Happy New Year!

I am so envious of those who have the energy to blog almost daily or weekly, even. For I have had no energy to put down my thoughts in the last few weeks. Lots have happened - emotionally spent - hoping the New Year brings forth joy, happiness and peace to my life. I am working on feeling worthy enough to receive such gifts. I am also looking forward to the new beginnings that will occur in my life and the lives of those I love this year -- my sister's wedding and the birth of my nephew.

So for now, I would just like to wish all of you a very Happy New Year! May 2009 bring all that you ask and deserve!

Lots of love!

Fantastic!!

That is how I am describing my weekend! For once, we did not have a ton of places to be this weekend. Saturday was St. Nick Day and once the kids got up, they went and got everyone's stocking and brought them our bed. I love it when we all gather on our bed. Alex got a Tech Deck guy, a Bakugan guy and a reindeer that poops candy (he has been begging me for one of these!) Olivia got a Scooby Doo Christmas DVD, Micky Mouse painting book, gloves and lip gloss. I gave myself the Steel Magnolia movie. Jimmy got a movie and a hat. Of course, we all got some candy...not much but some since it wouldn't be St. Nick Day without candy. Soon, my bed looked as though a tornado hit it. Time to get the day started. I ran a few errands but once those were done, home was where my heart was!! Jimmy and Alex went up to the Y for some swim time and me and Liv stayed home and did some laundry. One of my errands this mornig was to the grocery store. We decided to make meals this week that would give us plenty of leftovers and meals that could be prepared ahead of time. But first, Saturday night's dinner. Jimmy and I made our first roux! He has been asking me to make gumbo since the weather turned cold. I prefer jambalaya and that's usually what I make but decided I would make him his gumbo. We usually cheat and use a pre-made roux but we were all out. So, we did it ourself. It turned out excellent!! Emeril's recipe - highly recommend. Of course, dinner wasn't ready until 9 p.m. but that was ok, it's the weekend. I also started working on a Christmas present that I am making for someone. Actually, Alex wanted to help so he worked on it. Jimmy and I also played a few rounds of Tetris. Seriously, we love that game and it's addicting! I was exhausted...I couldn't wait for bed.

Sunday, was even more fantastic. I only got out of my pajamas to take a shower then I put fresh one's right back on. We love pajama days at my house. Alex had basketball practice today. His first and instead of wrestling with keeping Olivia busy, her and I stayed home and Jimmy took him. While home, Olivia and I had an exciting time. She was playing in my room and apparently was playing with the locks. She shut my door and you guessed it...it's locked. I couldn't figure out how to pick the lock and my cell phone was locked in the bedroom so we had to wait until Jimmy got home. I was looking forward to watching a movie in bed but that didn't happen. So instead, I got working on making our meals for the week. I got my chicken cooking for homemade chicken and dumplings (I make bisquick dumplings for all you noodle-dumpling lovers and they rock!!) I just cooked the chicken and got all the meat off the bone. So all I have to do when ready is bring to a boil and throw in the dumplings...dinner is served. I can't wait for that night! I also made chicken spaghetti. That will be tomorrow night's dinner since Jimmy is home with Olivia all day. He can throw it in the oven before we get home. Viola...dinner is served. For lunches this week, I cooked up a fantastic WW recipe of turkey sausage and penne pasta. If you have never tried turkey sausage, I highly recommend it. This dish is very tasty and has become quite a favorite in my house. I wasn't hungry for dinner so instead portioned out containers for lunch. Easy peasy this week! I finally got my house in order and most of the laundry done. I feel like I really accomplished something this week. For those of you who may be freaking out regarding Christmas shopping. 'No, mine isn't done -- in fact, I haven't even started. But, I learned last year that the best time to hit the stores is weekday mornings. After I drop Liv off at school, I hit a few of the places before heading to work. No crowds, no kids...perfect! That will be this week.

So hopefully since my weekend went so well, my week will be just as fantastic. I am counting the days down until I am taking off for Christmas. The kids are off school for 2 weeks and I decided to take time off as well. Woo Hoo, can't wait!! Also, this Friday is my work's Holiday Party. I am looking forward to that! Alex gets to go to the Fox on Friday with his school to see The Rockette's Christmas Spectacular. This is also our last week of Y swimming until January. Now, I am off to try my hand at smocking or maybe just read a few chapters of my book and then to bed.

St. Nick Day

St. Nicholas Day will be a day that I will never forget - December 6th. Of course, St. Nick visited our house last night and left goodies in everyone's stocking but this day is also a day for us to find Joy and remember a very special woman - my mother-in-law Mary.


Mary passed away 6 years ago on Saturday from a 4-year battle with ovarian cancer. We all joke that she picked this day so none of us would forget the kids, a day that is to be joyous and happy. I know I've mentioned her before but she truly was an amazing woman. I will be forever grateful for having known this woman, for making me feel like I was a "daughter", for showing me to find a little bit of joy in everything and for all the love and joy she had for Alex. Alex really misses his Mimi and will still get teary-eyed to this day when he talks about her. Those two created a very strong bond. I just wish he could have had his Mimi as long as I had both my Grandma's. And I wish Olivia could have had the opportunity to know her as well. Mary is one person that would have always been in their corner - whether they were good or bad, distributing lots of hugs and kisses, giving them lots of laughs at their antics and someone who would be geniunely interested in whatever it was they were doing.

So we honor our Mimi. We love you and miss you terribly!

"When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure!"

Rog

On Friday morning, my step-grandpa Rog passed away. Even though his death is truly a blessing since he was suffering both mentally and physically, it was hard losing him. I did not expect to take his death as hard as I did. Rog has been in my family since I was 18 months old. My Grandma dated him until they married when I was 9. Rog was seen as your typical "grumpy old man" but I do remember fun times with him. I remember when he and my Grandma took me to the VP Fair. He put me up on his shoulders so I could see Chuck Berry on the stage. I remember he came to my high school graduation. For some reason, my Grandma wasn't there but Rog came. He used to get a kick out the length of time my Grandma and I could spend talking...it used to be for hours. (How I miss those days!) After my Grandma passed, we used to pick him up whenever we had family gatherings. We always made sure there were plenty of leftovers and extra sweets for him to take home. So, even though we did not call him "Grandpa", he was a member of our family. Go and be happy Rog! We will miss you!

Blessed

Thanksgiving was a time to reflect on how truly blessed I am. I not only have my St. Louis family but my Little Rock family as well to be thankful for.

First, I am so thankful for Jimmy, Alex and Olivia. You three are my world and mean so much to me. I am truly blessed to be a wife to a great husband and the mother to the most amazing and beautiful children! Alex and Olivia, you two had my heart before you both were born and each day brings more and more joy as I watch you grow. Thank you all for choosing me!

On Thursday, we went to my Aunt Debbie's to celebrate with my aunt and uncle, my mom and dad, my sister and bro-in-law, my bro and sis-in-law and my cousin and his girlfriend. The food was excellent and in abundance! I made a new appetizer...Atomic Buffalo Turds. I know, a wacko name but let me say, if you like stuffed jalopenos -- then dont even worry about the name...these are heaven!! I got the recipe from my "girlfriend" Stephen. It's a long story on why I call him my "girlfriend" so just go with it. Anyway, Stephen made these amazing ABT's on Halloween night. I had to have the recipe and since I so graciously shared my recipe for BLT Dip, he obliged my request. Thanks Stephen! So, yes, they were still amazing and I think I had about 10 of them! The one thing I love and one reason I feel so blessed being with my family is that the laughs were a plenty. We always manage to have a good time together. After a few rounds of guitar hero, we ended the day playing the dice game Left, Right, Center. It was a great time. I am so thankful for my family and friends. After losing some very important people in my life the last few years, I have really tried to let those that I love really know that I love them and am so very grateful and blessed to have them in my life! I am also grateful for all those new found family and friends. You all have offered me the opportunity to grow in ways that I didn't believe was possible! Thank you to everyone. I love you.

On Friday morning, we headed to Little Rock to spend the weekend with the Morgan family. When we left here, it was sunny and beautiful. Usually every time (and I really do mean almost every time) I go to Little Rock, it rains. Of course, that means I get blamed for the weather. So as we headed south, the weather started turning bleak. Maybe I need to trick the weather by saying I am never going to Little Rock again and then pack my bag at the last minute and jump in the car. Yeah, I don't think that will work either. Oh well, those in Little Rock just aught to be thankful I don't live there! When we got in, everyone was waiting for us. We were going to make a "family" dinner but I nixed that and asked if we couldn't go easy. Ham sandwiches, cheese dip, leftover stuffing and a store bought apple pie. The Morgan's are known for always having a house full of family and friends and Saturday night was going to be the night so why tire ourselves out 2 nights in a row. It was perfect. After dinner, Michelle, Brian, Jimmy and I played many hands of a card game called Sergeant Major. It was lots of fun! The kids just played and played. I have such great memories of times with my cousins and love when my kids see their cousins and just pick right up where they left off. So Saturday morning, I got up and decided to do some baking! I love to bake. I made my famous pumpkin muffins. Everyone seems to love them. When we left today, there was an insistance that the remaining muffins stay in Little Rock. Definite compliments to the chef! Thank you. I also made a double batch of gooey butter cookies and a batch of Mary's "Butter" cookies. There really is no butter in that recipe but, they are my father-in-laws favorite. Unfortunately, this morning when everyone came over they started to get eaten. Many growls and grumbings went on to leave his cookies alone. Another compliment to the chef! I also made a chess pie that was my father-in-law's grandmother's recipe. It didn't get time to set after cooking but I got lots of compliments on it. Woo hoo! Just call me little chef! In between all this baking and before we had a house full of company, my sis-in-law, Aunt Margaret and I snuck off for a few hours without the kids and went to a cute little sewing store. I picked up some smocking pieces while there. I am going to give this a try. While at this quaint little store, I found a pattern to make the most adorable cloth stacking rings for babies. You remember those plastic stacking rings we had as kids. Well, this one is made of cloth and 10 times cuter. I can't wait to make one!! Also, after dinner on Saturday night, Margaret gave a lesson on making hair bows for girls. I made one and let me say it is really hard. Oh, OK, so I have a Type A personality and everything has to be perfect but I did manage to get one made. Actually, it was a collaboration. Tessie (a long time friend of the Morgan's) made the bottom bow and I made the top bow. It turned out really cute. Now, I just can't wait to go to the fabric store and get some ribbon! I am thinking maybe I could do my own Etsy store...jewelry, quilts, hair bows, stacking rings, embroidery and hopefully I can add smocking to that!


We are now at the end of our long Thanksgiving weekend. I am thankful for a fun trip to Little Rock and I am thankful we made it home in one piece. I am so thankful for all my family and friends. You all mean the world to me. I am so blessed to know each and every one of you!!

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving!

Quiet

It's quiet here...too quiet. It's the kind of quiet when you know no kids are around! Alex and Olivia are spending the night at their favorite Deb Do's house tonight. Olivia is off school tomorrow and both Jimmy and I could not take off work. So I asked Deb Do if she would mind watching the kids. To make it easier on everyone, she offered to have them spend the night tonight. They both loved the idea! Olivia was so excited when I picked her up from school and announced we needed to leave so we could get ready to go to Deb Do's. She promptly told all her teachers and friends where she was going. They didn't understand what Deb Do's was and one girl said "you mean you're going to Ted Drewes?" First though, we had to pick Alex up from swimming. We rushed home, packed a bag, scarfed down a quick bite to eat, headed to St. Ambrose for soccer uniform turn in and basketball uniform pick up. Then, finally to Deb Do's. As I rounded the last corner on Deb Do's street, Olivia proudly proclaimed..."we are almost there." She loves Deb Do. Once we got inside, she wanted to show her what she packed...Ellie (her elephant) and her robe (that is a size 18 months that she still wears!) Olivia kept telling me to go. She knew I was leaving and that she was staying. She even opened the door to usher me out. Love that she is so secure! Love that Deb Do! So, Jimmy and I are settling in for the night in this quiet house. I am saying a silent prayer that Olivia sleeps through the night, that Alex doesn't worry about falling asleep and hoping that both know just how much I love them and miss them! Thanks Deb Do for taking care of the 2 people who mean the world to me!

Bridal Shower photos

Bridal Shower

Saturday was Liz's Bridal Shower. I think it was a success. People said they had a good time and things looked good. However, I always think I could do more. In fact, I wish I could have done more but I am proud of the things I did accomplish. I had lots of help from family and friends which contributed to the successful shower. I delegated a few tasks (something that doesn't come easy for this Type A control freak) and such was a wonderful Saturday afternoon.

Since my sister is the Princess, I went with a Cinderella theme...sparkling gems, flowers, glass slippers, a three-tiered cake (of course, made by the wonderful Grandma Glo!), a sparkly Cinderella and her Prince dancing picture frame, two kinds of punch and lots of good food. To end the shower, my sis-in-law made the most adorable cookies for everyone. They were so cute and delicious! This was the first shower in quite some time that I did not choose which games to play. I delegated that duty to Liz's other matron-of-honor. Shayna did a great job. Everyone loved and really got into designing a wedding dress from toilet paper. My cousin Gayle won most original and my cousin's daughter Amber also won for best dress. So creative and fun!

Liz got some great gifts. When I saw Bryan that night, it tickled me because he was just as excited about them and couldn't believe how many they got! While I always love to plan parties, at 5 p.m. I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders...whew, Done. Now I can't wait for the wedding! I hope everyone had a good time!! If you'd like me to plan your next party...totally kidding!! ;)

On the Mend!

The entire Morgan family has been sick the past few weeks. Olivia started it...and has since ended up with a double ear infection. That girl is amazing when she is sick. She never complains. My only sign that something is not right is when she stops eating. She is definitely on the mend and back to her onery self!! Alex started with the cough and stuffy nose and is still recouping...he missed his swim meet on Sunday due to this cold. We just didn't feel that it would be fair to him to compete when he wasn't feeling 100%. Then late last week, I start feeling sick...I knew having a 4 year old coughing in my face and countless drinks from these two sick kids out of my glass would eventually lead me to the same place they are. However, Mommy doesn't get to be sick...life must go on and everyone still needs Mommy. Heaven forbid Mommy take a day to just lay in bed and rest. Jimmy did treat me on Sunday by doing all the dishes and straightening the house and keeping up with the laundry so I could recoup. Thanks, honey! I am also so busy at work that I can't afford to be sick! Lots of Motrin and Mucinex have really helped me.

I am really looking forward to this weekend. It's Liz's Bridal Shower. The theme is Cinderella. I am so excited and can't wait for her to see some of the stuff. I hope she has a good time!

Also, this weekend is the premiere of the movie Twilight!! I can't wait to go see it. I loved the books and prefer read the books before seeing the movie. I hope it doesn't disappoint!


We also have a new addition to the Inman family. My cousin Whitnie had her baby girl Ava yesterday. She is so sweet! Welcome to the family little Ava! We can be crazy at times but we sure have lots of love to give!! Can't wait to meet you!

Pictures from the Lake!

Olivia getting close with nature!

As close as she would get to the big bear!

Melis, Liz and Alex getting ready to shoot for the first time
with Rach.


Liz a little nervous to shoot for the first time!

Liz getting her lesson from Rachel.

Liz feeling EMPOWERED after shooting!

Alex waiting and ready!

Alex's lesson from Rachel.

Alex shooting a Glock 9mm for the first time.

Me shooting for the first time.

Liz, Melis, Deb Do and Pamie!

One of our many laughing spells!

(I think Olivia was trying to take this picture!)

All of us (Alex was taking the picture!)

Liz sitting on Rachel's high heel chair!

The Lake

So I get a free Saturday and think...hmm let's go to the Lake of the Ozarks for the day and let's ask Liz to go with us! That's not really how it went down but that's how it seemed. Liz and I were laughing as we were on our way to the Lake to leave it up to us to drive out of town and not know where we are going! Ever since going to the Lake for the Girls Weekend over the summer, I have been wanting to go back and visit with Pamie and shop at the outlet mall. Olivia has outgrown all her fall/winter clothes and I thought the outlet mall would bring some big savings...not so much. I didn't find anything...bummer, guess I'll be going to Target after all. Deb Do, Samantha and CJ were also at the Lake which made for more fun!

Anyway, we finally made it to the Lake around 4:30 p.m. - I know, also leave it up to me and Liz to not get an early start! We went straight to Pamie's store. As soon as we walked in, Alex's whole face just beamed. I wished Jimmy could have been there to see him. Before we left, I asked Jimmy to give me some examples of guns he wants to look at. He only told me what kind of gun he wants for Alex. And of course, Alex picked up on it. So while we were off making our potty breaks, Alex was off with the sales guy looking for the kind of gun that Jimmy wants him to have. He couldn't get enough of the store. Rachel asked if Alex had ever shot a gun before. I told her no and that I have never shot a gun either. Liz also chimed in that she hasn't either. Rachel decided we need to become de-virginized (is that even a word?) and go down to the range and shoot one. Olivia then says "I want to shoot!" Typical that this little girl would want to do something so daring and fearless! At first, I didn't want her to see us shoot so Deb Do kept her upstairs and then she came down for a few minutes. She was too interested in looking at all the animals and such that I don't think she witnessed us shooting. Liz was hilarious. She was nervous about shooting. Of course being the big sister, I said "just do it!" Rachel gave us each a lesson on how to shoot the Glock 9mm she picked out for us. Liz felt very empowered after shooting. I was so nervous when Alex shot but he did a good job. He even shot the orange center a few times. Crazy!! When it was my turn, I couldn't believe how powerful that gun was. It really had a kick. Thanks Rach, for teaching us! We had a good time!

When we finished, the store was closing so we parted ways and headed over to the mall for our shopping excursion. We met up again at Applebee's for dinner. After dinner, we decided to go over to Pamie's and visit a little before heading back. 3 hours later, we finally left. We had the best time! We laughed and laughed. I swear, I haven't laughed that hard in so long. We went up and sat in Rachel's room since Jim and CJ were asleep downstairs. Liz had her camera so Alex tried to get pictures of us. The 4 of us posed and waiting with our smiles so big and then...nothing. Alex would make a big sigh! We started cracking up. Finally, we figured out the problem and he took a few pictures. By that time, we started getting slap happy. Everything started to be so funny. Then, we found out we could go downstairs and we thought it was time to head out...yeah right. Samantha and Rachel returned from the movie and brought popcorn home. So we sat around the kitchen island talking some more, eating popcorn and quenching our thirst. We told stories and laughed and laughed some more. What a great time. What great memories. I love my family!! Pamie kept insisting we spend the night and we kept insisting we would be fine. However, I think next time we might just stay. The ride home was uneventful except for Liz deciding she knew the way and getting off on some exit to head towards Columbia. Of course, big sister knew the way along with back up from the GPS. We got back on track and made it home in 2.5 hours. It was a great, great day. I love spending the day with the people I love and who mean so much to me! Let's do it again!!!

Halloween

Happy Kal-la-neen as I used to say! Halloween was so jammed packed with fun events and wouldn't you know it, my camera battery gave out at the beginning of them. Darn it.

Halloween morning started off with taking Olivia to school. I am the head room parent for Olivia's class so I had to organize everything for the party -- good thing there are all girls in Olivia's class so it made it so easy. I made cute little halloween bags embroidered with each of the girl's names on them. I thought these might be more of a keepsake than just the throw away treat bags. I had to get the snacks, pick a craft and pick 2 games to play. For snack, the girl's had popcorn and cookies with juice. Seemed to be a hit. For the craft, I decided on ghost necklaces. I got a bucket of beads and had Alex separate all the orange, black, white and yellow ones -- he loved me for making him do that. I then cut out little white foam ghosts and punched holes in their arms so they could string it onto their necklace. We had some really cute necklaces! For the games, we played pin the nose on the pumpkin and ghost bowling. I was only at school for an hour and when I left, I was exhausted. All I can say is I feel truly blessed that Olivia has such a wonderful teacher and school to attend. I truly honor all teachers!!

After the party, I had to go back to work for a few hours. It was kind of pointless since I didn't get much accomplished. When I left the party, I had the makings of a headache. By the time I got to work, it was a full blown migraine. I didn't have anything with me to take but I found a few packets of cold relief and tylenol to take. I tried to relax and it finally subsided enough that I could function again. Before heading home, I stopped off at the store and picked me up some Motrin. So add 3 more of those to what was already in my system in order to allow me to function. We had such a great evening planned that I didn't want a migraine to ruin it.

At 6 p.m., we headed over to the Spear household! We were so excited to trick or treat with Brendon! Olivia and Alex haven't seen Brendon since the end of September when we got together for his walk. Brendon Boo was a bat and such a cutie. We had a fabulous time with fabulous friends. Stephen made some awesome "atomic turds" (I said he needed a new name for them but disagreed). I don't even know what all was in these...all I know is that it was a bacon wrapped hollowed out jalopeno stuffed with cream cheese and something else. These were the BOMB!! So after quickly filling our belly's with some hot dogs and such, the kiddos were ready to hit the house for some candy. Olivia didn't have a joke and trying to teach her about joke-telling wasn't working. However, once she heard Brendon tell his joke, she promptly got the idea and then STOLE his joke! I couldn't believe it. Such a stinker. After going around to a few houses, the kids were done and so were we. Back to the Spear residence for some good ol' fashion fun. We partied with the neighbors until the wee hours. I truly envy my friends. They have such a great group of neighbors and just sit outside talking and having fun. Maybe one day we can live on a street as cool as Coral Drive. Thank you Spear's for such an awesome Halloween. We look forward to doing it with you again next year!

Trunk or Treat

On Sunday, St. Ambrose held their annual Trunk or Treat. It's the newest thing where kids can trick or treat safely among a group of people you know. Parents park their cars on the lot and some go all out decorating them up and you hand out candy. One of our friends entered her car so we gathered there with our bowl of candy to hand out to all the cute trick or treaters! After Olivia went around and got all her candy, she did the honors of handing out candy. She was handing one piece out to everyone...even innocent by-standers. It was great!!

Olivia was a witch. She wore this glittery dress that was once Auntie's. I altered it to fit her. Then, Olivia had her witch's hat and broom. I found some green hair that helped accentuate her outfit. I put makeup on her and seriously, that girl has some loooong eyelashes! I love it!! Olivia had a blast going from car to car getting her candy. I tried to teach her a few jokes but she just didn't understand the concept. So she just cackled and said "I'll get you my pretty!" I wanted her to do the "Ma-damn foot's caught in the door" joke as a tribute to when I taught Liz at the age of 4 or 5 to tell that joke! It's a classic in our family.

Alex was the Unknown Phantom. I think he was really getting out of the groove of dressing up for Halloween. I kept asking him what he wanted to be and he kept saying the infamous "I don't know." Then it dawned on me...maybe he doesn't want to dress up anymore. Is 9 and 10 really the age when they start thinking dressing up for Halloween isn't cool anymore? I think I dressed up and trick or treated until I was in 8th grade. Anyway, he thought maybe he wanted to be a vampire but I knew he was not going to wear the makeup. Then I found this costume and I figured he would like it because the eyes light up. He did. He had a blast hanging with his friends and going into the Haunted Hallway.

We ended up leaving Trunk or Treat 30 minutes early. It was freezing outside! With the wind blowing, everyone was so cold. All the candy that was to be had was safely tucked away in their little pumpkins waiting to be devoured. So we headed home. We are looking forward to trick or treating with Brendon and the Spear family on Halloween. More Halloween fun to come!!

Beep...Beep....

It started on Thursday...when Jimmy and I saw each other in passing at the Y, he had been home once already, he warned me...one of the smoke detectors is beeping at home. My first thought was "thanks for leaving it for me to fix!" But OK, he is leaving one job, running home and changing and going to another job. But dang it, now I have to bring in the huge ladder and get up there to get it. I love having 12 foot ceilings except when it comes to changing light bulbs and getting to the fire and carbon monoxide detectors. So, when we got home I just ignored it for a little bit. It was an intermittent beep not a continuous beeeep! It was upstairs and when downstairs it really wasn't that big of a bother. And by the end of the night, the intermittent beeping had stopped. Hmm...well, Friday morning at 5:00 a.m., the intermittent beeping started again!! Beep...beep...beep! Neither Jimmy nor I wanted to go out to the garage and get the ladder at that time so I closed the door to Alex and Olivia's room's and our's but you could still hear it!! Finally, at 6:45 a.m., I couldn't take it anymore. I woke Jimmy and he went out and got the ladder and took it down. Of course, we had no 9 volt batteries in the house. Fast forward to Friday night about 3:30 a.m. Jimmy and I were finally settling down to go to sleep when all of a sudden we hear, beep...beep. Are you kidding me? We were trying to figure out where the beeping was coming from. Jimmy took down the detector in Alex's room because it was showing a blinking red light, we took down the one in the hallway downstairs and had the one we took down earlier that morning. So, back to bed, then, beep...beep. Seriously? We stood in the hallway trying to figure out where the beeping was coming from...it sounded like it was coming from one of the detectors in which there was NO BATTERY! So we got that squared away. Back to bed again...then an hour later, beep...beep! It was the detector in our bedroom! I woke Jimmy up and made him climb up there and get that one. So now, we are down to only one detector upstairs and that's in Olivia's room. I prayed that there would not be a fire tonight since we had almost every detector in the house down! How crazy for all these detectors to need a new battery at the same time! When we got up on Saturday, we figured we were going to need about 12 9 volt batteries in all. We are not taking any more chances...all the batteries are getting replaced. You know the other crazy thing...they don't sell 9 volt batteries in bulk packaging. We only saw a pack of 4 for $10.50. Now that's crazy!! But not as crazy as waking to the beep...beep...beep!!

Blog Tag

I have read a few blogs playing this online game of TAG thereby finding myself tagged.

Here a 7 things you might not know about me!

1. I am really an introvert. I am really quiet until you get to know me. I definitely need down time in order to get the energy to be around others. I am drawn to extroverts because they help "bring me out" of my shell. Putting me in a room with people I don't know is pure torture for me. My quietness is viewed as "bitchiness" when really, I just don't know what to say.

2. I have been a paralegal for 12 years but my dream job would be a Medical Examiner. I loved watching Quincy when I was younger and wanted to be just like him. I have a yearning to work in forensics and know the "why" of things. Maybe one day when my kids are grown I can work on fulfilling this dream.

3. I love to read. My favorites are any book by Patricia Cornwell, James Patterson, the Harry Potter books, and the Twilight series.

4. I love to do crafty things. I sew, embroider, cross stitch, make jewelry, and scrapbook. I recently learned calligraphy and would love to learn to smock. One of my biggest regrets is not allowing my mother-in-law to give me smocking lessons before she passed away.

5. I love to cook! I am always eager to try new recipes.

6. I love music. Music helps me feel and say the things that sometimes I just can't. My iPod has a very eclectic selection of music. I love anything with soul, where you can just feel the emotions!

And last but not least, 7. I am a very emotional person. (This may actually not be a surprise to most!) I am very empathetic and tend to put myself in that person's shoes and feel the emotions they are feeling. I cry at Hallmark commercials. I cry during tv shows and movies (even Disney movies). I even cry at Broadway plays. Alex has gotten to the point of even saying "Mom are you crying again?" Crazy, I know.

So now that you have read my blog, if you have a blog, consider yourself tagged! Let's hear 7 things we didn't know about you!

The Color Purple

Last night, Deb Do, Samantha and I went to see The Color Purple at the Fabulous Fox Theatre! I love, love this movie and watch it every time it comes on tv so I knew I was going to enjoy the musical! I picked up the soundtrack at the library so and fell in love with a few of the songs...I'm Here, Too Beautiful for Words and Hell No!

The Color Purple is an extraordinary story, strong, powerful and emotional. It's a story about love, strength, adversity, courage, hope, joy. This story shows how Celie dealt with the adversity in her life. How she overcame hardship and obstacles and managed to pick herself up and move forward every day. Jeannette Bayardelle played Celie and did an amazing job. She has got an incredible voice! Felicia Fields played Sofia and she brought the house down! As you may know, Sofia was originally played in the movie by Oprah, very big shoes to fill but Felicia did an incredible job! This musical had lots of laughs and of course, it's not complete unless I cry, which I did. When Mister arranges for her children to come home and Celie gets to meet them and see Nettie, well hell yeah, I cried! Such emotion! Very powerful. A definite must see for everyone!!

Another Shower!

Lately, my family has been blooming. There have been some new marriages and new babies and of course, with these events come showers! I think my Mom's cousin's are getting sick of all the showers our family has been hosting! I personally love getting together with these women and look forward to every event. I always have a good time and seem to do lots of laughing. Everyone has an awesome sense of humor...I totally see where I get it from.

Sunday was Whitnie's baby shower. I love shopping for babies. Me, Liz and Mom went shopping and just had a blast looking at all the cute baby stuff. I found some plain burp cloths and embroidered them with the baby's name. I also whipped up a cute, pink (very pink) quilt as well. I was so proud of myself. I made that quilt in about 3 hours. That is a far cry from the 6 years it took to make my Aunt's 4th of July quilt. Anyway, Olivia loved helping Whitnie open her presents and commented that she made practically every gift. It was hilarious! Good times!

Once again, I was in charge of the games. Why am I in charge of the games? I don't know how I got this title but I want to resign my post. No one will let me though!! The games I chose were a little hard and little long so I guess I need to re-think them. But overall, fun times were had by all.

Pumpkin Patch with Auntie

On Saturday, we made our annual trip to Stuckmeyer's with Auntie to pick pumpkins. We have gone every year since Alex was little. We always have a blast. This year, the temperatures were perfect...very fall-like. Last year when we went it was 90 degrees and so not pumpkin picking weather! As soon as we got there, Olivia went over and decorated a teeny-tiny pumpkin. Then she got to do her most favorite thing ever...ride the horses. She waited patiently in the line and couldn't wait to get on. They fitted her with a helmet and were going to put her on a little pony. Nope, she's an expert so she got to ride Moonlight. The only issue was we couldn't call the horse "Moonlight". The horses name was "Frosty" according to Olivia. Frosty was the name of the very first horse Olivia rode at Stuckmeyer's so every year she calls her horse "Frosty". When Olivia proclaimed this was not Moonlight but Frosty, the lady remembered her and asked if this was her Frosty girl. I just need to say that my little girl is an expert horseback rider. Her body moves so fluidly with the horse. At one point, she was so comfortable that she left one hand on the horn of the saddle and put one hand on the back of the saddle and just looked around. Totally cracked me up. After riding Moonlight, Auntie gave her $5 so she could ride again. This time, she wanted to ride the biggest horse they had. This horse was named Celia and she actually called it Celia. Celia was huge but Olivia still loved her!! After the horses, we went into Fort Spooky. The kids did a corn maze, played on the big playground and bounced a little on the bouncy slide. Now for the moment we were waiting for...going out and picking the perfect pumpkin. These pumpkins were huge and perfect for carving. I had picked up a few pumpkin carving books at the library for Alex and so he knew exactly what kind of pumpkin he wanted to pick. Once the perfect pumpkins were found, we went in and got a few more pictures and then paid for everything. We had to take our usual trip to the Stuckmeyer store and have a look around. As Liz and I were looking at something, Olivia says to me, "look Mom, they have apples". I take the apple she has in her hand and see that she has taken a bite out of this apple. Perfect. Liz's reaction was "Guess you're buying that apple". Yep, guess so. When I went up the counter, I told the girl I wanted to buy the apple my daughter ate. She indicated it was one of the most expensive and biggest ones they have. Even more perfect. This one apple cost $1.50. Crazy. But it was crazy delicious too. We all took a few bites out of it. Then time for one more pony ride only this one was mechanical. I am in so much trouble when Olivia learns that horses can be a hobby. It was a perfect day filled with family and fun! We can't wait to carve our huge pumpkin. I'll post pictures of that soon.