Photo Hunters

This weeks theme is practical. It took me a while to think of something that is practical to me in my everyday life. I finally decided on what to chose while I was brushing my daughters hair. She has long hair and for her and me it is very practical to keep it in braids or ponytails as long as it is pulled back. Here's a picture of her with her hair down and long (kind of like Rapunzel I think).




Now here is a much more practical hair style for a very busy little girl. Now I know I am totally biased here but I think she looks lovely either way.

But if your looking for something a bit more masculine than talks of practical hair styles then perhaps this next picture will interest you. It is a picture of the "Jaws of Life" tool that will cut you free from a crushed car if you should ever have the need. Very practical indeed. Although I really was expecting some much larger than this. I mean you hear so much about them I truly thought they would be bigger.
Regardless, there is nothing like a big macho tool like that to make the men feel better about having to look at my daughter's golden locks. Hope you like my take on this weeks practical theme.

For other Photo Hunters visit TNChick.com or click PhotoHunt

Eat More Beans!

I had this talk with K. this morning driving in the car.

K: Mom, your not strong enough to carry me upside down anymore like daddy.

Me: K. your getting so big that I can't carry you for that long upside down. Your right, daddy is much stronger.

K: Yep, daddy is stronger. He eats all his beans. You need to eat all your beans to if you want to be big and strong like daddy and carry me upside down.

What should you be for Halloween?

I found this cute quiz about what I should be for Halloween. Not quite sure how I ended up as this but I guess there could be worse things out there.

Your Halloween Costume Should Be

Elvis

What Should You Be For Halloween?

The New Math

My husband is ready to retire. No, I really mean it. My husband who isn't quite forty is ready to retire. The only problem of course is money. So we have been reviewing all the things we are going to have to do in order for my husband to retire at his dream age of 55. We really aren't doing to bad considering I have been out of the work force for about five of the last seven years and haven't really been able to contribute much financially to our retirement plans. But we are still way off from where we need to be in order for us to reach his goal. And while neither of us are big spenders and aren't the type that have to "have stuff" to be happy, we do spend money on the things we like to do.

But last night my husband took the cake with his latest ways in thinking about big purchases. He has been saving up for a mill for a while now and has finally reached his goal. He went online only to find out that the mill he really wants is now on sale so he can even save a couple hundred dollars. Now to me that would have just been the icing on the cake. But since my husband had just finished reviewing where we need to be in twenty years he wasn't as excited as I expected. He stopped for a minute and went to punch in some numbers on the computer. Then he came back and told me that if he invested his money into our investments instead of buying the mill then by the time he was ready to retire he would have about $50,000 more towards our retirement goals.

So now he's wondering if this mill he has been saving up for is worth the fifty thousand it could cost us in the long term. And while I can see his point I am a bit frustrated. So I had to remind him that he's been saving up for this for a long time and he'll need to have something to keep him happy and entertained while we sit home for the next fifteen years and save money for retirement. And that it's okay for him to buy something big like that every now and then. But as to whether he can now get past that new price tag he has in his head, I really don't know. I hope he does. He works way to hard now not to have a few things to enjoy in his life now.

Wordless Wednesday

Hoss and K. share the same ambition for when they grow up. Can you guess what it is?















For other Wordless Wednesdays click here.

A Pink Truck

K. has decided that she wants a pink truck. She is getting pretty darn adamant about it also. Not just any pink truck, she wants one of those big Power Wheels pink trucks that she can drive around outside with. She has been asking me for weeks now and I keep telling her no since they cost to much money and since Hoss has a truck that she can drive around. The only thing is that Hoss's truck isn't pink it's burgundy. So that means that it's not the right color.

She is now telling me that she will just have to ask Santa for one since it cost mommy and daddy to much money. (She is so considerate in thinking that way isn't she). So I have switched tactics telling her that we really don't have the space in the garage for another big truck like that to fit. She just smiles sweetly and says don't worry mommy, it will fit as long as you keep your van outside. She is now telling any one and everyone who will listen that she is going to get a pink truck from Santa...and it's only October. I have even stooped to showing her all the commercials for toys on TV as they gear up for the holidays. I'll try and convince her that this toy would be so much more fun for her than a truck but she just smiles sweetly and says she wants her very own pink truck to drive.

Truly, I knew we were going to have issues with who gets to drive what car and when but I really wasn't expecting it to happen while the kids were still in grade school. Instead now we are having issues of who gets to drive what Power Wheels and when and who gets to use the battery that is fully charged. These toys that give my kids so many hours of fun are truly starting to wear me out. As for whether or not she will get a new Pink Truck, I really don't know. I don't want to give up the extra space but once she starts to work on daddy, who knows what he will come home with. He is so easily swayed by his girls.

What a Weekend

I had a wonderful weekend. I was blessed enough to be able to go and spend three and half days with a wonderful bunch of women from my church community at an ACTS retreat. The time spent there refreshed me both mentally and spiritually. Once again I was reminded of the love that our Lord has for us.

I wish I could say that my husband had as blessed a weekend as I did. But poor thing, his weekend was much more difficult for him. My children did not really cooperate for him and proved extremely difficult for him. But by late last night he was looking a lot better than when I first saw him.


For I know the plans I have made for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a future full of hope. Jer. 29:11

Wordless Wednesday

Another Crazy Week

It's another busy week. With my family in town we are busy running around. I am also going on a church retreat this weekend so will be gone later this week. So I am trying to prepare for that as well. Hopefully next week will be a bit more settled and I can get back to the business of blogging.

Photo Hunters

This weeks theme is curvy.

I immediately thought of all the curvy paths that are around our home. But instead I decided to go ahead and go with my second impulse. And that was the art of glass blowing. I received my favorite vase from a dear friend of mine while we were living in Finland and I treasure it more because of that. It is an Aalto free form wave vase. I find it's style very unusual but very appealing to me. For more on the history of this vase click here.



After looking at the delicate curve of the glass I was reminded of another curve made of much stronger material and one which I am so thankful to have available if the need ever arose. It's the spray hose nozzle from the top of a firetruck that my children and I climbed all over and explored last week. Not quite as delicate as the vase but still amazing at how they can curve metal/steel like that and still have it be functional under extreme use.

So that's my take on this week's theme. For other participants views click PhotoHunt


or visit TNCHICK.com

Happy Birthday Hoss!

Hoss celebrated his fifth birthday yesterday. It's hard to believe that he is five already. He's quite proud to be five since that now means he is an entire hand of fingers. We just had the small family celebration yesterday but he enjoyed all the cupcakes he had at school along with the birthday cake he had at home. Meanwhile all the rest of the kids are completely on board with anyone having a birthday since it usually means two pieces of cake instead of the normal one they are allowed. (Since most the time all they do is lick the icing off anyway, it's a great way to get the cake out of the house). I guess I should just serve a spoonful of icing and call it cake, I really don't know if they would notice the difference or even care.

A Day at the Vet

I have finally won the battle. The battle I am talking about is getting our dog Gigi spayed. My poor husband has been begging to breed her since the day we got her. I always pleaded off saying that there was no way that I can handle having puppies along with the four kids. And then to deal with the kids heartbreak when the puppies would go to new homes. It just wasn't something that I wanted to do. So I have finally convinced him to go ahead and get it done. So I wasted no time at all and scheduled her appointment for the first available one.

So Gigi is at the vets today and we will pick her up tomorrow. I now no longer have to worry about her getting out of the yard while she is in heat. I don't have to deal with doggie diapers on top of the baby diapers and the male dogs in our neighborhood will hopefully stop howling around the times she was in heat. My poor husband is still a little sad but I think he'll manage just fine. After all he is now a responsible pet owner.

A Week out of Whack

It's going to be an out of whack week around here. My dear hubs is off this week. So just by the fact that he is here and we can do things means that my normal schedule is off. Add to it, that Hoss celebrates his 5th birthday on Wed. and that just adds to the unusual schedule. So since we have been out and about today, none of my usual things have gotten done. So now I'm off to play catch up.

Photo Hunters- Original

This weeks theme is original.

Since I'm trying to be original this week it was a little harder to come up with something. What I finally decided on was my husband's beer can collection. His collection is on proud display in the back shelf of our very dark closet.

Here are two JR Ewing (from the TV show Dallas) beer cans. They are filled with the original beer and still have the original pull tabs on them.
Here are some more original beer cans from his collection but most of these no longer have the original beer or pull tabs on them.


For other participants in this weeks Photo Hunt visit TNCHICK.com

Or Click this link PhotoHunt

Middle Name Meme

Nicole tagged me with this one.

So. The rules:
1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
2. Players - You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don't have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
3.At the end of your post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.


A- I think that I am a bit adventurous. I'm always willing to try something new at least once.

N- Sometimes people think that I am a bit to Nosy. I just really like hearing about all the things going on.

N- I hope my children think that I am nurturing. At least that's what I'm trying for most days.

E- My kids wake up at the crack of dawn, which makes me an early bird. Completely against my choice by the way. I'd much rather sleep in.

I am going to tag Kim and anyone else who wants to do this meme. (I know, I know I broke rule #3). Just let me know if you do it so I can check out your answers.

The Newest Who in Who-ville

Poor Gigi

Poor Gigi, She just can't do anything right with me. I now have a new way my Boxer annoys me. It's not the fact that she is huge and not really anything like the kind of dog that I really wanted (i.e. she isn't a toy). It's not the fact that the dog for whatever reason insists on drinking gallons of water at one time only to turn around and throw it all up just five minutes later. Sometimes even on me. Or that she will just sit there and whine at you until you play with her. It's not even the fact that the dog wakes me up by licking my face in the morning. Although these things really do annoy me.

No, the new reason for me to not like my dog is that she has now brought fleas into my home. It really isn't her fault, I do know this. I haven't been consistent on keeping her Advantix on her this summer. But when my neighbor told me about five days ago that they had just found fleas I knew it would be only a matter of days until they would invade our yard and thus get on our dog and then make their nasty ways into my house. So I did put the Advantix on Gigi and I have been watching and waiting. And sure enough, she didn't disappoint me. She has been scratching just a bit to much.

So I gave her a pretend belly scratch while I was really looking for fleas. She however didn't know this and thought she had won the belly rub lottery or something.

Once I found the first little booger, her poor belly scratching lottery ended. And outside she went while I figured out how to get rid of them.

I called the vet first and found out I can spend five dollars on a 24 hour pill that will kill all the fleas on her. Then I called the exterminator and they will come out and blast the outside and inside of the home. Meanwhile, Hoss just thought he would try and sweep the pesky fleas off of Gigi. But sadly it didn't help to do anything except get Gigi all excited to play.

So now that just leaves me to vacuum the furniture and shampoo the area rugs like a mad woman. And hopefully in the process my poor Gigi will feel better to. Because let's face it, she is living with those nasty things on her.

Where are they now

My husband and I were talking the other day about our college years. Neither of us had talked to our roommates recently and we were wondering how they were doing and what was going on in their lives. Well it was only a few days later that I got a call from my roommate Jennifer telling me that she was getting married. Naturally I was super excited for her. But then she went on to tell me that they were having a bridal shower only 45 minutes away and would I want to come. Now since I hadn't seen her in about eight years I jumped at the chance.

So the evening of the shower when we finally got a chance to sit down and start to visit we naturally went down memory lane. Here's a picture of Jenn and me. (I'm in the white shirt)


There were three of us there catching up that night. Me, Jennifer and Lanie who was her sister, but with us alot of times. It was at this time that we were laughing so hard my sides hurt and Jenn's poor fiance was just sitting there listening to some of the stories being told in disbelief. Because what one of us had forgotten the others were there to remind us of. I have to admit to completely forgetting all about the shutting down of three dorms worth of study halls during finals because of a shadow strip tease. But once they reminded me of this it all came back in an instant.

We then got to talking about how different our paths have taken us from where we used to be. Now I am a stay at home mom to four children. No one knowing me then would ever believe this of me now. Lanie is now a principal at a Catholic School here in Texas. Even her family is confused at times of how she ended up there. And Jennifer is working in at law firm and finally getting married and ready to start her family. So now here is a picture of where we are now. Here's me, Lanie and Jennifer and if you look closely you will still see some empty beer bottles and glasses of wine around us. I guess we haven't changed all that much after all.


As for Mike, her fiance, I bet he is wondering what other things we got up to in our good ol' college days.

Passing the Torch

My sweet friend Kim recently awarded me with the Nice Matters award. I've known Kim for a while now and I think she is a great lady also. She is always so strong in her beliefs and always faces new challenges head on. So now it is time for me to pass it on to someone else. Now I am faced with the same dilemma that my friend Nan had. It seems like everyone has already received this award. So she made a few changes to her button to make it look different.

So I am hoping that even if you have received this award in the past that you may still be excited to be told that I think your nice and yes it does still matter. So I would like to pass this on to two great women.

First I'll start with Lauren over at Baseballs and Bows. She is always so positive in her posts and all the comments that she leaves for everyone. She just seems to me like a super nice gal and I really enjoy her blog. So I hope this will brighten her day just a bit.

Second is my friend in "real" life Nicole over at 4andcounting. I guess I am a little biased because I know she truly is nice in person as well as on her blog. I consider her a true friend and I also hope this will make her smile a bit today.

So even if both you ladies have received this before I hope you will still enjoy getting it again.

Just for the Record

My pain in my neck for all eternity big brother emailed me the other day. And while that isn't really all that surprising since I do hear from him on a pretty regular basis, this email was different. This was not because my pain my my neck for all eternity brother actually spelled everything correctly for a change. No this was because my pain in the neck for all eternity brother had read my blog for the very first time. And although he was very kind in his words about how cool he thought the blog was, he had a few other comments about some of the content on it.

In particular, he had issue about my post where I was contemplating getting a maid service twice a month. For whatever reason he seems to think that my house was never spotless at anytime when I had only one child. And now that I have four, well let's just say I could hear him laughing from 750 miles away. That dumb ol' pain in my neck for all eternity brother of mine. Naturally, I had to correct my brother's incorrect assumption that my house was ever spotless after I had one child. So I set about thinking of how I could prove it to him. Then I realized I couldn't. My pain in my neck for all eternity brother of mine was... gulp...right.

Now since I am his pesky little sister I can't have this. So I went ahead and emailed him back that yes he was right my house probably wasn't so spotless when he came to visit me when I only had my oldest child Z. But then I had to point out that he never came to visit our house between the time that I had Hoss and K. So what does this mean exactly, well it means that for all he knows (and let's face it what big brother ever really knows more than a little sister) my house was spotless. He was never there to prove it otherwise. So there! How's that my pain in my neck for all eternity big brother. I have admitted to my few readers that yes my house wasn't spotless when I had only one child. But since you were never in my home until after K. was born that gives me at least two years of a pretty clean house if I do say so myself.

Yeeeessss, the pesky little sister wins again!!!

Photo Hunters

This weeks theme is paper. After a week of looking for paper all around me, I am surprised by how it's everywhere. From the piles of school work to the phone book.

But to my children nothing reminds them more of their Pappy then reading the newspaper. This is because when he goes to get the paper he always stops and buys donuts for them. This past weekend poor Pappy had to put the paper away to read for another time since he had way to much help "reading the paper" and drinking coffee.


The kids always get excited when they see the next type of paper come out to be used. The paper baking cups always mean there is something good on the way and they can hardly wait for them to come out of the oven. These cinnamon muffins were a huge hit and didn't last long.


For other participants take on this weeks theme visit TNCHICK.com

Or Click this link PhotoHunt

And the Battle Rages on...and other random things

We are still fighting the battle of germs in our home right now. With half of us on medicine hopefully we will soon be healthy again. But Hoss is home from school again today so no telling how long it will last.

Last night at football practice the 4-5 year old flag football coach finally crossed the line. He is a habitual jerk toward other parents and even the kids on other teams that are practicing close to him. But last night he kept on throwing football passes that no 4 year old could catch and in process hit several different parents, this was because it was to much for him to ask them to please move. One mom who isn't exactly the forgiving type said hit me again and I'll call the police. Which she did the next time he threw a football at her. Truly what a waste. The police came out and eventually everyone moved around so no one would be hit by footballs anymore. Just makes me wonder why we have such fine examples of good sportsmanship teaching our youngest players. Yes, I'm very frustrated by such immature actions on everyone's part.

My poor children don't know why mom has turned so mean on them lately. I have finally stopped buying so much of the "junk" that they love to eat. You would think that I am torturing them or something. The thought of eating anything not processed is freaking them out. On my part, I think I have finally watched one to many programs on what all these processed foods is doing to us. Whether this will last, I can't tell you. But, it has been alot of fun trying to explain to them why the new peanut butter has all this oil floating on top of it. It's all fine and good until I try to drink a diet coke only to have them run up to me saying no mommy that's poison. Some "poisons" are harder for mom to give up I guess.

So that's it for my randomness of this post and thanks for staying awake this long if you have. Hope you have a happy weekend.

Our first taste of Fall

We are experiencing one of our first tastes of fall in our household. Only this isn't in regards to the weather. We have our first fall illness. After only a brief week and a half in school, Hoss has come down with Strep Throat. I am valiantly fighting the battle of it spreading to the other members of the family. So far it appears that I may be winning the battle. But since we are a family of six, I would not be surprised for at least one other person to come down with it. At least now Hoss is no longer contagious and is feeling much better. I never used to be such a germophobic (is that really a word) but the thought of having everyone sick at the same time will turn me into one in an instant. As for me and my home, we all smell like Lysol. But as long as no one else gets sick than I will tolerate this medicinal smell throughout the house for as long as it takes. As for Hoss, he is milking it for as many popsicles as he can get.

Photo Hunters

This weeks photo hunt theme is plastic.

I saw all sorts of plastic at the homecoming parade they had this week for one of the local schools. I saw some cool and colorful plastic masks on along with lots of plastic flowers on some floats.



I also saw some very big inflatable plastic looking pink flamingos.



But by far my favorite shot of something plastic was when my youngest found a plastic tub and began playing with it.


I really don't know why we bother buying toys when it's the everyday normal stuff that keeps them so entertained.

For other participants pictures just visit TNCHICK.com or click this link

PhotoHunt

Grandparents Day

It is Grandparents Day at my son's school today. And by some very fortunate timing my parents were actually planning to visit. As a result they were lucky enough to go buy my son a special lunch and go meet him in his classroom for lunch. Z. was very excited about this and understandably so. My dad had been very sick over the summer and no one was sure he would even pull through, including the doctors. But here we are two months later and he is well enough to travel here for a visit and attend Grandparents Day.

Once they arrived at the school they were directed to the right room. And every child in my son's class had at least one grandparent by them except for one. He was a new boy to the area since he just moved here from Albuquerque and so didn't have any real close friends to sit with so off he went and sat down by himself. Now with a room full of grandparents doting on their grandchildren I am sure he felt left out and was wishing he had his own grandparents with him. But since there was a room full of grandparents you can bet that little boy didn't sit there on his own for long. I heard he had offers from around five sets of grandparents to join them which he happily did. Only a few minutes later he ditched the new "adoptive" grandparents in favor of his very own grandmother who was just late. So everyone was very happy at how the situation turned out.

But this gets me to thinking of all the children who can't have grandparents there on these days. My son has only had grandparents there twice, so many times he is the one left alone only to be "adopted" by someone else's grandparents. Some of his previous teacher's have invited their own retired parents to act as "adoptive" grandparents and then no one is left out. While I love the fact that Grandparents Day is being celebrated I know it has to be hard for some of the children who have lost their grandparents or who live to far from them to be able to attend. I guess in the future I will have to take it a bit more seriously for my children instead of just thinking they'll get over it. It just gives them one more special memory to have with their grandparents.

It's Not Easy Being Green

Sometimes it's just not easy being green. Just ask Kermit the frog, he'll tell you all about it. But really I have encountered a lot of green creatures this week and it's because of their bright colors that I spotted them right away.

This green thing is... I don't know a green leaf bug I guess. It appeared in our garage the other night and showed up quite well against the white background. It really needs to work on it's camouflaging skills I think. He seemed pretty freaked out to see me and my camera getting so close but when your this pretty shade what can you expect.




The other green thing that's crossed my path this week is this huge Slider turtle. At least that is what I was told it was. He had a pretty green shell (not as pretty as the green leaf bug, but don't tell him that). Unfortunately it looked like he had been run over by a lawn mower, but his shell was beginning to heal. The kids and I packed him into a box and released him back in the pond at the park.



The ungrateful thing didn't even give us a simple thanks for freeing him from the neighborhood kids attention. Nope not for him he just hissed and snapped at us. Some turtles are all about attitude I guess. I mean I completely understand it not being easy being green and all but if you were a bit nicer than maybe you'd feel better.

I guess it's a good thing the mean green turtle, who was having a bad day, didn't see the pretty green leaf bug. If he had, he just may have eaten him for dinner.

Marshmellows?

Sometimes even I am confused by what it is my kids are telling me. Let's see if you can figure this one out.

Hoss: Mom, come quick and see all the marshmellows we have growing in our backyard.

Me: Marshmellows?

Hoss: Yes, marshmellows. Come quick and see them. I squished them all over.

So what do I find when I get out to the backyard? Instead of a bunch of squished marshmellows I find a bunch of squished mushrooms. Marshmellows, mushrooms it's all the same thing isn't it.

In Rememberance

Stopping to Pick the Flowers

Some days are just meant to pick flowers. For A. this is obviously one of those days. She was just fascinated by the flowers that she has seen a hundred times already and decided that today was the day to examine them a bit more closely. She stood screaming at the door until I let her out. She starts off innocently enough just looking but before long the desire to touch is to much. You can just hear her thinking " I really must learn more about this little flower."



Soon she is touching and feeling and learning all she can about this little yellow flower. Her intense observation of the flower is obvious, she won't be distracted. Even the silly dog jumping all around isn't distracting her from her study of this flower. Maybe these study habits will carry on into her high school years and she will be a straight A student. I can hope right.



When she is finally done with her little flower study, she seemed quite happy to finally agree to come on back inside. Almost as if she is saying "There now, I have learned all I can from this little flower and it's time to move on."

Photo Hunters

PhotoHunt

I found a new thing to do with all these photos I have been taking. I am going to start posting pictures to go along with that weeks theme. It should be fun.

This weeks theme is Music:

I love the sound of Fall, it is music to my ears. And to me nothing says fall like football. So here are some pictures of my oldest son playing football.



Just imagine the sounds of the pads smashing against each other along with the whistle blowing. This is music to my ears.

Sad but true..

It's truly a sad thing to admit, but I really don't clean as much as I used to. This is simply because it's to hard to keep up with the house as well as spending the time I want to with my children. When I only had two children I had a spotless house. When my third child was born, my house first began to suffer. Now that I have four children I am lucky if I can keep up with my goal of a deep weekly cleaning. Sometimes it is almost two weeks before I can truly clean it the way it needs to be done and not just a quick spot cleaning. I've struggled with this since I truly hate having a dirty home. But I have four busy kids and a husband who just doesn't notice the mud on his shoes, anymore than the dog notices it on her paws. So when I finally get the house clean, in invariable gets messy again within an hour.

So I have finally decided to bite the bullet and see about getting estimates on having someone come in at least twice a month to clean. How sad is that, I am a stay at home mom who is getting quotes for a house cleaner? I would just rather spend my time with my children doing something else and my husband agrees. To add to the fact that if it does get messy again right away, I won't take it as a personal affront, since most times it won't be me doing the actual cleaning. I must confess that I grew up with a house cleaner so I never really appreciated all the work that goes into keeping the house clean, but I do now. But since I still have no one but me to clean then, I guess I will have to tackle my most despised chore of all...dusting...all on my own. Or I could continue on the path that I have been on and pretend the dust isn't there and go play with my son. Guess which one I choose? Yes, you guessed right, my furniture shall remain dusty for another day.

Forms and Artwork

I am filling out lots of forms today. They are from Hoss's Pre-K teacher. She wants to know all about my Hoss and what I expect from her this year. So naturally I am trying to figure out how to write about how special my son is and how wonderful I think he is. I am trying to fit all this information into a small space of about an inch in length. Which makes me wonder if that is intentionally done. Because if she gave us mom's more space to write about what our children our like, we would fill it up. We'd fill it up with all that is good about our children and conveniently forget to put any of the their faults which drive us so crazy. Because if we did that, then we would be putting a preconceived idea into their heads and then that would probably affect the way they treat our sweet babies. Isn't it better to pretend that our angels are always perfect until we get that first note home from the teacher saying they need to work on staying in their seats and not talking so much. Because let's face it, we mom's are hopeful that all that teaching we have been doing at home for the last four plus years will show itself in how they behave at school. So instead of writing in small illegible letters, I am using self control and not going on about every sweet aspect of my son, instead I am hoping she will discover some of these small treasures on her own and that they will brighten her day the way they do mine.

Now during this struggle with words, Hoss has been completing his first homework assignment of the year. To decorate a plain boy using any means possible so that it can be hung on the wall in the classroom. So armed with markers and glitter, Hoss has completed his first assignment. And I must say I am impressed, I didn't think it was possible for a single piece of paper to hold so much glue and glitter without falling apart. As to whether Mrs. Robyn will be able to make out the true intentions of my son's artwork, I can't say. All I know is that he is extremely proud of his glob of gluey glitter and I won't have any problems identifying his artwork once it's hanging up.

Dr. Jekyll and Mrs. Hyde

I have a bully in the house. I'm really quite surprised by this for some reason. The bully in question is Baby A. my seventeen month old. She baffles me. How did I get through the other three kids without a biter or a hair puller or a head banger. She truly throws some of the most spectacular tantrums I have ever seen. I am so bothered by her bullying tactics that at her last check up I even asked the doctor for suggestions. He put most of it down to her age but did say once she was eighteen months we could effectively start using time outs. Oh is it going to be a long month. Poor K has lost countless handfuls of hair and both boys have been bitten by her. She's even biting the dog for goodness sake. Yuck! She can turn a calm and quiet room upside down in no time and laugh at the results. She is the youngest of four and I really think for her she just wants to be a part of the action. Any action, and if there isn't any then she will just create some of her own.

But don't think she doesn't have her good qualities to. She is the best kiss giver of the bunch. She will immediately come back and give kisses to anyone hurt and pat them on the back. Whether she feels true remorse, I have no idea. She just copies whatever it is that I am doing Oh the joys of having a dual personality at seventeen months. I really am looking forward to this phase passing and soon. In the meantime, I have to give my older kids a huge award for being so patient with her during all the hair pulling and biting.

Just Testing It Out

Okay, some stories are just to good to keep to myself. So let me make your day a little bit better.

The other day my husband had to run to Lowe's to buy a new seal for our bathroom sink. He decided to take Hoss and K. with him to give me a little quiet time. After he found the seal he needed he was getting ready to leave and turned to get K. who had just been right next to him the entire time. Naturally she wasn't there so he looked down the aisle a little further and saw her. She was sitting as proud as can be on one of the toilet displays. Not only that, her shorts were down around her ankles. So he runs down to get her and gets her pants back up and thankfully notices that no one was around. And in case your wondering no she hadn't "gone potty" yet. Thinking that she must desperately need to go to the bathroom he asks her if she needs to go and what on earth was she doing on the toilet display? K. simply looks like him like he is dumber than dirt and says "Daddy, I was just testing it out". How can you argue with logic like that. And since dad is dad and not a mom, he left that store as fast as he possibly could before getting the rest of the things he needed.

Summer Soap Celebration

Nan over at Life is Like a Lunchbox is hosting a Summer Soap Celebration so head on over to check it all out.

Last days of summer

I've been MIA the last few days since I really wanted to spend a few more moments in the sun with my kids. So after a few days at the pool, hitting the batting cages, reading and just doing alot of fun family time the school year officially began today. Z. was very excited to be seeing his friends today and rode off with the neighbor boys on bikes a little earlier than was truly necessary. But that's okay, as long as he is excited about school than I am happy.

You would think that by our early start to the day I would have made it to my nine o'clock appointment on time. But that was not to happen (this is me after all). After getting the three remaining kids fed, dressed and buckled we started off already twenty minutes late. Toss in the Dallas traffic and the fact that I'd never been to this office before and you can tack on another twenty minutes. But not to be outdone, Hoss got carsick and so I was then stuck wondering where I can exit if his nausea actually gets the best of him. We finally arrived at my meeting (that sounds so official but it was really wasn't) and I am frazzled. Thank goodness that it was a for a study of scripture and Pope John Paul II encyclicals so it was well worth the struggles of getting there. So once again I am reminded of God's love for us. So no matter how frustrating my day may start off I can always redeem it by a few minutes spent in prayer and quiet reflection.

Now on to another topic altogether, I just finished reading an excellent book by Kim Edwards called "The Memory Keeper's Daughter". It's about a Dr. who delivers his own twins in the 1960's and discovers that one of them has Down Syndrome. He chooses to tell his wife that the baby died at birth and send her off to a home. However the nurse who was supposed to deliver the baby to the home can't do it and ends up raising her instead. This book just grabbed me and I had a hard time putting it down. It's not an easy topic but still well worth the heartache that it may cause you to feel at moments.

Conflicting emotions

My son Z. had this to say in the car this afternoon. It pretty much sums up my feelings as well as his.

Z- Hurry up school and begin. Slow down summer so I can still enjoy you.

When I asked him why he felt this way he just replied that he missed school and was ready to get back to it. Also, he was a bit bored and wanted to see his friends. But he isn't quite ready to give up all that summer means for him (i.e. swimming, hanging out with his neighborhood friends, staying up way to late, lots of extra video game time).

I am with him, I am ready for school to begin so I can get back into a routine of sorts but I'm really going to miss having him around all the time. He really is a neat kid and I have really enjoyed all the extra time I have with him during the summer. So it looks like we both have conflicting emotions, like so many other families this time of year.

I'm in love

I'm in love. (In a totally fictional sort of way) My husband is aware of this and is quite understanding about it. You see he can completely understand why. I totally love Jason Bourne. He rocks. (Jason that is, although my husband rocks to) If I had to be chased by super bad evil people who wouldn't hesitate to shoot me, then I want him to be my friend. He is after all the best at what he does and that's what I like. And contrary to what you may think, Matt Damon is just the pretty package that Jason comes in. Don't get me wrong, I love pretty packages and he is definitely one, but it is still Jason that I adore.

As you can tell, I'm still pretty excited days after seeing the new movie. If you get the chance to go see this movie in the theater then please do it. We went out for a night without kids and the place was packed. So packed that there were no seats left in the theater except for the very front row. And since we were out on a kid free date I celebrated by spilling my drink all over my husband. Apparently I can't handle a movie without at least one mess. But anyway the action was almost immediate and I loved the way they combined the info from the Bourne Supremacy to the new movie. And I really want Julia Stiles hair in this movie, I have completely given my self up to highlight envy. I wonder how much it would cost me to have hair like hers. But back to the movie, it was great and definitely left me wanting more. So unless your still confused, go see this movie as soon as you can. It is well worth the price of a ticket. Just don't get so excited about seeing Jason that you spill your drink on your partner. That may take away from the moment and then you will end up missing some of it.

Movies, Movies and more movies

As I mentioned the other day, I went crazy at the video store the other day. Both my husband and I love to watch movies. Since we still have young children we don't get to the movie theaters like we used to. Sadly we don't even get to the video rental store that often anymore. This is due to fact that the kids are up later than they used to be. We are at different activities in the evenings and by the time we get the kids to bed we are to tired to start a two hour movie. Our children are also not great at letting us watch a movie with them awake since they are entirely to noisy for us to hear anything else going on.

So back to the other day when I was at Blockbuster's, somehow I walked out of there with I think eight movies. At least half of them were for the kids so I don't count them. Even though I should since I watch them a million times it feels like. But that left four movies for us to watch after the kids went to bed. So here are my official movie reviews, for what they are worth. We both liked Music and Lyrics okay, it wasn't great and it was very predictable but just seeing Hugh Grant doing an eighties pop video and singing was riot. The Good Year with Russell Crowe was a sloooowwww movie. Again I thought it was okay and would probably watch it again if nothing else was on. My husband said he would watch it again without sticking a needle in his eye only if it was up against Under the Tuscan Sun (one of my favorites which he just doesn't understand). We both agreed that the best one so far was last's nights showing of The Devil Wears Prada. Glenn Close is great in this role and we both liked it alot. She is such a good "mean" character. Even though it dealt with fashion, and my husband is a fashionless kind of guy he still enjoyed it and would watch it again. That leaves us with one more movie Miss Congeniality 2, which is an old one but we still haven't seen it. I'll have to wait to watch this one this weekend so can't tell you what I think of it yet. But I have heard it's good so we will see.

But since we have been on a movie kick this week, we are going to top it off by going to see the new Bourne Ultimatum movie. We have the kids signed up for a Kids Fun night at a church. Then we will go see a current movie, in a real movie theater with stadium seating. We will have real movie popcorn with real greasy movie popcorn butter and drink lots of coke. I can hardly wait. I just love Matt Damon and his Jason Bourne character. And the fact that it's the second date in a week with just my husband and I is totally cool. Almost as cool as Matt Damon.

Random Things

It's been a crazy week so far, full of out of the ordinary things. We have had the pleasure of watching my neighbors two boys for a few days the last week or so. The oldest is my son Z.'s BFF (if boys at least admit to having a best friend forever). The younger son is closer to Hoss's age so they usually have a good time. Now this younger son was affectionately called BAM BAM as a baby and toddler. And although he is now six I think it is still provokes the appropriate reaction in regards to his behaviour. I'm surprised that my four children have not done or thought up what BAM BAM has been able to come up with in five short hours. But thankfully everything has been restored to order until his next visit, I can only hope that my supply of patience is restored as well. And my poor dog (never thought I'd ever actually utter that phrase) can go back to being a dog instead of being treated as a means of transportation. Granted she is as big as a horse but I don't think she likes being ridden like one.

We have also had two of our close neighbors move out of their houses. One I am sorry to see go but really didn't get a chance to say bye to properly. The other is more of my husband's buddy but is great friend to me and the kids as well. I know we will still be hearing from him and seeing him on a regular basis despite his moving out of state. He is actually renting his house to my neighbor's mom for a while so we at least already know one of the new neighbors.

Z. is in full football mode. He received his jersey yesterday and I must admit that seeing his name on the back of it is way cool. Must still be some of that old high school girl in me yet. I had a lot of friends and boy friends that were football players in my youth so it brought back lots of fun memories for me. When I asked my husband his thoughts on it, his response was "Never thought I would see my last name on a football jersey in a million years." Spoken like the true band geek that he was. How the two of us ever ended up together, I still wonder. I have repeatedly told him it was a good thing we never met in high school or I would never had dated you. He takes it good naturedly and just says he would never had dated me either. Anyways, Z. is loving it and that is all that matters. That and I get to go to football games again.

And to top of our out of the ordinary week, we have rented a lot of videos to watch. Which we never do since we never get to watch TV that much, and have been staying up way to late watching them. So that being said I am off to watch a new one.

Defending the Caveman

Have any of you seen this one man show called Defending the Caveman? It's been a hit running on Broadway for years. Anyway, my husband surprised me by getting tickets and arranging to go out with some friends. Totally surprised me. Normally I have to talk him into to doing these things so I was completely physched. As for the show itself, it goes into details about the difference between men and woman and how we communicate. It was amazing how accurate it was on so many different levels. But for us it was nothing but hysterical, we laughed for almost the entire two hours. I had heard of this show before but didn't really think much of it but if you ever get the chance to see it, then jump on it. Afterwards we went out to eat at a restaurant without any kids menu and ate our food while it was still hot. So for us it was a great afternoon of fun with friends and laughter. I just love it when we get grown up time alone or with our friends.

Look at me!

Hey mom...look at me! This is a phrase that I hear hundreds of times during the day. It may come in different variations of hey look what I did, look what I can do or just a simple hey check this out. But for all four of my kids it's a cry for some of my attention and validation for whatever new achievement they have accomplished. I hear this so many times in a day that some days I just really want to tell them that I am just to tired of looking at every little thing.

When we went to Six Flags last week I heard this exclaimed over and over again. But along with the normal cry for attention they were also begging me to "Take a picture". Something that I readily did as long as it didn't involve me actually being on a roller coaster ride with them.

Anyways here are a few of my favorite "Look at me moments".

Here is Hoss driving the bumper cars and feeling quite proud to have just knocked into somebody only to have the favor returned.


Not to be outdone, A. really enjoyed the carousal ride where she held on all by herself and laughed anytime she went up. All the kids enjoyed it since it was one of the few rides running during the rain storm at the time but A. really liked it the most.

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In between all the roller coasters he kept going on, Z. would humor the younger ones by going on some of the "easy" rides. He really is such a camera ham.


This one was a favorite of both K. and Hoss. I guess it takes a child to find the fun and enjoyment in being bounced around by a giant cowboy boot in a circle. But since it was close to a big roller coaster, they got to ride this a few times while Z. went on whatever scary ride he talked his dad into that day.


If I had to pick a favorite it would definitely be the old fashioned car drive. I really like being driven around by the kids for a change. But on this day I missed out on my ride and dad took it instead. He seemed to enjoy it just as much as I normally do and Hoss was nothing but sheer concentration when it came to him being a chauffeur.


It was just a fun day for everyone involved and we are already looking forward to the next time we go back.

Hot Summer Days

We have officially entered into what I truly consider the dog days of summer. The only time we really get outside to play is in the morning or late afternoon when it starts to cool down. Unless we are sitting by a pool we tend to be indoor during the heat of the day. But even though we are not out in the worst of it, the heat still slows down the kids a bit. At which point they beg me for their favorite cool down treat. Popsicles.

Depending on what kind of Popsicle they are having they can end up with any where from one big Popsicle or even three or four small ones just for the sake of keeping cool. It's really funny how they can all enter their own special zone while enjoying their Popsicle. And you better not talk to them or get them to participate in anything major during the consumption of said Popsicle because your just wasting your time.

Z. had a certain focus while enjoying his Popsicle. His main objective is to try and get it as pointy as possible without it breaking off. He is quite adept at making a shank out of a Popsicle that any inmate in any prison would be proud of.





Hoss is my true popsicle connoisseur. He will gladly turn down ice cream in favor of these any day. Times like this I really wonder if he is of my own flesh and blood since I adore ice cream. For him it's all about Popsicle's and the quiet serentity that they bring to him.



A. loves hers as well but I think it's because she is finally big girl enough to eat it on her own without mom having to help.




Which now leaves me to examine how K. slurps her Popsicle. I really don't know how much she enjoys it since she always seems to be in a catatonic state while she is eating them, but I have never known her to refuse one yet. So I guess she likes them, since they help her get to her happy place.



Now how do I enjoy my Popsicle your wondering. I like to do a little of all of the above depending on my mood. But whichever way I choose I am always the first one done so obviously I don't savor my Popsicle in the same manner as my children. Something I guess I should work on.

The Jesus One

Nicole at 4andcounting tagged me for the Jesus meme. I'm supposed to list 5 things I love about Jesus and then tag 5 people.

1. Jesus is loving. Regardless of all the bad or negative things we have done, He still loves us.

2. Jesus is compassionate. He never runs out of compassion and love for his children. Even towards the weakest and those considered unworthy by others, He always showed compassion to his children.

3. Jesus knows your heart. He knows what we are feeling in our most innermost thoughts. And He accepts us and loves us regardless.

4. Jesus was a teacher and example. He showed us how to live our daily lives in a way that would guarantee our entrance into His Kingdom. He did this by the way He lived his life and the words He left for us in scripture.

5. Jesus died for me (and you and you and you and so on). Seems obvious, but I know I don't think about it often enough. He died just for me. He died for each individual. 4andcounting actually came up with this answer, but I think it's definitely worth repeating.

Okay, I tag anyone who feels like doing this meme. Just play along and let me know so I can go read your comments.

42 inches

Did you know that 42 inches is the most important measurement that can be found for my children today. This is because yesterday we took our four children to Six Flags with some friends. And the height requirement for a lot of the scary roller coasters that I refuse to get on, is 42 inches. Now just because Hoss and K. were tall enough to go on the loop de loop Shockwave didn't mean that I wanted them to. But they soon realized that dad was the complete opposite and would let them go on any scary ride with him (and our friends). So for them it was run as fast as you can to the measuring sign, line up and then whoop for joy when they passed the height requirement. K. wasn't always tall enough to get onto all the rides but she was a good sport and stayed with me and Baby A. until everyone else was done.

The lines weren't even that bad but after we had a small thunderstorm move through it improved even more. By the time the park was back at full operation there weren't any people left. You could get on a ride and not even exit it to go again, you just sat there and waited to see if anyone else would come and if not away you went again. So by the end of our very long day I think there were only two big rides which my oldest son Z. wasn't able to ride. Which in a park that big is pretty cool. As for me, the sole person of the day who truly doesn't like roller coaster rides, I had a blast as well. I was able take the kids on some of the smaller rides and even Baby A. got to get on a few rides.

The extra bonus of this very long day, all my children were so worn out they slept past 9am. Something completely unheard of in our house.

Grandma town

We have obviously been out of town a lot lately. And this is just one of the funny things Hoss asked me about while we were at my parents driving in the car.

Hoss: Mom are we in grandma town?

Me: What are you talking about?

Hoss: Well mom look in all the cars the only people driving are grandma's.

Me: Looking all around at all the cars around us at the light and laughing since every car is being driven by a senior citizen. No Hoss, they have kids in Lubbock to we just can't see them driving.

Home Again..Hooray

I am home again. And to make it even better dad is home again also. The doctors still haven't fixed his heart yet but they wanted him to regain his strength first before they go any further. So my dad is now twenty pounds lighter after a twelve day stay at the hospital and much weaker. They have given him a walker and oxygen along with a lot of home health care. It really stinks to see how frail he looks but the simple fact is that many people don't make it back from the point where he was. Something the nurses and doctors kept reminding us about. So thank you for all the continued prayers they have worked miracles, and I am so thankful for all of them.