Monsters vs. Alien

The weather was gorgeous today, so after church we decided to take Anna Kate to the movie. We opted for the digital 3D showing of Monsters vs. Alien. I wish I had taken my big camera because my two favorite people were too cute in their 3D glasses (I'm sure I was a hoot too, but I didn't let them take a picture of me ;c) ).

The movie was good, but the best part was watching Anna Kate reach for, swat at and duck from things she saw through her 3D glasses!!!

Afterwards we made a quick trip to Home Depot for a few things. Within 10 minutes of being in the store, she fell asleep with her baby in the buggy. Precious ....
















She woke up when we stopped at Old Navy and insisted on going in with me to look for Spring/Summer shoes. We also breezed through TJ Maxx, where I found THE.CUTEST Laura Ashley dress for $9.99. I just love it when I find a bargain like that :c) It turns out our weekend was a success after all!

Tomorrow it's back to the old grind. Would you believe that my baby girl is having her Preschool Graduation pictures tomorrow??? *tears* It's unreal that she starts Kindergarten in less than 4 months!!!!! *sob*

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Rain Rain, Go AWAY!!!

Do you see that??? That's what we are currently experiencing and have been for the past 48 hours. Our backyard is standing in 3" of water, the back porch (the one we just stained and redecorated) is also standing in 3" of water. We have red clay mud pouring down our front yard and into the street, along with just about all the gravel in the second driveway (where our RV is parked)....the RV is probably the next thing we'll see floating down the street...*sigh* To say that we are fed up with the rain would be a major understatement.

We had plans to go see Monsters vs. Aliens at the theater today, but as luck would have it we are held up in the house for who knows how long. Ug!!! Add that to a sick and whiny Anna Kate and it's not a happy place in our home right now.

I have laundry to do, but I'm afraid to get it started for fear the power will go out which leave wet clothes in the washer. So instead of all the fun things we had planned for today, I have completed a photography print and birth announcements order for a client, took a short nap and stripped the sheets off all the beds. Yep, that's my day. *Oh Joy*......

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More party details...

I guess I shouldn't spoil the surprise of Anna Kate's birthday party, but I'm just so excited I can't help it. I HAVE to show someone :-)

As I said in the previous post, the party is a spend-the-night party with three of her friends. I have enlisted our babysitter to assist me during the activities and she will spend the night as well. Here are a few details...

I am going to make sleep shirts (too big t-shirts) for the girls to wear the night of the party.

FRONT OF SHIRT:


















BACK OF SHIRT (to be at top like a jersey):








Drop off is at 6PM Friday night. When the girls walk in the front door Hannah Montana's bodyguard (AKA - Jeff) will place a backstage pass around their necks. They will walk the red carpet (red paper on the foyer floor) to the backstage (screened in back porch). There will be HM music playing through the surround sound and the back porch will have a make-up station (table w/ pink cloth and mirror covered in pink feather boas), tattoo parlor (temporary glitter HM tattoos), pedicure/manicure chair (painted toes & fingers), hair station (we will streak hair with washable hair paint) and finally to the 'paparazzi photo shoot'. After their makeovers I have inflatable guitars and microphones for their photo shoots. It's going to be so cute!

HERE IS THE BACKSTAGE PASS:























We will follow that up with dinner and cake (guitar shape) and then some free playtime. 9:00 is set up camp in the den, I will put in a HM movie and lights out. Hopefully they will fall asleep pretty quickly, but our sitter will stay out there with them to keep an eye on things. I will fix breakfast the following morning and pick up time is 9AM.

Have I mentioned how much I ADORE etsy.com? This is Anna Kate's birthday party outfit:

























Now, are you as excited about this party as I am????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (lol)

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Party time!!!!!

I can't believe it's time to start planning another birthday party already! My baby girl will be five years old in a few short weeks.....HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?!?!

After months of deliberating and flipping through party supply catalogs, Anna Kate has finally decided on the party theme.



The million dollar question is, how will I survive fifteen hours of four five year old girls giggling, squealing, dancing and singing Hannah Montana????? **sigh**

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Quality Time

As I said yesterday, I had to come into work yesterday and today, which meant Jeff and Anna Kate on their own ;c) Things have been busy at the office so I haven't had a lot of time to check on them. I was surprised and relieved to get a few pix messages from them showing they were having a good time.

They went out on the boat yesterday afternoon for a couple of hours.

*Anna Kate sporting her new life jacket she talked daddy out of (my girl knows how to work it!)*

*She just LOVES being on the water. We all do, really.*

And then today they ventured out to another city to pick up a few things. Jeff just sent me this picture......doesn't she look precious? :c) She's such an angel when sleeping - - I kid, I kid.

Have a great weekend everyone. We hope to finish the back porch, so check back for updates.

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Spring Break

It is Spring Break here and it's been wonderful so far. Sunday and Monday it literally rained non-stop, so we were couped up in the house, but we watched movies (I highly recommend Madagascar 2 if you haven't seen it) and just enjoyed each other's company. Tuesday the sun finally broke through and the rain dried up. Jeff and Anna Kate pretty much spent the day outside pressure washing the house while I cleaned inside.....another all day job! Sound like fun? Wait, it gets better....

We have decided to re-do our screened in back porch. It had that indoor/outdoor carpet down that when it rained would flood and then stink to high heaven. (We have had a total of four of Anna Kate's birthday parties ruined from this very thing.) Well, that carpet is GONE and I say good riddance!!! Yesterday we ripped it out, then pressure washed the ceiling, walls and concrete floor and this afternoon we are going to stain the floor. I am so excited to do this! I've always wanted one of those cool concrete floors you see in restaurants, and now I get to have one :c) More on this later.

After we finished cleaning the porch, we all took showers and got ready for Anna Kate's first Auburn basketball game. She was so excited! It was the first round of the NIT, which we came out of with a 'W'...War Eagle! The game was so fast paced compared to football (which AK completely understands for the most part), so I don't think she could really follow what was happening, but it didn't take long for her to pick up on when AU did something good. She cheered and danced just like any loyal Tiger fan should. She even had the opportunity to have her picture made with the Auburn University Tiger Paw Dancers. As we were waiting to go down to the floor she said, 'Mama, I'm nervous' - how cute is that?!

Oh, and Jeff & I have officially entered the phase of parenthood where we are embarrassing to our daughter. Here's the story...

*Anna Kate is sitting in mama's lap who is setting beside daddy, while watching the Auburn basketball game.

*AU scores 3 points

* Mama & Daddy clap and holler loud (along with the other AU fans)


* Anna Kate buries her face in mama's chest (I thought we had scared her due to the noise)


ME: "Anna Kate baby, what's wrong?"


AK: "Mama, when you and daddy clap loud like that you embarrass me!"

*insert rolling eyes here* I guess this is only the beginning. Great.

Anyway, back to the back porch re-do ... Here are pictures of the porch as a clean slate.


You will have to stay tuned for pictures of the 'After' :c)

But before I close I just wanted to share a cute 'funny' from Jeff & Anna Kate's day together today (I had to come into work). This is the conversation I had with them on the way to lunch.
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ME talking to AK: "Hey sweetie, what are you doing?"

AK: "Mama, I came outside with no shoes and my shorts unbuttoned and unzipped."

ME: "Why are you outside without shoes and your shorts undone?"

AK: "Mama, I just wanted to see what would happen." (duh!)

ME: "Can I talk to Daddy please?"

Jeff: "Anna Kate, put your clothes back on and get in the house."

ME: "Um, why is the child outside with no clothes on?"

Jeff: "She says she has to poop."

*Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay*

Jeff: "Barkley (the dog) get in the house right now! Go now. Get! No, no Barkley. Anna Kate, do NOT let him back out of the house. I said NO!!!"

Jeff says to me: "They don't make enough Zoloft for this...."

*ROFLOL* Welcome to my world honey :c)

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Making up for lost time...

No, we didn't fall off the face of the earth, despite the absence of an update. It's just been a crazy 2 weeks!!! So where do I start?

In the past almost 5 years (since Anna Kate was born) Jeff & I haven't been on a vacation by ourselves. I know, I know...we now know that it is imperative to sneak off together and focus on us as a couple, not just AK's parents. I think we both lost site of that because of everything we had been through to just get our little girlie here.

Last week we actually did it, went on a trip, just the two of us !!!! Jeff met his Dad and Stepmother in Auburn on Wednesday and made the 'kid transfer'. I was a little nervous about how she would do for 3 nights and 4 days without us (typically, 2 nights is her limit and she's wanting her mama fix), but she did great. In fact, every time I tried to talk to her on the phone she would reply with , "Mama, I will talk to you later. I'm busy playing right now." Well excuuuuuse me... :c)

So where did Jeff & I go? Destin of course - our favorite place. We stayed at the Grand Resort at Sandestin and it was gorgeous!!! We had a one bedroom condo that was very comfy and QUIET! We had wonderful food and drinks. I can't tell you how nice it was to relax and enjoy each other as a couple in peace and quiet. Of course we missed our little 'Boodles', but the time away was honestly the best thing we have done in what seems like forever. I highly recommend it :c)

Anna Kate played with her cousins Tucker & Tatum. I heard reports that they referred to one another as 'Big Sister' and 'Little Sister' (Tatum is 2 years younger than AK). They played with Aunt Stacy's old Barbies, went to the park, fed the ducks, had picnics and sleepovers with MeeMee. And of course Anna Kate came home with two new outfits, hair bows to match and a ballerina nightgown. No doubt she was spoiled rotten while we were gone! I have a few pictures to share, but they are on my home computer so I will upload those when I get home.

Anna Kate, Tucker & Tatum

Little Sister & Big Sister

Spring Break is next week and all three of us are looking forward to it. Every day this week Anna Kate has asked me how many more days of school she has. I think she's ready for a break with Mama and Daddy. Jeff is on vacation all of next week and I am on leave Wednesday - Friday. We have a few things planned; we are going to clean out the garage (trust me, that is not a project for the faint of heart) and we are redoing our screened in back porch. That's the project I'm most excited about. We are ripping the outdoor carpet up and staining the concrete. I want a Tuscan look out there and I think this color will work, don't you?

So it's going to be a busy week, but fun. We are planning a visit with Jeff's Mom (day trip) and the rest of the time is family time. Although, Jeff & I might have to sneak out for a date one night. Any sitters available???

Oh, one more thing before I close - I took this picture of AK & I with my Blackberry Monday morning. She was so cute singing Hannah Montana and wanted to capture her expression, but she insisted on a picture with mama, lol. I love it!

**Come back and check for the other picture I upload**

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IT'S SNOWING!!!!

In South Alabama, of all places. That's like saying it is snowing in the Caribbean!

We woke up at 6:30 with it spitting snow and by 12:30 it was coming down like crazy. It still is, but it won't stick because it was 70* yesterday, so the ground is too warm. Still, it's so pretty. We have been outside a couple of times to play and I'm quite sure we will go out several more as long as Anna Kate can spot even one teeny tiny spec of white.

Here are a few pictures - it's Anna Kate's first time in the snow :)

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