Thank You For Not Smoking

Mikayla: Mom, do you smoke?
Me: No...why..?
Mikayla: You know smoking's bad for you.?
Me: Yes
Mikayla: And if you smoked it would be so sad because I'd have to walk around like this (holding her nose and closing her eyes) and it would be hard to talk to you like that.
Me: -chuckling- Yeah, you're right that would be sad.
Mikayla: And you'd smell bad too! So don't ever smoke.

she just tells it like it is...

You Really Should Have Your Gall Bladder Removed

You know why? I had the flu this weekend and since then so has Trent, my brother Josh, and several other people I know. The fun kinda flu accompanied by body aches, headache, vomiting(hate that word), diarrhea(really hate that word) and all-around feeling yucky. I suffered from all these symptoms too...but I never threw up! In fact, I have not thrown up since I had my gall bladder removed 8 years ago! I've been sick and even pregnant with my 2 girls since then and have not thrown up once since that nasty organ left my body. Try it, have it removed, and see if you throw up anymore!
Ask my college roomies from freshman year, I'd randomly get dreadfully sick and doubled over in pain for no known reason. After returning from Colorado where I was visiting my friend Ryan, I was insanely sick and in pain and decided to finally figure out what was going on. The doctors said, "really bad acid reflux." I pleaded for more tests and after more and an ultrasound, they found hundreds of gall stones filling up my swollen gall bladder and we knew it was time to have it out. Long story short, since then, haven't thrown up even once! Put me to the test, get yours out too!

Do not try this at home, in fact, don't try it all, I'm just being weird and overly happy that I haven't had to deal with that yucky "v---t" word anymore! :)

Our Valentine Tradition!

I got these cute little mailboxes on sale a couple of weeks ago at Michael's for $2.00 I had seen them at Target in the dollar section in white, but they flew off the shelves within days. I called 9 Target's and they were ALL out! So I got red instead. Using paint pens I wrote our names on them and added a little embellishment. You could obviously do much more with yours, I didn't care to spend a ton of time on them though. :)

So these cute mailboxes sit atop our mantle and each day or several times a day during the week before Valentine's Day we put little notes or treats or small gifts in each other's mailboxes. It is so fun to get a note from a family member telling you how much they love you and why they love you. When you put something in someone's box, you put the flag up so they know they have mail. Mikayla loves to have us help her write her notes and then she sneakily puts the note in our box. She doesn't let the note sit in there for more than 8 seconds before she acts all surprised and says, "Mom! Look, your flag is up on your mailbox! There must be something in there for you!" It is so funny! I wanted to make the holiday stretch out a little longer than just on the 14th. So rather than one day of Valentine's we got lotsa days! A whole lotta love goin on here! We did something similar to this growing up and it is fun for me to continue the fun traditions I remember from my childhood.

"You've got mail!"

Fireplace Fun and a Slumber Party

We just got a fireplace screen last week and the girls have been LOVING having fires everynight now!

The girls ask if they can sleep together every night. After bath the other night Megan ran and slipped under the covers with Mikayla and they laid there hugging while Mikayla begged me to let her stay. How do you resist that? I gave them 20 minutes. Megan is such a sneak though, she kept jumping out of bed to grab toys and books and would dash back to safety when she heard me open the door. Sneaky little devil! I'm worried about what we'll do when she's ready to transition out of the crib, because she DOES NOT do well in a toddler bed yet!

Oh My Goodness Gracious!

I won the beautiful wall tile! It is seriously so beautiful and I'm excited to find a great place for it tomorrow! I just might need to buy a few more of these to start a collection or give as gifts. I love it! Thank you Megan and thank you ellemenopea.com :)

Love is in the Air!

How cute is this tile?! I just love it! My friend Megan posted this cute, free giveaway on her blog. For those of you interested you can visit her blog and leave her a comment to be entered in the free drawing. This beautiful Square Metal Wall Tile that measures 12" square is just waiting to adorn your house. It reads: Love-"Where there is love there is life." -Mahatma Ghandi Such a great addition to your wall for the month of Love!! Check out other awesome items at ellemenopea.com

SUPERBOWL!!

So how good was that game?! Seriously! So good, I loved it! We got together with some friends and ate way too much good food and had a blast cheering our different teams on.

A little chocolate fountain anyone?

Josh and Chloe gettin snuggy on the couch.

Megan with Matt and Sydney. She kept climbing on their laps and giving them popcorn. I hope you enjoyed the biggest game of the year. Anybody up for a March Madness party? Or two? :)

Christmas Dresses and Teddy Bears

Here are the girls with their matching red Christmas dresses and Magaw got them both matching dresses for their Build-a-Bears too.

Mikayla is in a "headband phase" right now. She wears them as often as she can and I don't mind letting her on crazy preschool mornings when we're trying to run out the door. I just hand her a hairbrush and her headband and she brushes on the drive--makes my life easy! For church though I plead with her to give me the time to at least curl it and make it somewhat decent.

This is classic Megan trying to get us to laugh. She is just full of physical comedy lately! She makes this face while eating dinner and then tries to get the food in her mouth with her eyes closed or puts food on her nose or tongue and waits for everyone to look and laugh at her! She's hilarious! My other favorite is when she scrunches her eyebrows into a mean look and scowls just to get us to laugh and then cracks herself up too!

Random Pics...

This is what happens when you let Megan put on eye shadow and makeup. All fun and games till Mom takes away the eyeliner pencil!!

Here's Mikayla looking cute as can be before church last week with her matching doll. She loves matching her sister and/or her dolls.

I let Mikayla pick out her own clothes and Megan's for school the other day. I think she came up with great outfits for the both of them! It's hard to see but she even picked out a necklace, ring, and a bracelet. Gotta love the bling!

My MIA status...

Yeah, so, I just realized I'm posting today for the first time in a month. Holy moley! Where'd the time go?! I have been studying pretty intensely for the AFAA exam that I am taking this Saturday. I have been teaching water aerobics for a couple months now and need to get nationally certified as a group fitness instructor.
The test is pretty comprehensive of anatomy, exersice physiology, kinesiology, nutrition, and exercise instruction. I also have to demonstrate a routine to a panel of evaluators, and show that I know how to stretch and strengthen all the major muscle groups. To say I'm nervous and a little worried is an understatement. I've been reading and filling out my study guide and making flash cards, but if you know me, you know I am NOT a good test taker and don't have the best retention of terminology. So, I've been kinda MIA from blogging and life in general, but it'll be over on Saturday!

Babysitting Teddy

The girls loved babysitting Teddy, Mikayla's preschool's class pet. We had him for almost a week in January and just loved him. He's quiet and let the girls hold him and feed him carrots and apples. I've never seen a long-haired guinea pig before, but they're pretty cool!

Field Trip to Home Depot!

Building the birdhouse with Dad

Painting it when we got home

Mikayla loved pounding in all the nails. She did such a good job!

We had a field trip to Home Depot and the kids got paint samples, countertop samples, stickers, orange aprons, and a full tour of the place. At the end they each got to make a birdhouse. Such a fun fieldtrip!