Embrace Life

Flashback Friday

This is one of my favorite pics from July of 1974.  

I was 4. 

It was taken on the porch of my great grandmothers house.  

We called her Mama Bessie and 

I think she was in her late 80's in this picture.  

Don't you just love her hat? 

And my mom's hair?

And my snazzy overall shorts? 

What sweet memories! 

Schoolyard Taunts 2010

www.nataliedee.com

This comic CRACKED me up. What a HOOT!!!!

Week 8- Hiding God's Word in Your Heart

10 on Tuesday

10 things that Make Me Smile

1. This commercial. It's stupid but I crack up every single time I watch it.


2. This plate. It is so silly but how fun would it be to have one for each of your family members? I want to buy three but really can't justify it. 

3. Texting with my sweetest friend Dory (Which we do all. the. time. Seriously. You know it's bad when you send more texts a month than your 13 year old)  One day last week after a particularly rough day, we started texting and tweeting only in rhymes.  It was so funny and totally made me forget about my crappy day! 


4. New lipstick.  My beautiful and absolutely hysterical friend Donna had some gorgeous lipstick on the other day and so I ordered it from her (she sells Mary Kay) and I love it.  


5. Friends who are in the same room with you and send you funny emails during a frustrating meeting. (Friends like Donna and Mary Beth :)


6. Playing Words with Friends on my iPhone. Fun but addicting. Seriously. (My name is swtblessshan if you'd like to play)


7. Having Madison teach me a silly dance last night while standing in front of the bathroom mirror.  We only learned half but I was almost peeing in my pants from laughing so hard.  The beginning of the dance goes like this....................Don't make me snap my fingers in a Z formation, exclamation, celebration, booty rotation. HYSTERICAL. 


8. Friends who write on my Facebook wall. Why I love that so much? I have no idea. 


9. My cute new purse that Madison bought me for Valentine's Day.  So sweet of her to spend her own money on something I just said in passing that I really liked. LOVE that sweet girl to pieces. Every time I look at the purse it makes me smile- because it was from her and because it's cute.

10. That in exactly 31 days Dory is coming to see me. 31 days!!!!!! 

Can. not. wait.

 

Monday Morning Question of the Day

If you blog, tweet, and/or Facebook- this question is for you. 

Do you think that what you blog, tweet, and Facebook-

 portrays the REAL you?

Do you think that if someone didn't know you in real life

except from one or all of those three ways and then after a time met you, 

would they think you were exactly as they expected you to be?

Pics from my iPhone this past week

1. Confusing Austin sign
2. Cool lights in an Austin hotel
3. My beautiful friend Donna being funny
(She is so funny ALL THE TIME  she could be a stand up comedian- seriously.)
4. Soap that made me smile in the my hotel room last week
5. "It took alot of willpower, but I finally gave up dieting!"
6. Valentine cookies for DOGS
7. The cute new monogrammed ring I got while in Austin
8. My sweet friend Mary Beth sporting her conference backpack
(Mary Beth just started a blog this week- go visit her here!)
9. Me in the exhibit halll wearing some snazzy 3D glasses
10. Funny dog mat- Water, Nasty Dry Crap
11. Cute purse magnet that read "Life is full when it's full of friends!" 
12. Funny Sonic sign I made to send to my BFF
13. Shrimp flavored chips. EWWW!
14. "Every girl should be two things, classy & fabulous!"
15. Gummy fried eggs. Weird.
 16. A copy of the Run Pee page app for the movie Dear John to send to Dory who went to see it last weekend. 

Flashback Friday

There are a few things I love about this picture of

 my friend Gina and me taken when we were about 6 or 7 years old. 

1. It was taken on our front porch.  

We played many, many, many hundreds of hours on that porch.

 So many great memories of playing pretend using pine needles,

 pine cones, sawdust, and rocks as our props. 

(And boy have times changed haven't they? If I sent Madison outside at that age with

 nothing but pine needles, pine cones, sawdust, and rocks-

 she would have thought I was CRAZY! )

2. Please note the color of the house. 

 It was turquoise.  

BRIGHT turquoise.

That's what happens when you allow your

 two very young daughters to pick what color to paint your house. 

3. Our SNAZZY outfits. 

Check out those shoes, handbags, and hysterical wigs! 

Too funny!

Week 7- Hiding God's Word in Your Heart

10 on Tuesday

10 Things I say ALL the Time

1. Seriously.

2. Seriously? 

(1 and 2 are TOTALLY different. Seriously.)

3. Really?

4. Bless your heart.

5. Um (I wish this were not true but I can NOT stop)

6. Stink.

7. Snazzy.

8. I love you.

9. Have a great day!

10. Fun times. (Madison HATES this one)


Edited to add:


11. Happy to help!


12. You are very welcome.


13. Honey


14. Have you tried restarting your computer? NOT logging off, restarting?


15. How are you sweet girl?

What about you? 

Monday Morning Question of the Day

I'm the queen of getting things done on Saturday. 

 My motto has always been......get the work done, THEN we can play. 

 I've always thought that the house should be clean, 
the groceries purchased, 

and the laundry done, 
and THEN we can relax or do something fun. 

But my sweet friend Donna said something this past week

 that has made me rethink my Saturday motto.

We were talking about how quickly time
 passes as your children get older. 

She turned to me at one point and she said......

Those high school years will go by so quickly. 

Once she starts high school, you'll only have about 
200 Saturdays until Madison goes off to college. 

I counted it up and it's 237 from now. 
237? 

I thought about that all that that night and ever since. 

237 Saturdays until she's off to college. 

237 is not that many Saturdays. 

Not nearly enough. 

The question I keep rolling around in my mind is.....

 what do I want her to remember about how we spent our Saturdays?

Do I want her to remember that we ALWAYS cleaned?

Do I want her to remember that FUN was last on the list?

Do I want her to remember that a clean house

 was more important than us spending time together?

The answer to those questions is...

No

No

and HECK NO.

So this Momma is working on figuring out ways to move those
 Saturday "chores" to other nights of the week so that those 237 days, 
can be lived to the fullest! 




What about you?
Do you work or play on Saturday?

Happy Valentine's Day

Flashback Friday

This is one of my favorite pictures 

of my cousins- Eric, Greg, Quinn G, 

my Aunt Tootsie, my Uncle Quinn, and my sister and me

 (I'm the little one in yellow- my mom made that dress by the way).

Such a fun picture that just screams early 70's! 

Love my cool cousins shades!!

A Single Sheet of Paper

A Single Sheet of Paper is the work of Peter Callesen. 

 He uses a simple white sheet of paper to make some

of the most amazing artwork ever.

 It truly is incredible!

This is one of my favorites:

You simply must go check out his work. Amazing!

Week 6- Hiding God's Word in Your Heart

Seriously?

I came across a website the other night that had

some of the funniest items for sale EVER. 

I would see each item and think.............seriously?

Seriously?

Who comes up with this stuff?

Toliet Sound Blocker - 

A small little device that makes the sound of a toliet flushing

to hide any embarassing noises you might be making while going potty.

What a hoot!!!

Fire Flower Extinguishers-

They look like silk flowers but are actually fire extinguishers.

You are supposed to hang them in your kitchen and

 in the case of an oil/grease fire,

throw them into the pan to put out the fire.

Instant Cardboard Toliet Kit- 

 This folds out perfectly to become a comfortable

and safe seat for potty emergencies.

Lined with a plastic bag it's easy to continue to use the toilet

 over and over while still safely disposing of everything.

Made only of sturdy cardboard, this design

can amazingly support up to 180 kilograms (396 lbs.).

How crazy is that?

Monday Morning Question of the Day

I recently posted on Facebook the following status: 

I think there's almost nothing sexier than a man..... 

mopping my floor. 

I got many responses from that status- 

mostly women saying some sort of "Amen sister!"

And it made me think. 

Every person who commented mentioned how much they 

absolutely loved their spouse helping with household tasks. 

I know I certainly do. 

Especially when I haven't asked for that help. 

(since I absolutely suck at asking for help)

So my question today is......

From your spouse, would you rather have an actual gift

 or would you rather have them do some sort of act of service- 

without you asking for that help?

Flashback Friday

Look at that sweet smile! It was as pretty then as it is today! 

(And I love that I just got a text from that sweet girl 

I'm already at work and she's still at home- that said.......Flashback Friday????)

Pics from my iPhone this past week

1. cute new shoes

2. loved this bumper sticker: Real Men Love Jesus

3. a kid in that W store that had a CRAZY afro. seriously crazy.

4. hysterical bookmark I saw: 

I know God has a road map for my life, 

but did he have to put it on my thighs?

5. Madison imitating a weird looking doll 

we saw in a tea room this past weekend. 

she was a dead ringer.

6. funny sign I saw in an elementary school I did training in last week. 

7. cute monkey

8. iPod in a fun kid-proof holder used for an email to teachers 

about how to add flashcards to their iPods.

9. poor Belle after her surgery last week. she was pitiful. p.i.t.i.f.u.l.

The Day My Husband Completely Lost His Mind

Last week my husband was on vacation. 

He spent the week doing some things around the house

and did some much deserved relaxing. 

Friday he took me to school and then picked me up again at

the end of the day because we had planned to pick up

Madison and a friend and head to the movies right after school. 

As I walked out to the car, I saw that he was wearing a cap.

And I was scared.

Very scared.

Because in the over 10 years I have known him,

I have NEVER seen him wear a hat- EVER.

He doesn't like them and says they make him hot-

so he just doesn't wear them.

 I honestly didn't even know he owned one.

I got into the car rather hesitantly-

immediately saying

"WHY do you have a hat on?"

He gave me that sweet innocent little boy smile 

and I knew there was trouble. 

I said "OH NO, what did you do?"

So he took off his hat and showed me.

My 47 year old husband had gotten his haircut.

In a MOHAWK.

A MOHAWK!!!!

I was speechless.

Seriously speechless.

(For those who do not know him, he is so NOT a mohawk kind of guy)

Apparently earlier in the week he was driving Madison home from dance one night when he told her he was going to get his hair cut. He jokingly told her he was going to get mohawk. 

Madison made the mistake of saying

 "Oh no you are NOT going to get a mohawk!".

Well words like that to a man seem to

be not a statement, but instead a challenge.

And so he took it as such.

He had planned to cut his hair very short

 (It's a long story but he has a skin condition and saw the dermatologist earlier in the week who gave him

some prescription shampoo to use and he felt it would get to his scalp easier if his hair was very short)

and thought- why not?

(Had he asked me I could have thought of tons of reasons WHY NOT!)

Of course the silly man had the kind of hat on that has a cutout in the back-

 so his strip of hair showed through and looked absolutely ridiculous.

On the way to pick up Madison I made him stop at a store

and buy a hat that was fitted and went all the way around his head

since we were going to the movies and to dinner.
And made him swear to leave it on the whole time.

Madison was of course MORTIFIED.

Her sweet friend Amber thought it was hysterical-

 as did every single person that I told.

Of course my response to them was...........

"It's only funny because it's MY husband.

Trust me........it would NOT be funny if it were yours!"

(FYI......Tony shaved his mohawk off Sat and after doing the laundry,

mopping the floors and unloading the dishwasher, is no longer sleeping in the doghouse)

Week 5- Hiding God's Word in Your Heart

Thank you Christy for the verse suggestion!

Happy Birthday Dory

Today is my precious friend Dory's Birthday!

I know that I did not do a single thing in

 my life to deserve a friend like her,

but I thank God daily for putting her in my life

 and giving me the gift of my precious, sweetest friend.

She truly lives out the verse in Proverbs 17:17 that says......

A friend loves at all times, and a brother (sister) is born for adversity.

Not a day goes by that I don't talk to her

and I honestly can not imagine my life without her.

I love you Dory- Happy Birthday!

Now, will you please do me a favor and

go wish her Happy Birthday over at her blog?

Monday Morning Question of the Day

As a mom I've signed my fair share of permission slips.

Permission slips to go to the zoo,
to go on a field trip, to go on a church trip.

I was thinking the other day,

how neat it would be to give MYSELF a permission slip.

Because I don't know about you,

but I am harder on myself than anyone ever could be,

and it would be nice to give myself a break every once in awhile.

So today....

What kind of permission slip

would you like to give yourself?

I'll start.

I'd like to give myself permission to say

when something is bothering me,

instead of keeping it all bottled up inside
and pretending everything is peachy,
when it's not.

What about you?