Our New House

Tutu Cute!

So this is my latest project. We'll call it, "Project Tutu Cute". My friend Kristi (mom2iande) turned me on to these adorable tutus that you can buy for the bargain price of $45!!! Yes, but since money doesn't grow on trees I decided making a tutu cannot be rocket science. So I got on this site and downloaded the no-sew instructions, and voila...for about $8 you can make these adorable things! It only took 2 hours to make this first one. This was my practice run. I want to buy some embellishments to go on this one, but didn't want to spend the money until I knew for sure that I was actually capable of doing something domestic. (On a side-note, last night as I sat in front of my computer watching the video demonstration, I had a needle and thread in hand and was sewing together the elastic waistband when Cary walked by and I said, "Hey, does this turn you on...me with a needle and thread?" He just laughed and told me, "Go put on an apron...Woman!") Let's just say, Martha Stewart-I am NOT!

So back to the tutus, you may be wondering why on earth would I choose to start making tutus. Well, Lexi wanted a princess party for her birthday and I talked her into a compromising Ballerina Princess party. SO...I am handmaking tutus for ALL OF THE GUESTS as their party favors. The one here in the pic is lavendar and is actually a size 6, so it's a bit big on Ashton. I am going to make all different colored ones and of course the birthday girls' tutus will be extra fancy and special. Lexi's birthday is March 25th and Ashton's is March 26th so this is a joint party.

The only problem I have run into is that they have some really close friends who are boys. And this appears to be coming together as an all girl party. Any ideas on ways I could incorporate boys??? I don't want anyone to feel excluded, but it's kind of difficult when tutus are involved.

This is totally blogworthy, don't you think?

I don't even like waffles, well, let me re-phrase that. I don't even like maple syrup. Long story. Too many years as a classroom teacher, kids coming in first thing in the morning smelling like maple syrup, had to smell it all day, makes me want to vomit now, you get the idea. So I rarely, actually, I never eat waffles with maple syrup. I do like waffles with strawberries on top. At the hotel we stayed at in Dallas, they had this Texas waffle iron so I had this for breakfast every morning. Not because I liked it, but because who could resist??? Although, Cary and I decided they should have had a TEXAS SIZED waffle iron that makes family sized waffles the size of the table. Cause you know, everything's bigger and better in Texas! The last day we were there, I showered the girls BEFORE breakfast and sent Cary down to eat breakfast with them while I got dressed. And my instructions went like this: "Feed them anything EXCEPT the waffles. They've already had their baths and I don't want to smell maple syrup all day!" About 30 minutes later, they all came back into the room and the girls walked up to me to see what I was doing and I got my sniffer to sniffin' and by golly, I smelled me some maple syrup! I said, "I thought I said NO WAFFLES today!" Cary was baffled at how I could smell it. He quicly defended his actions, "I fed it to them bite by bite myself so their skin would NOT touch the syrup." (Yes, but a mother always knows!)

Back to Reality and Good ol' Granny Detox

Reality hit me last night at about 8:30 p.m. as we were driving home from the airport. "My car smells like pure dog and I'm at a McDonald's drive-thru," I thought. Yep, it's back to reality! I handed over the keys yesterday to my mom's very large, brand new luxury SUV (which doesn't smell like dog and doesn't have fossilized french fries hiding under the seats). Then I gave back the credit cards that had been given to me to use during my trip (by mom of course). I think some of them even had my name on them. Can you hear my sobs? Then I ate one last INCREDIBLE meal (at Pappasito's...YUM). I can honestly say, my lips didn't touch the likes of fast food the entire trip. And this morning, there was no one coming to my room to get my dirty laundry, or sweep up all the dirt that we track in on our feet, or put the breakfast dishes in the dishwasher. Oh, how I could go on and on. Today for lunch, no one asked me, "Where would you like to go eat today," I thought as I loaded the fish sticks onto the baking sheet. Have I ever mentioned that I'm an only child? In case you were wondering how one becomes such a spoiled rotten BRAT. At least I'm not in denial.

I guess it's not just the children that are getting some Granny detox today. I, too, am suffering through the torture of reality. So I did what I had to do to help relieve some of the pain. I got a pedicure...and today, I treated myself to the "deluxe package" pedicure. Well, actually, I paid for it with the money Mom put in my wallet. Okay, so I have to detox gradually!!!

Back to the Blogosphere...

I took a few bloggity days off, not much to write about honestly. I have TONS of pictures to share, but I didn't bring my cords that plug the thingy into the thingy so I guess you'll just have to wait till I get home. My mom flew up to Dallas on Saturday morning and went to church with us on Saturday evening then we drove all the way back to San Antonio that night (about 4-5 hours). So I've been here since early early Sunday morning. We're going to the river walk today to eat yet some MORE Mexican food so I can get one last fix before heading off into the wild blue yonder tomorrow afternoon. And speaking of...this weather kind of makes me feel like I'm in FL. It's supposed to be almost 90 degrees today! Gotta love that extreme Texas weather. Tomorrow night's low...30!!!! This is why TX weather didn't agree with Lexi's asthma. It baffles my mind how it can be 90 during the day and then a front can blow thru and drop the temps to the 30's by nighttime. I think that's why we were always sick when we lived here. I do absolutely LOVE Florida weather. It's pretty much 80 all the time, well until mid July-Sept. But other than that, very pleasant and mild. I can totally live without winter...have I said that enough??? So the weather is great there, but the eateries need some improvement. I guess it's a good thing though, keeps us from eating out as much. God had to move us 1200 miles away from all this good eatin' so we'd quit spending so much $$$. I guess that deserves an "Amen". I did read that Dallas, TX has more restaurants per capita than anywhere else in the world. And that, too, deserves an "Amen"!!!

So tomorrow I'll be gettin' on that big bird and heading back to the land of vacationers! I was laying in bed this morning pondering why the Orlando airport code is MCO, rather than say...ORL...and it hit me...it stands for Mickey and Company! And that, friends, is why they pay me the big bucks.

I HATE WINTER

Did I say in my post yesterday that it HASN'T been cold here??? Cause I may have spoken too soon. It's freakin cold right now. I've been in this hotel room for at least 30 minutes with the heat on 75 and I still haven't thawed out. How cold is it, you ask? 39! Now I know by yankee standards, that's like summer. But for my Florida-ized body, that's Arctic cold. And I don't even own a jacket any more. I don't really own warm clothes, come to think of it. So I'm a tad bit frigid right now. Today's weather was icky. Cold, drizzly, foggy. Blah! But it didn't stop me from visiting friends, eating at my favorite restaurants, shopping at my favorite stores, and going to church tonight. Brian Houston, pastor of Hillsong Church in Australia, was the speaker tonight. SO GOOD! It was very inspiring. And the worship was once again, unbelievable. Everyone on that stage could win American Idol! So much talent. And they're all church members. Unbelievable! Tomorrow night, TD Jakes is speaking. I can't wait. He's gonna rock the house for sure. I haven't even gone to the daytime sessions at the conference because, well, I'm not a pastor. But just the evening services alone have given us some much needed refreshment and refueling. Pastors give and give and give and work and work and work (and so do their wives) and rarely get the opportunity to be "fed". So this is kind of a chance for both of us to get our fill and just get refreshed and inspired to keep going. It's been WONDERFUL!

Okay, seriously, my fingers are shaking and my jaw is trembling all because I'M COLD!!! I must get a hot shower and crawl into those germ infested hotel covers on the rock hard germ infested bed. Don't you love hotels???

Has anyone checked on my dog??? Oh my stars, I miss that girl!

Unbelievable!!!

We're in the Big D and WOWsers! Didn't know how much I missed it until I got here. Okay, well that's not completely true. And the things I took for granted...Let's start with something I DON'T miss..To my Floridian friends, you don't know what REAL traffic is. I've been to Orlando during "rush hour". Yeah. That's not traffic. Be thankful! Orlando traffic means moving slowly and getting somewhere. Dallas traffic means sitting in a car that might as well be turned off and beating your head against something to keep from cussing. Now the food...THAT...I have missed. So far, I've eaten at Mamacita's in New Braunfels, Saltgrass Steakhouse, Jason's Deli, Taco Cabana, Abuelo's, and a few other places that we do have in Florida. Tomorrow I'm going to Double Dave's and Red Robin. WOOHOO! Food, glorious food. I also shopped today...at SAM MOON'S!!!! Got the cutest pink purse you've ever laid eyes on and a cute pink watch to match. Is there any place on earth quite like Sam Moon's??? The shopping center in Frisco where Sam Moon's is located could have its own zip code. It probably does. That place is HUGE. I felt like I needed a map to navigate through the parking lot. Unbelievable! I've seen wonderful friends, whom I have missed terribly. But perhaps the HIGHLIGHT of this time in the Big D was this evening. Cary is in town for a pastor's conference at our old church, Fellowship Church. Tonight we went to the worship service and holy freakin cow! I was so blown away. I even got my picture made with our former pastor, Ed Young (who is pretty famous in the "pastor world".) I still watch him on T.V. every Sunday morning while I'm getting ready for church, and I also listen to him online every week. LOVE HIM! When we pulled up in the church parking lot, Lexi said "Are we at the mall?" That place is huge.

But I have to say, I am missing the wonderful Florida weather. It hasn't been cold here. Just kind of blah. And I can't wait to get back and move into my NEW HOUSE!

Oh and if anyone in FL is reading, please ask Chris B. how my dog is doing. Make sure he's taking good care of her. Tell him I will be giving her a full mental health evaluation when I get home. I miss her terribly!

WE GOT THE HOUSE!!!!!!!

Cary just called me to tell me WE GOT THE HOUSE!!!! (If you have no clue what I'm talking about, scroll down a couple of posts.) He met the realtor this evening to sign the contract and give him more $$$. Here's another example of God's provision. Cary got his check in the mail today from the production company job I mentioned a few days ago. He was called to work a job in Arkansas just at the time we were praying for a miraculous way to raise the money for a deposit on a house. Anyways, when he opened the check, it was almost $400 MORE than what we had invoiced the guy for. He called him and the guy just felt like he should pay that much. When he met the realtor tonight to give him the check he needed from us...are you ready...THE EXACT SAME AMOUNT as the check Cary got in the mail today from the production company. God is so good.

We will meet with him on March 8 to do a walk through and a home inspection. Then we move in on March 15th. Several people have asked how I plan to pack so quickly, since I don't get home from my trip till Feb 26th. Let's just say I'm SO ready for this move, I can pack in one day TOPS! I'm going to zip through that place loading boxes at the speed of the tasmanian devil and will be lounging on the couch with a few days to spare. Oh yes I will! (Listen, this is my 3rd move in 2 years...I've got it down to a science.) And hopefully this will be our last move for a long long time. I want this to be the house my kids remember forever.

At least I have this to smile about as I'm watching my Ags get beat up pretty badly on the basketball court by texas...boohiss!

Ways My Girls Are Like Me...

I was thinking yesterday of some of the things my girls and I have in common. Here are a few things I came up with. Ashton is just now starting to show her true self, so I'm just now kind of figuring her out.

Lexi:
-Loves ANYTHING Aggie! WHOOP! As soon as we got in Texas, she started asking if we could go see the Aggies. Now that's my girl!
-She loves her bling. Never leaves the house or goes to sleep without her jewels. What can I say? The apple didn't fall far from the tree.
-The girl loves her a good meal. She likes to eat.
-Very perceptive about people and situations. She reads people well, especially non-verbal cues, and has very good directional sense. (She got that from me!!!)
-LOVES animals of all sorts.
-Sleeps little, wakes up instantly. And once she's awake, she's awake! That's me.
-Very creative.
-Very musically inclined. Makes up songs and they actually make sense mucically speaking. Can hear a song once and not hear it for months or even a year, then all the sudden start singing it, ON PITCH, with the correct words. Sometimes she'll hear a song once, not hear it for a long time, then when we do hear it again she'll say, "Mom, remember this song from that day when we were in the car going to Home Depot and you were wearing your butterfly shirt and I was wearing my heart shirt..." You get the idea. CRAZY! Scary! But I'm like that too, so I guess I'm crazy scary!
-Very intuituve and in touch with her spiritual side (Christians call this the gift of prophecy)-We both can know something's going to happen before it happens. Or know what each other is thinking. Or know what others are thinking.

Ashton:
-Will sit still for hours watching football but can't sit through a movie to save her life. We're two of a kind!
-Loves to cuddle.
-Very creative.
-Drama queen. At least I'm not in denial that she gets this from me.
-LOVES Mexican food. (The spicier, the better)
-Says thank you a lot. I guess that's a good word to know huh? I say it like 100 times a day I think.
-Loves coke!
-She may be tiny but the girl can pack away some food!
-Loves to clean. I think I've created a monster.

New House, New Job...and sorry this is such a long post, but it's GOOD stuff!

Okay, I've been wanting to blog about this for quite some time but was waiting till everything was a done deal. And trust me, I've been about to burst at the seams. But I feel quite confident that it's all a "go" so I feel comfortable talking about it...sort of. Back up, about 6 months. I was becoming a little discontented with this whole stay at home mom full time thing and was really wanting to get a part time job. However, I didn't want to spend my entire paycheck on child care and I didn't want to work in the evenings or weekends, which would take away from our family time. So I just prayed, "Lord, if you would allow me to have a job, please just send the perfect job my way. I'm not going to job hunt or do any leg work. Just plop it in my lap if it's in your will." And then I waited. And waited. And waited. All the while, feeling very peaceful that something would happen, in due time. About 4-5 weeks ago, I was offered a job, out of the blue. I didn't even know of the position or ask about it or anything. They came to me. I still can't be specific on the job b/c it's not common knowledge yet, but it has been offered to me, I've accepted, and it was voted on by the powers that be, so it's a done deal, I just haven't started yet! It looks like I will start early March. Trust me, I wish I could tell you all about it, but it's not one of those crazy work from home schemes or anything like that. It's a REAL job in a REAL office, where I know lots of people. The job was PERFECT for me, right up my alley. Very technology based, which I love. And with flexible hours. And it's part time. YEA! And the best part is that it would bring in JUST the exact amount of money we need per month to GET A HOUSE!!!!!!!!! Can you see me smiling all the way from San Antonio??? I will be specific about the job as soon as I'm given a start date and it's been publicly announced. Until then, I feel I still have to be a little quiet about it. I don't know why I feel that way, but I do. But thank you JESUS! Oh and I'm still in training to do Kindermusik too, so I'm hoping to do both jobs. Kindermusik will only take about 2 hours a week in the beginning, so I don't think it will be too overwhelming.

And so that brings me to my next big news...WE'RE GETTING A HOUSE!!!!!!!! We will have to rent of course. Housing is still ridiculously priced here. It is coming down. But the time to buy is not right now. The prices will continue to fall I believe for a few more years. The house we are hoping to rent (we just put a contract on it Wednesday) has never been lived in. It's about 2 years old, in a BEAUTIFUL neighborhood. My favorite neighborhood actually, and funny, we never really looked in that neighborhood b/c we assumed we could never afford it. The house is AMAZING! It reminds me so much of the house we lived in in Hurst, TX, my favorite house, but we had to give up when I quit work to stay home full time b/c we could no longer afford it. But I think it's even nicer than our house in Hurst, defintely a nicer neighborhood. I do have pictures of the new house, but I don't want to post them until we've been given the definite "yes". We turned in our application and earnest money on Wednesday. They said it takes 3-4 business days to get the background check back. So I'm prayerfully hopeful, but cautiously realistic, if that makes sense. But it looks like it's a done deal as of now. He said the only thing they check is the criminal background check and since we don't have criminal records, I'm assuming everything will be fine. God totally provided the funds that we needed for a deposit, first month's rent, and moving expenses all at the same time. Our income tax check is a huge portion of that, but He also provided a way for Cary to earn extra $$$ a few weeks ago doing production work for his old boss at the production company he worked for in Dallas. The money came along right when we needed it, which was such a blessing. We know that if this house falls through, then God has something even better in store for us. So we'll wait (but not patiently...heeeheee). We're hoping to move in around the middle of March. I truly am grateful for the little rickety old house we've lived in for the last year, but I'm SO ready to move on to something bigger and more comfortable and newer, with a great big bathtub and a beautiful kitchen, with gorgeous cabinets, and REAL grass, and a big shower, and his and hers walk in closets, and I'll stop there b/c I could go on and on and on. But know that I'm exstatic. I think it will defintely make FL feel more like home to me.

Oh, and I almost forgot. When we were trying to decide which house to put a contract on, this one or another one we had been looking at for like 3 months, we just sat in the driveway at this house after meeting the realtor there on Monday night. We sat in the driveway and just prayed that God would lead us and guide us b/c we didn't want to make a disastrous financial mistake (like we have done in the past). Well, during the prayer, Lexi wanted to go to the park in the neighborhood. So we took her over there to play. And this nice couple walked up with their dog (I'm a total dog person) and their 2 girls, who are almost the same age as our girls. We started talking, and the girl said, "Wait a minute, is your name Heather?" I was totally stunned. She said that our friend, Melissa, who lives on that street and told us about the house in the first place, had told her about me saying that she hoped we would move into that house and that they even went on a prayer walk around the neighborhood and prayed that the right person would move into that house specifically. And then we went on to discuss all the other things we had in common and it was so fun. The next day at MOPS, I was summonsed to do childcare, unexpectedly, and I was pretty ticked about it. Not because I don't like kids, but b/c I have to psych myself up to work in the nursery and I wasn't psyched up that day. But the girl who was in there with me randomly said during our conversation about schools, "I would never go back to teaching unless I could go back to the school I used to teach at before I started staying home with the kids." I asked her which school it was, and it was the school that the new house neighborhood feeds into. She taught kindergarten and said all the kindergarten teachers there were awesome. That made me feel very peaceful about the school situation. I also had one other former teacher from that school tell me the exact same thing about that school last week. It just felt like over and over again, God was leading us in that direction and giving us the go ahead. Then the money we needed to do this fell into our laps at just the right time. Even better!

So that's my very long story. A good story, don't you think?

Happy Day After Valentine's

So I just woke up. It's 9 something. Are you jealous? And I got an uninterrupted night's sleeep. Are you REALLY jealous? Can't even remember what those are like. It was heavenly. I know what you're thinking, my kids aren't babies, why do they wake me up all night??? I'm asking the same question. Both of them, from the age of 6-8 weeks old were 12 hour sleepers at night, never woke up during the night. But now that they're older, they wake up scared, or have to go potty, someone needs juice, or Ashton falls off the bed, there's always something. I'm usually up about 3 times per night. So needless to say, last night was a blessing of gigantic proportions. My child just chose oatmeal over donuts. Sorry, that was random. I overheard that from the kitchen. The same child that chooses brocolli over mac and cheese. That ain't right.

The flight went well. The girls were really good. They both took a little nap and I didn't even have to bribe them or give them benedryl for that to happen. So YEA! Mom's flight arrived 30 minutes after mine, so getting 4 suitcases, 2 backpacks, my purse, diaper bag, and both kids to the car wasn't a problem at all. Sigh. It was on the plane yesterday with my "big girls" who sat in their seatbelts so cooperatively that I made the decision to NOT start over with this whole having kids thing. Honey, you're going to see Dr. Snippit! And on that note, congrats to my friend, Audra, who gave birth to her 4th child yesterday, 4th child UNDER THE AGE OF 5!!! God bless her soul! (I think she's crazy, I love her, but she's crazy!)

We're going to relax and play with granny today and eat something yummy. Happy Day After Valentine's! Now I must go eat my donuts. Not oatmeal. Someone has to teach these kids what's good in life!

So much to say, so little time...

It's almost 2 a.m. as I sit in the darkness of the dining room typing all these random thoughts...

1. Happy Valentine's Day! I just put the finishing touches on my Valentine's breakfast table. I also made my strawberry mice, you may remember those little fellas from a post I did a week or so ago. They turned out so cute. We're having heart shaped cupcakes topped with heart sprinkles and strawberry mice. It's the only day of the year you can get away with cupcakes for breakfast, well, guilt free anyways. And I got cute glittery heart shaped plates from Target with sparkly lady bug glasses for drinking our love potion. The girls have heart shaped balloons tied to their chairs and a gift bag full of goodies at their seats waiting for them to wake up. I can't wait to see their faces in the morning. And I did get the hubs a little somthun somthun, but it's a secret that I cannot share with you internets. 'Cause I will blush.

2. I'M GOING TO TEXAS! today! Yup, you read that right. I'm leaving in just a few hours. Flying to San Antonio for a few days, then driving up to Dallas, then back to San Antonio. I'm headed for the life of luxury for the next 12 days. I love my life here, but it is kind of nice to leave our skinny budget behind and order whatever I want from a menu, not have to worry about packing the girls food when we eat out, a stocked pantry bigger than my bedroom, a stocked sub zero in the kitchen bigger than my bathroom. Yes, I do enjoy having "stuff" when I'm at Mom's. I'm also kind of excited about leaving behind the gurlgy toilet that makes frightening sewage gas noises when I run the dishwasher or washing machine. Uh huh, figure that one out will you?

3. PLEASE pray that my mom's flight will be on time. She is in Chicago on business right now and her flight is scheduled to arrive around the same time as mine. But last time she was in Chicago a few weeks ago, her flight was delayed about 5 hours due to the weather. If she doesn't make it on time, I have the fun and exciting privilege of getting my girls pottied and changed, down to baggage claim, carrying all my luggage out to the shuttle bus, loading us all on the shuttle, and getting everything to the car BY MYSELF! Leaping lizards, doesn't that sound like FUN??? But if mom gets there at the same time as me, like planned, things will be much simpler. I have faith. I do believe my momma would make her way up to that cockpit and say, "Now if I have to fly this bird myself, we WILL get to San Antonio on time!" And she will too.

That's all for now. The next time I make a post, I will be in the Lone Star State...YEEEEHAW! Food, glorious food! Which reminds me, I had dinner last night with someone who lived in Texas a while back, and she said the thing she missed the most when she moved to FL was ALL THE GREAT TEXAS FOOD! See, I'm not just dreamin' this stuff up y'all! She noted how the restuarant selection here is slim pickins. I'VE BEEN SAYING THAT all year and everyone just thinks I'm crazy. I feel validated. Now I can sleep.

Not the most flattering pictures, but have you ever had THESE???

We all know DisneyWorld is the happiest place on Earth, but did you also know it's the BEST SMELLING place on Earth as well? As you enter the gates, you are greeted by Mickey and Minnie, friendly "police" officers, picture takers, and the most heavenly aroma I've ever smelled in my entire life. As we sauntered down main street USA, my taste buds were dancing as I asked Cary, "What are they cooking and can I get me some of that???" We thought for a minute maybe it was the freshly baked waffle cones at the ice cream shop, or maybe freshly baked cookies, but our noses led us in a different direction. In your toucan Sam voice...Follow the nose, it always knows! Ba-da bing. Couldn't resist. And alas, our noses led us to these...

It's called a cinnamon glazed almond. I told you these are not the most flattering pictures. Focus on the nut. Well, I mean the almond. You know what I mean. Have you ever heard of these? I never had. They make them right there in the park. Well, they don't MAKE the almonds, but you get the idea. They add the stuff to the almond that makes it taste more like a treat, less like a nut.

Sweet Jesus!

Seriously, honey. This bag will NOT be enough.

How fast can I eat them before anyone asks for one, because I really don't want to share.

I SAID I REALLY DON'T WANT TO SHARE!!!!

WHAT PART OF "I REALLY DON'T WANT TO SHARE" DO YOU PEOPLE NOT UNDERSTAND????

And about those Valentines...

Yesterday, I showed you our very cute and over the top valentines that I am mighty proud of, I must say. Well, this morning Cary saw them and here is the conversation that followed:

"Wow! The other moms are going to HATE you."

To which I replied, "Oh, no honey, really, I'm just maintaining the status quo. I promise the other valentines will be just as spectacular as mine (Well, maybe not JUST AS spectacular, but they'll be over the top too)."

"No way! Yours are the best!"

So he took the girls to school this morning and when he got back I asked him, "SO...tell me...how did mine stack up???"

"What are you talking about?"

"The Valentines, the Valentines, how'd we do...you know...in comparison! I mean, not like it matters, it's not like a competition or anything. But no really, were mine the best???"

"You were right, those moms go ALL OUT! There were some really cute ones, just as cute as Ashton's."

Totally not what I wanted to hear. Bah humbug. "So what were they like? Were they...H.A.N.D.M.A.D.E.??? I knew it. I knew I should have done the handmade ones."

"Honey, really, yours were by far the best. And anyways, they just sent bags of chips and juice boxes for the party. YOU MADE HEART SHAPED SANDWICHES! So, relax, you win!"

"Ahhh, thanks honey. You're right. I mean, it's not like we're trying to win 'parents of the year' or anything. Are we?"



Whatever happened to those $.99cent boxes of Valentines you buy at the drugstore???

Our Valentines

We made our valentine's today. Ashton's party is tomorrow and Lexi's is on Wednesday. And after like an hour and 100 pictures, I finally got 3 decent ones to share with you of our prized valentines. (Side note: When the digital camera setting is on AUTOMATIC, doesn't that mean it is supposed to "think" for you??? Like use the flash if needed, don't use the flash if not needed??? Is this mind boggeling to anyone else or is it just me???)

Here is a pic of Ashton's as it appeared before I cut it and put it on the baggie.

This was Lexi's before I cut it and put it on the baggie.


And TADA!

It says, "I'm sweet on you Valentine! Love, Ashton". I know you can't read that because apparently "automatic" on the camera does NOT mean the camera thinks for you and makes your pictures AUTOMATICALLY perfect.

And I can't take full credit for these. My friend Kristi C. (mom2iande) emailed me the digital scrapbooking site where I downloaded these from. Then I put them in photoshop and inserted the pictures and text. Aren't they so yummy cuteness???

Here's the website: http://www.theshabbyshoppe.com/scripts/ . Or if you're really desperate, just tell me to make one for your child/children and I'll email you a copy. I don't want my $3.95 download to go to waste! (Is this illegal???) There are a gazillion different templates on my download, not just this one above. I can do "manly" ones too!

Disney Pics

Well, it's back to reality. The day AFTER Disney is always such a bummer. They should make drugs for it. Day after Disney drugs!

Anyways, here are some pics from our day of fun.

Who can ride the teacups without breaking out into hysterical laughter???

Daddy's girl!

Ashton and cousin, Sebastian, on the bus to the Magic Kingdom! These two are like peas and carrots (with a dash of tabasco!)

Most children put stickers on their shirts or on their hands. Ashton put them on her knees and then pretended they were bandaids covering up her b0-bo's. She kept them on there until this morning's bath. Here she is taking a snooze in tomorrowland with her "bo-bo" knees.

Can you believe I'm standing next to Cinderella??? (And she's like half my age!!!)

Seriously Mom, ANOTHER PARADE???

Happiest place on Earth...really??? Lexi's choice of souvenirs...EARRINGS of course. I mean, DUH! She chose the Belle earring/necklace package.
And Ashton's choice of souvenirs...a bag of princess sugar. I mean, a princess purse with princess candy.

Dada G, Aunt Rhonda, and Sebastian enjoyed Sebastian's first trip to DisneyWorld.

So Heather, whatcha doin' tomorrow?

Oh, not much. You know, same ol' same ol'. Hangin' out. Going to Disney World. Just stuff. Nothing big.

I'm TOTALLY KIDDING...I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!

Cary's parents, sister, nephew, and grandad are on their way right now to our house. And tomorrow, we're all going to Disney World. I'll try not to bore you with the same adorable and wonderful pics of my children nestled in the arms of Mickey and Cinderella. But I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!

Lexi got all her beans in the happy jar yesterday (that's another blog entry) and her reward was supposed to be Chucky Cheese. So this morning she said, "Look Mommy, I got all my happy beans. We can go to Chucky Cheese now!" And I said, "I have a better idea...how 'bout DISNEY WORLD???" She was beside herself.

So y'all have a fun day doing housework and laundry and grocery shopping and whatever it is that you do. But I'M GOING TO DISNEYWORLD.

Beautiful Ballerinas

Today was the first day of ballet for Lexi. She takes ballet at our church ($50 for the whole semester! Is that a steal or what??!!!) We tried it last year and it was really borderline catastrophic. Let's just say she had a little too much groove in her step, should have put her in the hip hop class instead! But today was a whole new story! She was AWESOME! She listened and was so obedient and tried her absolute best to do all the positions. I am so proud of her! Ashton is still too young to be in the class, but as soon as they got home, Lexi felt sorry for her sister I guess and took her to her room and dressed her up in last year's ballet clothes and shoes (which no longer fit her...I guess they were officially passed down today!) Lexi has been so excited about today. We bought her new ballet clothes and shoes yesterday and she wanted to put them on and wear them as soon as we got home from the store. I kept saying, "Tomorrow, tomorrow, you can wear them tomorrow!" And this morning as soon as she got, she wanted to put on her ballet clothes. I think that's the mystique of ballet at age 4...wearing ballerina clothes! Here are some pics of my little ballerinas.

She lost her pink practice skirt, so she put this pink bikini bottom on Ashton instead. I guess it looks like a tutu.

And now, about that hemorrhoid cream...

I can't tell you how many people have asked me about the hemorrhoid cream. Scroll down a few posts if you have no clue what I'm talking about. So now, for your reading pleasure, I shall address the issue.

Last week, I was pretty miserable. Cary was out of town Sunday-Thursday, and I was SICK...sick with CHILDREN. Fortunately, the children were healthy or else I just may have found a cave to crawl into. (And PRAISE GOD they're still healthy despite snitching drinks from my straws and bites from my germ infested plates.) All that to say, I was QUITE desperate for some nostril relief. My nose was so stopped up, I couldn't get an ounce of oxygen to squeeze through my swollen nasal passages. I was trying desperately to stay away from nose spray because it always makes me more sick in the long run. I do have a netty pot (sp?) but I hate that thing. It gives me ear infections. (And it doesn't work for bad colds!) So I was wracking my brain to think of something that makes swelling go down, thinking if the swelling in my sinus cavity would just go down, I could breathe. I took advil (an anti-inflammatory), but it did nothing. Well, it did help my massive headache caused from children running wild and free while Daddy was out of town, but I still couldn't breathe. I contemplated sending a friend to the liquor store to get me something good and strong, something to just knock me out, breathing through my nose or not! And I have great friends here, but I'm not sure any of them know where a liquor store is! (Love you Kristi, Brenda & Carrie!) So that left me rummaging through the bathroom cabinets in search of any form of anti-swelling agents. And VOILA...hemmorrhoid cream! It was left over from my 1st pregnancy. Does twat cream have an expiration date??? Now, before you get all grossed out, honestly, it's just cream that helps with swelling and irritation. It didn't touch my twat. I used it ONCE for that purpose and applied it with toilet paper, so the tube nor the cream inside ever touched the land down under! So it's not like it was "contaminated". I carefully spread it on my face, over the sinus areas and that did nothing but make my skin burn. So I decided to put some on a q-tip and spread it up inside my nose. The swelling didn't go down, but I could taste it running down my throat all night. I drank about a gallon of water and blew my nose constantly, but it was too late.

Although it didn't work, you have to hand it to my creative thinking abilities (especially while being sick!) Or maybe the fever killed a few too many brain cells.

So there you have it...don't try this at home!

More Than You've Ever Wanted To Know...

(The scary thing is that I know where half of these are!!!!)


Need to be cheered up?
Happy, Texas 79042
Pep, Texas 79353
Smiley, Texas 78159
Paradise, Texas 76073
Rainbow, Texas 76077
Sweet Home, Texas 77987
Comfort, Texas 78013
Friendship, Texas 76530

Love the Sun?
Sun City, Texas 78628
Sunrise, Texas 76661
Sunset, Texas 76270
Sundown, Texas 79372
Sunray, Texas 79086
Sunny Side, Texas 77423

Want something to eat?
Bacon, Texas 76301
MY HOMETOWN...Pearland, TX!
Noodle, Texas 79536
Oatmeal, Texas 78605
Turkey, Texas 79261Trout, Texas 75789
Sugar Land, Texas 77479
Salty, Texas 76567
Rice, Texas 75155
And top it off with:Sweetwater, Texas 79556

Why travel to other cities? Texas has them all!
Detroit, Texas 75436
Colorado City, Texas 79512
Denver City, Texas 79323
Klondike, Texas 75448
Nevada, Texas 75173
Memphis, Texas 79245
Miami, Texas 79059
Boston, Texas 75570
Santa Fe, Texas 77517
Tennessee Colony, Texas 75861
Reno, Texas 75462

Feel like traveling outside the country? Don't bother buying a plane ticket!
Athens, Texas 75751
Canadian, Texas 79014
China, Texas 77613
Egypt, Texas 77436
Ireland, Texas 76538
Turkey, Texas 79261
London, Texas 76854
New London, Texas 75682
Paris, Texas 75460

No need to travel to Washington D.C.
Whitehouse, Texas 75791

We even have a city named after our planet!
Earth, Texas 79031

And a city named after our State!
Texas City, Texas 77590

Exhausted? Energy, Texas 76452
Cold? Blanket, Texas 76432 Winters, Texas
Like to read about History? Santa Anna, Texas Goliad, Texas Alamo, Texas Gun Barrel City, Texas Robert lee, Texas

Need Office Supplies? Staples, Texas 78670

Men are from Mars, women are from Venus, Texas 76084

You guessed it..it's on the state line..Texline, Texas 79087

For the kids...
Kermit, Texas 79745
Elmo, Texas 75118
Nemo, Texas 76070
Tarzan, Texas 79783
Winnie, Texas 77665
Sylvester, Texas 79560

Other city names in Texas , to make you smile.....
Frognot, Texas 75424
Bigfoot, Texas 78005
Hogeye, Texas 75423
Cactus, Texas 79013
Notrees, Texas 79759
Best, Texas 76932
Veribest, Texas 76886
Kickapoo, Texas 75763
Dime Box, Texas 77853
Old Dime Box, Texas 77853
Telephone, Texas 75488
Telegraph, Texas 76883
Whiteface, Texas 79379
Twitty, Texas 79079

And last but not least, the Anti-Al Gore City
Kilgore, Texas 75662

And our favorites...Cut n Shoot, Texas Gun Barrell City, Texas Hoop And Holler, Texas Ding Dong, Texas and, of course, Muleshoe , Texas

Here's what Jeff Foxworthy had to say about folks from Texas:
If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you may live in Texas;

If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you may live in Texas;

If 'Vacation' means going anywhere south of Dallas for the weekend, you may live in Texas;

If you measure distance in hours, you may live in Texas;If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you may live in Texas;

If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you may live in Texas;

If you carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you may live in Texas;

If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph -- you're going 80 and everybody's passing you, you may live in Texas;

If you find 60 degrees 'a little chilly,' you may live in Texas;

If you actually understand these jokes, and share them with all your Texas friends, you definitely live in Texas.

Cowboy's Ten Commandments posted on the wall at Cross Trails Church in Fairlie, Texas:(1) Just one God.(2) Honor yer Ma & Pa. (3) No telling tales or gossipin'.(4) Git yourself to Sunday meeting.(5) Put nothin' before God.(6) No foolin' around with another fellow's gal.(7) No killin'.(8) Watch yer mouth.(9) Don't take what ain't yers.(10) Don't be hankerin' for yer buddy's stuff

Now that's kinda plain an' simple don'tcha think?

Love Is In The Air

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I'm already planning my Valentine's Day treats. Target has the cutest little Valentine plates and cups (very cheap) I'm going to set the table with that morning. And I've been surfing the web to find some cute Valentine's breakfast ideas. Check these out...

These all came from http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/special/specialfeature/valentines_food_ms/

Another idea...LOVE POTION as a drink. Just a berry mixed smoothie. So fun! Can't wait to surprise the loves of my life!

Observations From the Week

1. Never put hemorrhoid cream inside your nose in an attempt to make swollen nasal passages go down. It doesn't work and even worse, you'll just taste it all night.

2. Interesting town I live in. On Tuesday, election day, the girls rode their bikes a block down the street with me to the church, parked their bikes in the parking lot, went inside and were immediately greeted by all the sweet little old ladies who have kept them in the church nursery. They were led to the kitchen for cookies while I voted and given a hand full of stickers on our way out the door. Then a little old man working the election came outside to marvel at how well they both rode their big girl bikes. I'm telling you, it was like a trip back to Mayberry.

3. Interesting town I live in (cont.) Every time I go to Pizza Hut, I see this same family there. They have a baby and they sit in the same booth. And I know THEY must be thinking, "Every time we come here we see that fat lady (who eats too much pizza) with the two beautiful girls. And she always sits in the same booth!"

4. Interesting town I live in (cont.) Every time we eat at Subway, we see this same elderly hispanic couple there. He always says the same thing to my girls. We sit in the same booth. And we see the same big truck of oranges go down the road while we eat.

5. I heard MC Hammer's "Can't Touch This" on the radio yesterday and it made me think, "Whatever happened to him? All he had to do was be rich and live like a rockstar. How do you screw that up???"

6. Who says Bert and Ernie are gay? It's obvious that Ernie has a crush on Prairie Dawn.

7. When I see Elmo, I can't get past the fact that he's a big, buff, black man!

8. Little Bear (on the Noggin channel) is the BEST cartoon on T.V. EVER!!!!

9. Vinny (on Celebrity Apprentice) apparently LIVES out his part on the Sopranos. He's had one too many meatballs.

10. What's up with shows called "Lipstick Jungle" and "Cashmere Mafia"? Sounds like another rendition of "Desperate Housewives" to me. Whatever happened to shows like "The Wonder Years" and "30 Something" and "The Cosby Show"? Thank GOD for "King of Queens" or there would just not be ANY quality television out there. Oh and Little Bear, can't forget Little Bear.

11. My husband, whom I love with all my heart, is THE biggest mess maker in our house. Every time he goes out of town, I realize this fact. When he's gone, our house stays clean, the laundry stays under control. But as soon as he returns, it all goes to pots! I didn't have to spend more than 30 min a day this past week cleaning the house and it stayed clean all week. Last night, he hadn't been home for 5 minutes and I was wiping things off the floor and counter top. I love you honey bun!!!! I'm really not complaining. I would rather live with his messes than to be without him for even a day.

12. They just put "non-drowsy" on the label because if they put the real side effects..."Warning: in about 30 minutes you'll be unconscious, knocked out, can't open your eyes, barely breathing, sleeping like a rock" then no one would buy it.