A Present to Myself

Hi, I’m Crystal, and I’m newly addicted to Etsy. 

For a while now, I’ve been hearing people talking about how they got this or that on Etsy, and how fabulous it was, but never really looked into it.  One of my good friends brought her laptop to work one night and gave me an Etsy tutorial.  I. Became. Hooked.

I could spend HOURS on there just browsing, and my favorite list is growing longer & longer!  I’m finding gifts for babies, for Christmas, and just growing a wish list for all sorts of things.

Which brings me to my present to myself…

I’ve been shopping around for a few years now for a necklace for myself.  I’ve looked online, in magazines, etc for a silver tag necklace with the boys’ names stamped on it.  Every one I’d found was just missing something….until now!  I stumbled upon a Miss Annie Reh’s shop on Etsy and fell in love!!

She has lots of beautiful pieces, and was so easy to work with to get the exact, one of a kind necklace that I’d been searching for.  Here’s what I got:

 

I am absolutely IN LOVE!!!

Preschool Photography

Wyatt brought me the Mickey Mouse camera this morning, complaining that there was something wrong with it.  The memory card was full, so I went through and deleted most of the pictures on there, which consisted of shots of the TV, train table, toys, random ceiling fan pics, etc.  However, I did keep this one, because I thought it was sweet…

Not sure who took it or when (could’ve been up to a year ago), or whose feet those are, but I am sure that it’s precious!!

Bugs

The boys have been back to school for one week.  OK, really, not even a whole week.  They’ve been in school for 3 days.  3 days.

And now, on this Monday of the second week of school, my boys are home sick.  What in the world?!?  We’ve gone all summer with no illness, been to the grocery store and (shame, I know) have ridden in those car buggies about 16 times (to which I am proud to say that Publix attaches a can of sanitizing wipes), we’ve been all up in the church nursery & children’s church, we’ve been out to eat way too much, we’ve been to the bowling alley….and we haven’t picked up any bugs, anywhere.  Send them to school for 3 days and it’s a go for germs!

Don’t let those pictures fool you!  Those were taken before drugs this morning.  (Which I’d like to point out that I’m really annoyed by the recall on Tylenol & Motrin.  As I discussed with a friend this morning, surely my boys would be all better by now and their fevers would go away much faster if I had some brand name drugs to put in them.  I’m not a drug snob when it comes to myself, but for my kids, I just prefer a brand name…call me crazy) They don’t act sick until that mean old fever starts creeping up, so it’s definitely not a lay around lazy day around here!  (As I sit here, Waylon has just told me he’s a “big ol roll of hay” and he’s rolling around on the floor going, “Whoa, Whoa!!,” which has led to him whacking his foot on the wall with so much drama that he surely must have a broken toe with all that hollering….wait…nope, he’s fine)  They are full on boy WILD today & I’m just hoping that if the fevers have to come back, that they wait till about 2 pm so that we can all go down and nap at the same time!!  Momma has to go to work tonight to pay for the insurance that will surely be put to good use if the beginning of the school year illness has any indication of how the rest of the year will be!

Duty calls…they’ve just called out from my bedroom, “Mommy, come lay in your bed with us!” I better go enjoy it while I can.  I have a feeling that in a few more years, sick days won’t be nearly as sweet!

First Day of School

Last week marked another big occasion in the Rodgers’ family…the first day of school!!  Waylon woke up and pronounced that school was closed and he wasn’t going.

However, Wyatt was very excited and had been anticipating this moment for a while.  He was all too excited to get to bed Tuesday night and get his sleep over with so that he could go to school on Wednesday.

Bright and early Wednesday morning we started the routine.  Backpacks were filled with new school supplies, lunchboxes were packed, new shoes on & we were ready to go!!

We got into the hallway of their building and their classes both had really cute displays with all the kids names.

 

I had all intentions of getting pictures of the boys and their teachers, but decided that I didn’t really want photo evidence of all that crying and prying….the boys and I crying and their teachers prying them off of Jesse & I!!

Of course, after we left, we got reports that both of them had calmed down quickly and that they both had good first days, which turned into a good first week. 

The drop off still isn’t seamless, but I think after a few more days, it’ll be ok!

Birthday Boy

He started out tiny...

Our little Sugar Bee

It's hard to believe...

That today he is three!!

Happy Birthday Wy-Bug!

He's 4 Today!

I'm not quite sure how it happened so fast...

We started out with a little baby boy...

That grew a little bit...

And at some point...

I guess I must have blinked...

And now we have a big 4 year old boy...

Happy 4th Birthday Way-Baby

Girl's Night Out

Last Thursday evening, Mom, Tania, Aunt Betty and myself left our families at home and were off to Gainesville for a girl's night to see Chonda Pierce. Tania & I went last year and had a blast, so this time we got tickets for Mom & Aunt Betty to go too.

We had dinner at Blue Highway and then went over to Westside Baptist to get in line. This year was a little better as far as the pushing and shoving was concerned. We came with umbrellas in hand and were prepared to use them as necessary weapons! Thankfully it didn't come to that!

Tania & I had gotten general admission tickets last year, and both had to strain our eyes to see Chonda, so this time we upgraded to the "gold circle" tickets and were able to sit on the 2nd row. I think Chonda was funnier just because we were sitting closer ;)

We had so much fun!! We laughed through dinner, while waiting in line, all through the show, and on the way home (especially since I almost had to throw the ol' Tahoe in 4WD to jump the curb getting out of the church parking lot...the line I was in wasn't moving as fast as the other lines...which led Tania & I to break into song. Don't know if any of you have seen Veggie Tales "A Snoodle's Tale" with the song, "I Like Your Car". The chorus goes, "Whoa-oh, you & me, in our sports utility vehicles...." If you haven't seen it, you should. We watch it with Wyatt about 57 times a day at both of our houses. OK, back on track now) If laughter is the best medicine, surely we're cured of whatever may have been ailing us! The only downside of the whole night was that we didn't get out of there until about 10:15 or so, and our great plans for Starbucks, a muffin, & sitting out under the stars were spoiled!

I'm sorry for the poor pictures of the event, but it was dark in the sanctuary and my camera battery died on me :(

I can't wait until next year! You girls need to plan on having a girls night with your mom's, aunts, cousins and girlfriends. The show is a must see!!

OH!! PS- Head over to Tania's blog. She's doing a giveaway and you only have until the 23rd of this month to enter. Details over there!