Headache.

I thought my "period headaches" were gone.
I was wrong.

I woke up at 4:30 this morning with a splitting, can't open my eyes, want to throw-up kind of headache. I haven't had one of these headaches in several months since starting on a new BC pill. I wonder why it came back this morning?

Gosh ... it's really been a rough day. Griffin has been on his very best behavior. I actually layed down on the couch earlier today while he was playing and he came over and sat on my legs and was rubbing them. He acted like he knew Mommy wasn't feeling well and he wanted to take care of me. Also, when I put him down for a nap at 1:00, I took a little nap myself until about 2:15. That helped alot. I am feeling a little bit better. I really hope these headaches do not come back every month. They really knock me down.

Itchy.

Ya'll ... my back is itching and it's driving me crazy!!! I've been in the sun quite a bit the past few days and now I'm beginning to peel. Uggghhh!!! Hopefully I'll tan a bit and this won't happen again.

Not too much going on in our neck of the woods. We did go to Fighting Creek Park in Powhatan today ... I'll blog about that Thursday.

'night!

Memorial Day Weekend.

This is a sweet little collection of some of my favorite things I used in a center piece for this weekend. The greenery and daisies came straight from my yard. The American Flag is something I kept from a visit to Washington, DC several years ago. If I remember correctly they gave them away while we were visiting Arlington National Cemetary. And I've placed all of these sweet pieces in one of my favorite Williamsburg Pottery vases.

Sweet. Simple. Summery.

Mike arrived home on Saturday and after picking him up at the airport we had lunch at Uno's Chicago Pizza. Yummmmm! I do not really care for "crusty pizza" too much, I like really thin crust ... but this deep dish pizza was to die for!!

Sunday we had a cookout with the Bishops (Heidi, Jeff, Ryan & Evan). That was alot of fun to get our families together again.

Monday felt like Sunday all day long. Mike finished staining the remaining pieces of Griffin's play set. That means we can begin putting it together this coming weekend. He is going to love playing on it.

Today ... it was back to the Y for some more swimming ... fun, fun, fun!!

I'm going to try to work tonight. I've got alot of ideas swimming around in my head and I want to create something new!! Maybe I will be able to share some fun, new things in a few days.

Relax.

Sometimes you just gotta kick back and enjoy a good book.

YMCA

We joined the YMCA yesterday ... one of the BEST things I've ever done. Oh my gosh, I don't know why we haven't joined before.

We went swimming for 3 hours and had the BEST time. Griffin loved it. I had my camera with me, but felt it was unsafe to leave him in the water (even for a moment) to get it to take pictures. It's the first time Griffin has ever been in a real swimming pool. He's been in those little plastic kiddie pools, but not "the water can be over my head in an instant kind of pool" before.

He wasn't scared at all. Even after going under a few times, he'd cough a bit and then carry on playing. I just know we will be in that pool ALOT this summer.

I forgot to put suntan block on Griffin's face ... his little face is pretty red. And this morning when he woke up, after I picked him up he started crying. I pulled off his shirt and overnight certain areas of his shoulders turned a bit red too. He didn't understand, and was crying hysterically.. So, I took his shirt off (he's running around bare chested, which he NEVER does) and I put some lotion for sensitive skin on him. I've got to go to the pharmacy to get something today to help alleviate some of the sunburn pain. When I was little we used Solarcaine. Do they still make that?

Mike has been out of town all week, he's flying in today and we can not wait to see him. I really hope we have time this weekend to go to the pool as a family. I just know Mike will have as much fun as Griffin and I did.

The Glave Family wishes you a very happy and safe Memorial Day weekend!

Something To Think About.

The other day I was watching Oprah ... along with Bob Green, Oprah chose 5 people to participate in a weight loss program. One of the ladies participating was a stay-at-home-mom and she wrote something in her journal that kind of stayed with me.

She wrote:
"Other than raising my children, which I know is important, I feel like my life is meaningless and uninteresting".

I've been there. Feeling the same way.

But then, I realized ...
I needed to make some friends.
I needed to get out of the house.
I needed to be a participant.
I needed to enjoy life.

Don't get me wrong ... I still have THOSE kind of days every once in awhile, but knowing I have this sweet little guy to guide through life ... THAT gives my life meaning. Even just helping him to discover daisies for the first time (as in the picture above) ... that IS interesting.

I have a very important job.
I am a stay-at-home-mom.
And I love it.

BBQ ... Such Fun!

Yesterday we had our "First Annual Mommy/Daddy & Me BBQ Cookout" at Hidden Rock Park. We invited everyone from the play group and we had a GREAT turn out. It believe we had over 50 people there!

We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs (thank you Keisha for being our Grill Master!) and then we asked everyone to bring a side dish or snack. We had so much good food!


We also brought along sand toys ... that was a big hit. And Cyndi brought her bubble machine ... the kids LOVED that! We of course had the playground to keep the kids busy too.


Another big hit was the water sprinkler ... the kids LOVED this! At first we thought it might be too cold out (70s) ... but it warmed up enough for some of the kids to play in it. Not everyone chose too (which I understand) ... but those that did had SO much fun! Especially Griffin!


I just had to share this picture of Ryan and Sam. (I have their mothers' permission to do so). They are such cuties!! Heidi says they are the starting line-up for the future Goochland football team ... and I totally agree!

I wanted to say a GREAT BIG thank you to Keisha and Heidi for all that they did to make our BBQ Cookout a huge success! And also a HUGE thank you to everyone that came for coming together as a group with our children to have a fun and happy day.

Apolo and Julianne.

Photo by: CAROL KAELSON / ABC

Wow ... Wow ... Wow!!!

Dancing With The Stars had a fabulous finale last night!! Two deserving couples were in the finals. Apolo & Julianne and Joey & Kym. Wow!! Both of these couples were GREAT all season. From the get go I was a Apolo & Julianne fan. Joey & Kym were good also ... but A&J ... they just had "IT". And yes ... Apolo and Julianne won the much desired mirrored ball Dancing With The Stars trophy last night.

There were a couple of things that stood out to me last night ...

Wasn't it hilarious watching Ian wearing that white Elvis suit the entire night ... LOL ... everytime the camera scanned the audience, you could definately see Ian. Each couple comes back to the finale wearing the last costume they wore before being voted off ... LOL ... poor Ian.

It was soooo refreshing to hear HONEST comments by Laila. She was "pissed" (her word) that she didn't win. She was most definately a good sport about it. But it was so nice to see someone being "real" and not politically correct.

Okay ... the final thing ... WHY did the couples get scored on the final dance last night? You KNOW the judges would not give any one of them less than a 10. It was great seeing them dance one final time ... but why score it? That was a waste of time.

And finally ... no one came close to the memorable free-style dance that Drew & Cheryl did on Season 2. They danced a Cowboy themed free-style to "Save a Horese Ride a Cowboy" by Big & Rich. That is, and always will be my favorite dance EVER!

Today is the big BBQ day at the park. Griffin and I have been up since 6 am. I have the car packed already and all I have to do is grab the hamburgers, hotdogs and potato salad out of the fridge and we are set to go. I'm really looking forward to this. I think it will be a great day! I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

Love Being Mommy.

This is a picture of Griffin (green car) and Ryan (orange car in front of him) in the Barrell Cars at the Chesterfield Berry Farm on Mother's Day. They had so much fun.

You know ... I really LOVE being a Mommy ... really. For me, it's the BEST job in the world. Every day Griffin amazes me. It might be something he says, or something he does, or perhaps even something he doesn't do. I'm blessed to have such a wonderfully sweet, loving son. Right now he's actually surprising me by sleeping in. It's 7 am and he's still sleeping. This is so unlike him. He's usually up no later than 6 am. I've checked on him twice, he's absolutely fine ... and he's looking pretty adorable up there all snuggled in his bed.

Yesterday Heidi, Keisha, her husband Darrin and all of their children came over for a BBQ planning meeting. It was great fun. The kids had a playdate and we all got the final touches to the BBQ planning finished. Today Griffin and I have to run to Walmart before "Gym" to pick up hamburgers and hotdogs. I love those cooler bags ... if you don't have one, might I suggest they are a great investment. We'll head out about 8:30, buy the cold stuff, put it in the cooler bags and everything will be fine for at least 4+ hours. Wednesday is our "First Annual Mommy/Daddy & Me Cookout" ... I'm kind of excited about it.

My little sweet pea is starting to wake up ... gotta get upstairs for some sweet hugs and kisses from my boy.

Take care everyone!!

Up Early.

This is a picture of Griffin, Ryan and Heidi on Mike's tractor.

Good morning everyone! I am going to try to be better about blogging and leaving comments on my blogger's friends blogs this week. There are a few blogs that I absolutely can not get into lately. If a blog has alot of images or one of those Slide shows (which are cool by the way) ... I can't get in. It knocks my internet connection off and takes me forever to reboot the computer. I don't know why ... I feel sad about that because I can't visit some of my very favorite blogs.

We had a pretty uneventful weekend. Mike finally got his 2nd cross-country flying lesson in. Basically he has to travel 200+ miles and touch down at three airports (I think). He's been trying to get his done for awhile, but due to scheduling and weather he's had to re-schedule quite a few times. Now, he only has one more cross-country and it's SOLO! Oh my!

While Mike was flying, Griffin and I went to this Craft Show/Yard Sale at one of the local churches. One of our friends from the Mommy & Me Group was there selling her hair bows and homemade soaps. They are so, so cute! Then we went on to several different yard sales. I found a really cool American Flag throw for only $8.00 and 8 Nora Roberts books (love her!) for only 50 cents each. Can't pass up a bargain like that. Then we went to Michael's ... while we were there my friend Heidi called to say that the Ben Franklin store was having an awesome sale. Everything in the entire store was 1/3 off ... woo hoo! We went by there and I picked up a really cute album, a couple of toys for Griffin and some really pretty scrapbooking paper. That's it ... that was our weekend.

Today Heidi and (hopefully!) Keisha will be coming over to discuss the Mommy & Me BBQ we are planning for this Wednesday. As we are planning, the kids will be playing. We pretty much have everything all organized such as which family will be bringing what items, but there are things like aluminum foil, cooking utensils and such that we can bring from our own homes. So we are going to figure out who is bringing what in that way.

I've added a new section to my website (www.missymadeit.com) called "Fun Time Kids". They are cute little punch art kids holding various items and I am also offering matching accessories called "Fun Time Accessories". Do you like that name? I'm not really sure if I do or not. A couple of other ideas I had are "Simple Pleasures Kids" or "Sweet Smiles Kids" ... what do you think? Opinions please!

Well ... gotta get the house picked up before our guests arrive.
Hope you all have a GREAT day!

Family.

My brother Jerome lives in Florida and my sister Joy lives in North Carolina. We do not get to see them often enough.

When we were in Florida it was so much fun getting together with my brother Jerome and sister-in-law Bonnie. It really was like "old" times.


I want Griffin to know his uncle and aunts ... that's important to me. It was fun watching Jerome take care of Griffin and spending time with him. Griffin thought he deserved a high five!

Picture & The Story.

Does a picture always tell the story of what is actually happening?

Before I share the story of the above picture ... just imagine the story behind the photo you see ... okay ... got that vision in your mind?

Now ... here's the REAL story behind this picture ...

Our friends Heidi, Ryan, Evan, Griffin and I went for a walk down our road, hoping to see the horses at a neighbors house at the end of the road. As we are walking down the road, Griffin was literally stopping every 5 feet to pick flowers (only yellow dandelions mind you). We get to my neighbor Cyndi's drive-way and she has these fabulous purple flowers blooming. I snapped a picture of Griffin right then and there. We proceeded down the road, again stopping every 5 feet for Griffin to pick flowers and we did indeed see the horses.

Short ... sweet ... nothing spectacular happened ... but did you see this story in the picture above when you first looked at it? Did you know that every time Griffin stopped to pick up a flower that Ryan said "C'mon Griffin" in a big brotherly way? Could you tell it was a bright, sunny Monday with a cool breeze blowing?

My point is this ... it is SO very important to tell the story that goes along with the picture. No matter has simple or spectacular the event captured on film ... YOUR story, YOUR words, YOUR handwriting ... that's what makes the difference.

Water Hose.

Our side yard is full of dirt and moss ... it is in desperate need of some grass. The other day Mike planted some grass seed and tried to water it when Griffin and I were outside with him.

It was hilarious watching Griffin trying to jump in front of the water hose. He SO wanted to play in it. The cutest thing was watching him try to explain to Daddy (in his babble talk) WHY he should be able to run through the water hose.


Mike finally gave in ... Griffin had SO much fun running through the spray, getting soaked and then muddy.



Oh the JOYS of childhood.

Mother's Day At The Strawberry Festival

I was treated like a Queen on Mother's Day ... ya'll it was the BEST day ever!

We all woke up pretty early, but since it was Sunday (and Mother's Day) we all snuggled in the bed together for awhile. After we came downstairs, Mike made an orange cranberry breakfast cake for us ... it was delicious!

Then we went to the Strawberry Festival at Chesterfield Berry Farm ... it was so much fun. There was so much for all of us to do together. And we met up with our friends Heidi, Jeff, Ryan and Evan.

Later Sunday evening Mike grilled up the BEST hamburgers and hotdogs and I added some french fries and Paula Deen's cheesy corn-on-the-cob ... AND we ate outside on the deck.

It was the PERFECT day ...

Here's some fun pictures of us at the Strawberry Festival.


This is all of us ... not the greatest picture of me (my eyes were closed)


Mike and Griffin looking for the perfect strawberry


Yummm ... strawberries straight from the earth ...


Even more strawberries ...

It's A Girl ... It's A Boy

Two of my very dear friends had babies this past week ...

Congratulations Stephanie, Cory & Big Brother Bobby
Welcomes Baby Girl Sophia Maria
Born May 10
6 Pounds * 10 ounces
19 Inches Long

Congratulations Beth Anne, Kevin & Big Brother Gavin
Welcomes Baby Boy Garrett Linwood
Born May 13
8 Pounds * 12 ounces
21 Inches Long

And ... I had the MOST awesome Mother's Day ... I will blog about that tomorrow.

7 Weird Things About Moi.

I was tagged by my friend Andi to list "7 Weird Things About Me". Each player starts with 7 random weird facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged write their 7 things on their blog and post these rules. It also requests that I tag an additional 7 people ... but I think most folks that visit my blog have already been tagged ... so, if you would like to play, please do! Here goes ...

1. I do not like lettuce or cheese on a sandwich or tacos. If lettuce or cheese is on a sandwich/taco, that's all I can taste. Leave lettuce to salads only!

2. My real name is Melissa, but NOBODY calls me that. If someone calls on the telephone and they ask for "Melissa", then I know they do not personally know me.

3. I drink lots of iced tea ... but it has to be the plain brewed kind. I do not like the iced tea that comes in a can or liter bottle ... they just are NOT southern iced tea. And please ... leave the fruit flavors OUT of my iced tea.

4. I never paint my finger nails. I would love to, but since I'm in the "creative art" (read paper piecing) business, I'm afraid I will slice a bright red fingernail right across something I've just made and leave a mark ... so NO nail polish for me.

5. I have a fairly heavy southern accent ... and really ... it comes out really heavy when I'm around other people that do NOT have a southern accent. The other day my friend Heidi was over and I caught myself saying "yon't a drink" ... which in clear English was "Do you want a drink" ... LOL ... I really have to be careful!

6. I allow my ice cream to melt a full 20 minutes before enjoying it ... it tastes better that way. And I guess I should also say I like my Diet Pepsi flat and my Oreo's stale (soft).

7. I love my mother-in-law ... I know this may sound weird to some people, because it is often times hard to have a loving relationship with an in-law ... but Bett my MIL ... I really do love and respect her. Both of my parents have passed away and my MIL makes me feel like her child. She has always been there for me, I can call and talk to her about anything ... and I *know* that she loves Mike, Griffin and me with her entire heart. I just wished we lived closer ... I miss her.

Okay ... that's my 7 weird things ... care to share yours?

Still Here!

Hey everyone ... sometimes life gets so busy with the ordinary we just don't have time to blog.

Nothing exciting has been happening here ... just staying busy being a wife and mom. Everytime I think I have something to blog about ... I just can't seem to get to it. So I'm sitting here updating my blog with NOTHING to say ... but hello!

Oh ... I do have one thing to say ... Dancing with the Stars ... can you believe Joey and Kym were in the bottom two? Crazy!! I hope Apolo and Julianne win ... they are the BEST in my opinion. And Bruno's comments to Billy Ray (the whole crap thing) was totally unnecessary. Okay ... so if I can't blog about something fun and exciting ... I will blog about one of my favorite TV shows.

I haven't had alot of time to visit my blogger friends either ... maybe I will soon. Please know even though I haven't been by for a visit I'm still thinking about you!!

Take care everyone!

Inspiration.

It's funny the places we can find inspiration to be creative. For me, the inspiration to create this paper piecing was found just by looking out my kitchen window. I looked outside and saw Griffin's beach ball in the woods behind our house. Instantly I knew I wanted to create a "water" paper piecing, featuring a beach ball of course (I knew I had a sticker) ... and then the fun began! I'm pleased with the way this turned out. Finally ... I was able to create something!

Yesterday I was overwhelmed with emotion while watching The Queen's visit to Richmond. I guess it had alot to do with the fact that I had just read the book "A Royal Duty" by Paul Burrell. He was at one time Queen Elizabeth's footman (I think) and then went on to be Princess Diana's butler and close confidant. I read this book on the way home from Florida while in the car ... it was fascinating. Of course he shared all of the rules, pomp and circumstance to be on staff at the royal household. It was fascinating to see Americans reacting to The Queen. In my opinion we are a much more touchy, feely society than England (my opinion) ...

One interaction really caught my eye. Two ladies were holding flowers out for The Queen (she received every bouquet of flowers that was offered to her). She shook the first lady's hand ... but then by-passed the second lady that offered her hand to shake ... but the Governor was right behind The Queen and I guess he too saw what happened ... he took the 2nd lady into a great big bear hug. I was amazed and happy to see the Governor do this.

I haven't had a chance to read richmondtimesdispact.com today for all of the highlights ... but I will later today.

I hope you all have a safe and fun weekend!!

The Queen.

The Queen of England is currently in downtown Richmond on Capital Square, I'm watching it on our local news channel. I am sitting here with tears in my eyes watching her greet everyone.

Oh my gosh ... why am I crying?

It's history in the making ... that's why!!

More tomorrow ...

Sesame Street.

Griffin loves watching Sesame Street ... and lately I realize it's not just for Elmo.

He is learning ... his ABC's ... how to count ... how to recognize shapes ... characters ... people. It's fabulous. Yesterday he was sitting on the couch watching Sesame Street while I was working. They were counting to 14 ... he sat there and counted with them up to 8. Mike was in the kitchen working too and we both stopped what we were doing just to listen to our boy counting. It was a magical moment.

Warm Weather & Sunshine.

I am so loving the warm weather we've had this past week. We can get outside, play, take a walk, and enjoy the sunshine. This is my kinda weather.

Yesterday I was on the phone with Heidi and we were chatting away. I asked if they wanted to come over and she said yes ... it's so nice to have a friend that will come over on the spur of the moment. She's my kinda friend.

The weather was just perfect. The boys (Ryan, Griffin and Evan) enjoyed themselves. Blowing bubbles, playing ball, running around, getting dirty, climbing on the tractor ... my kinda fun!

The simple life ... yep ... it's my kinda life.