This week's theme for HoT is Heads: Direction.
In which direction should I take this? I definitely have no sense of direction (just ask my husband). I guess I'm going to have to rely on my good pal, Youtube, to come up with something worth watching...
The following didn't exactly qualify, although it's a country video that is so bad that it's funny (and I do like country music). Check out Billy Currington's video for "Good Directions".
This week's theme is Heads: Tip or anything that rhymes with tip.....Love the new banner Vixen!How about zip...zip it...zip it good....I have always loved this clip from Austin Powers.If you want to participate in this meme, you should go to the all new Heads or Tails site.
This week the theme for Heads or Tails is Heads: Fool. With April Fool's Day tomorrow, I'm busy trying to think of a way to trick Chris. I'm the more gullible one, so odds are I'll be the one getting fooled this year.
My grandmother used to get me every year, calling me before school. Now why would she be calling me at 7:30 in the morning??? But, I'd fall for her antics every time. One time she told me her old dog was going to have puppies. Another time it was that the tooth fairy had visited after the same dog lost a tooth. I told you I was gullible.
If you want to participate in HoT, visit the all new home here. But, you should also visit Barb over at Skittles' Place.
This week's theme for Head's or Tails is Heads: Anything Green...
Here's a St. Patrick's Day Card from Cameron to all of you! Sorry I haven't been commenting as much lately, but I just haven't had very much computer time. This week I will return all comments!
Click on play to watch it.
This week's theme for Heads or Tails is: Tails - List 7 Things from a category of your choice. If you'd like to participate and join the Heads or Tails Blogroll, head on over to Skittles' Place.
Here are my 7 favorite television shows (of the moment):
1. "Breaking Bad" (AMC) - This show is highly original and the acting is incredible. I never knew that Bryan Cranston (Dad from Malcolm in the Middle) had these kind of acting chops. If you haven't seen it, you can probably watch back episodes 'On Demand'.
2. "Big Brother" (CBS) - This season is especially dumb, but it's a guilty pleasure of mine.
3. "Jericho" (CBS) - Jericho is my husband's favorite, but I've gotten into it, too. Government conspiracies, nuclear weapons, survival, vaccine shortages....you get the picture.
4. "Dexter" (Showtime and CBS) - I'm waiting for Season 3 to start on Showtime. I've said it before, but I think it's one of the most creative, well written, shows out there. I haven't watched the edited version, which airs Sunday nights on CBS, but I can't wait to see what happens next!
5. "The Shield" (FX) - I'm waiting for the new season to start in September '08? We started watching this only two years ago, so we missed a lot. But the past two seasons have been excellent.
6. "Big Love" (HBO)- Bill Henrickson makes polygamy almost seem OK! Well, not really. But it's very entertaining to see how this arrangement would work in modern-day America.
7. "Friday Night Lights" (NBC) - I don't know where this show went...maybe it stopped due to the writer's strike, or maybe the season ended. At any rate, I really enjoy this one.
This week's theme for Heads or Tails is Heads: Love. When I think about love, I think about how lucky I am in life. I am so proud to be Chris' wife, and Cameron's mom. Here is a shot from our wedding. It's the only digital shot that we have. It's hard to believe that we have married for almost nine years already!
I'm so proud of Cameron. This is a shot of him when we were finally able to bring him home from the NICU. He has come so far!!!
Here he is playing in his pirate ship. As you can see, he loves to throw everything overboard!
To participate in Heads or Tails, head on over to Skittles' Place.
This week's Heads or Tails theme is Heads: First or Tails: Last. To participate, head on over to Skittles' Place.
Here's the famous Abbott and Costello skit: Who's on First?
This week's theme for Heads or Tails is Heads: Anything that has to do with the five senses.
Well, right now I'm baking a Red Velvet Pound Cake (from Paula Deen's cookbook) minus the red food coloring....so I guess it's just a regular pound cake. At any rate, the house smells great right now. 
I'm going to make seafood gumbo in about an hour, so that will give the house a very different smell! What's great about making 
gumbo, is that I'll be able to freeze four servings to eat in the future. When we have cold weather, it's just the best! I can't wait to taste it! Well that's smell and taste...now how about touch? Cameron is cuddled up with Daddy right now, taking a "baby nap" so that should count. Just seeing the two of them makes me want to wake them up so I can hear his giggles!
Wow, this week's Heads or Tails theme is Heads: Anything that starts with the letter C. Well, let's see...Chris and Cameron are the most important people in my life, and my mom's name is Carolyn. Thanks Barb! :) Here's a picture of my favorite Cs.
This week's theme is Heads: New or Tails: Old.
After writing and reading about everyone's resolutions and goals for the year, I have lots of ideas of my own. I'm hoping to stick to my goals of staying healthy and getting fit this year. But, since LSU beat Ohio State last night (sorry Misty) I can show the NEW BCS National Champions!!!! Geaux TIGERS!!!!
I just love Les Miles (aka The Mad Hatter). He's proof that a football coach can be smart, tough, nice, and a family guy all at once. I love the fact that he was always willing to take the necessary risks throughout the season to get the end results we all wanted.
Last night, while being interviewed, an announcer asked him what he learned about his players during last night's game that he didn't already know. He replied, "Nothing." He already knew the kind of players they were and had confidence that they could do this. They might have only made it to the game "by the Grace of God," but once they were there, they got the job done!!!! Here are a few pictures of Cameron watching the game : ).
This week's theme for Heads or Tails is Tails: Tell About a Memorable Gift.
I have been very lucky in life, to have a great family, and fabulous husband, and a wonderful son. I consider these things to be the greatest gifts I've ever been given. But, I'll play along, and try to think of a really memorable Christmas gift...
Here's one: A few years ago, Chris bought me an ipod. We had been through a very difficult year with my son's medical circumstances, and it was the kind of fun gift that totally helped me feel better on a daily basis. Chris knew how much I enjoyed music, and he knew it would make me happy. I still use that thing every day!
The theme for this week is Heads: Mark.
Here's Marky Mark "singing" Good Vibrations.
[Pay attention to these very deep lyrics] ; )
Vibrations good like Sunkist
Many wanna know who done this
Marky Mark and I'm here to move you
Rhymes will groove you
And I'm here to prove to you
That we can party on the positive side
And pump positive vibes
So come along for the ride
Making you feel the rhythm is my occupation
So feel the vibration
Head on over to Skittles' Place to participate!
This week's theme for Heads or Tails is: Tails - What's one thing you have said or done that you thought you would never say or do?
Oh, things used to fly out of my mouth when I was a teacher and I was upset with kids at school. Honestly, it's hard to get 30 or more fifth graders to do anything, much less exactly what you tell them to do. All those ridiculous things that my mom used to say to me when I was in trouble, or that I heard her say when she was scolding my brother were stored in my brain, just waiting to escape...There are so many, but I do remember saying "And that's not a threat, that's a promise..." Gheesh.
Here's Dave Matthews singing "I Did It." It's one of my favorite songs by DMB.
Go to Skittles' Place to join in the fun!
This week's theme is Heads: Road.
The first thing that came to my mind was the street I grew up on. It was just your average little street, with houses that were built in the 1950s and 60s.
I have lots of memories from the early 80s, when we could ride our bikes up and down the street all day, and play with tons of other kids that were our age. I knew almost every family on that street. I have a bunch of scars on my leg that came from that road, but it still holds great memories for me.
Here's a fun little "road" song.......
This week's theme is Heads: Vote -OR- Tails: Something that Starts with the Letter 'V'
I'll choose Tails: Something that Starts with the Letter 'V'
V is the first letter of my maiden name. It's the first letter of my dad's middle name. When my mom used to tell someone our last name on the phone, she always used to say, "V, as in vacation."
Since this is what it made me think of, I'll go with Vacation.
Here's the story of our trip to Maui in 2003. 
1. We had an awesome experience and I'm not complaining. I'm just going to share some of our "mishaps" on the trip.
2. On our first morning of snorkeling, my husband accidentally stepped on a sea urchin. I caught him examining his toe on the beach. Long story short, we had to make a trip to the emergency clinic to have the spiny things removed. They told us that some people don't go see about it, and they wake up with a swollen foot the size of a melon. Gheesh.
3. We decided to spend the next day exploring all of the small waterfalls located on the East end of the Island, on the "Road to Hana." We rented a little Geo Tracker, and headed on our way. We found this really hard to find gorgeous waterfall. We thought about swimming in it, but decided that it was a little too cold for us. My husband wanted to take a picture of me in front of it, so I handed him all my stuff. Well, the rocks were slippery, and he slipped and scraped a
chunk out of his shin. Being we had just been to the clinic the day before, we were a little embarassed to show up there again. He just toughed it out. Honestly, it was really bad. You could see leg meat in there (sorry). Well, we just shaved his leg around the area, put on a giant band aid, and tried to forget about it. Looking back, he's probably lucky he didn't get a beasty infection from the water.
4. On our last night, we decided to eat at Roy's Restaurant. We had eaten there the first night, and it was so good we wanted to go back. Well, we didn't quite make it there. Stopped at an intersection, a woman ran a light and hit these people into our car. Luckily we weren't hurt, but our rental car was banged up pretty bad. Chris actually had a little whiplash from it. Our car just sort of bounced. Anyway, we were a little bit shaken up, so we went back to our hotel and ordered pizza from room service.
5. 
Then, as we were waiting for our plane to take off, the air conditioning stopped working. It didn't seem like a big deal...until we realized that it wasn't working b/c the engine of the plane wasn't working.....Hmmmm. We heard a message something like this: "Attention passengers, don't worry, we're going to have a plane come by next to this plane and get our engine working." Excuse me, isn't that like a jump start? Yikes. But we're alive and well, and we enjoyed our trip.
This week's theme is Heads: Spooky or Scary
It might be a bit of a stretch on the theme, but I've got something spooky and scary to tell.
Last night, as we were watching the Red Sox play the Colorado Rockies in Game 4 of the World Series, I realized that my husband has issues.
Well, I already knew he had issues (smile) but this was something different. After bathing Cam last night, I brought him out looking super cute with his slicked back hair, and big smile for dad.....but there was a problem. He was wearing his Astros outfit. It's perfect for this weather - long pants but short sleeves. I put his Santa socks (Red Sox) to make sure we didn't jinx the game.....and I thought this would be enough.
But oh no. The Rockies started getting runs. Chris made me change him into a different outfit so that the "disAstros" wouldn't ruin the luck of the Red Sox. You see, we're Astros fans as well, and they had a terrible season this year. Chris even went to our room to change his own clothes. "Maybe it's these purple shorts..." (sigh)
Well, you know the rest. The Red Sox swept the Rockies in four games. Superstitious fans everywhere collectively say, "You're Welcome."
This week's theme is Heads: Train. Wow, what a coincidence! I was going to write a post about my son's Animal Train at some point, just because it has literally changed his life. I saw a commercial for it last year around this time, and I remember thinking, "Oh that looks like fun." I mentioned it to my aunt, since she had asked me what she thought she should get him for Christmas that might help him with his mobility.
Last Christmas, Cam was 21 months old. Part of his condition is having extremely low muscle tone, called hypotonia. At this age, Cameron was rolling a lot, but he wasn't scooting, or even pivoting around yet. When he received his giant loot of Christmas gifts, he seemed to like his Fisher-Price® Amazing Animals™ Sing & Go Choo-Choo™train. But, we had no idea how much it would help him.
After a few weeks, Cameron figured out that he could push the smoke stack to make it "go". But, first, the animals and everything but the engine had to go. Bye bye animals. You just slow it down. Within a month or two, Cameron started rolling out of the way after he started the train. Then, before our eyes, he pushed himself up and pivoted with his arms! We were so proud of him. By his second birthday in March, he started "army crawling" or creeping. By the summer, he was a pro. He would start the train, immediately roll out of it's way, and then "steer" it in the direction he wanted it to go. Now, his favorite thing to do is point it towards my husband's feet. Then, Chris flips it across the room with his feet and Cam gives his dad a mischevious grin. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat....
Now we're on Animal Train #2. After months of abuse, and probably 20 battery changes, the first train finally stalled out. Cam found train number two in my closet. He actually got inside my closet, shut the door, and then I heard, "All Aboard!!!" That stinker must have known his first train was about to die. 
We bought Animal Train #3, which is now hidden in a secret location, so that when this one is worn out, we won't have to worry about finding another one. Cameron is currently army crawling all over the house, and we owe a lot of it to his train. Physical Therapy helps so much, but finding something motivational was really the key to his progress.
This week's theme is Tails: List ten things in one category of your choice.
OK. I am always listening to music. If I'm changing a diaper, cooking, cleaning, or exercising, the radio is always on. I like all kinds of music, but I'm an 80's pop music fan at heart. Here are 10 songs that I MUST sing out loud like a goofball when I hear them on the radio - no matter who's around. (It was very hard to limit this to ten!)
1. 
If You Don't Know Me By Now - Simply Red
2. 
Shameless - Garth Brooks or Billy Joel
3. 
The Rose - Better Midler
4. 
Sold! - John Michael Montgomery (Please tell me I 'm not the only one that can't help but sing along!)
(Well I went down to the Grundy County Auction
Where I saw something I just had to have
My mind told me I should proceed with caution
But my heart said, "Go ahead an' make a bid on that!"
An' I said, hey, pretty lady, won'cha gi'me a sign
I'd give anything to make you mine all mine
I'll do your biddin' an' be at your beckon call
Yeah, I never seen anyone lookin' so fine
Man, I gotta have her, she's a one-of-a-kind
I'm goin' once, goin' twice,
I'm sold! on the lady in the second row
She's an eight, she's a nine, she's a ten, I know
She's got ruby red lips, blonde hair, blue eyes
An' I'm about to bid my heart good-bye!)
5. 
Rock Steady - The Whispers
6. 
Landslide - Fleetwood Mac
7. 
Groovy Kind of Love - Phil Collins
8. 
Without Me - Eminem
9. 
Don't Cha - Pussycat Dolls (*Cameron's favorite song*)
10. 
Careless Whisper - Wham!
This week's theme is Heads: Explore. I thought I'd direct you to the Lijit widget located at the bottom of my left sidebar. It has a cool little feature called, "Explore." You might want to add it to your own site. I know some of you do not like widgets (Barb, Sandee, etc.....*smile*), but I love them! Also, here's a clip from the 1985 movie, Explorers. Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix were both born in 1970, so they were probably 14 years old during filming.
This week's theme is Heads: Stack.
I immediately thought of this song...
So for your viewing and listening pleasure:
Head on over to Skittles' Place to participate in the Heads or Tails Meme and join in the fun. You can even join the blogroll! Weekly topics are listed on her site.
This week, the theme is pet(s) or pet peeves. Well, I just did a post about Buster, our Westie. And this gives me an excuse to write another one! Don't you just hate people that go on and on about their pets like they are people (hahaha - a pet peeve). Don't worry, that's the last joke of the day for me. 
To read more about Buster and his latest adventure with BFTC, click here. I wish I had noticed the topic for this week or I would have waited to share that story. Now someone might actually read it (haha).
Head on over to Skittles' Place to participate in the Heads or Tails Meme and join in the fun. You can even join the blogroll! Weekly topics are listed on her site.
This week's Heads or Tails theme is key(s). I was thinking I'd do something about the key to happiness, or the key to a great life...but what do I know? So I decided to go back and talk about all the important actual keys I have needed in my life (that I can remember).
So here are "13 Keys To a Great Life that I've Needed in My Life"
1. 9 yrs. old -- First key to my house -- A lady down the street from us kept my brother and I in the summer that year. The key was just in case of an emergency, etc.. I had about 5 key chains for that one key.
2. 10 yrs. old -- Key to my bike lock -- nevermind, it was a combination lock
3. 12 yrs. old -- Locker key -- Those junior high locker padlocks....and only 4 min. between classes!
4. 15 yrs. old -- Keys to my dad's truck -- (OK I still only had my learner's permit, but I still had possession of the keys at times)
5. 18 yrs. old -- Keys to my dorm room at Texas A&M....and a bike lock key
6. 20 yrs. old -- Keys to my first car...woohooo...Nissan Sentra Baby. Also, keys to my first apartment I shared with my best friend.
7. 21 yrs. old -- Keys to my first classroom for teaching. It was in a separate building, so the door opened to the outside....glad nobody ever escaped on me.
8. 22 yrs. old -- Keys to our first apartment as a married couple.
9. 23 yrs. old -- Keys to the apartment we had to move to, due to the fact that our first apartment had a mold problem and the toilet above us leaked through the ceiling.....yep, just as gross as you're thinking it could have been.
10. 24 yrs. old -- Keys to our house!! What an exciting time for us. I remember how big this house used to seem....now it's packed with everything Little Tykes has ever made!
11. 25 yrs. old -- Keys to my new school and classroom....oooh carpet.
12. 27 yrs. old -- Keys to the temporary apartment we stayed in while our son was in the hospital.
13. 29 yrs. old - Keys to our minivan....oh how I love it so. My husband would say, "Well if you love it so much, why is it so dirty?" But I do.
Head on over to Skittles' Place to participate in the Heads or Tails Meme and join in the fun. You can even join the blogroll! Weekly topics are listed on her site.
This week's theme is Tails: Where were you and what were you doing when you heard the news on September 11, 2001?
I remember this day like it was yesterday. I was teaching 5th Grade Math, and my kids were at Music or P.E. I was walking down the hallway to pick them up, when the principal told me that one of the Twin Towers was hit by a plane. I went in his office and stood on a chair so I could see the television more closely. I thought it was an accident at that point. By the time I had my kids back in the room, and by the time I had walked them to lunch, the other tower had also been hit. After the kids were in the cafeteria, we wheeled a television into the teacher's lounge and watched in horror as the day's events unfolded.
My husband was working at Enron, at the time (yes, that Enron). I was freaking out, because I thought that his building could have also been a target. Luckily, he was still at home eating breakfast when he saw the news. He had worked late the night before (as usual), so he was planning to go in around 10am. All Enron employees were told to go home and evacuate the building.
It was really hard to talk about with the kids the next day. They were between 10 and 12 years old, so they were old enough to ask really intelligent and heartbreaking questions. I did my best to calm their fears...but I was really thinking, "What is our world coming to?"
Head on over to Skittles' Place to participate in the Heads or Tails Meme. You can even join the blogroll. Weekly topics are listed on her site.
This week the topic is Heads: School.
Lots of directions I could go. I thought I'd talk about my teaching experience.
I started out at a 5th and 6th grade intermediate school, teaching 5th Grade Science and Social Studies in December of 1998. After a year and a half, I switched to teaching 5th Grade Math at the same school. This was my absolute favorite thing to teach. But, I left this school after the 2001-2002 school year to teach 3rd Grade in a school district closer to our home.
In my seven short years of teaching, I met so many amazing students. There is nothing more rewarding than teaching a brand new concept, and knowing that every single child learned something new that day. Each day was a new adventure which would surely involve: smiling, frowning, anger, joy, whispering, shouting, hugs, winks, snaps, "teacher looks", grins, and, at last, a bell signalling that it was time for everyone to go home.
I love staying home, but I sometimes miss the chaotic excitement of being a teacher. Of course, if I were at school right now, I couldn't still be drinking my coffee and wearing my pajamas at 11:00 am. I do love my coffee. But, more than anything, I love being at home with my son.
This is my favorite 'School House Rock' song......just because it's fun.
Head on over to Skittles' Place to participate in the Heads or Tails Meme. You can even join the blogroll. Weekly topics are listed on her site. Join in the fun!
Ok. I tried. I really tried to find a word that rhymed with hobby.....I thought of Bobby, lobby, or knobby....but nothing jumped out at me.
So, I'll write about hobbies. I am someone who likes to dabble in lots of different things.
2. I love to draw. I like to sketch images that I find in magazines with charcoal pencils. The problem is, I can't draw eyes. I can draw pretty well (by my standards anyway) but when I try to draw human eyes I ruin the picture. If I had a scanner right now I'd show you. I'm pretty good at drawing dogs, hands, etc.
3. I like to read. Again, is that considered a hobby?
4. I love to play sports (tennis, softball, etc.).
Here are two hobbies I'll probably never get into:
1. Scrapbooking - Sure, it's cool and everything....but photo albums are fine by me. I'll even go as far as making the occasional photo book on shutterfly.com, but I don't have the patience or the money for all the stuff you need to scrapbook.
2. Sewing - It's probably a shame, because I'm sure my mom would love to teach me, but I have no interest in quilting or sewing in general. I'm not sure why.
Head on over to Skittles' Place to participate in the Heads or Tails Meme. You can even join the blogroll. Weekly topics are listed on her site. Join in the fun!
Luck, Fate, Destiny, Chance, Coincidence…...
Here are three instances in which “luck” changed my life:
1. I was adopted as an infant by parents that loved me completely….When I think about how different my life could have been if I had been placed with different people – it just boggles my mind.
2. I met my husband in a Biology class at Texas A&M. At a school of over 40,000 students, what were the odds of either one of us taking that course at the same time? He was a Finance major, and I was an Elementary Education major. He also transferred in from LSU. He could have easily stayed there. I can’t imagine my life without him.
3. We caught a major health problem with my son on an ultrasound performed at 29 weeks. The only reason we did the extra ultrasound was because my mom had missed the first one. Had she turned on her cell phone the morning of the first one, she might have been able to be there. So, we never would have asked for the last one. It ended up being a true miracle. He was delivered immediately so that he could have life saving brain surgery. I’ve thought about it so many times…but the reality of what could have happened still takes my breath away.
I think that it was more than luck. God knew where I belonged: with my parents, with my husband, and with my sweet angel baby. I know that I am one LUCKY GIRL.
(AS YOU CAN SEE, HE'S A VERY HAPPY BOY!)
Head on over to Skittles' Place to participate in the Heads or Tails Meme. You can even join the blogroll. Weekly topics are listed on her site. Join in the fun!
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