Pilates....Four year old style.....

Lucy - Mommy are we going to do Pilates tonight.

Me - Yep, Mommy needs to get skinny.

Lucy - Ok, but I need to put on my Pilates clothes.

Me - Ok, you go change and I'll get everything set up.

(Lucy enters in size 3T - she wears a 5 - BROWN sweatpants, one of my Tye-Dyed t-shirts and gladiator sandals with rhinestones on them)

Lucy - Ok, lets do it to it.

Me - Are you sure you can move in those clothes.

Lucy - Well this is what YOU wear when you workout. (OUCH)

Me - Ok, lets go.

(Lucy is doing quite well with her band at this point, following right along. Skip to about halfway through the DVD)

Lucy - Mommy, I don't want to do this anymore. I think its making YOU skinny and ME fat.

Me - (ok what else can I do but laugh)

(The DVD is over now and I get up to get some water as I'm standing at the refrigerator)

Lucy - OH MY GOODNESS MOMMY, YOU'RE NOT FAT ANYMORE!!!!

Oh the joys of a four year old. If only it was THAT simple to drop 15 pounds!!!!!

Won't My Mommy be so Proud of ME......

First I'd like to thank Morgan at A Buggie Full of Beans for giving me this award. I'd like to thank Lucy, Mark, stripper shoes, blue-jeans and brownies for giving me inspiration....Ok enough with the Academy Awards speech. I got an award for MY BLOG of all things. Now I can see getting an award for eating more brownies in an hour than anyone else or the most fad diets tried in a month but MY BLOG!!! I'm so excited. I'm pretty sure the rules are to give this award to a few more bloggers and make a list of 10 things you might not know about me. I'm going to skip right to the list because #1 I'm pretty new to the blogging world and #2 I'm making more blogging friends everyday but right now I would have to give this award back to Morgan and probably the same people she has already given it to. I am going to hold off on giving out the award until I can really get into reading some other blogs and to be sure they are much deserved...even though I'm pretty sure mine wasn't. But hey, I'm certainly not going to pass it up. Ok, enough rambling, on to the list.

1. I never REPLACE a picture in a frame. These are wonderful memories that I can't stand to take down. Every time I get pictures that I think I should frame, I get new frames and if I have nowhere to put them, I also get a new table or squeeze it into a spot on the wall.

2. I obsess over good books and literally ignore the world when I am reading. The house could fall down around me and I'd still have my nose in a book.

3. I hate being bored. I eat too much and tend to do really weird things when I am alone and don't have a plan!!!

4. I hope to one day move to Costa Rica and become a professional beach bum. This is my true calling!!

5. Cats scare the bejeebers out of me. I can't stand to be within 50 yards of one.

6. Same with birds!

7. I love NOTHING more than being on a boat in the ocean. I spent 14 days traveling from Orange Beach, AL to West Palm Beach and back (on a boat) and this is when I REALLY fell in love...not only with boats but with my husband.

8. I never hold a grudge. When I have confrontation with someone, I decide whether or not the relationship is worth it and if it is, I get over it and on with my life. If it isn't, I pretty much just go on with my life and leave that part or person out of it completely. Life is too short to sweat the small stuff!!!

9. My car is ALWAYS a disaster no matter how hard I try to keep it clean.

10. I truly believe that everyday should be lived to its full potential. I want to do everything I want to do while I'm young. I have no desire to save every penny I earn for retirement (although I do save SOME for retirement). I want Lucy to experience everything once and I want to be able to share her experiences with her!!!!

Ok, now that I feel like I am standing naked in Times Square....I'm done!!!! I would love for everyone to do a "10 things" list and let me know about it so I can get to know you as well!!!

Another post for the day....

As I was Blog-hopping I came across I Heart Faces and they are having a beach photo contest this week. Well, since we are ALWAYS at the beach, I figured I'd join in the fun...

Favorite Children's Picture Blog Hop...

Still being a newbie to the blogging world, I am copying my friend Amber on this. Hopefully I did it correctly. Here are a few of my favorite photos of Lucy it was very difficult to pick so few....


First "official" year at the beach


Gulf Shores Dance recital


Mardi Gras Orange Beach 2007


Lucy and her BFF Abigail, Orange Beach 2008


One of my absolute FAVORITES!!!


Cowgirl Lucy January 2009

My talented child...I'm so proud....

As you know, the beach is our playground. You can do ANYTHING on the beach!!! Since Lucy was just a tiny little thing, her favorite thing to do on the beach is stand on her head or practice her forward roll. Yes she gets sand ALL in her hair, body and in all of the cracks. This doesn't bother me because #1 it is SUPER cute and #2 she LOVEs to do it and #3 it is HOURS of entertainment....for her as well as myself....

Lucy as a wee little head stander....


And again on another occasion...



But this year FINALLY she is getting the recognition she deserves. Someone OTHER than her proud mommy realized the head-standing flipping-in-the-sand talent that we knew was no lost cause......


Yep, that's my Lucy standing on her head on the front page of the Mobile Press-Register's Regional page!!!! I think I'm going to have to start a scrap book of upside-down Lucy pictures!!!!

Sweet Revenge...

I openly admit that I am addicted to shoes, however I rarely admit (at least to my husband) that I am also addicted to jeans. During summer months I rarely wear anything other than flip flops yet for some reason I feel that I need to have 500 pair of sandals, heels, flats, metallic, gladiator, you name it SHOES in my closet. During the fall/winter months, I can actually justify buying 500 pair of jeans. Being vertically challenged (5' ZERO) with a big ole butt, I usually find it difficult to find a pair that fits but heaven help us when I do. In the past few years I have discovered Rock & Republic and let me tell you, every time I pull on a pair...well, on second thought, I should probably keep the "what happens" to myself (insert your imagination here). They are THE most wonderful, fabulous and every-other-word-you-can-think-of-for-GREAT jeans!!! SOOOOO....you're probably wondering what the revenge in the title is about. NO? Well I'll tell you anyway. The reader's digest version...

Mark works in Orange Beach half the year. Our anniversary is in the Summer. He missed it. Not forgotten but he was gone and I didn't get a gift and only a two minute phone call. No, he's not horrible, he is actually a WONDERFUL husband and we roll with the punches. Anyway, I still like to tease him about it and I just got myself an anniversary gift......



AND THESE.....



And I couldn't leave Lucy out, so I ordered these.....



If you have never had a Rock & Republic jeans experience, I highly recommend it!!! They are SO worth the money and last FOREVER!!!!

Boredom and Brownies....

As I mentioned in one of last week's posts, my plans for the past weekend were suddenly canceled so I opted to stay home....alone. I was so excited to have a little time for myself that I didn't even have a plan....bad idea. When I left work on Friday, around 4:30 I could not wait to get home. I pulled in the driveway around 4:35, ran straight to the bedroom to find my most comfortable clothes. This consisted of a #1 Dad t-shirt size XL and black yoga style stretchy pants. Since no one was around to witness the outfit, no one would know if I ate a brownie (or two) either. AHHH...relaxation. I read a little of my book and boredom struck around 6:00. UGG. It was 6:00 on a Friday night and hadn't a clue what to do. Light bulb!!! I'll color my hair I thought. I had some blond hair coloring in the bathroom that I hadn't been brave enough (or bored enough) to try. I went through the steps and came out with blond, no not just blond, PLATINUM blond hair. OMIGOD what should I do? I couldn't take it nor should I ever color my own hair. I grabbed my keys and off to Wal-Mart I went. I was so distracted by my hair that I didn't even think about the clothes. So looking like the perfect mix of Hulk Hogan, Hank Hill and Peg Bundy, I went in search of MORE hair coloring to fix this mess. I walked into Wal-Mart and suddenly realized my wardrobe choice wasn't all bad. I blended well with the Moo Moos and wife beaters of the fine country folk who frequent Wal-Mart on Friday night!! I found what I was looking for within 10 minutes. But wait, I had all the time in the world. I wondered around the cosmetics isles and decided on an Olay microderm abrasion / peel kit and thought if I could have perfect skin (like the box said) I might have a boost of confidence. The hair and outfit really had me down. This was too depressing, I needed chocolate. After checking out and ducking out the door I passed a Dairy Queen and my steering wheel just so happened to turn in. My car knows what I need. It ordered me a brownie sundae and took me home. I ate the sundae, colored my hair to a somewhat normal shade of dirty blond and jumped up and down with excitement when I took the towel off my head and my hair didn't come with it. Ok, lesson learned, always trust a professional!! On to the facial, I scrubbed with the orange stuff, rubbed in the sticky stuff, and then to the "peel". HELP....It felt like fire on my face. I thought I was dying. I finally figured out that if I washed it off instead of running around the bathroom it would stop burning. Obviously the hair fumes were interfering with the part of my brain that contains common sense (not my fault). That was enough excitement for one night so I decided to go to bed. The fumes must have been messing with more than my common sense because my feet let me into the kitchen and to ANOTHER brownie...Damn feet. After all of that I went to bed, watched The Little Mermaid and fell asleep. I missed Lucy terribly therefore I was bored yet again on Saturday. We'll save that for another post!!!

I hope everyone had a good weekend and maybe I can hold it together for a few days until I can get back to the beach and regain my sanity!!!!

Rain on my Parade....

My plans for the weekend have been completely shattered and I am nothing short of heartbroken....on the outside. On the inside I am half jumping for joy, one fourth disappointed and one fourth lonely. My in-laws asked (for the fourth year in a row) if they could take Lucy along to Ft. Payne for the annual family reunion. Some of you might wonder why on earth I wouldn't want to go to a family reunion and it is simply because I DON'T WANT TO (insert red face and feet stomping here). I agreed to let her go and I was headed to Orange Beach to spend some overdue quality time with my husband. In other words, I was going fishing!!!! I couldn't wait to put on my new adorable "fishing flip flops", hop on the boat at 5:30 AM and head out to sea for twelve blissful hours of dropping line and reeling in the big ones. That is until Mark called me about an hour ago and told me there were going to be 14 other people on the boat, there would be six foot seas and possibly rain. Of course it was left up to me to make the ultimate decision whether or not to go on a rocking boat (where someone ALWAYS throws up all day when it is rough) all day and most likely get caught in a storm. Sorry, I LOVE fishing but I love fishing in water as smooth as glass and sunshine in the sky. Therefore, my decision was to stay home.....alone. I have been begging to go fishing all summer and what I thought would be the perfect time, turns out to be not so perfect. On a happy note, I do get to stay home. No driving, no cooking, no cleaning!!! I get to go SHOPPING. I am beside myself. It has been ages since I have been shopping with out a child attached to my hip and so now I have a revised plan for the weekend. Go home tonight from work grab my book and read until I fall asleep. Sleep as late as I possibly can in the morning, have a few cups of coffee and head to the Summit. When I get to the Summit, I will go into EVERY store, try on EVERYTHING taking as much time as I could possibly want or need and actually (maybe) buy something for ME....until I unconsciously wonder into Janie and Jack or Gymboree and spend all of my money on Lucy - as usual!!! So anyway, although plan number one got squashed, you can never go wrong with shopping!!!

I know I know....this all sounds so sad. But don't cry for me!! I could not be happier about spending an entire 48 hours ALONE (ok maybe 24 the other 24 will be sad and I'll be missing my babies)!!!!

Scary Bikes and Lack of Exercise....

Remember being a kid and how you could not wait to get up and go cruising on your bicycle? Seeing how fast you could go down the steepest hill you could find and skidding to a stop only to fall off and bloody your knees, elbows or whatever happened to land under the pedals? To me this is all just normal kid stuff....right? Well, not for Lucy. About two years ago when Lucy would see a shiny, glittery bike with a cute little basket on the front and hot pink training wheels, she went nuts...she couldn't live any longer without a brand new "bite". Not that she had any interest when she was three of doing anything other than sitting on the seat and having me push her around the garage. Not much has changed apparently. She LOVES riding her bike in thousands of tiny circles around the garage but heaven help us when we take it to the street. We live in THE perfect neighborhood for a kid to ride a bike. Flat streets, sidewalks, cul-de-sac. No matter, Lucy is TERRIFIED to ride her bike outside.

Side Note: Summer has made me a little more round that I care to be in a swimsuit so, my solution - SouthBeach Diet with a side of exercise and the occasional Miller Lite or Mango Margarita (weekends only). The exercise routine being that every night I walk Oscar and Lucy rides her bike around the neighborhood....sounds pretty simple and everyone wins....Back to the story.

Last night we set out on our adventure. Usually we walk Oscar (at a four year old's pace) up and down the street. This time however we were going for an hour at least. With Oscar leashed and bike at the ready we began. Slowly at first so that Lucy could get the hang of it and then....slower and slower until a turtle would have looked like a jet plane next to us. All I heard was MOMMY YOU'RE GOING TOO FAST, THIS IS SCARY AND I THINK I'LL JUST PUSH MY BIKE. I don't understand. This is NOT normal kid stuff. Needless to say, I go absolutely NO exercise and after that fiasco, I went inside, threw my bikini in the Salvation Army bag and ate a brownie.

A Welcome Change of Direction....

Instead of our usual trip south down I-65, this weekend we decided to head north!!!! My in-laws have a big beautiful lake house on Smith lake and we very rarely get to enjoy it...for obvious reasons. However, this weekend we made an exception, skipped out on the beach, and took advantage of the "short drive" and headed to the lake. Moving on....Lucy left with them on Thursday and I drove up Saturday morning. By the time I got there, Lucy wanted to show me how she could jump off the foot bridge (about an 8 foot jump). I nearly had a heart attack when she just walked up and jumped right off. Next up on the agenda, take a boat ride around the bend to the neighbors so Lucy could jump off of the TOP DECK of the boat house. ARE YOU KIDDING ME....she did it, she jumped off of the top of a FREAKING BOAT HOUSE!!!! My batteries in my camera went dead when we got to the boat house jumping. Which is probably better because if I had to watch her do it again I might die. But here are a few pictures from the lake and a video of my FOUR YEAR OLD jumping off of the footbridge....Well so much for the video, it was taking too long. I'll try again tomorrow!!!



Lucy and Oscar

She rode Oscar all over the lake!!!

Musette Bracelet GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Musette Bracelet GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Wordless Wednesday.....Sort of

I left MY camera at the beach with Mark (accidentally) so here are a few from Mark's camera.....more to come


Sweet girl


Dinner at the Hangout


Lucy's Henna Tattoo....that later smeared the permanent ink all over her foot and we are now stuck with a big blob for two weeks....YAY!!!


Lucy and Uncle Josh Kung Fu fighting/dancing with the blinky sword!!!


Minus Mark and Lucy who were off digging in the sand!!!