Whoopsy Daisy...

I like to learn. If I could get paid to be a full time student, well, that would be the job for me. There are a number of things that I have made an effort to learn on my own over the years. Making bows for presents. That turned out okay. Juggling apples and oranges. Far too easy after learning to juggle batons.

But my camera. My stupid camera. It is literally taking me ages to learn to shoot in manual. I forget to change the ISO when I go from inside to outside and wind up with shots like this.

Or I forget to change it when I go back inside after I finally noticed that I had it set wonky outside. I refuse to believe that I will have to turn the stinking dial back to the green rectangle. I'm not going to do it. I am going to learn to do this. Until then, I will continue to take 300 pictures at a time with only 12 of them being usable. Practice makes perfect, and by golly, one of these days, I will get it right.

Ella Turned the Tables...

As is often the case the with Ella, she managed to make me see how she feels after the program at school.

She grabbed Mama Kaye's camera and turned it toward us. Hmmm. I'm not sure I like having the camera in my face. Imagine how my poor children feel with my camera in their faces all the time. No really. ALL THE TIME. I might need to step away from the SD card.

My Girl at the Play...

She refuses to smile much these days because she has lost so many teeth. For some reason she is worried that she looks ugly without her front teeth.

Ella's Class "Play"....

Ella had her play a few weeks ago. The them was Education Rocks.

I'm not one to complain about not having to be super involved with school projects because I work full time this time of year, but I didn't do anything to help Ella get ready for this play. Well, I use the term play loosely here. It was actually all four classes on a set of risers. They sang a bunch of different songs. That was it. It wasn't a play at all. It was more like a musical program.
I remember when I was in elementary school, we did full out productions as plays. There were lines to memorize and costumes to make. I sent $5 for Ella's orange t-shirt, and Ella practiced the songs at school. I understand that school is supposed to be a time for learning and growth, but I kind of feel like the children are getting the short end of the stick. They spend so much time doing "No Child Left Behind" paperwork and other academic projects that the fun is gone from class plays.
FACT: No one has ever once asked me if I passed 3rd grade math before handing me their tax return.
FACT: I have been asked more than once if I have ever been in a play.
In my opinion there is value in a class play.

Let's take a poll. Who misses the days of school plays?

Make Some Memories...

The winner of the My Memories digital scrapbooking software is....TINA!!! Shoot me an email, and I will reply with instructions for how to download your free software!!

Busy Days and Nights...

The days have been painfully busy lately. Tax season is in full swing. It's good that tax season begins when the weather is crappy because if the weather was nice, I'd want to spend every last minute of my evenings and weekends in the sun with this little man.

I will be working basically full time during tax season and return to my lazy bum hours during the off season. Tax season has been okay so far. It's definitely been busy and a lot more work than I had gotten used to, but there is a wonderful support system in place. I'm also excited that two of my friends (not like work friends, but people I was already friends with before we became coworkers) work at the same place. It makes the stress of tax season melt away to just take five and chit chat about babies or clothes.

I should get to work, so I can spend more time kissing little man's cheeks. :)

Randoms Thoughts and Observations from Today...

Today was the deadline for w-2s and 1099s. I got a gazillion texts and emails. Have I replied? No. Will I? Yes, at some point.

When I got gas (on my way to meet a Huntsville client at County Line Road. Talk about full service accounting), the attendant said I had a cheerleader face. I have no idea what that means, but it made me feel happy. I never thought of myself as having a cheerleader face...even when I was a cheerleader in junior high. I was the dowdy one.

There is chicken in my hair. I didn't notice it until after I had been running around like a crazy lady. I might have been eating lunch while processing w-2s and 1099s. If you get yours and it smells slightly like Steak-Out, my bad.

I think I have suffered catastrophic deodorant failure. Nuff said.

I took my shoes off because the heels were killing my feet. No one seems to have noticed that I am three inches shorter...and walking around the office in trouser sock feet.

I missed the Spirit of Athens awards luncheon due to the deadline craze. :( That made me sad, but I know that working a lot during this tax season means I will have more time to devote to things like Spirit of Athens after April.

 My pantry is dangerously low on food. The codependents have begun to act like feral children as a result. Layton may have tried gnawing on Ella's thighbone to get some nourishment. She's a wiry thing, so he's still hungry.

There might be a half eaten apple under the driver's seat of my car. At least, I hope that smell is an apple and not something far messier to clean up.

I have become irrationally boundary free on the blog.

Definitely Not My House...

This picture was definitely not taken inside my house, but I wish my house looked more like this. :)

Silly Face...With No Teeth...

I know a woman who moved here from St. Louis. On her last day of work near the Gateway Arch, her coworkers threw a going away party for her. The gifts she received included an empty shoe box and an empty tube of toothpaste. Living in Alabama requires no shoes or teeth....at least...that's the perception in other parts of the country. :) Ella has recently started to embody the Alabama stereotype.

Sunshine Daydream...

The weather here has been crazy lately. For about two weeks I thought we had moved to Seattle. It was rainy and dreary like you would not believe. It's been cold. Warmer. Cold. Warmer. An absolute nightmare to plan for clothing wise. Take yesterday. It was freezing when I got up to go to work. Then by the time lunch came around, I met up with Jay and the kids and was fine without my coat. By the time the sun set, I needed my warm coat again. I have no clue how to properly dress the littles for school.

I am feverish for some good weather. :) How about you?

Eating Bread...

These chickens are a lot like me.

They eat a lot of bread. :) I have always been a sucker for bread products. I love a roll. Oh, biscuits. Oh heaven, yeast and white flour. Word to ya motha. I love some carbs. I could eat Layton's weight in Logan's rolls. I could eat 15 biscuits for breakfast. I think I did yesterday. Luvici's serves their dinner rolls with honey butter. Don't even ask how many I ate the last time I was there. It was ugly.

The thing is that all of the carbs I love are off limits to Layton. Being a gluten-free person can be tough. I know I shouldn't eat as much enriched flour as I do, but it's like I can't make myself stop.

Do any of you have any food addictions?

Straight Up in Love...

I am completely obsessed with these Tory Burch boots. 

The Selma.

I will not, however, spend $495.00 on a pair of boots. That's just a little too obscene for me. So, I looked around on the interwebs (hoping to find a ridiculous sale) for a while and came across ioffer.com. Is this website for real? Because some man  in China is willing to sell these boots for $120.00...at least that's what his history says. Surely not. Right? They have to be knockoffs. $120.00?? Seems too good to be true. I'm a somewhat naive person in a lot of ways. I give everyone the benefit of the doubt. I'm always shocked when I find out that someone I know doesn't have a moral compass that points North. As J would say....I am allergic to seeing bad in other people. That's precisely why I will end up chopped to bits and left in a ditch someday after stopping to help change a tire.
So......
I come to all you, my faithful readers (Hi J). Have you ever ordered anything from ioffer? Have you ever sent a money order to China? Does China even accept money orders?

Warm Glowing Lights...

These warm glowing lights have me dreaming of Spring. My favorite time of year. I love it when the weather is not too hot for a camp fire but not too cold for short sleeves. MMMM. Yes, I am ready for Spring.

UPDATE....Since no one really entered this giveaway, I'm going to extend it until Monday, January 30th!!


I have been using this blog as a way to scrapbook our lives for quite some time now. I just never thought of myself as someone who was good at scrap booking, so this seemed like an easy alternative for me. I'm short on time because of work and the demands of having three children in school with after school activities. About a week ago, I discovered digital scrapbooking software. It seemed like something I might be able to do, so I investigated further. I took about 10 minutes to draft a sample page.

It was so easy! There are tons of backgrounds, templates, fonts, and more to choose from. Even an accountant like me can come up with a beautiful page or album. I'm so impressed with the software that www.mymemories.com has available that I'm going to give away a copy of My Memories Suite! Well, actually, Liz at My Memories gave me a copy to give away!

Do you love to scrapbook and want a chance to win? Or are you looking for a way to keep a record of your family's activities but don't know where to start? Let me help... :) It's easy to enter this giveaway. Here's how:

1. Go to www.mymemories.com and pick your favorite album template. Leave a comment letting me know which one you liked best.

2.Become a follower of this blog. I'll see your pretty new face right over there---------->>>>>


3. Like My Memories on Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/MyMemories/140359372717593 Leave me a comment letting me know you did.



That's all there is to it! You can enter as many times as you'd like until Monday, January 23, 2012. I will pick the winner randomly the next day.

And just because I am feeling extra warm and gooey (translation: the nice people at My Memories said my readers deserved it), I'll give you $10 off any purchase you make from My Memories...



Promo Code: STMMMS74707
Enter in above code during online checkout


Good Luck!!!!!

O Holy Jeans...

All of Layton's pants look like this...

He has managed to blow the knees out of every pair of pants he owns! He has even blown out the brand new ones I bought him a few months ago. I'm not entirely sure what it is about little boys, but they seem to get rougher as they get older. Layton never used to have holy pants. In fact when he went two years without growing, his pants never got holy....that's how sweet he was on his clothes. Nowadays, I'm lucky if I get the price tag trimmed off a pair of pants before the holes appear.

Other Moms of little boys.....I ask....

Do you have a holy jeans problem too?

No Relaxation Was Not a Good Idea...

Ella took me for a long ride....

She drove me all over the farm while I sat and relaxed and took pictures. :) 

The Shoes Are Made for Relaxing...

I sat around with my feet on the dashboard of the RTV. I relaxed and took pictures. I shouldn't have been. You can almost see why in the reflections. Care to guess why I should not have been relaxing?

Fuzzy Feet...

Fuzzy Ella had Who-Hair.
Fuzzy Ella was not a bear.

Oops. I seem to have reverted to grade school for a moment there.

Just for Jim...

MEEEEEEE-YOOOOOWWW. ;)

Sweet Child of Mine...With No Curls...

Layton's hair has gotten particularly wild and out of control lately. He's been wanting it straight, but this is the best I could do.

The longer his hair gets, the harder it gets to control the fro. No amount of gel or brushing will make the ends straight on the days he wants to have straight hair. I love the fact that he tells me every morning whether or not he is going to let the curly flag fly.


So....we took him to get a shorter do. It had gotten so long that the woman had to use the clippers and then go back over the whole thing with scissors after that. Whoops. At least Layton's wild hair is a money saver. We only have to pay for semi-annual haircuts.

His hair looks so much darker when it's short. I don't think he's blond anymore; he's getting brown on me. Awwwww. Sweet little man.

I Gotta Feeling...

I gotta feeling that Hadley is going to do some wonderful things with this.

She got it for Christmas, but I still haven't previewed any of the pictures she took. Maybe I'll get around to that this weekend.

My Memories...Yours Too...A Giveaway....

I have been using this blog as a way to scrapbook our lives for quite some time now. I just never thought of myself as someone who was good at scrap booking, so this seemed like an easy alternative for me. I'm short on time because of work and the demands of having three children in school with after school activities. About a week ago, I discovered digital scrapbooking software. It seemed like something I might be able to do, so I investigated further. I took about 10 minutes to draft a sample page.

It was so easy! There are tons of backgrounds, templates, fonts, and more to choose from. Even an accountant like me can come up with a beautiful page or album. I'm so impressed with the software that www.mymemories.com has available that I'm going to give away a copy of My Memories Suite! Well, actually, Liz at My Memories gave me a copy to give away!

Do you love to scrapbook and want a chance to win? Or are you looking for a way to keep a record of your family's activities but don't know where to start? Let me help... :) It's easy to enter this giveaway. Here's how:

1. Go to www.mymemories.com and pick your favorite album template. Leave a comment letting me know which one you liked best.

2.Become a follower of this blog. I'll see your pretty new face right over there---------->>>>>


3. Like My Memories on Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/MyMemories/140359372717593 Leave me a comment letting me know you did.



That's all there is to it! You can enter as many times as you'd like until Monday, January 23, 2012. I will pick the winner randomly the next day.

And just because I am feeling extra warm and gooey (translation: the nice people at My Memories said my readers deserved it), I'll give you $10 off any purchase you make from My Memories...



Promo Code: STMMMS74707
Enter in above code during online checkout


Good Luck!!!!!

Hold This...But Only for One Week of the Month....

This picture got me thinking. The comments on this picture really got me thinking. Why am I still carrying a tampon case from 1985? Wouldn't it be easier to buy a new one that is slightly more stylish? I love having a case because I work with a bunch of men. I've always tried to be discreet about things like having a tampon-9-1-1. It really shouldn't be anything to be embarrassed about, but for some reason, I'm not about to walk to the ladies room swinging a tampon as casually as I would swing a bag from Tiffany's. 

So, I googled tampon case. My, my, my. Haven't things gotten stylish since 1985? Here's the proof.

Ooooo, this next one isn't a tampon case. It's a tampon clutch. 

The word clutch just makes that time of the month seem so much classier than the word case, right?

And now I present, the tampon wallet. Making periods richer one gal at a time. 

I totally stole this pictures off Etsy. Since I don't have a huge blog following, maybe no one will turn me in. I did link to the actual products though as a show of good faith. And yes, I actually put one in my cart. These things are WAY cuter than the plastic container I've been carrying for a decade. Maybe the next time there is a link up regarding purse contents, you'll get to see which one I upgraded to.

My Bag of Tricks...

So, Becky is interested what products we women think we need/want in our purses. I sort of resisted linking up at first, but I decided to go ahead and do it. I'm not at home with access to my decent camera or the ability to create an interesting backdrop, but I can still embarrass myself from work during my lunch break. :)

I have not been thoughtful and labeled each product. No, I'm not as clever as Becky, so you'll just have to deal with my crappy navigation skills on this one. 

Things from inside my purse...work your way from left-ish to right-ish...

Checkbook

gum

wallet (has so many pennies in it that it no longer zips. Yes, only pennies.)

dental floss (I never leave home without it.)

manicure kit (at least this one item is Vera Bradley and cute)

1985 tampon holder (no clue where this bad boy came from, but it's been in my purse for like a decade), Mary Kay compact (complete with powder. Color? Casper the Friendly Ghost White)

lip gloss and lipsticks in various shades

Ella's Epi-Pen (I'm convinced that if I leave home without it, she will eat a peanut and die.)

Purell

sunglasses.

Whoops, I forgot to point out the lotion. I keep a small tube of lotion in the ole handbag. Here's the kicker. I edited the contents. Extreme edited the contents. If you were to look inside my purse without all of the above goodness inside, the bag would still be full. Of what? Crap. Receipts from the grocery store. An EFTPS printout in case I forgot to give one to the client. A notepad. Two meal replacement shake packets from Advocare. Those have been there a while. Might oughta take them out. Advil. And all sorts of other garbage. Ziploc bags of miscellaneous items the children have given me. Evidence of the bacon Layton didn't eat for breakfast. He's not real good at using the garbage can. Sometimes, Mommy's purse or pocket seems like a better place. The rebate paperwork for Hadley's most recent contact lens purchase. A grocery list from two months ago. You know, the kind of stuff everyone keeps in their purse. 

Are You as Ready for Spring as I?...