Sleeping Angel

To celebrate my 200th entry (Holy crap- already?!), I wanted to post a picture of my sleeping angel.

I am so lucky that at the age of 2, my Little Man A is still taking long naps. I mean, 2 hours - sometimes 2-1/2 hour naps and I need to wake him up at 3pm so he can burn off more energy before he goes to bed at 9pm. I am knocking on wood a thousand times that I did not just jinx myself.

Anyway, when I went into his room the other day to wake him up, he was snuggled with his "Mama Polar bear", "Baby Polar bear", "Jeffrey" his beloved giraffe lovey, and his little blue pillow.



I love watching him sleep.

An (un)eventful day

Like I stated yesterday, it was our first official snow fall here in Woodbridge or the Washington, D.C. metro area. When Little Man woke up yesterday we alerted him to the fact that there was snow on the ground.

"Do you want to make a snowman and snowballs today?"

"Snowman. Yeah. Okay."

Because of our truck problems yesterday as well, I waited until after his afternoon nap to attempt to go outside and "play" in the snow. I asked him again if he wanted to make a snowman outside in the snow and again he was excited about the opportunity. He even tried on new boots that have great treads.

I got him all bundled up, hats and gloves on, and we were ready. He didn't make it more than 5 feet away from the door and he froze. "Mommy! No snow. Mommy!"

I wasn't sure if it was because of the shoes (which he actually chose to wear later, so I don't think that's the case) or if it was because it was starting to rain/sleet when we stepped outside.

I was at least able to capture this wonderful get-me-out-of-the-snow and I-need-a-tissue-because-I-have-a-bugga look before we went back to the warmth.



I? Needed to stay outside and shovel the driveway or else we wouldn't be making it to pick daddy.

Calgon, take me away

Well, it's here. The first official snow fall for the Washington, D.C. metro area. We all knew the time would come eventually, so why is everyone still panicked? Because we live in the state of Virginia? Maybe because we're south of the Mason-Dixon line, these people thought Mother Nature would exempt us from such horrible weather. I hate to tell you - people in Texas are getting snow. So in my book, that's leaves everything open to possibilities.

And what have I done so far on this delightful day? Thankfully, we have 4 wheel drive on our F-150 (these are the days that I am glad that we own a truck and not my little rinky-dink Toyota Rav4 - although I did love that car!) and managed to make it up our slight incline of a hill from our cul-de-sac. We managed to make it to the turn to the VRE station, when hubby and said truck decided to do a 360 .... IN THE MIDDLE OF THE INTERSECTION!

Hubby stayed cool, laughed about it, said he really wanted to just go home anyway, and put the truck into Low 4-wheel drive. POP!!! That would be the sound of our transmission. Yeah, now our truck is STUCK in 4 wheel Low.

And I'm suppose to take care of all this by myself??

Hubby made a call, we dropped the truck off at the dealer, which it won't even be looked at until tomorrow. Thankfully, we have an extended warranty that's pretty good (only have to pay $50 deductible as long as it's covered under warranty).

While we were waiting around the dealer, hubby found out that he actually really needed to go into work. LMA is being a great sport this entire time. We found some pamphlets about Caterpillar vehicles and he oogled over those for 10-15 minutes... and on the way home... and when we got home. Thankfully, I grabbed an apple and milk for him or else he would have been starving by the time we got home at 11:00am!

In the mean time, two other vehicles have managed to get stuck at the bottom of our cul-de-sac. I'm so glad the rental company gave us another truck and not a mini-van or a Focus.

On a lighter note, take a look at this lovely card that I made for hubby's grandparents as a "with love/just beacuse". It just screams spring. Which will hopefully be here some time soon.



P.S. Did I mention our computer's little yellow line is fixed?!!? Turns out it was the display board. We had our computer fixed and back within 2 days! I love Apple computers. :)

We what we do without it??

Today, I had to drive 40 minutes to take our beloved iMac to the Apple Store to be examined. Seems something has gone awry with the display... leaving a lovely vertical yellow strip directly down the center of the screen. At first it blinked at you, then occasionally go away for a few minutes, but now it is here to stay.

At least until we can fix it.


Thankfully, we were smart enough in 2006 to purchase Apple Care Protection Plan. Best thing we've done so far. When this one expires in May, we may purchase another one. Hopefully, they will receive the part, at the latest, by Monday and then it would take an additional 24-48 hours until we would get it back. Since the computer is still functional and the little yellow line really isn't that bad, we decided to take the computer home until the part arrived.

Because what would we do for almost 4 days without a computer???


I started thinking about all the things that we do online or even just playing around with a new design for my business card, brochures, and flyers. Hubby has been using it to get online and figure out how to solve his newest killing spree game for PS3. And of course, LMA loves to watch You Tube and all the wonders of trucks, tractors, and trains. Don't forget about finding coloring pages online for LMA to paint or color.


So, really. Could you last 4 days without your computer?

Changing gears

I'm a planner. I like to make sure everything is planned to the "T" so nothing goes wrong. Sometimes, hubby will get in the same groove. Sometimes, he'll plan WAY too much, much more than I would plan (which is a lot if you know me).

However, I married a military man. That doesn't leave much room in the way for planning. Especially when the military has a "wait and see" or a "hurry up and wait" program that they like to follow. So, I've learned to relax a little and try to go with the flow. "Try" being the key word, but I have to admit I've been really good at times about letting things just happen (at least I hope those closest to me would agree).

I'm still determined to plan at least something every once in awhile. So I decided to tackle the finances since the holiday season is officially over now. Dear Lord, help us.

Apparently, now that hubby has his direct commission packet in, he's changed over to the "wait and see" mentality as well. When I asked him where he thinks the "extra" money should go in March, his reply, "Let's just wait and see what's going on that month." Well, according to him, as of this morning anyway, he won't find out until April if his packet has been accepted. From there, it's definitely a "wait and see" scenario.

Ah, roller coaster ride called "My life".

So, did you go?

So many people who I know outside of the state of Virginia have been asking me since yesterday, "So, did you go see Obama?"

My answer?


Uh, NO.


Why not?


Number 1. D.C. was so tighten down with security, road blockages, needing special passes just to be able to ride the Metro and VRE (Virginia Railway Express), and bridge closings that there was no way we would have been able to go.

Number 2. 27 degrees. No more need be said.

Besides, it was nice to be able to watch history in the making from the comfort of our home (while Little Man was watching "Cars" downstairs) and a nice cup of hot tea.

Oh, and hubby could have gotten FREE tickets to the Inaugural Ball. The only problem with that? What to do with LMA.

My dad... he's still wanting an Obama mug. Guess I'll have to get one for him before they come to visit again.

Playing doctor

For some reason I didn't think he was old enough or had the imagination to use this doctor set yet. Proved me wrong, huh?

A new do

Not for me, but for hubby. Last week, when he needed to get a new DA (Department of the Army) photo done for a review board (hopeful promotion), he got his head shaved. Unfortunately, I didn't grab a picture that day, but I did get one this weekend.

He went from looking like this...



to this...




Trust me, it would have been a bigger impact if I had a day of the haircut photo. Guess I should prepare myself for this new look considering he may be active duty soon.

New look for the New Year

Just wanted to share with everyone my new business look. Just in time for the New Year! More changes to come on the website soon.

(Un)Productive use of time

Little Man has been battling his third cold/infection over the past three months. Yep. That's one per month people. Do you know how tired I am of hearing "Bugga, Mommy." as he's pointing to his face. On the bright side, he could be wiping it all over his shirt so I'm semi-thankful for that.

Since he's been sick, there hasn't been much naptime/mommy time. I've tried to make a list of things that I really need to do and make sure to complete those tasks first as soon as his head hits the pillow. Most of the time I manage to complete the necessary items, but other times they seem to run into something else. Especially if they involve my computer.

For the past 4 days, I've had a list of 4 things on my to do list. Only 3 of them have managed to be completed (although the 4th does involve shopping for myself so that gets put on hold). When I log onto the computer, I'll check my mail and all hope of completing my list goes out the window.

Last month, when Wenderina joined the Facebook band wagon, I decided to hop on for a ride since another friend asked me to be a "friend" as well. I didn't think anything of it. Just something else to try and keep up with, like this blog. It wasn't until last week that I really started to use it. Why? Because all my friends are doing it!

Yeah, I know stupid reason. But to me, who is constantly moving from state to state and losing touch with all my old friends, this has been really nice. I've been able to find all my college buddies. It's so nice to see who they have become since the last time we've spoken. Who has a new baby girl, who has really turned their riding/love of horses into a career, or who went in a completely different direction.

We did manage to get out of the house today though. Mainly to go pick up antibiotics for LMA since we don't think that he's getting any better. We also stopped by our local mall's kids' club who was having a playdate with Gymboree today. And mommy got a gift too...


Direct from Oriental Trading Company, it's a fleece scarf with pre-cut ribbon. Tie the ribbon on the ends, tie the fleece ends so the ribbon doesn't fall off, and voila! Cute little scarf which is keeping me very warm in this frigid house, might I add.

So, at least I got one thing done today. Time to go finish the rest of the list before he wakes up.

New hobby

Okay, so I don't have the month in review for you yet, but I do have something else.

I have a confession.

I have a new addiction. And I have someone whom I love very much to blame for this new obsession. You may know them as Wenderina and Uncle C.

Now, I'm sure they probably had no idea that this would cause such a disturbance in my life, but it has.

What, precisely am I referring to??



I received this beloved program for Christmas. And I promised myself that this would be mine (oh, yes, it would be mine) even if I had to buy it myself. But, alas, someone caught on to my hints and bought it for me! Yeah! Thank you, thank you!!

Because not only can I edit my photos (which I haven't read that part in the tutorial I received from a good friend's hubby), I have instead created this...



and this...



All in about a 20 minute times frame! And boy does that feel good to get 2 layouts done in that short amount of time. These of course are not my designs, but rather downloaded from Digital Freebies and Marie LaFrance.

This makes scrapbooking too easy!

A yummy herb

I? Love mint. Especially like this....




Last night I had mint hot chocolate with a chocolate covered mint candy stick mixed in and mint double stuffed oreo cookies.

Needless to say, losing 40 pounds is NOT a new years resolution.

But did you know?

Mint was originally used as a medicinal herb to treat stomach ache and chest pains, and it is commonly used in the form of tea as a home remedy to help alleviate stomach pain. During the Middle Ages, powdered mint leaves were used to whiten teeth. Mint tea is a strong diuretic. Mint also aids digestion. The taxonomic family Lamiaceae is known as the mint family. It includes many other aromatic herbs, including most of the more common cooking herbs, including basil, rosemary, sage, oregano and catnip. (Wikipedia)

Learn something new everyday.

Tunnel of fun! ... or fear?

I know. It's been a long time since I posted. Happy Belated New Years to everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season as well.

I'm not prepared to put together a month in review for December (not to mention the 300+ photos that I have to go through just for Christmas alone), but rest assured it will be coming. Maybe tomorrow if you're lucky. Nor am I prepared to really put in writing any new years resolutions. I read an article yesterday about how we always pick goals/resolutions that are never within reach. Like lose 40 pounds, not to swear in front of my child (although I'm actually good, er, semi-good about that), or take my dog for a walk everyday. The only goal that I would really like to accomplish and I know IS within reach is to finish LMA first year album. I only have 3 more layouts for the book. So, I'll have to think about it a little more.

Anyways, I really wanted to share a story from today. We were on our way home, or at least attempting to go home, after picking Daddy up from the train station. Apparently, a horrible accident backed up traffic the entire length of the only road that could take us home. 35 minutes later, only 5 miles down the road, and a very angry/hungry child in the back seat, we decided to stop at McDonald's for dinner. I really didn't feel like getting LMA another toy, since he's not really playing with the ones Santa brought him, so we opted for a dollar menu McChicken grilled sandwich for him instead of a happy meal (even though now you can order apple slices instead of fries and milk).

Before we left, we decided to head down to the child's play area with the tunnels and slides. LMA had never been in one of these, and with screaming children added to the situation, he was curious but not overzealous about it. It took him a good 15 minutes to even climb into the first square past the steps. All the while other children are passing him up the stairs, which of course would set him back even more each time.

The one thing that really enticed him to go further was an "airplane" set up that he could see from the outside right by the steps. The kicker of it was that he needed to climb through a tunnel to the right about 5 feet long and then through another one about 2 feet long before entering the "pilot's seat". These measurements don't sound like much to an adult, but to a 36 inch child, it's like climbing Mount Everest.

The entire time I'm watching him and encouraging him to go just a bit further, I had flashbacks of Catwoman's Little Man in McDonald's play room with two African American children. Although my child doesn't have the vocabulary to ask, "Is that black?" yet, I still couldn't help but laugh to myself while reminiscing.

Anyways, my other thought while he was climbing around was what would happen if he started crying and needed me? Or if he seriously injured himself? Am I allowed to climb in to retrieve my son? Will the tunnels hold my fat ars? Would he really remember how to get out? Would I stay calm and collected or would I freak out because I can't reach my child?? Part of me started to panic while watching him have fun.

I love watching my son discover new adventures, but I hate the mommy paranoia that always follows it.