late bloomers

Leah has been doing lots of watering and planting and gardening with me lately. She especially loves her "pretty pee-TOON-ee-yuhs" that we picked out of the clearance rack at Lowes. I'm guessing they were priced at about $1.50 because they weren't blooming... so no one else wanted them. But we did! So we planted them in a pot, put a few bugs in there and gave them some TLC... and a little bit of water. (She carries her watering can very cautiously... the first few times.)

To Leah, a little bit of water is about 16 watering cans full. Thank goodness we live in Texas where the concept of too much water pretty much doesn't exist.

And within a few sunny days, we had all these beautiful blooms!





She is my sunshine!!



- Posted from my iPhone

Gymboree

Leah and I have been going to Gymboree class every week for many months now. But I never remember to take pictures. I have found that the more fun we are having, the fewer pictures I take. :)

Climbing on the equipment...


A monkey in a barrel...



Bubble time. Here she is showing me that she caught a little bubble on her finger.


She loves her class and her teacher "my friend Miss Katie"


- Posted from my iPhone

Bread-n-Bows

It all started with some ladybugs and a little lamb.

Back when Leah was sick with a pretty bad cough, the only way to keep her still and quiet was to sit in front of PBS all day long for a couple of days. After I'd seen enough quality, educational, children's programming to make myself sick, I decided to do a little project I'd been putting off for a few weeks.

Leah's favorite bow (ladybug ribbon) was purchased at the Farmersville Farmers and Fleas market. She picked it out and wanted to wear it with EVERYTHING. One day it fell apart and she said "that's ok... mommy can fix it." (???) I guess that's because I'm always claiming I can fix things... and sometimes I can.

I'm not what you'd call crafty. But I REALLY wish I was. So, with my mind numbed by the sounds of da-DA-da-DA El-mo's wooooorld, I completely took apart the remnants of the ladybug bow and fiddled with it awhile. I used some fishing line and a dab of hot glue and I liked the finished product even better than the original!

Don't get me started... on anything... cause its awfully hard for me to stop. I immediately decided that I needed to make Leah a sheep bow... you know, because her Aunt Leslie is a shepherd... and by the end of the next day this is what I had:

And here's the sheep bow: If I was sitting still, I was making bows. I was doing alot of experimenting. My first batch was mostly made of scraps from my gift wrap and craft boxes. I've gotten better now, and I have more of a system. And I have a full-fledged supply of ribbon and accessories. I've given most of that first batch away, plus another 30 or so.

My new passion for bow making was temporarily tempered by my newer passion for bread making! I LOVE IT! Kneading just might be one of my favorite pastimes.

My friend Brandie brought her recipe and her yeast all the way from Forney to help me make my first batch. It takes a good portion of the day but I think the smell in the house alone makes it all worth it.

Here's my first loaf. It was not dense enough (sorry McAnally's) but I've since fixed that along with some of my other issues.

Here is my second batch... a small loaf, dinner rolls, garlic rolls and a few sad looking cinnamon rolls. I've made MANY batches since these and I've finally found a good method for my cinnamon rolls. Its SOOOOOOOO addicting! We haven't purchased a loaf of bread since the first batch with Brandie. Thank you, my friend! Leah and Kevin and all our neighbors thank you too. :)

Let me know if you need a bow or some bread!

Thumb Check

We know what color my neck is, thanks to my dear husband's influence. Let's see what color my thumb is!

The garden plot was just a grass-covered part of our yard. I dug up the grass (the hardest part of the whole thing) and then turned in a little added top soil after I laid the stones down.

We are outside ALOT lately, but Leah's record has been speding 4 straight hours in the garden with me while we planted. I was impressed with her stamina.

Leah helped me plant all the seeds... which will explain some of the funny places things are sprouting up, and why there are about 27 okra plants bunched up together. But we had a ball!

5/4/11 - after our marathon of planting

We planted yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers, okra, carrots, green beans, watermelon, cantaloupe, bell peppers and jalapeno peppers. Our garden plot isn't quite large enough for all this... but I got carried away. We'll see what happens!

5/9/11 - less than 5 days later... we have SPROUTS!!!
Pointing at an okra sprout...

Green bean sprouts (I think)

Only the cantaloupes, carrots and bell peppers hadn't sprouted that day... we had a GREAT sense of satisfaction. Look at my little smiling sprout. :)
5/12/11 - And only 8 days after the seeds were planted..... It looks like a real garden!! Only everything is way too close together.

Leah would rather be outside than just about anywhere. She LOVES the garden and is always saying "I want to go work in the garden" or "I want to go check on my beggibles." When it rains she says "Thank you God for giving my beggibels a niiiiiiice drink."

I'll post a current pic soon. These look like such babies compared to what they look like now! The only thing that still hasn't sprouted is carrots... so maybe those won't happen. Stay tuned!

anointed

anoint
\ə-ˈnȯint\
transitive verb
1: to smear or rub with oil or an oily substance
2a: to apply oil to as a sacred rite especially for consecration; b: to choose by or as if by divine election


About 6 months ago I got some areas of dry skin under my eyes. This has happened every winter for several years now, and I always attributed it to the winter weather drying out the tender skin. I would put some extra moistruizer on it and eventually it would go away.

However, this year, instead of going away... it spread... to both upper and lower eyelids (racoon style) and even had a few patches on my lips!?! I remember my tears bothering it in years past, so much so that one time I thought I might be allergic to my own tears. But now, any time a tear would so much as think about falling it would BURN LIKE FIRE! Even the moisturizer made me come out of my skin. So I systematically tried every cream, lotion, and potion in my stash, including all the fancy little samples I have accumulated. AND... it seemed the fancier the cream, the more it burned.

So I finally stopped and decided I may have to go to the doctor. Until one day a sweet friend brought her boys over to play at our house. She said "Have you heard about the oil cleansing method?" I looked at her crazy as she described to me how she washed her face twice a day with nothing but a mixture of olive oil and castor oil. (WHAT?????) She said it kind of re-balances your skin since all the products we use strip away the natural oils in our skin.

She promised it would take off makeup and that it hadn't caused her any break-outs. (REALLY????) I've been using oil-free makeup, expensive astringents and glycolic washes (and lots of them) on purpose since I was a teenager because I have oily skin that is prone to breakouts... and now you want me to rub some cooking oil and a laxative all over my face????? No thank you very much, was my immidiate reaction... but... you have to see her skin! It is perfect. Perfect, perfect, flawless, perfect, beautiful skin. No better testimony than that.

Besides, this disgusting rash was really beginning to be painful, my eyelids were swelling and the tiniest beads of sweat or tears would just enrage it further. So I made the concoction, and began to "wash" my face with oil. 3 parts olive oil, 1 part castor oil. (Yes, I support Rachel Ray)

It was like aloe vera to a sunburn or baking soda to a bee sting! It took the burn right off my eyes. It was the only thing that soothed it. So I began to wash my face this way twice a day and, because it felt so good, I would oil up my eyelids several more times whenever possible. It took about 2 weeks of no make up and twice daily anointing to finally heal. Great!

So I kept on using my miracle potion for several months with no problem... until one day when I suddenly got a great big breakout on my cheek... and I immidiatly blamed my trusty oil cleanser. After all we'd been through... I still suspected the oil. I went back to my old routine to try and clear up the breakout... and guess what? The funk on my eyes retunred... and with a vengeance. Here is an early picture...

It got worse after this and was on both eyes in a few days. So I began the anointing process again. Then one day I walked into my moms house and she said "I had the exact same thing on my eyes when I was pregnant with you." Her doctor diagnosed it as seborrheic dermatitis and said it was likely hormone related. It went away as soon as she delivered me. Well, I'm not pregnant, but there are a zillion other causes and related factors. And Kevin would probably tell you that my hormones are often out of whack so that might be it after all.

It took about 3 weeks of no make-up and washing with oil, but it has finally healed. And I don't know if I'll ever go back to my old ways again.

My friend Jenna (who got me hooked on the oil cleansing method) told me the other day that she's had a hard time finding castor oil lately and had to go to several places before finding it. I guess I will stock up, in case there is a shortage or something. Thankfully the rash has healed though. Can you imagine what people might think if they saw me carting cases of castor oil through the store with my red, puffy, burning face. What sort of affliction causes yucky facial rashes AND severe constipation??

My Seborrhoeic Birthday

I turned 31 this year! My birthday just happened to fall on Mother's Day this year, which made it doubly fun. However, a severe (in my opinion) case of per-orbital seborrhoeic dermatitis made it most memorable. My itchy, burning eye-leprosy began a couple of weeks before my birthday and I haven't worn makeup since. I actually wore glasses for a couple of weeks as a disguise. It has finally healed enough that I don't need the disguise anymore. But after a few weeks of no make-up, my vanity is gone (or is it my pride) so I'm still not wearing make-up. Amazing! (I can't find the picture I took, but I promise to post it ASAP.)

I have really been spoiled rotten this year... starting a few days before my birthday when my mother-in-law took me to a ladies night out event at a jewelry store to pick out my birthday present. She also made a significant contribution to my vegetable garden by getting me an Earth Box and coming over and planting some tomato plants! Here are my babies doing a little inspection.

Giggle doling out the dolomite.

And the almost-finished product. She and Stan also gave me a staking system (which I installed after this picture) so the fast growing tomatoes have a nice place to climb and rest!

Then my mom and dad made a yummy surf and turf dinner for us. Leah had her first swordfish kabobs and said "mmm this is yummy chicken!" My sister gave me more jewels (which Leah is modeling in a picture below) and a book on composting. :) My parents gave me the gift that is hard to beat.... time at the SPAAAAAA! (Looking forward to complete rash healing before I schedule my spa treatments.)

My cheese face girl holding tight to Ramone (from Cars.)I know... you barely recognize me with this disguise!

Her Pops and her pearls.
Then on the big day we headed to Kevin's parents house after church for more food, fun and fascinators. (Julie made these for a Sunday school party... I have a fabulous picture of my dad wearing one, but he made me promise not to post it.)

One of the best birthday presents is still yet to come! Kevin totally surprised me with concert tickets! Come Monday I'll post about it... can you guess?

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one little leah

We were on the way home from Relay for Life... waaaaay past Leah's bedtime... when she decided to sing the "ten little monkeys" song as a means of keeping herself awake. She knew if she closed her mouth for 2 seconds she would just fall fast asleep. So she sang about ten little monkeys, then 10 little mommies, 10 daddies, 10 Beanses and 10 of everyone else in her extended family. My personal favorite was "10 little Popses jumping on the bed, one fell off and bumped his head. Pops called the doctor and the doctor said 'No more POPS-ES JUMPING ON THE BED!'" You know what all caps means!

So the video is just for your listening pleasure, as it was after 10 pm so you can't see anything... I only caught the last verse, one little Leah...

The World's Foremost Outfitter

A few weeks ago, Cabela's FINALLY opened... just a few minutes from our front door! We first shopped there the night before it opened to the public and Kevin was there about 5 out of the first 7 days it was open.

Kevin and I had a date night there, Leah and Kevin had a daddy/daughter date and of course we've shopped as a family too. We even went to the grand opening Jack Ingram concert with some friends. Needless to say, this has been a big event in the life of our family.

So far most of our time has been spent in the firearms/ammunition sections, although Leah prefers the aquarium and looking at the more than 1 million dollars worth of taxidermy animals that line the walls.

Her other favorite thing to do is love on a stuffed possum that her daddy let's her carry around the store while we shop (and I gag.)

Isn't it just precious?


On her first visit, she came home with this coon skin cap. If this doesn't solidify our family's red-necked-ness, nothing will.

So if you ever can't find us, now you know where to look!


- Posted from my iPhone

Look mom...

Somehow Leah got her cup stuck to the buttons on the front of her dress and she CRACKED HERSELF UP!


And then proceeded to perform the trick a dozen more times until she felt her audience had been sufficiently entertained.


TaDa! No hands!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

busy bodies

I've been slacking on the blog lately, but I have really good excuses. On top of our every-day-fun-and-games, so much has been going on:

• We have had birthdays and holidays galore


• I taught myself to make hair bows (now a pretty severe obsession)


• I dug and planted a vegetable garden (another obsession to add to my list)


• I've been practicing the fine art of composting... not as easy as I once thought


• I've been learning to make homemade bread (my house smells like a bakery now and I LOVE IT!)


• "The World's Foremost Outfitter" moved into town... and just minutes from our front door!


• I have been battling a nasty, funky peri-orbital rash.... and yes, there will be pictures

And that's just what I can remember! Its been non-stop excitement for the Curleys lately. And I'm planning to post about as much of it as I can remember.

Oh... and we had Leah's portraits made. Here are a few of my favorites.

And it's my birthday month! The actual day is over... but the party never ends.

bursting with pride...

My cousin Brad released his album today on itunes! He's recorded his own original songs and I'm so proud of him! Not only is he talented, but he's one of the best, sweetest guys you'll ever meet. I am sooooooo proud right now! :)

Here is the link to preview his songs and buy them if you like! I think you will!!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-way-i-feel/id433219394

Check out his video too! So great!!

If you can't see it just click on this link: Brad Cooper Promo Video: "Unordinary Love"

Congrats Bradley!!!!!!

"Beeyuuuuuuuubonnets"

I call this one "Wild Child in Wild Flowers"

This is the best we could get between my camera and Leslie's! Leah wasn't in the mood to be photographed. Actually, she was bordering on insanity that morning.