Life Is Just So Daily

Monday, June 28, 2010

This Texas Heat...

Clearly, the boy knows how to beat the heat...
Step one:

Step two:

Step three:


And then just for fun...




...this little boy is so much fun.
:)

Labels:

Baby Shower Pics...

...well, the weekend after my birthday, I attended a baby shower for Baby Chris {my dad & his wife's baby that is on the way... if you are a new reader, feel free to freak out now. Lord knows I have}.

Here are a few pics from the shower...

The mom to be, Me, my grandmother, & one of my cousins...


My Dad & Allen...


Opening one of the gifts from me...

Labels:

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Ask, and ye shall receive.

....remember when I hinted to {or flat out told} Hubby that I wanted a boat for my birthday?

Well, HAPPY FREAKIN' BIRTHDAY TO ME!

...let me back up.
Hubby took us to the Bass Pro Shop to look at boats...Oh, we LOVE the Bass Pro Shop!








We left without a boat.
But--that's okay, we had a lot of fun...

Thursday night...Hubby took me to look at boat slips in Rockwall....what!?!? We're getting a boat!? Yes. Yes, we are.

Friday on the way home from work...picked up the boat fire extinguisher, life jackets, more sunscreen, a new rear-view mirror, a tube.... you get it.

Saturday, Hubby & his dad went to pick up the boat. Guess where I went! Are you ready??? Work. Yup. 12 hour shift. Good times, I assure you.
And, it was a really craptastic work day, which actually worked out for me to make the day go by faster. I had some down time, but not much.

Came home....finally got to sleep around 3am.
Up this morning by 7:30, on the water by 9:30.

So.......I got a boat!
...and I have NO PICTURES OF THE BOAT TO SHOW YOU. Yes, I have pics of the fun we had, but I never took a step back to just take a picture of the boat. That will have to come later.
Pics from our day today....

Mommy & Gage at the marina...


Gage & Daddy feeding the ducks...














There was so much fun out there today. We had fun just riding...then we went to the Harbor for lunch at Ruby Tuesday...and then---then----{Megan, Susan, you ready for this???} LAINEY-PANEY JUMPED OFF THE BOAT AND INTO THE WATER! {I made the Megan/Susan reference b/c they've actually been to the lake with me, and they've been on a river rafting trip with me, and they can count on one hand {or zero hands} how many times they've seen me get into water like that.}

There's something about being a mom that makes you do stuff that you don't want to do. {Gin, I know you'll appreciate this sentiment...you abhor going to the dentist, and yet, you want the boys to take care of their teeth & have good oral hygeine...and so....you're doing it, and I'm proud of you for facing the fear and powering through!} I don't want to show paralyzing fear relating to lake water and have my son sense that, feel like, or worse--understand it and accept that fear as his own. I want him to have fun lake memories. I want him to know what it must feel like to gleefully jump from the boat into the water with no fears. So, yes, I got into the water all by myself. I jumped about 5 feet from the boat, and then swam as fast as I could to the little ladder TO GET THE HELL OUTTA THAT WATER!
But the point is: I did it.
And, I tubed. Solo.
It was awesome. We all had so much fun.
Left the lake about 2:30. We were done. Gage ASKED for a nap. He was asleep before we were out of the marina parking lot.

Came home, showered, and snuggled on one couch with Gage & Hubby was on the other. We ALL napped.

I can't believe it.
Hubby got me a boat.
It's red & white.
It's not too big, but I still can't drive it all by myself.

I can't wait to make more lake memories....but hopefully, this will be the only time Gage asks to take a picture of my "crazy hair."


{Yes, I need many beautiful scarves to tie my hair down. And yes, I know that I'm brave for posting quite possibly THE most unflattering picture of myself.}

Labels: ,

Friday, June 25, 2010

The Good Stuff....

Okay...so I failed to name the products that Dammit Arlene got us into...

THE GOOD STUFF: Tuel (or 2L) Skin Care; it's OMG-wonderful.
www.tuelskincare.com
For Texas, the website only lists one place to get it:
Tyler
Arlene Gregg
903.944.8157

The shampoo & conditioner: I've posted about them before. They are WONDERFUL for every-once-in-a-while use if you have a very dry scalp like me. If you have a normal head then they are probably wonderful all the time. Mom loves them for all the time, but I need something a bit more nourishing to the scalp.
The shampoo & conditioner I'm talking about---Alterna's Hair Caviar.
What I actually prefer for my scalp: Tigi Oatmeal & Honey {mmmm....and it smells like cake batter!}

Okay...those are my product updates.
:)

Labels: ,

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Who is Arlene???

...so, I'm a big fan of saying, "Dammit Arlene!"
But---who is Arlene?
I know---you're all just dying to know.

Arlene gets blamed for a lot of things. In fact, Arlene gets blamed for just about everything that goes wrong in my world, though she's rarely (if ever) to blame...

Arlene is my mom's next door neighbor.

She's fun & creative & I was going to describe her as "kitschy," but after looking up the definition of the word---well, I found that my understanding of kitschy was synonymous with ecclectic, but in reality---it doesn't mean that at all.

Vocab word of the day, kitsch: something that appeals to popular or lowbrow taste and is often of poor quality.
{thank you, www.m-w.com}

So...kitschy is a fun word, but not the right word for Arlene.

Arlene is...a balance between a free spirit & a sense of responsibility.
...she likes order, and believes in fairies.
She's just...ecclectic & fun, & creative.

So, why is she always to blame?
Ahhh...that's the question.

It started a while ago when she got me turned on to this pricey shampoo that I didn't need to buy, but wanted to buy because it felt so freakin' good.
"Dammit Arlene" came out of that.
"Dammit Arlene! You know all about the great stuff, so you share it with us and it's so good...then we have to have it...."
You see where I'm going with this.
If she just hadn't shared the shampoo & conditioner, then I'd never had known what a great thing I was missing every time I lathered/rinsed/repeated with some inferior product.

....and the face wash system that she got my mom using...don't even go there!
It's so delicious. {not like 'eat it' delicious, but rather 'my-face-feels-so-freakin'-good-i-don't-want-to-put-on-makeup' delicious}
Mamasita can guarantee each & every one of you that if I've gone missing while at her house---I'm upstairs in her bathroom washing my face with her good stuff.
Dammit Arlene! You just haaaaaad to share the good stuff, didn't you?! Now I want some, and I don't have any of it!

So there you have it folks---Arlene is my mama's neighbor & she's like a blame-sponge. I blame her for everything.
...well, not really....but the thick Southern accented phrase, "Dammit Arlene!" just flies right out of my mouth sometimes before I can help it.

Labels:

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Dammit Arlene!



Dammit Arlene!
Gage is clearly dealing in weapons & precious stones.
We need an intervention to get him walking the straight & narrow again.
Gage---you don't have to resort to this type of life. Monopoly money will do just fine for now. While the weapons dealing may be a fun and exciting alternative, doing the 'right thing' is rarely easy, and perhaps not as thrilling....but...but...it calms your mommy's heart.
Now empty the contents of the register into this bag, and nobody will get hurt!

Labels: ,

Gymnastics 101

Gage was lucky enough to be invited to two birthday parties in one weekend, and they were both gymnastics parties.

Well, we were late to party #1, and so he did no gymnastics. But hey---we got cake & ice cream. What could be better, right? {As an aside: party #1 was in an area that I'm not super-familiar with, and the address wasn't just popping right up on the navigation system, and it was located BEHIND a Chuck E. Cheese, so I couldn't really see it from the tollway when I was flying by it....repeatedly. The good news: I was in HUBBY's car, and so the tolls are all linked to his car & he'll get the bill! Not me! Why??? Well, like I said---I was in his car, and I truly kept circling one area for 30+ minutes. On the tollroad, off the tollroad, there's a toll, oh, there's another one....you see where I'm going with this. All that driving around probably cost him 8 bucks. Poor guy...}

Party #2 was a blast! We were there in plenty of time. It was located not to far from our house, and it was a lot of "free-play."
Pics from the party....The kiddo in red is "W," Gage's school-bestie.
:)







Gage had fun. I think he'd really like gymnastics...but he probably wouldn't REALLY give it a shot in a structured class-like environment....
Anywhooooo....

The take home goodie bags were filled with fun for Gage.
...and work for Daddy.
He got a wooden build-it-yourself spaceship, and a packet of 10 glow bracelets, and suckers---his favorite!
Hubby was immediately put to work...





Labels: ,

Overdue: Early Father's Day Gift.

These pics were taken one day last week...when Gage & I gave Hubby his early Father's Day gift: Cuisinart Green Gourmet cooking set. Yaaaaay!
So, we all know that Hubby likes to cook.
Did you know that I'm chief of recycling around here?
Well, the cuisinart green gourmet set makes us both happy.
It's non-stick, but without teflon or all those related chemicals that can flake & leach into your food as you cook. And, the handles are all made from 70% recycled material. Tellin' ya: makes us both happy.

Hubby loved his gift, and Gage---he was super excited about getting the box when it was all unpacked.
:)





Labels: , ,

Dear....

Dear nails: won't you just mani-pedi YOURSELVES? I don't want to stop what I'm doing to take this polish off & start over? But---you're chipping, and you need attention. Why oh why won't you just do it yourself?

Dear fabric: I know that you are new, and I bought you to make curtains for the playroom, and cover the living room throw pillows....but won't you just sew yourself??? All of my sewing stuff is still packed. By that I mean, in boxes, crammed waaaaay back in the back of the upstairs bedroom closet where we have things that need to go into the attic, but we haven't laid down more wood in the attic so we'll have more space for the attic stuff....so the closet is really, um...full....of stuff that I don't want to sort through right now. CLOSET: sort yourself. FABRIC: sew yourself.

....house, clean yourself.
...Gage---feed yourself (by that, I mean prepare your own meals).
...hair? style yourself.
...legs---shave yourself.

Clearly---I don't have time to blog right now.
I've got a lot of stuff that I NEED to be doing.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Houston, We Have Bunk Beds!

........and pardon the fuzzy pics.... SOMEONE could hardly stay still.
:)









Labels: ,