My 100th Postday

Did you get it - it's not my 100th birthday, but it's my 100th Postday because it's my 100th post and I had to name it something fantastic...........ok well anyway, since that funny flopped this post can only get better right :)

I decided to steal my friend Jenelle's idea and give away something to celebrate this momentous occasion and decided that some "Dena Candy" as Riley has named them would be just the treat. I'll also include a few handmade cards and envelopes just for fun - but I haven't made them yet so I can't post a picture of those. Maybe I'll post them when we pick the winner though.........all you need to do is leave a comment to be entered in our drawing by Tuesday at 4pm.

I'm also going to steal this part of Jenelle post too - 100 random facts about me.

1. My middle name is Dawn
2. I have 20 first cousins
3. Really - and that's not counting those by marriage, if you count my cousins and their spouses there are 36
4. Come to think of it, I don't know how many first cousins my hubby has..........
5. I didn't realize that people ate off pretty plates for holidays for a long time, we're too big, we use paper
6. I love dessert, I could skip the meal and only eat dessert most of the time
7. I despise salad dressing and most condiments - although I do like ketchup or bbq for dipping fries
8. My hubby and I have the same color of eyes - almost exactly
9. I have never owned a dog, and that doesn't really bother me
10. I rarely wear socks in the summer, flip flops are my favorite
11. I don't wear make-up on a regular basis
12. Riley, our 2 1/2 year old, owns more makeup than I do
13. I had to borrow it on my wedding day (thanks Jenelle)
14. I very rarely cry
15. But I balled thru P.S. I Love You just the other day
16. I've never broken a bone
17. But I have had stitches
18. And a sprained ankle or two
19. My sophomore year in high school was rough because of the above two things
20. I like to play sports
21. Volleyball is my favorite
22. But track was fun too - I ran hurdles
23. Before I got married my whole name had 20 letters
24. Now I only have 16
25. My daughter is the sweetest
26. She likes me to hold her hand while she falls asleep
27. And I think that's pretty sweet - someday she won't want that anymore
28. My kisses can fix the biggest booboo's - just ask my daughter or hubby
29. I'm kinda organized
30. It drives some people crazy
31. Most days I prefer a shower to a bath - even if I have the time to take a bath
32. I like to read
33. I very rarely watch an entire tv show
34. I've been known to talk too much during a movie
35. I always want to know what's going to happen next, and will probably ask you even if we are seeing it for the first time together
36. I don't like coffee
37. Or cappuccino
38. Or anything else coffee-ish
39. I like cooking
40. and baking
41. and I'm very thankful for a dishwasher
42. I don't like to fold the loads of white laundry
43. There are too many of my hubbies under t-shirts and socks which are a pain
44. I don't own a pair of closed toe dress shoes
45. The last time I had a perm was my freshman year in high school and I said I would never ever get another one because they take too long to grow out
46. Sometimes I kinda want to get one again
47. I usually take a shower at night instead of in the morning
48. I can still do a flip on the trampoline
49. I love Jesus with all my heart
50. I still go to youth group on Wednesday nights instead of to the adult class
51. I got a grease spot out of the carpet Monday night and that made me really excited
52. I had tried two other times and it hadn't worked - even with the same cleaner
53. My hair is thicker on one side of my head than the other
54. I very rarely paint my fingernails
55. but my toenails are always painted
56. I've only had one pedicure in my life and I liked it
57. I didn't think I would though (sorry Gina), I'm glad I was wrong though
58. I never moved growing up - lived in the same house my whole life
59. My family doesn't buy beef at a store
60. We butcher cows to eat
61. People think this is weird, I didn't know that for a long time
62. It was always fun growing up because we saw the cousins every Saturday for a month while the adults worked on butchering
63. I'm 5 1/2 months older than my husband
64. The stinker reminds me of it nearly every day
65. My purse is black
66. I probably won't buy another one until this one wears out
67. I like to make cards
68. Riley likes to help
69. I don't really care for the carpet in my house - it's a bit too light for me and not soft enough
70. I bruise easily
71. I have a few moles/freckles but no birthmark
72. My ring fingers are longer than my pointer fingers
73. My pinky fingers are double jointed
74. Sometimes I get frustrated easily
75. I remember when gas was $0.99 per gallon
76. I also remember when stamps were $0.25
77. Both of those make me feel old
78. I have a slight astigmatism in one eye
79. I like to look at flea markets/antique shops
80. I use chapstick at least once a day and probably more like 20 times
81. One of my favorite foods is mac & cheese
82. One of my favorite drinks is OJ
83. I could be addicted to getting Riley's pictures taken if money wasn't an option
84. We should get her newest pics back next week - woohoo
85. I have never colored/highlighted my hair
86. Part of one of my front teeth is fake
87. A mean old (heavy) metal rocking chair broke my tooth when I was little
88. I like almost all Disney cartoons and want to own them
89. I don't have my ears pierced - and never have
90. I'm weird and buy Christmas presents all year long
91. When I was pregnant with Riley my hands swelled so I bought a fake wedding ring at Wal-mart for $8.00
92. I had my 10 year reunion this year - it kinda made me feel old
93. My wedding and anniversary are exactly a week apart
94. I almost always wear a jacket at work - the ac blows right on me and I hate that
95. Even though I don't see them often enough - I love my friends mucho mucho
96. I wish I saw them more
97. Guys - I think we should get together soon, dinner my place?
98. I've never seen It's a Wonderful Life (the whole thing)
99. I'm excited about the three day weekend
100. I'm thankful for my readers - thanks for stopping by guys :)

The Dishwasher Debate

When Joey and I bought our first house the appliances were outdated to say the least. Within the first year and a half of living there, we replaced the stove, fridge and dishwasher. The stove came first because I turned it on to bake cookies and it locked like it was on the clean setting and we actually had to pry it open, so I couldn't cook anything else until we bought a new one and happened within a month of moving in. The rest of the house was great.........I guess they just didn't think updating appliances was as important as the new carpet.


But, back to my story, since I had never owned a dishwasher before, I was super excited that our house had one. I was excited to be able to stick my dishes in there and have them come out sparkling clean.........well if I rinsed them really well (read basically washed every crumb off but didn't have to use soap) they came out clean and I guess they sparkled, I can't really remember.
Back then I had no idea that dishwashing detergents weren't created equal. I bought the big container of store brand powder thinking I would be set for quite sometime and man was I wrong. The GreatValue was lost because that stuff was terrible - all my dishes had a weird film on them and I was already nearly washing them before I put them in the dishwasher so I decided to shell out the big money (we were newly weds, so I use big money with that in mind) I bought the big box of Cascade (when will I learn that you don't buy the big box when you are trying something new). You know what - same results - weird film, basically washing the dishes before I put them in.......not really sure what the benefit was of the dishwasher, except it stored the dishes out of sight.

Then I found these little guys - and they are amazing. No weird film, no need to completely wash the dishes before I put them in........ahh I was in heaven, this is why people own dishwashers!!
So then, I noticed the other day when I bought some the price had really jumped (I know everything is higher, but I thought nearly a $1 was a lot for a little box of tabs) so I thought since I loved the Electrasol tabs, I would surely like the Electrasol powder...........right. And since I have a much newer dishwasher now, surely that wouldn't be a factor because everything comes out sparking clean (even the baked on brownie residue).

Since it was the same brand, I assumed it would work just as good and I'd save my self a few dollars...............note to self - Rachel you DO NOT LIKE POWDERED DISHWASHING DETERGENT - don't buy it again, you really don't save yourself any money, spend the extra $1 and get the tabs you know and love.

FFF - Black and Whites

Like Sarah, I'm a sucker for Black and White photos - some of them are just so precious and they melt my heart. It was hard for me to pick some favorites to post here and there was no way I could narrow it down to one Favorite Foto, so here are my Favorite Fotos for the week.

Big Kisses for Mama - Cascade Locks, OR - Sep 07
Looking at the river with Daddy - Cascade Locks, OR - Sep 07

First time on the potty - May 07

Loving the "waterfall" at Mommy's work - Mar 08

Our handsome cousin Coltin at his Aunt's wedding - Jun 06

Riley's first fishing trip - Jun 08

Mama love while feeding the fish - Jun 08

Catching a nap with Daddy - Jul 07

First pigtails - ever :) - Jul 07
And they held all of her hair the whole day - WOW

Christmas 06 - where did my baby go?

I always love these reminiscing posts, but they make me sad too - where has my baby gone? She's such a big girl now!!

Birthday Party Ideas

I'm kind of a weirdo sometimes - I like to plan things.........like well in advance (I'm already thinking of birthday party ideas for Riley and her birthday isn't until November). I like to make lists, I like to know what I need to get and the excited feeling I get when I get to mark things off that list. I know, I admit it, I'm kind of a nerd.

Anyway, since I'm already thinking about Riley's next birthday, I thought I would share some fun things that we did for her first two celebrations.

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Riley first birthday was - LADYBUGS - which was an easy choice since that is how her room was decorated and we had so many ladybug things already. We decorated the tables with ladybugs from her room and had a cute personalized banner (which has since disappeared boo). We had red and black plates since I couldn't find any ladybug ones that I really liked and the food was simple - punch, lots of fruit and of course cake - Riley loved the cake!

She was only one, so we didn't really do any games, but we did have a pinata. Riley really wasn't sure what to do, but she did swing the bat a few times so that's all that mattered!! I learned that you could pack a pinata too full though - and if you do this (not that I did ahem) that they are really hard to break. And when they do finally break open, you'll likely have a lot of smashed candy sense you had to beat the snot out of the thing to get it to open. I thought it just meant more candy to share......boy was I wrong, it meant more candy bits to sweep up - yikes!

Probably my favorite things from this first party were the favors - we did little bags of candy with all kinds of buggy goodies and stamps and then little pots with seeds in them and we printed this little poem to attach. "Here is a gift, a special present just for you, and just like me they will grow too, place them under the sun and beautiful flowers you will see, Thank you for celebrating my first birthday with me." Maybe it was just because my baby was turning one, but I loved that little poem which I found on some website somewhere - if it was yours, thanks for sharing!

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Riley's 2nd birthday was - DORA - again another easy choice because she loved and still does Dora the Explorer!!! She would gladly watch it every single day if you'd let her. This party might have been more fun to plan because she was much more involved!! When the kids got there, we made telescopes. (You'd be amazed how many tp rolls you can get in a week when you put the word out that you are collecting them!!!) We colored and stickered these up then we went on a true Dora adventure.

Using my not-so-great art skills (the kids were all very impressed) I had drawn a map just like you'd see on the show and we were on a mission to find our goodies to take home with us. We checked the map and saw that we needed to go thru the Golden Tunnel, into the Rain Forest and then to the Bouncy Castle to get our treats. When we got to the forest we had a problem though, Boots had lost a boot so we had to each find one in the trees and then we played Pin the boot on Boots before we could continue on (again the kids were very impressed with my artistic abilities). Then at the Bouncy Castle (small bounce house we borrowed from my SIL) the kids all got a Dora or Diego plastic cup filled with treats to take home.
Funny moment to share - this is when Riley froze - she was tired, everyone was trying to play with her new things (which normally wouldn't bother her) and she nearly had a meltdown! She wouldn't open anything else and she didn't move for nearly a minute.......memories!

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Well that brings me to Riley's third birthday which is coming up - we are thinking either a Darby party (from My Friends Tigger & Pooh) or a Cooking party - and both seem equally fun!!!


Darby Party - the Super Sleuths could have a great mission - I think it would be fun if the cake disappeared and we had to follow clues to find it! I also saw a great idea where we could make some "honey" (homemade slime we would tint yellow) which seems like something the kids would really love. The cake would be a breeze too - just use the Super Sleuth's emblem and we could even make it with cupcakes if we wanted too. Favors would be fun too because we could do toy magnifying glasses, compasses, mini flashlights, teddy grahams, Super sleuth masks, I Spy bags (which I think are super cool and don't look too hard to make) or tons of other options. I think this would be a pretty fun party and not too girly for the boys that would be there.

Another favorite would be a Cooking party - ohhhhhhh. Favors would be easy - kids sized aprons, maybe a chefs hat and if we wanted to get real fancy, maybe a cookie cutter or mini rolling pin and whisk to take home. All depending on cost of course. We could have the kids all mix up their own special cupcake batter to bake and then decorate before we left (with lots of decorating options of course) and send home in a little bakery box. We could cut out Jello Jigglers. We could make ice cream sundaes. We could do mini pizzas or.............the options are endless. For games we could do an obstacle course where they'd have to run with an egg (hardboiled of course) on a spoon (or in a measuring cup) which would be fun. We could do some kind of race where they had a bag to fill up at the store and had to run back and put their groceries away in the play kitchen. We could make "meatballs" using this recipe for treasure rocks.


What do you guys think - they both seem fun, just not sure which way to go................oh, why do I love to plan things so much, it really is kinda silly!

A Special Prayer for my Grandma

You know, I'm a blessed girl - there are people out there that I don't even know in real life that are praying for people they don't even know - and that just blessed my socks off. You guys don't know how much I appreciate that........wow thanks!!! I love this whole blogging community thing!

My Grandma sure is a special lady and I shared how she had surgery on Wednesday and thankfully came thru just fine - since then she has developed a huge blood clot and while the dr's are optimistic because it has softened some (I have no idea what this means) it is still just a tad scary for me at least. She has also developed a slight fever which is ok, but one more thing they are going to have to watch. Please pray, that while she will have at least one more day in the hospital, the dr's are able to get her completely fixed up where the clot is concerned so that when she goes home there is nothing to worry about in that department!!

Updates: pray pray pray

Just a few updates from this post - we appreciate the continued prayers!

My sister-in-law came thru surgery great - two metal plates and 12-13 screws later, her leg is somewhat put back together. The dr was pleased but said he was a little concerned that she might be showing signs of osteporosis. Continue to keep her in your prayers as she recovers and goes thru further testing whenever she's up to it. She'll hopefully get out of the hospital on Friday - nearly two weeks after she broke it. *Did you know when the bones don't all go back right they have some kind of bone filler they use? Had no clue, learned something new that's for sure, they just squirt it right in there to fill up the gaps.

My Uncle is doing amazing - released from the hospital with no signs (other than the visible burns) of being zapped with live electrical wires and is a miracle. They still have to watch him closely, but we all know God is good and has protected him so far and will continue! Thank you Jesus for the miracle!!!

My grandma came thru surgery well - her heart looked good - but they did have to put in a stint. She'll probably stay a night in the hospital, but if there are no complications, hopefully she'll go home tomorrow. She has had bypass surgery and has a history of clogged arteries so it's a praise that the heart looked good!

Wordless Wednesday - Onery? yes please!

Check out more Wordless Wednesday posts here or here.

PS - Gina I did it - I'm wordless :)

Pray Pray Pray

You know - God is good. Sometimes I don't understand situations until they are over and sometimes that takes a really long time because I must have an awful lot to learn (like I'm still learning why I've been blessed with these sinus troubles for 2 years now, but I'm trying to be patient) but God is good thru it all. I just want to take a minute to share some prayer requests with you all.......I know there is power in prayer and where we gather together - God can do amazing things!

My Sister-In-law broke her leg a week and a half ago - she could really use some prayer. I've never seen anything quite like it and she is actually still in the hospital. They are hoping to do surgery today, but I haven't heard for sure if they were able to or not. They will be putting in plates and screws and all kinds of things that make me hurt. Please pray for her recovery and her family - that's a lot to deal with. Her little boy is 6 and just started kindergarten - he misses his Mama.

My Uncle works for an electric company. And yesterday a pole snapped which thankfully missed him, but the wires didn't. He's in the burn unit - but they think that he'll be out today (less than 24hrs) and they say that there is no way that he would have lived if the wires were hot. Guess what - they were - but God is good. My Aunt is a prayer warrior!

My Grandma has heart surgery tomorrow - she's a little nervous and so are we. She doesn't always handle anesthesia well and surgery on the heart is always scary. Please pray that the Lord will just guide the dr's hands and that the anesthesia will have no negative side effects on her this time. Also pray as she comes home that things go smoothly. It's hard living by yourself especially when you are still learning to deal with that.

My friend Gina's little boy was diagnosed with the C word earlier this summer (that's Cancer - yikes) and thankfully the Lord watched over him and protected him and one surgery later he is cancer free - but that is still a lot to deal with. The fear of the unknown is strong - please pray for Gina and her family, their life has forever been changed. Her big boy started preschool too which while exciting adds a small amount of mommy stress too.

My friend Jenelle is gonna be a busy lady - she's teaching a few classes at the local college and doing some online virtual teaching stuff too. Until she gets settled in this new routine - life is gonna be crazy busy......well crazy-busier than normal :)

Riley's little friend Emily got her tonsils out last week - they say day six is when it gets really bad because scabs and stuff on the inside start coming off (yeah - did you know that, I didn't) so I think today or tomorrow is day six. She seems in good spirits, but I'm praying the dr's are wrong and day six won't be that bad, that the worst will already be behind them.

There's more I'm sure - I just felt burdened to share these with you all - whoever you might be, whatever your faith - please lift these up.

I Just Can't Get Motivated

I'm not sure why - I really wanna post - I'm sure somewhere tucked in my brain are some great posts - why won't they come out, is it writers block? I'm sure as soon as I "publish" this post the ideas will start flowing......at least that's what I hope!


I know I have cute pictures, well I think they are cute, but then I'm predjudiced because they are mostly of my sweetie, but surely others would think they are cute.

I have some funny Riley stories - like just last night when I let her eat her peaches with a toothpick and she was suddenly famished and ate me out of house and home in the fruit department - all because it was so fun to eat with a toothpick (might help some of you out there who might have a picky eater, I'm lucky - my girl will eat about anything just because she's an eater!) And I won't mention that she'd just eaten supper 30 minutes before that - and wow did she eat! Maybe she is growing?


Readers - which I'm so excited that I have - stand by, hopefully I'll be out of this funk soon :)

Watch Out Hollywood - Here Comes Riley Jean

My sis burned me some pics (and I won't say that I've been waiting for a week for her to do this - nope, didn't hear it from me). But I thought she was just gonna burn some that I took using her camera - imagine my surprise when I found all kinds of fun pics that I had no idea she had taken..........like for instance of my girl playing dress up.

Wow - this girl will be on the Cat Walk someday
(OK probably not - but isn't this hillariously cute -
especially with the headband, and the cat!)

And what about the funny way she took a nap when Aunt Sarah was babysitting a couple of weeks ago - come on, naked, in a recliner, with all your favorite toys. What's not to love about that when you are 2 1/2?

And no - there was nothing showing, it really was a classy pic, I just felt like I should you know, take caution in case some creepo found this and cover up anything that people might have thought they saw (which wasn't showing at all you know).

FFF - Friends With Stuffing

Sarah's theme for FFF this week is Friends With Stuffing which for some reason I thought would be super easy. I was surprised how few pictures I could actually find of her with a lovie or a favorite stuffed playmate (maybe that's because she's never had one official favorite......because we all know it's not because I don't take a million pics - ask Walgreens hehe)

Here are some of the first pics I could find with Riley and a stuffed something - a soft basketball that she LOVED - and her daddy loved that she was playing b-ball at such at early age (7ish months)

Ready........shoot (not chew silly girl, shoot)

Next, although not stuffed, Riley LOVED her first purse - so much that she wouldn't even put it down - even when she was sleeping in the car. (9ish months)

Riley did loves this baby an awful lot
and she loved that she rattled when she shook her too
(10 months)
And then there's Kitty John - probably the closest thing that she's had to a lovey in her little life. This guy has seen a lot of miles and been on many trips with us. He's a good soft friend and I love that she took care to even buckle him in on the airplane - because "he needed to be safe too" (almosth 2 1/2 yrs)
PS - Sorry Kitty John, I didn't mean to cut your head off in the picture

Wordless Wednesday - My Sis is Leaving

Ok - totally not wordless (yet again) but my Sis leaves tomorrow for nearly a year and we're sad, but excited for her because it's totally cool that she's going to work for AmeriCorps for a year (kinda like a whole year of volunteering) so we thought we'd post some fun pics of Aunt Sarah from this summer just to let her know we love her!!

Happy Birthday Aunt Sarah - love Riley (May 08)

Aunt Sarah had SOOO many candles she needed help Playing in the mister at the zoo - Jul 08

The Reptile House is always lots of fun -

especially when Aunt Sarah is there (Jul 08)

Feeding the fish with Aunt Sarah (Jun 08)

A High-Five for Aunt Sarah finishing her first 5k Run (Aug 08)

You can check out more Wordless Wednesday posts here or here and some of them might actually be Wordless :)