Mr. Ramsey

(Ramsey busted lip is from a fall the night before):

Egg Drop 2010

Yesterday our church put on their 3rd Annual Egg Drop at Dellinger Park. We had never been before and had no idea what we were in for. Well it was INTENSE! There were literally several thousand people and kids of all ages. The whole thing is really neat and well organized. Ramsey was in the 2-4 year old group and he was up first at 11:00 so we waited patiently for the helicopter to approach and drop out tons of eggs.

Here it comes! Oh, and the Easter bunny was in there too!:Ramsey was totally impressed:Then the marched the kiddos out on the baseball field and let everyone get out there and did a final countdown and the GO!They're off! Go Ramsey Go!

All the eggs were empty and it really didn't matter how many eggs they actually got as they all traded in their eggs for giant handfuls of candy. So every child was pleased. No tears, no pouting, only smiles! It was a neat event and I stayed to volunteer for the afternoon drop. It wasn't quite as crazy as the morning drop but still just as much fun.

First Easter Goodies of the Season

Ramsey got his first Easter basket of the season this past weekend when his Grammy and Grampy(Cope's parents) came to visit. He was very excited to receive it and immediately dove in and grabbed the truck. There was also a nice polo outfit, some movies, and other goodies. I'm still not sure he quite gets what Easter is about but were doing several egg hunts this coming weekend and hoping the church massage gets in there too. Thanks Grammy and Grampy for spoiling the WILD man. We all appreciate it!

Ode to the cell phone

So my poor cell phone has had a terrible weekend. I've been toying with the idea of getting a more fancy one but I am not really eligible for the upgrade until June. Well maybe my phone was rebelling on me because on Saturday afternoon I was getting ready for a baby shower for my step sister and could not find it anywhere. We combed the house and remembered we had taken the 4-wheeler for a spin around the neighborhood. Maybe I had set it on that when we were outside earlier??? Cope retraced our route but found nothing. Later that afternoon Cope's parents came to stay with Ramsey while Cope and I went on a date night to the FOX to see Rodney Carrington. The show was AWESOME and afterwards we called home to check on WILD man and ask if they had found my phone. THEY DID!!! Whoo Hoo! They said they had been out for a walk and asked a neighbor if they had seen a cell phone around and another neighbor overheard and said he had found one in the road. It was all busted up but it still worked (sort of).

Yesterday we head to church I am so happy to have my cell phone on tow and think maybe I should get a new one but maybe it can wait a little while. I'm a busy girl and cell phones aren't a huge priority. After church we head to lunch and I am digging around for Ramsey snacks and notice everything in my purse is damp. Oh yes, my travel coffee much had spilled all over my purse. Why did I have it in my purse you ask??? I don't know either.

Now my phone battery is swimming in coffee and smells. Not to mention it has taken on a life of it's own. It is fried. So needless to say I am headed to the phone store today to make a new purchase. Funny how we can be set in our own plans about things and life seems to know better. Granted it is only a cell phone, thank goodness, but I find it interesting none the less.

Random Video

Is it just me or is it exahusting trying to get ready and get myself and my sidekick out the door each morning. I mean by 9:30 I feel like I've already done a days work. Thankfully Ramsey is fun and I enjoy being his mommy so much. Here is just a little random video of how he likes to entertain himself while I get ready:

Firehouse Fieldtrip

Yesterday Ramsey and I attended a little field trip to our local fire station with his Kindermusik class. I almost had forgotten about it until I checked my calender first thing yesterday morning. Had I missed it, I would have felt awful as all little boys LOVE firetrucks. It was a neat trip and we got to explore the whole place.

Miss Katie, his music teacher put on the fire costume to show the little kids it wasn't scary.

Ramsey loved climbing in an exploring the firetrucks.

They even had a puppet show all about fire safety.
Ramsey and I both had a great time and can't wait to go again.

Fun Weekend

I have no pictures to show for our weekend trip to Greenville, SC for my cousins wedding. I brought my camera but that doesn't matter if the memory card was left at home in the computer. We left Saturday morning and drove strait to Greenville (3 hours), met up with my Mom and Morgan, and My sister and her boyfriend at the hotel. checked in and got ready for the wedding. It was in a mansion (Ramsey referred to it as the castle). We got our seats for the wedding. Ramsey was still for about 2.5 seconds and didn't even make it to start of the wedding. Cope took him outside to play. After the wedding we enjoyed the reception but Ramsey enjoyed it the most as he was EVERYWHERE! Seriously, Cope and I have determined we might have the WILDEST 2 year old on the planet. If he is on the ground he is running. We contained the wildness as long as we could and then decided to head back to the hotel. My Mom and Morgan volunteered to let Ramsey fall asleep in there room so we could hang out with Paige (my sister) and Jay (her boyfriend).
We had a great night with lots of laughter and funny stories. The next morning we all had breakfast together and then we headed for home. One the way we decided to stop by the huge outlets in Commerce even though we had forgotten the stroller we decided to tag team the event. We never shop so we had to at least try. We started in J-Crew and Ramsey was out of control we tried but he was everywhere. We ended up spending like $280 and both walked out not sure at all what we had bought. If a shirt fits grab one in every color and lets go! Needless to say we only made it to about 2 other store before we gave up.
We made it home and were all exhausted but felt like we really had spent some quality time together. Car trips are the best and we were all glad to have gotten away if even for a day.

Famous?

Totally kidding with that title as it is NEVER my goal or intention to be famous. I prefer understated any day. I just really love what I do for work/play. It was very neat though to get a little article about me put in a magazine. The magazine is called Military Spouses and since my sister-in-law Julie is a writer she sent in this little diddy about my and wha-la, they thought it was magazine worthy. It is just really neat to see my items out there in print.

To check out my blogsite just click the TN tab at the top of this blog or go to www.collectionsbytaranicole.blogspot.com.

Odds and Ends

Here are some odds and ends pictures of the WILD man.

This kid loves Cheetos. Can you tell?

Spending a lazy morning with a sick Daddy:

Reading with Pops. Check out Sage in this pick. Totally lounging:

Posed and ready for some Curious George:

He loves to chew on toothbrushes and two are better then one:

Thought For Today

What Happens While Mommy takse a Shower

Ramsey is typically really great when I am getting ready in the mornings. He usually just drinks his milk and watches some Super Why cartoon but this particular morning he was too quite. So quite that I had to come check to make sure he was still in the house. Sure enough he was and this is how I found him:

He was so proud of himself. His art stuff sits out but he never bothers it so I did not worry much about it until this morning. Instead of acting guilty he decided to act cute and I did what any good mother would do, I grabbed the camera of course .

Kissing Frogs

My amazing friend Katie just opened a children's boutique in Downtown Cartersville last week. It was previously a children's store called Itsy Bitsy but it was going out of business and Katie seized the opportunity (with a little nudge from me :) to buy it and make it over the top WONDERFUL! Seriously she has some adorable things. I am so proud of Katie. She has always dressed her own two kiddos to perfection and now she can share her style with with others. Katie bought, redecorated, stocked, and opened the new store in a matter of 3 weeks (and I thought I worked fast). Her store is located downtown if you are ever in Cartersville stop by and check her out. You can also visit her on facebook. Just type in "Kissing Frogs Boutique".

The Things This Kid Says

Ramsey and I went into a new thrift store in town yesterday and I told him there might be toys inside to entice him a little. Well, there was nothing in there but complete junk so we left with nothing. On the way home Ramsey had on a pouty face and I asked him what was wrong. He said "I need go to the the Doctor". I asked him why and he said "cause my feelings are hurt". I laughed and said why are your feeling hurt and he said "cause I need a toy". Seriously? He just cracks me up these days with the clever things he can come up with. What a mess he is.

Working Girl

So as I have mentioned before within this past year my little side job while Ramsey naps has turned into a real full time 30+ hours a week job. It is interesting to say the least to try to juggle being a stay at home mom and work full time. All can say is some weeks are calmer then others but I truly love what I do and it hardly ever feels like real work. Being creative is in my blood. Waking up each day and creating special items for people makes me grin from ear to ear. I love being Ramsey's mommy and am so thankful I have found something I can do to stay home with him and also an outlet to feel valued as an individual.

That being said I have been struggling over how to continue to keep with with my orders as they get more and more each week. I wish there were more hours in the day but there are not so the next option is to get a second embroidery machine and work more efficiently. It has been a great move. So now when I am working...I AM WORKING! Seriously I can do so much more these days.

Newest Janome 350E. Isn't she lovely?
I am so thankful each day. I simply love what I do and I appreciate all my supporters (Cope, My Mom, and Ramsey) who make it possible for me to work hard and feel very satisfied at the end of each CRAZY work week. Life is Good for sure!

It's Ok to trick your kid right???

Story...
My Mom watches Ramsey on Tuesday afternoons so I can work/sew and then we all meet for Mexican dinner in town. After we finish dinner we head out but first we stop by the register to get our chicklet gum and then Ramsey has fallen in love with the "stuffed animal game" in the lobby. You know the one where it has the big claw that you guide around in hopes of picking up some treasure that is really worthless but at the time seems invaluable. The game where those darn claws are so greased it never grabs hold of anything. We'll this particular machine has a Lightning McQueen stuffed animal in it. If you know Ramsey you know he is on the verge of obsessed with anything related to the movie Cars. We have tried every single week for that darn McQueen and I would watch his little heart be disappointed each time we didn't get it. We were spending like $2 a week on this awful game.

If you know me I HATE TO WASTE MONEY so I decided to order a McQueen stuffed animal from Ebay. It came all the way from Japan and took 2 weeks but finally it came. So last night after dinner Cope put 50 cents in the rotten machine and acted like he was going for McQueen and we distracted Ramsey for a quick second and then started cheering and told him to look in the drop slot. Sure enough the McQueen we had planted was there and waiting for Ramsey's hot little hands. He was so excited!

When we got home he wanted to sleep with McQueen so we of course let him. I felt a little guilty about tricking him but not guilty enough to keep paying that dumb machine each week. Ramsey is happy camper and currently still snuggled up next to McQueen. So silly machine, take that! This Mom and Dad team conquered you! At least until he finds something else in there he wants next week.