Which do you like??

#1
#2

#3

So I am taking the plunge and getting my hair cut and highlighted (again) tomorrow! I just feel like I have had the same version of the same old cut for years! I mean each time I go in and say....hey do something different I walk out with a slightly different version of what I always have. Now the last time the girl really did a nice job with my highlights and gave me some red streaks in there...but same cut! Uhh! So this time I am taking pictures!! LOL! So what do you think??? Which one? I really like the same color I have now (I'd take a picture to show you...but hate to post those roots ont he www!) So should it be similar (not exact) to #1, #2, or #3???? What's your vote????

Even Tuff Girls NEED Make-up!

So, I guess this is what

Two parents watching a movie

+

Two girls in thier room playing
+

Parents forgetting about the girls upstairs

='s

THIS FACE!!!

So I find Emma in the bathroom like this, thier room TRASHED, and Maddelyn asleep in the middle of the floor!

So by what's in her little fingers, it's easy to tell that the mascara in Mommy's drawer was just a bit too much temptation when you have free reign of the upstairs. Parenting rule #1: Active toddlers should NEVER be left alone WITHOUT a baby gate up! Oops!

....On another note.....It's funny what OLD things will appear when you search your own name in the YAHOO search bar??? It's really funny to look back on this POST-deployment!

From the Lee University School paper.....

The Collegian......

“. . . I will do everything I can to the best of my ability.”
Senior, Nathan Martin

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2003

The “D word” is not allowed in the home of Nathan and Mandi Martin. Although

Nathan, a two-year member of the U.S. Army National Guard, is prepared for the possibility
of deployment, he doesn’t discuss it with his wife. “It’s one of those things we know about, but we just don’t talk about,” said Mandi, who is seven months pregnant with the couple’s first child, Maddelyn Jo Martin. “We’ve been dealing with the deployment issue since
September 11,” she added, “and we weren’t even married then. So I knew what I was getting into, but it’s still not easy.” At age 22, and three months away from a bachelor’s degree in political science, Nathan said deployment would be an honor. “I can only count myself fortunate if I am able to go over there and take care of business myself,” he said, “but if I don’t get called up, then I am just a normal citizen. Whether I help as a citizen or a soldier, I will do everything I can to the best of my ability.” While Nathan’s mom shares Mandi’s feelings of concern, he and his father often discuss the “D word.” It is something his father can relate to, as the Martin family has a long history of military service. Nathan’s father served three years in the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), and his grandfather was an Army soldier in the Korean War. His great-uncle was a native German who served as a nurse for the United States military during World War II. Thus, the Martin family couldn’t be prouder of Nathan, who is a specialist in the personnel department of the 1st squadron of the 278th Armored Calvary Regiment, based in Athens, Tenn. If deployed, Nathan’s job would change from dealing with the soldiers’ paychecks, life insurance and other human resource issues, to dealing with incident reports and death counts. Although he is planning a career in politics, Nathan is happy to serve eight years with the National Guard. “I think everyone should do some kind of service for the government at one point or another, whether it’s the Peace Corps or whatever,” he said. “We’ve been given so much; we need to give something back.” In his State of the Union address last Tuesday evening, U.S. President George Bush spoke strongly on the possibility of war with Iraq. He addressed his critics’ suggestion that America postpone military action “until the threat is imminent,” and he pointed to history’s example as motive to act otherwise. “Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a strategy, and it is not an option,” he said. “If Saddam Hussein does not fully disarm, we will lead a coalition to disarm him.” Nathan Martin and countless others like him couldn’t agree more. “It needs to be done,” he said of the possible disarmament mission. “It’s foolhardy not to go and take care of the situation while it’s still a small threat. “There’s a possibility I could die,” he added quietly, “but I could die doing a lot of things. I might as well be doing something just. It’s a matter of rights and rewards."

And here are the pictures from Sesame Street Live that I promised! The kids all loved it and it was the longest I have seen Emma Grace sit still in a long time! What a blessing those FREE tickets were! See it always helps to have tons of friends because you never know when one of them will end up working for the big guy in the red suit...no...not Santa....ELMO!!!

2 Sassy Scrappers.....

Just a quick post for right now...I hope to upload some pics tonight of Sesame Street Live!

I did want to let everyone know thatI will be helping out with the newsletter for http//:2sassyscrappers.com (opening 4/1/07). Anyways we are getting the mailing list ready, so if anyone would like to recieve it in their inbox you can send your name and address to admin@2sassyscrappers.com I know that it will be featuring a Design Team section where you can keep up with all of us who made the team as well as what we are working on for the store. There of course will be store updates and info about the message board as well. Hope to see some you there!

A "DUH!" Moment for Mandi

Ok...so I did something dumb, but I did learn my lesson. I'm not sure how much I shared earlier, but a little over a month ago we were having troubles with Caroline latching on to nurse as well as her being quite colicy. So, long story short, we ended up seeing a lactation consultant in Columbus which ia an hour and 15 min from here. Five treatments and over a month later, we finally have gotten the problem fixed. But, while on this journey with Caroline we discovered that she has a dairy sensitivity. Which menas that I can not have any dairy in my diet as long as I am nursing her. Basically her little body can not handle the protiens in cows milk and when they are not digested by her, she has an allergic reaction to them. This usually shows itself in fussiness/colic, dry skin, gassiness, and a rash. So.....I have been TOTALLY off all dairy and anything containing even traces of dairy for about 5 weeks. At first it was HORRIBLE because I love milk/cheese/icecream, but also dairy is in EVERYTHING! Anything baked pretty much has dairy in it and this meant learning to shop and cook in a whole new way. So I was doing really well besides a few mishaps here and there, but nothing too big and then my mom made reubens. Ok, anyone who knows me well enough knows this is a weekness for me. so, Of course I had one...swiss cheese and all! I did have her only put a half of a slice on each of my sandwiches, but it was still cheese. So I learned my lesson!!!! Caroline has been a fit the last 24 hours!!!! She is unbelieveably fussy and gassy. Last night we were up basically once an hour with her crying and trying to get her to calm down. She also has had a horrible runny/stuffed up nose. But, at least with that I know she is in the process of getting the dairy out of her system. I think it will take about 48-72 hours to clean it out of her system. So...long story, but let's just say I learned my lesson!!!! Impulses are not a good thing when it comes to a dairy allergy!!! Yes, the reuben was WONDERFUL, but it was so not worth it!!!! I guess all other dairy comfort foods can wait until after nursing!!!! At least I know I will get my Breyers strawberry ice cream back some day. I myself might have a slight dairy sensitivity, but I will deal with a runny nose and itchy eyes for my Breyers. Having Caroine go through the reaction is a different story though.

So...sum up of the weekend.......Saturday I wen tot the twin slae in Columbus. I blogged about it last fall, but for those who missed it, it is basically like a garage sale on steriods! It is a garage sale hosted by a mother of twin's club that only sells kid items. I usually walk away with a laundry basket or two of clothing and kid supplies for CHEAP! After that we watched the Ohio State BB Game...Go bucks!!!! My parents and brother came over for reubens and we just chilled out.

Sunday was church and then I spent the afternoon running around trying to get stuff for the girls' birthday party. It was nice to be able to leave the girls home with Nathan while I ran errands. So I am quickly learning that if at all possible it is best to wait until the weekends when Nathan is off and can watch the girls while I do errands. So much easier that toteing 3 under 4 around all day shopping!

Not a Newborn Anymore!

Happy two months Caroline! Yep, my lil sweetheart is 2 months old today! Can you believe it! Well the other day I took a few....dozen shots of her on my new background. I also caught her in the act of her new favorite, sucking her LEFT thumb! So maybe we have a so here they are...leftie on our hands as well as another thumb sucker? We give her a binkie, but she can't keep it in that long. When it pops out she goes searching for that thumb of hers.

Oh! Oh! Oh! I totally just realized that it has been almost a week and I still have not posted the great news....( no family members, we aren't pregnant again :D). I made another design team!!!!!! I submitted a few pieces of my work and I was HONORED to have been chosen!!! I now and one of 8 proud new Design Team members for 2 Sassy Scrappers! They are a new Scrap store opening as of April 1st. www.2sassyscrapers.com I will of course post more on that as it gets closer! I will also share some DT work as I get it completed. I can't wait ot get my lil fingers on the kit!

Been a while...

Sorry for the delay between posts! It's been a crazy week here, so I kept forgetting to blog! Let's see....since last post...we went to Chuckie Cheese that day...here are afew silly pics of the kids->

Monday: Caroline had another appt with the lactation consultant in Columbus. She FINALLY after 5 visits has been cleared and has a pretty close to perfect latch now! Woo-hoo! It only took 8 weeks to get there! Hopefully this has nothing to do with what kinda kid she'll be!

Tuesday: We went to Willard for lunch with my mom and to sign our tax refunds at the guy who did them's office. Gotta love those refunds!

Wednesday: Nathan started a new job. He is now working full time, 5 days a week at joint force headquartes for the Ohio guard...where he drills. They needed a temp slot filled and he needed a temp job until we decide what we are going to be doing permenantly now that he is off the presidential campaign. We have several things we are waiting to hear back on and once again we are in a "hold pattern" waiting on God's direction in our lives. I keep seeing this reoccuring theme in my life where I have no clue even what state we will be in by the next holiday!!! That's not normal is it? Well, for us it is!!! It is all about seeking out and following God's Will for our lives! Anyone who knows me knows that I NEED security and routine in my life. I HATE the thought of moving and starting over or leaving family behind, but If I KNOW that it is what God has planned for us, then I will be the first one packing boxes. So...as you can tell, we would greatly appreciate your prayers as we wait on God!

Today: Well, we have some sickness going through the house right now. Emma has had a fever for 2 days now. I did not feel to well this evening either so as you can tell not much got done!!! We did however make our very first trip to Walmart for groceries as a mommy and 3 girls! It was an adventure to say the least! Man was it nice having Nathan working from home so I could leave him with the girls during nap time to run errands. I guess you can officially say that I am a stay-at-home-mommy of 3 now! I also got a couple of loads of laundry done and made up the treat bags for Maddelyn and the twins birthday party. We sent out the invitations yesterday, so all you locals should be seeing them soon!

Last night Campus Chior from Lee University did a concert from our church. It was amazing. I had forgotten what a Spirit filled group of young people they are. I mean I know they are good, but man talk about an anointing and the pressence of God during thier praise and worship! Wow! Makes me miss that from Lee. I told Nathan...hey...we could always go back and defer our student loans!!! Yeah right.

**OH...funny kid thing->

Last night at the concert my almost 4 year old Maddelyn looks at my Aunt Kim and says with a serious voice, about a rather large man in the choir..."How did he get so big? Did he blow himself up?" Man kids are so blunt! It sounds aweful, but she honestly wanted to know and was just trying to learn her world. Gotta write that one down to tease her with later! Kinda like the "monkeys" at the game in Columbus with Austin...for all the family members who remember.

3 Things...

Three things that made me laugh today.....

1. We went to Dairy Queen to treat the kids tonight and Emma walked right up to another table, sat down with her ice cream cone, and said "Hi...blah, blah, ice cream, blah, blah (Emma Talk.)"

2. We told Maddelyn last night that her birthday was coming before long and asked her if she was okay with having a ladybug party with her cousins. So, now MULTIPLE times a day she says "Is it my birthday yet? "Is today my birthday?" "Are we doing such and such because today is my birthday?" "When IS my birthday???"

3. Nathan had put the girls to bed this evening and we were both downstairs...him on his laptop and me scrap'n around the corner at my desk. He heard something and looked past his laptop to see Emma just sitting there watching TV with him. He had no clue how long she had been watching TV with him before he heard her? He said "Emma...what are you doing?" She replied "I'm not sleepy!" How funny to hear that out of one who doesn't talk too much!

Three things that make me happy;
1. Caroline's NEW smile!
2. Seeing new scrapbooking supplies from CHA show up in the stores! :D
3. Actually having a day OVER 60 this early in March!

Three things that drive me nuts:
1. Waiting for anything...kinda impatient
2. Clutter
3. Running late...which I usually am!

Three things I can not wait for:
1. To start seeing my girls' paper line from A2Z start appearing in the stores
2. Maddelyn to finally rememebr which is "D" and which is "E " in her flashcards
3. The HUGE twin garage sale I go to twice a year...bargain kid clothes!!! :D Only 1 more week!

Three things I want most to instill in my daughters:
1: For them come to a point of not only having a deep faith, but a personal relationship with thier Father God.
2. For them to settle for nothing less than someone like thier daddy when looking for a man.
3. As long as they seek God's plan for their lives, it might get tough, but He will aways provide. His Will is FAR above anything we might desire or could even imagine.

Three favorite earthly possesions:
1. Nikon D50 Camera....uhhh....smile! :D
2. My bathroom heater...hubby says I live in the bathroom? I like hot showers?? Can you blame me?
3. My Great-Grandparents Cast Iron Bed that was given to me.


Well that's it for tonight. Nathan has guard this weekend and tomorrow we will be spending time at Chuckie Cheese's with my parents, brother, nieces, and nefew for a bit. I think I forgot to post that Nathan and I decided for him to re-up with the National Guard for another 6 years. We talked quite a bit about it and weighed all the options and decided this is what was best. As long as he is at Joint Force Headquarters he has little to no chance of being deployed and there is always that $15,000 sign on bonus to help influence our decision! Basically that $10,500 take home sure does help us pay off a few things and set us up pretty nice to buy a house whenever we finally get settled! Besides all of that to weigh in the decision, Nathan said that he really did not want to get out of the service as long as we were still at war. I understood where he was coming from. He is sooo patriotic.

Random thoughts from this week...

Not too much to report here, so I guess just a few tid-bits about this week?

It snowed again last night...uhh! Spring will never come!

I cleaned and re-organized several closets today..I guess if Spring isn't coming it doesn't mean I can't start my Spring cleaning now? :D Yeah, OCD beacuse I like to clean. Hubby agrees with you that I am a bit off.

We had some DELICIOUS strawberries for dinner tonight that once agian reminded me of warmer weather!

In my midst of going through closets today I came across my old year books...man how life has changed since then! It is so funny how back then we all thought we'd be friends forever and all just stay in Willard. NOT! Yeah, I might have started out a small town girl, but Nathan and his political side is determined to change all of that. I think it is hilarious how different my life is from my old high school friends. Hello, I have been married almost 5 years now and have 3 babies! I have one friend who is currently getting her masters in London? Can we be more different. I am campaigning with hubby in DC and she is hitting the pubs in London?? Never thought I would be in this place, but I can definitely see God's hand has led us to this point in our lives.

I guess being off all dairy while nursing has gotten me into this whole health kick. I started everyone on new vitamins and am trying to pack the house with as many fruits and veggies as possible. I am trying out taking some Omega 3 fish oils for my allergies, so I will have to let you all know how that goes...hopefully well! Hey if nothing else, all this health food will hopefully help with that baby bulge! :D Only about 15 lbs to go, out of my FOURTY gained! Yep...that is what bedrest does to you...uhh!

Here are the pics I promised of DC. Sorry they took that long to post. The one of Caroline and Nathan is with Ken Blackwell. The pic of the guy speaking at the podium far away (I forgot my big lense in the hotel room) is Vice Pres. Dick Chenney. I also took some pics of the monuments at night but I wish I had thought to bring my tripod. But, who knew that I would be out that late at night taking night shots of the monuments? The last picture is of Caroline on her third flight..don't ask we had a crazy trip home on Sunday. US Airways decided that that was the absolute best day to put in a new computer system! Long story short....we ended up with a cancelled flight, layover in NC, almost missed the second flight, and taking almost 10 hours to get home instead of about 3!!!!!

Headed Home

Well, we are ending our DC trip and headed back to the land of the Buckeyes! The confrence went well and we got to meet a lot of interesting people on the right side of the asile! Nathan of course met and got to actually sit down and talk with WAY more than I did! Of course! Some of the few we saw were Sam Brownback, Newt, Jim Glimore, Duncan Hunter, Sean Hannity, Anne Coulter, G. Gordan Liddy, Tom Delay, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Michelle Malkin, and of course John Cox! Nathan of course was in conservative Heaven! He spent the last two nights until wee in the morning "smoozing" with the big guys! LOL! You know..talking the issues, exchanging buisness cards, and such! What these politial guys do! Caroline and I spent one evening with another wife here and last night we packed and vegged infront of the tv.

Yesterday during all of Nathan's meetings and running around in the afternoon, Caroline and I decided to call a cab and go shopping in Georgetown. I honestly felt pretty proud of my small-town-lil-behind doing all of that on my own! Boy, have things changed in the past 6 years! I picked up a few things and of course they were all on SALE! Last night we went out to Ruth's Crisp Steake House!!! WONDERFUL steaks! For my birthday they brought out a Creme Brule (sp?) topped with fresh berries! Are you licking your lips by now??? You should be!

Well we are headed back this afternoon. I will try to post some pics later on tonight or tomorrow?

From DC

So we are still here in DC at CPAC. The confrence has gone pretty well so far...of course always a few bumps, but okay for the most part. Last night I was able to hear the Vice President speak at a dinner we attended. That was pretty neat. Caroline also got a picture with Ken Blackwell....ran for Ohio's govener this past year. The dinner was some big who-ha, but to me I could have had a better tasting meal at O'Charley's but that is a pretty common thing for those mega bucks political dinners. I did laugh though at the fact that I basically could have filled a dishwasher with just my place setting! I think I counted 7 utinsels, 3 glasses, and 5 plates for just me!! As you can tell, our family is much more of a McDonald's happy meal to keep the kids quiet kinda family! :D This afternoon I spent the afternoon shopping with a friend that I met here. Our hubbies have worked together in the past. Anyways it was nice to get away from the confrence for a bit. Afterwards a big group of us went to an Irish pub, not the Dubliner though...we did that the other night! We love our Reubens! Our first night here we went there to eat and then took a trip around a few of the monuments at night. They are totally amazing all lit up at night. If you have never seen them in the dark, it is a must for your "do someday list". Well missy has decided she wants to eat, so until next time!

Almost 1/2 Way to 50...Hubby Says!

Yep, Hubby reminded me that on Thursday I will officially be 1/2 way to 50! I of course reminded him that as of right now he is TWO years older than me....for those 2 weeks at least. I also reminded him that my 24 is closer to 20, and his 26 is closer to 30!HaHa! This evening the girls and Nathan took me out for my birthday meal since the girl go to PA tomorrow. Tonight was filled with laundry and packing up the girls' suitcases for tomorrow. Not too much to report. I did finish that layout last night......

Well lots to do tomorrow to get ready for DC, so I am not sure when I'll get to post again...so the next time you hear from me, I'll probably be the big 2-5!

Happy Early Birthday to Me!!!!!

Don't you just love early birthday presents? Well hubby and the girls gave me part of mine on firday...even though my birthday is not until the 1st. Hubby surprised me with a black background for my photos!!! It is sooo awesome and it is made of a special material that actually absorbs the extra light. I love it! Of course I had to take a few...dozen pictures to test it out and it is amazing the difference. It made Emma's blue eyes just pop right out! I still need to figure out the best way to hang it...it is a roll of about 30 feet of material, but besides that it works WONDERFULLY! I have the very best hubby in the word to not only have gotten me my precious Nikon D50 for Chirstmas, but now a professional background as well! How lucky am I? What a great pre-birthday surprise! Here are a few of the pics with my new toy!

On Wednesday we are leaveing for CPAC ( conservative confrence) in Dc, so the kids will be going to PA for several days. Caroline of course will be going with us because she is still nursing. We will be there over my birthday and will be flying home on the 4th. I know it's a politial thing that we will be busy working at, but I am excited to be in DC over my birthday!

I'll leave you with a new favorite pic of mine. I took this yesterday of Caroline while she was napping in the cradle. It's for a layout that I am working on today....A day in the life of a stay at home mommy! I'll post it when I'm done of course.

Lee Alums!

Well, he made it! Not only does American Idol finalist Phil Stacey have a great voice, he also has someother great attribute.....He''s a Lee University Alum! He graduated from the music program in 2002, and now is stationed in FL witht he US NAVY. While at Lee he was in Lee Singers....one of Lee's terrific choirs. Phil's wife Kedra is also a Lee alum and sang with her hubby in Singers. Lee University's Alumni Association sent out an email asking all of us to make sure we called in our votes the other night for phil. We all did and sure enough we'll see him again next week! I called a few times but only got a busy answer. Nathan was on his way to DC for another campaign trip, so he called numerous times from the airport. He said it rang busy until after 11:30...which was 1 and a half hours after the show! So if you watch American Idol....keep your eye on this fellow Lee Alumni!

Oh Happy Day!

I can't believe it!!! I finally came out of my shell and started submitting my layouts to different places and sure enough I already got picked up but a kit club! Woo-hoo....can you tell I'm tickled pink about this one! I was honored to have been asked to be the Guest Designer for the month of April for none other than....



You can check out thier website at.... http://www.tickledpinkkits.com/ They are just getting started, but have a physical store in MI. Hmm??? Road trip??? For all my non-scrapbook-community family.... how it will work is that each month this kit club makes up a themed kit to sell. For the month of April, I will be sent one of these kits and asked to do a few layouts using that kit. Then they will post pictures of my layouts on their site as they begin to sell April's Kit. Basically it is a "look what you can do if you buy this!" My picture and bio will be posted on their site and I will be featured in their newsletter which goes out to over 1000 people! So not only do
I get my name out there but I get a fabulous kit as well! Win-win!

It is really encouraging to have been picked up so fast. I mean I like my work and my family and friends all rave on it, but when I look at other people's work that is being submitted I kinda loose heart. I just think their stuff is gorgeous and it is difficult to look at my own work in the same light as theirs. You know, your own worse critic! So, with this new kit club guest design spot, it encourages me to submit my work more often! Thank you God for the little rainbows in our days! :D

SNOWED IN!!!!!

It's late, so just a super quick post tonight......

As you can tell by the title we got snowed in! Yep, Ohio was hit by a huge blizzard last night and of course we were still at the hotel when it hit. So, we were snowed in here today and ended up having to stay another night. It literally was illegal for anyone to be out on the roads for most of the day. The snow died down but the drifting was horrible so we decided not to chance driving home in it and ended up staying here. I would have to say though that if you have to be snowed in somewhere...a waterpark/resort/hotel isn't bad! LOL!

So, not only did we have the excitement of being stranded at the hotel, we were all rushed out of our rooms this afternoon with the fire alarms screaming! We all headed down to the lobby in our coats expecting the worse but it ended up that someone pulled the alarm out the wall and they could not figure out how to get it shut off. It was kind of wierd to see fully dressed firemen with axes walking through your hotel lobby though!

The girls had a blast today playing in the arcade...well I think it might have been a bit more for daddy then the girls but anyways. Daddy hit the jackpot on one of the games so the girls loaded up with prizes form all of the tickets he had won. Here are my little Valentines with their loot!