Mia's 2nd Birthday

Saturday we went to Mia's 2nd birthday party! Olivia and Mia are best buddies so O was sooo excited we were going! They played outside, jumped in the inflatable bouncer, and loved just hanging out together.

And it was Dora themed so of course O was in Dora heaven! LOL

Good Night Moon

and if you think I'm talking about the book, you OBVIOUSLY don't know my child very well. That is not a book she would find interesting.
So tonight I checked my facebook and saw that Amanda & Steve (The Medlin Family) were taking Connor & Mia out to go stargazing. So I thought it would be fun to let O go out and see the moon and stars and stuff...

This was our conversation:

Olivia noticing that the sprinkler was turned on: "OH NO!!! THE WATERFALL COMING OUT! The moo(n) will get WET!!!"

Me laughing, of course: "No Olivia the moon is VERY far away. It won't get wet. You have to get on a spaceship to go to the moon."

O with huge eyes and an amazed look on her face: "IIIII wan to go to tha moo... (then yelling in one breath) MO-MEE GO TO THA MOO. DA-YEE GO TO THA MOO. GANNA GO TO THA MOO. BEH-BA GO TO THA MOO. DA GO TO THA MOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I am laughing so hard I am crying at this point, but then she freezes, throws her hands up in the air and yells, "WAAAAAIIIIITTTT!!!! I GOTTA GET MAW-MAW & PAW-PAW TO GO THA MOO!!!!!!"

So then I explained that maybe someday we could go to the moon... which of course, she thought meant right now. So we get on the porch swing for "take-off". Then O grabs the chain holding the swing up and starts clanging it yelling, "CHOOOOO CHOOOOO! BYE BYE! I go-ing to tha moooo!!!"

By this time I am like rolling on the floor laughing so hard I'm crying. I didn't have the heart to tell her you don't ride a train to the moon. So after she decides that it's not working the way she wanted she hops off and heads inside yelling, "BYE MOOO - GOOD NIGH MOOOO!"

Now isn't that just way more fun than reading a book about a moon?

Camp 2009

From Saturday to Wednesday, Olivia and I headed down to the North Georgia Mtns. for our annual family camping trip... otherwise known as just "Camp". We stay at Mountain Lakes which is about 15 minutes outside of Helen, GA.

http://www.mountainlakesresort.us/

Saturday we arrived about 4 PM and headed over to Mary's condo to see everyone and eat dinner. Olivia had a great time with Thomas, playing with his cars and swinging on the back porch overlooking the lake. After dinner, we headed back to the camper to unpack and play for the rest of the evening.

Sunday we were very lazy and hung around camp and played and then took Olivia to the pool. After the pool, it was our night to cook so I made our favorite Oriental Crunch Salad and helped Mom with the BBQ & baked potatoes.

Monday morning we went to the train museum in Blairsville, GA which Olivia thought was pretty neat. She didn't like that she couldn't touch and play with the trains, but it was an awesome place! After that, we went and got some lunch and then went back to camp where we hit the pool again and swam! She didn't understand why we would want to sit in the hot tub tho... haha It was hot!! Monday night we ate Taco Soup yum! and a storm blew over right before dinner... so we were ready for soup since most of us were soaking wet! Afterwards, we squeezed into Laura's cabin to watch Jon & Kate... :( very sad. and then discussed it.

Tuesday we went into Helen to eat lunch at Hofer's (the German bakery and cafe) and it was delicious! I had a Grilled Ham & Swiss on French bread with Honey Mustard.... I LOVE hot sandwiches! I also got an eclair and a Linzer cookie from the bakery that were to die for :)

Here is Anna Lauson, Me & Becca at the bakery.

After lunch, we met up with my dad and walked around and shopped for a little while before heading back to camp to rescue "Maw Maw" who kept Olivia while we were gone.

Becca & I in Helen.

Tuesday night we went to Mary's condo to eat again & then I ended up with a migraine so I was stuck in bed after about 8:30 in serious pain.... ugh!!

Wednesday morning we got up and had pancakes and then took Olivia to Helen to have her old time picture made... it turned out pretty cute!! She looks mischevious.

Then we made a SHORT trip to the Cabbage Patch hospital to see some babies!! Olivia had a great time and I can't wait to take her to the new one when it opens later this year!!

http://www.cabbagepatchkids.com/

And here is the grumpy bear on the way home when we stopped at the Appy Trail crossing...

& yes, there are not very many pictures but I took about 120 - they are all on my facebook if you're interested!

Blooming

in our yard...

& still loving my camera a year and a half later.

My 21st birthday!

Today was my 21st birthday!!

To start off the day, Ben went and got me McDonald's hot cakes, which I absolutely LOVE!! After pancakes, we just hung out around the house for the morning. Then my mom and Becca took Olivia and Ben and I went to the dreaded DMV where we waited for almost an hour to renew my license. The guy taking the pictures sang a line of Happy Birthday to me in front of everyone waiting, which of course, I loved.

Afterwards, we went and walked around the mall and looked at/studied different cameras. We are almost 100% sure we want the Nikon D90, but need to save up a little more money because it is one VERY expensive camera!

After looking at cameras, we went and met my family at Olive Garden for dinner (yummy yum!) and I got a Strawberry Mango Margarita (as pictured below.) and it was good! I don't usually like the taste of alcohol, so I was surprised I liked it :) I also got what I always get, Cheese Ravioli with alfredo sauce!! I LOVE that stuff :
After dinner, we ran by Nana's Frozen Custard b/c they had put Happy 21st Birthday Natalie on the flashing sign, so I had to see it!! It was so fun to see my name up there! :)

When we got home, I opened presents which is always fun! My sister got me the cutest card that you can record on... so she wrote a little poem and recorded it and then it played a song. She also got me a cute Old Navy shirt and 2 pairs of Old Navy flip flops, which I really needed! This picture is of me opening a cd that my mom wrapped in a Little Debbie box. She always wraps stuff in food boxes to trick us! haha :)

I got a few small things from my parents and some money for my camera. One thing my parents gave me was these neat water bottles! I had seen them in a catalog (Lakeside Collection) and thought they were so cute! I always like to take a bottle of water with me to class but hate buying tons of bottled water so these are plastic (BPA free) that you can fill up and stick in the fridge and they will last me all week!I also got a really neat custom "birdhouse" from my grandparents. She had found a license plate from 1988 (year I was born) so she had her friend make and hand paint this birdhouse! It is so neat! The front says Natalie's Nest, Lakesite Tennessee. One side says Olivia's Room with pink curtains and the back has odds and ends like UTC, Ben with a heart, Auburn, SDHS, etc. painted on it... things from my life :) It is such a fun gift!

After presents we did cake! There is a new place called The Cake Factory in Dallas Bay so I decided to try it! I got a red velvet cake with cream cheese. It was a little pricey I thought, $25 for a 1/4 sheet, but it was very yummy!!

The lighter wouldn't work so it was a group effort to light 21 candles with a few matches!! ha!

After cake, we played ladderball outside and played with the new kittens that are Grampa's "garden cats". It ended up being a really fun birthday!!

Me? Creative!? Unbelievable!

From the title you MIGHT can tell I don't think of myself as being very creative. I wish I was, but I am the analytical, logistical, person.

BUT we inherited about 100 new hairbows (woohoo!!) (adding the the 100+ we already had), so there was a need for more hairbow holders. I had purchased one last fall on ebay that is ADORABLE so I went back and tried to find the same lady again, and couldn't so I just decided to make my own. They do not match the original, but they match each other and I think it turned out really cute!

I started by going to Hobby Lobby and purchasing a paintbrush, two unfinished wood circles (99 cents each), 2 colors of paint ($1.27 each), 2 flower accents that were already painted (59 cents each), and ribbon.

I took the two wood circles and painted them. The picture was after the 2nd coat, but I added a third because I wasn't quite happy with just two.

After 3 coats, I added the accents with Beacon Multi-Grip glue.

Using the same glue, I added a long ribbon. I originally cut it about 60 inches, but it ended up being shorter...


Because I glued the ribbons too close together... as you can see in the photo below. This would have only held very small bows and clips.

So I tweaked it, by folding the ribbon back over so they were farther apart, making the ribbons shorter, so then her MBHs (Massively Big Hairbows, of course!) wouldn't fit.

& no, that's not all the hairbows either LOL, all Gymboree curlies, Holiday themed, and doubles are in a drawer. I think I have an addiction! :)

So I used some left over ribbon to make just a long ribbon and nailed it to her closet trim. These are the huge bows (like 4" or bigger), and there are probably 20 or them or so on the ribbon.

Odds & Ends

This blog is a hodgepodge of events from the past few days...

Friday

My sister got O this little "sailors" outfit a couple weeks ago at a consignment sale and I thought it was sooo cute! However, after I got it on, I thought she really looked like a little flight attendant!!

She's a born fisherwoman.

Saturday

Saturday morning, we went over to Hunter Trace to a couple yard sales and really scored big!

At the first sale, I got Olivia a pair of pajamas, a My Little Pony beach playset (with 2 ponies & accessories), and 3 Disney Princess dolls.

GRAND TOTAL=$9!!

At the second sale, I got 4 pairs of shoes for $1! And a sack full of clothes including: 1 pair pj's, Old Navy khakis, Circo jeans (looked brand new!), A Tinkerbelle shirt, a play skort, a Gymboree jacket, a pink coverup, and two pairs of Circo shorts (khaki & pink).

GRAND TOTAL=$3.50!!

She lined up her new yard sale Disney Princesses before she went to bed.

She actually told me that Snow White was Ben's favorite because they look alike. HAHAHA

My new color of nail polish! It's actually brighter than in the picture - it's so fun!

I also got a sweater dress when I bought the nail polish... for $1!! CRAZY!

This was Saturday night... I'll huff & puff and blow you down!!

Sunday

Sweet sleeping serene Olivia.

& yes, her toenails are hot pink & lime green! She asked for it!

Now I'm off to work on Olivia's hairbow holders... hint hint! That will be my next post! Stay tuned!

25 You DON'T Know!

I filled this out on Facebook several months ago (in February), and saw it again tonight and thought I'd share with the "blog world" in case you aren't on Facebook or didn't read it. It pretty much describes who I am, I think! :)

1. I am a jeans and t-shirt kinda girl. And sweatpants. I love me some sweats. I’m totally not into what’s popular. I like my style just fine thanks.

2. Sara Evans song “Low” makes me want to throw my hands up and praise Jesus! It’s my new favorite.

3. I found a church I really like and would like to attend, but Ben says they are too “free-spirited” for his traditional Southern Baptist self.

4. I am a hermit. I love curling up in my bed ALONE and reading a good romance novel. I would rather do that than just about anything in the world.

5. I am addicted to Disney! Those darn O’Dell people….

6. Music lives in my soul. I feel music like no one’s business. It makes me feel amazing.

7. I love those strawberry candies with the goop in the middle. I eat like handfuls every day.

8. I can’t do hair. My hair has been the same since like 4th grade, just different lengths. I seriously can’t do anything with it. Not even curl it. It just falls out. BLAH.

9. I want to adopt kids sooo bad! Originally, I didn’t want to birth any children, just adopt. But God had other plans. So now that I know I am mentally able to birth kids, I think I’ll birth two more and adopt two. EDIT AS OF JUNE09: I am unsure about having more children.

10. I take things really personally. Example: I usually cry if Ben hits my teddy bear or says mean things about him. Crazy right? EDIT AS OF JUNE09: I saw a tent revival tonight with a man preaching to only one person in the audience. I teared up. I felt bad for the preacher. I am sooo sensitive!

11. I love to travel, but hate flying.

12. When I was in 8th grade, I went on a double date with Ben BUT we weren’t together. He was with another girl and I was with another guy. Isn’t that weird?

13. Speaking of that movie, I got my favorite girl name of all time from it – Cadence. Which if we have another little girl, we will be naming her that. I wanted to name Olivia that, but Ben thought it was too weird. Now he kinda likes it?? He’s difficult. I think the other names I liked were even weirder and that’s the most normal he can get. HA EDIT AS OF JUNE09: Don't you dare steal my name! If you do, I will hunt you down and yell obscene things in your face while you are in pain in the midst of birthing the darn child. NOT KIDDING.

14. A lot of people don’t know that Olivia was born with a heart murmur, an extra valve in her heart, and an enlarged pump chamber. The valve grew into another one so it isn’t there anymore, but her pump chamber is still enlarged. We say that’s the reason she has so much energy!!

15. I used to be totally addicted to the Sims computer game. I think it’s because I love running other people’s lives. Ben totally agrees!

16. I love the new open hearts collection from Kay Jewelers. I am trying to convince Ben to buy me the necklace and the ring! They are so pretty and I just love the design.

17. I would love to buy a house with a lot of land, so I can have a garden and lots of room for animals. EDIT AS OF JUNE09: I was born to be a cat lady. That is all.

18. I really want to learn how to sew and also to cook good southern food. I really just want to be a homemaker!

19. I love scrapbooking even though it’s very expensive and I usually don’t have time for it. I have made 5 scrapbooks so far, and it’s been so fun!

20. The bravest and coolest person I know in the entire world is my cousin Hannah Kate. She had a brain tumor at the age of 7 and then started a huge organization called Army Angels that distributes school supplies to children in Middle Eastern countries where American Troops are stationed. She is amazing & basically a celebrity now in Knoxville!

21. I love decorating for seasons. Every holiday and season has decorations at our house! Ben is very nice about it too and just smiles and says, “That looks nice.”

22. I am allergic to a lot of make-up. It makes my face itch so bad!

23. I love Gulf Shores. We go every Thanksgiving and always go to the same places. DeSoto’s, the Oyster House, and Shake’s Frozen Custard. I also love it because a lot of my family is down there and I hardly ever get to see them.

24. I want to go to all 50 states before I die. I have been to 22 now. EDIT AS OF JUNE09: I want to visit all continents also.

25. I LOVE the Bachelor!! I watch it religiously. EDIT AS OF JUNE09: I am addicted. I need a 12 step program. Step One: Admit the problem... CHECK!