Kaminski Family

More Christmas Pictures

2012-02-01T08:52:00.000-05:00

My little sister Shelley and her family always host Christmas Eve at their house.

Tom her husband is a big kid at heart.

This is their Christmas decor outside their house.

Homemade lasagna for dinner. Delicious!!

Poppy Tom and Me.

Our beautiful boys. My sisters and I each have one.

Hi my name is Meredith and I'm about to catch mono. I do smile sometimes.

I swear.

HI my name is Ari and I like to take pictures of myself.

cousins in the bathroom with a camera.

Aunt Shelley's bathroom needs a re-model. BADLY!!

Stacy has a houseful of foreign exchange students. They are adorable!

another Christmas eve smack down

Mom and Poppy Tom

Indy composes the letter to Santa.

still more to come.

Time For Christmas Pictures

2012-01-31T14:33:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pics from our trip to California over the holidays.

Although I wasn't feeling well, I did manage to snap a few pics while we were there.

We went to some friends house to celebrate my Mom's birthday.

Hello my name is Meredith and I am about to catch mono.

Hi my name is Brittany and I'm a couple of days away from being old enough to drink legally. Pay no attention to that beer in my hand.

Someone gave Gramma Kitty a slutty sequined bra. I hope she wears in when she's with that certain person. And I hope that certain person is highly embarrassed.

A little Jew sprinkled in for good measure.

more to come later.

I'm Home

2012-01-21T14:23:00.000-05:00

I did NOT plot my escape. I swear. I was discharged because I was able to be switched from IV steroids to oral steroids.

I am home now. Resting. I am a bit weak but feel OK. Only a little bit of pain in my large intestine. Last time this happened the flare up involved my entire large intestine but this time I was lucky. I got started on treatment much sooner so the flare up is only in the lower portion of my large intestine and therefore not as bad and not as painful.

I still haven't even gone through my pictures from Christmas. I will do that soon. As soon as I feel up to it.

Thank you for all of your kind words and messages.

I really do appreciate them. I am so blessed.

Stephanie

It's Been Awhile

2012-01-17T19:41:00.000-05:00

Um yea I know...
You've missed me.
You've grown bored of looking at this pathetic picture of me lying in a hospital bed.
Me too.

Except for one thing...

I'm in the hospital again.

Yea I know right?
So annoying. This Ulcerative colitis came out of it's deep slumber in November and has tortured me for two months. I've tried to ignore it but I won't go away.

So I've been tossed in here by my GI doctor to get this beast under control.

Just had CT scan on my abdomen so they can have a looksee and see if there is anything going on in there that looks bad. I'm hoping NOT.

Keep y'all posted.

Me

The Beast is Back

2011-12-09T22:15:00.000-05:00

Remember last year when I was here?

Ulcerative colitis landed me a week long stay in the hospital.

This year...

IT'S BACK!!

Damn it!!

I am determined to keep myself OUT of the hospital.

Today I started the 7 week course of truck loads of steroids.

Ya know I want to live when I'm begging my Doctor for steroids!

Don't want to be sick, don't want to be sick.

Another One For My Girl

2011-12-07T19:50:00.000-05:00

Opened the paper today and saw this...

Totally forgot to mention that not ONLY did Ari get the coaches award but she was also picked

for the "all county" team. This team is comprised of 16 girls from the entire county and FOUR of them were from our team. That's HUGE!!

Ari's team was also given the "all county" award for "sportsmanship".

We are raising some pretty damn good kids down here in the Deep South.

Yep that's me bragging on my girl.

Sorry... can't help it.

My Girl

2011-12-05T14:21:00.001-05:00

My girl finished her volleyball season a month ago. We just had their end of season banquet. The banquet is a nice way to finish off the season and give out some accolades and awards to some of the players.

We had a nice "Southern style" dinner followed by an awesome slide show put together by tours truly, another VB mom and one of our videographer dads.

After the show the coaches got up and said a little something about each girl and then gave her a certificate and her Varsity letter and gold bar. I wish my girl wanted a Letterman's jacket. When I was in high school all the athletes wore their Letterman's jackets adorned with all of their accomplishments.

The coaches said a little something nice and sweet about each Varsity player and then gave out several awards for stats. Ari didn't top the list of highest stats but she had a great season and played better than she ever has.

The final awards were the "Coaches Awards". The coach started out by saying the the two players who were receiving these awards were the 2 players that have a stellar work ethic, always show up with a "can do" attitude and have the MOST positive attitude. They have leadership skills that motivate the team and have NEVER EVER complained. She went on to say that these awards were the most important awards in her mind because they were given out to a person of good character and work ethic. The whole time the coach was talking about these two girls I was thinking... " God I wish she was talking about Ari." I just wanted someone to speak about my child the way she went on to talk about the recipients of this award.

It turns out she was...

My beautiful baby girl was one of the recipients of this award. I burst into tears. I was so proud. I only wished I had video taped the coaches speech about these two girls because you would cry too.

I don't want to make it about me or Ted but It's so gratifying for someone to acknowledge that the way you parent your kids is actually WORKING!!

I have never been so proud of my girl.

Little miss thing can't get close enough to her big sis.

Couldn't keep her away for the awards table either.

Ari's broken thumb is healing up nicely.

Ashlyn was the other recipient of the Coaches award.

Yep... that's my girl.

the two bronze plates on the table are the coach's awards. They are very cool.

Congrats Arianna on your "Coaches Award" !!

We love you and are so incredibly proud!

When In Rome...

2011-11-23T12:39:00.000-05:00

Ted and Alex went up to Steve and Erin's Hunt camp a couple of weeks ago. They were getting all set up for the opening of gun season. It's very exciting around here this time of year. Everywhere you go you see some guy all dressed up in his camo hunting clothes. They're like little kids... except they're not.

Guess who got to fire his first gun?? Yep that's my beautiful bouncing baby boy... with a 22 in his hand.

NEVER thought I'd see the day.

Check out his boots. Those are mine. I have had them for over 20 years and I wear them every time we go camping. I think he loved wearing them...

Not a bad shot for a rookie.

Yep... still more

2011-11-17T22:29:00.000-05:00

Didn't notice them the first day we were in Aruba but the next day they were everywhere.

Every shade of green and teal. Yes teal lizards.

We went snorkeling around a sunken WWII ship. That's Ted down there diving down like 30 feet. He's been doing this since our honeymoon. I think he's crazy. I asked him NOT to go into the ship and get himself lost.

I stayed near the water surface where all the pretty little fish were.

Tried to take a picture of myself. Ted LOVED this photo. I think he made it his screen saver. Can't even see my face. Not sure he cares.

I love the color of the water. YUM

Yep yum

The last night was dinner at a night club that was rented out just for our group. We started with cocktails and orderves on the beach at sunset.

It was a magical evening that finished with a fabulous dinner inside and a great Carnivale show.

We had a little peeping tom while we enjoyed our last meal on Aruba. He was really cute.

We spent lots of time laying on loungs , reading and looking at the ocean.

My self portraits are getting a little better.

me amusing myself while My super sexy husband checks us out.

Thanks Honey for the MOST wonderful time!!

I love you.

OK a Few More

2011-11-15T22:34:00.000-05:00

Awoke in Aruba the first morning and looked out our door to this...

In my dreams, this is what my happy place looks like.

The downtown shopping district is quite colorful. We only bought souvenirs for the kids and then raced back to our paradise.

Ted's company hosted a great evening on the beach. Beautifully set tables set on the beach for a sunset dinner.

More Aruba Pictures

2011-11-14T15:14:00.000-05:00

While traveling to Aruba, I was amused by the fact that Ted was so worried about the dogs. My mother flew out to take care of the little punks and the dogs. I of course knew that all were in good hands and that they would be well fed and well taken care of while we were gone.

Ted was more worried about my Mom letting the dogs do naughty things. I knew that the worst that would happen was that Gramma Kitty would do things like let them drink out of the bathtub faucet ( the dogs not the kids) or let them sleep on the sofa.

The lobby of our hotel was all open to the outside. The iron work on the wall in the background had small mother of pearl tiles behind it.

the view from the lobby was amazing. lots of lush greenery and then that turquoise blue water!

Our hotel room before we trashed it up with our luggage.

The sunset view out of our room.

we took a little short walk on the beach the first evening before dinner.

Had the BEST time with my super sexy husband.

Had dinner on the beach under one of these huts next to the ocean. The food was fabulous and it was amazing being able to kick our shoes off while enjoying our wonderful meal.

Dinner on the sand.

That's what the tables look like for dinner on the beach.

Best seafood ever!!!

lets catch up!

2011-11-10T23:22:00.000-05:00

First half of this year Teds district won a sales contest. With that...

we won a trip to ARUBA!!

the view from the plane flying into Aruba.

The island of Aruba is just 6 miles off the coast of Venezuela.

Oh yea!!

messing with the color tricks on my camera.

It was so nice to see land and a BLUE sky.

We took a charter bus from the airport. These pictures were taken on our ride from the airport to the resort

I spent the first few hours of the plane ride in a euphoric love fest with my children. I was so loving them that I couldn't stand it. Perhaps it's because I was getting a five day brake from them.

My Mom flew in to ~~spoil them~~ take care of them.

They were left alone with a credit card, a car, and no adult supervision, except for Gramma Kitty of course but she doesn't really count since she doesn't tell ANY of her grand children NO!!

more Aruba adventures to come!!

Happy Halloween!!

2011-10-31T15:54:00.000-04:00

Today is Halloween but yesterday we got the ball rolling with a good old fashioned church Fall/Halloween festival complete with "Trunk or Treating"

Erin volunteered herself to give out candy from her truck. She came up with an awesome plan.

She able to contain our little punks for a total of 10 minutes. When they started whining, we set them free.

Alex is getting a ton of use out of his Camo suit. He uses it as camouflage when he's playing hide and seek. Some other people would use it for hunting. We haven't joined that team yet.

Erin tried to get a picture of Ben. This is NOT his best side.

Trunk divided- House divided. It's all the same. Welcome to Alabama.

Alex took full advantage of all the activities.

The Dad's just stood around and tried to look like they were having fun.

Sometimes other kids are cuter than my own. Don't judge me.

Don't judge me

Indy was supposed to be a nerd but half of her costume got left at the neighbors party the night before.

Alex... once a fisherman, always a fisherman.

He caught an Air Head. I hope he doesn't marry one.

That's Ari sitting inside the jail giving out candy.

Don't judge me

REALLY don't judge me.

The End

Regionals 2011

2011-10-16T12:38:00.000-04:00

Ari's volleyball team advanced to Regionals this weekend. Some of the parents including myself "escorted" the girls a few hours away to the tournament.
This is a small glimpse into how we "roll".

Katie spills her drink the minute she gets in the car so Ari has to wipe her butt.

Sweat bands for everybody!!!

We arrived at the hotel and immediately put the girls to bed. They have very strict rules about bedtime and noise. Since they are all so perfect, they followed the coaches orders and went right to bed.

But us Moms on the other hand...

We don't have any rules so we

Opened up our bag of tricks and got to work!!!
There was 800 feet of saran wrap, car paint, masking tape, duct tape, scotch tape, and of course a tiny bit of Tequila.

The coaches car was first on the agenda. This is what you get when you make our babies do 5000 belly dives onto a hard gym floor. Over and over and over again. They were bloodied and bruised.

It's a really good thing the coach didn't set her car alarm.

Next up was wrapping the entire car in saran wrap. We had to protect the paint of course.

we even wrapped it vertically too. We don't do ANYTHING half ass. This is how we roll.

Linda may have gotten a little bit of grease on her boobs while laying under the car. But she was happy to take one for the team.

The elevator ride back up to the hotel room was an entire ONE floor up so Linda Took a load off on her cooler in the elevator.

we had a hard time being quiet while coming off of the elevator. Good thing we didn't wake our babies.

We got started on wrapping the coaches hotel room door but it seems that we may have woken them up so when we went back for another attempt, they were sitting outside our room waiting to bust us.

We yanked them into our lair and made them hang out for a minute.

At that point I was ready to sleep. But not everyone was ready to hit the sack just yet...

They had to finish the job.

Nice job ladies.

The girls awoke the next morning and got to see all our handy work.

They were afraid that they were gonna get blamed for all the antics.

We told them to live a little.

Coach opens her door the next morning.

Then she had to get to her car.

It's a good thing our coaches have a really good sense of humor.

We did play some volleyball too. That's me calling lines. Very stressful

Way to go girls!! We are headed to Sub-State next week. !!!

p.s no under age minors were harmed in the making of this adventure.

the end

Boating Day

2011-10-14T18:04:00.000-04:00

Our friends had us out on their boat last weekend.

We took the Bay boat up the river headed North instead of going out on the Gulf.

Boating attire is very important. Especially the red toe socks with flip flops

After Ted gave us a push off we made him swim out to the boat. It was super fun to watch.

Our dear friends Erin and Steve and their kids

After heading up the river a while...

we came upon a deserted ~~shit hole~~ house

I'm guessing a Southerner would call this a hunt/fish camp.

I call it "DELIVERANCE"

of course we had to get off the boat and have a closer look.

We sent Ted and Steve in first.

only living thing on the house was this huge wolf spider.

This is the back of the "house" that must have been the bathroom. I could totally move right in.

It was super homey inside. Bunk beds, table and chairs, old beer cans. all the comforts of home.

Someone had a sore throat that day.

She insisted that I look in her throat and take a picture so she could see how bad it looked.

We trekked through the woods a bit before getting back on the boat.

re-boarding the boat

Then we were back in business.

Ari has been playing volleyball 6 days a week so when we drag her out of bed on a Sunday morning for an adventure, we don't force her to socialize too much. I did manage to get a smile out of her once or twice.

This is my little secret part of the country. Please don't tell anyone how beautiful it is down here.

WE pulled up to a restaurant on the water, tied the boat up and had an awesome lunch.

That's the city of Mobile in the background.

Feel sorry for me.

Ran into this guy after lunch. He was sunning himself.

See him in the background?

I got to lay in the sun a bit too.

Sunny Miss Sunshine.

While we were at lunch it seems that the tide had gone out.

We got a little bit stuck in the mud. That's black mud coming out of the engine. It only took us a while to maneuver our way back home in the VERY shallow water.

It was an amazing day. We are so blessed to have such wonderful generous friends!!

Thanks to Steve and Erin for another FABOO day!!

Alex is 11

2011-10-12T21:49:00.000-04:00

My beautiful boy is 11 today.

I felt like I won the lottery on the day he was born.

He is the sweetest kid. He makes me laugh.

and laugh

He will put hats on in Target and let me take his picture.

He is growing up REALLY fast.

He really makes me laugh ( when he's not driving me crazy)

Happy birthday to my beautiful son. A lover of all things nature and one of the kindest kids I know.

Love Mom.

Homecoming 2011

2011-10-09T20:48:00.000-04:00

My girl went to homecoming a couple of weeks ago.

She and Kevin went with a group of friends.

Don't they look great?

Shannon (volleyball) had a wardwrobe malfuntion.

Thank you Kevin for always taking such good care of my girl. You make her feel special.

Kevin's little brother also went to homecoming. His date was meeting him at the dance and Shannon's date hadn't arrived yet so she grabbed him for some pictures.

It was a great night.

Suck it In

2011-09-15T22:54:00.000-04:00

Ari had a game tonight.
I arrived early and hungry. I'm always hungry but tonight I was especially starving. Just as the girls were warming up, the coach flagged me off from the top of the bleachers and asked me to be a line judge. Now if you don't know anything about volleyball, I'll explain. Aline judge must stand on the outer corner of the court and be able to call the ball either "IN" or "OUT" when it hits the ground. You are essentially "ON DISPLAY".
You will not find a single parent anywhere who likes to call lines because we are all afraid of making a bad call and...

I'll speak for the ones that won't say it out loud...

wait for it...

We don't want have to suck our stomachs in the whole night.

There, I said it. I know we were all thinking it but I'll be the one to put it out there.

I don't want to have to suck my stomach in while on display for everyone to look at.
I told the head ref that I was gonna have to hold my gut in while I did this job so if she saw me look like I was about to faint then blow the whistle so I could take a moment to breathe.
Every time I walked past her for the rest of the night she whispered " suck it in!"

So I spent the entire game with my stomach growling and my stomach sucked in. On display.
.
Thank GAWD I changed from my sundress to jeans and a loose fitting top before I went to the game.

I'm just sayin.

19 Years

2011-09-12T11:26:00.000-04:00

19 years ago today I married my one true love.

I loved you right from the start.

you have been so good to me

we have celebrated much.

We are truly blessed.

Thank you for 24 years of adventures. I look forward to many more.

I love you with all my heart.

Stephanie

Intruder in Custody

2011-09-09T13:43:00.000-04:00

While minding my own business this morning...

I came upon an intruder.

I was tidying up the kitchen counter next to my purse and there he was...

Seriously?

Seriously???

I could have screamed and thrown a butcher knife at it.

But I would never do that.

So I put a glad container over him to contain him and slid him off the kitchen counter onto the lid.

Then we had a little chat.

Dear lizard, Stay the HELL out of my house. Every time you or one of your friends gets caught in my

screened in porch... I lovingly catch you and relocate you to the garden. Just because I've been leaving my doors open because there isn't any humidity... Does NOT give you the green light to cruise through my house and make yourself at home.

If I catch you in my house again... I might not be so nice.

Please stay outside in the woods where you belong.

Love me.

And then I walked him outside and put him in a tree. I think he got the message loud and clear.

I've Been Drafted

2011-09-07T15:50:00.000-04:00

I've managed to avoid this day for 16 years.

When Ari started kindergarten, I was 9 months pregnant with Alex so that was a good OUT.

Next came Indy so I was good for a few more years.

When Indy started school, I would offer to help any Parent who was ~~crazy~~ brave enough to take on the dreaded "room Mom" title.

I have always been a fixture in all of my kids schools and have helped out as often as needed and asked.

Indy has a new teacher this year. Not only is she new to the school but she is new to teaching. She is darling and I love that Indy has her.

I have told all the other third grade teachers that they had better help our new girl out so she won't be scared off the first year and run for the hills, ( I would totally run for the hills).

So in my effort to help out as much as possible I put my name down on the "room Mom Team" sign up sheet at back to school night, assuming lots of other parents would also sign up.

Little miss teacher called last night to tell me that no one else signed up for that job and would I mind um going to the "Room Mom" meeting tomorrow. Of course I said sure ( thinking I would surely be able to get out of it).

Not so much.

I've officially been drafted with no chance of honorable discharge.

I'm in charge of this class of little punks.

I've always said that I'm not that mom. Not very crafty and frankly... not that nice. Someone is playing a joke on me.

I've got two days to get my shit together so I don't look like a fool and so our sweet little miss Teacher has our full support and a bull dog by her side ( that's me).

I can do bull dog, I'm not so sure I can do sweet Suzy Homemaker room mom.

I will throw my own personal twist into this job and do my best. I will write about it along the way so all of you future and present room parents can either relate to me or laugh your asses off at my expense.

Go ahead laugh..

I totally deserve it.

Maybe I'll make this crafty little bouquet of flowers just to show our new teacher that I am up for the challenge.

I think.

A Few Things

2011-08-29T11:33:00.000-04:00

The little punks started school a couple of weeks ago.

Indy 3rd grade and Alex 5th grade

where has the time gone?

My girl is now a junior in high school. I only have her for 2 more years then she's gonna leave me. I think she'll come back every now and again. I've manipulated her into thinking that she likes to be with us. I'm hoping she won't smarten up to my plan. Bwahahahaha.

Of course we had to snap a pic with Harrison too. It's nice living next door to your besty.

All the little punks waiting for the bus.

BYE!! Don't hurry home!!

On another note... Ted and I got invited by friends to attend a fabulous fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. It was a wonderful evening of good food, wine, slient auction and even a live auction.

Don't know why we look green in this photo but I swear we are NOT.

more to come later.

Did it Once... Not ever agian.

2011-08-16T17:20:00.001-04:00

Ted had meetings to attend in Orlando last month. Since it was free travel and free hotel we thought we should take advantage of that and take the kids with us and hit Disney World for the first time.

Indy bought and traded her first pin.

While Ted was working, the kids and I hit the Magic Kingdom. For the California people, this is the "Disneyland" in Florida.

Let us begin by discussing the heat. I think it was around 92 degrees that day and approx 99% humidity.

Indy is now tall enough to ride any ride in the park. She insisted on driving her OWN car.

I offered to ride with her and just push the gas pedal if her foot got tired but she insisted on riding solo.

Damn, I thought she was gonna be the one to live with me forever but I guess NOT.

be cool... just be cool.

I drove behind Indy. Unfortunately for the 10 cars behind us, they scooted along at a snails pace because Miss Thang struggled with the gas pedal. I could barely see the top of her head.

OMG stop the presses! She has her arm around his waist and he's smiling!! Yea... they really liked each other that week.

Remember the HEAT that I mentioned?? Um those are huge bologna patches in my armpits and yes that's sweat on the front of my shirt. Also running down my cleavage, also running down my back, also running down my face. I hate the heat.

Why couldn't Teds company do this exact meeting in like April??

OH and those are a few thousand more freckles I got while I was there too.

The sky opened up just as we left Magic Kingdom. We actually had a great time. We never waited longer than 10 minutes thanks to my Free Disney app that I had on my phone that showed me how long the wait was at every ride.

Spent most of our week sitting by the pool of our fabulous hotel. Bought Alex a snorkel and mask just to get him out of my hair.

It worked.

The next and only other Disney park we went to was Disney's Animal Kingdom.

This was one of my favorite things at this park. Safari Adventure.

Poor Indy, she brought her own autograph book from home with the intention of getting autographs of all Disney characters. Unfortunately for her... Alex and I weren't interested in waiting in line to get any. Yes that's me getting that Mother of the year award again. Have I mentioned that I don't really like amusement parks or waiting in line??

Bless her heart, she got one autograph. She forgave me... I think.

The only other good thing about Animal Kingdom is the veterinary hospital there. Everything they do is on display. That day they had a Black Buck deer type of animal. He had a huge infected wound on his shoulder from the antler of one of his siblings..

They were opening the wound up to get all of the gross puss junk out of it.

Um the vet is so cute. Could have sat and watched ~~him~~ them all day.

The kids found ways to amuse themselves in our hotel room. Thankfully we overlooked the pool and Disney so the view was spectacular.

That's a money shot right there. Dancing in his tighty whiteys.

Thanks Ted for taking us along. We had a blast!!

I'm hoping we have fulfilled our quota for Disney world but unfortunately My oldest girl didn't get to come with us this trip because she was comitted to volleyball and didn't want to miss daily practices. Perhaps she will guilt us into going one more time someday so she will have the experience but I'm not offering it up anytime soon. Had my fill of Disney. By the way she stayed with our neighbor NOT alone. Just sayin.

She's on Her Way... I think

2011-07-30T21:33:00.000-04:00

Last week while I was doing this...

Ari was donning her hospital scrubs and getting ready for her first day of "Summer Scrubs".
This is a fabulous program that is offered to a select group of high school students that have an interest in learning about and being exposed to all aspects of human health. In order to be chosen the student has to have two written recommendations from two teachers ( one of which must be a science teacher), a GPA of 3.5 or higher and the student also must turn in a written essay as to why they would like to be chosen for the program.

Summer Scrubs is totally free so anyone can apply, you just gotta get accepted. Ari applied in mid-winter
~~at the prodding of her mother~~ because she was super excited about doing the whole application process and was even more excited about hanging out with all the sick people.
I think she likes the sight of blood and was hoping to get a glimpse of something gory. Or maybe her mother is a ~~freak ambulance chaser~~ wanna-be doctor and thought her daughter might be interested in learning more about human health since she knows her daughter wants to be a vet. Honestly I knew Ari would love the experience and I really thought this might light a fire in her belly and trigger a calling that she didn't know existed. I'm all about exposing them to as much as possible so they can find their passion and their calling... no matter what it is.

Trust me... If I can beg our vet to let her shadow him for a few days I'll have her there too. I'll make it happen, just give me a little time.

I don't understand why she wont let me take her picture!! she's such a brat.

that's better. She gets her kiss and hug from Ted and off she went.

Her first and most exciting day was getting to spend all her time in the NICU at the Women's and Children's Hospital in Mobile.

She absolutely love it. The nurses tried to get them in to see a live birth but no babies were born while she was there.

She really felt at home in the NICU changing diapers, feeding babies, holding and doing whatever they were allowed to do.

The next day she was at another major hospital in the vascular lab watching lots of testing of arteries and stuff like that.

The next day was the Orthopedic center.

She quickly realized how difficult is was to eat her lunch with a cast on her wrist.

She stood in on a surgery and got to see just how gentle those orthopedic surgeons are when trying to remove a 10" pin from a teenagers arm. The Doc actually climbed up onto the table to get a good YANK on the pin to release it.

The last day was wound care. I don't need to anything else about wound care except for this...

The nurses who do this everyday should make a crap load of $$.

the end.

Another Day of FUN

2011-07-26T10:14:00.001-04:00

Had my first colonoscopy yesterday.

Almost a year from the last MAJOR ulcerative colitis flare up.

Remember this? last Fall I got a nice long stay at the Hotel de Hospitale

My GI doc wanted to wait this long to do it so I would be healed enough that he wouldn't do any damage to my large intestine while having a looksie.

I spent all day Sunday drinking this.

Yep it's a full gallon of lemon flavored ocean water. Lucky for me the pharmacist told me I could add lemonade powder to it to make it more palatable.

So I made an entire gallon of Country Time lemonade flavored ocean water.

It wasn't so bad, I gulped it down large glass by large glass. Ari kept refilling my glass even when I wasn't ready for it. She's super sweet that way.

Ted dropped me off at the surgery center and then went home to take care of the little punks.

My apt was scheduled for 9:00am so I had to arrive at 8:30.

The nurses got me all snuggled up in my gown and bed and covered me with warm blankets.

Next the nurse started my IV in my right elbow. I knew as he was doing it I should speak up and tell him that I HATE having an IV in my elbow because I then cannot bend my arm and it hurts and pulls.

An hour later I squawked and asked him to move it to my hand. Ya know it's bad when I beg them to poke me again! He said that he was driven to my elbow by my big juicy veins and he couldn't help himself. I tell him know I was teasing him with my large beautiful elbow veins but I said "NO" nurse... "NO", you may NOT have those veins. I will give you a hand to find a vein so that I can bend my arm thankyouverymuch.

meanwhile I check the clock of my iPhone ( yes we are allowed to have our phones) and notice that the good doctor is running a bit late. All they can tell me is that he had an emergency and is running late. They will let me know when he is on his way.

FOUR hours later, a lot of face book, twitter, bad TV and a small nap, they finally tell me that the Doc is on his way. I say It's about time. I've been waiting all day for my milk of amnesia and tell them that I deserve and extra large dose for my troubles.

In they wheel me and get me comfy. I give the Doc a little bit of shit for making me wait and then float off into dreamland.

The Doc tells Ted that my large intestine was about 80% involved from last year's flare up. NOT GOOD. He took a few polyp samples and sent them off to the lab. We will know more in a couple of weeks. I know it is only a matter of time. He told me this last year. It's not IF i get colon cancer... it's WHEN. Last years flare up was so bad that in increased my chances of having cancer by 100%. From now on I will have a yearly colonoscopy.

Ted takes me home and steers me into bed. All he has to do is stand me up next to the bed and push me with one finger and down I fall. Like the leaning tower of Piza. TIMBER, i fall into bed without even a grunt and I'm off into my deep sleep.

This morning I feel great. Slept great and have a ton of energy. Don't feel sore or anything.

Until next year...

Blueberry Picking & a Southern Seatbelt

2011-07-18T16:59:00.000-04:00

Christine had a great idea to take all of our many house guests to a local blueberry farm and do some picking.

We loaded up into our three cars and headed that way. We were all coming from different directions as I had to drive Ari to the DMV to get her drivers license first.

I followed the GPS to the Tee to get to the blueberry fields but it landed me in a run down old property with jugs of moonshine and overgrown vines everywhere. I even ventured out of my truck to knock on one of the many doors to see if I was really at "Lyrenes" blueberry farm. When I got to the door I knocked and then looked in the door window. There was a 150 year old man asleep in his barcalounger in his boxers.

Don't think I was in the right place.

Waited for Christine and her crew to get there so we could have a conference about what to do next. I did send her a text to let her know that the address of the farm was more of a shit hole than a berry picking farm. I'm just sayin.

While we were driving around trying to locate the blueberry fields, the kids entertained themselves.

At some point Harrison jumped into our car. We happened onto a large piece of property that looked like it might be the blueberry farm.

Harrison jumped out to have a closer look.

Then he got back in on the car and we headed down the long drive.

This is what we in Alabama call a "southern seat belt".

What it really means is...

HOLD ON

Of course when he let go I had to take off and leave him. Had to amuse myself.

That's him running along side my truck

Then I punched it and took off. He looks like Forest Gump.

When I finally let him catch up to me he hopped on top of the truck.

Another Southern Seat belt

I did eventually let him back in my car. I'm nice like that.

The rest of the day was spent picking berries. I dropped off the family and then ran Ari over to the DMV to get her drivers license.

My friend Christine looks so cute in her boots.

The little punks picked 8 lbs of fresh blueberries.

YUM

Summer Fun

2011-07-16T12:17:00.001-04:00

We had some tiny fireworks left over from the 4th of July.

Alex has been bugging us ever since to light them.

Yesterday they little pack of boys that live in and around our house decided to amuse themselves...

With a hand full of bottle rockets and a lighter ...

in the woods.

Now on a normal day this probably wouldn't be that big of a deal down here in the Deep South.

But we are in the middle of a serious shortage of rainfall ( down 20") this year so far.

It was 92' yesterday in the shade and it has been very HOT all Summer.

We Mommas got wind of this activity and had to go yank them out of the woods by their ears and give them a harsh talking to.

I had to chuckle but it really wasn't funny. We told them that they could have caught the woods on fire and worse yet a house or two ( or more).

they all walked away with their cute tails tucked under.

I wonder what they will do to entertain themselves today.

Hmmm.

Junior National Volleyball Championships 2011

2011-07-10T13:34:00.003-04:00

We made it home!!

Ari experienced her first ( hopefully not her last) trip to Nationals. Cousin Holland also went with her team from Santa Barbara.

Ari and I got there a day early to watch Holland play.

Drove around forever to find the local Smoothie King. The perfect between game pick-me-up

I just love downtown Atlanta. It's so close to the Georgia World Congress Center and the hustle and bustle is so cool.

Every now and again a little on-court meeting is necessary.

That's our girl in a great action shot. She has been playing in the defense position all year and it seems to be a good fit for her.

That's Ari in the middle.

Our girl is #7

That's cousin Holland up in the air. Just warming up.

Another blurry pic of Holland.

Holland

That's Holland at the net. Bending her butt.

One of our Mom's is also an ex Pro-VB palyer. She has an adoptive daughter that is growing up on the vb courts.

Nobody is exempt from a good lesson. It's never too early to learn.

Ari keeps asking if she can take this baby home but I say NO. No Ari you may NOT take that precious baby home. You are too young, but you can love on her all you want.

After several days of vb, Ari and her teammate Jordan were pretty beaten up. They were covered from head to toe in ice packs. These girls spend a lot of time rolling and diving for that ball.

Feel sorry for them, feel very sorry for them.

We got to go out for a nice dinner one night. The girls all got to sit at their own table. Of course they had their bills sent to our table. Brats.

We found a great place for breakfast in midtown Atlanta. It's called West Egg. Some of the best breakfast food ever!! We went there twice while we were there. Funny but Ari didn't so much want me taking her picture in the mornings. She's so difficult.

My bro-in law Tony sits in the stands when the girls play but when it's Holland and the score is too close for comfort, he must get up and pace. While he's pacing, he will always find someone to chat with. Even if it's the Gold Medal round finals game and his child is playing... he will always find someone to chat with. He's super chatty that way. He kept me and all of our team parents entertained and well informed on all things volleyball.

The gold medal winners.

Holland gets " All Tournament"

Her very proud daddy.

In the meantime, Ari has another day of play before we are finished. Holland and Tony hung around so they could drive back to Alabama with us.

Teammate Jordan curled up and rested with us in a hallway.

Jordan's Momma and I have TONS of fun when we are together. Shes TOTALLY my tribe.

I can't even remember why she was flipping off but I'm sure I deserved it.

Tony and I went for coffee one morning while the girls slept in. We chatted for and our over Starbucks and then went for breakfast and got a text from the girls saying that they were hungry. We told them to walk down and meet us at the local breakfast place.

They were REALLY hungry. Holland ordered eggs Benedict and a large cinnamon roll. Ari had a huge breakfast that included grits.

That child still wont let me take her picture in the morning. I gave birth to her. She should have to do whatever I ask of her.

See?? She's much happier AFTER her grits. That's my baby. So proud of how she played and conducted herself.

And now for some professional photos of my baby from the tournament.

On behalf of my baby, we would like to thank all of those friends and family near and far that helped us to get to Nationals. We couldn't have done it with out your support and donations.

We love you and are so grateful!!!

Ari's Big Game

2011-06-25T08:19:00.000-04:00

Ari's club volleyball team has received a bid to the National tournament.

It's the first time the team has received a bid to this tournament.

We are so proud of her!

Jerry Garcia is NOT dead

2011-06-18T12:04:00.000-04:00

My next door neighbor rolls the same way we do... Lots of kids and lots of chaos.

Since I have house guests and so does she, we planned a couple of "group"activities for our 15 kids.

Good idea #1

Tie dye t-shirts

It's a motley crew

That's Ari and Harrison on the end.

Indy and Alex in the middle.

Harrison and his Cousin ( she's beautiful)

Mommas

Gators & Wally World

2011-06-15T14:49:00.000-04:00

Shelley, her kids and her one-eyed Chihuahua arrived last Friday night.

we've been having lots of fun.

There has been s'mores, home made meals

Sitting outside and listening to the frogs, crickets and wildlife at night. The frogs are very loud.

On Sunday morning I ran out to the grocery store to buy my five newspapers so I could get all my coupons.

Each child had his/her own set of comics to read over breakfast.

It's the one time of day that we have quiet in the house.

Had to take them to Alligator Alley so they could get the full "Alabama" experience.

They loved it.

This little gator was trying to give Aidan a major hug.

And THEN we happened upon WalMart. I had to run in to get some tomato stakes for my tomato bushes. Shelley announced that she had never been into a walmart. Poor dear... she's lead a sheltered life.

She found a few things that she couldn't live without.

Like a fish tank with an led light that changes color all night long. She thinks our beta fish was bored with his plain bowl.

We also couldn't live without this lovely plastic pool. The wal mart guy was happy to escort us to our car with our purchases.

Thank GAWD I drive a Suburban. That pool almost had to stay at the store. The kids made a sacrifice of comfort so we could get the thing home.

Alex did a bit of complaining but I ignored him.

Happy Summer.

A Few Things & Happenings

2011-06-13T22:34:00.000-04:00

Awoke the other morning to this

Sent a picture of it to my next door neighbor assuming that the culprits were her boys.

She woke them up and handed them each a trash bag and told them to get outside and pick every piece of TP off of the house and bushes. She even added the " Mr. Ted is not happy" line to give them a bit of motivation to get every last piece.

They were out there for over an hour. They were really bummed when I informed them that the sprinklers had gone off at 5:00 am so everything was soaking wet.

Tyler said " curse your sprinkler system Miss Stephanie" I smiled and went back inside where it was nice and cool.

I especially liked Connor's polar bear pj's. I told the boys that next time they decide to roll some body's house they should choose a house where they won't implicate themselves by living right next door to their victim.

Christine ( mom of boys) asked Harrison if he was involved in the rolling of my house.

His response...

" Are you kidding mom? I'm in Mr Ted's good graces and I want to keep it that way."

The End

Red Snapper BABY!!!!

2011-06-07T15:51:00.000-04:00

Red snapper season just opened up a few days ago. Our good friends were gracious enough to invite Ted and I to go out fishing on Sat to catch our daily quota.

We ~~raced~~ motored out about 20 miles into the middle of the Gulf Of Mexico because Steve got some ~~spam~~ secret email telling him of the exact spot of where all the Really BIG snapper were hiding.

The ride out was very fast and wet. You could tell Steve was excited... he couldn't get out there fast enough. I was fighting off a sinus infection and a sore back and as luck would have it... started my period that very morning. But my attitude was positive. Steve hooked us all up with our rods and Erin was the first one to catch a snapper.

Erin is an amazing fisher woman. She caught many fish that day. Some had to be thrown back because they weren't big enough but she caught several.

Ted? Well he caught the biggest fish that day. Well actually I caught the biggest fish that day but I'll talk about that in a minute. Teds fish was HUGE!! it only weighed in at 8 lbs but it was enormous and it gave him quite a fight. It was awesome. I was probably 24" long.

And then there was Steve. He was the most excited! He had so many fish on his line that he lost I stopped counting. He did manage to reel a few in but the angst he was feeling every time he lost a BIG one was just a tiny bit funny. He just kept saying " just let this one be 8 1/2 lbs" Just reel in one a little bit bigger than Ted's. He is so funny. He was a good sport and is an amazing fisherman.

And then there's me. When we finally got out to the "secret" fishing spot. There were a dozen other boats within eye shot of where we were.

I immediately began to feel a tiny bit sea sick but Steve and Ted got me all set up and within a minute or two I had something on my hook but it wasn't a snapper. It was so big that I had to put on a belt just to keep my pole in my hands. The line began to spin off the reel faster than I could even try too reel it in. I told Steve that I thought it was a shark or something because I couldn't even get the reel to wind back in. It just kept spinning out to sea. FAST.

My rod bent practically in half. Spinning out.

Then SNAP. My rod snapped in half. Poof! And my fish was gone. Or whatever the Hell it was. It scared the S%$@ out of me!!

From there it was down hill all the way. The adrenaline rush from my shark on my line made me even more sea sick than before and before I knew it I was bent over the side of the boat ( not in a good way) and vomiting my brains out. NOT fun. I also peed my pants because my bladder is a hot mess from birthing my big babies.

Poor Steve just wanted to catch his quota before we headed back for the harbor so I spent the rest of the day hunched over the side of the boat praying for it to be over.

This isn't me. BUT if I had allowed Ted to snap my picture, this is what you would have seen. Except NOT in a bikini, and with wet pants from my "other" accident.

Remember Dr Jeff the GYNO?? YEP that one from last week at the beach. I'm gonna have him fix my bladder so I don't wet my pants anymore when I vomit.

Memorial Day Weekend/Happy Birthday to Me

2011-05-31T18:03:00.001-04:00

Our sweet next door neighbors invited us to their beachhouse this weekend.

They have six kids so our measly three kids could only make a dent in the cluster of little punks.

We live in Alabama... feel VERY sorry for us.

All those people in the water are our children.

Christine ( our hostess) and I got to sit in our chairs and watch the little punks frolic in the warm water.

Our Hosts, are sitting next to me. I realized I only got one picture of my friend Christine. That's her in the brown hat sitting between the men folk.

We sat on the alcony and watched the boys fish off the dock.

while snacking on some yummies.

Alex and one of the triplets.

another triplet.

they got to learn how to drive a little outboard motorboat

and did lots of tubing

Our host is not only a great skier but also an a Gynocologist. So while vacationing with them I can ask him all kinds of questions about Va-jay jays and hormones. Ted cringes but I know the good Dr. doesn't mind

Of course Ari also had someone to play with. Their eldest child is 15 so he and ARi spend lots of time together. These poeple also live right next doot to us so this kid is always eating my food and lounging on my sofa.

I love him.

He seems to like hanging with us.

Even Ted enjoyed the beach.

Our friend's youngest child was adopted from China. I love her and she is precious!!

It was a perfect birthday weekend.

Thank you to the Fahy's for having us!! We had a wonderful time!

Two things

2011-05-28T09:10:00.000-04:00

First...

Mom left the other day after a lovely week long trip here. We thoroughly enjoyed having her. She and I spent a lot of time napping and lunching.

The most memorable lunch was when we happened upon a new little Italian place in Fairhope and ordered the house lasagna.

All was OK but it was a bit like a giant pile of cheese and a layer or two of pasta. Then to finish off the meal I look up and see Mom applying her lipstick at the lunch table. Doesn't she know that Southern women don't apply lipstick at the table? Also one does NOT pick something out of ones teeth with a sugar packet.

I'm just sayin.

Next...

I'm in the kitchen preparing dinner last night when I hear two very loud gun shots.

I run outside and look to see where the shots were coming from.

Oh no worries... it was just my neighbor two doors down with a giant rifle trying to shoot a giant poisonous snake.

Welcome to the South.

P.S. He missed.

Run snake run!!!!

Happy Birthday Arianna Kathryne

2011-05-22T22:17:00.000-04:00

Yesterday my baby turned 16.

Gramma Kitty flew out to celebrate.

The friends came over early to wake her up. They brought donuts!

Even Uncle Richard and Arnold came out to celebrate.

We had a great day...

More to come later... Momma's tired.

Sunday Morning

2011-05-04T16:28:00.000-04:00

Sunday morning after prom we met our good friend Steve and his kids for breakfast on the Bay. His beautiful wife was out of town.

The middle sixed punks got their own table. A big tip would be givrn to their server.

Ari's after prom breakfast.

An even larger tip would be given to our server because of this little punk. He spent the entire time at breakfast "creating" his own cup of "coffee" that included 50 creamers ( ok not 50 but all that were on our table and the surrounding empty tables) many dashes of Tobasco and some pennies.

The "bromance" continues.

BFF's

It was a perfect day.

Prom 2011

2011-05-03T10:27:00.000-04:00

Ari went to her first prom this past weekend. Although she is only a sophomore, her sweet sweet boyfriend of 6 months is a junior.

makeup and hair

Nobody puts Baby in the corner!!
except her Mother for a photo.

A sweet greeting with Kevin

Two little punks had to be in on the action.

The whole group

apparently the boys needed some help buttoning their jackets.

Shoes shoes shoes

My baby is growing up.

Kevins parents are so great. We loved spending time with them.

The next morning we had breakfast out on the Bay and Ari bellied up to a huge plate of eggs and cheese grits.

I think they all had a wonderful time.

Adendum to Yesterdays post

2011-04-27T08:52:00.001-04:00

All of those super wonderful things I said about my super sexy husband are all true...

but you should know that he aint perfect...

I got yelled at last night when I unbuckled my seatbelt while he was STILL pulling into the garage.

He seems to think that I should stay buckled till we are in the garage and the car is at a COMPLETE stop and turned off.

what ever

p.s. that is NOT my body in the picture.

p.p.s I should lie and say it is though.

Happy Birthday Ted

2011-04-26T10:11:00.000-04:00

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my

super sexy husband a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

You work your butt off for us.

You adore your family

Your parents raised an incredible MAN

You have amazing style

You know JUST how to blow off steam

You guide this family

You are there to catch us when we fall

You can drive the ship alone when I'm "down"

I will follow you anywhere

You have a special "thing" with each of our little punks

you have passion

And I know that you love me.

Happy Birthday Honey! I love you with all of my heart and soul.

Rules to Live By. By Corey Anne Loupee

2011-04-25T17:29:00.000-04:00

My beautiful niece Corey wrote this and posted it on her Facebook page. I believe it is worth sharing...

People that come into our lives <3

Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there, to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, or to help you figure out who you are or who you want to become. You never know who these people may be (possibly your roommate, neighbour, co-worker, longest friend, lover, or even a complete stranger) but when you lock eyes with them, you know at that very moment that they will affect your life in some profound way. Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some people move our souls to dance. They awaken us to new understanding with the passing whisper of their wisdom. Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon. They stay in our lives for awhile, leave footprints in our hearts, and We are never, ever the same. And sometimes things happen to you that may seem horrible, painful, and unfair at first, but in reflection you find that without overcoming those obstacles you would have never realised your potential, strength, willpower, or heart. Everything happens for a reason, nothing happens by chance or by means of luck. Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness, and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul. Without these small tests, whatever they may be, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight flat road to nowhere. It would be safe and comfortable, but dull and utterly pointless. The people you meet who affect your life, and the success and downfalls you experience help to create who you become. Even the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact, they are probably the most poignant and important ones. If someone hurts you, betrays you, or breaks your heart, forgive them, for they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious when you open your heart. If someone loves you, love them back unconditionally, not only because they love you, but because in a way, they are teaching you to love and how to open your heart and eyes to things. Make every day count!! Appreciate every moment and take from those moments everything that you possibly can for you may never be able to experience it again. Talk to people that you have never talked to before, and actually listen. Let yourself fall in love, break free, and set your sights high. Hold your head up because you have every right to. Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don't believe in yourself; it will be hard for others to believe in you. You can make of your life anything you wish. Create your own life then go out and live it with absolutely no regrets.

By: Corey Coco Loupee

Have a great day.

Back from the Beach

2011-04-24T21:48:00.000-04:00

We are home now from our very special week at the beach.

Took a few walks on the beach.

it was cloudy on a couple of mornings, but that didn't stop us.

Even the teenager had fun

we picked up a few along the way and watched as many ( teenagers) made complete ASSES of themselves.

made some Easter treats

Got our nails done

spent some time on this beautiful little island playing in the sun and sand

one of the many pools outside our condo

all the time we spent at the pool, my little punk Alex spent equal amounts of time fishing on the dock right next to the pool.

he spent about eight hours a day fishing and scooping things up with his net. He was the happiest I've ever seen him. Each night he'd come in smelling like a boat fisherman and I didn't even care.

My friend Erin got a condo down the street from us so we went down to spen a nice evening with them. She cooked up some killer crab cakes and we ate on the balcony just above the sand.

and then watched the sunset.

My beautiful boy just before heading back down to the dock to catch shrimp after dinner.

Couldn't be more grateful for a wonderful Spring Break.

Our Little secret

2011-04-18T17:43:00.001-04:00

First things first.

Congratulations to Ari and her amazing teammates for the HUGE win of

USA VOLLEYBALL GULF COAST REGION

2011 CHAMPS!!!

YAY YAY applause applause

I couldn't be more proud of her and all the girls. They had an amazing season and ended it with a regional win and an official spot in the Junior National tournament in June.

VERY BIG DEAL.

I think my sister Stacy was right. Alabama is our little secret down here in the DEEP South. The beaches are spectacular, the people are super funny, and the cost of living is very low. Or at least much lower than Ca.

We live up in the beautiful wooded area but the white sandy beaches are so close.

SHHH... don't tell anyone. I like the small town living and I like that people think we are wierd for loving it down here so much . Stay away people... this is our little secret corner of the world.

The place we're staying at has many pools, including a lazy river.

The kids loved it but the water is still really cold.

Our friend that we are with also has a boat so after we did a bit of swimming she came and picked us up.

Ari managed to persuade Claire to come over for the day and hang with us.

The little punks are in rare form this week.

That's Alicia. She owns the boat and is who we are with this week. Yea she hot but we can't hate her cause she's so sweet.

And me? I'm just happy if my kids are happy. I had to paint my toes my favorite color in honor of Spring break. I love em.

P.S. My son ( the little punk) is literally eating us out of house and home this week. He's better grow about six inches this Summer in order for me NOT to lose my mind. He is driving me crazy with his CONSTANT starvation!!

Sunsets and Burnt Food

2011-04-16T22:03:00.000-04:00

We are here at the beach in South Alabama.

The condo is beautiful and the view is spectacular.

We got unpacked and I had done a bunch of cooking and meal prep before we left the house so all I had to do was warm up dinner. I made a HUGE pot of thick gumbo for us to eat tonight. I warmed it up on the stove and was very busy with ten other things and before I knew it I could smell it...

That's right...I scorched my damn gumbo

I'm a good cook!!

I don't burn things!!

Before I sign off for the night..

I will leave you with this precious face.

Cooper, my sweet sweet baby. I love him.

Ari and I are off to a VB tournament tomorrow while the rest of the bunch frolics by the pool and ocean.

Night night.

Spring Break Baby!!

2011-04-15T14:08:00.000-04:00

We are probably one of last counties to go on Spring Break. The kids are so excited. We are going down to the Gulf of Mexico for a week to stay in a condo with friends.

We are supposed to have perfect weather and hopefully warm ocean water. I will try to post pictures throughout the week.

I have spent the past few days cooking and freezing meals so that while we're there I can ~~sit on my ass~~
NOT spend every night in the kitchen cooking.

Not that I don't LOVE to cook but I'd rather sit and enjoy the turquoise blue water instead. Just sayin'

61st Baby!!!

2011-04-05T16:42:00.000-04:00

The Big South tournament was great.

Our team played really well on most games and not so great on the rest.

But they had each other's backs the whole time and took the good with the bad.

A little love fest before each game

Our girl played really well even with a back injury.

She did a few head over heel roll overs while diving for a ball and must have pulled something. She played
the rest of the weekend in total pain.

A little fun before their last match of the weekend. Our girl is in the back on the right.

This is Ari's "other" boyfriend. She loves him so much. She always asks him the same question...

" Calvin can you come over to my house and take your braids out so I can play with your hair"

He also happens to be the coaches son.

We took a respectable 61st place in the overall tournament in our age division. Now 61st doesn't sound very good but our team played "up" in a higher division and there were over 100 teams in her division so they were happy.

We probably would have done better if we hadn't done so poorly on the first day but it was their first "Big South" and it can very overwhelming for our babies.

Big South

2011-03-31T21:51:00.000-04:00

Ari and I just arrived by car in Atlanta, Ga.

We are here for thr "Big South" volleyball qualifier tournament. They are hoping to de well enough to win a bid to go to Nationals in June.

We just finished dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and have checked into our room and settled in to watch Greys Anatomy.

We are in HEAVAN... on the way to the Cheesecake factory, we drove past a Chipotle...

All I ca say is this, It's a good thing we are here for three days because this trip might turn into a food crawl by default. South Alabama has some decent resturaunts but not some of my all tme classic favs.

I promise to pace myself... I swear.

Good luck girls!! Stay humble.

Beggars

2011-03-29T10:58:00.000-04:00

The following are tips on how to get something you want.

Stand and give a good stare.

If that doesn't work then sit and tilt your sweet head from side to side

to see if anyone notices how cute you are.

And if that doesn't work then blame your dumb brother for looking too pathetic.

If all else fails then give up and go find a lizard behind the BBQ to chase.

A Little Late

2011-03-25T15:22:00.001-04:00

I'm just getting around to writing a new post.
Stacy left over a week ago.
I've been burried up to my eyeballs in baseball, softball and volleyball.

While she was here she drug me into every thrift store that had a pulse and made me inhale "old" stuff smells.

Then we drug her butt to Aligator alley to give her a nice healthy dose of the deep South.

Yep them there are gators sunning themselves on the banks of the river.

This guy was missing his right arm but looked happy all"spread eagle" in the sun.

They give swim lessons here at Aligator Alley, free too!! Cuz we're nice like that down here.

11, 1, & 4 also happen to be feeding times for the gators.

Stacy pointing to the gators over her shoulder

Love the horses in the background of the gators.

Aligator alley also had some really cool long horn cattle.

And a friendly donkey

AFter gator alley we spent the afternoon eating lunch at a col place that sits along one of the many riverbanks in Southern Alabama. The food and atmosphere were great.

Stacy Is Here!!

2011-03-13T21:15:00.000-04:00

Big sister Stacy is finally here!!

We've started the food crawl, started with Panini Petes. We got our food to go since the wait was too long and went down to the water and ate in the car and watched the birds and the bay. It was perfect!

So happy the tulips are still in bloom.

She made me take her to a few thrift stores. I held my breath and happily obliged.

I'll admit that shopping in thrift stores isn't really my thing.

My sister is very creative and super crafty. I'm sure she'll make some super awesome stuff out of the cool glass pieces she bought. stay tuned.

More to come from our weekend later.

Look Who's Living The High Life

2011-03-07T15:39:00.000-05:00

When we first got him he was at deaths door, and all skin and bones.

And now...

he is so loved.

He has a new girlfriend...

They wrestle all day long. and love on each other.

She grooms him all the time.

he loves it.

He's learning the rules of the house.

Like how to sit before breakfast and dinner.

And he's learning how to take down a Weimeraner

And make her say "uncle".

UNCLE!!!!

My First Mardi Gras Ball

2011-03-01T10:39:00.001-05:00

Ted and I attended our first Mardi Gras Ball last weekend. Mardi Gras is VERY big here in Alabama as this is it's birth place.

It's not just a day, it's a season. Throughout the Mardi Gras season there are dozens of parades, balls, and celebrations.

They are all hosted by men and women's clubs across the greater Mobile area.

So when we got invited to our first ball, I panicked! I had no dress, no shoes, no SPANX, nothing!!

I tried to get out of it, but my super sexy husband really wanted us to go.

So my dear friend Erin ( she and her husband Steve invited us) promised me that she would go shopping with me for a new dress, and promised that it would NOT be stressful. I believed her and agreed to go.

Well whata ya know, I had tons of dresses to choose from and actually found one that I loved and that fit great. Also found beautiful shoes to match!! It was a sign!! we were going.

I haven't dressed up like this since my wedding day 18 years ago.

Totally forgot to suck in my stomach while I was being photographed!

Ted had to wear Tails and a white tie. Isn't he handsome?

These are our dear friend who invited us to the Ball. Steve is a member of this "secret society" of men who have been doing this for many generations. They have to wear masks and costumes and ride the floats and throw beads and toys to the crowd. Then they must wear their costume to the ball.

These are some of our other friends. Shannon and I spent a good part of the night discussing our SPANX and how weird they felt on our bodies. I won't go into any more detail than that, but lets just say that she did a lot of bending and squatting on that dance floor!! She cracks me up!!

Love these people!!

Note to all women who will be going out... FALSE EYELASHES BABY!!

Food tent

These two have a bromance like no other!! Steve is an Oncologist and Ted is an Oncology drug rep so they always have stuff to talk about. But I think they talk more about other stuff than work stuff. If they're not together, then they are constantly texting each other.

Ballroom

Lots of interesting get-ups

Friends and neighbors!

Um yea

That is a non-alcoholic beverage in his glass... I think

My feet are screaming at this point.

False Eyelashes Baby!!

Can we talk about how awesome SPANX are??

This is what happens when you try to kiss your husband and take your own picture at the same time.

Cinderella turned into a pumpkin and had to take her shoes off to walk to the ~~carriage~~ car.

The End

Shall We Dance??

2011-02-23T12:22:00.000-05:00

Recently Ted took Indy to her first "Father/Daughter" dance.

Don't they look adorable?

As like every OTHER dad that night...

As soon as they walked in the door, he was tossed aside like a cheep suit so she could go "hang out" with her friends.

Little Punk.

This coming from the same child that cries if he doesn't give her a kiss in the morning before he leaves for work.

Need a Facelift???

2011-02-16T14:41:00.000-05:00

Not you... your bookshelves!!

We have officially lived in this house for one year. I have spent that entire year wishing these shelves were painted white with that coffee glaze... Yummy!!

Since changing the color of the wood would make me look like a ~~ungrateful spoiled rotten brat~~ fool, not to mention way too pricey, I spent the better part of the year trying to come up with a more affordable, more creative change.

One day as I was staring blankly at the shelves it dawned on me. Why not try some sort of wallpaper one the back panels to lighten them up. This room doesn't get any direct sunlight due to the screened in porch that is off this room even though it has three sets of french doors.

Grass cloth is back!! I love the organic look of it and the way you can make it look casual or put it in a formal room. The color options are endless.

This project was so easy I'm almost embarrassed! just measure the back panel of the shelf after you remove everything .

I cut a piece of grass cloth and used a staple gun to secure the paper to the wood. I could have used wallpaper paste but that would have been way too permanent for me. Plus way too messy!!

What do you think? Not bad huh?

I love the texture of the cloth and the extra dimension that it ads to the shelves.

Total cost of the entire project???

$36

Yea that's right... $36 for one full roll of real grass cloth that is 8yards.

Now go take on a project that makes you happy!!

My little chef

2011-02-15T20:06:00.000-05:00

My little punk ~~demanded~~ asked that we make whipped creme the other day but we had no creme so he decided that egg whites would be the next best thing.

I had to break it to him that whipped egg whites didn't quite measure up to homemade whipped creme. After much ~~whining~~ debate, i managed to convince him to make a baked meringue cookie instead. Of course he HAD to do this on a day when I was not the slightest bit interested in cooking but when my little punks show interest in something I feel obligated to deliver.

So I did what any self respecting mother would do...

I told him to look up a recipe on the Internet.

And I told him he was on his own... and to clean up after himself!!!

The meringues came out great.

Do you think this is how Bobby Flay started out?

Happy LOVE Day

2011-02-13T21:00:00.000-05:00

Today I share with you some photos that I have taken myself and some that I have ~~stolen~~ borrowed.

Give your people an extra squeeze today.

And more importantly... Give yourself a squeeze too.

Nobody should love you more than you love yourself.

Our New Addition

2011-01-31T22:53:00.000-05:00

Meet our new baby...

His name is Cooper.

He was found wandering the woods at the nearby State Park. He was at deaths door and literally skin and bones. He weighed 4 lbs when he was rescued. He now weighs 8 lbs. We are still trying to put a little more weight on him. He is around 1 year old. He is the sweetest thing. So happy to be in a warm bed and have a lap to sleep in whenever he wants.

He's so ugly that he's actually cute.

We love him.

Meet My New Boyfriend

2011-01-25T14:34:00.000-05:00

I have a new boyfriend.

Not HIM...

Him.

Isn't he cute?

I'm in love. Makes my uterus hurt.

My friend needed someone to watch him this week so I said "yes".

That big wet spot on my breast is NOT what you think. Well it is milk but not from me. I was feeding him and some milk leaked out of his bottle and onto my boob. My friend thought it was HYSTERICAL!!

I don't know whats so funny about it. Just cause my boobs are huge doesn't make me a dairy cow.

Well I once was a dairy cow.. or maybe three times I was a dairy cow but that was a long time ago.