200th Post!!! Giveaway Post! :)

It's my bicentennial. :) Yep... I've posted 200 times on this blog. I know some of you are thinking, "Yes, and most of them have been in the past month... :)" You are probably kind of right, but hey... I love my blog.

Over the past 200 posts, my blog has changed. It's become a whole other extension of me... sometimes very good, sometimes very boring, sometimes happy, sometimes whiny, sometimes just downright random. It is totally me. It's become a place for me to vent all of my thoughts and feelings, not just post about my adoration for my babies, even though I still love to do that. It's a place where I can tell about my life to anyone who cares to read. I always think of it as the book I've never written. I hope that maybe one day my kids will love to read about all the things we did together and will realize how very much I love them and love my life.

So, I've contemplated what I should do for my 200th post. I feel like this should be big. Not life-changing like the list was. And nothing that requires that huge of a time commitment. I thought about seeing if I could run 200 miles before the end of the year. At the rate I was running before my ankle and the "possible gallbladder issue", I think I could do that without a huge change of lifestyle. Of course, that is if I ever get to run again now. 

I thought about posting "200 Things You May or May Not Know About Me" in a similar format of Dawn's "58 Things You Don't Know About Me." But, that's a lot of things and I'm not sure I'm able to come up with a list that would be that interesting. Not to mention that lots of the things Dawn listed would also be on mine. :)

I also considered doing something crazy like sending Facebook compliments/positive messages to 200 of my friends, but honestly, how sincere would I be after like the 50th one? I'd probably resort to copying and pasting things that I had already posted on other people's accounts because I would be tired of trying to think of things to say that were creative. lol. Plus, I'm sure many of my friends would be wondering what the heck I was thinking and why I was sending them this randomness.

And, my last thought was to post my favorite 200 photos from the past year. I am still thinking about this one and I might just hang on to it for the future... like maybe I'll do it on the 250th post. Or maybe I'll do an end of the year photo slideshow around Christmas time. Or maybe those will just happen to coincide and be around the same time and I could kill two birds with one stone. :)

So... what am I going to do? I really wanted to do something that would only require a one-day kind of commitment. Something fun and exciting and something to really celebrate with my readers. I love to sign up for giveaways. Most of my favorite blogs give things away. Most of them probably have some kind of endorsement deals with their giveaway partners. :) I'm sorry, but as important as each and every single one of you are to me and as loyal as each of you are to my blog, I still don't have that big of a following.

Leave it to my best friend and brain trust to help me figure this one out. :) Thanks, Cilla...

Drum roll...

Everyone who posts a comment, signs up for an e-mail subscription, or becomes a "follower" on Google (if you follow my blog another way, just let me know) by Sunday, August 1st at 6 p.m.(EST), will be entered into a drawing to win your choice of one of the following items:

1. A set of personalized cornhole bags, complete with a carrying bag (you choose up to two different bag colors and up to four different colors of thread)

2. A pillowcase dress for your favorite little girl (sized between 6 months and 12 years), a pair of ribbon flip-flops, and matching hairbows

(Fabric is at my discretion, but if this is selected, I will do my best to find fabric that fits your needs)

   

3. Two jumpers/rompers for your favorite little man (sized between 6 months and 3T)

(Fabric is at my discretion, but if this is selected, I will do my best to find fabric that fits your needs)

4. T-shirt and/or onesie with name and/or design embroidered on it (all sizes)

5. A pair of ribbon flip-flops with your favorite team colors and name (Adult or child)

All of these will be handmade (or sewing-machine made) by yours truly. Samples of each are shown below. Remember, you get registered to win these by signing up to follow my blog, get an e-mail subscription of the blog, or just leave a comment on this post... all before Sunday, August 1st at 6 p.m. The winner will be announced that night and contacted via e-mail.

Two winners will be selected. :)  

Here are some more cute pictures of the kids in their outfits! :) 

   

One more activity... :) Then my giveaway!

One quick update (since I have failed to let everyone know!)... I had my ultrasound this morning on my stomach. My next appointment is on Tuesday to see what's going on. The impression that the ultrasound tech gave me was that it was indeed my gallbladder, but since he couldn't give me a definitive answer, we'll just have to wait and see. So... until Tuesday... I wait impatiently again. :)

I realized shortly after posting my "Summer Activities" post this morning that I had left out a great time at the Bluegrass Fair! How could I forget? Well, because I didn't have any pictures on my camera... that's how. :) Cilla needed a model for some photos she wanted to place at Hopscotch (a local children's boutique) and she asked if Bailey would be willing to help. We quickly agreed... we love getting the photos when we do these things and Bailey really loves being up all over Hopscotch's walls. 


It worked out that we were able to go to the Bluegrass Fair. One, Cilla had been wanting to try out the fair for photos... and two, we wanted to go and spend some time with Rebecca and Joseph at the fair. 


So, we all went. :) 


The kids had a complete blast. I think we were there from like 8 p.m. until after 11. They all enjoyed the rides. Joseph wasn't a fan of the rides that went high in the air. Jake wasn't a fan of the Haunted House, which was filled with bad guys. lol. Bailey was a fan of everything. She loved it all. Naturally. :) Jake did surprise us in how much he enjoyed the high-speed rides, especially the ones that went in circles, like the Tilt-A-Whirl. He and I rode it together and I don't think I've laughed that hard in years. Jake even looked at me at one point and said, "This is fun..." When I agreed that it was fun, he said, "Stop screaming then. It's not scary." lol. I was a fan of the funnel cakes... just another glowing example of the greasy food I love. :)


Anyway, here are some of Cilla's photos from that night. I have to say that we have some pretty cute kids to photo, but Cilla is amazing. My mom called me after seeing these and said, "Either the kids are getting cuter or Cilla is just getting that much better. These are awesome." 


Here's a link to her blog about it, too. It's a good post... it really shows how "wonderful" of a model Bailey is... she takes it ultra-serious. :) 

Summer Activities

Well, since the countdown to my 200th post is now on... and everyone (who is anyone - :) ) is just dying to see what the giveaway is, I had best get to blogging. :)

This blog is one that I've been "planning" for a few weeks. Basically, ever since I decided that I simply can't do a blog on each and every activity that we've done this summer. That is, of course, unless I blog for 24 hours straight or I somehow manage to get my kids to sleep for an entire week so that I don't have any new things to add to my list of things that "need to be blogged." :)

This one is the "Summer Activities Blog." It's mainly all going to be photos, so bear with me and just ignore it if you don't want to see pictures of my kids. :)

First... beach photos. I know. I should have already be done with vacation photos and posts. I am, kind of. I just realized when I was looking back over my blog the other day that I never posted any of the actual "beach photos." So... here ya go...

Now that I am "officially" done with our vacation (boo...), I will move on. :) 

Immediately after our vacation, we went right into girls All-Stars T-ball. The Pink Panthers were great... even if they only won a scrimmage game. They played against all boys and really gave a few teams a run for their money. Bailey LOVED it. She loved wearing pink, playing with all girls, and getting to socialize. We literally came home from vacation on Saturday morning and played two t-ball games that night at about 6. Exhaustion. 

Some cute pics: 

Shortly after getting back to "normal," the kids and I joined up with Rebecca and Joseph and took a day trip to the Newport Aquarium. My pictures are not that great. I'm too dependent on Cilla. lol. Despite the fact that Jake and Joseph talked the entire way there about going to see the sharks, they were terrified when we got there. They acted like little girls... shrieking and hiding behind us every chance they got. We were cracking up... they just fed off of each other. It was pretty funny. 

And, then there was the 4th of July holiday. That was the weekend that I ran my first 5K and it was a great weekend. My parents, Colt, and Emily came down and Paul, Rebecca, and Joseph joined us. The guys golfed and we laid by the pool. We ate delicious food (ribs, yum). And, then, we spent the entire next day at the lake. Swimming. Tubing. Fun for all. 

All big and bad...

Jake drinking pop, which is his favorite thing to do with his Mimi... 

Poppa showing Bailey where he's going to throw her. :)

Not so big and bad now, huh?

Bailey's first time tubing...

Jake was scared she'd get thrown off and watched her just like this the entire time she tubed.

She even tubed by herself... using thumbs up for "ready" and a hand in the air for "stop." She was an old pro in no time. 

So, after that weekend, our next adventure was Holiday World. Before I post a couple of photos, let me say this. We spent most of our day in the water park there. I had planned to take photos when we went to the amusement park side. Well, it rained. I didn't want to get my camera wet. Thus, very few pictures... and even fewer good pictures. :) We had a great time, despite a little rain. We were exhausted coming home. My daughter and her daddy had a blast on the big slides, while Jake and I enjoyed the wave pool and the lazy river. Win/win for each of us. :) 

Which brings me to now... 

This weekend was a planned camping trip, but it is being postponed. We're still working out the details of what we'll do instead. Not much is left of our summer before school starts. :( I'm kind of sad. I have a lot of other things I wanted to do with the kids this summer, but we really haven't had the time to do them all. But, we've had a great summer nonetheless... and we'll make the most of our weekends until the cool weather of fall moves in (which means football - woo hoo!). :)