It's a Pampered Chef Blog Party

Here's the deal, I'm hosting a Pampered Chef Party at my home on Saturday, July 11th at 4 p.m. If you live in the Birmingham area I hope you will make plans to join us! If you haven't received an e-vite let me know and I'll get one to you. My sweet friend Margie from Two Peas in a Pod is going to be our consultant.

However, I wanted to try something a little different with this Pampered Chef shindig. I want to include ALL of my friends, including my bloggy friends who live miles and miles away. I'm doing this first because who doesn't love Pampered Chef stuff? Secondly, because I want to support my friend Margie. And finally (I'm just being honest here) I REALLY want that Stoneware Deep Covered Baking Dish, therefore I need to sell a lot of stuff in order to get it. Hey, I'm just being honest.

So, how does the PC Blog Party work? Well, it's really simple, just follow these 10 steps:

1. Just visit Margie's Pampered Chef site
   
2. Click Our Products
3. Search for through all of the Pampered Chef goodness and find the item(s) that you just cannot live without.
4. Click the item you want to purchase
5. Click How to Purchase
6. Type Lurenda Avery into the Search for Host boxes
7. Click Search for Host
8. Click my name
9. Click Select this item
10. Either check out or continue shopping

And just like that you are the proud new owner of the best kitchen tools or accessories you can find!

If you're interested in hosting a Pampered Chef party and getting all kinds of free stuff and great discounts Margie will be happy to help you!

I hope you'll join in the fun and as I said earlier, if you live in B'ham and haven't received an e-vite please let me know. The more the merrier!!

Bon Appetit!

Teething Tablets, Fish Hooks and Number 2!

Yes, that is the strangest title I've ever written, but I promise it makes sense..

Thank you so much to my awesome blog friends that suggested teething tablets for J.K.'s teething woes! You guys are wonderful! That stuff is amazing and he even likes the way they taste. Since my last post we've all been sleeping somewhat peacefully through the night. I will be sure to pay it forward and share the secret with my other Mommy friends.

We had a great Daddy's Day weekend at the lake with the fam. The Dads had fun swimming, eating and just hanging out. J.K. and his cousins played in the water from sun up to sun down. I felt like a kid again while jumping off of the dock with Big Cousin E..over and over and over again..I think my head is still full of water. After we got home late Sunday afternoon I received a frantic call from my Dad asking for the number to the emergency vet clinic. Apparently his dog, Piper, thought a fish hook would be a great evening snack! How does a dog swallow a fish hook? Well, Dad was catfishing and had just put a hot dog weiner on the hook, Piper got one sniff and gobbled it up before Dad could yell PIPER NO!! Soo, he and Piper made the 2-hour dash back to Birmingham and by 10:30 Piper was in surgery. Luckily, the hook didn't tear anything and all is well. She just has to recover from the incident. As my Mom lovingly put it, "That was one expensive hot dog!!"

J.K. had two big accomplishments this week. First things first, he pooped in the potty!! I know a lot of you couldn't care less about my child's potty training, but this is HUGE!! We danced, we sang and he even got a cookie. I don't exactly expect this to happen often, but I'll take what I can get. The other great achievement was this morning when I dropped him off at "school" and he didn't shed a tear. This is the first time since we've started the new daycare that he was able to walk in and just start playing. I was so excited! Let's just hope it lasts.


J.K. and and Big Cousin E give Pawpaw their handmade Father's Day card.


A day at the lake isn't complete without a Capri Sun!

I Got Flowers for No Reason..or Maybe There Was a Reason

So last night was horrible thanks to the lovely toddler teething process. I never understood just how bad it could be until last night. We went through the early teething phase with flying colors. I was really wondering why other Moms made such a huge deal about it. Until last night. After a swim at the pool we went home, J.K. ate like a champ and was out by 8 p.m. He was sleeping like a log until 11 p.m., the exact time that I was about to lay my sleepy head on the pillow calling my name. I hear the whimper, then the cry, then the whaling. I tell myself to wait it out, but it's not working. I get up, rock him back to sleep, lie him in bed, and WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAA!!! So we head back to the big bed, which normally solves the problem. NOT THIS TIME. The child literally whimpered and cried all night long. I felt horrible. I tried alternating Advil and Tylenol with no luck. Unfortunately we didn't have baby orajel. So I spent the night and early morning trying to console a very pissed off fussy toddler.

Here's where it gets comical, at 4:00 a.m. hubby wakes from his slumber to spend his off day fishing. On a normal day I would have no problem with a fishing trip. However, THIS was no ordinary day/night/morning, whatever it is. In my grogginess I agree that he should go and that I'll get J.K. to daycare and myself to work. Well, the screaming just kept on and on and on until the child finally exhausted himself somewhere around 5 a.m. We both slept for about an hour and he was up again by 6. Needless to say, there was no way I was making it to work on time. I call hubby and tell him I need to go to work, but I'm not about to leave this demon child fussy toddler with the innocent teachers. So he decides to cut the trip short and head home...FOUR hours later! During which I had no nap because apparently sleepless nights provide pure adrenaline for 19-month-old boys. So hubby walks in around lunch time to find a zombie mom with a sleeping toddler.

Zombie mom gets up, showers, gets dressed and heads to work. Leaving both of her boys to sleep the day away. After being at work for an hour or so I get a call from my sweet co-worker asking to see me. When I get to the front of the building I see a beautiful bouquet of flowers awaiting me. The card says "To the world's greatest mom and wife." They're very pretty and I wish I could be excited, but I just keep thinking how I'd rather be sleeping. So I am the recipient of "I'm sorry I Suck" flowers today. I guess it's better than no flowers at all, but I'd still rather be sleeping.

It's H-O-T HOT!

I'm here, but I just don't have much to say lately. Maybe it's the Alabama heat! It is ridiculously hot and humid. As soon as I walk outside I feel like a sticky mess. It was too hot to even go to the pool yesterday. I chose grocery shopping with a toddler over taking him to the pool only because we would be indoors with AC! How insane is that?? A cold front would be the best thing ever! I don't even need a cold front, just a little less humidity. I'm sick of being an icky mess!

In other news, we're heading to the lake this weekend for Father's Day. I'll probably spend the weekend floating in the water and practicing "kick, kick, kick, kick" (a.k.a. swimming) with J.K. Some friends have just re-opened the local marina and I'm afraid I'll be forced to do my time as a dock girl at some point this weekend. However, I'm hoping they'll give me the job of Ice Cream Boat Girl! Whatever job I'm given I have a feeling I should probably have my cut-off jeans and t-shirt ready! I may even sport a side-ponytail!

I keep forgetting that it's only Tuesday! I'm sure I'll have more later, but for now, I'm out. I think I'm going to go stand over the AC vent.

Our Trip to Foggy Hollow

What a wonderful weekend we had! Ben, J.K. and I headed out to the middle of nowhere for a camping adventure at the Foggy Hollow Bluegrass Music Festival. I grew up going to bluegrass festivals, but haven't been to one in many years. A dear family friend and camping fanatic worked to get the gang back together again for this great festival.

It was a weekend full of great friends, delicious camp food and fantastic music! There's nothing better than falling asleep in a tent to the distant sound of bluegrass music. It may sound crazy to others, but it's pure bliss to this girl.

J.K. had a blast during his first camping experience. He loved sleeping in a tent and playing with all of the other kids camping near us. All in all it was a great weekend and we look forward to doing it again in September!


J.K.'s makeshift stroller. We couldn't get him to take a nap and were really wishing we hadn't left the stroller at home because it always seems to help him fall asleep quick. Leave it to our friend Joel to come up with this great little invention! Believe it or not, it worked and after one stroll around the music stage he was out!


I'm not sure who this guy was, but he played beautifully.


Just a cool picture of a standing bass.


Me and my sweet friend Jess. We experienced our first camping trip together before we could walk! Here we are hanging out by the camp fire 30 years later!


J.K. with his Pawpaw, Uncle Randy (Jess' Dad) and Piper.


Chilling in the shade on a hot Alabama day.




Yes, that would be a truck with an air mattress in the back.


And yes, it was a fantastic spot for J.K.'s nap time.


Love the bed head!

Separation Anxiety

The last few mornings have been a wee bit difficult because J.K. has developed a mild case of separation anxiety. We started a new daycare about two weeks ago and he's having a hard time adjusting. I know that this new daycare is a wonderful learning environment and I'm thrilled that he is attending. However, he's not too keen on the idea.

So this morning before we could even get through the doors he was already saying "No" and trying to go back to the car. Once we made it into the classroom the sobbing began. As always, I stayed strong, handed him off to his teacher (who promptly began singing nursery rhymes to him), gave him a kiss, told him I loved him and that I'd be back this afternoon. As I walked down the hall I could hear him crying and it took every bit of will power I had not to turn around and get him. However, I stayed strong and didn't get all weepy until I was in my car.

So I'm driving to work telling myself it will be okay, but not really believing it, when I see a billboard that put everything into perspective. I'm a true believer that God has a great sense of humor and this just proves it to me....



I just started laughing and knew my child will be just fine!!

~Note~ This wasn't the actual billboard I saw this morning. I googled Corona Separation Anxiety Billboard and found several images! Crazy!

Thank You!

Thank you to my friends who helped us celebrate Olivia's birthday by acknowledging those people who have changed your lives for the better. Doesn't it feel good to tell someone how much they mean to you? We celebrated by spending time together as a family. We didn't really do anything extra special, but we all felt a sense of peace, which is a first for us on her birthday. So Praise God for a new, peaceful chapter in our journey as a family.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:


Our weekend project. Ben worked Saturday, so where did J.K. and I go? Well, Lowe's of course! (For those of you who don't know, Ben is a Lowe's store manager) The second we walked in the door he started calling for his Daddy! We were there to pick up the things we needed to plant some herbs. We now have a nice collection of basil, oregano and cilantro. I just hope I can keep them alive!


J.K. was Mommy's little helper when it came time to pot the plants. He did a great job of scooping the soil and pouring it in the pot.


It's Summer!! We brought out J.K.'s very own froggy-kiddie pool Saturday afternoon. He loved it!!


He was mesmerized with the little water spout in the pool. He would have stayed here all evening if we had let him!