March 19, 1995

Today is the day you died. I can't believe it's been 15 years. You've missed so much since you've been gone and it makes my heart hurt thinking about all you're missing out on. You have a son-in-law that is just as crazy about Alabama football as you were. You have a beautiful grandson, who I'm pretty sure would steal your heart like he did mine. You have a wife that misses you everyday and a daughter who as she has gotten older, has really felt the pain of losing you. It seems like just yesterday when I touched your hand for the last time, when you told me you would teach me how to play basketball, or when you promised me you would buy me "The Lion King" when it came out on video. My 26th birthday is tomorrow and you're not here to celebrate, again. Some days it feels like forever ago. Then there are other days, I can close my eyes and picture you sitting on our sofa, watching football and I'm a little girl again begging you to play Monopoly with me. Now looking back, I know you were probably more interested in the game, but you humored me and we played. I want you to know that I think about you all the time and miss you terribly. Sometimes, I wonder what my life would be like if you were still here with us, but I know God had a much bigger plan. I've had to let go of the "what ifs" and live life knowing that everything happens for a reason and He knew what He was doing. I want you to know that another fifteen years can come and go and I will still love you with all of my heart! I miss you and I wish you were still here. I know you are in a better place where there are no more doctors poking at you or hospital stays. A place, I pray everyday that I will go to and see you again. Until then, all I have of you are the sweet memories and I will cherish them for as long as I live. I love you Daddy.


Love you always,
Meg

Me and My Daddy

1985

1987

1987

1991

1988

If tears could build a stairway,

And memories a lane,

I'd walk right up to Heaven

And bring you home again.

~Unknown

Argggg.......Ahoy Matey!!

Did that header capture your attention? :) For years now, the Hubby and I have never really "decorated" our upstairs bathroom (master bath). Since no one hardly goes up there except us, I haven't really put much effort into making it look fun and cozy ( I know, I'm horrible). Since the Little Monkey shares the same bathroom with us, I decided it might be time to spruce it up and make it a fun place to make some memories. For months now, I have been lurking on the potterybarnkids website, looking at shower curtains, rugs and bathroom assessories. I've had my eye on a particular shower curtain for a while now, but soon found myself leaning towards a new one.



Here is the Little Monkey's new shower curtain! It's a Pirate Applique Shower Curtain. I just love the pretty colors and it looks so fun. I thought the theme went perfect with bath time.




Here's the rug that I'm not to sure of. I like it, but I am kinda leaning towards more of a solid apple green or navy blue.



This picture makes me sick! I have been spying on these little fellows for months and apparently they went on sale and SOLD OUT before I could get my hands on them :( Booooo...... I'm hoping they will replenish the stock soon!!


I haven't bought a new bath wrap yet, but I probably will in the next couple of months. The Little Monkey has just about grown out of his frog wrap that he has now. When the time comes (or when they go on sale), I think we'll be purchasing him the blue shark!!


I can't wait for the shower curtain to come in so I can start decorating. The Little Monkey is going to have a blast in his new Pirate Bathroom. On a side note, tomorrow's post is going to be a tough one to share. Not because I don't want to share this part of my life with you, but because it was hard to find the words to express my true feelings. I hope you'll come back and read it.

Vintage.

I've been thinking a lot these last few days, about how toys are so different from what they used to be. I remember sitting in the floor as a young girl, playing with my Fisher Price toys and loving every minute. Although, Fisher Price makes some outstanding toys nowadays, I find myself constantly worrying about what hidden toxin could be hidden in them. With all the "recalls" and Fisher Price's recent "Lead & Magnet Class Action Settlement", I have found myself reminiscing about the old days, where they were no "scares" of lead poisoning from the toys we played with. So, with all this "thinking" that I've been doing, I decided to explore E-Bay and find some old, vintage Fisher Price toys like the ones I used to play with as a child. I've been making a checklist of the items I would like to put in the Little Monkey's Easter basket and some good toys is on the list! You might think I'm crazy for buying someone's old, used toys, and that's your opinion. I see it like this. I'm saving money, which is a biggie (these toys sell for $20- $40). Plus, I'm introducing some of the same old toys that I played with to my toddler child. Toys that have been around for years and are safe from lead and other harmful materials that we see far too often in toys today. After all, his safety is my #1 priority :)

This is on my E-Bay watch list. A 1974 Vintage Fisher Price Camera (talk about old school). I can remember playing with something very similar to this when I was little.

Since my little boy's room is decorated in planes, trains and automobiles, I decided that this plane would be a great addition to his "boy toy" collection :) He needs an airplane :)

Do any of you remember this? I do! I had one of these little wind-up telephones. Also on my watch list.

Most of you know that I graduated with a degree in Elementary Education back in 2008. I was so stoked about getting into the classroom, my classroom, and setting up centers and reading rugs, etc. When I found out I was pregnant a month after I graduated, it seemed pointless to find a job to only take maternity leave after the first 6 months, knowing I wouldn't want to go back to work. So, I never got the chance to put all these creative ideas to use, until now. The Little Monkey is getting old enough now to start doing fun, creative activites like reading and puzzle centers, coloring and painting in the following months. I have been slowly making a list of fun center ideas for him to play at. My first, is his reading center. Reading centers play a big part in a kids day. They go to school and spend a great deal of their time reading. Which is great! That's why I'm helping the Monkey get a head start in that department. Here is my win on E-Bay last night. A win most Elementary School teachers would drool over :)

16 Vintage Dr. Seuss, Mercer Mayer, P.D. Eastman and Robert Quakenbush books!! For a total of $4.28!! I don't know if any of you have priced Dr. Seuss books lately, but some go as much as $12.95! I basically got 16 books for $0.27 each! That's some mad savings! Ha!

Utah, Day 7

UPDATE: I HAVE ADDED A FEW MORE GRAND CANYON PICTURES

We spent the last day of our trip driving through Colorado, Utah and Arizona back to catch our flight out of Denver. Along the way, we stopped by Arches National Park in Utah. It was rainy, cloudy and cold. Not a good time to visit such a beautiful place, but we managed. This is definitely a place I want to come back to in the future and hike the many trails. Here are a few pictures of the Arches. For those of you who are my Facebook friends, there are more pictures there.













We finally made it home last night around 11:30. We were so exhausted. We had so much fun on our trip out west and hope to be able to do it again in the future. I wished we'd had more time at some of these places :)

Las Vegas, Day 6

We're having so much fun here in Vegas! Last night, we ventured out into the streets of Las Vegas and walked to the Bellagio to eat dinner. They had this awesome buffet that was huge! I was a big fan of the dessert bar. The desserts just kept coming!! As we were walking up to the Bellagio, we got to see the very end of one of the fountain shows that happens in front of the hotel. It was so gorgeous! I'm just bummed that I didn't have my tripod to capture such a beautiful scene :( After dinner, we came back to the MGM Grand and crashed. This morning, we got up and went to the Hoover Dam outside Vegas. We took the Plant Tour and it was so much fun. I learned some new facts about the Hoover Dam that I didn't know. We ended up staying at the Hoover Dam about two hours before we decided to come back to the hotel. We spent the rest of our afternoon at Caesar's Palace, chowing down at their buffet. It was delicious! If you're ever in Vegas, I would recommend Caesar's Palace over the Bellagio. It's cheaper, and better in my opinion. As you all know, I'm having some technical difficulties uploading pictures. So here's what I could upload.

At the Hoover Dam (the stuffed elephant goes everywhere with us. I have no idea why we're posing with it like that. Ha! )

We are leaving Vegas bright and early in the morning and driving seven hours to hopefully visit The Arches National Park in Utah. With the time change and all the extra stops, we're not sure we are going to make it in time to see before it closes. Hopefully, we will make it!

Grand Canyon/Las Vegas, Day 4-5

Sorry I didn't get a chance to blog last night. We drove all day and finally stopped to stay inside the Grand Canyon last night (where there was no internet). We had a blast driving through Colorado and seeing all the beautiful, snow capped mountains. I took so many pictures while in Colorado, but I'm sad to say.............they accidentally got deleted. Yes, every. single. one! Right as we were entering Arizona, I was trying to figure out how to set the timer on the camera and ended up deleting every picture over a six hour period. I was horrified! However, we are driving back through Colorado on Monday, so I should get some pictures of the mountains again :) We woke up super early this morning and watched the sun rise at The Grand Canyon. It was beautiful! We spent most of the morning exploring the South Rim and it was so much more than I imagined. Breathtaking is the only word to describe it. We finished touring the canyon around lunch and hit the road for Vegas. We finally made it here and all I can say is WOW! This is one crazy town and I've only been here less than an hour ;) Right now, as I type this I am looking out over Las Vegas Boulevard marveling at all the beautiful buildings. We are staying at the MGM Grand and from what I've seen, it's a pretty nice place. Apparently, we picked an awesome time to come to Vegas considering there are Spring Breakers everywhere (sense the sarcasm :) ). Anyway, I can't wait for tonight to get here to see Vegas and all the pretty lights. I tried uploading several pictures, but for some reason this one is the only one that would load :( Enjoy! This picture doesn't do The Grand Canyon justice. I have a ton more gorgeous pictures :) I will post them sometime after we get back home, or if my internet connection speeds up :)

Denver, Day 3

Well, tomorrow morning we are leaving bright and early for The Grand Canyon! I am super stoked about hitting the road and enjoying a road trip with my boys :) I thought driving for seven hours was going to be a challenge, but now since a huge boulder fell and is blocking part of the interstate, we had to find an alternate route. So, now our seven hour road trip is twelve. Yes, twelve! Please say a prayer that I keep my sanity. HA! Anyway, today was a pretty lazy day here in Colorado. The Hubby had meetings all day, so we just hung around the hotel room all day. We we going to visit Pike's Peak, but it closed right as the Hubby was getting off work :( Plus, it started snowing really hard and I really didn't want to get stuck on the interstate :) So, when the Hubby got back to the room, we decided to grab a bite to eat at this DELICIOUS Italian restaurant, Maggiano's. It. was. heavenly!! My favorite place to eat is Carrabbas, but Maggiano's blew them away. If you are ever near a Maggiano's, GO!! It's worth it! Anyway, here are pictures from our dinner.

Hugs from Daddy

Eating his dinner at Maggiano's

This picture is too hilarious not to share. HA!

I have no idea what time we are stopping tomorrow and I definitely don't know if I will have a good internet connection to load road pics. I will post as soon as I can! I can't wait to share picturs of The Grand Canyon and then it's on to Vegas!!