Let There Be Light

While I was in Florida, I stayed the night at Charon's house one night. She had THE CUTEST chandelier hanging over her dining room table. It was a copper washtub turned upside down and I LOVED it. I've seen them in magazines but those are WWWAAAAYYY out of our price range. I'll admit I was VERY jealous when I saw that she had one, 'til she told me that she MADE it. (ok, so her father in law made it, but you get the idea...) So when I got home I decided to make my own. Hers is the bright, new, shiny copper, but that wouldn't go with the decor in my house. I wanted one that was beat to heck with that primitive antiqued look to it. I found one at a little antique mall here in town.
Once I got my tub, Chris and I went to Home Depot to find a light fixture to mount inside it.
Chris mounted everything up for me and then replaced my old chandelier with the new one. I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!! I think it goes perfect with our decor!
Thanks for the idea, Charon!

HOME AGAIN!

My grandpa passed away this past week so I had to make an impromptu trip to Florida. I went by myself so that Chris and the kids could be here for work and school. Let's just say that our family doesn't do too well in stressful situations so Thursday and Friday morning were a little rough. Seeing Mama's grave for the first time and realizing that her house had been demo'd and a brand new home built in it's place, was NOT an easy thing for me.
However, Friday night I got to go out with my "BFF" Charon. Now we haven't seen each other since my mama died (but we email practically every day) and we haven't actually done anything together since I got married. Needless to say, we were a little excited to see each other. We went to Dunnellon for dinner at a place called Carmella's. I highly recommend it!!! When I walked in I asked the host if we could have a table in the back and he said he didn't have one. I said, "Well then put us around some people that like to have fun, cause we're probably going to get real loud."..... and we did!!! We had a ball and laughed hysterically. Everybody kept teasing us about being "party girls in the big town of Dunnellon" HA! Yes well... this is what "party girls" do when they're old and married.... they cruise the clearance aisles at WalMart looking for good deals on early Christmas shopping..once again.... we had fun!!!
After our trip to Wal-Mart, we decided that I would just spend the night with Charon. I lucked out that her hubby knew someone selling Gator tickets, so he ran over and picked them up for me!!! I was soooooooo excited. Ya'll know I LOVE me some Gator football!! I haven't been to a game since I was a Jr. or Sr. in high school. I took Andrea and our cousin, Allen. Poor ole Allen was raised to be a 'Nole, but by the beginning of the game, he was wearing a Gator shirt! He said it was cause the black shirt he was wearing was too hot, but I think he just realized that it's great to be a Gator! HA!
Our seats were in the south end zone. We were sitting there talking about the seats when the team came out to warm up and did their stretching excercises with their backs facing us. Andrea and I decided that our seats weren't "good" they were "GREAT" Allen wasn't nearly as enthused as we were. HA!
Welcome to THE SWAMP baby!!!!
They announced that there were 90,612 people in attendance that day.
Now I swore I'd never wear a sun visor as long as I live. Now I own 2 (I got one in Disneyland). But it was too freakin hot not to have something covering these big ole cheeks I inherited from my paternal side of the family. (I'm not going to give him the credit of calling him "Dad") I'm used to some heat out here, but good lands... IT WAS HOT!!! It was only like 95 degrees, but the humidity about killed me. I was wearing a white t-shirt and khaki shorts. By the time that game was over, I looked like I'd been sprayed with a hose and was entering a wet t-shirt contest. It was N-A-S-T-Y!! For the record, I told Andrea that this picture was going up no matter what. She made this face not thinking I'd really put it up...mmmmhmmm.... I hope she's embarrassed HA!
After the game, we went out to eat at my all time favorite restaurant- Sonny's Bar-B-Q. I don't know what it is about that place, but I LOVE IT!!! I even got a couple bottles of sauce to bring home. I'm waaaaaayyyy more excited about that then I really should be. lol
I went to church with Granny on Sunday. They have a new building and a lot of new people, but it was good to be back. I had to laugh at all the people that thought I was Katie. I'm going to pretend it's cause I look so young. HA! So many of those people were there during some very trying times in my life (my car accident and when Mama died) and they are very dear to my heart.
I flew home Sunday night. It was really nice to get away and see family and some old friends, but by Sunday I was ready to see my babies!!! This whole only going back for funerals thing is for the birds, so Chris and I are going to plan a FUN vacation to Florida sometime in the next year or so.

$200 Jeans... ya bite me.

My latest project:
Shelby has been DYING for a pair of True Religion or Miss Me jeans! Ya.. I don't pay $80 for kids jeans let alone $200 for jeans for myself. So here's what we got... cheap jeans that I decorated to to look like the expensive ones. I even used her bedazzler for the pockets! Ha! It's actually kind of fun and it gives me something to do at work. One of my co-workers owns a consignment shop that I put a few pairs in. If they sell great, if not then oh well! At least I was entertained for a while.

MY BIG BOY!

I swear it seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital. Now he's going to school. And not just pre-school "Big Boy School". He was SOOOOO excited to go. I got home and started making his special 1st day of school breakfast (grits and sausage). He came into the living room and I said, "Hey are you excited to go to school today?" He said, "Is it today?" "Yes" "Really? Today? I get to go today? You promise it's today?" "YES!" "Hurry up with my breakfast so I can go....Shelby it's today!...Daddy I get to go to kindergarten today!" (Apparently, "today" was the key word of the day.) I've never seen him get dressed so fast. He didn't even give me any guff about putting gel in his hair (usually you would swear I was putting toxic ooze on his head or something by the way he reacts.)

What's a day like "today" without family pictures? (ok, so it was actually yesterday but go with me here)

See....I told you he was excited. He didn't give

me any guff about taking his pictures either...

Once pictures were done, we went for the biggest, most exciting part of the day... THE BUS!!! Every year, poor Preston begs to ride the bus. Without fail, he cries all the way home cause he didn't get to ride the bus with the girls. This year was especially hard because he knew he would be riding soon... but not quite yet. Every year, I walk the kids up to the bus stop on the 1st day and then meet them at the school to make sure they get into their classrooms ok. It's what Mama did, so it's what I do. Let me tell ya... that was a long and lonely walk home without my baby... I did ok until I ran into my neighbor (sweetest old lady you could ever hope to meet!) and she SINCERELY started crying because "they grow up so fast. He starting school today. Next thing you know he'll be graduating and going on a mission and then he'll get married and move away and you won't see him anymore, but he's so excited even though your heart is breaking...." I politely excused myself and got in my car before I burst into tears right there on the dang street.

How sweet are they, holding hands walking up to the bus stop??? I just thought Morgan looked so cute today so I had to get a picture....At the bus stop....Shelby never fails to crack me up!! She was being silly and when we first saw the bus coming up the street, she patted me on the shoulder and said, "Well mom... you're boys going off to become a man." HAHAHA!!!! Preston was nice enough to tell me that if I got too bored at home without him, I could just come to the school and he would play with me during his toy breaks. How stinkin' cute is that?I also got video of him getting on the school bus as well as video of him getting off at the school... (I'll spare the majority of you, but it's available to those that really want to see it lol) When he got off the bus he said that the bus was like a "time machine" I have no clue what that meant, but he thought it was pretty exciting.

Preston with Mrs. Langford. Heaven help this poor woman.. HA! He wasn't overly thrilled about having to wear a name tag. He said, "You already know my name. I'm here every day remember." (He is always with me while I'm doing my PTA stuff.)

When I picked him up, he ran to me with a huge smile on his face. I asked if he had fun and he said, "Ya, I had so much fun I forgot to miss you.... Sorry mom!" LOVE IT!!!!

The Results Are In

Shelby made Jr. Prep Company and Morgan made Mini Company. These girls have worked SO hard and I'm so proud of them. They are both REALLY excited!!!!The girls with the flowers that we gave them for trying out. (for some reason they've decided to give Daddy all the credit for them though... sheesh!)

Shelby is excited that some of her friends are on her team and she had to overcome some SERIOUS nerves to even try out. She did it though and is SO glad she did!! Shelby ROCKS!
I want to add that Morgan made it even though she's never danced for this studio (other than hip hop) and hasn't really taken dance since she was 4 years old! GO MORGAN!!!!!

First Day of School

The girls started school yesterday. I can't believe that we have a 3rd grader and a 2nd grader. What's even harder to believe is that on August 31st, my baby is going to be in Kindergarten! How the heck did that happen??? The girls have GREAT teachers. They came home SO excited. Morgan has the same teacher that Shelby had last year. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her!!! Last year, she knew that I would be requesting her for Morgan so she sort of started taking her under her wing then. Morgan wasn't nervous at all. She already knew her pretty well which really helped. I've yet to convince Mrs. Fuson that Morgan and Shelby have VERY different personalities. They've had the same teachers every year and that's one of the comments that both of the previous teachers have made...."I just can't get over how different their little personalities are..." HA!Shelby has a male teacher for the first time. I was a little worried about how she would react to that, but she ADORES him. He's such a great person and from what I've heard, a phenomenal teacher. Although, he does a lot of homework assignments online so now, of course, Shelby thinks she needs her own laptop... um... ya... not gonna happen lol

I don't know why I love this picture so much, but I just think it's the cutest thing ever! They were so excited to ride the bus that they were practically running up to the bus stop.
I'll definitely be posting about Preston's 1st day. He had his open house yesterday and has his assessment on Wednesday. I was so excited when he kept missing letters in the alphabet this morning. He really knows his ABC's but I really want him to go to all day kindergarten. Yes, I know that's awful of me, but with my schedule it would make my life so much easier. (even though I'm gonna go crazy with him gone every day.)But, I really do think he could use the extra help, so we'll see!!!!
Dance tryout results are supposed to be up any minute....

Go DRAGONS

That title was easy since BOTH kids team names are THE DRAGONS (much shorter than the Blue Bunny Crushers from last year) . Last year, Preston was much more interested in wrestling with his team mates than he was in playing soccer. Not this year. He's a man on a mission!! In his first game he scored 3 goals. After his 3rd goal his coach told him he was "a natural". Preston ran over to the other team. Pointed to our goal and said, "Hey did you guys see how many goals I scored? Yeah it's cause I'm a natural." HAHA!! Ok so now we just need to work on his humility!! Morgan has been pretty decent at soccer from day one. In the spring she really excelled and so far this year has been no different. She scored 8 goals in her first game. After her 2nd goal her coach's husband said, "Damn, she's good!" and after her 6th goal the coach said, "Ya, we struck gold with her!" She LOVES soccer. Preston was determined to teach Morgan how to score as many goals has he scored. I finally said, "Buddy, she's already scored 7." He held up his fingers and said, "1..2..3..4.......Ah Crap!" Poor little guy lol She has another game tonight.
We didn't forget about Shelby. Both girls are trying out for dance companies this year. Shelby is taking more dance classes than Morgan and will get to play basketball this winter. We'll find out what teams they made on Friday and I'll post as soon as we know something!!

New Project

The girls and I got tired of making the flower clips and watch bands pretty quick. Here's the latest and greatest project we're doing:

Start with a Scrabble game piece and screw a little eye screw in the top. We just got ours from the hardware store. They're cheaper and easier to find than jewelry supplies.

Measure and cut a piece of scrapbook paper or small picture. and glue it to the Scrabble piece with a glue stick.Then cover it with epoxy or resin to give it that glass/tile look. We used Epoxy because 1)it's cheaper than resin and 2)it sets up a lot faster than resin.... anyway... spread a small amount of epoxy on the game piece and let it sit until it's completely cured. (about 20 minutes) Add a chain and WALLAH.... you have darling little interchangeable necklaces.

Why drive to the coast when you can stay in Cedar.

That's right folks, Cedar City has a new "beach". The city is building a new HUGE aquatic center and as part of it, they've built a little man made lake and a beach. This week our great friends, the Daltons, came to visit so we decided to go check the new lake out. It's actually really nice. It's brand new so it's still really clean and it wasn't overcrowded. The kids had a blast!

Family Vacation Part 3

The 3rd and final day of our vacation started off in Disneyland. The MLB Allstar game was in Anaheim this year, so they had a lot of the festivities at Disneyland on Tuesday. The TV networks did a big broadcast from the park, and they threw a parade for all of the players, coaches and everyone else involved in the Allstar game. As we were walking up main street, the kids wanted to know why all the people were sitting on the side of the street. Chris and I convinced them that they were throwing a special parade just for us. They walked a good 30 yards waving to the crowd before they realized we were teasing them. All 3 of them had these big smiles on their faces and were doing the most perfect "parade waves" you've ever seen. Chris and I were laughing so hard we couldn't breathe, let alone get a picture.

Gotta love Mickey!

Surprisingly, Preston wasn't too impressed with Minnie Mouse. HA!
Me and the girls in Minnie's cottage
After a trip through Toon Town, we headed over to California Adventure. (It's basically MGM for those of you back home)
The girls were STOKED to ride the Tower of Terror and the California Screamin' roller coaster. Preston was NOT feelin' either one of those!!!!! They let us do a passenger switch on the Tower of Terror so the girls got to ride 2 times in a row. They thought they were pretty tough stuff!!! HA! I've ridden it before at MGM, and I was very quickly reminded why I swore I'd never do it again! It's sad when my 7 and 8 year old are tougher than I am!

Why can't all vending machines be this honest????
Preston LOVES Lightening McQueen. Everything this child owns has Lightening on it. To say that he was a little excited to meet "the REAL" Lightening and Mater would definitely be an understatement. However, he was extrememly disappointed that Lightening couldn't autograph his book. HA!
It should come as no surprise to anyone that Morgan LOVES Jessie!!!! We got soooo lucky to get this picture. We waited in line for 20 minutes, only for them to decide that time was up and that Woody and Jessie needed to leave when we were NEXT!! I BEGGED the guy to please just let us slip in.

Anyone that knows me knows that I LOVE FIREWORKS!!! The fireworks at Disneyland definitely do not disappoint. Morgan got so excited when Tinkerbell flew over the crowd and sprinkled her "pixie dust". Unfortunately Shelby missed it, because she was watching the the big fireworks. Silly girl!!!
After a VERY long day, we made our way back to our hotel and crashed before heading home on Wednesday. I don't have the best luck coming home from Disney, and this trip was no different. One time, Charon and I got lost on the way home and ended up just outside of TAMPA!!! (2 1/2 hours from home!) Another time, I fell asleep in the car and dreamed that we were going off the side of the road so I woke up and jerked the steering wheel, almost causing us to wreck. This time, I got sick!
Despite the ride home, it was an amazing vacation. The kids are at the perfect age to go. They were all big enough to ride all of the rides, but still young enough to appreciate the magic of the place. LOVED! IT!

Family Vacation Part2

Well this picture pretty much sums up the Sea World experience. The girls LOVED it!!! Preston...... not so much.

The girls were absolutely fascinated by the whales.
Preston was ticked off that we didn't get soaked even though we were in "the soak zone"

Morgan and Preston really liked the dolphin show and carried their stuffed dolphins ALL OVER the park.
Shelby just thoroughly enjoyed the frozen lemonade. I think she had 5 of them. My kids are WAY into the whole "punch buggy" thing. They got SOOOOO excited when they saw the "shamu punch buggy."
After our day in the park, we explored San Diego for a couple hours then made our way back to L.A. Sea World was fun, but not necessarily a place we'll be making a special trip to!
Part 3 to come.