Happy Birthday Olivia

Happy nine years Olivia!!! I am so blessed to have you as my daughter. I hope I celebrate 100 more birthdays with you.

Last day at eight

Can you believe my girl will be NINE years old tomorrow? Neither can I.

She's a great kid. Her heart is big and she's smarter than her Daddy and I combined. She loves her little "bother" but still argues with him about *everything*. She asks a million questions watching movies or tv. She will drive you insane with her stubbornness.

At nine years old Olivia loves:
CSI:Miami
Skirts
Basketball
Painting her toenails
Blue NOT pink
Harry Potter
Peace signs
Clemson
Lala loopsy
Calling me "mom" instead of mommy

Can it really be nine years?

Sums it up

If there ever were a picture that sums up my kids relationship - it's this one.

Cooper being the dare devil, taking a chance, wanting to be wild and free.  His smile proves it.

And then there's his Big Sister - my Olivia Grace.....wanting to help, protect, make sure her little "bother" doesn't get hurt....being a little mommy.  Her heart is good and her heart is big. 

There's no doubt they are two different human beings - they fight, they bicker, they annoy each other.  CONSTANTLY.  Yet, I always seem to find moments like these where they are actually *enjoying* each other's company. 

One week until.....

One week until my baby girl.....my first born turns......

NINE years old.

When did this happen?  If she goes to college at 18 years old, I'm already half way?  NO, NO, NO!!!! Olivia is awesome - she may be stubborn, loving on her own terms, and the biggest "little mommy" ever - she also has a heart of gold and is loyal to anyone she loves.  Yes, she takes after her Mommy in a lot of ways.  :) 

She's growing up.  And her brother is right behind her.  *sigh*

I know, I know

I know, I know......I said I was going to get better at blogging.  I really do apologize!

I signed Al and I (yes, you read that - I signed Al up) to coach Upward Soccer this year.  I thought it would be fun and really get us connected as a family.  I swear sometimes we are all plugged into some sort of iPod, iPad, iPhone and I'm just tired of it.  I know NOTHING.  And I mean NOTHING about soccer.  I do know you're supposed to kick the ball into the goal.  That's about it.  I was really hoping I'd get smaller kids, but we ended up with O's age group.  Which means, they keep score and I've got to try to teach these girls something about soccer and maybe, just maybe win a game or two.  I already hate the pressure.  Ha ha!  We are looking forward to it though and I hope this is an experience that Al and I will both enjoy.  If not, I'll never hear the end of it from him.  :)

On a more serious note - one of my oldest and dearest friends lost her brother over the weekend. Please say an extra prayer for the Lloyd family.  Casey was a son, brother, father and loved by many.  I remember him best as a young kid - he loved coming over to our house to see my dad.  Tommi Lynn and Becky were wonderful big sisters and always looked out for their little brother.  Prayers are needed to help the family through this difficult time and the days ahead when they must pick up the pieces and continue on.  

Washing clothes

Thank you Pinterest for another great recipe!

Homemade laundry detergent!!! Very simple, works great, and should last a LOT longer than the store bought stuff. And I'm hoping it'll help some with O's allergies. *crossing fingers*

Pinterest is making me all "Susie Homemaker" - have you noticed? :)

What a load of......

CRAP.

Sorry folks, there's no other way to say it.

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-dept-criminal-justice/death-penalty/death-row-inmates-case-about-more-innocence/

My cousin Barry was shot and killed while on duty in Houston, Texas in December of 2000.  The man who shot and killed him is on death row.

He may now have a chance to get a new trial because he supposedly was not defended properly.  What a load of crap.  So, you're first two lawyers weren't good enough to get a guilty man off so you have a right to find a lawyer who is?  Are you kidding me?

I'm by no means "Pro Death Penalty" but I'm not completely against it either.  I understand that there are innocent people put in jail all the time - but this man is far from innocent.  He's basically trying to place blame on the other guy simply because the other guy's father was also a cop.  He's trying to say he was framed so that the police community could protect one of their own.  Yeah right.  I was never for the death penalty until my cousin was murdered.  Such a sad circumstance to happen for me to realize that sometimes the death penalty isn't the wrong answer.  I simply believe that there are some crimes that should be punishable by death. 

Where were my cousin's rights when he was arresting this guy and he shot him?  All because he had a record and would likely do jail time.  It completely and utterly infuriates me.  I can't imagine what my Aunt and Uncle and all my cousins go through while dealing with this.  The victim and the lives of their family always seem to be the least of importance.  That's just wrong.  We spend so much time focusing on the rights of the criminal that we forget why they are a criminal to begin with.  I pray that "Will" doesn't get his new trial and all his efforts are exhausted.  I know that sounds cruel, but I'm not sorry.  I'm just not.

No bashing me for my opinions - it's my blog after all. 

Brooms

What is the deal with all the broom pictures? They are really annoying the hell out of me.

And even more annoying is the fact Al and I can't get ours to stand. Ugh.

What a stupid waste of time. (I would feel differently if we weren't LOSERS.)

Sinful dessert

Thanks to Pinterest, I've found a few yummy recipes to try out.

And then I found the most glorious recipe of all........

The cookie dough/Oreo/brownie dessert. I've seen it a few times on the site and finally decided to give it a try.

OMG....,it is delicious! Even Al, who normally doesn't go crazy for sweets, loved it. He told me not to take it all to work bc he wanted seconds. Score for me!!!

Happy birthday.......

Dr. Seuss!!!! And Jon Bon Jovi. :)

Our trip to Biltmore

We spent last weekend in Asheville, NC.

It was a fun weekend - I got to hang out and catch up with one of my dearest friends Kelly and her gang and we took the kids to Biltmore.  Al had never been either so this was killing two birds with one stone (so to speak.) 

I was VERY surprised that the kids had such a good time.  I was expecting them to hate it - especially since it was raining and COLD - but they were in awe of Biltmore.  O even said that she wanted to build a house as big as it when she grew up.  Yeah, probably not going to happen O!

I was sort of disappointed in the gardens.  And yes, I know it's February but still.  There was nothing but DIRT.  The Greenhouse was fabulous though (and not because it was warm and dry but that certainly helped!) and was probably my favorite part of our tour.  The flowers and plants in there was so beautiful that a few didn't even look real.  I would have touched, but that would have led the kids to pulling leaves off of everything and us kicked out.  So I refrained.  Especially the boy - he would have knocked over some priceless tree or something and we'd be on Headline News.

O will tell you that we toured all 250 rooms of Biltmore, but I can assure you that we did not.  I do think we climbed every single stair at least twice though.  My legs were so sore the next day, they hurt when I blinked.  And I run so that just goes to show you how much walking up and down you do!  Cooper's favorite room was the pool (of course) but he kept referring to it as "the big bathtub."  He did great with his audio guide, which really surprised me.  O swears her audio guide said the Vanderbilt's daughter's name was Lila but I heard it 100 times and it was always Cornelia.   She hears what she wants too folks, that's all I can say.

I do want to go back in the spring when the gardens are in bloom and it's not freezing cold.  Or raining.  Of all the days to finally rain, it just had to be the day we went.  Oh well.  We still had a good time and the kids even passed out on the way home and didn't fight as much.

Happy Birthday Big Brother!

Happy Birthday Martin!!!! 

You are quite possibly the world's best brother (it helps that you live far away) and the kids love you to pieces!  We all hope you have a fantastic birthday and hope to see you soon! 

Even Al.  And that says a lot. 

Road Trip

I'm so giddy about our road trip starting tomorrow, I can't stand myself! 

We're heading up to Asheville, NC to go to Biltmore on Sunday.  Al and the kids have never been, and I went so long ago I don't remember much, so I thought we'd make a trip out of it.  Tickets were on sale and the kids get in FREE....so why not?  :)

We're going up tomorrow and having dinner with one of my oldest and dearest friends, Kelly and her gang.  I haven't seen my friend in a few years so it'll be nice to catch up.  I miss her so much!  It's nice to have a few friends that have been around pretty much your entire life and STILL love you.  Kelly is one of those friends for me.  I don't know what I would without her. 

So, be on the lookout for some pictures!  Not sure if you're allowed to take them in the Biltmore, but if you are, you know I'll be shooting.  I just hope the kids aren't bored.  I plan on bribing them with a trip to the fancy "Biltmore themed" McDonald's if they do well!  Wish me luck!

Happy Heart Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to my loyal bloggers!!!

Al surprised me with flowers. He's the best people. For reals.

The kids had a dance at school and came home with lots of goodies. THA had gifts parents could buy to be given out at school and O was giddy that she got one. Cooper was a typical boy about it. Ha!

My little monsters are my best valentine's though!

Kids at the park

Just a few pictures of the kids at the park.

And no, I did not pick out O's outfit!

TNA Wrestling

Al and I took the kids to see wrestling at the Civic Center. Coop is a HUGE, huge fan of wrestling. It's seriously the only thing that boy thinks about.

We had floor seats so we were pretty close to the action! Which was pretty cool. We even got autographs from Jeff Hardy, Gail Kim, ODB, Eric Young, and AJ Styles. I don't think the kids will forget it for awhile. :)

Even Al was happy - his idol, Rick Flair (wwwhhhhoooooo!) was there.

You got to love her fashion sense.

Or lack there of. :)

O insists, no really, INSISTS on dressing herself for school. Which usually isn't a problem. Until these shoes.

They are super tall, super fabulous, super sparkly, and go with EVERYTHING. Or so she thinks.

One thing I know - she's a cool kid. So if anyone can pull them off, it's OGG for sure. I'll admit - they are growing on me. :)

George

I call him Georgie Porgie. :)

Got another one

We got another dog!

Back Story:  I've been reading up on taking Molly (our Boston Terrier) running with me.  She's been on walks with us, and always seems to poop out.  I thought she was just lazy.  But from what I've been reading online about her breed, she just can't go for any length of time.  I saw mixed reviews on whether or not she could be a good running (or jogging in my case) partner and I figured she wouldn't be much protection if I needed it anyways. 

That brings us up to to speed.....so basically I started looking at Craigslist and in the paper for puppies.  I wanted something a little bigger than Molly, could run with me, and had to be good with kids.  I found George. 

He's *supposedly* a boxer/rat terrier mix.  And I guess he could be but I'll never really know.  He's so calm and relaxed, he makes Molly look BAD.  Ha ha!  The kids love him, he seems to love the kids.  We only got him Saturday so we're all still adjusting.  I think Molly is probably having the hardest time adjusting since she's been the lone dog for almost 3 years now.  But I think in the long run, she's going to be happy she finally has a playmate to run around the house and backyard with. 

I won't lie though - he ain't a pretty dog.  

Little things

It doesn't take much to make my two happy. All you need is a Statue of Liberty statue. Haha.

O said she wasn't a fan of Red Robin but I think I changed her mind when she saw Ms Liberty. :)

That and she got carrots with ranch as a side. Funny kids.

Training Molly

Livvie is on a mission to teach Molly tricks.

I have to admit, she's done a FANTASTIC job at teaching her to sit. Molly is having the time of her life with O's new found hobby - she's racking up on treats! Haha!

Good luck OGG!

Her great big heart

Wow.

My girl has such a big heart. She's been holding on to $12 to buy some hamster toy she wants. Well, today a girl on our road was going house to house taking donations for her school. Before I could say anything, O says, "I have some money!" and ran in the house. She gave her entire $12!

O's compassion and big heart are two of my favorite qualities about her. She can be so selfless and thoughtful. I hope she stays that way. FOREVER.

Natural???

I'm not buying this as a natural smile from Coop. Do you?

New Year

My New Year's resolution is to be a better blogger.  I promise to blog more than 60 enteries in 2012! 

We ended 2011 on a big note - Al purchased a Harley.  He took me riding over the weekend and I have to admit - I totally get it now!  It was so much fun and yes, I was a little scared at first but after a few minutes, I was so at ease, I started enjoying the scenery instead of boring a hole in the back of Al's head!  :) 

I really think this motorcycle is going to be as much fun for me as it'll be for him. 
We'll see though!

The kids go back to school tomorrow and it's not a day too soon.  They need to get back into a routine and get some of this wildness out.  They had a great Christmas and got tons and tons of toys from Santa and family. 

So what's your resolutions for 2012?

Me and O making the motorcycle look good.

O looking tough!

Al and O

We named it Frankenstein.  Inside joke.:)



All I want for Christmas is a.....

Harley Fat Boy!!!!

And he got one.  It's pre-owned but it's perfect for him.  He's so excited he can barely stand it.

So am I.  I'm so glad he's happy to have a motorcycle again. 

1998 Fat Boy.  Beautiful color.

He looks good on it doesn't he?  :)

Don't tell Al but I can't wait to go riding!  

Favorite

My conversations with Livvie are never, ever, ever, dull.  Here's one we had Sunday night.

O:  Mommy, I don't want to call you Mommy anymore.  I want to call you Mom.

Me:  Aren't you too little to call me Mommy?

O:  You're kind of my favorite parent anyways.

Me:  Oh yeah?  Why is that?  Not that I disagree or anything....

O:  *giggle*  Well, you did give birth to me.  Daddy didn't.  I mean, you gave me life.  So, that's why.

Me:  Makes perfect sense to me Boo.

Ha ha!  I love conversations with my girl.  She is too, too funny sometimes.  (I know Al is totally jealous.  But hey, he should have given birth to them right?) 

SSSSHHHHH!!!!

Cooper and Olivia are going to be sssoooo excited!  Al and I got tickets to take them to see TNA Impact Wrestling here in Florence in February!!!!

Yes, I know it's not the WWE, BUT for a little boy who now worships wrestling and a big sister who refuses to be left out - this is big.  :)  I printed off and made copies of the tickets so I'm going to put them in their stockings.  Al and I can't wait to see how excited they are about going to their first wrestling match. 

It's funny that the kids inherited both mine and Al's love for wrestling.  I admit it's a guilty pleasure of mine.  Ha ha!  Cooper will even tell you that Randy Orton is my boyfriend.  :)  

Only 9 days before Christmas!  I'm getting so excited I could explode. 

Silly Kids!

Yes, they are Goobers!

December now???

It's already the first week of December.  I won't be winning any blog awards this year.  2012 is going to be the year of the blog for me - just wait!

Christmas shopping is almost done - woot!  I have a new app on my iPad that lets me play around with borders, etc so I created the one I have here.  If it weren't for the stupid "tag" on the right, it would be absolutely awesome right? 

We are trying the "elf" thing and it's just not working.  The kids treat their elves like toys and play with them constantly.  I've given up.  Both their classes have a "classroom elf" who is following the rules, so I wave my white flag.  :)  It never ceases to amaze me how different the rugrats act at school compared to home.  I know there is no way I was like that.  *smile*

We are also gearing up for Upward Basketball - Cooper is super excited about it.  For such a small little guy, he loves basketball.  Although now that he's discovered wrestling, that may change soon.  He's got speed and accuracy when he shoots so he's actually pretty good.  We found out last week that he has Coach Lon AGAIN - which tickled Cooper.  Poor Coach Lon has been his basketball coach two years already and one year as his soccer coach.  I can't figure out if he just likes Cooper that much or if he has really bad luck.  O is wishy-washy on basketball.  Some days she loves it, some days she'd rather die than play.  So, here's hoping to a "I love it" day when she has her first practice.  :)

Writing our letters to Santa tonight - stay posted for pics!

Getting in the Holiday Spirit

Our Christmas Tree 2011

Obligatory "Kids in front of tree" picture. 

You need Rudolph to make it feel Christmas-y folks!

Catching Up

I am MRSA free!  I think....at least I'm done with 20 days of antibiotics so I *should* be MRSA free.  My wound is healed as well and all is right in my world.  For now.

My birthday was great - very low key and that's fine with me.  The kids still think I'm only 31 or so and I don't correct them.  :)  What's the harm in letting them think their Mom is young(er) and cool right? 

Martin and Randy came down for Thanksgiving and the kids were ecstatic!  They absolutely LOVE it when they come down and want to spend every last second with them.  I know it probably annoys them to death, but they only see them a few times a year.  Thanks to iPods and iPads though, we've been able to stay in touch a whole lot easier and the kids get to Face Time with them.  It's probably one of the coolest inventions ever.  Steve Jobs was a genius.  

We put up Christmas decorations Saturday as well - I'll post some pictures of the tree and all in another post.  I'm almost done with all the Christmas shopping and that makes me very, very happy.  I'm in the Christmas spirit more than ever before.  :) 

MRSA

It's two days until my birthday and I find out I have MRSA.  That's just not right folks, not right.

So, apparently it takes Urgent Care ten full days to call you and let you know the results of a culture they took.  UGH.  And I had just finished my last dose of a ten day antibiotic and now I have to start ANOTHER one.

I feel so bad for Al and the kids - I haven't felt good at all and now it looks like I'll continue to feel cruddy for another 2 weeks.  My system is all of whack and I'm just *tired.*  Al is such a good guy and has just went in with guns blazing and got things done.  I'm lucky.  The kids must be scared I'm near death or something because they've even been a little more behaved. 

Just a little.  :)  

I miss running.  Every time I open the garage door, I honestly feel guilty that I have barely touched my treadmill.  The abscess is almost healed so I hope to be back on it soon.  I think my energy would perk up if I could work out.  We'll see.  I definitely don't want to push it but it's hard to just sit and do nothing. 

Anyways, it's time to take a pill.  Again.  :/

4 days

Just so all my loyal blog readers know - I turn 21 plus 13 years experience in FOUR days.  :)

Wrestling in November

I can't believe it's already November.  Wow.  This year is flying by at a super fast speed.  Before you know it, Christmas will be here! 

Cooper and Olivia are both addicted to wrestling.  I guess they got it honest since Al and I both have been fans of the it at some point in our lives.  Cooper is the worst though and is sssooo into it.  He cracks me up with his impersonations of different wrestlers (He does a really cute "WHHHOOOO" as Rick Flair).  His new found love has helped out Santa A LOT.

I tried showing the kids some videos of the Rock N Roll Express from back in the day when I loved wrestling.  I even went to a match here in Florence and got their autographs!  The kids weren't interested though.  Apparently it wasn't "showy" enough.  Excuse me......back in the day, all the wrestlers needed was  a ring, not all this other stuff.  

Oh, and Cooper keeps telling people that Randy Orton is my boyfriend.  Yeah, I wish!  :) 

Halloween 2011

What does a Rock Star and a Werewolf have in common?

They're brother and sister!  Ha ha!

This year for Halloween O decided to go as a Rock Star/Draculaura and Cooper is a "really mean" werewolf.  Aren't they the cutest though?  They love Halloween......but I really can't wait for all the good candy.  :)  

His Turn I suppose?

So apparently Cooper was NOT to be outdone by his big sister and hurt his eye yesterday at school.  Poor thing looked HORRIBLE when Al and I got him to urgent care Wednesday night.  His eye was red, swollen and causing my poor boy a lot of pain.  Luckily, it's just a small cut on his eye and after wearing a patch overnight, his eye felt ok and looked SO MUCH better.  He must have gotten sand or dirt or something in it and scratched it.  THA went on a field trip yesterday so of course he totally played it off because he didn't want to miss out. 

He's not much on being a pirate but he did pose long enough for me to snap this picture of him when we got home.  I'd like to say he was a good sport at the doctor's office but I would be lying.  He's male so he was a *huge* baby.  I don't mean that in a mean way of course, but we all know how men are.  Ha ha!  Cooper definitely proved he's no exception to this rule.  :)  He cried every time the nurse or doctor looked at him wrong. 

I just hope this is our last trip to the ER or urgent care for awhile.  I'm not sure how much more my heart can take.  (I regret not getting a picture of them together.  How funny would it be years down the road to see Cooper with one eye and O with one arm? Ha ha!)

The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

As you can see from the picture, OGG picked out the BIGGEST pumpkin at the pumpkin patch.  Well, I don't know that for a *fact* but I mean, really - can there be a larger pumpkin out there? 

O is so damn proud of that pumpkin too.  She seriously hugs the thing every morning as we walk out the door.  The first day, it was cute.  Now it's getting annoying as heck.  :)  There's no way I'm craving that pumpkin, so we'll be looking for some stencil and paint kits to do something with it.  I think she wants a tiger paw on it - we'll see.  I doubt anyone would steal it.  Unless they have a wheelbarrow handy.  Ha ha!  Thank goodness Cooper picked out a normal sized pumpkin.  Although my mom said it took him forever because he was looking for the "perfect" one. 

Is it me or does this picture make anyone else giggle?  I mean, you can barely get up my front steps! 

It happened to O, Not Cooper

O in the ER  :( 

I thought Cooper would be the child of mine that would have the first broken bone.  But, in typical Olivia fashion, she was not to be outdone and broke a bone FIRST.

Yeap - O has a broken wrist.  Al took the kids to the park on Saturday when she fell off the monkey bars and landed on her arm.  We were more concerned with her shoulder at first because her upper arm looked swollen and she couldn't lift it. I was NOT expecting a broken bone. 

We go tomorrow to find out if she will need a cast.  I hope she does - simply because the 48 hours she's had her "temporary" cast on, it's been hectic.  She won't leave it alone and constantly moves it - so I think a cast would help to keep her arm still and in one spot.  We'll see though.  I'm not the doctor and we'll have to do whatever he suggests.  O wants a pink cast (who would have thought???) so she's a little excited about this. 

Monkey bars are the devil.  

RIP Bluey

Cooper got a Beta fish for his birthday.  He named him Bluey and he and Olivia fell in love.  They never forgot about that fish - and never missed a day of feeding him.

Bluey lasted a good 6 weeks.  Then he bit the bucket.

I came home today to find this sign on the toilet.  I laughed.  O got mad that I laughed so I had to apologize.  THEN Al tells me that they insisted visitation be held and the neighbor came over and hummed Taps as Al flushed.  I mean, how does she expect me NOT to laugh when I hear that?  I really hate that I missed these moment.  Funniest family moment EVER. 

(And I'm debating on getting them another Beta Fish since I laughed.  So don't say I'm completely heartless because you'd be a liar.)

More Pictures

We had some more family pictures made on Sunday by my friend Leslie Wilkes.  She's awesome ya'll!  I can't thank her enough for the great pictures she took.  All for nothing because she's super cool like that.  I owe you a BIG one Leslie!

Our Family 2011

My girl and her freckles.  Love them!

My sweet, sweet boy!

I have a TON more shots that are just as good so check out my FB page to see more. I keep getting compliments on how I'm looking these days and I have to admit, I am really enjoying it!  I hope that after New Years, I can take some more pictures and be even thinner!  :)