Storms

Wow. Storms have pretty well taken over the week at this point. We live in Kansas and have our whole lives (minus my 4-year stint at OSU) so storms - even tornadoes - don't typically startle me too awful much. In fact, I tend to find them exciting, and I love to get a great picture or two out of the deal. But the storms this week have been devastating. Thankfully, our little town has been pretty well missed but oh how many other communities have been practically destroyed. It's sad. I talked more about Joplin, MO over on our photo blog. Since then, several other lives have been lost and a lot of people have lost homes and businesses. Praying for all of them.

Not-So-Timely-Two-Week-Recap

I had a great weekend... (referring to last weekend... I wrote this first part last week but never posted it...oops!). Friday, Dac and I went to a coffee shop for a little dinner date. Then we drove around, took some pictures of the softball complex for work, and watched "127 Hours". It was really good but kind of hard to watch at times.

Saturday morning I picked up my awesome friends Kayla and Heather (along with some tasty donuts) for a shopping trip in Wichita. Since we were having pictures taken by Laura McPherson of Elephant Juice, I wanted to pick up a few things. I didn't have the best of luck but that's ok... I got a couple things and the pictures will be fun no matter what I look like, right?! =) That's right!

Dac started working on the bathroom/spare room project again... he got a lot more tore out. The house was an absolute dusty disgusting mess but I'm glad we're making progress. I cleaned up a bit when I got home and then we hung out and watched another movie - but we both fell asleep during that one.

Sunday we went on a breakfast date to Brick's. I got my usual jumbo fatty pancake and egg. Delicious. I sorted through stuff from the spare room closets so Dac could get those ripped out. Then, I ran some errands and hung out with Heather for a bit before going to our friend Erika's daughter Jessi's 2-year barnyard birthday shindig! =) It was fun. I made a barnyard craft and played little kid games.

Speaking of Jessi - we get to keep her and her sister Jazzy all weekend! We're going to have a blast! =) Can't wait!! More on that later.

After the party we grabbed some ice cream (like we really needed it after the plethora of Cheetos and animal cupcakes we had...ha). Then, I went home. It was literally a construction zone in there and I couldn't breathe - so I went and crashed my MIL and SIL's pizza party! =) They hooked me up with some stuffed crust, we watched TV, and then I went home and cleaned again.

Monday night was our friend Tabitha's birthday outing. We planned to eat at Red Lobster and play putt-putt - but the mini golf place closed too early so we decided to just eat at the Warren movie theater and watch Bridesmaids . Man oh man. It. Was. FUNNY. Sure it was a little on the crude side but I seriously laughed SO hard. We all did.

I had a seriously crazy, ridiculous, grump-inducing work week. It was awful-falafel people. So come Thursday - instead of cooking for Wii night - I pansied out and we met Steve, Cori, and Charli at La Fiesta. Then, the girls came over and we watched the Greys Anatomy and Private Practice season finales.

I took Friday off. HOLLA. I had lots of errands to run (including picking up a couple last minute things for pictures), laundry, and house cleaning to do before we headed over to Erika's to begin our weekend-o-fun as super nanny extraordinaires. =) We're thrilled they trusted us with the girls and I for one had a great time.

Here's Dac and Jazzy snuggled up watching a movie. Jessi was taking a nap and I forgot to use my camera the rest of the time. Jazzy loved Dac and he was a big help. He'll make a good dad one day.

Saturday, we took a little break and had our photo session with Laura. EEEEK! It was a blast!! Like a little date night which is exactly how we like photo sessions to be. =) Perfect perfect.

Today, we took the girls to church and then to my grandparents house to celebrate Grandpa's 80th birthday! That's big time. Then, once the girls were down for a nap and their house was picked up, I kind of just crashed. Having two toddlers thrust into your life like that can wear ya out! =) But they were really good and it was a lot of fun. I'm so glad we got the opportunity to hang out with them and that their mom and dad were able to enjoy some much deserved alone time!

Now, I'm vegging on the couch in my pj's, taking the last sip of my route 44 vanilla Diet Dr. Pepper and finishing off some leftover chicken-n-noodles from lunch. Mmmm.

SO - here's to two, busy, good weekends!!

Mama...oooh ooh ooh oooh

It's Mother's Day - but we'll get to that in a minute. First, a little on our fabulous weekend.

Friday - We went to my parents' house for a scrumptious dinner, good conversation, witty banter, and lots of laughs. I tell ya, sometimes it hurts to be as cool as we are. =) Dac helped my dad cut down some trees and while he did that, I stayed in and "helped" my mom with dinner. I also got to see my Heidi girl (Mom and Dad's dog that is really my dog and she knows it! =)) It was definitely a good start to the weekend.

Saturday - I met my pal Kayla for breakfast at the donut shop. We had a nice chat and a chocolate long john and orange cake donut later, we were on our way to check out the house they're in the process of buying. It's perfect for them.

Then I came back because our good friends John and Anna (and sweet little Ruby) were coming for Ruby's 6-month pictures. We went to Braums for lunch, came back, played, took some pictures, played, slurped some Sonic drinks, played... it was fun. =) We love to hang out with them and we already can't wait until next time! Also, Ruby is at such a fun stage. I had a blast with her. You'll be able to see her pictures over on the photo blog in a few days.

After they left and we downloaded the pictures, we ran to Lowes. Then, Dac unclogged our shower drain. Myyyyy hero! =) As he was finishing up, I heard Peety making this awful sound outside. I thought he was seeing Dac in the basement and when I looked outside, I didn't see him. Well Dac heard him and ran outside...Turns out Peety had gotten his dog tag stuck between two boards on the deck. It was choking him. =( I felt awful that I didn't realize he was hurt. He was a sad, traumatized mess the rest of the night... he wanted lots of hugs and belly rubs but this morning he was back to his wild, crazy, stubborn pug self!! After that, we took it easy and watched "Date Night". It was funny!

We slept in and skipped out on church this morning then we took pictures of Dac's parents for their 30th anniversary next month. Next up was a delicious lunch at my Grandma's. Then, we went to Dac's cousin Darci's college graduation party. We edited some pictures tonight and now I'm trying to relax and enjoy the last weekend time I have before an extremely busy work week. Sigh.

So - it's Mother's Day today. Here's a picture of my mom and I from my wedding (duh) back in 2006.


I'd like to say happy Mother's Day to both our moms and to all the fabulous moms out there. To all the moms with babies, grown kids, those that have lost children, those who want nothing more than to be moms, grandmas, aunts, pet moms, mentors, and any woman who's ever done some mothering to someone. =) I'm so thankful and blessed to have had so many "moms." Not that I needed any extras... mine was perfect... but still, I love all of them! =) Moms, women, help make the world go round.

This and That

This weekend was good for the soul. We were quite productive. Friday night we went out to eat BBQ with Dac's brother and sister. We went on a little driving tour and I purchased a new read. The book is super cute and I just had to have it. =) Then, we stopped for ice cream on the way home.

Saturday, we woke up and got right to work. We took our piles and piles of recyclables to the drop off, took tons of bags of clothes to the Salvation Army, and took some old pipes and stuff to the metal recycling place - even landed ourselves $30 for that. =) The house is like a whole new place now! Then we got ready and headed to Pitt for a fun engagement session! We had a really good time and I'm hoping we got some great pictures to show for it. We stopped at McDonald's in Independence on the way back to grab some chow at around 9 p.m. This McDonald's was seriously W.T. (That's white trash people). It. Was. Horrible. I don't think I've ever left a restaurant so mad in all my life.

Yesterday was church, pizza, and lots of house cleaning and laundry. Still lots of cleaning to do, but I did get a few heavier cleaning-type things done so I feel good about it. =) I even took a nap - and when I woke up I had my Scentsy order waiting for me on the porch. Hallelujah, I love me some Sugar Cookie Scentsy people. Mmm Mmm good! Speaking of Scentsy - a blogger I follow is hosting a giveaway for a plug-in warmer AND a bar.

In other news, Osama Bin Laden is apparently dead, as I'm sure you've probably all heard by now. I'm certainly glad that he personally is not a threat anymore. Unfortunately, his ideals live on in many others. I'll tell you what else is unfortunate... this justice does not bring back the lives that have been lost due to his heinous acts of terrorism or those lost in the hunt for him and for those like him. I find myself a bit torn. I'm definitely no softy when it comes to criminals and I do not oppose war or the death penalty. I do, however, find it hard to truly rejoice in a death. I think that kind of misses the big picture not to mention it doesn't really do any good. Anyway, there's my two cents. I'm still glad the hunt is over and I'm grateful for all the work and sacrifice that our armed forces have done to make it possible. Here's praying they all stay safe and that the war on terror can end soon.