Rainbows are always magical!

(This is from a few weeks ago, and I just now added the pictures, so now I can post it!)

Last night after dinner, we walked outside and there was this HUGE rainbow in the sky! You could see both ends of it. Ella kept saying "It's SOOO gorgeous!!" She loved it, and was even talking about it this morning. Unfortunately these pictures don't do it justice! Also, a picture of the drawing Ella made of it this morning :)

Cumming Country Fair 2008!

Last night we made our annual trip to the fair, and we had a BLAST!! Ella has been talking about going for a few weeks now. This year she was quite the ride warrior! she wanted to ride everything and anything-including the ones that were going upside down, which of course she was too short for. Earlier this week we were checking out the website for the fair, seeing what kinds of deals they had. She saw a picture of the swinging pirate ship, and was determined she was going to go on it. Well, she ended up being tall enough to ride it-so she and Reid went on it....and she LOVED it! Who knew? :) Last night was free admission night, so we got her the "All-You-Can-Ride" pass. We also let her pick one game to play. She chose the one where everyone wins a prize, and she won a little Clifford stuffed animal. :)

Cooper had lots of fun just riding around in the stroller taking in all the sights. He was just laughing away in his stroller. He thought the stuffed animals hanging at the games where quite funny! He also thought the turkey at the petting zoo was pretty funny too. :)

We ended up the night with what else, but some treats!! Ella got an ice cream cone (with sprinkles of course!) and I got a funnel cake. When she saw the funnel cake she said "I want that because it is yummier!" So, Cooper ended up with a sweet deal on that one. ;) Here are a few pics from our night!

Another response!

For those of you interested, here is a response from Johnny Isakson.

Dear Mrs. Greven:

Thank you for contacting me regarding S.1738, the Combating Child Exploitation Act of 2008. I appreciate hearing from you and appreciate the opportunity to respond.

I believe that the sexual exploitation of children through child pornography is morally reprehensible and punishing these offenders should be a priority for our government. To that end, I recently co-sponsored "Masha's Law", which was signed into law and will increase penalties for those who download child pornography off the Internet. S.1738 will give law enforcement officials the necessary tools to aggressively combat those guilty of exploiting children. By increasing the capacity of law enforcement in both state and federal capacities to locate and prosecute traffickers of child pornography, we can make great progress in keeping our children safe from dangerous predators. I will keep your thoughts in mind should this legislation come before me in the Senate.

Thank you again for contacting me.

Sincerely,
Johnny Isakson
United States Senator

A response...yes!

Here is a response to my e-mail I sent to Saxby Chambliss: (if you haven't already done so, please read my blog below and WRITE A LETTER!)

Dear Mrs. Greven :

Thank you for contacting me regarding protecting our children from child predators. It is good to hear from you.

Crimes against children are reprehensible and those who commit such horrendous acts should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. We should provide our law enforcement officers with the resources and tools they need to apprehend and convict these individuals. By increasing the capacity of law enforcement in both state and federal capacities to locate and prosecute traffickers of child pornography, we can make great progress in keeping our children safe from dangerous predators.

In the 109 th Congress, I voted for the "Adam Walsh Child Safety and Protection Act," (P.L. 109-248), which was signed into law in 2006. This law dramatically increased penalties for those who download child pornography off the Internet, including allowing those whose images were used in child pornography to sue those who downloaded their images. It also expanded the National Sex Offender Registry and required the Attorney General to use federal law enforcement resources, including the U.S. Marshalls , to assist state and local authorities in the apprehension of sex offenders who fail to register.

I also recently voted to provide additional resources under the Act, by increasing funding for the U.S. Marshals Service to track down convicted sex offenders who have failed to register as a sex offender as required by law and by increasing funding for U.S. attorneys to prosecute child exploitation and child pornography cases as part of Project Safe Childhood.

S. 1738, the "Combating Child Exploitation Act" was introduced on July 7, 2008, and placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar. This bill includes several provisions that would establish programs and authorize resources to aid law enforcement in combating crimes perpetrated against our children. I support the goals of this legislation and would like to see it go even further and allow law enforcement greater access to Internet service provider records that would help them trace online child pornography.

Our nation owes it to our children to provide them an environment in which to grow up free from those who wish to prey on them. I will continue to work to provide law enforcement with the tools and resources they need to combat child predators and help rid our communities of the malicious individuals.

Please let me know whenever I may be of assistance.

Girlie Hair-Dos

All Mother's of girls, I found the most awesome website for hairstyle ideas!! I was in search of ideas for Ella's hair for my sister's wedding this weekend, and stumbled across this site. The blog is called It's a Girl Thing, and has pictures of the hairstyles this lady does on her daughter, with step by step instructions. It's awesome! So, check it out when you get a chance!


And in case you were wondering how I decided to do Ella's hair-you'll just have to wait until after this weekend, and I will post pictures! :)

Breast Feeding Hero

Did anyone hear about this? I thought this was so amazing, and it really touched my heart has a current nursing Mom. Thought I would share with you all....What an amazing selfless woman!

We're off to see the wizard....

If you go for a walk around the neighborhood, and you hold hands with your 3 year old and sing while skipping "Weeeeeeeeeeeee're off to see the wizard......", apparently this is sooooo FUN and makes you the coolest Mom EVER in the eyes of said 3 year old. :)

On another note, today was my due date with Ella 4 YEARS AGO!! What?! 4 years....crazy.....

Mr. Funny Face

Well, get ready to start being bombarded with video clips of the kids!(Just for you Rick and Gayle!!) We just purchased a Flip Ultra Video Camera, which I have decided is a MUST have if you have kids! No tapes to mess with, just a simple, size of a digital camera piece of awesomeness! And it is SO easy to load on the computer and put on YouTube. I am sure Reid will give you more insight as to what it is and looks like, so now I will get to the goods!

Here's Cooper and his newest funny face...and Ella in the background getting a kick out of the whole thing and trying to make him laugh. :) Enjoy...then comment (hint, hint)

Awesome

I was skimming through "Praying God's Word Day by Day" by Beth Moore just now. My friend JJ gave it to me for my birthday (Thanks JJ!) :)

I found this great quote that I had to share:

"My God is huge and my God is able. If I don't get what I ask Him for, I know I'll get something bigger."

God is big! Help me to pray BIG!

Havin' Some Fun in the Sun!

This week the weather has been BEAUTIFUL, so we have been out enjoying it everyday. Here are some pictures I snapped from today. Ella played, while Cooper and I just watched and took it easy. :) The other little girl in the pictures is a little girl from across the street.

Free Books for your Kids!!

A few years ago, Dolly Parton started a reading program for kids that supplies them with a free, new book every month from the time they are born until their fifth birthday! How amazing is that? The program is called "Dolly's Imagination Library"

I had totally forgotten we had enrolled Ella in the program in the Fall when her school sent home a flyer about it. Yesterday, her first book came! It is "The Little Engine That Could". It is a hardcover book, and it is the "old school" version of it, with the original artwork-so awesome!! She was SOOO excited to get something in the mail. :)

I just recently signed Cooper up too!

So anyway, I had to pass on the awesome information. If you haven't signed your child up, go now and do it! It is free and totally worth it!!

If you are a Georgia resident, go to this website:

The Ferst Foundation





If you are NOT a Georgia resident, go here: www.dollysimaginationlibrary.com

These are quality books! Pass on this awesome information to your friends!

Family Fun!

This post is a few days late, but I wanted to share the pictures. On Saturday we went on a family outing to the playground. It was a BEAUTIFUL day! Sunny, low 70's and breezy. We had a lot of fun!

I love when we have the chance to do something fun as a family. It always puts me in a good mood, and everything seems right with the world. :)

Yummmmm

Want to totally nullify a 100 Calorie Pack of Graham Crackers?

Dip them in whipped french vanilla icing....

I think I have died and gone to Heaven!!


This segment of my blog brought to you by "One of the many (selfish) reasons I love nursing" ;)

Getting a Leg Up on the Day

This past week I have started hitting the gym at 5:30 a.m. instead of waiting until later and taking the kids with me. This is because Cooper is still in the stage where the time between waking up from a nap, eating, staying awake and then being ready to go down for another nap is a relatively small time frame. Last week the childcare workers at the gym kept having to come get me because Cooper wouldn't stop fussing. So, I bit the bullet and decided to get up early. Let me tell you, it has been SO great! It is really nice to go workout and not worry about who may be crying or whatnot while I am working out! I have also really enjoyed getting home about 15 minutes+ before any children are awake for the day. I am thinking this would be a great time to fit a quick quiet time in. Anyone have any great suggestions for a devotional book? Not "My Utmost for His Highest"-even the updated version I don't understand ;) Something that is quick and easy to do, but yet will fill me up for the day.

There is a new gym opening up by us soon, and I think I am going to try and pick up some early morning classes there! woo!

And on a totally different note-Ella had pretzels and milk for breakfast! She saw me putting pretzels in a bag for Reid's lunch this morning, and decided that is what she wanted. At first I hesitated and was about to say no, but I figured, what the heck? You gotta pick your battles, right? ;)

Girls (and a lil' guy) Day Out and a Fun Weekend

This past Saturday, in the midst of "Snow Apocolypse 2008", me and Cooper headed out with Leah, my Mom, Kelly and two other of Leah's bridesmaids-Tiffany and Stephanie- to go DRESS SHOPPING!! (Ella and Daddy had a date day, and went to a movie.) It was a blast watching Leah try on wedding gowns (and yes, she found 'the one'!), having lunch at some place other than McDonald's or Chick-Fil-A, and then going and trying on brides-BABES dresses-yes, you read that right ;) I tell you what, after being cooped up in the house for a week, this day was just what I needed! SO much fun!



Before I had left the house that morning to go dress shopping, we had decided to stay down in Alpharetta with my parents overnight, since Reid has to be at church at Butt-Crack-O'Clock on Sundays, and the weather was being unpredictable. Of course, then they cancelled church anyway, but we decided to go ahead and stay over anyway. It was fun-even Chris (Leah's fiance) stayed over in the basement. In the morning we had a big yummy breakfast, and then we just hung out all day. That night we celebrated Chris' birthday at Champps for some dinner and a cookie cake.

Here is a picture of a couple of sillies from that night :)




It was a fun weekend :) I posted lots of pictures on our website in the January section! Link is to the right.

It's a Great Day!

When you have one kid, it's a good day when you can take care of that child and get lots of stuff done around the house. When you have more than one, it's a good day when you can get out of the house at a predetermined time with both kids, all of their stuff, some of your stuff and hopefully all of your clothes on! ;)

Today has been a GREAT day for me! I started back to teaching my classes on Saturday. It was a good day to start because Reid was home to take care of both kids while I went off to teach the class. Today was my first class back where I had to take both kids with me, and actually arrive on time to teach an 8:25 a.m. class. I have to admit, I was definitely nervous about the logistics of it all. I am proud to say that I had both kids up, dressed, fed and out the door all by myself! I did have some help from my wonderful hubby getting everyone and everything loaded in the car. I even got there early!

My class went great! It felt so good to be back really working out again, and it was awesome to see everyone. After class I fed Cooper, and then we headed to Ella's dance class after that. After dance (which Cooper napped through-BONUS!), we headed home, fed everyone-and then both kids went down for a nap! Then I got to SHOWER and get ready ALL BY MYSELF! I mean really, does it get any better than this??! Oh wait, yes it does....then I actually got to get bills paid, the house straightened, and my grocery list finished!!! OH! and my new aerobic shoes that I orded from Nike with my Christmas money came today! I will save my rave of those for another post.

To top it all off, it is in the high 60's today, I have my windows open, cute shoes on, and I have time to sit here and blog while they are still sleeping. Seriously, all I need is some chocolate and the day would be complete! ;)

Ahhhhhhhhh.....

Cutting out the DC

As much as I hate to do it, I am cutting out the diet drinks out of my diet, and as many artificial sweetners as possible! And no, I am not going to start drinking the regular versions of it either! I don't drink a whole lot of it on a regular basis, but enough to hopefully make a difference.

My reason? One is pure vanity, to be honest. I was reading something a few weeks ago that stated one of the reasons we have fat is to filter out toxins from our body. The more toxins we consume (i.e. artificial sweetners, refined sugar, chemicals, hormones in meat/dairy, etc...) the more our body needs to hang onto that fat. So, out of sheer vanity and an attempt to rid myself of some fat in places I would rather it not be, I am cutting out the sweetners!

And the reason that should be my number one reason, but if we are being honest here it's not-just to be healthier!

There-I said it. Now you must keep me accountable!

Girls Night!

This past Sunday, Ella and I had a chance to have a girls night! We went and saw the Sawnee Ballet Theater's Production of "The Nutcracker". It was Ella's first time to see a ballet, and she loved it! She did great until about the middle of the second half, so we decided to head out. We had lots of fun!

I'm gonna be SOOOO sore!

I got to go back to the gym today! woohoo! I know I am going to be so sore tomorrow, but it's gonna feel good. ;) I don't start back to teaching my classes until after Christmas, so I have to get back in to shape! (insert crack of whip sound effect here)

Oh yeah....

It is 8:00. Both children are in bed. The house is picked up. The kichen is cleaned up. I have my jammies on, and I am sitting in my bed with my laptop and watching "Biggest Loser"...LOVE IT!! (Reid had rehearsal tonight ;) )