MY CURRENT VIEW

Lazy Afternoon :) Love my girls!

Razzle Dazzle

(look how dirty that mirror is.... ugg)

So I set some time management goals last week and so far they are working out just fine. Yesterday while Millie was at school I spent my time "catching up" on housework, so today I was able to focus on my jewelry organization. It took about a hour to go through all the pieces and pair together all the earrings. I stumbled on many items I had forgotten, and will now get wear out of. It was definitely worth the time. When I picked Millie up we headed to Bowling Green to get the newest in a series of movies she loves. Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3. She can't get enough of those little dogs. Once we purchased the necessity at Target we headed over to one of my favorite places to shop, Fashion Bug. They are having an inventory sale and EVERYTHING was on sale 20-50% off. Millie was so patient and very into helping me pick out some items for my fall wardrobe. She is very opinionated.... I have no idea where that came from ;). I did buy a few things I normally wouldn't have, but when your little girl says, "Mommy I have always wanted you to have purple shoes.... maybe I can ask Santa to bring these to you... you know so I can try them on", well you buy the dang purple shoes! However, the purple shoes are pretty comfortable. Then we headed to sweet CeCes for  some frozen yogurt. Millie loves to sample everything. I think they give her 10$ worth of samples. Once she had downed enough Razzle Dazzle, we made a quick pit stop at the park. Today was too pretty not to take advantage of some slide time. I watched her play and I was reminded of how quickly she has grown. Today she buckled herself in the booster for the first time, and tonight she got herself out of the tub and into pajamas. These are wonderful things and I am grateful she is independent, but I also worry a little that she is getting less and less dependant on me. Don't get me wrong I am so grateful she is strong, healthy, smart and driven, but some days I just wish I could freeze her. I love my sweet precious opinionated shopping buddy.

A Chill In The Air

My favorite season is fast approaching! I am so excited! I love fall!!!! I love the crisp feeling, boots, spiced cider, stew, baked goods, oranges, plums, olive greens, and golds! Everything seems cozy and smells like cinnamon! I adore fall! I have been burning my new bath and bodyworks fall candles for the last week and I swear I sleep better at night and wake up happier. I enjoy the planning for Fall outings, especially since we had sweet Millie. Our families go to Jackson's orchard every year for pumpkins, Harvest on the Square to look at crafts and do some early trick or treating and this year we are adding a trip to the zoo. So if you see me out and you see a glint in my eye, you will know why, it's the most wonderful time of the year.

And Time Passes....

Grandparent's Day and Punkin Hits Double Digits!!!

Today was quite an eventful day! We celebrated grandparent's day at school and it was Punkin's 10th birthday! Millie's preschool put on a lovely program for the grandparents. Our lucky girl had all 4 of hers there! I hope she realizes how lucky she truly is! She did a great job singing and drew some of the best pictures. After the reception we all attended the book fair. Millie got a ton of books from the grandparents. She picked out all the Pokemon books. When we got home Millie and I made a birthday cake for Punkin. Actually Millie did most of the work, I just supervised. No one would believe me but the kid has been baking, I mean really baking since she was 2. She can crack and egg and turn on the kitchen aid mixer. If she was allowed to open the oven I would be out of a job. Once her cake cooled and she decorated it we had a little party for our beloved fur baby. It was a pretty nice day in the Cardwell house.

 Millie and the Birthday Girl before school

 Doesn't Mil look cute in her new Justice Dress Mam and Pap got her???

 Refreshments for the Grandparents

 They sang the sweetest song!! Millie did a great job!

 Papaw, Nonna and Mil- notice Papaw looking at Mil :)

 Pappy, Mammy and Mil- notice Pappy looking at Mil :)

 One lucky little girl with her favorite people in the world!

 Millie in the lead with her crew close behind

 The school was brilliant and had book fair on grandparent's week 

 Of course Millie got a "couple" of books

 The little boy is Mil's best friend Kane

 Hey! What happened to a "couple" of books?

 Punkin's cake

 Mil insisted we have her party in our bedroom.... here she is helping her blow out the candles

Sweet sisters.... enjoying their cake :)

Mommy Daughter Date!

Today could have been unpleasant.... it started at 3am. Millie came into our room coughing her head off, courtesy of the allergies that plaque her and my hubby. I gave her some cough syrup and allergy med, but they didn't "kick in" until 4:30am. She was finally able to go back to sleep in the bed with her Dad, I remained in the recliner in the bedroom. When Wayne woke me up at 6:10 I was hesitate to wake Mil. She just looked peaceful, finally. So after some debate and a phone call to the teacher (my mom) I decided to keep her home today. She woke up around 10 and I was braced for anger. I just knew she was going to let me have it for keeping her home, but bless her little heart all she she said was "I sure was feeling sick, I'm glad I got to rest". Once she got up and moving she was feeling fine so we decided to have a Mom and Daughter date. We headed to Gattiland! She loves it there and this time she really did eat instead of trying to get me to hurry so she could play games. When we headed back to the game room we were the only ones except for 2 teenage boys. I must confess my first thought was "great teenage boys, this could be interesting", but I should be ashamed of myself. They were super sweet to her and gave her 500 tickets!~!!~! She got to pick out lots of prizes! Then we headed to the mall, target and ended our trip at sweet Ci Cis frozen yogurt. It was a lovely day with my precious girl!

 My Best Little Friend!

 She is the sweetest little person!

 She was full of attitude today!

 Look at that hip!

 First stop Gattiland!

 So MANY tickets!!!

 So MANY prizes!!!

Tired girl... ready to go home :)

When Millie started preschool last month I was surprisingly not too sad. I think it might have something to do with my mom being in the classroom and it really is only 3 hours 4 days a week. Either way I looked at it as a chance to train our family for "real" school. I also saw it as an opportunity to spend a few hours doing things I haven't had a "chance" to do. For example clean out my sock drawer, organize my jewelry, and most importantly clean out my closet. Sure these are things I could do everyday, but have you ever attempted one of these with a 4 year old sweet girl, who loves to try on everything. I could only imagine the chaos. I also wanted to spend a little time each week volunteering in my Aunt Kim's 1st grade. So this is Mil's 4th week of school and I have made a few discoveries. 1) 3 hours is not much time, if you drop off, stay for town hall, count drive time to and from and allow yourself a few minute window to be early we really are really talking about 2hr 15min. 2) I like to volunteer in my Aunt Kim's classroom... the kids are adorable... it is hard to walk away. 3) I need to eat breakfast, because my plan of running her to school and coming home to breakfast never works out. 4) I need to schedule my time to avoid not getting to do anything because I am trying to do everything. 5) I need to limit my unnecessary trips to town. I think because we are halfway there I should just run in to grab lunch or go to the dollar store. It is wasting my time and money. This is not to say my first 4 weeks haven't been productive. I have cleaned out my sock drawer, volunteered with Aunt Kim 4 times and I have figured out the above items. So with all this experience under my belt I have come up with a plan. Monday: Begin weekly project.... Tuesday: Finish weekly project.... Wednesday: Volunteer in Aunt Kim's classroom (or other area if not needed in 1st grade). I work at the office on Thursday and Friday so my week is full. I am starting this new schedule next week and I will be using this blog to keep my accountable. To be held accountable though you need to be aware of my goals so Goal for week 1: organize my jewelry..... Goal for week 2: organize my closet..... Goal for week 3: assemble shoe rack and organize shoes and purses.... and Goal for week 4: clean off top of TV center in bedroom, organize bedside table and  deep clean our bedroom. I think this is enough for now. If my goals work out I should have a nicely arranged bedroom and dressing area before Fall sets in. Wish me luck and if you don't see updates about my goals you have my permission to publicly harass me :)

Rainy Saturday

There is nothing better than not having plans! I love noting setting an alarm, not plugging in my hotrollers, not putting on makeup and staying in my PJs. So bring it on rainy Saturday, I'm ready :)

This is Her Blog ;)

Back a million years ago I asked Millie to write a blog post for me, and she did an amazing job. So I figured now that she is a big school girl she should once again contribute to this site. So without further ado here it is, the wise words from my favorite 4 year old.

Me: "Millie would you like to help me write a blog"

Millie: "No Thanks.... Yeah.... only if you get me a drink please"

Me: "what do you want your blog to say"

Millie: "I love my grandparents they are silly.... hey I want a blog to be about what I wrote at school... no about grandparents day... remember (eye roll).... so just write that"

Me: "This about whatever you want to talk about"

Millie: " well I want it to be about grandparent's day"

Me: "ok what about grandparent's day"

Millie: "Listen, I already discussed this with you last night.... that's all.... ok"

Me:" you don't want to write about anything funny.... special.... or new...."

Millie: " I want you to be in it... I love you mom.... I love when you let me have your stuff... like I would really love it if you gave me stuff out of your jewelry box..... "

Me: "I think we're done"

Millie: "ok.... now read me it"

Maybe will try again in kindergarten ;)

Return to the Land of Wonder.....

My pretty girl is sleeping in her princess bed. I pray for her dreams to be full of fairies and wonder. She rests her weary muscles, tired from playing with a newly acquired set of puppies. Less than 8 hours from now she will be waking to prepare for another day of preschool. She will not whine while I roll her hair, she will obediently eat her yogurt, for she desperately wants the new sticker on her chart. Her school day will be short, no more than three hours, but in that time friendships are being formed and confidence is being gathered. When she comes home she will be greeted by her new furry creatures. My sweet princess will play and dance. She will grow tired in the evening, her eyes growing heavy under the fun she experienced today. After dinner and bathing she will slide back into her cool sheets. After prayers and stories the fairies will return and usher her into the land of wonder. Just another day in the life of the most precious person in my world.

My Pretty Little Lilac

One of my favorite smells of Spring, well actually one of my favorite smells anytime is lilacs. They remind me of a simpler time. A time when I would venture into the yard of my grandparents to pick huge bouquets of these fragrant flowers. They trigger memories of big Easter egg hunts and family. The most vivid images are of my Nana's hands trimming them from the bush and piling them into green glass vases. We would drive around delivering them to my aunts and my mother. I have this same memory of strawberry pies. I guess the feeling connected with most things my grandmother taught me is the spirit of giving. Waiting for the light in the eyes of the recipient. The sweet smell of these beautiful flowers wrap me in my Nana's arms again.

Sweet Spring....

Yesterday was the first day of Spring. Millie and I enjoyed the day with some sweet friends. It is so lovely to see the flowers bloom and the sun seems to bring new life in people too.

Lazy Days at the Creek...

Another great day with my sweet family! Last night I slept very well, no back pain! Yay! This morning we began by waging a war on all bugs. Wayne and I sprayed our house and yard for close to 2 hours. I hate bugs so every spray made me feel more secure outside. The only uncomfortable part was our outside cat. The spray said it was safe once dry, but I was worried about her til it was dry. So... I locked her in our guest bath, Millie was in the house with her and kept saying, "Mom, Spice is so mad at you!!! She is yelling in the bathroom! " Oh well she was safe at least! Then after lunch our family ventured down to the creek behind our house. It was so lovely! Quiet and Millie had a blast! Can't wait to go back again! It's amazing the beauty God has given us.