Bett & Me Layout.

Sunday I took a few minutes to create a really quick layout. This is a photo of my mother-in-law Bett and me that I've wanted to scrap for a long time. I just never knew "how" I wanted to scrap it. I found these great swirlies at Nicole Lombardo's Etsy Shop. They are really cool ... and I just knew I could use these on this particular page.

Although there were many different ways I could have made the page ... I decided to use this worn, rustic red background paper as the main color. Red is Bett's favorite color. And I love turquoise. The two rustic colors just went really well together.


Here's the completed page ... I think it looks rather bohemien.


A close up look of the picture ... this has been one of my all-time favorite pictures of us together.


And a close up of the swirlies ... I do not know what they actually call them ... but I call them swirlies. I made the little matching flowers using punches.

And ....

A few of you have asked about my new blog header ... isn't it just FABULOUS??? Oh my gosh ... I LOVE IT!! I found this great digital designer named Theresa Marie and she designed it for me!! You can find her blog by clicking HERE. She creates some of the most wonderful things!!

Feeling Better!

Look who's feeling better ...


It amazes me how fast he comes back after being sick.

I'm so glad he's feeling better and he's running around and playing just like normal!

I had so many emails about the tornados. Thank you so much for checking in on us. The tornados were south of us in Suffolk and Colonial Heights. There is such devastation there ... we will keep the residents in the area in our prayers.

Not Feeling So Good.

Griffin was sick on Sunday ... he ran a fever and did not have much of an appetite. He pretty much stayed on the couch all day and slept. That is SO not like him. He didn't have any cold symptoms and he wasn't throwing up. Just the fever and laying around. When he's not in the mood to play ... there's a problem.

He still had a fever this morning, so Mike and I agreed I should take him in to see the doctor. The doctor's waiting room was soooo full today! Good thing we were one of the first to arrive. We only had to wait about 30 minutes to see the doctor.

His fever had gone down (thanks to the Children's Tylenol) and she said his throat was red. He tested negative for strep throat (thank goodness!) and said I should just keep an eye on him for the next few days. If he's still running a fever on Wednesday I'm supposed to take him back in.

He did eat some cereal this morning, but he wouldn't even touch his lunch. He's asleep on the couch right now napping. I wanted him downstairs with me because it's easier for me to keep an eye on him.

I just want my little boy to feel better ...

Feeling SO Good.

Friday was just one of those GREAT days where the stars align and it turns into a fantastic day.

We met up with our friends Joanna and Evan at the YMCA for some swimming fun. After that we all came back to our house for a little picnic lunch outside under the trees. It was quite the poetic moment as flowers were literally raining down on us from the trees out back.

The boys had a great time running around the yard, playing on Fort Griffin and well, just being boys. Of course the minute I decided to take some pictures, my camera battery died. It was great fun spending the day with Joanna and Evan!!

And then ... Griffin took a good loooong nap ... and Mike was working at home ... soooo I did something for ME!!

I went to Salon Karma for a new haircut and color! Here you can see the results ...







Oh my goodness ... I sashayed out of the salon feeling SO good about myself. It's been a very long time since I've gone to an actual salon and had someone color my hair. Of course, I will not be able to get my hair to look like this myself ... but I am loving the results!!!

Stay At Home Kinda Day.

Yesterday was a stay at home kind of day. We are in potty training mode here at our house. Griffin is mostly wearing "big boy" underwear during the day and he's trying very hard to be a good boy and pee-pee only in the potty. Wish him luck!


(Picture taken in March 2008)

I cooked a good old-fashioned country meal yesterday using recipes from Paula Deen and Trisha Yearwood. I made Paula Deen's "Corn Casserole", which I've made several times before, it was yummy of course. I also made butterbeans cooked all day in the crock pot on low with a whole stick of butter. And the main course was Trisha Yearwood's "Old Fashioned Beef & Potato Casserole". It's kind of like a shephard's pie. It was tasty ... but something very different than I've made before. There's alot of steps to get everything together and I feel like I dirtied up every pot in my kitchen to get it prepared. It was easy, just tedious. Our meal was definately yummy and I'm so glad I took the time to follow these recipes.

We enjoyed the warm sunshine and stayed outside alot yesterday. Sometimes it's just nice to stay home and veg out.

Doodle Pro Doings.

Griffin loves to play with his Doodle Pro. He draws on it by himself quite often. And we also sit in the floor together to practice letter, number and shape recognition. We draw silly things like butterflies, cats and funny faces too.


When Daddy gets in on the action, well he draws cool things like this tractor.

If you are looking for a great gift for a child ... this is something I highly recommend! It's a wonderful learning tool.

I have to admit ... sometimes I grab it myself to doodle just because I need a little personal doodling time.

Swimming at the YMCA

Yesterday was another rainy day ... so I had to think of something else for Griffin and me to do.

So ... we went to the YMCA swimming. We love it so much ... we really should go there more often.


The YMCA has these little life preservers available that the kids can borrow. We've never used one of them before, but yesterday I thought we'd try it out. He LOVED it and so did I. He has NO fear of the water and sometimes he gets out of the pool before I can get to him. I felt so much better with having this on him. I think it's something we will ask to borrow a little more often.


If Griffin gets chilled, he will ask to take a break. What he likes to do is sit in his chair with his beach towel wrapped around him and then he has to have mommy's on him too.

I think we will definately visit the Y much more often now!

Out With The Old.

Mike and I have had our living room furniture since we've been married. That would be 13 years. As you can probably tell, I chose the couch and recliners when I was really into my country decorating phase. The couch is hunter green and off white check and the recliners were matching dark green.

Honestly, I really LOVED this furniture. But, we needed an update because the recliners were pretty much trash and the couch, well ... it had seen it's better days.

I have to say ... we've sat on this furniture and shared so many memories with so many people. We experienced so many holidays and birthdays. We shared many Sunday morning breakfasts with my Daddy, enjoying our cinnamon rolls there. Our dear sweet Wyatt slept on this couch. We brought Griffin home and shared many special moments on this couch. It was very, very hard for me to finally give in and get new furniture. As I've said before, I grow very attached to certain things. This ugly furniture was one of them.


We decided to donate our old furniture to Goodwill. Griffin thought it was pretty cool to climb all over the couch when it was in the trailer.


And here we say goodbye to our old furniture. It looked really sad sitting out there all alone (sniff, sniff). I hope a loving family will adopt it and love it as much as I did.


And this is our new furniture. We chose a dark brown leather couch and matching recliner. Both ends of the couch are recliners, which is great. The dark brown leather works really well for us. With a 3-year-old it's easier to clean up spills and messes on the leather. Mike chose the matching pillows. They are a mustard yellow (they match the walls) and a burnt red. We also have a new matching rug. I love it. I really love it.

It was hard to let go of the old ... but I really LOVE the new.

Monday Fun.

Guess what I made last night? A good old-fashioned banana pudding! I haven't made one of these in years. Mike LOVES it ... it's probably his second favorite dessert in the entire world ... it comes right after coconut cake/pie. I like it too, but only on the first night because I do not like it after the vanilla wafers get soggy.


I looked in the cabinet and I had everything I needed ...


I actually had JUST enough vanilla wafers ... lucky me!


Today Griffin and I met three of our favorite people Alan, Carol and Sam at Chic-Fil-A for lunch. It's been raining outside for several days, so it was nice to have a place where the boys could play together!


I think Sam and Griffin are both going through the same "I-don't-want-to-look-at-the-camera-phase" right now. Regardless ... here they are together!


We love going to this Chic-Fil-A because they have the cleanest indoor play facility, the food is great ... and of course there is Miss Jean's Craft Corner. It's this great area where the Hostess (Miss Jean) has an arts and crafts area set up for the kids. The theme today was Pirates and the boys enjoyed coloring pirate pictures.


After lunch Griffin and I headed over to Walmart ... and I picked up this darling little doggy shaped cake. It was iced with buttercream frosting and just adorable!


This afternoon when Griffin woke up from his nap, the first thing he asked for was cake. And here he is enjoying this delightful little bit of sweet goodness.

Did anyone watch the Oprah's Big Give finale last night? I thought it was pretty interesting. I truly believe the three that were in the finale deserved to be there. I saw a different side to two of the contestants last night, which really surprised me. I thought Brandy seemed a little bratty on last night's episode. Sure, she's sweet and caring and did alot of good ... but that bratty side showed up a little bit last night. And Cameron, again he was good ... but I thought he came off as a bit arrogant. All along I wanted Steve to win ... and he did. He's such a good role model and just so wonderful! I was so happy that he encouraged the team to support the Chicago Hope Academy ... they did good things for that school. Way to go Steve! You are indeed, The Biggest Giver!

Sweet Sunday Singing.

I woke up this dark, rainy Sunday morning to some of the sweetest singing I've ever heard. Griffin was laying in his bed singing his heart out.


I walked into his bedroom ... he jumped up and he held his arms open wide and said:

"Mommy I found you!" ... with the biggest smile on his face.

Awwww ... that just warmed my heart.

Headache Friday.

You know it's going to be one of those days when you wake up and know "the migraine headache" is coming. Yesterday was that day.


(This picture just makes me happy)

I thought the migraine was coming, but I put off taking the Excedrin Migraine until I was sure. The headache hadn't fully arrived yet, but I knew it was trying to. Finally, I took the Excedrin Migraine and I felt a little bit better after an about an hour. Honestly, I thought ... wow this was an easy one. But I was wrong.

Even though the actual headache goes away. The nausea stays with me. And it hit me full on yesterday about 10 am. I did not feel good. I have a 3-year-old to mommy and there was absolutely no way on earth that Mike could be home from work. We made it work ... I layed down on the couch ... Griffin watched HI-5 and Sesame Street. After feeding him lunch, I did get him to take a nap until about 2:30. I napped too. I felt alot better after getting up. I could finally eat something. So I chose a pack of those little orange crackers with peanut butter in them. They were like a miracle drug because after eating them I was feeling 100% better.

I wish these migraines would just go away. It's days like this that I really miss having family around. Someone that I can call and just say "I need your help".

Since we had been inside all day long, I decided to drive uptown to get us some dinner from a drive-thru. Instead, I called Haywood's Grill to see if they had any of their fabulous carrot cake. And they did! Haywood's Grill is this awesome little take-out place where you can get good home-cooked food. Yesterday I chose their BBQ Chicken, Baked Macaroni and Cheese, cabbage and cornbread. Yum ... it was delicious! Griffin and I shared the meal and we couldn't even eat all of it. If you are ever in our area, you MUST get take-out from Haywood's ... and if they happen to have carrot cake on that day ... well, consider yourself lucky and have a piece!

After dinner, we finally went outside. We took a walk down the road and saw Carol & Warren. Carol went for a little walk with us, as Warren was tilling the yard to plant tomatos.

Even though the day started off a bit rough ... we ended up having a good day.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Lunch With Melinda & Carol

Yesterday Griffin and I had lunch with two of our very favorite people in the world ... our neighbor friends Melinda and Carol. We met at Cracker Barrel and had a fantastic meal together!!


When Mike and I moved to Virginia the summer of 2003, I didn't know one single person here. Imagine my surprise when two of my wonderful neighbors became fast friends!

Carol is the first person that I ever did anything with here in Virginia. She called me up a couple of days after moving here and asked if I wanted to go to the library. Yes, I said!! With Carol, I obtained my first ever library card! What a wonderful person she is. She and her husband winter in Florida (my home state) so I feel a bit sad every year when they pack up and leave us for a few months. But then, when spring arrives ... so do they. They take long walks and it's always SO nice to see them. Many times if G and I are outside, they will stop by for a quick chat. And Carol is my Avon Lady. I had never had an Avon Lady before ... and you know what? I love that I have her to share her wonderful catalogs/products with me. And she and her husband also share their fresh homegrown veggies with us ... I love that ... it's just SO sweet!!

And Melinda ... well, the first time I met her I thought to myself ... she is a true southern belle. She is just the sweetest, kindest, most spiritual person you will ever meet. Not only is she beautiful on the outside, she's beautiful inside as well. Melinda is what I call the "real deal". What you see is what you get. She is who she is no matter who she's around. There is nothing at all false about her. Since I've met Melinda I've called her "Super Mom". She can do EVERYTHING! She has been there for me on so many occasions. One of the main things that pops into my mind is when she accompanied me to the pre-natal specialist when I was pregnant with Griffin. Because of my age, I was considered a high risk pregnancy and I was encouraged to have an amniosantesis. Well, the day we went together I did not expect to have this done. Mike was out of town ... but Melinda was there and after talking to Mike about it on the telephone and talking it over with the doctor and Melinda ... I decided to go ahead and do it. I will never, ever forget how she held my hand through the entire process. It was so scary, and she was there to calm me.


(Andi, I borrowed this picture from your blog)

See this cookbook? I now own it because Melinda picked it up for me yesterday. After lunch she was going to Walmart and asked Carol and me if we needed anything. I told her I would love to have this cookbook. I gave her $20 and she said she would pick it up for me. Well, later in the afternoon she did indeed bring the cookbook by my house, but it was in a Barnes & Noble bag, not a Walmart bag. They did not have it at Walmart, so she made a special trip to Barnes & Noble to get it for me. I could not believe she made a special trip to B&N to pick this book up for me. I told her that ... and you know what she said? I really wanted you to have it. Now how sweet is that????

I consider myself lucky to call these two wonderful ladies my friends! I'm so very fortunate to have been blessed with their frienship.

Tattoos.

The other day was art day, and Griffin found a new way to express himself while I wasn't looking ...


Let's just hope this was experimentation and he truly doesn't choose to do this to himself when he is older.


I hate to admit it ... but, it was dang cute ... and it washed off pretty easily. In the future I will encourage him to keep his artistic expression on the paper and not on his body.

The Pet Store.

He calls it the "fish store" and loves to visit! This trip I decided to take some pictures to try and capture his complete joy in being there!


Pointing out the birds ...


We spend ALOT of time at the bird section!


Daddy and Griffin checking out the lizards ...


Oooooooh ... there's snakes in there too!


And the FISH!


But I do believe his favorite section is the cat area ... he loves his "Meows"!

Self Portrait.

The other day Griffin was being very quiet. If you are a Mommy, you know this quiet. Your child is so quiet, you know they are up to something.

Well ... let me present to you what he was doing.

Taking pictures ... of himself.







These pictures are just SO Griffin. They capture his joy, his silliness and his sweet spirit. Sigh ... I love being his Mommy.