Andy's New Ride

Ever since I've known Andy he's driven the Purple Pounder- aka his 1995 Ford Ranger.  He refused to take me out on our first date in it though because he thought I'd think he was a loser... isn't that sad!  He got that truck when he was a senior in high school, and it's been a great truck!  The last few years though the air hasn't worked, and now his radio/cd player doesn't work.  Well, ever since we've had children it's been a little inconvenient that weren't able to put them in his truck.  When it was just Cooper, and it was below 75 degrees we could put him in the truck with his daddy.  Well, now that there are two blonde headed boys that just wasn't an option.  And, ever since Andy switched his work schedule around and has the boys on Mondays, we really needed a vehicle they could all fit in.

Andy started looking seriously a few weeks ago at Nissan Frontiers, and last weekend we started shopping.  Our first trip was to a small "foreign" (aka super sketchy) car dealership in Stone Mountain, GA.  We were there for about 20 minutes before we headed back to Chattanooga.  The truck was way overpriced, had been smoked in, had rust damage, and was all beat up.  The next day we saw a truck in Chattanooga that was slightly better, but was dirty and had been smoked in as well.  Well, just when we were starting to get frustrated I happened upon a brand new Craigslist ad on Tuesday.  I showed it to Andy as he walked through the door and he called immediately.  We were up on the North Shore an hour later looking at it, and Andy fell in love.  It was by far the best we had seen, and the boys loved ridding in it.

Fast forward to last night and Andy is now the proud new owner of a 2007 Nissan Frontier.  He was so excited about it, and worked on cleaning it up all night last night (even though it wasn't dirty at all).  Now we've just got to buy some car seats so we can stop switching them in and out and we'll be set!  I'm very excited about it too, I think it'll bring some fun opportunities for our family... and Andy totally deserves it!

My Hands (and Heart) are Full!

 

Clark Michael Smithson is walking!!!  Where in the world did my little baby go?  He took his first steps about a week before his birthday (he'll be 13 months tomorrow), and now he's about mastered the whole walking thing.  Don't get me wrong, he still seems to prefer crawling, but now he does about half and half when he's tearing through the house.  And let me tell you, he TEARS through this house.  Between him and his big brother it looks like a tornado blows through this house daily.  Now that he's much more mobile Andy and I really have to be on our toes!  Watching him walk is so sweet though.  If you watch The Walking Dead his walk is very similar to a "walker" on there.  He drags one foot a little, and holds both hands out by his side to help him balance.  It's very sweet, and he's so proud of himself!  He's now walking down the hall and all the way across rooms when he pleases, which he just started this weekend.  He's already improved since this video, so next time you see us out and about look for an itty bitty blonde headed boy following us around, or for two crazy parents trying to keep up with him!

A Little Change in the Makeup Routine

I've worn makeup on a regular basis since I was in late middle school/early high school.  It was always fun back in those days to get all dolled up, but now with two babies in tow it just seems a bit like a chore most days.  Don't get me wrong, I still love getting fixed up for dates and whatnot, but the majority of the time I'm trying to keep two little boys out of the toilet while I'm putting my makeup on.  Or, since I've started my new job, I'm trying to sleep as long as possible and put my beauty routine on the back burner.

I used to always wear your typical liquid foundation, plus concealer, powder, and blush.  This summer though, I only wore some sunscreen (the older I've gotten the more important I've realized sunscreen is), concealer, and powder.  I'm not much of one to get a tan (my sister got the tanning gene from our Cherokee Indian side, I got the dark hair), but I'll take advantage of any less makeup when I can. 

After a summer of full of very minimal makeup, I just couldn't hardly make myself go back to full foundation.  I bought some more the other day, used it one day, and felt like it made me look pale/washed out, and like I couldn't breath because it was so heavy.  The concealer/powder look wasn't cutting it anymore either, so I knew I needed something in between the two.  I follow a beauty/hair/style blog (The Small Things Blog - it's great!), and the author had mentioned BB creams a lot.  To be honest, I really had no clue what it was, but it had sunscreen in it and was supposed to help cover/smooth your skin... I thought it would be worth a try.  I ran across some Cover Girl BB cream at the Dollar General the other night for $7, so I threw it in the buggy. 

When I first opened it I was expecting it to be just like sunscreen, color and all.  I was pleasantly surprised though when it came out just like foundation, but felt very light on my face.  It also gave me a great amount of coverage to where I felt like I was wearing foundation, but I didn't feel like it was caked on or overly noticeable.  All in all, a win win!  This will definitely be my new routine, along with some powder.  I'm sure I'll cut back down once I get some more color again, and I'll save the serious foundation for more "dramatic" makeup events and whatnot.  I'm glad I finally found a happy median though!

The Big Change

I feel like I haven't sat down at my blog in weeks, even though it's just been since Thursday.  These last few days if I've sat down at a computer it's been to make lesson plans.  Yes, for those of you who don't already know, I got my first "big girl" teaching job.  I'm teaching 8th grade science and 7th/8th grade computer at Brown Middle School in Hamilton County.  I found out that I was accepted for this position back in early July, but kept things "on the down low" until recently in hopes that something closer to home would open up.  Don't get me wrong, I love this job (I went to college to teach middle school science), it's just about a 35 - 40 minute drive both ways.  I had a job interview a few weeks ago at a school very close to home, but God didn't open that door for me.

The hardest part about this job is leaving the boys for so long every day.  My heart breaks each morning when I pull out of the driveway.  I would give anything to be able to stay at home with them, but it's just not possible right now.  The good thing is though, the school hours are from 7:15 to 2:15, and I can walk out the door with my students.  And trust me, I walk out the door right behind them every single day.  I'm usually home by 2:45 each afternoon, so it's not too bad.  That's been the biggest benefit of this job.  Had I been offered a fulltime teaching position in Walker County I would've had to stay much later.  Andy has also switched his schedule around to where he works Tuesday - Saturday, so he has the boys every Monday.  My mom has them the other days. 

It's been hard adjusting to all the planning that goes into having your own classroom, but I've had a lot of help from my coworkers, and Andy and my family have been really helpful and supportive when I'm stressed out.  Keep me in your prayers, I'm still adjusting.

In other news in our lives Clark has his first double ear infection of the runny nose season.  The last time he had one was in May, when he had his last runny nose.  We were hoping he'd grow out of them over the summer, but it's not looking too great.  Cooper has a runny nose too, but so far he's not acting sick.  Keep them in your prayers... sickly babies are the worst!

I'll leave you with some pictures (cell phone) of some of our activities lately... enjoy!

 

 

The End... of Vacation Photos

Here are the last of our vacation photos.  I hope you've enjoyed them as much as I have!