1st Grade Baby

Can she really be in the 1st grade? No stinking way! Sometimes I just can't believe it...ohhhhhh {said on a reminiscent sigh}.

Well being the huge dork that I am and having to make each milestone special and unique, I got up and made Caroline pancakes for the 1st day of 1st grade. Talk about an excited little girl! She never gets this yummy goodness on a school morning!


I love this one! Look how shocked/excited she is!

Okay, now I know we moms can be a tad bit fussy, especially for anything memorable. So I ordered an absolutely stinking precious outfit for the 1st day of 1st grade. She hates it. Does.Not.Want.To.Wear.It! Breaks my heart. So what do I do? Tell her tough cookies, she's wearing it!

Outside the school, she said she knew just where she wanted to take a picture, so I figured great, she'll want it by the pretty tree! Nope...she wanted it in the middle of the front lawn. I let her have her way since I knew I wouldn't get a picture out of her otherwise since she hated her clothes!

Thought Filled Thursdays

You may have to bear with me, I have a lot of thoughts right now! LOL!

-Have you been to sonic lately? I hadn't until yesterday, and let me tell you...I found pure bliss! I know I saw someone post about a new sonic drink, but I can't remember who! So if you by chance see this, thank you! Let me show you my new afternoon delight!

That's it in the middle...The Cherry Limeade Chiller...soooo yummy!

-Okay, now granted I have no inclination to ride a bike, but this just makes me mad.
I know most of our students either walk or ride a bike across campus, but come on! Can you at least put it up correctly? Your parents probably paid good money for that bike, especially since it's a Schwinn!

-Caroline can be such a ham! She does the strangest things sometimes. We were in Old Navy a few weeks ago and she just has to go see the dog as soon as we get there. Tell me you know what I'm talking about? Usually in the kids section is the "Old Navy Dog", the plastic dog, sometimes on a bench, or just on his own. Back to the point. Caroline knows I carry my camera in my purse, so as soon as we walk in the door, she heads straight over to her faithful pup, and begs for me to take a picture. BEGS! I know the other shoppers thought we had lost our marbles for sure!


-Caroline and I hit up sales constantly, and we stopped by a Gymboree Outlet and hit the payday! They had this sweet dress and hat that she fell in love with almost as fast as she can blink her little eyes, so I gave her my standard "maybe sweetie" and kept on looking. Finally I let her get it, because it was just too darn cute! Here she is with her dad when we went to Dallas a few weeks ago.


-Do you let your kids help cook? I mean really cook, like stir things on the stove? I have been refusing for a long time, and finally thought she could be careful enough to help me scramble eggs. She did GREAT! I was a nervous wreck the whole time, but she loved it!


-I saved the best for last! I was driving down the street the other day in town, when a sign caught my eye:

OMG!!!!! You have got to be kidding me!

Hello? Are You Still Out There?

I have so neglected my blog this last week! That's not like me! Me not "talk"? Ha....

We have been dealing with some big changes that still may or may not happen, and to be honest, it's taking its toll on me. We were presented with an opportunity, then it changed, then it changed some more, and now, you guessed it, it has changed yet again. We're not really sure what is going to happen, but I feel like He is in control, and right now...I'm waiting to be shown what's in His plan. Say a prayer for us please? We sure do need them about now!

Anyway...I do have some fun stuff to post about! Caroline's 1st day of 1st grade was today, and boy was she in full Caroline sass! Sometimes that girl cracks me up! And I have a Thought Filled Thursday to post with lots of thoughts on all sorts of things! Be sure to check in tomorrow for that post...there are just some things that never cease to amaze me!

I would probably feel so much better if I had been on here blogging out my thoughts, fears & frustrations...if I promise to be better, will you still be out there? I won't lie, I love to hear from my bloggy friends! You share the same struggles, and have some great things to say just when a girl needs a little boost!

Silly Girls

I already mentioned the Blog Party, but I haven't had the chance to fill you in on the rest of the weekend. Since I don't live in Dallas anymore, I stayed with my best friend Michelle and her family. Let me tell ya, I love them sooo much! We had a very brief chance to catch up, but it was still wonderful!

Gracie, Me, Lexi, Gabriel


I got there around 11:30 Friday night, after leaving the Blog Party and driving an hour, and they kids were still going strong! I always tell y'all about Caroline and her boundless energy, but these kids can rival her anyday! Lexi, their middle kiddo who just turned 5, is the spunkiest little thing! She had to dance for me, try on her new school uniforms, practice her cheerleading, and just entertain me to no end! Gabriel, who is 12 weeks older than Boog, gave me hugs, then just played on his PSP for a little while before joining in on the fun. Gracie is the baby, a little over 2, and the cutest darn thing ever! I just want to eat her up! I spent most of the time loving on her while I had the chance.

Lexi's cheerleader smile...HA!

Gabriel

Me & Gracie

Saturday morning, Caroline came over and had a chance to play with the girls before we headed back home. Those girls were caarraazzyy!!!!!! They danced again, and did flips, cartwheels, jumped all around, and made Michelle and I crack up!


Dancing girls

Cutie Pie Gracie

Lexi...Miss Sassy Pants {Hollie, maybe it's the name that causes the Sass?}



They did this all by their selves...they love each other so much!

And of course we had to try to get some "good" pictures, which was pretty histercial in itself when you're dealing with 5 chicks! After we took a picture Michelle and I would make sure we looked okay, then the girls...we took about 50 pictures, and these were the ones we didn't delete! LOL!

Attempt #1



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Attempt #2






Thanks Grubbs Crew for letting us come play! Love you!

Lovely Ladies

I had the pleasure of driving up to Dallas last weekend to meet up with some bloggers, some of which I have known for years and years. A little scary to meet a group of women you only read about, but hey, why not?

There was no need to panic though, these were some lovely ladies indeed! And I got to catch up with a dear friend of mine Jen, who I have known since we were in diapers...Jen got this whole thing going, so Jen deserves lots of credit for getting us together!

Dina, Kendra, Alyssa, Jennifer, Stacy, Nicole, Me, Jen, Adrien, Liz, Elyse, Suz & Gari-Ann

Of course with so many of us {17}, I didn't get the chance to chat it up with everyone a whole lot, so hopefully we will be doing this again!

But wow! What an incredible group of women, truly wonderful girls that I will love to keep in contact with. We all have different blogs, most seem to be based on our faith, mommying {I know this is not a word!}, fragliciousness {not a word, I know!}, decorating, and life {well duh!}. But it was really great to connect with other like minds, talk, share ideas, get feedback, and just have some good girl time.


Jen & Me

Me & Nicole
Let me tell y'all...this girl is a sweetie! I was so happy we got the chance to meet! We had great conversations and discovered that our little girls seem to have a lot in common!


Me & Elyse

Elyse, Me, Jen, Gari-Ann & Dina

Jen, Stacy {she shares my love of black nail polish}, Me & Nicole

Take the time and stop be these ladies blogs, you won't be sorry! It was soooo great to meet all of you! Thanks Jen!

The Dentist Chair

Poor Honey. He got his 1st real taste of the dentist yesterday! When Dr. E walked in, he literally did a double take! He had the funniest look on his face, we confused him! It's always me in Dr. E's chair. But, Tab broke a tooth, and I was safe from the chair! They ended up starting a root canal on it. And yes, I'm mean and took pictures of him. But only because he constantly makes fun of me and my dental woes. Which, if you read about, are many.....ughhhh! So, needless to say, husband o mine has a small understanding of what I constantly go through. But, this is all he has to get done. He's never had a filling, just his wisdom teeth pulled. Oh how I wish that was the case for me!

But for now, I am going to go back to gloating that HE was in the chair this time and not me!

Thought Filled Thursdays

I am officially changing to Thought Filled Thursdays! It's much easier this way.

-I am super duper excited to get to see some old friends and meet new ones! Glad I had a reason to head to Dallas to meet y'all! Caroline's dad lives up there and since he has driven down here the last 3 times he's seen her I offered to take her up there! Then low and behold, Jen plans a Girl's Night! Woo Hoo! See you soon!

-I just started a new book


-Why does getting dental work done hurt so dang much? Ughhh, just thinking about it makes me cringe.

-I'm sooooo ready for cool weather. I'm a sweater, jeans & boots girl. I mean I love tees, tanks, and my flops, but gimme a break, this is icky!

-I'm out of perfume. Do I stick with my "signature" scent {that's my mom talking!} or do I go out on a limb for something different? Just so you know, I wear Sung, Ralph Lauren Blue or Marc Jacobs Daisy. So what, I have 3 "signature" scents!


-I realize more and more lately that, yes, I love to shop, but I can't stand other shoppers. I am an impulse shopper, so when I see something I like, I take about 15 seconds to think, then I buy it or leave it. These people who can browse for hours...your nuts! Sorry, not really, but I do get annoyed! It's not really your fault, just my own impatience.

-I have to have something sweet after dinner, it's sad but true. But I found these great Hershey 100 Calorie Special Dark Chocolate bars...heaven to my hips...er, lips!

Little Tidbits

I was feeling a little down last night after having a really, really rough afternoon/evening with Caroline, so I thought I would post about some fun things today...after I vent about the monster { I mean sweet little angel}!


Talk about parenting wearing you down. Caroline is a little spoiled, but not in the she gets everything she wants kind of way. More of the mommy does too much for her kind of way! Meaning that I always get her snacks, drinks, help her with her bath...and now that I am trying to get her to do these things on her own, I'm paying for it! We are really trying to instill responsibility in her, and she is just not liking it. Got any tips? She'll gladly do things I don't ask her to, like sweep, dust, or change the trash because she knows she'll get rewarded for those things. When it comes to doing the "chores" we have given her, it's all out war! So needless to say, last night was a rough one. One of those where you have to just take a step back, walk away from your child, and take deep breaths! Whew! And then tell yourself it'll be okay. God love her, she is such a sweet little thing most of the time, and so very thoughtful, but when it comes to doing something she doesn't...watch out! Anyhow, I'm praying for guidance and doing some research on parenting books to give me some added encouragement. Let me know if you have a good book to read.

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On to the Little Tidbits portion of the post!

I thought it would be fun to leave some little tidbits of things about me for you to know. Maybe you already know some of them, if not, maybe you'll learn a little more about who I am. I also thought this might be fun for the girls that will be attending the DFW Blog Girls Night Out this Friday! So if you are going, or know some of the other girls who are, you can pass this post on to them, and if you want to play along, just do your own post, link to mine, and leave me a comment to stop by your blog and check it out!

1. I'm a daughter of Christ
2. I love coffee
3. I'm adopted
4. I LOVE dark nail polish: black, brown, blood red, deep purple
5. I have an addiction to shoes, just go here for proof
6. I'm crafty, creative, and love to paint
7. I'm extremely self-conscious, but very outgoing {go figure}
8. I talk non-stop and hate it!
9. I'm very eclectic, I like so many different things and styles
10. I love jeans and tee's
11. I adore James Avery and Brighton
12. My favorite wines are Rieslings
13. I have candles in every room of my house
14. Tattoo's anyone? I have 4.
15. I go to bed at 10pm during the week...how sad!
16. I get pedicures, then come home and repaint my toes, I think I paint them better
17. I have a tendency to cuss like a sailor when I get mad
18. I cry all the time, I wear my heart on my sleeve
19. I am a list maker, all the time, for everything
20. I.Hate.Traffic.
21. I have a nervous habit...which involves a small piece of cloth {my blankie} that I carry with me.
22. I love to watch little old couples dance, it melts my heart!
23. I carry my camera in my purse, I don't want to miss anything
24. I call everyone "honey", no clue why, I just catch myself doing it
25. I love my life and wouldn't change any of it!

Sneak Peeks

Just wanted to share what I've been up to lately! Here are some sneak peaks at some of my latest work. To see the rest...head on over to my other blog: Carolina Sunshine Designs!

BIG Changes

We had a great weekend filled with tons of fun! It was the first weekend in months that Tab wasn't working and we got to spend family time together....woo hoo! Friday night we had a celebration for my father in law, Frank, who turned 62 and "retired". I say "retired" because he isn't really retiring, but he is cutting way back! Right now he works around 80-90 hours a week, and he is going to just work 40 now! Ha! He just can't not work! Does that make sense? He's a workaholic. We had a good time with all his friends!




Now Saturday was a slightly different story. It was birthday party madness! We had 2 parties to hit for some of Caroline's best buds. They were timed really close together, so we had to hustle a little! The first was her little friend Braydin, a close family friend! He had his party at Peter Piper Pizza, which is just like Chuck E Chesse. The kids had a blast! I have never seen so many kids possessed with greed for tickets! OMGoodness these kids were crazy for tickets! Caroline had sooo much fun. I have managed to avoid this place for over 3 years now, and boy was she mad at me when we left!

Braydin


This is Caroline & Braydin earlier this summer
{The pic above is kida bad so you get this one too!}

This is a series of moods she quickly went through {about a 5 minute span!}







The second party was for her friend Scarlet. They were fast friends when we first moved down here, and love to get together! She had a movie party, so we ate and did presents then went to see Aliens in the Attic, which was a cute movie. Caroline really liked it which kinda shocked me! She doesn't normally like anything that mightpossiblycouldbe scary! I was even more surprised that she liked it because right before the movie, she went to the bathroom and got a little lost. Bless her heart, she didn't hear me say I would meet her by the bathroom {she went with some of the other moms} and she went back to the party room which was locked. She started bawling! When she finally saw me looking for her she would not let go of me! Then when we got home we were talking about what happened, and she reveals to me that she wasn't crying because she was lost, she was crying because the door was locked and her drink and purple balloon were locked in there! How funny is that? I asked her if she was scared that she couldn't find me, and she said no, she just wanted her stuff! Bless her sweet little heart! By that evening, she was tuckered out! Thanks friends for such an eventful day!


Asleep shortly after!

The rest of our weekend was pretty calm. We swam a little, cooked out, and visited with good friends!

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Big Changes: doesn't that just sound daunting? It can be! Please keep us in your prayers as we face some big decisions and changes right around the corner. I know He has a plan for us, and I think He's showing it to us now, which is a little scary! We may have some huge changes very soon, so please pray that we find our way! I promise to share them when we have something concrete, until then I'll be a little sketchy.

We have been struggling with some things for a while, and some of them are finally becoming clear to us. Of course I've blogged about a situation that was and still is heavy on my heart here and here. And husband has had a lot on his mind. In the last few weeks a lot has changed, been thought about, and decisions made. There are more to make {decisions} and we are taking our time figuring things out.