before and after

It's been well over a month since Bekah found the scissors and gave herself a beeeaaa-uuuuutiful haircut. With bangs. I never showed the before and after.

Here it is.

BEFORE

and AFTER

See how grown up she looks? While the bangs did grow on me for awhile (no pun intended), I am now at the stage of missing her forehead dearly. Soooo...we are going to try and grow them out again :)

She really loves her bangs, but so far so good...she's been letting me put the barrettes in her hair to keep it out of her eyes. So I guess we'll just have to wait and see.


Remember that mini album I did for Scrappy Chics? Remember how I never posted pictures from it? Yeah, I remember, too. Come back tomorrow and I'll have the pictures up. :)

Surprise!!!

One day last week Bekah decided to surpise me with something that she did. Something that she thought was so awesome.

She cut her hair.

Putting it mildly, I freaked. It was one of those moments that you wish you could rewind just 5 minutes. One of those moments that you have to keep asking yourself if it really happened.

She was so proud of herself. She actually did a good job cutting herself some bangs!

The pictures I took don't really show the damage she did. She chopped her hair off on both sides starting at her chin. And took a small chunk out of the back.

After I calmed down, I found poor Bekah in her room, in her bed, crying. My freak out gave her the impression that I was mad and so she thought she was in trouble.

After I told her I wasn't mad, we scheduled an emergency trip (and a first) to the hair salon. The hairdresser was able to layer her hair and leave the majority of the length. I will post a before and after picture in a couple days. Bekah has been quite the stinker about letting me take a good picture of her.

But she looks so grown up, now.

Sigh.

not this kind of pink

Everyone who knows Bekah, knows that her favorite color is pink.

But not this kind of pink....

Yep, the pink eye bug has hit our home. Gavin had it last week and on his last day of eye drops, Bekah woke up with it in her right eye. The next morning it was in both eyes.

Doesn't she look so sad? Everytime I put the eye drops in she tells me that it "hurts so bad". Sniff. I hate causing her any more discomfort but she HAS to have the eyedrops. I told her that if she doesn't take the drops then I will have to take her to the doctor and he will have to cut out her eyeballs because they are infected.

Yes, I really did say that. o_O

As morbid as that sounds...it didn't even phase the little bugger. She still protests when I pull out the eyedrops.

I'm just hoping that this will be the end of the pink eye and not just a vicious cycle.

Well, I'm off to do some more cleaning!

Three.

Guess who turned 3 today?



...Little Miss Bekah J, thats who!!







I still can't believe that it's already been three years. Three years of crying, laughing, smiling, playing dress up, painting nails, having tea parties, snuggling and so much more. She is my most favorite little girl in the whole wide world!! I am so very blessed to have her in my life.

Love you Bekah Boo!!

a little about me

Have you heard of My Scrapbook Nook? It's a wonderful kit club that I discovered. I have yet to play with any of the kits, but they look divine.

They are in the middle of choosing 5 new design team members. I am one of 40 FABULOUS ladies that have made the first cut from 124 applicants!!! I haven't shared this news because I didn't want to jinx it :)

The ladies that I am competing with...wow. They are so talented. I am just in awe over their creations. Even if I don't make the team, it has be a complete HONOR just to say that I was on the same boat with these girls!

Anyway, Leah at My Scrapbook Nook put together a list of ten questions for all of us ladies to answer in hopes of getting to know us better.

I thought I'd share the questions and my answers here...



1: What did you want to be when you grew up?

A SAHM. Seriously.

2: What was your favorite book as a child, and what is it as an adult?

Um, this sounds bad, but I remember reading VC Andrews books when I was in the 6th grade. I loved those books! And now, I am a complete Twilight junkie. I think I've read that series at least 5 times now.

3: Choose only one scrap company for the rest of your life. . .

This is tough. I think right now I'd have to say Pink Paislee.

4: If you could have dinner with a well known person who has died, who would it be? Why?

Probably Elvis Presley. I have always been drawn to his music and I thought he seemed pretty charming, too!

5: Do you know what your actual hair color is?
Yep, its the color that it is right now...well minus the random gray hairs!! Very dark brown.

6: Choose one superpower to have- which is it?

I would love to have the superpower of speed. I tend to have way too many household chores that are neglected due to my obsession with creating...

7: What is your ideal home (size, country vs city, special features)

I'm a little bit country and a little bit city. Not smack in the middle of a big city, but not wayyyy out of town. I would love a house with 4 large bedrooms; one being a master bedroom and one being a scrap room. Vaulted celings, huge back yard. Very big kitchen with a snack bar and an island. I've always had a small kitchen and I would LOVE to have a bigger one with more room to move around.

8: Best advice you've ever received.

Make sure to enjoy your kids before they grow up. I tend to forget this quite often...I really need to slow down more and have more tea parties with my girl and build train tracks with my boy. They grow up way too fast.

9: What is your guilty pleasure?

Diet Coke. I am sooooo addicted to that. But not in the can. Ick. Only in the bottle or from the fountain. I am a can snob. LOL

10: If I am underestimating you, what is it that I should know?

I am one of the best bakers you will ever meet. I love to bake and it shows in my treats I am also a very dedicated friend to those that I love.



I had fun with these questions and I think I just may have to document these in a mini album here soon. I never do anything about myself, its always about the kids. I'm sure that one day they would like to know what kinds of things their momma liked.

four Christmases

This year we had four Christmases. Yes, it was fun, yes, it was exhausting, and yes, we are all still trying to recover from them!!

Our first "Christmas" was just the four of us. Since Daddy was working nights during Christmas week we decided to celebrate a few days early, before he went back to work. Santa always makes a special trip for the kids even when we have to celebrate early with Daddy.

So five nights before the big guy actually comes, the kids left out cookies and milk for his "special" stop.



Can you see the excitement on their faces? Bekah kept "testing" the milk to make sure it was okay :) Silly girl. The next morning Gavin was so excited to see that Santa had left a partially eaten cookie. Apparently Bekah was excited too, but for a different reason. When she thought nobody was looking she ate the rest of the left over cookie!


Christmas Eve, the actual Christmas Eve, was a very big day for us. For me, actually. It was the very first time in the 34 years of my life, that I spent Christmas with my Dad. I sure was missing out :)

My Dad's side of the family is huge! Gigantic!! There were over 40 adults and teenagers there and probably about 20-30 kids. We all had a great time and didn't get home until 1:30 am!! Crazy, I know!






Christmas day we spent with my mom's side of the family. It was definitely more low key than Christmas Eve!! And it was very different not having Papa with us to celebrate. He was extremely missed and I know that he was looking down at us from Heaven.

Today we spent the afternoon with my mother in law and opened presents and ate pizza. It was a nice, quiet get together and the kids had fun opening another round of gifts.

Although we had a wonderful Christmas, er Christmases, I am so glad that it's over. Time to take the decorations down for another year. Time to clean the house after the holiday bomb. Time to get ready for a fresh start to a new year!

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!

Winter is here!! (Wordless Wednesday)

Happy Birthday Marines!! (Wordless Wednesday, sort of)

My papa Joe. I still miss him.

Papa Joe

Thursday, October 7, 2010, was the day I lost my beloved Papa Joe. I thought that by now I would be able to write about it, to express my thoughts. I was wrong. I'm just not ready.

I will say this...I love my Papa Joe so very much. He was more than just a Papa to me, but also a father figure. I miss you Papa.

cheap thrills

Who knew a cheap pair of Groucho Marx glasses would be so much fun?



I bought Bekah a pair a few days ago and she loves them! In fact, the next day she just HAD to wear them everywhere we went. Everywhere ended up being Gavin's school and the store. I'm sure she ended up being known as the girl with the Groucho Marx glasses!




Of course, Gavin had to try on the glasses, too.



Woah, where did the vampire come from?! Isn't he the cutest little vampire, though?

a new kindergartener

Can you believe it? Gavin is now a kindergartner. I honestly do not know where the time went. Where did my baby boy go? As much as I love him growing up and doing things for himself, I do wish that time would slow down just a little bit.




I took him to school on his first day, totally thinking that I would be fine and not shed any tears.

I was wrong.



We went back to his classroom and he went right into routine. Found his jacket hook, put his lunch away and found his seat. No problem. Piece of cake.

While he was sitting there coloring and waiting for class to start, another little boy who wasn't so eager to start school came into the classroom. Poor little guy was bawling his eyes out. I felt so bad for him and even worse for his mom. But she held herself together and didn't shed a tear. At least not in front of him.

It made me realize just how big my little man is getting. How independent he is becoming. How, someday, he won't want me to walk him to his classroom. Won't want to hold my hand. Won't want momma's kisses. I am not ready for that day to come. Not at all.




Shortly before class was about to start, I asked Gavin if it was okay if I could leave. Yep. No problem there. At least not for him.

I high tailed it out of that classroom choking back the tears and wishing I would have brought the kleenex my husband told me to bring.

a few of my favorite things (right now)...

Some things I am enjoying right now...

This music video with Eminem and Rihanna. It helps that Charlie from Lost is in it as well...and even though the nature of the video isn't very good, I must say he looks mighty fine.

This blog. I have been following her ever since the birth of her last baby and I am in love with her photography skills. And the way she enjoys life.

This and this. I could watch these videos over and over. Oh wait, I already do!!

This new line of goodies from Pink Paislee. Isn't it absolutely gorgeous?! And this one from Cosmo Cricket...and this one from The Girls Paperie. With CHA done and over I have many, many favorites...but I won't bore you to death with showing you every.single.one. :)

This necklace. Isn't it just breathtaking? I love it! And I have a certain somebody in mind for this as a gift...

And him. After seeing Eclipse, I just can't stop thinking about him. I do love me some Edward, but wow, Jacob is really, really beautiful. And I keep watching him here.

frustrating.

The new design teams were posted on the American Crafts and Pebbles,Inc blogs...unfortunately, I was not on the list. Oh well. I try to not get too bummed out about it, but it IS frustrating when you apply over and over and you don't have what it takes.

*sigh*

Okay, my pity party is over :)

I will just have to try again next year!

Besides, I am on a fantastic design team with super talented ladies for Scrap that Baby! This just means I can spend more time on projects for them!

Five.

My little guy has been five for over a week now. It's crazy, I know. I mean, it seems like yesterday that Daddy and I were in the hospital marveling at how tiny his fingers and toes were. It's amazing how fast time goes by...both my babies are growing up way too fast. Some days I feel that life is just speeding by and we really haven't stopped to enjoy things.

*sigh*

Anyway, the fifteenth of this month was Gavin's fifth birthday. It was also his last day of summer preschool (he's a kindergartener now!) and I baked some cupcakes for him to share with his friends at school. Daddy and Bekah joined me at the school to celebrate. After school, we took a trip to Toys R Us and spent about an hour and a half looking at all the cool toys. While it was a good experience, I do think that the kids were just a bit overwhelmed with everything.

Later that evening, we met up with my Dad and his side of the family at Gallos for a graduation party for my brother. We all had a blast, even though it was BLAZING HOT inside the restaurant! The kids seemed to take really well to all the relatives they hadn't met. And I really loved being around my family that I don't get to see very much.

The kids had a surprise later with a cake and gifts that my Dad had bought for them. So they got to blow out candles, hear the birthday song and open presents! Can you say spoiled? :)

After all that excitement, the kids were just plain wore out. Which was good for me and Daddy :) They actually slept in until 8 o'clock the next day!!


Here is Gavin with Papa Rollie...ARGH, he looks like a pirate!




And here is Miss Bekah...