This is hilarious....

After I posted the previous post, I clicked on my stats to see how people have made it to my blog.

Someone came to my blog by "Googling" this phrase:

"how do rednecks go sledding"

So I googled it too!  There were 4 videos posted, and the first website link was for this post!

How hilarious is that!!

***This post was made possible thanks to my brother-in-law Ed who introduced me to Redneck Sledding last year during the Christmas Blizzard-2010***

Behind on blogging, yet again

This blogging thing is kind of crazy.

When I have nothing to say, or nothing interesting going on....I have all the time in the world to sit and write.

When I have TONS of things to say and TONS of interesting things happening... I have no free time!

Between a busy and demanding school year, life as momma of a high-energy puppy, and being pregnant, I have just not had time to sit down and type out my thoughts. Seeing as how there is always a load of clothes to wash or fold, and dishes that could be cleaned, I just can't justify stopping to sit at the computer.

But I promise I do have some upcoming posts (and pictures) to share!

1. Christmas Recap
2. Quinn's first Spirit Week at school
3. Quinn's 4th birthday
4. Quinn's new bike!
5. Update on our puppy, Dixie
6. Pregnancy update
7. How I got 15 fluorescent light bulbs (the curly ones) for free

Seems like there was one other, but I can't think of it right now....

Rest assured, I'm still alive and well and have things to say....if I can only find the time....

Halloween 2011

Here's Quinn, dressed up as the "high ridin-est, rootin' tootin'-est cowboy hero of all time.....Sheriff Woody!

Some highlights (and low-lights) of our Trick or Treating adventure.

1. Quinn insisted on climbing the stairs of each house and ringing the door bell "by myself Mommy". Although he would alternate which of us got to go halfway with him!

2. He rang the bell or knocked at each house and said Trick or Treat BEFORE they opened the door....every....single....time....

3. He always said "Thank you for da Trick or Treat" as he left each house!

4. One lady said "Bye cowboy" and Quinn tipped his hat at her!  Literally lifted it up off his head and sat it back down! Don't know where he learned that!

5. He was so shocked and surprised that everybody that passed said "Hey Woody" to him. He could not believe that people knew what he was supposed to be!

6. At one of the last houses we went to, the kid in front of him got the last piece of candy. Quinn was so upset and didn't understand why he didn't get any, that the other kid's older sister offered Quinn a piece of her candy!  Such a sweet girl!

7. The one bad moment of the night was when a teenager at one house deliberately scared Quinn on purpose. He was laying on the grass and would pop up and growl as the kids walked by. His sister said "Don't do it, that's a little kid coming" (meaning Quinn), but he did it anyway.  Meanie!

8. Quinn was so cold by the time we got home we put him in a tub of warm water, gave him a bath and put him to bed!

9. First thing he said on Tuesday morning was "Mommy I ready for da Trick or Treat again!"

Cute Conversations with Quinn

If you are my friend on Facebook, then you have probably already seen these conversations posted as my "status" of the day.  But these are so sweet and child-like, that I wanted to record them here, to have that memory written down.

#1 (A fall day driving home from school)
Quinn: Mommy, yook!! Da trees gots colors on dem!
Me: Really? What do you see?
Quinn: I see red and orange and lellow!

#2 (after a long stretch of rainy days)
Quinn: Mommy, somefing happened!
Me: What?
Quinn: All da clouds are gone. It's a sunny day!
Me: Yes it is!

#3 (on a pretty, cloudless morning on the way to school)
Quinn: Mommy, its so purty today.
Me: Yes it is. Do you know who made the day?
Quinn: Uh huh....Mrs. James!

#4 (while asking the blessing over his supper)
God is great. God is good. Let us thank him for my chicken nuggets. Amen.

I know one day, before I know it, he will be big and grown and gone.

But for now, I'm going to hold on as tight as I can to these sweet moments and store them in my heart. I am so blessed to be his mommy!

Bringing Home Dixie

I mentioned in a previous post that Quinn prays for a dog named Dixie.  I also mentioned it was a story for another day.

That day is here.

Dixie is the newest member of our family, thanks to my husband!  The story surrounding Dixie's arrival has a story all its own, and quite frankly, is not one I care to get into.  Let's just say Dixie was an unexpected surprise!

Dixie was born somewhere at the end of August / first of September, and we were able to pick her up on October 8th. The guy who raised her was one of the guys Buddy worked with in Virginia, and this guy owned both the father and the mother dogs. So we knew they were well taken care of during the pregnancy, birth, and first weeks of life. Dixie is an American Bulldog.

When we arrived at Buddy's co-worker's house, this is what greeted us....11 puppies! (Not all 11 made it into the picture. And Dixie is the 2nd puppy past the metal pole in the fence.)

These are the parents. Mom Dog is Bella, and has the dish in her mouth. Dad Dog is on the right, named Bennett.



Here is Buddy, holding his new puppy for the first time.  I love her brindle patch over her eye!



You can see from the angle of her face here, that she only has the patch on one eye. It is really cute, because her eyelashes and whiskers on the brindle side are brown...and on the other side they are white.  (PS...I'm not frustrated here, but the sun was in my eyes!)

As you can see, she has adapted well to our family....doesn't take long to fit in with us!

Even Tillman, our 9 year old miniature pinscher, has learned to tolerate Dixie. He still puts her in her place every once and a while though. She is all puppy and he's our "old man", so he's not into playing and things like that. Quinn loves for Dixie to chase him through the house and outside.

Even I have to admit, she's a cutie pie. And she certainly has some funny sleeping positions!

I'll like her even more, just as soon as she learns her "potty breaks" should happen OUTside!

A Big Boy Room for a Big Brother!

Last Saturday, Quinn moved out of the nursery and into his big boy room!  We cleaned out the guest room and painted the walls. His furniture came on Saturday while he was napping....his last time sleeping in the crib.

And let me just insert a disclaimer here.  Our three-and-a-half year old has not been sleeping in a full crib all this time. We had taken the front off, so it looked more like a "daybed" with the protective guard so he wouldn't roll out.  (Back to the story!)

We got him a bunk-bed style loft. The bottom bunk is separate, so we didn't even set it up for now. Instead of having a ladder, it has 6 little stairs. The other end holding up the bed is the dresser. We liked this feature of having the dresser attached to the bed, since it wouldn't take up valuable play space, as this room isn't all that big.  Since the room already had green curtains, I picked out a "camo" bedding set!

My favorite part is the play space under the bed, perfect for his tool bench and toy box!  You can just see the corner of a rug that looks like a road, so he can play with his cars.  His first words when he saw his new room was "Oh wow Mommy. It's purty!"  (That's my little country boy!)

I took these pictures right before we had "lights out". We would always say a prayer before kissing him, but lately Quinn has been really interested in saying his own prayer.  It goes something like this:

"Dear Jesus. Tank you for da day. Hep (help) me sweep (sleep) good. Bwess Mommy, Bwess Daddy, Bwess Quinn, Bwess Tillman (our dog), Bwess Dixie (our new puppy...that's another story), Bwess Gwandma and Gwandpa, Bwess Nana and Papa. Hep me sweep good. Amen"

And this was the last little grin I got right before Quinn laid down for his first sleep in his new bed! 

He has really done well with this bed. I was afraid of him trying to get down in the night or something, but he goes right to sleep.  And the bed is sturdy enough that either Buddy or I can get up there with him and lay down, should he ever need us.  He actually likes it when we get up there with him! 

And yes, I did have a couple of tears over the idea of my sweet boy no longer needing the baby room!

Now we just need to know what new baby is so we can get the room ready. March will be here before we know it!

My Sweet Husband

A couple of weekends ago, my parents came up for the day to see us. I asked Mom how my Aunt Linda was doing. Linda is Mom's sister, and over the summer, she was diagnosed with cancer. She was telling me that after a few rounds of chemo, she was beginning to lose her hair and had been for appointments to get a wig and other head covers.

After my parents left, Buddy and I were talking about this.  He said, "You know what, I'm due for a haircut too." And he went to the bathroom to cut his hair.

When he came back, he looked like this....

He said, "Well, if Aunt Linda has to lose her hair this weekend, then I will too!"

He shaved his head in her honor!  I called and told her about it and seemed really tickled about it.

And he's still as handsome as ever!  I love you Buddy!