Tara's Rambling Place

This blog moooooooved

2008-02-21T16:31:00.001-06:00

At some point, I grew weary of blogger's problems (which may have long since been fixed) but alas, my new blog home can be found here.

Mid August post

2006-08-09T21:14:00.000-05:00

We had a fun weekend with Nana, Papaw and the girls' cousins, Holly & Jamie. Nana & Papaw arrived at our place on Saturday around lunchtime and the rest of the crew got here a little later. We all swam and then cooked hamburgers. The girls all played until they were worn out. Holly & Jamie started to spend the night, but changed their minds at the last minute. Jamie wasn't feeling great. She fell off of the girls' bed and hurt her wrist. We found out on Sunday night that she'd broken it and is casted up to her little shoulder :( That makes a hot summer even hotter!

On Sunday, we got up and had breakfast and went out to the Old Mill in North Little Rock. I'd heard from several people that it's a great photo op, and since Papaw always has his camera, we had to try it out! We decided it must be a popular spot for photos because a bride-to-be was there having her wedding photos done. It's really a beautiful place.....maybe the next time we go it'll be a little cooler. We took bread so that we could stop off at a pond I'd spotted a few days earlier to feed the ducks.

We're headed home (to Lake City) this weekend to see everyone. Jeremy had a camping trip planned with his brother and brother-in-law, but had to cancel it when he found out he was headed to Houston to work the following two weeks. The girls & I have to drop him off at the LR airport in the early afternoon, so our trip home will have to be cut a little short as well.

***Finishing this up on Sunday afternoon...maybe blogger will let me finish it today. I started this post on Wednesday of last week!

We're packing Daddy up for his flight to Houston. We even bought new luggage last night! No more borrowing or carrying our things in Wal-Mart bags or those duffel bags you get when you buy a certain cologne at Dillard's. His flight leaves at 3:45, so we're getting ready to leave soon and hoping he doesn't encounter too long of a security delay.

Be Safe Daddy!!

(I still can't upload any pics, so just words for now!)

August is here!

2006-08-02T11:01:00.000-05:00

It's definitely August and the temperature outside reflects it. The girls & I haven't left the apartment much at all. Errands will just have to wait! We're getting cabin fever, though, so it just HAS to let up soon! I love the fall and can't wait to see October roll around.

Not anything major to share this time. Just a few pics I've taken over the past week. The first is of the girls and their favorite thing to play with...Play Dough! We spend a lot of evenings on the porch having popsicles, so I'll share a couple of those pics, too.

We've discovered Cold Stone Creamery Ice Cream! We went on Friday night after Daddy got home from work, and let me tell ya...it was a happenin' place!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE ice cream, and I thought it was awesome stuff. Jeremy, as expected, was NOT impressed. I had one called Cheesecake Fantasy and the girls had some good ole' watermelon. Their lips were red for 2 days!

Amy, Justin & Jacob came to visit us on Saturday. The kids played while we cooked lunch. We had big plans to grill burgers outside, but it was WAY too hot, so we broke out the counter-top grill and they were JUST as good. After lunch, the kids napped and then we headed to the pool for some water fun. Afterward, we headed to the Olive Garden for sum YUMMY dinner!

We're planning on having company again this weekend. We invited Nana & Papaw over on Saturday (and to spend the night Friday if they'd like!) and we also invited the girls' cousins, Holly & Jamie (and their parents) over to play. Riley & Maddie are always happy to see Holly & Jamie!

Enough for now, it's lunchtime and then naptime for everyone, Mommy included!

Long time, no post

2006-07-26T21:08:00.000-05:00

Well, we really haven't done all that much since I posted last.....even though it's been forever. We did take a short day trip to Hot Springs, and all but this first picture are from that day.

We didn't have much of a July 4th because Jeremy was out of town, but the girls at least posed for a quick shot in their red, white & blue outfits!

A cute shot of Maddie getting a piggyback ride from her favorite guy :0)

We took the girls on one of those duck-boat tours of Lake Hamilton. They both loved it and Mommy & Daddy enjoyed the first day of weather that didn't consist of temperatures over 100! It was a nice day, especially once we got out onto the water.

Getting these two girls to stand still, smile, no thumbs in mouth, no hair being twirled.........THAT's a big job!

Nothing much to report, but I knew if I didn't post that some of my family might drag me to the computer by my heels!

Papaw's Day

2006-07-13T13:05:00.000-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPAW!

Week at Mom's

2006-07-13T12:53:00.000-05:00

Jeremy was scheduled to work out of town all this week, so the girls and I decided to head to Mom's. He's actually getting to fill in for an account manager who's on vacation, so he's definitely getting some hands-on training!

I worked in the office on Monday and Tuesday and plan to be there again tomorrow. The girls have spent time with all of their grandparents this week and are spoiled R-O-T-T-E-N!!!

Riley & Maddie got to spend a couple of days with their cousins from Benton this week. Holly, Riley, Jamie & Maddie had a great time! I'm sure their Papaw and Nana are exhausted, though!

After Maddie and I went to bed the other night, Riley helped Memaw ice a cake......and looks like she helped herself to licking the beaters!

Weekend update

2006-07-03T07:17:00.000-05:00

We had a good restful weekend here in Sherwood! We've been in the pool every day and it just wears us out, but Jeremy & I can definitely use the exercise and a little sun is good for us all!

On Saturday, I got out to find a church to attend on Sunday morning. It appears there's only one Church of Christ in Sherwood. The Sylvan Hills Church of Christ is only about 5 minutes away from our apartment and really seemed alot like our home church, the Valley View Church of Christ. It was about the same size, averaging around 460 people between their early and regular service. Next Sunday, we'll try to go to the early service. Most of the people at the 2nd service were older and we felt a little out of place.

After we got home, Jeremy & I were talking about what we thought about the church. He said to me, "Tara, you're not going to find a 'Christina' at every church." That made me a little sad :(

***Potty training update***

Maddie's been out of a diaper (except for naps and nighttime) since Friday and has only had 2 peepee accidents!!!

A couple of pics from the weekend! The girls love playing on our balcony/patio.

Settling in

2006-06-30T07:56:00.000-05:00

I've never seen an apartment in such a mess. One of the sofas is covered with "stuff"....you can probably see it in the background of some of the pics I'll post.

Wednesday night we went by to visit GranGran before heading out of town. The girls found a new friend there, a black kitten named Lucky.

Riley & Maddie actually sat still for a picture with some of their church friends Wednesday night.

They'll certainly miss seeing Reagan, Kailey, & Molly (and Isabella & Alexandra, not pictured) every week!!

The girls and Norma. Ms. Norma had a hard time letting us leave yesterday. She has kept them since they were each 12 weeks old.

The following are some pics of the girls with the other girls at daycare. Their friend Maggie wasn't at Norma's, but we got some pics of Reagan and Cailey.

Riley and Cailey will be sad to be apart. Cailey kept asking me why Riley wasn't going to be there anymore and if we'd EVER come back.

Just a test post

2006-06-29T18:06:00.000-05:00

And it looks like I CAN post on blogger from Jeremy's laptop! Yay!!! I got some "last day at Norma's" pics that I'll share after the girls go to bed.

Moving Day #2

2006-06-28T11:53:00.000-05:00

Looks like tomorrow's the day for the girls and I to make the transition to Sherwood. The girls are excited to go live at their "new house with stairs" and I'll be happy to finally have us all back together again. We've spent too much of 2006 living apart! Jeremy is working out of town, and he'll be excited to be able to come home to a family instead of an empty apartment.

Jeremy's apartment has a junior olympic sized pool, and the girls will LOVE that we have access to it. Maddie got to swim with Daddy once, but Riley slept right through it.

I thought I'd share this book that the girls have grown to love to hear. My mom's friend, Mary Lou, told Mom about this book that her daughter loved. Mom says Mary Lou could recite the lines from memory. It's a really cute story about Miss Twiggley, who lives in a tree and sleeps in a hat. All the townspeople think she's an odd bird, so her friends consist of a dog named Puss, bears, and who knows what else!

There came a flood in Miss Twiggley's town, and the people who had disliked her so much were forced up into her tree to get away from the water. Miss Twiggley took them in, kept them dry and showed them how to be kind to people even when they've been less than kind to you. This book was first published in 1966!

I don't know how long it'll be before I'll update my blog again. For some reason, my home computer and blogger don't like each other :-( I'll try from Jeremy's laptop, but if that doesn't work, I might think about switching over to typepad....we'll just see!

New Car Time

2006-06-25T13:19:00.000-05:00

Well, we said "buh-bye" to the old Ford truck this weekend. It's been a lemon ever since we bought the thing, and found out the hard way on Saturday that it'd been through more than we knew. It's been wrecked and repainted and we didn't know it! I guess if we ever buy another used car, we'll do a little more research before we sign on the dotted line!!!!

We moved on to something bigger and better......well, better anyway. It's certainly smaller!! We bought a 2006 Toyota Corolla S. Jeremy's had his eye on them for a while. It's small, but seems to have plenty of room inside for us. Best of all is the gas mileage!! It's rated at 30ish in town and 38 on the highway! That's double what J's truck got, so I can only imagine how much $$$$ we'll save on gas!

**Notice in the picture above that Jeremy quite promptly had them put his Hogs license plate on the new car. He wasn't about to drive off the lot without it!

Pigggg Sooouuiiieee!!!!

Riley's T-Ball Photos

2006-06-21T22:22:00.000-05:00

I picked up Riley's T-Ball pictures today and I'm SO pleased with them!! I'm so proud of her for playing the whole season! She only complained a little and really had a great time!!!!

Won't be adding much journaling here since I burned the phooey out of my finger last night at VBS!!

I realize the last few pics I've posted have only been of Riley, so here's my Maddie Bug!! I remember loving this picture because it was taken JUST after she started sucking her thumb. ***Aunt Angela, do you recognize this outfit??

Way back when...

2006-06-20T16:17:00.000-05:00

My mom has a lot of older pictures on her computer....pictures I would've LONG since burned to a cd, but I thought it might be fun to show some of them since some of the people who look at my blog regularly didn't know my kiddos "way" back then. This first picture is of Riley at 6 months. I remember this being one of my favorite of her 6 month set because of the way her little toes are curled up. Mama loves those toes!!!!

In most of Riley's baby pictures I think she looks nothing like she does now, but this one to the left couldn't be denied. Her little disappearing eyes (that she inherited from her Daddy & Papaw) and her beautiful little mouth can't be mistaken!

Mama sneaking a smooch!

Smith family update

2006-06-20T10:05:00.000-05:00

Has it really been 19 days since I've posted? Thanks, Christina, for reminding me! :-)

Ok, so we're moved......sort of. Jeremy is all moved to Sherwood and I'm all moved into Mom's. Aside from the fact that all of the girls' clothes are in stacks on top of a cardboard box, we're all settled. When people ask me for my address, I really have to take a pause and think about the answer. I'm homeless!!!

It's looking like I'm going to be able to do my current job from home once we hire someone to do Jenn's work. Her secretary quit a month or so ago with no notice (well, maybe you could consider all the mysterious backaches and stomach bugs notice).....How very special is that? I'm reminded of the rudeness of it every day when I have work that was said to be done and then I find it unfinished buried in a stack of papers!! The primary reason the girls and I didn't move with Jeremy was to avoid putting them in daycare since I knew they'd have to be pulled out and put into another in a few months. They're at an age where they aren't dealing with change very well and I knew swapping daycares would really be awful. The transition we're in right now is hitting them hard enough. So......if I can work from home, they'll be able to be home with me. I really want Riley to have at least one year of preschool before Kindergarten, but that wouldn't have to happen until after we get transferred to wherever Jeremy's account will be.

On the topic of Jeremy's job, he is really enjoying it! He's gotten to travel to a few places in the state already to visit various locations. He went to Dumas, Hot Springs and Springdale last week and is spending this week working in the terminal at Maumelle. Everyone keeps telling him how easy his job is going to be once he learns the ropes. He ***LIKES*** the sound of that!

The girls and I had big plans to leave shortly after work on Friday to spend the weekend with Daddy, but his POJ (piece of junk!) FORD is giving him lots of problems, so looks like we're in for a car shopping trip this weekend. I decided to leave the girls at home with Memaw.....Car shopping with a 2 and 3 year old is neither fun....nor easy. We found out that J.B. Hunt employees get a discount on GM products, so we're leaning toward a Saturn Ion. We're really looking for something great on gas. Another one we've looked into is a Toyota Corolla.....Small, GREAT on gas. I think we could fit a Toyota Corolla into my Nissan Quest :-) Of course, Jeremy's first choice is a Jeep Wrangler, but...we'll see.

VBS has started at VV Church of Christ! So much fun! The theme is "Pulling together as part of God's team," and everything is decorated in a wintery theme. Lots of snowflakes hanging around the place. I have pictures on my camera, but not uploaded yet. I got a great pic of Brother David "Rolling his Gospel Chariot" along..haha! I'm helping with crafts and it's really fun. I know Riley is enjoying doing the crafts. She can't wait to get home at night and show Memaw what she made. She sent Sunday night's craft home with Daddy so he could hang it on his refrigerator.

That's all I can update on for now since everything's pretty much up in the air! I'm sure I'll have lots of VBS pics to share eventually!

Boxes, Boxes and More Boxes

2006-06-01T08:07:00.000-05:00

We made our trip to UHaul last night to pick up our "moving supplies." We packed until bedtime and we finally just collapsed into bed.....and we're not even 1/8 of the way through our house! I did get all my china and stemware unloaded out of the china cabinet and put safely into a special box for those things.

Jeremy and I both cleaned out our closets and dresser. Two huge piles of clothes are ready to go to Goodwill. I had NO idea how much stuff we had until we're ready to clean it out. While I was working on the china cabinet, Jeremy went through and packed all of our dvds and cds. He'll be bored with all those dvds in his new apartment if we can't get our big screen TV up the stairs :=)

Couple more pics of the kiddos from the weekend

2006-06-01T08:01:00.000-05:00

Riley came into the bathroom while I was flossing Sunday night. She asked if she could have some. I gave it to her and she walked away. I had no idea I'd find this when I walked around the corner into her bedroom to check on her!

Guess she thought Ivan had some cleaning to do :)

Maddie had gone on to bed and Riley and Ivan decided they needed a snack. Here they are sharing Ivan's puppy dog blanket eating some goldfish crackers!

Rub a dub dud, three cousins in a tub

2006-05-30T15:47:00.000-05:00

The girls are always happy to see their cousin, Ivan, come to play! Ivan and Maddie played especially well this visit and they got along so well that Ivan wanted to come home to play with us. His Mommy and Daddy were out and Ivan told us he wanted to sleep with Uncle Jeremy, so we let him spend the night. He actually slept with Riley, but after a little initial fussing, he went right to sleep (snoring in less than 5 minutes!) and woke up a happy camper. They ate breakfast and before long he was ready to head back to Memaw Bakes' house....I'm sure he was missing his Mommy and Daddy.

More on the weekend family reunion later, I'm supposed to be working...shhhhhh!!!!

Catch Up Time

2006-05-23T15:12:00.000-05:00

Time to do some major catching up!! I haven't posted in almost three weeks! So much has happened since then....*sigh!

Last week, we went on our very first family vacation. We didn't want to travel TOO far, so we decided to visit St. Louis. I was surprised at how many fun things there are to do there! The girls had a great time. Maddie got homesick whenever she got tired, saying "I want MY house," while Riley was saying, "What are we doing next?" Grant's Farm was probably our favorite. We got up close and personal with quite a few animals!
It was pretty cool and rainy most of the time we were there, but that beats HOT and humid anyday, for me! Our hotel had an indoor pool, so the girls got to swim despite the weather. Maddie preferred the "warm pool" (a.k.a. hot tub) over the "cold pool." Riley HATED the hot tub...yet again showing how different they are!

Here's a funny picture of them I caught at the mall. This was taken at the St. Louis Galleria. Much too "swanky" a mall for our tastes, but it was a beautiful place and you can tell from the picture. Lots of beautiful fountains and flowers. We found a Club Libby Lu inside, but Jeremy wouldn't let Riley get a makeover :( Daddy, she's only THREE! Regardless, it was a nice place to visit.

About a week before our vacation, Jeremy had interviewed with J.B. Hunt for a great job. His friend Cory called him up and got the ball rolling. They told him they'd let him know something early in the week. Monday while the girls were napping, Jeremy was downstairs checking out the hotel's restaurant and got a call from the HR guy at J.B. Hunt. They were offering him a job! They told him all about it, sent him an email with all the details and asked him to let them know by Friday if he would accept or not. We were so excited, but a little sad to know that we'd be moving.

He called them on Friday and accepted the job. Bed Bath & Beyond have not wanted to let him go. They've offered him the moon to stay with the company, but he has declined. Looks like Daddy realizes that all the money in the world isn't worth missing seeing your little girls grow up.

He'll train in Little Rock for 3-6 months and then be assigned somewhere (most likely in Arkansas.) We decided it would be too hard on the girls to change daycares twice, me to change jobs twice, and so on...so we got Jeremy an apartment at the Links of Sherwood and looks like Mommy & the girls are going to camp out at Memaw's house for a few months! Jeremy isn't looking forward to being a "weekend daddy" again, but he knows it's best for us in the long run. He put in his notice on Monday and his last day at BB&B will be Friday, June 2. We'll get moved (all over creation it seems) and he'll start his new job on the 6th. Congratulations, Daddy!!!

So, that brings us up to date. I'm working today, then will have a long weekend for Memorial Day! YAY!! We'll have our Alumbaugh family reunion this weekend like every Memorial Day weekend. Both of Mom's brothers and their families will be here.

Also have to say ****Happy Birthday**** to our nephew Jacob! He turns a year old tomorrow and we're celebrating with a party at Craighead Forest. Gonna be a hot one!!

Oh, and gotta throw this in JUST for Christina.......

SOUL PATROL!!! WOOHOO!!!

Some TBall Pics

2006-05-05T08:09:00.000-05:00

Finally got the pics from Riley's first TBall game. I took most of the pictures with Papaw's camera (it's better than mine!), and he emailed them to me last night. First, though, an awesome pic of Maddie. I'm such a fan of pictures that aren't posed.

Playin' in the dirt.......again.

CHEEEEEEESE!Lined up to "hit hands" as Riley calls it!

Here's a video clip of Riley at Bat!

Video Hosting - Upload Video - Video Sharing

As it turns out, Papaw is a pretty good photographer! This was taken a couple of weekends ago when Riley spent the night w/ Nana & Papaw.

Maddie gettin' up close and personal with the camera!

A Show about Nothing

2006-05-04T13:53:00.000-05:00

Ok, so this isn't a show, but sometimes I feel like my life IS Seinfeld..."A Show about Nothing." Not because my life is nothing, but because of all the crazy things that Seinfeld addressed.

Having trouble with pics lately, so I'll just do some text entry I suppose. Riley's supposed to have her 2nd tball game tonight, but it's rained here all day, so I'm sure they probably won't play. From the look of that radar, the rain will be around a while!

We truck-shopped yesterday. Jeremy's truck is a LEMON (what would you expect from a Ford?) and we feel like we're losing money on it daily. Here's a sad situation: You know it's going to rain tomorrow, so you have to run outside and disconnect your battery cables or your truck won't start the next day! Oh, and what about that water you hear sloshing around everytime you make an abrupt stop? Anyway, Cheverolet has $4,200 off all their full sized trucks right now, so it's a good time to buy. Now if he could JUST make up his mind. **Sigh

Last night before church, we ate at Front Page Cafe. It seems to be Riley's new favorite place (or at least is a tie w/ Fuji Steakhouse). She can't get enough of the passed-around fried okra. She says they're "little green surprises." Maddie is less than enthused about the okra, but she likes the mini corndogs!

As we were eating, the news said something about someone named Peter. Riley heard it and said, "I know about Peter! Peter, James and John are Jesus' friends. They stayed with him." That led Maddie into a rendition of "How I love to pat the bible with hands God made me." The restaurant was entertained, I'm sure.

The interview Jeremy was supposed to have with J.B. Hunt for today got postponed until next Thursday. Could we POSSIBLY drag this out a little longer? Hmm?

I'm hoping it stops raining before the end of the week. I just learned that you can buy a whole truckload of topsoil at Southlawn Nursery for $6!!! I need to build up my flower beds and make some new beds around our massive Oak tree.

Weekend Recap

2006-05-01T13:05:00.000-05:00

Jeremy surprised us Friday by getting home early. I was SO tired and was laying on my bed watching Oprah (and letting the girls roll around all over me) when he called to say he was leaving Memphis. A few minutes later, there he was! We got cleaned up and headed to J'town. Ate supper at Front Page Cafe where Riley could get her fix of fried Okra. How many 3 year olds eat fried Okra? She said they were little green surprises!!! Maddie wasn't so impressed. We also went to Wal-Mart and walked around the mall for a few minutes.

The forecast for Saturday and Sunday was rain, rain and more rain, so Saturday we stayed in all day. Cleaned house, did laundry....I left the house only once to check out the painting my mom did in her bedroom.

Sunday we went to church, and out to eat at Riley's new favorite place, Fuji Steakhouse. She loves the show they put on at the hibachi grill. Maddie likes it, too, but gets a little spooked by the fire show. What Maddie likes the best is that they scramble an egg for her!

The rain never came on Sunday, so we mowed the grass and played outside with the girls and Papaw until it was time to get dressed for church again.

Had a good weekend!

Once again...All dressed up and nowhere to go

2006-04-28T12:07:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure it's possible to look ANY cuter in a ball uniform than my Riley does! Gotta love the pink shoes w/ the Blue & White uniform!

(Please ignore the chaos that resides on my refrigerator!)

A decade later

2006-04-28T11:58:00.000-05:00

I had my 10 year class reunion last weekend. We rented a pavillion at Craighead Forest for a lunchtime cookout. We had lots more people come than I expected. We ate, took lots of pictures and let the kids play. Later in the evening, we met at Omar's in Jonesboro for dinner. It was good to see everyone and catch up with the happenings of them all!

Sick little Bug

2006-04-28T07:55:00.000-05:00

My Maddie Bug was SO sick last week! After 3 visits to two different doctors, we finally figured out she had Coxsackie Virus. She ran fever from Tuesday until the following Monday, sometimes as high as 105.6! I was beginning to think she'd never get well. She also cut her lower right 2 year molar this Monday (April 24).

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2006-04-25T06:27:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Daddy! Jeremy turns 30 this year and actually had to be out of town on his birthday, so we celebrated a little early. The girls decorated a cake for him with frosting and sprinkles. (A grown man's favorite, right?) I cooked his favorite supper of salisbury steak, creamed potatoes, black eyed peas, macaroni & cheese and rolls.

Doesn't Maddie look terribly happy in this picture? She wanted down and MOMMY WANTED a picture!

Notice Riley in her tball uniform. (This entry was originally titled "All dressed up and nowhere to go.") Her game got cancelled because of lightning. I swear she won't ever get to have a game! She sure looked cute, though.

A couple of cute pics of the girls working on the cake. Riley is a little teenager already, it seems. She is doing business with a cell phone to her ear!

Egg Dyeing time

2006-04-15T11:35:00.000-05:00

Is that the correct way to spell "Dyeing?" I doubt that it's without the "e," as then it would be DYING. But that might be more fitting with the way I cook eggs sometimes :)

The girls were excited to get up and start to work on their eggs this morning. They barely let Mommy and Daddy get really awake before the begging began. Riley's favorite was Pink, and Maddie's favorite (as always) was Orange. After it was all over, Mommy had to have a nice long visit with a bottle of Clorox Clean-up to take care of all the colorful little spatters all over the countertop. Now, if I could JUST get it off of the girls........Probably shouldn't use the Clorox on them, huh?

Easter funny

2006-04-13T13:53:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to add an "Easter funny" to my blog while it's on my mind. This is a favorite thing to talk about at my in-law's house at Eastertime, but I know one of these days I'll forget about it, so here goes.

My nephew, Gavin, is now 8 years old, but about 3 years ago (around age 5), the girls' Mimi had bought all the kids baskets with lots of goodies, chocolate and candy. I wouldn't let Riley have hers....obviously! She was just a year and a half old!

Gavin walks into the living room with chocolate all over his mouth and says he needs to tell us something. "A chocolate bunny is missing!" He'd eaten Riley's bunny! We had such a good laugh and still is one of our funniest Easter memories.

Major League

2006-04-11T16:01:00.000-05:00

Riley had TBall practice again yesterday. She enjoyed it a little more this time and seemed to talk to the other little girls some. She still needs to be more agressive and run after the ball when it's hit. She just wants to stand out there and look pretty......And she does a GREAT job of it, but I'm a tad biased! Here's a cute pic of her in action......Grand Slam!!?? Well, no, but she did get to fist base!! In the second picture, she almost looks like she's praying she'll hit the ball :-)

They got their uniforms yesterday and even though her's is way too big, it looked SO cute on her! I'll definitely have to tie up her sleeves so they won't fall off of her shoulders. And are the socks SUPPOSED to look like thigh-highs?

A very busy Sunday

2006-04-09T15:49:00.000-05:00

6:00 a Out of Bed
8:00a Out of the house 15 minutes early....out of gas!
8:45a Arrive at church
11:15a Leave church
11:45a Lunch with Daddy at Shorty Small's and a quick cruise around the mall
12:45p Home from the mall.......Maddie's fast asleep in the van and doing
some MAJOR thumb-sucking
2:15p Papaw arrives for his routine Sunday afternoon visit
4:00p Out the door to a tour of our brand new church building!!!!
5:00p Singing before the 6:00 service
7:15p Life group meeting at Pizza Inn

Whew!!

**Sidenote.........This is a gentle reminder to Jeremy of what I REALLY want for Mother's Day! Stand On Tandem Stroller

Ahem......

More signs of spring

2006-04-09T15:32:00.000-05:00

I wish I had the time and money to garden like I want, but I'll settle for the few things I have. I always do a few perennials in containers every spring, so here are some pics of what I have this year.

I can't remember the name of this, but I think it's a Bleeding heart. It looks like a heart hanging.........I caught a pic of it's very first bloom!

A pic of the strawberries we planted. Riley gives them love EVERY day! It's part of what a plant needs to grow, you know!

My hosta are looking much better than last year. They were awfully scraggly last year!

And last, but certainly not least, is something that looks a little like a weed, but means a whole lot more. This is what remains of a butterfly bush given to Riley by Mr. Johnny, our sitters' late husband. Every year it seems like it won't survive, but it always manages to put out one or two little blooms at the end of the season!

New Bed for Maddie

2006-04-09T15:25:00.000-05:00

Well, not really a bed, just a new beadspread! She thinks it's all new, though! I had been window shopping for her a new set, but when I saw this on clearance at WalMart, I decided it'd work. It's not at all babyish and it coordinated w/ the border that is already in her room. I think it looks cute! I need to dress it up w/ some new throw pillows, but I'm happy with it.

THE Dress!

2006-04-09T14:30:00.000-05:00

I've been wanting to buy Riley a "Pillowcase Dress" for so long! I've seen them on ebay and other online stores, but never in person. They look SO cute for summer and seem easy enough to make, so I thought I'd buy one first and then maybe I can make the girls some cute ones.

I bought one from ebay and I'm really pleased with it. ***Link to Seller's Ebay Store*** This one is very lightweight and will be PERFECT for a hot Arkansas summer day!

It's the time of year to put away all of the fall/winter clothes and get out the shorts and swimsuits! I keep making excuses to put it off, but it'll have to be done eventually. Such hard work!

Photo catch-up

2006-04-09T14:22:00.000-05:00

Just realized I never posted a pic of the girls with the Easter bunny. I can't believe they sat with him! Maddie was really sitting on my knee in the picture, but the nice lady added a cutesy border that covered me up....You have to look REALLY closely to see my hand on Maddie's waist. The picture isn't so clear because I scanned it and have resized it a MILLION times!

It's PEEP time!

2006-04-06T21:10:00.000-05:00

My favorite Easter treat. I LOVE to walk into Hobby Lobby or Wal-Mart and see the aisle of Easter goodies. Colored eggs, lots of baskets and PEEPS!!!! I swear that if I'd allow myself, I'd eat a million of these things. The girls tried them for the first time tonight. Maddie liked them, Riley didn't, and the pics tell all.

Kids say the darndest things

2006-04-06T20:05:00.000-05:00

Memaw brought pizza for supper. We seriously need to buy some groceries!! Memaw asked Riley if she could borrow her Nemo movie to let someone watch. We couldn't find it anywhere! Not that we could find anything in Riley's disasterous room, right? Riley told Memaw, "Just relax, Memaw!"

Putting in a pic of Riley saying goodbye to the baby bed this morning. We've had this thing for over 3 years now! I guess I'm being a little sentimental....Daddy calls it "nuts!"

Excuse the mess! :)

Bye Bye Baby Bed!

2006-04-06T19:44:00.000-05:00

Well, as planned, the "Crib Fairy" came today and took Maddie's bed to a baby who needs it! Maggie (a friend from daycare) had a new baby brother yesterday, so we suspect he was the recipient of the crib! She was NOT very happy to tell it goodbye this morning, but when we got home this afternoon she wasn't phased by the fact that it was gone. She just walked around in a circle in her room. Lots more room to play now! I'm going to do some rearranging and probably order her a new bedding set. I have my eye on this cute set.

An unhappy little girl getting a few last-chance pics with her crib. This was Riley's crib as well, so it was a sad day for Mommy.

Now that I've posted an unhappy pic, I feel the need to show Maddie's pretty smile and eyes. She looks like a big girl in this pic....It just gave me chills to see it. Could her eyes be ANY bigger? It reminds me of how the princesses in all of the Disney movies always have those huge almond-shaped eyes.

Better Late than Never

2006-04-03T22:10:00.000-05:00

THIS ENTRY IS IN PROGRESS. THIS SILLY THING WON'T LET ME UPLOAD MORE THAN ONE PHOTO!!!

These were Papaw's words, not mine. He just sent me an email with pics from the girls' (and Daddy's) trip to Chuck E. Cheese.

Riley ran into the living room tonight saying, "Mommy, Mommy! I have bad news. I hurt my toe!" Awful news, huh?

Growing up is hard to do (especially for Mommy)

2006-04-03T13:04:00.000-05:00

My Maddie is growing up. She went potty three times yesterday and once this morning and went most of last evening with no diaper. I have not wanted to potty train her for three reasons.

1. Diapers are easy and I'm lazy

2. She hasn't seemed at ALL ready. She wants to sit on the potty only because that'll make her able to flush the potty.

3. Being potty trained means she's growing up!!!

She could barely fill out Riley's most teeny pair of panties (Nemo ones), which is awfully strange since her around-the-house nickname has been Juicy Booty for so long. She had a bubbly little booty for the longest time, but she seems to have walked it all off.

She is also nearly ready to switch over to a "big bed" on a full-time basis. She has a crib and a twin bed in her room and she does really well with the twin. But she LOVES her crib, so it being right there makes her want to be in it. Every night we ask her which bed she wants to sleep in and she answers either "Big" or "Baby." I was trying to wait until we settled back down with Daddy being home to take the crib out, so I think Wednesday is the day. I'm a little scared at her reaction...she doesn't do well with change.

*****Sidenote. A big YAY to Christina for finding your keys!!!

Practice makes Perfect

2006-04-01T16:57:00.000-06:00

And it was quite obvious that Riley hasn't practiced much when her team had it's first practice today. She did OK, though, just needs to start paying more attention to the ball than she does to the dirt! She was SO excited to have practice today. Practice was at 3:00, right in the middle of her normal naptime. She napped early today, but by the end of the hour, she was ready to go home! She didn't even notice that most of the other girls had pink gloves. I can't find a pink one because I waited too late and they're all sold out. Mimi says she MUST have one, so she wants me to order one from ebay and let her pay for it. The things a Mimi will do to make her baby happy :)

She took a liking to her coach, Coach Billy. She seemed to want to follow him around the whole hour. Some of the other kiddos on her team are Haddyn, Parker, Audrey, Alexa (Riley's cousin!), and a few others. Some were missing today, but there seem to be only two boys on the team.

I knew the day could turn out to be quite comical, but I'm sure the whole park heard me laughing at Riley when, after she batted, she ran after the ball. She wanted it back!! She's not as aggressive as most of the kids, so she didn't seem to want to run after the ball much when she was playing in the field. She got her feelings hurt a time or two when one of the other girls grabbed the ball up before she got a chance to get it herself. Most of the girls must be "older 4s" because they're quite a bit bigger than R. Her cousin, Alexa, is 3 months older than she and is about the same size.

She was pretty pooped by the time practice was over, but said she had a good time. She said she was sad that her Daddy wasn't there, but Mommy took lots of pics and video for him to see! She went home with Mimi. We're all going to a fundraiser tonight in Caraway, so we'll meet up with them later.

My little girl, the T-Ball player

2006-03-31T20:29:00.000-06:00

I can't believe that Riley is old enough to actually play T-ball. For her age group, it's actually called "WeeBall." They take turns batting and get to run the bases each time. They also get their turn in the field. No rules taught, really, just a good way to learn to take turns and get some time practicing. Her first practice is tomorrow. She really wanted PINK everything. I got her a pink bat, but no one around had any pink gloves left, so she got a regular brown one. She wasn't thrilled about it, but c'est la vie chickie! I can't wait to see her in her little uniform and I hope they come in size teeny-weeny!

I found this cute poem on one of my favorite scrapping sites, 2peas.

"God bless the coach of little league
Because although we’re small
He makes us feel that we, each one,
could someday play pro ball

God bless the coach of little league
Who guides us through each game
He cheers our wins and cheers us up
when bad calls are to blame

God bless the coach of little league
No matter if we’ve won
Our coach thinks we are champions
when baseball season’s done"

Ok, I know I'm jumping the gun a little, but I like it anyway :=)

Fun at the Park

2006-03-31T10:53:00.000-06:00

It was a beautiful day for playing yesterday. Very windy, but a little wind couldn't stop my girls from having fun at the park.

Mommy and her girls

The girls loved to see-saw

Couldn't count Daddy out of the fun!!

S
L
I
D
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N
G

Upside down

2006-03-26T10:17:00.000-06:00

A 2 year old's view of the world :)

We did our running around yesterday morning and then Maddie started feeling bad, so we've been in the house since. We missed church this morning (actually it's happening right now).

Adding a picture of my kitchen that Jeremy painted on Thursday. The picture doesn't do it justice and the color is off. It's a really dark taupe and it looks more chocolatey during the day, and olive at night.

A few pics of the girls playing earlier in the week. They seem to LOVE to jump up and fall down on their "booties." Looks painful to me!.

Playing a friendly game of Dora Candyland

Busy Saturday

2006-03-25T16:40:00.000-06:00

I used "busy" as though all the things we did today were necessary. Jeremy worked today from 6-6, so the girls and I did some shopping. We were up at 6:30 and out the door by 8:15. We hit Lowe's, Cato, Hobby Lobby (to nab some of that yummy ribbon Christina told me about and use my 40% off coupon) and Wally-World. The girls were VERY good and they totally passed out the minute we walked in the door. Mommy did, too!

I got this little Q&A thing in my email, so I'll share here. It's long....ugh, but if you're a blogger and want to copy it, feel free.

Off the wall

1) When was the last time you went to the bathroom outside? I'm not sure I ever have....Yuck!2) Last time you saw your parents?Saw my mom today.
3) Which family member do you most resemble?My sister probably, especially since I got all my hair cut off last week.
4) Do you own your own Bible? Yes, I got an awesome new one last year that I'd had my eye on for a while.
5) Do you wear deodorant?Uhh, yea
6) Do you clean up nice?Whoever wrote that question is definitely OLD.
7) When was the last time you tripped and fell? When I was pregnant with Riley
8) Where was the last place you slept besides your home? At Jeremy's hotel while he was staying in Memphis.
9) What are you listening to right now?My kids arguing over a pink froggy blanket.
10) Have you ever started an uncontrollable fire?No
11) Ever run out of gas on the road? No
12) Would you rather cut the grass or rake the leaves? Definitely mow.
13) Your middle name spelled backwards? Esile
14)Last thing you downloaded to your computer? Don't know...probably the Hobby Lobby sale ad.
15) Last time you swam in a pool? At the Baymont Inn in Jonesboro. Jeremy, me, the girls, Travis, Lesley and their boys.
16) Have you ever been in a school play?No
17) How many kids do you want?I'm good w/my 2, but we might end up having 1 more.
18) Type of music you dislike most?REAL HEAVY METAL
19) You registered to vote?Yes
20) You have cable?Yep
21) Ever prank call anybody?Yep
22) Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving?I'd like to say I would ( I think I would love it) but when it came down to it, I'm not sure I could jump.
23) Do you have a garden? Yes, but it's not well tended.
25) What's your favorite comic? Not sure.
26) Bath or Shower, morning or night?Whichever I can get, whenever
27) Best movie you've seen in the past two weeks? Walk the Line
28) Best pizza topping? Pepperoni or Sausage? Neither!!
29) Orange Juice or apple?Orange
30) Chocolate Bar? Skor Bar
31) When was the last time you voted at the polls?last year
32) When was the last time you ate a home grown tomato? Not sure, don't really care for raw tomatos
33) Ever order anything from an infomercial?I'm sure I have, just can't think of any at the moment. I'm dying for a Jack Lalanne Power Juicer
34) Sprite or 7 up?Neither...Diet Coke all the way!
35) Have you ever had to wear a uniform to work/school?yes
36) Ever thrown up in public?Yes
37) Would you prefer being a millionaire or find true love?I found my true love so how about a million now?
38) Do you believe in love at first sight?Yes
39) Who was the last person you visited in a hospital?Jeremy's grandmother
40) Did you have a lot of hair as a baby? I think so?
41) What do you think about most?my kids and hubby
42) Favorite form of travel?plane
43) If you could have one magical power what would it be?Be able to read minds!!

Points for Jeremy

2006-03-23T11:52:00.000-06:00

Jeremy has today and tomorrow off before starting in his new store, so he's finishing up a "honey do" at home.

About 3 months ago, I started taking down the absolutely UGLY wallpaper that was in my kitchen. Makes you wonder what people were thinking putting THAT up! Anyway, I never finished....Imagine that! I took him some lunch a few mintues ago and he had finished removing the rest of the paper and was getting ready to paint.

I'm really not great at picking out paint colors, so I hope what we picked out looks nice. There's really not much wall area in my kitchen, so it can't be TOO bad, right?

He doesn't know that the hallway is next :)

Mommy's missing out :-(

2006-03-22T11:01:00.000-06:00

Daddy has both girls at Chuck E. Cheese right now! They met Papaw, Nana, Holly and Jamie there for some fun and pizza. I wanted to take the girls for their first time, but as long as they're having fun, Mommy is happy! Daddy and Papaw better take LOTS of pics!!!!

Edited to add that I'm having a bad hair day, so I'm in THAT much more of a grumpy mood!!!!!

Cousins

2006-03-21T17:08:00.000-06:00

The girls are still at Papaw's house, but Papaw took a break from playing to send me some pics of their fun time!

A nice cousin hug! This is Maddie with her cousin, Jamie, who's about 6 months older than she.

Riley and Holly having dinner. Holly is 6 years old!

Riley enjoying a bowl of spaghetti

I've now been childless for over 24 hours. Getting pretty lonely around here, but my house SURE is clean! The only pieces of dirty laundry are the clothes I'm wearing. All of our sheets have been washed and changed, all of our blankets, throw rugs and towels have been washed. The dishes are done, the floors swept and mopped..........Now if I could just finish smocking that dress, my world would be at peace :)

Daddy's Coming Home!

2006-03-21T13:43:00.000-06:00

Jeremy will be home late tonight (early tomorrow morning, actually) for good! He's been "living" in Memphis since January 17, and my girls will be SO glad to see him. I'll be glad for him to be home, too.

Edited to add a pic of Maddie (at about 14 months) and her favorite man!!

Kidless for an evening

2006-03-20T16:32:00.000-06:00

Nana and Papaw are on spring break this week, so they are keeping R & M's two cousins, Holly and Jamie, from Benton. The girls are like stairsteps. Holly is 6, Riley is 3, Jamie is 2 1/2, and Maddie just turned 2. They LOVE each other to death, and only get to see each other a handful of times every year. Nana and Papaw like to get them together to play, so they asked if R & M could spend the night.....Um....YEAH! Didn't have to think about that one! I immediately started planning my evening. I lost my excitement when I realized that my kid-free night would consist of laundry, scrubbing, laundry, vacuuming, and more laundry! Does it ever end???

Daddy is coming home tomorrow night for good! He'll have a few days off and then he starts in the new BB&B store in Jonesboro on Friday.

My house isn't getting clean with me sitting here blogging!!!!

It's cool and drizzly here today, but I know spring is coming soon! Here's a little reminder from my yard :)

Weekends are short

2006-03-19T22:02:00.000-06:00

We promised the girls a treat on Saturday. They've really had a hard time with their Daddy being gone, so when he's home we always try to do something fun. Fun=Baskin Robbins! The girls get a big kick out of picking out their flavor. It's funny because they always pick strawberry!!

Maddie did well with her ice cream cone until I heard "Woops Mommy!" Right on the floor! Riley shared her ice cream with Maddie, and she stole a few bites from me, too.

A cute pic of Maddie wearing Mommy's sunglasses!

Mommy's big event of the weekend consisted of a MAJOR haircut! Riley and Maddie both just oooohed and ahhhhed over it when I picked them up from daycare. They both said they LOVED it!!

Riley's tune changed Saturday when she was in trouble. She said, "And Mommy..I don't like your haircut!" Boy, she'll be an awful teenager!

Friends

2006-03-13T12:27:00.000-06:00

Riley told me yesterday that she's glad she has friends. Mommy is glad, too! Friends are nice to have around :) Last night was our time to meet with the other families in our church life groups. We all met at Christina's house after service for food & play. Riley says that Isabella is her "favorite church friend person," and it's apparent in this pic. Isabella is enough older than Riley that she's WAY cool. And how could you not like someone who ALWAYS has the coolest shoes?

Maddie had a good time, too. She tries so hard to keep up with the older kids! She makes every step they do, just a few steps behind. She had to be the center of attention by refusing to put her pants back on after a diaper change. Lucky for anyone viewing this, the pic was taken before the nakedness! She loves to be "Nekken." Playing here with her friend Reagan.

Beautiful

2006-03-10T18:03:00.000-06:00

Ok, so this obviously isn't me......no where near it! I was flipping through a TV Guide today and
there was a pic of Amanda Peet. Maddie pointed at it and said, "MOMMY! There (you) are. Mommy bootiful (beautiful)!"

Ahh....Love is blind, isn't it?

I TOUCHED A FISH!

2006-03-09T15:22:00.000-06:00

Ever touched a fish? Well, Nemo/Spongebob's bowl was looking a little grungy today, so I took him over to the sink for a routine transfer to a drinking glass. I always pour a little of his water out into the sink before moving him to a glass, but today he just slid right out into the sink!

I went into an instant panic! What if he went "down?" What would the girls say? Am I going to have to TOUCH this thing? EWWW!!

Lucky for me, he didn't wriggle too much and I got ahold of the little slimy thing. The whole time I was saying to myself, "Tara, it's just a fish!"

Nemo/Spongebob is safe and sound back in his bowl.

Razorbacks play in the SEC Tournament tonight!

2006-03-09T08:18:00.000-06:00

PIG SOUIEEE!!!!!!!

Do they look like twins?

2006-03-09T07:28:00.000-06:00

This is just a pic I snapped before heading off to church last night. I took my camera to church with me because we were having the Crowley's Ridge College Choir come to sing for us, and they were going to be singing a couple of children's songs and would invite the kids up to participate. Scrap page in the making, right?

Well, when they invited the kids up, Riley immediately bolted toward the front of the building. She got about one foot from where the kids were and decided the crowd was TOO big! Charlotte Swann (Caroline's mommy) was sitting right up front, so Riley sat with her and helped the choir sing "Jesus Loves Me" and "Jesus Loves the Little Children."

Before church, we went to Wendy's to eat. It seems to have become our Wednesday night ritual. It never fails that someone asks me if the girls are twins. I realize that twins don't always look identical, but come on! Riley is almost a foot taller than Maddie! I guess since Riley is so tiny, she doesn't appear to be a year and a half older.

Sons & Daughters

2006-03-08T11:46:00.000-06:00

I was really looking forward to the premier of ABC's "Sons and Daughters." I thought it looked really funny! I was a little disappointed. I never laughed out loud, not even a chuckle, but I did enjoy it somewhat. It had a totally different camera angle than most filmed shows do and it was a nice change. I'll watch it again, but I miss Commander in Chief!

Mommy, can we play "order?"

2006-03-08T11:41:00.000-06:00

Riley has invented a new game that she loves to play. She calls it "Order" and it tells me that we've been through one too many drive-though windows! Here's the dialog:

Mommy: "Can I take your order, please?"
Riley: "One tomato, please."
Mommy: "Okay, here ya go! One tomato, one napkin, and a straw."

She just can't get enough of it.

Thought for the day

2006-03-08T11:40:00.000-06:00

I've heard this quote before and always loved it.

"Don't frown, you never know who might be falling in love with your smile."

I have NO idea who wrote this!

Fill in the Blanks

2006-03-07T18:36:00.000-06:00

Fill In The Blanks

1. I almost peed on myself when Riley played the "Monkeys always look" joke on me for the first time. I had no idea she even knew how to "trick" people!

2. Country music = Kenny Chesney!! MMM

3. The smell of leather reminds me of a new softball/baseball glove.

4. When I was little, my mom was the strongest woman I knew.

5. The last time I screamed (a big scream!) was...gosh...that's hard! The last time I can remember is once while Jeremy and I were dating. I was at his house and was leaving to go home. My car was parked under this HUGE willow tree and the branches were hanging all around me. It was dark and he ran out to tell me something. I was sitting in my car already and he scared me so badly, I probably should've used this instance for question #1!!!!

6. The one person I aspire to be most like is me. I say this because I tend to conform to whatever anyone wants me to be. I just want the courage to be "me."

7. I tell my girls that I love them every day.

8. People drive me crazy when they are dishonest.

9. A special gift I remember receiving, that meant the world to me, was a check for $20 that my dad gave me for my 22nd birthday. It was the last time I saw him , about a week before he died. I never cashed it and have it in my sock drawer.

And in the beginning.......

2006-03-07T18:10:00.000-06:00

6:08 pm

Hm, well, I've never been great at journaling either, so here's my chance to start fresh!

Today was a boring ol' Tuesday! I only worked half a day because Riley had a doctor's appointment at 2:30. (If the appointment was at 2:30, then why did the waiting room clock say 3:30 when we were called back?) Riley has always had allergies. She inherited them from her father! Her allergy medicine (Claritin) has become ineffective, so I thought it might be time for a switch. Dr. Reinhard put her on Singulair.

We went to Kroger to get her prescription and, of course, she spotted the balloons. She insisted on having one, but she at least thought of her little sis' and wanted to bring one to her, too.

Home at last. Funny how a short trip to Jtown can wear me out!

I have a sore throat and headache....surely I'm not getting sick :(

Adding a picture of the girls playing outside yesterday.......Moments reflecting sisterly love are few and far between in this house!