Good movies

We watch a lot of movies. We do have a TV in my room, but no Dish Network. Why? Because when we got Dish connected after we moved here, we only had 1 TV. We had done the TV-in-the-bedroom-thing many years ago when I was pregnant with Jacob, and we vowed never to do it again after we moved into the Ethel Blvd. house in Bryan. After moving here, Shawn started working on the master bedroom, and decided that he wanted a TV eventually, so installed surround sound. We got a flat screen TV to hang on our wall. I was in style! Then Shawn went back to work in Bryan, and rented that small apt. He needed a TV. So, he took our old TV that was now upstairs, and replaced it with the flat screen that was in my room. Well, then he decided to make a TV cabinet for the flat screen upstairs, and so to this day, the flat screen is upstairs, connected to the Dish. Now that Shawn is not in Bryan anymore, the old TV sits on the old TV stand in my bedroom, with the flat screen TV attachements still on the wall. It does have the 2 deer antler hangings attached to it, so it's real attractive! I have called about to see how much a new receiver will cost, and blah, blah, blah... hundreds of dollars! I told them I have been a customer to Dish for 8 yrs, and I needed a good deal. No can do, according to "Bob in Pakistan, who is an American." So, until I can justify spending that much money (Shawn wants me too), we only have a TV in my room to watch DVD's. So, without furthur ado... Movie of the week: AUGUST RUSH! This has got to be one of the best movies I have seen in a long time (remember, I have chosen 2-3 bombs in the last few weeks!)! I didn't know that Robin Williams played in it also. His character I didn't like, but he played the part perfectly! Such a good movie! If you have Clear Play, and can edit swear words, then do so. There is not a lot. Only in a few scenes that Robin Williams and the orphan children are in. I don't recall hearing any from August's mouth. But, if you don't care, it's still an awesome movie! I really really liked it, and will probably allow my kids to see it even though we don't currently have Clear Play (we do, but we can't download anything right now).

Poor Jacob! Has to live with "chick-flicks"! This is my kids pick-of-the-week! I haven't seen it yet, but I will hopefully today before we have to return it. UPDATE: I watched Enchanted today, and it was really cute. The queen's servant is Wormtail on Harry Potter. This is a movie I was definately buy really soon. Maybe Kayley will get it for her birthday.

I also got the kids Nancy Drew because they really enjoyed watching it at Aunt Cindy's & Uncle Brett's house this past summer (well, it was in the theater).

My new look

Do you like it? I found it through my friend, Heather, who recently redid hers as well. It's called LeeLouBlogs. It was rather easy, even for me! I really like it. Mine is called Meema. I liked Lauren too, and a few others, but I really liked this one.

My favorite movie

I don't know why I love this movie right now. Maybe it's because my house is almost as caotic as this one? I know that most of it is staged, and all, but it comes pretty darn close to my real family life. You have the older teenager who wants his own way, and then you have the pre-teens, and then you have the younger ones. Only I have a baby, and they don't. It just makes life so fun! All and all though, I love my family and I love having a big family, and I am thankful for them.

Part in the movie the girl (Sarah?) comes in the (new) kitchen and promptly tells her dad that they are the only kids on their street who have to do chores. I thought that was funny because that's what my kids tell me. Just last night I made a new kitchen chore chart, and rearrange some of the jobs. Lindsey now unloads the silverware, and she is so excited that she gets too "officially". I printed it off, and even laminated it so that the chart wouldn't get ruined.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

For the occasion, I am fixing Corned Beef & cabbage (along w/carrots & potatoes). I know the meat isn't that healthy, but Josh really wanted it. "It's my last St. Patty's day for at least 3 years!" Fine! What can I say about that? I don't think I made it last year because I just wasn't with it since Joey was only like 2 1/2 months old. Let's just say, I am his favorite mom right now! And this is for dessert. It's a pistachio chocolate cake. I always make it when I do the corned beef. I got the recipe from my friend, Jen, many years ago. We love it!

The ONLY thing I like about living on a chicken farm...

is the price of the chicken I pay! Look at this bag. It's a 5# bag. They sell this at Sams, and most other stores. I pay $5.65 for 5#! How great is that? Boneless, skinless too!! My friend, Rebecca, sells Mary Kay stuff, and she ordered me some stuff for Josh & Lauren the other day, and the price came out to be $15. I asked her if she wanted to be paid in chicken or cash. She chose chicken. LOL!!


And look at this price! I never allow my kids to get these whenever we do go to McD's. I am cheap, I know. But when I can get a dozen of these things for $1.25! Yeah, now you know!

What I did this weekend...

First off, my kids had a 3 days weekend, so you know what we did on Friday (see below). Shawn, Josh & I rented a movie to watch on Friday night to watch after the other kids were in bed. Called Rescue Dawn. I thought it would be good. You know, action/war flick, Viet-Nam era. Based on a true story. Rather boring. I can't believe they would waste any money in making this movie. After watching this though, you really thank your Heavenly Father for the freedom you have. Unless you really love Christian Bale, don't rent it.

Saturday:
Woke up and made the sauce to my Chicken Pasta Supreme for Enrichment. I also made a mint cake for it. Got it all ready, myself ready & Joey ready. Lauren was going too (YW are invited to our Enrichments), and we were out the door @ 9:30am. Our Relief Society does Enrichment Meetings on Saturday mornings from 10-1. We do this because we have quite a few older sisters who do not drive at night, and also because we have quite a few sisters who do work, and Saturday mornings are better. I personally rather do it on a Tuesday or Thursday night, but for now, this is good. We always have a lunch to go with it. We had a great turn-out, and it was very nice & spiritual. We were starting our service projects for the year. It was also the birthday celebration.

After leaving there, Lauren, Joey & I headed to Texas-side Walmart (no tax on food) to do a big food shopping. 2 hrs & 2 full carts later, we leave. I needed to get more, but I was on a time frame, so I was in a hurry. I had to be home by 4pm (also had to stop at a few other places) to get the lasagna in the oven.

We get home, get groceries away, and dinner in the oven. We also hurried to finish cleaning up the kitchen and living room, as we were having a part-member semi-active family over for dinner, and for a 1st discussion/FHE lesson on the Plan of Salvation. Our stake has asked all hometeachers to start teaching their semi/less active families the missionary discussions from the Preach My Gospel book. The Jan. 2008 Friend had an awesome handout of the Plan of Salvation, so I printed their 2 children each one on cardstock, and we discussed it. Shawn taught it, and we all had a great time. We had root beer floats for our treat.

Went to bed, and watched War of the Worlds w/Tom Cruise. Okay, was that part of the plan? Don't think so! LOL!! I just DO NOT like that movie. The first time I ever watched it, it kinda freaked me out because of all the gore in it, and after watching it again, I just do not like it. I played Tetrus mostly on Jacob's Game Boy Advance. Hehe. Oh, BTW, Josh was on a date in Texarkana during our dinner and all, so we were waiting on him to get home.

At 11pm, even though I had already set our clocks to read 12am, I called Josh and told him even though it was technically 11pm, it was really 12am (LOL!), and that he needed to get home (his curfew is 11:59pm). He said that his date's dad just called and said the same thing, and in 30 minutes he was home. Such a good son I have!

Sunday:
Set my alarm to get up at 6:30am. I got up, and it was still dark outside. But I needed to get up to make another mint cake for lunch, and start getting stuff ready for the taco salad. We were having the 4 Elders for late lunch after church. I head back to bed for just a few minutes. 1 hr later, I get up. Rushed into the shower & got Lauren up too. Got most of the salad ready after I was ready, but no cake made. Decided that root beer floats would be good again.

Got to church on time with everyone dressed, and made it through barely. I was so tired! I was trying to stay awake in RS by eating candy that I had won at Enrichment and part of the banana that I was feeding Joey.

Made it home, and fed the Elders and my family. They left.

Layed on the couch, and didn't move until 5:40pm. Made homemade blueberry muffins for the kids for dinner. Some ate some eggs with it, Josh had some leftover lasagna. Aunt Ethel & Uncle Charles came over to visit, so we called Shawn's parents to come over too (Ethel and Talmage are siblings). Had a good visit with them, and by 8:30pm all kids were in bed. I went to bed by 10pm.

No pictures were taken, nothing else to exciting happened. Not planning on a cool day or anything. Just have to pay bills, and start working on some family history stuff.

My sister, Heather

Anyone moving to Ft. Hood/Killeen and need a house, go see her! This is her new billboard on the highway.

It really snowed!

It did snow the other day, but not like this! First time that my kids have seen it really snow like this. They were excited that there was no school. Check back later to see the pictures... my sister is going to post them. Check out Lauren's snowman!

My cute baby...

I have an aspiring pianist, and a climber!

Mozart, maybe?



After these were taken, he learned to climb over the barrier on my stairs. And for those who know what my stairs are like, it's not good! I'm going to have to think of something else! I haven't had a climber like this Lauren was little! Maybe Kayley, but she wasn't as bad as Lauren.

Please someone... knock me out!

I feel horrible! I think that the sleep deprivation is catching up with me!

This sounds inviting!

I need to have one more so I can move here! ;-) This was on Fox News.

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan — Turkmenistan's president hopes to start a baby boom in the gas-rich former Soviet nation with a plan to reward women who give birth to eight or more children -- a one-time bonus and lifetime perks, state media reported Wednesday.

President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov approved the measure in a decree entitling the mothers to a single $250 payment, as well as free utilities, public transportation and dental care for life.

The award bears hallmarks of a similar initiative introduced by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II, when the government awarded medals to women with five or more children.

The offer comes before International Women's Day on March 8. Last week, the government announced every woman in the country will receive a $10 bonus to mark the holiday.

Berdymukhamedov has made tentative progress in reversing the welfare policies of autocratic former President Saparmurat Niyazov, who died in December 2006.

Niyazov caused severe hardship across the country when he dismissed thousands of health personnel and ordered the closure of hospitals outside the capital, causing a sharp rise in child mortality rates.

Three things I cannot tolerate or like

The first thing I cannot tolerate is someone bullying my children. My kids have been bullied long enough. Lauren came home today, and one of the bullies on the bus had marked on her new bag that I just bought for her. I called the bus driver, and he told me he would take care of it. He says he absolutely loves my kids, and will not tolerate the bullies either. If it came down to the nitty gritty of it all, I would have threatened with my personal lawyer (how I love having an attorney in the family!). But it didn't, and I hope things will get better for my kids. How sad is it when they come home crying? I was bullied on when I used to ride the bus, but I'm not going to put up with it. I am glad my kids tell. I never told. :-(

Cannot even out into words how much I dislike these two. Of course, it's my opinion, and I'm not saying McCain would be any better, but I rather have him, then any of these two. And for the first time in Pritchard history (est. 1968), my parents, a brother & a sister voted for a democrat (Hillary even!) just to try to keep Obama out.

I knew I was an addict, but now my son?

I know I have a drinking problem! I can't help it! It was the only perk I did without feeling bad, until now:


For some reason, I just cannot make it through the day without my Route 44 Diet Dr Pepper w/easy easy ice. Yes, 2 easies! Because if I don't say that, even the easy ice is full of ice! I need drink, not ice! Sundays are the real killer for me. I've been known to ask if we can stop on the way home from church, but of course, my children won't allow it! :-D

ETA: That is not Joey. My mom freaked out! That is just a picture I found on the internet when I did a search for Sonic! LOL!!

This is what I am fixing for dinner!

My kids will be in heaven! I was going to make it on Saturday, but no can do. It's pesto chicken & manicotti. I got the recipe from my friend, Rebecca. I've tasted it too. She gave me some leftovers of it one day when I was at her house, and I was chowing down! It was really good! To bad y'all can't be here! :-)

It snowed!

It finally snows at our house after many years of waiting, and the kids still had to go to school! They were so mad! Now the snow is melted. Oh, darn! Having lived in Alaska for 3 yrs during my early teen years, I hated it! I vowed I would never live someplace cold again like that! Josh comes in this morning from Seminary, and quickly says, "You want me to go live in Rexburg?" Yes, sir... you are going!

P.S. Yes, that is a real picture, but not here! LOL!!

Purple hull peas and cornbread

That's what we had for dinner again. I'm just not a fan of purple hull peas. I love my cornbread, but not peas. Shawn's mom sometimes will say she will fix Sunday night dinner, and most of the time it's purple hull peas. But I do eat them.

If you go back to last summer on my blog, my kids were sitting on the porch. They were shelling purple hull peas.

Picture of the Insulin Pump

Since I have learned how to find pictures on the internet (thanks Google!), I want to post a picture of the pump that Jacob now uses. His insulin was started today, and so far it's been awesome!

Using the Bosch for the 1st time

I got a Bosch for Christmas, and it's been sitting in the box since. I've been to scared to use it because it cost so much, and plus being rather poor, I really wanted to send it back and get a refund. Problem is, I was going to have to pay for shipping, and I couldn't really afford that. So, there it sat. In my kitchen. Being knocked around by Joey since. Tonight I thought about how it's been a very long time since I made some good homemade chocolate chip cookies, and how I wanted some right then. I get the Bosch out, and get it ready. Man, that thing whipped my dough into place in about 2 seconds! I was so impressed with most of it. I had to email a friend of mine to ask her a few things about it, since she has had one for a long time (I bought her "old" frige, and she got the new Bosch!)

Had those cookies done in no time, and they are really yummy. I'm already planning on my next batch that I am going to make. I'll never loose weight now! :-(

Local newspaper

I was in it! Yeah, I was! There is a section in the editorials called "Cheers & Jeers." It's published every Saturday. People can email or write in with a "Cheer" of something good, or a "Jeer" of something bad that is happening around the area, or something they read about in the paper. I emailed in a Jeer. I was going to post it, but I have to be logged in to read it, so when I registered to be logged in, it said if I didn't hear back from them in 72 hrs, to redo it. Hello, that's like 3 days away! I want y'all to read it now! Let me tell you about it instead:

A few weeks ago, Texarkana had a voting for a name for the new pro baseball team that is going to be in Texarkana. The winner was the Texarkana Gunslingers. Picture is of a "cowboy" holding 2 shooting guns. Now, before I go on, I want to say, I have nothing against guns. Heck, my bedroom probably has 10 guns of some sort. Maybe more. But, this is my problem: The school districts have a 0 tolerance for guns, including all pictures of a gun on shirts, hats, etc... I can see why, and I support it. I make sure my kids don't wear stuff with a gun on them (not that I buy it anyway). So I wrote my Jeer: "To the naming of the new baseball team, the Gunslingers. I hope that the local school districts will not support this team in any way because our children will not be able to support the team at all, especially on game days. Why risk them to get expelled? The Texarkana Tornadoes would have been a better choice." Pretty cool, huh? The tornadoes was one of the voting choices.

And excuse me for a moment while I go scream... Ok, all better!

Kristen came in to my room this morning at 4:30, and told me she threw up! I get up, and she tells me that she just threw up at my door. Good thing she didn't get it on my carpet, or I would have pounded her boo-tay! Joking on that... but she did throw-up in the dining room. Laminate floor, so no biggy. I love Clorax wipes! But of course, the smell lingered, so I had to spray Lysol after a while, but for an hour I thought I was going to have to go throw-up myself! :-(