my 1st giveaway!!!

i've never done this before - but in honor of this past Sunday (the 24th) being exactly one year since i started this blog....i've decided to host my very first giveaway! :0)

a blogiversary giveaway!

i'm not going to tell u what the prize is yet - let's just say it's something very "sweet" ;0)

so, leave me some love ♥ - tell me what ur plans r for this long Labor Day weekend

come on lurkers - i know u're out there - u leave me some ♥ too!

the deadline for leaving me a comment is Monday at 7pm EST....i'll put all ur names in a hat & have my kiddos randomly draw a winner

then, i'll announce the winner here & ship out their prize on Tuesday!

everyone have a FABULOUS weekend!!! :0)

it's official

i met with our new landlord last evening, to give him the deposit so he'd hold the house for us until October....he still wants to do some work to the out building & he said he's going to send someone to clean the oven & windows & just to tidy up (oh, be still my heart!)....then he'll call me within the next week or so & we'll meet up to get the keys! then, we can start moving stuff over there throughout September....come October 1st, we won't have much to do at all! just move the big furniture & whatever we've kept at the old place just for daily living :0)

AND, i asked him last night about us putting in flowerbeds & a fire pit - and he said SURE! the kids were so excited!!! plus, there's already a clothes line & grapevine trellis thing there - i'm so excited!!!

i'm mailing out the 30 day notice to our current landlord today too - whoo hoo!

getting off the bus...

yes, i'm one of those dorky moms that wants to b present for every milestone in my kids' lives!

so i took a late lunch break, ran down to the daycare & waited for corinn & gabby to get off the bus, then got back in my mini-van and came back to work....i wanted a pic of corinn's 1st official bus trip & i wanted to b the first to hear all about her 1st day of school!
(hey, i did the same for gabby & jaden - just didn't have my blog back on jaden's 1st day of school)

she said she had a great day!

they got a book from the teacher today - the kissing hand - it's such a cute story....i remember it from gabby's class last year.....it's to help the kids not cry or be scared to b at school without their family....the homework is for me and/or curtis to cut out a shape of our hand & put a kiss print on it (& i squirted gabby's with my perfume last year).....then the kids can keep it in their desk & if they miss us, they can get it out & kiss it ;0) corinn most likely won't need it, but i think it's a sweet idea

unfortunately, it's been raining ALL week here (well, the grass & farmers really need it - so it's a good thing), so they didn't get to play outside today.....but she said they painted rainbows with their hands & she got to drink chocolate milk at lunch!

sounds like a great day to me!
i can't wait to go pick her up shortly & hear about everything else they did today!
:0)

there she goes...

there she goes...

i only had one stop this morning...they all walked into school together


all 3 of my babies...but babies no more - now, all grown up


and she didn't even think twice about it...it was as if she's done it a hundred times already


big sis was there to show her the ropes


and u couldn't wipe the grin from her face, if u wanted to


i saw their teenage years flash before my eyes - my girls already making fast friends with another set of look alike sisters
(Naveah was in Gabby's class last year & is again this year - and her little sister, Torrance, is in Corinn's pre-k class this year)


she barely hugged me goodbye - anxious to explore & play with her classmates
(including her 1st cousin, Bryan)


and then i couldn't even get her attention to wave goodbye


where did the time go? how can she be starting school already?!
she's my baby girl!

*note* Mama did ok too....i thought i'd be a blubbering idiot, but i wasn't....if Corinn had cried, i probably would have lost it....but my big girl was amazing! so eager to grow up! i teared up several times....only when i'd stop & just look at her & think about what this day all means....how in such a very short 4 1/2 years, i've witnessed another one of my babies sprout into a unbelievably amazing little person! how my little girl has become the most independent of all 3 kiddos....& how she'll finally get to go to school every day with her big brother & sister - something she has waited for, for sooooo long! but i don't care - she'll ALWAYS be my baby! ;0)

day 2

today was jaden & gabby's 2nd day of school.....i heard nothing but positive things from both of them about how their day went yesterday.....actually, when i picked gabby up last evening & asked her how her day was, her exact words were..."i LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my class!" - so, i'd say that's good! ;0)

jaden too - he was super excited that he got to play on the older kids' playground (there's one for 1st grade & under, and another for 2nd thru 5th grade)

both were zonked last evening - that first week of school is killer!

jaden even had jiu-jitsu training after school.....but he was still pretty cool - no meltdowns, no tears......he fell asleep the minute his head hit the pillow, but nothing else out of the ordinary

gabby on the other hand, was VERY tired! i had thought about slowly adjusting the kid's bedtime as we got near the start of school.....but it never dawned on me to have her daycare lady adjust nap! duh! i've always had good nappers & gabby was used to getting in about 2hrs a day.....but of course in school, they only get a 20-30 minute "rest time"......when i asked her last evening if she got to actually fall asleep during rest time, her answer was "nope, it was really short!"

gabby even had issues at dinner - and usually she is not the one to have trouble at mealtime (jaden is - cause he's VERY picky).....but last night - the salmon cakes, au gratin potatoes & green beans i made were evidentially the absolute worst thing i could have ever created!

she shed tears & even did some gagging! i'm not one of those parents that forces their kids to clear their plates completely - i don't want them to have food issues growing up....but i do make them try everything! and if we're having dessert (which is pretty rare), they have to make an effort to eat a decent amount of "real food", if they want sweets.....wouldn't u know it, i had made chocolate pie this past weekend & it's one of gabby's favs.....she soooo wanted that pie! she forced down 1/2 a salmon cake & ate most of her green beans.....for whatever reason, the potatoes were the worst for her - so i only made her eat 2 bites......and she did it! and she asked for some baby carrots too.....then she DEVOURED her pie! ~lol~

believe me, jaden wasn't at all thrilled with what we were having, but he cleaned most of his plate, with the assistance of ketchup - his favorite food ~lol~

corinn, of course, ate TWO salmon cakes, a TON of green beans, a fair amount of potatoes.....PLUS like 5 or 6 cherry tomatoes & some baby carrots! that's my girl!!! ;0)

day 2 of school - rainy day....jaden didn't feel like having his pic taken....and u can see how tired gabby still is.....i'm lovin' the new do's - they look so cute! and sooooo much easier to manage!

PRAISE GOD - he got the job!!!

that's right people - my hubby got the call last night.....he got the job that we've been praying for!!!

i knew my hard working man would come through, regardless.....but i prayed that he would get a job that he wanted - not one that he just had to take, to take care of us.....this is a job that he had started looking into, before he left the last one - but he had to go through a very extensive interviewing/screening process & it had been quite some time since he had finished all that & he still hadn't heard anything

as always, God's master plan was in motion -
we just didn't realize it

Curtis was "freed" from the job he hated & didn't appreciate him, because the perfect job for him, was waiting on the other side of this hurdle!

not only will he be making more money,
but the company will also provide him with:
-full benefits
-a company truck & gas card
-free premium cable (that's ALL the special channels & everything - i'm actually not too thrilled about this - but curtis & the kids were literally dancing for joy ~lol~)
-free satellite internet (whoo hoo from mama)
-money towards our cell phone bill every month!

can it get any better?!
i can't believe we didn't know about this job sooner!
but again - God's will

thank you Lord for giving us the patience & faith that the right job would come along for Curtis - and for blessing us with such an amazing opportunity!!!

and thank you family & friends for keeping us in your thoughts & prayers!

back to school

Today was the 1st day of school for Jaden & Gabrielle
(Corinn will start pre-k on Thursday)

Here's all 3 as we were heading out this morning

Gabby starts Kindergarten
&
Jaden begins 2nd grade
(pic in front of the school)

Neither one was nervous at all!
Gabby found her seat & was ready to get started!

And she gets to sit right beside of her BFF, Kaitlyn, too!!!
(I warned her teacher that these 2 chatty girls may need to be separated, but I hope it works out)

Jaden was excited to get one of the taller desks in his class
(just the right fit for this 4'6" eight year old! ~teehee~)

Gosh, isn't he handsome?!


I was so proud of both my kiddos today! I still can't believe I have kids old enough to go to school at all! Let alone, be in the 2nd grade!
I know they'll both make me super proud all year long - they're such hard workers & are so eager to learn! :0)

Now, if I can make it through Thursday without crying, it'll be a miracle!

haircuts

last evening, in preparation of school starting this week - the kiddos got haircuts!

jaden's cut wasn't too eventful - daddy just gave him his usual buzz cut & edged him up

gabby has had her hair cut twice before, but it was getting pretty long again & she was due

this was actually corinn's 1st haircut ever!!!

before we look at the haircut pics, let's first remember the beauty of corinn's long locks....
(these pics were taken just sunday)

sleeping beauty

jumping beauty

wait corinn, where'd ya go?! ~lol~

it was definitely time - and she was PSYCHED!

my cousin, tiffany, did the honors - and what a great job! we met her at the shop that she works at here & there, after it had closed (which was really nice)

corinn went first....
shampoo

then cut - here goes the pony tail

and it's off!
look at that grin!

almost done

ta da!
omg - is it just me? or did she just instantly grow up about 2 more years?!
~sniffle, sniffle~

ok, gabby's turn

she's a pro already

ok, and again - where did my little girls go?
i didn't walk in with these 2!!!

and look at these tails - man, all the hair!


they could-not-wait to get home & show daddy!
he used to hate the idea of cutting their hair, but after seeing the tears & drama we go through on a regular basis, with brushing/styling/etc.....and after having the girls request to get it cut over & over again, he was finally on board - and he LOVES their new cuts too! :0)

after it had dried, and they got to try out hair bands in their new dos, they wanted me to take their pics again - those hams!

don't ya just wanna squeeze em?! ;0)

weekend recap

friday night, i was ready to crash (after staying up so late the night before with these cakes)
but curtis wanted to invite his friend over & the kids were begging us to have a campfire - so we did.....tony (curtis' BFF) & his wife came by to join us & we of course, roasted s'mores


saturday, my brother hosted a cook-out at his house - a house warming of sorts.....i took this simple little cake (marble)

we had an absolutely amazing time! there was a great turnout & TONS of yummy food!

katie (my brother's wife) did such a great job at setting up yard games & activities for the kids! i think that everyone that attended joined in the fun! :0)

the men played horseshoes

curtis & i tried our hand at this game (not sure what it's called, but u throw the balls on a string & try to loop them around the rungs???).....we kicked the butts of the couple that played us too! ;0)

grandpa helped entertain the kiddos - they love this!

here's how matthew & grandpa play this game - while seated ~lol~


isn't he the cutest little bugger ever?!
(matthew, my brother's son - he'll be 2 in just a few weeks)

and of course, i brought the fixins' for my brother to make me his infamous bloody mary's.....mmmm, good! ;0)

sunday, after church, nana made a trip to the Green Valley Book Fair.....then, she swung by afterwards with gifts! :0)

she got jaden a cool book on dinosaurs (he's pointing to his absolute fav dino - the Spinosaurus)....and corinn got a set of Disney Princess books that are similar to the Where's Waldo? books - they come with a marker & magnifying glass, and you have to hunt for the different characters from the princess stories....then u can wipe them clean & start again :0)

gabby got a book on butterflies & she immediately went to work, using it!
she got out her butterfly net & bug catcher....she caught 2 butterflies & 1 moth within minutes & we had fun identifying them


great gifts nana! thx!!! :0)

then we headed over to my sister's house for some trampoline fun - the kids beg me to take them there like every day!

then travis (kelly's hubby) had to show off a little ;0)

these 2 are growing up right before our eyes! my nephew bryan, is 2 months younger than corinn & they both start pre-k on thursday (and are in the same class!)....my sister & i both are refusing to accept the fact that they're no longer our babies!!!

kelly gave me a pretty rose out of her yard....i'm so glamorous! lol - NOT!

i hope u all enjoyed your weekend too!
today feels like monday to me, since i took yesterday off work.....i was already scheduled off for the weekend beach trip that we canceled, so i just took the day anyway and got a lot of little things done - and took some time to regroup - i needed that!