Catching Up!

It seems like months since I last blogged. So many things have been going on. Life happened and time seems to have gotten away.
This morning, I woke a little after five. I am not sure why..Lord knows I need the sleep. BUT..Danny is working nights and I hate to sleep alone. So, Seth and I have been sharing the couch. Yes, you heard me. I am "sharing" the couch with a 5'6, 150 pound, ALMOST teenager!! There is also another reason that I REFUSE to sleep in my room. IT IS A MESS! No reason to lie or sugarcoat it. We purchased a new bed frame and king sized mattress set in January. I chose not to purchase a complete set, because I loved my dresser and chest of drawers. The original bed was a SMALL queen and Danny and I just outgrew the darn thing. So, I chose just to purchase the bed..WITHOUT a headboard. Now I hate it! The bed isn't tall enough for me. I have yet to purchase new bedding (because I am tight when it comes to spending money on stuff like that..Ignorant, I know!), and it just looks and feels tacky. THERE! I said it! I admitted that I have a problem with the room!
Just so you know, and before you get to thinking that this post is about a bedroom re-do, let me stop you in mid-thought! Because this is about my hall/office/computer area!

In 2005, we added on to our home. Off of the kitchen, we added a long hallway and attached to that is a master bed/bathroom/walk-in closet. This hallway has to openings. In those openings, is a terrible excuse for an office. Honestly, I have a desk, two filing cabinets, a worthless bookshelf, craft cart, my Cricut with all of the vinyl, old printers and dvd players, ironing board, a lamp that doesn't work, etc. I'm sure you are getting my point! It is UGH!
So, as I was sitting here this morning, surfing through the MANY pages on Pinterest, I decided that I am going to RE-DO this area. When Danny built it, he painted everything WHITE..he's yet to finish the trim, and there are a million other things that need to be finished.

Today, I am picking up my Anna Grace. She is going to stay the night with me. So she and I will be making a trip to Wal-Mart and Lowes. I'm thinking a soft, medium blue on the walls and white trim. I'm wanting to find some inexpensive curtains and pretty rods to cover the openings. Maybe three clocks- each with the time stopped at the exact time each of my kids were born. And maybe a huge picture collage at the end of the hall??

Who knows what I will end up doing! All I know is that I have got to get some organization going on. School starts back on August 20th. From then until December 31, I will have NO FREE TIME to do anything.

I will post pics of the re-do, tho!

Moms Gone Wild!!

As a child, I was blessed to grow up with a sister and 5 cousins that were all close in age. We had the best times together. Sure, we argued, but we were really blessed and didn't even realize it.
Now, we are all scattered here and there. Still fairly close to each other, but with our busy lives, it seems we are all so far away.

So, a few months ago, we all got together and decided to take a Cousin's Road Trip/ Reunion. We eventually decided to go to Memphis for the night. My cousin Deanna lives there and offered to house us all for the night.

We all hopped in my sister's truck and the fun began!

Here are four of us girls. L-R: Kay, Magin, Amber, and Mandi


Then we met up with Deanna for Dinner at Osaka's. OMG! This place has the greatest sushi!

 L-R: Deanna, Kay, Chasity, and Christy

L-R: Amber, Me, and Magin


After that, we went back to Deanna's and talked for hours. It's amazing how time has changed us all and has really changed the conversations between us!lol

 Here are sisters, Amber and Magin..

 Deanna checking her Facebook! lol

 Amber, Chas, and Christy- they are all the same age and always paired up!

 Kay, Me, Deanna, and Magin- same story. Kay and I are close in age, Magin and Dee are the same age..

That nite, we had tons of fun. A certain cousin, who will remain nameless, warned us all that she would punch the first one to snore right in the face. Keep in mind that there were 6 of us in the living room and Dee and Caleb were in their little room/cubby. Aria, their baby, was asleep in her room, so we needed to be as quiet as possible. Anyhoo, the threatening cousin passed out in like 2 minutes, then started snoring SO LOUD..then she started grinding her teeth! OMG! It ws something else, I tell ya! I think we all passed out before 2 am...

The next morning, Deanna and Caleb fixed us a delicious breakfast. And I can't forget the fresh ground Starbucks coffee! We then grabbed our showers and hit the road. We did a little shopping, then had lunch at Huey's. After that, it was time to say goodbye to Dee. We stopped by a few more stores, then hit GiGi's Cupcakes.

The weekend was wonderful! I just wish we would have had more time together. We reminisced a lot and we made tons of new memories. I will soon start planning our next getaway!

My ADULT Child

Tonite I am going to blog about our first born, Derek William. He just turned 19 years old. He is a sweet child, awnry at times, and whether he will admit it or not, he is a MAMA'S BOY! The following paragraphs will explain..

He has forever said that he was moving out just as soon as he turned 18. Well, he graduated last year on May 20, 2011. He turned 18 on May 31, 2011. HE DIDN'T MOVE OUT!

So, he started his first year of college and resumed the "I'm gonna move out" madness again. Yet, he didn't move.

About two months ago, we heard it again. He even went as far as to bring home cardboard boxes from his place of employement. He even packed some things. He then called about renting a few apartments. But, he has a girlfriend. She, like my child, likes having nice things. He spoils her rotten! I wondered how he could support himself and spoil her at the same time. He has a great job, but he isn't very responsible with his cash. He gets that from his mama- ME!

Anyhoo, after packing, he suddenly decided that he wasn't moving out. You got it..he isn't leaving..AGAIN! Instead, he wants a BRAND NEW JEEP! So, what this means is that for at least another 60 months, he will be living here. And maybe longer..who knows?!

I am not complaining about him living here. He is a tremendous help to me and I would be totally lost without him. BUT, he doesn't keep a very clean room. Honestly, Lula has gone in there quite a few times and returned with a whole cheese stick or chicken strip. He would say I'm a fibber, but I am not. I am not the only one who saw it!

Yesterday, our air unit kind of froze up,  which caused it to flood Derek's room. The carpet was soaked! Keep in mind that this carpet has probably been in his room since the house was built in 1978. I'm not kidding one bit. It was ugly red shag carpet. And Danny is so frugle. He has refused to replace it. But, the flood gave us an excuse to rip it up, and that, we did!

I was terrified to see the carpet under his bed. I imagined what it would look like, and Landen confirmed my thoughts. He said," It looks like he poured a lot of Worchestshire sauce in his carpet!". Now you can understand what I am taking about.

Anyway, the carpet is gone and his room is ALMOST clean. His sweet girlfriend, MK, came over and helped me put his clean bedding on. He showered and hit the clean sheets. The two of them are going to Memphis tomorrow, so I will be finishing his room.

It looks as if this will be my job from now on. I don't mind tho. I do enjoy having my #1 here with me.

Mandi

Beyond Tired

Hey, yall! It has been a few days since my last post and I missed being able to blog. But honestly, the past few days have been packed with some family fun. So much fun that I am literally worn out.

I have NO IDEA of what we did on Thursday. Oh yeah, Danny and I got up at the crack of dawn and did yard work. He left for a lunch date with friends around noon, and I stayed glued to the tv for the remainder of the day. I might have done a little laundry, but I just can't remember!

On Friday, the boys and I met my sister and her girls for a day of swimming at my parents' house. We had a poolside picnic lunch and got TONS of sun. That night, we met with family and attended my cousin Jenny's 18th birthday party. Here's the birthday girl:

We got a few pics with my parents too:

On Saturday, Danny and I took our three boys and our daughter-in-law to-be, out for lunch. We drove to Sikeston, MO and ate at the famous Lambert's Cafe- Home of the Throwed Rolls.

 We stood in line, in the EXCRUTIATING heat for over two hours..NO JOKE!
 Neither the food nor the experience was as we remembered, nor was it worth the drive or the wait. It will be a long while before either of us return. The next pic will show just how exhausting it was:

Today was spent laying around watching tv..and soaking up some cool air. Lan and I clipped coupons tonite. Matter of fact, we started around 9:30 PM and I just finished putting them in my coupon binder. It is now 2:03 AM on Monday morning. I guess I need to get my coffee pot ready so I can get in the bed. I need to get up early and get some housework done.  But then again, I may sleep till noon!

Mandi

Wordless Wednesday :)

Happy Father's Day

Today was a great day. We woke up early, got dressed, then drove to have breakfast at Perkins with my parents and siblings. The wait for our food was terribly long, but we made the most of our time just talking and catching up. I got to see this sweet princess:

And then this sassy girl sat across from me. She drank COFFEE for breakfast :)

She then stole my camera and took some pics..

We finished our morning off with this pic, then we all went our separate ways:

The boys and I came home and rested a while. Then I cooked supper for Danny. He enjoyed his gifts, but I didn't get any pics. He isn't a pic taker anyway, and he is working nights this week, so he really wasn't in the mood to "CHEESE"!

Late this afternoon, Mama, Chas, and the girls met me and my boys at the cemetery. We cleaned up around Bob's grave.

So, that was my day. I really enjoyed spending time with Daddy and Danny. I hope I get to spend many more Father's Days with them.

Remembering Bob

Tomorrow, Bob (my step-dad) will be spending his fourth Father's Day in Heaven. We all miss him terribly and wish we could celebrate with him. I remember our last Father's Day with him and I hope to never forget him or that day.

So, Happy Father's Day, Bob. We all love you and miss you more than words can say.

It's Too Early To Be Feelin' So Crafty!

I didn't get much sleep at all. Truth is that I couldn't wait to get back to my computer so I could BLOG. I am so addicted to this!!

I woke up at 7:30 to a text from my daddy. My grandmother was feeling ill last night and he wanted to fill me in on her condition. He said she looked really sick, but her blood sugar and blood pressure were both normal, so they just put her to bed. So if you're reading this, please remember her in your prayers. Here she is, all dressed up for her recent trip to the Grand Ole Opry. Next to her is her sister, dear Aunt Frank!



Now, back to me and all my craftiness! A few months back, I noticed a homemade dry-erase board on Pinterest. I saw no need to make it, until today. I decided I would make it as a count down calendar for our cruise. So here is what I did: I took an old, simple frame.

I picked a piece of scrapbook paper and cut it to perfectly fit the frame. I then cut out a white circle and pasted it right in the middle of the scrapbook paper.

Here is the final product. I could've used my Cricut for the lettering, but it is acting a FOOL and I didn't want to mess with it.

I will set this in my living room so that my kids can help with the countdown!

  





Somewhere we've never been!

This is my last post for the night, I promise!

Before I met Danny, I'd rarely ever gone out of the state of Arkansas. Sure, I went to Missouri and Tennessee, and a few times to Oklahoma. But never too far. Danny and I flew to Las Vegas for the second part of our honeymoon. That was my first time flying and my first time away from my mama. A few years later, we went back for another visit.

Anyhoo, for the past year or so, I've heard my friend Sandra talk about the cruises she has been on. I have to admit, I thought she was crazy. She had obviously never heard about the Titanic?!  I always swore I'd never get on a cruise ship and my boys felt the same way! That was UNTIL a month or so ago. For some reason, we all got CRUISE FEVER and we started planning that same day. Yesterday, we completed the planning process and booked our cruise. We will be cruising to Cozumel, Mexico, in December. Derek will not be going with us. I am kind of sad about that, but I have been where he is at this point in his life. I am sure that there will be many more excursions like this in our future.

But for now, I will dream about this..only 173 days away!!!!

Spring Break

Last summer, my kids and I went with some family to Mt View, AR. To say that we had a good time, doesn't touch it. Not even close. Landen LOVED all of the old shops, but especially loved the military supply store. And Seth has an old soul anyway, so he fit right in!
So, when Spring Break rolled around, Danny and I decided we would take the two boys for a few days. We rented a cabin that was WAY up in the mountains. WAY UP!

I just LOVE this next pic of my boys. They are HAMS!

We spent some time on the square just looking around...

Landen enjoying his fresh lemonade :)

and Seth thinks drinking out of these glass soda bottles is the COOLEST THING EVER!

We just happened to have the most handsome chauffeur that weekend!

We toured the caverns (and I forgot my camera in the car), and then visited the little "water area" afterwards.

My boys really enjoyed exploring this area. I, on the other hand, was a little afraid for my boys!

Here are the boys with their daddy..

We had to go to dinner at Jo Jo's Catfish Wharf. Honestly, the food is wonderful. My family could pass on the fish, and only eat the brown beans, chow chow, and bite-sized hush puppies!

We went to the Old Country Store. I got to looking for Seth, and I found him in the corner of the store. He had a guitar and was pickin and a grinin with an older man. Turns out, the man visited and worked in our hometown area as a child. It's a small world! And this just happens to be one of my favorite pictures from our trip. Seth was as happy as a hog in slop!

All in all, we had a great weekend. All that was missing were Derek and Lula. I am sure that we will be going back really soon!

A New ME!

First, I'd like to thank you all for following me..AGAIN!

I have always been the kind to start something and NEVER finish it. I get so excited about a new journey, but the excitement soon fades! I know..UGH!

I have been a fan of addicted to Facebook for a few years. Sadly, rude people choose to make others' lives miserable- MY LIFE! So, I've decided to start this blog. I hope that you enjoy my blog. I want to share, not brag, about all that goes on with our family.

I will be adding some pictures and creating a few posts about our Spring Break and other events. I just want to catch up.

So, here I go! Enjoy the ride!

Mandi