photo 59

Forrest requested Renee's Mountain Dew cake for his brithday. All of the ingredients were purchased yesterday. A last minute run to Target for a bundt pan was made last night. After I placed the ake in the oven this morning, I began to prepare the glaze...and relaized that I had failed to buy lemon extract and coconut extract. I had 24 minutes to get to Publix, buy the extracts and get back home to finish the glaze that "must be poured over the cake immediately after it is removed from the oven".

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I made a split second decision to turn into FoodLion because it approximately 3 minutes closer to my house...thus saving me a total of 6 minutes. I should have known better...seriously, who shops at FoodLion. How are they still in business?

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Of course they do not stock coconut extract...so I bought the lemon, raced home, and substituted vanilla extract for coconut...with 2 minutes to spare. I am going to let the cake sit over night...cross your fingers that the vanilla substitue didn't screw up the taste.

photo 58

His smile lights up the room. Have I mentioned that I am partial to freckles?

photo 57

Before we put our last house on the market, we had new carpet installed. After the first spill on the new carpet we bought a steam cleaner. The steamer made the move with us and we steamed up spill after spill and doggie accident after accident. Noone told us that steamers are bad for carpet. Noone told us that steam cleaning carpet causes the fibers to pull away from the backing. Now, we get to replace the carpet in the family room. Yay.

photo 56

Each time I cross an item off of my pre-trip to-do list, somehow it multiplies and three more tasks are added.

photo 55

This is Winston tattling on Marley. If she chews on something that is off limits he will sit in front of her and bark until we come and take the offending object away.

photo 54

Of all the books, websites and magazines we read while trying to reach a decison on becoming Saint Bernard owners, not a single one prepared us for the amount of shedding that occurs. Honestly, I am glad that we didn't know about the shedding. Knowing about the mass quantities of hair loss may have kept us from adopting a Saint ...and even though I have to sweep the hardwoods at least three times a day, I adore our doggies!

photo 53

Every Sunday, Mark helps the kids with breakfast while I shower. When he hears the shower water turn off, he brings me a cup of coffee to sip on while I finish getting ready for church. This has been our habit for a few years. On Valentine's Day, he gave me a new mug. He also made sure that the new mug would match our other mugs...because he knows me well enough to know that my OCD would trump my sentimental side and that a mismatched mug would eventually make it's way to the "give away" bag in the laundry room. Soooo...he received points for giving me a special coffee mug (which was a sweet nod to our Sunday morning tradition) AND he received bonus points for remembering that I do not like mismatched coffee mugs (which was a a practical nod to one of my many quirks).

photo 52

Blurry iPhone photo of my favourite son taken on our way to church where he will be helping to serve at the Seniors Banquet . I love him in a tie with his shirt sleeves rolled up. I love his eyes and his freckles. I love that he has great eyebrows. I love that he loves Jesus and church and doesn't mind serving. I love that I get to be his mom. I love him.

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I do not love that he will be 15 in a few weeks and graduating in three years and I do not love his hairdo...but I am choosing my battles and I am not prepared to go to the mat over his bad bangs.

photo 51

Mark has said that he will be working the entire time that we are in Vienna and has given Sarah and I strict orders to plan our trip as if he were not there...and if free time becomes available, he will be happy to tagalong to wherever we have planned to go. So...Sarah and I have been scouring travel websites and puring over this book...planning our *perfect* itenerary for Vienna...we work our lists in order of "musts", "maybes", and "if there's any time lefts". Fortunately we like to see and do most of the same things, and eat the same types of food...and we both like to schedule in downtime (umm...naptime would be a more accurate description).

photo 50

Cammie learned the story of the The Three Billy Goats Gruff this week. I had forgotten all about this fairy tale! She painted this billy goat to illustrate the story. Now, I realize that I may be a it partial...but is this not the-best-billy-goat-by-a-5-year-old that you have ever seen?

photo 49

We began Growth Groups a few weeks ago. Growth Groups are bible studies held in individual homes. The entire church is working on the same curriculum...The Purpose Driven Life. Growth Groups are a new concept for our church and we are so excited!

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*note: as of 3/8/09, a total of 16 people have been baptized in the name of Jesus as a result of GG's, several have been filled with the Holy Ghost! God is so good!!!

photo 48

Two very bad doggies decided that instead of chewing on their chew toys, they would chew on the basket that holds their chew toys.

photo 47

Just before evening service, Mark and I were talking with the youth Pastor at our church. He said "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you...Forrest and Cameron asked if we were having a get together tonight since school is out for President's Day tomorrow. I told them all of the guys were going back to your house after church. I was joking, but I don't think they know that".

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I'm glad that he gave us the heads up because right after church parents began asking us what time their kids needed to be picked up the next day. We sent the girls to Granny's house, stopped for pizzas and sodas and beat everyone here by a few minutes.

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15 teenage boys, 12 pizzas, 10 two-liters, 3 TVs, 3 gaming systems... Fortunately after 10 minutes of hearing them through the walls and floor I had a light-bulb moment. I remembered that we have ear plugs in our range bag that we use during target practice. Mark hopped out of bed and retrieved two pair...and we were able to sleep.

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This is about half of the debris. The furniture was moved around, lamps were taken off of tables, and we decided that a good time was had by all.

photo 46

We had agreed that we wouldn't exchange gifts for Valentine's day since our Vienna trip was only a few weeks away. Mark surprised me with these gorgeous roses, a coffee cup and and a card.

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I had bought him chocolate and a card, so when he gave me these, I turned around and gave him his...we've never been too good at following the rules.

photo 45

In a fit of domestic bliss brought on by my overwhelming love for my husband and our offspring, I labored over dozens of Valentine sugar and chocolate chip cookies, in addition to the heart-shaped cupcakes that I baked yesterday.

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Okay, so the cookies were break-and-bake and took all of an hour total. They looked really cute, the family felt loved and clean up was a SNAP.

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Evidently Winston thought the cupcakes were pretty tasty...he snagged 5 that were left uncovered on the counter while we were out running errands. He had the good sense to look guilty and avoid eye-contact after we got back home.

photo 44

I bought these heart shaped cupcake tins on clearance last year. Miraculously I remembered that I had them the day before Valentine's Day as opposed to the day after (which is typically how things of a domestic nature tend to go with me).

photo 43

Someone else has decided that the couch is much more comfy than the floor. Notice her "if I look really sad, maybe she won't make me move" look.

photo 42

If the girls' have had good behaviour at school throughout the week, on Friday they get an extra fifty cents to buy a "special" at lunch. If I eat with them, they get a special on that day as well. At first, they asked me to eat with them just about every day. Now, if I offer to have lunch with them on a Friday, they reply "Nahh...how about Monday or Tuesday"...they've figured out how to maximize their treat buying days.

photo 41

When we first began crate-training Winston, I felt guilty. I thought that it was mean to keep him cooped up in a crate...even though every book and website said the opposite. Our dog trainer insisted and because we still had fresh memories of Libby Lu and her house breaking issues, we went out and bought the largest crate we could find. We referred to it as his "room".

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Winston has been completely house broken for months. Marley inherited his crate when we adopted her. Now, when she comes out in the morning, he climbs in to nap. He has to curl up in this ball in order to even fit, yet everyday he takes at least one nap in "his room".

photo 40

The laundry room becomes the dumping grounds over the weekend. Inspite of constant reminders, the kids come in the back door and drop whatever is in their hands...toys, bags, shoes, clothes that have gotten dirty, suitcases, etc. It drives me crazy! I have to push everything to one corner to avoid tripping on the way in and out of the back door.

photo 39

For some reason Marley likes to burrow in between the bushes around the deck. She likes to gnaw on the mulch and bury her nose in the evergreen branches.

photo 38

Cammie comes up with the craziest outfits. She will get dressed and then come to me and strike a pose. This is always followed by "I got dressed. Do you like my outfit? Don't I look cute"?

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Today's enemble includes: a short sleeve leotard in honor of the warm weather, aqua velour leggings, a size 3t brown skirt and brown knee boots.

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She cracks me up and I absolutely love her (and her outfits)!

photo 37

Amy and I had lunch at The Chocolate Covered Strawberry (where they ran out of chocolate covered strawberries...how ya' gonna run out of chocolate covered strawberries at the chocolate covered strawberry????).Afterwards we decided to take advantage of the spring-like weather and do 3 miles in her neighborhood. Now I remember why I quit running cross-country...shin splints...not fun. I wonder if there are shoe inserts that will help with that? If not, I will be sticking to the treadmill/elliptical.

photo 36

This is me with really sweaty hair. My gym installed new elliptical machines this morning and I am so excited! I like to read while I am doing cardio...otherwise I get bored and will cut the work out short. The old ellipticals were not conducive to reading while operating...so I would use the treadmills instead. One hour on the treadmill equals about 210 calories...One hour on the new elliptical...520 calories! Yay new ellipticals!

photo 35

I volunteer in Chloe's class every Wednesday morning. When I leave, I pass by the gym...where Cammie's class is having PE. I love catching a glimpse of her through the doors, it always makes me smile. (pardon the poor picture...this was taken with my camera phone from far away...Cammie is the little blur in the doorway...they were doing some kind of interpretive dancing this morning).

photo 34

I spent a few hours on Sunday afternoon working in the back yard. Between the rain and the dogs, every speck of mulch had migrated from around the trees to the middle of the yard. It's nice to see dormant grass instead of a sea of mulch when I look out the kitchen window. I don't even want to think about how much work it will be to get the grass to fill in...

photo 33

Rachel and Madeline brought Belle over to celebrate Winstons first birthday. After chasing each other around the house for 15 minutes, they decided to take a break.

photo 32

Look what I found at the pet health food store...canine cookies for Winston's birthday. Are they not adorable???