Photo Friday...just a few

I have just a few photos I wanted to share. The first two are of Georgia with her favorite find on a recent trip to Michael's. It was a box of all of these ITTY-BITTY chicks. Super cute and she LOVED them. In one picture she is kissing all of them. :0) As much as she loved them and played with them A LOT for two days..two days is all they lasted. They were just little balls of fluffed and it didn't take long for the eyes/head to fall off, feet to fall off, etc.
Then the vacuum brought them to their resting place.

The other photo is her in one of my favorite GROCERY STORE finds! This adorable dress was at our nearby HEB (that's a grocery store here in TX) and it was only $8. I loved it, she loved it, and everyone that saw her in it loved it. It doesn't feel like a thin, stiff cheap dress either. It's soft and the bottom half is even lined on the inside! Honestly though, even if it falls apart after a couple of washes, it was worth it because I LOVE it! :0)

Read More 1 Comment | Posted by cajungal01

WORK...and play!

FIRST THE WORK

I love breaks from work/school and I try to make the most of them.
This spring break...yard work.
Stuff I have been putting off FOREVER! (well, almost 4 years!)
We haven't ever done anything with our yard really.
We put in a sago palm and little bed by the steps but didn't do a great job
and certainly haven't kept up with it.

SO, now was the time.
I've been wanting a flower bed around our tree for a long time
and I've been wanting to plant another tree (the "circle trees" are my favorites... beautiful pear trees)

The Hubs and I started Sunday.
We marked a circle around the tree (I had put bricks there months ago but it looked bad) and started digging up the grass. NOT FUN! dug it all out, then put the edging in. Then went in the weedcloth, cut holdes for my new flowers, and put it all in. Then covered it with some good rubber mulch. (If I only get around to this every 4 years, I knew we should invest in good mulch). VOILA! I LOOOOOVE it!

I couldn't stop there, so yesterday, last night, and this morning I raked out, cleaned up, edged, weed clothed, and mulched the big front bed. We planted two lantanas but nothing else. We have all we need in there.

OH MY! I can't get over how much better it looks! A REAL flower bed! TWO OF THEM!
I am so super excited!

We had to postpone completion of the new pear tree...we (well, my hubs actually) was hitting a LOT of rock trying to dig the hole. So he'll work on that again another day. Then we'll go ahead and do a flower bed around that tree too!

(if you click on the photos it will get bigger so you can see the typing...)

YEA YEA YEA!

NOW...if ONLY we can get the grass to grow!
:0)
(we're going to aerate, put down dirt, and throw down some seed next month!)

NOW the FUN part

all of us took place in helping plant so all of us needed some fun today too (mainly the kiddos!)
So I had been promising to make some "slime".

Elmer's glue
liquid starch
food coloring.

VOILA! Instant fun!
The kids loved it, especially my King of Slime!
:0)

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photo shoot and winter fun

Georgia is suddenly ALL about getting her photo taken and it cracks me up! She enjoyed having a little photo shoot this evening, what a ham!

Then we enjoyed a great Texas Winter Evening and I put the kiddos to some use too! They had a blast and although their car washing skills left little to be desired, at least it was fun! :0)

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Spreadin' the love!

My boy Caleb really is a lovin' kinda' guy.
He likes to show his love.
He really does.

And so when it was Valentine's Day he decided to show the neighborhood his love and "make the neighbors happy".
(yes, it has taken me this long to post this!)

Caleb had apparently learned how to draw a heart that week at school.
I gotta' say, I must have missed that day when I was a student because his hearts are better than mine!
Anyway, he started drawing hearts and "happy people" on our sidewalk and our driveway.
Then he went to the next door neighbor's.
on both sides.
and then the next next door neighbor's.

and on it went.

for a looooooong time.

He drew pictures in front of approximately 12 houses , each one having approximately 6 or more "squares" (sidewalk sections...each one HAD to have a picture in it) in front of each house.

That adds up to a LOT of hearts and happy faces.

He had a blast.

After quite a while, I told him we needed to go inside so I could get dinner ready.
He looked at me and said "But Momma, I haven't done ALL the neighbors yet. All of them Mom, on ALL the streets. They need to be happy too."

"Ummm...well, we'll pray that they are sweetie. Right now, we need to go inside. Great job though! "

Ok, so I probably could have given him a better little speech, a more thorough one or deeper one. I just wasn't really up for it or just didn't. Either way, he accepted that.

Two days later though, he grabbed his cart full of chalk again.

This time he said

"Momma, I want to draw hearts and happy faces for the WHOLE WORLD!"

We definitely didn't have time for that.

But what a sweetie.
:0)

Read More 5 comments | Posted by cajungal01

disappointments

I've been wanting to post this for a while now...

DISAPPOINTMENTS

Ones of the Christmas variety.

did you have any?

a few?

a lot?

We spend months thinking about, researching, asking around, and then searching for those PERFECT gifts.
The ones that our kids will just LOOOOVE.
That will make their little worlds so much happier.
They'll spend HOURS playing with and still not have enough of.

Did you do that?

Just KNOW that you had the ultimate gifts picked out?

From you.
From the grandparents.
From Aunts and Uncles, etc.

I did.

And every year I just KNOW I've done better than the year before.
I just KNOW that THIS YEAR is the year that it will be the right stuff.
(makes me want to do a funny dance)
But alas
each February I find myself thinking "hmm...they don't play with those toys! I just knew I had gotten perfect ones yet there they sit." or even worse "OK, I researched and asked around and still that toy turned out to be a piece of junk!"

SO...
I want to know.
WHAT WERE YOUR DISAPPOINTMENTS this year?
What gifts didn't hit the mark that you so carefully aimed for?
What gifts lasted just a month or two and either lost their charm, never had any charm, or quit working completely?

Here are a few of ours:
~Dora dress up doll (I spent WEEKS searching and bidding on ebay) with a bunch of outfits...I don't think she's played with it since the day she got it.
~AMAZING pettiskirt (I knew this one could go either way)...hasn't worn it except for 10 seconds after opening it.
~swimming puppy and swimming baby doll!...now these held their attention and they loved them...BUT BOTH HAVE STOPPED WORKING! (and yes, I have replaced batteries on both twice already)
~Hot Wheels tracks... Caleb BEGGED for these. He still just plays with the cars all the time but doesn't take the time to make/put together tracks. Appears the driveway is the best ramp around.

Still have hope for:
~Playmobil farm. Georgia SOMETIMES plays with this. Not nearly as much as we had hoped but I think she will as she gets older (I hope!)
~K'Nex for Caleb. The older ones... he can NOT make what the pics show but he SOMETIMES gets these out and makes shapes and "car"...maybe twice a month. Again, hopefully more as he gets older.

So tell me yours and maybe we can help each other for future purchases
(and we'll share the ones that did hit the mark too!)
:0)
~robin

Read More 4 comments | Posted by cajungal01

haircuts

I'm wonderin'...how do your kids do with haircuts?

Do they just sit nicely, enjoy the experience, watch what is going on with excitement?

or

Do they scream, cry, and act like the stylist is cutting off their head instead of their hair?

My children definitely do the latter.
Caleb used to be HORRIBLE.
The great thing about boys is that they can have super short hair. And since I've always LOOOOVED buzz cuts on guys of all ages, that's what my son gets.

We get comfy on the back porch and take care of it.
#3 on the top, #2 on the sides.
No problem.

Georgia though has been a different story.
Last year she did OK with her first few haircuts.
She would have to be held a little while they cut the back and she needed to look down.
Then in Dec. the haircut experience got worse.
We had a bad stylist (who had no tolerance for children) and it just ...well, did not go well.
So since then I have given her the option "Either you wear your hair in a ponytail or we go get it cut."
She's opted for the pony.

but

I'm tired of doing that every day.
With her super fine hair it is just another hassle on already busy mornings trying to get ready for school.

SO...I talked to a friend who recommended a salon and stylist.

A KIDS salon.

You know the ones.

The ones that have chairs shaped like fun things, TVs on the walls, etc.
We've tried some of those before but didn't have much better luck and the stylists didn't have tons of talent/ability either. Just patience with kids. Although the patience is a must, Georgia's haircut is one that does require some work too.

So I was thinking "yeah...probably not."

BUT I stopped in yesterday anyway.
The place was not only one with cool chairs and tvs, plus playstations, etc...it was also a store, a dress up room, and more.
I indeed was sucked in by thinking "Hmm...this might be just the right thing to distract Georgia enough to actually cut her hair."
Worth a try.

and

It worked.

It worked better than I could have EVER imagined.
I went prepared and armed with Leapsters, Leapster Games from a friend (so Georgia had never played them before and then therefore would be held captivated), stuffed animals, etc.

Didn't need em'.

The stylist was AMAZING.
Talented AND beyond wonderful with kids.
Even gave Georgia HER last donut hole.

Georgia just sat there and let her do her work.
I dare say she even SMILED a few times.
The Leapster was still great for all of the time Georgia had to "look down" (a lot for her type of hair cut) so that was helpful.

Truly though...
It was wonderful.

So, I took the bait,
Bit the hook and went for the over commercialized child salon.
And it was worth every penny.
(which wasn't too much either!)

YEA for Sharkeys and Miss Lisa!
:0)
(and yes, I'll post photos later...at least I posted finally!)

Read More 4 comments | Posted by cajungal01