pink flamingoes and heavy drinking!

yesterday colby and i saw the movie gnomeo and juliet. very cute movie!  while we were watching it i decided i wanted two things for my backyard...a gnome and pink plastic flamingoes! you have to see the movie to understand why.

so after the movie we went to hobby lobby to look for gnome.  they had a few, but they weren't cute.  then i thought, "ooooh!  why not paint my own gnome?  how fun would that be?" but of course, they didn't have any paint-your-own-gnomes.  or pink plastic flamingos. bummer.

atwoods is in the same shopping center so we checked there next.  score!  they came two to a box for $9.99!  i didn't get any because i want to put the gnome and the flamingoes out there together.  i know, it's silly and stupid!

photo of the day

4-30-11

flamingoes!

tonight we were waiting for our order to come at sonic, and spencer and i had a very random conversation about this sign:

photo of the day

5-1-11

398,929 drink combinations

we figured out that if you wanted to try every sonic drink combination by the time you are 80 years old, you would have to drink about 13 drinks every day!  and of course you'd have to go during happy hour because that would get expensive. so if you tried a small size of every drink during happy hour, you'd spend somewhere around $200,000 in your lifetime.  that's some heavy drinking!

you're beautiful

photo of the day

4-29-11

god's beauty

ok.  this post may not make sense to anyone but me, and that's ok.  and it may sound like i'm rambling and that's ok, too.

tonight i went to the mall to shop for some new tennis shoes.  while i was there i decided to go in a couple of stores just to see if i could find a really good deal on a shirt or something. i got kind of down because even though i've lost 20 pounds that's not enough to necessitate new clothes.  my clothes are a little bigger, but i can still wear them.

i feel better than i've felt in a really long time.  i'm starting to feel like the skinny girl inside me is slowly trying to come out.  i WANT to wear cute clothes and look pretty again, but when i look in the mirror i'm still fat.  and i let that ugly fat girl with a defeated attitude rear her ugly head every once in a while and i get sad.

so i walked out of the store without buying anything because i felt like i didn't deserve anything new because i'm still fat.  that's how i've treated myself for several years now.

but as i was driving home, i looked out the window and saw the most amazing sunset.  i could actually see the outline of the sun setting just behind an american flag. i literally gasped!  i quickly pulled over and grabbed my phone to take a picture.  i wanted everyone to see what i saw, but since i only had my phone i didn't capture that moment like i wanted to.

the picture doesn't even show you what i saw.  but maybe you weren't supposed to see.  in my small mind i like to think that god put me at that spot at that exact moment to remind me that there's more to being beautiful than being skinny or fat.  that sunset reminded me that god still loves me no matter what size i am, and that my beauty comes from him.  i am made in HIS image.  why should i feel sad about that?  how am i going to share his beauty and love with the world if i'm so wrapped up in feeling sorry for myself?

            For you created my inmost being; 

   you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 

      I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; 

   your works are wonderful, 

   I know that full well. 

~Psalm 139:13-14

bubbles

bubbles are like christmas lights.  i don't care how old you are there's just something about them that warms your heart!

we found out that smudge loves bubbles, too!  he was jumping up and trying to eat them as fast as the boys could blow them!

photo of the day

4-28-11

let's all eat the bubbles!

exciting day

wednesday is now my new weigh-in day at weight watchers because we have a new meeting leader.  i actually look forward to these days, and it seemed like wednesday would never get there!

i knew i had lost some that week because i really watched what i ate, and i walked nearly every night. i forgot the main part of my lunch that day so all i had eaten was 2 apples and 2 granola bars.  so maybe that's why i lost 6 POUNDS!  now my grand total is 20.6 pounds in 8 weeks!  i am so excited!!!

at church that night we had a fundraiser for our relay for life team (which i am proud to say i am a member of this year!).  the generous family at adams blvd. donated $1000!!!  amazing generosity.

and to top it all off, i ate supper with all these little people!  

photo of the day 

4-27-11

the kids' table

when i sat down, there was only one kid at the table and the next thing i knew i was completely surrounded!  we even had to pull up extra chairs so they'd all fit.  we also had to lay down some rules:

     1.  no eating your boogers at the table.

     2.  no touching ms. amy with spaghetti hands because my sweater was part white.

well a couple of them broke rule #1 because they thought it was funny!  no one touched me, but i still managed to get spaghetti sauce on me!

smudge's first frog

spencer found this frog in the backyard, and of course smudge just had to check it out! (and of course i didn't stop him because i thought it would be funny to watch.  shame on me.)

photo of the day

4-26-11

foam face

monster worms!

when colby and i went walking monday night, we found GINORMOUS worms!  i've never seen any that big before...they were like small snakes.  i couldn't believe colby wasn't afraid to pick them up!

ewwww....worms!

 photo of the day

4-25-11

they're slipping!

it pooped on me!

easter weekend

let the coloring begin!  everyone was involved this year!

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4-23-11

happy easter egg

i love crayons...

 photo of the day

4-24-11

easter goodies

what did the easter bunny bring?

land run day

april 22 was the first land run in what was know as the oklahoma territory.  so every year on this day lots of kids reenact this exciting event.  the 4th graders at wayside elementary were no exception!

it had rained every day before that, and the forecast said we were going to have more rain that day.  we couldn't have had better weather!  sunshine and warm temps!

it was such a fun experience, even for this texas girl!  i probably learned more about oklahoma history than my kids did!  i also learned that i would have made a lousy pioneer!  

buffalo dale

photo of the day

4-22-11

wagons 

real pioneer food

too much to say

i have figured out why i get behind on blogging.  it's because i have too much to say!  i can't just post pictures without explaining the story behind them, and then when i get behind i think, "ugh.  this is gonna take so long to do because i'm so far behind." so i put it off another day and add to the pile!  no more!  i'm going to TRY to blog daily so i don't get behind anymore.  there's just so much to tell!!!!

sunday, april 17 i let smudge go with me to take spencer to a youth activity.  the last time he rode in a car he puked, so i was worried.  but he did great!

photo of the day

4-17-11

teeny, tiny road trip for smudge

monday, april 18 was my little brother's birthday, and i forgot to call him! i posted a birthday message for him on facebook, though!  does that count?  and the reason i forgot is my picture of the day.  i was consumed by books!

photo of the day

4-18-11

love stories!

tuesday, april 19 was weigh-in day at weight watchers. i KNEW i was not going to be happy when i stepped on the scales because i hadn't made healthy choices with my food or gone walking the previous week.  it was a stressful week, and i turned to food instead of relying on god and i gained a pound.  all of our meetings end with a quote (i love quotes!) and this one really hit home with me.

 that night we kicked off the ladies' evening bible study group!  we just introduced ourselves by telling our names and our favorite cookie, talked about what to expect from the study and prayed.  then some of the ladies decorated their journals.  it was so fun to see what they created!

photo of the day

4-19-11

fun stuff!

wednesday i didn't have a picture and nothing exciting happened so i took a screen shot of my weight watchers app showing that i was able to eat a yummy meal and still stay within my point range!  that piece of cake you see is actually deceiving....i only ate 1/4 of that piece because it was so high in points! it took so much strength not to eat it.  in fact i asked my little friend jacob to throw it away for me.  he got to the trash can with it and said, "wait!  you're not gonna eat this?  can i have it?" before i could even answer he had MY fork in his mouth eating a bite of MY cake!  ewwww.... i just couldn't do that!  but thank you, jacob, for rescuing me from that cake! :)

photo of the day

4-20-11

tracker app

thursday, april 21 started off weird.  as soon as my students came in, one of my quiet boys came up to my desk grinning and said, "mrs. hayes, can i interest you in a pair of cardboard shoes?"  then he turned around and walked off laughing!

i said, "what would you have done if i said yes?"

he said, "i would have given them to you!"

so i said, "yes!"

i think he was shocked!  the kids thought those cardboard and duct tape shoes were so cool that they asked me to put them on!  and of course i did!  they went great with my polka-dot socks!

photo of the day

4-21-11

custom-made cardboard shoes!

cookies and canvas

daryl finally came home from chicago friday afternoon, and boy were we glad to see him!  it had been an exhausting week, so we went out to supper at la fiesta!  yum!

after that colby convinced daryl to go to gamestop to get a pokemon game for his dsi.  i don't do gamestop, so i sat in the car trying to figure out why my phone suddenly needed a password to check voicemail! ugh.

somehow i managed to capture an image of my screen while i was doing that, and i'm so glad i did.  when i woke up saturday morning i realized i hadn't taken a photo of the day for friday!  gasp!  it wasn't until a few days ago that i discovered this picture on my phone!  woo hoo!

photo of the day

4-15-11

my phone

saturday afternoon i went to a class at church called cookies and canvas.  i had been looking forward to this class since the day i signed up for it!  (i felt like a little kid watching the clock all day wondering if 3:00 would ever get here!)

cookies and canvas was a painting class with cookies for snacking.  clever, right?  it was so fun!  i've always wished i could paint like that dude on pbs with the big 'fro who has the calm voice.  he makes painting look so easy.  in just 30 minutes he has a gorgeous landscape!

we didn't paint landscapes.  we painted flowers.  it was amazing to see how everyone's painting turned out.  the ladies i sat with made amazing pictures!  i was definitely not as talented as they were.  i also discovered that i'm a slow painter.  it takes me a while to get an idea, and then i have to practice on paper before i ever touch the canvas.  needless to say i didn't get finished with my painting.  but when i do finish, i will post a picture of my masterpiece!

the gifted table...i sat at the wrong place!

our amazing and patient teacher!

 after supper that night the boys and i went exploring at the non-developed part of our neighborhood.  it was getting late, so we didn't stay long.  i didn't take many pictures, but the sky was gorgeous!  god is the ultimate artist!

someday i will take a picture of the moon that does it justice.

photo of the day

4-16-11

god's masterpiece

just a few minutes later....stunning.

wild night

wow.  last thursday, april 14th had some wild weather!  and of course it all happened while daryl was in chicago!!!!

so i had to put on my brave face while tornadic storms blew across our town.  the meteorologists had been talking about these storms for days before they even happened.  usually they get all excited about significant weather events, and then nothing much happens.  they were right about this one, though.  

we started watching the weather when a tornado warning was issued for osage county, just west of our county.  we were glued to the tv watching the storms develop.  this line of storms stretched way up into kansas, through oklahoma and down into texas.

my favorite weather man, dan threlkeld

clouds from my backyard

cool, calm and collected

TERRIFIED

once the tornado warning was issued for washington county, i sent the boys to the "safe place" in our house.  colby was so scared, i thought he was going to pass out.  poor guy.  he just knew we were all going to die.  although he doesn't look bothered by the storms in this picture, i think smudge was scared, too.  he chewed his leash in half while he was wearing it!

photo of the day

4-14-11

storm shelter

smudge's chewed leash

well, the tornado never touched down in bartlesville, although storm spotters in washington county saw one touch down south of bartlesville.  it continued to pour down rain even after the sun came out!  it was weird.  the boys were fine by then so they went out and played in the rain.  i tried to take pictures, but the raindrops were huge and cold!  on my way back in the house, i noticed that momma bird was still sitting on her nest guarding her little eggs.  what a brave woman.

steadfast mom

god's promise

 our little bunny friend came out when the storm was over, too!  smudge and the bunny had a stare-down. the hair on smudge's back was standing on end!  he wanted the bunny so bad!

 quote of the day:  "the tornado warning for washington county has expired."