I've been tagged

I’ve been tagged by my sweet friend from college, Traci. She was definitely one of the funniest people (and sweetest) I had ever met and she always kept me laughing. We reconnected via blog after all these years and we're having fun getting reacquainted with each other kids and all!

What I was doing 10 years ago:

• Finishing up my last year of grad school and living in Arkansas
• Dating Jason and waiting to be engaged
• Driving my cool Dodge Neon all over town (with my Psychd4 license plates that everyone thought said 'Psycho'--HA!)

Five things on my to do list for today:

• Make dinner
• Get new library books
• Play with the kids
• Call my sister
• Do some more of my bible study for tomorrow!
  

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

• I'm with Traci on this one--Pay off debt! and then help some of my loved ones pay off some of theirs!
• Set up trust funds for my kids
• Take my entire family on a big Disneyworld vacation and then travel some more!
• Give some money for scleroderma research
  

Three of my bad habits:

• Biting my nails
• Second-guessing everything I do
• Dwelling on things I can't control TOO MUCH!

Five places I have lived:

• Barksdale AFB, Louisiana
• Ruston, Lousiana
• Newport News, Virginia
• Lafayette, Colorado
• Troy, Illinois

Five jobs I have had:

• Secretary at a Frozen Foods warehouse
• church Secretary (over the summer)
• Professor's Assistant in the Psychology Department
• Human Resources Recruiter
• Salary & Compensation Analyst

Three People I Want to Know More About:
Michael Ann
Deanna
Heather

A girl's gotta have friends...

8 years or so after moving to the great state of Texas, I prayed a simple prayer: 'Please God, give me friends'. After many a teary conversation with my dear husband, I remember thinking, "I miss my friends at college and at home in Illinois, and I don't know anyone here." Not a totally unusual thought for me, since I did move around as a child, but this time was different. With no inherent plans to move in the near future, I knew that we were going to settle here for awhile, so I needed to make some friends (and fast!). Looking back, I have to laugh because now I feel that I have made so many wonderful friends through church, school, and have reconnected with some of my dear friends from college (through my blog, I might add!). After having had a particularly down day yesterday and crying to my dear husband about it I talked to one of my dear friends about it and all she had to say was 'I understand, I've been there too' and the problem was resolved (all in a ride to school I might add--thanks Heather!). All I can say is: A husband keeps me grounded, but having girlfriends keeps me SANE! Can I hear an AMEN to that?!!

Eau de Chocolate Milk

No, its not a new perfume (although, your kids would probably love the smell). Its the new scent I'm wearing after my darling son accidentally splashed me with his chocolate milk. How, Do you say? Well, let me start at the beginning of this wonderful day...
First off, it was check-up day for Ashlyn. And you know what that means--SHOTS! So, after a particularly stressful doctor's visit for Ashlyn, I decided to take the kids to the mall to eat at Chick-fil-A and shop at Build-a-Bear to try to relax and have a good time. HA! Well... I ran into a girl that I knew from my doctor's office and we sat down together for lunch. Long story short, after just telling her how things 'got better' after the kids got older (she has two kids that are about 18 mos. apart--mine are 17 mos. apart), Layton decided to shake his chocolate milk bottle WITHOUT the lid on. If you could imagine one of those scenes from one of those high school movies where someone throws a drink over someone's head--well, it was just like that. I had chocolate milk in my hair, dripping down my face and all over my shirt. I didn't even know what hit me! Luckily, the girl who I was eating with (whom I didn't really know all THAT well) was so understanding and helped me wipe up with some of the baby wipes she had in her bag. Sooo, at this very moment I am badly smelling like chocolate milk and in desperate need of a shower (my second of the day!). What can I say, when life hands you moments like this you either laugh or you cry--or both.

Field Trip Day

Today, my sweet daughter had her first field trip at Mother's Day Out. We went to a neat place called 'Bayou Wildlife Park' which has horse rides, a petting zoo, and a tram that you can ride to feed and definitely get 'up close' to all the animals at the park. Since it was her first field trip, I went along and took WAY too many pictures (what's new?). Here's just a few:

Here's Ashlyn riding a horse (her first horse ride!) She didn't want to do it at first, but after an hour of waiting in line and watching other kids go (yep--an hour!), she decided to try it herself and actually enjoyed it. I was so proud of her!

After the kids rode the horses, we had lunch and then got on our tram ride, food buckets in hand, to feed the animals. Here's a picture of one of the little boys in her class petting a camel. When I said they got up close, they really got up close!

It amazed me just how close they got to us. One of the other girls in Ashlyn's class was so afraid of the animals she was screaming. Poor thing! Ashlyn was a little gunshy herself so she just threw the food to the animals. Here's her waiting for the perfect moment to do just that:

I couldn't resist posting a picture of my dear friend, Heather (and Ashlyn's MDO teacher) feeding an ostrich. Look at her surprised expression (sorry Heather, I just couldn't resist!) Love ya! ;)

After the tram ride, we headed on to the petting zoo to pet a few goats. Here's Ashlyn and her little MDO friend having a conversation about what sound goats make.

After a few several squirts of hand sanitizer, we headed back to school. Despite crowded lines, rain showers and restless kids it was still a fun day had by all!

A True Princess

This past Saturday, my sweet daughter was invited to the birthday party of a dear friend of hers from Mother's Day Out. Granted, I don't normally post pictures from another kid's birthday party on my blog (am I weird for taking so many pictures at somebody else's birthday party??), but I had to on this one since it was so darn cute!

First off, this party had a theme and was so well planned. The mom (who I also know) started off by reading the girls 'The Princess and The Pea' and then had the girls sit on 3 cushions to see which one had the pea (a small ball) under it.

Here's Ashlyn finding out if she is a 'true' princess.

The girls, of course, loved that! Next, once it was determined that they were 'true' princesses, they decorated crowns, put on pretty pink tulle skirts and decorated flip-flops and searched for their wands that were hidden in the room. After all of the girls got dressed up they were invited to the 'royal ball' where they got to dance together as princesses to some cute Disney princess music. I think I said "That is soooo cute!" about a hundred times!

Here are the princesses waiting to go to the royal ball.

And here they are dancing. One girl unfortunately got poked in the eye after all the twirling and wand flinging (but what do you expect with four 4-year old girls!) ;)

I'm just so glad that I have a sweet, little girl to do all of this fun girly stuff with! Here's to my little princess!

Making Pancakes

This past Monday morning (after a long weekend), I decided to do something different for a change--have the kids make their own breakfast! Now, I know what you are thinking--What a mean momma! But seriously, the kids had a ball! In fact, Ashlyn was feeling quite motivated to cook after garnering a new child's apron and cooking utensils from "Pop" for her birthday. Although Layton didn't have a fancy apron and cooking utensils, he was gung-ho to make pancakes too. So, with some pancake batter, a mixing spoon, a few messy spills, and some skilled (and supervised) spatula moves-- Voila! Breakfast was served. Here's Ashlyn with her prized pancake.

Here's Layton with the pancake he made. Note the funny face he is trying to make.

I tried to take another picture, but this was the irritated, 'Mom!' reaction I got. Oh well, I liked the first one better anyway.

Do your kids like to cook or help you in the kitchen? What are some of your favorite things to make together?

Gum, Anyone??

Amazing, isn't it? I just had to post a picture. No, I didn't win the 'gum' lottery (although it looks like it). My dear, dear friend, Nikki, gave me this load of gum and mints. In reality, her dad gets some overstocks (is that right, Nikki?) for the store he works for and he passes them down to her family. Since she gets so much stuff, she hands it down to a lucky few--namely me. So, long story short, since gum is a major staple for me--I'm the lucky one with all the gum. Thanks Nikki, I'll never have to buy gum again! :)

What are some of your staple (can't go anywhere without) items?