It's here!

I'm so excited to announce that Little Black Dress/Little Red Wagon hit mailboxes TODAY!!! Congratulations Elizabeth and Graham on a FABULOUS job! And, a shoutout to my friend Tiffany who designed it. I was so honored when Elizabeth asked me to do an article in their FIRST issue!!! I wrote about the title of Crumbs In My Butter. Pretty soon, you'll be able to see this magazine online, but for now, you can check out Elizabeth's blog at blackdressredwagon. Any locals that have already gotten the magazine, let her know what you think.

Your Slip is showing

Guess what??? I think the slip is making a comeback! This gal couldn't be any happier. Sadly, the slip has been losing steam over the years. My grandma gave me some of her slips a few years ago. They are beautiful! They're like artwork. I ALWAYS wear a slip under a dress. It seems like nobody wears them anymore. In fact, going to shop for them...I gotta tell ya, pickin's are slim. Until...I saw this article in my InStyle magazine last month. Now, I'm not sure I'd go THIS fancy. But it gives me hope.

Aren't these cute? The article talks about how if you have a Little Black Dress you'd like to freshen up, the bottom of the slip is made to show at the bottom giving your dress a "flip"!

The things a pacifier will buy....

Last night I told Wesley if he could sleep ALL night in his bed without his paci, then I would take him to Target and he could buy a new Spider Man. Well, he DID it! We put the paci in a ziploc and pretended that was the "money" for his new toy. This morning I took Wesley out on a little date. It's amazing how different my boys are when they are apart from each other. Wesley was a sweetheart. I let him walk around the store like a big boy. No buckling him in the cart today!!! He strolled the aisles, looking for that very special toy, (under $10.00). He picked up a robot dinosaur at one point, it was $99.00. I told him he would need 10 paci's to buy that! So, as we were walking around, he would say..."Mom, do I have enough paci's to buy this?". People were definitely looking at us. There were a few moms that would look at me with a smile that says..."Oh, I've been there, you must be getting rid of a paci." We got to the check out and Wesley had the ziploc bag (with paci) in one hand and the new Spider Man in the other. I could tell he was in a bit of a pickle. I got this picture of him staring at the Spider Man..."do I REALLY want this, or my paci?"

Getting ready to pay...
The lady at the checkout counter was such a good sport. She was very discreet about me paying and then made a big deal of him giving her the paci. (Then I saw her toss it in the trash can!:)


This is the face Wesley makes when he's really proud of himself! Kind of like, he's trying NOT to smile. He did a great job. And, he went down for his nap with no problem!!! Keeping my fingers crossed for bed time tonight!

Update on his first night without the paci - He asked for it one time and I said, if you want your paci, it's at Target and we'll have to take back spider man to get it....I never heard another word about the paci! I think we might be in the clear!!!

Girls weekend in Charlotte and Atlanta...whew!

Friday morning I drove to Charlotte to meet up with some new friends I've made through blogging. I had a chance on the way to visit the Billy Graham Library. Let me just say, it's worth the drive. I was moved and inspired by this man's ministry and even more so by his wife and the sacrifices she made.

Friday night Hannah, (my new friend), Donna and I went to dinner and then to see Bride Wars. I LOVED the wedding dress with the purple ribbon. (I'm just saying - I know tulle isn't for everyone :)

Sat. morning I got to meet more new friends and we shared about our lives and our hearts. We will be starting a new ministry through this crazy world of blogging. I'm so excited about it! As soon as everything is final, I'll post about it. Thank you to Hannah's mom for hosting us that morning and sharing from God's word. Very sweet. And, Donna, thanks for your hospitality! It was great to see you and your sweet family. And, thanks for the apple wood bacon! Sheesh! Good stuff.

I had to drive back in a hurry to Atlanta because I was taking my sister n law to see CELINE DION on her "Taking Chances" tour! No kidding! It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Celine sang EVERY WORD and EVERY NOTE! We were speechless after the concert. And, girlfriend (Celine) is in some SERIOUS shape! Check out her gams!

Fun and busy "girly" weekend. I'm plain tuckered out. But it was so worth it!

Super Mario Showdown

I was having a ho-hum day. Still in my pj's at noon. Taking care of 3 boys. (my nephew is staying with us this week..sweet little Max) Playing playdough. Trying to make a dessert for our journey group that night. When I got a phone call from my friend Tandy. "Can I stop by? I'm bored." YES! I made apple bread for both of us and we sipped coffee while the boys played. Tandy and I got to talking about how much we loved Super Mario Brothers 3 (it's been years since I played). My eyes lit up with an idea!
"Tandy, I've got the old, vintage Nintendo system that still works, and Super Mario 3, let's play!" So, that's exactly what we did. We sat on the floor in my bedroom for over an hour and played a video game. I felt like a kid again. It's amazing how much I remembered after all this time. Like, where the extra men are and what tunnels lead to extra coins, etc. We were squealing and cheering each other on when it came to killing the dragon...GO, GO, GO, GO!
I'm not mad, I'm just concentrating really hard! Those flying ducks can sure make me nervous! ha!

My boys were SO impressed with Tandy's skills! They call her the mario rock star now. She got us all the way to world 7 with 16 extra men!

Now, I need to give a shout out to my friend Toni. When we were little, I would go to her house and we would play super mario 24/7. The only break we would take is to swim in her fabulous pool! Then, back in for more mario! Toni, all these years later, I want you to know you taught me a skill that will forever be with me! ha! :)

The Man in the Moon

Last night I was driving home from getting a mini break...(went to Wal-mart to get groceries by myself, but I'll take it!) I had Celine Dion blasting in the car and was just loving the alone time and then I saw this straight ahead of me...
It was HUGE! My camera couldn't capture just how enormous it was. It almost looked fake it was so big. I could clearly see the "man in the moon". Have you ever seen him? There's 2 craters up near the top that make his eyes. Now, there's a song that says "the man in the moon is smiling", but I have always thought the man looks sad. Not trying to be a debbie downer here, but that's how I see him. Either way, I was in AWE of the moon last night. When I was 14 my favorite movie was "The Man in the Moon". I was 14, Danny (Reese Witherspoon) was 14. I wanted to move to the country, make homemade ice cream and fall in love with a guy named COURT! Ha!

Big Boy Bed

No more nursery. We just got Wesley some big boy furniture. We painted over the pale green walls with a khaki color and tookt he crib apart and moved out all the baby things. I cried and cried when I saw the room coming apart. It's hard to see that chapter of my life be over. It's exciting at the same time. I had to take a picture of Wesley sleeping the first night in his bed. He's all sprawled out. Sleeping like an angel. The fun part is that now, I can actually crawl in with him and snuggle! By the way, yes, that is a pacifier and yes, he is 3 and still going to sleep with one. Give me some ideas for how to get rid of this thing!

HELP - visit:

Tandy Grandstaff

I'm not calling them resolutions, BUT....

Here are a few things I'm going to work on this year:

1. Stop chewing the inside of my cheek. It's giving me lip wrinkles.
2. Answer my kids right away, instead of them having to say, Mommy, mommy, mommy...
3. Drink mostly water.
4. Work out 5 times a week. Paul is doing this with me, so it helps. We're doing p90X
5. Not have seconds at dinner.
6. Keep my home simple. Clear the clutter!
7. Cook more meals at home.
8. Keep TV to a minimum. Especially for the boys. (I gotta watch The Bachelor:)
9. Take care of my friends. Meals, cards, etc. Show them I love them.
10. Read my Bible more consistently.
11. Make this home a refuge for Paul. When he walks in, I want him to go..."ahhhh". Now, this is a tricky one, because it's not always going to work that way. (Example, when he walks in and Wesley is right there in the naughty corner) But I want it to look and smell nice most of the time.
12. Be a better listener.
13. Save money. Doing my homework before grocery shopping really pays off. Coupons in the Sunday paper and online. Even if it only saves $20 a trip. That's almost a tank of gas!
14. Answer the phone in a soothing and friendly voice when Paul calls. No matter what's going on around me. If he's taking time out of his day to call, I want him to hear something pleasant on the other end. (Even if that means shutting myself in the closet so he can't hear the boys fighting!:)
15. The rocking chair. A friend of mine has a rocking chair from her childhood she asked me to paint for her 4 YEARS ago. I'm gonna DO IT! :) (She's reading this thinking, yeah right!)

New Year's Rockin Eve and a window makeover

We went to some friends for a New Years Eve party this year. Paul's mom was in town and watched the boys so we could go. We had a great time. Tested out our singing skills on the wii. I BOMBED! And, bonus - we got to see our friends Matt and Chris. They moved back to Virginia last year and boy have we missed them. Here I am singing "I'm Every Woman"...I think the dogs in the neighborhood started howling!Paul is singing "Hey There Delilah". He blew me out of the water. Even Simon Cowell gave him the seal of approval!

Dave and Tara thanks for a great party! They gave each of us a HAND WRITTEN note in a bottle! "The art of the hand written note is sadly losing steam". Thanks for making it special guys!

This is my window makeover project. I wanted to make the breakfast area look taller, so we hung mirrors above the window and the curtain rod above that. I have wanted these plaid drapes for a few years. They're from Linens n things. I kept holding out for a sale...well, I got a sale alright! They were normally $99.99 per panel. And when the store went out of business I got them for $13 each!!! Now that's a deal! I'm not quite finished, I have to repaint in between the mirrors.
Before:

After:

Is this blog design hurting anyone's eyes? I'm trying out a few different things. You're probably seeing spots when you look away from the computer!