if you don't like the weather in texas wait 10 minutes

yesterday it was 75 degrees and today it's below freezing outside and snowing - only in texas! people joke about having to check the weather report before getting dressed but i thought that was totally normal. if i haven't watched the news before picking out my clothes, i will call time-and-temperature to see what it's like outside (and primarily what it WILL be like)! about the only time you don't need to worry about it is in the dead of summer because you KNOW it will be hot!!

the snow is pretty but only if i get to stay in the house and watch it! i sure as hell don't want to get out in it! unfortunately, i think i have influenced my kids to feel the same way. i asked them if they wanted to go out and play in the snow and they said "no, it's too cold and wet". they are 3 and 6 - they are supposed to love playing in the snow!! i even had to force them to go out in the yard for a few minutes just to get a picture of them in the snow!

we just found out that our church has cancelled Christmas eve services (that is always my favorite church service of the year) because the streets are getting too bad to drive on. i hope all of our family will be able to make it over to our house tonight (and to go back home to their houses tonight too)! :-) a white Christmas sounds great in the story books but it is actually kind of a pain unless you can stay "holed up" in your own house!

watch out hannah montana

last night was the first grader's Christmas program at school and she did awesome! she sang a bunch of songs with her class, she had a solo (she actually had two but the other little girl sang over her part during one of the songs) and she read the closing prayer. i was very proud of her!

i've known for some time that my first grader has quite a "personality"! she is a ham - she loves to be the center of attention - that i get! what i'm not sure about is where she got such a pretty voice from because it definitely was not from me. i can't carry a tune in a bucket)! her dad is not really a singer either (i'm trying to be nice) and he is way too shy to get up in front of people to sing. he wouldn't even be able to get up and speak in front of 10 people and she got up there and sang in front of 300+ people (standing room only) and wasn't even nervous!

happy birthday Jesus!

family christmas letter

wow - i've been so busy lately that i haven't even had time to read other people's blogs much less write my own! i will write something soon but for now here is our family Christmas letter that we sent out this year:

2009 has been a very busy year with a lot of ups and a few very hard lows!

Some of the ups – We spent most of the summer in the water – either going out on the boat or to the local water park or to the neighborhood pool. The girls took swimming lessons and the first grader can actually swim now (hopefully she won’t forget it all by next summer)! The four of us took a trip to Chicago in July to visit my brother Mike and his wife Erin. We had a great time visiting and playing tourists (although the water in Lake Michigan was COLD)! The hubby and I went to the NASCAR races again this year in April and he went to the Chicago race in July and to the Texas race in November and we also took the girls to the truck race in June. The hubby and I saw Robert Earl Keen in concert three times this year but the best was when we went to see him at Gruene Hall on November 13th with my aunt and uncle. It was awesome! We stood right in front of Robert Earl Keen during the concert and then I got his autograph!

A few of the downs – Our dog, Kitty, died in April. She was almost 14 years old. We have not gotten another dog yet. Unfortunately, my 98 year old paternal grandmother passed away on November 5th. She was such a kind-hearted woman and will be greatly missed. We went to Rayville, LA for the funeral. It was a bittersweet trip because we got to see some family that we hadn’t seen in a long time, but we had to say goodbye to a person who was such a joy in all of our lives.

The hubby is still working for the same heating/air conditioning company based out of Dallas. Because he was able to get a very good deal on a set of golf clubs, he has started playing whenever he can. Funny how we saved so much money buying this set of clubs, yet he has to spend so much to play the game! His 1972 Chevy step-side is still a work-in-progress, but it looks pretty good now!

I am still a stay-at-home mom but have been extremely busy with all of my work at the first grader’s school. I am the room mom this year as well as last year. I was the treasurer of the PTA last school year and am now the PTA president and treasurer. I am no longer babysitting for our neighbor’s daughter, Sophie, but we do get to see her often since they live next door! I am in relatively good health and am even more thankful for it after going through a medical ailment this summer. For about a month and a half, I had severe joint pain. It started off minor and progressively got worse until I could barely move (even while on prescription medications). I saw my primary care doctor and a rheumatologist and had MANY tests run and they finally put me on steroids which made me feel so much better. I still don’t know what caused it, but I’m just happy that I feel better now!

The first grader (6) is still doing gymnastics and really enjoys it. She is in 1st grade now and has been on the A-honor roll (both 6-weeks). She has lost 2 teeth so far (with 2 more very close to coming out). She may even be singing “All I Want for Christmas is my two front teeth” in time for Christmas. Just last month she went to a Dallas Cowboys football game with a friend from school – at the new stadium – in a suite!! She is now the only member of the family that has been to the new stadium! Brooke will be singing a solo in the Christmas program at school. She has been practicing A LOT!

My little one (3) is doing gymnastics now too. She loves it and her teacher says she is a natural. This is the first year that it has just been the two of us alone everyday and I’m enjoying it so much. She is at that age where she wants to do things just to please you and wants to help out. She is my little helper and I couldn’t ask for a better one!

We hope you all have a very merry Christmas and a wonderful 2010!

i'm like the wicked witch of the west - i can't get near water

it's no secret - i hate to be pale! if there was a surgical procedure that i could get to be tan for the rest of my life, i would do it in a heartbeat! i used to go to a tanning bed in my younger days. i was not one of those people that likes laying in a tanning bed though. i can't sleep on my back and i lay there tapping my fingers thinking of all of the time that i'm wasting. now i go and get a spray tan. it's quick and so much safer for me, but it does require some planning!

it takes some planning ahead because you can't shower or work out for at least 4-6 hours afterward. i usually go at night and when i wake up in the morning i look like i just got back from some tropical vacation. my sheets are "tan" now too, but oh well! i also have to make sure that it's not raining or i will be splotchy. one time i went with my sister-in-law and when we were leaving the tanning place it was pouring rain. we had umbrellas but we would still get somewhat wet. the girls at the salon were so sweet that they put robes over our heads and walked us out to the car and when we were in the car they pulled the robes off and shut the car doors. they got drenched but our tans looked good the next day!

through trial and error i have figured out to use saran press and stick to keep the bottom of my feet from turning brown. i looked a lot more splotchy when i first started and it does take some practice, but most people are very surprised by how natural it looks for me now.

where did thanksgiving go?

okay, i am not a scrooge! in fact, i love all holidays (especially christmas) and i love to decorate for all holidays (especially christmas), but this is getting ridiculous!!

i know that i have been really busy lately, but did i somehow miss thanksgiving?! i'm pretty much used to the stores putting up decorations early - although they started even earlier this year (before halloween)! the black friday deals are starting even before thanksgiving! one of my neighbors has hung christmas lights on his house already (and they are turned on)!! i have numerous friends that have already put up christmas trees and decorations!!! there is a radio station that is already playing non-stop christmas songs!!!! people, it's the middle of november!!!! there is another holiday that you are skipping right over - it's called thanksgiving! it's kind of an important holiday too because you are supposed to stop and think about all that you have to be thankful for. and i, for one, have a lot to be thankful for! i can't even find thanksgiving decorations at the store anymore - they went on clearance the day after halloween!

most of my friends that have already decorated said that it was because they would be out of town until thanksgiving. so what! there is no law that says that you have to put your tree up on thanksgiving weekend! yeah, it's convenient for most people because it is a four day weekend but i usually wait until december to put mine up anyway. (and you know that these will be the same people that take their decorations down on christmas day because they are sick of looking at it all)! one year i even put my tree up on christmas eve and took it down the day after christmas (we were moving). fifty years ago, everyone put there tree up on christmas eve. at this rate, it won't be long before people will start putting there christmas trees up on the 5th of july!

hell, maybe i'm the one in the wrong - maybe they cancelled thanksgiving this year and I didn't get the memo!!

winnie mae moreland

my grandmother passed away last thursday in her sleep. she was 98 years old and yet somehow, that still wasn't long enough to get to be with her! we buried her yesterday right outside of the small town in louisiana where she lived for most of her life. she was one of a kind - so sweet, so funny. she has never riden a bicycle, driven a car, gambled or had a sip of alcohol. i spoke at the funeral and this is what i said:

Some of you may know her as Winnie Moreland, but to me she’s Ninnie. She became a grandmother at the age of 63 – I was the first grandchild and her only granddaughter. We had a special bond and I would have to say she spoiled me quite a bit! Every time that she came to visit us or we went to visit her she would scratch my back until I would fall asleep. She would always have some money folded up in her pocket that she would slip to me and my brother (when my parents weren’t around) and she would insist that we took it. She has never punished me or yelled at me (although to tell you the truth, I doubt she has ever yelled at anyone)!

One of her greatest achievements in life was raising a smart, honorable son (who is my dad). Ninnie worked hard and would do without because she wanted the best for him. He went to college and joined the Air Force and became a fighter pilot which she was so proud of. She loved her daughter-in-law like the daughter that she never had and she loved to come and visit us wherever we were stationed around the country. She liked to visit us but she hated the “getting there” part. She flew in an air plane for the first time in 1975 to come see me right after I was born.

About 15 years ago, I brought Brent (who is now my husband) to meet her for the first time, she told me that if I ever decided I didn’t want him around anymore to send him her way because she loved him from the first moment that she met him. And the feeling was mutual – Brent tells everyone in his family that Ninnie is “as sweet as apple pie”! She was a beautiful soul and definitely one of the kindest, sweetest people I’ve ever met (or probably ever will meet).

I am not a writer and I don’t write poetry but I did find an anonymous poem that kind of sums up how I feel about my Ninnie:

A Grandmother is one of life’s best gifts,
Someone to treasure all life through,
She’s caring and loving,
Thoughtful and true,
Someone who all of your life has a special part,
Someone who holds a prime place in your heart,
She’s a mentor, a confidant and also a friend,
Someone on whose love you can depend.
A Grandmother always has your best interests in mind,
She’s someone so dear and so kind,
She’s a blessing, she’s a gift,
She’s someone that is truly wonderful.
Wherever you go, and whatever you do,
A Grandmother’s love will always see you through,
These are my sentiments, Ninnie, for you!

Heaven may have gained a new angel, but we have definitely lost an angel here on Earth!

i love you, ninnie and i am going to miss you so much!!

happy halloween y'all

i love halloween. i love dressing up. this was my favorite costume in quite a few years because ... i love the 80's!! i would dress like this every day if i could. i was only about 7 years old when this style was popular (and my mom wouldn't let me dress like this) and now this look is coming back in style and i'm way too old to dress like this! can you imagine the looks that i would get as an almost 35 year old mother of two walking around looking like cyndi lauper everyday?! oh, but i can dream!

and the worst-mother-of-the-year award goes to...

me!! my little one has been coughing (pretty bad) for about 3 weeks. she has had NO other symptoms (no fever, no sore throat, no lack of appetite, no feeling bad, etc.) - her only other complaint was that she sometimes felt itchy. well, everything that i have seen on the news about the flu said if you have a fever that it's a good sign of the flu and to go to the doctor, but if you are itching (with a cough, runny nose, etc.) it is probably just allergies. i was so afraid that if I took her to the doctor she might catch the piggy flu from some other sick kid so i had just been loading her up with allergy medicine! i finally took her to the doctor yesterday and she has strep throat!! even the doctor was surprised that it's strep because her throat isn't even red and she has no fever. i feel so guilty, but i guess that's part of being a mom!

12th anniversary

today the hubby and i are celebrating our 12 year anniversary! in those 12 years, we have had:

12 years of marriage (we got married at the base chapel on October 17, 1997)
11 years of going to nascar races together
10 jobs (for me - as a legal secretary at a law office, the accounts coordinator at an eye doctor's office, a housewife, a stay-at-home mom, babysitting "my weekday baby", and PTA president/treasurer and for brent - an air conditioning technician for hawk, tom's, air rite, and msi)
9 kids birthday parties that we have hosted at our house (6 for the 1st grader, 3 for my little one)
8 times that we have been in weddings (me in stacy's, kim's, and amber's, brent in jake's, kent's, mike's, james', and jason's)
7 pets (4 fish - kobe, albert, mickey and minnie and 3 dogs - scooter, kitty and anni)
6 cars (saturn, honda accord, dodge durango, chevy trailblazer, chevy 1972 pickup truck, and a dodge journey)
5 been to mexico (4 to cancun and 1 to cozumel)
4 trips to the beach with the girls (3 to port aransas and 1 to lake michigan in chicago)
3 houses (on langley avenue, on longmont trail and on vista way)
2 kids (the 1st grader and my little one)
and finally
1 imperfect couple who learned to enjoy their differences

I LOVE YOU HUBBY!!

-ing

The -ING game:

Reading: the Sunday paper

Drinking: unsweet iced tea (my usual drink of choice)

Listening: to my husband gripe at all of us that "it's clean-up day"!

Feeling: overwhelmed (with everything that needs to be done)

Watching: Fox NFL Sunday Countdown (I love Howie and Terry)

Snacking: I'm actually not eating anything right now - I ate too much at breakfast!

Humming: "Little Sally Walker" chant that my daughter sings at cheer camp. "Hey girl, do your thing, do your thing, now switch!"

Wearing: a big Jeff Gordon sweatshirt and yoga pants - COMFY!

Cooking: Brent has a brisket on the smoker right now for dinner tonight

Paying: bills (that's what I need to do after posting this blog)

Dreaming: of winning the lottery (I guess it would help if I actually bought a ticket)

Smelling: the brisket on the smoker - our whole house will smell like smoke by the end of the day!

Loving: my family

Anticipating: our anniversary next weekend

Okay, your turn!

"what the hell?" wednesday

have you watched the show "toddlers in tiaras"? what the hell? these "pageant moms" start these kids out early - some of them at just a few days old - the "late bloomers" at 10 months! i just don't get it! the natural pageants might be okay but these glitz pageants are nuts! by "glitz pageant", i mean fake teeth, fake hair, fake nails, fake tan, fake eyelashes - on a five year old. these girls are being told "you're so pretty but" ... you need fake everything!

then these little girls get on stage and make crazy faces that are supposed to look cute. i have never seen anyone in real life make faces like this! the funniest part is watching these overweight moms that are living their dreams through their child making the faces to prompt their "little darlings"!!

another thing that i don't get about why they do these pageants is the families spend thousands of dollars "preparing" the child for it and then the maximum prize is $600 - $1,000! I don't think it takes a math major to figure out that you are spending more than what is possibly coming in! they say that they are doing it for college money but if they would just take the money that they are spending and put it in a savings account they would have plenty to put their "little darling" into college!

hey pageant moms, what are you teaching your child? that being beautiful is the most important thing in life and to be beautiful you have to completely change yourself! of course, i think that my girls are beautiful but i have absolutely no desire to put them through all of this pageant crap! and really, these girls are cuter before they are all "made up" because they end up looking like freaky little dolls by the time the moms are done with them!

oh, and in case you want to watch, it will be on tonight on tlc at 9 pm - i'll be watching!

to yoga or not to yoga

first let me say, i am a multi-tasker. i don't do anything by itself - except sleep (and if i could figure out a way to get something else done while sleeping, i would). i never just watch tv while laying on the couch - i'm either folding laundry, clearing out the dishwasher, clipping coupons, etc. i make phone call while cooking meals. the only time i have to read my magazines is when i'm working out. i even say my prayers while i'm taking a shower. i can never "turn my brain off" - i'm always thinking of things i need to do.

with that said, i'm thinking about taking a yoga class. i took a yoga "mommy and me" class once before and i thought it was the biggest waste of time! the whole class i was sitting there thinking "i could be lifting weights or running or something - i mean, i'm not even sweating"! it about killed me to sit there for a whole hour and do these "silly" exercises when all i could think of was all of the things i need to be doing! but you know, maybe that's what i need to do to slow down and learn how to relax. i have absolutely no patience and i'm always stressed out and irritable. i recently saw an article that said yoga may actually help me in other aspects of my life to destress and relax, so maybe i should give it a try! i'll let you know if i end up doing it.

need an excuse for a nap?

i guess i need to add "nap" to my to-do list!

whose side are you on?

**mom, you won't care anything about this post (and probably won't know who many of these people are)!

i read enough people and us magazines that i felt the need to give my thoughts on whose side i am on in some of the celebrity news stories:

team kate - yeah kate gosselin nags and is very bossy and controlling. you know, secretly maybe that's why i like her (because she reminds me a little of me). if jon had acted like a decent human being after their split, i probably would be on his side (or at least neutral) but now i think he is one of the biggest tools on the planet! with his huge diamond studs and his tacky ed hardy shirts and traipsing all over the world with his bimbo of the week and hanging out with his new buddy, michael lohan (who is another douche bag). i mean come on! if you want to garner any sympathy points go get a nice normal job and get a place to live (somewhere near your eight kids) and don't go telling anyone who will listen that you "despise" your kids mother and that you never really loved her! those kids will see that someday!

team jessica - okay, maybe jessica simpson was controlling and needy but come on tony romo, you dump her the day before her 29th birthday! even if he did want to break up with her, couldn't he have waited until the day after! unless she was cheating on him, i see no reason that it couldn't have waited. not only did he dump her - he took away her birthday! not to mention the fact that she gave him a $100,000 boat for his birthday a month earlier!

team anyone-but-speidi - i can't stand these two fame whores - spencer pratt and heidi montag totally deserve each other! i wish they would go live in some remote jungle - oh wait, they did that. maybe this time they can go and never come back! they say the stupidest shit just to get publicity! now that lauren conrad and whitney port are no longer on the hills, i don't know if i will even watch it. i guess i'll find out in a week when the show starts back up again!

team taylor swift - well, duh! what kind of ass clown would really take kanye's side?! if "george bush doesn't like black people" maybe kanye west doesn't like white people!

sometimes He shows Himself in the simplest ways

i was paying bills today. every month i write a check to "the center for cancer and blood disorders" towards my balance due. today though, i really looked at the words as i was writing them and i got to thinking "i sure am glad that i'm writing this for my 'blood disorder' and not for 'cancer' treatment"! i may gripe because i get charged $100 every time i go to get a treatment (even with insurance) but really i have it pretty good. they are letting me make monthly payments (which i will be paying for the rest of my life because i will always have to get treatments), but really $25 to be healthy is well worth it! i started thinking about all of the things i have to be thankful for: i have insurance, we have the money to pay for what insurance doesn't cover, my medical problems are relatively minor, i'm not in any pain, my husband and kids are healthy, etc. after being in so much pain this summer, i really empathize with people that have to deal with pain all of the time: my uncle battling cancer, my dad having to use a walker, my grandmothers arthritis, my great aunt who just had her hip replaced, and an acquaintance of mine whose baby girl just passed away. i may not always show it (or even realize it) but i am so thankful for God's blessings!

where does my day go?

as a stay-at-home mom, one thing that really ticks me off is when people ask "gee, what do you do all day?" grrr! but even i, myself, sometimes lie in bed at night (exhausted) and wonder where my day went!

i always have a million little jobs that i need to do - they don't necessarily take that much time or energy but it is lots of little things that add up. i don't have enough time to do everything i need to do even once so one of my biggest pet peeves is having to do the same thing two (or even three times)! when a computer malfunctions and i have to redo something i've been working on or i call a doctors office and they never call me back so i have to keep calling them. these kind of things are small jobs but when they happen a lot (which they do) they definitely add up and it stresses me out trying to remember everything! that's one reason why i love lists - because the satisfaction i get from making that little check mark is priceless! (i know, i'm sad!)

and i get so distracted throughout the day. example - i needed to return something i bought online so i went to get the book from the laundry room, i get in there and think "i should put the clothes in the dryer" so i do that and then think "i should start a new load" so i go to gather the clothes and as i get in the bedroom i notice that there are lots of cups on the bedside tables "i should go put those in the dishwasher" so i take them to the kitchen and remember "i haven't laid anything out for dinner yet" and so on. by the end of the day, i haven't returned the book, haven't started any more laundry, haven't run the dishwasher and don't have anything to cook for dinner! throw a kid in there asking me for something and my day is shot!

okay, i have to go and try to return a book now!

first week of first grade

does it make me a bad mom that i'm happy for my daughter to go back to school? i must not be the only person that feels this way because there is a commercial out right now that portrays this. it's the best commercial! the dad has a huge smile on his face and is skipping and gliding through the office supply store getting school supplies with "it's the most wonderful time of the year" playing in the background and the kids look ticked. it is so funny (and true)!

yes, i do now have to get up early (which i hate) and i'm already sick of making lunches everyday and i have no patience for doing homework with her at night and i feel like i'm always in the car (driving her to and from school, to gymnastics, etc.), but i was still happy for her to start back to school! for my own selfish reasons - it's much easier to get things done with only one kid, the first grader hates to shop and makes my life hell when i have to take her to stores, and i don't have to listen to the first grader fight with my little one, but i'm also happy for her to be back in school because she needs to read, write and do schoolwork and she does not take constructive criticism well from me at all. that is why i could never homeschool (well, one of the many reasons)! we did have many days this summer of reading and doing workbooks but it was so stressful because she can only handle being told what to do by someone other than her mother!

she was so excited on the first day of school (and no one cried). as we got out of the car, someone asked her what grade she was in and she said she was in 6th grade! i think she said this because she is 6 but i told her we don't need to rush her growing up anymore than she already is. she had a good first week of first grade and my little one made it 3 whole days before she broke down and started crying that she wanted to stay with her sister!

my little swimmers

both of my girls took swimming lessons this summer. my little one is usually the one that's not really scared of anything. she's never been frightened of the water so i didn't expect her to have any problems. on the first night of class, the instructor (read: 17 year old kid) called her name off the roll and she walked right up to him. he gathered his class and they all got in the water and then the tears began. she cried everyday for the first week! the second week she didn't cry and even seemed to have fun, but she's still wearing her floaties in the pool.

the first grader has always been afraid of the water, and getting water in her eyes and getting water in her ears (because of the tubes she had when she was little) so i really expected to have problems with her, but she was great! she is now swimming - i mean she's not going to be in the olympics or anything but she is holding her breath and sticking her face under water and moving for 15-20 feet across the water. i'm so happy - i just hope she doesn't forget it all over the winter and we have to start over from scratch again next year!

sometimes you just need to miss your kids

i have been dying to have a kid-free weekend for so long! now don't get me wrong, i love my kids but i am with them 24/7 and i needed a little time to miss them and truly appreciate them! i think the last time that the hubby and i went away without them was almost 2 years ago for our 10 year anniversary! i am due!! this weekend our neighbors (and good friends) planned to go to austin to "get away". we said "we need to do that" and they said "why don't you come along". so we did! we left friday night and drive down to the radisson in downtown austin. we woke up early the next morning to make it to a 10:00 tee time in san marcos (and we were only a few minutes late)! i didn't play (just drank, drove the cart and read a magazine) but it was fun. after golf we went to eat at a well-known bbq restaurant. it was a bit of a drive (to the middle of nowhere) but it was really good and we had fun. after that we floated the san marcos river - the water was cold but it only took about an hour! afterward, we went back to our hotel in austin and rested for a little bit and got cleaned up to go out. since we are not 20 anymore, we went to 4th street instead of 6th street! we found an irish pub called fado's and it was really fun. we ate a late dinner (at 10:00) and then drank (a lot). they had a band and some fun music. the hubby and our friends found their new favorite beer - hoegaarden. we left there about 1 a.m. and as we walked out onto the street we saw the car in front of us with a girl hanging out of the passenger window puking her guts up! we crossed the street and saw a trannie standing on the street corner. it was craziness - imagine what we would have seen on 6th street! this morning we slept in and after getting dressed and packing we checked out of the hotel and then had brunch at the restaurant in the hotel. it was good but i damn sure didn't eat $15 worth of bacon and eggs! we spent a good bit of money but i really needed this trip and to get away without the kids for a few days. i really did come back with a better attitude and can appreciate the girls more now! i think i can even make it to the first day of school without losing my mind!

birthdays, doctors and chi-town

that's what we have been up to lately! i haven't been able to write in a while because things have been so crazy around here. first was the 4th of july - it was a fun day. we went to my parents to watch the neighborhood parade and then came home and got ready to take the boat out on the lake. it was a hot, sunny day and we met up with some friends out there and swam and drank malibu with cranberry. we went in that evening and ate hamburgers and hotdogs at my parent's house and then went back out on the boat with them to watch the fireworks. i love the 4th of july! the next day was the first grader's birthday party - a luau. it was a lot of fun but it was also a lot of work since it was at our house and we had 18 kids here (plus parents)! i was expecting up to 25 kids!! the next day was the first grader's actual birthday and i had to spend most of the day packing, but that evening we went to my parent's house and they had a fish fry (yum)! i'm so glad that i've trained both of my kids to pick fried fish as their favorite birthday dinner too - now we get it at least four times each year! :-) that next morning we got up and got ready to go to the airport and began our excursion to chicago. we all four had a carry-on, two bags to check and a carseat plus two children that are pokey and wander around as they walk. we also had to switch planes in memphis. which fyi - that airport sucks (it was small, old and crowded)! we finally got there tuesday evening and were exhausted but excited to be there. my brother didn't have to work the whole time we were there and his wife only had to work that first day so we had a lot of time to play tourist with our own "personal guides" and get in lots of visiting. it was really fun! we went to the children's museum, the navy pier, the lincoln park zoo, the beach at lake michigan, shopping on michigan avenue, catching fireflies at night, walked to get ice cream, to see the bean and other attractions at millennium park, to the local pool, to see wrigley field and the guys went to a nascar race. all of that in four days - and we even had to time to just chill at the house and have dinner and drink (wine for us ladies and beer for the guys from my brother's keg that he has on tap)! it's amazing i even got my hubby to leave that keg! :-) while all of this is going on i have been in a lot of pain (see post about medical ailments)! i went to the first of my doctors appointments a couple of days before the 4th of july and then the week after we returned from chicago, i went to doctor's appointments three days. i guess it's no wonder my house is a wreck and we haven't written any thank you notes yet!

hallelujah - i feel almost human again!!

for the last four to six weeks, i have been feeling like hell! it started out innocently enough with my ankles hurting towards the end of the day and i just figured it was from being on my feet too much and wearing flip-flops everyday. it progressively got worse and my knees started hurting too and i started having a cough (but no other cold symptoms). the only thing that helped was to take advil and i was taking it every 4 hours (like clockwork). after about a week to 10 days straight of doing this, i figured that's probably not good so i went to my doctor. she gave me some celebrex (to take instead of the advil) and ran some blood tests. when she called me back she told me that my sed rate (which gives an idea of the inflammation going on in your body) was 86 and it should never be higher than 20! she said she would refer me to a specialist and i should keep taking the celebrex. by this time, every joint is hurting and i'm coughing worse than any smoker you have ever heard. when i woke up in the morning (before taking my medicine) was the worst. i was useless for at least an hour - could barely walk and coughing so bad that i would nearly throw up and could hardly catch my breath to even breathe! it was horrible and the celebrex does not last a full 24 hours like it's supposed to - i'm lucky if i could get a good 8-10 hours out of it! this is the same time that our family is on vacation in chicago. when we got home i found out that the rheumatologist that i was referred to couldn't see me until august 25th!! on tuesday i called to see if i could get in any sooner and they said "can you be here at 1:00?" i hustled like crazy and spent the whole afternoon there seeing the doctors, giving 9 tubes of blood, and getting 16 x-rays (on my hands, wrists, feet, ankles and chest). without knowing any test results, the doctor was leaning towards RA (rheumatoid arthritis) which would not be good, but at least we would know what we are dealing with. well, he called thursday with the results and told me that "something is definitely off". yeah, no kidding - i never went to medical school and i could have told you that!! he says he doesn't think it is RA but he doesn't really know what it is. the antinuclear antibody test was positive and the chest x-ray showed interstitial inflammation in my lungs, but the x-rays of my hands and feet looked fine. he started me on a low dose of steroids yesterday and i'm feeling so much better already! i wish i knew what was causing my problems but at least i'm able to function now (i couldn't even make breakfast for my kids, run errands, work out, clean house, etc.). today, i hardly have any joint pain and i still have the cough but it is not as bad as it was. i'm not 100% yet but at least i'm feeling human again!!

shocked and saddened

you may have heard, two celebrities died yesterday. the first being farrah fawcett. her death was not a surprise as she had been in a 3 year battle with cancer and the family had said that the end was near (her last rites had even been read). although, i never really watched any of her movies/tv shows, i also never had anything against her. she was a texan and seemed like a good woman and had fought a courageous, strong-willed fight against this horrible disease. what made her even more endearing to me was that she was diagnosed with her cancer shortly before my uncle was diagnosed with his and after watching the show "farrah's story" i noticed many similarities in the their battles. i think this may have been why i was so saddened to hear that she died (even though i was anticipating it)! the other death came a few hours later and was of course, michael jackson. this news i was shocked to hear! i realize he was the king of pop and for people of my generation, he was like our elvis. anyone around my age listened to his cassette tapes or records and when we hear it it takes us back to those days, but i can't understand why people on the news are balling hysterically when they didn't even know him. i think the reason that i'm not really that upset over his death is because the michael jackson that we knew and loved back then has been gone for 10-15 years. i also feel bad that farrah wasn't even given 12 hours of news coverage before being pushed to the side for the media circus over michael's death.

i'm a tv junkie

i am the one person in america who does not watch american idol. it finally just ended and now they are all ready talking about the next one - ughhhh! the only part of the show that i like is in the very beginning when the really crappy singers are on and they make fun of them. after that, the top contestants all sound better than me so what do i care!

i used to dread tv during the summer because everything was reruns and i had nothing to watch but not anymore! now it just gives me time to watch some of the stuff i have tivo'd and i have way too much tivo'd!! i have a dvr on 2 different tv's and they are both over 50% full! i have 20 oprah's, 15 scrubs, and just 5 my name is earl's, plus a variety of different shows and movies that i have yet to watch. i figured i would have some time to catch up on some of these shows during the summer but now is also the time for tons of reality shows and i'm a reality show junkie! kendra, brooke knows best, denise richards, hammertime, my life on the d-list, 18 and counting, jon and kate plus 8, run's house, tori and dean, real housewives of new jersey. that teresa on real housewives, i sure hope she has a bodyguard with her at all times now that america knows she's carrying around all that cash. she'll throw down $10 or $15 thousand in cash - who the hell carries that kind of money!? and her husband owns a construction company, okay *cough*(mafia)*cough*. all i know is that show makes me glad i don't live in new jersey! and probably the best show on tv is the soup on e because it just makes fun of all of the crazy stuff on all the other shows!

maybe i'll be able to catch up during the fall because i just found out that some of my favorites were cancelled for the fall lineup - samantha who, earl, privileged. now, i just need to make sure i don't get involved in any more new shows!

happy father's day

this morning (before they even came in to wake us up) our girls made breakfast in bed for my hubby. they had a glass of orange juice, a peach and a napkin on a tray that they carried in to bed. after we all got up, i made fresh baked blueberry muffins, bacon, potato & egg breakfast tacos and lots of fresh fruit (and cereal for the little one because that is all she ever eats)! it was good (if i do say so myself)! :-) then we did a little cleaning up around the house and wrapped father's day presents. we all went to my parents to visit and give my dad his gifts and cards. after hanging around there for a little while we came home and went down to the pool for about an hour. the girls and i made ourselves scarce so the hubby could watch the race in peace and then we cooked some dinner. and we're not talking just any dinner - filet mignon, snow crab legs, artichokes, asparagus, baked potato, crescent rolls, and wine (or apple juice for the kiddos). it was better than any restaurant - although we did have to clean up our own dishes! afterwards we gave the hubby some cards and presents and that was our day. i think it was a nice father's day but i guess you'd have to ask the hubby to know for sure!

hoping for a miracle

i only have three uncles and all of them are great. i have good memories of doing stuff with them during my childhood, but one uncle was a little extra special! bob is my mom's oldest brother but he is a big kid - always has been and always will be! my family moved all around the country when i was growing up (military brats) but we would come visit at least every summer. when we would visit uncle bob, he would always take us (my brother and me) to do fun kid stuff. the funny thing was, i don't think he did it just to be nice - he actually enjoyed himself too. he would take us to eat at fun restaurants and he took us to see "howard the duck" and "ghostbusters" and other classic movies! looking back on it as an adult now, it sounds like it would be torture for him but if he didn't like it, he never let on! he taught me how to dive in his pool - and not just once but every year! somehow, every summer i would come back and couldn't remember how to do it and he would patiently teach me all over again like it was the first time. (by the way, i need another lesson, i can't dive anymore)! he would turn up the music loud in his car so we could "jam" and at home he would crank up the music and we would dance. our favorite dance to watch him do was when he would fall on the floor and do "the worm" and "the dead bug"!! his son wasn't born until i was a teenager but even when he had his own son, he still gave us lots of attention and wanted to do fun things with us while we were there. unfortunately, now he is in a very hard battle with anaplastic thyroid cancer. this type of cancer has a 10% survival rate and he now has a tumor in his bone in his leg and one in his lung. the tumor in his lung has doubled in size even though he has been on chemo and an experimental drug. so this week he had to be admitted to the hospital again for a transfusion. through all of this, he still remains positive and upbeat. i've seen him 3 or 4 times since his battle with cancer began and he is always in a good mood and still cracking jokes. he says he feels great! i'm not delusional, but i do remain hopeful. miracles DO happen so why couldn't my uncle beating cancer be another one?!

what a difference a year makes

the kindergartner (who I guess from now on will be called "the first grader") finished kindergarten yesterday! i can't get over how much she has changed in a year (things she likes and dislikes, her personality and what all she has learned)! she used to be such a girlie-girl (she is no longer into princesses, doesn't want to wear dresses all of the time and now loves to pick up bugs and get dirty). last year in preschool, she didn't even like to be anywhere around boys (even as friends) and she is now boy crazy. especially over one certain boy who she says she loves and is going to marry him!!! she is such a flirt (and she definitely didn't get that from me), but she also just hangs out and plays with the boys (that was me). she is so much more outgoing now and has so much attitude (which is good and bad)! and although she has always been smart (not that i'm biased or anything), she has learned so much more this year! her computer skills have gotten even better, she's learned a lot more spanish and does really well at math (the hubby says she got that from me)! she is reading everything (not always a good thing) and writes so well (one of my friends says my daughter's handwriting is better than her daughter's handwriting and she is 4 years older). i also love that she reads stories to her sister now!

i was shocked (and happy) that she didn't cry when she had to leave her friends and her teacher. the good thing is that she is coming back to the same school next year and almost all of the kids are coming back too. while she won't have her wonderful teacher again next year, she will still be able to see her in the halls and at lunch everyday. while kindergarten may not seem like much, it is very important to giving a child a strong base to a lifelong enjoyment of learning and i couldn't have asked for her to have a better kindergarten teacher. it was a really great school year (but now i am glad to have the summer off)!

somewhere over the rainbow

today was the kindergartner's talent show. all 6 of the girls in her class did a dance to hannah montana's "let's get crazy". it was really cute and she did great! i really think she has a natural ability to "shake her groove thing" (haven't decided if this is a good thing or a bad thing yet)! after the talent show, the administration presented awards and the kindergartner got perfect attendance and the godly character award for faithfulness! we were both very pleased. after the awards presentation, the kindergarten class had a luncheon for all of the parents of the class. the theme was "somewhere over the rainbow" and the idea was to let the students show off some of the things they learned over the year. as "pseudo-room mom", i planned the menu and prepared all of the food. we had a rainbow vegetable tray, a rainbow fruit tray and 4 pizzas (cut in half to look like rainbows). i painted the kids hands and we made a rainbow out of their handprints. it turned out really well!

the end is near

i am almost done watching my "weekday baby" - only two and a half more days next week! (not that i'm counting or anything). her dad is a teacher so he will be with her for the summer and i have given them my resignation for the next school year. it will be nice to have a year of just being alone with my little one everyday. i was alone with the kindergartner everyday for the first 3 years of her life! i recently realized that i have been changing diapers almost everyday for 5 years and 11 months now!! i need a break from kids! maybe the hubby and i will plan for an overnight getaway because i am stressed out from kid crap! refereeing fights, picking up the same things over and over, repeating myself over and over, "i'm hungry", "i'm thirsty", "can so-and-so come over to play", "where is such-and-such", etc. and the sad thing is, the summer hasn't even started yet! i'm also stressed out because i have so much to do before the end of the school year, i've started a massive list of projects that have to be done this summer and i think my thyroid and hemochromatosis problems are acting up. that's it, i'm definitely planning a mini-vacation!

missing my kitty-dog

it's been a month since my kitty-dog had to be put to sleep. i can't let kitty go without reminiscing about her life a little - after all, she was my first baby!

in the 12 and a half years that she has been a member of this family, we have gone through so much with her! as a puppy, she was CRAZY!! she tore up rugs, stole food off of the counter and even ate a book (that i borrowed from my boss) on how to train your dog! :-) she had to stay in a crate in my apartment during the day while i was at work - i did come home for lunch everyday. at night, she had so much energy and would run laps (at warp speed) through my apartment. i moved from my apartment and rented a house because i knew she needed a yard. not even a month after we moved there, she got parvo from the dogs next door and it nearly killed her! how ironic that the reason i got a house was for her to have a yard and the yard would be the thing that almost killed her! i spent thousands to get her through that (i.v.'s, medication, extended hospital stay, etc.) but i wasn't going to let her die. on the upside, the was so much calmer when she came back from her "near-death experience". about a year later, brent and i went out of town and a friend fed and took care of my dogs (i also had a black lab/rottweiler named "scooter"). while that friend was watching them, the dogs got out and scooter didn't go far before he was found, but kitty was missing for over a week! someone that saw our signs called and said they had seen her miles from my house on a very busy road. my friend told me that he had "a better chance of dating pamela anderson than i had of getting my dog back"!! side note: he and pamela are very happy together right now. :-) finally, a family called and when i got kitty back she was perfect! i had birthday parties for her (with doggie ice cream) and she had her own stocking at christmas. in the last few years, she had a tumor on her eye and we had it removed but it came back so we had to have her entire eye removed! how fitting that we named our dog kitty because they say cats have nine lives and she definitely did!

the girls talk about missing her and that they still love her almost every day. my little one said "i wish kitty was here but i still love her". my floors get so dirty now - i'm used to not having to pick up food when it falls on the floor. in her younger days, the food barely had time to bounce one time before kitty ran over and ate it! when i go to bed at night, i still look for her on the floor by my side of the bed so i don't step on her. the only good thing i can say about kitty not being here anymore is that we don't have to pick up clumps of dog hair, but i'd gladly do that again to have her back!

happy birthday, little one!

my little one is not so little anymore - today she is 3 years old! it's pretty much a typical monday around here - hubby's at work, the kindergartner is at school and i'm watching my weekday baby but i am still trying to make it a special day for my little one. the local news showed her picture and wished her a happy birthday this morning, after dropping the kindergartner off at school we went to chick-fil-a (her absolute favorite) and got some chicken and fries for lunch. we would have gone there at lunchtime but that is right in the middle of weekday baby's naptime. i'm hoping to take her to the park later but right now it is raining and yucky. tonight we are going to my parents house for a fish fry and birthday cake - yum! happy birthday, sweet little one (and even if you are getting older, you will still be my baby forever)!

p.s. to "happy mother's day" post

i'm seriously about to cry right now! i just got to thinking about how my little one is no longer a baby! by the time the kindergartner turned 3, i had already had 2 miscarriages and had given birth to my little one! i think my little one's third birthday is almost hitting me harder than my 30th birthday hit me (and that was not good)!!

happy mother's day

i'm feeling really nostalgic this weekend - i (ie: my friend caitlyn) figured out how to finalize the dvd's on my camcorder (that i've had for 6 months) so i have been watching all of the old home movies of both of my girls. on top of that, it is also my little one's 3rd birthday tomorrow. i'm so sad because she is my last baby and she is already going to be three!! i told her i would pay her to stay two!! she started her first gymnastics class on friday, then had her party yesterday and her real birthday is tomorrow! i had a great day on friday, it was just me and my little one and we had lunch and went shopping and when we went in one of the stores, that trace adkins song was playing ("you're gonna miss this") and it was so surreal! like i was someone else taking in this moment to remember for the rest of my life! on top of all of that, it is also mother's day! i had a great day - lots of hugs and cards, breakfast in bed, gift cards to my favorite stores, visits with my parents and my mother in law and dinner at red lobster! when the hubby and i were still asleep this morning and my little one was sleeping late, the kindergartner made breakfast for me completely by herself (orange juice, strawberries and a banana) on a tray that she carried in to me - and the best part was, she didn't spill anything!! :-) it was so sweet! i just want to freeze both of my girls right now and let them stay this age (at least for a while longer)!!

will there be a ferocious beast at my house next saturday?

my little one is oh, so funny! she makes me laugh everyday! her third birthday party is next saturday and we are having a “maggie and the ferocious beast” themed party. for anyone that is not familiar with maggie, it is a very cute cartoon on noggin. unfortunately for me, there is no “maggie and the ferocious beast” themed party supplies so i am having to make everything myself - the invitations (primary colors with a picture of maggie and the beast inviting everyone to the party), the cupcakes (pumpkin, because it's beasts favorite), and the cups (yellow with red spots - just like beast)! well, my little one doesn’t exactly understand what it means to have a theme for a party - she thought it meant that maggie and beast will be at her party! we were talking about the food for the party and this was our conversation:

little one: “when beast gets here I’m going to tell him about that”
me: “you know that maggie and beast are not actually going to be at our house for the party, right?”
little one: (with a puzzled look) “why not?”
me: “because they can’t come out of the tv”

then, the day after that discussion i told her that the grandmas have been asking what kind of presents she wants. so i ask her "what do you want for your birthday?". her reply ... "chicken strips"!! i told her "no, what kind of toy or present". she says "a truck". my little tomboy!

i absolutely love the innocence of a child! unfortunately they lose it all too soon (especially in this day and age), but I‘m going to enjoy it for as long as i can! i better because this is my last baby and she is about to be three already!

why do they call them "slumber parties"?

i understand the "party" part, but "slumber" implies that there will be sleep involved and no one actually gets any sleep - not the kids and not the parents! last night my hubby was out of town on a fishing trip so i decided to have a sleepover with some friends. i have been friends with my friend teresa since i moved here in the 7th grade (22 years ago)! (please don't do the math!) teresa's oldest daughter is in school with my kindergarten and they are best friends. teresa also has another daughter that is one year older than my baby. so the four girls and teresa and i all went to eat at taco casa and then came home and did crafts and ate junk food and drank "kid wine" (sparkling grape juice). we made a palette on the floor for them and put a movie on and let them go to sleep watching it. teresa and i stayed up talking until almost 2 in the morning and then were woken up by little ones a little after 7 in the morning!! we made breakfast this morning (muffins for the kids and breakfast tacos for the moms) and let the girls play outside together. it has been so many years since teresa and i had spent the night together and now to do it again with our kids was really fun but needless to say we all needed naps today!

what a sh*tty day!

well, that's not exactly true - today was sunny and beautiful, almost 80 degrees and no wind but as my husband put it "we had to execute a member of our family today". our dog had to be put to sleep this evening. lately she has not been eating, had a hacking cough and a very hard time getting up on her hind legs, but this weekend she started having a hard time breathing and i knew something was seriously wrong! we called the vet this morning and they told us to bring her in and they could check her out. they called back and told me that she had so much fluid in her lungs that they couldn't tell for sure if she had tumors (although they suspect she did), her heart was enlarged, her white count was double what it should have been and the arthritis in her spine and hips was horrible! i had no idea she was in so much pain!! first i told my little one that our dog, kitty (yes, our dog's name is kitty), was very sick and that she was going to die. she cried and was very sweet and told me "i'm gonna keep my kitty-dog" and "i'm gonna hug her really tight". then i picked up the kindergartner from school and told her that we had to go to the vet to say goodbye to our dog. she took it really well when i first told her and didn't even cry. in fact, she told me "i cried when my fish died so i'm trying to make myself cry because i love kitty more than my fish". i told her not to force herself to cry because it will come when she's ready - and boy, did it! my little one didn't understand that this was the end - she told our dog "bye kitty. i'll see you when you're all better". even though she had a hard time getting up and walking, kitty kept trying to come out the door with us. that was the hardest part - to leave her when she was looking at us and wanting to go with all of us (her family). to some people they may say she is "just a dog", but she was a member of this family! she was 13 1/2 years old - that's older than any of my kids and longer than i have been married! there is hardly anyone else on this earth that i have seen on a daily basis for that long! with a fish, you say a few words and then "flush", but it's so much harder with our kitty-dog! we have been through so much with her and she was a great dog who will be greatly missed!!
R.I.P. Kitty 1995-2009

it's my birthday

i had a great 34th birthday - probably one of the best birthdays that i have had in years! the only thing that could have made it better is if i didn't get a year older!! first of all, my brother and sis-in-law came in town on thursday and my s-i-l and i went to get spray tans and then we had a bbq dinner with my family and my parents. s-i-l and i drank quite a bit of wine that night and after they all left (and my family was in bed) i tried to pierce a second hole in my right ear! i have my left ear double pierced and i've been wanting a second hole in my right ear for a while and my hubby got me a pair of diamond earrings for my birthday so i want to wear them in the second holes. long story short - it wasn't enough wine to actually pierce my ears so i think i may be going to claires one day this week to get it done! friday (my actual birthday) i got to sleep in because the kindergartner didn't have school and i didn't have to watch my weekday baby. we just took our time doing things around the house and then went to taco casa and shopping to a few stores and to my favorite store - target! when hubby got home he brought some beautiful tulips (my favorite flower) that the girls gave to me and then we got ready to go out. the girls stayed the night at my parents house and hubby and i went to a dance club/bar with my brother, s-i-l, and a few really good friends. we had a blast drinking and dancing the night away and then we came back to our house and drank some more. nobody had to drive home so it was fun and safe! saturday i worked out and just did things around the house and that night my family went to my parents for a fish fry with my brother and s-i-l. it was so good!! the family got up early this morning (easter) and we did a quick easter egg hunt and checked the easter baskets before getting ready for church. we met my parents and brother and s-i-l at church and then went back to the parents for a easter brunch. then my brother and s-i-l had to leave for the airport. i was so happy to have them here but it feels like they just got here and now they are leaving already! at least we are going to visit them in a few months! after my parents house, we went to hubby's mom's house and had a big meal and easter egg hunt with all the family. the kindergartner is off school tomorrow and i don't have my weekday baby either so i get to sleep in and we will probably go see the hannah montana movie. also, my hubby's been so good to me - he washed my car, doing lots of extra chores, given me massages, etc. it's been a great weekend and i'm so thankful for all of my family and friends!

birthday girl

yea! it's my birthday tomorrow! i hate getting older but i love my birthday! i always have! i have a whole birthday week. my brother and sis-in-law came in for my birthday (oh, and easter weekend). we are going out tomorrow night and then we will have a fish fry at my parents house on saturday night. i still claim to be 29 but i started thinking that i should probably claim to my real age because if i don't i'm gonna be hit really hard when i turn 40 and i wonder what the hell happened to my 30's! plus people will be thinking "damn, she doesn't look very good for being 29!"

let me get on my soapbox for a minute

i don't understand what is wrong with the world today! people have no sense of self - no sense of self respect, no self restraint and no accountability! they have no respect for their homes, their vehicles or even their bodies. i don't think anyone knows what self restraint even is anymore - on the news i recently saw a story about an 8th grader that stabbed another student REPEATEDLY with a pair of scissors and another story about a man that shot someone over a parking spot! what the hell? and apparently accountability is completely gone nowadays! why the hell are our grandkids going to be paying for bailouts of companies that screwed up and people that bought a house that was way too much for them. we bought our house 2 years ago - maybe we should have bought a $300,000 house so that the government can help us pay for it now!! what are we doing to our children if we can't set an example of how to accept any mistakes we have made and apologize for them and face the consequences of our actions! and like i tell my own children "you still have to apologize even though it was an accident and you still have to take your punishment". i just recently received this email and what a profound short little paragraph that says it all!!!

"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."
Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931

what timeless words - it could just have easily been said yesterday about the state that our nation is in right now!

alright, that's it - i'm putting my soapbox away and i promise my next post is going to be something lighthearted and fun!

S.O.S. - i'm out of wine!!

okay, i am burnt out on kids!! my husband has been out of town for 5 days so i've had my 2 and my weekday baby and today i even had picked up one of the boys that is in my kindergartner's class and kept him for a few hours. as if i didn't have enough to do, i also had to build a car by myself made entirely out of food for the kindergartner's school project. i haven't been able to go workout or tan or go shopping or even go to the bathroom without having 1-4 kids with me at all times! i don't know how single parents do it, but even then at least they go to work during the day and have some sort of adult conversations - i'm going insane!! to top it off, i'm so tired i can barely keep my eyes open most days. i don't know what's wrong with me because i'm already on thyroid medication and i know i'm not anemic (i have a blood disorder that causes too much iron in my body, but that's a long story for another day). all i know is i'm sick and tired of being sick and tired!

he called! he called!

i sound like a teenage girl waiting for a call from some boy i have a crush on, but no, it's actually my brother i'm speaking of! no, it's not like that - we're not from arkansas (sorry, anyone from arkansas). i had not talked to my brother in 5 weeks and 1 day (not that i was counting)!! we were very close growing up - we were air force brats so we moved around a lot and it was just the two of us. when i was in 6th grade and he was in 4th grade, a 5th grade boy was picking on him so my best friend and i beat up the 5th grader (he hates that story)! i would help him pick out his clothes in high school and even before his first day of school at texas a&m, he called me to ask my opinion on what to wear. he has since traveled all around the world for work but we have remained pretty close. he now lives 1000 miles away and i know he is really busy (he is going to school for his masters, works as a federal agent and just recently got married), but i miss getting to hang out with him and at least talk to him! and you may ask, "well doesn't your phone work in both directions" and yes, i tried to call him quite a few times and sent him emails and still got nothing. at one point, my parents were sick of hearing me complain about him not calling and they asked me if i did something and he was mad at me. i told them "if he is mad, i don't know about it because he won't call". well, he finally called Sunday night and we talked for over an hour and then we talked two more times last night. he didn't believe that it had been that long but he promised that it will not be that long again! i'm also excited because he is coming down here next month and our family will go up to see him this summer and spend five days!

all about my "little one"

i just need to brag on my little one for a few minutes. she keeps me laughing all throughout the day! i remember that my kindergartner was so much fun when she was this age too (2 1/2, almost 3). so maybe i just love this age or maybe it's just her that is so entertaining! my friend said the other day "she is so funny" and i said "yes, she is, but what did she do now?!" i gave her whole strawberries (i usually cut them up) and she asked me "why you put leaves on my strawberries"? a while back, she asked me "why we go to that place?" (we had just gotten home from chruch so i knew that's what she meant). i said "well, we go there to celebrate God and be with Him". she said "why he can't just come to our house"?! how do you argue with reasoning like that! :-) she does EVERYTHING that her big sister does - "monkey see, monkey do"! i think maybe she will be an attorney because she could argue with a brick wall. and if you tell her "wow, you'll argue about anything", she'll argue and say "no, i don't"! she's very stubborn - which can be a bad thing, but as she gets older it can also be good if she stands up to peer pressure. even though she's stubborn, she's also very sweet and sensitive. she's constantly telling me "i love you, momma" and "you're the best mommy in the whole world". she is a great mommy to her babies too. she's always dressing them and giving them bottles and putting them down for naps. she's starting to get to the point where she doesn't want to take a nap anymore. if she doesn't take one, then she's fussy and whiny in the evening and if she does take a nap then she's wide-awake at bedtime. she's very independent and easily entertained. the other day she had a tag that had been torn off of a shirt and she called him "little tag" and made a whole game out of "little tag" going places and talking to his "mommy" (which was a big tag). the other day i even had to take her with me to the PTA meeting and she was the only kid and sat there quietly for the whole hour! well, mostly quiet - she decided that would be the perfect time to let out a nice loud toot! everyone turned and looked at us, but at least she's polite and almost always says "excuse me, i tooted" with a big grin on her face! her voice is so sweet and she still "baby talks" so she could say anything and it sounds cute. this weekend we were watching horton hears a who and horton said "shut up" and she repeated it. even though it sounded kind of sweet when she said it i told her that we don't say that. that's a side note that i will have to get into another time - kids shows that are not always appropriate! she calls her perfume, "te-spume". my dad always corrects her when she says stuff wrong, but i think it's so cute and she's my last baby! if she's gone for awhile, you have to go look for her - she's usually in the bathroom playing in the water ("washing" her hair or wetting klennex to wash her babies). the other day she was stuck in her sister's room because she put lotion on her hands and then couldn't open the door! she was also in her sister's room and put tons of makeup on herself! my husband jokes that when the girls get older, she will be the one that is taking the keys to the car in the middle of the night! the poor little thing is so skinny and has no butt so her pants are always falling down. i affectionately call her my little "crack baby" because i can always see her crack. she may be scrawny but she is tough - the other day the older kids were running over her and she would just get up and keep going. i keep telling my kindergartner that one day my little one will probably be as big or bigger and she is gonna whoop her. last month, my little one did give my oldest a black eye, but it wasn't intentional! at least, that's what she said!

motherhood

well, i've had 2 full days back with my "weekday baby" (her parents were out of town so i had a week off). i was able to go so many more places and get so much more done while i didn't have her. while my kindergartner was at school, my little one and i went to the mall, target, walgreens, cvs, james avery, to lunch, etc. and it was so easy. i remember, a few years ago, when i just had 1 kiddo and i thought it was difficult to get stuff done and now when i just had 1 kid with me, it seems like a vacation. one of my friends said just wait and see how much you can get done with no kids during the day (when both of mine are in school) - wow, that sounds like a dream to me! don't get me wrong, i love being able to be a stay-at-home mom! it's a lot of work (i feel like i'm running all day and then at night i wonder what the hell i did all day), but it is so rewarding when my kids say how much they love me and they are learning and developing so well. even keeping my "weekday baby" has it's perks. because the kindergartner is off at school all day, it's nice for my little one to have someone else to play with and because they are so close in age (18 months) they do bicker over toys and so it's good to teach both of them to share and play nice. they are both the youngest of their respective families and so they need to learn that they can't always have their way. and they do get along really well most of the time! my "weekday baby" gives huge smiles to my little one and is even starting to say her name. another name for the "weekday baby" could also be "destruction in a diaper"! she literally goes into a room and tears everything out of a drawer, basket, shelf, whatever and then moves on to the next room - she doesn't even play with the stuff! my house looks like a tornado hit it everyday when she leaves! sometimes i think it would be so much easier to not keep her but the money that i make helps to pay for my kindergartner's private school and i feel that it is really important. it may be a little (or sometimes a lot) more work for me, but i think it is all in all the best thing!

it's been a while

i guess it's been a while since i have written on here (i even had to look up my password to log on)! truthfully, i don't really know why i even am a blogger. i definitely do not "feel this need to express myself before I burst", i'm not especially witty or funny and i never even liked writing when i had to do it in school. i guess it's good for me to actually use my brain for something other than kindergarten homework and calculating recipes and seeing how many bills i can pay, loads of laundry i can fold and dishes i can put away all during one cartoon. i used to write in a journal everyday while i was pregnant with my first and for most of the first year of her life. it's really a great thing to have and i love to go back and read it now. i really wish that i could still do that now but i just don't have the time. i still try to write in it at least once a month (or so) and now i have this blog so that i can look back on. i have been very busy the past few weeks - i'm the room mom at my oldest's school and they have had their 100 day party and are about to have their valentine's party. i have also gone in to help the teacher with some projects. her teacher is the greatest - i wish she could have her again next year! on top of all of that, our whole family was sick as hell! it started with my oldest throwing up and within a couple of days all 4 of us were throwing up and it took a few days before we felt like we hadn't been run over by a truck! right after that we had a super bowl party at our house and so i had to scrub the house before we could have people over. i washed every door handle and light switch because i didn't want anyone else to get that crud that we had! this is the first year we didn't get a flu shot (because i forgot about it) and i will never do that again! well, i better get to all of the chores i've been neglecting lately but i'll be back soon!

history in the making

i have been watching all of this inauguration coverage for over 24 hours now; and really (unless you turn off the tv, radio, computer and talk to no one) how can you avoid it?! i realize that this is definitely a historic moment (that's the main reason i watched it and had my children watch it). it's one of those few days that you will look back on for your whole life and think "where was i when?". like when we walked on the moon or the challenger explosion or september 11th. president obama seems like a nice enough man and a good father to his girls. i think it's great to see a black person become the president of the united states of america - i'm just not very happy that he's the black person that has become president. i would have much preferred colin powell or condoleeza rice. my main concern about him as president is our nation's defense! many people bad mouth president bush for the state of the economy and such but any of those things can be fixed. i felt president bush had our national security in mind at all times. right now we may be in a recession and wall street may be a mess, but at least i know that america will be back on top again in a few years. if our country is unable (or unwilling) to protect and defend itself from idiots around the world that want us dead - there is no coming back! president carter depleted our military to nothing and i don't want to see something like that happen again!! i hope that president obama proves me wrong and that all of these supporters knew something that i didn't know! although i'm not so sure about that! i think that many people voted for him just because they wanted to see a black person become president and that is just as wrong as not voting for him because he is black. you should cast your vote because you agree with the person's beliefs and plans for the country. president obama seems to be bigger than any rock star or movie star; he's not the hottest new purse, people - he's the leader of the free world!! oh well, i'll get off my soap box for now. as my five year old reminded me, "whatever happens with obama as president, at least we know that we can always rely on God"! i'm adding a prayer from the First Baptist Church of Houston that i think is important for any believer to ask of God.


Father, I come today and I pray for Barack Obama as our new president and the leaders that surround him in Washington. I pray, God, that You give those men and women tremendous wisdom.

I ask that Barack Obama would turn to You, and all the people that surround him would turn to You, for wisdom -- that they would turn to Your Word, they would turn to prayer, and they would ask it of You, God, for only you can direct and guide our country. It's not a savior from the Republican party or Democrat party. It's the Savior of Jesus Christ.

We ask for Your will to be done in this country. We love this country, Lord, and we ask that You do great things here. Any decision that comes from government that is not of Your will, may it fall to the ground. And all the decisions that are of Your will, Lord, may they just go forward and make an incredible difference in our nation.

Lord, we give you thanks for this wonderful country, and we lift up our President, Barack Obama, and ask that you would grant him great wisdom.

In Jesus' powerful name we pray, AMEN.

Overworked and underpaid ... and unappreciated!

i just need to bitch for a few minutes about all of the things that are pissing me off lately. maybe then i will be able to get on with life and be in a better mood! first of all, i'm sick and tired of being sick and tired! i've been taking care of at least one sick person for the last 2 weeks on top of me being sick too. i am so tired and can not seem to get anything done. my christmas tree and all decorations are still up!! i'm also tired of busting my tail around the house and doing everything for my girls and they are so unappreciative - i'm determined not to raise spoiled brats! maybe i do give them too much but i'm just trying to do special things for them. i will just have to make a conscious effort to keep an eye on this! i hate going to the gym right now. it is so crowded that i can't use the machine i want (like usual) because there are so many new-years-resolution people in there! the good thing is, most of them will be gone by february! i NEED my workouts as a stress reliever! my weekday baby is on a new nap schedule - she takes one long (3 hour) nap in the middle of the day. now don't get me wrong, i like the long nap, but i hate that it's right in the middle of the day - i can't get any errands done anymore! which ought to make for more time to do things around the house but yet, that is not happening either. there, that ought to do it. now, let's go see if i can make tommorrow a better day! if not, i'll guess i'll go to the store and get a bottle of wine!