Brayden duty!

I had the privilege of hanging out with on of my nephews, sweet baby Bray! He got shots this morning so came to hang out with me for the day. Even full of vaccines, he is such a pleasant, happy, smiling baby. It was a great fun.

Am I really that old???

After much avoidance (on my part) I succumbed to the realization that my son is growing up...Harrison shaved last night and what did I do? I took pictures. (I was made fun of by both he and my husband) But this is a special, momentous moment, right?

it's going to the dogs...

Well, what an interesting week. Cammie, our sweet dog, has had ear problems for as long as I can remember. She is only 20 months old (I don't just know that...I had to count on my fingers...no joke) and has had constant ear issues so finally...I took her to the vet. I actually was only taking her to the vet to get groomed (aka bathed!) for the low price of $20.00. In my world, totally worth it! Well, they didn't have an appointment on Thursday for that so I decided that she needed more medicine for her ears so we would go ahead and go. I get to the vet and the Dr. looks in her ears, asks some questions, etc. and says, "I think she has a food allergy, you need to begin a food trial today, she is probably allergic to wheat, which is what the normal brand dog foods are made out of...." All I heard was, "Her food is going to cost more than your normal weekly grocery bill!" And he continued, "...I really need to sedate her to clean her ears out, can you bring her back tomorrow?..." What I hear, "come back tomorrow and bring ALL your money!" Well, to cut a long story short...her ears are clean and healing, she is eating a 100% natural, wheat free dog food from Kroger (thank goodness that I could get it there and avoided the more costly pet store brands--a small bag for $6.79--luckily she is small!), she has her shots updated, and yes...she got her bath! My checkbook has been cleaned as well!- not quite the $20.00 I had hoped to spend.

Braves Blessing...

This past Friday night we were blessed by a friend of ours, Rick Metcalf, with Braves tickets. But not just regular Braves tickets...we were blessed with the tickets that allow you (actually me, Reid and Harrison) to sit in an air-conditioned box, with a fully stocked FOOD bar (hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken nuggets, pizza, soft pretzels, and salted peanuts!), and walk out on your "deck" to great 3rd baseline seats. It was awesome. Oh, did I mention the parking pass. Yes...a great night out with the family (part of it at least) and baseball for the low, low price of ...$7.00! Harrison couldn't resist an ice cream. If we had paid for food, drinks, etc. I would have never...EVER paid $7.00 for ice cream but it was a ball park treat.

Enjoy the pics.

a few random posts...

This past weekend we made a whirlwind trip to Mount Dora...left early Friday and home by Sunday afternoon. Why would we do that you ask? Well, my sweet nieces and nephew were all in the production of "The Wizard of Oz" so we decided to make the trip. Okley came too and he and Harrison rode in the back seat. Okley thinks he is a lap dog...he's not!

The kids did a great job and trip was worth it! We got there on Friday afternoon and my sister reminded me that it was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A and well...as my mom and I joked, "with gas prices at more than $4.00 a gallon...we definately could use a free meal!" And a free meal is exactly what we got--along with another crazy memory!

Mindy got her braces on today! She looks as beautiful as ever...see the before and after pics. I never had braces but the list of what you can't eat while wearing braces could really help me in weight loss journey!

I just can't stop...

Tiffany (my sister) has sworn off all projects...she must have cast it my way. I am on a painting kick...so here's my latest creation. It was in my head and I had to let it out!

Happy 4th...weekend

We had a great 4th of July. The weekend festivities started with a play in the square. Mom and I had a great time watching "Crazy in Love" and the crazy people around us. It really was a relaxing time and great way to start the 4th of July celebrations.

On the 4th we made our way downtown...OK--it was downtown Loganville to our sweet little home town parade. My nephews Samuel and Brayden had a great time along with all the old folks...my 14 1/2 year old son included. Brayden had his 1st sucker! He loved it...Pop gave it to him...anyone surprised that Pop would supply the sweets?! Then we went to a pool party at a friends house and then out for fireworks in the evening. It was a great day and I think we are all thankful to be Americans.

Today was a lazy day of finishing projects. We were in Kansas 2 weeks ago and I wanted to send "Thank you" gifts and I finally finished them today. Enjoy!

"Finally"...I heard him sigh

Well...I finally kept my word. That is something I really do struggle with--for example, let's play Sequence...get busy, never do; we'll get that later...later never comes. It is something I am really conscientiously trying to work on and today I did it! Well, actually started on Monday. Harrison has been asking for...years...to paint his room. I am a neurotic control freak about some (ok...lots of things) and my answer always went something like this...NO! or If I approve of the colors, or That will look ridiculous, then back to "maybe later" to which...see above--later never comes. Notice nothing nice, encouraging, etc. Several months ago I saw an interview with Randy Pausch. He is the professor that is dying of pancreatic cancer and has written a book called "The Last Lecture." In that interview and in his book he talks about his parents letting him paint his room...anyway he wanted it. He said it was such a big deal to him and he went on the tell parents, "let your kids paint their room, don't worry about resale value...it is a REALLY BIG deal to them!" Well that struck quite a note with me--I watched that interview on Spring Break this year and it has stuck with me. The next time he asked if he could paint his room my answer was a YES and that we would tackle it in the summer on a week when my step-daughter Mindy was at her mom's. This has been the 1st real week Mindy has been away...it is Thursday and the room was cleaned Monday (on a side note...GROSS!); Home Depot trip, primer, and a few coats on Tuesday; and Wednesday at 3:40 the project was complete! He loves it! and I think it REALLY was a BIG deal! (and I learned that keeping my word is a big deal too!)