Almost Free Coffee

So I went to starbucks the other day and used my registered, self-designed card...........and low and behold I was told that everytime i use that card.............

wait for it.............

are you ready..........

check it out..........

seriously joyous news awaits...............

put on your smile...............

get ready to go buy a card.................

your mouth is watering right now................

I don't have to pay for the cost of syrup. so my drink total came to $3.10 vs $3.80!!! That is like a free coffee every 5 visits!!! I also get free refills on drip coffee and everytime I buy coffee beans there, I get a free 12oz drink!!! So it sounds like SB is finally getting in the game and realize that they are frankly just too expensive. I also heard rumors of free two hours of WiFi.

Of course now that I am working out more........notice I did not say "on a diet" cuz I really don't feel like I am......I won't be drinking as many coffee's from them. I did have a sugar free, skinny cinnamon dolche the other day, but it did not settle well. Not sure what is in their sugar free syrups, but I could feel it in my stomach all night long. But it was only 130 calories!!! ha ha.

Results..............

Alright so I thought I would post about my progress in workouts and getting healthy! So have been going solidly for one month now, at least 4-5 days a week. I have got the whole routine down. I was seeing some results in measurements, but I would step on the scale and realize that I had not lost one pound! So after talking to some people I decided that I was not eating enough calories or enough protein. (suprisingly I really don't eat very much) but I do eat a lot of sugar....no suprise there.

So I cut out all of my sugars...no coke, no extra sugars at all. My friend told me about this great website to track your diet and excercise, so I signed up and started eating there recommended calories! WOW. in one day i lost 3lbs. i know that most of this is water weight, but still. I am super excited! Yesterday I was so hungry, I ate a bunch of protein and made sure I had my carbs right, but it felt like me stomach was eating my entire body! This morning I stepped on the scale and had lost another 5lbs. (That was even with a little fast food hamburger in there....what can i say, i was out with errands and it sounded good...but i did not have fries or coke!) So I have been eating the right amount of calories for 4 days now and i have lost a total of 8lbs!!!!

Once I started eating the right amounts of stuff, I could feel the difference in my workouts. They felt like I was working the muscles, rather than well......i don't really know how to explain it, but there was a huge difference. I was super pumped to hit group power this morning, but i had a sick little one at home........oh well. i will have to make it up on wednesday!

I am just excited that this website guidance is working and that it is doable! it is not like any other "diet" thing.......I did weight watchers once and I was not really allowed to eat many proteins on that. My body craves the proteins......if I don't have them I totally bonk. Although last night when i looked at my chart, it told me i was eating to many proteins and not enough carbs...so i will need to have a little better balance in the future.

YAY ME!!!!

Is it April?

It is snowing outside!!!
Really!!!
It is the middle of April!!!
What is going on???

it's not really sticking, but i still see the flakes. the trampoline has some snow on it. wow. i guess when they called for snow this weekend, they actually meant it.

you know u r obsessed with TWILIGHT when:

**You download every song from Stephanie Meyers playlist and listen to them non-stop on your Ipod.

**You dream about it every night.

**When you want to go to Forks for your spring break.

**When you squeal every time you see a silver Volvo, even if it's not your favorite car.

**When you've ceased to believe that vampires actually have fangs or any weakness. And you believe all vampires must be inherently hot.

**When you're counting down the minutes until Breaking Dawn comes out.

**You quote lines from the books for use in your everyday speech.

**You know you love the Twilight series when you solidly believe your husband is a vampire simply on the basis that he's sexy.

**When you refer to your ideal boyfriend as an "Edward."

**You pre-order your copy of Breaking Dawn at Borders and want to go to the release party.

**When you count down the days till Edwards birthday 60 days before it starts. (June 20th)

**A love song comes on and you immediately think of Edward and Bella.

**You have bought both the audio books.

**You have bought t-shirts from twilight teez dot com.

**You carry the books with you.

**You go to Forks.

**You almost faint when you first saw the cover of Eclispe.

**You think you can feel Edward beside you while you're reading(or just doing nothing at all).

**You talk to nothing but think you're talking to Edward.

**You stay locked in your room until you've read it over a million times.

**You talk to your friends about it...even though they have no idea what you're talking about!

**You ask them how you know you love the Twilight series even though they STILL don't know what you're talking about.

**You sleep with the book cradled in your arms.

**You are highly considering naming your future children the characters names.

** The name Edward becomes your new favorite name.

**You didn't let anybody else touch your books.

**You own two copies of each book, one to read and one to loan out.

**You make a protective cover for your twilight to ensure that you never leave your copy of Twilight when it goes with you to yours friend's house.

**You and your friends try to guess the entire plot to Breaking Dawn.

**You start imagining scenes from the books in your head before you go to bed.

**You cry at sad parts of the book... Even though you've read it 20 times.

**You're avatar has something to do with the book series or Edward

**You know Edward's favorite 'food' is mountain lion, and Emmet's is grizzly bear

**You look up your vampire name online....ha ha.

my vampire name

Found this site on twilight moms that generates your vampire name...thought it would be fun to post it, since people keep telling me i am obsessed with this book. give it a try, here http://www.emmadavies.net/vampire/ And now the big reveal, my vampire name is:

The Great Archives determine you to have gone by the identity: Musette de Pompadour

Known in some parts of the world as: Bitch of Seducers

The Great Archives Record: Beautiful and alluring - hiding great power, great danger.

I especially love the second one...made me laugh. Coming next: You know you are a twilight fan when?

Moral Compass

I think that as parents we have enough on our plates teaching our own children the rights and wrongs of this world..........and if you have a stubborn child, it is even more work. But these past few weeks as I have driven two extra children to awana, I find myself having to step in to their conversations and remind what is right. Last night was a prime steppin' time and I was exhausted by the time we dropped them off. Now don't get me wrong, I know that this is a ministry. I shoulder that responsibility......but I think it just overwhelmed me last night. I don't like to discipline other people's kids......but when they start hitting each other and kicking my car...then I have to step in. I think that those kids are more comfortable around me and therefore able to show their true colors. They are good kids, but last night was just a challenge.

Plus we got into the moral story of a third friend at school blaming the older two in the car for getting into trouble. So we had to have a little talk about how that made them feel and then when they did it to somebody else, how did that make the other person feel. Blaming people seems to be a skill that second graders have bred into them.....it is a hard one to defeat. Any suggestions for other moms?? I could use them for my two kids.

We have also had to have a lot of discussions with our oldest about some of the stuff kids at school are doing. The whole......"would you jump off a bridge, just because tommy did?" It has been a challenge....but she does get it. She is so black and white, that she often times will do the right thing, without being reminded. I am finding that this little friend of hers....who I am thankful that she has someone...is not from the same "character" background that we are.....so we have to have a lot of talks about stuff. I like to see it as building our future together, one talk at a time.

happy thoughts!!

The ants go marching 2 x 2

Yesterday we spent the day down at my brother's celebrating my mom's birthday. I of course got half way down the freeway yesterday morning and realized that I had forgetten to bring her bday present!! ha ha. We met with my niece on friday night and took some pictures for my mom.......that is really all she wants, except her world would be perfect if it were only pictures of my brother and my daughter, since they can do no wrong and are the prefered children. ha ha.

Randal broke out his rock band for us to play!! The kids and I had been waiting for a week to play this. So Much Fun! Sydnie rocked out on the guitar and drums and singing!!! I unfortunately realized, as I was belting out my songs, that really I cannot sing. ha ha. The drums were so much fun to play. My mom even got on and rocked out for awhile and so did my niece. This is all the kids want for christmas! Which is quite a bit of xms present....maybe we can throw bdays in there too. It is so much fun. I am not sure I want syd singing some of those songs......they need to make a rock band for smaller kids with songs that they love. She had never heard most of the songs that she was singing yesterday.

Like so many other houses in this beautiful state of ours..........my brother's house has ants! And they all congregate in the playroom. Now that could be because my brother is a slob and leaves all his old dishes and cups laying around.......and ants like that! We were all sitting there watching people rock and suddenly noah screams.........."there's an ant on me!" Well that pretty much started it. He ran out of the room. He then saw ants wherever he went in their house. He saw them on the carpet, on toysand in his ice cream (which was kind of funny because it was vanilla bean, so it did kind of look like an ant). Just as we were walking out the door, noah decided he was thirsty, so my SIL helps him get some water and then she comes running outside to tell me this little story.............

"So I give noah his cup of water and he says, "there is an ant in here" I take the cup and say there is no ant in there, look inside and sure enough..........there is an ant in his water cup."

nuff said

sucks - in all the right ways

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Entertainment News

Check out this video from MTV about the movie! just thought it was cute. I love the whole "i don't know, they've got brooms" line!!! ha ha. I will have my tickets pre-bought and ready to go watch the movie on December 12th.....even if there is a midnight showing! Ohhh, maybe i will pull out the SAHM card and go during the day...when all the teenagers are in school! Who else is up for that??? RR- wanna go?

Motivation

Last week I blogged about the fact that I know have a gym membership....yay for me. I have gone faithfully and I love going to the classes. This last week I had to miss group ride because of my orientation, but I went last sunday and I went yesterday morning to ride. I have to tell myself to not get on the scale right now, because I know that I will either maintain my weight or have gained some because of muscle mass...........but I really want it to come off immediately. well really who doesn't. That is not to say that I have not had change. I have lost inches all over.......which is really what counts, right? But why does it have to start from the top down!

So when I cannot go to class I work out on the eleptical for at least 45min. But that, as we all know, is frankly, boring. No matter if you have your ipod or not! So I decided to bring out the big guns for this workout! I have blogged about my favorite books before {http://lifeworthliving-rochelle.blogspot.com/2008/02/love.html} but now I have decided to reread them again, but only while I am at the gym on the eleptical!!!! Can I just say that I am going crazy right now! I woke up this morning dreaming of edward and bella.......I...must...go...get...on...the...eleptical!!!!

So thank you stephanie meyer for making me get my butt to the gym and immerse myself in the amazing world that you have created! Thank you edward and bella for being the driving force to get myself into my nike dri-fit and be dazzled by your unique story.

Pump It Up

Rambo Style

The Birthday Boy

The kids actually won both rounds of lazer tag

What you cannot see from this pix is that jason is completely

soaked to the bone...all the kids ganged up on him.

Last night we joined the Heinny's at Bullwinkles for some birthday fun with JJ. My kids have been wanting to go there for the longest time...we just haven't yet. So we decided to tag along and join in on the fun. The kids had a blast! They all loved the bumper boats, good thing it was kind of warm outside, because they got soaking wet. Then we moved inside for some game action, dinner and the roller coaster. But the best part of the evening was Lazertag! We were the only ones in there and the dads played too. It was great, they even let them play a second time for free! Angela and I sat in a corner and watched them all run around, screaming, looking for someone to shoot. Of course the kids all got their prizes, which broke on the way home...gotta love that stuff. Good times.

A New Adventure

Well.......I am officially on the payroll of our local school system and will be earning my own income shortly! This has been a process that has taken most of the year and finally is done.

As every stay at home mother knows, the wrestling match that takes place in our very souls, the question that all husbands ask us as our children become school age.............."when are you going back to work?" My husband has been bugging me for about two years now and finally my school year next year is wide open. Of course in my mind it is open for coffee, bible study, lunches, work outs and general me time. But then I started to realize that I would probably be severely bored.

As I have volunteered throughout the years, I remembered that long ago dream of becoming a teacher, those college hours put in, but never finished. I also took into account all of the comments about how perfectly suited I am for working in the schools and mulled it over in my brain. Finally this last january I felt God calling me to act upon this desire and I applied to be a substitute Instructional Assistant. I went to the orientation this week and found out that I did all of this a little too early and I have to sub this year at least twice in order to be on the call sheet for next year!

I am generally excited and a little scared. The ultimate goal is to obviously have a full time asst position in a school that is close to my house and I am still able to be there for my kids. The job that I am seeking is a kindergarten IA and they are hard to come by. Several people have asked me if I would go back and get my teaching degree??? I just don't know right now. I am still trying to figure out if working is really the path that God has for me or if this is just a test of faith. I know that I will probably have to put in a few years as a sub in the district, but God willing I will be able to be a building sub at our school next year. It is a little scary to think of going into a new classroom, with new people and different teaching styles...I don't know how my friends do it. It is a great adventure (flashes of Steven Curtis Chapman singing in my head...this is the great adventure!!)

Happy

This just makes me absolutely happy. Every week this guy comes up with something creative and fun. He literally makes me smile every time I hear him sing and really who does not love the dreds!

Fragile

I am writing this with a sad heart, as I realize how fragile life is. My husband told me tonight that the baby of a coworker passed away this weekend. Thad has been sending me updates of little Nate for about three weeks now and the last update on friday was that Nate was going home soon! He was born with a congenital heart defect, but praise God did not have to have the extensive surgery that all the doctors thought. He was being weaned off his meds and had started feeding. His parents wrote that they had held him for only the fourth time this last week and they were excited about his future. Imagine our devastation when Thad found an email in his inbox....nate is gone.

Our hearts and prayers go out to nate's family..his mom, dad and sister. all those who loved him in his short and beautiful life.

It's a school day

YAY!! I really mean that in the best possible way. ha ha. I love my kids, but in the short time they were here last week it was almost constant fighting. What the heck? I try my hardest to keep them busy......but it does not seem to matter. So today, it is a little calmer around here! We will see what happens at 3:30! I will institute the crack down in they don't behave themselves. No wii, no webkinz, no fun!!! all homework and chores.

So I said last week that I was able to join our local gym........by God's Grace and my MIL's banking account. ha ha. My MIL had paid for a membership that she never uses and they let me transfer it to me, but she will continue to pay for it!!! So last week I spent time trying to figure out which classes I liked and how to fit it all in. This morning did group power again and then walked on the treadmill for 20 min. Then it dawned on me......I should come in early and do either group ride or group groove, then group power and go home and get ready for the day. I spend two days a week at the school so i have to be ready for that too. It is all just an experiment at this point....what will work best. I am not sure that my son loves going 3 days a week, but he will just have to get over it. It will only be 6 more months and then he will be in school full time.....i can do what i want!!!

anyway..........just rambling. felt like i needed to post something on the last day of the month.

Guy Time

As I was wrapping up my evening last night, laying in bed watching a show.........the phone rang.....10:45pm. My first thought was that the guys had for some reason got stuck somewhere or it was a wrong number.

When I answered I heard the sweet voice of noah......."hi mom. I am going to bed now, I just wanted to tell you goodnight" Guess what? We just went snake hunting in the dark, we caught one too, but it got out the other end of the bag. It was so cool." I am gonna sleep on the top bunk with chase tonight, because we are super tired right. When I get home I think I am going to need to rest, because I am already tired. But in the morning if we wake up and there is snow, we are going to have a huge snowball fight! bye mom, love you."

How sweet. I found out when thad got on the line that they had went snipe hunting! ahhh the memories. so much fun. i am so thankful that they boys get to have this time together! they really needed some boy bonding.

I was starting to feel bad that they were all going to be so cold, but then i found out that our friend brought his xbox, guitar hero and a projector!!! Hello, that is not camping. Talk about your guy time.........now i wonder if they brought lighters and a couple cans of chili....ha ha.

Is it spring?

It is snowing outside right now...........it is march 28th! I seriously cannot believe it. It normally just rains on spring break...but snow! My DH and DS are heading up to a cabin this weekend for a father/son trip with a bunch of guys from church. I am scrambling trying to find something warm for noah to wear. And as of this morning, my DH was actually just going to tent camp with our 6 year old son. His qoute "I have camped in below freezing temperatures before....it is not that big of a deal." UUUUMMMMM...have you taken a six year old out in those temps? NO! Now they are going to be in one of the cabins and hopefully get some snow time in, as well as some hiking! Me on the other hand.........I am going to enjoy some girl time with my daughter. A little Enchanted, dinner and who knows what else.

enjoy

80's Revisted

Three of my alltime favorite movies

Last weekend I sat down and watched footloose..............ahhhh the memories. I knew every song, every dance move, all the lines.....and it has been years since I have watched it.

It was 1984 and I was graduating 8th grade. I lived in a small town where there was one movie theater and that summer I am pretty sure that every 8th grader came down to that one theater on the same night and we rocked the house....1984 style. At the end of the movie I remember that we were all dancing in the aisles and I am pretty sure a couple kids got on stage and we all imitated all the dance moves. I remember it was the like the coolest thing I had ever done up until that point. That was a rad movie. It had awesome music and dancing. Everybody liked this movie. I think I wore a hole in my tape that summer, listening to it over and over.

Don't you long for the days when you kicked out your feet, bobbed your head in time to the music and swung your arms side to side. Here is the best part of the whole evening. While i was watching Kevin run around the grain mill dancing his little heart out and throwing in some gymnastics to boot.........the only thing I could think was "that looks like troys dance in hsm2"

So it really does come back around. What was popular then, can be popular again. How fitting that the kid that plays troy is starring in a remake of footloose! My poor husband, he had only seen the movie once and could not understand the nostalgia that I was feeling. I told him that now we needed to rent top gun, 16 candles, breakfast club, pretty in pink, say anything.......he just shook his head. Guess what is in my mailbox from netflix right now!!!! I think I feel an 80's moviefest coming on.

It's a Tuesday

**So this week is spring break and there is no spring about it. I woke up this morning and it was frozen outside. It was 32 degrees....what is up with that! and to top it all off, the cat was outside all night and was at the back door meowing as loud as an alarm clock, waking me up at 6:30am. I think he has finally thawed out.

**The kids are watching snow buddies for about the 100th time this morning. They saw a preview for this movie about a month ago and it took that long for it to get here from netflix. it must a popular movie with the kidlets. I think we will have to send it back today, I need some movies to watch.

**The kids are going to workout with me this morning. I have never seen sydnie so excited. I guess my mom told them that I was able to join the gym and they are ready to go. haha. i told syd that she was not going to come in the workout room with me, but she got to go and play with all the kids. she was okay with that.

**In the four days my kids were gone........I only scrapped 6 pages. But that is more than I have done in a long time. It takes a while to get the groove back, plus I am just not in love with it like I used to be. In fact the thought crossed my mind that it is time to make one family album per year. I end up doing the same pages for each of their albums...just change the colors or the name, but they are the same pages! Why not just do one big album...then they don't have to haul away 20 albums by the time they are 20. This type of thinking was like sacrilige to me a couple of years ago, but now....i see the logic. I must be growing up as a scrapper! ha ha.

**Thanks to kim for being my excuse to make my favorite carrot cake last night. By the way....I did have a little slice when you guys left....shhhhhh. I pretty sure that I paid for it all night, everytime I rolled over, I could literally feel the cream cheese frosting turning into fat.

**Wait now it is sunny outside! Hopefully it will warm up today and be nice outside.

Faux Easter

Last weekend we got together with my parents and celebrated Easter, early. It just worked out that we needed to do it earlier this year.....brother gone on a mission trip, SIL and niece are going to the wiggles today. It was nice. We just got together and hung out. But I do have to confess that I did not win the mother of the year award this year for easter..........we bought plastic eggs to hunt! oh the shame. oh the whining and crying from children! (who got over it once they got their baskets of goodies haha). I just ran out of time. I did miss the brightly colored eggs. my niece brought her own eggs this year and they were all cracked were she had dropped them into the dye and played with them. so cute.

The kids are down at my parents today for spring break, so it is just thad and I. no rushing. no celebrations. just the two of us. which should be kind of nice! we will go to church and remember the real reason we celebrate this day. Hope you all have a blessed day with family and friends.

CopyCat

Check out what this little one is doing! When she heard that i was going to be taking a knitting class she was so excited, because she has knitting at school! She went last year a lot, but it was pretty hard for her to do it. This year she had not shown interest at all, until I brought home my scarf kit. She talked her two little friends into going to knitting at school and then we went out and bought her some needles and a skein of yarn. She knitted a scarf for her webkinz in one weekend!!! WOW. We only had to tear it out once, when she had 18 stitches, instead of 10. She was so excited to show her knitting teacher and because she did such a good job, she gets to bring home her school project and work on it. She has slowed down a little since I am done with my scarf, she likes to sit next to me and we both knit together. Guess that means I will have to go buy some more yarn for me!

Hard Decision = Blessings

This last year I made the decision not to help with awana this year. It was a hard decision. I love that program, but I felt God's calling to step down, that He would direct my path this year if I trusted in him. Last year was a tough year for me physically and emotionally. Lots of family stuff that I still have a hard time revisiting. I did not realize the stress that I was under last year and how much it was affecting me, until everything started to calm down and I could look back and see all the affects.

This year instead of helping in awana, Thad and I have been able to go out on some dates together. It has been nice, just the two of us, a chance to reconnect. Plus I have been able to start bringing two other kids to awana as well. I see that as a blessing from God. I feel like I am right in line with His plan. If my car were bigger I could bring a couple others as well.

School has been my area of impact this year. I have been able to speak to parents about Upward and Awana. I talked to many families about playing Upward this year, some had never have been to church or even thought about it. Of course it was not that hard to talk them into playing, because they had all heard about the program. I have another family that wants to start awana this year, but softball practice is in the way. I have a boy that is going to start next year...he is switching to our church next fall....one more child to bring! This is all just by being there and talking to people. I don't hunt people down...in fact they seek me out.

I have made some serious connections at the school. Syd's teacher came to one of her bball games to watch the team, which had 4 players from our school. She is not a christian, but she has now seen it and Sydnie really lives it(ie: the b**bie story). haha. Another staff has a niece that played and she was impacted by Upward. And because these women know that I am involved they talk to me about it. They both gushed over the positive aspects of Upward and how much they appreciate that there is an organization that is teaching in a positive and uplifting way.

I see the blessings from my decision, because I followed the Lords will and I am thankful that He has provided me eyes to see and ears to hear. I still do not know where God has me for next year........there has been no lightening or soft voices.......I just wait for the guiding and seek His will.

School Part Duex

Since I had a school post about my son yesterday, now it is time for my daughter. This afternoon the kids got together with their fifth grade reading buddies.....syd has had the same buddy all year. The fifth grader is really nice and made her a Christmas present and today they made an easter basket to hide for their buddies.

So syd has told me throughout the year that when her reading buddy reads to her she often cannot read the book that has been chosen. She often misspells words when they write notes to each other. So today she tells me that her buddy (5th grader) could not spell the word pine and had written pin instead. My daughter is so sweet and did not tell her, but the other kids around noticed and were talking about it.

Wow! I am a little suprised that they did not pair their buddies a little better, but the idea is great and I am glad that syd has these experiences that show her how to treat others.

school

Tuesday is my day to volunteer in my sons classroom and I was struck by a revelation today in the middle of the kindergarten classroom. My son is not like my daughter! Now I have known this, don't get me wrong......but today it came in crystal clear that he will be my child that school is an issue.

I have been working with him at home...writing his sight words, reading his sight words, reading, math, etc. But when he gets into class he totally freezes up. Maybe it is because I am working with him. But he will pretend like he cannot read, he forgets words and adds extra words in. Now let me also say that in the time that I have worked with him at home he has taken off...he is an excellent reader and he is good at reading. His report cards are always excellent. His teacher praises how good he is, he does his stuff and does not misbehave. Although she did put him at a table of all girls and he is now talking a lot more and is distracted, because all the girls love noah and talk to him. I questioned the wisdom of that decision, since he is a casanova.

This is just something I have noticed about him. In kinder they have reading groups and noah started in the highest and is now in the middle. (and I know that he is better than this, but he does not try in class) Nothing wrong with middle. But it is funny because if it was my daughter I would expect her to be in the top and she always has been. I expect it from my son too, but part of me says, well he is a boy! Not an excuse....but he is a bit of a daydreamer. He is my child who, when I ask him to pick something up or get his shoes on, next thing I know he is doing something completely different.

Just a musing from me today. Just a thought for me to ponder. Just a "wow, i better start pushing him more or her less" thought. Just a mommy moment that i felt needed to be shared. Because even though we all say we will never do this stuff, like compare, we do. But we love them the same.

Secret Rockers

Last night I hosted a Pampered Chef party at my house and I invited a bunch of women. You know how parties are, you never know how many are coming....I had 18 women show up. HOLY CRAP. People had to sit on the ground while they were ordering. ha ha. The party was great, although I was to busy answering the door and talking to individual guests. When I sent out the email and talked to different people I let them know that I was going to break out Guitar Hero for us to rock a little. I think more people came for the rock then the food.

I had worked hard all week to unlock new levels for the women to play on and my daughter had been practicing her "when we were young" so she could impress her teacher and friends. I think 8 women played and a couple were closet rockers...they instantly got the whole idea. It was a blast. Of course when they started egging me on to get my rock on, I messed up. My brother can literally just walk around, turn around, be completely bored and still hit all his notes....not me, not yet! I am not allowed to play it around my children unless it is in training mode.

The best part was when I pulled out the guitar, my 2 year old niece ran up, grabbed the guitar and started rockin' out. I think she plays with her dad a lot. ha ha. it was priceless.

Gotta love a bunch of suburban moms........rockin out and eating brownies. That is some good stuff.

So Literal

Yesterday morning my son came running into my room and jumped on the bed and I heard the bed groan it's final breath. I told my son to stop jumping on the bed because it was on its last leg and could not handle anymore jumping. I turn around to finish getting ready and the next thing I know noah is yelling at me...I turn around to see his little body sticking out from underneath our bed. He wriggles his way out from underneath....looks at me with all seriousness and says "mom, i was just under the bed and it is not on it's last leg, it has four under there!"

Seeing Double

Enter this post about webkinz at your own risk...you might have to go buy one or two!

alley cats

cows

penguins

beagles

and huskies

As you have all read, we have a serious webkinz addiction over here. My DD has 14 webkinz and my DS has 9, I have 2. But did you know that we recently had a photoshoot, camera and shots provided by my DD. One day I heard the kids running to and from the playroom and heard lots of giggles and whispers as they worked together to create a webkinz world. They had set up shop and taken photos of all their webkinz. literally they set up a shop. complete with signs and a general store for their webkinz to buy stuff. so cute! my dd posed all the animals and took the shots herself on her camera....i think she took 100 shots that day! good thing i don't have to print them all. My dd has been bugging me for a week to post this on my blog, so here it is! enjoy!

Forgetful

Okay I am going to admit that sometimes I really do not like to cook and over the past two weeks it has been in full swing. We have had a lot of pancakes and waffles around here lately! So yesterday I decided I would make my daughter request of sweet and sour meatballs, but when 4pm came and I was staring at the hamburger.....I thought, what can I make that I just stick in the oven and not stand here for an hour rolling meatballs?

Then it came to me: Tater Tot Casserole. Now I have only made this one other time, for the kids who ended up not liking it.....so why bother, right? I looked up a recipe on the internet, wrote it down and proceeded to make said TT Casserole. While it was cooking I read to the kids and finished the laundry and smelled the TTC cooking. I thought to myself, huh, was I suppose to put in garlic salt or onion salt. We sat down to eat and I realized that I really was suppose to use onion salt.....so we had a nice garlicy TTC last night and the kids loved it!!! ha ha. I cannot believe that my memory is that far gone that in the space of 5 minutes I could forget what I had read and wrote. I don't know why I did not use real onions, other than why do any more work and I forgot the ingredients. Tonight is the perfect excuse, since I will be at the school all day for our science day and night program! Looks like a run to subway in between events.

Gould Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

Gould Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

The Greatest and The Heater

Last year at this time we forcibly signed our son up for tball, meaning he was screaming and crying while daddy walked out the door. The season went by and of course he ended up loving it (well that is relative, but he did not hate it).

This year, since about september, he constantly asks me when is it going to be baseball time again? So we got the call the other night that he is once again on the Yankees team. He was so excited!

But here is the part that I love. I cannot get that kid to practice his catching, throwing or batting. Last weekend we played a little, but he has such a long ways to go. He really is a video type of kid, not an outdoor sports guy. But he is loving all things to do with baseball and one of his favorite movies is "The Sandlot" as you can tell from this conversation that took place......

n: "mom....i am gonna show you my heater!"

m: "your heater?"

n: "my heater"

n: "is babe ruth still alive? because he was the greatest baseball player ever. the king of swing, the sultan of swat"

m: "no, he is not alive and he was one of the greats."

n: "i am gonna be great like him"

m: "well, we better practice a lot more."

n: "can i play a computer game now?"

So much for the greatest ball player that ever lived!

Top Ten

1. Stuffed Animals
2. Family
3. Games
4. Friends
5. God
6. Love
7. Books
8. gifts
9. Earth
10. Electronics


These are the top ten of an eight year old girl. The list was made in school while they were waiting for other kids. When she brought it home I absolutely fell in love with it. I thought I would share with the rest of my friends....I think thad and i need to explain that God should be first on the list, not animals. ha ha

OH NO....another obsession

Aren't these the cutest little animals you ever saw! I happen to watch Martha one day last week and they were making these adorable little animals out of wool gloves. The project looked easy enough and I thought what a fun thing to do with the kids. We could make a couple for their cousins and for themselves. I loved that you could make them fun and funky. Plus just look at that adorable little green scarf around the puppies neck. For more on this project

http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.3a0656639de62ad593598e10d373a0a0/?vgnextoid=490fec3502248110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&autonomy_kw=glove%20animals&rsc=image_1

I think the crafting has rubbed off on me. I am almost done with my scarf. I will post a pix of it when it is complete......wahoo. Then I ran across a couple of knitting blogs the other day. oh lawsie mercy (to qoute pioneer woman) they just about stole my heart. These cute adorable felted eggs for easter and bunnies and chicks. oh my!

We will see if I do any of it. But it is nice to have another creative outlet to work with. Although I do love photography as well. To many things to work on. Must finish scarf first.

Another Great Story

So a couple of weeks ago I picked syd and her friend up from school and as we walked home in the beautiful sunshine they told me all about the health video they watched that day. Val was explaining how she almost passed out when she saw the blood and had to run to the bathroom to get some water. They told me that they had a substitute that day (my mind rushed back to the drill sargeant). But then they started telling me about how the lady was naked in the video and that you could see her b**bies and butt. That the video had zoomed in on her b**bies to show the skin, but that you could see them. And how the woman was posing with her hands behind her head and you could see her naked body. I asked the girls many questions to see if they were just exagerating, but they were both consistent in their answers....oh boy.

Now if it had just been sydnie telling me I probably would have just casually brought it up to her teacher the next morning.....like you are never gonna believe what syd said yesterday. But since it was both girls and there had been a sub.....I called my girlfriend and we agreed that I should at least call and clarify that it was not something else.

Given that I have a relationship with the principal, I called and asked to clarify what had been on the video, letting him know that if syd's teacher had been there I would not be calling I would talk to her directly, but with the sub issue...I thought I better call. Now this is when it gets good. As I was talking to the principal......I said the word b**bies about 5 times in this conversation. I am so smooth! That is what happens when you listen to a couple of 8 year olds! I hung up the phone with him and instantly started to regret using the "b" word, why couldn't I have said chest! When he called back I listened to him explain that he could see where some kids would think it was bad (cuz he skimmed the video himself, since it was a sub) and we hung up.

That afternoon I had a blast tellingmy friends my embarassing moment from that day....called my SIL and left her message that said "i got to say the word b**bies to the principal today, about 5 times." She called back that evening and we laughed about it.

Then the next morning came and suddenly I felt embarrased over the situation...but they are my kids and I have a right! So as I walked into school I walked past the principals office (flashes of sitting in his office in trouble passed in front of my numskull brain). Syd's teacher and I talked and laughed and laughed some more. Have I said she is cool. Anyway...then she tells me that by the time she got to school everyone knew that she had shown p*rn in class!! ha ha. By the time the principal talked to her, she already knew and then she says...mr G came up to me this morning and said "rochelle called yesterday and said b**bies to me!!!!" I was dying inside. So of course being the brave, get it over with type of woman I am....I found mr G. We laughed and it was all good.

So now occasionally I will find syd's teacher and quietly say chickamowmow!!! and she calls me the b**bie momma!

Life is full of good stories and I had to share this one. It is humbling and made me laugh and a good lesson in how we have to protect our kids and stand up for them. (even if for the next 5 years I will be the b**bie momma to syd's teacher)

Things I Miss

4 year old princess


noah was obsessed with phones and look their is bear

The other night we were driving home from our nephews basketball game and i hear this little yawn from the back of the car and my heart melted. When I turned around to ask if he was sleepy, he replied with his eyes half closed...."not really mom" Within a minute he was out, his head bobbing around until he was completely gone. I know that their baby years are gone and soon they will be grown and I will long for those little things that children do.

I miss noah sucking his two fingers

I miss cute little bottoms in diapers

I miss bottles being drug around in mouths

I miss those belly laughs when they are babies

I miss playdoh and crayons

I miss holding a sleeping baby

I miss when they get an owie...holding up their finger for you to kiss

I miss noahs bear

I miss everything princess

I miss cheerios being the ultimate food

I miss trying to figure out what they are saying

I miss the little head bobs of slumber in the car

It is true that while you are in the midst of the little years you do not always appreciate them...but now that you look back and they are suddenly gone you long for them. I guess that is why God made me an auntie!!

how to eat a potato chip

brought to you by a six year old boy

The first step on this journey is to beg and beg and beg your mom to serve you chips with your lunch. After a successful negotion, you next run to the counter, climb up and retrieve favorite chips from their holding place. Then the ultimate....open the bag, sniff the cool ranch flavor that delights your senses and makes your mouth want to eat them right then and their. But you are patient little one and proceed to jump of the counter, falling to the ground, with the bag of chips held victorously in the air (not spilling one). Next your run to your plate, your pb&j is their waiting patiently for its long lost companion. You put a pile on your plate, looking around to see if you can pile em high or just start with this for now. Then you leave the open bag right next to your plate so that while you are eating, you can enjoy the pleasure of looking in the bag to see more chips waiting their for you. Ignoring the perfectly made pb&j you dig into your chips...not being a total pig you choose only one to start your feast. You place said chip in your mouth and crunch! Your world crashes in around you as all you can see, hear, taste, touch and think about is the chip. Now here is the important part. You take your initial bite, chew, then slowly begin to shove the rest of the chip into your mouth using both hands, crunching as you go. Like we said this is sofisticated chip eating. None of that four chips at once thing. You grin victoriously and immediately grab a new chip and begin the process again.

Now that is how you eat a chip!

A New Skill

So I admit that beyond scrapbooking (which I never do anymore) I am not a crafty person and I am fine with that. I have lived my non-existent craft-free life for quite awhile now and I am satisfied. I admire women who can knit some adorable hat and I am a little jealous of the cute felted bags that were popular a year ago. So when my friend invited me over for a learn how to knit day, I thought to myself....."I really need some adult time, who cares about the knitting."

So I went....it was hysterical. I felt like an old woman. I had to squint my eyes to see what the heck our teacher was showing us. I needed glasses. I also had to learn by doing it, many times!!! But in the end I finally caught on and took my project home to work on throughout the next month. I found myself looking at my little bag with the yarn and needles, dreading it. How am "I" going to get through a whole skein of yarn in a month? Plus everytime I picked it up I could tell that I was picking up extras along the way and my scarf was getting rather wide.

It has been two weeks since I made this commitment to knitting. I had gotten a good 5 inches into my scarf. I even took it to events to work on while I was waiting for kids or husband (I had crossed over to the dark side). Last night my friend told me I should rip out the whole blasted thing and start over so that my scarf was not wavy from extras. So I did and I started over. While I was waiting for Thad to get home and watching a movie, I knit it back to about 4 inches. Not too bad for someone who is not crafty!

Even in my old age I can say that I learned a new life skill. Now of course my daughter wants me to knit her webkinz scarfs!!! Oh my...I am a lifer now.

Vitality Revisted

The master in the ART of living makes
little distinction between his work and his PLAY,
his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body,
his information and his recreation, his love and his religion.
He hardly knows which is which.
He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does,
leaving others to decide whether he is WORKING or PLAYING.

To him he's always doing both.


by James Michener


I loved this qoute that I found on a scrappin blog. It reminded me of my keyword for the year....Vitality. This morning when we walked to school the sun was shining on our faces and lighting up the morning with the energy of a new day. Noah and I took a bike ride this morning as well. It just feels good to have spring winking at us. It felt good to be out, in the sun and ready to enjoy a new day. looking forward to the goodness it will bring.

Lost

Can we talk Lost for just a moment. I do love this show. I love the character driven plots, the character development, the redemptive quality to the show. I love that on the island they get to be what they were not back home. They get to step up and be a leader, be good, be an action taker, be a hero. I love that the co-creator is still involved and has an end to reach and you can see that they are still following that path.

I love trying to find all the little extras that they place in their for fans. I love that people go ape on the message boards over something that really has no significance. I have to say that this year I was highly anticipating the premier...I could not wait to see more flash forwards, which is brilliant....because we had almost got to the point where we knew their back stories, now we are eager and waiting for what happens in the future. I really did not care to know the 4 new characters (the rescue crew) stories, but the sayeed episode brought me back to feeling the love.

I am vested in this show. I love terry o'quinn. loved him alias. glad that they wrote this part for him.

I do not spend alot of time reading posts and playing all the games (find 815). I have kids that demand my time, but for a day or two after the show has aired I will look at the boards and see what people are saying and see if there was something I missed.

At least it gives me something to be happy about. I love a good mystery. I love the overall mythos of this show and I cannot wait to see where it ends.

L.O.V.E.

I am so excited that one of my favorite books has started filming...here in Oregon. I was super pumped to see pix on the authors site of her with the cast and how she thinks oregon is going to be a beautiful setting for her book.

At the end of the summer I started Harry Potter books again and finished those and felt lost...I had nothing engaging to read. Then my friend told me about this series that was really popular with young adults, she had not read it yet, but when she did she would tell me about it. Needless to say she read it in one weekend, brought it in for me to read and during Noah's birthday weekend, amongst all the parties, wrapping paper and cake...I read. I read until late into the night, woke up at 6am because I could not get my mind off edward and bella.

Itold my friend I was addicted and that I was so thankful that she had told me about these books. I ran right out and bought all three books. If you have not heard of them yet..........it is a series of books about a young teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire. It is beautifully written, engaging and full of wonderful character development. I hated vampires as a kid...they terrified me. So to read this was such a breath of fresh air, how she describes them is breathtaking.

My friend and I were joking around that we should go to the extras casting call last weekend...we thought we could certainly pass as one of the teachers in school. I wanted to be the school secretary that Edward sweetalks. But I will say that I am tempted to find out where they are shooting and just go check it out!! How fun would that be. I am super pumped about the cast. I love the girl they cast as Victoria...she is perfect and her name is rachelle!! I am very curious to see who they cast as Jacob, because he is so engaging and has such a huge impact in the second and third book.

The only bummer about this whole experience is I have to wait until August to get my hands on the fourth book. I think I will have reread them soon. The thing I love about these books is that they translate from young to old and they are still engaging, witty and wonderful. If you want to learn more here is Stephanie's website... http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilight_movie.html

The story on how this novel came to be is amazing and super cool.

Weatherman or President

OR

This evening while we were driving home from Costco, sydnie looks at me with all seriousness and asks

syd: who is that famous reporter?

me: I say what famous reporter? There are many

syd: the weather man, named george bush

me: you mean president george bush

syd: oh yeah, i just thought he was a weatherman, a famous one, on tv

me: no honey he is the president!

syd: oh yeah. president bush

i love conversations with little ones! made me laugh and probably still will for days to come.

thank u aunt shell

We had the extreme joy of having a play date all day with cousin ryen on monday and boy did we have fun. That little cookie is the smartest, precocious, adorable little kid out there! She is awesome. The kids had a blast with her on the trampoline, playing playdoh and riding in the little jeep. She has been on our trampoline many times and we have system to keep her safe...my kids have to sit down while she jumps and then she sits while they jump. Ryen would jump and imitate the big kids and try and land on her bottom....she would land, stand up , throw her hands in the air and say..."i'm okay aunt shell". I laughed everytime.

I will admit that I bribed her and told her if she took a good nap I would get her some ice cream. So she slept, a little, and we took off for basketball practice and mcdonalds. I pulled up to the window after I had ordered and just about fell out of my car when they handed me this ice cream cone as big as she was!!! Her eyes got real big and she squealed with excitement. She took that first lick, then another, then another....she looked at me with the biggest most adorable eyes and said "thanks aunt shell". Then after every lick, she would yell...."thank u aunt shell" Melted my heart it was so cute!

Tagged

So I have been tagged twice now and I have been putting it off, cuz well I just don't know what to write, there are too many things. ha ha. So here is my attempt:

6 Quirks About You Rules:
1. Link to the person that tagged you
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
4. Tag at least 3 people at the end of your post and link to their blogs
5. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog
6. Let the fun begin!


* I have an addiction to Target. I literally cannot walk in there without buying something. anything. I love it. If I don't go at least once a week I have withdrawels.
* The toilet paper must hang over the roll, not under. I will fix it if it has been put on the roll the wrong way.
* I will clean and pick up before my mom comes over, just to prove that I am not like her. Dishes put away, toys up, no clutter and dusting, vaccuming and clean bathrooms are high on the list.
* I go online and play webkinz everyday. I do all my daily activities and last week I won the hot air balloon and I bought the rare golf cart!!! ha ha.
* I drink my coffee out of the same cup for a week, then the next week choose a new one! Coffee mugs make me happy, so does coffee.
* I clench my teeth at night so I have to wear a guard so I don't wake up with headaches.

Jeans

a year of growth looks good on sydnie. she is a first born thru and thru. she has things that bug her, like:

socks not being lined up on her toes

does not like jeans

likes soft cotton clothes

has to always wear a belt, even with sweats

does not like tight clothes

has to have her bed made before she can get dressed

has to have her hair dry b4 she will get dressed

she has a bit of ocd in her, but we have been working for years to help her control her tendancies. I used to think it was so cute when she would line her little puppies up all in a row before she would go to bed. Now I see it for what it was and I can still appreciate it. She is who she is. She is still a beautiful little girl and someday these tendancies will be to her benefit, but in the time in between it takes a lot of patience and teaching. Some people do not do well in dealing with her, they get impatient and don't treat her so nice. Some people understand what is going on and work with her. Her teacher this year is one of later. She has been the greatest influence and encouragement to syd this year. I cannot tell her thank you enough. Syd has flourished this year. She has made a bunch of good friends. She has matured a ton.

At the beginning of the school year we searched all over for a pair of jeans that syd would wear...this has been an issue for us in the past (the not wearing). So over the course of the last 5 months we have slowly worked our way into wearing jeans. A couple of hours here and there, but the other day while she was getting dressed I asked if she would wear her jeans to school. She did not argue, she just put them on!!! (just asking used to bring about 1 hr screaming fits)!

So she wore the jeans to school...of course she counted how many girls in class were wearing jeans that day. but she made it through the whole day and then this morning..........

she put them on all by herself, no asking, no begging, no crying.........she wore them to school again! She told me that she put them on to impress me! She wanted to show me that she could wear them without me asking her to! WOW....that is some cool kid.

Happy Valentines

Started our morning off with some hugs and kisses. had pink heart pancakes and opened a little gift. headed off to school for a day of candy and parties! hope you enjoy this day of love.

Top Dog

I have to admit that when I heard that a beagle had won best in show at the Westminter show last night I threw my arm in the air in triumph. Finally, one of the most beloved dogs of all times had won the most coveted titles in the dog show world. Uno, the cutest 15in beagle howled his way to victory last night and he is so cute. makes me want to run out and get another beagle....i am not sure that maddie would appreciate that though.

I love our dog. she is almost 10 years old now, she is entering the twilight years of her life, but she is still here and we love her. I remember the day when I finally convinced Thad we needed a dog. We went to a friends house to go swimming and there was this adorable beagle puppy there and that was it. We went home and read up about beagles to make sure that it was the dog for us. We both loved their long ears, cute little black noses and their howls. We looked around in the papers to find some advertised and finally found a family around the salem area that was selling some. We drove down from Portland and I think we both knew that we would not leave empty handed. We arrived at the house and there they were, 7 little beagles in all their puppy glory. We watched them as they played in the backyard and found her!!! Our Dog. She had beautiful coloring, she had a lot of black on her and she had a ton of personality. She literally danced around the yard, our feet and begged for our attention.

We took her home that day. We stopped at the pet store to buy her food, water dish, a leash and collar. We were so proud that she was ours. She slept in the bathroom those first couple nights. She howled and clawed at the door and finally we let her sleep with us. It took us quite a while to name her, it was a tough decision. She was just too cute. Finally we decided on the name Maddie. She settled into our little house and family of 2 adults, one cat and her cuteness. Her and the cat chased each other around the house. They got into fights, but in the end they you would find them curled up together, sleeping soundly.

Maddie has been with us through the birth of children, three different houses and all the time has kept her undeniable beagle spirit. She is awesome with the kids, but she is still my dog. She is always in the same room with me. If I stand up, she is on her feet to with me. If I go upstairs, she follows. She still loves to play ball, but not for very long. She loves to walk to school to get the kids. She loves to ride in the car. She has to be part of the action. She still loves to steal food and begs me to eat every couple of hours. She finally loves to chase a stick into the water. She has a hard time getting up the stairs at night, but she can still make it. She snores....loudly. She even has a scrapbook about her. She is our most beloved pet! part of our family.

I actually scrapbooked

in between noah puking yesterday and sydnie's fever, i actually sat down and scrapbooked two pages yesterday. this is a huge deal. it has been f.o.r.e.v.e.r

i finally cleaned off my desk while they were watching a video and pulled out the suttle lake pages that had been sitting underneath the pile of junk and it only took me about 30 minutes to complete them. I have been "working" on these pages for 5 months and could never get excited about them. But I finally found the right color combination and viola.....

It felt so great to be creative and now i am totally pumped to work on the kids albums. What I really want to work on is our Disney album, but that is a little indimidating, so many pix.

wii would like to play

So I have to admit that I am the video game addict in our family. Blame it on my brothers old atari, but I love it. It could suck the life out of me, so we have not gone there yet. We have our old, old Nintendo 64 that we pull out and play together as a family. The kids love watching us get a ton of stars in the old Super Mario! But let's face it the graphics are not the same, but it is still super fun to play together.

This fall we debated on purchasing a wii for Christmas. We played it at my brothers house and loved it, but could not decide if our kids were old enough. We actually had one in our hands and decided not to get one and we even had the money saved for it. I know kids alot younger than ours have them, but we really want to keep them young while they are young. Plus my son would play it obsessively, especially if he had star wars lego. We would have to find one big timer to place in front of him to regulate how long he could play.

We decided after Christmas if we still had the money for one we would decide if we really wanted one. Now we cannot find one anywhere. I have stood in line for the lottery draws, I have called everyday to find one at a bazillion different stores and nada. I even entered PW random draw yesterday to win a wii and guitar hero, because in my opinion there is no better combination! Although mario party 8, star wars, HSM sing a long and so many other games look like so much fun.

Maybe I will get lucky (because that did not happen in any of the lotteries) and the people at nintendo will read this blog and decide that we really need one and suddenly a wii and guitar hero will show up on our door step.

HELLLOOOO, back to reality! Maybe, just maybe with any luck we will find one sometime in the next 50 years. Wish me luck!

The Fortune Cookie

Last night the family was watching a "how it was made" and they were showing how fortune cookies were made, it was really interesting and scary how much sugar is in those little things. I have a fondness for those lucky little suckers. Once during cheerleading camp someone brought a huge bag full and we gorged ourselves on fortune cookies. It must have been all the sun, workouts and spirit in the air, because they had never tasted so good.

But the real reason I love fortune cookies is because about 12 years ago Thad and I had just started dating and went to our favorite chinese restauraunt in beaverton with Thad's family. That evening we were still exploring how we felt about one another...did we want to continue with this or was it not something that we saw in our future. Towards the end of the meal we received our cookies. Thad broke his open, read his fortune and turned red. He would not look at me for quite awhile. I could not figure out what on earth he had read. It took the rest of the evening for him to tell me what it was that had freaked him out so completely! He showed me the fortune.......Stop searching forever, happiness is just next to you.

We both thought it was romantic and fun, so we kept the fortune. Two weeks later we had dinner at a different restauraunt with some friends. We shared lots of laughter and good food and got to the end of our meal and received our cookies. I opened my cookie and read the fortune inside......Stop searching forever, happiness is just next to you.

Seriously...........I am not making this up. I think that pretty much sealed the deal for us, well not really, but it is a really cool story to tell our kids! So that is our story of the ultimate fortune cookie fortune. So next time you crack open the sugary goodness, take a moment and read what the future has in store for you.

Restraining Order

(Pix the syd took with her camera)

We have had to invoke a cat restraining order over at our location, a restriction from chewie,

no touching
no pulling his tail
no running after him like you mean to hurt him
no wrapping him in blankets until he cannot breathe
no locking him in your bedroom
no dressing him up
no getting within 50 feet of him





Hopefully the children will respect the law and not require us to haul them in for questioning. I fear that they would not appreciate lockup!