.march madness.

I can not believe that the month of March is over. It seems like just yesterday it was Christmas! For some crazy reason, March feels like it was a crazy busy month.....but looking back.....it really wasn't. 

So, here's a quick recap on our month.....

• we had some CRAZY weather the beginning of the month. it got VERY hot out VERY quick....and with this crazy change came severe weather. once again, our part of the state was hit with tornados. thankfully, where we live wasn't hit....but the same places that got hit last april got it again this month. i'm praying that this was the worst of it. 
• my parents went on "vacation" again to europe....this time they were in england for about a week. last month they got to go to paris. seriously!? so unfair.
• the weather has been AMAZING the past few weeks. and we have been taking FULL advantage of it. the hubby is also stoked about being able to cook dinner on the grill almost every night!! that means less dishes to clean up!!
• the hubby and i were able to go out TWO weekends in a row with just us. no kids. and i must say...it was VERY VERY nice!!! and much needed!! we got to go see "the hunger games" opening weekend. and it was amazing! totally worth paying $15(!!holycow!!) per ticket!!!!
• i started posting some of my crafts on facebook & have actually gotten a few special orders from some old high school friends! i love it. i am SO excited to do more!
• we had another crazy game night with some of our best friends. i must say, that game night has to be the one night that i KNOW we're going to have a great time. i look forward to those nights! we're even breaking the routine & taking all of the kids bowling tomorrow.....this should make for a very interesting day!!! 
• the hubby agreed to let me go out one night last week to treat myself to a pedicure! i even got to bring my lovely neighbor with me! we had a great time & decided that we need to do this once a month!! it's much needed & deserved.
• AVA LOST HER FIRST TOOTH! yes. i am still in shock over this. and i refuse to accept the fact that this coming wednesday (april4th) we go to the elementary school to register our baby girl for kindergarten. i feel a massive nervous break down coming on. i am not ready to let her go quite yet......

I'm very excited to see what April has in store for us. My brother & his wife are coming home for Easter this coming weekend.....and I could not be more excited! Also, Ava will be starting t-ball AND getting ready for her Spring Recital at dance. She's so so so excited because for her jazz dance.....she gets to dance to Justin Beiber! Love it!

So here's to another amazing month with my equally amazing family!!!

*

 *

 *

 *

*

 *

 *

 *

 *

photo a day*march31{where you relax}

there is a lot of relaxing done o that couch!

photo a day*march30{toy}

if only his toys would stay in the basket....

photo a day*march29{feet}

Grayson LOVES going outside to play while we wait for dinner to cook. We have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather & grilling out every night! The hubby FINALLY got around to mowing the backyard & this was the end result of Grayson playing.........

photo a day*march28{trash}

somehow i forgot to post this one! oops!!

I cleaned out Ava's toy box & closet. This is what she decided to get rid of!!! I'm so proud of her!

photo a day*march23-27

Massive photo a day catch up! Holy cow. Total craziness around here.....but in a good way. If that's even possible!!

We've been spending the majority of our days outside enjoying the beautiful weather.....before it gets TOO hot out!

march23{moon} totally forgot about this one! oops!

march24{an animal}

sometimes....i wonder about this dog!

march25{breakfast}

best part of breakfast......a nice cold cup of milk & a bobby helmet!

march26{key}

these two hold the key to my heart. oh how i love them!

march27{your name}

technically it isn't MY name......

.....but it's the names of the two most precious things in my life!!!

photo a day catch up!!

So. Again, I've fallen behind. I'm sorry. I get lazy & forget or just get super busy & forget. But any who......here we go playing catch up!!

march20{before&after}

he can seriously make a huge mess in less than five minutes!

march21{delicious}

we made cookies today. and i forgot to take a picture. oops.

march22{kitchen sink}

it's amazing that there are only TWO dishes in my sink!!!

where has the time gone?

I have been asking myself this question all week. It seems like just yesterday we were bringing Ava home from the hospital. And just this week, she lost her very first tooth. And in two weeks.....well, probably less than that....we go to register her for kindergarten. Seriously!? I'm about to have a nervous breakdown.  

I really need to Ava to stop growing.

photo a day*march19{funny}

someone please tell me where my baby went.

lost her very first tooth today (we didn't even know it was loose!!!!) & she gets all registered for kindergarten in less than two weeks!!!

seriously....it makes me cry!!

poor girl didn't realize her tooth was gone until i said something.....hopefully the tooth fairy still comes to see her even though she swallowed her tooth!!!

photo a day*march18{a corner of your home}

grayson got a bobby helmet from london......i think it's safe to say he likes it!

photo a day*march17{green}

happy st patrick's day!

technology....you anger me.

so i had this really nice, LONG post about how i am in LOVE with chalkboard paint.....pictures & all. hit the save button. went to the kitchen to get coffee. came back. it was GONE. totally GONE. except for ONE picture. seriously!? my laptop was closed. my phone was with me. i have no idea what happened! gah. so frustrating!

so here's the quick version........

back in october i got the craft bug. big time. i wanted to create a chalkboard wall somewhere in our house. i thought about putting it upstairs on our 1/2 wall. but that would have required building a frame & mounting the frame, along with a huge piece of ply-board, on the wall. honestly, i didn't want to do all that work. i couldn't just paint a wall because we have textured walls. and i really don't think they'd be good for writing on with chalk. so, after looking at pinterest, i decided to do ava's closet door. she went to florida for a long weekend with my parents, so that was the perfect time to get it done. the hubs took the door off the hinges & i went to work. i used a can of magnetic paint first. and then applied 2 or 3 coats of chalkboard paint. and let me just say.....i LOVE it!! and so does ava! it's so fun to decorate it for the holiday's & leave her little notes! we even did her christmas countdown on her door! 

 *

well. i only used maybe 1/2 of the can of paint. and in maybe december or january, i got the bug to paint something else with the chalkboard paint! ava has a white table that my parents got her for christmas a few years ago. because it was white, it was starting to look dingy & had some nice crayon/marker spots that i couldn't get off for the life of me! so....i pulled out the can of paint & covered the top of the table! i left a little bit of a white boarder around it just because i didn't want it to look too dark. both ava & grayson like sitting at the table to draw! 

painting the table hardly used up any paint.....and again....this week.....i got the bug to paint something for my kitchen. i was thinking about doing a wooden sign to hang up on the pantry door for our weekly menu & any miscellaneous grocery items we would need. however, i had the hardest time finding exactly what i was looking for. so. i found a basket that we used for grayson's toys (when there were just a few!) that was the perfect size & shape that i was wanting. it was kind of an oblong oval. so i traced it directly onto the pantry door. painted it. and hated it. it looked like an egg. so then i made it into a rectangle. and i'm still not happy. i'm HOPING to find a thin frame to mount around it to give it some texture....or maybe even a vinyl wall sticker to go around it. it just looks so BLAH right now.

so there's my door. it just looks so plain. fingers crossed for a successful trip to hobby lobby tomorrow with the photographer friend!!!

photo a day*march15{car}

86degrees is just a TAD bit too hot for march.....i'm already dreading the summer.

well. i guess that's the end of that.

So. A few weeks ago, I wrote about a "friendship" that I wasn't really sure about. Well, ever since then, things SLOWLY started to go downhill with that "friend". I guess I really started to put everything into perspective after writing that post. 

I have a friend who is also friends with the questionable friend (holyconfusing!) and she was feeling the same way about their friendship as well. It was nice to have someone else see things the way I was seeing them. And, as bad as it sounds, it is nice to have some one to vent to about it! The hubs doesn't really listen (at least i don't think he does....and i'm pretty sure he could careless!!) and having a girlfriend to vent to is always nice!

I will admit, that I am somewhat upset at the fact that I'm down a friend & that it's been almost a week since we have spoken to one another. But on the other hand, I'm really not THAT upset about it. I hate to say it, but part of me is relieved that I no longer have to beat around the bush and pretend to care. I just got to the point where I didn't want to have to hear about her sick kids anymore, how she was sick or hurt or tired, how her mom was buying everything and anything her kids wanted but didn't need, or how tight of a budget they are on even though they had to buy a brand new car & are planning on building a brand new house. I was just O.V.E.R.I.T! I couldn't take much more. I always felt like a bad mom after talking to her or like I wasn't good enough. I got to the point where I just couldn't hold it in anymore & let her know just how I felt. After asking her what her deal was......of course it was all my fault & she somehow managed to turn everything around on me. But I must say, it felt SO good to get all of that off my chest! 

My breaking point came when we were trying to plan our monthly game night with her family & two other families. It was like pulling TEETH trying to get her to tell us if she was planning on coming. She finally told us last minute that they weren't coming because they had already made plans with another family. Oh wait, I'm sorry. She told our OTHER friend that they weren't coming. She would never answer ME when I would ask. Here to find out, she had made plans with the hubs' exgirlfriend & her family.

So here we are. The end of a friendship. For the second time. In four years. I made the mistake of allowing this person back into my life thinking it wouldn't have happened again. I will say the only GOOD thing about letting her back in is......is that I wouldn't be as close to the amazingly talented photographer friend. I'm not usually one to give "friends" a second chance......and I KNOW that there is NO way that she's going to get a third. I can't put myself through that again. There's no way.

Let me just say "thank you" to this person for the good times & "you're welcome" for being there for you through your labor, your pregnancy, your baby shower, and for giving you that second chance. But this is the end. There's no "third chance" for this friendship. You've burned me twice (the first time was MUCH worst than the second) and I've learned my lesson...... Some people will never change.....just get worse. So when you get tired of your new best friend, don't try to sweet talk me into being such "good" friends again.......I won't fall for it.

photo a day*march14{clouds}

i missed today's picture. i'm slacking. i know. please forgive me. hopefully i can make up for it tomorrow.....we'll be spending the day at the outdoor mall (if the weather cooperates!!) with my mom.

happy wednesday!

{since i forgot to take pictures yesterday....here are a few from today's shopping trip! we promised ava that once we were done, she could ride the carousel.....if she was good & ate all of her lunch with no problems!!}

*

gray really enjoyed riding the horse! we tried a tea cup first...but he wanted nothing to do with it!

*

where did my baby go!?

*

ava was all about the tea cups!!! she had a blast!

*

watching her spin....plus the circling of the carousel made me just a TAD bit nauseated!! again....my baby is too big!

spring is in the air

Thank goodness!!!! It has been a CRAZY winter. It snowed. It rained. It was hot. It was cold. The weather was so inconsistent this year. I think we're all ready for the spring weather to stick around!

Since the weather is absolutely BEAUTIFUL this week, my mom & I decided that we would head down to Birmingham to do a little bit of shopping! My poor children are in desperate need of spring/summer clothes. So am I! This morning as I was putting laundry away, I pulled out some "old" jeans that don't fit anymore. I'm happy that they don't fit, but sad that I'm having to get rid of them.....only because I dread shopping for myself & having to try stuff on. They all fit great before I had Gray.

I'm HOPING that tomorrow I can make it out to our local Plato's Closet to see what I can get for this stack! Fingers crossed for a little extra shopping money!!!

We asked Ava if she wanted to play soccer this spring.....she answered with a quick "NO". So, we asked what she wanted to do instead...and she said "Baseball & Swim".  I guess we'll be making a trip to the YMCA to get her signed up for the two! Watching Ava play T-Ball should be quite entertaining!!! 

Well. The dryer is calling my name to be unloaded & reloaded.......Why can't laundry do itself!?

photo a day*march13{sign}

all you need is a little bit of...

photo a day*march12{fork}

i'm not quite sure how much he actually ate.....

Disney World or Disney Cruise.....

......that is the question.

A couple months ago, my sister in law & I got the WONDERFUL idea that we needed to all go to Disney as a big, huge family trip. I told the hubby that Molly & I would come up with a plan to present to him, Colin, & my dad. Well. The time has come to finally sit down & try to figure it all out. Ava keeps asking when we're going to Disney again & we keep telling her that we'll go once she stops sucking her thumb. And since it looks like she's going to be a thumb sucker for life, the hubby finally told her that "Mommy & Molly are supposed to be planning it". So here I am. Just sitting at my laptop staring at the Disney website. It was MUCH easier our first trip. We just went to Magic Kingdom. We stayed overnight one day. Had breakfast at the Polynesian Resort with Lilo & Stitch. It was great. The only thing that I would change....would be the fact that we went in August. Our next trip will definitely be in the fall or spring. Orlando in August is way too hot. And crowded.

On the other hand.....

We were talking about doing a Disney Cruise. Those just look like so much fun. And, I have never been on a cruise! One of the doc's that I worked with took her family on one a few years back & said it was one of the best vacations she has ever been on.

I'm hoping to really get started on some planning this week.....IF my kids allow it! Hopefully it won't be stressful (HA!) and we'll be able to accommodate everyone's schedule!!!

photo a day*march11{someone you talked to}

she may not talk back....but she listens!

photo a day*march10{loud}

this would be the complete opposite of loud. 

lazy morning watching cartoons.

photo a day*march9{red}

little red car.

photo a day*march7{something you wore}

I slacked today & didn't really take any pictures. Things have been a little crazy around here (imagine that!) But, I wore a nice chunk of baked potato in my hair for the majority of the afternoon all thanks to Grayson. We had lunch with some friends, ran to my moms, and then made a quick trip to Target. It wasn't until we got to Target that the baked potato decided to fall out. As I was paying. It fell right on the credit card pad. Awesome.

So. Create yourself a mental image of that.

photo a day*march6{5pm}

The house was just a TAD bit too quiet......

photo a day*march8{window}

Ava's morning job is to open everyone's blinds once they're awake.

photo a day*march5{smile}

all smiles.....even though he's extremely exhausted.

photo a day*march4{bedside}

what i wake up to every morning.

Holy Deja Vu.....

March 2nd felt very much like April 27, 2011.

The weather forecast the day before warned everyone of what was to come. I wasn't really convinced that the weather was going to be as bad as they had predicted. I wasn't stressing myself out over the possibility of no power, tornados, or hail. We had plenty f food & essentials for in case we lost power. The neighbor and I decided that we would play it by ear and if we needed to, we would take the kids to my parents house so we could hang out in their basement.

Our day started off with a bang. The hubby left for work & the kids & I got ready for breakfast. The plan for the day was to go to my hair appointment, stop at the grocery store, and then decide if we were going to my parents. That all changed in a heart beat. It wasn't even 9am before the storms started to roll in. The area that my parents live in got hit over & over & over. 

I decided that we wouldn't venture out there because 1 - I didn't want to get out there & the power be out. 2 - One of the main roads to get to their neighborhood was closed. and 3 - The thought of us being stranded out there without either of our husbands & 4 kids under the age of 5 just didn't sound like fun. 

There was about a 2hr break in-between the morning storms & the afternoon storms so the kids & I made a quick trip to WalMart to get some candles, water, & batteries. We were going to get lunch, but every fast food place between WalMart & our house was packed. I filled up the car with gas on the way home......another "just in case". When we made it home, the kids had lunch while I ran 2 quick loads of laundry, ran some dishes, and mopped the floors. Go ahead and laugh, but if we were going to have to bunker down on the kitchen floors, at least they were clean! And, if we had to leave like we did last time, we would have clean clothes to pack! The hubby got home from work just as I was finishing up all of my cleaning. Thank God because the kids were about to drive me insane!!! They were both extremely wild & energetic.......I blame the weather! Ava asked if we woke up with no lights the next day if that meant we get to go to the beach with Emmy...I wish! (we lost power for all of 2 minutes maybe!! thank the lord!)

Our TV stayed on the local news channel. We watched as storm after storm passed through and somehow managed to miss our area. We got VERY lucky this go round with the severe weather. Seriously. We didn't get any rain, lightening, or thunder until after they said there was no longer a threat for severe weather. Thankfully, it only lasted maybe 30 minutes & Grayson slept right through it!! I guess it was around 7pm when things finally quieted down. 

My goal for next week is to make an "Emergency Box" to keep in our laundry room/pantry. I have an idea of what needs to be in one.....it's just getting out there & filling it up!! 

I am so thankful that we made it through the storms yesterday. And that all of our friends also made it through. Living in northern Alabama is quite stressful when it comes to the weather! You never know whats going to happen!!

photo a day*march3{neighborhood}

the view from grayson's bedroom window.

photo a day*march2{fruit}

She is such an awesome big sister. Sharing her apple with the brother!