In other news...

It's been busy this week. Z. has been at a baseball camp all week long. With the heat index being anywhere from 105-109, well I just don't know how they can do it but they can. K. and Hoss were invited to attend VBS with a friend this week, so I thought why not. They have had alot of fun with that as well. They said that they liked it but liked the one from our church more. But they are super excited to go the water park tomorrow night for only a dollar with their friends VBS. Who knows maybe then it will come up to their standards.

So, it's been me and A. doing a lot of running around this week. We finally decided to replace the old swing set with a new one so we went and bought it. The kids have been patiently waiting for the weekend when dad can put it together. We bought a few school clothes but are waiting for the cooler weather to actually start before we buy pants and such.

Hoss started flag football this week and I have to say he is living up to his name. He is the second tallest on the team. He was so excited to be there that the heat and the drills didn't put him out at all. When all the other little boys started whining about the heat and running, he just asked me to poor more water over his head. But he is my child that I can not keep indoors. No matter the temperature he is happiest outside. I think it's paying off for him right now. The heat doesn't seem to be bothering him. His team is practicing three nights a week just to get them (and parents) used to the heat

Z. has decided he wants to do select baseball again, so tryouts are tomorrow morning. It should be fun. They aren't planning on to much traveling for this particular team which is why we chose them. And the costs are actually kept at a reasonable price. I'm sorry but we just can't afford to pay 1500 dollars just for the gear and uniforms some of these teams want you to pay. Not to mention all the out of state tournaments they have to pay to attend.

I'm also going to sign K. up for her dance class tonight. She keeps begging to go and they are finally enrolling. So once a week she'll have her chance to dance. So that just leaves A., who is happily not interested in doing anything just yet. I'm sure that will change in the next year so I'm going to enjoy it while I can.

So there you have all the latest on the Juice Box household. Lots of sports in the last few weeks of summer. Not to mention as much swimming we can squeeze in. Before we know it school will be starting so I'm trying to enjoy my kids while I can. Especially since they aren't driving me crazy yet.

Late Again

Is there anything more embarrassing than thinking that the baseball camp your son is in is over at 11:30 when it's really over at 11:00? If there is than please share. My poor Z. was the last kid picked up and was hanging out in the cool AC car of the coach. When I arrived at 11:15 to watch the last few minutes, I was surprised to see that everyone was long gone. Here I am thinking I am going to be fifteen minutes early when instead it turns out that I'm fifteen minutes late.

A Walking Dog

This is Gigi. She's our Boxer and family pet. She's a pain in the neck.


I only agreed to getting Gigi for one reason and one reason only. I wanted a dog that I could walk with, especially after dark. Gigi however is about fifty pounds heavier than the average twenty pound dog that I can handle. She's just downright big. And she's always so darn excited to see you looking at her that she will wiggle her tail so hard her entire back half shakes. And if by some chance you actually say her name, then watch out, she's likely to jump up and give you one big slobbery dog kiss.

So after I agreed to getting Gigi (for walking purposes only) I had to wait for her to get big enough for me to take on walks. Then once she was big enough to take on walks, I had to wait until she was well trained enough for me to control her while out walking. Meanwhile, it seems like years have passed with me still not having a dog to walk with. Finally, she is ready for me to start walking with and things are going great. That is until a year and a half ago when she got attacked by a mean dog that jumped a six foot fence and went after her. Hubs did a good job of keeping the other dog away from her, but it did change her personality a bit on walks. She became very skittish and very much a scared dog. Not her fault at all. But not really what I had planned on when I signed on for this dog. I wanted a dog who would scare away anyone who got to close to me when we were out walking at night. Now it was her dragging me through the neighborhood trying to flee from things that spooked her.

Then we had a small accident while I was out walking the dog around Christmas. She got spooked by one of those inflatable Santa Claus decorations popping out of the chimney. Next thing I knew I was face down in the middle of the street missing a front tooth and pretty banged up. It truly was the Christmas where all I wanted was my two front teeth. And after that my walking personality changed a bit. I didn't want to walk after dark anymore but didn't feel like I was able to keep up with the dog the way she needed. So then you had me and the dog, both moping around the house because we weren't walking (and because I was missing my front tooth).

Finally, I got back into my walking routine but without the dog. I still missed walking without her but now it was me afraid to take her. And I felt so guilty for that. Especially when she stopped getting excited when she saw me put on my walking shoes since she knew she wasn't going anywhere. So guilt finally won out and I finally got my "cajones" back and started to take her out. Just short walks at first until she got used to being out again. And she's been doing great. She's still skittish but now I've retrained myself to hold the leash different so that if she does bolt, I'm not going with her. Small progress I know..but it is progress.

So now I have to deal with the dog getting all excited anytime she sees me in sneakers again. Even if I'm not going walking. But when I do take her out, I'm rewarded. By the time we get back home the walk and the heat have wore her out. And all she can do is lie there like she's gonna die for at least an hour or two.

At least then, I can finally get some peace from my pain in the neck Boxer. By the way, in case your wondering, Santa did get me two front teeth for Christmas that year. I was very excited.

Wordless Wednesday

Make a Wish and Blow



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It's Hot

It's hot here in Dallas. What do you expect in July? Which makes me really miss our way to short trip to Ruidoso, NM and the mountains. Where it was much more cooler. So much cooler...sigh.



But maybe if I pray like the original Franciscan monks did at St. Joseph Mission, the weather will cool off a bit.



Or maybe I should take a lead from my kids and go wading around like they did in the small creek by our cabin. Then at least it would be cooler.



But if I can't do that, then maybe I will just stare at this picture of running water and imagine myself cooling down a bit. It's worth a shot isn't it? Or maybe staring at all this cool running water will have a different effect. Instead it may make me have to go to the bathroom...who knows. And that my friends is a small glimpse into my warped mind. I've turned a pretty picture of running water and somehow twisted it to bathroom talk. I'm sorry...really I am.

To Clip or Not

I've been going back and forth about clipping coupons. I'm sure we have all been there at some point or another. But this time it was brought on by my friend sending me to the grocery game. They tell you how to get all sorts of free stuff just by clipping coupons and being a savy shopper. And well I tend to be of the mind set of "if it's free, then it's for me". So I thought I would try it out. The only problem is that it is still a lot of stinkin' work just to save what looks like a few dollars here and there. I went to the grocery store today and well let's just say that I still have a headache. Was all that actually worth the five dollars in savings that I had. I honestly don't think any headache is worth this unless you start to enter into the thousands of dollars. But at least I can say that yes I did try it. And FYI, for the future if I'm using coupons, I think I'll just buy generic instead.

Photo Hunters- What is That?

This weeks theme is what is that? So I immediately thought of this picture that I took a few weeks back while we were on vacation up in the mountains. I still don't know what it is exactly, some kind of weed or wild flower. But it reminded me of some kind of alien plant that was about to explode or something. See, I have such a great imagination don't I? Either that, or I have watched way to many movies with talking singing plants in them. Anyways, if anyone can tell me what this is then feel free, otherwise I will just keep on thinking of it as the alien weed like thing.




So there's my take on this weeks theme. For other views on this week's theme visit TNCHICK.com or PhotoHunt

Random Bits and Pieces

We are finally done with our two weeks of swim lessons. The girls really enjoyed it and so did the boys. Although Z., didn't really need lessons, I was able to find a time that all four of my kids could be in the water at the same time. This way everyone had a chance to swim and enjoy themselves. Hoss and K. both learned lots and were able to both play on the big water slide and the diving board today at Fun Day. It was a huge leap of faith for K. to jump into 11 feet of water but she did it and was quite proud of herself. However she really had no desire to do it again after that. Once was definetely enough.

In other non interesting news, my kids finally figured out that when I say please don't play with the buttons on the car windows, I mean it. It's not just because it annoys me, which it does, but it can break the motor on the door, which it did. So until the new part comes into the dealership I get to enjoy having my window down in all this humidity. Makes me a bit cranky to get hot in the car but at least it's only temporary.

And, I don't know about your kids, but mine are always wanting snow cones. So I finally bought a small snow cone maker for us to have at home. The one I really wanted isn't available anymore unless I special order it. And I'm sorry but there is no way I'm spending a $100 for a snow cone machine for our house. But I did find an Icy Treats maker from Hamilton at Target. It only cost about $30 and it seems to be doing a great job keeping us all happy in the snow cone department. I figure with what we have already saved from the snow cones huts that it's already paid for itself. So if your kids are into cool treats like mine, then maybe you should consider this for them.

So now we are back to swimming in our own neighborhood pool with no major things scheduled for at least a few more weeks. It's finally feeling like it's slowing down a bit and I'm enjoying it.

Rise and Shine

It's summertime and so that means bedtimes are a little later than they would be during the school year. That would normally not mean anything to my children who for some reason love to wake up before seven on their own everyday. Even if I put them to bed at midnight they would wake up at seven. (It's times like these when I wonder if they are really mine). Then the next day I'm stuck with tired cranky kids.

But during the summer, something happens about mid July every year, and once again it's happening. My kids are sleeping in later. And by later I don't mean until ten or anything like that. No my kids are getting up at the much more tolerable hour of 8 a.m. and sometimes even 8:15 a.m. That means that mom aka "Grumpy" in the morning, gets to get that extra bit of sleep that makes me a happier and more well rounded person. Okay, not really on the well rounded part but it does make me happier and less grumpy. And it does mean that occasionally I get to have my first cup of coffee with any interruptions. I figure I have about another five weeks left before I have to get them back on the school year schedule. But for right now, I'm going to let them sleep in as late as they will and enjoy another small joy of summertime.

This weeks theme for the Photo Hunt is support. So I decided to show something a bit different. This is a picture of me putting my feet up. Since my feet support me during the day, I like to rest them while I can. In the background you will see some of my children playing. My family supports me in ways other than my feet and are appreciated greatly for it. Even if these particular family members are the reason that I need to prop my tired feet up so often.


So there's my take on this weeks theme. For other views on this week's theme visit TNCHICK.com or PhotoHunt

I miss the desert

Most of the time, I am very happy living in the Dallas area. Until July and August hit along with all the humidity. Then I really begin to miss living in the desert. I grew up in El Paso, where there was never any humidity. No matter how hot the summer days were, you were always guaranteed relief in the evenings when the sun would go down. You could sit out on patios with friends or family and whatever beverage you chose and enjoy yourself. I also really miss the Mexican food from El Paso. It just isn't the same here in the Dallas area. And although I have found many great Mexican food restaurants (usually small family owned ones) it still is not quite the same.

But besides that, I miss the beauty of the desert. For those of you who have never lived in the desert you may not realize how pretty it really can be. You just have to look a bit harder to find it. And if your lucky enough to be in the desert after a rain shower then you will find lots of different colorful blooms on all the different cactus. I got to enjoy a bit of the desert scenery on the drive to New Mexico on our vacation. And since we had our kids in the car, we also made lots of pit stops. It was on one of these pit stops that I just had to grab my camera and take a picture.


Isn't it beautiful. But in case your still not sure what it is I was so excited about, here is a closer look at it. And FYI, I didn't do any editing on this picture. This is all Mother Nature at work here.


Quite a beautiful cactus don't you think? Or maybe your just thinking that I was stuck to long in the car with four children and had to many pit stops along the way. Either way your going to be right. And either way, this cactus really did make me miss living in the desert just a bit more. But then again maybe I'm wrong, maybe you have to have lived in the desert to actually find beauty in this picture.

Where are the lazy days of summer?

I don't know what it is like in other households but in the Juice Box household we are still searching for the lazy days of summer. It seems that there has just been one thing after another to keep us occupied this summer. Between VBS, baseball, vacations and now swim lessons we have not found our lazy days yet. We have yet to have more than a few scattered days here and there to just hang out and do nothing. I'm hoping that after swim lessons it gets a bit better since technically we only have about seven weeks left of summer. I really enjoy having the kids home (well at least most days I do) but the summer schedule seems to be just as hectic as the school year this fall. Hopefully the lazy days of summer will show it's face around here soon, I'm ready for them.

Wordless Wednesday

My Princess



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Home Sweet Home

We are back from our vacation in the Mountains. I will post a few pictures later in the week. We saw lots of deer, a lone bear was seen by the trash,a restored mission, we visited Smokey the Bear and checked out one of Billy the Kid's great shootout locations. We also spent lots of time sitting and visiting with family and lots of eating. We didn't see any fireworks since the fire danger was to high but that's okay, the kids didn't even realize it until we got home. All in all we all had a great time and came home relaxed.

Gone Fishin'

Well not exactly gone fishin' but close enough. Be back next week.

Spring Season Results

All in all, I think my boys had a great spring baseball season. Hoss got second place in his tournament and Z. won first place in the city All Stars tournament. And mom and dad, well we enjoyed cheering them on the entire time.

The Wild Animals at the Zoo

It's been a while since I've posted many pictures. It's partly because I haven't been as good about taking my camera out and about with me. And then when I do take it out and about, I'm having to keep up with my four monkeys. That can be challenging at best. But I do have a few days where I've taken some pictures and some of them have even been a bit fun.

You may remember me returning my monkeys to the cages they escaped from earlier in the month. While we were at the zoo I got some funny pictures here and there. It seems like anytime I went to snap a picture, the animal in question would decide that it was then that it had to relieve itself. So as a result I have tons of pictures of animals peeing it seems. No, I'm not going to post those ones so don't worry. I am going to share a picture of the rhino in the water.

About this time I was actually really jealous of him being able to get cool like that. It was way too hot for me.

K. wanted to see one thing only at the zoo that day. Pink Flamingos. If it's pink then it's for my girl. So we went off to find them for her. They were smart enough to be near or in the cool water also.

Are you noticing a theme here yet. Don't worry I'm about to break it here.

Then we went back past the orangutans. There was one in there that caught my eye since he had a plastic lid in his mouth and was playing with it. But then he got tired and decided to lay down next to the water and rest and cool off. It was then that I took his pictures only to have to stop. It's obvious at this point that I wasn't being very mature. I couldn't stop laughing about this guy and it seemed like it was only me who knew what was going on. Because none of the other people were watching him anymore and it's a good thing. Or maybe they were and they were just more mature than I am. Who knows. What was he doing? Well he was laying there in all his glory playing with himself. And he was very happy and content with how it was all going.


Then he got bored after about 30 seconds and went and cooled off in the water. And I was left standing there without anyone to share my immaturity with. Until I posted it here today. Sorry, I'm very ashamed of myself. I promise I won't laugh at this type of stuff again. I'm a grown up and I should have more control of myself. But sometimes it's just to hard. And this was one of those times.

But by now we were all dying of heat and since we couldn't go jump in the water we opted for over sized, over priced sno cones. And guess what, it worked. We all cooled off and it gave me a chance to grow up again. And now you guys are probably wishing I wouldn't have posted my pictures today. I promise next time to make them nicer pictures.

Wordless Wednesday

I can't believe I talked to him, with this on my face.




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Popcorn everywhere

There are some foods that no matter how careful you are, it gets everywhere. Popcorn is definitely one of those for us. The kids love it and will eat lots of it. I find it everywhere. The obvious places like under the couch cushions and the floors. The not so obvious places like in the diapers where it somehow ends up. I really don't want to wonder on that one to much though. Then when you add in the fact that popcorn is the most requested snack at baseball and movies I also seem to find it in the most unusual places in the car. We naturally have it all over the floor in the van along with the car seats and seat benches. But how does it end up in the driver side door pockets when I know it's not me that puts it there. And how does it end up in zipped up bat bag when the popcorn is purchased after the bag has been closed. Now since it seems like lately we have popcorn and baseball every night that means my van is a mess. Which means that the birds around the parking spots that I park at must love my children. My kids think that every bird out there loves popcorn as much as they do, and do their best to leave it for them. And if that means they brush out old stale popcorn out of the van for them, even better. It just means that there is less of it in my van. But I must say, that is some expensive bird seed that they are eating and I hope they enjoy it.

Happy Birthday K!

Your four today and oh so proud.
Your feel like a princess floating on clouds.
Your laugh is so sweet.
Your smile so big.
Happy Birthday K.