Happy Valentine's Day

Never lie, steal, cheat or drink

But if you must lie,

lie in the arms of the one you love.

if you must steal,

steal away from bad company.

if you cheat,

cheat death.

and if you must drink,

drink in the moments that take your breath away.

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,

but the places and moments that take our breath away"

~ Anonymous

I hate to say this, but the first time I heard this saying was while watching the movie "Hitch."  I consider myself a romantic at heart.  I fell in love with this quote and it is so true.  Embrace every moment you have with one another because you never know what tomorrow holds. 

I dedicate this post to the man, God put in my path.  The man that caught my eye for the first time and still has my eyes set on him.  He is truly my life partner, my rock wall, my soft shoulder to cry on, and motivator.  I love him yesterday, today and always! 

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

I LOVE YOU MY HUNNY BUNNY!

My Doctor's In A What?

I would like to introduce to you the group "Exit 310".  This video was taken last Spring, but I just recently found out that Katie's teacher from last year, Mrs. Katie, and our family doctor, Dr. Lunsford, are in a band together.  I knew Dr. Lunsford was his church's pianist.  I've got a couple of his CDs, but never knew he joined a band.  I love it!  I knew Mrs. Katie before my Katie started preschool and knew she sang, but never had the opportunity to hear her.  I'm so glad I came across this video.  I think she's pretty good.  I wrote on their Facebook asking for CDs.  Hopefully, Katie and I will be able to see them in concert this Spring.  Colton and I will be seeing Dr. Lunsford next month, so I'll have to get on to him for not letting me know about this sooner. 

In the above video, Mrs. Katie is the vocal and Dr. Lunsford is on the keyboard.  Enjoy! 

Katie gets her Valentine treat from mommy early.  She wanted me to make her Rice Krispy candy.  I thought it would be cute for her, if I shaped it into a huge heart.  She was surprised when she got home from school. 

Katie & Colton were so bored last night that they thought they would pass the time away by putting pen tattoos on Colton's face and Katie's hands.  The right side of Colton's cheek is his creation.

This is Katie's creation.  FUN!

Sister and brotherly love!  They were laying on the couch between Paw-paw Millard and Daddy, while watching American Idol . . . thus, the microphone Katie is holding as she sings with the show. 

Valentine's Day

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's weekend. We had a very busy one. Of course, Friday was Katie's Class Valentine Party and she had a blast.

Saturday, I met up with a friend from high school, doing a little catching up. When I got home that afternoon, Doug went to pick up our Smoked Boston Butt from our city school baseball team. It's their annual fundraising project, but this year they didn't give it to you all nice and warm, ready to eat. This year, Smith Farms cooked and vaccum sealed it. I was ready to sink my teeth into a some barbeque, but the package was cold. So, we decided to freeze it and save it for another day. Piggly Wiggly has a special on their T-bone steaks $4.99 a pound. We buy a lot of our meat from "The Pig" because it is so good and they have really good sales from time to time. Doug put a little steak rub on the steaks and grilled them up for supper. Oh my gosh! They were so good, you could cut them with a butter knife. I didn't have to put my "Shula's Steak Sauce" on it.

Last night, we were going to go out to eat, but I was not looking forward to the crowd of people. Millard and Peggy planned to come over to watch the kids for us. At the last minute, I persuaded Doug to let me go get some more delicious steaks and we'd just stay home for our Valentine's dinner. Oh, our dinner last night was just as good or better than the night before. We had steak, garden salad, baked potato and seasoned green beans. Sooo good! We celebrated Valetine's Day with the children yesterday morning. Katie was so excited because she received the new pink Mermaid Barbie, she asked for. She loved it along with a ladybug candy box and Tinkerbell ring suckers. Colton received a V-tech piano and Blow-Pop suckers. He seems to like it, but I think Katie likes the piano more. LOL! She told me yesterday that she wanted to be a baby just for 2 days and then she would be a little girl again. Doug gave me "Couples Retreat" movie. We haven't seen it yet. It looked like it would be good.

Our little kids cutting up. Colton loves it when Katie picks at him. We have to really watch her because she can get too rough.

Grandma Peggy and Paw-Paw Millard came through the door with these balloons. They were a hit! Katie named the monkey "Colton."

Colton Update
I've started Colton on the Gerber Graduates this week and he seems to be doing great. He likes the Cheese Ravioli Pick Ups and diced apples. He loves cheese puffs and anything chocolate. He cut another tooth, to my surprise. Now, he has 4 on the top & 3 on the bottom. A lot of the time, if you say "yay" he'll start clapping. Sometimes, he says "yay" while he is clapping. Too cute.

Katie Story
The other night was too precious. Katie convinced Doug to play dolls in her room. I got a lot of it on tape. I'll try to post it, but sometimes my video upload sources can't support MP4 video yet. Doug is such an awesome daddy when it comes to his babies.

Birthday Party
Now that Valentine's over, we're in full birthday party mode. Mark it on your calendar, Colton's 1st birthday party will be on Saturday, March 27th. I'll have to discuss the menu with Doug, but hopefully the party will be another success.

Beach TripLaura's been keeping me updated on the reservations at our favorite condo. I'm so excited! I've told Doug, this year I want a family portrait on the beach. I've been shopping around online for white beach outfits for everyone. I've decided Doug and Colton will wear white polo shirt with khaki shorts. I found a beautiful eyelet dress at Gap for Katie. Macy's has an eyelet top just for me.

I'm sure it's just because of the Winter weather, but I'm so ready for our beach trip. Would you believe, we received more snow this morning. It wasn't a whole lot, just a trace. This has got to be the longest Winter in history. Laura, hang on because I think I might be more excited for this trip then I was the last one. I know I'll enjoy it much better than last because Lord willing I won't be pregnant. LOL!

On a side note, this Winter should be proof enough that there is no threat to Global warming. I understand when we feel like we have to control everything and I mean everything. God has to remind us (world) that He is in Constant Control, not us. HE IS! When it comes to global warming, it might be there is a specific reason beyond our own pee-brain knowledge. God knows what's best. He created this world and only He can destroy it. NOT US! Shew! I'm so glad to get that off my chest.


The best Valentine blessing, you could ever ask for!

Snowy Valentine Party

I just can't come up with that perfect title today because so much went on today. First, I've got to ask you. What will a woman suffering from severe cabin fever do on a snowy day? She gets out on the snowy roads, while it's nice and wet in 29 degree weather. LOL!

For the past couple of days, we were forecasted to receive a dusting to 1 inch of snow. They said the snow would begin at 4 AM this morning. How disappointed I was to wake up at 6 AM to no snow. About an hour later, it made it's appearance but not too hard. By 9:30 AM, the snow was here and let everyone know it.

Katie had a blast playing in the cold wet snow with her daddy. Katie had to make a snow angel, while dad threw snow balls.

Today was Katie's Valentine's Day party at school. Those little kids had a blast at their Valentine's party. When I walked in at 10 AM, there were children running all over the place. Mrs. Katie didn't know what had gotten into the kids, to make them act so WILD. They were just so excited! As you know, Katie and I made Oreo Kisses and Red Velvet Bon-Bons for the party. I told Doug last night, I will never do that again. I mean, what was I thinking? Making two different desserts that require chocolate dipping, while I had both children in the house with me and no one watching them. I thought it could be done. Well, it got done, but I'm missing a few nerves, hair and I've got this wild look going on. When Doug walked into the house yesterday, took a look on the Dining Room table (all the bon-bons and cookies), Colton crying, Katie acting her wild self and me with my "I've lost my freakin' mind" look going on and he began laughing. Now, why he was laughing, I will never know. In fact, I don't think I want to know, I can just imagine. I think if Colton was a little older, Katie wouldn't act like a ADHD child, it may have gone a little better. It took me all day, but I got them made. I have say, THEY WERE A HIT! Laura - you were right. You can't eat just one Red Velvet Cake Bon-Bon. That's exactly what Mrs. Katie told me as she was eating her 8th one. (Just kidding) It was probably her 7th. HA HA! I wished the Oreo Kisses would have made more than just 33 cookies. I guess I know now, I'll have to make 2 batches for parties. Everyone had a fit when they found out that I made them. Of course, everyone asked me for the recipes. They couldn't get over how easy and simple they were. Mrs. Katie has nicknamed me "Martha Stewart." HA HA! If she only saw me the night before. Shew! I have just enough Red Velvet Bon Bons to give to mom, dad, Peggy, Millard, me and Doug. Katie really like the Oreo Kisses, but they went FAST.
Momma's little Betty Crocker

Mom's kitchen helper. How do you like our ensemble? I noticed on "Regis & Kelly", a guest baker wore a head scarf while cooking. Have you seen these? They are scarves glued on a plastic headband. They've been on for quite sometime. I like them, but have yet to buy one. Doug makes fun of me for I begin cooking because I put my hair up in a ponytail and then put on a cloth headband, to keep the rest of my hair off my face. Bottomline, it's just good sense to pull as much hair back as possible. Katie liked wearing her bandana until it began falling off. I must not have tied it on good enough. She was so excited to wear her apron that Alise gave her for Christmas. It's so cute with a ballerina on the front.
Here's my kiss. I think I made them too small because I cut the foil to the exact measured suggested and it just swolled up my kiss. Of well, this was my first try at it.
I stacked 4 layers of the Red Velvet Cake Bon-Bons. I recommend them to any event!
Here's an example of some of the special Valentine's gift boxes, I assembled. The Oreo Kisses didn't look exactly like a Hershey's Kiss, but it will do. They tasted so much better than they looked.


All the children had to wait patiently for their Valentines from each child, holding their Valentine boxes in their laps.
A new little girl, Katie, joined our school classroom this semester. I asked Mrs. Katie, if it gets a little confusing with the room full of Katies. She smiled and agreed. All the kids call the new Katie "little Katie," but Little Katie announced to everyone that she's big now. LOL! I thought that was so sweet. She's such a little bitty thang. Of course, Katie is sitting by her best bud, Claire. So cute! Believe it or not, I do fix Katie's hair. She had a pink bow in her hair, but she told me that she didn't want to wear it. I tried straightening her hair this morning because it was going every where. There are some days (lots) where her hair has so much body in it that you can't do anything with it, except put it up in a ponytail.
After Katie's party, we dropped in on mom and dad. To wish them a wonderful Valentine's Day, we gave them a gift box filled with our yummy desserts. We visited a little while, until I could see outside that it was snowing much harder than earlier. I told mom, I wanted us to get home before it got any worse. On the news, they reported that we received just a trace of snow. Doug and I disagreed with them. We think, we got much more than just a trace. I'm sure, you will agree once you see the pictures.

Great Finds
Jello LiveActive is sugar free, 60 calories, 1 gram of fat and 3 grams of dietary fiber. It tastes just great and with my Weight Watchers, it's only 1 point.