White on Orange?

This morning I heard a few little girls oohhh-ing and awwww-ing.

I came downstairs to find them looking out the windows.

This is what they were looking at.

That's right, SNOW!

Last night the weather man said we would get 'some' snow flurries mixed with rain.

Some parts of Pennsylvania got 10 inches.

We are going trick-or-treating tonight.

The high is 39.

So snow and rain and all we will be getting some candy.

I have to be honest......

I'm scared!

Lord help us:)

A Southern Northern Girl

I was born and raised in the south. I am a southern girl.

I married a northern boy and we now live in the north.

So you see I am a southern northern girl.

5 of my favorite southern things:

1. My family.........duh!!!!

2. BBQ, oh yummy homemade sauce with slow cooked meats and sides of beans,cheese grits, and

potato salad ( we have literally NO bbq....none.....zilch)

3. Mexican food. I have lived in Pittsburgh for 3 years now, I have seen maybe ten mexicans.

Therefore no good mexican food. I'm basically working with tacobell people.

4. Cowboys. No not football!You know the boots,the tight jeans,and the big rimmed hat.

They are not my type of fella but there is a certain charm about them.

I would also like to point out that the cowboys are the original 'skinny jean' wearers.

We have farms and cowboys here but they are not the same.

5. H-E-B. So big and reasonably priced, all your needs in one grocery store.

We have Walmart and Giant Eagle. Well, Walmart is walmart : /
And Giant Eagle is wayyyyyyy overpriced!

5 of my favorite northern things:

1. My husband!

2. Its pretty! Green and colorful with flowers. Or its red,yellow,and orange. Or its white.

We have four seasons. The weather is amazing.

No dead dry patches in sight and no watering.

3. A white Christmas. Its amazing. One year we had over four feet of snow and I have seen

nothing like it in my life. It just doesn't feel right if you can wear short sleeves on xmas day.

4. The city. Big and Bright and Bustling.

5. The houses. They are each different and have their own charm.

I will say that my family still all says ya'll. And everyone here says yins?? I don't even know what that means. And every time I go to a store the clerks still say 'your not from around here are you'.

I am grateful that my relationship with Derek is strong, that we can live anywhere and 

we can be happy. You have to be pretty secure to be able to move 2400 miles away from where you were born and raised. And I feel secure!

On holidays and birthdays it is still hard. We miss our family. I want my children to know there cousins.

I miss squishing everyone around the table to eat.
I miss it being loud and crazy.
(well my house is pretty loud and crazy)

But, I / We are happy :)

Sleep

Bedtime at our house is......interesting.

At about 9:30 i send the girls up to bed.

They watch a little t.v. i set a sleep timer and their t.v.'s automatically turn off.

Kirstin and Kaveri are always asleep by this time.

Kylie.....Kylie is never asleep by this time.

She wonders downstairs to see what we are doing.

She gets a snack, a drink, plays a little with MiKayla.

Then eventually we head upstairs and she gets back in her bed. And falls fast asleep.

This is what they all look like.

Yes, that is one of the many positions she gets herself into.

She starts out every night with her head on her pillow.

In the morning its always a mystery where her head will be.

Every night they also fall asleep with their heads on their pillows.

Kaveri is like her daddy. Once she falls asleep she moves very little.

Kylie however takes after her oldest sister.

She never stays on her pillow.

Can you see her head and feet?

Derek hardly moves an inch.

MiKayla usually falls asleep in daddy's arms.

Afterwards i move her to the other side so i can snuggle him.

I can not fall asleep without playing footsie with Derek.

I will not touch anyone elses feet....gross,

but I need his to fall asleep.

Oh and......

Natas sleeps on Derek's side on the floor.

The  two gal dogs sleep together down stairs.

After seeing these pics Derek was wondering how everyone managed to stay asleep with the big flash going off .

Once they are asleep, for the most part they stay that way:)

School Pooper

Kirstin came home from school yesterday and told us this.

Mrs. Shumaker had a class meeting.

She told them that apparently someone has been pooping their pants at school.

(thats not the worst part)

Then that said poo is making its way out of those pants and onto the floor!

Thats right......Poo on floor.

This has happened several times since the beginning of school.

She then told them that when one of her sons was young and in school

he too pooped his pants.

Then she spanked him after school for pooing his pants.

Until she took her son to the doctor to only find out its a medical condition.

Do I believe this story? Nope.

Do I believe she had a purpose to telling this story? Yep.

This student has two options:

A- stop pooing your pants and use the toilet      or

B-come talk to her about this problem b/c after all she will understand

 since her son had the same problem

Then she warned that she thinks she knows who is doing this pooing

and that if it happens again she will be having a one on one with them.

This morning while getting dressed Kirstin said

"Ok, time to smell the poop again"

I asked her what she meant.

"I have been smelling poop mom I just don't know where it comes from"

she also informed me

"don't worry mom, I wear skinny jeans so poop couldn't fall out of my panties

into my pant leg, it wouldn't fit!"

Oh ok Kirstin- I'm glad its not you!!!

Here is three things I would rather do than pick up some random kids POOP off the floor:
1- use the pooper-scooper to pick up piles of dog poop in the backyard that are the size of my head
2-wipe snot off one of my kids nose using only my fingers and then wiping that snot off my fingers onto the bottom of my pants
 (hey if you kid has snot running down their face and there is no tissue,you do what you gotta do!)
3-run to the bathroom and wipe my kids booty when they yell 'I'm done'

Now these things do make me gag from time to time but still
random kid poop on school floor! Come on!

I told Kirstin we are gonna have to start checkin' her
shoes before she gets in the car after school.GROSS! 

Pretty Pumpkins

Yesterday we stayed home.

We made fried green tomatoes for lunch.

Derek did laundry. Awesome I know.

He also was working on my crate project.

The girls danced, watched tron, and colored pumpkins.(and eachother)

I made some of my own pumpkins.

Ribbon and lace.

Paper flower and buttons.



Stamped polka-dots and ribbons.

More ribbon and some bling.

The lot on the front porch.

I so L-O-V-E them.

These are on my dinning room table.

B/c there are pumpkin patches everywhere here, you can get some really nice cheap ones.

My small ones were 3 for $1.00.

My medium ones were $1 each.

My large ones were $2.99.

They even have 'gaint' ones for $3.99, but I could not lift them.

All the stuff used to decorate them I had in my crafty-collection:)

Much easier and cuter than carving.

To finish off the day we made buffalo chicken spinach wraps. YUM

lettuce,tomatoes,avocados,cheddar cheese,buttermilk ranch, chicken grilled to perfection and tossed in buffalo sauce!

Happy Birthday Wendy-Part 2

To the outside world we all grow old.  But not to sisters.  We know each other as we always were.  We know each other's hearts.  We share private family jokes.  We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys.  We live outside the touch of time.  ~Clara Ortega

Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of.  You know whatever you do, they'll still be there.  ~Amy Li

me- 22

Wendy- 17

How do people make it through life without a sister? 

~Sara Corpening

At our reception. Drunk on wine-punch, lol, with her now fiance.

Wendy holding Kaveri.

Christmas 2007

Wendy and Kylie at Thanksgiving 2008

Wendy's first visit to Pittsburgh.

Wendy and me at the hospital when I had MiKayla.

December 2010-never mind the partial  boob.

Engaged -March 22nd to her date to my wedding.

So sweet right?

Heading out to go wedding dress shopping in May 2011.

(I would like to add that I saw a dress that 'wasn't her style' and I made her try it on for me......She bought it!)

Wendy, your are so important to me.

I am truly blessed to have you for a sister and a friend.

We are forever bonded .

I cherish you and all of our memories.

I can't wait for the years to come.

You have grown into an awesome young woman.

Happy Birthday!

I can't believe you are 23! 23!

That means I'm rounding 30......It sneaks up you know.

I love you.

Happy Birthday Wendy-Part 1

Today is my baby sisters birthday. She is my bestfriend.
She is amazing. She can make me laugh till I cry.
She frustrates me in a way only a little sister can;)
I love every minute of her!

That's us with gramma Ferguson.

She has big blue eyes.

There is no better friend than a sister.  And there is no better sister than you.

This is when I wanted a hair cut like our Aunt Sarah......then Wendy wanted to be like me.

Needless to say Sarah is the only one who looked good with the hair cut : /

If you don't understand how a girl could both love her sister dearly and want to wring her neck at the same time, then you were probably an only child.  ~Linda Sunshine

She always had some sort of bag with her when she was little.

I called her bag lady.

me - 14

Wendy- 9

Wendy age 13 holding Kirstin

age 14-8th grade- Still cheering!

Yes she passed me up quickly

A sister shares childhood memories and grown-up dreams. 

Me-21, Wendy-16

Can you tell we are sisters? I swear we are. She is just taller and tanner with lighter hair and blue eyes!

It's a good thing I wrote alot of dates on these pictures.

part 2 to come.......

Handy Man

Ladies let me tell you something.......

If you are still on the market for a hubby I'm sure you have your personal checklist.

What is probably missing is him being a 'fix it' kind of guy.

I grew up with these men.

My father.My grandpa.My uncles.

All handy.

Give them a project, some tools, and it will get done. 

Well I am so fortunate to have married a very handy man.

Of course with his military background he is more than handy.

He can survive in harsh conditions!

Every time I have an idea, I just explain it to him and he says 'ok.'

He has done oh so many projects for me.

I am lucky.

He is patient. I am neurotic.

When we first bought the house it was paint,floors,light fixtures and fans, bathroom sinks and toilets, stripping and staining antiques.

 The list goes on.

Now its all my 'do it yourself' things to build and hang.

He impresses me every time.

 Honestly I know he loves to see my face light up when my idea comes to life.

So make sure that if you ask your man to hang something, he can. And that he has the tools.

Thats a good sign he is at least somewhat handy.

Who doesn't love a manly man?

p.s. Derek and I have been doing lots of stuff around the house.

I will share soon.

Here is a hint to one of the projects we are working on.

Head Talking.....

Have you ever seen that Seinfeld episode were Elaine is on the subway and she is having a conversation in her head? The subway train malfunctions and stops. By the end of the episode she is literally screaming, inside her head. And her facial expressions match the conversation she is having....with herself.

It's one of my favorite episodes.

In bed I seem to have a very difficult time turning my brain off.

So I was laying in bed lastnight 'head talking'. It made me think of that episode.

Then I began thinking of how i talk in my head alot.

I bet I head talk as much if not more than I talk aloud.

So here are some conversations I have had in my head in the last week.

Me: remember to get a toilet brush next time your at the store

Myself: well if you didn't clean the toilet like the hulk it wouldn't have snapped in half

Me: if it weren't a cheapo to began with it wouldn't have snapped 

Myself: just get one b/c the ring in the toilet is really grossing me out!

(I did get one soon after that)

Sometimes when i am doing something stressful i say naughty things in my head.

Like when i was vacuuming and MiKayla was screaming and Derek wasn't home.

I dropped a few F-bombs in my head.

Then i felt guilty so i 'head-prayed' for patience.....and forgiveness!

Alot of times I head talk in public places.
Like'why do you have to walk super slow in the middle of the grocery store isle so no one can pass you-idiot'
or 'did you walk by a mirror before heading out the door'
or'can I spank your kid'
or 'can you not talk to your kid like that'
or'i don't want to hear your vulgar mouth'-teenagers or retarded adults
and ' your kids don't want cancer, put that cigarette out'-i may say that in my head but i also give a nasty look! 

The worst thing is when you get a song stuck in your head.
A bad song. Justuin Bieber, you catchy annoying little boy!

So the next time you are head-talking, imagine saying it out loud.
Some stuff would make you sound like a looney.
Muahhhhhhhhh-hahhhhhhhahhhhhh
Muahhhhhhhhh-hahahhhhhahhhh
Muahhh-cough cough
Muahhhhhhh-hahhhhahhhhhh :-)

Crackin' Eggs

My girls love to play kitchen.

They play some sort of 'food' play everyday.

restaurant, picnic, waitress, chef,mommy ect.

One day they were makin' eggs.They have whole white plastic eggs.

They have a plastic cracked egg, you know yoke and the white.

So the crafty side of me had an idea.

 I saved an egg carton.

I dug out some easter eggs.

And I got some felt.

This is what I came up with.

SEW cute:) Now they can actually crack there eggs.

They love them.

It's so sweet how they hit the egg on the side of the pan or counter like I do.

Now lets get down to business!!

Looks good right?