As promised...one of my many "Most Embarassing Moments."

It was a beautiful morning, the kind that calls to you from inside. Eric and I decided to eat breakfast on our apartment balcony. We had a great apartment in that it backed up to a wooded area and it was angled just so, no one could see us. I decided to go eat my oatmeal in my cropped hot pink t-shirt. (important detail for later) Eric came out in his boxers.
There we sat, drinking in the sunshine, chatting, eating breakfast....spending our time the way we should have every day! I had to leave for work in an hour but that was still far enough away to relax.
I noticed the sliding door was open and I didn't want to let the air conditioning out. I opened the sliding door a little more to get the momentum to close it. When I closed it, that safety bar came un-attached and fell down......locking the door.
Panic flashed across both our eyes. There was no way in. We contemplated shattering the glass and then I came up with a plan. I gave Eric my cropped t-shirt to put on while I hid in the storage off the balcony laughing hysterically. He stood in front of my with a shirt that was about three inches above his naval and plaid green boxers. I watched him shimmy down to the neighbors ground floor padio and go knock on our 80 year old neighbors house to use her phone. She answered her door and let Eric come in to call my dad. She said nothing!
Then we waited........
we waited.......
My dad showed up with a ladder and laughed so hard he cried. "Where's Aimee?" he said.
"I'm in here" I shouted. Well, he laughed some more.
Up Eric went, in through our bedroom window which we had fortunately left-unlocked. I think I failed to mention that our door was locked and all the keys were inside.
My dad left the premises and I streaked across the balcony to the safety of the indoors.

I made it to work on time! Did I say this was embarrassing for me??? I'm sorry, this is probably more embarrassing for my husband. LOL

Tennessee,,,, and more snow!

If there is any more snow, I'll feel completely jipped. There is a reason I moved from the north, to live in the south you know. This is craziness! Another day off of school too.

I got the call from the school saying school would be canceled tomorrow and within seconds of hanging up, my phone rang again. It was my friend who has children the same age as mine. A play date has never in history been scheduled so swiftly. It was as if, we were putting out a fire that was scheduled to be set. lol. I think I answered the phone with a "YES!" before saying hello.

Sage, my oldest who is five, told me today that she just can't believe snow has any good purpose. I tried to come up with some reasons for her, but finally agreed. She was right. My "good mom" moment passed me by and I succumbed to her skillful reasoning. Basically, in the south everything shuts down and fear drapes over the roadways with as little as a dusting. Snow is fun for two days and after that it has greatly overstayed it's welcome.
At least tomorrow, if the roads are clear....we will have entertainment in the form of a sweet little five year old coming to play!
Here is a picture of Sage and her friend Julia, on a previous snow day having a tea party! Sweet!

My Haiti Trip

I love Haiti. My husband went a few years ago when I was pregnant with our second daughter. We didn't have a middle name picked out until he came home from Haiti and started telling me about the city of Soleil. I fell in love with the country through his stories and as a result, we named our daughter Aliyah SOLEIL, after the city of Soleil in Haiti.

My brother and his wife do a lot of work over there as well and so I have felt connected to that country for quite some time. I am setting aside 15%profit from all my blocks for the country of Haiti. I will funnel it through World Hope International, the organization my brother and sister in law work for.

It looks like I will be able to go to Haiti in May. I would like to bring all the money I have collected from blocks with me then. I'm pretty excited about going! I'm sure what little help I could bring to a team would seemingly make no difference in the mess that is Haiti presently. I have to believe otherwise though, for if we all did a little something, it would make a significant difference for sure.

Birth Announcement Blocks

I've taken a quick break from all those Birth Announcement blocks. I've lined them all up on the desk so all the babies are staring at me saying, "you best be finishin up there on the computer and get me out to my mama".
They are right, so I will make this short. Little Grey over there has a really unique touch to his block. I thought I'd include a photo of it. His little footprints are on his block. I think that is such a spectacular idea and so unique. I have never done that before.
If you wanted to add footprints to your future block, you could scan in a photo to me or take a photo. Scanning may work a little better, but if it was a clear photo, you'd be amazed at how I can make things work. :)

I also added a picture of another one of my favorite BA blocks from this week. I love the flower on the top, it looks so dainty. This is an example of a "modern" block because it is so bold in color and print. Savannah's block also has a scripture added to the back of it. I think her picture is soooo sweet!

Haiti

My brother and his wife are there and have been sending reports back. The reports are desperate, haunting and so near hopeless. He said there are bodies in the street and when you see them that's when it really hits you; the devastation and what it means.

I've decided that for the next several months, I'd like to support them in their work in Haiti. My sister in law works for World Hope International. They actually have a base in Port Au Prince.
We will be supporting them in their endeavors there with our prayers, but I will also be using the proceeds from the blocks to support them as well.

I will be posting the info. on here in the next couple days if you would like to send money to them directly. If you give money, it will go towards the needs in Haiti. You just can't meet another human being who has a bigger heart for Haiti than they do.

Here are some photos my brother has taken while in Haiti.

Yum!

I invented a new salad recipe to go along with our dinner tonight (pork chops wrapped in bacon and steamed cauliflower.) It was so delicious, I thought I'd share it!

1. Slice up avacados and place them on a plate. Add a little salt to them.
(1 avocado is enough for two people)

2. squeeze juice from a lime on top, enough to lightly coat the avacados. (If you don't have a lime, you can just use lime juice)

3. Add grated mozzarella cheese (light cheese would make this even healthier)
4. Add green onions
5. Top with Rotel Tomatoes. (This gave it a bit of a kick because of the jalapenos in the rotel) If you don't want it to be spicy you could substitute regular tomatoes.

ENJOY!

As I promised!

I thought before I post "after photos" there should be a "before photo". I thought it also fitting to include photos of my girls coloring on the walls. Pardon the miscellaneous clothes and unruly hair. This was day three of being snowed in.
This was a mistake for sure. I knew it when I handed that grinnin girl a big blue crayon. I especially knew it, when I found blue crayon scribbled all over my entrance way wall. Hmm...., it's hard to call this but I'm thinking it was still worth it.

Watching them defy all the rules of my youth and color for an hour on those walls...was AWESOME! That, along with so many other things does make me crazy. (If you were just thinking that, you were right!! ding ding ding)

I couldn't resist though. I've always wanted to color on the walls. I grew up in a house where creativity was encouraged for sure, but not like that!!! If I did that, I may not be here today. My 5 foot mother would have hung me.

I'm not through with the play room yet, but here it is after a day's work! Just in case you hate it, just know you would definitely prefer it to the mess of toys all strung through the house like Christmas lights. Well, lights are pretty, it would be more like colorful and noisy debris. :)