Sunday, May 31, 2009

ABC's of me!

I saw this on another blog and thought it would be fun to do. =)

A - Age: 39 (almost 40...wow! That is old, huh?)

B - Bed size: King...all four of us could NOT fit into anything smaller.

C - Chore you hate: Laundry

D - Dog's name: Lucy

E - Essential start your day item: Starbucks or Cherry Coke from Sonic

F - Favorite color: Pink

G - Gold or Silver or Platinum: Silver or Platinum

H - Height: 5'5"

I - Instruments you play: uhhhh....nothing. I can't carry a tune in a bucket either.

J - Job title: Mommy, Student, Auditor

K - Kid(s): Emily (11) and Anna Kate (4)...Dan too. Does he count?

L - Living arrangements: My sweet girls and Danny Boy. Oh, and that four-legged friend, Lucy!

M - Mom's name: Donna

N - Nicknames: Lucy

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: A couple of times ~ I think all of the non-vital organs have been removed from my body.

P - Pet Peeve: When people carry on a conversation with some else after calling me on the phone or walking into my office!

Q - Quote from a movie: I can't think of one...I mean ~ I watch so many movies =)

R - Right handed or left handed: Left

S - Siblings: 4 brothers and 1 sister

T - Time you wake up: During school time, around 6:30. During the summer time, whenever the girls get up!

U- Underwear: Yes please, I don't particularly like going commando!

V - Vegetable you dislike: I'm not a huge fan of spinach.

W - Ways you run late: being lazy.

X - X-rays you've had: kidney, teeth, gallbladder....I could go on & on.

Y - Yummy food you make: I honestly can't think of anything! I'm not a cook.

Z - Zoo favorite: I like the giraffes and the pandas...I think they are just beautiful!

Now it's your turn ~ Have fun =)

Happy Birthday, Mother!

Happy Birthday to my Mother! Her birthday is one day before Emily's....so 11 years ago, my poor mother celebrated her birthday in a labor and delivery room "patiently" awaiting the arrival of our precious little Emily. Three years later, in 2001, she buried her eldest son (my older brother, Chuck). Her birth "day" is far from an ordinary day...it is bittersweet, for sure.

This year we had a celebration at my brother Chip's house....a good time was had by all. The Chicago peeps made an unexpected, grand appearance. My brother lives on a pretty large piece of land and has a wide variety of motorized vehicles and toys for the kids of all ages.

Grandmother blew out her candles with the help of the grand-boys, Louis and Luke....

The grand-girls were excited about giving her presents...

The girls had fun on the golf cart ~ I do hope Emily's driving skills improve between now and the time she gets her driver's licenses. :)

Anna Kate really likes Michaela. Michaela was the designated driver for Anna Kate.

Cla and Dan had fun racing.


Happy Birthday, Mother! Hope this birthday was filled with happy memories.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Paint on the Walls

We have lived in this house for 6 years and we finally painted the family room. I am not good at decorating or picking out paint colors to I called in The Nancy's (http://www.decoratingmakeoversandmore.com) to help.

Within minutes of walking into my house, they were able to select a color that would best suit my tastes....Dan did all the painting (bless his heart).
Here are the before and after shoots....what do you think?

If you are looking for inexpensive decorating help, I would highly recommend The Nancy's.

HOPPY Easter

"Hoppy" Easter from the DPGang.

We celebrated Easter at my parent's house. My sister, Nichole and the Chicago Peeps joined us for an egg hunt.

My brother's missy prissy, Sammy Jo, came over to help color Easter eggs.

The Chicago Peeps ~
Here is Nichole and Gracie Girl....have you ever seen a little girl look so much like her mother?

Shhhhh....be beary, beary quite....Charlie's hunting for the prize egg!

Louis finds his prize egg first...Poppa makes up the best prize eggs ~ everyone gets one with their name on it!

My brother, Cla, has a little guy named Mason...this was his first Easter!

Couple more of my favorite pictures from a weekend of good, old fashion family fun!




A trip Downtown

We took a trip downtown Atlanta in early April. My department was moving from one office suite to another. I needed to go down to box up personal belongings and such. We decided to make it a family affair.

We walked around downtown, had lunch at HardRock and the girls played in the elevators at the Marriott.




It's amazing how just plain, ordinary things create the most fun!

Walt Disney World

We decided to take a trip to Disney during my spring break...the girls were not on spring break but we took them out of school for two days to have a little fun! We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to go to Disney. This was the best trip that we have ever had. The girls are both tall enough to ride every ride. We were a little afraid that Anna Kate might not want to go on a couple of rides but that wasn't the case....she begged to go on Splash Mountain over and over...she described Space Mountain as "wicked"....Soarin' was tons of fun too! Emily's favorite rides are Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad and Space Mountain.

We stayed offsite this time and well, we just like to stay onsite ~

Nothing compares to walking down Main Street @ Magic Kingdom and seeing the girls' faces light up with pure excitement and joy...It really is such a magical place!


The girls got autographs galore....


We had lunch at the Crystal Palace where Pooh and Friends were happy to entertain us ~
Anna Kate received the "Best Hopscotcher in Disney" award while shopping in the Briar Patch.

Here are a couple of more pictures from out trip....there are some many pictures! It's really hard to just pick a few!


Anna Kate did not meet a stranger during the trip....Here is Emily begging us to stop her from talking to everyone she saw...Emily was telling me she was "completely embarrassed".

Anna Kate was a real trooper. She stayed up late and got up early...on the last night, she fell asleep telling us about her day!

We all had such a great time....we can't wait to go back! Disney really is one of the most happiest places on earth, don't ya think?

St. Patrick's Day

The typical symbols and traditions of St. Patrick's Day (listening to Irish Music, banishing snakes from Ireland and eating corn beef) aren't part of our St. Patty's Day rituals....however, dressing up in green and sporting shamrocks are a must!





Snow Day in Georgia

When it snows here, the girls and I get excited. We got MAYBE one whole inch on March 3rd.

Our snow angels....

It took me longer to get them dressed in warm clothes than they stayed out to play! It is probably a good thing that we only get snow once in a blue moon.....These GRITS would be unlikely to survive!

Catch up.....Valentine's Day!

In an attempt to catch up on my "scrapbooking", this will be the first of several posts to catch up! We have been busy, busy, busy since the last post in February. Like everyone else, we celebrated the love day at school and at home.

Anna Kate had a Valentine's Day Dance/Party at school...She was all decked out in Red and White (with the silver~glittery shoes, of course).


Her beloved D was at the dance...along with his twin Z! She can tell them apart - neither Dan nor I can!


This is Anna Kate's little friend from her 3-year old class. Unfortunately, she and K will not be in the same elementary school next year. AK is really gonna miss K!



At home, cupid left the girls a couple of treats...American Girl clothes, candy, candy and more candy!


All in all, it was a very "sweet" day!