Boxes, Supplies & Second Grade

You may be wondering if the box pictured above is either the last box to unpack after moving here 9 months ago or is it the first box of many that we are packing. It is the latter. Okay, let me back up a couple of months. At the end of this past June on the last day of our VBS at 7:30 in the morning we were all getting ready for the day. Sam and I were getting ready to head out to the church for VBS and Andy was getting up and ready for the day and would meet us up at church around 11:15 for the "concert" given by the VBS kids and lunch to follow. At the same time Andy got a phone call. It was from his boss stating that he had to call in to the VP and HR at 12:00. We both got a feeling of dread. When is calling your VP and HR at the same time a good thing? Long story short they eliminated 13 territories. Andy's was one of them. They offered him a couple of options. Either take a buy-out or move to another territory. Obviously we took opted for moving to another territory. We looked at the list of the territories that we open to those that were just laid-off and chose to move to Birmingham, AL. Then a week later while we were in Dallas celebrating Sam's Gotcha Day Andy gets another phone call from his boss on Sunday morning. He had a person just hand in his resignation in Dallas the night before. Andy and I of course would love to move there since we have family there. It also meant that since it wasn't on the "approved" list of places to move to he would have to follow the proper procedures to apply for changing your territory. It is now the beginning of August and as of last night we have the final word that, yes, we can move to Dallas!!!! After living here for only 9 months we are packing up and moving again. We will be looking at the Arlington area to live.

Also going on in our household is that time of year...back to school. Even though we are moving to an area that doesn't start school until the end of August we have decided to go ahead and put Sam in school here. Two reasons being a refresher for Sam and to let me pack. School started today. It's hard to believe that Sam is already in the second grade. I know that he is growing up and trying to become more mature because he didn't want me to take him to school today. I've always taken Sam to school on the first day of school. Today he wanted to ride the bus and do it all himself. So I let him. Or should I say I let myself stay at home and see him off. His teacher was kind enough to give us an abbreviated school supply list since we will only be here for a few more weeks and then have to purchase another full list of supplies.

You Have To See This

Thanks to Jenn over at MO Treatman Family for finding this. If you haven't ever checked out her blog please do so. It's wonderful!

Make sure you have your sound on for this one! It really is amazing to watch. I can only imagine the hours of practice that went into putting this together.

Kids Do And Say The Darnedest Things

What is it about a child in just his shorts with some pants on his head singing "We Are Family" and dancing around the living room. I think some things in life are just so funny that they just have to be shared!

Another thing that Sam said to me from the backseat of the car a few weeks ago was:

Sam: "I wish that God gave tours of heaven. Then again, that wouldn't be good because we wouldn't want to leave and live our lives."

Kids Do And Say The Darnedest Things

Word Verification

This is a post from CrAzY Working Mom (used with permission). If you use word verification please consider. I used to use it when I first started my blog but then I realized how much I hated to enter all of those crazy letters just to post a comment. I still have it set for me to approve the comments but I don't use the word verification. Read her post and please consider going away from word verification.

"Do you use it? If so, why? Here at the home of Crazy Working Mom, there is no word verification to slow you down. I am glad to have you here and don't want to hinder you as you leave a comment! I HATE word verification. If I get spam in my comments, which happens rarely, I just hit the delete button!

(this word verification was on a blog I frequent...needless to say I didn't get it right.) odbteiwn".

Friday's Feast Is Served

Friday's Feast

Appetizer: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how polite are you?

I would have to say that I am at least an 8. There are some days where I let how I'm feeling get in the way of how I should act. That and I believe that there is always room for improvement for everyone in this category.

Soup: What was the last thing that made you laugh out loud?

Probably my son. I don't remember the actual moment as he makes me laugh out loud many times a day.

Salad: Who is your favorite cartoon character?

M-I-Ceee, K-E-Yiiiii M-O-U-S-Eeeeee. Come on, you know the tune.

Main Course: Tell about the funniest teacher you ever had.

It would have been Ms. B (as she was called) and she was either my 5th grade teacher or 6th grade teacher and she was a hoot. She made learning fun and I have yet to forget her.

Dessert: Complete this sentence: I strongly believe that _______________.

I strongly believe that I have the most wonderful family hands down!

Create Paintings

Had fun doing this one. Try it!


Click here to create your own painting.

And The Winner Is...

It's 12:01 on Saturday, July 28th and my giveaway has officially ended. I was shocked at how many people entered. 201! This was a lot of fun and Shannon has said that she will be hosting this again in the fall. Keep your eyes here to see what I'll giveaway next.

Now on to the winner. I've used Random.org to get the winning number. Who knew how long it would take to enter 201 numbers. You may not be interested in that...you probably want to know who the lucky winner is. I do hope that you all know that I wanted every one of you to win. You were all so kind in all of your comments. Gee, there I go again. Rambling on and not giving you the winner.

Number 196 won! It's Stacey from JameeForever. I'll email her and also comment on her blog that she won. I also took the next two numbers and they will win something special. The numbers were 34 which is Teresa (I'll email her as she doesn't have a blog) and number 114 which is Sincerely Anna (I'll email her and also leave a comment on her blog). Three wonderful winners. I'll put a picture up on here later for the two runners up as I haven't had time to take them yet.

Thanks to everyone that participated. I had a great time and can't wait to do it again. Who knows...maybe I'll do this more often. :)

Now I'm off to visit every one of your sites. Maybe not all in one day but I will visit. I would love to have you all come back and visit me sometime.

Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway

If you are looking for Friday's Feast please scroll down below this post...unless you would like to enter my giveaway! You have nothing to lose.

Sticky Note: This will stay up here until the giveaway has ended.

Update: Since I have had such a great response I have decided to extend the deadline. You will now have until Saturday, July 28, 12:00pm CST, to enter. I am also considering having some more prizes. So you never know...you could win!

I am late in starting this giveaway but couldn't resist. I am going to be giving away some AVON merchandise. If you are interested here is a link to the most current catalog: AVON or this one AVON. You can also go to my website!


It's easy to enter! All you have to do is leave me a comment. You don't have to be a blogger as long as you leave me an email address to contact you in case you are the winner. You will have until Friday, July 27, 7:00pm CST, to enter. Then I will collect all the entries, write down the comment numbers and then have the drawing.

What will I win you ask? Here are some pictures.

Relaxing Foam Bath12 fl. oz., Whipped Body Oil12 fl. oz., Replenishing Body Lotion12 fl. oz., Moisturizing Shower Gel 5 fl. oz.

And.....

A lovely necklace and earring set. I will also throw in a $10 off coupon for your first order!

Remember to go back to Shannon's site to see all the other wonderful giveaways!

Friday's Feast is Served!

Click on the above image to view more feasts!

First and foremost...check out my giveaway by going here!!!!!

Now on to the feast....

Appetizer: Describe a toy you remember from your childhood.

Lite Brite. Loved it and now my son has mine. :) Now just to find some of the papers that go with it.

Soup: On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being highest) how observant are you?

I would consider myself around an 8 or a 9.

Salad: Where would you rather be at this very moment?

At the ocean along with a day spa. Now that would be nice.

Main Course: When was the last time you learned something new?

The only thing that is coming to my mind right now is learning how to knit two years ago when my son gave me the "Teach Yourself To Knit" kit for Christmas.

Or it would be putting a bike chain on Sam's bike along with tightening the tires so that the chain doesn't slip that much.

Dessert: Fill in the blank: I have ____________ but I haven’t ____________.

I have the urge to have some sushi but I haven't the money or the time right now since it is 11:00 p.m. Maybe sometime soon. :)

Bummed Son

As stated previously Sam had his first playoff game last night. They were in first place and very pumped up for the game.

THEY LOST.

Some of the team took it hard including Sam. He came up to me (I was the dugout Mom so I was right there) with tears in his eyes telling me that he was sad because they lost and that they wouldn't be able to play the championship game. They were a great team as they went back out and congratulated the other team on a game well played.

I am so proud of not only my son but the whole team. They played their hearts out and had fun doing it.

This season was Sam's first time at machine pitch baseball. He got hurt a couple of times including last night when he slid into home plate. By the end of this season he learned how to hit well and to field balls. He is a great player and will learn more as he continues to play the game of baseball.

What's next? Soccer season. This so far this his favorite sport and he can't wait to get started.

GoodReads and Baseball Games

Thanks to Kristie again I have added GoodReads to my sidebar. You can list the books you are currently reading and the books that you have read. You can also rate the books that you have read along with doing a review. Thought that this might give me that kick in the rear to get me reading more again. Here it is as it stands now.



I thought of adding books that I have previously read but it has been quite awhile since I've seriously read a book. So I opted out of listing those at this time.

Sam has a playoff baseball game this evening. They came in first place for the season. He will either play the 4th or 5th place team this evening. Keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer for his team. In his last game he hit a triple. My parents were down here to see that game. I'll add more pictures and tell about their visit later. Here is a picture of him hitting his triple!
Playing third base and ready to make the play.
Going for the ball.

I'm off now to put Sam's baseball uniform that I forgot to wash until now into the dryer. Remember that you can enlarge the pictures by clicking on them.

The Golden Compass

Thanks to Kristie I have done my Daemon. In the upcoming movie The Golden Compass each person has their own Daemon. In this story a person's soul lives on the outside of their body, in the form of a daemon - an animal spirit that accompanies them through life (read more on the movie's website). I still need to read the book by Philip Pullman, especially since the movie is coming out in December. I have heard wonderful things about the book and the movie and have it on my list of books that I really want to read along with seeing it when it comes out. I am hoping that this rated at least PG so that I can take Sam to go see it. Now for the time that I ask for your help. Please help me figure out if this is the correct daemon for me.



Watch the trailer if you would like.

Friday's Feast is Served!

Click on the picture above to visit more feasts!

Appetizer: On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being highest) how much do enjoy watching sports on television?
It would actually depend on the sport. For football (NFL) I would give it a 10. For baseball I would give it a 9.

Soup: If you could completely memorize any one work of fiction, which one would you pick?
Only because I can't wait to read it I guess the one on my mind right now would be the Harry Potter books.

Salad: What is your favorite breakfast food?
Gee...just to name one would be hard. I love breakfast so I'll have to name more than just one: Pancakes, eggs, waffles, french toast, breads, muffins, fresh fruit.


Main Course: Name something fun you can do for less than $10.00.
If you don't count the cost of gas then I can do quite a bit with $10. This summer alone I have done the following with Sam for $10 or less. Blueberry picking, toured the National Weather Station, gone to the lake, free movies with snacks, American Rose Society Gardens, Chimp Haven, and SciPort Discovery Center just to name a few.


Dessert: How long does it usually take you to fall asleep?
Depends on the night and if hubby is home or not. When hubby is home it can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 1 hour. When he is away it takes me way to long to fall asleep. Sometimes I don't fall asleep until after 1 a.m.

Rated G

Found this on Virtual Musotopianoforte today while over there reading her Friday's Feast. Great blog too!

Here's my blog rating:

Mingle² - Free Online Dating

Our Trip To Dallas

This last week we went to Dallas to visit my sister-in-law and her hubby. The main reason we went is to celebrate Sam's "Gotcha Day". This is the day that we got Sam from the adoption agency. July 7th is the magical day and we celebrate with him as a family every year.

First day in Dallas it was raining so we went to an arcade and played around. Second day we went back to the arcade to do the batting cages and go carts. Then it was off to meet one of Andy's old friends and his family for dinner, dessert and just some good ole fun. Third day, which was his actual "Gotcha Day" was spent lounging around at their pool with pizza and a movie later on.

Here are some pictures of Sam having a great time!

Friday's Feast Is Served

For more feasts please click on the picture above.

Appetizer: What is your favorite fruit?

Since I love fruit so much this is really a tough one for me. I'll go with the first one that popped into my mind after reading this question....mango.

Soup: Who is someone you consider as a great role model?
Probably my parents. I just hope I'm just as good to my own son as they were to me.

Salad: If you were to spend one night anywhere within an hour of your home, where would you choose?

There really is nothing within an hour from my home so I really can't answer this one.

EDIT: After reading a few others Friday Feasts I have realized that I didn't answer this one quite right. I was thinking of vacation type spots instead of what would be around here including my own home. The question stated spending one night anywhere WITHIN an hour of your home. I read it as saying spending one night anywhere an hour away. It helps to read the question and not interpret it. So with that being said I guess that I would love to spend a night away from home with hubby in a nice hotel. Our anniversary is coming up....hmmmm.

Main Course: Name something you do too often.

Probably working on the computer.

Dessert: Fill in the blank: I really like ___________ because ____________.

I really like to blog because I am making some really good friends.

Or....I really like weekends because I get to relax just a bit.

Visual DNA

Thanks to Infinite Pink I now have my Visual DNA to share with you. It's amazing how close it came to me. If you want to read more just click on the Read My VisualDNA and then click on the book. Once there you can read more about what these pictures say about me. If you do one please leave me a message so that I can check yours out!

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Friday's Feast Is Served

Friday's Feast

To enjoy more feasts please click on the link above.

Friday Feast is taking a break this week so I went into the archives and found one from 2004 to answer. Enjoy!

Appetizer: Name 3 things that you are wearing today.

Tennis Shoes, Black Capri Pants and a Red Shirt

Soup: Who was the last person you hugged.

I guess that would be my son Sam before he went to bed tonight.

Salad: What do you like to order from your favorite fast food place?

I love French Fries from either McDonald's or Steak n Shake. Don't get them that often but boy do I love them.

Main Course: What time of day do you usually feel most energized?

Probably mid-morning.

Dessert: Using the letters in your first name, write a sentence.

Kids In Motion (Kim)

Blueberry Pancakes

Now what does one do when they have just picked blueberries? You must eat some right away! I made blueberry pancakes for dinner and I must say that they were probably some of the best pancakes that I have ever tasted! I only used 1 1/2 cups for these pancakes so I still have plenty left. Oh what shall I make next???

Blueberries!

Today Sam and I finally got to go blueberry picking! Sam has wanted to go since early this summer. We had it on our calendar but the day we were supposed to go he came down with a fever. The time was never right or we had something else scheduled. I realized last night that their last day open for picking was July 4th. So this morning I got up and decided that Sam and I would go. Then it started to rain. I quickly went to the computer to see what was going on and saw that there was a window where we could go and pick without being rained on. We had a lot of fun while we were picking but Sam did tire of it rather quickly. Once back home I weighed what I (we) had picked...4 pounds 6 ounces! Cost...$8.00! I will definitely go again. Of course I had my camera with me and took quite a few shots. Here they are for you and remember that you can click on them to enlarge.

Church Picnic

This past Sunday we spent the afternoon/evening out at one of the local lakes. It was the church picnic for the Fourth of July celebration. There was food, swimming, music and a short service. We had a lot of fun and will go back out to that lake again. Here are some pictures with descriptions to show some of what we did. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Here is Sam shortly after we arrived. He couldn't stop asking when we were going to go down to the lake so that he could swim. He had never been in a lake before so this was a new experience for him.
Before going to the lake he had quite a bit of fun bouncing around in the big bouncy that the church had out there for the kids.
Now off to the lake! He found a muscle shell that he was so proud of. You can see it in his face. What a cute smile!
In the water. He told me later that it was different to swim in because he couldn't see anything. It had rained most of the day so the lake was a bit cloudy. He said that he liked swimming in a pool better. Well he'll get that opportunity soon enough!
COLD! He rinsed himself off before we headed back to the picnic.
On the way to the car I snapped another picture. You can really see how many teeth he is missing in this shot. If I remember correctly he has 3 or 4 missing teeth. All on the sides of his mouth.

Okay...now it was time for the silly shot.

Here is a picture of our Praise Band. I would have taken a picture of the Instrumental Ensemble but Andy and I were both playing in it and I forgot to give the camera to someone.

Here is Sam and our Associate Pastors daughter collecting shells. They had so much fun playing together while we enjoyed the sermon by her father.

As we left we saw this peacock. There is a small zoo at this lake and I hope to take Sam to it sometime soon.

Baseball

Here is a picture of Sam playing in the outfield during their second game.


Poising after the game.

Sam's team tied their first game 2-2, lost their second game 3-2 and won their third game 6-1. They are pulling together nicely as a team. Andy is one of the assistant coaches and I was asked to sit in the dugout to keep the kids in line and to make sure that they are ready when it is their turn to bat or go out to the field.

VBS

Here are some more pictures of our time at VBS last week. Sam and I both had a lot of fun. I enjoyed doing the crafts and will probably volunteer again. To activate the controld just click once on the slideshow and then you'll be able to read each comment and then forward to the next picture. Enjoy!

Harry Potter

I added another countdown to the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (book 7) to my sidebar. It's 3-D, fun and addicting. It also includes daily trivia! Click on it and then run your cursor over the book to make it spin around and around. Have fun with it!

Friday's Feast is Served!

To enjoy more feasts please click on the picture above.

Appetizer: How many pieces of jewelry do you wear most days?

Seven. Four of them being earrings. One toe ring. Two rings.

Soup: What is your favorite instrumental song?

Cannon in D

Salad: Who has a last name that you like?

I really have absolutely no idea. Not the best answer I'm sure.

Main Course: Name a popular movie you’ve never seen.

Chariot's of Fire

Dessert: Fill in the blank: Nothing makes me ___________ like ____________.

Nothing makes me more angry like inconsiderate drivers trying to hurry just to get to the same place I'm going just a few seconds faster.

Or....Nothing makes me laugh like my son.

I Am Tired

Last night Andy reminded me that I hadn't updated my blog since last Thursday. I've been a bit busy and tired. I volunteered to be the crafts person for our VBS. I'm enjoying it but it has kept me busy and very tired. I have crafts for the Kindergarten through 5th graders which is roughly 100 kids. The younger kids, (ages 3-5) stay in their own rooms for crafts. I've been there early every day and today I even went back to get things ready for tomorrow. So far we have done foam pencil toppers, bracelets/necklaces, and prayer journals. Tomorrow and Friday will be duffel bags (thanks to a good friend for this idea) and sleep shirts. I was trying to keep the crafts to where they would still use them after this week. So many times Sam has come home with a craft that will go on the refrig for awhile or in his room and then I end up throwing it away because we really have no more use for it. I feel like this years crafts at least will be used a little while. Here are a few pictures for you. Just a reminder that you can click on the pictures to enlarge.
Here is Sam talking to his groups (The Quarterbacks) leader.
Music is right next door to my class so I peeked around the corner and snapped this picture.
In the morning we have cheerleaders doing our morning cheer and I couldn't resist taking a picture of these three teenage guys doing the cheer along with them.
Here are the 4th and 5th graders making their prayer journals.
It was amazing how much concentration when into the making of the prayer journals today. It was the one craft that I thought everyone would fly through and I would have some time to fill afterwards. Nope. Every class took the full 30 minutes to make their prayer journals.

Entering Contest and Recipe

Found another contest on a blog (thanks!) that I am now entering. Hence the post of this recipe. This recipe actually came from my sister. It's one of my favorites and it is soooo easy to make that ANYONE can make it.

Frozen Peppermint Cheesecake

40 Chocolate vanilla wafers or cream-filled chocolate cookies, finely crushed

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup crushed hard peppermint candy

3 drops red liquid food coloring

2 cups whipping cream, whipped

Combine first 3 ingredients; firmly press onto bottom and 1 inch up sides of a springform pan. Chill. Beat cream cheese at high speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Stir in condensed milk, crushed candy, and red food coloring. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into prepared crust. Cover and freeze until firm.

My notes: I don't own a springform pan so I use just a good ole pie pan and it works great! Also, if you have left over filling you can drop spoonfuls onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Pop it into your freezer and then you either have mini desserts or you can also drop one in on top of a mug of hot chocolate. YUM!

Another big thank you to my sister for introducing me to this recipe!

Friday's Feast is Served!

For more feasting please click on the picture above to be taken to the main feast.

Okay...now on to feasting....

Appetizer: Name a funny habit you have.

How about putting pencil in my hair (usually my ponytail) and then looking all over the house trying to find it. Not much of a habit but everyone usually laughs at me when I ask where I laid it down at.

Soup: If you could instantly know how to play a musical instrument, which one would you pick?

The piano. I only took a semester and passed a test on it. But have since forgotten pretty much all of it. I would love to play it now. That or the guitar.

Salad: How long is your hair?

It is currently halfway down my back.

Main Course: When was the last time you forgave someone, and who was it?

You know...I honestly don't know. I guess it's because that I have learned that when I forgive someone I need to try and forget the "incident" in which I needed to forgive. I used to hang on to all of those incidents and then bring them back up when I really shouldn't have. Trying to learn as I get older.

Dessert: What is your favorite kitchen appliance?

Well I have quite a few that I really like...blender, mixer, coffee maker (right now I only seem to make it just to chill it for iced coffee), dishwasher, etc. But I would have to say that my favorite one right now is a wonderful WORKING garbage disposal. I've had some in the past but none compare to the one that I have now.

Zoo

Here are the pictures to part of our trip this past Wednesday. We went to the Louisiana Purchase Zoo and Gardens the first part of the day and had a blast! We will definitely go back. I didn't label all the pictures because there were just to many. Have fun looking!