A few of my favorite things

Gracie the "fat" cat

My baby, Lucky, who patiently scrunches under the table every night, waiting for scraps.

Mike's baby, Wiley, who still doesn't like me after 9 years

My "three" snowman family

My three family sculpture from Cancun. We like things in 3's

I was walking around the house tonight, taking a few last pictures of my Christmas decorations. I decided to take pictures of some of my favorite things. Enjoy!

Dinner with the fam

Olivia, being Olivia

Good ole' Mom & Dad

Such a cute kid!

OMG, they are in the same picture!!

Mike and Olivia reading, they got bored...

Well, dinner with the family went well. One of dad's brothers (the youngest) couldn't make it. My uncle Bryan (the oldest) and his son Kevin were there. His wife, Aunt Rhonda and daughter Laura couldn't stay. Laura has a stomach virus. Kevin's fiannce went with them. My aunt Beverly (the bad choice maker) and her two sons, Thomas and Tyler were there.





My grandparents were civil, we even got them in the same picture. Big change! We used to have separate birthday parties (for the grandkids) and Christmases so that they didn't have to be in the same room.

The tickets are HERE!!

The coveted, much anticipated, highly difficult to obtain, Hannah Montana tickets arrived today! Well, actually, I guess they arrived yesterday, but I didn't check the mail until today. We are super excited!! Only 16 more days!!!!

P.S. I have no idea why the picture is so yellow.

Family Ties

Tonight we are going to have dinner with my dad's family. My dad has one older brother, one younger brother, and one younger sister. I am the oldest of 10 cousins. I supplied the first great-grandchild, but my cousin Ashley is expecting a little girl, so soon there will be two.

I was the only grandchild for four years. They were a good four years, I was spoiled rotten. My dad's parents are divorced, they have been for over 30 years. They still fight like it was just yesterday. Both remarried and divorced. They are not good at being married.

A couple of years ago, my grandmother's health starting declining and she moved into one of the rental houses that my dad owns. It's a duplex. At the time, no one lived on the other side. Soon thereafter, my brother decided to move out of my parents house and move into the other side (so very independent). He met his now wife and moved to Nashville and guess who moved in? My grandfather. Yes, the ex-husband. He had been living with my uncle Brad. Uncle Brad had recently remarried, and three's a crowd.

So, here they are, after 30+ years, living under the same roof. They have taken turns chauferring each other to the doctor and ER (very dramatic people). They fuss and fight like always. They are still rasing kids together. Their youngest, the girl, has made some not great choices in life and they are usually stuck with her kids. They are 21 and 17 now, but still require a lot of attention.

We just think it's hilarious. I wonder if they will ride to the restaurant together tonight? I'll let you know.

Don't want it to be over

I don't want to take my Christmas decorations down. I am enjoying the house looking festive. How late is too late to take them down. Here are a few pictures, just to keep the memory alive.

Our "main" Christmas tree

My Christmas village

Christmas dishes-one of my favorite things

The view into my dining room (I hate my table and chairs)

The playroom tree-done in lambs, Olivia's favorite thing

Maybe I can just transition the decorations into Valentine's Day decor. A heart tree maybe...maybe not. Oh well, Merry be-lated Christmas.

Well, I forgot I had a blog

Well, Olivia' birthday has come and gone. She turned the big 7 and had a Hannah Montana birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. The wig really made the outfit, it lasted about 7 minutes...

Christmas at the Bell house was blessed beyond measure. Olivia scored a lot of stuff, including a Wii and Hannah Montana tickets. She's one spoiled little princess. She also got a huge doll house, an American Girl Bitty Baby and MUCH MORE!! Approximately 24 hours after Christmas, she was making all the empty boxes into a time machine. Never fails, I could have saved some serious money and picked up free boxes at the liquor store :)

Here's a sweet picture of Christmas morning.

Well, my New Year's Resolution is going to be to remember to blog. It's a great outlet and another great way to waste time online.

Back in the land of the living

I have been without internet for almost (gasp) three weeks! I cancelled my Verizon wireless card (because it was a piece of poo) and ordered high speed internet for the house. Then I waited, and waited, and waited. Then the modem arrived and the line was down!! Finally, yesterday, it was restored! Praise Jesus, I've been online ever since.

Today, Olivia's best friend is spending the day with us. They have been completely smitten with each other since the first day of kindergarten. This year is the first year they haven't gone to the same school, so we're trying to get them together often. I took them to lunch at McDonalds, then we ran into the Dollar General Store and Big Star (have I mentioned that I live in a tiny town that doesn't even have a WAL-MART?!?!) It was in these stores that I realized two things: 1. I only have one child because God is smarter than me. 2. My child isn't as badly behaved as I once thought, she has a lot of company out there.

We're back at the house now, so they are playing beauty shop. They have already put on their pajamas in anticipation of the slumber party tonight. Super cute! I'm thankful for good friends for Olivia, the life of the only child is a lonely one.

Last weekend was a lot more relaxing than this weekend. Mike and I spent three luxurious days and nights together, just the TWO OF US! We returned to the city of our wedding and honeymoon and had a wonderful time. It was the first trip we've taken just the two of us since Olivia was born (except a couple of business trips), and we realized that we needed to do it more. And we will. Soon. Very soon. Is next weekend too soon?

Today, I have at least 500 loads of laundry to do and I promised two VERY EXCITED little girls that they could make cupcakes.

Because I'm silly that way.

Seriously, what was I thinking?

If I survive today, I'll update on all that has happened tomorrow...

Age is just a number

I just really like this picture, no other reason for putting it here. It makes me happy. Love that girl!!

Anyway...

The old adage "age is just a number" is supposed to be a comforting one. It is supposed to reassure you that even though you may be 117, if you feel 40, that's all that matters.

In my case, however, it works the other way. I am completely convinced that inside I am a 60 year old woman. Case in point, I love old lady TV. Give me some Murder She Wrote or Matlock over Sex in the City any day. My 70 year old mother-in-law and I can watch TV together for hours. Is this normal? I'm only 29. Oh well, I yam what I yam.

On a related television note, my husband has started watching a program on Spike called The Kill Point. It's a gory, boring show about bank robberies or something, but...it stars none other than Donnie Walberg. That's a blast from the past, huh. NKOTB, baby! Actually, he's a better actor than boy band member, he was my second least favorite NKOTB member. Danny was my least favorite, he looks like an ape. Joey was my favorite, just in case you care.

Well, I guess I should talk about something else beside television, lest I seem uncultured. Oh, one more thing. Whoever invented TiVo should be hugged and kissed. How great is TiVo? Okay, that's all, I promise.

I went to church today. Nothing unusual about that, I spend a lot of time at church. I enjoyed myself, but it was a little odd. None of my family was there. Mom and Dad had a business commitment and couldn't make it. Mike had to work. Keith (my baby brother) and Bethany, live in Nashville, making it hard to make it to church. So, it was just me and the kid. We decided to mix it up a little and sit in a different part of church. Well, it was a whole new world. Not really, but it was a little different. Olivia took a nap during church, for like the first time in months, possibly years.

The rest of the afternoon has been spent doing much of nothing. I did a little laundry, cooked burgers for dinner (97% lean meat and wheat buns, so very WW friendly), and hung out with a cute little girl. Life is good...