Kiwi Lips

Wally World has kiwi on sale this weekend so Mommy and Daddy decided to get a few. Dr. Oz had an episode discussing all the benefits of this special fruit. As an afternoon snack Daddy cut up the fruit and presented it to the kids. Since Mommy wasn't home yet, Daddy put on some cartoons and left the to watch TV, while he prepared dinner. After a short time, Langston comes running into the kitchen screaming and spitting. Soon after Saraia comes in crying as well. Mommy makes it home and after some investigation we find out the kids' lips were burning. Aparently some people have a mild allergic reaction to the sweet goodness of the kiwi. After knowing everything was fine. We all laughed and gave the kids some benedryl. Needless to say, they won't go near a kiwi again.
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NEW FUND RAISING QUEEN ON THE BLOCK

Family, Kudos to Ketora who has now given new meaning to fund raising for State Farm. On Friday she hosted a silent auction for her team and together they raised more than $2000.00 for the March of Dimes. I would like to thank all of her co-workers who have endured under her stress and came through for her--I thank you and congratulate you all. The team has now exceeded their goal by $2000+. Ketora met the initial goal of $1,500.00 in only one month with her zest and drive and projects. YOU GO GIRL!!!!!!!!!! Your mom and dad are PROUD. Thank you family and friends for your contributions and support.

Ski Cast

Mommy and Daddy did have a great time skiing, even though Daddy tried to push the envelope and ate it more times than he would like (the Winter Olympics must have got to him)!! Anyway, daddy was still feeling pain in his left thumb a week after the trip. After seeing a doctor and a specialist the prognosis is a sprained thumb ligament (its common among skiers and is actually called ski thumb). So the thumb must be kept still, because ligaments take a long time to heal (6+ weeks to be exact). This is a pain in the butt, but necessary because your thumb is pretty dang important!! So praise God for your thumbs and wish Daddy a full recovery!

Triple D #3

We had a great time as always in ATL. We love to visit Grandma, because it allows us the opportunity to do so many things that we don't get a chance to do in Jackson, TN. One treasure from the trip were the restaurants. Mommy and Daddy love food (no surprises there)!!! We love to eat it, and we even love to watch it being prepared. In most cases the TV usually finds itself on the FoodTV<http://www.foodnetwork.com/> network, and most likely on the show Diners, Drive-ins. And Dives<http://www.foodnetwork.com/diners-drive-ins-and-dives/index.html> hosted by Guy Fieri<http://www.guyfieri.com/>. This show gets at Daddy's love for mom and pop spots, as it focuses on these treasured eateries throughout the country!! Mommy and Daddy have agreed to eat at one of the Triple D's when traveling. Just so happened that we had the chance to eat at two places: Silver Skillet<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=314MHUa6GUM> (breakfast) and Marietta Diner<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98kJTSZ1_E8> (dinner). Food was great and puts us at 3 Triple D experiences, with more to come!!

Celebrating My Birthday "StateFarm" Style

I had an awesome birthday! I got to work and had a very nice surprise waiting on me!

We always try to decorate each others cubes and make them as annoying as possible and they definitely succeeded, lol! There was confetti everywhere and it was definitely a pain cleaning it all up but I was pleasantly surprised. Along with the decorations, were floral arrangements, cards, balloons and an Edible Arrangement from Mommy!

What a day... Happy 26th Birthday to Me!!!

Josh @ 3 Months

Josh, your mommy said that you are very friendly and love to smile and these pictures express just that. I'm sure all of your Auntie's, Uncles, and big cousins are anticipating meeting you, but until then we will continue to update the blog with your pictures. Love you Josh...!!!

As my campaign is coming closer to an end, I encourage everyone to donate that have not done so already. As I expressed before, I know in these economic times that it's hard to round up the money to give to different charities. Because of this I ask if you have anything, please know that every little bit counts and would be greatly appreciated. If not, I understand and ask that you continue to pray for me and give your support as I try to reach my goal for the further research being done so that all babies be born healthy!!!

The deadline to donate online will be April 5th! Please remember when donating online to you use the online link to print your receipt so that you can have it to use for your 2010 Tax Deduction for a Charitable Donations. If you send your donation to me, I will go in manually, enter it and send your receipt to you.

Thank you in advance....

"Cutest Baby Contest"

ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL EVENT!!!

I decided to have a baby contest for my latest fundraising event. I have several mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, and grandparents in my department who have children and were willing to participate to get bragging rights for "Cutest Baby!" I asked them to decorate baskets/buckets with the childs picture and whomever had the most donated money at the end of the week would get the title of "Cutest Baby" and a $25 gift card to the greatest store ever, TARGET!!!

I am proud to say that this simple event raised $502! It was instant gratification and a reminder that simplicity is always key...!

NBA ALL-STAR 2010 in Big D

I had such a good time in Dallas with my college roommates. It is always great to get out and see a new part of the country/world. It was the first time I had been in Dallas or Texas and I must say that the saying is true. Everything is bigger in Texas. We hit some clubs, some bars, the streets, the malls, and saw some celebs. Standard All-Star type stuff, but it was so cold in Dallas the crowd was definitely not out and the feel of the event was not there (like it was in Vegas). Anyway, the new Cowboys stadium is an awesome venue. Speaking of which I, along with 108,000 others now hold a world record for most attendance at a basketball game!! Didn't know that was in my bucket list, but I'll take it.

"Hugs and Kisses"

I decided to take it back old school with one of my March of Dimes fundraisers. I chose candy-grams like high school days and charged $1 for them. My theme was to give your FAVORITE State Farm employee a "Hug and Kiss...!"

I purchased Hershey's Hugs and Kisses and created these cute candygrams! I started out making 68 cause I figured money is tight and people wont really by them for $1, but I was sadly mistaken. I sold out of the first 68 on my first day of pre-order sales. Needless to say, I ended up creating 238 of these things which was an automatic $238 and instant gratification for me! Hard work definitely paid off!

MEMPHIS GETS ITS NORMAN ROCKWELL MOMENT

Memphis woke up this morning to a Winter Wonderland. We have been a little jealous of Jackson and all its snow, but we got our due this morning. If things go as predicted, we won't see the schoolhouse until Wednesday. Now those of you who teach and go to school, don't be jealous, we will be making up all these days while all of you are at home chillin' in June.

March for Babies...

Family, as most of you know, I work for State Farm Insurance and we are very well known around the country for our outstanding insurance and contributions to the community! This year, I was selected to sit on the committee as Team Captain of my depatment for the "March for Babies" campaign that kicked off today! Taking on this task has been an honor as well as a challenge for me. I have several different fundraising ideas that I'm putting into action here in Murfreesboro, but I wanted to include my family as well. Because we are all so spaced out, I wanted to challenge you all to participate: 1. to make sure that my first year being on this committee won't be a FLOP and 2. to help the babies. Located at the top of the blog is a "March of Dimes Badge" You can click on this tool not only to access the website but to make donations towards my teams $1500 GOAL!

PLEASE, Join me in helping these little ones that can not help themselves by donating, every little bit counts...

Happy Birthday DAD!!!

We had a great time celebrating Dad's birthday at the Grizz-Lakers game. We laughed and cheered as the Grizz pulled out a close one in the final seconds!! Happy Birthday DAD!!!

My Surprise...

I had an extremely long day at work and couldn't wait to get home to relax with my son, Pee Wee... to my surprise, Pee Wee had been relaxing all day without me. When I say relaxing, I mean, Mommy left the gate open in a rush to work and Pee Wee had the house to himself. When I arrived this afternoon and opened the door, he greeted me and my heart dropped deep in the pit of my stomach. I yelled "how did you get out..." Pee Wee looked at me like, "cause you left the gate open retard!" I walked into the house deep in prayer and to my surprise, he was a perfect puppy! The house was exactly how I left it. He didn't try to get on the couch and had no accidents, I guess I'm a good Mommy after all. He knew EXACTLY WHAT NOT TO DO!!!

Let's Keep In Touch

After speaking with brother dearest and getting to do a little blogging of my own on their family site this weekend, I got what Romian would like to call the "Blog Bug!" We decided that a family blog would be a lot of fun. We are an extremely close family but distance keeps us from staying updated on the little things that we miss throughout the year. I miss you all dearly and I hate it that we are apart this much, but through this blog, I think it will help to keep us connected... Let's start blogging!