Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Where I've been for the last 6 months!



Hey everyone!  Sophistication is getting to be such a big girl and constantly keeps me on my toes.  I've been missing from the blogging universe because Hubby has been back in school since September so I've been parenting alone.  :-/  This sucks but the rewards at the end will be awesome!  I can't wait until he graduates in May!  I have other news that I will share next week too!  Also my lupus has been out of remission so that's put a crimp on getting things done.  I am now taking shots everyday to thin my blood due to my Lupus Anticoagulant being positive.  Well off to figure out why the little monster lady is crying now... Take care everyone.


~Dee

Friday, August 30, 2013

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday



I just wanted to tell you what I'm thankful for today.

There's a little intro story into what I'm thankful for tonight and it goes like this.  Today was errand/cleaning day.  After running our errands we came home to take care of our yard furniture.  I started taking all of Sophistication's yard toys to the basement for winter storage.  When I was finished I started to go upstairs and a giant frog jumped at me!  It looked like this: 




Ok ok ok I KNOW it wasn't really THIS big! BUT it felt like it was!


The frog was probably the size of a small apple but that thing FREAKED me out!

Soooooo What I'm thankful for:

MY HUSBAND!

Yup, he heard me screech and ran downstairs to see what happened and if I was hurt. 
He then preceded to chase the frog until he caught it!  Even better is he took it way out back by the big creak to let it go.  My hubby is AMAZING!  

I Love You C 
&
All that you do for me.  < 3
I love you more than words can describe.  
Thank you for loving me, being my partner and an great father!


~ Dee

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

What's happening this week ending August 25th 2013

What happened this week!  Sophistication turned 22 months old!  Where did the time go???  We went to the park on her month day and she LOVES the slides.  She has absolutely NO fear of climbing all the way to the top and then sliding down on her own.  However, Mommy is terrified of this!  Therefore, Papi hung out at the top of the slide and Mommy at the bottom to make sure she made it up and down safely! :-)  My baby is getting to be such a big girl already!

Talking about being a big girl, I French Braided Soph's hair for the first time this week!  WAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH :(  

I still can't believe how big she is getting!
This previous week also brought us new kittens that have adopted us.  We have a boy and a girl that look almost identical and are super friendly.   We himmed and hawed if we were going to give them names or not and Papi said we had to call them SOMETHING.  Then he named them Buffy for the little girl and Tuffy for the little boy.  I am surprised that they let Sophistication carry them around so much but they seem to love her just as much as she loves them.  

I wanted to show off this weeks manicure too.  I wore Bondi New York's Brick Road topped by a Wet and Wild orange glitter polish that I have NO idea what it is actually called.  One of my co-workers said this was my candy corn manicure and I completely agree.  Now I just need to find a pearl white to finish it off for a perfect Halloween mani!

I hope you all had as amazing a week as I did!  Enjoy the last days of summer before they are gone, I know I am! 




~ Dee


Sunday, August 25, 2013

Magnet

Photo Gallery Magnet
Send Shutterfly Valentine's Day cards to those closest to you.
View the entire collection of cards.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Flash flooding August 2013


I have been deciding if I want to blog this at all.  I have lived in my home since I was 6 years old and I have never had to deal with this.  My house has stood here for 65 years.  My grandfather built it!  In those 65 years it has NEVER flooded.  Well that all changed on August 9th 2013.  It was a freak thing.  I had received an alert on my phone that there were flash floods in my area but I ignored it because that is down the road, not at my house, never my house.  I am far enough up the hill that I normally do not have to deal with those things.  

What/How it happened:  I live next to a small creak.  There had been some pretty crazy storms going through the previous few days that made the stream levels higher than normal but that's not what did it.   The rain weakened the side of the embankment right where a large tree grew.  Between the weakened embankment, continued rain and weight of the tree the tree fell into the creek.  Normally that still wouldn't do anything.  On this one day, this one chance tree falling it fell with the top pointed towards the bridge over the stream.  The tree was then pushed into the opening of the bridge and all the branches and leaves blocked the flow of water.  This made all that water go rushing up and over the bridge and road right into my yard, garage and my basement.  My mail carrier witnessed it as it happened right when she was delivering mail.  She said the water was half way up her tires of her SUV.  That's pretty dang high!  Lucky for us she called from her cell phone to have the road crews come unclog the tree ASAP.  She told me that by time she did the next part of her route and came back towards my house the water was gone and she could continue down our road approximately 30 minutes later.  All this mess in such a short time amazes me.

My garage had over a foot of water in it.  The basement flooded and I lost a lot of my Christmas items.  The force of the water and mud was so much that totes that were full were picked up and flipped into the muck.  Other totes had water and mud deposited into them from the top even though they were closed because they are not water proof.  The riding lawn mower moved over 100 ft down the driveway.  Sophistication's Cozy Coupe went from in front of the garage all the way into the way back yard.  We found railroad ties in the middle of our yard as well as a TON of bamboo.  I was lucky.  Even though I am still cleaning everything the important stuff is still there.  My hot water tank still works, the washer, dryer and freezer all work.  My furnace is opened all the way to dry it out so my cousin can come check it out (he works for a company and does it professionally so I'm in good hands).  

Once the house is finished being dried out, cleaned, and organized the yard comes last.  I'm pretty sure that the yard will not be done until next year.  It is a last priority of mine.  Sophistication has somewhere to play out front so the back and side yards can be a mess.  It will get done, eventually.  

In some ways this has been a blessing.  My basement and garage are getting cleaned when I have put if off for years and years and it keeps just collecting junk.  Now I will have a nice, clean, organized basement.  My garage is the emptiest I've seen it in YEARS and it's nice to think I will be able to pull my car in it this winter.  I may have lost stuff.  But that is all it is, it is STUFF!  It is NOT important in the grand scheme of life.  It is all stuff that is replaceable.  

~Dee

Spencer Picnic 2013



This past week was our local fair.  I had to share some adorable pictures that I took the two days that we went.

Sophistication was technically big enough to ride on the rides this year.  However, I did not let her go on any as I was afraid she would try to get out or cry the whole time.  She's not even two yet but she seems like she is older until she doesn't! :-)

She had fun watching all the people, walking around and visiting all the booths and eating some great fair foods.

In the picture at the top, she is eating fluff and trying to get me to eat it too.  I caught the picture just at the right moment that she made a funny face while eating and just HAD to share it.

In the pictures on the right you'll see where she gets the funny faces from.  She's just like her daddy!  She also had a great time hanging with Papi so I could eat.


If you'd like a little history on our town you can visit the official Spencer Picnic website at www.spencerpicnic.com

There is also a video from 1991 that I am in!  I'm not going to tell you where I'm at in the video but I am there!  They need to save it to a different format or load it to YouTube because there is NO skipping ahead in the movie :(  This can be found HERE.

While we were in the park Sophistication found the joy of slides.  I took a short video and some stills because it was just so cute.  I love the look of pure joy on her face.  When we went back a few days later she remembered where the slides were and wanted to keep going down them and even tried to climb the hill to get to it on her own.

We made some great memories by taking a few hours to just stop and enjoy our day with each other instead of stressing over all the little things that have happened this summer.

I hope your enjoying that last few days of summer before the fall hits us.  I know we are!

~ Dee










Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Citrus Lane August 2013, 28mo girl box

Citrus Lane August 2013 

28 mo girl box




What we got in our box this month!



Total Value of our box is $33.04 and we actually loved it all!

Review of Items:

Bear on the Go First Puzzle by Barefoot Books:  Sophistication already threw these around the room several times.  I keep putting them together, she tears them apart, in the box, out of the box, and right back in.  She certainly loves them.  What I love about them is that they are great beginner puzzles at only 4 pieces each.  

Orange Vanilla sanitizing wipes by Clean Well:  These will come in handy in the coming months as the weather continues to cool and the leaves start falling.  They also smell interesting!

Ouchies Jr adhesive bandages, the world of Eric Carle: The Bear Series:  These are supper cute and Sophistication HAD to wear one today.  When the bandages are gone I'm sure she'll love the tin as well.  I like that her crayons can fit in it and I can toss them in my purse and not worry about them getting broken.

Fun Things to Color A to Z from Creativity for Kids:  The pages are adorable in this color book.  I was worried initially by the markers however they are washable.  The size is perfect for Sophistication's hands at the moment too!  I had to hide this from Sophistication when it was nap time because she wanted to color and not nap.

Cheddar Bunnies from Annie's:  I opened these for snack time today.  Sophistication ate a few then decided mommy needed to eat them instead of her.  When I declined after a few she then fed the dogs.  My personal taste testing; I thought they were ok, however not the greatest taste to me.  I like that they are organic but they have a kind of bland flavor.  


All in all I am very pleased with this months box.  I can see us using these products in the near future for their intended purposes besides what we are using them for now.  


About Citrus Lane

 For those of you that have never heard of Citrus Lane here is a quick overview of the company.

  • Citrus Lane provides monthly care packages for children ages newborn to 3 years old.  
  • They provide 4 to 5 "best of" products.  
  • There is a $25 per month fee with free shipping or packages can be purchased in 3,6, and 12 month gift packages (Ours is a 6 month.)  
  • The items are a surprise every month, there are often spoilers on their facebook page and twitter feed.
  • Sophistication is almost 22 months old but I have her aged up 6 months to 28 months.  We have been getting boxes for just over a year and enjoy them so much that I stalk the USPS tracking page as soon as I receive the shipping notification!
  • Citrus Lane's Facebook page is an awesome resource for asking just about any question to other mom's!

If you are interested in trying out Citrus Lane for yourself Click HERE for a more information.  Also use code "TAKEHALF" to receive your first box 50% off for a month to month subscription.  Multi-month Subscriptions get $10 off by using my referral link HERE.

I paid for this box and have not received any compensation for my blog post.  All opinions are my own and I was not influenced by anyone or anything except a great product and I would never recommend anything to anyone that I would not, myself, use or that I felt was not worth spending money on. 



~Dee