So, I've been a little behind

on my blogging. So here it is. :-)

Last weekend was Easter. The kids woke up to these awesome baskets:

Can you tell they were still pretty tired when they got up?

Then we went to Grandpee's farm to hunt eggs there. They had a blast running outside & getting some fresh air.

Then last Tuesday, Jim flew in from San Diego. He is now quite the tattoo freak & still seems to think he's a stud. Ha! At least he thinks so. :-) Here's a bit of his tats:

Yeah - he's a super freak!


Now fast forward to today--> Dylan's birthday party at Skateport in Springfield. He had so much fun getting to skate around for 2 hrs. Plus he got tons of video games - his favorite thing. I think it pretty much wore everyone out - except Dylan. It's midnight & this kid (who by the way - skated the full 2 hrs) is still WIRED. If only we all had the energy Dylan has.


Anyways, that's it for now.

Nice little drive...

Well I'm finally going to post about our nice little drive last weekend. We decided rather than go to Springfield (the usual weekend getaway), that we'd just take a drive down to Arkansas. We all loaded up in the car & I made sure to take the camera! Here's just some of the photos I got:

Towards the start of the journey - down an old country road:


At an old rickety bridge (and yes, we actually drove over it):


On the winding road home:


Anyways, we all had a good time & it was really nice to get away from the normal routine for a little while. We just need to try to do it more often.

Did a little scrapping this weekend....

And here's what I accomplished:

Not much else happening this week. It was really nice having a 3-day weekend but makes it even harder to go back tomorrow. :( Maybe the day will go by quickly.

I got my hair colored last week (and then touched up on Saturday). It's definitely different and more funky than I've done before but I think I like it. Here's what it looks like:

The kids also had their baseball/softball try-outs on Saturday & we stood outside in the COLD for an hour and a half! They both did good though but were amazed at how fast the pitching machine pitched. It'll be fun though to see them learn how to hit off that!

Fun week ahead....

Today there's not much on the agenda but cleaning and maybe some scrapping & sleeping in my new bed!!! It's not that big of a deal but it is so so nice to have a dresser again. We just need to put the mirror on the dresser and it'll all be together. My next mission will be to find some new bedding for it, since what I have now looks terrible on my new bed. :) Anyways, here it is:

We also got the kids new mattresses & they loved them! I've never seen kids so excited for new mattresses but I don't blame them - the ones they had were pretty hard. Needless to say they both slept really well last night!

Tomorrow is just a lazy TV night - American Idol, House, SVU (if I remember) - but then Wednesday after work I'm getting my hair done. I'm loving the different streaks & love the way this looks:


I just hope mine turns out looking that cute!

Oh & just so I don't forget - I WON, I WON, I WON!!! I ACTUALLY WON! Dad kept the kids Saturday night so me and Jerry went out for a while & ended up in Miami, OK at Buffalo Run. I played on a machine for a while & wasn't doing so good so I decided to move to another machine - a Wheel of Fortune $1 slot machine. Total max bet was $3 so I put $100 in & crossed my fingers hoping that I would win. I had already planned to quit after about $30 if I hadn't hit very much but I kept hitting. It was amazing. I'd go a few spins & then I'd get a SPIN button (which spun the big wheel thing on top). First free spin I won $200 & FREAKED out! Then I hit it like 3 more times before I hit the big one. The $1000 big one! I ended up cashing out of that machine with $1800. I hit on a few other machines & lost on a few other but I still came home with a good stash of money.

Can't think of much else. This week at work is going to be a pain because I need to check in all the MAP materials. Definitely not a fun thing to do. Oh well at least I have Friday off (March break) so I can keep looking forward to that!

The tooth fairy will be coming tonight....

Kalli finally worked out another one of her teeth tonight. She has said for the last couple of days that it was loose because another little girl had hit it but I guess tonight she'd had enough so she grabbed her rag and did her tug. I tend to let her just do her own thing with pulling out her teeth - one because she is a total trouper and will yank those suckers out if it means an extra dollar and two because it just gives me the heebie jeebies to try to pull one out. I just figure if it's loose enough to come out, it will with Kalli pulling it. If it's not ready, it won't come out - NO Biggie!


So here's the shot I had to get of Kalli so she could have a picture of herself without the tooth.

And here's the cutest thing she just had to leave for the tooth fairy. Apparently she's gotten real smart when it comes to buttering up the tooth fairy so she even made her a note with a little gift. The note says: "Dear Toothfary, I lost a tooth and you can have THIS to remeber me. Hope you like it. Love, Kalli" Her gift to the tooth fairy was her new melted bead design star she had made this afternoon.

Now, the tooth fairy will really be broke if Dylan's teeth ever start falling out. Kalli's been on a roll and has made a killing off of her loose teeth. You got to love it though because she gets so excited to get it under her pillow each night and it's the first thing she checks when she wakes up. Ahhh, sweet childhood. :)

Do you ever...

just think things just don't go right? Feel like everything is a disorganized, heaping mess? Wish that there were more hours in a day? Well I'm having that day today. Nothing has gone right. I have every intention of bringing organization and order into my home, but nope - not today - that thought is gone right out the window. There's too much to do and not nearly enough time to do it. Maybe tomorrow it'll be better. I'll get things right, things will get done, and I can go to bed knowing that I'm all set for the next day. Then again, that's probably just crazy talk.

Here's some pictures especially for Uncle Jimmy. He's been asking me for basketball pictures of the kids and I just have not gotten around to it. Finally, I can cross this off the list.

On the bright side of today, it was WARM! Like actually above the teens, up in the 60s! Hopefully this warm trend stays around because we really are ready to be done with all this cold stuff we've been having. I'll just be keeping my fingers crossed!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Okay so not quite yet but I figured hey - I might as well be ahead of something I post.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Stuff

Not a whole lot going on. It's been cold, cold, cold here. Work stress. The kids have been busy with all their basketball games & practices so they are definitely getting their exercise. Kalli is quite the ball player. Last Saturday she made 10 of the 14 points that her team had. She is a pretty good little shooter. Dylan is gradually understanding the game but needs the occasional help understanding how to "get open" & not guard when your team has the ball. Oh well - he tries really hard. Plus he's really a good little ball stealer. It's funny to see a group of boys all together & not know who has the ball & then see Dylan come from the pack with the ball in his hands.

You've got to see this....

This is our first MAJOR ice storm of the year.

And as you can probably guess, we've had some major power issues. We first lost power for a few hours on Friday and then Sunday it went out completely until Thursday evening. Jerry decided to brave the cold & stake it out in the apartment but me & the kids didn't want anything to do with a cold, boring apartment especially since school/work was cancelled for most of the week. We took up Uncle John's offer to stay at The Cabins in Branson (where he works) & just stay warm there. The cabin was awesome so I had to take pictures of our mini vacation.

Anyways, there's a busy week ahead for us. Tomorrow Jerry has the board meeting to go to so he can see if he got the school's mowing bid. From the way things have transpired, I really doubt he'll get it but we'll still keep our fingers crossed though. Also, this week I'm going to find out if I will be moving over to the Accounts Payable position. I love my job but the salary increase would really help us out. I'm hoping we can check into several houses this week too. Our realtor is due back in the office next week & I'd like to be able to make an offer on something. Plus we'll get back into the swing of school & basketball practice too after being cooped up for a week - the kids NEED to get rid of some of that pinned up energy.

Happy New Year!!!

It's 2007! Not too much exciting happening this year yet (thank goodness) but I have been able to get a little scrapping done. I'm hoping I can get a lot of that done this year. The kids have had a fun day of video gaming so we've had a pretty lazy day. Tomorrow that changes though - I start back to work after my 2 week vacation. Talk about sucky!! :) Yeah I REALLY don't want to go in but I guess I have too. The kids aren't going to like getting up at 6 am again (neither will I). We were really liking sleeping in until 9 or later. Oh well - back into the swing of things I guess. Oh & today I got some really cute pictures of the kids & me.


Hmmm... oh yeah! I almost forgot! We looked at houses the other day & we found a couple that we really liked. Now we just need to look into financing & see what payments would be. They both are ones we'd need to do a little work on but they were both really good sized (even room for a scrapbook room!!!). I just hope & pray we can figure things out if this is what is right for us. I don't like the thought of jumping into something but I really don't know how much longer we can stand it in this apartment. I think it's beginning to wear on all of us. Anyways, I'm keeping my fingers crossed & pray that we find/get in our home soon!

A Very Merry Christmas

Whoooaa! The holidays are officially over (okay except for New Years but no stress on that one)! Well I guess they're not - we have one more Christmas with Tiffany, Jim, & the twins & then it'll be over. This year it has been exhausting! But all that matters is the kids were so pleased this year. They got a Playstation 2 & have had a blast playing that. Apparently Santa thought they were good kids this year. :)



We even were able to try our first gingerbread house. It didn't come out all fancy like the box but we thought it was cute. I think next year we'll use the hot glue gun.

Now on to the next mission - Kalli's 8th birthday. We're planning her a party at SkateLand in Monett. This will be her first year inviting friends so I hope a few of them are able to come. She's even letting Dylan invite a couple of his friends too. I just cannot believe my baby is turning 8.

Christmas time is coming soon...

I've been busy lately so I haven't had much time to update my blog so here's a little run-down on what's been going down.

Last weekend we went to see the Santa train. Both kids got to sit on his lap and tell him exactly what they wanted. Dylan told him he wanted a PS2 and Kalli wanted an Amazing Allison doll.



This week Dylan had his Christmas program. He was the cutest darn reindeer ever! They sang several songs and then the reindeers took the stage for their performance.



Then to top off this week, last night we went to Silver Dollar City. That place is absolutely beautiful at night with all their Christmas lights. Although most of the pictures we got were blurry (haven't quite figured out the thing yet), we did get some good ones. Oh - and the kids got to make a sculpture hand while we were there & loved that! They turned out really cool looking plus we can always look back and see how small their hands were.

Oh my Freakin' GOSH!!

I cannot believe it. I am still in utter shock. I was just so NOT expecting this. I made it. I actually made the cut for the Design Team at Scraplove. (now I have even more reason to be on there all the time) Emily & I were the two chosen to start out Scraplove's first design team. This is just all so crazy to me. I worked for 8 weeks with such awesome & talented scrappers and it's been nothing but a fun & growing experience for me. I cannot praise those girls enough - all of them are awesome. And to Monica & Flamy - you girls rock! Not only for letting me become a part of their team but for giving us all this opportunity to have fun & do what we love!

tag you're it!

I was tagged by the talented Ashlee, so here it goes...

A - Available or single: don't they both mean the same??
B - Best Friend: Tiffany
C - Cake or Pie: pie (key lime - yummy!)
D - Drink of choice: Pepsi
E - Essential Item you use everyday: deodrant :)
F - Favorite color: pink
G - Gummy Bears or worms: worms
H - Hometown: Aurora
I - Indulgence: junk food
J - January or February: January (Kalli's b-day)
K - Kids & Names: Kalli & Dylan
L - Life is Incomplete Without? my kids
M - Marriage Date: none
N - Number of Siblings:1 sister, 2 brothers (all younger than me)
O - Oranges or Apples: oranges
P - Phobias or Fears: losing someone I love
Q - Fave Quote: Don't worry, be happy. :) (that's all I could come up with)
R - Reason to Smile: today is going to be a good day
S - Season: Summer
T - Tag 3 or 4 people: Bethany, Denise, Linda, Lori
U - Unknown Fact about Me: I have a tattoo
V- Vegetable You Don't Like: Peas (ewww!)
W - Worst Habit: not speaking my mind when I should
X - Xrays: teeth
Y - Your Fave Food: Chicken fajitas
Z - Zodiac Sign: Cancer

Pretty nice, uneventful day...

It started with us going to get Dylan's hair cut. Then we went to check out the house we've had our eye on in Mt. Vernon. We thought we would possibly make an offer today but after today's inspection we're not willing to offer what they'll want. We liked the house - just not enough to spend that kind of money to fix & update it. Which bums me out some. I really want to get into our own home but then again, I don't want to jump into something just because I'm impatient. Tomorrow we're looking again at some open houses so that'll be fun. I just hope when we come to the right house, God makes us know that it's the one.

The most fun part of the day though was driving through all the snow. It is absolutely beautiful to just gaze across the open fields with the glistening white snow - JUST BEAUTIFUL! I brought my camera & ended up with 53 shots. Here are just a few of my favorites:

I've been busy this week...

nothing like a good ole' snow day to help me get some things accomplished. Actually we've had 2 snow days which was kind of nice after going 2 yrs without any. I ended up having to work part of the day yesterday (& then working some at home too on work junk) but I was able to get most of it out of the way so today has been nothing but a lazy day. I love LAZY days! Actually now that I think of it it's not been real super lazy - I've done dishes, laundry, & clean-up everywhere but it's been nice. I didn't have to get up early & I made time to scrap. (the scan looks terrible & crooked - which it's not IRL).