Spring Has Sprung in Oklahoma

Bradford Pear trees in full bloom

Daylilys (and weeds)

Irises and periwinkle (and weeds)

Peach blossoms

Daffodils and a beauty

Lets swing!

Get out of the way before the swing hits you, Mom!

Mom's favorite pic

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A Beautiful Weekend

It was a gorgeous weekend weather-wise. The days were warm. Saturday was windy, but Sunday was mild and sunny. We even broke out our summery clothes.

We worked on a lot of projects around the house, did some shopping, went to gymnastics.

Today for lunch, we went to Texas Roadhouse and had some really good food. We caught Emily eating "buttered peanuts" and "ranch-covered peanuts". Yuck!



If you notice, she sat in the booth by her dad today. That's VERY unusual for us. She normally sits by me. I asked her if she wanted to sit by Dad and she agreed!

That's what I call "Progress."

We worked in the yard quite a bit this weekend. I bought some Preen weed preventer and put that down in my flowerbeds. I used this last year and it worked well. Now if I could just find something that would get rid of all the grass in my flowerbed!

We also bought an electric string trimmer. It's lightweight and a lot easier for me to manage than the old gas-powered weedeater. I used it quite a bit and it works well. I still have lots more to do though.

I'm just wishing that I could stay home from work tomorrow to get more accomplished at home!

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Lovely Ladies

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Have you heard about Swagbucks?

I signed up for swagbucks.com a few weeks ago. All you have to do is use swagbucks.com for all your web searches and you win swagbucks (points) for searching. What's cool about it is that swagbucks uses the google and ask.com search engines. And you can redeem your swagbucks for prizes and giftcards to some of your favorite stores.

I think I'm going to redeem my swagbucks for giftcards. You can get a $5 giftcard from Amazon.com for just 45 swagbucks. Giftcards from different companies may be redeemed for a different amount of giftcards. For example, a $10 Starbucks giftcard is yours for 130 swagbucks, but a $10 Barnes & Nobles giftcard costs 115 swagbucks.

I've only been using swagbucks for a few weeks, but I've already won 57 swagbucks just by searching. Sometimes it may take a few searches to win some swagbucks, but I do get them fairly often.

So what are you waiting for?? Sign up for swagbucks today!

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I can't watch

I don't think I can watch Part 2 of The Bachelor After the Final Rose tonight. Last night's show was just brutal and I felt like some of it was unrealistic and not genuine.

I did want to clarify that I am not upset with who Jason Mesnick ultimately picked. I liked Melissa just fine, but I like Mollie too. Now .. let me just say .. that I don't believe for a second that they were "just talking" in the tent that night and I think that's really wrong. But other than some things like that, they seem like nice girls. I liked Jillian too. I think they will bring her back as the next Bachelorette.

Again, I'm not upset with who Jason picked, but I am upset with the way some things were handled on the After the Final Rose show last night. I appreciate the fact that ABC got rid of the audience, but I truly feel that a painful breakup like that should not have been televised. And I don't think Jason and Mollie should have been making out just a few minutes after he broke up with Melissa.

I feel bad for Melissa. She seems like a nice girl and I hope she finds a good Christian guy who makes her happy. After all that she has been through with this show, I hope she finds her happily ever after.

I feel bad for Jason Mesnick. I think he's searching for something that's missing in his life. And I don't think he's going to find it in any girl that he meets. Only God can fill that void. Can I get an AMEN?

Well, I must say that it's a bit sad that I've had to resort to blogging about reality television. I like so many of the reality shows .... Big Brother, Dancing With the Stars, The Apprentice, Amazing Race. Some of them are like a bad train wreck, but it's so hard to turn away. And so I watch ... but in my own defense, there are only one or two shows that I try not to miss. Most of the shows I'll watch if I'm home and the TV's available. But there are a couple that I make a point to be home and I'll "schedule" TV time to watch the shows.

Do you watch reality TV shows? Which ones are your favorites?

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I'm so happy and I'm so mad!

Happy

I'm happy about my 7th wedding anniversary with Mike. We had a great evening out to dinner with the family. I did take some pictures, but I haven't had a chance to upload them yet because ..... tonight is the season finale of The Bachelor!

Mad

I'm so mad about how The Bachelor ended. I just think it's a disgusting thing to do to someone. I really can't believe it. And if ABC set this whole thing up, then that's even worse. Shame on Jason Mesnick. Shame on ABC.

What do you think about the ending? Am I the only one who's blown away by this?

Thanks, Kerri, for the insider tips! If I was sitting here watching this without a clue, I would be just furious! Funny how TV can bring out such emotions, isn't it?

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Happy Anniversary, Mike!

7 years! Can you believe it?

I love you!

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Weekend Highlight Reel

I'm going to have to make this narrative very brief because I have so many pictures to show you from this weekend.

Mason's 3rd Birthday Party

Captain Hook cake - nearly an unintentional shipwreck cake (notice the crack?)

Cupcakes with Mickey Mouse sprinkles

The birthday boy on the birthday throne

Check out this shirt! So true

The boys driving the cars

The girls going down the big slide. Wheeeeeeeee!

On the Road

We left town immediately following Mason's party in order to get to the next party on time.

Emily cheesing in the rear view mirror

Carter's 1st Birthday Party

Carter was very interested in his cake and Tyler wanted to help too.

Ohhhhh chocolate icing!

The big kids liked the cake and icing.

Tyler and Emily always enjoy playing with each other

Carter checking out all the new toys

Heather's Birthday

Heather opening her presents

Blowing out the candles on her birthday cheesecake

Final Thoughts

As you can see, we had a fun weekend. It was busy, but we had a great time.

We really couldn't believe how cold and windy it was on Saturday. Sunday was slightly better, but we're ready to get back to the signs of spring.

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P-A-R-T-YYYYYY

Party Party Party Party Party Party Party Party Party Party Party Party Party Party Party Party Party Party Party Party Party

Happy Birthday Heather!

Happy Birthday Mason!

Happy Birthday Carter!

We are SO excited and can't wait for your parties this weekend! See you all soon!

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Cubbie Bear Buddies and lots more

Last night was another Cubbies night. We had five Cubbies in our class but one of our teachers was out last night. Good enough, we still had a great night. NO water was spilled although we did make a big mess with a pan of white glue and five paintbrushes. Whose idea was that?!? Not mine!

Nanny helped out in Emily's class last night. They had a big group as well. They have a really good group of kids in Emily's class. They have a lot that show up faithfully each week.

In case you were wondering .... this pretty lady was our first daffodil of the season.
Today, Emily and I counted seven daffodils in bloom. It looks like we'll have several more by tomorrow. I just love this time of year when the daffodils start blooming and other things start coming up. Some of my vinca minor groundcover has pretty blue flowers on it today too.

So I think I mentioned that I recently finished planting the 80 daffodil bulbs that I bought on clearance last fall. So to celebrate that small victory, I bought a big box of iris rhizomes on ebay this week and they were delivered today. I was a bit surprised that they were delivered so quickly. They rhizomes were really nice and healthy though. They even have quite a bit of green on them already. I'll have to go back to ebay and give some good feedback, but now I have a lot of planting to do!

And speaking of ebay ... I also bought a replacement hubcap for my car. You may remember that I lost a hubcap back in December and I'm so glad I found a replacement part for it. Mike put it on my car tonight. Thanks honey!

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Wordless Wednesday - Isn't She Lovely?

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Thanks, Toby!

We went to Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill for lunch. We were immediately escorted to the VIP lounge upstairs. We had chicken fried steak sandwiches. So yum! I highly recommend them.

Emily and me

Emily's big smile and crazy hair

Emily took this picture of me

Dad checking out all the offerings

Toby's reserved booth (cowhide, no less!)

The mirror saddle hanging from the ceiling :) Classy!

Just for the record, we are not VIP's at Toby Keith's I Love this Bar and Grill ... that's just where they seated us. But it was fun sitting up there anway.

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Video Message from Emily

Emily made this video for you last night. Not sure why it turned out so dark.

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Gymnastics and Nadia Comaneci

This morning, we went to gymnastics. We have figured out that we have to get to class early so that we can get a seat on the sofas. If we're late, we have to sit over on the bleachers and that's no fun. So we were rushing around this morning (as usual). We got there just in time to get the last seat on the sofas.


So we're sitting there about 30 minutes into the class and a white van pulled up and a bunch of people got out carrying bags and came inside. It was a bunch of girls and several old people. Most of them disappear down a hallway and a few minutes later, one older gentleman comes back in and tells all of us (preschool parents who are sitting around waiting) that there are some international gymnasts from Romania, Russia, Kazakhstan and Isreal practicing in the gym this morning. So we all kinda watch them trot around and stretch and whatnot. I looked online when I got home and found out that they were in town for the Nadia Comaneci International Invitational.



And a few minutes later, Nadia Comaneci walks through (wearing a pink sweatsuit, if you must know) with a couple other ladies. While I was not exactly surprised to see her there since she's married to the owner of the gym (Bart Conner), I was a little surprised to see her there since she's a former international gymnastics champion. She's taller than I thought she would be. Most gymnasts are so tiny.


So I immediately start texting my sister, Heather, about seeing Nadia Comaneci at gymnastics! Heather has always liked gymnastics and so she's the first person I thought of when all the international gymnasts started showing up. I wish Heather was there with us to see it. She has yet to visit Bart Commer Gym to see Emily, but I'm sure she will soon. (By the way, that's an open invitation, Heather!)


I got my camera out in case I was able to get some pics of the international gymnasts or Nadia Comaneci without being too obvious. But while I was waiting, I went ahead and got some action shots of Emily doing some jumps and rolls. (Sad that taking pictures of my own child was an afterthought, but I do try to be honest on this blog.)

I've also been trying to upload a video, but I can't get it to load. If I can't get it this weekend, I'll upload it on Monday so be looking for it!

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Supper Time - Red Beans and Rice with Hot Water Cornbread

Tonight for supper, I made Red Beans and Rice with hot water cornbread. I put some Hillshire Farms smoked sausage in the red beans and rice. It took a while to let everything cook, but I think it turned out pretty good. (And Mike totally agrees!)


So ... the real question ... have you ever tried hot water cornbread? Do you even know what it is? I think it's an Arkansas thing since I haven't found anyone from Oklahoma who's tried it. Well .. I mean Mike has tried it and he really loves it. But it's only because I fix it for him. He'd never tried it before we were married.


I'll give you the recipe, but it's one of those passed down non-specific recipes.

Hot Water Cornbread

Mix about 2 cups of cornmeal mix with a bit of salt. I like buttermilk cornmeal mix, but I also use white cornmeal mix at times. (It's important to get the cornmeal mix and not just cornmeal.)

Pour boiling water over cornmeal mix and stir well. Keep adding boiling water until you have a moderately thick mixture. It will thicken as it stands so you may need to add more water.

Heat oil in cast iron skillet until hot.

Run hands under cold water and then spoon out some of the cornmeal mixture and use your hands to make a thick patty.

Drop into hot oil. Cook until browned around the edges and then turn over to cook the other side. Drain on paper towel.

So yummy!

Preschool

Emily was so sleepy this morning. She went to sleep on the couch at Mike's parents house this morning. She NEVER goes to sleep on the couch like that. I've seen pictures of kids that were just playing or watching TV and fell asleep, but that has never happened to Emily. She'll occasionally fall asleep in the car but most of the time, she only sleeps during regularly scheduled naps or bedtime.

We are very fortunate that Emily is a good sleeper. When she was younger, we had a lot of problems getting her to go to sleep at night. She would call for her dad and cry over and over at night. She would do anything that she had to do to get him to come back into her room. I think we were all very glad when she passed that phase.

Now our bedtime routine is in two phases:

Mom bedtime routine - a) "Tell me what happened" where I say what happened today and then she'll say what happened today b) "Now I lay me" where I say "Who's going to say Now I Lay Me?" and she said "Us" and then we say Now I lay me down to sleep ... c) "Hug Kiss Squeeze"

Dad bedtime routine - Turn on the Cinderella light. Tell her she doesn't need the fan on tonight. She fusses. Daddy turns on the fan. Kisses goodnight. (Did I miss anything, Mike?)

Hey, I thought this section was supposed to be about preschool? Oh yeah, I remember what I was going to say. Emily doesn't have preschool tomorrow. I guess the local school district is having a teacher in service day or something. Her preschool follows the local school district's calendar so they will be out too.

Too bad I can't take off work tomorrow too. I was just off on Monday for President's Day. Oh well, we will have fun this weekend anyway.

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Lots of Little Cubbies

We had 7 little Cubbies in our class tonight. That's a record high for us! Two of them were new to our class. We were really excited to have them.

We used up a whole bag of cotton balls for our project - making sheep pictures - and we only spilled like three cups of water at snack time. In other words, it was a GOOD night!

I find that as our class gets bigger, it's more important for us to make the kids behave. When we only had two or three kids, it was not such a big deal if one of them wanted to lay down during story time. But now that kind of stuff is really disruptive to the other kids. I find myself giving the kids "the look" to let them know that I'm serious. No more Ms. Nice-Teacher now!!!

Emily said she had fun at Cubbies tonight too. Her favorite teacher - Ms Jennifer - was there tonight. I think she's getting better at going into her class when it's time. When Cubbies first started, I'd more or less have to push her into the room but now she just walks in.

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Heather update and Kids Say ...

I wanted to give all you prayer warriors an update on my friend Heather. She made it through the surgery fine, but she's still in the hospital. While they were performing the surgery, they found tumors in other places besides her ovaries. The cancer appears to be contained to her lower abdomen though. She'll start chemotherapy in a few weeks.

Her husband has set up a Caringbridge page for her. He wants at least 100 people to sign the guestbook before she gets out of the hospital later this week. It think they are well over the 100 mark, but it never hurts to add a few more. So if you're so inclined, please visit her site at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/heatherchandler and let her know you're praying for her. I've also linked her website on my blog list on the right side of my blog.


Kids say ...

This weekend on the way to gymnastics, Emily asked me what I did when I was a little girl. I told her about playing in the woods, fishing, playing in the sandbox, playing school, Barbies, dolls.

Me: And when I got older, I got a little sister and I would help my mom with her. I would play with her and talk to her and I would give her toys and bring my mom diapers for her.

Emily: Mama! Aunt Heather used to wear diapers???

Me: Yes, she did when she was a baby.

Emily: Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!! Did you used to wear diapers too??

Me: Yep, I wore diapers too.

Emily: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!! What about Daddy??

Me: Yes! Daddy too!

Emily: *squeals* What about Poppa? Did Poppa used to wear diapers???

Me: Yes! Poppa too! (Side conversation between me and Mike about what they may have used for diapers waaaaaaaaay back in the day.)

Emily: Hahahaha!! What about Uncle Gary and Aunt Cherry??? Madison? Tyler? Grandaddy??? Grandmother??????? Ahahahahahahahaha!!!

Me: Yes, everyone wore diapers when they were babies.

And so it went from there ... screaming and shrieking and laughing all the way to gymnastics. Aren't you all glad that she got a kick out of the idea of you wearing diapers?


This post is part of "Laughter Lives! Tuesday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check our their blog to read everyone else's "Laughter Lives!" posts.

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Have you ever eaten Angel Food cake with frosting?

I made this cake yesterday for Valentine's Day. It's an angel food cake with fluffy white frosting (tinted pink, of course!) We had some after lunch yesterday and it was sooooo good! Emily and I had it all over our faces. So fun! I'm thinking angel food cake with fluffy white frosting is my favorite food.


Have you ever eaten Angel Food cake with frosting? Leave me a comment and let me know what you thought about it.

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Be Mine, Valentine!

Last night when we got home, Emily opened all her goody bags from her school party and her gift from Nanny and Pops. Here are some pictures of Emily with her gifts. She took a nap with her new pink frog this afternoon and I think we're going to watch her new movie later tonight.

Package from Grandmother and Grandaddy


Then after gymnatics this morning, we came home to find a package from Grandmother and Grandaddy in the mailbox. Emily wanted to open it immediately, but we had to wait until we put all the groceries away. (And checkout Emily's outfit in these pictures. She's wearing her new gymnastics leotard, which is a hand-me-down from Madison. She loves it!)

The card was singing a Dora song. She thought that was very funny.


We're going to love playing with these stickers.

A Thank You video for Grandmother and Grandaddy

Sweet Dreams

Mike got me this HUGE box of Russell Stover chocolates. He's gotten me chocolates for Valentines Day every year since I've known him. He did good, didn't he? I love you, Mike!

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