And The Winner Is.......

FIRST OF ALL

Thanks so much for entering my very first giveaway. This has been so much fun, I plan on having many more in the future! With that being said, the winner of all of the pretty hair goodies is.....drum roll please.....we did it the old fashioned way ........



here is Ayla pulling out the first winner......and the winner is.......





Nicole, your comment is too funny......and yes I did say winner's, because Ayla picked TWO more names...I thought I would send a few more goodies your way as well!!

SO,

Paige @ http://mommy2charli.blogspot.com/and
Rachael @ http://averys-paige.blogspot.com/ you are also winners!

Congrats to all three of you, just send your contact information to my email and I will get your box of goodies out to all of you!!

MOVING RIGHT ALONG.............

Okay, this week at Kelly's Korner the topic for "Show us Your Life" was "What do you collect". My first thought was that I do not collect anything because clutter stresses me out and so I try to avoid it if I can!! Then as I was reading all of the posts on this topic, I started saying...oh yeah I collect that, I collect that too..lol.. so I thought I would put a little post together about a few things that I DO collect!!

I love crosses and although I would love to collect crosses by Jan Barboglio, I am poor so I just collect crosses that I can afford...like this one I bought right after Christmas at Hobby Lobby on sale for 80% off, for only FIVE dollars... the reason why I love crosses and why I wear one around my neck is because when I look at that cross I know that I am forgiven and it is a daily reminder of his sacrifices for you and I and for the salvation that is ours because of HIM!

and here are a few others I have around the house







I also have a rather large collection of purses although I would not say that I "collect" them. To me to collect something means that the item you collect has meaning to you and purses well are purses and I am not emotionally connected to any of my purses.. well maybe the very first one John bought me when we were dating, it is a small coach purse and now Ayla has it..lol!! Oh and I just recently purged some of my purses and sold them on ebay because you know that gave me room to get more..hehe!! I also have a rather large collection of sippy cups and hand sanitizer, oh and then there is the collection of random objects that I have on top of my fridge



let's take a closer look shall we....



Okay, this is the COLLECTION that I COLLECT throughout the week, you know like when I take them away from my kids..lol. Each week I have a different COLLECTION!

This week we have a box of rice Krispy treats because my kids get them out of the pantry ALL DAY LONG, Scissors- I think we all know what would happen if those were within reach, knives-self-explanatory, a turkey bastor- Ayla chases Brennan with this and tries to suck his nose, she doesn't believe me when I tell her it is NOT a nose sucker..lol. A bottle of lotion- Caught Ayla shampooing Brennan's hair this week, side walk chalk- they do NOT understand that it is meant for OUTSIDE and lastly a set of paints- Ayla likes to paint anything and everything. So that is my collection of things for this week. I am sure we will be adding to it again this week!!

Okay, I hope everyone had a great weekend! I am going to go listen to Michael Buble sing now, he is singing at the Olympics and I love me some Michael Buble!!!

Nap Time..... I don't think so!!

I think naps are finally a thing of the past for Miss Ayla. Whenever I put her down for nap time, I pretty much know that she is not going to go to sleep, however, I do think it is important for her (and me!) to just relax in her room and have some quiet time at least. Usually she "trashes" her room when she is left alone for nap time. She gets all of her hats and bows out and scatters them everywhere, or she gets every book that she owns and scatters them as well. Honestly, I never know what I will find when I go to check on her at nap time! So with that being said, this is what I found a few days ago when checking in on her at nap time.



Yes people, she is sitting in her dresser drawer!



Is this not H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S!! It was so funny that I HAD to run and get my camera when I saw this. You can tell by the look on her face in the first picture that she knew she was doing something that she probably should not be doing! I am telling you, I could not make up the things that my children do! I know I tell you all the time that there is never a dull moment, I am sure you are probably beginning to believe me by now..lol!

Anyway.... thanks for all of the input about the Chi flat iron, I found one on ebay for $70 (including shipping), it was new and in the box, so I figured that was a good deal. Everyone has said that it will last me for years, so that was my justification for buying one..lol!

Also, thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Wright, after I posted on here about John and I forgetting our Anniversary, these showed up at our door a couple of days later. Thank you so much, they are beautiful!




Last but not least, my sister Amy has just started her blog and I would love for you to hop over here at "Amelia's Corner" and show her some love. She is a doll and I am sure you will think so too!

I will be picking a winner this weekend for my giveaway, so if you have not had a chance to enter go here, there is still time!!

Hope everyone is having a great week!

My Boy.....

is 2 years and 4 months old.

loves to snuggle and is a Mommy's boy for sure. He will sit in my lap forever and cuddle, he is so loving and caring, such a sweet soul!

sleeps with his blue blankie and carries it everywhere he goes (calls it his "wankie").

is extremely smart, he can count to 15 and he knows and recognizes every letter of the alphabet, he also knows all of the colors and most shapes.




has an infectious laugh that makes everyone smile and with those beautiful blue eyes, who could not resist!!

is infatuated with "The Wiggles".

is obsessed with dvd's, this is his toy of choice, he has them with him at all times and even takes them to bed with him, he calls them his dd's. He will sit at our kitchen counter for hours putting dd's in his dvd player.






loves to play on the computer, he knows how to go to the Nickelodeon page and play games, he even know how to use the mouse and has for a while.

talks in full sentences, when he gets upset he always says the same thing that goes something like this, "Stoppickenitme", I have no idea what that means but I am sure it probably isn't very nice!

loves to eat, his favorite food is pizza and fresh fruit.






loves to sing, his favorite songs are Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Jesus loves me.

still sucks his thumb and still sleeps in his crib.

still takes a two hour nap every day.

loves people, he does not know a stranger and he says, "hi" to everyone he sees.

loves books and loves for Mamaw to read them to him.

likes to play with my I phone and has since around 18 months. He knows how to do everything on it, he can answer it, play games, go to You tube and watch videos, listen to music, he can probably work it much better than myself! He loves to play matching games and he is so good at it too!

loves his big sister, in the mornings he always gives her a hug and kiss, he calls her "sissy" or "Aya".

is such a blessing, we love him so much!

Ayla Playing Guitar, Disney on Ice and Our Anniversary

This is Ayla's favorite thing to do! Every evening she plays Van Halen's Guitar Hero with her Daddy! There are three songs that she plays over and over and she already has the words memorized. Cracks me up! Here is a little video of her, John and my brother in law playing a song. This is HILARIOUS!! Trust me it is worth watching the whole three minutes!

She loves music so much, and she actually has pretty good rhythm for her age! She would stay down stairs and play the guitar for hours I think!

On another note, I wanted to thank everyone for entering the giveaway. I love giving to others, so this is so exciting for me. I also make jewelrey and a few other things, so I already have other giveaways lined up!! I will post a winner this Saturday so you still have time to enter here if you have not already!

This Thursday we took the kids to see Disney on Ice. Ayla absolutely loved it. She sat and watched the whole entire show while clapping her hands. She was so cute, she had to know EVERY single character's name. For the ones we didn't know, we just started making them up..lol. Of course her favorites were all of the Princesse's and Mickey Mouse. They had all of the Mickey Mouse Characters except for Daisy Duck. Ayla asked the whole night where Daisy Duck was and you can't just say, "I don't know" to Ayla, she wants an explanation. So I was telling her Daisy wasn't feeling well etc..and then at the VERY end they finally had Daisy in the last act so she was thrilled! Brennan was interested in about the first 45 minutes and then after that he was bored, so he played games on my I-phone the rest of the night! Luckily, we were able to make it through the entire show without buying ONE THING. They did not ask for anything while we were there, no toys, no food, no nothing!! So it ended up being a pretty cheap but very FUN evening! I love seeing my kids so happy, I would do anything to see that smile on their face!





So Friday night my baby sister came over and stayed the night. Her husband was out of town for the weekend and so we had a slumber party..hehe! We ate popcorn and watched American Idol, It was a great time! She is working on starting her own blog and I am sooo excited. She is an excellent writer, she just wrote two articles that were published on line and I can't wait to share them with you! She is such a cutie, you all will love her!

Saturday was a lazy day. John was on call this weekend so he was working Saturday morning. At some point Saturday afternoon, a friend texted me wishing John and I a happy anniversary. What? Did I read my text right, it can't be my anniversary...gasp...look at the calendar, sure enough it is our 6 year anniversary! How terrible is that? I mean I know I am lucky if I even know what day it is much less the date but... I felt really bad. After I spoke with John from work that afternoon, I felt a little better because he had forgotten too!! My sister was nice enough to come over so we could go out to dinner and a movie. We saw "The Edge Of Darkness" and I don't want to spoil anything for you if you want to see it, but If I were you, I would wait and rent it! Yeah, um not a anniversary type of movie! When we got home from the movie, my sister and the kids had made us brownie cupcakes...yum!!

Today was grocery store day so nothing too exciting going on here. It was 50 degrees and sunny so we were able to take the kids outside and go for a walk. It was so nice, I am so ready for the warm weather. Our vacation is not until August so we are debating on going to Disney at the end of April! One day we want to and then the next we are like well maybe we should wait until next year. So, we are not sure yet, they are having a special right now and it ends in March so we will definitely have to know before then!

Do you all remember how Ayla just got a new bedroom makeover? Well, we bought the flower and butterfly wallie type things. John painted the stems of the flowers and then we used the wallies for the flower part. And we placed them strategically throughout the room so it would not look like we just slapped a bunch of stickers on the wall.....well....as I was putting Ayla down for a nap a week or so ago, I saw this....



I guess Ayla had her own decorating ideas. She had gathered almost all of the flowers and butterflies off of the wall and lined them up on the wall inside her bed! So now there are a bunch of flower stems painted on the walls without a flower (you can see a couple of them in the pic) I just had to laugh about it. I guess John will have to PAINT all of the flowers now!!

Two more things, I noticed that everyone in blog land has a CHI flat iron. I have been looking for one and I can not believe how much these things are. Seriously $110 and that is for a cheap one. Is it really worth it? I really want one but I am not sure that I want to pay that. I mean for that price my hair should be looking like I just stepped out of the saloon each time I use it. So I need your advice on this one. Is there some place to get this cheaper or is that price about right?

Okay, lastly I thought I would share another GREAT find I found this weekend while at Target. I just happened to walk by the shoe department and these caught my eye.






They look just like Lelli Kelly shoes but much cheaper. In fact they were on sale for $12 a piece! Ayla wore the sandals all day Saturday, she calls them her princess shoes! Anyway, just thought I would let you know in case you are like me and you can't resist a cute pair of shoes!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I can't wait to check out all of my new follower's blogs! I am so excited to meet my new friends!!

Show Us Your Ministry and My First Giveaway!

This week at Kelly's Korner is "Show us your ministry week". Although I do not have a ministry, I do have a story that I would like to share with you. I have also have a few new readers, so I would love to take this opportunity to tell "Ayla's Story". I actually posted this last week on mistake so I know alot of you have already read this. If you have not read Ayla's Story please click HERE to read! After you have read this, please come back and join my very FIRST giveaway!!

To celebrate my new blog makeover and my two year blogging anniversary, I have decided to have a giveaway. I love to make hair bows, flower clips etc, for my daughter and have been doing it since she was a baby. I actually had an Etsy store for a short time selling my items. Since I appreciate everyone of you that take the time out to read my blog, I am so excited to give back to you something that I enjoy doing! I am giving away a HUGE lot of hair goodies for your little girl. If you do not have a little girl, I am sure you know one that would look adorable in all of these goodies!!

This give away includes:
Two crochet beanie hats (one pink and one black) you can clip the flowers or any bows that you may already have on to these!
Two large Flower clips (these clip on the hat or headbands or can be worn alone)
Six Crochet headbands
Two small flower clips, (these look cute on headband or worn alone)
Four hair bows (red, pink, white, ivory)
Fifteen crochet flower clips (these can be used for babies and older girls) all are lined on an alligator clip. Some of these are crochet watermelons and cupcakes.. so cute! Ayla still wears these to pull her bangs back!









All you have to do to enter is:
leave a comment for one entry
become a follower for two entries
blog about this give away on your blog for three entries and
post on facebook for four entries

It's that simple! Make sure you leave a post for every entry! I will pick a winner some time next week!

And thank you Stephanie from Dirt and Lace Designs for my new blog makeover. Your work is awesome and you are wonderful to work with! If you are thinking about a new blog design, go and see Stephanie, you will be glad you did!

Here are a couple of pictures of Ayla wearing some of the hair goodies! She actually loves the hats and wears them all the time!










Have a great weekend everyone!!

My night with Harry and some great deals!

Last night John and I went to see Harry Connick Jr. in concert and it was awesome! He was amazing and to my surprise very funny! He had us laughing the whole time, I felt like we were at a comedy show with the added bonus of a concert..lol! Honestly if he is touring in your area, you really should go see him, it is a great time. Just as an example of how funny he is, while he was singing his second song of the night, several people came in late and their seats were up front. All of a sudden he told the band to stop playing and he stopped singing and said ,"We need to wait for these people to find their seats". It was hilarious, he went on talking to them forever asking them why they were late etc, and then he saw that they had a camera and he said lets just get this over with and he took pictures with them right in the middle of the show. Oh and then there was this guy on the very front row recording him ALL NIGHT on his I phone (which is not allowed) so at one point Harry made a comment that he had noticed him doing it and he went up to the guy and said ,"You like taking my picture?", "Let me take your's", he then grabbed the guy's I phone and threw it behind stage and just continued singing. It was the funniest thing ever. After the show he gave it back to the guy and said that they had erased 70 pictures and three videos. Yes that Harry, he definitely has a personality to say the least!!




I also have found some great deals lately and would love to share them with you. We just recently upgraded to a king size bed and with that we bought a memory foam topper and new pillows. First of all, I am not a good sleeper and have not been for quite a long time. I have also had problems with my neck and back when I wake up, like I did not sleep the right way maybe and my neck is stiff more than it should be. Well let me tell you these pillows that we bought are the BEST EVER. They are designed for side and back sleeping . Each pillow is individually air-molded and is designed to ensure support, comfort and increased circulation for the head, neck and spine. We bought these at Sam's and I think they are made by "Nature's Sleep", I need to check with John to be sure because he bought them but after looking at the website, it looks like this may be the one. I love, love, love, this pillow, I have slept the best EVER since having this and my neck and back feel great. I hardly ever sleep a whole night without waking up but since we have made the change, I have slept like a baby. I am sure it is a combination of the memory foam topper and the new pillow, but I am a firm believer that a nice pillow is ESSENTIAL for a good night's sleep. I think John said these were twenty something a piece, but to me they are definitely worth it!!




Okay moving on, ya'll know I love finding a good bargain. Last week at T.J. Maxx, they had these boutique brand denim shirts and dresses by "Paper Denim and Jeans" for Ayla. They had several different styles but we went with this tiered peasant top/dress for... are you ready... only $12.99. The original price on the dress is $48.00. Score! This will look so cute with a pair of ruffles as a shirt or you can size up for a longer dress look. Once you see this in person, you can tell that the quality is awesome! I took a pic so you could see how cute it is!




Ayla "posing" for me, this picture cracks me up!!




I also ordered these three skirt/jacket sets from Walmart. They are only $9 for BOTH pieces and shipping is only 97 cents. They are the brand Faded Glory and they wash up really well! I am going to pair these with some cute Mini Boden applique shirts for the Spring/Summer. I am all about a good deal and I think these are a great find. The skirts have the little shorts under them and they actually look just like the Mini Boden skirts for a WHOLE lot less! I think they are adorable and you really can't beat the price at nine dollars. They also have a cute red set but they are sold in stores ONLY. Only certain Walmarts are carrying these in store, so I went ahead and ordered mine online.



Cute, huh? I hope everyone is having a good week. We are taking the kids to see Disney on Ice tonight. Ayla is so excited but she thinks she is going to Disney World! I hope the ice skating show is not a disappointment for her..lol!! Oh yeah and I am having a giveaway starting tomorrow!! I am so excited, it will be lot's of fun!!

Happy Love Day

First of all I just want to thank all of you that left a comment on my last post. All of your thoughts and prayers mean the world to me. I had tears running down my face as I read through each comment! It has been a rough two years, but we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel so I feel as though I can not complain!!



What a busy weekend! On Friday John and I went out to eat at our favorite Italian restaurant, ALONE. Yes, we had a night out with out the kids. My mom, sister and niece came over and watched the kids so we could have a night out to celebrate Valentine's Day. We have been the last three years so I guess it is our tradition now! After dinner my other sister and her hubby came over to watch WVU play Pitt, otherwise known as "The backyard Brawl". I am sad to say that Pitt beat us in THREE overtimes. Oh well, it was fun cheering them on and of course we all had our WVU attire on....even Ayla and Brennan!





On Saturday we met my sister and her hubby again for lunch at the Grand Prix. My poor husband stood in line for over an hour just so Ayla could ride in one of the cars with him. After seeing the smile on her face, it was all worth it. She loved it, this was her first time, she kept saying, "Go fast,fast, fast". Oh, yes she is truly a daddy's girl. I did not get any pictures, I only had my Iphone and they turned out blurry, but I did want to remember this because Ayla had such a good time!



Today we did not do much, we had to run a few errands and then I went to kickboxing class. I have been trying to do it three days a week and I have also started the 30 day shred so hopefully I can lose these last 15 pounds! For Valentines day we got Ayla a little stamping kit Brennan a Boz and Veggie Tales movie and Kaleb a kit for his car so that it will play his Ipod. They were so happy with that but Daddy went out early this morning (before I was out of bed) and brought home more gifts as well as breakfast! He bought Ayla a set of music cd's, Brennan a Wiggles movie and Kaleb a new x-box game! Oh and he bought me a new external flash for my camera. I love it! I have been trying to get extra's for my camera here and there, this really helps with taking pictures inside. I honestly didn't expect him to get me anything since we had our dinner, so It was a nice surprise!





I have had fun this week celebrating Valentines day with the kids. We have made heart shaped cupcakes almost every day. Ayla and Brennan made Valentines with glitter glue and stickers. Ayla was so excited, she gives one to anyone that walkes through the door. I also bought some little wooden Valentines characters and Ayla has loved painting those too.











I hope everyone had a great Valentines weekend with your loved ones!! I am so ready for the warm weather. We have been stuck inside for the last couple of weeks because of the weather. I have started ordering some spring and summer clothes for the kids. This is fun, it makes me think that Summer is just around the corner!!

So I guess it's time to get ready for Easter now!!

Oh yes and did anyone notice anything different about my blog? I love my new makeover! Stephanie from Dirt and Lace designs has been wonderful working with me on this. She is such a great person, if you are wanting a makeover please go and visit her site. Thank you Stephanie!