do you know who your children are playing with?

i wish i could start this off by saying times ain't like they used to be but people i think things are the same, we just hear about a lot more because of the internet and tv and blah blah blah. 

doesn't a lot of responsibility fall upon us, the parents? we have to step up and accept that the buck stops at our door. blake is 10 and goes outside to play without me every day. the rule is he checks in every 30 minutes. he has to play with the 'friends' i know. we have a triangle of homes where us parents know each other. we've spent considerable time with the parents and have been to their homes numerous times. we call these the 'safe houses'. the only houses the kids can go inside. the only peeps he is allowed to talk to. 

i encourage you, mommy, to get to know who your kids are playing with. not just the kiddo, but the mom & dad. where do they work? how do they discipline? do they enforce a bedtime? get to know their parenting style. i  hope that my son's friends have to follow a similar set of rules ya know? i am very blessed to have neighbors i trust. they are registered nurses, paramedics, i just so lucked out! 

it would be easy to send the kids out and not think twice but let's do a little homework first okay? and put those parent's numbers in your cell phone, say hello to them, know who  your kids are with when they enter someone's house.

and to throw this in, while totally off topic, i'm not a professional writer nor do i claim to be. i know i drive you crazy not punctuating and never have quotes in the proper place. the reason? i'm lazy. there. i said it. my mom writes novels and wow reading her books are a beautiful flow of absolute perfect grammar. me, not so much. so i hope you get my message and ignore my awful writing style :) 

i do love all my readers and i love your messages. those of you who write about my awful grammar, i'm not gonna change, at least i don't think i will.  but i love you too :) 

sunday dinner

today was our second family sunday dinner. love love love! the kids are starting to memorize the blessing and our theme was italian. maymay, yaya and papa came over :) oh how i love sunday dinner :) we had italian:  lasagna, spinach ravioli, pasta salad, garlic bread, ceasar salad, and chocolate pie for dessert :) we also did the dinner topics and blake picked them all today :)

sunday dinner has already brought me closer to my sons, it's a nice time to talk about so many things. we end up lingering and just chatting. tonight i served dinner at 6:30 and the last person got up at 8:15. that i love!!

a few pics :)

i served our drinks in goblets again which i think is the funnest ever lol. everyone had a real plate, no kiddie stuff and real silverware and our manners were MUCH more improved than last week :))

my second back epidural-----ouch

so i have to blog about this. a little background first. i was in a car accident in december of 10. that day i started having a pulse through the roof that was painful. i felt like my heart hurt all the time and the pain would go straight into my back and wrap around my back. then started a long journey of many doctors trying to find out what the heck was wrong with me.  l.o.n.g. i almost went to the mayo clinic. this time period was a nightmare.

fast forward to now and after an mri in july my problem was found. i have a herniated disc that rubs against my spinal cord and i also have a fractured vertebrae. painful much? omg yes. 

so the point of this blog post today? yesterday i had my second epidural injection. those are done in a set of 3 at 2 weeks apart. it's a first non invasive attempt to avoid surgery. the first one i bounced out of recovery and went to dinner that night. well the second one i had yesterday was seriously awful. the pain i went through was unbearable and 24 hours later here i am in just as much pain. i cant even lift my arms up and my back not only hurts from the inside out, it hurts to simply touch it on the outside. i have one more epidural to go and i'm praying it's more like the first because this second has be terrible! vent over

i love fall and spring. for real. if it would stay like this all year round i would be a happy girl. those two seasons put me in the mood for things. when spring hits i love to decorate my patio, plant flowers and grill outside. i love sitting outside in the evening and buy the kids all kinds of outside toys. it's time to fill up the sandbox and think about an herb garden. you get it.

in the fall i start baking homemade breads, making flavored coffees and cooking things like pot roast, chili and taco soup. i love decorating with fall colors and pumpkins and scarecrows. all this is great but when summer and winter arrive i totally lose most of the desire to do all this. with summer it's because it gets SO hot i can't bear to sit outside and then watering everything i planted becomes a chore. i start asking the kids if they want to do it lol. now i will say in the winter i continue to cook the same, those chilis and such are awesome on a cold night. the baking slows way down though and when it's time to toss the pumpkins i gear into planning for christmas. so yeah, lots of posts about my fall stuff will be coming lol.

today i baked banana bread with pecans that my nanny sent from georgia. they are so good!!! here's how i make it:

3 cups of self rising flour, sifted
in a separate bowl mix together 1/2 cup of butter (the real sticks not a spread hehe) and 3/4 cup of brown sugar. then stir in 2 eggs and about 3 or 4 ripe bananas. a fork works best for me for mashing the bananas. if you want throw in some nuts or raisins or whatever you feel like. i add applesauce here, not a lot, about a quarter cup. don't over mix. pour into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for an hour. let cool well before slicing. people love this bread as a gift. i try to bake two at once to give to a neighbor etc. 

i thought i'd start posting some of my recipes

taco soup 

2 lbs. of ground beef plus 1 chopped yellow onion, cooked together and drain off grease. i use a crock-pot but you can cook however you want, it just needs to simmer to blend the seasonings. put meat in soup pot or crock-pot and add to that:

1 large can of tomato juice
1 block of velveeta, chopped (the new white velveeta is super good)
2 cans of pinto beans, drained

2 cans of black beans, drained
1 can of corn, drained
1 can of rotel
2 envelopes of taco seasoning
1 envelope of ranch dressing mix

when i serve it i have fresh cilantro, sour cream, shredded cheese, tortilla chips or fritos, green onions--whatever taco fixings you like. also everything can be varied and it always comes out amazing so if you like more or less beans etc. :)

beer bread

3 cups of self rising flour sifted sifted and sifted again

mix with 1/4 cup of sugar & 1 can of beer, let set about 15 minutes, pour in a bread pan and bake at 350 for one hour. at the end of cooking time put 1 stick of butter on the top. let set a few before cutting. great with chili & beef stew

today i started something i'm VERY proud of, i created a sunday family dinner. from now on this will be our sunday evenings and i'm putting the word out now, anyone is welcome. call ahead to find out what i'm making and bring a dish :) i hope that sunday dinner will be a wonderful tradition that my kids remember and create with their own families one day :) so i made pot roast with veggies, biscuits & apple dumplings. yaya stopped by to get an apple dumpling and she brought pumpkin cupcakes which was a perfect ending to yummy food.

some things i incorporated into day:  

*  even the lil ones had a real plate instead of their cute target kid's plates & real silverware

*  we said the blessing before eating

*  we practiced manners such as keeping our elbows off the table

*  we sat up straight 

you see, all of our meals are very laid back and i don't push manners so much. i mean, my kids don't act crazy or anything but elbows on the table do not bother me.  i want my kids to be able to attend a dinner where they do have good manners and know how to act so surely one meal a week will help this :)

before dinner i went to tvland's website and wrote down their suggestions for topics to talk about during dinner. that was awesome!!

instead of putting the biscuits in the bread basket i put the topics in there. we passed the basket around, everyone pulled out a topic, read it out loud and answered it. it was so much fun. liam & sawyer can't read so blake read their questions for them. this is something we will definitely do every sunday and blake asked if he could help come up with new questions for next week :)

here are a few pics from today-

i have finally arrived. 

good hair is me.

so in the past when i would color my hair, the conditioner that was included in the box was awesome. i would use it and think to myself why don't they sell just the conditioner as a treatment? i thought it was the greatest. for about 3 days my hair would be soft and beautiful and quickly go back to the dry mess it was.

and i mean a mess. i have seriously natural curly hair and my whole life it has been like straw. breaking, falling out, clumps in the tub and on my brush. i have NEVER gone for a haircut in all of my adult life where the stylist didn't recommend i pay for a deep conditioning treatment and/or buy some serious product for my sad hair.

i will never never never stop using wen!! it is worth EVERY penny. for the first time ever i'm a normal girl with soft, shiny beautiful hair! my kids use it now, even my 2 yo. and i use it on my golden retriever. man i love this stuff.

here's the funny thing....i colored my hair the other day and my thoughts? the conditioner in that box tore my hair up lol! what use to be a magic treatment is now something that totally dries my hair out. in the shower that night it was a flashback to old hair. it was falling down my back, it broke off when i straightened it, just ugh. and i used to think it was the best thing ever!!!! 

last night i got to use my wen again. ahhhhhhh my soft hair is back again. everyone should use this stuff i don't care who you are!!

i think sometimes that the girl who laughs the most, who is the sweetest to everyone around her, always trying to make others happy, doing for others, putting so many others above herself, can be the girl who is hurting the most, the deepest inside. 

an awesome find

strolling through cvs waiting on a script to be filled a found something quite awesome and i have to share. have y'all seen the new face cleanser thingys from oil of olay and such that are quite expensive? well i've wanted one but didn't want to fork out the funds not sure how much i would like it. cvs has come out with their own, and seriously it cost me $7!!!! under ten bucks. amazing. it came with a battery and a several pads that velcro onto the lil thingy. so here's a pic:

the cool thing is the base that it sits in has holes to collect water. and the part that's sitting int he base, that's where the dial is, you can have it on low or high. the top is where pads are velcroed to. 

on the left is the container of pads that come with the thingy, so you can see they give you quite a few. a box of refill pads which had quite a bit was around $5. so then they have several facial scrubs and washes to choose from. i picked the following two:

you can see one i got was a name brand and the other one is cvs. this is the first time i've tried any cvs product. considerably cheaper for sure. so what you do is velcro your pad on, wet your face a little, wet your pad, squirt your favorite product on the pad and then on low or high go to town on your face. 

couple things. first, the morning burst skin brightening scrub, LOVE it. i would pay $10 for that. it was only $5 hehe. it wakes you up, smells great and with the exfoliation from the thingy my skin does look bright afterwards. in fact, i'd say it looks great and i look less tired after using it.

the blackhead scrub, totally like it. it's more harsh as in lots of beads to really get those blackheads so i'm using this at night, and only about twice a week. definitely like the product and will buy it again.

so now let's talk about the thingy. go buy one now!! you will love and adore it the way i do, i'm sure of it :) i've paid a lot of money over the years for facials and this was just like that for me. my face is so soft and smooth after using it. i follow up with my toner and moisturizer like i always have but this lil device does make a huge difference in how my face and neck look and feel. when i go back to buy more pads i'm going to have some fun with their scrubs because they have so many to choose from. i might even start using a mask again. so in the end for under $20 i feel like i got 3 amazing new products that i will heart for a long time.  this is perfect for birthday or bridal shower gifts too :)

i'm getting back-

i have been through some crazy health issues the past---well geez it feels like 3 months or so. it has been hard and i think it has left me a little depressed. i'm good now, i'm in a great place health wise. i'm on a combination of heart meds that is working well and my pulse is a regular 80's now. 


so when i was sick i had to surrender control of a lot of things. like cooking and cleaning and what i regularly do with my kids. that was hard. to sit back and watch someone else do it and not do it my way. that causes anxiety let me tell you. in the end, though, all that mattered was that it got done. i learned a big lesson that it doesn't have to be my way and i'm happy i did :)


so what am i up to now? well i'm slowly getting back into my mama groove. last night i made burgers and grilled them and i was on cloud 9 just getting to cook. i'm going slowly into it but cooking is such a hobby of mine i'm excited. and it's summer. it's time to make applesauce cake and made homemade ice-cream.


i'm working on my pink notebook i blogged earlier about. see, blake is 10 ya know, and i've decided i want him to do more housework this summer. but the thing is, i want it done my way lol. so yes, i'm so anal that i'm writing out complete instructions on how i want him to clean his bathroom. he has really bonded with his lil brother liam who just turned 4. they play outside together every single day and he is great with him. i want to reward him for all this great stuff he is doing.


so liam did turn 4 and on june 13th sawyer will be 2 :) their party is planned for a couple weeks from now. we are having a cowboy party. i'm going to wear a pink cowboy hat and i want to find a gun holster hehe. i think this party will be fun and might be the last one i can get away with combining so yea, i'm having a blast getting things for it. i even ordered a cover for our front door that looks like the entrance to a saloon. for gifts i'm going for outdoor toys. pool things etc. thank the lord we have a pool in the apartment complex and it's big and beautiful and i can't wait to get to it. that, of course, requires a cute bag and beach towels for the kids, and a cute pair of sunglasses for me----i don't dare take my coach glasses down there lol----ya know, the stuff every girl needs to hit the pool :)


sawyer is a little cutie patootie. he waves all the time and says a few words and dang he is just so cute. he and liam fight a lot but i can't help but smile when i hear them because it's so freakin cute. sawyer also pushes cars around and makes little engine sounds. ah the cuteness.


i need a new dining room set like yesterday. sawyer climbs out of his high chair and the kids sit so close they fight. my 2 big goals this summer is to get that and go to georgia to visit my family and friends :)


is anyone going to watch dallas? seriously dude and dudettes i cannot wait for this. that was my friday night, dukes of hazzard and dallas. i hope it's good and stays around. there are two things i miss. game shows in the morning and more dramas that i can relate to at night.


i'm reading two novels right now. my mom's book which is fabulous and addictive and 50 shades of grey which is a book every woman needs to read. e.v.e.r.y. woman. go get it. better yet, save up and get yourself a nook. i can't tell you how awesome it is to just think of a book and download it instantly or even a magazine. and it's cheaper!


alright, i think i've rambled on enough here. i'm going to pick up my living room. oh btw i need a new rug for my living room. i want a yellow one. doesn't that sounds so 70's, so three's company? i think it will look fabulous with my brown leather furniture.


over and out peeps :) write me if you have time :)

here's me today ;)

citrus lane

sawyer received his first package from citrus lane and i'll tell ya i give it an a+++++! for $25 a month, and this includes shipping, your child receives a box of goodies all for them according to their age. this was our first month, they mail out on the 15th.


he loved it!!!! he got everything from toothpaste, to bath toys, books and i got a full size hand soap i put on my kitchen sink!!!


can't wait to see what comes next month. if you've wondered i say you'll love it. what an awesome baby shower gift also!!!

do you believe in ghosts?

it's currently 3:43am and i am wide awake. it's not just me. i hear moans and tossing and turning coming from the baby monitor. blake has been out of his room several times for a drink. i'm wide awake. w.i.d.e.a.w.a.k.e. masey got out of her kennel somehow and came in the bedroom with me. did it not get latched completely? why is everyone so stirred tonight???


hmmmmm. interesting. 

i'm baaaaack :)

so let me share my latest adventure with you. one morning i woke up burping nonstop. like nonstop. it was the oddest thing. my stomach was bloated and hurt SO bad. i was taking gas-x like candy. fast forward to a few days later, i was admitted to the hospital with 2 bowel obstructions! had emergency surgery and spent a week there. long story short, if something odd happens to your body, probly best to check it out with your doctor. that was no fun at all. 

the easter bunny came :)

being a dog mama

i've talked about the newest addition to our family, masey beatrice. she was born on october 30th and she's a golden retriever. so here is what i've learned about dog ownership and everything involved. and as a friendly reminder, always know my way isn't the right way. it's just my way ;)


so we started with researching a breed of dog that is good with kids and such. yahoo has a cute dog finder quiz. after that we let the decision set a few months. yes, months :) then we started the task of dog shopping. i found a breeder that was in kansas and i fell in love with a boy puppy she had. we were communicating through email while the puppies were getting old enough to be sold. i started getting a bad feeling when she became consumed with the money. on top of the deposit she wanted the full price of the dog paid for before we got her. that's a big red flag. what if she wasn't even a read breeder or if the dog was sick the day we got there? all that stuff ya know. so---i totally backed out and got my deposit back. this was hard because it was only a few days before she was supposed to be picked up but i went with my gut.


so then began the task of shopping again. this is not easy. so i thought of a pet store. well, for years everyone knew to avoid pet stores because the dogs often came from puppy mills and purchasing them there supported this. but then i wondered what if things had changed? so i went and checked out a pet store here locally. wow sums up a lot of it. the golden retriever puppies they had came from a local breeder that you could call and go meet, and look around the property. you could also meet the mama and daddy dog as they were also on site. there in the pet store were tons of pics of all of this also.


so with the price of masey this is what was included. a 3 year health guarantee, 2 sets of shots and deworming, 1 month of heartworm preventive and flea & tick preventive, and a free visit to the vet they use for an overall check. she also came with a pedigree and a microchip. a puppy starter kit of the food she was on, collar and leash, kennel (it was huge i love it) puppy shampoo, bitter apple that you spray on things they shouldn't be chewing on, odor neutralizer for accidents on the floor, a bottle of potty training aid that you spray on the grass where you want them to go, tiny treats to reward them for not going potty in the house and a furminator brush (which is fabulous by the way). so yea, i felt good about this and bottom line, don't those puppies need homes too? yes they do :) so that day we came home with masey and they even took a pic of her & blake and put a big pink bow around her neck :))


so another thing i liked is that when we took her for that free health visit at the vet they found that she had 1 type of worm. well, the pet store paid for the meds to treat it and the follow-up visit to make sure it was gone. i liked that. i have to say i would recommend this route to others because it has been all positive.


my potty training method has been simple. she goes out every 30 to 45 minutes, all day long. she barely has time to have an accident this way. in the beginning she also had regular feeding times so we knew when she would poop and we took her water up by 9. the kennel has been a necessity. when we leave she goes in there and there's no worry about her chewing things etc. her kennel has always been a positive place since we brought her home. it's never used as punishment and has toys and a super soft comfy cushion. when i feed the kids she goes in there. that eliminated her jumping on the high chair for food and begging the kids nonstop. and then she goes in it at night to sleep. my initial plan was to baby gate her in the kitchen for times like that but when the kennel came with her i used it and it has been plain awesome. she has had accidents which we expected. the odor neutralizer is great so my house doesn't smell like pee. also i'm fortunate to have a carpet cleaner and the pet formula cleaners also take the smell away and that helps with muddy paws, too. when she went outside she got lots of praise. and she's a big breed of dog, she needs to run a lot of times to poop. with 3 small boys i can't just jot outside and let her run around so i got the longest retractable leash they made. i can stand on my patio with the kids and she can run run run. yes, i pick up her poop and i even own cute pink bags to pick it up with. we've gone 2 weeks without an accident and her food and water are left down all the time. i think we are making great progress.


goldies are very smart dogs. i bought her a super tough basket at target where all her toys are kept. she knows anything in there is safe and everything else is a no-no. we had trouble areas like with the carpet where it attached to the tile. the bitter apple spray fixed that. you spray it down and they don't like the taste. it took several times but she has left it alone for over a month now. she has tons of stuff to teeth on. tons. i think that has saved my furniture, that along with the kennel, so she is never unattended to chew on something she shouldn't have. 


i've had a lot of patience. a lot. puppies don't know they shouldn't jump on you etc. i have 3 or 4 books on golden retrievers alone, plus general books on dogs.


masey is very faithful with the boys, sawyer especially. he is my youngest, only 1. she doesn't leave their side. i really look forward to how she is with them as an adult. she has so much patience for them. pulling hair, stepping on, as those things she just goes with the flow.


several nights she has slept in bed with me and i love that she cuddles. the only reason it isn't every night is because i don't think she is 100% potty trained and lord knows i would have a fit if she peed in my bed and it wouldn't be her fault. my goal is to have a dog who sleeps with me every night though :)


her shots are all done for a  year and she has been spayed. i'll share what i decided to do with her vet care. i go through banfield at petsmart and i purchased their wellness plan. the way it works is you pay $30 a month for a year and that includes everything preventative. it also includes her to be spayed! the idea of the plan is to take the cost of what you'll spend the first year of your pet's life and break it up over monthly payments. i love it because i never had to worry when she was due for shots etc. because there was no money due. or when she was spayed, how awesome that everything was included and it was as simple as making an appointment. next year i doubt i'll renew, because hopefully she'll only need her boosters. for the first year though when things are so expensive it really is a great idea. the staff is wonderful, always calling to check on her etc. petsmart has really become one of our favorite places with her. 


i have her on blue buffalo dog food. yep, it's pricey but here's the thing. she poops less, she sheds less, her hair is beautiful and shiny and eats SO much less. i think the money comes close to being the same when you compare how much of the cheaper dog food you go through because they eat so much and just poop it right out lol.


the furminator brush is awesome. we only use it after a bath and it pulls out handfulls of hair. and i kid you not, you will not find dog hair on my furniture, it works that great!!!!


i could go on and on about sweet masey but i must go make dinner. this is just a lil window into my life as a doggie mama :)))

too heavy to tip ahahahaha

really this is too cute. i bought these awesome automatic food and water dog feeders. there is even a filter for the water. it's easy to clean the little trays without removing the entire jug/container and really just a lot of positive things. i picked them both up on sale at petsmart so i only spent around $20 each.


here's the thing, though. shamefully i did not buy these for all the reasons mentioned above. i bought them because they are too heavy for my 1yo to tip over lol. i love it. he still can put little pieces of food in the water or action figures will take a swim in it, but lemme tell you he can't tip them over and that is the b.e.s.t. this mom could ask for. i can't tell you how many times i've mopped and mopped and mopped freakin water or swept swept swept food. hallelujah :)

i must warn you it's 3am and i can't sleep at all. i gotta lay off the diet coke with lime! so i thought i'd blog a little and then try to sleep. so today, boys and girls, let's talk about keeping all your mommy papers together in one place. all kinds of papers. where do i begin?
~~important mail, things you need to mail, stamps, envelopes, note cards, you get it
~~shopping lists and menu plans, very useful because you can go back and see what you made for dinner over the weeks when you need new ideas
~~coupons you plan to use sooner than later
~~journaling, just whatever the heck you feel like writing
~~cleaning instructions, yes i do this. when i tell blake to clean his room, i want it done the right way and he knows to go to mom's pink notebook to get instructions on everything from not only his room but cleaning my car and the patio
~~papers for school that i need to sign/read/review===school calendars
~~appointments, addresses


okay surely you get the point. but you gotta not only be organized, you have to make it fun. i write with my 80's sharpies. my pink notebook and billions and billions of compartments for everything from my highlighters to paperclips to speaker holders for my ipod.


i love the dividers with pockets and the clear protective covers. did you know you can write on those with a dry erase marker and wipe them clean? so you could have your own personal calendar that you just wipe clean every month. alright i'm tired so let's get to the pics lol :)

cute huh?

love the folders that are built in!!

dividers that also have pockets :)

cute colorful tabs

just an example of things that can be put in the notebook when you're done with them for the week. when it's shopping day it's nice to refer back.

just for cutes my sharpies :) oh how it's so much more fun to write ;)

some smell good

yea, i love the smell good. my perfume collection is extreme and when i got my first job as a teenager my very first paycheck went to buy poison hahahahha.


there's one thing i'm sure of. my home can be covered with toys and kids running around and a crazy puppy dog playing but if my home smells good then i'm happy. or at least happier. i have scent seasons. if the weather is cold i love the house smelling like cinnamon and things like that. in the spring i love the smell of lilac. l.o.v.e.i.t. in the summer i'm down with scents like clean linen because it takes me back to my mom hanging clothes on the line and how good they smelled---especially the bedding when she brought them in.


so i thought i'd share my scent collection right now and what i do. 


this is a warmer i've had for years, and this warmer has been around for years. this is from bath & body works. the oils that go in the top are very concentrated so you just use a little and your entire house will smell amazing. the burners come in all different designs  and there are seasonal ones like snowmen in winter etc. a tea light candles warms the oil. oils are now everywhere, target etc. and there are tons and tons and tons of scents. the cool thing is that you can combine the scents and come up with your own combination. right now i'm burning lilac with a few drops of magnolia added to it. for extra smell-age you can get the scented tea light candles.

now this warmer is something new to me and i really like it. it melts wax cubes using a light bulb (you plug it in) so no candles needed. just like with the oils the wax cubes are in SO many scents.

this cute candle holder i got at target, 3 for a buck. yes, a buck. when you walk in the doors they have bins all the time with seasonal stuff anywhere from a dollar to $2.50. and btw this could be a whole nother post because i have found such cute things there. like heart shaped pink mixing bowls during valentine's day!!!!! anyway, right now i have the lilac candles inside :)

this cute lil sucker i have on my nightstand and burn it while i'm surfing the net enjoying my sanctuary time in bed at night:

so while i don't have all these things going at once  my home smells wonderful and i love thinking i have fresh cut flowers everywhere. i'm a huge febreeze fan and i like the fact that they have seasonal scents also. liam loves to go through each room and spray away with the febreeze :) right now my 2 favorite scents are~

both flower scents haha. my favorite febreeze of all time is the cranberry frost that is winter only. i stock up on that. love it.

preschool story hour :))

today i did something seriously fun. i hosted a story hour for the preschool kids on our block. this was SO much fun!!!! i think i'll do this as a regular thing. i set up pillow pets all around my rocking chair and had a ton of books stacked up for the kids to choose from. by the end of the hour most of them were sitting on my lap and i got kisses on my cheek when they said goodbye!!! i felt happy for hours afterwards :) andddddd it wasn't only great for the kiddos that came over, liam & sawyer thought it was the greatest thing ever.


here is a pic of them waiting for everyone to arrive:

just for kicks our new reading area (if i already posted this pic just ignore, i have hardly any memory left lol)

so i'm thinking if i do this as a regular thing i'll add a snack to it and the kids can take turns bringing it. nothing major, a box of twinkies would be awesome!!!

books & kids

i've written already about keeping books by the rocking chair for bedtime stories around here. i wanted to share how special book are to me and i'm trying to make them just as special with my boys. i did this when blake was little and just last week had the fun opportunity to do it with liam. we have books, yes, and we go to the library and such. but.....each kiddo gets to join the book of the month club for a while. blake did it for about 2 years and i'm hoping to do it that long with liam. i'm not normally a fan of clubs. there's a certain dvd club that i swear is like being in prison. anyhoo the children's book of the month club is something i really like. the fun part is always the beginning, when you get like 5 books for $5. and the requirements are that you buy 2 books within a year. the prices are equal to barnes & noble, $10 or so. i can handle that commitment. just like the other clubs they send you a selection for that month and if you don't want it you don't have to get it. btw, you can do everything online now, so you don't have to worry about mailing something on time or spending money on stamps. the thing is, i really like the monthly selections. and the club is completely tailored for your child's age, so since i'm doing this for liam, all the book choices are his age.


to him, there's something really special about getting the package in the mail and opening it up. and the free gift was a little tote, which he proudly carries all his books around in. and here's the deal, these are HIS books. all the other books in the house we all share, but these are for him only. his brother's can't touch them, and well, that just doesn't happen, ever! so when a kiddo gets an awesome package in the mail and it's all theirs, and it even comes with a bag to carry them in, it really starts a foundation for a love of reading. liam has had me read his books to him over and over and over this last week, he just loves them!! he carries that little bag all over the house and by now his baby brother just leaves it alone, he just knows it's a no-no lol. i want to believe this is why blake loves books and why he reads 2 grade levels above what he is in so my fingers are crossed that i'm doing the same for liam. while i can't buy him a new book every month, there will be times when the extra money is there for one and i have a feeling it will be a long time before he gets tired of his first little library :)


i chose his first books carefully. one is a hardback with no pics, just for bedtime and nap times stories :) the boy who doesn't want to share, for obvious reasons haha---and the entire book rhymes so he has me read this one most often. the middle child blues, well, he is a middle child and the way the book talks about the bad things and then ends up with the good--just cute :) so you get the picture. he rarely takes them out of the bag but when he does he has a very special place for them. i have a black table in the living room that is off limits to the kids and they know it. well since it's his first library he gets to keep them there and he thinks this is the coolest thing ever :) 


and ya know, this doesn't have to be a club, you can do it however you want. i just personally like the club and my kids love getting mail, especially packages with books :) 


some pics~

:))

let's talk about brown

so 'back in the day' i totally fried myself in tanning beds. i hadn't been in a real tanning bed since 2000. after that i went to spray tanning which i was happy with, but what a chore to keep up with. just getting ready for it drove me nuts.
as i've mentioned before, this year i really decided to make changes, and i freely admit they are selfish changes. i want to be happier and happier when i look in the mirror. one of the things that makes me happy is being tan. it just does something for me. i feel beautiful, therefore i act beautiful, and i'm in a better mood all around. so i decided to re-visit tanning. in the summer yes i will tan just from the fun outdoor stuff. but i like the all over nekkid tan. anyway, have y'all heard about the new high pressure beds? well, the cool thing is, they don't contain all the bad rays the 'old' beds used to have. my first visit i stayed in that bed for the full 30 minutes and did NOT burn, but i sure did get a beautiful glowing brown :) if you know about tanning beds you know that typically you start with a ridiculous 3 or 4 minutes and work your way up over weeks so you don't fry yourself. now the second thing i love about these new beds is that you only tan TWICE a month to maintain that beautiful tan. T.W.I.C.E. the old beds, anywhere from 2 to 4 days a week. that is seriously bad for your skin. so not only are you getting only a teeny amount of the bad rays, you only go twice a month to maintain which is even better for your skin.


so let's talk about the cost. when i was researching on the internet, and i found a salon i was impressed with, they didn't mention the cost. this had to be a bad thing. i assumed they were going to charge a fortune for this (miracle to me) tanning bed. nope. i only pay $37 a month. why is it so cheap? probly because you only have to tan twice a month to maintain it!!!!! $9.25 a week to look and feel beautiful and with only a pinch of the stuff that causes wrinkles and skin cancer. one of the best decisions i've made this year so far. it's march and i'm brown oh brown. actually i'll post a pic of me i took today :)


here is the info from my tanning salon's website:
The Celsius HP consists of 18-21 high-pressure lamps behind cobalt filters that block virtually the entire UVB ray, essentially eliminating the risk of burning. It has a maximum tanning session of 24-30 minutes. You lay on a contoured mattress for 12-15 minutes on each side. It requires only 3-4 sessions within a 7-10 day period to achieve your base tan and only 1-2 sessions a month to maintain that color. 

and here i am today, as happy as a georgia peach ;)

just for the heck of it let me share my other reasons besides feeling beautiful that i enjoy tanning. 
~~~i have acne scars and they are MUCH less noticeable when i tan.
~~~i have uneven skin tone and red patches here and there. not when i tan.
~~~i can put zero foundation on and look pretty, because i truly have a 'natural glow'.
~~~it's not just about my face. i love the glow on arms and legs. i would pay $15 a week to feel pretty in a pair of pajama shorts ;)
~~~tanning salons have come a long way. no more walls that don't reach the ceiling. if you need help while inside the room you no longer have to throw your clothes on and rush out, there is an intercom system. if you do need to come out each room has a spa robe for you to put on. beds are sanitized so much better than they used to be. there are cushy pillows to lay your head on. and the tanning lotions???? oh my. you know that funky smell you have to deal with after tanning? the 'natural' smell that comes from your body? lotions now eliminate that! nobody, especially you, has any idea you tanned that day. used to, the best accelerators burned, i mean burned bad. not anymore. no burning at all and they have a very mild bronzer so each time you tan because of that bronzer, you walk out with a pretty brown glow. no more waiting hours or days to see results.
~~~lastly, getting to be alone in that air conditioned dimmed room, with fans going everywhere, music playing, phone turned off, no burning, just the warmth of the bulbs---i get to pretend every single time that i'm actually on a beach somewhere, all alone :) i walk out refreshed and ready to take on whatever the kids are about to dish out.


tanning isn't for everyone, especially with how bad they used to be (and still are just to a lesser extent) but lemme tell you it is for me :)

every girl should have a sanctuary

i don't know about you, but i need a place to go to and wind down every single day. what makes more sense that having your bedroom as this??? so my bedroom is my room. all mine :) and over the years i've finally learned that this is no place to skimp. no so much the bedroom itself, but the bed. you gotta have a good nights sleep. you just do. or at least i do ;) so tonight, as i sit here in my comfy ever loving bed, i'm going to blog about just that---my sanctuary bed.


i have a king size bed and a good mattress. it's a pillow top, just because that's what i like. i'm not a rich girl, but i can tell you i bought a good mattress. when i sleep well i'm a better mom, i'm a better person all around. my mattress is as important to me as taking vitamins etc. on top of my mattress i have an awesome cover. you have to protect what you spent good money on. the one i have is a super soft comfy pillow top cover, but it not only protects the mattress against spills etc, it also protects it from bed bugs. you know those? they are in the news all the time nowadays. i want nothing to do with those. i figure the extra $10 bucks i spent for the bed bug protection is worth every penny. 


let's talk sheets. i used to buy my sheets at wal-mart or other stores like that. and i would buy more and more. they wouldn't hold up to washings, or were stretched thin, poor quality, stains wouldn't come out.......you get the picture. so one day i got smart, and realized my sheets are just as important to my good nights sleep at the mattress. in my opinion (as always) costco has amazing sheets. they are hotel quality, 500 thread count etc. LOVE them. in winter they sell super soft fleece sheets and in the summer they sell clean crisp cotton hotel sheets. love them both equally. these are the only 2 sets i need and they last about 8 years. no joke. that's worth the extra $20 i spend on each pair. see it isn't always a fortune to have nicer things. i don't have the most expensive, but i've learned how to fall in the middle.


the month is march as i type this. some nights are hot and some nights are cold. so what have i learned to do? i use both sets of sheets every day. yep, that's right. on linen washing day? i just wash my sheets first before the kids so i know they'll be done at bedtime. so this is what i do. (i say so a lot). the super soft fleece fitted sheet goes on the mattress first. then the cotton fitted sheet goes on top of that. (the nicer sheets are over-sized so yes you can do this) so i've got the pillow top mattress, the pillow mattress protector, a fleece fitted sheet and then a cotton fitted sheet. okay bottom part is done. next goes the cotton flat sheet, and then the fleece flat sheet and finally your comforter/quilt/whatever. so from both sides i have a light soft cotton sheet touching me. on top i have the fleece sheet as sort of a spring blanket. for the nights that are hot, both of these sheets are all i need and believe me, curling up with both of them are a lil piece of heaven. in case there's any confusion (cause i'm so assuming there is) i took pics tonight, right before i hopped in my bed. here ya go:

kind of an over-view pic

below you can see both the flat sheets and my comforter

yes, i combine both for my pillows just for xtra heaven-ness ;)

just for the fun of it here are some pics of my bed made all pretty and a pic of my dog masey in bed with me hehe. in that pic you can see my tv which i love watching at night before falling asleep and my dresser. almost every night, as soon as my boys are in bed i head to my bed. with at&t uverse we have dvr in every room so i can watch all my shows then. this is also why i have a laptop, i can carry it wherever i need it, and it is waiting for me in bed every night. i have my nook and my nightstand is set up all for me. on it sits a fan and even in the winter i have it on, pointed another way, just for the noise. the baby monitor is there along with my ipod alarm clock. of course the tv remote, a beautiful black lamp with just right amount of light and my coaster for my drink of choice :) i'll gab more later about how i make the rest of the room my lil sanctuary but you get the picture --literally-- of my bed and how important cozy and comfort is to me. i look forward to retreating to my bed every.single.day. ;)

(the laptop i share all my words of wisdom with)

nanite my sweet readers :)