New domain!

Because I am now self-employed, I have taken the plunge & linked all of my social media sites together. Whew! My blog will now have a new domain:

http://www.adoringthesimple.com (It may not work for a few days while I redirect.)

That said, truesimplegirl.blogspot.com will continue to work, as well. I will not be ridding that address.

In addition, you can follow me on:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/adoringthesimple

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/adoringsimple

Instagram: Search for: adoringthesimple

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/adoringsimple

My dirty little hang up.

Pun intended.

I've really never thought about sharing this little tidbit about myself until recently, when my husband cracked me up. Not many people know this about me - but I hang up on people. A lot, a lot. Yes. I hang up on people & I have done it since I was young. Now typically, I only hang up on people when they agitate me (but that is no guarantee). Nonetheless, I'm a hanger upper. And it doesn't bother me in the slightest.

When I was a teenager (15 or so?), my oldest brother phoned our home while he was stationed in Germany. He woke me up. I didn't like that. I didn't really care that he was phoning from Germany. I hung up on him. Truth be told, I can't even begin to count the number of times I've hung up on various people.

A few of you do know this about me - I hate talking on the phone. Loved it when I was young, hate it now that I'm not as young. ;o) Probably because for the last 20 years, my husband has called me so often, I claim he harasses me. And he does. And I despise it. And he thinks it's funny. And 9 times out 10, I hang up on him. I've done it for 20 years now. Sometimes if I'm really feisty, I'll throw the phone across the room. I buy the cheapest phones because we go through many. Ahem.

Recently, however, the tables turned. I phoned him. Then, I needed to phone him again. Then, I needed something else & I phoned him again. All in a 10 minute span. Then I said "how do you like it?" :)

After we hung up, the phone rang. I knew it was him & it was. So I answered, he started laughing, I didn't, & I told him I already knew it was him being funny. Then he said "yeah, but watch this". Click.

He hung up on me! Bwahaha! Oh goodness, I laughed so hard! As you all know, I am the witty one, but every now & then, he gets a good one in. I was proud of him.

So there you go. I have no idea why I just shared all that, so do with it what you may. Just don't call me.

Fighting the urge.

I've been browsing quilts. Because I learned the hard way that taking soft, fluffy blankets outside to lie on in the grass is just well, dumb. It's not just people who like those soft, fluffy blankets. It's also grass, leaves, sticks, stickers, weeds & dirt. So I decided that a quilt would work best & because of the material, would be less 'sticky'. :)

During my I really, really, really need a cheap quilt search, I discovered this:



Be still my beating heart. Beautiful! It also comes with a $90 price tag. And I think it might be just a tad too fancy dancy to drag out into the grass, dirt & crud. But I'm unsure. So I'm praying about it. Ahem.

(Can you imagine wrapping up in this beauty on a cold, winter night? Oh good glory. Heaven.)

Quilt here.

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I found another pretty! A little more affordable at $65. Looks a little rough & tough & more appropriate to drag around in dirt.



Quilt here.

Never in my life would I have dreamt that I would be quilt shopping. Or posting them on my blog. Why am I posting them on my blog? Funny.

When the cat's away...

(Pardon the grainy photo - it's been very gloomy here & I won't use a flash! :)

The mouse will play! She found the Nintendo. And can play the darn tootin' thing(s). We typically do not allow Nintendos before age 7. This year, that changes. Guess what she'll (& her big sister) be getting for her birthday? Ü

About the couch. Ugh. I love this couch. We've had it many years & it is probably the most comfortable couch we've ever owned. But, I do believe it's run its course. It's really starting to bug me. Next year, I think I'll put it on the list to replace. And I'm anxious to get paint on these walls - I'll just have to force myself to choose a color! ;o)

Our Christmas shopping, minus odds & ends, will be complete - tomorrow! Woot! My husband took today off & he alone knocked out a lot of shopping. I will finish up 1st thing tomorrow morning. (Wasn't it just Monday I was panicking that we might not make it in time? No need to panic!) We've never been done this early & we've never wrapped in advance. Ever. I'm so excited that this year we'll have wrapped packages under our tree! In the past, we never really wrapped in advance & placed them under the tree because we had a baby. No more babies. Sniff. All I know is that next week will be completely stress-free & we can bake, play games, wrap, people watch at stores (heehee), look at Christmas lights, the whole nine yards. It's the simple things, always, that really excite me.

Happy weekend! Make it fantabulous!

The Gingerbread House.

Actually, it's a Graham Cracker House. Ü

Gosh. It's been so crazy, I haven't blogged in a week? I need to get some things under control. Can't abandon my blog. :)

My husband was out of town last week, so it 'twas just I holding down the fort. Also last week, I apparently od'ed on caffeine. We think. No one knows. Not even the EMT's. Ahem. I didn't partake in Black Friday a few weeks ago (except for what I bought me - heehee), so basically, I have NO Christmas gifts. Panic mode is in full force. No Christmas cards purchased. No Christmas photo of 4 little cute people because the weather has been gloomy & gray. Did I mention I have hardly any Christmas gifts? I made some (very little) progress today, but it's difficult to shop toting a little 3 year old with me. The three oldest have Christmas parties (yes, Christmas - not 'Holiday') this week, which means 1 book exchange, 3+ different items/products/supplies for fun party foods & 3 teacher gifts. Are you aware Christmas is in 13 days? Am I aware Christmas is in 13 days? I hope this blog post finds you in much better shape than I'm in! Have I mentioned I have purchased hardly any gifts?

Tonight I said forget it all & we had 2 cooked frozen pizzas (but I had my MckDonald's salad) & played games. It was great & relaxing! I think we'll do that more often. Lots more often.

It'll all get done. I always seem to panic because I always wait until last minute (for most things anyway, swearing I'll never do it again) yet always, everything works out perfectly. And I sure am banking on that very thing happening again. Ü

Something cuter to look at.

I took Cassie out yesterday at 6:30 p.m. ( = still daylight) & found this cutie perched atop our fence. I was standing about 2 feet from her when I snapped this. Too cute! ☺

Almost 18 months.

Isn't she cute? Yes, she is. And she's a bully! ☺

(Here she's modeling my new cowboy hat. I have yet to figure out why in the world I bought that dumb thing. :) She still has the most amazing lips!)



This toddler is intimidated by no one. Doesn't matter what size you happen to be. She's a smacker. She's a thrower. And she's a pusher. If you are holding her, & you make her angry, she's gonna pop you right in the face. If she's holding something, & you make her angry, you better duck 'cause she's gonna chunk that object straight at your head. (Just ask Audi. She's infatuated with that child & banging on his head. The boy doesn't stand a chance around here. He's very experienced with the 'stop, drop & roll' method.) And if you're somewhere she wants to be - no worries - she's going to physically remove you by pushing you out of the way, so she can be where you are were. What baffles me the most is that none of the forementioned behavior is allowed in or out of our home. Her siblings do not hit/smack. They do not throw (unless it is acceptable throwing with an acceptable object). They do not push. She has not been in a church nursery enough to learn this behavior from other undisciplined children. So, I have no clue how this came to be. I do know it is not tolerated & she is reprimanded sternly. And I do know that she continues to ask for forgiveness by tossing her arms around you for a hug & kissing you smack on the lips. Then all is well until she does it again. ;o)

The below photos show how she runs around every.single.day. Something of some sort is constantly hanging out of her mouth. It's the strangest thing. I remember when Audi was little, he always had to have something in his hand (actually, he still does). She, however, must have something in her mouth. It bothers me for safety reasons, but there is nothing I can do about it. I can take objects away & in no time she'll have something else in there. So I've decided to pick my battles & just let her be. This object happens to be a utensil from a tea party set. ☺



Is she not the cutest thing? Pony tail 1/2 in & 1/2 out & those dimples - so sweet. Her hair is still very unruly. And getting worse. It needs to be trimmed but there is no way she will sit in a beautician's chair while her hair is trimmed. I'm contemplating doing it myself. Because her hair is curly, the beautician told me I really can't "mess it up". Obviously she didn't know who she was talking to. ;o)



The photo below is one I snapped tonight. She's a dipping fanatic. She wants everything dipped if mom's dipping. Hot sauce. Ranch dressing. Ketchup. The only thing I can find so far that she is not interested in is sour cream. The child eats salad. She would live off of strawberries if I let her. She eats veggies (prefers raw) except for green beans. She won't touch them. She devours salami. And french fries. Tonight I put her own ranch on her high chair tray & she went to dipping her carrots & green bell pepper all on her own (usually I do it for her). She's getting to be so big. Her hair is wet here - I had just given her a bath. Who in their right mind gives a child a bath, lotions her up & then gives her ranch dressing all to herself? She had fingerpainted quite a bit when she was done dipping. That's a scratch on her forehead. The other day she was trying to stand on the underneath shelf of my server, when she stood up & whacked her head. That's her 2nd forehead scratch. The first one (you can faintly see the white scar in the above photos) I think she did with her fingernail. It's tough being little!



It's crazy how much I adore this baby. She is so darn tootin' cute, I just can't get enough of her. Probably because there is strong possibility she is my last. Sigh. I think I'm trying to soak in every thing I can before this stage is gone forever.

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Saturday is our annual 4th of July family reunion. This is always such a busy week, trying to line up clothes for everyone, food to cook/bake, snacks/drinks for all my miniatures, all necessities for the long (rarely are we home before midnight) day, etc. Well low & behold, hubby is headed to NY! Are you kidding me?! That means two days less for my obsessive compulsive behavior! ☺ He heads out tomorrow night, so graciously he is working from home tomorrow so I can run errands. Now one day less for my OCD. Thursday not much will be accomplished since he won't be home until midnight. That will leave us Friday, dead tired because I always wait up for him, to wrap up loose ends before scrambling around like chickens with our heads cutoff for Saturday's early departure. Wow. That was a long sentence. Did you get that?

Off to watch Tori & Dean! I think buying both of Tori's book are in store. :)



(Photos are snapshots! Except for the 1st one. :)

Me.

So many. "Why don't you post any photos of yourself?" Well, I'm usually taking the photos. But to appease you, here I am. Just me. Taken tonight. Why do I take all the photos? Because if I have my husband do it - I get this sort of photo:



The guy is in advertising. Photography is what they do & what he sells. Yet he can't take a photo for the life of him. When my husband has the camera, he turns into some sort of animal. He flashes so frequently, his eyes don't even have time to focus, let alone the camera. It's the most hysterical thing I've ever seen. Gotta love him. ♥

So there ya go. Why yes, I do look 22. Thank you. ☺

10 more quirks.

1.) I prefer to eat luke warm or cold food. I will not eat hot food unless my throat is sore.

2.) I use Post-It-Notes like they are going out of style. One will find them sporadically thruout our home. I cannot live without them.

3.) I cannot sleep @ night without lip balm on & lotion on my hands.

4.) I have taken the same two medications every night before bed for almost 20 years now.

5.) I am allergic to toothpaste & latex. I called my dr. one time & told them they had really crappy bandaides because I broke out everywhere. They then told me I'm allergic to latex. LOL

6.) I'm ambidextrous. I write, eat & brush my teeth with my left hand. I do everything else right handed (all sports, cleaning, etc.). I am stronger in my right arm/hand than I am my left but technically I say I'm "left handed".

7.) Since I was 12 or 13, I have always separated my eyelashes with a needle/straight pin. Never one time have I poked my eye, though I have come close.

8.) Speaking of eyelashes, I have never used an eyelash curler. I used my mom's one time when I was 12 or so, & it hurt so bad I have never in my life picked one up since. PTL I have long, thick lashes that curl on their own! I'd have to use those fake suckers if I didn't.

9.) I have approximately 60+ gift bags. All sizes, all colors & for all occasions. I recycle them, as well as all bows, ribbons & tissue paper. If anyone goes to toss anything out at a celebration, I grab it quickly. :)

10.) I hate Nutcrackers. I have no idea why but they freak me out. Last year @ Target they had a display of them @ Christmas time & I turned them all backwards. :)

So there you have it. More irrelevant info. about me than you ever wanted to know. ☺

Our weekend.

We're doing this.

Yesterday Mercedes' cold was better, but her cough was wicked. I knew she needed Albuterol. Which usually I have an over abundance of. But not the day after Christmas. So I called the pediatrician to get her in yesterday afternoon. The nerve. They were closed! So off to Cook's Urgent Care we go. I hate that place. It is n.a.s.t.y. I knew when I pulled up it wasn't going to be good. 4-5 hour wait. So while I sat there, I had hubby calling the pharmacy to see if we had any Albuterol on hold. We did. But for whatever reason, the dr. needed to approve it. Even though the dr. wrote the prescription. So he called the on-call dr. & while waiting for that return call, I called CareNow. 4-5 hour wait. But we could wait at home. So we did the web check-in (love that!) & came home to wait. In the meantime the Lord smiled down on us & the on-call dr. phoned in our refill of Albuterol. Sheesh! Even though Mercedes has never had a breathing treatment, I made a mommy call & went for it. I'm administering them every four hours & she is so improved. Yay! ☺

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Today we thought we'd drive around & see if we could find a new car. We're kinda spontaneous like that. :) I thought Mercedes might sleep some since she can sit up in the car. Who was I kidding. We went to several dealerships & I'll tell you this, they aren't hurting that bad to sell cars. I don't care what the news reports or internet says. We saw no difference/lower prices what-so-ever. Guess they need to pay for those expensive jets! ☺ We thought we could get some kind of deal being the car industry is suffering for sales (or so we thought) & it is end of the year (the best time to buy cars!). There sure weren't many people shopping for new vehicles, that's for sure. Not one sales person at any of the dealerships even came up to see if they could help us. LOL Off we went.

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I feel like I have been swallowed. My house is a complete disaster. Not to mention, a pigstye after having everyone over for Christmas Eve. Stuff is everywhere. Toys that have yet to be opened due to miniatures being distracted w/ other toys. The kitchen is semi-clean but needs completing. Laundry, which I typically stay on top of, is overflowing. And then there's my carpet. Have I ever told you our backyard alone has 14 trees? Uh-huh. Sure does. And our yard guy MULCHED the leaves! Oh my I almost socked him for that. But I love him so he was safe. :) But he's now fired. Ha! Mulch + rain + two dogs in & out = no words. I can't keep up. With any of it.

Hubby was nice enough to vacuum. Again. And Miss Mercedes still loves the vacuum. So he vacuumed her hair. She loves it. And believe it or not her hair style improves once it's vacummed. LOL Too darn cute.

This baby is the cutest ever. I tell her that & then I tell her not to tell her siblings. :) The photos do her no justice as to how precious she is. I can't imagine her not being here. God knows exactly what He is doing. ☺

And because I kiss her so much, & share my food with her (only because she's a baby LOL) I now feel like crap. I'm off to a hot shower & then to watch some HGTV in bed!

Have a great weekend! Ü

My OCD '08 Christmas tree.

1.) Ornaments must hang freely, not touching any branches.

2.) Ornaments that are identical must not be located in the same proximity. Pretty much impossible with this many ornaments. I'm guessing...100 or more?

3.) Ornaments in similar color must not be located in the same proximity. Same as above.

4.) All open spaces in between branches must have an ornament.

5.) Smaller ornaments must be purchased for fill-ins.

6.) Every 5 minutes is review time; stand back, observe ornaments on tree, reposition/swap if necessary. And it's always necessary.

7.) Ornaments of special interest/expensive must be placed towards the top of the tree to avoid 10 tiny fingers. Or 40 tiny fingers if you consider I've got 4 miniatures.

8.) Always, always wear long sleeves when opening/separating branches.

9.) Praise the good Lord that my little Chocolate Truffle has absolutely no interest in either tree.

10.) Breathe a sigh of relief when tree is up, complete & gorgeous!

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I have seriously been MIA. Hubby was out of town again this week, left Monday & was not to return until Friday - low & behold they kicked bootie in MN & he got home today! So I have been super, super busy.

When I went to decorate the tree, I noticed that when hubby put up the tree, he opened the branches all wrong. More like ridiculous. He'll pull one branch up, one branch down. One branch up, one branch down. So it looked like a bunch of fork prongs sticking straight up & straight down. Um...no. So I had to redo the entire tree before decorating! Hence #8. My hands & arms are torn to shreds. That's the first thing he noticed when he got home - my manual labor scars.

I'm guessing it took approximately 6+ hours over a course of 3 or 4 days to decorate my tree because of all the interruptions. And Mercedes has a cold. And I'm searching for a Boxer which is entirely too time consuming. I had no idea. And every night I have gone to bed exhausted & extremely sad due to what I have read each night regarding the treatment of dogs. Craigslist is just flat out nasty, with people bickering & cursing each other, dogs being euthanized (posted by shelters) - I guess people get innocent dogs, decide they don't want them & then just give them to anyone who'll take them. And if those people don't want them, the process starts all over again. A hard lesson learned for someone (me) who is such an animal lover. Most nights I shook my head in disbelief. How in the world can people be so cruel to animals?

We still have a lot of Christmas preparations to complete & I'm beginning to stress because I don't think we'll get it done. But by the grace of God, every year we do.

Hope your week is fantastic! Ü

Ok Facebookers.

I'm just not feeling it girls. There is no love between me & Facebook. ;o) I'm sorry. I guess I'm a loner. I don't like it & I can't read the font it's so small! Plus with all these walls, I get all stinkin' confused. Especially when I see your friends comment, but they aren't my friends, & I can't read their own walls - heck, I can barely locate my own wall...& well - just forget it! I quit! Ü

In other news I'm trying to upload a photo of Mercedes looking at our dancing reindeer. Well looky looky - my cf card will not insert into the slot thingy! Love my technology terms? Ü I believe there may be a possibility a miniature got a little too close to my computer. Ultimately damaging the CF thingy. Considering you know how much I love & adore my photos - I'm not a happy camper right now!

Happy Facebooking you crazy people! :)

Facebook.

I'm doing a survey.

If you participate in this sin, LOL, say I. I'm curious as to how many have Facebook profiles. Besides the Sweet Escape girls. :)

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Other than that, I ain't got nuttin'. Been decking the halls this weekend. Outside lights & yard art is displayed. Kids' tree is up (I redistributed the ornaments they hung on their tree....shhhh...Jags' were really cute all in one spot but it drove me bonkers. I keep asking myself why I bought them their own tree when I rearrange their decorations? Maybe I am Mommy Dearest.). My tree needs ornaments. Plus nativity scene. Plus all other decorations which seem to grow each Christmas. We're getting there.

10 quirks about me.

1.) I often walk around imitating people & impersonating celebrities (Julia Childs is the best - is/was that her name?). I'm pretty good. My kids actually try to use my accents. Ü

2.) I'm a rhymer. I like to rhyme. Everything. I'm surprised I don't blog/type-rhyme. Ü

3.) I have a window in my shower that I set my shampoo/conditioner on. The shampoo must be on the left. Always.

4.) I'm a prankster. Hence, "Saturday's chaos." payback. :) One time before we had kids, husband was taking a shower & I was cleaning the other bathroom. For whatever reason I decided to pour ketchup all over myself & lay on the floor so he would come in & find me & think I was dead. Ha! He came in alright. And then he said (completely unbothered by his findings) "what the hell are you doing?" LOL Ü

5.) When I purchase something at a store, I will go thru every single one to find the least damaged. Such as a Christmas decoration. I will actually sit on the floor with all of them piled up as I go thru them & then hang them all back up when I'm done. It's very annoying. Best part? My husband now does it too. Hahaha.

6.) I do not let my children eat off my plate or drink out of my drink. Very true.

7.) When I hear my own voice I think "there is no way I sound like that". People used to phone our home & when I answered, they would ask to speak to my parent. It doesn't happen much anymore. Want to phone me now? LOL

8.) I do not allow wire hangers in our home. I dunno. :)

9.) When it was election time, I wanted to jack w/ our neighbors. We have a corner lot = 2 front yards. I wanted to put a McCain/Palin sign on one side & Obama/Biden on the other. LOL I never ordered the signs though but I should have.

10.) We eat off of paper plates 9 out of 10 times so I don't have to warsh plates. Ü

And there you have it. :o)

A few years ago I listed 100 things about myself. It was on my previous blog. I'll have to find that list & repost it. It's very entertaining. Ü I still need to repost Audi's staple incident too.

I feel like I've won the lottery.

Remember? It's the simple things, really. :)

I owe Christine a shout-out. Rebecca you will loveeeeeeeeee this site. Right now I'm reading under her cleaning label.

Thanks Christine! Ü

http://www.grocerycartchallenge.blogspot.com/

Husband just did a trial run on her homemade disinfectant wipes (paper towels cut in half soaked in rubbing alcohol. But does alcohol indeed disinfect? Killing viruses, such as Staph?)

This and that.

This - I don't know why I bother to wash the floors. I say wash, so now I spell it that way. I washed my floors yet I have a drool machine that crawls as fast as she can all the while a line of saliva is pouring out her mouth. Then she crawls thru it. Then we walk thru it. Blah. Then a open cup of juice slipped out of my hands. I wiped it up - that don't work. I guess I know what lies ahead for tomorrow.

That - I bought a big ol' jug of Shout at Sam's a while back. Tonight, the trigger broke. Peachy. What am I going to do now? Just pour the Shout on the clothes? Speaking of Shout, have you ever used the Shout Color Catchers? Those things darn tootin' work. I've used them for quite some time but I really put them to the test the other night. I needed to wash a new purple shirt of Bentley's for school. I hate the color purple, meaning I don't buy anything purple, so I had no other purple clothes to wash w/ it. I needed some padding so I threw in a pure white old t-shirt. And a Shout Color Catcher. The white shirt is still completely WHITE. Those things rock.

This - I bought the first season of Reba on DVD. Reba is my all time favorite show. I love funny shows. So I've been lost in Reba land as of late. I am allowing myself to buy one season every time I go to Wal-Mart. It's the simple things really. :)

That - I CAN VOTE! Seems hubby & I are currently suspended. Our renewals were returned (thanks to the new people who moved in our previous house - we know them, they know where we live, & they know our good friends live right across the street from them - yet instead of giving our renewals to them, or phoning us, or whatever, they just sent the suckers back. Nimrods.) but we can still vote & fill out a form when we get there.

This - I'm having an issue w/ Obama. Ha! Naturally the abortion issue, but, I don't focus on that because I am certain if McCain gets in office abortions will still be legal. :( However, I have an issue w/ Obama penalizing people who make more money - people who make more money are already penalized & are in a different tax bracket. Sigh. Who will I vote for...? Probably still Obama. I do think Obama will win, regardless.

That - If I see McCain give a double thumbs up one more time...

This - I bought 2 new vacuums this weekend. 1 big & 1 small. One just for my bathroom. Who does that? I have a vacuum fetish & now I have 4 total. I dunno.

That - Tomorrow I will blog about Price Matching! And Lynn I'll address your CVS Free Bucks question too.

This - Halloween decorations are down. Christmas decorations will be put up very soon. :) I have purchased three small Christmas gifts already. If you know me, this is a record. I'm typically the last minute all-stressed-out person. Christmas music is playing in our house, too. Hubby is not amused. :)

That - the treadmill is pretty much sparklin' clean. We all know what that means!

Bye for now! Ü

A productive day.

My first model. He did so well. A true professional. No whining. No complaining. He sat still. No trying to crawl off. He posed. His expression was perfect. He didn't drool on the backdrop. He's hired.

My little studio is set up. Except for my strobes. I'm not fond of lights but the room my studio is in has very poor lighting. I'll probably have to resort to unnatural lighting.

Tomorrow I'll attempt my 4 miniatures. First ever. Doing it myself, rather. All together. With me having really no clue as to what I'm doing. If I can just get one halfway decent photo I'll be a happy camper & call it a success. (Speaking of camping, we were unable to go this weekend because the nights/mornings are too cool outside. Bummer. Another bummer is our tent is still up as we were airing it out (yes, I was going camping in a tent spite what I said) & the birds pooped all over it. LOL)

I spent $100 today on 3 Halloween costumes. Mercedes will be wearing a hand-me-down. I am thoroughly convinced Halloween was created by the devil. Next year there will be a new plan.

Today the kids jumped lots on the trampoline. They drove their battery-operated cars. They swang on the tire swing. Jaguar tried to get in the pool 4 times. Lots of fun today.

This is a shocker.

I haven't blogged because... I have nuttin' to say. I know, I know. Impossible. Ü

I got my car back! Yay! New brakes! Man. You never know how much you appreciate something until it's gone! My little rent car was cute. It was a KIA something-or-other. That little sucker could go! Hence the word little. :o) We were packed in that thing like sardines! We obviously are a carseat family, & that car didn't care. It was not going to accomodate our needs. Mercedes' carseat, of course, had to go in it. Jaguar got put in Bentley's booster, & we sandwiched Audi in the middle with no booster or carseat! Neither would fit! Bents went up front with me. Ha! Yesterday husband went to the dr. (another shocker) because his allergies were literally making him sick. He phoned saying my car was ready & said "we'll all take the rent car to pick up your car, then we'll drop the rental car off." I replied "Ok! Where you gonna sit?" LOL

So...I'm trying to make my days more productive. Incorporating new 'things'. Things that take up a lot of space in my home for nothing. Things that are completely unattractive. Things that gather dust. Things like the photo below. And I fully expect to get the results she displays. ;o)

Yep. My new plan is to get skinny. Ok healthy too, but mainly skinny. I used to be skinny. I never recognized it (another thing you don't appreciate until it's gone) & I never cared. Oh how I know now. Ü You know what I am now? No, not just a weeble-wobble. A fat weeble-wobble. No more. Time to get movin'! So my hope is to uncover my photography equipment-covered-dusty-gross-treadmill & begin using it at least 20 minutes a day. Who can't spare 20 minutes? And from there I want to start playing basketball. Love it. And tennis. No I am not athletic at all, but these 2 sports I really enjoy. Maybe those will get some weight off, too.

I'm also trying to implement game night. Fun night. Or fingerpainting night. Or day. Or whatever. My kids are growing fast. I don't want to miss one opportunity to have fun with them. And laugh. And play.

Something my Jaguar does when her earring falls out. Which isn't often, but sometimes she's too rough removing shirts/jammies & her earring back becomes loose & falls off. She'll hang on to the post, but for whatever reason she chunks all the backs behind her bed. LOL I dunno. Gurls-R-Weard.

Now it's shower time as we're off to the mall after picking up Bentley. The weather is cooling off & Mercedes is running low on warmer clothes. Because she is...um...large, she can't wear Jags' warmer clothes when she was that age. Ha!

And in case you are wondering, OLTL is getting sooooooo good. Thank goodness it comes on at naptime.

Have a great weekend! Ü

Because I currently have so many pet names.

I found it so fitting. LOL

Taking Bentley to school this morning, my brakes went out! Thankfully we were close to home so I turned around & came back. We got home & Bentley says "well, I guess we'll have to call the bus!" Ha!

Needless to say today has been no fun! I had tons of errands to run, husband is crazy-busy at work, but we managed to get Bents to school 2 hours late, errands accomplished, rental car retrieved & my car to our mechanic. Jags is getting a cold & everyone is off schedule. Grr!

Happy Wednesday! Ü

Camping.

I am sooooooooo ready to go out. Camping. Fun. Play. Relax.

Hubby & I used to camp years ago before our miniatures arrived. We fished in a bass club & camping was a ritual. Back then, though, we camped in tents. I think I'm over that. :)

I can't wait for the kids to experience camping. This time, though, in a camper. We are on the hunt to purchase one. Hopefully soon we can find a good deal.

With all of life's happenings lately I'd love to get out & get away. Soak up...nothing. Nothing but good times & dirty kids. My kids are never dirty. It's time. :)