Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Thursday 13.....#27....the letter G


  1. Greek: pasta is my favorite meal.


  2. Good: I am a Good.....no, a Great cook. (No room for modesty when I am on a G list.)


  3. Grandkids: I am one of 20 grandkids, 38 great-grandkids.


  4. Going: I wish I knew where we are going/moving this summer.


  5. Girl: I was a flag girl in highschool. (You can stop laughing now!)


  6. Gap: I love Gap's curvy petite cut jeans.


  7. Green: I bought these green bags to cut down on all the plastic coming into our home.


  8. Grew: I grew my bangs out while Husband was gone.


  9. Giant: I have a giant rusty star on my mantle.


  10. Get: It is almost time to get a pedicure.


  11. Going: I am going to get my oil changed tomorrow.


  12. Grab: Since I am leaving before the a$$ crack of dawn, I will need to grab a cup of coffee.


  13. Goofy: Per request from Aunt M and J, here are some pics of goofy kids standing in the parking lot of gymnastics.


Happy Thursday, y'all!

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

How 'bout them apples!

how 'bout them apples, originally uploaded by tommiea1.

Cheeky gave this to me! And you know the little post she wrote when she received it - I could have written the exact same thing so what am I gonna do - well I am gonna "post lift*" it (yes, that is a new word made up by Cheeky herself...feel free to lift it as well. So here we go:

"I have to admit, I am a nerd, and I always get so excited when I get awards or when people just comment on my posts. I actually will call my hubby at work and say "I have 20 comments" or "someone likes me and gave me an award."

All while, I am sure, his eyes are glazing over and he's thinking "why in the world did I marry this woman?" And then he remembers I have a nice.... sense of humor.

Anyway- for some reason Cheeky believes I am Excellent!! :) Thanks, for thinking I am excellent and thanks to anyone who actually reads this blog! I appreciate it.

See.....she said it perfectly - I couldn't have said it any better. Now....I get to pass this along to other EXCELLENT blogs.....Oh there are so many....so many indeed.

Janet of fond of snape




I've been shown some bloggy love by LaskiGal at From the Cheap Seats I just recently started reading her blog and I love it! Wanna smile, laugh, and have a good read. Check her out.

OK, so the rules for this awesome bloggy badge are just for me to spread the love to 10 more bloggeronies. This was tough to pick just 10 since I've met so many awesome people, so here's to hoping for more love to pass around. Here goes . . .

The Kept Woman
I am Derby

Libby of Schoolbooks and Shoes
mbkimmy
Mary Alice of From the Front Lines
Desert Diva
Jenni of Four Feet More
Lisagh of Grosgrain Garage
Tulip Mom
Wendy of Snips and Snails
Monica of Over My Head


I adore these blog authors . . . they are talented, funny, witty, and very lovable. Check 'em out!

Monday, February 04, 2008

Manic monday and wishful thinking



make a wish, originally uploaded by tommiea1.

Answers to Lisa's Manic Monday. Here's what she has this week:



Is there anything to serious to joke about? If so, what falls into that category for you? I am not much of a joker. I think in every little jab there is a bit of truth...so I just don't do it. If it makes someone feel bad, it is just not worth it.

Would you rather be a tortured genius or a happy simple-minded person? Why? I think a tortured genius....aren't most of them tortured anyway?

A dear friend or family member has a terminal illness and is in agony. He/she wants you to help him/her die. What would you do? I hope to never be in this position. But if I am, I would like to think I would be following the person's wishes. I know both Husband and I have living wills. I do not want to be kept alive on any kind of machine that would prolong my life. I have specific instuctions about what organs and such to be donated.

Just had to include this flower shot from a couple of years ago.....it was in the high 70s here today! The neighbors pool got cemented in.....it's really making me wish for flip flips and shorts!

Happy Monday, y'all.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

weekly winners

Hosted by Lotus, my favorites from this week:



From the uncasing ceremony last week
Loved the smoke in this one

some flags hanging in the entry to the building where Husband works


Look what is going in just down the road

The kids do flower arranging in the Practical Life area in their preschool classroom. This arrangement was made by a three year old!

Friday, February 01, 2008

Friday fill in


Do you remember the shot shot of Husband and Livi at the casing ceremony before he left for Iraq?






Today was the first formal day of back to work for Husband. His Division had the uncasing ceremony today.







All the homecomings are over. Everyone is officially back.






Today there was a formal cermony called an "uncasing" ceremony. Notice the guy holding the flag on the right? It is still in the "case" that they put it in to take over to Iraq.


It is a symbolic gesture of taking off the case that covers the flags or colors of each of the battalions that make up a brigade that make up a division of soldiers. Basically one Big Dog finished his job and another Big Dog took over.

This requires a Big Dog party!



and now the Friday fill in courtesy of the wonderful Janet


1. Once I was the only one of my friends to not have kids at 30!

2. I am finally over being sick.

3. Today at work I (is a stay-at-home-mom's work ever done?

4. What's Lost all about?

5. If I make a mistake I beat myself up about it.

6. When I woke up this morning, I thought I hope it isn't so windy today.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a glass of wine, tomorrow my plans include lots of laundry and Sunday, I want to work on scrapbooks!

Thursday, January 31, 2008

So so sore

I am finally feeling better. Last Friday my throat started hurting. Nothing bad, just a little tickle. Husband and I had a date on Saturday.

Still feeling just a little scratchy......by that evening, I felt like a Mack truck had run over me. I stayed in bed all day. The kids were so attentive. They kept my water glass filled, tissues at hand, and brought me everything they thought I needed.


Finally on Tuesday I started taking some antibiotics. Call me slow.....



This morning I could breath through my nose for the first time since this all started. I had the great idea to go to my aerobics class. It was a "lite" class, meaning it was all low impact with a bit of weight training at the end of cardio.



That Mack truck feeling from Sunday is back....and is sitting on my thighs....."lite" ! Yeah right!



Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Thursday 13.....#26....the letter F



Following the ABC theme for Thursday 13, I am on letter F :


1. Fairbanks, Alaska: This was our first PCS (Permanent Change of Station, Army speak for moving from one place to the next).



2. Furnished: When we first got there, we stayed in a FURNISHED hotel for almost six months while we waited for housing!



3. Friends: One of the quickest ways to make some FRIENDS is to get involved in whatever activity you can.



4. Formal ball: The battalion was planning a FORMAL ball.....oohhh, it was a FIELD artillery ball (bonus points for FA). I jumped right in and volunteered to help.



5. Full of ice: Remember, it was late November when we got there. Fairbanks, in mid winter is covered in ice. The parking lot the the place where the ball was being held was FULLY covered in ice. (think a huge ice skating rink)



6. Finger: While getting out of the Trailblazer, my gloved FINGER got caught in the door. The door locked, I could not get my FINGER out!



7. Felt: I have never FELT so much pain in my life. I basically went into shock. I do remember someone covering me in the softest cotton quilt. We rushed to the ER.



8. Flip off finger: Basically the entire nail had separated from the nail bed of my FLIP-OFF Finger (more bonus points!)



9. First: Talk about making a good FIRST impression on your new group of potential friends!



10. Fabulous: Here I am looking FABULOUS in my FORMAL gown, bandaged so nicely with my FLIP OFF FINGER held high in the air....."Hi, my name is Tommie, nice to meet you (giving them the bird the entire time)" ***I had to hold it above my heart because the throbbing was so intense!***



11. Freak: I hope I didn't FREAK too many people out....Truth be told, we ending up making many lifelong FRIENDS the three years we were in Alaska. We met all of them that night at the ball.



12. Food poisoning: Speaking of the ball, many people got FOOD poisoning that night!



13. Find: I tried to FIND a picture of the FABULOUS FLIP-OFF FINGER in a FORMAL gown at the FIELD Artillery ball....but there is no photographic evidence of this! I wonder why??


if you need to catch up:
A
B
C
D
E

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Archive meme....


I've been high-fived by Mango Marie. It's an archive meme. I've been blogging a little more than a year, but I'll give it a shot.

Anyway, here is the reason why this meme was started:


"I know that when I find a new blog that I want to visit again, I rarely have enough time to go back and read everything from the beginning (although sometimes I do!). I want to get to know that person, but it's hard to commit to reading all of the posts from the last 2 years!This meme is designed to make some of those old posts readily available to those who may be new to your blog, or even those who are regulars, just not from the start."

And, here are the rules:
Go back through your archives and post the links to your five favorite blog posts that you’ve written. But there is a catch:

Link 1 must be about family.

Link 2 must be about friends.

Link 3 must be about yourself.

Link 4 must be about something you love.

Link 5 can be anything you choose.

Post your five links and then tag five other people. At least TWO of the people you tag must be newer acquaintances so that you get to know each other better. Readers - don’t forget to read the archive posts and leave comments!

SOOOO, here I go!

Family :my post for when Husband told me he was deploying, I think this sums up much about us as a military family.

Friends: this post is about making new friends

Me - I couldn't decide between When my camera broke and used old pics to post our "move history" and my 100 things about me for my 100th post


Something I love or should I say someone? This was easy: Tuesday Update: Thursday 13.......#20.....Our hero's homecoming





After going through all of these, I guess this last year was really about surviving a 15 month deployment. I have never felt like a "military advocate"...but most of these are about just that....being a military wife. That was fun......feel free to consider yourself tagged if you haven't done this one.

Monday, January 28, 2008

sick of being sick

head hurts, runny nose
coughing, sore throat, I am sick
Make it go away

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Weekly winners

Hosted by Lotus, my favorites from this week:


the tip of an obelisk in the front flower bed


a hummingbird feeder

another feeder


oohhh, Look at that!

that's a big digger ***No, we are not getting a pool! We are moving this summer.....But the neightbors are putting in a pool.***

How cool!!

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Paying it forward

I have been meaning to get these out: better late than never I say!

Mama Geek granted me these.












I am paying it forward to: Tulipmom and Wendy......for such a winning attitudes. It never ceases to amaze me how each of these women can find something positive in the everyday things!







I am honored MamaGeek claimed me as a blog buddie. Thanks so much! Go check her out she takes amazing photos and is quite funny as well!

I'm forwarding it to these blog buddies:

You may have gotten it already but I don't care - I puffy-pink-heart y'all. I read each of these blogs every day.....hope you find some new reads, these will definitely make you laugh.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Thursday 13.......#25th ......the letter E



Following the theme, this week I bring you letter E.



1. etsy : I have only bought stuff on there for baby gifts or friends....but the stuff looks so fun.

2. ER: I made my goal of not going to the ER during the deployment.

3. Earrings: I wear the same pair every day, makes me wonder why I have a jewelry box full of others.

4. Ears: I pierced the cartilage near the top of ear when I was 26.

5. Enrolled: I was enrolled K-12 in the same school district in podunk Oklahoma.

6. Education: I furthered my education at the University of Oklahoma.

7. Empty sink: I go to bed with an empty sink 95% of the time.

8. Early riser: NOT

9. Ebay: I have bought and sold on Ebay.

10. Encyclopedia: As a child I used to read encyclopedias.

11. End: I wish the end of not knowing where we are going next would come.

12. Email: I have had the same email address (Except I did change one letter) since 1996.

13. Each child was induced at 38 weeks due to preeclampsia.


if you need to catch up with
A
B
C
D

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Finish this sentence

I saw this at Patti's blog, and I thought it would be fun since I have nothing important to say! Let me know if you play too!

Finish the sentence with the first thought that comes to your mind.

I know....I like a clean house.

I believe...in miracles.

I fought.... with Husband for the first time since he got back last weekend.

I am angered....by things not going as I want them to

I love....my husband and kids more than anything

I need....some alone time with my husband

I take.....time to blog

I hear....the the pig dog, Josie snoring (and don't you know I moved her bed so I don't have to smell her toots!

I drink.....(changing it to I am drinking) hot tea now. It is colder than (I'll let you fill in the blank, but the one I am thinking rhymes with witches mitt).

I hate....messy counters

I use.... a Canon digital SLR

I want.....a new flash for my camera.

I like.....this new bag I saw at Banana.

I feel....thankful.

I wear....jammies, wedding ring, solitaire earrings.

I left....a little girl sleeping in her bed about thirty minutes ago.

I do..... make the kids pick up their toys before bath time.

I hope...we go on a date this weekend.

I dream....about taking a vacation to the beach.

I drive....a Volvo XC70 wagon

I listen....to kid music when I drive them to school (lately Husband has been doing this!)

I type..... horribly on this laptop ( I must run spell check every time.)

I need... more Splenda in my tea.

I wish...the kids would sleep in their own beds all night long!

I am.... having a give-a-way: If anyone is in need of two new packages of 3T princess or Dora pullups, let me know, they are yours! I need the closet space.

I regret.... some things but not much

I care.... how clean my house is.

I should....move the vacuum cleaner to where it belongs.

I am.... a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend.

I said....twinkle, twinkle, little star to Livi as she went to sleep.

I wonder....if school is going to be cancelled tomorrow.

I changed....or I should say Livi changed clothes three times today. What is it with girls?

I cry...hardly ever, UNLESS I am "being a woman", then the floodgates open at the craziest things.

I lose....pens all the time.

I leave... as much negativity behind as I can

Monday, January 21, 2008

manic monday



Answers to Lisa's Manic Monday. Here's what she has this week:

If you had to be named after one of the 50 states, which would it be? Wyoming, then I could be called Wy.....I seem to answer that question alot these days.



Where do you go for advice? Husband, friends, mom


What is the sickest you’ve ever been? Probably when I went in for the normal "girl" routine check at the OB/GYN....she is doing THE exam, and she says, "Oh wow!" I am like, "Chick, don't say 'oh wow' when you are looking at my girl parts!"


While you normally scheduled your next year's exam as you were going out the door, they were able to get me in the next week to see the doctor again. I had some bad cells on my ovaries. She thought was going to do an exploratory surgery....but ended up removing an ovary. The other one was fine....thank goodness. I have an ugly wrinkly scar, but I did have one working ovary left.



Speaking of sick....I have a sick boy at home now. He was happy to get breakfast in bed. We moved a little tv in his room. He watched cartoons all day.




Sunday, January 20, 2008

Organizing tips from Tommie #3...kids toys

Stella asked, "How about the kiddos? What tips do you have to organize their stuff? "


First, I am so glad to be out of the age where they were in exersaucers, swings, tummy time mats, etc. We do have some toys in the living room, but not so many that it is overwhelming. I am assuming Stella meant toys. If you meant clothes or closets or something else, let me know. I am not saying I am an expert on organizing, but this is what works for us.



To keep the interest of the toys at hand, I rotate the toys. I have three bins of toys (stored in the garage), as well as the ones in the house. I have them set up in "themes": 1. Planes, trains and automobiles, 2. dinosaurs, ABCs, and barnyard 3. (the one in the house now) is colors, numbers, shapes.

I have two bookshelves in the living room. The bottom half is for the kids. These baskets have some of the toys from the colors, numbers, and shapes bin. The blue thing on the upper left if a puzzle stacker. I used to be a teacher before kids. I got that from some teacher supply catalog. The only thing I don't like about it is that puzzles with pegs don't fit in it. That shelf is deep enough though that the ones with pegs can be stacked behind the stacker.

edited to add: The baskets are the Sabrina baskets. The cubbies are from Target. I put those together myself....so they are pretty easy if you have an electric screwdriver. The pink and green buckets are actually from Walmart. They are a bit sturdier than the ones from Target. (Though Target has some leather ones now, that I would love to get for the office/playroom.)

I am almost embarrassed to post this pic above. Once I took it, I realized I really need to dust down there! Oh well, this is the true blue me....but you know as soon as I saw it, I had to clean it!! More toys from the colors, numbers, shapes. The basket on the bottom holds things that are so large they don't fit in the baskets. This time it is filled with a bunch of those Leapfrog toys...the Tad, Lily, ABC Caterpillar, some ABC bus thing.

That is all of the toys in the living area. They do have some in their room.....

Livi has a bigger closet than Will does, so she has two of these cubby things. Each bucket holds one group of toys: dress up clothes, babies, Cinderella toy, CareBear stuff, hats, Dora stuff, Miss Spider toy, and doll clothes. Off to the right are two bins: one for clothes I buy a season ahead. The other bin is for clothes that are too small. We send these to a cousin. Once the bin gets full, I bag it and put it in the attic. Off to the left is a basket of stuffed animals. I really want to get rid of them, but can't bring myself to toss them yet!



Will closet is a bit smaller, so his cubby is smaller. His mainly has dinosaurs, cars, boy stuff. I just noticed he has a blue bucket in here. These are the same sized as the ones from the art stuff in the office . So he must have traded one of the "projects" in there for one of his in his room. The baskets in the living room also fit in their cubbies in their closets.

The thing I like best about using the cubby system is even as young as one and two, they are able to put stuff back in the buckets. We try to only have one bucket per kid out at a time. It doesn't always work that way, but we do try.


Finally, for things that need to be hung up, I love those hooks by 3M that have the removable adhesive. We have two of these hooks on the back of the door in their rooms.


My last little piece of Tommie tips: I am a firm believer in "One toy in, one toy out"....meaning every time the kids get a new toy, one gets donated to the cousins or Goodwill. They have to decide where it is going to "live" <-----which bucket it is going to go into, or which bin it will go into if they want it to go into the toys that get rotated. We change out the toys every three weeks or so. I can usually tell when they are bored with the ones in the living room, so we drag the next one out and do a switcheroo!

More pics on my Flickr....click on the badge and it will take you there.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Weekly winners


Hosted by Lotus, my favorites from this week:

cap of happiness.....Molson Canadian

rain, rain, go away


pineapple salsa, aka yummalicious


sleep walking....she feel asleep after taking two steps...this is around 11 at night

where'd your nose go, little girl

Apparently I didn't take very many pics this week......Happy Sunday, y'all