The rest of our weekend...

The rest of our weekend was very relaxing. Sunday we relaxed quite a bit. Ryan let me sleep in until 9:30 (!!!!) and he got up and took care of the dogs and made breakfast for Libby and Deandra. That was wonderful. Ryan and I took Denali and Bella for a walk while Libby rode her bike and Deandra rode Libby's scooter around the neighborhood. Later in the afternoon I took Libby and Deandra and we went by Michael's to get my weekly supply of cardstock and to get some crafts for the girls to do. They both made a necklace and they made pot-holders (hey, it was their choice). After Michael's we ran out in the rain to our car and then went to Wal-Mart to get a few things that we needed and then we left to go to the grocery store because we were making red, white, and blue cupcakes last night for Memorial Day. We got home and realized that I forgot to get a pizza at the grocery store (Sundays are pizza night in our house but since it's a long weekend I was thinking that it was Saturday - not Sunday). So, we called in a pizza order to take care of dinner. After dinner we made our cupcakes. First we started with a regular box white cake mix and I then divided the batter into three different bowls. One bowl I dyed red, one bowl I dyed blue, and the other I left white. We layered the mix into the cupcake cups starting with the layer of red:

then the layer of white:
then the layer of blue:
We baked them and then let them cool:
Then we iced them:
THEN we enjoyed them!!!! They look festive, don't they?? :-)

After the cupcakes were finished they picked out a movie (How the Grinch Stole Christmas...can you tell that Libby is my daughter? She choses to watch Christmas movies in May!) :-) We popped some popcorn and got them set up in Libby's room and they stayed up watching the movie.

This morning we got up and I made them chocolate chip pancakes and then they made the necklaces that they got yesterday at Michael's. Libby got a peace necklace kit:

and Deandra got an elephant (her favorite) necklace kit:

Then they made their pot holders. Libby made hers puple, teal, and lime green (her new favorite colors and the colors she wants to do her room in now):

And Deandra made hers pink, white, and yellow:

They had some more pool time and time playing with Libby's toys and then we had dinner, followed by more playing, and then Deandra's mom picked her up about 9:00pm. Libby got ready for bed right after Deandra left and I've been finishing up some laundry. It was a busy weekend but it was great!! I wish all weekends could be this fun!!

Our weekend so far

So far this weekend has been great! Yesterday after work I went and picked up our niece Deandra and brought her to spend the weekend with us.

(Remember...they are the same age!!)

We got home and the girls had dinner. As they were finishing their dinner Debs arrived. She was coming to spend the night so that she and I could celebrate our 22nd best friend anniversary. Our anniversary was actually on Tuesday but she lives in Jax so we waited to celebrate until today. Thursday was my 21st best friend anniversary with Karen and we met for lunch but we didn't take a picture, dang it! (Karen, why didn't we think of that??) :-) So, last night after Debs arrived the three adults in the house had dinner and then she and I watched the first Sex and the City movie (which became one of my favorite movies when we saw it in the theater two years ago!!). Today we had lunch at a Mexican restaurant and then we went to see Sex and the City 2! I loved it. I loved the first movie more - but I loved this movie, too. I've seen reviews with people complaining that there wasn't enough substance to the movie. They do realize that they went to see Sex and the City, right? What exactly are they looking for?? It's about friendship, ALWAYS being there for your friends, and helping to get each other through all of life's journeys. I thought the movie was great!

My ear

So, over three weeks ago I started having trouble with my left ear. I've had pain and haven't been able to hear much out of my left ear for more than three weeks. For the past two weeks I've had a constant loud ringing in my left ear. I think it has been established that I'm a procrastinator so it shouldn't be a surprise that it took me this long to call and make an appointment to see a doctor. However, the constant ringing has just about pushed me to my edge. I was going to literally go crazy if it didn't stop. The ringing has even woken me up at times and (as Debs and Karen can tell you) nothing wakes me up when I'm sleeping. I finally called around on Monday to find a doctor who could see me soon because I don't have a regular doctor (I haven't been to the doctor in 9 years...and when I went 9 years ago it was simply to have it confirmed that I was pregnant and to get a referral to a ob/gyn). I found a doctor who was able to see me today. It was a very quick visit, he looked in my ears for less than 10 seconds and whipped out his prescription pad for Augmentin and antibiotic ear drops for me for the next 10 days! Keep your fingers crossed that this works...I want the ringing to go away and I'd love to be able to hear again out of my left ear! :-)

Shuttle launch!

Ryan and I both took Friday off from work and Friday morning we headed down to Cape Canaveral to watch the third to last shuttle launch before the shuttle fleet is retired by NASA. Atlantis launched at 2:20pm Friday afternoon and I couldn't have been more mesmerized standing there watching it race into space. After watching it rise into the sky for a bit Ryan looked over and realized that I wasn't even taking pictures...I was standing there completely in awe. So, he grabbed my camera and took some pictures for me. :-) I've always wanted to see a shuttle launch. And, I have no idea why I've never gone before. For 29 years the shuttle has been launching two and a half hours from me and for some reason although I've always wanted to see a shuttle launch it took me this long to actually make it over to watch one. Can you say procrastination?? :-) Anyway, it was amazing for me and I'm so happy to have watched the launch. After the launch we went to Ryan's parent's condo that is on the beach about 15 minutes south from Cape Caneveral. We spent time down on the beach and at the pool at their condo. We had planned on staying until Sunday and coming back Sunday afternoon but we decided to come back yesterday late afternoon. Today has been a lazy day around the house and I'm already wishing that I had tomorrow off, as well! :-)

Happy Mother's Day!

Today was a wonderful Mother's Day! But before I start with today let me do a very brief recap of my last two weeks. We've had Miss Bella for two weeks now...she is the cutest thing ever but she is such a little spoiled brat! It is hilarious to watch her play with Denali and to watch them wrestle for a bone. Last weekend there was an incident between Denali and Bella. They always play and wrestle and play tug-of-war but last Saturday morning at about 4:00am is when the "incident" happened. We were sleeping so we can't be sure but based on their behavior every other minute during the last two weeks that we've had Bella we came to the conclusion that Denali and Bella were wrestling by our bed and Denali caught Bella's ear as they were playing and he either shook her head or she jerked back but he got her pretty good. She started yelping and I shot up out of bed and it took a minute to get Denali to get off of Bella and Ryan immediately took Denali out to the back yard so that we could find out what happened to Bella. I look down at the carpet and notice that it is now dotted with blood and I look up and Bella comes running around the corner back into our room and she's covered in blood. Ryan takes Bella in to start cleaning her up and I start working on trying to get the blood out of the carpet (something I wasn't able to completely do). Ryan finally finds that it was Bella's ear that got hurt. Once he finally got the bleeding to stop she bounced right back and was ready to start playing again. She is such a little trooper! So, we get her cleaned up and put her in her kennel to keep her safe for the rest of the night while we slept. Denali was brought in from outside and he was put in his kennel to sleep because I was furious at him for hutting our baby girl. We walk back into our room and Ryan picks up his shirt from off the floor that was near the scene of the crime and he loudly gasps. I ask him what is wrong and he shows me....the piece of Bella's ear that Denali ripped off! OMG! Later when Ryan took her to the vet they said there wasn't anything they could do and that it was healing nicely so to just keep an eye on it. :-( My poor cute baby Bella!

Later that day my friend Karen and I went to Jacksonville and met up with our friends Debs and Jan and we went to an arts market by the river and we went to an antique mall before we went to have tea. It was a wonderful day spent with wonderful friends. It was such a fun day and we laughed all day long...I love getting together with those girls! :-)

From there I'll fast foward to this weekend since nothing big or exciting happened during the week. Friday night we went to the Relay for Life and spent four hours out there selling hot dogs, popcorn, and sodas for Capital City Bank's booth to raise money for cancer research and Libby and I walked several miles around the track to get points for the Capital City Bank team. It was a busy but fun night. Saturday afternoon I took Libby in to get her pictures taken since I decided to skip out on her end of the school year school photos at school. This morning I received my 20 Mother's Day cards from Libby :-) and my Mother's Day gift and she and Ryan made me chocolate chip pancakes. :-) We went to church with Ryan's parents and then went out to lunch with them. We came home and enjoyed a nice afternoon relaxing at home. It was a wonderful Mother's Day!

Here are some pictures from my day today: