Snapshot-July 2009

Snapshot of Thirteen Things during the month of July

1) photo of me: taken with my Iphone: just after I got a cut and color. (Yes, I need some lip color. No, I am not driving, just buckled up!)

2) current candle scents: some Partylite candle, kind of spicy flavored

3) what i am currently reading: I did get the new Real Simple in the mail today.

4) newest music i added to my playlist: does a podcast count? I listen to my old radio station from Texas.

5) movies i saw: We took the kids to see G-Force last weekend. Kind of cute, Livi danced most of the way through it!

6) something yummy i made this month: Cilantro lime shrimp with a corn and black bean salsa.

7) the last place i ate out: Chick-fil-A

8.) something that made me cry: recently...when I was late to pick Will up from his first day of kindergarten ....dang early release! (okay this happened in Aug, but I am totally counting it!

9) something that made me laugh: Livi and her 'princess muscles' . (See post below this one)

10) something i looked forward to this month: hanging with the cousins in OH for the fourth of July. In case you have wondered, this is what a sugar high looks like!

11) something i am thankful for: living close enough to drive up to OH for the long weekend.

12) something i want to remember about this month: These gorgeous pink flowers: the first time I saw them, I thought they were fake flowers. They grow on top of these very straight thick green stalks about two feet tall. A lady had some in her yard in a circle around a lamp post. I wondered why on Earth she would put such fake looking flowers in her yard! Then I saw them in my neighbor's yard! They look so fake, but are so gorgeous!

13) a photo i took this month: My baby girl, lips stained red from eating a "rocket pop", and always with a flower in hand.

borrowed from Janet at Fond of Snape who borrowed it from Dawn

Photostory Friday: magnolia blossoms

This past winter we had a fairly severe ice storm here in Kentucky. Many people were without power for weeks. Our power flickered on and off, but we never lost it completely. Just when you didn't think it could rain and freeze anymore, there would be another day of it. Hearing the trees limbs moan, groan, and creak with all the weight of the ice was like some horror show. We lost several branches of trees.

Most significantly was this magnolia in the front yard. I seriously didn't think it would come back. One branch snapped right in the middle of the main trunk. Another branch was touching the ground from all the ice on its branches.

So this past spring, I was pleasantly surprised to see these gorgeous blossoms on our little tree.

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Peony surprise

When we moved to this house, it was late summer. The flower beds behind the house had already come and gone. So I cleaned them out, saved what I thought wasn't weeds, and hoped for the best. Then even in March or so, I cleaned out some more stuff. I seriously did some weeding and digging up stuff.

I wondered what would come up back there. To fill in some of the blank spaces, I ordered a complete foundation garden from Spring Hill Nursery. I mean, it comes with a diagram and all the plants! How easy can it get?

Much to my surprise one of the few things I thought might have been weeds were these peony bushes! The bushes are so full that the blooms make the branches droop. They are so gorgeous.

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Photostory Friday: sunshine

This week we finally had some sunshine and warm weather that I have so desperately been craving. The kids were able to play in the sprinkler for a bit. The picture below the big hair post just below this one was taken this afternoon as well.

After getting a handful of shots of the kids, I thought I would take some pics of the flowers in the garden. Yellow flowers against the blue sky are one of my favorite things.

As I ventured over to the flower beds, Will and Livi both had to come over to hop in the frames. The crazy pics never get old for a 4 and 5 year old. I think he is still missing Monkey!


Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Friday fill in

1. Join me in a great afternoon of fun and sunshine.

2. Put a little sunshine and happiness in your day!

3. Happiness is seeing tulips along the walk around the neighborhood.

4. Dressing in her brother's swim suits and confused is how Livi dressed while we were washing my car this afternoon.

5. I'm waiting for spring to stay.

6. A glass of wine is hard to resist.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to veggie pizza with the family , tomorrow my plans include haircuts for the boys, yardwork, and just being outside in this gorgeous weather and Sunday, I want to sleep in & make some crab cakes!

Friday fill in courtesy of the talented Janet...

Friday fill in

wow, has it really been a week since I posted.....

1. Anonymous...this is totally a G rated blog, but if it were something other than that, it would say something along the lines of grow some _____(fill in the blank with your choice of words) and say what you have to say under your own name.

2. Livi is a cheeseball....Liv and Grandma during Spring Break a couple of weeks ago.

3. Let me embrace thee, sour adversity huh?? reminds me of a DrDrew quote I saw recently: "If you are going through hell, keep going". ~ Sir Winston Churchill

4. Flowers and green, anything green what I look forward to most about Spring. ps, this shot so reminds me of spring here in KY....kind of like a tease, one day we have gorgeous 70 degree weather, the next day snow. No lie, that happened last week. It is like spring is not quite sure she is ready to come into focus.

5. Who needs therapy when you have a blog.

6. Paper grass, chocolate bunnies, and Dove chocolate eggs MUST go into the Easter Basket!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Will's soccer game and pizza (game was cancelled though, tomorrow my plans include making chocolate chocolate chip cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for a dinner at friends and Sunday, I want to take a wild honkin' guess!

Friday fill in courtesy of the talented Janet...

Photostory Friday: Stayin' Alive

I will be the first to admit, I don't have much of a green thumb for indoor plants. I can plan flower beds, hanging baskets, and pretty much anything outdoors. But bring those plants and flowers indoors and they curl up and go to plant heaven.

So, when we moved here. Livi and I were in Walmart for all those little essential things that you have to buy every time we move. She saw this African Violet and wanted it because it was purple. My sister-in-law has these all over her house. So I figured I could get some expert tips from the master. I apologized to the little purple flower because I knew all too soon it would be making a little trip.

I made a phone call to SIL Mary. She gave me some tips: indirect light for several hours of the day, don't change the container immediately, water when dry. Okay, gotcha. I think we can do this. As ugly as the little brown plastic container is, I still haven't changed it to a proper pot. BUT after being here for six months, it is still alive! Alive and even going so far as to say doing well! It flowers all the time. Every once in a while, the leaves will butt up against the window pane and get a little scorched. I just snip if off.

Since the flower has been alive for so long, I decided to start some basil from seed. I am proud to announce, they sprouted! Pretty soon they will be ready to put into individual pots. I see an herb garden in my future.

I even bought some spiky green houseplant the last time I went to the commissary. Let's see how long I can keep that one alive!

While trying to take some shots of the violet, Will had to get his mug in there. "Cheese me, mommy!" *See the ugly brown plastic pot it is in? I guess I need to call her and ask her when I can transplant it!*

Overheard tonight while we were getting ready for bed:
Husband: Boy, why are you growing up so quickly?

Will: Because I eat alot.

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

PhotoStory Friday

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

This was taken this past spring in TX. We got home from preschool and there was no quiet during quiet time. We decided to take a little walk down the street in our neighborhood to a patch of bluebonnets. Last year we had gotten some great shots. This year I was determined to get even more. Due to all the excess rain we had in 2007, there was an over abundance of blue bonnets. This year, there was only a patch or two....but in hazardous places, like the median of the main highway in town! The previous Saturday the kids and I drove around for an hour looking for some in the country. I was armed with M&Ms for their bribe....oops reward!

During a crazy day, (where you go the opposite way to get out of the neighborhood), I saw a patch of decent size, literally down the block from our house! So, we kicked quiet time to the curb and walked down there.

The kids just wanted to do silly shots! It had become tradition to do silly crazy ones for Husband while he was deployed. Bunny had to make the trip as well.

There is little to NO place that Livi goes that bunny doesn't. We are working on this, because the only time she sucks her thumb is when she has bunny!

You know I had to include the token tootsies in the flowers. After all, I had just had a fresh pedi! About this time, we all realize right smack in the middle of this patch is also an ant hill!

Manic Monday.....

Manic Monday brought to us by the talented Fleur-de-Lisa.





What do you do when you are feeling very sad or depressed? cry, then sleep, sleep alot. But that is hard to so with two preschoolers.


Who was your first crush? A boy named Alan...in seventh grade. He had that long shaggy hair like Scott Baio. Man, I thought he was the shiznit.....turns out later on in junior high he became a stoner. I was too busy being good to even think about that!


If given a chance to skip work for a day (without repercussions), how would you spend the entire day? sleep in, have a spa day or go shopping without the kids, have a foo foo lunch somewhere where you can order wine at noon.....I have lots of ideas!



Speaking of a spa day, I got a gift certificate to this spa for my birthday last week. In less than 48 hours I will be getting a hot stone massage.

Just because, I like this orange color, here is a flower from me to you. PS, I am thinking of painting the downstairs bathroom orange! Anyone ever seen an orange bathroom?

Manic and Muffin Monday.....apple spice crumb muffins

Manic and Muffin Monday.....apple spice crumb muffins. Manic Monday brought to us by the talented Fleur-de-Lisa.

Who is the black sheep in your family/group? Probably my brother, he was the wild child.

If you were a character from a book, what character would you be? Cinderella....okay maybe I wasn't a step-sister, but I did marry the handsome prince.

What's your favorite accent? Well, I do like mine.....a bit Southern, okay, a lot southern!

We made apple spice crumb muffins that were from a Longaberger mix. (Thanks to Husband's mom, Meg!) I don't usually like mixes, but they were really wonderful. We used the Williams-Sonoma Railway pan.

Now for the flower.......it is halfway in the picture.....BECAUSE, we are halfway there.........we SOLD OUR HOUSE!!!

WHOO HOO!! Well, half way because they accepted our counter offer. Now I am in the "getting-ready-to-PCS" mode. Hence the reason for using the Longaberger muffin mix.....I am trying to get rid of all that stuff in the pantry.

Happy Monday. y'all

weekly winner, April 13-19, 2008

Thanks to Lotus at sarcastic mom for hosting this fun way to see all those extra pics that I didn't blog about this week.

Just the kids, walking down the street from the blue bonnets.

Last Sunday we drove around for an hour to find blue bonnets. We did see the ones in the median on the highway. Not brave enough to stop and take pics there (though I have seen some people do this!)

So when we saw this tiny patch in our very own neighborhood, I was thrilled!

Needing a little "bunny time", also known as "I-am-tired-and-need-a-nap" time.

Texas blue bonnet

My shot for Photohunt that I didn't get posted.....oh smell!

Marble painting idea from Corey of Living and Loving Every Minute of It .

Livi's artwork with the marble painting. She titled it, "Dinosaur under the Sun".

Hope all is well.....happy Sunday, y'all!

Friday fill ins and bare foot in blue bonnets

bare foot in blue bonnets, originally uploaded by tommiea1.

Friday fill in courtesy of the wonderful Janet

1. The last time I lost my temper was Thursday.

2. Tuition refunds is what I'm fed up with!

3. The next book I'd like to read is Scott Kelby Elements 6 book.

4. The Beach is what I'm looking forward to.

5. If you can't get rid of the skeleton[s] in your closet, this is a hard one for me, may I have a bye for this one, this week?

6. The best thing I got in the mail recently was something from Piperlime.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to putting my feet up (or in the blue bonnets) and a glass of wine, tomorrow my plans include a birthday party (didn't I say that last week as well??) and Sunday, I want to read my Scott Kelby Elements 6 book.

Photohunt: glass

glass flowers, originally uploaded by tommiea1.

Just trying something fun with my favorite white wine glass...

If you’d like to play, click here

Next week: twist(ed)

Weekly winners Feb 24-March1,2008

We have had some gorgeous weather this last week. So we were outside quite a bit. Here are a few of my favorites:

This was taken at preschool. She was actually sitting in circle while they did someone's birthday celebration.

Livi calls this her 'butterfly' flower.

He was watching the spout waiting for the water. I really was hoping he would spray it and I could get that shocked wet look! Is that a mean momma or what?

There has been a longneck sighting in Texas.

Another 'purpur' flower....two guesses as to who picked this one out?

Once he finally did get wet......

go see Lotus at sarcastic mom if you want to play.

Weekend Update and a little manic Monday

Husband had a long weekend. He had just gotten home from a TDY (Army speak for Temporary Duty) to Fort Lewis, WA for the last week. He has a long weekend......so we kicked back, made some beer-butt chicken, and planted some flowers.

If you have never made one of these, you are missing out on a little bit of heaven. It is super simple and oh so delicious. It is actually a Cooking Light recipe.

For as much as I will complain about the heat in the summer, I am ever so thankful that we are able to plant flowers in February!

Brought to us by the lovely Lisa , Manic Monday:

1. What do you order when you eat Chinese food? I like spicy chicken with vegetables, but only if it is not battered. Though I do love me some PF Chang’s chicken lettuce wraps. Note to self: don't ever get them before boarding a plane. Other passengers won't be delighted!

2. How much have you controlled the course your life has taken? I think each person is responsible for their own actions. So I pretty much have controlled every aspect. As an example: I made the decision early on to go to the University of Oklahoma, knowing full well my mom couldn't pay for it. I did what was necessary to earn a scholarship to pay my way. Even as a teenager, I had enough wits to know what needed to be done.

3. Whose opinion do you value when deciding how to vote? Whoever makes the most sense!

happy Monday, y'all