Isn't it Fun

Now that my kids are getting a bit bigger it's fun introducing them to some of my favorite movies and things to do. Most of them are the edited versions that are on TV but sometimes they get to watch the real DVD. Today I have both my boys begging to watch a favorite of mine from years ago. It's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, there is just enough fighting to keep them interested in it all. Of course I end up getting twenty questions but they soon quiet down and then I get to enjoy the movie also. The same thing happened earlier in the week when Forrest Gump was on TV. Before long both boys were into it and enjoying it. Then Hoss discovered we had it on DVD and asked if he could watch Forrest the Skunk again. But since it was late we didn't watch that one. Instead we sat down and had another of my favorites, ice cream cones. After that it was much easier to get them to bed. And the plus side of that was that I got to have one also. Yes, it can be fun sometimes.

Crazy Busy...and Baseball

It just seems like it's been crazy busy the last few days. Ever since Z.'s birthday last week. He had his friends over for a sleepover with lots of junk food and video games and very little sleep on Friday.

Then on Saturday Hoss played in a tball tournament. They actually kept score for the first time and when it was all said and done Hoss and his team came in second place. They really should have come in first place but those poor boys had already played three games in 99 degree weather and were playing a team that hadn't played all day so they were fresh. But that's a rant for another day. And just for the record I'm really not one of THOSE parents at your kids games. It was just really sad that these boys who had been out all day long barely lost the game. But none the less Hoss is quite proud of his very big trophy. In fact Z. said it was bigger than his and that made Hoss even more excited.

Z. starts his All Stars games this week also. So now we go to the more serious games of our older son. His games are fun to watch but a lot more competitive. It's amazing how good some of these boys can be at 10 years old. Since they have so many pitchers on his team for the all stars I'm not sure Z. will be pitching as much. But that's okay with me, it's always more stressful for me with him pitching. But Z. takes it all in stride. I will however be trying my best to avoid sitting next to or anywhere close to one of THOSE parents during the games. That woman drives me crazy with how great her grandson is and how bad the rest of the boys are. Makes me just want to throttle her.

The kids are also doing VBS this week and loving it. It's giving me a bit of time in the morning to catch up on a few things. I guess this will be a bit of what it's going to be like this fall when I only have one child home three days a week. I have to say, it's kind of nice.

Happy Birthday

Today we celebrate Z. turning 10. We have a fun and busy day planned. It's hard to believe it's been ten years already. Happy Birthday Z. now I'm off to return you to the monkey exhibit you escaped from.

Messy messy messy

How is it that one little boy can make such a difference in how messy things can get? My children are not neat freaks by any means what so ever. But...and this is a big but...my son's friend is messy. I've noticed it before when we've been at his house before but since it wasn't my house I really didn't notice it that much. But today Hoss has his friend over here playing for the afternoon. Things that my son knows better to do are being done.

Clothes that should stay on hangers are coming out and being dropped on the closet floor...winter clothes. This means they have to push all the summer clothes to the side to get to them in order to take them down. Why? Because they were being newsbroadcasters in a very big winter blizzard and wanted to look the part. I must admit that it was a very reasonable answer to my question and I did see the humor in it. But dadgumit, I just cleaned that closet out two weeks ago.

I thought I was giving his mom a break for watching my two middle children while I went birthday present shopping for Z. Now I'm really not so sure. Maybe it would have been easier to take the three youngest to the stores then it will be to get his room back in order before the grandparents arrive. I'm really not so sure. But I can definetely appreciate my kids messiness which isn't nearly as bad as I thought before. Now if some of that cool air from that blizzard would come down this way then everything would be perfect.

Did ya know?

That ITunes can be a bit addicting. You can spend hours and all kinds of money on all those great songs from way back when. Guess it's time to go listen to some of that money spent.

Another victory for mom

Today has been one small victory after another small victory for mom. It's the first day with everyone home for the summer so I expected a few problems. I just didn't expect them to involve Wal mart quite so soon. Z. was promised a new video game if he got all A's on his report card. So naturally he was ready to collect on dad's promise immediately. I agreed to take him to the store but told him I had to pick up a few things as well. We also had to make one short stop along the way. So the one small stop along the way was to get my boys a haircut. Now normally this is met with much whining,crying and complaining. But not this time. The call of the video game put both boys in a much more agreeable mood. I then did go to buy the promised game along with a few groceries and here is where the other small victroy came in. I actually didn't end up with a ton of other things the kids wanted in the basket. No, it was only the few things I couldn't do without over the weekend. So miracously the shopping trip wasn't a beating for me. I have now got four happy and content children all doing thier own thing without fighting. And that's one small pleasure I intend to enjoy. And no I don't think it has anything to do with the root beer that's been promised to them at dinner if they behave.

Last Day of School

Today is the last day of school for Z. All week long he has been riding his bike back and forth so he can be counted present in his attendance. I have it on good authority that no actually learning ever occurs the last week of school. All my teacher friends assure me that the last two weeks are pointless because the kids have already checked out.

And so the last week's activities are at best just busy work. Monday he had an awards ceremony where he specifically said "mom don't come it's to lame and you don't want to waste your time". I just wanted to hug him for that one. How sweet of him to excuse me from attending the lame ceremony where he gets the ribbons he has won the last six weeks. I guess I may have mentioned that all his siblings would be there as well and he knew it would bore them to no end.

He had his business trade days on Tuesday where he ate no less than two snow cones and two rootbeer floats. I know this because I witnessed him while he was supposed to be selling his cheesy little cowboy hat bookmarks we made the night before. All the siblings went for this fun day and they also scarfed down as many red snowcones as I would let them.

Wednesday was his class party where they pigged out on pizza and then it was followed by an auction. The kids brought things they wanted to auction off and in the process used up all the fake money they earned from business day. I can't say I was really excited about this. I had just finished getting rid of alot of his junk and here he comes home with more junk than will fit in his backpack.

Today he rode off with his empty backpack for his last day of school, I'm not sure what I will find in his backpack today but at least I will have three months before I have to go through it again.

Wordless Wednesday

For other WW click here or else you can click here .

Better Late Than Never

That seems to be my motto in life lately. We finally had my youngest daughter A. baptized this weekend. I'm not sure why it took me so long to get it done but we did and now I can finally stop fretting about how she hasn't been baptized yet.

I have also finally gotten some of the summer schedule figured out the last few days. Again, better late than never. The kids are all enrolled in thier different levels of swim classes. This has actually been a bit more challenging than you might think. Four children of all different ages is not easy to figure out how they can all be in the water at the same time. But it's done, yay!

And we have finally figured out what we are going to do for our fun family trip this summer. Hubs and I didn't feel brave enough for the beach this year since A. can be a pistol and keeping up with her and the other three seemed a bit daunting. So if you can't cool off at the beach than you better cool off in the mountains. So we did what every other Texan has done for years to drive the New Mexicans crazy, we reserved a cabin next to a creek for a few days in July in their mountains. It should be lots of fun and not only does our dumb dog Gigi get to go but so do Grandmama and Pappy. The kids will love it and so will we.

So if I can just get a few more better late than never things taken care of then all will be good.

Fun in the Sun

It was very hot last week and the kids were begging for relief. I wasn't quite ready to get in the cold pool water again so soon so decided instead to let the kids just run through the sprinkler toy that I had bought. I got it primarily for the little ones but I must say even the big boys had fun with it.

It all started out innocently enough. They would take turns running back and forth between the spraying noodles. Then Hoss decided that he needed to spray water into his mouth. So they all had to start spraying water into their mouths. Again, nothing to bad about all that, is there?


But you add in a few more boys and next thing you know the girls are left standing on the sidelines while the boys and their friends pretend to be firemen and put out the fire with the various "hoses". Again really not to bad. But these are boys you know, and next thing I know the girls are standing right next to the boys and their friends as they all have a peeing contest to see who's water will go the furthest or who can put out the most fires. My girls will not be left out of any peeing contest if they can help it. (Did I really just say that?)


I'm all about equality, my girls will always be told they can do anything boys can do. Especially if it means that all the kids get to play at the same time without whining and crying to mom about one thing or another.

Photo Hunter- Shoes

This week's theme is shoes. So I grabbed the first pair that I tripped over and decided to take a picture. These are a pair of baseball cleats from my son. I recently went through my boys closets and found nine pairs of cleats in varying sizes. Not to be outdone, my girls have at least as many if not more pairs of flip flops to choose from, but since I wasn't actually tripping over these this morning I didn't get their pictures.



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

Final Score

We have a small bird problem right now. I guess it's really not so much a problem as really an annoyance. We have two little birds that have decided to build their nest over the arch in our front doorway. Now any other place around the house and I wouldn't care. In fact I would probably even like to see them flying and zipping in and out around the place. But on our front porch, I really don't like them so much. I am constantly trying to clean up the bird poop they keep leaving on my welcome mat. I mean really who wants to have a bird poop covered welcome when they go to someones house. Not me! And then what happens if for some reason they decide to poop just at the moment that someone is ringing the bell. Now that would be a great welcome wouldn't it.

The first time I realized what these birds were doing, I was mean and sprayed their nest down with the water hose. It didn't deter them, they just came back and rebuilt again and again. Hubs decided to get in on the action. He then tried to scare them away by hanging up some different types of "stuff" to scare them away. He tried hanging Walmart bags all around where they were nesting. I was quite impressed by his ingenious idea because it seemed to be working. I was however quite embarrassed about having Walmart bags hanging and blowing in the breeze all around our front porch. But these little birds are persistent, they just waited until the bag closest to their nest blew down and back they came. Hubs then decided that he would just cover the entire front porch window with a big black lawn bag. Again the little birds just stayed away long enough for the bag to be blown down. Like I said, persistent little birds.

Not to be outdone, Hubs sat there one evening trying to figure out a way to get rid of the birds without actually hurting them, at least not badly. He then had another idea ( I won't say this one is really as brilliant as the walmart bag one though). He decided that he would take the laser tag gun my oldest son has and have himself a birdie stakeout. So for the past two nights, Hubs has gotten the little Nerf darts and the dart tag gun and gone huntin'. (Hubs has only gone quail hunting once before and had such a hard time seeing the little birds he couldn't do it again...hmmff..and he calls himself a Texan). Right, back to the story. Hubs has been out huntin' the last two nights and he has shot lots of Nerf darts. All I can say about that is that his accuracy leaves room for lots of improvement. And those darn little persistent birds, well I could hear their chirping laughter as they swooped all around him. Then they must have gotten tired and decided to rest for the night. And of course that would mean that they went to sleep in their nest, over our front porch with all the Walmart bags blowing in the breeze and amidst flying orange Nerf bullets.

Final Score

Birds- 3
Humans-0

Wordless Wednesday

The Graduate...Pre K Style

For other WW click here or else you can click here .

Works For Me Wednesday

I just learned a new trick of the trade for mommy hood and just had to share it with all the rest of us still in the toddler hood trenches. For some of you, it may be old news but for me it was a first time lesson learned.

I have somehow managed to escape the creative artwork on the walls by my three oldest children. My fourth baby didn't let me escape quite so easily. She went around to a few walls a while back and crayoned on them. Normally I would just get my magic eraser and get it off right away or else just some warm soapy water and elbow grease. But since we just moved into a house with flat paint I was worried that by scrubbing to hard the paint would come off. Today my cleaning lady saw the new artwork and showed me a trick of the trade. You just spray a little bit of pledge polish remover on the artwork and then lightly rub it off. It somehow makes it lift right off and didn't take all the paint off either.

I was so excited I had to do my happy mommy dance. I'm sure I set both my children and the cleaning lady back several weeks into therapy because of this. But I really don't care because my walls are clean again. It works for me so maybe it will work for you.

For other WFMW tips visit Rocks in My Dryer.

Confession Time

I must confess another little dirty dark secret. I'm a bit embarrassed by this dark little secret and only admit it to a few people here and there that I know.

My dirty little dark secret is that I have gotten to where I really love reality TV. I can spend hours watching these ridiculous shows. My all time favorite is still The Amazing Race which I have mentioned before. But now I must confess to being an avid watcher of Dancing with the Stars (most of the time anyways). My biggest secret reality show that I watch is such the ultimate in bad reality TV but never the less I always seem to be watching it, and it's The Bachelor. Now normally this wouldn't be something that I admit to most people so consider yourselves in on my dark little dirty secret. But now they are getting ready to start another one of my old time favorites which is the Mole. Not the celebrity one which was terrible but the real people one which I liked a bit more.

So there you have it, my dark little secret for everyone out there to see. Maybe by sharing my dark little secret I will be able to come out of the proverbial closet and seek immediate help. Well at least until the next season of the The Amazing Race, I already have that one set up on TIVO.

Summer is here

Judging by the hot weather we are having, summer is here. Hoss is out of school now and in just a few short weeks, Z. will be home as well. The flowers are needing a little extra help with all this heat. What does all this randomness mean? It means that summer is definitely here. I'm ready to spend hours by the pool and so are the kids but until Z. is out I really can't do it just yet. Instead I am dealing with the reality of the girls getting used to having Hoss home. And then just when they get used to him, they will all have to get used to Z. being home again. It's always difficult that first week of summer with all the bickering but hopefully it won't take them long to adjust to the new routines. By that time they should hopefully be well behaved enough to take them out in public again without mom hanging my head in shame. It's always good to have hope.

What Duck?

The other night at bedtime was a hard thing for K. to handle. She just couldn't get to sleep. She has discovered that a certain spot on her floor creaks a bit when she walks on it (but only when she walks on it). She kept coming out to tell her daddy that she couldn't sleep because her floor kept going Quack Quack. No matter how he tried, she didn't believe it was just her floor and it wouldn't quack if she stayed in bed. She kept looking for that duck until she was just to tired to look anymore.

My Budding Artist

A. is a budding artist. She loves to make things, whether it's crafts or just coloring. She is your typical two year old. This morning she was feeling very artistic. She found some stickers and decided to decorate herself with as many of them as she could. Unfortunately for mom, they weren't really stickers. Instead she had found my roll of forever stamps and had pulled them all off the roll and covered herself with them. I think she had enough postage on her to make it to China and back. Mom was not very happy and I did try to salvage as many of my stamps as I could. It wasn't very many.

After that I went upstairs to start gathering the laundry. It was then that I noticed her newest creation. It was a lovely red shade all over the wall in the game room. I thought it was just in the two spots that I found. When I scolded A. for coloring the walls, she them proudly proceeded to show me all her other artwork. There were four lovely A. originals, all on my walls. I don't know when she did these but it had to have been this weekend some time.

I guess she just wanted to draw me a beautiful Mothers Day card. At least that is what I'm telling myself otherwise I'm likely to let her re stamp herself and I'll drop her off in the mail and let her make it to China. I guess it's all in a day's work for a budding artist.

Rhyme Time

I remember when I was little I heard the following rhyme, poem, limerick or whatever it is...I really don't know, but anyways I digress. The poem went like this

Fishy Fishy in the brook
come and get on daddy's hook
mommy fries it in the pan
baby eats it like a man

So since I have nothing better to do than think of ridiculous rhymes in my head I decided to come up with my own version.

Dishy Dishy in the sink
There are so many I can't think
Mommy decides to turn her head
And let daddy do them instead.

Or if that's to simple for you how about this one.

Whining crying kids at home
are guaranteed while I'm on the phone
Lock the door, throw away the key
mommy wants privacy while she pees.


So what do you think? Now you all know one of my dark little quirks. I love to make silly, nonsense type rhymes to drive the ones I love crazy. Maybe I should start working on one for Father's Day. Have any ideas, then please share.

Wordless Wednesday

He's Safe!




For other WW click here or else you can click here .

True Colors

Most the time I am able to keep my frustrated emotions hidden from people when it comes to my children. But I must say, there are some days when it is just impossible to do. Take for example last Saturday. We had been out running around between every sporting event you can imagine. And so naturally great mom that I am, I decided to take all the kids over to my friends house so they can hang out and play with all their friends. It had nothing to do with the fact that I desperately needed to be able and sit and visit with my friend as well. No, I am going to say it was entirely for the children. But if you think differently, then I can't really say your wrong. After all misery loves company and that Saturday was miserable. Naturally I had to share my misery with my friend and she of course had to share hers.

So now you have the setting, two cranky miserable moms venting with each other. Add to that mix ten children (no they weren't all ours, we picked up a few extra from the neighborhood) and one trampoline and one play set. Toss them all around like you would a salad and this is what you get.

Three bloody noses (none of which either mom inflicted), two band aids, a dirty diaper (again not mom's) and one mom (namely me) being tackled and knocked on my bottom by Hoss as he leaped out of the trampoline. This in turn led me to my finest mom of the year moment losing my temper in front of everyone (even an extra adult who happened to pop in and check on their children). Yes, my true colors showed for a few minutes and then I felt really bad for it. (At least until I saw the grass stains on my bottom) I did calm down and felt immediately better to be surrounded by such great friends that they started teasing and mocking me falling on my butt. At least until one of theirs made them lose their tempers and they showed their true colors. Like I said, misery loves company and we were all at my friends house last Saturday. It's really a good thing that we do all know our true colors or else we would probably never want to play with any of us again.

Photo Hunters

This weeks theme is time. There are so many different ways that you could go with this theme. But I decided to use the following picture of my son and his teammates. They had just finished warming up before their game was about to begin. So then they all lined up against the fence to wait for the other teams to exit the fields. It was only a few minutes of their time spent on the field that morning but I had to take this picture. Not a single one of them was goofing off or talking with each other. No hats were being hit on anybody else's heads. They were actually still and paying attention. And that is no easy thing for a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds.



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

Such Confidence

I just have to laugh at the confidence my children display sometimes. This time I am talking about my oldest son Z. Maybe it's because he is the oldest that he is so confident or maybe it's just his personality. But confidence he has in abundance and I hope he never loses it.

This week at his school they are taking the TAKS test. That is the state wide test that rates the schools and such. Z. has three tests this week. Yesterday was his first day of testing. He had to take the math test. Now he is usually pretty good in math so I don't doubt that he did well on the test.

When he came home from school yesterday I asked him how his test went. His response was fast and he informed me that "He aced the test and got a 100". I chuckled and asked him how he could be sure that he didn't miss even one question. He responded that when he double checked all his answers he always came up with the same answers so obviously none of them were wrong. Oh such confidence.

I didn't have the heart to tell him that there was still a chance that he didn't score a perfect 100. There will be plenty of time to burst his bubble with reality later. In the meantime, I hope his confidence and correct answers will carry him through the rest of the tests this week.

Three

Three, that is the number of times in the last week and a half that we have seen a snake in our back yard. Three is also the number of dead snakes in our backyard. Sorry, I'm not the granola type, if there is a snake in my yard then it will be killed. Especially if the last snake last night decided to sun itself on my back porch. So now we have examined the body of these headless creatures and surfed the Internet for pictures of snakes and we have come to the conclusion that we are being visited by one of these two types of snakes. It is either a water moccasin like we originally thought or it is a harmless garter snake who has had the misfortune of slithering into our yard. The problem is that since Hubs is chopping off the heads of these snakes I am unable to get a good look at the heads to determine if it truly is a water moccasin. So until I can determine for sure what the heads look like then I have to assume that they aren't garter snakes. So if any of you know what a baby water moccasin would look like without a head and can positively identify one then please let me know how to do it. Because I am sick of snakes in the back yard. Hubs is sick of mowing the grass every three days to keep it short so the snakes won't like it and I am sick of being told that I need a cat to keep the snakes away. Like I really need any more creatures or children to tend to right now. I don't think so. What I do need is to go and buy about a million bags of snake away and spread it around the house and yard.

7 Random things about me

I saw Lauren did this over at Baseball & Bows and since by doing this, it saves me from thinking of something new to write about I decided to do it. Not to mention it's always fun to share some of my strange quirks with ya'll.

1. I prefer to drink my coffee from one particular cup. If by chance I can't because my dad is in town and he always grabs my preferred cup than I have a second favorite cup. If that one is gone than no matter how much I try, my coffee experience is just not the same that morning.

2. I get completely crazy and anal and run around like a crazy woman if the toilet paper is not in the right direction for me. (the paper must come over the top for me to stay sane)

3. I can not do puzzles to save my life. Even some of the kids puzzles can be a bit challenging for me. Hubs family loves puzzles so I'm always odd man out when we go to his house and they all sit around putting those little pieces together. (Really, I don't understand the point of it... your just going to destroy it after your done)

4. I'm the worst person in the world about getting cards, presents, etc. into the mail on time for a birthday or holiday. I think my family has gotten used to my lateness and hopefully they don't take it personally. In return, I never expect a card or present to arrive for me until at least a week after the event.

5. When I park the car, the steering wheel must always be in a straightened out position. It makes it easier for me to back out next time I get in the car. Hubs will always tend to turn the wheel one direction or another when he parks so that I have very nearly taken out the garage door a time or two.

6. I am the worst morning mom you have probably ever met. I don't cook real breakfasts for the kids until after I have had two cups of coffee and even then it usually only happens on the weekends. During the week, my kids live off of cereal,waffles, bagels and cereal bars.

7. I love Snickers candy bars. If my kids ever get them for Halloween or in party goody bags then I will almost always eat them.

So there you have some more of my weird issues out there for all the world to see. If you decide to share some things about you, then let me know so I won't feel all alone.

Beware the Dead Battery

Normally I am very anal about charging my cell phone. But the last few days I haven't been able to find my phone charger so I haven't charged it. Today I started to get those little annoying beeps, you know the ones. They remind you about every ten seconds that your phone is about to die. It's so annoying that by the time the phone does die your actually quite happy about it. Because that means that those annoying little beeps finally stop.

This morning I knew I had two missed calls from my mom on my phone. I just kept thinking I'll call her right back. But then I had to run out and do some errands and grocery shopping. And the car is where I do most of my talking it seems. By the time I was in the frozen food section at the store my phone was on it's last beep. It's then that it somehow dredged up enough energy to ring again. And yes it was mom, again. I knew this without even taking the phone out of my purse. I'm physic like that (if it's an inconvenient time to answer the phone, it's guaranteed to be mom). So naturally I didn't answer it. That would have meant that I would have had to stop pushing the shopping cart and thus giving my kids an escape route from the big three seater basket I was pushing around for my cardio workout this morning. I also knew that the second I answered it, the phone would die... so why bother. I'll call her back when I get home I thought.

Now for most moms, they would just leave a message and not worry to much if the didn't get a call back right away. But I never said my mom was like most moms, did I? No, I was able to get home and finally locate the phone charger. All the while knowing the next call wasn't far off. And I was right. The phone rings and it's mom and she is very agitated and worried. What's wrong, where have you been, I couldn't reach you at all. So I explained about the battery and she finally settled down.

I guess I need to keep my battery charged from now on. If for no other reason than to save me from the six missed calls in less than four hours and the grief I get afterward from it.

Flowers Sheds and Snakes...Oh My

We have been busy the past few days. We now have lots of flowers planted in the front flowerbed. Hubs is putting the finishing touches on the shed as I type. And we have discovered that being this close to the lake means the snakes like to visit our yard. So far I haven't actually seen them, only Hubs. I'm not sure if it's just the harmless garden snake or not. I know that they had problems last summer with water moccasins so I hope it's not them slithering in my yard. Should be interesting if the dog finds one, she plays with anything that moves and would just love to have a snake I'm sure. As for me, I would just as soon figure out a way to keep them out of the backyard.

Not a Ligustrum Lover

What's a Ligustrum. It's a very cheap and inexpensive evergreen shrub/tree that the builders like to use. So they planted six of these things in front of my dining room windows. I don't care much for them. They have absolutely no shape to them until they get really big. And by really big I mean over twenty feet+ tall. You can keep them as a shrub if your willing to trim them about every ten days or so (yes that is a slight exaggeration) but they are really way to much work for what you get. So as you can see they are terrible to plant in front of any window, let alone mine and then you have six of them on top of that. So I decided that today was the day to dig them up. I went ahead and bought some dwarf holly bushes and some miniature rose bushes to plant there instead. Both are nice and poky for being in front of the window area. And when they are full size, they will never grow so tall as to obscure my view. So here is my before picture.

See how ugly they are, they just do nothing for me.


Now here they are lying in the back yard until I decide if I'm going to get rid of them or let Hubs do it. I'm leaning toward letting Hubs do it since technically I did the hard part of digging them up.


R.I.P. Ligustrums I'm sorry you weren't appreciated by your owners as you deserved to be.

The one thing I definitely found out while I was digging these suckers up and then replanting the Holly and Rose bushes is that my front flower bed is nothing but clay. I went through close to fifty pounds of potting soil just getting these things in the ground and giving them half a chance at survival. Well OK, maybe not fifty pounds but close enough.

So that now has me rethinking all my flower planting plans. Because anything I do in that flower bed is going to involve clay and lots of it. Which means lots more potting soil and lots more work on my part. And I hate to admit it, but I'm a lazy gardener. I don't like having to dig out huge globs of clay and over sized rocks from the flowerbeds. That's to much like manual labor for me. Wait that is manual labor, see this is a total contrast to my lazy gardener approach I try to follow. So now I'm back to the proverbial drawing board while I decide what else to plant. I'm leaning more and more to perennials with just a few annuals now that I know how much clay there is. I'll keep you posted since I'm sure your all dying to know all about this. Then again, maybe I'll just take up container gardening...it's sounding better and better by the minute.

Random bits and things.

It's seems like there are so many things taking up the hours of my days lately. Not just the kids but all the running around. Then I still have to do all the laundry that never seems to end and let's not forget about those dishes. I can't bear to think about them.

I have had these last four boxes just sitting in my dining room. I intentionally left them there because I knew they would drive me crazy looking at them until they were unpacked. Instead, they seem to have became part of the furniture in the room. They don't exactly match my formal dining room or my china and crystal ware, but still they remained. So I finally opened them up to unpack them and was able to get throughtwo of them without a problem. It's those last two that are still sitting there that I don't know what to do with. It's funny how I just don't have the right place to put these items. They are more of decorations than anything else but I still can't find the right place. So still they sit in my dining room.

The same thing seems to be happening with all the window treatments. They have sat in the office waiting to be hung for two months now. And finally today I washed them and ironed them and got ready to hang them. It's then that I realized the new windows are much to big for the old treatments. So that means I must now go shopping for new ones. Not really a big deal for the boys room but the girls rooms had some really cute ones that I'm hoping to find extra off. But in the meantime they will just have to go without for a while longer. I don't think they really noticed at all so it's not to much of a big deal.

And I must also admit that I've been spending a bit more time reading than blogging lately. But I can't really feel to bad for that. I feel like it's been ages since I had time to read and am enjoying it. So that's where I've been for the last few days. Nothing big or fun or important going on that's even all that exciting or worth mentioning. So that makes it a bit harder for me to come up with anything worthwhile to write about.

Photo Hunters

This weeks theme is twisted and I immedietely thought of this picture. I took it a few months back while the kids and I were out for a walk. It shows the tree trunks of two trees that have twisted around each other. My kids thought it was the "most coolest thing ever". And while I don't know if it really is that, I did find it pretty neat.




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

Never To Big

Just when I think things are settling down a bit with the kids, we enter a new phase. Right now, Z. is the one that is going through his phase. He has a bit of a sassy mouth. Add to the sass a bit of tone and you are guaranteed to sound like my oldest. We have talked until we are blue in the face to him about his sass but it just doesn't seem to be making much of an impression. He is nine, almost ten and I know he is testing his limits. But this mom is ready for him to be done with this phase. Now we have Hoss, who thinks his big brother walks on water, doing the same thing just so he can be like his big brother. The other day, when I had heard enough out of the both of them, I layed down the law. Talk nicely or else I would start treating them to soap in the mouth. (I'm a mean mean mom, I know) For whatever reason, they didn't seem to believe me.

And sure enough in less than ten minutes time Z. had opened his sassy mouth again. He really tried to argue his way out of punishment. But when I told him he had a choice of opening up and taking it like the sailor man he sounds like or else having a double treatment, he for once clammed up and took his punishment. And boy was he ever mad. I mean, I was laughing so hard my sides hurt he was that mad. Naturally, Hoss soon had to follow his brother's lead and ended up in the same predicament. Only he didn't argue like his brother.

Once both boys were allowed out of their rooms Z. came storming down the stairs. (He does hold a grudge...hmmm I wonder where he got that from...) He came over and found the label for the soap and began to read. He obviously found what he was looking for since he brought it over to me and said here mom read this warning label it said, "Keep out of reach of children". And then began to tell me how dangerous it is for me to do this, I might cause permanent damage. I then told him to keep on reading where it says "if swallowed drink a glass of water" and pointed out that if he swallowed it then he could just have some water and not to worry about permanent damage since it leaves a nice fresh scent. The only thing I could think of was the movie "A Christmas Story" where Ralphie had gone blind after having his mouth washed out with soap. So I warned him that if he keeps it up I will just have to get the lye soap that may cause blindness next time he sasses me. (I still don't know if he believes me or not) But he stopped his arguing and I have seen a huge improvement the last few days. And for whatever reason both boys are getting along much better now that they have both suffered the soap treatment. They just look at each other and say, you don't want the soap it's the worst thing ever. As for me, I also have this terrible urge to watch "A Christmas Story" now, and I still can't help but laugh at the image of Ralphie (or Z.) becoming blind at what their mean moms did to them.

Two of a Kind

I know I promised pictures of A. and they are of course a day late. It is well worth the wait however, in my opinion anyways, and since I am her mama and this is my blog then it's settled and we all agree and I can continue on. (You can now catch your breath after that long run on sentence)

A. really enjoyed herself and her presents. I must admit to not being very sneaky when buying her presents this year. I figured she probably wouldn't remember and would still be surprised when she opened them. But I was wrong. She apparently has the memory of an elephant and did remember. She found one of her presents which had all her new beads and necklaces and before we were ready she had opened it up and was wearing them. But since it was her birthday and unless it's serious you never get into big trouble on your birthday (at least in our house) she just kept on wearing them and was completely ready for Mardi Gras just in case it should make a surprise appearance on the calender. (Wow, another run on) She got lots of pretty dress up things and a very pretty doll from her Grandmama. When she's wearing her dress she looks a bit like her doll so it's two of kind in the princess department. Now she has something to wear when big sister is playing dress up. She doesn't know it's just a nightgown and I'm not going to tell her. She can figure that out some other time. Then she proceeded to try and blow out her candle and lick as much icing off her pink cake as she could. She did have a bit of help in that department with the rest of the kids. I think I now have a big cake with all the icing licked off and nothing but white cake left. For most moms, this would mean throw the cake out but I know my kids and they will eventually want some cake even without icing and so it still remains in our kitchen.

Anyways that's how her day went and she loved every minute of it.

Turnin' Two Today

Today my baby turns two. We're planning on having a small family celebration this evening so I will post some pictures of Baby A. in the morning. Can I still call her Baby A if she is now two...I think so, since she is technically still my baby. I'm off to make a pink cake for my little princess.

Feeling the Love

There are many times where I feel like no one even realizes what it is that I do everyday. And that if I stopped doing it, no one would miss it all that much. Let's face it, children are very demanding and not good at thanking us for all that we do for them. They just expect clean clothes to be in their drawers and food to be in the pantry. Well at least mine do. They take everything they have for granted including us moms. So there are some days when I just feel a bit drained by all the requests that seem to be never ending. But then every now and then, one of them will surprise you with something and suddenly your lifted back up and all is right with the world.

When my oldest was gone for Spring Break he went out to a ceramic shop and made something. I knew he had gone and had fun but just assumed he had made something cool for him like he had done the time before. Well, he hadn't, instead he made something for me. I don't know what made him decide to do this. It's not my birthday or Mother's Day or anything like that. I guess I will just assume that he was missing me a bit that day and if I'm wrong then please don't tell me. So after he returned home he came downstairs and said "Mom, I've got something for you". I just assumed it was trash or laundry and was completely surprised when he handed me a bag. Inside was this lovely vase he had picked out and painted for me. It has flowers all around it and says MOM with little hearts next to it. I immediately grabbed him and gave him a big hug and put it where I will see it everyday. It's there to remind me how much my children do love me, even if they aren't always bearing gifts to show it. I love my new vase!


And I know it's sideways but for whatever reason I am having a hard time fixing that right now so just tilt your head a bit and you'll see it.

Lapsing in my duty

I've been informed that I've been a bad blogger. I've not been posting everyday and sometimes not even every other day. I will try to do better, truly I will. It just seems like my computer time has gone completely by the wayside lately (but I have read a few books that I wanted to so I can't complain to much). So for those of you who want to know what is going on to make my blogging so erratic lately, just pick up the phone and call me. In the background you will probably here at least one (maybe two or three) of my children immediately start to scream and clamour for something or another. I will of course still try to talk to you on the phone because you most likely will be an adult and that would mean that I could use big words while I talk to you and I always enjoy using big words these days. But it will be difficult for an extended conversation with out any interruptions. That's just like here at the Juice Box household. Noisy and chaotic with a touch of lunacy. It's how mom gets through the day.

Opening Day

Today is opening day for our family. Tonight Z. has his first baseball game. Hoss has his first game on Saturday. We always have fun watching the boys play but we are pretty excited about tonight. It will be the first time Z. will be pitching. He'll still play his other positions during other innings (usually 1st and 3rd) but since we haven't seen him pitch in a game before, it should be fun.

Hoss is very excited for all of us to be at his first big T ball game on Saturday. I think he's more excited to have big brother there to cheer for him for a change. He hits pretty good and doesn't need the tee stand most times. Unfortunately his catching and throwing skills need a lot and I do mean a lot of work. He's getting there though. But it's to much fun to watch him and the other little boys playing. Definitely not nearly as serious a game as the bigger boys have.

Fenced in Again

When we bought this house, for some reason it didn't have a fence. The builder is one of the few in our area that doesn't include it. So we knew we would have an added expense of getting a fence put up. Well we have been moved in for over a month now. I have jumped through all the hoops that this ridiculous HOA required and we are now in the process of having our fence put up. I can't tell you how excited I am to be fenced in again. I will now be able to just let the dog out instead of having to actually stand outside with her while she does her business. The kids can now play outside freely without me worrying about them falling off the retaining wall again and again. (Some lessons are a bit harder to learn I guess) We can now start thinking about that shed that Hubs really needs so there will be more room in the garage. And now if we feel like it we can run around outside with the kids without every neighbor in the block laughing at our kids whipping us at tag or whatever game we are playing.

There is a drawback to our fence. It will now block our view of the lake from the backyard. For whatever reason, the HOA wouldn't allow wrought iron. But we will still see the view from all the windows inside and or course out front. Our crazy old bat lady of a neighbor who so rudely accosted Hubs about our fence will not be able to see the lake anymore. She will also not be able to see our "bunch of kids and dog" as she so eloquently put it in her crazed state of mind. I have thought of taping a picture of the view on her side of our fence just so she won't miss it so much. But I heard that she's considering moving now (apparently our fence was the final straw or something like that) so I'm really not to concerned about her keeping her view. I guess I shouldn't tell her that our new neighbors moving in next door our putting up a big fence also. When they do then her yard will essentially be fenced in on all sides. But I don't want to add to her fence burden anymore than I have. Some people are just not happy and I am sorry to say that she is one of them.

I however am a happy person. I'm happy that I am going to have my fence by the end of the weekend. Yes, that makes me happy. It makes my kids happy. It makes the dog happy and it makes Hubs happy. We are going to be such happy people to be around you won't be able to stand it.

And then there were three

Our house has been a bit off balanced the last two weeks and it continues on this week as well. This is because my parents have been taking each of the kids for a week to spend some one on one time with them at their home. First to go was Hoss, this was the first time he actually got to go all by himself. He had lots of fun and lots of milkshakes. I really missed him and the house was very quiet while he was gone. It was also a lot more clean. I soon realized who my two main mess makers are. And when he came home, he looked like this.


Next to go visit was Z. He actually bumped K. from her chosen week but since he was off from school on Spring Break she really didn't have a chance. He to enjoyed lots of milkshakes, movies and made lots of friends at their house. He spent lots of time playing basketball when he wasn't eating. I swear that child gained five pounds last week. The house was quiet and off balanced during his visit as well. But when they returned for the Easter weekend it was all good again. I had a few days with all my kids back home in their own beds like they are supposed to be.

But then K. had to get her visit in and so she hopped in their car when they left and got her first turn at Grandmama and Pappy's house all by herself. She will be a bit more work for them since she is still the youngest and I hope my parents make it through her week without to much trouble. If not, we will just meet at the halfway point and just shorten her trip a bit. My K. can be a bit clingy to her grandmama, kind of like this.


But it was something that both the kids and grandparents have been wanting to do. So we seized the opportunity while we could. I'm sure it will take me weeks to get them back into reality once they are all home again. Baby A. isn't going for a turn. She's still a bit to young for me to let go just yet. But someday she'll get to go. But for now, they are all noticing the difference it makes when just one of them isn't around.

Photo Hunters

This week the theme is metal and I had to look a bit to find one. But I did managae. We took some time out this week to visit the botanical gardens. While there the kids couldn't resist climbing up on this big metalish looking frog fountain. Where they proceeded to spray water everywhere causing anyone with a camera nearby to run. After all what's more fun than that?







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

Wordless Wednesday

Camel Calisthenics



For other WW click here or else you can click here .

Spring Break This Week

This week is spring break along with Holy Week. So that means that I am going to try and spend a little extra time with my children and try to get the most out of Holy Week. I will be a bit sporadic at best.

Wordless Wednesday

Her first pair!




For other WW click here or else you can click here .

Movie Meme

Updated with the Answers

Okay I figure it's been long enough and I can give my answers now.

Only three movie quotes left, can you figure them out. I've added a few more hints.

I saw this movie meme that Lauren did over at Baseball and Bows and thought it was fun. So decided to do it.

Here are the rules:

1. Pick 10 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. No Googling or IMDb-ing. That's cheating, and that's no fun!

So lets see if you guys can figure out my choices.


1. I love this movie, It's The Bourne Identity. I love the character Jason Bourne and if he really existed I'd probably have to leave my husband in search of him. Well unless Hubs wants to come since he likes this character also.

How could I forget about you? You're the only person I know.

2. Amber guessed this one right. It's French Kiss, I love this movie and could watch it over and over and never get tired of it.

(I couldn't pick just one quote from this movie so I had to include my two favorite quotes. )

I like you. But I don't like the way you say with your face all scrunched up, "you're French, aren't you?" And then I don't like how you say, with your eyes all squinty, "all men are bastards."

You'll be one of those grumpy old men sitting in the corner of a crowded cafe, mumbling to yourself, "My ass is twitching. Your people make my ass twitch."

3. Yay Kellan guessed it right. It's Under the Tuscan Sun. This movie is guaranteed to make my husband leave the room.

There's something strange about these trees. It's like they know.
And they know that we know that they know.
They're creepy. Creepy Italian trees. Of course, the baby's going to like them cause it's going to be a creepy Italian baby who goes around saying things like 'Ciao mama' and doing that weird backward hand wave thing. Life is strange. !

4. Nicole guessed this one right. It's Shakespeare in Love. Another film guaranteed to get my husband to leave the room. But how could you not love the beauty of this film.
You are an eager boy. Did you like the play?
I liked it when she stabbed herself, Your Majesty.

5. Lauren guessed this one right first. It's Steel Magnolias. I just love this movie, they have so many favorite quotes to choose from.

Oh! He's a real gentleman! I bet he takes the dishes out of the sink before he PEES in it!

6. Kellan got this one right also. It's meet the Fockers. Nothing says funny like Robert DeNiro and a rubber boob.

I'm wondering why you run around with a rubber boob strapped to your chest!

7. Every year I watch White Christmas over and over. I never get tired of it.

I want you to get married. I want you to have nine children. And if you only spend five minutes a day with each kid, that's forty-five minutes, and I'd at least have time to go out and get a massage or something.

8.Jen guessed this one right. It's Rocky. I don't know why I like this one so much but I do. Guess I have a lot of pent up emotions and want to beat a side of beef or something.

You're gonna eat lightnin' and you're gonna crap thunder!

9. This one is My Blue Heaven. It's Steve Martin who is a mobster put into the witness relocation program. It's an absolute riot. Go rent it now and enjoy a few laughs.

I never touched a gun in my life. That and that alone forever doomed me to middle management.

10. Amber got this one also. It's The Pacifier with Vin Diesel. This is one of my kids favorites and I can't help but laugh along with them. Besides who wouldn't dream of having a buff nanny like that around.

I'm never gonna be able to remember your names because there's not enough time so you're Red One, you're Red Two, you're Red Three, and you're Red Baby.


Have fun and let me know if you play along!

Photo Hunters

This week the theme is different. So I thought I'd show a picture of three of my children. All with very different personalities, likes and dislikes. They have been out playing in what was left of the snow. The snow we got in Texas this past week is also very different from the norm. We very seldom get snow so the fact that we have so much of it in March is definetely out of the norm and different. So there you go, two very different things.



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

Not your typical Texas day

It's March 6. That usually means that for those of us in Texas, spring is here, or well on it's way. And last weekend it was a beautiful 70 degrees outside. But since it is Texas we get fluke weather sometimes. And it appears that this is one of those times. We actually have snow for the second time this week. My children are in snow heaven. I even pulled out the old snowsuit my oldest used to wear while we lived in Finland. It's a bit short for Hoss, but he is nice and warm and somewhat dry so he doesn't care about the high water look so much. Instead all they can do is play in the snow.



And for us in Texas, especially in March, this is proving to be a regular blizzard. Look at how much snow has fallen on my angel in the last two hours. I don't think it's snowed this fast and this much in years.


Okay all you true snow bunnies, you can stop laughing at how excited we are over what to you looks like a dusting of snow. I can hear the pleading for Hot Chocolate aleady.

Wordless Wednesday

Mom, it's stuck!





For other WW click here or else you can click here .

Look Who's Forty

Hubs turned 40 on Sunday. And there is no way that I could let it pass quietly by. Even though we are still unpacking, I decided to call a few friends and have them come celebrated Hubs getting older. So I thought I'd share a few pictures of our good times.

Even though he's old, I still held him responsible for the grill. But he had lots of chaperone's to make sure he didn't forget to take them off the grill.

And since he had some great friends, he had lots of teasing about his age. No matter what his argument was, he was still older than 99% of the guests there. And we reminded him at every opportunity.


After our geriatric grill master finished our dinner. We had to sit around and visit for a long while. At least as long as the kids would let us. They were begging for cake. So we decided to light his candles. But not to worry, we kept a fire extinguisher close by just in case it was needed. Hubs took it all in good fun.



He has promised to pay me back when I turn forty. But since I know his memory is slipping I doubt he will remember it when the time comes.


The only two guys not picking on Hubs to bad were our good friends Greg (he turns forty in two weeks) and Mike (black hair in the picture below) who has already reached that milestone.




It was a fun night with the three F's, friends, family and forty year old Hubs. It ended a bit earlier than the parties in our heyday, but since it was a school night and we really are all old now, nobody complained.

Doing the Dishes

Since moving to our new home, doing the dishes just got a bit nicer. I still have way to many dirty dishes to even want to talk about though. We still have a great dishwasher which I couldn't live without either. (Well maybe technically I could but I really don't want to risk it). So while none of this is any different than what doing the dishes was like at my old house, my perspective has changed a bit.

Now when I am stuck at the sink washing those dishes that can't go in the dishwasher (Whether it's because it's full and I forgot to run it or because it's full and I need to unload it whatever the case may be) I have a window to look out of. And for the last six plus years I haven't had a window to look out while I'm doing the dishes. And now that I have a window I can fully appreciate the view that is something besides dirty dishes.

So I thought I'd show you the view. But to make it authentic, I decided that it needed to show the actual view from my sink inside the house. So that meant that I had to move all those before mentioned dirty dishes out of the way. Then I had to drag a chair over to the counter so I could climb up on it, in order to pull up the blinds, and since I was already there I just stood on the counter to get a higher angle (something my kids would get in big trouble for). Then I grabbed my camera and took a few pictures.

So now you can see what it is that I'm looking at when I do those piles and towers of dishes.


It's beautiful isn't it? It almost makes me forget all those dishes are there. Well at least until I look down from the window into the sink. But then I try to look away again as soon as I can. Anything to avoid those dishes a minute longer.

Congratulations

I just have to share with my few readers the excitement I have right now. My friend Nicole just had her fifth baby this morning. It's a beautiful baby girl. So go wish her and her husband Travis a big congratultions.

One room left

I am proud to say that we only have one room left with boxes. It's our office. But it's filled with boxes of things that I can't put away until we get some new shelves put up. I'm thinking I can actually have Hubs start hanging things on the wall this weekend. Then I can finally relax a bit. I truly hate having things in boxes and not in their right place. But since I had to have the majority of the house put back together for the cleaners, I had major incentive to get it all done. And now because I just LOVE LOVE LOVE Elsa and her magic Dyson I can now enjoy a clean house tonight. Yay for almost being done with everything involved with unpacking. Yay for having my house Elsafied.

And I'm sure your saying yay that such a petty and non substantial post such as this is now over.

To my fellow shoppers

To my fellow shoppers at the grocery store today.

Yes, that was my youngest 22 month old daughter you heard screaming through out the aisles. Yes, it was me that did not pick her up out of the basket like she really wanted. Yes, I am mean enough to let her have a temper tantrum for at least fifteen to twenty minutes. You see, I was trying to finish my shopping as quickly as I could so that me and my three children could leave that store. I really couldn't carry her at the same time as trying to shop and push the cart. And no I really didn't feel like letting her walk, since I was in a bit of a hurry and a tad bit frustrated with her behaviour. So if my screaming child disturbed you while you were talking on the phone or otherwise just looking through your coupon book it really was just unfortunate for you. And to my fellow shopper who actually had the nerve to comment on my screaming daughter, you are truly lucky that I didn't grab your cane from you and tell my children you were a pinata. I'm sure that would have stopped the screaming immediately. (Well at least until they realized you weren't going to provide any candy) My daughter is almost two, but you were well over fifty and definitely know better so shame on you.

But unless you think I'm just a mean stressed out, hateful woman I would like to thank the other mom's that were out shopping at the same time as me. Your sweet encouraging smiles that showed me we have all been there at some point were appreciated and I thank you for that.

Found

I have finally found the missing dance shoes. They were in a box hiding in the boxes in the garage. A very safe place indeed. Now K. is very excited to be going back to her dance class tommorow. After two weeks of quiet tapping she is ready to make some noise.

Cost Breakdown and reality check

I've mentioned how our family has been fighting one thing or another this past winter ever since Christmas. So I thought I'd break it down a bit. I'd just like to add that I'm very thankful that we do have insurance which generally covers most of the basic things and then some. But still we do have our share to pay. Over the last two months we have had about thirteen or fourteen office visits which is right around $280 in co pays. Add in the cost of various prescriptions both preventative and antibiotics and you can add in at least another $250 plus. Now for some of you that $530 total over the last two months may not seem like much but for us it is.

But it has really hit home for poor Z. since it now means he will have to wait just a bit longer for that flat screen he wants so badly for his room. I don't know how he got the idea in his head that he needed one. After telling him how much we have spent on keeping this family somewhat healthy this winter he sadly admitted defeat at getting one anytime soon. He is still pretty hopeful that this spring will prove to be a better season for him. Oh, to have such optimism.

Lost in the Boxes

Well we are offically in our new home. I can proudly say that we are all sleeping in our own beds again. Our pantry is now restocked and the kitchen is pretty much organized. The office is half way done along with the master closet. That's all the great news.

Now here's the reality of the rest of it. I have no idea for the second week now where K.'s dance shoes are. She keeps going to her tap and ballet class barefoot and doesn't think it's fun anymore. I think the kids have some quiet activities to keep them occupied while I try to unpack, but I don't know what box they are in. I think they are in the same box with the baby wipes and diapers. I have yet to find a heavy jacket for the kids so I can only hope the weather stays mild. I have only found half of the medicine cabinet but I'm not to worried about that, Baby A. should find it for me when I'm not looking (she's helpful like that). We are surrounded by boxes everywhere.

I must admit to being a bit discouraged at how much we have done and yet still seeing so many boxes left. But between all the sick kids we have been dealing with during this move, I have made progress. But I am sure that I will soon be able to see the floors again and maybe one day be able to park in the garage, once we get rid of all these boxes.

Wordless Wednesday

"Leaf Love"




For other WW click here or else you can click here .

To Much Happening

I have a lot to do this week since we are moving. Also, Hoss has strep throat and major problems with his asthma right now and Baby A. isn't doing much better. I will be sporadic at best in the blogging world but hopefully will be back full force sometime next week.

Photo Hunters

This weeks theme is heavy. So since we are in the middle of moving right now I decided to save myself a bit of time and go through some of my old photos. Here is a picture of my youngest this past fall. As you can see, she was determined to pick up the "ball", but it proved to be a bit to heavy for her. She sat there straining, huffing and puffing for quite a while. Such a determined young thing. And mean mommy that I am, I just sat there and took pictures instead of helping her.



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

I spilled it

I am trying to win a Wii. Not for me mind you but for the kids (Hubs is included in this category). Well Ree over at Pioneer Woman is having one of her famous giveaways but she wants us to share an embarrassing moment.

Well I can't very well share it with her and not share it with you guys. After all, it's always more fun to have a really embarrasing moment and then have everyone point and laugh at you.

So without further ado, I'll share one of my many embarrasing moments. Hubs and I are recent Catholics. We joined the church about three years ago. At that time we both had to do our First Holy Communion. This is where we eat the communion wafer (Body of Christ) and drink the wine (Blood of Christ). We had been instructed to be very careful not to drop the wafer so naturally I was very nervous about this. But I handled it just fine. No shakes or slip ups there.

But then I moved over to the wine. I don't know what happened, I really don't. I went and reached for the cup and it all seemed just fine. I put the cup to my lips and prepared to take a sip. Then it happened. I spilled the wine (Blood of Christ) all down the front of my white blouse. I just froze, I didn't know what to do. I couldn't move and I couldn't hand the cup back to the Eucharistic Minister. And I most certainly couldn't let the priest see that I now had all of God's Blood down the front of my shirt, let alone the 200+ people that were there for Easter Vigil. As I'm standing there I am wondering what was the Father going to say to me or do. Will I be doomed to a million Hail Mary's for this? Well the Eucharistic Minister assured me I was okay and prompted me out of the way. At which point I found my feet and rushed back to my seat.

I can still feel the embarrassment creeping up my face years later. And as for me spilling or dropping anything since then, it hasn't happened. I'm extra carefull now.

Sweet Dreams

You may recall how I was lucky enough to head out of town a few weeks back. A friend and I hopped in the car and drove the four hours to Austin. We left Friday afternoon after school let out and ended up driving through rainy weather most the time. But since I wasn't the one driving, it didn't really bother me. Except for the fact that as a passenger I get sleepy. I didn't used to be this way but I seemed to have picked it up somewhere along the way. Now being a good passenger I didn't actually fall asleep. Instead I just yawned a bit, well okay a lot and talked about everything that came up with Linda.

When we finally arrive at the hotel, it was cold and rainy. And we were hungry. But since Linda didn't want to get out and drive around anymore we decided to just get some snacks in the sports bar that was in the hotel. And it worked out fine. By the time we had eaten and finished off the drinks we ordered it was getting a bit late. (For me at least because you see I turn into a pumpkin at 10pm everynight) We went back to our room and got ready for bed since we had to be at our conference at 8 the next morning. While washing our faces and brushing our teeth we noticed there had been a leak in the ceiling at some time and commented on how bad the roof was stained. And that was that so then we went to sleep.

Silly me thought that by being four hours away from my children, in a hotel room, would mean that I would get an entire nights sleep without interruption. I was wrong. I was very worried about snoring...either from me or from Linda. You see we hadn't ever shared a room before so it was all new territory. But I had warned her so she at least was prepared for some noise during the night. I was not. So there I am sleeping as soundly as I can and I assume that Linda is doing the same.

That's when I hear this amazing crash and rumble. I jump up and it's completely dark. I'm automatically thinking it's Linda and that she has somehow fallen and hurt herself. But it wasn't she is still in the next bed looking just as startled as I am. So brave girls that we are we turn on the light and go off in search of what that awful noise is that woke us up at 5 a.m. We didn't have to go far. When we got to the sink area we saw that the entire area was a mess and everything was covered in water. It turns out that the stained ceiling we noticed earlier had collapsed.




Why would it collapse just like that? Well whoever had gone in to fix the leak before had just put a big bucket up in the ceiling and then put the ceiling tile back in place. So when this big bucket filled up with water and began to overflow, it got to heavy for the ceiling and it all came crashing down.

So there went my chance at a good night of uninterrupted sleep. Instead I had to deal with wet makeup and clothes and even worse than that wet carpet. We did call down there and get a new room but by that time, sleep was elusive. We did get a free breakfast while we stayed there and they discounted the room that came crashing down from our bill. But still, I think I would have preferred the sleep. As for the guy who put the bucket up there in the first place, I think he needs a lesson in gravity.

Wordless Wednesday

"Just like Pappy"



For other WW click here or else you can click here .

My Soul Mate

I just love my Hubs. He's normally such a quiet sort who will only cut up around those that know him best. But don't be fooled, he does have a fun side that you will see in him every now and then. Take for example the day Hoss came home from preschool with some googly eyed glasses a few months back. I had already been playing around with them with the kids but Hubs decided to join in the fun. And I was quick enough to get a few photos.

Here you see my hottie of a man all googley eyed over Me...



Then I put the googley eyes on and found some redneck teeth to go along with them. Then I struck my best love struck over you pose and Hubs snapped a picture.



So now you can see why Hubs was so googley eyed over Me... I'm quite the looker in this picture. In fact Hubs thought it was so great he took another picture of me on his camera phone. Just to have with him at all times. But for whatever reason, when he showed my beautiful picture to his friends at work, they all cringed.

Some guys don't know a good thing when they see it...that's all I can say. But thankfully Hubs does. Nothing like googley eyes and redneck teeth to make you fall in love all over again.

Only if your Hot

A Conversation with Hoss:


Hoss: Mom, when I get big can I go jogging and running and doing exercise in the neighborhood outside without my shirt on?

Me: You want to run outside without a shirt on when you get big?

Hoss: yeah, Can I?

Me: Only if your Hot and handsome.

Hoss: Yeah, I will be.

Can you feel my redneck pride in my son rising up in my chest.