Wednesday, December 17, 2008

How Old Is Jesus?

My sister and her hubby have done a great job teaching Raegan and Trace about the true meaning of Christmas. They believe in Santa, but they also know that Santa isn't what Christmas is really about. They know it's about Jesus' birthday.
As a matter of fact, they may have done too good of a job driving home the fact about Jesus' birthday. Because the other day while driving down the road, Raegan asked my brother-in-law, "Daddy, how old will Jesus be on His birthday?"
Like any good husband, He turned the question over to my sister. He called her at work and handed Raegan the phone, and Raegan asked Crystal, "Mommy, how old will Jesus be on His birthday?"
I'm not really sure that they gave her any kind of definitive answer. I think saying "Over 2000 years" would have been a little mind boggling to an almost five year old. But hey, at least she knows whose birthday we'll be celebrating!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Tuesday's Top Ten

For today's top ten I give you the top ten things I have to do before Christmas:

1. Buy a gift for my mom and dad. I have bought a few little things for them, but I'm stumped about what to get them...

2. Buy a gift for my brother. This is easy. He takes money or gift cards from anywhere.

3. Buy a gift for my brother-in-law. This requires going to Dick's Sporting Goods to buy a gift certificate because this is what he wants. I really should have already done this, but I never go to Dick's so I haven't.

4. Buy a gift for my sister. She wants a gift certificate from the Spa Personal Appearances. The trouble with this one is that I'm not quite sure where this place is. Finding new places is not one of my strengths...

5. Buy a gift for my cousin Scott. I have NO IDEA what to get him. None at all. He never asks for anything. Ever.

6. Buy some stocking stuffers for Alaena, oh and also a stocking. I've been stocking slack...

(There is certainly a money spending trend going here...)

7. Buy some wheat bread for our Christmas party here at work on Thursday.

8. Go to my Raegan and Trace's Christmas program at school on Thursday.

9. Go Christmas caroling with the church.

10. Be in the Christmas play Sunday night.

So it's gonna be a little hectic around here before Christmas. What last minute things are you guys gonna be doing?

Monday, December 15, 2008

Monday, Monday!

Well, here we are at Monday again, and I can hardly believe it. This past weekend was a little hectic. But I've learned several things. First, I learned that Alaena is apparently going to be very likely to get bronchitis. That is something that is not going to be much fun, but at least now I know so I can watch her very closely and at the first sign of a wheeze, she'll be headed to the doctor.
I also learned that my child gets very hyper after a nebulizer treatment. I mean, we're talking feet can't be still, crawling and walking around in circles hyper. I would go to put her down, and her feet would be moving a million miles a minute. It was hilarious, but also very tiring because I had to chase after her making sure she didn't get into the Christmas village, the Christmas tree, etc. But it was a fun weekend.
Lastly I learned that a night of sleep after a night of no sleep is heavenly. So I'm in a great, well-rested mood this Monday morning. I hope all of you are too! Have a good one!

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Tuesday's Top Ten

Today for my top 10 I give you my top 10 favorite recent pictures of Alaena:

Just kicking back, this may be one of my favorite pics all time of her:
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Bring on the grub! She may not have gained weight very fast, but she is serious about some food!

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Crawling, this is a rare site. Normally she is trying to walk around things, so my crawling pic opportunities are rare!
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Excited to see mommy! That is the smile I come home to every day. And the smile that makes it SOOOOO hard to go to work in the morning.

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Ma, put the camera down! I'm trying to eat!

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Hmmm...if I'm really sneaky, maybe I can get this block from the nursery into my diaper bag...

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These teeth are good for something...
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This is one of her favorite things lately. Since she's dicovered her tongue, it's rarely in her mouth.


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Another fine example of showing off the tongue!
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And finally, Christmas card pic 2008. Showing off all eight of those pearly whites!!

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Monday, December 08, 2008

Life in the World that is Trace

This past Friday I went after I got off of work at 12 to pick up my niece and nephew from school for my sister. My niece was going to her cousin Emma's for the night, and Trace was coming to my house. Now normally picking them up from school is no big deal. They usually say that they've both been great, and they both usually have stickers in their folders.
USUALLY.
Not so on Friday. Apparently Friday was Raegan's day to test the limits of the K-4's rule about talking during lunch. It was also apparently her day to pick up her "BEST FRIEND EVER" who is apparently a K-3 student while they were in the bathroom. I don't believe it's a specific rule, but apparently it is frowned upon to pick up K-3 students in the bathroom. In any event, Raegan ended up with 2 demerits, marring a week of demerit free perfection.
Let me just say, it is not fun to pick up my niece when she has gotten two demerits. It puts me in the "bad guy" position with her, and I do not like it. I guess I've got to get used to that position though considering Alaena is quickly learning to test her limits.
Anyway, I had to drop Raegan off at her house with her dad. I didn't stay long. I didn't want to see her get into trouble. I mean, it wasn't really bad things. After all, she didn't hit the kid, she just picked her up because she was her "BEST FRIEND EVER!" Apparently best friend exuberance isn't appreciated in K-4. Oh well.
Trace rode on with me, and we hadn't even gotten out of the driveway before he said, "I had a good day. I got a sticker. Sissy had a bad day. She had a bad day."
Now this wasn't said in a cocky tone. He sounded pitiful. He felt so bad that Raegan didn't get a sticker or candy like he did. He may be only 3 years old, but he has more compassion than most adults. Well, he has compassion for his sister at least.
His love for the deer isn't quite so obvious. My dad is a hunter, and he was out hunting when Trace and I got to the house. This was quite upsetting to Trace because he LOVES his Paw-paw, but I promised that he would see Paw-paw soon.
When my dad got home, Trace asked him, "Paw-paw, did you shoot deers in the forest?"
And my dad told him that he saw some deer, but he didn't shoot any.
Then Trace said, "Paw-paw, when I get big like you, I'm gonna take my water gun, and shoot me a deer."
Because apparently water is lethal to deer. Who knew?
The next morning Trace asked dad to take him to the ocean on the tractor. We live about 5 hours from the nearest ocean, so dad was like, "Huh?"
So Trace said, "You know, the ocean in the forest." So our lake has now been upgraded to an ocean. Maybe I should keep this a secret. I don't want Ruffin becoming a hot tourist spot. It ruins it for the locals.
So don't tell anybody about the Ruffin ocean okay?
What funny things happened to you guys over the weekend?

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Thursday Thirteen

For this Thursday I give you Thirteen Things I'm wondering about:

1. I'm wondering why I haven't gotten back some wrapping paper that I ordered for a fund raiser back in September (apparently no one has gotten anything back and the guy is contacting the school!)
2. I'm wondering why in the song, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" there is a line about scary ghost stories. I mean the song is about Christmas, not Halloween. I guess it's possible they are talking about the story, "The Christmas Carol" but I wouldn't consider that a scary ghost story. So still I wonder if they just put the line in the song just because they couldn't think of any other line to put there.
3. I'm also wondering why in the song, "Up on the Housetop" poor little Will got a hammer and lots of tacks. Maybe I'm too modernized, but I just can't imagine that at any time in history tacks were considered the best gift ever by any child. I feel a little sorry for Will myself.
4. That brings me to the song, "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas." First I wonder why someone would actually want a Hippopotamus for Christmas enough to write a song about it.
5. Then I wonder how many children have pitched super tantrums to their parents begging for a Hippopotamus for Christmas since this song was written.
6. I also wonder if anybody likes the song, "The Little Drummer Boy" Now, I have heard that Mandisa has a great version of it, but I'm talking about the original slow, seemingly eternal version of "The Little Drummer Boy" where these shrieky sopranos say, "Cooooooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeee they told meeeeeeeeeeeee, Par Rum, pum, pum, pummmmmmmmmmmm" while the basses in the background go, "Pum, pum, pum, pum" I really have never gotten this song...
7. Now I'm kinda wondering why I listen to so much Christmas music I don't understand...
8. And I wonder if any of the rest of you have turned your radios to the 24/7 Christmas music station in your area.
9. Or if any of the rest of you have been seen going down the highway belting out, "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause"
10. I'm also wondering when I'm ever gonna find time to get Alaena's pictures taken so I can send out Christmas cards.
11. And when I'm gonna find time to wrap gifts (especially considering I haven't gotten my wrapping paper yet, see #1)
12. Then I wonder if the Christmas play at church is going to come together before December 21.
13. Then I wonder why I'm wondering about all of this stuff. And why I'm not just taking time to enjoy this wonderful season. So that's what I'm gonna do now...
What do all of you have on your minds today?











Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Taking Things Into Her Own Hands

I can hardly believe that Thanksgiving is now behind us, and we are charging toward Christmas full steam ahead. Last weekend was spent by most of my family members putting up the Christmas decorations, getting the ornaments on trees just right and such.
Well, at my house the ornaments were added to the tree. My sister had no such luck. Her husband had put the ornament box in the top of their building where only he could get to them, and he was on duty (he's a policeman). So she just put up the tree, figuring he would get the box of ornaments later.
The rest of the weekend was busy for them, so the ornaments never got added to the tree. Apparently this distressed my four year old niece a little more than my sister and her husband realized. A fact they discovered on the way home from church Sunday night.
My niece has hit a prissy stage, and she has begun carrying her little purse everywhere she goes. And it is often filled with random things, from fake lipstick to my nephew's little cars.
But Sunday night on the way home from church, she told my sister, "Mommy, we can decorate our tree now!" And as she said it, she pulled several icicle ornaments that she had "borrowed" from the Christmas tree at church out of her purse.
Apparently she thought the church's tree was quite overloaded while her tree at home was completely barren of ornaments! Crystal of course told her that she shouldn't take stuff, but I'm pretty sure she had a hard time not laughing while she was doing so!!

Monday, December 01, 2008

Random Number Picker Says the Winner Is...

Well, as promised today is the day that I announce the big winner of the giveaway, and the winner is...Crystal!
And I promise, there was no partiality in this drawing. I simply put everyone's names in order of how they were given, and her number was the one randomly drawn.
Thanks for all the participation. And keep looking out for more giveaways. I may just do this again!!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Tuesday's Top Ten

My cousin Christy started something on her blog a few weeks back called Tuesday's Top Ten. So, I'll go with her on this one, and today I give you the top ten things that will bring certain death to your cell phone!!



1. Dropping a phone in a swimming pool. Now, one of the great things about cell phones is that you can use them anywhere, but if you happen to put your cell phone in a towel, be sure to tell someone it's there before they pick up the towel to use it and sling your cell phone into the pool. (This happened to my mom's cell phone.)

2. Dropping a phone into an electrical pipe that holds wire. Now the phone may still be usable, but you will not get it back. Due to the fact that you could possibly be electrocuted in the retrieval. (This happened to my brother's cell phone)

3. Dropping a cell phone into a man-hole that is filled with rain water. The nasty gross rain water will surely ruin your phone quickly. (Also, to my brother)

4. Snapping your phone in anger over something the person you are talking to said. (My brother, again, do you see a pattern here?)

5. Dropping your cell phone into a toilet. Now this is completely avoidable, NO ONE should talk on a phone in the bathroom. (My brother however doesn't adhere to this rule. Hence the toilet water ruined phone.)

6. Dropping a phone in a dog's bowl. This doesn't cause immediate death, but it will shorten your batteries life, and you will barely be able to get one call through without recharging your phone! (My niece did this to my phone)

7. Throwing your cell phone against a brick wall (my cousin did this.)

8. Allowing a three year old that your are babysitting to remain alone in the room with your phone. Especially if said three year old has anger issues and didn't want you to leave the room. (This happened to my sister in law's phone.)

9. Washing your cell phone in the washing machine. Again, no immediate death, but a short life is predicted for your phone. (My sister in law did this to my brother's phone)

10. Spilling corn on your phone. This results in immediate button death. Apparently corn juice has more lethal powers over phones than water. (This happened to my phone last week)

The upside of cell phone death? Getting a new cell phone. Thankfully, I got a really good deal on mine. Have any of you ever had a cell phone ruined somehow?

And a reminder, there are only five more days to enter the GIVEAWAY! Be sure to get your name in by the 30th!!

Friday, November 14, 2008

A Bloggy Giveaway


Well guys, in the spirit of the soon approaching Christmas season, I have decided to do a bloggy give away. I will be giving away a Beauti Control Snowflake Set. It will include the Snowflake Body Wash pictured above.




The Snowflake Body Polish



The Snowflake Body Creme




The Snowflake Lip Conditioner


And the Snowflake Show of Hands

All you have to do for a chance to win this giveaway is go to my Beauti Control Page and come back and leave a comment about one item you might like! Also, if you mention this giveaway on your blog and let me know, you'll get two entries! Entries will be taken until November 30, and I'll announce the winner on December 1!

Added note, also, if you could leave your email address in the comments so that I can contact you if you win, I would appreciate it!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Thursday Thirteen

Today I present to you Thirteen random thoughts:

1. I'm really into the Biggest Loser this season. I DO NOT like Vicky though. She is EVIL. I really hope she gets voted off soon.
2. Alaena has recently learned that she can put her arms through her crib and reach the Diaper Champ. I'm trying to double and triple check that I don't leave any diapers sitting in the top because apparently 9 month olds don't know you shouldn't play with diapers (thank God she hasn't gotten any dirty ones!!)
3. I just found out that my friend Christa is having a little boy. So exciting, a future hubby for Alaena! LOL! Seriously though, I'm really excited for her.
4. Not only that, but my friend Allison is having a girl so Alaena gets a best friend and a hubby all within a couple of months!
5. I'm seriously glad I have friends having babies because that means I have someone to share the baby wealth with. People were seriously generous when I had my baby showers for Alaena. But now that she's outgrowing stuff, I am quite short on storage space. So they are getting the mother load of stuff, Christa will get the neutral stuff of course. For some reason she didn't feel her little boy needed a pink swing! LOL!
6. I went the other day to buy my dress for my friend Leah B's wedding in June. We're on a downswing of the bridesmaid thing I think. Only a few single friends left. But this actually was a pretty dress, AND I got to buy it 2 sizes smaller than the one in the wedding I was in BEFORE I was pregnant, so I'm very excited. That means all those salads are paying off!
7. Not only have I been eating salads, but I have been working out on the Wii Fit which really makes working out fun, but I have been bad this week because when Alaena was sick I got out of the groove of daily workouts. I've got to get back in the groove.
8. Speaking of groove, for Christmas I asked for the Dance, Dance Revolution game, so that I would have a variety of work out options.
9. I also asked for the Jillian Michaels game because after watching her on the Biggest Loser, I seriously think her workout would really whip me into shape!
10. Of course, I may not need all of these workout things because chasing Alaena around is becoming quite the workout in and of itself. She is pulling herself up walking around stuff, and she is INTO EVERYTHING.
11. Because she is into everything, she has learned the words, "No, no!" And she is doing her part to teach them to my dog Colby. She chases him around going, "no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Poor Colby, but he loves her!
12. Because my child is so hyper, I am looking for active toys for Christmas, in order for her to put her energies into something that it's okay for her to get into!
13. And believe it or not, it's not even Thanksgiving yet, and I am almost done Christmas shopping. Now this may not be amazing to you in any way, but I have never finished shopping before the week of Christmas. This is truly a momentous occasion!!
So, what's been going on with all of you?
















Thursday, November 06, 2008

Thursday Thirteen

Being that I'm trying to get back into this funny blog thing, I figured what better way than with a Thursday Thirteen? So here is a Thursday Thirteen about trying to hook three car seats into the back seat of one small sized SUV...if ever you have to do this, well, GOOD LUCK!

1. My niece Raegan and nephew Trace went to mine and my parent's house last night because both their mom and dad had to be out of town for work today. They were very excited about going!
2. Alaena has moved to a big girl car seat out of the infant car seat, which is a very important detail. Because the big girl car seat takes up more room than the infant car seat.
3. Raegan and Trace are both in the big booster seat type of car seats, the kind that recline and have cup holders and all. You know, the ones that take up a lot of room...
4. We got Raegan's seat in the middle beside Alaena's seat which is on the passenger's side and got Raegan buckled up. All seemed to be going well, seemed is the key word here.
5. We then tried to put Trace's seat in behind the driver's seat. There was one tiny problem. It was hanging halfway off the seat and out the door.
6. So we tried to move Raegan's seat over, but it wouldn't budge.
7. Then we came up with the brilliant (read very stupid) plan to unbuckle Raegan's seat and slide it forward a bit in order to buckle Trace's seat because there was plenty of room for all three seats, we just shouldn't have buckled Raegan before placing the seats, or so we thought.
8. Well, we got Trace in and buckled then began the grueling task of buckling Raegan's seat.
9. Now, I should note that the buckles in my back seat are very oddly placed which makes them tough to buckle even without a mac daddy car seat in front of them.
10. We tried everything, we held Raegan forward while trying to snap the seat belt, at which point she said, "Umm, somebody is hurting me, could you stop?" Since we didn't want to hurt her, we stopped.
11. So Crystal hops into the back of the SUV and tries to force the seat belt in from that angle (because we couldn't reach it from the front or the sides because Alaena and Trace were both in their seats buckled in)
12. Crystal couldn't get it from that angle either.
13. So finally my dad comes to the rescue. He tells Raegan to hop out of her seat grabs the seat and puts it in the back of my car. Buckles Raegan into the seat belt and tells her to sit still. So we drove illegally from the church to my house, but I made Raegan get back in her seat on the way to school in the morning. I don't think she minded because she kept saying, "Are you sure the police aren't gonna get me?" on the way home last night.

As I said, if ever you have to face such an adventure, I wish you well!






Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Trying to be Funny Again

Well, I haven't been funny in quite a long while. Life has gotten insanely hectic in the last year since becoming a mom, but I really want to start this blog back, so I can share some stories from the funny moments of my life.
This past Sunday was a pretty special day in my family. My niece Raegan got baptized. This has been something she's gone back and forth being excited about and scared about, but she was determined she was ready to do it.
And let me tell you, when she came into Christmas play practice Sunday afternoon, the child was prepared for her baptizing during the evening service. She had on Ariel swimming goggles, and hand and foot flippers. She told me she was going to wear them to get baptized, and she was dead serious. My sister had to inform her that no she would not be wearing the swimming gear to be baptized.
So my niece went into the baptismal pool with a bit of apprehension about getting water in her eyes.
But no worries, she came out with a huge smile on her face and informed my sister that she "liked this baptizing thing."
Check out this video for a baptism laugh. I'm just saying that my mom and dad would have KILLED ME!
Courtesy of ChristianClips.com

Thursday, October 09, 2008