No one can what?!?!

I love my lil' bugga' , especially when she makes up her own lyrics to already existing songs. She does this quite frequently and since this blog's for her future reference, I'll try to include them all, over time.

Today as we're sitting at Sonic ordering our ice creams and such and Alicia Keys "No One" is playing on the Sonic Radio. So we're all having fun and "singing" along with this catchy tune. It's when we get home that Charity decided it should be "No one, no one, no one can get way up to the ceiling!" instead of Alicia's traditional: "No one, no one, no one can get in the way of what I'm feeling." Ohhhh, I love it! I think this is definitely one of my favorites. Right up there (on the ceiling, for that matter!!) with her version of Hillsong's "Jesus, Lover of My Soul", which she composed before she was two, because she used to sing it at Pentecostal Lighthouse in Town Hill before we moved to Nashville in 2005. Rather than singing "My Savior, my closest friend." She changed it to "My Savior, my hair is red!" It took many of us quite some time to figure out what song she was actually trying to sing!

Thank you, Charity, for making every day more enjoyable and fun by putting your own little twist on all things!! I love you!! x o x o x o

Taking Care of Business . . .

As of recently I've spent more time in Alabama than I have my entire life. This week was actually my second trip this month.

XRT Staffing (my place of employment) has numerous clients in Birmingham, so we've been needing to take a trip down there to bring them some "Keep Using Us" goodies. Also we were invited to speak with the x-ray students at Jefferson State Community College about the employment opportunities with XRT. So in two days we were able to get lots accomplished, visit numerous facilities, met 3 existing techs and got 15 more interested techs. Birmingham was a interesting city, very hilly, at least the parts we were in. The traffic was kinda' of driving me crazy and Melanie wasn't exactly liking getting lost in the 'hood. Our Residence Inn was located in the nice part, thank the Lord!! All and all, it was a pretty, productive trip.

~

A couple of firsts happen on this trip, I'm pretty happy to get behind me. This was the first time ever for me to speak in front of group of 23 college students, not as a fellow college student. And though I was nervous, I think I made it through okay. Melanie was right there to catch me, should I have fallen on the floor!! But I made it and don't even think I turned red!! Yay for me!!

And it was also my first trip overnight without Charity since she was 11 months old. I just assumed (and kind of hoped, I guess) that her world would be completely crushed when I left early Wednesday morning. But she rocked on as normal the 36 hours I was away. I think she even enjoyed it when she got to sleep in her Daddy's bed, since Mommy was gone. And when I arrived home, she treated me as if I had only been out grocery shopping for few hours!! It was "Hi, Mom" and she continued watching her cartoon.

I guess I need to be happy she adapts well to change and enjoys spending time with her Gramma and Daddy, as much as her Mommy. If nothing else, it made it easier for Daddy and Gramma and I know they're grateful for that. Anyway, she has plenty of occasions when only her mommy will do!

Happy Easter!!

What an awesome holiday to celebrate . . . Every Easter morning my Dad would at least once sing the lyrics "Christ the Lord is risen today, Ha-la-la-la-la-lay-lu-jah!!" So every Easter morning it's the first thought that pops in my head, even this morning when I had to be at choir at 8:30 AM! How can we not have a joyous day, knowing this truth!!

I laid out all of Charity's outfit last night so they were all set for Gramma to get her ready. I even started my Strawberry Satin Pie and set the table, so things would go smoothly today . . . hopefully!!



We had a wondrous service at church. Charity did very well staying in her Sunday School class, that's reason in and of itself to celebrate. The choir sang well and Pastor Becton ministered through the resurrection story.


Some Photo's from Church:



Charity & Emma ~ Charity & Lexi



Looks like Navy/White was the "In" color this Easter at Asian Church!!


I love this picture!! My camera took it all by itself in my purse. It sums my life up "pursectly"!
*Mints * Palm Trio * Lip Gloss * Money * My keys with Ariel (Char's favorite princess) * And of course, my camera!!! *



And then some more at home:












Then it was home to prepare our fairly traditional Easter brunch for just the four of us and Gramma's friend, Marinda, who previously attended First Church. The menu was Baked Ham, Hash Brown Casserole, Bacon Spinach Quiche, Fruit Salad, Pineapple Coffee Cake and my Strawberry Satin Pie for dessert. It was all very yummy. The strawberry pie wasn't what I thought it would be. It was okay, not that great. Which is good, I won't be tempted to eat it all!!



Yummers!!


Holidays kinda' wear me out . . . here's a picture Charity took of me after dinner!! Z Z Z Z z z z z


After our brunch, Dave hide Charity's eggs outside for the egg hunt. She had so much fun running around finding them all herself! As we distracted her finding eggs, Dave snuck back inside and got her basket of goodies and placed it on the garage floor, as if the Easter Bunny had left it there as she hunted eggs. After all 27 eggs were found, we headed back inside, of course Charity noticed her basket. "Hello!" she said. "Hello?!?!" as if to say, umm, where did this come from? This wasn't here when we went out this door!?! Inside she tore through the goodies and began indulging in her egg fillings!!


Let the search begin!! A princess Egg!!



"Hello!!"





Despite all the sugar and sweets, by 7:00 pm, she was sound asleep next to her Daddy, with her new Princess Easter books the EB brought next to her. Another great fun-filled family holiday!!

Thank You, Ryan!!

Ms. Charity got her "Ryan" CD last night at church. Of course she was soooooo embarrassed, but happy on the inside. She was way too shy to say thank you. So I told him we'd write him a card. Charity agreed we could do that. Here it is:

She got so happy after she wrote it all herself. She asked what else to put in the card. I told her to draw a picture. So she put a little picture of herself and then she asked if she could put X's and O's. I said, "Of course!" Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head!!

She's so in love!!

Charity's Favorite Musician

I'm not exactly sure where it came from, but Charity has developed the cutest little infatuation with Ryan Larkins!! I think maybe she saw him do a couple of songs at church one Wednesday night and now she just amazed by him. I didn't catch on until one evening she was standing on the tub with her guitar and she said she was "Ryan". It took me a second to figure out who she was talking about, as she's usually imitating her friends or Disney Princesses.

This week, Evaluation Week for the Vision Students at First Church, Ryan played last Wednesday night. After I got Charity all dressed in her pink leggings, pink tee, pink camo skirt and matching hat, she said, "Do you think Ryan will be dressed like this?" Wellll! OK . . . I was thinking, probably not but instead I said, "You're dressed cool and I know he will be, too!"

Wednesday night after church I asked Charity if she thought Ryan did a good job tonight. She said he had. And since I knew she would be staying home with Grandma on Friday night, the Youth Praise Gathering, I asked her if she would like it if we brought her home one of Ryan's Cd's. The room was dark, but I think I could see her face glowing as she shyly replied, "Yes."

Friday night came and quickly slipped by. I was so busy that evening helping with all the food for the band, speaker, etc. that I forgot all about the CD. Dave slipped in and slipped out early as he wasn't feeling well. I could have kicked myself. Charity, thankfully, didn't think too much of it, when we told her we had forgotten to purchase the CD. I assured her Ryan would be around a lot (now that Chauntay and he are getting married!!) and we would get one soon.

St. Patrick's Day may not be until tomorrow, but today must be Charity's lucky day because tonight when we went to Cracker Barrel, would you know Chauntay and Ryan were there!! Dave and I gave Ryan a quick briefing of the events that had taken place at our house over the last few weeks and how we forgot to purchase the CD for Charity. Meanwhile Charity was hiding behind her hot pink coat, blushing away! Nice guy that he is, he offered to give Charity a CD!! I know she was happy on the inside, but oh so embarrassed outside.

We ate our dinner and Chauntay offered to take a picture of Charity and Ryan. Of course, she was way too shy, so Mommy had to hold her. But we're definitely going to frame it, even if it looks like she doesn't want to be in picture!! (Because her mommy knows the truth! ;)

When Ryan got to the car he realized he didn't have his Cd's with him, so he promised Charity he would get her one.

Thank you to Ryan for being so sweet to his little 4 year-old fans! And not only that but by being a Godly example for all generations and using his awesome talent for the Most High! I know you've made one lifelong fan!!

My Soapbox: In today's world there are so many negative influences out there on our children. I know I'm not a perfect parent or even anywhere close, but when my daughter has Godly, Christian music artists that she looks up to and imitates and not the likes of High School Musical or Hannah Montana, I feel like I've done a little something right. I pray as she grows older she will continue to have positive, Godly role models.

Daddy's Shopping Trip

Daddy gets an A+ for the day. He had to run out and get some goodies for our Asian Youth Pizza Party tomorrow night before YPG!! Whoo-hoo! Being a school night, I wasn't able to go since I'm the only one who can put Charity to bed. So I jokingly asked him if he would go to Old Navy and pick Charity up an Easter T-shirt for the Egg Hunt at school tomorrow. She has to have an Easter shirt!! So he just looked at me like "Yeah, whatever." (Translation = it's not gonna' happen!) Off he went as Charity and I headed upstairs to start her bath.

Dave phoned a little later to ask me something about the party supplies he was picking up and I said, "Why don't you run over to Target and get Charity an Easter shirt?" (When I get something in head . . . there's no stopping!!) I knew he could handle Target and he agreed.

When he arrived at Target, he called me, "Now, where is this shirt I'm picking up?"
"In the girls department." I told him.
"What color is it?" he asked.
"I don't know, what ever color you pick. Charity's favorites are pink and purple." I think it all became clear to him at that moment.
"Do you know there's Easter shirts here?" he asked with bewilderment.
"Yes," I calmly replied. "It's Target. They have a shirt for every holiday."

After a some specific directions on where to find the little girls department and the specific size needed, he was on his way. And I didn't hear from him until he was back in the car.
"I got it." he said.
"Now see how easy that was!" I was so proud of him. This has got to be the very first clothing item he has purchased for his daughter all by himself. Not to gloomy, but what if something were to happen to me. He did good!! Had he known previously that I hadn't been there prior to his trip and knew that the exact shirt was there, he would have never agreed. He was actually shopping for an Easter T-shirt!

Back in the tub, Charity was so worried her Daddy was going to bring her home a boy's shirt since those are the only ones he knows how to buy. Her worries quickly melted when Daddy arrived home and handed his freshly bathed Princess the Target bag.

Her Easter shirt from Dad!!!

Blogability

So my dear friend, A (we'll call her to protect her innocence!) and I were chatting recently about our blog lives and we were discussing what to blog next. I believe she said she didn't have anything to blog about, but what I failed to mention was that's the fun of it all . . . not that I'm a blog expert by any means. What was so comical about the whole conversation was I had just finished making my bed and decided that would be blog subject of the day . . . I made my bed! Well, to you that may not be a big deal, but I don't make my bed very often. I know, it's like the second most important thing to do in a day, besides a daily vitamin. But I just don't get around to it. Partly because I work from it half the day and mostly because I'm just too lazy. So while I've got my blog subject for the day, I thought I'd help those who may have a more difficult time to come by one.

So I've determined a term one can use throughout the day when determining what to blog. Does it have blogability? You may not have heard this term before. Allow me to explain . . .

blogability [blŏg-uh-bil-i-tee] -noun the ability of a subject to be blogged.

To quite honest, I don't think there is anything that doesn't fall in this description. So, when all else fails blog life!!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I made my bed today!! I'm so happy! :) It doesn't happened often so I thought I'd share. Maybe by sharing I will feel bad about this awful habit, be succumbed by guilt and start making it each morning. I can hope, can't I? I was doing so good this morning, I even made Charity's!! And when I went in this afternoon, I felt so guilty for all the mornings I had left her bed unmade and hadn't neaten up her little room as I've done today, when I saw her in there peacefully enjoying her own little space and reading stories. I think it just looked so inviting to her, all bright and sunny and clean, as opposed to the days it's dark with the curtain's drawn and the bed a jumbled-up pile of purple blankets.

A nice neat room draws her in . . .
. . . encourages reading!!

Well . . . . I can't make any promises, but I will try. As for today my bed is made!!

Starbucks "Buck$"

I have the best husband in the world!! For his perfect attendance for the month of February, his company awards them for these cheesy, little things with gift cards. This month's options were McDonald's or Starbucks. Now I know he enjoys Starbucks on occasion, but not nearly as much as I and he loves McDonald's. YUCK! - it nearly starts a war when we have to decide a fast food eatery on busy nights! Also being the frugal guy he is, he would naturally choose the McDonald's card first since it would go farther. You know what he said to his supervisor? "I'll take Starbucks, my wife likes it." Awww!! He is the SWEETEST!! I love HIM!! And I can't wait to have a date at Starbucks with the bestest husband in the whole world!!!

Poor Sis. Noah

I definitely have a much deeper appreciation for Sis. Noah than I did when we left this morning!!! I have seen my share of animals for a while!!

Dave has decided to break his few weeks of vacation days up over the entire year, so instead of a two weeks vacation we have numerous longer weekends and a couple 5/6 day ones, which will be nice. We've already ventured to Bowling Green, Kentucky a few weeks ago. Today it's Huntsville, Alabama. I'm pretty excited because I've never been to Alabama before, except maybe to drive through it.

What a day! We got a little later start than we wanted but all in all we had plenty of time to do the things we had planned. Before leaving Nashville, we had to stop and fuel our car at Costco (cheapest gas anywhere!) and ourselves. McDonald's won the overwhelming majority. Breakfast is the only meal I can stomach there and I actually really enjoy their Breakfast Burritos. Yums!!

We arrived in Huntsville in about 2 and 1/2 hours. Charity took a little snoozy on the way there. Our first stop was Old McDonald's Petting Zoo. You know you're in the sticks when they don't take any plastic and still let you in, only if you mail a check back! Dave had a feeling, we needed some cash but, I guess, we forgot. The petting wasn't much more than a whole bunch of animals, but Charity enjoyed getting to see the animals up close and feed them. Her favorite was the bunnies. We had to revisit them 3 or 4 times. At first she was a little hesitant of them, but by the time we were ready to go, she was walking around holding them. The nice lady that owned the petting zoo was so kind to share with all of of us that they had bunnies for sale. I could have thrown something at her!!

Bunny Progression . . . .

"Feeding" the Bunny . . . Petting the Bunny . . . Helping Daddy . . .

Holding the Bunny!! . . . And smiling!!

My favorite lil' lamby. Isn't it adorable??? Makes me want one . . . just for a second, though!

Feeding the donkey . . . Feeding the goat . . .

Petting the dog . . . Oh deer!!

A beautiful day for the petting zoo!!

The next stop was Cathedral Caves. Now, I've come to the point in my life where being underneath the ground in a little crawl hall is not so enjoyable. I don't know what it is about caves that Dave likes. Must be a man thing! It was so nice and sunny outside, I left my coat in the car and froze the whole time in the cave. Another reason why I'd rather not hang out underground! Burrrr!! Even though the cave stays at about 60 degrees all year, without the sun shining it's a pretty, chilly 60. There was no getting any good pictures in the cave, I did manage to snap a couple cute ones of Charity as we waited for their once-a-day guided tour.

Signs of Spring . . . my favorite pic of the day!

A bat in the cave!! Ha, ha!! That's about as exciting as it gets! The cave opening (the largest in the world! I would have been happy if that's all I saw. That would have been all the "caving" I needed for this lifetime!)

The sign alone should have warned us concerning our final stop. Alabama's Top 100 what? Scariest places to be trapped? Not to visit? For those overcoming 4-Legged-phobia? This "Safari" was a little too much for me. I can handle the petting zoo, but this place did me in for my animal exposure for the year. Basically you drive your car around this place with the strangest array of animals I think I've ever seen. Your next clue should be the waiver you have to sign before entering. And you'll understand when see how uncomfortably close these crazy animals get. I'm glad I had Charity come up to the front seat to sit in my lap or she would have been screaming!! As it was, she was shaking like a leaf. Most of the animals just strolled by and checked us out, but I wasn't too happy with the dumb rams who were bashing their horns into the side of the car. I was telling Dave to move along, but he could only move as fast as the ostrich in front of the car, and Charity was telling me, "Don't worry Mom, I'll buy you a new car, just like this one." I think that was her way of trying to convince me to like it. Even though she was a little scared, she was enjoying it just as much as her Dad, who was trying to get me to let us drive through a second time. NO WAY!! . . . I'll tell him if he wants to see those animals up close again, he can check out my blog!!

This place was called Harmony Park . . . and when you see the variety of animals all mixed up in this small habitat, I guess it makes sense. If you look closely at the pictures, you can see where many of the animals were so close their breath was on the window. Yes, Dave will be washing the car tomorrow!! I'm not fond of Zebra slobber on my car window!!

At last, it was dinner at Ruby Tuesday and we were heading home. Honestly, I don't care if it's a very, long time before I see a zoo again. Unfortunately on the way home, Dave reminded me that we always like to do an annual visit to the Nashville Zoo while they still have the winter rates in effect, which I believe ends this month. And of course, little ears were listening. I think this year that would make a great father/daughter outing!!