Enjoying Life...One Juice Box at a Time

Happy New Year

2012-01-02T21:31:00.008-06:00

Hard to believe it's been half a year since I last posted. My blogging has suffered tremendously because of the simple fact that I do not have enough hours in the day to get every thing done. So my blog is down at the bottom of the list.

But I had to post a few pictures from New Years Eve that I am borrowing from Courtney. We have spent so many ( I think about 7) New Years Eve with our good friends and we continue to have blessed years. So why risk it and break with tradition. Besides, I love this group and it's seems like forever since we are all last together.

The kids have all gotten older....and so have the parents.

I joke about us celebrating New Years with the East coast instead of central time. But this year it was even hard to do that. I suggested moving our celebrations to noon instead so we would all be awake next year. We will see what happens but in the meantime, Cheers to a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to all my loved ones.

His hair has taken on a life of it's own

2011-04-28T13:19:00.000-05:00

Hoss wants to grow his hair out. And I've been letting him so far. But it is really starting to take on a life of it's own. And in the process the personality of Hoss is starting to shine through even more than usual. He has gone from this...

to this.. All in a blink of a sweaty hot day. No hair gel added. Only sweat and Hubs fingers running through it to make it stand up.

I actually like the longer hair on him, I think it looks good. And the personality he is showing in these pictures. Well it's classic Hoss and I love that too!

Easter 2011

2011-04-23T12:53:00.000-05:00

We had a very full Easter weekend. It started off with a brunch/egg hunt at our neighbors house across the street. They have had this brunch for the last 5 years and it just keeps getting bigger. Lots of food, mimosa's and visiting. And oh yeah, I forgot to mention over 1500 eggs filled with whatever goodies will fit into them. The kids look forward to this every year and so do us parents.

The egg hunt was not as crazy as last years and in fact I think the baskets got full before all the eggs were gathered. But the kids persevered and somehow found all the eggs.

I briefly got a picture of them showing off their loot before all the kids congregated on the steps to compare, trade and just eat candy.

I thought it would be such a waste to not try and get a couple of pictures of the kids together in their Easter clothes. For the most part it worked out. I still have the odd look or funny eyes going here and there. But I wasn't going to make them suffer all day long.

After church, my parents came over for a late lunch so we ate, and napped and napped some more. The kids meanwhile were running wild in the streets with all the other neighborhood kids that were still on a sugar high from all the candy the day before.

Turning 5

2011-04-07T12:30:00.000-05:00

It happened. My baby turned 5 on me. She is so excited about being five and getting to go to kindergarden next year. But she was even more excited to celebrate her birthday with a party. We had our small family celebration on her actual birthday. Then she had her friends party the following Saturday. She wanted to have it at the gym where she does gymnastics. So of course she got what she wanted.

Her family birthday cake picture.

About to blow out the candles. And trying to hide her smile from us.

Playing with some of ther friends in the gym.

The birthday girl gets to paint her hands on the wall and they stay up for the entire year.

All her friends gathered around for cake and presents.

And another cake. I think turning 5 deserves two cakes...at least.

The many faces of Z

2011-04-05T12:08:00.000-05:00

Getting pictures of my kids without them making a ridiculous face is always a challenge. You would think it would be easier for me to get a normal, non silly picture of my oldest son Z. He is after all about to be a teenager. Well that's probably why he doesn't cooperate much with me and my camera these days. I thought I'd show a bit of what I have to go through and put up with before I can actually get a good picture.

The boy can't seem to be bothered to look up from the laptop long enough to smile into the camera.

Then when I finally get him to look up and smile. He does this right at the last second and this is what I get.

Of course by this time, he thinks it's all fun and games and waits until I've focused and then this...

Finally, he takes pity on his mom and picks me up from the ground where I am sobbing and crying in the fetal position and says he will do it right this time. He promises! Do I believe him...well of course not, but I'm his mom and I want a picture of him and so sucker that I am I try again.

And I get this...

Oh how sweet success is. Well at least until Z. looks at me and says "There are you done yet?? I'm ready to get back to my web surfing of important things...like Fred!"
This time when I fall to the floor in a heap and start sobbing uncontrollably he just steps over me and says thanks mom.

Start of soccer season

2011-04-02T11:41:00.000-05:00

We finally agreed to let A. play a little soccer this season. We had been holding out just for our own sake of not having to commit to another team. But she's been begging and she finally got her chance.

She loved it and if I'm being honest she did pretty good out there most the time. She can really handle the ball better than the other kids when they first started and she has a really strong kick. And at her age, it's all about fun and you can just sit back and enjoy the kids having fun.

Normally it would be me and the the three youngest since Hubs and Z. always were at baseball. So naturally a lot of time was spent at the park area as well. This provided lots of opportunity to get pictures of my monkeys hanging out.

My silly girl hanging upside down.

She's showing off her missing front tooth to me.

My big boy just perched up high where he can see everything going on.

Is it really worth a 1000 words

2011-03-23T21:14:00.002-05:00

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words. Well here is a picture that captures the personality and sense of humor of my oldest. I've been told that I am required by law to claim him as my own until he is of a legal age. I do love his sense of humor as twisted and disturbing as it may be. But he's a boy and the sign is talking about poop so what can you expect from a 12 year old.

Flu and thank you's

2011-02-23T11:16:00.007-06:00

My son came into my room yesterday about 5am. He said he didn't feel well at all. Poor guy was burning up so we got him some medicine and put him back to bed. Once I got the other kids off to school I was able to get him into the doctors office where we got a positive test for the flu. So I stopped off at the store to stock up on Gatorade, fever medicine and Tamiflu. Then we headed back home to rest and be sick. Not a fun day for my little guy.

Finally, later that evening he felt well enough to draw. So he went to his room and came out with a card for me. On it, he wrote "Thank you for taking care of me when I was sick. I love you!"

I'm telling you now, that sweet boy put a lump in my throat with that card. He's always been my gentle, sensitive one. But as he has gotten older, he doesn't show it as much as he used to. But he still is that same sweet soul he's always been. It's just currently hiding under a rough and tough little boy exterior that he only shows to mom when he isn't feeling well.

But I love that sweet nature of my son. The one that stops to thank you for taking care of him when he is sick. Now we just have to get him healthy again because as much as I love seeing this glimpse into his sweet soul. I would much rather have a little boy in constant perpetual motion to try and keep up with.

Daddy/Daughter Dance 2011

2011-02-13T13:30:00.006-06:00

This year I decided to buy tickets for K. and her Daddy to go the Valentine's Daddy/Daughter dance. After talking it over with Hubs, we decided that for this first year we would let it be just K. Next year and the following years he will take both girls.

K. was very excited to go on a real "date" with her Daddy. Especially once she got the dress and shoes with heels. A lot of her friends from school were going to be there so the excitement on Friday morning was very high.

I got home from work and got her fed. Then we had to get her ready for the dance. She got her dress and tights and shoes on and asked me to come do her hair and makeup. Not that I really could do much with her hair but we did at least brush it out. Then we put a very little bit of makeup on to make her feel extra girlie and pretty. She did look pretty cute if I say so myself. And I do, and I can because I'm her mommy and it's my blog.

Hubs had to break out the tie and get all dressed up.

We got a few pictures of them together and then they headed off to the country club to dance the night away without brothers or sisters or mom in the way.

Hubs said they danced so much he was tired. Although he mentioned that K. didn't really do so much dancing as hopping around. But it doesn't really matter since they had fun. They snacked on the food they served, I know M&M's was something that was mentioned. And then they got to pick out a balloon when the dance was over. At this point, K. did remember her little sister and grabbed her a purple balloon. She then told A. all about it and how next year they would get to go together.

I know it's a silly thing, this Daddy/Daughter dance. But I couldn't help but want to give her a chance to enjoy her Dad a bit more. After all, if they are lucky someday they will have a real sweetheart who is as wonderful a man as their Daddy. And Hubs loved it also, getting to spend more time with his girls is always fun for all of them.

Plus it gets me a chance to get a great picture like this. This alone is worth it.

Tis that time of year...for ice storms and snow

2011-02-04T14:36:00.013-06:00

We got hit by an ice storm this week. With below freezing temperatures nothing was melting. Nothing like 3 inches of ice to shut down the metroplex. School has been cancelled for the last four days. Unheard of in Texas. Then last night we got an additional 6 inches of snow. Finally, something the kids could play in. So after 4 days of cabin fever and no school they were finally able to go out and play.

They got to go slide down the driveway and cul de sac for a while. This helped Hubs in clearing most of the snow off so he could scrape the ice off afterwards.

Then of course they just had fun being able to play outside.

Even Gigi went out to play a bit.

I went out to take a few pictures but decided to come back in with A. after I slipped and slided my way around the driveway. Then afterwards, A. came inside and put on her summer clothes to hurry the arrival of summer weather.

Here's a bit of what our neighborhood looked like this morning.

We have to take winter weather when we can get it. But I am definitely done with all the cold weather and ready for spring.

We got SNOW!

2011-01-17T11:17:00.011-06:00

The kids were very excited to get snow last week. Enough for them to play in, have snow ball fights in and build a snowman in.

Then to top it off the temperature stayed so low for the entire week that the snow didn't melt for about 3 days (although it was more ice like after that)and the snowman, well he lasted a very long 6 days before he succumbed to our typical Texas January weather.

But the kids loved it and Hubs and I tried to make it a bit more fun for them. Even though it meant getting out of the warm house, getting wet and having way more laundry than usual.

But as Hubs said...they are only little once.

He's good like that, reminding me that the small stuff isn't so important. That's it's more important to enjoy ourselves and make memories. That's why I love him so much. Well at least until he took this picture of me without any makeup on. He just doesn't see things the same way as I do.

Amazing Texas Sky

2011-01-06T19:08:00.004-06:00

I was driving home the other day about 4:30 and couldn't get over the sky. So naturally I pulled out my phone as I was driving down the curvy two lane FM Road and started taking pictures. I know, I know, not safe of me at all. I'm sorry.

But I couldn't help it. It just took my breath away. And I wanted to capture it so I could show it to my husband.

It's really to bad I didn't have my real camera, and wasn't actually driving you know. But I will take these small glimpses of heaven from God anytime I can. Even while driving.

New Years Eve 2010

2011-01-05T19:56:00.011-06:00

We had lots of fun with all our old neighbors on New Years Eve. We decided to do it old school for all of us and go back to our glory days of hanging out by the fire pit. It's what we all used to do when the kids were smaller. We would put them to bed and reemerge with beer and baby monitors and get in our adult time. How the hell we did it, I do not know. I guess I am just getting to old to fully appreciate sitting by the fire pit freezing as much as we used to. The kids were all inside the game room at the house across the street without requiring baby monitors. So I guess we are just getting old. But we still had a lot of fun.

We had way to much food of course, some fireworks and lots of joking around and good conversation. What more could you ask? We brought the kids out at midnight (Texas time- We didn't even have to pretend and use NYC time this year).

I can still talk Dave into posing for just about any kind of goofy picture. That's what happens when you know someone from high school and college.

And since poor Janne had literally got off the plane from Finland only hours before and was jet lagged and to tired to run from the camera. He was unable to hide and run off from actually being in a picture. He still managed a way of not being serious in a picture though.

Then because I am old, and because my youngest is still technically only 4 we packed up soon after and came home to bed. Well all except Hubs and Dave, they stayed up all night long. That came back to bite him on the bottom when we had to be at K.'s soccer game on New Years Day. (Seriously, who plans these things)

But it's a new year and time to embrace all that it brings with it. But no worries about leaving behind any of our dear friends. You just can't beat a good Redneck Drive Fire pit reunion.

Cheers!!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T19:19:00.012-06:00

We had a very quiet Christmas Eve at our house this year. Since my parents were at my brothers family this year it was just us. So the kids and Hubs did some last minute shopping. When they got home it was time to start making some Christmas cookies. I had made some sugar cookies for them to decorate. I pretty much just put the stuff in front of them and let them do it how they want. I used to try and get them to make them pretty and Christmasy but since that never worked I gave up. I figure some day when they are older and I may get cute cookies again. Until then, I just let them enjoy themselves

So I set them up with 4 dozen cookies and left the room.

I came back 30 minutes later to see what they had come up with and to get a few pictures of them smiling nicely for the camera. Instead I got this and only 33 decorated cookies.

But what can you say, they are kids and yes I have to claim them as my own. But that's really about all I can say right now.

After the Christmas cookie decorations we went to Mass. And for the first time in forever, all the kids sat quietly and paid attention. It was so enjoyable, a true Christmas miracle of sorts. Either that, or it was just so crowded that they just didn't have enough room to misbehave that much. I'll choose to believe in the Christmas miracle aspect of it.

After dinner and a movie at home, it was time to put the kids to bed and wait for Santa to come. Which he shortly did.

Gigi, our boxer couldn't have been more excited about Christmas than she already was. And I must admit that by this time I was just as tired as her, so off to bed we went.

Random holiday pictures

2010-12-21T20:50:00.009-06:00

I mentioned the Christmas tree falling on me while I tried to put it up. But I am just now getting around to posting a picture of the very huggable monstrostity.

I then decided that I might as well post a few other random pictures that have been taken over the last few days. I could actually make an idividual post about each one but I don't really have the time or energy to do it. So thought that I would at least get the pictures up for those friends and family that actually look at this and just want to see pictures.

Both K. and Hoss had school Christmas parties that I was able to go to. They were very excited about this and I was able to get a few pictures of them. In between the paint, glue, glitter and sugar they were ingesting.

ICE the Charlie Brown Way

2010-12-21T20:19:00.008-06:00

I had the opportunity to go see Ice: A Charlie Brown Christmas at the Gaylord Texan last week. It was with some of my co-workers and it meant we got to take a long lunch. So naturally I wanted to go. I'd been to it once before and enjoyed it. It was very cool. It's just amazing what they can carve out of ice. And it's unbelievable how much time it must take to create one.

I had my jacket but still had to use the parka they provided. I tried to convince myself that these jackets must surely be cleaned and wouldn't have lice or anything like that in them. But really I doubt they do any sanitizing of them. Not even the little spray you get for bowling shoes or rollers skates. At least I didn't see an aerosol can in sight. So I put on one very heavy (and smelly) parka and went inside. Seriously, how can that jacket have smelt like a sweaty jacket...it is being worn in below freezing conditions. Unless every other poor soul who wears them gets sweaty with nerves or something. Anyway, I'll get past the jacket now. For some reason this picture seems appropriate now. Whether it's for me or my co workers, well I'm not saying.

I forgot my camera so had to rely on my phone for pictures. The only problem there was that in order for my iPhone to work, I had to take off my gloves. And after about 10 minutes in that room kept at a balmy 9 degrees (I think) I didn't get to many pictures after all. But I thought I share a few anyways.

I didn't get any of me and my co workers on my phone. We did get a group shot but I'm not posting that here.

It was pretty cool with lots of ice sculptures. I must admit that my favorite is still the nativity scene but of course my phone did not capture the beauty of it.

I thought about taking the kids back to see it so they can go down the big ice slides so if the timing works out I may try and go back with them.

I'm not eating that...

2010-12-09T10:45:00.003-06:00

Last night was church night for the kids. They go to Religious Ed (CCD) every Wednesday at 5:15. So that makes getting home from work in time to get them to church on time a challenge. Usually Hubs has them ready and I pull up to the house load the kids and drive off. But I got home a few minutes early yesterday and actually went inside. As I am getting the kids together to get them out the door. I'm asked the infamous questions of "What do you want for dinner?" Hubs said he would take care of it but wanted something easy. I was super hungry and said just make some spaghetti then and ran out the door.

When I got back later with the kids, I was beyond hungry and ready to eat. I walked into the house and could smell the pasta had been cooked and the sauce was simmering. Hubs and Z. had taken the flat screen down to replace some parts on it that were making it slow to turn on (darn no new TV coming from Santa this year)while I was gone. So I went into the kitchen and looked at the pasta. It looked like it needed to be drained again. So Hubs said he would drain it and started to fix the kids plates for everyone.

Before I sat down the kids were already complaining that they didn't like it. So naturally I told them that they needed to just be thankful that they had something to eat and be quiet and eat. Then I fixed my starving, famished self a plate and sat down to eat. I looked at the noodles that I saw Hubs draining and they looked very very wet. But I was hungry and didn't care so I ate. I took a bite chewed it, swallowed it and looked back down to my plate. Yes, it looked and smelled like spaghetti. So I tried another bite. I finished it set my fork down and just watched everyone trying to eat as they were all trying to figure out why it tasted so BAD.

Z. said it was because it was angel hair pasta and not real spaghetti. Hubs said it was because it was a different brand of whole wheat pasta than I normally buy. K. said daddy put to much water in the sauce so that's why it was so watery. Finally I asked who made this? Z. replied I did. Darn! I can't criticize my 12 year old son for a dinner he made us. Then Z. says, dad told me how to do it and then I helped him get the TV down from the wall and we fixed the TV.

So I asked him, did you start cooking before the TV came off the wall or after you put it back up on the wall. Z. answers before they took it down. Okay I said how long did it take you to fix the TV I asked. Hubs and Z. both replied not very long 20-30 minutes at most. A-ha, that explains it. You mean to tell me that you boiled the noodles for anywhere from 20-30 minutes? No wonder what we are trying to eat is nothing but a watery mush covered in sauce.

It truly was bad, bad enough for me who was so hungry, who had just told her kids to stop complaining and just eat what your given, to not eat it. Apparently Hubs and Z. forgot all about the pasta and it absorbed the entire pot of water. The little kids had eaten all that they were going to eat of it and so had I. Out came the boxes of ceral for dinner. Really, who can mess up spagahetti?? That would be my Hubs and Z. Guess next time we cook spaghetti, I need to get Z. in there for a real lesson in how to cook pasta.

Under the Big Top Gymnastics "meet"

2010-12-01T21:24:00.010-06:00

K. begged to be allowed to do gymnastics. So we finally started her in it about 3 months ago. She loves it and seems to be taking to it pretty well. She jumps around enough and is always dangling from monkey bars so I guess it's right up her alley. They had an exhibition show for the families to come watch what the girls have learned in gymnastics. They called it a gymnastics meet but there was no scoring and no pressure. It's main purpose was to get these girls used to performing in front of people. K. is not shy so I didn't think it would be much of a problem but normally if any of my kids are put in front of a crowd they just stand there. So it was any one's guess how this would turn out.

The theme was "Under the Big Top" and they had the girls come out with big red clown noses on. K. did not like this and to me she looked like she wanted to crawl under a rock. Can't say I really blame her much there. She took that silly nose off as fast as she could.

She went on to do some "stuff" on the floor. Don't know what that move is technically called, backbreaker maybe, so I'm just saying "stuff".

I told her I could do this also but that I just didn't feel like showing her right then. Don't know if she bought it or not but at one time in my life I could do this.

She went on to the trampoline, the vault and the bars.

Then she went on to the balance beam. She did pretty good on that, I was impressed. I did not tell her I could do that.

I wasn't as cool as some of the other parents in that I didn't bring her flowers at the end of the meet. (Isn't that only for ballerina's anyway). But I did get a few extra pictures of K. posing on the beam for me. So as far as I'm concerned it's all good.

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-28T08:21:00.006-06:00

We had Thanksgiving at our house this year. Since my parents moved here we have yet to have it at their house. It just seems to work better here in keeping the kids out of our hair while we finish all the cooking. And of course once the napping starts it is much easier to send them off to play video games or something else quiet if they are at our house.

Mom and Dad arrived early Thursday morning with Z. and A. who had been having sleep overs. And then Mom and I finished up with the last of the cooking. Z. had made homemade chocolate pie at Grandmama's house while she made the pumpkin and pecan pies. He also made deviled eggs for us. He did a great job with both. I've never even made a chocolate pie from scratch so I was very impressed with his.

A before picture of the crime scene. The kids always get so excited when I break out the china and crystal. They love getting to eat at the fancy table.

We got everything and everyone settled and then I remembered my camera. I put it up on the tripod and was going to get a group shot of us no matter what. Preferably before we all looked bloated and stuffed.

So we gathered around the table and said a prayer of Thanksgiving. We are truly so blessed. We remembered those we love both near and far. Then we started to serve the food buffet style. But then I remembered we didn't have our group picture yet. So I told everyone they couldn't touch a bite of their food until I got a picture. I thought I was going to have a mutiny on my hands and as such only was able to get two pictures of everyone.

The kids were grumbling about their food getting cold and wanting pie. They didn't seem to get it when I told them the pie was cold and they always ate so slow their food got cold anyways. But I took the hint and had pity on my parents and Hubs and let them eat their hot food.

As we sat down and ate, the kids all mentioned something they were thankful for. Such simple things for the most part and a very lighthearted conversation. Until Grandmama of course. After her twenty minute dialog of all that she is thankful for we teased her mercilessly and continued eating. Hubs were particularly thankful for his 3 car garage this year since he mentioned it during his turn. I'll have to write more about that later.

So we finished up with to much pie and a long afternoon of naps and football. Pretty much standard Thanksgiving tradition around any household I'm sure.

Another tooth lost

2010-11-28T08:15:00.002-06:00

K. lost another tooth on Wed. so she now has a huge gap with both her front tooth and bottom tooth missing. No whistling and eating corn for her for a while. Not that she eats corn anyways. But with her other front tooth very loose, there is no telling what her smile will look like at Christmas.

I'm Tree Hugger

2010-11-26T14:52:00.002-06:00

I'm a tree hugger. Not by choice by accident. I have on average about 10-15 kids cruising in and out of the house at any given day. Today when the 9 ft. Christmas tree topples over on me...nothing, nobody, no help. Just me and the tree...Huggin' each other.

I'm done hugging now, the tree is technically back up if a little smooched looking. But that's okay, because I hugged it all better when it fell down...on me!

St. Louis Boys Trip

2010-11-23T21:16:00.014-06:00

Baseball is a huge part of our family life. It wasn't always that way though. It started about the time Z. started playing t-ball. From there he learned the game and we learned the game and we all loved it. Z. and Hubs are of course much bigger fans than me and out of those two it is of course Z. who has the passion. His dreams are to grow up and be a professional baseball player. When asked what happens after that he says I'll be a paid select boys baseball coach. Yeah, we'll need to revisit that one as he gets older. But out of all the teams out there, Z.'s favorite is the St. Louis Cardinals although he does love the Texas Rangers also. And his personal MVP is Albert Pujols. For as long as I can remember he can tell you more than I ever want to hear about Pujols stats. He has always begged to go to Bush Stadium someday to watch Albert Pujols play in his home stadium as a Cardinal. He was very specific about this.

Anyway, with all the travel that Hubs has done overseas we had lots of air miles about to expire. Not enough for all six of us to go to Hawaii like I wanted but enough for five of us to go. So instead I told Hubs what he need to do was take his boys to St. Louis to Bush stadium and see Albert Pujols. After a bit of planning the boys trip was on. The girls and I would stay home and do "girl stuff". So they packed themselves off over Labor Day weekend and hopped on the plane.

They stayed a half mile from the stadium and the arch. So since I gave Z. the camera to take pictures with I wasn't sure what I would end up with on the small camera. He didn't do to bad, well except that it looks like dad never made it into any of the shots and I have more landscapes and landmarks than people.

They woke up early on Saturday and hit the arch first thing. They had no line and got to ride all the way to the top. By the time they got down the line was super long so Hubs and his earliness OCDness worked for the greater good this time.
From there they could get a birds eye view of all that they really cared to see (i.e. Bush Stadium)

Then they went around the area and did some sight seeing. Since I wasn't there I couldn't tell you what one thing is from another.

Finally they headed to the game and got there early. The special promotion was for them to go on the field that day but I think it was very crowded so they didn't enjoy it as much as they thought. The boys were very excited and anxiously waited for the game to start. Did you notice Z. wearing his Pujols jersey...and it's tucked into his shorts. Seriously, I can't get the boy to tuck anything into his jeans and he tucks his jersey into his shorts.

Z.'s favorite player ever on the big screen.

Sadly, they lost the game that day. But honestly they all had so much fun that I don't think they were really upset about it.

Then it was back to the hotel and an early flight home the next day. With souvenir Cardinals shirts for everyone.

Sharks Soccer Season Synopsis

2010-11-15T10:38:00.005-06:00

OK, now that you've read the title of my post, time to uncurl your tongue and wipe off your face. Hoss played fall soccer again this year, along with fall baseball. Whew was it hard to accommodate everything this season. It was the first time we have ever had a lot of games conflict with each other. But we made the best of it and did lots of running around. There were some games that conflicted where we had to take turns seeing which game we would have to miss.

Then there were those Saturdays that Hoss and I loved most of all (can you detect just a hint of sarcasm). We would go to K's. entire soccer game, then head over for the Sharks game. Hoss would have to play the entire first half then before he had a chance to catch his breath I was dragging him to the parking lot. Once we reached the car, I proceeded to try and strip down one very sweaty little boy and get him into his baseball uniform. Not an easy feat even when you take away the stinky sweaty boy part. Hoss always wanted privacy to change and it didn't always happen in the busy parking lot. So he would be struggling to get his shin guards off then his slide pants on. All while ducking as low as he could between the seats. (I swear I had flashbacks of doing the same thing in the front seat of my mom's car while I struggled to get into my gymnastics leotard. But that was many hours of therapy ago so there's no need to revisit that now) Then he would get the rest of his baseball uniform on and we would be off. I never got any pictures of these Saturday struggles since I was usually to busy swearing I'd never do this again to take any.

But occasionally the stars would line up just right and we would have no overlapping games. The core group of boys have gotten so much better and the new boys picked up alot along the way. Hoss is still the slowest runner out there and although I know nothing about soccer I'm told he is a decent player. I'll take their words for it. It's still just nothing but fun for the boys and a chance to be with their friends to hang out. But their skill level is noticeably improving so you have to cheer them on.

The favorite part of soccer for Hoss (besides the free coke at the end)is still being able to see his friend E. But we did finally decide that he needs to pick one sport come spring. So we will see what he picks baseball or soccer, until then I am just going to enjoy the off season.

A Knight to celebrate Birthdays

2010-11-05T17:21:00.007-05:00

We celebrated lots of birthdays from the end of Sept. to the end of Oct. So I thought it would be fun to take everyone out for dinner to Medieval Times. Grandmama and Pappy joined us of course since they were part of the birthday celebrants. (Along with Hoss and myself) I remember going to a show years ago and thought the kids would love it. But for some reason I was the only grown up who seemed to think it would be fun. But everyone went (to humour me I'm sure) and surprise surprise, everyone had fun and enjoyed it. So we donned our paper crowns and cheered on our knight. The kids loved getting to eat their dinner with their hands and really got into the show part of it all. They were super excited when "our" knight even won the tournament that night.

We went on a tour of the torture museum and I found something that I think every wife should have.

He was a good sport about it but still hasn't built me my very own one to have yet. The kids are already asking when we can go again so I'm taking that as a sign of them enjoying it. After all who can resist a paper crown, eating without silverware and sword fights.

Somethings missing from this smile

2010-11-02T21:01:00.003-05:00

It has finally happened. After what has seemed like forever to her, my K. has finally lost her first tooth. I'm not surprised it took her 6 1/2 years to lose this tooth she didn't get it when she was a baby until she was almost a year old. But after promising her that if she ate the apple her tooth would come out, she tried it. And it did. At school of course because that's where you get the cool little tooth treasure boxes to keep it in for the tooth fairy. So now we just have to wait for that other bottom tooth to fall out and then she will have a nice big "picture window" on her bottom row of teeth

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T20:42:00.000-05:00

I have to at least put up a picture of my kiddos in all their glory. Since I've been so busy with all the busy scheduling of 3 kids and 4 teams. Z. decided to forgo the dressing up this year and instead stay home, pass out candy and watch the Rangers and Giants play in the World Series. So that left me with the three younger ones. We had Hoss being a zombie of sorts (not sure exactly but it was the grossest thing he could find). K. decided that she had to be a lady bug. I was hesitant at first because with that kind of costume you are guaranteed to have a chilly night so be forced to wear of jacket and cover it up. But it stayed warm so she got to wear it just as it was meant. Then we had A., who at 4, enjoyed it more than anyone. She was a mermaid of course. It's what she's been planning on since August so I was glad for her.

Since we didn't have Z. with us, I was able to keep our trick or treating to about an hour and we didn't have to go to the Nightingale house of carnage. So with A. leading the way we hit as many houses as we could. Grandmama came with us and laughed at Hoss and K. remembering dad's strategy from the year before. Zig zag back and forth across the streets so you don't have to back track this way you hit the maximum number of houses in the shortest times. Funny what things kids remember but I'm not really surprised, anything to get more candy. A. soon picked it up and was going full force. We came home with three very heavy bags of candy which were immediately Dad and Pappy taxed which meant that all the Butterfingers and some Hershey bars were soon confiscated. Funny but I don't remember them out walking the neighborhood. I'm thinking that was a definite case of taxation without representation going on there. But since the kids were to busy bouncing off the wall on a sugar high, they didn't notice and everything was fine.

Does this make me a Shredhead?

2010-10-31T20:52:00.000-05:00

I bought the 30 Day Shred months ago and never got around to doing it. Finally I decided to get off my arse and get with the program. I really didn't have any grand visions of losing the 20 pounds she claimed we could lose up to (although I would of course be very excited about that if it happened). Instead I was hoping to get a bit more energy and get a bit more motivated to start regular exercise again. So when a friend on Facebook mentioned she was starting it, I jumped into it with her.

I have to say, waking up at 5 am is not my favorite thing. Actually, it's got to be one of my least favourite things. But since it was the only time I could guarantee to have the time every single day I did it. And I can't believe I'm going to say it, but I got used to it and it's not that bad after all. I started it at the beginning of Oct and did it every single day (except for one) even on weekends. And that's not fun. But today marked my day 30 of the Shred. So I thought I would share a bit of my Shred results here with you. In case you care, and if you don't that's okay too. I had heard that I should really take measurements in order to see the results even if you don't lose weight and I'm glad I did. Otherwise I would be a bit discouraged I'm sure. Sorry no pictures here, I'm not that bold just yet.

So here are my 30 Day Shred results:

Weight: nothing spectacular, I wavered between gaining and losing the same 3 pounds all month long.

Hips: Lost 2.75 inches
Thighs: Lost .75 inch
Arms: Lost .75 inch
Belly: Lost 3.25 inches
Bust: Lost 2.5 inches
Waist: Lost 1.5 inches

So that means that I lost a grand total of 11 1/2 inches lost. I'll take it. I'm definitely stronger than I was when I started. I can do push ups now where I couldn't before and I do have more energy. I even had muscles in my arms now (I showed them to Hubs just the same way my A. shows him her muscles and he saw them) So I will continue on doing it for a bit more and add in some other videos as well. I am thinking it's about time I finally get around to using that couch potato to 5k program I downloaded a few months back. Better late than never, right?

Family Portraits

2010-07-20T10:22:00.000-05:00

It was decided that when my brother and his family came to visit we were going to get a big group family portrait done. It's been years since we had one done and we have added a few children since the last one. The question then became where would we go to have it done and who has the patience to deal with this many of us. We decided to use our neighbor across the street. She has a photography studio set up in her home and we could get both indoor pictures taken along with some out by the lake. For those of you here in the area, she is amazing and you should check out her site.

So we got all dressed up and got to her house. We got some of each family taken and then we got some of us as a group.

We then went outside and got some by the lake.

Then she just kind of hung out and got some random ones of everyone.

They turned out great and we were all excited to get them. And the best thing besides getting all these pictures, it wasn't that much of a beating to have done.

Sweating at Six Flags

2010-07-19T11:45:00.000-05:00

Every summer we try to go at least once to Six Flags. This summer we did it when my brother was in town. So we knew that we would be at least 11 of us going. But then my cousin Sandy and her family decided to join us as well as long as my cousin Sally's son. So we ended up with a grand total of 16 of us going to Six Flags.

We planned to get up early and be there by the time the gates opened and stay as long as we wanted. It was a very hot day and we knew we were going to be drinking lots. We planned on having a picnic lunch outside the park so we wouldn't spend a fortune on food. That worked out well since we got to sit in the shade trees and visit a bit more. Some ducks came up to us and were very aggressive in getting our food. The kids liked them until one of them got bit, then they were a little more careful.

I had to laugh because it's been a while since we saw my cousin and her family. My favourite quote of the entire day was when Sandra told us her nephew Johnny saw us all walking up to them and said "We're related to white People, how is this possible?" But once she explained how it was possible I guess it was all good.

Everyone rode the rides, even Grandmama and Pappy got in on a little action.

I was forced to ride a few roller coasters this year since I no longer had the excuse of having to stay with the baby in the stroller. I really miss those days. But for the most part, it wasn't to bad.

The big boys were able to go and do rides together and Scott, Stacey and James tried to be manly and hang with the kids. I don't think Scott and Stacey were quite as manly as James in that department though.

We got lots of pictures of us looking hot and tired and very sweaty.

My kids even got in a quick picture with Scooby but Hannah wouldn't go near that character figure to save her life.

I still don't think she goes to see Santa Claus either so I wasn't all that surprised. But it was fun to get to be all together again and see Sandra and James and the kids.

After the long day at the park, we headed home. I was told by Hannah that I was driving the cool car since I had the kids with me and all the loud music. My parents, Scott and my brother were in the boring car listening to Pappy's music. Even the kids are tired of listening to Piano by candle light and they haven't had near as much of it as us grown ups have. Rhonda gave that up for the ride home and hopped in my car. I don't think I ever told Hannah that the reason the music is so loud in my car is because I'm trying to drown out the noise of all the kids so she may not have realized it. My kids already know this and so just scream louder to be heard. But anyways, it was another fun day with the family and I enjoyed every bit of it.

A visit to Cowboy Stadium

2010-07-14T20:36:00.001-05:00

My brother and his family came to visit us this July. It had been too long since we saw them last. But since they moved out to NC, it's just not as easy to see them anymore. But by far the highlight of my brothers trip was not seeing me. (Not sure why though) It was going on a tour of Cowboy Stadium.

All I can say about the house that Jerry built is Wow, Wow, Wow. That man can build a stadium better than he can tick off die hard Cowboy fans. I must say it was very impressive.

We went on the VIP tour so got to go in the locker rooms and VIP suites. The kids had to get thier pictures taken in front of some of the players $10,000 a piece lockers. We weren't allowed to sit on the benches in front of them.

And so did mom.

It's definetely the suite life and I doubt I will ever be there again unless I go on another tour. But my poor brother was just besides himself with happiness. I've never seen such smiles on that guy. Well unless you count the smiles on the kids as well.

We got to see the suites, the press room, both the player and cheerleader locker rooms and the field. Here is my brother with a big grin as he poses in the Cheerleader locker room. The big dork.

We normally would get to go out on the star and kick field goals but they were changing the astro turf for a big soccer game at the time so we didn't get to do that part.

It was very entertaining to say the least. And if you ever get the chance to go on the tour, then do it. It's a lot of fun even if you aren't a Cowboys fan.

A Snapshot into the Sillyness of Everyday Life

2010-06-30T20:26:00.000-05:00

Such typical behaviour for these two.

The Road to Omaha

2010-06-30T14:23:00.000-05:00

We went to Omaha this summer with my son's baseball team. None of us had ever been and we were going up to play in the College World Series tournament they had going on. So we packed up our van and Grandmama and Pappy's truck and headed out. Naturally I got window paint for both vechiles so that everyone from Texas to Nebraska knew where we were going and why we were going there. All I can say is that it's much easier to put that paint on then it is to take it off. But it was still fun for the kids to have it on the cars. And it was amazing to see how many people wished us luck going up.

Our intentions were to play games and be done by 4 every afternoon in order to go catch some of the college games that were being played at Rosenblatt Stadium. It never really worked out for our group though. Some of the other players on the team made it to some games but by the time we would get back to hotel the rest of us were just worn out. So we would spend lots of time in the hotel indoor pool. We would then go out in groups of all sizes and walk around downtown Omaha until we found a place to eat at. Whichever place could fit us first is where we ended up. Then we would head back to the hotel and hang out with everyone there in the lobby. In the picture below, I think all 8 of the players with us at dinner that night somehow crammed themselves into that old English telephone booth. Very funny to watch them coordinate that one.

It just so happened we were staying at the same hotel as the UCLA team. They eventually were one of the teams that made it to the finals with USC. It didn't take long for our Viper boys to discover what floor the UCLA team was staying on and that is where they would run off to. That team was so patient with our boys and really made it fun for them. We actually went to Rosenblatt stadium one afternoon after our game and got some pictures of the team there.

Then we went inside only to find out that UCLA was practicing at the time. So we sat down and watched them. Amazing to see how much they can get done in a short practice time. Our boys caught the eyes of some of the players practicing and before we knew it they were passing out NCAA College World Series baseballs to our boys and started autographing them. I don't know who had more fun, them or our boys. But it was just another cool thing for these players to do for our boys.

After the practice was over we went to a local spot which is legendary for it's burgers and ice cream.

All I can say is WOW, that was a huge hamburger and no one was able to finish them, not even the dads. Grandmama thought she would get an ice cream cone to go along with her malt she shared with Pappy. I don't know where she had the room to put it, but she ate it. All 10 inches of it!! And I am not kidding, I've never seen such a huge ice cream as that before. But it was she said and just like the Frosty restaurant in Alamogordo that our grandparents owned for years.

Our boys went up to play baseball and we weren't sure how they would do competing against all these other teams from around the country. They didn't do to bad at all and won enough games to put us in the middle bracket. We were soon out of the tournament and done. But we were so proud of how all those boys did playing their hearts out. So we packed up and headed back home and got ready for the AAYBA World Series Tournament held in Flower Mound a week later. No rest for the weary or so we thought, we ended up getting rained out of a lot of that so I am extra glad that they played so well in Omaha. It was a fun trip and we have some great memories.

Another year blows by

2010-06-24T11:45:00.000-05:00

Time is moving to fast. I blink my eyes and it seems like months have passed by in a blur. So I am going to try and catch my breath a bit and recollect a bit of what has been going on.

We celebrated my baby turning 4. Hard to believe it but she is. Unfortunately her birthday also happens to fall in April which is smack dab in the middle of baseball season and soccer season. Makes for planning a birthday party for her a little difficult. We celebrated with a small family birthday dinner like we always do. I mentioned it in a previous post. Finally, a month later we finally found a free time where we could have her "friend" party.

She picked none other than Chuck E. Cheese. It's not my favorite place but she really loved it and having her friends there to play with. She met Chuckie himself and seemed a bit impressed.

Then she went into the ticket wind tunnel with Zach to help her. She liked that, but she loves anything that her big brother Zach does with her. It was a fun time for her and her friends and that's what really matters.

So after celebrating Anna's birthday a month late, it literally was a blink of an eye until we celebrated my big boy turning 12. I can't believe I have a 12 year old. Seems like yesterday he was still a small baby. He also had a small family party and got his desired and highly coveted PS3. Instead of our normal chocolate cake, he made his own dessert. He spent the day at Grandmama's and Pappy's house and decided that he wanted Peanut Butter Rice Crispy treats. So not only did he turn 12 on me, he made his own "cake" so to speak. See what I mean by growing up so fast. And they were good too. I think I'll let him keep on making those. But I was keeping with the lack of birthday planning and forgot to take my camera out. So I didn't get my picture of my birthday boy on his actual birthday.

Two weeks later we celebrated Kate turning 6 years old. She turned 6 the day before we headed out to Omaha for the College World Series tournament Zach's team was playing in. So naturally we had another small family birthday dinner to celebrate.

And yes, the chocolate cake was there. Although Kate had been at grandmama's house and helped to frost it. I've never seen such a brightly colored cake before. She went to town with it. She enjoyed her pink DS she got and got to use it plenty over the summer. But in keeping with this awful habit I started with Anna this year, her friend party was about 5 weeks late.

She decided she wanted her first ever slumber party. So she picked a few friends from her summer camp and invited them over. It was a small group to begin with but it ended up being just three girls at the party. All the other kids were sleeping over at friends houses or grandmama's. So we went to the movies Friday night and swimming Sat. morning before all the fun finally ended. She loved it and wants to have another slumber party soon. Anna is begging to be included in the next one though. And again, I never took out my camera. Truly, I'm lacking in my pictures here aren't I?

So there we have another year flying past in a blink of an eye. For the time being, I am allowed to say I have a 12 year old, 7 year old, 6 year old and a 4 year old. It will change in a month's time when Michael finally turns 8 but until then I'm allowed. Hopefully his party won't be so late in arriving as the girls.

At the ballpark with Big Z

2010-05-01T21:31:00.007-05:00

It's been a while since I've been at Z.'s game. With all the other kids and the games they have, it's been a real juggling act getting everyone where they need to go. But I did finally get to one of Zach's game and remembered my camera. He was pitching that day so I got a few shots of him on the mound and then the rest that I got were of him at 3rd base.

Watching to see what his pitch will be.

He gets set.

Winds Up.

And Releases

I was even able to catch him getting a grounder down the 3rd base line before he threw to first. I can't remember if it was an out or not but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Not a bad day for Zach at the ballfield or me and my camera. Always fun to get some good action shots of him.

My baby turns 4

2010-05-01T20:55:00.008-05:00

Hard to believe it but my sweet baby girl turned 4 on me. She got to wear her birthday crown all day at school and was spoiled by all who saw her. Grandmama picked her up a little early from school and took her out for lunch. After that she got to go to the post office with grandmama. When she walked in they actually stopped and sang Happy Birthday to her. Not your typical postal group there.

She had grandmama make her cake for her. It was her favorite chocolate of course.

I had to get a picture of my big 4 year old with her mom and dad and grandparents.

Then she got down to the business of presents. With her brothers and sister encouraging her, it didn't take to long for her to get through them. She loved them all of course. That's just how she is. But she really likes her big girl Hello Kitty scooter alot.

She is such a sweet little girl and such a blessing. I am so proud to have her for my daughter.

The Big Egg Hunt

2010-05-01T20:24:00.009-05:00

We were invited to some neighbors who live on the lake for an Easter Brunch and Egg Hunt. So we packed up the kids and the camera and headed out to visit with some of our friends around the lake. They had collected over 1500 eggs and had spread them out over the backyards of about three houses.

There were eggs everywhere and to me, it looked like more than enough eggs for the kids that were there. Z. had gone ahead earlier in the morning and helped to spread out the eggs for the smaller kids so he didn't actually hunt them. But he did give his little brother a heads up about an awesome egg which held a cool truck in it. He even showed him where he hid it. Then children were finally set free to gather eggs (it looked like a plague of locust swarming the eggs) leaving nothing behind. Anna made out pretty well and so did Kate and Michael. (Yes, he did get that egg Z. had staked out for him and was very excited about it).

We let the kids get settled in with checking out the eggs and all they held and the grown ups finally got to enjoy our brunch and Mimosa's. It was a big fun party that started early in the day and lasted through the afternoon.

Happily, the eggs didn't make it much longer so we didn't have much fighting about candy after that. But even the kids had so much fun they didn't complain to much.

Penny for your thoughts

2010-03-30T18:13:00.000-05:00

I often wonder what my kids are thinking at random moments when I stop to watch what they are doing. Are they happy, sad or just content to be where they are and with what they are doing. In the photo below, she was sitting there in the goal, surrounded by soccer balls and she was happily picking flowers.

I love this one of my girls. I don't know what they were looking at but whatever it is, it's got both their attentions. Since they were so far away I couldn't ask them what they were looking at. So now I'm left to just wonder.

Soccer Saturday Happenings

2010-03-29T21:51:00.009-05:00

It's soccer season right now. And I realized that I do not have any pictures of Michael playing soccer. I pulled out the telephoto zoom lens and went to the game. Now can I just say that my mom went with me and that it was beyond windy. I love my mom but I hate the wind. There now you know how I really feel. Anyways, I got some great pictures of Michael looking like he knows what he's doing.

He played extra hard on Saturday and did a really good job. And when I told him so he commented to me "Yeah, I wanted you to get some really good pictures of me so I tried really hard." Have to love that and yes I did get some really great pictures also.

Now Dad and Z. were off at a baseball tournament on a different windy hill so it was just me, mom and the girls watching the game. Well okay, the girls didn't watch a bit of it. Instead they played with their friends and found some interesting ways to keep themselves entertained.

And once they got tired of passing the ball between the tunnel of legs well they moved on but I'm not sure exactly what it was they were doing.

Surrounded by Super Heros

2010-03-24T22:02:00.004-05:00

I've been surrounded by my share of Super Heros in our house. This is the year that Zach decided to be the Incredible Hulk and Michael decided to be Superman (aka Pooperman). Zach would put on his Hulk mask and Kate would cry, he would take it off and she would stop. So he didn't wear that mask at all around Kate.

But never fear Kate...Pooperman was there to save the day.

Back when they were little

2010-03-24T21:38:00.007-05:00

I get a little sad going through some of these older pictures of my kids. They were so little and so cute. And now, they are not so little and and sometimes not so cute anymore. So it's always good to go back and find a little reminder of what they were like when they were little. Zach drove his first tractor down at Wanda and Bobby's house that day. He had a blast and so did Michael. I remember that day so clearly, hard to believe that it's been five years already.

Driving on that tractor led Michael into a very strong love of all tractors after that. It lasted for many years. He even had this tractor noise he used to make. It sounded terrible and had to hurt his throat every time he did it. Used to make me and Scott laugh so much.

Here's Michael when he was about 2 1/2 or so. Such a cute little face that doesn't have that baby look to it anymore.

And of course I can't not show a picture of Kate taken that same day. She was only about 6 months old. Love all that dark hair of hers, it's gotten so light now but I still don't mind that none of my kids have my dark hair. Well at least not much.

Here she is showing off her little piggy tails. Grandmama probably did it and then they stuck around for a few years. Just getting longer and longer.

She recently made me cut her long hair and no refuses to let me pull it into a ponytail of any sorts. I miss them and keep putting her off on getting another hair cut in hopes she'll let her hair grow back.

Playing on the swings

2010-03-23T22:15:00.006-05:00

Here are a few more pictures of the girls that I found of them playing on the swings. I'm really missing that right now and think we need to get a new one...fast!

And after all that swinging I guess a serious thumb sucking nap was in order.

When Michael got home from school he proudly showed us all what he had made that day at preschool. Nothing like a Dalmatian dog hat is there?

Time Traveling

2010-03-23T21:39:00.008-05:00

I've finally decided to turn this blog into a scrapbook (well of sorts anyways). I never did any baby books for any of my children since I knew I would not finish it or even be good about doing it for the 2nd,3rd and 4th child. So when I heard you could get your blog printed into a scrapbook I thought what a great idea. So I sent off to have my first year done and am now waiting for it to be printed.

Which brings me to my point. I don't have enough pictures of my kiddos on this thing from when they are little. So as I was looking for a picture to have put on the front of the scrapbook I saw all these great pictures of my kids that I would like to have on the blog for the next book that I get made. So I'm going to do a bit time traveling over the next few posts just to get some of them onto my blog before I forget about them again. And in looking through them, I realize that I really have very few pictures of all four of my kids together so I am going to have to break out the camera again and get busy.

But meanwhile here are a few I came across tonight.
Kate posing by our electric pumpkin.

Anna never one to miss out on a photo opportunity.

Michael showing Jack some love.

Now since it was close to Halloween I'd thought to include a picture of them all dressed up. This was the only one I could find that actually had all of them in it. But as usual at that age Anna would get up and walk away before I actually took the picture.

We were sporting a vampire, a police man, super girl and Minnie Mouse that year. I've seen those costumes played in many times since then and they definitely no longer look quite so good as that. Although it's funny Anna still to this day trys to get into that Minnie Mouse costume these days. She insists it fits, no matter how tight it is.

Spring Break Fun

2010-03-20T21:12:00.012-05:00

It's been Spring Break this week. So I decided to take a few days off from work to be home with the kids. They spent the first two days with Grandmama and Pappy so they were already a bit spoiled. But it worked out well since the three youngest had all been sick the last week and a half. So once we got them on the way back to being healthy we were able to start in on a little bit of fun.

Z. got invited to go camping with one of his baseball teammates so he was gone for the first part of the week. It was great for me, he got to sleep in a tent and camp and I got to sleep in a bed and not freeze. He had fun but he admitted it was a bit to cold still.

We went bowling later in the week and met up with some friends for that fun. Then Z. went off for another sleepover and a Stars game. K. went for a sleepover at Grandmama's house and Hoss had a friend over for a sleepover. So lots of shuffling around of kids later and everyone had a good time.

We went and celebrated a friends birthday party. The location was at a church which had converted it's old sanctuary into a playzone area for kids. With a bounce house,play scape, and dress up area and small climing wall. A. spent most the time playing dress up it seemed but she liked the play scape as well.

Hoss had a good time until Elmo tried to eat his head...

We finished out the week with a day of shopping and ice skating. Z. hadn't been ice skating since we lived in Finland. He didn't remember any of it so had to relearn it but had fun. Hoss took a while but finally got it and was enjoying himself (although his pants were wet from the ice) and K. took to it like crazy. She was going fast and enjoyed it but for some reason insisted on holding on to mine or Hubs hand most the time. A. did not care much for it. She would go around once and then want to sit down. She was ready to take off her skates much sooner than everyone else. But she was a troooper and waited patiently until we were all done.

We finished out the day by stopping for popcorn and going to the Skatepark and watched all those boys in there doing wild and crazy tricks on their skateboards, skates and scooters. All I can say is thank goodness none of my boys are into skateboarding. No way would I want them doing that.

Tommorow is technically the last day of Spring Break but we don't have anything planned for it. The temps have dropped and it's snowing again so I may just pack the kids up and take them to the movies tommorow. Then after that it's back to school and work until summer vacation.

Change of Plans

2010-01-07T10:01:00.003-06:00

It is bitterly cold here in Tx. today along with the rest of the country. But for me, I haven't been this cold since I lived in Finland. I'm thinking of breaking out the wool hose I still have just to stay warm.

I was woken up very early from my warm bed by the phone ringing. It was the school letting us know that it was closed due to icy conditions. Our district always closes before most others. The school buses just can't navigate some of those back country roads. So my three big kids would be home with me today. My youngest A. was having a sleepover at Grandmama's house so she was not going to be here. Originally I had planned on going out and doing some shopping that is done much easier without children in tow.

So now I have a change of plans. Instead of it just being me while I go out shopping it will be me and the kids home from school together one more time. And I have to admit that I'm not upset by it one bit. I can be annoyed by their loudness one more day, I can step over their messes another day. As I type, Hoss and K. are spinning in circles around the den trying to see how long they can go before they fall. I get dizzy just watching them. It's fun and annoying all at the same time. And it's something only my kids can do to me on a regular basis. So I will try and focus on the laughter of today. Knowing that tommorow it's back to school and that I won't be able to enjoy the spontaniety of their actions as often as I have been able to.

No pictures again...just ramblings

2010-01-06T13:25:00.004-06:00

Another day, another post without pictures. I wanted to post some today but our desktop is where all my photo software is at, and our picture drivey thing is out. (Or so I'm told) so that means no pictures of what my kids did over Christmas break. I may try again to post these pictures when we get it fixed this weekend. Hopefully I won't forget. But don't hold your breath.

So instead of pictures you get ramblings from my mind. I went to Sams today. We needed to stock up on everything it seems. While I was there, freezing cold. I was thinking of La Madeline's tomato soup. I love that stuff. I happened to check the soup aisle and guess what, they had it! So I bought it, intending to have some for my lunch. Then I went on down to drop a small fortune in the meat department.

I'm getting hungry by now, never a good thing while shopping. So I happened to noitice the 100 calories snacks they have boxed up there. So then I start to wonder, if a person ate the entire box of 12 snack packs in one day and nothing else, does it still count as a 1200 calorie diet. I mean there is absolutely nothing worth anything in those things nutruionally speaking of course. But still I wondered. And no, I didn't buy them.

Instead I happened by the free sample lady who was standing next to the clam chowder. It's there I lost all will power and put that clam chowder in my basket. I love clam chowder but never make it. So instead of my tomato soup for lunch, I went for the bad stuff. But I'm not going to worry about it, since it will probably be another year before I get some again.

So there you have it, no pictures! All you get from me today is pointless ramblings about what goes through my mind. Hope you can handle it...

New Year, New Things

2010-01-04T14:58:00.002-06:00

It's a new year now. And hopefully our family will be as blessed by the coming year as they were the past year. The kids are a bit older, things are getting a bit easier at times and harder at times. We are constantly busy and on the go. I don't see that changing in the near future. I'm excited about the new year and what it will bring for us as a family.

For those that know us in real life, you know Hubs job has not been the most stable of things ever since the Telecom bust a few years ago. That continues to be the case now, only much more shaky. So shaky in fact, that I am going to be starting a new job next week. Something that will give us a reliable paycheck and benefits in the event that something does happen to his job. I am so torn about this. It's something that needs to be done for our family and I don't begrudge that one bit. I will miss the life of a SAHM I've had for the last five years. I am luckier than most in that I have been able to do this while my children were little. And while I know this in my head, it's taking my heart a bit to catch up is all.

I'm going back to the financial auditing world from which I left a few years back. I'm fortunate that this time my commute will only be to the town south of the lake so I will not have much more than a half hour commute. If things work out the way we are hoping, then Hubs will keep his job and my salary will go to savings and paying off that pesky thing called a mortgage. We will hopefully be able to evaluate things better once we know more about his job situation.

So things around our house are going to be changing a bit. But with time we should hopefully all adjust and be back in a new routine before long. So here's to a new year and new things and to many more blessings to come.

Making Christmas Cookies

2009-12-24T22:30:00.000-06:00

Making Christmas cookies in our house is a messy deal. I just tend to line everything up and step back. They all have fun doing what they want and I just have to clean up afterwards. But regardless of how pretty they turn out, they always get eaten. Toss in a few cheesy smiles for mom and everyone ends up happy.

What happened to Fall

2009-12-03T21:58:00.009-06:00

I've been a bad bad blogger. But I've been a very busy mommy so I will use that as my excuse. So here is a very brief update on all that has happened since summer ended.

We had our first day of school. K. joined Hoss at the elementary school. Z. is off to Middle School now and my youngest A. is at preschool 3 days a week. They all seem to like it but don't like the homework. Does that ever change?

We had Hoss's 7th birthday party in October and it was a lot of fun with friends and family.

We visited the Pumpkin Patch and had all kinds of fun there. Although it was so muddy this year we didn't stay and play as long as we normally do. Can't really say that I minded that part of it to much though.

I even remembered to get in one of the pictures that Z. took this year. It doesn't happen that often so I thought I'd post it even though I don't like the way I look in it. But do we ever really? But the fact that both Hubs and I are in it is a rarity and worth posting about.

That naturally led us into Halloween where I was fortunate to have two Snow Whites, a vampire and a Ninja. I kid you not, Z. came home with over 7 pounds of candy all by himself. I didn't weigh the other kids bags since I was in a state of sugar induced coma by then.

In between all that we had 2 soccer teams and 2 baseball teams we were having practices and games for. I spent a lot of time at fields all across North Texas. It's slowed down a bit now and I'm very grateful for the break.

We had Thanksgiving at our home this year but since I was so busy cooking, I forgot to get any pictures. Just imagine all of us stuffing ourselves silly and then taking naps during the Cowboy game and that was us.

So now that brings us to December and all the busy things that come along with it.

Seems like a brief and silly summary of what is technically a third of the year but sadly that is it. Hopefully life will not get so crazy and I won't be so lazy as to stay away from blogging more often.

Well I've squeezed all I could...

2009-09-09T10:13:00.002-05:00

Well I squeezed all I could out of summer and then some.

Then we got busy with getting my parents moved in to their new house. They are now only about 15-20 minutes away versus 5 hours. I do love that. But the whole moving thing, well it still stinks. Even if it's not you moving.

The kids are all in school and getting used to new routines. Sports and practices are going strong again and things are just busy. What else is new right. But things are good and I'm very blessed.

I just have to keep reminding myself that on crazy days and weeks like what we have been having going on.

The Last Drop

2009-08-18T22:39:00.006-05:00

It is the last week of summer for us here. And I have finally convinced Hubs to take some time off from work. So this week we are trying to do some fun things with the kids close to home since we technically didn't go any where for vacation.

Yesterday we took the kids to Six Flags. It was not that crowded but very hot. Also, it was just me and Hubs and the kids. And for the record, I don't do roller coasters. They make me sick so I stay away from them. Hubs does some but they eventually make him sick as well. The boys rode a lot of the rides together and K. got in on a lot of the action. A. and I well we took it easy and got on all the rides with a mild rating. We stopped for lunch and went out to the car and had our picnic. No way was I going to spend that much money for food. Thirteen dollars for a refillable all day drink was more than enough of their prices. But it was still a lot of fun. And we did get a few pictures in here and there. Mainly of the characters. For whatever reason, A. wanted a picture of every character she saw so we have more than enough of those.

We stayed until almost closing time which for us was a major feat. And crashed into bed with dreams of motion sickness affecting any one who rode a roller coaster.

Today we did it a lot more tame than that. We had heard of a Pizza Place with go carts, bowling, mini golf and bumper cars. So we piled the kids in and got in on the Tuesday special of drinks and buffets along with cards loaded up for the fun to be found. So we ate and played. Then the kids wanted to eat again and play so they did. Then I had enough of the fun and said it was time to go so we went to redeem the dreaded tickets. (We had 52 between all 4 kids) The guy behind the counter realized real quick that my four would not be very happy so gave us an extra 2000 tickets just to keep peace in the family. (Thank you to that boy's mama for raising such an observant son who is generous with those darn tickets). So all the kids got to pick out something and they were happy.

So here it is the last week of summer and I'm trying to squeeze out every last drop of fun I can out of it. Summer is almost over and I'm so glad and sad at the same time.

A play write conversation overheard

2009-08-15T10:14:00.000-05:00

I'm always surprised at what my kids come up with. This one still has me laughing days later so I thought I'd share.

Main Characters: Mom, Hoss and Pappy who was visiting us.

Scene: The staircase, lots of noise and activity especially around the staircase with younger sisters running up and down.

Script:
Mom- You kids quit running up and down the stairs and screaming your going to hurt yourselves or someone else. (This is said as Pappy is trying to make his way up the stairs)

Girls- ignoring mom, continue to run up the stairs making as much noise as possible.

Hoss- (squeezing himself as flat as he can against the wall of the stairs as Pappy tries to go up the stairs) Looks at his Pappy and says "Go Ahead, Old Man"

Mom and Pappy start laughing and scene fades.

Disclaimer- I know where he gets it from and it's me. It's what I tell the old people who are driving to slow in front of me or who are just annoying me. I haven't figured out yet if Hoss was annoyed with Pappy yet for being so slow on the stairs or not.

Fun and Busy Days

2009-08-14T22:57:00.002-05:00

We have had a couple of fun and busy days this week and I've been way to lazy to post about any of it until now. Which makes perfect sense, because I'm very tired and it's already past my bedtime. So now is the perfect time for me to blog right?

Anyway, we met some friends this week at a small water park on Thursday. I had my kids plus two friends. And we met some other friends and moms there as well. We packed our lunches and ice chests full and set the children free. The big kids were off and going while the little ones stayed close to us in the kiddie area. This water park is small enough for me to be comfortable with the big kids going off and yet still big enough (for now) that they aren't bored by it. And for only five dollars, it can't be beat. I took a few pictures with my phone camera but they didn't really turn out that good. So if you want to see pictures of our fun day then you will have to visit Courtney's blog post about our day.

Today, Z. went to a sixth grade roundup at the middle school. I was not allowed to take my camera to this so have no pictures. Not that I was there for that long. They pretty much told us parents to leave the kids in the good hands of middle school teens to show them around. So all us parents left our children there to fend for themselves with the help of the older students. They all seemed to have survived the lockers and were given lunch as well. Just one more milestone which seems to be passing way to fast before my eyes when it comes to my kids growing up.

And then tonight we went to a swimming birthday party for one of our friends little girl's. It was fun but I'm worn out now. I'm tired of swimming for the time being. But my children aren't so I'm sure we will swim some more before school starts. So that's what's been going on here lately. Hopefully I'll have more pictures next time.

Patio Pictures

2009-08-07T10:41:00.008-05:00

I have been very lazy in downloading pictures lately. So the other day when I finally did get around to downloading my camera, I had a lot. In fact I forgot that I even took these pictures until I saw them.

When we bought the house, it had a small patio and I've always wanted to extend it a bit. Well our friend Janne came back from Finland and heard about it. So he lit a fire under Hubs and before I knew what was happening they were digging out the dirt to extend my patio. No way was I going to slow that train down. So I let them.

After they dug the dirt out and framed it, they arranged for a cement truck to deliver the cement. So all we needed was lots of friends and wheel barrows and good weather. We struck out on the good weather for three weekends but on the fourth we got lucky and here is what was going on in my back yard.

The cement truck would fill up each wheel barrow and the guys would take off to pour it out.

But first they had to make it up this monster incline with a very full and heavy wheel barrow. I think I may have actually heard a swear word or two while I was standing here.

Once at the patio they would pour it in and someone would spread it out. This went on for a very short time.

Then finally all the cement was delivered and it was time for more spreading and leveling off.

This is where the guys who were still capable of standing would stand and eat the breakfast burritos we paid them with and catch their breath. Meanwhile Janne and another Finn were busy finishing off the leveling.

As you can see, lots of help from the friends and kids and lots of work. I wish I could say that I've gone decorated my new patio and got it looking all nice now, but I can't. It got way to hot to be out working in the yard shortly after we finished the patio. So now I will wait for fall.

Janne and Hubs are now talking about renting a bobcat or excavator or whatever it is they need to level out our backyard and build a retaining wall. All so that they can put up a batting cage in our back yard. Me, all I want is some new flower beds. Guess we will see which gets done first.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-08-05T10:19:00.002-05:00

Sand Diva!

For other WW participants click here.

Fun at the lake

2009-08-05T10:03:00.005-05:00

I took the kids to the lake yesterday. They had been begging to go for days now. So I made them help me with all the chores around the house that needed to be done and promised them a fun reward for afterward. After a quick lunch and a stocked ice chest we headed out for a fun afternoon.

The kids liked swimming and wading into the lake but as always it's the sand and mud that attract my kids so that's where they spent most the time. I pretty much let them have free reign with what they wanted to do. Since the swimming area that we were in was only to my shoulders at the deepest part, the boys could go where they wanted but the girls were fine with wearing their floaties the entire time. So after swimming for a bit, some serious sand castle making and burying the kids in the sand followed.

Everyone had to get buried but since we started with Z. the biggest, everyone else just sort of fit in his leftover space and then we recovered them.

It was a lot of fun and they are already asking when they can go back. With school starting in a few short weeks, I'm hoping to get back there at least once more.

Is it to early for military school?

2009-08-03T14:15:00.002-05:00

It has been a bit crazy in our house lately. The kids are running free and doing pretty much what they want. And because of that the behaviour of my kids has gotten pretty rotten. It's to the point that I wonder how soon I could ship them off to military school. At the very least I am anxious for school to start so that the routine will start back up. And I will be honest, I'm ready for them to be in school when they are running around the way they have been today. Structure does wonders for them and I've been sorely lacking in that department. My own fault I know. I have to own up to my part in their bad behaviour. But in the meantime, I have been given the suggestion by Hubs to make my own military school.

Yes, that's right I can be my own drill sargent. I can make these kids get up early, make their beds, do their chores and send them off to run sprints. All before 8 AM. Then I need to take my children out in public and hope they misbehave so I can fix the problem immediately and make an example.

Have to love my Hubs sense of humor. I was all over everything he said, right until he mentioned the part about being up before 8 in the summer. Once he said that, I just checked out and started checking the prices at New Mexico Military Institute. It's really not so bad, I could sell everything we own and then we'd be set.

Darn the bulls eye

2009-07-29T15:11:00.002-05:00

I did it again. I went to that darn bulls eye store with the intent of buying a short list of things for the kids. Instead I walked out much lighter in the wallet. But a lot of the clothes for the girls and some for the boys are now taken care of. Not to mention that backpacks have now been chosen by all but Z. Why do I go to that store...why oh why???

End of Season party

2009-07-27T10:00:00.003-05:00

We had Z.'s end of season party yesterday. Lots of boating, inner tubing, swimming and eating. The kids all had a great time and so did the parents. We are very fortunate to have a team where the parents all like each other enough to want to spend time at these parties as well as the kids. The kids all like each other and are on a constant rotating basis of sleepovers at other players houses. Every house seems to have at least one piece of clothing that belongs to another player. So now all the parents just ask if they have clothes as their house instead of going home to pack a bag. Kind of convenient in one way and difficult to keep up with at the same time.

The team ended up losing more games than winning this year. But they somehow managed to come in 3rd place in AAYBA Little League World Series for their division. So that was a good way to end the year. So now things will settle down a bit for the next month and we can enjoy some more summer for a while longer.

Dawg Days

2009-07-25T23:36:00.002-05:00

We have been busy this week. Z. was competing in the Little League World Series tournament this week. Seven games in six days in hot Tx. weather makes for a long week. But it was fun and our boys ended up in third place for thier division. So we are proud of the effort.

Just to finish the day off, we went to the water park for a few hours this evening. And it was fun. It's the first time in years where I haven't been afraid the entire time that one of my children was on the verge of drowning at a moments notice. The boys are old enough and swim well enough that I didn't see to much of them. They took off and enjoyed the park and periodically came back to spray water on me. The girls and I hung out in the shallow play area and the lazy river. It was fun. Fun to know that we are finally getting to the point with our kids that we can do things like this and not have to worry about every little thing. They are getting bigger and older and are easier (at times).

So while I realize that time is fleeting and they are growing way to fast. It's fun to be able to do some of the "big kid" stuff with all the kids.

Tap Tap Tap...Hello anyone still there?

2009-07-02T09:07:00.002-05:00

Okay I have been gong a very long time. It was proven to me this morning when I typed in my blogger password and had forgotten it. Once I thought for a minute and retyped it, life was good again.

So since I've last blogged I have been busy with summer life. I now officially have all my kids potty trained. Never thought the day would arrive but it's here and boy am I excited.

We have been going to summer reading tutoring for Hoss the last few weeks. He's doing better but it's almost over and I will be glad. It's at a bad time for me. One in the afternoon, right in the middle of everything so it's been hard to get there and still do anything before or after that feels like fun summer stuff for the kids.

We have seen more movies and eaten more popcorn than should be legally allowed, but now that the kids are all old enough to sit through a movie we are finally getting to do it.

And lets not forget swimming. K. is determined to be in the big pool without floaties this summer. So we spend lots of time at the pool trying to get her swimming like a big girl. The boys are fine in the pool and A. is usually close by with her floaties. Won't be long until I have four little swimmers on their own.

I wish I could say that I've been a dedicated walker and exerciser lately. But I haven't, it's been sporadic at best but I do seem to get in at least three or four days of some kind of exercise. Not the greatest but at least it's still something.

June was crazy, we had an anniversary and two birthday's to celebrate. So now that July is here, we are back to sanity for a while at least. Hopefully I will not be as infrequent a poster now. But it seems to be a standard thing for me to say lately so we will just have to wait and see what happens.

Dare I say it?

2009-06-02T14:25:00.002-05:00

I am afraid to say it out loud. So maybe if I just type it I won't jinx myself. I'm sure by now you have guessed it. My youngest and most stubborn daughter, A. has been in big girl panties for over a week now with out an accident. I can hardly believe it's finally happened. I think I now officially have all my children potty trained. Considering I have been changing someone's diaper non stop for the last six years and eight months (but whose counting)I think I have a right to be excited.

Can you feel my excitement!! Can you really?? Because I am.

Almost here

2009-06-01T10:06:00.002-05:00

It's the last week of school so summer is almost here. Only three more days of having to get the kids up, dressed, fed and out the door before eight. I can hardly wait for that part. As for the rest of summer, we have lots of baseball and swimming ahead of us. Toss in a few movies and sleep overs here and there and we will be enjoying ourselves in no time. I can hardly wait.

Our Lucky Day

2009-05-18T12:16:00.004-05:00

Well since we were so unlucky with the rain on Saturday, I guess our luck was bound to turn. And it did on Sunday. The weather was beautiful and as I was finishing up all the planting in the front flower bed I decided we really should be at the Ranger game instead. We had bought some discounted ticket vouchers from one of the neighborhood boys and need to get started on using those passes. So without much trying, I was able to convince Hubs and the kids that it was the perfect day to be at the Ballpark. So we packed up and headed off.

We got there at the beginning of the 2nd inning and I got in line to get our tickets. A very long line (seems like everyone thought the same thing I did). While I was waiting Hoss looked down and saw where someone had dropped some money. So he picked it up and started asking who lost it. No one claimed it and finally everyone around us where it was dropped said he should keep it for himself since it was only $2. Hoss was off to a good start already. Hubs and the rest of the kids were sitting on the bench waiting for me when someone walked up to him and asked he if he wanted these 6 free tickets since he didn't need them and they were going to go to waste. Since it was 6 we needed, he said definitely and came and got me from the back of the line.

We got inside, got the kids their free t shirts they were giving away and headed off to buy some food and drinks before we got to the seats. More long lines, where they ran out of hot dogs (how is that even possible) but by the time we got to the front of the line, hot dogs were again ready. So we were once again lucky. We got to our seats only to discover they were in the shade. Our luck continues. So we sit down in our free shaded seats surrounded by lots of happy people right on the 3rd base line side to enjoy ourselves. We ate, we drank and we cheered. Then the people behind us decided that our kids were to cute and well behaved (they obviously don't know us that well) so they bought some Cotton Candy and gave it to the kids to share.

To top it off, our beloved Rangers beat the Angels again to sweep the series. So we headed off into the traffic to head home. Once we got to the car, I saw where people were leaving the parking lot without a long line so sent Hubs that way. We discovered it was a roped off exit but for a small $1 donation some entrepreneurial college boys would hold the rope up long enough for us to drive through it and be on our way. So we paid our money and headed home with a twenty minute shorter drive.

So yes, we had the bad luck of rain on Saturday, but Sunday with the great family day we had more than made up for it.

One more day

2009-05-15T12:52:00.004-05:00

Normally there is nothing I like more than having it rain. Especially when I don't have to be out in it unless I choose to. The past few weeks here have seen a lot of rain. In fact we are now officially out of our drought again. Well until July and August, then I'm sure we will be back in our drought since that seems to be permanent thing. But anyway, back to this rain.

The rain has been a bit of a pain to me personally lately. Between all the cancelled and rescheduled baseball and softball games, I should be crazy enough. But it's never really that simple is it. You see about three weeks ago, Hubs and his good friend decided that the time was right to finally extend our patio. So since I've been begging for one since we moved in I was certainly not going to stop them once they got going.

So they started to dig. And then it rained. Then it dried up so they started to lay all the brick sand during which time it started to rain. I then had a 10x20 ankle deep muddy swimming pool off my patio. Then it dried up enough to add more sand. Then just for good measure, it rained again. Finally it dried up enough for the guys to lay and weld the re bar. That was on a Thursday and the cement truck was supposed to come that Saturday. Only Hubs came down with some really bad kind of chest infection so was out of commission for a few days. So we missed our window of dry sand,good weather and available volunteers. The next weekend was Mothers Day weekend which was harder to get volunteers for (rightfully so) and lots of makeup baseball games. Which now leaves us with this weekend. We have rescheduled the cement and volunteers again for this Saturday. I have run out and coverd the sand pit anytime the rain started this week just to keep it from flooding completely. But as I watched the weather last night and saw the 70% chance of rain for Saturday, well I just had to shake my head.

I'm not sure when we are going to finish this patio, but hopefully it will be before it gets to hot to actually enjoy it. Meanwhile, I just keep sweeping up the mess on the floors that having an open sandpit five feet from the door always leaves inside. So for Pete's sake save the rain for one more day, that's all we need, just one more day.

My Muffin Message

2009-05-11T13:20:00.002-05:00

It was Muffins for Mom this morning at my daughter's preschool. And while the muffins were good, I love the things I get from my daughter even more. I have all sorts of cute things all around my counter tops right now.

But as well as that, I get a letter with fill in the blank spaces that my daughter answers all about me. In my letter, I am told my name and my age (I'm 20 by the way, boy do I love that girl). According to K. my favorite place to shop is at a "store". She knows how much I hate to shop so she can't even name a store apparently. My favorite thing to do while she is at school is "read a book". Yes, she's right that is my favorite thing to do. Sadly, though it doesn't seem to happen often enough. My favorite food is "vegetables". Have to laugh at that one because I really thought my favorite food was chocolate but we won't disillusion her just yet. And my favorite is, she loves her mom because I do so many nice things for her. Have to love how simple it all is my sweet daughter. And I definitely have to love my sweet daughter as well.

Riddle for ya..

2009-05-08T11:34:00.003-05:00

What do you get when...

You mix days of heavy rain followed by a day of high winds?

You get all six of us in misery with allergies that are out of control.

There are not enough klenix and allergy medicine in this house right now to help us all. Just have to love days like these when you can't do anything accept sneeze and tear up everytime you walk outside.

Oh No He Didn't....(as my son says with attitude)

2009-05-07T12:28:00.003-05:00

I'm a little ticked off today. Okay really a lot ticked off. I had a comment left on my FB page from someone I haven't talked to in 20 years. Instead of the normal hey, great to see you comment. It was something more offensive. Not to mention completely untrue. So I immediately deleted it after it had been up for about an hour. Then I sent a private email to the "friend" asking what gives? Now if this was just a joking around comment, it was in very poor taste. Especially since it's been so long and I've obviously lost my sense of humor. So I'm waiting to hear back, if I even will to find out what that was all about. Obviously this guy has forgotten that I am not one of those people to take rude comments like that and just ignore them. So yes, I'm ticked off and considering for the first time ever actually de friending someone. So me and my head bobbing self chanting Oh no he didn't...will calm down before I make a decision. Until then, if your on my FB page and you see any offensive posts, well I would just stand back and wait for the fireworks to begin.

Being Lazy

2009-05-01T10:02:00.002-05:00

I feel lazy. I have been lazy in my blogging. I have been lazy in my walking. I have been lazy in my cleaning. And I've been lazy in my flower beds. By now I've already got new things planted. And it's not that I'm not busy doing things that take a lot of time, it's just that I've been lazy in delegating other things as well. So blame it on all the rain we've been having. So here I am on a Friday morning probably enjoying my last day with all the kids in school (I'm convinced schools will close here soon due to the Swine Flu paranoia). And guess what I'm feeling lazy. I need to go buy groceries so that will probably get done. But I'm reading this book right now which seems to be taking up a bit more time than it should and so I have a feeling that I'll continue to be a bit lazy a little longer.

S-P-A-N-K-E-D

2009-04-27T11:46:00.003-05:00

We spent this past weekend in the lovely town of Ardmore,OK. Where the sun shines brightly and winds, well they blow...and they blow big time. No really, it was so darn windy. Why were we there? An out of town baseball tournament for Z. We decided that since we had a game Friday night, two on Saturday and one on Sunday to make it a weekend with the whole family.

We and the other players families all rented cabins and planned on a long and busy weekend. We get there Friday night ready for our first game. We went into this tournament knowing our team stinks compared to a lot of the teams that would be there. But we also had the bad luck of the draw. Our first team to play against was in what is called a major classification. It's the best there is when it comes to little league and in fact just returned from Florida where they competed and placed 5th in the nation. We did not realize this until we got to the game. Just to share our pain with you we only played about 45 minutes of the 90 minutes allowed. They called the game when we reached the mercy rule of being ahead of a team at any time by 20. Not only that, we only batted the first 6 players in our lineup, yep, that's right, 3 up 3 down each inning. We were glad to provide them with some batting practice. It stunk! But the other team was amazing.

Saturday we were hopeful for a better game. Z. was having a good game with his pitching when his worst fear was realized. He threw a ball and it ended up hitting the batter in the head. The batter ran to first to take his base and said he was okay. But then the first base coach noticed all the blood dripping down from his helmet. So they stopped the game to check him out. Turns out he was bleeding from his ear and at first they thought if was from inside the inner ear. Instead it turns out he had a defective helmet which cut int the cartilage of his ear. He was deemed okay by everyone and continued to finish his turn around the bases. ( I saw him the next day where he proudly showed me his war wound) We played better but still lost.

Second game was pretty similar but without the blood. So we finished up early and went back to the cabins to enjoy our down time. We had a cookout with everyone where pretty much everything had to be bolted down or it would blow away. Lots of playing around with lots of 10 year old boys and siblings was going on. And us parents, well we were busy supervising...well okay I admit it not much supervising going on. But we did get lots of talking done, and a little bit of cow tipping. Just kidding! No talking involved, it would have alerted the cows we were there. Then we all went back to sleep in our cabins with some of the biggest spiders ever seen.

Sunday's game was good, we had them and our boys were playing well. But a few bad calls by refs and some good hits by the other team and well we were packing it up and heading home.

All in all, we were S-P-A-N-K-E-D this weekend in baseball. But the boys enjoyed themselves and the parents enjoyed themselves. And now I'm home and trying to wash out half the state of OK. out of my laundry. There is sand everywhere but at least I'm not out in it anymore.

All things mermaid

2009-04-20T12:52:00.002-05:00

I am surrounded by all things mermaid lately. I have made it through the first three children without the mermaid fascination. But my youngest A., has other ideas.

She plays mermaid in the tub.
She plays mermaid on the rug.
She plays mermaid on the stairs.
She plays mermaid with her hair.

You get the idea, it's all mermaid all the time. And silly mom that I am dug out the Little Mermaid dvd to see if she would like it. She does, so it's on constantly. At this time, my A. would very possibly answer to the name of Ariel. I should try it out and see what happens. I didn't expect this latest craze and it's been pretty fun to watch and enjoy so far. Well except for the constant DVD running on the TV. It just goes to show you how even after four kids, you can still be surprised by the little things if you notice them.

Very Disappointed

2009-04-16T12:37:00.002-05:00

I'm very disappointed in my kids school today. My oldest came home and told me something his teacher told the class which I didn't agree with. It's not the first time I have had issues with this teacher this year. Normally I email her and get it resolved. This time I've actually scheduled a conference about it for next Monday. This teacher is not my son's homeroom teacher but has him for two classes through out the day. She has been through an unimaginable year which resulted in her losing her husband to cancer. She has a lot to deal with, and I understand this and have tried to empathize with this. In the best of times, I have heard that she is a good teacher but prefers girls. Now in the worst of times, well lets just say it hasn't been easy for my oldest son.

But the thing that has me the most upset is that his teacher has told the class on two separate occasions that they are her least favorite class ever and that she hates them. Yes, she actually said hate. Now my first reaction was to make sure I heard it right. Z. said that what she said the first time was that she disliked them more than any other class she has ever had. But on Tuesday she said she hated them more than any other class she ever had. I decided to call a friend who has a son in the same class to see if he heard the same thing my son heard. And it was confirmed that yes, she did say she hates them.

So I decided to talk with the assistant principal about this. Not only for my child and the other students who should never hear from a teacher that she hates them. But for the teacher herself. It may be that she needs to take a bit more time off or something, I don't know. But they need to be aware of this. While the assistant principal listened to me, I don't feel like she felt all that concerned about what is being said to these students. She seemed much more concerned about all the teacher is going through. Which I agree is awful, but still my child does not need to be taking the brunt of her emotions. My friends husband was going to also talk to the assistant principal today, maybe since he's also an assistant principal in the district she will listen a bit more to what out kids are being subjected to.

Meanwhile, I am also intending to bring this up during our conference, it's one of the few things I want to discuss. I hate that I have to do it, but I have a son who up until this year loved school and now doesn't. Yet he still makes the honor roll every six weeks. I have a son who is being told both verbally and in the actions displayed to him that he is not worthy. And I do not agree with it. I am my son's only voice and unfortunately I am now being forced to use it. I'm very disappointed in this entire situation. Up until this year, I've never had a serious complaint, but now I can not say that. I'm mad, I sympathize with his teacher but I'm still mad.

Poor planning

2009-04-15T11:56:00.002-05:00

I suffered from some seriously poor planning this morning. What's that saying, you know the one, the road is paved with good intentions or something like that. Anyways, I thought I would wake up early and get my treadmill torture out of the way early this morning before the boys had to be taken to school. But instead, I woke up at my regular time. Then I thought, that's okay I will still have torture time after I drop the boys off but before I had to get K. to pre school. Only I got distracted by GMA talking about the singing sensation Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent. I totally love stories like these by the way so if you get the chance then click on over.

So instead of my torture time on the treadmill I drank another cup of coffee and took K. to school. When we got home I was faced with another dilemma, treadmill torture or a really nice brisk walk around the lake. So naturally I chose the walk around the lake. (Now what am I going to tell Hubs who has been sworn to keep me going on treadmill)

Then after our walk I came home to see my neighbor out planting flowers. So naturally I had to stop and talk flowers with her and catch up with all that was going on. Then another neighbor joined us and we had us a good visit. Finally I realized I really needed to come in and get showered. It was then I realized the time. I had both the lawn company and the exterminator coming to the house at the same time. Crud, I realized that the inside was a mess. Now I know the exterminator is no reason to clean up but I just have issues with strangers seeing my house with no beds made and a dirty kitchen. Plus, I didn't want him to say that any bugs found, were probably there because it was so messy (not dirty...messy. Well except for the kitchen, that was dirty with all the breakfast dishes) So instead of a slow shower, I ran a marathon and got the house in order just as the lawn company was finishing up. Then within five minutes the exterminator was there. But at least the crumbs and mess were all gone.

So now I'm finally on track again. Well except for the treadmill torture. But I promise tomorrow to get up early and get back on it and cry some more. At least that's what I'm planning.

Cereal-iously

2009-04-09T08:48:00.002-05:00

Ok, I know that's not really a word, ceral-iously, but it could be. It's morning, and I'm faced with the day to day dilemma of what to feed myself and my kids for breakfast. The boys are easy and choose to have egg burritos at school, the girls aren't to bad either. They pick cereal, Berry Crunch to be exact.

So that leaves me. I decide to join the cereal bandwagon and join in the crunching going on. So I wander off to the pantry to see what kinds of mom cereal there is in there. I see three boxes sitting there to choose from. I have my Crunchy Go Lean, I have my Fiber One and I have bran flakes. Ooohh, what to choose. I finally decide on Fiber One and go to put it in my bowl. Only to discover that there is hardly any left, not enough to even count as half a bowl. So I decide to move onto my Crunchy go Lean (this is really not one I like that much but I decide to eat it just to get rid of it) and discover that this to is hardly worth putting in the bowl. About this time, I'm wondering what is going on here, I am the only one who eats mom cereal how did this happen. Then I remember, we had company this past week and mom has to watch her sugar levels so she probably had some at some time or another.

So I am faced with the decision of do I just go for a bowl of Bran flakes on there own or do I mix all the cereals together to make a hodgepodge breakfast mix. Or I could just have two small separate bowls of cereal but that doesn't sound so good. But now that I know these essentially empty big cereal boxes are taking up some high dollar pantry shelf space I want them out of there. But do I want to be wasteful and toss them, it seems such a shame to be like that. I am trying to cut down on the grocery budget and this just doesn't seem to fit into it at all. I decide to just get over it and mix the cereals together. I was really a bit disappointed, I mean if I like them by themselves, then surely mixed together they would be equally as good, but they weren't. I guess I like my cereal in it's purest form and mixing them just doesn't do it for me.

But on the bright side, I now have more shelf space in my pantry and was not wasteful. Just doing my part to save money for the family budget. Well unless you count those really great tops I bought at the store the other day, but cereal-iously that's not the same thing at all.

Facing the facts

2009-03-31T10:04:00.003-05:00

I can't deny it any longer. Swimsuit season is almost here. I'm being reminded of this from every direction. Time to refocus and start walking again on a daily basis. It's hard to do this time of year with all the practices that are going on but I just need to give up a TV show or two and it should all work out. Hopefully by the time I actually have to force myself into the swimsuit, it won't be as bad as it would be now.

I may say that just a bit to much

2009-03-30T09:44:00.002-05:00

I hear myself in my children. What I tell them, usually comes back to me sooner or later. Sometimes it's not so bad, other times I'm embarrassed and then other times I just have to laugh.

I've been listening to A. quite a bit lately. And I must say, she is definitely repeating things that she hears me say. But in my defense it's not the embarrassing phrase of darn it (only it really wasn't darn). Instead it seems that everything she is seeing or noticing for the first time requires a very loud and enthusiastic Holy Cow! (Mental congratulations to myself that it was not anything worse than that) So since this doesn't fall into what I consider the offensive category, I'm enjoying her Holy Cows. Everything from a new roll of toilet paper being put on the roll, to a dead bug in a window sill gets a big HOLY COW.

So I've decided that I may just actually verbalize my thoughts a bit more than I should. I must try to keep things where I really am thinking Holy Cow inside my head, instead of verbalizing them. But Holy Cow, it's harder than I thought it would be. So maybe I will just give it up and be glad that at least it's not quite as offensive as Bugger, which I've been know to say a time or two. But if we aren't actually in England is it still offensive? Just something to wonder about.

It's that time again...baseball season

2009-03-23T12:09:00.003-05:00

Baseball season has started up for us again. We now officially have three kids we have to shuttle back and forth to practices and games. So for my friends that I see on a regular basis, I'll see you around June sometime. But contrary to what you may think, I love it. It's fun to watch the kids as they grow and get better at sports. You can really see a difference in them from season to season.

This past weekend we watched my oldest son Z. play in a weekend tournament. He is with a new team this spring. And we decided on this team not for their winning records (which they didn't really have) but for the coaches and parents of the other boys out there playing. We are really enjoying being on this new team. Since we've joined them, the boys have finally started to click and they are finally playing pretty good. They finally finished a tournament and got a bit of hardware (ie. trophies, medals, rings) to show for it. They didn't win this tournament so they didn't get the championship rings (which I'm still laughing over) but they were all so excited to have done so well. Hoss my youngest son is now the official bat boy for this team and even he received a medal. Talk about an excited 6 yr old.

So if you start to hear more and more talk about baseball than you really want to, I'm sorry. But that's pretty much all I'm going to be doing for the next 3 months so I won't have much else to talk about.

So pull up a chair, grab some sunflower seeds and start spitting, it's baseball season.

It's Spring Break

2009-03-16T09:24:00.002-05:00

We are on spring break this week. I have high hopes for everyone getting and staying healthy this week. So far it looks like it may actually happen. Z. is fine and at baseball camp this week every morning. Hoss and K. and A. are all better and for the most part seem to be better as well. So that leaves me to plan a few things to do this week. I'm planning but it's a bit hard to do the long all day activities when I have Z. at camp until noon. After being physical and on the go all morning he does get a bit tired. But I'm sure I can get him to go on an extra long all day outing if it were worth his while.

So that leaves me with a lot of free mornings to fill this week. And what seems to be filling it? One of my all time favorite TV shows as a child. My son Hoss has discovered Little House on the Prarie. He likes it because of the horses. I just like it. I can honestly say I've seen every episode ever made. And I can name and place every episode within 60 seconds of sitting down to watch it. I was a bit obsessed as child I think. But I can't deny that I still love this show. Who knows, if I'm lucky I'll get to watch it more than once this week on spring break. It is my kids putting it on to watch, not me. And I will indulge them on this one.

Sick and Tired of Being Sick

2009-03-10T12:05:00.002-05:00

I have to say it has been a hard winter for us. For the last two months straight, we have had one person after another in our family getting sick. And it continues to rage on. We have never had it this bad before and I hope to never see a winter like this again. It all started at the end of January when Hubs came home sick from a business trip. Hoss then caught it and developed pneumonia. Then K., A. and I decided to get the flu and spread the love to my parents who were visiting. We finally get through that then Z. comes home with strep throat. Now we are battling the dreaded stomach virus for a second time this winter. Both K and Hoss are fighting this one right now. It's just not seeming to end.

I must say, that I am so tired of being sick and caring for sick children. They've been great but it's just been really hard. I'm hoping that the kids will soon recover and get over all these viruses soon. That should leave us healthy to deal with all the allergies that are about to hit and the asthma problems that go with it. I am hoping that we can spend spring break next week home and healthy. So now you know why I've been gone so much lately.

Birthdays are in the air

2009-03-02T07:57:00.002-06:00

We are starting our next round of family birthdays. Today is Hubs birthday. He is now 41. It's really not that upsetting to him so that's a good thing. So what does Hubs want for his birthday? Who knows. He doesn't have anything that he really wants and doesn't really need anything. So we are just going to go out and let the kids pick him something that they think he would like. It's always fun to see what they come up with. One year he got a bag of marbles, Z. really felt that he needed those. And of course he felt he had to play with Hubs in the process. I've already been requested to make his favorite birthday cake. So of course I will do that, what flavor you may wonder. It's almost embarrassing to say it but he really likes pink strawberry cakes. So that's what he gets, even though the girls have told daddy that it's a girl cake. He doesn't care though and still wants a pink cake. I guess he never believed that whole boys don't like pink theory.

So Happy Birthday Hubs, we love you very much. Enough to eat pink cake and play marbles with you. May your upcoming year be filled with as much love and joy as you give all of us on a daily basis.

Sick Again

2009-02-23T10:32:00.002-06:00

We are sick again. The girls and I are suffering from the flu. Hoss has recovered for the most part from his pnuemonia so that is a bright spot. Z. and Hubs seem to have dodged the bullet so far. But my poor parents who came up to visit, they went home with the flu. Courtesy of us of course. I feel so bad about that. They always seem to catch something when they come to see us. I am amazed that they continue to risk it but they love thier grandkids and can't be kept from them. But hopefully we will all be well soon. Because I have to tell you, this being sick with the flu is for the birds. I must remember this next year and get a flu shot.

Can you see anything

2009-02-18T11:18:00.002-06:00

The last few times I've logged into blogger I can't see anything. I was just wondering if it's happening to anyone else or if it's a user error. Will you leave me a comment either way letting me know if you can or can not see my posts.

Company is coming

2009-02-12T10:01:00.003-06:00

It's really sad how excited I get when we have family come and see us. You would think I'd be tired of it by now. But I'm not. In fact, they really don't come enough for me or the rest of the family. Yes, even Hubs thinks they should come more often. But starting tomorrow, we have company in town for about ten days or so. My parents are coming which is not all that unusual but still a reason to be excited.

But during the time that they will be here we will have more company. Hubs sister and her husband are driving down from Missouri to Houston for a cruise. So they will stop and stay with us along the way both coming and going. It's been a while since we have seen them and we are looking forward to it.

I can imagine now all the cooking that will be going on in this kitchen. Because that is what we do when family gathers, we cook. Lots of food and all of it delicious. It's amazing how we cook so much more for company than we do just for ourselves but we do. Hmm, maybe that's why I'm so excited when company comes. It means that good food is sure to follow. It's worth considering....

A Talk with the teacher

2009-02-06T09:54:00.003-06:00

I had a talk with K.'s teacher this morning. It was very enlightening to say the least. Ms. Tammy asked me if my husband was doing okay. So I told her yes, he was doing good and would be back from Finland very soon. At this, she looked very relieved and started to laugh. She then told me about a conversation she had with my daughter.

K.,my daughter told Ms. Tammy that her dad was in heaven. Ms. Tammy asked her if she was sure and K. said yes she was very sure. Her mommy had dropped her daddy of at the drive thru and then he went to heaven. He'd be back in a few days.

Of course by now I am laughing and wondering why she came up with this. I can only guess that to her the airport is the drive thru and the planes then fly up to heaven. I still don't know for sure and will talk to her this afternoon about it. But I'm still laughing at this. Especially since I didn't drive Hubs to the airport, he drove himself and left his truck in long term parking.

I'm just glad that he was able to get a return ticket from heaven and I'm sure when I tell him, he'll be just as relieved.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-02-04T00:15:00.001-06:00

For other WW participants click here.

Another way in which girls are different than boys

2009-02-03T10:55:00.003-06:00

Having girls is different from boys. In so many ways. But I recently realized a new way they are different. Birthday parties. In particular, girls only parties. Now my poor girls will never have a girl only birthday party simply because of the fact that they have two brothers who will always be at their parties. So that along with the fact that my girls like to do a lot of what the boys do means that we very seldom have true girlie time.

But one recent Saturday K, my oldest girl was invited to a girlie party. So dad packed up the boys and took them off to basketball games while I packed up the girls and took them to parties. The girls were then treated to an experience they won't soon forget. We got to the party where they were whisked off to put on princess gowns. Then they were put into big director chairs and had their hair put up in pretty buns complete with glitter hairspray. After that they were rushed off to get their nails and makeup done. Once all the girls were finished, it was time. Time for the big presentation. One by one all the girls made there way onto a runway through a curtain of golden beads. There they walked the catwalk showing off the new princess look they had. They were then presented with a crown and a certificate.

I'm thinking to myself, what could possibly top this for these girls. Then it was cake time. They had the most beautiful cake from my favorite bakery Candy Haven. So naturally I had a piece. And then we opened presents. Lots of fun. Just when the girls thought it was over they put on their regular street clothes and jackets and went outside. There they were greeted by a very big and long pink limousine in which they all piled into and went for a ride. They loved it. And I was once again left to wonder at how different things with girls can be. Now while my girls loved it, I know I will never spend the money on that kind of party for my girls. I just can't imagine doing it. I know that from now on though that anytime either of my girls gets an invite to a party like this again that my boys will be begging to go. They are pretty mad that both of their little sisters have already ridden in a limo and they haven't. They assure me they will suffer through the whole party if they can go in the car afterward.

Yes, boys and girls are as different as princesses and hot rods.

On my own again

2009-02-02T11:55:00.002-06:00

I'm on my own again this week. Hubs had to leave for work for a week. Could have been much worse, he somehow managed to change it from 2 weeks to 1 week. So for one short week, I am the sole chauffer. But at least it will be busy and go fast. We did a quick and quiet brunch (since we only had A. with us) before he left to fly out. It was very enjoyable. Sometimes we forget about how simple it is to eat out with only one child. In fact most of my food was hot while I was eating it. That hasn't happened in a long time. So this week will be an easy week for cooking since the kids are so easy to please. But still, Friday night can't get here soon enough.

Love ya' Award...right back attcha!

2009-01-27T13:51:00.003-06:00

Nicole surprised me with an award the other day. She's my friend in real life, so I take it to mean that she really does like me and not just what you see on the computer screen. That's nice to know. I think I'm supposed to pass this on to other bloggers that I read and appreciate. I have several bloggers who I think deserve this, but since some of those blogs are private it makes it kind of hard.

This award is officially called The Love Ya Award, and here's why:

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be
friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when
the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated.
Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight
bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into
the body of their award.”

So thanks Nicole for appreciating me. And I want to pass on this award to a few of my favorite blog writers. I don't know if I have eight though, so if I break that rule, well I'm sorry. I can be lame like that sometimes.

Ginny is my friend in real life and just started blogging. She always writes about things that are important to her. She's amazing.

Lauren is one of my first ever blogs that I started to read. I always enjoy her posts about her life, books and Disney Trips.

Keelan just makes me laugh. I can so relate to her stories and am sure you'll enjoy her to.

Heather, Lynn and Kim are more of my favorite blogs to read. But they're private now so you'll just have to take my word for it. But I want them to know how much I enjoy their blogs.

So if you get a chance, stop by and visit them. I think you'll enjoy their blogs.

Quick Takes

2009-01-23T10:01:00.005-06:00

I am so stealing this idea from my friend Nicole. I know she will understand. I just give a few random things (I think)about what's going on. This saves me from actually having to come up with a true blog post.

So without further ado.

1. I cut K. hair for the first time ever this week. She's 4 1/2 and it was long enough to get caught in her bottom during bath time. Enough said. It is now a short and sassy length (to her) of mid back. She can wear it down, and I can still put it up. See everyone wins.

2. I am also a dork like my local friends who are excited about a new grocery store opening close to us. Another option without the traffic is always something to be excited about. I plan on going here in a bit to so some shopping and enjoy all the freebies that go with a grand opening.

3. I think I have found a solution for my child care issue on the few occasions that I need it. Some of my neighbors have used this facility before and it's a pay as you go type place. Plus it's good for all ages and stays open till midnight (can you say date?) I am checking into it further but so far it seems promising.
Plus they have all kinds of camps they offer during the summer months when the kids tend to get bored.

4. The treadmill and I have come to agreements. I don't like it as much as walking outside, but it's pretty darn convenient. So I'm still using it.

5. Lost started back up this week. Can I tell you how excited I am. Very. I now have something non reality to waste my time with. Can't say it's time better spent but it's still good.

6. Tomorrow is K. first back to back birthday party invites. So it should be fun for her and torture for me. I have a dollar amount that I allow for presents but the ones she picked out were even below that. So she added these giant circle lollipops to the gifts. I think she is more excited about those than anything else.

7. Homework has been hard this week. Z. has two teachers that for whatever reason both had huge projects due. So with all this nice weather we have been having, we have missed alot of it since homework has to come first. Stinks to be a grownup sometimes.

So there we have it. For more quick takes visit Jen

Not Possible

2009-01-20T08:33:00.002-06:00

Today is the inauguration of our new President. And yes I know this is a historic day on so many different levels. I'm excited about some of the the history being made. I'd love to be able to have my children witness this change of power in person someday with me. Of course it will never happen because I just don't like being in crowds, but it would still be awesome to watch. But at the same time, it is barely 8am and I'm already tired of some of the news coverage going on. The things that they feel we need to know just in order to fill air time just drives me crazy. So while I will probably tune in to watch the actual inauguration process where the new President will be sworn in, it's not possible for me to watch it all. So just give me the highlights and leave all the fluff alone already, I've still got a house full of kids to take care of today.

Is there anything better

2009-01-15T07:58:00.002-06:00

Today is going to be a cold day. And I am so excited that I really only one obligation so far that requires me to leave the house. Is there anything better than getting to stay inside where it's nice and warm when it's cold outside. I myself think it's one of life's little pleasure. Kind of like when the kids are all quiet and happy and not getting into mischief. It doesn't happen that often, but when it does, I try to enjoy it. So my plans for the day don't include to much running around. Instead I think I will stay home with the girls and stay warm. Is there really anything better than that?

Just not right

2009-01-13T08:12:00.003-06:00

It's January, one of the coldest months in the year. But even though it's January, I am off to have the AC in my car fixed today. Why? Because the weather is so crazy going from 80 to 40 on a daily basis it seems. And on those regular occurring warm days it gets down right stuffy in the car. And since I'm part of a family whose allergies who are terrible, we never have the window down. So even though to me it just doesn't seem right to have to fix the AC in January, that's what I'm doing. Crazy isn't it, this Texas weather.

A bit of this and that

2009-01-09T12:23:00.002-06:00

In case your wondering, and I'm sure you not. Things are still hectic around here. Here's a bit of what's been going on around here.

-School started back so kids are up and going early. Mom, not always the case.

-I've been to some more training classes that I probably didn't really need but had to have anyway.

-Dropped off K. at school and headed to the dealership to have my A/C fixed. (Yes I know it's January but this is Texas and we still are seeing the occasional 80 degrees) So get to dealership and wait while they figure out what's wrong. Get the call from preschool saying daughter is having severe allergic reaction to something can I come get her and can they give her benadryl. Yes give her medicine and I'll be there as soon as my car is off the big rack they have it on. Then go tell them to get it off the rack and I'll be back later for them to fix it. Get to preschool and K. is all better and doesn't want to leave. Still don't know what caused reaction. Now I'm waiting for my part to come in so I can take the van back to be fixed.

-Went and played Bunco with some friends. Lots of fun.

-Hubs and I have talked about getting a treadmill. Discovered Hubs boss just bought an $1800 one last year that has only been used around 6 times. It's now being offered to us to try out. At no cost. If we decide we still want it in 6 months then we can talk about price then. So Hubs said yes and will go get it this evening.

-Talked Hubs into painting girls bathroom last week, now just need to get the rest of the house done. It's just hard to decide on the color I want since there are so many of them to choose from.

-Really need to get the kids used to not interrupting me on the phone when I'm talking. They are having a hard time with it, but since I am now on the phone alot with work stuff, it's vital they learn. The big ones have it, but the girls are still struggling.

So there you have it, aren't you glad you read this far. We are just so exciting in our house. So until I bore you again, that's it for bits of this and that.

Last Day of Vacation

2009-01-05T14:10:00.002-06:00

Since today is the last day of vacation for the kids I thought we would do something fun. But instead it started to rain and get cold which pretty much put a stop to any outdoor fun I had in mind. So I did what any good mom would do, I started the laundry that's been piled up since last summer I guess. Now I have half the laundry done and four wound up full of energy kids running crazy through the house. But, I can't say that it's really been all that bad. Well except for the whole laundry thing.

The rest the week should be busy as we get back into our normal routine and all the running around it takes. So it's really a good thing to get caught up on laundry instead, although I'd ditch it in a second if something better came along. Just being honest ya'll. See I told you all that I have one of the most boring life's of all. And yes, I'm still happy with it.

Hershey Kiss

2009-01-03T17:02:00.002-06:00

Hershey Kisses calling my name.
Hershey Kisses make me gain.
Hershey Kisses go away,
I want to zip my pants today.

Can you tell what I'm craving right now...

Scheduling

2008-12-27T21:04:00.003-06:00

I feel like I'm not ever getting everything I need or want to get done, done. I've gotten very lax in my scheduling which has in turn had a bad effect on me and those around me. If I'm feeling rushed and frazzled then it wears off on the rest of the family. And it just puts me in a bad mood. Now I'm normally a pretty laid back type personality. But I'm anal at the same time. I want things to be a certain way and they have to be that way for me to be in my happy place.

I have gotten very lazy about scheduling things. I realize that and do intend to work on it. It just makes life so much easier in our busy house. So even though it stinks to high heaven, I have to start getting up earlier to get things going smoothly and calmly in the mornings. Because once the mornings are going smooth, then everything else tends to fall into place. I get started on my to do list earlier, and it's finished sooner. Which leaves me with more free time to do what I would like to do.

I've gotten away from letting my husband know that between this and this time each night I will walk. Instead if things are crazy I don't go, which puts me in a bad mood. So you see, a bit more scheduling and he knows and is fine with it, I now have my walking time scheduled and am good with that.

There are so many other areas that I've gotten lax with in scheduling. But simply by starting up on this one little thing it makes things so much easier for me. The thing is, it's hard sometimes. I know that, and just need to remember how much more I enjoy the peace that comes from scheduling rather than the craziness of unscheduled chaos. So I guess for me my anal type A personality just requires it, then I can enjoy my laid back attitude with my friends and family a bit more.

Wait, what's IT?

2008-12-22T21:26:00.002-06:00

Since I'm on a roll this week about being mom of the year. I did after all let my oldest daughter get bit by spiders multiple times. I thought I'd share the latest casulaty report from our house. It was time for baths and Hubs had taken A. upstairs to get her ready (I love how he helps out like that) and I was left to clean up the rest of the dishes.

I hear what to me sounds like a slamming door. So much so that I automatically say stop slamming doors before you hurt someone. Then there is a lot of screaming. So as I head upstairs I ask Hubs what is going on. He replies she was running towards me and tripped and banged into the wall with her head and cracked it? Wait...what's it? Is it her head or is it the wall? Is there blood involved because if there is then I can pretty much count Hubs out on any help since he's not good around blood. No, her head isn't cracked he said, it's the wall. She cracked the wall with her head. Oh well then everything's okay, I think. You can patch a wall no problem. But I didn't want to deal with a cracked head.

Call me crazy but a cracked wall is so much easier to handle. But this does just prove to me that my youngest daughter is a very hard headed, stubborn and determinned little girl. And she wasn't going to let the wall get the best of her, no she was laughing and back to herself after a few minutes.

Is it Chicken Pox?

2008-12-21T08:47:00.003-06:00

UPDATED TO ADD THAT OUR DR. SAID IT WAS NOT CHICKEN BITES BUT INDEED LOTS OF SPIDER BITES. I don't know whether to feel better or worse about that one. But she was out rolling around in the yard and in the shed the other day so there is really no telling how they got her. I'm just glad it's not chicken pox.

I am trying to find out if K. has been bitten by insects or may possibly have Chicken Pox. She's not run a fever but had 3 insect looking bites on her face yesterday. This morning it is now 5 but the old ones don't have the crusted over look to them. I just don't know of anybody that has actually had it these days since we now have the vacinne. So if you have any hints for how I can tell in the very early stages then let me know. If she has more spots tommorow then I am sure she has them. Until then, I guess I'm hannging out at home today.

I may have missed the boat

2008-12-15T14:36:00.002-06:00

I'm late in getting the shopping done this year. I'm not sure why really. I know what we are going to get which is half the battle. But getting out and buying it has been the problem. So today I went to two stores to look for a present and they were out of them at both stores. Oops, I'm thinking I may have missed the boat on this. But then again, I'm really not that worried about it. If we are really supposed to have it for Christmas then I'll find one. If not, it will be bought eventually some day down the road. I'm really not that worried about it. There are lots of other things the kids would be excited and happy to have.

But in order to not miss the mailing packages deadline. Well, I still have to wrap presents first. And that's one huge process for me. My packages are likely to make it around Easter. No really, I won't let it wait that long...I hope.

I've also missed the deadline for me to send in money for the boys to have for their Christmas parties at school. Must remember to do that tomorrow no matter what. I just didn't have enough one dollar bills to do it today.

I'm a great mom, I know this really. You don't have to remind me. Okay, at least tell me that I'm not the only poor fool who is constantly late on doing things for the kids at school. Then at least I'll feel a bit better. Well until the next deadline comes and passes and I realize that darn it, I've missed the boat again.

No No and in case you didn't hear it...NO

2008-12-10T21:18:00.005-06:00

Can you guess what has been said in the Juice Box household at least a million time in the last 24 hours. That would be the answer...NO! What surprises me is that it is not my youngest three who are asking the question (well at least not yet) but my oldest Z. He in turn is spurring the others to ask over and over in turn getting the same NO response.

What could possibly cause me to have to say No so much. It's not really what you think, it's not about Christmas presents at all. NO it's much worse than that. They want me to give in and allow them to get another PUPPY!

NO NO NO NO...no no no no!!! I do not want another puppy. We already have one overgrown dog who thinks she's a puppy, that I have to have underfoot. But a friend has just gotten a sweet new baby puppy Chihuahua and so the begging has commenced. No matter how much I let him go over and visit this still unnamed puppy, I will not cave on this issue.

I already have a husband, two boys, two girls and an overgrown Boxer. I certainly don't need to add to my nest with a partridge in a pear tree. So the answer is most definetely NO. But secretly I will admit to enjoying holding the puppy myself, especially since I don't have to deal with any of the rest of the work that goes with her.

Where or where are my pictures?

2008-12-08T12:47:00.002-06:00

Some of you may have noticed my lack of pictures lately. It's not because I'm not taking them. I am, lots of them. It's because Hubs garage computer (yes he has one in the garage) has gotten so old that it won't run the programs or equipment he needs anymore. So he has taken my Desktop out of the office and put it in the garage. (By the way if your spouse requires a computer in the garage please tell me so I won't feel so alone in this)

So until I can find the software for my camera and photoshop, I can't download my pictures. At least not until I get the Desktop back in the office. Hubs solution is easy, lets buy another computer and he can keep the Desktop in the garage. I don't want to buy another computer. I want to be normal and not have to have a computer in the garage. But I'm not normal and I'm still not able to download pictures or music just yet. I guess I better find that software quick and put it on the laptop. Then I will feel normal again.