I'm feeling homesick tonight.

We made it! The flight was uneventful. The kids were great, yes even Hope. I didn't hear it, but the flight attendants said our kids were the best behaved "large family" she had ever seen. Thanks...I think. Does that mean they were good, or just good for a "large family"?? haha They were good all except when Hayden put his feet on Hannah and that started a small fist fight. No worries, all was worked out ;) Scout did just fine too, and seems to be acting totally normal.

Loved the new house! It was great. The yard was bigger than I thought, and so was the kitchen. Loved the kitchen. We do have moles though, (or some little fella that digs holes in the yard, lovely) that should be exciting getting rid of those. No rodents/cockroaches or mosquitoes though. Trade offs...The master bedroom was a little smaller than I thought, but still bigger than what I currently have. Well, scratch that, what I used to have (dang) But the bathroom seemed bigger, so hey, it's all good. Loved the lower level. It has the game room, wet bar, and 2 bedrooms and bathroom. Oh and the basement will be heaven. I can't wait to fill it up with all kinds of crap...I mean stuff.

I got tired at about 4:00, and definitely wanted to go home. I wanted to go back to Texas, to all my friends and neighbors. When we were at the new house, a couple of Mormon neighbors came down to visit. It should have been such a happy/exciting moment, but it wasn't. I just kept thinking "these are not MY neighbors." This isn't Kellie, Cathy, Julie or Jennifer. Scott keeps reminding us, "no this isn't Texas,, and it's not as good, but it's Washington and let's look for the good here!" Okay, must remember that. I wish I could call my Mom tonight and have her come pick me up and take me home. Oh wait...I am the Mom! hehe. At one point Hannah said she felt like crying, but couldn't. Hayden told her to poke herself in the eye, that would take care of it. Ahhhh, crazy kid.

I do need to go do laundry, I'm all out of jeans. Even with all those suitcases, I still don't think I packed enough clothes for me. Maybe Scott will do it for me... we have to go use the common laundry room, yuck o! That is not music to my ears.

Oh yeah, we got a call today from the lady that is setting up our housing stuff her. A 3 bedroom townhouse becomes available on Wednesday. So, we will be moving to a bigger place on Wed. This Residence Inn is actually very nice, but bigger is better...right?

a new chapter

I really have no business blogging this morning. It's 5:30 and the shuttle picks us up in about 30 minutes. Whatever. The amount of luggage we have is almost funny. 11 pieces. But crap, we are going to be living out of this stuff for a month (or less I hope!!). I'm about to embark on a new chapter of my life. I was liking the chapter I was in, but, oh well for me...a new chapter has started. Yesterday, was a hard hard day. Actually, I'm glad it's over. I'm feeling dehydrated today, literally. I'm not joking. Scott and I both cried (sort of embarrassing) when we walked into the title place and saw the new people standing there. There were all smiles and we felt like we we going to a funeral. But anyway, I'm feeling strong today. More later. I really have GOT to go. Oh, I see the house today, for the first time mind you. Only Scott has seen it thus far.

moving update-it's almost complete

The house is empty. Tomorrow we sign the papers. Scott and I have both had a moment today. AKA crying like babies that is. I'll miss the house yes, but it's the memories that I'll miss the most. Have you ever watched that show, If These Walls Could Talk? We started talking about that and it was all over. Seeing little Hopey walk around this empty house just made us remember little Hunter (who was about the same age) doing the exact same thing. I was SO happy and excited to move here. I couldn't wait. I was IN LOVE with this house. Now I have little Hunter memories and the sweet memories of bringing 3 more babies home here. I remember sitting on my couch nursing little Hannah when the neighbor girl Andrea asked from the top of the stairs if she could play with the Little Tikes grocery cart. Sure...I said. Next thing I know she has pushed that big old cart down my big flight of stairs=big hole in the wall. Ahhh, memories.

In unrelated moving news...I went for my "annual" today. Wanted to get THAT in before I left town. And the doctor reminded me I was now 35 and that meant baseline mammogram. Oh goody I said. I went back later this afternoon, and I'm happy to report it didn't hurt!!! Uncomfortable, yes, but I was pleasantly surprised!! Yipppee for having no boobs!!! (the one time in life I will probably ever say that) :)

Today is the day!

This is it, it's moving day. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Happy Birthday Hannah!

All these pictures are about Hannah at the age of 5-6. She still has the baby teeth, ahhhh.
Those are stick on ear rings, she got her ears pieced for birthday #8.

Hannah turns #9 today!! Happy Birthday to you Hannah. Some things I love about you are:

* Your pretty blue eyes.

* You don't let anybody talk you into anything.

* You like to make cute stuff! Lots of arts and crafts.

* Good piano player.

* She is a good friend to a lot of people. She always says "I don't have one best friend, I have lots of good friends".

*You are always looking out for you brothers and sister and even Scout (the dog). You will always share with your siblings and treat them nice, even when they might not do the same for you :) (like sharing a treat)

* I'm glad you are my girl Hannah!!

My Dad has always written birthday letters. He did when we were little girls, he does still today, and he even writes birthday letters to his son-in-laws and his grandchildren. That's getting to be a lot of letters. But each one in unique and each one is special. He relives the last year, looks forward to the new year, and teaches wonderful life lessons. We always say, someday we will publish his letters in a book. I really loved his letter to Hannah this year. I always do, but this one really got me. I'll share with you just a little. I remember this lesson from when I was a kid, it's a good one!! "Everyday you have opportunities to decide for yourself on important questions of right and wrong. Decide now where you want to go in the next nine years so that you won't have to decide everyday along the way. Decide to decide." Thanks Dad.

Happy Birthday Hannah Banana, I love you.

Just a sampling of the random thoughts I'm stewing over.

I really just want to bite her. We were over at my neighbor's house yesterday, and Hope was playing with this little princess vanity. She liked it. When you open the heart shaped mirror it plays a little tune and the lights start going. Kellie saw that she loved it, and told me to take it home. She is getting ready for a garage sale, and her girls are getting too old for it, she'd rather a friend take it than sell it for next to nothing to a stranger. I gladly accepted.

The insomnia thing is back in full force. I fall asleep fine, but then wake up in the early morning. I was reading my book at 4 am. Thank heavens for a good book. I was just thinking, worrying, stressing. What's got me going are all the loose ends that need tying up. Worrying about when I'll see my friend Lori again this week (she works), worrying that Scout's shots won't happen. Thinking about the 3 tiered packing that needs to be done. The stuff that gets packed into suitcases that comes with us, the stuff the packers pack, but doesn't go into storage, then all the rest of the stuff that gets stored. For who knows how long. Do I pack the bikes into storage or not??? Not, we'll need those ASAP. Will Scott be able to find all Hayden's little reader books he accidentally packed into the storage unit?? blah blah blah. You get the picture of the craziness going on inside my head. Then I sit there, or lay there, thinking about somebody else living in MY house. I don't like it. I feel possessive. Showering in my shower, opening my doors, flushing my toilet. I'm really kind of jealous actually. How dare they ;)

I'm so out of it today, and fidgety, I can't even do a Sudoku puzzle. Yes, I am a nerd and I like doing those. They keep my mind busy these days, when that's what I need-a little distraction. But, I can't even do those today. So, I blogged... again.

I didn't make the cut!

How's this for a pisser...okay, so remember Josh, my haircutter, who "stopped" cutting hair because he was just so super fabulous and his new product was too (he quit cutting hair to have more time to sell product)? Well, my pal Jennifer and I were in the gym locker room talking about getting our hair cut. We have both had to "find others" to do our hair. She went someplace and has been disappointed with her color and her cut, although I think it looks great. I liked my cut for a little while, but it just doesn't have that little edge. It's too blunt. Whatever. So we are chatting it up at the sink and enter *Kate*. She hears us talking and says, "Oh Josh cuts your hair too" or something like that anyway. Long story short, Josh still cuts her hair!!!! Out of his house!!! She made the cut, and we didn't!! We feel like cheerleaders that didn't make the squad. I told Jennifer I wouldn't buy his stupid product anymore, AND I was putting it on my blog, because that's how mad I was. haha Like he'd care ;) Do you know how many people I referred to him? You know how LONG I had been going to him?? *Kate* has been going to him for 2 years. That's it. We said what does she have that we don't?? Granted I'm leaving, and Jennifer gets her hair cut like every 12 weeks, but still. Don't lie to me man. Don't tell me you aren't taking any "special" clients when you are...taking a handful that is. Now, I'm going on a smear campaign. So, being the mature person that I am, I came home to find his card. To, to, to call him and tell him what I think, or at least to email him. Can't find an email either. His super fabulous website is still a work in progress. So, I placed a little phone call to a lady I know had her hair cut by him to see if she was one of the lucky few and/or to get a phone number. Just to let him know I think he sucks, and I'm not buying his dumb product anymore. :)

Moving on...I do have a hair appointment with somebody different tomorrow. Hopefully, she does a good enough job.

Just a few things I've got my eye on...

Pottery Barn

Love this table and hutch. I SOOOO have the perfect spot for it.
So, in an attempt to stay possitive on the whole, "yes we're moving, but not to our new house-YET" thing...I've decided to put a little spin on it if you will. You see, the new company is paying for our room and board once we move out of our house. SO, that means I'll be saying some $$. Will I save said $$??? Heavens no. I'll be buying up some fur-ni-ture, that's what I'll be doing. I "need" (notice the quotes) a new kitchen table, and well since my current dining room has been converted to a piano room/living room, I need a dining room table as well. I guess I like that Montego collection at the Pottery Barn. Although, Target does have some interesting pieces for a fraction of the cost. Maybe go nice for the dining room, and go cheaper for the kitchen??? Hmmmmm we shall see.

Target version of the Montego circle table. Shown here with the leaf. Not much different than the PB original...well except the price that is.

This table would be perfect in my entry way.

Who the heck is that lady and where is she from?

Hayden asked today, "Can we have a special dinner tonight?"

Me, "For what?"

Hayden, "Mom, today is President's Day!!!!"

Me, "Oh...well...I'll cook...dinner..."

Hayden ..............

Me, (I could tell THAT wasn't going over)"And we'll put out some candles to eat by!"

Hayden, "That's good."

I guess I didn't know President's Day was SUCH a big deal, but for Hayden it is. And so was Ground Hog Day.

Scott made it home Friday morning at about 6:30 AM. Remember, he likes the red-eye flight. He doesn't leave until 5:30 tonight, maybe Hayden is right about Pres. Day :) We did have a great weekend. Hannah had her sleepover birthday party Friday night, and it was better than expected. The girls all got along, the whole night-no fighting! Plus, it was really pretty low key. They played games (we had a speed game tournament), ate lots of pizza and junk, watched movies, I painted finger nails, they had a dance contest....hmmmm what else?? Can't think of anything now, but they had fun.

Hunter had a basketball tournament game, they lost. It was a great game though and they took 4th place in the tournament. And he found out he is now the first chair clarinet player in band. He was feeling pretty good about that.

Hayden (finally) learned to ride his bike. We waited long enough, because he got on and could ride! He could ride about a year ago, but wouldn't. This time he is all over it. He went out this morning before the bus to practice. He got on the seat and said his butt hurt. I'm sure it does. He also lost a front tooth. He told me last night, he "is like a six year old." You know, loosing a tooth AND riding a bike, big stuff. :)

And, I don't want to move. That move date is looming closer and closer and closer, and I can't stop it! How can I possibly move? How can I possibly leave my friends? Neighbors? My house? All the things that are special to me. I feel like a home sick 8 year old that has to call her Mom to pick her up from a sleepover. And believe me, I had to do that a time or two. We are still waiting to hear about the house. People ask me if I'm excited...I always say sure, because they don't want to hear the real answer ;) And I will go out there and be friendly (after all I'm Marleen's daughter AND I've lived in TX for the last 10 years for heavens sake, the people in WA will be wondering who the heck that lady is and where is she from ;) And yes, I will enjoy the weather and it is very pretty there. But...but...but...

age proof your brain

"They" say to keep your mind young, you should challenge it. "Cross train your brain. Do something new every week. It's not enough to do a crossword puzzle daily; you need to shake it up. Find 20 minutes, four times a week to do a variety of mentally stimulating activites. "

• Swich the newspaper that you read.
• Learn a new function on your cell phone.
• Drive a different route to work, even talk to a new person.
• Do Sudoku.
• Play online brain games. Like these.

Anyway, every couple of days I'll do some multiplication facts...just to be crazy ;) Here is a math problem that Hannah brought home today. She needed my help and it took me a few minutes to figure out. I'm sure I was missing some easy basic algebra fix, but I eventually figured it out. So here is to keeping our minds young...doing 3rd grade math. hahahaha. Sad that it took me 5 minutes to figure it out!!

Rosalie and Jenny played a number guessing game. Rosalile thought of 2 numbers and said,
"The sum of the numbers is 43 and the differnece is 9."

What 2 numbers was Rosalie thinking of?

**Give up-comments has the answer.

Diet.com Gym Equipment 101: Bosu Ball Exercise Video

You should always check the weather

I know that, but I don't always do that...check the weather that is. It was hot and muggy this morning, so everyone dressed for hot and muggy. BUT, I found out later, it's supposed to get down to the 30's by tonight. Crazy weather today, Texas style. I went for a run outside at the gym today (I take my cell phone with me and if Hope needs me, the kids club calls me). It's a wonderful thing, and I don't do it enough. After the run, my friend Jennifer and I worked out on the Bosu ball. Another lady came over and showed us some different exercises on it. My lets were shaking. I like that thing, and if my next gym doesn't have one (they better!) I'm going to buy one. Believe it or not, Walgreens.com sells them...for a good price! Go figure.

That's my friend Jennifer, I took a picture of her...J/K ;) I'm sure we looked that good though....

After the gym, Hope and I ran over to Costco. Yippee, they had the laundry sorter I've been wanting. I know I know, it's a laundry sorter, but hey, it's back again, and it had a $10 off coupon! It's just going to stay in the box until we move. Why bother getting it out?? I thought about buying a few, and I still might. I'll have to go scrounge up another coupon.

I'm just full of all kinds of pictures today. Anyway, during the Costco run, it started to rain. And mind you I live in Texas...everything is bigger in Texas, including rain storms. I like a big old fat thunderstorm, just not while I'm inside Costco. By the time we got to the car, Hope and I were drenched, and I still needed gas. Darn. I think I was on fumes, so I really needed gas. Hope giggled the whole way to the car, she loved it. It's 12:30, I showered, and I put my robe back on because I really was chilled to the bone ;)I know I've turned into a whimp. But I must finish getting dressed.

But one more thing, I have seen this bed before, but I saw it again and now it's on sale for $799. How much would my little pirate love this?? I am so tempted. It's solid wood...

Leatherheads

I want to see this movie. With George Clooney and John Krasinski, how could you go wrong.

See a clip here.

Oh my good-ness

Hope LOVES my exercise ball!!


Hope likes to go into rooms and shut the door, then knock on the inside of the door until somebody hears her and opens it. On Friday night I heard a faint little fuss, not really a cry...I go into the boy's room and find Hope at the top of the ladder, like the pictures above. Yikes!!

The kids like to watch Extreme Makeover:Home Edition. I watched a little tonight and it made me cry. Ahhh, I think I'm ready to start my period, and this move is getting to me ;) But I came down from putting Hope to bed,and those are the pieces of work that I found. Hunter in a book cover worn as a...hat-he said he looked like Batman when he pulled it down...hmmmm whatever. And Hannah and of course Hayden...in his undies. I love these pictures of Hope. Just love em, and thought I'd share some of her cuteness with you.

Lazy Sunday that wasn't so lazy

The kids and I just got back from a "nature walk" turned "Momma might as well get some exercise" walk. You know what I mean? We started just lolly gaggy (there's that word again) and it started feeling so good...I started workin' it. By the end we were falling apart though, at one point I had Hayden in the stroller and Hope in my arms. THAT didn't last long. But the whole walk thing was fun while it lasted and I actually burned a few calories while we were at it. I'm putting them all right back on though, by eating dried mangoes. Yummy. I don't know what to cook for dinner tonight. Nothing really sounds good. Well, at least nothing that I have the stuff to make. Hayley just called, and we are now having tacos.

We just got back from another walk/fishing trip to the park. I will not be bored today.

Oh oh oh, another thing that kind of made me laugh...awhile ago I posted about having patience. Specifically, how I have prayed for patience...I had a light bulb moment when I realized, when you pray for "patience" Heavenly Father doesn't "bing" give you more patience...he provides you with lots of opportunities to develope patience. Hence the whole waiting for the house thing. Well, today, I was explaining to someone about the house in WA, and I shared my whole patience experience. I told the person, I couldn't remember where I had heard it, maybe a talk or something. Hunter starts to laugh and says, "Mom you didn't hear that at church you heard it on Evan Almighty"!! Hahahaha, whatever, I don't care where I learned it, I liked it.

Walking to school

I am so amused this morning. So, my neighbor Kellie's kids are slow pokes getting ready in the morning. Like, they get up at a good time and spend the morning lolly gagging (is that really a word) around. She spent (past tense) her morning yelling and getting herself all worked up. UNTIL she bought this book Parenting With Love and Logic. It's all about teaching your kids responsiblity, in a loving, nurturing sort of way. Now, the kids get up and she doesn't interfer. She lets them make their own choices on what to wear, you get the picture. Usually, all has been well. There have been a few close calls with one daughter, but everyone has always made the bus. Not this morning, they both missed it. So, Kellie is sitting there with all of us, "what should I do??" Being the kind hearted soul that I am, I said "the natural consequence for missing the bus, is walking..." So the girls came out, and Kellie said "you missed the bus, get walking". I do enjoy natural consequences for my kids. But I too have noticed I'm having to monitor a little bit more and poke them along. Frustrating!! I am so proud of her, I know it's hard for her to let natural consequences happen, but I am so using her as MY example now. I'm looking, hunting for more natural consequences. So, so, so amused this morning. You should have seen the look on one of the girl's faces. Ahhhh, I know I'm evil, but I can't help it :)

Easy girl, down girl, whoaaaa!!

The Momma tiger is coming out, so watch out. So, tonight Hunter had a makeup basketball game. Long story but Saturday's game was rescheduled for tonight at 8 PM. That sucks. Considering, I'm a single parent right now. So, I got my lovely babysitter Kelsey to come over and watch the kids and put them to bed. All was going well. Hunter's game was very close they were winning/losing back and forth the whole game. Hunter's team has some good ol' Texas rednecks on it, well the parents anyway. There are 2 refs that kind of stink, and we had them tonight. At one point, the dude in charge of this league told our coach that OUR parents needed to chill out. I was just smiling sitting there amused at the Dad sitting by me yelling at his poor son (who was on the other team)"to get movin", and "to act alive, son". Whatever. I should have been paying attention to the dude that was talking/yelling at my own son. This fat, bald jerk was sitting on the other side of the gym. He yelled at Hunter a couple of times to "make better shooting choices" and he told Hunter at one point "he wasn't dribbling good tonight and needed to practice his dribbling skills". EXCUSE ME. Are you my son's coach... I don't think so. Hunter may or may not have been having an off game, he is a hustler on the court and usually is a little star out there...so grrrr. I'm so annoyed right now. He didn't tell me this until we were in the parking lot, in the car. I so will confront this lame-o next time I have the chance. And his son...chubby little kids that does nothing out there. Hello, try coaching your own son, not mine!!
**still no spellcheck.

Orange Rolls

I scanned these from my Lion House Cookbook for Natalie, and thought we might all need to make these. So, good!!! Go check out her blog, she gives pointers.

Is it just me or...

Is your spelling checker working on blogger, or is it just me?? Mine hasn't worked in a few days. HMMMM, just wondering.

Is it really February???

It's HOT here. It's almost 80* and VERY humid. I just have a "thing" about turning the A/C on a)in the winter and b) when I had the heater on just days ago. But I got over it, when I was sweating last night, and I heard the kids upstairs fighting over the one box fan that wasn't packed. Mind you we do have ceiling fans...it just was hot. But since I'm leaving Houston, and all things Texas are now perfect, I'm not complaining...really complaining that is.

Here is a picture of Hope that makes me laugh. She has a thing for Goldfish. This is right out of bed this morning, I did dress her because she pooped through her PJ's (we need bigger diapers :) Anyway, she was annoyed with me because I wouldn't get her some nish (Hope speak for goldfish). At least she wasn't on the ground throwing a fit, like she has started doing lately. I was on the phone with my Dad last night and she didn't get something she wanted and was really "giving it to me", when my Dad commented about "how vocal she is now". Vocal...you got that right!

I really must go shower. I have been busying...having fun today. I need to get ready for Hunter's Honor Band Concert tonight-before everyone makes it home from school. ha BBQ dinner to follow, oh yeah no cooking tonight!

What a fun weekend.

You wouldn't believe all the crap everybody brought up. Blow up mattress, sleeping bags, pillows, food, bags...blah blah blah.
A Madagascar Hissing Cockroach. I didn't touch this, but Hannah did. I did however, touch a Python. I don't really know why I did it, but I did. After I touched it, one other Momma did too. I really do hate snakes, but...I don't know I guess I was just crazy.
Hannah and her friends.

Scott came home this weekend. It's always a good weekend when he comes home. (just a side note, we have one more 2 week stretch without him, then he comes home for the weekend, and then he comes home the next weekend to pack up with us and he is with us for the week until we move out to WA-so the end is in sight!) Anyway, he came home early...Thursday, he was on buisness and just came home instead of going back to WA for a day. It was nice. AND it also made it so I could go with Hannah on a Brownie retreat. All the girls and their Moms went to Moody Gardens and stayed over night at the Rain Forest Pyramid. We slept all together in a big conference room, with lots of blow mattress. It was suprisingly quiet...come midnight. It was only our troop, and the girl were kept very busy, by some Moody Garden workers. All the moms loved it ;) We did go on a walk in the "rain forest". It was cool. Lots off cool animals and plants. We went back hours later for a mid night walk in the rainforest-it was very dark, and we had to use flashlights. Our guide warned us about the cockroaches and mice that come out at night, that we might see. One Mom told a story about a friend that did this midnight walk and had a cockroach fall on her head. Yikes. Anybody that had a hoody on, put it up and tied it. I did. To hear the lady talk I thought we were going to be crunching roaches with every step, but we weren't. We saw only a handful of roaches and NO mice. Hey, I'm from Houston, I have seen a roach or two. They took the girls into another room, for some hands on experience with some other animals. This is where I touched the snake. Very cool. We have free rain in this big building. I kept thinking about how it was like Night at the Museum. Anyway, it was fun. Hannah had a great time, even though I may or may not have "kicked" her off the air mattress in the middle of the night (by accident). I had fun with her and I had fun with some of my friends that went up on the overnighter too. Mommas still like sleepovers too, if it's with the right people.

Hannah just had quite the day. Later that afternoon, she and I went to the mall. She had a birthday party to go to at Little Diva's, it's like Libby Lu's. Then right after that, she got to go with another friend to the Hannah Montana movie. Wow, what a weekend for her. She even managed to squeeze in some Daddy time on Sunday.

Bummer about the Patriots. We wanted them to win. We went to a party and we were in the minority though. But that's, okay. The party was still fun and the food was great too.

Scott left early this morning. Bummer. He just called and said he got "stuck" in coach next to some lady flying back from Florida right out of rehab. He said she was shaking and rocking back and forth the whole time. Nice. AND she kept wanting to talk about it. Anyway, I hear Hope awake from her nap, it's back to buisness.

Finally!

I finally did it, I got new bras! It's been what...a little over a month since I stopped nursing Hope, and let me tell you...I really needed some new bras!! It sure didn't take me but a couples of days to go back to "myself" (aka flat as a board!) Boo-hoo. I usually like to go to Nordstrom's for bra shopping, but the mall closest to me doesn't have a Nordstrom's, so I went to Macy's and let the lady there measure me. I know I've talked about this before, but those people at Nordstrom are something else. Beware, they do come into the fitting room with you. BUT, they get you hooked (haha get it) up with some bras that really fit you. Luckily, I have been educated by Oprah ;) and the Nordstrom lady about what to look for in a bra, and when they do and don't fit. I got a couple of these iBras from Wacoal. LOVE them. So comfy, and so seamless. So, if YOU haven't been measured lately, go get measured. They say you should be measured once a year!! What a difference a good, well fitting bra makes.