It's that time again...time for alphabet soup. The letter of the week...G! Hmmmm.....
Well, let's start off with the obvious:
GREEN: GREEN, GREEN, AND MORE GREEN! I love green. I love all shades of green. I love all things green!!!
GRAVY: I do like gravy on my food. I love biscuits and gravy. I love mashed potatoes and gravy. I just like gravy! HEE HEE!
GARAGES: I am sooo appreciative of our garage. For the first 2-1/2 years of our marriage, we didn't have a garage. There is nothing better than watching a foot of snow falling knowing that your car is warm and dry out in the garage! :)
GREEN TEA: Careful with this one...this warm, cozy drink will cause the inconvience of frequently the restroom if you drink too much! Green tea just warms me up and makes me feel cozy. I like hot tea in general, but something about that bitterness of green tea just satisfies. :)
GRACE: But by the grace of God go I. Without the amazing gift of God's Grace, how on earth could I have hope?!?
GOD: Sad that it took me this long to get to that "G." I love God. I fail Him often and hate that I cannot be the woman that He wants me to be. I am trying, though...
GAMES: I love to play games. I love word games, puzzle games, arcade games, card games, board games, action games...all kinds of games. Games are just fun. A few of my favorites? Settlers of Catan, Puerto Rico, Diner Dash, Virtual Villagers, Uno, Hand and Foot, for lack of a better title: The Drawing/Sentence game***. Games are just fun.
GIRL TIME: Is there anything better after days and/or weeks of housework, taking care of the kids, and working than time to just hang out with the girls? I love either going out to dinner, popping in a chick flick, or just hanging out talking. It's priceless time to re-energize. When, oh when, was the last time we had a girl's night out?!?
Well, there you have it...my G's. Enjoy!
***The drawing/sentence game is beyond fun. We typically cut paper into quarters. Each person gets 1 paper per person playing...if you have 10 people, each person gets 10 quarter papers. Everyone is assigned a letter (A-J if you have 10 people). You number the papers (1-10 if you have 10 people) with your letter: 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, etc. On the first paper, everyone writes a sentence that involves a noun and a verb. It has to be something that can be drawn...adjectives make it more fun as long as it is still something able to be drawn with just a pen or pencil. At the announced time, everyone passes their papers to the person next to them. That person then draws what the sentence says on their #2 paper. At the appointed time, everyone puts their picture on TOP of the sentence (so that the next person cannot see the original sentence) and passes the stack to the next person. That person then has to write a sentence of what they see in the picture on their #3 paper. Play continues this way until you get all the way around the table, always covering all of the papers except the one that the person next to them produced. When it's gone all the way around, one at a time, you have fun reading aloud the chain of pictures and sentences that occured from the final drawing or sentence backwards until you arrive at your original sentence. It's an artistic twist on the old "operator" or "telephone" game where you whisper in each other's ear. TRY IT!!! YOU'LL LIKE IT! And...if you have any questions or need clarification...be sure to call/e-mail me! :)
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
My funny girl
I have a good story for you all from my funny little Cassie girl. We have a song that I started singing to her while still in the hospital. It's not very creative, but I made it up and it has been "her song" her entire life. Basically it goes: "Who's the cutest girl in the world? Cas-sie! Cas-sie! Who's the cutest girl in the world? Cas-sie Leigh!" We now sing: "Who's the cutest baby (or brother) in the world? Con-rey! Con-rey! Who's the cutest baby in the world? Con-rey Graham!" Well, last night, I decided to switch it up a bit on a whim. I said, "Who's the cutest dad in the world?" Without pause, she said, "Ma-rk! Ma-rk!" HA! She is just too funny sometimes! She just really doesn't miss a beat on things like that.
Well, that's all...just wanted to share the laugh. Mark and I both got a kick out of it. Hope you did too. Have a great day!
Well, that's all...just wanted to share the laugh. Mark and I both got a kick out of it. Hope you did too. Have a great day!
Monday, April 28, 2008
48 Days AND Stimulus Checks
WHOA! I looked up at my pregnancy ticker and is says "only 48 days to go..." WHOA! That is soooo not long in the big scheme of things and sounds much closer than 6 weeks and 5 days. Whoa. This baby is coming...SOON! :) :) :)
My dad emailed the following to me and I thought that it was pretty funny, so I'm posting it. Feel free to steal it and share it if you'd like.
My dad emailed the following to me and I thought that it was pretty funny, so I'm posting it. Feel free to steal it and share it if you'd like.
How to use Your IRS Rebate Check
As you may have heard, each of us will be getting a tax rebate check to stimulate the economy.
If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China.
If we spend it on gasoline it will go to the Arabs.
If we purchase a computer it will go to India.
If we purchase fruits and vegetables it will go to Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala.
If we purchase a good car it will go to Japan.
If we purchase useless stuff it will go to Taiwan
None of this will help the American economy.
We need to keep that money here in America.
***
The only way to keep that money here at home is to spend it at yard sales, since those are the only businesses still in the US!
***
Or if you don't do yard sales you can send it to me & I will keep it in America for you.
***
***
I just thought that was cute...especially in light of the fact that many of you are garage sale/craigslist junkies.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Post 170
Have I REALLY "wasted" that much time?!? 170 posts...man, oh man...
Well, to jump us up to speed on Cassie's allergies (since my sister-in-law must have missed the post about her reactions), Cassie gets a rash around her mouth...it spreads to her cheeks...her lips start swelling...her buccal mucosa (inside of her mouth) starts swelling...that's as far as we've gotten, but the natural next step would be for her throat to start swelling. It's just so bizzare. I can't figure it out, as there hasn't been any consistent thing that I can pinpoint. I'm just keeping the 'ol Benadryl handy and keeping a journal of events/foods.
Cassie has been LOVING spring. Even today, when it is way too chilly for ME to play outside (55 degrees with lots of wind), she was begging and begging for either "walking with Daddy," her way of asking to go on a walk or "pay outside with Daddy with big ball." She LOVES the outdoors (much to my dismay) and loves nature. I like it all...from the window. :) I have just never been an outdoorsy person, but she loves it, and therefore, Mommy loves it too... She and Daddy are out there right now playing with her big ball and such. She just absolutely adores being out there and thinks that Daddy is a lot more fun to play with outside because he plays more hardcore than Momma. :) The other day, I said, "Who's more fun to play with...Momma or Daddy?" She immediately said, "DADDY!!!"
So, Cassie and I ventured down to Emporia yesterday, which is about an hour and 15 minutes straight south of here. Mom, Dad, and Dani were there, as Dani was singing for State competition. So, we just thought we'd see them briefly and give Dani her graduation present. I've fully decided that I'm NOT going to try to go to her graduation. It breaks my heart, but I have to think of Conrey and my well-being and I really feel that it is best for me to stay put. When we were standing around waiting for Dani's turn, my dad...being ornery as ever...said to Cassie, "Hi, Ethan!" Without missing a beat, Cassie said, "Hi, Grannie!" HA! I just thought that was so funny. She caught the joke (not that it's a new one from Grandpa) and responded immediately. Too funny! She was really glad to see them, but really mad to leave them after only an hour.
As we got back into town, we immediately met some of Mark's family at the Deanna Rose Farmstead. It's basically a huge petting zoo of sorts. There is a dairy barn, a chicken house, goats, a goat nursery where you can feed the goats bottles of milk, turkeys, pigs, horses, etc. along with playgrounds, educational stuff, a fishing pond, and more. It is all outside (reference above) and Cassie had a blast. She even went down the slides all by herself (in the toddler area). We were pooped when we got home and got her right down for a nap. Then, momma laid down and we both slept really well. :)
So, we found the "magic" last night for my back/hip. After being completely fed up with all of the agony and lack of movement (I was pretty much completely paralyzed for a while on Friday night from my mid-back on down to my toes), I called my dad in frustration (he's a chiropractor if you are a random reader of my blog). There just didn't seem to be any options left. He had me do some stretching stuff (AWFUL!!!) and that sort of thing with little to no relief. Then, he had Mark come and dig his elbow into my piriformis (sp?) muscle...basically one of the muscles in your butt. It was one of those "he has to do it as hard as he can with you still breathing" kind of things. I had him do it as long as I could possibly tolerate...it was pure torture...no exaggerating. After he was done, I laid there and tried to get my breathing back under control. I seriously was doing labor breathing trying to get a handle on it. I then got up...literally, I got up. That is not a normal thing for me. In fact, it was quite a miracle. It was still sore (probably a good deal from the torture) and it wasn't completely gone, but it was the best it has felt since 6-1/2 weeks. I'm at 33 weeks today. All I can say is "PRAISE GOD" and "Thank you sooooooo much for the relief!" I now feel that I can make it to the end of this pregnancy without doing something crazy like buying a crochet needle to break my own water. :) HA!
Well, I guess that really about sums up our weekend besides church today, which was really good. I've been very encouraged by both our sermons and our class on Hope.
I hope you've all enjoyed my rantings and have a great week. Remember that God loves you and will never put you through more than He knows you can handle!!!
Well, to jump us up to speed on Cassie's allergies (since my sister-in-law must have missed the post about her reactions), Cassie gets a rash around her mouth...it spreads to her cheeks...her lips start swelling...her buccal mucosa (inside of her mouth) starts swelling...that's as far as we've gotten, but the natural next step would be for her throat to start swelling. It's just so bizzare. I can't figure it out, as there hasn't been any consistent thing that I can pinpoint. I'm just keeping the 'ol Benadryl handy and keeping a journal of events/foods.
Cassie has been LOVING spring. Even today, when it is way too chilly for ME to play outside (55 degrees with lots of wind), she was begging and begging for either "walking with Daddy," her way of asking to go on a walk or "pay outside with Daddy with big ball." She LOVES the outdoors (much to my dismay) and loves nature. I like it all...from the window. :) I have just never been an outdoorsy person, but she loves it, and therefore, Mommy loves it too... She and Daddy are out there right now playing with her big ball and such. She just absolutely adores being out there and thinks that Daddy is a lot more fun to play with outside because he plays more hardcore than Momma. :) The other day, I said, "Who's more fun to play with...Momma or Daddy?" She immediately said, "DADDY!!!"
So, Cassie and I ventured down to Emporia yesterday, which is about an hour and 15 minutes straight south of here. Mom, Dad, and Dani were there, as Dani was singing for State competition. So, we just thought we'd see them briefly and give Dani her graduation present. I've fully decided that I'm NOT going to try to go to her graduation. It breaks my heart, but I have to think of Conrey and my well-being and I really feel that it is best for me to stay put. When we were standing around waiting for Dani's turn, my dad...being ornery as ever...said to Cassie, "Hi, Ethan!" Without missing a beat, Cassie said, "Hi, Grannie!" HA! I just thought that was so funny. She caught the joke (not that it's a new one from Grandpa) and responded immediately. Too funny! She was really glad to see them, but really mad to leave them after only an hour.
As we got back into town, we immediately met some of Mark's family at the Deanna Rose Farmstead. It's basically a huge petting zoo of sorts. There is a dairy barn, a chicken house, goats, a goat nursery where you can feed the goats bottles of milk, turkeys, pigs, horses, etc. along with playgrounds, educational stuff, a fishing pond, and more. It is all outside (reference above) and Cassie had a blast. She even went down the slides all by herself (in the toddler area). We were pooped when we got home and got her right down for a nap. Then, momma laid down and we both slept really well. :)
So, we found the "magic" last night for my back/hip. After being completely fed up with all of the agony and lack of movement (I was pretty much completely paralyzed for a while on Friday night from my mid-back on down to my toes), I called my dad in frustration (he's a chiropractor if you are a random reader of my blog). There just didn't seem to be any options left. He had me do some stretching stuff (AWFUL!!!) and that sort of thing with little to no relief. Then, he had Mark come and dig his elbow into my piriformis (sp?) muscle...basically one of the muscles in your butt. It was one of those "he has to do it as hard as he can with you still breathing" kind of things. I had him do it as long as I could possibly tolerate...it was pure torture...no exaggerating. After he was done, I laid there and tried to get my breathing back under control. I seriously was doing labor breathing trying to get a handle on it. I then got up...literally, I got up. That is not a normal thing for me. In fact, it was quite a miracle. It was still sore (probably a good deal from the torture) and it wasn't completely gone, but it was the best it has felt since 6-1/2 weeks. I'm at 33 weeks today. All I can say is "PRAISE GOD" and "Thank you sooooooo much for the relief!" I now feel that I can make it to the end of this pregnancy without doing something crazy like buying a crochet needle to break my own water. :) HA!
Well, I guess that really about sums up our weekend besides church today, which was really good. I've been very encouraged by both our sermons and our class on Hope.
I hope you've all enjoyed my rantings and have a great week. Remember that God loves you and will never put you through more than He knows you can handle!!!
Friday, April 25, 2008
ALLERGIES
Cassie just had allergic reaction #3 at dinner tonight. MAN, I wish I knew what was causing those! If anyone can shed any light on the subject for me, I'd appreciate it. Holly--you might have some insight?
Here's what she has had each time:
EPISODE 1: Handi-Snak (breadsticks with processed cheese that you dip in).
EPISODE 2: Easy Mac-N-Cheese (so, it contains powdered "cheese" and powdered milk...you don't add milk) and a banana.
EPISODE 3: Sour Cream & Chives mashed potatoes (which you add milk, butter, and water to) and bread with margarine.
There is obviously some form of milk products in each one, but she has no reaction to yogurt or ice cream...she's had them lately since she's been having her reactions with no problems. Also, the day she reacted after the mac'n'cheese, she had eaten that very bowl of it the day before, too. Let me rephrase that. It was the same mixture of it, but I didn't just give it to her in the same bowl with her slobber and such in it...that's really gross if you have watched a 2-year-old eat m'n'c....it's pretty messy! :)
Anyway, it is SO BIZARRE-O!!! I just don't know what to think. I'm kinda wondering if maybe she's just developing the allergy and that is why it is only with certain things or something...I don't know. If anyone has any suggestions or references, let me know. THANKS! :)
Here's what she has had each time:
EPISODE 1: Handi-Snak (breadsticks with processed cheese that you dip in).
EPISODE 2: Easy Mac-N-Cheese (so, it contains powdered "cheese" and powdered milk...you don't add milk) and a banana.
EPISODE 3: Sour Cream & Chives mashed potatoes (which you add milk, butter, and water to) and bread with margarine.
There is obviously some form of milk products in each one, but she has no reaction to yogurt or ice cream...she's had them lately since she's been having her reactions with no problems. Also, the day she reacted after the mac'n'cheese, she had eaten that very bowl of it the day before, too. Let me rephrase that. It was the same mixture of it, but I didn't just give it to her in the same bowl with her slobber and such in it...that's really gross if you have watched a 2-year-old eat m'n'c....it's pretty messy! :)
Anyway, it is SO BIZARRE-O!!! I just don't know what to think. I'm kinda wondering if maybe she's just developing the allergy and that is why it is only with certain things or something...I don't know. If anyone has any suggestions or references, let me know. THANKS! :)
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Pics from le cruise
These are pictures from the cruise. My brother just uploaded them to facebook, so I stole them. :) If you have a weak stomach, skip the first one. :) :) :) 
Is that Nacho Libre? NO! That's my hairy brother, Dustin!!!
The nieces in their Mexican Dresses...all matching! :) (Cassie, Caitlin, Callie)
The nephews on formal night--Don't they look excited?!? (Jason, Ethan, Lucas)
The zipliners ready to go! Please ignore any obscene gestures...
Cassie and Callie--Aren't they cute together?!? :)
HERE ARE THE COUPLES minus my parents...don't know where THEIR picture is, DUSTIN...
Dani and her boyfriend, David
Derin and Mandy. Sad that the only picture of them is goofy...
Dustin and his smokin' hot wife, Laura! :) Dustin is actually not trying to make a dumb face in this picture...that's RARE!
Mark and I, though I look kinda like a horse.
Mark and I, though I look kinda like a horse.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The Roof Is DONE!
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Here are the "before" and "after" pics of our roof. The 1st pic in the "before" pictures was when our house was painted a different green. Mark hated it from the beginning. The 2nd one, though, is the same paint color as the current color. It's amazing to me how differnet the paint, trim, etc. looks with the darker roof. It will take some getting used to, but I like it so far.
This is just a random picture I took of Cassie in her new outfit. I don't know why she looks so ornery. I think she's practicing for having a little brother. I just thought the hat was too, too cute!!!
Here are some pictures that I finally got cropped and situated from our cruise. They are of Cassie in her Mexican dress. It was her souvenier. She has started doing that goofy smile in pictures some. TOO FUNNY!
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