Johnson's Jabber

Wandom Wednesday

2011-04-13T14:04:00.012-05:00

My fellow blog buds, I'm sorry - I'm hit or miss on here lately. My time is all filled up with kids, church, life, work, the family, soccer games, more work, CR, The Landing, and now I've added Relay for Life into the one free moment I had. I don't even have time to watch the shows I want to watch that I DVR'd to watch later when I had time! So here's a few things.... OH - Please note that just because I slightly SKIMMED over Relay for Life it's not the last you'll hear of it. Get out $10. We'll be in touch. This pic if from a daddy & daughter something. I don't know what it was, or when it was all I know is it meant my house was silent. I took the longest, hottest bubble bath and sat there until my skin wrinkled like a raisin. I love Daddy/Daughter somethings!

My girls look way too old in this pic. ; (

Date night. We went out a while back and ended up at Barnes & Noble (age old tradition from our dating years, we would eat dinner and then wander the book racks, holding hands, whispering, kissing when no one was looking - awwww sweet memories.) We actually went to B&N on our first date.

But this date night, 15 years later was different. We walked around together for a minute then split up and looked at what we wanted, then met back up for my husband to show me this beauty...

hmmmm. Nothing ends off a romantic evening like trying to figure out what your poop is telling you. So we sat a table and giggled at poop names like:

chocolate hostage

colon cannonballs

lincoln logs

and ...sewer serpents

Now THAT's romantic. Then I looked at home remodeling books and he looked at books about serial killers. Nice. (When we got home I googled "what does it mean when your husband looks at books on serial killers" then, I slept on the couch with one eye open JUST to be safe! )

This crazy chee-chee is 5. Yes FIVE! This is where I blog about how much she's changed our life and how blessed we are - but if I say all that I'll cry. I don't feel like crying. Addy Irene you are wonderful and amazing...

we love your smile and your laugh. I promise by the time you graduate from high school I will have made you something that looks sort of like a scrapbook. (Or, I'll at least throw some pictures in a shoe box and write your name on it.) We love you!

That is enough wandomness for one wacky Wednesday afternoon.

Monkey See. Monkey Do.

2011-03-22T13:27:00.011-05:00

My children are monkeys. (Not the cute kind that sit on your shoulder.) The wild, climbing, crazy, kind.

They climb on everything.

When signs are posted that clearly prohibit "no climbing" that makes them want to climb more. Their eyes light up, looking at me like, "Mom...can we, can we, can we?"

I let them get some climbing in this weekend, they climbed on everything in sight and did monkey bars too, which was fitting for the two of them.

{When we're at the Zoo and watch the Chimps eat I think to myself, "I could totally see my kids eating peanut butter off each others heads. I draw the line at flinging poo at each other though, that's just wrong.}

Look at that determination...

My sweet little climbing monkeys! I do love them!!!!

I just wish I knew where they got it from...

I really have no idea at all!

Cancer Sucks.

2011-03-09T14:16:00.005-06:00

I hate cancer.

Really, I do.

Here's an update on my dad. He has multiple myeloma which is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell present in bone marrow. Today (he tried yesterday but his numbers were too low) he’s starting the harvesting process for his stem cells. That means right now there is no new cancer that they can see at this point, so that is why they are harvesting at this time.

This process is Autologous stem cell transplants, (AHHH, thank you Google) in which his peripheral blood stem cells are taken from him (harvested), frozen until needed, then given back to him (transplanted) after he has received high doses of chemotherapy, radiation therapy or both, to destroy the myeloma cells. (I feel like I could write an episode of Grey's Anatomy now.)

For the next 3 days they will harvest (at the OK Blood Institute.) It’s a 4 hour long process each day, they need millions of these good cells. Then at some point later they will do chemo and radiation to basically shock his body and hopefully kill anything bad. Then they put the good cells back. Long, painful, procedure.

This is from his blog post today....
God continues to take good care of me, and we rest our faith in him. You know King David put his faith in God and God cared for him and he was even called a "man after God's own heart." I hope to continue to be the kind of man God wants and needs for me to be. So keeping my faith in God is my ultimate Goal -- and whatever he plans for me is what he wants. Please pray that I can keep my faith in our Heavenly Father.

God is good! That's our motto, and we're stickin' to it.

The Case of the Funny 2nd Grader.

2011-03-01T12:39:00.005-06:00

This little 2nd grader....

cracks me up.

She makes me smile everyday. (Yes, sometimes she makes me wanna scream too, but the smiles outweigh the screams - in my book.)

The other day she brought home her library book selection and I just started laughing...

I said, "The Hardy Boys?" She said, "Yeah Mom, you know I like a good mystery."

Hearing her say that made me laugh even more thinking that just yesterday we were sitting in her bed and she was reading mysteries like "See Dick. See Dick run? Silly, silly Dick."

Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

2011-02-24T08:51:00.003-06:00

When you leave the gym all dressed up for the day and it’s pouring down, I mean pouring down rain, and you put your tennis shoes back on so you don’t ruin your heels, and you’re glad you did when you step into water that literally goes past your ankles, then you about fall but you don’t (thank goodness), instead you drop your purse upside down into a running river of water, and the entire contents of your purse (including your wallet, phone, and Dave Ramsey envelope system) go floating away and then you have to stop to collect everything - meanwhile you’re getting completely soaked from head to toe and your hair is dripping wet, then you think to yourself ”wow, this is a bad morning" and then you're relieved that you're not wearing anything white because that would just suck.

V stands for....

2011-02-14T12:32:00.003-06:00

V stands for VERY NORMAL DAY

Today I left for work and whispered to my husband (who was still in bed), "Happy Valentine's Day, I love you." He sleepily responded, "I love you too." Then I said, "Don't forget the chips for Addy's party."

Two hours later, I get a text. (Secretly, I'm thinking it's going to say - Honey I love you I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day, you're my everything.)

It says, I forgot the chips.

DJ's not shy to tell anyone that he doesn't believe in Valentine's Day. He loves me. Period. He knows that. I know that. So our Valentine's days are just normal days.

Like today...my valentine lunch consisted of me eating some tuna fish at my desk and then going and having my eyebrows waxed by a little Asian man named Juan. Totally normal.

Happy V Day.

Movie Review

2011-02-03T15:02:00.007-06:00

DJ and I decided it would be fun to let Lily start watching movies/TV shows we watched as kids and loved.

We've done a few like Annie and Saved by the Bell, but during the recent Snowmageddon (that was my favorite phrase from the event) we decided to try the movie Labyrinth. DJ and I both loved that movie, it came out when we were 10 years old.

We all cuddled up on the couch with popcorn in hand and began our adventure into the Labyrinth. (Addy was asleep in 15 minutes, which we were fine with.)

Lily liked it. She caught on, liked the characters and was glad to know the man with big hair wasn't really going to hurt the baby. She also liked the music. (SEE, everyone loves 80's music.)

I was glad the movie didn't scare her or give her nightmares. I, on the other hand, was a little disturbed at the sight of...

David Bowie's pants. Who thought those pants were a good idea? These people created pretty amazing costumes, characters, masks, and animation for a movie from the mid-80's, but nobody had the guts to stand up and say "dude, those pants are disgusting!" or "hey Dave, I think you need a longer coat!"

This is one time when the high definition TV and Blu-Ray clarity is NOT recommended!

World's Suckiest Mom.

2011-01-28T10:59:00.006-06:00

Last night I was cleaning out a cabinet. (Nothing good ever comes from cleaning.) My sweet 4 year old found a scrapbook. A REAL scrapbook. With pictures, trinkets, glue, goodies, stickers, adorable paper, cutouts, and sweet notes....all about her OLDER SISTER.

She ooo'd and awww'd and then said, "Mommy, where's my book like this!?"

I started to sweat. Quick, think fast. I could lie..."honey, there was a fire, a flood, the dog ate it"...but I didn't lie. "Mommy has it started, it's in my closet." She rushed to my closet. Oh I've got it started all right. Her name is written in it.

She ran to her dad. "My book like sissy's isn't started, it only has my name." (I suck.)

My sweet husband tried to bail me out, "Well mom is going to do it, you know when she did your sisters? When you were born. So Lily was almost 3 years old, so see...moms not that far behind with yours." (I don't feel like he's helping me at this point, I can feel the sarcasm. She's broken. I've caused this pain. Then "his help" gets worse.) "Do you want to help mommy do it? Cut the paper and pick things out to go in your book?" Her eyes light up, and she yells, "YES!" GREAT, now I'm behind on this scrapbook, and have a full time project manager to dictate my every movement.

I've GOT to get her 1st year book done, so she'll always have it. They will both have one book that I actually spent time cutting & creating. Then after that, it's printed blogs for me. Someday when my kids feel let down and think they have the suckiest mom in the world that never documented anything in their lives, I'll be able to say..."look girls, look....Mommy blogged, SEE - I do CARE!"

Easy Bake = Pain in my...

2011-01-06T08:22:00.004-06:00

...well, you know.

The American Girl doll marketing people are just flat out genius.

Those Play-Doh guys keep coming up with new and inventive ways for us to squish and mold that junk into fun, cool shapes.

Crayola, they're no dummies. Things get old, they just make-up a new color......who doesn't want to color with some jazzberry jam & mango tango!?

But these Easy Bake people are down-right crooked I tell ya, crooked.

Santa brought an Easy Bake oven to our house this year. Santa probably shouldn't get up at 2:40 AM the morning after Thanksgiving and go shop for toys for kids. He makes quick decisions and doesn't take time to think thru what he's doing!

After we searched over town to find the correct 100 watt bulb for the device the stirring and spraying and pouring and scrapping and waiting and asking "is it ready yet?" began.

Oh they were proud. They loved it. Couldn't get enough. I, however, had enough seconds after I opened the box.

The cakes on the box look normal. They look large enough to share with your sister, but they're not. You have to make two cakes. Mixes that cost $6.99 for a kit. Crooked. (Betty Crocker cake mix, Wal-Mart $.97 box. A full cake, enough cake to feed your sister, your neighbor, your neighbors sister, plus some.)

They were slightly thrilled. Lily's eye was twitching with excitement!

Delish. I have never seen Rachel Ray licking the palm of her hand in the middle of her cooking show. We need to continue to work on etiquette, I see.

But, giiiirrrl, you gotta try this cake...it's the bomb. Fo' shizzle! (Yes, I had to look up fo' shizzle in the Urban Dictionary.)

65 years

2010-12-08T10:02:00.005-06:00

My Nana & Papa are celebrating 65 years of marriage today. Wow.

Incredible.

3 sons.
5 grandsons.
1 granddaughter. (that's me.)
11 great-grand kids

ALL believers in Christ!

That's a legacy!

We love you Nana & Papa!! (I called my Nana and said, "So, 65 years, you think he's the one?" HA HA She just laughed!) Happy Anniversary you crazy-in-love-kids!

Also...while I'm here and before I forget...we got to do something uber cool (thanks to my Uncle Jim) on Thanksgiving. My Papa (he's 94) got to talk with his sister, my Aunt Re! She lives with her kids in California. Neither of them can make a trip like that anymore to see each other, but thanks to technology they were able to Skype and talk! It was wonderful. I had tears in my eyes watching them look in amazement at each other and talk to one another. It was so sweet and a very special memory.

Ain't technology grand!

The Tooth Fairy is Unpredictable.

2010-12-06T12:21:00.002-06:00

FYI: When you lose a tooth in Miss Johnson's 2nd grade class at Charles Haskell Elementary school you get a cool treasure box to store your tooth in.

It's pretty amazing. (My camera was not cooperating.)

This 2nd grader was thrilled. Her tiny tooth was hangin' on for dear life but had to go to make way for that large awkward tooth that is going to cost me thousands to straighten up.
(Also, 2nd graders like anything that go on their wrists. I'm not sure why.)

She left the tooth under a message that read, "My tooth is under this piece of paper!" She's a planner - would hate for the tooth fairy not to realize where the tooth had been placed.

This latest tooth fairy experience sparked new and curious conversations. Like...

"Is the tooth fairy really a fairy or is it a mommy or daddy?"
"What does the tooth fairy do with all those teeth?"
"I think it's weird that he just collects teeth, why does he do that?"
"How does he know what to pay for each tooth? Sometimes it's $1, $2, $5?"

I have always been baffled by those questions as well sweet girl! On a side note, I was thrilled I found 2 bucks in my wallet that night.

The sweetest part of any "lost tooth" at our house is the tooth fairy pillow! My grandmother made this tooth pillow for me when I was 6 or 7. It has a little pocket and the tooth just slides in! Lily uses it now, and when she's done we will pass it to Addy. It's a sweet memory of a sweet woman! (I know Grandma would be thrilled to know Lily is using it too!)

PS. Anyone know any good orthodontists?

Edible Artwork

2010-12-03T13:43:00.003-06:00

Dear Lily & Addy,

I love your artwork. I think it's wonderful.

When your teacher brings yummy macaroni, fruit loops, beans, coffee beans, sprinkles and whatnot, to use as decoration on your artwork it's fun! So fun! I'm glad you love it. BUT when you bring home your yummy artwork please put it up high. Very high. High enough, that you're little puppy can't find it!

He adores yummy artwork too!

For instance, this yummy apple pie artwork that had real sprinkled sugar all over the top of it!

As you can see he literally ate the entire middle right out of the pie! YUM! FYI...dogs that weigh less than 6 pounds shouldn't consume construction paper, sugar and glue. This is the same reason we said it's not good for him to eat Barbie shoes, hair clips, and crayons.

Love,

Mom

Click it, or Ticket!

2010-11-22T08:53:00.003-06:00

I think DJ and I can say, without a doubt, that we have successfully drilled into our children's heads the rule that wearing seat belts is a must!

I was driving with the girls yesterday and while stopped at the stop light, we look over and see that the SUV next to us has two little blonde-headed girls jumping around the backseat seat belt-less!

My girls immediately notice the situation, and began to comment...

Lily, "Wow-they're not wearing seat belts, their dad must NOT care about them!"

Addy, "They're going to fly right thru the windshield."

Lily, "And probably, they're going to die."

Addy, "Then, the po-leece man will come - and their daddy will go to jail."

Seat belt safety - CHECK!

Now, back to the parent guide to see what's NEXT on our agenda...

Say what?

2010-11-12T13:42:00.003-06:00

Addy brought home a Pre-K homework assignment (what is this world coming to when Pre-K students have homework?) She had to cut out little pictures of words that started with the letter N and glue them in their correct place on the page.

The first was...
Native American. The following conversation transpired....

Lily: Addy, that's a Nate of American.
Me: A what?
Lily: A Nate of American.
Me: A Native American?
Lily: What?
Me: Native American NOT Nate of American.
Lily: Ohhhhh!
Addy: No it's not, it's an astronaut.

Okay stike that comment - maybe they BOTH need homework!

Things I say as a Mom...

2010-11-08T08:52:00.002-06:00

that I NEVER realized I would have to say......

"Don't sit on your sister's head, she can't breathe."

"No, we don't want to smell your feet. Yes, I realize they really stink - we still really don't want to smell them!"

"You need to wipe better."

"Why don't you have panties on?"

"Don't ask strangers to smell your feet."

"Don't lick your wounds - this is a thing your dad said to be funny and it wasn't, and he isn't, and it isn't! Just don't ever lick yourself."

...as big as your head!

2010-11-04T08:36:00.003-05:00

Have you ever heard the saying something is "as big as your head" in reference to food?? Like "I ate a cinnamon roll the size of my head!" Or, "that burger is as big as your head." (It's probably dangerous to consume food the size of your head considering our stomachs are supposed to be the size of our fists, or something. I'm sure this girl can clear all that up.)

The other night we were eating at Qdoba. My husband loves for them to stuff a burrito until the tortilla seems like it will break, it's a challenge to him. The bigger the better.
It is a little disturbing to watch him eat it....

I made the comment "that thing is as big as your head!" Then we did some comparing...

Really????? Look at that thing!!!!!

He was so proud, and I was in shock. Then my shock turned to embarrassment when I realized people were staring at us hold a burrito up to our kids heads and then take pictures. "Look ma, this burritos as big as my head, quick - take a picture! We gotta show everybody back on the farm."

I wanted to yell out "don't worry, I'm a blogger" because when you're a blogger you can take pictures of pretty much anything and get away with it!

The Toothless Years

2010-10-01T10:49:00.004-05:00

I love this girl! She just takes amazing pics of my kids ALL the time! (Love, love, love her!)

Lily turned 7 back in June, but it was so hot we waited a bit to get some 7 year old photos of her. I freaked out a bit last Saturday and thought...."those teeth are going to come in and I am going to forget that adorable little toothless smile! I have to get pictures now!"

(Then I thought a little more....."Those teeth are going to be big and awkward and then a dental professional is going to tell me I have to pay mega bucks to fix them, and then when it's all done and she is out of braces and her teeth are perfect it will be time for the Addy to get them.")

Teeth or no teeth....I love this sweet 7 year old!

10 Random Thoughts

2010-09-24T13:39:00.004-05:00

1. Took my youngest child to Chuck E. Cheese's last week to reward her for not crying when going to school. (Yes, that means I bribed her. I'm not writing parenting books anytime soon, don't worry.)

2. Chuck E. Cheese's frightens me. It's like the fair only everyone is inside one small, very cramped building.

3. They serve beer at Chuck E. Cheese's. No I didn't partake, it just really bothers me that they have it there. Not sure why, it just made me mad. I wanted to walk around to the parents drinking and ask who was driving their children home.

4. I don't like the fair. (I think I've blogged about that before, but I am too lazy to find the post and link it to this post. I just don't like it. Period.)

5. The news about this mom who locked her kids in the closet for 10 hours makes me physically ill. I can't imagine a 7 & 5 year old realizing their siblings were dead in the closet with them. Sickens me.

6. Wow, that was a deep-dark Friday thought.

7. Our puppy keeps pooping and peeing in the house. He might get dropped off in an empty field soon, very soon. (Just kidding, don't alert PETA please!)

8. Addy & Lily started soccer again! I love watching them play.

9. It's time to decorate for fall! I love fall.

10. My dining table is piled high with papers, junk and other things I need to go through this weekend, and trash a bunch of stuff. Ewwww. That doesn't sound fun at all....maybe we WILL go to the fair after all.

He...

2010-09-22T11:17:00.004-05:00

He will do just about anything for his kids.

He won't fight them when they beg him to play the High School Musical 3 Dance game for the PS2.

He does it because he knows it makes them happy.

He doesn't love the fact that I'm taking his picture, because he knows he'll end up on a blog somewhere.

He says rude things to me while dancing on the plastic mat.

He wants to know where the camera is when it's my turn. I hid the camera.

He has mad skills and can dance better than most white Church of Christ boys.

He might never speak to me again after reading this post.

God is Good!

2010-09-17T07:44:00.004-05:00

September 11th will forever be in our hearts in minds due to the tragedy and lives lost in our country on that horrific day.

In the Utley family we remember that day for two reasons, 9-11 and the day dad went in for major back surgery to remove cancer that was forming on his spine. (We found out on the 10th, and he had surgery on the 11th.)

This past Saturday, September 11, 2010 was two years since dad's surgery...so we had our God is Good party to celebrate what God's done for us, and that dad has progressed so well.

Life has changed obviously and he can't do as much as he once did, but he's here with us and that is God's plan, for that we are thankful!

(Honestly, we will do just about anything to "celebrate" so we can have an Eileen's Cookie! YUM!)

I just loved these pics with dad and Lily! So sweet!!

We love you dad/Bob/Uncle Bob/Bob-O/Poppy!

God is so very good!!!

My Little Entrepreneur

2010-09-14T12:51:00.002-05:00

Lily's elementary school collects donations for their school fundraiser.

What does this mean?

It means I don't have to pedal through town with cookie dough, candy bars, or wrapping paper in my trunk and deliver it to people! For that, I am thankful. But cash donations are tricky. I didn't care for the fact that she was going to just "ask for money". She wants to collect money so she can be in the drawing to win some prizes, but just asking for cash didn't work for me! Her personal goal was to raise $120. (No clue where that amount came from!) She also thinks that this magic total will catapult her to "top girl seller" in the school and she'll win a laptop. She is so young to have her dreams crushed.

So...to reach her goal, she began crafting....

She created these darling frames with a die cut cross in them. She then decorated them with words like; love, faith, joy, peace....they turned out pretty cute! (MiMi footed the bill for the $Tree frames, thanks MiMi!)
She sold several to friends at church, and GiGi & MiMi, of course! So far she's made 7 frames, and has collected $87 towards her goal!

Not bad kid, not bad.

Dear parent that drives the Lamborghini at our school,

Please don't write your kid a check for $5000 and totally crush my kids chance at being the "top girl seller." It apparently means a lot to her. Oh, and your car is kinda ugly if you ask me.

Thanks,

Lady that drives the burgundy dinged up Altima.

What the $%#@ were we thinking?

2010-08-25T12:48:00.005-05:00

Last Wednesday DJ and I made a pros & cons list.

We tried hard to talk ourselves out of it.

We talked about it for two hours.

We didn't tell the kids, we wanted to make an informed decision on our own.

We went in fully prepared to say no.

We didn't.

Meet Scrappy. (Yes Scrappy is Scooby-Doo's nephew, and you KNOW we're a Scooby-Doo lovin' family!)

DJ put him in a bag and surprised the girls when we got home from church Wednesday night.

Is that kid happy, or what? (She actually cried a little ,which was her first happy tears and she was kind of confused by it all! She said, " I'm happy but there are tears in my eyes!")

We're all pretty in love with him.

School Daze

2010-08-20T08:30:00.003-05:00

I remember second grade vividly. A boy named Russel gave me a necklace for Valentine's Day. Also a boy named Michael pooped his pants. Maybe that's all the "vivid" memories I have, which might be a good thing.

Lily,
I hope your 2nd grade year is filled with wonderful memories, minus the poop. And, I would also prefer you not talk to any boys, at all. Let's just skip Valentine's for the next 15 years or so. If a boy gives you anything, hide it from your dad.
Love, Mom

(Toe point courtesy of Lesley Proctor Photography. Landscaping courtesy of Damon Johnson Lawn Care. Not the real guy who does it for living in Edmond, I'm talking about the one that lives with me and hates lawn care.)

I don't remember Pre-K. Not even sure we had Pre-K when I was a kid, and i terneed owt juzt fyne!

Addy,

I hope your Pre-K year is filled with fun and excitement, and if you learn something along the way that's cool too. Just don't point and stare when the kid next to you starts eating the glue. With 240 glue sticks floating around your class, it's bound to happen.

Love, Mom

Toe point courtesy of Cailey Marie.

I love you my sweet girls! No sad tears here, you're right where GOD wants you to be and I am blessed and thankful that you're healthy and wonderfully made.

Recipes NOT approved by Weight Watchers

2010-08-11T13:16:00.002-05:00

I struggled with a title for this blog post, options were...

Wanna die sooner than expected?

Sticks to your ribs & your rear!

Leapin' Lizards it's Stuffed Turtles

I gave up.

Please note: I haven't tried these, and I WON'T! I just saw them and had to share.

To make your own Stuffed Turtles all you need to do is...

1. Take handmade ground beef patties, top with sharp cheddar cheese, wrap in a bacon weave.

2.Next step, add hot dogs as the heads and legs with slits for toes and tail.

3. Place on an oven rack, covered loosely with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes at 400 degrees.

4. Eat

5. Vomit

Lookin' for a New Blog to Stalk?

2010-07-30T12:43:00.006-05:00

Look no further.

This chica rocks. As does her sister. I haven't met their brother, but I am sure he's just as cool as the other two.

This blog will not disappoint. She just started it too, so you can stalk quickly and get caught up on their lives!! Click here.

Enjoy.

Snuggie - The Blanket with Sleeves!

2010-07-29T11:15:00.003-05:00

Where were we when they were looking for freakishly annoying people to be on their commercial?

I totally think these two qualify.

Quote from the website:
Feel the Snuggie® Warmth & Snuggle up with your significant other! Blankets are OK but they can slip and slide, plus your hands are trapped inside. The Snuggie® Blanket keeps you totally warm and gives you the freedom to use your hands!

Freedom?

Freedom to grab your sister and continue to wrestle with her all while staying warm.

Walgreen's clearance is dangerous for my mother. She shouldn't shop there, she couldn't resist the Snuggie 50% off clearance.

And, I'm not proud of it but I too was sucked into the Snuggie marketing cult when I found a Snuggie for Dogs for my parents dog, marked 75% off.

Disturbing yet adorable.

Who needs a brother when you have Mason?

2010-07-27T10:42:00.003-05:00

The exchange below was recently overheard from a bathroom where Addy & Mason were "hanging out."

Sound: Toilet flushing

Addy: You don't have to wipe?

Mason: Nope, only when I poop.

What happens in the bathroom, stays in the bathroom. Until your mom blogs about it for all the world to read.

To do list:
Talk to Addy about not going to the bathroom with boys.

Happy Firthday

2010-07-23T07:48:00.004-05:00

Firthday = Father's Day + Birthday.

Ten years ago when DJ and I got married our dear friends and one of the ministers that married us, David, his wife Kaye, their daughter Polly and her husband Joe bought us a grill for our wedding gift! (Isn't that a great idea for a couple just starting out??) We loved it! And as you see below it got a lot of use!

My parents and DJ's parents decided it was time to get him a new one. (Why? Because they like to eat his grilled steaks too.) So for a firthday gift they surprised him with this...

He was eager to get 'er put together.

And here she is....

She's so pretty. I adore her. Why, you ask?? Because he will stand by her side in 97 degree heat with a heat index of 105 grilling the most delicious steaks, chicken and fish while I'm inside washing a head of lettuce. That's it! No oven. No mess. No skillets. No nothing. No really, she's amazing.

Ten.

2010-07-19T08:03:00.005-05:00

Ten years ago DJ and I bought this house in the Village...

(I loved that house.)

Ten years ago we got married...

(DJ looks 16, he was really 23. I promise.)

Ten years ago we never imagined that spending our 10th anniversary at a local gas station with our two sweet daughters would be so fun!! A lot changes in 10 years.

We didn't PLAN to end up at POPS for our anniversary, but we did and we had a great time!

We've learned a lot the last 10 years. Who we thought we were, who Christ created us to be, what kind of parents we are, what we want for our kids, what we want for our future, what we need from each other, what we do wrong, what we do right, and what we have to give.

Recently DJ and I read the book Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas. I highly recommend this book. One of the main themes of the book is "What if God designed marriage to make us holy, more than to make us happy." Such a powerful message and thought process. Read it.

Well you can't always trust a 7 and 4 year old to snap a great picture to forever remember your 10th anniversary....
....but that's okay. We will remember it this way...and that's just perfect.

7 things

2010-07-08T11:13:00.004-05:00

She turned 7 on June 17th!

Seven.

Wow!

Here's 7 things I love about you sweet girl....

I love that these lily's bloom each year, right around your birthday!

I love that you love your sister. Most of the time. (Okay half the time. Okay....I'm glad you haven't killed your sister.)

I love to hear you read. You're learning and growing each day. It warms my heart.

I love that "little girl" toys still make you screech with excitement. (So does Justin Beeber, but we won't address that!)

I love that smile. That sweet toothless smile. (I realize that smile will cost me between 5K-7k some point in the near future, but I still love it!)

I love that you adore your daddy. (He did pick you out a pretty awesome bike too!)

I love that you have a sweet heart and love Jesus! You're such a wonderful girl, and we are blessed to be your mommy and daddy! Happy 7th!

Okay enough sap and tears, I can't handle it.....

We celebrated Lily's 7th with a pop star party! It rocked. (All items served had the word POP in them! Pop Tarts, Cake Pops, Popcorn, Soda Pop, Pop Rocks, POPS Cereal, Ring Pops....you get it!)

I had to show you these adorable cake pops by none other than the Cake Pop Castle!

They are little rock stars! I tried to take good pictures....but they don't do them justice.

This one below is the "DJ Cake Pop Rocker!" Can you see his goatee?? HA HA HA So cute! And I tried to make them look like they were actually AT the party. (Hey...cake pops like to party too!)

I think we're Alone Now!

2010-06-25T11:16:00.002-05:00

One thing you may not know about me and the hubs is that we love to watch a good B-movie! Love it. And if it's a B rated Sci-Fi movie, even better. Recently we watched Dino Croc and, as you can imagine, it was absolutely thrilling.

I got wind of this news yesterday but waited to confirm the details before I shared it with DJ. (I didn't want to get his hopes up.) Research is complete, and I just shared the news with him. To say he was overjoyed would be an understatement.

It true people! Debbie Gibson and Tiffany will star together in the SyFy network movie Mega Python Vs. Gataroid. (I have a little tear in my eye.)

Gibson will play a fanatical animal-rights activist who frees illegally imported exotic snakes from pet stores, sending them into the Everglades, where they grow to mega sizes. Tiffany will play an overzealous park ranger who uses dangerous methods to save endangered alligators. In the script, the pair brawl at a party, then take matters outside into the swamp. Priceless.

DJ said his dream would be for the two 80's pop-star sensations to end up in the swamp and then for Tiffany to stop, look around, and say "I think we're alone now" just then from behind a large, grotesquely fake, plastic tree the Gataroid would jump out and attack. That WOULD totally rock.

We just might have to plan a watch party!

Twilight - Schmilight....give me TEAM GATAROID! Who's with me?

Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh

2010-06-23T11:09:00.003-05:00

Lily went to camp.

Camp. Big girl camp. Sleep-in-a-cabin-take-your-own-toiletries-CAMP!

She was heartbroken to leave us for 4 days. Heartbroken, I tell ya.

NOT! This is a courtesy shot for my benefit only. Can't you hear her "mom, hurry up, you're embarrassing me!" (Do you see what a mess it is under that bed?!?) We went to visit on Wednesday night for Church. Yeah...she had only been there one day, and we went to visit! What??

Looks like a happy, easy going bunch of girls!

A few camp songs with Jungle Jeff! (We love that guy! My kids are shocked that the man is actually a doctor, they think he just goes around town singing silly songs to people all day.)

Lucy & Lily!

Soccer/Camp Buds...Caton, Delanie & Lil!

Brenna & Lily...part of the original Fab 4.

And it wouldn't be camp without a silly face picture and the infamous rabbit ear picture!

So glad you had fun Miss Lily! We did miss you a lot, and we appreciate you faking it and at least pretending like you a missed us a little.

Addy's 4th - Photo Shoot

2010-06-15T10:41:00.003-05:00

I love this girl!

My kids will do just about anything for her in a photo. (For me, not so much.)
Addy's 4th Birthday Photo Shoot was a success!

Well of course you don't have a photo shoot and not include your bestie! Geeze, they're sassy. The next 14 years are gonna be a trip! (I feel sick.)

I love this one...

Such a sweet, sweet, girl! (Thanks Lesley!)

I'm no Amanda but I'm pretty darn proud of myself!

2010-06-14T08:22:00.002-05:00

I recently took a coupon class with the Amazing Amanda (coupon lady) from my church. (If you want her info, let me know! She has classes all the time.) She's one crazy-coupon-clippin-saver-savvy-shopper gal! She amazes me.

It took me 5 transactions at Walgreen's and CVS but afterwards I had all of this...

for only $14.97. (Granted Amanda would have only spent .97 on all this!!!!!!!!) It's hard to see in the picture but there are 2 Shout's hiding in the back!

I also have $10 to spend on my next order at Walgreens, and $4 to use at CVS! I'm pretty proud!

Please notice there is toilet paper missing from the package, people in my household are so impatient. Apparently they thought wiping was more urgent than my blog picture....priorities.

Best Friends Forever

2010-06-11T09:09:00.004-05:00

These two love each other. I mean really, really, really, really, really love each other.

I had them at Lily's school carnival and people kept asking if they were twins....Addy was getting so mad when I would say "no, they're just friends." She said, "We are twins momma!"

So glad Lesley taught them how to smile and pose for pictures!

And then there's the big sister.....

"all I hear is waa-waaa-wahh-waa-wwah"

This kid turned 4...back in April

2010-06-09T14:11:00.002-05:00

Miss Addy Irene turned 4 back on April 10th. Yeah....I'm a little behind. (She doesn't have a scrapbook either. Go figure.)

I was pleased with the Strawberry Shortcake theme only cuz I adore the way Adz says strawberry...it's a bit British and comes out Straw-burry...luv it.

Check out the adorable Cake Pops below. Thanks to these fine folks at Cake Pop Castle!
This kid has WAY too many friends which means she got WAY too many gifts.

Life size Hello Kitty doll...luv her. I would totally sleep with this over sized kitty if I could get away with it. (Yeah, okay...I tried and DJ pulled it out of the bed. She's just so darn lovable!)

I highly doubt I will ever see this take place again. It's like a rare solar eclipse that I just happened to capture on camera, Daddy putting eye make-up on her. I am, however, totally impressed with his form on holding the eye shadow brush, geeze maybe he can give me some lessons. (I wonder if he knows how to french braid hair? What other hidden talents does this boy have?)

After her "friend" party and then the family party at the Rib Crib she was trying hard to hide her feeling of utter victory. She successfully was able to pull off the "Day of Addy" by getting almost every toy she had seen on TV for the past 6 months, eating 7 popsicles at her own birthday party, no one told her no all day, she got multiple tattoos, a personal make-up artist, and she got to run around all day with people catering to her every need. Victory it is, kid. VICTORY!

Luckily her reign lasted for less than 24 hours until we all snapped out of it! Those coveted toys were soon taken hostage and she had the chance to earn them back on good behavior. Ah, reality. REALITY!

HELP! I've been tied to a chair and I can't get up!

2010-05-27T14:16:00.005-05:00

My Nana came to watch Lily play soccer a few weeks ago. It was the first time she had ever been to a soccer game! (I better not tell you how old she is for fear she'll quit speaking to me! She DOES read my blog and she emails me! She's one tech-savvy Nana!)

It looks like I've tied her to this chair! Now that I think back, I don't really think it was THAT cold! Maybe 62 degrees or so...but I was worried about her so I just kept layering her up. Poor thing...she was probably burning up!

Not sure if she'll love that fact that I posted a picture of her on my blog for all of you to see, but she did LOVE the soccer game! XOXO Nana! We love you!

The Tin Man

2010-05-21T08:05:00.002-05:00

I love this man, he has a heart of GOLD, but the rest of his insides are steel. Solid steel. He loves junk food. Candy, chips, doughnuts, honey buns...you name it, he loves it. Which would explain why he eats things like.....

Spicy Potato Stix from the DOLLAR TREE! (Just the fact that he buys food from that store should raise a red flag.)

The slogan on the bag reads "Idy says HO!" WOW...with a advertising slogan like that I was shocked to see them on the shelf at Dollar Tree. Shocked. (eyes rolling)

The first step is admitting you have a problem dear.

"Idy says denial!"

Geeze, where have y'all been? Well.....

2010-05-17T10:06:00.002-05:00

This pretty much sums up the last few months for us.....

We know you've missed us. Our stories. Our craziness. Our laughs.

We've missed you too, and we're back! For today.

Girls Gone WILD!!!!

2010-03-01T09:19:00.003-06:00

Last weekend we had a girls-only-no-boys-allowed weekend! We crammed in as much girly stuff as we could!

DJ went with his dad to Florida to see his little brother Adam. The trip was in honor of his dads 60th birthday! FUN!! I wasn't bitter at all that he was touring $15 million homes, taking day long excursions on yachts, eating fresh seafood, and sleeping in. Really I wasn't bitter! Meanwhile, I was back here cleaning a dirty house, taking day long excursions to work, eating leftover Long Johns, and sleeping in until at least 5:45 AM.

To help fill our loneliness without daddy, we did as many girly things as we could! It started with us making these crafty chore charts for the girls! They loved making them. I drew the lines and they did the rest! They love them, and so do I!!

Then it was off to the salon for some pampering with MiMi! Addy wasn't sure what to think. She couldn't relax. I think everyone running around made her nervous. Not to mention she had that freaky pink panda looking over her shoulder the entire time.

Lily didn't have as much trouble relaxing. For a kid that sleeps in a satin eye mask....she "relaxes" well. DIVA.

They do a design on the girls nails for free. For Lily, the little gal said, "You want zeeper?" She said "mom she can do a zipper on them!" I said, "whatever." I thought a zipper sounded kinda Gothic for a 6 year old, and then I realized the lady said zebra! "You want Zebra on your nails?" HAHAHA

(Please note: I didn't PAY for my kids to get "real pedicures"! They had a polish change on their hands and feet $15 dola...I mean dollars.)

After pedicures if was off to Inspirations Tea Room with GiGi (Damon's mom) and her best friend, Pam. We had a great time. Tea rooms are a great place for a mother to take time to teach her daughters some etiquette and how to have a nice, quiet, proper dinner. When we sat down, Addy got a straw and blew the wrapper off across the table, and it hit Lily in the head. Proper Etiquette - Strike One.

PS. GiGi taught her to how to blow the wrappers of straws, so I blame her!

Then Addy took all the breakable napkin rings and started playing house with them, or something. She kept clanking them around, I just KNEW she was going break them. Proper Etiquette - Strike two!

...and then...this one doesn't even need a title. STRIKE THREE!

Finally our girls gone wild weekend ended at the Civic Center. We went to see the Wizard of Oz with my mom and dad.

We did have a great time, and Lily was one of about 15 Dorthy's. She WAS the cutest by far! ; )

We had a great time while he was away, but we missed him so much and we were so glad to have him home!

I want to be the mom that takes amazing snap shots of her family. I GIVE UP!!!!!

2010-02-05T12:55:00.006-06:00

Say what????

2010-02-04T19:46:00.003-06:00

I try really hard not to curse.

Have I cursed? (Yes Nana, I have.) Do I struggle with it occasionally at work? Yes.

Do I curse at home? No.

Never. (Okay, there was one time that Lily and I were in the car and I pulled out in front of a car and almost got t-boned. I did say shit, but she didn't hear me. Thank God.)

So...since Lily is learning so much at school I figured last night was a good time for her and I to talk about language she might hear at school. I told her there might be words she heard at school and she might not know what the words mean. I said "Lily, if you hear a word (maybe a bad word) and you're not sure what it means, you can tell me and we can talk about it." She said "Okay mom, I can do that! I don't know of any words like that, but if I hear any, I'll tell you." I felt good about the conversation. Parenting at it's finest.

So tonight the girls were running around the living room and Addy started screaming. Oh boy, here we go. I said "Girls come here, what happened?" Lily (wide eyed) said "Mom, I don't know...all I know is she ran smack damn into the couch."

I said, "What?"

Lily (looking at me, like I'm a fool) "she ran smack damn into the couch."

Now I was the wide eyed one and yelled, "DAMON!!!!"

We calmly explained to her that "smack damn" isn't a phrase we use. She said "oh like those words you said we should talk about?" "YES! Yes, exactly like we talked about." See, she WAS listening.

If she uses the term again, we get out the bar of soap. She's been warned. Ewww...I hope (for her sake, and the sake of not wanting to clean puke off my carpet) that she never says it again!

2 Free Plane Tickets

2010-01-07T10:39:00.002-06:00

We launched a new website at work. (Yippee!! The old one was terrible. TERRIBLE!)

I am having a little contest for people that check it out and take the survey...I'm giving away 2 plane tickets.

Check it out, take the survey and maybe you'll win! Good luck!

(Oh, and the first 5 people that post the link on their blog, I'll send you a $5 Starbucks gift card. Post a comment so I know you did it!)

FW: Handbook for 2010

2010-01-06T12:47:00.003-06:00

FYI - I don't read emails that have been forwarded to me. If it says "forward this to 10 people or you will have bad luck for 7 years" I delete it. Bring on the email bad luck karma. I don't care.

But today I opened an email with the subjuect line "FW: Handbook for 2010". I love it. LOVE IT!

Blogged it. Printed it. Hanging it on my fridge. I promise it's worth 2 min of your time. Read it.

Handbook for 2010

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray more.
6. Play more games.
7. Read more books than you did in 2009 .
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts on things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake.
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come.
38. Be happy.
39. When you awake in the morning, thank GOD for it.

Our Christmas in 100 words or less....

2009-12-28T11:43:00.014-06:00

Headed to McAlester on the 23rd to see the grandparents

Left on the 24th headed home….ended up in the Great Blizzard of ‘09

Roads closed! Spent Christmas Eve at a Motel 6 in Shawnee

Christmas Eve Dinner at Denny’s with Mimi & Poppy

Santa was smart enough to toss gifts in the truck “just in case” we didn’t make it home

Santa’s elf called us and said he knew we were stranded…

Christmas breakfast with Scrooge

Got home at 2:00 on Christmas day

Played

Opened

Celebrated

...gave thanks for a safe trip home and a Christmas we will NEVER forget!

If these don't make you smile, nothing will!!

2009-11-10T12:30:00.002-06:00

She wanted more pictures of the flower girl...lucky for me! Hair, lip stick, nails, dress-up, photo shoot...know wonder she loves that lady.

Every bride needs a bridesmaid!

3 things...

2009-11-09T10:00:00.008-06:00

1. I need to post a picture so my sweet Nana will keep reading my blog.

This is DJ and the girls with Grandpa Johnson, aka "Silly Grandpa." We had a great visit with him while he was here and we wish he was closer, or we were closer to him...and the BEACH!

2. Yesterday we had to attend late service due to Lily having a 8:00 AM soccer game. First tournament for Lily and they rocked it! They only played one team their age (beat them), then the other 3 teams they played were older (7 & 8 year old girls)!! We were so proud of them. Won one, lost one, tied 2!!! GO Pink Panthers!

So back to the church service. I like my early morning crack-of-dawn service better! BUT, I did get to see many people I don't usually see, since we attend mega-church. One friends son, not naming names, had taken markers and stacked them on top of each other making a wand/sword that he was waving around with pride. She had stopped him several times, so it was entertaining . Anyway, her son almost clocked a man in the head once and she grabbed that Crayola Washable wand just in time to stop him from making contact. DANG IT! That would have been one fabulous blog post to read. YES I wanted the sweet little man to get hit just so I could read a blog post about it. (Silence.) Wow, this is an all time low. I guess the first step is admitting I have a problem.

3. I signed up to host BK (Brother's Keepers group at church. It's a group of people that get together monthly to eat and visit) back in January. Not knowing at the time that it would be the same weekend I had 5 soccer games to attend. Needless to say our bedroom door was locked!!! YIKES!

Our BK leader found out last minute that the people that were signed up to bring drinks weren't coming, so she grabbed some cherry limeade Crystal Light packets and some pitchers and brought those over. Thank goodness we had something! Our group was there and all the men were in the living room watching football, while us ladies were in the kitchen. Being a fab hostess, I went in to ask the guys what they wanted to drink (one of the guys was our class elder, Max Dobson). I started listing off all the drink options...."We've got water, lemonade, some Pepsi and some cherry...you know...mixed drink.... OH no....not mixed drink, mixed drink.....(laughing and turning bright red)...I mean you know....oh the...red powder stuff..." I'm not sure how long I went on, Max said "uh-hu, let me get out my tape recorder and document this." Great. I just jump from one eldership prayer list to another!

BOOtylicious

2009-11-02T13:22:00.007-06:00

What happened to little stuffed duck costumes? Really, I ask you, where has the time gone?

My 6 year wanted to be a rock star. (Insert crocodile tear drops.) Despite my tears they were cute! My little rock star and my monarch butterfly!

Here's the sugary sweet candy-filled smiles from BFF'S Addy & Cailey.

Here my sweet girls are with two of the adorable Crawford sisters....Reagan & Delanie

Oh and here's another sister Jillian. (I didn't get one with the baby Kenley. Wow, 4 girls! Can you imagine? I can NOT!)

This picture makes my stomach hurt. Not just hurt. More like, lay in my bed in the fetal position and bawl my eyes out kinda hurt. Yeah that describes it.

Yet another gut wrenching shot. They look old...TOO old! Gothic/cheerleader pre-teen looking old. I think I need a drink.

Speaking of gut wrenching. This shot of DJ and Dan "The Man" Proctor makes me rethink everything I believed in from 1981-1989. SCARY!!!!

And last, but not least, the Nerdalicious trio....Kate, Re & Me!

We're bringing a trendy, chic look to nerds everywhere. (Please note if you knew me during my true NERD years, you know the red rimmed glasses wearing, permed hair scrunching, french horn playing, peg-legged jean wearing days.... please don't comment. Really, please don't. Trust me, I was humiliated enough by just typing that sentence!)

My Life Documented in Pictures

2009-10-19T13:00:00.004-05:00

Life has been busy. YES, too busy to blog! Here are some pictures from the last month.....

Addy is a photographer. You can call her Ms. Re! Here's a pic she took of daddy....

Addy started sonshine school. She loves it! This was how happy she was walking in...

And then not so happy inside!

We started soccer! Lily's #3 and she plays real soccer! No coaches on the field. No picking up players and moving them where you want. No picking flowers out of the grass. It's real soccer, and her team rocks.

My granddad came to visit us and he watched soccer!

Addy's playing soccer too. Not so sure how much "playing" she's doing, but she is worn out when she's done! Coach Lesley does a great job with the team...she's a brave, brave woman!

Soccer actually wears out the entire family!!!! This is how I found the 3 of them after soccer one Saturday afternoon....

Haley and Marcus got married so we went to celebrate with them.

It was a beautiful wedding...and we got all dressed up!

and...we had a great night with friends!

She played!

2009-09-14T11:34:00.003-05:00

She didn't get a goal. She didn't run faster than everyone else. She didn't lay in the middle of the field and kick and scream. She played!

She shed a few tears, but thanks to Coach Lesley she was able to stay out there and run with her team. She did GREAT!

My dad always says it's like watching field mice run around out there...maybe field mice with pig tails and hair bows. Is there such a thing?

This picture sums up the emotions of this team! They are so darn cute though, how can you not want to cheer for them? (Although my child doesn't like me to cheer for her, it causes her to burst into tears! It's a wonderful feeling really.)

You haven't seen the end of these Sassy Sisters....2009 State Champs here we come!

(Editors note: I stole these pictures from facebook, ie: Tara & Nicole's pages. Why? Because my camera cord is gone, buying a new one today!)

One year later...

2009-09-10T08:06:00.003-05:00

Well it seems like forever ago since I posted this....and in some ways it feels like just yesterday.

It was one year ago today that I got a call from my mom telling me that a neurologist found tumors on my dads spine and he was "having surgery tomorrow!" I was numb. Tumors? What kind of tumors? Does that mean cancer? What does that mean?

I left work immediately and headed for Mercy Hospital, it was a 20 minute drive that felt like days. The next 24 hours were a whirlwind. We were all in a fog. He was in surgery almost 24 hours after they found the tumors, and he was in surgery for like 10 hours or something ridiculous.

I can't remember how many people were there over those first few days. People brought food, gifts, cookies, tissues, water, cards, balloons, flowers....it was an outpouring of love and support. I know that Katie and Lisa sat with mom, Damon, and me until 11:30 PM when the surgeon walked out. It was a long day, but he was out of surgery. We got to see him about 1 AM, and he was groggy, of course, but we asked him if he could move his legs and we saw his toes wiggle. What a blessing! With surgery of the spine the fear of paralysis is there. And the doctors don't lie they tell you what risks there are....scary risks. Risks that you can't fathom.

The tumors were cancerous, and the treatment began, and still continues today.

We've heard that God allows you to experience trials so others can be a light to you. So they can step up and bless others. I don't know if I fully "got that" until our family went through this. Mom and dad are known for being a blessing to others, they always have been, this time people blessed them. God blessed them.

Dad still has good days, and bad days. This year has been challenging to say the least. But God is good. He's been there. He's loved and cared for them. He's blessed them with people to nurture them, and support them. He is good, all the time! God is good.

Ode to the Portable DVD Player

2009-08-28T05:44:00.004-05:00

Dear Portable DVD Player,

Where do I begin? When you joined our home 6 years ago I wasn't sure how you'd fit in. But after about a year I knew you would become a permanent fixture in our lives. I apologize to you that in your final days, I have had to find a stock image of you online, I couldn't humiliate you by snapping a shot of you at your worst. You've seen us through good times and bad times. Hospital visits, hospital stays, trips to McAlester, Tulsa and Dallas, soccer practice, doctors visits, numerous flights to San Diego, and yes sometimes even trips from west Edmond to east Edmond.

You were always there and never complained about sticky fingers or little hands grabbing your head and slamming it down repeatedly. You've been left in a hot car for weeks, and had graham crackers & gummy bears inserted into your dvd compartment (I'm really sorry about that part, that must have been painful.)

I hope you know how much you have meant to me. You can not be replaced...unless, however, Best Buy has a sale soon. And I know you will soon be tossed into a box labeled "junk"....but you're not junk in my book. I love you and thank you for your dedication.

Sincerely,

Karyn

This girl rocks!

2009-08-24T12:59:00.002-05:00

Lesley Proctor Photography

Check her out!

1st Down

2009-08-18T10:44:00.002-05:00

You can see by her face that she was pretty torn up about heading out to 1st Grade!!

Little sister LESS than thrilled that sissy was leaving.....

I have Lesley to thank for my pics today! I left my camera on my desk (at work) yesterday. Re had a back up camera and said "come get it!" Thank you Re!

I'll tell you what, you can post things on Facebook and get answers & help!! hmmmm...possibly I should post that I need my OG&E bill paid....

Love the Camp Rock umbrella, thank you GiGi!

Love the rain, thank you God!

We ordered these pink high tops from ChildrenPlace.com two months ago (didn't have her size in the store). I didn't think we would wear them the first day but she wanted to and they did look SO cute!
Love the shoes, thank you MiMi!

I love you my sweet Lily! I hope you love 1st grade, I know you will!

L = Y

2009-08-17T13:36:00.003-05:00

Please remember that Addy says all her L's as Y's.

With that being said, I present to you:

"Yook mommy I got yotion on my yegs!"

Yots of yotion.

You don't yike it? You are yelling so youd!

I yuv you mommy.

Awwww, dang it. I yuv you...I mean love you, too!

Lake Livin' in the Life for Me!!!

2009-08-03T10:31:00.007-05:00

Just cuz I grew up in Byng, Oklahoma and went to Pettijohn Springs Christian Camp doesn't mean I'm a "country" girl. Camping out isn't really my thing...until now!

Our great friends, the Conley's invited us to join them at Lake Eufala this weekend. Jason's mom works for....hmmm, well since I didn't ask permission I will just say she works for a corporation in Oklahoma that owns "bargain stores." It's one of the greatest stores on earth!!! Since she is so close to the family that owns those bargain stores, they allowed us to use their lake home for the weekend. All 10 of us went, but it was a little cramped......

The house only SLEEPS 33 and just has 9 bathrooms!!! So we didn't have enough room to really spread out!

I could really get used to "camping!"

Hasten is NOT a good co-captain.
Addy tried the tube, she didn't love it.

Hasten fits the rock-star role much better!

Isabelle and Renee loved it...

The little girls had fun....

And the big girls had.....fun! Sure it was fun...if you notice I am screaming my head off since DJ and Jason thought it would be funny to throw us around like rag dolls! It was nuts, but we refused to let go. Granted, we couldn't move our arms the next morning, but it was worth it!

Lily loved all of it! She would move to the lake today. We couldn't get her out of the water!

Addy like being IN THE BOAT much better!

She bounced so much out of this thing we thought we were going to lose her! Renee grabbed her life vest to keep her in....it was fun to watch though. I wish I had video of that.

Then there were the big boys....they loved throwing each other around. The bigger the crash the better. Boys are dumb.

We had a GREAT time! I never thought "roughin it" would be so much fun! ; )

Safety First

2009-07-31T11:44:00.003-05:00

You can never be too safe these days, this coming from a woman that posts pictures of her children on the world wide web for every freak to see.

So we went to the Zoo a week ago and we saw this family and I immediately thought "this is blog worthy." It took me 30 min of stalking them to finally get a picture I felt like I could post without breaking privacy laws or something. Their kids were all in orange t-shirts and each had their name written on the front of the shirt with black magic marker. The back, had the families cell phone number written on it, so if the kid got lost the parents would be called. Funny at first, but then I thought....well safety first.

Notice Lily....

I literally shoved her in front of this tree to get a picture and then quickly turned to get the picture of the family....so sad. I use my own kids as lures to get blog material. Disturbing, I know.

I did snap some cute pics of my own family. Not orange-shirt-with-name-and-phone-number-cute....but still cute.

Random Thursday Performance - Next Show at 11

2009-07-23T20:00:00.003-05:00

I love to catch people doing stupid things when they don't know they're being watched. You know when you pull up at the stop light and the guy has a finger crammed up his nose, or there's a lady changing pantyhose in a parking lot (oh wait, I think I did that once), you know embarrassing stuff like that.

Well today I'm walking through $ Tree (I love the DollarTree, humiliation can't even take that love away) and I catch a glimpse of this 20 year old guy on the toy aisle with a baton....he's twirling it! And he has one hand on his hip, like he's in a show....I stop.

I have to go back.

I need to see more. I turned back, and caught him (I wish I knew the official name for it, but I don't) he had a leg out, arm up and was twirling his heart away....it was great. I considered clapping, but once he saw me he threw it down, coughed and walked away. Dude, you were doing a twirling routine at the Dollar Tree in El Reno at noon...come'on BE PROUD, this is your time to shine.

On a family note...we went to the Zoo Saturday. I was talking to the Giraffe, you know..."Hi Mr. Giraffe, how are you today??" Lily looked at me, rolled her eyes, and said "mom you're talking to a giraffe, how lame."

My 6 year old called me lame! Seriously!!! You think THAT'S lame kid, oh I'll show you lame....you just wait. You'll be 14 sittin' with your friends sippin' a snocone and here comes your mom twirling a baton she bought from the $ Tree......it'll happen, you just wait.

Ain't too proud to BEG!!!!

2009-07-17T11:34:00.002-05:00

So I told you I'm getting paid to blog. Geeze....life is good. (If my boss is reading, NO sir, I don't just blog... I get on Facebook too!)

Where do you come in??? Well I'm looking for a few good followers.....

www.heritagesolutionsok.blogspot.com

We are going to be giving things away on occasion too so it wont hurt to check us out.

Thanks y'all!

T G I B

2009-07-10T16:42:00.004-05:00

Thank God I Blog!

First things first, I have a new email address and if you're a friend that emails me, please jot down my new email address because I don't have access to my old email address, and have lost all saved addresses! So you'll have to email me! kjohnson@heritagesolutionsok.com

I'm back to blogging, well for today anyway. I have so much to say and so little time. First off, I HEART my new job. I love it. L-O-V-E it! Love the people. Love the projects. Love my office (minus the flooding after the rain last weekend) but nonetheless I still love my office. Anyway, I'm fond of mildewed carpet, who isn't?

Oh and did I mention I get paid to blog for them? Yeah, I started a blog for the company....so fun, I'll send the link soon.

The drive takes right at 30 min, and there is NO traffic. Apparently, no one is going towards El Reno, might be a red flag to some, but I'm okay with.

The city of El Reno is......

hmmmmm,

Did I say I love my new job?

More to come on El Reno, later. I can tell there will be some fun stories come out of that little town. I will survive though, thanks to S.W.S.W!!!

Subway. Wal Mart. Sonic. Walgreens.

God is good.

Well I am sure that's enough about my new job, it is great though, really. A great change for me, again God is so good!

You just can't find good help these days!

2009-06-27T07:50:00.004-05:00

So I start my new job on Monday (woo-hoo...I think) and I had a few days off this week. Yesterday I decided to tag along and help my wonderful husband for the day! Hmmmmm...there's a lot more to DJ's Custom Tile than I realized!

We picked up tile and were sweating before 9:30....I wasn't even lifting the tile and I was sweating! I only like to sweat when I'm working out so it was challenging for me! (That sounded a little divaish, didn't it? Sorry.)

He did some of this....

I did some of this.....

SERIOUSLY FOLKS I did use the tile saw! I was pumped. I cut about 20 tiles and was thrilled with my craftsmanship. Then as he was laying them I said "Hey... wait a minute, the tiles I cut are going to be hidden by the tiles your gonna put on the wall!" He said, "yep!" All that hard work for nothin'!

I did clean out his trailer for him, and watched 14 minutes of General Hospital! Shhhhh!!!!!! That's our little secret.

We also ate in DJ's Custom Tile fashion...at Freddy's Frozen Custard. I couldn't work for him everyday, I'd be huge...but it was good! We shared some chili fries, and it cracked me up that he didn't get the cheese on them....he said "Yeah when I get the cheese I feel like it slows me down in the afternoon!" HA HA Ya think it's the cheese? Maybe it's that double steakburger, chili fries and Heath bar ice cream....I don't know though, that's just a guess.

Overall it was a GREAT day!

We had so much fun and laughed a lot....well he laughed at me a lot, but still a GREAT day.

Six, Six, Six

2009-06-23T18:34:00.003-05:00

Six years.

Six girls.

Six fights.

(Well maybe a few more)

Camp Rock Theme

Dancing to Jonas Brothers. Geeze!!! What happened to cakes shaped like caterpillars and plates that have Elmo's face on them?

Popcorn & candy mix for the movie....

Camp Rock movie for the sleep overOn June 17th we woke up on her birthday and she opened a DS and enjoyed pancakes with a candle....
Wow...where have the last 6 years gone? My sweet baby that I used to rock to sleep is growing up so quickly!

Timeout!!!

2009-06-10T06:43:00.003-05:00

I am taking a timeout from blogging. I have a lot to do over the coming month to prepare for this new job, and leave my current job. I need to really take time to focus on my family and enjoy them. I didn't want my friends in blogland to think I had forgotten you, but this monitor and key pad consume a lot of my life and I just need to take a break from it!

I shall return.....

When opportunity knocks.....you have to ANSWER!

2009-06-04T07:58:00.003-05:00

A little history here folks, I have a degree in public relations. When I graduated from college.....10 years ago (seriously? 10 years... wow) I took a job at the bank. My goal was to move to the marketing department but after being there for 6 months the director of the department asked me to be his executive assistant. I thought to myself "Look buddy, I didn't go to college to be someones executive assistant!" THEN, he told me how much he would pay me, and I said "Oh.... maybe I DID go to school to be an executive assistant!" $$$$$$$$$$$

My job at the bank lasted 8 years until they shut down our department. I had to find a new job and that's what led me to my current job. I am the exec assistant to the president of the company, but my main reason for choosing this job (had 3 job offers to pick from) was because there was a need for someone in marketing/pr and my hope was to move up and eventually get one of those positions. They knew that when I can aboard, and I have been doing a majority of the marketing for the company now.

About a month ago one of my best friends, Shel, tells me that her friend "D" (I like to protect the names of the innocent) works at a place and they are looking to hire someone in marketing. I emailed her my resume, and she let me know they had already done interviews, I didn't think much more about it, until.....

about two weeks later. She called me. "D"and the owner of the company wanted to interview me. The interview went great! The company, Heritage, is located in ElReno and they do high end print, promotional products, websites, etc. It was awesome. The excitement of thinking about accepting an opportunity that went along my my career path, was amazing! Even though I have done marketing activity for both the bank and United, this opportunity would be the real deal, a position dealing with everything I love. Of course that excitement didn't help make the thought of leaving United easy, they've been great and I love the people here.

stay with me here folks....it's about to get good....

The day after my 2nd interview with Heritage I came back to work and I was told by the president (who I work for) that the owner of the company had made a decision that was out of his control. His son-in-law was moving from Tulsa to become the Director of Marketing! Hold up!!!!! Wait a minute, that's my job! That's the job I've been working towards for the last 2.5 years. At that moment I knew, if Heritage calls, I'm in.

Well........................

I start with Heritage as the Director of Marketing on June 29th.

God is good. Wow! The timing of events was incredible, and I know God was in control. If He opens doors, go through them willing....if not He'll just push you through a window, and sometimes that can hurt.

I'm not sure who came up with....

2009-05-30T07:48:00.002-05:00

s'mores.

Maybe it was a pregnant lady rummaging through her cabinet.

Maybe it was some college guys who had nothing else to eat.

Maybe it was a government conspiracy to sell more graham crackers.

I'm not sure.

But I do know that they make kids smile like this....

and that makes me happy!

Can You Feel the Love Tonight?

2009-05-25T10:09:00.008-05:00

One of my b-day gifts from my parents was tickets to The Lion King!

My mom and I went on Saturday, and the show was awesome! I highly recommend it. Wow!!! I can't even begin to tell you what the best parts were, too many to list!

I have seen Phantom (twice), CATS, and Beauty & the Beast, but I really have wanted to see Lion King and Wicked for the longest time! (Wicked is in Tulsa in July....DJ if you read my blog that's a anniversary hint!)
Mom and I had a great time! We did of course get tickled in the bathroom when a 16 year old girl was attempting to sing "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"...I love when people go to shows and think they have the quality voice to replicate what they just heard! We were in stalls and my mom kept clearing her throat when the girl hit a bad note! I of course was crying in my stall and couldn't move for fear of belting out the ugliest laugh ever!

Another thing I can't stand is rude people in the Theatre. This isn't Tinsel Town folks, this is the Civic Center. This is a National Broadway touring group, have respect! I think Theatre etiquette should be offered for seniors in high school. It wouldn't be a class JUST dedicated to that, it would be a class called "Things I need to know how to do in the real world!" (I've thought about this a lot!) Girls would learn how to change tires, boys would learn how to use hampers and washers, all would learn how to balance a checkbook, how to write a thank you note, how to pay bills online, and then they would cover things like theatre etiquette too! I'm considering taking this idea to the State Board of Education! (It you think I'm kidding, I'm not!)

Thanks Mom (and Dad), I loved the show!!!!!!

3....2....1....BLAST OFF!!!!

2009-05-23T08:30:00.003-05:00

No, I do NOT work for Parks & Recreation....but I had to share..... this park in Edmond rocks!!!!!

It's Chitwood Park and it's over off 1st & uhhhhhh....

well I put a link you can find it.

Now this structure is really all they have to do there, but it's huge! The people we were with said it used to just be a rocket ship (like the one over by Hideaway Pizza) but they took it out and put up this!

We had a group of soccer girls there and they went nuts, I can only imagine the "Touch a Truck" boys would love it as well!!!

It's well worth a visit.

Join me next week as we continue to explore fun features in Oklahoma!
Is this a great state, or what?

Random Chatter

2009-05-21T10:02:00.008-05:00

So this guy...

from "Diners, Drive-In's & Dives" is in OKC right now. Did I see him? NO! My dad did. He was at Ingrid's Kitchen and ran into him. Things like that never happen to me.

I have summer fever, which is no relation to the swine flu, so no worries! I want to be outside! Mainly because my ever so white legs need color, BAD! Kate and I gave up tanning beds when we turned 30, so we either have to get it from God's natural sunlight, or from an expensive spray bottle. (She does that, not me!) I look like C3PO with that stuff on, just doesn't look natural on me.

I love snow cones in the summer! I order the margarita flavor, it's lime and I love it! Lily told my mom "my mommy likes the margarita kind". I am sure my poor mother was horrified! I said "SNOW CONE!" This is the woman who wouldn't buy IBC root beer in a bottle because of "what it looked like!" She's my mom though so I can't be too hard on her, AND she's probably reading this! Love you mom...and juzt so u now if I were drenkin reel magaritias yu wood toatelle noteic it!!

We bought the girls summer passes to Pelican Bay this summer! They will go with Miss Lesley a lot, but we are excited to take them too. Oh crap....that means I need to get a new swim suit. Ewwwww. Well that just ruined my Thursday.

Traveling for work....such a headache

2009-05-19T19:31:00.002-05:00

I have to travel with my job about 3 times a year. Last week I flew to Phoenix. It's not like it was some fancy trip, but when you leave your family for any period of time it's hard.

Well.....

ya know, other than the 14th floor hotel room which I enjoyed alone. I had complete peace and quiet for 37.4 hours.

No one talked to me. No one asked me for milk. No one snarled their nose at my half burnt chicken casserole. No one tried to join me in my bath.
No one woke me up at 2 am because they needed help wiping their bottom. No one tried to join me in my 2nd bath! No one interrupted my reading. No one took the remote control from me. No one said "it's not fair".

Yep....it was pretty terrible being away.

When do I leave again?

Let the SonShine In...

2009-05-16T17:11:00.003-05:00

The girls annual SonShine School Spring Program was Thursday night. This is our 6th year at SonShine school and it's Lily's last year.

My babies looked so cute...

It sure is nice to have a best friend that's a hair dresser to fix hair "FOR REAL" when you get there. YES we were sitting on the stage of the church, we got there at 5:45 to get our seats.

Here are the girls with the Seat Siblings. Damon and their mom, Katie, grew up together and our kids were born literally weeks a part. (The older kids had to dress up in what they want to be with they grow up. Lily wanted to be a Singer and Gabe wanted to be a Zoo Keeper.)

Addy, Addy, Addy.......she can sing anything you ask her to. She can talk for hours, really she never stops talking....UNLESS she's standing in front of 300 people. She was frozen solid. After the program DJ said, "Addy you didn't sing!" She said "I singed wi'd my finders in my moufh!"

Also that night, my sweet Lily graduated from Kindergarten. I just knew I would cry. I had the tissues, I was ready to lay on the floor in the fetal position and cry like a baby....BUT surprisingly did not. She was so big. She did her songs perfectly and she seemed so grown up. I knew she was ready, and it was all going to be okay.

I know I will blink and it will be Senior graduation. I am trying to cherish each and every moment...

The Randomness of Thursday

2009-05-14T09:59:00.002-05:00

I ended my affair.

My affair with Diet Dr. Pepper.

We had a good 10 years together, but it was time for me to move on. I had been considering giving him up but just didn't have the will power. He listened, he understood me, he cared. I decided the day of the marathon to try to not to have one. I made it. Then when the headache came on Monday I was too sore to care! So it's been 18 days since I've had ANY caffeine! (But who's counting, right?)

I am reading The Shack. (I know it came out forever ago, but it was recently given to me.) I went to a girls night out a few weeks ago and came home at 10:30 (I know, wild and crazy night) and found DJ with the TV off reading! He had read the entire book that night. I knew it must be good. I took it with me to Phoenix on Tuesday and am over half way done, it's great so far. I can see how naysayers may disagree with it's biblical basis, BUT for me it makes my relationship with Christ more focused, more real. I don't know, it's been eye opening so far.

WOW that was really deep for a random thoughts post. My apologies!

Let's lighten this back up, Addy still likes to wear no panties occasionally. That's an issue we will tackle at a later time. Maybe around the time when I quit making my girls sit topless to eat spaghetti at the dinner table. (It's just easier that way.)

Lily graduates from kindergarten tonight. This baffles me. I remember when she started SonShine school. She was 18 months old, I watched that first graduating class at the program and I teared up. How quickly time has flown by. She is growing and changing each day. Changes that excite me and frighten me. Some days I wish she was swaddled in a cool cotton blanket, and I was rocking her to sleep.

Ode to Moms

2009-05-10T06:34:00.005-05:00

Ode to my mom. Who never stops loving and never gives up. She has put up with my dad and me for way too long! She will receive many stars in her crown for that. Her love of others and caring spirit is seen by all that know her. She can write a sincere thank you note, or note of encouragement faster than you can tie your shoes! She would do absolutely anything for me & my girls, and she is always there to listen, laugh, cry, and help with anything...she's awesome. I love you Mom.

Ode to my mother-in-law. My mother-in-law loves life, and loves us! She's an encouragement to me always. I am blessed to have a MIL who truly cares about me and loves me. She's a great example of faith and a great friend! I love you Debi! (Oh and GiGi, please disregard the fact that Lily is flipping the camera off in the picture, I'm sure it was aimed at ME not you!)

Ode to my Grandmother. Grandma went to be with Jesus in December. My grandmother was a faithful woman and had a heart of gold. I miss her touch, smell, laugh....everything about her. My heart breaks not getting to spend Mother's Day with her, but thrilled to know she is sharing mother's day with her own mom in Heaven. I love you and miss you Grandma.

Ode to Nana. My Nana...there is no one like her! And no one makes brownie like her, no one! She loves to listen & laugh! She's a wonderful support to me and loves me always...well most of the time! I cherish the time I have been given and blessed to have her in my life. I love you Nana.

Ode to Grandma Johnson. Unfortunately I don't have a digital pic of Grandma Johnson. She went home to Heaven one year ago. She was an amazing woman who loved family, fun & food! She was one of the most creative people I know, so talented. I am blessed to have many items she made & painted over the years to pass down to my daughters. What a blessing. We miss you and love you Grandma Johnson.

I love you all. Thank you for impacting my life which makes me who I am today. I pray that my girls feel this way about me someday. Happy Mother's Day!

Climbing the Walls

2009-05-08T19:02:00.003-05:00

The constant rain was literally causing my girls to climb the walls.

It was frightening & impressive!

And yes they climb up with their little hands and feet, we don't lift them up. I'm sure this will end up in the Olympics...you just wait.

(OH, and please pardon the clothing pile! We are getting ready to have a garage sale,

or donate it, or maybe burn it all, not sure yet!)It's weird, but I don't have a clue where they learn this stuff.

NOT

CLUE!

Glam Girls

2009-05-05T15:49:00.005-05:00

Time had come to have Addy's 3 year old picture made. I asked one of my very best friends Lesley (AKA Ms. Re) to take her picture for me. She did an AMAZING JOB!!!!! I loved them! It also didn't hurt that her best friend Cailey got in on the action. Adorable! Had to share.....

ATTENTION:

Mi-Mi's, Gi-Gi's, Nana's, Grandpa's, Aunts, etc....

your copies will be mailed soon! I promise!

Walk on the WILD SIDE!

2009-04-26T20:31:00.002-05:00

13.1

13.1

We walked 13.1 miles and it rocked!!!!! I mean minus the fact that I can't move without moaning a little...it was great. Renee, Shelley, Heather and I loved doing it. None of us ever thought, I can't go on....we just did it.

There are a lot of things to marathons I didn't know. Like these little chips on your shoes. Didn't know they tracked you. (We thought about heading into McDonald's on 23rd street, but knew big brother was watching.) Another funny thing that happened was us at the start line. They rank you, FAST in the front, walkers in the back. Well...we didn't make it to the back, so we were in the group of people running 8 minute miles!!! Uh hello! We ran for the first minute just so we wouldn't get trampled! Funny, but scary. Marathoners don't have a sense of humor at 6:30 AM!

OH YEAH THE FINISH LINE! It was awesome all the people who come out to cheer people on, just amazing. The half marathon is exhilarating, I can't imagine the people who do the full. They amaze me.

Dang it if Mandy didn't catch up to us! I really wanted to beat her, but I didn't. (Renee & Heather booked it to get there first! Not that we're racing!! ha ha)

And here we are at the end. I got a medal which made Lily happy! She couldn't understand why I would want to do something like that and NOT get a medal. It was a great experience.....we're hooked!Thanks Shel, Heather & Renee for helping me make it happen!!

13.1 in 3:43....ROCK ON!

Gena/Summer you can't stop me....Random Thoughts SATURDAY!

2009-04-25T16:52:00.003-05:00

I have been talking about this half marathon for months now, and tomorrow is the day. I thought I might throw up today thinking about it, but tonight as I'm getting everything laid out I am surprisingly excited! I'll let you know how it goes, I hope to post pics tomorrow. 13.1 miles. I'm just going to walk 1 mile 13 times! (Heard that today, and really liked it!)

I desperately wanted to get a picture of a man at the mall today, he had a RAT TAIL!!! Oh, how I love the rat tail. The rat tail says "I'm confident that 1987 is still cool, that I drive a Firebird, and I have no real friends." Man I wish I could have snapped a picture. I had the camera out....but just couldn't pull it off. Hats off to you rat tail man, you rocked it.

Children's Place had 50% off clearance today. I love that store, and 50% off clearance...unbeatable! I would totally knock someone down to get what I want there.

Why do the Disney people put movies in the vault? It makes me angry. I mean I know WHY they do it....cuz there are people who see that 101 Dalmatians is only out of the vault for a limited time and they just have to have it cuz they only have it on VHS and it's a wonderful family film that they must have now before those Disney marketing geniuses lock it up forever!

On a completely unrelated note, we are watching 101 Dalmatians tonight after dinner. ; )

Buckle Up....It's the Law!

2009-04-20T19:47:00.004-05:00

"Addy, you don't need a booster seat anymore, you're 3!"

(Mom takes it down from the bar, puts it on the floor to stick out in the garage.)

Sassy 3 year old decides to use it as stool and get into the sucker bucket. She gets a sucker (while mom is off in blog land) and sits down to enjoy it.

Then, she buckles up.....

AND she couldn't get out!

I did what any other sane mother would do. I took pictures, and then didn't unbuckle her for 11 minutes while I cleaned the kitchen!

Eat your heart out Lance Armstrong.....

2009-04-18T06:46:00.002-05:00

Lily has had a bike with TRAINING wheels since she as about 3. It was getting very small for her considering her knees were hitting the handle bars! Last summer some of our good friends gave us a bigger bike for her. It needed a new tire, and we just put in the back of the garage and didn't really think much more about it.

Last week, DJ decided to fix the tire. After he fixed it, he told Lily "Later this week we will practice riding your bike and I can work with you until you get it." She then asked "Can I please just sit on it?"

He let her and she put her feet on the peddles and............

DOWN THE STREET SHE WENT!!!!DJ grabbed his bike and they went around the block 4 times. It was nuts!!!! She just did it, he didn't help her one time!!! Personally, I think her BMX buddy Callon has rubbed off on her!

Randomnessessesss

2009-04-16T14:52:00.006-05:00

I have saved no good material for Random Thoughts Thursday. My apologies. But I have learned something today. Always post random thoughts EARLY. When you wait until you have a quick break and check in, you read OTHER, funnier random thoughts and then yours seem....dull.

Thinking back to my randomness from last week....uh, taxes STILL suck.

I have now considered giving up Diet Dr. Pepper. I mean I was drinking one this morning as I wrote my pros/cons list. It's still on the table.

Next Saturday I am walking in a half marathon. I am literally scared to death. Basically (for those of you who live in OKC) I will be walking from the Bombing Memorial to Belle Isle Chili's and back. Wow. I can't even think about it right now......

I hate calling places that have "computer generated" people talking. They freak me out a little. The Cox lady makes me so mad, one day I thought what if I start yelling at her. Screaming actually. She just said, "I'm sorry I don't understand your request." Then we got disconnected. I'm sure it was a fluke.

Addy is dressing herself more and taking her panties off before getting dressed. It's happened twice now in the last few weeks. This may be an issue later, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it! Lily, on the other hand, doesn't like to walk from the bathroom to her bedroom with no panties! To each his own.

That's all I got folks.

It is what it is.

2009-04-15T12:18:00.003-05:00

Lily was reading her story reader last night (from school), and each reader focuses on a letter. Last night the letter was X. So things like...

Did Tex see the fox?
Did he put a lox in a box?
Can you fix the fax?

A lot of X's!!!!!!!!!!!

It came to the word WAX and Lily said "Oh...I know what wax is, it goes on your eyebrows!"

Blogger Buddy Dinner

2009-04-14T20:12:00.004-05:00

FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS: I must clarify that I did NOT plan a dinner for all my blogging buddies. (Don't worry, I didn't lose your invitation!)

Here's how this all went down. The girl on the right is.....

Katie. She has known my husband since their old San Diego days. Her older brother Andy (pictured below) played baseball with DJ and then came to OC to play as well!

So one day I am blog stalking and I find Andy's wife page (pictured below on the far right.) Her name is Julie and I loved her blog even though I didn't know her! So.....

as I stalked Julie's page, I found a familiar name....Det. DJ had a baseball buddy we called Det which was short for Determan. It was him. Well it was his wife!!! I didn't know her either but her blog was GREAT! I stalked them both for weeks before I commented on their pages. I finally got to meet them! This is Jess....

(Random pic of the boys!) Hang in there, I'm finishing the story....

So, since I heard that Andy and Julie were coming to town, I thought....hmmmmmm...maybe we could get together so I could get to know Julie and actually meet Jess! It happened, and it was GREAT! Other friends of theirs came as well...so it worked out perfectly. I made Proctor come with me too and I have begged her to start a blog called "Confessions of a Hair Dresser!" (Wouldn't YOU read it???)

So I got to meet those I had stalked. It was delightful and fulfilling....and possibly creepy for them, oh well. It was fun. So my advice is, if you stalk....TALK. Make a comment on their page! You might actually form a friendship with the person. Worst case, they'll get a restraining order.

44

2009-04-14T07:50:00.002-05:00

I never took the time to make a blog list. It was easier to go to other peoples pages who had taken the time to "care" for their blogs. I didn't. But last night after my Blogging Buddy dinner (more to come on that later), I was inspired to do it.

So this morning I started the grueling process. There are 44 of you, and it took a long time! Some of you who haven't blogged in 3 months (Ahmmmm..........J Boggs) you about didn't make the cut! You folks have earned your spot in BLOG ROW....you better make me proud!

Easter...in no particular order

2009-04-12T18:04:00.006-05:00

I love Easter! Here's some pictures from our day....

Easter egg hunt inside. (Thanks rain!) Lily, Brenna, Addy & Piper had a good time searching for them!

Callon, Lily & Canton....their outfits came from Children's Place so they matched perfectly! Not on purpose....but still perfect!

Sarah's trifle. DELISH! Josh made cake pops that were equally DELISH!

Canton, Lily, Cal, Cailey & Addy......SO CUTE!

Our angels.....

Quick and easy name place holders, just write the guests name on the egg...

I really love table decorations...

Well just cuz you're at the kids table doesn't mean it has to be ugly! They got decorations too!

Hope your Easter was spectacular!

Addy is THREE!!!!!

2009-04-11T09:23:00.004-05:00

Our little family is growing up! It can't believe that Addy turned 3 yesterday! She's so big.

Best cookies on earth! NO, I didn't make them!! (Eileen's Cookies on Danforth.)

Miss Re & Aunt Kate made her a necklace! I lOvE it!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sweet girl. (No horns yet. Lily's popped out the DAY she turned 3, so we're waiting!)

I'm THREE!

Addy is not my performer! Once we sang she went into her shell and wouldn't blow out the candles! She was being so shy, Daddy had to help her blow them out.

We love our little Addy, and all the terms she has coined that we will forever remember! Her L's are all Y, so....

legs are yegs

love is yuve

Lily is Yiyee

lot is a yot

Thank you is tank tu, she calls panties pay-pays, and says CHOP instead of stop!

We love you ADDY IRENE! Happy 3rd B-day!

Randomness

2009-04-09T07:34:00.002-05:00

About 5 years ago I was leisurely strolling through Wal-Mart (I had a small baby then, when leisurely strolling was still an option) and I saw some PRE-FILLED Easter eggs. I thought to myself "how freakin lazy do you have to be to buy pre-filled eggs!" Last night.....in my heels, after being at work since 7:30 am (and up since 5 am) I rushed through Wal-Mart, grabbed my 5 year old out of the car (who had a notebook and was drawing while we walked through the store) and grabbed my 2 year old from her car seat. We rushed into the store to get the items we needed to fill our eggs.........those pre-filled eggs looked so tempting!!! So temping in fact, they were in the cart. The ONLY thing that changed my mind was I really didn't want to give candy out so......... I bought stickers and some eggs and we filled our sticker eggs at 9:15 last night.

On a side note, one sassy kindergartner in my house didn't think "sticker eggs" were cool. They got cooler when I got the trash can out and offered to throw them all way.

Owning your own business rocks. Taxes suck.

Addy turns 3 tomorrow. THREE. Oh how I dread the inevitable terrible threes phase. It sickens me to think about it. And...we can't just have a normal Dora party, she has to ask for a Swiper party. Swiper??? Really? Pick the evil, creepy character who steals from Dora. I am hoping this is not a sign of things to come.

I love Diet Dr. Pepper, but am fearful of the chemicals I am putting in my body. Not fearful enough to stop drinking it though.

Sums up our day...

2009-04-04T22:02:00.003-05:00

If you don't, I don't care....I'll pull down your underwear!

2009-03-31T19:59:00.003-05:00

WARNING: If you don't want to read about girls underwear don't read this post. On the other hand, if you enjoy reading about girls underwear.....please stop reading my blog all together. (Ewww....I'm now considering password protecting this site.)

We have struggled to find panties that fit Miss Lil. She picks and squirms and hates the fact that elastic rubs her legs. We've tried different sizes, styles, brands.....nothing works. Nothing! Then one day one of my best friends, Kate, says "you should let her try the style of panties I wear from American Eagle...they're GREAT!" At first I thought, "Whatever....panties made for a women....no way! She's five." I went to the store and looked at the size XS....

Exhibit A: The panties on the left are girls size 7 Camp Rock

Exhibit B: The panties on the right are ladies size XS from American Eagle

They are the same freakin' size!!!! Panties for a 6 year old and panties for 15-21 year olds are the same size!!! Really???? Now....I know some of you reading my blog probably WEAR those same size panties....please don't tell me! Let me live in denial for a while longer.

On a side note, the panties do work great for her, and fit perfectly. My only issue is that I am spending more on my 5 year olds underwear than I am spending on my own!

Random Thoughts Thursday

2009-03-26T19:03:00.003-05:00

I can never top her random thoughts, or hers for that matter. But to keep the spirit of Random Thoughts Thursday alive, I'll do it!

I love the new show Castle on ABC. I guess I'm excited because I don't really watch a lot of TV anymore. Kate and I used to have Grey's watch parties but we got out of that (my kids yelled too much in the middle and it made us mad). I also used to like CSI until 4 other spin offs came out and I couldn't remember which one I was watching. It was too confusing for me. DJ likes Castle too, so it's been kinda fun to have a show to watch together, although I am usually in bed under the covers and he's sitting in the living room, but we're together in spirit, and I think "Oh I bet he laughed at that!" (Sorry mom there were too many grammatical errors in that sentence to fix!!)

I had to go to the OKC Country Club for an awards luncheon for OKC Beautiful today. There was more botox and silicone in that room.... it really was fascinating to watch. We ate some cold tomato soup and when I got home I told Damon it was gestapo, he died laughing and said "I think you mean Gazpacho! Or, did you actually have a Nazi policy officer for lunch?"

Possibly I'm not cut out for Country Club dining.

Not my usual post

2009-03-25T14:54:00.004-05:00

So yesterday I'm in a check out line and I look up and the woman who has checked out before me had walked out of the store and stepped off the side of the curb wrong and had fallen on the pavement. She was a large woman, very large ,and she was laying on the ground. The woman working in the store just stood there, and without hesitation I threw my items down and ran outside to help her. Another woman ran from across the parking lot.

I started talking to the lady who had fallen and I knew she was embarrassed, but luckily she didn't think she had broken anything. (I am guessing she weighed between 350 -400 pounds, and she told me that she had a fused ankle and she couldn't stand on it.) At this point a man who had apparently had one too many drinks came up and was yelling "do you want me to call someone?" I wanted to say, "No Otis, we've got it, go back to the bar"... but I refrained. I looked at the woman in her eyes and I said, "You take your time, you WILL get up, and we are going to be here to help you!" I put her purse and sack on the ground. I told her to think about the best position she needed to be in to stand up, and she said she needed to roll to her knees, she did it and in about 5 minutes she had the courage to try to stand up. She did, and we pulled her up.

I know you are wondering, "Karyn where are you going with this?" Well this is where I'm going...help others. Maybe they are embarrassed, maybe you're embarrassed for them, whatever..... just offer to help. Maybe they won't need it, maybe others will beat you there, but whatever you do don't be the girl at the counter staring at her like "Ouch that hurt"...get off your tail and do something. Anything. My dad fell a few times before they diagnosed the cancer. He was losing feeling in his legs and his legs would just come out from under him. I am sure there were people there to help. It absolutely breaks my heart to think there wouldn't be people there to help him.

Whewwwww ....I feel better now. I guess I just needed to vent.

Random Thoughts....Sunday

2009-03-22T15:03:00.007-05:00

I know it doesn't have the same ring as Random Thoughts Thursdays....but these thoughts are VERY random so it seemed fitting. Heck, I may use it every day.

Many people ask us, "Do you let your girls dress themselves? It helps with their creativity." Our response, "NO!" This is what we end up with....

We had open house at Lily's school, this is her with her teacher Mrs. Bigelow. We love Mrs. Bigelow, she's amazing and she's taught Lily so much.

Here is Lily with her good buddy Collin. We have known Collin's parents since the kids were born and they have done SonShine School together and it worked out that they got in the same kindergarten class. I am thankful she had at least one friendly face in kindergarten with her and I can't believe it's coming close to an end. Tearing up........

So our Spring Break consisted of work. (But that's better than some that were sick the entire time so I'm not complaining.) We did take Friday off and we headed to the zoo. It was a nice quick trip. We waited until the afternoon to go, so a lot of people had left. I did snap this picture of these snakes. Although we can't be 100% sure (I'm not trained in Zoology) but we think they were doing it. The girl snake just stared at me when I took the picture like "you sicko" and then I thought....this is odd that I'm taking a picture, but for the sake of this blog I did it. A woman walked up behind me and said (use your best hick accent) "Hey boys what's wrong wid dat snakeee, theres somethin rong he keeps shaking around.......oh wait.....nevermin I think I know what their doin' now." Then I turned around after taking the picture and she looked at me like...."you sicko". I guess that should have been the title of this post.

Here is Addy at the Zoo. We call this the "My mommy and daddy don't love me enough to buy me a $6 watery snow cone" face!

Finally this weekend we celebrated my Nana's birthday. Her birthday is today actually and....well...since she reads the blog....we'll just leave her age off. All of us went to eat (there were 22 of us) at Olive Garden yesterday and then everyone came to my house afterwards.

Happy Birthday Nana! I love you!

Here are the great grand kids watching her open a collage I made her with pictures of all of them. They liked finding the pictures of themselves!

Here are the girls with Nana & Papa at lunch today. I just loved this picture...and my hope is that Nana will remember this post ending with this sweet picture and not remember that I wrote about snakes "doing it" in the same post I wrote about her birthday celebration pictures! Love you Nana!

Random Thoughts Thursday

2009-03-19T18:39:00.006-05:00

Yes, if she jumped off a bridge I probably would too. I'm either THAT impressionable, or just lazy enough to steal a perfectly good idea and call it my own. So here's MY random thoughts Thursday....

I got an amazing camera for my birthday. My boss and the sales guys at the office went in on it for me! I was so surprised. SHOCKED ACTUALLY, it was so sweet! I have taken some great pictures with it, but have absolutely NO idea how to get it from here...

to HERE. (Editors note: my camera is red.)

We went to the dentist today. Dr. Eliot in Edmond, highly recommend him. Lily, DJ and I all got a check-ups and cleaning. Lily was perfect, walked back and did great all by herself. When they were done they said "you can go back in the waiting room now" apparently she told the hygienist, "No thanks I'll just stay in this chair."

It's been too long since we've been to the dentist and I was fearful they would give me horrible news. I did have one small cavity so that was better than I thought, but she said I had mild gingivitis. Ewwwww. It sounds like something a 13 year old poodle has. I felt old. I said "Oh no, they have commercials about that, what does it mean?" She said "it means you don't floss enough." OH...well DUH! DJ, of course, has a million dollar smile and perfect healthy teeth. His parents should be proud their $4000 is paying off.

Getting ready for the dentist this morning the power in our neighborhood went off. I had dried the girls hair, and was in the process of drying mine when it went off. I threw the hair dryer down and went and lit a candle so we could finish getting ready. When I got home, 7 hours later.....our power was back ON! And guess what else? My hair dryer! Holy crap. I could have burned down my house. That possibly would have sucked more than gingivitis.

I have off work tomorrow. YEAH! I'm sure it will rain and snow, or something terrible...that's my luck.

Off to floss. My life is so sexy.

Reference Pic

2009-03-17T21:43:00.002-05:00

For those of you that need a reference photo....here is a pic of Addy making a similar "pouting face" like I am below! ; )

33 and counting....

2009-03-17T09:14:00.006-05:00

It's my birthday, the big 33. (Yes I had vowed to lose 33 pounds by my birthday, but lets not go into that right now and ruin my big day.)

I love this picture of me and my dad. I am guessing I was about one. I didn't post a picture of my mom, only because I love her too much to do that too her. Her bleach blonde hair and the ocean blue eye shadow ......WAIT....maybe I should post it!

This morning as I was getting in the shower Lily said "Mom are you turning 40?" On a side note, Lily's room has been cleaned out and all her toys are being donated to charity. BRAT.

I am posting the next picture of me just for fun. I am guessing I was about three. I thought it was funny because everyone always thinks Lily looks just like me, and I think this one looks more like Addy.

I'm a grown woman and I can fully admit

2009-03-10T11:54:00.003-05:00

that I use these.....

Wet n' Wild Mega Lip Sticks.

Oh you only thought Wet n' Wild stopped production of their sticky, clumpy, glittery cosmetics back in 1987. Oh NO my friend!

This is my favorite lipstick ever, and I don't feel bad about admitting that to you all!! It's actually quite freeing. I'm probably not quite as proud of confessing that I have also used Mary-Kate & Ashley leave in conditioner. I turn 33 next week and I am considering purchasing some cosmetics that aren't marketed to 9-13 year olds.

We'll see.

Self Diagnosis

2009-03-09T18:01:00.002-05:00

Many of the kids in our circle of friends seem to be getting sick. I heard that one of the first signs of the illness they have is a headache. As we were driving home tonight I asked the girls, "Do either of you feel sick? Does your head hurt?"

Lily said, "No."

Addy said, "Yes mama, my head is hurting my feelings!"

Nothing, Absolutely Nothing

2009-03-05T14:58:00.005-06:00

I have absolutely nothing to post about. The girls haven't given me any new material to work with and I have lost the cord to my camera to upload new pictures.

I feel so useless.

I do have some old pics of a shower DJ did several months ago, and since I have nothing else....I will show them to you.

The reason why I was so impressed with it is because when he started it was a CLOSET! Really, a coat closet. No sink, no toilet, no shower.....nothing! Pretty impressive.

Sorry folks it's all I have. A picture of a toilet. Wow, this is a sad, sad day.

Honesty is the Best Policy...

2009-03-01T21:49:00.007-06:00

I love this girl. We have become great cyber friends, but never met. DJ and I were friends with her husband in college, and we are planning our first date together...I'll let you know how it goes.

I guess I should say I did love her until, she's tagged me.

The Honest Scrap award.

10 HONEST things about me....

10. I love Hot Tamales & Popcorn. Yes together.
9. I can't sit still at home to watch movies. I have to be doing something. It is a good way to go on a date though, DJ knows he has to take me out to watch a movie!
8. I wish I wouldn't have changed my major, I originally wanted to be a teacher.
7. I love Coach purses, and will admit I am a bit obsessed with them.
6. My biggest fear is death. (I am a Christian and fully believe in Heaven and believe how amazing it will be, but I am fearful of the unknown.)
5. I love to laugh, and to make others laugh.
4. I can not be without lipstick. Ever.
3. I love shows like 48 hours, The First 48, anything Dateline.....can't get enough!
2. I love chips. Salty, tortilla, baked, nacho, dipping, corn....I have not met a chip I didn't like.
1. I love my sweet girls, my husband, my parents, grandparents....all of my family! I'm entirely too blessed.

AND...I love to share the love. Tag you're it....
Lesley
Renee
Mandy
Sarah

Ramblings of a Soccer Mom

2009-02-27T21:22:00.006-06:00

I had a big meeting at work today. I got to work early and worked late. I was pooped when I left. The sitter's husband was kind enough to drop off my girls with DJ at the house he was working at. I rushed to get them so he could finish working.

I arrived at 5:30, grabbed the girls and ran to Homeland. I hate that store, but I needed team snacks for Lily's first ever PINK PANTHERS soccer game tomorrow morning. We picked out the snacks; oranges, Scooby Doo crackers, and Capri Suns. That totalled up to $25!!!! Seriously!?!? (Yet another reason why I hate that store! But I just didn't have the energy to go to Target or Walmart!)

Then I took the two rug-rats to Academy to buy Lily new soccer cleats. I am sure people cringed as I walked in and Addy was screaming "Mama, I want a cart, my yegs are hurting!!" I don't give in to the shopping cart plea, I'm on a mission. We finally find some PINK cleats that fit (God forbid we buy cleats that aren't pink!) We also found her a new soccer ball, the correct size she needed (I didn't even know soccer balls came in different sizes.) We check out. We got all that we needed. Victory!!! We are officially ready for the first game.

I was relieved to get home. My hubby beat me here and had a fire lit, it was nice. I fell into the chair and checked my email. There was one lone email in my mail box that read........GAME CANCELLED.

Just BEAD it!

2009-02-25T07:56:00.004-06:00

Two of my very best friends in the world are making some really, really cute necklaces!

You've got to CHECK THEM OUT!!!

They made me one and I love it! The great thing is, it's like having TWO necklaces in one! You can flip it around and it has a saying on each side. (Mine says Blessed on one side and a K on the other side!)

Mother's Day is just around the corner!! ; ) They can make anything you want, and I mean ANYTHING!!!

Love & Logic

2009-02-24T08:15:00.010-06:00

Well last night we finished Love & Logic. Wow! I can't say enough good things about our L&L instructor Karla! She's real and tells it like it is, which I love. I love her passion and personality. She's great! (If you go to church with me and hear that Karla is offering this class again you NEED to take it!)

If you are a parent (or teacher for that mater) and you haven't checked into Love & Logic, YOU NEED TO!!!

Our parenting style has changed over the last 6 weeks and our kids have too...all for the better! We have seen a huge change in.... all of us! My mom told me about L&L about a year ago (she's been a teacher for 30 years and used L&L a lot!) I didn't realize until I took the class that she actually used this crap on me! ; )

I know you'll be shocked to hear this, but apparently I'm controlling! Who knew? (Can you hear the sarcasm?) I yell a lot, and if things aren't going the way I think they should be I yell louder! It wasn't working and now it makes sense why. Also, DJ has the girls in the mornings (since I go to the gym and to work from there). He's a great dad, but he's NOT a morning person! He has to wake up two little emotional girls and get them ready for the day....it was a nightmare! He would call me angry most mornings after dropping them off. L&L has changed that! It's changed his attitude and changed their environment, which has changed the girls moods and made mornings better for everyone!

It's hard work, I won't lie! But it's worth it. I want loving, responsible children but MORE importantly I want them to grow up to be loving, responsible women!