Who Woulda Knew?

We all, from time to time, tend to look at a baby or toddler and compare them to someone else. Hopefully the person the child is being compared to is one, if not both of the child's parents. If neither of them, it may be a comparison to someone famous. From a parents point of view-you want to cry if someone thinks your kid looks like an ugly famous person AND you want to cry if someone thinks your kid looks like a beautiful famous person...because once you really stop and think about it - you understand that that's not really a compliment. Let's do the math: Your child looks like a beautiful famous person + the beautiful famous person looks nothing like you = YOU ARE UGLY! It's a crying shame to discover the harsh truth that this life has to offer at times! We all think that our children are the most beautiful things on the planet, whether others think they resemble the ugly famous or the beautiful famous, and with that being said, I do think that mine are the most beautiful on the planet! ..We all know where that leaves me, though...dum dum ti dum...beautiful famous + no resemblance = UGLY MAMA! (hey-it's ok! I'm good with that!...I've had 33yrs to accept it and I've come to terms :) So here are some of the people that Rissa has been called:
Gap Baby~~I have been told, a couple of times, that she could be a Gap Baby. Yeah..I can totally see that....but #1- any of my friends babies could too!! and #2-...a Gap Baby has to bring their "A" game at any given moment! When they wake up from a nap..SNAP! "A" game!!...This is a "B+" game! I don't know, something about this face makes me think she might would buckle under pressure!


The Gerber Baby~~More than any, she has been called the Gerber baby. It would be nice if that compliment were because of genetics!! Jane Seemore was the original Gerber Baby, ya know...and I swear, round it up a decade or two and she's nearing 80 yrs old!..she looks younger than me, though, that's what is sad!


Little Cindy Loo Who...This is the most recent comparison!! It is also the inspiration for this post!! Three people in a two week period, all on separate occasions, told me they thought she looked like Little Cindy Loo Who! I really thought that was funny and so ironic! And as funny as it is, to me, I think they are right!! I think that the one she most resembles out of these three is the little Who! Don't you? ...Who woulda knew?! Rissa looks like little Cindy Loo Who...who can't even tie her shoe...it's blue...and friday we went to the Zoo (we really did, I"ll post those pictures later-and you'll want to tune in for that one!...)...their eyes are both blue and chins dip down too! I started to feel excited about this for a second, thinking that b/c Cindy Loo Who is a cartoon character, cool! the whole 'equation' is now void...until I really thought about that; kid resembles a cute cartoon character + mom looks nothing like cute little cartoon character = ...oh never mind!!


**disclaimer- The material stated in this post is purely of out fun!! Tiff is not suffering from self esteem issues. Nor is she in need of comments that are obvious statement of pity for her looks. All is well, all is well.

...don't kick the pigeon!!!...

...hhmmm...what do we have here?-rocks?---




...NOPE! It's another one of those dang Pigeons!! ...this pigeon has been found sitting on our rocks, sipping from our drip, sitting by our porch, by the driveway.....after spotting it a few times, I kinda started getting irritated a little. It's a pigeon! You know, the birds that crowd your back porch and eat your dog's food, they sit on your pool waterfall and take 'baths', they poop on your porch and the roof of your house...they annoy me!! By the fourth encounter of the 'rodent', I was imagining using it as a football, kicking a field goal directly in between the two houses in front of us. It would make a nice hockey puck or tetherball! I will say that the evil thought of the 'Alkaseltzer option' (result of growing up with 3 brothers, male cousins and spending a lot of time with all of them at N Myrtle Beach!) came into my mind! If you haven't heard of that option, well, let's just say that with Seagulls, you feed them Alkaseltzer, they can't let the gas out so ...boom! they BLOW UP!!... I assume it would work the same for pigeons! Maybe somehow, 'word on the street' would spread in the pigeon community not to stop on my street for a sip of water or bathe on the waterfall! After a while I decided to see what the deal was with it. As I approached it, and Rissa ran toward it, it tried to get away. Great. It's injured! Darn..I have to be nice to it! Truth be told, I would never, ever hurt it!..I'm all talk but no venom! OK--For all of you animal lovers, just slow the heart rate down and take a chill pill! At first, I was kinda bummed that I had to feel sympathy toward it, but after a day or two of feeding it bird seed, I really did start to feel bad for it! I see pigeons a little bit different now....I see them as ONE OF GOD'S CREATURES! It would suck to be a bird and not be able to fly! What would the purpose of life be then? Well, I'll tell ya, this little bird's new purpose in life, for the time being, is to make my kids smile! They love looking to see where he is every time the door is opened! Rissa runs out laughing and smiling and doing the sign for 'bird', Brant laughs every time he comes home from somewhere and see's it wobble as fast as it can out of the way and Jacob just laughs at him wobbling...he says he wobbles like a cartoon character and then he adds sound affects every time the bird falls over when trying to walk. I really should video Jacob doing that b/c he's really good at it and it is really pretty funny! With all of this said, we have adopted, yet, another pet! I won't kick a field goal with it or play hockey so please don't come tp my house or throw tomatoes at me! I AM AN ANIMAL LOVER! I am just not a huge fan of pigeons...but I am learning to tolerate them...at least the injured ones!

...Another Photo Shoot by Amy!...

...this is one of my favorites....

...this is one of my favorites....really, I think this is my all-time favorite!! I want this blown up, I love it!!!

...this is one of my favorites....

...this is one of my favorites....

...a favorite...

...a favorite...

...fav...

...get the "picture"....

I Love them all!!!This is Emerson & Tanner..we miss these guys! It was soo fun having them here! I LOVED smooching on them and giving them tickles!! Can't wait til we can see them again!!

Me, Mom & Rissa

Me & Rissa-Our choice of toenail polish this summer was SILVER!! Although you can't tell in B&W, I wanted to get a picture of our toes together!



Amy came over and took pictures when my Mom & Dad and two nephews, Emerson & Tanner, were here visiting this summer. I'm so happy with how they turned out!! Thanks again Amy! You're awesome!!

Schedule A PEDICURE Today!!!

For those of you who don't know, I'm a Licensed Nail Technician. I just wanted to dedicate a post to let everyone know that I AM OPEN FOR BUSINESS!! I am NOT doing Acrylics or Gels, mainly because of the chemicals and fumes (and there is not proper ventilation in my house!), but I AM doing MANICURES & PEDICURES!! I use mostly Creative products, which I have found to be some of the best!! I do not reuse supplies (nail files, buffers, toe separators, etc) unless they are sanitizable! I wash and disinfect all of my implements with Mar-V-cide (per State Board requirement), so you can rest assured that you won't get anything funky from me!
I charge $25.00 for a Pedicure (includes: Nail trimming & shaping, exfoliate, foot scrub, (wonderful) foot mask, massage (knee down), nip cuticles & polish (or french). I also include a nail art design on each big toe (any additional designs will be extra. Paraffin Wax dip is $5.00 extra.
Manicures are $12.00 and include Trimming & Shaping, push & nip cuticles, massage from elbow down & polish or french. Paraffin Wax dip $5.00 extra. Email or give me a call to make an appointment!
Today I gave Jill, Denise & Kelly pedicures and I told them I'd include them...their feet, rather, in my post.




..Jill's feet...











...Denise's feet...












...Kelly's feet...














...oh, and *KIDS ARE WELCOMED!!!




*I cannot be held responsible for any kids that get hurt from jumping over stairwell banister, climbing on the frig, playing in foot bath water or sampling foot creams & products while mommy & Tiff ignore them. haha j/k:)

A Shout-Out to SHANNON BENSON!!

HELLO SHANNON!!! I keep getting your comments and can't get in touch with you, so WILL YOU PLEASE EMAIL ME @ majoyn@juno.com ??? I'm so excited to hear from you!! Love ya-Tiff

cRaZy HaIr DaY!!!

Today was Crazy Hair Day at the kids school! For Brant, we usually spike his hair out everywhere and add the super fun green and electric blue hair gel to it. Jacob always goes for the Mohawk, but his hair has always been short to begin with. THIS YEAR~Brant is stylin multi braids all over the top of his head with the rest of his hair all shaggy and messed up. Jacob is sporting none-other-than, the Mohawk...only bigger and better! Here are a few picts.



Jaden, Kiera, Brant & Jacob after school...with CrAzy hAiR!

Nursery Blog...Lessons Learned in Nursery

Many of you have asked to be invited to the Nursery Blog. After talking with several moms of kids in Nursery, I have decided to leave it open to anyone. If any of you object or don't want your child to be included in the posts, then please just let me know. It's a fun way of journaling about my time with Rissa and your kids, while I serve in this calling. The link is located in the 2nd Friends Blogs list on my blog--titled LaLoma Ward Nursery. Take a peek...enjoy. If any of you are in there at times and want to share a story to be added to it, email it to me and I'll post it. My email is majoyn@juno.com.

PRE-Pre School Fieldtrip!!

Friday, Jeni and I were going to go to the Zoo, however, Allyson invited us to join the three Preschool groups that were going up to the Estrella Mountians to a Pirate Day Treasure Hunt event for Preschool groups. We decided to tag along with them as the PRE-Pre Schoolers! It was a lot of fun hanging out with so many friends! Here are some pictures.
Rissa & Parker...the founders of PRE-Pre school!


Sara was quick to join!


See how much they are learning? Parker has already learned to share gold fish with his friends!! Rissa loves friends who share!


Trevor is a PRE-Pre schooler as well...and I see what he likes....hope he doesn't want to share THAT!


Now here's Trevor, not looking for treasures!! Today was the first time I'd held him and he is such a cutie!!


AAaarg. Pirate Jeanne!! Love the look! Pirate looks good on you!


I ran into an old friend, Mickey! I haven't seen her in about 2 years and so it was really fun to talk with her for a while. Her kids are in school, but she just happened to tag along with her friend who home schools. That was fun to see her.


OOOolalah! Kathee posing...but I know what she was REALLY up to!..she was trying to secretly snap a shot of the HOOCHY-MAMA Pirate!!! She did succeed, I'll steal the picture from her blog later!!


...and here's Hoochie Mama...and me...thanks Kath! Let's just show the world just how out-of-shape I REALLY am!!



Tina, Jenny, TJ and Shelley...where are your Pirate outfits?!!!





Now here's a Pirate!! I stole this from Kathee's blog too!! I've never thought Johnnie Depp was hot, but boy he makes a hot pirate!! I will admitt, I have Jack Sparrow PJ's!! really, I do! I love them too!

Happy Birthday Dresden!!!

So Dresden's birthday was the other day and a bunch of us got together a little early morning surprise for her!! Many girls that couldn't be there dropped their "37 of something" gifts off to me and then about 10-12 girls showed up there at chickfila! Dresden all along, thought that it would be just she and I and Rissa, so it was totally fun to see her expression when we got there and saw everyone shouting Happy Birthday!! To everyone who participated, Dresden went on and on all afternoon about how fun and awesome that was for us to do that for her!! Thanks to all of you!!Oh-and let me just add that she didn't even know that Chickfila even had biscuits!!
All the Chickfila ladies brought Dresden an ice cream brownie and sang to her. lots of fun to embarrass her!!


Denise, Jacob & Allyson (and baby :). When I went to pick Dresden up, she first couldn't leave until 15 mins later than planned b/c she needed to get her boys off to school first. Then 15 mins later, she still wasn't ready (Back surgery can cause one to be slow in the morning...is it her back, or just her age? haha) I did feel bad that we had to do this so early in the morning, but that's always best time for most everyone. Aw I kept calling Allyson and telling her to keep everyone there at Chickfila and that I would drag her out if I had to!! She did a great job cuz there were, I think 10 ladies there when we finally arrived.


Diana and Dawn chit chattin while Dresden opens all of her gifts. Jessica & I had planned for a while to go in together and give Dres 37 Quarters, but I had not made a card for it. Well, the day before the breakfast, Diana dropped her gift off to me incase she couldn't make it to Chickfila. Her gift was a roll of quarters, too, except she had them all wrapped up so nice and fun with ribbon and all. THen, to top it off, her note was a super cute list of "all the things you can do with quarters"!! I called Jess and knowing that there was no way we could ever 'out cute' Diana's quarters, we decided I would just stick Diana's cutesie note in my copy machine, print out a copy, scratch out the Love, Diana part and put Love, Tiff and Jess part in. So that's what we did! Thanks Diana!! It was all in fun and we all had fun with the joke.


Gayla, Jeni, Dresden & Kathee


I asked everyone who wanted to participate, to give her a gift of 37 somethings. So many friends participated!! Some of the things she got were 37 pieces of gum, toiletry items, dum-dum's, gift card w/ $37, two sets of quarters, candies, tea light candles and even a beautiful handmade necklace that Aubry made w/37 beautiful beads!! She racked up!!


Happy Birthday Dres! I'm glad you finally let me drag you to breakfast!! It was fun introducing you to the Chickfila biscuit and hangin out with you and I hope your day was special! Love ya!!

Swimming with Luke & Allyson

Luke has been wanting to "go to Tiff's & E-rissa's to go swimming"! So we made sure this week to schedule a play date. It was so fun just hanging out with them b/c once we haven't had a lot of time together since school started. I've missed talking with Allyson (preschool etc keeps her busy alot & I'm running around w/different projects lately) and I've also missed kissing all over "Luke-y-poo" so it was fun for me to get lots of smooch's and loves from him!! We had lots of fun with you Luke!! I asked Luke if he wanted to be on my blog (his brother's always are) and he was pretty excited about that so here are a few pictures!














GETTING READY FOR CHURCH
These were taken before church on Sunday.The kids were trying to teach Rissa "CHEESE"!...We all know she's had more than enough pictures taken--this was not something she hadn't heard before, but it was fun to see her gain a little more understanding of the word. She's now trying to verbalize it.
Yes, my friends, I know! There is NO BOW on Rissa's head!! Shocker huh!..great smiles though...from all three!!





The minute we got home from church and got changed, the boys were screaming "cheese!" and taking pictures of the smiley face little sister, again!! I was impressed with how many good pictures they got!