March 29, 2007

After great consideration, along with the advise from Doug and Laura, I've decided - I'm open to the world when it comes to my blogs. Doug and I have been talking about it for the past couple of days and he assures me that it would be very hard to someone to figure out exactly where we live, not a member of the family or friends.

It has been a very busy week and still more is to come. Yesterday, I decided to get Katie all dressed up in one of her dresses (I bought it off of ebay) and take a few Easter/Spring pictures. I was so surprised to catch a couple of good shots. It is hard to work with a toddler when it comes to taking pictures. I have a great respect for Professional Photographers. I worked on the pictures most of the morning and I think they turned out pretty good. I was so glad to capture her watching the bee buzzing around the azaleas. I had her turned to where she could see it and still face me somewhat. She was amazed! This is the shot where she is touching one of the blossoms. Before I get all the emails, yes, I realize azaleas are toxic to children and surprisingly this is the only thing she hasn't attempted to eat. When I saw the notice on the news about the bushes, I just looked at Doug and asked him what we should do. I was prepared to be pulling them up. He said we would just need to watch her around them. I posted her pictures this morning on my website. You'll have to check them out.

I got a surprise visit from my nephew yesterday afternoon. He's been on Spring Break this week and bored out of his mind. He spent the afternoon with Katie and myself. We ordered a pizza and ate ribs while watching a movie. Afterwards, we played cards. I guess it has been close to a year ago, Nic introduced to me this card game called "Golf." I really like it. I may not win all the time, but it's a lot of fun. I love playing games of any kind - board, electronic, and card. Doug doesn't like to play games. When he does he'll only play card games, but not when there's just two people. Even then, he doesn't like to play card games at any length of time. He says it's too boring to him. So, I get excited when one of my family members come to see me because I know we can get a game going at any moment. I hope to raise Kaitlyn the same way. When I was still living at home, we would play games just about every night. If not every night, we definitely played every weekend. All of us couldn't wait to get together and get a game going. We, included all of the sisters, nieces, nephews, and sometimes a couple of my brother-in-laws. It's a lot of fun! A great way to laugh and have a good time with one another.

Last night, several of the family members got together at June's house and I guess you would say we had an "American Idol" party. As you know, my aunt and uncle are visiting my parents. Well, Aunt Sherry is a big Idol fan and I didn't know it until she announced "in a few minutes, we have to go inside and watch American Idol." My eyes lite up and I was ready to go. There were quite a few people packed in June's Living Room, watching Idol. We all started howling when Seacrest came out with that hairdo. Oh, my gosh! So Funny! We all started taking bets on who would be in the bottom 3 and who would be leaving. I was real unsure cause I knew Chris didn't sing good the other night, but neither did Phil. I hated that Chris got voted off because I know the boy can sing. I think he just got tired. Plus, this whole Sanjaya mess was probably getting to him. Do you know what Susan told me? She said there have been reports that a group of kids are the main cause for Sanjaya to be the idol contestant with the most votes. They are making it a practical joke to have the worst singer to win the American Idol. Susan seems to think that if this is true, this may be the last year for American Idol because people will get tired of the mess. We had a real good visit, but so tired and ready to come home.

Today, all I did was clean and strip beds. I had hoped to get some work done today, so I could go tomorrow and buy some mulch and bedding flowers for the yard. I also need to go Wal-Mart and pick up a few groceries and other items. Our cupboards are bare! I grilled the last piece of meat tonight - pork chops. They were delicious and so tender! I've been promising Peggy I would make my famous Chicken Salad with Croissant rolls. So, I guess I need to get the stuff and make it. I put grapes, pineapple & pecans in my Chicken Salad. It is so good and I love making it this time of year because the salad is nice and cold. I usually like to serve it with mixed fruit (strawberries, grapes, watermelon, cantaloupe, etc.). Man, this is beginning to sound really yummy! I may have to make it tomorrow. tehe!

Millard and Peggy came over tonight, just to stop by and say "hello." Peggy asked me if we've been practicing with Katie about egg hunting. I had to tell her that we haven't hid the first egg in order for her to find it. I figure there will be so much excitement, even if Katie had been practicing, she would be to involved in watching and playing with the other kids. She won't want to find the eggs. We'll see! If I have time tomorrow, we might have to hide eggs.

Motivation Quote of the Day
"Start your child's day with love and encouragement and end the day the same way." - Zig Ziglar

Take care and God Bless You!

What's with the hair, Sanjaya?

We started the day by going out to eat with Aunt Sherry and Mom for lunch. I introduced Aunt Sherry to Katie as "Lolli." For a couple months, Aunt Sherry has requested that Mom teach Katie to say "Lolli." This is the name Sherry's grandchildren call her instead of Grandma. Katie really took up with "Lolli," I think it's because Sherry played around and picked on her. Later this afternoon, Aunt Sherry called me and asked if her and Mom could stop by the house. Sherry and Roger recently had to have their dog, Princess, put down because of old age and she had a tumor in her side. The last time I saw the dog, it looked real bad. Apparently, they feel it's time to get another dog. We got on the computer and looked up some terrier breeds. She was really taken by the Cairn and Norwich breeds. I was somewhat surprised at the cost of the Norwich Terriers - $2000-$4000 approx. The Cairn Terriers (Toto type from Wizard of Oz) cost around $400-$900 approx. After seeing the price, she said she would get a Cairn mix. She couldn't get over the price for puppies, but I had to remind her a lot of those puppies came from Championship Bloodlines. I will have to say, I've never seen a white/cream colored Cairn Terrier - very pretty. They kind of remind me of a Westie.

I had to run a few errands after lunch. I found the Cowardly Lion doll from "The Wizard of Oz" movie. I think I mentioned it from one of my past blogs, that I wanted to get Katie the doll. Well, Wal-Mart had only one lion left and I had to get it. We will give it to her for Easter. I finally picked up her dress that I had monogrammed from Monograms Plus. The dress was ready to be picked up a week ago. I also found Katie a slip to wear with a couple of her dresses. Yes, today was a day to mark off the list of things I needed to get.

Some of you are probably wondering what is going on with my blog. Well, I had a few comments of concern from some family members about my blogging. A couple showed real concern that some crazy person would find out where I lived, no matter how careful I was, and might cause problems for me or family. My Mother told me I needed to grow up and not blog anymore. She's never read or seen any of my blogs, so I took that comment like a grain of salt. Nevertheless, I appreciate the love shown by my family and I respect their opinion thus my restrictions.

Tomorrow, Susan is suppose to go over to Mom & Dad's to visit with Aunt Sherry and Uncle Roger. She wants to see Katie for a little bit, so I told her I would be there as well. Hopefully, Katie will be on her best behavior. We have really been butting heads already this week and it's just Tuesday. She is having to learn the hard way to mind me and I mean what I say. On my end, it's very exhausting, but I'm trying to be consistent. Because she wouldn't mind me, she bumped her head twice today. One is running on the couch and not sitting down or getting off. There she went into the floor, hitting her head. She was okay. She has a little bruise on her forehead. People tell me it's normal, but I think there's something wrong with her hearing. Like Sandy says, aliens come down and suck the brains out of our children and don't return. I'm beginning to think she is right. For instance, I was trying to groom Sassy, long hair cat. It was a sight! First of all you have to know my cat thus the name "Sassy." I would start combing her hair when I would notice Katie (decided to visit neighbors) walking over to Mr. & Mrs. Phipps. "Katie, get over here." "Come back home and play with her toys." "Am I going to have to spank you?!?" By the third statement to her, as she is looking at me with a blank look on her face, I am yelling and my face is red. She, thinking the wind is blowing in her hair, continues to walk over to the Phipps' back porch. When she sees me get up and walk towards her is when she gets the message - wow! Mom must really mean it. By this time, I have to look for the cat because she has had enough and will not be returning to this kind of abuse. I had to pull the cat out from underneath the truck in order to try again combing her hair. Meanwhile, Katie decides she's not getting enough dirty in her diet. I hope it's good for her because she eats it as much as possible. She's running around the yard with the Windmill (upside down) in her mouth. Me telling her to get out of her mouth encouraged her to continue doing it. Needless to say, the cat didn't get groomed very good and Katie and I went into the house.

American Idol
Okay what's with the hair, Sanjaya? If he wants to be remembered, this is one way of doing it. I will have to say, he did throw his voice out there (first time ever). I still say he can't sing, but that's my opinion. Where is Chris Sligh going with his performances? I think he is ready to give it up. I know he can sing, but he hasn't stepped up to the plate in a while. Melinda is still hot! Unless something happens, I predict Melinda will make it to the final 5.

Famous Saying
There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, “All right, then, have it your way.”- C. S. Lewis

Take care and God Bless You!