Dillightful Musings

Asher Turns Three!

2011-12-31T22:06:00.000-05:00

OO-OO-EE-EE!

Are you ready to rumble?

Asher's 3rd Birthday Party was today. He had 6 wonderful friends (Emily, Wyatt, Paige, Dana Kate, Matthew, and Harrison) and 11 adults come to his party. We are SO glad we had it at the church building. They were able to play and run around all where we could see them.
There was the enclosed balloon pit jungle room and that was the main attraction (as it is every year! Click here to see other years.If you see this post first, scroll down :)

And a yummy cake made by Diane Lane again. She does such a great job!

Asher had a hard time blowing out the candles. He tried to play it shy at first, but wanted to still blow on the candles. What a silly monkey!

And, of course, my sweet Asher only wanted to eat the monkey brains.

He got some amazing gifts! Thanks everyone for following our no gift policy! lol! Asher didn't mind that you broke the rules. :)

Big boy Wyatt was the cutest little Monkey at the party!

So where were you 3 years ago tonight? At a party? Me too...

Christmas Time 2011!

2011-12-27T21:27:00.000-05:00

On the night before Christmas, Daddy read to Asher a story of smelly things, especially Dasher.

The gifts were put below the tree with care, and hope of a happy Christmas was in the air.

Sunday morning rang quicker than regular Christmas beginnings, because Daddy had to work and there weren't to be extra innings.

We saved the jeep for later, so Asher's favorite toy was a bat.

His other favorite gift, his new cubbies hat.

Getting ready for church by myself like always, proved to be kind of crazy on that special morning. Asher got a new costume and wanted to wear it. Thank you Mimi, at church he was able to share it.

(Daddy told Asher if he was good at church he'd get his big gift later. Shockingly he said "no" and fought with mommy throughout the 2 hour time. So needless to say, I took him straight home and rocked him to sleep. My poor baby was exhausted from opening all of those gifts! Poor thing! He slept for almost 4 hours. We woke him up and it was time to eat then go back to church. No time that day for the Jeep after all)

Asher finally did get his Jeep. Monday around 3:00, he awoke from his nap without a peep.

We brought him into the living room and much to his surprise, there was a new PowerWheels from the grandparents right before his eyes!

He enjoys driving in circles and crashing. We are excited about his future career as a race car driver.

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Terrific Times in Tulsa!

2011-12-24T21:23:00.003-05:00

We went to visit Jana, Jared, Zeke and Silas at their new house this week. They graciously opened up their home for the Sloans to have Christmas closer to everyone. Mom and Dad met us there along with Cliff and Andrea. We were able to take family pictures, and the experience wasn't as horrible as everyone had predicted!
And you'll never guess the name of the photography business, in Tulsa, not anywhere near where my family is from...
Sloan's Photography! lol!
Here are some of the highlights. Enjoy!

Santa came early this year...

2011-12-13T22:10:00.000-05:00

Even Santa shops on Cyber Monday!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

2011-12-08T06:11:00.001-05:00

Lovely tree

Sweet boy wearing his "snow"

Nativity Fun!

(My fave from childhood, still in pristine condition. Very strange...)

No screaming this year! Wahoo!

Cheesecake=Happiness for all!

"Happy Cold Weather and Sickness- to you!"

(My lack of posts is definitely because of the 4 sinus infections in the last 3 months. Sorry, and I'm determined to do better!)

I mean, "Happy Holidays!"

(including Asher's B-day on the 31st. My favorite holiday of all!!)

Being Thankful in December

2011-12-08T06:08:00.000-05:00

We have a lot to be thankful for.

Good friends

Big tubs

Fun stairs

and good Family. We were so blessed to be able to go to NC for Thanksgiving. We had a great time and can't wait to see family again soon!

Halloween

2011-11-03T20:26:00.002-04:00

We had a great time at the Salato Center again this year! Asher saw many animals and got a little bit of candy too. He really enjoyed wearing his costume and seeing others being in other costumes too.

Hope your Halloween was Spook-Tacular!

Check out last year's post HERE :)

Most Photogenic

2011-10-16T15:41:00.003-04:00

Yes, it's been a while.
We've been out of town and I've been super busy at home and work. Plus laziness may have been a factor, but I won't admit to it.
Another reason for my posts being non-existent is the fact that my child turns into a zombie whenever I want to take his picture. The next few pics are the best I've gotten recently.
They were taken at the pumpkin patch in Indiana this week as Asher was distracted by a giant blow-up cat coming out of a pumpkin. It's been there every year and distracted him from getting good pictures every time. You'd think we'd learn and just take him somewhere else, but we always think "surely next year he'll be ready to smile, right???" We'll end up back there next year too. We like to be consistent so no one gets confused.

Yes, he's saying "cheese"
Pass over the award for most photogenic (sarcasm, people, in case you forgot my style of writing)

Here's the winning shot with the face of "I am officially not interested in being in this picture. Hand over the giant kitty in the pumpkin and no one gets hurt!"

And the winner for looking disinterested in what mommy is asking him to do, this picture sums up why I haven't had a lot to post lately...

I'll post later about our trip. There actually were some cute pictures and I'll compare Asher to previous years too :) I promise to be quick because I know the demand is high for content like that! (sarcasm again, just in case you still didn't pick up on it. :)

The Haircut

2011-09-18T09:06:00.002-04:00

Ok, I finally have a 1/2 way decent picture that shows my cut and my face all looking kind of normal. I'm not even going to get into the smile-line issue!

My hair was half-way down my back and was driving me crazy. I started growing it out when I got preggers with Asher. So, those memories and the fact that I've not had it long in a long time, kept me from cutting it. I was tired of spending money to get my hair done, just to pull it up because of any amount of wind would mess it up. I love this new cut and it can go any kind of way. Also notice the feather on the right :) Have a great day everyone!

Midway Fall Festival

2011-09-17T23:01:00.000-04:00

We'd planned on going to this event for weeks and it was finally here! The Midway Fall Festival 2011 did not disappoint. Great prices on almost everything and perfect weather made for a great day in Midway.

Our first stop was at the train we'd been telling Asher about all morning. It was a lot bigger than you'd think and he was a little timid about peeking inside it. He was given a free conductor hat and activity book (note to self: get there early every year, because they ran out fast!) but wouldn't wear the hat until we were far from the giant train.

They also had a little train for the kids and adults to ride down the street in. This picture is from a few years ago, and our train was blue with a Thomas face on the front.

Asher liked this train MUCH better. He kept saying "it's a choo choo train!" He was cracking us up!

He also got a train whistle to make the outfit complete!

They had a petting zoo and horse rides. Asher got to feed a sheep, llama, goats, and many other animals.

The kettle corn really hit the spot after a long morning of fun!

Hopefully tomorrow's sermon isn't about gluttony, though ;)

Mommy and daddy got some yummy honey that is going to cure all illnesses, and mommy worked her magic and got the nice lady to insist that she have a free bar of honey soap. Then the nice man at the funnel cake place gave us a dollar off a large lemonade for being a return customer. I had to refuse a free bag of popcorn at the end, though, because guilt was starting to set in. Midway was such a charming place with real people wanting to spread some fun, not just wanting to make a buck. Definitely my kind of place :) It was a fun day!

Reds Time!

2011-09-14T06:32:00.001-04:00

Out of the mouths of babes:

"I love family pictures. I make them special"

"I'm ready guys! Throw it over here!"

"Look Dada! Cubbies!"

"Wow! Cool Baseball!"

Labor Day Weekend Roadtrip

2011-09-10T14:23:00.004-04:00

Last weekend Asher and I went to Graves County in Western KY to visit with family. Poppa Joe, Gigi, and Uncle Tom came up from Texas, so we got to see Texas and Kentucky family in one trip :) We stayed at Tom and Deb's house and would go to Aunt Juanita's during the day. Asher spent a lot of his time outside running, playing chase with Aunt Juanita's dog, and sleeping.

Here are a few highlights from the trip.

Some of the things that should not have been mentioned in this post:

Dumpling's is not open during Labor Day weekend
If you give a child a very large amount of land to run on, he may never actually stop
It's hard to pack for a weekend trip that starts out at 104 degrees and ends with a high of 65 degrees
With Uncle Tom, Asher saw and whispered "corn" which reminded Uncle (Dr.) Tom of the quirky boy from The Middle. But no. We do not accept your diagnosis, doctor. The child just likes corn!
I ended up at a frat house, instead of a church, with my 2 year old, waiting on a Cars potty seat.
Asher's toe nails were so dirty, I had to clip them to get the dirt to come out
And yes, Asher used the potty in over 5 gas stations.

Mother of the year:

Wordless-ish Wednesday

2011-09-07T18:01:00.001-04:00

Asher and I visited family this weekend and had a WONDERFUL time!!

Thanks to Papa Joe, Gigi, Aunt Juanita, Uncle Tom, Mr. Tom and Mrs. Deb, Jack and Francie and Lydia, and thousands more that we saw while we were there! It was a great time and I wish we could do it again every weekend!!

Wordless-ish Wednesday

2011-08-31T00:21:00.016-04:00

Yesterday was fun!!

Asher found out that we had a costume bag in the play room. Then, Daddy and Mommy were attacked by a bumblebee...

Got lucky at Gatti's pizza...until the fire alarm went off and scared Asher so bad that he actually said he wanted to go home instead of waiting outside (unbelievable!! "Pizza and Games and Hit" is his favorite place to go!)

I got em all cut, kind of like this (no bangs, though) because it's versatile and I'm done with the 3 1/2 years of growing it out to not get any longer than my shoulder blades,

and I added a little something extra for fun...

Hopefully I don't have any kindergartners that decide to try and pull it out today. OUCH!
I'll have pics up soon :)

No-Ad Blogger SPF100

2011-08-25T21:16:00.002-04:00

You may have noticed the absence of ads on my blog. A while ago I decided to try the ads and see if I could make a quick buck just from others clicking on the advertisements on my blog. Last week I noticed a Victoria's secret ad below my post. I've mentioned VS in a post before, so I thought that must be why it was there. It kind of disturbed me to see that, but I quickly forgot about it while checking for errors in my writing. A few days ago, I got on again and from what I could tell, my sweet family blog about a preacher's family was advertising for call girls.

So, needless to say, the literal $1.36 I've earned in the last 8 months wasn't really worth all the hassle. And if you think I should put the ads back up, send me $20 and I'll think about it.

Ode to the First Week of School

2011-08-20T03:22:00.001-04:00

You can tell by my title why I have been neglecting my poor blog, so here's a recap of the week.

It has been a typical first week of teaching Kindergarten children.
On the outside I look like this:

On the inside:

Don't even get me started on how crazy messy my house looks right now. I've been at school until almost 5 every day this week and I was there until 6:00 tonight. Yes, on a Friday! And other teachers were still there too!

Now, let's compare this past week to the last week of the school year.

I will look like this in May.

And feel like this:

It's been an exhausting week and I can't wait for summer vacation. It sure is nice.

Wordless-ish Wednesday

2011-08-11T07:16:00.000-04:00

"Momma, is this heaven?"

Boy fun when the grandparents came to visit. (Thanks Cliff and Andrea for coming too. I'll post more pics later!!)

Wordless-ish Wednesday

2011-08-03T11:45:00.000-04:00

94 degrees in my classroom

BIrthday candles for later in the month

Captured Dinosaur

$20 Grab Bag Day!

2011-07-30T21:21:00.003-04:00

Have you ever been to Clothes Mentor in Lexington? It is a wonderful high-end resale shop for women that has reasonable prices year-round. I've been so reluctant to buy new work clothes over the last few years because

1. We don't have a ton of money to spend on nice clothing
2. My work clothes always have the chance of getting snot from hugs, paint, markers, etc. on them throughout the day.

Why would I not feel bad buying something that was nice and new if I knew it would just get all messed up whenever I wore it?
Clothes Mentor has solved that problem for me. I can have nice clothing that I don't feel bad if it gets destroyed. They are extremely picky about what they buy, so I know the clothes are in good shape (I've sold to them and come home with 50% or more of what I brought in to sell. They are soo picky!)
Well, last weekend I went in for my first time as a buyer. I told Bryan to check out the Once Upon a Child next door so that he wouldn't have to shop for girlie stuff with me. Apparently, they were having a grab bag sale and Bryan came back. He couldn't even step 5 feet into the store. It was wall-to-wall crazy mommas!
So, thankfully he helped me find a few things for the new school year at Clothes Mentor. Yay for a pair of Coach flats, 2 pairs of capri pants, 4 shirts, and a pair of pants. All from stores like Talbots, Banana Republic, and J. Crew. I spent almost $90 and was very satisfied. The shoes alone would have cost more than that. After we checked out I realized that I was still in need of more shirts (I seriously had nada besides those 4) and the kind lady told me about their $20 grab bag sale a week later (size of a kroger bag and handles have to touch anything I can stuff in it for only $20). As we drove away, I got to witness the long line of people coming out of the Once Upon a Child that had become even worse since Bryan tried to get in and it was only 10:30 in the morning.
A week later (this morning) I got up early and planned to be there a few minutes before they opened, just in case there was a line like they'd had at their sister store. There was definitely a line.

(Yes, I stood behind smokers to stay in line. It was only for a few minutes, though, so worth it. My camera was acting weird so this was the only picture I was able to get. You can still see some of the beginning of the line behind the girl in the yellow shirt.)

As you can see, it was out in the parking lot and looped to two doors down from the store. I got in line wondering if we could all fit in the little store full of goodies. An associate came out and explained the rules to us. All items in the grab bag sale were in the back corner of the store. All racks were labeled "included in grab bag sale" or "NOT included" plus they were colored differently. This was a good thing. It helped keep things organized and saved me time. We shoved our way into the store, grabbing a bag and a paper with the rules, and headed for the back corner. I should've not brought my purse in, but thankfully no one was there to rob me blind, because they could have totally gotten away with it. It was insane! People's bodies were touching all sides of me, grabbing clothing from all over the place. My hangers kept getting stuck on clothes that were hanging up as I tried to move through the aisle, and even got stuck on the back of a lady's shirt at one point. Thankfully a girl in the beginning was nice and gave me tips, like

1. Grab clothes on the hanger and hang over non-grabbing arm. Do not stuff the bag at the beginning.
2. When stuffing later, fold then roll each item. It will make more room in the bag.

I went through the shirt area twice (pushing through kindly and grabbing clothes off the rack as I went) and thought I'd gotten enough to fill up 2 bags. I went to fold at a counter and realized it all fit in one bag and there was room to spare! I quickly went to the dresses area and merged my way in. Funny enough, some ladies were timid and and just standing. watching. They said they'd follow me through as I made a path for them. I was definitely a leader today, (hands on hips, looking toward sunshine pose). I found 2 non-prom dresses still in my size and grabbed them both. I grabbed a skirt in another area not as crowded and decided I was done. I rolled up the dresses and skirt, and still had room left in the bag! It felt like a waste of bag because it was $20 a bag as long as the handles touched. I looked back at the mob and saw what was left after 20 minutes of mayhem. The once floor to eye level double racks full of clothes were now slim pickins. I was SO glad I'd gotten there early, and that I'd gotten out alive with all the contents of my purse. So, I just gave in a checked out. In the end, I bought: 13 shirts, 2 dresses, and 1 skirt. I went to the register and the damage was $21.20. I'd saved $140 off their already consignment store prices! Definitely the best deal I've gotten in a long time.

When I got home, the items I purchased were dried, washed, dried again and are now hanging up, giving my side of the closet some life. It has been deathly ill for too long! Bring on the snot hugs, kindergartners! Mrs. Dill is ready!

Sweat and Love

2011-07-21T07:59:00.006-04:00

Last week we were in North Carolina/South Carolina for bible camp. Bryan stayed here in this cabin and sweated the first half of the week then froze the last half.

Asher and I spent a total of 10 hours there, sweating, swatting bugs,

and digging in gravel.

Bryan pretended to be a chair in staff skits and was in charge of all things games.

The other hundreds of hours were spent at the grandparents house. So the trip definitely was worth it. Asher taught Momma Dill and Daddy Dill how to use their iPad.

and loved seeing them become independent with it :)

He learned how to blow bubbles to stay busy

then took trips to the mall, thinking about a future career as an astronaut (Um...we'll let him down easy...)

This week has also been fun in a different, not too sweaty way. I had an interview on Tuesday, then that night we celebrated my good friend, Erin McDowell's, tenure at the Napa River Grill in Louisville with her and Ryan. They dropped the kids off, I gave Asher my phone, and it was a fun evening with tons of good talk :) I was very under-dressed for the occasion, but they still served us, even with both of my boys ordering things that were not on the menu. We should have caught on that we didn't belong there with a 2 year old, when they told us there was no kid's menu available, but the chef aimed to please and offered him some choices.

We ate some yummy ice cream at a shop close by. I think Asher had the best time, though. iPhone games and a giant ice cream cone make for a great night of fun!

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, I got the job :) In the last 7 years of full time teaching, I've been in 3 schools, and 7 different classrooms. Anybody up for helping me move again? And yes, the new classroom is down the hall and up the stairs :) Counting it as a blessing, by far!!

Fun on the 4th

2011-07-05T09:58:00.000-04:00

Oh, how I love laying out by our enormous pool, sipping tea on our awesome deck and sitting in our plush lawn chairs. All while overlooking our well maintained lawn.

Since none of that is true, at the Dill house, we compromise.

Walmart pool with a broken spout (that I will be returning soon=wahoo! free pool!)
Folding chair
Juice in a sippy cup
Patio that needs a good cleaning
And our lawn boy who is away at bible camp means trouble for the backyard that grows much faster than the front.

Even though we don't live like the people in magazines, we had a great time celebrating the 4th. The weather was great and the boys had the best time throwing super splash balls at each other.

Flashback Friday

2011-07-02T00:48:00.001-04:00

Oh, how I miss the college days. This is especially true when I look in the mirror or when I try and stay up past 10:30.

1999-our last day of our Freshman year. Deborah Starkey (Wallis) (my roommate)and I at Bobby's downtown Searcy.

Leslie Kukta (Rains) and I in Dr. Pryor's Old Testament Survey class Spring 1999. We were roommies the next year.

In the fall of 1999, I met Bryan. It was love at first sight.
Spring break 2000 at the Biltmore Estate in NC.

The snow at Harding is magical.
Spring semester 2000.

The one thing that would be nice to go back to, above all else, would have to be the gas prices. It's tough to beat 83 cents per gallon.

Here's the link where you can check out the entire album.

And the Award Goes to...

2011-06-28T04:20:00.003-04:00

Special thanks to Kristine and Britney of J &M's Eye Candy for sending me this wonderful blog award!!
If you are the arts and crafty type (even a little bit) you will LOVE their site. They have all kinds of great DIY's and even their own etsy shop. From keeping organized to making jewelry, everyone will find something they are interested in. Click on their name above or on the left under the Mommy Diaries button to check it out. You will NOT be disappointed.

This is my first award, so I think the rules are for me to share 7 things no one in the blogger world knows about me.

#1 I hate sharing information about myself in things like this. You are welcome to close your browser or go to more interesting sites like mowing the perfect yard or learning to ice skate. If you do keep reading, I'm sorry my life is so much more boring than yours and you were warned.

#2 I love Mexican and Chinese food, but rarely get it. The last time I had real Chinese food was an egg roll when I was pregnant. Ya know, 3 years ago. Just an egg roll. From a food court at the airport if that even counts as Chinese food (tear rolls down cheek).

#3 I love Frosted Flakes! I'm addicted and the source of any weight gain I incur centers around the fact that I had 2 cups of sugar for breakfast.

#4 I actually like my job. I love teaching. I love sitting back and watching the kids learning things that, at the beginning of the year, seemed so out of reach. It's a high and I'm hooked.

#5 I do well with constructive criticism from people I respect. Don't even try to criticize unless you've earned that right. I'll be polite, but I will let you know quickly that you're probably wrong. ;)

#6 I am very quiet in large groups unless I disagree with something. One-on-one you can't get me to shut up.

#7 I am a movie person. I love to tear movies apart and find out where they are going, get inside the writer's head and find symbolism too. Unfortunately this means that I'm not allowed to talk during movies, especially movies at home :( Apparently, I'm a little too accurate and have "ruined" things for people in the room.

It's a gift and a curse, kind of like this list of facts about Dana.

Oh, yes! You guessed it :) I'm passing on this One Lovely Blog Award to people who's facts I actually care about and I can't wait to see what they say about themselves.

Check them out, leave some sweet comments, and tell them who sent you because I think they're awesome!

Diary of a Bad Mother

Have a great rest of the week, everyone!

I Love You Jesus China

2011-06-26T05:31:00.002-04:00

Due to a little storm this morning,

I have been unable to sleep. Until my sleepy-time tea takes a minute to work, I will share the wonderful pics I just found on my unsuspecting, non-reader of my blog unless I force him, husband's phone.

Get ready for some Awesomeness!

Finally out of the vault is this picture of me and Oliver Hudson before I asked him for a picture together. Here I am screaming through my gritted teeth at Bryan to "TAKE THE PICTURE!!" All the while, he was looking up Oliver Hudson on his phone to see if it was really him. I was SOO not happy.

On our way home, Asher got a little creative with his hats.

Bryan took Asher on the carousel in Cape Cod while I got my nails done.

This was taken yesterday of a poor little boy in our neighborhood who only has PJs to wear outside.

He does have a new glove and tee, so he didn't mind that he was in his PJs. Especially since he'd been naked the rest of the day, being super successful at potty training, by the way. I know a ton about these neighborhood kids!
Oh, and look! There's Sassy the Wonderdog in the background! She has a big day coming up on July the 4th :)

Bryan's got skills with the iphone.

We never can seem to get a good picture of Asher. I think he is too focused on something else. Like intimidating the batter, perhaps?

And the last picture I've stolen off my dear hubbie's phone is this lovely license plate we saw while at Quizno's in January. Props to Bryan for jumping up and taking the pics of it for me at the expense of being beaten by two large women getting in their car.

Oh, and if you know what it means, please help us out.

The Gloves are ON!

2011-06-24T21:32:00.001-04:00

We went shopping today. At the ripe old age of 2 1/2, Asher got his first baseball glove. He was extremely excited and wanted to play non stop...

On a less lighter note, my poor baby keeps being awakened by fireworks.

Not small crackles. No, no. Loud, booming, fireworks from houses in front of us and behind us. Apparently the laws that were in place have been taken away and all fireworks (no matter what size) are allowed to be fired at any time day or night in city limits. We've called the police. It's true. It's one thing to allow it for the actual Fourth of July, but this has been going on all. week. long. And it's only going to get worse as it gets closer to the 4th.

Strangely enough, the laws are still in place for poor Sassy dog and her need to bark at squirrels during the day. Yes, there is a law for our city, explaining that any dog barking during the day will be taken away from it's owner and the owner will have to go to court (our lovely neighbors had a cop sent to our house with a warning for us a few years ago. The next time a report is sent in, they will take Sassy from us). But fireworks that are dangerous to people and ESPECIALLY children, let alone a fire hazard, can be done at any time, anywhere in city limits.

I am extremely confused by this hypocrisy.

So, in conclusion, I need to find a way to even the playing field and find some middle ground.

I'd like to announce that Sassy, the Wonder Dog, will be shooting off VERY large rockets, bottle-grenade-firework-ultimate-WWE-awesomely-loud-launchers, and dirty diapers (disguised with red, white, and blue crepe paper), in the general direction of our evil neighbor's house, come Fourth of July.

Let Freedom RING!

Oh, and if you are moving to the area, our house is fabulous and you should buy it so we can get out of here before we lose our minds completely :)