Scavenger Hunt Sunday...

This week definitely held challenging prompts.. but as always... I had a great time looking for the perfect pics!

CROSSED

A GLIMPSE

The Papa took me and the boys out to an old (by old I mean 90) friends farm yesterday and it felt like we took "a glimpse" back in time as C and I sat on this old Massey Ferguson tractor.

HANDWRITTEN

So sweet when written by the hand of my six year old.

BLISS

Bliss to me is sitting on my bed, under the covers, with a bowl of my favorite soup... enjoying a sunday afternoon with my family. :)

GRAY

This is Grayer... also known to many as "Baby Gray." So when I saw the prompt for Gray this week... I just couldn't think of anything better than a picture of my Baby Gray. :) He has recently learned to say "cheese" for the camera and was happy to pose for this one. lol

Have a great day and don't forget to head over to "Ramblings and Photos by Ashley Sisk" and check out all the other entries!! And you have until Tuesday to enter some of your own pics...

Just follow the link below!!

No time for sickness...

     Well, it's been a few days since my last blog... but I've been working on house projects (i.e. organizing everything I can) while I look after my little fella with bronchitis.  We are on day 3 of antibiotics and I think he's finally about to kick this.

And it's a good thing... because time isn't slowing down for my little sick man. 

Soccer is back in full swing and I think it is safe to say... C is excited about it.

And before bronchitis got him down... Fuzzy wasn't minding it either.

Spring is creeping in early... and we ... are loving it. :)

So with new summer haircuts and tons of outdoor fun to have...

We're praying all the sickness goes away... and stays away!! :)

                            P.S. Sorry mom ... had to cut off all the pretty blonde hair at C's request. :-D

Fuzzy Friday...

Hope you all have a warm and "Fuzzy" Friday!

Texas weather...

Sunday night...

Wednesday afternoon...

Love it!!

Black bean salsa...

     If you read my blog for long you will discover that I am a complete food-addict. I mean really... I love any and all foods... well, except carrots and weird things that should never be called food. Now, I have two sisters who are the exact opposite.  Not kidding... one sister told me that she gets tired of chewing and the other told me she gets tired of raising the fork to her mouth.  Lol... I have never understood it and am quite sure I never will.  Given all that... it is rather ironic that one of my favorite snacks comes from one of the above mentioned sisters. 
     About 8 months ago we had a get together at my mom's house and everybody brought something to eat.  My little sister brought the best appetizer ever... one I am amazed I had never previously discovered... black bean salsa.  If you've never had it... you are missing out.  It is the easiest thing to make and you can't really go wrong when you make it.  My sister sent me the recipe and I've made it several times since then... each time changing it up a little.  This is a dip that has basic ingredients and then you can add or take away as you please.  But the best part about it?? It goes with EVERYTHING! I eat it as a dip, on my tacos, in my quesadillas... and the list goes on.  So... if you haven't tried it... you DEFINITELY should!

From my sisters kitchen... to mine... to yours:

BLACK BEAN SALSA

1 can black beans

1 can corn

1 can rotel

1-2 diced tomatoes (sometimes I use canned)

1 med-lg diced onion

diced peppers to taste (I used anaheim peppers in my last batch... they were great)

cilantro to taste (I like a LOT)

juice from 1/2 - 1 lime

pinch each of salt, pepper, garlic, cumin and chili powder

As I said before... this is a little of my own variation.  I throw it all together in a bowl and then test it..  and I usually end up adding a little more lime, pepper and cumin. 

All I can say is... thanks Dee for this one.

It is SO quick and easy to make... I just had to go ahead and whip up a batch today... just for a snack.

And don't worry... I didn't get tired of raising the tostitos to my mouth!! :)

To all those food lovers out there... Happy Snacking!!

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope yours was as good as mine!!

C's revelation...

We (the papa, me and the kiddos) were sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner on Saturday night and C came out with this...

C: "Guess What? Did y'all know that some people kiss? On the mouth!??"

(Both of us laughing)

Me: "Well... yes... I knew that.  Grown-ups that love each other do that... and I kiss you and Fuzzy all the time."

C: "Mommm... people who aren't your KIDS kiss on the mouth!!"

Me: (still laughing) "Well, you knew that... you see daddy kiss me all the time."

C: (offended) "No I DON'T! You mean y'all kiss on the MOUTH! That's DISGUSTING!!!!"


Lol... I'm still laughing at this one.
Have a great day... and whatever you do... DON'T kiss on the MOUTH! lol.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday...

My 2nd Scavenger Hunt Sunday

FACIAL FEATURE

I went to my mom's house one day and she had this cookie jar in her kitchen.  I absolutely loved it and still do... and eventually managed to get it into my kitchen. :)

SHADOW

In the spirit of Valentine's day... my six year old had fun trying to make a heart show up on the wall. :)

SPICY

 We are lover's of all things spicy in our house... and this... is our enormous bottle of tabasco. :)

 GOLD

We actually make it a point to eliminate all things gold in our house... so this one was actually quite difficult.

FABRIC

I got my 6 yr old a bedspread and pillowcases from Pottery Barn and had his name monogrammed on the pillow... his favorite color is blue and we all ended up loving his new bedding!

I am definitely a mom that is guilty of taking TONS of pictures of her kiddos... so I'm loving that the Scavenger Hunt Sunday is forcing me to think outside the box!! Looking forward to seeing the other entries and getting started on next week's topics!! Happy photo hunting!! :)

Don't forget to stop by and check out the other entries through the link above! :)

Fuzzy Friday...

In case you can't tell... he's trying to lift his slide up off the ground. Lol. I love how hard he's trying.

Hope you had a warm and "Fuzzy" Friday!

My Terrible Day...

My Sunday school teacher read this in class this past week.  I didn't think to ask him where it came from or who wrote it but I wanted to share it with you.  I looked for it on the internet and couldn't find it... so this isn't the exact wording... but I wrote it the best I could from memory.  I hope it speaks to you the same as it did me.



Me: Lord, I've had a horrible day.  Why did you let this happen to me Lord? So many things went wrong. 

God: What's the matter my child?

Me: First of all, I overslept.  I hate it when I oversleep. 

God: I see.

Me: Then, when I got into my car... it wouldn't start.  It's a new car... it shouldn't have any problem starting.

God: I understand.

Me: I finally got the car started and ended up late for work.  Then, when I got there my cell phone rang and I tried to answer it but the phone died.  I couldn't even charge it Lord because I left my charger at home.

God: Yes... I'm listening.

Me: After a long, hard day at work... when I got home, all I wanted to do was soak my feet in my electric foot massager... but of course, it wouldn't work.  It was broken. 
Why Lord? Why would you let all these things happen to me?

God: I'm sorry you had a bad day today.  I was there with you through it all.  Before you woke up this morning, an angel of death was headed toward you and I had to send one of my angels to fight him back.  I thought I'd let you sleep through that.

Me: Oh. I'm so sorry, Lord.

God: Then, when you got in your car, there was a drunk driver on the road a few blocks away... so I stalled the car long enough to get him out of your way.

Me: I understand, Lord.

God: And the phone? Well, someone was going to call you today and discuss things that would take you further from me... so I thought it would be better just to stay off the phone today.

Me: (Ashamed)

God: Then, that foot massager... well... there was a short in the cord that was going to hurt you.  It wouldn't have hurt you too bad... but I thought after the day you had you could do without that.

Me: Forgive me Lord for not trusting you... and thank you for taking care of me today.  Thank you for all you do for me. I love you Lord.

Hope you all have a GREAT day

and remember to give thanks to our

Lord and Savior who is always with us!

:) :) :) :) :) :) 

My All-Time Favorite...

     One of the greatest things in life is to find a movie that you walk away from feeling happy.  A movie that you get so wrapped up in that your peripheral vision is just a blur.  There are not many movies out there that I can say do that for me... but if you are a lover of old movies, as I am, and are needing something that fits that description... I have the perfect one.

     Now I haven't always loved old movies... my mother tried for years to get me to watch her favorites but I just wouldn't do it... that is until she had me laid up on the couch after four wisdom teeth were extracted. 

I will always be thankful... for without that moment in time... I would never have found this gem.  I found several that weekend ... but this will always be my favorite. 

An Affair to Remember 

A love story about two people who find each other at the most inconvenient time... but who are willing to do whatever it takes to be together.

Watch it... you won't be disappointed.

Towel Needed...

     I ran out of shampoo yesterday so I went to the store today and bought some more... however, when I got in the bath tonight I realized that I had left it on the kitchen counter.  "Great," I said to myself.  So I called out for C and he came running.  When he got to the door, I asked him to get the shampoo for me and he happily obliged.  Then he returned and he didn't know what to do.  At age six, he wasn't really sure if he should just walk in or close his eyes and feel his way through the room.  So, I held a towel up in front of the bathtub and told him he could come on in.  His response?... "Yeah... you REALLY needed to do that."
 

Thanks buddy... glad I could help.  Lol.

I've been tagged...

I was tagged by Sugar Moon and so am going to attempt my first tagging blog. :)
Here are the rules:

1. You must post the rules.

2. Post eleven fun facts about yourself on the blog post.

3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then

create eleven new questions to ask the people you've tagged.

4. Tag (eleven?) people and link them on your post.

5. Let them know you've tagged them!

11 FUN FACTS ABOUT ME

1. My child is only 22 months old and I am already worried about what I will do without him when he moves out.

2. When I was young one of my favorite things to do was talk with an accent (i.e. British, Australian and even Pee-Wee Herman)

3. I love anything that makes me think enough to make me forget everything else... jigsaw puzzles, crochet, crossword puzzles and good books.

4. I LOVE old movies.

5. About a year ago my mother convinced me to add reese's pieces to my popcorn... and now I can't eat it without them.

6. I used to be in the national guard... and I hated it.

7. I used to be on the drill team... and I loved it.

8. My favorite time in my life is right now.

9. I hate wearing jeans... if you see me and I have them on, trust me, I am thinking about when I can get home and take them off.

10. My favorite scent is leather.

11. I've always wished I had a reason to dress like Scarlett O'Hara... I loved every one of her dresses.

MY QUESTIONS FROM SUGAR MOON

1. What is your favorite childhood book?
     Amelia Bedelia, Ramona Quimby - those are the books I remember reading.
2. What is your favorite childhood toy?
     Teddy Ruxpin
3. Who is your hero?
     My father - he is hard working and honest. Everything he has he worked hard for and never cheated to get it. He leads by example when he says "No one is responsible for you, but you."
4. How many times have you read the entire Bible?
     Sadly, only once. Definitely need to add that to my to-do list.
5. What is your favorite meal?
     The one I didn't make. :)
6. What is your favorite snack?
     Popcorn and reese's.
7. Are you a night owl or an early bird?
     Definitely a night owl... sometimes I wonder if I could function better by sleeping 8 hrs/day and staying awake 16 hrs/night.
8. Who is your favorite author?
     Francine Rivers for now... but my list is currently growing.
9. What is your favorite genre?
     It recently became sci-fi.
10. If you could change one thing in your past what would it be?
     I wish I had the confidence then that I have as an adult... I just remember never being completely sure of myself. Kids worry too much about what others will say... I wish you could show kids how much that doesn't matter.
11. What is your favorite hobby?
     Playing with my little one, working puzzles, playing games, reading, watching movies, hiking or sight-seeing.

QUESTIONS FOR THOSE I TAG
1. What is your happiest memory?
2. If you could live on an island with just two people... who would you pick?
3. If you could be any fictional character who would it be... and why?
4. What is your favorite holiday?
5. What is your favorite movie?
6. What is your favorite outdoor hobby?
7. What is your favorite day of the year?
8. How old were you when you met your best friend?
9. What was your first pet?
10. What is your biggest pet peeve?
11. What are you most thankful for today?

I AM TAGGING...
Well, this is hard since I don't have many followers yet... so some of you may have already been tagged.  So sorry. :)
1. Girl Meets Bulgaria - a fun blog with Whitney who just moved to Bulgaria to be with her husband... she talks photography, cooking and her daily life!
2. Then Along Came the Boy - another great blog about a mama and her little one... just the kind I love to read!
3. Bossy Betty - a great blog where Betty shares her life through poems, photography, wit and humor.
4. My Daley Life - an always fun blog by my little sister... she's a little behind on her blogging and I hope this will spur her to get started again!

That's all I have for now but I'm looking forward to hearing from these other bloggers and finding out a little more about them!!

Hope you learned something about me! Have a great day!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday...

Well, this is my first time to join in for Scavenger Hunt Sunday so my photos will be a bit on the amateur side compared to the rest of the entries... but I loved having a few more reasons to use my new camera.

There are so many great entries every week so if you haven't heard of it yet... head on over to the Ramblings and Photos blog to join in the photo scavenger hunt.

Here are mine for the week.

STRIKE A POSE

Say the words "Strike A Pose" and my six year old will come running. :)

FOOTWEAR

My little man's favorite footwear... is NO footwear!

(Sorry... I pulled this one from the archives)

HOBBY

Definitely a new hobby... you seasoned crocheter's don't look closely.  :)

    

SHINY



Shiny toys are always a favorite for the little one.

COLOR ME GREEN

My son couldn't stay out of this green slide at the park this week... I didn't have my good camera with me but thought of this picture topic as he played on it so went ahead and snapped some pictures.

I had fun thinking of pictures for the topics this week and hope to join in many more in the future!

Fuzzy Friday...

Once again, my warm and "fuzzy."

Have a GREAT Friday!!

A well deserved break...

I am a pretty tough mom. 

And no... I don't mean strong.

I mean I expect my kids to not only know how to act but to act that way also, I expect them to work hard to achieve their goals and I expect them to be respectful and caring to others at all times.  That's just to name a few.  To sum it up... I expect my kids to be the best they can be in everything they do.

Now, that all sounds fine and dandy... unless you're my kids.  lol.  After an 8 hr day at school... we take a quick snack break and out comes the homework.  We WILL complete our homework... and we will do it right... or we will do it again.  Even if that means we are still sitting at the kitchen table four hours later.  I know... it sounds harsh... but that's what we do.

So, needless to say... C has been working pretty hard at homework this whole month and we were all ecstatic when he reached his AR goal 2 WEEKS EARLY!! (We weren't even sure he would make it at all when we first started).  Don't get me wrong... we still did homework, but instead of a quick snack break after school... we took a cookie break.  He had a friend come over and they were both ecstatic. 

They each had their own pile of cookie dough, their own cookie sheet and their own spoon... for tasting. :)

I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story. :)



Way to go C ... you definitely earned it! We should do this more often!!

Call me Mrs. Clean...

     I am definitely what I would call a clean person... I mean... I take pride in keeping my home clean.  But I have to believe that even the cleanest of people have something that they close their eyes to and turn the other way because they despise the idea of cleaning that one thing.  For me, that is the fridge.  I HATE cleaning the fridge.  I don't really know why... it's not like it's hard... I just hate it.  I hate taking everything out, sorting through it all and then taking out each little shelf to clean it.  It's just a pain.  But OH how I love when my fridge matches my ever so clean cabinets.  This... is how I wish my fridge looked every day.



I heard once that if you look in someone's fridge it's an insight into who that person really is.  I don't think that's true for me.  I'm more of an ... I live out of my freezer ... kind of person.  Oh... well... the red bull definitely speaks for me... but thats about it.  :) Either way, you better take a good look... cause my fridge probably won't look like this again for a REALLY long time.

(And don't mind the beer... it's been there since Thanksgiving. Lol.)

Have a great day!!

Sleeping like a baby...

Ever since my son was born he has been able to fall asleep anywhere... and I mean anywhere.  If he is playing and he gets tired enough... he just lays down and falls asleep.  It wasn't until about six months ago that I discovered that this isn't the norm.

Since then, I have probably had 7 or 8 conversations with people who are skeptical at the idea that G can fall asleep "anywhere" because their child won't... and I think the majority of those people are in true disbelief.  I think they honestly don't believe me. 

So... I took a picture for proof.  Lol.  Now usually when I say anywhere, I mean the living room carpet or a blanket on his bedroom floor... but this was even better proof.

This time... he picked the kitchen floor.

Wouldn't it be great if we could ALL sleep this way? So easily.. so soundly.. and anywhere at all.

Happy Sunday!

Spring Cleaning...

    Well, it's not exactly spring yet... but with the weather in Texas being abnormally warm for January, we decided to do a little spring cleaning.  We trimmed trees and took some things down that the previous owner had left in the backyard (i.e. some sort of gazebo with an old box springs on top). We worked most of the day on it but were rewarded in the end with a backyard campfire where we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows.  Mama, Papa and both kiddos had a blast!! Loving this warmer weather!! :)

 

I hope your weekend was as fun as ours!