50 Random Things...the last 10....& SMILE!

41.  I met my husband when I was sixteen!
He went with me to my High School Prom. Next week we will celebrate our 19th Wedding Anniversary!

42.  I am finally not worried about keeping up with the Joneses.
Seemed to take me long enough...but I'm glad to be right where I am....and the Joneses have their own mess to deal with!

43.  I became a Christian at the age of 12.
I was on a summer youth retreat! That was just the beginning...I am still a mess, but my journey continues daily!

44.  I do not obsess over germs.
I do carry antibacterial lotion in my car....but I totally believe a few germs can make us stronger.

45.  I have a bad habit of waiting until the FUEL light comes on in my car before I go to the gas station.
I have run out of gas at a busy intersection....I should have learned my lesson.

46.  The most famous person I have ever met is Clint Eastwood.
He was attending a fundraiser for The Theolonius Monk Jazz Institute at Duke University. He is very tall!

47.  I once danced in a 25 hour dance-a-thon for the Children's Miracle Network.
People followed us into the restroom to make sure we didn't take a nap!

48. My best friend is my Mom.
I hope I will be my daughter's best friend one day!

49. My favorite kind of music is....you ready....Country!
I also love Josh Groban, Chris Tomlin, Sarah McLaughlin, and anything Daughtry!

50. I believe that smiling and a positive attitude are essential to a happy life!
Plus...negativity is just so....unattractive!


I must say, at one point I wondered if I would have enough random things to complete this list of 50.
I now know...I could really go on and on about myself.
Saving the rest for a much later time!

And now a song ....because "You Make Me Smile!"
Caution...if you click ....Music will Play!

Don't you feel like smiling too?
And dancing?
Or riding off into the sunset with a friendly dog?

Have a great day!

Local Happenings!

Here's the latest....

The Cubs are heading to the play offs....

and they are currently in First Place!

Jonathan has a way of making us crazy...with all those close calls when stealing bases!

Let's go Cubbies!

What a great team of players and coaches...

 and fans, of course!

(I feel the wave about to begin....woooooo!)

Flag Football comes to an end!

Zac's team finished with a great season also.

He got his first real sport trophy, he says.

Not just swim team trophies anymore!

Way to go, big guy!

I'm gonna miss seeing him run around the field with that giant
 mouthpiece sticking out of his little mouth!


And then there was the Eighth Grade Social!
A fancy dance party!

I'm so glad that there are no boys in this picture yet!
Such cute girls....having such a great time!


All of these latest things have me a little worn out....
Enjoy your weekend!

What A Cute Idea!

A series I created to keep up with all of those cute ideas out there in Blog Land. I am always finding crafts and projects that I want to try...then when I'm ready...I can't remember where I found them. These are not my ideas. These cute ideas will be ones that I intend to try when time allows. I will collect ideas as I a find them...and I will always give proper credit and a link to the original post.

Loving this idea from Sugar Bee craft edition.
Stamped Washer Necklaces.

Isn't this so cute! I want to make these with my daughter and her friends this summer.

With the right type of "ribbon", my boys would love them too!

I also love this idea from Alissa at 33 Shades of Green.

Easy Decorative Letters!

I want to make these letters to say "Play Nice" to hang on the wall in the bonus room.

Do you think having that "said" on the wall will help? I hope so!

Another great idea is from Lindsay at Living with Lindsay.

Boxwood Topiary.

I would like to make some just like these to put on my mantel.

I think they would make nice gifts, too.

And finally, a special book of treats from Kerri

over at The Pleasures of my Life.

The Smoothie Book!

Isn't this great! And just wait until you see all the yummy smoothie recipes!

What a great girlfriend gift!

For complete instructions, be sure to click on the link to check out these crafty bloggers.

 You will find so many other great ideas while visiting!

Soon...I am going to get crafty and show you some of these projects

that I have actually done myself!

Inspired!

Window Shopping!

Window shopping is, for the large part, an unexplored art in our materialistic society. The purpose of window shopping is not to spend money or acquire new things, but to learn more about oneself and ones personal tastes. WikiHow 

The other day, I found myself, getting a lesson in personal taste...in Sur La Table. 

I found that my taste is expensive.

Beautiful, colorful, white, heavy, sparkly, fun, festive and simple....but way too expensive.

Of course, that is why I will stick to window shopping.

I would really like to have that $59 pepper grinder though.

And some of those cute rooster napkins...to maybe go with the salt and pepper shakers.

Enough!

Where do you like to "window shop"?

Making the best of it!

Our swimming pool opened this weekend. It was suppposed to rain!

It had been cloudy all morning, but no rain....so we gathered our things and headed to the pool.

After a few minutes, it started to rain...really rain!

So we headed home.....to make the best of it.

Here's to hoping you can make the best of it, too!

So much fun!

Fan Club Flashback!

When I was about 10 years old, I had these posters on my closet door.

I watched Charlie's Angels every Wednesday night, after 8 is Enough.

 I  also loved the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders.

 I was a huge fan!

My 11 year old son is a huge football and baseball fan!

He especially loves Brett Favre!

Here he is in his official Favre jersey.

He is showing off his Brett Favre biography that he wrote for his book club,

and the cool puppet that he made to show during his presentation.

He can tell you just about anything you want to know about this football mega star.

I was wondering...when you were young,

Who was on your closet door?

 Who were you a huge fan of?

What about your kids?

Anyone?

Mad Libs....Cheap entertainment!

Anyone remember these?

I loved this little word game when I was growing up. Our family has recently rediscovered Mad Libs  and we are enjoying the silliness of some of the stories.

This year, we also discovered a junior edition of Mad Libs.
It is great for young readers.

It gives examples of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and misc. You can use one of the examples or you can come up with your own. It is also a little bigger, giving them more room to write. This is great for my first grader. It gives him practice with reading and writing....and an intro to the different parts of speech.

And get this....AC Moore sells Mad Libs for $3.99. And you can use your 40% off coupon! Now that is some cheap entertainment!

Happy Friday!
Enjoy your weekend!

Have you seen this face?

It's the face the says "Maaahhm".

As if to say "Mom (really drawn out) are you kidding me?"

It's the "I am so annoyed that you are even talking to me" face. I am really not sure of any other way to explain it, but I know that some of you must have seen it on your own little ones faces, huh?

Here it is....
See, her lips are in the ready position to make the Mmmmmm sound!

Well, I have seen it many times, but not today!

You see...today, I let Emily miss school (Yikes! I know some of you are wondering now what kind of Mother I must be) so that we could enjoy a little girl time together. She has missed very few days of school this year. Exams and End of Grade tests are over....and next year...she will be in High School.

So...we had a little breakfast together, did a little shopping at her favorite store (ForeverXXI),  and then we headed to IKEA (Oh! Yes!) for a little High School room redecorating inspiration. We had a fabulous time...and were definately inspired.

I loved today with her...I didn't see this face..I wasn't annoying her....we had a really good time!

Now get on back to school, girly!

To that she says, "Maaahhm!"

Tweet, tweet... Flop!

The other day, I was sitting here....enjoying my magazine

(reenactment)

and the scenery...and the quiet.

When out of the top of the basketball goal post came a strange rustling sound...and a few tweets.

And then out flew...oops I mean flopped...

this very cute little guy!


For the next few minutes, we all gathered around to watch this little baby bird learn how to fly right in front of our very eyes! He flapped and fluttered and flapped some more. He chirped and cheeped and looked at us as if to say....I've got this! We cheered him on...and then he was gone...just like that! We cheered some more! Then we went on back to whatever it was that we were doing.

Life is happening all around us! 

Enjoy today!