Playing your "Mommy" card..

One of my very best friends (remember Ann?) was visiting a week or two ago. Somehow we started talking about tickets. She and M were listening to me tell my different stories about being pulled over at various times. I wasn't trying to be funny, but the more I talked, the more we laughed (I don't really think M was laughing.) Finally, M asks, "Well how many times have you been pulled over lately?" "Lately?", I ask. "I can think of three times in the past two years. He gets this look on his face and before he can say anything, I say, "Oh, but I never get a ticket." Ann bursts into laughter. "How do you not get a ticket?" she asked. "I don't really know. I'm never actually trying to not get a ticket. Maybe they feel sorry for me."

So here are the situations in order:

1. I was speeding/driving along on this beautiful day with my three youngest children in the very back of the van, looking particularly cute because they were all in a row. Next thing I know, I see lights right behind me. "Moi?" I think. So I pull over, and sure enough, the police officer (a female, yikes!) pulls behind me. I actually had no idea that I was speeding. The kids were terrified, especially my Lil Man. So when the police officer approached the car, I said, "Hi. How are you today? Before we get going , could you pleas say "Hi" to my kids? They are scared of police officers and I'm trying to teach them that police are our friends. " I turn to the kids and say, "Can y'all say "Hi" to this nice police officer. She's our friend." The kids wave in unison.( I couldn't have taught them any better!) The police lady, my new best friend, informs me (ever so politely) that I was going 62 in a 45. She takes my license and returns with ...NOT a ticket, but three "D.A.R.E" stickers and three plastic police badges! Awesome! We thank her kindly and wish her well.

2. Same road, different day. I was returning from Lowe's in my mini-van. I was by myself and all of the seats were out of the van so that I could fit my "load" of plywood and 2 x 4's into the van. An officer driving towards me signals me and points to me to pull over. "Great. Just what I need", I think. I pullover, apologize to him for speeding. He asks for my driver's licence, proof of insurance, and registration. I hand him my license, then I stare blankly at my glove compartment with the plywood and 2 x 4's shoved against it. I say, "Officer, if you will help me move this lumber, I can get you my registration and insurance. But I promise I have insurance and I promise the car is registered in my name. Cross my heart." (At least I didn't say "pinky promise" and hold out my little finger!). He smiles and ask, "What are you making?" "Well," I say, "I'm about to make two full-size headboards for my little girls' room. They share a pink room. The plywood will be the back of the headboard, the 2 x 4's will be the support, and the molding will frame the plywood. I'm going to put a sheet of foam over the plywood and wrap it in the cutest fabric I've ever seen. I'm so excited about it - I think that's why I was speeding." He hands me my license back and wishes me well. I tell him I'll let him know how the finished product turns out the next time he pulls me over (kidding! I did not say that!)

3. This was just a couple of months ago. Dear Officer Kenny pulled me over about a half of a mile from my house. It was the last day of school before Christmas break began and I was taking full advantage of every minute of kid-free Christmas shopping. Which, of course, means that I was running late. So late, in fact, that I ran the stop sign around the corner from my house. Well I didn't actually run it, I just didn't exactly stop either (as I explained it the Officer Kenny). He was very friendly and I apologize and explain what a hurry I'm in. Then I glanced at the clock on my dash and nearly had a stroke. Before I knew it, I heard myself say, "Is there any way we could do this just a little closer to my house.? My kids walk home from school and I usually meet them at the stop sign so they won't have to cross by themselves. I'm so nervous." He smiles, wishes me a Merry Christmas, and says, "Next time you're at a stop sign, stop, say your ABC's, then go." My "ABC's" ? Jeez. I must have "Mommy" written all over my face.

So what is the moral of this story? I have no idea. I laugh when I look back at these three separate incidents because I was fully prepared to take my punishment. In fact, perhaps I would learn my lesson and slow down if someone would actually give me a ticket. But, without even knowing it, I have played my "mommy" card each time and it has worked.

Good luck to you!

Have a great day!

Still bragging.

You know I'm not REALLY bragging. I'm not exactly proud of this weight, but I am happy that I have already lost two point nine pounds! Woo-hoo! And I know I said I wouldn't post me weight again until Friday, but I was so surprised and excited that I had to take a picture and post it!

Bragging...

AAA BEAT THE WHOLE THIRD GRADE (including the boys) in the number of push-ups AND sit-ups!! She did 50 sit-ups in one ups, and 49 push-ups in a minute! (I'm pretty sure she wasn't switched at birth and that she is my kid, eventhough I've never done a sit -up or push -up in my life.) Anyway...I told her I'd post it on my blog. Way to go , AA!

One Week Ago Today...

Older sister and youngest sister (Godmother and Mommy):

All of the cousins:

All of the Montiel cousins:

All of the Montiel cousins being silly (actually it looks like just my kids are being silly):

Sweet little angels (at least they look like sweet little angels):

At the Shrimp Boil:

One week ago today, Baby Lucy was baptized. Can you belive that I don't have a single picture of just her? She was very busy making her debut to all of her aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. And she ate, and ate, and ate. And socialized. And I just didn't get a chance to take her picture! Shame on me!

We started off the weekend with a Shrimp Boil at Mary Michael and John Ashley's house on Saturday night. Lots of family in town for the special occasion! Yummy food and fun company! The kids all played on the trampoline and later in the poison ivy. Only a few bumps and bruises, but otherwise the evening was a huge success. But don't ask Kit Kat. She'll complain that the hot dogs were bun length and she doesn't do bun length.

Sunday morning was beautiful. The weather was just perfect. Lucy wore the baptism gown that Mary Michael wore when she was a baby (made by my mom's aunt who is now deceased). She was a little doll. She was so beautiful and so well behaved. And there was a nursery available for those who weren't well behaved, so I was able to hear the political message/sermon from the pulpit. ( I think Al Gore was there). And Landon...kids just don't get any better than Landon. He was the best big brother ever!

Following the service, lunch was provided. My children are still asking me, "Why did they serve salad to little kids?" Oh, I've got to do better! Lunch was wonderful. (But again, don't ask Kit Kat. They served chicken fingers and KitKat doesn't do chicken fingers, only chicken nuggets from McDonlads!)I especially loved the pork tenderloin with the Jezebel sauce (MM, I have the recipe for the sauce. I complimented it and they printed me a copy!). Her cake was darling and delicious! Although, MM, did anyone get to see it before they cut it?? I hope you took a picture!

I wish I had a picture to show of precious little Lucy. She was perfect.

Thanks for such a lovely weekend!

Thanking God today for my awesome family!

I can't believe I'm doing this

I promise that this blog won't become about weight loss. But like I said earlier, I've been on a diet (ha! more like, "I've been cheating daily on a diet" ) for 4 and a half years. So here's my weight as of first thing this morning. I'll post my weight once a week. I want to lose 15 pounds, 2 pounds a week. That doesn't sound too terribly hard. We'll see. Please hold me accountable. I think I'm doing a Weight Watchers/Abs Diet combination. So there ya have it.

(I'll be out of town next weekend, so I'll post my weight on Friday instead of Saturday. I would wait til Sunday, but I'm scared I'll "cheat" on my diet while I'm out of town.)

Happy Day to you!

Easter Buckets!

Make this little cutie: From these:

Other ideas:

The sheep dog may be my very favorite!

Is the lion too ugly for me to post? I am hoping that he's so ugly that he's actually "cute".

So easy to make! And relatively inexpensive, as well, if you have most of the items on hand.

You will need:

-metal pails (Home Depot and Lowe's have them in their paint section. You can also try a local hardware store)

-spray paint

-paint pens

-boas (these were from Hobby Lobby and Michaels)

-hot glue gun and glue sticks

-felt (optional)

I simple sprayed the cans with whatever spray paint I had. The slicker, shinier pails were harder to spray paint, as the paint seemed to drip. If you are patient and spray just a light coat and wait until the paint is dry before beginning your next coat, you will have better luck. I probably sprayed 5 or 6 light coats on these pails.

When the pails/buckets were dry, I glued the boas to the upper rim of the pail.

I then added eyes, nose whiskers using paint pens and felt. I am NOT an artist - anyone can do this.

You can have fun with this. Let me know if you come up with something else. I was trying to think of more "boyish" ideas, hence the lion. I tried making a clown with red trim and a red pom-pom for a nose, but it was U-G-L-Y.

Have fun and Happy Easter!

Hello Bandwagon.

I'm jumping on the bandwagon.

One of my sisters has started a blog (I"d link you to it but she might kill me) to help hold her accountable while she is on a diet. I think it's a great idea. So if you can bear with me, I think I'll do it too. I'm debating on whether or not to show my weight on my blog, but I think I'm going to do it. Hopefully, in 6 weeks I will have lost 12 pounds and I won't have to blog about my weight anymore. And don't worry, my daily posts won't be about dieting. I'll just include a short paragraph at the end of each day that will somehow - hopefully - hold me accountable.

I"ve been trying to lose ten pounds since Sunshine was born (4 and a half years ago!). But calling it post-pregnancy weight makes me feel better about it. Unfortunately, this ten pounds has become more 14 pounds. I stay on a diet. Actually - that's not true. I am always dieting, but I am always cheating on my diet. So that means that I always feel guilty for eating that Reeses or that York peppermint patty, or those double-fudge brownies.

Anyway, I don't want to scare you away, but heed the warning that I've jumped on the bandwagon!

Wish me luck and have a great day!

Rain Boots and Bathing Suits - Spring Break '09

The week in review in pictures:
This is where we spent the week (Lake Martin, Alabama):





Rain boots and a bathing suit:

Just about everything was beginning to bloom:

Crazy hair (crazy girl!...it was COLD in the front of the boat!)
More crazy hair and crazy cold!
Five pound catfish they caught on the trot line (then later fried and ate):


Learning to drive the boat:

Skipping stones:

We took a picnic on one of the islands:

Toile Tuesday

I've missed blogging this past week! Having all four children at home during Spring Break kept me busy (but not as busy as I was yesterday cleaning up and doing laundry after a week without doing either!).

Anyway, I'm back and I'm easing back into the blogosphere.

Pretty Organized Palace (http://www.prettyorganizedpalace.blogspot.com/) is hosting a toile party today. I love toile, too! My two younger girls share a bedroom. I LOVE THEIR BEDROOM! (Is it terrible to love a bedroom?? I've always taught my kids, "We don't love things, we love people." They remind me of this occasionally when I see something I love and I gush over it. )

Anyway, I've included some pictures of the girls' bedroom. M and I made the headboards. It's just a piece of plywood with a large piece of foam covered in toile fabric. M then somehow framed the plywood in molding and ...ta- dah! Easy and inexpensive to make.

The other pics are of my dining room. I think I'll have this dining room until I die! My favorite part of the dining room is the toile ( the original) fabric that I discovered under two other layers of fabric on the piece of furniture. My husband keeps asking, "When are you going to do something about that old dirty fabric?" Never! I love it and was so excited when I found it on there! It may clash a little with the dining room chairs, but that's O.kay. One day I may change the fabric on the chairs, but I'll never change the fabric on the piece of furniture!

Happy Toile Tuesday!

The Misadventure of a woman on the edge...

Yesterday I met two friends for coffee. One of the friends said, "You HAVE to blog about the bread you sucked on!" She said that sometimes she'll just be in her house by herself and she'll bust out laughing because she remembers this story. So...since I have no shame...here goes.

About a year ago, I was on a diet. I don't remember which one, but probably The Abs Diet, or maybe Body for Life, or maybe Atkins. They all have one thing in common, though: nothing yummy. So M was on call and it was dinner time. The kids and I ran by Little Caesar's to pick up a $5.oo cash and carry pizza. While I was in Little Caesar's, I saw (and smelled!) their Crazy Bread. (BTW, if you haven't had their crazy bread, I will buy you some.) So I thought to myself, "I could lick the buttery Parmesan cheese off of the bread stick and my life would be complete." (Now that I think about it, I must have been on Atkin's - the diet that allows you to eat butter and cheese but not bread.)

I handed the pizza and bread sticks to AA when I returned to the car. Oh the smell of that pizza and those bread sticks. I know why they call it crazy bread...the smell will drive you crazy if you are on a diet. So I said, "AA, hand Mama one of those bread sticks." She replied, "Mom, you're on a diet. I'm not handing you one." I looked her square in the eyes and said, very slowly and deliberately, "Hand. over. the breadsticks. and no one. will get hurt."

She complied.

By this time we were at the redlight and it was 5:00, so it was a rather long red-light. I slowly licked the warm, buttery breadstick. It was like a piece of heaven to my sad, lonely tastebuds. They salivated for more. So I sucked the end of the breadstick! I sucked it until it was clean. Then...I kind of folded that piece back a little and sucked on the middle of the bread stick. I knew I looked like a crazy woman in a mini-van with a bread stick shoved down my throat. So I kind of "hunkered down" a little bit so that no one in the cars around me could see what I was doing. I felt safe. So I kind of folded the next section back (that sucked on, slightly chewed breadstick)so that I could reach the back end of the breadstick.

Life was good.

I was able to finish licking and sucking that breadstick before the light turned green. But all of a sudden, someone honked their horn. I turned, in horror, to find a Bronco full of college guys pointing and laughing at me! They had watched the entire thing! And they knew that I had positioned myself carefully so that no one could see me!

What could I do??!?!

I laughed too. The kids were full of excited questions, "Who just honked? What's so funny? What are you laughing??" I replied, "Mommy is mortified and if I don't laugh, I will cry!"

And today I am thanking God for a sense of humor and for yummy food!

Have a great day!

(And now I am on Weight Watchers! I can suck a breadstick but it'll probably cost me 10 points!)

La T Da - Up and Running

Come see me at Angel's in Opelika!

Have a great day!