Dorothy might wear RED....

BUT CARRIE BRADSHAW WEARS GOLD...

These are the Christian Louboutin heels that Carrie wears in the opening sequence of Sex and The City 2. I never ever thought that I would like anything gold, I am just not a gold kinda girl but these shoes were AMAZING with the dress she had on!!

All you girls who are going to see the movie this weekend - ENJOY!!

Show Us Your Life Friday - A Few of My Favorite Things...

Today's version of Show Us Your Life Friday is favorite things or just the little things that make us happy. Without further ado..."Here are a few of my favorite things"

Books - I love to read, and sad to say I will give any book a try but if the plot does not pull me in quickly then it is time for me to move on. Some of my favorite authors are Nicholas Sparks, Stephenie Meyer, Charlaine Harris, Karen Kingsbury, Francine Rivers, and I LOVE reading autobiography/biography selections as well. My husband bought me a "Nook" for Christmas so I only by digital copies of books for myself, but we buy many many children's books for Addison as she loves to read too!


Music - As long as I can remember I have always loved music! Let's see on my iPod right now I have anything from Jay-Z to Barry Manilow, Rick Springfield to Carrie Underwood, Steven Curtis Chapman to The David Crowder Band. As you can tell I love all genres of music and always have. I sang my high school choir all 4 years and loved every second of it. Ha, I guess you could say I was a true "GLEEK"! There is just something about getting in the car, rolling the windows down and playing your favorite song as loud as you can stand it!! I have to say this is another trait of mine that Addison has started to develop - she loves music and LOVES to sing!

Family - My family is absolutely on my favorite/things that make me happy list. I am blessed to have an incredible family, I talk to my mom every single night before I go to bed and love that my dad has become "tech savvy" because we text/talk several times through out the day. I have a wonderful husband who does everything within his power to take care of the girls and I. How do I start about my daughter? She is the bright spot in my life and oh how I love to look into her blue eyes and just see the love of God looking back at me!

Laughter - I love the sound of Addison laughing and I love to laugh with her. On the weekends that Jena is with us, I love to hear her and Addison sharing a sisterly laugh. Even though they are 10 years apart they still are making such good memories with each other and I hope that they continue to grow close.

Christ - My relationship with Jesus Christ and the freedom that I have to worship Him is something that makes my heart extremely happy. I am not perfect and I have to ask Him for guidance and direction each and every day. Some days I tend to forget that He is walking with me and I try to do so much on my own, I love that He is there to take me back into His arms and welcome me with such grace and sweet mercy.

Okay, so clearly this post could go on forever but I wanted to add just a quick list of a few more things.

• mascara - many of you know my mascara fetish and YES a good tube can make me VERY happy!!
• reality tv - I am a junkie, but now that I have started blogging I have had to choose between the two. I am happy to say that there are several shows I do not watch anymore
• sleep - I have an extremely hard time getting to sleep but once I do fall asleep I LOVE every second of it.
• shoes/purses - what girl does not love a good shoe or bag??

I hope everyone has a FABULOUS 3 DAY WEEKEND!!!!

Me Likey!!

NO MOVIE SPOILERS HERE...

The movie was great (saw the midnight show) and I now want this necklace that was worn and looked absolutely fabulous on Carrie Bradshaw.

Are you going to see Sex and The City 2 this weekend? I would love to hear what others thought of the movie!

Do you have your tickets yet???

Four girlfriends and myself are going to see the midnight show - I am really looking forward to it! I promise I will not post any spoilers for those of you gals who will be seeing it over the weekend!

And did you see last nights episode of Glee?? I have to say that Lea Michele and Idina Menzel's version of "Poker Face" was breathtaking!! I am looking for it for my ringtone as soon as I finish blogging. I am a "GLEEK" and proud of it!!

Hope everyone is having a good week!!

Project Life - Week 19

Thanks to the great show us your life post over at Kelly's Korner I have some new followers!! Welcome to all my new readers and let me tell you a little bit about my Project Life posts. I have always loved to scrapbook, and right after Addison was born I started a fabulous scrapbook for her. Well, as many of you know life seems to get in the way of scrap booking, at least the way that I like to scrapbook and I started getting more and more behind. At the end of last year I started reading about several other bloggers who were finishing up their 2009 Project Life album so I wanted to check and see what this Project Life was all about. After visiting Becky Higgins's site I knew that this was the scrap booking system for me! The way that I am doing my 2010 album is taking a picture a day every single day of 2010 to document "our" 2010 in pictures. The kit also comes with small journal cards for you to do a short journal entry each day. I am about a month behind on my cards but plan on catching up this weekend - I HOPE!!
If you are a "scrapbooker" or even if you are not - I would encourage you to check out The Project Life Kit by clicking HERE. You can jump on over to The Mom Creative Blog to see other Project Life posts for this week.

I chose to do my week in pics a little different this week so I have several from Addison's Pre-School graduation, but this was such a special time that I wanted more than just one picture in our album. Enjoy!!

5.19 - The 2009-2010 Bouncing Buckaroo's!!

5.20 - Addison with her two teachers, Mrs. Amy and Mrs. Carrie we loved these two very very much!!

5.21 - Addison got these little princess sponges/stick on things at Wal-Mart today, and she had an absolute blast playing with them in the tub. She actually stayed in the tub over an hour tonight! I would go in there and just run more warm water for her and she continued playing until she was nice and prunish!! If you have a Lil princess of your own I highly suggest these toys!!

5.22 - No picture - my thyroid medication was giving me fits today and I ended up in the minor med with some heart palpitations and high blood pressure - luckily they were able to give me something to slow my heart rate and I went to my reg doctor on Monday to get my medication adjusted.

5.23 - This week Addison has been a "kangaroo", she has even gone to bed several times this week with her "joey" in her pouch!!

Show Us Your Life Friday - Show Us Your Hometown

Walking in Memphis
Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
Do I really feel the way I feel......

Memphis is the "home" of the King of Rock N Roll! Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley is located in Memphis on Elvis Presley Blvd. I have lived in Memphis my whole life and only visited Graceland 3 times. Now that I am writing this post I am thinking that it would be a good day trip for me, Shawn and Jena one Saturday this summer. Graceland and The Lisa Marie (Elvis' airplane) are really a sight to see, not to mention all the other Elvis themed shops and diners that are around the area.

Speaking of the birth place of Rock N Roll, Memphis is also home of the blues. This is a picture of Beale Street, which is located downtown. This street is lined with bars and clubs filled with all kinds of music along with amazing history and stories! On this street we have Hard Rock Cafe', B.B. Kings, Coyote Ugly, Alfred's on Beale, Rum Boogie Cafe' and Silky Sullivan's just to name a few.

Memphis is also home to the Federal Express Headquarters.

And since we are home to Fed Ex, we have the Fed Ex Forum! This is our newest venue that hosts concerts and sporting events. The Forum is home to the University of Memphis basketball team as well as The Memphis Grizzles, which is our NBA team!

This is the Hernando Desoto bridge that crossed the Mississippi River and connects Tennessee to Arkansas. Every time I see a picture of this bridge it just brings a smile to my face; I can remember as a child going to the lake over in Arkansas and seeing the bridge in the horizon meant we were almost home.

Lastly, Memphis is home to the greatest children's hospitals for cancer patients in the country. St. Jude is filled with angels from the doctors and nurses to the researchers and fund raisers. St. Jude accepts all sick children regardless of their families ability to pay. I have been honored on a few occasions to volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House and meet some of these children who are fighting for their lives and hear the stories of how thankful they are for a place like St. Jude.

I hope you enjoyed my short tour of my great hometown. Memphis has much more to offer, my blog post could go on forever showing you other great things about my city. I am a Memphis gal through and through, as a famous girl said one time, "there's no place like home."

Top Three Thursday....Celebrity Male Crushes

It's Top 3 Thursday over at Keeping up with Kelly!!

This week's topic is top 3 celebrity crushes

1. Rick Springfield aka Dr. Noah Drake

If you have known me for ANY time you know that he would make the TOP of the list!!

2. Robert Pattinson aka Edward Cullen

3. Stephen Moyer aka Bill Compton

Click HERE to join in on the Top 3 Thursday fun!

To my little graduate....

A letter to Addison after her pre-school graduation

Dear Addison -

Today as I watched you walk down the aisle in your tiny cap and gown, I was so proud to be your mom. Not a day goes by that I do not thank God above for you, and for the amazing gift that only He could give me. This has been a big year for you! You attended pre-school at Faith Baptist Church, your teachers were Mrs. Amy and Mrs. Carrie and you made lots of new friends! This year you learned how to write your name, ride a bike and speak a little Spanish. These are things that at one time 5 years ago we were told that you might not be able to do, but God showed us that He is in control and that ANYTHING is possible through Him!

This year some of your favorite things are ALL stuffed animals, Hannah Montana, and anything that has to do with Christmas! You even like to listen to Christmas music all year round! You love to "read" and are able to recognize a few words in some of your books. Every night you and I like to read stories and talk, but most of all we like to laugh. Your laugh is music to my ears and a sound that I carry in my heart always.

Words cannot express how proud I am of you and how honored I am God chose me to be your mom. Your journey into this world was not an easy one for me or you, but I would do it all again to have you by my side. I am praying for your upcoming school year as you will conquer Kindergarten in August, and I look forward to watching you grow from a precious little girl into beautiful woman.

Love,

Momma

Project Life - Week 18

The Banks' Family had a VERY eventful week this week!! Click on the icon above to visit some other Project Life posts for the week!

5.10 - I think that ALL children go through a phase where they like to wear cowboy boots with EVERY outfit you put on them. Addison has a pair of hand me downs that are just now starting to fit, I have a feeling that I will be putting these on her A LOT!

5.11 - I went to another Go Girl Art party tonight. Tonight I was invited to go with a bunch of dear friends to paint, many of them I have not seen in awhile. We all had a GREAT time painting and visiting with each other.

5.12 - Addison adores animals, she found this hat at the dollar store and it was a MUST have fashion item for "Bindi the Jungle Girl!"

5.13 - I went to The Peabody Hotel Rooftop Party tonight, it was a fabulous time with good friends. The Rooftop has a beautiful view of the Mississippi River and this night had a gorgeous sunset. I was born and raised in Memphis/Bartlett area and I love all the sights and sounds that downtown has to offer!!

5.14 - I realized as I flipped through my album that it was time for an updated "sister" picture. So hard to believe that Jena will be 15 in July and starting high school in August!!

5.15 - Jena is playing soccer again this season - she had two games on Saturday and her team won both games!!

5.16 - Addison was in the children's choir program tonight at church - the musical was titled G.P.S. (God's Plan for Salvation) it was such a cute program and Addison did a fabulous job!! I have to admit I was very nervous about how she would do on a big stage in front of everyone but she did great, and made her momma PROUD!!

Lollipop, Lollipop...

Blue Raspberry Ring Pop=

Blue Smiles

This one is for the girls in my MOPS group - do you see the "blur" in the background??? I used the aperture setting on my camera for the first time!! YAY me!!!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy....

Happy Weekend Everyone!!

It has been crazy busy around our house this week, but I have LOVED every second of it!! It is so nice not to be covered up in school work and actually have some time for my family and myself. My weekend started on Thursday night when I went to The Peabody Rooftop Party to hear my friends Kevin and Beth Paige. For those of you who do not live in Memphis, The Peabody is a gorgeous hotel downtown with a stunning view of the Mississippi River. Every Thursday night the hotel hosts a party on the roof and has different local bands for the entertainment. Here is a little video that I took of KP and B in action - I love this song!!

On Friday we went bowling with our Sunday School class, I have not bowled in YEARS and my body is feeling it today. How sad is that!! We had an absolute blast thought and my top score was like a 58! HAHAHAHAHA - I need to brush up on the ol bowling skills. I actually forget how much fun it is to bowl. We are going to take the girls one Friday night when Jena is with us, I know that the girls will enjoy it!

On Saturday, it was haircut time for me, TWO soccer games for Jena, choir practice for Addison, trip to Sephora to pick up make up and a trip to Whole Foods to get a few gluten free items. So as you can tell we have been burning up the roads going here, there, and everywhere but it is so nice to actually have the time to do all these things again!!

Project Life - Week 17

YAY!!!! My first Project Life Tuesday post that is ON TIME!!!!!! I had so much fun getting my pictures together tonight, it was not the rushing and trying to just throw pics in order at the last min. This weeks pictures are all from Addison's end of the year field trip - so many cute pictures of her and some of her friends that I wanted to include them all!

*As always you can click on the button above to see other Project Life posts for this week!!

5.3 - Addison at Buckhead Creek - this is the recreational center that is owned by our church. They have an incredible property that is such fun for kids. Her pre-school had a field trip and took the kids to Buckhead for the day and let them ride the "train" and have a picnic lunch.

5.4 - Addison and her friend Lindsey. Addison is the smallest one in her class and the other girls are always trying to take care of her. I watched a little girl pick Addison up and carry her to the slide, I had to tell the little girl that Addison was the same age she was!! HA!

5.5 - Addison and Madison - these two have really hit it off this year! They were looking forward to riding the Buckhead train!!

5.6 - Mrs. Amy and Mrs. Carrie's Bouncing Buckaroo's 2009-2010

Faith Baptist Church Pre-School

5.7 - Silly Bandz are ALL the rage right now - Addison felt that she needed every single one she owned on her arm!!

5.8 - I am missing a Saturday picture!!

5.9 - Happy Mother's Day!! Addison rocking her "baby" rooster!!

Project Life - Week 16

School is OUT for the summer and so now its time for me to catch up on my Project Life album!! I have pictures to print and journaling cards to write - I am so proud that I have kept up with my weekly post here, it is gonna help so much when I am going back and doing a MONTHS worth of journal entries. I had to throw together this week of pictures, some of them are not in order but I knew I wanted to have them in my album! Now that school is out for a bit I plan to better at taking my pics on a daily basis and not have to rush to get them posted!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

4.26 - She just ate a "Skinny Cow" Ice Cream Sandwich - I think that face says she LOVED it!

4.27 - Addison riding HARD @ the Trike-A-Thon for St. Jude

4.28 - I had to make a totem pole for my Arts/Social Studies Class - our assignment was to make a totem pole and then create a rubric to show how we would assess this type of project. I have been so swamped with school work that I MIGHT have put this picture in my album already!! Oh well - I will have two shots of my awesome totem pole that Shawn helped me make!

4.29 - On Earth Day we had our last STEA meeting for the school year - my teacher bought some food from a local grocery store and these were the bags she was given for Earth Day. The store had given bags to a school in Germantown and the kids decorated them and then took them back to the store. What a CUTE idea for Earth Day!!

4.30 - Addison RIDING the deer yard decor in a neighbors yard!! She LOVES this thing!!

4.31 - Its a bird, Its a plane......Its SUPER MERMAID!!! She would rather wear her mermaid skirt around her NECK like a cape rather than around her waist!!

5.1 - We had horrible, horrible weather this weekend - we were in the house from Friday night until Monday. Many areas flooded, including Nashville who was hit pretty bad. We all stayed safe and dry in the house - Addison made sure her feet stayed nice and toasty in her house boots!