Five Minutes Peace

I like these little shoes, or maybe I just like the little toes poking out, but they make me smile anyway. I didn't get to Costco like I had wanted, Hope was up early this morning and was ready for a nap...that she never REALLY took until this afternoon. So I kind of farted the morning away waiting for that. But we did get some cleaning done. My kids hate to vacuum unless I get out the little mini vac and then they are all over it. Go figure. We got all kinds of dust bunnies and dog hair balls cleaned up this morning.

We made it to the gym today for that class at noon. OH MY GOSH, I'm going to be so sore tomorrow. She changed the workout up, so it was all different. But I HIT it, I want some "cut arms", but I will settle for arms that don't jiggle. Probably a little more realistic right now :) But the teacher talked a lot about how important weight training is, and it got me fired up. (She competes in weightlifting competitions...not big and ugly, just very fit and cut).

Scott came home and took the big kids to Hunter's batting practice. Not the most exciting of places, but they were excited to get Daddy time and I was excited for them to go :). Have you ever read that book called Five Minutes Peace? It's a children's book about a Mama elephant that can't get five minutes of peace in for herself. She keeps trying though....that's about how I felt today. You should check it out, it's cute.

You've got to LOVE Jack Johnson

Yesterday was a good day, full of good times. It started with all of us making our way to the Old Navy by our house. You see, this weekend we are doing the unimaginable...getting our family pictures taken. We had our family pictures taken (at Sears nothing too fancy) right after Hope was born. That is so NOT a good time to have your picture taken. The lady had me sitting on the floor holding the baby, my back was hurting and my jelly tummy was still oozing over my skirt. Needless to say, those pictures aren't hanging up anywhere. I love Old Navy, you can buy a big bag of stuff for $100!

I don't know what I was thinking, but in a momentary lapse of judgement I bought the boys a Nerf dart gun. I'm not sure what the bigger mistake was, only buying one, or buying it in the first place. hahaha. They do love that thing, but it had to spend a "few" minutes in time out because it kept finding it's way to people's faces....Ooops. It was all done "on accident" ...I was told anyway :).

Later in the afternoon we headed over to Lifetime pool for the first time of the season. We went with the Dollars who have kids the same age and sex as ours (minus Hope). You've got to love that everybody has a friend including the Mom. It was Hope's first time in the pool and she LOVED it. I had to tie her hat down because she kept wanting to take it off. With the hat and sunscreen she was protected just fine from the hot Houston sun. Actually, yesterday was quite pleasant, with a nice breeze. She would be all over the baby boat, but I don't think Lifetime let's you bring in your own floaties, too bad. She liked sitting there splashing just fine though.

After that it was baseball practice for Hayden. I was very torn...Hope had only been asleep for 45 minutes and it was raining. You'd think that was a deal breaker right there, right? Normally yes, but yesterday was picture day. They were meeting even if it was just under the pavilion to take pictures. So, I woke up sleepy Hope and we were all off. I mention this BECAUSE of something kind of "curious". Hope really likes a certain song on the Jack Johnson Curious George CD... it's Upside Down. She can be screaming her head off and I play that song and she is quiet. When we were in the car forever, TRYING to go to the drive-in the other weekend, we listened to that song like 10 times. If she is fussing she will be quiet as long as that song is on, as soon (I mean the second) it's over she fusses. We got a kick out of that again yesterday on the way home from baseball. You've got to love Jack Johnson!!

Let me introduce my husband Scott!

This is Scott on the day we brought Hope from the hospital.

Here is Scott on Hope's blessing day.

Scott in Barcelona, Spain.

The types of pictures Scott takes in Barcelona, Spain....hmmmmm.

Scott said he was feeling left out of my blog, well we just can't have that now, can we?? Especially with Father's Day right around the corner and all.

Scott was born in Stillwater, OK. He worked as an "assistant to the manager" for Jack Griffiths convenience store during his college years at OSU. He LOVES to wear the orange and black. He doesn't hire anybody to mow his yard in the HOT Texas summers because "he likes to do his own yard"!! He currently works at HP and is in Marketing. Scott loves the shows Arrested Developement, Lost and The Office. He jams up our hard drive on our DVR because he records them and likes to re-watch them over....and over...and over. The kids will sometimes say they have to hide some "good food" (like fun snacks or treats) because Dad will eat them all. hehe. A few years back Scott started taking spinning classes to help train for marathons and triatholons. Like a typical man, he said "if I'm going to take these classes I might as well get paid for them". So he teaches a few spinning classes a week, enough to get my membership free and is the Running Club Coordinator at Lifetime Fitness. Go Scottie. Oh yeah, he is now quite the toilet repairman too. He was fixing the leaky toilet only to tighten a bolt too tightly and crack the bowl. He fixed it. I'm so proud. :)

Do you check the pant pockets before you do the wash?

Gosh, don't you just hate it when you don't "listen". I was prompted to check Scott's pant pockets this morning when I was doing some laundry. I did check a couple pairs, but NOT all. I wasn't sure if I was being "prompted" because I was washing a favorite shirt of mine with some of his pants. I've been burned before (pen vs favorite shirt the shirt didn't win), or if there really was a reason. There really was a reason. I was almost at the gym when Scott calls and says he can't find a little USB memory stick...have I seen it. I say no, but I'm probably washing it right now!! Moral of the story:when you are prompted to do something DO IT!! I am amazed at how many "little" things I am prompted to do in a given day/week. It seems I don't remember them if I'm prompted and I listen, but it's a tough lesson when I am prompted and I don't listen. Hopefully, the memory stick will still work...it's been washed before :).


Oh, and speaking of laundry, Holly put in a link (a few weeks ago in her blog) to a new mag called Organize. I was checking it out...look for the little article on the laundry room. I sooo want to put a counter in over my washer and dryer just like they have. How handy is that!! I love all those cubbies too.

Have you ever wondered...

Have you ever wondered how we can all have pretty much the same facial features and still all look so different? Well, I have. I know my brain works differently than most though (I'm left handed I think that's part of my issue). But anyway...my allergies are so bad right now...my nose is so inflamed and irritated...that my nose is swollen...it's kind of big and bulbous. I look like a different person. It's just the smallest of changes, but still different. My nose hurts on the inside. Does anyone else suffer? I'm on the hunt for a netti pot, but nobody seems to carry them. Everyone I ask has heard of them, but nobody has them. How helpful. My friend Jennifer has even bought one around here, but I can't seem to locate one. I should have ordered it online a week ago and it would have been here by now. Is Claratin okay to take while nursing? I thought I'd ask you guys, chances are I'll here from one of you before the nurse calls back. haha..

Okay, so I don't look as bad as Elmo.

This just in from Hunter: "I know I'm not done with my jobs yet Mom (he has stopped the vacuum to tell me this) but I just figured something out...if you don't keep pushing something off that you don't want to do, but just do it, you don't waste the entire day thinking about it. It actually goes very fast." Thanks Hunter I needed that. Because I didn't get my bathrooms cleaned yesterday, I have a mountain of laundry to fold and more to finish washing, the kitchen is a disaster area... and I don't feel like doing ANY of it. So, I will take my 10 1/2 year olds advice and just jump right in there. Bye for now.

Happy Memorial Day to you!

Hannah woke up this morning and said "it feels like a Saturday". Yes, it does, but so did last Friday for that matter. I think we are in for a bunch of "Saturday"s until summer starts to feel normal. Speaking of Hannah, she did/said something that was funny (I'm not supposed to say) and after "it" happened she said "you aren't going to put that on blog are you?" That's how she said it and I thought it was funny...she is figuring me out!

I was at the gym this morning and they had CNN (i think) on one of the big TVs. On the screen they were flashing some of our honored dead..remembering them on Memorial Day. So, I included a link for Memorial Day. It has some interesting things on there. A lot of times, for me, Memorial Day has meant pool party in the neighborhood, or picnic over at some friends. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I couldn't help feeling a little humbled as those pictures were flashing up. One kid was from Clinton, UT...probably a good old Mormon boy. Another man was Scott's age. He was probably a husband and father. I just wanted to pause for a minute and say how thankful I am for their sacrifice.

Lemon Sandwich Cookies

These are some seriously good cookies, IF you like lemon. I'm thinking about taking them to a picnic later.

Lemon Sandwich Cookies

16 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (from 1 lemon)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups flour

2 tablespoons sugar, for sprinkling

Creamy Lemon filling (see below)

1)Preheat oven to 350*. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter, confectioners' sugar, lemon zest, and salt until combined. With mixer on low, add flour (dough will still be stiff); finish mixing with a wooden spoon.

2) Turn dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap; pat into a disk about 1/2 inch think. Wrap, and chill until firm, about 1 hour (up to 3 days).

3) Unwrap dough; place on a lightly floured piece of parchment or waxed paper. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough about 1/8 inch thick (if dough cracks, let it warm up slightly).

4) Cut out cookies with a 1 1/2 inch round cutter (re-roll scraps once, chilling if too soft). Place 1 inch apart on two baking sheets; sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake until barely beginning to brown, 15 to 20 minutes; transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

5) Form sandwiches: Place about 1 teaspoon Creamy Lemon filling between two cookies, sugared sides facing out; squeeze gently.

Creamy Lemon Filling

4 ounces bar cream cheese, room temperature

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (from 1 lemon)

1 to 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

In a small bowl, mix cream cheese and zest until smooth. Gradually add 1 cup confectioners' sugar, mixing until smooth. Mix in remaining sugar as necessary to create a firm but spreadable filling.

Sibling Bonds.

Having brothers and sisters CAN be a great thing. Hannah was so excited to find out I was pregnant...and to think it could be a girl. Oh was she excited to learn she was finally going to have a sister. The bond there is pretty cute. Although, at about 1-2 months into the new sister thing...she might have wondered once of twice...what the heck? I have to share the princess crown :) All is well and lately I have noticed Hannah taking Hope up to her room for "sister time". I have peeked in on them and it's pretty cute seeing Hope on Hannah's bed and the two of them just "talking". Hope likes Hannah's stuffed animals and Hannah can't wait to paint her toe nails. Oh and when that girl gets some hair...watch out!!

And then of course the boys. I love to see Hunter and Hayden playing castle. Hunter does it "to make Hayden happy", but I know he loves it. I was down on my foam roller this morning (daily little routine I have to do for my back so I can MOVE) and the boys came down with my exercise band and 5 lb weights. Hayden said, "we are going to do some exercises here". They proceeded to do a little workout so they can be "really strong". I was amused to see the types of things they were doing. Mostly Hayden who didn't have a clue, but was just having fun being with his brother. I had fun showing Hunter the finer points of a "dip".

Just so you don't think it's always fun fun fun around here...all kids were sent to their separate corners earlier for fighting. "All of you need to go read your books in SEPARATE rooms!!" Luckily, the good times out weigh the bad.

It's a girl, by the way!

So when my beloved neighbor Maria moved (hi Maria) to Austin...we got new neighbors...amazing right? Well, we really didn't get to know Sylvia and Cedric very well until the last few months. See, they are French and have no children...blah blah blah. Anyway, Sylvia is now pregnant and is as chatty as ever whenever I'm out with the baby. So, anyway my neighbor Michelle went over to her house several weeks ago and said, "Hey, Heather and I would like to give you a shower." There was a blank stare from Sylvia. So, Michelle repeated herself thinking Sylvia had not heard her. Sylvia says, "you want to come to my house and take a shower?" "No no. We want you to come to my house and give you a BABY SHOWER!" "...you want me to come to your house and give the baby a shower?" "NO NO"! It goes back and forth for a couple of minutes, until finally Sylvia just says she will get back with Michelle. Poor Sylvia had no idea what a shower was. But after a couple of days, she figured it out or somebody clued her in because she was all excited about the "baby shower". So today was the baby shower. Just a few neighbors, Sylvia and Sylvia's Mother. We kept it low key, food and presents, no crazy games like what kind of baby food is it smeared in a baby diaper. We didn't want to scare them anymore.

But Sylvia has me a little stressed out. She has NO idea about babies. She is as sweet as can be, but totally clueless. That and the fact that everything is different here in America when it comes to baby stuff. I told her I'd go shopping with her anytime. So...the real reason for this blog. Comment on some of your most favorite baby items. They have nothing (as far as baby goes)and don't know anything about anything. We are starting from square one. Think about some of your essential baby things...things you couldn't live without that I might suggest for her. You guys have so many good ideas about so many things.

Hours later...

Hours later...the beast has been calmed. I tell you what...this house is looking dang good. Well it looked good for 5 minutes. The kids have been playing around, so no telling what it's like now. But the piles did go away. I must set the expectations high, or this is going to be one long summer. I am a firm believer in kids helping out and pulling their share. Even little Hope has her list of jobs. No I'm just kidding, but she will...when she can walk. ;)

Scott sent me a You-Tube link today, that was quite amusing. The Rosie and Elisabeth feud on The View. Rosie just bugs me. I stopped loving her when she beat up Tom Selleck on her old show. I was watching The View right after I had Hope and found Rosie somewhat amusing. Then she started bugging me and I stopped watching. Now she is just way too high on her soap box!

I want to go take a nap!! But alas I can not. I'll have to settle for a little book reading before Hope wakes up and I have to take the gang to the grocery store. Oh my!

The frustrations of a compulsive Mother!!!!!!

At the present moment I have 3 of my 4 kids crying/yelling/throwing a fit. It's so nice. Hunter would be too if he were home, just give him time. This last week, my children have thought putting away their crap meant hiding it in closets, under beds and it corners. The ugly Mama came out this morning. I went around to every room in the house and cleared piles. Well, I "cleared" them to the middle of their bedrooms, just so they know "what" it is I want them to clean up. There is no GRAY area here. it's pretty cut and dry. This is an example of "one tracking" at it's finest, right Holly, Hayley, Mom???

Let the good times roll!

Today is the last day of school for the kids. After this, I will have a 6th grader, a 3rd grader AND a kindergartner!! All three of those seem like BIG years to me.

Once the kids hit kindergarten it's like warp speed ahead. Hunter seriously was just in kindergarten yesterday. I can't believe he is going to 6th grade. Hannah...where did her little babyhood even go? She grew up the fastest to me. Hayden...he seemed to stay little the longest (I'm not sure about Hope yet), but he actually stayed small for so long that helped. For being so "solid" now and down right chunky as a little toddler, he was a skinny little one year old. I was producing skim milk I guess.

I know my Mom and Dad have warned me that the kids will grow up sOOo fast, and I listened and I knew they would. But now that it's actually happening, I just can't believe it. I would love to freeze them all right now where they are. Well, maybe not freeze them, but pause them anyway. I feel like I'm in a really good place right now, they all make me crazy sometimes, but boy can they make me laugh too. Hunter likes that show The King of Cars. It's all about a HUGE used car dealership in Las Vegas. Anyway, we all have a bunch of after school parties we have been invited to. Hunter said to us last night he "is working a two car deal". Translation, he plans on attending two parties in one day and he was figuring out just how to go about that. Little Hannah Banana sang with a group of her friends yesterday in music "You've Had a Bad Day" that might not be the name, but it's the song they used to sing when you got kicked off of American Idol. Come on you know it. Anyway, to see her practicing and acting all grown up like. She has always been my little Jekyll and Hyde. I have NO idea where she gets that from :). Hayden...well Hayden is a laugh a minute. Yesterday he got busted for peeing in the outside dog water bowl. Makes me wonder how many times THAT's happened.

I made two really good dinners this week. Both came from that Kraft magazine I was talking about before. But just in case...I have provided links to Greek Isles Pasta Salad which I made with Greek Chicken Kabobs. Seriously, soooo good. Then another one...I made this last night and it was divine!!! Grilled Bruschetta Chicken...I served this with oven roasted veggies like asparagus, cut squash, red pepper, red onion with a little olive oil and kosher salt. My cooking guru friend Michelle turned me on to kosher salt. It makes everything taste better. Both nights everybody ate dinner and liked it...no complaints. Well, some complained about the "green stuff" on last night's chicken, but tried it and LOVED it. Those two dinners have been added to the file of keepers.

Laundry Mountain

Hannah outside waiting or the bus this morning. Today were class picnics. She wore her t-shirt for everybody to sign. I went, it was very humid but not SOOO bad because it's not too hot yet. I wanted some pizza, but they didn't have enough for the piggy adults.

I love this view of Hope sucking her thumb. This is what I see when I hold her.

Hayden just being Hayden. I took these yesterday after his haircut.

Hunter and Hope last week at Hunter's field day. He ran right up to me when he saw me and held her the whole time. He was so cute with his little sister. If only he'd be that nice to Hannah :)!!!!

The amount of laundry these people mass produce is unbelievable!! This picture was taken this morning "just" a couple loads of towels here. I moved on from there and did all of Scott's and my laundry. If you slack on the laundry even for a day you pay. Kid clothes tomorrow. At least Hoper is finished with the diarrhea :) that was not so fun keeping up with her loads. She was throwing me off my groove.

Some books I bought today at Barnes and Noble: The Road and Water For Elephants. I'm going to go read one of those books right now in fact.

Body+Soul

Last night I finished my book The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Good book. Since I have to read something right before I go to bed, I picked up a new magazine (to me) called Body+Soul. My older sister recommended it to me. There were a few things that spoke to me and I'd thought I'd share them with you.

The first thing was the article on spring cleaning, here is the part of the article that really hit home to me. Clutter drives me crazy and right now my house has clutter so I feel kind of crazy. I'm constantly driving my family nuts, when I decide things are clutter and they feel differently. Ooops!

"Clear ClutterThere's a reason that yoga studios and meditation rooms are often frills-free spaces. When you're surrounded by stuff, it's easy to get distracted. Likewise, it's hard to see your home as an oasis when you're constantly tripping over piles of clothing or teetering stacks of magazines. "If you have physical clutter, you have mental clutter," says Kathleen Cox, author of the forthcoming book "Space Matters" and a longtime practitioner of vastu (an Indian philosophy of harmonizing spaces). How does she decide what to toss? "If it doesn't celebrate who you are and what you love, or doesn't serve a utilitarian purpose, it's clutter," she says. Donate, sell, or recycle it."

The second thing that hit home was the article on destressing your day.

I love this stretch-it is a nice way to relax and stretch at the same time.

One of the last things, is a way of thinking about maintaining a healthy body weight that I really try and live by. Nothing fancy, just good old common sense. It's a hard to see, but I had to get fancy with scanning and cropping with Picassa. I couldn't find it on the web-site to link up.

Are you SURE you brushed your teeth this morning??

The new composting bin, don't worry it's going outside. It's rather large, isn't it.

I have been having so much fun reading everyone else's blog this morning and commenting I haven't written my own! Well that and, I wasted about a half hour going to the gym this morning, yes wasted. BECAUSE when I got there, they were closing the Lifetime Kid Club doors!!! Somebody had lice and they had to "fumigate" Probably just cleaning the carpets, but I'll pretend they were going to do a whole lot more! So I got there only to drive right back home.

We did come home and go to the park though, so the morning wasn't all wasted. Hayden rode his bike there. I kept thinking he was a little slow, but whatever. About half way there he complains his legs really hurt and they are very tired. It's then that I look down at his tires and notice they are FLAT. Then I remember how on Friday he was poking a little twig at his tires and I kept hearing the air escape. I told him not to, but he did it a couple times after that. You have got to love natural consequences. He had to finish the ride to the park and then ride it back home. I guess he won't be letting the air out of his tires anymore.

So, I amused myself outside this morning on the bus stop, now stop Hayley, this is not dirty. No really, I started laughing because my neighbor Kellie was saying bye to her little 2nd grader Katie and said "Now Katie be a good girl and don't drive Mrs. Plumlee crazy!" It reminded me of last night when Hayden was taking a bath and I said, "Wow that was a very fast bath...did you clean your butt?" Oh the things that we say to our children. "Hayden do not pick your nose and eat it!" "Are you sure you brushed your teeth this morning, what is that fuzz up there on the top row?" This could be a funny list to get going: the crazy, dumb, silly, sometimes obvious things we find coming out of our mouths as mothers and yes sometimes as wives too. Unfortunately. For instance, we were in the car going to church on Sunday, right on time :) and Scott had put the car into reverse, but was taking FOREVER to get moving. So I said "Come on let's go"!! He got annoyed with me and said "you are saying the obvious...I am going..." But he wasn't. Or how about...don't poke your tire, you will let all the air out and then Mommy will forget to pump air in and you will have to ride a flat tire to and from the park!!

Oh yeah I almost forgot, I got my composting bin at Costco on Friday. Good deal, it was only $35. They can run up to like $200, so I was happy. Then if it doesn't work out...I'm not out a ton of $$. I set the thing up this morning and was somewhat amused with the size of the bin in relation to the size of the "stuff" I had to put into this morning. It's going to take forever!

In the long run, what will they remember?

I just got finished reading my sister Holly's blog and article she posted this morning and it got me thinking. About what's really important in life. I know I sometimes get caught up in the day to day activities in life and can loose sight of what's really important. In the long run, I'm not going to remember and be bothered that the kids dropped their backpacks on the floor instead of putting them on the hook like they were supposed to. But maybe they will remember when I took the time to flash flash cards and go over spelling words with them. In the long run it won't matter that just about every night I had to remind somebody to put away their dirty clothes or hang up their towel. But maybe they will remember how nicely I asked them to do it, or they'll remember those night time stories that were read. Maybe they won't remember the "few" times I was "a little" grumpy during those last 15 minutes before we left for church! In the long run they won't remember that we waited last night for an hour in a line of cars 3 miles long...only to get to the drive-in movie gate to be told they were full. Maybe they will remember that we came home and had our own "movie night" on our floor with ALL those blankets and junk food, and watched Shrek 1, again. Go read that article Holly posted called Behold Your Little Ones, it got my Sunday off on the right foot.

The party is sadly ending

Well it's finally happening...my boobs are shrinking! It was so nice to have a chest again, I "almost" forgot what it was like to be flat chested. You see before getting pregnant I had been running marathons and I was pretty flat. It hasn't always been that way...before children I was a "C". You know how it is...you nurse a couple kids and that's it!! But I got pregnant with Hope and something magical happened. Let me tell you a story. It was last summer, we were in Chicago on vacation and my Mom and I went to Nordstroms to bra shop. It was right after Oprah did her bra show and I needed a new one. I was still cramming myself into my pre-pregnant "A". Have you ever been fitted for a bra by a professional? I highly recommend it! So the lady comes in and eyeballs me and says "What size were you wearing?" I tell her and she says "you are definitely in the wrong size...I think you are a D!!! I busted out laughing. My Mom busted out laughing...I said there is NO WAY I'm a D. (Remember I was barely an A). But in deed I was. She had me try on several just to prove it. I was so overjoyed and amused that I called my friend Jennifer...way back in Houston...on my cell phone...from Nordstroms just to share the good news. Well, the good times are ending. My larger sports bras were all dirty so I had to reach for one of the smaller ones this morning on my way to the gym...and it fit. Bummer. I guess that's what nursing four babies does to you. Among other things. On a happier note, we are off tonight to go see Shrek 3 at the drive-in. I have just spent $35 on junk food, so I'm excited. I got all our favorites: Mike and Ikes, peanut M&Ms, Twizzlers, Swedish Fish, roasted almonds, Orville Redenbacher's Movie Theater Popcorn, Chex Mix, oh yeah and diapers too. Yum...do I have to wait to open the treats?

My new son Larry

On the way to preschool this morning...
Hayden: Mom when I get older can I change my name?
Me: Well, yeah if you really want to.
Hayden: Well, I am going to change my name.
Me: You are? What name are you going to change it to?
Hayden: Larry.
Me: Oh...

Hayden has been a chronic nose picker for most of his young life. I used to be rather bothered by it, but now...well I'm used to it. That and... well my allergies have been really bad this year, and I well, kind of want to pick my nose too. Poor kid has allergies. I finally mentioned this to the doctor and he is on Claratin, and guess what? the picking has gone down dramatically- go figure.

I was on the phone yesterday with my sister, when I get a knock at the door. It's my good old neighbor Chase (chef extraordinaire) I have mentioned him before. Anyway, he has an aquarium, those little fish tank rocks, a bottle of food and some other little bottle (all brand new, mind you). I say, what'cha got there? He says "I've got all the stuff for Hayden's new turtle!" Oh new turtle...He (Chase!!) is so excited he can't hardly stand it..."come here Hayden let's put this together and we will put your new turtle inside". Of course Hayden is all excited too. I didn't have the heart to scrunch the idea, but what I wanted to say is I don't want a turtle! Chase went on talking about how his daughter has a new turtle too and they can play together. He found two little turtles and thought Hayden needed one too. Sweet, right?... So, we are now the proud new owners of Myrtle the Turtle...aka Luke.

Oh my dog made me so mad last night. Hunter had baseball practice so he wasn't home when we ate. We had a nice meal of salmon and this yummy rice and some other stuff. Anyway, I fixed Hunter a plate and left it on the table. My bad. I went upstairs to give Hope a bath and came down and the plate was still on the table, but it was licked clean!!! Oh that dog is too deaf to hear me, he sleeps most of the day away on the tile, and has pooped and peed in the house in the last couple of weeks, but boy where there is food involved he is young and spry.

I won't be winning "yard on the month" but...

I had to plant all of that!

The flowers will look so pretty when they grow a little bit!

The best part of this pot is I can forget to water it!

Today I woke up and it was a beautiful day. I got the big kids off to school and decided TODAY was the day. For what you might ask?? Well for planting flowers of course. WAY back in March I finally got Scott to pull the bushes that I've always hated (since the first time I had to prune them) in our front flower beds. We yanked everything out and put down humus, top soil and replanted some compact, low maintenance bushes. I left a nice row for some annuals which I have been meaning to plant...it just never happened. Until today. It was the perfect day outside- high of 81* low of 54*! So, without even doing morning dishes... Hayden, Hope and I loaded up and went to the nursery. I got 6 flats of vincas and supplies for a succulent garden pot, and I spent the next 2 hours planting. Then it was time to rush off to my favorite class of the week, Total Conditioning. When I got home it was time to sit down and blog, but my visiting teachers showed up. It was scheduled I just forgot! Dang and I hadn't done those dishes yet.

I'm glad to report the dishes have been done, although you wouldn't know it now after the "after-school rush". Anyway, I get this free little publication called Food and Family. It is part commercial for Kraft Foods and part recipe magazine. Anyway, it's fun and there are some easy, surprisingly good recipes I have found in there and wanted to share with you. Look on page 12 if you have it...so-easy ice cream cake. If I had the supplies I would have made it and eaten it already. You might already get it in the mail, but this is some "junk mail" that's worth getting!
I'm off to go finish dinner, salmon and Basmanti rice medley from Costco.

Enjoy the ride!

I had a "moment" today at the gym. All the stars aligned and I was able to go to a spinning class. Oh it felt so good I got that endorphin rush...maybe I'm high...I don't know. I feel like a whole side of me is waking back up. It's not just being able to go to a spinning class when I wanted, it's about a little freedom again. It's like when a part of you has been asleep and you didn't really realize it was sleeping until it starts getting that prickly feeling again. Then I came home and read Holly's blog for the day and that all fit in perfectly with what I was thinking. I do get a little rush sometimes just putting on some cute clothes (even if the "cute clothes" are just a new pair of Old Navy shorts and a cute T-shirt), makeup and doing my hair and flinging a new purse. Oh the healing powers of a new Coach bag. Sometimes nobody but Scott, the kids or a few friends see me, but I see me and it feels good to feel like myself again. What started it this morning was...I was walking into the gym and saw a sign on the door about the yoga class @8:30am was going to be poolside. OOOOh I thought, that sounds fun. Too late today, but another day. I feel possibilities again. I had another "moment" on Sunday when it hit me Hope is getting big, I felt sad inside, but now today...maybe it's a good thing. It's going to happen whether I like it or not. Sooo, I might as well look on the bright side of things and just enjoy the ride.

Something is wrong...I'm not watching Oprah!

Last night I made an attempt to go to Enrichment. I haven't been in 2 or 3 times...and since they are only doing it every few months...well I haven't been so good. Scott isn't home, so I had to drag everybody up there, but I figured I needed "enriching". Well, it was fun for about 20 minutes, chatting with the "ladies". But after that Enrichment didn't feel so "enriching". Hope wanted to be in bed, NOT at church. So I lasted through dinner and then I was all enriched out.

Plus, I had some TV to catch up on! My blogging has filled my "extra" time and my TV viewing has been severely limited. What's up with that? I haven't watched Oprah in weeks. I have even started deleting Oprahs WITHOUT having viewed them. I like Oprah, that should be on my column TV shows I enjoy. I just had to watch American Idol. Does anybody else watch it or is it just Scott and I? Jennifer, I know you watch. I want Melinda to win...she is the best...but I'd like to see Blake go to the final. Jordin kind of bugs me, I know hard to imagine, NOBODY ever BUGS me. I also enjoy Ellen, another show that I haven't been watching lately. You have got to love the DVR though. You can blow through a show in no time flat. I did watch Ellen last night and it was a good one. It's all about going green. My goal for the day is to finally order some reusable shopping bags. Go check out the Ellen link.

When I was at the gym yesterday, I saw one of my gym friends. She had a baby 3 weeks after I had Hope. So, we were chatting...and she just mentions she MIGHT be pregnant again...like a few months she said. I just kind of looked at her and thought you don't know yet??? She said she went to the store to buy a test and forgot it! I don't know about you, but I wouldn't have forgotten THAT test. I'd be (or Scott would be) at the 24 hour Walgreens in a hurry if I even thought there was a chance. WOW! I mentally put myself in her shoes and I didn't like the way those shoes fit! I can't wait to see her again...I might have to be a gym stalker.

Well, all my neighbors love me. Three families right around us have all gotten the bug. Oh I know it's probably not from us, but we are getting blamed. Ooops.

The Hummer and Cici's Pizza

So, Hunter had fun yesterday in his limo ride. All 23 5th graders rode over to Cici's for lunch...@ 10:45! Just what I want for brunch. He said it had purple leather interior with neon purple cup holders, and all kinds of neon signage. He even managed to scarf down a piece of pizza. I was truly shocked and amazed that he lasted the day...where there is a will there is a way, right? Pretty fun though.

Hope "spit up" all over my Old Navy shorts this morning. That's what I'm calling it anyway...spitting up! But anyway, has everybody been shopping the "Old Navy" for Bermuda shorts this summer. They have some cute ones. I have stocked up, because you never know if long short will be "in" next summer. "I love it I love it I love it" (still have SNL on the brain...Molly Shannon).

I'm off to the library today, after the gym for a quick workout. My glutes are feeling it this morning. I did manage a little ab workout yesterday, but no push ups. I'll have to make up for that today. Some books my kids are loving right now are: Scooby-Doo readers (a must for Hayden-I read a couple a day to him...at least he has moved on from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle books uhhhh those were torture), Nancy Drew Notebooks (these are pretty easy for Hannah and she can whip one out in a sitting, but she LOVES to read them), Left Behind series and the Redwall series (Hunter is in the middle of both of these series), you have got to read the Skippyjon Jones books to your kids-they are funny-Hayley introduced us to these books in December when she was here.

Well, I'm off for now.

Happy Graduation Hayden

Hayden all ready for pre-school graduation.

On the way there...everybody still being nice.

What? No cap and gown? They had a cute singing program in the "sanctuary" before they graduated. Scott, don't worry I video taped it ALL. :)

Last week of pre-school. The bigger kids still have next week. Am I ready for summer? Ask Hunter...he had to walk two blocks home for being mean to his sister...I was done...past my bedtime. Next time maybe I'll have his attention better when I say "If you don't stop being mean I'm going to pull this car over and you can walk home." The nice thing about blogging is sometimes when we forget how cute and nice our kids are, we can go read about it.

I'm starving...

Well, everybody went off to school today. It's 11:10 and I haven't gotten any calls from any of the school nurses. That's a good sign. Hunter was GOING to school. He wanted in on that limo ride. He said he'd pass on the the pizza though. Understandable.

It felt great to get a work-out in today. I jumped on a spinning bike and did my own thing this morning, then about 10 minutes of walking lunges and one legged squats. I'm sure my body is wondering what's up?? so I didn't want to over do it. Later I'll try some ab stuff and maybe a push up or two. We'll see.

Did anybody catch that Saturday Night Live special that was on LAST weekend? They highlighted a bunch of FUNNY skits by Chris Farley, David Spade, Will Farrell, Adam Sandler...all of the funny ones. It was so amusing. I'm thinking about it today because of one that I saw with Farley, Spade and Sandler. The one where they are dressed like girls at a little restaurant. They are munching on some fries and Farley is taking more than his share. David Spade says something like "Aren't you supposed to be on a diet?" Chris Farley answers back "Shut up I'm starving!" That's how I feel today. Is it lunch time yet? I'm starving.

Scott is in London now. I haven't heard from him yet, so I'm taking that as a good sign as far as getting sick and all. I was doing my little stretching routine last night thinking...the kids had been in bed since 8 ish. I have been married a long time!! Scott and I will be married 16 years this year. I think I started thinking about that because my sister mentioned in her blog she had been married 11 years. I read that and thought NOOOO, she can't be. But then I reminded myself that I've been married 15 going on 16 years! How can that be? I just don't know where the years go. I remember decorating the garage door with a BIG sign we made for my parents when they celebrated their 16th wedding anniversary. This year I will turn 35, I still think of myself as 25. What's really crazy is in a few years I will reach that point in life where I have been married as long as I haven't been married. Wow.

Anyway, it's lunchtime and I'm starving.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to you. I have had a very nice day. I got woken up :) with breakfast in bed. It was delicious french toast on thick Texas toast! yum! Scottie did a good thing and I got a pretty new coach bag. This Mom was a happy girl. The kids each made nice cards for me. Hunter and Hannah made cute little books at school too. It's nice to hear they appreciate the little things like doing homework together and keeping the house clean. And they like my homemade pizza. Hayden made a wall hanging and he wants to know where we are going to hang it up!!! I feel loved today and hope you are having a nice day too.

One of the best things though is I got to stay in bed and read my book and take a nap at 8:00 AM. So today I appreciate late church. Hunter had to give a scripture today in sacrament meeting so everybody was there. We did leave after sacrament because Hunter started to look red and he complained his stomach hurt...yep Hunter has it now too. I really hope it's an abbreviated version though. Tomorrow is a special field trip to Cici's Pizza in a limo for kids that got a certain number of accelerated reading points. That would really stink if he missed that. He has only been talking about it since the first day of school.

I have really enjoyed my baby Hope. Not that I didn't enjoy the other babies, because I really did. But with her I find it easier to say no to things. I try not to do a million things while I nurse her. It's so nice to say, I can't do that right now I'm feeding that baby...give me a second. I have enjoyed her being in a little onsie this week so I can pinch and kiss her chubby legs. I was in my bathroom this morning while she was nursing and I looked at her in the mirror. She is getting big. She just looked so long and she kept detaching from me and looking at Hannah to laugh. So sweet, but so big. So, I might be creating a "piece of work" but I don't care, I'm going to enjoy that little piece of work.

Oh the things to be thankful for!

Hannah was the next soldier to fall. She has been such a pleasant sick child if there was ever such a thing. But she has been a trooper. She weighs about the same as Hayden so she doesn't have much to give up, but she did just came down for some chicken noodle soup (she had all of one bite before she was full).

Scott is getting concerned...tomorrow evening he is supposed to board the plane for London. Can you imagine anything worse than being SO sick on a 10 hour flight??? No bed, no comfy sheets and jammies, and no clean toilet. Oh, and the looks you would get from the other passengers. His plan is to fill my Phenergan prescription and take some Imodium with him-just in case.

Hunter has another baseball tournament today. I wish I could be there to watch. He is playing short stop and there is always lots of good action to watch when he plays there. Oh well. The sun and my queasy stomach...not a good combo.

Oh the things to be thankful for: chicken noodle soup (Jennifer's homemade and Campbell's!), Gatorade, Club crackers and saltine crackers (big difference when that's all you have been eating), Mott's Healthy Harvest Granny Smith Applesauce (who knew you could even buy applesauce on amazon!) I love the tartness of the granny smith apples-again big news when you are on the B.R.A.T.S. diet, Circle E. Candles (I love my bird of paradise scented one) great for knocking out some stink, naps!! when I put Hope down I'm taking one, and last but NOT least... for not giving into my Taco Bell craving...who knew there would be "part two"??

Go Figure!

This is Hayden asleep on the couch tonight. He spent his day here, poor kid. He wanted those sheets because they are "comfy". Those are his favorite PJ's. It's hot here now...the A/C is on but that's what he put on...Christmas jammies. Tomorrow will be a better day I'm sure.

I didn't get near enough done today. But I did make it to the grocery store after Scott got home so we have food tomorrow. Still haven't got my reusable grocery bags...next week. Hunter had a light bulb moment that I burst out laughing when he said it. He wanted to go kayaking (yeah kayaking) in our neighborhood pond with the Moran's. We said sure you can go, but you have to go fold and put away your clothes on the guest bed. He came down in like 5 minutes all excited and said "jobs go a lot faster when you don't complain about them". NO! GO FIGURE!

Am I fritzing yet?

Hannah at the Fine Arts Festival with her foil creation. She had a cute fish picture there too that we didn't even know about until it came home. Poor fishy.


Hunter hanging around outside the other day. Giving me a look. He wants his hair "grown out" a little bit and we are in the painful middle stage. He actually has more red in his hair than I thought.


You know, when I was a kid, I hated to miss school. Partly because I didn't want to "miss out" on what was going on. But the big reason was I knew I'd just have to work that much harder once I got back. The same is still true today. I don't feel like I missed out on anything, no not that part. But I do look around at the house and say huhhhh??? Not that Scott didn't work hard picking up and cleaning up. He did, he tried. He even had the kids vacuuming, but it's just not the same. All the little hot spots have just gotten hotter. (HOT SPOTS are places where junk accumulates for all those people that have never heard of Fly Lady) And NO I am not taking a picture. Oh and the laundry...I have washed a few loads, but there has been no putting away by anyone. Yesterday I didn't care...today I care enough to clean bathrooms and pick up some...tomorrow...well we will see. I just might be in the fritz mode tomorrow. (The fritz mode, for those of you who didn't grow up with Michael Jones as your Dad, is when you start making piles of junk for people to clean up in a rather "frazzled state"). Love you Dad, you taught me everything I know about cleaning a bathroom.


So Hayden is down today. He is the best "barfer" I have. I don't think I can remember a time he has missed the whole. He started in this morning. Hope isn't a 100% this morning either. She has been in a onesie now for 2 days. What's the point, she's just going to poop on it. I can at least cut down on the laundry where I can.


Which leads me to another thing...dinners. So I have sat down to menu plan for the week. I don't know why because really we haven't eaten about half the things on my list for last week. But you know wild salmon is just not sounding good to me now. Some things can stay frozen or in the pantry for a week or so. Isn't it crazy the things that start sounding good after you have been sick. Why do I get a craving for Taco Bell?? I don't know, but I do. Chinese food sounds good to me too, but I can't call it by anything that would lead people (aka Hunter) to believe it has anything to do with Chinese food. Okay so I can't call this new little dish I want to make beef stir fry with snap peas. Heavens no. It will be simply beef with snap peas. Or I'm not going to make vegetable fried rice. It's just chicken with rice and corn and broccoli. Do you get the point?

It all leads back to my worst "barfer" Hunter's story. We had eaten Pei Wei Diner and then Cold Stone for dessert. He used to LOVE Pei Wei. But that night Hunter got sick. But Hunter didn't make it. In fact all HE did was hang his head over the side of the top bunk and do his thing. Scott and I awoke to the sound of splatter-everywhere. So, now Hunter "hates Chinese food because it made him sick". And I am afraid for when Hunter might get sick again.

This blog has taken over an hour to write. I keep getting interrupted. I need to go sit with my boy and watch a movie. I am no better than my kids with all the potty talk. At least I won't be sick for Mother's Day, but I bet Scott will. The BEST Mother's Day present of all!

You know you are sick when...

So has anybody else gotten the dreaded stomach flu? It's terrible. If you know me and we have really "talked" I wasn't as sick as I was that time in Barrington, IL when Scott had to go to work and my Mom came to my aid. She saved me really!! Thanks MOM. But definitely the second sickest I've ever been. I missed my Mom yesterday. Nobody takes care of you like your good old momma. When we got to the doctor yesterday, I was getting out of the car, I guess, a little too slow. Scott said "you know you need to hurry the appointment is right now!" I just looked up and said "I'll hurry but you might have to clean up after me". Enough said. Scott is great, but he doesn't make a good nurse. There were a couple times I was wishing my Mom was here.

You know you are sick when: you have to sit on the potty with a bucket under your head and use BOTH at the SAME time, when you are sitting on the potty and you wake up collapsed in front of the potty, when your blood pressure is 60/40, when you are signing out at the doctor's office and you have to sit down in the middle of the process only to "wake up" to the lovely smell of ammonia under your nose. "Where am I" I wanted to know. I don't wish this one on my worst enemy.

Yesterday really was one of those days. Scott stayed home and got everybody off to school. He went to work while Hope was down for her nap. Then came home to me and promptly made a doctors appointment. We had called our neighbor Kellie across the street to have the kids hang with her for a few minutes before we got home. My fainting episode made the appointment last a little longer than expected. When we pulled in, Kellie came running out saying that the kids hadn't gotten home yet. Long story short, somebody had called in a bomb scare for the TISD buses. Lovely. So Scott loaded Hope back up and went to wait in 2 long, nasty lines to retrieve our children. Everybody was fine. Crazy though.

I'm so tired today. My left "cheek" hurts where they gave me the phanadrin (don't know how to spell) shot, but boy was that worth it. That stuff is a life saver. I can see how people used to die from the flu. Poor little Hopey has a touch of it today. We have the Lysol out...no green cleaners today. My friend Jennifer brought me homemade chicken noodle soup. It has done wonders as I am feeling better.

I love gardenias. I have 4 bushes at the side of the house where they grow. Right now they are blooming and smell so good. I just wish you could smell them too.

My List

Hunter and Hope playing. Hunter is so good with Hope.

Hope at the park!

Hayden at splash day.

I was at Hayden's splash day yesterday and I was talking to my friend Rebecca about stuff. She made me laugh because she said she has a list of stuff she wants and it is a horizontal list...not a vertical list. It took me a second to get what she meant. Vertical...you have priorities and horizontal you just want it all now. I started thinking yeah that's me right now too. I hate it when I have the "I wants". Because I get so focused on the things that I "need" I become a little materialistic. So I decided to blog about it and get it off my chest, and show you some cool stuff that looks fun to me. Then I can move on and think of all the lovely things I have and start planning on how to save up for all the things on my list. Force that list into a vertical one!

1. new purse

2. new digital camera

3. Sargent Steamer

4. food sealer

The list could go on, but even I am bored. I really am so thankful for all the nice things I do have. The fact of the matter is...I have a perfectly nice camera, ziploc bags work great, my house is clean...just not Sargent Steamer clean. The purse...well I don't know I just might need that one. I do love how Scott works so close to home and can (on occasion) come home and watch Hope so I can go to lunch with Hannah or Hunter, or go to splash day with Hayden.

My neighbor Kellie and I went to the park this morning. It's already getting hot, so we went early before Hope's nap. I asked him to go get dressed...I've included a picture of his outfit choice. It's a hockey shirt, his Uncle Kevin would be proud.

One more thing I thought was pretty cute...yesterday Hannah had an end of the year brownie tea-party. There were some nervous moments (for Hannah) they might actually serve tea, but just as I though, it was lemonade! Here is a picture of that. Since we are a renegade brownie troop and have no real leader we all share the job. My job is coming up with service projects for the troop. (if you have ideas PLEASE share them with me) Yesterday we made Mother's Day cards for some elderly ladies at a facility up in Tomball. We only had enough time for the girls to make one, so I made 11 this morning...pretending to be 8 years old. Unfortunately, that wasn't so hard. Anyway, the point of this is...Hunter and Hayden were left outside to play. I heard some grumbling from a certain 10 year old. But at the end of the day, Hunter said "you know Mom I had fun with Hayden today. You know that movie with Will Smith where he pretends to hear a dinosaur? That's what I played with Hayden and he really had fun"! See another thing I am thankful for!


Hannah's tea party.

Car seats

This is the car seat I think I'm going to get Hope, or maybe this one. I'm still checking into the best deals out there.

Good times at the Gray's

At about 12:00 am Scott brought Hope in. I fussed at him for bringing her in so early. She's not hungry yet...I said. "Well she is really slobbery and she was crying really bad". I was really tired so I just fed her. By the end, I was a little more coherent and there was a smell. Yes in deed her arm was very slobbery. I went back into her bedroom and felt in her crib...she had "barfed" (Hayden's words not mine). Poor baby. She had really enjoyed her dinner of pears, rice cereal and squash a few hours before. I don't remember having a baby this little get sick like that. You know...Hannah was sick on Saturday just once and then felt fine. I chalked it up to staying up too late and not wanting to do her jobs. I guess we had a little something going around here. I don't feel real great, but I think mine is from a lack of sleep from 12 on. Hope didn't sleep real great until I opened up the all night/all you can eat buffet. Scott was smart and got himself on out of there.

AHHHH Sunday

So, I finally figured out how to keep Hope (and Me) happy during that third hour at church. Typically, that third hour she is a little beasty. She is tired, way ready for her afternoon nap, and quite frankly sick of being manhandled. I went into the nursing "lounge" hooked her up to the buffet and said goodnight. Hope and I had a little nap. There really was only a 1/2 hour left (I had to finish my primary duties) of church. So, I wasn't being too bad. Anyway, today after church there was a break-the-fast so we weren't going home right away and she needed a nap. I was careful to see who brought what...and enjoyed some BBQ crock pot sandwiches and some "Better Than Paul Newman" dessert. Yummy. Thanks Carrie.

What a nice weekend. We enjoyed some great BBQ hamburgers at a neighborhood party. Chase, our neighbor, did the grilling. That guy should open a restaurant. Isn't it amazing how much better food tastes when you don't make it?

Glad to here my sisters and parents are home safe and sound. It would have been fun, but I'll see you in Utah in July! Holly will hopefully be having a baby right about then. Scott has made some of his famous smoothies so I'm out.