don't want to keep rambling. And this should be a TFT, but, I'm not good at posting those. Does this bother anybody else, that this happened? That this country is actually calling going into foreclosure, being a victim of?

My bottom line is that I am more than willing to give to those less fortunate. Being a giver and blessing others is what we need to do in life. But, there is a line that we need to draw and making sure that people are good stewards to their finances.

Hello Moto

2008-07-28T20:46:00.003-04:00

Everything we were looking for, except the new-car smell. Bummer. It's a used '07, but I think it was purchased in '06 so I'm pretty sure it's more like 2 years old.
This Yukon is 8 passenger and has a nice sized DVD player. However, it must be after-market because I don't think I can feed the sound through the speakers. My CD player doesn't say DVD, I don't think. I actually have to put the DVD into the console on the ceiling. Which means, how in the world am I going to get a 15 month old child to wear the headsets? Yeah, I don't know yet. I think I can feed an audio cable over to my radio controls until he's a big boy. That's my best answer.
I'm giving the tan leather a whirl. I can see that it's obviously going to be harder to keep clean! Grr.... I've had to do some scrubbing on the carpets even after they shampooed them. But hey, at least I didn't pay sticker, right? haha... kidding.
And back to black paint. I know already that I'm going to miss the white. I swear, I only washed it once a quarter:)
Oh, these pictures are mostly for my husband who is out of town. Thanks for the green-light, babe! Love you!

Spiders and Snakes, Oh My!

2008-07-26T14:39:00.002-04:00

So, last night, again (some of you may remember this type of post after I moved to NC) there was a huge spider in our porch. He/she must have spun its web in a matter of a few hours because when I was outside earlier, it wasn't there yet. People, I should have taken a picture. This wasn't a simple, symmetrical web. It was a wall of web. It looked OLD. It was a comgloberation. And it was catching tons of bugs. YUCK! And the spider in this web, well, it doesn't surprise me that in a few quick hours it put up this Spider Restaurant. It was big. I also have arachnophobia, so, I know there are larger spiders out there, but this one is big enough for me.

This morning, I look out on the porch for B-I-G, and, HE'S GONE! WEB AND ALL. I kid you not! The whole darn web is GONE! How in the..... You tell me. Have you guys seen this done before? No wind, no rain. This is going to sound stupid, but, do spiders suck their webbing back up? DON'T LAUGH! I just don't know!!

So, the beauty of being able to see the spider in its web is that you know it's not in your HOME. Now, I have no freaking idea where the spider is, which is not COOL.

But, if you haven't heard enough of my whining about the wildlife of NC, HEAR THIS ONE!

We have a tiny backyard. It's a condo. And in the back yard there are a few bushes which are watered by a sprinkler system. The hosing is not buried by dirt, but by pinestraw. Well, we are missing a little pinestraw so the hose is showing. And as I'm looking out the window today, I'm noticing that the hosing is a little bigger and out of place. Yeah, you got it. SNAKE!! Freaking snake, PEOPLE! This snake is probably pushing 5' long and 2 inches thick, black. The only reason I say "pushing" is because I don't want to exaggerate. I'm yelling for Naydine to come look at it. Her and Dane are looking out the window, Dane is laughing. Brat. Naydine is like, "It'll bite me and I will die?". Haha! Yeah, I think I might have said something like that. Why would I do that to my child? I don't know.... I'm stupid.
It slithered off underneath the fence shortly after. But, still. I'm a freak. I don't mind looking out the window at these things. But, Dane likes to venture into the back yard. I tend to fire up the BBQ, which the gas tank is empty right now, so, no need to be BBQing.

The moral of this story is, did the snake eat the spider?

*Sigh* The drama that happens when Eli is out of town.

Books, books, books

2008-07-15T21:05:00.003-04:00

Tonight I'm online trying to get an order together of books for Naydine. I really want to get her some daily devotionals or a different children's Bible. The one we have is good/cute, but, I'm getting sick of it. And I love Jonah and the Big Fish, but I think it's time to tell a little more about the story. Maybe Naydine doesn't need something new, but I do.
I wanted to maybe buy a series of books, something age appropriate for 3. Any suggestions out there?? What's everybody reading to their kids??

We had 2 people come through the house today. Both in the market to make an actual purchase. So, that's great! I'd love to see an offer on the table. Which led me to start looking at a rental house for us. And when I found 1 house in this area, that we live right now, it got me thinking we need to buy a rental property. Wait, we need to buy a more inexpensive home and then just rent it out after we finish building. Aaaaaahhh..... just kidding. I mean, I think it's a good idea but, I just don't know that I'm down for it right now. They definitely seem to be in high demand.

I also want to welcome my friend Jessica to the blog world!!! Jessica's kids are the same age as mine. Naydine and G went to school together last year. Go show her some love!:)

Big Catch

2008-07-11T23:26:00.003-04:00

Anybody who lives in the area of Jessica, you need to hire her. She's just SO talented! I took these pictures of Landen, but Jess made this announcement. So cute! Perfect for Amy and Josh. They are outdoorsmen/women. Thought I'd share!

A few family pics

2008-07-10T10:58:00.004-04:00

I have a ton to do today, we just got back home last night! But Jessica has taken our family pictures this year and these are a few that she has ready to view. She knows my patience level, so, she got a few ready asap. Thanks Jess! haha....

She did a great job! You can see a few different shots at her blog as well.

Minnesota, Here We Come

2008-06-28T23:23:00.005-04:00

It's been 9 months since we left MN and now are making our first trip back.

Just wanted to look back and see what the kids looked like 9 months ago, comparing it with one of their recent shots together. Yeah... they look a little bit different. I'm laughing, though, because Naydine is still wearing those jammies and they are 18 month. She'll be 3 this August! haha... peanut!

I've also rented the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM from Rentglass.com. I'm pretty excited about it!! IT'S FREAKING HUGE, by the way! Put that thing on my little Rebel and I do a nose dive! But so far, SO COOL. Great in low light. Love it..... Plus, I love that wide angle. I don't think I'm ready to purchase this lens yet, but, I did want to see what it was all about.

We fly out Monday morning, early, so we'll have a full day on Monday. My grandpa passed away last week, so I missed seeing him. One of the reasons we were coming back to MN. The timing stunk on that one:( Here is a shot from him at his 80th Birthday party last August. We are all so grateful that we had this party! He was such a wonderful man!! I have so many fond memories of my grandpa, teaching me to play crazy eights and smelling like Old Spice...... aaahh.... I love him!

Maybe I'll be seeing some of you bloggers in MN!!!

Another Nephew

2008-06-26T23:46:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to Amy and Josh!! Landen James McDonald arrived today!! 8 lbs. 6 oz, 20" long.

I have to say that I only saw Amy's pregnancy through pictures and she basically still had a 6 pack at 40 weeks pregnant. We were betting that the baby was like 6 lbs. 3 oz. And she pushes out the whopper!! Holy cats, I AM SO SURPRISED!!! This is her first baby!

Way to go guys!! We'll see you in 4 days!

SOLD

2008-06-17T13:05:00.002-04:00

Good bye, 8444 13th Ave. SE.

The Olympia house was our first house purchase together. It's kind of sad that she's not ours anymore. But, we are happy to be closed. Coast to coast is not an easy rental property.

We had somebody in the current townhouse yesterday. I think he was quite interested. And if he is, and wants to close by the end of July like he said, I think we'll be going apartment style. Or.... rental house, I guess. Yeah... I better start looking for some rental houses. Our new house hasn't even started yet!

Just Like Her Momma

2008-06-15T22:33:00.003-04:00

Except she was talking on a phone that no longer works. Eli calls her Jaime Jr. Sometimes he slips and just calls her, Jaime.

Where are my manners? Happy Father's Day Eli!

And I found this one of Dane from a while back too....

Heat Wave

2008-06-14T22:13:00.006-04:00

This is my first summer in North Carolina. And of course, we are having record temperatures. Nothing that this MN girl can't handle, though:) I do love the heat and the air conditioning, equally. We are talking temps of 103-107*. So, we joined the Elks Club. They have a pool right down the street from us, takes about 2 minutes to drive there. Also walking distance from our future property. Naydine was calling it the Alex Pool. I guess that's what my accent sounds like when I say Elks. Interesting....

Naydine is doing awesome at swimming. She loves to wear the goggles and go underwater for a long time. It's crazy!! We are going to have her do the swim lessons and I seriously think that she's going to be swimming by herself soon. She goes under water in the kiddie pool and swims around. However, I think she's kind of laying on the bottom and pushing herself around from the floor of the pool But, it looks like she's really swimming underwater! And she'll dive in and glide along the bottom too. Eli and I are just laughing the whole time!

Dane, he's not a big fan. I think tonight, finally, he got in by himself and grabbed a toy from the pool quick and got out. He tries to steal other kids snacks, talk to the teenage girls in bikinis, and crap his swim diaper. Oh, and Naydine has to poop every time we are there too. And why can't kids be discreet about this? She has to yell, "Mom, I have to poop!!", while grabbing her butt! LOL.... right when you think that maybe everybody didn't understand her 2 year-old-language, she has to confirm this statement by grabbing her butt.... aaahhhh....

One other crazy thing here is that our hose water never gets cold. Well, neither does our tap water. But, it's kind of cool that the house never gets ice cold because then I get to take all these fun pictures!

Dane is ticked at Naydine for taking the hose!! He's getting a temper on him! ha!

New Bedding, again

2008-06-12T21:11:00.005-04:00

A while back, I couldn't stand my ghetto bedroom. Well, I still can't stand it. So.... I was browsing on PotteryBarn the other day and found the stuff that we both really liked a while back, WAS NOW ON CLEARANCE. Can I get an "Amen"? Geesh... fabulous! Well, some of the stuff wasn't available anymore. Like the solid green shams, gone. And the solid green quilt, gone. The decorative pillow, gone:( So, you ask, what WAS available? We got the duvet cover, the printed shams, and some other solid green sham (not shown). And some new nightstands. They are actually the first nightstands Eli and I have purchased together for our room. WE ARE RETARDED, I know.

Now we are thinking about this headboard. Seagrass... Anyway, we are gonna get there, piece by piece.

I hate Typepad

2008-06-12T21:08:00.003-04:00

I'm going to admit that I used to be a little bit jealous of the Typepad users. Your pages are just more "clean" and your pictures posted nicer, etc. I kind of wanted to switch but, whatever, I never did. Now, I hate Typepad. What is with it?!?! 1/2 the time I want to comment on your Typepad blog, I get an error message..... If I can even get your page to load. I can't get your pages to load right now! I swear, I want the old Typepad back! haha.... Good luck guys! I feel for ya!

Verde

2008-06-10T15:08:00.004-04:00

More than a year ago, the Cox's went to Mexico and Momma Jill brought back a little green dress for Naydine. She was just so tiny then, of course it didn't fit.

Naydine was rummaging around her dresser yesterday and asked if she could wear that little green dress. And the scrunchy. I loved the scrunchy. It brought back memories of back in the day..... Gotta love a scrunchy:)

These are for you, Momma Jill......

The rare few shots of the kids together.....

I think they are even holding hands??? haha.... They're good kids!

We Hate Insurance

2008-06-02T08:14:00.002-04:00

Obviously, Homeowners Insurance isn't going to cover our TV. Which totally sucks because we have been paying for a rider that covers personal possession loss so that we don't eat the depreciation on the item.
The reason we are not covered is because somebody would have had to trespass into our house, we would file a police report, and then homeowners would cover under their peril of Malicious Mischief. According to me, Naydine did Malicious Mischief.
Now the TV is sitting in our garage. So I ask the agent a hypothetical question, "So let's just say the TV is now sitting in the garage and one of our ghetto thumping neighbors sees it in there and steals it out of the garage tonight. Would you cover it then?" And she says, "Yes, we'll consider that claim". But her voice was slightly hesitant. Hahaha... I was just wondering because they obviously have it on file now that our TV is broken. So I just figured they answer would be, it's an unusable item at this point and we will not cover anything where your TV is concerned.
Then I called a repair service and they laughed in my face. She tells me that it's most likely going to cost more to repair it than to buy a new TV. I don't see why it has to be that way. I should call Pioneer personally and really talk with these people. She says she's not certain and will call me back..... and the final the answer is: it would cost $2500 to buy the part we need and they no longer sell it. HA HAHAHAHA. Yeah, that TV is history. I just need to see if this servicing company would like to buy our TV for parts. It is useless to us.

So...... we also have a policy that covers jewelry, furs, stuff like that. However, there is no category for televisions. Trust me, I would have put it on the policy and claimed in 9 months when we move to the new house. The do have a column for guns and cameras. So, I did add those items to the policy along with my furs:) And this policy does cover for accidental (like, if your kids drop your camera, or if i do!) with no deductible.

I do love USAA so, I can't hate them, I just hate insurance. Even if I did sell insurance for several years.
Which reminds me I need to update some other insurances.

Everybody out there have their insurance up to date? With cameras on a policy as well??:)

My First Real Shoot

2008-05-28T10:31:00.008-04:00

So, I was asked to do a little photo shoot last Saturday. Um..... okay? I seriously have to say, I can't guarantee that they will turn out. Because I just don't know. Thank God their kids are SO. FREAKING. CUTE!! I had that going for me!

Let me tell you one of the challenges. Dad, he's 6'-7" and mom, I think she's like 5'-4". Ha... So getting dad's head in the picture was funny, for me:) And dad, he didn't really want to be there. Like most men for a sitting:)

Anyway, what do you like better?? Color or B/W? I think Andrea has decided to do B/W for her prints.

You can't tell the height difference that much when they are sitting. He must be all legs!

But can you see it here???

These are just a couple pictures. My problem is that I am always tilting the camera. Is your neck soar from looking at pictures? Haha... I think I must like the severe angle but, I think I'm the only one!! I'm going to work on that!!

If any of you pros out there have any editing advice, BRING IT ON. And honestly, if you'd like to give me any pointers towards achieving a better shot, PLEASE, send them my way. I could definitely use some constructive criticism.

Is it already Wednesday??

Broken TV

2008-05-22T20:32:00.003-04:00

Any idea if it's possible to fix a cracked 50" plasma TV after your daughter throws a hairbrush at it? There is no picture, just a black and white solid screen.

Beautiful.

I'm baaaaaaack!

2008-05-20T14:03:00.002-04:00

Ok, so the WA trip went well. The house is under contract and everything seems to be going smoothly. Loved the couple that are buying the house, would be super fun neighbors!

Upon my return last night at 11pm, I find my son still awake and playing on the bed with his daddy. Just about the cutest thing ever, minus the 11pm thing. He's tumbling around on the bed and cuddling with daddy. And he's shy of me! WHAT???!??!?! No way, not my boy. I was only gone 5 whole days. Not fair!
But when Naydine woke up this morning, she knew exactly who her mama was:) She got in bed and snuggled with me. Then we got up and I gave her the new shoes I bought her and the jammies that Lisa bought her. She was pretty happy about her new gifts. Then says, "Lets watch a show. I wanna watch TV." Um, daddy..... how much TV did these kids watch while I was gone?? hahaha......

Trading places with Eli for 5 days was a good thing for the both of us. It was good to see what it's like to be in each others shoes. And now we can relate and understand what we're both going through. I wish he could have been in WA with me though!

Now, lets get focused on the new house. We need to touch base with Jason and see when we can start this project! Oh yeah, and shave $22,000 off the house to meet our budget:) Details, details..... :)

Thanks for all the well wishes on my trip!!

Head'n Out

2008-05-14T08:39:00.003-04:00

So, it's been a while since I've flown. I'd say about 8 months...... I've made enough trips to the airport but, it's been a while since I've stepped on the plane. The hubs has informed me that I will only be checking 1 bag that will be under 50 pounds so that I am not paying the hefty baggage fees these days. I'm wearing flip flops so that when I have to take my shoes off, I'm not ticked. Oh yeah, and just because I love flip flops:)

I am going to be kid-free for over 5 days. Which is going to be extremely strange to me. I just dropped Naydine off at school and gave her this big hug because I won't see her till next Monday. I felt myself get slightly emotionally but pulled it together because she was looking at me like I was a little bit crazy. Oh well. Wait till Kindergarten, Naydine. You'll KNOW I'm crazy then.
I've only left Naydine over night when I was having Dane. I've never left Dane over night yet. I know they will both be fine, it will all be good. I'm still going to miss them. But it is going to be sweet to have this little break! Yay!!

I'm going to be trying to sell this house, so, keep me in your prayers.
And, the weather is going to be in the 80's. Which, is RARE for WA state in May. So whoot-whoot! I'm sooooooo lucky!!

I'll check in on all my bloggie friends in a few days!!!

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T12:26:00.003-04:00

I hope everybody is having a fabulous Mother's Day!!! Kick back and RELAX. Yeah right, huh?:)

Eli got home last night at 1:30am.... Naydine was awake in the middle of the night and came to "snuggle with Daddy". And Dane was up at 6:45 with a nice fever. Grrr... I think I'm gonna take a nap here pretty soon:)

Here are a few Mother's Day cards I made up for this week..... check 'em out.... These are some of Naydine's classmates and their siblings.

Preparations for WA

2008-05-10T21:41:00.004-04:00

I'm normally lacking for blog material. Which, if I'd just think about it for longer than 2 seconds, I could probably come up with some decent stuff but..... I don't think.

So, I've been getting ready for my WA trip coming up on Wednesday. It's still debatable if I'm bringing the kids or not. Jesus, help me if I am! It's a LONG day getting there and back. The fastest itinerary going against the jet stream is 8 hours. Can y'all imagine a 1 year old doing an 8 hour travel day, not including drive time and arriving at the airport early?? Which, if you add those hours up, will be a 12 hour travel day. There isn't enough Benadryl in the world, so I'm not going to use any. I'm only supposed to be bringing Dane but, we'll see what really happens. Plus, he's been sick. Well, fever and moaning/groaning. I think I need to bring him in Monday to check for an ear infection. He's never had one, so, this could be the first.

I used those homeopathic ear drops tonight, and I think they do help for pain. We've used them before and they seem to help with pain control while the body fights the infection. So he's never had ammoxicillon. And yeah... that is NOT spelled right:)

When we get to WA, I'll be staying with my good friend Lisa. It's going to be fun!! One of the girls that is interested in my house sells Taste of Home Entertaining. Anybody heard of that? Well, we are going to do a party with her on Thursday night. That way, I can invite a bunch of people that I haven't seen in a long time! There is just no way that I will be able to see even 1/2 the people that I'd like to see. Plus, getting the house show-ready and doing appointments is first priority. So.... the party is going to be a Senoritas and Margaritas theme. Or Flip Flop Fiesta. Either one, I'M COOL WITH! And have you seen a catalogue? I love this stuff!! And I'm pretty sure my checkbook doesn't:)!

Eli is flying in late tonight after being gone um, 21 days. Yeah... the kids are ready to be with their other parent. They are SICK of me, literally. So, hopefully they get some good daddy time in tomorrow while I run away. Haha... kidding. They were good kids this time around!! You didn't see any posts on me needing parenting advice for whining, right??:)

I hope all you ladies out there are enjoying your big weekend! Most of you are moms, some aren't but..... have a good one either way!! I'll leave you with some pics from the park today. You can tell in Dane's eyes that he's just not feeling up to par... And then you can tell by Naydine's eyes that she is up to no good! Grrr...

Twinkle Star

2008-05-03T22:53:00.006-04:00

Last night, Naydine and I were just finishing up a Dora bedtime story where it asks, "And what do YOU wish for?". Naydine says, "My daddy....". Aaaaahhh, tear at my heat a little more why don't ya! Eli's only been gone 2 weeks. I can't imagine if he were still in the Army!

It was pretty stinking cute. She's been saying such funny/cute things lately:

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
"Good job, mommy! I'm so proud of you!", after a visit to the chiropractor.
"My heart is sad."
"My daddy's in heaven, working." Um, if you call the desert in California: heaven????
"I ate a turd sandwich." After she wakes up from a nap and has some raunchy breath.
"My papa's in Minn-a-soda."
"Change him, mama! Change him!" After Dane does a big job in his diaper.
"Faster, mama! Faster!" While driving in the car.

There's more, I just can't think of them at this exact moment.

She's also been extremely helpful! SWEET! She's in the stage where, if she can help me, she's all about it. Which is great, even though it's more work to let her help me:) But if she's willing, I'm taking that opportunity to teach her more stuff!! I wouldn't say that she's the smartest kid in her class, but, I think she's doing really well with her manners and being a good kid.

This isn't a milestone post, but, I have to say a few more things about her.

Naydine will be 3 in August, so, she's still 2 to me:) But she can help me make her bed, clean up her room, ask me to wash some of her laundry, water my plants and flowers, help her brother off the slide, feed Boo bites of yogurt, wipe up a mess on the floor, ride on the outside of the shopping cart, throw away poopy diapers in the appropriate trash can, help me bring trash to the dumpster, and sleep in a full size bed upstairs all by herself (which she's been doing for a year, but, she's really good at it now. hehe...)

She amazes me everyday. I think back to what she was like at Dane's age now. I can't believe how big she is! Ugh..... grrr.... DON'T GET ANY BIGGER!

At Dane's age now - Just a few days ago

A Sun Shower

2008-04-26T15:28:00.002-04:00

I was just laying outside, sweating in the hot sun, and it starts to sprinkle. Talk about refreshing. Much better than getting sprayed down with a water bottle of cold water:)

And.... the first item we ordered for the new house has arrived. The stainless steel farmhouse sink, from Overstock. Sometimes, you just gotta love Overstock. Anyway, it looks pretty cool. I probably won't need it for 7 more months but, I had to order it because the cabinetry is being built around this "good buy". Would be a shame if it had sold-out.

I took Nay and Dane to Reservoir Park today. We had some ducks walk up close to where we were sitting, saw a turtle, ate a Lunchable, and dipped our feet in the water. It was nice....

Now I'm contemplating going to WalMart to get them a little pool to put in the yard. We have a fun pool from Nay's birthday party last summer, but, I think it'll take up the whole front yard. Plus, it needs to be something I can just empty out easily at night and put away. Makes me all the more excited for the new house.

I hope everybody is having a good weekend!

TFT: Do You Put Your Hand on Your Heart?

2008-04-24T10:40:00.000-04:00

I know, you're sick of seeing this picture. It's been around.

But I've been giving a lot of thought to this lately, being it an election year. When YOU look at this picture, honestly, what does it mean to you? If it were a Republican up there, I'd ask the same thing. This has nothing to do with your party or affiliation. I'm asking, as an American.

I questioned Eli last night, "What exactly does it mean to put your hand on your heart when you say the Pledge of Allegiance? I've always done it, and I never think twice about it. Does it mean that when I'm saying the powerful words of the Pledge, I mean it from my heart? That they are not just words I memorized in grade school?".

When I see somebody do this, especially in the powerful, leadership position that they are in, I am curious what it means to them and why they don't want to put their hand on their heart. Do they not believe in the words? I really don't think it has much to do with religion or the "under God" part.

Or, do you think it's no big deal? It's not something that is required in order to mean the words you are saying? Who's to say that the words were even spoken that day?

So, leave me a comment and tell me how you feel. What it represents, from your heart. Or is it just no big deal? And don't be anonymous!

Lame-O

2008-04-22T21:58:00.004-04:00

So, I just haven't been feeling like writing anything. Can ya tell?

Last Thursday, I was going to post a controversial TFT (first TFT for me), most likely because I was feeling sassy. And then blogger wouldn't load my image so, I think it's still saved in my drafts. I'll wait for another day. Not that it's a sassy post, it's just people will probably get sassy about it.

Let's see... Hung out with our new friends (builder/architect/spouses) on Saturday night. Needless to say, I had 1 too many margaritas and paid for it the next day. Dearly. In an odd way though. Let's not talk about it anymore.
But, I have to say that I do like our new friends a lot. Very nice. I guess it's one way to make new friends in a new town:) Especially when they are going to be your neighbors!

Eli's out of town again. The kids were killing me today! Naydine was just non-stop. Needy, needy, needy. She is always getting "hurt". It's pretty much ridiculous. And Dane's butt cheeks are so raw, I feel awful for the guy.

I've been working on the kitchen cabinets for the house. This is pretty much the "area". No, I'd say the kitchen will BE the focal point of the house. I think. So far, I'm loving it. The island is about the size of a single wide trailer. Hilarious.....
The guys staked out the corners this weekend. That shed some light on where the house will actually sit. Good for me, I was having a hard time with that one.
Eli has been researching chainsaws like a mofo. Crazy.... looks like we'll be getting a Stihl. Whatever that means:) hehe... just kidding.

Here's a cute picture that Eli took of Dane. He's been giving me crap that he doesn't get to use the camera anymore! hehe... oops.

Here are a few of Naydine. Typical scowl these days....

Back to School

2008-04-14T10:07:00.002-04:00

I've been trying to teach Naydine the song, Back to School from Billy Madison. Hehe.... She goes to that Terrific Twos school and been on Spring Break for the last week. No, we did not do Mexico or Disney World. We stayed home and enjoyed the nice weather, played at the park, and went on lots of walks.
Speaking of school, we saw one of Naydine's classmates in our "new" neighborhood where we are building. Cool..... small town.

This weekend was good. Nothing too exciting but, we did get our herb garden planted. We are looking at having Lavender, Sweet Basil, Rosemary, Oregano, Jalapeno Peppers, Roma Tomatoes, and some other type of Big Boy Tomato. Oops, I forgot the Cilantro so I need to go back and get that some time this week. The plan for this summer is to eat a lot of the food that is on the Saint-Tropez Diet. Oooohhhh, we love the food on this diet. It's just so labor intensive, so we have to modify from the recipes in the book. No... we are not dieting. We just want to eat some of that food again. Anybody tried that diet? French and Mediterranean cuisine. And yes, you CAN drink red wine, one glass a night.... That's what had us interested!
With the herbs/peppers/Cilantro/Tomatoes we'll be doing the Pico de gallo. Not sure on the spelling there, but I think I'm close.... Love this stuff. And also doing the large tomato slices with the fresh mozzarella, basil, oil/balsamic vinegar/garlic combo. Ooohhhh, love this too. Not to mention doing a bruschetta. Oh, I'm so ready for this stuff. I had a dream last night that I was showing Naydine the tiny tomatoes that had already grown on our plants in 2 days. Yeah, JUST DREAMING! Grrr....

Back in WA, we had a house showing this weekend. DID NOT GO WELL. Lets just say this.... one of my renters failed to leave the house and decided to jump in the shower when they were viewing. What the heck!!?!?!! AAAAAAHHHHHH! How can a potential buyer even consider a house if they haven't seen the whole thing? What a waste of her time. Plus, I find out that the house smelled like fish, the blinds were all closed up, trash hadn't been taken out, etc. So,that makes me sad. And the truth is, I can't make the renters clean up and make my house look good to show. But what I can do is make sure they get out of the house, after a 24 hour heads-up, so it can be showed. So... I'm pretty mad at the guy.

On a funnier not, I'm just watching the Democrats kill each other this weekend and today. Do they not realize they are just KILLING each other? Oh, it's so bad and getting so old.

Happy Monday!

Big guy, you turned 1

2008-04-09T21:39:00.000-04:00

I can't believe you turned 1 on me, Dane. It was a year ago, I was going in to get the gels for induction, and the gels put me into labor. And there you were... you looked buff the day you were born. Big chest and arms, skinny waist and legs. So cute.... Dang, you've been a good baby. And I say "been" because.... it's all starting.

You turned 1 and you got a set of new wheels (your walking abilities) and a scream to match. You walk around the room and make a mess EVERYWHERE. You start in the shoe bench, rip all the shoes out. Then underneath the sink. Next to the cupboard with garbage bags. Next is the Tupperware drawer (which, by the way, is the only one you truly are allowed). Tupperware is all over the house..... And now you think you can dig in the bread drawer, pots/pans, baking drawer, water bottle drawer, under the range.... MUST I GO ON? And I have to document this because your dad and I clean this up non-stop. It's all you do.

The new thing is to open all your dresser drawers and try to climb to the top. Yes, to the changing table where you are crapping yourself approximately 8 times per day. I'd bring you to the proctologist, but, sounds like your peers are in the same boat. My word.... ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. I'm putting you on a fast. Especially after you crapped on the bathroom floor, after your bath, on your big day. NASTY.

Your communication skills are getting better. Well, not better. You are just trying to communicate. I think you signed at me the other night and we don't do sign:) haha.... I think it was the sign for milk or more... I'm not sure. But I laughed and thought how I'm the "bad" mom who doesn't sign with their child, but, mine will teach me sign:) You holler at me for your juice cup. This is going to last about 6 more months before I make you start acting like a human being about it. When the train goes by, you say, "Choo, choo!". Oh my word, it is cute while you are blowing the whistle. I'm pretty sure you were saying, "Nay, Nay" at the table the other night. Impressive... considering I'm not sure how you can even like her, she's so mean to you:) You're probably going to start beating her up any day now. Heck, you had 2 handfuls of her hair and she was beating you in the back trying to get you to let go. Game on, children. I will bop both of you!

In the last 2 days, your walking has become great. The light switched on and you went from baby steps to running. Well, running 15 steps and falling down. Getting right back up again and off you go. You think you're pretty cool now. And, you are. Even when you fell 1/2 way down the stairs on your big day. You were really hitting the wall, party boy. You did quite a few firsts on the birthday!

Son, we love you and are so glad you've been in our lives the past year. Just try to clean up the toys when you're done playing with them, okay? Here are a few photos from the day. Love you Boo!

The birthday waffle

Blowing out your candle! ha...

(This is actually your newest facial expression.)

Loving that birthday cake.

Your walking video

Sun Burn

2008-04-08T19:27:00.002-04:00

I just have to say, I have the first sun burn of the season!! How in the ??!?!!!?!?! Seriously, it was in the 60's today. I had jeans and a tank top on, I was a little chilly.
So tonight I'm seeing in the mirror that I have a tan line..... HOLY CRAP!! I'm so excited. And I saw on Eli's neck that he had some sun burn as well!!
Now, I guess it's going to be 78 and 80 the next 2 days. Do I dare throw on the bikini??? haha... I seriously think I might, I'm so white!

Well, I better get back to giving my kids a tubby and making Dane his 1st birthday cake. I can't believe he'll be 1 tomorrow. Aaaaaahhh!!

My friend, Ruthie

2008-04-07T22:36:00.003-04:00

So, my girl Ruthie asks me if I want to take some of these candid type shots for her. She has this magazine and there are some shots in there that she really likes and wants to try to duplicate them.

Umm... sure? I'll try.

But, GET THIS. Her husband is like.... um, pro. He's the one who hooked me up with a few lessons, a bit of memory (ok, it was more like 16GB), and......... an editing program:) Thanks Tu! Don't laugh at me, I'll get better:)

I don't think I really achieved the shots that she wanted, but, she still looks beautiful and it was a lot of fun.
She did two types of shots, natural and then we did her hair and makeup. Talk about getting some girl time in, something I don't really do anymore. So, thanks for the fun time Ruthie and I hope you like them!!

Ok, then to top the day off..... We head over to On the Border where I ate about 10 pounds of yummy, salty chips. Oooooh, so good.
To the mall, but it's closed so we have to settle for Kohl's. And anybody who's read my blog for a long time, you know how I feel about Kohl's. But anyway, I have to confess, I accidentally stole a pair of Seven jeans. I'm not kidding... it was so bizarre. I paid for a huge bag of stuff, walk to the car, throw it in and start to get in noticing them hanging over my arm. They completely blended in with the color of my jacket. Aaaahh.... needless to say, I didn't bring them back inside to pay for them. I guess I feel better about my crappy experience with the sheets now.
And what's with Kohl's selling Seven jeans? Oh, I'll tell you. They are aaaalllll messed up with the sizing. And the insides don't feel that great either. Not soft.

Well, that's my drama for the weekend. I'm off to read blogs.....

Gone Fish'n

2008-04-05T17:25:00.003-04:00

Eli and Naydine have been getting some time in fishing! I love it and think it's great father/daughter time.

These first two pictures are of last weekend when they went fishing.

Talking to mommy on the phone when she's supposed to be reeling the big one in!

And this shot is from today. It's been raining non-stop for a few days now so she likes to wear the froggy jacket. I'm pretty sure it's a 12 month jacket..... probably time for a new one:)

What do you do for parent/child bonding time??

Finally..... We are starting!

2008-04-02T14:51:00.005-04:00

On Friday we closed on this piece of property and our construction loan. Talk about EXCITING. I'm a highly excitable person as it is..... and this is just right up my alley. I'm ready to go, go, go! Which, you know does not happen in construction. But, here is the first picture and I'm going to be documenting this process so we can look back on it and remember..... If you guys aren't all that interested in houses, it could be a boring 8 months for you! Kidding... I'll still post pictures of my kids! I know the rellies back home want to see the kids!

I took these shots of the kids while we were out at our property. They are going to love this land!

We are 1 mile from downtown on .91 acres. Here's the fun part.... Our builder and architect are going to be our neighbors. They are around our age and really nice, fun people. We had them to our house for dinner a few weeks ago and it went great. I really liked them.... good to know your neighbors before you build the house, huh? There is 1 neighbor that we do not know yet. They are going to start building as well. We'll probably all be on the same time line, I guess. Anyway, I guess that neighbor is young as well, so, cool!

This house will be our 4th house, so hopefully we can remember all the stuff we loved and hated about the last houses and do it right. I have a degree in architectural design (ok, only a 2 year but it still counts! ha!), so this type of thing is something I've been interested in for a long time. I feel like I'm all set..... I've made 2 trips to the cabinet store already and, there will be a few more, I'm sure.

Here are the highlights of this house:

DEDICATED TOY ROOM (can you tell the priority level)
DEDICATED OFFICE
LARGE, BULKY FURNITURE PIECE KITCHEN ISLAND
SCREENED PORCH WITH FIREPLACE
STEAM SHOWER IN MASTER BATH
TANKLESS WATER HEATER

There were a few more highlights that I would have liked, but, I'm coming to terms with my budget:) I guess I'd still really like a central vacuum but... we'll see.

It's finally happening! Yay!!! Once we break ground, I'm sure you'll see another shot. Until then, I'll try not to bombard y'all with the details!

It's All About Nay Today

2008-03-27T23:03:00.005-04:00

Finally..... SOME GOOD SHOTS OF NAYDINE.

Thanks to everybody who has given me input on how to improve with this new camera. And thanks, Naydine, for finally looking at the camera. I appreciate it, babe.

Also, a shout out to Mary for giving me my first html modification experience and helping me fit my picture into my new header:) Hard times, I tell ya!

The park has been our new hangout. We've gone there 4 times in the last 2 days. Haha.. It was something like 80 yesterday and um, 80 today? If not, pretty close. Close enough for this girl. I LOVE IT. Wait till I'm complaining about the heat and humidity in a month or two!

Dane is going to be the bench warmer for this post. He's been in the spotlight with his pretty blue eyes long enough. Hello, fun girl:

And for dinner tonight, I made a sushi-grade Tuna steak sandwich. Delicious. Have you had?

STUPID BLOGGER

2008-03-26T09:39:00.002-04:00

So... a few people have emailed me and asked how to update the header in Blogger and make it work right.
It's mass confusion. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't? Maybe it has something to do with the retarded templates... maybe not. Who knows.
I've just tried to resize my header about 80 times to make it fit right and it's just not going to work today. It's not bad but.... it's still not in the box.
Now, if there is somebody out there that does know the rhyme or reason to the header picture fitting in the designated area, please, share.
And I shouldn't call the templates retarded. It's just my personal opinion that I am sick of them. And if I knew anything about html or keeping my widgets to use a custom template, I would. So, I'm at fault.

Now, a few things I need to note about my children so that I can look this up at a later date.

Naydine, at the ripe age of 2.5, has BIT somebody for the first time. Not just somebody, but her little brother, Boo Baby. HOW DARE SHE?!! In the tub, on the right shoulder. NAUGHTY!
Dane, you hold the record for most pee's on the floor without drinking alcohol. 3 in one hour. What were you thinking? I was just trying to let your raw, teething butt cheeks air out and you pee by the couch (and play in it!), in front of the tub, and on my bed? HOW DARE YOU?
Naydine, I had to spank you in the parking lot the other day because you threw a fit getting in the car seat. Which, you have NEVER done before. You love the Britax. Anyway, spanking in the parking lot is risky. I spanked you on your pants, not your bare buns. And my word, you had it coming. Only downfall to this, some EMT's (who were off duty and smoking in the parking lot) were watching me like they were going to call 911 and have you taken away from me. Yeah.... they made me feel like that mom who, a couple of years back, was caught on camera punching her kid in the face! I'm just wondering if they'd have rather me just shut the car door and drove home with you free to wander in the backseat? Being they were EMT's and all..... I'm sure they've seen some bad accidents where the kids weren't buckled up.

Other than that, I am anxiously awaiting my mpix order. I'm totally wing'n it here. Am I supposed to calibrate my monitor or something like that? haha... let me know, pros!

I don't know if all of this is true but...

2008-03-25T15:11:00.004-04:00

A little over one year ago:

Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high
Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon
The unemployment rate was 4.5%

Since voting in a Democratic Congress in 2006 we've seen

Consumer confidence plummet
The cost of regular gasoline soar to over $3 a gallon
Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase)
American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value evaporate (stock and mutual fund losses)
Americans have seen their home equity drop by $1.2 trillion dollars
1% of American homes are in foreclosure

I know I won't be winning an Democratic readers here but..... just thought I'd post it anyway.

11 months, 2 weeks

2008-03-24T13:52:00.003-04:00

And, we finally have a tooth. Well, you can't actually see it. You can feel it. It's just broke the skin. It'll be interesting to see how his look changes once he has teeth. Not that he could get an cuter:) hehe... kidding y'all (that's me trying to have a southern accent!)

Easter Sunday

2008-03-24T13:17:00.007-04:00

It was a pretty good Easter. Besides the fact that every holiday, Eli must be absent. Oh, and we did eat Mac-n-Cheese and peas. High class. And Naydine thought all the eggs were for her and Dane couldn't touch any of them!
But really, church was good. It was fun to see the kids dressed so cute and Naydine trying to find all the eggs in the yard. They really are a joy!

These 2 places were my ULTIMATE hiding spots! Haha kids... I still have you beat!

And then Eli made a 6 minute appearance. Which was good since he hadn't seen the kids in 4 days and he's working 10 miles from the house. Naydine is MISSING her daddy!! And Dane.. oh my word, totally misses Eli too. I think I must be NO fun compared to Daddy!!

I think I may have answered a few questions incorrectly

2008-03-21T23:22:00.002-04:00

Lord knows that I'd be called the COLON, though. What the crap???? No pun intended... SERIOUSLY! I must have mis-answered a few questions.... I think I could be the explanation point too.... I need to see if Eli is the semicolon. Haha.. does that mean it's a HUGE colon? Ok.. I'm done!!

You Are a Colon

You are very orderly and fact driven.
You aren't concerned much with theories or dreams... only what's true or untrue.

You are brilliant and incredibly learned. Anything you know is well researched.
You like to make lists and sort through things step by step. You aren't subject to whim or emotions.

Your friends see you as a constant source of knowledge and advice.
(But they are a little sick of you being right all of the time!)

You excel in: Leadership positions

You get along best with: The Semi-Colon

http://www.blogthings.com/whatpunctuationmarkareyouquiz/">What Punctuation Mark Are You?

I know, I know....

2008-03-19T22:23:00.004-04:00

Poor excuse for a Blogger, huh? Well, I've been busy.... But Eli goes back to work tomorrow and I'll get my blog time back. Hehe...

Here is some stuff I've been working on. I brought Naydine to a Princess Party for her friend Abby a few weekends ago and took some shots of a few kids there. Thought the moms might like some of this stuff....

See you tomorrow Blog World!!

Brother vs. Sister

2008-03-09T21:57:00.005-04:00

I've always wanted to do this. When my children were younger, I thought they looked so much alike. But now... not so much. They are both 11 months here.

I thought I'd be cheating Dane out of his milestones if I was constantly comparing him to his sister. So.... I guess I'm not doing it but I still wanted to post these pictures!!

And Dane... here's your 11 month picture bud. You are such a good boy!

Don't turn 1, Dane!

2008-03-09T15:34:00.007-04:00

Here we are, 11 months. I can't believe my baby is going to turn 1 next month. You really are the most funny baby I know. Here's what you've been up to lately:

You can say, "Yeeaaahh Boo" and clap your hands with a beautiful smile as if you've just accomplished the most amazing thing in the world. Which, you have:)
You have a lower pitched laugh now, which makes you all the more boy. And you do a HA. HA. HA. laugh, which is totally fake but... really funny.
You can take about 10 unassisted steps and then you fall on your large buns.
You eat adult food at all your meals with out a single. tooth. yet. Where are they, Dane?
You understand the word nursey. You think it's a game. And you still nurse in the morning and at night. Oh, and maybe once during the day. You're weening yourself off, which I love. Good boy. Way to take control of the situation.
You are great at using your sippy cup, which was very unlike your sister at this age. She couldn't grasp the concept of tipping the cup back so she had to use the straw cup. You, can't use the straw yet.
Dane, you love to do somersaults and flips on my bed. You love the snuggly on my bed so you just keep rolling and rolling around. You think you are doing the somersault yourself which is the best part. You will also stand up and put your head down so that I will help you over for a real somersault. A sumo-gymnast, you just might be.
Dad cut your mullet off for real this time. You were nursing and he grabbed the scissors and had at your hair. The new 'do' looks a little blonder than the old 'do', I might add.
You are looking more like daddy.
You poop at least 3 times a day. What is up? You're killing me.
You love to terrorize and destruct. It's your sole mission in life. Under the kitchen sink, under my bathroom sink, any toy your sister has, and all computers. They're history buddy.
I caught you laughing for about 20 seconds at a cartoon on TV last night. Bad mommy. Cute baby.
You understand when you are in trouble and you can high-tail it outta there when you see me coming!
You love to be outside. It's where you eat wood chips, rocks and soil from my planter.
You still get so excited to see your mom and dad after you wake from sleeping. It's beautiful, the sheer joy on your face and the wind you create swinging your arms.
You whine and fuss when you can't find me in the house. You just keep crawling around, searching. It's so cute.... mostly because I'm in an obvious place and you don't see me. Typical man already:)

We love you D Boy... XOXOXO.

For the Hubs

2008-03-06T23:42:00.003-05:00

Hon, I bet you miss him. Huh?

Eli's out of town, again, so I thought I'd post some shots of the boy. All these expressions in probably a matter of 30 seconds. Now, if I could just get Naydine to look at the camera.

I also wanted to try out a few adjustments in PS. I kind of like this one... It's a little bit vintage and I colorized the eyes a bit.

Loved this shot... He was just being a monkey and climbing all over the chair. Muah, boy!

Once Again.... FOR SALE

2008-03-05T22:55:00.010-05:00

Luxury Town Home living in downtown Southern Pines! This house is beautiful with 9' & vaulted ceilings, granite countertops, cherry cabinetry, high-end GE stainless steel appliances, 2 panel smooth skin doors, nickel hardware & fixtures, hardwood & tile floors, and tons of windows.
Real cedar shakes, Hardi-plank, Cultured Stone, wood/clad windows and a Craftsman style front door give this home curb appeal. The Homeowners Association is responsible for maintaining your yard, sprinkler system, pressure washing the exteriors, painting, cleaning the gutters, private playground, and an annual termite contract.
Walking distance to downtown attractions such as shops, restaurants, clubs, churches, parks, the library and a short commute to Fort Bragg and Pope AFB.
Please call or email for more information.

So, let's see how this goes.... I just checked the ticker and I already had 2 hits. I love using Military By Owner.....

So, for these shots I was able to borrow a 10-22mm lens and a flash. Um... I seriously think that I don't see a difference between these and my point and shoot. Which means I really need a class on photography. And never mind the carnival mirror effect you get with the wide angle. I can hear all the pros out there laughing at my skills:) Tu, if you are reading, bring your pretty wife and come visit me. Oh, and you'll be giving me another lesson:)

I really was just running around today, filling laundry baskets full of crap and then moving them to a new room so I could shoot the kitchen, for example. I'm pretty much exhausted right now. And, some of you might recognize the master bedroom from Is Your Bedroom Nice post. My bedroom still isn't nice and right about now, I don't care:)

Ok... point out my typos and my run-ons (which seem to be okay in real estate descriptions) and tell me if you'd inquire about my ad (if you were looking for a townhouse in NC).

Williams Sonoma?

2008-03-04T23:00:00.007-05:00

Have I mentioned that my 2.5 year old has been carrying around a Williams Sonoma magazine for 2 straight weeks now? I know, she is me.... we are clones. But, why?? She's addicted to this thing. She has to sleep with it. And they way she says ma magazine is so cute. I should go sneak in her room and take a picture of her sleeping with ma magazine but... I'm not risking waking her!

Some random shots....

Nay and her Daddy

The Dora Scooter. She's getting pretty good!

And then I saw this..... and was excited that Spring is here!

And then I have these shots of Dane, walking outside yesterday. And, go figure, I didn't even get his feet in the shot! Crap... they are still cute so I'll post them later.

However, right now, we are having a crazy hurricane storm. Oh, and there go the sirens. I was just waiting for that.... The lights were flickering, the rain was coming down so hard, and then the wind decided to swipe 1/2 the items right off my deck. I'll pick those up tomorrow...

Get to Class!

2008-03-04T08:46:00.002-05:00

So, I'm sitting here downloading 215 images from my camera to my hard drive and..... let's just put it this way: I have some time to kill.

I'm going to have to put blogging on a T.O. Time out, that is. I signed up for this CS2 class, paid my lovely $60 (not bad), and only did the first 5 classes. Now, it's about to expire and the classes that I really NEED are the ones that I haven't completed yet. (Right, Jess? Ha...) Anyway, I'm going to browse through them real quick and then save/print them so that I have them for future reference. The class just lost interest when the first courses were so basic... I was falling asleep reading them. But I know the lessons I haven't done, which are marked advanced, will be helpful.

56 of 215 images saved. Great... on a roll.

I've got a lot of crap to do this week. Join the club, huh? Life as adult is not fun and games.... NOT FAIR. But anyway.... I do this to myself so, I'm over it.
Wanna see another list? No, I didn't think so. This list is for me.... move onto a different blog for entertainment because you're not going to find any here.

The house is trashed again, Jaime. Clean it (That's a whole different bullet point. See your notepad.) Then you can:
Take pictures and get the ad ready for MilitaryByOwner.com
Finish CS2 class and save/print material
Finish the laundry and try to put it away this time. Your last effort at this was ridiculous.
Wash the bedding. It's getting gross. I'm no Oprah, people.
De-clutter the high top counter for the 100th time this week already, keep it that way!
Finish Design Boards and send them out for printing.
Oh my... there are some cute shots that you just downloaded. Post a couple to your blog and show people how dang cute your kids are:) hehe... kidding.
Go take pictures of the new coffee shop downtown. You love the color combination and wanted to email it to Manda.

Are you guys still reading this? Good.. I didn't think so.

Good. 215 images saved.

Seven Deadly Quirks

2008-03-03T23:26:00.003-05:00

Oh man.

This first quirk would blow you all away if I was completely honest, so I'm not going to be.
I'm sorry if it's offensive. If it is, just click X on your browser.

1. When I am in public and I am about to walk past somebody who looks smelly/is obese and looks like their chubby rolls might smell/appears to not have showered in quite some time/etc., I will continue to hold my breath until I am a good distance away so I do not risk smelling any foul odor. I will actually blow all the air in my body out my nostrils, in case some smell has infiltrated my nostrils, so that I have a fresh breath of air. EVERYTIME. I know, I can't help it. It's a smell thing.

2. I hate wet socks. Please dry off before exiting the shower so that I do not step onto the rug and wet my socks. Ugh.... hate that.

3. I have to put lotion on after every shower.

4. I follow a strict bedtime routine, in this order: Floss teeth, brush teeth, wash face, apply lotion. If I brush my teeth during the day, I want to wash my face, too.

5. Once I get into bed, I have to put the covers in between my knees so they are not directly touching. And from there, I rub my legs together till I get too sleep. Eli is finally okay with it. But I know it used to drive Libby nuts if we ever were sleeping in the same room!

6. I, also, like to sort my grocery on the conveyor at the store. I'm starting to think this is not a quirk anymore, since I've seen it on a few lists.

7. My clothes are color coordinated in my closet. I know this is a stretch at getting a 7th quirk but... Eli's gone and can't help me point out all my craziness right now.

Who has 2 middle names?

2008-03-02T14:15:00.003-05:00

Me. That's who. And my brother Jer. And now his new little baby girl. Poor thing. It's never really caused me much trouble except when they called my name at graduation and now that I've been TAGGED! By the way, the only reason I'm going to do this tag is because I like Jess. Otherwise I would have bowed out when I heard the rules:

(1) You must post the rules on your blog before you answer the questions.
(2) You need to list one fact about yourself using each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name use your maiden name instead.
(3) When you are finished with your answers, you tag one person for each letter of your name.

M - Musical. Well, not extremely but I can read music and play piano, flute, and bariSax.
A - Antsy. I get antsy when I'm bored.
R - Rebellious. I just don't want to be told what to do.
I - Independent. Kind of goes with the above.
E - Eclectic. I love mixing styles together. Modern + traditional = E

J - Jiggy. I like to 'get-down' every once in a while.
O - Ovaries. Nothing wrong with 'em. I had 2 children 20 months a part, not on purpose.
Y - Yeeeeehaaaaw! Because I used to call it heeehaawww before I met my first Southern friend, Jana, who taught me how to say it with a drawl. And she thought I had an accent:)

My first tag... Did I do it right?

Now, I know I'm supposed to tag 8, yes eight letters in my middle name, people to follow the rules. But I just can't. I don't even know that many people in blog land. So, I'm going to go with Leah at A Day In The Life (because she has a cool middle name and she needs to blog more) and Libby at Bebe's Corner (because she's smart and knows what an adjective is. Plus, I want her to blog more too!).

I hope everybody has a great week!

Oh Yeah, We've Got A Walker

2008-02-29T20:40:00.003-05:00

I keep forgetting to mention that Dane is walking. He took a few steps a couple of weeks ago and I wouldn't qualify it as walking.
But tonight, he'll stand up and walk a few steps without us coaxing him. But if we cheer him on and dangle a toy in his face, he'll walk about 6 steps. And it's funny because he tries to side-step at first. A shuffle. It's pretty cute. He thinks he's awesome. I have a few pictures of him getting all jazzed about the walking. I'll post them later.

Hopscotch

2008-02-29T10:13:00.002-05:00

I can't believe it's Friday and that it's the last day of the month. Aaahhh! Time is flying. The only good part about that is, the warm weather is on it's way and maybe, just maybe, we are one day closer to Naydine sleeping better? I'm wiped....

Here are a few shots from the last few days. I have to keep practicing. I guess, I need to start learning..... I've WAY slacked on my class. Maybe tonight. Eli might be going out of town again soon, so, I normally try to catch up then.

I didn't even know my daughter could play hopscotch. Is this learned from TV or her little school? It was pretty cute....

He's so fun to hug!

Isn't this such a funny face? Grrrr.....

A Picture Update

2008-02-23T15:18:00.002-05:00

I did get a new lens... However, some of these I took before the new lens. It's all good.

I think these might be the only 2 pictures captured where my children are loving each other and both smiling! I don't even care if the lighting was crap.....

Grandma Shelley sent Naydine some Valentine treats. She was pretty excited. And yes, this is the new lens. Look at that blur, baby!!

D Lover Boy....

Nay, sick at the park. Poor baby....

Naydine and Boo Baby wearing shirts from Papa and Momma Jill's vacation. Dane's shirt looks like Bo Baby....

I'm going to need some practice.... The shots of Naydine with the Valentine looked in focus on my camera. But after downloading them, not so much.

And RAW... I'm just retarded. Where the heck is my manual....???

Have a good weekend!

Fun Friday

2008-02-22T15:20:00.003-05:00

When I used to work in the office, particularly the first job out of college, I always used to call this day FUN FRIDAY. Until my boss called me into his office and said, "Jaime, I know you are excited it's Friday, but we need to still work."

Um, thanks for that pep talk, Todd Krafty.

As if I were taking shots of tequila and smoking cigarettes in my cube. Duh.

But today, Fun Friday is back on. Today is fun because

I got a new lens in the mail. Thanks to all you pros out there that recommended a great, inexpensive lens for me. Compared to the kit lens, this thing is bad-ass (FUN). Love it.
It's my 5 year wedding anniversary and Eli is coming home tonight. It's sure to be FUN, right?
I've talked with the realtor and sounds like we are going to be able to agree on a price for our property. Which means we could actually be going through with buying some land??!?!?!! You have no idea how FUN that is!
And, my kids are working on a 2 1/2 hour nap so far. That's really FUN, for me!

So there you have it.

I was going to post some pictures from our wedding to show what we looked like 5 years ago, but, I couldn't find any where I looked good and my tag was tucked in so, I just passed. Kidding. I don't know if we even had a digital camera yet so.... I'd have to scan a shot and post it. However, I did scrapbook a couple pages and took pics. So, I could post that. But, I'm not going to have time.

However, let me tell you the story of Eli and I getting married, in case you don't know.

Eli was in the Army in 2003. We were going to have a small, private wedding at the house on Valentine's Day. Eeww... I know. It's just a coincidence. But, his "boss" wouldn't let him come home for the weekend because they were essentially on call for SHOCK AND AWE. Y'all remember that terminology, right? So, the following week, I flew out to see him and we were married by the JP in a courthouse. Barely. Eli almost spent our money in the vending machine buying a Red Bull or something at the courthouse, we'd have been short to pay the judge. I knew it was all downhill from there, but, we're still making it:)

Then the following summer, July 25, we had a real type wedding. I had the dress (without the tag hanging out), we said the vows, ate the cake, had crappy wedding food, and I still miraculously was able to be BRIDEZILLA about the wedding. I look back and I don't know why. I mean, I could give you about 1000 reasons, but, they only make sense to me.

So, that's our short story.

And really, have a FUN Friday!

Peeing my pants

2008-02-20T21:54:00.003-05:00

Ok, so a lot my friends on my blogroll haven't been updating today. So, I figured I'd go check out some of their friends. Holy crap, I've been missing out. There are some fricking hilarious people out there. Because I can't keep my big mouth shut, I have to leave comments. So in return, I've gotten a few comments back and, crap, it's pretty much been the highlight of my day. I'm sick.
And then the next thing I do, I have to see where they live. Because, NC is starting to get a little bit lonely with no friends. It's me, the kids, and sometimes, Eli. And no, I will not resort to getting an animal. I stand firm, no animals.

So, the casserole was just okay. It's something that picky kids eat. If I were really going to get at, I'd have added some sauted garlic, italian sausage, pepperoni, italian type seasonings, etc.
So my picky Naydine starts to give me crap again at dinner time. Oh, she likes the bread. It's just a crusty, french baguette smother in butter. So I go to give her a bite and she starts crying, of course.

Naydine: "No mommy, it's icky. Waaaaahhhhhh."
Mommy: "Naydine, take a bite of this or you are going to get a spanking."

Gulp.....

Naydine: "This food is AMAZING. It's dewiscious."

Now that's what I'm talking about.

Casserole #1: 3 Cheese Spaghetti Bake

2008-02-20T13:24:00.003-05:00

Oh my word, I'm getting crazy for dinner tonight. I selected this recipe from the magazine for a few reasons:

It looked the easiest

I have all the ingredients

It appears to be something I can force down Naydine's throat and into her tiny belly

Here's the recipe incase y'all are looking for something easy to make for dinner... I'll let you know for sure if it's any good, but, it smelled good when I whipped it together after lunch.

1 16oz pkg Spaghetti

2 c. shredded mozzy, divided

3/4c. grated Parmesan

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 T. olive oil

2 t. garlic powder

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 jar (28 oz) spaghetti sauce

1. Cook Spaghetti according to pkg directions; drain. Transfer to a large bowl. Add 1 cup mozzy, parmesan, romano, eggs, oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

2.Press into greased 9x13 baking dish. Top with spaghetti sauce. Cover and bake at 350* for 20 min. Uncover; sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella. Bake 10 min longer or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Simple enough.

Serioulsy, let me know what you are making tonight or tomorrow night. Or send me one of your favorite dinners. It doesn't even have to be easy. I'm just tapped out on ideas. I can't even remember what I would usually make.

Now, here is the update on the desk. There are a few options. Of course, money is an issue. Desks and office furniture can just get to be spendy. So I'm looking at these options.

I really love this from Pottery Barn, except in the color espresso. However, I've added up the pieces that we want/need and the total is a little more than I want to spend: $1728.92

Now, this is an interesting company, Home Decorators. I don't know if their quality is any good or not. But, some of the pieces look interesting to me. This workstation, with shipping and tax, would be about $836. This is more in the price point.

And this desk would be about $575. They both have 4 color options.

I like this style, it might be a wee bit on the traditional side, but..... I could make it work. I just wanted these 2 last pieces to be able to fit together. Eli would get the desk and I would get this giant workstation:) But, they have different widths... grr... And don't come in the color "espresso". But, distressed black might work?

My Turn to Whine

2008-02-19T22:53:00.002-05:00

I've been listening to Naydine whine all day. No, for 10 days straight. I'm really getting worn thin. I'm at the end of my rope. Which escalates all my other little issues in life.

First off, I need some help. How do I break a 2.5 year old from whining non-stop. She is going back to school tomorrow. Maybe that will help.... but it never has in the past. She gets time-outs, spankings, priveleges taken away, etc...... BUT NOTHING SEEMS TO BE WORKING. I know, it's consistancy that makes it all work in the end. But I see no end-in-sight.

Changing gears.... So tonight I wanted to download some of my pictures onto the hard drive, and I can only find 1 USB cable.... Eli, WHERE IS THE OTHER ONE?? DO YOU HAVE IT WITH YOU AND WHY??!?!!
I feel like everytime I want to try and get something done, it takes me 100 times longer than it really should. And I used to be a very organized person. Where is the old me?

It's just that I'm in a rut. It's bad. I can't even make dinner anymore. I bought a magazine at the grocery store today. The highlight, RECIPES FOR 320 CASSEROLES. What in the world.... I'm rolling my eyes right now. I don't even really like casserole.... how gourmet. I think my motive was, combine all those veggies with some sauce and noodles and I'll be able to get Naydine to eat it. Riiiiiiight. She's so skinny right now (being sick and not eating), her arm looks like a toothpick. She's just too skinny. I had to force-feed her tonight. Oh wait, that's every night. But tonight was exceptional. It was not pretty.

I was hoping this rut would end after I started working on the floors today. I normally just need to get into a project and my instincts take over. I'll be a speed demon and get tons of stuff done. Nope, not today. Matter of fact, I had to stop 1/2 way into the floors to take a break. Am I pregnant?? Um, I'd kill myself. My knees just hurt, I had to take a break. I mean, they only took me 1:15hours to clean them. It was ridiculous.

And that list I made, it's not really going anywhere. I'm kind of doing a 1/2 a** job. What I probably need to do is get off the computer, go to bed, get some real sleep, and try again tomorrow. Now that I think of it, I think I slept in Naydine's bed for a few hours last night and woke up to Dane screaming in his bed. Or was that the night before? I can't remember...

So what is it?? Am I just worn out from having sick kids or is anybody else in a rut? Is it the time of year.... are we all ready to explode out of the 4 walls that confine us? Not that it's even cold here. We were at the park yesterday and it was 72*, I think. Not today though, it was colder. So, I can't complain about the weather.

And if anybody has a good idea where to get a great desk, tell me. I've looked everywhere.... I have a couple options but I'm open to anything.

Once last complaint, why is the spell check not working on Blogger? Or is it just me? There are typos all over my post... and I'm too lazy to recheck it and the spell check won't work. Ugh..

Later Gator.

A Brand New Week

2008-02-18T09:15:00.004-05:00

I'm sure a lot of people have the day off for Presidents Day, but my week has just started and here is my task list so far:

Clean Floors (this requires first a sweeping, then a dusting, then hands and knees wipe-down. Hardwoods are tough if you want them to shine....ugh.)

Clean Fridge

Clean Bathrooms

Finish/Put away laundry

Vacuum carpets and rugs

Clean my closet

Set up an office area for Eli

Get a package together for my Gpa R.

Read Camera manual

Catch up on CS2 class

Research new classes

Catch up on blogging

Make contact with a babysitter

So far, that's it. I think I'll be able to get all of this done by Wednesday. Eli is out of town till Friday in OH for training, NEW JOB. Yeah Honey!! And when he gets home on Friday, OUR 5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY.

We've been trying to make some sort of plan for the 5 year. I mean, this is a big deal, right? I think people need to take the time to celebrate the years of marriage, or it's going to be real boring. Just like our Valentine's Day. BORING, LAME. Kids were sick, Eli was sick, and I was sick of taking care of people. So we did nothing. I bought him a card, he bought me a latte and emailed me a card. You know, nothing special. So..... we are thinking of maybe going to a Sandals resort for 3 nights. Nothing big, but we've been wanting to check that place out for a while now. They are spendy, that's why this is the perfect opportunity to go there since it'll only be 3 nights. Plus, the airfare should be reasonable since we are fairly close. Once Eli gets some sort of schedule established with all his jobs, then we can make plans. Hopefully this is going to happen because we need some time together. It's been forever since we've even been out to dinner with out kids.. Literally like..... 6 months, maybe longer.

The kids are just starting to feel better. One week of.... misery. Poor things. Now the hacking cough is coming into play. Naydine is up at 4am hacking her lungs up every morning. Poor thing. And Dane's nose is always running. Only good thing is that he is actually allowing me to wipe his nose, sometimes.

I'm off to get this party started.

Have a great week!

My Dane Boy

2008-02-13T21:38:00.003-05:00

There isn't really much to blog about right now.

My family has been sick. Eli was down for 3 days. Then Naydine and Dane. I was just praying that I wouldn't get sick because who the heck is going to take care of 3 sickos? Well, they are coming out of it and now my head is pounding and my throat it sore. My neck hurts... but I refuse to call this the first sign of body aches. I just can't do it. I'm sure it's just from my headache. I get sick the most around here. And this time, I just don't want to get it. Ugh....

I'm doing a CS2 class online and as I was browsing for some pics to use in class, I found this one of Dane. He's just so cute... I love him:) (duh). Anyway, I tried some different techniques on this shot but.... I don't know if I can really even tell. How do I get that vintage look?

I hope everybody has some great Valentines Day plans!

And CONGRATS to my brother Jer and his wife, a new baby girl. This is a funny story. She almost had the baby in the car on the way to Duluth. Poor thing! I can't even imagine laboring in the back of a car, hitting bumps, etc. She was dialated to 9cm when Jer dropped her off at Emergency. He parks the car and gets back up there and the head is on its way out. Crap.... way to get 'er done, Lana!!

Dane - 10 months

2008-02-09T08:19:00.000-05:00

I've been really lame about recording Dane's progress in life. He's the 2nd child. Things are different with the 2nd child. But, here are some interesting facts that I still want to remember so, I need to get better at recording them.

At 10 months, you still have NO teeth. But can eat ANYTHING. You ate BAGEL BITES the other night for dinner, with no teeth. Bad mommy.

You and your mom have thrush for probably the 805th time this nursing season.

The stairs, you love them. And you are fast now. Scares me to death. You don't know how to come down.

I don't know your official weight but, it's probably 24-25 pounds. And you sister is probably 25 pounds.

You are finally fitting into a more appropriate size of clothing for you. 12 and 12-18 months are a good fit. However, there is nothing "slim" about you!

Not walking yet, but once you do, your sister is going to be sorry for all the mean things she's done to you.

You are really good at standing up. You start in the same squat position that your dad and sister can do (mom can't squat like this, it's a Eli Cox thing) and stand up. And yeah, you think you're a pretty cool dude. Your balance has really come along in just the last week. Walking is close...... too close.

Peek-a-boo is an understatement. You prefer a game more like, hide-and-go-seek. It's so fun. And the loud roar of a lion coming from your mom and dad's voicebox is your favorite after you've been found.

You are showing a definite interest in animals, just like your sister did at this age. Sorry kids, no pets for you. Your meow is a super high pitched scream. And you love to chase dogs. Maybe we can havev a dog later in life, if you dad takes care of it:)

Momma, Dadda, and hi or hey. Those are your words.

Can't forget about the TV. Bad mom and dad, again. You love watching shows with your sister. Sick.

You give kisses and love to blow bubbles and make fart noises with your mouth. And you think your dad's real farts are funny. This must be a guy thing.

You love to play outside. Anywhere. Anytime.

That's about it kid. We love you. You make our lives sooooo much fun.

The pink page

2008-02-07T20:10:00.000-05:00

was just too much for me. I couldn't take it. Lets try this brown page.

Lets see.... I've been busy. I feel busy. I hope I'm getting something done. This last week went something like this.

My mom flew in from MN and stayed with us a week. Thanks for your help, mom!
Eli started his new job, finally, and so did I.
Nayders Caters made her debut. It's nothing special. Don't get jealous:) hehe
We're looking at buying a Lot in town, so I've been making a lot of calls on that. Super excited.
We're kind of selling the townhome in WA for sale by owner, so I've been handling a lot of calls and emails on that. We have a showing tonight. Cool.
Checked out RAW on my camera. Cool. Can't wait to try it more.
Working on filing my taxes. Which gets complicated when 3 different states want taxes from you. Dang it.

That's about it.

My friend, Lib, has a new blog. Cool. Check her out. Although most people who look at my blog already know about hers. But there might be a few others.....

Congrats to my sister in-law, Amy, who is going to have a baby BOY in 4.5 months. They just found out on her birthday and are super excited.

I should have much more to blog about, but I don't. My house is a sty, I need to finish my taxes, everytime I turn around my son is MIA, and I need to do some of my online Photoshop classes. I'm so far behind. I hope they didn't kick me out yet.

I think I have a few cool pics I wanted to post. But, I have no idea where they are right now.

Fonts and Pages

2008-01-26T21:40:00.001-05:00

Where does everybody get their fun fonts? I've gotten a few at acidfonts.com. Tell me.

And I am NOT good at html. No, that's an understatement. I don't know how to do any of it. So, I don't know how to customize my blog page. I have to use a template made by blogger or somebody else. Give me a quick pointer. Please??!?!!

Is Your Bedroom Nice?

2008-01-25T14:41:00.000-05:00

My friend Jenny had this question on her TFT post.

Well, is it?

Do you have the bedroom we all envy?

I seriously have a ghetto bedroom. And as of yesterday, I am done with it. It's just so ugly. The ugliest points of interest:

Corner piece to a sectional sofa

Weight bench

Bare naked box spring

No blinds, absolutely no blinds

Husbands work printer

782 water bottles on the floor

Plus, random articles of clothing and an unmade bed don't help the cause. So...... If you know me, I hit a breaking point and I put it into high gear. With almost anything. But I need to convince the husband that this is something we need to spend the money on. Haha... this is easy. The conversation went something like this:

"Honey, this room is so nasty and uncomfortable. This is not a good place. We need to make it a place where we want to spend more time." DONE. SOLD. OFF TO BED BATH AND BEYOND. Seriously, it doesn't get any easier than that. Try it ladies.... And if you don't have to talk to your husband before spending some dough, then, more power to you.

So I bought a few things. Curtains, quilt, pillow cases, and dust ruffle. I've already returned the quilt because it's just not big enough for my big *SS bed. (Which, I'm going to warn you about if you are in search of a new mattress. We bought this Simmons Beauty Rest a few years ago. It was like... $2500. EEEEK! We had a few beers and then went mattress shopping. Not a good combo. Anyway.... the thing is junk. I think the sags where we sleep would qualify as a warranty issue but the letter they sent us said that because of stains to the pillow top, it voids the warranty. Like I could help my water broke when I was in bed!) Back to the point.... So now I'm back to looking for another quilt/bedspread.

But I thought it would be fun to compare my last few bedrooms. I know my style changes with every house we've lived in.. I think I'm only missing 2 bedrooms pictures since we've been married.

Olympia House:

Tacoma House:

Current House:

Slightly Updated:

I'd like this bedroom furniture from Pottery Barn. LOOK AT ALL THAT STORAGE! YeeeeeHaaaaaaw! Just the bed. Not the accessories or bedding. And I think it comes in a few different colors and a price tag of $1700 + S/H. And that doesn't include the headboard. There will be no easy conversation for this piece. It's just not going to happen! I'm looking for similar alternatives. Anybody seen this somewhere else, in King size?

Anyway, Kim has shown us her master suite. I'm not the only one on the subject. Maybe it's tax return season and people are going to be doing their bedrooms!! Are you?

Body Art

2008-01-24T21:28:00.000-05:00

So last night I had to ice my back because it was pretty sore. You know I'm all about preventing another flare-up of the herniated disc. Ice is gooooood.

So I use this ice pack I got from the new chiro. I always put the ice directly on my back, but normally I just use a ziploc with ice cubes. So I do the normal length of icing and go to bed.

This morning, I was bending over and Eli asks me if I had iced this morning. Um, no. Why? Aaahh... take a look at your back, Jaime. Nice..... FRICKING FROST BITE?

Is it cool? Does it look tribal?? hehe.... just in case you need a closer look.

I guess I better lay off that icepack. Geesh....

Picture Update

2008-01-21T21:46:00.000-05:00

Just a couple shots that I've taken and edited. I'm having a little bit of fun with this while Eli is watching 'Hot Rod'. Has anybody watched this movie? It's not EXACTLY my flavor, but Eli is laughing.... so that's good.

MIA

2008-01-20T14:40:00.000-05:00

I know I've kind of been missing from the Blog World. But, Eli's been home since Christmas, so you know how that goes. There isn't that much time for blogging. There has been a little bit of time for taking pictures. Man, I'm loving this camera. LOVING IT. Yes, I copied a couple of you girls and went with the Rebel. I have CS2 and have just started on online class through the community college in town. However, I can do a few touch ups that look decent from a different course I took.

Anyway, I'm taking this little bugger to the Veggie Tales movie today at the theatre. This will be her 2nd time going to the theatre. And this will be my 3rd time going to a theatre since I gave birth to her!! Terrible.....

I've got a few great shots of my D Boy too, but I'll put those on after the movie.

Crap, Naydine just peed her bed during her nap! Dang it! I guess it's clean up and then off the Veggie Tales!!

Notice Anything Different?

2008-01-12T14:54:00.000-05:00

Please tell me you can see a difference!! hehe....

We don't really know what we're doing yet. Eli takes better photos than me but.... that's going to change:)

I need to buy a book, a new lense, and a flash. I think I'll be getting the book first.

Entryway

2008-01-01T21:21:00.000-05:00

I know I blogged about this before and now I have some pictures to prove that I finally finished a project.

I started with this piece from Target:

Added some accessories, baskets, wedding album, etc.... Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the bag and sweaters:)

Side view.....
And was hoping to get something like this.... eek, I swear, mine really does look better in person!! No, not as good as Potterybarn here but... oh well. I really need to get a better camera, it would help!

Happy New Year!! 2008??? Aahh.... I can't believe it! Any cool resolutions out there??

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T12:00:00.000-05:00

Is it okay for one to post 19 pictures on their blog in one entry??!!

Thank you to all these gift givers!!! We thought we'd put up a post for the grandma's and grandpa's. We love you!!

Ok... the kitchen set was from Eli and I to both the kids... it's a hit!

Table and chairs from Papa Cox and Momma Jill....

Family Portrait:)...

D Boy in the new dump truck!!

Dane is getting pretty good at standing up!

Is this Ethan Wilson or my son?? Holy Cox......

Thanks to Grandma Shelley's sewing, Naydine has a snuggle robe. Thanks Sam for the cool sweatshirt! I love this blue color!!

From Gma Shelley and Papa Shayne. Cute Gymboree outfit!!

Me and my kids!!

Christmas Eve at the park..... 60 degrees outside. Yeah, we are NOT used to that!

Thanks to Shayne from Eli for the shirt!

Yeah, D Boy didn't really get the gift opening concept, but, NEXT YEAR!!

Gma/Gpa Downey hooked Naydine up with an apron! Perfect edition to the kitchen set! Yeah!!

The 4 1/2 Hour Foil

2007-12-05T21:56:00.000-05:00

You tell me. Does this look like I just got my re-growth touched up? Yeah, I didn't think so.

So if anybody is interested in hearing the rest of the drama, here's how it went down:

As you may have read in a previous post, I was doing this "hair model" thing and all I would have to pay for was the color. Sweet! You know, you just have to be able to trust that the 'new girl' will be well supervised and not mess your hair up.

So, I walk (no, make that a run) out of the salon 4.5 hours later with a full foil, no trim, and a blow dry. No style. What the hell was she doing for 4.5 hours?? You've got me!

After inspecting my hair last night, I came to the realization that she was putting shampoo in my foils. [Hehe... I'm so funny.] Because according to my 20/20 vision, I still have regrowth.

I call the salon today and talk to the owner. She seems to think that I don't understand the "hair model" program. That if I want "more highlights" I'll have to book an appointment with a floor stylist and they don't have any more appointments the rest of the year. That includes getting in for a haircut. Wait, then she tells me I could get in next Tuesday for the color and next Friday for the trim. Yeah.... like I have a built in babysitter.

So..... I just told her that I won't be coming back there. Which kind of stinks because I think I really would have liked the owner of this salon. And everybody else who was walking out looked great. I just wanted her to make it right and obviously... that was NOT going to happen. Kind of weird.

But I did get some low-lights... and those look ok. But, then I think the color looks kind of BLAH too. Kind of dull or something.....

On a lighter note......

Is it safe for your child to put a plastic bucket around her entire head? Oh man... we laughed so hard.

And of course... my D Boy..

Has Your Opinion Changed??

2007-11-30T22:29:00.000-05:00

This is a terrible photoshop job.... but I was doing it quick just to get the gist. And never mind the Halloween photo. It was the first current pic I saw of myself. I don't even think I notice the cat whiskers anymore....:)

Do you still like red?

How about "go darker"?

Or stay the same?

I didn't even try to "go lighter" because I guess it's not really an option. I have to say that I might just add some dark blonde low-lights. I can't bring myself to do the dark hair. Plus, I think it'd wash out in about 2 days since I'm so light already. I would consider doing some strawberry blonde hair though......???? Hmmm......

EVERY WOMAN

2007-11-23T21:01:00.000-05:00

Eli has been gone again and will be back tomorrow morning. As usual, I am cleaning tonight:) I'm going through a box of "office" stuff that hasn't been unpacked and I find a folder from about 6 years ago of things that I wanted to save. In this folder is an email forward that I must have loved. Here's why:

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD HAVE:

An old love she can imagine going back to..... And one who reminds her how far she has come.

Enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own even if she never wants to or needs to.

Something perfect to wear if the employer or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour.

A youth she's content to leave behind.

A past juicy enough that she's looking forward to retelling it in her old age.

A set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra.

One friend who always makes her laugh and one who lets her cry.

A good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family.

Eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal that will make her guests feel honored.

A feeling of control over her destiny.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW:

How to fall in love without losing herself.

How to quit a job, break up with a lover, and confront a friend without ruining the friendship.

When to walk away.

That she can't change the length of her calves, the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents.

That her childhood may not have been perfect, but it's over.

What she would and wouldn't do for love or more.

How to live alone.... even if she doesn't like it.

Whom she can trust, whom she can't, and why she shouldn't take it personally.

Where to go.... be it to her best friend's kitchen table or a charming inn in the woods.... when her soul needs soothing.

What she can and can't accomplish in a day... a month... and a year.

I obviously received this back in my single days.... but I still like how a lot of it reads. Another thing a woman MUST have is a 7 month old son that is THIS CUTE!!

I downloaded a trial version of Photoshop Elements and have been messing around in there a little bit. It's probably why I haven't blogged in 10 days!! That and both my kids are teething. Dane is CRAZY... worse than a newborn at night. Ugh.... Thank God Eli will be here to help soon!

Kids Pics

2007-11-13T22:56:00.000-05:00

Well, let's just say that I'm not dying over the kids pictures. There are a couple good ones but.... crap. I was wanting a little bit more than that. I have NO good pics of them together (I know, I can photoshop a different head in but.... there really isn't anything to choose from!). And I think there is 1 picture of Naydine that I like. Well, that's not true.... but, there should have been WAY more than this.
The session I did with Naydine in MN was a 15 minute mini session and they turned out much better than this time. So I think I was expecting something very good since I was doing a full session. Um, not so much.
I went to visit the photographer today. She's really nice, I like her. She shared with me the shots that I didn't get to proof online. I was looking for a few in particular that I thought were going to be great but weren't in my proofing album. Well, the reason they are not there is because Naydine's eyes were closed! Ugh.... I just can't believe it!! Is it because she was just too late on the trigger or is this just normal to have that many eye closers on the ones I was going to fall in LOVE with??? Ugh....
I guess some sessions are great and some just aren't. I think I'll try again when Dane turns 1. He didn't give that many smiles on picture day but there are some cute shots of him. I can't show them to you..... because I have no idea how to get them out of the proofing album. Any ideas??
Well, all in all, the pictures I'm going to order look good. I just wanted more selection. That's all.
Thanks for letting me vent.

Ooooohhhh man!

2007-11-09T18:12:00.000-05:00

I'm ticked. This is the email I got tonight....

Hi Jaime,
I have gotten behind this week and sincerely apologize, but it looks like it may be the first of the week before I get your proofs out to you. Again, I can't apologize enough and if I can, I will get them done this weekend, but I am booked solid with sessions right now and just took on too much right now...so I am sorry.
I will let you know as soon as I get these up for you! Again, soooooo sorry!
Thanks!Dana

This isn't cool..... This is the 2nd time this has happened to me with the pictures. Not the same photographer but..... still, the same... 2 weeks turns into 3.

I better have some Friday night wine with Eli.....grrrrrr.......

Am I crazy?

2007-11-09T10:47:00.000-05:00

Ok.... I need to know if I'm crazy!!???!! Wait... I know that I am so maybe I'm just venting.

I had the kid's pictures taken 17 days ago. The photographer told me they'd be ready in 2 weeks (she really said they'd be ready in "about" 2 weeks) and I still don't have them yet!!!! This is like missing your due date when you are pregnant! Kind of. She said I would definitely see them this week. So.... I'm going to have an anxiety attack if they aren't here by the end of the day.

I just need to calm down. What's the big deal anyway?

Also, I wanted to give a report on Kohl's. How many out there LOVE Kohl's? I used to love Kohl's. Then last Christmas, they ran this HUGE toy sale with all these "great" deals. Eli and I went to the store to see about getting some Cmas gifts for Nay and the cousins. There selection was terrible and even though prices were marked down 65%, the prices didn't seem that great. After shopping Kohl's and buying 2 items, we ran over to Target to see if we could find some other items. Browsing through the toy aisle we noticed that Target's regular priced items were the same or LESS than Kohl's huge sale items. Screw it!!! It just ticked us off.
So yesterday we were at Kohl's because I have a gift card and wanted new sheets. I picked out a sheet set and a couple extra pillow cases. They were $100. I brought them home, washed them and put the fitted sheet on my bed. That's when I noticed that one of the corners was ripped out. So I checked the other corners and one other was starting to rip out as well. WTF?? Is $100 not enough money to spend on sheets to insure that get a nice set??? I'm so disappointed! I called there to make sure I could return after washing and I could. But this Kohl's is 1+ hour from my house. If I get another bad set, I'm going to be so pissed. Of course, I was saving 50% on this item. BS. I'm sick of these marketing schemes. They just piss me off!

WHO LOVES KOHL'S AND TELL ME WHY.

WHO WAITS IN ANXIETY TO GET THEIR KIDS PICTURES BACK?

Consumer Report

2007-11-02T20:37:00.000-04:00

When one moves to a different town or state, you give up your hair stylist, nail tech, babysitters, bank, cell phone company, etc. So, it got me started on this post.

Ah, the stuff I love. The stuff I don't love..... I'm a consumer. We all are. Let me tell you what works for me and maybe why it does. We'll see how this goes down. There could be something on this list you are in need of... and then maybe not. Just take a peak:)

Health and Beauty:

Loreal Tanning Wipes: Great for the winter. I like them better than mystic tan because they are WAY cheaper and I think work better. Normally, I will just apply to the face but, purchase the "body towelettes", it's a better buy.
Pureology Hydrating Shampoo and Conditioner (purple bottle): Works great on my hair type, which is colored from light brown to blond. I have a lot of thinner strands of hair so my hair isn't that strong. If this is you and you are looking for a great shampoo, you need to find a friend that goes to the Beauty Supply Store and can get this for you at 1/2 the price of the salon.
Arbonne Not-S0-Basic Skincare: I just started using this. Definitely satisfied with the face line. DID NOT LIKE THE SHAMPOO AND CONDITIONER! The only thing I don't really care for about the face line is the scent. Well, there isn't really a smell to it but.... I wish it were a "nicer" scent. That's all.
Cover Girl eyeshadow in Mink. I used this in high school. I still use it. I also use Mary Kay and I love the eye primer but.... there's something about this Cover Girl eyeshadow that I just love. It's a light brown/bronze color.
Hot Tools curling irons: Again, when your friend is picking up your Pureology, have her grab you a Hot Tools curling iron for the holiday parties you are going to. The more heat, the longer the curl stays in. And remember, when you are curling your hair start at the base of your lock, leaving the end out, and gradually get to the ends. This way the heat is distributed along the entire lock of hair. Did that make sense?? That will give you that Hollywood type hair. You can get these for about $30.
Revlon black tweezers: Sharp and gets at the 'stubborn' eyebrow.
Hylands teething tablets: A great option for the teething baby. Or, if you think they are teething and they really aren't, then you feel like you went with the 'natural' approach and, no harm done:)

Wow, do I think I'm the health and beauty expert? No.. not really. I just kind of got carried away with it....

Clothing and Jewelry:

Hanes Her Way: These undies are GREAT. Well, if you have a flat ass and hips, they are GREAT!! hehe.... Love them, minimizes the wedgy.
Calvin Klein Perfect Fit Bra: This link might not be exactly right. But, if you are in the B, C, or D range these bras make your boobs look fabulous. I haven't had the best of luck with Victoria's Secret bra shopping. They just seem to not have enough support, more for show.... kind of. You might give these a try.
PINK Sweats and Flip flops: From Victoria's Secret. Love them both. The flip flops are high quality rubber, not like an Old Navy flip flop. Loved them this past summer. And the sweats..... what's not to love?
I once wore a fake wedding band with my wedding ring for over a year. Maybe it was 2 years!??!! I don't remember. I can't find the website right now but... what I wanted was an eternity band like the one Jessica Simpson had. Of course, not THAT big! So, I ordered a CZ copy of her band to pair it with my ring and see if it would look good. I liked it.. just what I wanted but it was too large. So, I went back to the website and ordered a smaller eternity band and tried that, of course CZ. When I was ready, I went to the jeweler with a custom order and had the ring made. And the reason I had to go through all this was because a lot of jewelers won't make a prong set eternity band. They want them channel set because they are afraid of losing diamonds, etc. and then having to replace them. So, don't be shy to wear a CZ.. nobody will know:)

Home and Decorating:

According to a previous post, if you love Potterybarn you can find a very similar look at Target!! Especially great for organizing your kids rooms, girls!!
Upper Case Living: Has everybody heard of this?? I've never used it but I think I'm going to find a very appropriate place in my home and try this out. I think it could be a good thing. And you need to see the catalog, the website just doesn't do it justice.
I love TILEX SOAP SCUM REMOVER for pretty much all my cleaning! And, of course, DAWN DIRECT FOAM for doing dishes. Rock on... try it.
Spice Islands Lousiana Seasoning: YOU WILL LOVE. Great in pastas!!

Just dumb crap....

Wells Fargo Bank: Has the easiest online banking. So EASY and organized. Plus, the have great rewards. I know of a lot of people that haven't been satisfied with WF. Something about getting charged all these different fees for banking with them. I have never had a problem with fees or anything like that. So... watch out for the hidden fees but otherwise the online banking and rewards are GOOD! WF isn't around here so... I'm going to miss you Wellsy.
Verizon Wireless: Man oh man am I going to miss Verizon now that they don't really offer coverage in this new area. Their website and account management, GREAT. Customer service... never had a problem. I think between Eli and I, we've tried all the companies. We are now going to be on Altell simply because they offer service in our new area. But their website sucks and I haven't been impressed with much but their service. Of all the companies, VW was the best to us.
LG Cell phones: So far, I like LG phones the best. They seem to 'bounce' off the ground a little bit better than most:)
Britax Car seats: If you can't figure out how to use these car seats, you must be drunk. They've made it so dang simple. I just love how they work and their fabrics. We bought this other Eddie Bauer type seat for Dane and we just about had a meltdown trying to get it into the vehicle. It was falling apart and we couldn't figure it out!! I just brought it back and ordered up another Britax. Naydine has the Roundabout but we went with the Marathon for Dane. He's a little bit bigger boy than Nay... it's gotta last!

This post turned more into my opinion than a Consumer Report. But sometimes you just want some feedback from others on the products we buy. These work for me.... I'm not trying to be a know-it-all, just trying to eliminate some trial and error.

Now, I'm off to drink some Friday night wine with my husband.

Happy Halloween

2007-11-01T11:18:00.000-04:00

I'm going to get a little carried away with the Halloween pictures here but, remember, all our family is out of town and I need to show them my children:) And... I just can't decide what pictures I love best, they were all so cute. Eli was snapping shots all night. Good job, honey!

We did a little trick-or-treating and then we went to a little Halloween Party that the Park and Rec Dept. had put on. It was lame... but free so... it's all good.

Our cheerleader...

Our Sniper...

A little pre-game warm up...

Family portrait...

Run kids... MORE CANDY!!

Naydine was pretty cute. A little slow but, cute:) I remember the days where we would just run from house to house getting as much candy as we could. It's kind of programmed into your brain. So, I think I was trying to go as fast as I could and Naydine just was slow. Then I remembered I was just supervising trick-or-treating. Oops.

Eli was going to dress up as Batman and then I would be cat woman, but he chickened out at the last minute:) We just wore the stuff we had. I had this cheerleader outfit for Naydine from Gymboree so I figured we didn't need to get her anything different, it'd do the job. And Dane... yeah, he was a sniper/soldier/cammo boy... who knows??

Entryway

2007-10-28T23:10:00.000-04:00

Maybe there are a few out there who need to see this. It's really no big deal, just something that I'm going to buy.

I'm going to take this buy at Target......

And turn it into this look, from Potterybarn....

And save myself a whopping $320. Is it worth it, we ask? TOTALLY!!! Plus, I bought a bunch of accessories for it today. Holiday type stuff... It's going to be good!! I'm excited. Only downer, the bench set at Target was 15% off last week and.... not this week. Oh well....

I love POTTERYBARN. I mean, who doesn't. Come on.... The day that I can actually afford to buy my furnishings there is going to be a fun day. But until then, I'm going to continue copycat-ing their designers. You'll never go wrong....

So, when I do my kids' rooms, I just look at their paint and color schemes, accessories, etc and then go shopping.

I helped my sister in-law, Amy, do a focal point in her living room a few months ago. It turned out beautiful. We basically took the catalog with us and went shopping.

I'll shop anywhere.... Ross, Marshalls, Kirkland Home, Bed Bath & Beyond, blah, blah, blah. YARD SALES. I took an old ugly 80's end table and had Eli help me distress it and paint it. It sort of looks something like this.... well, totally a different table and it's finished in the blue distress. So, if you've seen the collection, the blue one. I mean, there's is better but it was a good try. You know? Eli rocks at doing this stuff. So, he pretty much did all the work. First you strip it. Then you distress it (chains, burning, nails, drills, just tear it up!). Next, paint. Then what we did was take a stain and try to concentrate on the areas where it would wear first, naturally. Apply and wipe off. We are not pros... we're just trying to make stuff in our spare time.

But I guess the point is that it's okay to copycat. It'll turn out good!!

Under Construction

2007-10-27T00:13:00.001-04:00

So, if you ever check my blog, you'll notice that I'm trying something different. Yeah, like changing my blog name, for starters. OF COURSE I HAVE TIME TO BLOG. I'm on here every night, for crying out loud!
I just am the moron that doesn't know how to use HTML codes and I'm just going to use somebody's fun template that they made. So, I tried a few things and now I've lost all my links to the blogs I want to read. I'm seriously so dang pissed.... ugh!
Does anybody read their post back and realize that they totally didn't make any sense? Yeah.. that's me. What the heck? It's like the thoughts are forming in my head and then, I lose track. I was never a good writer.... or is this ADD??
I'm too tired to fix this any more tonight.....

As I Get Older

2007-10-26T13:48:00.000-04:00

As I get older, there is so much more I want to learn. Where was thirst for knowledge when I was in school and had endless hours to learn? It drives me nuts. Not that I live regretting anything I do. If I did it, I did it and that's that. Just don't do it again, LEARN.

I just want to be able to do things myself. If something needs fixing, I want to do it. No, kidding. I really don't. I want Eli to do it. I don't want to have to call the electrician and wait 4 days till he can come out and look at my electrical in my garage. I just want it done NOW. So, this thirst for knowledge come from my lack of patience? It's very possible.

I think the other reason I want to be able to do things myself is because people normally don't do things as well as you'd like them done. I'm always finding fault with work people have done for me. It's either sloppy, so they charged more than they are worth. People take FOREVER when you are paying them to plumb, tile, wire, drywall, etc. So I'm glad that Eli is fairly handy. And If he doesn't know how to do something, he'll take the 105 hours to figure it out. And, it normally looks great and I don't critique it. Is that how you really spell critique. I just spell checked it (so I don't look like a moron) and, it looks like I'm right? No way....

But the one thing I have to pay to get done are photographs. I would really like to learn this skill of photography. I think I've talked about it 100 times on here already. I just love all the work I've been seeing. So, if you don't mind commenting on how you started taking photos and getting so dang good at it, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks Jenny, for letting me pick your brain a few times! I'm not going to have time to get as good as you guys, but I'd like to take some great pictures of my little guys. I like to scrapbook. I mean, I never do it anymore. But, I'd like some great photos in their books when I finally do them. And when they get older, I'd like to take pictures of their events. I want to have their life, in pictures. I LOVE looking at great shots. Who doesn't? So, do I start out by just buying a camera and forcing myself to learn? What do I need to start? Just comment and tell me what to do.

I recently (just this past Wednesday) had the kids photographed. Of course, neither would cooperate at the same exact moment, but I'm not worried about it at all. Heck, if they are crying in pictures, that's the real kid. So, I don't even care. In about 2 weeks I'll see them and hopefully they are great. I think Naydine did great outside. I'm going to love those shots... I just know it. The weather was a little rainy, the leaves were colorful, and her eyes were beautiful. And Dane.... he was pretty much done by the time we got outside:) But he was beautiful, too!

Here are a few snapshots I took at home the other day. I had the camera out and trying to ready my manual, seeing if there was something I could learn. But, since I don't know the vocab, of course I didn't learn anything. And, I did buy a book on photography about 5 years ago. And in the 5 moves I've done since buying that book, I can't find it. Imagine that! I'm pretty sure I'd learn something from the book.

You've just gotta love my chubby guy. I mean, he has a huge belly. It's awesome!!

Naydine and I made pumpkin cookies the other day. This is her version of "frosting" them...

All the new things

2007-10-22T15:08:00.000-04:00

The one GOOD thing about Eli being gone is that it makes me take notice to all the NEW stuff my children do in a 3 week span. Then I report back to him in detail how Naydine could possibly be smarter than her mom already and how Dane is now interested in putting his finger into electrical outlets. It's crazy....

When Eli left, Dane was crawling [around on the rug]. Now he follows me into the kitchen and crawls around on the hardwoods like it's no big deal. Right, tough guy. I should hand him a rag and some soap, while he's down there.

When Eli left, Naydine would say, "Dear Baby Jesus" before she prayed. Now, she sings her own little version of 'Jesus Loves Me'. Or actually, it's 'Jesus I Wub You'. Good Lord... it is so cute. And I've tried to get it on camera a few times, but she gets all weird about it!!

And.... I've spotted breakthrough for the first of the 2 year molars. Eeeks... Teething with Naydine has NEVER gone well. She seems to be taking it like a champ so far...

By the way, what is with kids and the underwear? She comes downstairs from a nap and this is what I see....

Before Eli left, Dane had 4 white walls in his room and no curtains. Now he has 3 white walls, 1 green wall, and curtains hanging by nails.

Before Eli left, our living room was all white. Now, we have an accent wall, which is a very COOL blue. I love it!!

Ok, those last 2 were new things that I did while he was gone, so.. yeah. Well, Naydine took one look at the new blue wall and said, "Wow mom, cool paint. It's blue." This is the crap I'm talking about. How smart can she get in 2 weeks??!! Hey, at least she didn't take a look and say, "That looks icky". Which it very easily could have been.

Today I ventured out and bought a car full of groceries. Not exactly easy with the children:) I just couldn't take it anymore. I wanted to go to the FRIDGE and look for dinner, not the pantry. I just need something FRESH! It sucks being on a grocery budget.... We just had it way too good at the Cox's!! Thanks again, Gary and Jill!

These are for my awesome husband

2007-10-18T22:39:00.000-04:00

Here you go, Eli. I know it's only been 10 days, but don't they look different already?!?!

We miss you hon and can't wait till you get back home!!

D Baby....

Getting some action at the park....

My teeny Deeny.....

Congratulations Amy and Josh!!

2007-10-18T22:37:00.000-04:00

We just found out tonight that Eli's sister, Amy, is pregnant with their first baby!! Yeah!! So maybe that will be a July baby?? I guess we'll have to wait and see!! Way to go guys!! Love ya!

Today is the day

2007-10-14T21:50:00.000-04:00

To update my blog and do some internet research. Help! I am looking for a photographer to do my kid's pictures. Dane is now 6 months old and I still have no professional pictures of him. I guess I could do JCPenney's... but I'm just not into it. I hated Naydine's.... that was the lesson at 3 months. So, if anybody knows how to find some really cool photographer, like the girls on typepad, TELL ME ABOUT THEM. I'm in Southern Pines, NC and I'm willing to drive an hour. I am not willing to spend more than $500. I have to draw the line somewhere. I'm thinking I might call this girl, but... what do you think girls?? Will I love them, because they are spendy. Well, probably not OUTRAGEOUS, but more than you tell your husband they were:)

Here are a few pics of the kids here at the house. They are such goobers sometimes. I love it!!

I actually painted an accent wall in Dane's room, soft green. It looks good. Just wait till I get those chocolate brown curtains hung. Well, they might have to wait till Eli gets home from CA which is 2 more weeks! Ugh.... I need to find a babysitter. This is why:

I think this is the week I get to start Nayders Caters. I think.... you've gotta love this contract business, you never know till last minute. So, I've been staying up late trying to work out the Sam's Club Shopping List. You know, 80 bags of lunch meat, 15 pounds of cheese, etc. I haven't been to bed before 12:30 in... who knows how long. Well, make that only 5 days. Oops..:) So, I'm going for the challenge. I think it's 40+ lunches for 10 days straight. Then the next rotation starts immediately the next day and runs 7 days. So... can I handle it? Probably not while Eli is gone but... I'll do my best. It'll be good money and Lord knows, WE NEED IT!!

I'll take some pictures of the house soon enough!! People have definitely been asking. And I didn't want to post until I painted but.... I'm not going to do THAT much painting this time. I don't know how long we'll be here and I'm not doing the WHOLE house again, like I did the last 2 houses. I'm burnt out!!

I was going to publish a 6 month birthday video of D baby, but it's way too big. Shoot!!

The North Carolina Zoo

2007-10-14T21:33:00.001-04:00

This Zoo was pretty cool. I have to say that I've never been to a zoo this big before. So, of course, my kids get to see this on their first shot:) They didn't quite make it.... there were 2 sides, North America and Africa. Let's just say that the Africa side was a little more interesting. Possibly because the animals were large enough that Naydine didn't have to pretend to see them to satisfy her parents:)

Ok, before and after.

Before and after.

Yes, this would be the Africa side.

And this is North America.