Marriage meme

I have forgotten where I got this Marriage Meme, but finally got around to posting my answers. If you decide to do it, too, please let me know so I can take a peek at your answers.

1. Where/How did you meet? Uhm. In a bar called Cowboys. I was with friends, and Big Daddy spent half the night trying to figure out if I was "with" any of them. He finally asked me to dance, and the spark was lit.

2. How long have you known each other? 11 years.

3. How long after you met did you start dating? About 14 hours.

4. How long did you date before you were engaged? Seven months. If you call "shacking up" dating. We have since repented.

5. How long was your engagement? Two months.

6. How long have you been married? 10 years, 4 months.

7. What is your anniversary? November 30, 1996

8. How many people came to your wedding reception? Around 100.

9. What kind of cake did you serve? White Chocolate Pound Cake with raspberry and pineapple filling on different layers. Groom's cake was cheesecake with strawberry puree.

10. Where was your wedding? At Brentlinger Farm, which is a "party barn" type place for weddings and parties.

11. What did you serve for your meal? Barbecue.

12. How many people were in your bridal party? One bridesmaid and three groomsmen (BD's brothers).

13. Are you still friends with them all? No. Isn't that sad? BD's brothers have their own lives, and we see them every year or two. My bridesmaid was the girlfriend of one of the brothers, so she is long gone, too.

14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony? He was a little misty.

15. Most special moment of your wedding day? Just the entire experience; our most special family members and old family friends sharing our most special day.

16. Any funny moments? BD and I had a best friend who lost his ring finger in an accident. When it came time for me to put BD's ring on, he folded his finger under. I looked down and became disoriented, because it looked exactly like our friend's finger. Then we both got a good snicker out of it.

17. Any big disasters? Not exactly a disaster. The day began 65 degrees and windy, but a cold front blew in in the afternoon. Remember, we got married in a barn; the heaters were very loud, so they were turned off during the ceremony and never turned back on. So it was freezing during the ceremony and reception, although I never felt it. Everyone has coats on in all of our candid photos.

18. Where did you go on your honeymoon? Shreveport, Louisiana.

19. How long were you gone? Four days.

20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change? Better planning and organization, especially with regards to music.

21. What side of the bed do you sleep on? Right now, the right side. It changes, depending on how our room is arranged.

22. What size is your bed? King.

23. Greatest strengths as a couple? We are best friends, and always try to remember that we are on the same team. We are usually able to talk through disagreements. We acknowledge our individual weaknesses and work around them, rather than criticizing them.

24. Greatest challenge as a couple? BD is impulsive, and I am sensitive.

25. Who literally pays the bills? Me. But BD brings in most of the bacon.

26. What is your song? Oh my goodness, we don't have one special one. But, songs that remind me of our first few months together are Blame it on Mexico by George Strait, which was played the night we met; Out of the Blue Clear Sky by George Strait, and My Maria by Brooks and Dunn(?).

27. What did you dance your first dance to? At the bar, I don't remember. We didn't dance at our wedding.

28. Describe your wedding dress. Ivory nubby silk. V-neck front and back, simple short sleeves, fitted, beaded bodice. Very full skirt, no train. And did I mention gorgeous?

29. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding? Bouquet: Ariana roses, snap dragons, stock. All ivory, with gold ribbons. On the podium and at the tables, lots of green plants and poinsettias. Also, ivory and gold balloons.

30. Are your wedding bands engraved? What do they say? No.

Okay, now you know more than you may want to about me. Now go do this and leave me a comment so I can check out your answers!

Give me my Dyson!

5 Minutes for Mom is giving away a Dyson Slim Vacuum! And I want one!

The latest member of the Dyson family is the Dyson Slim, and someone is going to win one on April 4!

Y'all, I so need to win this vacuum cleaner, because my $50 desperation Wal-Mart vacuum cleaner that makes more noise than a Jumbo Jet is driving me crazee! In addition to being Queen of Dirty Laundry, I am perilously close to earning the title of Queen of Dirty Carpet. Save me!

Check out the contest at 5 Minutes for Mom, and check out the Dyson Slim at Dyson.com.

And where do I go to get my award for most links in a single post?

Public Service Announcement - Bacon Alert

Please be advised:

Recents events have shown that Hormel Bacon tastes like Spam and pops like a son-of-a-gun.

Yes, I know what Spam tastes like, and I am not ashamed of it. I was raised in the south, wasn't I?

The 3-year-old gets it.

Scooter: Why you pee in yours bed, Pooh?
Pooh: (very sweetly explaining her warped viewpoint) Well, you know, sometimes when I need to go to the bathroom, but I'm really sleepy, I just go in my panties a little, if I don't feel like getting up.
S: Oh...
P: It's not really wetting the bed, because the sheet didn't get wet.
Me: What do you think about that, Scooter?
S: I tink her not copperating.

You got it, sister. The 3-year-old gets it.

WFMW- CVS Extra Care Bucks

Since Big Daddy and I are raising three girls on one income, I need every frugal trick I can find. Here's my current favorite, courtesy of Rachel at Out of the Overflow.

Rachel has written a detailed tutorial about using CVS' Extra Care Bucks program to save money and even get things for free. Instead of reinventing the wheel, I'll refer you to her post, and give her all the credit. She has explained the program so well that even I didn't get confused.

Since reading this post, I have gotten several items for free, including lipstick, cold medicine and feminine annoyance products. I've gotten Aleve and Excedrin for under a dollar, and Aussie hair products for $1 each, by combining coupons and Extra Care Bucks (just like cash back). Big Daddy knows that on Sunday, I'm gonna be going through my CVS sale paper and making my list.

CVS Extra Care Bucks ~ Works For Me. Go on over to Shannon's and check out the rest of today's great ideas!

P.S. Rachel also has a post on saving money at Walgreen's. She's just a wealth of information!

AI Recap

I'm sitting here watching AI, and I decided to jump on the recap bandwagon. So here are my brief thoughts:

• LaKisha - Love her overall, but this isn't her best week, IMO.
• Chris - Didn't feel it at all.
• Gina - My favorite from her so far.
• Sanjaya - You have got to be kidding me with the faux hawk, and has anyone noticed this guy talks like Michael Jackson?
• Haley - Zzzz...
• Phil - Sounded like Sting to me.
• Melinda - Love her mod little outfit, and what a pro! This girl can do no wrong!
• Blake - Sweet but forgettable.
• Jordin - Did she bite off more than she could chew? Great voice as usual, but just seemed unexciting.
• Chris Richardson - Eh...

Worst this week? I'm not sure. Haley, Sanjaya...but who knows what America will do!

P.S. Did Paula look cross-eyed tonight?

Scooter: Mommy, we forget something.
Me: What is it??
S: We need to see...we need to see...we need to see...what I need to remember?
M: I don't know!
S: We need to see...we need to see...we need to see...Daddy, what we need to see?

Decisions and Dreams

Big Daddy and I have been dancing with a decision for several months now; whether or not to homeschool one or all of our children. I won't go into all the pros and cons in this post, but I will hit the big ones:

Pros:

• Everything every homeschooler says. I believe it all, so I won't go over it again.
• Pooh needs more structure and consistency than she gets in public or would get in private school. Socially and behaviorally, not academically.

Cons:

• I'm afraid I will do a bad job.
• Pooh has a hard time believing that I know more than her. She will believe a teacher or the television, but not so much me.

So, Saturday night I had this dream. Please leave your judgments at the door and remember this is a dream. In my dream, I don't think I was married. No Big Daddy. So I wasn't cheating.

I met two different men, both of whom I had a connection with and were interested in me.

Guy number one was a sincerely good Christian. Just a wonderful guy.

Guy number two was trying to be a good Christian, and had good intentions. I was impressed with the fact that he was imperfect, but trying to improve. This was the guy my friend wanted me to choose, because she was interested in his friend.

I was agonizing over this decision; Who to choose? Who to choose? I just couldn't decide.

Usually I forget my dreams really quickly, but a lot of this one stayed with me. One part that is still really vivid is this: While I was spending time with one of the guys, we came to the top of a waterfall. It looked like flowing silver or ribbons or something really smooth, rather than scary, raging water. Y'all, I am usually such a fraidy cat, especially about water, but we walked to the top of that waterfall, holding hands, and I just jumped. And we surfed on our bottoms down that waterfall. I can't stand water in my face, but my face never went under water. I was just amazed at how wonderful and peaceful and easy it was.

I woke up from the dream feeling warm and fuzzy. I thought it was from the feeling of having people really like me.

I carried the dream around with me all morning, and finally on the way to church, decided to tell BD about it. That was weird, cause I didn't want him to think the whole "guy" thing meant I wanted someone else. Because I don't. At all. Ever. But he wasn't fazed by it at all. And I explained to him that the point of the dream, to me, was the decision-making. And at the same time, he and I looked at each other, and went,

DUH! Homeschooling!

So now I knew what in my subconscious caused the dream, but still didn't know what the answer was. Later on in the day, I remembered to tell BD about the waterfall, and again,

DUH! Don't be afraid of it! It won't be as scary as you think.

So, oh my goodness, God actually gave me this wonderful dream that made me feel loved and valued and also adventurous and safe, and oh my goodness...

I think I'm gonna homeschool one of my kids. ACK!

Weekend Mini-Post

Highlights of the first part of our weekend:

At Softball opening ceremonies last night, I was pleasantly surprised to hear a prayer begin. As I listened, this wasn't just any prayer; he meant it. And ended it all, "In Jesus' name..." AMEN!!! What a blessing!

At same opening ceremonies, I saw my cousins that I don't see very often, even though one lives in the next town over, and her daughter lives literally 2 miles from me. Sad, isn't it?

T-ball this morning at 9:00. Team pictures at 8:00. Zzzz... Guess what? Tinkerbell is now a real ball player! She didn't play in the dirt one single time! I love exclamation points! Because my dainty girl is now a ball player! And don't worry; I'm not counting my chickens before they're hatched. I know she has plenty of time to prove me wrong, but I just saw such improvement over last season, that I'm bursting with pride.

They won their game! Against a team with a cut-throat coach. Does it make me cut-throat if I want him to lose?

We bought Pooh some Easter shoes and softball cleats after the game. Don't you love the contrast? And a pink softball bag and a practice Tee. Big Daddy got some shoes, too, so all is right with the world.

Now my girls are watching Pocahontas and I am about to take a lovely afternoon nap. Bye, y'all.

Leaving well enough alone

Scooter has been going through a "phase" lately, where during the day she just seems discontented and unable to focus. I know that it's boring for her when her sisters are at school, but we've always had a neat little routine, where we read together, she plays in her room, she watches Noggin, she takes her nap, she eats lunch, and the day seemed to go pretty smoothly.

Lately, though, she doesn't seem to know what she wants, and doesn't stick with anything longer than 5 minutes or so. And with her big sisters home for Spring Break last week, Miss Scooter Pie was not happy about having to take naps. It was a battle all week long.

So this week we've been trying to get back into our "rut." Hey, there's another WFMW. Ruts. Works for me.

Anyway, yesterday my darling was just behaving so sweetly, and I like to do special things for her when I can, so I told her that instead of taking her nap in her room, she could lay in my bed and watch a Bible Story. Do you know that she rocked and rolled and played and whined and you would have thought I had her in time out. Finally, an hour past her naptime, I just sent her on to her bed, where she promptly fell asleep.

Should have quit when I was ahead. :)

Works For Me Wednesday - Purging Clothes

I am a packrat. Except my eyes are blue, instead of small and beady and black or brown. And I don't have a tail. But I am a packrat.

I have the hardest time getting rid of anything, and I mean anything. "But it's cute and/or useful, and I might need it sometime." I have always had these tendencies, but things definitely got worse after BD and I lost almost everything in a house fire about 8 years ago. I'm just a little more neurotic now. And I like stuff.

I have three daughters. We get lots of gifts and hand-me-downs. Some devastatingly cute, and some not so much.

"But Pooh might grow into this."
"But Scooter might need this some day."
"But Tinkerbell may have a need for these Clifford houseshoes that she doesn't like and don't fit her."
and my personal favorite:
"I can fix it!"

So here's what Works For Me. I have finally realized the perfect time to purge kids' clothes: When I'm annoyed or fussy. It's brilliant. When I am fed up with mess and clutter (and bonus points if it's caused by a kid) then I am ruthless about purging.

"Who cares if Pooh grows into it. It's ugly."
"If Scooter needs it one day, I'll buy her a better one."
"Get real."
"Get real."

I just this evening realized how well this does work for me. I went to look for something in Pooh's drawer, and it was just awful. Everything in that drawer was wadded up. So...don't have room for everything? Then we'd better get rid of some of it. She now has three sets of pajamas and two sets of tee-ball practice clothes in that drawer. And the rest of it went to a sister or the give-away bag.

So, purging when I'm grumpy. Works for me. Give it a try!

Now, go on over to Rocks in My Dryer and check out all the other tips!

No way, Jose

My name is Lori, and I hate telling my kids No.

Now, I am a pretty firm mom, and am not swayed by begging, arguing, whining, or fits of any type. And to their credit, my two big girls almost never behave that way. And have I mentioned Scooter is 3? Yeah, whole different ballgame.

BUT. I can’t stand disappointing those girls. I don't like the look on their faces when I say it. No. I must say No at least 20 times a day, and it feels like crap. It just feels like crap. I know that it's impossible to raise kids without disappointing them, but oh my goodness, the...is it guilt?...just wears me out!

• “May I chew gum?" "No, we're about to eat dinner." This literally just happened while I was writing.
• "Can I play in the bath tub?" "No, it’s already after bedtime."
• "May I wear my new shoes to school?" "No, it's a PE day and the rules say you have to wear tennies." (I hate that rule. Really limits our fashion choices.)
• “Can we go to Grammy’s house?” “Not today. She’s not feeling well.”
• "Can I have Pop-Tarts for dinner?" "Sure." See, I don't always say no. Even when I maybe should.

I just empathize, and wonder how they feel every time I say no. Realistically, I know they usually forget it within 3 minutes, but still...for 3 minutes they are disappointed. Even so, I stand firm in my decisions 98% of the time. But have I mentioned it makes me feel like crap?

So, sometimes I say yes even when I know I should say no. For example, tonight. Tink wanted to play in the tub, and it was almost dinner time. So, instead of saying no, I give her conditions. “You have to bathe really quick, and then if dinner isn’t ready, you can play for a bit.” But she is just slow as Christmas, and dinner is almost ready and she’s not even in the tub yet. And I know that’s all on her, and she should live with the consequences, and she does. But I still hate giving her the bad news.

I read an article recently about a mom who told her daughter yes to everything for a period of time, I don't remember if it was a day or a week. I'm considering trying that experiment sometime soon, maybe this summer. For a day. No more. The earth might spin off its axis if things got willy nilly around here for much longer than that.

Crazy

I am just crazy about these girls of mine.

Although I sometimes fuss about crying or disobedience or just monotonous everyday life, I can't believe how dadgum lucky I am every day I live.

These pictures are several months up to a year old, but they are some of my favorites.

The gauntlet, it has been thrown.

I believe that I am what has been called a frustrated perfectionist. I really, really want my home to be organized. But since I often can't figure out what to do with things, it just sits. In piles. Until BD shoves it in a closet somewhere, and I just have to figure out what to do with it all over again the next time it surfaces.

So, beginning Tuesday, April 3, I will be participating in Org Junkie's 30-Day Organizational Challenge. I think I shall tackle my daughters' closet.

Wish me luck!

We really have it all in Texas!

Take a look and tell me if you've heard of any of these. My mom was born in Dime Box, Texas, and lived in Texas City, too. Venus is just south of me, and I have family in New Boston.

Need to be cheered up?
Happy, Texas 79042
Smiley, Texas 78159
Paradise, Texas 76073
Rainbow, Texas 76077
Sweet Home, Texas 77987

Why travel to other states?
Detroit, Texas 75436
Colorado City, Texas 79512
Denver City, Texas 79323
Nevada, Texas 75173
Memphis, Texas 79245
Miami, Texas 79059
New Boston, Texas 75570
Santa Fe, Texas 77517
Tennessee Colony, Texas 75861

Feel like traveling outside the country?
Don't bother buying a plane ticket!
Athens, Texas 75751
Canadian, Texas 79014
China, Texas 77613
Egypt, Texas 77436
Turkey, Texas 79261
London, Texas 76854
New London, Texas 75682
Paris, Texas 75460

We even have a city named after our planet!
Earth, Texas 79031

And a city named after our State!
Texas City, Texas 77590

Exhausted?
Energy, Texas 76452

Need Office Supplies?
Staples, Texas 78670

Men are from Mars, woman are from
Venus, Texas 76084

You guessed it..it's on the state line..
Texline, Texas 79087

For the kids...
Kermit, Texas 79745
Elmo, Texas 75118
Nemo, Texas 76070
Tarzan, Texas 79783
Winnie, Texas 77665

Other funny city names in Texas :
Beeville, Texas 78102
Bigfoot, Texas 78005
Buda, Texas 78610
Cactus, Texas 79013
Mercedes, Texas 78570
Muleshoe, Texas
Nixon, Texas 78140
Old Dime Box, Texas
Telephone, Texas 75488
Whiteface, Texas 79379

And last but not least...The Anti-Al Gore City
Kilgore, Texas

She takes after her mother

Do you know that my youngest pride and joy cries E. VER. Y. TIME. SHE IS CORRECTED. That's right. Every time. Every time. E. Ver. Y. Time.

I love that kid, but I am weary of seeing that (contorted) face and hearing that (crying) sound. To be clear, I love her face and voice, only not when they're crying.

To further clarify, this is only when she gets a consequence, such as sit on your bed, take a time out, put that toy up, etc. This does not apply, for example, when I tell her, "Be more careful, honey." Then, I get a sunshiney, "Yes Sam."

So, more venting from the Queen. Cause, more crying from the Scooter.

But this, too, shall pass.

And now I'm off to finish typing an insurance statement from a lady who is 50 years old and makes $5,000 to $15,000 per month doing "private dances" for "referrals." What does that sound like to you? At 50?

I'm feeling much better now.

So the Daily Scripture on the right is this (emphasis mine):

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:5-8)

I guess I should have glanced over there before I started ranting and raving earlier, huh? Because, as a parent, and more importantly, a Christian, that - up there - is what I'm supposed to do. I wish it wasn't so hard sometimes.

Apple of my eye . . .

Big Daddy and Tinkerbell jack with each other all the time. He loves to pick and play, and she gives as good as she gets. Tonight BD told her she was the apple of his eye. Having never heard that, she thought it was a joke, and cracked up.

Because I do not pick and play as much (they're behind me driving me crazy right this moment), I mistakenly thought it was a great time to teach Tink what "apple of my eye" means.

Me: "Apple of my eye" means most favorite, most special, most treasured and wonderful thing. You are the apple of my eye. We are the apple of God's eye.

Tink: I just tooted.

See what I live with?

I was getting ready for church Sunday morning, which is 90% of the time a sprint. I spend 50 minutes getting all three girls ready for church, while BD wanders around the house "waking up." Then I get about 15 minutes to spend on myself. I take my shower the night before, so the morning of, all I have to do is roll my hair and get dressed. I put on most of my makeup in the car. This is my life. I have frickin' Crohn's Disease, and I'm lucky if I have time to go to the bathroom.

Oh, did I start ranting? Oops. My bad.

Anyway, I'm putting on my shoes, which show my bare (dry, yucky) heels, and I said, "I hope no one looks at my heels."

BD goes, "Yeah, cause last week someone totally got down on the ground behind your seat and was looking at your heels."

Good thing that guy cracks me up.

Let's make it easier, shall we?

I've been trying to visit and respond to all the nice people who stopped in at my blog during the Ultimate Blog Party. Sometimes it's easy to respond to folks, sometimes not so much. I was reminded of a post I read a while back about Blogger profiles, etc.

I will not go into the details here, because I am not good at that kind of thing. What it amounts to is, look at this, look at that, check this, check that, e-mail, e-mail, I want your e-mail. I was able to follow the directions, but if I tried to instruct someone else, I might self-destruct. What I will do is implore you to go here, read the suggestions, and make it a little easier for me (oh, and everyone else who uses Blogger) to reply to your lovely comments that make me squeal.

Thank you for your cooperation. Yes, your comments make me squeal. Is that weird?

I am not either bragging.

You know the Bible 98%!

Wow! You are awesome! You are a true Biblical scholar, not just a hearer but a personal reader! The books, the characters, the events, the verses - you know it all! You are fantastic!

Ultimate Bible Quiz
Create MySpace Quizzes

He said it, not me.

Although sometimes one may not be able to tell it by listening to or reading me, I have a pretty good grasp of grammar. And I may be a tad obsessive about certain grammatical errors. So imagine my joy when I came across this post today at copyblogger. It's called 5 Common Mistakes That Make You Look Dumb.

And while I might not have used the word "dumb," I agree with all five points. Emphatically.

And now I'm terrified that I'm going to make some errors in the near future that make me look like a hypocritical moron. Oh well . . .

Party Hangover

Well, the Ultimate Blog Party is over, and I have found some great new places to visit. A couple of my favorite finds are Musings of a Housewife and A Day In Our Life.

I'm still making the rounds since I am slow like that, so I will probably be spotlighting other discoveries for several more days. Thanks so much to everyone who visited me over the past week or so; please come back and see me soon.

Now I'm off to Spring Forward and go to bed.

Night.

Foreshadowing

Today New Baby peed on my bed. Now I know that's not a big deal for most mothers, but remember I've never had an infant.

I knew that sometimes baby boys pee in people's faces and stuff, but for some reason had never thought about baby girls doing anything like that. But then I heard that New Baby has peed sans diaper several times, so I was sort of expecting it.

So I'm changing her today on a pillow on my bed. I take off her diaper, wipe her little cute hiney, and then when I pick her little legs up to stick another diaper under there, everything's wet. So she's also a quick little bugger. Cause I swear I was just under there and everything was dry, but anyway...now her little booty's drippin'. So I was christened.

At least Boy Toddler didn't do it. He's two and got the potty down proud.

He's gonna what?

I'm babysitting New Baby and her Big Sister today. They are having a toddler stay with them this weekend (foster care), and Big Sister was talking to me about it.

Me: So I guess you'll get to boss him around, huh?
Big Sister: Yeah, he's gonna pee on us, I guess.
Me: What?
BS: He's gonna pee on us, I guess.

Oh my. I hope not. Cause I'm keeping him tomorrow morning.

Watch your language.

So I'm driving down the road today, with Scooter in the back seat, listening to the radio and wondering when she takes a breath. Oops, red light, so I come to a rather quick stop.

Scooter: Sh!t !
Me: What did you say?
Scooter: Sh!t.
Me: Don't say that word.
Scooter: Okay.

Now, I love Jesus, but I do cuss some (yes, I stole that from that lady on Ellen). But when I became a Mom, I really, really tried to tone it down. I'm not saying I never slip, but it's pretty rare. Like Crap is my favorite cuss word now. And Scooter also says Crap*. Which is kind of funny to me, but we tell our girls that some things we only say at home. Not sure how that's workin' out. But anyway . . .

I spent the rest of the drive home thinking about a few things: When has she heard me say Sh!t, and how did she know the situation warranted it? Also, I bet I can blog about this. Oh, and I guess I'd REALLY better stop saying Sh!t and maybe even the other ones, too. But I'm pretty sure I'm keeping Crap.

*I'm doing her hair, and it's all in her face, and she goes, "I got all dis crap up here." Sorry, I just think it's cute.

Insomnia

Is it called insomnia if you get up at 3:45 a.m. to go to the restroom and let the dog out, and then decide to read a few blogs before you go back to bed?

I didn't think so.

Tupperware!

I came across this contest at the Devildog Family blog. Just leave a comment and you may win a Tupperware prize!

Good luck to us all ~

A precious gift

I had the most bizarre dream last night.

I was visiting the home of a blogger that I admire. She and I have never corresponded, although I think we may live in the same area. But in my dream, my family and I were spending the weekend at her house. I was nervous, but looking forward to it, because I really wanted to sit and get to know Admired Blogger and her family. But more people kept showing up, and AB and her family were running around trying to take care of everyone. I felt so guilty because I hadn't intended for all these people to show up, and our wonderful weekend was being ruined.

But. In the middle of this wild and crazy dream, I walked over and had a conversation with my grandmother. My grandmother who passed away over five years ago. My grandmother who was not really herself for almost five years before that. She and I giggled and talked and whispered for just a few minutes, and I'm still warm and fuzzy for it this morning.

Yesterday I was telling my girls just a tiny story about my grandmother, and she must have lingered in my mind somewhere. And so God decided to let me visit with her for awhile. Oh, what a blessing.

And Admired Blogger thinks I'm a stalker nut. Thank goodness it was a dream.

Help me!

I need your help, internet friends and possible party hoppers.

I saw a recipe last week for some rockin' peanut butter cookies that had a Hershey's Kiss on top of them. It was such a simple recipe; I remember it had peanut butter, flour, an egg and the lovely Hershey's Kiss. I just don't know the quantities, or how long to cook it.

And I don't know where I saw the recipe. Other than it was on a blog.

I have been planning on making those cookies for a week now, and I even bought the Hershey's Kisses. But I neglected to save the recipe. Or bookmark the blog where I saw it.

So I'm sitting here wanting easy peanut butter cookies, and I have a bag of Hershey's Kisses sitting right next to me. Do you realize the danger level here?

So help me out if you can. I'll be eternally in your debt.

Random randomness

So don't you know that the minute I get a bunch of great people to come check out my blog, that I can't think of a single thing to talk about.

So I'm going to go to the old random list, and hopefully I'll be inspired to expand on some of these topics later.

• In church yesterday, the pastor talked about what we will be remembered for, and I was reminded that my purpose here is to show God's love to everyone, and I mean, everyone I meet. Second, I believe my greatest job is to raise three girls to be self-confident, God-loving, sweet and well adjusted adults. Ack, the pressure!
• I make a mean tortilla, which I did twice this weekend. It takes for freaking ever, though. But they rocked.
• I love having friends that you feel so comfortable with that you can have them over to eat two times in two days, and no one is sick of each other. And I get to hold their baby.
• I also love the fact that I'm realizing I can cook at home for half the price of a restaurant, and BONUS! You can send the kids in the other room!
• My "boss" still hasn't paid me. It's been over two months, and everyone thinks I'm a whack job for continuing to do work for her. Reason I keep working: I need this gig, and I hope that eventually she'll get her act straight.
• And finally, and most important this morning, Scooter has been quiet for 30 whole minutes! I think she's still breathing.

Okay, I think I've given myself some ideas for future posts, so please don't give up on me. I may come up with something brilliant later. Or at least moderately interesting.

Kick off your shoes and stay awhile.

Hey, guys. I'm glad that you could make it to my little corner of the Ultimate Blog Party, and I'm sorry that I'm not better prepared for you. I'm getting ready for guests that I can touch who are coming to my house tonight, and have been trying to find time all day to write a proper greeting for you. I finally gave up and decided to be myself.

My name is Lori and I am a total Texan who loves God and my family. Big Daddy and I have been married for ten years, and we have three wonderful daughters who are 3, 5 and 7. I work at home, do some babysitting, and listen to Scooter talk all day long.

I'm a little scatterbrained, but believe it or not I really try to be organized. When I succeed, it is a beautiful thing. When I don't, it's just my life.

So, please look around and leave a note to let me know you were here. I can't wait to visit you back! And be sure and check back in a day or two. I'm usually a little more entertaining.

Let's party!

Well, this is my kind of party. In the real world, I would never have the nerve to go to a party where I knew almost no one. But in the bloggy world, it is totally something I can get into!

So click on the link above, or in my sidebar, and we can meet lots of new people and maybe even win a prize!

I'll be the one standing in the corner looking shy.

A Mother's Eyes

I installed Cozi on my computer yesterday, and one of the features is a screensaver with collages from my photos. I've had family photos as a screensaver and wallpaper before, and I have this tendency to just sit and stare, especially at my daughters and nieces. I could look at those photos forever and never get tired of them.




I am just taken by their beauty and cuteness and just the wonderfulness of them. Maybe it's because in a picture they are still and not talking. Back to my point . . . to me they are the most enchanting and beautiful girls in the world, and I expect everyone else to agree with me. But I know they don't. I mean, sure, people think most kids, including mine, are cute, but not to the extent that a mother does.

And so every day I realize another aspect of the depth of my love for these incredible creatures. To me, no one compares.