Seriously

We're always teasing that we're not really sure if our boy is really ours. Why you ask? Well...it's all based on his eating habits. He doesn't really care about eating. It's sickening actually...how can he be so nonchalant about food? I mean...come on...it's food!

Here's an example to help me explain about him: Friday night we made cookies. There were 12 cookies...so the kids figured out that each member of our family gets 3 cookies. Good math lesson, right? Well... Hubby, our girl, and I proceed to eat our 3 cookies after dinner. Our boy eats 1 cookie and then announces that he's going to save his other 2 cookies. Well...here they are on Sunday night...still in the baggy where he put them:

Seriously...if those were my cookies, they'd be calling my name until they were gone! Seriously.

A new cheer

Each week the girls learn new cheers. Here's a video of our girl doing one of the new cheers from this week:

"Down the court, threw the hoop, swish, swish, swish!"

Blog Snafu

Last night I was trying to write a new post, but my dashboard at the top of my blog disappeared and I lost the whole post. Yuck! I'm not sure what caused the snafu...I'm just glad it seems to be corrected today. So...I will rewrite yesterday's post...and then let it count for today's post too!

QU Wedding

Today was our girl's big day as the bride in the QU Wedding. The day we remember that all Q words are always joined in union with the letter U: quarter, quilt, quack, etc.
Here's the bride with Hubby and me pre-ceremony:

Ready for the wedding:

Walking down the aisle:

The vows:

Mr. and Mrs. QU:

The wedding party:

The proud Mama with the bride:

The proud Daddy with the bride:

WooHoo!! Will there be dancing at the reception?

The flowers that my mom and I made for her. She picked them out from Publix! They did turn out much better than when we first started:
Look Aunt T: she wore the tiara you gave her. She's saying, "Ouch" here because her shoe rubbed a blister on her foot.

Wedding Day Secrets:
dress=$7 from Goodwill+dry cleaning cost, I had to take it in a little on sides/straps
veil=$9.99 from Hobby Lobby
tiara=gift from aunt
shoes=$16 from Payless
flowers=$8 from Publix + $6 for holder from Hobby Lobby
Day as a Bride for Pre-K QU Wedding=priceless

End of Week 3 Weigh-In

Pounds lost this week=1.6; Total weight lost in 3 weeks=6.4

I'm not quitting my day job!

Tonight my mom and I put together a bouquet for our girl for her QU wedding. Let's just say that I'm not quitting my day job to become a floral designer! Our girl won't care...she's too excited about the wedding!

New blog to follow

Did you notice that I'm following a new blog on my Blog Roll to the right....that's right...the Disney Blog! Check it out! LOVE it!

Beef Strogan-off

Tonight for dinner I made Beef Strogan-off. Why the hyphen in "stroganoff?" Well...because I was ready to clean "off" the table as soon as I served it. Yuck!

The good news is that Hubby and our boy liked it! Oh...and our girl...she was happy with just the noodles.

Cough...cough...cough...cough

Ugh...our boy is coughing and coughing. He doesn't really know how to cough...it's more like a gag. Thankfully he's sleeping soundly now. I'm praying for relief through the night--for all of us in this house.

Church Luncheon--you gotta love it!

Today our church sponsored a luncheon for missions. They asked people who submitted recipes to the church cookbook to bring dishes from the book for people to taste. Well...it was much more than a taste! Everyone had 3 plates-appetizers, main dishes/sides, and desserts. Oh man...we're sooooooooooo full! You just can't beat a church luncheon!
Here's a look at Hubby's plate...and our girl's too:

Here's our boy and my sister:

Our boy said that this lunch was the BEST lunch ever! My sister said we should start a reality TV show traveling around to different covered-dish luncheons at churches! What do you think--would you like to be cast?

Basketball and Dresses

Today was a 9am basketball/cheer leading day. The kids were excited to have lots of fans there to support them! Both sets of grandparents and two aunts--what lucky kids! Thanks everybody!

Our boy is getting better each game...so Hubby decided he needed a new ball for home. Can you tell he likes it? He's holding it while watching TV on the floor:

Other excitement is brewing in our house too...concerning fancy dresses! Our girl will be the bride in her upcoming QU Wedding at school. We already had a dress that she can wear, but she needed some shoes that we found today.

She also needed a dress and shoes for her upcoming Daddy/Daughter Dance. She picked out two dresses...we bought both of them, but I think she's decided on this one:

She and Daddy practiced some moves tonight! Do you see her beaming? She has been going to the calendar and asking and asking how many more days until the dance!

End of 2nd Week Weigh-In

Well...it's Friday...and that means that it's weigh-in day for our Biggest Loser competition at school. So...at the end of Week 2...I lost 0.4 pounds ( don't laugh...it's a loss...no matter how small) making it a total of 2.6 pounds!!!! Now...let me go have a cookie to celebrate!

Happy 100th Day of School

It's that time again...the 100th Day of School! You know what that means--a dress up day...dress like you're 100 years old!

Me and the kids on the 100th day...I got a new fancy old lady costume for this year...Granny done glammed up this year compared to last year:

I let our girl put on some blush, mascara, and lipstick. She was sooooooooooooooo excited:

Look--even Zero the Hero made an appearance for the 100th Day:
Ok...so I almost forgot to post about the funniest part of the day! First thing this morning when our boy saw me dressed as a 100 year old...he was not quite sure. He said..."Mama...I know that's you." He must have said it 5 times. He even pointed to one of my freckles, and said..."See Mama...it is you!" I reassured him saying "yes...it's me...hear my voice...you're right...it is me."

So then finally...everyone was ready to get out the door to leave for school. I just had put on my "mink"--borrowed from my 93 year-old grandmother. Then our boy says, "Mama...how did you get that OLD smell on you?" ...to which I pointed to my mink and replied..."It's this thing." Nice.

MLK Day "On"

I promised more pics of our Give a Day, Get a Disney Day. We volunteered on MLK Day at a middle school working on the grounds. The slogan of the day was..."Make it a day ON...not a day off."
Here's Hubby and the kids during sign-in time in one of the school's trailers:
My sister and the kids before starting work:

The rotten apples and watermelons waiting for their new compost area:

The newly moved compost area:

Hubby working on trimming shrubs...no electric trimmers here!

Me and Hubby:

Our girl trimming shrubs:

Seriously...who is this???? I think it's Dank Smith--fo sho!

Our boy with my sister on mulch duty covering the mud:

Shovels can be dangerous...our boy accidently hit a girl with his shovel. He felt really bad, and we didn't even have to say..."I told you so." Even though we had been telling him to keep his shovel low.

Spreading grass clippings on mud...we ran out of mulch:

In the lunch line post-work...lunch was provided-nice!

Art from elementary school kids displayed at lunch location:

Wrapping it up for our DAY ON:

Manual Labor

Manual Labor--I should do it more...it's a good workout...it's free...it helps others. Can you tell my muscles are talking...they are sore from our Give a Day events!

More to Come

Here are a couple of pics from our volunteering this morning. We trimmed hedges, moved/spread mulch, moved a wooden compost container, spread grass clippings, etc. We are, needless to say, worn out! I'll post more pics later...I bet my sister (who also volunteered with us) is taking a nap right now...I could sure use one!

Gearing Up

We are gearing up for our Give A Day, Get a Day project in the morning. Have you heard of it? If you volunteer for a day of service, then Disney will give you a free ticket for a day in a park. We saw it advertised on Christmas Day during the Disney Christmas Parade. Hubby signed us up...I'll let you know how it goes!

Check it out...you should sign up too!

Hair

When I was growing up, I talked my friend into going to a cheap-chain place to get her hair cut with me. She has never forgotten that she got "scalped" that day coming out with hair shorter than she'd ever had it. She hated it!

Well...today I went to get my hair "trimmed." When I left, I just knew I'd been scalped just like my childhood friend. Thankfully, when I got home and washed my hair myself...it is not scalped after all.

It is funny how when you do your own hair it looks totally different than when you leave the salon. Sometimes it looks better when you do it yourself and sometimes it looks worse! I'm glad it was for the better today!

Friday Weigh-In and Friday Night Funny

I signed up for the Biggest Loser at school on Tuesday, and today was the first weigh-in. So...it's been 3 days, and I lost 2.2 pounds! Last year we competed on teams, but this year...we're on our own. The top 3 winners split the prize money. Seems like that could be a motivator--I guess only time will tell. The final weigh-in is April Fool's Day--interesting!

The funniest thing happened tonight when I was playing "Opposite Memory," a memory card game, with the kids. Our girl is REALLY good at memory; my son and me...not so good at it. So...after the first round...our boy left the table crying because his 5 year-old sister dominated us.

(Side note: We had an extra card of a Walrus that belongs to another game mixed in with our Opposite Memory cards. I kept saying...what's the opposite of Walrus??? The crazy part is that I kept turning that same 'ol Walrus card over almost every time without even knowing it--knowing that it wasn't even a card for our game!!!)

For round 2, we left the Walrus out of the game. This time it was just me and the girl playing. Our boy moseyed up about half-way through the game and slipped the Walrus card back into our game. Then he moved the Walrus card in the middle of the other cards trying to get us to unknowingly turn it over.

So...then our boy asks to have a turn. He said..."I'll just let it count for Mama's turn." So guess which card he unknowingly turned over first!?!!?!?!?!??! THE WALRUS!!!! Can you believe the irony????? I actually thought he turned it over on purpose to give us a laugh, but no...he unknowingly turned it over! He cried and cried... and was soooooooooooooooooo mad that me and the girl were dying laughing! At first I was laughing because I though he was trying to make us laugh, but then I couldn't stop laughing when I realized he really didn't mean to turn it over!

I have to smile because it reminds me of myself as a child...I ALWAYS cried and ran off when my Dad slipped me the Old Maid card. I might still have tears today if I got slipped the Old Maid...or the Walrus!

Unexpected

This morning...one of the girls in my Kindergarten class came into our classroom. She had a new haircut complete with bangs-previously her hair was all one length. She asked, "Do you notice anything different about me?" as soon as she walked in the door. I said, "Yes, I love your new hair!" Then she told me..."I wanted to have bangs just like you."

Well...that's a first! In all of my 12+ years of teaching, I've had many sweet comments from my students...and some not-so-sweet too! But, this is the first time a student told me that she had her hair cut to be like me! What a sweet, unexpected compliment from this sweet girl!

I better get ready

I better get ready!

On Wednesday nights at church, I help with the children's program. There are three rotations: Bible Zone, crafts, and singing. I assist with the Bible lessons. Tonight the lesson was on when Jesus comes back from Revelation 22. After the lesson, our girl looked at me and said..."Mama, I want Him to come to my house first!" I winked at her and said..."me too."

See what I mean?...I better get ready! What shall I do first?

Here's the "I'm looking for Jesus" projects from tonight (the one of the left is our girl's, the one on the right is our boy's):


On other note, the computer teacher at school today came up to me to tell me something our boy said in class. She said she put a new program up on the board to introduce to the kids, and our boy was excited and said..."I LOVE this game" Then followed up saying, "I've never played it before." She said she laughed out loud, and then told him that she wanted to be more like him-excited about life!

I'm In

Well...after a big, fine lunch today...I decided that I would join the Biggest Loser Competition so I went to weigh--I'm in! I'll be posting weekly on my progress. Wish me luck--I'm going to need it...especially on peach cobbler day at school!!!!

To Weigh or Not To Weigh?

To Weigh or Not To Weigh? That is indeed the question.

Tomorrow our school starts it's Annual Biggest Loser Competition. You may remember that I did participate last year. You may also remember that I lost 14 pounds last year. Well...honestly...I weighed in the first week with boots and a heavy sweater...and on my final weigh-in I didn't wear shoes and took off anything I could before I weighed...so I probably really only lost about 10 pounds. But...here's the thing...I've gained back most of it...not all of it... but most of it! Enough that my pants don't fit as comfortably...sad, but true.

So...I guess it'll be a game time decision...will I join the competition or not? Hmmmmmmmmm

Organized Linens

Over Christmas break, I organized our linen closet--complete with labels:

The labels are Christmas tags that were marked down 50%. Everything in the closet was starting to wonder from it's original home...so I'm thinking the labels may help each item keep from straying. I got rid of a huge bag of linens too which made more room. Now...everything is in it's place--smile!

She did it!

She did it...our girl really did cheer today! Here she is doing a cheer for the "half-time" show!!

Our boy is playing basketball too...and Hubby is the coach. Here's our boy and Hubby on the court for the game:

The kids were up early--way too early for a cold Saturday morning in my opinion! We had to arrive at the gym by 8:15 for pictures. Our car said 14 degrees on the way to the gym, and we're NOT used to that down South!!! But, the kids looked ready by the time we arrived:

It's soooooooooooooooooooooo hard to see your family in orange and blue when you bleed Red and Black!! Remember--Hubby and I met at UGA! I don't think I've EVER seen Hubby wear orange and blue. He won't even stack our Ikea bowls in the cabinet with the orange next to the blue...I kid you not! See for yourself:

See what you will do for your kids! I know...all that orange and blue...it's a little hard to swallow!

This pic above makes me smile and makes me happy orange and blue will be our colors...until March anyway!

Ready to Cheer!

Our boy is playing basketball and our girl is cheering. This year is our first time with Upward.

My sister and I never cheered growing up...so this is all new to me. Our girl is so excited about it:
She told her Daddy that she "didn't want all those people looking at her." So...we'll see if she actually cheers at her first game. Here's one of her cheers that she did for me this morning:

Christmas Wonderland

I've been to a Christmas Wonderland tonight!!! I couldn't wait to share a few pics of my friend's house with you. We had to hurry over this week because the decorations are all starting to come down on Monday! Dawn out does herself each year.

The pictures below show maybe half of her trees in her home. Not only are the 14+ trees amazing, but the entire house is breathtaking-tables, mantel, floor under the trees, counters, bathrooms...even the toilet gets a Christmas treatment. Oh...and the outside of her home is decorated beautifully too! It is truly AMAZING how this wonderful lady decorates for Christmas! Her hard work brings much joy to those who visit; and she helps you remember the true meaning of Christmas!

Dawn has a name for each tree displayed on a sign for guests to see. I should have her here with me to dictate all of the information for each tree, but I'll do my best:

Her new "Chocolate Delite" tree:

Her main tree on a rotating stand:

Here's the former-teaching team in front of her red tree....yes, a red tree!!! It's called "Merry Meadowland" with the green ornaments:

Here's my favorite--the Gingerbread Tree

The silver tree with pink ornaments:

Dept. 56 tree:

We got so tickled about the "Flocked Tree." Dawn was telling us about how she bought it flocked, but wanted more snow on it...so in September she was out in her driveway spraying more snow on her tree! Her neighbor later said she was wondering what she was doing!

Another favorite of mine--her Grinch tree in the bathroom!

Her white tree:

Her travel tree:

Here's a pic of under one of her trees...see what I mean about how she decorates even under the tree!?!?!?! Impressive!

The pictures just do not do them justice! Did you notice all of the tree toppers? Wow! Each time you visit...you see something new. It is truly a Christmas Wonderland. Thank you Dawn for all the joy you bring to others! You're the BEST!