Flashback Friday~Poppy Court

Amber posted a picture in her Flashback Friday that put me in the mood to reminisce about my college days! Well, my sophomore through senior years anyway.

I lived in a house on Poppy Court with Audra, Christie and Amber. Megan lived there for a summer and came to visit a lot! We also had a handful of roommates, most of whom none of us got along with :) My parents bought the house when my older brother was in college, and it's been full of college kids and memories ever since! My little brother is living there now, but after he finishes his last few classes this summer, my parents plan to sell it. GOOD BYE Poppy Court house....we'll miss you!
The girls and I had some great experiences there and I wouldn't trade a single day in that house for anything. Here are some of my favorite memories:

*Being scared out of our britches one night after dark when we heard tapping on the kitchen window and what sounded like footsteps on the ROOF! It was too dark to see out the window and with the lights on inside we knew whoever was out there could see right in, so we all ran to the hallway and huddled up on the floor. We thought someone was breaking in. I'm pretty sure we even called the police. Then found out it was some of our crazy guy friends!

*Our first "party" at the house....things got a little out of hand! A neighbor down the street, we call Waterboy (he watered his lawn non-stop), was a bit upset with all the beer cans in his yard! "Okay, thanks!"

*The night we were coming home from Aggieville in Kane's (Audra's husband) truck, and Christie lost her lunch out the back window...Kane had to go wash the truck!

*The "Velvet Love Machine"...our name for a huge red velvet bean bag type thing! Does anyone have pictures of that 'ol thing?!?! It was great for napping!

*Brent (Megan's husband) & the Goldschlager shots

*The time I got a bottle cap stuck in the garbage disposal!

*Wearing our aprons & "baking" pies in the kitchen with Audra; Eating Chipolte burritos on the living room floor; Pulling all-nighters in my room building that darn model; Having 3 other closets to wear clothes from; Scavenger hunts around the house; and oh so many more!!

I have so many great pictures from our Poppy Court Days. I'll have to share more later. Those were some good times...I love you Audra, Amber, Christie & Megan!!!

Favorite Things SWAP!!

I just found this SWAP on one of the blogs I enjoy....
It sounds like so much fun!!Here's a little bit of her post....

shout it from the roof tops, tell your friends, invite your neighbors, send an email, post it on your blog. anything & everything that will get the word out. i want EVERYONE in the world knows about the second annual favorite things swap. i hope you are as excited as i am! here are all the particulars...

it's really quite simple: as a participant, you will be asked to choose at least three objects (i don't think anyone would mind if you decide to send more) that are some of YOUR favorite things to send to your partner... maybe it's an apron you made, your new favorite book, or that favorite flavor of lip gloss. be creative & most importantly have fun with it! objects can be new or vintage, bought or handmade... just remember, it is best to send something the you'd be pleased & excited to receive yourself. ready to join the fun? please e-mail your particulars to accordingtokelly@yahoo.com. sign-ups will be open until friday, june 6th... so get your friends involved! upon receiving your "rsvp" i will send out a confirmation email, if you don't hear from me, email me again, sometime emails can get lost & i don't want anyone left out in the cold!

so here's what i need from you:

• your name.

• mailing address.

• email address.

• website / blog / flickr(must be involved with at least one of these).

• a little something about yourself.

• please indicate if you are willing to ship internationally.

Doesn't this sound FUN?!?! I've already sent my email!
Go to the *According to Kelly* blog to find out more!

3 Memories on Thursday!!

These are THREE not so great MEMORIES, but the reward I got from enduring them is priceless and I wouldn't change a thing!

Memory ONE~ Something is changing!! So...it was a year ago this week that I started getting a bit nauseous from the little bean growing inside me! It was the week after Memorial Day weekend, and my secretary was on vacation all week. I was the only one in the office and found myself pulling the trash can out from under my desk, or running to the bathroom on a daily basis. Nobody except my parents and my in-laws knew about the little bean, so I would call Mom and she would bring me crackers, sprite, anything to try and help curb the nauseous feeling. Nothing worked! Ahh...pregnancy!! After this week...it was all downhill for the next 3 months! More on that in a later post!

Memory TWO~Previously enjoyable and lovely scents were now unbearable! I used to love scented laundry detergent...ahh, fresh rain & lavender....then all of the sudden my senses heightened and I couldn't take it. Still to this day I don't like any scent on my fresh laundry. I use ALL Free & Clear. The only scented detergent I like is Barrett's ALL baby scent :) Once I started wearing my pre-pregnancy clothes again, I would pull a shirt off the hanger and get a whiff of the old scented detergent and the bad memories would come back...I've since had to re-wash all the clean clothes in my closet with the Free & Clear!!

Memory THREE~Gotta keep something in my stomach! Although I had no appetite, it was important to try and keep something in my stomach at all times. It was just a horrible feeling all around. I was part of a message board during this time and tried everything anyone suggested, of course nothing offered relief!

There aren't really any pleasant pictures to go with this post...so here's one of my favorites of my belly starting to grow. This was taken at 17weeks (August 3, 2007), I think. It was for a "7 days" scrapbook class I was doing with Alicia! This was around the time when I finally started to enjoy my pregnancy! This summer, I'm so happy to have my baby boy! I know all those months of sickness he put me through was just him growing into a happy, healthy, beautiful boy!!

Monday's Letter to my Little Bear-Fourth Edition

Happy Memorial Day Little Bear! Today is Monday, May 26, 2008, and we had a busy day with family! For lunch, we were out at Gigi & Papa's and grilled hamburgers with Uncle Bobby, Uncle Brian, Aunt Sarah, Emma & Lauren. Then we had enchiladas out at Grandma & Grandpas for supper with Aunt Kim, Uncle Todd, Kylie & Emily! You are so worn out from the day and the busy weekend that your conked out in your car seat right now...Mommy will have to get you up in a bit, so we can get your jammies on and get ready for bed. You've had so many FIRSTS this week!! You love blowing bubbles and if someone blows them at you, you usually do it right back! You also have found your feet!! You're so cute when you lay on your back and try to get those little piggies into your mouth. I've tried to get pictures of you in the act, but every time you see the shiny silver camera over your head, you stop and just stare at it! I'll get you one of these days though! You've also started rolling over...you've rolled yourself over from your tummy to your back before, but only because you were mad...now you're actually rolling from your tummy to your back AND your back to your tummy because you think it's fun. Another challenge for Mommy while she's trying to change your diaper, you not only squirm now, you try to roll over to your tummy. You're growing and changing so fast, what a big boy! Last night we tried to get you back to your "sleeping through the night schedule"...you were doing so good for a while there, letting Mommy & Daddy get lots of sleep, but all of the sudden you think you need to get up four or five times a night to party :) So, we had a long night...trying to soothe you back to sleep without feeding you! You don't need those middle of the night snacks!

AND...are you ready for the best news of all? Mommy turned in her letter of resignation at work last week! That means starting in August, I get to stay home with YOU! I'm so excited! It was a hard decision, because I do love my job...but I love my Little Bear MUCH MORE! We'll have so much fun together and Mommy won't have to miss anything. I feel so lucky and so blessed!

I love you bunches, baby boy!!!

Flashback Friday~Bapo

Memorial Day weekend makes me think of my grandpa; my mom's dad. We called him Bapo (pronounced Bop-o) and he was the best grandpa anyone could ever ask for. Bapo passed away in August 2005, and we've missed him dearly everyday since.

This is me with Bapo and my older brother, Brian

Me with Mamo & Bapo

In my family, Memorial Day weekend means FAMILY REUNION! Our reunion is a golf tournament and family picnic in Bartlesville, OK. This tradition has been going on for over 20 years, and it was started by Bapo. He loved to golf and he loved family, so he combined the two and made a reunion that people actually enjoy going to! He was always so happy on that day! I can still picture him standing at the first tee box, waiting for his team to tee off...wearing a golf polo tucked into his shorts, golf hat, and his tan legs! AND if you couldn't tell he was an Oklahoma State fan by his golf bag & head covers, you were blind!

After the tournament and picnic, Mamo (my grandma) & Bapo, my family, and my aunts, uncles and cousins would all caravan to Grand Lake. This is where my best memories of the holiday weekend are! Mamo & Bapo had a place on the lake. It was a cozy little 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom lakehouse, but when our family of 17 plus would move in for the weekend it became very cozy!! It was right on the lake, with a deck that looked out across the water, and you could watch the sunset behind Sailboat bridge. Bapo had his own fishing dock and boat. We would spend all weekend eating incredible meals prepared by Mamo, my mom and my aunts...we would fish off the boat, the dock and the point; ski; swim in the pool; ride around on the golf cart; and love every minute of it!

We sold the lakehouse a few years ago, and every Memorial Day since, it makes me a little sad to think about how much I miss it and how much I miss my Bapo! I'd give anything to have just one more weekend at the lake with him! He was always excited to take you fishing, bait your hook for you and even clean the fish you caught! I'm sure I'll share some of my lake pictures and memories here soon. With Summer around the corner, I'll be thinking of the lake often!

I miss you Bapo, and I know you'll be at the tournament this weekend...you wouldn't miss it for anything!

All of the grandkids at last year's reunion...we now have three great-grandkids and three, almost four married into the family grandkids :)

Three on Thursday...

ONE~
I'm pretty sure I've had polish on my toenails for at least the last 15 years straight! There's nothing wrong with natural toenails, but for some reason I just HAVE to have them painted at all times :) While I was pregnant, it was quite the workout to bend over to reach them, but I kept them polished. I didn't even have to resort to having Justin paint them for me!

TWO~
I have two doggies! They used to be my "babies" and I would talk about them and take pictures of them all the time...these days something seems to have taken the spotlight! But I still love them, they'll always be my boys! Gunner is our five year old black lab. Rudy is our four year old chocolate lab. They are complete opposites!

Gunner is mellow and lazy...he loves to lay in the shade and shows little interest in swimming when we take them out. He doesn't bark unless a strange vehicle pulls into the driveway or something is wrong, and he's a mamma's boy! He'll always be my baby!!
Rudy is wild and I don't think he'll ever outgrow it...he loves to run and lick, and wherever there's water, he's in it!! He's just like a little kid and all he wants is to play, so he'll bark at anyone to get attention! He's our crazy boy and we love him!
THREE~
I love tomatoes, but I don't like ketchup! Strange, I know! Bring your own bottle of ketchup if you come to a BBQ at our house....Justin doesn't like it either!

4 month shots

Yesterday was Barrett's 4 month check-up and shots. Daddy took off work in the morning to go with us...mostly just moral support for Mommy! Barrett did great. Everything looked wonderful. The shots were quick and he screamed pretty good until I picked him up. I'm sure they hurt me more than him :) We got the green light to start some cereal if we want to. I'd rather just continue with only breast milk till at least 6 months, but we might go ahead and add a bit of cereal to his afternoon bottle. I'm having a hard time keeping up with what he eats while I'm at work, so that might help those feedings go a bit further! We'll see!

Here are his 4 month stats:
weight-14 pounds, 8 ounces (he was 12 pounds, 8 ounces at his 2 month appt)
head-17 inch (head was 16 inches at 2 months)
length-24 3/4" (length was 23 inches at 2 months)
Look at the band-aid on my sweet, chunky little thigh!! I was such a good boy!

Monday's Letter to my Little Bear-3rd Edition

Happy Birthday, Little Bear! Today is Monday, May 19, 2008, and you were four months old yesterday!! My goodness, those four months have gone fast...you've grown & changed so much already!

We had a busy weekend. On Friday we drove to Manhattan with Gigi & Papa for Uncle Bobby's graduation. Daddy couldn't go because he was on-call for work. We went to the BFA show at the Union on Friday night, then graduation Saturday morning.

Brandon's display...that's your daddy in those pictures :)

Brandon & Jenn

This is what you did at the graduation ceremony!

You with Mommy & Uncle Bobby

It was a quick trip, but you were worn out!! Poor little thing had your routine all messed up! We got home around 3:30 on Saturday afternoon and you didn't want to sleep or eat. It wasn't like you at all, and Mommy was so worried. Papa said you probably had "jet lag" from the busy trip! You were back on track by Saturday night. You ate and Mommy put you to bed...I only had to put you down once, and you were out!

On Sunday, we spent the day home with Daddy. You took LOTS of naps ( I think you were still recovering from the trip), so Mommy & Daddy worked outside while you were asleep. We cleaned out the carport and did yard work. We moved our big swing to the front yard, so we can sit out there in the evenings with you. We tried it out last night and you loved to swing! It's the perfect shady spot! Daddy grilled burgers for supper and we ate out on the back porch. It was a beautiful Sunday evening! We look forward to spending lots of time with you outside.

Daddy's was pretty proud of his burgers with grilled pineapple!

A little blurry....but you loved to swing!!

Writing these letters to you every Monday makes me realize how FAST the weeks go by, and how much I need to cherish every moment. Have a good week, Little Bear! I love you!

Menu Plan Monday

I was blog-surfing the other day and found this site! It's just what I needed!!! Now that we have our new fridge and stove, I need to be cooking MORE!

Monday~penne Alfredo with fire-roasted tomatoes & garlic breadsticks

Tuesday~chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes & gravy, and crinkle cut carrots

Wednesday~grilled ham & cheese with chips

Thursday~ Young Professionals Kick-off BBQ, downtown

Friday~ hot dogs with seasoned waffle fries

Join in Menu Plan Monday every week at Organizational Junkie!

Flashback Friday~For my Little Brother!

My little brother, Brandon, is all grown-up! Today I'm headed to Manhattan with my parents and Barrett to watch him graduate from Kansas State University! I can't believe this day is already here...seems like just yesterday I was dressing him up in my ballet tutus, and building forts out of couch cushions in the family room. The chubby little boy that used to sit under the kitchen sink with the doors shut and his headphones on is now a handsome man full of talent and destined for a promising career. I am so proud of him! He has always been the comedian of the family. The youngest of the three kids, he wasn't exactly planned....but God obviously had other plans for my parents. I don't know what we'd do without him in our lives!
Seems like he just graduated from high school, but on Saturday, Brandon will graduate from college with a BFA in Graphic Design! I'm pretty sure he doesn't frequent my blog....but if by chance you are reading this, Bran, I am so proud of you! We seem to grow closer and closer the older we get, and I love you very much!! I can't wait to see what the future has in store for you, but PLEASE don't let your career take you too far away from home. We would miss you too much...and Barrett needs his Uncle Bobby to teach him all sorts of ornery things!

THREE Random Fav Things on Thursday!

ONE---My Ozark Herbals beeswax lip balm stick in MINT TINGLE

I buy one stick of this every September at bluegrass and try to make it last me through the year. Well, last year I ran out in June or July. So, why didn't I buy TWO sticks this year? I'll blame it on the pregnancy brain! Ozark Herbals is a body care & fragrance vendor that comes to the festival every year to sell their herbal soaps and lip balms. They also have candles and pet soap!

TWO---OPI Dutch Tulip nail polish

My friend Christie gave me a bottle of this when I graduated from college (is that right, Christie) in 2002! I've probably bought five more since then! It's my favorite color to put on my toes! As soon as Spring comes every year, I can't wait to get that polish out and paint my toes! It's perfect for sandal season!

THREE---Cranberry Limeades from Sonic!

I'm addicted...what else is there to say! Thank you Lord for HAPPY HOUR!!!

Before & After

Here are some BEFORE & AFTER pictures of my sweet little kitchen! No need to adjust your screen.....my kitchen really IS that TINY! I like to refer to it as COZY!

BEFORE fridge...boring & not the right size for our nook

AFTER fridge...perfect for the nook!

BEFORE range...
Ugh! Those burners, they're bringing back bad memories already!!

AFTER range...so clean looking! Did I mention I LOVE IT!?!

Back in October or November, while I was pregnant, we got a new microwave and portable dishwasher! Yes, since my kitchen is so "cozy" there is nowhere for a built-in dishwasher! BUT i was positive I didn't want to bring a baby into this house without the modern-day convenience of a dishwasher! It has saved me WEEKS (really...if you added up all the time I used to spend standing at the sink washing dishes by hand) of time! I love it and I don't know how we lived for five years without it!

So, this weekend, we were finally able to get a NEW fridge & range for our kitchen!! Even though we haven't really used them yet, I love them already! We made cookies in the oven the other night and they were perfect! I told Justin, "See Honey, all these years it wasn't my baking skills, it was the darn oven"! I am so excited that I don't ever have to clean those burners again! Now all I have to do is wipe and I'm done...what will I ever do with that extra hour every week?!? Okay, maybe it didn't take that much time from my life, but it seemed like it!

After the fridge came on Monday, we had to wait at least 24 hours to use any of the ice it made, and we took all of our food out to my parent's house so we haven't re-stocked it yet. After tonight everything should be back up and running in the kitchen. My favorite thing about the fridge is the water and ice in the door!! Many of you have probably had this feature for years, so you can't understand my excitement. I've started drinking water all the time now, and is was such a hassle to get ice out of our old fridge (with my hand!) and then I would usually just drink tap water, because I never had time to keep the Brita filled. Now I have the convenience of crushed or cubed ice and filtered water! Ahh...Heaven!! Notice how many times I've said convenience in this post?!?! The joys of new appliances!

Our next project will be new counter tops and fresh paint!

Monday's Letter to my Little Bear-2nd Edition

Happy Monday, Little Bear! Today is May 12, 2008! It's a happy Monday, because Mommy stayed home with you today. We've had such a good day together. We slept-in this morning (that seems to be a trend on days when I'm home...you should know that Mommy likes to sleep-in any chance she gets!) Daddy was off work today too, but he went to Newton to golf with the boys. After lunch, our new fridge was delivered! It's so pretty and Mommy & Daddy are so excited about it. This afternoon we took a nap together on the couch. You fell asleep on my chest, and I probably should have put you down in your crib so I could get something around the house done. But you were too sweet, and I needed a little cat nap too! Now we're just waiting for Daddy to get home. I think we'll go to dinner with Gigi & Papa tonight since we didn't get to see them much this weekend.

Here are a few sweet pictures from your bath the other night!

This week you've really started to find your thumb! You've always loved to suck on your fingers...sometimes your whole hand! But just recently, you've enjoyed having just that one little thumb in there! Tomorrow you go to stay with Aunt Kim while Mommy goes to work! You have so much fun with her. Here are a few pictures she took of you last week while you were with her. She loves you so much and you look so happy!!

I'm looking forward to another wonderful week of watching you grow and develop your own little personality! Mommy loves you so much!

My 1st Mother's Day!

It was Friday, May 11, 2007 when I found out I was pregnant with my baby boy! One year ago today, my whole world changed! It was the Friday before Mother's Day weekend and I took a pregnancy test while I was home for lunch. After seeing TWO PINK LINES, I could hardly contain myself the rest of the day at work! As soon as 5 o'clock rolled around, I rushed home to prepare my "we're pregnant" gift for Justin. Several months earlier I'd bought this adorable Packers onesie online, hoping I could surprise Justin with it after I found out we were pregnant.

As soon as Justin walked in the door I told him I had a gift for him...We were both on cloud nine all night long. We went to El Chico's for dinner to celebrate, and then made a stop at Wal-Mart for some Mother's Day gifts for our moms! I was only a few weeks along, but we knew we wanted to tell our parents. For his mom: a bib that said I LOVE GRANDMA...For my mom: a little white onesie that said I LOVE GIGI! As I'm sure you can imagine....their reactions were priceless!!

This Mother's Day...Sunday, May 11, 2008, I have my little Packer's fan and I look forward to celebrating the day with him!