Fun and Games

At Ms. L's daughter, Little Miss's, birthday party the favors that were given out were bow and arrows (it was a "Brave" themed party).  Firecracker was totally stoked to get his own set of bow and arrows!

Since he got them he's been running around playing with them.  He calls them his "Robin Hoods", (because you know Robin Hood's weapon of choice is a bow and arrow, and Firecracker hasn't seen Brave).  It's super cute!

Showing off his new bow and arrow

Daddy showing Firecracker how to work it

  Hope you have a great day!

Ms. T

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Swim Lessons Revisited

I am so proud of Firecracker!  He loved swim lessons!  His instructor, Ms. Mandy, was even able to get him to go under water of his own volition!!!  I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't witnessed it with my own eyes!

Now, I'm not gonna say that Firecracker is besties with water.  He's still apprehensive about it and doesn't like getting his head wet, but the strides he has made in the last 2 weeks have been AMAZING!  

Ms. Mandy, if you read this blog, you ROCK!  Thank you!

 Hope you all have a great day!

Ms. T


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5 Question Friday

Good Morning, ya'll!  Ms. L here! That's right, I am back in the world of internet connectivity! Ms. T has a lot on her plate this morning, so I said I would cover 5 ? Friday!  As always, we say a big thanks to Mama M. for letting us link up.


1. What is the funniest thing you saw on Facebook/twitter this week?


Oh, well I am actually kind of cheating on this one.  I found this on Pinterest.  Pintester - It is this hilarious chick that tests all the things she sees on Pinterest and royally butchers them in the process.  It is a humor blog, so don't think that your pin-tests would come out quite like hers, but it is definitely funny.  Warning: This website contains some not-so-nice language, so proceed with caution!


2. What is your favorite Olympic event?
I really love all things Gymnastics. Especially the pictures you see afterwards of all the rhythmic gymnasts where it looks like they have no heads.  That's right.  Google "Headless rhythmic gymnastics" and look at the images.  Crazy, right?  Oh, and Volleyball. 


3. Do your kids to chores around the house? If so, what are they and how old are the children? Do they get paid for them?
My kids actually do chores.  The Boy is 8 and he makes his bed, cleans his room, and helps take out the garbage.  The Little Miss just turned 4, and she makes her bed, helps clean her room, and loves to help wash clothes and sweep.  They do earn money, but we use the Financial Peace Jr. Method, so the amount varies depending on the chore.  They also have financial consequences for not doing their chores.


4. If you get bad service/food do you complain or keep quiet?
It has to be really bad for me to say something, because I used to be a server at the Cracker Barrel in college.  I did recently have a rather bad experience where we did have to say something.  Everyone in the entire dining room, even the ones that arrived and ordered after we did, had gotten their food and finished eating, and we still didn't have our breakfast.  After speaking to a manager, we discovered that our ticket had been thrown away.  We had to completely re-order our food an hour after the first order.  After the mistake was discovered we received great service, and they picked up the tab!


5. If you could pick ONE frivolous item for your home, what would it be? (massive room sized closet? swimming pool? greenhouse? etc...)
   Solar panels.  I am incredibly frugal with our electricity, because I hate not knowing what our bill might be at the end of the month.  I would love to be able to do away with that bill altogether, and open that money up for my true addiction - vintage furniture!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Ms. L


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Wireless Printer

My printer decided to give up on me =(.  The Hubs suggested we get a wireless printer.  My cheap side came out and I told him I was just fine with a regular printer.

Turns out after looking at our options a wireless printer isn't much more expensive than a regular printer.  And let me tell you, it is worth the extra moola!!  It's so nice to just hit the button and it prints and you don't have to think twice about it.  

This may not be an issue for those of you using a desk top, or a lap top that is hooked to your printer most of the time.  However, my printer is on top of an armoire it'd be hard to stay connected to it all the time ;).  

So I'm adding wireless printers to my list of "worth the splurge" items!!

Hope you all have a great day!
Ms. T 

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Little Boy Logic

Firecracker has reached a stage where he doesn't want to wash his hands.  I'm not sure where this came from, because he used to LOVE to wash his hands.  Anywho, the other day he was done going to the bathroom and I told him to wash his hands because he touched the potty.

Later that day Firecracker ran to the bathroom telling me he had to go.  I followed behind and when I got into the room I caught him pushing the toilet seat up with his HEAD!  I nearly fell over laughing, because the logic was "if I don't touch the potty with my hands I won't have to wash them"..... Oh boy!  Every day God gives me more reasons to love my little man!

Hope you have a great day!
Ms. T 


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New Niece

I did a photo shoot of my newest niece yesterday!  She's such a sweetie pie!  So here are a few of my favorites from the shoot:

  Fun stuff!  
Enjoy your day!

Ms. T

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Fail

I had to move Sweet Pea up into 18-24 month clothing this weekend.  (How is she growing so fast?! Doesn't she know she's my baby and is supposed to stay little?)  Anywho, I was so thankful that I had some hand-me-downs to wash and have ready for her to wear.  However, while I was going through the hand-me-downs I realized she was going to need a few things.  

So, Sweet Pea, Firecracker and I headed off to Good Will, because I'm a firm believer in the "never pay full price unless you HAVE to, even if you have the money to do it" mind set.  Well, I came home with a new dress for me, a toy for Firecracker, a belt for the Hubs and "what did Sweet Pea get?" you ask.  Well, the answer is nada, zippo, zilch.  Talk about a failure!  Oh well, we will have to try again another day.  However, I must say that I am sure I spent more on the things that I bought at the Good Will then I would have spent on just a few things at Walmart.... If I had stuck to the list and hadn't done any impulse shopping..... 

Hope you all have a great day!

Ms. T 


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5 Question Friday

Good Morning, friends!  It’s Friday again! Whoooo Hoooo!

This week Mama M. is on vacation so we are going to thank Kate for letting me link up!  Alrighty, on with the 5 question Friday fun!

1} What do you call them- flip flops, sandals, thongs, or slippers?
     Flip flops for sure!

2} Are you a "my kids can do no wrong" kind of mom or a "Johnny punched you? Well what did you do to him first?!" kind of mom?
     I’m totally a “What did you do to them?”.  I learned early on that Firecracker is a “tornado”.  He inflicts as much damage as is done to him.  Most of the time the damage is not inflicted intentionally, but it does occur.  I’m not living in a rose colored world where my children can do no wrong.  I’m too realistic for that mess.

3} Would you confront a good friend that looked/looks down on your husband/significant other?
     Honestly, probably not.  I’m an “avoid confrontation, unless you absolutely have to” kind of person.  So to be completely honest I would probably just spend a lot less time with that “friend”.  Thankfully, I am not in this conundrum, because most of my friends and family like the Hubs better than they do me!  I can’t really blame them, the Hubs is a thoroughly loveable, kind and generous person!

4} Biggest pet peeve?
     I don’t know that I can pick just one pet peeve.  There are so many…. Let’s see, People that don’t wear clothes that actually cover everything that’s important.  People that judge you over how you’re disciplining your kids, although they have NO children.  I don’t care who you are, if you don’t have kids you are not qualified to give parenting advice.  Umm I’m sure there are more, but in light of the fact that we all have other things to do at some point today we’ll end it here.

5} What's your favorite take out meal?

     Pizza for sure.  Ohh or Chinese.  Ohhh or if I’m in the mood there’s nothing better than a big greasy burger.  Ok, I’m not hard to please anything that I don’t have to cook and clean up after is a great meal.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Ms. T

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Go Carts

A couple of weeks ago we went to one of the many birthday parties and this one was at an arcade and out door fun park.  When we were driving there the Hubs was psyched about taking the Firecracker on the go carts.  However, as we got closer the sky was threatening rain.  This put a "damper" (Hahaha pun intended!) on the Hub's spirits. 

After we had been at the fun park for a little bit the rain had stopped and the go cart track was reopened.  Guess who nearly ran outside to buy tickets?  You guessed it!  The Hubs and Firecracker had a great time riding and Sweet Pea and I watched them and waved every time they went by.  Throw in some birthday cake and it's a recipe for a great time =).

 

Hope you all have a great day!

Ms. T 
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Bowling

A couple of weeks ago my friend, Ms. H (who is also O's mommy) and I took our boys, Firecracker and O, bowling. The boys LOVED it.  

It took a long time for the ball to actually reach the pins most of the time, but they had fun ;).  Not to mention the slow going made the game last longer =).  Here are a few pictures of our fun:

Ms. H helping O bowl and watching to see how many pins he knocked down

Firecracker doing his victory dance (he did this after every time he bowled whether or not he knocked any down =)

Their end score was exactly the same.  What are the odds?  Look at the speed the ball went... yep pretty slow! hahaha!

  Hope you have a great day!
Ms. T

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Another Rainy Day Activity

I tell you what we have been getting our fair share of rain the past few weeks.  It seems too, whenever O comes over to play it ends up pouring.  Thus making it hard for 2 little boys to get out their energy.  Leaving this Mama trying her hardest to think up ways to get them to exert some energy without tearing up the house too much! =)

I decided to make an obstacle course using things on hand.  The boys LOVED it!  They ran through it multiple times each.  Now I'm not saying that all of their energy was expended, because they are 3 year old boys, only a 5k followed by playing at the park for about an hour would completely expend all of their energies.  At least I'm guessing.  Anyway, here are some pictures of the boys enjoying the obstacle course.  Much fun, and many giggles were had!

First they crawled through a tunnel, then they climbed the couch cushion mountain ;)

after the cushion mountain was conquered they would jump and hit the balloon hanging from the ceiling then climb over an upside down bin and then through another tunnel (that isn't pictured, but it's just like the other one =)

Hope you all have a great day!

Ms. T

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Busy Weekend

This weekend was busy, but fun!  Saturday we had a birthday party for Ms. L's daughter, Little Miss.  We enjoyed ourselves so much!  It was at a park so of course the kids loved running around getting filthy and being semi free ;).  At this point I would add some super cute pictures, but unfortunately I cannot find my camera cord to hook it up to my computer.... URRRGGG!

Anywho, after the birthday party we went to a friend's house for a cook out.  We don't get to see those friends nearly enough.  It was a fun visit.  We laughed, talked, and watched our boys run around being crazy people and Sweet Pea doing her best to keep up.  It was a great time of fellowship, and of course the food was great too!  

 Then of course Sunday was church and then we went to my parent's house to have lunch and to rest for the afternoon.  Then church again.  A busy weekend, but a great weekend!

Hope you all have a great day!  See ya tomorrow =)

Ms. T 


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5 Question Friday

Good Morning, Friends!  I hope you had a great week and your weekend rocks!  We have a super busy schedule tomorrow, but it’s all fun stuff =). 

On with the 5 question Friday fun!  Once again thanks to Mama M. for letting me link up!

1. What's your view on men wearing sandals (yay or nay)?

     I’m all about a guy wearing flip flops.  Why should we chickadees get all the comfortable easy to slip on on the way out the door? 

    Regular sandals on guys are a big no no for me though.  I guess I’ve seen one too many guys wearing socks with their sandals.  And I don’t care what you think, guys, just because your socks are the same color as your sandals doesn’t mean you’re fooling anybody!! 

2. What song do you love but are embarrassed to admit?

     I don’t think I have a song that I’m embarrassed to say I love.  That kind of stuff doesn’t really embarrass me.  I have plenty of other stuff to get embarrassed about.  I have to save up all my embarrassment for the really embarrassing stuff.  Like when my best friend and I were running in the church and my foot slipped and I ended up on the ground, and because she was so close behind me I tripped her and she ended up on top of me in front of everyone in the building….  Let’s just say it wasn’t my proudest moment! Hahaha!

3. What summer camp should they make for moms? 

     A quiet, place where moms can come and read or sleep as long as they’d like.  That would be the BEST summer camp ever!!!  I would totally sign up for that one for sure!!

4. What is the most romantic song? (Not necessarily your favorite or your wedding song...)

     I would have to go with “I Will Always Love You”.  It’s a timeless classic.  Even though you’re not asking I’m going to give you a bonus answer ;).  I love love love, “Baby You Save Me” by Kenney Chesney.  That happens to be the Hub’s and I’s song.

5. Do you have an embarrassing pregnancy story?

     Why yes, yes I do have an embarrassing pregnancy story.  Thank you so much for asking!  I was only about 3 months pregnant and the Hub’s and I were at church (I don’t know why this stuff always happens at church?  Maybe I just really like having an audience?! Hahaha!), sitting in the balcony.  We got up to leave and the heel of my shoe caught on the step on the way down and I ended up falling right on my booty.  I am pretty sure I turned every shade of red in the book, and I might of invented a few more colors of it, you’rewelcome, Crayola!

Alrighty, that’s it for me!  Peace out!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Ms. T

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Swim Lessons

 Yesterday, Firecracker went to his very first swim lesson!  I wanted to get him into swim lessons last year, but having a 2 month old at home made it difficult for me to do anything outside of the house! =)


Anywho, the swim lesson went very well once he was peeled off of my legs and stopped crying =(.  I hid behind the bushed and watched my little boy kicking in the water and talking to the instructor.  


Today was swim lesson #2.  Let's just say I was hoping it would go a little smoother so I could actually watch from a decent spot rather than hiding behind the bushes!  Firecracker told me as we were walking up the Recreation complex that he didn't want to go to swim lessons.  It was ok for Sweet Pea and I to go and he would wait for us in the car!  This statement made me a little nervous, but as soon as he saw his instructor he went right on in and didn't cry at all!!! 


I'm so proud of my little man!  Here are a few pictures of him  at his swim lessons (these are from today, because as you can tell they weren't taken from the bushes ;).

He's listening and holding onto his blue rubber duck that he got to use during one of the exercises.

 Hope you all have a great day!
Ms. T

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Random

Here are a few things that aren't long enough to be actual posts all by themselves so I'm combining a bunch of random stuff.

- Forgetting to take your antidepressants 2 times in a row= Panic attack

- Magnum double chocolate ice cream bars.... DELICIOUS!!!

- Apparently "bam baids" (aka band aids) heal imaginary wounds for 3 year olds, at least 3 year olds named Firecracker ;).

- Pig tails are quite possibly the cutest things you could do to a little girl's hair.  I'll show you:

aren't they just adorable?!
  
Great news!!!  Ms. L once again has internet and she will be joining us again SOON!!!!!  YIPPEE!!!!!


Hope you all have a great day!

Ms. T


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Great & Not So Great

Great- Potty trained 3 year old

Not so great- a DISTRACTED potty trained 3 year old BOY! YUCK!

Great- A kid that eats their dinner

Not so great- When that same kid refuses to eat their dinner while sitting in their chair and instead throws 90% of it on the floor.  Then when you take them down out of the chair they eat the food off the floor.... I will never understand this.

Great- Grape juice
Also Great- Iced tea

Not so great- A grape juice and iced tea mixture!  SICK NASTY!  Don't ask me how I know this.....

And this concludes our session for today, friends!  I hope you have a great day!

Ms. T


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5 Question Friday

Good Morning, or Afternoon, or Evening (whatever time you choose to read this)!  Ok on second thought that was a way too long greeting, but since it’s already there, I’m going with it. =)  I hope all of your 4^th of Julys went as wonderfully as ours did.  It was relaxing and fun.  And now my days are all messed up, because we aren’t supposed to have a day off in the middle of the week…. So my schedule is wacked, but in a good way, so any other time the Hub’s bosses wanna give him a day off in the middle of the week, I’d be down with it ;). 

Ok, so enough with the chit chat, let’s get down to the 5 question Friday fun!  Once again thanks to Mama M. for letting me link up!

1. Is love at 1st sight possible?
    It is possible, but not favorable.  Often you are attracted to someone’s looks, but too often their character isn’t as charming as their looks.  And, my friends, looks fade, but the other’s character you’ll be stuck with. 

     I will say I have met couples that have had the love at 1^st sight happen to them, and they are happy and have been married for years.  But they are often the exception, not the rule.

2. How did you choose your pet's name?
     This one is easy peasy.  We have no pet.  Yes, you heard me right NO pet. The Hubs would love to have a pet, but I feel I have enough poop to clean up without an animal.  Thankyouverymuch!  Maybe, and I stress MAYBE, when the Firecracker gets to be 6 or 7 we can talk about getting a pet.  As for now, I’m sticking to my guns.

3. What are you considering giving up (cable, home phone)?
     We have been talking about giving up our cable and getting Netflix or Amazon Prime.  We’re talking about it seriously.  Once we make a decision I will let you know if we follow through.  I will say it’s uber tempting to be out from under that bill……

4. How much do you pay your babysitter?
     NADA.  We have a delightful arrangement with my in laws, the Hub’s brother and his wife.  They go out one Saturday night and we watch their kids, and then we go out a different night and they watch ours.  It’s fabulous!  And if we need a babysitter other times we have my parents nearby.  (Which is SOOOO wondermous!)

5. How "young" is old enough to babysit?

     This is a question that causes much debate in our house.  You see the world was a different place when the Hubs and I grew up.  We both were babysitting by the age of 12.  Personally now that I have children of my own I look back and think, “What were they thinking leaving their kids alone with a 12 year old?!” Granted, the Hubs and I were mature for our age, but still I couldn’t bring myself to leave my kid with someone that young.  We have a good friend that has a daughter that is 14 and she has stayed with the kids a few times when I had errands to run.  So I guess my answer to that would be 14.  Gosh, that was a looong round about way of giving an answer wasn’t it?! =)

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Ms. T

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The 4th!

Happy 4th of July!!  I hope while you're having your cook outs and family fun you remember just how wonderful our country is!

Take time today to thank a Veteran and our Lord for our awesome country!! Have a safe and happy Independence day!!

Ms. T

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Conversation

Conversation I just had with Firecracker about Sweet Pea:

Firecracker: "Aww she's so cute"

Me: "That's sweet, buddy.  You're cute too"

F: "No, I not cute"

M: "Why are you not cute?"

F: "Sweet Pea is a girl, she's cute"

M: "And you're a boy, and you're cute"

F: "No, boys aren't cute"

Hahahaha!  He cracks me up!

Have a great day!
Ms. T



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5 Question Monday

I know that I’ve missed 2 5 question Fridays, so to make it up to you partially I’m going to do a 5 question Monday! =)

Alrighty, here goes the fun!

    1.  What's your favorite childhood snack that you still eat as an adult?

     Popcorn balls.  Yummy!!  These bring me back to my childhood.

2. What food will you not eat the low fat version of?
     Hmmmm… I don’t think I’ve found one yet.  Although, I’m not averse to eating whole fat foods either, if I’m splurging.  Let’s just say, I’m an equal opportunity eater.  I’m a food-aholic, and I admit it!

3. What's your favorite way to cool off during the summer?

     A dip in the pool is such a refreshing way to cool off during the summer!  Ahhhh!  Now I want to go to the pool… Who’s with me?! ;)

4. What's your favorite summer read?
     I am unsure exactly what a “summer read” is.  Is it a book that you read only during the summer?  Or a book that I’ve read this particular summer?  Well, I’m going to answer it as the latter.  My favorite book I’ve read this summer is either A Pemberly Medley  or The Bridesmaid’s Lotto.  They’re very very different, but both of them are good reads, at least if you like romance. 

5. What are you doing to stay cool in this awful heat?

     Mostly staying in the shade.  And sometimes I hop in the kiddie pool with the Firecracker while Sweet Pea is taking her morning nap.   I’m not gonna lie, it’s nice even if I’m a smidgen too big for it ;).  Honestly, it hasn’t been as super hot as it usually is this time of year.  So it hasn’t been too bad, but now the heat is kicking in and the need for the shade is growing, not to mention the need for air conditioning.  Good, Lord, show me the person that invented air conditioning and I will kiss them, unless they’re dead I draw the line at kissing dead people.

Hope you have a fantastic week!

Ms. T

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