roll tide...but more importantly BEAT THOSE GATERS!!!

addison, what do you want santa to bring you?

addison...addison...

what mom?

what do you want santa to bring you?

ummm.....ummmm.......awaBAMA to beat toes gwaters!

pweeeaaaseee!

oh! and money to...

i need thwem for my pwockets.

happy october

whew, what a month! i am so sorry for my absence but t-shirts, photo shoots, trips...and my real job have kept me a little busy. but in such a fun way :)

this was my day today:

woke up in the dark, took a shower, cuddled with a coughing little girl, got dressed, grabbed breakfast and got to work at 7.

worked for a couple of hours, ran to drop some shirts off, back to work or a few more hours, luncheon attended, work for another hour, then headed home.

got home, worked on some t-shirts, emailed a lot of people, played with my little miss, visited with sweet stephanie, made some t-shirts, had a mini-halloween photo shoot (see pic above), fed my child, made some more t-shirts, designed and ordered halloween party invites, bathed, clothed & cuddled with addison, put her to bed, finally ate dinner, packaged up those t-shirts...and now, blogging.

sigh. i am tired. but i feel productive and to me that is always a good feeling.

and just as a side note - aren't those three the cutest little kids??? addison loves her "brysie" and "bwanning" so much. i feel quite lucky to have such fun neighbors and i have loved getting to know their mama more and more over the years. she has become such a sweet friend. this year will be our 2nd annual halloween bash and i just had to have a picture for the back of the invite.

ok, all for now. nite nite.

deals, steals and a shameless plug

so i was just going to post this on my little buttons blogs but over the past two years i have had been asked the question: where do you get all of addison's clothes? i figured, what the heck, let's post on the real blog, too.

that is a tricky question since i am kinda "economical" (never say cheap ladies) and since i now make t-shirts in my sleep (i wish), i thought i would share some good deals i have found and pair them with a little button shirt (enter shameless plug...so sorry).

up first, the girlies...

little button design long sleeve tee {$12} paired with leggings from gap.com on sale {$9.99}

little button design long sleeve tee {$12} paired with leggings (two different options) from gap.com on sale {$9.99 each}

OR...

little button design long sleeve tee {$12} paired with leggings from gap.com on sale {$7.99}

and now for the little handsome men out there...

little button design long sleeve tee {$12} paired with pants from gap.com on sale {$19.99}

little button design long sleeve tee {$12} paired with pants from oldnavy.com on sale {$15.99}

little button design long sleeve tee {$12} paired with pants from oldnavy.com on sale {$10.00}

and i just have to say mommies of little boys, please, please go buy a vest for that little man of yours...please.

a lot

lot going on in this house.

a lot of cute panties that CONTINUOUSLY get tee-teed in. sigh. in the meantime, she just likes looking cute in her mickey mouses.

a lot of new mommies this past month having cutie pies i am dying to see!

a lot of orders that are keeping me B.U.S.Y.

a fun, fun, super fun project at work that has me giddy. hint: three words... burnt. theatre. athens.

a lot of football - high school, college, monday night, friday night, saturday all day, sunday afternoon.

a lot of work for a garage sale that went bust thanks do an un-forecasted torrential downpour. to be rescheduled. sometime.

and finally a lot of funny words coming out of little miss:

"dad, you're awesome"

"you're in trouble, mom"

"tinkle, tinkle, wittle star..."

that is about it. night night.

things we do

this week has been crazy fun. i feel like i am beyond busy but the kind of busy that keeps me happy, keeps me motivated and keeps my design juices flowing. little miss and i hit the gardendale library and loaded up on sweet and silly stories for the week, we browsed through hobby lobby and purchased fun stuff for crafts, we (i, that is) bought wine and an over-priced parent magazine at publix that i have yet to read.

i also took the plunge and tried out a new product to sell...and can i say i am so happy with the results!! now i am saving up to buy the hefty duty t-shirt making machine, but until then i will sell these - for cheap :). many, many designs to come (and brooke, this one is coming your way for little bit). i am working to get these up on my etsy shop too...see other there? go there, buy stuff.

and of course, in the midst of all the busy-ness, we have put our shades in, filled up the pool, and paddle-paddle-kick-kick-ed ourself to complete tiredness.

conversations with addison leigh

(on the way to take photos of neighbor bryson's family)

a: i go hang out with brysie

w: yep, we are on the way to play with bryson

a: no, we go hang out

w: oh right

(fyi, hamburger heaven is a burger joint, evynne is a friend)

w: addison, let's go to hamburger heaven to eat before daddy's game

a: no hamburger evynne, i go hamburger addison

w: no baby, hamburger HEAVEN

a: no mommy, hamburger ADDISON

(at bedtime)

w: night, night addison leigh

a: night, night mommy

w: i love you

a: thanks!

dancing toddler

weird

we are all weird. i am serious. we are. for instance, i have a problem with removing tags from new purchases - i won't do it. i leave them on and have no idea why. even tonight terry looked at some new towels i had bought and asked when i was going to remove them. i responded "don't know"...and walked away. weird.

terry is weird too. when he goes to sleep, he lays on his back and wraps his pillow around his face until the two ends touch. and they must touch. soooo weird.

it extends to the offspring, too. little miss likes to watch tv with her raincoat and hood on. yep, weird.

i guess i am also weird for selling everything i own. but i am saving up. saving for a new house, saving for some classic modern furniture that i am dying to have, saving for a new lens...saving for just about anything that is completely out of our month to month budget. sooooo, here are some more things up for grabs...

time to purge

disclaimer: if you have given me anything in this post or the posts to come, trust me, i have loved the gift immensely...it is just time to let go. especially if this house wants to fit into a vestavia shoebox.

people, it is time for the tingles to purge...and i mean really purge. everything from mattresses and tvs to end tables and picture frames. i have never had a yard sale but it is time for that too. so, i am having a yard sale. saturday, september 5. yes, it will most definitely take me that long to go through my entire house and PURGE!!! i am going to frequently put pictures up so that in the off chance you want something, you can get something. think of these as some early-bird sales. soooo, after working hard on one tiny closet here is round one...

end tables and a body pillow

some chairs...

this is only the start of all the picture frames and lamps i have available

some decor stuff

and more decor...

more things to come: pottery barn duvets, tv, lamps, coffee table, mattress, shoes, bags, purses, ect...

on another note, while cleaning out today i found this little treasure. i cannot remember how i acquired this little gem, but i did and it made my heart smile this afternoon. for those of you who are not beta nu adpi's, this is a picture of our pledge class being a little crazy. i can taste mr. fred's sweet tea, see mrs. neeta's smile and hear the many unforgettable stories that came from those years just looking at this picture. maybe i should start telling some of those stories...well, maybe not :)

sweet prayers

my terry has officially gone back to school and even more, football is in full effect. it gets a little more quiet around here, a little more lonely, and a little more empty. we miss terry when he is away. don't get me wrong, we do have tons of fun, it is just not as fun.

one area that i have had to pick up on is prayer time. terry has 97% of the time been the bedtime pray-er. however, during my short stint as the new bedtime pray-er, addison has over thrown me, shut me up, and taken over. i get about one thank you for something out before little miss says "no mommy, i pway now". for your enjoyment is addison's prayer tonight...

dear God,

tank you for the birds, dear birds. tank you, for pickles, daddy, oh pickles, daddy. and mommy, pwetty birds, my mommy. tank you. oh tank you.

in your name, we pway.

AMEN! (always said which much enthusiasm).

the no-fun next step in toddlerhood

birth - check.

sleeping through the night - check.

rolling over - check.

sitting up - check.

crawling, walking - check, check.

big girl bed - check.

no more paci - check.

potty training...uuuuugggggghhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! can you feel the excitement?

yeah, me neither.

honeymoon contest

it was bad. my weigh in that is. but i was bad this weekend. am i surprised? no. am i officially committed now? YES!

on another note, i have entered a contest. ha! i never enter contests but this one was made for me (well, and terry too). a local radio duo is holding a contest for a free trip to the wharf in gulf shores as a second honeymoon. how you enter is if you have a bad honeymoon you simply tell your story...in 500 words or less. boy do we tingles have a honeymoon story! ha! so yes, i entered a contest and just for your enjoyment, here is our honeymoon fiasco...

I will be honest, there is no need to right a lengthy story with elaborate adjectives on the woes and troubles of our honeymoon when simple bullet points get the whole idea across…

• Our honeymoon night began in Atlanta, GA at the Hilton by the airport. At the time we lived in Birmingham and were used to the central time zone…as were our clocks, watches and phones.
• New husband set his clock for 7:00 so that we would have plenty of time to pack and catch the shuttle to the airport for our 9:10 flight.
• New husband set the clock on CENTRAL time so when we woke up we realized it was 8:00 EASTERN. Yes, we had 1 hour to get dressed, pack and make it to the airport to check in for an international flight.
• New wife and new husband had every bell hop and shuttle driver there to help us make this impossible adventure a reality.
• Finally on the shuttle, new wife was in charge of driver’s licenses and tickets…new husband was in charge of bags.
• Upon arriving at the airport, new wife runs to the counter while the Jamaican Attendant informs us we had 5 minutes until the flight closed. Success!
• BUT, new wife cannot find her driver’s license. New husband calls the shuttle only to find out that new wife had indeed dropped the driver’s license on the shuttle.
• Jamaican Attendant informs the “happy” newlyweds the flight will now close in four minutes.
• Three minutes.
• Two minutes.
• One minute.
• No shuttle. No driver’s license. No flight to paradise.
• After weighing all the options to get this honeymoon back on track, new husband and new wife decide to drop an extra $1500 for tickets to get us to paradise. Now the newlyweds were “happily” in debt.
• The fun doesn’t stop there.
• After 3 flights, some rubber meat they call chicken, 17 bags of peanuts and a 30 passenger plane carrying 14 other “happy” newlywed couples in matching bride and groom wind suits, we finally arrive at paradise…
• …without our luggage.
• FYI, St. Lucians aren’t really concerned with Americans who lose their luggage, if you want it back within 48 hours you better call. Every hour on the hour. And just get used to hearing “No worries, no problem, man”.

Moral of the story: ALWAYS function by the time zone you are in…it could save you a lot of money and a lot of stress.

But after 5 years we still laugh our heads off at our “story” and hope to make it up with another honeymoon…this time stateside and on central time!

so there you go folks. maybe we will win. if not, i will settle for the lottery.

pandora - glory revealed

christian music has come a long way but christian radio, in my opinion, is still very far behind the times. but, with the help of pandora radio, it gets better. thank goodness! so today, while you are working (like I am doing), or tonight while you are cooking, or just reading, or even hanging out with your kids, walk over to your computer, go to pandora’s website and type in glory revealed. it is nice. i like it. hope you do to.

p.s. i have just spent about 2 hours listening and must warn you that some songs need to be passed. when i said this station was nice, i was not referring to the gaither homecoming bluegrass tribute...even though i am sure it is a very nice song.

weigh in tuesday

this weeks loss: 1.5 lbs

total weight loss: 3.5 lbs

pounds until goal: 56.5

there was a woman at church this weekend who spoke about a health problem that she has been suffering with for two years know. the short version is that when she eats, it hurts, physically hurts and she immediately feels full and stuffed - like, just-pigged-out-and-ate-the-whole-turkey-and-dressing-and-pumpkin-pie kind of stuffed.

as i sat there and listened to her story and watched her desire to be able to eat, her desire to gain weight, and her desire to live a normal life, i was reminded that we all have our own battles. i am on woman fighting the urge not to eat and two rows up this woman was fighting for the will to eat.

so, on to another week. if you are joining me along this road, welcome. dive on in. i love the company. and i promise to be here, every tuesday, with an update and hopefully some encouragement. happy tuesday!

only women

yesterday during church, while singing the chorus to a song, our music director instructed just the women to sing. i knew it would be soft and sweet. i knew i would be beautiful and tender. but i wasn't expecting the emotions that came from hearing 300 woman sing in unison as the men listened.

it was hearing these women, most of them whom i do not know, but it was hearing them that made me thankful for the friendships in my life. we all love our husbands but let's be honest, there is something so perfect about calling a good friend to recap a story, to shed a tear, or just to share a giggle. i know my terry doesn't giggle - but shannon does. my terry doesn't cry in compassion - but kelly does. but what my terry does do is encourage me in these friendships. he knows how important they are. how important women are in the lives of other women.

he knows that haley loves me even if my alarm clock goes off 100 times while i snooze. he knows that mandy is one of my oldest friends and i can remember her when her hair was down to her butt. he knows that ashley's boating accident took friendship to a whole new level as i was afraid to leave for side for weeks and months (so much so that i went to therapy with her). and that mere was the reason i laughed my way though high school. and that allison called me whi-whi - and still does to this day. and without carrie birmingham wouldn't have become my home. and if there was no carrie to make this place stick, there would be no lauren or robyn or cara or chelsey or steph...i could go on and on.

all this to say, thank you jason for making just the women sing. it made me thankful for the lovely ladies that make up this little world of mine.

order

i think it is so funny how addison chooses to play with her toys, especially her sidewalk chalk. she takes each piece, maybe draws a line or two, and then sets it down. piece by piece. chalk by chalk. until a line is made and all are in order.

order.

last time i confessed to the blog world my need to lose weight a very dear friend emailed me. she related and continued on to say when her life is in order, when all the piece are in place, that is when her weight loss is most successful. like when you daily spend time with God, when you daily work to have your home clean and inviting, when you daily plan your meals and cook for your family, when you daily manage your money to make sure it is spent appropriately and wisely...when you do simple, day to day things, it makes life a little more disciplined, and little more in order. and in turn, a lot easier to tackle the hurdles you face.

some may think the abundance of boundaries is boring. maybe. but there is also great freedom in boundaries. and great celebration in keeping things in order.

two

one. two. two little pounds. at least it is something. 58 more to go.

but, like tracy said, the time is going to go by whether i lose weight or not.

next weigh-in: tuesday, july 28.

we are back...

...and i am exhausted. i am not an energy drink kind of person but today i might be. if anyone out there has a suggestion, let me know. i am making a bee-line for the store at 2 this afternoon.

back to the weekend. the wedding was so nice. i have to say the toast of the night that just about had me falling out of the chair came from terry's cousin katie as she said- "holly, welcome to this half (with a huge hand gesture) of the room." ha! it was priceless and so, so true. we tingles, kracks, holbrooks, ect...took up one whole half of the room.

and as always, the tingles, kracks, holbrooks and rest of the wedding party did a fine, fine job of decorating the get-away car. no one would ever have to guess that that car was filled with some newlywed love.

but this morning, fresh off wedding festivities, as i was driving into work a car passes me. it had lots of decorations and tons of writing. i kind of smiled thinking some other family was also celebrating a sweet couple...until...i looked a little closer...and was appauled to see that the writing had nothing to do with newlyweds. no, this decoration had everything to do with newly divorced. i couldn't get up there fast enough to take a picture but i promise you, the owner of this car was 100% celebrating and 100% annoucing to all of I-59 that they were in fact divorced and proud of it.

how stinking sad. my heart was broken. when i entered marriage, there was no hint of divorce being an option. i would give everything i absolutely had to terry and our life - and if something went wrong i would do everything in my power to fix it. everything and anything. i think today and seeing that car, i am reminded to pray for every married couple i am proud to know. to pray for their day to day life. to pray for their home and their children. and pray that no matter what happens, they will fight for one another and in the end remember why they fell in love in the first place.

little things

addison loves cupcakes...

and i love flowers from my love

it's the little things you know...like cupcakes and flowers that make you smile. or the silly giggle that comes from deep down in my toddlers belly telling me that she is carefree and happy. or a nuzzle from henry as he scoots down to warm my feet. the little things and the simple things.

tomorrow we are packing up and heading to florida to celebrate the wedding of a dear family member. terry's cousin nick is getting married to a precious lady - a girl i am sure will make him very happy for years to come. it will be a weekend full of family, laughter, stories, maybe some dancing, yummy cake and the smell of sweet flowers. a weekend of simple love and little moments of goodness.

that is, if we can make the 7 hour trip without going completely insane.

dinosaur

this week has been crazy! i mean crazy crazy! lots of decisions were made in a very short amount of time, an open house was held which meant some insane cleaning happened and croup invaded the body of little miss and involved two trips to the doctor. not to mention work has had me in tuscaloosa almost every day this week. roll tide, i guess.

on another note, thank you, thank you for all the sweet words, encouragement and advice. they are cherished. truly cherished.

addison has a tiny crocodile that she got on one of her kids meals while at the beach. she calls it a (whisper here) dinosaur. no lie, that dinosaur haunts her. i guess it is more of a love hate relationship. she loves to find it (the dinosaur moves from place to place - often) but she hates to go near it. the dinosaur has now become a slight parenting tactic - it keeps little miss on her toes. it keeps in her line...sometimes. i think i need a dinosaur. something to keep me in check. keep me focused. keep me on the path. it has only been one week and it has been awful. i have been on a off this diet 7 times already. ha. i am pathetic. like i said, i need a dinosaur.

until i find one - allison, we are so getting together, i will email you. lauren, what day works for you? i would love a scheduled walk with you. mandy, i am all in (i think). seriously though, i want to do it. we will do it. can we go somewhere fun? dad, thank you for the encouragement!

to renew

it is tuesday, terry is at football practice, dinner has been made and eaten, dishes are cleaned and put away and i am now outside listening to the kiddos play and laugh and laugh and play. oh, and trying to persuade myself that it is a nice, breezy evening and i am sipping on a chilled glass of wine.  but there is no breeze and no wine.  shucks.

but you know, it is nice.  it is nice to rest in a house that is a home...where there is security and shelter, rest and renewal.  

renewal.  to renew.  to begin again.  that is what i am doing.  i am beginning again.  i have (once again) started on the long (very long) road to shed some of myself (by this i mean weight).  i heard someone say today that you have to feed your spirit, if all you do is feed the flesh it will eventually turn on you. i must admit, oh blog world, i have done a good job of feeding the flesh and my spirit is starving.  so yes, this shedding is about physically getting better as well as spiritually getting better.   physically i need to shed 60 pounds.  oh. my. i said (typed) it out load. and i cannot take it back.  double shucks.

well, with all this being said, i know there are readers out there that drop in and give a chuckle or nod in understanding and then move on.  and trust me, i don't mind.  but not this time.  this time leave a story, some encouragement, your successes, a bible verse or just a little "you can do it!". anything to keep me going, to help me feed my spirit.  60 is a long. way. to. travel.  

thank you for listening and for the words yet to be spoken.  i will cherish them.  now back to the kiddos and the pretend breeze blowing in my hair.  nite nite.

goodbye pacis

one week later: i am happy to report that addison is paci free and pickles is still intact.  there was some fear that she might just un-sew pickles and get. those. pacis. back.  but she didn't and after just one bad night of crying we have success.  

now, if only potty training was that easy...