My friend Kim sent me this email, and I decided to post my answers on my blog instead of forwarding the email, so here goes. I really don't think there'll be many surprises!



Four places I have lived:

1) Charleston (Vesta), Arkansas

2) Prairie Grove, Arkansas

3) Lavaca, Arkansas

4) Back to Vesta!!



Four TV shows I like to watch:

1) American Idol

2) Days of Our Lives

3) The Doctors

4) Gary Unmarried



Four of my favorite foods:

1) Chocolate

2) Pasta

3) Roast, Potatoes, and Carrots

4) Baked Potato



Four places I would rather be right now:

1) Sleeping (it's been a long day)

2) Camping

3) Somewhere there's snow

4) Catching up on scrapbooking



Four movies I could watch again:

1) Fireproof

2) How to Lose a Man in 10 days

3) Home Alone

4) Bruce Almighty



Anybody can email me your answers or post them to your blog. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little known facts about those who know you.

Photography

So my new hobby/business is photography. I'm delving in a little at a time. I've placed an ad in one Fort Smith magazine, and I have ads and business cards up at two businesses in Charleston. I really enjoy taking pictures, and I can't wait for spring to get here and hopefully have some business for outdoor photos. They're my favorite.

I took Kyleigh's 21 month pics on Monday. She is so cute! And the pics turned out great! Here are two of my favorite.

I also was asked to take pictures of K's 13th birthday party! Boy, I don't remember what it was like to be 13! So much energy and silliness! Ha! It was fun! Happy 13th K! You're a very special girl, and we all love ya lots!

My Valentines!

Billie woke me up on Valentine's Day when she crawled into bed with me and gave me a kiss and a hug. This has become her morning routine now. She used to yell "Mama, Mama, I want up!" over and over when she would wake up. Ha Ha! I kinda miss it. They change and grow so fast!

So, when we walked into the kitchen, there were 3 dozen roses that Michael had left for me. I said, "Oh, Billie, look what Daddy left for me!" She immediately said, "Where's my surprise from Daddy?" Oops! It took several times of me telling her that Daddy would give her a surprise when he got home from work before the sad look left her face.

The girls and I delivered Valentines to all our family around today...a package of gum that said, "We Chew-se You to be Our Valentine!" If anyone's interested, Family Fun magazine has cute ideas like this for kids, holidays, parties, etc.

We have been trying to find a time to take Billie to Chuck E. Cheese's to play. This was Billie's reward from MaeMae for being potty-trained for a month. And since Michael and I had our weekend at the lodge last week, we asked MaeMae and PawPaw if they wanted to spend Valentine's night with us at Chuck E. Cheese's. :) We figured that it wouldn't be busy on Valentine's Day...boy, were we wrong. You couldn't even get in the door. Luckily, Billie was fine with us telling her we would bring her back another time. So, we let them play at McDonald's for a little while instead. And dinner was at Long John Silver's...none of us were in the mood for fighting a crowd and having to wait with two little kids. Ha! After a stop at Wal-Mart (can't go to Fort Smith without going there), we came home and gave them their gifts. All in all, it was a nice day!

Here they are, eyes closed, waiting for their Valentine gifts (notice Kyleigh's chocolate mouth). Kyleigh kept saying, "No peeking!" But, then she would open her eyes and grin real big. Talk about rotten!

Here's me with my two little sweethearts and the roses from my hubby. Didn't he do good?

And here's Daddy with his girls. Isn't that sweet?

Fun Weekend

Last weekend, Michael and I had plans to spend Friday night at Mount Magazine Lodge. My friend Cindy and her daughter Katie were going to house-sit and, more importantly, baby-sit. Plans changed when Cindy spent the morning at the doctor because of chest pains. I asked her if my kids were that bad that just thinking about keeping them caused the chest pains. Ha Ha! All joking aside, we just wanted her to feel better. So, thanks to Papaw and Lin for watching the girls for a while and to MaeMae for keeping them overnight on short notice. Mount Magazine was so, so relaxing. This was my last year anniversary gift to Michael, and we just now found a weekend to go. For anyone just needing a night away, or for a place for a big family reunion, or a weekend with the kids to explore, this is the place! We had a room in the lodge, but they have cabins as well. Our room had a balcony overlooking the mountains. Funny story...I was outside on the balcony taking pictures Saturday morning, and the lady next door came out on her balcony. She got ready to go back in and had locked herself out. I don't know if her husband didn't hear her knocking or if he was just laughing inside, but she waited probably 10 minutes for him to let her in. :) Anyway, we walked on "Bear Hollow Trail" Saturday morning hoping to find a waterfall. No such luck, though! Michael found a little bit of water from a creek run-off when he got off of the trail a little ways. I was just thankful not to see any bears!

Here's a picture of the lodge and the waterfall at the entrance.

This is the view from our room. The clouds were so low Saturday morning.

This last one was taken on the trail we walked.

Of course, the girls were happy for us to return, but they did have lots of fun with MaeMae Friday night and playing with Drake on Saturday. We took them to their friend Allie's 2nd birthday party Saturday night. They had fun playing in Allie's new wagon.

Goofy Girls

People are always saying to us, "I can't believe those girls are yours. You and Michael are both kinda quiet and reserved, and they're...definitely not!" Ha Ha! Both of our girls have quite the personalities. Very goofy and silly! It keeps us laughing, and that's a good thing!

Here's Kyleigh when Michael found her curled up in the baby doll bed. Then, she made her bed in their bathroom floor.

Billie's been smiling silly at the camera for some time, but now she has started striking funny poses! She loves the camera!

Have a good week, everyone, and remember to laugh!

Working on the farm

When I was growing up, I remember complaining about living in the country. I felt like the kids in town were able to get together and play all the time, and I was too far away. If it hadn't been for Candace and Nelli living close by and staying with us some, I really would have been bored. But, when Michael and I got married and moved to Northwest Arkansas and lived in the middle of Prairie Grove and worked in Bentonville, we both found ourselves missing the country. We longed for the peaceful quiet and the beautiful countryside scenery. And Michael wanted to be outside working on lots of land (a little fenced-in area for a backyard just wasn't good enough for the former country residents). And I wanted to be able to crank the music when I felt like it and not have to worry about bothering neighbors. Ha! So, I hope our girls love the country as much as we do. Right now, I know they do! And, there's several young people our age who have bought houses out here in the last few years and have kids around the same ages as ours. So, they will have other kids to play with in the neighborhood in the years ahead. Here's some pics of the girls and Michael working/playing around the farm.

They're supposed to be picking up sticks in their play yard, but they're picking up my rubber mulch instead. :)

Billie helping MaeMae and PawPaw feed the cows.

Kyleigh was a little scared at first, but then she wanted to help too!

The girls were doing the work, while Michael was sitting with Butterscotch (my brother's dog) in the back of the truck. :)

They each got a turn riding on the tractor with PawPaw. John Deere Girls, for sure!

I can't believe my baby is 3!

Billie turned 3 years old Saturday, the 24th. Time has really flown by...it seems just like yesterday that I found out I was pregnant with her. She is such a sweet, caring, expressive, and outgoing little girl. She gives us lots to laugh about! On her birthday, we took her to have her picture made, then we had to run in Sam's to pick up some other pictures. Of course, just about everyone who works in Sam's knows the girls, so they feel like celebrities every time we go in there. She told everyone it was her birthday, and then proceeded to invite everyone to her birthday party. They politely declined, glancing at Michael, and telling her that her daddy was making them work. Ha Ha!! She was so excited for her "Ladybug" party that she couldn't take a nap when we got home either. When I first showed her the Ladybug cake I had made her, she gave me the biggest hug, and said "Oh Mommy, thank you! This is the best cake ever!" She is such a grateful little girl, and I just love that!

I also made a sunflower cake too. It went perfectly with her birthday decorations. I'm no Martha Stewart, but I love being creative for parties!

Here she is with her pink John Deere boots from MaeMae and PawPaw (my mom and dad). She'll be stylin' now (they're sooooo cute)!

She got a princess CD player for her room from her Mommy and Daddy along with Strawberry Shortcake flip flops, books, bath gel and lotion (she's a girly-girl), pink-poodle bath towel, and cute capri outfit for summer.

Just to prove how grateful a little girl she is, here's a picture of her going to hug Kyleigh after she opened her gift from her (a toaster and breakfast food for her kitchen). She went to each and every person to hug them and thank them for her gifts, all on her own. What a good little girl!

Happy 3rd Birthday, my sweet Billie!