Could Care Less

I am praying that this weather stays (well of course not the storms that we are supposed to get today) and that I don't see a drop of snow.  I love not having a winter and getting to see this at the end of Febuary...

Cecilia loves going for walks and taking the dog.

Too bad he is still packing some winter weight and starts struggling 5 minutes in.

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Cecilia has this new thing she started about a month ago.  I may have already talked about it but it is so stinkin cute and hilarious.

You ask her a question, like 'how old are you?' 'what's your name?' and she will look up and tap her finger on her face like she's really pondering the question.

She even adds a few hmm's and uhh's to add to the effect.  I have no idea where she got this.

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We are 2 and a half weeks away from C's second birthday party.  I am suprisingly ahead of the game and pretty darn proud of myself!  Can you guess the theme?

I still have a few more arts and crafts to do but nothing major.  Cecilia has no idea why "Mimis" is all over the place but loves it!  I'm going to be glad when its over so I can quit seeing red polka dots in my sleep.

We didn't do too much this weekend which is always nice.  Neither one of us was in the mood to exert ourselves too much so there was a lot of couch time and pure laziness.

The most exciting thing that we did was go buy me a new camera.  I have been dying for a new camera for several years but didn't know what I wanted.  I love my dad's camera but I didn't really feel the need for us both having one when I can borrow his (plus all his equipment) at any time.  So after much research and deliberation, I decided to bite the bullet and get me a decent camera.  I ended up buying the Canon Powershot SX40 and it has made all my dreams come true!  It has a lot of the bells and whistles my dad's camera has but still very easy to operate.  We've all enjoyed playing with it.

My dad took these shots while I was having arts and crafts hour with some friends...

Seriously, is my kid that adorable?  Hard to tell sometimes when she is screaming at the top of her lungs.

Brent spotted a herd, pack, flock (?) of turkeys in the field across from our house.

I decided to see just how good the zoom was.

 

Gobble, gobble!

Brent LOVES new toys whether they're mine or his so he spent some time taking pictures as well.

He took several but he is either zoomed out too much or way to up close and personal!

Sad the think that purchasing a new camera was the highlight of our weekend.  Maybe this week will hold some type of excitement.

Why Not

Clearly yesterday was Ash Wednesday and everyone was talking about what they were giving up for lent.  I'm Southern Baptist and that's not something we practice but I do like the meaning and purpose behind it.  So I thought, why not give something up.

I thought all day yesterday of what I could give up that would actually be hard for me.  I had several things on my list but none of them seemed right.  At some point I had even them up for an extended period not meaning to.  Then it hit me late afternoon.  Chocolate.  Some of you are saying 'big whoop.  That's easy.'  But let me confess...I eat something chocolate EVERYDAY.  Most days multiple things.  I don't have to have a huge piece of cake or ice cream but I do like a little chocolate throughout my day.  Why just yesterday morning, I popped 4 Hershey Kisses before lunch.  And when I fully committed on giving up chocolate for lent, I had 3 hand fulls of M&M's.  (Had to get that last chocolate fix in.)  I crave chocolate after a meal like smokers crave a cigarette.  I sometimes even get the shakes when I haven't had any in a while! :)

Giving up something one loves is all mind control and focusing those craving and thoughts on something else.  So I have decided that during those cravings, I'm going to learn a new bible verse or drop a note to someone I haven't seen or talked to in a while.

I might as well be productive during this time than dreaming about a big fat 3 layered chocolate cake with chocolate icing and chocolate chips.

Another Year

I'm another year older.  I feel no different nor do I feel my age.  I still feel like I just graduated college last month instead of it being almost 7 years ago.

Age doesn't bother me though.  I would say that's because my mom has never let her age bother her.  We have always spent birthdays celebrating instead of hidding in our room because another year is gone.

This year was no different.

Our celebration started when I got home from work to find this...

In the 9 years that Brent and I have been together, he has bought me flowers 4 times.  I love flowers but I only want them when they are totally out of the blue and he knows that.  I want to be caught off guard and that's just what happened last night when I walked in.  He also knows that I only want lilies and he always seems to find them even when I don't think they are in season.  He searched his little heart out for these flowers and his efforts did not go unoticed.  He did good.

My parents and the 3 of us headed downtown for dinner at Mariah's.  We don't go there much so it was a nice treat.

I branched out and got Mahi tacos and let me tell you they did not disappoint!  They were very good and I do believe I might just have to have them again.

We had a good time visiting and being entertained by our ever so lively 2 year old...

Who knew the sugar dish could be so fun!

To end the night, we were going try a little something different for dessert but after 2 failed attempts, we ended up at our old faithful...Stakz.

What a great night to kick off my last year in my 20's.  YIKES!

Thanks for all those who sent texts and emails.  I was feeling very loved!

So Close

We were almost a month to the date away from celebrating a year with no ear problems since getting tubes put in Cecilia's ears.  ALMOST.

Saturday morning Cecilia woke up with yellow junk coming out her ear.  I immediately knew her ear drum had probably busted.  It happened once before and I remember it looking similar.  So Saturday morning we ran to the the peds office to get confirmation.  He said it could either be the ear drum or an ear infection that is draining out instead of in because of the tubes.  He couldn't really tell because he said there was so much drainage.  Yuck!  We were so close to doing our happy dance.  The good news is the ear infection is so minor with tubes compared to without.

Over lunch Brent and I were talking about how sorry he felt for her for feeling so bad.  We looked over at her just as she was smiling and dancing the Hot Dog dance.  Clearly she was in a lot of pain.

The rest of the weekend, we relaxed and ran a few errands.

Colt enjoying a little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

I'm hoping this will be our one and only ear infection.  I'm also hoping that those expensive little tubes stay in place for a while longer.  Mercy, I do not want to pay for another set.  I could pay for a semester of college at those rates.

Valentine's

Cecilia racked up this year!  We got home and had a sack full of goodies from her classmates plus a few other gifts.

She dug in as soon as we hit the door.

She loved looking at everything she got.  She would inspect the little cards then passed them along for me to read.

During the process, I was busy opening one of her goody bags and I hear her cracking up.  I knew she was holding a card and for a split second I thought she had learned to read overnight and found the card funny.  We look at each other and she says 'Buzz.'

For some reason she thinks Buzz is hilarious and just the sight of him on the card cracked her up!

When we got through opening everything, she walked away with quiet the loot.

And because we really couldn't stand not seeing Brent on Valentine's, we took him dinner at work.

Cecilia loves going in the store mainly because they have a big bin of basketballs she loves to play with.

She couldn't even focus on eating because she was so worried about playing ball.

Her and I ended our night snuggled up watching her new Mickey Mouse dvd.

Honestly, it was one of the best Valentine's I've had.

Pre-Valentine's

Brent has to work tonight so we celebrated Valentine's last night.

We opened a few Valentine's Day cards we got in the mail.

Uncle Mayo and Aunt Leslie scored points with a "Mimis" card.

I always cook on Valentine's since all the restaurants are typically crazy.  We had salad, chicken covered  with bacon and cheese, baked potatoes and broccoli.  My crowd was pleased.

Our cute little Valentine...

A typical after school hair do.  I'm not sure what that child does during the day but it always standing straight up when I pick her up!

Then for dessert, we enjoyed a red velvet cake my in laws brought down this weekend when they were visiting.

It was a early birthday cake and I am extremely embarrassed at how much has been eaten since its arrival on Saturday.  I'm not so much embarrassed for myself as for my husband.  Let's just say there is only 1 hear left and this was a layered cake!  And I wish I could say he will be hitting the gym but he probably lost weight while I think I've gained 10 pounds from the few pieces I had.

Tonight C and I will more than likely enjoy a nice quite night at home watching tons of "Mimis."

Things I Want Cecilia to Know.

1.      You are good enough.  No matter what society or the media tries to tell you, you are perfect the way you are.  Some days it will be hard to believe that but you are a creation of God and to my knowledge He doesn’t make mistakes.

2.       Some people are just mean.  There will be people that come into your life that are just mean spirited.  They will say and do hurtful things but don’t retaliate.  Instead, show them love.  It won’t be easy but it will be better than getting to their level. 

3.       Always be a good friend.  Be the type of friend who holds their hands when things are ugly and the one who raises the first glass to celebrate the good. 

4.       Save the drama.  Girls are extremely dramatic!  I should know because I’m the president of the drama club.  I have learned, though, that sometimes it isn’t necessary to get all worked up and it only adds fuel to the fire.  Sit back and evaluate the situation.  It just may not be as dramatic as you think. 

       5.       Dream big.  Find what you are passionate about and run with it.  You can do anything that you set out to do and don't let anyone tell different.

6.       Don’t live with regrets.  You only get one life so live it to the fullest and have fun but be smart about it.  Don’t wake up the next morning saying, ‘ooo, wish I hadn’t done that.’ 

7.       You’re going to make mistakes.   No one is perfect.  Mistakes happen but learn from them.  Don’t repeat them.  The second time around they aren’t mistakes; just poor judgment.

8.       Grades 5-12 are ROUGH! Those years are full of drama (remember #4), attitudes and boys!  I promise whatever happens during that time won’t be the end of the world.  It will only seem like it.  You will get through it and it will all seem so silly when you are older.

9.       Dressing like a working girl is never classy.  There is a difference in showing off your curves and showing everybody what you’ve got.  Remember to be the lady, not the tramp.

10.   I love you but I’m not your best friend.  My role is not to be your best friend.  I am your parent.  Growing up you will always think of me as the mean, uncool mother that never lets you do anything.  I’m ok with that.  If it keeps you out of jail and ditches, then I’ve done my job.  One day you will see that it was for your own good and hopefully we can be friends but until them I’m fine being mean and uncool.

Valentine Crafts

The past few days I have been really into Valentine crafts.  It started with a centerpiece I did for the table.

Then I found this cute idea on Pinterest...

and decide that it would be a perfect Valentine gift for Cecilia's teachers.

So this weekend I bought my supplies...

small terra cotta pot with tray, wooden balls and a glass bowl.

Did some gluing and some paintin'...

and voila`.

A cute little gumball machine waiting to be filled up with Valentine goodies.

Now I just need to work on Cecilia's classmate's Valentine goodies.  Another Pinterest find!  I'm addicted!

Sometimes...

a little extra caffeine does the body good.

It is clear I am in no mood to be at work today.  I have listened to enough endless nonsense chatter that I want to do bad things to my coworkers.  Not to mention the things I dream about doing to the guy 3 cubes down chomping on ice.  He does it EVERYDAY after lunch.  It's like God is testing me to really see if I will kick him in the mouth.

If only there was a little something stronger mixed in my D.P.