The Perry's

Happy New Year 2011!

2011-01-03T15:33:00.003-06:00

I hope everyone had a very Happy New Year! My 31st birthday was on December 31st and this was the first year that it began to feel like just any ordinary day. Last year was sort of different as I turned 30, but it was a milestone and was celebrated by all. Being a New Year's baby has always been tough as everyone is partying anyway and instead of them thinking it is your birthday party, they just think it is a New Year's party and you kinda get put on the back burner. But, this year it didn't bother me for the first time ever. I even went to sleep at 11:45. I celebrated with the hubster watching Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest during New York City's change of the clock to midnight. So, I gave him a smooch at midnight, just not our midnight! ha

This year, I am also going to try to stick to a few New Year's Resolutions. I am vowing to 1. Post to my blog at least once a week, if not more. There may not be but one person that reads it, but I am planning on printing it out again this year as a book. It is always interesting to go back and read my blog book from a couple of years ago and a wonderful way to document my kiddos. 2. The usual diet...I am going to try to lose weight. Not making any promises. May not be hard core, but anything is better than nothing, right? and 3. To have fun and live life to it's fullest with my little family and try not to get so mad at the ones who seem to love to be downers! :)

So, here's to a new year and the "New Adventures of the Old Heather"!

Merry Christmas from The Perry's!

2010-12-23T15:38:00.004-06:00

Hope that everyone has a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Today's the Day...

2010-10-04T08:30:00.002-05:00

Today is the day for the meeting with Jackson's teachers. Why am I so nervous? I have never had to have a meeting with a teacher other than at parent/teacher conferences.

I Very Much Dislike ADHD..... or is it just my parenting skills?

2010-09-30T11:29:00.005-05:00

The picture above is how I have felt for the past five weeks. My oldest was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in February of this year. Medication was started and by May, his grades were making a turn for the better. School year starts, first and second week are ok. In comes third week and bam....the trouble begins. He is 9 and in the third grade. They have started changing classes. One teacher in the morning who teaches Science, Social Studies and Math and one in the afternoons that teaches Spelling, Vocabulary and Reading. A note is sent home by the afternoon teacher, who also happens to be my stepsister who has been my stepsister for 12 years and I have never met's daughter....our families do not exactly get along, saying that Jackson is not focusing and she wants me to talk to him. Okay. I will talk to him, but he's a 9 year old boy that doesn't exactly "listen" to mama. I also write her back reminding her about his ADHD since that causes one to not "focus" and that we had just started him back on his medication a few weeks before. The next week, she sends home a two page note stating that he is still not focusing and that it is not the medication as he is chosing not to focus because he told her he chose not to focus. Ummm, is it just me, or isn't that the VERY definition of ADHD? I call her and we talk and no plan is made to help the situation. I asked her several times what she wanted me to do so that I could try to make this situation better and she says she has no suggestions. OK. The next week, I notice that he has written in his planner that he has a Science test that Friday (this is Monday). I write in his planner that is sent home everyday that he has not brought home a Science Study Guide and was wondering if we could get one sent home to study. Tuesday comes, nothing is sent home. So, I write in the planner once again that he needs a study guide. On Wednesday, the teacher writes that Jackson lost his study guide and it is now up to him to get with another student and copy their two page study guide onto a sheet of paper. I then write a long note back to the teacher how ridiculous it is to expect a 9 year old boy to take it upon himself and get with another student and that I send him to school to learn and expect the materials to be given to him to learn and that if she would send another study guide home, it would be greatly appreciated. I also called the principal and voiced my disappointment in this decision made by the teacher. I am told that the Superintendent will only allow the teachers to use so much paper and that if a certain teacher uses "too much" paper, she will have to buy paper out of her own pocket. Ummm... once again, I'm thinking to myself, "Isn't that what we pay our taxes for? Oh, I forgot it's not so my child can have an extra study guide, it's for the Superintendents almost $200,000 a year salary." I am then told that the study guides will now be available on the internet for me to print out in case this ever happens again. I also tell a school board member who is a friend of mine how ridiculous the whole "paper issue" is and he agrees. Good thing that Jackson loves Science, because he made a B on the test after only studying for it one night as he found his study guide in his desk. Sigh... Last week, something not too big happened that I can't remember. Tuesday of this week, he receives a strike (check on the board) for not bringing his planner from his morning class to his afternoon class and then yesterday, he received a strike for not bringing this reading book that I was told was only needed on Mondays along with another note from his afternoon teacher that he continues to stuggle and a meeting is requested with both teachers on Monday of next week.

This is our fifth year at this school and this is the first time I have ever had this problem. Yes, we held him back in first grade which was a great decision. Second grade was a struggle only in Math. He has been tested for learning disability in math, which I think I blogged about previously. He does not have one. We are taking our medicine everyday. He continues to struggle with math. He does very well in Science and Spelling. Our problems are vocabulary and math.

My questions for you all are this:

Am I getting defensive by thinking that my child is being picked on? I found out that his afternoon teacher has talked to my stepmother about my son. This is NOT OKAY with me and isn't that illegal? I do not even talk to her about my child or anything else for that matter.

We actually live in another school district that has smaller classes that everyone around here loves and I have found somewhere they can go in the afternoon. Should I switch schools? They want to, but I'm scared that maybe I am reading too much into this situation and what if it happens up there?

We do homework everyday and go over study guides and spelling words everyday. Is there something else I should be doing? Jackson does have an "I don't care" attitude in the afternoon classes now. If he is yelled at or talked to in a certain tone, he shuts down so to speak and doesn't even try. He has started calling himself a loser and stupid. I reassure him that he is not stupid and definately not a loser.

I am at my wits end. What do I do?

Lost Disappointment

2010-05-24T10:22:00.003-05:00

For those of you that watch Lost, I would like to know your thoughts on the series finale.... I know the "lost folks" can't make everyone happy, but I, for one, was very disappointed. I have read that the island stuff really happened and that eventually everyone at the end had died and the LA scenes from the flash sideways were their purgatory. What I wanted to happen was that everyone gets off the island before it sank into the ocean and the island never was and so oceanic flight 815 had landed safely and electromagnetism had erased their memories and everyone was still alive and happy and they eventually remember what happened on the island and lived happily ever after! (Biggest run-on sentence in history there, I know! ha) But, this was not the case.... I cried for like 30 minutes after it went off (Crazy, I know). My hubby kept laughing at me, of course, but I explained to him that this was MY show and I didn't want MY peeps to be dead! ha Anyway, just wanted to put that out there.....

I {heart} LOST!!

2010-05-20T11:39:00.003-05:00

My all time favorite show is coming to an end on Sunday, which happens to be my baby girl's 7th birthday! I have loved shows before, but not like this! It is the most amazing show ever written! I do have to say that I am still confused right now with what has been going on. It is nice to know some things, such as "The Man in Black" and Jacob are twin brothers, that Locke really is dead, that Faraday and Penny are brother and sister, etc. I am so confused by the whole light thing on the island. I'm still confused by how this could end in that I am wondering if the alternate timeline is what is really happening now since they are probably fixing to blow up the island and it will be as the island never existed, but what's up with the flashbacks that they are having of the island now in the alternate timeline? If Jack is the new Jacob, does he have to stay on the island? Are they all really dead? I don't know. Either way, the journey was fun and I hate to see it go!

Which Lost Character Are You?

More on Lost. Created by BuddyTV

Christmas 2009

2009-12-30T13:45:00.005-06:00

Well, Christmas has come and gone and I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! We sure did at the Perry household. Busy, but merry!

The week started out with festivities at the in laws'. The whole gang was together and everyone was happy with their gifts and the kids had tons of fun outside, it was rather warm that day.

On Christmas Eve, my mom and stepdad come up and stay the night so that they can see what Santa brought the next morning. We had our feast and watched the traditional National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and added A Christmas Story to the agenda this year. We baked cookies for Santa and the kids set them out for him. They awoke to many gifts that were wanted and some that they didn't even ask for.

On Saturday, we had Christmas with my brother and sister and then traveled to Ashdown to my dad's and visited there for a bit.

Hope everyone has a HAPPY NEW YEAR and after turning the big 3-0 tomorrow, I can't wait to see what 2010 will bring us!

Christmas Time is Here!!!

2009-12-10T15:18:00.004-06:00

As you can see, everyone in the Perry household is ready for Christmas, even Lola, the cat! She loves to lay under my tree every year and then gets mad at me when I put presents under it. Isn't she sweet?!

This is our tree this year. You can't see my spriggly things that I'm using this year for the tree topper, but I was just playing around with my camera on this picture.This is my attempt at the kids' Christmas picture for this year. They were super good and sweet!! I think it turned out ok!

They continued to pose for me even after I got the picture that I wanted. This is usually a task for my kids. They are not the ones that love to pose! I guess anything with Santa though, will get you in the mood! :)

Love his picture of Jackson!! Looks so sweet and innocent!

Last, but not least, my neice, Ashley, was the lead in her senior play. She played Alice from the play "Wonderland". She did a very good job and we are super proud of her!!!

Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!! Not sure if anyone even reads this anymore, but I know Debbi will see it! ha

Our Summer in Photos...

2009-09-02T09:02:00.004-05:00

I haven't posted since the last day of school and here it is, a week and a half into the NEW school year. I guess you could say I took the summer off or was addicted to facebook in a bad way, whichever you prefer....(your fault Debbi!! haha I would never have been on facebook if it wasn't for you! ha) Anyway, I hope everyone had an enjoyable summer. I have kept up with everyone's blogs even if I didn't comment. This summer was very uneventful, which is good in a way. I needed some peace and time to slow down since last summer was so busy and spent living at my in laws out of boxes!

The summer started off with the 52nd or 53rd (can't remember) Annual Bradley County Pink Tomato Festival, which is what I blogged about on my very first blog on here 2 years ago! It was a sweltering 103 this day and with Arkansas humidity, you might as well say it was 115! This is the only pic I got of the kids together. They had their hair painted by the local cheerleaders.

Next event of the summer was the 4th of July. This is, once again, the only pic of them together. Chris was shooting fireworks while we watched on the porch. We weren't able to do very many fireworks since there was a burn ban and we didn't want to set anything on fire!

Sometime in July, we went to visit my dad who moved to Ashdown a year or so ago. This is the first time I had been there. My grandfather (dad's dad) from St. Louis was in town and we went to visit. He is 89 years old and drove all the way from St. Louis by himself. He got lost 4 times....

Next the summer brings August 19th...the first day of 2nd grade for Jackson and

the first grade for Lauren!

And also, 9 years of marriage was celebrated by my hubby buying me a 2 carat black diamond that I picked out a ring for!! I love it! I got him a new golf bag and golf balls! ha

And this brings me to this past Saturday...Jackson's 8th birthday! I could remember the day of his birth like it was yesterday!! He weighed 8 lbs. 7 1/4 oz!!

It was also a momentous day not only for him turning 8, but he received as his gift from us, his very first set of golf clubs. We are a golf family and this is special to us!! I can't wait to take pics of him when his dad takes him to play on the course this weekend!! I know a tear will be in my eye! I always wanted him to play golf even before he was conceived! :)

That brings you up to speed on the Perry Family!! Hope to post more often as we get back into the swing of things!!

Graduation & Vacation!

2009-06-04T13:01:00.003-05:00

Lauren graduated from Kindergarten Monday morning. She was so excited and sad at the same time. She had a great teacher this year. Jackson also had an awards ceremony that morning after her graduation. It was definately a busy day!

Here's the Class of 2021: (doesn't that sound mucho weird???)

Lauren received a trophy for Perfect Attendance for the whole year, she also had all A's this quarter, honor roll for the year, Citizenship Club for the year and Numberjack awards!

Jackson received awards for being a Handy Handwriter and Perfect Attendance. He did wonderful this year...a vast improvement. He had all A's except for his math and that is what held him off the honor roll. Go Jackson!

Thanks to Maury and Brian (Dena's hubby) for recommending places to stay in Gulf Shores. We have picked this one. It is in the Phoenix I. Not the most beautiful place, but hey...who says we will be in the room very much!? haha I'm soooooo excited for the kids to see the beach! This will be our first official family vacation. I can't wait!

Lauren's Birthday

2009-05-26T13:13:00.003-05:00

Saturday was Lauren's birthday and her party was supposed to be at the city park. Unfortunately, it started to rain an hour before her party and didn't let up until that night, so we had to have the party at Mazzio's here in town. It was a disappointment, but I think the kids had fun.

Here's the cake that Tiffany made. So cute and soooo yummy! Thanks, Tiffany!

Lauren enjoying her cupcake.

Jackson taking a break to eat a piece of cake.

Lauren and the girls from her class:

She had a great day and thanks to everyone that came to the party or called to tell her Happy Birthday and Thanks, Kristy for the gift!! She got it on Saturday, we just haven't slowed down enough for her to call yet, but we will!

Happy Birthday, Lauren!

2009-05-22T13:35:00.005-05:00

On May 23, 2003, my sweet baby girl was born at 7:35 p.m. weighing 7 lbs. 12 oz. and was 21 inches long. After only 11 and a half hours of labor, a wonderful epidural this time and one push, she was brought into this world! Nothing has been the same since! She and Jackson may fight sometimes (most of the time), but they do love each other. She is growing up to be the girly girl that I always wanted and I swear she thinks she is 26 sometimes! She loves her friends, family and horses! No, we do not have any horses, but she is convinced that she is getting one at her birthday party this year. Sorry to disappoint, but at least it is a My Little Pony themed birthday party! We love her very much and can't wait for many more birthday's to come!!

**I really wanted some pictures on here of her through the years, but I haven't set my printer/scanner up at our house yet**

This is Lauren on her birthday last year..

Going to preschool in 2007:

Jackson and Lauren being goofy, Spring 2008:

Lauren and Jackson in tub, 2007:

I'm so jealous of her tan already...I will never be that dark! :)

Our Week

2009-05-19T08:36:00.006-05:00

New Moon Movie Poster:

Hope everyone is doing okay. I think most of us have slacked off on posting. It's so easily done considering time always seems to get by me. It has been a whirlwind the past of couple of weeks, that's for sure. In addition to the time slip, I have been uploading my pictures to my laptop at home and for some reason, the pictures aren't wanting to post to blogger. Very weird. So I have to go ahead and upload them to snapfish and copy them to my computer at work to even post...I have to admit, I am rather lazy..ha

Here is the picture of my rings. The main one in the middle is my engagement ring and if you squint and look really hard, you can see the teeny tiny thing that is considered my wedding band. So, I went and had these two bands put on each side of my existing ring. What do ya think? I likey! :)

The week started off with Lauren losing her very first tooth!

Lauren had her first real dance recital on Saturday. She had an informal one at Christmas, but this was full on with costumes and everything. It was very chaotic. She had practice everyday last week after school and on Friday was suppose to have pictures done, the photographer never showed up and the location that we were to have those done and do the dress rehersal was double booked by the mayor's office, so we got booted out. So, on Saturday morning, we had dress rehersal at 10 a.m. and then had pictures at 6 p.m. and recital at 7. Whew! I was glad for it to all be over, but sad in that it was something Lauren loves to do and she won't get to do it again until school starts in August. It was a Disney themed recital and the first song was Sebastian from The Little Mermaid singing Hot, Hot, Hot. So cute! The second song was Everybody wants to be a Cat from the Aristocats movie (not my fave). She did a GREAT job and we are very proud of her. She will turn 6 on Saturday...where has time gone? She is my baby!

Hope everyone has a great rest of the week!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-13T09:13:00.001-05:00

Monday, Monday..

2009-05-11T11:38:00.003-05:00

Hope everyone had a great mother's day! Mine was great and consisted of a nice day of relaxing, listening to the rain and I got two new rings to go on both sides of my wedding ring (pic to come later)! One from each kiddo! I have been wanting to do this for quite sometime and Daphne and Michael at Fugua's did not disappoint! Thanks Chris and my sweet children! :) Now, if only I could get rid of this cold that has been plaguing our house, I will be set!

Prayers go out to the family of Tasha Strong. She was a sweet girl that graduated the year before Chris and had an accident early Sunday morning, submerging her car in the overflow from the Saline River by the Possum Valley Road turnoff.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-06T10:31:00.001-05:00

Boring..

2009-05-04T08:43:00.003-05:00

If anyone had wondered (Debbi, :) ) where I have been...I have been around, just not busy. Absolutely nothing has happened around the Perry household. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining...but it hurts my posting. haha

I'm glad that the school year is winding down. Lauren will have a field trip on the 14th to the Pine Bluff Nature Center (Jackson went a couple of weeks ago). I was kinda bummed about this because normally every year for decades the Kindergarten has went to the zoo and I was looking forward to going with Lauren to that. I don't know what happened, but they aren't going this year. Lauren's first official dance recital is next Saturday, the 16th and I'm ready for that! She did such a great job at the Christmas one! And then, her 6th birthday is May 23rd! Where has time gone? Jackson will be 8 in August and that is crazy to me too!

I took the kids to see Disney on Ice last Saturday. It was fun and cute, but not as good as Finding Nemo on Ice. I have never really been a Peter Pan fan and the whole second half was Peter Pan. The kids had fun and that's what mattered!! They wanted to eat at Chuck E Cheese's, but I had to draw the line somewhere, so we eat at T.G.I.Friday's! I know, bad mommy!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Swine Flu Ad

2009-04-30T08:42:00.002-05:00

In 1976, the U.S. had a swine flu outbreak..not a big one, but I saw this ad and had to share! So funny to me!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-29T11:30:00.001-05:00

What a day!

2009-04-21T22:58:00.003-05:00

My day did not start off good at all. Lauren argued with me over what outfit to wear (she's 5, what the crap?) and then on the way out the door, she argued about what shoes to wear. I tell her to wear a certain pair and, of course, she doesn't want to wear them and just sits on the porch. I tell her we are going to be late for school, she doesn't care. She finally gets up and comes to the car. Upon getting in the car, one her of her flip flops falls off. I tell her to get it and get in. She gets it, tries to get back in and it falls off again. I get out and get it and tell her to get her seatbelt on. She sits on the third row seat. Jackson sits on the second. When we arrive at school, Lauren climbs over to the second row and knocks over Jackson's Dr. Pepper that was in the cup holder and it spills on him. He starts bellering like someone has killed him and will not get out of the car. I have to drag him out and I tell him to have a good day. He then snarls and says that it is NOT going to be a good day! Wow, okay. I then go to the Donut Palace to get breakfast. While in line waiting, I put my makeup on. I poke my eye with the mascara wand and mascara goes all on the spot under my eye and makes me look like I have been crying for days. I get that cleaned up. I'm thinking to myself...it's going to get better! I get to work and get out of the car and drop my purse. As I lean down to pick it up, the large sonic cup I was holding gets smushed and dr. pepper runs down into my shirt, into my bra. I know have a sticky chest area to go along with my black eye! Things seem to calm down after this for the most part. I get home and Jackson has a note in his backpack from the principal. He and another boy got into trouble and will miss their recess tomorrow because they hit each other. Ugh! The one boy had his hand in Jackson's face, telling him to quit talking to him so Jackson slaps his hand down and tells him to get it out of his face. The boy then hits Jackson in his stomach and Jackson hits the boy in his back. Geez! On top of that, he brought home 2 strikes for playing and talking in class. Boy, I sure hope tomorrow is better!

Easter Weekend

2009-04-15T21:11:00.004-05:00

***I have had this post ready for two days, but have been having trouble loading my pictures on here from my laptop. I will just have to post them later, especially the window ones.***

Hope everyone had a great Easter!! Judging from all the pictures, looks like everyone had fun! Our weekend started off with one of my neices coming to stay the night. She brought me some Fortune Cookie (yum!) and we watched the movie New in Town with Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick, Jr. I have to say that I was very disappointed! Not that great!

On Saturday, my mom came up to stay the night and we worked out in the yard. My father in law came over to bush hog and in doing so, got a piece of rebarb caught up in the bush hog part and it went slinging onto my back porch and and went through one of the windows. It even bent the little window pane thingees. Lovely!

On Easter, before it started raining cats and dogs, the kids went outside to look for eggs and the Easter bunny left their baskets on the inside of the house while they were gone! How nice of him, right? haha

P.S. For us Arkansas folks, if you are wanting to take the kiddos to see Disney on Ice next weekend at Alltel, you can go to ticketmaster.com and pick 4 tickets with the promotion code "mom" and get them for $10 each!! We did and I can't wait to go! :)

Have a good weekend!

Seven Pounds

2009-04-09T09:32:00.001-05:00

Has anyone seen this? It was horrible and wonderful all at the same time. It was a good movie, though. I was shocked and still cried for over 20 minutes all the while my hubby is laughing at me. I couldn't help it! I'm an emotional person anyway, but there were some hormones thrown in there to boot! Gosh, wild movie.

Advice

2009-04-08T10:17:00.002-05:00

Awww!! thanks everyone for making me feel loved again!

Now, I am in search of some parenting advice. My little boy is a sweet little boy, but when he gets mad, he is stubborn and very angry. If I tell him no, he just keeps on. I have finally told him that once I say no, that is it...quit talking about it because my mind is not going to change. He and his sister fight constantly. I know this behavior is pretty normal for 7 and 5 year old siblings. But, today for instance, his teacher just called me. She said that yesterday afternoon they did a writing exercise after they were done doing standardized testing, so many of them were sloppy as the kids were tired. She had several of them redo the exercise this morning. Jackson didn't want to do it, so he slopped down the writing and wouldn't even put his name on the paper. When she told him that he could do better and wanted him to erase it and start over, he got mad and broke the temple off his glasses. UGH! What do I do? Of course, he will be in trouble when he gets home and the Wii is definately off limits for a while, but he has gotten to where he has a smart mouth (something else that I read was typical of his age, but I don't remember being that way) and when told to do something, I have to stay on him until he finally does it. Many a night we have struggled getting homework done due to the fact that he just didn't want to do it and then I pressure him to do it and he loses it and screams and just throws an all out temper tantrum. I'm spanking and he finally will do it. This is not everyday, just only every once in a while. The teacher he has this year is the same one he had last year and as wonderful as she is, I sometimes wonder if he knows how to play her? I don't know..I need help and advice. What should I do? We have tried taking things away, spanking, being stern and we are at our wits end.

comments

2009-04-07T09:40:00.001-05:00

It's really sad that no one comments on my posts. I had 0 with the last post, 4 with the one before and 1 in the one before that!

Our Weekend

2009-04-06T09:57:00.005-05:00

Hope everyone had a beautiful weekend!! Ours was beautiful, but boy, was it windy!

Jackson finally lost his first top tooth, making it his fourth tooth to lose and the Tooth Fairy left him a little cash that he immediately spent the next day on a toy airplane and stuffed dalmation. I try to encourage him to put it in his savings account, but not this time...he wasn't having it! ;)

Friday night, my washing machine (which is only 5 years old) went out and so Saturday morning was spent going to Pine Bluff and getting a new one. I wasn't upset, because I wanted one with a bigger tub. Mission Accomplished!! I can put two loads to my one usual load in my new one!! I was done in the half the time! LOVE IT!

Saturday afternoon, I went to Monticello to take pictures of my neice, Ashley's first prom. We decided to take some at the lake.

Yesterday was spent cleaning and resting. How was your weekend?

What's been going on...

2009-03-31T10:02:00.006-05:00

Last Thursday and Friday, I took some vacation days to spend with my kiddos at the end of their spring break. We had lots of fun.

On Thursday, Chris took off with us and we went to Lowe's and bought 14 more bags of mulch to put outside, more stepping stones and some solar lights. We came home and the afternoon consisted of putting all that stuff out and boy, was I sore the next day!

On Friday, Kristy came down for the next week and a half with her beautiful baby girl, Brecken! That morning was spent at the village in Star City. I had to go to Fuqua's so that Daphne and Michael can design me a couple of rings to go on either side of my wedding ring and to pick up my repaired Caerleon ring. I can't wait to see what they come up with! We ate at the bbq place, went to the leather shop for some shoes and of course, hit the bakery!! love it! The whole afternoon, though, was spent with Brecken and Kristy. Jackson and Lauren love going to Poppy and Janice's house (Kristy's parents). They are like a third set of grandparents for my kids. They are truly wonderful! We had a lot of fun, except that I was the brave one that clipped Brecken's fingernails for the first time. I get to the last finger and nick the poor baby. I still feel so bad! I hope she is doing okay!

Lauren and Brecken

Poppy pushing Jackson and Lauren, along with sticks, in a wheel barrow.

After visiting with Kristy and her fam, we stopped by the station to see Daddy. Here's Lauren acting goofy.

Pic of Lauren and Daddy taken by Jackson. Quick family pic, taken by Jackson.

On Saturday, I took the kids to the movies to see Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D. It was pretty good, but the best part was the 3D aspect of it! I don't think I have seen a 3D movie since I was their age! We then went to Red Lobster (my kiddos love it!) and then to Lowe's again to buy more mulch and more solar lights!

On Sunday, I put out the rest of the mulch and bushes and solar lights. (hope to have a pic up soon) It is looking better...trying to de-trailorfy (sp?) my house as much as possible!

Hope everyone had a great week last week!

The Weekend

2009-03-23T10:05:00.004-05:00

The weekend started off busy and stayed that way. We have yet to open the Wii Fit that I just HAD to have ASAP, we haven't had time!! haha

Friday, I got the kids ready and we headed to the short, but sweet wedding of my brother and Patsy. We were there maybe a total of 30 minutes and then me and my kiddos met up with my sis and her family at Molly's and ate supper. My hubby was at one of his friend's houses and we stopped by for a minute and said hey. He is the stepdad to one of Lauren's classmates/friend, Kaelie.

Lauren before the wedding.

The new family

Lauren and Kaelie

Saturday, the kids and I came to town and then to Monticello to Walmart, Cato's and Payless. Went to Keepsakes to get a flag and they were closed. When did she start closing on Saturday?

Yesterday, I cleaned all morning and then went to Pine Bluff for the sale that JcPenney's was having (scored some duds for the munchkins) and went to Lowe's to get my rocking chair for my front porch and some of that red mulch stuff for the shrubbery that we have been putting out. We got 4 bags and come to find out, I need about 12 more! I didn't know! When I got home, we planted about 7 more plants, put the mulch out and burned a burn pile that has been sitting there forever. Needless to say, I'm tired and sore!

This week is spring break for the kids and I'm taking off Thursday and Friday. I know one of those days will be taking another trip to Lowe's for the mulch!

What did you do this weekend?

Wii and Prayers

2009-03-19T09:50:00.004-05:00

I got my Wii Fit!!! Thanks to everyone for looking out for one for me. I got it yesterday. A friend of mine's fiance works in Pine Bluff and they had 4 of them!! Jackpot! I haven't taken it out of the package yet, but we will be breaking it out tonight!

Maybe I can lose a few pounds!

My brother is getting married tomorrow night. They have only been dating six months, but I guess when you are 42, you know when you know, right? Please keep them in your prayers. The first year is the hardest, or so they say.

Also, a friend of mine just lost her mother two years ago this April 8th. She was only 49 and died from lung cancer. Now, her stepfather has been diagnosed with colon cancer and they will taking some of it out today. He should not have to have a colostomy when it is over, but we will see. They also are taking out his gall bladder because the doctor said it had a stone in it the size of an egg and that he didn't want gall bladder trouble in addition to the chemo. They also found some cysts on his liver, but aren't concerned about them as much as they are a different spot on the liver that they will be looking at during the surgery. Please keep her family in your prayers as well. All too soon, especially since it has been exactly two years right now that they were in the same hospital for almost the same reason and they have the same surgeon that her mom had.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Random Thoughts

2009-03-17T08:28:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posting and thanks, Robin, for checking on me!! I just have had some very uneventful weeks and nothing to comment about really. Which is good in a way, because I sure do not want anything negative to happen!!

I really want a Wii Fit, but am having a terrible time in finding one! They have been sold out everywhere I look, even online. I looked at ebay, but those folks are smoking something, because they are WAY overcharging. I can wait, I suppose unless someone knows somewhere I can get one ASAP? :)

My hubby went to the doc yesterday (1st time he's been since we have been together-12 years). He was really hurting and I kept telling him it was a pinched nerve as it started in his back and went down his left leg. Come to find out, he has a bulging disc which is pinching a nerve and his blood pressure was 176/102. Not good. So he came out of there with a medicine to help with nerve pain, a blood pressure medicine and a med for his high triglycerides, which was in the 400's and they are suppose to be 53-104. He's 31 and smokes. The doc didn't even tell him to quit smoking, or so he says. He's not overweight either.

I'm tired of the cold and rainy weather here. Can't wait for the 70 something degree weather to start again!

We are in the process of mini landscaping the house. Mind you, this is all going to be done by myself and Chris, so hopefully it will look ok. Anything to get a little character to our outside. I wish you could by bushes and what-not full grown!! I'm impatient! haha I will take and post pictures when I have it done.

Hope everyone has a GREAT St. Patrick's Day!!

Welcome Brecken!!

2009-03-11T09:07:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to my friend, Kristy and her hubby Matt!! They welcomed baby girl Brecken Elizabeth lastnight at 1:30 a.m. via emergency c-section. She weighed 8 lbs exactly and was 20 inches long. I have a pic on my phone, but don't know how to send it to my computer! She looks like Kristy from what I can tell. Has her mouth, anyway. She is so cute!! Mother and baby are doing fine!

Melissa = Dancing with the Stars

2009-03-09T08:54:00.003-05:00

Check this out!! Melissa is replacing Nancy O'Dell on Dancing with the Stars this season due to Nancy getting hurt.

Albino Dolphin

2009-03-04T09:09:00.003-06:00

Has anyone seen this?

An albino bottlenose dolphin in Louisiana????

Congrats Ashy!!

2009-03-03T14:58:00.005-06:00

This is overdue, but Congratulations to MY neice, Ashley Reed for doing great with the madrigals at All State! Ashley got 35th Chair in singing! So proud of you and I love you!!!

This is one of her finer moments with cute as pie, Cody Poe!

No, she has not been drinking for anyone wondering!

Ashley Reed, a Drew Central Junior, shown on right, with the 2009 Arkansas All-State Women’s Chorus director, Amy Allibon. Ashley made 35th chair in the Women’s chorus this year. She performed in Hot Springs on February 21st, at the Hot Springs Convention Center. Although this is Ashley’s first All-State Choir experience, she has made the Southeast All-Region choir for 5 consecutive years. (picture and paragraph courtesy of Monticello Live.com)

Drew Central Madrigals scored an Excellentratings at CPA in Star City, enabling them to go and compete at theState Festival contest in April. This choir scored a Superior rating in the sight-singing portion of the contest. Left to right; Kneeling: Derrick Herman, Billy Wilmoth; Sitting: Regina Jacks, Mariah Gober; Left to right standing: Crystal Cundiff, Devin Horn, Ashley Reed, Alan Jones, Kyle White, Jake Wishard, Nicole Evans, Laken Moore, Lauren Horn (picture and paragraph courtesy of Monticello Live.com)

Wow...

2009-03-03T09:26:00.005-06:00

Bachelor....sucked! I had him up on a pedastal...single dad having a hard way trying to find love and to do what he did. I'm glad I knew last week is all I can say. LAME-O!

I can't believe that we got a touch of snow on Saturday night. My kids were super excited to see it, but disappointed that it didn't stick too much. On March 7th of last year, we got 8 inches and not but exactly a week before this time, we get a little dusting. Pretty exciting considering it was 76 on Thursday! haha

For all you Twilight fans out there, Need by Carrie Jones is a good book to read. It is a young adult book, but I read it in a day and it was good! She is writing a sequel to it right now as we speak, er, write, er read? haha

Lastly, yesterday afternoon I saw one of our cats with a mouse in it's mouth. I was thinking great, another dead something or other to sweep off the back porch. He brought up there by the food bowl and just left it. I think it was in shock because it just stood there in the same position for a while. Then, Lola comes up smells of it and then goes to the food bowl. While she is eating, the mouse decides to munch on some of the cat food as well. Crazy!! I thought how sweet and I'm just taking pictures and thinking how the food chain can really get along and do away with fighting. Awwww....

I go inside, put my camera up and watch a little tv. I start hearing a thumping noise on the back porch, I go to see what it is and there is Lola with the mouse in her mouth throwing it up in the air like a ball and repeating over and over. So much for the food chain getting along theory!

What???

2009-02-25T08:51:00.004-06:00

Kinda Upset...but that's what I get for snooping. I really thought Jason was different. I thought he was the good guy, the one that any chick would like to be with. Well, I finally watched the Monday night "Women Tell All" show from Monday night and was bothered by the preview for the After the Final Rose show. How Chris said that something was so devastating. So, I'm thinking..oh no, someone has tragically died. I go to snooping this morning and find something that irritates me. So, Jason picks Melissa, like we all think he does and then at the After the Final Rose show (taped in January), they keep taping because Jason dumps Melissa for Molly. Supposedly, Molly was his pick from the very beginning but ABC wouldn't let the whole season be about him and Molly. They wanted drama and so they tell him to pick Melissa and then he can be with Molly when it's all over. WHAT??? That's crap. He needs to get into showbiz if that's the case, because he did some really great acting around Melissa. I knew when Chris asked him if he was happy, he had this look on his face and said yes...smiled, but not too much. Weird.

Flu

2009-02-20T08:59:00.003-06:00

So, Sunday evening Lauren says she is sooooo sleepy and she can't even hold her head up. Considering that her and Jackson were up at 6 a.m. and ready for the day that morning, I figured it was from that. We got to my mother in law's and play cards. She stays on the couch the whole time and eventually gives in to the sleep around 4:30. At 7:30, she wakes up and throws up. I'm thinking great, stomach virus...my favorite! So we leave, she sleeps the whole way home. We get home, give her a bath, make her a palet (sp?) in the floor of our room and she goes back to sleep. The kids are out of school on Monday and I stay home with them, still thinking she has the stomach virus. She never gets out of her pajamas. All she does is lay on the couch or my bed watching tv. She eats a grilled cheese for super around 5, gets a bath and goes to bed. Tuesday morning, she wakes up..acts fine, send her to school. Tuesday evening, acts fine but not much of an appetite. Wednesday morning..acts fine..Wednesday evening, sleeps the whole way home, won't eat supper, sleeps on the couch when we get home until I have her get a bath and then she goes back to bed. Yesterday morning, wake her up and she is fine again. I still call the doctor because something is going on with my little one! They want her to come in after school and get swabbed for the flu. GREAT! Anyway, Jackson has an eye doctor appointment, so I get my mother in law to meet me at the eye doctor so she can stay with him while I take Lauren to get swabbed. Lauren has had the flu twice in her life already and she is only five. So, low and behold...the child has the flu! Not just one strain, but two strains...A and B!! I never knew you could have two strains at one time!! The first I had heard of this was my nephew last week had both strains in addition to strep throat and an ear infection! We have not been around him if anyone's wondering. The doc says I need to get start getting her a flu shot. What's the point? The flu shot didn't even work this year, nor has the Tamiflu. Of course, Lauren is already over the worst we think of the flu and Tamiflu wasn't an option for her anyway as it is only effective if you start it the first two days of the flu. I never would have thought the flu with Lauren anyway because the two times before, she spiked a fever of 102.9 and that was her only symptom. This time, not but a 99.9 fever and nothing but sleeping.

WEIRD!

Weekend Travels

2009-02-18T08:38:00.004-06:00

This past weekend, we went to Springdale for Chris' annual arrowhead show that he likes to go to. I go to shop in Rogers at the WONDERFUL Pinnacle Hills Promenade Mall. LOVE IT!!! I racked up on a lot of great deals, especially at Limited Too since they are going to be Justice now. I was able to get Lauren 6 different things for only $28.00. Crazy. Anyway, on our journey up there, I couldn't help but take some pics!

Here's Chris driving, not wanting me to take his picture:

Who is John Paul Hammerschmidt and why is there an interstate named after him...and what kind of name is Hammerschmidt anyway? Was he teased in school?

This license plate from Louisiana reads "DASRITE". haha What's he right about?

I just think this tunnel is cool...I need to start collecting pictures of tunnels, like the one in Mobile...where are there others? Anyone know?

On a sad note, I'm not sure what happened to Ms. Bobbie's son, but Ms. Bobbie, if you are reading this, I'm very sorry for your loss and am praying for you! Love you!

Tinseltown Tuesday/Wednesday

2009-02-11T08:51:00.003-06:00

There wasn't much to report yesterday except that apparently Chris Brown beat Rihanna up pretty bad and faces felony charges and nine years in prison.

Today, though, I came across that Katherine Heigl and T.R. Knight are both leaving Grey's Anatomy. Sad to see, but the show will still be great! I guess Izzie does have cancer and it will ultimately get her.

No comment really on the Bachelor. I did read though, that Deanna is dating Ace from The Real World: Paris. He is from Georgia also.

So, glad she didn't try and still Jason away from Melissa! haha

Happy Monday!

2009-02-09T09:20:00.006-06:00

Hope everyone had a good weekend! I had to start off the week with this picture of Lauren! haha My mom found her in this tub yesterday and we thought it was cute, so I go get the camera. Lauren got embarrassed and hid her face. You can tell in her eyes that she is secretly mad at me! haha

Several of you have shown interest in seeing what my house looks like now that we are semi settled. So, I took some pics! Hope this post isn't a picture overload for everyone! haha

My Kitchen:

Dining Area:

Living Room:

Living Room:

Lauren's Room:

Jackson's Room:

Spare Room:

(The white on both sides is double doors going into the room.)

Guest Bathroom:

Master Bath:

Master Bedroom:

So there ya have it!! Like?

Teaser Thursday!

2009-02-05T08:39:00.004-06:00

CONGRATULATIONS TO ROSJUANE STEVENS FOR BEING THIS WEEKS WINNER!!

ANSWER: TOO FUNNY FOR WORDS

Ro-email me with your mailing address

ladybugs123179@yahoo.com

We we go again!!! Last week's winner was Robin Barnett! Congratulations! Be the first to guess the answer to this puzzle and you will win a $5.00 gift card to Subway!

Tinseltown Tuesday

2009-02-03T09:35:00.005-06:00

Not much going on in Hollywood this week either!

Britney is going on tour later this year and her kiddos are going to be able to come with her. She will have three houses that will be bases for her and the kids around the US and she is supposedly renting one at each location for K Fed too.

The contestants for Dancing with the Stars will be announced on ABC this Sunday night.

Tori Spelling will return as Donna on 90210. I super excited about that but I think I'm the only person in America that watches this show. haha

Michael Phelps stood to lose sponsers when a picture of him smoking from a bong surfaced this past week. He apologized and everything seems to be hunky dorey.

The Hannah Montana movie will be out in theatres on April 10th and High School Musical 3 will be on DVD on Tuesday, February 17th.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will be out in theatres on June 26th!!!! Can't wait! You can watch the trailer here.

Bachelor News:

I was so upset when Stephanie got voted off lastnight. I had come to really like her and although I didn't think she and Jason clicked, I still was routing for her to a certain extent. I so hope that enough people will call in for her to be the next Bachelorette. I know I am. I do not like Naomi at all. But I know that if he kept Stephanie and went to her hometown and met Sophia, it would have been more real and leading Stephanie on and he didn't want to bring himself into Sophia's life for nothing. Good call. I'm still routing for Melissa or Jillian...but so scared he will chose Molly. Just don't think she is right for him. We shall see. I'm ready to see the drama with Deanna though!! Thoughts?

SPOILER ALERT HERE ABOUT JASON'S FINAL PICK

I think it is probably true. I hear that Molly and Melissa are his final two, which definately makes sense to me.

100th Day of School

2009-01-30T09:27:00.005-06:00

Today is the 100th Day of School and boy were my kiddos excited!! THEY woke ME up at 6:45 this morning. I usually have to DRAG them out of the bed at 7. Anyway, they are going to have many festivities today including a parade of the classes and letting 100 balloons go and what not. They were to wear decorated shirts today with 100 items on them. Last year I did googly eyes for Jackson and this year we have glow in the dark stars. Lauren's is an array of glittery hearts, flowers and star like designs.

I also wanted to share what my cat has decided to do lately. He jumps on top of our refridgerator and then on top of our kitchen cabinets and sleeps. I think he does this so the kids can't get him. They do tend to terrorize him from time to time! haha

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Teaser Thursday!

2009-01-29T09:22:00.005-06:00

CONGRATULATIONS TO ROBIN BARNETT FOR WINNING THIS WEEK!

ANSWER: LONG TIME NO C (SEE)!!!!

ROBIN-I know I have had your address a gillion times, but I need your mailing address again! ha

Ready to win a $5.00 gift card to Subway? Be the first to guess this riddle and you win!! Tiffany Barnard won last week and Laken Escobar won the first week! If you won last week, you are not eligible to play this week.

Tinseltown Tuesday

2009-01-27T10:35:00.003-06:00

Not much is going on as far as entertainment news goes.

I'm sure you have all heard that someone has been arrested for trying to extort $20 million from John Travolta due to his son's death.

The SAG awards were Sunday night and Heath Ledger won again for Best Supporting Actor. Sean Penn and Meryl Streep won for Best Actor/Actress and that Slumdog Millionaire won again for Best Picture.

Survivor starts again on February 12th. The new apprentice starts March 1st and the new Dancing with the Stars starts in February sometime.

Due to having Twilight withdrawals (yes, still), I started reading Stephenie's other book, The Host. So far, so good...I'm only on chapter six. What did everyone that has read that one think about it?

Bachelor News:

I'm glad he went ahead and got rid of the three. That Meghan was sure getting on my nerves and Lauren and her wanting a kiss thing was annoying and don't get me started on Crazy Shannon again. haha I'm routing for Melissa or Jillian, but more Melissa. I just can't get around to liking Molly much. Any thoughts? I can't wait to see the footage with Deanna on there. The more I think about it, I'm sure it is just for her opinion on the girls or something like that. Who knows.

Teaser Thursday!

2009-01-22T10:03:00.005-06:00

CONGRATS TO TIFFANY BARNARD FOR GUESSING THE CORRECT ANSWER!!

H2O

Tiffany: Please email me with your address! :)

Here we go again!! Are ya ready? Last week's winner was Laken Escobar (not eligible to play this week, Laken!) :) And your gift card is in the mail!

First person to guess the answer wins a $5.00 gift card to Subway.

Tinseltown Tuesday

2009-01-20T13:07:00.003-06:00

We officially have a new prez! I have to say that although Bush pretty much sucked as a president, it was sad seeing him leave for the last time. I can only imagine the job these guys have to do. Not for me, that's for sure!

Bachelor News:
I'm still for Team Jillian. I know he has a connection with Molly, but I just don't like her for some reason. Melissa is growing on me. Stephanie's date was GREAT, but I don't think she has a future with Jason. The Shannon girl HAS GOT to go. If not for his sanity's sake, then for mine! haha He probably would have gotten rid of her lastnight if she hadn't pulled the whole throwing up thing. Thoughts?

I might would have more for Tinseltown, but Debbi has me consumed in blurbing my blog and it sure does take a whole lot of time!! :)

Giveaway!!!!

2009-01-19T10:33:00.002-06:00

Debbi introduced me to The Body Shop WAY back in the day and I have loved it ever since! There is an awesome giveaway right now!! Check it out!

And the Winner Is.....

2009-01-16T09:31:00.004-06:00

LAKEN ESCOBAR!!! She emailed me lastnight with her answer and it was correct. Congratulations to her and Laken, I need you to send me an email with your mailing address so I can send you your Subway gift card!!

Answer: Tennis Shoes

you know...ten issues

haha

Teaser Thursday!!!

2009-01-15T14:31:00.004-06:00

Ok, something new I'm going to start (I think). I am going to post a Teaser every Thursday and the first person to come up with the correct answer will win a $5 gift card to Subway. So, here is today's puzzle:

Wednesday Snapshots

2009-01-15T10:24:00.004-06:00

I finally had time to play with my new camera and decided to take some pictures of the kiddos yesterday. They are so silly sometimes. We took them at the pond behind our house. I had to take this picture of this old shed. Kinda reminds me of the movie The Ring or something. haha Eerie!

Justin, Corie and Diesel came over a few weekends ago and I had to share this picture of Chris and Justin playing the cow racing game on Wii Play. So funny!

Tinseltown Tuesday

2009-01-13T08:43:00.006-06:00

Hope everyone is having a great week! Nothing exciting is happening with the Perry household.

Fergie and Josh Duhamel got married last week.

Gisele and Tom Brady are engaged.

Jennifer Garner finally gave birth last week to a baby girl.

Howie Mandel has been hospitalized for an irregular heartbeat.

Mariska Hargitay of Law and Order:SVU suffered a partially collapsed lung over the holidays and it collapsed again yesterday. The cause is unknown.

Patrick Swayze was hospitalized on January 9th due to pneumonia. He is also suffering from pancreatic cancer.

Slumdog Millionaire was the big winner at the Golden Globes on Sunday night and Heath Ledger won Best Supporting Actor for his roll in The Dark Knight.

This season on The Celebrity Apprentice, we will have the following stars:

Andrew Dice Clay, Tom Green, Dennis Rodman, Khole Kardashian, Joan & Melissa Rivers, Clint Black, Annie Duke (professional poker player), Natalie Gulbis, Scott Hamilton, Jesse James (Sandra Bullock's hubby), Claudia Jordan (Deal or No Deal model), Brian McKnight, Brande Roderick, Hershel Walker and TBoz (from the group TLC, remember them?)

Bachelor News:

Lastnight was a good episode I thought. It still amazes me how catty women can be. Last season, most of the guys were buddies and hanging out having a good time and women just get all beside themselves. I liked Jillian from the very first episode but I didn't figure he would be into her that much, but after lastnight, it looks like my girl may have a chance. She seems sweet and seems to have a good personality and not as dramatic as the others. Molly still has a chance, but she got on my nerves lastnight. It's kinda like she would be one of those that is just doing this to get on tv and be "popular". Stephanie seems to be really sweet, but she looks rather high maintenance. What is with the eyebrows and are those cheek implants? Just wondering. I do feel bad for her though and I like her. Any thoughts?

P.S. Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical's Gabriella for those of you who don't have kiddos and don't know about the HSM hoopla) has auditioned for the role of Leah Clearwater in the New Moon movie. I so hope she doesn't get it. I can't picture her in this beloved story. What are they going to do next, let Zac (aka, Troy) be one of the other werewolves?

N E ONe?

2009-01-07T13:19:00.002-06:00

Is anyone interested in doing a New Years book swap or a New Years swap like I did last year where you turn in 5 resolutions for the year and you get stuff for at least one of those resolutions for your partner?

Tinseltown Tuesday

2009-01-06T08:54:00.004-06:00

Hope everyone had a great New Year!

Start off with Sad News: John Travolta and Kelly Preston's son, Jett, passed away Saturday from a seizure. He was 16.

Tim Allen & wife of almost 3 years are expecting their first baby. He also says that Toy Story 3 will be out in 2010! I love the Toy Story movies!

Patricia Arquette has filed for divorce from her hubby of almost 3 years, Thomas Jane. They have a 5 year old daughter together.

Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O'Connell welcomed twin girls last week. They named them Dolly Rebecca Rose and Charlie Tamara Tulip. Dolly is from Dolly Parton as Rebecca is a huge fan (didn't see that one coming!) and Charlie is from Jerry's brother, former Bachelor, Charlie.

Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson are officially kaput. Does anyone really care?

So, who watched the Bachelor lastnight? Once again, a few crazies, but some that are good potentials as well. Jason says that he is officially engaged to a girl from the show. I can't wait to see who. I'm betting on Molly, Nikki or Deanna-since we saw the preview of her surprise return. I would not be surprised if it were her. What do you think?

2008

2008-12-31T09:02:00.007-06:00

Wow, can you believe the year is already almost over? Where does time go? This year brought our family many great memories and milestones and one great tragedy.

March the 7th brought 8 inches of snow here on my hubby's 30th Birthday.

May brought Lauren's graduation from Preschool and her 5th Birthday.

In June, we sold our house of 8 years and moved in with Chris's parent's in hopes of building a new house in the country and baby Diesel turned one year old!!

August brought the start of Kindergarten for Lauren, First Grade for Jackson and Jackson's 7th Birthday and Justin and Corie got married.

It also brought the loss of a beloved Sister in Law, Aunt, Wife, Mother, Sister, Daughter and so on. Sally passed away on August 23rd. She was a wonderful woman and will NEVER be forgotten.

In September, Lauren started taking dance classes and loved it!

In November, we were able to move into our new "house". It wasn't our house that we were going to build, but it is/was new to us and we are together as a family and that's what matters!

In December, we had a beautiful Christmas with our family and today, the last day of 2008, I am officially 29 years old!

Happy New Year from our family to yours!

Christmas 2008

2008-12-30T09:19:00.004-06:00

Our Christmas started the Saturday before at Chris' parent's house. Both of his sisters and their kiddos came down and much fun was had. We decided to cook steaks this year instead of the traditional since we had just had it at Thanksgiving! It was a nice change. The kids had a lot of fun and all the boys and "grownup" boys played frisbee during the afternoon.

As I have mentioned before, my mom and stepdad come up every Christmas Eve and celebrate with us. They are there for Christmas morning and get to see all of the excitement. I was able to get off work at noon and my mom got there soon after. We started cooking asap and even got the cookies done early for Santa. Chris let me open what I thought was my big present this year, my Wii. We had a lot of fun. I highly suggest one if you aren't even in to gaming. They are tons for fun for the whole family. My mom and stepdad are even going to buy one now that they have played ours!

Christmas morning brought more surprises. The kids loved everything they got. I was super spoiled this year. In addition to my other gifts that I already knew about, considering I was with him when he bought them and I wrapped them, Chris surprised me with a Nikon D40X camera! I couldn't believe it. I have been wanting one for over year and would never buy one for myself. I love it. Later that afternoon, we went to my sister's and celebrated with my family and when we come home, that is when the virus hit my poor Lauren and you know the rest of the story!

Tomorrow, I will be 29 and can't wait. Hope no one else gets sick and we have a safe and healthy birthday/New Year!

Busy, Busy

2008-12-29T11:16:00.003-06:00

Due to the dreaded Stomach Virus and being behind at work, I hope to post tomorrow about Christmas. Probably no Tinseltown Tuesday, but at least an update on my family and some pictures too. Hope everyone had a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Tinseltown Tuesday

2008-12-23T10:21:00.005-06:00

Is Heidi Montag Pratt pregnant? She told Ryan Seacrest that she and Spencer needed a baby ASAP.

Britney's dad, Jamie, has been getting $10,000 a month for taking care of his daughter and a judge just ruled that he can now get $16,125 a month because of the extra work he is doing like getting her tour together. Judge also said that she has to pay $1,200 a month for him an office. He is her FATHER, hello! Isn't that the parent's job, to take care of their child in need? Her brother, Bryan, also got awarded $200,000 for the work he did prior to the conservatorship. CRAZY!

Edward, I mean, Robert Pattinson cut his hair!

Barack Obama's not too proud to eat Spam. He took a break from playing golf the other day and ordered a hot dog, drink and a Spam Musubi, which is spam and an omelette on rice wrapped in seaweed. Yuck-O to me. I can't stand Spam. Do any of you guys like it? We had a get together yesterday and someone made Spam Salad, like ham salad, but with Spam in it. I didn't touch it.

I hope everyone has a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Welcome Baby #18!

2008-12-19T08:55:00.003-06:00

The Duggar Family had baby number 18 yesterday. Another girl, which makes it 8 girls and 10 boys aging from 20 years to now one day old. All of their names begin with the letter J and you can see them on TLC. They have a show called 17 and counting.

More Dance Pics

2008-12-18T15:23:00.005-06:00

A family member of ours was at Lauren's Dance Recital and got some better pictures. Enjoy!

Tinseltown Tuesday

2008-12-16T11:06:00.002-06:00

Dennis Quaid and his wife settled for $750,000 from the hospital that gave their twins a lethal dose of Heparin (a blood thinning drug) when they were born.

More than 130 stars have voted against a Screen Actor's Guild strike, including George Clooney and Tom Hanks.

Madonna shelled out $75 million to Guy for their divorce settlement.

Tara Reid has checked herself into Promises Rehab, which is where Britney went last year.

Have a good week!

Continuation of Tinseltown

2008-12-10T11:20:00.003-06:00

Just saw that T.R. Knight has asked to be axed from Grey's Anatomy by the end of the season. He states that he is not happy with his character's storyline and is ready to move on. So sad, I loved me some George! :)

Tinseltown Tuesday

2008-12-09T10:04:00.002-06:00

Scott Ruffalo, brother of Mark Ruffalo, died lastnight after suffering a gunshot wound to the head last week. One suspect has turned herself in.

Toni Braxton skipped the Dancing with the Stars finale because of lumps she found in her breast. She had them removed after being eliminated and was still recovering during the finale.

O.J. was sentenced to 9 years in the slammer because of that whole robbery thing back last year or whenever. No comment.

Some guy in Arkansas is suing Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks for siding with the West Mempis 3 and publicly vocalizing that she thought he did it. He was the stepfather of one of the victims. I will never forget when this happened. I was 12 and living in Forrest City and soooo scared to go through West Memphis to Memphis after that.

Christmas Programs

2008-12-05T09:30:00.006-06:00

This week was filled with the kid's Christmas programs. Monday night was Jackson and Lauren's school Christmas Musical. I couldn't get any pictures that would show up in the auditorium, so I took pictures before we went. Not sure why the kids always have to pose with a stuffed animal, but they do!

I caught this picture of Jackson going to sleep that night. Hilarious! Definately one for blackmail one day! haha

Lastnight was Lauren's Christmas Dance Recital. Here's a little video:

and some pictures. My little point and shoot cam doesn't do the whole clear picture thing on manual, but you get the jist.

Tonight, the kids are staying the night with a friend of ours and Chris and I are going to finish Christmas shopping. I also have a birthday cake to make for another friend of mine so this weekend will be busy as well.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Tinseltown Tuesday

2008-12-02T08:59:00.004-06:00

In case anyone was wondering, I deleted the address request post. I had never thought about it before, but Debbi wondered if I was going to leave everyone's real address on here for anyone and everyone to see. I thought that would be creepy if some stranger started stalking someone, so I took it off. Thanks everyone for making me feel special! haha

Did anyone watch the Britney documentary on MTV the other night? I watched it as it was suppose to be a detailed look with all questions answered and what not. It did show how she feels and shows that she is trying to pick up the pieces, but nothing was ever really said about her behavior last year, which is fine because I would want that stuff to be private as well. I do look for her to write a book one day though. Happy Birthday to her! She is 27 today!

CSI's Marg Helgenberger and hubby of 19 years have decided to take some time apart.

There is talk of a Screen Actors Guild strike. I can't go without my entertainment! The writer's strike was bad enough!

Amy Winehouse has been dumped by her rehabbed/jailbird hubby. He states it's for the sake of her health and that he is the reason she is into drugs in the first place. Hello! Help her get straight! Sickness and Health remember?

New on DVD today:

Wanted

Step Brothers

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Little Tinseltown Tuesday/Wednesday

2008-11-26T11:12:00.004-06:00

Once again, we are having the Tinseltown news on Wednesday. It is tiny today because I haven't had a chance to dig into the dirt since I was off work yesterday.

Congratulations to Brooke Burke for winning Dancing with the Stars Season 7! A girl finally won again! :)

Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt say they eloped on November 20th at a chapel in Mexico. People are saying this is a sham and that they are just wanting publicity. What do you think? Sham or Wedded Bliss?

Only other news I have is that Amy Winehouse is back in the hospital following a reaction to medication. Surpise, Surprise!

Hope everyone has a GREAT Thanksgiving and weekend!

Please give me your address so I can send you a Christmas cards!! We are one big family here!

yay!

2008-11-24T10:34:00.004-06:00

We are moved and VERY tired. My feet hurt so bad lastnight, I soaked in my gigantor tub and went to bed. We are going to have to move one of the kids' bed though, because with they way they are right now, they can see each other and talked to each other for like an hour lastnight! haha The drive to work wasn't bad, but I guess I have gotten used to the distance since I have been going up there nearly everyday after work the past few weeks. So far, the only things that I am going to have to call about are that the outlets in our bathroom don't work and the vents in our bedroom don't put out very well. We had a storage building issue. Several pieces of our furniture were covered in mold and several boxes were damaged on the bottom. Apparently some leak occurred. Of course the box with the worst damage on the bottom was the box that had my wedding dress in it. My wedding dress was in a hanging bag on the bottom of that box. I haven't braved it and looked at it yet, because I'm not ready to know what kind of damage has been done to it. Too tired. I'm going to complain to them and the guy that owns the place is a friend of mine from Hermitage. Don't want to make him mad, but I feel I need to say my piece so that maybe he can do something about it before he rents it again.

Hookup?

2008-11-20T10:59:00.004-06:00

Been thinking it for a while. Especially after seeing this picture from the LA premiere:

So, I will give you a crisp $100 bill if these two aren't dating (for now anyway). Read Rob's interview here.

Tinseltown Tuesday/Wednesday

2008-11-19T10:02:00.004-06:00

I decided to bring back Tinseltown Tuesday this week and got so busy that it will have to be Tinseltown Wednesday! haha

I know everyone (mostly everyone) is stoked about the Twilight movie coming out! I can't wait! It premiered this past weekend in LA and I have to say that although James is a bad guy, he is smokin' hot! He played on The O.C. back in the day and was a drug dealer and eventual boyfriend for Marissa. So cute!

Cody Linley was voted off of Dancing with the Stars lastnight. I'm bummed. I really wanted it to be him and Brooke Burke for the final two. He's such a cutie patootie!

Paris Hilton and Benji Madden? Still an item? She was spotted this past weekend in Miami at a club and talking to her ex, Niarchos Stavros. (awful name!) Benji may have a gagillion tattoos, but he is WAY cuter than the Nacho guy! Jennifer Aniston confirmed to Oprah that she is in fact dating John Mayer again and no, she isn't pregnant.

Bill Murray is apparently going through a mid-life crisis. He is dating 27 year old, Miss USA 2008. He's 58. Can ya say ewwww!

Hugh Jackman has been named People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive for this year. Don't get it, he is not in the least bit cute to me. Everytime I look at him, all I can see is Wolverine with those gigantor sideburns!

For Survivor fans, this season's Ace Gordon was arrested Sunday morning in Naples, Florida, for disorderly intoxication, obstruction of an officer and resisting arrest without violence. He kept telling them how famous he was and they shouldn't treat him in "that manner". Famous, WHAT? He is a reject off of a reality show and he had a smart mouth on the show and wasn't a fan fave, I can assure you. haha

Joaquin Phoenix, Angelina Jolie and now Nicole Kidman are all saying they are retiring from acting. Yeah right.

Britney says her life feels like jail, but that even in jail you know you are going to get out eventually. She is tired of her dad's conservatorship. Her documentary, "For the Record" will air on Mtv on November 30th. It tracks a three month period of her life. I, for one, will be watching it. As much of a train wreck as she has been, I still like her. :)

Last, but not least, Kristy had not heard of the preggo man/woman, so this is for her. She/he (thomas is her name now) was a beautiful Hawaiian girl who decided that she wanted to be a dude. She had her breasts cut off and started taking hormone treatments. She met a chick, married her (since for some reason, she is legally a dude) and they decided to have a baby. She/he's wife had a hysterectomy so it was up to her/him to have the baby since she still had her female organs. His/her wife got a sperm donor and artificially inseminated him/her at home. 9 months later, bam...baby girl. Now, he/she is preggo again. She/he is not the only man/woman to get pregnant it is just she/he is the only one to publicize about it. I hope this is what they wanted and I know they are going to get tired of it eventually, all the attention i mean. It is their (thomas and his/her wife) fault that it is as crazy at is, as they could have kept it a secret. I really don't see the big deal about it, because she/he is not technically a man, she/he was born and woman and has a uterus and what not, therefore just say you are a lesbian and go on about your business. Anywho, not trying to offend anyone...you never know if you say something on here if someone is going to get offended.

Before:

After:

Have a good week!

update

2008-11-14T09:31:00.003-06:00

C & L STILL has not done a dad gum thing!!! I called them yesterday as they were suppose to do our electricity this week and now they are saying it will be next Wednesday! I so wish there was another company to go with, they would be so fired! We put our order in on October 28th! They said it would not be more than 2 weeks. They guy that I talked to said that he just received the order on his desk yesterday morning. WHAT? I called the "house" place and asked if the finishers could go ahead and come and just use a generator? He is to call me Monday and said that they will go ahead and come next week with the generator and maybe the electricity will get turned on while they are there, but at least they can get started. I really, really want to be in my house by Thanksgiving. Mainly because I am off for four days counting the weekend and that way we will have a couple of weeks to get settled and decorated for Christmas and it is so important to me that my mom gets to come up and stay with us for our yearly Christmas visit. I really need to work on my patience. I know it seems to everyone that all I have done is gripe about this house thing, but there have been happy moments too! I can only take so much and then I explode and this blog has been my major venting place! So bare with me. Oh and did you guys hear that the man/woman is prego again? I've thought about bringing Tinseltown Tuesday back...thoughts?

Cancelled????

2008-11-13T14:54:00.004-06:00

I don't know if anyone else watched this but me, but Lipstick Jungle that comes on NBC has been cancelled. WHAT?? This show was really good and I don't understand why the ratings would not have been very good? It originally came on on Tuesday nights and recently they switched it to Friday for some reason. There are still 5 episodes left that have been taped, but they don't know if they are going to air them or not. This show was based off another book series by Candace Bushnell, the chick that did Sex and the City, which I also LOVED and they are making another movie of, yay! Did anyone besides me watch this show?

Still Nothing

2008-11-10T11:00:00.002-06:00

This weekend and came and went and still nothing on the house. All we are waiting on now is C & L. I swear, my patience are growing thinner and thinner everyday. I called earlier today to ask when they thought they would be over there. Even after they are done, we still have to have an electrician friend of ours set the meter loop and hook the power up to the house. I worry that by the time they get this done, the finishers will not be able to come after Thanksgiving as that is week after next. I'm getting to the point, for the first time, that I wish we would have just stayed where we were at. If we were building a house, I don't think I would regret it at all because it would all be worth it. This house, to me, isn't worth all this trouble and waiting because it is not what I really wanted.

Anyway, I attempted to take a picture of this kids this weekend. This is what we ended up with:

I have never done the picture card thing, but since all my bagillion Christmas Cards are packed up and not going to be found by Christmas, I opted to do that for this year. Chris' parents both killed 9 point deer this weekend. I do not do the whole deer hunting thing so I went to Lowe's and purchased some more stuff for the house. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

YAY!!

2008-11-06T09:37:00.006-06:00

Well, much to my amazement, yesterday when I went to my house to see if the guy ever showed up....he had shown up alright! I had not heard anything from him all day and I really felt like he had blown me off again...boy, was I wrong!! He not only had my water line ran, but had the water office already out there to inspect and had the meter put in the box, the water on AND my septic tank put in!!! WOW!! I guess it pays to get a little crappy on the phone, in a nice voice of course! I was so dreading having to start over, to find someone new to do all of that. Now, we have another issue with C & L. They never could find the man who owns the land across the road, so they came up with another plan and had stakes in the yard where they were going to put the poles and what not. They were planning on coming soon to do that. Well, the water guy removed some of the stakes and put the septic tank fill lines where they were sitting. I called and reported it, we'll see how that goes now. Pray for us!

This is completely off the above subject, but a friend gave me a copy of this quote yesterday as I am having a hard time finding a church around here that I want to go to and had a bad experience at a particular church after my sister in law passed away...I thought I would share because it is so true:

"People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It never was between you and them anyway." ~ Mother Teresa

nothing

2008-11-04T09:41:00.004-06:00

I have nothing exciting to post...just want to let everyone know that this house crap is getting worse before it gets better, but isn't that how it always goes? The finishers can't come to our house until we have water and electricity ( i know i'm probably repeating myself)...anywho, the electricity was going to be turned on for sure yesterday or today...well, they need to put a guidewire on a pole in the man across the road's field. Well, they have to get his permission to do that (understandably) but the problem is that no one can get ahold of him. Second...the guy installing our water line and septic tank said that he would be there last Friday or Saturday. Never showed up. When I called on Saturday to see what the deal was, he said he had been busy doing something in Morrilton and that Monday he would be in West Helena and would be here on either Tuesday or Wednesday. I go ahead and call this morning with the excuse of asking how much it would be for him to add a faucet in the front and back of the house (for water hoses) and asked if he was still planning on being there tomorrow. "Well, no...I'm really busy and just don't know...um...hmmm..." and then I say, "Well, we are only waiting on you. We can't do anything else until we have the water at least." He says, "Well, hmmm....umm..." I say, "We were trying to get in there by Thanksgiving, but outlook is not looking good, huh?" He then says, "Well, I'll try to be there tomorrow with the faucets." WHAT? I call my hubby and tell him that if he hee haws me around this time, he is fired. I don't care what the hubby thinks, there are others to do the jobs and would have probably already started anyway. I'm planning on paying this dude $3900 for all of this and he can't make the time for me? Hello! I understand the guy has other jobs, but don't tell me you are going to be there and keep putting me off. Comments? Am I overreacting or justifiably acting so ill my face is red with the whole high blood pressure thing? haha

oh and check this out Bachelor/Bachelorette fans:

Chris Harrison opened up Monday about the recent split of the latest "Bachelorette" DeAnna Pappas and her former fiancé, Jesse Csincsak.
The host of "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" told 104.3 MY fm's Valentine in the Morning: "DeAnna went to Breckenridge last week and broke up with Jesse. He was stunned. I've talked to Jesse several times today, and he did not see it coming."
Harrison claims that Pappas leaked the break-up to the press early: "They also agreed that this was not gonna get out to the public until Thursday, they were going to release a joint statement and try and keep this above board, and she went out on her own, leaked it, and so he's just feeling a little beat up right now."
"He really truly loved DeAnna," Harrison says. "He was so happy and he's like, 'Let's just go, let's go to Breckenridge, let's go to Atlanta, let's get the heck out of here, and let's live our lives. Let's just get to know each other and hang out.'"
But Harrison says that Pappas has big Hollywood dreams. He says Pappas has been getting "bad advice" from people like "paparazzi guys, and other people that she's been running into that have filled her head with, you know, these dreams that she's going to come to Hollywood and make it big and do all this stuff. And I think her head's getting a little bigger than it should and I think that's led to this as well."

Friday

2008-10-31T12:09:00.008-05:00

Today...October 31, 2008...I have been at my job for three years and am loving it as if it was the first day here!! How many people can say that? That they love their job and never get tired of it. Odd to say, but when I first started here, I didn't even want to be off on the weekends because I liked it so much! hahaha

We had a pumpkin carving contest here (at BCMC) today and we entered these two pumpkins:

I did the spider on the left and Chris did the Dracula on the right. He got second place and I got fourth. The lady that won did the pirate ship from Pirates of the Caribbean.

Yesterday, I went with Lauren's school to the Pumpkin Patch. She had a blast!! Needless to say, we were all exhausted by the time we got home!

This is when she finally arrived off the lovely school bus:

Her and her friend, Maddie:

Lauren and a few of her classmates after they picked their pumpkins out:

They have the house put together, anchored and ready for the water, septic and electricity folks. After that, they can finally come in and finish it so that we can move! We went to look at it yesterday and this is the back and front of the house so far....

AND...I finally got to see what my bathroom looks like!!

Wanted to end the post with this picture that Jackson tried to take of himself and one of the carved pumpkins this morning!! Have a great weekend!

YAY!

2008-10-29T08:50:00.005-05:00

So many yays today! First, I get to go with Lauren to the Pumpkin Patch tomorrow and she is super excited. The forecast DOES NOT call for rain this time, but you never know!

Chris and I went to our land lastnight to see what all they have done. Both sides of the house are there (doesn't that sound horrible?) and the back side is anchored. We went inside so I could see how beautiful my view is from my kitchen and dining area. I will try to take pictures when I go up there today. We have an open area with pine trees to the back and you can see a hint of the pond! So pretty! Chris just wanted to make sure he could see the deer when he puts his deer feeder up. Crazy man. We have two small oak trees right outside the kitchen window. Chris is meeting the electric people up there this morning to decide where to put the meter loop and night light. The water line installer/septic tank man is to be up there and start on Friday or Saturday. It's slowly but surely coming together! Can't wait! Chris seems to think that we will be in and settled by Thanksgiving, which is exactly 4 weeks away as of tomorrow. We shall see.

Can't wait for Twilight!!!! Comes out November 21st, which will probably be the weekend we are moving with my luck...that's ok! I can wait if that is the case! :) I think I am going to go ahead and reread it. I never reread a book, but these books are the exception!

Hope everyone is having a great week!.

House and Halloween Party

2008-10-27T10:30:00.006-05:00

Let the Halloween festivities begin! Yesterday was the first of two Halloween parties that we attend every year. The kids were soooo excited to get dressed up. Jackson was Ironman and Lauren was "Skeleton Girl"! haha Very weird, because another brother/sister combo were the exact same things as my kiddos! haha They had tons of fun. We also went to see High School Musical 3 yesterday and it did not disappoint!! LOVED IT!!! I will be purchasing the soundtrack!

On Friday night, I took Chris to see our "house" and I took a few pictures. They aren't the best as it was dark outside and especially dark in the "house". They are moving the first half to our land right at this very moment and then the other half tomorrow. YAY!!!

The Dining Room going out to the back porch:

Kitchen:Part of Laundry Room:

Our Bedroom:

Second View of Kitchen:

Back Porch:

I couldn't see the Master Bathroom, the kids'rooms, spare bedroom and part of the living room...so those pictures aren't on here.

Our House

2008-10-24T09:02:00.004-05:00

Well, our "house" is in! Thanks goodness!! The kids and I went over yesterday to look at it. We couldn't see Jackson's, Lauren's or the spare bedroom because the doorways were covered with heavy plastic and our bathroom was the same way (bummer, because I really wanted to see it!) We are going back over this afternoon so Chris can see it. I will take what pictures I can for anyone interested in seeing them on Monday! We have the keys to it. They are going to move it to our land on Monday or Tuesday of next week. I can't wait to get this roller coaster ride going. Once it gets moved, we have to get the electric set up first so that the finishers can come and put it together and fix everything. We have to get a plumber to run the water line from the meter box to the house and then the water company has to come and inspect the line and THEN they will put the meter in our meter box. And, of course, the biggest headache of all...the septic tank. I say headache because it is so freaking expensive and some of the installers that we have had out there have complained about the dirt we have. There is only one guy that did not and he is who we are going with. We have clay dirt, which apparently does not soak in water and even though we have an exemption from the Health Department on not having to get a perk test, some of the others wanted us to have the perk test done anyway. Of course, they all know a guy that does them and it would be an extra $500! NEGATIVE!! We are going with our exemption and I'm not trying to give someone extra money because that is so and so's friend. :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Maybe by Monday, I will have seen High School Musical 3!! I'm a nut, a kid at heart and Lauren can't wait to see it either!! Next week is full here! If you live around Warren, feel free to come to the hospital. My organization (BCMC Benevolent Fund) is holding a Book Fair for a fundraiser. I help low income patients receive help with their medications and I need money to be able to help them at the pharmacy, so it is for a very good cause. It will be from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Fall Swap

2008-10-22T09:55:00.005-05:00

Robin hosted a fall swap...this was right down my alley!! Like I posted before, I love fall decorations!! My partner was Kami Taylor. She doesn't have a blog, but I hope she knows how much I LOVE my package!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!! Thanks Robin for hosting and thanks Kami for a great swap! Can't wait to get in my "house" and get to decorating!!

p.s. please disregard the mess in the background, I took this in my car! :)

My Road

2008-10-20T09:25:00.005-05:00

Finally, my picture of the road that leads to my new house (someday). Hopefully we can get the show rolling this week.

We went yesterday and met with another Septic Tank man. He was $150 more than the last one. Decisions, Decisions...

Scentsy

2008-10-17T11:05:00.008-05:00

First of all, I had taken a really neat picture yesteray that I wanted to share. Forgot the ol' camera at home though. Wasn't anything special, just how pretty I think my new road is! haha We weren't even thinking, but we have to buy a meter loop before the electricity can be turned on. DUH!! Those aren't cheap either...we will be broke by the time this house stuff is over!! They did put our meter box in and are just waiting on us to put a water line in. I talked to the lady about our house and it is definately not going to be here this week...I would assume not considering today is Friday!! Anyway, she said that she would know more on Monday about a definate time. They are still "building" it right now and they are "building" it in Alabama, then they have to drive Monticello and then to Pansy....ARGH! Maybe end of NEXT week she said. Please pray for us! A septic tank man is meeting me at the land on Sunday to look it over and give me a quote. We already have one quote and are hoping that this other guy is cheaper. If you know of anyone that installs septic systems around here, please let me know.

On to the whole Scentsy thing....have you guys heard about these? I may be behind, but I have purchased one of these and can't wait to use it!! The scents they have to choose from are massive and smell soooooo good! I got Sweet Pea Vanilla, Autumn Harvest and Juicy Peach. I have had a warmer from Partylite that the wax went in the top and you burned a tealight under it...but tealights run out so fast...this just plugs in the wall and on you go! I ordered the bronzy looking one at the top right there. They have tons of different ones to choose from though!

I have added the followers gadget to my blog too....if everyone wouldn't mind signing up!! :)

I wanted to share this photo...thought it was hilarious!

Also in copying Shelley, Rosjuane and Tiffany....ask me anything and I will answer to the fullest of my ability!! This is fun! :) (nothing anonymous, please!)

My post has been up for a while and I guess no one wants to ask me anything!! :)

Have a great weekend!

OH MY!!!!!

2008-10-16T09:36:00.005-05:00

This morning on my way to take the kiddos to school, we came to an intersection. There was no one but me going straight (south) and a school bus (#5-driver John Berry?) that apparently was going to go straight (east) to the right of me. I go and am in the middle of the intersection when the idiot bus driver, who apparently doesn't have eyeballs, decides to go ahead to coming within 2 feet of hitting my Lauren, who is in the back passenger side, head on!!! I swerved as much as possible to my left (thank goodness no one was coming), the bus keeps on keepin' on and nicks my back right bumper. I stop in the road (still on the left hand side) and get out getting ready to talk to this idiot driver and the bus just keeps on driving like nothing ever happened!!! Never even slowed down! ONE-they didn't see me at ALL, TWO-they didn't want to deal the repercussions...either way, I called the bus shop to talk to their supervisor who is out until tomorrow. I called the Superintendent's office, who is out until Monday, but gave the story to his secretary and then I called to the police department and gave a statement. WHAT THE CRAP??? Of course, I was balling and skwalling (sp?) when I was on the phone with the school folks, but my gosh...my little girl and ultimately my little boy, depending on how hard/far the bus would have hit us, could have been hurt severely or killed!!! The bus was loaded with kids too. Scared to death and furious...that is/was me. What sucks and infuriates me more is that nothing will probably even be done.

Toy Sale

2008-10-14T09:29:00.004-05:00

If you know me very well, you know that I am a "Black Friday" (day after Thanksgiving) shopper. I go every year and am in Pine Bluff by 5:30 a.m. This time is getting to be later and later every year as more stores keep opening even earlier. Eventually it will get to where the sales start at midnight. This would be better for me!! Anyway, Walmart announced it's toys that will be $10 for that glorious day. They are as follows:

Bakugan by Spinmaster
Barbie and her dog, Tanner
Barbie Mariposa (butterfly-winged) (this is already $10)
Doll Stroller
Fur Real Newborn Animals
Hot Wheels Trick Tracks
Hot Wheels Beast Bash
Littlest Pet Shop VIPs
Play-Doh Ice Cream Shop
Tonka Light and Sound Vehicles

I always go to Walmart last and they still have most toys left over. Walmart is the biggest madhouse they day after Thanksgiving!!

The Weekend

2008-10-13T08:43:00.005-05:00

This weekend, we went to my sister's house and did the whole Family Get Together thing. My brother brought someone for everyone to meet. I already know her and work with her. After most everyone left, my neice's friend, Cody, started acting goofy! My brother had brought over a sack load of jewelry that my grandmother had decided to give away. My aunt and cousin went through it first and got the good stuff and then my stepmother went through it and got what she wanted, so my sis, nieces and I got the crap that no one else wanted. When I say crap, I mean crap and she had sent some old purses too. Cody decides to go in and try the stuff out!

This is my neice Ashley acting goofy and posing with Cody. I told her she looked completely smashed in this photo! (she's not)

Here is Lauren with Cody...she loves Cody!!

Yesterday, we went to look at everything that Chris and his dad did at our land and decided where we were going to put our driveway. I'm excited. Just starting to get anxious and want everything to hurry up! Easier said than done, I know. Chris trimmed the Oak trees and cut down a lot of the fence. We then drove to the country store between Woodlawn and Pine Bluff to look at their carports. Since we were so close to Pine Bluff, we went and got Arby's for lunch!! Love the Arby's!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Progress

2008-10-10T08:56:00.003-05:00

Progress is being made in the whole "house" thing. They came yesterday and dug holes and poured concrete with anchors in them so that when the "house" gets here, they have it anchored in concrete. I think this is just the beginning of a headache (that is worth it) to come. Day before yesterday, I had to drive to Woodlawn to pay $450 to get a water meter put on the land. We had to flag where we wanted it, they come and put a meter box and then we have to run the line ourselves. It has to be a certain pipe and so many feet from this and so many feet from that and when you are done, they have to come and inspect what you did. Then, when the "house" is there, we have to call C & L and get the electric going...that is $286 plus extra for us because we want the lines under the ground. The septic tank man can also come and that is $3300. Then we have to insulate our water pipes and change out any pipes on the water drains that do not have the "u shape". We also have to get gravel up there for the driveway. THEN, we have to wait on the finishers to put our "house" together and fix any cracks in the sheetrock, cabinets, etc. I am one of those people that wants everything done at one time. I know I can't plant shrubs or anything until spring and I want to landscape it. I also want 3 or 4 Bradford Pears on either side of the driveway, a front porch, a garage of some sort and a storage building. Is that too much to ask? haha Most of this will probably have to wait until next year...funds are getting low after all the stuff we HAVE to get.

You can look at the bottom of my page for the new Twilight Trailer. So excited!!!

Congratulations to Wade and Debbi Christiansen!! They found out they are having a girl!!!

Little of This, Little of That...

2008-10-09T09:31:00.004-05:00

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am already tired of this political scene. Anyone who knows me, knows that I was a Hillary kinda gal. I don't fancy either one of the candidates now, but will be voting for the one that I believe isn't going to kill us considering he is probably an insider for a certain terrorist group. Might sound crazy, but that is how I feel. Anywho, I wanted to post the below video. You can watch it or not...either way is fine. I see both politicians points of view, but I vote for Anarchy! haha

Erica and Dena have both done the yearbook thing and I couldn't help but do it myself!! So funny!

1950 ~ I look kinda cute! haha

1968 ~ My mom graduated in 1973 and this sooo looks like her!!! haha

1984 ~ WOW!!! talk about feathering!

Have a good day!

The Weekend

2008-10-07T10:42:00.005-05:00

This weekend was supposed to be our 10 year high school reunion, but since "they" changed it to Halloween weekend, we didn't have it. My friend, Brittany, came in as she had already booked her flight and now will not be able to come in when they are having it. We got together with our kiddos on Saturday and enjoyed some Pizza Hut and park time. I wanted to try to post a pic of us together from back in the day (I do have a really funny one from 3rd grade!), but seeing that all my pictures are in storage still, we will just have to post the one from Saturday. Her little girl, Ruby, will be one on November 1st and she is ADORABLE!! So sweet! So here are some pics from our day:

Lauren took this one of us. She did a pretty good job!

We are rockin' the glasses!

Jackson had my camera and decided to take some pictures of his own.

Also, Lauren started dance class about a month ago and yesterday, she wanted me to take a picture of her in her practice outfit.

P.S. Beverly Hills Chihuahua was a disappointment to me. It wasn't very funny. Maybe I was expecting too much..I definately could have waited until it came out on DVD.

Homecoming

2008-10-03T10:21:00.005-05:00

Today is Homecoming in Lumberjack country. Although we suck this year, the school still has a lot of spirit. Today was black and orange day so I had to take pics of the kiddos again. I remember Homecoming when I was smaller. I was always so excited to go to the game and have my mum on. Now, I look back and think how retarded it is to spend THAT much money on a mum with ribbons and charms hanging from them only to be packed away for years or thrown away! I will get Lauren one, of course, one day when she decides she wants to start going to the game. Tonight, though, we are spending Homecoming watching Beverly Hills Chihuahua! I can't wait!! I'm just as excited as the kiddos! Movie looks so cute!

Lauren also wanted me to take a picture of her new shoes. I do have to say that I like them and want a pair just like them for myself! haha

Thanks!!

2008-10-02T09:14:00.004-05:00

Thank you to everyone for the uplifting comments about our house!! I very much appreciated them all! I'm so glad to have my friends and blog friends!

Today was CRAZY HAIR DAY at school since this week is Homecoming. Jackson and Lauren had to pose for a few pics before school today! Jackson's hair isn't so crazy, he likes to wear mohawks all the time (doesn't he, Corie?!) but we couldn't find one can of colored hair spray in this town and I wasn't going to drive to Monticello just for that. :) You can't tell much about their hair in these pics, but Lauren has about 6 pony tails around her head.

Corie and Diesel came to visit for a bit the other day. I couldn't resist taking some pictures of the D-Man...he is adorable and has grown so much!! He is walking and running everywhere and my kids loved it because he could keep up with them. :)

Sharing

2008-10-01T11:53:00.006-05:00

I haven't had much to post about lately, but I guess I am ready to tell everyone our plans. I haven't said anything before because...1-I was so disappointed about the house being so high and 2-I have been/was embarrassed about our decision. The whole point in selling our home was so that we could have something bigger and in the country. We have all this land in the Pansy/Herbine community and wanted to get back to being out and not being in town. When the house thing fell through, I was completely devastated and had no clue as to what I/we wanted to do. We already had our hearts set on living on our land. There were no houses for sale that we wanted except for one and we heard that it had black mold in the walls, so we didn't even pursue. So....we have decided to buy a double wide...I refuse to say trailer so from here on out, it is my new house or new home. We ordered it last week. They are building it new for us so I got to pick out everything that I want or don't want in it, the flooring, paint colors, countertops, cabinets...everything. You can see what the floor plan looks like here and some of the interior photographs are posted below. The flooring, wall colors and cabinets will all be different. We have the outside being a dark khaki with black shutters. I feel like some will make fun of us, but mind you that this is my home, none the less and it will not look like a "trailer" in any way on the inside. I have come to the conclusion that as long as my family is together and we are happy, that is all that matters. So, there are our plans. :)

Also, we have purchased a new bedroom suit...

new bedding...

a new coffee table...

and a new sofa table...

Reunion Update

2008-09-26T13:57:00.003-05:00

For you chickas that I graduated with....I saw Shereka Gant at the grocery store at lunch and she said that she got with Jaye and Brooke on Monday and we ARE having a reunion on the weekend of October 31st. At first I thought that was stupid since a lot of folks wouldn't show up if they have kids because of Halloween. Well, they are having a Halloween party for the kids and all of the classmates can get together while the kids are having fun in their costumes. I'm still on the bench as to whether I am going or not. Just wanted to update everyone that is reading this.

The Tube

2008-09-25T09:09:00.008-05:00

Don't forget that GREY'S ANATOMY is back on tonight with a 2 hour premiere!! I love this show! So interesting and it is nice to look at Patrick Dempsey for an hour every week! So funny how he is cute now, age really did the trick for him. He was such a nerd back in the day, but you couldn't help but love him then!

I can't wait!! I love when my shows all come back on. I had to give up a few this year like America's Next Top Model and I guess that is about it. If you have seen one season, you have pretty much seen them all I guess.

Lipstick Jungle came on again lastnight and I love that show! I was a big Sex and the City girl, so this is right up my alley. It is based off another book by Candace Bushnell. The new 90210 is something that I really like this season. I have heard mixed reviews, but I like it and I hope they don't cancel it like they have done so many other shows that I have liked in the past.

Greek is back for a third season and Chris and I both love this show. The guy that plays Dale on there is from Hot Springs. (Actually, he is from Greenwood, but anyway) Of course, the nerdiest of the bunch would be from here! haha No, he and Michael Cera (Superbad, Juno) are comedy partners and in a band together. Who would have known? :)

In addition to Grey's tonight, Survivor starts again, so I'm ready for that one too. Sunday is Desperate Housewives and next Wednesday is Private Practice. I'm also looking forward to watching the Ex-List which has that chick from Grey's that played Becca and she is playing Esme on the Twilight movie. Dirty Sexy Money starts again next week and I'm ready for that one since it hasn't been on since the Writer's Strike started last year.

What shows are you looking forward to this season?

Happy TV Watching!! :)

Random

2008-09-23T09:09:00.003-05:00

Not to freak anyone out, but I am a total planner and my counter on the right there says that there are only 93 days left until Christmas! I'm officially starting to go into FREAK OUT mode! haha I normally and in full swing of purchasing (our fam is huge) and I haven't purchased the first thing, well I have one thing, but it is something small for my mother in law. Anyway, I guess this is mostly due to not having anywhere to put it. Although, I could put it in one of the storage buildings that we are renting, but then what would I do with it once I got into my house? I will not have anywhere to hide the Santa presents. Decisions, decisions....

Since everyone is posting about fall, it brings me to another point. Fall is my favorite time to decorate. Fall just puts me in a great mood and makes me have more energy for some reason. I love to clean my house with the windows open and a candle lit. I love to decorate with the orangy and red leaves and jack o lanterns for Halloween. I am not able to do that this year and it is driving me bonkers. I'm sure my mother in law would let me decorate her house, but it is off of the highway and no one would see it anyway. Hopefully we will be moved in around Thanksgiving or so and maybe I will get to decorate for Christmas. I hope.

So, what is your fave time of year and what is your fave thing to decorate your home in? :)

Movie Swap and Stuff

2008-09-18T09:14:00.004-05:00

So sorry to just now be posting about my Movie Swap loot! My swap partner was Courtney and she did not disappoint!! I love Adam Sandler and she sent me the only movie of his that I have never seen! I don't know exactly why I have never seen this one, but glad now that I haven't so that I can be surprised when I watch it this weekend! She also sent me her fave candy, Sweetarts. These are an oldie, but a goodie!! These always remind me of Halloween from when I was a kid and she sent the cutest little seashell because she is from Tallahassee, Florida!! I just wish I could have went to Florida this year and this way she brought a little bit of Florida to me! Thanks so much Courtney!!! Love it!

For all of my high school classmates...I talked to Kristy who talked to Annslie who talked to Brooke and apparently we ARE NOT having a reunion. Brooke stated that she didn't have time to plan because she has a child at home and a store to run. Not trying to be ugly, but we all have children (most of us) and jobs and are busy. Normally the Class Officers (Prez and Vice Prez) plan these events. I wasn't planning on going anyway (I've gained WAY too much weight to have my old classmates see me this big), but would have liked to have had that choice. I should not be complaining, as I am just as able as she is to plan and get together. haha Anyway, just wanted to let you chicks know what was up and why we haven't gotten anything.

Don't forget to sign up for Shelley's Ornament Swap!! It was super fun last year (can't remember who hosted)! Deadline is October 20th, but if you sign up now, I think she is going to pair off as she goes so you can start shopping.

Please pray for my babysitter and her daughter. Ms. Joyce's (my babysitter) son passed away on Tuesday night. He wasn't but 49 years old. He had Amyloidosis. (You can click the link to see what exactly it is) It is a blood disorder. It all started last year when he had an umbilical hernia repair. He threw a clot after having that surgery and when he was in the hospital for that, they found this blood disorder. It has been a roller coaster ever since. They have given him several rounds of chemo (not sure why), did a procedure where they take your blood out of your body, clean it and put it back in (like dialysis) and a stem cell transplant. He had been in a hospital in Little Rock for the past four weeks with pneumonia in one whole lung. Very sad. Please pray for their family.

Well, I guess that is about it and thanks to everyone for their well wishes about the house. I am still very upset about it. I just still can not believe how high it was going to be!

Sad News

2008-09-16T15:41:00.002-05:00

For everyone wondering how the house is going, we are not going to build. We have decided that it is more money than we want to spend right now and I don't know how to downscale the house to make it any smaller because I basically don't want to, I liked it the way it was. I semi regret selling our beautiful home on Hankins Street with the extra lot and big yard, but we were outgrowing it. We have another project in the works. Don't really want to express that here, but it will be fine and nice once it is ready which will hopefully be by Christmas. I'm glad for this since a tradition at our home is that my mom and stepdad come up and spend the night on Christmas Eve, we bake cookies for Santa and watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and that way they are there to see the kids in the morning with all of their surprises. I was very disappointed knowing that we might not be able to that this year. We are still moving to the country which I am glad of, back to the peacefulness that Chris and I knew growing up since both of our parents lived a little out of town most of our lives. We still have our $1,000.00 blueprints so maybe one day. This has been the most difficult time for me as I never imagined that the house would have been as high as it was. Very disappointing.

Christmas Ornament Swap

2008-09-16T08:59:00.001-05:00

Shelley has a GREAT swap going!! See below for details:

I am thinking we will swap no more than three ornaments, unless it seems weird to not get the whole "set". Price limit is $20 FIRM! We had a low limit last year, and I think we all went over! If you get a wonderful deal, and just have to buy something that is worth more, yet falls under the limit, go for it. If you find 1-2 amazing ones that you are in love with, there is NO pressure to buy more than that. We don't want anyone being stressed about trying to "keep up" and not look cheap. Most of us have small kids and lots of expenses at Christmas, so we want to keep it on a fun level.
It can be made from anything, as long as it can be hung on a Christmas tree. No stuff to "sit around" or what nots, at least not for this swap, UNLESS your person specifies that they are interested in that type thing. If they are, you still aren't obligated to go that route, it's just another possibility to explore.
The Rules:
In order to enter, please email me at shelley23@gmail.com with your name, and mailing address, and your blog site, if you have one. Copy and paste the below questionaire in order to make it easier on your person to know what you are (and ARE NOT) interested in! The more info, the better, if you ask me!
Would you be happy with what not type decorations, or are you interested only in tree ornaments?
What color scheme is your tree?
Do you collect any specific theme, such as hallmark, snowmen, or etc?
Do you like personalized ornaments, with names/initials? If so, please include all info for your family's names.
Do you like oversized ornaments? Flashy and bright, or simple and contemporary?
Is there anything specific that you think someone "might" get you that you totally cannot stand?
Sign ups will run from now, until October 20th.
I will be getting your names to you as soon as I can after that, probably within a matter of days. If you email me, and feel like I may have possibly somehow not gotten it, do not hesitate to email again. After I get everyone their partner, you will then have until Thanksgiving to mail out your ornaments. (We want to have time for people to get them onto their trees!)
Before shopping, get to know the person you have been given - be sure and check out their blog if they have one, find out what they like, what they collect, etc... Or you can bless them with something from your neck of the woods, something they wouldn't find where they live, as long as it doesn't fall into their list of stuff they would not want.☺
Shipping instructions: Please package each ornament carefully (especially if doing glass ornaments) Please include your name on your package, since it is not a secret pal swap.
Ornaments must be mailed with delivery confirmation, please, it's only about fifty cents. Please do not sign up if you don't want to take it seriously. No one wants to be left with no prize!
Once they are received, please blog yours, if you have one!

My New Fave Commercial

2008-09-12T10:41:00.001-05:00

September 11th

2008-09-11T14:19:00.001-05:00

Impressions by Mindy

2008-09-03T13:15:00.005-05:00

Saturday before last, I had the kid's pictures made by Mindy (Groves) Smith. I was very pleased and she worked really well with the kiddos. These are only a few. I might post more later. In the meantime, you can see the rest and her other work at http://www.mindysmith.smugmug.com/

P.S. NO ANONYMOUS COMMENTS PLEASE.

Chuck E Cheese

2008-09-02T10:40:00.007-05:00

On Saturday, I took Jackson, Lauren and Makenzie to Chuck E Cheese for Jackson's birthday. Lauren has never been before and LOVED it! I thought this would be easier to do instead of a birthday party since we are living with my in laws. I didn't want to invite a bunch of people to their house and it was too hot to go to the park. There is nowhere else to go around here except for Mazzio's and that just isn't an ideal place to me. We ended up going to the one in North Little Rock and they kids had a blast! The pizza was good too! We also got Jackson a Batman cake from a local bakery. I was too lazy with everything that went on this past week to make his cake this year. It wasn't as tasty, but he liked it and that is all that matters!

I have never seen it rain so much in August. Very unusual. You would know that it would happen when we decide to build! haha

Hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!

Happy Birthday Jackson!

2008-08-29T09:47:00.007-05:00

On Wednesday, August 29, 2001 at 9:35 p.m., Jackson Grant Perry entered our lives. Chris and I had been married for one year and ten days when he was born. He came out looking like half Hispanic/half Chinese because of his Bilirbuin being so high, but you wouldn't know that today by looking at him, he is as white as I am and we all know how white that is. (My nicknames in high school were Powder, from the movie, and Clorox) Anywho, he weighed 8 lbs. 7.4 oz. and was 21 inches long. I did not have the luxury of having pain medication with him and I thought my body would never feel the same again after having him. I knew the full reason why they called it Labor. When we came home, my mom stayed with us for a week and the first day that she was gone and Chris had to go somewhere, I freaked because I was at home alone with this tiny baby. I got over that and the years have flown by. Now he is 7 years old and in the First Grade, loves The Transformers, The Hulk, Batman and any other superhero you can think of. He may be fair complected and have blonde hair like me, but he looks just like his Daddy. He gets his temper honest, but he has the most loving personality and is a Mama's Boy. We love him with all our heart and are proud that he is ours.

Happy Birthday J!! We Love You!

P.S. I know some people have been freaking because of my Christmas countdown to the side! I start early on my Christmas shopping. The earlier, the better for me because aside from our two kiddos, we have 6 nephews, 3 nieces and 1 great nephew, not to mention the parents and others that we buy for. The day after Thanksgiving is my big day to purchase though! :)