Gone in a FLASH!.....and thanks MOM!:-0)

(This is what the UPS truck in my neighborhood now looks like after "the incident".....)

So I wake up this morning and this is the first email I get. A comment that my MOTHER had left on my previous post. Now, if anyone wants to know where I get my mischievous side....look no further.....it definitely comes from my MOM! Oh yeah she pretends to be so surprised and shocked by my behavior, but then she is constantly prodding and egging on more of it! There is DEFINITELY no doubt where the dingbattyness comes from......don't let her fool you, this could have VERY easily happened to her! The only difference is she wouldn't have written it in a post for the whole world to see!!! (I'm just crazy like that...)

hey guys........just a little story for ya on the side here....today...i SAW it with my own two eyes....yeah, that's right........the UPS man!!!.....i was watching the kids while Heidi was out and he rang the doorbell and we immediately looked out the window.........and i KID YOU NOT........he was RUNNING back to his little get-up.....i seriously mean RUNNING........now, i know at this time of the year they have a zillion deliveries......but hey.......this was different......he was running and put that get-up in gear and was GONE in a flash!.........so i mentioned this to Heidi when she got home.....and of course she was in work out clothing.....and as i saw her little tennis shoes.....and she explained to me the t-shirt she had on wasn't even as long as the shirt she had on today........i was visualizing her without pants........and , oh my word........i just started giggling and couldn't stop........it is even funnier to see her live in her work out clothes and then imagine...MINUS THE PANTS!!!........OMG!........so funny!!!....and Patricia........you are SO right.........Heidi get those books away from the fireplace...and everything else for that matter.......YOU SCARE ME GIRL!

Yeah, THANKS MOM!!!!! Scare? I don't think so. You would LOVE it if my books caught on fire and I had another "story" to tell! So stop trying to act so innnocent here....now the whole world knows where I get it from! Dare I refresh your memory of the time you were CONVINCED that someone was bbq'ing dad to eat him? I'm still traumatized by that moment..........yeah, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree....that's FO SHO!!!

*So just out of curiousity.....how many of you would like to hear THAT story?? I would be more than happy to tell it........come to think of it, this MIGHT be the very moment that my life took the turn that it did......and MAYBE just maybe all of my 'incidents' can be traced back to the traumatizing day that I was told that my dad was being bbq'ed and eaten for dinner!!!!*

Christmas

So Craig and I almost get a divorce every year when it comes time to put up the tree. I make him string the lights, and of course because he could really care less, he tends to just grab the string and walk around and around the tree with them making our tree look like it's being held hostage or something. I of course make him take them off and start over, screaming explaining to him that they need to be INSIDE the tree and wrapped in and out not just AROUND........which is where the fighting and bickering usually escalates to us throwing ornaments at each other while calling the other names ends up ruining the tree decorating occasion for the entire family. I tell myself EVERY year that I am not going to let it get to me, and then don't ya know I look at the tree after it takes Craig three seconds to string a twelve foot tree with lights, and I can't help myself. I lose it. I've tried been tempted to string HIM up and then plug him in!!

Having said ALL that, this year he actually GOT IT RIGHT!! I had been preparing myself all day to remain calm when he would inevitably "bind" our tree with lights expecting to be done, and I was completely SHOCKED and elated to see what a beautiful job he had done this year. Now why in the world did that take him eight years to figure out? Oh well, either way I love our tree, and ornament dodge ball was avoided this year!! (that in and of itself is a Zhouse miracle!!......though I felt slightly cheated when the night went off without me getting to throw even ONE ornament at him. Seemed like traditions were just getting broken left and right......)

I was taking these pictures at night and trying to get pictures of the actual ornaments, but I really couldn't get a good one so I'll just explain them. Carter and Ava L.O.V.E. ornaments. Therefore we have TONS. I am a firm believer in the tree being very fun, memorial, and nostalgic, so EVERY ornament that we have ever received or made goes on our tree every year. In order for me to get my "pretty" in, I incorporate big ornament balls in the colors of my decor, and add giant bows throughout the tree. This way I figure we get the best of both worlds. The kids have the nostalgia of all their ornaments (tacky and beautiful), and I still find a way to tie it in to my decor. We absolutely LOVE our Christmas tree, and the kids just sit and stare at it daily.

This cute little snowman was a gift from Carter. Every year his school holds a "Christmas shop" where the students can purchase discounted items for their family. Carter absolutely ADORES this tradition, and is sooooo excited to shop on his own and purchase gifts. Last week he brought his gifts home, and he just couldn't bare for us to wait until Christmas to open them up. I am so glad that we didn't wait because I love the cute snowman decoration that he picked out for me. I asked him where he thought I should put it, and he came up with this location all by himself. He was so proud and of course my heart melted watching him look for the perfect place. I think he chose a WONDERFUL location, and therefore will be placed there for years to come!!!!

Another tradition that I started last year is displaying all of our Christmas books by the fireplace. I actually put these books away for the rest of the year and only get them out at Christmas. Displaying them encourages us to read them nightly, and the kids LOVE it! To the left is our Christmas basket that I keep our Christmas cards that we receive in.

Merry Christmas!

Fun Christmas Filled Day!

Yesterday we had the BEST time with our long time best friends the Dovers. We started the day by going to Drew's basketball game. It was so cute, and of course as always Drew was hilarious with his antics and looks he gave us while "on the court". (you have to know Drew to know how funny he is, and if you DO know him, you can only imagine how funny he was to watch yesterday!!)
Anyways, Robin and I decided that we were going to start a new Christmas tradition this year with the kids. Instead of the kids buying gifts for eachother, we let the kids each pick out a Christmas ornament for the other and yesterday after the game they painted and signed the ornaments and then gave them to eachother! It was soooo cute to see them working so diligently and carefully on their special gifts.


Above Drew is painting a reindeer ornament for Carter......yes the leg broke off a couple minutes after this picture, but that's what GLUE was made for!!! ha! (plus it just adds character and a memory!)

Here Ethan is painting the plane ornament for Carter. He took so much time on it. Precious!

Here is Carter's Santa for Ethan. I have to say that he was really trying hard, and he did a fabulous job!

Here is Ava's snowflake for Ethan. She painted it white, and then put glitter on it!

Okay the SECOND part of our new yearly tradition is to make gingerbread houses together. I think between four kids, frosting, and tons of candy, we MIGHT have made the biggest mess EVER!! BUT, it was tons of fun and it was my personal favorite part of the day.

Aaaawwwwww........

And TA DA! Here are the kiddos with their new ornaments. The kids had fallen asleep on the way home last night because it was late, but when we got home and tried to carry them to bed, they woke up and we couldn't get them BACK to bed until we hung the ornaments on the tree. So the new tradition was a complete success, and we had a fabulous day!!

What are some of your Christmas traditions? New ones? Old?

Promises Promises.......

I promise an update this weekend, and when Christmas is over and the new year has begun, my New Years goal is to resume my blogging regimen. At first I was in a blogging funk, but by the time I came out of that it was holiday season, and all of my spare "computer time" has been shopping for "deals" online, and getting everything I need for Christmas. I HATE going to toy stores, the mall, or even Walmart at this time of the year, so I get EVERYTHING online. I am happy to say that because I am such a "deal seeker", I have saved TONS of money on gifts this year by literally shopping till I drop.....from the comfort of my living room of course!! ha!ha! (hubs isn't too thrilled with this....but that's a WHOLE other story!...ha!)
Thank you for being such sweet friends and blogging pals here. I am completely flabbergasted that y'all keep emailing me and commenting here that you miss my blog. I miss yours too, and can't wait to get back into the swing of blog world. I promise that facebook any unknown sources are NOT the reason for my non blogging these days. Although I do LOVE facebook, I truly have been over the top busy lately, and blogging has just had to take a back seat.

So there you go......these are my excuses reasons for my absence here on the 'ole blog. But NEVER FEAR I VILL RETURN!!!! muuaahhhhhh.......(my evil laugh....)

It's ALL Facebook's fault!!

Okay, as I stated below I have once again "DONE IT". First of all, obviously I have been in a major blogging funk lately and last night I decided to sit down and at least START a post with a few updates. So, I did start one, and saved it to be finished today. BUT then today took a disastrous turn and I will instead blog about that.

Now, I know that most of my "incidents" involve some sort of nudity or nekkidness, and trust me, nobody is more appalled than I am about that small factor. More than that, I don't know why it keeps happening. I mean, seriously, I don't.
Having cleared that up (or at least addressing it), I will tell you what happened today.

This morning when I went to get dressed, I realized that all of my workout clothes were dirty, and needed to be washed (If I am going to be working out that day, that's what I put on in the morning instead of "regular" clothes). So I threw on a pair of jeans and took the clothes down to be washed.

Okay, fast forward to almost time to leave for the gym. I went into the laundry room to get my clothes out of the dryer. I took off my jeans and started to put on my workout pants only to realize that they were still damp. The shirt however was dry, so I put that on and threw the pants back in the dryer. Because I was in a little bit of a hurry I put my socks and tennis shoes on so that all I had to do was put on my pants when they were done. So here I am in the PRIVACY of my kitchen in my socks,tennis shoes, underwear, and my workout shirt. Yeah......You can almost SMELL the disaster coming can't ya????

I sat down to WORK ON MY POST and ended up on facebook getting all wrapped up in my stalking obsession. After about fifteen minutes, the doorbell rang. I peeked around the corner, and saw through the window the UPS truck out front. Without ANY hesitation AT ALL......, I blissfully walked to the door completely oblivious to the fact that I was missing my pants (I mean c'mon, I had SHOES on for cryin' out loud....who wears shoes without pants???....).

You're waiting with holded breath for me to realize that I was pantless before I opened the door aren't you?? Well, be prepared to be disappointed.......or appalled for that matter. I SWUNG open the door and said hello to the driver (still oblivious to no pants....). (Okay, even in HINDSIGHT I still can't recall this poor man even looking at me weird.....I really can't. I mean, I GUESS looking back he may have seemed a little rushed, but I'm not even SURE about that.) I proceeded to take the clipboard from him and scribbled my signature.....still oblivious. I thanked him, and told him to have a nice day, and he left. OH, and don't THINK I wouldn't have waived at a neighbor if I had seen one. I probably would have struck up a conversation too. Of course still being oblivious to my BARE legs that is.

I closed the door and went back to my computer. It was THEN, that my world as I knew it collapsed in an instant of shock and horror. For as I sat down on my COLD leather chair, something went TERRIBLY wrong. Why could my LEGS feel the coolness of the leather so distinctively?????? I froze, and refused to look down. I was trying to wrap my brain around what I had in that moment just realized. When I finally (well, it seemed like a long time anyways...) looked down, I just started screaming......LOUD. My dog jumped off the stairs and started barking like crazy. I scared her to death!! I mean, WHAT kind of self respecting girl opens the door without her pants on??

I have been trying to tell myself that I dreamed this, but the box that was delivered is my constant reminder that OH YEAH, I had a conversation with the UPS guy while wearing nothing on the bottom half of me. (okay, this part might sound quite shallow (if shallowness is even POSSIBLE in this situation), but I wish I would have AT LEAST had my shoes and socks off too!! I mean.......no pants, but don't worry, I had my socks and shoes on!!!????? That's even MORE embarrassing....actually that goes past embarrassing straight to PURE DORK!) The visual is so frightening I can barely think about it.

I am now contemplating moving to another country.....maybe a nudist colony.......I don't know, but what I DO know is that I NEED HELP!! What in the WORLD is wrong with me?? Oh, and here's the kicker........me and UPS man are going to be seeing a lot (no pun intended) of eachother this month. I have been doing ALL of my shopping online, and will probably be having stuff delivered daily...........OMG, just writing that I am turning several shades of red! Somebody HELP ME!!!!

OH NO!

Uh oh.........I was planning on making my "comeback" tonight with a nice calm update on what has been going on in the Z household over the past two weeks. BUT then the UPS man showed up, and WELL, I now have another "episode" to tell you about........and all I can say is OH MY.......
Unfortunately I have zero time right now and probably won't get to this till later tonight, but................OH BOY.............all I can say is that I am the world's biggest IDIOT right about now.........
Stay tuned for the full story!!!.......You aren't going to want to miss this!!!! (though I might have to move to another country.......)

Christmas Presents!

Obviously I have been in a blogging funk the past month or so, but I am hoping with the kids home this week for Thanksgiving break, and us taking a mini vacation later in the week to the Blue Ridge mountains for some family fun, I will be able to spend a little time in blog world while we are there!! Maybe I can pull out some dingbat stories from my "archives" as my mother calls them!! ha! Or more likely something will happen before then that will be worth blogging about!....Nothing crazy has happened in almost two weeks, and I'm pretty sure that sets a record for me, so I'm SURE the universe has something waiting around the corner for me and my dingbat self!! ha!ha!
Anyways, for now I thought I would put up pictures of my Niece's Christmas presents that I made this weekend. I am so happy with the way they turned out. Now I just hope my sister in law doesn't check my blog while she is in Mexico! (Hollie, if you see this, CLOSE YOUR EYES!!!!)

This is Hope's bulletin board. She has a very pink/shabby chic room that I think this will be gorgeous in! She also loves frogs. (or at least she did at one time........hopefully still does!) Oh, and the pom poms on the left side are not crooked, they must have just fallen that way when I took the picture! (had to CLARIFY that lest you think I am sloppy!! LOL!)

And this one is for my one of a kind niece Addie. If you met her, you would know why she is one of a kind. She's a MESS( in the south that means HILARIOUS!)!!! Her room is all different shades of purple, with touches of yellow and green.
I can't WAIT to give these to them for Christmas. Carter LOVES putting pictures/artwork/cards on his, and I think the girls will enjoy it too!

Hopefully I will be much more proactive in blog world this week, but until then, I hope y'all have a great week!!!

Fingerprint Friday

There is a song by Steven Curtis Chapman that says:
I can see the fingerprints of God
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of God
And I know its true
You're a masterpiece
That all creation quietly applauds
And you're covered with the fingerprints of God

I took these pictures last week as we were driving to church. The photography isn't great because we were moving, but I just HAD to get my camera out and snap as many shots as I could when I saw how beautiful it was that day. The kids LOVE when the leaves turn colors. We have had some of the best car rides this Fall as we drove around staring at the beauty that SCREAMS God and creation.

Craig and I discussed that day how amazing it is that our great God would be so detailed that he would include color change in the DNA of leaves before they would fall for winter, when he created them.....simply for the beauty and enjoyment of it! God is good. So good. Thank you Lord for the JOY the color change in the trees have brought to our family this year!!

Where do YOU see God's fingerprints today?

These emails are NOT funny!!....(okay, so they are a TINY bit funny....)

So, I love getting emails from y'all, but lately my "friends" and even my MOTHER have been sending pictures with messages like "oh, I thought of you today when I saw this.....", or "this MUST have been for you.....", and "you would SOOOOO do this.....". Hmmmmm, after going through my DELETED folder of emails, I am sensing a pattern, and I'm not sure I like where this is going. My life seemed quite normal until YOU PEOPLE pointed out that I am a complete disastrous MESS!!! Okay, so I have issues, but don't we all??? hmmpphhhhh!!!
Here are a few of my NOT SO funny emails that YOU all have sent me!! Thanks alot!!!! (hee hee hee......)
Okay, so this DOES sound like something Craigo would do (has done...), and something I WOULD say to him.....in fact I think I HAVE told him to keep his "weapons of MASS destruction" away from me before.....
Yeah yeah yeah.......this one goes without saying.....we ALL know where this came from.

I have NEVER done this, and am APPALLED to think that anyone would think that I have!! What kind of a DINGBAT would do that????

Yep! Back to Craigo again.........Y'all love Craig stories don't you? And I thought he was just annoying.....

I'm not exactly sure why someone sent me this.......I have NO intentions of poisoning his coffee.........but he probably WOULD drink it if I did!!:)

Oh dear Lord in heaven, there BETTER NOT had been anyone looking.......but thanks for the added doubt that I DIDN'T NEED!!!!

I don't get this one......where's the corn? My MOTHER sent me this.......still confused.

Okay, and these last two pictures I just thought were funny, but THANKFULLY have nothing to do with me. The caption on this email was how eerily similar the ugly horrible spider was to Michelle.

Wow! That IS eerily similar!

So thanks for all of the ENCOURAGING emails that relate to my life...........I'm going to go stick my head in a bucket right now........of course knowing ME, I won't be able to get it off............

*UPDATE: After I clicked 'publish' on this post, I checked my email and this comment from the previous post was waiting for me "okay.........we have had it!!! ...it is high time for a blog about your air-headed life.....after all, how can we keep laughing without it being at YOUR expense???if nothing is happening.......just make it up........oh i really don't mean that.......pull out one of those stories from your VAST array of ARCHIVES.......come on!" .........FROM MY MOTHER!!! THANKS MOM!!! And to think I shared my life with you in the UTTMOST of confidence..........*

Kristi's Bags Boutique

So my wonderful and very talented friend Kristi who I have mentioned before on this blog is "going solo", and she has a new websight to showcase and sell her amazing bags and other cool stuff!! I have ordered about seven bags from her myself to give as gifts, and I can't say enough great things about her or her work! They are GORGEOUS, and we(Ava) get compliments every time we are carrying her bags. If you are looking for that "perfect" gift for Christmas, then please visit her websight and look around. She also does custom work, and will work closely with you on material,ribbon, etc.....whatever you would like!!!

Check this one out....A STROLLER BAG!!! SO cool!

A Diaper bag/wipes holder combo! Too Too cute!

What a darling changing pad!