A new vacation!

We did something we have never done before...
we went on vacation with several friends and stayed in the house of someone we had never met before!!!  Very 'out of the box' for us. But you know what? we had a GREAT time!  I am so glad we took a chance and did something different and new that we were a little wary about, because it turned out to be a really great time, AND we made some great new friends (the strangers we stayed with ha ha). The story behind the story, is that some of our friends were heading down to Houston for 4th of July to stay with his sister and her husband. They were bringing another couple, and in talking to them they invited us along (or I might have jokingly invited myself along lol, but after several discussions it became serious and we really were invited to join them). We all got on the same flight and flew down there for one fun filled weekend. I have never met a more gracious host and hostess in my life! Jesse's sister, Lisa, and her husband, Dave, not only gave us three couples (and my kids) their bedroom and house (they moved out to a living area in the 'barn' and their son and grandma stayed in the 'pool house'), but they fed us NON-STOP!  Now here is where the story gets really yummy... I love to eat out (especially fancy restaurants), and don't really like eating at people's houses (because quite honestly I am very picky), so we had full intentions of going out every night and treating our hosts to dinner to thank them for allowing us to stay there. But from the moment we got there (about 10am Thurs) the food just started coming out! They whipped up bacon on the outdoor griddle with eggs and toast and sausage (yum!) and juice and fruit (the sweetest most amazing cantaloupe was available to eat every second of the day-their garden was overflowing with ripe cantaloupe. My daughter took full advantage of this and turned into a cantaloupe there!). Plus there were always M&M's, mixed nuts, and choc covered almonds on the counter (hmmm). After that, every single meal was a full on onslaught of culinary greatness! From real homemade bisquits and gravy, gargantuan steak, chicken, delectable cheesy noodle mixture, grilled veggies, spice bread, blondies, homemade ice cream (twice!), homemade blackberry cobbler (with berries from their garden/my favorite/also made twice because I loved it so much), homemade burritos(awesome!), pancakes, breakfast pizza, cheesy potato casserole(yum), to one of my favorites (although it was all so good I think it was ALL my favorite!), a Mediterranean spaghetti squash salad made with tomatoes and feta cheese (yum!).  Plus, beyond all the 'normal' (if u can call it that) food, they guys had gone deep sea fishing Friday, so Friday night we ate their 'catch'! We ate grilled shark(!) steaks, Hawaiian marinated red sea bass(might be wrong name), and fried catfish! Oh my word it was so good!  I have never had shark before, so it was fun  to eat that and really neat since the guys had caught it. I was amazed at how they constantly just whipped up food and it was all so good and scrumptious. Honestly, except for a restaurant, I have never had food that tasted so good! It was great!
Besides the guys going on a deep sea fishing trip, the girls shopped (every day!) so I was super happy. I got lots of fun stuff (Coach purses and sunglasses, flip flops, swimsuits, tshirts, shorts, a cute sundress, school clothes for my kids, and even a couple Christmas presents for T). We had a ball and a really great time shopping (me especially!)
Their house sits on 5 manicured acres with a pond, huge shade trees, a garden, 'barn', as well as a nice pool, hot tub, patio, and outdoor kitchen area. So while we were at the house (which was all day unless we were shopping) we had plenty to entertain ourselves with in the yard, like impromptu games of wiffle ball, golf Frisbee, catch, basketball, or even fishing in the pond. I enjoyed reading by the pond or on my balcony off my bedroom overlooking the pool at night. It was incredibly peaceful.
They also own seven huge white german shepards (plus they had one large brown dog they were babysitting). These dogs rule the roost and it was amazing that they all got along so well. I had hoped to get a picture of all of them together, but that was just not possible ha ha.
All in all, we had a really great time. Lots of fun with friends. We were welcomed into and treated like family by his sister and husband, who also by the way didn't just play hostess to us, but also about 5-15 of their friends every day. So it was a crowd every day, the more the merrier, and it was certainly fun meeting all these people and hanging out with them.
What a great vacation. Something definitely different from my 'hotel/resort vacations' of past, but awesome just the same!
They said we are invited back every year, and you know what, I really hope it happens! I completely enjoyed being in their company and would look forward to hanging out with them anytime!!!

 We arrive in Houston!  Our group!!

 The girls are ready for a 4th of July day of shopping, of course we are dressed in the spirit of the holiday!

 Their yard was a great place to play Frisbee golf, wiffleball, and catch.

 They have a lovely pond that we used as a photo op :)

 Here is W on one of her many occasions eating a huge plate full of cantaloupe, fresh from their garden. Lovely patio and pool area too.

 The guys and their catch!

 A shark on the line.

 Dan bringing one in.

 Chad and the guide with the first shark of the day!

 The nighttime view from my bedroom balcony where I would read in the evening and listen to the crickets and the waterfall in the pool.

 T and Erin at the mall, right after they did a floating hamster activity!

 T with some of her new clothes striking a pose in the pretty pool.

 Me enjoying the pool in one of my new swimsuits and a non-alcoholic pina colada! aahh the life!

 Look at the size of those steaks!!!! I can't believe how much food they always made for us!

 Our wonderful hostess, Lisa, with her second batch of homemade ice cream, yum!!!

 Reading by the pond. Check out my new shoes that match my new dress(I even bought them at different stores!) how fun!!!

 six of the eight dog that were here (they own 7, the brown one is a guest)

 Heading home with two silly girls...

 On the plane again, time to go home.

One more picture from their deep sea fishing trip :)

Good doggie or bad doggie?

Today we come home to find out that our little beagle, Lucy, is missing. She was put in our dog run which is fenced in with 7ft tall wooden fencing. But one section is wrought iron and has a gate. She is an escape artist and she goes through phases of being content in the dog run, or freaking out and doing anything she can to get out. Today I guess she decided to freak out.
She fits through the bars on the iron, so we have tiny square chicken wire (white trash I know!) attached to the fence to try to keep her in. However, when she gets in these frenzies she bites at it and tears it apart and then wiggles through the hole! She did it today.

I have no idea how long ago she got out. We left the house at 8am this morning and I stopped by the house about 2:45. I did notice then that she wasn't barking to get in (normally when she hears the garage open she starts barking to let us know to let her in the house). But I left 15minutes later to pick up the girls from school so I didn' really worry about it, I figured I'd let her in when I got back anyway. Well, when we came back from the schools, she wasn't in the dog run and there was a hole in the fence. grrrr! 
Often if she gets out she will just run around to the front of the house and sit on the porch waiting for us. However, the last several times she has gotten out, she has run down the street, about a quarter mile, to Grandpa's house (Dan's mom and dad). She LOVES Grandpa (almost as much, maybe more than us lol). She has run down there and sat on their porch.
We headed down there to see if possibly she was there. Although, with her being out for several hours, maybe even 6! we weren't really sure it would be possible that she would still be sitting there that long).

Well she wasn't...exactly.

No, in fact, she was sitting INSIDE their house on their couch!

Evidently, their fence was open, as well as their dog door, so she just ran right in and made herself comfy waiting for Grandpa to come home!

:)

I don't know whether that makes her a good dog, or a bad dog. I guess both!

what do u talk about at dinner?

What do you talk about with your spouse when you get a chance for just the two of you to be alone and talk? When our kids were first born, any chance we got for a date night alone, we laughed because all we talked about was them :) Its that new parent syndrome, nothing else in the world exists except your baby :)

However, this weekend when we went on our first date night in many many months, I realized that my husband and I always talk about the same thing when we get a chance to be alone, whether it be at a restaurant or driving together on a long trip in the car.
What do we talk about, you ask.
Is it life? no
The weather? no
Health? no
Something romantic (we ARE on a date, ya know!) nooo...
we talk about...(wait for it....)

Business.
And Business opportunities.

Isn't that crazy? How romantic is that? Not much I guess, at least not in the standard sense of the word. But in our world, its part of what makes us tick. Whenever we are alone we talk about how the businesses are doing. What needs to be worked on, improved upon, or changed. What the horizon is looking like. And what plans my brilliant, entreprenurial husband has in mind for the future. I always wind up shaking my head in amazement and sometimes overwhelm-ment (not a real word), because his plans are always so big that they often scare the risk-averse nature of my being. But I have complete faith in him knowing that God is leading him, and he and I are both listening for direction. Then, the conversation almost always go back to our beginnings :) and we talk about how we started and how we never could have imagined all the things God has placed in our path. I love these times because they are the basis of us. We loved each other before either of us had a 'pot to p--- in', and we still love each other. I like the fact that we grew in this together. Its part of our story. Part of us. Its part of what makes us who we are as a couple. We have history together. And...
it always makes me smile remembering those early days.

So in most people's mind, talking about business on a date night probably isn't considered romantic, but to us... it is :)

I promise I'm not shallow

Gosh, I just read my last couple posts and both of them are about shopping....that makes me seem pretty shallow doesn't it? eek. Well, I didn't intend it that way, but I was just sharing some fun thoughts and adventures I had had, and quite honestly, as a mom, shopping isn't something that happens as often as it does bc (before children), so it was fun to do some shopping for me! and out of the ordinary, so that's way it made it so fun and blog-worthy  :)

Shorts?! its 27 degrees!

Ok, so I went shopping for real today. Meaning, in person, not online. Really I just ran to the mall to return a Lands End mail order item at Sears, but I had some free time so I decided to browse Aeropostale, Vanity, Justice, and The Buckle. Wound up getting something at every store-eek!  But fun! ;D

Got some highly discounted sweatshirt hoodies and sweatpants for T at Aero, and some jeans for her at Vanity. Since W had nothing, I ran into Justice and got her a little something off the clearance rack so she wouldn't feel left out (and it was a good deal too so it was ok). I also finally found a pair of sweatpants for me that fit (!) I have been trying some on periodically over the last couple years and never found a pair that fit the way sweatpants should fit (baggy!)... however, maybe that's because I usually try them on at Aero and let's face it , their clothes are cut for skinny teens, not women with hips. But I finally did find a pair there and  they are comfy. Now I finally have a comfy pair of sweats to wear on Saturdays and I will still look like a normal person if I wear them to town. Right now I wear old baggy draggy pants that are super comfy but look raggy, saggy, and baggy and certainly aren't 'town worthy' ha ha.  Anyway, I like them and I'm happy I found them.

Then I went over to the Buckle to see if they had anything worthwhile. The last several times I've been there nothing has sparked my attention, but today they had lots of new capris and shorts. Isn't it crazy that the stores stock all the summer stuff in January??!! That always bugs me, because truthfully I don't want to shop or buy summer clothes in the middle of winter, I want to buy them in summer! 

However...learning from experience, at the Buckle their stuff is GONE if you wait till its actually the right weather to wear it. I've done that in prior years, going in there in the summer to look for particular shorts, and they will have 2 styles left and none of them are the types, cuts, lengths, or sizes I want. Well, today when I was there they had LOTS of bermuda length shorts (yippee!) I can't stand short shorts. And honestly, 90% of the females out there wearing 1-2 inch inseam shorts SHOULDN'T be!  I am smart enough to know that short of a short does not look good on me so I refuse to buy those. I was very happy they had the longer style, and lots of them. They ALSO had  several in the EASY cut, which I LOVE. They are so much more comfortable and fit my body type so much better. Its a pleasure to try that cut on, they feel so good. Whereas, when I am trying on the regular cut and I am wiggling and tugging trying to get them up over my thighs and tush, only to finally get them up and then they are way too big in the waist (but there is no chance I can get a smaller size or they won't make it up past my knees lol) Anyway, these easy fit styles are much more comfy, go on easily , fit me well, and I love em. Last season I found the easy fit in Miss Me's. Well, this season Rock Revival also is offering an easy fit (yippee!), now if I could just get my most favorite brand (Big Star Vintage) to offer an easy fit, I'd be smiling from ear to ear :)

So all this to say... it was 27 degrees this morning, and I bought 3 pairs of shorts and ordered a pair of capris today. Now I've become just as crazy as the stores selling them! lol.  Oh well , I don't regret it, they all fit great and I know if I hadn't gotten them today and tried to go back in the spring or summer I would NOT have found the right cuts, lengths, and sizes that I found today. Below are some pictures to show how cute they are.

My new bermuda shorts  cute cute cute

The ones on the left actually fit me in a smaller size, but I like my clothes baggier if possible so I bought the normal size I buy in 'easy', so this pair is a little bit more laid back in styling. A bit of baggyness, which I like. The other two are just regular fitting(easy), but they all look nice, I like them. I am actually trying to buy jeans/capris/shorts in more of a non-blingy style (like Vintage Big Star), but I am not finding any like that recently, so I guess I will cherish the two pairs I have that I got years ago, they are very low-key, no bling, a bit boyfriend-fitting (ie baggy) and I love em. Always have my eyes open for more like that, but even this season so far all the Big Star Vintage I've seen isn't similar to the stuff I have that I like and want more of. So I wound up with some more 'blingy' styled ones, but I DO like them :)
This next picture is the capris I ordered. I will see how they fit when they arrive to determine if I keep them or not. I would hope they fit well, but they are regular cut, not easy, so I know before they arrive they won't be as comfy as I like the easy ones. But.... the pockets are so darn cute!!!!!! They have all these 60-70's inspired stitching (peace signs, paisleys, etc) I love em, they are so cute, but I don't know if they will wind up fitting. I love stitching on jeans that reminds me of retro stuff. I have a pair of True Religion shorts that have orange/red/yellow rainbow like stitching on their pockets and I LOVE them simply because those pockets remind me of the 70's lol

Don't know why I can't rotate this photo, it was upright where I uploaded it from?? anyway, these are the retro capris I was talking about, aren't they cute!!!???? I love 70's retro stuff!

So, yes, I had fun on my impromptu shopping trip today, but it wasn't nearly as fun paying with 'real' money today, as it was paying with 'free' money yesterday (with all my reward dollars and gift cards).  Got some cute stuff though and having fun ;P

I love shopping with FREE money!

Woohoo! Just finished placing multiple online orders with multiple companies with gift cards, LTBucks, and Rewards Cards! Woohoo how fun is that??!!
I earned $240 in Rewards from my Gap Visa over the last few months (they were running a special where you got 5X the points you normally do on purchases). I had until July to use them (which with that much money it would probably take me that long(!) because truth is, there isn't that much I usually find in the Gap or Old Navy stores that I want to buy. I know I can use them at their other stores like Banana Republic (which I like, but truth is , I just haven't been shopping much to know if there was anything in the stores I wanted). I never shop at Piperlime, and I typically don't shop at Athleta because I think its too expensive. HOWEVER, when the Athleta catalogue comes I usually browse through it and usually see some comfy looking things I like, but again the prices are too high so I don't feel the need to buy them. Weeellllll, with this FREE money, I figured that was the PERFECT time to buy something that interested me from that catalogue that I would normally never buy with real money. Soooo, I did!   They also have free shipping and returns so its worry free! If I don't like it or it doesn't fit I can just return it, and they will even put my points(that were used on the Rewards cards) back into my account, so I'll get replacement cards if I don't keep the clothes.  Great, worry free plan!   What fun too!  Buying 4 items and only paying $8!  And then buying a $90 sweater but only paying $30 of my own money for it!  I can love a $30 sweater, but it would take a lot for me to really feel that it was worth $90 if I was paying all of it myself. So what fun, I got something with my free rewards that I never would have gotten otherwise. PRESENTS! woohoo!   (you know I'm frugal right? ha ha)  I love being frugal. Being frugal allows me to live the lifestyle I have with no worries about debt or expenses. It also allows me to afford splurges if I really do want them, however, most cases, I still get the good deal!

Besides using $240 of free money, I also have almost $200 of LTBucks to use. These are rewards I get at my gym for being a member and also for having my friends join. I can use this money for services like training sessions, discounts at the on site spa, or on products in their online store. We have already gotten two Lululemon tank tops for me, and several workout tech shirts for my husband. Plus I got him a heartrate monitor but we returned that because it wasn't exactly what he wanted. Well, this week I ordered him another shirt, love it when free stuff arrives in the mail! So I still have some more shopping to do there, but am waiting for some more products to pop into the store that interest me.

I also just placed an order for these adorable Lululemon crop pants online. I got a gift card for Christmas from one of our partners so , again, it would be something I normally wouldn't pay $88 dollars for (can get athletic gear much cheaper at Academy or Dick's), but the fabric is soooo nice and they are so cute, so I am excited to get them and they will have only cost me about $13!  Totally great!

Also this week, I went to Dick's and used a $10 coupon and bought lots of stuff on clearance. Because I spent over $100 I got another coupon that is good next week for $25 off my puchase! woohoo, how awesome is that?! so that Nike sweatshirt I was eyeing, but didn't want to pay $44 for, will soon be mine next week for only $19! yippee!  Plus my hubby is going to go buy a new golf thing tomorrow and I know after that big purchase we'll be getting some more of those $10 or $20 reward coupons in the mail, hee hee!

I love free stuff!

Speaking of free stuff, last weekend my daughters and I all had free lunches at Schlotsky's because I had 3 coupons for 3 free pizzas! and I had a Groupon for desserts at ExpressOh (so not really free, but still half price) so we got treats afterwards too :)

I am the Groupon Queen and proud of it!  ;D

Well, I was having fun doing my 'free shopping' so I thought I'd share a post about it.  It pays to use reward programs, that's for sure!

Wonderful week!

I had an absolutely lovely week and I decided to blog about it :)
I am finally done with all my 'extra' work from the New Year at the office, so my workload there has gotten back to normal. Consequently, it freed up a LOT of my time this past week. (Until I finished all the extra stuff at work, I was at the office 3-4 days a week. That leaves no time for the gym or anything else fun in my week.) Now, I know, if you work full time for a company you are probably thinking 'oh poor Rene', FOUR days of work!' ha ha, but I really AM a stay-at-home mom, so when my office work pulls me into the office more than 1-2 days a week, then it really is becoming a full-time job , instead of my 'stay-at-home duties and volunteer stuff' being my full-time job. So, I am back to my regular hours at the office (oh and by the way, I may only be working there 1-2 days a week, but I am accomplishing the same amount of work that my predecessor did in 5 full days! So even though it looks like a part time job, only the hours are 'part time', the job itself really is fulltime).  (hmph!)  :P 
So with Monday being a holiday we were at our vacation house and enjoyed our final day of the long weekend chilling out. Tuesday Dan went back to work and the girls went back to school, and  I went back to the gym!!!!! wow!    since the week prior to Thanksgiving I have been to the gym ONE day. So really, its been TWO WHOLE MONTHS off, yikes!   Had a great day at the gym. Then  I cooked a yummy dinner and we just 'lived' (ie no commitments to sports etc).
Wednesday I went to the office, but before going there I did a couple errands and much to my daughter's excitement, bought her 2 new pair of Miss Me jeans (they both fit perfectly so I was super stoked to have gotten a great deal and they actually fit!) Then I went to the office and did payroll. After school I took W to her guitar lesson (which turned out to be cancelled, so we went to the music store to look for a guitar case). We were told it would be about $30 by her instructor, but the store said it was $50 and they only had one left. They searched the whole store and warehouse for 20 minutes and never found it. But, then they came up with a case that I guess belonged to a guitar they had sold but forgotten to give to the customer, so they sold it to me for only $10!!! score!!! super excited about this great deal too! Then we headed to Acro class and I did some shopping during her class (fun as always!).
Thursday I went to the gym AGAIN (wow, twice in one week, my body isn't used to this yet ha ha). It was wonderful (as usual), and after working out, I had a lovely time having lunch with some old friends from my old gym. Such a nice time! Really enjoyed it! Then I went to Cherry street in Midtown (read 'uppity rich shopping area'....ie I don't shop here, in fact I've only been on Cherry Street once in my life before today!) I went there to use a gift certificate I got for Christmas at Lululemon.  Its workout wear but really expensive. They only sell at their own stores or online, so I've never tried on their stuff before so I needed to go try it on to see what styles and sizes fit my body. Found an adorable pair of capris I want but they don't have my size, so I am waiting for them to call me when they come in, if not , I'll have to buy them online, but I am hoping the store gets them so I can try them on to be sure (rather than having to deal with exchanging/returning them later). So that was fun too, and I was thoroughly impressed with how CUTE cherry street is with all the quaint store fronts and restaurants. I want to go back and browse the streets on a nice warm day! We went out to dinner that night (Fish Shack, kids eat free lol), so no stress deciding what to cook and that was nice too :)
Friday was also wonderful. Went to the gym again and did a couple classes, with my friend, Brooks, meeting me for the second class and checking out the gym. We also tried this new machine that is like a elliptical, but you can move the pedals horizontally as well, not just vertically, so it gives you a really good workout in the outer thighs/butt, which is great. Also much fun, working out on the machine and chatting :)  After the gym, and a healthy lunch at the gym, I went to the spa to get a massage. aahhhh!   Used up a gift certificate I got back in August. It was lovely :)
That evening I shuttled my daughter and her friends to Laser Quest, had dinner with my hubby and W, and chilled out. Very lovely day :)
Saturday brought a nice time of shopping with my girls, as well as lunch and dessert (what was even better than the sales we scored on, was that with coupons and groupons our lunches and desserts were FREE woohoo). That night my hubby and I had our first 'date night' since I don't know when!! He has been gone most weekends with either golf or building our house so now that the house is finally done, he was home this weekend and I made reservations for us at Flemings and we went to see the 007 movie as well. To top it off, we didn't have to pay high babysitter fees because we 'hired' our oldest daughter to babysit her sister. They both lived (hurray!) and we only spent $10(woo hoo) on babysitting fees :)
Sunday we went to church and then used a Groupon for lunch after (again, free woohoo), and now I've finished laundry, dinner, cleaning, a few misc. things for school and home, and now its about time to sit back and watch a movie with my hubby :)
What a lovely week!
hope all my weeks are this grand! I certainly am enjoying getting away from the office (even though I really do like what I do there), and getting to go to the gym, see friends, go shopping, and grab movies and lunch. So fun! This week is looking lovely too! Keep em coming, I'm loving it!

Ooh! Also super excited, I finished designing our new Tiger Cub tshirt for W's school, so I should get that approved and ordered this week, and it is cute!

New 'do'

After about 6 years of having long hair ranging from just below my shoulders to middle of my back, I got a serious haircut!  I had an appointment scheduled for Jan 3rd (the day my kiddos went back to school after Christmas break), but while on Christmas break my hair was un-responsive. It was so blah!!! And tangly!  And dark roots!  And everything I tried to do with it I just felt looked ugly and didn't turn out. So because of spending two weeks with crappy hair I was ready for a BIG change!  I knew I was getting my normal highlights and since I had experimented with dying my hair darker 2 summers ago (and I actually like it, but it was hard to get used to NOT being a blonde anymore) I knew I didn't want to do any color changes, so that only left something new for the cut or length.
Sooooo  I decided to see if my hairdresser could get the 10 inches required to donate the hair to charity. If she couldn't I planned on just cutting off about 5 inches and going with that. But...
she said she could do it but it would result in my hair being just below my ears. I said GO FOR IT! Then the decision became 'should I just do a Bob and keep it all straight and simple, or should I add bangs and layer it or go really short around my ears and everything for a full brand new cut?? I decided since I didn't want to spend a ton of time fixing my hair every morning I would go with the Bob. If it was too boring I could always go back later and have it cut with layers into a more 'styled cut', but since it was already a big change, I'd stick with just the length change and not add layers. So this weekend I have been trying out a new way to wear this new cut each day. Pictures are attached to show all the different things I've done to play with a simple Bob.
This is my 'before' picture, by the way (not fixed or anything, but that was the length at least).

 

I can wear it plain and curled under.

I can wear it plain and curled up. Sort of like a little kid or a 1950's frivolous look.

I can use a headband for simplicity.

I can still do a half ponytail (if I try a full one the bottom doesn't reach so it turns into virtually a half pony tail anyway). No picture...

I can scrunch it all up with mousse or gel and let it air dry for an 80's messy rocker do.

Or my favorite (and of course the most work-ugh) is to curl it and then use hair spray to make it all  wavy and full.

Its sort of funny that such a simple short haircut still has so many possiblities.

80's flashback

For Christmas my husband bought me a 80's hits CD collection. I think there are 6 or 8 CD's in this collection and I have only gotten to the fourth one. These past several days I have been playing these CD's in the house while I do stuff and really enjoying listening to my music of my teenage years. Its been fun. What is even more fun is watching 80's movies! While on vacation we watched some 80's classics like Weekend at Bernie's (I LOVED that movie when I was a teenager, C-R-A-C-K-E-D me up!) and Sixteen Candles. What I found really interesting about watching these (besides the obvious fashion which is hilarious looking back on! especially since I wore all these things!), was that the fashion was so much more modest! and everyone actually had REAL, albeit small, breasts! Weekend at Bernie's had one character that was meant to be a sex pot and she walked in in a bikini thong and obvious fake boobs, but every other female in both movies had REAL boobs. And they were NOT what you see on all the young female celebrities of today!  And even the 'hot girlfriend' in  both movies was dressed in clothing that today they would probably put on the Amish girl in a movie, but certainly not on a 'girlfriend character'! Its crazy how our society keeps moving farther and farther away from morality and modesty. As kids in the 80's we thought we were so hip and cool and that the 1950's as so old-fashioned. But now, if you look back, the 80's were still very modest when you compare them to the low-cut, cleavage showing outfits that today's women wear. Which unfortunately are emulated by our youth, so the teenagers and tweens are wearing these things too, which would have been unheard of only 25 years ago!
Of course this movie marathon started as some good memory lane fun, but it showed me how so much has changed in such a short period of time as well!

(Also, if you want a memory lane evening or have never seen Sixteen Candles (which evidently my husband hadn't), don't watch it with your kiddos, as there are a few swear words that aren't necessary as well as a gratuious nude scene. (again Hollywood thinks we NEED this stuff in our movies, which we do NOT). I had forgotten about this until I saw it and was shocked. I always remember this movie as such a sweet 'girl gets the guy' movie, but I forgot about the Hollywood crap they seem to try to add to everything. Its A John Hughes film, which if you graduated h.s. in 1988 or thereabouts, like me, you knew all these movies like Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo's Fire, Weird Science, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Classic 80's movies for sure. But again, all of them probably have too many swear words and sexual innuendo for you to watch them with your kids today (funny how I never noticed this while watching them MYSELF as a teenager, but now as a parent I am VERY aware of the inappropriateness of some of the messages regarding teen lifestyle). You may also remember that most of these actors were known as the "Brat Pack". If they were in a movie during the 1980's it was bound to be a hit (Emilio Esteves, Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Andrew McCarthy, etc).


So I digress, once again  :)

From 80's flashbacks to lessons on Movie History Trivia  lol
Let me know if you get a chance to watch any of these, better yet, invite me over and we'll watch them together. Memory Lane is always more fun with a friend!

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try to post a video from HP that was from phone. testing  this is W and Lucy going down the slide

Plans for the new year, or at least 2nd Semester

You would think I was in school by the title of this post. I'm not, but truth is, when your kids are in school, your reference of time is related to the school calendar, isn't it?  Our first semester was hectic. Honestly, I don't like life like that. Both girls were in cheerleading and acro. T also did Competition Cheer. The first semester is a very time-intensive  part of my PTO responsiblities with tshirt sales, fundraisers, and special events. Plus, when the kids go back to school I always ramp up my hours at the office (my husband owns the companies I work for, so my hours are VERY flexible, BUT the work still has to get done). Plus First Semester always entails Christmas and all its inherent activities, plus additional ones associated with school and the office (making tons of goodies for the kids and employees, as well as coming up with gifts for partners and teachers). Then we wrap that all up with the additional 'year end' duties at the office to prepare the companies' files, bookkeeping, and computer for the new year switch over.
Therefore, once all this stuff is done, I go into January with a giant sigh of relief and plans to take it slower. (Now January does entail extra work at the office with tax preparation and w-2 and 1099's to issue, but once I get past that, in my mind it is 'mellow street').

So that is my mentality for 'second semester (and the summer to follow, until first semester starts again with its rigorous activity load).
Neither of my girls are in any team sports for this semester so we have no more practices or games, which is a great relief to both us and them (they appreciate the almost lost art of 'down time'. In today's society we have become so 'busy' with activities for our kids that we run them from this practice to that practice to this event and then to that event that they never get to have true 'down time' to just be creative and come up with their own ways to entertain themselves. Its something we and our parents and grandparents did with much gusto, because it was all they had  {ever hear of kick the can? have your kids ever played it? I bet your grandparents did!}  All this to say , that when an option comes up they might like I ask them if they want to sign up for it, but both of them have said  "no, I just want to take some time off and come home from school and not have to rush from practice to practice every night")
Amen to that!  I ask once, if they say no, I'm totally fine with it. Because as much as I enjoy cheering on my kids in their pursuits, I also enjoy NOT being so overbooked on our calendar that its no longer fun.

W IS still going to do her acro classes but that is just one night a week and her best friend does it too, so her parents and I can probably rotate weeks driving them to practice so its not super bad time-wise.

W also is going to take 4 guitar lessons. After that trial she will decide what she wants to do.

But even with these 2 activities we will be MUCH less busy than we were first semester. I am glad.
In fact, I have two goals.
(I don't really like the word resolutions, because it sort of has a connotation of 'broken new year's resolutions' and being a gym member for years and years u can always tell the new year's resolutioners because the gym gets busy for 4 months from jan-april, then gets back to normal after that. So I don't call any goal or hope or plan I have a resolution. Its just something I want to work towards and hopefully master.

My first goal is to STAY HOME EVERY THURSDAY.
Sounds silly, but I book my calendar so full that every single day of the work week I am running to town to either go the the office, the gym, or run errands. Or all three! When I DO in fact stay home (or at least stay in my small town), I get so many 'projects' that I have at my house actually done! I like that. I like to finish stuff instead of constantly adding to my list of things I would like to do and then never getting them done but they are sitting in little piles all around my house. If I atually WRITE on my calendar to STAY HOME on thursday then I am more apt to not see it as an 'open' day and schedule something there. I had to do this same thing when I first quit working after T was born. I was so busy planning fun stuff for her and I to do together (Little Gym, play dates, zoo, park, lunch, shopping, etc) that I literally would write on my calendar one day a month STAY HOME so that I wouldn't see it as an 'available day' and book something. My husband joked during this time that I "may not be working anymore, but I'm certainly NOT a stay-at-home Mom!"   LOL  it was very true. Its still pretty true, but not quite as bad as it was then. However, it seems to still be 'busier' than I would like, so I am going to try to have a stay home day. In the beginning I will be finishing up stuff on my project list. but I would like for that day to someday become an actual 'slow' day. Maybe a day that I can walk the dog with no schedule to rush back to, read a book, and just chill out till the girls get out of school. To someone without kids it seems like SO MUCH TIME. But in truth when the kids are at school and you are home, the hours fly by. After picking up the house, tossing in a load or two of laundry, doing dishes, getting a workout in , and showering there is only about 2-3 hrs left till the kids get home and if u have a project to do, that time is gone in no time. So I am hoping to get some projects done...
mine include:
compiling tax papers and charity items for accountant.
balance checkbooks.
balancing our construction checkbook from our house we just built.
making a photo book of the new house.
making a photo book of pictures of my dad who just passed away.
weeding the flower beds.
taking down outdoor christmas decor.
READING!
blogging a bit more regularily
coming up with some new, easy, healthy dinner recipes
re-paint front porch rail.
go through closets and get rid of clothes I'm not wearing (I'm such a pack rat, this is hard to do, because I always think "well I MIGHT wear that").
visiting my girls for lunch.
walking the dog.
framing and hanging up the photos we spent a fortune on for our anniversary.

My list grows the longer I sit and write stuff because I constantly think of more 'projects' I could do. I actually just completed several this weekend, I am so excited, it was such a productive weekend! But of course, as is always the case, I made my to-do list longer than is humanly possible to attain, so it took me 2 days instead of 1 to get it all done, (and truth is, I still have one more thing to do on it, plus I moved all that banking and tax stuff to my new list ha ha)

But back to my focus. I am taking a day to stay home so I can acccomplish these projects I create for myself and I am also hoping to enjoy some down time in the process.

My second goal goes along with the Lifetime Fitness Commitment Day Movement. It was a 5k on new years day, but more than that, it is a movement to get people committed to their goals. whatever those goals might be. I am sort of sick of weight loss/fitness goals. And actually sick of listening to other people talk about them as well (if u read my fitness blog, u will see that several years ago I talked about this. I just don't want every conversation with another female to in some way revert to weightloss. There are more important things to be concerned with. I'm not against being healthy, I'm just against that being our ONLY focus and nothing else takes priority except how many calories that sandwich had in it, you know what I mean? )
So anyway (I say that alot don't I?) I like the idea of the Commitment Day movement, but I didn't want to do a 'gym thing'. So I signed up (mainly just for the cool tshirt since I was going to be out of town during the run, and the money goes to charity so that's good), but in my goodie bag, besides the tshirt was this neat Commitment day journal to track your progress through the year. Of course there are lots of quotes and hints in there that are fitness related ( it IS sponsored by a GYM), but its also a neat way to keep track of MY goal. My goal isn't fitness related (although I will be stepping up my game, since I've had about 2 months off now).
My goal is to ...
Spend more quality time with my kids and hubby.
I chose to quit working for ERAC in December of 2004 to stay home with my kids. (I DO work now at my husband's office doing all the bookkeeping, payroll, payables, etc, but like I said its very flexible. I don't have to put in 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week (or 70 hours a week like I used to before I had kids!), so I am able to attend all my kids school events and be their homeroom mom and volunteer at their schools and actively be involved in their schools and our community (which I love by the way!) But with those activities and normal household responsibilities, and my 'projects' I create for myself essentially, sometimes I feel like I am doing these things instead of sitting and reading a book with W, or doing a craft or bible lesson with T. So my goal is to try to spend more quality time with my girls and be a better mom because of it. Of course to be a better mom, you've got to be a better wife too, so Dan gets more quality time too ;) And now that our house is done being built, hopefully he will be home more weekends so we can have some date-night time with just the two of us. Maybe we should leave our phones at the hostess stand so we aren't tempted to look at them during dinner on our date , but yet if our kids call we still have the phone lol 
I tell ya, as much as we use our phones these days (and especially people like my husband who use it for work---a typical day has him fielding 80 phone calls on his cell alone!), they are also a dinner drag when someone pulls out their phone to play a game, peruse FB or the internet or the news, instead of talking to the people sitting right in front of them at dinner. I understand when work items come through they need to be handled, but idle phone/internet browsing is not beneficial to facetime with people. So we should take a date and drop our phones off as we get seated :)

That's my plan. Ideally this thursday staying home thing will help with my more important goal of being a better mom and wife by spending more quality time.

Because you know what? We just got back from our 2week Christmas vacation that I just posted about last week and I had grand plans for that vacation...
since there were no 'projects' at that house to sidetrack me from family time, I had full intensions of playing games every day, taking long trail hikes, doing crafts, baking cookies, and watching movies with my family. I brought a whole boxful of games and we had bought a whole basketful of crafts and games at our school fundraiser the week before we left.
Now we DID play hot potatoe, yahtzee, Don't tip the cows, and the girls did lots of crafts (and I joined them for one), we went to the dog park a couple times, we played in the snow, the girls played in their teepee, and we DID watch several family movies together. But we didn't do it NEARLY as much as I had envisioned. I thought we'd just be all snuggled up in our winter pj's chilling out in our beautiful new house and relaxing. But even with no 'projects' (except 2 small ones because I did bring my computer so I worked on a photo book and compiled all my tax notes from LAST year in a concise manner so that this year's tax planning would be easier), we STILL didn't have this 100% family time adventure that I envisioned we'd have. Don't get me wrong. It was great and we all loved it, but I just had thought we'd sit around playing games ALL DAY LONG, and we didn't. But we still had a good time together as a family and I will cherish the memories we did make together.
I just want to make MORE. So my plan is to try!

White Christmas after all!

Today we received a white Christmas, three days late, but Christmas vacation none-the-less! We, or I should say, I, was outside clearing brush, as my kids had given up and were inside playing while my hubby (who worked so incredibly hard building this house) was on the golf course taking a break. A few flurries floated down, then full-fledged white fluffy flakes! It stuck and we have snow! Its gorgeous and W was especially excited as she ran out in full snow gear and started playing, building a mini snowman, and bombarding me (as I was continuing to clear brush) with snowballs!  :)   She loved it and so did I!
I love snow and I especially love snow during Christmas :) Its beautiful!
We have had a lovely Christmas. The girls are off school for 2 full weeks and since Dan always give his guys at the office  the week off between Christmas and New Years he was able to be away for 2 weeks as well. Therefore, we are spending our Christmas break on a true Christmas 2week vacation at our new house which was just finished a month ago! Its our first REAL vacation at our vacation house!  Its been lovely!!!! Not a day goes by that I don't pull Dan aside, give him a kiss, and tell him how much I love this place and how thankful I am for all he's done to make it happen! He really likes it too, especially since its surrounded by about 8 golf courses and he has been golfing almost every day since we've been here, including today, where he was snowed off the course!
The girls have had a great Christmas too. W got lots of toys and fun things, plus guitar lessons and an appointment for her hair to get permed (which she wanted only because her sister wanted one). However, since T was receiving so many 'big' gifts this year, she actually doesn't get to get HER perm until her bday. T probably had the best Christmas EVER. She will agree! She got lots of fun stuff as well, but her big gifts that she was super excited about were her ears getting pierced (she had been told she couldn't do that till her 12th bday, so it was a huge surprise to get them for Christmas!), plus the secret keeper girl 8 great dates book which she has wanted for a long time, as well as a curling iron, flat iron, and cute polka dot blowdryer. The golden egg though, was daddy giving her a "white iphone 4S with a turquoise otter box"   in her own words! She was and is VERY excited about this gift! So my girls had a great Christmas and we have been having a great vacation. Our house itself, and the granite and several other things on the inside that I went over-budget on and then claimed well "it will be my birthday and Christmas present this year" was definately our Christmas gift this year. But we also got each other some small things. I got Dan 10 giant bags of Sweet Daddy Popcorn (locally made by parents at my daughter's school) which he loves, as well as a new electric shaver and a heartmonitor for the gym. However, I researched it and was SURE it also tracked calories and it turns out it doesn't. I got it for 'free' though with my LT bucks at my gym, so I will have to see if and how I can return it :(  He got me a $250 gift certificate to a spa (I will be in heaven the day I go there and spend several hours getting 'relaxified'). He also got me some little gifts like perfume and an 80's cd, but the funniest gift of all was a giant package with the words "To: THE WHINER" scrawled in black marker across the front of it. The history of this was that when we picked out the mattresses for our new house I completely gave him final authority on picking out our mattress. I liked the new foam mattresses that were so soft and luxurious. He however, likes a very firm bed. We therefore ended up with the hardest bed imaginable! It feels like sleeping on a rock. Even when you sit on the edge of it there is no 'give or cushion', its just flat, hard, umph!  So in this package was a ...... mattress pad to make the bed a little softer. Unfortunatley, it didn't help much :( Its still the hardest bed in the world and I've whined about it every night that I've slept on it. He loves it though and said ever since he's been sleeping on it he's had the best sleep of his life. Which must be true, because for my husband who normally wakes up every day at 4:15am and consequently 'sleeping in' for him is sleeping till 6am, he has been able to sleep till past 8am while here!!!!!!!! crazy! I guess its helping one of us relax, but its not me. (I'll have to get that at the spa I guess lol).
Anyway, regardless of what we have 'gotten' we have enjoyed our time here and are more happy with being able to give to not only our family but also to others. To me, that makes it for me, being able to help others. In fact, I told Dan repeatedly that I didn't need anything for Christmas, gifts at Christmas aren't that important to me. I prefer to give, it makes me really happy. I kept telling Dan this, but he kept asking me what I wanted, so I gave him a few last minute ideas and Dan being Dan, he got me every idea I gave him (he really is my one true love!)  ;)
The girls were so sweet this year, they both shopped (very early) with their own money for gifts for us and their grandparents. They got us sweet, thoughtful things like a handpainted picture frame with their photos in them for G&G, plus a coupon holder, fall platter, fall hotpads, and cleaning pads for me (I told W these cleaning pads weren't really a GIFT unless SHE did the cleaning!). For Dan they got him ipad cases, Newsboys CD, and certs. Plus treats for the dog and cat :)  T even bought W a gumball machine and W got T hairties and a compact mirror.  Very sweet.  Speaking of certs, Dan actually filled my stocking this year (I have been complaining for a couple years that its not right that I fill my own stocking, so he actually did it full-fledged this year!) He included a bottle of Tums in it with a stocking full of snacks...very appropriate!  lol That's my funny husband for ya!  ;}
So from our family to yours...
Merry Christmas!!!!! Enjoy this great time with your family and best wishes for the new year!

Fun...then not so fun.

Today we went to the gym and were able to use the outdoor cafe and slides afterwards. It was lots of fun. The girls and I did races in the swim lanes and played a mean game off shark. The outdoor cafe was finally open so we wee able to enjoy our lunch outside by the pool...lots of fun. I even went down the slide with the girls.it was fun and there were no lines so it was nice. We only stayed for an hour because we has to get home to meet the exterminator. All was going well and I had the perfect amount of time to get there without rushing. So heavens knows why when I got on the turnpike to head home I pressed the gas pedal to speed up for so long.I think I was talking to the girls and just didn't realize I was still accelerating, till I looked down and saw I was going almost 90. Eek. So I took my foot off the gas and looked up only to see a highway patrol car in the other lane coming toward me. I Look in my rearview mirror to see his brake lights.ugh. sure enough he whips a u-turn and follows me.... then the lights. Ugh. Well, I WAS on time, but I'm not gonna be now: ( I was hoping he would give me a warning, but I wasn't that lucky. So $188.50 later I have a ticket. Blahhhhhhh. So frustrating.but nothing I can do about it except pay the consequences for my mistake. And of course, pay better attention while driving so that I don't do that again! The thing that is so frustrating is I really wasn't late and intentionally speeding.it really was an oversight, and when I saw my error I was fixing it, unfortunately he saw it at the same time (or earlier) and I couldn't undo what I had already done: (
So a fun time ended in a not so fun time. And W is crying in the backseat because she doesn't know what else to do, and my kids are grilling me with questions about what all this means and what will happen (court, costs, insurance, etc) the only good thing I guess is that I admitted my mistake and I explained to them that there are consequences for bad behavior(we talk about this all the time as well as being responsible for our actions) so I was able to show them that I took my consequence without complaining, and that when we do something wrong we are responsible to pay for it. Even though it stinks! I don't want to give away almost $200 for a couple minutes of stupidity. But a ticket is better than an injury or fatality, so I will take my ticket and look towards tomorrow as a new day. :)

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Summertime

Summer is here and that means........ time to play!!!!!! If you have read my blog over the past summers you know that my summertime motto is Fun, Fun, Fun. The reason I became a stay-at-home mom was to be able to spend time with our kids and not have them spending the whole day in daycare environments. So every summer, I treat it like the summer vacation that it is. I get away from the school time schedule and focus entirely on having fun with our girls all summer long. I may be spoiling them a bit by doing this (as I know not every child gets to do summer vacation all summer long, some have to be in day care centers and even though most centers try to plan summertime field trips and such, its still a bit of a regular routine for the kiddos as their parents are at work). Even if this is spoiling them a bit, I feel its my perogative to do this, as the reason I am not working full time is simply to BE with them. So if I am going to BE with them, let's BE TOGETHER and BE having some FUN! Yes, we still have to do chores and our house has to get cleaned, dinner needs to get made(a couple nights a week ha ha), the lawn needs to be mowed, bills need to be paid, and Daddy still needs to work a regular day (until he retires which we look forward to in anticipation), but we can make those things NOT be the focus of our day and NOT make them the foundation of our schedule. Instead, during the summer, I focus on making our fun together the foundation of everything. I look for things for us to do that will be considered 'fun and vacation-worthy' rather than just regular plain days, counting down till school starts again and we go back to a more structured (less room for extra activities) time.
So, here's what we have been up to for those of you who are interested in keeping abreast of our activities....
We have been enjoying lots of 'girls lunches' together, and they seem to think we should be getting dessert too (???) so being the "spoiling summer mom" that I am, I have obliged ha ha. We've done some little bike rides, although I hope to do lots more, as well as some more outdoor activities.  The girls have had fun swimming in our pool and having friends over. Tomorrow we are having our first 'open pool' day of the summer, where moms and their kids can come and go at our pool for a designated time period. Its a good way for the kids to all get to see each other and play, as well as for us adults to get a chance to hang by the pool too. Our fun trip to the zoo was blogged about before , as well as a visit from my mom. The girls have started to get a little spoiled with real pedicures at the nail place. I took them there for T's birthday while we were in Dallas this spring. Since it was her birthday I let them get whatever they wanted from gel to extra massages to nail art. Well, $200+tip later, that was one very indulgent treat. Until that point I have never paid for them to get their nails done. That was a special occasion and at the time I expected it to only be repeated for each of their birthdays....well, when my mom came to visit I decided a good gift to give her would be to go get pedicures together with me and her granddaughters. So we did that and the girls loved it!!!!! I have been telling my husband for years that he needs to go get his feet done by a professional (not me) because I felt his feet were nasty and needed help. So after our trip with grandma, the girls and I decided that for Father's Day we should take daddy and the four of us get pedicures together.  I know what u are thinking "what, that will never happen!" But we suggested it to him and he said he would!  (I'm telling ya, I think he gets the #1Daddy Award for agreeing to get a pedicure with his daughters to make them happy!) Well, last week T was away on a camping trip with a friend and W wanted to do something 'special' with mommy and daddy since T was gone. She wanted either the pedi or a movie. Dan agreed to either, but thinking the pedi place wouldn't be open that late, he said 'sure go ahead and call them, I'll go"   lol you can see where this is going.... They WERE open and he was then locked into going and getting a pedi with his wife and daughter instead of going to a movie lol.  We went and W loved it, and Dan actually said it was fine, although he was very happy to point out that the nail lady said his feet weren't really bad at all and not nearly as bad as I think they are as compared to other men! lol
We have also gone to the movie theater a few times and done some swiming at our gym, as well as swimming in our own pool of course. Tonight we have some Redbox movies to watch  and we are planning on making some zucchini cookies.  We will also go bowling, ice skating, and partake in some library programs as well as craft activities in town, but haven't done these things yet.
The girls did do a beading class at the library while I was working (they went with grandma) and they loved it and now want to make lots of jewelry :) We have also done some shopping, which normally would not be an enjoyable activity with my oldest, but these shopping adventures have actually turned out to be pretty good, fun, and productive :)
W has already completed her Farm Camp week, which she LOVED, and T is in the middle of her Cheer Camp. W starts hers next week. Both are looking forward to cheering so hopefully that will go well for them. We recently bought a boat and took it out for the first time this past weekend to try it out. It was so fun! I can't wait till our vacation house is done and we will keep the boat there and spend half of every week living there and enjoying the lake and boat (not to mention the beautiful peacefulness of the house location!!!) Speaking of which, we are getting closer and closer to completing it and are at the point of needing to pick out flooring, paint, lighting, etc.  Lots of decisions to be made, but it will be super wonderful when it is all done. I love all the appliances we have picked out, but there are still so many decisions that need to be made. We are under no time constraint (construction loan) to finish it, and we are doing it ourselves, so we have been pretty laid back in our approach, which means that we have none of this stuff picked out yet or decided upon! So all that work comes now. It will be fine though, we will get it done and I am sure it will look beautiful.
Anyway, it will all come together I am sure :)
We have some fun plans made for a fishing/hiking/camping trip as well as a trip to Branson and an end-of-summer vacation to the Chateau on Tablerock Lake. We will take our boat with us when we go there and use their marina so it should be super fun.
Its hard to believe it is already June, and our kids go back to school the second week of August. Which is why we are truly focusing on summer fun till summer is done. Lots of you I follow on FB, so I've been keeping up with all your activities too and it sounds like everyone is having lots of fun! Its so fun to be able to shrink the miles between us and keep that communication flowing :)

Signing off, as its time for me to jump in the pool! :)
Have a great summer!

Grammy came to visit

My mom came to visit us the first week of summer, T decided to give her and W a good 'shower' on her first morning here :) maybe she figured she needed the water to open her eyes after that long drive. Anyway, my mom actually joined right in and asked for it, so it was all in good fun.

 I couldn't resist posting this adorable pix of my little cowgirl! They all went swimming every day while she was here, but I thought it was too cold still, so I just sat and watched.

 T is loving being the 'ham bone' in photos lately, as u can see by this one below.

 While my mom was here we treated her to a pedicure as a belated present for mother's day. Of course we thought it was the perfect opportunity for ALL of us to get new pedicures too, so we joined in. It was quite fun!  W was too short for their chairs, so they gave her a giant panda bear to sit in, too cute!

 We played mini golf one day and both Grammy and W got a hole-in-one on this hole!

 Me and my sweetie!

 Sometimes I just got to cut loose (isn't that what they say in Footloose?!) so I was having some goof off fun too :)  My mom shot a ball once that went flying through the air, landed in a tree, and scared a ton of birds out of it! Then she proceeded to hit a ball sailing through the air on the 18th hole and straight into the pond!  I am the only one who didn't get a hole-in-one during the game (T's was on the 18th hole!), but consistency pays off, because I was the winner :)

 I love this picture of the girls with Grammy, such a great shot.

 Me and my T.

 The girls with Grammy right before she heads out on the road after eating breakfast at IHOP. T was excited to learn they have her favorite flavor in pancakes...Red Velvet!

 me and my mom. It took her years to admit she was shorter than me, ha ha.

 Cute photo.

While we were at a art gallery/craft shop, Grammy bought the girls these adorable outfits for their American Girl dolls. They are handmade and absolutely gorgeous.

Well, that is a synopsis of our visit with Grammy via pictures. It was a fun time.

A Day at the zoo, with no animals

Today the girls and I went to the zoo. We met some friends there from school and their kiddos. All in all, I think we had 11 kiddos! It was funny, when one of the moms was in the restroom, a man came up to my friend and said "I just have to ask, how many of these are yours? (only 3 were) and he continued, 'u sure are doing a great job with them!"  How sweet was that? Anyway, it did try to sprinkle and then rain on us a bit, but that really didn't slow down the kids much, they continued to climb and play and just get a little wet. Its funny, we went to the 'zoo', but we only saw 3 animals, plus a very brave peacock who came right up to us because he wanted food. We kept trying to get him to open his feathers but he wouldn't. It really is amazing that God can create such beautiful colors without 'paint', and who would have thought it practical to create an animal that has feathers/tail sticking out so far behind him that it takes a 5 foot radius to turn?!  Crazy, but beautiful! The reason we went to the zoo was because one of those online sites was selling a package deal that gave u unlimited access to the rides (except the camels, we had to pay extra for that), so our main goal was to use those rides. We sure did! That's all we did, plus lunch, and some playground time. We briefly looked at the sea lions (my favorite), and the elephants&chimpanzees on our way TO the rides ha ha. We arrived at 10am and weren't driving home till 430 that evening, so u can certainly say we played, played, played. Normally when the kids do these rides I never do them because they are $5 a pop, and I just don't want to spend the money. But with our passes, it was included and unlimited, so I played right alongside the kiddos and they sure liked that. T even took a video of me doing a flip on the bouncy thing and then bouncing bouncing bouncing till the guy finally let me off it lol. I really like doing those things too, so it was fun to do it with the girls. We climbed the rock wall, rode the carosel, bounced, rode camels, and took a train ride all in the name of fun! Of course it wouldn't be a day in the life with Rene', if I didn't chronicle it in pictures, so here we go...(especially for my mom, who just left this week after visiting us, so she missed out on the zoo adventure, so here are some pictures for you, mom!)

 W and me climbing the rock wall together.

So cute!

 She's so cute!

 T doing the jumpy Frogger thing. She even did lots of flips.

 I thought this picture was neat as T rapelled down the side, it looks almost like she is free-falling, which of course she isn't.

 She was a great climber! She made it to the top 4 times in no time at all!

 W doing a flip.
Here we are riding the train, during which T always has to make funny faces for photos!



 One of the families that went with us has several little kids W's age, and one older girl a bit older than T. T loves hanging out with her and was so looking forward to her coming, especially since it would be her only similarily aged cohort amongst all these little ones. However, M didn't make it and I knew T was bummed at first, but it turned out to be great, because T and I were buddies then, while all the little kids hung out, and we had a ball strolling hand in hand, and riding all the rides together. We had so much fun! (and she was so happy and well-behaved, it was awesome! Actually both my girls were awesome today, no fighting or bickering or arguing AT ALL! Hence, I spoiled them for their good behavior in the gift shop lol. But heck, I love to give things to my kids and spoil them. I just don't like it when they become 'spoiled rotten'. Today however, they were awesome, so it was very fun to buy them whatever they chose in the gift shop. I also talked to them about why they were being blessed with these treats (because of their good behavior) and isn't it more fun to behave and have fun, than to argue and get in trouble).


 
 This is such a pretty picture of T on the really unique looking seahorse carousel. We rode that thing 4-5 times! The kids kept wanting to ride again and get new animals, so I just kept saying yes (free passes and all!) Its so fun doing stuff when u don't have to whip out cash every time!

 Ham bone W on the seal. Here I am, 41 and riding like a kid! Of course T pretended she didn't know me when I started dancing to the music ha ha

 The camel ride is super short and probably not worth $5/each, but they sure do look cute up there don't they? :)

 After a full day, guess who fell asleep in the car on the way home (with her new cute little turtle ball in her arms :)  So sweet!

 Here is the peacock we got close to. This is when T actually started to run it off as she was trying to touch it. It was so beautiful.

 Such a monkey!

 Every time we go to the zoo (since the kids were babies) I have tried to take a photo on this turtle. Her W is eating cotton candy with her best friend , L.

T doing a flip on the Frogger.

Here I am making it to the top to ring the bell.

Here is W flying through the air on the Frogger.