Happy 46th Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to Millard and Peggy!

It won't be too many years before they will be able to celebrate that "Golden Anniversary." YAY! With their anniversary landing on a week day this year, we took them out to eat last night. I haven't ate at a Longhorn Restaurant in a very long time. Mmmmmm! I had their ribeye with potato and salad. Oh, it was so good. Colton was sitting by me, so I shared my slice of bread and a few bites of potato with him. Colton just doesn't know when to stop eating. I fed him a 7 oz. bottle on our way to pick up Millard and Peggy. As soon as we got to the restaurant, I fed him a stage 2 jar of apples and summer peaches. Yum! This was a new taste for him and he really liked it. Thinking he was satisified, I cleaned him up and took his feeding bib off. Then, he saw the bread. It was a pretty big slice and he nearly ate it all. LOL!

Peggy, Katie and myself wanted to go to the mall after dinner. I was telling Peggy how much Katie has grown this past Fall. She just shot up over night. Before school started, I purchased size 4 clothes to at least last until next Spring. Who knew she would just up to a size 5 by Christmas. Doug was really getting on me because her pants looked like your basic "high waters." I had a hard time trying to find something descent for her to wear for church that morning. Ugh! I thought surely Belk would have a good sale going on right now with their Winter clothes, but you never know. It wasn't that long ago when we went to the Belk in Decatur and their racks of 5's were a little skimpy, especially dresses. I'm so glad we went to the one in Huntsville because I was able to get some great deals on her clothes. I even checked out their Easter dresses and she liked this one(white sleeveless, scalloped edges with pink and green embroidery). It was advertising as being 30% off and Peggy gave me a coupon for an additional 20% off the total price. I was so tickled to go ahead and get her an Easter dress. I wished I could have found a picture to show you. In the past, I would have Katie wearing a smocked dress for Easter, but she is getting older and not that fond of smocked dresses like she use to be. There was another dress that I really liked. It was a sleeveless ivory, with three different colored silk flowers along the waist and full skirt. Here's a picture of it.

It was very simple but elegant. Unfortunately, Katie liked the pink and white dress more.

The Children's Place is beginning to be one of my favorite children's clothing store. I got a jumper dress for Katie, so cute!

I purchased a long-sleeved pink shirt to go underneath. She has pink tights to wear underneath, so I go the lace capri tights for her wear underneath during the Spring months. I loved the patch bermuda shorts, they had for girls. I thought they would look so cute this Spring/Summer on Katie with a pink t-shirt. I showed them to Katie and she turned up her upper lip. Whell! I just turned back around and put the shorts up.

Aren't these shoes adorable? Peggy really liked these shoes the best for Colton, so she got them for him.
I liked the high top canvas shoes, but I couldn't put these football looking shoes down. I fell in love and he has so many footall outfits that these would look great with. Also, I grabbed Katie a fleece night gown for $4.99. They were originally $12.99. I should have gotten one for next year. Right now is a great time to take advantage of a lot of their Fall/Winter clothes for $4.99 each. You've got to check them out. Click here to take advantage of The Children's Place Monster Sales.

Movie's in Review
Doug brought home "All About Steve" and "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" for Katie and myself. Doug knows what a big fan I am of Sandra Bullock. I have to say, I enjoyed watching "All About Steve." Sandra does really good in comedy movies. I even heard Doug laugh a time or two over on the couch. If you would like just a silly, goofy movie night, I recommend this movie.

Last night was the tenth time Katie watched "Cloudy with a . . ." I didn't watch it, but I guess it's a slow starter. I say this because at first, Katie said she didn't like it that well. Next thing I know, she's asking us if she could watch it again.


"The DRs" Tips on Getting that Perfect Massage at Home from Your Partner
THE MASSAGE SPOT

MOST KNOTS ARE FOUND IN THE NECK, BETWEEN SHOULDER BLADES, LOWER BACK

LOWER BACK - USE THUMBS & PRESS UP (APPROX. 5 LBS) IN CIRCULAR MOTION FOR THE LOWER BACK AREA; START OFF WITH LIGHT PRESSURE & THEN ASK THE PERSON IF THEY WANT IT DEEPER.

SHOULDER BLADES – REST YOUR FOREARMS ON THE MID-BACK (NOT THE SPINE AREA) AND JUST LEAN IN

NECK – TAKE YOUR HAND AND CUP THE BACK OF THE NECK. START OUT WITH THE PALM OF HAND PUSHING DOWN THE NECK AND (INTO A LIFTING MOTION) LIFTING UP THE NECK. DO THIS OVER AND OVER. IT WILL EVENTUALLY RELEASE THOSE KNOTS.

WARNING – WATCH THE SPINE AREA & AVOID ALL MAJOR SCARS

What Shall We Do Today?
With today being Martin Luther King Day, I had planned to take Katie and Colton on a picnic. The temps are suppose to be in the mid to upper 50's, but it seems that the fog is going to hang in there. So, I might have to come up with another plan. Katie doesn't like the days I have to clean. She wants me to sit with her all day and play. I feel guilty when I have to say "no," but things have to get done. I am hoping today might be a little different. I guess it's harder for little kids on cool Winter days.

Praise Report

I've got a praise report to pass along to you. Chase, car accident victim, had a wonderful report from the Trauma doctor regarding his injuries. He shows no signs of damage to his liver and lungs from the accident. Praise God above for answering so many prayers. The doctor released Chase from his care unless he needs to see him again, if there is a problem. Chase went back to work last Monday and says that he is feeling great. Thanks again for all the prayers!

Congratulations Ryan!

Well, I guess it's official because now I can congratulate my nephew, Ryan, about his recent change in career paths. As you know, he had the opportunity to work for Duke Hospital in NC as an RN for the past few years. His dream job is coming closer to reality. He has recently been accepted at University of Alabama at Birmingham to attend graduate school in anesthesia. He won't begin classes until next Fall, but he is getting ducks in a row for the upcoming changes. We are all so happy, he is moving back home. We all miss him very much and wish him all the success.

Congratulations Ryan!

We Love You!

"The DRs" Inexpensive Ways to Have a Day at the Spa in Your Home

1. FOR NICE CONDITIONED HANDS - RUB LOTION ON HANDS & PUT ON RUBBER GLOVES BEFORE WASHING DISHES


2. REPLACE YOUR BASIC SKIN TONERS WITH WITCH HAZLE - PUT SOME ON A FEW COTTON BALLS AND DAB A LITTLE ON YOUR SKIN.


3. HEALTHY HAIR
   a. OLIVE OIL
   b. MAYONAISE
   c. AVOCADO
   d. EGGS
   MIX TOGETHER AND POUR ALL OVER YOU HAIR, WASH YOUR HAIR AS NORMAL & YOU’LL BE AMAZED AS THE RESULTS.


4. CLEANER, WHITIER LOOKING NAILS – RUB LEMONS ON THEM


5. KEEP A EYELASH CURLER, MASCARA & LIP GLOSS IN YOUR MAKEUP BAG


6. EXFOLIATE YOUR SKIN – PUT A FACIAL CLEANSER IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND, A LITTLE BIT OF BAKING SODA, MIX TOGETHER IN YOUR HAND & RUB IN CIRCULIAR MOTION ON TO YOUR SKIN (FACE).


7. SOLUTION FOR TIRED, PUFFY EYES – TAKE FROZEN SPOONS & PLACE THEM UNDER YOUR EYES


8. PLACE USED COLD CAMIMILE TEA BAG ON YOUR EYES – FOR PUFFY, TIRED EYES


9. USE SCARFS FOR DIFFERENT LOOKS WITH YOUR OUTFITS


10. SOOTHING BATHS THAT MAKES YOUR SKIN SUPER SOFT – EPSOM SALT REDUCES BLOATING; ½ CUP OF HONEY WITH ½ MILK .

Jon's Basketball Game Pictures

Some photos from Jon's basketball game last night, I wanted to share with you.

Jon shoots!

Jon #10

Colton didn't care for all the loud cheering for our team

Katie didn't care for the noise as well.

Colton wearing Jon's cap

Jon pumps up the crowd after their first great victory

Final score

Pants on the Ground, Lookin' like a Fool

"Pants on the ground, pants on the ground. Lookin' like a fool with the pants on the ground." We have hummed and giggled this song all day. We even have Katie singing it. LOL! If you don't know the joke, the last contestant from The American Idol made this song up and sang it to the judges. The man was 62 years old. It was so funny, but you know it is so true. Here's a clip from The American Idol, if you missed.


Way To Go Jon!
We just got back from watching Jon playing basketball. He scored 16 points for Addison. They won 45-29. Yay! Jon was easy to point out during the game because he was the tallest one out there at 6' 3". I'll have to post pictures later because it's so late.

Colton's Check-up

Colton and I went to visit Dr. Lunsford for Colton's 9 month check-up. According to Dr. Lunsford, he is doing great and is a BIG boy. He weighs: 19 lbs. 1 oz. is 30 1/2" tall, which makes him 96% on the chart, and is overall 75% in his growth. It was Colton's lucky day because he didn't have to have any shots, but he did have to have his Hemoglobin checked. It checked out great at 12.8. Dr. Lunsford seemed very pleased with Colton's health and we don't have to go back until he turns a year old. Can you believe it? It won't be very long before our baby will be turning a year old. How sad is that?

Colton loves doing and learning new things. A couple of days ago, made another milestone. As you know, he received an ATV scooter for Christmas. I think I've mentioned that he likes to push this scooter all over the Living Room by walking on his knees. Well, he has been trying so hard to get his little leg up over the seat of the ATV. I have good news to announce, he successfully got up on his scooter's seat. Unfortunately, he didn't know when to stop, so he kept going over and landed on the other side of the scooter, in the floor. He stopped and looked up at Katie and myself with this big grin on his face. I'm assuming he was either happy with himself getting up on the seat or surprised falling off. Either way, Katie and I cheered him on.

Katie and Colton have a new game with one another. It's called "Who can yell the loudest?" They think it's lot of fun, screaming at the top of their lungs. They don't like it when mama tells them "that's enough." Katie will stop, but it takes Colton another scream or two before he stops.

Haiti Tragedy
I'm sure you've been watching the news about the tragic earthquake in Haiti. It just makes me sick looking at all the pictures and video. I can't imagine what those poor people must be going through. Reports are, most people are sleeping outside during the night because they don't feel safe inside their homes, due to all the after shocks. I saw on FOX news where rescuers found a two year old alive after being trapped in the rubble for two days. My heart goes out to all of these people. Please keep them in your prayers. If you feel lead to donate monies to the cause, Beth Moore's blog suggested a few great sites to donate, on her yesterday's post. You'll have to check it out.

What Can I Do To Improve?
Visiting one of my many blogger friends, one post really hit it home. One of the writers for "5 Minutes for Faith", Wendy, wrote about 2 Timothy 7 and how God spoke to her. After she read 2 Timothy 7, she stopped and noticed how she complains a lot during the day. Being a mom of two children under the age of 4 years, I can completely understand. I remember being a pretty positive person in the day, but as time marches on, I've found myself being more negative with lots of complaints to go along with it. Sure, I'm grateful for all the things God has blessed me with in my walk. I'm talking about the day to day life. My problem is complaining aloud when something doesn't work out quite the way I expected it. No matter how small or large the situation might be. Well, Wendy too noticed how she complains aloud. I understand, life isn't a bed of roses 100% of the time, but you can control the way you respond to the things that go wrong around you. Charles Swindol once said, "Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it." Wendy wrote and I agree that "complaining all day is a weak or timid way to live." I too am going to try to discipline myself and rely on God's love to get me through the strains of every day life. I'm hoping to think positive once again and hold my tongue, so my children can see me as an example and not a disappointment.

"The Doctors" on Inexpensive Healthy Eating Tips
A few days ago, Doug and I flipped over to "The Doctors" and the subject was on ways to eat healthy during a recession. I took some notes, went through with their suggestions and wanted to pass along this information to you.

They suggested eating more of the following foods:

• Tuna is a great source of protein (2 servings a week), be careful to not eat too much because of the counts of Mercury.
• Whole Wheat Pasta
• Marinara sauce is great to put on the whole wheat pasta.
• Oats/Oatmeal is very good for you and is good for high cholestrol

I've never ate whole wheat pasta until the other night. It wasn't that bad. In fact, I couldn't really tell that much of a difference between regular and wheat pasta. Doug wasn't too pleased to have meatless spagetti for supper the other night. We had whole wheat pasta with Paul Newman's Marinara sauce. I added sliced mushrooms and chopped black olives to the sauce. I think that might have added some taste beings the "red meat" was missing. LOL! Poor Doug.

Bama Messed with Texas

I received an email from one of Doug's cousins from Louisiana. She attached a picture of the flag pole from her son's company, he works for in the state of Texas.

Before the BCS National Championship, a Texas Longhorn flag flew on this flag pole. Well Adam, cousin, made a bet. If Alabama wins the championship, they had to take the Texas Longhorn flag down and fly a University of Alabama flag in it's stead. She went on to say that the flags were switched out today. LOL! I find it hilarious! All I can say is "Alright Adam!" and "ROLL TIDE BABY!"

Colton's 1st Hair Cut

Colton is looking a little shaggy, so I felt it was time to give him a little trim. I hate giving trims. My hands shake the whole time, I get so nervous.

He loved having his grape sucker, while I tried to cut his hair. His hair is so fine that I had a terrible time keeping it still long enough to get the scissors close enough to cut without gapping it. Of course, Colton insisted on checking things out while I was trying to comb and cut. Ugh! Finally Doug suggested his mustache trimmers. What an excellent idea? I thought to myself. I put the guard on the trimmers and got after it. Whew! I finished about 30 minutes later. Ha! I checked out the new hairdo, making sure it looked okay. I even had Doug check it out. He seemed pretty happy with it. Now for the next several days, I'll be looking for mistakes.

He is just tolerating mama messin' with his ears. Doug laughed at me for cutting the tags of hair draped over Colton's ears, putting them in a piece of tape. He asked what I had planned to do with that. Of course, the hair was to go in his "First Hair Cut" container.

Our finished project.

Our handsome little man.

The other day, Katie drug the cricket chair into the Living Room. Colton likes this chair. We took this picture because Doug said, he saw Colton climb into the chair and sit down. He is holding on to his cow lawnmower. He pushs this lawnmower around the Living Room by holding on to the handle and walks on his knees.

Colton's getting to be a little more of a dare devil. As long as he is barely holding on to something stable, he is walking all over the place.


Katie and Colton are enjoying their suckers. On days that Katie has school, if you are green (good) all 3 hours, you get a prize from the treasure box. Katie loves suckers, so she is always bringing home suckers. This day, she just got home from school and I caught her sharing her sucker with Colton. I thought it was very sweet of Katie to share with her little brother, but was a little concerned about him biting into her very thin sucker, at that time. Colton was not a happy camper when I told his sister to stop letting him taste her sucker.

So, I gave him his very own and he was such a happy little man for several minutes. It's amazing what you can get done when you give your little one a sucker or snacks.

Happy 20th Birthday Nicholas

Nicholas turned 20 years old last Wednesday. He wanted to see all the family one more time before he had to head back to school. We don't know when the next time we'll get to see him before summer break. Even then, I think he is scheduled to shadow a doctor at the hospital in Mobile. So, I don't think we'll be seeing much of Dr. Nicholas this summer. I don't know if he has plans for spring break or not.

We gave him the ultimate gift - YOO-HOOS. He loves them! He was tickled that he had enough Yoo-hoos to last him the trip south. Ha Ha! I got a kick out it because he is on this BIG health/exercise kick. A lot of us couldn't believe how much weight he had lost, he is so thin. So, we've all tried to fatten him up a little, but he wouldn't cheat. He is more dedicated than I am. But then, I didn't get his favorite snack - chocolate donuts. I'd be really amazed if he refused them.

Tarter Sauce Recipe

I don't care for Tarter Sauce, you buy in a bottle. We were having fish one night for supper and Doug came across this recipe for Tarter Sauce. It is very good!

Tarter Sauce
3/4 Cup Miracle Whip
1/2 Cup Mayonnaise
1/4 Cup Pickle Relish
1/4 Cup Finely Chopped Sweet Onion
3 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice

Mix together the Miracle Whip, Mayonnaise, relish, onion and Lemon Juice; cover and refrigerate it until ready to use.

Idiot at the Ballgame

An idiot interrupted the BCS National Championship ballgame last night by running out onto the field. Doug and I could see, someone was on the field and that the security guards were running him off. Of course, we couldn't get a real good view because they had the cameras pull away from the field. Well, Chuck sent me a picture of the idiot.

Tide of Domination by Big Al & Sabanators

Bama Wins 2010 BCS National Championship

Just a few pictures of last night's event.



What a great game last night. Doug and I finally went to bed around 1AM after viewing all the post-game news. I guess we had to be reminded, "yes, Alabama really did win the 2010 BCS National Championship for the 13th time in the history of Alabama football." It was so exciting! I hated it for poor Colt McCoy. I really hope his arm will be okay. I don't like to see any player get hurt during a game. I'm sure that's got to be scary, arm going numb. Wow! Ingram, Richardson, Arenas and other great Bama players really showed what they were made of.

In a way, I hate that UT lost to Alabama on my cousin's, Allen, birthday. In the day, he played football for UT and still lives in Texas today. Wow, what a terrible birthday present to him. He has been giving us Alabama cousins a lot of smack talk for the past month, since we knew Alabama would for a fact be playing Texas for the championship. He's been throwing a lot of "Hook 'em" to me on Facebook. Of course, I had to give it back to him with a "cook 'em". LOL! I stayed on Facebook last night with all my buddies, doing the victory posts - ROLL TIDE ROLL! One friend made the mistake to announce, "steaks for everyone". It was suppose to be a joke until me along with her other friends began asking "what time do need to be there?" Ha! She was a good sport and asked how we like our steak cooked. HA HA!

Also, Pizza Hut has a great deal right now that you need to take advantage of today. You can purchase one of their delicious pizzas for $10. According to their advertisement, you can get any size, any toppings, for $10. I don't know about your area, but Pizza Hut pizza is expensive here. I think Doug and I are going to get one today for dinner.

Have a great day and ROLLL TIDE!

BCS National Championship

ROLL TIDE!

Happy New Year!

Well did you eat your share of peas and greens? We always go to Millard and Peggy's for our annual New Year's Day dinner. Peggy knows, I can't handle the collard greens, so she makes me a pot of cabbage. I love boiled seasoned cabbage. Lord knows, we need the money this year. There's no telling how much our taxes will be raised this year. Ugh! I dread it, but I know it's coming.

I have to report that Winter is officially HERE! BRRRR! It's cold outside. We woke up this morning to a very frigid 19 degrees. The Meteorologist are predicting snow here Thursday and Friday. We got out briefly this morning and noticed a flake or two as we were getting into our vehicle.

Claire's Birthday Party

Katie's best friend, Claire, celebrated her 5th birthday on New Year's Eve night. I've never been to Christy and Charlie's (Claire's parents)house, so I got directions. Christy called me, after I left her a message that we would be there, to give me directions. Wow! I'm glad she did because there are a lot of turns from our house to hers. HA HA! She suggested getting on MapQuest to make sure the directions she gave me were correct. Later, I got on Google and printed out exact directions. Of course, it's not good enough for Doug. He insisted I use his Garmin. He even tried it out the day before to make sure it worked just fine. The only thing that made me nervous, I knew we would be out at night. I'm happy to report that we got there in one piece. The Garmin sent me down a dead end street twice. Poor Katie was so worried because I had to go around a block or two. I've got to pay more attention to what I say to myself because Katie keeps her ears wide open.

The party was a great success. Christy and Charlie had their garage all decorated up for the kids. It was so cute - "Strawberry Shortcake." They had a little bowling alley, putt-putt golf, football rings and Rocking Guitar (whatever it's called) set up. Claire and Katie danced around singing Hannah Montana songs. Christy's mom, Toni, painted all the children's faces. Katie wanted a rainbow kitty. It turned out pretty cute, it matched her outfit.



Katie's never been on a "Sit 'n Spin," so Claire was showing her how to do it. They were having lots of fun. Poor Katie, she tried to be lady like and sit side saddle on the "Sit 'n Spin."

Claire got all kinds of neat stuff. Katie gave her a new Barbie mermaid that came out just before Christmas. Claire seemed to like it. I think she had a very nice party. We left soon after she opened up her gifts from everyone. I think it was around 9 PM before we got home.

As soon as we got home, Katie got her New Year's Eve party hat and blowers, while I got our party tray ready with all sorts of snacks. We all piled up on the bed and watched the new year come in. I had a terrible time getting Katie to calm down and stay in bed. I guess she got too much sugar. HA HA!

. . . You Know What Happens Next?
Katie has gotten into this storytelling kick. Instead of me reading to her for once, she wants to read the story (pretend). Last week, she wanted to tell me the bedtime story. She got me so tickled because she would try to remember some stories, but she kept forgetting the character's names. She would stop mid-sentence, wrinkle up her face with her finger on her jaw as to say that she's thinking and finally ask me "now what was that name again?" As soon as I guessed the correct name, she'd say "yeah, that's it." She got back to telling me the story and every few breaths, she'd say "you know what happened next?" It was cute.

The other day she told me she wanted to read, so I took it as literally. Let me back up, for Christmas I got her a "Dick and Jane" book. All excited, I grabbed her first reading books, "Biscuit" and "Dick and Jane." I wanted her to look at the word and repeat. I've done this to her before a few weeks ago and it went fairly good. Thinking we were headed down the same road, I pointed to the word "Biscuit" and asked her to repeat after me. I sounded out all the letters and slowly reading her the word. Well, she said the word, but only once. So, I brought out the other book and pointed to the word "Spot" and did the same thing. Yeah, well she's not exactly ready. She refused to look at the word, so I calmly put the book down and went on about my business. Apparently, she wanted to pretend read. Hopefully, we'll have another opportunity on down the road.

Colton's First Birthday Plans
Can you believe Colton will be a year old in three months? It's hard to imagine! Now that everything came to a close at the end of the year, I'm back in full force to organize the next big event. Yeah, you've got it - Colton's 1st Birthday party. I know, but what got my wheels turning in my head was my daily "Betty Crocker" e-mail news. I began perusing their birthday ideas. Well, I came across the Barnyard birthday party. I feel in love! After seeing the video on how to make a barn and their farm animals, I remembered seeing a Barnyard birthday party supplies from Celebrate Express. PERFECT!


I just love it! Of course Katie doesn't like the Barnyard Birthday theme. Her vote was on a "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" theme. I told her that sounds more like a baby shower theme. She told me that she thought Colton would like the stars more than animals. Her face was all wrinkled up while she was telling me this. Oh well, she'll have to get over it.

Twilight Series
I finished reading "New Moon" the other day. I didn't like it as much as the first book; however, I did like the ending. I won't tell you what happened because I don't want to spoil things just in case you haven't read it yet. I am excited to see the movie now. Thank you Allison for inviting me with you to the "Girl's Night Out." I might have to take you up on the offer. You'll have to tell me what night you girls are going, so I can see if Doug will be home or if I'll have a babysitter that night. Doug started to get me the next book, "Eclipse." I told him to wait because he picked up a $14 hardcover. I'll wait and get the paperback another time.