Guess Who I Saw??? (and a busy weekend!)

You can probably guess what my FAVORITE TV show is!!!

My MOST favorite show in the whole wide world is Jon & Kate Plus 8! I faithfully park myself in front of the tv to watch every Monday night. I know....I know.....there are tabloid rumors going around right now about this family, BUT that doesn't make me like their show any less! Let's just say that Kate and I have some very similar qualities (hello--notice the control issues?)

Imagine my delight when I got an email that Kate was going to be in Lakeland doing a book signing tour for her new book (yes, I have BOTH her books)!

Cecil's cousin, Jennifer, and I loaded up Sunday after church and headed down to Lakeland so I could get my "Kate" fix!

Here is me SO VERY EXCITED about meeting and seeing Kate!!


And waiting in line to get my book(s) signed!


Finally, we got to the front of the line and since Kate is under contract to sign hundreds of books per hour, we didn't get to chit chat much, but while she was signing my book, I was able to tell her how much I loved the show and that I watch it faithfully--to which she responded "Thank you so much!" She was friendly, although not too friendly, because she was having to sign so many books...but...both of my books are now signed by THE Kate Gosselin!






And you thought you waited a long time in lines before? Check out the line at the bookstore! We arrived at 3:45 and the signing started at 5pm--we were out of the store by 5:45, but look at these poor people, standing in the heat! Ugh!

Since I watch Jon & Kate so much, I just HAD to drive 2 hours away to have Kate sign my books......what's your favorite TV Show?

On a side note...........
Remember my other post about cleaning up the yard and the house this past weekend? I got everything on my list done and even a few things that weren't! We "rented a Devil" (the football players at WHS had a fundraiser) and he worked at our house in the yard for about 4 hours on Saturday morning! He pressure washed our front and back porch, the garage and the shed, washed my van, helped Cecil do a few things, and cleaned off the boys' trampoline and swingset! He was great help and we got SO MUCH done! Now, if the inside and outside would just stay that way............(sorry-no pictures, but trust me--it's CLEAN!)

The fact that I met Kate Gosselin AND got my house all clean in one weekend? That is sheer delight!

Now...I'm off to heat the boys up some leftovers (I know--I'm a terrible mother) but this mother is SICK, and home with no husband. Yucky nose, sore throat, fever, chills, the whole nine yards.


~CB~

Count Your Blessings!

Count Your Blessings name them one by one....many of us are familiar with the old hymn. We don't sing it in the church Cecil and I go to (or at least I've never heard it in the 28 years I've been going there)...maybe one time....anyhow--How many of us REALLY stop to count our blessings?

My list would go on and on and on...The Lord has blessed Cecil and I abundantly! (more than we could think or ask!) One of our truest blessings are our friends! (and our kids, but geez...they get all the posts, so I'm giving this one to our friends!)

I'm not even going to try and name our friends, because inevitably, I'll leave someone out and they will get their feelings hurt (I would too!) so I'll not try!

In the last year or more, we've really become good friends with Travis and Cori W. and Greg and Jill L. Cecil does business with Travis and he and Cori also go to the same church we do. Cori and I get along great since the first time we met and she is just so stinkin' sweet! We get along fabulously and all enjoy going out as much as staying in. On Valentine's Day, Travis helped Cecil work cows and then instead of us all going out to dinner that night, we had scrumptious food right here at my house! And had a blast just chatting! (yes, I know that wasn't a complete sentence, but hopefully my English teachers aren't reading this)

Greg and Jill were introduced to us by Travis and Cori, and they are FUN as well! You'd have thought Cecil and Greg grew up together and I just LOVE Jill--she's so down to earth and I feel like I've known her forever too!

Recently, Travis and Cori got married and Cecil was an usher in the wedding and Greg was a groomsman. I directed the wedding and Jill was my co-director (little did she know she was going to have to help me keep 'em all corralled).

Here's a picture of the bride and groom before the wedding.......


After the wedding and after the bride and groom left, Cecil & I and Greg & Jill went back to the hotel and grabbed some snacks, then sat on the pool deck and chatted for at least an hour or so....just winding down from the day and having a good time!

A picture of us 4 the next morning after breakfast (which was OH so delicious!)


Cecil and I are counting our FRIENDS as one of our blessings! We love you Travis and Cori and Greg and Jill!

No Cavities! A Trip to the Dentist!

Can I get an AMEN?!!?!! We went to the dentist (by "we" I mean Nolan and Carter) today and both the boys did SO GOOD and neither one had any cavities! Yahoo!


I'll admit that I was slightly nervous (okay, I had prepared myself for the worst) going in because of all the candy and sugar the boys have had lately with Easter being only a week behind us. Also, Nolan has horrible teeth, bless his heart --he had a LOT of problems last year with his teeth and we spent thousands to get them all fixed and back on the right track (yes, you read that right). We went to a different dentist previously and he did not fill a cavity properly (apparently) and it spread into the root of one tooth and into a tooth touching it, and on and on and on. It was terrible....poor Nolan had to have surgery to fix it all.

Carter however, has great teeth and there is spacing in between them that is supposed to be there and his are looking good so far.

We LOVE LOVE LOVE our dentist--he is in Lake City, so you know we must LOVE him or else I would NOT be driving that far just for a dentist!

Dr. G.B. has a great waiting area and the boys enjoyed playing in there before they were called back.


Dr. G. B. is wonderful with the boys and both my boys LOVE their hygienist K.!


Carter was in and out of the chair so fast afterward, that I did not get a picture of him....sorry...maybe next time.

Way to go Nolan and Carter! No cavities! Just what a momma wants to hear! (& needs to hear after a trip to the dentist after a sugar filled Easter holiday!)

~CB~

Springtime Organization.....or lack thereof!

I'm fairly certain I've done a blog on this before, or maybe not? Oh--maybe it was just a picture of a nice clean, playroom and pantry! Rest assured neither looks like that now, hence the reason I'm not posting a picture on this entry! ha!

With springtime (usually) comes that small burst of energy which gets one off the couch and into "spring cleaning" mode. I'm there. Really. I am. (if I say that 100 times, I will convince myself). Those that know me, really KNOW me, know that I'm a stickler for organization and cleaning! I find that the more chaotic my life gets though, especially these last few weeks, I just walk right by the MOUNDS of laundry (some mine, some the hubby's, the kids, and yes, even laundry of kids that aren't mine), not to mention the kitchen, the living room, the playroom, the dining room, and yes, even the formal room needs some attention. Trust me. No, I'm not showing you pictures.

Thus, my goal for this weekend approaching (slower than I would like) is to get the house all nice and sparkly-yes, I know my kids will ruin it faster than Dale Earnhardt, Jr. can do a lap, but still. I want it clean. Yes, for only 2 seconds. Cecil and someone else will be working on the outside pressure washing the garage, cleaning out the gutters and moving some things into the shed and I'll be working on the inside.

A clean house is to me, sheer bliss. Oh--and if you're wondering........(scroll down)--

YES! I have a list made up! hee-hee
-garage
-wash car
-gutters
-inside of house (bathrooms, kitchen, rooms, etc.)
-laundry
-flip mattresses
-clean out closets
-get rid of too small winter clothes (boys)
-menu
-grocery list
-mail out school pictures of the boys
-balance checkbooks (that shouldn't be too hard--there's no money in them)
-clean out shed (if I'm lucky)
-more, more, more!

Happy Cleaning!

Aaahhh...the peacefulness of a clean house.

An Easter Weekend!

Disclaimer: It's a LONG one!

Did y'all have a good Easter? We did! It was busy, but good!

Looky here! The Easter Bunny hit our house in the middle of the night on Saturday to deliver Easter baskets and all sorts of goodies! Poor little 'ole youngins don't get 'nothin for Easter!

Here's the boys (and by boys, I do mean all of 'em, cause our other one was back this weekend), with their Easter baskets on Easter morning!






Here's the family all dressed up for church, color coordinated of course. AND, is it coincidence that our "third son" color coordinated too? I didn't even tell him what color to bring and he ended up matching us! We laughed and laughed about that one! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, read my previous post about color coordination on Easter Sunday! Ranks right up there with indoor plumbing and hair paste for me! (which clearly I should've used more of on Sunday morning--ugh)

A group of our friends and us after church--in our Easter finest! We are so blessed to have great friends!

After we got home from church, it was of course lunchtime, then naptime! Is this not the CUTEST thing you have EVER seen? Carter took a nap in his bed, like always, and Damon took a nap on the couch, like always. When Carter woke up from his nap, he crawled up on the couch with Damon--JUST DARLING!


Sunday evening, we went to Alachua to eat dinner with Cecil's maternal grandparents. The boys had a great time playing outside, hunting eggs, and petting the cows (yes, I said petting the cows--do you hear banjos?)

Both my boys LOVE their Uncle Edward (Cecil's brother) and Aunt Nancy! Here's the gang!

Aunt Nancy spoils Carter--he loves for her to hold him and she obliges him every chance she gets! (yes that's a tag hanging off the back of Carter's hat--Uncle Edward gave him the hat and there was still a tag on it and of course, Carter wouldn't take it off long enough for us to cut the tag)

We walked up the lane to Cecil's Aunt's house and let the kids see somewhat of a zoo (they have peacocks, turkeys, guineas, cows, chickens and who knows what else)! Here's a few pictures of everyone enjoying the "zoo"


Yes, my friends, I have seen it all--here's a peacock on their ROOF. Can you believe that?

I just absolutely love Cecil's grandparents! They are such good people and would just do anything for anyone! I couldn't resist getting a picture of them and the boys!

Remember last post when I said that our good friends gave Nolan and Carter cute little Easter baskets? Here's a picture of the cutest basket on earth--these friends of ours SPOIL my youngins' rotten (as if they weren't already!) Here's my motto: You can spoil 'em as much as you want to as long as they don't ACT spoiled!


Even though the candy, family, color coordination, etc. etc. is wonderful on Easter, I am most thankful that HE arose and we can live with HIM again one day! (that & to hear my mom say she was proud I color coordinated on Easter! hee-hee)

~CB~

Here Comes Peter Cottontail....(& it's Prom night too!)

It's no secret that I LOVE LOVE LOVE to put together gift baskets and things of that nature! Imagine my delight during Easter when I get to do baskets for my kids and their teachers! Even more to my delight, our "third son" will be back this weekend and bless his little ole' heart, he couldn't go without a basket on Easter morning, so I whipped him up one too! (even if he is 18!)

This is a picture of the "goody" basket--i.e. the basket with the toys, books, washcloths that expand in the water, sand toys, band-aids, etc. (you know, fun stuff!)

A better picture of exactly what's in these fantastic baskets from good ole' Peter Cottontail!


These, my friends, are the candy baskets! Loaded to the brim with nothin' but good candy!!!
(you see the whole bag of Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate?--what other 5 year old do you know that LOVES dark chocolate?--leave it to mine!)


Here's our "third son's" basket--I think he'll like it, what do you think? What teenager doesn't like junk food, candy, and sunflower seeds?


If you're one of Nolan or Carter's Sunday School or Children's Church teachers, stop reading now...just scroll right on by this part....(hopefully none of them are reading this before Sunday....) Here are the SS baskets and CC baskets--cute, huh? (see, I told you I LOVE doing this type of thing!) It's just so fun to buy all the cute little stuff and put it all together!

And this is only SOME of the candy I had leftover after putting the baskets together.....again, no, I'm not on a diet--HA!



On the candy note, one of our good friends, Molly and Harley W. gave Nolan and Carter cute little Easter baskets the other day at baseball practice....I didn't get a picture yet, but I will, and I'll post it!

Look for a blog early next week on our Easter outfits (yes, they coordinate!)--would any true Southern woman NOT color coordinate for Easter? Be still my heart, honey--you better color coordinate for Easter! It ranks right up there with learning how to make homemade biscuits!

I'm trying to learn to be more thankful for my everyday blessings (healthy children, a nice house, a good husband who works hard, great friends, great family, and on and on) rather than than wishing and wanting my life away on things I don't have and don't need--suffice to say at this time of year (Easter), I am MOST thankful that Jesus conquered death, arose again, and I can live with him forever (one day!) Hello? Can you say MAJOR blessing? MAJOR thing to be thankful for?

Today is Thursday (and it's late, and I need to be in BED)--but...it was PROM night! Our "third son" is a Senior, and looked so handsome in his nice black tux! We ran by the gazebo after Nolan's t-ball practice this afternoon to get pictures and help get flowers situated--(that's why I look a hot mess with my hair all flyaway and no make-up)

Hopefully he'll have a great time tonight and make lots of awesome memories....
Until then....y'all have a great weekend and a Happy Easter!

~CB~(I can "officially" type CB now, cause I FINALLY got my name legally changed--yeah, that's a whole 'nother blog post!)

EASTER decorations and candy!

I am still sad and will be forever, over the loss of a great friend, but I know she would want us to keep living.......that being said, I couldn't sit around my house this afternoon when I got home from work. Cecil was at a baseball game coaching and I had to keep my hands busy!

Remember this?



Here's what it turned into!!! What do you think? I like it, but want to move some of the eggs higher up on the tree--and I might put it in the center of my dining room table (the formal table) rather than this side stand......(and Carrie--yes girl! That glitter is the BEST!)







Amazing what a little energy, crafter's glue, glitter, ribbon, and a hot glue gun can do huh?

I love to decorate for holidays, but Christmas and Easter are my favorites--well, scratch that--Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving/fall are my favorites to decorate for--I love to do big, fun Easter baskets too! I got TONS of stuff last weekend to start creating the boys' Easter baskets with, but have not had time to actually start "stuffing" them yet.


Speaking of baskets, who likes Easter candy? I DO! I DO! Check this out!


Suffice to say the boys won't lack any sugar on Easter morning!
What is your favorite Easter candy? Here's mine!!


I LOVE LOVE LOVE the marshmallow chicks, ducks and bunnies, and the SweetTart chicks, ducks, and bunnies (as evidenced by the empty package--who said I was on a diet?--that was like 15 posts ago, ha-ha!)

Happy Easter everyone!