Brag About Friday

Professional Picture time!!

Oh.My.Lord. have mercy!! It was the biggest beating of all time. Gary and I were literally sweating when it was over. Tears and bows flew everywhere the whole time. They would not keep bows in! Ugh! But we were pleasantly surprised at the shots that came from the circus that was the session.

This is the best one of both of them together

I then wanted to get them for the back with no clothes on. I think these turned out as good as they could for how the day went.


Then I wanted some of them as individuals in different outfits and everything. First of all, Olivia would.not.smile. Would NOT! She wanted to go, go, go. She kept looking down and away from the camera. Ugh!

Look at this setting. How cute!!
Also, notice the lack of smile and bow
::sigh::

We finally got this one of her smiling ok.

Now for Abby, as soon as Olivia moved, she crawled over onto the fabric turned around, crossed her legs, put her hands in her lap, and grinned the most beautiful grin. She didn't even have a bow in her hair yet because we were so not ready! Neither was the photographer. She scrambled and managed to get this one before Abby crawled away.

Then we got this cute one
But we really like this one of her

Some Out Takes

Mmm...flowers = yummy
Of course the one time Olivia smiles big,
Abby is chowing down on the props.

These flowers = yummy too
I LOVE these outfits and you can't even see them :-(

I am sorry I have been missing in action so much lately. We have been getting ready for all things birthday party related. I have painted the entryway a faux finish that just about did me in, but it does look pretty. Have a great weekend and Father's Day!

Makes My Monday

Texas is always a hot spot for tornado weather and other thunderstorms during the Spring and Summer months. Last week we had major rain and thunderstorms with 75 mile per hour winds at one point. A little scary...

The fence in between us and the neighbor blew down.

The girl's slide went tumbling around the yard.

The place where the girl's little pool used to be.
Gary says it's in Oz now.

The fence across the way from us.
Notice how every other one is down.
Hmm...strange

Several of my herbs were spilled and broken
Zachary was kind enough to say, "It's a good thing they were already dead."
Dying, Dear. There is a difference.

Since Zachary wants to be a weather man, we made the mistake of teaching him how to read a radar on TV or the computer. So now, whenever bad weather is on it's way , he has to go check the radar. There is no sugar coating the status when we are watching it. At one point, the Satellite went out for a bit, like it does during stormy weather. He was thoroughly disgusted. Why oh why would the TV go out when we needed to watch the weather the most!?!

We ended up in the hall closet. Let me tell you, rounding up three kids and a cat is not easy. Especially a cat who doesn't want to be around little hands who grab at her. But, all was well. The sirens only went off once, but there was no tornado near us. God had to hand on us and kept us safe. Now...if only we could find a way to keep the Satellite from going out ;-)


The fact that we were kept safe Makes My Monday...
Play along with Cheryl at Twinfatuation.

Brag About Friday

I swear I blinked and it's Friday again. We are preparing for the girl's b-day party in a few weeks. We really want a few things to be done before everyone ascends on us. I started painting the entryway and need to finish it. I also painted some samples on the wall in the stairway and need to decide which one to go with, preferably before the party.

We are cleaning out Zachary's room and minimizing toys and clothes that are too small. Lord, I am raising a boy that gets emotionally attached to things. Bad? Oh yes. After my divorce I would buy things for Zachary to try to make up for his lack of a full-time dad. But even after Gary came into our lives, I find it hard to say "No" to him. I have to say I am ashamed of the amount of stuff he has in his room. And if he actually played with it, it wouldn't be as bad, but he doesn't. He never has. He wants to talk and be around us. I know I dropped the ball in this area. He does not need these "things" but thinks he does, so it is hard for him to get rid of them. Something to work on, right??

Both girls have Strep Throat. This is the 3rd time I think we have had this stupid virus in their first year. The funny thing is neither girl is acting too much out of the norm. We only took them to the Dr. because Abby was rubbing her ears and being very whiny and clingy. Their ears are clear but they both had red throats. Back on antibiotics...back to going through wipes and diapers like crazy for a few weeks.

Ok, how about some cute stories:

Olivia LOVES to play Peek-a-Boo. I came into the room the other night and couldn't see her. I asked Gary, "Where is Olivia?" When I found her behind the chair she had her hands over her eyes ready to play. She claps and claps and still dances all the time. She has started tipping her heads sideways and just grinning at us. She tipped so far one day she fell over :-). She is such a content child these days. Gone is the cranky baby she was. Thank you Lord!! She will play on her own for quite some time before she comes looking for us. She has started walking officially. She walked all the way across the room to my mom the other day, but she still prefers crawling.

This is her playing Peek-a-Boo
(she took a break from unpacking her diaper bag)

Abby has turned into a lap baby. I am anxious to see if she goes back to her happy self after this round of antibiotics. She does this little sad whimper when she wants us. She is also asking, "Whaz at?" about everything. When she first started it was about every little thing, just swinging her arm around. And I do mean every.thing. She will wake up in the middle of the night and point and ask, "Whaazaaat??" Oh Lord. Now she actually points at specific things and asks but it is still a whole lot. It is so cute, but wow! It kinda gets old, too. I actually got a little pony tail in her hair the other day. Aww!!!

Getting stuck under furniture :-)

I swear I had this written yesterday. Even Gary asked about it, but I only got to the pictures this morning. Have a great weekend!

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P.S. Check below for cute videos on Brag About Friday

Brag About Friday

Yep, it's actually on time this week. I know, a shocker, right?

I LOVE this age the girls are in. Love love love it! They are so so much fun to be around and play with. They are starting to understand what we say.

Olivia is within a few days of walking. She has taken a few steps on her own, but then falls down. She thinks she can walk now, though. She will just take off and then fall. She is SO close to being able to.

When she does try to walk she dances and then falls. She loves music and dances anytime she gets a chance. She puts her hands up and looks like she is doing the twist. I am trying to get her feet too. She does this step back thing that is hilarious!

I finally got a video of Abby walking. She is yelling at Zachary here to notice her.

And here she is throwing a fit. at 10 months old (this was a few weeks ago). I think we are in for a treat when she hits 2. I love how she peeks up at me in between her cries. "Is it working, Mama?" BTW - I am saying no to her about the camera, but also to get her throwing a fit. I am mean like that :-).

These are the pictures I am using for their first birthday invitation.
(EEEKKK, really?? Has it really been almost a year??)


This is what usually happens with the B-O-W-S at our house, especially if they look over and see the other one with one in her hair. It is almost like they think to themselves, "She has a bow! Hmmm...That means I have a bow, too!" And out it comes.


We are all dressed up to go to Zachary's awards ceremony. He got AB honor roll and Great Citizenship Award. Way to go, Zach! He only had to "change his color" or "pull a card" twice this year, in which he was VERY upset.



I got this picture of Abby one night. I think it probably one of my favorite pictures of her. It captures her delightful bubbly self. Oh, I could just eat her up with a spoon!!


And Olivia thinks she is so funny to hide behind the curtains in the living room. She will sit behind them for 10 mins at a time then pop out.


We got the girl's one year pictures made today. ACK! It was a beating! I will post those soon.

What do you want to brag about today??

::squeak squeak::

We have a mouse...

and her name is Abby...

Brag About Friday, er...Sat-...ummm, Sunday!

Note: I actually wrote this post on Sunday but my stupid camera cable is acting up and I didn't get the pictures until today. Grrr!! My birthday is at the end of June and if anyone should need an idea of what I would like for it...ahem, Gary, friends, family, strangers...anyone at all, that would be a camera.

Should we just rename it to Sunday?? I can't believe I am back down to only posting once a week! It is crazy busy around here. Chasing after one walker and one almost walker is a full time job. But I am also just taking time to finish some needed household projects and other such stuff. That's why this brag is all about what I did! Yay me!


This month's challenge was any shelf or surface. The front of my fridge has been a love/hate thing for a long time. I love a clean look without pictures, papers and crap! However, I cannot ignore the whole huge surface of potential for reminders, family pictures, and various artwork.

So here is my before. Ahhhhh!!!!!

As you can see it holds seed packets, coupons, pictures, appt. reminders, school papers, drawings, Zach's responsibility chart, take out menus and don't even get me started on the side. Oh my!

What happens is, I will have a coupon and stick it on the fridge; 1 free dinner with the purchase of another, pizza coupons, % off at Kohl's, Lane Bryant, Old Navy, Bed, Bath and Beyond...well, you get it. Every little bit I will go through it all and 95% of the coupons will have expired. Just a few weeks ago I had $10 of Kohl's Cash that had expired (oh...oh...that one hurt...badly).

I need a place where I can glance before a shopping outing and see what coupons I have, when they expire and where they are to. I need a place where I can put take-out menus. I also really need a central calendar. But I am so not good with the whole wipe-off calendars I have to write new every month. (The one in our office still says December, Oy!). I need something different for Zach's chart which I print off new each time.

So...

(drumroll, please)
AFTER!!

Oh, I know...I'll wait while your heart settles down.

Enter Org Junkie's wonderful review of this fridge file system.


Me lurves!! It has four super duper strong magnets on the back. It comes with a wipe-off calendar, but I made my own paper one with Microsoft Publisher. That way I can pencil in future month's appts. I put everything on here including when coupons expire and where they are to. One of the pockets holds these coupons. One will hold menus. One will hold important papers from Zach's school that I need to take care of. The last one will hold my stockpile inventory, and sale ads from the various stores around town. I need to finish the labels. I made one with my Dymo Label Maker.


And then I found Dry Erase Sticky Paper at my local Mardel. It is not this particular brand but similar. I am sure you can probably find it at any office supply store. And the wheels started turning, my friends. I imagined a wipe-off board to cover the whole fridge!! Alas, the area is only on the right side above the Eat pad. But I still am in love with it. It sticks like contact paper and is easily removed. Here we will list groceries we need, leftovers we have that we forget about ALL the time, items to be returned, and again, any coupons I have.

Yes, I know I am going a little over board with the whole coupon thing, but I will not have expired KOHL'S CASH EVER AGAIN!!

Ahem...sorry...

See that nifty little green holder? That is for a school locker that I got on clearance at Target in September last year. It holds the wipe-off markers. The purple holder is also for a locker that is leftover from my teacher days. It holds...everyone together now...coupons!; small coupons that will get lost in the big file. And we really don't want any to get lost, now do we??

The red lined item is for Zachary's new responsibility chart. It is a wipe-off page cover that we just slip his chart down into. He puts his faces right on top of it and it gets wiped off after each use.

Yay, for less paper and printer ink being used, not to mention that he can now take care of it all himself. No more, "Mom, I really need another chart." or "No, I can't put points on my chart because I don't have one, because you need to print one out."

Last but not least, the Eat pad where I can write down our weekly menus.

At the bottom, I will put some toy magnets the girls can play with along with photos inside plastic magnetic photo frames I have had for awhile.

Where is the artwork? That is for another post. I got a really cool idea from a Family Fun magazine. Hopefully I will be tackling that next.