Monday, November 12, 2007

Girls Weekend ...

So this weekend one of my best girlfriends in the whole world.... JM came up to visit w/ her very very cute daughters! We had a girl's weekend and it was so much fun! WHOO HOO! JM's grandfather lives near me & JM, her husband and the girls live about 3 hours North of where I live. So it was quite the time this weekend and I don't think I've seen them since well it must've been March, I guess. We did a whole bunch of girly type things .... such as braiding hair! I braided both girl's hair (CD & KF)! It turned out super cute if you ask me! As I braided CD's hair I said a quiet little prayer to God that I might be blessed someday w/ a beautiful little girl who likes to have her hair braided. On Saturday after visiting w/ JM's Grandpa, they came over to my house to see my mom & IV who were waiting to see them. We played w/ the baby although neither one of the girls like babies very well. Tee hee it was kind of cute because IV being the little personality that she is decided it was okay that they didn't like babies she was going to follow them around anyway! I had been collecting clothes to give to JM and I gave her 3 huge boxes of clothes to use for work, home etc. I'm so happy that I could bless their family with something that I could no longer use; especially when I've been low on money and have been concerned about affording Christmas presents. I was just glad that they came down to visit and pick them up because the boxes were very heavy and would've cost a mint to send in the mail. After playing fashion and going through all the clothes we had a quick trip to the store so I could grab a few things and then head back home, where I got to make dinner for everyone :)! I love to entertain. The girls even liked my food. I made baked chicken w/ potatos, green beans, and whole grain bread - although I did catch my oven mitt on fire and then proceeded to forget about and burn the top of the bread. Opps... never said I was perfect. Either way we had quite the laugh. We ended up cleaning up after dinner and getting the girls in the jammies & the girls picked out a movie and we made popcorn and watched Cinderella 2. Actually we only made it through part of the movie and we were all tired so we crashed. The next morning we all got up and it was very quiet. I made some homemade blueberry muffins and eggs for breakfast which went over very well! I even packed two muffins for JM's husband. After the girls took a bath, I braided hair again! It was too cute the day before not to braid it again, and we just hung out at home talking and playing w/ the girls. After having some Subway for lunch we all worked together to pack up the car for them & that was when we realized how warm it was outside and so I asked JM if I could take the girls for wheeler rides quick before they left.... CD was so good and so excited on the wheeler. She just loved it. Not scared, just so excited and she didn't mind the bumps and the hills or even a little mud! What a wonderful way to cap off a great weekend! I took KF for a ride too but she kept telling me I was going too fast so we slowed it down to 10 miles an hour vs. 15. KF is more of a princess little girl and younger than her sister.... not so adventerous! KF did say at the end that she decided she liked the wheeler when it didn't go too fast! Tee hee! So all's well that ends well I guess! Here are some pictures from the weekend they were all taken on Sunday right before they left because we were having so much fun before hand .... I have to say I honestly forgot about the camera till the last minute!

CD & KF - sporting their cute little french braids that I did for them :)!

This is KF, me and CD together ... the both said they can't wait to come back to Manda's house and KF tried to pull me into their car at the last minute before they left! How Sweet is that!

JM, KF, and me .... sorry I'm squinting in all of the pictures ... the sun was so bright and I'm really not use to that!

Me & CD my new little wheeling buddy... I told her next summer that we need to get her some muddin' boots and a helmet so I can take her up North Trail riding ... but we'll have to make sure and bring the SPF 50 since we are both fair skinned beauties!
Hope everyone had a great weekend! I know I had so much fun! A big thanks to JM for coming down to visit w/ me and bringing her beautiful girls! Happy Monday all.......

Thursday, November 8, 2007

I've Been Tagged...

Good Morning Everyone....

I was tagged by Rachel to list 8 random things about me. So here goes:

8 Random Things About Me...

1. I love to clean around my house and organize. I also love flylady.net - it's one of my favorite sites, besides the blogs.

2. When I was growing up until we moved to Minnesota (when I was 11), we had atleast 12 horses at all times. I grew up in a large farming family. My Grandpa farmed, my uncle farmed, and so did my dad part time. I started riding horses at 2 or 3 and I don't know if I am now, but I used to be a very accomplished rider. I miss horse back riding so much & maybe I'll marry a country boy so I can have horses again someday.

3. I am one of those people who is really good w/ children and animals (even though I'm allergic to most animals & have asthma). It's been that way since I can remember. I'm the one in the grocery store or at the park who smiles at children and they smile and wave back at me even though I'm a stranger.

4. I went on vacation by myself to the Bahamas & had a blast. I've learned it's easier to make friends than I ever dreamed it could be. I also learned that being on your own and being your own company is one of those things that everyone should learn how to do. Loving yourself & who you are is very important.

5. I enjoy all types of music! Pop, Jazz, Classical, R&B, Rock, Rap, Dance, Ambient, Folk, Country... you name it I've probably got some of it on my iPod.

6. Someone asked me a few days ago.... if I had to pick my two favorite things to do what would they be...... I didn't think for two seconds before I said watching IV & going 4 wheeling. Watching IV is the best because she is just a wonderful baby. She smiles and laughs and is working so hard on trying to talk. IV loves it when you chase her around or when you play peek a boo. She rarely cries or makes a fuss, it's only when she is hungry, tired or has a dirty diaper. She is good at signing when she wants too & I love the way at night right before bed she snuggles with you, it's so sweet. 4 wheeling is wonderful because going up north is one of those things where it's nice to get away from the world for a day or two. No traffic, no loud noises, no craziness, no work, just exploring and trying new things. I like that I can go up north on a Saturday morning get muddy, climb hills, ride fast & hang out w/ friends. Then that same night go home shower clean up and go out dancing. It's almost like I get to explore another part of myself. I can't wait to go to South Dakota next May... it's only November and I'm still so excited.

7. I love to have house guests & host dinners at my home. I love to cook & watch people enjoy my banana bread or my muffins - both of which are pretty famous from the people who know me well! I like that I have a spare bedroom for guests to stay the night so I can make the nice breakfasts or healthy dinners for them to share w/ me. I love cleaning and getting the house ready for that and lighting the candles and picking out beautiful fresh flowers from Sam's Club. I love being a homemaker. Oh and if any of you make your way up North to MN give me a call, I've got a room open till it's transformed into a little nursery!

8. Which brings me to my last one... I'm sure that you already know this - but I'm excited about being a mom. I've always dreamed of being a parent and growing up I didn't really dream of a career as much as I dreamed of being a mom. I wanted to be a strict, but loving mom. Someone that my child would love & respect. I want to be the first one to hear about all their accomplishments and even the failures too... because to me it never mattered on having anything be perfect just having the family would be enough. I hope that I'm lucky enough to have it all someday. A wonderful husband to love who loves me and a child atleast one if not a few more than that. I know that God will bless me even if it is his time frame that I'm waiting for. I don't mind if I have a child that is hand-picked or home grown, but I've always wanted to adopt - and I know in my heart of all hearts that love has nothing to do with DNA or biology.

Thanks Rachel for tagging me... it's been a good post and reminded me of quite a few of the things that I'm thankful for in my life, some of the great memories I have of growing up and also some of the things that I have to look forward too...

So for me I'm thinking I'm going to TAG ... SIRA, JEANA, and CHRISTY

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

National Adoption Month

Since it's National Adoption month - I've been inspired by Becky and Debbie to change my font colors to purple! I tried to find a new template to turn to purple, but since I was unsucessful. I'm sticking with the text! Not much going on this week for me. With the weather changing I've been battling my asthma, which is the first time I've had any kind of trouble w/ my asthma since I started training w/ EV back in July. I was very shocked on Saturday when I was helping a friend move, that my asthma just came from no where; although I guess I should have known because in his old house they had dogs, cats, and birds. I don't know if I've blogged about this before or not, but I've had asthma ever since I was about 2 years old. I have lots of allergies to pets - most all kinds - and dust etc. Which is probably one of the reasons why I'm such a neat freak now a days. So I finished helping packing - but I knew by the afternoon that I wasn't feeling the best. So I missed Amy and Ryan's (http://rileyadoption.blogspot.com/) Jewelry show on Sunday :( ! I'm very disappointed. I am hoping to get to catch their next one soon! Plus w/ Christmas coming up - I think that I can take care of two things at once - get some Christmas presents & help them fundraise to bring home their little guy! I've also been thinking about contacting April (http://vietnambabygirlsmith.blogspot.com/) to see if she has any of the beautiful T-shirts left to sell for Christmas presents for the guys in my family! Does anyone else have any good ideas for Christmas gifts? Shh.... don't tell I already got IV her birthday and Christmas presents... she got bedding from Pottery Barn Baby.... IV's bedding is lavender and matches her room. My sister did such a beautiful job. I'll try to post pictures sometime soon! Here is a picture of the bedding though....



I think it goes along w/ this month's adoption theme. For all of you out there who are looking to decorate nurseries and might be interested in the bedding...
Here is the link: http://www.potterybarnkids.com/room/rom/romnur/romnurisa/index.cfm?cm%5Ftype=snav
Hope everyone is doing well! Keep posting! Mandy