Don't ask me how I find this stuff! HAHA!

I found the coolest paper dolls at this website! If you have a child that likes paper dolls, then go to it and print out all you want! They are so cute!!!
http://www.100megsfree4.com/gogators4/Index.html

They have most of the Twilight characters! Yes...I'm a Twilight fan! And they have a lot of other famous actors and actresses, etc. Have fun playing dress up!

Sweet Golden Sunshine

FINALLY!!!!! The sweet, golden sunshine has graced us with its presence!!! I am so glad we have a weekend full of sunshine!!! Freedom from the inside of my house at last! I hope you all have a great, outdoorsy weekend! :D

Snow. Snow. And more snow.

Dear snow,
You are stunningly beautiful and all, but all the moms in Texas are stir crazy at this point. Cabin fever is an understatement! Do you think you could at least clear up enough to let us get out of the house for a little bit? I mean there is only so much I can do to entertain my 14 month old inside our house! And you are fun to play with but you will get her sick if she continues to eat you much more. She is starting to blame me for all this and has resorted to screaming and crying every time I make her come back inside. That makes it doubly difficult to make her happy again. And if it's not Lady that is feeling utterly trapped inside, then it's me! You know it's bad when I'm thinking a trip to Walmart would be fun!!!! I've heard you are supposed to melt tomorrow, but I will pray you go away sooner! Tomorrow can't come quickly enough. Luckily, I got to go to Albertson's yesterday to get some soup and applejuice and have never seen so many men at the store before in my life! There were about 3 women and 20 men in the store! I'm pretty sure that's a new record! Anyway, have mercy Snow! Let Mr. Golden Sun come out and shine a bit!

Sincerely,
Mama Lowe

I can't put my arms down!!!

Got the Buggy bundled up! :D She looks a little angry about it! HAHA!

I just found this pic of the bug! It's one of my favorites! I'm not sure if I love the chunkiness or the glasses more!!!!

High Tide Low Tide- Bob Marley

Just wanted to share one of my favorite songs. It has such special meaning to me...especially in the month of January.

High Tide Low Tide
By: Bob Marley

In high seas or in low seas
I'm gonna be your friend,
I'm gonna be your friend.
In high tide or in low tide,
I'll be by your side,
I'll be by your side.

I said, I heard my mother,
She was praying in the night
And the words that she said,
They still linger in my head,
She said, A child is born in this world,
He needs protection,
God, guide and protect us,
When we're wrong, please correct us.
And stand by me.

In high seas or in low seas,
I'm gonna be your friend,
He said, I'm gonna be your friend.
And in high tide or in low tide,
I'll be by your side,
I'll be by your side.

I said I heard my mother,
She was crying in the night
And the tears that she shed
They still linger in my head

She said, A child is born in this world,
He needs protection,
God, guide and protect us,
When we're wrong, correct us.

And in high seas or in low seas,
I'm gonna be your friend,
I'm gonna be your friend.
Said, in high tide or in low tide,
I'll be by your side,
I'll be by your side.

Mustard???

So last night Jacob was being a sweetheart and rubbing my back for me before I fell asleep. We were in bed and I was exhausted so I must have immediately fell asleep. Apparently, I rolled over at some point during my dreams and said to Jacob, "Just the mustard now." Sleep talking is so strange! The weirdest things come out! What in the world was I talking about??? Mustard??? I have no clue what was going through my mind! Maybe I was dreaming about cheeseburgers again!

A Lot of Pasta

I was at my sister’s dance competition with my parents and our friends Erin and Linda (Erin’s mom). I was about 6 years old or so...maybe a year or two older. We all rode down together stopping along the way to get a bite to eat for lunch. During lunch, the adults were talking about healthy foods and how certain foods give you a lot of energy. I remember in particular they mentioned how pasta gives you a lot of energy. I didn’t really understand exactly what they were talking about but I understood that much. So after lunch we left the restaurant and drove on to the dance competition. We all sat together at the competition in the same row. I was sandwiched in between my dad and Linda. We watched as the different dance teams came up and did their routines. One team in particular was a co-ed (boys and girls) team. They were really good from what I can remember. The girls were dancing really hard and the boys were doing a bunch of tricks. This one guy was doing these toe touches. For those of you who don’t know what a toe touch is...it’s when you jump up in the air and kick your legs out to the sides touching your toes...hence the name “toe touch”. Well, this guy was doing toe touches over and over again and they were really high! I was stunned at how high they were and how he could do them over and over again! I leaned over to my dad who was also mesmerized by this kid. As serious as a heart attack and with no humor intended, I shouted to my dad, “That guy must have ate a lot of pasta!” My dad laughed out loud at what I had said. What was he laughing at now? Why was he always laughing at me???

Snoopy Ride Meltdown

Walmart has this little Snoopy ride in their arcade center right up front next to the checkout center. Just about every baby and toddler loves this ride! They point it out as soon as you get to the checkout and immediately start letting you know they want to ride it. I think Walmart planted it there so they can watch on the security cameras as some little toddler loses their mind screaming and wrestling out of their mom’s arms to get to it! If that’s the case, I’m sure they’ve hit the record button on me a time or two during one of Lady’s meltdowns...with a close up of the sweat beading up on my face trying not to panic with all my groceries on the counter. I’m telling you...it’s a trap! Walmart probably has some website dedicated to kiddie ride meltdowns across the country! If they do, I’m sure Lady has been on it! But when we finally survive through the checkout, we take Lady to ride the Snoopy ride once again and the tears suddenly dry up! She somehow transforms into a perfectly happy, little angel! Ahh...the adventures in Walmart!

Mammaw’s House

When I was at Fairview school, my Mammaw (my great grandmother on my dad’s side) lived on Ricketts street. Sometimes, she would walk to the end of Ricketts to meet me at the corner of the school after I got out. I loved the days when I could go to Mammaw’s! Most days we would walk to MG’s and get a Cherry Coke and then we’d get Gummy Bears from the gas station next door. Then, we would walk back to her house and play Croquet or I would climb in her tree in the backyard. I was a little monkey back then. When it wasn’t such a nice day outside, we would stay inside and make mini cheeseburgers or cheese and crackers and put jigsaw puzzles together. She always had a jigsaw puzzle laying out on her dining room table. She would try to put the puzzle together but I sometimes had to go back and fix the wrong pieces she put in without her knowing it. She also had a corner with toys for all her grandkids to play with. Every time, I went straight for the big chalkboards she had and we would play Wheel of Fortune together. I would write some new word I’d learned at school on the board and she would guess it. She was really good at that game, so I had to make it harder and harder every time! She often watched Wheel of Fortune and probably would’ve won if she had actually been on the TV game show! She kept her make-up in her bathroom and sometimes I would play with it and smell her perfume. She had the softest smelling perfume that stayed on your clothes after you hugged her. We played card games like UNO and Skip-Bo on her glass table in the screened in porch out back. That was my favorite! We would sit out there and play with the sound of the trees swaying and birds chirping in the background. She always let me win. I miss those days and would love to have them on video so I could just play them back over and over again. She was such a loving Mammaw. I wish I could see her again. I want to sit with her on her porch swing and hug her and tell her all about my daughter. I know she would get a kick out of her. I can just hear her laugh right now. Sometimes, I miss her so badly it hurts.

The Retainer and the Weenie

I used to suck my thumb as a child. Like many babies, I started off with a pacifier first. Then, when my parents took the pacifier away, I replaced it with my thumb. I sucked my thumb on one hand while my silky blanky occupied the other hand. This carried on clear up into Kindergarten. It was getting a little bit ridiculous so my mom took me to the orthodontist and they gave me a retainer to break the habit. This retainer wasn’t one of those neon colored, plastic ones that you can pop in and out to eat/sleep whenever you want. My retainer was silver, metal and sharp. It was somehow fastened onto the roof of my mouth and teeth and couldn’t be removed until the doc took it out himself. It had these 3 prongs on it that were set about a quarter of an inch from the roof of my mouth that kept me from enjoying the sucking sensation when I stuck my thumb in there. Eating with my new grill was complicated to say the least. So when I ate my first corny dog at the old Midway mall with my new retainer, I should have known it was going to be a bad idea. I was with my mom and Kacie (my big sis) at the mall and we’d just ordered corny dogs and fries in the cafeteria. That was back when mall cafeterias were all neon and teal and awesome! This particular day the cafeteria was full with a lot of other people...like other shoppers and mall walkers and old men playing dominos and punk kids playing at Pocket Change. We sat down at one of the tables (the ones that leave grids on your legs if you’re wearing shorts) in the center of the cafeteria. We settled in and started eating our lunch...and that’s when my retainer decided to intervene. As I took a big bite of my corny dog, the end of the weenie got hung up on my retainer like a weenie on a fork! It was stuck between the roof of my mouth and the retainer...lodged just so that it was completely covering the roof of my mouth! The texture of the weenie was making me gag over and over again, and I began to wretch out loud...practically echoing in cafeteria tent!!! I tried to get it out with my finger but it wouldn’t budge! Mama and Kacie asked me what was wrong, and all I could muster out was, “Isss sssuck sa my wesaina! Isss sssuck!”, pointing to the weenie in my wide open mouth! My mom (trying not to laugh) told Kacie to take me to the bathroom and get it out for me. So Kacie and I ran to the bathroom in front of the sinks and I held my mouth open as she tried to poke at it and wedge it out. It wasn’t budging! So she ran back to my mom and came back to me with a corny dog stick to fork out the giant chunk of meat. She was getting grossed out and frustrated telling me to be still and open my mouth. I was panicked and yelled at her with her hand in my mouth, “I aaa!!!”, (I am!!!). People were coming and going in the bathroom and looking at me repulsed by our situation. I was gagging! Kacie was gagging! I started to panic and cry! I just knew I was going to throw up! Then, finally....Kacie knocks it loose and I’m free! The corny dog was out and I was saved! My big sis was a hero! We both left the bathroom holding hands...relieved, disgusted and not hungry anymore. No more corny dogs for me for a long time!

Dudette

My dad used to casually call people “dude” when he was telling a story...especially when talking to other men. He got really excited when he told a story and would say stuff like, “Dude! It was brutal!”, when referring to something that was difficult to achieve in one of his extreme sporting events (which was rock climbing back then). Or he might say, “It was cool dude!”, when talking about something that he really liked. At the time it wasn’t in style to say dude or cool like it is now. It irritated my mom, sister and me...but we thought it was funny too. Sometimes, he would even call me a dude when he was talking to me, and I would quickly correct him with, “Daddy! I’m not a dude! I’m a girl! Girls are dudettes! So I’m a dudette!” He told me I couldn’t be a dudette. I asked him why not! He said because, “A dudette is a hair on an elephant’s butt!” Hmmm...is that even true??? Is a hair on an elephant’s butt really defined by the word “dudette”? Or was this some sort of fatherly trickery??? I’m gonna have to google it!

A Message

I love this guy! He is truly devoted to his message! I truly admire his patience and dedication to spread the word! Every time Jacob and I drive by and see him standing outside on the busiest street corner in town (rain or shine) we honk and wave! He always has a big smile on his face and points to the sky above him. On one side of his sign it says, "Come to Christ", and on the other, "Love thy Neighbor". What a great message! God must be so proud!

The Bounce House

Jacob and I took Lady to Jump'n Land at Midway Mall. I hadn't been there in a long time. It's still just as much fun as it used to be! Lady loved it so much! She had a blast sliding down the slides and riding the rides. We are definitely going to go back soon!

Frrrrrnnnnnt!!!!

In high school in my Environmental Science class, I sat near the back next to my friend Lance. Lance was so much fun to sit next to. Every time we were deathly bored with our assignment, I would beg Lance to make the fart sound again. “Do it! Do it again!”, I’d say! And Lance would wait for our teacher to bend over and, “Frrrrrnnnntttt!”, he would execute the sound perfectly! It didn’t matter how many times he did it, I would practically fall out of my seat laughing in hysterics until my sides were burning! Lance would just giggle quietly at his accomplishment and then the laughter would die down. However, I couldn’t stop giggling! I felt like a coke bottle that had been shaken up and then slightly screwed open spewing out uncontrollably! I tried and tried to sit quietly without laughing. I would try to think of something else and take deep breaths, but it didn’t work. My face would get red hot and I broke out in a sweat and bursted at the seams with laughter! Our teacher was so cool about it. She knew what was going on and you could tell she thought it was funny too. We would never have done it if it would hurt her feelings. She knew we loved her! She was one of my favorite teachers. But we still had to do our work and be quiet during lessons and tests. One day we were supposed to be quietly watching a video, Bill Nye the Science Guy. It was cheesy and boring to say the least. Bill Nye’s faced came up on the screen as a close up of his eyes. His eyes looked to the left and Lance made the sound, “Frnnt!”. Then his eyes looked to the right, “Frnnt!” Then his eyes looked to the front, “Frrrrrrrnnnnnntttt!!!!”, a long and slow sound. I died! I fell out of my seat! I just couldn’t take it, it was too funny! I’m pretty sure we both got in trouble that time. To this day, I would never be able to sit next to Lance in any quiet, public place like school, jury duty or God forbid church!

Rat Guts

When I was 3, I lived in a small white framed house with a window in the kitchen that was low enough to the ground that I could look out of. My big sis and I were looking out the window together at the cats in the driveway. Our cat, Sylvester, had just strolled up with a dead rat in his teeth. We both squealed, “Ewww!”, at the same time and watched as Sylvester dropped his dead treat on the concrete. We inspected the rat from the window and felt sorry for it. Kacie said, “Ewww! Look at its guts! Gross!” I said, “Ewww! It looks like shit!” I thought I was being big and saying what big kids say. Kacie ran off yelling, “Mama!!!! Krystal just said a bad word!!!!”

My Little Na'vi

Besides Dora the Explorer and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, my 1 year old daughter loves the movie Avatar! I think it might even be her favorite so far! Every time it's on, she is sucked into TV land and becomes a little baby zombie. She stares motionless at the movie and watches as Jake becomes an Avatar. When he is being chased by that big scary lion thing, she suddenly perks up, laughing and jumping into my arms like they are playing chase with her! She's not acting scared but more excited like she's playing. Then Jake jumps off the cliff and into the waterfall, and she's back to baby zombie. She actually sits and watches the movie all the way through! I love to find out more everyday about what interests her. She has her own little personality and likes some of the strangest things....like Avatar! Babies don't like Avatar...but she does! Let's just hope she doesn't get the Navi Blues! Haha!

Come On Vogue

When I was an 8 year old little squirt and Madonna's song Vogue came out, I was immediately a fan! Maybe it was my preteen, totally rad, older sis that inspired the love for Madonna. Maybe it was the fact that my mom let us clog to Madonna songs instead of some totally horrible country song for once. Okay...that's not entirely true... my mom had great taste in music and often put the "bad ass" in our clogging song set list! But there was still some ridiculous country music like Rocky Top and Red Wing (not by my mom's choosing...but by the dances learned at clogging conventions) that I had to suffer through as a youngster. But that's another story! So back to Vogue...we used to belt out this song as loud as we could in the backseat of my dad's old, blue blazer with our girlfriend, Erin, who was my sis' age. In the middle of our singing aloud with our quaft of poodle bangs blowing in the breeze from the open windows and chewing on our grape bubble yum, my dad starts cracking up at us! What in the world was he laughing at? Couldn't he see how awesome we were??? I mean, hellooooo...Vogue was the jam and we were even striking awesome poses (vogue-ing)!!! We asked him what was so funny that he would interrupt our vogue moment...so he asked us to sing that last line we had just sang again. So we sang it even louder..."Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Gingivitis, dance on air..." My dad laughed again! What??? What was so funny???

Faux-kini

In Kindergarten I remember having this cute little blue summer outfit with a floral Hawaiian print on it. It was a short set with a top to match. The top was button-up with a little faux bikini top attached when you unbutton it. I was wearing this outfit as I was outside playing alone in the driveway...dancing around and singing. We lived on a busy street and cars drove by nonstop. I think I might have been trying to get attention from the cars like I was performing for my own little audience. I’m not sure why but I suddenly felt a burst of bravery inside of me and decided to give the next passerby a real show. Right then, another car full of teenage boys with the windows rolled down drove by...and I did it. I struck a pose and opened my unbuttoned shirt flasher-style! The high schoolers saw me and started roaring with laughter and high pitched voices saying, “Did you see that kid?”...still more laughing. I started to feel like I should be ashamed while they were waiting at the stop sign next to my driveway. Then, as they started to drive on, they squealed their tires and honked their horn at me screaming, “Woooohoooo!” I was so proud of myself! I smiled and took a bow like a true stripper!