my house

Well, I finally got around to decorating my house. It's not done though, there is still a lot of work to do. But I took some pictures of what I've done so far and here they are. By the way, the books on the bottom of the bookshelf aren't going to stay there...they are just there for right now. I love the red Believe box, it matches perfectly.

My new red velour curtains, new lamp and yep, new picture of Sara.

I should have warned you that I love, love, love patriotic stuff. I love red, white and blue. And I love Texas stuff. But Aaron will only let me decorate the kitchen with it.

Don't you love my Swiffer in the pic. lol Check out the Mason jar on the right. It's actually a gumball machine where you turn this little wooden knob until the hole lines up and the gumball can roll out....definitely the coolest item I have right now.

My Mary Englebreit corner in the kitchen. I love ME stuff and I have a lot more of it packed away somewhere. My favorite is the rooster cookbook holder. Most of the books are ME craft books. She is awesome.

The wall above my kitchen table, taken from the recliner in the living room.

This is the wall right above the computer desk. In between the fridge and the kitchen window. Did I also mention I love roosters? When I finish the other side of my kitchen, I will share my rooster stuff.

Top of the fridge. I love my new kitchen angel my mom gave me. And this is where I have my Texas Longhorn stuff. I even have a Mary's Moo Moo's longhorn. Notice the Coke can....it's from when they won the National Champoinship in 2006. I paid $10 for it on ebay....who the heck pays that much for a soda can? lol

My Mary Englebreit curtains my mom made me. They aren't staying there but it's okay for now. Underneath is my new collection of birdhouses coutesy of my mom. She likes to buy stuff and then passes it on to me when she doesn't want it anymore....I don't mind. I shall refer you to the wall above my kitchen table...almost every bit of it is from my mom.

So that is it for now. Like I said, I'm not done with the house so there will be more to come. I encourage everyone to take pics of their favorite places in their house and blog them. I think it really gives you more of an idea of the person themselves.

I'm sure it surprises people a little when they see how much patriotic stuff I have....I don't think they expect that. I don't know, maybe not.

So when you blog your spots, let me know so I can go check them out!!!

allergies

So my husband tried to kill me today. And 2 of the 4 people who read my blog have already heard the story but that's okay.

For anyone who doesn't know, I am allergic to artificial sweetener. Deathly allergic. And by artificial sweetener I mean Equal, Sweet n Low, Saccharin, Splenda (even though it's made with sugar, it's considered a blend because it's 1/2 sugar 1/2 artificial sweetener), and anything with sucralose and aspartame. So I can't have anything that is sugar-free. And in this day and age, there are a lot of products that are sugar-free.

Anyways, Aaron bought the girls popsicles last night and Emma gave me one today. It tasted funny but it wasn't until that after taste set in did I figure it was sugar-free. I checked the box and it was. For this particular allergic reaction it means a headache and my tongue swelling up. Nice. I don't have any Benadryl so I took an allergy pill. Not that bad though compared to other reactions I have had.

And for someone who is very aware of their allergy, I have way too many slip ups.

The first time I had an allergic reaction I was 17. I loved Mountain Dew and my mom accidentally bought Diet. I have never liked the taste of diet soda but I loved Mountain Dew so much I figured it would be okay. Nope. I got sick, throwing up, headache, not too bad.

My 2nd allergic reaction was the most severe I have ever had. I was 20 and I worked with my mom. We had gone to dinner and went back to work. I was thirsty and grabbed my mom's drink and took a drink. It wasn't soda though, it was iced tea sweetened with Equal. I immediately knew it was bad.

I went to the bathroom and started throwing up. When I walked back into out office I was white and the underneath of my eyes were black. Everyone freaked out and someone called 911. By then, my throat was starting to close off. 911 told them to call poison control. Poison control told them to give me Benadryl.

Someone left to go get some Benadryl and it was getting harder and harder to breath. That was so scary. So they made me drink half a bottle of Benadryl (gross). You need to know that I don't do well with liquid medicine...it tastes like it has artificial sweetener in it and I automatically want to spit it out. That is what is messed up with my allergic reaction today...I normally can taste the artificial sweetener in something.

So that was that reaction. I have had little ones since then. Once my MIL got some cola from the dollar store and even though it wasn't diet, it had sucralose in it. That freaked her out a little.

Then my kids got snowcones from outside Wal-mart and I took a taste...sugar-free. I was with my mom and I had her take me to a gas station to buy a little pack of Benadryl. Ever since then she carries one with her because it freaked her out a little. I guess it would freak me out too if my daughter said "I'm having an allergic reaction and my throat is closing up".

So I looked through my medicine cabinet for some Benadryl and actually found a bottle of my kid's Benadryl. Are you ready for this? It's sugar-free. lol

The one thing that could save my life would also kill me. I also found regular kid's Benadryl so I'm all good.

Summer 2008

I really can't wait for summer. We only have one week until we are there. This summer basically consists on me being at home with me kid's and my friend Shelly's kid's, Ashley and Kyle. I am watching them for her this summer.

I have signed 4 out of the 5 kid's up for Vacation Bible School the 2nd week of June. Anthony is too old, so he gets to stay at home with me. I have my kid's signed up for two more VBS's this summer but it's in the evening, so Ashley and Kyle can't make it.

The plan is to get a swimming pool. Not a huge one. The one I want is at Wal-mart for about $200. It's 13 ft x 3 1/2 ft....that should be big enough for all of us. I really don't think I will survive the summer, being stuck in my house with that many kids, without a body of water nearby! lol Plus I am whitey white and need a tan!

The last three weeks of July the kid's will be at day camp that is run by the city. It is so dang cheap compared to other summer camps...only $135 a week for all 3 kids. I really don't know what the heck I am going to do all day by myself....I can't even remember the last time that happened. And whenever it did happen, it was only for a day....not everyday for three whole weeks! Yippee!!

So that is my summer in a nutshell. No clue what I'm gonna do on the weekends. Really, I can't wait for the summer to be over so I can get school going. That is sad.

I'm back

Yay I'm back. My mother-in-law gave us a monitor so for now I am back on the internet. Now I just have to download all of the pics I've been taking and blog about them....so be prepared!! lol

hey y'all

Just thought I would drop in and say hi. I have to admit that the only downside to not having a computer is the fact that I can't blog!!! Ok, I could blog if I wanted to but I like to blog with pictures...and I can't until I have a monitor.

Trust me, I have tons of stuff to blog. I have been taking pictures and actually writing everything down in a notebook, so there will be plenty to read once I'm back and running.

I don't just blog for people to read it...I literally have 4 people who read my blog, so it's not a huge audience...lol But I like to blog because it is a great record of all the little things that happen in my life that I would otherwise forget. That is why I intend to play catch-up on what's going on.

So....have a great Memorial Day weekend!!!

<3 Cortni

monitor update

Okay, so it wasn't the power cord. Turns out, the nice shiny, new computer tower that Aaron bought wasn't compatible with our monitor and it fried it. Literally, smoke started coming up out of it. I was pretty unhappy about that considering that the monitor is only 4 years old. That isn't that old.

Hewlett Packard is willing to cut us a deal on a new monitor for our customer loyalty. I was like, "hell yeah we are loyal, we've bought 2 computers and a laptop from HP"...so I can get a 17" widescreen LCD for $180. Not too bad....but I don't have $180. So again, someday I will really blog again. yay

broken monitor

Our computer monitor is broken. I think it's the power cord adaptor and it turns out that you can't just go to Best buy and buy a new one. I have to special order it from Hewlett Packard for about $100. $100!! That is crazy.

So I'm out a computer for now. This week I have been coming up to the library to use theirs. Luckily though a friend offered me a monitor that she doesn't need anymore....but she lives in Frisco, so I am not sure when I will be getting that. Her hubby works in Grapevine and that isn't too far from us so I'm sure we can just meet up.

Anyways, until then , no blogging. That sucks too because I actually have stuff to ramble about and a kick ass product review.....I guess y'all are just going to have to wait. I know I know, it just breaks your heart. lol

Back from Brownie Palooza!

Here is Emma this morning before we left for Brownie Palooza! She insisted on wearing her bandana on her head. She reminds me of Cinderella...lol Aaron kept talking about how pretty she looked this morning.
Here is Emma wearing the shirt and hats they made. She has several swap's from the other troop's attached to the hat. I'm not 100% clear about what the purpose of swap's are, but I do know that the troop's make them to trade for events like today.
The day was supposed to last until 6 pm but they finished up at 4. Her troop leader, Miss Debbie, said that it was a very long day. I bet!

Emma earned 6 more try-it's! That makes a total of 8! Not too bad for only being a Girl Scout for a couple of weeks. The try-it's are the little triangle shaped badges that the Brownies sew onto their vest's. Emma can also earn try-it's over the summer at home with me, so we will be working on those too!

bento for Brownie's

Tomorrow Emma has an all day Girl Scout event called Brownie Palooza. Her troop is going to meet with other Brownie troops and work on their try its. I have to have her there at 8:30 and pick her up at 6pm.

I can't think of a time where she has been somewhere all day without me and I'm paranoid that she isn't going to have enough for lunch.

Starting on the upper left she has strawberries, cheese and 2 mini bologna sandwiches. Then there is ranch dip, carrots and broccoli. Still in the fishy container is a hard boiled egg. Pasta salad with parmesan cheese, ranch, peas, carrots, corn and green beans. And last but not least, a blueberry muffin and a triple berry muffin. She has a bottle of water to take with her too.

Not too shabby for the fact that I had forgotten she needed a lunch for tomorrow. This is all stuff I had on hand. It is probably way too much food, but at least I know she has options.