Like I Have Time For This

Destin Vacation

2011-06-28T20:06:00.000-07:00

Texas Ranger Fan Fest!

2011-01-22T15:37:00.000-08:00

Today we fought the crowd of 400 billion and went to Fan Fest for the Texas Rangers. Didn't get any autographs but took lots of pictures, hit some baseballs, and ran into a few people that we knew. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning.

With the American League trophy

CJ Wilson

A very happy little boy!

Heehee

2011-01-17T07:19:00.000-08:00

Have you seen this? It makes me laugh!

Excerpt from a Dog's Diary.....

8:00 am -- Dog food! My favorite thing!

9:30 am -- A car ride! My favorte thing!

9:40 am -- A walk in the park! My favorite thing!

10:30 am -- Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!

12:00 pm -- Lunch! My favorite thing!

1:00 pm -- Played in the yard! My favorite thing!

3:00 pm -- Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!

5:00 pm -- Milk bones! My favorite thing!

7:00 pm -- Got to play ball! My favorite thing!

8:00 pm -- Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!

11:00 pm -- Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

Excerpts from a cat's diary....

Day 983 of my captivity.

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets.

Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.

The only thing that keeps me going is the dream of escape.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am.

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies". I must learn what this means and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies or snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released -- and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded.

The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now.

Cabo!!

2010-08-07T18:23:00.001-07:00

Had a wonderful time....just me and Blake! Kids were at camp all week so there was no parent guilt about leaving them behind.

Sunset cruise to Land's End

Lover's Beach

Downtown Cabo

View from our hotel room

Relaxation!

Watch out! Wave coming in....

Our hotel

Our Quick Spontaneous Trip to Hot Springs, AR

2010-07-05T18:14:00.000-07:00

On the riverboat

Eating on the water

Started off outside but decided it was a little too humid.

Hot Springs National Park (all 2 blocks of it)

Downtown Hot Springs

One of bathhouses we toured.

Vicious Arkansas guard dogs. Didn't get a picture of the one sleeping on the picnic table. None of them even opened an eye as we walked by.

Panning for crystals.

Hiking through Ouachita National Forest

Go carts in the evening since it didn't involve any walking.

Our Saturday

2010-06-12T14:37:00.000-07:00

A quick visual replay of our Saturday.

1. Head out to Hillsboro airport for Blake to skydive (our gift for Father's Day)

2. Blake jumps out of a perfectly good (but tiny) airplane.

3. Due to the snap of the parachute or the too tight straps, somehow blood supply to his brain is cut off, lights go out, then on, then out, then on, then out again.

4. Lands unconscious and scares us half to death, but is fine in the end.

5. While waiting for the CD of pictures and checking on Blake who is still a bit woozy, commotion erupts 10 feet away when Andrew, not wanting to be outdone, passes out, slips beneath the picnic table he was sitting on, and cracks his head on the concrete.

6. A fun-filled trip the the local hospital where we find out he has not done any real damage to his hard head but is definitely part of my "pass-out-prone" family.

7. Boys are all fine. Girls did not pass out.

8. We have decided not to go anywhere south of Waxahachie since anytime we do, it turns out not so good.

Stay tuned for more adventures in the life of the Brannons!

Tournament Baseball

2010-04-14T19:41:00.000-07:00

Our Mansfield Red Raiders finished third in the tournament last weekend. The boys played well and qualified for the USSSA World Series. Here of some pictures of "Too Cool" (so named because of the shades that he likes to wear).

Newest Project

2010-03-28T20:41:00.000-07:00

Our school is performing a musical next month about the life of Moses. For one of the songs, they needed large numbers for each of the plagues of Egypt. Guess who volunteered to do those. I think they turned out well.

Our trip

2010-03-21T17:25:00.001-07:00

I took lots of pictures from San Antonio. Here are a few.

Alamo

Riverwalk on St. Patrick's Day

Seaworld where the trainers weren't allowed in the water with the whales.

Here is the BBQ place that our GPS tried to take us to. It was typical of the trip. "A comedy of errors!"

We did find this wonderful hole in the wall restraunt a few blocks from the Alamo and our hotel.

Bug, bug, bug

2010-02-09T18:50:00.000-08:00

Ally is doing a puppet skit for this year's LTC (Leadership Training for Christ) and they decided to be bugs. We managed to find most of the puppets and I made the rock puppet that all the bugs are living under (yes, he has a mouth and can talk). My wonderful sister finished the grasshopper (which she created with no pattern)! I had to post a picture of all of them. We should get a gold just on puppet creation alone.

In case you can't tell, we have an ant, a snake (I know that's not a bug but we couldn't find a worm and this one was cute), a spider, a grasshopper, and, of course, a rock.

2010-01-29T18:19:00.000-08:00

Hubby keeps saying that I should just take my blog down since I never use it. Ha. Showed him. Blame it all on the addicting time-sucking universe known as Facebook.

We are the Champions!

2009-09-27T18:32:00.000-07:00

Check out the Mansfield Red Raiders! We won the tournament this weekend. Of course it was 95 degrees all weekend and we look like lobsters....but we won! Andrew scored the winning run in the championship game. Way to go, boy. (He wants everyone to know that he sprinted all the way from first to score). Andrew is in the front row with both "guns" up.

My little entrepreneur

2009-09-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

I found out today that my son has started his own business during class. I got all the details during our drive home. He has 2 employees whom he pays 2 tickets a month. Anderson is his peeler and Olivia is in charge of advertising. It is a free service and he may end up going in the hole so we will have to address this issue. He is already planning to expand in the near future. So if anyone needs his service, see Andrew at his desk in the 3rd grade classroom during regular school hours. What is this service, you ask? Crayon sharpening. My little entrepreneur has found a needed service in the 3rd grade and has the sharpener to get the job done!

On a completely unrelated note.... a word of advice. Never leave a box of cereal on the kitchen counter when you have a bad kitty in the house. Otherwise, when you return after a long day, you will be sweeping little rolling puffs of corn from your entire kitchen floor. Just an FYI.

Gotta go now. Tonight is Open House and the principal just called and she has cracked her elbow so guess who gets to be in charge. Goodie goodie!

I'm a bad mommy

2009-09-20T18:14:00.000-07:00

Remember last time I had to shave my kitty and promised I'd never do it again. Apparently, I lied.

Poor kitty.

And the worst part is Maggie still doesn't recognize him and keeps hissing.

Little League World Series Tournament

2009-07-25T12:57:00.001-07:00

What have I been doing since we got back from vacation?.....

(One of the parents gave us a CD of the series so that is why I can post pictures. Can't post vacation yet since I have no idea where the cord is to connect my camera to the computer.)

We were eliminated on Friday morning and I think we are all baseballed out right now. Andrew was EXHAUSTED by the end of the week. We ran by Sharla's on Friday and when we got home, we all fell asleep for a much needed nap.

6th Grade Graduation

2009-06-19T20:06:00.001-07:00

Since I've been gone...

2009-06-15T20:06:00.000-07:00

Quick update:

1. We are all still breathing, sweating and breathing......and sweating.

2. Computer crashed a few days ago so the whole family has been fighting over the laptop. (guess who usually loses that fight and goes to the end of the line).

3. After much praying over and hitting the computer on the forehead yelling, "Be healed", I have cured the computer and now it is working again (we'll see for how long).

4. Alyssa graduated from school and I only cried a little bit. Junior high here we come!

5. Summer has been here for almost two weeks and it feels like forever. I guess that's good, but I know once July hits, the summer will fly by.

6. Andrew was playing on an All-star team but we were knocked out of the tournament tonight. Oh, rats. I love watching baseball in 100 degree weather. But, another tournament starts next week so.....YIPPEE!

7. Colorado trip. Who's ready? Not me. I still have time though.

8. Oh, Blake bought a new van. The conversation went something like this....
Ring ring (phone rings at work) "Hi, dear wife, remember when I told you I was going to work at home today well instead, I'm going to work at home only half the day and this afternoon I'm going to buy you a new van. Okay? Bye." No, I'm not kidding. But he got a good deal and I like my new van. We still can find it in the parking lot though.

That's about it. Boring but sweaty.

Daily Chuckle

2009-05-01T11:52:00.001-07:00

Warning: You must be at least 18 years old and female to continue reading this post!

This cartoon is totally inappropriate and offensive....and it makes me laugh.

Hello. I'm old.

2009-04-14T18:37:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true. I'm old. And birthdays are no fun anymore. But at least my friends at work made me laugh. This is what greeted me in the morning in my office.

All the windows covered with black and things from my desk all wrapped (like my computer, printer, stapler, phone, kleenex box, all individual pens.....) Then they got the parents and teachers to drop off Luby's senior citizen coupons to me all during the day. But the best moment had to be when one of the two year old classes walked up to me very solemnly and each handed me a coupon saying, "I sorwy you old." Thank you kids.

But my sister brought me some lovely flowers and a wonderful gift certificate to a spa from both sisters and my brother. It was great. I spent the rest of the day figuring out how I'm going to use it. I think I'm going for the big package with a massage, facial, manicure, pedicure. (If I can stand someone touching me for 3 hours!)

(Kitty liked the flowers too!)

2009-03-25T15:09:00.001-07:00

I have a sick little girl. We ended up going home today at about 1:30. I think she just has a bad cold but you know how that is, not really sick enough to stay home but feeling lousy at school and then feeling worse as the day goes on. She is also going to miss LTC practice tonight. But it was nice in one way. I sent her to her room to take a nap (and she is still asleep 3 1/2 hours later) and then I layed down on the couch for an hour. Nothing better than an unplanned nap...during a thunderstorm!

We finally got rain (I'm just glad it waited until Mom and Dad left). As we were leaving the school today, the sky looked like this....

I have never seen clouds like that before. The pictures don't do them justice. They looked like draped fabric. Very cool.

PRCA Talent Show Pt.1

2009-02-27T19:28:00.000-08:00

I have now officially given up on trying to add the talent show video. So instead, you get a couple of still shots.

Andrew and his best friend sang ZZ Top's Sharp Dressed Man.

Ally and her friends did a skit to All the Single Ladies.

And the finale of the night was the sixth grade dancing to Thriller. They did a great job! My friend Rene and I did the hair and makeup. And Dawn was the director. It was really good! Of course now the 5th grade is wanting to know what they are going to do next year.

Now that the talent show and Ally's science project is over, I am feeling a lot less stressed. And only two more weeks until Spring Break!

How to Recognize Stress....

2009-02-19T06:42:00.000-08:00

This is registration week at work. On top of that, it's the final talent show practices and I still need to get costumes finished. Plus, Ally has a huge project to complete and is totally confused. Then lets add a field trip on Friday and all the paperwork and details that need to be worked out. And then, there are daily tours of the school (yesterday I had three back to back). Not to mention the pre-school's circus and the program, decorations, etc. that go with that. Added on top, we have no food in the house so I need to go shopping, the library books are due, my house is a mess and the only way to get through the kid's rooms is by jungle vine, LTC practices twice a week, basketball practice and games each week, baseball practice starting, children and pets that think they need my attention, a husband who needs the same....

All this to say. Something was bound to break and today I believe that it did......

Not only do my shoes not match but they look nothing alike; one is blue and one is brown and even the heels are different. I didn't even notice until I got into the office. Can I just go home now?

Monsters, Candy and Songs

2009-02-16T18:41:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day. The kids decided to make valentines for their classes this year instead of just buying a box. Thank you Family Fun magazine.

Andrew made monsters attached to a heart full of candy (the sign says "I have my eye on you")....

Ally made I-pods out of a box of conversation hearts (since she is never without hers)....

And they made these for their teachers....

I had told Blake not to buy me flowers since I was feeling "over-commercialized" this year. So instead I was surprised at work by a singing telegram. It was very sweet and a total suprise! Of course I was in such shock that I didn't video them or even take a single picture. And through the whole first song, I kept thinking, "Did they really say this was for me? Am I stealing someone else's telegram?" He done good. I think I'll keep him.

2009-02-11T11:46:00.001-08:00

The sun is shining. The birds are singing. And I am not tempted to rip anyone's head off today. It's amazing what a good night's sleep, lunch with your sister and venting will do for a person's attitude.

Don't mess with me today!

2009-02-10T13:41:00.001-08:00

Just to let all you parents know...

1. It is not my job to know when exactly your child has talent show practice, whether or not they ordered lunch today, what homework they should have done, when your class valentine party is, or what "the mean kid" said to your little angel.

2. Read your notes that come home from the school. You need to know this information. That is why we send it home. Oh, and it's also not my fault that little Johnny didn't give it to you. Check the pile of squished papers in the bottom of his backpack like I do.

3. A "deadline" is the latest time when something should be completed. It is not a vague general suggestion. If you miss it, too bad. How do you work at your job if you cannot get this concept? Does your boss let you keep sliding? And it is not my job to keep reminding you that something is due! I think three notes/e-mails are enough.

4. If your child is sick enough to have medicine or looks like death warmed over, DO NOT send him to school. We will be calling you as soon as the tylenol wears off and the fever comes back. Meanwhile, all you have done is expose everyone else.

5. To the parents who do the above evil. Do not complain when your child gets sick because someone else did the same thing.

6. The school closes at 3:30. Just because I happen to be in the building until 4, does not mean I am still working and want to deal with you. So stop buzzing the button for me to let you in. I will just sit here typing and ignore you until you read the note that was sent home (see #2) and call the person who you need to talk to in the first place.

7. If your child misses school, we will be happy to send home missed work but you will need to wait until the end of the day like it says in your student handbook. If you call at 9, it will not be ready for you to pick up at 10. Sorry.

8. Stop calling me to chat. I'm busy and don't really care what gross bodily functions your child is taking care of now.

9. If you are leaving our school, do not tell me the great things about the school you are thinking about. By pulling your child from our school, you are effecting my job and I can't pretend that I'm excited for you. I understand that we cannot meet every child's needs, but that doesn't mean that I want to keep hearing it. Oh, and your little angel who is perfect but not doing well here, will have the same problems at another school because I have seen their behavior and attitude. Good luck.

10. If you do not like public schools, keep it to yourself, especially if there are students around. Some of those kids will be going to public school and, you know what, they will be fine. So stop filling their heads with how "terrible" the public education system is. I went to public school and I'm just fine. Happy and fine. See how happy I am.

Okay. I feel better now. Thanks for letting me get this out of my system. I was about to blow up. I know it's only Tuesday but it has been a really LONG week. At least Sharla is coming down tomorrow. Then she can hear me complain about how my fridge stopped working and Andrew's closet clothes rack fell as I was trying to get ready today. How much longer until Spring Break?

My Day...

2009-01-14T08:31:00.001-08:00

In the span of two hours, our school received the following donations:

a check for $3,000

a box of expired pork fat

Use your imagination on which one we kept and which one ended up in the dumpster. And no, we did not use the money to buy more pork fat.

Sorry, I just had to post this. The P.E. teacher and I just sat here for the last 20 minutes laughing hysterically about this and I had to share our joy!

Last Day of Christmas Break...

2009-01-04T13:57:00.000-08:00

2009-01-02T14:52:00.000-08:00

Don't you think that if a person is sick for 4 days over the holidays, they should get that same amount of time off once school starts again? So unfair! If I'm going to be that puny, at least I should have gotten to miss work. But, I do feel better today and it was a great jump start to the diet!

I have been trying to post my favorite commercial from the holiday season but I wasn't able to so here is a link to it. This makes me laugh everytime I see it. I think they were following me over the last month!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTZv76R5FTo

2008-12-28T10:58:00.001-08:00

Ally has joined the blogging world! She was feeling left out since at least one child from each family has their own blog. (Thanks Tracy and Sharla). Here is her site: http://talesfromashopahalic.blogspot.com/

I take no responsiblity for content or spelling.

I could now tell you about our Christmas but there is not much to tell so just go to Sharla's blog and insert my family's names.

Quote of the Day

2008-12-12T11:47:00.000-08:00

Said at lunch today by me, to Melania:

"Sweetie, please don't color me."

(though the green crayon stripe down my new blue pants does add a certain charm)

The Nutcracker

2008-12-03T08:17:00.000-08:00

Our school went on a field trip yesterday to go see the ballet, The Nutcracker, and I actually got to go! It was an abbreviated version so it only lasted an hour but my kids were still bored for the most part. I liked it. Of course when we left, I was informed by the 2nd grade boys that there wasn't enough fighting and when the mouse king's head was cut off, there was no blood. How disappointing.

Andrew did recognize one of the songs. It was this one...

So when we got home, Andrew was humming this part of the ballet and got a puzzled look on his face. "Mom," he asked, "is that a BonJovi song?" hee hee

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-26T21:26:00.001-08:00

2008-11-14T07:42:00.000-08:00

Okay family, I need your help. Let me tell you the whole story.

My friend, Dawn, is the school's PE teacher and also watches the pre-school teachers kids before class out on the playground. So far this year she has found - on our enclosed secure playground - some personal unmentionables, child poop in a playhouse, cat poop in our sandbox, a homeless man....twice, and the latest, a family of dying mice. (Needless to say, she wants a raise.)

So, to lighten her mood one morning, I found one of our cat toys that looks like a real mouse and put it on her purse that she keeps in my office with a note saying, "Dawn, where are you? We are waiting to play with you!". hee hee. Laughter ensued all around. So THEN I found more mice and put them in her PE closet in a line with a note that said, "Follow me! I think Dawn is in here!" hee hee. Again laughter ensued up and down the halls.

Well that was two weeks ago and she still has my mice and my kitty wants them back. So Tuesday, I made a wanted sign with her picture on it and posted it on her PE closet.

Laughter is now ensuing ALL over the academy since the kids have all seen the poster. (Yes, I know, I have WAY too much time on my hands. But it's more fun than working.) So today, my sweet little boy's teacher called down and said Andrew needed to talk to me. Apparently he was worried about me (I had a stomach pain-that-doesn't-exist attack last night). So I went and let him know I was fine. Came back to my desk and found a mouse toy with google eyes and lips waiting to kiss me! Dawn set me up using my own child! So needless to say he is grounded along with the whole second grade class who all knew.

So here is my question...what can I do to get her back? My creative juices has all dried up and I can't just let it drop! hee hee

Help Me, I'm Losing My Mind!

2008-11-04T19:51:00.000-08:00

Since we are not talking election results in my house tonight, I am pondering some of life's great mysteries. Tonight while tucking Andrew into bed, I started to tell him not to let the bedbugs bite. Which naturally led to a plethora of bedbug songs. Which then led to a giggle fest during one such song. Which led to the mystery of the evening....WHAT ARE THE WORDS TO THIS DUMB SONG!

(hum hum hum)
(hum hum hum)
The beetles and the bedbugs, were playing a game of ball.
The score was (hum hum), the beetles were ahead.
The bedbugs hit a home run, and knocked me out of bed...

I remember the chorus from here on. But help me....I'm losing my mind over this.

Happy Halloween (a day early)!

2008-10-30T17:47:00.000-07:00

Since we are going to Sharla's tomorrow and crashing her neighborhood party, we had to celebrate Halloween tonight with our first annual "Gross Out Dinner". We had...

Mummy Wraps...

Eyeballs and Spiders...

Fried Brains...

Bloody Lady Fingers....

Giant Spider Eyes...

Blood to drink...

And for dessert, the traditional worms and dirt!

Yes, it took way too long and yes, I was tired after working all day...but it was well worth it. I love Halloween!

And here are my goblins.

I like this!

2008-10-27T17:24:00.000-07:00

Hee Hee

2008-10-21T10:20:00.000-07:00

The church office brought this over today to let us get a good laugh. It had come in the mail. Anybody want to go?

The old and the new

2008-10-11T15:23:00.000-07:00

Everyone is posting videos so I'm going to try. Here is Andrew's baseball game from today. I tried to catch him batting but the kid batting right before him hit the first pitch and then so did Andrew. I didn't have enough time to set up...but I got him running the bases.

(OK. Never mind. I got tired of waiting.....)

Also, I am posting the "new" Ally picture. (Stop nagging me, Sharla). In the last 6 weeks, she has gotten her ears pierced, gotten new glasses and CUT her hair.

Here is how much hair she cut off...

And here she is....

Sniff Sniff Pt. 3

2008-10-10T10:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, this is just ridiculous now! I went back to the eye doctor today and I STILL have an infection. It's not any better and I am following all her rules! Oh, and she told me that apparently I have white spots on my eye. So now I have to go see a cornea specialist... in downtown Fort Worth or way up in Hurst. Maybe I'll just gouge my eyes out and save myself all this bother. (at least she gave me my glasses prescription so I can get out of these scratched ones.)

Sniff Sniff Pt. 2

2008-10-03T09:52:00.001-07:00

Waaaaaaaa! I went back to the eye doctor today and I STILL have an infection in both eyes! But for this week, I only have to use the drops three times a day instead of bathing in it. Progress but still wearing 80's style, scratched, wrong prescription glasses that give me a headache everyday!

So to make myself feel better, I'll watch this.....

Thank you, Sharla for getting "Dat's mah head" stuck in mah head all day.

Sniff Sniff

2008-10-02T08:24:00.000-07:00

All I can say is that I'm glad I'm not wearing eye makeup right now.

Today our school maintenance man, Teddy, came to school for a visit. (He was in a motorcycle accident about a month ago and is still recovering). All the children lined the main hall to cheer him as he came in the door. Then one of our third graders led the most beautiful prayer. Between seeing how well Teddy is recovering and hearing those wonderful words, I'm a blubbering mess... but in a good way.

Help Me! I can't see!!

2008-09-28T16:45:00.000-07:00

Thursday I took my daughter to get her eyes checked. It really needed to be done before school started but I ran out of time. She was hit in PE this week and bend her glasses so I figured it was time. I also figured that it was time for me to get mine checked too since I've been having some trouble with my contacts.

So there I was sitting in the doctor's chair with the big contraption on my face and the doctor flipping lenses saying, "one or two", "one or two". Ummmmm, neither? Everything was blurry! Aaauuuggghh! I'm going more blind than I already was! So the doctor removes one contraption and uses another and then proceeds to say, "Ohhhhhh" as she looks in my eye. Turns out I have a bad infection in my right eye. Let's look in the other eye. "Ohhhhh". Turns out I have a bad infection in my left eye. No wonder I haven't been able to see very well. She went through all the symptoms that I "must" have been having with the infection but I have had NONE. I just couldn't see very well.

So now I have to throw away my contacts (that I just replaced a few days ago), my cases, my solution, my makeup and have to put drops in my eyes for the next week (oh yes, and the TINY bottle of drops cost $77 WITH insurance!) But the worst part of the whole thing is that I have to wear my glasses for the next two weeks. Aauuugghh! So please don't laugh when you see me in my 5 year old glasses.

Sickness and Cemeteries

2008-09-17T18:07:00.000-07:00

Hey, I bet my day was more exciting than yours. First I had to take a sick boy home from school then we went and wandered around a cemetery for about an hour looking for a headstone of someone I don't know for someone I don't know. I really didn't mind doing it but I just started thinking while we were there that most normal mothers don't take their children to cemeteries for afternoon field trips! Oh well.

As I was downloading the pictures tonight I stumbled across this one from a while back. I'm so proud.

What the Olympics SHOULD be

2008-09-07T18:39:00.000-07:00

I'm sad tonight since my parents are leaving tomorrow for home so I needed something to cheer me up and I found this on the internet. He has more routines but I think the bars are the best followed by the beam. Enjoy a chuckle or two.

Prayer Request

2008-08-30T15:30:00.000-07:00

We found out yesterday that our maintenance man from school was in a motorcycle accident on his way home. He apparently landed on his head and wasn't wearing a helmet. Please pray for Teddy Calloway. He needs lots of prayers right now. Teddy is more than just our maintenance man. All the children dearly love him and he is a good friend.

2008-08-18T18:12:00.000-07:00

AAAUUUGGGGHHHH! School starts in 7 days and my list of 125 things to do before August 25 still has 76 things not crossed off!!!

Book Club

2008-08-12T17:27:00.000-07:00

Every blog I read seems to recommend the latest and greatest book out there to enlighten or entertain us. I like to think that this means I have smart friends (and relatives). I love reading and am always looking for a great new author. (Of course with school starting soon, we'll see how much time I have to read!)

Let me join in on the "Book Recommendation" club. I just finished the following book and it was wonderful. It's full of love with some scary parts and lots of drama. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

My week

2008-08-05T14:42:00.000-07:00

I am one child short this week. Ally is at church camp in New Mexico! So while we are fighting 107 degrees, she is having to wear a jacket in the evenings. So not fair. This is the longest she's ever been away from home and I'm having a hard time.

My other child is going to day camp at the school. Today was "wet" day. When I went to pick him this afternoon, this is what greeted me....

Apparently it was also "slime" day. At least he had fun.

SHOES!!

2008-07-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

I had to show everyone what I just found at Target. They are having a HUGE sale. These shoes were $3 each pair!! So cute. Lots of toys are also clearanced!

Lunch anyone?

2008-07-28T15:42:00.000-07:00

There is a new chinese buffet down the street that we decided to try yesterday. Very good food with lots of choices. But then I came across this....

For those of you who can't tell, it is a crawdad and yes, people actually eat these nasty looking things. Don't ask me why a Louisiana dish was on a Chinese buffet but it was. And it was staring at me. All 75 of them sitting there. Staring. Eeewwww. So, being me, I put one of the little critters on my plate and he shared our dining experience with us. (Okay, he had to stay under a napkin the whole time since he was grossing us out.) Then he went on a field trip to our house. I had a whole "Crawdad Tours Texas" blog planned but our kitten found him first and gnawed off his claw. After that it just seemed best to throw the little guy away. Again, just let me say "Eeeewww!"

If It's Not Nailed Down, Out It Goes!!

2008-07-25T15:31:00.000-07:00

So what have I been doing the last few weeks? I'm glad you asked. For some reason I got the cleaning/tossing bug. If we haven't looked at something in the last 3 months it either got thrown away or donated. (for an excellent example of the donating, please see Sharla's very sparkely blog). But I may have gotten a bit carried away. This is now my house....

We have also been dealing with domestic problems. My big fluffy kitty has been moping around the house and not eating very well. Since it was time for his shots anyway, I took him to the vet today.

Needless to say, he wasn't happy with me. But on a happy note, he is fine. Apparently he is still just mad that the kitten is still in his house. I may have shocked him out of his funk since today after we got home he actually slept on his chair at the end of my bed (hasn't done that in days). So to keep him from getting lonely, I napped too.

Newest Family Member

2008-07-11T12:12:00.000-07:00

I'd like you to meet Maggie, our newest daughter. She is 11 weeks old. Very cute and very much a lap cat (which is what we wanted since the other kitty is definitely NOT).

2008-07-02T13:43:00.000-07:00

I was going to write this incredible blog about our "Super Saturday Family Fun Day" last weekend, complete with pictures and a moving poem about the joys of family....but...I can't find the cable to connect my camera to the computer so I had to make due with this.

I think this pretty well sums it up.

2008-06-27T13:32:00.001-07:00

Blake told me yesterday that I should get rid of my blog since I don't seem to do anything with it anymore. Hello....it's summer. I'm not suppose to be doing anything. We have basically been lazy bums for the last few weeks (with a few hours of work thrown in). Since we are not going on vacation this year, I decided that our summer theme was going to be "Summermoviepolusa". The kids and I have already seen Kungfu Panda and are waiting until next week to see Wall-E. And we are going to try to go the the dollar movies ALOT! Hey, cheap entertainment and free air conditioning. Not a bad deal.

Have you ever been wasting time on the computer and find yourself at very odd sites with no idea how you got there? That happened to me today. I found myself reliving my childhood with lots of 70's references. No idea how that came about but the kids just laughed and laughed at the stuff we used to watch and do. So for those of you who used to wear plaid pants and can only sing the constitution's preamble thanks to School House Rock, may I present the following...

2008-06-02T17:57:00.000-07:00

This means nothing but I laughed when I saw it. Although I do see this in my future at some point.

2008-05-22T08:15:00.001-07:00

Blech. What a week. I finally got my house back in order. Of course now I can tell that I need to vacuum and dust. Hey maybe the thieves made that mess too! See, we are still smiling and going on.

I found this guy for sale in a catalog at work and his picture sits at my computer. I thought he sums up things pretty well.

Birthdays, Baseball and Musicals!

2008-05-04T18:43:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to my boy! If you can't tell, the cake is a pokemon ball. Just don't look too closely. I have been so busy at work that I didn't get to make the cake until Saturday night. So it was decorated fairly quickly.
He got to draw what he wanted his cake to look like and of course he choice something from Pokemon. See what you poor families with all girls are missing! The joys of Pokemon! We will be having his birthday party in a few weeks. We couldn't schedule anything until the baseball schedule came out.

Yes, we are spending every Saturday watching little boys play baseball. Blake is coaching his team this year so we get too watch all the boys in the family play. (and Blake has only hit my son twice with a pitch!)

Alyssa had her school's musical this last week. They did a play called "Donkey Tales" that told three stories from the bible about donkeys. It was very good. She had one of the speaking parts so they were off to the side for most of the play.
.
Of course when she went to the center of the stage for her solo, other kids blocked my view. I can't tell you how many tapes we have of half her face during a solo! I always seem to sit in the wrong spot. They performed on Thursday night and then did it again on Friday afternoon. All the kids in the play signed the other student's programs after each show. Even Andrew ran around getting all the "stars" autographs

2008-04-19T12:25:00.000-07:00

This entry is dedicated to my husband of almost 17 years. This is now his favorite song EVER!!

2008-04-13T18:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Alyssa and some of her classmates were asked to perform parts of the school's new musical at a church function. So we headed off to the little town of Cleburne for the afternoon. The church was having a "Cowboy Cookout" at a ranch that grows Christmas trees. They had singing groups performing, hayrides, a maze and playareas for the kids, plus cooking around the campfire. Andrew liked the maze and "shooting" area. Alyssa and her friends seemed to like the sack race best. (By the way, Alyssa and crew did a great job performing!) It was really a pretty fun way to spend an afternoon. It almost makes you want to live in a small Texas town, way out from everything. Almost.

By the way, Andrew has lost some teeth. (and the last front top tooth is VERY loose)

2008-03-29T18:13:00.000-07:00

Do you realize that two weeks ago we were here? Raise your hand if you are ready to go back!

Today's quote

2008-03-11T11:21:00.000-07:00

Raising children is like being pecked to death by chickens.

YEAH!!!

2008-02-17T18:56:00.000-08:00

I am so hooked on this show! Hello. My name is Michelle and I am a Dexter addict. I got my first fix during a Showtime preview. I would count the hours until my Dexter would come to my tv. I have been going through serious withdrawl since the preview ended but now I am saved because my show is now on CBS! True, it is a tad morbid, a smidge dark but I still like it! It is starting at the beginning of the series and I came in at the end of the last season but I think I can manage. Now, if you will excuse me, my Dexter is calling to me.

Blech

2008-02-12T16:50:00.000-08:00

Well, my lysol didn't work! I managed to get sick so today I did something I haven't done in years (3 years I think)....I took a personal sick day. And I felt guilty all day about it. Actually, not too guilty since I slept most of the day. Got up and drove the kids to school and then went back to bed until 2. Hopefully this will knock it out and I'll be back on schedule tomorrow.

2008-02-03T17:14:00.000-08:00

For those of you who are living under a rock...Hannah Montana is the biggest thing EVER! (at least at our house). With that in mind, I took my two children to see the new Hannah Montana 3-D movie today. We actually had to buy tickets weeks ago to make sure we got them. It really wasn't a bad movie, for a kid's concert movie. The kids absolutely loved it. Ally liked everything (especially the Jonas Brothers) and Andrew liked the 3-D effects. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon. I figured I'd be bored silly but I actually enjoyed myself (if anyone repeats that, I'll deny I ever said it). Maybe this will appease my tween who has never let me forget that she didn't get to go see the real concert when it came to town and some of her friends did.

I'm hoping my week will go a little easier this week than last. The flu is running out of control through the school halls and has knocked out quite a few teachers as well as students. Luckily we have managed to stay healthy so far. I just keep lysoling everything CONSTANTLY. I think tomorrow I will wear my haz-mat suit just in case. Or at least my very stylish face mask.

Bad mommy

2008-01-23T19:38:00.000-08:00

I took my cute little kitty into the groomers on Tuesday to make him all pretty again. (he doesn't like to be brushed and had gotten quite a few tangles.) Last time I took him, they were able to brush them all out. Oooops. Not this time. So we now have this at our house.....

Before:

And you saw the sad after. I promise to all in blogger-land. I will never let my kitty get so tangled again that he has to be shaved like a lion. I still don't think he has forgiven me. (And stop laughing at him. You'll hurt his feelings. HeeHeeheeehehehehehehehheheee) poor kitty.

2008-01-16T14:16:00.001-08:00

The quote that topped the bad dining experience:

Waiter (after bringing the children their ice cream): Oh, do you need spoons with that?

Duh.

Andrew Update

2007-12-23T16:45:00.000-08:00

We have now had 48 straight hours painfree!! I'm going to cancel the doctor's appointment right after Christmas!

2007-12-19T17:06:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't know, I thought I would catch everyone up on how exciting our lives have been this last week.

Last Saturday night, Andrew woke up with a stomach ache that lasted until Monday when we took him to the doctor. Doctor's solution was to give him laxatives. Still not better by Thursday, so back to the doctor we went. He sent us to a lab for x-ray (came back normal-no blockage) and then blood work (again, came back normal, including two tests that just came back today). Pain was so bad on Friday night that I took him to the ER just so I could do something to try to help. BIG waste of time. Still had a little boy writhing in pain each night on the floor. Went to Cooks Children's Hospital on Monday for an ultrasound (all normal).

Next step is a trip to a gastoenterologist. But on the bright side, he seems to be improving. Yesterday he ate lunch and played outside and we were doing better today until about 1 hour ago when he laid back down on the couch saying his stomachache was back again. (oh, he did wake up last night at about 2:30 with pain and after rocking him in the living room for a while I heard his tummy growl. So he ate a granola bar and seemed to be better. I guess if you don't eat for a week, you get a bit hungry.) A nurse told me at Cooks on Monday that there is a virus going around that seems to do this to some kids. I'm hanging on the that. I'm still going to schedule the next doctor visit and if he gets better, then we can always cancel it. I'm just really tired of worrying about him.

Thanks for everyone's prayers. I'll keep you posted.

My week in one word...

2007-12-07T07:48:00.000-08:00

AAUUUGGGHHHH!! Thank you. I feel much better now.

Bethlehem Revisited, Again

2007-11-30T18:57:00.000-08:00

Tonight was our annual trek to the little town of Waxahachie where a church there recreates Bethlehem. You follow from Herrod's court to the city gates and on to the inn until you find Mary, Joseph and Jesus in the stable. Everyone is in costume and character. My favorite quote of the night came from the carpenter who was making table legs, "What is this Waxahachie of which you speak? It sounds like a sneeze." I highly recommend going if you can.

Happy Birthday, Alyssa!

2007-11-28T14:34:00.001-08:00

Oh, how time flies!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T17:35:00.001-08:00

Hope your day was wonderful and filled with family and lots of food (and very little football). The kids made turkey cupcakes to celebrate "turkey day". Cute but a little unnerving when they all sit in their pan and stare at you.

IT'S OVER!

2007-11-18T14:27:00.000-08:00

You will never guess what we did this weekend. Alyssa and I went camping with her girl scout troop! It was a mom-and-me campout...in tents....not cabins...in November...in tents. We are all very dirty and very tired but I think all the girls had a good time. It was actually quite warm, even at night so we were fine sleeping in sweats and our sleeping bags. Of course we got home this afternoon and Blake told us we smelled. Well of course we smell. We are rugged outdoors women.

The sleeping situation almost had us spending the night in the car though. We got to the state park campground in the morning and set up all the tents (10 in all) first thing. We set up the tent they gave us with the other mom/daughter sharing it and we couldn't find the rain tarp. Okay, no big deal, we will find it later (never did). Eat lunch, work on badges and then go on a nature walk. At the end of the hike through the woods, we start to feel raindrops. Yup. It started to rain. Oh, not a big gushing "open up the clouds" rain but enough to get sleeping bags wet if you don't hurry. So we all run to our tent and throw all of our stuff in someone else's tent before it got wet. While it continues to rain, 4 moms (3 of which have never camped in tents before-including me) tear down our old tarp-less tent and put up a new tarp-included tent...in the rain....and now mud....with no previous experience. We didn't do half bad though.

After a wet soggy dinner, we sent the girls to organize the sleeping bags in our tent. Back they run to the campfire. Apparently, Alyssa's sleeping bag is wet. And not just a little wet, it has a puddle in the middle of it. We never did figure out where the leak was. Okay, we can still deal with this. Put the soggy sleeping bag in the car, move everything else to yet another tent that luckily had room for us. Ask another mother who just happened to have an extra sleeping bag if we could use it. Problem solved. Or so you would think. After a moonlight hike and smores we went back to the tent to start to get ready for bed and guess what. The other sleeping bag is wet. We just thought only one was ruined before. Nope, both are. Take wet sleeping bag and let it join its brother in the car while we break down and cry. Not really but I had had enough at about this point and so had my sleepy daughter. Luckily, our leader had yet another extra sleeping bag. Oh yes, almost forgot, our pillows got wet the first time too.

We finally had a dry night and Alyssa slept pretty well. Unfortunately, I was sleeping on an acorn, listening to someone snore and hearing things walk in the woods most of the night. Needless to say, I am tired today. Luckily, it is only a two day work week.

I guess God was trying to tell me that I shouldn't go camping. But over all, we had a good time and it was nice to spend time with my daughter. I got lots of hugs and unsolicited "I love yous". That right there makes it worth while.

2007-11-07T18:20:00.000-08:00

Okay, I just realized that I never posted pictures of my trick-or-treaters. I knew you couldn't live without seeing them. I had a spa girl and a musketeer (note: I actually made Andrew's costume, okay, not the hat. Impressed? I know I was.)

This is all you get from me for today because I woke up out of a sound sleep this morning at 4 a.m. with a HUGE headache and I still have it. At least I don't feel like taking a chainsaw and removing my head anymore...I'm just at a dull ache.

Oh, dear Christian College....

2007-10-22T18:18:00.000-07:00

Guess where we went this weekend? It was ACU's homecoming so I took some pictures to walk some of you down memory lane.

Like father, like son

2007-10-02T19:55:00.000-07:00

2007-09-27T18:08:00.000-07:00

I'm going to try to post a video so please let this work. They play this song every morning on my radio station at work and I LOVE IT.

2007-09-12T08:01:00.000-07:00

Prayers of the Stressed

Lord, help me to relax about insignificant details beginning tomorrow at 7:41:23 a.m.

Help me to consider people's feelings, even if most of them are hypersensitive.

Help me to take responsibility for my own actions, even though they're usually not my fault.

Help me to not try to run everything. But, if You need some help, please feel free to ask!

Help me to be more laid back and help me to do it exactly right.

Help me to take things more seriously, especially laughter, parties and dancing.

Give me patience, and I mean right NOW!

Help me not be a perfectionist. (Did I spell that correctly?)

Help me to finish everything I sta

Help me to keep my mind on one th - Look a bird! - ing at a time.

Help me to do only what I can, and trust you for the rest. And would you mind putting that in writing?

Keep me open to others' ideas, WRONG though they may be.

Help me be less independent, but let me do it my way.

Help me slow down and not rush through what I do. And hurry up about it!

Amen

One of my After-School Care teachers is quitting in two weeks! AAUUGGHH. Anyone want to come work for me 3 afternoons a week? I'm really nice.

2007-09-09T18:24:00.000-07:00

We have survived the first two weeks of school! Only 34 more to go. Kids are both enjoying school but I'm not liking this year. I started crying the Sunday before school started and haven't seemed to stop yet. I don't like my kids getting older. I think it all stems from the Sunday that we did the bible class promotion and I realized that I don't have anybody in the preschool hall anymore. And now Andrew has to wear a uniform everyday so he looks all grown up. Did I mention that I'm not liking this year? At least I have a sympathetic ear. Our PE teacher at school has a girl in Alyssa's class and a boy in Andrew's and she is in the exact same emotional wreckage boat that I am. We both went around the first week of school with red eyes.

Our family did get to have fun this weekend though. A couple from church asked us to go with them on their boat on Saturday. Weather was great and we even got the kids to ride in the innertube behind the boat. I would have done it too, you know, but I forgot to wear my swimming suit. Blake rode the daredevil innertube ride and ended up getting flipped out. I wish I had captured it with my camera since he did about 3 cartwheels over the water before he finally landed. The kids just about fell over laughing. I laughed, was concerned for about 3 seconds until I saw him pop up in the water, then kept laughing. Though he realized today that he isn't 20 anymore and is a little sore.

Trip Highlights

2007-07-30T17:43:00.000-07:00

Ally's favorite part: the ocean beach

Blake's favorite part: Alki

Andrew's favorite part: the Mariners game (shocking, huh?)

My favorite part: yes. all. thank you.

Best quote: "The biggest difference between Texas and Washington is that it rains all the time in Texas but not in Seattle." (said by Andrew during the first week....he did change his tune by the second week.)

Best food: tie between casino seafood and dad's salmon!

Worst part of trip: tie between the awful turbulance-filled flight back and having to leave on that awful turbulance-filled flight back in the first place (did I mention we had turbulance?)

Biggest job that didn't get done: Andrew trying to fill up the Sound with rocks.....and the ocean....and any other body of water that needs rocks thrown in it.

Number of items I realized I left: 46 and counting or so it seems.

Number of items I realized I took from mom's house (with permission): 1046 or so it seems.

Number of items I realized I took accidentally: 1 (sorry Tracy, I'll send your DVD back as soon as I can)

Biggest revelation: 9 kitties in one house may be a FEW too many. (but it sure is fun)

Best part about being home: my kitty has forgiven me even if they did spoil him at the kitty hotel. Proof: his favorite place to sleep is my kitchen counter, eeewwww. No kitties allowed where I prepare food.

2007-07-24T20:40:00.000-07:00

We are back from our trip and had a great time. Kinda bummed about getting back into our boring routine but I guess vacations can't last forever. I'll post pictures as soon as I get the 400 or so photos off my camera.

Just had to tell you about our night really quick though. We were sitting around tonight doing nothing when the phone rang and a friend from church offered us 4 free Rangers tickets. Of course it was 6 and the game started at 7:30 but we decided to go ahead since we had no plans anyway. We even got a parking pass in the "good" parking area. Turns out the tickets were behind home plate, row 17 from the field, looking straight down the third base line. And it was only 80 out tonight. The little boy was in heaven and even Ally enjoyed it. (And we actually stayed for the end of the game....twice in 10 days.....wow.) All in all, a good family night.

(Oh, if I don't post for a while, blogger is trying to keep me out. It took me five times to log on and I was about to give up.)

2007-07-02T18:36:00.000-07:00

This was the view from my back door today. If you look hard enough, you can see the neighbor's car. I didn't think I would ever say this, but PLEASE STOP RAINING.

2007-06-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

Why, oh why, can I not find the time to blog this summer? It's not like I'm working 40 hour weeks for the next few months. Let's see if we can figure this out....

1. VBS. Running the kids to and from everyday this week while trying to get a little work thrown in to boot.

2. Kitty. Shots to be exact (since I can't find his adoption papers and all shots need to be current for him to go to kitty camp in a few weeks). He moped around the house for 3 whole days with me feeling guilty the whole time. Never did figure out if it was because of the shots or if he was just mad at me. Either way, I seem to have been forgiven now.

3. Bathing said kitty. Dumb idea.

4. Vacation coming soon!! Suitcases? Clothes to wear? Things to do on the plane? Cameras ready for tons of pictures? House organized? Pets taken care of? And the list seems to go on and on.....

5. Who's dumb idea was it to have a garage sale 2 days before we leave on vacation?!? All my vacation funds are going to be in quarters this year.

6. Yearly summer cleaning and room organization (read: get rid of old toys)

7. Trying to out-swim the flood waters. I think I saw an ark yesterday. Hey, when Texas ends a drought.....we really END THE DROUGHT!!

8. Trying to keep the kids from killing each other out of boredom.

9. Summer = lazy!!

Happy Father's Day!

2007-06-17T18:52:00.000-07:00

Fathers are Wonderful People

Fathers are wonderful people
Too little understood,
And we do not sing their praises
As often as we should...

For, somehow, Father seems to be
The man who pays the bills,
While Mother binds up little hurts
And nurses all our ills...

And Father struggles daily
To live up to "HIS IMAGE"
As protector and provider
And "hero of the scrimmage"...

And perhaps that is the reason
We sometimes get the notion,
That Fathers are not subject
To the thing we call emotion,

But if you look inside Dad's heart,
Where no one else can see
You'll find he's sentimental
And as "soft" as he can be...

But he's so busy every day
In the grueling race of life,
He leaves the sentimental stuff
To his partner and his wife...

But Fathers are just WONDERFUL
In a million different ways,
And they merit loving compliments
And accolade of praise,

For the only reason Dad aspires
To fortune and success
Is to make the family proud of him
And to bring them happiness...

And like OUR HEAVENLY FATHER,
He's a guardian and a guide,
Someone that we can count on
To be ALWAYS ON OUR SIDE.

~Helen Steiner Rice~

SUMMER!!

2007-05-23T15:32:00.000-07:00

We are officially out for summer! The kids have an end-of-the-year party at Putt-Putt tomorrow for a few hours and then that's it. Can you tell that I'm excited. It has been a very long school year and I really need the break. I have to go into the office in June but it's only for 3 hours a morning, a few days each week. Not too bad. Now I just have to figure out how to keep 2 kids busy for the next 13 weeks so nobody drives me crazy and we don't kill each other.

It's All In The Genes

2007-05-15T18:23:00.000-07:00

Oh dear!! Yesterday I was digging through my purse to find gum or something when out popped the following.......

Help me. I'm scared. I guess lots of things are hereditary. Don't worry.....your time is coming when you too will have Sweet 'n Low packets mysteriously find their way into your purse.

Baseball, baseball and more baseball

2007-05-12T18:07:00.000-07:00

We started our baseball weekend off with a t-ball game. Andrew did great! It was nasty hot and after all the storms we have had, it was VERY humid. I ended up getting my first sunburn of the year (just on the top of my thighs from sitting out there. And yes, it looks very attractive.)

Then we celebrated Andrew's birthday at the ballpark. He got to invite 3 friends from school and we braved the WARM weather to watch the Rangers. (Our seats were in the shade so it was a little better.) Of course I hadn't realized that my little boy is fanatical about baseball but not every child is. So after one inning, we had one little boy total enthralled with the game and three who were whining that they were hungry. After a few innings we went down to center field where they have a kids "fun area". The boys got to bat a little and eat a little and even got tattoos. We didn't make it to the end of the game when we had had enough of wrangling wild boys so we left early. Actually it turned out alright. As we were heading out of the ballpark, dark clouds rolled in with thunder and lighting and rain. We made it to the car before it started to pour and heard on the radio that they were evacuating the upper levels anyway because of the lighting. Andrew was crushed to not see the end of the game so we will have to go again with just the family.

I think Alyssa and I are all baseball-ed out for the week. Andrew, on the other hand, is just getting started.

2007-05-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

MEN are just Happier People.....

Your last name stays put.
The garage is all yours.
Wedding plans take care of themselves.
Chocolate is just another snack.
You can be President. OK - maybe Hillary will flirt with it this year but seriously . . .
You can never be pregnant.
You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. You can wear NO shirt to a water park.
Car mechanics tell you the truth.

The world is your urinal.
You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too "icky".
You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt.
Same work, more pay.
Wrinkles add character. Graying hair adds attraction.
Wedding dress~$5000. Tux rental~$100.
People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them.
The occasional well-rendered belch is practically expected.
New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet.
One mood all the time.

Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat.
A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase.
You can open all your own jars.
If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.
Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack.
Three pairs of shoes are more than enough.
You almost never have strap problems in public.
You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes.

Everything on your face stays its original color.
The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades.
You only have to shave your face and neck.
You can play with toys all your life.
Your belly usually hides your big hips. OK - that one can apply to us too but it's NOT attractive . . . either way!
One wallet and one pair of shoes, one color for all seasons.
You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look.
You can "do" your nails with a pocket knife.
You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.
You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes

2007-04-27T14:17:00.000-07:00

Thought it was about time I caught everyone up on our busy lives. LTC was a few weekends ago so here are some Alyssa pictures from that. She did Bible Quiz, puppets (that's her puppet in the picture), and chorus. Long weekend and very cold but it was worth it.

And Andrew is playing T-ball now. We are suppose to have one game on Tuesdays, one on Saturdays and practice once a week but we keep getting thunderstorms on Tuesdays so now we have LOTS of makeup games to squeeze in. He is a natural at the game though and really loves it. I think we may have found his sport. The coach likes to put him at first since he can catch the ball when his team throw it and keeps his foot on the base.

Our school's talent show was a few weeks ago and both the kids were in it. Alyssa and a friend sang the last song from High School Musical and Andrew was in a hip-hop group. Very cute. They both did great and, in fact, were the last two acts of the show for the "big finale". On the last chorus of Alyssa's song, all the kids got on the stage and sang along. This was the first year for this and I think we are definately doing it again. I bought two copies of the show so I'll send one to mom so everyone up there can enjoy it.

Actually, the main reason I haven't been adding pictures to my blog is that I just now got around to figuring out how to download them from my new camera. I know, the camera is a few months old but better late than never. Really, I just ran out of memory card and didn't have a choice. So now you will get to see lots of my kids.

Alyssa just finished the school musical today so I will post those as soon as I get them on the computer. She didn't have a speaking part but had a few solos and did a GREAT job.

2007-04-07T13:48:00.000-07:00

Soccer game last week, including sunburn:

Soccer game this week:

Welcome to Texas weather. BBBRRRRR!

2007-03-09T19:04:00.000-08:00

IT'S SPRING BREAK!!!! 9 days of freedom!

Maybe I'll get out of my pajamas before noon each day.
Maybe I'll brush my hair before Wednesday.
Maybe I'll pick up one part of one room.
Maybe I'll put on a tinnnnny bit of makeup.
Maybe I'll do something productive.
Maybe I'll let the kids do something fun.
Maybe I'll make it to one soccer practice and cheer.
Maybe I'll pick up the phone if someone calls.
Maybe I'll do more with my day then read, watch mindless TV, and nap.
Maybe I'll wash a dish.
Maybe I'll even cook a meal.
Maybe I'll make my bed on two out of the nine days.
Maybe I'll wash a sock or two.
Maybe I'll feed the cat (okay, he follows me around looking sad if I don't so I guess I have to do that)
Maybe I'll feed the kids. (see above reasoning)
Maybe I'll enjoy my long-deserved break!
Maybe I will. Maybe I won't. It's my break and I'll do what I want. So there.

2007-03-01T18:15:00.000-08:00

I want to play too.....

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? not that I know of
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Ummmmm????? Weeks and weeks ago.
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? yes-- until I see someone else's, then I like theirs better
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? not my favorite but if I have to choose, then ham sliced THIN
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Yes!!
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Definately
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Noooooooo! :)
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? yes
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? only if I totally lost my mind and forgot that that is CRAZY!
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? healthy: wheaties, yummy: cocoa puffs
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? do they untie?
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? no
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? tin roof sunday
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? smile (or lack thereof)
15. RED OR PINK? red!
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? my profile
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? my family-they live way too far away
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING ? blue jeans and brown boots
20 WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? nachos at our school's talent show tonight
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? my husband watching Grey's Anatomy, my son's action figures "fighting" and my daughter singing to herself
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? red
23. FAVORITE SMELLS? fresh, clean babies, outside after the rain, fresh cut grass, vanilla
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE ? a friend from work
25.PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? shhh--I stole it from my sister-in-law
26. HAIR COLOR? nice and easy #118A (or brown, if you want to be boring)
27. EYE COLOUR? blue
28. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? yes
29. FAVORITE FOOD? seafood
30.SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? happy ending, of course
31. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? How to lose a guy in 10 days on TV last week (becoming my favorite movie!)
32. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? pink fuzzy sweater
33. SUMMER OR WINTER . what about spring?
34. HUGS OR Kisses? hugs
35. FAVORITE DESSERT? chocolate anything
38. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING? something mindless that is taking too long and a new book called "How am I smart" about intelligence in kids
39. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? cat fur
40. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST? channel surfed for a while
41. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SOUND? kids laughing, acappella singing of "The Lord Bless You and Keep You"
42. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? beatles!
43. WHAT IS THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Saudi Arabia when I was little
44. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Ummmm??? no???
45. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Renton, WA

A New Me (Sort of)

2007-02-22T15:34:00.000-08:00

Guess what?! I cut my hair off!!! I went in last week for a "trim" and just mentioned that the front was getting a bit heavy so my hair lady says, "Oh, let's texturize it." "Um. Okay.", I say as large chunks of hair start falling on the floor. This is the shortest that I've ever had my hair! She styled it too and Andrew's response was, "You look funny. It's puffy." Not a good confidence builder there. I get home and my dear loving husband's response was, "Well, it doesn't look too 80's." Humft.

It has taken me awhile to figure out what to do with it and whether or not I even like it but I think that I do. I have heard from more than one person that it is "sassy" (whatever that is suppose to mean). But I do like it now. For those of you who know me, I've got this great fear of being one of those women who get stuck with the same hairstyle that they had in high school. That's not me now! I feel so stylish. If I can ever get someone to take a picture of me, I'll let you see it.

2007-02-21T17:14:00.000-08:00

Ok. Not liking this new "have to change" blogger thing. Why can't everyone just leave things alone!

Oh where, oh where, has my little frog gone?

2007-02-10T16:56:00.000-08:00

What is this world coming to?!? I came home on Friday to find out that someone had taken my frog/mirror globe from my front porch. I loved my frog! He would make me smile every time I came home. Blake's feeling is "who would want it" but for those of you who have seen it, you know. He makes people smile. And I've never seen another one like him (especially one that was clearanced for $3.00) Maybe he'll still come home. I know he misses me. (P.S. My frog was soooo much cuter than this one!)

Helllloooooooo!

2007-02-09T08:34:00.000-08:00

So, has everyone given up on me yet? We are still alive and kicking down here. Between work and cheer and scouts and basketball and LTC and homework and Bible Quiz and more work, life has been very busy! You can usually find us home on Thursday nights between 6:15 and 6:20 if anyone wants to call. (So don't tell, but I'm blogging at work right now....I promise I'll work extra hard this afternoon). Then to top everything off, the kids got sick last weekend and are just now getting back into the swing of things. Turns out they had the flu. Good thing we all got those flu shots. At least Blake and I didn't get it so we could just take care of the kids. I don't know about anywhere else, but they are closing schools down here since so many kids are out sick. We had some classes at almost half out. Okay, blogging at work is not WORKING! I keep getting interrupted and this is taking way too long so I guess I'll have to try again later. Imagine...people thinking I should work at work.

Christmas Break

2006-12-18T19:21:00.000-08:00

18 days of no school and no work. What is a girl to do?!?! Today I went to Sharla's and watched her kids while she had another proceedure. They were home by 12 which was a good thing since I had just started going through the cabinets in search of food for the kids. Aunt Michelle was having a brain freeze on what to feed an 18 month-old.

Sunday afternoon our family decided to fight the crowds and go to Toys R Us, just for the fun of it. Shelves were empty and aisles were full. We didn't buy a thing so it wasn't too bad since we didn't have to stand in line. Well, right next door to Toys R Us is a pet store. We decided to go in and let the kids look around since I needed gerbil food anyway. Who knew that it was pet adoption day? So guess what? I got a Christmas present! Isn't he cute. He is an older persian cat who was rescued and up for adoption. They were calling him Harvey but I don't think he looks like a Harvey. So for now, he is just kitty. Kitty is of the less active variety (which is what we wanted) and is very loving. I don't know if it is the breed but he doesn't meow. He kinda snorts instead. Very cute but he really needs a name if anyone has any ideas.

2006-12-07T14:41:00.000-08:00

Want to see what you have been missing? This was taken on Saturday by one of her friends from church who had a camera phone. I told her I was going to post it and she said that was okay. Of course that may have been the morphine talking. Hopefully she will be home tomorrow. Then mom's work will really begin.

2006-11-30T13:58:00.000-08:00

This song gets stuck in my head ALL THE TIME and has been running between my ears for the last 30 minutes. I absolutely love the words but I'd really like to hum something else now. Maybe posting it would help.

Listen to Our Hearts

How do you explain, how do you describe
A love that goes from east to west, and runs as deep as it is wide.
You know all our hopes, Lord, You know all our fears.
And words cannot express the love we feel but we long for You to hear.

Chorus:
So listen to our hearts, (O, Lord please listen)
hear our spirits sing (and hear us sing)
A song of praise that flows (a simple song of praise)
from those You have redeemed. (from those You have redeemed)
We will use the words we know to tell
You what an awesome God You are.
But words are not enough to tell You of our love,
so listen to our hearts.

If words could fall like rain from these lips of mine,
And if I had a thousand years, Lord, I would still run out of time.
If You listen to my heart, ev'ry beat will say:
"Thank You for the Life, Thank You for the Truth, Thank You for the Way."

Words and Music: Geoff Moore & Steven Curtis Chapman
©Peach Hill Songs

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2006-11-23T08:37:00.000-08:00

Cooking, cooking, and more cooking. But I love it.