A Nice November Day

Today was beautiful outside, so me and the girls went out into the backyard to enjoy it. I think it was about 70 degrees, I never actually saw the temperature. We played on the swingset and Meredith drove the little car around. Madelyn and I played "Eye doctor" one time and I (the eye doctor) asked her, "Do you see well at night?" She answered "No, not really and I can't hear very well either! Can you do ear appointments too?" What a silly girl!!

Meredith was quite the little daredevil. I caught her more than once trying to climb up the big ladder onto the swingset. Then she did start climbing up the slide, saying, "I climb!" I couldn't believe how well she did. Just a few pictures of our day.

Fall Festival

Today was the Fall Festival at the girls' school. I fully expect them to come home completely high on sugar. The teachers probably laugh their hinies off as they hand them over to us. I remember a couple of years ago on Valentines Day at Madelyn's old daycare, I swear she ate sugar all day long and then when she came home, she was like a troll on heroin! Not that I've ever seen that.....I can just imagine. I wanted to strangle the teacher for letting her eat all that!!

Madelyn dressed as a 50's girl and Meredith went as a little cowgirl. I had to put Meredith's boots and ribbons in her hair twice. The little stinker....she just won't keep clothes on and her hair in a ponytail. Madelyn got dressed this morning and informed me that she didn't think she looked pretty. She was wearing a white boyish shirt and the whole 50's gear. (You'll see the pictures). The shirt wasn't all that boyish....it just certainly wasn't feminine. Now Madelyn Grace is certainly her MiMi's granddaughter. This child asks Mimi everytime she talks to her what she's wearing and when she sees her in person, she always compliments Mimi on her style. This girl likes to be very girly. The whole long hair, purse-carrying, princess dress wearing girly thing! I told her I'd make her a monogrammed "M" for her shirt like the ladies on Laverne and Shirley used to wear on their sweaters. She could wear that for actual Halloween night. She was impressed with that option since it made her outfit more girly. She wants it to be pink. I've actually enlisted Mimi for the job to do on her computer since my color cartridge is out of ink.

Meredith looked too precious!! I can't wait to go pick her up and see if she wore her clothes all day and what her freaky hair looks like! Here they are this morning before we left for school! Enjoy!

WoW! God works!

I was staring at my list I posted yesterday with all the blog ideas with the intention of picking one to write about. Instead God tapped me on the shoulder and said he needed me to write about something else. He's been tapping me alot lately.

If you are a K-Love listener, this week is their pledge drive. This radio station is solely supported by listener's pledges and prayers. The first time I pledged was in March of 2006 right after Nancy died. I pledged $20 because that was all I could give at the time. That time was the worst in my life financially though, but God kept telling me he would provide and he did. I did really well for the first year faithfully sending in my pledge every month, sometimes more if I had it. Then, I just kind of fell away from it. K-Love would send me sweet letters asking me if they could pray for me and if I needed to reduce my gift since I hadn't been sending it faithfully. I would be overcome with guilt and throw the letter away. I didn't think I had the money at that time because I had credit card debt to contend with and other things to spend it on. God was talking to me about it, but I was ignoring him.

Every once in a while, I would be listening to K-Love and think, "I need to send them some money! They have such a blessed ministry!" But I never did it. This year's pledge drive started last Tuesday and God started tugging on my heart again. This time, I perked up a little more and promised myself and him that I would send $20 in the next time I sat down and paid bills which would be at the first of November. That wasn't good enough for our Mighty God. But he never yelled at me....he never got angry....he just kept gently nudging me telling me "April, I've provided for you every time in your life. What makes you think I won't this time? I'm the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow!" I had made the decision then to write the check today when I sat down to update my bills spreadsheet. Well, that still wasn't in God's plan. Yesterday as I was driving to school, I had to radio tuned to K-Love. When I first started listening, I thought that this pledge drive had been more inspiring than past ones. Lots of beautiful stories of how K-Love has touched people's lives. But none of them had moved me like the one I was about to hear. Kelly on the afternoon show started reading a letter they had received from a man named Brett. His letter read something like this: "I am not an avid K-Love listener or supporter. I rarely listen to the radio especially while I'm driving as it distracts me. This weekend, my gorgeous wife of 6 years was torn from me because of a sudden illness. I also lost my precious baby son who was due to be born on October 29th. I ran out of the hospital crying inconsolably, crying out to God and got into my car. When I got into my car, my radio was tuned to K-Love and the song, "There will be a Day" by Chris Tomlin was playing. I hadn't left my radio on when I went inside. As the song played, my heart cried out to Jesus and as he held me and consoled me like the precious Father he is, he told me to give to K-Love. That's why I'm calling you today....because K-Love was there for me in a horrendous moment in my life and every gift people give matters. I have come back to Jesus and I know I will see my beautiful wife and son in Heaven." OMG....as I heard those words being read, I choked up so badly that I almost had to pull off on the side of the road. It made my heart physically hurt for this man and what he had gone through. But what a testimony of how God meets us just how and when we need him! By the way, the writer of the song, "There will be a Day" Chris Tomlin, lost his wife also when they were newlyweds. I knew right then that all those stories I had been hearing from people about how K-Love had brought them back to Jesus or kept them from committing suicide or just encouraged them......those stories had been for me. God had been gently whispering them in my ear until that last one when he shouted it into my heart. Right then, I picked up my cell phone and called K-Love. I had then set me up with an automatic gift every month coming directly out of my checking account. It's called an EZ-Gift. To me, it's a step of faith knowing that God will provide and I can't let the devil talk me out of making the payment each month. It comes out automatically. The feeling I got for being obedient to God at that moment was awesome! I knew that I had made him happy! I give him all the Glory for the good that station brings to people and I'm so thankful he lets me be a part of it. God is So Good!!

Blog Ideas

1. The Story of my most serious injury.
2. The person I admire most.
3. This will be my epitaph.
4. Why I love my hometown.
5. Why I hate my hometown.
6. Why I was a childhood bully.
7. How I shop.
8. How I choose to spend my money.
9. I wish I spent less money on this.
10. Why I'm in my current job.
11. My ideal job.
12. My high school clique.
13. My worst subject in school.
14. If I had a super-power.
15. Here's where my opinion differs from the majority.
16. Why I voted the way I did in the last election.
17. Why I don't vote.
18. The cause I really believe in.
19. Why I came to religion.
20. Why I don't believe anymore.
21. Where I find spirituality.
22. My first kiss.
23. My worst kiss.
24. The first time I had my heart broken.
25. Why I travel.
26. Why I don't travel.
27. My philosophy on raising children.
28. Why I chose my university degree.
29. My favorite place on the planet.
30. My greatest sin against the environment
31. Why I married my spouse.
32. My most hated movie.
33. The book that changed my life.
34. My unexpected mentor.
35. I couldn't live without this song.
36. If I hear this song again, radio personalities will suffer.
37. Why I believe in luck.
38. Why I don't believe in luck.
39. Where I volunteer.
40. Where I don't volunteer.
41. My favorite item of clothing growing up.
42. If this celebrity knocked on my door, I'd run away with them.
43. Why I care about celebrities.
44. Why I love this sport.
45. When I'm at my most self-indulgent
46. How to be selfless.
47. My childhood dreams, and how I've fulfilled them.
48. How I learned patience.
49. How my hard work paid off.
50. I've never been more surprised in all my life.
51. What scares the crap out of me.
52. The only thing I can teach you.

I stole these from Holly's blog. It's just a list of ideas to write about on your blog. I figure I will choose a few and write about them. Stay tuned!

Meredith and her cute little voice!

Last week, Madelyn spent Thursday night with Mimi and so we had Meredith all alone. While I worked on homework on the computer, Daddy and Meredith did some reading and playing. Meredith got ahold of Madelyn's workbook and started asking Daddy, "What's that?" She asks this about everything now. It's so cute listening to her and watching her learn! Have a look!

Girls' First Day of School

Madelyn and Meredith had their first day of school on Tuesday, September 1st. Madelyn is in a Pre-Kindergarten class and Meredith is in an 18-24 month class. Madelyn wanted to dress up, so I decided to dress them both up. Madelyn did really well when I took her to her class. It was all familiar to her and she had a lot of the same kids in her class. I had brought bedding for her naptime and the teacher informed me that Madelyn's class doesn't do naptime this year. I was sort of shocked, and I think Madelyn was kind of peeved. She fights going to sleep, but she's always a good sleeper. The good thing about it is that we don't have to fight her as much at night to go to bed at a decent time. Meredith did well too when I dropped her off. She has never been to any kind of formal child care in her almost 21 months, so it was very new to her. When I was ready to leave, she did follow me and cried a little bit, but not bad. I had to go back out to the car to get the girls' school supplies and when I dropped Meredith's off, I just set them outside her classroom so she wouldn't see me again. I did sneak a look in on her and she was comforting another little girl that was really upset. I have the sweetest girls!! Meredith was VERY excited to see me at the end of the day. When I came to get her, she said, "Momma!!" and ran over to me. She then started unloading her basket to me telling me, "Let's Go!" Very cute! Madelyn had a great day too and she had lots to tell me. We had brought some play clothes from home because my friend Leslie was taking them to McDonald's after school for a treat and some playtime while I finished out my workday. It was a good day!

Naughty Madelyn

I posted these pictures on Facebook last week, but I wanted to add them to my blog for people that don't do Facebook like my Dad and Cindy. I came home from work a few weeks ago when my Aunt May was keeping the girls for me and this is how I found Madelyn. Meredith had been sick most of the day, so Aunt May was preoccupied with her and naughty Madelyn took advantage of Aunt May and covered herself with tattoos! I believe we counted 17 in all!! I was mortified when I saw them! When I gave her a bath that night, I nearly scrubbed her little skin off trying to get them off. We mainly concentrated on the tattoos on her face since they were the most noticeable. Here is what she looked like when I came home. Naughty Madelyn!!!

Detoxification

Well, the 7-day detoxification did not work out as planned. I lasted 3 days. The main deal-breaker was the feeling like I was going to pass out on a regular basis. I could eat as much as I wanted, but I'm not a huge fan of plain vegetables and fruit, so I didn't eat enough. I did learn several fruits that I liked, so that was a good thing. I'll try it again when I'm ready to eat more.

7-day Detoxification

Last week, my mom told me about this detoxification diet she had read about and suggested it to me. Now, let me tell you....my first thought was, "No Way!" as she told me I was only to eat raw fruits and vegetables. If you know me at all, then you know I don't like fruit, never have, and swore I never will. But, I thought I just might try it just to see if I could do it and try to learn to like fruit. I gave David a list of things I wanted and he went to the store on Saturday to stock up. There are lots of vegetable that I like, so that wasn't an issue. It was hard coming up with the fruits to buy though. I decided on watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, apples, and peaches. For breakfast this morning, I had pineapple, cantaloupe, and orange juice. I found this morning that I'm not a huge fan of cantaloupe, but can stomach it. I do LOVE pineapple though in spite of its stringiness (that usually grosses me out)! For lunch, I'm eating a salad with avacado, onion, mushroom, bell pepper, and light balsalmic vinegar, with lots of black pepper to taste. It's actually pretty good, although I do miss the cheese a little bit. I think I can do this for a week! The only things I'm worried about are staying full, working out while doing this diet, and getting burned out. From what I've read, I should stay full because I can have as much as I want all day long, but it takes me a lot longer to eat I've noticed just because these aren't meals I would naturally choose. I'm afraid I'll be a little lightheaded from the negative caloric intake and then try to workout. I don't want to over-do it! For supper, I plan on having a bowl of beans. I LOVE beans, so that will be something to look forward to. Beans are high in fiber and they fill you up, so that's probably a good choice to end the day on. I probably will have to take some sort of fruit snack or some broccoli to munch on though because I start class tonight which means I will have to eat supper around 4:30 and then I go to class from 5:45 to 10:15. It will definitely take some getting used to. But it's only for a week and I can do ANYTHING for a week!! Wish me Luck!!

New Earrings

Madelyn has finally made it the 8 weeks to change her earrings for the first time. She's talked about it for weeks and decided a few weeks ago to go with her new ice cream earrings to coordinate with her ice cream shirt for the first change. Daddy sat down with her tonight for the big reveal. They were a little tender and she cried just a tad, but she did awesome. You'll see in the pictures that her little eyes are red from the few tears. She wants to wear her monkey earrings tomorrow, so it looks like we'll be changing them often now. Have a look!

Sally Shifter

This is the name of my gear shift in my car. Why did I name my gear shift, you ask! Well, she cost me almost $500 last week, so I figured she deserved a name. She actually cost me more than Madelyn, so I guess I became the mom of three last week. She weighed in at 9 oz. and was 7 inches long. She's silver and black and quite the prissy little thang!! Here is the story of how we got her.

Last Saturday, we were coming home from the gym and David went to put the car in park and there was a CD kind of in the way. As he put it into park, he ran into some resistance from the CD, but it still went in. We didn't think anything of it until a little while later when I went to leave with the girls. I turned on the car and went to put it in reverse. I couldn't get the gear shift to move at all. The button wouldn't even push in. I hollered at David to come out and look at it. He messed with a little while, but still couldn't get it. He finally took off the handle and realized the stick that was sticking up was what was jammed. He took some pliers to hold the stick and very lightly tapped the stick with a hammer. Voila!! The stick returned to its rightful place and the shifter moved again. Alas.....it wasn't that easy! I then noticed that the gear shift would shift through all gears without needing to push the brake in first. NOT GOOD!! We finally decided we needed to have someone look at it and I decided to take David's car instead. I went to pull my keys out of the ignition and they wouldn't come out. Arrgghh!!! So, basically we disabled the safety feature of the brake and enabled the key safety feature. I didn't feel very safe at that moment thought. I felt very screwed!! Because I couldn't get the key out of the ignition, David had to disable the battery or we would have had to add that to the list to fix. On Monday, he took my car to be fixed and I was praying incessantly to God that it wouldn't be that expensive to fix...maybe $100. Yeah, I know....I live in dreamland! David called me and told me it would be $465 to fix. I immediately started bawling and was P.O.'d. We had no other choice, but to fix it. I was mad at God for about 2.3 seconds, but quickly came back to reality and praised him for being in control and that he wouldn't forsake us. Don't we have an Awesome God?

So, that is how we got Sally May Shifter. It's been quite a transition, but we will be taking visitors soon! I've got to go now, she's crying for some attention!!

Funny and Cute pictures of the Girls

Madelyn was trying to kiss Meredith here and she wasn't about it.


Meredith has taken to putting on Madelyn's panties over her diapers and this day she put them on over her clothes. Mommy's gonna have to teach her to color coordinate.



Meredith looking so cute and old before church.

Sisterly Love

I love to see the girls interracting together more often. They chase each other all the time and wrestle some. It's getting easier to leave them alone in their room for a very short time playing while I pick up the house or just take a breather. Meredith is at that age (19 months yesterday) where she is into EVERYTHING and always going and never in one place. It's exhausting!! But it probably helps with the weight loss. I actually said today that I ought to weigh 120 pounds with as much as I carry children around and pick up after them and chase them.

Tonight the girls were playing and Meredith trying to catch Madelyn to tickle her. You can hear Meredith in one part of the video saying "Tickle, Tickle, Tickle" in her cute little voice. I think her hair looks precious in this video. I've started putting her hair up whenever possible because her hair is so fine that it just falls in her face all the time. She usually pulls the ponytail out withing 15 minutes of me putting it in. But this time, she actually left it in for over 4 hours.

Anyway, enjoy some cute sister time!!

iMadelyn

Madelyn's favorite show right now is iCarly. It's about this girl and her two friends who have their own webcast. She decided tonight that she wanted to go her own webshow, so this is her version of iMadelyn. Enjoy!!

65 Things....

I was reading someone else's blog today where they wrote one listing 100 things about themselves and/or their life in honor of their 100th post. I'm not quite to 100 yet, but felt the urge to do this anyway, so you get "65 Things" in honor of 65 posts!

1. 1984--this was the year I turned seven. I remember my party particularly because this party and memory contained my Aunt Susie. My stepmom Cindy just mentioned this to me the other day. I remember my Aunt Susie got me nail polish and lipstick for my birthday. My mom was none too happy about that because of the messiness factor. When I got home with them, I don't think I saw them again because Mom came like a thief in the night and snatched them. I probably thought she was pure evil at the time, but now as a mother, I applaud her!

2. Civil War--most people that know me well know I'm a huge Civil War buff. As a matter of fact, I'm in the middle of watching North and South again for probably the 1,258th time. My love for that time period was re-awakened last week as I drove through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama coming home from Florida. Just driving through the states, seeing railroad tracks, seeing the old homes, reminded me of the simpleness of life in those times. One day, God Willing, I'll be able to visit all the old Civil War sites.

3. Water--I like water to drink now so much more since I've quit smoking. When I smoked, I couldn't stand to drink water because it wouldn't get the nasty taste out of my mouth. Now when I drink it, it's so pure and tasty and it reminds me that my mouth tastes a lot better because it doesn't have a cigarette in it!

4. Girly--I, myself am NOT girly at all! But I find it funny that God gave me two girls whom I love to frill up and make princessy! I'm totally into the hair bows, dresses and shoes for the girls, but couldn't care less for myself in that department.

5. Blue--my favorite color. I have to have some sort of shade of it in anything I make or color or it doesn't look symmetrical to me.

6. Spelling--I've always been a very good speller. I won the spelling bee in my grade every year through seventh grade, where I actually won the building spelling bee. It's a special gift!!

7. Cooking--I DETEST cooking.....I'm not very good at it and just plain can't stand it. Thank God he sent me a husband who loves to cook and is awesome at it.

8. Swing Dancing--I've wanted to take Swing Dancing classes for a while now. Maybe David and I can do that next summer when I finish school and the kids are a little bigger. My dream is to go to a wedding with my Swing Dancing skills and wow the audience.

9. Messages--I've been told several times that I leave the longest voice mail messages. I guess I do, but I just try to get everything I need to tell people out in one message.

10. Conservation--Going back to leaving messages.....I'm a huge conservationist! I get on to Madelyn all the time for wasting food. I make everybody turn off the faucet while they are brushing their teeth. If I have to run errands, I'll do a quick map out in my head before starting the trip to conserve time and gas. It's actually a little OCD!!

11. Escalators--I have a mild escalator phobia when my children are involved. I'm not scared of it when I'm by myself, but I hate taking Madelyn on one. She bounces around so much and spazzes with little provocation that I'm afraid she won't be paying attention and get sucked down into it. I'm weird, I know!

12. Holes--I have two holes in each ear that I hardly ever wear earrings in. Goes back to my non-girliness I guess. I actually don't mind earrings, but a few years ago, my ears suddenly started getting very irritated no matter what kind of earrings I wore. I haven't found a pair yet that don't bother me.

13. Salt--I NEVER add salt to anything. I will eat fries that someone salts, but it's not a requirement.

14. Summer--I enjoy the long days and outdoorsyness of summer, but I can't stand the heat that goes along with it. Every year, I get more and more sensitive to the heat. By the time I'm 65, I'll have to have an air conditioner strapped to my body to leave the house. 85 is my top tolerable temperature.

15. Winter--I LOVE winter!! I seriously think I could live in Alaska and it wouldn't bother me at all. As long as I see the sun and it's not cloudy all the time, I would love it. I love the coziness of winter. Coming home from work right when it's getting dark, putting on my jammies, and curling up in my bed with hot chocolate and a bowl of beans.!! Yummy!!

16. Gray Hair---these little intruders that have been coming in since I was 25 and are getting more and more frequent are really starting to tick me off. I'm so much on the verge of coloring them, but don't want the hassle of continuing to color my hair for the rest of my life.

17. Ford Fairlane--In high school, my friend Amy Westfall had a Cherry Red 1970 Ford Fairlane. We would ride around in it everywhere and I secretly coveted it as I had a 1985 Chevrolet Cavalier Station Wagon. The wagon was cool, but that Fairlane called my name.

18. Birthdays--I'm quite seriously autistic when it comes to remembering dates, especially birthdays. I can remember the birthdays of kids I went to elementary school with. I'm like a freak show to Mike Kobriger, a buddy of Dave's, who loves to show off my ability to groups we are with.

19. Cats--think they suck and I'm allergic to them.

20. Claustrophobia--seem to have a strengthening case of this. Seems to mainly affect me when I'm in a large crowd or driving at night or on a stinking bridge with ocean on either side. Makes me feel very out-of-control!

21.Blog--I started this blog almost a year ago to chronicle the lives of the girls and our family in general. I'd like to post at least once a week, but sometimes it's hard. This will be awesome to archive and have the girls look back at when they are older.

22. Birth--I was born on April 26, 1977 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

23. Big Baby--I weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces at birth and was 20 inches long and I was breech until a little bit before I came out. The doctor got my mom up on all fours and reached in there and turned me around before my exit. My poor Mama!!

24. Extended Family--I have one sister (Holly) and three stepsisters (Kim, Misty, and Autumn) and one stepbrother(Nick). I have one dad(Dino) and one stepdad (Merritt). I have one mom (Veronica) and one stepmom (Cindy). I have 3 nieces and 2 nephews total.

25. Mannaw--I had an awesome great-grandmother on my mom's side. Her name was Hazel, but we called her Mannaw. I had the incredible blessing of getting to know and visit my great grandmother often when I was a child. She was very feisty, but very loving. She went to be with Jesus on August 26, 2004, three weeks before my first child was born. I miss her very much!!

26. Horses--Never been a big fan of horses. When I lived in Carnegie, it was almost required to like and ride horses. I would try my hand about once a year riding a horse, but never really got it. I actually started to get it and enjoy it about 3 months before Daniel and I split up. I'll have to try again someday.

27. Daniel--Daniel was my first husband. We met at Southwestern in the fall of 1995. We dated for a year and a half before we got married. Looking back, I got married way too young and I didn't have a clue what marriage was all about. But I don't for a second regret doing it. I loved Daniel very much and he had so many good qualities. My time with him shaped me and helped me grow as a person. I only wish him happiness!

28. David--My precious, God-Given life partner. We put God first in our marriage and we seek his will in everything we do. Our marriage isn't perfect, but our committment to God and each other is firm and steady! My favorite thing about David is that whenever I feel tired or have a headache, he very selflessly just takes over for me to get a little rest! That's when I feel the most special! He makes me laugh and scream sometimes too! He gave me two precious babies and for that I am eternally grateful!!

29. Wikipedia--I'm a Wikipedia addict. I know some of the stuff you read on there is not true or completely accurate as it is updated by people who choose to update it, but it has some really good information. Sometimes when I'm bored, I can spend 2 hours looking up stuff on there and learning new things.

30--Jeopardy--I think I would do really well on Jeopardy. I know a little bit about lots of things. I get this from my dad. We are full of useless information!!

31. Mushrooms--I couldn't stand mushrooms at all until I started dating David. I tried them one time with him and got hooked. Now I crave them. My favorite way to eat them is sauteed, Outback Steakhouse style!

32. The Twirly Game--I dont' know if that's the official name for it.....well, I guess it can be since I made it up. Holly will understand this. When Holly and I were about 6 and 8 respectively, we would play this game in the living room floor when we were bored. It required a long night gown that was stretchable. The night gown wearer would stand in the middle of the floor while the other player would lay down in the floor and grasp the night gown in her hand. Then the night gown wearer would run around the person on the floor as fast as she could while the person on the floor held on for dear life all while being twirled around at warp speeds.!! Great Game!! Provided hours of entertainment, but wasn't so good for the night gowns!

33. Age--this is the age I will be on my next birthday. It's going way too fast!! Wasn't it just yesterday that I was the night gown wearer twirling my sister around.

34. Getting hurt--When we were little, my sister got hurt ALL the time. Well, she still does and she's 30. I hardly ever got hurt, probably because I was a little less daring than Holly. But I always secretly wished I would break a leg or something to get that loving attention that Holly always got when she got hurt.

35. Fractured Wrist--one of the few times I DID get hurt as a kid, I couldn't hardly get anyone to believe me that I was hurt because I never got hurt. After my wrist swelled up to the size of a watermelon, I finally got the parents attention to take me to the hospital. They just weren't expecting me to really be hurt!

36. Dad singing--I remember my dad would sing in the car when I was little and I remember thinking what a great voice he had. And I always thought he should sing at church. He did sing in the choir for a time, but never a solo. I think he told me one time that he was too embarrassed or shy to sing by himself.

37. Michelle-- when I was 7 or 8, I was going through a name difficulty. When I started second grade, I decided I didn't want to go by April anymore, but I would rather go by my middle name of Michelle. I went by that my entire second grade year and then went back to April in third grade. Second grade was my incognito year!

38. Sarah--this was the name I always wanted for myself when I played make-believe. Which is actually ironic now because when Madelyn plays make-believe, she often chooses this name for her babies or herself. Like mother, Like daughter!

39. Hallmark moments--Before I had children, I was never really a sappy person at all! I could watch those Hallmark commercials all day and never shed a tear. Now, I can cry literally at the drop of a hat. I'm just so much more emotional than I used to be.

40. Baptism--this act brings me more joy than almost anything on this earth. Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved witnessing Baptisms. They are just such a blessing and such a joy to see someone joining the family of God. Just last Sunday, two children got baptized and I watched their parents' choke up talking about it and the thought entered my mind of Madelyn and Meredith coming to me one day and asking to get baptized. Just the thought of them doing that brought big, ole, alligator tears to my eyes!!

41. Singing--I think I have a pretty singing voice. When we were coming home last week from Florida, Leslie and I sang together and it was beautiful. I think my voice sounds best when I'm singing praise and worship music. I believe that I have a voice for the Lord. I'm a little like my dad though and find it very hard to get up by myself and sing. I'd love to sing in a group though!

42. Pillows--I can't have too many pillows to sleep with. Before I was ever pregnant for the first time, I was a regular back sleeper. I slept with my head on one pillow and no other pillows for support. When I was pregnant, I started needing more support for my back and between my legs and I learned to sleep on my side. This is how I sleep all the time now.

43. Baby Kicks--my favorite part of my pregnancies! I remember it felt like an alien in there moving around and the coolest thing was watching it from the outside. Seeing a butt or body roll over in there was pretty exciting. I wish I had videotaped it. I actually tried it with Meredith several times, but the stubborn little thing never would move when the camera was rolling. Guess I'll just have to have another baby...**hint, hint, David**

44. Left-handed--I'm left-handed and very proud of it. I really think Meredith is going to be my left-handed kid. She uses it consistently to color with and throw a ball.

45. Lost Babies--I lost two babies between Madelyn and Meredith. Never knew why...it just happened. God is faithful though and blessed me with Meredith. I wonder if they were boys or girls. Thank God for his promise that I will see them again in heaven!

46. Silky--I am obsessed with silky blankets. I have been as long as I can remember. I used to have this one small silky blanket that my great-grandmother got me when I was a baby that I kept at my dad's house that was my favorite. I remember taking it in the car with me to church every Sunday. Now Meredith has the same fetish too!

47. Coca-Cola--my favorite drink in the whole world. I could drink it every day all day!! But, alas, my teeth would fall out and I would weigh 400 pounds. Since I'm actively dieting right now, I really have to control myself. I usually allow myself one 20 oz. Coke a week. It's like I'm in heaven when I'm drinking it.

48. Profile--I hate my profile!! I don't have a big nose, but it looks big in my profile. And I have a jaw that doesn't jut out enough if that makes sense. If I ever wanted plastic surgery (which I will never want), I would fix my profile.


49. Marriage--David and I were married on September 27, 2003 in Piedmont, Oklahoma.


50. Madelyn--Madelyn came along less than one year later on September 22, 2004.


51. Firstborn--Madelyn Grace is my precious firstborn. She was 7 lbs. 9 oz. and 19 1/4 inches long. She had lots of dark hair and pretty, dark skin.


52. Meredith--Meredith Kay Louise was born on December 12, 2007, her Great-grandmother's birthday!


53. Secondborn--Meredith is my precious secondborn. She was 8 lbs. 6 oz. and 20 1/2 inches long. She had chubby cheeks and dark hair.

54. Teacher--I am a certified teacher. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education. I haven't used my degree yet and may never, but I don't regret getting it. I still have that teacher blood running through me. I know it will come in handy when the girls are in school.


55. CPA--This is what I pray I am in about a year or so. My goal is to buy out a practice and begin building my own. I already have the property picked out that I want to build my office on.


56. Days--This is the number of days (56) that have to pass between blood donations. I am an avid blood donor. I started when I was 17 and really enjoy doing it. It makes me feel like I am helping someone.


57. I Corinthians 9:24-25--This is my favorite verse in the Bible. "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run? But only ONE gets the prize? Run in such a way as to GET the prize! Everone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will NOT last, but we do it to get a crown that lasts FOREVER!"


58. Jesus Christ--I believe that Jesus is the Risen Son of the Living God. I believe he the Truth and the Light and my ONE true way to Heaven. I believe that although I am not worthy, that Jesus is my REDEEMER and paid the price for my sins!


59. Cocoa Puffs--I love this cereal!! I love that it satifies a chocolate craving and a crunchy craving. I love how it makes the milk brown and chocolatey.


60. Artistic Ability--I have absolutely NONE. My ex-husband Daniel was a gifted artist. My paternal grandfather was awesome. My stepmom can draw beautifully. I can draw a stick figure, but that's about all you get.

61. Travel--My dream is to win the lottery and travel the U.S.A. Merritt (my stepdad) used to tease us that when we were grown that he and my mom were buying an RV and touring the nation and we would never be able to find them. Well, that's really what I want to do. Although I would let people find me. I would drive the state highways instead of the interstates and see all the little towns along the way. In the northeast, I would drive along the two-lane highways, stopping to antique shop and buy some fresh pecans, or maple syrup along the way. I pray I get to do this someday!

62. Music---I LOVE music. My favorite is Christian music, but is closely followed by classical. I love how music can convey just about any feeling the writer is having. Music has made me laugh, cry, remember, etc.

63. Madelyn Part II--Madelyn is such a precious gift to me. She makes me smile everyday and my heart just overflows with love for her. She is so smart and talented. Her hair is so long, down to her bottom. It is very thick and light brown. She has kinky curls framing her face. She is still a snuggler at almost 5 years old. I love that I'm her confidant and twin in silliness. I am sad that her baby years are over, but I look forward to the woman she will become.

64. Meredith Part II-- Meredith is precious gift # 2. It's amazing to me how God multiplies the love for your children when you add more instead of divides it. She is still my baby and she runs to me when she's hurt or sad. She's a lover of silky, like her momma. She has very fine, crazy hair and won't leave a ponytail holder in her hair to save her life. She loves to tickle and be tickled. I love to hold her and smell her when I'm holding her close. I look forward to the woman she will become too!

65. For Good Measure--This post will make 65 total posts. When I went to put a title to this number, God told me "For Good Measure" and then he sent me this verse....."Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:38.

Trip to Florida

Here's the long-awaited story about our trip to Florida...

I was driving home from work one day a couple of weeks ago and was thinking how nice it would be to get away for a while and go somewhere fun. I then remembered my aunt's gracious offer of her beach condo in Destin, Florida and decided that's where I wanted to go. And I knew I needed to go quickly because my busy season at work begins about July 15th. So, I came home and told David about my desire to go and that I really wanted to take Madelyn. We wanted to make it a whole-family vacation, but realized that David couldn't get off this time of year as it is summer and he is a warehouse manager at a Pool Supply store. So, we decided that I would go and take Madelyn and Meredith would stay behind with Daddy.

Madelyn and I left on Sunday, June 28th, with my friend Leslie with us and we drove to Dallas to stay with our friends Ken and Cindy for the night. We got up bright and early at 4:30 a.m. to leave Dallas by 5:00 a.m. As soon as the alarm went off, Madelyn shot up in bed and said she was ready to go. I was fully expecting to drag her grouchy self to the car, but I could tell she was already very excited to go. We missed all the horrific Dallas traffic by leaving that early and that was nice. It was a very L O N G trip, but actually very pleasant. Leslie and I caught up on almost 15 years of time gone by and laughed till we cried. We also sang our little hearts out and I was reminded of how well Leslie sings and that I actually have a pretty voice too. Madelyn was content with her crayons, DVD player, and other books. She whined some, you know the usual "When are going to be there?" 876 times on the way. She would get this really depressed look on her face when I would tell her "10 more hours, Sweetie!" But overall she did awesome. She was able to sleep some, but it was difficult in that carseat even though David had bought her one of those neck things people use in airplanes. We stopped and ate in Richland, Mississippi right after seeing a live chicken sitting and clucking in the middle of the road. If we were unsure where we were at that moment, that chicken assured us it must be the Deep South. We got quite a chuckle out of that. We ate at a Wendy's and I ordered Buffalo Chicken Wings. They tasted awesome, but they were so spicy hot that they burned a hole in my mouth. I can usually take spicy, but this was out of this world. I finally decided to take them with us, put them in the cooler and surely someone in our group would eat them. I then ordered a Junior burger. All was going well until I took the fourth bite out of the burger. I swear I bit down on a bullet. It's truly a wonder that I didn't break my tooth! So, at that point I was DONE with eating. It was exciting to me to drive through the south, seeing all the tall pine trees and some of the old houses being the Civil War buff I am. Whenever I would see a railroad track, I would think of people who would take the train as their only means of transportation. After eating in Richland, we were on the way to Pensacola to pick up Holly at the airport. Aren't we always picking up Holly at SOME airport?? Anyway, Leslie drove and I got to see the scenery. I liked going through Mobile, Alabama. It's right on the bay and you go down into a tunnel and drive under the bay. They have battleships right on the water. We hit a pretty heavy rainstorm here and were praying for safety. We finally arrived in Pensacola and picked up Holly. We were relieved we only had an hour or so ahead of us. Shortly after Pensacola, I had to drive over this really long bridge with no shoulder. It was raining very heavily, no shoulder, ocean on either side of me, and unfamiliar territory. I had a panic attack right there on the bridge. I got really lightheaded, sick at my stomach, and felt like I could pass out at any second. The girls kept talking to me and I was praying outloud for God to help me!! I couldn't get off the road, so I just turned on my blinker and slowed down so the driver behind me would stay off my rear. Thankfully, he did. After we got off the bridge, I was fine. I had been craving Outback Steakhouse since about Hattiesburg, Mississippi, so as we came into Destin, we found one. It hit the spot. On the way back to the condo, we stopped at Krispy Kreme and got doughnuts for the morning. We were all too happy to fall into bed that night and we slept like angels........UNTIL...........the most horrendous beeping I had ever heard in my life at 3:15 a.m. I jumped out of bed and being disoriented in a different place ran into the bathroom and was like, "Why the Crap am I in here?" I then realized where I was and ran out into the hall and met Holly with the same dumbfounded look on her face as I was sporting. We were both in like slow motion trying to figure out what that ear splitting noise was. It didn't occur to me yet that it could be the fire alarm. We both finally saw this white thing on the wall by the ceiling and realized it was the culprit. In our sleepy stupor, one of us was reaching for a pan in the kitchen to brain the thing and make it shut up. Before Holly did that, it occured to me to look outside! When I did, I saw all these other dumbfounded people in their jammies standing outside. It then hit me.......FIRE!!!! I ran back in in Mommy Mode and said, more like yelled, "We got to get out, It's a Fire!" Madelyn and Leslie sprinted out of bed and we all vacated the premises. Madelyn was very scared and shaking. We were on the fifth floor and weren't sure what to do. We didn't smell smoke or see flames, so we just kind of hung out with the other people. Finally, our ears couldn't take the screaming alarm any longer and we went and sat in my car! After the fire people came, it took about 45 minutes to get the all clear to return to our slumber. No Fire, just some dumb idiot kid probably laughing his hiney off watching all the commotion. The next morning (or should I say about 3 hours later), we began our beach vacation. Madelyn was amazed at the beach. I got her a sand castle making set and she played on the beach. I think she missed having a pal with her though cause she kept scoping out other little kids. She would go up to them, but wouldn't talk to them. So I walked over to this one little girl with her mom and made introductions. Madelyn played a little with this little girl from Kentucky. She mostly wanted an adult to take her into the ocean 500 times. Between me, Leslie, and Holly, we tried to keep her entertained. She was somewhat afraid of the waves, but loved being in them as long as she had a steady hand to hold onto. Blake and Barbie came to stay with us the next day (Tuesday night) and we went to eat at a seafood place. Leslie and I had made a pact to try some new seafood we had never had before. We both tried Mahi Mahi and Grouper. They were AWESOME!! I can't wait to go to Joe's Crabshack here in town and try something. While we were waiting for our table at the seafood place, we saw some dolphins playing in the water right off the shore. Darnit though, I didn't have my camera. Madelyn liked seeing them though. Wednesday, Madelyn was glad Blake was there. He was a big, strong guy and she felt safer with him I think. She called him, "my Buddy, Blake." Blake and I were nicely burnt by Wednesday, so we stayed in the shade more. I was so surprised about Madelyn. I put sunscreen on her, but probably not as diligently as I should have and she didn't get burned at all. Her cheeks got a little rosy, but hardly at all. I guess she has her aunt Holly's skin. Thursday morning, Holly had to fly out and my sweet friends Blake and Barbie drove her to Pensacola to catch the plane so I didn't have to drive over that freakish bridge again. While they were gone, we started cleaning up the condo, then went back to the pool for one more lay in the sun. Madelyn got pretty brave while we were there. The last day, she got in the pool without her lifejacket and actually went all the way under the water. I was so proud of her!! We left paradise about 2:15 p.m. to head for Shreveport where we were going to be staying for the night. The drive was pretty uneventful except for two overturned semis we saw on the road and one other wreck in Mississippi where a guy was laying on the side of the road covered in blood. That one almost made me lose my lunch. We would just say a prayer everytime we saw a wreck and hope they were okay. I didn't think we were ever going to make it to Shreveport. We finally did close to midnight and stayed in a hotel. We slept for about 6 hours and headed out early the next morning for home. The trip was going great save for a little July 4th traffic until we got to the Oklahoma-Texas border. We were making good time and I had just called in to David and told him we'd be home about 2:30. That was a mistake. About 10 minutes later, we were SITTING on I-35 a couple miles south of the border. We figured there must be a wreck. Oh No, when we finally made it to the scene of the bottleneck, it was only about a half mile of one lane that was causing all the confusion. Seriously people, LEARN TO DRIVE!!! I called David back and informed him it would be about 3:15 before we got home. I've never been more excited to pull into my driveway before. 15+ hours on the road was more than enough. We had an awesome time and wonderful pictures to share. I can't wait to go back!!

Visitors from Europe

If you are visiting my page and you don't know me, I'm just curious as to how you came upon my page. Please share!

David's birthday

Saturday was David's 39th birthday (Old Man!!). I asked him a couple weeks ago how he wanted to celebrate and he said he wanted to put Madelyn's new swing set up and cook out with some friends. So, he spent most of his birthday and Father's Day weekend cooking and building a swing set. What a guy!! He got a new grill for his birthday and Father's Day and couldn't wait to use it. We cooked out bratwurst, hot dogs, hamburgers, pork loin, and sausages. Yummy!!! The diet definitely went to poo yesterday. For dessert, we had cookies, Chocolate pudding cake, and a big birthday cookie with icing for David's birthday. I'm making David take all the leftover junk food to work tomorrow or I will eat it all week and gain back what I have lost. So, here are some pictures of our fun day!

Piercing Cry

Madelyn decided in the middle of the week that she was finally ready to get her ears pierced. When I went to get her at Grandma Cindy's on Friday, I asked her if she wanted to go that night. She agreed and I told her afterwards that we would go to Walmart and get her some stuff we needed to go to the beach. We got to Claire's and picked out her birthstone earrings, a blue sapphire. Very Pretty! The lady that did it was very sweet. She was the only one there, so they weren't able to pierce both ears at once, but I told her I thought Madelyn would do fine. I had warned her before that it was going to hurt, but that is wasn't any worse than getting a shot at the doctor. And she has always handled that well......she'll cry a tiny bit, but at least I don't have to chase her around the doctor's office and hold her down. That's basically how the ear piercing went. She did cry (as expected and warranted), but I think she was a real trooper. We have to leave them in for 8 weeks and then she can try new ones. We went back to the store yesterday and got her 9 more pairs. She's very proud of them and wants to show them off to everyone. The first is the video of her getting them and the second is a picture about 15 minutes after she got them.

The Incredible Houdini Baby

So, you've heard in previous posts about Meredith Kay taking off her diaper. Well, here are some shots we caught of her right after she stripped herself naked! You can't see very well in the picture, but her clothes are laying to the left of her after having been stripped from her body. I walked away for about two minutes leaving a fully diapered and clothed baby and I returned in two minutes and this is what I found. The second picture is what she does now when we tick her off by putting her in her playpen for a few minutes. I can't really leave her in it alone anymore. It's fixing to go to the attic! "So Now.....I present to you......"THE INCREDIBLE HOUDINI BABY!!"

Throwback Tuesday

I was moving my pictures from my laptop to a flash drive and I came across this hilarious video we took of Madelyn in June of 2007, so she's 2 and 3/4 old. It's my very favorite one of her. Have a listen!!

Differences

It's amazing to me the differences between my children. Their different cognitive abilities are already apparent. Meredith is 18 months old today and I've always said she was my little engineer. She gets into EVERYTHING and she will take things apart and put them back together. Just now, she is sitting in the floor of my office playing with legos. She has just built a lego structure that is worthy of a five year old. I say a five year old because my four year old can't do it as well as Meredith. Madelyn never builds a large enough base to keep the tower steady when she is building with legos and she gets very frustrated when it falls. The first thing Meredith did was build her sturdy base worthy of supporting a tower at least as tall as she was sitting on the floor building it. She even put all the bigger pieces toward the bottom and smaller pieces toward the top. When Madelyn builds a structure, she haphazardly throws pieces together and it inevitably falls. Poor baby! Another area where Meredith excels in comparison to Madelyn is her athletic ability. Granted, it's still very early to assess especially since Meredith has only been walking for just under 2 months. But she's already showing signs of ambidexterity with a preference for her left hand. (Yea Meredith!!) She can throw a mean ball and her balance is awesome. Madelyn on the other hand reminds me of a 90 year old woman sometimes with her athleticism. She can be walking and just fall down sometimes. Her middle name Grace fits her well in that department. Again, her epilepsy might hinder her in that department. Madelyn definitely excels in the verbal department. I bet Madelyn had 100 more words at Meredith's age. She is on the cusp of reading and she amazes me with her memory!! I love to see their gifts and talents emerge!! They are precious to me!!

Poop Party

Well, the title says it all. Although, I think it was only a party for one involved here and a nightmare for the other three. It all started when David went to check on Meredith after she woke up from her nap. As he made his way down the hall, his nose cried out for relief about halfway down. He could smell the familiar smell of poop in the air and he braced himself for a big present in Meredith's diaper as he went to retrieve her. As he rounded the doorway to enter the bedroom, his eyes beheld this sweet little child with poop balls in each hand and poop all over the bed. He can't even remember what he said when he saw it....he just saw Poop.....lots and lots of Poop and it wasn't wrapped nicely in a diaper as it should have been. It's like Meredith was setting it free. "Run Poop, get as far away from here as you can!" David picked her up and held her outstretched from his body as far as she could go and he came to my room. I had been slumbering nicely when I hear, "April, I'm really going to need your help!", in a panicked voice! I came out into the hall and couldn't believe my eyes. I immediately put her into the freshly scrubbed tub for a bath. I made her relinquish the poop ball she had in her hand and I put it into the toilet. Then I started on scrubbing her. This poop was very pasty thanks to the beans from Taco Bueno Thursday I'm guessing. I scrubbed and scrubbed and it was very difficult to come off. She even had it under her fingernails. Uugghhh!!!! While I was attacking the poop player, David was facing the crib with poop strewn everywhere. I got her all cleaned up and redressed and then went to help David rinse out all the sheets and blankets before we could put them in the washer. All in all, it was about an hour job! We eventually just laughed about it, but decided strong action had to be taken to prevent this from happening again. So, as you are about to see, this is the measure we have taken to ban Poop Parties from taking place again!! Enjoy!

Madelyn's first day of soccer

We put Madelyn in soccer this year for the first time. It's at the same place that she played T-ball last fall. It's an indoor league, they don't have any practices, and it's just plain chaos really! As I watched her play, I remembered why I hated to play soccer in P.E. when I was in school. I hated chasing a stupid ball up and down a field all day long and also getting kicked in the shins. Which we didn't get Madelyn (shin guards)....I'm going to go pick her up some this week. She has enough bruises as it is. She got hurt before we even started playing soccer. Before the game, she and several of her teammates were running around outside and she and another player run into each other and bumped heads. She started crying and I held my frosty drink to her head. She's so funny when she gets hurt. If you know Madelyn at all, then you know that every injury no matter the severity is cause for alarm. She is quite the drama queen about it. Well, she cracks me up because as I am calming her down and kissing on her hurt, I'll say, "Are you okay?" and she'll say, "No, I'm not!" in this most pitiful voice you ever heard. Most people say, "Yeah" when you ask them that, but not Madelyn. Silly girl!

She did well playing (running). She had to stop several times because she "lost her breath" as she said. Next week, they need to let the air out of the ball a little bit to slow that thing down. Seriously, those poor kids were just chasing a ball back and forth. Here she is in her black team shirt and some of her teammates.

I Sit Here

I sit here staring at the screen with my mind screaming at me to write something down, "Get it Out!" , whatever it takes to remove this sickly feeling deep in my gut. My sister just wrote a blog about her anger. Her rightful, justifiable anger. There were some things that she wrote to some unnamed people that she wanted me to proofread to make sure they weren't too harsh. Both of these people deserved a harsh lashing. But, my reaction was different than it ever has been before. Normally, April is very forgiving, always giving second, third, and fourth chances. I am usually pretty logical about situations and try to look at situations the way God tells us to....with Love. But, all I saw as I was proofreading was "Give it all to them, They deserve it!" Now, I do realize that God is not glorified with that reaction and I have repented. But I've had to repent several times for the same feelings because they just keep seeping to the surface. I AM ANGRY! I don't have the same magnitude of anger as Holly, nor is it directed in exactly the same way, but it is, alas, sickening anger. I didn't lose my best friend like Holly, I just lost a friend. I didn't lose my soulmate like Holly, but I did lose a wonderful soul. I prayed harder for Amy to live and get well than I have ever prayed for anyone before. We had a couple of sessions at work and in my car to go work on audits when I held her precious hand in mine and prayed a prayer I didn't even think I was capable of. I wanted her to live with everything in my being and she didn't. I'm not angry at God. I know that death is part of life and we all go at different times. I fully trust God that he is not to blame. Nothing yucky comes from God. We live in a fallen world and death happens, but Praise God for the promise that it is not the end.

I believe my anger is mainly directed at the situation itself. My heart burns with sadness for my sister. I want to take it away, I want to shove it under the couch, I want to drown it in the lake. I can't stand the fact that she has to endure this. As selfish as this sounds, I miss my sister. I've only seen a genuine smile on her face maybe once or twice in the 12 days she's been home. It's like some alien has come down and stolen her essence. I want to find that alien, kick his green hiney and beat that essence right back out of him!!!!

For now, I will just continue to try to be there for my sister! And I will try with God's help to not rip anyone's head off and slowly wait for this anger to dissipate!!

Right Now.....

Right Now.....I really should be studying for my Final tomorrow in Advanced Accounting. But my mind is racing with thoughts and my heart is hurting. I'm just really in need of a getaway. It doesn't even have to be an actual getaway to another city or state....it just needs to be a getaway from thoughts, hurts, fears, worries, procrastination, etc....I need a refresher. I need to regenerate. And I don't know how to do it. I feel like I can't do anything right.....as a mother, as a wife, as an employee, as a friend, as a student, as a freakin' Human Being sometimes. I'm sick of judgmental people who don't take a second to examine their own needs and desires before criticizing someone else for theirs. I expect to be taken seriously! I expect respect!! I expect tolerance to the same degree that I would offer! I expect some leeway!! Give me a break.....I'm doing all I can do....and some days I'm not so successful, but EVERYDAY I have my God at my right hand helping me through it. I am working on some things.....some things harder than I ever dreamed I would. Give me Time....Give me Reassurance....Give me a "You're Doing A Great Job, April" just because you love me, know me, and can see I need it!

Love me for me. If you REALLY know me, you'd love me! Help me when it looks like I need it. Hug me when my chest cries out for some contact! Offer an ear when I need one to chew off or just whisper in! Know that every intention I have when I set out on an endeavor is a noble, good one! I may not have thought of every obstacle I might encounter, but I'm going to trudge through it....because that's how I am! I may be sloppy in that endeavor and I may not copy your EXACT manner if you were making the same endeavor, but I'll get it done!!

Pray for me...instead of attacking me! I need fervent prayer everyday....everyone does and we are commanded by God to do it! Love me............in spite of Me!!!!

It's A Miracle....

At 16 months and 16 days, Meredith Kay Louise Rhoda is finally a walker. She's been trying really hard and all her hard work finally paid off today. Paula at work has been working with her the last couple of weeks and finally got her to walk. I really wanted her to walk on my birthday for the first time, but she missed it by two days and did it on Grandma Glenda's birthday. My birthday would've been better just because I turned 32 and the whole 16 months and 16 days thing....me and my symmetry!! Enjoy!!

My attempt at a Craft Project

Okay, so if you know me at all, you know I'm not a crafty person. But, every once in a while, I get a wild hair to do something creative. This is what came of that urge! We made Keepsake Boxes for the girls. I have a big box of stuff that my mom kept for me and I treasure it. I wanted something they could personalize and keep forever to put cards, letters, pictures they made in school, whatever their little hearts desire in. We're actually not completely finished yet. I told Madelyn that this weekend, we could pull out the paint and finish them. Just thought you might want a peek!

Rocker Chick!

This is what Meredith looked like the morning after Valentines Day. I guess when me and her Daddy went out that night and she and her sister stayed at her Grandpa Dino and Grandma Cindy's---they must have had a party or went out to a club. I did think I smelled booze on them, but I didn't want to say anything! : ) Anyway, thank God for combs and hair spray!

Valentine Girls

I haven't posted a lot lately, so I'm going to give you picture overload in the next few posts. This first one is the girls on Valentines Day wearing the matching shirts MiMi got them. We didn't do anything special for Valentines Day really. Madelyn had a party at her school and got a whole bunch of unneeded candy. Then David and I went out to dinner that night without the kids. It was nice!

Then this one was just plain precious!!

I also like this one of me and the girls. I think I'm going to have it framed!