it's comin' up!!

are you ready for valentine's day?...it's comin' up!! i am! i'm writing a love letter in my mind and soon going to put it on paper for my sweet man...i got him a cool shirt and a new wallet that he's been asking for for about a year now...i finally found one that i think will work and not turn into this (which is highly likely)...i think he may need one of these...truth be told...and by "these" i don't mean ugly shirt, ugly beard and beer belly....get me?

anyway....this picture was taken about eight years ago...it's one of my favorites...guess i was the small little age of twenty-nine....how sad...i'm old.

i still haven't decided about the privacy issue with my blog...i talked to a few of you about it and seems like some of my "issues" with my weird blog comments are not abnormal....i don't know...i get freaked out when i get weird, robotic symbolish comments with weirder links in them...i could care less about the ones telling me i dress my daughters in pink too much! ha ha ha!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? IS THAT POSSIBLE?? too much pink? not in my world...anyway....i loved "meeting" some of you...and SOME OF YOU....i can't believe you read my blog!! you should stop me when our paths cross around town and say..."HEY! I READ YOUR BLOG CRAZY WOMAN...and NOW I KNOW WHY YOUR HAIR IS FALLING OUT!!!"

...also showing you a little valentine-ish display i put out on our hutch in the kitchen. guess it's winter/valentine...i bought this book and it has the cutest vintage-looking valentines in it...i love it!! hope you are planning something special for your valentine!!! my girlfriend and her darling family are coming to spend the weekend with us and i can't wait!! i see valentine cookies and valentine making in our futures!!...and yummy food too!

lastly...my hubby took anna b. skiing this weekend....they have been having so much fun!! but i have missed them terribly. i was depressed like the whole afternoon they left on friday...boo hoo! i usually go with them and feel carefree and laugh a lot and just ski and ski and ski, but my parents couldn't babysit the little ones this weekend so i stayed home....not as fun. but THE LAUNDRY'S DONE!!!...and THE KITCHEN IS CLEAN!!! woo hoo!

hope you and your loved ones enjoy valentine's day!!

the deer in the backyard....i love them...

under destruction

i'm thinking about making my blog private...or starting over alltogether

if so, i think i will need your email address if you would like to continue reading my blog so i can invite you to be a "reader"....

i think i know MOST of you who read my blog....

so send me an email and let me know so i can include you....

if i don't know you....introduce yourself...i'd love to meet you!

love and blessings...

ashley

OH MY GOODNESS!! i am loving your comments....not publishing any of them due to all the email addresses....but some of you didn't include an email address! if you give me your email address, i will invite you to be a reader.....nice to meet you all!!! and no...to answer some of your questions....nothing "bad" has happened or "scary"...just been gettin' some odd comments here and there....no worries....

new year's eve

well....i just started feeling like i'm in the year 2010...and that's only because i've had to write a few checks....and i wrote 2009 and had to scratch it out about four times....so, i guess i'm ready for the new year now...ready or not....right? life's like that anyway...and i've gotten used to that over the past thirty-seven years....SO BRING IT ON!!! this is a picture of our front porch on new year's eve....we had snow for soooooooooo long on the ground and i loved it! i wrote in my journal last week when it started to melt..."i think i'm the only one who wants the ground to stay white..." i don't recall ever having snow on the ground in oklahoma for as long as we did...it really was beautiful until last week when it all began to melt and got dirty and slushy...bye bye snow!!


this year for new year's eve we let the children stay up veeeeerrrrrrry late and we had soooooo much fun...and i wanted to post something about our new year's celebration even though it is now closer to february!! we got them some new games for the wii and we all sat upstairs in the playroom and wii'ed it up with them for hours and laughed and yelled....here's a few pics of the evening...i loved it...we really had so much fun...i think it was one of the best new year's eve celebrations we've ever had! so thankful for that....

here i am with our 2010 glasses we downloaded from family fun...the website suggested using glitter glue but i knew better...too bad there's not a homemade pie in the background that i baked...bummer. i did cook some yummy t-bones on the grill though...YUM!!!

anna banana posing...woo hoo!

daddy and sterling playing 'mercury meltdown revolution' and just getting killed....DEAD! the kids love saying "MERCURY MELTDOWN REVOLUTION" in that movie theater guy's voice....so cute!


this is one frustrated man...ha ha ha!! i love this picture cuz he was having A BALL playing wii with the kids!! A BALL!!

DEAD! AGAIN! i love this one too...

missy moo had no use for the wii...instead all she wanted to do was watch "berry shortcake" on the portable dvd...so we made a little pallet for her on the window seat in the playroom and she just stayed there and enjoyed herself...can't you tell....that is one happy little girl!!

next was S'MORES!! daddy built us a roaring fire! so hot that sterling decided prior to this picture to strip down...we gently encouraged him to get dressed again and so they opted for pushing their jammie pants up to get cooled off...pretty fun and yummy! (could NOT get all three children to look at the camera at the same time....and i think this was taken about 10:30 p.m....i was already tired....and i'm not really a fan of s'mores to tell you the truth....caroline LOVED them!!!

another s'more pic....samurai warrior style...i think....

my little man does NOT like to have his picture taken....we usually have to bribe him with candy....it's the only way i know how...
now that is one yummy s'more!!!

happy new year...seventeen days later!!

this afternoon one of my girlfriends from highschool and i got together with our little ones. rhonda brought her twin boys who are three-and-a-half and i had sterling (4) and caroline (2)...i can't tell you what a special gift our time was together. when we were in high school we were both in band. she was in the colorguard and i was the drum major and she dated one of my best friends...so cute! one of the BEST things about our day was, of course, laughing and talking about things we did in high school...but also about silly things we did way back to seventh grade!! one of them was carrying "hello kitty pencil boxes" on top of our stacks of books....that was such a "COOL THING" to do when we were in sixth and seventh grade...and guess what...SHE BROUGHT HER PENCIL BOX!!! i should've taken a picture....a better blogger would have....but i didn't....darnit!! anyway....nice to be around people who know "the real you"....rhonda and i sat and laughed for hours and then when it was lunch time...we both looked at each other and scrambled to figure out a way we could hang out even longer...ORDER PIZZA AND SANDWICHES!!! so we did and told more stories...and we both could've sat there all day long laughing and reminiscing about our youth, and the get-togethers we had...so many fond memories...but our little ones needed naps and so did we....old friends really are the best!!

~friends are God's way of taking care of us~

Belated Birthdays

~Little girls are precious gifts,

wrapped in love serene.

Their dresses tied with sashes and

futures tied with dreams.~

my sweetie peetie is nine years old!! her birthday was november 14th and guess what we did for her ninth birthday....WE MOVED!! what a fun birthday for her!! every nine year old's dream!!!

actually....she went around saying, "guess what i got for my birthday...A NEW HOUSE!!" it was cute! so....here's a couple pictures from her birthday party...that we FINALLY had early in december! happy belated birthday to my wonderfully sweet anna elizabeth....what a precious angel she is....she's kind and sweet and loving...she loves peanut butter, horses and reading....she doesn't eat meat and she doesn't like to put her clothes away...her favorite t.v. show is extreme home make-over and she wants to own a bakery when she grows up....i love her so much...i always will...my sweet little anna b.!!

daddy's little girl...how precious is this moment...i love this one!!

we had an "american girl party" for her birthday...and my PRECIOUS mother made eight dresses and matching headbands for each girl and her doll!! she also hand-stamped little tags and tied them on each dress saying that the dresses were made with love for each special little girl...this is what we gave each girl to take home....soooooo cute!!

i dressed up the dining room for cake and sweet treats! each girl got chocolate dipped strawberries at the request of anna...and a platter full of ring-pops was passed around...yummmmmmmmm!!!!!! (as you can see...i have yet to hang things on the walls...so, i just prop them up here and there)

my parents bought our future bakery owner a giant cupcake "cake pan" and gave it to her on her actual birthday...so i made my first attempt at this giant cupcake....it wasn't as easy as you'd think...but i think it turned out pretty good.

and here are the eight little girls of sweetness....these are her very best friends here...we only allowed her to invite seven girls and they were all able to make it....i love them all...they are really just darling, darling, darling girls!! i made very inexpensive matching headbands for the girls and i think they turned out pretty cute...in fact, i kinda wish i made one for myself!

and here's my favorite kinda picture...i like to call it, "FUNNY FACE!!!"

it's so hard to believe she's NINE...(it seems to echo when i say it in my mind...) NINE? ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? i just love her so much...hope you enjoyed the party pics! CHEESE!!!!

A New Ending

~nobody can go back and start a new beginning,
but anyone can start today and make a new ending.~

just wanted to wish you a belated "happy new year"....one of my new year's resolutions is to accept myself more....the sloppy, carefree, late, slightly unorganized, goofy, easily distracted girly girl that God made me...i may never be the organized girly girl who has her life together perfectly wrapped and neat in appearance...so...i'm leaning towards acceptance...and a few other things i'll share with you...soon...in an untimely, unorganized, goofy fashion. happy new year....and God bless you!

pictures of christmas

hey girlies! hope everyone's christmas holidays were perfect and picturesque. don't you want everything to be perfect and picturesque? i do. i think it's our soul's longing for Jesus....he's perfect and picturesque...we are not...so we long for that....which only He is....nothing else but Him. anyway....that's my take on a little something for you. here's a picture my darling husband took for me of our gift from God....A WHITE CHRISTMAS!! the snow started christmas eve and just kept coming down! i was so excited! i kept mentioning how i wanted a picture of our new home in the snow...and before the children woke up Christmas morning....i see him out in his robe and boots snapping pics of the house...right before the sun came up! thank you HONEY!!!!

here's a closer up one of the porch....

christmas eve afternoon...making cookies for santa!

baths and christmas gowns...ready for bed!


caroline and sterling watching the snow fall...

caroline could not make it up for daddy's reading of "the night before christmas"...isn't this a cute picture??? i love it! (see that pink frou-frou sparkly thing there on the right behind one of the pillows...a dear friend of mine from high school came to visit me on christmas eve morning and made me that scarf!!! what a wonderful surprise!!!)

anna taking cookies to the hearth for santa...sterling's getting the milk behind her!

this is the scene just after santa arrived...the children were nestled all snug in their beds!

here they are on the stairs before they came down to see what santa claus left for them!

anna opens her bella sara cards and video game!


daddy and caroline open her strawberry shortcake doll!


sterling opens his walkie talkies. we've replaced the batteries three times already!

sterling also asked santa for red licorice...RED VINES...his fave and mine too!!

well..that's it for now....hope you're staying warm.....we may get MORE SNOW!!!!

a new post!

hi there....it's me. how are you? dan and i are lying here in bed watching football trying to stay warm....i'm sleepy...i went to church tonight and rehearsed with the praise and worship team i've been singing with on sundays....then i went over to my moms where the children were....dan met me there and we all ate taco salad...yum! then....my mother and i walked across the street to her neighbor's house which was on the recent tour of homes and it was sooooooo pretty! wow....i got some cute ideas....one thing i've realized...i don't get out much. i basically go to about four places....church, the Y to exercise, my children's schools and the grocery store....oh! the gas station. okay, five places. i rarely go shopping for anything....i rarely have time to just piddle around town....okay....sometimes i go to target. but the lady's house across the street was so darling. i'm hoping to go back thursday evening and take pictures.....and share them with you...OMG! you'll love them! anyway....she had all these bottle brush trees (i'm trying to make a point here and really not doing a great job) and wreathes and guess where she bought them....BIG LOTS! they were all cream bottle brush with silver balls....sooooooo shabby and vintage looking....i loved them. why don't i ever go anywhere like big lots? maybe i need to start going....wow.....




so.....i'm gonna share this darling picture of miss anna banana. she has the MOST WONDERFUL teacher this year in third grade....and they recently had a very special tea party in celebration of finishing the entire felicity series from american girl.....and they hand wrote invitations that said "cordially" and "the favor of a reply" and they were encouraged to dress up in appropriate felicity attire....so i have these april cornell petticoat dresses/nightgowns for the girls for christmas morning and i borrowed an apron from amber (cuz i knew she'd have one....and i need to get it back to her) and stuck this little bonnet from silver dollar city and VOILA....felicity!!! she looked so darling....

anyway....i think i'm going to sleep now...i'm sooooooooo tired....dan's been sick for about a week and is just now starting to feel normal....and be normal...so that is a huge blessing....when daddy's sick....it's like he isn't even here....and that's no fun is it?

nighty night. God bless you!

another no pic post

good morning...sitting in my sunroom in my nightgown and pink robe....kidlets are watching dora and eating pancakes i just made....i hate not writing on my little blog but just haven't had time to do much....been unpacking STILL and trying to organize amidst everyday life of fixing meals, doing laundry and taking care of a family....which i'm not sure i'm doing that great a job of anyway. the two little ones have ear infections and coughs....and now i have a head cold and cough. we've just been unpacking and trying to get things in a "home" for now....and that's slow going...and when your head, nose and throat is broken....ya know....it's not easy. anyway...i haven't forgotten you...i'm just soooooo busy....and not feeling well. i wish i had a way to upload some pictures because my dad and i spent all afternoon two days ago decorating the front porch with greenery and big red bows....and i love it. the house is s s l l o o w w l l y y coming along...i love it really...i really do love it. i love everything about it....i will post some pictures as soon as i can. today my parents are coming over to eat leftover turkey and stuffing and watch BEDLAM FOOTBALL....GOOOOOO COWBOYS!!! hope your thanksgiving was filled with blessings...i took a long nap on thanksgiving and didn't wear a stitch of make-up....my taste buds were broken that day too but i have so much to be thankful for....blessings to you and your family....lots of love!

hullabulo

there is no easy way to say this so i'm just going to tell you. i'm insane. really. and i'm fine with it. but...i want you to know so when you see me wondering around the teen section in target looking for a scarf with no make-up, dark circles and a two-year-old eating popcorn for a mid-morning snack and a four-year-old sharing red vines licorice with me...you will just snicker to yourself and carry on...maybe you'll say hi and then think....ahhhhh, how sad....someday that lady will be living in a mental institution for old people sitting in the corner playing checkers and singing the lyrics to every john denver song ever written in a little old lady violin-ish voice...probably annie's song....anyway...will you play checkers with me....really...who am i kidding...i am not a checkers girl....i am a pictionary or boggle girl....

we have moved. as i sit here now in our bed, which is only halfway made, i am literally about to fall asleep...there are boxes unpacked everywhere and i wonder how they are all going to get organized and unpacked. i won't tell you the whole moving in story....it's not too exciting...but i will tell you this....i feel HOME....i feel a little peace out here....it's dark and quiet and no one drives by hardly ever....and i love it...i (and by "i", i mean "dan") haven't set up our camera-to-computer thingy so i can't upload pictures yet....but my favorite thing so far....in this beginning part of living here and night number three.....is the view from my bedroom window...it's of trees and our big country porch (the edge of it anyway) and when i wake up in the morning and it's beginning to get light out (i could've said "dawn" there, huh?) it's just so peaceful and woodsy looking and i love it....i don't know....that's my favorite thing....i just look out my bedroom window, lying there under the quilt and i smile to myself....

we also had four deer in our backyard and a big buck the other evening....so beautiful....

anyway....sorry this is such a random post....i really feel a little nutty...nuttier than usual....it's all the people and help and little ones and boxes and cable guys and security guys and vacuum guys and plumbers....i need some alone time....i guess....but i'm pressing on....yes sir, yes ma'am.

love you....bless you....pictures soon....but i haven't decorated anything....but i will have pictures soon....okay? nighty night....