Just Going With the Flow...

Yummy!

2008-06-27T21:11:00.000-07:00

AHHHH..Just one of the many joys to living in a big city..

Cold Stone Creamery....

Seriously this ice cream shop should be illegal or at least have some sort of warning posted on the door as to the crazy addiction it could cause. However the price is a bit on the steep end so that, I guess, is at least a bonus because honestly people, this store is just not right!!
Now let me just start out saying that I am NOT a big ice cream fan, so for this place to get me craving my not so favorite dessert you know it has got to be out of this world..hehe
Some friends of ours were in town this last weekend. They of course have been to this tasty- treat store a couple of times and convinced me to go and give it a whirl...That was my first mistake, and now I am hooked. It is just cruel how they give you so many yummy options to choose from and not to mention that the base ice cream is like totally the best that I have ever tasted! I mean Cake Batter Ice Cream?!?! That is just so unfair....Sigh.
The Peanut Butter Cup Perfection is my new best friend and then you slather it with Carmel... seriously, it makes me happy!:-)
However, my new little phase must come to a hault because even though this delicious snack is a killer on my taste buds it could do equal the damage on the ol' waistline, if ya know what I mean.
So I will try to be good and save the CSC runs for special occasions or when family and friends come to visit.
Sooooo, anybody up for a little road trip? LOL

Playing Catch Up

2008-06-26T11:48:00.000-07:00

Okay Okay..I really have no excuses...I am not even gonna bore you with all the frivolous details of the past 3 months, that is how long it has been at least according to Trina's most recent sidebar display...hehe It was just too much for me to bare having that crazy time frame next to my name...what a motivator, eh? So, I am gonna hit a few high lights and be on my way.

Baseball season IS finally over..hehe just barely though. However only to start back up again in 2 very short weeks. According to all the men folk that presusded me into this Summer Season it should be alot less maintenance..Which is a good thing considering we had a game or practice every night Mon-Sat. Sigh...

Jake and Hailey both celebrated turning another year older...the Big 9 and the Big 3. They both seemed to have a great time, but cake, balloons, and presents who wouldn't right?..hehe Here are a few pics of their big day...

Unfortunately most of the pics from his birthday have a weird blur to them but here is a pic of his cake.

Here he is acting like his silly self and VERY happy about his new scooter.

Here is the birthday girl methodically demonstrating her new age..hehe

She is OFFICIALLY ready to roll....

In May we went to the Brewster camp-out which was so great to see all our friends and spend some time just relaxing and enjoying everyone...Not to mention the Great meeting we had. Then the next weekend we travelled 6 hrs back down there for our nephew's (Scott) graduation. That too was a busy weekend, but we are still glad we went and the kids really enjoyed their cousins!

Now it is the end of June and we are currently on the house hunt...Our renting lease is up at the end of Aug. and so we are looking to buy. Rusty, of course, wants to live out in the country and I would love that as well..However the that fact that the price of land and houses on land are CRAZY high that doesn't seem to be in our future. There are few hopeful prospects that I will keep under my hat just in case they don't work out..No use wasting typing time on things unless they look like a real possibility.

So all in all it has been a good 3 months with baseball, birthdays, travel, company, berry picking (love that freezer jam..yum!), house hunting and just hanging out.

Now I can't promise to be diligent about my posts but I will however try to stay on top of it a little better...I am feeling a little deja vous..aren't you? LOL

Baseball Fever

2008-03-19T16:57:00.001-07:00

So Baseball season has officially started!! My boys are super pumped to be out there again. Since moving, I think they have felt a little out of the loop so to speak. Although we have stayed pretty busy, it has been a different busy. The boys were used to getting home from school and spending the rest of the afternoon until dark playing out side and enjoying the neighborhood kids (for the most part.hehe).
But here we live in a cul-de-sac of all girls and no park to play at. Now don't think that I pity them or anything because their life isn't bad at all, but I know they miss the pick-up games, hide and go seek, and such.
So with baseball season being here it will give them something to look forward to and a little physical activity that doesn't involve my couch or coffee table as the arena..hehe
Rusty is helping coach Jake's team and the other coach seems extremely nice so that is a plus. Jarred on the other hand had his first practice last night. Needless to say I was NOT impressed.
When Rusty went to the coaches meeting a couple of weeks ago, we had Jarred signed up for Tee-Ball. Well Rusty got to talking to some of the Dads/Coaches and they all acted like we should probably move him up. So we Did. Now I'm not so sure.
I think as far as playing he will be okay, but this little team he is on seems very "Cliquish." Which is fine, believe me I am not looking for a new best friend, but the fact that we are the new kid in town and my son happens to be the only Kindergartner on the team, well we already have 2 strikes against us. So again, last night my irritation level was on the rise....Sigh
But it will all work out, it always does.
So now between the two kids we are having practice about 3 or 4 times a week until the games start and then 3 or 4 games a week plus some practices squeezed in here and there. Can't wait for Hailey to get in on the mix...Good Times..LOL
It is a lot of work but it is worth it to see the kids having fun. If anybody knows us at all then they know we like our sports around here, so all the practices and games aren't really that hard to handle, for now. Ask me in about 2 months..LOL

Our 10th

2008-03-17T16:00:00.000-07:00

Rusty and I officially celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary on Friday, March 14th. I know what you are thinking, that I just made this big post about Hawaii and it being our anniversary and such and you are right, we did celebrate that trip in honor of our 10th, but Friday was the actual DATE that we got married....we just jumped the gun a little on the celebration..hehe

So I was flipping through my wedding album yesterday (we had some company over and they were checking out my pictures) and so I decided to scan a few and share a few memories of that special day.

Rusty and I met in high school as Seniors, we actually met as Juniors but we were both dating other people. I instantly thought he was a cutie, but I'm not quite sure what his REAL impression of me was. Of course, now he would feed me full of all kinds of nice things, but you never really know, right..LOL

Anyhoo, we finally started dating in January of 1995 and have been together ever since. At first our relationship was quite feisty, we both are strong willed people and it was lot like fire and ice. Just ask our friends and family, I bet they never thought we would make it more than a couple of months. However, thank the good Lord that we both grew up and starting acting like reasonable, responsible adults and the rest, as they say, is history. Now I'm not leading you on to believe that we live in some fairy tale romance with butterflies and flowers all the time, but we both know each others place in our life and we both have a main desire to serve the Lord and so the rest mostly takes care of itself.

So in honor of our wonderful day here are a few pics...

Here we are saying our cherished vows..Rusty's Step-Dad married us which has been so special for us.

Walking down the aisle for the first time as Husband and Wife! He was really happy ..I promise!

One of the many, many pictures taken...I have never smiled (fake and real) so much in my life..LOL

Us cutting the cake.. A friend of ours made it for us as our wedding gift and as you can see she used fresh flowers which I was a little nervous about, but I thought it turned out GORGEOUS!

A picture of our Wedding Party..

Here we are loaded up and ready to take off for our Honeymoon...It took quite awhile for us to break through the saran wrap barrier that covered his truck, not to mention the shaving cream, shoe polish, and all sorts of fun obstacles. As you might have guessed Rusty had a little payback coming his way..hehe

It was an amazing Day and I often look back and wish I could go back to that time where everything was new and fresh, but I then look at my children and the trials that we have been through and I am thankful for where we are at today and that the Lord is still with us each day and our marriage is as strong as ever.

Happy Anniversary Honey..I Love You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jarred's 6th Birthday!

2008-03-09T20:10:00.000-07:00

Another bad mommy moment...Jarred's 6th B-day was over two weeks ago and I am just NOW getting around to blogging about...

Anyhoo, my little guy is now officially 6 yrs. old!!! I can not tell you how long I have heard this count down from my little man...I think since like maybe Dec. No Joke!

Unfortunately I was sick on his actual B-Day day so we had to have just a small party of just our own family. That is a big change on how we normally throw party bashes around our house. We normally do a big themed party with pinatas and goodie bags and all the hoopla, but since we don't live around family any more we toned it down a bit. We were going to combine parties with Tisha's little boy because the 2 boys birthdays are only 3 days apart and we would be inviting the same people anyway. Then I got sick and so did she so it got even more scaled back. But all was not a complete loss...Jarred's "big" cousin, Scott had came down for his special day and we ordered pizza, had cake and ice cream, and then went to a nickel arcade. I was feeling better so I decided to join the family and we had a great time. Tisha's Hubby showed up at the arcade with Christian and Ruby and hung out with us too. So that was great that Jarred still got to spend sometime with a few of his friends.

All in all I think Jarred had a pretty good time. After all he still got tons of presents from family and friends and let me just tell the Nerf Wars have not stopped yet.

Here are a few shots of Jarred on his big Day...

The Birthday Boy and his Transformer Cake

Here is a close up of the Cake...I found these letter candles at Party City and it worked out perfect because Jarred has 6 letters in his name..

This was his big gift from Rusty and me. Everyone meet "Boomer." The newest edition to our family. This little hamster has brought all 3 kids tons of joy.

This is a look of determination..He WILL get that gift open!!

This was just the beginning of his Nerf Gun stash..

Of course every war isn't complete without the classic bow and arrow attack..hehe

He has had his eye on this baby since right after Christmas.. He was super pumped!

Here they are....The 3 little ones that help make my world go round..however, just a little faster than I would like at times..LOL

So there you have it my second son is now 6 yrs. old and all I gotta say is..

Where Did the Time Go?!?!..Sigh

Happy Birthday Jarred!!!
We Love You!!!

What a Deal

2008-03-06T09:08:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend when we were on the mad dash to find Indian paraphernalia we went to a couple of thrift stores to assist in our findings. I did find a couple of things that worked but I also found a couple more things that I couldn't resist...

How cute are these dresses?!?!

This one looks like Hailey should bust out in her toddler version of "Tomorrow, Tommorow I love you, tomorrow, your only a day away...." Don't ya think, especially with her red hair..hehe

I thought this one was just way to cute to resist as well....

Here is a look at the back cuz I think it totally adds to the overall look....

Can you believe that I only paid 4.99 each for these dresses?...I thought that was an amazing deal! I looked and looked for flaws, rips, stains, missing buttons, but nope it was all good and not to mention they can be washed and dried in the washer...I have already tested that theory, of course. So now I am just waiting on the sunshine to hang around long enough so we can get some use out of these babies. Hailey is such a clothes horse that I know she agrees with me. She keeps saying, "Awe, momma these are so 'tute'!"..LOL

Night of the Notables

2008-03-05T09:39:00.000-08:00

So last night Jake had a school function. He had this project to research a famous person and gather all the info he wanted on this such person. He then had to prepare a speech and even dress as the person for this big event that took place last night, thus.."The Night of the Notables."

Most of the research and the speech writing was done at school so really our only project at home was to find and bring to life the physical part of his character, aka the costume....

Jake picked the famous Sitting Bull. So last Sat. we as a family scoured the county-side looking for a Indian costume and the accessories that go along with any great Sitting Bull costume. Much to our disappointment, but not surprise we really couldn't find a great Indian outfit in March..huh that's weird..LOL

We did however find the accessories, but no costume so, my hubby and I came up with the "brilliant" idea of me making it. Now this is quite funny in itself because I have never made clothing for my children nor anyone else for that matter..Actually I take that back I think once my sister-in-law talked my into making a dress about 10 yrs ago, but she basically did EVERYTHING and I was just along for the ride.

So cut to Sat. evening and Rusty and I are in Jo-Ann's and wading through the pattern books looking for something resembling and Indian outfit. I found an actual costume, but it looked so complicated that I couldn't even understand the instructions on the back on how much material and what kind of material to get.....I was in BIG trouble.

But alas we found a pattern (Pajamas) that would work and figured we were good to go.

Sunday afternoon we spread the pattern and material all out and I pinned the pattern while my trusty assistant (Rusty ) cut it out. Thanks Honey!!

I then set to sewing this mess together. The top went together pretty quickly, until I got to the sleeves. It looked WAY to complicated for this novice seamstress so I vetoed the them and he was now going be a sleeveless Indian....hehe

Then came the pants...I started feeling over confident in my abilities and thought I could "fancy" this baby up a bit...I decided to put some fringe along the side. Well, after I finally figured out how to get the two legs sewn together, I put the fringe in ..no problem. I then was tackling the elastic and I was just about done when my eye drew back for a moment and I noticed a different texture on the pant leg. I looked closer and realized that had I had sewn one pant leg inside out. It was fleece material so obviously it looked a different shade not to mention the texture!!! NO NO NO!!

GGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had to rip out every thing on one pant leg, even the fringe, and start from the very beginning.....

DOUBLE GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is why I don't sew!!

Anyway, I finished it, but then I went back to the elastic I was so burnt out that after I sewed it in the hem thingy I just tied it in a knot and called it a day..LOL Not very pretty, but the shirt was long enough to cover, thank goodness!!

So, last night came and we got Jake all dressed up and ready for his big night. Here are few shots of the occasion......

Here is my Hunk of a man...I needed to braid the wig and Jake wouldn't hold still enough so Rusty volunteered for the job...What a guy!!

The kids decided to get in on the photo session with their beautiful Daddy..LOL

Sitting Bull in the flesh!!

Silly Kids!!

Me with my masterpiece..LOL

Jake was so nervous when we pulled up to the school. I do believe his words were.."I think I'm gonna hurl." I of course told him it was gonna be Okay, but what do I know I am just a silly mommy who never has been through anything like this..hehe I practically had to drag him out of the suburban, but as you can see once we got inside he was all smiles and the stress melted away.

Here he is giving his speech..He did a great job and all in all the night was a great success!!

Good Job, Jake..I mean Sitting Bull!!!!!

Hawaii Pictures

2008-03-02T20:37:00.000-08:00

Well I finally got around to downloading pictures from my new camera to my PC...Boy did that take awhile. I believe it was like 560 pics....crazy, huh? Anyhoo I thought I would put up a few shots from Hawaii. It was absolutely beautiful there!!

We went to the island of Kauai and the scenery was breath taking. We were quite the busy little bees there. We went on a helicopter ride (one of the best parts of the trip), kayaking combined with a hike to a amazing waterfall (tons of fun), a luau, and a dinner cruise (low point of the trip), not to mention sight seeing and snorkeling here and there. I haven't let my sweet sister-in-law personally approve any pics yet, however she did approve their appearance on my blog so they are at my mercy..hehe

This was our first morning in Hawaii....

Here the guys are waiting on us outside of Wal-Mart..yes I said Wal-Mart!! We were on a budget, Okay!!..LOL

A little stream that ended up being a waterfall as it rushed off the cliff

Here we are doing a little sight seeing...Checking out the old Lighthouse..

Here area couple of shots that we took in the helicopter...What a pretty island!!!!!

Our tour guide was so great..funny and witty..My kind of combination. As you can see we got the one with the doors off and it was QUITE CHILLY!!!

Here we are at a restaurant called Coconuts..It was pretty good, but kind of pricey. Sorry about the background craziness on this pic.

Rusty and I at the waterfall that we kayaked 2 1/2 miles and then hiked another mile to....

Rusty and I at the Luau...

A picture of our Hotel..It was right on the beach so that was really neat.

The convertible that we shared with James and Lisa....

Us on the nauseating dinner cruise..hehe

Here we are, the Fab Four, wind blown, sun burned, and sea salt plastered to our faces..Our last evening in Kauai...

There are tons and tons more pics, but this overall was our trip..it was so much fun and I am so glad we got to go!!

Big News Is Finally Here

2008-02-27T19:35:00.000-08:00

Okay well I suppose I will FINALLY plunge back into the infamous blog world!! So much time has passed that I feel totally out of routine and habit..Who am I kidding the habit left me months ago..LOL

Anyhoo, I thought I would do a little catch up and disappoint all you curious Georges out there and let you in on the big news.

Let me first clarify that when I first wrote my last post I had total intentions of posting like the next day and not making this crazy cliffhanger about my "big news." With that being said I realize that the news isn't that big of a deal ...I mean for me is was, but to everyone else it is like.."Oh that's nice."

So.......

My big news was that I was going to Hawaii with my sweet hubby for our 10th anniversary! Yes, I know most of you are extremely disappointed in me and that all my news was, was a mere vacation. But in all fairness to me, this really was the biggest trip that my hubby and I have ever taken and I was Oh so PUMPED about it and let me just tell you we had an AMAZING TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!

We met Rusty's brother James and his wife Lisa there as they celebrated their 25th anniversary!!!

We had so much fun and James and Lisa are a BLAST to be around and I am so glad we got to go..Thanks James and Lisa for inviting us..you guys ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

Not to mention my wonderful mother-in-law watched my 3 kids for 5 nights and 6 days....THANK YOU to her as well!!!!!!!!!!

So there you have it it was a wonderful vacation and I most definitely am not waiting another 10 years to go back..hehe

Since we have been back it has been full steam ahead on the busy level and I sometimes feel like their is no end in sight. However it feels good to be busy and my family is totally adjusting to our new home and new hometown. We are really enjoying our little assembly here, Sis. Marisela and Sis. Tisha are incredibly sweet and we really enjoy the time we have got to spend with everybody. Plus, I can't even begin to describe how awesome it feels to be living close to my Trina again!! WHOOOOOOOHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Rusty really likes his job and the kids are making friends and school seems to be going really good!!

Sigh.....

There I have now officially caught everyone up on my "going-ons" and I can now just blog about whatever happens on any given day instead of feeling like I have some major report due and the procrastinator in me is winning and I need to avoid the teacher..you know who you are..hehehe

So as soon as I can figure out how to download my pics from my new camera then I will be giving you some visual along with my rantings.

I can't promise how often I will actually blog, but I at least just gave myself a reprieve of about 1 month or so..right????

Just kidding it won't be that long..I think.

Where to begin......

2008-01-03T07:28:00.000-08:00

Well Hello again blogging buddies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHERE IN THE WORLD HAVE I BEEN???..hehe
Sigh......Well again I find myself facing my same old nemesis...too much time has passed and there is too much to catch up on and so my swirling mind says,"Why bother?"..hehe
But alas I will conquer my little foe and bite the bullet and post a bit about the crazy past month...............
Well obviously we moved..LOL
Nov.30th was our arrival date in our new home town and boy does that even feel like a life time ago. We were scheduled to pick the U-Haul up on Nov. 29 and that would give us all day to load and finish packing so we could head out Fri. morning bright and early. We were supposed to meet up with our rental agency agent by 5:00 pm in order to get the keys to our new place...Our landlord made it very clear that Rusty and I both needed to be present for the "precious" handing over of the keys and so we were a little nervous about getting there on time or no keys until Monday. The actual drive is only about 6 1/2 hrs. but we would be driving a U-Haul AND not to mention a huge snow storm hit us and the roads were not looking to be very friendly.
Nov.29th comes around and Rusty and I go to pick up our gigantic truck and I then run to Wal-Mart for a few last min things..Well here is where the day goes south...I left my wallet in my shopping cart and DROVE AWAY!!!!!! I immediately realized it when I got to the next store, but when I went back it was gone..Shopping cart still there, but no wallet!.....GRRRRRRRR
I of course went to all the necessary places and asked if a purse was turned in..Nope.
So I then had to go to my bank, shut down my checking account, open a new one, remember what was the last check I actually used and Oh yeah did I mention that this was in a totally different town?...Yep, Wal-Mart and the U-Haul place are in another little town 30 miles away and so going to the bank w/o any ID and asking them to shut down my account and open a new one was kinda tricky. Luckily a lady from my hometown branch was working in that branch that day.....
I then needed to go to the DMV and get a temporary Driver's License. I mean I couldn't drive down there and back w/o my ID...My Luck is not that good. I then returned home to cancel all my other credit cards and help load our 24 ft. U-Haul and finishing packing. Needless to say my mood was not the greatest.
The next morning I woke up and stared getting around and it was about 6:00 am. Our plan was to drop the boys off at school ( the boys were staying there with my sister-in-law because we were coming back on Monday to finish up the closing of our house and stay until Dec. 19th to finish up the boys school and things) and then head out around 8:00am. Rusty's brother was helping us move down there ( Thanks Marty and Bro. Claude!!) because the snow in the passes was supposed to be bad and Rusty was a little unsure as how to properly "chain up". Not to mention I was his only help..LOL Oh my, what a site that would have been.
At 6:30am my sister-in-law called and informed me she was in labor...2 weeks early....I believe my exact words were, "No, No, NO" She then assured me Yes. I was supposed to be there when she had the baby, but I really didn't see how it was going to all work out. The landlord lady was so staunch about us BOTH being there I really had no hopes of getting to stay.
I really prayed about it and whatever was meant to be would just have to be and I would just have to accept it. At 9:00 am I called the agency and spoke to the lady and told her the situation and she was AMAZING!! She said no problem and she would see me on Mon. to sign the papers. Rusty could just pick up the keys by himself....YAY!!!
So Rusty, Hailey, his brother, and his brother's father-in-law all set out on the 6 1/2 hour (which I think turned in to about 8 or 9 hr. journey) while I stayed behind and waited for my new nephew or niece to be born.
At 3:27 my so sweet, so precious cutie pie niece was born..Abi Jane..Congratulations, Greg and Jalea!!
Then at 5:15pm I left on the 6 hr drive heading west so I could get to the new house, unpack, and attempt to get things in somewhat of an order so when we got back down there in 2 weeks it wouldn't be total chaos and overwhelming. Thanks to Dennis and Trina we made a huge dent in our unpacking!! Thanks guys, you are the best!! Not to mention thanks to their strong boys and Bro. Matt who helped unload the beast of a truck in I think I heard like 2 1/2 hrs!! WOWZZERS!!!!
WHEW!!!!!!!!
Well that is all I'm gonna post about for now because my fingers are not used to all this typing..hehe. Plus, I am sure if any of you are still with me on this minute by minute replay of my 2 day span then you are wanting to get on with your day..LOL
I will post more about the 2 weeks we spent living in a 1 bed house, pics of my new house and Christmas pics later..not to mention some super exciting news..
No I am not pregnant...LOL
Hope everyone had a Wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year and may this year bring great things to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Little Checklist...

2007-11-15T08:42:00.000-08:00

I am kind of a list girl. I like them, but really only seem to use them when I feel like I have a big task to accomplish. Like super deep cleaning, major grocery shopping, errands to run when I go to town for a whole day, and really things like that. So lately I have been doing a mental checklist of what needs to get done in order for us to move. It has been daunting keeping this running tally in my mind of everything, but I think we are finally starting to make some progress. I feel like things are really starting to fall into place.
Last weekend we went down to Oregon and stayed with our favorite Dennis and Trina Family. (LOVE YOU GUYS!! Thanks for everything!!) We scoured (and literally I mean scoured) our new home town to find the best house we could for our family. Seriously we looked everywhere...Craigslist was our BFF..hehe
Anyhoo, after 4 days of looking, deciding, hoping, disappointments, then looking some more, then deciding some more, we finally got a house. It is Super Cute. However their is a small down side, not a great backyard..bummer. However I am not complaining because the house is GREAT! Not to mention when it came down to Tuesday morning and we were having to leave in a few short hours I felt a little stressed to make it all happen. Don't get me wrong there was quite a few houses to choose from, but finding the one that would fit our needs or should I say wants was a different story. But alas, we found one and I am SUPER EXCITED!!!!!!!!! And so I placed a little Check Mark here.
We submitted our application Tuesday afternoon, and we heard back Wednesday morning that we got approved for the house. Check mark please.
Then, yesterday afternoon at 3:00 the appraiser came and assessed our house and we should hear back this afternoon or tomorrow. I tried to chat it up with him to get a feel for how it would go and really I think we are good to go! Again SUPER EXCITED!! Another Check. ( ..still pending the final word but Rusty and I are feeling some what confident ..sort of..HEHE.)
I know I still have tons of work for that mental Black Sharpie, but for now I am just basking in the glory of crossing a few things off my list. Because after all that is the best part about making a list..The Crossing OFF!!

Another Update ( This is a good one!)

2007-11-08T10:20:00.000-08:00

Well it is official..We have a closing date!!!!!!!! Dec. 5th to be exact and then my family is Oregon bound...well sort of. Need a little more info?..Okay I'll give up the details..hehe
Last Wednesday night (Halloween) Rusty had taken the boys around the neighborhood begging for candy..hehe and I stayed home to pass it out. Well one of the trick-or-treaters was the family that had expressed interest in our house a few weeks ago. We had heard that they put an offer in on another house, but we were their 2nd choice...
Well he asks me if we are gonna be around this weekend because they want to come take another look at our house. I was like "SURE!"
So they came over Sat. and looked around and chatted with Rusty a bit and told him that they would call us with an offer. Well Sun. morning was Dinner Day at church and I need some more flour tortillas for my sour cream enchiladas. Rusty ran to the store really quick to grab them for me. He sees that same man at the store and the man flags him down and gives him an offer!! Rusty comes home and we discuss it. After church we call the man back and counter.
Then on Monday morning he calls me and accepts the offer plus wants to come over that night to sign some papers and get the paper work going because they want to close by Dec. 5th!!!
Can you believe that???
We showed the house, got an offer, countered, and then accepted with paper work signed and ready to go in a 56 hr. time span!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So now our new mission is to find a house, pack this house, and be ready to move in 21 very short days!!
We plan on moving down there on the weekend of the 1st. Rusty will stay down there and start work and I will come back up here and stay until the boys get out of school on Christmas break and my sister-in law Jalea has her baby.
Anyhoo that is the plans and they are moving like wildfire. So I guess you probably won't be hearing much from me..Just quick pop-in here and there.
The Lord has been so good to us that I can't thank him enough! I am soo excited to start another chapter in our lives!!!

Costumes Pics

2007-11-02T08:50:00.000-07:00

So I am a little late putting up the pics of Halloween, but if you know me at all then you probably aren't surprised by this..hehe

The kids had a great time. It was quite the busy day especially since it was on a Wednesday..my day I am sure like yours was jam packed! After the kids were off to school I needed to make Brownies for Jarred's school party. I then showered and headed over to Sis. Phylis house to help with her. Came home in enough time to dress Hailey in her Princess costume and head out the door to Jarred's party. That lasted until 12:30 and then I was back home. I got them both out of their costumes (Jarred was a football player for his school party..no scary costumes allowed.) I had then a little time to pick up my house. About 2:00 I started getting Jarred and Hailey ready again and then we hoped in the Truck to go get Jake from school. Jake jumped in we got home and I rushed around finishing dressing everyone. Jarred's make-up took awhile because I had only a little white crayon like thing to apply all over his face. Not to mention everytime I touched his hair (That I sprayed black) it would come off on my hands and then I would of course touch his face and..I think you see my problem..GRRRR.

Anyhoo, our little town always has a costume judging contest and then we walk around to all the businesses down Main street. I know, I know little town..hehe

So we made it there on time and it was CHAOS!!!

But this was nothing new..getting 100 kids all jacked up for candy and wanting them to stand still in a small area is like expecting the impossible.

Much to our surprise Jarred won the "scariest " prize for his age group. But in all honesty he was really the only one who dressed up scary, all other kids his age were power rangers, or animals, or something sweet, but not my Jarred...

After the town walk we came back home and the boys handed out candy as they waited for Rusty to came home and take them trick or treating around our neighborhood...like they didn't get enough candy.

Then it was time for church and as luck would have it we handed out our last 3 pieces of candy as we were walking out the door for church..I timed that pretty good if I do say so myself.

So here are a few pics I snapped of the kids in their costumes...

Jake is the Scream guy, Jarred a vampire, and Hailey is a princess...

This costume was great because he could put it on all by himself and it kept him warm..Even though he was 1 of about 15 Scream guys out there..hehe

Here is my "scary guy"..Seriously that paint was quite the irritation...GRRRR again

And here is the Princess....Sometimes she plays that part way too well..hehe

Okay, Trina this is the close-up that you asked for..hehe

So hope you all had a great day and no crazy cavities are being made..LOL

Happy Halloween!!

2007-10-31T13:32:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we too got into the spirit of the season and carved pumpkins. Well really I must confess...Jake's school friend called on Friday and asked if him and Jarred could come over for a pumpkin carving party. Needless to say, this mommy was happy to let that task and that mess go onto another house. Does that make me a bad mommy or a lucky mommy?? LOL

Anyhoo, our instructions were to buy and Gut the pumpkins at home and so when the kiddos arrived at the party they would be good to go. We had to enlist Daddy's help for the cutting duty. I snapped a few shots of the "gutting" process...

Here is the crew all ready for action..Doesn't Rusty looked thrilled for the job at hand..hehe

Here Jake is cleaning out his pumpkin...He loved this part.

Jarred on the other hand wasn't quite sure about the gooey mess he was touching at this moment...

However as you can see, he started to get into after a while...

Finally Hailey gets her turn and she dives right in...Who am I kidding, she is a toddler and what toddler doesn't love to get messy?!?

This was her favorite part..Playing with the bowl of seeds and stringy pumpkin...

Now here are a few shots of the "after pics" that I took after the party. The boys had a BLAST and they (or should I say the other mommy) did a great job... hehe

Here they are all lined up in the Dining room..I know you really can't see the images very well, but Jarred's is a wolf, Jake's a werewolf face, and Hailey's was just a silly face....

Sidenote: Yes, Hailey is wearing a bathing suit and black dress shoes...I told her to get ready for a pic with her pumpkin and this is what she came out in...

This is a shot that I took outside last night...I was very impressed with the carvings..I think they look so neat!!

Here is the silly face that I carved for Hailey... I learned that silly faces can be very forgiving when you mess up on the carving..It just looks like it is supposed to be that way..right??

So now on to the actual Trick-or-Treating....

I Love A Good Bogo Sale..

2007-10-30T10:11:00.000-07:00

I needed to get some new shoes. I needed some shoes to wear to church because I am super tired of wearing my boots, which I have wore for the past 2 or 3 winters. I wanted a different style to change things up a bit. I love the look with a little bow on the tip that I saw this younger gal wear, she was like 19 (just thought I would throw her age out there so nobody was thinking that I saw these on one of Hailey's little friends..LOL). Not to mention they were Flats and since my hubby and I are already close to eye level I thought this would be perfect. However when I went and actually tried the Flats on, well it wasn't so cute on me..hehe

So I found these guys and even though they do have a heel, I still couldn't resist them nor the sale.

Here is a view from the front.....

Another little look....

The heel is a little taller than I normally choose, but I decided to live life on the wild side and get them anyway..LOL

I also bought the same one in black. I really did try to look for a different style, but they didn't have anything else I loved not to mention, it was buy one get one 1/2 off....Yay for me!!

I am excited about my new shoes and can't wait to wear them to church...I just hope my next post isn't about me being couch-bound because just I broke my ankle trying to walk in these things..hehe

Why do they do that?

2007-10-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

Last night Rusty came home with a little surprise for the boys. He rented Transformers the movie. The boys have been dying to see it. Jarred has been sick for the last couple of days so he brought it hope in hopes of a little pick me up. However much to my liking, Jarred was already feeling better and so he was SUPER pumped to watch the movie and Jake, well he couldn't have been happier. Hailey was of course along for the ride, and the popcorn..hehe
So we get all settled in and pop this baby in and really Rusty and I are looking forward to the movie too. After all, Transformers was from our generation. He had the action figures, as did my brother, and so we were just as amped for the show as the boys were. It starts out and I see the PG-13 rating and I got to be honest was alittle worried, but figured it was just a violence thing and I was like well it is robots so how bloody could it be?
Well it really wasn't that bloody, but I sure could have done without some of the language. Luckily most of the bad language, and really it wasn't that much, but any is enough for me to complain, was during really active scenes and the boys didn't seem to notice because their was so much activity on the screen, but Rusty and I picked up on it.
So here is my grip...Why do they do that???
Why do they make movies that is obviously going to interest children and sprinkle bad language and some content that is not suitable for them to watch?? I mean call me kooky, but I mean it certainly doesn't make the story and it doesn't even add to it either. I mean we aren't watching the movie and saying,
"Well I'm sure glad they said ***** because I couldn't quite figure out what they were trying to say here."
We have so many people in the world today complaining about our youth and where they are going and all the wrong choices they are making, but then we continue to feed the beast just to make a buck. I know everybody says well that is what sells....Well why do we continue to make it a choice for them to buy. Cut it off at the knees and if it isn't an option, then it won't have the chance to sell. I know, I know freedom of speech, right? Well I doubt, that was set in place in order to make a scene in a movie stretch out by placing 7 words in it that most moms would wash their children's mouths out if they heard them saying. I mean after all we are talking about a movie that is centered around robots and action figures..aka TOYS!! It drives me crazy that their are so few things out there that a family can enjoy together that will hold the attention of a child, but yet entertain the parent.
GRRRRRR......
Okay so their you have it, that is my complaint for the week..hehe
So, agree or disagree???

What a Sweetie!

2007-10-18T11:18:00.001-07:00

How sweet is my hubby?!? I was having kind of a bad afternoon/evening on Tuesday. I can't really pin point the problem, just feeling down. I expressed my silly woes to him that night. So Wednesday evening, in he walks caring these.....

Oh I love him so!!!

Oh No Yogos!!

2007-10-16T10:24:00.000-07:00

I am always looking for a great healthy snack for my kiddos, I mean what mom isn't right? Well the other day we were at Costco buying some things and I went down the snack aisle. Since both boys go to school, packing their lunch everyday with things that stay fresh, but health is sometimes tricky, not to mention can get mundane. So we went searching for a different snack to help spice up lunch time. The boys discovered Yogos Rollers. I snagged the box and read that it was basically yogurt and fruit in a roll-up form. Seemed simple enough. After all the boys loved fruit roll-ups and they both love Go-Gurts so I thought I was good to go.

So we get home and the boys were all to anxious to embark on their new dream snack. I am happy to oblige because after all they are eating fruit AND yogurt.

Well in walks the problem..aka Hailey. She of course wants to sample this tasty new treat. I open up her little package and start to unwrap this sticky strip from the paper. She however strong protests this idea and insists that she do it her self. Yes, you guessed it, she is at the wonderful stage where she HAS to do everything herself, but still doesn't have the skills to achieve it..SIGH...How fun is this little phase.

So I get a little unwrapped from the paper before a full fit is thrown and then hand her the rest hoping that this might all work out. She happily eats the part that I peel and then attempts to unwrap the rest. She walks away concentrating on her little task and I just figure it will work itself out..somehow..hehe

She then comes to me about 5 min later with the roll-up still in a ball, but with several teeth marks in it , including the paper.

She is upset, because the Yogo is not cooperating with her and she now wants me to fix her little problem. I start to attempt to unwrap this thing, but it is now wet and it feels like I am trying to peel toothpaste off of paper, but yet still keep it in some strip like form. What a gooey mess!!

GRRRRRRRRRRR

I am thinking this is ridiculous and by now Hailey is irritated by my slothfulness of getting her snack to her and she is now opening another Yogo and attempting to do a repeat performance. I can see that this could turn into a vicious cycle and I must stop it now..LOL

So needless to say after this box of is all gone it will probably be awhile before we purchase these babies again. Not to mention the boys aren't really loving the snack either..Of course, they only like 1 flavor and so the other flavors are left to be halfway consumed by the impatient do-it-yourself 2 yr old. 15 down, 27 to go!

New Jeans

2007-10-11T08:06:00.000-07:00

So I was sitting here surfing the blogging world and I was thinking that I need to post a quick something. I am SO burnt of all my posts about the Drama that is going on in my life as I read back through my last few journals, that I bet you all are thinking Amen to that sister!! Now I am not discounting everything that has been going on, but I need to throw a fun post in every now and again don't ya think?..hehe

So today is on a lighter note.....

I am the type of person who MUST have a weird body type, because I can not just go to any old store and buy a cute pair of jeans and then go on about my day. In High School I used to love the way Gap jeans fit, however my family was not in the let me drop $50 on a pair of jeans for my teenage daughter income bracket so I might have had like 1 pr....But I LOVED them. So as time went on and I got into college and made my own money I found myself still on that level..hehe Go figure, it was my money I was spending now...

Anyhoo so in college and after I dabbled with Old Navy jeans and really anything that would be long enough to ensure that whispers as I walked by would not be about my high-waters, just about another one of my flaws..hehe

So a couple of years ago I discovered Levi 515....Yes I DO realize that I didn't really discover them and I am sure they have been around for centuries, but to me it was like a little piece of gold. I do believe that Trina enlighten me to this yummy pair of pants because as a tall lady herself I wanted to know where she got her jeans. And so my love affair with this style began...

So, anyway long story short I went to JCPenny's the other day to pick up another pair. I had Hailey with me and really she was being pretty good in the dressing room, but I knew we had a lot to accomplish that day and spending tons of time on something that I knew I like seemed futile. So I purchased the jeans and we went on our way.

The next day I slid my jeans on in a hurry because we were running a tad late on getting the boys to school..I ripped ALL the tags off and we headed out the door.

So about an hr. later I was chatting on the phone with Ms. Trina and I was pacing around the house..Habit that I found myself doing as I chat on the telley..so I was in my room and I have a full length mirror on the back of my door. Hailey likes to follow me around as I do my marathon walking and shut the door behind us. So I found myself standing in front of my mirror and decided to thoroughly check out my new jeans..I know a little late. Anyway I liked the fit and of course the length and then I turned around to check out the back and I was SHOCKED as to what I saw.......

Of course we all know that the style these days is for jeans to look faded in certain areas and dark in other..personally I really don't care for the look, but I was not consulted on the matter..hehe

So as I looked at my jeans there was some definite fading and the way that the fading was designed and WHERE the fading was designed made me look well I will let you see for yourself and let you make the call.....

Now I realize that this might be a little hard for you to see, but if you focus on the middle of the jeans and the contrast to the pockets of the jeans I think you will get the picture and see the dark V that I am talking about. And then imagine them on a body where there are no wrinkles and pulled tight...

I was like "No-No-NO"....I told Trina about my little discovery and the fact that I had just left the house and went out in public like this. I quickly took them off and snapped a pic and then emailed her to see if maybe it was all in my imagination and it didn't really look like I just came from a gym where I worked out way too hard and I was sweating in places that obviously didn't get dried off and my jeans were now showing the world what style of undergarments I was wearing...

But she confirmed it and I do believe her exact words were.."Oh no, you HAVE to take those babies back!"

So cut to me 15 mins later digging through the outside trash because I had just put the tags in the trash and took it out before I made my little discovery...Sigh

Gotta love fashion these days!!!

Amazing

2007-10-08T14:16:00.001-07:00

So here is the deal... Most of you guys know that our house deal fell through. I know blah blah blah, right? With that being said it also put a kink in the job plans as to when we could be down there. When Rusty got the call last week about the job the man turned the ball over to our court and told him to get back to him as to what our decision would be and when we could come. This man has seemed VERY understanding and very professional, however he is still running a business. Well Rusty and I knew that today he would have to make the call to tell this man that we DID want the job, BUT we would not be able to leave here unless our house sold...SIGH
So after alot of praying and seeking the Lord, Rusty called the man today and explained our situation.
And....
The man was AMAZING, or really the Lord is AMAZING because I know he worked this out. The man told Rusty that their company sought after employees that would fit them specifically and they only were willing to hire those who they felt like did. He then told Rusty that he had already emailed the other 7 people who interviewed him and they all agreed that they would be willing to wait on him and the job was his when he got down there because he was their guy.
CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT???
How crazy is that?? I mean seriously.... There has been some confusion here lately as to which direction we are to be lead, but I think this little miracle helps us put things in order. Our main mission is to please the Lord and do what we are feeling like he is instructing us to do. There still are some things to work out in order for the U-Haul truck to be backed up to our drive, but this step helps us see that it is definitely going in that direction.

The Call

2007-10-05T10:21:00.000-07:00

Well they called!!! Wednesday afternoon Rusty FINALLY ( I say finally, but I know it was only 1 day of waiting..felt like an eternity..hehe) got the call..And they offered him a job!! It was in the price range that we needed to live down there, so we feel happy with the offer, now even more pressure to sell the house however. ( You were so right Trina..LOL) When Rusty first went down for the interview they knew that the move wouldn't take place until Nov. But now that we don't even have a buyer for the house we are unsure about the actual time frame....Sigh
So now we feel like we are on a time line that is picking up crazy speed for selling this house. However, I have faith that the Lord will work everything out the way it is supposed to go. I am just thankful that one big decision is done with and we are now starting to tackle the next.
BUT, last night at Jake's football practice we were talking to a new couple who moved here this year and they are currently living in a 5th wheel and just sold their house in Montana...See where this is going?? So we told them about our house for sale, but Rusty said he really couldn't get a feel for them..interested not interested, we don't know... So, we shall see how this new path unwinds..hehe
I am not getting my hopes up because really I can't see the future, only the Lord can. I know something will come our way when he sees fit, but this ol' flesh always seems itching for the roller coaster ride, even though my stress level doesn't care for it one bit..LOL
So there you have it bloggy friends...We now officially have a job, but no time frame to move nor a real bite on the line considering our house........Oh Me Oh MY...
So we shall see what happens next!

A Little Lift

2007-10-03T17:02:00.000-07:00

I started this morning off in not the best of moods I must confess. We got the final call last night and the couple that was hoping to buy our house is definitely out of the running...Sigh

Now, I don't think that I posted about how we lowered the offer in hopes that things might work out, but we did and it didn't. So we are now starting from scratch with selling the house...without a realtor. This makes me nervous because I really don't know much, if anything about selling homes. So we might try this for a while and then cave in and list it professionally. Oh joy, another decision to make...LOL

Anyway, I was feeling a little defeated and discouraged about all the "bumps" in the road when Trina called me this morning. Being the AWESOME listener that she is, she waited patiently as I rambled on and on about all my woes of life and how things weren't working out about this and that....

She gave me good sound advice (no surprise there) and some encouraging words. But I have to be honest it really didn't take seed in my heart for awhile until later today when I was able to reflect back on the conversation and really started to re-evaluate my attitude.

I had many errands to run so I was able to get out and think as I drove and realize that life really wasn't that bad. I mean I even feel ashamed even as I sit here and type about how rattled I let Satan get me this morning. Everything has a purpose and a time and if I truly believe that the Lord is the author of ALL things, which I do, why am I consumed with the "whys" and "ifs" that seem to be plaguing me right now??

Sometimes we allow our self to get so caught up in the moment that we need a good friend to help us wade through all the muck and get down to the meat, which is The Lord has a plan. I am thankful for my Trina and thankful for the many many blessing that the Lord has seen fit to bestow on me and mine. I am so unworthy at times that it is truly amazing that all he has done. Thank you Lord.

I am blessed!!

Busy Work

2007-10-02T11:28:00.000-07:00

Well today I am playing the waiting game..AGAIN!!! I feel like in the last 2 weeks I have been constantly waiting for the phone to ring , or someone to get back to me, of something..

So to follow suit, today I am waiting on my hubby to call me and let me know what the man said about his BIG interview and where we go from here. Trina posted about our roller coaster day yesterday and so most of you know what I am talking about. It was very stressful to say the least. I know the Lord is in this and this isn't a do or die situation by any means. It all takes time, and I know that if it isn't this job then it wasn't meant to be, but I still that some major patience issues..hehe

But now we are back in our little town and trying to go about our daily life and pretend that yesterday was just another normal day...hehe

So I decided that either I could wait and wait and wait by the phone OR I could get myself in gear and get to doing some things that need to get down. Like sorting through containers and taking some back to storage and some to charity. Then do some deep cleaning throughout the house and really just try to take my mind off stuff. So I chose the second and off I go to "busy" myself and pretend that when the phone rings I won't run to answer it..hehe

Don't worry I have my cell and it also will be checked often!!

Wow, how pathetic am I ??????????

LOL

Because 7 ATE 9

2007-09-27T08:42:00.001-07:00

Last night we were sitting around the dinner table and the boys were telling us about their day. Rusty and I enjoy just sitting back and letting the kids follow one another rapidly with stories about school and friends and such. So last night, Jake was talking about something that happened at recess and Hailey decided that it was her turn to talk. She kept repeating, "8 11, 8 11, 8 11."
Now she knows how to count to 10, but this is her favorite little sing song phrase and it really cracks us up because it normally comes out of nowhere.
So Jarred then says, "No Hailey it is 1,2,3......" And starts counting in which she quickly jumps in with him and soon all 3 of the children are counting to 10 over and over.
This reminds Rusty of that one joke:
He says, "Hey Jake ( my literal one), why is 6 afraid of 7?"
Jake: "Umm. because it is bigger?"
Rusty: "Nope, because 7 8 9."
Jake is now sitting there puzzled and you can see the wheels turning in his mind.
Jake: "Right because it is bigger!"
Rusty : " No, because 7 ATE 9."
Jake: "Ohhh I get it!" Still with the puzzled look on his face.
I say, "You know because 7 ate( and I pretend to eat) 9."
Jake: "Ohh because 7 8 9." Continued puzzled look.
Rusty again says, "Because 7 ATE 9."
Jake: "Oh because 7 8 9. Ohhh because 7 8 9. 6 was afraid of 7 because 7 8 9." A moment of thought and then it clicked, "OHHHHHHHHHHHHH because 7 ATE 9."
This gave Rusty and I quite the chuckle. Not to mention how impressed Jake was with his parents for "thinking up" such a clever little play on words. hehe
He then began to go over the list of people at church who later he would try and flub up on this little joke. We assured him that most of his list probably already knew it, but he was determined to find some prey.
He then turned to his little brother (who had been sitting at the table the whole time) and tried the joke out on him.
Jake: "Jarred, why was 6 afraid of 7?"
Jarred: "Because 7 ate 9."
Jake: "Right, because 7 ATE 9."
Jarred: "I know Jake..I get it."
I just love dinner time!!

A New Plan...

2007-09-25T15:24:00.000-07:00

Well it is official...The couple that was MOST DEFINITELY buying our house has pulled out. SIGH
However I am fighting the urge to be discouraged about this because I know that the Lord is in this move and I do take comfort in that.
My sister-in-law told me last night that she heard from a friend that this couple wasn't going to be able to get the financing and they were already moving into another house!! Now mind you we do live in a small town, but you would still think that I would have been notified of this little fact before it hit the rumor mill and got back to me...but NOPE!! However, it is really not that big of a deal how or where I heard it and I really have no bad feelings towards the couple because they are good people, it just wasn't meant to be.
So now we are contemplating selling the house ourselves or listing it with a Realtor. Oh the decision!!! We really don't know what to do. It is quite the dilemma. We have even toyed with the idea of lowering the price in hopes that maybe the original couple could afford it.. GRRRRRR.....
As you can tell we haven't decided what to do. Do we raise the price and take the loss on the agents commission or do we stay firm with the price and hope that someone will see our little sign in the yard..LOL
No really, I do know it is in the Lord's hands and it will work out. However sometimes I don't have the patience that I should and I like to "borrow" trouble instead of waiting on the Lord. an I then end up all worked up instead of just patiently waiting for His sign. So for now we are praying about our "New Plan." I will keep everyone updated on the progress..

My Day

2007-09-19T10:14:00.000-07:00

Well I thought I would take a little break in my day to blog about what my plan is for the next few days. You see I normally don't stop to blog and I think, Oh I'll blog later tonight but then I am too tired and the vicious cycle of not blogging begins. So I thought I need to get into the habit of setting aside like 30 min to just type a few sentences and then I don't get overwhelmed with how behind I am in the Blogging world and go for weeks w/out a post.
My sister in law and I are planning a yard sale/moving sale for Friday and so I am busy getting all the things that I don't want to Haul down to Oregon ready to be sold or given away depending on how desperate I get..hehe
I also have to finish cleaning out my camper because my neighbors parents are interested in buying it. Let me just say I walked out there yesterday to check out its conditions and I was NOT A HAPPY MOMMY!!! You see my lovely kiddos and the neighborhood kiddos have been playing in it. Yes I knew this little fact, but I guess my judgement was TOTALLY off that week and WOW was it a mess!!! So now that is on my list to clean and take everything out in hopes that when the people come Thursday they will just drive away with that baby.
Oh Yeah and a little Update on the moving process... Rusty has an interview with a company in Oregon around the first part of Oct. so that is very exciting!! The Vice President emailed us on Monday and was very interested with Rusty. Rusty called him back and the man chatted for a while with him and seemed impressed with Rusty's skills and told him that he definitely wanted him to come down for an interview. We have sent out a few more resumes and are hoping to get some more responses so when he goes down in Oct. he will have a couple of interviews lined up.
Plus I saw the gal that is interested in our house this morning and she said she has an interview this afternoon with a mortgage agency and she thinks it will go good because they now have enough for a good down payment. Yippee!! She told me to pray and I am thinking..Oh honey, you have no idea how much I have been praying..LOL
Well my 30 min is about up and I need to get off. Hailey is a GRUMP from waking up way too early and I just remembered Jake has football pictures tonight and I need to find and wash his uniform..Sigh.
3 more days ( I think) until this single parenting life is over..I Can't Wait!!!

The Last 3 Weeks...

2007-09-17T11:47:00.000-07:00

Why is life sooooooo busy?? I mean seriously you start out one day and think "Wow I have a lot to do today," and then 3 weeks later that same mantra is being re sited THAT morning and every morning in between!! We have been in such a whirl wind lately that I start to think about blogging, but then figure I have so much stuff going on where do I start?? Well today is as good a day as any and I guess I'll just take the plunge and get past this little barrier...

Well for those of you that don't know ..we are MOVING!!! Yep that is what I said and you can now rest assured Trina, because once it is out there in blog world there is no turning back..Right?? LOL

This has been the main source of the whirl wind and I'm assuming the same source of my annoying ulcer..hehe Rusty and I have felt for some time that the Lord was leading us to move and secretly we both knew where, but just a little nervous about saying it out loud. But Oregon is our destination and as a matter of fact In the very same assembly as Den and Trina, and Marisela as well.

Our next question was when?? Well being the novice movers that we are we were hoping for a huge sign to drop out of the Heavens above and clue us in on this little fact. Although no cardboard paper with a black sharpie sketching out the date, a pretty amazing thing happened that aloud us to get our answer.

One night Rusty and I finally decided to put our house on the market, the next day I would go down to the local real estate agency and get going with the process. You see we felt like the Lord has totally in control as to when this house will sell, thus giving us a time frame to move. Well the next day I was scheduled to get a perm from a gal that we have known for about 3 yrs or so. Let me first back up and say that right before we bought our house that we are living in now this same woman and her hubby were interested in this house and were actually ahead of us, but things fell through and they were not able to get the house enabling us to get it. Anyway I knew that she had been renting and they were having to move out of their home because their owners were wanting to move back to our area. I was chatting with her during the perm and asking how the house hunt was going. She then told me that we was getting discouraged because she had gotten pre-approved for a loan for OUR NEIGHBORS"S HOUSE..oh yeah I for got to mention that our neighbors were moving... Anyway she went out to make an offer on that house and their was a voice mail form a friend....It was telling her that she was moving back to our town and was buying a house..Yep, you guessed it it was my neighbors house!! Anyway she was disappointed, but she then told me that she really prayed that the Lord would just give her the house she was supposed to have. I was sitting there a little in shock on how things were starting to unfold.
I then told her that ACTUALLY we were moving and going to be selling our house. She got very excited and told me right there on the spot "Consider your house sold."!!!!!!!!!!

Can you believe it????

She then told me she needed to be out by Nov. and I told her that I would need to talk to Rusty, but that sounded like a good time frame.

So there you have it....We are moving hopefully by Nov. Things are still going forward, but in a Slow process. I still feel good about it all though. There have been a few snags in the details, but Rusty and I feel like it will all work out. We were really praying and the Lord answered our prayer so quickly that there is no question that we are to move. The time frame is a little fuzzy because some of the financing is holding us up, but even if it is not by Nov. It will be shortly there after.

So we (Rusty, me, and my very energetic 67 yr. old mother-in-law) have been making preparations for selling our home like fixing trim and cleaning out garages and having our carpets cleaned and PAINTING THE WHOLE OUTSIDE OF MY HOUSE..including trim and painting/ repairing fences and so now you can see where all my time has been not to mention that my boys started school at 2 different locations with 2 different ending times and Rusty left last Friday to go hunting for a week and Jake is in Football with practice 2 or 3 times a week with games on Sat. I know I should have put a period and maybe a coma or 2 in that crazy long run-on sentence, but I left it out because that is how my life feels...like a long run-on sentence with no punctuation in site..LOL

Anyway pray that all will contine to work out and we will be able to get the ball rolling with the packing..

Oh yeah I am sure most of you are wondering how excited I am to be leaving next to my Trina again..Well I gotta say...WHHHHHHOOOOOOHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOO!!!!

The Lord is so kind to allow us to live in the same part again and I feel very blessed that he not only supplies our needs, but at times he also gives us our wants.

First Letter Of Your Name Tag

2007-08-31T14:50:00.000-07:00

Rules: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following…They must be REAL places, names, things…NOTHING made up! If you can’t think of anything, skip it. Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

Your name: Mary

1. Famous Athlete: Michael Jordan (all time fav...he rocks!)

2. 4 letter word: Maid....hehe

3. Street name: Main

4. Color: maroon

5. Gifts/presents: money (come on, who doesn't?)

6. Vehicles: Miata

7. Tropical Locations: Maui

8. College Majors: Marketing ( I guess)

9. Dairy Products: milk (personally, I'm not a fan!)

10. Things in a Souvenir Shop: magnets

11. Boy Name: Mitchell

12. Girl Name: Madeline

13. Movie Titles: Major League (Another all time fav)

14. Alcohol: Mai Tais (Never had one)

15. Occupations: mommy (underpaid and overworked.....hehehe)

16. Flowers: magnolia

17. Celebrities: Mandy Moore

18. Magazines: Mademoiselle

19. U.S. Cities: Minnesota

20. Pro Sports Teams: Mariners (Go M's!!)

21. Something Found in a kitchen: measuring cups

22 Reason for Being Late: Many...lol

23. Something You Throw Away: milk jugs

24. Things You Shout: "Move!" (Always jockeying for position.)

25. Cartoon Character: Minnie Mouse

I will tag:

JaLea, Cheryl, Gale, Cherrie, Teresa

Okay Ladies, so get going!

Nice Matters Award

2007-08-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

How sweet is this?? Lori and Lindsey awarded me with this lovely little award and I just wanted to say a special THANK YOU to both of them..Thanks Ladies!! Apparently this award represents someone who tries to spread nice, inspirational posts throughout the blogging world. How NICE is that of them to be so kind as to think of me....I so would nominate you two gals if the award wasn't given already.

So my next course of action is to choose a few others who I also think demonstrates their blog to be award worthy..hehe. So here goes...

Jessica

Lifes Little Moments

Life of a List-Maker

Steff

Sunydazy Day

Goal Oriented Woman

Okay ladies get this award posted on your blogs, cuz you so deserve it!!

My Dad

2007-08-22T15:26:00.000-07:00

This is a pic of my dad..isn't it sooo cool???

My dad is a major Civil War buff...BIG TIME!! My Grandma and him love this era. They could and probably have spent many hours talking and researching this very subject. They know which battles our ancestors fought and died in, they how they died and probably which one of your ancestors killed them..hehe No really they know a crazy amount of info on this subject and they totally enjoy all it to the MAX!! My Dad tries to share his knowledge on this matter with me and believe me I try to stay focused, but History is not my thing and I tend zone-out. (Sorry Dad) But I know he really enjoys it so that makes me happy for him.
Several years ago he joined a re-enactment group that goes from place to place and recreates certain battles and such. When they are in the middle of one of these re-enactments, they are in total character including attire, hence the outfit my Dad has on in the above pic. They eat, talk, act, and even sleep in the same accommodations as what the people back in that day did. It is really pretty neat. My mom has even got into it a little and bought a gown for when the have the Formal Balls.
I love that my parents have found something that they love to do and that brings them so much joy..
Love you Mom and Dad!!

Bye-Bye Pacifier!!

2007-08-18T14:43:00.000-07:00

Can you believe I didn't have one good pic of Hailey with her pacifier..kinda makes me sad!!

My last posted ended with a little side note stating that I was starting the weaning of Hailey's pacifier. Well....It's done!! I am sooo excited and I really can't believe that it is gone. I think that it was as much my crutch as hers. There were so many times in church or in the car when she would start to get loud and I would immediately put her "passie" in her mouth.

So last Friday she woke up and wanted to go out side. I got her dressed and out she went to play. We live in a cul-de-sac and the boys are great about taking her to the little park that is literally only 50 yds away so she can play and swing. She came back in a little while later and had fallen on the driveway and needed consoling. This of course is when she starts asking for he passie. I told her she took it outside with her and that was the last one we had left. We went outside and I couldn't find it ANYWHERE!! She was doing her greatest impression of her fake cry and I was starting to loose my patience. I even offered the boys and some of their friends a dollar to find it..No luck. GRRRRR....

I then thought, whelp this is as good time as any. So I called Rusty and asked him if he was also up for the challenge and he was, and so it began....

For about 30 min. she cried alot and was begging and pleading for it. I kept telling her she lost it and it was Bye-Bye. She then told me to go to the store and buy another one. This little statement only confirmed the fact that she was WAY too old for her little habit and I laughed as I told her they were all out too. Okay just a little white lie here..I mean they COULD have been all out, right?? I do live in a small town..hehe

I then remembered what Rusty's mom told me once about how she broke him of his "Fa-Fa", aka pacifier..crazy how they are always called something different in every family. Anyway, she told him the coyotes took it. They we howling all night long, so they threw it out to them.

I was a little desperate form the constant whining and so I said "It's gone Hailey. The coyotes took it." Not really thinking that she would be even fazed by this.

She stopped crying, put her head down in my lap and sat very still for a few mins. She asked for it 1 more time at nap time and I again told her the coyotes took it and that was the last time she asked for it!!!

CRAZY!!!

Attention Animal Lovers..you might want to skip down to the next paragraph here...
As she was napping I got to thinking as why this new little story was so effective and I then remembered that about 3 weeks ago the whole family was riding home one night from doing some shopping. Rusty was driving and a coyote darted out in front of us. He wasn't able to swerve to get away from it because there was on-coming traffic. We unfortunately ran into it and going 65 miles per hour really didn't leave it much of a chance of survival. The boys being curious as to what was going on, we explained to them what happened. I looked back and Hailey had turned sideways in her car seat with her head bent down, and this is how she spent the rest of the 20 min. car ride home. I really didn't think too much about it at the time because it was late and I just thought she was tired, but now it is all starting to come back to me that it must have really upset her. Then I throw my little "coyotes have your passie" theory out there and she got freaked out!!... Great parenting skills there!! Sigh...

Anyway, the passie is gone and if the next time she sees a dog and doesn't go screaming from the room everything will be Okay..I guess!!

KATHRYN

2007-08-16T10:38:00.000-07:00

So Mrs. Trina Leah has been so gracious enough to tag me so I thought I would be equally gracious as to play along and then Tag a few myself..hehe
This Me-Me is about our middle names and let me just start out by complaining because I have a LOOOOONG middle name, at least in my book, and so I have lots of thinking to do on this one!! I guess that is what happens when your first name is only 4 letters long..my parents were trying to balance out the the rhythmic sound as they just KNEW they were gonna have to yell it out in the future..LOL
Kathryn..Well I believe I got this name from my mom whose middle name is Kay and again they decided to balance it out by adding more syllables. Although I have been called Mary Kay ALOT from family and friends so really I don't know what I am talking about. On to the TAG...

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

K... Well K is for Keeper..I am a chase keeper at home and I love my job!! Sure there are times that I grow weary of the mun day rituals, but I would not trade it for the world!!

A... Athletic. I love love love sports!! I spent most of my childhood and teenage years traveling the nation playing softball and basketball and enjoying it to the MAX!!

T... Thoughtful. I think I am at least..hehe I try to be aware of friends feelings and take their situation into consideration before I act or speak.

H... Honest. I appreciate honestly in people so I guess I would be quite the hypocrite if I was not equally honest myself.

R... Reasonable. I am the type of person that realizes that Life just happens sometimes so I am pretty forgiving and I understand that things are sometimes out of peoples control.

Y... Younger. This one is kinda wacky but all the people I hang out with and even my best friends are older than me. It is kinda crazy, but I don't even seem to notice it at all.

N... New York.. I was born in West Point, New York. My dad was in the military and that is where we where stationed. I love to throw that out every now and then to surprise people with the fact that I was born an East Coaster.

So there you have it friends... Here are the next victims ..I mean girls that can play this fun little name game..LOL

Michelle

Marisella

Chantel

Cheryl

Cyndi

Lindsey

Jessica

Milestone

2007-08-10T16:40:00.000-07:00

Whelp, Hailey did it..she is now officially Potty-Trained!! Three cheers for Miss Hailey Ann!!

Actually she has been for about 3 or 4 weeks now, but I am just now finally getting around to blogging it. She did really well and I am pleased to brag that she only had about 2 accidents and none of the yucky kind..Yeah for me on that one!!..LOL

I have really been pretty fortunate, because all 3 of my kids have been easy in this area. Believe me this had nothing to do with me or my parenting skills. I have however, found a few little things that help this transition to go more smoothly, at least for my kiddos.

The major key I think in every child is they have to be ready and able to communicate. This of course means that there wasn't a MAGIC age that I expected my kids to been trained by, or even an age that made me start working with them. I just kinda followed their lead. One major sign that all my kids sent me was waking up in the mornings and from nap time with a dry diaper. That was always my cue that they were starting to be ready. Then, when they were able to tell me if they needed their diaper changed I was like Okay here we go....

I know their are various ways to actually train them and some work for some children and others work for other children, but this is what worked for me.
1. I would first set aside about 1 week and plan on not really going anywhere (except the obvious, store, church and such).
2. I then would buy their favorite candy and show them where I was keeping it and tell them that it was ALL theirs.
3. I would let them help me pick out some "big-girl" panties (big-boy undies for the boys..hehe) and explain to them that their favorite character liked to be clean and dry.
4. I would set a timer for 20 min and every time the buzzer went off I would ask the usual questions. If they didn't need to go I wouldn't force them, but I would make them show me WHERE ( they would point to the toilet) they were supposed to go. Then the timer was set and this cycle started all over again in 20 min.
The timer thing only had to last 2 days for all the kids, and then by that time they were coming and telling me, which meant we were good to go.

Hailey was fully potty trained in about a week (even nights) and I am soo happy that the buying diaper days are done...

Here are a couple of pics that I snapped of her while she was being introduced to the world of potting on the potty...

Here she is sitting on the potty..I think she was a little surprised that I was holding a camera...

And now she is figuring out that I am taking a pic and she is Protesting!!

Finally she turned her back and wasn't about to turn back around again!! LOL

So their you have it, One milestone down and now if I could just break her of the pacifier ( I started that today) we would be in "Big-Girl" business.

Gymboree

2007-08-06T13:25:00.000-07:00

Well it was a long weekend of fun and so this morning I got on my computer to check out the blog world and I see that Trina has linked couple of giveaways to one of her posts. I, of course see GYMBOREE and immediately want to play..hehe

I love their clothes and it is so funny because I just bought a couple of outfits from their store this weekend. This is odd to me because living in a small town I don't get a chance to shop at this yummy store very often, but we were at a mall on Sat. so I splurged. Well not really splurged, but I did buy these little cuties for Hailey....

Love this little brown dress that she can wear now and in the Fall..

I couldn't resist this little set..I LOVE green and the little Noah's Ark theme is precious!

Denim skirts are soo awesome for Wednesday night church. This one was not only a good buy, but she can wear it now and through the winter with tights as well. Yippee!!

Anyway, I went to the site to enter and leave my comment. Well my computer would pick that moment that I was posting to act up, so I pushed refresh and it posted my comment TWICE!!

GREEEEEEEEEEEAT!!

So it makes me look like either I have a problem following the rules or I can't work my computer in a proper manner..SIGH
Oh well I will probably get disqualified or something, but here is the link just in case any of you guys would like to give it a whirl....

GYMBOREE

Best Buy (So I played this little GIVEWAY too, and I would feel way too guilty not including it on my blog as well..hehe)

Little hint...Try not to Refresh....

Good Luck Bloggy Friends!!

I Got Tagged

2007-08-01T10:46:00.001-07:00

So I was tagged by Cyndi and so I thought I would be a good sport and play along.....

I am supposed to give 8 random facts about yours truly and then send this little game on to eight willing,hehe,participants. So here goes:

Rules: 1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts. 2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves. 3. People who are tagged write their own blog post about their eight things and include these rules. 4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and that they should read your blog.

#1. I love to sleep in!! Yes I know that sounds weird coming from a mommy of small children, but you would be surprised what you can train a child to do...Okay let me clarify here...I taught them to sleep in, not to take care of themselves until sleepy mommy gets out of bed..LOL

#2. The thought of a Dr. Pepper can still get me out of bed in the mornings. This is my all time favorite drink and it makes me VERY happy. Although a vanilla chai is a close second.

#3. I love to watch college basketball on T.V. During the fall and winter if some team and I mean any team is playing on T.V. well then I am watching it or it is at least playing in the back ground while I cleaning house.

#4. If I'm reading a book I HAVE to skip ahead and read the ending before I'm done. This might seem weird, but I guess I like to know where the story is going..hehe

#5. I put on my make-up in the car while I'm driving. Dangerous I know, put at least I normally have my seat belt on, right?

#6. I have to make my bed every day. I am not a clean freak by any means, but this is one chore that I do daily. Sometimes it doesn't get made until the afternoon, but it still gets done.

#7. I don't like critters! This might not be such a random fact anymore, especially if you follow my blog at all. I just can't help it, most animals creep me out!!

#8. I still sleep with a blankie. I have all my life and needless to say it is pretty worn, but there aren't many nights that I can remember sleeping without it.

Wow, that was harder than I thought! Okay so here are the lucky ladies that I am passing this on to...

I Work From Son up To Son Down
Goal Oriented Woman
Mother of Six Wife of One
Mother of 6
These are the Days
An Inside Look...
La Bellina Mammania
So Much To Do..

Good Luck Ladies!!

Swim Lessons

2007-07-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, for the last 2 weeks the boys have been taking swim lessons. They finished up on Friday so I snapped a few pics of their time at the pool and I thought I would share a few.....

Here is Hailey testing out the water, or should I say her new "swing"....probably too dangerous for a 2 yr. old's slippery little hands don't ya think??

This is what I got when I told her to put her head under water....

Not exactly what I was meaning.....

Finally living life on the wild side and starting to enjoy the water....

However this is how she spent most of her time at the pool....

And now on to the actual lessons.......

Here is Jarred fighting a kick board through the water.

Jarred floating on his back. This was one of his favorite drills.

This is Jarred's least favorite drill....Jumping in to the deep end. I can't tell you how many times that poor instructor counted to 3 without even so much of a twitch from Jarred. Check out his cold little class mates in the background. That didn't even phase his fear...Sigh

So after MUCH persuasion he would jump in and spend the rest of free time right here....

Now for Jake....

Having some one-on-one time with the instructor..

Jake applying what he learned.

HEAD DOWN JAKE!! He finally started to get the hang of diving. Thank Goodness..I don't think this mommy could have handled too many more belly-flops. It stared to even make my tummy hurt!!

The end is here!!

In case you couldn't tell apparently we are serious about our swimming here, I mean GOGGLES are a must...lol.

I think they had fun and even though at times I questioned how much they were REALLY learning, they both came away with something new. I mean what more could I ask for..At least I didn't have to pay to watch some 16 yr girl flirt with a 17 yr. boy like I have in the previous years..LOL But in our little town beggars can't be choosers!!

My New Purse

2007-07-26T16:34:00.000-07:00

Isn't it fun to go shopping and find a little something that you are drawn to, but don't really need, but you buy it anyway?? And to add to the excitement it is like 60% off?? Okay well in all honesty here that is probably why I ACTUALLY did buy it...I am totally a sales girl, not much in these closets in my little home that weren't previously on a sales rack somewhere.

Well, while Trina and I were on a little shopping date last week we saw this cutie pie purse and well it being such a steal I just had to have it...Okay well I didn't HAVE to have it , but I wanted it really, really bad. So I splurged and paid the $16.90 and bought this little baby. It still makes me happy just looking at it...Crazy huh??

It is not too flashy and I love, love the colors..I am a very browns, green, and neutral girl. I really don't know why it makes me so giddy, but it does. So, for now, I'll just be thankful for this little treasure. LOL

Catching up..

2007-07-25T14:11:00.000-07:00

Well I have finally found a few minutes to settle at my computer to catch back up with the blogging world. Sine our weekend with Trina we have been insanely busy and now today is really one of the first few times I am able to sit for a spell and write a little post...

Our weekend with Den and Trina was fun, fun, fun!! They always know how to show us a good time. We did a little shopping and watched a movie..(Note to all reading DON'T go see You Kill Me.. Can you say STUPID!!! We all left shaking our heads on that one..hehe) She took me to her Gym and we worked out in the pool only to get into trouble by a 17 yr. lifeguard for being too careless with our kick boards..hehe Trina and I often chat about the fact that we NEVER get respect when we are together ..We think it is because we giggle and laugh and are in our own little world so people must think we are the classic airheads..Ohh if only they knew..LOL

We of course made a Starbucks run everyday and we even got to extend our weekend 1 day and didn't leave until Monday..Yippee!! The trip was way too short in my opinion, but we will be seeing them again soon I hope!!

Then when I got back I had to shift gears and get going with a Yard Sale that my sister-in-law and I have been planning for a few weeks. It was Thursday and Friday of last week and so I needed to get stuff marked and hauled out of the garage. We each did pretty good, I made about $170 and she made a little over $200, so not bad I guess. Not to mention the boys are in swim lessons and so that is done every morning for 2 weeks at 10:30.

Then on Sat. we had the barbecue at Sis. Phylis. It was a great turn out and we had alot of brethren come down for the weekend. We didn't get any company at our house, Bummer, even though we begged and pleaded, but we still made the rounds. We had a good meeting on Sunday and of course a potluck which was a a great success. We then just spent the rest of the day visiting and really enjoying the brethren.

Then Monday rolled around and I was running errands and stuff, plus the boys stared football camp from Mon-Wed and so that has taken up our evenings. Not to mention yesterday I went out to clean the church because these last two weeks have been our family's turn and I have totally forgotten, so that was up on my list for things to get done before tonight's meeting. Anyway always something going, but I know I am not the one and only to be experiencing a busy life. Hope everyone is doing well and I will finally be making the rounds again to check and see what everyone has been up too!!

A Little Fun In The Sun

2007-07-12T08:34:00.000-07:00

It has been CRAZY HOT here!! I'm talking like in the upper 90's to 100's all week!! One neighbor kid told Jake that it was supposed to be 108 today and at first I was like ..No Way..but now after we have had this week of scorchening heat I'm a thinking..Maybe!!
So with this being said my kiddos are loving the water, however having the fair complected red-head toddler that I do I can't just march myself down to the pool or lake as much as I or they would beg me too. So I encourage them to run through the sprinkler..Oh yeah that really gets them excited..hehe
But, by 2 or 3 in the afternoon, the heat is rising and the sprinkler and the little Wal-Mart pool are the best idea I ever had..LOL
Here are a few pics I took yesterday..It was about 4:30 and I think the temp was like 96 degrees!!

Here are Jarred and Hailey posing Cheesy for the camera.....

Jake and Jarred watching the neighbor kids take a turn on the slip-n-slide...

Hailey just hanging out watching the fun...Trying to decide if the cold water is worth it or not...

Conner (our neighbor) sharing his nice little germs with my family..

Jarred just had a turn on the slip-n-slide and is trying to wring out....

Finally she gets in to the action and goes down the mini-slide....

I think she liked it..What do you think??

Jake noticed I was trying to take some action shots so he thought he would strike a pose....

My little Dare Devil..Trying to make the most of the 2 ft slide..LOL

Not a day at the beach , but they were happy and I was able to get a few pictures of the fun.
I say it was a win-win situation!!

BTW.. I will be gone for the weekend visiting my favorite Trina in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD, so hope you all have a great weekend and I'll be back Monday to share our adventures..No pressure there Miss Trina..hehe

Scared of the Dark

2007-07-11T07:56:00.000-07:00

EARLY this morning at about 5:50 to be exact, I hear this faint little squeak on my bedroom floor and being the light sleeper that I am (most mommies are, aren't they?) it brings me out of my little dream world and I am now awake, but my eyes are still shut..I then feel a slight lean on me bed and I open one eye to see my 5 yr. old bent down in my face and saying..
"Mom?"
"Yes," I say.
"I need to go to the bathroom."
I then say, "Well go then."
He does and then he leaves our room. Only to return 5 mins. later to ask if he can turn the main bathroom light on. You see, if he does this than the stream of light will fall in his bedroom and the darkness won't feel so scary. I know this because this is something that Jarred has been battling lately..He is in that phase where he is scared of the dark.
About 15 min. later I hear a little something that sounds like he is in the bathroom again. I give him a few more mins., but I don't see him pass in the hallway and so I begrudgingly get up to check on him..You know it is always that silly thought in your mind that something could happen to them, and you could have maybe prevented it, but you were too lazy to check on them..hehe
I got up and looked into the bathroom..No Jarred
I checked his bed..No Jarred....UHHHMMMM...
I checked the floor of our bedroom, a favorite spot that he likes to lay down at when we have said he needs to go get back in his bed.....Still No Jarred
Okay so my heart is starting to pick up a little and I'm thinking that surely he didn't go wonder through the house because even though it really wasn't dark, it still would spook him out...Nope, he is not in any of the other rooms...
I check back in their room and look all round...No Jarred....I mean their room is dark, but not that dark, thanks to the 5 night lights we have going in there
(No that isn't a typo. I said 5..see what I mean about the scared of the dark thing.) As I start to get panicked and pull all the covers off his bed I stand back and I see a little raised head pop up in Jake's bed..They have bunk beds.
It's JARRED!!
I say, "There you are..Mommy was getting nervous." I of course down play my stress level because I don't want to add to his fears by acting like something could actually happen to him in the safety of his home. He smiles and I say, "Your gonna sleep with Jake?" He nods and I give him a kiss, and relieved I go back to bed. It is now about 6:15. About 10 mins. later he comes back into our bedroom and asks to sleep with us...I knew Rusty's alarm would be going of soon and so I told him I would just go get in his bed...Sigh..
He tosses and turns and FINALLY falls asleep just as Rusty's alarm goes off at 6:55. GRRR...I have now been up and moving about for the last hr and 5 min and the chance of me going back to sleep is probably non-existent!!
Rusty leaves and I slide out of the Oh too small for 2 people bed and jump back into my bed and pretend that I will gracefully fall back to sleep. Pretend being the key word here.
So as you can see I gave up. I made some Hot Tea and decided to use the peace and quiet of the morning to call a close friend who lives in a different time zone and catch up on whats been going on in her little world...Hi Amy!!
Anyhoo...My day is now started, no matter how early it came, and so I guess I will get off of here and be productive because after all the laundry won't do itself...will it?? Hope everyone has a great day!! And I hope my little boy will quickly get past this stage and we can move on to the next..on second thought what will the next one be???

One Down..Too Many To GO

2007-07-06T18:15:00.000-07:00

I mentioned before about being in the mood for changing my house so I decided that yesterday was the day...I mean I needed to start somewhere right??

Last fall when our long lost friends lived here (Trina and Dennis) they helped us re tile our hallway and dining room. It looked AMAZING when we got done. We had about 2 boxes left when we got done so, Rusty and I decided that we would go ahead and put it down in our master bathroom. Well, cut to about 7 months later and we were no closer to accomplishing that task than we were when we decide to do it that day, so I took action...hehe

Now don't go getting impressed or anything , because after all it is only that vinyl tile that has the sticky tac on the back. However, for the novice carpenter that I am, it was almost too much for this gal to handle. Rusty works crazy hours in the summer and so I decided that I might as well give it a shot myself. I took some pictures of the before and after.....

Here is the before pic of our bathroom. I know the carpet is awful, and why it took us 21/2 yrs to remove it is beyond me!!

This is what was under the pink carpet..the beautiful 70s yellow linoleum...Ahh, gorgeous, wouldn't ya say??

And this is the finished product.....

Now please don't look too closely all you carpenters and tile people out there. There are many and I mean many spots that would make a true professional cringe. Really who am I kidding, even to the untrained eye there are spots that one would say, "Ohh My" LOL
But mission accomplished and even though there were times when I was about to pull my hair out and I definitely lost my patience a time or two with all the interruptions from the kids, I'm satisfied or should I say done...hehe However, I do have a whole new appreciation for this line of work because this tiny bathroom took me about 7 hrs and like I said all I really had to do was pull off the paper on the back and stick it down.
But who knew I could use a razor blade for 7 hours and come away without even a cut..I know Rusty would have bet against me on that one. Another little thing I learned, and I will just throw it out there as say a helpful hint...The paper that is stuck to the back of each tile is apparently "special paper" and cannot be replaced by normal paper if you are needing to re-cut or you know, maybe peeled the paper off too early and are needing to stick it somewhere..just a little lesson I learned along my tiling journey.:-) Well there you have it in all its glory..I guess I can add it to the list of things that I have now done in my lifetime.
Now on to the next task!!

Just Hanging Out

2007-07-05T14:07:00.000-07:00

The kids and I were out doing some errands the other day and when we returned home I noticed this little guy perched on the corner of our porch....

As you might guess my the kids were very intrigued as to why this little fellow was resting so calmly and just checking us out as we checked him out.....

I mean he was soo crazy close to the door that we had to be careful not to smash him as we went in and out of the house. I figured once all the hustle and bustle of us carrying in the groceries got going it would spook him, but nope, he was just content to hang out for a while. Then I got to worrying that maybe he was hurt and I would have to play "Vet" to him and if you know me.. I don't like critters (check out previous post for more info on this subject)..Sigh.. so when I saw that he had hoped off the cement to venture back into the big bad world I was quite relieved. I just thought that it was kinda cool that he let us get so close to him and I was able to snap a few shots. You see I need proof to show Rusty that I got that close to an animal and still lived to tell about it. Yes, even a harmless little birdie. LOL

Jake's 2007 Baseball Season

2007-07-02T14:54:00.000-07:00

Well it was our last weekend of baseball and can I say I was soooooo ready for the season to be over!! It has been fun and stuff, but I'm ready to just not have anything planned for the weekend and Ohh I don't know maybe get some work done on my HOUSE!!! Call me crazy, but my hope is still to have it accomplished by end of summer, however I feel that it now becoming a dream, like a pipe-dream..LOL

Anyway, off my soapbox for a moment to share some pics of Jake and his baseball season. His original season started in April, but he made the All-Stars and so the season was extended a bit. This was his first season in minors. He just turned 8 in April so really he could have still played a year in T-Ball, but we decided to move him up. He had a blast, but I worry that the little pressure cooker that he puts himself in each game, might cause an ulcer by the ripe ol'age of 81/2.. Actually, his nerves were under control throughout the regular season, but when All-Stars came around it was a different story. However to his defense he was the youngest on his team and we were playing against teams from Seattle and Spokane..in other words he was in WAY over his head at times. Really our whole team was, but what do you do...We actually saw a pitcher who used to play for the Mariners and Dan Wilson (Also Mariners former player) as apposing coaches and they weren't even coaching the same team...get my drift here?? However he did good considering all the circumstances and as Rusty says,

"In theory this should better him for next year."

Yeah if he lives through this year..hehe.

Anyway, here are the pics.....

This was during the regular season..Waiting patiently for a good pitch to hit....

Down in his ready stance....Notice the bulge of sunflower seeds in his back pocket....Rusty was constantly telling him to get his hands out of his back pocket. At first I thought he was having wedgie problems..LOL

The wind up.....

The stretch....

And the delivery....

I just love those 3 pics!! Rusty pitched back in his day and so as you would figure both the boys are just chomping at the bit to get a chance to follow in Dad's footsteps......

Here he is in an All-Star game, playing 2nd base...He is in mid-creeping up position...The "new" ready stance for the infield in to start back and slowly walk up with your legs bent, glove out, down and ready for the ball...Sigh, and this is what we got...LOL...But he is only 8..We had to remind ourselves of this often.....

Here he is at bat in our last tournament..He did much better this weekend..At least the pale face and look of terror was out of his eyes when he would go up to bat...Or he just figured out how to tame the beast....

Again the last tournament and he just stole 2nd base...

Well the season is now over and we our sooo proud of him!! He did great and his love for the Sport is what is one of the best parts. Even when we get killed by the other teams and get back to the house he still is asking Rusty or me to go play catch with him...Now if Rusty and I can just keep from ruining that for him, all will be Okay in his world...hehe

Great Job and We love You Jake!!

The Wedding

2007-06-29T10:56:00.001-07:00

So I saw that my Trina from I Work From Son up to Son Down nominated me for this special award..

She is sooo awesome and I feel so honored to be chosen by her because I think as we all agree she is an awesome blogger with wonderful posts that keep you wanting more....

So my orders are to nominate 5 fellow bloggers who fit this category so, here they are.....

1. These are the days.....She is so funny and I love her outlook on life!

2. Mother of 6 ............I love her posts about her children and she is a great mommy who stays on the ball and on top of things!

3. An Inside Look......... She is a fun read who seems to really care about family and friends and cracks me up!!

4. Mom of six wife of one.....She is a great read and she desires to serve the Lord first!

5. Just being Me.................She has been with me from the beginning and she is always encouraging in her posts and has sweet words to pass on to someone in need!!

Okay so there you have it ladies..You guys are so great and I soo think you deserve it.

So now on to my post for today..........................

So I mentioned in an earlier post that we recently went out to Oklahoma for our nieces wedding. We had a great time and it was so fun seeing everyone!!
My niece, Laci, was an amazingly beautiful bride and her new handsome hubby, Jeremy, seemed to make a great couple!! They asked all three of my kids to take part in their special day and of course we accepted with great honor. Hailey was the flower girl, Jarred was the miniature groom and Jake passed out bubbles and helped get the gifts to the gift table. In other words they all got dressed up in a vest, a tux, and and an amazing dress!! So of course that made this mommy go shopping for something pretty for me to wear which always brings a smile to my face..hehe
Of course I was nervous about how my little 2 yr. girl was gonna perform on this big day because I have been told by many that,
"Wow, she is such a shy little thing."..Sigh..Can you feel the start of my stress?? However on the night of the rehearsal she was all smiles and almost playing to the crowd. Whew, right?..Wrong!! Jarred was the source of my worry that night. He had the most adorable little girl to walk down the aisle with, however she was convinced that she was getting married and he was her groom!! This went over like a lead balloon. You see it seems that I am raising a group of literal Joe's here and he knows that he is WAY too young to be getting married!! So every time we would finish the practice walk through and be informed that it needed to be done 1 more time she would excitedly say..
"Yeah I just want to get married 1 more time."
And so the coaxing and prompting and yes I must say empty promises were now being made to get my 5 yr down the aisle.
So the next day came and everyone was all dressed up and ready for action...BUT, Hailey would NOT walk down the aisle by herself (No surprise there)and so I had to walk down the aisle with her...Oh yes, that made all my and I'm sure Laci's dreams come true, and Jarred was was left in the back to face his fears by himself and... he did!! He walked up the aisle without even shedding a tear!!.. Yes, he practically dragged the poor little girl up the row with him, but I say beggars can't be choosers, right?? Oh my, what a roller coaster, and my little family was just a small part of the wedding..LOL
Anyway, here are a few pics of the big day....

In honor of their wonderful day I wanted to show everyone what a gorgeous couple they are...Love you guys!!

Here are Jake, Lance (my nephew), Jarred, and Hailey all posing for the camera...

This is a pic of Rusty's family...his sister Jalea, His brother and the father of the bride James, his mom Rosalee, his stepdad John, his oldest brother Marty, and then of course my honey Rusty!!

Here we are..Finally getting somewhat of a family photo....

A little close up of me and my baby....

Check out this Daddy's girl giving her Daddy a kiss....Can we say wrapped around her finger!!

Here Hailey is attempting to start the walk by herself..and then decided she needed mommy to go too....

Jarred with is beautiful bride..hehe...Check out the STRESSED look on his face..sooo sad!!!

Hailey and Laci posing for a pic..I sooo love this pic, I'm gonna have it framed and put on Hailey's wall next to her flower basket!

The ceremony was beautiful and my lovely niece now has a new last name and the start to a wonderful life with the man of her dreams...
Congratulations Jeremy and Laci!!

Automatic Shower Cleaner

2007-06-27T14:45:00.000-07:00

So in honor of my Spring Cleaning approach I have purchased this new handy dandy device that is in hopes to skip the shower cleaning regiment..of in other words the lack of my shower cleaning regiment and enable my laziness in this area to continue..LOL

What is this little miracle that I speak of you ask??.....It is called......

Automatic Shower Cleaner made by Scrubbing Bubbles:

Picture of my shower with my new Best Friend.....

This baby is supposed to clean your shower by the mere push of the button and you will never have to use elbow grease again!!! Okay I know what you are thinking and no I normally don't fall for EVERY commercial that I see, but this one seems to be easy enough to just work.

I just push the button after the last shower of the day is taken and a spray is released for 12 seconds. It has a 360 degree sprayer and can shoot up to 8 feet. It is not supposed to leave spots or have a slippery residue on your shampoo bottle. I can also transfer it to either shower and get that one cleaned too..I kinda feel like I just got myself a shower maid, but not feel guilty about not tipping or not talking to her..(Cracking myself up here)

So there you have it people...I am gonna test this guy to the max. and we will seen what the results are...I'll keep you updated if my sloth like manner concerning the tub and shower can continue..LOL

BTW.. Thanks for all the advice on my de-junking idea.... The extra black trash bags have been purchased and the mission begins at daybreak tomorrow...Okay well maybe not daybreak, but at least by 10ish!!

A Clean Sweep!!

2007-06-25T14:48:00.000-07:00

Okay so as some of you may or may not be aware of I have been slightly M.I.A....Well sorry about that, however I am now back and lets see if I can keep up with it again and get back in to the swing of things...Plus I think my Dear Trina is loosing her patience with me..hehe
Things have been pretty crazy lately. We recently traveled back to Oklahoma for my niece's wedding and we just got home last week. I will post about the details of the wedding and the trip when I have some pics to go along with the posts, because we all love little images with our stories..hehe
So now I am back and looking around my cluttered house and am ready for a change!! Anybody who knows me knows that change for me is almost a Bad Word, but I think that this time I am ready to embrace it and get going. Rusty and I are planning on doing some remodeling work to our place and I am feeling the need to simplify the task with getting rid of unwanted items. You know what I am talking about, like that pretty little knick-knack that somebody's aunt bought you that now is just a constant dust ball, or that big half broken race car set that just sits in the boys' room because you spent too much money on it just to toss it. I mean MAYBE just MAYBE they can use their imaginations and use the others parts and build a whole new track, right??..Wrong!! I mean how many empty egg cartons do I need on my refrigerator when I DON"T even own chickens?? How many McDonald toys does my children need to jog their memory of the great time they had one day last week when they opened their little bag, and after their cheeseburger was eaten and the fries devoured they found a stuffed tiger to entertain them for the next 30 mins? Or the little man at the bottom of the toy box you are pretty sure that you saw one on them playing with last week or was it the week before..Sigh...See what I mean, I could go on FOREVER!!
Bottom line..I am in the mood to de-junk this house and get ready for the renovation. Hopefully I didn't paint such a pic of my house that you are thinking that I need a mask and protective suit just to make it to the back door..LOL Just a little Spring Cleaning and a whole lot of Tossing and I will be feeling MUCH better about this little house we call our Home.
Any ideas on what works for all you blogging pals out there will not only be appreciated, but probably used to the fullest extent..HeHe

T-Ball 2007

2007-05-21T16:19:00.001-07:00

Hello All!! Sorry I have been missing in action lately, but my life, as is I'm sure everyone else's, has picked up a bit of speed. My parents were in town last week and it was nice spending time with them. The kids absolutely enjoy their Grandma and Grandpa so it has seemed that the days were just getting away from us. Not to mention that the boys are in baseball and that pretty much has us going EVERY night of the week, however Jarred's season just ended and he had a blast.

As I mentioned before he did have a few minor breakdowns, but for the most part it was a good year. Rusty and I really talked to him about keeping his emotions under control and it took some effort, but we managed to make some great progress.

So in honor of his good little season I thought I would share some pics of my little T-Baller..aka Major Leaguer..in action.

Here he is in all his glory.. all 45 inches and 5 full years of him!!

He started the season off at 2nd base and then they moved him to shortstop. Here he is of course down in his "ready position"...a little something he has heard Dad yelling at his big brother for the past couple weeks..hehe

Here he is making a routine stop.

Another shot of him stopping a grounder..My Dad took these pics and he did sooooo awesome about capturing the pic at the right time..great job Dad!!

Here he is eyeing the ball to take a major whack at it!!

And here comes the WHACK!!

Running for his life to the next base..Seriously I am not exaggerating when I say this, at times this is how he felt..Sigh

Waiting intensely for the crack of the bat so he could run Home..hehe

Coach Rusty watching and coaching from the outfield in his usual position and spitting sunflower seeds to pass the time.

All in all it was a great year and a lot of fun. Jarred improved alot on his baseball skills, but even more importantly I think he gained some major ground in life lessons.

Great Job Cubbies and Great Job Jarred!!!

Out For A Stroll

2007-05-08T21:19:00.000-07:00

Hailey LOVES to play outside..and so our little ritual most mornings is that at about 10:30 I leave the front door open and her and Jarred play outside. I leave the door open so she can come in and out as she pleases. We live in a cul-da-sac and so there isn't any major traffic, but I do have a make-shift gate that is blocking her exit to the road. So the other morning as I was walking through the house and went to check on her...I walked out the front door and noticed that the gate was pulled down and I looked toward the cars and who do I see?? Little Miss Hailey Ann out for a stroll in the road. I told her to get back in the yard and of course scolded her for her behavior. I then got a closer look at all her accessories for her little journey and so I couldn't resist making a memory out of this moment. She of course was mad at me for making her get back into the yard, so as you can see in the pic she wouldn't look at me. Sigh....

My Little World Traveler!!

Notice the mis-match shoes, but she did mange to remember to bring a a "ba-ba" for her babies. And of course no good woman ever leaves home without her purse..LOL

My Graduate

2007-05-03T20:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Jarred's pre-school graduation..He was so pumped for this little event, that was ALL he could talk about!! It was supposed to be at the park and the kiddos were gonna get one last play session for the year, but when we woke up it was pouring down rain..bummer. However we just moved the little occasion indoors and it continued to be a good day for all of our little achievers.

My two sister-in-laws came along with his grandma..of course Daddy took time out of his work day to attend and so that really made Jarred's day!! I took a few pics to help remember this special day......

Here Jarred is accepting is little certificate and a flower to plant in our pot out front......

Posing proudly for the camera....

His last OFFICIAL task as a pre-schooler, passing out Popsicles..

His teacher MariLou was so great this year and Jarred really thought she was just awesome!!

A little pic of Daddy and Hailey posing with the Star of the Day!!

This little boy was seriously on cloud nine for the rest of the day...As we drove away from the school we had this little conversation, too cute not to share.....

Jarred: "Mom, Do I look taller?
Me: "Umm, I don't know?"
Jarred: "Yeah, I think I am..I FEEL taller!"
Me: "Ya know what? I think you just might be."
Cut to Jarred smiling from ear to ear in my rear view mirror...

He is officially a kindergartner now..just ask him he will tell ya!!
We love you Jarred...Congratulations on your Big Day!!!!!!

A Blonde Moment...

2007-05-02T09:25:00.000-07:00

So I have to confess...I had a MAJOR BLONDE moment!! I know I shouldn't tell all my dirty little secrets, but this one is, I have to admit, is what those love to hate blonde jokes are made of....
So the other day I was chatting on my cell phone to my dear Trina and I of course was multi-tasking, after all that is what us mommies do right? Anyhoo..She was talking in detail about some stuff and so I was listening intently and of course responding and adding my 2 cents when needed..hehe, all the while gathering Jarred and Hailey in the car to make a quick run to Wal-mart and some other misc. errands. I had to change cars and take our truck, because I was stopping by the butchers to pick up some meat and it was going to be alot of boxes and well my suburban was too messy in the back and I really didn't want or have time to clean it out. I got the kiddos loaded and all the while staying involved with the convo. I left my house and started on the 30 min. journey to Walley World, when about 5 min in I realized I forgot something....I started searching in my purse, searched the front seat and nothing. URGGGHHHH.. I must have left it in the suburban. Sigh, well I would just have to turn around and get it because I couldn't go all the way to this other town and not have this precious item..
Any guess what this little accessory might be?? Anyone, anyone??
So I pulled over, flipped a U-turn and headed back to my house. I pulled into my cul-de-sac and parked my truck and whispered to Jarred, because I was on the phone,
"Hey, mommy will be right back. I need to get my CELL PHONE. I think I left it in the suburban."
I start to get out and he says, "Mom, what are you talking on?"

HELLLLLLOOOOOO!!!!!!

OH my Goodness!!!
I started laughing and told Trina and she of course laughed hysterically!!!
Seriously, it never occurred to me that the device that was enabling me to have that very conversation was the device that I was turning the truck upside down looking for...
Oh my...I think I need some serious help.....

On to a different note, Trina mentioned in her recent post that we got a way last weekend and it was wonderful. Just having time to ourselves and and knowing that we had 2 whole days was priceless!! Our hubbys ARE the best and I have to say very handsome..hehe. The weekend was about being pampered and relaxing and that is just what we did!! I LOVE my Trina time and we have so much fun together that really it doesn't matter where we are..sigh..I miss her!!!
Well here is my little pic of the weekend and I am so glad that amongst the shopping, walking (in cute, but uncomfy shoes), eating and chatting that I just got to be me and she got to be her and that is what we do. We are who we are and that is what makes us great and irreplaceable!! Thanks for the blast, and I love YOU TrinaLeah!!

Just a couple of Girls on their way out to find some great sales and of course a STARBUCKS!!!

Questionaire..

2007-04-24T15:03:00.000-07:00

Okay so I was thinking I needed to post, but kinda in a "Blah" mood... I was sitting in front of my computer when I saw that Trina had responded to my earlier IM...We chatted a bit and then I told her I was have bloggers block..hehe and she told me to do the questionnaire. After we settled what she was talking about and how to get this to my blog, w/o creating writers cramp, I began the survey. So not that any of you are wring your hands in anticipation, but here goes.....

1. What is your occupation?
I am an adoring housewife...and loving mother..dramatic much??

2. What color are your socks right now?
I'm not wearing any..I almost NEVER DO!!

3. What are you listening to right now?
Not a thing

4. What was the last thing that you ate?
Sour Cream and onion chips

5. Can you drive a stick shift?
You know it

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Green...I am just crazy about green..now.

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone?
My dad

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you?
Well no one sent this to me, I just kinda stole it from her and YES I like her Very Much!!

9. How old are you today?
30!!

10. Favorite drink?
Dr. Pepper...but Vanilla Chai is a close second

11. What is your favorite sport to watch?
College Basketball, the pros are just boring...nobody plays DEFENSE!!

12. Have you ever dyed your hair?
Highlights..does that count??

13. Pets?
Yes, we had a dog named Joey, but he ran off about 6 days ago so now we only have Copper..and yes, Trina, we manage to throw a scrap out every now and then..hehe

14. Favorite food?
Mexican food !!..Yummmmmmy!!

15. What was the last movie you watched?
The Guardian..it was sooo sad!!!

16. What was the last book you read?
From cover to cover..Hank the Cowdog...nightly ritual with the boys.

17. What do you do to vent anger?
Unfortunately..Yell at first then calm down in seconds and continue to speak in a "loud voice"..lol

18. What was your favourite toy as a child?
Probably my Softball glove..that was one thing I was always gonna grab in case of a fire!!

19. What is your favourite, fall or spring?
Love spring...Softball and Baseball

20. Hugs or kisses?
Depends on who is giving them

21. Cherries or blueberries?
CHERRIES!!!!! All time favorie!!

22. Do you want your friends to leave comments?
Most Definitely

23. Who is the most likely to comment?
Trina.. at least she better..lol

24. Who is least likely to comment?
My Dad or Grandparents.... love you guys!!

25. Living arrangements?
What do you mean?? Like am I married..Yes!!

26. When was the last time you cried?
At a funeral..2 weeks ago

27. What's on the floor of your closet?
My INFAMOUS sock basket, and a shoe rack filled with shoes

28. Who is the friend you have had the longest?
AMY!!!!!! I love you girlie!! I was gonna put you on the least likely to comment, but you did comment ONCE so that was enough to put you out of the running..hehe

29. What did you do last night?
Went and watched Jake and Jarred play their baseball games

30. Favorite smells?
Fruit smells..we are talking lotions right??

31. What inspires you?
When I see someone living the faith with their whole heart

32. What are you afraid of?
Not serving God to the best of my ability

33. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers?
Cheese

34. Favourite dog breed?
I guess I like Labs...we have 2.. kinda

35. Number of keys on your key ring?
2

36. Number of years at current job?
Well we have been married 9 yrs and a mommy for 8

37. Favourite day of the week?
Saturday..

38. How many states/countries have you lived in?
5..New York, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and now Washington!!

39. Favourite holidays?
Christmas..I just like to shop, and I love to see the kids faces on Christmas morning!!

40. Ever driven a Motorcycle or heavy machinery?
Does a 4 wheeler count?? If so yes..I crashed it into a parked car!

Okay well those are the results people...So let me know if you take this little survey to heart and decide to live life on the wild side and answer these mere 40 questions..I'd love to see your answers..no really I would..I would!!!

She's 2!! It's Party Central at this House!!

2007-04-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was Hailey's big birthday bash. However it turned out not so big because most that were invited became sick. I thought about postponing her party, but really our lives are always on the run in the Spring, so I figured lets just have it.
It turned out great and she of course was unaware of those who couldn't come. I mean at the ripe ole age of 2 as long as mommy and daddy are there, all is right in the world..hehe
We had a Dora the Explorer party and boy was she EXCITED.
The boys of course had practices before the party and so I knew I would be running late, lesson learned from Monday, and so I started decorating before we left. I pulled her Dora table cloth out and she gasped with excitement. I then started decorating the table with plates and such and she planted her little self in her booster chair to enjoy the show. She of course was jabbering the whole time about her "Dora" and "Boots" this and "Swiper" that..it was very cute. I had wrapped her presents in the living room and when she finally got down from the table and walked in to the room she was so happy and starting saying, "my pasents..my pasents."
However we had to go and she was not happy about all the temptation that I had set in front of her and I had not allowed her to open or play with...I did however give in and let her take a balloon, so that seemed to pacifier her and off we went to practices.
So it was finally party time and when the guests finally arrived we got down to business...
Here are a few pics of the night:

She is posing proudly with her "Dora" cake.....

Hailey and her bubbas

The whole crew...Quite a bit smaller than normal. However, we did manage to snag a rare pic of Zach(our nephew, the oldest boy) in her party pic....That was a treat!!

So we sang our Happy Birthday song as she stood there coyly..but she couldn't figure out what we meant by,"blow out the candle." Here is Jake trying to help her with that little task.....

This was her first present to open..as you can see by the expression on her face she was quite excited..this is what I was referring to by gasping earlier in the post....

Many, many of her gifts went along with the Dora theme and that made this 2 yr. old little girl VERY happy!!

She is proudly displaying her new Diego figure..again with the theme....

This is a little picture I snapped after everyone had left. Here she is just sitting back and enjoying her new Dora chair.....

I can't believe that she is already 2!!! It seems like just yesterday that I was still swaddling her in her blankets and playing the guessing game when she cried..and now she is running around laughing, playing, and communicating like a little person..Time is flying by and I don't want to miss a thing!!!
Happy Birthday Hailey!!
We Love YOU!!!

Crazy Monday..aka Birthday Party!!

2007-04-17T15:58:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning with a plan..I knew it was gonna be a busy day, but I THOUGHT I had it totally under control. Boy was I wrong!! Let me set the stage...
I woke up and got Jake off to school....Took a shower and got ready. Woke Jarred up for school and he was GRRRRUMPPPPY!! We had that little battle this morning and even though we both got over it fairly quickly, it still wasn't fun. I took Jarred to school and then decided to go see a sick sister in our church. I am so bad about going to see about the sick sometimes, that I thought since she was on my mind I better go. I left her house after about an hour or so and went back to get Jarred. We got home and I was starting to get the house picked up for Jake's Birthday party and my phone rings. It is a friend of mine giving me some crazy news . I made a few quick phone calls concerning this news and needed to leave immediately to run a few errands for her. I got back a few hours later, fed the kids and laid Hailey down for her nap. Then I started back to the house cleaning....Jake came home from school and of course wanted a snack. I then helped him with his home work, and remembered that I needed to make cupcakes for the party.( I bought a small cake, but we normally have a big crowd so I thought I would add some cupcakes to the menu. Boy am I glad I did..I made 24 and by the end of the night I had 1 left..hehe) I barely finished making the cupcakes only to drag Hailey out of her nap to take Jake and Jarred to baseball practice.

Well as I was at the first practice I remembered that tonight was a PTA meeting. I haven't been able to make a lot of meetings, and so the president stopped me the other day and said they really need to beef up attendance....this means,

Hello loser mommy, Don't you care about your kids school and helping with the progress to make it better?? Okay got the picture....

Rusty just arrived at the field and so I dashed off to that little meeting with only minutes before it started. The meeting lasted about an hour and it was now 6:55 and the party started at 7:30. I made a quick stop at the ball field and picked up Hailey. I then ran by the store for the cake and ice cream, ran home and started the decorating. LUCKILY one of my nephews was early and was at my house waiting on me and we went to work. Thank you Scott!! So 7:30 rolled around and the guests started to arrive. I then sneaked off to wrap the remaining presents and walked out of my room to a house FULL of company.

IT'S PARTY TIME and all systems were a go......

Everything went smoothly besides the fact that I had 13 children jumping on our trampoline and screaming their heads off..I'm sure my neighbor loved me last night..hehe.

At about 9:00 pm most of them started calling it a night. Jake of course was totally bummed and was asking for it (the party) to last longer. I explained that it was a school night and everyone was tired....most of all ME!! Whew!

Here are a few pics from the big shin-dig:

Here is a picture of Jake and his cake..as you will notice I had to DRAAAAAG a smile out of him all night..hehe

Here is a pic of the whole crew...not many girls, but the screams that were coming from the trampoline, you would have thought that it was an 8 yr. old GIRL party, not an 8yr. old boy party.. They all have quite the set of lungs.

Of coursed I missed the actual blowing out of the candle..No surprise there..lol

This was one of the best smiles he had all night...sigh.

So the pattern continues of the "forced smile." This one I thought for sure I could capture a great pic...He was begging us for this bat all weekend. I was like:

"Okay smile Jake....No, smile I said......Jake SMILE!!" And this is what I got..hehe

Well there you have it, another birthday down. I still can't believe that I have an 8yr. old!!!

Happy Birthday Jake!!
We Love YOU!!!

A Shopping We Will Go...

2007-04-14T23:22:00.001-07:00

Jake's birthday is Monday and Hailey's is Thursday of this coming week and as of today we still didn't have 1 single present for either of them. Oh sure I have some ideas but that is about as far as they got..ideas. So I convinced Rusty to come and take the family and spend our Saturday..shopping. Well I set this word apart because if any of you know my dear hubby than you know that shopping is almost a dirty word in his mind. He really wants no part of it and it normally it takes an act of Congress to get him to go, but today I was in luck. He went without kicking and screaming!!! A few sighs and head in the hands moments, but no actual words of protest came out of his mouth, so I showed no mercy and we went..hehe.
The day went pretty smoothly with the exception of constantly dividing up to sneak off to buy Jake's present..Hailey is much easier at age 1 turning 2. We could actually put the toy in the basket and sometimes let her hold it without any of the surprise being given away. Jake on the other hand is a little sharper than her and well I got to be honest I am thankful for that..LOL, but it does make present shopping more interesting. Of course we also had Jarred with us who kept ''whispering" about Jake's gift to us when Jake was around so we were constantly dodging that bullet.
However Rusty and I put our heads together and figured out a way to out-smart our little one and at the same time also manged to dash every hope he had that he just KNEW what he was getting. You know we pulled the whole: I'm so confused, what do you want again bit, and well I need to talk to Dad about it, and are you SURE you want THAT?...We pulled out all the stops to make sure he would be surprised on Monday.
Because that is what good parents do right...lie to their kids?? LOL No, I'm just kidding, in our defense there was no actually lies being told, just a little harmless trickery. So with our mission accomplished, and Rusty's threshold for shopping getting weaker and weaker, we feed the troops and started on on journey home.
On the 1 hr car ride home Rusty and I found ourselves chuckling to each on Jake's behalf. I know I have spoken before about how he is our "question man", but let me give you an example of why I have attached his name to this label. This rapid fire came at us and let me just say, the next one was coming as soon as the previous was answered...I left out our answers in fear that I might get writers cramp from all the he said I saids...Here we go.......
"Mom, who ate the most in the car today?"
"Did you see that I ate all my baked potato?"
"Mom, who ate the 2nd most in the car today?"
"Did you guys buy me any presents today?"
"Did you guys buy me a pocket knife?"
"Dad, Do killer whales eat penguins?"
"Mom, so if 2 killer whales were together do you think they would fight over a penguin?"
"Who is older Grandpa Phil or Grandma Betty?"
After this final answer Rusty and I started laughing and Jake said,
"What?"
Rusty said, "You never stop asking questions..I think you think out loud."
And with that Jake said, "Yeah I guess I do." That even brought him a good laugh.
We LOVE our Jake and we know his questions are just a small part of what makes him who he is. Although there are times that I have had to stop him in mid-question to tell him I need a break. I know it is just his curious mind working overtime and that even though I might complain once in a while, I love his thirst for knowledge. We are so blessed to have him and our other two children, we am truly indebted to the Lord..in so many ways.

Happy Easter!!

2007-04-10T13:57:00.000-07:00

Well not to go against my character I am late to display me Easter pics...very typical if you know in "real" life. Now I not the crazy late person who EVERYONE is always waiting, but just a few minutes..It is still a flaw of mine and I do try to work on it, I'm just not very good at it yet.
Anyway, back to Easter..the kids had a good day. They woke up to Easter baskets from the Easter Bunny. They seemed to enjoy the new findings. Here are a few pics of them and their baskets..

As you can see she is very happy about her little Dora action figure.....

She is showing off her new baby bottle...she loves her babies!
This was the best pose I could get out of Jake..the I only smile because you are making me look..hehe

Jarred posing proudly for me....

After modeling time was over we scurried around to get ready for church and I prepared for the potluck that we were having after meeting. We had a good meeting and heard some great things. After church all the women assembled down in the kitchen to put the finishing touches on the dinners and we soon began to eat.
Then it was time for the egg hunt. We have 4 different age groups and they go from 1-12. The children all seem to enjoy this tradition, well expect for one child...Jarred. This little boy tries my patience sometimes...For some crazy reason he has the constant need to WIN and I mean WIN everything!! Now Rusty and I are competitive people for the most part and in our younger years we were even on the edge of extreme. However since we have gotten older and have realized that we have little eyes and ears everywhere we have toned down our levels alot and are careful and try not to demonstrate this behavior in front of the kids. But we are human and we still have flaws..like I said earlier..hehe. Now let me clarify a bit about Jarred and tell you that he is not a mean winner..he won't cheat or tease if he wins. Most of the time he will even share his winnings with others, but in order for his little life to be complete he NEEDS to win. Now this in very UNACCEPTABLE!! This makes Rusty and I very concerned and we have had many, many "winning isn't everything" speeches, but they don't always seem to get through...sigh. However, this doesn't discourage us from continuing to explain to him that being a good loser is just as important as being a good winner. This lesson will be learned I am sure of it, but it might be a very painful lesson for little Mr. Jarred. I know if we must stay consistent with our teachings for the scripture says ( and I'm not quoting)that train up a child in the way they shall go and they will never depart and I don't only believe in that , but I'm counting on it. Mommy and Daddy will survive this little stage and Jarred will too....I hope..hehe
Now back to the hunt....
Here are a few pics of the kids looking for the eggs and such......

I forgot to take a pic of her and the boys in their Easter Best before we left, Can you believe what a bad mommy I am?? So I had to crop this pic so I could have one of her standing still in her pretty little Easter dress.....

She really got the hang of putting the eggs in her little basket....

Jarred was helping little sister gather the eggs....

Here is Jarred running to find the silver egg..which he did not find..hence the drama of losing.....

The search continues......

There were only 2 kids in Jake's group so needless to say he found TONS of goodies.....

Feeling no pressure and happy with his little basket, he plays it cool as some of his friends are giving him a hard time about the "challenge" of it all....

All in all it seemed to be a fun, but busy day and I hope you all had a great weekend as well!!
Happy Easter everyone!!

The Nominations Are In!!

2007-04-08T18:30:00.000-07:00

Well Guess what ??? I have been nominated for a blog award, well two actually!! SOO sweet and really I know it sounds very "night at the Oscars" but it is just a privilege to be nominated, because really people the odds of me winning are slim to none, but it is fun to pretend.....
So here is my speech.. Clearing throat....

JUST KIDDING!!!

No really, it is very exciting !! Not to mention that it is a cute idea and I'm sure the people who put this together put a lot of time and hard work into it. So if any of you have the time you should just check out their site and while you are there cast a vote..or two.

And just in case any of you were wondering what categories that I was nominated for I'll give you a heads up and tell ya...I mean just in case you were wondering..wink, wink..hehe

Drum roll please.........

Best Blog Design
and
Best Variety

So there you have it...These categories are linked to the site. Good Luck to all that was nominated and may the best blog win!!

Making Her Momma Proud......

2007-04-04T21:31:00.000-07:00

Warning: The following material might not be suitable for the sophisticated or the squeamish .....Still here? Okay I gave you a shot......LOL

So I know this is coming on the cusp of my issues with the lack of people teaching their children social skills, but in my defense you should remember that my last thought was that my children would probably become social misfits because of my stance on the subject. I mean isn't that what always happens?? You give your two cents about something and then turn around and something similar comes your way, now how you deal with that situation is the true test.
So enough with the build up....
I was just wanting to share with everyone that I believe I have a professional nose picker on my hands!! Exciting isn't it?? Now this is a very special trait that my dear daughter has received because it is not the ordinary run of the mill, pick your OWN nose in public dysfunction. Oh no, it is unique because she will recognize that one of her brothers may need some assistance in this area and be more than happy to help.
I discovered this beautiful act the other morning when she was in bed with me and Jarred woke up and crawled in bed with us. Now Jarred was all sleepy and was trying to cuddle up with me and Hailey who had been up for at least an hour was feeling happy that her bubba was now awake to entertain her. She of course lunged over me and went to hug him. When she pulled back she was looking at his face and jabbering away to him like the conversation was possibly going to be mutual and continue. She stopped in her mid-babble and said, actually pretty clear,
"Mooooom, Darra a booooger!!" (That is what she calls him, Darra, it took us awhile to distinguish between Jarred and Dora..hehe)
I replied, "Jarred has a booger?"
She said, "Yeah, I get it."
And with that she stuck her little finger into Jarred's nose and fished that baby out. Jarred was quite a good sport about it all. She was very proud of her accomplishment and then tried to show me while shoving it in my face. The whole time repeating "Shooweeehh, Shooweeehh."
So now every time she is up close and personal with ANYONE you can tell she is looking at your nose and if you have anything in there, well she will help you out with that little problem. So just a little heads up when it comes of this booger seeking baby because although I do tend to teach her disquisition, I can't make any promises for this 1 almost 2 yr.old child.
Hey I look at it this way....She will make a good mommy someday, because picking someone else's nose is only part of the job description..............

Social Skills.......

2007-04-03T20:23:00.000-07:00

Social Skills... What are they and do people not teach them to their kids anymore?? Isn't staring STILL impolite?? Okay so I know I probably sound like some old lady who should be starting my sentence with, "Back in my day..." But really people, what is the deal. Now of course I am not speaking to any of my dear bloggin buddies..hehe or really I'm not even speaking to anybody in particular except for the man and his 3 children who sat next to me at lunch today.......
So today my children and I venture off to a town about 1 hr. away to do a little shopping. I needed to get Hailey an Easter Dress, plus Jake and Hailey's B-day is coming up and I like to take them to the toy section so they can give me some ideas. Anyhoo...We stopped at my kiddos favorite place for lunch..Wendys. I know it is weird, there is no play ground there, but my boys are all about the food and they love Wendy's chicken nuggets. So I get my kids set in a booth/table and we are all settled in and begin eating.
This man and his 3 kids comes in about half way through our meal and they sit down at the table adjacent to us. So 2 of his children's backs were to us, but the way this Wendy's dining area is designed the back of their booth was the side of our booth....can ya picture it? If not, sorry, I'm sure some of you are like what in the world is she describing..lol Bottom line, we were crazy close to each other...really, closer than 2 separate families opt be to each other.
So my kids and I were chatting away with each other when I feel these eyes on me. I look up and both children are turned completely around in the seats and staring at us. I would say these kids were like maybe 7 and like 9 or so, I mean we are not talking babies here. Now the dad hadn't sat down yet so I'm not thinking too much about it and I smile at them (in which I didn't get response, not even a smile back) and continue on with my meal, trying to focus on Jake's millionth question.
But the staring doesn't stop. The dad soon sits down and I'm thinking finally, but..nothing. He does nothing!! I mean I'm not talking about the occasional glance here. I'm talking full blown turn around in their chairs, hand on the the back of the booth, eating their cheeseburgers as they are mesmerised by my little family. I feel like maybe I was unwillingly entering a staring contest and I kept losing and they were wanting a constant rematch!!
It was out of control and the Dad was in his own little world and I was thinking..."HELLLLLLLLO?????"
I mean my kids were talking about the toys they got in their little meals and they were looking down at the toys as if my children were speaking to them. I was just waiting for one of them to join our conversation, they might as well have they were basically sitting on our laps. It was so crazy!! I left the restaurant laughing to myself and making a major mental note...
Social Skills are a must and staring is a major No-No...plus children who stare kinda creep me out!!...LOL
Watch, I just sealed my children's fate as SOCIAL MISFITS!!

BTW.... I want to thank ALL of you for your kind words after my last post. Everyone was soooooo sweet and thoughtful. It really warms my heart that some took the time to say little prayers on my behalf..I am truly BLESSED!!!

Sadness Is...........

2007-03-30T14:01:00.000-07:00

Okay so I pushed it off long enough.....I'M SAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have tried to avoid the pit that has been in my stomach and really only complained about it to Trina and My hubby, but it no longer seems sufficient. I told myself that I wasn't going to blog about it because that would make it real when I finally read it out loud or maybe because I didn't even want to go that in depth in my mind, but it is what I'm feeling. And that is what this blog is for, right?? I mean this is about my life and there is a MAJOR change that has occurred and I can't pretend that it hasn't effected me.
I feel like I could cry as I type and if anybody knows me at all then they know I am not a crier. However I have broke out of my little mold because I have shed many tears over this move. It is crazy because I have moved so much when I was a child that I think I kinda became numb to it but then again I was the one always leaving.....Not this time. I am the one left behind and maybe that makes it worse or maybe not. It doesn't matter because it still hurts.
It is no secret that Trina is one of my best friends and that her leaving leaves a huge whole in my world. At first I was kinda angry and thought why did I allow myself to be so entangled in someone else's world. She was not my immediate family ...why was I sooo attached?? However it was out of my control because the Lord had a hand in this friendship. The chances of us living in the same town for the rest of our lives were slim to none, even though that would have me one happy lady. But reality hit and it didn't happen. And now the Lord was expecting us to add another dimension to our friendship...distance. My next feeling was complete sadness........ And that is where I have been for days now and probably will be for sometime.
It is not like she is JUST a friend to me, we have way more of a bond, for lack of a better word, and even though she is gone we will always have that. When we first met and really got a chance to get to know each other we just clicked. I knew that it was a gift from the Lord. When I first started coming to our church I would look around and see all the girls who had these great friends who they would giggle with, and share things with and I so wanted that. Then a few years later and after Rusty and I had been married she moved back to our part. Some major relationship changes were going on with me and I know the Lord knew I was starting to feel alone. So the Lord answered my prayer, not when I asked, but when I needed it and I am so THANKFUL that he is aware of me and brought her into my life. From there I guess as they say .. the rest is history.
Sure we have our silly times, okay a lot of silly times, but we also have had many, many spiritual conversations, times when we have just laid it all on the table and we both walked away stronger and closer for it. She has taught so much about who I want to be and the example she is...well bottom line is because of her I am a better sister in the faith, wife to my hubby, and mommy to my kids. Her laughter will forever stay in my heart as well as the friendship that we established. Not only did the Lord grant me a friend who feels way more like a sister than I can ever explain, but he also allowed us enough time for it to form and blossom and for that I am also very thankful.
Great friends are hard to find but lifetime friends are almost extent in these days...she walked into my life at the perfect time and even though our last minutes trips to the park with a chai in our hands, our spontaneous Wal-Mart runs, our lunches at the local Mexican restaurant, and our movie dates are all gone.. I know that the Lord allowed us to become irreplaceable in each others lives for a reason. So, for now I will continue feeling sad and sometimes lonely but in time that will lessen, because really nothing has changed except for a little geography.
I Love You Trina Leah!!
BTW..Is it wrong that I miss you already??..hehe

Sound Advice

2007-03-28T22:29:00.000-07:00

There are many many conversations that my 2 boys have that I do not hear but the few that go on in front of me seriously sometimes crack me up. You see I know I have explained Jake's personality and that he is a worrier and literal and really he can't let some things go. Jarred on the other hand is more down to earth and really doesn't get shook up by a lot of stuff. Oh sure things upset him and has some mini-meltdowns, but he definitely has more of a adventuresome spirit than Jake. Jake the cautious one, is the child that is pulling all his siblings in the house in a hurry when the neighborhood bully dog is roaming around while Jarred is wanting to back outside to see if his owner is missing him. Get what I am saying here..Jake can spot a problem a mile away, but Jarred, well if he does see it then he will probably try to find a solution to it or at least give some good ole 5 yr old advice.
Example of 1 among many conversations:
During the first week of school this year Jake came home and I asked him if he brought the lunch menu so we could determine what days he needed to take his lunch. He told me this....
Jake: I know I put in my folder.
Me : Well it is not here.
Jake: OHH that boy next to me must have grabbed it.
Jarred: Did you tell him to give it back?
Jake: I didn't know he took it Jarred.
Jarred: Oh well why did you sit next to him?
Jake: Jarred, I had to sit there, you just don't understand.
Jarred: Well I would still ask for it back. And maybe you shouldn't sit by him tomorrow.
Jake : Sigh..rolling eyes
The next day Jake gets home from school and I ask if he brought home the menu...
Jake: Oh I forgot it again.
Jarred: Sighing.. Did you sit by that boy again??

Another example:
The other day Jake came home from school and was so excited about this assembly they had at school where this guy came and did a lot of yo-yo tricks. Well you guessed it Jake now wants a yo-yo and was talking about all the cool stuff he could learn to do with it. We were sitting around the dinner table and the following convo went down....BTW our pet dogs name is Joey.....
Jake: It was so cool I want a yo-yo.
Jarred: Me too.
Jake: I wonder if I could learn to walk the dog..you know what that means right mom and dad?
Rusty and I nod our heads... ( you know it is a yo-yo trick)
Jake: Yeah I hope I can learn to do that.
Jarred: You can Jake, we will just practice on Joey. We can walk him to the park.
Jake: Jarred, that is not what I mean.
Jarred: You just said you wanted to learn to walk the dog, so we can. We do have Joey ya know??
Jake: Again sighing and rolling eyes.
You see what I mean, very sound sensible advice for a 5 year old don't ya think?

Shower Issues

2007-03-23T15:53:00.000-07:00

The time change has definitely effected Hailey, but not in a good way. Instead of sleeping in a little more she has decided to wake up an hour earlier than before. So really she is waking up 2 hrs. before normal!! I know Daylight Savings Time was a couple of weeks ago but we just don't understand it. Rusty and I often talk about it and think maybe it makes sense and we are just confused, but no we are not...she is off!! I state this little problem because before the time change I used to get up with Rusty and Jake, get them off for the day and then take my shower and have about 30mins. to myself.
Well that is a distant memory and now I find myself laying in Hailey's bed with her "pretending" to be asleep in hopes she will close her little eyes and drift back off to sleep, but nope, she does not.
So up we go and a new routine is started. I set her up with a sippy, turn on Dora and then I attempt to slip away to shower. Notice the word attempt because basically it never works. On the rare occasion that I do get to shower in peace it is in record speed and I should feel out of breath as fast as I go. But that is not the norm and I either get a crying baby in my bathroom who is wanting to get in clothes and all, or I end up taking a shower with her...it normally is the second.
So you see it now becomes the acrobatic session of shower time where the whole time I am maneuvering my body to stop the spray from drowning her all the while trying to apply shampoo to my hair. The the rinsing is just a nightmare because our shower head is one that is set up high and sprays directly down...so there is no where for her to run..soap in her eyes is almost guaranteed. So I then pick her up to rinse my hair and well that too can become quite the difficult trick trying to avoid a direct face shot. Really it isn't enjoyable for either of us, but she ALWAYS come back for more.
Whatever happen to the relaxing shower time where I could enjoy the hot water and shave my legs in peace..( no Mrs. Martin , I am not referring to that time..hehe) Seriously I feel like a contortionist and like I just worked double time just to do something as simple as bathe.
I used to shower when she was napping but that faded as my days got busier and I had more stuff to do and I couldn't push errands off until late afternoon. Sigh.... Well I know it is not the end of the world and it won't last forever, it better not, but for now at least I am getting some morning stretches in, right??

My Clothes Horse

2007-03-22T23:30:00.000-07:00

This morning I was at my computer making the rounds to all my blogging buddies when little Hailey Ann kept coming up to me demanding my attention. Each time she would walk up she had another piece of clothing half way on her body and complaining in frustration that she needed help to complete her task of getting it on. I would help her and then send her on her way determined that I was gonna get through my computer time and get going with my day.

So as my "session" was done I noticed my little one looking rather bulky and started to take count of how many pieces of clothes she actually had on. The amount was crazy, and so I took some pics to have proof of her little dress rehearsal. So here she is my little diva..............

Starting with 2 shirts and 4 pairs of pants.... I guess she thought she needed to continue to put ALL the clothes on that came across her path, good thing I got off the computer when I did or I don't know if I would have been able to find her amongst the layers.........

1 shirt 4 pairs of pants..... As you can tell some of these are her big bubba's pj's as well....

Still 3 pairs of pants and as you can see she was starting to get bored with our modeling session.....

Down to 2 pair of pants. The only way I could get her to hold still was if I promised her that we would get dressed after I was done, so in her mind I'm sure that meant more clothes.

Finally 1 pair of pants and 1 shirt, just like every other normal child in America.

I guess she kinda missed the mark if she was going for the whole "classic layered" look, huh?

The Sock Basket

2007-03-21T18:00:00.000-07:00

Okay..here it is...Something that I've been hiding from the world and from all the company that graces this home of mine, and really I'm not even ashamed of it. What is this dirty little secret you ask?? Well it is this.............

My sock basket!!
What is a sock basket you ask?? Well come come, let me enlighten you to a whole new world of laziness. You see this little basket of mine helps me shrug some of the laundry responsibility, but yet at the same time I can still seem like it is ALL part of my organizational system by keeping it in a basket. You see, Genius aren't I?
I know I am not the first intelligent woman to stumble across this idea and I know this because some of closest friends also use this little tool in their homes. My hubby on the other hand really is not fond of this tactic, okay I'll be honest it actually drives him crazy. You see he was raised by a southern momma who did right by her hubby and kiddos and always made sure that to start their mornings off there was a clean FOLDED pair of socks in her loved ones drawer.
Not this mommy. Oh sure when we were first married and still in the Honeymoon stage, I folded socks, but then again I dusted and mopped every day as well..hehe Oh how times have changed.
Rusty attempted to tame his riotous and unruly wife one time as we had several couples over at out house for dinner one Sunday. This was a couple of years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday..
Somehow the subject of us women not keeping up on laundry came up and my dear hubby took this opportunity to make an example out of me and asked an older lady in our church for some advice. You see he was hoping that the scripture in Titus where the older women are to be the EXAMPLE to the younger women would apply here. So feeling very confident in his approach he had the following conversation with an older sister of our church...
Rusty.. "So Sister__ can I ask you a question?"
Sister__.. "Sure Bro. Rusty, but I don't know if I'll have the answer."
Rusty.... "Oh I'm sure you will do just fine. So not to get to personal or anything, but where do you keep your socks?"
Sister__.. "My socks?"
Rusty... "Yeah, your clean socks. You see my wife and I have been having this debate for sometime now. I just wanted my wife to see how an older sister in the church handles it, so where do you keep your socks?"
Sister__.. "Oh..Bro. Rusty, I keep my socks in a basket in my laundry room."
Okay so the look of SHOCK on my hubby's face was priceless and the look of satisfaction on my face was well kinda mean..hehe, but I couldn't help it!!
So now a few years later we still have the sock basket and when ever he gets fed up with searching for socks in the morning I'm a good wife and find them for him, but he knows that I know I'm just following the example that he brought to my attention and was set before me..hehe. Every now and then I surprise him and fold them on special little occasions..He still clings to the fact that someday his dream of waking up to a drawer full of folded socks will come true, and I'm alot of things, but I'm no dream crusher. So I'll let him believe in this fantasy because after all wishing is what makes the world go round.

Wrestle Mania

2007-03-19T20:55:00.000-07:00

Okay so those of you who have read some of my previous posts have noticed that the word wrestling seems to be popping up quite frequently. No, I'm not obsessed with the word it just seems like the last few months this sport has been dominating our lives. So I thought I would share some pics of what has been monopolizing our weekends.

First I'll give you a little background info... Jake has been wrestling since he was 3yrs.old, yes I said 3, but really he wanted to ...I promise. This is his 5th year and really he has had quite a bit of success but I guess we must have hit a wall or something because he is starting to burn out. The pressure he puts on himself to succeed plus the pressure that the sport itself puts on you by being an individual thing is just apparently too much for my little worrier. He broke the news to hubby and me the other day and after we got over the initial shock, because really we thought he loved to wrestle, we decided that he is WAY too young to be this stressed out about anything, especially an extra circular activity. I mean his stomach would sometimes hurt because he was so nervous, so I'm thinking that we are way past the point of fun here..ya know?

This is Jarred's 2nd year and really I can't quite decide if he likes it or not. He talks about wrestling ALL the time, but when it comes down to tournament time he waiver's and is very reluctant to continue with the day... Sigh. So it is big time drama, he cries and then Rusty gets irritated and then we explain to him that if quits then that is fine, but he won't get a medal, which he wants desperately. So he then rethinks his decision and so we go round and round the mulberry bush and by the end of the day our little family is emotional drained from a LITTLE GUY WRESTLING TOURNEY!! It is crazy and I'm ready to chuck it all, but then the next week comes around and I hear tons of promises on how they DO want to wrestle and they can't wait until Saturday...

Anyway here are some random pics of the boys..they look so cute in their little singlets, don't they??

Jarred is the one in red..aren't they soo little??

So he took the little boy down immediately, but he was still crying the WHOLE time.....

This is a different little opponent, even though Jarred is on top, he is still not enjoying his wrestling experience...

This was the first match out of the previous 5 that he did not cry at all..BIG VICTORY HERE!!

Now on to Jake..........

Jake (the one in the red) in his ready stance...I'm sure his little heart is beating 90 miles a min..

I'm sure Rusty is encouraging him to suck-up the other boy's arm and SQEEEEEEEZE!! Really it is not as bad as it sounds..hehe

This is Jake going for the pin......

And this is Jake getting the pin!!

So, that was some of the pictures from our last 2 weekends and so far the boys are both undefeated. Anyway we will see what this weekend brings..I'm not quite sure what to hope for, but at least they keep it interesting!!

Logic of a 7 yr. old.......

2007-03-18T22:26:00.000-07:00

My Jake is such a sweetheart, but this little man of mine has got some issues. Well I'm sure most of you have now figured out that he is quite the worry wart!! He is such a literal joe as well that he totally thinks that what you say is what you mean. So, with my sense of humor this is sometimes frustrating in our many conversations. His constant worrying is obsessive and tends to get out of control. Jake's worries are ALL over the map and range from being abandoned, never happened, to our latest issue.. fear of riding in elevators. We recently stayed at a hotel and to his demise our floor was located on the 4th floor and so my little guy was constantly running up and down 4 floors because he would not ride in the elevator. As he explained it.."How do we know that we won't get stuck, and if we do there is just no way to get out. Oh no I'm not riding in that baby."
He is definitely my question man...So whenever we go somewhere he wants to know WHERE we are going, WHY are we going there, and HOW LONG it will take. The very next question is will I be leaving him in the car?? Now I do not make this a habit of leaving my 3 children in the car, but the way this little boy acts you would think it is my M.O. I mean quick runs in to the post office or to pay for my gas and that really is the extant of it. He also wants to make sure that I always have my cell phone so we can call for help if needed..hehe ( His poor wife and children, I mean he is an ulcer waiting to happen!!)
So Friday I ran to another town (30 miles away) to Wal-Mart to buy some last minute things for our big wrestling tournament on Sat. About half way home I noticed that I was flat on empty. Now I knew this when I reached the town earlier but I forgot and then on the way home I looked down and was quickly reminded. I was pretty sure I could make it and that we would be fine, but you know I was definitely keeping my eye on the gas gage..hehe I decided not to share this little piece of info with my kids because I knew Jake would FREAK out and the questions would be coming at me fast and furious and I wanted to avoid that drama. However out of the blue my little worrier asks me,"Mom, what would happen if we broke down right here, would we make it home?" Me, really not thinking and focusing on just getting to my little house mumbles, "I don't know we might just have to find that out." Really kind of surprised that he heard me, he says, "What what do you mean." I try to play it off, but he has now honed in on the possibility that something could be wrong, his little stress sensor, and I am done for. It is either fend off an artillery of questions or reveal to him that we are low on gas and there is a slight possibility that we could run out. Well now that the cat is out of the bag and he realized that we really didn't have great cell service, I notice him leaning over every 5 seconds to see where we are at and how much gas was left. It kinda made me giggle and I tried to reassure him but his gas gaging was so obvious that I could tell he was not believing a word I said.
He was looking out the window, mind whirling I'm sure about all the terrible scenario's that are about to take place, and all of a sudden his demeanor changes and he says, "I have an idea." Feeling kind of guilty that his worries were giving me a chuckle I encourage him to share his new found solution. Thinking that maybe he had come to terms with the fact that the odds of us actually running out of gas were very slim, or if we did it would not be the end of the world and we would ALL survive the experience. He says, "Do you see those houses over there on the other side of the river?" ( The road that we were driving on runs alongside a river the whole way home) I say, "Yesss." Confused as to where he was gong with this. "Well we could just go to one of those houses for help," he says. "Well that is great Jake, but how are we gonna get to their house..there is a big wide river between us," I say thinking that he must have just over looked that MINOR detail. He says, "Yeah I know, but we could just swim across and then walk up to their house from the shore." Okay people, I know some of you are thinking okay well he is just being silly, but NO he was dead serious and the look on his face was stone sober. How extreme is this child? I said, "Jake we can't swim across the river, it is too cold and what about Jarred and Hailey?" He then informed me that he planned it all out and I could put Hailey on my back and he would simply help his little brother swim across the river and it really didn't look that wide. I was so totally blown away as to what his little mind came up with that it made me laugh. Can you just imagine me trying to explain my reasoning to the homeowners that we were seeking help from. "Sorry to bother you, can I get some help? Yes I know I'm soaking wet, and my children look like drown rats and there lips are turning blue from the cold, but I ran out of gas over on the highway so I just put my little family in the freezing water and we swam across the river for some help." I'm pretty sure that IF the people decide to help me, their next call would be to social services and Jake would have a whole new set of worries..LOL
I guess it is a good thing that for now I'm the brains behind our little outings.

The Little Beggars!!

2007-03-14T22:01:00.000-07:00

So on April 16 ( my oldest child's B-Day) of this year it will be 8 years since I was able to eat a complete meal in peace without any little mouths begging for a bite.....Okay I might be exaggerating a bit, but really it is not by much. Trina always teases me about waiting to eat lunch until late in the afternoon, but I do this because it is my only meal that I can eat uninterrupted. Hailey is napping and the boys don't hassle me over every little nibble so I enjoy my freedom to eat at my own pace. You know it is a break in the usual way I eat where if I want to be stingy and not share my meal I will scarf it in like 30 secs. or hide the plate with a pillow.. I know this all sounds EXTREME, and it even makes me giggle as I type it and but at the time it all seems perfectly normal to me..hehe
Anyway for all you good mommies out there that think I am just over the top and would gladly share your mere morsels with your babies, I am sorry...and for all you mommies who totally get me and have been there, done that...well here is a little story for ya......
So today is my hubby and my 9th wedding anniversary, (Happy Anniversary Honey!!). We have been on the go so much lately with my birthday weekend and traveling with sports tournaments that we decided to just spend this one at home. Really we have already had our time away and we couldn't afford to continue to take these weekends away, money doesn't grow on trees ya know..LOL (A little quote I OFTEN heard from my Dad.) Anyway, so this day was basically just another day and I was TOTALLY fine with that. The evening got away from us and we decided to just do a McDonald's run for supper. I am soooooo burnt out of that place that I said none for me and so I just scrounged around the house for something simple. Rusty got home with the bag and I of course took the opportunity while he was gone to call Trina and chat with her for a short spell. I was pacing around and lost in our rived conversation (hehe) when Jarred came up to me and handed me a box from McDonald's that looked like a chicken sandwich box. I opened it confused as to why my hubby would buy this for me and to my pleasant surprise it was a cinnamon roll. I was excited, you see cinnamon rolls are so my VICE...LOVE THEM!! This must be a little treat for me on our special day. I went back to my convo w/ Trina and as I was walking through the house I was nibbling on the yummy roll. Totally wrapped up in out chat I was dodging little ones left and right and really not thinking much about it. I put the box down in the kitchen determined to save SOME of it for after dinner. I walked back through the dining room and bumped into Jarred (beggar#1).
He said, "Where is it?"
I said, "Where is what?"
He said, " You know your sweet roll."
Really only half listening to him I was still puzzled as to what he was referring to and then I saw his fork. I turned around and saw Hailey (beggar #2). They both had forks in their hands and had been following me around the house sneaking bites while my dear Trina was distracting me with her witty humor!!
I quickly informed the little Piranhas that this was MY treat and they already had theirs. I relayed this story on to Trina and she immediately chuckled and said,
"You so have to post about that!"
And so I did.

Gottcha!!

2007-03-13T21:50:00.000-07:00

It is almost impossible for me to have a TRUE Wordless Wednesday, so I'm gonna change it (at least for me to)....A Few Words on Wednesday..hehe Hope nobody is offended by the transition.

Looks like SOMEBODY found mommy's chocolate..................

Looks like SOMEBODY can't decide which piece to have first..................

Looks like SOMEBODY got caught!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eyes Like A Hawk

2007-03-13T00:03:00.000-07:00

So this Sat. morning we were up and around getting ready for the boy's first "Little Guy Wrestling" tournament (I'll post about that experience later) of the year when my hubby realized that between us we only had like 4 bucks on us. Well this would never due because the entry fee for each of the boys was like double that...not to mention how my kiddos LOVE their snacks at these tourney's.
Of course he was already ready to go and I was still scrambling around to finalize all the last minute details that we needed to have done if we were gonna be out and about to the big part of the day. No worries he said he would just run to the bank real quick and get some cash.
About 15 mins. later he comes back through the door with a a little smile on his face. He starts off with ,"Soooo..guess what I found?" Not a clue as what he is referring to or really what he could have possibly found at the bank other than money, I play his little game and said, "What?"
He said that as he pulled up to the ATM a man pulled up behind him. The man got out of his truck, which was very unsettling to my hubby, and started walking up to Rusty's truck. Now Rusty said he wasn't that worried cuz we live in a pretty small town and the threat of robberies at the local bank/ATM center was not a real problem in these parts, but it definitely made him stop and watch this man approach. The man then stopped at our tailgate, bent down and picked something up and then continued walking up to the window. Rusty turned his head to see what this man was carrying and the man said, "I think you dropped something." It was Jarred's BASEBALL GLOVE. Apparently it just dropped off our tailgate as Rusty pulled up, and the man saw this and was nice enough to bring this to his attention. Crazy that this glove stayed on the whole way to our bank..now granted we only live about 2 miles from our bank and the fastest possible speed he could be going during this jaunt is 40mph, but still.
I'm just glad that we got the little tykes glove back cuz it is quite the drama around here when someone loses their glove and I try to avoid that when ever possible. So THANK YOU eagle eye ATM man, and believe me my little boy thanks you as well, you really saved his little hide.....

Amazing Deals!!

2007-03-08T21:56:00.000-08:00

So a couple of weeks ago on the way back from my amazing birthday weekend Trina and I sweetly asked our hubbies to stop at a little outlet mall they she knew of. There were a few stores there that we were hoping to catch some good deals at and help us get a little more bang for our buck than the average mall shopping could...Oh don't get me wrong I definitely hit the mall as well, but it was the end of the weekend and I knew the only way MY hubby was going to comply with more shopping was if I proved that the deals were worthy. So the Carters and Oshkosh's stores were our main target and that was really our only mission. As we left the 1st store and headed to the 2nd we walked by a store called The Children's Place . She suggested we go in and me well I never turn down a chance to shop..hehe Plus the guys had already lost focus in the world of baby PJ's and can't live without outfits and the headed for KB Toys.
We really didn't have much hope of find AMAZING deals cuz we had been to a couple of their main stores in a couple of the malls earlier that weekend and the prices were in the running of Gymboree and Baby Gap. At the front of the shop we saw the saw the same items that we saw at the other stores and really at about the same prices. We split up and I wanderer off to the girl section for Hailey and she wandered over to the boy section for Roman. We kept making our way toward the back both I 'm sure looking for the clearance section. As we approached the backside of the store there were several circular racks that was loaded with clothes. We each started weeding our way through the bulging area and when I looked at the tags I saw the price said 1.99. Double take..1.99??
Yep almost everything on these racks were from 1.99 to 3.99. I was shocked, and at about the same time my dear friend found her little gold mine in the boys section and well from there is was kinda all a blurr..hehe
No really, we were both giddy with excitement and we kept hollering over to each other showing what amazing buys we were about to get!! I was very skeptical and even asked a lady next to me if this was for real. These were some serious CUTE clothes people!!
I gathered several things and felt very foolish that earlier that day I was just so excited about the sale Baby Gap was having and I bought a little shirt for 9.99. Well I picked up what I could justify as not an excessive amount because after all I had already bought lots of new outfits at other stores thinking that I was catching a real break on the prices. Yeah right!! I headed to be checked out and I asked the lady if we just got lucky and stumbled on to a sale weekend and she said no that they always have these racks!!!
I am still so pumped by my purchases. I even took a pic so I can prove that the 1.99 clothes weren't just a figment of my imagination.

I did pick up another cute outfit but of course she had already worn it and it was in the dirty clothes basket when I took this pic. Yes i am the type of mommy that puts on the new clothes the very next day..hehe
So anyway there it is, you guys now know Trina and I 's little secret that we stumbled on to that weekend. This is a great little outlet store and I don't know if we are just lucky in this area or if this is a norm for The Children's Place stores. Either way i advise you to check it out...it is definitely worth the time!!!

The big #5!!

2007-03-07T23:26:00.000-08:00

So a couple weeks back was one of my little men's birthday...Jarred turned the big #5!! He has so been looking forward to this age it is crazy. I remember last year only a few short days after he turned 4 he asked how long it will be until he has his NEXT birthday and will be 5!!! Very impatient....ummmm I wonder where he gets that??..hehe

So now the big event has come and gone and he is definitely LOVING the age 5 status. Every time I'm on the phone with somebody and he walks into the room he will come up to me and whisper, "Hey mom tell them I'm 5 now." He will actually stand there and wait until I relay the message to the poor soul on the other end of the line. He will then walk away smiling as if I just told them he won the lottery. Such a cutie he is..I adore him so!!

So here are a couple of pics that I took at his birthday party. We had to have it a couple days late cuz our family was battling the flu that week. Rusty and I gave him a new bike that looks like a dirt bike which that is all this little boy is about lately!! Anything to do with dirt bikes or motorcycles and he is ALL other that. We gave him that present on his actual birthday cuz we felt bad that he was sick so I took some cute pics of him on the bike, but little Hailey Ann decided to remove my memory stick from my P/C and it is nowhere to be found..sigh...

Anyway these are some pics of the big bash......

Here he is with his "hunting cake" It was quite the decision trying to figure out what kind of party we were gonna have. You might notice the football candles and that is because he also wanted a football party too so Dad just improvised..hehe

Here he is with big brother and little sister....You can tell Jake was trying to work it all out for me..hehehe

Apparently he was not impressed by our "Happy Birthday" serenade

Hope you get what you wished for!!!!

This is the whole crew!! Aren't they cutie pies??

Well there you have it..... My little guys is now 5 going on 16....they grow up so FAST!!! We Love You Jarred and Happy Birthady!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

2007-03-07T11:11:00.000-08:00

"A girl after my own heart!"

Where's my ATM card????

2007-03-02T18:20:00.000-08:00

You know those commercials that talk about either Visa, MasterCard, or American Express, and not to leave home without it?? Well people..they are speaking the truth!
Yesterday I went to "town" to get some groceries at the old faithful Wal-Mart. Jake is out on winter break, a.k.a. our local high school basketball teams are playing in the state tournament, and so He was home from school. I also had my niece for the day so that makes child #4.
So off we go to get all the groceries that my little cart could carry along with a child in the front basket seat, one in the main basket part, one riding on the end and one straggling along behind me because really there was no other place to put him. Unless I loaded him underneath the basket. Can you imagine the stern looks from the Wal-Mart employees that I would get?? You know the ones where they look at you disapprovingly right before they tell YOUR child to set down or tell you that he/she is gonna fall...love that..like you are that bad of a mommy because you let you child stand up in the big basket part of your cart. Does that bug anybody else or am I just over the top about that??
Anyway, we arrived in the town right at lunch time and well the troops were starting to get restless and they needed food. I thought no biggie I'll just grab them a quick bite to eat and then we can get to Wally World, and knock this errand out in no time.
Well the decision was made and we went to Burger King. As I unload all the kiddos and we were walking up to the door I remembered that they do not take checks anymore..Grrr. You see I have "misplaced" my debit card somewhere around my house and I have not been able to find it anywhere. And to make matters worse, Hailey loves to play with my wallet. So that means that she takes everything out and puts it where ever her little heart desires. Needless to say that also means she has taken out any and every other credit card that I had in there. Point being, all I had was checks because I rarely carry cash.
So I then piled all the children back into the truck and headed to Taco Bell where I was sure that they took checks...I mean I was sure I had written a check there before.
We AGAIN filed out of the truck, walked in the place, I got all the kids situated, including high chair and all. Went through the drama of what ever one wanted to eat, walked up to the counter and big as a barn a sign that said.."We no longer accept checks, sorry for the inconvenience." Yeah right!!
Double GRRRRRRRRRRR!
I then had to gather all 4 of the kids AGAIN and leave the restaurant explaining the whole way out....
Come on Jarred, I know you wanted a taco, but we will be right back..Yes I know we already did this...
Yes Jake I have money, just not with me. Yes, it is at the bank..Yes I know where a bank is...
Come on Jackie hold Jake's hand..Yes I know you are hungry...
Let's go sissy... We go bye-bye....
**Sigh**
Next Stop .......A BANK......
Next mission...Find my ATM CARD!!!
Next rule..NEVER leave home without it!!

My Birthday Treat

2007-02-27T21:11:00.000-08:00

Wow..it has been busy!!!!! The weekend was so long overdue that it seemed to speed by and we all came home craving more..hehe..selfish aren't we?? Dennis, Trina's hubby, said that we either should not have gone at all or we should have stayed longer...if we are voting I choose the second!! But we did come home from our fairy tale land of Starbucks runs, mall shopping, hotel sleeping, adult conversations, alone time with hubby, eating whenever and whatever and finally having a ride in a vehicle where the main focus wasn't trying to make a cranky baby happy.
Our Friday started off great. Both families battled sickness with the kids all week so leading up to the big event definitely had its ups and downs. So the fact that we actually departed on the day that we planned to was a small victory for us. We arrived at Seattle about 2:00pm and I was informed that we were right on schedule for the night festivities. As we guided our way through traffic some of the secret was being divulged to me and I was ohhh so pumped. We stayed in downtown Seattle at The Weston. It was so nice and our rooms were so neat, they were in a circular layout that was pleasantly surprising. Here are a couple pics of the the view from my room, don't ask me why but I didn't get any shots of the inside of the room. I must of been giddy from anticipation that my mind wasn't working ..hehe

This was the view looking strait down...I told Rusty that the cranes and trucks looked like the boys' Tonka Toys and match box cars

This was the view looking toward the right..so cool huh?

This was a ferry coming in and I thought it was so neat that we got such a great view from our room!! Dennis said he played the "Birthday card" and I gotta say..Way to go Den!! Loved our view. I wish I could have got some pics of the night when all of Seattle was lit up and we could see the shine that went on forever.....
So we got all fancied up and left the hotel to begin my first official night out as a 30yr old woman..hehe We ate at an amazing restaurant and by the prices I'm a thinking they knew how amazing they were as well. Seriously we are talking a far cry from the normal evening out at Taco Bell..not even close to The Outback and we don't even go THERE very often. However as we kept reminding our selves and each other the rest of the night that it was a "once in a blue moon thing." Seriously we needed that reassurance all night long..hehe
Next was the theatre...Fire On the Mountain.. It was a great musical. The story line was told in such a unique way and the songs and the artists were really amazing. We had a blast and here are a couple of pics of us at the theatre.....

Here is me and my hubby posing before we walked into the play....Isn't he a cutie!!!!

I was just giving him a little kiss for all the hard work he put into planning this big night!
We did have some pics of Trina and me and Trina and Den...but they didn't turn out....hmmmm :-)

After the "planned" part of the night was over we decided to take in a little of the scenery and dabble a little in some of the night life. We traveled by taxi all night long and boy was that an experience. Trina being the caution girl she is actually asked me one time if we were supposed to be wearing our seat belts. I didn't have a clue, but the way this cab drivers were accelerating their speed I was ready to search for one...hehe
And as the night came to an end I was feeling tired and so happy that my great friends had taking time out of their life to spend this special day with me and my hubby. Friends like that are such a rare find and we cherish them.
And as for my hubby....well he is the sweetest, most hard working, lovable, loyal man that I know. He is truly my best friend. The fact that he planned this all for ME made me feel so special. He definitely made me feel like a princess. I mean what can I say but I Love Him!!!
The next couple of days flew by and we did lots of shopping and I found some amazing deals. Sunday night rolled around and even though I loved my time away I was starting to miss my babies and when we went to pick them up I was so happy to see them. There is just nothing like when you walk into a room and your baby's eye light up and she comes running and snuggles into your arms. Pure Joy.
So after all the hype and build up, which it definitely lived up to, sadly the weekend is over. However I am not bothered by this because I have memories that will last me a life time..so I say BRING ON the 30's!! :-)

SOOOO Tired!!!!

2007-02-26T23:12:00.000-08:00

Okay so for all you out there who are just LOST without my daily posts I will let you know that I am still alive!! However I am so tired from the B-Day weekend, along with the B-day party for Jarred, in which I will be posting on each, but NOT tonight..hehehe I know, I know everyone is moaning and groaning with all the suspense, but you will just have to wait like good little children..LOL
Seriously.... I am going to get back into the swing of things, but we didn't get home until late last night and then today it was crazy cleaning for the big shin-dig and then now tonight I find myself READY for bed. Some of you might be thinking I that you just read this very same post at The Martins blog..hehe. Nope this baby is all mine, it is crazy, it was like she was reading my mind..and I remember smiling as I read her post, only in place of her coffee filled veins was my lovely Dr. Pepper addiction.
So tomorrow I will be back at it cuz I have LOTS to share about my amazing hubby and wonderful friends and the fun, fun time we had. Plus my little guy had his 5th birthday party and I also have pics from that. So stay tuned and I'll catch ya up tomorrow.

P.S. Trina's Internet was down today, but it might be back up running by Tues. cuz I definitely know everyone is going through Trina withdrawals..hehe

Juice Anyone??

2007-02-21T14:37:00.001-08:00

Well it's official..We have sickness in the house!! We some how manged to steer clear of all the yucky viruses that has been going around for awhile, but of course I knew it would eventually catch up to us..and it did. With perfect timing, ya know, my birthday getaway coming up this weekend and all. Sigh...Oh well what do you do ..just weather the storm and see where it places you right??
So Jake being 7 yrs old and all, this unfortunately is not the first time in his young life that illness has come his way, I'm not that good of a mom..hehe. Anyway, every time he gets sick my hubby and I try to be the responsible parents that we should be and attempt to cram all the fruits and veggies down his little tummy that it can possibly stand. This of course includes JUICE. I emphasize this word because that is not a very popular word for Jake and as a matter of fact he would probably rather drink just about anything else in its place. However this to my husband is CRAZY TALK and the child MUST have at least 1 glass a day when he is feeling under the weather. And the battle now begins.....
So my hubby runs to the store for this house bound mommy and picks up all the necessities that one might need to regain a healthy child. He of course is SURE that he has now found the perfect brand and flavor of juice that is gonna send our little man into blissful joy and that he might even consume the whole container in one sitting. I, of course, try to stay positive and attempt to sell this oh so yummy drink to my not so interested son. Jake being the obedient child that he is, is willing to give it a try and may even be sold on the amazing pitch that his daddy and I just gave him on how this juice was great and different than any other before. I mean we have even gone so far as to enhance some stories on how we as kids adored this flavor as well and yada, yada, yada...not lie just enhance..hehe. We pour this tasty liquid into his glass and together we march into his room for the big presentation..quite funny when I think about it...and I hand this precious cup to Jake as his Daddy and I watch eagerly as he takes a sip. He nods, agreeing that THIS WAS a great idea and he could possibly learn to love this drink. With smiles on our faces we both leave the room feeling content with the mission....
About 15 mins later I walk back in to check on Jake and I find the sippy still filled to the brim and my people pleasing son admitting that it wasn't very good and he really doesn't want any more.

I however, am not surprised by this confession because it happens every time!!! Seriously every time. So, I go break the news to my hubby and he is always a little shocked at this outcome and then decides to open the OTHER bottle of juice that he picked up for him... and so the saga continues. So by the end of the day all I have is a little boy who is still sick and will only drink Sprite or 7up, and a hubby that is confused as to why our child doesn't like juice and this:

6 bottles of juice!! The amount of money we spend on juice gets pretty crazy sometimes!

You will notice that some of the containers do seem like they are missing quite a bit of juice and that is just because we have dispensed it to the other children or we attempted to crack the barrier and tried 2 rounds of that type with Jake. As you can see we have the never fail 7 up on hand so the child at least has 1 thing to drink that he likes.
Most of you are probably thinking that the time to introduce something new to your child is not when they are sick in bed and I agree...however, we have tried that route as well and it is also a no go.

Conclusion... Jake just does not like juice...the quicker we accept that as parents, the better off and cheaper it will be...I have come around to that idea, my hubby on the other hand, well that might take some work...LOL

Doggie Drama

2007-02-19T18:22:00.000-08:00

So any of you who have read my previous posts know that animals, or "critters" as I so fondly refer to them, and I don't really mesh well. HOWEVER, if there was ever an animal that I could have feelings toward it would be this guy right here..Joey. We got this chocolate lab when he was a puppy and believe me we have the torn up backyard to prove it. Well it is now 2 1/2 years later and he has definitely grown on me.

This weekend we had quite the drama going down in our little backyard and not by the neighbor kids as one would think but a knock down, all out, crazy dog fight!!

Let me set the scene....This year for Christmas "Santa" got the kids a trampoline and oh boy has it brought them and the neighborhood MUCH joy. However every time the kids go in the back to jump we have to tie Joey up on his chain because he has figured out how to jump up on the trampoline, and well we figure that these contraptions are dangerous enough without a 100 lb. dog making the ride more interesting. So in order for the kids to jump he has to go on a chain. Of course he is just as excited about all the hub-bub going on and then too decides to voice his opinion in the only way he knows how...barking...ALOT!! So yep you guessed it after several complaints from the neighbor and a couple of threats of police getting involved and talk of fines my hubby and I decided that some sort of muzzle was the only way the kids could go enjoy their new toy and we not have to pay a fortune every time for this pleasure.

I know some of you are probably just thinking that we should use a barking dog collar, but they don't really work plus I I didn't like the idea of shocking him every time he makes a sound...so the homemade muzzle was invented.

Now I try to stay on top of the situation and he normally only has it on when the kids are on the trampoline and then they or I take it off pretty quickly after so it really isn't that big of a deal.

Now back to the drama....so Sat. afternoon the kids were in the backyard and Joey was sitting watching them jump. It was so pretty outside that day that Hailey heard the kids and wanted to go and play. I quickly got her shoes on and off we went to have some fun in the sun...Well when I walked out the back door and looked over in the direction of Joey I noticed another dog in our backyard. Now I don't know dog types very well, but he was decent size and looked kinda mean. There were 2 neighbor kids also there who came to jump so I figured the dog must be one of theirs. I immediately said,"Whose dog is that...You need to take him home." Well about the time I said that, the other dog started growling at Joey and as quick as a blink he jumped at him.

Well it was on then. The two dogs were up on hind legs going at it like crazy. Now I've seem a lot of dog fights but this one sounded different. Which at first made me think that maybe my eyes were deceiving me and they weren't actually seeing who could cause the most damage, but no that wasn't it because there was no doubt this was quite a brawl.....Ohhhh Well Hello..Joey's mouth was sealed shut!! I was only hearing 1 dog make all the scary sounds that accompany a fight like this and that also meant that MY dog was at a major disadvantage...chained up and unable to use his mouth.

I picked up a big stick to try and get between the two angry dogs and of course was yelling for Joey to back off the whole time. I kept telling the boy to call his dog, but he quickly informed me it wasn't his dog...Great...some stray dog has just attacked MY dog in MY backyard in front of MY kids and here I was gonna stop it with a mere stick?? I didn't even have any shoes on to try and step between them...not that, that would have been the right thing to do, but seriously it was all going so quickly. All I could think about was the safety of my kids and the fact that this wild dog was hurting my poor Joey. The way this dogs mouth was all over Joey I had no doubt that he was gonna be hurt bad.

Finally I got them broken up and the other dog scurried off out of our yard. Immediately I went to Joey to see the damage. Much to my surprise he wasn't bleeding ANYWHERE and didn't seem to be hurt either...Miracle! I quickly released his mouth and soothed and calmed him down. Other than the fact that his breathing was heavy he seemed to be Okay. I petted him and talked softly to him for quite awhile and when everything seemed okay..I looked up and the other dog was back and stalking the border of our fence. I told the neighbor boy, who then realized where this dog belonged to, to take him home and tell the owners that if I saw him around here again I was gonna call the pound. Now I'm not a fan of the pound but I can't have this aggressive dog looming around my house and the moment Joey is vulnerable again decide to get another whack at him. So the rest of he day I was on Doggie patrol and yes I released Joey from his chain and fed him some treats for his effort. And poof..I had a realization.. I guess I my feelings run deeper for this silly dog than I thought!!

The Happy Dance

2007-02-15T17:57:00.000-08:00

There is nothing in this world (maybe except when Daddy comes home) that will get my little girl to come a running like the theme song to Dora the Explorer. It is actually quite comical really. She could be very content playing any where in the house and as soon as she hears that little jingle she drops whatever she is doing and makes a bee line for the T.V. It is kind of weird almost like a dog whistle or something. She will then continue to stand ever so close to the tube and do her little clumsy dance along with several claps and squeals. And maybe every now and then sing the last word of a line..oh yeah she is that good..hehe At first this was very exciting to me because I thought she was maybe getting to the stage where she might actually sit down through a program and I could get some things done without my little shadow, but no. Basically as soon as the theme song is done..so is she. Oh sure she will tease me every once in a while and ACT like she is interested only to chase after me as soon as I leave the room.
Her dancing is quite the sight as well. I tried to capture it on camera, but my her movements kept making the picture blurry. So let me describe it to you if I can. It reminds my hubby and I of Elaine, you know off Seinfeld. It's that one episode where she dances on the sidewalk to that street guitar player. Yep that is definitely what she looks like. One main difference is instead of the thumbs sticking out Hailey uses her index finger. But the same chicken wing flapping, foot stomping, finger pointing, neck bobbing out of rhythm jig is what my baby is performing . She must get that from her Daddy..hehe
This of course makes me smile because I am reminded of Trina's post a couple of days back when she talked about the things that babies can get away with and us being adults, well it would be just plain wrong.
I mean can you imagine when one of my favorite shows came on like ..Friends (yes I know it is only in reruns, but they still make me laugh), I stop loading the dishwasher, run into the living room blocking the T.V and begin jumping up and down, clapping and squealing with delight. Only to continue to dance until the intro is done??? I mean if I managed not to hurt myself the looks I would receive from my little family would still be of great concern. The children would stop dead in their tracks and Rusty probably would encourage me to get out of the house more. UMMMM..on second thought, maybe I'll give that a try!!

What Do Ya'll Think???

2007-02-15T13:16:00.000-08:00

Okay everyone..I decided to take a page from some of my fellow bloggers' book and here is the new look!! I personally love it and I'm sure all of you can guess who the master designer of this baby was....Lindsay at Splat Designs
She so rocks!! I am so excited. She was so great and really worked quickly even though her baby was under the weather. Thanks Lindsay!!
Well I'm gonna post later but I just couldn't let my "New Face" go with out a few words.
Let me know what you think.......

Wordless Wednesday..kinda

2007-02-14T20:30:00.000-08:00

I Love my hubby!!!

Happy Valentines Day!!!!

Remodeling Newbie Style....

2007-02-13T23:02:00.000-08:00

As least I didn't go as far as this lady..hehe

So where is Bob Vila when you need him?? Or maybe Marthe Stewart?? Anyone, anyone??
So here is the deal. My hubby is gone on business and I got the wild hair to redo my bedroom while he was gone. You know have it all done when he gets back and be like,
"Surprise!" Okay so the one that is surprised is ME with all the work I have to do to get this thing accomplished.
We have been planning on redoing our bedroom, or should I say I have, but he has known about so it is not like I'm out spending tons of dough without his knowledge, but I was hoping that I could be resourceful and impress him.
However when he walks trough that door tomorrow impressed will not be the emotion he fills, probably more like confused and a little irritated.

I started out the day picking up some things for my walls and and selecting the perfect window treatment. Got home all excited to knock this task out and then maybe have some free time to kill. Naive aren't I?
We had a border that previously matched our old bedroom decor and that DEFINITELY had to go. No problem , I'll just peel that baby off and slap a coat of paint on and by morning all will be dry and right with the world. I know I'm sure many of you experienced decorators are laughing your heads off right now, but I seriously thought I had this under control.
Well I stared on the border and sprayed it with water as my good friend told me to. Went to scrap the paper and it wasn't coming up so easy. puzzling.. Okay no problem, I just need a better scrapper, I guess my FINGERNAILS won't do the trick...yes that is what I was using. More water applied, and got some sort of thin spatula like object that I was sure was going to do the trick..nope. Not much better. I quickly IMed Trina for some advice and she informed me that, "Yes it was gonna be some work" ..Greattttt, so I get back at it and work for about another 30-45 min and barely make a dent. Could I get carpal tunnel syndrome from this?? Cuz this was some crazy straining on my fingers. My wall was now drenched and streaks of water running down everywhere. I would wipe them away but you could still see it later. Was my paint wiping off as well?? How many can of worms did I open here?? I thought surely there is some else out there who has invented something to make this job easier..I mean it is 2007 and borders have been going up and coming off for years. Yes, I found it..you can buy something call DIF and it will do the trick. Well that doesn't help me right now plus I am anxious and on a time schedule, so I get the brilliant idea to research homemade removers.
Fabric softener and hot water apply with sponge or paint roller wait for 25 minutes and remove. Oh yeah, I got this now. Sad really how confident I am at times only to be knocked down a peg or two so quickly. So up on my wall goes 2/3 hot water and 1/3 fabric softener. Downy sure has a powerful smell when it is dripping down your shirt sleeve, past your armpit, and out the bottom of your shirt. GOOD TIMES. Of course the mixture is crazy thin and runs everywhere and I now trying to protect all my new wall hangings and carpet and new bed set with my slimy fabric soft fingers. GRRRRR... So now my room smells like a laundry mat, and not good like one but STRONG like one. 25 min later nothing happens. No peeling right off like what was promised, but more carpal tunnel injuries. So I am thinking that waiting on this DIF isn't such a bad idea after all. I mean a little patience never hurt anybody right??

On the Go!

2007-02-12T22:38:00.000-08:00

Well it is 10:38 and I am finally sitting down to post for the day. Ever have one of those days where you feel like you woke up and hit the ground running?? Well that is how my day started and ended, with a little lull patch in between..it feels like I started this day ages ago.
Got Jake up and off to school then I spent a little time on the computer commenting on my ever so funny blogging buddies and then I had to get going cuz today was pre-school day for Jarred. Woke him and Hailey up, going against my number 1 rule never wake a sleeping baby, and dressed and off to school. My hubby called me to inform me that he was leaving soon.. business trip, gone for a couple of days:-( .... and did I have his stuff ready? NO....went home and sorted through the previous clothes mound that was left and had not yet been put away from our earlier trip. Ironed his shirts, definitely not a fan of ironing, and then packed his things up in a nice tidy little suitcase. Then off Hailey and I went to get Jarred from school. Ran a couple of errands and picked my brother and niece up from their apartment so he could make some phone calls, then took them home shortly after. Fed the kids some lunch and changed laundry over..again. Whew...I needed a break. Hailey was cranky from all the running and I was ready for some lazy time. I put her down and vegged out in front of the T.V. for a short spell.
Then it was back at it cuz Jake got home from school and was hungry and Jarred wanted milk and Hailey was waking up and my "me time" was over...I guess I should just be thankful that I got that..huh?
Basically from there it was finishing up laundry, finish unpacking, make dinner, bathing kids, cleaning up kitchen, reading a bedtime story and off to sweet dreams these little ones would go. My house looks like a few closets exploded and my floors look like I don't even own a vacuum cleaner. Didn't I just pick up this toy? Didn't I just wash this shirt? Who am I kidding, cleaning.. it is a vicious never ending cycle. Sigh. Wow being a single parent is definitely something I do not envy..no fun. I still have 2 more days and nights of this....Good Gravy!