Big Birthday Bash

Well, Ashleigh's 5th Birthday Party was Saturday. Almost a month early, mind you, but at least now it is done for another year! Why so early? Well, we'll be in Gatlinburg, TN the weekend before her birthday, which is when we'd normally have it. The weekend after Thanksgiving would have been a disaster, the weekend before that the community center wasn't available which left us with this past weekend. My first time inviting loads of kids, along with their parents I don't necessarily know, so no way I was having it at home. Plus, I figured people knowing how to get to the party would increase their chances of attending!

I was very pleased with the turn out. Quite a few people called to say they couldn't make it for one reason or the other and I was beginning to panick, I'll admit. But then most of the kids she talks about regularly from preschool starting showing up and before I knew it, we had a pretty full house. And we ran out of almost all the food, etc. which is also a good sign, I think.

Here's Ashleigh with one of her Lollipop Pillows. They were meant for decoration, but were great entertainment for the kids!


Abby enjoying her lollipop before the party started. I figured sticky fingers were a small price to pay for her happiness!

My big centerpiece, so to speak. They don't allow you to use tape, tacks or anything on the walls, so I had to change my decorating plans on the fly.
The cake! And yes, I made it. I know it's not as pretty as a professionally done cake, but at least I knew it would taste good!

I had variations of this on the tables. Different colors & candies, you get the idea!
An overall shot of the counter where I set the food up.

These got loads of comments. Multi-colored marshmallows on lollipop sticks, dipped in chocolate and sprinkles. They were pretty, but I don't think I could've eaten one. They were all gone, though...
Blowing out her candle. She loves having the number candle rather than several little candles.

A kinda-sorta group shot. I say that because there were at least 10 kids who didn't want to be in the picture. Including sister Abby and cousin Elana!

At home with quite a load of gifts! Did I mention TEN Barbie Dolls? I did mention Barbies though. She really liked everything she got. And there's more to come-KT and I are waiting for her actual birthday to give her a gift.

Have to share photos of her modeling this! Mentioned to my cousin/good friend that Ashleigh needed a raincoat and she got this super cute Stephen Joseph raincoat with matching boots! And my aunt got her the matching backpack.

Whoops!

It's been awhile, and this post will be really short. Just wanted to share some photos from a princess birthday party the girls went to Saturday. We had a great time at the Clemmons' home celebrating Caiden's sixth birthday! Got tons of cute pics, even if Abby was out of sorts with an unfamiliar place and did NOT cooperate with the photo session. I would post a group pic, but don't want to put other people's children's photos online without their permission. Probably wouldn't mind, but still...

Ashleigh was ALL ABOUT posing! Rachel got more candids during the party, but I don't have copies of them yet.

Can it get any hotter?

Wait, don't answer that, because I know the answer is a big, fat YES! Some mornings, the heat and humidity just make me angry as soon as I walk out the door. Ugh. I've lived in Mississippi all my 36 years and you think I'd get used to it. Not so much. I feel like writing Mother Nature a letter and asking her to please turn down the heat. Also, if it's not too much to ask, keep any and all bugs and creepy crawlies out of our house! I can't stand bugs either. Eewwww!

In other news:

Surprisingly to me, I felt more sadness over the announcement of Jon & Kate Gosselin's divorce than Michael's Jackson's death. Trust me, I think that's bizarre and I'm the one who feels that way. Divorces always sadden me. And I guess since Michael Jackson has gone crazy and all I don't feel as connected to him. Not that I should feel connected to Jon & Kate at any rate.

Really Sad

One of my best friends is moving to Arizona. 

I am not happy.

I haven't been this sad since Kelley moved to Texas.

The situations are very similar: leaving me behind is a co-worker who I like very much who also knows how to do their job well. Trust me, this is hard to come by. The differences are that Anthony is a guy so we didn't spend time together outside the office, but he and my husband did.

Anthony is a computer nerd in a cool way. Who will help me with my dilemmas now? I'll be left to muddle through on my own. Will the new guy we hired do a good job? I'm sure. Will we have the same kind of friendship? Doubtful. Anthony and I get excited over the same things like cool fonts and awesome vector art. Free cool stuff really gets us wound up. We have a lot of the same tastes graphics-wise, but we are quite different as well. We compliment each other and help each other out. I help him make ads more "girly" and he helps me de-frill my ads on occasion.

I hear that Flagstaff, Arizona is a great place. But right now, I will hold a grudge against it. Not against Anthony and his wife; I wish them all the best. They are doing what's best for their family and I can't fault them for that.

But Flagstaff? You totally suck.

New Newspaper!

Well, after a few months of keeping quiet, I can finally spill the beans: The Commercial Dispatch has launched a new publication in Starkville, The Starkville Dispatch!

I've gotten to do some pretty interesting things, like put a newspaper in a bulldog's mouth, see below.

I think it's pretty cool that we're starting a new newspaper when so many papers around the country are going out of business....and did I mention it's FREE?

Check it out at http://www.thestarkvilledispatch.com/

#dispatch

Happy Anniversary, Baby!

Fifteen years ago today, I married my best friend, Kenneth. I know that is rather corny and cliche, but it is true.

I honestly can't imagine life without him. I can always count on him to be there for me when it counts. I've never doubted his love for me and never had a reason not to trust him completely. He is a wonderful father to our children, which is a good thing because I couldn't be married to him otherwise.

Now, don't get me wrong. He makes me mad regularly, drives me nuts and has habits that annoy me. I will readily tell you if we spend too much time together, we'd kill each other. And he'd tell you the exact same thing about me. When we get angry with one another, there's never any worry that this will be "the end." And I think that's what a happy marriage is all about. It's not about never fighting and always getting along. It's about always being yourself, speaking your mind and knowing that at the end of the day, your spouse loves you in spite of yourself.

Now that I've gotten all that out of the way, here's a photo from our wedding. What a difference 15 years makes!

Rambling...

Well, I'm not exactly keeping up with the once-a-week pledge I made when I started my blog again. But I'm still doing better than some folks, like MY SISTER who hasn't updated her blog since April 1st! Then again, I'll never keep up with Kelley who posts almost daily. In my defense, I do update my status fairly often on Facebook. It's just so easy to do from my phone!

Things have been pretty ho-hum. Our dog, Rusty (aka Little Paw, Monster) is settling in quite nicely and his made himself a part of the family. I just realized I haven't posted a photo of him here, so here you go:
He's a long hair miniature dachshund and will be two years old tomorrow!

Ashleigh got her first "major" haircut this weekend. It was to her waist and while beautiful, was totally unmanageable! No amount of conditioner could make it easy to brush. The only "easy" thing to do was keep it in a French braid and if you rarely ever wear it down, what's the point of having it? I got Kenneth to take her because I didn't want him fussing at me that I got it cut too short! I love my hair dresser and would've liked her to do it, but I wanted him in charge of it! After they left, I began to freak out a bit? What if he cut it off above her shoulders? Would I end up freaking out? In the end, we are all happy with the outcome. Here's a before & after shot. (Her hair is wet in the before.)
It is SO MUCH EASIER to deal with now!! I miss the super-long hair, but we've got to be practical!

I'm currently reading this. It is very interesting and just a little scary! But I managed to buy quite a few organic things this weekend. I want to do the best I can because I owe it to my children to give them the healthiest foods & environment I possibly can. And I owe it to them to be the healthiest Mom I can be!

Just love this picture of Abby. I took it while she was eating breakfast at my parent's house Mother's Day morning.

And to be fair, I'll post one of Ashleigh that shows her face! Also taken Mother's Day morning at my parent's house.

joys of a waiting room

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology & a well behaved child I am posting this from a pediatrician's waiting room. Abby has big insect bite looking spots all over her arms & legs & this isn't the first time so I'm having her checked out. She is currently telling everyone to watch out. She just got though singing for them. My sweet girl!

Other than skin troubles we are well. The dog seems more at game every day. He's now set up in a bigger crate for the day while we're gone & sleeps in bed with us at night. Got a new brush for him that helps pull out loose undercoat hair and he does NOT like that. Found something he doesn't cooperate with. But it makes him so shiny! Better sign of before Abby gets called back!

busy weekend

Whew! What a busy weekend I had. Friday night tried to get some house work done as well as make sure the girls don't make the dog nuts. Saturday was scrapbooking @ Pam's with NO KIDS which was great. Saturday night I lost my mind a bit though. Kenneth was out for a while and when the girls we're in the tub, I caught the dog pooping in our bedroom! As I was cleaning that up, Ashleigh starts screaming that Abby pooped in the tub so I had to drain and clean the tub then rewash them! SICK OF POOP!!! And Abby's foot has been red & swollen from an insect bite & she couldn't even wear shoes so no church today. But I got lots of stuff done around the house AND Kenneth washed and waxed my truck! Woohoo! Very nice & shiny now. Maybe a little thanks for the HTC Touch Diamond I surprised him with Friday? That is a seriously cool phone! But I'm still content with my BlackBerry for now. I'm posting from it now, actually, so please excuse any goofy typos. I'm going to try to upload a pic of the new dog but might not be able to figure it out!

Easter Weekend

Well, neither the girls or I felt very well after church yesterday, so believe it or not, NO Easter photos of the girls in their dresses. I know, I would normally think this is a tragedy. BUT, if they don't want their picture taken, it will not go well. And they aren't going to outgrow those dresses within the next few weeks, so we'll shoot at a more convenient time for all parties involved.

Saturday was a different story!! Following are a few photos of the girls at my parent's house. The other little girl in one photo is my cousin's daughter, Jayden, and the man in the photo with Abby is my Daddy.

Get ready for cuteness!!! : )

Ready for the Weekend

I'm so ready for the weekend, but that's no new thing. I'm always ready!

Last week I finally went to the doctor for my knee pain and a few other things. I forget exactly what he called it, but basically, my kneecap isn't tracking in a straight line as it should, because my quad muscle strength isn't evenly distributed. He gave me some meds for the short-term and an exercise plan to get me back into my fitness routine. It's going to take a little longer than I'd like, but I want this fixed and I suppose it'll just take time.

Had a great Saturday hanging out with Pam, Rachel and Pam's SIL, Terri. It was a scrapbooking/card making session with lots of talking about everything under the sun. And constantly checking on the three children to be sure they weren't destroying Pam's house! I got 7 pages completed for a gift album I'm making for my cousin & his wife. They're having a baby this summer.

This weekend won't be as fun, I'm afraid. Tomorrow will be housecleaning, pretty much all day. Not as much fun, but necessary. I can't stand a dirty home! I also need to clean out the girls' closets. Out with the too small, etc. Then church on Sunday, relaxin' in the afternoon.

Sleep Deprivation and Home Invasion

I completely understand now why my parents always got such joy from dragging me out of bed early every day. It's payback for when you're very young and never let your parents get a decent night's sleep! I'd say with confidence that I've gotten a good, continuous 8 hours of sleep less than 10 times in the 4+ years since Ashleigh was born. Seriously; I'm not exaggerating. In the past two weeks I've been up for the day before 4 am more days than not. Well, up for the day until I do something silly like sit down to put my shoes on and then fall asleep. Then I'm late for work. OR I don't fall asleep but my girls lose their minds, turn the morning into a game of "let's make Mommy crazy" and I'm late. Or I'm on time but so tired I can't even concentrate on my work.

So, when they're older and want to sleep late on the weekends, guess what? I'm going to be the mean woman gleefully dragging them out of bed. So HA! I will get my revenge. And by then they'll be able to earn their keep a bit by helping with things like washing dishes and doing the never-ending laundry.

(I feel the need to point out to anyone who doesn't know me well, I love my children and wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. But is a little decent sleep too much to ask?)

Now for the Home Invasion part. Ugh.

Their are mice in our house. I thought I might have seen one a few weeks ago but wasn't sure and figured it was my imagination because I've never found any evidence of mice. I SAW THREE THIS MORNING!!!! Oh my goodness, I almost had a heart attack, especially by #3. And doesn't that mean there are like, a million in the house or something? Laugh if you want, but I am truly distressed. I mean, those things are GROSS! They poop everywhere and gnaw on everything. And ewwww, I saw on tv that they constantly chew on things to keep their teeth worn down because their teeth never stop growing. Ick! And I find myself wondering where they can go. Can they get into my dishwasher and contaminate clean dishes? Will they get in the cabinets and on the counters? YUCK YUCK YUCK! I find myself wanting to take everything from the house and dump it into the yard this weekend and clean everything and make sure they're gone and never come back. I know this is irrational and I won't have the time or energy for that. But how do you truly get rid of them? Forget humane or environmentally friendly--I want those suckers DEAD AND GONE BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY. But then I don't want dead mice in my house either.

Any suggestions on either problem will be greatly appreciated! :-)

Missing Sis

I'd had another post planned for today; but a thought struck me as I was getting ready for work this morning.

I miss my sister.

I wish we lived closer together. She was 12 (I think) when I got married; 8 or 9 when I left for college. With the age difference, after Mom returned to work, I felt like a second mom a lot of the time. Not in a bad way though.

Now, she lives in Hattiesburg with her hubby. They have a great life there with friends etc. and for the sake of simplicity I'll say we live in the Columbus area. For those of you not up on your Mississippi geography-that means it takes several hours of driving to get together. And I just don't like that. If I could just rearrange the state a little, that'd be great! Who cares if MSU, MUW and USM were a stone's throw from one another? I know my parents would love it!

I just think it would be nice to be closer together so we could hang out more. Maybe work out together. We wouldn't be together every waking moment by any means. She and Josh are still practically newlyweds-KT and I will soon celebrate anniversary 15 with our daughters in tow. We have wildly different interests. Sometimes when she gives me idea lists for Christmas gifts I have to consult with others as to what exactly some things are where to find them! I dearly love my Mac; she and Josh are both in computer fields and are PC all the way. KT would side with them there, I'm sure. And while I do work on my computer all day as a graphic designer and know some basic maintenance stuff, I'm screaming to the top of my lungs when something's not working properly. Cory and Josh are in the business of fixing problems for people like me. Cory put purple streaks in her hair not too long ago and while I make no secret of coloring my hair, I definitely want it to look natural!

I'm not angling for a favor or trying to butter her up for anything. I just miss my sister, that's all.

On the upswing...maybe

Well, yesterday was my "I think I might die" day! I originally planned on staying home with Abby, my youngest, who was running fever for no obvious reason. But she got up and going and was fine. I couldn't keep my mind off work because we have a magazine deadlining soon and tons of work to do for that. After about 4 text messages to co-workers for various things, I decided I might as well go in and get a little work done. I managed to work 11:30-4. It was a test of my endurance but I survived. I went home and crashed after taking some prescription decongestant/cough medicine I'd forgotten we had. And to address Kelley's comment on my previous post: Kenneth really does about all he can to make them let me rest. But they are at the age where that's much easier said than done. Ashleigh wants to take care of me like I do her; and at two, Abby just knows what she wants and expects to get it right that second. And what she usually wants is me. I'll be so glad when this stage ends. Ashleigh was bigger tantrums less often. Sometimes it seems like one tantrum ends when another begins with Abby. Kenneth says that's my side of the family coming out. : )

One of the worst things about being sick to me is the recovery period. You know, when you aren't really sick, but still feel weak and cruddy. Blah!

Watched Biggest Loser last night. I thought Bob and the team members he lost were a little over the top with their reaction to the situation. Of course, that's easy for me to say because I'm not there living with all the stress and emotional and mental fatigue they're dealing with. Wonder what will happen tonight. Maybe it won't be such a struggle to stay awake for tonight's episode.

Well, it's time to get back to work, even though I'd rather take a nap...

Clarification

I don't think my last post was entirely clear and after re-reading it, I can see where someone could get the wrong idea.

I was considering password protecting my blog; but I would generally give the password to anybody who wanted it. I don't think I'll do that. I mean, how important do I really think I am, anyway?

I'm feeling the full force of the dreaded "crud" that has been going around for a few weeks. The girls are doing much better though and that's what really matters, right? If I could just sleep for a couple of days I think I'd be much better. But that ain't gonna happen!

This weekend was pretty low-key. Kenneth was out and about some with his brother AND he had to work a few hours too. I really think his job might kill him; I'm beginning to really not like that place! Allegedly things will change...someday. HA!

The girls and I watched a lot of cartoons, especially after church Sunday afternoon. Or I should say we snuggled up and I tried to sleep while they watched. Notice I say tried.

Really nothing much to write about-I just feel really sleepy and tired, like I need to sleep a few days. Luckily I have plenty of work to stay busy and keep me awake! Our annual Progress magazine deadline is coming up soon and I have a major stack of work to get done!

A little privacy

Please let me know if you're reading my blog. I think I'm going to make it private for a few different reasons but if you're already reading this, I don't want to shut you out!

I think I'll feel a bit more free to really talk about my thoughts and feelings if everyone with an internet connection and knowledge of English can read it. I think putting stuff out there will help me; just not putting out there for EVERYONE to see. ; )

Also,
TGIF

Random Thoughts

::I love Cinderella as much as the next girl, but does anyone think it's odd that she sewed clothes for mice? Just asking....

::To the person driving the green Taurus in the parking lot behind my office-learn to park, please. The car should be between the lines, not on them.

::Why is there never enough time in the day? I never have enough time and I don't even do any extra stuff! No clubs or weekly (or even monthly) meetings with friends. Just work Monday-Friday & church on Sunday. People who don't have dishwashers, or who have to go to the laundry mat to wash clothes...I really don't know how they do it!

::How is is possible that I get rid of truckloads of stuff, literally, and I still feel we have too much stuff in our home? Does it multiply like rabbits or what? We had a massive yard sale in October last year where I even got rid of lots of toys. Ashleigh still periodically asks about certain things that were sold! And gets very upset when I tell her they are gone for good. Not sure if it's worth that drama to get rid of toys...

::I have a few friends that are going through various difficulties right now. I won't go into details, but they all need your thoughts and prayers.

::I'm on Face Book, but I don't look at it all the time; not even every day. So if you send me a request or something, please don't get your feelings hurt or get bent out of shape if I don't respond quickly. (See random thought #3)

::Saturday was Abby's second birthday party; I'll post photos on Face Book when I get a minute

::My new love is audio books! Since it is so hard to fit in leisure time; I've discovered that audio books let me "read" while doing lots of other things. I just load them onto my iPod, stick in my earbuds and enjoy. Not quite as good as curling up with the book, but I just don't have time for that these days.

::Tonight is Biggest Loser night-woo hoo! I will admit, however, that I'm so thankful I have a DVR. Not only to fast-forward throught commercials, but also repetitive (and sometimes boring) parts of the show. I really think 2 hours a week is overkill. One would do just fine, I think.

::Speaking of DVR, mine is perilously close to being full! YIKES! I try to watch shows while folding laundry and when doing home workouts, but I've not watched much lately. I just like too many TV shows, I guess.

A "New" Blog

I put new in quote marks because it's still the same URL; I just changed the name. I haven't posted in over a year, but I didn't want to start an entirely new blog. This is still under construction...it will probably stay that way.

Hopefully this will differ from my last attempt at blogging because the whole point of it is to express and explore those parts of me not related to motherhood. Sometimes I think the girls are overtaking every aspect of my life. It's very easy for me to let that happen. I love them and Kenneth (my husband) beyond words but I know it is vitally important for me to have an identity separate from "mother" and "wife." I'm probably not doing a good job at expressing what I'm trying to say; but hopefully you get the idea. This is basically the online equivalent of "me time." Of course, photos and stories about the family will pop up from time to time because they are a HUGE part of my life!

One thing I'm currently working on is my overall health. Not just diet and exercise, but all of it. Of course the diet and exercise is more a struggle than the rest of it.

Here's a list of my motivations for a healthier lifestyle:
::I want the be the happiest I can be.
::I want to be healthy to help me live a long and fulfilling life.
::I want to set a good example for my children and hopefully prevent them from having the same weight struggles I've had my entire life.
::I want to be comfortable in my own skin.
::I want to be able to look at photos of myself and not almost cry in embarrassment.

So far I've lost 5.5 lbs. That took over a month which is just pathetic to me. Of course, I'm proud of what I've accomplished, but I also know I've not given it my best efforts. I hate knowing that; but it's true. I have plenty of excuses, but that's all they are: excuses! So enough of that! Off to the gym I go...