386 The Big Bed Shuffle

Katie has complained about her mattress for a long time, and I will be the first to agree it isn't the best. More often than not I end up falling asleep while reading her bedtime story and scratching her back, so I have awoken with a sore back a few times. Or, to be more precise, a sore hip. We have been waiting for Connor to be ready to graduate from the toddler bed to a big boy bed, and the time had finally arrived.
We looked at a few places for mattresses, and we ended up checking out the Mattress Warehouse near our house. Connor just wanted to run in circles the whole time while Katie tried every $3000 mattress she could find. She seemed really surprised we were not going to buy her one. She seemed to have her heart set on a Tempurpedic bed (thanks, television commercials, appreciate you). Sure, they are insanely comfortable, but I wasn't planning on spending that kind of money on her until we looked for her first used car. While we were waiting for the salesman to complete a sale we looked over to see Connor with no shoes ... and no shorts. Little Mr. I Want To Wear Big Boy Pants To The Store was not Mr. I Will Tell You When I Need To Go. I am just thankful he wasn't testing a mattress at the time .... SO not how I want to choose a new mattress.
Katie picked out her own mattress. Nice and fluffy (and it wasn't too expensive). She was excited, and she hated waiting until we could go pick it up.... And then we got it home. I put the mattress pad on and the fitted sheet, she jumped onto it and said "IT'S NOT SOFT ANYMORE!" I don't know if you can see the forehead sized dent in her wall where I beat my head against it to get the ungrateful out. It never takes long for her to become unappreciative. She wanted me to leave the sheets off ... because that would be a great way to ruin a new mattress in record time. This iron bed was clearly made before the whole pillow top revolution. I prevailed and finished making her bed ... and it may never look this way again. Her old mattress made its way into Connor's room. When he stops wetting the bed we will upgrade him, but until then it is good to have a mattress that can't be ruined (yes, I have a rubber pad on it anyway). Anything is better than curling 5'9" into a 4' Toddler bed ... which I was doing every night to read bedtime stories, and a few nights I have slept there as well. My back is very excited about all the new big beds! Connor's crib converts to a full size, but we hadn't ordered the conversion rails yet. Luckily the rails to my grandma's bed fit perfectly, so we were back in business. Connor was very excited about his big bed.... until bed time. The first few nights were rough. He must have felt tiny in such a large bed, but he is getting better at sleeping in it. He still puts up a fight, but I think that has more to do with the sleep itself than where he is sleeping.

Sorry for all of the phone pics lately. It is easier to snap a pic with my little phone and keep enjoying the moment than to break out the big camera. I have been trying to enjoy the moment more.

385 Elmwood Revisited

My friends Tricia and John wanted to get away for a little photocation. I had shot Elmwood before with Candy in October, 2008 but I was more than willing to hit it again. Even scorching hot it was totally worth the effort. A great morning with friends and some good pics.

384 Capture Memphis

Help me get published in this year's Capture Memphis book!! Please take a few moments to check it out and throw a few votes and love my way.


My dear friend Tricia Spaulding is also trying to get published, and if you want to give her some love as well I would greatly appreciate it.

383 Shelby Turns Eight

Birthday parties at Shelby's house are always a blast. They rent a HUGE waterslide, so the big kids have fun! They had a baby pool for Connor and Shailey, so the wee ones have fun. And I have so much fun hanging out with Indira,Ryan, and their friends that I think I have the most fun of all. The party started at noon and we stayed until after 7. So much fun and laughter AND GOOD FOOD! I was exhausted when we got home, but it was completely worth it!! (and yes, I took more pics than this but I try to keep pics of others kids to a minimum)Connor loves him some Mia. He insisted on this shot. Such a ladies' man!And with Shailey. It took her a while to warm back up to him, but by the end of the day they were fast friends again.And the highlight! A Bieber effigy ... I mean ... pinata. All these girls just waiting to have a whack at Bieber! "Ohhh Justin! We love you, now hold still while I beat you with this colorful wooden stick!"
Happy Birthday Shelby! Hope it was the perfect start to another wonderful year!

382 Sleepover

The girls had a sleepover weekend. It started with a tea party after school. You can see the fabulous spread. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, carrots, celery and dry Froot Loops. Oh yeah, we are absolutely high class around here when we throw a tea party. We broke out the paints, and I raided Chip's undershirt drawer. The girls and Connor had a blast painting (and making an amazingly big mess - though it mostly stayed off the table).Katie even helped Connor with his painting ... and by "helped" I mean she almost completely took over. At first he was happy for the help, but when he realized it was more than help he started to get upset. He must do things for himself. When Mia got home she came down and joined in the painting fun. They continued to paint while I tucked Connor in ... and when I re-tucked Connor in because they kept giggling and waking him up. After I finally got them upstairs and came down this is the site that greeted me on the kitchen floor. There was a profusion of peace signs. From top left, clockwise. Katie, Mia, Kaitlyn, and ConnorAnd the next morning they started right back at it. Wolfed down some donut holes and started painting. Of course Connor had to be right in the mix. He loves his girls.

381 Oh, Hello Again

With Katie in school Connor and I have been spending A LOT of time together. We are working on potty training (be happy, the potty is one place that is (usually) off limits). It has been touch and go. We have bribed and cajoled, but nothing seems to be working. For each step forward he takes two back. He poos in the potty ... then pees his pants. Pee earns him a refill for his Pez dispenser, and a poo gets him a BIG prize. He has earned two ... in about two weeks. SIGH! You would think the parade we throw in his honor after each poo would be enough, but nooooo, he has to get a toy. I look forward to the day when I don't automatically call the grandparents when he makes a deposit. How will we explain to him that every bathroom visit for the rest of his life will not involve cash & prizes? It was hard enough to convince him that he doesn't get a prize for pooTing on the potty. Other than that our time has been spent playing... Daddy took him for another haircut!We hung out in the hot tub... We have read a LOT of stories. His new favorite is a Raggedy Ann & Andy story about a baseball game.And he has rediscovered his train tracks. Aunt Ronka and Uncle Vince got him this track, and Daddy bought him a remote control train that fits on the tracks. It has been a huge hit! (And my floor hasn't been that clear in a week!)

We also went to a birthday party for Katie's friend Mary. Technically she isn't turning ten until December, but they wanted to do a pool party. We had a blast. Katie was there by herself for awhile because Connor was napping, but when he woke up we all went down and jumped in the pool. I also finally met Mary's parents, and we hit it off right away. Gotta love people with a sense if humor.

Alright, you are all caught up now. Hopefully it won't take so long next time.

380 A First Time for Everything

I finally did it. I put one of my original canvases into my etsy shop. I posted it on Saturday and sold it on Sunday. People laugh when I mention I am on Twitter, but I have met many amazing people on there. Two of those people, husband and wife, bought my first painting within minutes of me posting a link to it. And then I had a couple who were not quick enough. I will be posting more originals soon. I will also be offering a limited number of prints of each periodically. One day I aspire to selling to a stranger ;) But until then I am honored to have paintings go to the homes of my friends. Honored and very thankful.

379 First Day of Third Grade

Mornings sleeping in have come to a close again. School started yesterday. I aam officially the mother of a third grader.
We rushed around on Wednesday trying to find some bermuda length shorts that would fit dress code. It was not the first time I had looked longingly at the uniform section. Ohh, the joy that is dressing your child like every other schmuck. Waking up and picking one from the bottoms pile and one from the tops and being ready to go. The ease! Anyone else in the Desoto County school system want to lobby for uniforms?
Bright and early (way too early for me) we got up and ready to head off to school. We only live about eight houses down from the walk through to the school, so I walked Katie to school for her first day. IT WAS HOT ... and worse than hot, IT WAS HUMID!! There was a huge flaming ball in the sky, but it looked so pretty shining in Katie's eyes that I forgave it. Of course when I tried to get Katie to let me take a pic she had to block her eyes and squint against the sun. Sigh ... she is not willing to suffer for my art ... how rude!

I did walk Katie to her class. I had to talk to her teacher and set up a few times for Katie to check her sugar and give her a few guidelines for taking care of Katie and her bloodsugar. We have a meeting with the county nurse to set up her new 504, but they are using her old plan until then. Turning my girl over to a new teacher is hard! We have been so lucky with our teachers so far. Each of Katie's teachers have been diligent with her diabetes. They knew exactly what to do and how to handle each situation. They were good about calling if they had a question. I am sure her new teacher will be wonderful and everything will go smoothly, but I have a hard time trusting someone else to keep my baby alive.

The day passed without a phone call and I headed up to the walk=thru at 2:20 to meet her as she walked home... And a group of kids came through, but no Katie. I asked the teachers at the bottom of the hill, and they said they had another group that goes out the back, or I could check the office. I walked to the back, no Katie. I tried to walk in to go to the office and was told "you can't go in there". EXCUSE ME! My eight year old is possibly wandering around somewhere because your incompetent asses did not make sure ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL that my daughter got in the right line?! and I can't go inside your school! So, I walked around to the front of the school (did I mention it was 102 degrees, with a heat index around 120 degrees) and just barely saw Katie being walked toward the street in front of the school to be sent across and wander around by herself in a neighborhood which is NOT hers?! She said she told the teacher she did not live that way, and they were still walking her down. I know, I only wrote our address down 15 times on paperwork. How could they possibly know which line she was supposed to be in to walk home? LIVID LIVID LIVID!!!

Add to that, one of our friends in the Madison, MS area has been reporting on Facebook that there have been three attempted kidnappings by the same man in the last few days. Hopefully he has been caught by now. But when I could not find my extremely beautiful child and knew she might be wandering around somewhere trying to find her way home, I was understandably angry. And SCARED, very scared! Each day the pervs and psychos of the world scare me more. Not for myself, but for my children.

All of that aside, Katie had a great day of school. She likes her teacher. Her teacher managed to keep her alive. One of her little friends is in her class. SHE WILL GET IN THE RIGHT LINE TO COME HOME. All is right in the world ... for now.

378 Random Moments of the Past Week

As usual I have gotten wrapped up in life, or life has just been too mundane to blog about ... So, here are a few pics from the last week and a half to catch you up.
We had a birthday party for Katie's little friend Kaitlyn. It was at the Tunica Aquatic Center and the kids had a BLAST!! After the party, Katie spent the night with the birthday girl and Connor and I hit the park. It was gorgeous. A slight breeze and not too hot.We FINALLY put new sand in the sandbox ... my weirdo started playing and then realized how messy his hands were, this is Connor asking for a napkin ....More pancakes ... Katie has decided that she likes them bite-sized (its not annoying AT ALL)And a sleepover at Casa de Jaxon. The girls had fun doing makeovers and having a little pizza party.Another gorgeous sunsetA sneak peak of a small painting that will be going in my etsy shop soon.My Rainbow Warrior :)My first attempt at waffles in YEARS! Not the best, but I will blame the mix ;)Ironman and Mickey at Toys'R'UsLunchtime at Joe'sKatie is slowly burning through her momey. I completely encouraged her, too. The sooner her stash of money is gone the sooner I don't have to hear about it anymore!!

And now you are all caught up.