Is It or Isn't It?

That is the question of the day! Ice or no ice? Yucky weather or no yucky weather? School or no school tomorrow?
Going to school at 10:00 would be ok. Then we wouldn't have make-up a day! But I'll be there anyway so it really shouldn't matter to me! Just a little extra sleep for us!
My Grandma Strickland lives in Kennett, Missouri, about 20 miles from the Arkansas-Missouri border. I talked to her about 1:30 this afternoon and she lost electricity around 11:00, had a big limb was on her house and she had to move her car out of her carport so it wouldn't collapse on her car. She said it looked like a war zone. She is staying warm though with the bedrooms all blocked off and sleeping on the couch. I told her I would call and check on her again tonight.
It's still cold and raining out there! Who knows what will be out there in the morning!

Happy Birthday, Mama!

Mama's 59th birthday is today. We all got together at mom and dad's house for our traditional family birthday party. We had pizza and brownies. The kids always have a good time playing and helping blow out the candles. Can't you tell, Andrew is so excited! He's the oldest, much older! Old enough we came home early to study for his drivers test. We'll see how it goes!
Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you!! And I hope you have MANY more!!!


This is all the grandkids: Clay(2 months), Sara(6), Nash(2), Andrew(14), Labe(5) and Sebastian(7)

Another Blissful Weekend

We did a whole lot of nothing this weekend. Seems like we've been doing that a lot lately but......it's so fun!
Andrew went to see Mall Cop and bought some clothes at AE. He got home to find Dusty and I trying to make some organization out of what Sara's calls cleaning her room.
Dusty, Andrew and I watched a couple of movies today while Sara played in my room and watched her own movies.
It was a good lazy weekend........but I did get the laundry done!

Somebody Loose A Tooth?

Sara lost her first tooth last Friday. It had been hanging in there for a while and "NO ONE" was going to touch it. When I finally convinced her that morning before school to just let me look at it, it was just sitting in there in its little spot unattached. I picked it up and showed it to her. She didn't believe me that it wasn't bleeding and had to look in the mirror for herself. No blood, because it just sittin' there! Mrs. Avery gave her a tooth necklace at school to put it in and the tooth fairy left $10 that night.

Poor Maggie

Maggie had surgery Tuesday morning. She was spayed since we decided not to have puppies. The surgery went well and she came home yesterday. She is very sore and shaky. I feel for her. You can tell she doesn't feel good. Andrew says it is my fault. He wanted to have puppies but wonder who in this house would have to take care of them. Not him! Anyway, she came home and the only place she was comfortable was stretched out on the back of the couch. So we covered her with a blankie because she was shivering. She didn't move from there, slept there most of the night and Dusty slept below her on the couch. She's still sore today but just a little bit perky-er (I know, not really a word and probably spelled with "ier" but..)I'll be glad when she is feeling like her regular self and is more comfortable. Until then we will baby her, after all she's our baby, too.

I'm A Little Behind But We Do Have Good Grades!

One thing I told myself I was going to try to do this year is try to post something almost everyday. Well, I haven't posted in a few days, haven't done very well with my goal and have no particular reason for not doing so. I have been on the computer everyday, surfing my usual spots, readimg my own blog and still I don't post. I say to myself, "self, I'll do it in a minute", minutes turn to days, three days to be specific. But here I am and I have great news.......
Report cards came home this past Thursday.......I was so proud of Andrew. He brought up his Biology grade to a B. I think he actually figured out when he studied for his semester test for a mere 30 mintues and made a 90 that a little studying can pay off. So he brought that up and did great in everything else. He's waiting for his A & B money from me, too. (Payday is TOMORROW!!!)
I am proud of Sara as well. She made all A's and brought up her DRA level. She also received an AR reading award for the second nine weeks.
Guess that's all for now. Gotta go fix grilled cheese and soup. Sara had her second and last dentist appointment today so we are having chicken noodle soup. (Dusty is having tomato. YUCKY!) She is not so numb any more and is STARVING!!

A Very Special Day

Why is this day special to me? Today is my granny's birthday. A very special woman to me and to lots of others. For those of us that were graced to know her here on this earth, know her beauty (inside and out), her strength, her kindness, her generosity, her richness for life and how deep her love for her family and friends was. I can not put into words how much she meant to me. The endless times we spent together fill my mind and heart with memories that will last my lifetime and more. Andrew remembers days of Skip-Bo and Scooby-Doo. Birthdays were always made special at her house. We tell Sara about those times since she doesn't remember. My eyes fill with tears of joy and sadness when I think of those times. Her love made my life full and even though I know she lived a long, great life, my heart aches when I think of how much I miss her with my body and soul. She was a great woman. I am a better person for having had her touch my life. She is still in my heart, dreams, soul and deepth of my being. She is who I am and I am very proud to be a part of her. Happy birthday, Granny! I love you!

Happy Birthday to me!

Today is my 34th birthday! Yeah, me!! Dusty, Sara and Andrew (notice I put Sara's name 2nd...she wanted to know the other day why I always put her name last so I did the switch-a-roo tonight)...anyway, they woke me up with hugs and kisses and a birthday present and a great card. And they had already taken me out Sunday afternoon.
No fair, but I had to work on my birthday. Firestone gives you the day off for your birthday! But I had a great day! Lots of birthday wishes! And the best birthday singing I have ever heard from Kristi first thing this morning. Well, really not FIRST, mom and dad sang first but......it was GRAND!!!!!
Verion brought me a dozen gorgeous yellowy-green roses and Lori and Julia gave me a Sonic card which will definitely come in handy for those morning DP's.
The night ended with warm homemade chocolate pie at mom and dad's. I can't think of a better way to celebrate my birthday.......surrounded by those I love the most!

Fun Family Day

Dusty, Andrew, Sara and I went to Texarkana today. We went to the movies to finally see Twilight and to eat at the Roadhouse. We had a great time. Sara brought her Nintendo DS, ear phones and played it through most of the movie. We shopped a little and eat. Great family day! Now we are off to have a war on Andrew's XBOX360 with one of my presents, Lips. It's the XBOX version on Singstar. Can't wait!

It's A Wrap!

We made it through our first week back at school. It is tough to get back in a routine. No one in my house was loving getting up early again. That's probably in the main complaint. Me and the kids slept until Sara was tapping on my back around 10:00. Poor Dusty had to get up and go to work but he will get to sleep a little late tomorrow. Now we are snuggled on the couch watching DVR'd shows from the week and washing clothes. It's so fun when your house is already clean on the weekends and you don't have to worry about that. So we will be kicked back until Dusty gets home and then we may head to Texarkana to take back a few returns.

I Know What I Said, But I Promised

Sara insisted that I take a picture of each side of her gingerbread house that she made the last day of school before Christmas. Each child in her class used a milk carton, frosting, graham crackers and different kinds of candy to make their own little gingerbread house. Sara wanted a picture of each side so she could "save it and always know what it looked like". They all actually turned out pretty cute and the kids really enjoyed making them.





So, I know I promised no more Christmas posts but Sassy kept asking when I was going to do this one.

We Made It!

We made it through the first day of our first day back at school. It went by pretty quickly actually. I was glad to be back, glad to see everyone and a little glad to get out of my pj's and put makeup on. Makes ya feel better when you are all clean and pretty. HAHA
Sara had to go to the dentist this afternoon. I don't know if I mentioned this but when I took the kids to have their teeth cleaned over THE BREAK, Sara had several cavities between her teeth. When the hygenist came out to tell me she could tell by the look on my face that I was very surprised. Sara is an excellent brusher! And she said she could tell that by looking but asked me if she loved candy. Of course, I said yes, Sara is a candy hog. She said her daughter was just the same and had the same problem. She said Skittles, Airhead Extremes and Jolly Ranchers are the worst. Of those 3, guess how many Sara loves? 2!!! She said chocolate was better than all of those put together. So, we are nursing Sara. She is drooling everywhere, starving for an afterschool snack and counting down for her 4 hour wait to be up so she can eat. But we made it throught that, too.
On a lighter mommy note, Andrew got some of his semester test grades back today. He made a 94 in English (woohoo) and a 90 on his Biology (a great big WOOHOO!!!!) The 2nd nine weeks of school is over this Friday. This mama is hoping for good marks for both kiddos!
Gotta go check on our patient!
P.S. Have a good day tomorrow, Misty!

Life of Leisure

My last night to stay up late, my last day to do whatever I want and my last day to put not make-up on.....this all means school is back.......my life of leisure is over.
Dusty finds it so funny when he gets home some days and I have talked to no one, been no where and done much of nothing. I like those days, not the not talking to anyone but doing nothing. Those days are few and far between.
I miss my buddies at school that I haven't talked to since school got out. I've only talked to Kim and Janet and Wendy M. I miss the kids. But I do not miss getting up early. I like to sleep late and am glad my kids do, too. Andrew wasn't a big late sleeper until he got to be a teenager but Sara loves to sleep. He will stay up later than anyone and be the last one up. She's been that way since she was a toddler.
I could live the life of leisure but I would get bored..........but I sure would love to try it.

Sweet Baby Girl

Sara finished 2008 in slumber. She fell asleep around 11:30. She tried as hard as she could to stay up but the late night before kept her from doing so.

Happy New Year!!!!!

I hope you all have a happy and blessed 2009! We brought the new year in at home. Dusty grilled steaks and we played poker and skip-bo while eating cherry sours, peach rings and hot tamales.