Gotta love the Pool...

HEY CHECK IT OUT!! Second post for the week!!

Okay, so let me start off saying I love the POOL because of the following..
1. Clean rooms
2. Picking up your things in the living room
3. No arguing
4. Making your bed
5. Putting your dirty clothes in the hamper

So the magic word is, if you want to go to the pool today you have to do this..... and believe it or not it gets done with no complaints!

We spent all afternoon at the pool and we all came back home looking abit pink!!

Vacation for two weeks.

This white girls is getting a tan! I have spent the past two days at the pool with the girls and it's been really nice. I've gotten in the pool with them and played and then just laid out. It's so cute seeing the girls whisper and talk about boys - shhh.. they don't think I know. They love going to the pool everyday - they would go twice a day if they could.

I'm going to be on vacation for two weeks so I will try and make a bit of time to post. Hopefully at the end of the two weeks I will have a nice tan going on.

The girls made a cake this evening and also made a cake for my Dad for his birthday. I made him an accordian card with alot of pictures. He liked it, there were even some pictures he hadn't seen.

Okay CHA is over and talk about scrapbook overload. Loving all the clearstamps! So much cool stuff, just when you think, can it get any better - IT DOES! I can't decide what I like the best and what I want first. I will definately be checking out my scrapbook store for all the new arrivals. Is this an addiction or what! I feel sorry for our husbands because we're going to go nuts when it hits the stores!

Oh... we watched Pirates of the Carribean Dead Mans Chest - it was really good but it basically leads you up to the third part so that was the only fustrating part. I want to see the third part now. This reminds me of Lord of the Rings - waiting and waiting....

Well that's all for now I need to get some kiddos in the bed. I will keep you posted and hopefully post some photos.

The kiddos.....

Blogger has been giving me alot of problems with uploading pictures so here I go giving it another try. Here's a picture of Lauren - she has not changed abit. She is still full of life and has her same little distint laugh. She is growing up ( I guess that's what kids are supposed to do right?), she is no longer our little Lauren - she is now a 9 years old "little" girl (can't help but refer to her as little). She missed her Dad very much and was so excited about coming to visit. Even though she is growing up, she is still the same caring and affectionate little girl that we remember. She still loves to give hugs and hold your hand while shopping and sleep with her stuffed animal. It's so nice having her home with us.
Christian and his Dad. They are so alike, they have the same interest. I must say these kids are their father's family - they remember movies word for word and love the same movies. You can tell Christian is hitting his teenage years, he is very much into music. I know at one time he even mentioned being interested in a girl. He has not changed as far as the game system, he still loves to play all day long if he could, but underneath that boy, he's still loving. Now I must admit he's not as affectionate as he used to be because after all he is growing up and he must be cool. We will take in every moment we have with them and enjoy it and not think about when it's time to send them home.

Pull out the tissue....

I was checking out Tara's site and saw this post. It was very touching. Pull out the tissue on this one when you watch the video. You can check it out HERE. It's a glimpse of the remarkable father-son bond of Dick and Rick Hoyt, and their inspirational journey together in a triathlon and life itself. I saw the episode when they were on Oprah and it was truely inspiring. The father "ran" the marathon for his son so he could experience it. What an amazing Father and son. I am just awestruck by how much joy and love there is between them. When someone in life has a disablity, that does not mean that they cannot enjoy life to the fullest with our help. You can also check out the family's site at www.teamhoyt.com

Another Picture

I just had to share this picture of my hubby. We're in the airport waiting and I'm playing my Sudoku puzzle and he decides to give it a try. You know when you try and give your hubby some pointers and they just don't want to listen and they know how to do it yadda yadda yadda. We'll he should of listened to me, when he was done I checked the answers and it was totally wrong! I just had to laugh! Then I did one and he was like, oh you do it like that, oh process of elimination - oh I could of done that. Well, hello if you listened to me in the first place! but I must admitt, he totally cracked me up when he was doing the puzzle - I was just dying laughing at him. He was being so funny and then when he would see the numbers weren't adding up right he would simply move the numbers around. I had alot of fun with him waiting in the airport even though he didn't want any direction from me on how to play the game. It was just fun laughing at him, him being silly and just hanging out.

The kids have landed.....

The kids have landed! DH came home Friday night and it was good to see him and we both were anticipating the arrival of the kids the next day. We got up early Saturday and finished getting the house all ready. We decided last minute to stay in Birmingham that evening since the flight was going to be so late coming in and we could do abit of shopping in the Galleria Mall. We got to the airport and we both just sat there for almost two hours. We were like two kids just giddy. We did play my Sudoku - DH "thought" he knew how to play it. We saw a Morgan Freeman look alike. There was a church group there waiting on a guy named Josh flying in that they never met (they had all these banners) so we waited with them to see who this guy was. So we entertained ourselves while we waited. Once their flight came in we waited from the security point scanning every face down the concourse wondering if that was them or not. Once we saw the airline attendant and the kids we were waving our hands like crazy back and forth. The reunion was great and there were alot of hugs. We got to our room and the kids had so much energy and so much to tell us. We played a puzzle game and spoons. Sunday we did abit of shopping and drove home. The kids were very excited to see where we live and what their rooms looked like. They really liked their rooms and Christian got down to business and played his game station. Lauren pulled out her Barbies and Barbie Grand Hotel and played for awhile. We also went grocery shopping ** NOTE TO SELF** DO ALL YOU GROCERY SHOPPING BEFORE KIDS ARRIVE! Our bill was quite high but we did get alot of snacks and food. We got alot of cheese stuff...cheese puffs, gold fish, ritz crackers with cheese and then they wanted cheese potato chips - we had to draw the line and say we're cheesed out! It's good having the kids in the house and going shopping and having this hand grab yours. It's just nice!

GUESS WHAT!!

First off - my hubby is home tonight! Boy did I miss him! These trips every four weeks are getting old.

Second - Aunt & Uncle fly back to England today. I know my Mum & Aunt are going to get teary eyed at the airport.

Third - KIDS FLY IN TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NEW CHA STUFF

I'm just drooling over all the new CHA stuff on the net. I have totally forgot about the stuff I just purchased at Monique store and have started looking at what I want. Man that's sooo sooo bad!

Check out these freaking cool round stamps from 7gypsies. I love them! Gotta have them! It's a sickness!

Monique at Scrap Etc has posted some new CHA stuff on her site as well - lots to look at.

Three Bugs in a Rug is always cute! I can't wait to get my hands on some of it. I'm loving the Tickled Pink and Rhapsody!

Fontwerks has some really nice clear stamps that I just gotta have. It's a must as well, along with everything else.

I could go on and on but I love it all so it wouldn't be fair. I guess I need to work on my list of must haves, wants and needs. Does it all really matter though? I just want it all!

You can check out The Scrap Spot where this great girl made a list of sneak peaks! Don't you just love the internet - I don't know what I would do if I actually had to wait to see this stuff in the stores. Thanks to everyone who has posted some of the sneak peaks on their websites! It's super cool for us who don't have the connections or not able to make it to CHA - one of these days I hope.

Now off so I can sit here and stare at the screen at all the new stuff coming out.

ADDICTED....

I'm totally addicted to Soduku - for those of you who may of not heard of the new rave, it's a number puzzle. You fill in a grid so that every row,every column, and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9. I find myself sitting on the couch playing it, going to bed playing it. My Aunt had one of the puzzle books the other night and I asked her about it because I've seen it all over the place. She explained how to play it and I've been hooked ever since. Solving time is typically from 10 to 30 minutes,depending on your skill and experience. Currently right now I'm doing all the super easy puzzles in the book. You can check out the Soduku site about the game and also even play online. I'm in trouble now - this is how crazy I am about this puzzle game - I brought my lunch to work today and brought my book to play! I'm such a geek! You can go to http://www.websudoku.com/ to play a game of your own!

Last night my Uncle from England made curry chicken - it was sooo good! I wanted so bad to bring leftovers to work but I didn't think my co-workers would appreciate me smelling up the breakroom with the smell of curry.

Dinner tonight at my house with the family. I wanted to make tacos, rice and beans but with getting home from work it would be alot of work on my own, so I opted to go with Spaghetti. I cooked my sauce last night and let it simmer for about an hour and then when I get home this evening I'll let it simmer while I'm making the salad and pasta.

I want to say CONGRATULATIONS to my friend in Houston who told me she was FIVE MONTHS pregnant yesterday (They wanted to make sure everything was alright before they announced it to everyone). Talk about total shocker! Not expecting it at all. She wasn't talking baby talk and then she announces she is pregant. I'm so happy for her and her husband. We talked on the phone last night for about two hours catching up. I miss all my friends in HOUSTON.

Four days and counting - the kids will be here! I'm so excited. I've been working my butt off all week long trying to get the house ready as well as spend time with my Aunt & Uncle. I will have to post pictures of the rooms, they turned out great other than the freaking white walls that we can't paint since we're in an apartment. DH comes home Friday night and he said he would be up late doing the finishing touches to the kids rooms.

Family from England

My Aunt & Uncle flew in on Friday from England. It was so great seeing them, I haven't seen them in 17 years! Once they got back home on Friday evening Katelyn and I went straight over to Mum's house to visit. I almost wanted to cry when I hugged my Aunt it has been so long. She got Katelyn this nice shirt from England with Mini Mouse and she gave me the best gift ever - a picture of my Mum, Me and my Cousin when I was four years old in a frame. She also gave me a picture of my cousin and I with our great gran - that was the best gift ever. Saturday we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast - they said in England their portions are half the size of ours and cost double the money. We had a nice day on Saturday taking them to some shops to do some shopping and then in the evening went to dinner. They are visiting for a week and I plan on spending every evening with them.

Sunday Katelyn was invited to a friends birthday party and we went to that. I was worn out, it was this place called Pump It Up and it's called "The Inflatable Party Zone". It's all indoors and there are four different things you can do. We did this one course (picture to the left) and would race - one time we did it where we have to go around and do it three times. Talk about SORE today! Katelyn had alot of fun. I was totally wore out and felt how out of shape I really am.

Just some rambling going on today....

So last night was a girls night with my Mum, her best friend and a friend of mine from out of town. I totally didn't take any pictures - shame on me but I wanted to enjoy the moment. If you haven't read Cathy Zielske's book - it's a good one to read. I haven't completely read the book yet but what I have read has been really good. She talks about sometimes we need to enjoy the moment and not worry too much on taking the photo because we're not becoming apart of those memories because we are too caught up in taking the pictures to capture the moment. I also learned not every photo has to be scrapbooked and that some pictures can go in a photo album. I'm so feeling that..... I often feel like I have to scrapbook every event and every moment. It gave me a different prespective on this. So I need to pick myself out a good photo album and start practicing that. Back to dinner last night - we had a good time and laughed alot. We went back to my house after dinner for cake & tea and it was delicious... Can you guess what cake I got???? hee hee After Anne & I decorated two All My Memories Tote bags and they were super cute! It was funny doing them.

I was showing Anne some of my scrapbook albums last night and I realized how simple they were but they told the memory. I think sometimes I focus too much on the embellishing that I have lost sight of the picture and the memory. I was looking at those albums when we were looking at them thinking wow they tell a story and I thought about when my kids get older and how they can look back at them and remember those stories. I think I need to not worry over how I'm going to coordinate the embellishing with the picture and focus on the memory behind that picture.

You know what's so funny about scrapbooking that cracks me up when I think about it. The fads that go along with it. Last night I was looking at my stuff we went through they eyelets... the fiber... the brads... jolee stickers... I have tons of this stuff in almost ever color - you name it. BUT now I'm into buttons... ribbon.. chipboard letters...word phrases... it's insane how the scrapbooking industry have evolved. About four years ago my husband was trying to give me some suggestion on a page and it was going to make my page bulky and I wanted it flat - gosh if I had only known! Now a days everything goes into a scrapbook page and some pages are very bulky. My new fad is stamps! A friend of mine is a Stamp'n Up consultant so I'm into buying them and when Hobby Lobby has a sale on their clear stamps I am there! I just need to get my butt at my desk and start using them!

Well... I think I've done enough rambling for today. OH one more thing.... My Uncle and Aunt fly in today at 2:30!!!! Mum is very excited. Haven't decided on what we are going to do tomorrow, since my Uncle & Aunt are not used to this Southern Heat!

Full Speed Update

Man where to being.... Have I been a lame blogger or what. I have totally neglected my blog. umm... I have a really good excuse! We've got one more week and dh kids are going to be here and we have been getting everything ready. We redocorated ds room and making a few changes to the girls room. I'm trying to slowly tranform the girls room into a teenagers room - ahh.. saying that is crazy! Our kids are growing up and we haven't even started a family of our own! We have three kids between the two of us, two are dh's and one mine. Total of one boy (the oldest) and two girls. They are all basically a year apart, so for the most part they get along well.

So let's rewind here abit......

My neices - Mum ended up taking them home after one week. I think they were getting abit home sick from their other grandma's. We did have a girls night and ate chick-fil A, thank goodness it wasn't McDonalds! Then we went to a Museum, the girls had fun. It was nice spending some time with them and have my hair done. hee hee I have been email their Mum in Iraq and she misses the girls alot. I've sent her loads of pictures and video clips of the two of them.



My car got hit in a parking lot at Carabbas and I went back into the restaurant and asked the Manager to find the owner of the vehicle. It's a long story but to sum it up. The cops showed up and I couldnt' file a police report because it was on PRIVATE PROPERTY! The womans paint was on my car but she denied it was from her vehicle. We disputed it with the insurance company and there was not enough evidence to prove she did it so it was claimed against my insurance! There was no damage to her car whatsoever! I was totally fustrated with the whole thing and I'm pretty anal about where I part my car and making sure it's not too close to someone elses vehicle. It's was pretty clear someone in her passanger side open her door onto my car. So now I have this ding in my car door with blue paint - I still have yet to make time to get it fixed.

SCRAPBOOK JUNKIES!
That's what my BF and I were called when my BF called up her Mum and asked her to meet me up at Scrap Etc for an AWESOME AWESOME SALE!! 50% off everything in you tote! That was something that neither of us could pass up! Trina's Mum met me up at the store in the morning, she was the first to arrive and I was the second. I arrived with some Chick Fil A minis! We got in the store and there was so much I wanted to make sure I covered and purchased. I helped Trina via phone from Texas on what she wanted and had her Mum all filled up. It was so much fun and I had a good time with Trina's Mum. I got so much good stuff and I have no reason why I should need to go out to the store and buy anymore stuff.

In other Scrapbooking News:
I'm starting to work on my scrap area in my master bedroom. I got an awesome deal on a paper rack from a friend. It has 30 slots for paper and I actually put my paper in it last night. I really didn't organize it, so I will have to go back and do that. It's amazing how much paper you can acquire over time. I have tons. I have so much stuff that when I go through it I feel like I just went shopping, I sometimes totally forget what I have. So with that said, it's time to purge some of my scrapbook supplies - Monique at Scrap Etc is doing a really nice thing for the
Children's Harbor in Birmingham - The Children's Harbor mission statement is simple, To strengthen children and families. They give FREE counseling to children with long term serious illnesses and their families. They offer scrapbooking to the families, so she said if you donate some supplies she will give you 50% off your entire purchase. Well, I certainly don't need anything else just yet but I'm still going to purge my paper. I have paper that is ancient and I'm sure I don't use and stickers that I don't use anymore since there are 3-D stickers now. You can read about it on her blog -

Well, that's a quick brief update and hopefully I can get on the ball and keep this updated. Hope everyone had a nice 4th - we just did abunch a stuff around the house. We were home sick, we missed our family in Texas. We always get together and do fireworks and dinner and we missed it this year.