Wednesday, December 30, 2009

AHHHHHH, The Teenage Years.....


I normally don't write about Patrick because he is a teen and gets mad when I do......you know how teenagers are.....too cool for their mom....but this one takes the cake........

As usual, any normal day, mundane task for anyone else, always turns into some kind of circus for me. This morning didn't let me down in the excitement. Brady and I were the only ones home this morning....Katie and Bren had spent the night with friends....Brian had taken Patrick to baseball practice......Brady and I had slept in since it was such a yucky, rainy day. At 9:15 I get a call from Patrick saying that baseball practice was cancelled due to rain.....he said he was gonna run the bridge and meet me on the other side.....Ummmmm, ok, the bridge is 4 miles but whatever.....he'd be on the other side by the time I got there. I scoop poor sleeping Brady up and throw him in the car and away we go....... as we are on our way, almost to the bridge, Cody (my nephew) calls to say he didn't want to run the bridge.......I tell him "no problem baby, I'll come pick you up on the other side" since Patrick should have been halfway to the other side by now......Cody tells me nomam, Patrick is right here.......{Patrick had called me before he had even reached the bridge so by the time Cody called they were just getting to it} I told Cody to tell Patrick to STAY PUT!! I'm almost there!! If he goes then he is gonna haft to walk home!!!!

Guess what? He did it anyway!! I go to pick Cody up and by this time I was determined to not let him win this one. So I pass him leisurly strolling on the bridge....in the cold rain....I toot the horn and keep on going. Whhhooooo I'll show him whose boss!!!! I really was contemplating leaving him to walk all the way home....but decided against it....I'm not THAT cruel. Cody and I pull over at the end of the bridge to wait and wait and wait for him. Finally after waiting a good 45 minutes, I decide to go back over the bridge to check on him.....well, you know it was raining and everything was wet.....when I put the car in reverse....it starts spinning....mud flying everywhere!!! Stuck!! I put it forward and then back in reverse and spin and rut my way out of it......all on this construction sites property!! Oh my, if they would have seen me they would have not been happy! I just thank God I got outta there and wasn't stuck. We just got to do a little "mud riding"!LOL

We get back on the bridge and see Patrick......drive all the way to the Bay and back again.....by this time he had walked the entire bridge.......he was laughing.....saying he told me he was gonna walk the bridge.......Cody was calling him an "idiot" and took a picture for me so I could put it on here....I will when he sends it to me.......I think I won this one.....by public humiliation!~AND he is grounded for the rest of his life!!!

So, how was your morning?????

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Remembering Gina

2009 Will always be remembered as the year that we lost a friend, but gained an Angel.....It is still hard to believe that she is gone. It is impossible to drive thru Homewood, Ms and not think about her. It still breaks my heart to think how quickly that illness worked. I know that when someone dies, people always speak good of them, and say things like "so full of life", and "everybody loved them".......but with Gina, that is truly the way that is was. I can honestly say that in the 39 years of my life I have never heard of one person to ever say anything negative about Gina Burns. She was one of those people that everybody liked. She was the kind of person that would go out of her way to help someone. She was always doing stuff for the church, school, chamber....anything that needed done or to help anyone who needed help. I can still hear her laugh and her voice.....I will never forget it. I can't even imagine all the countless number of kid's lives that she touched as a school teacher. There really will not ever be anyone ever else like her. You are beautiful Gina, inside and out......I love you!
My prayers are with her fiance' that is fighting a battle of his own......I know Gina is looking over you Paul.......be strong and keep fighting.....but take solace in knowing that Gina loves you and is waiting on you with open arms..............


"Santa Baby" Wine Glass

I took some close-up pics of the cute wine glass my sister gave me...They are the cutest goblets I have every seen! Hilarious! I absolutley love it! It reminds me of that song..."Santa Baby"!!;-)



Here is what it looks like from the inside....
Thanks Wendy! I love you!!






Saturday, December 26, 2009

Merry Christmas Yall!!

My sister Wendy came Christmas Day for our annual Christmas Dinner. I always look forward to this day.....it is so much more laid back and relaxing than all the hustle and bustle before Christmas. The kids are all happy because Santa has already came and they keep busy playing with all their goodies.
My sister gave me the cutest goblet for my birthday. Tomorrow I will take some close up shots of them so you can see just how cute they are.

Loving my glass!!
My sweety-pie husband got me a birthday cake since I didn't have one on my "real" b-day.....which was better anyway because I wanted my sister with me when I blew out the candle:-)
Of course, I only allowed them to put ONE candle on it!! I didn't want to burn the house down!!haha
Brian even iced my name on the cake!
The Maniac Mommy getting all the love from her boys!!
Every year ever since we were little girls, our Mom has always gotten us matching pajamas.......Wendy and I have continued on with the tradition.
They are so comfy that I had to stay in them all day today!
My friend Jan came over to wish us a Merry Christmas!
We continue with the tradition with our own daughters too.....
We love dressing our girls alike....I only wish my niece Natalie would have been with us too!

We had a wonderful time and I miss them already, now that they have left. I really did have a great birthday and a very Merry Christmas! We ate so much food, Brian baked a turkey and a ham, and my Aunt Jane had given me one of her famous Dressings......plus all the side dishes we had....we ate and ate.....til we couldn't eat any more!:-)
Uncle Mike ate so much that he could hardly move........Wendy took this snap shot of him so we could have proof of just what he did all day........sorry Mike!:-) LOL

I hope everyone had as wonderful of a Christmas as I did. A Very Merry Christmas!!!
















Friday, December 25, 2009

And That's Why My Name Is Christie Carol...

December 24th, 2009 was the last birthday I will ever have in my 30's!! I guess when you think of the alternative to get older......it doesn't seem that bad. I actually embrace getting older. I'm wiser than I was in my early 30's......and a LOT more wiser than I was in my 20's!!ha I have always loved having my birthday on Christmas Eve. People have always asked if it was bad but it was always wonderful to me. My mom and dad always made me feel special on my birthday and all my aunts, uncles and cousins always made time to sing happy birthday to me and give me a birthday cake. My husband and children have taken over the reigns now and I must say Brian does an awesome job too! We did some last minute shopping and then he took me to a Japanese Steak house to eat a birthday lunch. Our Chef master did a great job and was so sweet! He even bought me a sushi roll for my birthday! How nice was that??!!
We stayed home this year since it is so hard to travel with 4 kids....we'd need Santa's sleigh to transport all the goodies! So we stayed on the Coast and went to Brian's Moms house. All of his brothers and sister came too.
Kristi and Christie
Courtney, Me, Kristi and Bridgett
Gram in the middle of all her girls!
I always enjoy spending Christmas with my in-laws. As I've mentioned before.....I have the greatest Mother-In-Law in the whole world. She is more like a mother to me.....and she always make me feel special on my birthday.
Brian and all his brothers....John, Hank, Brian, Sean and Mark
My niece and her boyfriend Hayden
Since they have always made time out to sing to me for my birthday, I am sure Gram had gotten me a birthday cake.......but of course nothing ever goes as planned in my household. The Maniac Mommy strikes again!.......................We had been at my in-law's house for about 30 minutes, when my son, Patrick (my 15 yr old) comes up to me complaining that he didn't like the tea he had just drank. I told him to shake it off.....no big deal....the next thing I know my b-i-l comes up to me and says I need to go check on my oldest son.....he was outside on the front porch on his hands and knees throwing up!! And in the middle of that, Katie comes out complaining that she feels sick! So I run inside and get hubby and make him take Katie, Patrick and I home. I felt so bad for them missing out on the family festivities.....and poor Patrick felt terrible for making me miss my birthday party. But that's what being a mommy is all about and I would much rather be with my children when they need me! I had one kid laying on one couch and the other kid on the other couch. I wanted to take a picture of them to post on here but Patrick wouldn't let me! I wonder why??LOL
They are feeling much better now, and all the kids were so excited to wake up and see what Santa brought them.....
Katie with her new pink bike......
Brady and Bren
I hope everyone had a safe and Merry Christmas!! I know I did and I'm so thankful for my wonderful family....











Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Ladies Night Out!

Last night me and some of the gals from my neighborhood went out for a little Christmas get together and also to celebrate my birthday........which is Christmas Eve! We had so much fun! I had forgotten how much fun it is to kick back with the girls. We really should do it more often! Friends are so important in our lives......sometimes when your a mom, you lose your identity along the way and being with your friends reminds you of who you are....you can be yourself, act goofy, laugh and cut up and they still love you! For that I am thankful.....so this post is dedicated to all my friends who I love so much!!
To my girls!!!!
Camille, Amy, Me, Candace, Tara and Jan
Camille, Amy, Me, Candace, Tara and Jan
Camille and Me
Amy and Candace
Me and Camille
Candace and Tara



Thanks girls!! I love you!!





Thursday, December 17, 2009

As The Old Saying Goes...If It Can Go Wrong...It WILL!

After the fiasco with my dog getting loose yesterday...which is a whole other story...I thought that surely today would go off with out a hitch...WRONG!! First of all, Brian was leaving for Hattiesburg this morning for a work thing. He informs me that the car-place called and that they could work on my car that morning and have it done by lunch. No problem...my friend could take me to drop it off and also to pick it up by noon, which would give me plenty of time to go pick up kids from school. 2 O'clock comes and still no car... I call them up and they tell me that something else wasn't right (air suspension bags or something) and that the manager would have to call me back...never a good sign! So my friend and I pick up the kids and pile them all up on top of each other and pray that we don't get pulled over by a cop......................................we get home and I start getting ready for the Christmas program that Katie and Brendan were having tonight. I had promised I would curl ringlets in Katie's hair (she was an angel in the play, and we all know an angel just has to have ringlets...right??? So I stop right in the middle of my hair and makeup to do hers...which takes at least 30 minutes to do...maybe 45, My friends little girl, Alma, wants me to do her hair too, so I do it too. They both look adorable. Then I kick them out of my bathroom so I can finish dressing myself.

Ok, let me just make sure that I am clarifying the setting of this situation.
#1 Hubby out of town, Mommy has NO vehicle
#2 Mommy has no vehicle to take said children to play
#3 My friend, Heather, bless her soul, says she will wait for us to get dressed and take us to the play...which her daughter is in also. I am doing my hair, trying to rush because we also have to go to Heather's for her and Alma to get dressed as well. I yell for Katie to go get Bren at his friends house and I thought I heard her say something about an umbrella, but I just kept on getting dressed. Did I mention I was in a HURRY?? I didn't even know it was raining, heck, I had been in the bathroom for 2 hours beautifying everybody!
5 minutes later Katie runs in screaming that her hair was all messed up because she had to run in the rain to go get Brendan! BOTH GIRLS ran in the rain! She has a freaking meltdown because now her hair is not perfect! "Oh my God mom, I look ugly now and it is all your fault for telling me to go get Brendan!!" was her exact words! WTH?? Had I known it was raining outside, I would have not told her to go get him...plus you would think she would have thought about that herself! Psycho mom came out a bit, maybe even a few cuss words, a lot of threats and guess what? Me curling her freaking hair again!

Katie gets her way, crisis averted...I get her angel costume out, grab my phone and camera and we are all rushing out in the rain to squeeze into Heathers car...Yippee we are on our way with some time to spare even...

We had decided that I would drop Heather and Alma off and go ahead and take my kids to the school...she would ride with Jesse...It is raining pretty hard at this point and Katie is getting nervous because she is in one of the first scenes and I was telling her I would drop her by the front entrance and then go park so she could go ahead and get her costume on...ME: Katie, did you get you costume?? Katie: No, I thought you got it? ME: WHAT?? I got it out for you to bring!! Suffering succotash, could it get any worse?????

After we go back home to retrieve the beloved angel costume, we make it back to the school and I drop them off in the front entrance and Brady and I go to park. Keep in mind how bad it is pouring down raining...the place is packed, I luckily find a parking space (well a made up parking space) and I get a text from Heather telling me where they were sitting...Brady and I make a run for it, no umbrella, and when we get inside I realize that I didn't have my cell, no problem, I'm sure it was just left in Heather's car, I can get it after the show. Brian finally shows up and we watch the Christmas play. Katie did great in her little speaking part, Bren has fun singing in the choir, which sounded awesome. After the show ends, Brian has Brady so I tell him to go on with Brady and I'd get Katie...thinking Bren was riding home with the neighbors, but not too worried because I knew when Brian picked me up at Heathers I could use his phone to call and check. Or, I could use my phone when I found it in Heather's car...but when I get to the car I can't find it, AND BRIAN'S PHONE is DEAD! Surely Bren rode with the neighbors...I look for Katie all over and finally find her...she is in an uproar because she in in a tank top and can't take her costume off...she grabs my hand and we go backstage and Maria lets her wear the costume home...surely by this time Bren has found Brian or his friend and is on his way home...

Heather loans me a flashlight to go look in the school parking lot and said she'd keep calling it...it's pouring down really hard and COLD! Guess what? My phone was ringing on the ground right where I was parked! But it was soaked. I was able to check my 8 missed calls though, and noticed my Mother in Law had called. She lives by the school, thank God, and Bren had run over to her house in the pouring rain when he realized nobody was coming to get him:-( He said when they started turning off the lights at the school he started to get scared! He thought we had left him...which is kinda true, but not really since we never left the area(?) Plus, I was probably searching in the parking lot whenever he took off running to Grams...
Could the night have gotten any worse? Maybe a little...when we get home I open up the fridge a Red Bull falls on my foot! Time to hit the sack...tomorrow has to be a better day...

BRIGHT SIDE OF THINGS:
I know we all have bad days sometime, and really the only way to deal with it is to look on the bright side of things...like the fact that Heather let Brady sit by her throughout the program playing on her iphone so I didn't have to chase after him.......or the fact that I really liked my outfit for the night:-)
Couldn't get a closeup shot of KK, and since we were so late getting there, I didn't get one before either...bad mommy!

Bren, Chase, Jack and Nick...Bren's best buddies
Tara, Ashtyn, Joey
There's that cute outfit again...:-) Even though I am so top heavy that I look like I am going to tip over...
But the most positive thing that i am thankful for is wearing my boots!
The best decision I ever made was to wear these babies. They got filthy, wet, muddy...
Especially chasing after Brady in the grass and mud and rain...and my feet stayed warm and DRY the whole time!! WOOOO HOOOO
These boots were made for walking...in the mud and rain!LOL
Ps...I'm sure there is a ton of typos in this, please ignore them:-)