Fun Times With Cousins

Rah Rah Ree, Kick 'Em In The Knee! Rah Rah Rass, Kick 'Em In The Other Knee!

I tried to post the video of the girls cheerleading, but unfortunately, it was causing my blog to be super slow since I am only on dial-up. If you would like to see those crazy girl cousins, click on my sister, Hilary's, blog.

Also, my nephew, Austin, had to do this cheer. I think we have some blackmail for the future, don't you think?

On July 1, the kids went to Austin Park N' Pizza in Austin. There was a lot to do there and they had a really fun time. Kayley and Lauren rock climbed. Kayley did make it to the top but fell as she was trying to hit the bell. Again, my sister has more video on her blog with Lauren & Kayley.

Then our last night at my Mom's, the kids were doing "small people." That is, they were kneeling down and putting shoes on their knees so they looked short. It was pretty funny. I was Oklahoma laughing too! Then Lauren wanted to walk on her knees. Cracked us all up! I guess it was one of those "You had to be there" moments!

Relax... take a deep breath!

Remember a few months ago I posted about a huge cellphone bill? Well, this one was worse! $864.13!! I had the broadband connect for all of 3 days, but with the connection fee and all that... about $238. Understandable, and I got $200 back. No problemo. Shawn's & my phone bill... normal. Nothing different. Josh's: $499.57! Yep! And it's a good thing he has the money to pay me. I told him "that's why cell phone companies love teenagers! They do stupid things to run up the bill!" Good thing he is getting a better paying job.

The reason for my poll...

is well, Shawn & I have only been by ourselves ONCE since having kids. We've never gone anywhere ourselves. When I was 100 months pregnant with Jacob, ok, I had 6 weeks to go, Shawn & I went to Kerrville, Tx for 2 nights, but that was it. It was nice, but I was pregnant! In a few months it'll be our 19th. Hard to believe sometimes that next year it'll be 20, but it's true! This is the year that I've spent 1/2 my life with Shawn so far... crazy! I'll post some pictures of us youngin's when it gets closer to our anniversary. Anyway, we figured next year, close to our 20th, he & I will take Josh to Utah to report to the MTC, so I'm pretty sure we won't be able to go anywhere else exciting (since we will have to get him ready to go). Shawn said to plan somewhere to go this year. I'm poor. I don't know what he wants me to do because I can't pay for it yet. But I guess I can plan it. I would love to go to La Jolla since Shawn has NEVER BEEN TO CALIFORNIA, and I thought it was so beautiful when I went a few years ago (brother Scott got married in the San Diego Temple).

But then again, I would love to go to Capitola, CA where I spent a few summers at my Gramma's beachhouse. It was sold, and if it's possible to rent out, I would love to rent it. I loved going there. Capitola is in the Monterry Bay area just north of Carmel, CA. So pretty.
My brother, Brett & his wife love Sandals, and I think it would be fun to go there too.
And Shawn has never been to FL either, and I went to the Destin area every summer until I was 11. I loved Ft. Walton Beach. I always had so much fun. Problem is, I want to go to all, but I will only be able to (barely) afford one place this year.

Yucky day so far...

Up all night with an upset stomach. I hate being this way. Then I had to get Lauren to the church by 6:45am (remember 25 minute drive 1 way!), and I had to stop along the way to make a pit stop. It's so not fun. Lauren is going to be gone for a total of about 54 hrs. Camp is only 2 nights and barely 2 full days. I guess with the funding (Pioneer Trek in June), there just wasn't enough money to pay for the big camp area they always go to at Zwolle State Park in Louisiana. She'll have a great time though.

Josh seems to be doing better this morning. He got up, ate a banana & took some more pain meds. His face isn't as swollen. He is waiting for Wadley to call him back to come in for a drug test.

Kayley is glad to be home. Was so excited to taste her first zucchini of the year last night. Since she's been gone, the zucchini came in full bloom, and she was excited to have it cooked the way she liked it (Mimi may have fixed it that way... but I'm not sure). She is asking for another Blackberry cobbler too (yuck to food right now!).

The other kiddos are doing good. Playing and playing and doing whatever.


I was going to post about our 4th of July. After I got to Killeen with the 2 little girls, we had a BBQ at my sister's (Heather) house. She just moved in to her new house that shares a backyard with my parents. That's pretty cool. After my 4 girls ate, they, my mom & I went to the high school to get on the bus to take us to Ft. Hood. They have an awesome fireworks show. After getting there, I realized that I hadn't been to Ft. Hood fireworks since 2004! It didn't seem that long, but apparently it has. Lindsey thought they were cool since she really hasn't seen them before. Ashdown doesn't have a great show... but then again, Ashdown has nothing great. After the 40 minute show (it really was awesome!), we headed back. We stood in line to get back on the bus for almost as hour, and we finally got home 11:50pm! We had a great time, and I was glad we went.

Texarkana does their fireworks show the Saturday after. I don't know why they do that. It's soooooooooo dumb! Josh and his friend, Ashley, went to go see them, and he said that it was only like 15 minutes. Oh, well.

Monday sick blues...

After returning home from Shreveport this morning, I started not to feel well. Mamaw is already sick (and it's her birthday even!), and Josh just puked all over (great! How's that for fun with a swollen face?). I hope I feel better tomorrow.

The girls are home

After almost 4 weeks of pure fun at Mimi's, hanging out with cousins and whoever else... my girls are home. The little girls and I left on July 4th to go get them. We stayed 2 hot nights at my mom's, but we survived. My mom doesn't like a/c. I don't know why, but she doesn't. :-D We left Sunday morning to come home. The girls did great being crammed into the Honda, but it was cheaper to take that then the Suburban. Hilaryanem arrived a few hours after we got home, and stayed the night before heading back to KY today. I had to leave before they left. Shawn said they left about 8:30am. Hilary will be posting some pictures of the girls, so stay tuned!

Wisdom teeth

Josh is getting them out on Monday @ 10am. He isn't looking forward to it. Oh, well. I still remember getting mine out, and was expecting tons of pain, and I didn't have any! I wanted them out ASAP since he is starting his new job soon. Besides he would've had to have them out before he could go on his mission.

On the 25th is Joey's surgery on his tongue. Anyone else?

UPDATE:

The wisdom is gone. I hope having these things pulled will still keep Josh smart... LOL!! We got to Shreveport at 9:15am. At 10am, they called him back, and by 11am we were on the road heading back. Josh was quite hilarious on the way home. He loved playing with his big lip, and we played "Guess what I am saying with wads of cotton in my mouth?" It was rather amusing to watch Josh drink a Sonic milkshake and take a pain pill at the same time. We shall see how the rest of the day, and the next 24 hrs go...

102 baby! Eat this Mr. Leone!

102 words

Speed test

Let's just say Mr. Leone didn't like me, and I didn't like him, and I barely passed typing class in 10th or l1th grade, and could only get 41 wpm. But, that was so not fair back then because we had to use big ugly green typewriters, and they were hard to use! ;-)

*Just to let you know, I am saving this website so that I can try to beat my wpm!

Well, that was short-lived!

Wow! Can't believe how short-lived my wireless broadband was. But it's not to be for right now. It was so slow that my dial-up was faster. I called Cingular (AT&T) and they told me that the closest tower to us for 10 miles away. Apparently that is the tower way south of Ashdown... 10 miles! LOL!! Rest assured though, they told me... AT&T will have another tower closer to us within the year! Until then, I've cancelled my $60 a month internet, and went back to my $14.95 dial-up.

Yum!

After Joey went down for a nap @ 10:30, I made 7 pints of Blackberry Syrup. I thought I would have more, but I guess I didn't have as many berries yesterday as I thought I had. I've made a lot of jams, frozen quite a bit, and have given lots of blackberries away, and that was only on 25 blackberry plants. Next year we will have over 200 plants! YIKES! What will I ever do? Good thing blackberry season only last 6 weeks. I don't think I could do this the whole summer! Next on my list for this afternoon is Grape Faux Jelly. Sounds cool, huh? I'm using yellow squash as the filler. Just like my Apricot Surprise Jam... I used zucchini as the filler, and Oh.My.Gosh! It was soooooooo yummy! I am sure this will be good too. I also have a lot of onions & peppers to chop to get ready for our salsas. I hope the tomatoes will be done soon! :-)

Devil child, devil child!

One of my favorite movies is Hairspray. In one scene, the mother is tying Penny up from going to find Tracy. She turns on the "Lords Prayer" and tells her that she is only going to get bread & water, and to pray for Tracy. As she leaves the room, the mother shakes a rosary at Penny saying "Devil child, devil child!" LOVE IT! Cracks me up!

And so this phrase has captured Shawn & I, as we call our little sweet innocent Joey: devil child, devil child! You certainly can tell he is the last child, and even if I *was* planning on having one more, he has certainly became instant birth control! Just as I was writing this, he looks up at me on the couch and gives me a devilish grin... and then he dumps the whole bag of Candy Land cards upside down. I mean, why not?

He certainly keeps our house in a constant flow of mess. Between him & Lindsey, I know my house will never stay uncluttered for at least another few years. Lindsey isn't bad as just dumping toys... just not wanting to pick up.

It's not normal not to have cereal of some sort dump all over the kitchen or living room floor everyday ALL DAY. He insist on feeding himself, but hasn't mastered yet. It normal to have dinner all over the floor or his hair. It's normal for me to search the trash can daily for things that shouldn't be thrown away. It's normal for things to fall or being knocked over constantly. It's normal for his sippies or bottle to be drained of all liquid. It's normal for the diapers to be ripped off. It's normal for loud unnecessary noises at all times of the days, and if it's ever quiet you know you better go find him. The bigger the things for him to get into, the louder he gets. Why can't I have a quiet little boy like everyone else? Oh, wait! I had one of those already... actually I had 2 sons already like that, so it was only normal to have one that wasn't. LOL!!! He loves to climb up and up and up, and they higher he is getting into something, the better he loves it. He loves to climb into my bathroom sink and sit in it. I'll go in there and there he is... sitting in the sink, both toothbrushes in his mouth, everything else knock on the floor, and the water going soaking him. One of these days, I'll get a picture. Why shouldn't I have paper plates all over my floor (like now), plastic ware thrown all over? I have gates, crates, boxes, doors closed, you name it... but the moment one thing is not in it's place, he is there (like the bathroom when girls forget to close the door). Last night he refused to lay down in his crib. I was tired, Shawn was tired (had to work today), and we were both tired of listening to him scream. He goes into my bed. Shawn & I just lie there as he jumps all over us, sits on us, you name it. Finally he calms down after 10 minutes and is asleep.

Is it because we are "old" parents and we have done it all over & over & over & over, and almost tired of it all (as colored paper & bills are being thrown off the table...)? To any of my friends out there who want large families... have all your children within 10-12 yrs of marriage. After that, it's just to hard with babies, & teenagers at the same time! But, it's so worth it, no matter how large the mess, and how much your toddler is the "Devil child, devil child!"

Welcome to the REAL work world, Josh!

He applied for a job last week at Wadley Hospital, and got hired today (at least he thinks he has...). He got the insurance packet today, and has to take a drug test next week. He is going to be an ER Tech. He has to wear navy blue scrubs (thank goodness I didn't get rid of Shawn's old navy ones... and yes, they do fit), and his job is M-F, 7-3pm. He is sooo excited!

Speaking of excited... I am so not excited about this wireless broadband. We don't have any signal strength at all, so it's almost just as slow as dial-up. Shawn is going to give it another day or so, and if it doesn't get any better, we are going back to dial-up. $14.95 a month is a lot cheaper than $60 a month for the same slowness!

I have moved up in the world!

WIRELESS BROADBAND, BAY-BEE!!

I am sooooooooooooooo excited, I can't

even begin to tell you how excited I am!

NO MORE DIAL-UP!! NO MORE PHONE LINE BEING BUSY

ALL THE TIME!! I HAVE MOVED UP IN THE WORLD!

And so did Shawn... he got a Blackberry. Josh is getting his old phone, and I am still stuck with the same ol' hand-me-down cell. I think I'll ask for an I-Phone that I saw today at the AT&T store. Think I'll get it for my birthday in 18 days? I doubt it!

Birthday List

I've decided this year to print out my birthday list. I mean, why not? The kids give me their list, and Shawn just goes buy whatever he wants and claims it it's for his birthday, but I've always been to cheap to do that because I hated for anyone to spend money on me. This year, it's different BAY-BE! If kids and Shawn want to give me some things, then dang it, I want what I want, and not be last minute thought. I printed it off on purple paper, folded it...

and placed it on my frige so everyone can see! I've given my family a whole 21 days to think about their special mom, and how she is turning 38, and how I slave so much for them, and how much I want something that I want! Let's see if they even remember!

Cousin It?

Do you see the similarity of these two? Who would've thought that Cousin It lived in our house!

Oh, it's Lindsey!
With a serious case of bed head!!

Look what I did!

I finished 'em! Aren't you proud? I have 5 more of the plates & mugs to do by Thanksgiving!

This is my Christ tile, and I did the other tile for someone else.

This is the plate & mug that we did at Enrichment last year, but mine just got done today! I'm a little disappointed with it, but since it's mine, it'll be okay. I'm hoping to get the others more straight. The mug says "We Believe" with a Santa hat on the other side. I should have had the "We Believe" on the other side. I'll probably do the others that way.

Enrichment

I am planning on going. I don't know why I go to these Super Craft Saturdays. Actually, I haven't been since moving here... okay take that back, I did go to the one in 2006, but I didn't make anything. The only reason why I go is to eat the food. I love eating good food made by someone else. So, here I am going tomorrow. I paid for 2 vinyl sayings to put on tile. Hmmmmm, will I even do them? Last year I paid for 6 vinyl Christmas sayings to put on red plates & mugs for my siblings with kids, and have YET to do them! I didn't go last year because we went to the LA State Fair instead, but I had every intentions of making them. I need to go to Home Depot tomorrow to buy the tile. I am going to make one for someone in my family, and for me. I am also going to try to see if I can get more sayings, and IF I do the tiles tomorrow, then I can make them for the rest of my family. I hate crafts and I love doing them at the same time... once I start. But sitting down and actually starting them is what I have a problem with. I think it's because I want it to be perfect, and if I don't have all the time do make sure they are perfect, I don't want to do them. And then if I make them perfect, I want the receiver to like it just as much as me, and if I don't feel they like it, then I don't want to do it anymore. Am I even making sense (LOL!)?

My goal tomorrow is to do these 2 tiles... start to finish! And if I have time, to buy at least 1 red plate & mug so that Rebecca can show me how. Maybe I will post a picture tomorrow of my stuff.

I want to Homeschool?

Already it's the end of June, and let's just say... WHY AM I SAYING THAT I WANT TO HOMESCHOOL? It's just so hot and humid to do anything outside, and when we do go outside, the mosquitos get us big time, so it's no fun. Gas prices to high, fun entertainment to expensive, etc... I can't afford much right now. I am going to our friend's house on Friday to swim (well, kids are... the beached whale will stay on the sidelines), and I was asked today to help with the public library kids days in July. I'm actually going to be home each time they are doing this this year. Previous years I have been gone. We are going to my parents July 4-7 to mainly pick up the girls and cousin Rebekah (going to Girls Camp July 8-11) and to go to the fireworks show on Ft. Hood. I will probably make my way back to my parents sometime in August. Joey is getting his tongue clipped on July 25th (3rd appt. I've made), and Josh will sometime get his wisdom teeth pulled within the next month or so. Of course I've had to make an appt. in Shreveport for that, along with all the other doctor appts. On July 3rd I have 3 appts that day... one for me, Jacob & Josh. It's going to be a long day! Mamaw said she'll watch the kids for me. On July 12th is our Ward Temple trip, and I am planning on going to that. I haven't been to the temple forever. July 19th is our Ward Pioneer Party, and Jileen & I are in charge of that. Jacob has his Kidz Dibetes Camp July 14-18, ending with Parents/Family night on the 18th... oh, joy! Spending the great outdoors on my birthday! At least it's with the family, and it'll be at Lake Patman in Texarkana (which for 19 yrs being married to Shawn, I've never seen that lake!). Maybe Shawn will be off, and have the boat up & running.

Move over Blue Bell!

See this ice cream container/name? It's the same as Dryers. I didn't know until I did some research on my ice cream (yeah... I'm bored!).

Anyway, this is my favorite brand right now, and it's sooooooo creamy! It's so much better then Blue Bell's! If you have Dryers or Edy's, you need to buy this one! It's so good!
Apparently, Dryers Ice Cream is sold in the western half, and Edy's in the eastern half. I know our Walmart sold Dryers, but just recently started selling Edy's. It's just like the mayo:

Hellman's sold west of the Mississippi...
and Best Foods sold East of the Mississippi.
I hope I got the mayo's on the right side! LOL!!

You know what's sad?

I have never played Chutes & Ladders with my younger kids, and Jacob is almost 10! He was putting the board away today (classic game board from Josh's younger days... nothing else, only board), and he says, "Mom, I have never played this game..." Guess who is playing Chutes & Ladders day until she is Chutes & Ladders worn out?

And I like "Walk This Way" by Run DMC & Steve Tyler. 1987? 1988? Sooner? I know I used to watch the video on MTV & VH-1 when MTV/VH-1 actually played videos and before their channels got so bad. Whenever it comes on the radio, and I'm alone in the car (like this morning), I crank it up LOUD! I love it!!

Dear Lauren & Kayley,

I miss you two! I need you two home!! ;-)

Love, Mom

Netflix

We took the plunge... we bought into Netflix because of all the stupid late fees that I have been paying to our only small-town DVD store. I guess it's technically The Video Store, but they don't rent videos anymore (I think they may still have a few kid ones), only DVDs. Maybe I should tell them that they need to change their name! LOL!!

Anyway, so we are now associated with Netflix and we got our first 3 DVDs today. We got Cars (for the kids... they've been begging for it), Fool's Gold (which I was told today by Josh that it's full of not-so-great scenes... uh, how would he know? LOL!!) and No Reservations w/Catherine Zeta-Jones. We signed up for a bunch of movies, and with the weather being as hot as it is, and us without a pool, this would be a good thing for the afternoons since I am so not creative right now doing homeschool stuff with my kids, or anything else for the matter. Oh, well... who says I'm perfect?

Speaking of Homeschool... if I'm going to do it, I need to get crackin'! I need to get some plans going, and deciding who and who isn't going to be homeschooled. YIKES! Do I even want to do it?

Our trip to Benson, Arizona

Sorry for the large font. I clicked on "tiny" but it only worked with the first picture. Also, it took over an hour to just post these pictures on SLIDE!! If you don't have dial-up, be grateful!

Josh's head

I deleted the other post about Josh being bald. Well, it wasn't as bad as I thought. As I was starting to get pictures ready to post on here, I found this picture. Must of been taken with his cell phone. Josh is up front, and the floating head is Nick... Josh's friend from church who also decided to shave his head. Bunch of goofs!

Family History Work

This is another thing I love doing. It's so interesting to find out about your family. I particularly like looking at the names and seeing how they are spelled. Sometimes you get weird spellings for normal names, and all I can think of is that the mother or father didn't know how to spell good, and ended up sounding out the name. I can't think of any off the top of my head right now, but even looking at obits in the local paper, sometimes have weird spellings.

I am helping Josh with his family history job. I am glad that I can help. It's been fun and interesting at the same time. Family Search is so easy! Anyone could do it! I would love for some of my siblings to help me on some names. I have a lot of our grandparents ancestors, but I need their siblings. I'm going to have to get on Ancestory.com to find those I am sure. But sometimes when I enter a name on Family Search, a whole line of family shows up! I love it! I haven't found any famous people yet (even though it's been rumored that we are related to the Presidents John Adams & John Quincy Adams), but I have found that we are related to a bunch of Kings/Queens of England & Scotland, and have traced on the Adair line back to 99 AD!

To think that I am about 1000th in line to be the Queen of England! Yikes-o-la!

Sudoku!

Oh. My. Gosh! I love this game! And the harder it is, the better I like it, even though I go crazy 1/2 the time if I am stuck! I have to do them each day in the newspaper. Every Monday it starts off as a 1 star, and by Sunday it's a 5 star. I rather do 3 & 4 stars, and I attempt to do the 5 stars, but more often then I like, I hardly ever get them. I'm working on it though! I even found this website so I can play it whenever I get the urge!

Speaking of games, I also love Tetrus on Jacob's Gameboy(only when we have it... most of the time it's lost!). But, like Sodoku, it has to be hard. I only play the Level 9 Game 9 (highest & hardest it goes too), because if I get over 100,000, then the rocket takes off! I love it! Sounds crazy, huh? It's not like I have nothing else to do, but when I need a break from it all... I love to do these 2 games.

Luau & other things...

My kids love this Primary activity that the presidency does each year. It's not spiritual, but does it *have* to be? In fact, are they ever spiritual? I can't remember if our ward does them that way or not. I always see in The Friend of wards/stakes that do temple things, and other church related things, but I honestly cannot think of our Primary has ever done an activity that is gospel-related. But the kids always have a fun time going, and dressing up. Kayley didn't go this year as she is not here, so the little girls used her & Lauren's hula skirts, leis and Jacob wore his big hat. I found a cute Old Navy shirt for Joey a few weeks back with hawaiian print, so he wore that and an orange lei. It was really cute of them. I will try to get pictures posted. After the party party, they fed the kids lunch and we went home.




Josh is on his way home from the Pioneer Trek in northern Oklahoma. He went a few years ago with the College Station Stake (the week after we moved here), and showed the Stake YM presidency CD about it (thanks Mari Ayn!), and it was then planned for this year for our stake. Found out that he has to do a few more things on his Eagle form, so he better hurry up! He turns 18 in just 5+ weeks! Yikes!

Lauren just returned yesterday with her cousin, Rebekah, from Young Womens Camp in the Killeen Tx Stake. Wow... it just seems like yesterday that I was the bratty YW attending camp there, and now I have a daughter that went. This was her 2nd year, and she had a great time. She goes again in a few weeks with our stake, where she will finish up her 2nd year stuff. She got sick the first night there, and by the second night she was given a priesthood blessing. I don't know if my mom was called or not but I never was even though my cell phone was on the emergency contact form. She was better after that, and had a great remaining time. Rebekah is also coming to our camp. They can't wait.

Kayley is having a great time at Mimi's & Grampa's because cousin Meghan (from KY) is down visiting. She loves hanging out with her, and seeing all her cousins. She calls me almost daily to tell me she loves me and misses me, and wants to know what we are doing. I tell her we are being bored, so enjoy the time of swimming everyday (Mimi has a pool!).

We are almost home

We are in Pecos, Tx tonight staying at the Motel 6. I looked for other rooms at different places, but no such luck. Kids are swimming in the pool for a few more minutes while I'm on WiFi. It's so fast and so nice that it's going to suck once I get home and have to use dial-up. I didn't get a lot of pictures as I should have, but I got some and will post later this weekend.

Pomerene Ward in Benson, AZ

It's always fun going to a new ward as a visitor. I don't go very often as we are not people that travel the world. But today we went to church in Benson. We knew that the ward started at 1pm, and I was happy because then I could sleep in.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

What a joke! The freakin' sun is already up at 5:30am, so guess who was already up? Yes, all 4 kids and me. Shawn went walking, so it's kinda his fault for waking us all up. Grrrrr! So, after 5 hrs of kids whinning, crying and being loud, we went for a ride around the area before heading to church. We went to an area 6 miles south of Benson called St. David. Only like 2 buildings in the whole town... the school & the LDS church. Nothing in the town, but yet this town had a huge (old) building with lots of cars in the parking lot. I looked up the population, and it's like 1400! I was like DANG! After I got back to the motel I looked up the church website, and there are 3 wards meeting in that building! Did you read that right? 3 wards! I was like SO NOT FAIR! Here I am, living in a town of 4000+ people, and we can't even get a branch! We get to Pomerene Ward (they share the building with Benson Ward... that's 5 wards within 6 miles difference!), and it was so nice to start on time! Hehe! Our ward never starts on time, and this ward did, and we even had 40 minutes of Sunday School time instead of 30 or less because it seems like everyone talks and talks and talks after Sacrament Meeting. I never thought Sunday School was going to end! LOL! The kids sang when the other Primary kids sang their Father's Day songs. I told the kids no matter what ward they are in, they are part of the Primary, and they all sing the same songs. They went to their classes, and had a great time. Kristen was so glad that she wasn't the only girl, and Jacob was glad that he was one of 6 boys his age! Man, I love big Primaries! I wish our ward would get more children. I then went to Relief Society, and they are having their Super Saturday "Fun Day" as they called it on the same Saturday as ours, and it looks like it's going to be so much fun. I brought one of their sign-up papers home to show my ward RS. They are doing the FHE board like our ward is doing, but only charging $15 instead of $23 like us. They are also doing the Tile decor, which I thought I was so funny since they are doing 2 things that we had planned. They are doing a super-duper cute 4th of July photo album for $6. I really want one! LOL!! They are having 5 hrs of fun. About 45 minutes for each class time 4 times (they are doing the FHE board & quilt 2 times), about 30 minutes for the message, and an hour for lunch.

Kids are driving me nuts again, so I think we will head somewhere. I am so tired of all being crammed into a small space. I am so not vacation material with small kids. I am reminding myself that next time KIDS STAY HOME!

Problem fixed... fingers crossed!

$750+ later we have a working car! We got it fixed yesterday in Midland, Tx. They were very nice, and were waiting for us when we finally got there at 10:30am. About noon, the dealer took us to McD's so that the kids could play (it was 100 degrees already!), and so that we could eat lunch. We stayed about an hour & a half, and then they came back to get us. We were on the road by 2pm, and because we gained an hour, we arrived in Las Cruces, NM at 6pm. We are at the Comfort Inn instead of the standard Motel 6, which I had reserved. We went to check in, and the pool at Motel 6 was broken. They allowed me to cancel, and we went across the street to Comfort Inn. Pool was great, and kids all slept good. We got 2 rooms this time.

Shawn is having the most fun I think because he loves the WiFi! We brought Josh's laptop, so it's been nice (since I am posting!). I have been making it a habit since yesterday to take pictures, so look for those next week.

Car problems suck

First day of vacation, and we are already experiancing car problems. Just like back in February, and in April. I am so mad! I took the Suburban in to Coby's the other day, and everything checked A-OK! Tonight we were suppose to make it to Pecos, Tx. We got to Big Springs, Tx. It's about an hour and a half shy of Pecos. We ended up at a rest area for almost an hour so that we could let the car cool some. We were going to try to make it to Odessa, 50 miles away, but only got 25 miles. We will take it to the Cheverolet place in the morning.

I am glad we got here when we did. No motel rooms anywhere! Comfort Inn & Suites were nice to let us have a brand new room, fully done today. It's very nice, with 2 queen beds. So yes, we are having to share with the in-laws, but hey, at least it's a room. We got the very last room, and really it's not even "legal". No extra locks, or phone. Not even an electronic key... I have the only key for the room. At least we have free WiFi (that's how I am on here while kids swim), and a flat-screen TV. Big Springs is the place were a few months ago the Fina Refinery had a huge explosion. The man at the counter said that it blew all the windows out in the whole area. I am sure some people were killed. Maybe that's how this Comfort Inn & Suites is doing their remodeling... with the insurance claim. I think he said that 2200 people are rebuilding this place, so until it's done, the hotels/motels in the area will be booked... even in Sweetwater & Midland (please make note of that!).

So far the kids have been great, and good sports about this all. Even Joey is doing good in his carseat, except for at the end he was starting to get tired of it. We ate at Denny's by the motel, and it was horrible, but what do you except? It's Denny's! At least the waitress was very nice. Kids are finishing up their swimming, and we are headed to bed.

Kirby, Kirby, Kirby!

No, not this Kirby...

or even this Kirby!
But this Kirby!
The RM!! The dude off The Singles Ward & Saints & Soldiers! In a beer commercial! GAG! Why, Kirby? WHY, WHY, WHY?? My image of you is now tarnished! Just like Jon Heder (Napoleon). Playing parts that are so not with the LDS standards. I mean, okay... it's a job, but still! I am so sad that your head has gone "Hollywood".

A long time

44 years ago today, Shawn had an older brother named Michael, that died. He was only 3 days old. He had spinal menengitis (sp), and nothing could be done. Wow, how 44 years have changed! Michael was buried before my mother-in-law could even leave the hospital (back in those day in Shreveport, it was a week long stay!). I don't know the whole reasoning for that, but I do know thay my mother-in-law was upset. I don't want to make judgements, because as I said, I don't know the whole reasoning. I am just glad for the plan of salvation. We know that Michael is up there waiting for his momma & his family to one day join him.

Tree frogs

or should I say window frogs? We have about 5-6 of these frogs on our windows nightly. We usually have 2 on the french doors, 2 on our kitchen window, and 2 on our front door. The night of graduation, the 2 on the kitchen window kept most of the male adults occupied as they watched them eat the bugs. Because we live in the country, we have lots of bugs, and they are attracted to the inside lights. The frogs come out, and the kids love watching them too. One night one of the frogs had a huge dump. It was rather amusing to watch... LOL!! In the mornings the frogs are gone, but we see them between the brick and insulation of the outside part of our house. Because Shawn has never finished the outside area after putting in the french doors, I am sure lots more things live in those areas besides the frogs. And during the day, these frogs are very loud. Before I knew what it was, I always thought it was some type of small bird or something in there!

Starting a bottle at 18 months?

I "chastised" a friend who started her toddler on a bottle after she weaned him, and here I am doing the same thing! I can't get Joey to drink from ANY sippy because he either 1) won't try to suck from the hard sippy part, or 2) breaks all the soft sippy parts. One day I was cleaning out the cupboard, and I pulled out the 2 bottles to give or throw away, and he saw it, and wanted it. I filled it with some juice, and he has been taking it ever since with juice or milk. I know that is so dumb, but for now, he isn't nursing me anymore, and that's the only important part! ;-)

What's grosser than gross?

Besides my feet? Before I go on, I will say, I have been trying to take care of my feet better. I used to have nice feet, but ever since I was diagnosed with this stupid thyroid problem, I can't keep my feet nice. Anyway... this is the back of my right foot. I went walking this morning with Shawn, and the shoe was rubbing a lot more then what I thought!! By the time I got back to our dirt road, I had to take my shoe off, and walk back to the house. The blister had already popped, and it's huge! I will have a huge sore from this. The other foot only has a blister. I thought these would be good shoes. I've had them since Christmas, and I have been wearing them, but I guess I hadn't really worn them in to walk yet. So needless to say, I will be wearing a huge bandaid on my foot tomorrow at church.

HoMeMaDe JaMs!

This is what I did today~ 1st time ever to make jams! It took a few hours, but in the end I had enough jams to use, give away & to take to the family reunion auction this coming week. I forgot to take pictures of the first jam I made, but this is the finish product:

Apricot Surprise Jam

(consists of zucchini, pineapple & apricot gelatin)

I had to use the shredded zucchini that I had in my freezer from last year to make room for this years crop. I had just enough to make a double batch of it. I wasn't to sure if I wanted to make it, but you can only make zucchini bread, cake & pasta sauce so many times. I tried it, and it's pretty good. I was glad that the zucchini cooked to transparent, so you don't know that it is zucchini, which my younger kids won't. LOL!!

Bowl of 2008 blackberries ready to use! These were grown in our garden.
Where I was making it... good thing you can't see the sink!

Blackberry jam starting to boil.

When I was done, I had 9 pints of Apricot Surprise Jam & 15 pints of Blackberry Jam

Are you impressed? My father-in-law was!

Took off a movie in the movie selection

I took off 27 Dresses. I really liked it (except for the swear words), until my friend told me the main actress was a Mormon! I mean, low cut dresses, sleeveless dresses, and oh, the swear words she says! Ok, I know it was a job, and she had to act the part, but why let your standards down? I've had a hard time liking this movie anymore, even though if I was forced to watch it again, I would. Will I ever rent it (again) or buy it? Probably not.

Am I the only one that thinks this way?

Pictures from this past week

The pictures from the graduation party were taken by my dad, and it was taking a long time to download. I have a lot more, but I just didn't have time to download all of them since I have dial-up.

My friend sent this to me... I think she was trying to tell me something.

Birth order of children:
1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.
2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.
As I type, I am wearing a maternity t-shirt... sad but true. Even though Lindsey is convinced that I am having a baby because I am fat, I am not.
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Preparing for the birth:
1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
2nd baby: You don't bother because you remember that last time breathing didn't do a thing.
3rd baby : You ask for an epidural in your eighth month.
You know it!
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The layette :
1st baby: You pre-wash newborn's clothes, color coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau.
2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains.
3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?
Mine don't wear pink, but Joey uses a purple towel that I had for Lindsey...
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Worries:
1st baby: At the first sign of distress--a whimper, a frown--you pick up the baby.
2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.
3rd baby: You teach your three-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.
Lindsey has learned to do a lot of things!
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Pacifier:
1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.
2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby's bottle.
3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.
We have the 10 day rule at our house... most have the 10 second rule. If no mold, then it's fine!
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Diapering:
1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.
2nd baby: You change their diaper every two to three hours, if needed.
3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.
As I type, I am out of diapers. I can't go to the store until 5pm. I hope Joey doesn't have a blow-out or soak all the way through because I have none. Besides, who says you have to change a daiper 6 times a day? 2 is plenty for me! LOL!!
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Activities:
1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour.
2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.
3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.
Yeah, yeah, yeah... what a waste of money!
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Going out:
1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home five times.
2nd baby : Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.
3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.
And people have heard me say this to my children before!
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At home:
1st baby : You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.
3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.
You know it!
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Swallowing coins:
1st child: When first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays.
2nd child: When second child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for the coin to pass.
3rd child: When third child swallows a coin, you deduct it from his allowance.
LOL! Good one! I'll remember this next time!

Guess what?

Lauren: Mom, guess what?

Mom: What?

Lauren: Ummm, guess what?

Mom: Oh my gosh... Matt asked you out!

Lauren: {giggle} YES!

And being the fun mom I am, I had to ask the question that every Mom asks when their daughter/son gets their first boy/girl friend...

"Where are you going?"

Lauren: Oh, Mom!

So, there you have it! My first daughter was asked out by her first boyfriend from the Queen City Ward. They met last Wednesday night at a Tri-Ward Skating Party. But don't tell Lindsey though... she thinks Lauren's boyfriend is Chandler Knox (and she says it so cute!).