A Trip Down Memory Lane

Tonight, mom showed me a plastic container full of dolls that I cherished so much as a child. This large bucket held ALL of my dolls! And most, if not all, clothes were still there, old and worn, and had seen much better days.

Poor Cary had to sit down on the floor with me and endure about 20 minutes of introducing him to my Cabbage Patch Dolls:

Emily: You can comb her hair!

Luke: I'm a Rooster!

Mandy: My first Cabbage Patch; the hunt for the real ones were so great that year, mom got me a homemade one. She's just as cute as a 'real' ones!

Sabina: My Premie

Jewel Bev: My only 'real' Cabbage Patch (a.k.a. the original)

Then there's Tiffani: my My Child--remember those?!

These dolls entertained me for countless hours while growing up. I think Kim and Erica were big fans of them as well.

To go with that, we also looked at my Barbies, Kens, and Skippers, along with She-Ra and her friends...wow! Notice in the picture that some of the Barbie's bodies got a little destroyed when I was young, and now I just have the heads. :o)

I I felt like I was a kid again as I was showing my prized toys (of that time) to my new best friend.

Cary was great; he sat there, asked questions about girlie toys, and just laughed at me as I put my old friends back into their tub for the night, like I was kid not ready for bed.

Oh, to be able to go back to childhood again!

Moved the Plants...

...to another wall, and Chester followed!

It still makes me wonder why he's so fascinated with them.

Maybe he's trying to find a tiny world of other doggies.

Maybe he's plotting a way to destroy the vegetation when we're naive enough to leave him alone with them.

Or maybe he's breathing on them to help keep them healthy.... HA! :o)

Survey Says...

Alright. If you look on the left side, you will see some additions to a regular blog. They have been there for a while, but I just wanted to encourage those who have not seen them before to take a look at them.

One of them is a Bible Verse of The Week, and to be truthful, I get the bible verses from the services at church. I hope they bring everyone some sort of enlightenment when they need it.

The other is my survey. I try to think of a different survey every week that might be fun to participate in. This week is Favorite Season, because (if you didn't know this already) Monday was the Vernal Equinox, a.k.a, First Day of Fall (my favorite season). If anyone has any ideas of surveys to put out there, please let me know, as I am always trying to think of fun, creative ones!

If you enjoy these features, please let me know. If you don't, please let me know. I don't want my blog 'too busy', but I have fun coming up with things, so if you have any other ideas, of course, let me know!

:o)

Happy Official Fall!

Yay!!! Fall is finally here! Now if we can only get the weather to agree with us!

And of course, I couldn't help but buy a few items to make the apartment feel like fall. Walking around Garden Ridge, I started to get frustrated because the things they have are large wreaths, signs, and statue/dolls. None of which are good for tiny storage facilities.

And then I found the PERFECT thing: Table runners and place mats. These are perfect for storage afterwards, and with some fall flowers added, the apartment has a great fall feeling to it!

I know everything has turkeys on it, representing Thanksgiving, but hey, I thought they were really cute, and they serve a dual season/holiday purpose!

Notice Chester by the wall, doing his favorite activity!

Mesquite Rodeo

On Saturday night, Mom, Dad, Cary, Jeff, Regina, Melissa, Jon and I went to the Mesquite Rodeo. The first time in many years for me!




It was a good time, starting with dinner at the Rodeo brought to you by Sonny Bryan's. Not too bad! Then, it was on to the picture taking time, and since the parents were sitting in the row in front of us, they were the unsuspecting victims. Cotton Candy makes a great prop, too!




The only thing I remember from childhood that has really changed is that the barrel clown today is more of a spot-light entertainer than a real bull-distracter...I always enjoyed watching the bulls push the barrel around with the clown inside! Was it just so dangerous they took it away?


The rodeo was so entertaining, with the bull riding, horse riding, and barrel races. What was new to me were the wagon races, calf chasing, and sheep riding (for kids). I got many great videos of all of them, but limited blog space!

Putt Putt Date Night!

Last night Cary and I had our weekly Date Night. Because of the beautiful weather Ike brought us, we decided to take advantage of the outdoors and went to play mini golf.

We went to Top Golf, which is located off of Abrams and Park in North Dallas. What a great place to play!

If you like to go to a driving range, I recommend here because they built a new, fancy 2-level driving range, and when you hit the golf ball, there is a chance for it to go into these large holes where the balls are recollected for later. It is nice!

The putt putt course is designed with three 18-hole courses, red, green and blue. Cary and I started off with the green ('mountain') and then when we were finished, we started over and went to the blue ('marine').

The night was calm, and the only things I would have changed about it was having a breeze (the air was still) and I would have worn bug spray...They were everywhere!!!!

The best part of the night-- I got 2 (yes, that is right) Hole-In-Ones, and Cary got one. The score after the green course: Cary -55, me -47. After the blue course: Cary -55, me -47...

You read it right--the exact same score for both of us each time!!! AND I WON!!!!!

The Last Thing His Victims See...

The Next Generation...

Look at these two cute pictures!!!

The color photo is of my cousin Kim's little 3 year old, Addison and the black and white one is of my co-worker's 2 year old grand daughter, Savannah.

I just love the looks on both of their faces.

After I took the one of Addison on Tuesday night, I said "That was a good picture, Addison!" Her response? "You can put that on your blog." As she walked away to play with her cousins. What a funny girl...Her momma's got her hands full!

My Box (And A Little Grandparent History)

Grandpa,

I want to thank you so much for the absolutely beautiful box you have made for me. It looks like it is so difficult to make, yet you sat down and made one for all of your grand-girls. Your talent is amazing. Along with the hope chest you made several years ago, it has been added to some of the greatest gifts I have ever received.

Thank you!!!

**for those who do not know my grandparents: I have incredibly talented and loving ones (not to mention A LOT!)

My Grandpa Jarvis is very talented with crafts, having made wooden toys and toy train fun for all of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He is a quiet, serious man, but you can see the kid in him when he pulls out one of his latest creations that he has just created for the family he loves so much.

Then there's Barbara: she is amazing with sewing! Growing up, Kim, Erica, and I have had some of the neatest toys made from materials including a homemade Care Bear and nightgown. And all of the Christmas decorations on their tree are also made by Barbara. I'm going to have to take a few pictures to show you how truly talented she is.

Next is Grandma Jarvis: Her love for nature has helped me be fascinated with, rather than afraid of, critters big and small. The other evening, Cary, Chester, and I found a tarantula just cruising across the grass at our apartment complex. I was down on my hands and knees taking pictures. I wish now that I had picked it up and taken it to the field where it might have been safer.

My Grandma Wilson: Another very talented woman with many things. I grew up painting ceramics, watching her make dolls, and not to mention the numerous quilts she has made me so far. I still feel absolutely safe and warm in my pink and purple one she gave me several years ago for Christmas. I will be sad the day it is too thin and needs to be replaced...but I have others waiting for me!

Grandpa Wilson: What can I say about him? I think he is the original clown in the family. He finds everything funny, and I love when he sends us jokes and silly pictures. He and mom are ALWAYS giving each other a hard time--him about his bald spot and mom with her 'big' teeth. And forget about playing games--you have to explain things to him so much, you are creating a bald spot in your own head afterwards!

I have been truly blessed. I even have an 'adopted' grandmother, Gangy. She is Kim and Erica's grandmother, but she 'adopted' me and treats me like her own.

And then there is Mema and Granny, Cary's grandmothers, but I am still new to the family, and I hope there will be plenty of time to learn more about them!

The Jarvis Gathering

Tonight, all but 6 of the Jarvis family got together in Sanger at a restaurant called Babes. (We missed you Dad, Cary, Tom, Mike, Steven and Spencer!)

It was so good to see everyone again! It has literally been 9 months (and 1 day) since the last time I've seen most of them.

Mom and I joined Grandpa, Barbara, Grandma, Eric, Deb, Faye, Amy, Stacy, Kelly, Kim, Erica, Austin, Addison, and Reagan for dinner outside of Denton, not too incredibly far from Oklahoma. This gathering was initiated because Kim and her little ones were in town visiting from Colorado. It doesn't take too much for the Jarvis' to come together, and they are definitely not an exception!

The restaurant is a bar-b-que place that sits in a little town, but the place is BUSY! I can see why people enjoy it though. Great food, good music, great company! Amy, Stacy, and Addison did the Hokey Pokey!

Here are just a few pictures from what I took tonight. All of the cousins play so well together. Austin is great for being surrounded by 3 girls! Let's hope Kim's next baby is a boy so that he's not too outnumbered!

It was fun guys! Let's do it again sometime!

Go Stars!

Is it Hockey season yet?

Cary borrowed my used-to-be favorite player Jamie Langenbrunner's autograph jersey for Football Uniform day at work today...

Do you understand the contradiction?!

Isn't this picture cute?!

Speaking of Plants...

Chester's newest obsession... the plants!

The only thing that takes his full attention at all times, and NOTHING can bother him is when he is playing with the laser pointer and watching the plant.

For some reason we think he saw a bug or gecko around it sometime ago, and it has been a fixation since. The only times he is distracted is when we take it away from him, bedtime, and take pictures of him watching it...

Yet another attempt...

To keep a plant.

I have had 3 plants die in my care here at the apartment. One was a pot of beautiful tulips that was given to me by my friend at work, Penny.

Another was a plant that Cary surprised me with that grew up from seedlings. Even though they never became the plant that was shown on the box (a beautiful bunch of flowers), it became a bunch of very long stems with leaves at the end...

And the most recent was a pot of Daisys that Penny gave me for my first day at work at State Farm. I take only a little blame for that one because Chester decided to give it a go at being a gardener himself...poor Cary stressed about cleaning up the mess before I got home from work that day.

I have a beautiful plant that Cary and I were given after his uncle passed away, large leaves in green, yellow, and red. At one time it was full and bright, but now the top is just covered in leaves. No longer completely right...

Well tonight, Cary and I found some $1 African Violets that looked in terrible shape. So I thought I would give it another go. I bought 2 of them, so we shall see what will happen.

At least I have my ability to cook (so far!)

Wish me luck!

Spoons!!

Last night we gathered at my parents for our monthly game night with family and friends, despite a hurricane named Ike 'threatening' North Texas. This time, Chester joined us, and we played a crazy new game called Spoons. Thank you Cary for such a great suggestion!

The evening started out with a tasty meal of salad and pizza, with sides of veggies and chips. Then it was on to the game!

Now, when playing spoons, you want to lay out several spoons, 1 less than the number of players you have (if you have 8, like we did, you want seven on the table or floor). You also have a deck of cards, and each person gets 4. The dealer begins by picking up a card, discarding it to the next, or keeping it if they wish. This goes on around the table until one person gets 4 of a kind. Then that person grabs a spoon and watches as the rest battle it out for the remaining. The person without the spoon gets a point against them. When S-P-O-O-N-S is spelled out against the player, they are no longer in the game.

Our game lasted a long time, with a 'warm-up' game, and then on to the competition. Yours truly was the first out of the tournament. Then I got to sit and annoy the others with taking pictures while they competed.

The final two were Bill and Cary. And by a smart (maybe not part of the rules) play, Cary snatched the spoon away from my favorite uncle....Hilarious time!!!

Chester on the other hand, had a great time. He loved playing with the cats (Ditto kept swatting at him and Athena hissed; Vader just meowed!) and all of the guests loved him. Many walked around holding him...he's so spoiled!!

Of course, he was wiped out when we got home. Not a peep out of him for the entire night! And it turns out that Ike did nothing but cloud up the skies and spill a touch of rain on us. Thank you Ike!

Never Forget

I know I'm writing this when the day is mostly over, but I hope that everyone took a moment to remember the tragedy and the bravery that the United States faced 7 years ago today.

Too many people died needlessly, but the US grew together and became a family ready to take on whatever we faced together.

Never forget those men and women that sacrificed their lives to make our lives the way we are today: Free.

I pray to God that He lifts up those who lost someone close to them. Help our young understand that parents that were lost were heroes.

Thank you, Lord, that more heroes rise up everyday to conquer those who intend to bring the innocent down.

"Let's Roll!"