So, you know how somebody was given my blog address and I didn't want them reading...well I have decided to make a new blog hopefully to bypass them. Does that make sense? This one would be public again (so all you google readers will have an easier time :0) I am super creative, and as you will see...my new blog looks exactly the same. Maybe a little more streamlined. Neat and tidy is good.
New blog: http://confessionsofaredheadheather.blogspot.com/

I reserve the right to pull the plug at anytime and go back to just plain old Confessions of a Redhead. Just saying.

a rose by any other name

Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure. I took the flower pictures at a rose garden in Seattle. I'm kind of a sucker for the rose gardens these days. I planted two roses this year, and they don't look nearly as pretty. All three plants are different, hard to tell but true, I guess you can tell the kind I like. I do have a closet full of green shirts, too.

The other pictures are from the park last night. We were having a little family fun night. I had gotten home earlier in the day from my lovely trip to San Francisco. So fun so fun. Lots of eating, walking, cab/trolley riding, shopping, laughing, site seeing, picture taking, and talking. Look at Jane's blog and Sarah's blog to see pictures. They are professional photographers, so I didn't feel the need to bring my camera. Now, to make dinner. I liked it better when we just ate at restaurants all the time.

catch up

It's been forever since I've blogged. Quick catch up, we went to Seattle for the second weekend in a row after my last post. (to pick the kids up from airport) We played again the whole weekend and had a great time. That's a fun city. I must admit, I think Portland/Camas area are equally beautiful, but Seattle is a fun place to hang. The homeless population seemed to be heavier there. I saw a man actually eat out of a garbage can. Sad. The kids saw it too, and were quite puzzled that someone would get so down and dirty with a garbage looking for food. Hunter and Hannah had a great time in Houston visiting friends. Hunter came back really wanting to move back there. I was afraid that would happen. But all is well now. He is off at Scout Camp as I type. Hannah had a great time, too.

One day last week, a neighbor and I took the kids down to Portland for a day of fun. We hit a water "feature"... not a park a "feature"...it was fun and Hope got a real kick out of changing into her swim suit and hitting the water. We did lunch downtown and it was cool. There is this 2 block area, where there are all these food booths set up. My friend had (she just moved here from San Diego so she was reading up on the area) read something about these booths and how they are supposed to be really good. We were not disappointed. Yum! It was there, that a man stopped us and wanted to know if we were Mormon or Catholic. Mormon!! He was nice enough...and we chatted for about 5 minutes until he got kind of weird. After our day of eating and shopping and walking and playing...we hit Voodoo Donuts. That was certainly an experience. Good donuts! They have crazy crazy toppings. Look at the menu. :)

The weather has been great here. We set record highs for about a week. Now it's back to more normal temps. Lovin' that. I have completed the school supply back to school shopping. I'm slowly working on clothes. Tomorrow I head to San Fran for the Second Annual Girls Weekend. In fact, I must go pack.

Kid stuff

Yesterday, Hope spilled some water on the floor. I asked Hayden to grab me a towel (he was upstairs in his room, right by a linen closet) and throw it down. He called down, "Hold on Mom I'm cleaning my room!" WHAAAT? I immediately knew something was up. That boy never voluntarily cleans his room. As I'm starting upstairs, his friend Grant comes out of the room and says that they lost a frog in Hayden's room, but don't worry, it's okay because they found it. Oh good...you found it. Hello? Why was there a frog in there in the first place? See, I knew they were up to something. In Hayden's language cleaning my room=frantically searching for lost frog before Mom finds out.

Today, Hope and I had run some errands. Maybe a little unknown fact about Hope...she is always hungry. Always. She could have just eaten, and 5 minutes later she says she is hungry. It was 12:30 and we were driving away from Costco. Hope says to me..."I'm so so so hungry Mom. If I don't eat now, I'm going to turn into a bad guy!" She felt herself turn to the dark side, because just a minute later she started to fuss and said, "See, I'm turning into a bad guy!"

Seattle trip

Hunter and Hannah went back to Houston for 8-9 days this summer. They flew in and out of Seattle (we were using miles, and Seattle to Houston was a lot cheaper than Portland to Houston) Whatever! We made a fun weekend of it. Actually, it will be 2 fun weekends, we pick them up this next weekend.
We hadn't been on the road for more than a few minutes, ahhhh Hope was asleep ;)

Hayden the ham... errrr pun not intended, actually.

Hope at the Red Mill Burger, delicious burgers + onion rings. Hunter saw this place on Man vs Food and HAD to eat there.

Pike's Market Place- fun farmer's market.

Hayden wanted his picture with the crabs, then he has a goofy smile/look on his face.

There were some BIG old fish!

This is the bottom of the barrel on the raspberries, but some of the best ever. They were huge. The second day in Seattle, I bought some brioche bread, raspberries and some wedge of homemade cheese and called it lunch. Hannah wanted us each to take a picture of the other taking a picture of them.

On there way to Houston! They weren't excited or anything ;)

Hopey with one of her favorite ear's...

The day I almost got arrested

At approximately 12, I left a screaming Hope in the car (I had just finished wrestling with her while Hunter got his hair cut) with Hunter while Hayden and I ran into the library to drop off and pick up some books. Estimated time away from the car=10 minutes. At about 12:02 Hunter calls on the phone and tells me some lady passed the car and asked him if everything was okay. He said to her, "yes, everything is fine my mom just ran into the library for a minute." I say to him when he tells me that, "It sounds like she has stopped crying, everything should be fine, we are checking out in a minute." WELL, that lady proceeds to stand by the car for a couple of minutes, then proceeds on her merry way...to the FIRE DEPARTMENT right across the street. At about 12:07 Hunter calls me and tells me the fireman is standing outside the car, PLEASE come now. I drop everything, and run out...imagining my arrest on the steps of the Camas library. The fireman is indeed outside of the car talking with Hunter. I say: "Everything is fine, I ran in to drop off some books, the two year old was throwing a fit and I didn't want to take her into the library, so I left her with her brother, it's not even hot (my car said 76* for pity sake), I parked in the shade AND the windows are rolled down!" He said very nicely, "You are under arrest for..." no no I kid. He really told me everything was indeed fine, a passer by had seen the kids and she was concerned, and so he was doing his duty and checking. He agreed that yes, I did park in the shade, it wasn't really very hot, the windows were down, and my son was old enough to watch his sister. There, my brush with "the law". But I must admit, I was rather scared for a minute. But come on...it wasn't even hot lady!! Calm yourself. I wouldn't roast my kids in the car. I lived in Texas and I know hot, and this isn't so bad! I'm just glad it was Hunter I left with Hope and not Hayden ;) Kidding, I'd never do that. ;)

Happy 13th Birthday Hunter!!

This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago, in Vancouver, WA at a water park.

This picture was scanned right out of Hunter's scrapbook. There was a whole bunch of cute ones, but I'm short on time and only scanned one. What a cute little budda baby. He has been nothing but a good boy. Happy Birthday Hunter, I love you!! I just can't believe he is 13 already, where has the time gone? Before I know it, I'll be sending that boy on a mission.

Summer groove

I have embraced summer.


It took me a few days, but I'm liking summer now. On the last day of school (the kids had to go for about 2 hours) I was hating life. Sad, but true. For a couple of days, I kept asking myself how the heck am I going to last the whole summer? Everybody came home, and it was friends friends friends. By that night...I felt like swearing. Maybe, I even did. I was in a pissy mood. It might have had something to do with hormones...just saying.

But now... my kids haven't gone to bed at a decent time in ages. Last week, Hannah had 3 sleepovers in a row. Two with the same person. It's a rare night, when we are all sleeping at home and without friends. And I don't care. I have officially chilled out. It's not me that's done all the changing either. The kids are practicing their piano, reading, cleaning, we even all pulled weeds in the back yard today. It's still all about friends and playing. The neighbors have all moved in, so there are lots of kids to play with this year. For the last few nights, the kids have all been playing night tag. It stays dark very late here, so they have been outside until after 10. Luckily, Hope goes to bed still at 8:30. She has given the nap up on most days, even though she still needs it. But it's all good, we get more done, AND she sleeps in, at least that's what I'm telling myself to make myself feel better.

We have made it down to the river/beach once, with plans to go back this week. The river beach is only 10 minutes away (river beach is different than The beach, you know the Pacific Ocean ;) The Camas farmers market is a lot better this year. I took some of the kids+ friends, of course, there today for some berries. The Hood River strawberries are about finished, too bad too because they are so darn good! Blueberries, raspberries and marion berries are on now though. Our garden is mass producing veggies right now. So, I don't even have to buy those, just pick them. We have just found our new summer groove. Ahhhh, thank heavens.

Start of Summer 2009

Hunter getting ready for "Trek". They left yesterday (Wednesday) and get back on Saturday. Scott volunteered to drive down on Saturday and pick kids up. Being the nice person I am, I said..."WHaaat where you thinking doing the return trip? You should have done the take down there trip!" Those kids are going to be ripe. Oh yeah...work and all ;) They went about 3 hours away where it is significantly hotter (100* ish) and they are treking along pulling hand carts. (20 miles total I believe) They were all supposed to dress in pioneerish type clothes. Boys khakis, long sleeved shirts, hats and suspenders. Girls long skirts, bonnets and aprons. It was fun dropping Hunter off and seeing all the kids and adults who were going dressed up. I'm sure those passing the Stake Center were like...what are those Mormons doing now!"

Monday was the last day of school. They had to go for 2 hours. What a waste, but it was technically one of the make-up days from all the snow days we had. We had to go about a week late this year. Hope manages to get into most of the pictures. haha It was slightly cool that morning. I still haven't turned my air on once this year. Have I told you lately how I love summers here?

Hayden and a squash plant. We planted several different kinds of squash. I can't load anymore pictures right now, my computer keeps wanting to send error reports when I go to load more pictures. GGGGRRRR. I've only tried like 5 times!! Then I have to re-sign in and blah blah blah. Darn private blog.

Yesterday in the garden. Hayden (and Hope) was my little buddy. We had just dropped Hunter off for the trek. Hannah was at a friends. Hayden got to harvest a bunch of stuff and he thought he was something else cutting broccoli, lettuce and picking peas. We were picking snap peas and Hope and Hayden were eating them as fast as they could. Hope said, "These are yummy in my tummy!"

Finally, little Hopey. She has been refusing to wear cute things in her hair lately. In fact, I'll put ponies and piggies in, and she rips them out, along with handfuls of her hair. So, yesterday, I took her in and got a little A-line bob. But, looking at these pictures I miss her longish baby hair. What did I do? It does look cute now too, but I think my haircut girl needs to fix one of the sides. Darn cheap hair cuts. I've never been a fan of the cheap haircut. It always seems to me you get what you pay for there.

"I seen her"

I had a few really proud moments today at Wal-mart. I just fit right in. First of all, yesterday my friend Julie and I had the little kids at the park. We just got finished laughing because Hope likes to be pushed so hard in the swing. SO, Julie had her little boy and Hope on the tire swing, and she was pushing them pretty hard. Fast circles. This mamma wants to barf when I push for too long on the tire swing. All was fine and dandy, until Hope yelps out to "stop!" and starts making dry heave noises/motions. Nothing ever came of it, and I thought she is just like me and gets motion sickness. Still might be, but anywhoo...

A couple times yesterday she told me she needed a barf bucket. She'd pretend to dry heave and that was that. I thought she was playing it up. She really was feeling something not so good after the tire swing. She got all pale and sweaty. Today she tells me she has to barf (in the baking isle at the Wal-mart). I, of course, think she is just pretending...oh no, she meant business. Luckily, (I think) she picks up a little custard cup and proceeds to fill that little sucker UP. It is filled to the brim. I wipe her mouth off...and leave it there. What else should I have done!!?? I would have spilled vomit all over the floor (and more importantly ME), I did tell somebody (well really I meant to, ooops) there was a little mess on the baking isle. Not really a mess, but a nice neat custard cup (filled with barf) and tissues covering the vile mess. After the barfing episode, I hurry to get the last couple of things I need (the all essential Eucerin cream for my feet and my face soap). When...

You guessed it, she barfed again. If I hadn't had this second distraction, I would have told somebody or cleaned "it" up myself ("it" being the mess on the baking isle), but we were now really in a crunch for time. A race against the clock if you will. This time (she is so resourceful that girl) she reaches back and grabs the princess bowl I was buying her and uses that. Almost fills that up too, but it's bigger, so we had more filling up room. I pulled over into the vitamin isle, I thought I was being pretty darn discreet (except for the 20 something male that witnessed the whole vomiting x2 episode) I'm pretty sure he was thoroughly disgusted, if I was reading his facial expressions and body language right ;).

I tried really hard to low key this. I didn't see anybody else eyeballing me. Hope finishes, we go to the bathroom. I wash (with soap) the sweet little princess bowl that will probably be filled tomorrow with Cheerios, and go through the check out line at the Wal-mart. I thought about telling the lady, so she doesn't have to touch it, but figured I washed it with soap and dried it...and figured what she doesn't know won't hurt her. So, she is checking me out, you know scanning my groceries ;) and she comes to the plate (that matches the bowl) and she says, "Is this the one she got sick in?" Me: nervous fake laugh, "haha how did you know about that?" I was worried for a minute my surprise on the baking isle had been discovered and they were tracking me down. She answered back in this...tone..."I-seen-her". Oh, you seen it, huh? Lovely.

Oh no you didn't!

If you keep up with me on Facebook and the blog you will hear about this twice, lucky you. But it did feel oh so good, so I must tell somebody else. So, I was at the end of my long run. Running here is very different. It's very hilly here, and at first when I moved it quite literally took most/all the fun out of running. I had to start basically from ground...well not zero, but you get the point. So, I was finishing my long run, and to get back to my house, I have to go up a big *@# hill. Parker, for those of you who live near by. I was about 1/2 way up, when I look back and this woman has come off of a side street (all fresh like, she must have just started her run ;). She is going to pass me, I think!! How dare she. So, I turn around again, and say to her, "this sucks!" She thinks I'm talking about the hill, she says "oh I know I hate this hill". I meant that she was going to pass me, but whatever. So, I turn back to her and say, "I just can't let you pass me on this hill, I am going to push it!!" Bye Bye. I am sure she was pushing it up that hill hard thinking, "I'm going to pass this women!" It does feel good to pass somebody up. But it doesn't feel so good to be passed. I had enough left in the tank, I kicked it, and left her in the dust. Seriously, left her in the dust. Right before I spotted her, I was tired, I wanted to stop and walk...just for a minute. I think I was literally talking to myself telling myself not to stop, that I'd be mad at myself if I did, when she started her move. She probably heard me even, and thought that I was a bit loony, especially after we "chatted". This momma doesn't care, because I won!! I was so happy, I did indeed have a fresh wave of endorphins flood over me. Yay, for the small victories!!!!!!!!!!!!

berry pictures

Our first strawberry, half eaten by something. Hannah has been watching this guy for weeks. She "called" the first red strawberry. This morning when we were going to the bus, she got all excited because "her" berry was ripe. When we got a closer look, Hayden got a smile on his face, and informed her she called the "first red berry, and there it was!" Enjoy. There are a bunch more, but this is the only ripe one. I fear the birds might be our enemies here.

We have three blueberry bushes in the front that I planted this year. All three are completely covered in berries! I can't wait to enjoy those bad boys.

Have I told you I bought an ice cream maker this year? OMgoodness, it's so good. I completely don't care about calories or fat grams. Because, it is homemade...and when something is homemade calories and fat grams don't count. I only use real sugar and cream, all goodness. Nothing artificial. So, see, no need to count anything, just enjoy. I have made chocolate, fresh strawberry, and mint chocolate chip thus far. The mint chocolate chip has been my favorite. (I've made it a few times.) My Costco had this Cuisinart 2 quart ice cream, sorbet, yogurt maker for $49. Online they are going for $79. At Costco it had the magical * by the price. Plus, it was the Martha Stewart Everyday Foods favorite model. Hmmm, if it's good enough for Martha, it's good enough for me.

Hayley told me I needed to be a better blogger, so today I blogged. Several times, thank you. And while I did, my little bundle of joy has poor water on her baby (who happened to be in my scrap booking drawer :) and dumped out some embossing powder. All, in just about 2 minutes. So, I'm off to go clean up her latest mess.

I am a girl and all, 4 new bottles of nail polish does NOT seem excessive in the least!

I went shopping today, and I bought 4 new bottles of nail polish. I am a girl and I like it. Just so you know. Mostly, I got darkish OPI colors, the kind that look good on my pasty skin. But I got one that's fun. I saw this new color in my new InStyle mag, because you know I'm soooo "in style" and all. It was supposed to be at Sephora, but it wasn't! They don't get it in until July. JULY!! What the heck? Why put it in the mag then? I bought something at Ulta that looks kind of like it. I'm off in a minute to go paint Hopey's toes. I like that girl's toes. Hannah will get a little pedi when she comes home too.
**It was but 2 get one free at Ulta (FYI) of you are in the nail polish mood, that is.

Reality Check

So, am I just getting cheap, old and tacky or has Wal-Mart upgraded some (they still have plenty of tacky stuff there for "others") kid's fashions lately? Just wondering, because I have bought a few things there lately (besides PJ's because I have liked their kid PJ's since Hope was born) that I really think are pretty darn cute. AND cheap. Did I say cheap, cuz they are. I was a big spender and bought Hope 4 little shirts today all at the whopping price of...$3.50. Don't tell anyone, but I even bought Hunter 2 pairs of khaki shorts there. They were very stylish (I promise) and well priced at $10. Hmmmm. I think I must be getting cheap or something. But, but, but, Hunter has plenty of American Eagle shirts and stuff...you can't tell they are Wal-Mart I promise. Let this be our little secret.

**This is an update**But seriously, have you noticed the receipts now look just like the Target receipts? I was talking to my neighbor, and she said she read someplace that Wal-Mart (since the bad economy) has upgraded and decided to go after some of the Target business. Somehow, that makes me feel better ;)

Isn't this just the worse?

Hope has been a stripper lately. Today she came in without undies and some really old (too small) tights. She got them on, but kept yanking them up like in the first picture. I just had to take a few shots. I HATE when nylons feel too tight. I HATE when they ride down, and you have web crotch. It didn't seem to bother her one bit. She'd just give 'em a good old yank.

We are having some of the most beautiful weather lately. It was 85* today and I actually felt "hot". Oh how quickly I have forgotten Houston summers hahaha. If 85* feels "hot" I'd be in a world of hurt back in Texas. I read the book Giant by Edna Ferber for book club. We are discussing it tonight. It made me happy because it was all about Texas. It's time to go freshen up for book club tonight. Since I was out in the "heat" all afternoon. Hunter had his last track meet and then right from there we went to Hayden's baseball game. He got two hits tonight!! Hannah was along for the ride, helping with Hope.

Is she worse, or am I just tired?

I really think she (she meaning Hope) is more into "it" than even Hayden was at this age. I mean, nothing is safe. Last night, after she was asleep, I went upstairs to find an open bottle of calamine lotion, three bandaids on the wall, her night night diaper off and no Hope in her bed. HMMMMMM. Apparently, she had spilled some (really a bunch) of the lotion in her bed (and covered it up with a little cloth liner) and sought some more comfy accommodations. More comfy=Hayden's TOP buck bed...with a naked butt. Naked butt and all she was finally fast asleep.

The night before that...as I'm climbing into bed I realize that my thyroid medication's lid is off and they are GONE!!! I knew right away who had done it, mind you it was a "child proof" bottle. I immediately called poison control, luckily she was/is fine. She would have had to take 40+ pills to have side effects. Just so you know, thyroid medication needs to be taken over an extended period of time for the effects. The side effects I was told to watch for? Irritability, restlessness, trouble falling asleep? UUUUHHHMMMM, she is that already. The next morning, I asked her what she did with my medicine, and she pointed right to her mouth.

Then yesterday afternoon, Hannah had a friend over in the afternoon, this friends loves Hope so they were playing with her. Or so I thought. All of a sudden Scott is on the driveway honking. How obnoxious, right? WEEEEELL, he had little Hopey in the car. Apparently, she let herself out and walked right down the street. To the end. And was sitting on a rock. Just waiting to get abducted. Or hit by a car. Ahhhhhhh. I was busy making dinner, I tried a new recipe for baked onion rings. They were wildly delicious, and I was distracted. Needless to say, I now have the chime on so I know when someone leaves. In my defense, she hadn't been gone for more than 5 minutes. I had just said...it's quiet, where is Hope?!


Just now (well it's been about an hour now) I walk into her room (she was supposed to be sleeping/falling asleep), and she is practicing art, experimenting with different mediums. The medium of choice today? Desitin All over her (literally dripping from her fingers and smeared all over hands, feet and face), the wall, the comforter, the sheets (which luckily I had NOT cleaned yet, I just left that little cloth cover up the mess from last night). Note to self...soap and water do nothing for Desitin, you must wipe it away. Kleenex work well. Her skin is still well protected from the elements though, that Desitin has some real staying power.

I realize my time line is all out of sorts, jumping from today, yesterday, last night, but still I needed to vent. She is making Hayden look like a cake walk. Most naughty times surround sleeping time. She screams if you turn the light off and shut the door, but I'm thinking I need the Super Nanny to come in to break her of that habit. So, at least I can shut the door, turn out the light and hope and pray she doesn't ruin anything. I can't remember the other kids doing all the things she has done. Some, yes...but not all.

***Has anyone heard of these shoes Fit Flops? I have a hard time paying $50 for a shoe that's classified as a flip flop, but they do look comfy. I do need a new around the house shoe ;)

I'm a stinky blogger now, so here is a bunch of info crammed into one post!

First of all, two weeks after planting our garden we already have sprouts. Cucumbers, squash and carrots have sprouted up and out of the soil. Amazing how that works.

Second amazing thing of the day...Hope doesn't really like playing in her room until 1) nap time or 2) bedtime. But at either one of those times, she gets into all kinds of trouble. All kinds. Her room looks like a bomb went off. I just have to take a deep breathe and put things back together as best as I can. Why can't she play THAT hard in the middle of the day, when I just plain need a break?? And bandaids are her new BBF. She had a tiny little scratch on her knee and after nap time, that was covered with no less than 4 bandaids. I found three bandaids in the If You Give a Pig a Pancake book.

The houses have sold on our street and we are getting new neighbors. One house has a boy Hayden's age and a girl Hannah's age. Another family with 5 kids is moving in very soon...Mormon family. Nobody exactly my kids ages/sex, but close enough. Hannah and Hayden are still outside playing now. I can't wait for summer. The weather has been delightful here lately. This weekend is supposed to be wonderful. I love it here when it's nice and sunny.

Isn't Facebook a crack up? For the most part, it's been fun chatting with people and keeping up with people. There have been so many blasts from the past. Like an old boyfriend...I wish that he hadn't "friended" me... well almost hahaha. He was one that would have been nice to live forever in my memory as a 17-18 year old hottie. Not that he isn't still cute, he just looks normal now and he's older and grayer. It happens to us all doesn't it? Oh well. But hooking back up with college buddies I haven't talked with in forever more than makes up for the old boyfriend reality check. ;)

Here's another recipe for you

I made some really good cleaner out of that Gorgeously Green book by Sophie Uliano. It smells so fresh and clean, I went on a cleaning odyssey yesterday! It's a great little cleaner too and very versatile!! I get my castille soap and essential oils at Mountain Rose Herbs.

32 oz plastic spray bottle
2 cups water
1/2 cup distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon pure castille soap
3/4 cup hydrogen peroxide
20 drops tea tree oil
20 drops lemongrass essential oil

That boy!

I lost Hayden today. Although, he doesn't think he was lost, and he wasn't scared. He had a friend over, and as soon as the friend arrived, they quickly ran up the hill (in the front of our house). I told him, as he was running away, don't be gone for anymore than 5 minutes, AND stay where you can hear my voice. Because I knew he wouldn't be gone for less that five minutes. I have been his mother for 7 years now. I know. So, I start in on the Mom yell for him to come home. For like 10, then 15 minutes. Then I've got Hannah calling me saying "I'm going to be late for activity days!!". Sigh. So, I leave to take Hannah...only to come back and continue looking for Hayden. Monday I rolled/sprained my ankle...today was the first day it was starting to feel better not worse. Yeah, the hike up the hill looking (and screaming) for Hayden pretty much took care of any progress. Finally, after being completely panicked...I was quickly convincing myself something terrible had happened, I called in reinforcements aka Scott to come home and help look for our lost child. You know, there are animals here, and one never knows. Not to mention big perverted men (not that they are here anymore than anywhere, but you know). Needless to say, Scott knew where to look, and found Hayden and his friend happily playing their little hearts out about 1/4 of a mile away. IN WATER. They found a large puddle and were both dripping wet. It was not a happy hour. All is well now. Hayden is safely tucked in his room (where he shall remain for the evening).

You should make these right now...

unless you are on a diet, and if and only if you plan on eating the entire batch and can work it off momentarily. These are so darn good!! Let's put it this way, I don't trust myself to make these today (I would eat way too many and get sick I think before I stopped), I need to make them when I'm having lots of people over to help eat them. A friend brought these to recipe club the other night. We all got two, there were a couple of extra, and we were all eyeing each other to see who got them. Finally, we split them up. Little morsels of goodness was better than nothing.

Cream cheese Oreo balls


1 8 oz softened cream cheese
1 pack Original Oreos
2 packs white chocolate


Blend cream cheese together with 1 cup of crunched Oreos. Crunch up another cup and add to cream cheese mixture. You will continue this process until ¾ of the package of Oreos is gone. Once ¾ of Oreos and cream cheese are blended together place in fridge for 1-3 hours. Once chill is complete make balls with a small spoon. (Makes about 40 balls) Once balls are rolled chill again for 30-60 minutes.

White Chocolate dipping~
Remove balls from fridge. In a double boiler heat water and melt chocolate. Take each ball and cover in melted chocolate. Set on hard surface and let chocolate harden. Once all balls are complete replace back in fridge until ready to enjoy!

Our little patch of Heaven

Please click on the above collage so you can actually see these pictures. So, here we are on our "little patch of heaven" aka the "farm" as Hayden likes to call it. On Friday, the kids went over for the first time, we rototiller, and Hayden wanted to know if there were cows and horses on "the farm". We are doing a garden with our friends the Hillyards, Julie's parents the McAllisters, and US! The McAllisters, live on over an acre, so while we do not have the space (or the sunshine) to do something like this...they do, and invited us to share/help. They all did a garden together last year, it was about half the size. We were the lucky recipient of some fresh grown goods last year. But this year we were out rototilling, hoeing (we had lots of fun with that word yesterday ;) and planting. The garden is about 36x30, so it's not so little and we have lots of room. We even have a few rows left over to put some other stuff in later. Potatoes go in on Tuesday. We planted corn, tomatoes (roma,cherry, beefsteak, brandywine red and yellow), squash, butternut squash, zucchini, cucumbers, lemon cucumbers, Walla Walla onions, cipollini onions, carrots, green peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts...hmmmm is that all?? I can't remember, but I'm very excited! All of the kids, minus Hope of course, helped hoe and plant. Fun stuff!!!! Well, fun until it started to rain at the very end. You can see (sort of) in some of the far away pictures. What a learning experiences for us all.

jello legs

Over the last couple of weeks, I have seen these three women working out together a couple of times. One of the women is a trainer at the club. So, I met up with one of the lady's at the park early this week and we got to talking. I told her she had been working really hard the other day. So, yesterday, I get to the gym and the childcare worker Amy, says this Dacey(the lady from the park) is looking for me. Apparently, Casey, the trainer lady wasn't there and she was looking for somebody to workout with. So, we ran through this one workout. OH MY GOODNESS. I am surprise I can walk so well this morning. In my second round, during my 25 burpees, I thought my legs were going to give out. They were like jello. I hadn't felt like that since I worked out with my friend Lisa. Ahhhhh, memories. Casey the trainer girl, who actually works out with Dacey as a friend...as opposed to as a trainer, takes a lot of her stuff from this Crossfit.com. K, so I looked up this Crossfit.com and it's got some intense stuff. I think a lot of military and police type people do this. I'm not going to be doing their "workout of the day" but I am adding some new tricks to my bag. I thought I'd share, in case you were looking to change up your workout or something crazy. Today, I'm going to run on the treadmill (so I can get some speed work in, it's hard to do a lot of speed work because there are so many hills here), but I'm also bringing my jump rope to get some double unders in. Go check out what I'm talking about.

Let me introduce you to the newest member of my family...

Isn't she lovely? And here is her little friend...wallet!

Scott got back from Las Vegas last night (there is a Coach outlet there, so now he can go whenever he wants). This morning he asked me to open up his suitcase...inside was a little surprise. It's an early Mother's Day/thanks for all you do/who knows what, but I was happy. So happy, I even made waffles for the kids for breakfast. Now I need to go scarf shopping. Just thought I'd share my good news (my sisters and Mom wanted me to post a picture, those Jones Girls!). Have a good one!

Slang words test

We were eating dinner tonight, and Hunter said, "OH WAIT...I have a test for you to take". Scott and I took it together, and I'm oh so proud to tell you, we got 100%. Hunter said that's how you can tell the cool parents. Oh yeah, we are cool ;) See how you do. The answers will be posted in the comments. No cheating now.


Word Bank

shazzam, fly, crackalackin, G2G, ROFL, TLDR, sick, JK, OMGBO, cute

1) The school nerd was ____ because he had no friends.
2) Dude, that was a ____ trick you did on your skateboard.
3)I replied to the long text message _____.
4)____ I got a 100% on the test.
5)See you later I ____.
6) ____ Dang I smell.
7) The joke was so funny I was ____.
8)____, I'm super cool.
9)Your fat ____ not really.
10) This song is so ____.

Just so you know

Just so you know...there was some weirdness with Facebook+my blog sooo I took care of that and now I get to pick who reads what I say. I've been thinking I blab too much anyway, and I didn't know who was reading what, so it was about time. And now I can say things like "OH my gosh my in-laws are crazy!!!!" without worrying about getting in trouble. How freeing! Oh, you don't know how bad I wanted to blog about their last visit... and I couldn't. Another time maybe, but one of the stories involved bleach and a rug in my laundry room. Another story...about clothes washing soap in the DRYER, and hmmm maybe even another one about one spoon being dipped multiple times into MY favorite peanut butter. I do not look kindly on double dippers. :)

I'm thinking about it

What do you know about going private on your blog? How private is private anyway? Meaning, can people still get in and read your business some other way...if they try hard enough? Just wondering, I'm thinking about going private. Send me your email if you want to have access...I've been told I give away too much information on my blog, and since I don't want to stop the way I do anything... hmmm...maybe I'll just limit who sees it!
***Oh yeah, my email is heathergray72@comcast.net

These are the best of times and the worst of times...

Ahhhhh, the messes of a 2 year old. In an effort to get some pictures loaded onto FB before playgroup and the gym ( I needed her busy so I could hurry) she made a very big mess. The pictures only catch a small portion of the mess she made. I came back from grabbing something and she was on the desk "playing" with the staple remover. She did more damage than I initially realized, only seconds after I took these lovely shots, did I realize the full story. But first, please notice the marker all over her body, she did that while she was behind me on the floor being quiet. I should have known. Anyway, all of a sudden she puts the remover away and comes away with black ink all over her hands (and my desk, and before long all over my hands and her legs :) It looks like while I was away, she broke a pen. Oh good times. I could go on and on and one, about the messes and such, but I won't because I love her, and really...I do just love a 2 year old. Really. She is so full of personality and charm that how can I be annoyed with her, well for too long anyway.

Taco Tuesday!

We are in the middle of Spring Break 2009. Next year, I'm pushing that we go someplace warm and tropical over spring break. It seems that the people that have been here for awhile traveled this week.

I never really felt the need to travel on spring break in Houston, good grief, why would I? That is when Houston is pretty. I'm starting to see the logic. You stay in your place when it's nice and leave when it stinks. All my Houston friends, come here for summer. I won't be traveling to see you then, but come next winter...those 80* days (that bugged me so much while I lived there) are actually sounding rather lovely. The trees are budding, my azaleas have blossomed, so I know lovely weather is around the corner.

On another note entirely...

The power of a Mommy's kiss. Whenever Hope hurts herself (no matter how big or small) she needs me to kiss it. It=the hurt spot. Like, right on the hurt spot. When I do kiss it, it is magically all better. Even when the hurt is pretty bad, it feels better after I kiss it. It has just stuck me lately how powerful my little kiss is for her. On Sunday, we were sitting in church, and Hope was on Scott's lap. Apparently, he had some somethin' on his face, because she was saying (at the told of her voice) "Daddy has an ouchie...Mommy you need to kiss Daddy's ouchie!"

And even different still...

Do you have a Del Taco in your area? Well, here at least they have what's called "Taco Tuesday". Last week, Scott called and said, don't make dinner. I was like, okay!! :) He brought in a big old bad of tacos, all 40 cents a piece. Taco Tuesday! was born. This week, he did it again. And I must say, Taco Tuesday! is a favorite around here. Scott made me laugh as he was biting into his taco (for all my healthy food, I do enjoy a hard shell taco from Taco Bell, and apparently from Del Taco-dare I say they are better...more cheese and lettuce that's for sure) anyway, back to Scott and what he said...he said that hard shell tacos are one of his "must have" foods or foods that if he was stranded on a desert island, he would want. Now that's loving the hard shelled taco, I must say. Just for the record, I did serve, and make all those present eat, strawberries, spinach and cucumbers. Just so you know.

Well, I'm off. Hope and Hannah are being super cute. Hannah keeps dressing Hope up in different dress-ups. Like this Sleeping Beauty one that I remember when Hannah fit in!!

Big and Fat Cake

I am a firm believer in listening to your body. And wouldn't you know, my body has been screaming for this cake lately. So much so, that I made it while Scott's family was in town, I made it the next week...just because...then I took a week off, THEN I invited people over to my house for dessert just so I had an excuse to make it again. I enjoy pumpkin, and for whatever reason this cake soothes every single sweet craving. It's got the creamy, the spicy, and the chocolate. And me, I am just weird enough that I think to myself...it's got pumpkin in it...so it's kind of healthy. I'm picky about what goes into this body, but for me...this cake is worth getting big and fat over-just saying. Well, maybe not really big and fat, but certainly worth running a few extra miles!

1 pkg. (2-layer size) spice cake mix **must be Dunkin Heinz-I have used a yellow cake mix because that's what I had, and added extra cinnamon and all-spice, it's just as good-but I'm partial to the Dunkin Heinz mix!**
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened, divided **I use 1 and 1/2 bars of cream cheese, I follow the directions for the cake portion (the 1/2 goes into the cake), but I double the frosting so a full bar of cream cheese goes into the frosting, sooooo, it's extra tasty**
1 cup canned pumpkin **I have been using the large marge can of pumpkin and adding a little bit extra-just cuz I like it really moist (love that word) but you can add just the one can of the regular sized pumpkin and be just fine**
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
6 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, coarsely chopped **I throw in chocolate chips-several hand fulls**
1/2 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping **there will be no Cool Whip in my house, not really I have made it with Cool Whip and it's good, but making the REAL whipping cream (don't forget to make a full cup of it because like I said before I double the frosting) is so much better than the Cool Whip and it's really not hard to do-that's all I'll do from now on!**
2 Tbsp. sugar

Make It
PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Prepare cake mix as directed on package, reducing water to 1/2 cup and increasing oil to 1/2 cup. Add half of the cream cheese, the pumpkin, cinnamon and ginger. Beat on medium speed until well blended. Stir in chopped chocolate. Pour into greased 12-cup fluted tube pan or 10-inch tube pan.
BAKE 40 to 45 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 min. Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack.
MIX remaining cream cheese, whipped topping and sugar until well blended. Spread on top of cooled cake. Cut into 16 slices to serve

Spring has sprung

Japanese Gardens, Portland, Oregon

Skagit Valley, Washington

Austin, Texas
Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois

I came upon this article and I was happy to see some of my favorite places made the top 12 places for spring. That Japanese Garden in Portland is going to be a must see for me this year. I even know where it is! I saw it when I was visiting the Rose Garden last summer. Another place that I will be visiting again this year. Oh, and how beautiful are those tulips? Happy first day of spring today.

Happy Birthday Hayden!

Happy 1st Birthday Hayden

Can it even be possible this little fella is 7 today? I can't believe it.. He was the chubbiest and cutest baby ever! Hayden always has a smile on his face. Everybody that spends time with him always comments on his constant smile. This little boy is the perfect blend of sweet heart and devil. Happy Birthday Hayden, I love you.