Bedtime Fight

The current score is Mommy & Daddy 2, Karsyn 0. Tonight the fight only lasted 45 minutes compared to 1 hour + last night. We're getting better...

All or Nothing

I'm an all or nothing kind of girl...I always seem to make big changes all at once.

When I was engaged to Lamar, we had set a wedding date of June 7, 2002. Plans were coming along nicely--dress picked out, bridesmaids dresses chosen, flowers bought, etc. One day, Lolly and I were having lunch and we discussed moving it up. Lamar and I both had full time jobs and I hated him living 45 minutes away. So, we moved the date up to December 28, 2001. College graduation - December 14, Christmas and then our wedding. We could manage...

Fast foward to Landrie's potty training. We were moving to a new house, having our second baby and working full-time. Why not try to potty train her? Needless to say, it didn't work.

Tonight I figured was as good as any to transition Karsyn to her BIG bed. This is in the midst of cleaning out the garage, cooking dinner and organizing the girls' rooms. If you know Karsyn, you know that we had a fight on our hands. She loved being in the room with Landrie, but she had a case of the sillies. After several spankings and warnings, she finally fell asleep. I went to check on her and this is what I found:

How can you be mad or frustrated after you see this sweet thing! I think she must have crashed in the middle of climbing back into bed. She's a sneaky thing! Hopefully tomorrow will be a little easier.

Spring Cleaning

I always have the best of intentions--for example: hanging fans, fixing furniture, re-doing the girls' rooms, etc. Lolly knows that procrastination is one of my father-given traits (Thanks Pops!), so she called me on it. This time though, she offered to help.

Saturday morning she showed up to my house armed with cleaning supplies (her recommended brands--I do own my own too), baskets and bins for organizing and her two helping hands. We swept and scrubbed and cleaned until our fingers were raw. My house was way dirtier than it appeared. We found all the dust-bunnies in every nook and crannie in my front room, kitchen and living rooms. It is unbelivable the difference.

I hate to admit any of this--I don't want ya'll to think my house was crawling with rodents or roaches or anything. It's not. I just don't have take the time to deep clean.

This afternoon, we tackled the garage. When we moved into our house nearly two years ago, we had lots and lots of boxes. Most of them were storage type things, but Lolly decided it was time to be Nate Berkus. She stood along with me as I went through each box and decided what was keep, Goodwill and throw away. I am proud to say that we took 2 loads to Goodwill, dumped a ton at a local dumpster and only have a few things to deal with here at home.

Funny story - the only thing I "found" was my social security card--kind of important!!

The final task this week is to tame the beast otherwise known as Karsyn & Landrie's rooms. I am converting Karsyn's room into our playroom and moving both girls in together. The transition will definitely be interesting! I'll be sure to take before and after pictures.

Thanks Lolly for all of your help! I appreciate it more than you know!!!

Crazy Day

When we're not dealing with WILD weather, we're dealing with other crazy things! Today our school was put on lockdown for close to 2 hours. When our principal came on the speaker and said "we're on lockdown" we knew it was for real. We quickly ushered students from out of the halls and away from the classroom doors. I had to go outside and lock our door and then went inside my classroom with another teacher and about 15 kids.

We were nervous for a while, but thankfully our local newspaper updated their website and we found out that there was a bank robber loose close to our campus. Once we knew that it wasn't a crazed student, we all felt relieved.

Things were a little tense today. You never know how you'll react in a situation like that and God definitely gave me a peace.

Thank you, Lord, for your protection over my school, my students and me. Amen!

PS: Landrie's Spring Program was tonight. I'll post video/pictures this weekend. Just a sneak preview though--she didn't have her finger in her nose!

Dump

I just dumped my camera and have a few random pictures to share:

Last week we had a crazy storm that caused a lot of damage in our area. We heard the sirens go off, so we woke the girls up at 3:30 and took them to their bathroom. Those sweet things snuggled up on Landrie's pillow and just layed there until the storm passed. It was too cute not to take a picture.

Miss Karsyn pulled out her Snow White dress up set this week and begged me to "open it Mommy." She loved it! She can put the shoes and skirt on by herself so that makes it great for me. She has pranced around in that outfit like crazy! I had to fight her to take it off for her check-up yesterday.

Speaking of check-up: Karsyn was 35 1/2 inches tall (90%) and 27.8 lbs (60%). She's a big girl! I was excited to see she was over 35 inches...that means she can ride most of the rides at Disneyland! She's my little daredevil so I'm sure she'll love them all.

Summer-itis

As a teacher of seniors, we always talk about the infamous "Senioritis". By Spring Break, my kids are on the countdown for all of the end of the year excitement - prom, graduation, etc. Their desire for summer is infectious--I have a touch of summer-itis myself. We have 7 more Monday's at school!

I'm excited about our summer. We have a few things planned - another trip to Conroe with church friends, a 30th Birthday Celebration for Lamar, a trip to Disneyland and lots of fun and relaxation.

I pray that I can stay focused and finish strong!

Softball

It seems like we're always in some season or another. Softball season ended Monday night and Spring Football begins on the 16th. We went to our first game Monday. Landrie has gone to a few games with Daddy, but this was the first one for Karsyn and I. The weather was nice and the game was close by, so I picked up Sonic and headed to the field.

After the first game, the girls visited Daddy in the dugout. The team was really sweet and sang Happy Birthday to Karsyn. She loved it! We stayed in there as the second game started, but the girls were a little unruly. Karsyn wanted to go on the field, so we headed home. At least I got a few cute pics out of it.

The Party

Last weekend was fun and crazy - as usual. Lamar had 2 games on Saturday, so I had most of the party prep to myself. It actually went really smooth!

We had a family party with all of our cousins and ended up with close to 40 people! The weather was perfect, so the kids were able to play and eat outside. We are blessed with a very close extended family...it's fun, but a lot of chaos.

Here's some highlights from the fun day:



The Birthday Girl wasn't feeling 100% but she had LOTS of help opening her presents. All in all - it was a fun day!

Happy Birthday Karsyn Alyssa!

Happy Birthday, my sweet baby!

I couldn't imagine how I could love anyone as much as I loved Landrie and then you came along. My love mulitplied! I love you and Landrie both equally and so abundantly I cannot even describe.

You are such an energetic, happy and funny girl! You are fearless and do everything with a smile! I cannot wait to see what God has in store for your life--I know you will do great things!

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. " Psalm 139:13-14

These Boots Were Made for Walkin'

Karsyn found Landrie's old Cowgirl boots. They have been her newest accessory for the last few days. "Look at me, Mommy!" is her constant cry.

Ta-Da

Jennisa did such an awesome job and was able to turn my crazy vision into a work of art.


If you're interested in a re-design or just starting out, Jennisa's designs are so clever and fun and very reasonable. From the time we started working on it to now was less than 1 week! WOW! She does have a waiting list, but as you can tell - it's definitely worth the wait.

Thanks Jennisa! I absolutely love it! Thanks Lolly for this fun and unique birthday gift!!

Coming Soon...

A new blog design! Courtesy of Lolly & Jennisa at Once Upon a Blog!

Until the big reveal, here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure:

The hunt is on! Karsyn didn't have a clue last year. She did better this year, but still needed help.

The girls LOVE candy! I heard Landrie in the kitchen saying "this chocolate is good." I found her eating a giant easter egg. Yuck!

Another attempt at a family picture. Notice Lamar in his pink shirt - very handsome!

Crazy Cousins - minus Hayden + a friend of the Gainers. It's always a circus when we're all together, but so much fun!

Karsyn decided the fork was taking too much time. She decided the 2 fisted approach works much better. I guess she's practicing for her birthday on Saturday.

Get excited for my new blog! I can't wait for it to be up and running!