Wes and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on Thursday! We've been together 7 years total, and its fun to look back and remember how we were when we first got together and where we are now. If you know us well enough, you know that we are both super romantic people. Any time we are with each other people around can see the animated hearts floating around us. We hold hands, frolic during spring days, lay the PDA on thick, about as thick as the sarcasm seeping through this post. So, we are past the "newlywed" phase (honestly, I believe we were past the newlywed phase before we were even married), but we still have time to share our love, and thanks to my BFF, we were able to have a nice dinner for two on Thursday night!
We had originally planned on making reservations and going to Beningo's for dinner. I've never been there, but the reviews have always been good, so we thought that would be a great place to celebrate our 4 years of love. However, through no fault of my own, I scheduled a daycare interview for 6:00 pm on Thursday. Remember, no fault of my own. We decided to try out Wildberries, a new restaurant in town. It was delicious! Their menu was huge, and after 20 minutes, we ordered a large feast! While we were waiting for our "one of everything" to arrive, we started down memory lane, and I thought I would share some of my favorites!
1. The first time I took Wes out for his birthday
Ahh, the first birthday spent together. I was bent on making sure he had fun, that we enjoyed our time, and I made a great impression on his friends. Just one, tiny little problem. I was broke. My moneyless self wasn't going to let that stop me though. I put the charm on, we enjoyed a fabulous dinner, I paid, and after all the festivities were over, I borrowed $40.00 from him so I didn't overdraw my checking account.
2. Telling our parents I was pregnant
Wes' parents were easy. They lived across the street, we walked over, told his mom, and then a day later said to his dad "we've got some news." He said "You're getting married." "Nope, we're having a baby." I can't remember exactly, but I think his response was something like "Yeah, its the same thing." My parents, however, were a bit different.
To break the news to my parents, I announced we were coming out for dinner. When we got there, people were over. So we waited til we ate. While we were eating, there were constant interruptions. I decided to wait til we were done eating. Once the table was cleared and the dishwasher was loaded, I built up my nerve, but then my mom had a phone call. While she was on the phone, family friends showed up. So, right there, in the middle of everything, I just said "BTW, I'm pregnant." Not quite the announcement I had planned on making, but, nothing goes the way I plan it.
3. Our first Fantasy Football draft
Being pregnant requires you to lose most of your social life. It did for me, anyway, seeing as up until I got preggers I did a lot of drinking. Since I couldn't drink, and Wes was playing FF anyway, I figured I should throw my $20 in and see what I could do. Wes went through the rules with me, explained how the draft worked, and after many instructional hours and FF magazines, I felt ready and educated to draft my all star team. Things were going good. There were many players to be had, and as my 2nd turn came around, I was so excited to draft my back-up qb. I was in shock at how everyone was passing up the good back-ups. With surety in my voice, and a bit of cockiness, I announced "I pick Eli Manning!" The room of guys went quiet, then erupted into laughter. Why was this funny? It was 2004, Eli had just been drafted, and he was the back up qb for the Giants. It was then that I realized a back up quarterback wasn't for "bonus points," but instead you needed a second qb as your back up fantasy qb, in case the first qb was hurt or on a bye week. Oooohhhhhhhhh, fantasy football draft lesson learned.
4. Payton being born - no explanation necessary
5. My engagement ring(s)
I LOVE my engagement ring. I could tell that our relationship was headed to "the next level" so I took proactive measures, went to a jewelry store, found my friend Greta and picked out my top three. I then took her business card home, explained to Wes that she was a friend and she new my taste and left it at that. On March 7, 2005, he surprised me on my birthday by asking me to be his wife! How excited I was that he picked my favorite ring, and I wore it with pride. It was a bit big, but that didn't stop me. I wanted the world to know I was taken, and I didn't want to take the ring off for anything.
One day, while Wes was outside playing football with his nephew, I was doing laundry. I went to the bathroom, flushed, washed my hands and...wait...my ring was gone. A wave of panic overtook me. It had to be here somewhere! I checked the washer, nope. I checked the dryer, nope. I scoured every couch cushion, every basket of laundry, the sink, and then it hit me. I flushed my ring down the toilet. I had to have. It was nowhere in our tiny 2 bedroom trailer. More panic, I had to tell Wes I flushed my ring down the toilet. With tears in my eyes and hyperventilation in my voice, I broke the news. Along with his dad, they cracked the toilet open. They found a penny, a pair of nail clippers, a comb (yep, a comb), but no engagement ring. I was devastated. Not only did I have to buy a new toilet, I had to buy a new engagement ring. Luckily, we had homeowners insurance, and they covered the loss, so I was given a replacement ring for free. And for some reason, through the generosity of Zale's, they replaced that ring with a different ring, because it was not symmetrical. The new ring was ordered in the right size, and it hasn't come off my hand since. Well, now it won't come off, seeing as I've gained a few pounds.
I could go on with our favorite memories, but time is up, for now, babies are waking. We did enjoy our smorgasbord of food from Wildberries and the bestie gave the kids a bath. It was a great anniversary!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Blog #3 - Field Trips
Ahh, daycare field trips. Where do I begin on expressing my love/hate relationship with them? I'll begin with the love...
I love field trips, because it gets the kids out of the house, doing something different, and its really exciting to see a group of kids experience the world. When I first started daycare we would make a weekly trip to Godfather's Pizza. Nothing too big, I wasn't used to groups of children, after all. Godfather's was great! They have an all you can eat buffet (only .75/year of age for the kids), a ball pit, games and did I mention all you can eat buffet? We LOVE pizza! The kids would get their plates, eat crazy fast, and run, play and expend so much energy. Nap time after Godfather's was soooo peaceful! It wasn't uncommon for three hours of silence to fall upon my house. I would clean, read, dance, do flip flops, repair the roof, those kids were OUT COLD. See where the love comes in?
Now that the weather is nice again, and my number of children fit well into my Mini (van, that is, but just calling it Mini sounds SO much cooler), we have spent many days taking fun field trips. During the summer the local theater has FREE (that's right, free) kids movies on Wednesdays and Thursdays. I join a good daycare friend, we score our row of seats, and for 90 minutes the kids become engrossed in the film. Today, it was "Cloudy, With a Chance of Meatballs." So they aren't free new movies, but I love FREE and now that Toy Story 3 is coming out, the kids are all trained in sitting still in a theater setting. See, parents, I'm doing you a favor! We like to follow the movie with a park pic nic, and even possibly some spray park fun (we LOVE the spray park, and try to go at least once a week, movie or no movie), but sometimes, this isn't possible. That's where the hate comes in...
Recently, my house has passed around Fifth Disease. It's not as bad as it sounds, really. The unfortunate things about Fifth Disease are: 1) its contagious, but by the time you know you have it, you aren't contagious anymore; and 2) the child infected with Fifth breaks out into a HORRIBLE rash, looks like they've been slapped across the face (which, for a daycare provider, proves to get many looks from outsiders). The rash isn't always visible, but intensifies in heat, sun or stressful situations. Which creates a problem for summer fun in the sun... Which creates eager children that are locked indoors... Which creates attitudes toward one another that need to be broken... Which makes a field trip very stressful!
Keeping up with five children at once in public can cause anyone to go a little wild. But when those five children have been couped up in a house with one another, they are ready to pounce on the field trip freedom like a tiger hunting buffalo in the wild. They sense the freedom (field trip? I like me a field trip!), see it through the tall grass (we're riding in the mini, we're getting closer to the theater), crouch down low (I better promise to be on my best behavior, because Maegan said we would never do this again if I wasn't), creep up on the buffalo ever so quietly (better find my seat and be still with my snuck in popcorn), and... wait for it... shhhhhh, the movie's beginning.... POUNCE! "He's kicking my seat!" "She drank my milk!" "I want more popcorn!" "He spit at me!" "She threw my shoe!" "They won't keep their hands off MY arm rest!" "I wanna sit alone!"
"Mamamamamamamamamama!" "MMMMMMMIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNEEEEEE!" "I lost my shoe!" "I REALLY have to go potty." "Are we going to the park after this?" "Our friends are going SWIMMING! We want to go too!"
Needless to say, between the behavior and the rashes, we did not make it to the park today. We did, eventually, enjoy Cloudy, during this sunny day. I also broke down and took them to McDonald's playland. After watching a movie, and being couped up for a week, we needed to RUN! My friend? She took her rash free kids to the pool. I think for the time being, I should focus on behaviors and treating our friends nicely, and maybe take a short field trip to teach about being nice during field trips. And maybe avoid field trips with a cooler babysitter than me. A pool, really? Does anyone have success stories on teaching behavior to wild tigers, err, children?
I love field trips, because it gets the kids out of the house, doing something different, and its really exciting to see a group of kids experience the world. When I first started daycare we would make a weekly trip to Godfather's Pizza. Nothing too big, I wasn't used to groups of children, after all. Godfather's was great! They have an all you can eat buffet (only .75/year of age for the kids), a ball pit, games and did I mention all you can eat buffet? We LOVE pizza! The kids would get their plates, eat crazy fast, and run, play and expend so much energy. Nap time after Godfather's was soooo peaceful! It wasn't uncommon for three hours of silence to fall upon my house. I would clean, read, dance, do flip flops, repair the roof, those kids were OUT COLD. See where the love comes in?
Now that the weather is nice again, and my number of children fit well into my Mini (van, that is, but just calling it Mini sounds SO much cooler), we have spent many days taking fun field trips. During the summer the local theater has FREE (that's right, free) kids movies on Wednesdays and Thursdays. I join a good daycare friend, we score our row of seats, and for 90 minutes the kids become engrossed in the film. Today, it was "Cloudy, With a Chance of Meatballs." So they aren't free new movies, but I love FREE and now that Toy Story 3 is coming out, the kids are all trained in sitting still in a theater setting. See, parents, I'm doing you a favor! We like to follow the movie with a park pic nic, and even possibly some spray park fun (we LOVE the spray park, and try to go at least once a week, movie or no movie), but sometimes, this isn't possible. That's where the hate comes in...
Recently, my house has passed around Fifth Disease. It's not as bad as it sounds, really. The unfortunate things about Fifth Disease are: 1) its contagious, but by the time you know you have it, you aren't contagious anymore; and 2) the child infected with Fifth breaks out into a HORRIBLE rash, looks like they've been slapped across the face (which, for a daycare provider, proves to get many looks from outsiders). The rash isn't always visible, but intensifies in heat, sun or stressful situations. Which creates a problem for summer fun in the sun... Which creates eager children that are locked indoors... Which creates attitudes toward one another that need to be broken... Which makes a field trip very stressful!
Keeping up with five children at once in public can cause anyone to go a little wild. But when those five children have been couped up in a house with one another, they are ready to pounce on the field trip freedom like a tiger hunting buffalo in the wild. They sense the freedom (field trip? I like me a field trip!), see it through the tall grass (we're riding in the mini, we're getting closer to the theater), crouch down low (I better promise to be on my best behavior, because Maegan said we would never do this again if I wasn't), creep up on the buffalo ever so quietly (better find my seat and be still with my snuck in popcorn), and... wait for it... shhhhhh, the movie's beginning.... POUNCE! "He's kicking my seat!" "She drank my milk!" "I want more popcorn!" "He spit at me!" "She threw my shoe!" "They won't keep their hands off MY arm rest!" "I wanna sit alone!"
"Mamamamamamamamamama!" "MMMMMMMIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNEEEEEE!" "I lost my shoe!" "I REALLY have to go potty." "Are we going to the park after this?" "Our friends are going SWIMMING! We want to go too!"
Needless to say, between the behavior and the rashes, we did not make it to the park today. We did, eventually, enjoy Cloudy, during this sunny day. I also broke down and took them to McDonald's playland. After watching a movie, and being couped up for a week, we needed to RUN! My friend? She took her rash free kids to the pool. I think for the time being, I should focus on behaviors and treating our friends nicely, and maybe take a short field trip to teach about being nice during field trips. And maybe avoid field trips with a cooler babysitter than me. A pool, really? Does anyone have success stories on teaching behavior to wild tigers, err, children?
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Blog #2 - Facebook
Facebook. Is there anyone that isn't on Facebook now? My mom is. Her uncle is. I even have friends, who have friends, who have Facebook pages for their pets! I signed up last year when I was working, mostly because I was bored. And I had a Blackberry, and I could use Facebook on my Blackberry, it was a standard issued app, afterall. I have found myself addicted to Facebook. I check it via Blackberry on an hourly basis. I have found myself actually getting angry when there are no new status updates! This is a serious problem. If there was a Facebook Anonymous, I would be enrolled. I get stressed when I scroll through 3 hours of Farmville and Mafia Wars updates with no status updates. Apparently there is no need to update your status when you're plowing your pretend farm, finding ugly ducklings and plotting pretend turf wars against a rival mafia crew. "Matt's Mafia needs your help! Here are a pair of brass knuckles to start your mafia with!"
Or, have you ever had a friend who is a compulsive poster? I'm talking, every 15 minutes they have something new to say... It goes a little something like this: 7:45 am "Up and ready for a glorious day!" 8:02 am "Ugh, kids woke up." 8:19 am "Seriously, do I have to make waffles, french toast, cereal and pop tarts for EVERY breakfast?" 8:43 am "Getting ready to head outside! The sun is SHINING!" 9:00 am "Started raining, boo!" I could go on, but instead I will say, have you ever had this friend, and all of a sudden, they just stopped posting? You almost get a little worried about them. You pray they are ok, that nothing serious has happened. You check your friends list to see if they deleted you. Because, if they deleted you, they better have a valid reason for it. You even poke them, write "Miss you" on their wall, and without any response, one day they are up and at it again, leaving you to wonder what the hiatus was all about.
What is it that makes Facebook so addicting? Is it the fact that you are in touch with literally hundreds of people from throughout your life, all at the same time? Is it the games? Do you ever feel that Facebook is replacing a good old fashioned phone call? On more than one occasion I have been on the phone, had someone tell me something, and my response was "I saw that on Facebook.... *silence*" Apparently, there is nothing more to say once its been posted on Facebook.
I love Facebook. I'm not ready to end our relationship, no matter how stressed and angry I get for a lack of posts. It's a great tool for keeping in contact with one another, sharing your life, and playing a game or two. What's your favorite thing about Facebook?
Or, have you ever had a friend who is a compulsive poster? I'm talking, every 15 minutes they have something new to say... It goes a little something like this: 7:45 am "Up and ready for a glorious day!" 8:02 am "Ugh, kids woke up." 8:19 am "Seriously, do I have to make waffles, french toast, cereal and pop tarts for EVERY breakfast?" 8:43 am "Getting ready to head outside! The sun is SHINING!" 9:00 am "Started raining, boo!" I could go on, but instead I will say, have you ever had this friend, and all of a sudden, they just stopped posting? You almost get a little worried about them. You pray they are ok, that nothing serious has happened. You check your friends list to see if they deleted you. Because, if they deleted you, they better have a valid reason for it. You even poke them, write "Miss you" on their wall, and without any response, one day they are up and at it again, leaving you to wonder what the hiatus was all about.
What is it that makes Facebook so addicting? Is it the fact that you are in touch with literally hundreds of people from throughout your life, all at the same time? Is it the games? Do you ever feel that Facebook is replacing a good old fashioned phone call? On more than one occasion I have been on the phone, had someone tell me something, and my response was "I saw that on Facebook.... *silence*" Apparently, there is nothing more to say once its been posted on Facebook.
I love Facebook. I'm not ready to end our relationship, no matter how stressed and angry I get for a lack of posts. It's a great tool for keeping in contact with one another, sharing your life, and playing a game or two. What's your favorite thing about Facebook?
Blog #1 - Intro
Ta DA! It is my very first blog post! Not really, if you want to get technical, its probably my third or fourth blog post (myspace doesn't count). I started a blog way back in 2007, but couldn't figure out how to work it, typed three posts, had 2 followers, and I was done. Sorry to my fans! Hopefully, this blog will be more consistent, reach a larger audience, and bring some joy into my day and others as well.
I love writing, and I'm really excited to start this blogging journey. I do not expect to become an overnight success blogger, I don't think anything I have to say could really be that interesting, but I do have a lot of thoughts and ideas that would be fun to put down on the Internet. Sometimes my readers may think I'm crazy (which is ok, because sometimes I think I'm crazy, or have adult ADD, or both), sometimes I might offend someone, sometimes you may laugh, cry or be bored and never read my blog again. Any and all are acceptable to me, I really just want a place to share my thoughts, gain some writing experience, and maybe make someone laugh.
So, about me. I'm a mother to two daughters, I have a husband and a dog. I stay at home with my girls, and babysit a few other kiddos. I attend church at Crossroads Chapel, am enrolled to begin school (again) this fall at Lincoln College, and am still not 100% sure what I want to be "when I grow up." I would love to do something with writing or editing, maybe even author a book at some point. I LOVE bacon. And cheese, but bacon is way further up the ladder. I have found a passion for raising standards for school lunches (thank you Jamie Oliver and Mrs. Q), enjoy reading stuffchristianslike.net (Jonathan Acuff, aka Jonathan Mountainstream, is a funny man), and if I'm not busy keeping my house clean after all the kiddos, you may even find me crocheting one mean dish cloth (I will always take orders if you need some, there is nothing like a homemade dish cloth). I am a very random person, and I have a vivid imagination. One day, I would love to be proficient at putting the pictures in my head into actual written thoughts. Hopefully this blog will help me master some of my goals.
I hope you enjoy reading my blog as much as I enjoy writing it. I actually just hope someone reads my blog. I will still write, but I sure hope someone reads... Do you have a blog? Comment with your blog and I will become a fan! How about bacon? Comment about your favorite thing to eat with bacon. One of these days, I am going to deep fry bacon cheeseballs. Mmmm...
I love writing, and I'm really excited to start this blogging journey. I do not expect to become an overnight success blogger, I don't think anything I have to say could really be that interesting, but I do have a lot of thoughts and ideas that would be fun to put down on the Internet. Sometimes my readers may think I'm crazy (which is ok, because sometimes I think I'm crazy, or have adult ADD, or both), sometimes I might offend someone, sometimes you may laugh, cry or be bored and never read my blog again. Any and all are acceptable to me, I really just want a place to share my thoughts, gain some writing experience, and maybe make someone laugh.
So, about me. I'm a mother to two daughters, I have a husband and a dog. I stay at home with my girls, and babysit a few other kiddos. I attend church at Crossroads Chapel, am enrolled to begin school (again) this fall at Lincoln College, and am still not 100% sure what I want to be "when I grow up." I would love to do something with writing or editing, maybe even author a book at some point. I LOVE bacon. And cheese, but bacon is way further up the ladder. I have found a passion for raising standards for school lunches (thank you Jamie Oliver and Mrs. Q), enjoy reading stuffchristianslike.net (Jonathan Acuff, aka Jonathan Mountainstream, is a funny man), and if I'm not busy keeping my house clean after all the kiddos, you may even find me crocheting one mean dish cloth (I will always take orders if you need some, there is nothing like a homemade dish cloth). I am a very random person, and I have a vivid imagination. One day, I would love to be proficient at putting the pictures in my head into actual written thoughts. Hopefully this blog will help me master some of my goals.
I hope you enjoy reading my blog as much as I enjoy writing it. I actually just hope someone reads my blog. I will still write, but I sure hope someone reads... Do you have a blog? Comment with your blog and I will become a fan! How about bacon? Comment about your favorite thing to eat with bacon. One of these days, I am going to deep fry bacon cheeseballs. Mmmm...
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