I’m going to try doing Meme Monday for a few more weeks and see how participation goes. But since it has really been dropping off I might stop doing it. Or maybe start doing it every other week or something like that. Any thoughts about that?

Anyhoo, I wasn’t tagged last week so I decided to post this fun little question and answer thing I saw over on Zam’s blog a few weeks ago.

On the outside:
Name: Melanie
Birthday: October 20th
Current Status: Married
Eye Color: Hazel
Hair Color: Way too light (more about that tomorrow- do be sure to come back for a picture of me and my hair)

On the inside:
My Fear: Someone in my family being sick, spiders and drowning
My Weaknesses: Food, blogging, food, blogging
My Perfect Pizza: the kind that Rich makes

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow:
My thoughts first waking up: I can’t possibly go to church with my hair looking like this (again, more about that tomorrow)
My bedtime: usually sometime after midnight but before 1am.
My most missed memory: High school years

My pick:
Pepsi or Coke: Yuck to both.
Single or group dates: Single with Rich (and Hailey too since we don’t leave her with a baby sitter)
Adidas or Nike: Doesn’t matter either way
Tea or Nestea: The kind of iced tea my cousin Beka makes
Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate
Cappuccino or Coffee: Both please

Do you:
Smoke: No
Curse: No
Take a shower: Of course
Have a crush: on Brad Pitt
Think you’ve been in love: Yes
Go to school: No
Want to get married: I’ve been married almost 8 years.
Believe in yourself: Not really
Think you’re a health freak: As far as food and exercise- no, but where germs are concerned- yes.

In the past:
Smoked: No
Gone to the mall: Yes
Been on stage: Yes
Eaten sushi: I have tried it but will never have it again.
Dyed your hair: On Saturday (more about that tomorrow)

Have you ever:
Played a stripping game: No
Changed who you were to fit in: Probably.
Done something your kids will never know about (at least till they are adults): Yes

Age you’re hoping to:
Get married: Already am
Take your dream vacation: 30 (that would be this year)

In a guy:
Best eye color: the color of Rich’s eyes- kind of greenish, blueish, hazel
Best hair color: Brown
Short hair or long hair: Clean cut
Best attribute: Sense of humor, kindness

What were you doing: (times reflected when this post was written on Sunday afternoon, not when it posted)
A minute ago: Checking on Hailey while she is napping
An hour ago: Eating a bowl of cereal
A month ago: Oh, probably blogging
A year ago: Oh, probably blogging

Finish the sentences:
I love: my family
I feel: exhausted
I hate: lying
I hide: from problems
I miss: being young and not having anything to worry about
I need: to play with Hailey, she is up now.

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Then I received this award from Chuck.

The other day she (yes, she) posted a lovely photo that she had taken and we had to guess what it was. My guess was “It’s obviously a shadow” and Chuck was quite impressed with my abilities and bestowed this award on me.

Thanks Chuck!!

If you participated in Meme Monday this week it’s time to sign Mr. Linky.

Be sure to check out my latest giveaway for a Living the Dream shirt from LTDChix.

Welcome to another round of Meme Monday.

This week Pam tagged me for the 8′s meme…..here goes!

Eight Things for which I have a Passion For:

1. God
2. My family
3. Blogging (how sad is that, my number 3 choice is blogging.)
4. Planning learning activities to do with Hailey.
5. Creating excuses for not exercising
6. Eating
7. Creating excuses for not cleaning
8. Organizing

Eight Things I’d Like to do Before I Die:

1. Know that certain family members are saved.
2. Move (hopefully in the near future, the sooner the better).
3. See Brooke and Hailey become successful and happy adults.
4. See Brooke and Hailey get married and have families.
5. Travel to Hawaii.
6. Sleep for 8 hours in a row.
7. See Rich get his dream boat.
8. Reach my goal weight and maintain it.

Eight Things I say A Lot:

1. Leave Dottie alone.
2. Don’t pull Dottie’s ears.
3. Be nice to Dottie.
4. Please don’t pull on Dottie’s paws.
5. Gentle touches, you’re going to hurt Dottie.
6. Don’t chase Dottie with your popper.
7. Yes, that is Dottie’s nose, please stop poking it.
8. Tell Dottie you’re sorry.

Eight Books I have Read Recently:

1. Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
2. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
3. The Grouchy Ladybug
4. Marvin K Mooney, Will You Please Go Now
5. Green Eggs and Ham
6. Taking Care of Me
7. Silly Little Goose
8. Count

Eight Movies I Have Seen Eight Times:

1. Christmas Vacation
2. The Christmas Story
3. Father of the Bride part 1
4. Father of the Bride part 2
5. Family Man
6. Sweet Home Alabama
7. Lady and the Tramp
8. Back to the Future movies (NOT by choice)

Eight People Who Should, but are in no way obligated, Do This Meme:

1. Foster Me Up
2. Just Talk
3. Lifesong
4. Makimeji
5. Mindless Chatter
6. Mom of Three Girls
7. Not a DIY Life
8. Spice World

Be sure to check out my giveaway for a $50 Kangaroodle gift certificate!

And now sign Mr. Linky if you participated this week.

Is it time for Meme Monday already?  Wow!  The weeks sure do fly by fast.

So- what’s Meme Monday all about?  Every week we save up everything we are tagged to do and then post all of the memes we have been tagged with each Monday.  We also use it to post the awards we have received during the week before.  Get all of the details right here.

For the last two Meme Mondays I didn’t have anything to post because no one had tagged me.  So, some of you must have felt bad for me last week and decided to tag me.  I’m not going to post everything today though because that would be too overwhelming.  So, if you tagged me I will eventually get around to doing it just not necessarily today.

I was tagged by Zam for this high school meme.  Some of the questions I won’t be able to answer because I’m pretty sure the school system that Zam grew up in was a lot different than the one I grew up in.  But, I’ll do my best.

THINK BACK TO 4th year high school… Let’s see how much you remember and how much you regret.

What section were you?
This question, for example, I don’t know what a section is.  So, we didn’t have sections where I went to school.

Who were your seatmates?
I’m also not really sure what this means.  We had nine different class periods throughout the day so depending on which class I was in I had different people I sat next to.

Still remember your english teacher?
I won’t be putting her name here, but I do remember.  Which is pretty surprising considering I rarely went to her class.  Maybe once or twice a week I would show up.  I did well in her class and she didn’t care if I came to class, so I didn’t usually go.

What was your first class?
I have no idea. I can’t believe I don’t remember. I can remember what I had at all of the other times of the day but I can not remember what my first class was.  It’s driving me crazy!

Made friends to the lower years?
Yes, I did.  And much to my parents dismay there was a certain boy who was younger me that I spent lots of time with- and he was trouble.

How was your class schedule?
It was great.

Made any enemies?
I don’t think so.  I can’t remember making any enemies.

Who was your favorite teacher(s)???
My calculus teacher.

What sport did you play?
HA!  Me?  Play a sport?  That is just too funny.

Were you a party animal?
No.  I had lots of great times with my friends but I wouldn’t consider us to have been party animals.

Were you well known in your school?
I don’t think so.  I knew a lot of the people who were in the same grade as me but as far as school wide I don’t think I was well known.

SKIP CLASSES?
A little too much.

Did you get suspended/expelled?
I had in school suspension… for skipping too many classes.  Which makes a whole lot of sense to me- you don’t go to class so you get suspended from going to class.  Huh???

Can you sing the alma mater?
Some of it.

What was your favorite subject?
Math

Did you go to the dances?
Just to the prom.

Where did you go most often during breaks?
Out of the building to various food establishments nearby.  That is actually how I met Rich

What did you do on the last day of school?
I have no idea.

Well, that was a fun little trip down memory lane!  If you’d like to play along let me know so I can read yours too!

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Then I received this award from Dana at Just Talk.

Awww, thank you so much Dana!  I think you rock too!!

And that’s all for this week.  If you haven’t entered my giveaway yet and you want a chance to win a set of BPA-free Evenflo sippy cups then be sure to click here to enter.

If you participated in Meme Monday this week it’s time to sign Mr. Linky and then visit the other participants.

It’s time, once again for Meme Monday.  Anyone can play along, so if you’d like more information about what Meme Monday is you can get that right here.

For the first time in a really long time, no one tagged me or gave me an award this week.  Woo Hoo!  Oh, that’s too bad.

Anyhoo, last week Pam did a couple of Mommy Memes and then said we could play along if we wanted to.  And since no one tagged me I decided I would play along with one of the Mommy Memes that Pam did.

Momma Meme #1

Baby’s Name?
Hailey

Male/Female?
Female

Birthday?
October 7th

Where was he/she born?
Hospital

What time was he/she born?
1:34 pm

Weight/length at birth?
6 lbs. 10 oz. and 21 1/2 inches long

Age as you’re typing this survey:
30

Are you a paranoid mom…?
Most definitely

Do you sterilize everything (like boil nipples or wash every toy)?
I don’t now but I did for the the first several months of her life.

Do you buy “sensitive skin” wipes because they’re “better” for baby’s skin?
Yes, but only because Hailey does have sensitive skin and she gets a rash if I use the regular ones.

Do you worry that your baby will stop breathing in his/her sleep?
Not as much now as I used to.  I used to check on her constantly.  Now that she is older I still check on her but not much as I used to.

Do you freak out if they happen to doze off during tummy time? (SIDS!!)
When she was an infant I did and I would roll her over onto her back.  But, she’s 18 months now, so I don’t anymore.

Do you overdress your baby, whether it’s warm or cold?
I probably did overdress her during her first winter, but I didn’t this year.

Do you wash your baby’s clothing in Dreft or other baby detergent?
I used Dreft up until a few months ago, now I just use our regular detergent.

Do you refuse to dress baby in anything with buttons (choking hazard)?
I used to refuse to put her in anything with buttons but I have relaxed about that.

Do you watch (and critique) when someone else changes baby’s diaper?
Not now, but at first I did watch- not critiquing, but just watching.  Now I am happy to have anyone who will change Hailey’s diaper.

Did you buy all of their furniture (crib, changing table, stroller) NEW?
Yes.  But, my parents bought Hailey’s changing table and my in-laws bought her crib, so we didn’t actually have to buy everything.  But since we didn’t have any baby stuff we had to buy everything else new for her.

Do you have to wash a pacifier that fell on the floor before giving to baby?
Not now, but for probably the first six months I would boil her pacifiers if they fell on the floor.

Do you worry about anyone else holding your baby?
No

When you leave baby with a sitter, is all you do worry about baby?
The only sitter Hailey has ever had has been my parents.  The first time we left her with them I worried.  Since then they have watched her a few other times and I don’t worry about her anymore.

Do you jump out of bed the second baby starts fussing during the night?
Yes- Hailey gets up in the middle of the night and then I bring her to bed with us for the rest of the night.

Do you worry about making baby bleed when clipping his/her fingernails?
Yes, I hate clipping her fingernails.

Do you call your pediatrician at least once a week?
Not now, but at first I called a lot.  I’m sure they made fun of the paranoid new mom when I was calling all of the time.

Do you cancel playdates because your baby has a runny nose and coughed once?
If the playdate was being held at my house I would just let the other parents know if Hailey had a runny nose and tell them I wouldn’t feel bad if they decided not to come. 

Do you refuse to go shopping without a shopping cart cover?
Yes, those carts are so gross- I always use a cover.

If you have a cat, do you worry about toxoplasmosis?
We don’t have a cat, but I would worry if we had one.

Is your baby allowed anywhere near your pets?
Yes, Hailey loves Dottie (a bit too much sometimes).

Do you only feed your baby organic baby foods out of fear of preservatives?
No.

Do you think you are or ever have been a paranoid new mom?
Absolutely!

If you want to play along, feel free- just let me know so I can check out your answers.

If you participated in Meme Monday this week, sign Mr. Linky so the other participants can visit you.

Want to know what Meme Monday is?  Click here to read all about it. 

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This was an easy week for me.  First I was tagged by Saralynn with the book meme.

Here are the rules:

Pick up the nearest book of at least 123 pages.
Open the book to page 123.
Find the 5th sentence.
Post the next 3 sentences.
Tag 5 people.

This was actually a little difficult for me- finding a book near me that has 123 pages.  In the past I would have had lots of books nearby with lots of pages in them.  But since I’m busy with Hailey and reading her the kind of books she likes I don’t read much for myself anymore (unless you count all of the blogs I read). 

I am reading a book right now that I am supposed to be doing a review for on my blog, so that is the only book I have right now that isn’t meant for a toddler.  The name of the book is “Dadditude” and it by Philip Lerman.  It’s really good, but I’ll write about that when I do my actual review.

Anyhoo- all of that to say this- pg. 123, find the 5th sentence and post the next 3 sentences- so here they are:

“You woke up again at 3 a.m., and started crying inconsolably, and I didn’t know what to do.  I held you and rocked you and sang to you, and you screamed and you screamed and you screamed.  I almost went and got your mom.”

So that was that- and you’ll be hearing more about this book when I do my review on it- but let me just say again- it is good.  Really good.

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Next up, I received an award.  During the month of March there was this contest being held by Bluedreamer to find the top 5 hottest blogs.  Several of my bloggy friends nominated me for the award- so I won spot number 3.  Woo Hoo!  Thanks to everyone who picked me.

So, now if you played Meme Monday this week sign Mr. Linky so that all of the participants can visit each other.  Anyone is welcome to play along, so join in the fun.

Welcome to another round of Meme Monday!  What’s Meme Monday?  Click here for more information. 

First up this week is a tag I got from Liza several weeks ago.

Message In A Bottle Meme
1. Compose a message to place in your virtual bottle.
2. Right click and SAVE the blank graphic below

3. Use a graphics program of your choice to place the message on the picture.
4. Post the Message In a Bottle meme and your creation on your blog along with these rules.
5. Tag a minimum of 5 bloggers – or your entire blogroll – to do the same. Notify them of the tag.
Your virtual bottle will remain afloat in the blogosphere ocean for all blogernity (That’s a Mimism for blog + eternity.)

 Here’s mine:

Feel free to play along if you want to.  Let me know if you do so I can check yours out.

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Then I was tagged by Denise a couple of weeks ago to do the seven random things meme.

Here are the rules:
1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person that tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 people and link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged

So, here’s mine:
1. My favorite color is blue.
2. My favorite TV show is The Office.
3. My favorite food is lasagna.
4. My favorite ice cream is chocolate peanut butter cup.
5. My favorite kind of music is country.
6. My favorite vacation spot is Disney World.
7. My favorite computer game is The Sims- which I no longer have time to play because I am much too busy blogging.

Once again- feel free to play along if you want to.

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If you played along this week please sign Mr. Linky.

For information about what Meme Monday is- click here.

Here are my memes for this week:

First, from Kristen at We Are THAT Family :

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

What I was doing 10 years ago:
I was in college studying elementary education and working part time at a day care center with toddlers.  Fun times.

5 Things on my To Do List today:
rotate Hailey’s toys
dust
laundry
put laundry away
clean the kitchen.

Snacks I Enjoy
chocolate chip cookies (Chip’s Ahoy)
peanut M&M’s
cereal
pretty much anything that is sweet

Things I would do if I were a Billionaire:
Move away from the place where we live because we don’t want to be here.
Give money to our families.
Give money to help sick children.
And of course- buy Rich a boat.

3 of my Bad Habits:
too much time on the computer
not enough time exercising
snacking while on the computer

5 places I have lived:
The town where I grew up
The town where I went to college
The town where I lived after we got married
The town where we bought our first house
The town we live in now

5 Jobs I have had:
Day care
Cashier at a drug store
Worked for a phone company
Director of a day care center
Pre-kindergarten teacher

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Next, I was tagged by Pam and NuttyGal for this one:

RULES:

1. Simply choose five blogs you want to be included in your “top five list”.
2. Give a short line or explanation why you put them on your list. One explanation for each blog.
3. Now tag as many blogs as you want. You can also tag those blogs you have listed in your TOP FIVE….you can also put your own blog in your list if you want.
4. For those who have been tagged, you can also vote for a blog that has been nominated already (besides, this is what this meme is intended for, to know how many bloggers will nominate your blog)
5. Submit you TOP FIVE HOTTEST BLOG ENTRY here.
Submitted blogs will be the only one to be included in the tally
6. Remember: Submissions of entries starts from MARCH 1 2008 to MARCH 25 2008 and top five hottest blog winners will be announced on MARCH 29 2008
7. Enjoy listing your top five!!!

***end copy here***

So, here are my top five picks:

1. Pam at Random Thoughts- Pam has an awesome blog where she talks about anything and everything that goes on in her life.  She is so open about her thoughts and feelings and her posts often reflect the same feelings I have as a wife and mommy.
2. Nutty Gal at Nutty Gal’s Waffles- Nutty Gal blogs about her life as a single mom to her 6 month old baby girl and talks about her day to day life.  She always has something fun going on at her blog!
3. Sharon at Sit With Me Awhile- Sharon always has some amazing spiritual advice.  I know I can usually get a good devotional when I visit her blog.
4. Regina at Regina’s Family Seasons- Long, long ago I saw Regina everyday at this terrible little place called work.  I learned more from working with her than I did in all of my years in college and working with her made the days fun… well as fun as they could be considering our circumstances.  So, now we keep in touch through blogging and she has an amazing blog!
5. Zamejias at MakiMeji- Zamejias has a lovely blog where she talks about her day to day life.  She always adds a bit of humor and I know I can count a smile when I visit her.

Okay- that was really hard.  It took me a really long time to pick 5 people because I really love everyone on my blogroll.  I don’t want to make anyone feel bad by not including them so this was really hard for me to pick just five.  But, I had to follow the rules on this one.  And I’m tagging the people I picked for my top five, except of course the ones who have already done it.

Now if you played along this week- sign Mr. Linky and be sure to visit each other!

It’s already Monday again and time for another round of Meme Monday.  Anyone can participate in the fun- you can get more information about what Meme Monday is by clicking here.

I was tagged a bunch of times again this week, but I’m only going to post two of them today.  I get overwhelmed if I have to do more than two in one day.

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My first tag was from Pam for this really hard meme.  She did such a good job when she posted her answers that I had to wait a few weeks before posting mine.  Hopefully you’ve all forgotten by now how good her answers were.

5 things I want my kids to know:

• I will love you and accept you no matter what- even when you make choices that are wrong that will not change that I love you unconditionally.
• None of us are perfect, it’s okay to make mistakes.
• Who you are on the inside is what matters- if you are beautiful on the inside you will be beautiful on the outside too.
• You can come to me with anything- no matter what or when I want you to know that you can tell me absolutely anything.
• While I love you more than you can possibly know- God loves you even more than that.  That is even hard for me to comprehend.

5 things you want to tell your children when they are grown up:

• You are worth it all- worth everything we went through trying to conceive you, worth all the sleepless nights and worth all of the worry, the tears, the pain- just worth it all.
• Do what makes you happy.  Money doesn’t matter if you are unhappy.
• Now that you are an adult- we can be friends, best friends I hope.  When you were a child my job was to be your mom, not your friend.
• Have respect for everyone.  Remember Matthew 25:40- The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
• Don’t forget to call your mother.  At least once a day.

5 things you want to tell your child before you die:

• Someday I will be gone, but God will always be there for you.
• I did my best and gave you everything I possibly could.
• You brought me more joy and happiness that you can ever know.
• I loved going to Disney World just as much as you did.
• I will be waiting for you in Heaven.

5 things you want your child to know before she dies:

• What it feels like to fall in love.
• The wonderful feeling of marrying the right man.
• What it feels like to have and love her own children, with the man she fell in love with and married.
• True happiness
• That she is a Christian and that she will be spending eternity in Heaven.

That was probably one of the hardest meme’s I’ve done, but I’m glad I did it and I actually kind of like my answers.  If you haven’t done this one yet and you have children then consider yourself tagged- really you should do it.

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My next tag is from Chuck to do the desk top meme.

Here’s how to play:

- Capture a picture of your computer’s desktop.
- Post it on your blog along with a link to who tagged you.
- Tag some people.

So, here is my desktop.

As you can see I don’t like to have any icons on my desktop- it just seems too cluttered to me.  If you remember back when I did this meme in September I was sharing a laptop with Rich- take a look and see how it looked back then.  I think it looks so much better now that I have my own laptop.  Now if I could just find a way to get rid of that silly Recycling bin I’d be all set.

If you want to play along with the desktop meme- then consider yourself tagged.

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If you played along this week- sign Mr. Linky so all of the participants can visit each other.  Invite your friends to play along and please send them here to sign Mr. Linky so that I can visit everyone who plays.

This is how it works:

1. Post these rules on your blog.
2. Just list 10 things that won’t likely ever come out of your mouth.
3. High-five (or ‘tag’) any amount of people to do the same on their blog.
4. Then come back here to Lifesong and let me know that you did it.

So, here are 10 things you will never hear me say:

1. Don’t worry about it hon, I’ll go shovel the driveway.
2. It’s too bad spring is here, I’ve really been enjoying all this snow.
3. A free trip to Disney World?  No thanks, we’re all set.
4. Chips Ahoy Chocolate Chip cookies?  Yuck.
5. Coffee?  No, I won’t be needing any of that today.
6. I can’t wait to walk on the treadmill today.
7. Why yes I do enjoy changing Hailey’s poopy diaper while she tries to climb up the wall.
8. It’s so nice to see that you’ve brought your obviously sick child to playgroup today.
9. I hope I don’t get any comments on my blog today.
10. Naahhh, I just don’t have any use for a million dollars.

I’m only going to tag two people: First, I’m tagging Regina because I know how she enjoys some good sarcasm.  And, I’m also tagging one of my newest blogging friends Kristen at We are That Family because she is hysterical and I think she’ll have a good time with this meme.  If you haven’t been by Kristen’s blog yet you should really stop by because in case I forgot to mention it- she is hysterical.

It’s time once again for Meme Monday where we save up all of our memes and awards and post them each Monday.  Then everyone comes here and signs Mr. Linky so that we can all visit each other and see what we have been tagged to do and the awards our friends have given us.

And guess what- in case you didn’t notice- we now have a Meme Monday button.  If you want to grab it and add it to your Meme Monday post you can certainly do that.  To make it easier you can click here to get the HTML code for the button.

I have a really easy week this week- I didn’t get tagged at all to do any memes.  I did receive a couple of awards this week.  First I got this one from Pam.  Thanks for thinking of me Pam!  I love my award.

I am going to pass this award onto JennieBoo, Sharon, Deb and KC. 

Then I received this award from Deb.  Thanks so much Deb- I think your blog is loveable too!

I want to pass this award onto Kellan, Jennifer, Zam, and Crys.

Now if you played along this week, sign Mr. Linky so that the other participants can come and visit your Meme Monday.