my own little blog ... again!

A long time in the coming

2011-12-11T14:51:00.000-06:00

Shortly after Brian and I got married 14 years ago, we decided to have a baby. After trying and trying and trying and fighting with doctors and HMOs and nurse practitioners, we finally found a doctor who said, "Well, you have PCOS..." The Internet was fairly new, but in late 1999, I joined a yahoo group called TTC PCOS - this meant trying to conceive with Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome.

Every day after school, I'd come home and check my email and read about how women all over the world were getting pregnant but me. I'm sure the fertility drugs had nothing to do with my weepiness and weariness at all, but it got the best of me. Usually, the women would announce their pregnancy and then quietly disappear into cyber space to enjoy their pregnancy. One woman, however, ended up pregnant and her due date was either the 5th or the 12th and she really didn't know which it was. For several posts in our group, this "When is my baby going to be here?" whine when on and on and on for several emails.

Finally, one of the girls in the group said, "HEY! We're all happy you're pregnant, but c'mon! We're still trying here...move on!"

I said to myself I love that girl.

Then she received public (and private) hate mail and started her own group, TTC JUST PCOS. I followed her. So did several others. And eventually, most everyone else got pregnant except me and the girl I loved and followed. But, we kept in touch. She had one son, was around my age; she was from Belgium originally and now lived in Arizona (I think - maybe Utah at that time).

In early 2001, she got the news that she and her husband would be receiving a beautiful baby girl to adopt into their family. She was a new mom again and was excited. And busy. And... funny thing was she was pregnant - but didn't know it. Funnier still is the fact that I was also pregnant and didn't know it yet either!

I didn't want to tell her initially because she wasn't online much anymore, taking care of her new baby girl and I didn't want to break her heart telling her I was pregnant. Because when you battle infertility, you can be over the moon excited that someone is pregnant, but your heart still hurts wondering why you aren't pregnant as well. Eventually, we shared each other's news and discovered that we had apparently gotten pregnant at about the same time and we both due in November. Hadley was born on November 12 and Ellie was born on November 16. I went on to have Briley and she went on to have two preciously cute little boys.

Over the years, we started communicating directly with each other. We've shared almost every significant event of our lives with each other for the past 12 years or so. We eventually ditched the group - but it's still available to join, if you want! - and emailed each other directly. We've exchanged baby gifts and Christmas cards. Email gave way to facebook and facebook gave way to texting; and last weekend, texting gave way to a real live, arms around each other, hugging your cyber-cyster visit!

Muche (pronounced Moosh) and her husband Reed (pronounced Reed) flew from Arizona (where it was sunny and warm) to Oklahoma (where it was grey and chilly) and we got to meet in real time, real life! It's funny - though we had never met, we already knew so much about each other. We'd catch ourselves telling a story that we might tell a new acquaintance and we'd said, "Oh yeah! I remember that!"

Before they arrived, she texted and said, "What if we don't like each other?" I wondered how we could not. We shared our saddest moments (our infertile journey to mommahood) and our biggest joys (holding our babies for the first time) and everything in between. (She even called me out for not blogging in three months!) In fact, I trust her so much and value her opinion so much that I sent my manuscript to her for her to read through. And she did! And she was honest and quick and supportive!

Standing on my front porch hugging her for the first time, I knew we'd like each other. We hadn't met each others kids (I still haven't met her kiddos), but I love them! We hadn't met each others husbands, but they were great and so supportive of our time together.

Are we planning to meet again?? Heck yea! Will we wait another 12 years?? OH no!!

I'd like to thank the almighty Internet for our friendship - and, in part, that was a big contributing factor in our relationship. But, I know that for two women who desperately needed a friend in their same situation, God directed our paths to cross. And for that, I'll always be grateful!

First Day of School 11-12

2011-08-17T20:04:00.000-05:00

How could today be complete without the traditional first day of school pictures?? And based on this picture, you can almost picture them getting along. Almost.

Briley is in the second grade at Kane. She did her own hair this morning. Her teacher is Mrs. Ryan and she's in a classroom with two of her old preschool friends! This year she'll go to GATE and at recess today, Charlie chased her and kissed her, but just because they kissed doesn't mean she loves him. Alrighty then.

Hadley is in the fifth grade at Kane. She did not do her own hair. She only wanted me to dry the bangs; she likes the "natural dried style." She is in a class in which she knows no one. Her desk neighbor called her weird. She's holding it together but barely.

I did not get a picture of me on the first day. If I were to take a picture now, it would show me with very, very drowsy eyes...

Last Day of Summer

2011-08-09T20:04:00.000-05:00

Between trainings and workshops and getting our rooms ready, today was the official last day of summer - we had nothing planned. When it hit us last night that this was our last day of free time, we decided to make the most of it. I made the most of it by sleeping in. Brian, who couldn't sleep in if he wanted to, planned a trip to Blue Hole, Oklahoma!

We told the girls they'd need to wear old tennis shoes and their bathing suits. We thought this would be a fun surprise. After an hour of whining and complaining and general axiety, we told them where we were going. Blue Hole is located outside of Salina and is spring fed by three underground springs, so the water is C O L D. We finally arrived. On the right side of the vehicle you could see Blue Hole and see people swimming in it and having a great time. On the left side, you saw this:

To which Briley replied, "We have to swim with cows? We drove all this way to swim with cows?"

The fact is that she didn't have to swim with cows at all! Blue Hole had a couple of water falls (complete with slippery rocks) and a "hole" right in the middle that is cold and deep and blue!

It was a great time - including the time that I fell over naked changing into my suit! You'll have to read about that on Minivan Momma in the very near future!

And when we left, I fell over naked changing out of my suit!! But, it was in a cememtary where we discovered this quaint grave marking. Someone really thought highly of this dearly departed and decided to - no matter what - make sure they had a proper marking!

Next Summer...

2011-07-29T17:49:00.001-05:00

We're still 17 days out from the first day of school, but we're already planning our summer vacation for next summer. We're going to go see our friends who moved today. Their new address? Well, according to Mollie it's "Texas Beach."

I was thinking about posting the lyrics to "Friends" by Michael W Smith or the youtube video to "It's so hard to say goodbye" but I was afraid it would make my friend, Heather, cry instead of laugh, so I just skipped that part of the posting. Because, truth be told, it made me get all teary, just thinking about it - and I was the one who thought it'd be funny!

ONE of the cooler than cool things about the Sheffield family is how we (as families) just meshed. Briley & Mollie probably started it all, walking down toward the library and first grade room together from the PreK/K pod at Oak Park Elementary. Then stopping in the library to chat. Then stopping to play. Then stopping to wreck havoc... but I digress.

Madi, a second grader, came to the newspaper club in the library and she and Hadley seemed to enjoy each other's company. Then Madi became a third grader (the next week!) and they became BFFs... then they weren't... then they were... then they weren't... then they were! (Those super gifted kids are so tempermental, MY kid moreso than Madi!)

Heather started a yoga group in her class after school, so we'd lock the kids in the library and escape to the serenity of Heather's room for an hour of yoga and stress relief and venting and giggling. In March, we did a 5K together with our husbands. Heather finished third and I finished dead last. A half-mile from the finish line, she came back and walked the last bit with me, so technically she finished TWICE before I even finished! I called her FloJo. And what we discovered is that we not only shared a name, but we shared many common views and thoughts and philosophies. We coached t-ball together - which is to say we chased butterflies. We drank sangria, which is to say, we emptied many bottles. We text completely odd, weird and often inappropriate things to each other at all hours of the day and night, which is to say thank God for unlimited texting. (I just got a text that included the word "vagina". True story.)

Even our hubbies had fun together. Wait. I'm pretty sure "had fun" is not the term they would use to describe their time coaching 10 and under softball!!

Through a series of unfortunate events, they moved today. I say unfortunate in a most selfish way, but it's not entirely untrue for them either.

They'll love their new adventure. We'll miss the holy hell out of them. As Briley said this afternoon, it's not fair that she'll have to wait a whole school year before she sees her best friend again. And I agree with her. But we will see them again because next summer, we'll be headed to south Texas to meet up with our besties once again!

"High Maintainance" - Hadley & Madi ...
Super smart, super sweet and super duper kids all the way around!

The Crazies - Mollie & Briley...
These girls made me laugh and giggle and generally they turned my hair grey!

Mollie, Briley, Hadley & Madi, with a little Bode thrown in!

So, no goodbyes, Sheffields... But, we'll see ya soon!!

Free is always good!

2011-07-21T11:39:00.000-05:00

We scored free tickets to watch the Tulsa Shock (WNBA) play the Phoenix Mercury. The tickets - for free tickets - actually ROCKED!

The girls had a good time and Briley actually has a renewed interested in basketball - it had gone by the way side due to her pushing and shoving match with mean girl last season, but she's now rearing to go again!

What have we been up to?

2011-07-20T10:45:00.000-05:00

How about a short re-cap of our summer vaca? The first weekend, we stopped in Boswell to see Mamom and Papaw and it just happened to be Boswell Homecoming weekend. That meant that Hadley's dream of seeing a rodeo was about to come true. Seriously. She has been wanting to see a rodeo for quite some time now. The problem I have with rodeos is that they are so danged HOT!

Anyway, Briley was so excited to do the calf scramble and then she wasn't and then we bribed her with a pickle if she'd do it. So she did. There are very few things this kid won't do for a pickle!

The next day, we headed south to Galveston. Brian has found the way to heaven - it's exit 178, Buffalo, TX where one can buy a fried pie. They were fresh out of the fryer and goooooooood!

Finally, we were in Galveston. Brian was tired from a day of driving and listening to kids whine. I wish I could help him out and drive some myself, but I refuse saying that I'd much rather he be in charge and cranky the whole time than actually do anything to help him out. Once we got unloaded in the hotel, I took the girls across the street to the beach and we played and swam until it got too dark to do anything else!

Before we left Galveston, we discovered a new favorite place to eat: The Down Under cafe of Stingarees on Crystal Beach. It was yummy! We also caught shrimp, fed the seagulls and watched the dolphins give us a free show! The beach is such a grand, grand place!

Hadley, unfortunately got a sunburn. She was nothing short of miserable. When we left for Houston, we had to stop and repack the entire van so that she could lay down on her tummy and be sorta, kinda comfy.

When we got to Houston, we made our way to the Astrodome, home of the Houston Astros. They were playing the Rangers! (Go Rangers!) I had never been to a dome and wasn't sure how I'd feel about watching baseball inside. Considering downtown Houston was about 152 degrees, that day, I say, "God Bless the Astros!"

We even got to watch batting practice, during which Briley screamed, "Give me a ball" no less than 2,526 times. She got no ball love.

And that, my friends, catches you up on summer vacation!!

Only in Texas

2011-07-16T11:24:00.002-05:00

Only in Texas can you go to the mall and actually find a gun super store! I wonder if they honor competitor's coupons...

A tale of 10 piggies

2011-07-02T11:58:00.000-05:00

These are my toes...

These are my toes on the sandy beaches of Galveston.

Any questions??

Welcome to the 1950s!

2011-06-20T21:51:00.000-05:00

Today was National Milkshake Day. Officially, I think it was National Ice Cream Soda Day. I think they're the same thing and perception is everything. Because I believe it, it is. Think on that for a minute!

Instead of just driving through Sonic or McDonalds or Wendys (yum!), I decided it was be so cool to make our own chocolate milkshakes. Then, that made me crave meatloaf. No, I have no reason why. And what goes better with meatloaf than mashed potatoes? Plus, I had some fresh green beans from the local produce tent. And the next thing you know...

I'm in the 1950s!

Look! Even the family has their smilie-head-tilt thing going on that was so popular in the 50s!

BUT, the REAL reason I was craving meatloaf is the left over meatloaf sandwich I'll eat tomorrow on white bread slathered with Mayo and topped with a fresh slice of purple onion. I don't care what time period you're channeling, that's a good sammy!

Well, maybe 1:00

2011-06-20T10:53:00.000-05:00

Last week, in the midst of a workshop and ball games and absolutely no clean clothes in the house whatsoever, I agreed to let Hadley have a sleepover with her friend Madi. They are good girls. They are smart girls. Pretty much they take care of themselves. But, about 10:00, I hit my wall and was so exhausted. I said, "Hadley? If we go to bed right now, I want you all to be in bed by midnight." She said, "1:00." I said, "12:30." She said, "Ok, Momma!" And with that little exchange, I went to bed.

At 7:30 the next morning, I woke up and got ready for my workshop. I walked out of our bedroom and discovered that every light in the rest of the house was on. The TV was on. And this is what I saw:

The next day as Hadley was dragging and whining and generally on edge. I looked at her and said, "What time did you guys to sleep last night?" She said, "Midnight." I said, "What?" She said, "12:30." I said, "Uh-huh." She said, "Well, maybe 1:00."

Lessons Learned - Additional Information!

2011-06-14T18:49:00.002-05:00

Hadley is not the most athletic of kids, but she does love a good competition. This spring, she played coach-pitch softball. She played coach-pitch last fall and kinda, sorta liked it, but it made her completely nervous. Anything that is NEW and has any kind of learning curve is going to send her into a nervous bout that will last until she feels completely confident.

This spring, when she signed up for softball, she said she wanted to pitch. But, then her friend Madi was going to be pitching and that made Hadley feel out of the loop as far as her pitching abilities were concerned. Brian tried to coach her on her pitching. We showed her youtube videos. We let her practice, but she was not seeing instant improvement, so her interest fell sharply.

In the meantime, she's got an awesome arm. She'd actually make a great third baseman or outfielder because she throws SO hard and somewhat accurately. She sees plays very well and anticipates the next move. All season, she's not wanted to pitch at all. We thought she saw her strengths in other positions and didn't bring it up again... Until about three weeks ago... when she brought it up.

Brian worked with her; she practiced; and before each game, he'd ask if she were ready to pitch and she'd say not yet. Then, last week - Thursday's game - she said she was ready to pitch. Her mind was set that she was prepared to pitch (as much as any 9 year old is ever prepared to pitch!). Thursday afternoon, the game was forfeited. That was the last game of the season and her opportunity to pitch was gone.

Except in the tournament! Sunday evening, she was convinced that it WOULD be a good idea for her to pitch and then she was convinced that it wouldn't be a good idea for her to make her pitching debut during the tournament and that she'd play her third or first positions and work on her pitching in the off-season. And all was well.

That was Sunday evening. Monday morning, however, her obsession with pitching returned with a passion. At the game, the last inning, she got to make her pitching debut.

And she pitched hard during her warm ups. And she got in the zone. And the umpire called balls in. And the batter stepped into the box. And Hadley reared back and threw her ball. And she hit the batter. Hard. The first batter Hadley ever pitched to was hit in the shoulder and took first base. Hadley said sorry and Brian told her to not apologize to a batter who crowds the plate (because we are nothing if not trash-talking competitors!).

Tonight, they play in round two of their end-of-season tournament. Hadley just said that Madi and Alex should pitch these games and she should play any other position the coaches wanted her to play.

I guess pitching's out of her system - for this season!

Hadley pitched the last inning of their game last night. She warmed up and then the ref (whom we don't like) called for balls in. This was the last inning. The other team (home) was ahead and technically, the game time had expired. So, Hadley wound up for her first pitch and threw the ball right down the line, it hit the catcher's mitt, popped up and hit the ref on the top of the head. He called "Game!" and that was the end of the season for our team!

Could be? Maybe? Hopefully not...

2011-06-08T20:05:00.000-05:00

We love the kiddie park. We've always loved the kiddie park. As soon as Hadley was old enough to toddle, I dragged her sweaty little body to the kiddie park and stuck her on those wonderful quarter-ticket rides and she had a blast!

Sadly, last summer, she was too big for most of the rides. And, guess what?!!?! She's STILL too big for all but four of the rides (and one activity).

Briley, she's a fan of the kiddie park, but she can take it or leave it. It's not as great to her as it is to Hadley. So, when Hadley discovered left-over kiddie park tickets in a basket, she could hardly wait to get going! I think that she finally realized last night that she is just plain too big for the kiddie park and last night may have been our last night to go (unless we're accompanying our little cousins, of course!).

Last night, she got to ride the merry-go-round with Chloe:

The barrels area sure bet for all ages and sizes!

And, of course, the roller coaster is open to kids of all ages!!!

So, maybe we'll be going back ... some...

It's the most wonderful time...

2011-05-23T21:04:00.000-05:00

Things we love about summer:

1. staying up late.

2. sleeping later.

3. swimming until we are so water logged we can barely drag ourselves out of the water.

4. grilling good, fresh food. My favorite? Grilled cabbage - yum!

5. Eating Corn on the Dog (as Briley used to call it).

Last week, we had our first fresh (from Wal-mart) corn on the dog. Oh. My. Heavens. It's so worth the other 8 months of the year sans fresh corn on the dog to get it fresh and juicy during summer!!

PS - three more days, three more days, three more days!

Who...Wha-... Where...?

2011-05-22T21:32:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe that it's been a month since I last posted on this blog! The truth of the matter is that it's a very busy time of year. Add to that, it's been a very sad month for us at school. Add to that, just the general craziness of spring. AND, in the mix of all that, our pc crashed. Stupidly, our pc had all of our pictures, music, documents on it. Luckily, our good friend, Brian Hartmann, is a tech-wiz and was able to restore our pc and even retrieve all of our pictures, documents, etc...

Despite the craziness of our last month, we managed to get the pool open. (And by we, I mean BRIAN.) While I haven't been in yet, because I'm completely afraid my boobs would freeze and then fall off!, the girls - and even Brian - have been in. They've actually been in several times - as documented by Briley's various suits in the pics!

This early taste of summer is just what we needed. Can't wait for carefree days of summer on a regular basis!!

Use #5326 for leftover plastic Easter Eggs

2011-05-03T08:00:00.000-05:00

Non-surgical, temporary breast enhancement.

This kid's going to kill me!!

When it rains...

2011-04-24T22:45:00.000-05:00

I have two very different daughters. Briley - when it rains, she's out looking for the rainbows and the washed up worms and splashing in puddles. Hadley - when it rains, sits as close as she can to the nearest grown-up because she's completely fearful that even the nicest of spring rains can turn immediately into a horrible tornadic storm.

When Hadley's absolutely certain that everything's going to be fine, she'll venture out... but only when there's absolute certainty!

Briley, on the other hand, will stand as close as she can to watch the hail; then, she'll venture out, inch by inch until she can run and splash and simply have the time of her life.

Maybe, eventually, they can learn something from each other...

Natural Beauties

2011-04-16T21:11:00.000-05:00

The girls have a book called "Girls can do Anything" and in this book, it gives directions for doing, well... anything. Hadley read and read and read this book time and again and made bread, made soap, learned modern, interpretive dance... she loved and still loves this book!

Briley has only just discovered this book. She immediately wanted to be, what the book called, a natural beauty. According to the book, you needed honey, avocado, olive oil, kosher salt... a bunch of natural stuff like that. Then you'd mix it all together and make a mask. Most of this stuff we had on hand, but I really second guessed whether or not I wanted to turn Briley (and, eventually Hadley) loose with honey. So, we went to The Walmarts and grabbed a $3 tube of face mask stuff and called it all good.

When Briley rinsed her face, she was so upset that the natural beauty mask didn't work: She still had her one freckle on her face - her Cindy Crawford-like beauty mark.

One day, she'll realize just how lucky she is to have that natural beauty mark!

De----LISH!

2011-04-12T07:57:00.000-05:00

Briley is not one for cooking. Hadley has always enjoyed being in the kitchen and mixing and baking and cooking. Briley? Not so much. She's good to open a can of chicken noodle soup, but that's about all the cooking she likes to do.

Friday night, I made a brisket and beans and potatoes and ... wait for it ... Briley's favorite food ... well, most foods are Briley's favorite foods ... DEVILED EGGS!! Hadley cut the eggs in half and then I was going to make the deviled parts and fill the eggs. Briley, however, decided that she really wanted to make the eggs herself. So she minced the pickles (sorta) and added the dressings and mixed it all up. Then, before filling, she asked if she could have the extra filling if she got all the eggs filled. Well, sure!!

So, she made this whole plate full of eggs. If you count, there are 12 eggs on the plate. There should have been 16. BUT, when you are using child labor, you don't ask questions, right??

I love my readers!!

2011-04-08T10:49:00.000-05:00

So, I blogged yesterday that we had planted a chair. And some of you emailed me and said, "Say who---???" Why would we plant a chair? (Someone even asked me why I would take a picture of it... I say, "Do you know me at all???")

Truth is that we didn't "plant" the chair. Duh. BUT, it's softball season. And Hadley's friend Madi is a pitcher. And Hadley thought it'd be fun to learn to pitch too. So, the chair is out there to give her a strike zone and a home plate to work with. Plus, when Brian catches for her, it gives him a place to sit so he doesn't have to squat.

She's got such a powerful arm; I think she'd be much better as a third baseman or outfielder... but I'm just her mom. What do I know, really?

Spring is in the air!

2011-04-07T12:51:00.000-05:00

I can tell that spring is here because I'm seeing signs all around!!

Our dogwood tree has bloomed. It's gorgeous!! And it's getting tall enough that Briley can't pull ALL the blossoms off to play an infinate game of "He Loves Me; He Loves Me Not".

Momma Dove has returned to her bush and already has two babies. Ever since we've lived in this house, Momm has come back and had babies after babies after babies. She doesn't mind our gawking at her. She does, however, not take kindly to being touched... as Hadley can attest to!

And finally, we've planted our garden.

We're hoping that come mid-summer, we'll have a whole party-full of folding chairs. Then we can invite all of our neighbors and friends over to sit!

Frogs at the Zoo

2011-04-07T11:12:00.000-05:00

Over Spring Break, we went to the zoo - along with over 10,000 other people. Had & Bri took some of their own money to pay for a camel ride.

Then we got to the zoo and they decided to spend their money on the Frog Jump instead. The Frog Jump is a bungee -type apparatus. The jumper gets strapped in and then they can jump. Depending on the operator, the bungee can be moved up or down.

When Briley got on, she wanted the works. She did front flips and back flips and twists and when the operator said, "Wanna go higher?" She said, "Hell yeah!" (Not really, but give her a few years and that's exactly what she'd have said!)

We waited over an hour to get them on the Frog Jumper. We watched the kids try to do front flips and not one kiddo could do it. Back flips - because of the way the harness is fitted - were super easy. Briley did a few back flips, then the kid started front flipping and rocked the front flip!

If we didn't have to wait for another hour (or more), Briley'd have gone again and again and again!

Hadley, on the other hand, while she had fun - she was much more reserved. When asked if she wanted to go higher, she whimpered and said, "No way, Jose!" I, on the other hand, knew that she's regret NOT going higher, so I talked her into going higher!

And she was very glad she did.

I'm not sure she'd pay to go again nor am I sure she'd wait more than 3 minutes to do this again.

It was the best part of the zoo!!

A small little spring break project

2011-04-03T11:52:00.000-05:00

A few years ago, I asked that the crap room be changed into a scrapbook for Christmas. So, over spring break, I grabbed a can (or four) of spray texture (could have used about 4 additional cans!). I snagged a cool color from the mis-tint table at Lowe's (which later ran out before the bathroom was completely painted, so we had to go pay $28 for a gallon - as opposed to the $5 for the gallon of mistint - to finish the project!). Brian helped pulled up the glued-down rust and brown carpet and I was off and running!

The color in the room actually looks greyish - I call it Spring Storm Grey. The color in the bathroom looks blueish - I call it Summer Morning Clear Skies.

Brian grabbed an exercise bike from a pawn shop for $40. We put the old TV in there, a table to scrap and Voila! A room that can be used for more than junk piling!! I've promised a ribeye and drinks to our friend Brad to tile it for me once we get the tile to match... then it's DONE!

THIS window treatment is my new go-to, easier than dirt, tied over toule valance. I love it. Eventually (as with most windows in the casa) we will have wide blinds in here.

Over all, I am LOVING it!! We've put our baseball pennants and golf course flags on the walls. I plan on having the girls do some work on canvases for me for the wall above the scrap table. I am feeling highly domestic these days!

Just being neighborly

2011-03-28T19:51:00.000-05:00

Last week when the weather was springy, Briley said she wanted to go take surveys. She wanted to go up to each of our neighbor's homes and ask them questions. "Ya know, like 'Do you have a big TV?' or 'Do you have any laptops?' Just questions plus their names."

Basically, this little first grader was casin' the joints. I explained to her that most people wouldn't appreciate questions like that.

"What if I ask them 'Do you have any bathrooms in your house? And how often do you use toilet paper?'? Are those good questions to ask our neighbors?"

Say wha---??? After some intense questioning from me, we got to the reason for taking a neighborhood survey: "Momma - when I see someone outside I want to say their name. I don't want to say, "Hi!" I want to say, "Hi, Carl!" or "Hi, Tiffany!"

So, we settled on this. She could go door-to-door and ask their names and how they liked the weather. OH! And for good measure, she told them that her teacher told her to do it!

Now, aren't you sad that you aren't our neighbor?

Noodling

2011-03-27T21:42:00.000-05:00

On our way to go fishing in Papaw's pond over spring break, Briley & Hadley both bragged about how they were going to take their own fish off of their own hooks and bait their own hooks and no one was going to have to help them because they were not afraid to touch these things.

Then Brian told them about noodling, which is to catch a fish (underwater) with your bare hands. I added that our favorite first grade teacher, Mrs. Sheffield, had been noodling before. And that was that! Briley announced that she was going to noodle. I told her that it was a bit too cold for noodling. She said she understood and that was the end of it.

After we had caught three fish that could only be described as midget minnows and after the cows came and scared the pee almost right out of our bladder, we began playing with the worms. Then Briley took a worm down to the pond...

And she patiently dangled the worm in the pond...

And she came pretty darned close to actually catching one of those midget minnows by...

...noodling!!

Happy Anniversary to us!

2011-03-26T21:13:00.000-05:00

A week ago, Hadley & Briley gave us an anniversary dinner. You can read about it here.

It was not free, of course... the receipt said we owed one kiss and hug. And we gladly paid. It was one of the best nights of our lives!

The sad truth of cattle ownership

2011-03-25T21:58:00.001-05:00

Since Brian's dad raises cattle, he "gives" a cow to each grandkid. A few years ago, he let the girls pic their own cow. Hadley happened to pick a red cow (the only red cow as PaPaw raises black cows) and named her "Flower". Flower eventually had a calf - a BOY calf - and Hadley named him "Jimmy". Eventually, Flower had another baby and her name was "Iris". THEN, Flower was pregnant again and delivered a calf this spring...

... Sadly, though, Flower didn't make it and neither did her baby.

The week before Spring Break, PaPaw called and told Brian the news -- when we head south, Hadley MUST see her cow. Now, long before Flower didn't make it, Jimmy "went away" (and into the freezer), and Iris was part of a cattle trade, which involved a sale barn where money was exchanged. But, Flower was always in the pasture and Hadley always had to check on her.

So, early one morning when Briley & I were sleeping in and Hadley & Brian were up for no good reason, Brian explained the cattle industry to Hadley and explained how cows give birth on their own in pastures and when things go wrong, they go really, really wrong. Hadley handled it very well -- apparently better than Papaw even did! -- and was excited to pick out a new cow.

So, meet Maddy Ann.

Hadley sure knows how to pick them because Maddy Ann is a black cow (with tinges of red) and has just had a new calf.

... so far, though, the baby doesn't have a name!!

Happy Anniversary, Bubby!!

2011-03-20T20:16:00.000-05:00

I love this man!

Book Club Time!

2011-03-19T11:10:00.000-05:00

Once a quarter, we have Book Club Day at our school. This is when the kids who are in Wings classes (2nd grade or higher) will read a book on their own and create a presentation to share for the class. Briley will start book club this quarter. Hadley's been doing book club since she was 2 years old. All on her own. Just because.

This quarter, she did her book club project on The Red Pyramid by Riordan. After Hadley finished the entire Percy Jackson series in a matter of weeks, she couldn't wait for the next Rick Riordan book. The Red Pyramid is a new series focusing on Egyptian gods and goddess. The Lost Hero (which she's also read) is a spin off series of the Percy Jackson series.

Anyway, she decided to build an actual red pyramid for her project. Her plans included lumber and masonry work and tiles and a 12 foot long trailer to transport the completed pyramid to school when it was book club day.

My plans, however, included sugar cubes and red fingernail polish.

Clearly, I won.

I did not pee my pants

2011-03-18T01:43:00.000-05:00

This weekend we went to Brian's folks' home. One of the first things the girls wanted to do was go fishing. Initially, I wasn't going to go with them, so I asked Brian to take the camera and take pics. The last time I didn't go with them and they caught a trillion fish. BUT, when I asked Brian to take the camera, he sighed and rolled his eyes and whispered in a really high voice, "Really?" So, I decided to put my fear of kids slinging hooks aside and go with them.

We rode on the back of the flatbed truck that I always long to drive (it's standard - but it's been so long since I drove standard that I'm afraid I'd jump and stall the truck and I do NOT need to give Brian's dad any more reasons to laugh at me!). When we got to the pond, we hopped off and the boys baited the hooks and the girls started flinging hooks.

Each girl caught just a few fish. Can you see the really tiny fish on Hadley's pole? Can you also see Brian clear on the other side of the pond from the kids slinging hooks? Also, can you see PaPaw back at the house getting fish food? What in the WORLD did they think I would do with this kid and her hook???

But, I dealt with the kids flinging hooks. It's sort of an irrational fear, I suppose. If you stay out of their way, they will not snag your eyeballs with their hooks. But, there's always a first time for that.

Then, guess who showed up!!

One of my biggest fears: The Cows. Now, I suppose this is an irrational fear as well. I'm not sure there's any documented proof that a cow has actually bitten a human and dragged her off to a horrible limb chewing. But, there's always a first time for that, too!

Notice that Briley is moving closer to Papaw.

And - just take my word on this: When this cute little fella got this close to me, I did not pee my pants.

But, I wanted to!

FINALLY - Briley's room makeover!

2011-03-16T21:53:00.000-05:00

FINALLY, it's Briley's turn for her room make over! She asked for animal print and we decided on zebra. Her accent color was green. I would have guessed pink, but she said that pink was for little girls and she's growing up. Except that she likes the singer Pink.

This little over the closet boa sash was Hadley's idea. The Eiffel tower is our own little joke. Briley calls the big metal power line-holders Eiffel towers.

The curtain was my brain child!! It's tole cut into strips. Once we get her wide-blinds on, this will really look COOL!

We got the dresser and vanity from Craig's List. Great bargains.

She loved the room - despite what her face looked like! Heck! I love the room!! I'm thinking zebra and green would work in mine and Brian's room, too!

Let's just get this over with - Days 21 - 30

2011-03-16T21:33:00.000-05:00

When I started this 30-day challenge about 27 days ago, it seemed really fun... Now? I'm behind and I hate being behind. SO, let's move through Days 21 - 30 (some with pics, some without) and call this baby good!
21 - A picture of something you with you could forget - I don't know that there's anything I want to forget. Most things - even the painful things - shape who we are and where we are and I don't know that there's really anything that I'd forget. Except that one semester my junior year... and that one guy that I dated for a month and never knew his real name!

22 - A picture of something you wish you were better at -

I wish I were better at being Bo Derek... or at least running.

23 - A picture of your favorite book - SO many!! I love Celia Rivenbark books best, though!

24 - A picture of something you wish you could change - I WISH I could change my fat a$$... I hear ya! I can! So maybe I will...

25 - A picture of your favorite day - My wedding day (I'm not scanning in the picture... our new printer/scanner is NOT playing well right now!) and the days Hadley & Briley were born (same story about the pictures).

26 - A picture of something that means a lot to you - Do some of these days seem redundant to anyone else? Look at any of the pictures I've previously posted... all of these mean a lot of me!

27 - A picture of you and a family member - again... redundant!! But, since I haven't talked about my sister, here's me and my sister and our babies:

She doesn't like getting her picture taken with me because I'm so much better looking...

28 - A picture of something you're afraid of - Ummm... snakes, spiders, losing my family, something harming my babies, the bathroom after Brian's spent an hour reading Sports Illustrated.

29 - A picture that can always make you smile -

30 - A picture of someone you miss - I don't have a picture of my dad computer ready because the scanner is uncooperative, but I do miss him. I also miss this guy. He doesn't even call me anymore! C'mon, Pudge... what we had was REAL!

And, that, my friends concludes our 30-day challenge. Regular blogging can continue!

Day 20

2011-03-09T18:08:00.000-06:00

A picture of somewhere you'd like to travel.

Hawaii.

'Nuff Said.

Day 19 (aka...Wha---???)

2011-03-08T21:12:00.000-06:00

A picture and a letter.

OK - I have no picture for this day. WHY? This request is simply stupid. (I'm in a very critical place right now.)

Where are the specifics? A picture of what? And a letter? A pen pal letter? My favorite letter? The letter that is sponsored on this day by the Electric Company on PBS? What the heck am I supposed to post on this day?

Heck if I know. What I do know is that it's rainy and cold and I'm completely over winter. I also know that it's book fair week and conference week and the week before Spring Break. I also know that while my house is picked up, it's still in complete and total chaos!

SO - writer of this 30 day photo challenge: I respectfully PASS on this day because I don't get it and don't have the energy to TRY and get it.

Tomorrow will be better, right???

Day 18

2011-03-07T19:41:00.000-06:00

A picture of your biggest insecurity.

I am actually a very confident, secure individual (read: Cocky). However, as pointed out by Brian, my grey hair does bother me!

I can't stand my grey hair. If I could know for a fact that my hair would look like this in a very timely manner, I'd totally let my hair go. However, mine just looks grey-ish and I can't stand it!

Day 17

2011-03-06T18:51:00.000-06:00

A picture of something that has had a huge impact on my life lately.

I remember being in fourth grade and deciding to write a chapter book. So, I wrote the title (of which I forget), then I wrote table of contents complete with the chapter names, then I wrote the page numbers (having NO idea that the page numbers should actually correspond to the pages that one has written). And then, at the point, my mom told me I had to turn my lights out and go to sleep. That's as far as I got on my first attempt to write a real-live book.

I've always LOVED writing. I went through the middle school poetry stage; I went through the first years of high school lyric phase. I went through the fiction stage. I've settled on personal essay/humor/nonfiction as my genre of choice.

With the advent of laptops and recent purchase of a macbook, I find that I can (sorta) be involved in my family's time AND write... and recently, I'm starting to feel the realization that I could, actually be, an honest-to-goodness published author!!

Day 16

2011-03-06T12:53:00.000-06:00

A picture of someone who inspires you.

Brian inspired me. He plays like a kid; he tells the same jokes; he encourages me to do the things I want to do, the things I need to do. Honestly - he's my best friend, my soul mate, my inspiration...

Day 15

2011-03-05T09:02:00.001-06:00

Something I want to do before I die.

Before I die, I want to have my boobs enlarged to look like Pamela Anderson.

I know - I can hear you: If you're going to have plastic surgery, it's the boobs? Really? They are already pretty close to Pam's as it!

Actually, before I die, I want to have at least one book published and be a major author of my time - Go Minivan Momma!!

Day 14

2011-03-04T21:00:00.000-06:00

A picture of someone you can't imagine your life without.

From the time Brian and I started trying to be parents, from the time we actually became parents, was about four years. During that time, we had to seriously consider that we might not be parents through child-birth. We started the adoption process (twice), and we lost a baby in between our girls. We cried and moaned and got tattooed and had sex like crazed monkeys (we're not complaining about that part!). After all that, we had a really wild Valentine night and bam! 40 weeks later, we had Hadley.

I spent four years considering that I'd never have children. And now, I can't imagine what my life would be like without my girls.

Day 13

2011-03-03T07:52:00.000-06:00

A picture of my favorite band.

I love Bon Jovi!!! Read all about them here.

Day 12

2011-03-02T22:20:00.000-06:00

something you love...

mi famlia!

Day 11

2011-03-01T21:13:00.000-06:00

Something you hate.

I don't use the word HATE. Hate is such an ugly emotion that I avoid it at all costs, but the one thing that really, really bothers me is apathy.

I am convinced that the root of all evil is APATHY. It's a sign of incredible weakness to not take a stand and care - one way or the other. And I really do hate that. There are times when I'm apathetic to certain situations, but those situations make me weary. And those who know me well, know that I do take a stand. Sometimes my stands are a little bit too strong... but at least it's a stand.

However, to watch a situation - any situation - and refuse to allow yourself an opinion... and refuse to allow yourself an action, is lazy and I really don't like it.

Day 10

2011-02-28T07:59:00.000-06:00

A picture of someone you do the most ****** up things with.

The thing is that Dawn & I really don't DO the most ******* up things because deep down, where it counts, we are good girls. BUT, we have the best ideas!! I - on my own - can come up with some crazy schemes. Dawn - on her own - thinks way outside the box. Together, we have some really ****** up schemes!

One day, I'm sure, we'll not worry about being arrested or losing our job or ending up on youtube with only a wink and smile and we'll carry out a scheme or two!

30 Day Challenge - Day 9

2011-02-27T06:28:00.002-06:00

The person who has gotten you through the most.

My mom.

She's funny and strong and giving and smart and caring and smiles easily and loves her family and is firm in her beliefs.

That's pretty much my mom!

Plus, I'm totally her favorite.

Day 8

2011-02-26T06:41:00.003-06:00

A picture that makes you laugh...

This is my aunt Liz (in the red) and all of her grandkids (minus Krista). I love that Aunt Liz's eyes are closed and she's holding the crying twin. Jessie is looking nice and smiling over Liz's left shoulder. Kayla (at the other end of the picture is also smiling, but the photographer has her positioned so that it looks like she's maybe photo bombing, or maybe someone said, go stand with those total strangers and she doesn't want to get too close. Erin (hold the other twin who's looking at what? Probably her momma off to the side) is not smiling - like maybe she's lost in a sour day dream. And BJ, standing back and center, looks as if the girls just walked into his bedroom, woke him up from a dead sleep and took the picture right there! What makes me really laugh about this picture is that one year for Christmas, I got all of Liz's grandkids (at the time it was just the older four) and went to JCPenney's with Erin & BJ's mom and had the grandkids' pics taken all together. In that picture, Jessie & Kayla are wearing sundresses and Erin & BJ are wearing sweaters and it took us about 42 years to get a picture of all of them looking the same way and kinda, sorta smiling!!! I laugh when I look at that picture and imagine the photographer trying to get a good picture and this is as good as he gets! ;) LOVE it!! (And I love all my cousins and my aunt, too!) PS - I have some hilariously funny memories of those four older cousins!

30 Day Challenge - Day 7

2011-02-25T21:37:00.000-06:00

My Most Treasured Item

The term "item" excludes my putting any pictures of people on here. So, that's good - otherwise, this would be a LONG post! So, I go in search of my item.

I love my camera. BUT, it's not just MY camera that I love. I love ANY camera. And really, it's not the camera so much as it's the images that the camera gives us.

I thought about my home. I really, really love the house we live in right now. I love the layout. I love the space. I love the pool. I love the yard. There's tons of stuff we need to do around the house, but overall, I love our house!

I also - to no ones surprise at all - love my minivan! There's not much else I can say about that other than I love my minivan!

But, I finally settled on this:

My most treasured item(S) are my rings.

The engagement ring is one that Brian picked out all by himself. The wedding rings, we chose together and they are simple and they are matching and I adore them! When I was pregnant with Hadley, I lost the original diamond from my engagement ring. On my birthday, we replaced the diamond and I was a happy woman who could, proudly, wear my rings right up to and including the day I delivered my first baby!

On our tenth anniversary, Brian and I took a golfing weekend (which turned out to be a freeze our a$$es off weekend and we ended up at the horse races, watching from the inside!). He gave me my anniversary band. I love, love, love this ring!!

One thing that I like about having an anniversary band is that when I die, Hadley & Briley can fight over who gets the anniversary band and who gets the wedding set. (Morbid thought, I know.)

I'm certain that I have the ugliest hands on the earth, but with my rings on them, I think my hands are beautiful!

30 Day Challenge - Day 6

2011-02-24T18:41:00.000-06:00

Day 6 - A picture of someone you would trade places with for one day.

Amy Mickelson.

Aside from being beautiful (am I right or am I right?), she's an amazing woman.

She is involved in many charities and has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer.

BUT, the real reason I would trade places with Amy for a day is that she's married to Phil Mickelson. Phil is Brian's most favorite golfer. He's a lefty and he's quirky and he's a border-line maverick!

SO, if I traded places with Amy Mickelson for a day, I'd steal Phil's sperm then have his baby and make my hubby one happy little golfer-dad.

AND, I'd look like Amy - and who wouldn't want to look like that for even just a day???!?!?!

30 Day Challenge - Day 5

2011-02-24T08:01:00.001-06:00

A picture of your favorite memory...

Really - I am sure that I can't find just one favorite memory. And if I were able to figure out just one memory, then I'd have to find a picture (providing I took pictures!!) and scan it in. And, isn't it the case that most of my favorite memories don't involve me holding a camera. Clearly, I needed to narrow down my time frame.

In the past year, my favorite time was our trip to Galveston. It was the first time in a very long time that we had a trip that was just that: a trip! It wasn't a business meeting. It wasn't a conference. It wasn't an inservice. It was just for rest and relaxation.

Also, this past year, Texas Rangers went ALL. THE. WAY. (to the world series) We LOVE the Rangers!! SO, for my favorite memory, I chose this picture:

We were at the Rangers game (on the way to Galveston). It wasn't the girls first Major League game - but it was the first they remember. It was a fun, fun game and a great way to start our vacation!

Day 4 - A picture of your favorite night!

2011-02-22T05:16:00.001-06:00

Since my girls were born during the day and I was married in the afternoon, I won't post pics of that here. (I guess my honeymoon was technically at night, but this is a family blog!)

I had a pretty fun night last Friday night when Dawn & Brad & Brian and I went out to the casino. BUT, I didn't take my camera. I know ... I'm such a bad blogger!! (ALWAYS travel with camera!) I've had several favorite nights, but the one that immediately comes to mind is this night. It was the night I turned 40. We were in Galveston and had just finished eating at Casey's. It was about 10:30 (the wait was long but worth it!) and the moon was beautiful. We were right across the street from the beach and decided to take the proverbial "moonlight walk along the beach".

Our only objective was to have no agenda. It was glorious and I loved it. Can't wait to go back and lose myself to the gulf!!

Just Dance 2 - Just Fun!

2011-02-21T17:14:00.001-06:00

For Briley's birthday, Mamoo asked what would be a good present. I suggested Just Dance 2. We'd heard great things about this little game and Briley is such a mover and shaker that she was bound to love it, right?

Wrong. She L*O*V*E*S it!! We all do!

This past weekend, we had the M & M sisters over for a sleepover and Briley broke out Just Dance 2. They loved it!!

I'm not sure what I love the most: watching the girls play Just Dance 2 - or kicking their tail on Blondie's "Call Me"!

30 Day Challenge - Day 3

2011-02-21T07:47:00.001-06:00

A picture of your favorite TV show cast

Holy Macaroni - if this little entry doesn't speak volumes about me, I don't know what does??!?!!!

I am hopelessly addicted to Jersey Shore. It's such a train wreck and each week, about 7:00 on Thursday night I tell myself that it's utterly ridonkulous that I invest an hour of my life in this silly little reality show about immature Italian American party kids who have nothing better to do than club every single night (and get paid millions of dollars for it). And then as 9:00 on Thursday evening approaches, I find myself sending the girls to bed yelling, "T-shirt Time!" or "Cab's here!" I think that this show is so far from any reality that I've ever known or will ever know that it's my little one hour escape from real life.

All that being said... If I could only watch one TV show for the rest of my life, I'd watch Friends over and over and over again and not complain one single time. I watched all the episodes when they were on (it was the only show that I actually figured out how to set the VCR to record!). And I now catch them on syndication. When the show ended, we had a watch party. And then I cried. {sniff, sniff} And every time one of the cast members is asked if they'll do a Friends movie or a Friends remake, and they say no, my heart shatters.

But, of all the shows that are on TV currently, and are not MTv brain-wasters, I find myself excitedly waiting for Wednesdays to come so that we can sit down and watch (most times, as a family) Modern Family. It's so clever and witty and smart and fresh and new! I can see how, at this point in time in my life, it could easily become the Friends of my 40s!!

Look out Paris

2011-02-20T20:36:00.000-06:00

I ask you this: Have you ever seen cuter fashionistas in your whole entire life???

Dinner Party with Fettuccine and Alfredo

2011-02-20T09:40:00.000-06:00

This is Alfredo. He is a professional server at a quaint little Italian cafe called Fettuccine and Alfredo's. Fettuccine is the master chef and eye behind the camera. Obviously, the brains behind the operation. This diner is so quaint that it's only open on certain sleepovers and playdates. It's requested to be open more often, but Fettuccine and Alfredo are not completely dumb.

This is Mollie. She was the first to arrive at Fettuccine and Alfredo's. She was not so trusting of Alfredo, though, and requested to check out the kitchen. Alfredo, by the same token was not entirely trusting of Mollie because of her bold dress and blazen approach. This did not deter Mollie's kitchen inspection in the least!

The diners were a little bit confused by Alfredo's backward hat and wasted no time in telling him his apron was ridiculous!

Their choices were spaghetti plain or spaghetti with marinara or spaghetti with marinara and sausage. They all chose some form of spaghetti.

Fettuccine and Alfredo's place even offered fresh (from the bottle) Parmesan cheese.

This little thing that we do for the girls renews my faith (to a certain extent) in my parenting because all the girls (I'm most surprised by own girls!) completely act like little adults. They wait until everyone is served and say please and thank you and speak in very gentle voices and eat very politely.

Maybe I should rethink doing Fettuccine and Alfredo's more often!

30 day challenge - Day 2

2011-02-20T07:29:00.001-06:00

A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest (which English class flunkee wrote THAT??)

SO many ways I can go with this!!

First off, there's Brian - we've been married almost 13 years. I've never been closer to anyone else. Truly, I know the meaning of soul mate because of him.

I've been BFFs with Pammy (the brunette) and Susie (the blonde) since my freshman year in high school (which was 27 years ago! Oh. My. Gracious.). Susie's now in Montana; Pam's in Missouri; and I'm in B'ville. BUT, thanks to the goodness that is email and facebook and texting, we stay in contact. And we try to get together every couple of years (or so).

And then there's the nutty kids who keep my hair gray. I've actually known them longer than they've been alive. And whether they'll agree with me at this point in time or not, I'll always be their best friend!

30 Day Challenge - Day 1

2011-02-19T09:19:00.000-06:00

A picture of yourself with 10 facts.

1. I drive a minivan and I love it!
2. When I grow up, I want to be a professional writer (and make money for it - lots and lots of money!).
3. A year ago, we got another laptop and I thought I would never get used to laptops. Now, it's a standard fixture on my lap!
4. Hadley & Briley are two of the smartest kids I know - which makes me extremely proud! But, I'm also completely perplexed as to how they got that way.
5. I would give my right arm to be more athletic. It's just not in my make-up... but I do want to be more so! Of course, if I gave my right arm, I'd be limiting my athletic abilities...
6. I dream vividly - and sometimes they have messages and sometimes my dreams come true. Mostly, though, they are really fun entertainment!
7. My favorite thing to order at Olive Garden is the salad. I really don't think their Italian food is that whoppy.
8. Brian and I eloped and I'm completely happy with the way our "wedding" turned out. HOWEVER, if I had to do it all over again, I'd have us traveling to a beach or to resort to be married.
9. I prefer to sleep naked (do NOT picture this) because I spend half the night untangling myself from my nightclothes. I do NOT sleep naked, though.
10. My two all-time favorite movies are Grease and Mamma Mia. (And Bull Durham, but for entirely different reasons!)

30 Day Challenge

2011-02-19T09:05:00.000-06:00

On facebook, there's a movement called "30 Day Challenge" where one would post a picture (and possibly a few comments) every day for 30 days. I'm choosing to post my 30 days here, on my blog! One of my ideas with this blog is to eventually print it off and give hard copies to my daughters so that they can see have a tangible piece of their childhood, written by their very own momma!

So, here's the list of the 30 days... Day 1: coming soon!

A picture of yourself with 10 facts
A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest
A picture of the cast from your favorite show
A picture of your favorite night
A picture of your favorite memory
A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day
A picture of your most treasured item
A picture that makes you laugh
A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most
A picture of the person you do the most ****** up things with
A picture of something you hate
A picture of something you love
A picture of your favorite band or artist
A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without
A picture of something you want to do before you die
A picture of someone who inspires you
A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently
A picture of your biggest insecurity
A picture and a letter
A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel
A picture of something you wish you could forget
A picture of something you wish you were better at
A picture of your favorite book
A picture of something you wish you could change
A picture of your favorite day
A picture of something that means a lot to you
A picture of yourself and a family member
A picture of something you're afraid of
A picture that can always make you smile
A picture of someone you miss

A star is born!

2011-02-19T08:36:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite Christmas/Winter decorations is a painted golf club. The club head is painting to look like a snowman and there's greenery and ribbon tied on the bottom. It's darlingly cute! And I can keep it up through January for decoration (or - in this year's case - February!). Plus, the theme of golf really, really speaks to my golf-impassioned husband. The deco only cost $6, but because it was golf-related, it could have paid $600 and he wouldn't have said a thing!

The girls, on the other hand, love it just as much - but they have entirely different reasons for loving it!

Namely, since it sits on the "stage", it becomes our microphone!

Yes, we do have karaoke machine. Yes, it does have real microphones. But nothing beats belting out "Hot and Cold" with a microphone AND stand!

A contemplative little post...

2011-02-16T19:21:00.000-06:00

Today is February 16. Yesterday was February 15. Monday was February 14. Did you notice what I posted on February 14? I posted a book review for a non-fiction book about cells and DNA and human rights!

And, of course, you do know what February 14 is, right? That's right. It was (and is - every year it's the same!) Valentine's Day! In some ways, just some, this little post did represent our Valentine's Day. I did finish reading the book and I did sit on the computer for most of the night and that pretty much was the extent of our Valentine's Day celebration!

Actually, I made ribs for dinner (with Chicken for Had) and we gave the girls Valentine's coupons (one for each month of the coming year) for things like "5 downloads" and "family picnic" and "date night with a parent"... we called it a year of love. Hadley, of course, already has her entire year planned out and what she's going to do for each month and when and where. Briley, of course, has lost hers. (Or so she thinks... when I discovered it on the floor, I put it away for her.)

Brian made me a very, very sweet powerpoint card. Sounds mucho geeky, but I loved it! I gave him a mushy card. He loved it. We cleaned up the kitchen and vegged out on the couch after the girls had gone to bed. Eventually, around midnight, we got ourselves up and mosey'd into bed ourselves. All day long, we had texted and called and hinted at the naughty, fun things we were going to do to celebrate V-day. Alas, we kissed and fell promptly asleep!

It is a little bit sad when thought of in conjunction with Valentine's Day; however, it pretty much does sum up our lives! We are busy, work-outside the home parents to two of the most high strung kids you'll ever avoid! And honestly, I do love my life and the people in it! Plus, Brian and I have the rest of our lives to fulfill all those sexy-textys! So, don't go feel sorry for us because we slept through Valentine's Day!!

There's always Random Act of Kindness Day - which is tomorrow!!

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

2011-02-14T23:24:00.000-06:00

Strangely enough, I've only recently begun to read for pleasure! Once I (originally) graduated from college, I began teaching English, which means that I required LOTS of reading for my students... and that means lots of reading for myself! After 15 years, I left the English classroom for the library. I was completely stoked about this notion... but I had to go back to school (again) and that required a lot of reading from me. Last summer was the first summer that I had time to actually read FOR PLEASURE since I was ... I'm not even sure! I was going to say college, but I was always reading for classes. Then I was going to say high school, but I was always reading for classes. I guess it may have been ninth grade - when I read Forever with some friends in church! OH! And Twilight... when I was a little bit older. And Celia Rivenbark - she is THE funniest writer I know!

I digress.

So last summer, I made a list of what I wanted to read. Now, normally, when I found a book that I wanted to read, I'd just go buy it. Last summer, my rule was that I had to get the books I was reading for pleasure from the library!

What a concept for a librarian, huh?

When summer ended, I continued to read for pleasure - only I was reading kid books with a few grown up books tossed in there. Such as The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks. This is a nonfiction account of the HeLa cells. For those of you who do not know what HeLa cells are, I'll fill you in. (I, of course, didn't know what they were either until I googled and then read the book.) Prior to the 1950s, scientists tried and tried to get human cells to remain alive so that they could use them for research. Henrietta Lacks was a poor black woman who contracted cancer and her cells - which she was still alive - were "harvested" and were actually kept alive! It was ground-breaking (and still is) for research on cancer and TB and several hundred other ailments!! The kicker was the Henrietta did not have a clue that her cells were harvested. Her family has yet to receive one single cent from Henrietta's billion-dollar contribution to the medical field.

Could you even imagine having that kind of impact on the world - an impact that is still being carved out even as we speak! - and not having a clue? It's completely amazing to me!

It's a super read! I'll turn it in to the library tomorrow - check it out then!

Happy Friendship Day!

2011-02-14T14:58:00.000-06:00

The girls decided that for Valentine's Day they would make hair flowers for their friends. Briley tried really, really hard to convince me that Sammy wouldn't want anything for HIS hair. And I had just as hard of a time convincing her that we didn't get boys Valentine's until we were grown ups. And even then, it would totally depend on the boy!

So we worked very hard to get our hair flowers ready for our nearest and dearest... and then?

Hadley got sick. So, the flowers were left abandoned on the table. And the friends would not know exactly how much Hadley & Briley loved them on Valentine's Day.

SO, we'll have to create a new holiday! Happy Friendship Day! On February 15, tell your BFFs how much you love them and cherish their friendship!

It's official. I declare it. And I'm the mom, after all!

King Arthur's Quest

2011-02-13T19:05:00.000-06:00

Missoula Children's Theater was in the 'Ville last week and Hadley & Briley decided to try out. Luckily for me, they both made it!! Hadley was the Red Knight...

And Briley was Mini-King Arthur. They both had speaking parts and did fabulously. Hadley only forgot a line once - and in her defense, I'm pretty sure she was fighting strep throat at the time (since she now has strep!).

Mamoo & Papaw came to see their acting debut and Nana got them flowers. (The last time they had a dance recital, Hadley asked Nana to bring her flowers at the next recital. Then we took them out of dance to pursue our smokin' hot athletic careeers!)

Faces (and mustaches) a momma and daddy are proud of!!

Poor thing...

2011-02-10T19:01:00.000-06:00

So all day long, Bo has to lay around and then lay around some more. Sometimes, he will chase Hadley or chase Briley. Then he lays around. Sometimes, he'll get tangled in my feet when I'm in the kitchen and he's begging for me to drop something - or, even better, give him something. Then he has to go lay around. Some more. Sometimes, he'll escape out the front door and then he'll come back and lay around. And sometimes we let him in the back yard and he'll chase birds, then jump up on the kitchen window sill and we'll let him in so he can lay around some more.

Then, at the end of the day, he's so pooped that he has to lay around.

...Poor puppy!

Snow Day - Part 2

2011-02-09T16:37:00.000-06:00

Mother Nature dropped about 40 tons of snow on us last night and we were home, again! Brian opted to clear our driveway early on... because he can't stay in the house longer than 12 hours without sleeping. BUT, if he's out there shoveling, I can toss my camera out to him and he can take pics... then I don't have to get out in the bitter cold - which I am beginning to loathe.

The driveway was cleared from our last snow last week, so the shovel is our gauge as to how much snow we really got. Apparently, we got between 14 and 18 inches at our house.

I think it's funny that the snow on the van drifted so that it looks like a Flock Of Seagulls haircut!

Anyone else see the resemblance?

Notice that our neighbors were out W A Y before we were to shovel our walk. Even though he'd never admit it, I think it secretly bothers Brian. He took chili over there to them and on his way back, I saw him kicking snow on their clear drive! Really. I did.

Snow Day Brownies

2011-02-09T14:52:00.000-06:00

I made homemade brownies for the first time (that I can recall) today. And, actually, Hadley & I made them. When snow is forecast, I find a yum-o recipe to make while we are stuck inside... doing nothing... but being irritated with each other.

For this snow day, I found "Salted Fudge Brownies" on the Tasty Kitchen site. They are nothing short of heaven!!

For the recipe, go here.

Honest Opinions, Please

2011-02-09T09:44:00.002-06:00

One of my most faithful yet critical readers says that this blog is hard to read because of the background. Please comment and let me know exactly to what extent the blog is hard (or not) to read in connection with the background.

Thanks!

In the immortal words of Annie Lennox...

2011-02-09T09:38:00.000-06:00

Here comes the snow again...

But, don't worry about us staying warm!! We'll play naked Wii to keep our body temps up!

The snow is gonna get ya!

2011-02-07T20:48:00.000-06:00

Hadley finally succumbed to complete and utter boredom on Sunday and put on a little puppet show for herself...

Then took a picture!!

And I succumbed to total boredom and blogged about it!!

A collaborative work

2011-02-06T18:05:00.000-06:00

Hadley wanted to make a snowman. I didn't want to make a snowman because I never, ever, never want to be out in the cold. Ever. So, Brian got to be the good parent and went out with her.

The way I see it is that Hadley was the braun and Brian was the brains. Agree??

Some space...

2011-02-05T13:07:00.000-06:00

Hadley: Momma, after being cooped up in the house during the snow days, I'm just needing some space of my own.

Me: Sure. I get it.

(After unwillingly sharing a shower with the above mentioned child)

Hadley: Thanks - so you'll just leave me alone for a while?

Me: Absolutely!

After giving her a significant chunk of time to herself, I go to her ROOM and find it empty... then I go to the living room and find this:

Me: Hadley, ummm... Whatcha doing?

Hadley: It was the only place in the house where I could find some space all my own.

Me: What about your room?

Hadley: My room??? ... Oh...!

Don't care how it happened!

2011-02-05T10:25:00.000-06:00

Typically, Briley crawls in bed with Brian and me when she wakes up in the middle of the night. Today, however, I woke to a wonderful surprise! She had crawled in bed with Hadley

When Briley finally woke up (2 minutes ago), so told me that she had a dream that Barbie said, "Would you marry me?" to her and then she woke up and came to the living room. The big hand was one the 8 and the little hand was on the 10 or the 9 or the 6 or the 4 or the 3... she couldn't remember. So, she crawled in bed with Hadley because Hadley said that they had to practice sleeping together.

Hadley corroborates none of this story.

And, truth be told, I don't care how it happened! I'm just grateful that she's exploring this nighttime option of sleeping with her sister and that (hopefully) Brian and I can reclaim our bed!

A triffle, troffle, truffle ... messed up cake!

2011-02-05T09:52:00.000-06:00

Two days ago, Hadley decided to bake a cake. Well, she wanted to make a layer cake and I knew that would prove to be a lot of work for me, so I handed her "the brownie pan" and she made made "white brownies" because it was in the brownie pan. So, if you asked her if she made cake, she'll tell you no; she made brownies. You gotta pick your battles, people!

Then, due to some strange occurrences beyond our control, we couldn't use one whole row of the cake. Always quick on my feet - ahem, most of the time I am - we chunked up the cake to make a triffle. Only Hadley had never heard of the word triffle, so she called it a truffle... clearly, it would not be a truffle, but again: you gotta pick your battles!

I began looking through the cabinets & fridge to see what I could find as filling. I found peanut butter, cream cheese, cocoa, powdered sugar, blueberries... BUT, I opted to not use the blueberries, because I plan on making some more of the world's awesomest muffins again very soon!

So, Hadley & I made some peanut butter cream icing and covered the first layer of the triffle. The we made cocoa butter cream icing and covered the top layer.

All I can say is YUM!

In fact, I believe I'll have some for breakfast!!

A tale of two sisters

2011-02-04T10:16:00.000-06:00

One morning (OK, this morning), Briley decided that she HAD to leave the house. The reason she HAD to leave the house is that we do not have a donut shop that makes deliveries. And if there's anything in the world that Briley loves more than life itself it's a good donut. So she pleaded with her daddy - who also must leave the house because he can't stay put for longer than 6 hours at any given time - to drive her to the donut shop. Her daddy, while he didn't want a donut, but he did want to get out of the house, agreed to take her to the donut shop if she would get dressed - which she did - and pay for it herself. This threw Briley for a loop, but only temporarily. In no time at all, she produced a five-spot. Her parents were not entirely sure where she got the money, but they were pretty sure that one of their wallets was a little bit lighter.

Briley, being an ever-generous child (especially with someone elses money), offered to get her sister donuts, too. Her sister asked if she would, indeed, pay for hers as well because she didn't want to spend her own money on her own food. Briley said she would pay. Then Hadley asked if Briley would deliver because Hadley - so as to not break the tradition of the past four days - did not wish to get dressed nor did she wish to leave the couch. Briley said she'd deliver.

So Briley and her daddy set out to the donut shop; Hadley stayed put on the couch. Daddy supplemented the fiver with some extra change and now, with donuts in the hands of Briley & Hadley, all is right with the world!

The End.

Our favorite snow day activity

2011-02-03T20:42:00.000-06:00

On Monday evening, when we first heard school was called, the girls were beyond giddy with the news... and who isn't giddy upon hearing the news that you will be snowed in for day without in??!?!

To express their giddiness, they jumped around and screamed and kicked and had themselves a happy little fit. In the process of this happy little fit, they ended up on the ground wrestling with Brian... and thus, a snow day tradition was born. Tuesday, they wrestled probably a half a dozen times. Wednesday, they wrestled 10 or so times. Today, they've wrestled to their heart's content.

I don't remember exactly when Brian decided that the floor was an uncomfy place to wrestle - my guess is that Brian was back napping and was sabotaged by a child or two.

Upon hearing that we were out of school tomorrow as well, they both said, "Can we wrestle with you, Daddy?" And since they don't want to wrestle with me, I told them they could wrestle with him any time they wanted!

A fun little change

2011-02-03T10:19:00.000-06:00

The very first meal that Brian ever made for me was Sausage Crescents. It

was 3 in the morning and Homeland was open 24 hours and it immediately became on of my favorite meals.

To make these little bundles of heaven, you brown and drain a pound of hot breakfast sausage. Melt and mix in one block of cream cheese. Spoon them in refrigerator crescents and bake according to directions.

This weekend, we fixed hot breakfast for our church. On the fifth Sundays, we do hot breakfast (along with the usual donuts). This Sunday, we made these. The crescent people have come out with a new roll-up-and-slice product. So, Brian decided to add the sausage mixture to the roll-ups and make a pinwheel of sorts.

I *think* I prefer the traditional crescents. Not that the roll-ups were bad, they just didn't have the same bulk of sausage. HOWEVER, the roll-ups were certainly much easier and didn't use as much meat... but they required more cooking time, which made them more crispy.

Either way, Brian could fix these for me every morning for the rest of our lives and I wouldn't complain about whichever way he chose to make them! YUM!

I said a-Boob Chicka Boob!

2011-02-03T10:03:00.000-06:00

I heard some singing in the bedroom this morning, "I said a Boob Chicka Boob! I said a Boob Chicka Boob. I said a Boob Chicka Rocka Chicka Rocka Chicka Boob." When I went to investigate why my child was singing "boob" instead of "boom" I found this:

Isn't she precious??!?!!?!?!

Snow ice cream ... ? Nah--

2011-02-02T21:08:00.000-06:00

Yesterday the girls asked to make snow ice cream. I'm always up for ice cream and I remember making snow ice cream once or twice when I was little. Why not? We had 24 inches of snow doing nothing but sitting...

So, Hadley blended the milk, sugar and vanilla. Briley gathered the ice cream. Then we whipped it into what looked like some great vanilla ice cream!

We scooped up the ice cream into my Desert Rose tea cups (because I need to use them for something, right?). And then we all sat down and ate.

The consensus? We really don't care for snow ice cream. The girls admitted to liking plain snow much better than snow ice cream.

I, on the other hand, admitted to liking regular ol' ice cream better than snow or snow ice cream!

Kriss Kross'll make ya ...

2011-02-02T12:07:00.000-06:00

Mamoo & Papaw got Briley Just Dance 2 for her birthday. We are having SO MUCH FUN with it! As told in yesterday's post, the girls don't always like playing with Brian & me because when we win, we win big... says the woman who scored 8,890 points on Blondies' "Call Me".

The girls really like "Walk Like An Egyptian" and "Girlfriend". When Brian & I saw "Jump" on there, we thought the girls would really like that one. Turns out -- they don't. Not at all. But, we told them to keep trying so that they could learn one of the best songs to come out of the 80's (90s?).

Then, they discovered this: The song is so herky-jerky that they can literally just jump around and score pretty decent!

They can even "spank their own butts" and get their score up!

While they aren't gaining much appreciation for Kriss Kross, they are making the snow days flippin' hysterical!

Thank you, Debra Wailes!

2011-02-02T10:54:00.000-06:00

The week before Snowmageddon, Debra Wailes - a fellow teacher - shared with me the best blueberry muffin recipe she'd ever tasted.

My favorite muffin is blueberries. Actually, I'm not a big muffin person. I would prefer to eat something else instead of muffins - like cheese bread. I'll eat cheese bread all day long and all night on Sundays! As far as muffins go, though, blueberries are just about the only muffin I like.

Usually, though, I only make them when I can pour the packet in a bowl and add milk and an egg. This recipe, though, involved no packet. It scared me just a touch.

But, I pushed through and I did, indeed, make the world's best blueberry muffin recipe!

Complete with brown sugar and butter topping... YUM!

So, basically, when the rest of the world was at The Walmarts stocking up on milk and eggs and bread, I grabbed fresh blueberries. And I still have some left over so I can make more and more and more...!!!

PS - Christine, Debra said you passed the recipe on to her, so I owe you a big thanks, too!

Dog Days of February

2011-02-01T19:04:00.000-06:00

Rarely do we let the dogs in. It's got to be really bad weather for us to bring them in. They don't really like being in and they stink. Two major reasons for them to be outdoor dogs. Monday night when Snowmaggedon started, we let them in. Typically, when they come in, they stay in our "craproom" - the room attached to our laundry room/third bathroom.

Daisy, who is blind & deaf, comes in and goes straight to the craproom and settles in on her blankies.

Bo, always wants to be in the middle of things because he knows that at any given time someone in our family is eating and he's likely to snag a bite if the mood strikes us!

Today, because we're all just home hangin' and chillin', Bo got to hang and chill with us.

It's good to be a dog!

Just Dance

2011-02-01T18:41:00.000-06:00

For Briley's b-day, Mamoo got her Just Dance 2 for our Wii. The girls are loving this game... what they don't love is when Brian or I play.

For the most part, they totally rock this game; however, when we do win ... we smoke 'em! Big!

She's a lover AND a fighter!

2011-02-01T14:24:00.000-06:00

Saturday, at Briley's game, she was matched with a pretty rough little player. This chicka was tall and blond and grabby and generally had a bad attitude. Her problem on Saturday was that she was paired with Briley.

Briley, herself, is a very scrappy player. She won't intentionally play rough - because she doesn't want to hurt anyone and she certainly doesn't want anyone to not like her. BUT, when she is playing (anything) she plays to win.

And when anyone pushes her, she'll get rough right back.

And when a player throws her twentieth elbow in a game -- and said elbow lands in Briley's eye, Briley will two-handed push said player. And then the ref will grab both girls and set both girls out.

That's right: Briley was kicked out of her *first* basketball game on Saturday.

While she was benched Brian went over to her and told her that we'll never get mad at her when she is defending herself and not letting herself be pushed around. And he reassured her that the refs really weren't mad at her.

The next period, she got to go back in and play, where she played clean. The other little girl? Not so much.

After the game, the coach was handing out stars and he gave Briley the yellow star - for sportsmanship. She ran back to hand me the star and said, "What's sportsmanship mean?"

I giggled and said, "It means you played nicely."

She drew her head back and contorted her face in a look that could only mean, "Really?!!?!?!" Then she shrugged.

And that, my friends, is how she plays...

Happy Birthday, Briley!

2011-02-01T14:02:00.000-06:00

Briley turned 7 this past week and this past weekend, we partied! This was one of the funnest b-day parties I've done!! Briley wanted a super-model party. SO, we had boas and flowers for our hair and we did make-overs and did our nails and then rocked it on the runway!

The goodie boxes contained paint, gloss and bling: The magic trinity of every super model!

I was going to make cupcakes, but time got the best of me and Uncle Sam made this cake for the party.

Here are our super models. Whitley was also there, but she wouldn't take pics with us!

She got some great gifts -- and even got tricked by Nana!

Happy, happy birthday, Bugsy!!

Briley had a great day, but she was a little bit sad that not all of her friends showed up. I tried to convince her that it was completely alright. It was a beautiful day and they may have made other plans. She was still a bit sad, though. Good thing she's an optimistic little trooper!

The difference in a week...

2011-02-01T13:21:00.000-06:00

Last Friday, the weather was beautiful! The girls were outside on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We were playing fun games and soaking up the sun and wishing for more time so that we could go golfing. We were dreaming of our pool being open and of going to Galveston. It was nothing short of glorious!

Then... Monday happened. As as Monday left, it sent snow... and lots of it.

Welcome to Snowmaggedon 2011. When's spring again??

More basketball pics...

2011-01-24T10:01:00.000-06:00

Just 'cause...

Look what I found!!

2011-01-24T09:49:00.000-06:00

Taco-flavored Doritos!! These are my absolute favorite flavor of Doritos. In fact, I do not like any other flavor! I only like Taco-flavored Doritos!

A few years back, Doritos stopped making the original Taco Flavor and made some kind of super-weird Taco-combination flavor. They were alright. But they weren't Taco!

So imagine my sheer delight when I found these!

Even the packaging is original. My intention is to buy every bag of these that I see whenever I see them. It will be my consumer message to Doritos: BRING BACK THE TACO!!!

Join me, won't you??

Blood shed

2011-01-24T09:44:00.000-06:00

Don't tell Briley that you've seen this picture. She didn't want me to post it or tell the story because it's completely embarrassing. BUT...sometimes as a mom, you have to do things that don't always make your children happy!

At Saturday's game, Briley smashed heads with Hailey. Smashed so hard that her nose bled. A long time. She had to sit out for at least a period and a half. Then it bled off and on all day. Her jersey is maroon. And the sun is glaring at the camera. And she wouldn't take off her coat. BUT, if these things weren't against us, you'd be able to see that she has her very first blood stains on her jersey.

Her daddy is so proud.

She is just utterly embarrassed.

My go-to gift...

2011-01-23T17:27:00.000-06:00

I feel like my friend and scrapping idol, Suzanne, who does the best paper piecings in the world and is a very talented scrapper. She posts a lot of her pages and designs on her blog, where I promptly steal the idea and call it my own! She lives in Utah, though, so I don't get to zap her creative juices much!

I decided to take pics of my latest creation. I've been making first year scrapbooks for babies for a while. I've recently begun making first year albums for newlyweds!! I decided on the idea when I was chatting with Brian prior to a friend's wedding. I asked him if he remember the first meal I cooked for him, our first couch, our first Christmas... and basically, he remembered our first bed. Nice.

So, I made a first year album for them to document their firsts during their first year. I loved it! And I've made a few since. This one is for BJ Highland & his new bride, Meggie. These albums are my new go-to gift for weddings!!

Dreaming...

2011-01-23T00:01:00.000-06:00

Since we've returned to school from winter break, Briley's had a fever-virus; I've had a fever, stomach virus and migraine; Brian's had a stomach virus and now a major cold.

I don't want to wish my life away. BUT -- As I lay in the living room with Hadley - who has a low-grade fever and just threw up about five pounds of puke - and wish that winter were over so that could throw open the windows and let all the germs out of this house!! And while I'm wishing...

...I'm dreaming of lazy, warm, wet summer days!

Here's to healthier days ahead, right??!?!! RIGHT??!?!?!

Snow Day

2011-01-20T11:15:00.000-06:00

We have another snow day today. (Let all the teachers and students say, "Amen.") I woke up at 6:12 - when my alarm goes off - and ran to Brian, who was sleeping in the living room because he's having overwhelming sinus issues, and said, "Bubby, you are late!" and he said, "No school!" So, I went and turned off Had's alarm and turned off my alarm and went straight back to bed.

At 8:something, Hadley woke me up and asked if I was going to take a shower. I told her that possibly, maybe at some point I would be taking a shower. She said that when she heard the shower, she was going to make me breakfast in bed. Nice. I went back to bed.

At 9:something, Briley came running in to report that she was going to play MarioKart, but Hadley grabbed the steering wheel and said she was going to be first because it's her game even though they were sharing. I said, "Where's your daddy?" and she said, "In the living room - he said for us to work it out ourselves and that's just ridiculous!" I said, "Well, work it out yourselves." And she flipped off the bed then ran in screaming because she planned on working it out with brute force. If ever Briley's in a contest for brute force, lay money down on her, my friends!

At almost 10, I returned a text to Heather, who had apparently invited me to yoga a couple of hours previously and told her that I just woke up, but I had a dream about her! (My dreams are legendary, if I do say so myself!) Then, I got in the shower. When I emerged from the shower, there was no breakfast waiting for me. Instead, I got to assist Briley in getting a pair of gloves on so that Brian could take them sledding. I got her bundled and thrown into the RAV in time for them to speed off to the Wal-marts and their big hill. And I'm not home alone - and feeling just fine!

It's shaping up to be a perfect snow day!

I blame science

2011-01-19T09:32:00.000-06:00

Hadley's science project has been completed... well, the experiment part has. She'll have to put it all together and draw her conclusions, but I think my part is done. Why do I think that? Because my body has said so.

Her project was to determine which of three different votives would burn the longest. She lit the votives at 7:30 am. The first one went out at 7 pm. The second one went out five hours after she went to bed at 1 am. The final candle went out at 3:45 am. And guess who stayed up ALL. NIGHT. LONG. to ensure science integrity on this, our very first science project? Then woke up 3 hours later to get ready to go to school? That's right: THIS momma did that!

As the day went on yesterday, my head began hurting progressively worse and worse and worse until, by the time I got out of school (and had taken 2 asprin), my head hurt to even touch! By dinner time (and 2 Tylenols), I wanted to cut the right side of my head off - it couldn't hurt worse. By the time Brian got home around 8 (and 3 ibuprofin's later), I couldn't keep my eyes open and I was nauseated and my whole body hurt! I crawled into bed (I think) and slept until 4 am.

At 4 am, the above mentioned scientist appeared in our bedroom declaring that she couldn't sleep and she was just going to go watch some TV. We convinced her that she would stay in her bed until at least 6 (even if we had to tie her there) and while she didn't have to sleep, she did have to rest. At this point, my head wasn't hurting - my whole body was hurting and pulsating. Brian reached over and said, "You've got a fever, babe." So with Taylor Swift blaring out of Hadley's room, I down more fever reducing pills - whatever I can get my hands on and call in to work.

I hate feeling ick. And I totally blame science for this little sick day. Blah.

Mmmmmmmm...that smells good!

2011-01-17T18:41:00.000-06:00

Last week, when the heat went out, I began laundry. I did the laundry because I used the freshly dried clothes to warm my cold body! But, the bedrooms were all the way at the back of the house and they were colder than the rest of the house, so I folded the laundry in the front room, also known as the formal laundry sorting room.

Friday night I went scrapbooking and Brian - I love that man! - continued the laundry. Saturday morning we woke up and did basketball and then ran to Tulsa and then came home with a sicky Briley. Sunday, after Hadley & I came home from church, we lounged around all day long. Hadley did make a cake and I did make chicken & bean chili. The point of my detailing what we did was to let you know what we did not do. We did NOT put the laundry away. We did NOT clean the house. We did NOT straighten anything. The house, while warming us, was completely neglected this weekend.

But, today, I came home from my in-service meetings (the way Dr. King would have wanted us to change the world!) and the house smelled SOOOOOOOOOO good!

Of course, it was not clean at all! Not at all. And considering Brian & the girls were home all day, I'm sure - if I looked closely - the house would be an even bigger pit! But, dang! It sure did smell good!

You see, the science fair is coming up and Hadley has the best smellin' project in town! She's burning three votives, one from Keepsake, one from Yankee and one from Wal-mart, and she's burning them to see which one burns the longest.

Smart and good-smellin' girl I've got here!

Baby, It's Cold Inside!

2011-01-13T11:05:00.000-06:00

I love the scene in Elf where Buddy hears someone singing and he wanders into the shower and sings along with her. I love the scene because I love the song (so fun!) and because I secretly would love to be singing in the shower and have Wil Ferrell (or Brian - whatever) join in the singing with me!

None the less, this song has been playing as my life's soundtrack the past few days. And yesterday, it was a transforming song... I walked in and discovered the furnace to be non-working.

Today the heating guys came and fixed it and said I could leave as soon as it heated up, shut off, then came back on again - so we'd know it was working right.

Right now, the temp is 60 and the thermostat is set at 70. It's been running for an hour now. It may be spring before I can leave the house!

(But it's good for my blog, huh??)

Let's just stop and think...

2011-01-13T10:43:00.001-06:00

I've seen this on facebook a bajillion times since Saturday when a disturbed individual ruined many lives in Arizona:

To everyone who is calling for stricter gun laws in light of the tragedy in Tucson, may I offer this little tidbit: If guns kill people, then pencils misspell words, cars drive drunk, and spoons made Oprah fat ! Remember: Hold the person accountable for their actions, not the means they chose to utilize!!!

I'd like to address this thought.

Misspelled words do not take lives. It only causes people to demonstrate their lack of spelling. And so what? No one has ever lost his/her life because someone spelled nieghbor instead of neighbor. It's not even the same thing.

We have called for stricter drinking and driving laws time and again and when people abuse the privileged of driving drunk or driving irresponsibly they lose the privilege. Actually, some people are never afforded the privilege because they lack the ability to properly operate the car.

Spoons made Oprah fat? Really? C'mon! So what if Oprah is fat or not. She pays her own medical bills, has her own insurance. If she wants to be fat, so be it. Her body weight is not causing harm to any other person on this earth. Again, not even the same thing!

The individual who shot and killed 6 and harmed more in Tuscon never should have had his hands on a gun. He was not operating with a brain that was functioning properly. Should there be stricter gun laws? Yes. Why in the world was he even afforded the right to have a weapon of any kind? His diminished capacity should have cost him that right.

Am I saying that the level-headed hunter shouldn't have a gun for sport? Nope. Not saying that at all.

Am I saying the momma and daddy who want to protect their family in their own home should not have a gun for protection? Nope. Not saying that at all.

Am I saying the young, single woman who lives alone in a big city (or small town or out in the country) shouldn't have a gun for her own peace of mind? Nope. Not saying that at all.

I am saying that if someone is incapable of being declared mentally stable, I do NOT want that person to have the right to carry a weapon (of any kind, gun or otherwise) that could injure, maim, hurt, harm or kill any other person, not the least of these my loved ones! Would we leave our children in the care of one who has diminished mental capacity? Nope. Would we knowingly give this same person a gun and ammunition? Hell no. THAT, my friends, is sensible. THAT, my friends, is responsible. And yes, it's a call for stricter gun laws.

If you are a responsible citizen, you don't have an issue with this. You'll get your gun. The Tuscon shooter, however, would have not had his hands so easily on a weapon. He's still responsible for his own actions - make no mistake about that at all!

But who is responsible for allowing him - a mentally deranged individual - to be in possession of a deadly weapon??? Let's place some responsibility in that arena too!

Lunar Eclipse in December (by Hadley)

2011-01-13T08:53:00.000-06:00

Over Christmas break, there was apparently a lunar eclipse. I know this because Brian asked me if I wanted to stay up and watch it. Normally I would have but we were at Brian's folks' house and his mom wakes up WAY too early for breaks and makes breakfast. So, I had to go to bed somewhat early (and stay asleep) so that I could wake up and not be a nasty, ugly unmorning person at the breakfast table.

Brian then asked Hadley if she wanted to see the eclipse. She was beside herself with excitement because all of her friends had seen Eclipse, but we hadn't let her see it yet. Brian explained that it was NOT the movie, but Hadley was still excited.

Briley was stoked because when she grows up she wants to be a vampire, but opted out of the waking up in the middle of the night to see it. So, while Briley & I slept the night away, Brian & Hadley woke up to watch the eclipse. And here's Hadley's take it on... Not bad for a 3X zoom!

Snow Day!

2011-01-11T17:09:00.000-06:00

The girls decided today that we'd go sledding up at The Walmarts. I, on the other hand, was perfectly content to stay at home in my pj's, wearing my glasses, listening to sirius all day long. I did not get to vote on this. I am merely a chauffeur at this point in time.

It was cold.

No. It was flippin' cold.

No. It was freakin', flippin' cold!

The girls loved it. My nose froze shut then cracked off my face.

I realize there are other places to go sledding, but this was closest and we needed to go get some things at The Walmarts. (The Walmarts = necessary evil)

I don't think of myself as a worrying momma. But, this particular sledding mecca scares me.

It's not the size of the hill...

It's where they could end up! Yes, the could end up scooting right across the highway, much as Clark Grizzwald does in Christmas Vacation. So far, though, that has not happened. But it could, right?

Maybe Hadley - who has a bigger gravitational pull - will end up in the street...

...Or not!

But what happens when we move to a bigger, steeper hill??

And ride double?

It's at this point that a weaker momma would yell, "STOP!" And, yes, I am a weaker momma!

And, true to form, they did NOT listen to their momma. And, to fulfill my crazy scardiness, they ended up on the highway.

Then they did it again!

They are totally out to get me!

I told them that it was causing my cardiac to arrest and they snickered... but they did it anyway!

And again...

Finally, we were warm, in the van and NOT on our way to the emergency room. I could, once again, be a happy momma!

PS - anyone think I resemble the uni-bomber in this get up?? Who knew he'd be my doppelganger??!?!

Camera Blues

2011-01-11T11:27:00.000-06:00

I've had my beloved Kodak Easyshare camera for 4 1/2 years now. I know exactly when I got it: When I started working at Oak Park. Up to that point, I had an English Department camera from the Mid-High that I used (because no one else used it). I figured when I no longer worked there, I should no longer use their equipment.   I'm just way ethical that way. And that's when I bought my camera.

Currently, the camera is uncooperative. No, that's not the word: the camera is unresponsive!    About a year ago, I did drop it and it got stuck in video mode. Our friend, Brian, fixed the camera and it kept on working. Before that, the camera had been played with by two growing girls and never had an ounce of trouble from it!

Now -- NOW -- it's deciding to not work.   I'll be replacing the battery and if that doesn't work, I'll be having a small, private memorial service for my trustworthy camera.

In the meantime, Hadley wanted a camera. So for her birthday, her Mamoo got her a camera. That camera didn't work, so we returned it and got a great deal on another camera on Black Friday.    So, I've snagged her camera to take important pictures that I would normally miss, such as our niece's first birthday, the girls' first basketball games, the super model show put on by the cutest 5 and 6 year old you'll ever know! Ya know - important stuff!

Like this pic of us at Weeze's with my mom on Black Friday...

And this super pic of our mantle at Christmastime...

And her sister with the Disco-balls buffalo...

And my Aunt Kay and two of her grandkids, Bode & Bree...

And me -- after a 4 AM wake up for Black Friday. Nice, huh??

So, as I downloaded her card onto my computer so I could get the snow day pics and blog about them and so I could get the basketball pics and blog about them, I discovered that this kid had been taking some great pics all along.

The Cagers!

2011-01-11T10:59:00.000-06:00

Saturday, our ball season started!! We were so ready... pink converse and everything!

Both girls played great. Briley's team scored four baskets. Briley was responsible for three of those! One of them almost from the free throw line. It was so danged exciting to watch!!

Hadley put up several shots, but none of them went in the bucket. (I could write for ESPN, couldn't I?) What was exciting about Hadley's game is watching how she & Olivia (the tall blonde next to her) communicated. They were talking ball on the court while the game was going on and when they were on break, they were analyzing the game. Olivia had two shots where she was taking the ball down and just charged the basket. The others didn't know what to do because they were waiting for the "play" to "begin" and Olivia just made it happen. VERY exciting for third and fourth grade basketball! The other little girl in this shot is nothing but aggressive! These three together were SO much fun to watch!!

Get on the edge of your seat...

2011-01-08T09:34:00.000-06:00

Basketball starts today! So far, we're dressed (sorta), our hair is done (sorta) and we're eating breakfast (sorta - if Brownies count as breakfast, that is!). If the events leading up to the opening day are any indication, this could be a hysterically long season!!

{pics coming this evening - that's the edge of your seats part!}

My favorite lights...

2011-01-07T19:33:00.000-06:00

While looking at lights in Tulsa with our ever-so-grateful kids, my friend, Dawn, and I came across this house.

This house is HYSTERICAL! The lights are literally -- literally -- just strung from one random point to another random point. There are probably 50 strings of lights that are just strung. Literally.

I like to imagine that the mom and the dad of this house said to their 16 year old, "NO! You may not go out until you string up the Christmas lights." Then the 16 year old said, "Gah! Whatever. Fine! I'll do it!" and then he ran out, strung the lights in said fashion and then sped off to join his friends out on some country road road for some Keystone.

I'd really like to meet him and tell him that I love his design!

Five Things...

2011-01-05T20:13:00.000-06:00

Since it's January 5th, I'm going to share Five Things ...

Five things I love...
...Brian.
...Hadley & Briley (they count as one).
...bookstores.
...cream pies.
...the beach.

Five things I do NOT love...
...incompetence.
...seafood.
...gray hair.
...my laptop's weirdly independent keyboard.
...money (dealing with it - not spending it).

Five things I could not live without...
...my minivan.
...my laptop (regardless of it's schizophrenia).
...my cell phone.
...Modern Family.
...my alarm (but only because I have to get up in the MORNING!).

Five things I want to do at some point in my life...
...visit a foreign country (and, just FYI, I do NOT consider Mexico a foreign country; don't tell the UN).
...own a bookstore.
...be a size 10 (I'm too tall for a size 8).
...finish a 5K NOT in last place.
...write and publish a best selling book.

Happy Birthday, Blog!

2011-01-02T01:11:00.000-06:00

Prior to having our kids, we tried desperately hard to get pregnant. Everyone we knew (or so it seemed) was popping out kids left and right, and I felt very alone in the process of trying to get pregnant or TTC (trying to conceive, in internet abbreviations). We turned to the internet at first to do research and then for support. I found two groups to be especially helpful: A yahoo group called "TTC with PCOS" and UltimateBaby.com .

TTC with PCOS later had a breakout group - I think the name of it was "TTC ONLY with PCOS and we don't care if your due date is off by 3 days" or something along those lines. The breakout group was started by Muche - a fun and funny girl who had been TTC for a very long time. She had one baby already and was having a heck of a time getting pregnant with the next. She and her hubby had started the adoption process and were eventually blessed with a chosen child. When I became pregnant, I was so hesitant to post to this group because we both had become "quiet" from our weariness to get pregnant and I didn't want to seem like I was rubbing it in that I FINALLY had gotten a fertilized egg to stick. When you're faced with infertility issues, while you're happy for friends who do get pregnant, it's still very painful news to hear. Eventually we both broke the silence about 10 weeks into our pregnancies! Yes, we were both pregnant and were due within a week of each other. Coincidence? Nope, I don't think so! I think we were blessed with great news at the same time!

UltimateBaby.com had a small forum for people who were TTC with PCOS, so I had joined that forum and when I was pregnant, I joined the November December Due Date forum and met lots of great people there. Two of my favorite people at Ultimate Baby were Shelley and Tammy. They were both due around the same time as I was due with Hadley. Tammy had Carson 15 weeks (?) early and Shelley had Abby 10 weeks (?) early. Both Carson and Abby are wonderful kiddos and I still keep in touch with ShelRene and Tam (their user names).

Shortly before Hadley turned four, UltimateBaby.com announced that they'd be shutting their virtual doors. People branched out in all areas looking for new online homes. I never found any place I wanted to hang out and decided shortly after that to start a blog. I was active on UB.com, and I was able to chronicle Hadley & Briley's various antics on their site. Without UB, I would need a place to keep track of what they were doing and how and where and why.

It was about six months after this picture was taken that I decided to get serious about blogging.

(Dallas Zoo, 2005)

At the time, I didn't have a digital camera, so I'd take my rolls of film into Walmart and get a CD to share pictures. But, we had dial up and it took forever to load any pictures, so I rarely blogged with pictures.

I do remember, however, that this picture below was taken over Christmas break just before I blogged for the first time. THESE people were the subject of my very first entries.

(Spruce House, 2006)

My intention was to blog daily (ha!) and keep track of every little detail of Hadley & Briley's lives... Like why their faces were so dirty in this picture!
Q: Why were their faces so dirty?
A: Heck if I know!

(Mamoo & Papaw's, 2006)

There were many great stories that I missed. Blogging is hard work - and is seemingly becoming very blase. However, the stories that I have captured, I'm very grateful for. And for that reason, I will continue to blog. The stories that I missed - like the one below - well... I've got scrapbooks and pictures. And the story below? Notice the belt around Brian's torso: He was the bull and the girls were the riders. They would wait for him on the big chair (as Hadley's doing, topless). They'd climb on his back and hold one hand up while the other gripped the belt and then they'd count to 8 while Brian bucked all over the living room. And PS - we're lucky Hadley was wearing any clothes at all - it was around this time that she preferred to be completely naked!

(Spruce House, 2006)

As I looked for pictures that coincided with the beginning of the blog, I found LOTS of attempted Christmas Cards - like this one. Eventually, I learned that the picture doesn't have to be perfect. In fact, I would never capture the perfect Christmas card picture; however, all the pictures that I took of these two together were perfect anyway!

(Spruce House, 2006)

As I head into my fifth year as a blogger, I feel even more compelled to blog about everything I can remember. Truth is, a lot gets forgotten. Truth is, life gets busier. Truth is, I don't want to miss a thing...

Because while it's fast and furious, the ride from there to here has been fabulous and I don't want to miss a thing!

(Meadow House, 2011)

What a wonderful ride!