How Smart is Your Right Foot?

I received this in email today and enjoyed it so much. I wanted to share it with my fellow bloggers/readers.

Just try this. It is from an orthopedic surgeon....... This will boggle your mind and you will keep trying over and over again to see if you can outsmart your right foot, but, you can't. It's preprogrammed in your brain!

1. WITHOUT anyone watching you (They will think you are GOOFY) and while sitting where you are at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make Clockwise Circles.

2. Now......while doing this, draw the number '6' in the air with your Right Hand.Your foot will change direction.I told you so!!!And there's nothing you can do about it! You and I both know how stupid it is, but before the day is done, You are going to try it again, if you've not already done so.

Shout out!

I wanted to give a shout out to Kristian on the new blog title. While I was hoping to get away from the usage of our last name, when he told me this one, I laughed and loved it instantly. Hopefully, I captured it correctly...if I didn't, you'll let me know, right Kristian :)

A visit with Ne Ne and Damien

As most of you know, we had custody of my cousin Tyler from May to December, so he's very special to us and we love him dearly. Right before he left (when he was 20 months old) he started calling me Ne Ne as he could not say Stephanie and Damien, he called "D" but now he can actually say Damien and it's too cute. This weekend, he came for a stay with Ne Ne and Damien and we had so much fun loving on him and playing with him.

He officially turned 2 on Thursday, and while we went to his birthday party last weekend, we saved one of his presents for this weekend so he could play with it at our house...good ole Mr. Potato Head, a toy that every child needs. So Friday, after dinner at Cracker Barrel, we played with Mr Potato Head and I even got out the Play-doh. Tyler trying to open the containers of play-doh was hilarious. It's by far one of my favorite faces he makes. (I am guilty of giving him stuff that I know will result in the face so I can get a good laugh.)
He is such a sweet, intelligent boy and I pray that Dylan turns out to be a lot like him. He was the reason that we opened our hearts to having a boy, as we wanted girls before we had him. I just had to include an additional cute pic of him from the weekend wearing Damien's boots which he got out of the closet on his own.

Baby Shower

I had my first baby shower yesterday and oh was it so nice. My sweet hostess with the mostess did a fabulous job and I felt truly loved. They thought off everything and treated me like a princess. Thanks to my mom, Kelley, Rachel, Lori and Angel for working so hard. I appreciate it more than you know.

I got some really cool gifts and I am thankful to mark those off my "to buy" list. There was some things that money just can't buy and those are the home made gifts. These are extra special since you know that the person put their time and skills into it. I got 3, well you could say 4 for these gifts.

My mom's friend, Janice, cross stitched this for me. It's about how being a mother is more important than being a house cleaner and who cares if the house is a mess as long as the baby is loved...so you all keep that in mind if you are at my house.

My friend, Jill, painted a picture for our nursery. Now, I wasn't totally surprised since she told me to pick out a painting that I liked and I gave her our nursery paint, but I totally love it. She did a great job.

My friend, Dana, painted a door hanger for Dylan's room. It's very sweet.
Then last but not least, my friend, Angel, made my cake for the shower. She is very talented and her cakes are oh so delicious. Check out her website if you have anything coming up or if you just feel like indulging. http://www.aboutcakeetc.com/
Thanks to everyone who came to my shower. It's nice to feel loved :)

Playing Catch Up - Easter

I hope everyone had a great Easter, yeah yeah, I know it was last week, but I am playing catch up. Damien and I have a tradition were on Easter eve, we watch The Passion to help prepare our minds and hearts for the special day ahead.

We had an awesome time of worship at church (I have to say, it was one of my favorites). Do you ever feel like, wow, I love every song we sang today...that was me. Now, I know the songs aren't for me, but if I like them too, it's an added bonus. The message was striking and thought provoking. All in all, it was a great time to reflect on the special gift that God gave us, his Son and to remember His death and resurrection through which we are saved.

After service, we headed out to my Grandmother's house, like we do every year. We always partake in the spread of food, but this year, it was a little out of the norm. Every holiday, you can expect 2 things to be included in the buffet of food, and while they are weird holiday foods, they are my favorites: rotel dip and chocolate chip pecan pie. I was so looking forward to both of these items, and they weren't there!! I asked Grandmother what was up with the rotel missing from the menu and she simply said she didn't want people filling up on appetizers before the main dishes were serves (GASP) But she has told me that she make this for me, and with me being pregnant, I somewhat expected it to be there...oh well. Then I had to make due with the other desserts, so I had 3 to make up for it...chocolate pie, cupcakes and some chocolate peanut butter bar. Let's say I was miserable the rest of the day.

After the feast, the kids had their annual Easter egg hunt in the front yard. Here is a pic of Tyler working to fill up his Elmo easter basket that my mom got him and the other kids running around the yard hoping to find the money eggs.

Is it just us?

First and foremost, my apologies for the lack of posting. To say the least, my life has been dull and on top of that, I haven't had the time to post or download pics as Damien has been working from home a lot lately which means I don't get computer access during the day. Anyhoo, I will try to catch up soon.

Now on to the real reason behind the post...have you all been having Internet problems lately? Yesterday, we were not able to get on at all and today it's super slow. Damien is fed up as he has been at Saxby's the past 2 days working (which he is not that happy about since it's noisy). Not to mention, I couldn't finish my lesson plan for next Sunday, as I need 2 crafts and I am not that creative. Just curious what everyone is using and how the access is, as I think he's about to start shopping around. We currently have DSL through Bellsouth. Any suggestions?

Wordless Wednesday

You say good buy, I say HELLO!

Our new super target had it's grand opening on Sunday. Now, I wasn't brave enough to venture out on that day, but I did go on Monday as there were a few items that I needed to purchase. Upon going in the doors, my mouth dropped. It was amazing. Even the carts were cool looking...

I wandered aimlessly around the grocery section, to check it out, as I didn't have any real intentions to buy groceries (but in the end bought a few things). Then made my way around the rest of the store. It's so nice to have a clean, brand new target within minutes of your house. The carts don't shake and shimmy, and the presentation of the store was so nice...aahhh! The last time, I lived this close to target, I visited the store quite frequently, so let's hope that I don't get to caught up in the Target lifestyle. I made it out this time under $50 :)

Diptheria, Tetanus and Pertussis, OH MY!

Yesterday, I finished reading a book that a friend loaned me, The Vaccine Book by Dr. Sears. Honestly, I scanned it for the good parts as most of it was over my head and other parts, I just wasn't interested in. Mainly the book talked about all of the vaccines that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended and what age they should get them. This book broke it down and discussed if the disease was common/serious, what ingredients are in the vaccine, how it's made, side effects, reasons to get the vaccine, why some people hold off or skip the vaccine, and any other options to consider. After reading it, I felt knowledgeable on what vaccines the doctor will try to give Dylan and when. I know that there are some vaccines I may be skipping or holding off on until later years, but would also like to hear your opinions and what you did or have done with your children.

The vaccines I think that I may be holding off on are: Polio, MMR, chickenpox and Hep A. (I may end up skipping chickenpox all together, but need to check on what the school requires. They aren't really sure how long the shot/booster keeps the child immune and as we know chickenpox is more difficult the older you get.)

The points that I got from the book were to spread out the shots that contain aluminum. Limit those vaccines to only 1-2 shots per vaccination. Which vaccinations I should request Dylan's doctor to order (as some have weird ingredients) and which ones most parents feel safe about.

How do you feel?

Snow Day

Last night, when we went to bed, the snow was coming down really hard. There was much talk and anticipation as to how much snow we'd get for our big snow storm. This morning, I woke up around 3:30 for a visit to the potty, and I was so anxious. I wanted to look at the window and go outside immediately. (I am just like a kid, but as I told Damien, I don't get to do many fun things anymore.) I put the going outside on hold and went back to bed. I woke up at 6:00am to let the dogs out and decided to go ahead and start bundling up...besides my bird feeder was empty and I could hear the birds chirping. All of God's creatures needed breakfast, so I filled it up with some seed as the dogs chased each other around. My neighbor, Lindsay, came outside to fill up her feeders, so she came down to the creek to say hello. Turbo had to cross the creek to say hello to her. Turbo loves the snow!!!

After our morning excursion, we came inside for a while. Then I called my other neighbor, Ashley (who has 4 kids) to see when they'd be going outside. I needed some play mates as Damien was at bible study. I met up with them to watch the kids go sledding. I wanted to do it so bad, but Damien had already told me that I couldn't. Unfortunately, the snow was too soft to make a snowman, so after a little while, I went back inside to warm up with a cup of hot cocoa.

Sophie playing in the snow

Turbo relaxing in the snow

A view of our snow (notice Turbo and Sophie running around)
Me bundled up in Damien's coat (mine is too small)

Sneak Peek

We have some pictures of Dylan. Although, he wasn't very cooperative, as he sucked on his hand/thumb the entire 30 minutes. He really likes rooting that's for sure. He's going to come out one hungry fellow.

My vote is that he looks like me, but you decide. (see this week's flashback Friday to compare)

Flashback Friday - baby style

In the spirit of today's events, (I am getting a 3D/4D ultrasound) Flashback Friday is a baby pic of me. Unfortunately, we do not have many pics of Damien as a child, so I could not include one of him as well. You know how you look at some baby pics and the person looks exactly the same then as they do now. I don't see that when I look at my baby pics, but I could just have a biased opinion.
Try and enjoy this rainy, blah day.

Crazy Kindergarten

As most of you know, I have been a substitute teaching now for about 4 weeks. Today was my 9th assignment, and I was at the elementary school teaching kindergarten. Man do I have a new respect for kindergarten teachers...whew...to say it in one word. I have been teaching only at the middle school, so to get called in to do kindergarten was quite an experience to say the least. Not to mention today was a special day as they did a musical program during school hours and are doing one tonight for the parents as well. I felt like I was trying to round up cats all day. These kids wouldn't focus, talked all the time and just would not stay in their seats. The teacher had 3 activities planned, spelling time, 2 parents come in and tell about their job, and 2 story times. On top of this, they had to go to rehearsal and then the program at the end of the day. I am BEAT! The one relaxing part was recess of course. Take them outside and let them run crazy I say. However, even this confused the kids as they usually go to recess after lunch and today they went before lunch because of the program. Poor kids thought they weren't going to get to eat lunch. Then they missed nap/quiet time all together. I hope they make it to their program that's at 7:00pm tonight.

All in all, I would say I prefer teaching middle school over elementary. If you have a bad kid, it's only for an hour (speaking of I just saw one of my bad students from this week skateboard by as I was typing that line...no way would I go out and say Hi, he'd definitely vandalize my house since I gave him 2 strikes for inappropriate behavior). Anyhoo...if you have a bad kid, he/she is no longer your problem in an hour and life goes on. The only problem you have to worry about with middle schoolers is their attitude; no worrying about poopy pants like I did today. I am going to pray that I get middle school from now on, but I will still continue to work at the elementary if needed. It just wouldn't be my first choice. I have yet to be called for high school....it scares me a bit, but I need to give it a fair shake as well.

A Good Cause

All day Friday, March 14, both of the Hardee’s in Franklin, TN will donate 20 percent of sales to the Happy Tales Humane for their Low Cost Spay Neuter Day on March 15th, at the Happy Retales in Brentwood. Guests can enjoy any of Hardee’s delicious menu items, Including its signature Thickburger™ line, and also help Happy Tales Humane end pet overpopulation by offering discounted surgeries.

“We hope people will visit Hardee’s Friday and help us raise money for this very worthy cause,” said Tammy McIntyre, Hardee’s field marketing manager. “We are always looking for ways in which our business can help out the communities in which we operate. We hope this event will raise lots of money to aid in the prevention of pet overpopulation.”

Letters for the Nursery....check

I painted the letters for Dylan's nursery today. These will go in the cream stripe over his crib. They turned out better than I thought, but I think I got a little carried away with the polka dots.

Damien has been working hard today, touching up some paint spots, putting the shelves back in the closet and putting the window treatment hardware up. He's such a trooper. I asked him today if he would rather do this before or after the baby came (some of you may remember he didn't want to find out the sex of the baby, so we'd be decorating post delivery)...he got a little snippy with me and asked me if I was trying to prove him wrong. I said no, I just want to know if you think we made a good decision. He said it would stink either way, but at least he's able to get more sleep right now.

Well, I feel like we are in crunch time right now, so we have a lot to do and a little time to do it. I pray that our furniture gets here before he's born, but I guess it won't matter since he will be in our room for a while. It would just be nice to be able to somewhat relax after he gets here and not have to worry about putting the furniture together (if we have to), putting the clothes away, putting the bedding on, etc. Only time will tell.