What You Crave...

On a sad note...back in December 08 my Uncle was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer. Him and his family have been going through a very difficult time! The doctors give him maybe a month to live so my mother and I flew up to St. Louis to say our goodbyes and also visit w/ my Grandparents who love there! Now I love to fly but, this trip was not a good experience! On the way up we had to fly through a thunderstorm...major turbulence! People were closing their window shades and praying! Flight back wasn't so great either. While staying at the hospital for three days it was nice every once in awhile to get out and drive around the city. St. Louis is one of the oldest cities I've ever seen! Just wish I had a bride with me...could have turned out some awesome pictures with those locations!

On a good note....while driving around the city I came across something that made me super excited! I even did my mouse! (close and old friends will know what that is!) I found the best possible thing I could of ever dreamed of...A White Castle!

I was so excited! I haven't had White Castle since I was 10! GA only has Krystals which I just can't handle...it's nothing like the real thing! So after going through the drive-thru and getting my number 1 value meal...4 white castles w/ onions and ketchup (got to love that they use ketchup and not mustard) and get this...a SWEET TEA! The only place in St. Louis that had Sweet Tea! Up there if you ask for tea you get hot tea! No thanks! I love a place that can mix a little of the north and the south! Perfect!!! Have to say this was the highlight of my trip to MO!

My Sweet Tea!

1 of 4 White Castle Burgers!

On the way back to the hospital I stuck my camera out the window and took a picture of gorgeous sky!

p.s. Spellcheck found 5 misspelled words...rough day!

KISSES AND DISSES:

My husband is a tourney softball player and at times this consumes our lives! Last year he played 5 days a week and this year we are down to 2 days and every other Saturday! Since my husband now has all this free time on his hands you bet I'm going to take advantage of it - home repairs and family time!

KISSES:

* My husband! He has been working for me this week non stop!

* The new holly tree in the front yard! I've been asking for this for over a year.

* The Shrine Circus...had a great family day and the fair and the circus; plus I got to have a funnel cake!

* The half bath wallpaper and Rick the Puerto Rican! A friend of ours use to hang wallpaper and he came over this week and put it up for us. He also fixed the piece that my lovely 2 year old tore off!

* My new front door! We have been saying since the day we moved in that we would replace the front door....that day has come!

* Tim Grandstaff and Brian Bloye; these two are preaching @ West Ridge and have been doing a wonderful job with the Love Series this month! This series has really got me soul checking and trying to make a few changes in my life!

* Weight Watchers...I have been on it for 2.5 weeks and I've lost 13 pounds so far...fit into a pair of my skinny pants this morning for church!


DISSES:

* Well I have to say our home repair speed bumps...Aaron pulling off a chunk of our new wallpaper and the new door being to short (had to replace the whole door frame!)

* Sweets that are over 2 weight watcher points...do you know how bad I would love to have a Kit Kat right now

* The weather channel...they say it's going to rain for the entire week! We all know how true the weather channel is so maybe the so called rain might end up on next weeks Kiss list!


I'm guessing it's a good thing that my Kiss list is twice the size of my Diss list! God and life is good!


Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

Boot Smack!

Ok... I might not be the best Mom but, I think I'm doing pretty good with the three kids I have. Matt and I get complements all the time when we are in public of how well they behave and their use of good manors! It might not be much but, it's reassurance that we are trying the best we can to raise our little boys into great and strong men! I would have to say that the most important tool to raising our boys has been love and discipline. We might be more on the strict side of parenting at times but, we also understand that at times boys will be boys! Trust me on this...we know this statement to be very true. Just ask about our middle child...I've got stories. Well we ran into a women today who had to use those tools w/ her son today!

This morning me and the two youngest boys went to McDonalds for playgroup. We have a small group of moms w/ mostly boys that try to meet on Wednesdays. Well Owen wanted breakfast at McDonalds so we got there around 10 this morning and about 10:30 the rest of the chicks showed! As we are sitting there here comes some little boy to play in the playground. Owen right away sees that this kid is about his size so he starts a lil convo and we find out the boys name is RJ and he's 3! Moms are just sitting on the side lines talking about my wonderful moment that happened the morning before. I came down stairs in T-shirt and undies to find my Husband and his golfing boys there all staring back at me...wonderful! Do you know how many jokes I heard about this! All of a sudden I hear RJ's mom call him and say it's time to go! RJ runs up to the table and picks up his rain boots and launches one across the room. My reaction...Wow! Mom's face is completely blank...she is not surprised at all. Next thing I know here comes boot number 2 right at mom's head. No lie...this boot smacked her right up on the side of the face knocking her glasses off and a few feet away from her. We knew this boy was about to get it! Nothing! I repeat...Nothing! Mom stood up grabbed the kids coats, put them on and then walked them out to the car. Now while all this is happening, the manager comes out and stands at the door and one of the mamas in our group Shirley Temple (names changed to protect the innocent) sat there staring at the mom with her mouth opened as wide as she could! Complete shock! We all figured when she got to the car Mom was going to loose it! She had to be fired up by now. If it was me you would have been able to see the smoke coming out of my ears. She puts the kids in the car and drives off! Shirley is still in shock but, finally closes her mouth after about 2 minutes!

What a way to start your morning....breakfast at McDonalds, a little play time, and a shoe across your face! And where ever our mystery woman is this morning I hope you are OK!

PS. 4 misspelled words!

Will I ever get to the laundry?

Well we had a busy weekend. On Friday night we had some of the kids friends over...Nolan, and Deshawn. We took all five boys to the batting cages to hit some balls before baseball season starts. Deshawn, Owen, and Nolan are all planning on playing at New Hope this year and Bailey is playing golf at Plantation. Well after the cage we came home, ate pizza, and played Rock Band till their Dad picked them up at about 10 pm. Not doing laundry this night...maybe tomorrow.

Saturday, was the start of Matt's softball season. The start of Epic Softball. This was the first time this particular group of guys have ever played together. All I have to say is we have some work to do. It was still fun. The day started with breakfast @ Chick-fil-A, a quick trip to Walmart for baby wipes, and then off to the field. The kids were excited to begin the season. The boys got to play with their cousin, Ethan and Aaron got to hang out with Mama Chelsea (our softball babysitter). While playing on the playground Bailey fell off the merry-go-round and fell in a mud hole. He was covered from head to toe. He even had mud in his underwear. After a trip to the local Walmart he had a new ensemble to wear and I had another load of laundry to do. After our 0-2 tourney we headed out to eat with Pauly (the boys honorary uncle) and the Pettett's (with an E) and the Pettitt's (with an I). When it's always a large group of us we always seem to end up at Chilli's @ the Avenues. They know us the minute we walk in! Sad I know! After getting home it was 10 o'clock and I wasn't about to start laundry now!

Sunday we started our morning at church. We had great music this weekend. Started off with some Journey and then one of my fav's...Here I am to Worship by Hillsong United. We are starting a new family series called "Yours, Mine, and Ours". After church Matt took Bailey and Owen to his softball practice and me and Aaron took a small nap. I know this would have been a great opportunity for me to get the laundry done but, I am a stay at home mom and naps are just unheard of these days. Once the kids got home we made a fast trip through the McD's and off to Cohen's birthday party @ Bounce-n-Beans. The kids had a blast. The kids jumped and the parents had a food fight with the left over icing. Michael got covered! There is nothing has exciting then a food fight! The rest of the night was spend laying around on the couch watching some old movies. I had two opportunities to do laundry to day but, it was Sunday...isn't this suppose to be the Sabbath?

Well the kids are up and ready to start their day so I guess so must I. Off to the gym and then home to...you guessed it....laundry!

PS. Only two missed spelled words today!

My Editor

Well, as most of you know I am the worlds worst speller! Truly, I forget how to spell everything. It drives my husband crazy. He will tell me to put cereal on the grocery list and I always second guess my spelling...so when I ask "How to you spell cereal" I get the most disappointing look. Think about it! I'm the women he picked to raise his children. I stay at home with the two youngest and try to teach them their ABC's. This has to horrify him, and grammar, I don't use it or understand it! Give me a math problem any day and I can solve it...suduko...Easy for me! I'm still dumb founded by how my oldest son, Bailey got to be so smart! Blows my mind! He gets to go to advanced classes next year which I'm so excited about. He has been bored in school since Pre-K. He's always been a step, or two, sometime three ahead of the other kids in class. This year he is in 1st grade and is reading on a 5th grade level. He brought home a novel the other day...(seriously..it was 169 pages...for me that's a novel) and read it in two days. Do you know the last time I read a book. I've been reading the same one now for the past 6 months and I'm about 1/4 of the way through.

Now that I have just rambled about how bad I am with vocabulary and grammar let me introduce you to my editor...Kingo (names have been changed to protect the innocent). Just the other day Kingo corrected me on miss using the words write and right in my Facebook status. I actually know the difference but, I guess I was not paying attention. Most of the time I update my status while driving in the car...a habit of mine I need to break! Well about an hour ago I receive an email from Kingo and she has informed me that my list is WRONG! I had no clue what she could have been talking about. Does she know how long I worked on getting this list done! She said that I had White Water Rafting on the list twice. To prove Kingo wrong, I ran upstairs where my hubby hijacked the laptop and logged on to my blog....and guess what Internet....she was right (see, I told you I knew the difference). Number 20 and 87 were the same. So after thinking for a few seconds I came up with another task to add to the list so all will be right (there it is again!) in the world of blogs! Thanks Kingo and keep up the good work!

I just got finished watching Grey's Anatomy which I bawled my eyes out and then came up with the great idea of watching Private Practice as well....bad move. My eyes are so puffy! So now I can go and get my beauty sleep. I had to stay up and watch Ebay for my hubby. He's been trying to buy a new softball bat for a week and keeps falling asleep and then getting out bid! Poor guy! He can't make it past 9 PM to save his life! Well he will be glad in the morning when I tell him he one the bat! Maybe he will love me so much he will get Bailey on the bus in the morning so I can sleep in till Double A wakes! Just want to send thanks to McDreamy for helping me stay awake!

Oh, almost forgot to spellcheck this before I published it! One day I will forget to check and you will see what I mean!............................................Haha! 6 misspelled words!

101 in 1001

Well, as most of you know I have an addiction! I'm addicted to blogs. Mostly photography blogs but, some are friends. Well while reading a blog (Rachael Earl Photography) I found a post called 101 in 1001. I was intrigued! So after reading the post I knew I wanted to do this! It's like a bucket list but, you only have 1001 days to do it (that's about 2.7 years). Perfect for someone who is quite the procrastinator! So after sitting down for about 1.5 hours I was only half way through! That's when I turned to the internet of course and found a website called http://www.dayzeroproject.com/. Day Zero is where hundreds post there 101 in 1001 lists! So I started clicking away and got some great ideas from others and about 3 hours later, a diaper change, snack time for the kids, and a potty break I was finished. Here is my finished product!

The Mission: Complete 101 tasks in a period of 1001 days.
The Criteria: Tasks must be specific with a result that is either measurable, or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching!
Timeline: January 21, 2009 thru October 19, 2011 (This nifty date calculator helped me figure it out!! http://www.timeanddate.com/date/dateadd )

Key:

Not Started
In Progress
Accomplished(w/date)
Not Accomplished

1. Start an Eison blog - (January 22, 2009)
2. Take a picture of every completed task on my list
3. Help with Habitat for Humanity
4. Fill my Pandora bracelet
5. Finish painting hall way
6. Take golf lessons
7. Be an extra in a film/TV
8. Believe in luck - Play lottery once a month for a year (0/12)
9. Be in bed before 10 O'Clock for a week
10. Watch Steel Magnolias for the 1st time
11. Go on a missions trip w/ Matt
12. Ride in a hot air balloon
13. Start a retirement fund
14. Start a photography blog
15. Take a picture of my kids daily for a year (photo journal) (0/365)
16. Ride in a helicopter
17. Buy all my lenses on my wish list
18. Watch a sunrise and sunset on the same day
19. Plan a surprise party
20. Go white water rafting
21. Dance it out...(all you Grey's fan know what I'm talking about)
22. Play a round of golf with Bailey
23. Buy a boat...it's a long shot but, I think it belongs on the list
24. Dress up for Halloween
25. Send 101 Cards/ Postcards (0/101)
26. Go back to NC and visit with friends
27. Take family on ski trip
28. Volunteer with an organization (don't know which one yet)
29. Get Free in Three
30. Walk for Breast Cancer 3 Day (Registered for October 23-25)
31. Buy a Mac Book...I will never own a Dell again!!
32. Start Scrapbooking
33. Get a new logo/cards/website
34. Watch Gone with the Wind for the 1st time
35. Go to my High School Reunion...Class of 99 baby!!!
36. Take the kids to a water park
37. Go to a UGA football game....Go Dawgs!!
38. Go Skydiving
39. Get an address book and fill it
40. No fast food for a month (0/30 days)
41. Join a Journey Group
42. Attend a WPII Convention
43. Take the kids to Disney World
44. Get a tattoo
45. Get a family picture done and frame it!
46. Buy something on Etsy
47. Visit Las Vegas
48. Do a family tree
49. Read the Bible all the way through
50. Buy a poker table
51. Do all the dishes before bed each night
52. Take a trip to NYC
53. Teach Owen to write his letters of the alphabet
54. Go to a EPHS Football game
55. Pay bills on time
56. Get new floors for the house
57. Go on a cruise
58. Compliment someone everyday
59. Baby sit once a month for a a couple so they can have a date night
60. Go to Hawaii
61. Leave a random gift anonymously
62. Go to gym at least once a week
63. Make a recipe book of favorite meals and give to friends
64. No soda for a month (0/ 30 days)
65. Get pregnant....this one I need a little help from Matt on!!
66. Blog everyday for a month (0/30 days)
67. Go roller skating
68. Sell something on Ebay
69. Spend the night in a 5 Star hotel w/ the hubby and order room service
70. Get 5 other people to start a 101 in 1001 list (1/5)
71. Me and the hubby fill out an About Me book for the kids to have when we are old and don't remember anything
72. Take a trip to Ireland
73. Walk for March of Dimes
74. Once a month make something new for dinner for a year (0/12)
75. Lose 25 pounds (0/25)
76. Wallpaper the downstairs bathroom
77. Have a whole day planned by each kid (0/3)...Aaron's might take place a little later in the list since he can't talk yet!
78. Go to a Broadway Show
79. Volunteer with the kids in our community
80. Make my bed everyday for 60 straight days
81. Put together a family photo collage
82. Come in first place in a poker game
83. Re-Do upstairs master bathroom
84. Host a sleep over of all the boys friends...call me crazy but, it sounds fun!!
85. Document an entire day with photos (minimum 1 photo per hour)
86. Pay for the person behind me in a drive-thru
87. Take Matt out to eat for dinner and I'll buy! (hard to do since I don't have a job)
88. Have a weekly family game/movie night
89. Go on a date once a month for a year (0/12)
90. Take a carriage ride in Central Park
91. Have a huge 30th Birthday Bash
92. Get a fence
93. Learn how to sew and make new curtains
94. Send a care package to AnySoldier.com
95. Go on a group date to a comedy club
96. Be on time for everything...church, parties, and dinners...for a month! This one is going to take some serious determination! (0/30)
97. Take kids camping
98. Go to a B&B with Matt
99. Spend a weekend with the family in a cabin
100. Give $5 to Autism Research for each item that is uncompleted at the end of the timeline
101. On Day 1001, publish a new 101 in 1001 list

If you are willing to help with # 70 let me know!! I'm really excited about starting my list and I hope you will enjoy following along!