A Tornado?....In My Living Room?

Yesterday while I was getting ready for the day, Madie came to ask if she could watch The Wizard of Oz. Of course, I went to start the movie for her while I finished getting dressed. After a few minutes, Madie came to get me to tell me to come and look to see what she had done. She was telling on herself, she loves to do that. When I walked into the living room, the decorative tree behind our recliner had been robbed of all of its grass at the bottom of the trunk and scattered all over ...I mean REALLY scattered all over the living room.

The next exchange of words between me and Madie went as follows:

Me: Madie, why did you do that?

Her: The wind blow and a tornado came in here! (She exclaimed with much enthusiasm and she was very serious about her excuse)

Me: Like the tornado on The Wizard Of Oz?

Her: Yes...Mommy, where's Dorothy?

Just like the tornado in The Wizard of Oz.....Oh my! How can you not laugh at that?

I was upset because I had to clean up this terrible mess and it certainly was not in my schedule for the day to take the time out to do so. But on the other hand, I couldn't help but laugh because she had been so creative. And I couldn't wait to tell hubby because I knew he would think it was funny too.

So, I cleaned it up and now I wait for the next tornado to come through the house.

These past few days I feel as if the "terrible two's" are here and in full force.

What Do You Say When.....?

How Much Sharing Is Too Much?

Madie and I share everything. We share food, chairs, kisses, hugs, books, toys, pillows, blankets and the list goes on. Everything that is mine...is hers and everything that is hers is....well, hers. Now it seems that we share germs!!!!!

I know that it's impossible to avoid but every time Madie gets a cold....I get one too. I guess our immune systems are not used to the germies. But, in the past 2 months I think my nose has been stuffed up for a least 4 weeks during that time. Two trips to the Dr., 1 round of antibiotics and 1 bottle of nose spray later and we've got it again. I think we may be sharing too much.

Thank goodness we got our flu shot and flu mist last week. Looks like it is going to be a long "cold" winter for us.

It's Potty Time? Part II

Milestone Alert!

Madie went #2 in the potty!!!!!!!!!!
She got up and said, "Mommy, what's that?"

I took a picture, but don't worry, I have no intentions of posting it here. Madie would kill me when she's older if I did.

It's Potty Time?

After 2 days of taking on potty training very seriously. Here is a recap of how things are going.

In the past 2 days Madie has:

• pee'd in the potty 7 times. (YIPPEEE!)
• pee'd in the floor 2 times.
• pee'd in my kitchen chair
• pee'd in hubby's recliner
• pooped in her Cinderella panties
• worn a diaper only at night and to take a nap. oh, and when we went to get her flu mist yesterday, I didn't want to have to clean pee out of the car.

I think I have asked a minimum of 100 times if she needed to go potty, so much so that I think we are both tired of me asking. I think I may be making it a little more stressful than it needs to be, but hey it's my first time teaching someone else to do this. Pray for me!

Picture Tag!

Okay, so I was tagged by I'm A Mom for picture tag. Rules are that you go into your "Pictures" file and download the 6th picture in the 6th folder. Like my blog and my life, my pictures on my computer also revolve around/involve Madie.



So, here is my 6th folder 6th picture.
It's Madie with her favorite Miss Kitty....she still sleeps with her!

Rules are that you have to tag 6 more people to share their 6th folder's 6th photo. Sad thing is, I don't have 6 more bloggers to tag. So, I'll just tag a few and hope it is good enough.


I love my crazy hectic life
Moments That Matter
Princess Motormouth

And anyone else that will be my blog friend....feel free to participate.

Fall Festivities

It has been a busy week for us. And as usual, it has been all about Madie. Instead of writing about everything , I thought I'd tell with pictures, some of them are really cute.

Last week we went to visit Nana and Paw-paw for a few days. Madie enjoyed driving the pink barbie Ford Mustang that Nana and Paw-paw bought for her to ride at their house. If the picture is a little blurry, it's because she went by so fast.

On Saturday, we went to the Fall Festival at Mt. Laurel. It was a beautiful day and Madie got to see Snow White. This was a really big deal because she is going to be Snow White for Halloween.

On Sunday, Nana and Paw-paw came to visit and we went to Old Baker Farms to the Pumpkin Patch. We have gone every year since Madie was born and love going out there to spend the afternoon. Here is Madie sitting on some pumpkins just being cute.

Here is the family! Hubby, Madie & Me.

Hubby helps Madie pet a horse.

This is Wilbur. He heard that Madie was a friend of Charlotte's and had to come over to say "hi" and give her a kiss.

Enjoying the hayride with Nana & Paw-paw.

Madie found the perfect pumpkin. It was just her size.

Running in the corn maze is so much fun!

What a busy week and what fun we had. We love Fall Festivities and we are on the hunt for more!

Hand In Hand

I took this picture Saturday of Madie and her Paw-paw. I thought it was too sweet not to post.

A Beautiful Day For An Outside Wedding

Today we went to my cousins wedding. It was a beautiful day for and outside wedding. Not too cool, not to hot. The bride was beautiful and the groom didn't faint. The wedding went off without a hitch as far as I could tell. It was so nice to see "the family" and spend time with everyone. It was a fun wedding. We had BBQ and the cake was great.

On the ride home, I was thinking that as we get older, by "we" I mean us kids in the family, we have fewer and fewer big family "get togethers" so its nice when everyone is together. I remember when I was growing up, we were together ALL the time because we all lived so close to each other. Now that I have moved away (even though it's only an hour, it is still moved away) I've learned to cherish these events because they are really the only time that I can give Madie a taste of what I had growing up. We never really have any family feuds or even a lot of drama at our gatherings, but we always have generations of love and laughter.

Congratulations Mantney! I love you and wish you a lifetime of happiness!

Madie especially had a good time. She got to spend time with her cousins.

Lil' E, Madie & R.J.

Friday Photo

Yesterday Madie and I decorated the front of the house for Fall and Halloween. We had such a good time doing it. She is old enough now to be Mommy's little helper. She really likes the scarecrows, that's why there are so many. I hope we didn't over do it. I think it will look even better once we go to the pumpkin patch and get our pumpkins!

Me, Crafty?

Here is my attempt at being crafty.
It's October but I already have the Christmas spirit!

'Tis the season to be crafty!

I Laughed So Hard, I Cried....Twice

The other night before Madie went to bed, we were playing in the floor and she came up to me and was saying what I thought was she needed a tractor or cracker or something like that.
She turned around pointed to her diaper and said, “No, Mommy. My diaper in my cracker!” One side of her diaper was…..yes….in her crack-er.

Once we fixed the problem, all was well with the world.

I laughed so hard, I cried.

******************

Last night we were watching Extreme Home Makeover, good clean, heart moving entertainment right? If anyone has seen the show, you know the drill. They build a house for a family in need and reveal the finished house by saying "Move that bus!" Then they show everyone their new rooms one at a time and let them oooohhh and aaaahhh over their new living quarters. Last night was a very sweet episode and a little girl was shown her room, she was almost speechless she was so happy. All she could say was "My room, Oh my gosh....Oh my goodness!"

It was time for Madie to go to bed and she runs into her room as if she has never seen it before and says, "Look Mommy, my room. Oh my gosh, oh my goodness!" She even raised her hand over her mouth for a more dramatic effect.

I couldn't help it. I fell in the floor laughing. Could I have another Dakota Fanning on my hands?

Homestead Holler

It's really called Homestead Hollow, but Madie insisted it be called Homestead Holler. It's an arts and crafts festival that is held each year about 45 minutes from our house.

Today we met Nana and SIL (a.k.a Lyn Lee) at Homestead Hollow. We got there right after the doors opened, the weather was great, we got a close parking spot and I was ready to see some crafts.

We had such a good time. I had never gone before so I didn't really know what to expect but it was a lot of fun. The only thing I would have changed was the yellow jackets, they were everywhere and we spent a lot of time swating them away. But other than that....it was great!

Here are some of the things Madie was able to enjoy...

Madie enjoyed the company.

Madie made a new friend.

Thanks Nana, she's sleeping with it as I write this post.

Madie got to see some chickens.

Madie got to pet some rabbits.

Madie got to pet a 5 month old pot belly pig....he was cute!

Madie got to ride a pony.

Madie got to bounce, bounce, bounce!

Madie got to sit with some pumpkins and look real cute while I took some pictures.

What a great day. As you can see, we were really busy. And I didn't even mention the funnel cakes....I can't wait to go back to the "Holler" next year!

100 Things About Me

I can hardly believe it! My 100th post. Happy 100th post to me!
When I first started blogging, I had read another blog that was celebrating their 100th post and posted 100 things about themselves. I thought, what a great idea, I'll have to do that....not knowing if I would stick with it and make it to my 100 post.

Well, here I am, my 100th post and here are my 100 Things About Me:

1. My Birthday is February 28th.

2. I used to sing in church, beauty pageants and at weddings.

3. I was very insecure in college.

4. I love music of all kinds.

5. I was 18 before I was ever allowed to go to a concert.

6. My first concert was Elton John

7. I have a younger brother who is 7 years younger than me and we look alike.

8. I graduated high school 4th in my class.

9. There were only 75 people in my high school graduating class.

10. I made the Dean’s list my last 4 semesters of college.

11. I have a B.S. in Political Science and a minor in English.

12. My middle name is my Grandmothers maiden name.

13. I love watching TV.

14. I take my makeup off every night before I go to bed.

15. My parents have been married for 37 years.

16. I am a light sleeper.

17. I love PJ’s.

18. I got married when I was 26 and hubby was 23…I’m 3 years older!

19. I love to organize and plan things.

20. I love the way a baby smells after a bath.

21. I love cookies….all kinds…all assortments.

22. I hate driving at night.

23. I don’t like watching scary movies.

24. I’m usually in bed by 10 or 10:30, even on the weekends.

25. I have rheumatoid arthritis and I have had it since I was 14 years old.

26. I would love to have another baby.

27. I drove to school when I was 15.

28. I love the soap opera General Hospital. I've watched it for as long as I can remember.

29. I worry a lot.

30. I love watching/listening for the mail to come. I also love getting mail as long as it isn’t a bill.

31. I love Nascar and the drama that goes along with it.

32. I made the best friends of my life in college and we are all still friends and keep in touch.

33. I love taking pictures, having them developed and organizing them in photo books.

34. I’ve read every Nicholas Sparks book.

35. I met Hubby at work.

36. He left that job so that we could date each other.

37. Hubby and I only knew each other for 9 months before we got engaged.

38. We were married 6 months later.

39. We have been married for 8 years.

40. I love morning/breakfast time with Madie.

41. I drink 2 cups of coffee every morning.

42. I drink at least 3 diet cokes a day…I love it!

43. I HATE lemon pepper seasoning.

44. I am not a huge fan of sushi. But I eat it when I have a chance.

45. I want to be a good wife and mother.

46. I drive too fast sometimes.

47. I rarely do things spontaneously, I am a planner.

48. I like to make lists.

49. I miss working sometimes.

50. Some of my favorite movies of all time are: The Outsiders, The Breakfast Club, 16 Candles, The Wizard of Oz, Princess Bride, E.T., Mary Poppins, Wedding Crashers, The Notebook, The Lord of the Rings Movies, Footloose, The Lost Boys, Top Gun…there are more, but I’ll just leave it to these for now.

51. I love being a mother.

52. I’m 34 years old.

53. I haven’t slept past 8:30am in over 2 years.

54. I dread Alabama summers….they are way too hot.

55. I like to swim but I hate getting my hair wet.

56. I love buying things online.

57. I like buying things online with free shipping.

58. I would love to have all of my home movies on DVD…I just haven’t had time.

59. I love reality shows and news networks…go figure.

60. Most of my professional career has been in sales, advertising and public relations.

61. My first “real job” out of college was at a radio station. It was a fun job.

62. I won the state 4-H public speaking contest when I was in the 5th grade and 1st place in woodworking in 6th grade. When I was a kid…I loved 4-H.

63. I love to go out to eat.

64. My first job was a cashier at a grocery store when I was 16.

65. I was born on my Parents anniversary.

66.I got fired from a bartending job when I was in college for giving away a drink. It was also my birthday.

67. Places I have visited: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky, Ohio, Louisiana, Texas (just to the airport), Washington D.C. Jamaica, and the Bahamas.

68. My favorite color is blue. But I wear a lot of black and khaki.

69. I hate my hands and feet.

70. I make my bed every day. It was a New Year’s resolution many years ago that I actually kept.

71. I love it when my house is clean.

72. When I was young, Little House on the Prairie was my favorite show. I wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder and marry a man like Manly. I got lucky, Hubby is much better….my prince charming.

73. Madie was born almost 8 weeks premature and spent 30 days in the NICU. I wouldn’t come home without her and stayed at the hospital until she was able to come home.

74. Hubby and I still have separate checking accounts. Even though I am a stay at home mom now and my only income is residuals from a previous job. Needless to say, there isn’t much activity on my account.

75. I don’t have any pets. Not that I don’t like them. I just don’t want one.

76. I used to hate to shop. I think because I didn’t have any money. Now I love to shop now and still don’t have a lot of money.

77. I am a bargain shopper. I love getting a bargain.

78. I buy things for Madie even when I know she does not need them. I think this is referred to as “spoiling your child.”

79. I hate going to the DMV.

80. I don’t have any tattoos. I could never think of anything I would still want on my body when I am 80 years old.

81. I think I have a good sense of humor.

82. I like being around people who make me laugh.

83. Before Madie was born, Hubby and I would go stripe fishing every weekend.

84. We were going to join a couples tour, but never did.

85. The biggest fish I ever caught was 26lbs.

86. I love it when I have a tan. I haven’t had one in 3 years.

87. My last supper would include: steak, spaghetti, something sweet (cookies or brownies) and something from the Waffle House.

88. I had my tonsils removed when I was 5 years old.

89. I also had mono when I was five.

90. I was engaged when I was 19. Thank goodness I knew better.

91. I am a loyal and trustworthy friend.

92. My family (hubby, Madie, my entire side of the family, in-laws & friends) is very important to me and I think that I display that on a day to day basis.

93. I’ve always wanted people to like me. It used to really bother me if I thought that someone did not like me. Now that I am older, I still care, just not as much.

94. I hate hearing other people eat, chew or smack food. All accept my daughter, it’s different with her it’s like I’m doing it and it doesn’t make me cringe.

95. I’ve never been to Disney World…but I hope too in the next few years.

96. I wish I lived closer to my hometown. It’s only about an hour and a half away but it would be really nice if it were only about a 30 minute drive.

97. I hate it when people drive slowly in the left lane and you can’t pass them.

98. I have a very high tolerance to pain, but seeing someone else in pain makes me woozy.

99. If I could go anywhere in the world tomorrow, I think I would be on a plane to Italy.

And………

100. I had a really hard time coming up with 100 Things about myself. Which leads me to believe that writing down 100 things about myself has let me get to know myself a little better.

My Madie's Little Shoes

Today, as I was getting ready to head out to the library, I went to put on my shoes. They were scattered all over the place. Just like they have been for the past 6 months. Madie loves to play in my closet and wear my shoes. They don't always match. She may come out with one high heel and one flat or two high heels, one brown and one black. But, the point is that she loves shoes. And I have come to the realization that my closet will not be organized unless I lock her out and that would just spoil all of her fun. So, I'll just cope with it.

I was thinking back today about a shower gift that my bestest of friends gave me at my baby shower. They gave me a basket of little shoes and a poem in a frame entitled, "Little Shoes." It still hangs in Madie's room today----She's growing up so fast....sooner rather than later, I'll be wishing I couldn't keep my shoes organized.

Here is the poem.....get your tissue.

LITTLE SHOES

In the top drawer of her dresser is one pair of little shoes
And a pair of little booties which her Mom can choose.
Although she cannot walk just yet, out with her Mom she goes
For strolls in different shades of pink from her head down to her toes.

But soon the little newborn babe has to a toddler grown,
In patent-leather party shoes she’s walking all alone.
But someone’s watching closely as she takes each shaky stride,
And though she may not notice it, her Mom is at her side.

The nursery’s now a bedroom, the baby’s crib is gone,
The little girl is off to school with brand-new sneakers on.
She skips onto the schoolyard with a step as light as air,
While Mom, though smiling bravely, feels at loose ends, standing there.

The little girl grew older, and with each passing year,
Her first high heels and cowgirl boots eventually appear.
And then, as if by magic, the little girl is grown,
She wears the latest fashions bought with earnings of her own.

Then one fine day she’s walking with her father at her side,
In shoes of fine white satin, for now she is a bride.
I wonder where the time has gone, and wistfully recall
My little girl, in little shoes, so innocent and small.

And now I am a Granny, and daughter, you’re a Mom.
Your little newborn daughter is the sunshine of your home.
The top drawer of her dresser is filled with little shoes,
And many pairs of booties from which you now can choose.

Cherish each passing moment, the laughter and the tears,
For days go by so swiftly, and gather soon to years.
The little shoes she will outgrow before you realize,
She’ll blossom like a summer’s rose, before your very eyes.

Be always there to walk with her when up against the odds,
Make sure she knows the she can count on Mother and on God.
And though she’ll spread her wings and fly, as all our daughters do.
One day she’ll wear a mother’s shoes, and she’ll come home to you.

*********
I still get chills when I read it.
Love and hugs to my friends who gave me the little shoes and poem---It is still a treasured gift. And love and hugs to my baby girl who loves wearing my shoes.