show us your life....wedding party and flowers

So last week was show us your wedding dress in the series "Show us your Life" from Kelly's Korner http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/ I had so much fun with that so I decided to play along with this one as well :-) Go check it out!!

This is one of my favorite shots....strange I know since you can't see many people's faces but.....

With the girls of the group....

Our groomsmen loved picking people up that day...Gig Em' Ags!

This is on my college campus

goofy boys....

my lovely ladies

Like I said they were picking everyone up that day....whose idea was this anyway?

maybe showing their best sides?

Friday Fill-ins

And...here we go!
1. It's time for breakfast but I still can't eat anything but pudding & applesauce.
2. Home; it's not a bad place for Shenanigans.
3. I must be on drugs to be up this early!
4. Friendship & love are the best things I have ever known.
5. My hair is simply crazy this morning (darn humidity anyway!)
6. The last time I laughed really loudly was this morning at my Benny.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going to JT & Kelly's (even though I am flying solo again), tomorrow my plans include going to Shackleford Island to see the horses & eating ice cream at the Carousel and Sunday, I want to relax after church and Sunday school!

When is the last time you were this happy?

One word

GETTING TO KNOW ME - ONE WORD AT A TIME

I found this on my friend, Alison's blog, so I thought that it might be something fun to do! Hope you enjoy!!

Where is your cell phone?
purse

Your significant other?
Benny

Your hair?
CURLY

Your mother?
giving

Your father?
funny

Your favorite thing
life

Your dream last night?
forgotten

Your favorite drink?
tea

Your dream/goal?
happiness

What room are you in?
office

Your hobby?
photography

Your fear?
death

Where do you want to be in 6 years?
nursing

Where were you last night?
home

Something that you aren't?
fake

Muffins?
yummy

Wish list item?
Lasik

Last thing you did?
Facebook

What are you wearing?
shorts

TV?
amusing

Your pets?
friendly

Friends?
wonderful

YOUR LIFE
phenomenal

Your mood?
joyous

Missing someone?
always

Your Car?
Suburban

Something hard about your work?
insurance

Kids?
two

Something you're not wearing?
socks

Your favorite store?
none

Your favorite color?
yellow

When is the last time you cried?
morning

Where do you go to over and over again?
?????

Favorite place I'd like to be at right now?
pool

Brace Face.....

My first picture as a "brace face" since that is what Benny has been calling me. I believe that the phrase was "my little four-eyed brace face gimp." Hee,hee. You knew I would get you back for that babe!
Let's see what we have been up to this week.

• Monday....I had my prayer group with Kelly then I went and got my seperators put in at the dentist. (Let me just say so far they were worse than the braces!) I did a lot of laying around that day after that.
• Tuesday....we went to a "new" ice cream place with the MOPS group that I am going to be joining this fall. (I say new ice cream place because I never knew it was there & must say that I will be returning for a visit soon!) We had a great time & met a fun bunch of ladies and even more kiddos for Kendall to play with!
• Wednesday...we went to laptime at the library and had a lot of fun with some of our playground pals. The kids and I then furiously worked on organizing my closet (I feel like I am nesting without the pregnancy!?!?!) and putting away several (and by several think over 10) loads of laundry.
• Today....we went to time for twos at the library & again had a blast minus Kendall falling afterwards and scraping up both of her knees. I then went and got my top braces put on. I took motrin before hand & I just took some tylenol so far so good! They have to shape my top teeth to make room for the bottom ones which are really the ones that actually need the braces. We will see how it goes. My next appointment is on my birthday!
• Tomorrow I am watching Brodi and Colbi for my friend Kelly then we might possibly go to the museum again. Ben has an obligation for his squadron Friday night but I will be taking the kids to our small group.
• Saturday....we are planning on taking the ferry to Shackleford Island to see if we can watch the wild horses & catch some rays!
• Stay tuned for pictures.......
  

Blog Hop...Favorite Kids Photo

Kendall Autumn

Isaac Carter
Loving each other

This week's blog hop is your favorite kids photo. Now I have been know to take a few pictures of my kids so this one was a hard one for me to pick out! They are both such lovely, happy children so that's why I picked out the first two. And the third one, I always like to look at this one & it always tickles me when I see them looking at each other. Hope you enjoy :-)

Now that I have a scanner.....

I have been waiting for awhile to put these up here. (Now that Ben has hooked me up with a scanner that works....I thought that I would share.) I don't have a whole lotta time this morning so here are a few!

Trip to Charleston way back in May!

Kendall's pictures from St. Anne's this past Spring

Dentist

Here I am spending my last few hours at home chewing gum, candy, and whatever else I am not going to be allowed to use in the next year.....that's right today is the day that I get the start of my braces put on. I am getting the seperators (whatever those are) put on today then on Thursday the rest of it. He is starting with my top teeth to shape my arch then onward to the bottom. Dr. L. seems to think that it will take a year or less so....Please keep me in your prayers!

Speaking of prayers....I know that I have asked before but one of my blog world friends is in need of prayers. Baby Stellan is back in the hospital with more SVT & the physicians are having problems figuring out what to do with him. He is about Isaac's age and I can only imagine what this young mother is going through. So please just lift them up and if you feel lead you can visit her blog and see their story.
www.mycharmingkids.net/

Mission Organization

Since we have moved into this house (going on 3 years now), we have wanted to organize our bonus/guest/office/play room. It is so hard when you have such a large multi-purpose room to make it fit all your needs. We finally took a large chunk (meaning all) of our Saturday to accomplish this task.

Ben had found these cube storage systems awhile back but I wasn't crazy about the idea when he was first talking about it. I must admit that they turned out great though! Throw in some new drapes to match the (new....as in March or April) futon and Voila!

We have several "toyboxs" and storage for the toys but it just wasn't working like we wanted. This has been awesome so far!
Just another view and the beautiful toybox that Ben had built for the kids a few months back.

We have this beauty of a desk that Ben also built but it was always a mess and hiding under stuff. Here it is the most organized that it has been since we moved here.

Ben cleaned it up so that I don't have Isaac crawling under the desk and pulling all of the wires for the computer. He screwed the surge protectors to the underside of the desk and it is so nice having almost all of them hidden!

Our "new" computer also a March/April purchase finally nicely organized!

WHEW! We still have a few more problem areas but this is by FAR 100% better for us and functioning in here as a family!

Museum Fridays, Fun with dad, & other stuff

Kendall's face says it all....thank goodness we don't have to go to Sam's very often! (Of course my face was pretty similar as I was paying for it too!)

The museum in Richlands dedicates a room to kid friendly play items. This year they did dinosaurs. Our play group goes once a week normally on Fridays but we just made it for the first time last week due to our crazy trip schedule!
They have other fun things to play with too!

Mostly what I saw of Isaac except when he wanted to be held!

What a way to beat the heat or beat a rainy day!

Kendall was pretending to be a pirate looking for treasure.

Wrangler lessons from daddy

Our favorite time of the night when Daddy gets home!

These are my new big girl undies. Kendall has been doing GREAT at potty training. Mostly accidents only in the night time now!

My little gober always hamming it up

Show us your life...wedding dress

Today is show us your life over at www.kellyskornerblog.com It is wedding dress time. Since getting married is one of our favorite pasttimes.....here you go!

I love the new splashes of color in dresses. I have seen several more that I wouldn't mind wearing too! I better get Ben to marry me again!

May 29, 2004 with my Beegeeweegee

December 31, 2003

Our elopement....wedding dress was actually a prom dress!

Friday Fill-ins

And...here we go!

1. Relax it is not the end of the world.

2. Sitting here, listening to the sound of rain falling, I feel so peaceful.

3. Cheesecake tastes so good!

4. Sometimes, putting others first is extremely hard to do.

5. Children are breathtaking, really.

6. Well, maybe there is this one time at band camp......

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to taking a meal to John & Kim (a.k.a getting to hold Emma) and small group, tomorrow my plans include going with the flow and Sunday, I want to possibly go to the Kinston Indians game with our friends after church!

Wordless Wednesday

Ok so when have you known me not to use words?

Isaac's first trip to the pool.

We went today for Mommy & Me time. It is nice because there are ALOT less people & it's just kids and their parents.

Happy 40th Birthday Melissa! We were honored to share some Rita's with you!
Isaac enjoying his airplane rocker for the first time.

Blog hop....recipes

Blog hop is all about recipes this week and since I am going to try and make Ben's Aunt Shellie's trail mix I decided to use it! Hope you enjoy!
6 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup coconut
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup of nuts (Chopped your choice)
1/4 cup of each: sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, flaxseed meal, wheat bran, oat bran
Mix
1/2 cup of canola oil
1/3 cup of honey
1 tsp of vanilla
(Stir well together and then pour over oats)
Put in oven for 1 hour on 325 degrees
every 15 minutes restir to evenly toast
cool- add dried fruit if you want
store in airtight container

Not me Monday!

Whoa Boy. I haven't done one of these in quite awhile so I better drag all of the dirty laundry out of the closet....so to speak.I most definitely did not pull a diaper cover out of my daughter's drawer for her to wear as big girl undies because there were no clean big girl undies.I have not been calling every meat that I make chicken so that Kendall will eat it. Not ME!I didn't give my 10 month old a chocolate chip cookie for "breakfast"this morning so that I could finish my menu planning for the week before my friend Kelly got here.I haven't seriously been considering making our rottie eat all of the dirty diapers instead of throwing them in the trash. (Because he eats a large majority of them anyway.)I did not cave in and let Kendall get Diego boys pull ups because she didn't want the little girl kind!I ABSOLUTELY did not agree with my 3 year old when she said that it was "Daddy's job to pooperscoop the lawn."I also did not encourage her to spank my husband because he was being a bad boy!I didn't laugh at Isaac when he got stuck under the breakfast nook chair, the gate to the stairs, and the couch.I have been absolutely leaving Isaac cry a little bit longer before I pick him up just like my husband asked me to do.Well that certainly feels better to have that off my chest! If you want to see what everyone else is not doing please head on over to My Charming Kids!

Quote of the day

Now if I am gauging right, no parent in there right mind likes to be woke up in the middle of the night to a screaming child. (Of course no one has ever accused me of being in my right mind!) I am no exception to that rule. Well maybe....Kendall woke up about 0300 this morning screaming. Sometimes she has nightmares so I went over to comfort her and get her back down to sleep. She was on her knees in her bed saying "I want my cookie mama." The only thing that would calm her down is me telling her that we could have a cookie in the morning. As I was leaving her room, I had a good laugh (see I told you I was not in my right mind!) at how much she wanted that cookie!
So here's to you Kendall bug........"I want my cookie mama."

Man did the weekend fly by or what?

Congratulations to Kim and John. Emma is precious. We loved visiting her!

I'm a cowgirl.....right down to my boots. Thanks Charity!
Mischief boy

Fun parting gift from Jo (family readiness officer that left from 467)

Hard at work.....

Send a Teddy Bear Note at WiddlyTinks.com

Catching up at home....

We got home late on Monday night from Wisconsin. It has been non-stop since we got home here. First off, I am super thankful that Isaac's double ear infection seems to be completely gone. After a trip to ER, (literally right after we stepped off the plane in Milwaukee) we discovered that he is allergic to Amoxicillian. I will need to make him a follow up here soon.
Here is what we have been up to since we returned....

• Tuesday....Ben went back to work. The kids and I also traveled to Cherry Point to attend the farewell party for 467's first FRO (Family Readiness officer) & volunteer recognition ceremony. We will miss you JO!!! Congratulations Allison on volunteer of the year!
• Wednesday....I had my dentist appointment. Cleaning went well minus an overzealous temp that made my gums bleed. I had my ortho work-up. My braces will be started on July 27th. We went and got some groceries too. (I still have to do menu planning so not all of them yet!)
• Thursday....I had my MD appointment for my MRI results. It turns out that I have a partial tear in my ACL on my right knee. I now am waiting for my referral to ortho so I can see what is in store for me. (From what I can tell probably surgery & rehab.)
• Today....well I was supposed to meet some friends at the Richlands museum but I am just feeling like I need to stay at home for a bit. I will be heading to small group tonight by myself since Ben has duty all night.

On the list for this weekend.....

1. putting more fabric down in the garden beds to get rid of the weeds/grass that is creeping in there.
2. LAUNDRY
3. cleaning
4. grocery shopping
5. filing.......that's been on the list for a long time!
6. thank-you cards
7. hopefully painting the book shelves in the garage and getting them up here to the bonus room so I can organize.
8. making some of Ben's Aunt Shellie's trail mix

Friday Fill-ins

And...here we go!

1. Spaghetti and home-made sauce make a quick and easy dinner.

2. The lucky one by Nicholas Sparks (& Song of Solomon, Sheparding your child's heart, His needs, her needs for parents, and a few others too!) is the book I'm reading right now.

3. July brings back memories of hanging out at the beach with Ben when we were first getting to know one another.

4. The punchline of that joke was obvious.

5. They say if you tell your dreams to the right man they will come true.

6. I took a long, hot bubble bath to think it over.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to small group even though Ben is on 24 hour duty, tomorrow my plans include working on the house inside & out even though it means missing a baby shower & a bbq and Sunday, I want to go to church then relax with Ben and the kids!

A whole lotta pictures from Wisconsin