Today has been a great day so far. Dd4 and I just got home from the Omniplex. I haven't been in about 5 years. It is such a fun place. We were there 2 1/2 hours and she wasn't near ready to come home but we had to get dd17 to work. The sun if finally out hopefully for the rest of the day. Dd4 wants to go swimming but i'm sure the water is like ice.

Oh yeah, forgot to put pics of my first garden stuff. I was so excited to eat something that I actually grew. Very cool!! Well, pics are taking forever so I"ll put them on here in a bit b/c it's naptime. :)

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I've been on here. Summer has been pretty busy so far. I hope I will be starting my new job on Monday. I am excited about it! It has been a long time though since I had to get up and get everyone ready in the mornings and all of that stuff so it will take some getting used to. I think the kids will be fine. My main goal is going to be to get some bills paid off and get a new car. Can't wait for that!!! :) Dd9 is at camp in Broken Bow this week. We both cried when I left her there. It was very hard. It's her first time away anywhere like that. I hope she is having fun. Can't wait to see her on Saturday. Spent last weekend in Broken Bow. I was glad to see Granny...although I don't think she really knew it...at least I did. She is not doing too well but seems to be happy. I'm glad she doesn't really know enough to realize what's going on. There are times when that is a good thing. Anyway, got grocery shopping to do so I"ll write more later.

Wicked

Just got home from FINALLY seeing Wicked! I've waited for almost 2 years to see it. I was sooooo worth the wait! I wish I had tickets to go see it every night that it is here. DD17 and I waited in the pouring rain without an umbrella outside the stage door for autographs. Everyone was soooo nice. I love the girl who played Glinda (Christina DeCicco). She just made the whole show. Anyway, it was a great ending to a really bad day.

Summer...

Well, summer is in full swing. Last week was the first week out of school. We all stayed up late and slept late. I would love to have some kind of summer schedule. Going to work on that this week. We have a few things going on at the library that we are going to and our movie on Friday. Other than that, not much planned. This is my first summer just being home. Well, I guess last summer was my first one not working outside of the home. We were getting ready to move at the end of July though so it definitely wasn't a normal summer. I stayed pretty busy and the kids went to the babysitter's house part of the time. Anyway, after just a week out of school, I can see that some kind of structure is going to be neccessary to survive the summer. Anyway, I"m off to plant flowers in the back yard.

Jordin Sparks

Dh went to the walmart meetings in Arkansas this week. He is in charge of the musical guests for the meetings. He called this morning and told me that one of the people is Jordin Sparks! I told the girls and I'm sure the neighbors heard the screams! My ears still aren't the same...lol! Just one thing to say to him....if he doesn't come home with pictures and autographs...he probably should not come home for his own safety! I hope he doesn't tell her how mad I was that Blake didn't win....lol!

Dd9 received several awards at school on Wednesday. I was so proud of her. She got a coupon for a free bowling game once a day all summer. Guess we'll be improving our scores this summer!

We had fun at dd9's class on the last day of school. We had a beach party lunch. We all had a good time. I can't believe that I have a 4th grader!!
This is dd9 and her teacher, Mrs. Tilton. We really liked her a lot.

Well, here are our ladybugs. We are letting the rest of them go in the garden today. It was really cool to watch them grow from those ugly little larvae into beautiful ladybugs.

diaper cake

I found this picture of a diaper cake that I made for a baby shower a few years ago. It is made totally of diapers and ribbon. The flower thing on the front is made from baby socks. I had fun figuring out how to make it and I love the way it turned out. Wish I could figure out how to mail one so I could make one for Julie!

ladybugs

We now have 10 ladybugs. It has been really cool to watch them change. We let a few of them go in the garden. We'll let the others go today or tomorrow. The picture of the ladybug in it's house is not too good. The big things are actually pieces of a raisin (that's what they eat). The small dot is the ladybug. Most of them have turned red now. When they first come out they are not red. It takes them a day or so to turn really red and look like ladybugs. Neat project! :)

We just got home from dd4's dance recital. As far as her group goes, there wasn't a whole lot of dancing involved. They were far too worried about the snack table. It was fun anyway and they looked really adorable. :)

Limo ride

Dd9 went for her first limo ride last Wednesday. She was one of the top fundraisers for their last one. They all got to ride to the pizza place for lunch. She was thrilled! What a fun day!

Graduation!

I am still not sure that it's hit me yet that dd17 just graduated. When did she get so grown up?? I'm excited for her to go to college and all of that but I'm feeling kind of sad too. :(

We had a great time today. Dd23 and her husband came up last night. It was nice to see them. I think Dd17 really enjoyed herself today which was my only goal.

Blake *sigh* :)

Go Blake!!! So, dd9 and I were watching AI in my bedroom and dd17 and ds16 were watching it in the living room. For some strange reason the tv in my room is a few seconds faster than the one in the lr. So, when they said that Melinda was going home, we screamed so loud from the bedroom that it totally ruined their moment in the lr. They were still waiting for Ryan to say the results when we screamed. We scared little Mollie half to death. So, we all need Blaker girl shirts to wear next week (even Mollie b/c she loves him too)....hehe...except ds16 of course. I swear that when Blake was singing Mollie ran over and put her nose to the tv. :)

We were at dd16's soccer banquet tonight during American Idol. I rushed in the door to watch it only to discover that not only had someone turned off the recording but no one even watched it!! What is going on here???? I called Natalie and got Blake's voting numbers and voted for him several times anyway.....so there!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day to Natalie and Julie! You both deserve it! :)

Yesterday dd20 walked in the door around 11. I had no idea she was coming. She drove 3 hours to spend the day b/c she couldn't get off work today. We had a really nice day.

I've had a good morning. I got a beautiful hydranga (sp?) plant, chocolate, gardening stuff, a movie, necklace and tupperware. Dh didn't want to buy the tupperware b/c it was for the kitchen. I kept telling him that it is really what I wanted! Man, when did I get so old?? So, my dd20 took dd9 and dd4 shopping and they got that for me. I am wearing my new mother/daughter necklace and my tupperware is all in the cabinet. I have stuff to plant in the garden and I'm itching to get out there and get my hands dirty but have to go to Mom and Dad's for lunch and then dd17's Baccalaureate is this afternoon at 3. Maybe I'll get to plant stuff this evening....hope so.

Blake

Well we have no nails left but made it through another American Idol. So glad Blake is still on there. Dd4 has informed us that she is going to send him a letter with her picture and a picture of our house so he can find it and come here and marry her because he's a hottie!!! :)

Movies

1. Name a movie that you have seen more than 10 times.
ummm I can’t think of any that I’ve seen that many times. I have maybe seen Gone With the Wind close to that many times.

2. Name a movie that you’ve seen multiple times in the theater.
I can’t think of any at the moment. I usually only see them once in the theatre. I might rent them after that but that’s it.

3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a movie.
Jon Bon Jovi…would he be considered an actor since he’s been in several movies? I also love Matthew Macanahey

4. Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a movie.
Robin Williams

5. Name a movie that you can quote from.
My Fair Lady, Breakfast at Tiffanys, Gone With the Wind, Grease are a few that I can think of. My kids and I have gotten into older movies the last few years.

6. Name a movie musical that you know all the lyrics to all the songs.
Grease and of course, High School Musical!!

7. Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with.
Grease (listening to the cd in my car), High School Musical

8. Name a movie that you would recommend everyone see.
Gone With the Wind of course. I LOVE that movie!!

9. Name a movie that you own.
John Tucker Must Die is the first that caught my eye on the movie shelf.

10. Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops.
Does Jon Bon Jovi count??? Hehe…can you tell I love him??

11. Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in? If so, what?
Yes. The only one I can remember at the moment is Footloose.

12. Ever made out in a movie?
Ummm sort of, so, yes I guess so. Can you tell it's been a looong while?? lol

13. Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven’t gotten around to it.
Music & Lyrics

14. Ever walked out of a movie?
Can’t remember doing it.

15. Name a movie that made you cry in the theater.
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. As I recall, my friend and I cried A LOT during this movie.

16. Popcorn?
not usually

17. How often do you go to the movies?
Every few months depending on what’s out. We rent a lot of movies.

18. What’s the last movie you saw in the theater?
Night at the Museum

19. What’s your favorite/preferred genre of movie?
Psychological thrillers for sure.

20. What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?
E.T.

21. What movie do you wish you had never seen?
Man, there are many that after I watched I wondered why I sat through it but can’t think of a name right now.

22. What is the scariest movie you’ve seen?
Halloween…the first one

24. What is the funniest movie you’ve seen?
Does Everybody Loves Raymond count since I’ve been watching it on dvd? That’s one of the few things that I watch that makes me laugh out loud.

Our new babies...

I had a hard time getting a picture of these little guys...but here are a few...sort of. We received our ladybug larvae yesterday. They had just hatched from their eggs. I had no idea what ladybug babies looked like. My first reaction was that we got the wrong thing...lol! I have probably squashed a few here and there over the years. They are black with a few yellow spots on their back. The example that the paper said was that they look like little alligators. That is their body shape. Weird huh?? We have had the butterflies a couple of times before and have watched them come out of their cocoons but never the ladybugs until now. Did you know that there are 600 different kinds of ladybugs?? I sure didn't! So, we are gonna have fun watching these little guys hatch out as beautiful ladybugs, or, Colleomegilla Maculata, which is their scientific name.

Okay here are a few more pics from this morning!

This morning we went to the Myriad Gardens annual "Bug Out". It was really fun. Each year they lets kids release 70,000 ladybugs into the crystal bridge. It is their way of controlling bugs that damage the plants without using pesticides. So, the girls got their little cups of ladybugs and we put them on the plants. We had lots of fun except for the fact that we got almost as wet inside the bridge as we did outside in the pouring rain. Can't you just see the joy beaming from dd9's face??? LOL

Sunday afternoon...

We took advantage of it not raining today and went downtown for a little while. I love the gardens and the kids did also. They have never been there before. I think they have planned that we will have a picnic lunch there next weekend if the weather is nice. We had a great time and it was fun for all of us to go.

cycling

Well, I was finally brave enough to go to my first cycling class. It was actually fun and the instructor was super nice. I can still walk for the moment but getting out of bed in the morning should be loads of fun! :)

Tracy Byrd

I got to meet Tracy Byrd a few months ago and just now got dh to email the pics to me. He was very cute and nice. It was fun to meet him!!

I am so glad Blake is still on AI. I thought his song Tues night was AWESOME!!! Bon Jovi was great of course and looking hot as always! :)

Well, dd4 and I locked ourselves out of the house this morning. Luckily my van was unlocked and I have an extra key in it and I had my cell phone in my pocket. DH was almost to Yukon and turned around and met us downtown with a key. So dd4 and I got to walk all around the canal and see the new land run statues. It is so pretty down there. We really love it! I'm gonna take both of the girls after school if it's not raining again.

So, finally planted seeds in the garden yesterday. I planted watermelon, cucumber, yellow squash and zucchini. I just hope some of them grow. I still need to plant my tomato plants. Wish me luck!

UCO

Today dd17, dd4 and I headed to the University for a campus tour. It was nice and very informative. Dd4 did pretty well considering we walked around for about 2 hours. I carried her a few times....when the heck did she get soooo heavy???? Oh well, a little added exercise is always good! I really like the campus and dd17 is pretty excited about it. I'm sure she would rather have one of the apartments on campus instead of a regular dorm room but she's being a good sport about it. The apartments are a few thousand dollars more each year and I think dorm life could be quite fun. I hope she gets a nice, sane roomate. I"m pretty sure that is her biggest worry at this point. We ate lunch in the cafeteria and it was good. Dd17 said that she now totally understood the freshman 15....lol! So, I am very happy that she is getting to have the whole experience of college life. I think she's going to do great and can't wait to see her blow everyone away in her first college theatre performance!!!

Baby

Well, the baby is finally here! I'm sure Julie is thrilled! All I know is that it's a boy....not sure of the size yet. I'm sure I'll talk to her or Corey tomorrow.

to sell or not to sell...

So, we have our house in Texas still. I am thinking hard about whether or not we should try to hang on to the house. My husband wants to more than I do. I'm pretty sure that we could make enough from selling it to pay off basically everything we owe except our current mortgage. This move has not been easy for us financially and we are struggling with debt and trying to keep up with monthly payments. So, I kind of feel crazy for not selling that house and getting ourselves essentially debt free. Gotta figure out how to talk my husband into selling....not sure why we are hanging onto it as it won't really produce free and clear income for another 15-20 years. Make sense???? No, didn't think so.

Bon Jovi

My sister works with a few people who saw Jon Bon Jovi at a restaurant while in Nashville. Let me just say that if I just happened to run into him...there would be no pictures because I would probably be on the floor hyperventilating while he ran out of there!! Anyway, so one girl got her picture taken with him. The other women said that they lost respect for him b/c he grabbed the girls butt as they were taking the picture! Ummmmmm hello?????? First of all, why only one picture? What is wrong with these people? So, I have to say that if I was taking my picture with him and he touched me anywhere, much less my butt, I would faint! I would have to stop and say "could we just take the pic from the back and just keep your hand there"!!!!!! I would have to bring home proof of that or no one would ever believe me.

class

I went to my first class at the Y this morning. It is called body blast and is from 5:40-6:40. So, just in case you wondered if I was gonna be sore.....as I was turning my steering wheel to leave the parking lot...I could already feel the muscles in my arms just from that! If that is any indication I am not looking forward to tomorrow!!!

I really hate feeling betrayed....especially by someone that I love so dearly. It is so hard to be a stepmom and know the right ways to feel. Why in the world does life have to be so complicated and hard???

weekend

Well, after lots of hard work and help from the girls our pool is FINALLY clean. So, there are a few small holes in the liner that I"m gonna try to patch up. I hope that works b/c I don't have the money for a new liner right now. Need to get that done before it rains today AGAIN!!!

Soccer

DD9 had an awesome day today!! Her team won their soccer game this morning.....she scored the first goal and she lost a tooth! She is just thrilled as money from the tooth fairy is her only source of income at this point. :)

Life goals....

So, I found out yesterday that my kids do have life goals! That's so good to know. DD9 wants to be a kindergarten teacher and DD4 wants to be a fashion Bratz. Wow....to be young again!

So, American Idol is still on our must watch list....barely! I was sweating it a little b/c Blake was in the bottom three...which I still can't believe. I had decided that I was totally on strike from the show if he went home...which thankfully he didn't b/c Bon Jovi is gonna be on there and I can't miss that!!!! :) Natalie doesn't like Blake and thinks he looks like Charlie Brown! Ummm yes I said Charlie Brown! Well, I love Charlie Brown too!

My two girls that I hang with all day.

ZZZZZ...

Oh my Gosh.....I am sooooo tired. How in the world do people get up this early every day? I will never understand morning people.

Early wake up call...

Well I did it!! I am so proud of myself! I actually got up at 5am when my alarm went off...got dressed....drove to Nat's house and walked. All of these normal things are quite amazing for me to do at 5am. I am soooo not a morning person but I'm gonna try to change that. Now I just have to change myself to NOT be a night owl. I don't see how I can make morning person and night owl go together. It's so nice to start the day being proud of myself!! :)

Bon Jovi

Ok, so I can finally have my Bon Jovi action figure! What took so long??

Easter

We had a fun Easter! I don't even know how many times I hid eggs for the kids. I think they had more fun hiding them for the adults to find. We had a good afternoon. They were all pleased with their stuff from the Easter bunny! :) I am just so lucky to have my kids...dont' know what I'd do without them.

American Idol

Okay, so does anyone else think American Idol is as messed up as I do? I LOVED Gina and voted for her every week. We will still have fun watching to see who wins. Dd9 was worried that we wouldn't be able to watch it after she saw my face when Gina got voted off! LOL It was pretty funny! So, now we are Team Blake all the way!!! :)

1. What time did you get up this morning?
Around 8am

2. Diamonds or pearls?
diamonds

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
The Hills Have Eyes 2

4. What is your favorite TV show?
Grey's Anatomy

5. What did you have for breakfast?
shredded wheat cereal

6. What is your middle name?
Lea

7. What is your favorite cuisine?
Olive Garden, Dad’s fish, veggie pizza

8. What foods do you dislike?
onions and celery

9. What are your favorite chips?
Cheesy Doritos

10. What is your favorite CD at the moment?
My mix with all my favorites on it..The Fray, Brad Paisley and lots of others

11. What kind of car do you drive?
Minivan

12. Favorite sandwich?
Grilled cheese with fresh tomatoes

13. What are characteristics you can’t stand?
Cruelty, rudeness, selfishness

14. What are your favorite clothes?
capri’s and t-shirt

15. If you could go anywhere on vacation where would you go?
All over Europe. London, Paris, Greece, Rome, Finland.

Where is sixteen? Would I want to be 16 again?
No way!!!

17. Where would you want to retire?
Hopefully close to my kids and grandkids.

18. Favorite time of day?
night

19. Where were you born?
DeQueen, Arkansas

20. What is your favorite sport to watch?
I don’t really watch any.

21. Coke or Pepsi?
Coke

22. Beavers or ducks?
ducks

23. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Definitely a night owl.

24. Pedicure or manicure?
pedicure

25. What did you want to be when you were little?
Photographer, Hair stylist

26. What is your best childhood memory?
Playing in the woods with my sisters, spending time with my Meema and Grandad and Mom running under me when she pushed me on the swing.

27. Ever been to Africa?
No

28. Ever been toilet papering?
no

29. Been in a car accident?
Yes.

30. Favorite day of the week?
Saturday

31. Favorite restaurant?
Olive Garden

32. Favorite flower?
Tulip

33. Favorite ice-cream?
chocolate

34. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Sonic

35. How many times did you fail your driver’s test?
none

36. From whom did you get your last e-mail?
don’t remember…probably Leslie.

37. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Hmmm that’s a tough one….either Dillards or Best Buy.

38. Last person you went to dinner with?
My family

39. What are you listening to right now?
DD3 singing in her bed.

40. What is your favorite color?
blue

41. How many tattoos do you have?
none

42. How many are you sending this Email to?
none

43. What time did you finish this blog entry?
9:31 pm

44. Favorite magazine:
O or People

45. Coffee or tea?
tea

46. Do you tan easily or burn easily?
I burn then tan.

47. Do you color your hair?
Haven’t in a long time.

48. What was the first car you ever purchased without the help of your parents?
minivan

49. What is your most dreaded household chore?
dishes

Mermaid cake

So, we are having DD3's birthday today even though her birthday isn't until tomorrow. Tomorrow night Mom is being honored at a banquet so I will be there. Anyway, we are having a hodge podge kind of birthday....mermaid cake and unicorn everything else. Here is a picture of the cake and I"ll put more after the party.

My birthday

I had a nice birthday last Wednesday. We all went to Mom and Dad's for dinner, cake and presents. I got several nice things from everyone. I was really surprised at all they did. It was really nice.

Madeline's 9th Bday

DD20 and DD3
DD9 and DD17 dancing during High School Musical Game.
Slumber party games.
I love trick candles!! :)
DD9 loves her new scooter.

weekend..

Well, we had a busy week. Ds16 got his drivers license last Wednesday so that was pretty exciting!! (for him..lol) Dd9 had her slumber party Friday night. It was a lot of fun and the girls were all pretty good. I think they fell asleep around 3 am. So, probably not too bad for a slumber party. :) Dd20 came up for the weekend. It was so great to see her. Haven't seen her since Christmas. She gave me a bike and child seat for the back for my early birthday present. I have had a lot of fun with it. Dd3 has ridden with me twice. She likes it once she's on and we are going. Dd20 is soooo sweet and thoughtful about things. She's the greatest and I miss her terribly!! :( I wish she didn't have to grow up and move away yet...Selfish I know. But overall it was a great weekend. My birthday is Wednesday and I AM NOT looking forward to it. I haven't done most of what I wanted to achieve by this time in my life. Guess I need to get busy huh?

Well, let's see what I've been up to. Ds16's birthday was last Thursday the 15th. He will be getting his driver's license this Wednesday and is VERY excited!! Dd8 is having a slumber party this coming Friday so we are getting geared up for that. Her 9th birthday is Sunday the 25th. Yesterday, Mom, Nat, dd17 and I went to see the musical Man of La Mancha. It was pretty good. I was kind of confused at first but then got it (I think..lol). The music was great. I love going to the theatre. And dd17 especially loves it since she's a theatre girl herself.

Home Beauty Tips and Product information: Hairstyle Tips

Home Beauty Tips and Product information: Hairstyle Tips

three year olds

I am totally overwhelmed with my three year olds attitude this week. I guess it actually started to get worse last week but it's horrible. Stomping feet, yelling, slamming doors. I am going crazy!! I try so hard to not yell but I am failing miserably.

On another note, our birthday rush is about to start. We have one on the 15th, 25th, 28th, 30th, and 2 on April 2nd. Whew!! I am worn out just thinking about it all. So, I have 3 parties to plan, the first one being next week and I have done nothing!!!!!! I'd better get busy.

I came across this picture today of me at 3 years old and my little sister as a newborn. This is one of my favorite pictures ever! The poor little thing was already having to play doll and a little later had to play the dog(b/c she could only lay on the floor..lol) when we played school.

Leo

Here are a couple of pictures that I found today of Leo. I'm sure I have one of each of the kids riding him at some point, I'll just have to dig. The field was so empty without him today. :(

soccer

Well, soccer season is in full swing! The kids have me busier than ever these days. This is my weekly schedule right now: Mondays-dd3 dance class, Tuesday-dd8 soccer practice and ds15 soccer game, Wednesday-church, Thursday-dd3 soccer, Friday-ds15 soccer game, Saturday-dd3 and dd8 soccer games. Man, I'm worn out just typing it all....lol. It is so much fun to see them play though so it's worth it!

Leo

This morning Dad's horse Leo died. It will never be the same without him. We've had him since I was 8 years old and I'm now almost 34. I guess it just seemed like he would always be there. But he was not feeling well for a long time so I guess it's better for him.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West   Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.
The Midland
Boston
The South
North Central
The Inland North
The Northeast
Philadelphia
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Lent...

No idea yet what I'll be giving up. I thought about two things: sugar and Mt. Dew. But I think I love my family too much to do that to them...lol!! Man, I think they hate me sometimes now...

The Raw Diet????

So, I watched part of The Wife Swap last night. One family lived by the "raw diet". I had never heard of this but was kind of fascinated so I looked it up b/c I missed about 3/4 of the show. The diet is exactly what it says....raw. They don't cook anything. Raw beef and chicken. I just don't understand this at all. Am I crazy for thinking that that kind of eating would make you sick??? I mean, I grew up on a farm too but we did cook our food. Totally don't understand this one but think I could really lose some weight on it!!! LOL

Last week was a rough week. I finally cratered to the flu on Tuesday afternoon and didn't really get out of bed much until Friday. Not the best way to spend Valentine's day but didn't really have plans anyway. My husband brought me roses on Monday and they were really pretty. I am feeling quite stressed with a lot on my mind. This may be a long week!!

Working out

I just got home from my first trip to YMCA since I signed up. I had an appointment with one of the trainers. Everyone who signs up gets one. It was really fun. I started a 12 week program with her. I work out on my own and see her 3 more times (every 3 weeks). So, for the first 3 weeks I'm supposed to do only cardio. I did 20 minutes on the elliptical machine. Not too bad for my first time back to the gym in 6 months! I thought the first 5 minutes would kill me. It wasn't too bad after that. DD3 went to the playroom and had a great time. She was mad when it was time to go home. That makes all the difference in the world. If I thought she was in there crying I don't think I"d be able to enjoy myself. I'm hoping to try some classes soon and can't wait!!

more snow...

Well, we have pretty snow this morning! I love this kind of snow. It's pretty but not icy so far. Everyone was driving pretty slow this morning but the roads weren't bad yet. Hopefully they won't get too icy.

Well, my weekend was eventful...Natalie and I drove to Seagoville, TX to pick up furniture from our Aunt's house. So, I was a nervous wreck about driving a uhaul truck. It was a 17' truck and actually wasn't too bad after I got used to it. So, we had a long afternoon and evening of loading it up and then driving back home. We got home around 12:45 am. Then the unloading started at about 8am Sunday morning and went pretty much all day. I was soooo tired and my arms were sore by Sunday night. I was glad to have the truck returned on Monday and be done with it all.

Thirteen things I need to take more time to enjoy...

1) Conversations with my three year old daughter.

2) Getting to play with barbies.

3) My beloved Keeshond who is 12 1/2 years old.

4) A bright, sunny afternoon.

5) An afternoon nap with my daughter.

6) A good book that I can't put down.

7) My son learning to drive.....that's a hard one...lol.

8) Working out by myself.

9) My 8 year old daughter wanting to help me cook.

10) A long game of Monopoly with my kids.

11) My kids still wanting to hug me :)

12) Getting to spend my days with my 3 year old before she starts school this Fall.

13) A morning playing at the park with the kids and dogs.

My week so far...

This has been a good week so far. We had a great MOPS meeting yesterday. We had a child counselor who spoke to us about sibling rivalry. I got some good pointers to try in the very near future I'm sure. Took Taryn to a new storytime today and it was better than the one we had been going to. We got Taryn signed up for her new dance class that starts Monday. She is excited about that. I have actually kept the house clean everyday which is a major accomplishment. I've had out my flylady control journal trying to follow my daily plans at least 1/2 way. Anyway, I"m glad for the kids to be back at school and for feeling like I am getting back on schedule. :)

Miss Mollie Mae Curran

We have a new baby in our house. Her name is Mollie Mae and she is 3 1/2 months old. She is a full blood pomeranian. It is funny how she is so different than Lillie was. Where Lillie was a prissy little princess who pranced through the house...Mollie is more like a tomboy who runs funny and falls over herself...lol! She is such a funny little thing! We love her and I love hearing laughter in my house again. It is so good to hear the kids playing with her! It makes standing in the ice covered yard waiting for Mollie to go to the bathroom worth it.

School's out!!

Well, even though we are now covered in slush....one more day out of school. It is supposed to start snowing again tomorrow and snow all weekend. The weather man is saying that we should expect to get 4-10 inches. We have NEVER had 10 inches of snow!! Can't wait to make a snowman out of that!! What fun! :)

ICE!!!

Well today was the kids 3rd day out of school because of the icy roads. They are even getting stir crazy! We've been sledding the last 3 days in a row. It has been really fun to play in. I think today was the slickest day so far. This weekend we are supposed to get 3-6 inches of actual snow. That will be more fun for them to play in. All we have now is solid ice. Looking forward to another day of no school tomorrow....I think...lol! :)

This is our Christmas picture. I still don't have the one of the entire extended family....hopefully I will soon. I pointed out to Matthew (again) that he once again wasn't smiling...he wasn't in our Christmas pic from last year either...and he again told me that he was smiling on the inside!! LOL