A few Disney pics

Here are a few Pictures from our recent Disney Trip

WHAT???

Okay, so you know you've thought about it. When you start a new exercize routine and you wish you could see results immediately, you know you've wished for a little magic pill!! Well... I know I have. So I heard about one called Anoretix. Here's what the website has to say:
"What is Anoretix? Anoretix is one of this years hottest new weight loss supplements. Anoretix has received positive reviews from almost every single fat burner reviewer. Why? It contains nine patented and clinically tested weight loss ingredients. Not only that but Anoretix also comes with a money back / satisfaction guarantee."

I'm not really sure I'm ready to try a fat burner. I want to see how my natural fat burners do first, you know?? Plus I'm still nursing Sophie and I don't want her to burn fat for sure!! She's too little as it is! :)

Work Out

Does anyone watch that show on Bravo? It's a little too much for me. When I titled this post, that show came to mind for some reason. Anyway, Hank and I have been alternating mornings for running without the kids. So we each get to go exercize at least three mornings a week. We have talked about going to look at other treadmills since the one we bought last year bit the dust. The tread on it has a rip, and it's more trouble to repair than it's worth, I'm thinking. It is now in our yard sale stuff I'm working on for this weekend. Hopefully someone will think it's worth it. It still runs... it just has a rip in the tread. But if you keep the speed low, it's okay.

On my mornings to run, I've been meeting my sister Tonnie at a local park and we run just about 2 miles. Today we tried stopping at the different pavilions and doing stations. So we stopped and did abs, arms, and legs with our heartrate up. Then we continued running. By the time we were done... I was jello! It was good though!

We Stimulated The Economy!!

So we did our part this past weekend! We went and used our economic stimulus check and purchased a new stainless steel refrigerator! Yeah!! It's so much nicer and bigger than the little original-to-the-house beige one that is now living in our basement!

So Hank and I sat back and took inventory of the things we have done to our house since we moved in and realized that we have definitely made some good changed! In the kitchen most notably! We added a pantry, updated all the appliances, installed a new kitchen sink and faucet. We've painted everything from trim, to cabinets to walls, and we've updated the lighting fixtures. Although, Hank says he doesn't like the ones we have. But, even though I hate it for him... we won't be replacing those for a while since we JUST DID IT!! Thank you very much.

Next on our to-do-list is tiling the front bath with tile we have already purchased, sanding and painting those cabinets, replacing the countertops, and installing the two new faucets we already have purchased!! I'm excited.

I Need...

...more time in the day and a couple of extra sets of hands!! I'm trying to get ready for a garage sale, pay bills, grocery shop, make bows, feed kids, clean kids, and keep the house and laundry managable.

I also need to do payu2blogs and catch up on blogging. Bear with me people! I promise I'm gonna get to it... just maybe not right now!

9 months and growing

So Ava Sophia is 9 months old... or at least she was on May 8th! I was so busy with family vacation stuff, that I forgot to post all of her stats!!

Sophie went to the doctor and we found out that little bit is just that... a little bit! She weighs in at 14 lbs and 3 oz!! BBBUUUTTT... the doctor said that she is healthy and normal and once again used the phrase 'perfectly porportioned!' But all of Hank's side of the family is petite, so that's what we are thinking there.

She is crawling and has been for a while now. She crawls mostly on her arms and one leg. She pulls up on anything she can, and the other day started cruisin' a little! We installed a safety gate at the top of the stairs last night! Here's our little jailbird now! The boys love to sit on the other side of it and taunt her! She wants to be wherever we are, and if we put her down, she just follows us around. Otherwise, she doesn't want me to put her down (thanking God for a petite baby then, I tell ya!).

She nurses 1-3 times a day, depending on her teething right now. And since the pediatrician said she is trying to cut FOUR teeth right now... I'm starting to think about weening her. But we'll see. She only bites occassionally ;/

I told the pediatrician about her dislike for any and all baby foods, and he gave me the go ahead for just about any foods (with the exception of nuts, honey, etc.), and let me tell you... this child eats like nothing I have seen! By her one year appointment, I imagine she will weigh a bit more at this rate!

She loves to splash in the bath or the pool. She went swimming for the first time over our vacation. She loves to play patty cake. She loves to snuggle with stuffed animals, and loves to 'give love.'

She still sleeps pretty good! Most nights she sleeps from about 8:30-9 until 6:30-7 and will then wake up, eat, and sleep some more! She either takes one long nap every day (3+ hours) or two 1 1/2-2 hour naps a day.

Her face lights up when she smiles. Just lookin' at that little girl makes me smile! And her laugh is to die for. She also has a pretty funny fake laugh. She will do it until you stop paying attention.
She loves giving her brothers goodnight kisses and just loves their attention period! They still just love her to pieces and would do anything for her.... share food, toys, kisses... you name it. They may have beef with each other on occasion, but not with little sister!
Tres and Bryant also like to pick out what she is going to wear most days! And if I pick it out, they say, "Well, I didn't pick it, but it's pretty."

There are moments in just about every day, if I'm being real with you guys, that feel very overwhelming and I sometimes wonder if anything worth doing is getting done. But I would never take back my three wonderful, fearfully made, beautiful little distractions!

Turtle Talk With Tres

Here is Tres' conversation with Crush.

Turtle Talk With Bryant

At ou last trip to Disney, Bryant fought us not wanting to see Turtle Talk with Crush. Well, once Crush decided to talk to Bryant, it was a Totaly Sweet Experience for him. I think he will want to do that again. Tres got to talk to him to and we are working on the video for that.

Cupcakes, chips, and pasta... oh my!

Red Velvet cupcakes, strawberry cake, pasta salad, beef brisket, grilled chicken, potato chips, homemade breads... Here I am on vacation... eating my weight in food and all I can think about after is how I'm gonna loose weight!! My sister-in-law, Jackie, and I are signed up after Christmas to run a 5k and I need to get myself back into shape quick!! I'm just about ready for those diet pills that Nicole's been talking about! :) I am about ready to propose an alternate work-out morning plan to Hank. That way at least every other morning we'll get exercise while the other is tending to the kids.

Family Vacation House

At the lunch table today, my brother-in-law, Jamie (yes, sometimes family get-togethers can get confusing!), told us that they are planning on getting a beach house, or a house near Disney soon. I promptly asked him if he would adopt me! They have been on a lot of vacations over the years and have spent a fortune on rentals for weeks. I mean, it's not like a Hilton Head rental... where you might be paying more for the legendary snooty atmosphere, but he said that whatever they decided, it would definitely be available to extended family for future vacation spots!! Can you imagine!! One of the major expenses of planning a vacation is hotel, condo, or beach house. That would be so sweet!

Cross Bows

I showed the bows I've been making to the owner of the boutique who said she would sell them. She told me to make a bunch and bring them over to sell!! She especially loved the Minnie Mouse one! I have a lot more made now... and on the way to my in-laws today, I got about 15 ready to glue onto a clasp. I'm enjoying it.

So Hank and I brainstormed a little about what to call it. I told him that I wanted to pray over each one, and that I wanted to reflect that. So after tossing around some names like, "Ram-bow" and "Take a Bow" We decide on "Cross Bow." Hank's gonna come up with a little logo for me, and I'm working on a little prayer that I'm gonna put on the back of each card that the bow is attached to.

Extracurricular Activities

We signed Tres and Bryant up for tee-ball and softball last week. Over the weekend, Tres started telling us he didn't want to play... even though the reason we signed him up was because he wanted to. When we pressed him about it, he would start crying and tell us that he just doesn't know how to hit the ball in the air (they hit it off of a tee last year) and that he didn't know how to catch it. Even though we reassured him that Daddy and Mommy would practice with him and that we knew he was a good hitter, he dug in his heels.

I think it's fair to say that Hank was a little disappointed. But we aren't going to push him to do something he doesn't want to do. He told me yesterday that he wants to play basketball... so we're gonna look into that.

Also, yesterday, we took him on a tour of his new elementary school. They showed us the gym, the library, the kindergarten hall, the computer lab, and the music room. In the music room, Tres didn't want to leave!! So we asked him if he thought he wanted to learn to play an instrument. He is currently 'thinkin' bout it.'

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

A couple of Sundays ago, we spent a lot of time outside after church. My kids were still in church clothes, and the weather was gorgeous, so I took advantage and started snapping pictures!
Tres was sort of a hard subject. I tried not to give him any direction besides where to stand, but he kept talking and making weird faces! I finally just had to say, "Cheese, Tres!" And take what I got! But his pure joy makes me want to smile all the time!Bryant was a little easier. I just chased him around wherever he ended up and took pictures. In this particular picture, he had climbed up on top of the Camery! His big brown eyes just melt me heart!Sophie wasn't into the grass at all! But I got some pretty pics of our girl taking in her surroundings. That dress is one of my favorites! It has a sort of vintage look. She looked like a little porcelain doll to me!

New kid pics

I think I forgot to say a 'Thank You' to my friend Crystal Dawn! She updated the pics of my kids on the side of my blog for me! So go check out my beautiful offspring!

My backyard...

...smells like honeysuckle! I love it! Right now, the evening are so great! Sitting outside, enjoying the shade and the sunsets and the sweet, sweet smell of honeysuckle.

I can't wait to show Tres and Bryant how to taste the honey in them!

KISS Baby

My rock star baby!

This N That

Volleyball is over for this year!! The money was good, and I absolutly LOVED my girls, but I am a bit tired and glad for some down time with my family.

I'm trying really hard to get into the coupon thing. It's very time consuming, but so far worth it. I think Hank is tired of seeing me clipping and sorting. I have yet to organize the food coupons... that should be fun. I went into CVS today and got 2 deos, 2 razors, 1 toothpaste, 3 cans of pringles, 4 tins of mints, and 2 packs of diapers for about $4... but I mismanaged my ECB's somehow, and don't have any to carry over! Sad. Note to self: DO NOT TAKE KIDS WITH YOU TO CVS EVER AGAIN. CVS requires too much brain power. I can't be super shopper and super mom at once.

Tres and Bry are signed up for tee ball (Bry) and softball (Tres) for the summer.

Sophie is crawling everywhere, pulling up on everything, and trying to eat everything!! She goes in for her 9 month check-up on Friday. She does this KISS (the group) tongue thing that's really funny! And I'm pretty sure she's trying to say "Hey."

We are still waiting on the government money to get our fridge and I'm about ready for it!! Tiny-fridge-can't-hold-much-more! (say that in your head like Paula would say it on Idol... very staccato. Full stop between each word.)

Tres's last day of school is Friday (because our family vacation is the next week). He also gets to go tour his school for next year on Wednesday. We are all looking forward to that!

Well, I begin packing for our trip soon! I'm looking forward to the break for everyday, ordinary. But I'm sure by the time we get home, I will be more than ready for normal! That's how vacations usually go anyway!

Stupidity of Youth

When I was in college, I never attended a 'kegger.' I wasn't a huge partier and I didn't do much out of the ordinary. I had friends who would go to the frat parties and come back talking about beer pong tables. I didn't really know what they were until now! I always pictured a ping pong table... and while they are slightly similar, that's not what it is at all!

Of course, the entire point of the game is to get tipsy. It's a drinking game really. If you're at all curious about it, you can click the link above, go to the Media section and watch videos on how to play.

I'm not a drinker. I tried it in my younger days, and didn't like the way I acted when I was drinking. Seeing those videos took me back to those days... and not in a good way!

Outback Birthday

Those of you who know my family, know that my parent's and some other members are die-hard Outback lovers. So when we got a call that we were having a birthday lunch for my SIL, Kayla at Outback, we weren't surprised at all! Dad & BryantMom & Sophie GirlPharaoh Tyler! He kept pulling his bib over his head and leaving it on his forehead! I got my Brody fix in! Tyler helps Kayla burp Brody. "Top, top, bottom, bottom, middle, middle, middle!" Aunt Jennie got in some baby time!! Aunt Jennie LOVES her some babies! Matt didn't do too bad on Kayla's birthday present, huh?? That's a shiny little trinket! Now, tell me... who does Sophie really look like? Her Momma?Or her Daddy?

It's always fun to get the families all together, and this was no exception! And I was super excited to get to see little Brody again! He is just such a pretty little guy!

Amish Friendship

My friend, Kelly, gave me a starter bag of an Amish Friendship Bread about a week and a half ago along with instructions on how to make it.

So yesterday was the day to make it, so I dumped my starter bag in a bowl along with additional ingredients, made four more starter bags for friends, and baked up three loaves of pretty decent tasting bread! You have the option of adding either vanilla or chocolate pudding. My family is addicted to chocolate, so that was a no-brainer. You can also add raisins and pecans, but I wanted the bread to actually get eaten, and my kids won't do either of those, so plain it was!Bryant about demolished a whole loaf all by himself!! He kept saying, "Can I have just one more wittle piece of choc-o-late bread, ppplllleeeeaaassseee?"

I'm passing my starter bags on to Tonnie, Mom, Crystal, and I decided to keep one for my family so I can have a couple of starter bags to take to my sister-in-law, Jackie, and my mother-in-law on our way to Disney.

Ribbons & Bows

I made something really fun for Sophie last night! Wanna see? I made her a new bow for our trip to Disney in a couple of weeks.I took the idea from a website that shows you how to make bows, and sort of made it my own. Hankie suggested I use a red and white polka dot since that is Minnie's signature bow she wears. And the website said to put the bow over one ear, but EVERYONE knows that Minnie's bow are smack dab in the middle! I mean, come on! Anyway, I was pretty proud! And it was easy, and quick to make!

A Cheap Date

Now, where did all of your minds just go?? Shame one you!

Hank and I got to go on a date this past Sunday. He had to work an afternoon shift, but got off at 7, so we checked the times at the local dollar theatre, and found out that 'National Treasure II' started at 7. I got there to pick him up a little early, and thankfully, his replacement got there about 10 minutes early, so we made it right on time!

We snuck in a bag of M&M's (purchased with ECB's at CVS for more ECB's), and two drinks in my purse... I know, we're criminal. So we spent a whopping $4 for our entire date, if you don't count gas... which you just about have to these days!

It was fun to flirt with my husband and hold his hand and just be a couple for a few hours. We sat on the back row, but I couldn't talk him into making out with me! Darn! We took this picture of us out in the car before we went in to the movie.

The movie was good. A bit predictable, but good. And they set it up for a third one. I'm sure we'll see that one too.