New family pet

It's a SNAKE!!!!!

(click on this picture to enlarge it...Barrett's faces are priceless)

NO...we're not crazy! TWO huge labs are enough for us! We didn't really get a new family pet. Barrett's just found himself a new "friend." Justin's had this wooden snake in one of his dresser drawers for years. Barrett discovered it the other day, in the middle of his "wreck the bedroom while Mommy's getting dressed" morning routine. I think it's his favorite part of the day. While I'm running back and forth between the bathroom and the bedroom, getting ready for the day...he's emptying dresser drawers, carrying 20 pairs of shoes out of my closet, and helping himself to anything he can get his little hands on! His room is just across the hall from the bathroom, and right around the corner from our bedroom. You'd think he'd be content in there with hundreds of books, cars and other toys...NOPE! Putting Mommy's flip flops on and trying to walk around the house is much more fun! AND this snake he found in Daddy's drawer is really fun!


This little snake has had quite an exciting week around our house. I've been up till 2 or 3am a few nights this week finishing up invite orders, and he always seems to be waiting for me when I come to bed! The first night, I pulled back the covers in the pitch black and laid right on top of him. The next night as I got into bed, I was expecting it to be in there somewhere. I moved my feet around, and didn't feel it anywhere. I was totally shocked Justin didn't try to get me again, then I put my arms under my pillow, and it was inside my pillowcase! I heard Justin chuckle as I pulled it out of the pillowcase and threw it on the floor. What a turd!

Last night after Barrett's bath, we had some fun with the snake.
He looked like a mini Steve Irwin!

(more priceless faces...click to enlarge)

I'm a little late...but I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! My day was great...Justin and Barrett let me sleep-in, then we went to church. After church we went out to lunch with Gigi and Papa. We tried out the new Chinese place in town. Barrett came home and went down for a nap, so my mom and I went to do a little shopping. That evening we went to Kim's for a family cook-out.

Justin and Barrett wrapped my Mother's Day present. I thought it was beautiful, even though they ran out of paper! I got a fun new glass tea jug for summer and I get to pick out a new strap for my camera!! I can't wait...I just have to decide which one I want!

{get REAL} in the kitchen

It's BACK!!!! Sorry for the long break. I feel like a broken record to keep saying this, but...things are crazy BUSY with summer wedding invites.

{get REAL} sharing snapshots of your own simple. everyday. life. moments

This week :: Your favorite item(s) in the kitchen

My hubby got me a RED Kitchen Aid mixer for Christmas a couple years ago and I LOVE having it out on my counter. I'll be {REAL} and tell you that I don't use it nearly often enough! Maybe this summer I'll find some fun new recipes. For now, I guess it's just "eye candy" in my kitchen!


I think this corner by the sink and window is the perfect spot for it. I'll be {REAL} again, and tell you that it gets splattered with water quite often sitting in this spot by the sink...so I did wipe it down a bit before these pictures were taken! Don't mind the ucky countertops. If you read my last post, you know I don't even want to talk about that!!

This glass straw holder is my new favorite...and I use it EVERYDAY when I make my glass after glass of ice water with lemon! Sooo good! I also love my little metal Pampered Chef spatula. You can see it peeking out of the can beside the mixer in the above pictures. I use that little jem for everything!!

If you're new to {get REAL} challenges, here are the first four:

{get REAL} Bedding
{get REAL} Time
{get REAL} Spring Style
{get REAL} Where do you blog

Go browse, post your own to play, and link up below!

when it rains, it pours...

Literally...because it's raining AGAIN here! It's the fifth of May, and I think I've seen the sun for a combined total of three hours the whole month! That's not helping my mood today, because figuratively, it's {pouring} in my life!

I think it was yesterday that Justin ask me if I'd broken a mirror recently! Seems like it's one thing after another around here. Maybe it's that mysterious "curse of the lottery" you hear about! Since winning my $1000 jackpot at the casino a few weeks ago, we have been cursed! We put the money away until we could decide on a good use for it. We wanted to be able to get something fun and smart, and not just throw it into the checking account to widdle away to random things. Just this last weekend we decided we would use it towards new countertops in our kitchen and updating the lighting in there (ceiling and under cabinet). I was so excited! I've been wanting new countertops for a long time, and this option would add to the value of our home.

Well, that excitement is G.O.N.E!
*Cost to buy 3 big bottles of Drain-O to unclog the kitchen sink, bathroom sink and bathtub that all decided to clog within 3 days of each other...$21.00
*Cost to hire a plumber after 2 bottles of Drain-O didn't solve the problem in the kitchen sink...$95.00
*Cost for parts to fix the breaker box that decided to act up every time we used the microwave...$70.00
*Cost to have a motor in the drivers-side door of the jeep fixed today, after the window decided to NOT roll up...$201.00
*Cost of property taxes that happen to be due right in the middle of all this fun...$720.00
*Cost of medical bills we just got from the MRI and bloodwork Justin had when he was having ear/hearing issues about a month ago...$1500.00

Everything always seems to happen at once! It wouldn't be as big of a headache if I were still working full-time. But I'm not, so it looks like we'll be using my jackpot to help with the blow from our week of curses! This is NOT what I had in mind as I sat mesmerized, in front of those five flashing red sevens a few weeks ago. I guess I'll choose to stop being depressed about this, and instead be grateful that we have that extra $1000 to help out with our unexpected expenses. AND that we're all happy and healthy! We have much to be grateful for. Amen!

To make myself smile, I just look at {this face}

We took Barrett to the park on Sunday evening to enjoy the cool weather, while it wasn't raining! We'd been stuck inside a lot over the week, and he needed some fresh air and time to explore! These are a few of my favorite pictures. We also had a picnic...Barrett had his first Wacky Pack (Sonic kid's meal). So I have more pictures to share later. This might explain why he is clutching a grilled cheese sandwich in all of the pictures!

Hope the sun is shining where you are...literally and figuratively!
Have a great week! I promise I will TRY really hard to put a {get REAL} post up the end of this week!