Laurie's Life

Yesterday Kelly and I went to see the Norman Rockwell exhibit at Crystal Bridges.  I LOVED IT!  Norman Rockwell is my favorite artist.  I love realistic art that tells a story.  I learned so many things about him that I did not know.  I would love to look at those pictures even if they were a photograph, but to think that they are paintings is just amazing!  Be paid attention to the details. As an elementary art teacher, I bought a VHS Norman Rockwell documentary for my students to watch.  Our music teacher laughed and laughed and told me that the kids would be so bored and they would not pay any attention.  I thought ,  "they will love it, Norman Rockwell is the best!"  Ha!  The music teacher was so right.  It was a teacher disaster.  The kids watched for about two minutes and they were DONE!  I was new to teaching and learned my lesson. I have loved Rockwell since I was a little girl...

 Kelly invited us over Saturday night to celebrate Scott's birthday!  This is right before we left.  We had the most wonderful time and we wore out our welcome......we stayed too long.  We laughed so so hard.  When I laugh really hard, I cry all my make-up off.  I left there looking like the last rose of Summer. All four girls had so much fun together.  My girls strip the second they get to the Stamps and put on dresses.  It happens everytime. Kelly could not have gotten a more perfect cake for the birthday boy! Such a sweet picture.....sweet girls! Best of friends Judy and Billy Don.  Billy Don is my mother's first cousin.  They are always so nice to be around. Kelly made the best ever enchiladas.  I am making them this week!

My girls are off for Spring break and we are loving these days!  We have mostly been lounging around!  I LOVE it!  No real plans, no stress.  We are taking it easy.  We have slept till 7:15. That is late in this house.  SK got her hair trimmed a little yesterday.  We went to Petsmart (always an adventure).  We went to Lifeway.  I got the girls these eggs and they LOVE them.......I love them too!  It is a neat way to teach your children the story of Easter. We ate Mexican food and went bowling today with the McCoy girls.  I had a whopping score of 50 something when we bowled.  A three year old beat me.  It was a gutter ball kind of day. The rest of the week is going to be cold and rainy.  I am just happy to stay home and rest.

I registered Sarah Kate for Kindergarten this week.  A bittersweet day for sure. Emily had a little cold/congestion last weekend.  This weekend, she got an ear infection.  Now that their tubes are out, they seem to get lots of ear infections.  We made a trip to the pediatrician on Saturday morning. While we were waiting at the pharmacy to get the presciption filled, I spotted a Melissa and Doug sticker pad.  I knew this was right up my girl's alley.  I hardly ever buy them something for no reason, but this was too neat to pass up and it was $5.  It was a good buy!!! They have had a lot of fun with it!  Plus it does not make a mess or take up much space! So cute!  They also had some that were "make a face."  They had them for boys that were "make a pirate."

Our Saturday afternoon our plans fell through.  (Because I am near crazy and arrived with the whole family 24 hours hours early for an event.)  So,  Steve said,  "ya'll want to go bowling?"  So, we went and had a wonderful time.  Our scores were pitiful, but we had fun.  We had never bowled as a family.  I had taken the girls wth my friend, Tracy and another time with my parents last year.  I am not good at bowling, but I have always liked it!  I have a terrible problem when I bowl because I drop the ball really hard and loud and make the whole area shake.  It is just my style.  I have gotten in trouble at bowling alleys in the past.  One day I may be paying to replace the floor in a bowling alley. I felt so funny as I was finishing my last bowl and looked up and saw Scott and Harper, then Kelly and Hollis.  I asked Steve if he had texted Scott that we were there.  He had not.....talk about ...

My trip to Dallas for Dotmom, happened because of Steve and his parents keeping the girls!  Kay-K brought SK a hidden picture book and she LOVES it! Sarah Kate is always so proud to match Bitty Baby! Loving on Pop. They love their Kay-K! Playing the girls favorite game,  Headbands! Emily's most favorite thing ever....going to Petsmart. Daddy's favorite place,  Cabela's. Experiencing fun art at Crystal Bridges! I love that they had fun while I was having fun!

I serve on the women's council at my church.  I LOVE women's ministry.  One of the ways I serve on this council, is getting speakers for events.  In other words, I am the official "speaker getter." I LOVE my job! In the past few months, we have had Mamie McCullough and Melinda Bunyard.  Both were EXCELLENT!!!!! Mamie McCullough lives in Dallas  and attends Prestonwood Baptist Church.  She is very funny and very personable.  She brings a message of encouragement and motivation to keep pressing on.  She has been through many painful things in her life.  She got her start speaking through Zig Ziglar. Melinda Bunyard lives in NWA and she is a Bible teacher.  She brings God's Word in a very practical way.  She has served as a missionary and is now director of a preschool.  She is very sweet and her Godliness is so evident.  She is a seasoned speaker. In April, we are priviledged to have Deb...

I am so thankful that I got to go to Dot.mom this weekend.  It was one of the best conferences I have EVER been to, and I have been to a lot.  Not only was the conference great, but I got to spend lots of time with some of my most favorite people in all the world!!!  It was a delight to meet Sophie, from the Boomama blog.  She is such a sweet person and funny too.  I like funny! Tracy and Aimee.  I am so glad they went.  They are both so sweet.  Tracy's daughter, Sarah Grace, is Emily's best friend.  We had dinner Friday night at a Mexican place and I got some great salsa!!!  I was a happy girl. More of our crew having dinner.  I enjoyed the time we got to spend with Angie Smith.  Selah is my most favorite group ever!!  This is Kelsey, Angie's nanny/friend. I am so blessed to call these girls my friends. We had dinner at Pappadeaux's.  That is my kind of food! I love these girls! ...

Saturday afternoon the girls and I went to one of Steve's most favorite stores.  The girls and I enjoyed walking around looking at the wildlife displays.  This big bear greeted us at the door.  Sarah Kate refused to have her picture taken with the bear.  She did not want her back to the bear and she wanted to keep her distance. I feel like that big bear sometimes.  Don't you?  When someone mistreats my children,  I feel the mama bear coming out. Here is the recipe I made for us on Valentine's Day.  We enjoyed it.  I thought the girls would love it, but they ate like two beans and one bite of sausage.  This is one of those recipes that tasted better the next day.  I thought this recipe was a lot of fun to make! Biloxi Red Beans and Rice 1lb. red beans 1 1/2 tsp. salt.  ( I used a LOT more) 1 lg onion, chopped 1/2 lg green pepper, chopped 2 slices of bacon 1 rib celery, chopped 1 lb country type sausage (cut i...

I took the girls to visit my parents this past weekend.  We had a wonderful and relaxing time.  The girls love to make Jello with my mother.  We had a wonderful Mom conference at church last weekend.  It was just what I needed!  I left the retreat early on Saturday morning so we could get on the road.  My parents live about five hours away from us. Tonight I am making red beans, rice and sausage for our Valentine's dinner.  I have never made it from scratch before, so this will be a test.  We have learned to stay in on this day so we don't have to fight the crowd. Last night,  I watched Hoarders and then My Strange Addiction.  It made me feel so normal and I felt like my house looked spotless.  There was a lady on my strange addiction that grooms her cat by licking her and then eating her fur.  I laughed so hard!!!!  I DO LOVE Kristen the cat, but I would never in a million years do this.

Thursday morning began really early for us.  I sat my alarm for 5:35 a.m.  It was Emily's class Valentine's Day party and it was early.  The party was to began right when school started.  SK was going with us.  I put Emily in a hot pink dress.  SK and I were wearing our Valentine's best.  We had to leave the house at 6:50 in order to get a good parking space and get Emily there on time.  SK was super fussy and I had Steve helping me get her ready for the party.  Emily had done all her cards the night before and had her box in her backpack. We pull up to school and I was so proud that we had made it early.  It is not very often that I am early.  The girls were super hungry.  We all skipped out on breakfast since the party was breakfast food.  I was just so proud because we got a very close parking place and I was so proud to be one of the first moms there. Walk in the office to check in and get name badges and all that....