Italian Food & A Great Friend

Jennifer and I got to have dinner together. I don't know which I liked better, the Chicken Parmesan or the atmosphere. Sometimes you just need to go to dinner with someone who thinks it is perfectly acceptable to have 15 throw pillows on your bed. Someone who knows the JOY of opening a new tube of Voluminous mascara and all the happiness it brings. Jennifer is one of those people who has you constantly laughing. We joke about how half the time we feel like we are off in a corner, in la-la land, with a wand and a ballerina totoo waving it around singing, "la la la la la!!!"

A Streaker at Chick-fil-A

We were leaving Chick-fil-A this afternoon, and as usual stopped by the cash register to get some buttermints (they are so good!). I am a little amazed to say that I ate 2 combo's today. What is UP?! (besides my weight) I was starving though. Sorry, sidetrack. Back to the buttermints. They were out, so I stooped down for 1.5 seconds to explain to Stinky Pete they did not have any. That was just enough time for me to look up and see Moose running toward the bathroom with his pants and pull-up down around his ankles, yelling, "I NEED TO GO TO THE BATHROOM!"

Luckily the place was PACKED, every table filled, and lots of giggles were erupting into the air. One lucky group got to see the show from the front side, the other caught the tail end. And here I come running in my little heels, nearly 9 months pregnant, dying laughing myself at all the hysteria. How is it that somehow even though he dropped his drawers in the middle of the restaurant I was actually really excited he was going to potty!

Sometimes I laugh that God gave me two little boys. You would think with my love of jewelry, nail polish, make-up etc...that I would be suited for a house full of girls, but I LOVE being a mama to boys. They are so funny. And they are tough. And they fully appreciate the value of a full moon.

Kroger

Last night I was checking out at Kroger and the guy in front of me looked so much like the pictures of Jesus you see growing up in Sunday School. Long brown hair, beard, the whole nine yards. I was looking at him, more like staring, thinking, "that is unbelievable." Then I got tickled when I looked at the food he was buying. Hummus, Organic Field Greens, Bottled Water. Yep, that seemed about right.

Why is it so fun to scope out what the person in front of you is buying? I'm a nosey nellie I guess! The best part is trying to act all casual when the person busts you for spying on their conveyor belt of stuff.

I canNOT wait till American Idol tonight! I didn't see the whole show, but my prediction is that Remaielle (that girl) will be gettin' the boot tonight.

Is anyone else tired?!

I'm not sure if it is because I've been working so hard around the house or what, but I am worn out! This morning I made myself run to the grocery store. I'm making Nacho Salads for dinner and Barefoot Contessa's sheet cake for dinner. My fam is coming back over to help with the fence. The cake calls for nearly 3 sticks of butter & 2 bags of chocolate chips. Needless to say, it it G-O-O-D! And good for ya!

It is amazing looking around my house right now. Last night it was perfectly picked up. Today stuff is everywhere. The littlest in our family decided to color on the walls AGAIN while I got ready this morning. The Magic Eraser worked like a charm to get it off. I bet he won't do it again. We had a little heart to heart if ya know what I mean.

Have ya'll heard of www.freecycle.org? My friend Jana told me about it. You can give stuff away to people. I posted my first thing yesterday and the girl is supposed to be coming to get it today. It was decorating magazines. After our big yard sale in April, I'm going to be giving stuff away like crazy on free cycle. It is a great way to bless people and to get rid of stuff. I read a great quote on Flylady's website yesterday:

"You can't organize clutter, you can only get rid of it!"

That is so true. Our decluttering effort is snowballing, when I get 5-10 minutes here and there, I'm just going to a drawer or shelf and tossing stuff I don't use anymore. Yesterday I had about 5 minutes so I cleaned the living room fan. Nothing fancy, just a rag and some Pledge, but it looks so much better. I like cleaning better when I don't feel like I have to do it all at once. I hope everyone is doing good today. If you live near, you should seriously come to my house tomorrow to get some cake. There will be tons left and it will be worth the trip!

Why didn't anyone tell me?

You know the situation. You are driving peacefully down the interstate mindin' your own business when you approach the truck with the big yellow sign on the tail gate reading, "WIDE LOAD." Then, a few seconds later you pass the double wide.


OK Friends, let's be real. Noone told me what my Easter outfit looked like. Someone at church commented on how you can really tell I'm pregnant these days, but they didn't actually tell me what I needed to hear. One rule of thumb during pregnancy is that your shirt needs to be long enough to cover your ever growing rear end. Just being honest here.


I about died when I saw the pictures Shane took of me yesterday. Here's a little sample of what I'm talkin' about. I wish I could give you a sample of the Strawberry Roll that is on my plate.

Making Room Pt II

All I have to say is I have the best family ever! They are so great! We have worked and worked this weekend and it has been very productive. Today my Dad, Mom, Mamaw, Aunt Linda & Aunt Neddie came over to help Shane & I. You wouldn't believe all we accomplished so I will tell you. Sorry about posting all the to-do lists. It probably makes for very boring blog reading, but I love seeing the completed lists.

• Shane & Papa started reconstructing the fence by cementing posts into the ground.
• Aunt Linda & Mamaw cleaned the garage, swept, & helped organize it. It is sparkling.
• Aunt Linda & Mamaw cleaned out our car. Amazing. If you haven't seen Mom My Ride you need to. You will get a better idea of what a blessing this was.
• Nana cleaned our bathrooms and I don't know what she does, but they always look better when she cleans them. Same thing with her Roasts...hers is always better.
• Nana folded laundry and put it away.
• Nana washed our shower curtains and boy do they look nice.
• Aunt Linda cleaned/organized our laundry room, the top of my fridge and the tupperware drawers. I never knew a laundry room could look so good.
• I cleaned out my office and put together the nursery. This may not sound like a big deal, but trust me, that room had exploded with junk, it was BAD! The nursery is complete with the crib, clean linens, rocker, table/lamp, changing table with 3 empty baskets waiting to be filled with diapers & such.
• Shane scalped the front yard & weedeated (sp?).
• I fixed the lighting in our flower beds.
• 2 boys got bathed.
• 3 loads of laundry got washed.
• Our stain protection warranty on our living room furniture expires tomorrow. Thursday night we cleaned every single piece and the cleaner faded the pillows. The result is we got to get new furniture and it is beautiful. We got a couch with a sleeper sofa, an over sized chair & an ottoman.
• I hung my purses on the wall in my closet.

It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my chest by getting all this done. I so appreciate all the hard work my family gave on their Easter weekend to help us. We don't even deserve it all, but we are so thankful. Tomorrow we get to spend the day with our family. After lunch, we'll hunt easter eggs and sleep. Sounds pretty great to me!

Making Room

Since we went to the doctor Monday and got the news that there is potential to have a baby in 2 weeks, we have been in declutter mode. I anticipate that I will make it to full-term, but since the possibility of delivering sooner is there I am in the mood to get ready.

In the spirit of things, after my jewelry show Monday night I came home to find Shane decided to get us rolling. A little overwhelming at first, but he did an amazing job getting us started. I emailed Becke' in kind of a panic-"Hey, all my closets have been unearthed, do you wanna come help me throw junk away?!" She was on board, and we got my closet decluttered and finished the boys closet. Shane had allready sorted the boys closet which was a huge help!

I am realizing that if my house constantly looks messy, it is because I have too much stuff. When there is not a place for everything that is easy to get to, it just gets thrown in my office or a desk. Getting ready for Bible Study yesterday was so easy, because I could see all the options easily!

As soon as I get a storage unit for my office stuff, we will really be in business! My to-do list before the baby feels really long. Here is stuff I'd love to have in order:

• All closets/drawers sorted through and downsized.
• Paint touched up in a couple of rooms, which will mean repainting some entire walls.
• Mulch in the flower beds. It has rained like crazy, and our mulch is somewhere down by the river.
• Fence put back up.

Does anyone else get mulch envy this time of year? I get SO excited when people put new mulch in their flower beds, it looks SO good!

***Don't forget, March Madness starts today! Shane says our brackets need to be filled out by noon!

Naptime Conversations

• SP: Where does Mamaw sleep?
• Me: In her bedroom.
• SP: Does her sleep by the kitchen?
• Me: Yes.
• SP (right now as I am typing): Mom you are big.
• SP: Where does Aunt Linda sleep?
• Me: In the bedroom with the piano.
• SP: Why Mamaw sweeps in the bedroom by the kitchen?
• Me: Because she loves her Orange Juice and doesn't want anyone to get into it while she's sleeping.
• SP: I wike her Orange Juice too, it's nice & fresh. (thanks Nana, your fresh fettish is being handed down through the generations!)

Old Friends, New Friends

Good Friends!

We had a very fun week of playing and enjoying the sunshine! Becke' took these pictures of the kids and their new little friends! God has blessed us with the BEST friends anyone could ask for! Here is a rundown of all the fun things we got to do with friends this week:

• Wednesday: Park play day with girls from church and their kiddos! It is cute to see the boys with their new little friendships they are developing. First sunburns of the year!

• Thursday: Jennifer & I went to Becke's for Taco Salads and the boys played! Hard! And we sat in the sunroom trying to stay awake, because the breeze was blowing through the room, and it was a perfect lazy Spring day, even though technically I guess we are still in summer! Scratch that, it is winter right now! (I need to go to sleep!)

• Friday: Lunch at Chick-fil-A with Lanette, one of my best friends who was in from Tennessee! My kids and her kids got to play together and it was so cute! It is fun for my kids to be playing with my friends kids. THEN, friday night, I went out with Becke' & Michelle. Yep, you read right, just the girls! We ate at P.F. Changs, went to the Container Store, and then went to a coffee shop. I got a Raspberry Steamer & Cream Cheese Brownie. I am proud to say that we stayed up until 11pm!

• Saturday: Jewelry show at Becke's! Birthday party for Logan! Birthday party for William!

• Sunday: Shopping with the boys and Mamaw for Easter outfits. Lunch @ Taco Bueno!!! Then tonight I got to talk to Emily for over an hour! She is funny. You should meet her.

I'm so thankful for all my good buddies. From India to Atlanta, Fayetteville, Tennessee, Virginia & Texas and those that are 5 minutes away, I've been blessed with some great ones!

Happy Allergy Season To You & Yours

I trust the beginning of this allergy season is blessing you with all the proper ailments that it was meant to.

I pray the 3 million Bradford Pears and the 10.2 million crepe myrtles are in full bloom on your street, and that your local grocer has taken the liberty of lining their drive with the blooming trees.

I'd like to thank the Arbor Club for all the new stuff they planted last year. I'd like to thank the Future Farmers of America for any contributions they made to the foliage industry. Garden Club Members- Bless you! I'd like to thank the Academy, too many names to name but you know who you are.

I pray you are surrounded with good enough friends who can be honest with you when you have tissue fuzz on your nose as that can prove to be as embarrassing as your little angel's number getting put on the big screen at church and having to take the walk of shame.

My hope is that Benadryl will produce a drug induced relaxed, sleepy state on your child, unlike last year when it made them turn into JoJo the Monkey boy and they swung from the chandeliers for 3 days straight.

I hope you have found the proper exfoliater, moisturizer and under eye cream. I want you to have the same happy glow on your face as the lady frolicking through fields of Wildflowers on the Charitin D Commercial does.

From our family to yours, many Bless You's & Achoos,
Anna

Tagged

What is the one big goal you hope to accomplish this week? clean out my office and get the nursery finished

What is the one household chore you do not like to do? i'm with jenny, folding the laundry and putting it away is such a bummer. i try to do the "be thankful for the person you're doing laundry for" thing, but in reality, it's just not that much fun. i am thankful for family, clothes, my washer/dryer, tide and april fresh downy though!

What would you buy if someone gave you $2,000? a tummy tuck (shallow i know)

Describe yourself using one word. crazy

What is the one saying or theme that you live by? enjoy this moment, for this moment is your life

What is the one household item you cannot live without? vacuum, i love the lines in the carpet. don't even think when i go out of town or on vacation that i don't vacuum my way out of the house. you can ask my parents, i used to get so irritated when someone would mess the lines up in the carpet. i think they hated me sometimes when they wouldn't respect my request to walk around the perimeter of the room and steer clear of the main floor so we could enjoy the lines together as a family. haha

If you had one chance to go anywhere in the world, where would you go? this is going to sound boring, but the destin area is my favorite. i'd just like to get to use all that extra money to go to eat and order whatever i wanted- NO waters with lemon, appetizers/dp's/key lime pie for every dessert! and maybe a few airbrushed t-shirts for souvenirs. or not.

List the one person you admire the most. world peace. :) no, that would be a good answer though! i admire my parents, raising my brother and sister was a chore-just kidding! really! i did most of the chores, i mean, i provided my share of headaches too. they are great parents. fun and good examples for us to follow!

What is one thing people may not know about you? last night at 1:30am when ya'll were sleeping, i was at the kitchen table with shane eating waffles, drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows, he was working a sudoku puzzle. all that to say, we're night owls! i tried to spring the, "i need a fourth meal, can you please make a run to the border" line on him, but after he had put in a 12 hour day breakfast had to do.

I want to tag Heather & Trisha to answer these questions!
********************************************************************
Update from yesterday's post: YES, the boys had unmade my bed and taken the sheets/blankets off...they needed something to walk on. That's understandable because ya know the carpet...oh never mind. The good news is, that motivated me to wash them so last night after I ate I got to enjoy clean pj's and clean sheets!

Crumb Nazi

I think I have an unhealthy obsession with keeping the kitchen floor clean. I am wanting to mop every single day almost. I hate to have crumbs of any sort on the floor. I got a new mop, a Libman but a different brand. It rings out really nicely and I don't have to bend down. So, last night I was walking through the kitchen and was like, man, what the phat is all over the floor. Shane pipes up, oh yeah, there is a slight possibility I spilled salt and forgot to clean it up. Oh well, at least my feet got exfoliated.

I have started trying to do a load of laundry every night and getting it switched to the dryer so the next morning (or 2-3 days later) I can get it out and put it away. It's nice to be staying caught up on the laundry. Or trying too anyway.

Yesterday Shane and the boys brought me breakfast in bed. Chocolate Chip Pancakes, fresh pineapple and oranges, and coffee with French Vanilla cream. It was nice.

I signed up for http://www.freecycle.org/. My DH tried to sign up but got denied. heehee. Why is it funny to me that he got denied? He thinks it is funny too though.

We have started working Sudoku puzzles and are both loving them. They are really fun. Next thing you know we'll be investing in matching recliners.

Why the heck is DST making me stay up until 1 & 2 am??!?! I cannot get to sleep at a reasonable time the last few nights and it is annoying. The weather is awesome though-open windows are the best. OK, mass meyham (sp?) has broken out while I've been on the computer. My duvet is in the hallway floor and there is talk that the superheroes have taken the sheets of my MADE BED to walk on. Please say it ain't so....

2 Worn Out Boys!

Snowman Checklist

Kids: New stuffed animals, Library Books, Movies, Bubbles (courtesy of Aunt Neddie)
















Snowman Menu-Hers: Chocolate Chip Cookies, Rice Krispy Treats, Hot Chocolate (French Vanilla & Milk Chocolate), Jet Puffed Marshmallows, Popcorn, Chips & Cheese Dip, Digornio Pizza, Homeade Bread, Dr. Pepper, Chili (plus fixin's for Chili Dogs, Frito Chili Pie, Chili w/crackers & cheese), Tums


















Snowman Menu-His: Pineapple, Strawberries, Celery Sticks, Carrots, Ranch Dip, Homeade Tomato Soup, Apples, Oranges, Bananas

















Shane is on a "lifestyle change", so he got the healthy snacks! I'm a pregnant lady who wasn't able to eat for 5 months so I got whatever the heck I was craving! That equalls one grocery list the size of Texas! And, I am proud to say I did not buy one loaf of bread. My trip to Kroger was purely for party food! It's 12:1oam and our yard is a blanket of white! The boys are going to be so excited when they wake up! I'm so excited I can't go to sleep!

Let it Snow!

Well, I am shocked and shagrinned! It did snow! The boys stood at the window this morning shouting, "Wet it Snow, Wet it Snow, Wet it snow (aka Let it Snow!!!)"

It was such fun! Our neighbors Amy & Kaitlyn joined us for the play day. We played snowball baseball, made snow angels, had snowball fights, and made a snowman. After we came in I let the boys take a warm bath to warm back up. They were so red on their little legs, hands and faces! I made a loaf of bread and chocolate chip cookies and it smelled really good!

Of course now the snow is all gone, I'm glad we are not daysleepers or we would have missed it!

A Rainy Monday

This morning I asked SP what he wants to plant in the garden this year. His reply, "Mud!"

Moose was singing the last of the ABC's and it came out, "W,X,8,9"

We are scheduling a C-Section for the end of April!

Speaking of the baby, I am getting winded all the time. This morning I was putting on mascara (sitting down mind you) and Shane was talking to me. He said, Are you still there? I said yes, sorry, I just can't breathe!

Are Thin Mints really that insanely good, or is it just the fact that you only get them once a year that makes them seem like they are better than the Keebler Grasshopper cookies?

I'm concerned about a few more things. It is March 3 and we've killed like 5 spiders in the last 2 days. This is NOT a good sign. I'm also concerned that we have no heat on, it is 7o degrees in the house, and we're getting 1-3 inches of snow tonight. How I ask? Maybe bread & milk sales are down, so distributors paid the meteorologists to lie.

We are potty training again (we as in Moose-not that there was any confusion I'm just sayin'). I bet this is at least the 3rd time we've started this process. Unless I get too tired I have a good feeling about this time around.

I've got to go for now-this weather is calling for homeade chocolate chip cookies and I need to get the butter out of the freezer. Bye for now.

Top 10 reasons we take the back roads versus the interstate

10. You get to play games like Name that Crop and Count the Above Ground Swimming Pools.

9. You experience the smell of many controlled brush fires.

8. When you gotta go and there is no stop in sight for miles you get to create your own outhouse.

7. Seeing the old farm houses and churches.

6. Seeing the billboards for the churches and getting the scoop on uncoming events such as the Revival in Tuckerman. In the words of Shane, "You gotta love the scheduled revival!!!"

5. When hunger strikes you have the choice of stopping at a Town & Country grocery store or a gas station.

4. When we get ready to buy a black angus cow or a llama we now have a name & number of a guy who sells them.

3. Likewise, when we get ready to buy a pick-up we know the exact make, model and color we'll choose.

2. Our family is well educated about the differences between excavators, combines and the classic John Deere.

1. You get to listen to country music to make the trip complete. When a new song comes on like International Harvester, you know exactly what the guy is singing about. Here are the lyrics to one of the funniest songs we've enjoyed in awhile.



I’m the son of a 3rd generation farmer

I’ve been married 10 years to the farmer’s daughter

I’m a God fearin’ hard workin’ combine driver

Hoggin’ up the road on my p-p-p-p-plower

Chug a lug a luggin’ 5 miles an hour

On my International Harvester

Three miles of cars layin’ on their horns

Fallin’ on deaf ears of corn

Lined up behind me like a big parade

Of late to work road raged jerks

Shoutin’ obscene words flippin’ me the bird

Well you may be on a state paved road

But that blacktop runs through my payload

Excuse me for tryin’ to do my job

But this year ain’t been no bumper crop

If you don’t like the way I’m a drivin’

Get back on the interstate

Otherwise sit tight and be nice

And quit yer honkin’ at me

Well I know you got your own deadlines

But cussin’ me ain’t savin’ no time hoss

This big-wheeled wide load ain’t goin’ any faster

So just smile and wave and tip your hat

To the man up on the tractor

Funny stuff and nice use of the word hoss. We love the line about lining up behind me like a parade.And it tickles the boys to death when a John Deere driver waves back. Oh my. Shane's mom retired this weekend so we went to surprise her and had a really great time! It was a great trip!