Austin

Laura and I headed out to Austin to see our brother for 5 peaceful days. It started off by our plane being delayed by 2 hours. We didn't even care. We had our magazines, drink and interesting people to look at in the airport. One being the guy laying in front of us on the ground with his major butt crack showing. It felt so good to laugh so hard at that. I knew right then this trip was just what I needed. After being able to board the plane the fun continues. Laura and I were lucky enough to have some guys who thought they were Gods sitting in front of us. The flight attendant kept telling them to turn off their phones before take off but they kept sneaking them back on. I guess they thought the rules didn't apply to them. So next thing you know they are being escorted off the plane. They were such idiots. They kept saying "This is not fair. We will turn them off we promise". All I kept thinking was what a great job their parents did raising them. At age 25ish they still act like they are 5. It was entertaining. Austin was freezing and rainy. It was a nice change. We made it to 2 of the 3 malls in Austin. One morning we were at Starbucks I in my pj shirt, no make up and Laura was not in much better shape. David started talking about the errands he needed to do and Laura and I thought "Man we better jump ship before we have to go with him to get his hair cut, dry cleaners and store. We asked him to just drop us off at the mall. We went to the shoe department first so Laura could get some shoes to wear, then hit the make up counter. We acted like we wanted to buy some make up so the make up lady at the counter did up our faces. We looked great! Then I hit Victoria Secrets so I could get a bra. Remember I was in my pj shirt. I'm sure all of the guys would have preferred me to skip that store for their enjoyment at the mall since most of the guys are dragged their by their wife's/girlfriends to watch them try on clothes. Our brother treated my sister and I like QUEENS the whole time. It was great. He cooked for us and did the dishes (wouldn't even let us help), took us out to eat, and even gave us fresh towels. We were able to meet some of his friends and have the opportunity to embarrass our brother. Well I headed that department. Great trip and can't wait to go back. It is always fun to hang with my siblings. In the picture my sister is next to me and the other two girls are friends of my brother.

SOY SAUCE

I decided to make dinner tonight. I HATE to cook! The extent of my cooking is spaghetti, hamburgers, meatloaf, tacos, pizza or some sort of chicken dish. I just pretty much rotate those dishes for dinner. I know my kids suffer right? Lucky for us Marc likes to cook and saves us on the weekends. We get good stuff to make up for the lousy week mom does. Today I thought I would get a jump start on my crock pot chicken. Who can wait. In the process I burned my fingers on a hot dish. Don't ask. But to my rescue was this bottle of Soy sauce. I quickly poured some on my fingers and within 5 seconds (no lie) the pain is gone. I thought man I need to share this secret with my fellow blog followers. I got an e-mail one time saying that for burns use Soy Sauce. Lilly was my first patient that I was able to try this on. It worked. It is so awesome. Go ahead burn yourself for fun because the pain ain't gonna last as long as you have a bottle of Soy Sauce.

Homeless dude

The other day I was at the store and this homeless dude came and got in line after me. He stunk, was dirty, and I think I even saw a bug crawl out of his beard. That is besides the fact. What struck me crazy was that he had a bunch of canned cat food he was buying. I could hear him mumbling to himself and trying to figure out how much it was going to cost him. I started thinking wow, is he buying this for himself? Its cheap, he is homeless, maybe this is what homeless people eat. I mean you are getting protein right? I couldn't help myself. I started a convo with him. I thought I would ask him if he has a cat. After I said that I thought dumb question. Where would he keep it? But he replied yes I guess you could say I have some. I feed the stray cats everyday. They just love me and I love making them happy. It was like those cats are his family. Here this homeless dude is spending his hard pan handling money on stray cats. (well, he did have a 6 pack of corona for himself) I thought what a kind hearted man. I told the cashier to ring his stuff up on my tab. I hurried and paid and left while the cashier was bagging his stuff. It was fun to do something nice for him as he is doing for those cats. BTW I hate cats, but admire a kind heart. Even though he is homeless he still has a heart.

Old but New den

The kids have taken over. It is official. No more den for Marc and I. Not that I need a den because all my work in done in the bedroom. Just kidding. I am trying to make myself smile today so I had to throw that in so I could get a laugh. Marc will probably get an even bigger laugh. Okay, so back to the den. It used to hold one brown desk, with brown walls, one computer, and fights non -stop . Marc and I decided to do something about it. We got this great computer desk to hold 3 computers. Only 2 computers work because nothing can stay unbroken in our house. Lilly supposedly broke it. I think all of the other kids are just ganging up on her. Marc has it on his "honey list" to fix. We are going on 2 weeks. The honey list is going to turn into a death sentence for him if it is not fixed this weekend. See, the kids still will fight over the other 2 computers. We really need 5 to make things work. Whatever. I really like how the den turned out. I had it painted celery green and I have hung all of our pictures we had done with piped piper. I am just waiting to hang Josh's pictures. They are not done yet. This is the first time we have had professional shots done that have ended up on the walls. It makes me very happy.

Saying good-bye

After many years of Abby playing club basketball we are saying good -bye to it. Yesterday was an eye opener for us. Basketball has ruled our lives for so long.....like being gone all last weekend in California for a tournament, Abby gets up for school basketball every morning at 6:30 to go practice before school, has 2 school games a week, after her school games she goes to her club practice at 6:00-9:30 at ASU, and on the weekends there is usually a club tournament. Ya, too much for her and our family. Mostly me because I am the one taking her and going to her games. She gets to stressed out if Marc is there. Marc likes to play the role of a reff at the game and for some reason they just don't need a 3rd reff from the stands. Go figure???? So, yesterday the girls had to be at their game at 7:00 am. The played a good hard game and won. So that meant 2 more games later. We had the team over to our house in between games to have something to eat, and review game tapes. This is what started the craziness.

Who would have thought by eating one of these so much drama would happend. Parents were so mad at their kids for eating just 1. They were making their kids do 25 push-ups for eating one. Huh?? One parent and their kid got in a big fight over this and the kid started crying. The parent even got on the floor with their kid and made them do the push-ups. I of course said "Boy, glad I didn't put out any cookies". To which one parent said "The girls will get sugar crashes and play terrible". Ummm they are kids.... and 1 piece of this will really do that? Different view points here. So, went to the game and the girls played awesome but lost. What happens next?? Coach having the girls run outside in dried up grass. I am so for running if they play really bad, or if there is not another game but they did have another game. A game to place 3rd in. While running a girls asthma kicks in, Abby is sneezing non-stop and the girls are freakin tired. After all the running they break away to rest. Well, not for one girl. I see her dad take her to the running field and bitch her out for another 20 minutes. NO LIE!!! I felt so bad for her. She is getting in trouble for not making her shots. After the game Abby told me that this girls says she gets busted all the time if she plays bad. How sad. So, we are just not about that anymore. However people choose to handle their club ball is their choice and I don't judge them for that. We just don't want it that hard core for Abby. We want it to be fun. I guess it is school ball from here on out. We will see.

B-day boy!

My one and only boy just turned 11. Where oh where did the time go???? It seems like yesterday I was mopping the bathroom floor in our patio home waiting for the preggo stick to show 2 lines. It did and I was so happy! Marc was in his 3rd year of law school and I was so freaked out to tell him. I waited for about a week before I popped the news to him. Yes he was excited and freaked out. Josh has been my easy kid from the time he was born. Easy delivery, laid back kid. He has always had a "The glass is half full" attitude. Josh will always try new things and that is one thing I admire about him. One of my favorite Josh stories is we were talking about being baptised and I asked him if he ever wanted to be. His response was "I think I will be holding off on that for awhile. I know I am going to be making a lot more mistakes in my life so I am going to wait until I am a grandpa". Is this kid clever or what? Here are 11 things I love about Josh:

1. He has the best hair ever! It is so thick. And he looks great with a Mohawk.

2. He is so thoughtful of other peoples feelings.

3. He has determination.

4. He has a GREAT laugh.

5. He is awesome at karate.

6. He is so good to his sisters and shows them love.

7. He will ALWAYS rub his mom's back no matter how tired he is.

8. He wakes up happy.

9. He can be crazy goofy.

10. He has the softest lips, he will make some girl in high school very happy with them.

11. Gives the best hugs ever! Ask him for one and you will know what I mean.

Quaker Oat cereal

This stuff is what keeps me regular if you know what I mean. Eat this stuff and bye bye prunes hello quaker oats. This cereal is the best thing going. Here is the break down : 1 cup cereal (which is a good amount) 210 calories, 5 grams fiber, 6 grams protein. Not bad huh? I have started eating breakfast at around 3:00 in the morning. No type error there. You read it right. I have gotten in this habit of waking up around that time, eat breakfast and then go back to bed. I picked up this habit from my sister. She has been doing it for years. Anyway, then when I get up for the day around 6:00 I have already eaten. By 9:00 I am feeling good, have the energy, and the food has settled to go work out. My kids love to eat it without milk for a snack. Give it a try. And as far as my last post goes I guess nobody enjoyed seeing the hairy naked guy???? I personally thought it was pretty funny.