mail week

I waited a little long to post about my mail delieveries, both sent and received this week. I didn't plan on procrastinating this but life just has a way with making me put things on the back burner.

I sent out several good mail packages this week and was so glad to have been on the giving end of this great tradition.

We received a package from Grammy(my mom) with fun things for the girls. They are always telling people how much they love to get mail even if it is just a small postcard addressed especially for them. She sent them each a book, Mackenzi & Maci got jewelry, and Maryn got new socks. She also sent them wach a light up pumpkin that they had to put batteries in immediately to see how it looked. I got a new pair of comfy socks to workout in, they have a great support in the arch. She also sent me their Stake newsletter and about 7 hometown newspapers. I like getting the newletter to see who all has been married in the Temple and to see what fun thing sthey are doing in their stake. I love to get my hometown paper to see the happenings in our small town. Most of it I know nothing about but occassionally I see someone I know has married, or had a baby. The sad parts of it is when I see someone that I went to school with has died or been arrested for terrible things. But overall I enjoy checking out the Silsbee Bee. Thanks Mom for sending us good mail.



Jenny brought by a thank you note and bag of goodies. She gave me the cutest punchout letters for scrapbooking and a temple to put in my scrapbook. I can't wait to use it on or Utah trip pictures. She also gave me some cute striped cello bags. I was on the hunt for these last week and couldn't seem to find what Iwas looking for. Of course she added a bag of mini rolos. Let me just tell you, those were gone in a matter on minutes, with Greg's Help! Thanks Jen for the goodies and your great friendship. You are the best!

daddy daughter date

Today was the Activity Day girls date night with their daddies. They had a survivor themed night focusing on how Dads can help their daughters "SURVIVE" the coming years. Each of the girls were responsible for talking about one thing. Mackenzi's assignment was about an activity they had about a Muddy Mess. They had made a dessert at acitvity days one time and didn't have the recipe so they were left with a mess. She was to explain in life how they have to follow Heavenly Father's instructuctions(recipe) to be happy and to return to live with him.



They had Hawiian Haystacks for dinner. Most of the girls were not too sure about eating this but the Dad's were loving it. They made homemade icecream in a #10 can by rollin git around on the gym floor. Mackenzi actually rolled hers on the back seat of Greg's car because they had to leave a bit early to make it to Daddy's football game. We all went and the girls had fun trying to be cheerleaders and dancing to the beat of the band.



Thanks Daddy for spending time with the girls. They will cherish these memories forever.

remembering rita one year later

Today is the one year anniversary of Hurricane Rita hitting the Gulf Coast near mine and Greg's hometowns.

We were on vacation last year at Disneyland having a fun time not really thinking of sad things since we were at the happiest place on Earth. We had gone to California knowing the storm was a threat to our families but never thought they would personally be affected by it. We had evacuated several times while growing up and the storms either weakened or turned missing us and our homes. We were in touch with my family and Greg's constantly, while they evacuated. My parents, grandmother, brother & sister in law and their two kids, as well as my sister and her two girls all left together expecting to drive north about 100 miles and find a place to camp(my parents pulled their camp trailer). Well what would have taken less than two hours ended up taking about 10 hours. They all crammed themselves in the camper and tried to get some rest not knowing what the next day would encounter.

I stayed up all night that night watching CNN and Fox News so I could then get intouch with them by cell phone. They didn't have access to TV so they had no idea of where the storm was going and how high the wind speeds were... I call them early Saturday morning and warned them of the, then catergory 5 hurricane, and encouraged them to leave and just start driving and head towards our home in San Antonio. I knew they wouldn't be safe in the camper even being so far from the coast but knew the storm surge and wind they would come along with a 5 storm would be terrible. They decided to leave the camper(knowing it would slow them down) and make a long round about trip to San Antonio. I can't remember how long it took them but it was pretty much all day. They were stuck in traffic jams on small Texas roads, long lines waiting for gas not knowing if the gas pumps would still have gas once they reached the front of the lines, and some hours only traveling only five miles the entire hour. They finally reached our home and let themselves in and were all safe and able to rest even though they were trying to watch the live coverage on TV. They were terrified of what the damage would be even thought the Hurricane made land fall as a catergory 3 storm. At this point it was a hurry up and wait game.

(note wrong date on pictures)

We arrived home on Monday morning from California to a house full of family. It was a bitter sweet reuinion for us. We were so glad to see them all okay as they were to see us, but there were few smiles in our home that day still wandering what the storm had done to their homes. It was a bit cramped in our 1500 square foot home with 15 people staying there, 8 adults and 7 kids that were 8 years old and under.

Dad's workshop

Finally they got a phone call from a cousin that had rode out the storm, that there were three trees on my parents house and one one my dad's workshop. It was devestating to see my parents as they revealed this news and to know the house they raised us in was severely damaged. Since they were unable to drive home(noone that didn't remain in the area were not allowed to come back). My mom being a nurse was let back in so she could go back to work.A few of the people that had stayed went to my parents and tried to clean up some and cut the trees off the house and cover the holes that were in the roof with tarps so any rain that would contiue to fall would not damage the stuff they had.

Huge oak tree on the middle of their home

Both my brother and sister's homes were spared heavy damage. They both had minimal roof damage as did Greg's parents' home. How grateful we are that no one in our family was physically injured in this horrific natural disaster.

After about a week they were able to move into an extended stay hotel that FEMA paid for. We continued to seet them daily and my nephew even enrolled in school with Mackenzi & Maci for a few weeks.

My dad went back and forth periodically working on trying to clean up around the house. With all of the dwon trees and power lines and debris everywhere there lots of people trying to clean up their land. One of the people that live not too far from my parents house decided to brun some of the stuff that was on his land. Yes, this sound crazy knowing there was so many trees and so much under brush that in a plit second could catch fire and burn until ther ewas nothing left in its path. With there home on a piece of land that was pine tree after pine tree wth oak trees all inbetween it was food for any fire that could have started. The neoghbor finished his work and them left town. Well the fire that he thought had burned out relit itself and roared through our forest. My dad wasn't home but my grandmother whomlived next door heard an explosion and called my dad on his cell phone. He was about thirty miles away. He turned his truck around, turned on his emergency flashers, and sped home as fast as he could. When her arrived the fire department was there but fe drove up to find his workshop(that had been smashed by a tree) was totally burned down and the end of their house had recieved minor damage from the heat from the fire. Thankfully the fire department was there and able to put the fire out before it reached the house.

workshop after fire

One year later, my parents home is still not back to completely normal. With all of the damage from Katrina and Rita, the repair process is very slow going. Most people were waiting 9 months for new roofs to be done by companies. My dad tackled there home himself and has fixed most of where the trees had gone through. They still are living without any type of flooring. They are still walking around on cement floors and you can still see water damage spots on the ceiling and wall. My dad's workshop was finished just last week but everything else is, slowly but surely, getting back to normal.

What an experience this was to go through with them. We continue to hope and pray for them to get their lives and home back to normal sometime soon.

"d" day

No, it hasn't been a terrible day, it has actually been quite DELIGHTFUL. I have been thinking about my day and how I could make it into an interesting post(no pics for this one). I admit I stole the idea from Jenny, and others, with naming things about my day that start with the same letter. So here is my day that begins with D...


Daughters...I ended up with two of the three of them in bed with me when I woke up this morning. I don't even remember Maci climbing into bed with us. Maryn gave her usual wakeup call a bit earlier this morning at around 545. I think Greg woke her up when he left for work.

Dogs...Too many stray dogs roaming our neighborhood this morning on our walk. It freaks me out a bit not knowing if these dogs are vicious are not. The kids love it though and are saying DOGGIES non stop for 45 minutes.

Dollar off...I am so delighted my car is no longer DIRTY. It was dollar off day at Alamo Laser Car Wash and I just couldn't pass up the chance to drive a clean car even if it is only for a few days(it is supposed to rain this weekend).

Darling...My darling hubby called and had two hours free before he needed to be at his afternoon clinic so I went and picked him up and we headed out on some errands I was running. Fun times even if it was just errand running. It was just good to be together.

Dillards...I had waited out my 30 day return limit on a swim suit I had gotten on sale a month ago. I really liked it but after thinking it over I decided to take it back and save the $50. I wanted so bad to turn right around and buy it back again after the girl put it back on the rack. Now it would have only cost me about $35. Who knows I may be back at Dillards tomorrow.

Deals...We decided to look for Greg a couple of new dress shirts in Macy's. Since his weight loss he only has a few shirts that don't hang on him lik ethey are on a hanger. He found two dress shirts, one for $7, the other for $9. He also got two polos for a $5.40 each. I wasn't going to look for myself anything but after seeing Greg's deal I had to check out things for me. I found two shirts for less than $5 each. I am thrilled at the deal we found today.

Deli...After the mall we took advantage of our time we had together since today is his all nighter day. We stopped for lunch at Jason's Deli. It hit just the right spot and not to mention you get free soft serve ice cream(that isn't that bad for you) after your meal.

Drop off...I dropped off Greg back at the hospital and decided to give his car a "heart attack". I really didn't have any good treats just the hearts I cut out. I wrote on a few of them and others I just threw in the car. I knew I was going to have trouble getting into the car since Greg always locks his car with the remote and as a security device you can't unlock it by just using the key if the remote was used to lock it. The horn will start honking and continue to honk until you use the remote or when the 3 min is up. Well since the remote I have doesn't work the car was honking like crazy so I didn't get to put all of the hearts in the car because everyone in the parking lot was staring at me.

Dumb...Is how I felt when the car "alarm" was going off.

Dance...Mackenzi had dance today but Jenny dropped them off today so I didn't have to venture out...

Double Day...Greg called and had about an hour before he needed to be back at the hospital so I met him at the gym for my second workout for the day. I had told myself I was going to slack off of the double days ,but since Greg is having a hernia repaired on Friday, and won't be able to workout for at least two weeks, I knew he wanted to go. If I had said I didn't want to go he would have just sacrificed his workout and came home to see me.

Daddy...Daddy has journal club tonight and his moonlighting shift after that so he won't be home. I am so grateful for all he does for us.

Dinner...Tonight was Thornton Elementary Night at Papa John's. 20% of their sales made by Thornton families would go to the school. Since, I had nothing on the menu (Greg wouldn't be home tonight) I stopped and picked up the girls' dinner.

Diet Dr. Pepper...I have had my fair share of this today. I literally am addicted.

DVR...I went through and set all of my tv shows that I want to record this fall on our Dish DVR. It was sad to see how many tv shows we are into, but glad that we can record them and watch them when we can (and without commercials).

Dreamland...All of the girls were off to dreamland on time tonight which has made for a.....

Delightful...Evening!!

Did you have a Delightful Day?

time

Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.
- William Penn

I have been thinking alot about time lately. How I spend my time in particular. I feel most days I rush through my day doing things and end up wasting a ton of time adn not really accomplishing much. Time I could have spent cleaning, playing with the girls, spending with Greg... I just waste a lot of time every day and that bugs me.

When Greg began this journey, of his dream of becoming a doctor, we always heard that it's tough and there's not a lot of time left in each day for fun things. Looking back on the past nine years we have been doing this, I haven't felt that we didn't have TIME for things. Of course there were days when I would barely talk to him on the phone let alone see him. But these instances were not happening day after day after day. There hve been really good times where Greg would be home really early every afternoon and we did fun things with each other and as a family. Since Greg began his fellowship in August, those times are pretty much nonexistent. His schedule is pretty hectic and leaves him being home only about an hour each night(at least two nights he doesn't even make it home) while I'm awake. We briefly discuss our day and maybe watch something on tv before he is in bed trying to refuel for his early mornings and long nights.

I don't want to come across as being negative, more than anything I want Greg to know how grateful I am for his hard work, determination, patience, sleepless nights, non stop service for patients and for our family, and for the time and energy he puts into his work, and the stress that comes from it. I feel terribly guilty everyday knowing how hard he works for us to have things we have and for us to do the things we do. All the while, I am home taking care of the girls, doing homework, driving my taxi, and on most days doing at least one fun thing, even if it is just going to Target. I obviously have the easier job even though somedays I say I would have rather been working somewhere.

I have been trying real hard to make better use of my time so that the little amount of time he is home I'm not up cleaning, blogging, reading..., but I'm totally into him. I have been at a lost lately without him to trudge along through my days with. He makes me complete and makes me smile. Without him around much I have found myself frowning more than just a little lately.

Well...the post isn't flowing as well as I thought it would so I will spare you anymore of my sad saga story about time terribly spent.

Any advice on how to better use my time? How do I function without the

love of my life around much?

14 years ago this month..............

So many people comment to me about my weight. It really makes me feel self conscious about it actually. A lot of times I never really know how to respond and I feel dumb saying anything back. But, without too much explaining I came across this picture dated 9/92.

This was me 14 years ago when I was 20 years old.

I was immediately flooded back with memories. I had graduated from high school two years before, and had gone to Utah to UVCC (I didn't have the grades to get into BYU). I was a very shy, naive, small town Texas girl trying to find who I was and where I was going. Well, where I was going was home after I stayed the two semesters I promised my parents I would stay. I didn't do that well in school (actually I did horrible), I skipped classes not only because I didn't like school, studying, taking test, but because I was miserable.

After making it home a friend convinced me to go to SUU with her the next fall. What was I thinking? If I was unhappy in HAPPY valley, how could I be happy in Cedar City? This is where I could have been diagnosed with depression but never told anyone how I felt so no one knew. I ate to make myself happy. I have always been, and still continue to be an emotional eater, so everything that made me sad, mad, stressed, glad, would cause me to eat. I felt food was my one and only friend, on most days, when I was living in Cedar City. I continued to be very shy and kept to myself. I hated, and somewhat still do, to be outgoing and to make new friends. I never dated, rarely went to any school or church activities, I was just living day to day until the semester was over. It couldn't come fast enough on most days but I didn't want it to come on the days I thought about arriving home. I was terrified at the thought of stepping off of the airplane and seeing my parents. What would they think to find the 120 pound daughter they had sent off to college return as a 150+ pound stranger? I felt helpless, alone, and unloved. After being home, I continued to be heavy and I maybe even gained a bit more, before finally deciding I was done being sad.

I remember wanting to be married in the Temple and to be a mom and feeling these two things would make me the happiest. First, I knew I wanted to lose weight because if I stayed the way I was I would have remained this sad, negative, person that could cause me to never find someone to love and someone to love me. I didn't reach my goal weight before I started dating Greg but was down about 35 pounds. I didn't really lose anymore until after I had our first daughter, Mackenzi. I lost another 5 pounds and stayed that way until I became pregnant, 2 1/2 years later. I was pretty sick for the first 4 1/2 months of the pregnancy so I lost weight and then ended up not gaining a lot with that pregnancy.

After we moved to San Antonio for residency I really felt good about who I was and the way I looked and wanted to continue to feel that way. We joined a gym and I went occassionally, but I wasn't killing myself over working out because I felt I didn't really have alot to lose. I have a always been a burger and fries girl and felt I gained 4 or 5 pounds when I ate things like that. It didn't stop me from eating them, but if I knew I would be eating something like that at dinner I would purposely not eat much all day. I know this isn't the healthiest way to go about this but it seemed to work for me. I also switched to diet coke rather than regular, after I started counting the calories I was taking in just on sodas. By woking out and drinking diet sodas I lost down to the least amount I had ever weighed. I got pregnant with my last daughter and ended up gaining the most with her, but lost it all after breastfeeding and exercising.

Me now, 34 years old and 40 pounds thinner.

In saying all that, I will say since I met and married Greg I am happy I am not the person I was back then. My self-esteem is WAY better than it used to be. I still complain about the way I look somedays, but am trying so hard to love me for me, not for the way I look or how much I weigh. Therefore, looking back at this picture reminds me of the person I never want to be again. Not because I was bigger, but because of how I felt inside. The funny thing is now I am completely the opposite and overall feel better when I workout. So, when people make the comments about my weight I can honestly say I have been there and know how hard it is to loose it. It took me nearly 9 months of eating PLAIN chicken and white rice EVERYDAY to loose the first 35 lbs. And well, now I am just paranoid I will someday revert back. So, when people are trying to loose weight I just want to say I understand how hard it is because I have been there once myself.

days of our lives

I'm sure this will definitely rank high on my "boring post list" and most of you will wonder why in the world did I need to jot it down but hey, I needed something to post.



Friday-

740-dropped kids off at school
750-went for my morning walk
900-showered
1000-left to take Maryn to get picture taken at Target
1020-arrived at Target WITHOUT photo coupon
1040-left Target in tears because the chics there were VERY rude
1100-got home to get coupon
1120-Greg & I arrived back at Target for Maryn's pics
1215-went to lunch with Greg at Chuy's(I needed this after my starvation day on Thursday)
140-home again to lay Maryn down for nap
200- Greg left to study and go to bank
305-girls off the bus from school
445-Greg came home and we decided to go for a family run/bike ride
545-stumbled into the house after Maci drug us on a 3.4 mile run!(she learned to ride without training wheels and she only knows one speed, FAST!)
600-Greg left for his high school football game(he is "the team doctor" for one of the local high schools and has to stand on the side lines, at the games incase of injuries)
630-fed the girls frozen pizza
700-bathtime
730-storytime
800-Maryn bedtime
900-Mackenzi & Maci bedtime
930-I'm starving but MORE exhausted so I get ready for bed hoping I am able to get out of bed in the morning.
1000-too tired to even watch the news and doze off
1130-Greg comes home(at least I think it was Greg, I'm feeling like someone has drugged me)He even said that I looked, acted, and sounded like I had been given anesthesia.

Saturday-

600-Greg leaves for sports clinic
630-my sweet Maryn gives me a wake up call. I put her in bed with me.
700-Maryn sneaks out of my bed and wakes her sisters.
720-I roll out of bed and make breakfast
800-morning walk/jog(Jenny didn't go this morning so I ran part of it because it drags when there isn't someone to chat with.
900-showered and cleaned up around the house
1100-went to meet Greg at the gym(they were having a kids thing with moonjump, food, & games) worked out for an hour(I think I am crazy doing these two-a-days!)
1200-showered again at gym
1245-Costco (you can't beat the samples at Costco for lunch on Saturday)
145-got gas at Sam's for $2.22!!(Costco's line was too long there's was $2.21!) My tank was only half gone but couldn't pass up the "CHEAP" gas.
230-I took Maryn home for a nap and Greg took Mackenzi and Maci to the movies for a daddy/ daughter date.
300-430-cleaned bathrooms, swept and mopped floors
430-Greg took a 30 minute nap
530-went to dinner on Greg's way to his moonlighting shift downtown
700-bathed girls
800-read stories & bedtime
NOW-my time (blogging, ironing clothes for church, surfing the net, vegging)

Sorry you had to experience the"days of our lives". It is amazing, when you jot down all you do in a day, there is ALOT that goes on but, then there's NOT ALOT that goes on either.

What was I thinking?

two workouts + mowing the lawn - food = insane exhausted Mommy




I went for my morning 3 mile walk this morning with Jenny. On most days it doesn't seem to be much of a workout more of a get me out of the house for 45 minutes chat and stroll time, but somedays I feel like it is my first day starting an exercise routine. I feel like I am moving in grandma speed and can hardly get one foot in front of the other. Today was the latter of those two. It seemed like we were never going to make it to the one mile mark let alone complete the three miles. We finally made it after passing three different very stinky road kills that have been on our route all week. The smell is getting worse and worse and are causing us to have to run up hill while pushing the strollers.

After our walk, Jenny met me at the Honda place to give me a ride home. I had to geta few things checked out on the van so she was nice enough to let me hitcha ride with her. We went looking for a few more things for our silent auction basket for school and then Greg called and said he was done early. How exciting those words are lately? He has been super busy and on most days we see each other for about an hour, and somedays we jsut get to talk on the phone when he is working all night. So a call to let me know he is done at 11 am is a glorious day. He wanted to go to the gym to workout so I told him I would get Jenny to drop me off there. Okay, I know I have just finished my 3 mile walk less than two hours before, but I decide I'm going to workout a "little bit" until Greg is ready to go. I climb upon an elyptical machine and 17 minutes and 2.4 miles later I stumble off. I lift a few arm weights, do a few lunges, and strain through a couple of leg exercises before Greg says he is ready. Whew! I can hardly walk.
We make it home and Greg showers and heads off to school to study and I put Maryn down for her nap. Mowing my lawn crosses my mind earlier on the day but I figures I would wait until another day. I reconsider and head out to endure the 93 degree heat(it is dry heat today) so I thought it wouldn't be bad. I was wrong! I got throught the front yard pretty quickly and without to much effort but when I went around back it was like I ran out of gas (no, not the mower, me). I sighed, huffed, grunted, moaned, panted, adn sweated my way through it and finally an hour and forty minutes after I began, I was finally done. At this poit I was feeling a bit ill. I hadn't eaten breakfast. I grabbed a handful of wheat thins before going to the gym. I didn't eat lunch so after I was finished I was really feeling yucky. I managed to get in the shower and get my makeup on but did't know if I would make though blowdrying my hair. I ate some candy thinking I need sugar, it helped a little but I was still not feeling well.
Greg came home and we left to go and pick up my car. I had planned on making dinner after the yard work was done but didn't have the energy nor desire to stand in the kitchen and cook. We decided to stop and grab a sandwich at Charley's. We had never eaten there before and knew nothing about it but it ended up being okay and it kept me from cookinga t home. After dinner we had Mackenzi's open house at school. Remember I am so tired I can hardly hold myself up and now I get to listen to her teacher talk about the things they are doing and actlike I am enjoying it. I tried my best but was actually glad when it was all over at 7:50. I still needed to get Mackenzi to her swim practice at 8:20. Greg graciously offered to take her, so here I sit, blogging about my exhausting day.
I just can't figure out what I was thinking when I decided to practically workout three times in a six and a half hour period of time! I think I have learned my lesson and hopefully can even get out of bed in the morning.

Have you ever way over done it and asked yourself, WHY?

"Remembering" 5 years later

American Flag near the Statue of Liberty

Remembering 9/11 five years later.

World Trade Center

I can't believe it has been five years since I sat glued to my tv, with a numb feeling, after the terror attacks on our country. I remember it like it was yesterday. I sat in disbelief as I watched the news as both planes hit the Twin Towers, the plane hit the Pentagon, and Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania. Greg was post call and slept though the entire day and had no idea of what had happened. I finally couldn't stand it anymore and woke him up to tell him about it around 5 pm. He commented on how he was probably the last person in the United States to find out about it.

Ground Zero

Greg and I went to New York City last October for our 10 year anniversary. We were able to go to Ground Zero and take pictures and see where the Twin Towers had stood before. They had a time line, hanging on the fence, of the events of September 11, 2001. It was surreal to stand there where so many lives were lost and so many more lives were drastically effected, by the events of what would have been just another sunny day in New York City, but instaed turned into the worst day in U.S history.

Greg & I at The Statue of Liberty with the New York City skyline behind us.

happy grandparents day

"Surely, two of the most satisfying experiences in life must be those of

being a grandchild or a grandparent."

Donald A. Norberg

Grammy & Poppy, Nana & Papa, Nanaw, & Mimi,

We just wanted to wish all of you a very happy grandparents day. Know we are thinking of you during this Grandparents week. We love and miss you all and can't wait for our next visit with each of you. Thanks for all you do and all you are!
Hugs & Kisses-
Greg, Angie, Mackenzi, Maci, & Maryn

the eyes of texas are upon you...

The guys have been waiting for the big game for over a month now. #1 Ohio State vs. #2 Texas playing in Austin. Of course they were not able to get tickets to the game(people were selling their tickets for several thousand bucks a ticket) but they were invited to go to a tailgate party given by The Orthopedic Store. It would be in Austin, near the stadium in a parking lot, with tons of fans, big screen tv's, bbq and chaos.

We all ate lunch at Chuy's before they left. All dressed, in their burnt orange shirts, they took off for their guy time. As they drove away all smiles, we were feeling a bit robbed from our fun weekend, after our rained out campout.

We didn't go to UT but Greg having been in medical school at UT Houston med school, and now being in residency at UT Health Science Center SA, we have become die hard Longhorn fans. It is so fun to root and cheer for a team that has great school spirit. On game days in Austin it is like a sea of burnt orange around town. Even in San Antonio you find your fair share of burnt orange t shirts and longhorns around. We have even joined in and have decided to wear our "hookem' horns" shirts on game days.



Greg, Doug, and Russell had a fun time at the tail gate party and were amazed at the crowds of people every where. They said the entire downtown Austin was a huge party with tens of thousands of people everywhere. There was a sale out record crowd inside the game of nearly 90 thousand, but even outside the stadium on the streets, in restaraunts, in parking lots, in cars, there were thousand upon thousands of fans.

Sad to say the Longorns lost their first game, in twenty nine games, 24-7. I told Greg they must have been bad luck but, win or lose we will still cheer for UT. Hookem' Horns!

rAinEd ouT!

I know some of you may be awaiting my campout update......

The car was packed and we were ready to head out. I was planning on picking up Jenny and Taylor and fropping Maryn off( Doug was watching her until Greg got home) about 4pm. At 4:05 I get everyone in the car, I ran back inside to grab a roll of TP just incase there wasn't any at the campout, and jumped back in the car. I turned the key over and it was de ja vu all over again. My immediate thought was what the #&$*? I was just told about twenty four hours ago my car and battery were fine and now it will not start. I am swearing at theis point. I again get the self charger off the shelf in the garage(the one I just left plugged in several hour to charge) and hooked it up only to see that even though it said it had a full battery before I put it back in the box, it was dead again! I I ran in and called Jenny to see if she or Doug could come jump the car off. I muscled the van out of the garage(my girls were quite impressed that I was so strong) just as Jenny pulled up.

We decided to take her van to the campout and Doug would drive the car back to Honda to get them to check it again. We unloaded my car, and reloaded Jenny's, moved carseats around, I called Greg(he said the same thing I said, what the @#$*?), I called my dad to see if he could tell by the noise if it was the battery or alternator, we negoitated our plan, tried the car a few more times during all of this, and it finally started on its on after recharging itself. We drove to Honda with Doug so they could see me the same girl, with all the kids back again witht he same problem. They tested it again and their little machine said it was fine. EXCUSE ME it isn't fine! They took it over to let someone else look at it an they said they would have to keep it over night. Okay this is great. We are trying to make it to our campout, if they keep my car that leaves six people to squeeze into Greg's hunk-a-junk Saturn. That is not at all safe. Greg talked tot the guy on the phone in route and told him we needed a loaner car if they had to keep mine. Well, in the five minutes Greg was on the phone with the guy the battery ran dead again. YES, we are not making this up. The guy said he would take it around and have a new battery in it in fifteen minutes.

We left Greg Doug, the three boys, and Maryn standing in the Honda parking lot and we were off on our camping adventure. By this time, rush hour is difinitely at it's peak. We needed to stop and get soemthing to eat and wanted something fairly quick so we would not be setting up our tent in the dark. We agreed on Subway, but it was anything but quick. We satisfied our tummies and were back on the road only to soon see raindrops hitting the windshield. If any of you have ever been camping in the rain you know it is no fun. It one thing to be camping and then it start raining in the middle of the night and be stuck but it is another thing to be driving there knowing when you get there with everything dry soon it will be all wet. Neither Jeny nor I knew anyone's cell phone that we thought would be there so we called the few numbers we knew of people at home and finally located some cell numbers. We got in touch with a lady from our ward that was there. When she heard my voice she shouts "DON'T COME" it's pouring down, my girls won't let me leave, we are setting our tent up in the rain, we're miserable.
Remember, I hav ebeen promising Mackenzi for at least four years we were going to this mother/daughter campout before we leave San Antonio. I knew when I turned to say we werenot going the tears were going to start flowing. It broke my heart! I almost cried myself. We told them we would try and go again soon, to which they said it will never happen. We tried to console them and think of something that would make them smile and forget about camping. There wasn't a movie to take them to, you can't get a bowling lane after 6:00, all of the nail places to get a pedicure would be closed before we could get back to one....What to do?

We decided to have a campout in our living room. We stopped and got them a pink craft, we came home put our camp stuff away, put on our pink jammies, painted our toenails pink, and ate cookies(Greg had them made when we got home). It wasn't the campout that they were so excited for but they had fun and I had fun knowing I didn't have to clean up wet, muddy stuff.

surprise mail

I was surprised to find yet another good mail delivery in the mail today. This is getting crazy. Since I don't have many friends and family that I have convinced to start blogging most of you are somewhat strangers to me. I just know about you, your family, and some about your life, just by knowing a friend of yours or just by reading your blogs.

Back in July when Jenny and I had our girls trip to Utah I had the wonderful opportunity to meet one of her friends from New Orleans. After Hurricane Katrina, Allison and her family relocated to Bountiful where she is from. They are living there temporarily until they are able to return to Louisiana and to their home. I had heard a lot about Alli, her family and had even met her husband when he had interviewed in SA a few years ago. From the things Jenny had said about her I knew if I ever had the chance to meet her I would instantly like her. My guess was right. When I saw her for the first time she had the biggest brightest smile and beautiful eyes. She had a spunky personality and a fun sense of humor. I knew right away why Jenny had been friends with her. I am so glad I was able to meet her and feel of her incredible spirit.

Back to my good mail. Allison(she's a secret blogger) sent me a package with the cutest shirt she found in St. George, some body cream from bath and body, and a sweet, sweet card. In the card, she wrote when she saw this shirt she thought of Jenny and I. She sent Jenny the same one. hehehe She also said how glad she was able to meet me this summer. Alli, I am glad I was able to finally meet the famous Allison that I've heard so many good things about. Come visit Texas, soon. Thanks a bunch for the good mail.

camping 101

This post is a little early but I wanted to start my Mother-Daughter campout post now so I could have my list of must-haves documented. Jenny also wanted me to have my list so she could make sure she has everything for our campout with the girls since she says she hasn't been camping since she was prego with Jared.



camping list-

driving directions
tent
tarp
air mattress
air pump
broom
rug
ice chest
sheets
blanket
pillows
flashlight
batteries
bug spray
chairs
towels
swimsuit
change of clothes
underwear x 3
soap
bath/bed junk
glasses


snacks-
diet coke
wheat thins
candy
chocolate
candy
diet dr pepper
candy


I am also having a bit of a dilemma deciding on if I should take all three of the girls with me. I know it probably sounds crazy since it is a Mother-DAUGHTER campout and I DO have three daughters but I'm torn on what to do. I have been telling Mackenzi for the last five years that maybe we will go on this campout "next year" when it comes around each year. There seems like there is always something that ocmes up and makes me decide not to go. Most years it was because I really didn't socialize much with any girls in our ward and I would have felt awkward just going and hanging out with people I didn't even know. Then two years ago I was nursing a three month old and couldn't bare the thought of going camping. Last year I had a one year old and a husband that wasn't going to be home to leave her with. Now, this same sweet little girl is my dilemma again. Yes, she is two and she has been camping before but with her Grammy and Poppy's trailer and help it wasn't a bad experience. She is suffering from two ear infections and hasn't been sleeping very well so that could cause issues, especially in a tent with others sleeping so close by. Greg's football game is works every Friday night luckily was changed to tonight(Thursday) so he will be home to keep Maryn here. But, he still has his Saturday sports clinic at 630 in the morning. Since it is a stake event most of the young women we could call to watch Maryn on Saturday will be going to the campout. The one guy we could call would have a balistic two year old on his hands when she awoke to have only him in the house with her. So we figured that was a no-go. We are still weighing our sitter options so I am torn of what to do.

I am seeking some advice here!! Do I take Maryn on the campout and possibly have her, and everyone else miserable? Do I leave her home and Mackenzi and Maci, & I have a great time and are able to swim and float in the Frio River and document it all with pictures? Am I going to regret not having my third daughter in our pictures from the mother-daughter campout? What should I do? Please help!!

CHECK BACK LATER FOR ANOTHER POST FROM TODAY! I JUST NEEDED TO GET ADVICE ON THIS FIRST AND HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD ALL OF MY PICTURES FOR MY ORIGINAL THURSDAY POST.

calm turned chaotic

All I was trying to do was capture a photo for my post today and my CALM day suddenly turned CHAOTIC....




These two pictures were suppose to document my original post for today. I was going to title it "Cheaper by the Almost Dozen". That all changed while I was capturing all of the kids hanging out of the car.....

I had backed the car out of the garage(we were heading out to take Taylor to dance) so I could see all of them better. I turned the car off because it made me a bit nervous having Weston in the driver seat while the car was running. Well, the kids decided they needed the radio on to make the pictures better. They turned the key to the on position and in the three or four minutes that I was snapping shots and then buckling everyone in the battery was drained. I have no idea why it has never done this before when I have left the key on for a few minutes.



You have to know that while I was getting everyone in the car to go Jared didn't want to bring wear his shoes. I told him he needed them and continued to tell him "What if the car breaks down or something and we have to get out and walk then you will not have any shoes?" I think I jinxed myself!!



I didn't know exactly what to do. None of my neighbors were home and Greg was at work. I looked up on our shelf in the garage and saw our charger that we had gotten on clearance at Target. I get it out of the box only to realize it had been left "ON" when we put it away last. It has a plug you use to charge it but I didn't know if I could plug it in the outlet and then jump start the car. I thought I would give it a whirl, but of course no luck. the minutes seemed to be ticking faster and faster. Taylor was going to be late if I didn't get it started quickly. I went theough all of my options and decided to clal Greg to let him listen to the car to make sure it was the battery and no the alternator or something else that could cause it to not start. He said he could leave work and come home to help. He jumped it off and we flew to drop Taylor at dance. She was thirty minutes late but I had to get her there after all Jenny went throught o get her new ballet shoes today.



Greg followed me incase I had trouble and we went over to the Honda dealership for them to check the battery. If it was the battery, or anything else it was still under warranty so would be a plus. They said everything looked fine. So what was with it thiry minutes earlier. We probably will never know. Maybe we were forced to not be on the road. There could have been an accident, or something. Who knows.




Of course there were comments on all of the kids pilingout of the van. Greg informed everyone they wer not all ours. It is so funny the looks you get when you have more than two or three kids with you.


After our car trouble all of the kids could see that the gas was a little low and they were so concerned that we were going to run out of gas, too. We DIDN'T run out of gas but the light did come on after I left the car dealership.

Weston's dirty feet

White trash kids. Amongst all the chaos I forgot to bring Weston shoes and Maryn ended up with only one shoe in the car so they were running through the car place barefoot. I know tacky, but what could I do. I was nutso by this point.

Maryn's dirty feet

My poor car after our fiasco. I gave the three little ones bags of cereal to take with us. It always makes for a nicer ride if they are occupied, but does result in a mess. This picture doesn't really do justice for the way my car really looks but I took this while driving.

My "what would have been a decent home cooked meal".

My alternative for dinner.

I had already began preparing dinner before the car mishap but I had to put it on hold until after I would have dropped off Taylor. Well since I was late dropping her off and did'nt come straight home I wasn't sure what to do. I left the Honda place about 535 and was heading home to finish it and Greg and Mackenzi wwere going to pick up Taylor. Remember it is 535 pm and geting home would usually take about 12 minutes but in rush hour it would be at least thirty minutes. That would put me home alittle after 6 would have to finish dinner, feed at least Jared then have him to soccer practive by 630. It wasn't happening. I called Greg and told him to pull in Costco and order a pizza(I had already passed it and would have to make the turn around). I dropped Jared off and he ran inside and Greg got him a single slice of pizza because he wouldn't have time to eat if he waited until we got home.
By now it is 555, Greg heads out to his football game, I rush to get Taylor. Of course I was a couple of minutes late. We make it home just in time to change Jared's shoes and let Mackenzi, Taylor, & Maci get out and start eating. I decided to leave them hom ewhile I ran Jared to practice. I figured they would be fine home alone since his practice is right outside the neighborhood. I dumped him off and ran back home to girls finished. I got the three little ones out and fed then begam bathtime.

Sorry no photos of bathtime. All six of them were bathed and in their jammies by about 715. I thought that was pretty good. I needed to get Jared at 730 but Jenny called and said she would stop and get him.

I realize this is probably a little bit winded but I had to give all the details and pictures so everyone could see why my calm normal day turned chaotic! After all of this I still am laughing at the whole situation. It is just so amusing when one thing seems to go wrong it just throws kink in your way of doing things.

On a side note, I am glad I was able to watch the Clouse kids while Jenny& Doug went to the Temple and dinner. They made my night extremely exciting!

Tuesday update!

We just came home from the Temple so I am on cloud nine right now. What a great end to a great day. I was tempted to not go tonight because we were running late but am so glad I trudged on through the rain, traffic, and craziness of rush hour and made it there. It was nice to be there with Greg. A HUGEMONGOUS thank you to Doug and Jenny for watching the girls. I so realize how difficult it is to add three extra kids to the dinner, bath, and bed time routine. Not to mention Greg describes most evenings in our home as as "estrogen pool". I'm so sorry Doug. " Pay it forward" is coming to you soon!

I was ready to unwind for the evening and remembered I hadn't gotten the mail. I was excited to find some "good mail" waiting for me. Jill sent me a very cute handmade thank you card and some good mail labels made just for me. They even match my blog template! Thanks Jill, you really go above and beyond for others.

I got a cute company kids magazine and a 20% off coupon for Justice for Girls. I had gotten something in Dallas for Mackenzi there and wasn't even sure if there was a store here in SA, but I looked it up and we have two here. Maybe I can find her something at a cheaper price by using this.

What a terrific Tuesday!

it's raining, it's pouring!

Okay maybe it isn't pouring but it is raining and this makes for an "oh so" happy day.

It is finally raining today after several months of being bone dry. It hasn't rained a significant amount since sometime in mid May. I usually can not stand the rain and it makes me depressed but, I actually told Jenny on our walk this morning I hoped it rained all day today. I actually wouldn't mind if it rained all day today and tomorrow for that matter.



I am so tired of having to stand out and water my yard by hand and not seeing much result because of the heat. We are on water restrictions because of the drought, so we only can water with sprinklers on a specific day each week depending on your address. Well, my day was yesterday, and I totally spaced it, since it was a holiday. I remembered about 10:30 last night so I turned on the sprinkler for about an hour. Hopefully the rain, clouds, and cooler temperature will help revive my yard.

Since it has been rainy today I decided to not venture out too much today. I ran to the bank and mad a pit stop at Sonic to fill my tank of Diet Coke and came back home. Jenny called and told me to come down and bring a couple of my projects we have been working on, for YEARS! We finished the star on my Texas quilt and then realized when I has gotten the fabric for the back a couple of months ago that the lady didn't measure enough. UGH!! So now that it is so far past July 4th I'm worried that they won't have my blue star fabic at Joann's. I really want to finish this quilt since we started nearly four years ago. I'm ready to send it off to be quilted and have it to display in our home.



We messed around with blogger and Jenny figured out how to get my picture to post with my comments so now everyone will have a visual when I comment. I'm not so sure if I'm crazy about the picture we chose but I'm not changing it right now. It's on there, so it can stay for a while, I guess.



Thanks Jenny for being my seamstress and blogging coach today. Hopefully we can get my other project done soon and then work on some of your stuff and our scrapbooks. I really need to get it out but am always overwelmed when it comes to dragging it all out and leaving it on our dining room table. It makes for a big mess and not much cooking and eating at home. I desperatley need a craft room so I can just do projects as I have time and not worry about having everything left out.


An update for my home sweet home post about wall decor-

This is another fairly new sign I found and thought it went perfectly with the pictures we took, with the star as the backdrop, for our Christmas cards last year.

labor day bbq

Deep in the HEART of Texas!

We had a pre-labor day bbq at our house today. We planned this with the Clouses and invited several new and some not so new couples that live near us over for fun and grub. Unfortunately on two of the six we invited ended up showing up. I was a bit disappointed but realized we are the "older" ones in our ward and maybe the people we invited didn't want to hang out with the old foggies. We had fun chatting and corralling kids and emjoyed yummy food cooked on Greg's Texas grill. You know what they say, that everything is BIGGER and BETTER in Texas so you have to love the Texas shaped grill. What other states make anything and everything in the shape of their state? Not too many, right? I'm sure to non-Texans it is probably ridiculously annoying, but to us natives we are extremely proud of our state and its shape!

Abigail, Maryn, & Luke enjoying the trampoline without the BIG kids

home sweet home

New Wall Decor

Yes, I know I will be putting our house on the market in probably nine months but I find myself still tryying to finish decorating it after being here five years. I have wanted to make our house feel more "homey" the entire time we have lived here. Last year we finally broke down and bought living room furniture. I never wanted to invite anyone over because I felt the one couch (southwest print) was not very pretty and we didn't have anywhere for our guests to sit.

About six months ago we were going through some stressful times so we again went out and purchased a few mote items, armoir, entry way bench, bookshelf for our bedroom... I call these our "make us happy purchases".



I had been wanted a shelf over our couch for a while and never found exactly what I was looking for in a store so I explained to Greg what I was wanting and he made it for me. Not having much free time he made a big sacrifice for me by making it late at night and hanging it on another late night. I am so proud of my shelf and happy to tell people Greg made it. I found a magnetic board and the H-O-M-E plaques while we were in Utah in July and had to have them. I had to ship the magnetic board home so it made the very good sale price not very good after paying the shipping fees. I finally got around to hanging everything and am not sure I like where they are but at least they are where they can been seen now.



I'm sure a lot of you are probably saying it's not the furniture and decorations in your house that make it a home. It is the family, spirit, and love that is felt inside that make it a home. I have to agree with that but, having felt as if my house wasn't big enough, nice enough, or as beautiful as others I haver been in, it changed the feeling I felt in my home. It sounds crazy, I know, but now I am so happy to invite others into our home, WELL IF IT IS CLEAN!!