{ Ta DAAA!!! }

For all ya'll Facebook friends of mine that got my blog site off of my status comment (and it's your first time here), welcome, welcome!

And to all my faithfuls, good to "see" you too, I'm afraid it's been too long!

I didn't find out until after my hair appointment today with my guru Jen, that I hadn't had a haircut since JANUARY. Yikes, is a ridiculous understatement.

I forgot, in all my scatterbrained glory, to take a before photo today so this one is from our trip to the mainland two weeks ago.

:: BEFORE ::

:: AFTER ::

Ummm, so I feel a tiny bit better.

I swear I feel like a new women every time I get up from that chair! If any readers from around these parts need a recommendation for a stylist, I got one for you.

The jury (aka my indecisive self) has yet to come to a verdict on whether or not to dye it.

I know, at this moment, the vast majority of you are screaming at your computer monitors, "Why would you ever dye that natural color?!? People PAY for that color".....well, I guess the grass is always greener, right? I'm the type of person who needs things tossed around and mixed up every now and again (hence the tattoos and piercings) and sometimes just a cut doesn't make me feel, well, tossed enough. Problem being, that even though I use a non-permanent dye, because my hair is light and very virgin to color, the dye stains my hair and it basically grows out like a permanent color. So I' m thinking of going with a light golden brown so it won't be such a painful grow-out.

But fear not, dear friends, should I choose to dive into the dying adventure, you'll be the first to know!

:: :: :: ::

As far as my ALMOST-ONE-YEAR-OLD whippersnapper goes, she has discovered her walker (and how to turn it around) and buzzes all over the place and gets quite mad when she gets stuck!

The 1rst birthday preparations have begun and I'm getting so excited to have lots of family and friends come over to just hang out and fellowship. There's nothing I love more than a big party and lots of people around me!

Anyways, I'm going to take the newly-tossed me and sit my butt on the floor and play with my kidlet!

XOXO....until next time.

:: A Moment Of Weakness ::

In just over two week my only big brother is taking the plunge and getting married, so naturally, this girl thinks she needs a pretty new dress! I was perusing the other day and came across this adorable number from Le Chateau that I am in love with......

I've been (very Christ-likely of course) coveting it and imagining myself in there instead of a one-legged, headless, armless, footless stand. Unfortunately, because of our almost-one-income-budget, it is extremely unlikely that I will be able to afford this, ahem, $140 dress or anything else for that matter. So if you experience deja-vu on the post I will do for their wedding, it's because I'll probably be in the $24 bargain dress I picked up at Walmart a couple months ago for B&M's wedding.

I'm taking donations :)

:: Friday Newscast ::

We have had an eventful little while around here.....

Last week Denay and I had our last Roots Of Empathy day. There was cake, and the kids even broke out into a round of "Happy Birthday" for Denay since they won't see her on her birthday.
I'm also thrilled because the kids wanted me to come back again outside of ROE to hang out with them before school's over and I can't wait!

Then on the weekend we shipped across the water to visit Trev's family and celebrate Jacob's 3rd birthday.....enjoy some snapits of the very fun day!
My SIL Shawna is a fabulously talented cake-maker/decorator and did up this completely adorable and oh-so-Jacob train cake. You can visit her website here.
Jacob diving into his cupcake.....

Denay had a blast with this little car. She would stand on the seat and hold on the the frame and I pushed her all over the lawn. She also liked playing with her cousins!
Lining the kidlets up for a cousin shot. These of three of about 20 I snapped trying to get one good one.....and of course an ever growing family picture down at the bottom.
This is what I am MOST excited about! A good friend of mine and myself have been collecting scrapbooking supplies together (to bring down cost) and got together a couple week ago and had our very first night. All I managed to get done in two hours was the picture window (in the top left corner0. Sad, I know. But then last night we got together again I managed to complete two pages that I fell in love with all over again when I looked at them this morning.
I was also getting a little frustrated with trying to transport all the paper and stamps and stickers and pictures and since there is no room in our budget for anything but food buying an organizer was out of the question. I vaguely remember having a laptop bag some time ago so I raided my spare room closet and found it and it fits all of my stuff perfectly!

I will be sure to keep updating with my continued progress......have a fabulous (but supposed to be rainy) weekend and Father's Day!

{ Almost There }

a face only a mother could love, hey? well, maybe not really.

This little gaffer turns 11-months-old today!

So, you ask, what new things is Denay up to? She is......

• getting very comfortable free-standing and can walk while holding just one hand but hasn't really taken that first step
• she's started mimicking and will clap
• she waves "hi" and "bye" and points
• she is doing all sorts of new things with the mouth and tongue
• she has such an incredibly feisty, bubbly, center-of-attention personality (wonder where she gets that from) and is constantly drawing strangers to her
• she started "dancing" a little while ago but now she really responds to music and enjoys moving to it
• she loves the water and we make two or three trips to the lake a week and she walks right in

I know this is so cliche but I am truly astonished how quickly the (almost) year has flown by and that I will be putting on a one year birthday party for my little baby in just one short month. It has been such a delight walking this crazy journey with such a beautiful and radiant little gal.

Certainly hope ya'll have had a good week thus far.......all you creative types, send artsy thoughts my way as tomorrow night I'm taking the first plunge into scrapbooking. I will try and update my progress but we are heading east on a boat on Friday so it will probably be next week!

Love Love!

AND.....breathe

Second post of the day....yes, I know.

Just wanted to be faithful to my loyal readers and give an update on how today's Mom's Luncheon went.......

Well, let me set the scene, okay?

We live in a 15 year old, end unit townhouse with 1198 square feet up and down (which leaves a little less than 600 square feet of space on the main level), a 350 square foot deck and about 700 square feet (nice, I know) of fenced off lawn.

Couple that with, get this, 19 moms and 27 children all between the ages of four and two weeks and we had an amazingly crazy and wonderful afternoon full of chins dripping with watermelon juice and kids, fresh from the sprinkler, dripping in water.

I was so overwhelmed not only with all the people that actually wanted to come over, but also with the need for a time and place for moms to fellowship and encourage one another.

This mamma was so busy keeping everything in order I took a grand total of zero pictures. I had high and lofty hopes to get a group shot......just let me know when you've stopped snorting and laughing hysterically............done? Good.

There was even a couple moms who came, one who isn't saved and one who I used to be best friends with who has fallen away from the Lord, and I just watched all my MOPS friends surround them and include them and minister to them.

I'm totally exhausted but I've said before that the exhaustion that comes with being surrounded by and serving my family in Christ is the best tired there is.

Denay was a trooper! One mum brought a blowup pool and I plopped Denay in it and she sat there for almost an hour just watching the other kids run around and playing with her ball. She's really turned into a very good baby and watching her change so much the past few weeks is a true honor.

I digress.......as if today wasn't enough running around, we're taking our munchkin for some family time at the pool.

Remember friends, lots of fluids in this awesome summer weather!

God Bless!

I am aware I wanted you all to come back yesterday for more news and I didn't post......my excuse is that I didn't have any comments so I assumed no one read it :)

Ignorance is bliss, right?

Anyways, just some random diddy's for you from the past few days.

Sunday evening we enjoyed a little picnic dinner in our backyard since it was such an amazing day!

Yesterday afternoon Denay, Kerry and I drove out to Fuller Lake together to hang out and enjoy the 32 degree weather.....this bad mamma didn't bring a swim diaper OR swimsuit so that meant of course Denay wanted to go in the water. She seemed happy enough squishing her tiny toes in the sand.
Completely random photo of a blue cornflower I took at church last night. If you've never smelt one of these, do it......it's a beautiful scent.
And finally, the news I should have posted last night. I've been wanting the "monroe" piercing for a while and so when I finally donated blood last week I wasted no time getting ahold of my piercer and getting in as soon as possible.....so yesterday afternoon I was pierced for the 20th time.

The site is pretty swollen and the jewelery is a little gaudy but it's necessary during healing. In a couple weeks I'll go back and have it switched out for a cute tiny clear crystal.

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out and can't wait for the swelling to cease to I can change the hardware.........

Anywhoo, I've got to run and start setting up for the big Mom's Luncheon today.

Lots of love from the MaC home to yours and I'll be see "seeing" you soon!

{ Monday's Random Ramblings }

Hey ya'll, is it hot enough for ya?!?

No, no.....this girl isn't complaining. Closed blinds and windows on the main floor and a never-turned-off air conditioner upstairs keeps us very comfy.

:: This week is adding up to be a busy one. I get to babysit a very special little girl tomorrow morning and spend the afternoon with a very special and very pregnant friend ::

:: I'm also gearing up to host a luncheon on Wednesday afternoon for about 20 moms. Our church mom's group MOPS, finished for the year a few weeks ago we were really wanting to maintain our relationships and blanket of support. I'm a little (alot) excited and can't wait for the middle of the week to roll around! ::

:: I do realize I run the risk of raising a few eyebrows again like I'm sure I did in this post but I've got to know if I'm alone. So you're driving and coming up to an intersection with a set of train tracks. Most intersections have enough room for one car in between the tracks and the stop line for the intersection, then all the other cars are supposed to stop before the train tracks at the crossing arm. Whether I'm stopped at the light or stopped at the crossing arms, is it warped that I get a little satisfaction watching the people parked directly on the tracks fervently looking from left to right checking for a train while they get as close as they are physically able to the car parked at the light so they're off the tracks as much as possible? There's almost something satisfying about seeing people squirm at a situation they put themselves in. So if you're parked on the railway tracks and have a blue SUV parked behind you, and the driver is snickering, it might just be me ::

:: Anyways.....I've got to get my baby up but please check back tomorrow when I will update you on another life "to-do" list item getting checked off ::

Happy Monday Friends