Snapshot 2013

Reflecting back on 2013 was a happy occasion for me. Here's our year:

Jan-

1.  Husby turns 26!! 

2.  I realize how IN LOVE I am with my pre-k kiddos this school year!

3.  My poor Turtle is diagnosed with RSV. This sets off his continuous battle with viscous asthma. We have our first ER visit at St. Francis Hospital. 

Feb- 

1.  I sell my Explorer (I MISS IT EVERY DAY) and go from super cool to minivan mom. 

2.  We get robbed while we are asleep in our house- this prompts Husby to get our gears rolling to move out of Tulsa.  

3.  As tradition seems to go, I am yet again sick on Valentine's Day. I actually missed a whole week of work. My gall bladder blessed me with the worst five day diarrhea of my LIFE. 

4.  We make an offer on a house in Berry Hill!

March-

1. We close on our first house purchase as a married couple!

2.  We celebrate our first wedding anniversary!

3.  I pretty much crawl into a hole and wait to die. Gall bladder has to go. 

4.  We move in!

5.  Bestie Anne AND Bestie Houston both have sweet baby girls!

April-

1.  Husby decides he wants to pursue his college career in the fall!!

2.  I FINALLY get my wretched gall bladder removed. Ironically they didn't tell me before the surgery that they puff your abdomen full of air...when I woke up I freaked out on my parents because I thought they did the wrong surgery and made me pregnant. Hahaha!

May-

1.  I celebrate my first Mother's Day with my 'complete' little family!

2.  I join Weight Watchers! 

3.  I tearfully say goodbye to one of the BEST group of pre-k kiddos ever! I also panic and cling to Ms. Mansker because I know she is leaving to teach and she is all I have ever known teaching pre-k. And she laughs at my jokes!!!

4.  My immediate family and I go to Texas!! So much fun!

June-

1.  We celebrate my Grandmother's life! And miss her SO so so much. 

2.  I am able to swim in a regular bathing suit! First summer in TWO years to not be a beached (preggo) whale!

3.  Our 1 1/2 year old daughter potty trains herself. Trust me, it's because she is as stubborn as her daddy!

July- 

1.  I chop off my hair!

2. Bestie Houston visits and our kids bond beneath the water park in the OKC Zoo!

3.  Bee experiences her first fireworks. It was brutal. 

Aug-

1.  Husby starts his first official semester of college!!!

2.  I anxiously await to meet new new precious Loves at school!

3.  Bestie Aide enters my life. And I hope she never leaves!

4.  I fly solo all the way to NM to see my sweet cousin marry the girl 

of his dreams. And I only panicked 3 times! (In flight...not bc of the wedding!!)

5.  My precious, beloved Granddaddy becomes quite sick. 

6.  My 'baby' Turtle turns 1! (And I spend the birthday afternoon with Bee at Ergent Care bc she has a horrendous UTI). 

7.  Bestie Aide and I fall head over heels in love with our new group of kiddos!  Seriously sweetest kids!

Sept-

1.  My Grandaddy peacefully passes away. It was an honor to be a small part of his almost 100 years of life. 

2.  Bestie Red and I get to see Beth Moore and her Living Proof Ministries Live in Tulsa!! I got to MEET her! I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior! 

3.  Bee turns 2!!

4. I attend church for the first time in 7 years!

Oct-

1. I THINK I am about to turn 28. Turns out I can't count and I literally lost a year of my life because I turned 29. Seriously thought I was 27 for about 8 months. 

2.  Favorite day of the school year- Jammie Day!

3.  Sweet MIL helps me take our Loves trick-or-treating for the first time in our new subdivision. Bee was a cat. Turtle was a pumpkin! Daddy ate all of their candy!

Nov.-

1. My parents go on their first vacation without 'children' for the first time in 29 years! 

2.  I get baptized with Bestie S!

Dec.-

1.  We have several snow days! Yay!

2.  Celebrate Bestie Aide's birthday with bowling. To my amazement my high score was 35. 

3.  My Husby and 1 yr old were in a scary car accident! Luckily. They were able to 'walk' away. But I could do with NOT following another ambulance to St. Francis again!

4. Best Christmas ever! So much love!! (And our Littles were so blessed by everyone's generosity!)

5. Turtle has a double ear infection, upper resp. infection, 2 asthma attacks and a sinus infection. (God bless Dr. Ross!)

6.  Husby successfully completes his first semester witha 4.0! 

7.  We rock in the New Year in our pj's and popcorn!

I hope y'all had as blessed a year as we did!  We had many things to be thankful for!

XOXO Summer

Feeding the Soul

Dearest followers, 

   I am about to begin a very exciting journey in my life! At church, we were challenged to begin the New Year by fasting to bring us closer to God. 

Instantly I knew the fast God wanted me to complete. It's not one of food or 'caffeine'. God put it in my heart to compete a Media Fast. Instead of checking Facebook every seven minutes, I can read from my Bible app or do a devotional. I can pray. Or be a decent mom and play more with my children! 

The fast will last 21 days, starting tomorrow. I will be deleting the Facebook and Pinterst app from my phone and pray I don't suffocate from not 'being social'. After 21 days I will download them again. 

I feel God wants me to share my experience with y'all so I will continue to blog. And yes, I will post the links on Facebook. 

I'm so excited to see what God has in store for me! Please pray for me that I might gain everything I can from the next 21 days!

How will you kick off the New Year?

XOXO Summer

Cat's Meow

This is what happens when Bestie Aide and I find things on Pinterest.... 

Thank you, Elmo. You have made my week!

XOXO Summer

Cake Plate

I bought $1 plate, $1 sundae dish, and $1 krazy glue at Dollar Tree. And this is what I came up with!!

Best $3 ever!!

XOXO Summer

On the 13th day of Christmas...

I don't really remember Bee's transition from nursery to 'kid room'.  Maybe that's because I looked like Free Willy and I was 483 months pregnant with Turtle and I knew we only had a small window of time before her brother came to kick her gracefully out of her crib...By small window I meant a sliver of a crack of a porthole...

That being said, it is time to transition Turtle.  We will be ordering the 'big boy' bed parts for his crib soon...(anyone have a full size mattress they don't need?!).  He got oh so many wonderful toys during Christmas and no where to put them...Bestie Aide and I accepted Mission Bookshelf this morning!

After fueling up at IHOP, my car, AND Arbys, I was ready! 

We hit up almost every furniture thrift store/antique store in the Tulsa area.  And found some very exciting things.  But no bookshelf.

I feel the need to also explain my desire for tacky Christmas attire.  Ever since our Ugly Sweater Contest at work, I have been on the lookout for ridiculousness.  SO HAS BESTIE!  The minute she walked out the door she handed me this beautiful gem!  Look at the horrendousness!  We wore our bags allllllll day.  :)



One shop we went into was so fascinating!  It was an antique store and nothing in the place was under $300.  (We played Price is Right amongst the antiques worth more than our cars.)

Check out this gem!



Every time you turned around you found something new!  Each 'display' was really a small room modeled to look like a living room, bed room, whatever.  We found some scary rooms!



Dead, smashed, 'preserved' birds....who decorates with that?!  Then I looked over and saw the HOLLOW turtle shells and I had to walk away.  Quickly.



Pointy Stool? 

We were getting nervous about the establishment when we saw THIS!



Pipe holder?  Goat hoof?  Pick one?!

Fear not my friends!  We came across some awesome bedroom layouts.  I became a unicorn and this deer's feet came off....so they glued them back by his head.  (Normal, right?)



Lastly we discovered every tree decorated was themed.  Then we looked closely at some of the ridiculously overpriced ornaments.  And noticed something... 

Yep.  Rudolf, the space cadet!  Yours for only $69.99.  Wait, the lady said they were half price...What a bargain!

Bestie Aide, adventures with you are so much fun!  Ironically we gave up and went to WalMart.  I found a $17 bookshelf and bins for Turtle's trains at Dollar Tree!  Who knew crap hole Walmart would save the day?

What did you do the day after Christmas?
XOXO Summer

Crazy for Christmas

Christmas is a time for family, friends, and tacky sweaters.  There are so many Christmas faux pas, I feel the need to discuss most of them. 

Starting with a new favorite of mine...sweaters.  Today was Ugly Christmas Sweater day at work.  And I rocked it.  I do not win at a lot of things in life...ironically today was my day to shine!  Who (whom?) ever created such a celebratory occasion should have their own national holiday.  Seriously.

And have you checked out Pinterest sweater ideas lately?  I could be a millionaire if I managed to create and sell all of the ridiculous ideas!



 Next I want to bring up a topic not many Oklahomans experience.  Fruit cake.  It is very prominent in Europe...many people give it to others during the holiday season as a hostess gift.  It's CRAP.  No wonder many Europeans are skinny...they are subjected to hard crappy 'cake' with dried bits of yuck crammed in it.  No thanks.  I'll take the chocolate pecan turtle pie with a butter based crust.  And cool whip.  American it UP.  Oh, are those spandex pants?  Excuse me, I need a minute...

Then there's the iconic Christmas Card and 'letter' people send out every year to brag about how amazing their family is and what fantastic feats they have accomplished.  "Jimmy won the Nobel Peace Prize in FIFTH grade.  Jane got into Princeton on a full scholarship and she just celebrated her thirteenth birthday".  News flash.  No one cares.  Christmas letters should be renamed Competition Crap.  If I wrote a letter this year it would read something along the lines of

"Summer survived a near death experience with her gall bladder.  Luckily she walked away from that one. 

Miraculously the cat is still alive. 

Turtle and Bee haven't punched each other to death.  Bee potty trained herself in two days...still poops in a diaper.  Turtle cries whenever Mommy leaves the room and can outeat his mother and father in one setting.

Husby is still 6'3 and quiet as can be.  The End."

Don't even get me started on the cutesy matchy matchy outfits families manage to shove themselves in before a fake smile for the photographer.  We are lucky to be wearing clean clothes that aren't inside out or a siblings/spouse's.  Like I say.  It's survival of the fittest in the Bass household.

PS- I have NO idea who these kids are...I google imaged it!

Advent calendars.  I was the fat kid that tore through the thing in three minutes devouring the little squares of chocolate not even bothering to count the days...Then I felt Jesus or Santa or SOMEONE shafted me because I had NOTHING to eat everyday til Christmas like my mannerly, calm sister.  She was the good kid who had self control and patience.  I just ate.

I must tell you a story about fudge sicles.  Remind me...that will be another blog for another day.  But it's a good one.  I promise.



I digress.  Advent calendars need timers and locks.  Just sayin.

Cars dressed up like reindeer.  WHAT?  Are you high?  That is the stupidest thing I have ever EVER heard of.  And people pay money for them!  That, my friends, is what is wrong with America.

 

 

I'm sorry but I just can't handle it. 

Unnatural, disturbing blow up/inflatable lawn décor. 

  

Not cute.  Not normal.  Scary.  And the creepy way the characters' faces move in the wind but NEVER change their expression.  They just mindlessly float over grass and attempt to look festive.  Somewhere in the North Pole, Santa Claus has a bottle of Jack Daniels with his face is in his hands.  People will pay the electricity bill to blow up creepy Christmas crap but they won't hang lights?!

My last rant is more one of intrigue.  Elf on the Shelf.  My Loves are only 2 and 1...too young to grasp the concept.  But I love looking at ideas on Pinterest.  But some ideas are just....well....insane.  These ideas are those adapted from Martha Stewart Moms who drink too many Starbucks Chai Lattes and live in Yoga Pants.  If this is you stop reading and just move on to another post.  I don't want to upset you...

   

I clearly have some Christmas work to do!

Feliz Navidad!  What Christmas Crap do you do?
XOXO Summer

Facebook 5

I liked Becca's status...so she gave me the number 5...5 things about myself. Ready, go! 

 1. I loved my short hair but I am trying to grow it out. I miss long hair so much I literally dream about straightening it and I wake up and then BAM, I have a mullet...  

2. You know when I'm really happy because I snaf. I snort when a I laugh. It's life changing. (And obnoxious...) 

 3. I love LOVE my job but I am not a patient person by any means. Teaching 4 and 5 year olds has definetely been an eye opening experience!

 4. Try as I might, I do NOT have a green thumb. I have even killed a cactus before. Don't ask me how, I still have no idea. 5. I have two children. Here's the crazy part. My due date with my oldest was 10/10. But I had her 4 weeks early on 9/21. With my yougest my due date was 9/9. I also had him 4 weeks early on 8/21. So they are literally 11 months apart. And the same size... 

 What have you learned? 

XOXO Summer

Snowed In

I have learned some things about myself in these past few snow days...we moved into a more 'rural' setting, thus making leaving our humble abode quite a challenge. The road into our cul de sac is.....a downward slope to put it mildly... 

So I spent the first three snow days holed up with two 'turtledoves'. Lord help me, there is not enough Pinterest posts or Cupcake wine to get me through another blizzard. 

 I love my children. But if Bee attempts to flush her brother down the potty again, she is going to learn early what an ultimate swirly is. 

 I thought laundry magically appeared on the floor and by the machine and everywhere but NOT where it was supposed to be (closet, drawers, etc.) I was wrong. I did 8 loads in one day....EIGHT LOADS and I still had laundry to do the next day! HOW is that possible? 

 Seeing as how all of the supermarkets ran out of staples like bread and milk, I took it upon myself to munch on the not so popular snacks. I felt an obligation. Hey, I eat a lot anyways. Now I'm stuck in a house with no other adults to monitor me? Yeah, I'm going to eat. And I ate. In fact, I ate an entire bag of mini marshmallows in one day. I know, it surprised me too! 

 Getting crafty and gutsy do NOT mix. I turned out several successful projects over the span of a few days. However my confidence grew at an alarming rate and was overestimated. Would you like an example? I knew you would. 

 I still had the ridiculous pumpkins by my door from Thanksgiving. Do not judge, I'm a working mother and I'm completely unorganized. I digress. 

 Not wanting to 'waste' the pumpkins (Husby convinced me that they were way past the point of using for pies or seeds...), I decided to paint the rounded gourds to look like Christmas ornaments.  

Yup. Sure did. And they look....well....they look like someone just painted pumpkins...not the cutes-y vision I had in my head. 

 It's a safe bet TPS knew I needed to get back into the working groove. Bestie Aide knew instantly when I picked up a pair scissors that were almost twice my height...to cut string.

 How did you survive Blizzard 2013? XOXO Summer