Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Stratton Went Pee Pee...

...in the BIG BOY POTTY!

Last night was the first time Stratton had ever gone pee pee on his big boy potty. He knocked on the door while I was taking a shower so I got done and opened the door for him. Once he came in, he shut the door behind him and told me he needed to go pee pee. I took off his jammies and his diaper and helped him sit down on his potty. He was shy at first so he wanted me to sit down with him. I sat on the grown up potty while he say on his big boy potty and he WENT PEE PEE! I was so excited. I showed him how to wipe it off and then how mommy could pour in in the potty and HE could flush it. He thought this was too cool! After we went pee pee we washed our hands then RAN to the living room to let Derek, Lauren and Alex know that he had successfully went pee pee in the potty. He seriously danced and clapped and ran around naked for a good five minuets after we got out of the bathroom. 

We finally did it! YAY!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Day 7 of 12 Days of Christmas Blog Challenge

Day 7: Holiday Craft/DIY

My mom, sister and I used to make these when I was younger. We could take toothpicks and poke the orange then put the cloves into the orange. It smells SO good and it's really easy to make. 
 I thought this was a really cute idea. You take foam and trace your kiddo's hand with a pen. You cut out the hand then use pipe cleaners for antlers, puff balls for the nose and googly eyes. You can use pretty much anything to decorate it. 
 This was such a great idea if you have mittens or gloves. You take a meter stick and paint it white. Then you take wooden spoons (like the ones you get to eat ice cream) and paint them with different characters on it like Santa or elves. Once they have dried you hot glue clothes pins to the backs of the spoons then hot glue the clothes pins to the meter stick. Quick and easy and can be decorated SO many different ways. 
My dad, sister, and I used to make these also. My dad was always so good at making paper snow flakes. I on the other hand was terrible. I wound up making a paper circle. Haha.

100 Ways to Avoid Dying

All without giving up any of the stuff you really like to do...or eat.

Housekeeping Hints

1. Don't take ashes out of the fireplace or wood stove between Christmas and New Year's Day.
2. Never place a broom on a bed.
3. Close umbrellas before bringing them into a house.
4. Avoid sweeping after sundown.
5. You mustn't wash clothes on New Year Day.
6. Don't shake out a tablecloth after dark.
7. Never wash a flag.
8. Don't turn a chair on one leg.
9. Keep cats off piano keys.
10. Don't hang a dishcloth on a doorknob.
11. Sweeping under a sick person's bed will kill him or her.
12. Don't ever, ever rock an empty rocking chair.

Renovation and Decorating

13. Never add-on to the back of your house.
14. You mustn't cut a new window in an old house; the only way to avoid fatal consequences is to toss your apron through the new window, and then jump through it yourself.
15. Never drive a nail after sunset.
16. Don't move into an unfinished house.
17. Avoid carrying axes, shovels, and other sharp-edged tools through a house; if you must take one inside, always take it out by the same door.
18. If you move out of a house, don't move back into it for a year.
19. Don't hang your sweetheart's picture upside-down.
20. If a picture falls from the wall, don't pick it up.
21. Never carry a peacock's feather into a house.
22. Keep cut flowers out of bedrooms overnight.
23. Don't ever carry a bouquet of wildflowers indoors before May 1.

Sewing and Fashion

24. If you cut out a new dress on Friday, you must finish it that same day.
25. Don't make new clothes between Christmas and New Year's Day.
26. Never hold a stick in your mouth while sewing.
27. Always sew cross-stitching on your underwear.
28. Don't walk around in one shoe.
29. If you see a will-o'-wisp while out walking at night, turn your coat inside-out.
30. Never wear another's new clothes before they have worn them.
31. A woman who makes her own wedding dress will not live to wear it.

Cooking and Table Manners

32. Never set three lamps on a table at the same time.
33. Don't set the table backwards.
34. Never serve 13 at a table.
35. Avoid drinking coffee at 5 o'clock.
36. You mustn't write on the back of a dish.
37. Never return borrowed salt.
38. Don't ever cross knives while setting the table.
39. Be sure that someone else cooks your birthday dinner.
40. Don't put two forks at one place setting.
41. Never, never turn a loaf of bread upside down.

Sleeping

42. Sleeping with your head at the foot of the bed is surely fatal.
43. Don't sing in bed.
44. If you hear a dog howl at night, reach under the bed and turn over a shoe.
45. Don't count stars.
46. A man should never dream of a naked woman; a woman should never dream of a naked man. (You know who you are...)

Personal Hygiene

47. Never rub soap on your skin on a Friday.
48. Don't look into a mirror over another's shoulder.
49. Avoid combing your hair after dark.
50. Absolutely no haircuts in March.
51. Let a baby's hair and fingernails grow until their 1st birthday.
52. Don't let two people comb your hair at once.
53. Never shave at night.
54. NEVER, EVER share a razor used by a dead man.

Funeral Etiquette

55. Never hold a funeral on a Friday.
56. When a person dies in a house, you must immediately cover all mirrors and stop all clocks.
57. Children should not pretend to have funerals.
58. Don't ever try on a mourning veil.
59. Always remove a dead body from a house feet first.
60. Never ride in a hearse, unless you are the driver.
61. Don't count the cars in a funeral motorcade.
62. Avoid wearing new clothes to a funeral, especially new shoes.
63. Pull the shades in a room where a funeral service is taking place; if the sun hits a mourner's face, he is the next to die.
64. When walking in a funeral procession, don't look backwards.
65. Never point at a grave.
66. Try not to step across a grave.
67. Never leave a grave open overnight.
68. Don't ever be the first to leave the graveyard after a funeral.
69. If a corpse lies unburied on Sunday, another in town will surely die soon.
70. Wait a year before putting up a tombstone for a family member; if you don't, another family member will go before the year has ended.

General and Miscellaneous

71. Drink May rainwater.
72. When sick, don't look in mirrors.
73. Don't give a person a peony.
74. Never measure your own height.
75. Try not to imagine it's Saturday when it's not.
76. Don't count cars on a passenger train.
77. Never whistle in a coal mine.
78. Avoid measuring a person who is lying down.
79. Don't walk backwards.
80. You mustn't allow a candle to burn itself out.
81. Never sell a dog.
82. Try not to kill a crow; but if you do, be sure to bury it while wearing black.
83. If you transplant a cedar tree, you will die by the time it is big enough to shade a grave.
84. The same is true of a willow tree (as in 83)
85. Don't ever hang your hoe on a tree branch.
86. Don't skip a row when planting corn or beans.
87. If you watch a person out of sight, you'll never see them again.
88. Avoid stepping over a person who is lying down.
89. When your name is called, don't answer the first time-it may be the Devil calling you.
90. Never shake hands through a window or over a fence.
91. Try not to sit with your back to the fire.
92. Don't burn sassafras wood.
93. If you walk with your hands locked behind your head, it will kill your mother.
94. Don't even THINK of mocking an owl.
95. Don't store your shoes above your head.
96. Never kill a locust.
97. Never kill a lizard.
98. If you hear a hen crow, you must kill the hen.
99. If you are on a train when a woman boards, dressed in black, get off.
100.Whatever you do, don't let a lizard count your teeth.

 

16 Folk Remedies for Headaches

  1. Put leeches on your forehead.
  2. Rub cow dung and molasses on your temples.
  3. Tie a buzzard's head around your neck.
  4. Use powdered moss as snuff.
  5. Have someone else rub your head; the headache will be transferred to that person, but it will be less severe.
  6. Have a relative read chapters of the Bible to you.
  7. Stand on your head or spin around until you are dizzy.
  8. Soak your feet in hot water to draw blood from your head.
  9. Run around the house three times.
  10. Ask a seventh child to blow in your ear.
  11. Put a buckwheat cake on your head.
  12. Rub your head with a piece of stone containing iron ore.
  13. Wrap damp cloths around your head and burn scented wood.
  14. Plait a handful of hair very tightly on top of your head.
  15. Lean your head against a tree and have someone else drive a nail into the opposite side of the tree.
  16. Tie a leather thong tightly around your head.(If this fails, you may tell your friends, "The thong is over, but the malady lingers on," which will give them headaches
(via here)

19th Annual Parade of Lights

The 19th Annual Parade of Lights headed down Broadway from Capaha Park to Main Street in Cape Girardeau on Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010. This year's parade theme was "Christmas Dreams."

Stratton and I went to the parade of lights last night. This was Stratton's FIRST Parade of Lights so it was really special for me to get to take him. I have always loved the Parade of Lights so getting to share this new tradition with Stratton was pretty cool. 
He sat on my lap the entire time we were there and loved watching as all the lights, trucks, and motorcycles went by. It was so cute to see how excited he got when the motorcycles and fire trucks went by. He really enjoyed all the candy being thrown too. We saw Stephanie (my sister-in-law) walking with her work so she stopped and gave us some candy and gave Stratton a hug and kiss. He was so happy to see her.
Here are some pictures from last night. Some are mine the other I got from here

I know these aren't the greatest quality but I was more concerned about keeping Stratton warm and happy. 
 My friend Julie (aka Bobbie Soxx) is the red hed on the left.
 Only in Southeast Missouri
 Again only in Southeast Missouri

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Day 6 of 12 Day Christmas Blog Challenge

Day 6: Gift ideas ... For ME!!

A few things that I have been wanting for a while now are:

Canon EOS Rebel T2i Digital SLR Camera with Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS lens

A Scentsy Warmer with Refils



Ugg Boots Skylair

 
These are just a few of the things I would like for Christmas. Gift cards for a back massage are always welcome my way as well as gift cards to go SHOPPING! I love getting stuff for my house so anything cute like crosses that I can hang on the wall are good too. Hope this helps anyone out there wondering what to buy me. :)

Day 5 of 12 Day Christmas Blog Challenge

Day 5: Favorite Holiday Movie/TV Show Special
But my absolute FAVORITE movie is:

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Day 4 of 12 Days of Christmas Blog Challenge

Day 4: Tips/Tricks to a Budget Friendly holiday season


Some of the tips/tricks I use to budget for the holiday season include:
1. shop throughout the year for small things for Christmas. It makes it easier when you get closer to time because you're not having to shop last minuet.
2. if you can, try to pick up a seasonal job to help with funds around the holiday season
(i.e. working at the Kostomb Shoppe for Halloween) and SAVE all the money you make. Hide it if you have to.
3. have a plan for who you are buying for and what you are going to buy for them

4. buy stuff that will last for a while when it comes to your kids. 
books are always a great kid gift because they lost for so long 
(unless they are Stratton's pop up books because he rips all the pages out)

lastly...

5. don't do Black Friday shopping
you wind up spending more than what you meant to 


Black Friday

I never thought that I would EVER go Black Friday shopping.  
But...alas...I went. 
It was quite the experience. There was pushing and shoving
Hot Wheels, moon dough, and $1 towels.
Our first stop was supposed to be at Toys R Us. (by us I mean Maggie and I)
We drove by to find the line ALL the way down by Hancock Furniture. (Which is almost a block long)
We decided to just wait and go to Wal Mart instead. On the way there we HAD to drive by by Best Buy just to see if anyone was there. 
There was people...in tents.
Seriously.
You can barely see it in the picture but Those are tents set up in front of the store.

We got to Wal Mart around 9pm and just walked around and looked at all the different things they had in the shrink wrapped bins. The one thing I was really out to get was the Hot Wheels for Stratton.
He loves Hot Wheels. Look anywhere in our house and you're bound to find at least one.
We got to Wal Mart and there really wasn't a whole lot of people there. There were a few people standing at the designated items that they wanted but maybe on a dozen or so. Then around 10:30 more people showed up, then 11:00 rolled around and the store was PACKED with carts and people. 
On a side note: I hate crowds. I have a slight problem with crowds. They make me have panic attacks. But, I was determined to get those dang hot wheels for Stratton. 
My friend Lauren came right around 11:20 and stood with Maggie. 
They were in charge of getting the hot wheels and the pillow pal with sleeping back. I was bound and determined to get my Paula Dean 12 piece cook wear set, hand mixer, and 2qt crock pot.
Twelve o' Clock on the dot the guy came across on the loud speaker that it was midnight. All heck broke loose. 
There were elbows flying, hand mixers flying, and people literally pushing me up against the stack of Paula Dean cook wear. It was seriously a mad house. In less than 30 seconds I received an eblow to the face and got pinned up against a stack of boxes with Paula Dean smiling at me like "Yea, you're an idiot."
Once I had my stuff which consisted of 2 hand mixers and a Paula Dean Cook wear set. I made my way back over to where a girl I went to high school with was holding some picture frames for me. We traded, I got here a hand mixer and crock pot while she got me a picture frame set. 
As soon as I got what I was looking for I called Maggie and Lauren to look for them. 
They got Stratton eight 10 packs of Hot Wheels and the sleeping back pillow pal! 
They did awesome! I was so glad that they came with me!
We made it out of there at 12:40. 
Here is our victory picture.
After we checked out we stopped by Toys R Us because there was a digital picture frame on sale that I really wanted. Of course they were cleaned out. So I settled on a family game and we left.
It was around 1am by the time we got out of Toys R Us and we were HUNGRY!
We went to Huddle House in Cape and stood there for a good 5 min after staring at 4 dirty tables and at least another 5-6 tables sitting with menus and no drinks. We didn't stay. We wound up going to Denny's and standing in line for about 20 min waiting for a table. We chatted it up with the people standing in line with us. There were a bunch of really nice ladies that stood and talked to us. 
We left Denny's like three stuffed ticks and headed to our next shopping destination.
Maggie parted ways with us and went to Sears to shop with her mom and brother. Lauren wanted to go to Khols so I dropped her off there while I set off to make one of the biggest buys I had made in a while. Derek has been bugging me for the last year or so for a new t.v. for the upstairs. We have a really nice one so I didn't really think we needed a new one. But he wanted to move the one that we had in the living room down stairs so he could play video games on it. 
So...I went BACK to Wal Mart and got the 42"Song Vizio television that he had been wanting.
I went back and got Lauren, dropped her off at her house and then headed HOME! Home sweet home.
It was 4:45 when I got home. I drug the huge box inside and propped it up next to a mattress we have in the basement and put a few coats over it then headed for BED!
Saturday morning Stratton woke me and Derek up at 8:30. Which is about usual for him. I woke up with him couldn't wait to surprise Derek with his new T.V. 
I let him get up and get dressed and then asked him to come back in the bedroom for a min. He hates when I do that. I asked him to go down and get my brown carhartt jacket from down stairs. He didn't want to and he complained about having to so he asked me why I needed it so bad. I was quick on my feet and said there was something in the pocket that I needed him to get for me. He drug his feet down the hall way and went down stairs. It took him a little bit so I got up and waited in the hallway for him. He checked all the pockets and didn't notice the huge t.v. box under the coat until he threw it back on top of it and another one fell. That's when I heard him SPRINT up the stairs. He gave me a huge hug and said how happy and thankful he was. It was definitely worth the lack of sleep to see him so happy about his new t.v. Not to mention I really like it too. The picture on it is amazingly clear and it feels like you're right there in the movie. It's so great.
So, overall it was a pretty good experience. Only a little tiny elbow to the face, a slight shove into some boxes, and a great big warm feeling seeing my husbands face light up.
I'm so thankful that I was able to save up the money for a really great Christmas this year. Working at the Halloween store really helped out. I'm also SO thankful for two of the best friends a girl could ask for. Thank you Lauren and Maggie!

Friday, November 26, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!

The day before Thanksgiving was super foggy. I got some really great pictures from my phone. I didn't have the good camera over the weekend so I didn't really get a lot of quality pictures.

 This was driving home form work on Wednesday after work.







 We went to Dale and Lisa's house first for Thanksgiving. It was our first stop of the day.
Stratton loves his Grandpa Dale and cousin Payne.
 This is my ADORABLE nephew Payne again. He is the sweetest little thing ever.
He has the cutest smile and is always so happy.


 Me and Steph on Thanksgiving. Love my hipstimatic app.
 Lisa and Kayden. She smiles so pretty.
 Payne and Grandma Mona. Payne was loving the sweet potatoes that we were feeding him.
 I love Thanksgiving. Does it get any tastier than this?
This is Jessie and Daniels youngest girl. Her name is Izzy. She is SO stinkin' cute!
 This is their oldest girl Alexis. She looks just like her daddy.
She is quite the artist too. Such a good drawer.
 Family lunch at Grandma Marges house was after eating at Dale and Lisa's.
 Auntie Pam got to join in on the festivities.
 My sister and Marcus acting funny.


 Sage was sitting SO pretty. She wanted food.

 Auntie Pam and Stratton were wrestling.

 My dad woke up early on Thanksgiving and got a few ducks.
I posted it on facebook with the line "Five ducks and a turkey under it"
 Me n Marcus. He's such a good guy.
 Sisters!
 Me and Grandma Marge

Love my Family!
Stratton found colors so he laid on the floor and colored.







This is my step Aunt Tammy and her little girl Jessie.
The whole Family on Thanksgiving.
Casey, Mom, Auntie Pam, Derek, Me, Stratton, Dad, Grandma Marge, and John.
Oh and half of Sage.
I had such a wonderful Thanksgiving. I love getting to see my family and spending quality time with them. Not to mention that I'm and really thankful for all the gifts that God has blessed us with.
I