Ten on Tuesday

I am so excited to get back to a somewhat "regular" posting schedule. And what better way to kick it off than with a Ten on Tuesday post?

1. My dad is doing much better. He's stable and slowly recovering. In our eyes, that's progress and we'll gladly take it! It's hard to take people/things for granted after what we've recently been through...

2. Last Wednesday Sam and I were hanging out together. It was time for lunch and as we were headed downstairs, he asked me to give him a piggy back ride. I agreed. I took one step, my foot slipped and tumbling down the stairs we both went. Other than bumping his chin on my head and being scared out of his mind, he was fine. Me, on the other hand, I had bruises and rug burns all over my body: shoulders, back, waist, hips, butt, legs and arms. Luckily we're both OK, but it was quite the scary episode!

3. We've all been battling a cold at the Butler home. Isabella ran a low grade fever all afternoon Thursday and again most of the day Friday. So needless to say, she did not go to school Friday. She's also not going to school today, but headed to the doctor's office instead. Sam's had a cough for a couple of weeks now. And my throat has been killing me for days. Truth be told, I'm ready to get rid of all this crud and get everyone back to being healthy.

4.  Running seems to be the in thing these days. Everyone I know is running... 5Ks, 10Ks, half marathons, full marathons. It's crazy! I've never been a runner. Not even when I've been in the best physical shape of my life. I think my feelings toward running are best described with this here visual aid:

True dat!

5. A friend of mine, who is also a runner, recently shared this picture of a bumper sticker she saw on the back of a car. She said she literally laughed out loud when she saw it.

What I really wanna know is... where do I find this here little gem for the back of my car?

;)

6. Have you heard of GroopDealz? They offer the cutest things for a steal of a price. I gotta tell you, I'm a believer. I recently bought this, which is currently hanging in our kitchen and I totally adore:

And this beautiful "I love you to the moon and back" necklace:

Usually this is a "mom" necklace which includes the children's names. However, I decided to include Scott's name, since I just happen to love him to the moon and back as well. Isabella picked the colors of the pearls: green for Scott, red for Isabella and blue for Sam. I'm in LOVE!

Go check them out and sign up for the e-mail offerings. I promise you won't be disappointed.

7. Move over American Idol, there's a much better singing show in town. Scott and I are both hooked on The Voice.

However, someone really needs to tell Christina Aguilera that she needs to (a) hire a stylist or (b) fire her current one and hire a new one. Yesterday, while we were watching the show, Scott made the comment: "Geez, she looks like a poodle." He was right on the money!

8. The Pinterest bug has bitten me lately,... like, BAD! And unfortunately it's not related to all the adorable craft projects or delicious recipes you can find there. You see, I'm hoping to tackle a couple major house projects this year: the kitchen and the master bedroom/bath.

For the kitchen, I'd love to brighten it up with a white subway tile backsplash, creamy white painted cabinets, a tan color for the walls, and the addition of some architectural elements throughout.

Oh yeah, and I'd love to do a built in similar to this in our breakfast nook.

For our master bedroom, I'd love to go with something along these lines:

And if a genie granted me a fourth wish, I would totally love to tackle the front of the house by adding a portico, kinda like this:

9. Read the book, bought the t-shirt, and I'm dying to go see the movie.

OK, so I didn't really buy the t-shirt. But I did read (and love) the book and I'm dying to go see the movie.
Woo Hoo!

10. Stay tuned for a post of Isabella's Spa Party and Sam's 4th Birthday party COMING SOON!

Ten on Thursday

Being that it's been oh, I don't know, almost a month since my last blog post, I thought I'd update you on all the fun happenings at Casa de Butler with a Ten on Thursday-type post. So, here we go...

1. I have been very busy lately with client meetings and photo sessions and editing and all the other fun that comes along with being a photographer and owning my own business. (I'm still getting used to that!) I'm so blessed! I'll be sharing some images from some of my recent sessions here on the blog soon. Stay tuned!

2. I know this is SO last month, but I have to share some of our Halloween photos from this year. It was SUPER, to say the least. This year we had "Gooperman" (aka Superman) complete with muscles and super saggy pants and boots.

This super hero was oozing some serious attitude!

But out of all of his super powers, I'm pretty sure his super cuteness is the one that'll get the crimes solved.

And then we've got his sidekick, the adorable bedazzled Super Girl!

This super diva can fight fashion crimes like no other.

And she too can solve any mystery with her super cuteness.

The kids had a great time trick or treating this year. I love that we go out early, we come back early, hand out some candy and call it a night by 8:00pm.  And by 8:45ish Scott and I are sitting on the couch watching TV and eating some yummy candy, compliments of the kiddos ;)

3. A couple weekends ago Scott and I got a chance to get away for a few days. My mom and dad kept the kids (I'm pretty sure I have the best parents in the whole world!) and Scott and I went off to Las Vegas. It was a much needed break, which did wonders for both of us. I've got one word for you: Serendipity. YUM! I'll share some stories and post some pictures of our little getaway soon.

4. After much consideration, I declared yesterday a pajama day. Yes, I had a number of places I should have gone to and a number of things I should have done, but I opted to play hookie and stay home with my baby boy in our PJs ALL. DAY. LONG! We watched TV, played hide and seek, played tic-tac-toe, played chess and spent most of the day just hanging out. Together. It was glorious!

5. The countdown is currently at T minus 15 days until we pack up the family and spend a week in the most magical place on Earth. EEK!!!

6. It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is a week from today. I am so looking forward to it, especially since it'll be the first time in forever that we won't be hosting it at our place. It's all about being grateful for the little things, people!

7. I'm planning on starting the Christmas decorating extravaganza this weekend. This is most definitely my favorite time of year!

8. Yesterday, on the way home, Sam was singing a song he'll be performing at his preschool's Christmas program. I asked him what the song was about, to which he replied: "It's a song about how much God woves us and how He sent us His gun. You know God has a gun, wight?" Yeah,... Gun = Son. I SO LOVE THIS BOY!!!

9. I had a great meeting with some clients this morning. Afterward, I ran some errands, made some phone calls and had lunch at my parent's place. (Have I told you I have the BEST parents?) Since I had such a productive morning, I came home looking forward to spending some time on the couch, reading, until it was time to go pick up the kids. I had so not anticipated walking in and finding the huge stinky mess I found in Rocky's crate. So, instead of the relaxing 90 minutes I had envisioned, I spent the time hosing down the crate, cleaning the floor and "washing" Rocky. Ugh!

10. After a couple of months without really reading, I've made it a point to make the time to read again. And this makes me so happy!

Ten on Tuesday

1. OK, I don't have a lot of time, so I have to make this short and sweet.

2. I have fallen off the reading wagon something awful. It appears I've been working on the book I'm currently reading for a month. And I'm not even half way through it... that is so sad. Pathetic, really!

3. I miss reading!

4. The entire family is counting down the days until our Disney trip. As of today, it is exactly 46 days!!! Eeekkk!!!

5. I wish the city schools had the same amount of fall break as the county schools. Seriously, who is the idiot that decides all of this?

6. Back in August, during "Meet the Teacher" night, I signed up to volunteer for just about everything in Isabella's class. Well, everything except for being a room mom. You all know how I feel about that!

7. Guess who was assigned to being the room parent for Isabella's class! How the heck does that happen?! I wasn't even asked!! Yeah,... let's just say I'm not exactly giddy with excitement over this one!

8. My blogging to-do list is bursting at the seams with tons of fun stuff I'm dying to share with you.

9. One of the blog posts I've been trying to put together for some time now is the one about our visit to the pumpkin patch. So. Much. Fun! Stay tuned for that one, it's coming soon.

10. Is anybody out there watching the show Parenthood? Oh my goodness... it is seriously the Best. Show. EVER! And it's starting right about now, so I gotsta go! Until next time.

Oh and yes, since I don't like words-only posts, here's a sneak peek from our pumpkin patch visit:

Sam, the pirate, with Isabella, the neon tiger.

Ten on Tuesday ~ I'm back!

1. I know, I know... many of you are probably thinking that this has turned into a "Ten on Tuesday" blog. Trust me, I get it! But rest assured that now that the school year is officially in full swing with both kids back in school, and we are back to our "old" routine, I have more time and quite a few blog posts that I'm dying to share with you in the next couple of days. With lots and lots of pictures.

2. Isabella lost her second tooth last week. There was some serious celebrating in this home,... that tooth has been loose for months. And of course, the tooth fairy made a pit stop and left her a little something.

3. Last week my Mom went into the hospital for what was supposed to be a routine 30 minute exploratory procedure. Well, that quickly turned into an overnight stay when they found 80% blockage on the front artery of her heart and immediately inserted a stent. Thank you all for your prayers and kind words. Fortunately, she has recovered beautifully and is right back to her amazing self.

4. Sam is really enjoying school so far. I was concerned since he kept flipping back and forth between dying to go back to school and dying because of having to go back to school. Luckily, he really likes his new teachers and he loves playing with a lot of his old friends. All is well in Sam's World!

5. Isabella had three different sleep overs this past weekend. THREE! On Friday night she spent the night at a friend's place, on Saturday night we had a friend spend the night here, and on Sunday night my parents took both kids (and their cousins) to spend the night at their place.  Needless to say, yesterday Isabella was WAY overstimulated, overextended, and oh SO grumpy. Guess who won't be doing that again! Ever!

6. I'd like to do a shout out to my dear friend Celimar... today is her birthday! She lives in Italy (jealous much? I know I am!), and I've only been asking her for, like, EVER to start a blog so I can live vicariously through her. Anyway, Happy Birthday, Beautiful! I hope you hanno un grande giorno!!! ;-)

7. I'm thinking of resurrecting the ol' OPAM (One Project a Month). We have a few home projects in the horizon and this would be the perfect way to share them with you.

8. I'll be making Kraft's Cheesy Chicken & Salsa Skillet recipe for dinner some time this week. You can find the recipe here. Seems fast, easy, healthy and yummy. I'll let you know how it turns out.

9. Have you seen the movie Tangled? If you haven't, you must. It is adorable! If you have, you know the song they sing when they're in the tavern, I've Got A Dream? (BTW, you can watch it here.) Well, I have a dream,... and this week I'm finally getting off my bootay and taking some critical steps towards making that dream a reality. EEK!!! I am so excited! Can't wait to share all the fun details with you once things start falling into place.

10. And since every post needs at least one photo, here it is:

 I can't help but think of "Oh, the places you'll go!" when I look at my sweet boy in this one.

Ten on Tuesday

(1) I feel like I've seriously neglected the ol' blog lately. I'm also WAY behind on reading and commenting on blogs. But I'm sure that as things start to settle around here, and our back to school routine is re-established, my time (and desire) for blogging will return. At least I hope it does. I miss my bloggie peeps!

(2) We didn't really do as many things on our Summer Fun List as we would have liked this year. Don't get me wrong, we certainly made a pretty dent. But in all honesty, when I think back to our summer, this is all that I seem to remember:

It seems like we spent most of the summer either taking swim lessons at the Y or swimming at my Mom's.

(3) Still on the list, and soon to come, a HUGE garage sale along with the kids' lemonade stand. My friend Tracey printed out a nice big banner for them to use on their lemonade stand. It is adorable and they can hardly stand it!

(4) I've got some really fun home improvement projects I am absolutely thrilled about, and lots of indoor painting that will soon take place. Stay tuned!

(5) Isabella survived her first week and is really enjoying being a first grader so far. We get to meet with her teacher tonight, and we're definitely looking forward to it.

(6) Sam has two more weeks before he starts his 3YO Pre-School. I'm ready! Him... not so much anymore! He's working overtime on his case for staying at Tata's all day, every day. How quickly things change! Poor baby...

(7) Scott has been lusting after a Dyson vacuum for years. No joke. However, I couldn't justify buying one while we had a perfectly good Hoover in the house. I mean, have you seen the price tag on those rug suckers? YIKES! Anyway, Scott decided to vacuum the house this weekend. Yeah, I'm not one to discourage anyone from such behavior! Amazingly, an item of clothing got misteryously sucked in and pretty much burnt the heck out of our perfectly good Hoover vaccum.

(8) Guess who is the proud owner of a brand new Dyson!

 

Yeah!

Coincidence? 

I think not!

(9) The Help

Loved the book!

LOVED the movie!

Did you read the book? Have you seen the movie?
The casting, the sets, the wardrobe, the acting...  It is AMAZING!
Seriously, go see it!
That's all I'm gonna say about that!

(10) Sam was being his silly self yesterday. So, I decided to pick up my camera and snap some pictures. This is my favorite one:

 

Technically, it's all wrong. But he's not making silly faces. He's laughing. Like, really laughing. And he's such an adorable and lovable and awesome child. And all that comes through in this picture. And that is exactly why I love it so much!

Have a great day!

Ten on Tuesday

1. I spent last weekend in Nashville. With some girlfriends. For a CKC scrapbooking convention. We stayed at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel.  Took some layout classes. Did lots of shopping. Ate at the Cheesecake Factory. I'm not gonna lie, it was HEAVEN!!!

2. In fact, I enjoyed the convention so much that it apparently reignited my desire to scrapbook for us again. Here lately all I ever work on are my classes, but suddenly I've got an itch to get to scrapping. And well, that just hasn't happened in forever!

3. It's official... we are now the parents of a first grader. Eeek!!!

4. Even though none of her former classmates are in her first grade class (not a single one! how does that happen?), Isabella has had a wonderful couple of days so far. She says her teacher, Mrs. Franklin, is very nice and she's already made lots of friends. She's very happy, which of course translates into me being very happy!

5. My neighbor and I are now carpooling. She takes them in the morning. I pick them up in the afternoon.  I love it!

6. OK, so I am now hooked on Words with Friends. HOOKED! Have you played it? You must. If you decide to check it out, be sure to play with me. Just search for user name "liztbutler". All I'm gonna say is that with my addictive personality, it's a really good thing I don't enjoy gambling.

7. As I mentioned earlier, my neighbor took the girls to school this morning, so Sam and I got to hang out today. All day. Today was the first time in a LONG time that I didn't have anywhere to be. (Notice I didn't say I didn't have anything to do. I just chose not to do anything.) So I made sure it was a very mellow day. We sat on the couch and watched episode after episode of Justice League. I read some of my book. We had lunch. We took a nap. We went to pick up the girls. Apparently my body was begging for some downtime, because it felt really good to just chill.

8. What I neglected to realize, until about 5:30pm, was that I had an eye appointment scheduled for today at 11:00am. Oops, it appears I did have somewhere I needed to be after all! Guess I'll be calling tomorrow to reschedule.

9. I'm not certain of what Sam's MDO start date is, but he is definitely ready! He can't wait to meet his new teachers and reunite with his little friends.

10. My brother is healing and feeling better and standing strong in his faith. Often times it's hard to see the good in life's speed bumps, but they are definitely there. And I am ever so grateful for him and his faith journey thus far!

Ten on Tuesday...on Thursday

(1) Isabella got a surprise mani/pedi at Sweet and Sassy for her birthday. This girl is just like her Mama in the pampering department... she just can't get enough. Needless to say, she was in HEAVEN!

(2) The summer art program Isabella attended at the beginning of the summer is having their art showcase reception this coming Sunday. Unfortunately, we'll be helping a friend celebrate turning 6, and we won't be able to make it. So we decided to go and check it out last Sunday instead. It was amazing walking into the lobby and SO fun looking at all the colorful artwork.

(3) The class Isabella took was called Sculpture Safari and she made the following two projects:

An elephant:

A cheetah in its habitat:

We are so proud of our little sculptor!

(4) I came across this recipe on Pinterest recently. Are any of you as hooked on Pinterest as I am? Oh. My. Goodness! Talk about an overload of fabulous ideas. It is awesome!!! Anyway, I made it for dinner last week. It was delicious!

(5)  Our boy is desperately fighting naps these days. Claims that he's not tired and doesn't need one. The result, more often than not, is that he totally crashes at about 5:00pm. Anywhere and everywhere! And it is nearly impossible to wake him up without him throwing the MOTHER of all tantrums. Yeah, this is NOT working for me. So we're going to have to reconsider the whole skipping the nap thing... like, PRONTO!

(6) Isabella had her cousin and our neighbor over for a sleepover on Tuesday night.  Sam was almost as excited as Isabella was to have the girls over. The evening consisted of pizza for dinner, donuts, dance battles on the Kinect, lots of running and giggling, makeovers, a movie and popcorn. It was lights out at 11:00 pm. Scott and I were exhausted!

(7) I don't know if it's just us, but my kids will watch a movie and pick that same movie to watch over and over and over for days... It gets to where I can recite them in their entirety. Yeah, I'm not kidding. Anyway, the movie the girls picked for the sleepover was Ramona and Beezus. And in true Butler children fashion, we've been watching it over and over and over ever since. But can I just say, I absolutely loved it. It is sweet and imaginative and funny and perfect for our 6 year old and her Mama to sit and enjoy together.

(8) I can't believe that school starts in a little over a week. I am SO not ready. Like, at all! I foresee some serious back to school shopping in the very near future,... quite possibly tomorrow?!

(9) And speaking of being behind, I'm participating in a consignment sale in a couple of weekends, and I still have not gone through the dozens of bins of kids' clothes, or entered them into the system or prepped them. Yeah,...

(10) I get to spend my evening with the very talented Marci Lambert at a photography seminar, and I am SO looking forward to it!

Ten on Tuesday ~ Playing Catch up

Hello???

Is there anybody out there?!?!

I so would not blame you if you gave up on me and the ol' blog. 

I have been a terrible blogger lately.

But finding the time (and motivation) these days seems to be a HUGE challenge. 

Sooo, I'm using the Ten on Tuesday to play a little game of catching up.

So, here we go....

1. We had a lovely Father's Day. Scott got his Father's Day/Birthday present early this year (a Motorola Xoom tablet, which pretty much elevated me to best wife ever status, thankyouverymuch!), but we still gave him some pretty snazzy new work clothes. Being that we had his gift exchange early in the morning before going to church, I didn't take many pictures. But from the few that I did take, this one is by far my favorite:

2. The reason Daddy got some snazzy new work clothes, is because he will soon be starting a different job. We are SO very excited about this. Trust me when I say this is most definitely answered prayer!

3. Also, speaking about Father's Day, look who signed his name on daddy's card:

Arghhhhh!  This is painfully adorable!

4. Did I mention that Isabella lost her first tooth a couple of weeks ago while we were on vacation?

She did! She was lying down on the floor coloring, when suddenly a tooth that has been loose for oh I don't know, 6 months or so, fell and landed on her coloring book. Lucky for us the tooth fairy found us in the Arkansas mountains. And needless to say, she was one HAPPY girl!

5. Last week, the kids and I spent some time in Barnes & Noble looking for a birthday present for my nephew. While perusing the Bargains section, I came across these books:
Shhh... please don't tell my nook that I broke down and bought actual books, OK?
It's just that at $4.98 each, I couldn't pass them up.

6. Speaking of reading, I've been on a roll lately. Out of the 35 books I set up to read at the beginning of the year, I've already read 26. Woo Hoo! I will definitely have to up that number next year. And if any of you have a good book recommendation, please feel free to send it my way. I'm always looking for good reading material.

7. The kids recently discovered, and are totally obsessed with, a bunch of caterpillars hanging out and devouring some bushes in our front yard.

Needless to say, we check in on them every single day. These are some very hungry caterpillars!

8. I already started all the planning and preparations for Isabella's upcoming birthday party. The theme for this birthday is ART! Shocker, I know! I have so many fun projects and decorations planned, I can hardly stand it! So stay tuned...

9. The kids started VBS at my brother's church tonight. I won't lie, was a bit concerned about the 6-8:30pm time frame. But today I dropped them off, had dinner at Subway, walked next door for a pedicure (my toe nails are PURPLE and I ♥ them!), and then drove by the McDonald's drive thru for a $.75 low fat vanilla cone. And I did all of this before picking them up. It was a good night!

10. The kids started their swim lessons yesterday.

One of them loved it, the other didn't. 

Wanna venture a guess as to who it was??? 

Let me give you a hint:

 Yep, this is pretty much what he looked like during the duration of the lesson.

And like this.

And later in the day, when his Tata asked him about his swim lessons, his immediate response was: 

It was a NIGHTMARE! 

HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa! 

That boy of ours cracks me up!

Isabella, on the other hand, loved every minute of it!

It literally seems like she shed all her "water" fears overnight.

In fact, her teachers mentioned she might be ready to move up to the next level.

We are so proud of our cute little fishy!

Ten on Tuesday

Top Ten Signs that Summer Break is ONE Day Away!

1. At the beginning of the school year, I was really good about waking up early and getting everything ready for the day. Here lately, I've been getting up around 7ish and running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Not good!

2. Once upon a time, when I used to wake up early, I would prepare eggs and sausage/bacon, pancakes, muffins and all sorts of yummy breakfast foods. These days, the choices are limited to oatmeal, cereal or waffles.

3. We celebrated Isabella's Kindergarten "graduation"/end of year party last Thursday. She was so excited that Mom, Dad, Tata and Sam were able to come and celebrate. We had pizza and drinks and cupcakes and fabulous goody bags. Their teacher, the beloved Ms. Long, gave every student a cute little certificate. They were all beaming with pride. SO cute!

4. All the kids in Isabella's class talked about character and the characteristics that make an outstanding character. Then they voted on who ( a boy and a girl) in their class exhibited these characteristics, and would be considered a role model for Outstanding Character. There was a tie within the boys. But, Isabella was voted the girl who was a role model for Outstanding Character. Yeah, we are SO very proud of our girl!

5. Even though Isabella is so ready for a break, she gets really sad when she thinks about not seeing Ms. Long and her friends for such a long time.

6. Sam had his end of year program today. Mommy, Daddy, Tata and Isabella were there to cheer him on. It was adorable. His class sang four songs. For days, whenever I asked what he was going to sing, his response was "I don't know!" I just knew it would be quite the interesting experience. But he did great. Very funny,... and entertaining.

7. Scott and I gave the kids their end of school year gifts today. Sam got a remote control F150 (now he has a truck just like his daddy), and Isabella got the Penguins of Madagascar Leapster game that she's ALWAYS wanted. They both got an art caddy filled with art supplies. They were thrilled!

8. We've been busy brainstorming about all of the events we want to include in our Summer Fun List this year. Stay tuned!

9. We are counting down the days of our family vacation. LITERALLY!

10. These two aren't even trying to contain their excitement!

Ten on Tuesday

1. We managed to take the kids to see African Cats and Rio last weekend. We all loved them both. I think we've all agreed to wait for Hop to come out on DVD. And I'm trying to figure out what night this week I will make my escape to go see Water for Elephants. Anyone interested in coming along?

2. I took SO many pictures when my brother was here last week, that I'm going to have to share them on a couple of posts. So, stay tuned...

3. I am still very much in love with Craigslist. Although, sometimes it irks me when people treat it like it's eBay, I'm still loving the deals I'm getting and coming back to check in on a daily basis.

4. Speaking of Craigslist, I just posted my first "for sale" ad on Sunday evening,... our old washer and dryer. I had four different people contact me. They were sold by 1:30pm on Monday. For full asking price. Saweet!!! Now we get to use that money towards a little kitchen renovation we have in the works.

5. Our local schools added three additional days to their calendar to make up for the snow/ice days we got hit with this winter. This does not make me happy. Not one little bit! I am SO ready for summer break, it's not even funny!

6. I am in desperate need of a family vacation... just sayin'.

7. With Isabella wanting to enroll in some of the summer art classes and some of the the summer pottery classes, in addition to taking swim lessons,  think I better start thinking about how to organize our days. This might get tricky!

8. I have a new love affair with Red Box. I just wish they had a bigger movie selection. It's been a little bit challenging for us since Blockbuster closed.

9. I am SO excited to be starting my "Photo a Day in the Month of May" project this coming Sunday. I have embarked in this little endeavor for the last couple of years and LOVE all the everyday memories that I've been able to capture. Some of you have even played along on your personal blogs or Facebook. I sure do hope you join me again this year. It was SO much fun looking through your everyday life captures. So, if you decide to play along, please do let me know, so I don't miss a thing.

10. We went strawberry picking while my brother was in town (this also falls under #2). It was so much fun. But as we were getting ready to leave, I couldn't help but wonder if the check-out attendant would suspect that Sam might have eaten a strawberry (or twenty) while he was busy picking. I'm still not 100% sure. But seriously, be honest and tell me, what do you think?

Nah,... I doubt it!

;)

Ten on Tuesday

1. Yesterday we had terrible weather. Like really, really scary weather! Rain, lightning, thunder, super strong winds, tornado sightings, sirens blaring ~ the whole shebang! I was working at Eclectica when the worst of it happened. I looked over at my friend Ellen and noticed she was stressing out. I kindly told her it would be OK and advised her to take some deep breaths. Then I made the mistake of saying what was on mind, "I wonder if Isabella is freaking out...". Ellen apparently also said what was on her mind, "She probably is." Yeah, that was the beginning of the end! I started thinking of my little girl, away from me, sitting in the hallway at school, scared out of her mind. Hello! Can you say panic attack?! I called Scott and started crying just thinking about it. Scott managed to talk me off the ledge and calm me down by telling me that the kids were probably in a safer spot than I was and quite possibly completely oblivious to what was going on outside. I bet Ellen was thinking "Who needs the deep breaths now, huh?"

2. When I finally picked Isabella up from school, I immediately asked her about her day. She gave me a run down of her day. Never once mentioning anything out of the ordinary. After waiting a while, I specifically asked if they had to huddle in the hallway because of the weather. She responded with a less than enthusiastic "Oh, yeah". She forgot. Alrighty then!

3. You know when people type LOL and LMBO? I often wonder, really? Are they really laughing out loud or laughing their butts off about this or that? Well, last night while catching up on my blog reading, I literally lol,... to the point of tears. One of my favorite bloggers, Meg Duerksen from Whatever, posted pictures of her attempt at grooming her dog. Oh my goodness, I'm still laughing at the pictures of poor Waffle. Go check it out here. That is some funny stuff! Best laugh I've had in a while.

4. I love me some canvas prints and the Canvas People are offering a free 8x10 canvas (not including shipping and handling) or $50 towards any upsized canvas. I hate that I missed out on this promotion last year, but trust me, I quickly jumped on it this time around. I ordered an 8x10 print, and the s&h came to about $15. I can't wait to get it! I think these would make great Mother's Day presents. Go check it out and order yours here!

5. Isabella says she is madly in love with a little boy in her class named Luke. She talks about how much she loves him and how much he loves her and how they're going to get married soon. I explained that it's OK to really like Luke and that they can be the best of friends, but Kindergarteners are much too young to even think about getting married. She thought about for a minute and then said: "Well, since the two of us are really smart, after we finish Kindergarten we can skip to the fifth grade, and then we can get married." Apparently 10 years old is the magic number. Yeah... good times!

6. I don't know about you, but I don't remember really noticing boys until I was like 12 or 13 or 14. What's up with that?

7. Scott and I did some exhaustive research and made some reservations. Disney in 2011! And we are all thrilled!

8. For some unknown reason, Sam was super excited to see his pediatrician for his three year check up. During the visit, Dr. Higgi told Sam he (1) HAS to sleep in his room, not in mom and dad's, (2) HAS to use the potty, no more Pull-Ups, and (3) could only drink one cup of juice a day. Needless to say Sam left the office feeling quite deflated.

9. Sam has slept in his room ALL NIGHT for the last 9 days. He has been sporting some pretty cool big boy underwear for the last 6 days, using Pull-Ups only at nap and night time. And his juice consumption has been drastically reduced to 1 (and OK, sometimes 2) cups per day.

10. Dr. Higgi is our hero! And Sam has been handsomely rewarded for all of his hard work!

Ten on Tuesday

1. We had to take Sam to the ER last week after he was playing with a flashlight and suddenly started screaming hysterically because of the pain in his left eye. When we got there, it was jam packed with people. Standing room only! Lucky for us they were all adults, so pediatrics was able to get us checked in, seen and checked out in about an hour and a half. Fortunately, he did not scratch his cornea. The doctor said the pain was mostly due to irritation, so we needed to get him some eye drops and he'd be fine. Yeah, I don't know about that,... he still complains about pain in his eye every now and then, so we're off to see an optometrist this Saturday. That should be so much fun! Right!

2. I have a confession to make: yesterday was the season premiere of The Bachelor,... and after swearing it off for the last couple of seasons, I watched it. I know, I know, not my proudest moment. But how could I not watch it? There's a girl on there who has vampire fangs. And Chris Harrison says this will be the most dramatic season EVER! He wouldn't lie about something like that now, would he?

3. Today was the first day with both kids back in school. I had a plan. It was a good plan. It was a highly productive plan. Unfortunately Amazon, and some pretty great deals on some awesome camera accessories, took priority over everything else I had planned. Oops! I hate it when that happens. On the bright side, I'm expecting F*O*U*R packages filled with goodies sometime next week. Can't wait to start playing!

4. Isabella is learning to read. And she does it so well. And she loves to read to us. And I could listen to her read all day long. And she shares my passion for books. And my heart just swells up with pride every single time I hear her. How I love that girl of mine!

5. I was looking through some of the photos from our recent Zoo Lights visit (which I'll share with you soon). This one made me laugh. Like, REALLY hard!

 

Meet our "party" animal!

It was taken on our way out of the zoo. He had to stop and dance to Jingle Bell Rock. This boy's a mess!

6. We have to replace some (read all) the windows in our house. They are old and drafty and our insanely strong mutant dogs have somehow managed to break a few of them over the years. So I scheduled a couple of companies to come in and give me some estimates. This guy today (Ron) gave me his company's quote ~ Wowza! Windows are NOT cheap, people! Anyway, shortly after I asked him about the company who constantly advertises $189 windows on TV. He gave me a very long overly-detailed technical explanation about how Window World does not operate to his company's standards, about the amount of complaints they have against them, about the poor quality of their product, the low caliber of their installers, and so forth. He then asked if they were coming in for an estimate. "Pfft, NO WAY!", I answered.  

7. Between you and me, Window World was recommended to us by a few friends and are scheduled to come in for an estimate tomorrow morning. Just don't tell Ron, kay?

8. When I arrived at Sam's MDO to pick him up this afternoon, I found him sleeping on his little mat. This boy never EVER naps at preschool, so this was a sure sign that he wasn't feeling well. I got him in to see the doctor. He's in the early stages of bronchitis and now taking an antibiotic. Never a dull moment with this boy, lemme tell ya!

9. I've been coughing a lot lately. I think I too am in the early stages of bronchitis. Oh, the joy! I'm going to have to go see someone soon. Remember this little episode? Yeah, good times!

10. Parenthood's season premiere is tonight. Can you stand it? That is my most favorite show ever! It's currently being recorded on our DVR. Waiting for me. So I gosta go!

Ten on Tuesday

I know, I've been AWOL for, like, ever! And I am so very sorry about that. But I'm going to attempt to catch you up with our comings and goings in this here post. Here we go....

(1) I've been in the worst funk lately. And I hate it. I hate it because it does nothing but heighten my feelings of being out of control, overwhelmed, sad and feeling super tired. I hate it because I'm not taking the time to really sit and enjoy ALL the good things going on around me. And I especially hate it because this is my most favorite time of year and it'll be over before I know it, and I would have wasted it by being in a terrible funk. So, I am trying as hard as I can to snap out of it,... PRONTO!

(2) After our Jacksonville trip, our pet sitter called and told us she was fostering a year-old beagle she found roaming around her place, but he really needed a permanent home, and she was sure we would love him and he would fit right in. Being the suckers pet lovers that we are, we told her to bring him by so we could meet him. In hindsight, maybe we shouldn't have agreed to our little meet-n-greet. Meet Rocky, the new addition to our family:

Don't let his adorable face fool you,... he's a very active puppy, who loves to chew (anything and everything!), run and play, and hates being crated. With Copper being 10 years old and Mick being 8, this crazy puppy stage was nothing but a very distant memory. Oy vey!

(3) Our household has been hit HARD with illnesses in these last few weeks; sinus and ear infections, 24-hour stomach bugs, the flu, more 24-48-hour stomach bugs.... it's enough to drive anyone crazy! I think we're finally starting to see the light at the end of this germ-infested tunnel. And I, for one, could not be happier!

(4) The kids have loved their Advent Calendar this year. It's filled with all kinds of fun events, including reading Christmas books, watching Christmas movies, baking cookies, driving around to see the lights, Christmas crafts, and so on. One of their favorite activities was when we decorated our gingerbread house. I thought instead of buying one house, we could get a village and that would surely minimize the arguing that can be heard around our house ALL. THE. TIME! Anyway, they had a blast decorating their houses.

 

As you can see, most of the icing was actually consumed, but they did manage to incorporate some into their decor. Much fun was had by all!

(5) We visited Alpine Village again this year and the kids LOVED every minute of it!  I love this little family tradition of ours and I love that even though this was our sixth consecutive year of attending, we all still have a great time. This year we took my mom and my niece along with us, and based on their reaction, I'm pretty sure they'll be coming with us again in the future.

 

(6) Sam participated in his first ever Mother's Day Out Christmas program. Can you say ADORABLE? His class sang Jingle Bells and two other songs, and he did such a good job. He was so very proud of himself up on that stage. And don't even get me started on how proud we were of him. He is such a ham! A natural performer...

(7) We celebrated Christmas with my in-laws this past weekend and had a great time catching up, exchanging presents and "doing" some wonderful art projects. My MIL is an unbelievably talented artist. She and Isabella shared some creative quality time in her amazing art studio.

She even managed to send me home with a bunch of art supplies,... I can't wait to get started, but I must warn you, to avoid some serious disappointment, you best keep your expectations low.

(8) We visited the Christmas Wonderland light display in Alton, IL. It had been years since the last time we went and I knew the kids would absolutely love it. You drive a mile and a half route decorated with millions of lights, hundreds of displays, and there's even a petting zoo. The one word I'd use to describe it is magical. The car was filled with little oohs and ahhs throughout the entire drive. Memphis has a similar concept called Starry Nights, and even though it's nice, in my opinion it pales in comparison to Alton's Christmas Wonderland. I'm so glad we were able to fit it into our visit.

(9) Our Christmas tree is finally up and decorated. Remember the funk I wrote about in (1), well the Christmas tree/decor situation did not help with it. When we finally brought the tree down from the attic, about half the lights weren't working. So after I had myself a good cry, I went out and bought us a new unlit tree and a bunch of strands of colorful lights, per Isabella's request. So even though our tree looks totally different than it ever has (yeah, I'm pretty much ALL about white/clear lights), I love it! It's fun and bright and colorful and happy!

And the best part was the kids' reaction the first time they saw it and all the comments they've made about their colorful tree ever since. I think having it up and decorated has certainly lightened all of our spirits. Now, if only I could get our Christmas cards sent...

(10) For those of you with children who believe in Santa, you must send them one of the Portable North Pole Santa messages. My kids went crazy when they first watched it. So cute! There's also an adult version you can send. So go check it out and send it to your favorite people!

Well, I think that about covers it . Once again, I am so sorry for my extended absence. But thanks for hanging in there with me.