Ability.

The only difference between your abilities and others is the ability to put yourself in their shoes and actually try. -Loenardo Ruiz

If you live in the river you should make friends with the crocodile.- Indian Proverb

YOU CANNOT HAVE WHAT YOU DO NOT WANT.- John Acosta

Take the world as it is, not as it ought to be.- German Proverb

Natural abilities are like natural plants; they need pruning by study.- Francis Bacon

Life is a marshmallow, easy to chew but hard to swallow- Alberto Nikas

As my plate has been super full lately I have been thinking about what we have the "ability" to do in life and where that leads us too! Right now, I have the ability to love my family with my whole heart, live like no one else (If you do not listen to Dave Ramsey, you might be confused on this one), work my booty off and worship The Lord- no particular order... My abilities will hopefully help me lead a memorable life- one in which people will say, she did her best in all of the above...

You do not have to comment, I am just contemplative lately!

No stress...

Do not get stressed about all of the posts at once, you can spread your comments out over the course of a few days if you like.... HaHa. I just have had NO time lately and tonight I did, so I thought I might let you see what I have been up too. Hope you enjoy!

.:Leslee:.

Re- Done

She is complete and I love her so much. Her name is "Sas" as in short for Sassy. She is teal green, distressed and she is grateful for living in my little office. She is happy that some college kid did not buy her to adorn the front porch of his/ her college bungalow. She loves my office and this is where she shall live for many, many more years...

Beauty
Just a little distressing, I did not want to hurt her... She is sensitive and sassy...
And a little more
She does have some cracks in her, but Curt re-enforced her so she will not pinch my legs anymore and she does not creek anymore either... Someone left her outside to rot and then they took her to a Goodwill when they thought she was a goner. Good thing my snappy little hubby swept her up for me... She really is a diamond in the rough... and now she is all polished and pretty...

Here is the post from how she used to look- if you look closely you can see her real beauty shining through all that crud....

Busy, Busy Bee....

One of my college BFF's is having a baby girl. There is going to be a shower for her in 2 weeks and so I am working on a few projects for her. I already made *tHiS* for her and so the other day while Mason was down for a nap, I threw this little baby together... It is for the shower so people can write baby Emma Grace some notes for her to read when she grows up... I literally spent about $10 buckaroos on this- I already had most of the stuff. Of course I had to get some girlie themed paper and the little 8x8 book was $5.oo.


What a sweet name {Emma Grace} I can tell already she will be just like her Mamma- Look adorable, but she really is a firecracker when you get to know her...

Page #1
Page #2- places to write notes or put pictures after she is born.
More places to write sweet notes...
And somewhere for more sweet notes
A place for a picture or a birth announcement or whatever her Mamma desires...

Another place for a picture.
Somewhere for signatures of everyone from the shower, or pictures or the newspaper article from her birth...
More notes for Miss Emma Grace
Too sweet... maybe a note just from Daddy
And another place for a picture of Miss Priss, Emma Grace...

Emma Grace Reeder- scheduled arrival "The Day After Christmas 2008"

Hahahahahah...

These pictures make me laugh. They were taken a few Saturday's ago when we were having a lazy day.


This bear was giant. Mason really did not know what to think about him.... He barely fits in the chair... Honestly the bear was bigger than I am... Woa!
Here is our attempt at a self-taken family picture. Mason made it real special with some
gang-tastic signs for us. See me back there? I am there, just look for bangs and sunglasses..... Next time I am making Curt stretch his big old arm out there to try and get the picture....

Out and About...

Mammie, Mason and I decided to get out of the house tonight after I got off of work. Mason and Mammie had cabin fever really bad. It has been raining here and will be for the next few days {hurricane Fay}. We went to Marshall's and I found this...

So in love with these colors, they match perfectly in my living room. I know it may be weird to hang plates and dishes on the wall in the living room, but I like them and I just might. I did not even look at the prices to see what they cost, I just humbly took my sweet little pictures and went on about my way. I feared that if they were to cheap, I might buy them {i do not need them} and that if they were too expensive that would make me want them even more.... Why is it that I always want the more expensive things...? mmmm, i might need to get them and put them up for me for Christmas.... Yeah right!

* Thanks to all who sent Mammie your sweet thoughts and to those of you who are saying your prayers for her. She will feel so special when I show her all of the comments and when she knows that people all over are thinking about her and praying for her. For those who asked, Mammie is Curt's Grandmother, Mason's Great Grandmother.

.:Leslee:.

Sweet Mammie

It is no secret among our family that Mammie and I have had our words. Both of us being women who speak what we feel, this has been hard to work around sometimes for the both of us. Lately {past 6 months} things have been great and she has been wonderful helping us with Mason when we are in a bind. She has not been feeling at her best and we feared that something was wrong. Well, recently she made a trip to the doctor and she found out that she has Parkinson's Disease (Michael J Fox has this also). I am sure this is not so easy for someone who is so active and has never lived a slow day in her life.

So if you do not mind, please keep Mammie in your prayers, if you do not pray keep her in your thoughts. She is being very strong and wants no help, so typical of Mammie.

Mammie,

We love you. You are strong and such an inspiration to us all. Thanks for all you teach us and all you help us with, you are truly a gem.

love much,

Curt, Leslee & Mason

Blown Away!

I have been sitting on Kiki & Lele e-mail reading all of the comments from SITS readers. I am totally blown away. It is so surreal to have people enjoy and want the stuff you create. SITS is a fabulous blog and they are so amazing for having us as a feature for a WHOLE week. If you have not entered the give-a-way, make sure you do before Friday, you will be missing out if you don't!

Sneaky, Sneaky....

My friend Andrea who moved away to Atlanta has a blog, she is new to our world (haha)! She totally did not tell me that she had a blog. I caught her with my statcounter.... I am so sneaky! So, If you do not mind, hop on over to her brand- spankin NEW blog and giver her some love.... She is so much fun and just a hoot, I think you will like her!

Welcome to the blogging world Andrea!

New Friends.

Lately, I have been making new blog friends. I just wanted to take a minute to thank you for visiting my little corner of the world. Look around, and get to know me and my sweet little family better.

Also, I co-own a business with my gal pal Kacey, make sure you go on over to our blog and check us out. We are having a HUGE give-a-way this weekend with a FaBuLoUs and WoNdErFuL blog. Make sure you mark it down in your calendar so you can win a piece of Kiki & Lele jewelry.
Also, if you would like steal our cute button, the code is on my side bar underneath the button.

Throw Back.

These pictures were taken in January of 2006. This was before Mason (about 9 months). Wow, it feels like so long ago that these pictures were taken. We had been dating for a little over a year.... little did we know we had a little surprise in store for us.

Me and my love, what a great picture.
At the Nashville Predators game, hockey is a fun sport to watch.
I did not know then that I would have such a love for hand crafted goods. I bought this knitted toboggan one weekend in Gatlinburg. What a fun trip that was. We went to ski and it ended up being unseasonably warm, so I really did not need the cap, but it was a fun purchase anyways.

Ahhh memories. I cannot believe that on September 15th Curtis and I will have our 1 year wedding anniversary. Our un-traditional journey has been so great, I just cannot wait for many more years to come.

pssssst- I need help on an anniversary present... I hear one year is paper, maybe I will have Joe Girl make a sweet card for me to write in.

Jackson Family Reunion 2008

In Order: Mason, Pa Bill {Curt's Dad}, Elijah {Curt's Little Brother}, Me, Curtis and Granny
Mason and Pa Bill horsing around... So, Silly!
This was pretty much the scene for the day, Mason running and Elijah chasing... Elijah asked me, "Does this kid slow down?" He was so funny because he took it as his personal responsibility to take care of Mason and make sure he stayed in line. Elijah is only 6, but he is wise beyond his years.
Curt, Elijah and Mason playing in the lake. Mason had such a good time and he really loves to swim. I stayed out to take pictures {excuses...} I really do not like lakes too awful much. I do not mind jumping in from a boat, but there is just something about getting into water that looks like the picture below that keeps me out.... Ewwww.
I have some crazy long toes.... Thanks Dad!
The reunion was fun. I must say that I did not get to mingle much, having a (almost) 2 year old makes it challenging to have any sort of conversation... Oh well, there is always next year.

Stinkin blogger.

So, I was going to upload pictures from last weekends family reunion, but blogger is being difficult. So, I will just give an update on what we have been up to.

I have been missing my life, my son, my hubby, my blogger, my house work so much. I normally work a part time job and Curt and I alternate out on keeping Mason so he does not have to go to day care. It works out really well for our family. We are busy and we hardly ever see each other during the week, but we make it work. I work in an industry that has an extremely busy time of year (august). So for the month of August, I agreed to work full time to help out around the office. Thankfully, Mammie has been staying with us most of the month to help with Mason- she has been really great. The whole experience has been great. I know Mason gives her a run for her money. Well this week she cannot be here so Kacey, Angie and Nanna are helping us this week. I do not know how we would survive without such great family and friends. I really don't! Thank goodness that there is only 2 more weeks left. I have not done any regular house work in the past 2 weeks and strangely it is killing me. I cannot get back to my scheduled cleaning days.

New for me: I bought a used jogger this weekend at the consignment sale. I did not really need it, but I have wanted one since Mason was born. I thought if I bought it used then I would not feel so bad if I did not use it. Well, I have used it 2 times already. Curt, Mason and I went for a jog last night and then Mason and I went for another tonight. I am starting to feel a little sore, but I think my legs have been getting a pretty good work out from the bike- so that helps. Mason loves it because he can do great wheelies in it. He gets really excited! Just when I think I might want another kiddo, I think, how could I ever push two in one of these- that would be way hard!

New for Mason: If you know Mason, you know it is not new for him to be in love with anything that is loud and has wheels. He has been that way since formed his own opinion. But now he thinks everything is fast.

Example:

Me: "Mason, eat your dinner, please. We need to go and get in the bath!"

Mason: "Go, go, go- Mommy! Bath- Go, vroom!"

Me: "Silly boy, eat your bread please."

Mason : "Bread. VRRROOOOOM. go gO GO Bread...."

Bread: " flying across the room....."

The kid makes me laugh.

I promise to post some great stuff tomorrow- I have a ton of pictures so maybe I will sling a whole lot at you all at once... Check back, you never know with me!

Yawn.

I am so tired tonight. Normally I stay up until around 11pm or so- it is a great time for me to catch up on my blogging and normally make a post. Tonight, I have no energy- my body aches and my wrist has a weird pain in it. I would love to finish catching you up from last week and edit some pictures on picnik.com and then make a super cute post- but the truth is- "i just do not want too!" So why is it that I am making a stupid post anyways- well, I guess I feel compelled to. I am trying to make 5 posts a week and this is mine for tonight and for the rest of the weekend {maybe} for that matter.

But I wanted to remind you to hop on over to www.kikiandlele.com (hyper link messed up)and see what we have been doing. New post tomorrow with new stuff....

One Lucky Gal

I went to the mail box this afternoon and to my wondering eyes should appear..... MY PACKAGE--- FROM JOE GIRL!!!! I was so super excited. I ran in the house and opened them fast. Not before I could get some pictures.... You know me, always thinking of something to blog about.... Her sweet note. Let me just say that Joanne is a super nice lady who put a TON of thought into my cards. I actually did not believe that give-a-ways really worked for anyone but Kiki & Lele readers. I have won on another blog before, but never received the goods. What a scam- huh? Oh well, these cards were the best give-a-way prize ever....
I wish I could show you the actual quality and detail that went into making these cards...
Of course, I had to spread them out on my favorite table in the house next to my lovely cactus. I will never buy store bought cards ever again.
I am hooked on Joe Girl Cards. Hooked I tell you...
A BIG FAT Thank You to Joanne!

The Coolest Dad Ever

He rides a big {momo} with a really cool helmet and neet-o gloves...
Mason's favorite part about the weekend is getting to do (almost) everything that his Daddy does.
Mommy; "Mason, what does Daddy say?"

Mason: "Daddy- Vroom, Vroom- momo."

Mommy: "Does Daddy ride fast?"

Mason: "Wheelie- vrooom..."

It is very important to learn all of the parts before you become a pro.

Mason's favorite things and the things that make him SUPER happy are: Cars, trucks, school buses, dozers, motorcycles (most importantly- Daddy's), air plains, any kind of helmet and anything that may look like it belongs to Daddy! Oh yes, he is a Daddy's boy. Mason is pretty sure that his Daddy hung the moon. He loves to find the moon for me every night, he calls it the "mewn."

It is not hard....

... to make this little guy happy! Just give him a water hose a {wimmin} pool and some floating toys and PrEsTo! You have a happy little guy!
He is learning how to keep the water in the pool.... It is just way too much fun to spray all over the concrete, grill, steps, grass, Mommy, Daddy- sooo hard to resist.
Here he is taking a {dink} of the pool water. Fresh and so yummy. I definitely would not touch it after it has been in there for a few hours.
More squirting, he really loved the hose.

What makes your kiddos {happy} in the summer time...?

I just gotta know....

Happiness is...

Spending a lazy Saturday with your favorite boys in the world...
When your little man walks up to kids he does not know and hugs them... So loving.
When your almost 2 year old takes a nap for the first time in a week, even if it is in the car.

What makes you happy?

More to come tomorrow!

One Great Week!

Well, I have so many pictures and so much to tell you that I am now backed up for a week... How will I ever catch up???? Well, you need to stay tuned for some super fun pictures!

I swear, I am never taking off again. I tried to cut some stuff, but I have decided that we had such an action packed weekend, that it all must fit some-how...

I did want to leave you with a little quote...
"It is pretty hard to tell what does bring happiness; poverty and wealth have both failed." ~ Kim Hubbard

Thoughts? Tell me what brings you happiness and I will tell you what brings me happiness, but you will have to tune in every day and see.... Evil, yes, I know....

Car Show

It is the beginning of car show season in the Boro. Every Friday night all sorts of people with all sorts of cars venture over to a huge parking lot and everyone walks around and stares at each others cars... Curt and Mason are really into these cars shows, well anything that has to do with cars will work for them.... Me, I just went along for the nice weather and hoping to snag a funnel cake {yes they have them there.} But I opted out of the funnel cake, I was saving my calories for.... well who am i kidding, I just did not have any cash + I really did not need any fried goodness topped with powered sugar...

Here is Curt and Mason enjoying looking at all of the cars...
Angie and her crew went along with us, I am so glad because Alex was so good which was a really good influence on Mason.... Angie and Alex rode in the car with us, so when we came home she came over to chat... The boys needed a both, so we threw them in together. They totally loved it and since Alex is potty trained, I let him use some of Mason's big boy undies... We thought it would be cute to dress them a like... Here Alex is giving Mason a HUG!
Here is what Alex does when you tell him to smile for a picture....
And, here is what Mason does- BOYCOTT!