my.get.together CHEX!

I’ve been blog stalking for a while now… all sorts of blogs… people I know… people I don’t know… people I sort of know… home decorators… ranchers… homeschoolers… bakers… and couponers!  A few weeks ago I was on The Coupon Goddess’s blog.  She was talking about a program done through General Mills called My Get Together.  You sign up, answer a few questions, and they send you a box full of goodies and coupons to share!  I thought that sounded fun so I signed up and waited for the box to arrive.

Our box came with a Chex bowl, three bags of Chex Mix, plates, napkins, and a BUNCH of coupons.  This cute little guy didn't come with the box or I would have signed up twice!

With the holidays fast approaching, I wasn’t sure we would be able to schedule a party at home to share the fun.  So knowing we would be spending Thanksgiving with family and there would just happen to be a major football game on the television, I thought that would be the perfect place to have our party!

Everyone loves Chex mix…

Little people…

Teenagers…

Grandparents…

Cute married people…

And especially Aggie fans…

We finished off the three bags of Chex Mix lickety split.  And I sent coupons home with everyone… but I still have a few left!  Any takers?

thursday 13 - changes

Since I’m not a fan of change, I thought it would be fun to sit down and write about some changes that are going on in our family and how change = good.

1. We are homeowners again. (That’s not really new news, but it’s a change.)  It feels good. My mind is going crazy with things to change around here now that the house is “ours.” I started by buying two trees and a storm door.  Next on the list is paint and new flooring.

2. Summer is starting high school in five days. Wow. Feels a little weird saying that but we all know it’s where she should be and we are all excited about it.

3. SuperGirl is going to school in five days, too. Three words: I.CAN’T.WAIT.  I know that sounds bad. I’m just ready to be her momma and leave the teaching to someone else. This does not mean that I am without anxiety about the change, but I am excited for her. And me, too.

4. I joined a Bible study. It’s only been five years since I’ve been in one. 

5. We changed from watching only TV we get with an antenna to Dish Network.  I love this change.

6. I made a choice to finally do something about my eating habits and the change has been good.  Losing 10 lbs. makes that change even better!

7. I changed from using the fancy, fattening creamers to sugar free syrup and half and half.  It took a while to get used to but it sure helped with #6.  And, I’m not drinking as much coffee.

8. I changed my family organizing calendar from Microsoft Outlook to Cozi.  When I made the switch, it ate some of my appointments in Outlook, so I’m thinking this change may be permanent.  (Of course, if I’d followed the instructions that said to back up my Outlook file first, this wouldn’t have happened… Some things never change.)  What I like about Cozi is that we can all log on to the calendar and view the whole family’s activities or just one person.  It also has a Google sidebar gadget and an app for the iPhone.  So far, so good.

9. In changing from Outlook, I changed the way I view and check my e-mail.  I haven’t quite worked out all the kinks on the system of checking it on the Verizon site, but I’ll figure it out eventually in a way that makes sense for me.  I hope.  In the meantime, if you e-mail me and I don’t answer, it’s just because the message went into a folder somewhere and, well, the change and I haven’t made friends yet. 

10. My bedtime.  The kids aren’t exactly cooperating with going to bed on time and getting up early so come Monday morning, their little systems are in for a shock.  I, on the other hand, will be ready.  Maybe. At least I am trying by going to bed earlier and getting up earlier.  If you know me at all, you know this change is tough!

11. Our Sunday school class is currently studying Ephesians 5… we have a wonderful couple leading the series.  This isn’t the first time we’ve studied these verses, but it is a great reminder that sometimes I need to change the way I go about loving my husband. 

12. And some things I need to work on changing are being more outgoing and meeting new people and thinking too much about what teachers think of this home school mom who has put two children in public school.

13. I want to change my living room.  But I need help.  Professional help.

crazy day…

I guess it’s been a long time coming…  Our dog, Pebbles, has a tendency to play with fire.  Or in traffic.  Most of the time she minds and comes when called.  But when she sees this…

 

and this…

Well… one look at the horses and donkeys and she can’t control herself. All restraint goes out the window.  It’s the only time she bolts across the “big road” like that.  And you know what I learned today?  The neighbor’s dog, a Yorkie, does the same thing.  What is it about little dogs wanting to take on horses and donkeys???

Here’s how it went down…  today was the day I knew was bound to come but the outcome was much, much better than I expected.  We were setting up for our garage sale this morning, about 7:00am.  Pebbles was out among all of the stuff, doing her best to keep us safe from strangers (i.e. barking, chasing, sniffing).  I’d lost track of her when all of a sudden I heard screeching tires, people yelling, “Pebbles!” and hearing yelps from the road. 

I looked up to see two trucks in the road and Pebbles limping/running across the ditch and into the yard.  I called her to come to me but she just kept running.  I figured that was a good sign and got her to follow me into the house.  She would not drink water but did lay down on the floor.  I rubbed her whole body, feeling her legs and ribs, looking at her belly, and trying to see where she was hurt. 

The only injuries we could find were a bloody lip and some scrapes on her back.  After talking to our friends who witnessed the whole thing, we figured out that she hit the truck with her face and managed to roll under the truck and escape.  I don’t know how the two trucks in the road didn’t hit each other.  I’m just so thankful no one was hurt! 

Pebbles spent the day outside with us.  She was a little calmer than normal, especially with people coming in and out of our driveway.  This evening, Pebbles seems fine.  She’s tired.  I think the whole thing scared her, too! 

I wonder if she learned her lesson…

today’s everyday moment brought to you by…

Pappap and Albertsons!

SuperGirl LOVES to pop in to Albertsons to say hi to Pappap.  We usually have to look and look for him (sometimes in the freezer) but today he was out in the open, in the cheese section!  He was very busy today, getting an order in before he headed out, so we didn’t get to visit too long.  But still, it was nice to see his face, hug his neck, and see his smile. 

much rejoicing

March 11, after weeks of asking, talking, and praying, SuperGirl asked Jesus into her heart.  You’d think that after going through this with our other girls that it would be old hat and easy.  But like most things, SuperGirl doesn’t do things the way her sisters did.  And I love that about her.  We learned later, after meeting with Brother Chris, that she’d been thinking about this since Pickles asked Jesus into her heart almost two years ago.  I had no idea.  The first that she mentioned it to me was 2/18.  She’d been watching her school videos when she came to me and said, “Mom, can I ask you something?”

Now, she asks me this same question about 48 times a day.  And usually I tell her “just a minute” or “in a little bit” or “no” because it is usually a stall tactic.  She’s a crafty one.  This time I said yes and what came out of her mouth floored me. 

“I think I want to ask Jesus into my heart.”  Whoa. I wasn’t expecting that.  So I asked her about it and she was very vague about her reasons.  I asked her if we could talk to her dad later and she said sure.  A little while later, she came to me again and said, “Mom, Jesus is knocking on my heart and wants to come in.”  Whoa. Where did that come from?  So I asked her and she explained that her teacher (video school) was talking to the class that morning about becoming a Christian and how Jesus wants to come into our hearts… he’s knocking on the door of the heart!

We talked a little bit that night and asked her if she’d like to go see Brother Chris.  She was willing, which told me she was serious.  So a few weeks later, we had our appointment with the pastor and she was given an assignment… to learn the Wordless Book and come back in a week to teach it to Brother Chris.  SuperGirl and I worked on it all week, telling it to each other, her sisters, the pets, her dolls, anyone who would listen.  And the following week we all went back to the church to talk. 

Brother Chris really felt she had all the concepts down and knew exactly what she was asking to do.  He told us to wait until she brought it up again and go ahead.  The very next night, she came to us and asked if she could ask Jesus into her heart.  She wanted ALL of us there so we brought Pickles and Summer into the room, too.  We prayed, and for the first time, she got emotional about it.  She knew the reasons and the importance of her decision and that was what we were looking for. 

The next morning, she woke up and said to me, “I feel so happy today!”  Jesus had cleaned up that little heart of hers and made her a new creation.  I told her that she wasn’t the only happy one… that her Heavenly Father and his angels were pretty excited, too!

Luke 15:10 ~ “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

The very next Sunday, she went before the church to tell them about her decision and to officially join the church.  Her baptism was scheduled and today we celebrated with her as she was baptized.  That girl was excited.  While we were waiting to go in, she was very quiet, which is very unlike her.  I really wonder what was going on in that little head of hers!  As soon as we came out to go into the church, SuperGirl was greeted by these very sweet girls who grabbed her and hugged her and shared a truckload of excitement and love over her decision.  We are so, so very blessed that we have such a wonderful family, and church family, too.  My heart was full… what a very special day it has been! 

happy 42nd birthday, hubs!

 

What could be more appropriate than a 42 party for a man who is turning 42?  A SURPRISE 42 party for a man who is turning 42.  Planning this was so much fun.  He had no idea.  NO.IDEA.  Do you know how hard it is to get something past this guy?  Funny thing is, SuperGirl was surprised, too.  Nope.  We didn’t tell her a thing.  So it was kind of like getting two for one on the surprise!

As you can see, the theme was 42, as in the domino game.  I spent the whole week looking for these cheap wooden black and white dominoes to decorate the cupcakes with only to find out my mother had a set the whole time.  She’s so handy to have around!  We even found black and white polka dotted napkins to go along!  (I know Hubby really appreciated the polka dotted napkins, haha.)

I invited our whole Sunday school class, our parents, and Hubby’s aunt and uncle to meet us at a local restaurant for burgers and dominoes.  Turns out, this place isn’t very busy on Sunday afternoons so we had the place pretty much to ourselves.  And that is a good thing because the “SURPRISE” they yelled would have scared everyone else away.  Hubby was stunned.  Speechless.  It was great! 

Everyone enjoyed burgers, cupcakes, fellowship, and some domino playing, which we haven’t done in 42 forevers.  I’m so thankful we have such sweet, fun friends and family who came out to celebrate the day with us.  Happy Birthday, Hubby!

    

the great snow of 2010

For days we've been watching the snowfall records being made and broken in the northeast. This week the DFW area saw record amounts of snow in a Texas Blizzard. And here we sat in Bryan/College Station with nothing but really cold temps, hovering just above freezing, and a lot of rain. It seems we live just far enough south to miss all the fun of being stranded at home, class being cancelled, and enjoying some good, quality family time in front of the fire, eating chili, and playing games.

But tonight we got a little surprise. I'm so glad my mom called to tell me that they were getting HUGE snowflakes at their house. I'd just taken a dose of TheraFlu and was hoping to go to bed, but the thought of snow gave me a little boost of energy. Pickles donned her new winter coat and ran outside. SuperGirl grabbed her galoshes and a scarf and ran out, too. No coat. Please don't judge her. Or me, for that matter. She was having fun and didn't give a hoot about how cold and wet it was. (Oh, and you can't see it, but her hair is dripping wet... she'd just gotten out of the bath!)

Hubby was working late. Poor Summer was at the dance studio. They missed the whole thing. When class was over, Summer picked up her phone to see 14 text messages that all proclaimed, "Snow!" "It's snowing!!" and "Snow, snow, snow!!" By the time she and Hubby got home it was just slush, slush, slush... and of course this morning it's all gone.

It sure was fun while it lasted, though!

10 on tuesday

Ten things about being sick...

1. Drinking 7Up, Gatorade, or Sprite as often as they want.
2. Eating whatever they want, just so they'll eat, including Shrek soup, Jell-O, and popsicles for breakfast.
3. Nasty medicine.
4. Chocolate cake after medicine.
5. Veggie Tales, Dr. Seuss, and Sesame Street.
6. Sleeping with Mom & Dad.
7. Staying in jammies all day, every day.
8. Piles of pillows and soft blankets on the couch.
9. Staying up late and sleeping all day.
10. No school.

saturday fun

Saturday morning means Upward soccer around here. This week we started the day out with a trip to Chick-fil-A for breakfast before hitting the fields. It was very foggy out and we were hoping it would burn off before game time. This morning was also picture day... the muggy weather was wreaking havoc with a certain player's hair. We made a quick stop at Target on the way to the fields so we could re-do her hair. Chick-fil-A and Target all before noon. What a great day!! Pickles played at forward and goalie today. She does a lot of running a little bit of kicking and it all makes me very tired.

Since SuperGirl was so sick this week, she didn't play with her team. She did get her picture made and spent the morning in her uniform, watching her team warmup and play a bit. She was even snack girl for the day. Being near her team was important to her, even though she still isn't quite up to par. As the morning heated up, she found shade under an umbrella, camped out in her SuperGirl chair.

Having only one team to cheer on today proved to be much easier than last week when we were watching two teams play at the same time. We had great seats, on the 50 yard line, which was great until someone got recruited to be a line judge. Upward for us is a family affair whether it's basketball or soccer. Of course, there was a second judge behind me. You can't see him, but his name rhymes with Nubby.

I heard things like, "You're supposed to raise the flag and point it at the goal when it's a kick towards the goal."

Oh. Really? Because the referee only said, "If the whole of the ball crosses the whole of the line raise the flag." He said nothing about pointing.

And then there was the helpful advice of, "I can't hear your flag when you raise it. Use more force so I can hear it whip." Okay, Mister. You're fixing to get a whipping with this flag if you don't cut it out!!

It was a good morning. Both teams won 2-0 and we were ALL sweaty when it was all done. After the game we headed home with Grandmom and Grandad and then to lunch at Uncle Henry's (and Aggie Game Day Trifle for dessert). We got to visit with Uncle Henry, Aunt Ruth, Richard, Stan, Laura, Caitlin, and McKenzie, too. It's always fun getting together with family!

Later on, some of us went on to the game to cheer on the Aggies and some of us went to the mall. Guess where I went? What a fun Saturday!!

thursday 13

1. Today is this sweet little guy's first birthday. The big O*N*E!!
2. We celebrated a little early, because he was in Texas visiting his family.
3. He's going to be a big brother in about five months.
4. His eyes twinkle when he laughs.
5. He gives the sweetest hugs.
6. He loves to feed his food to the dogs. Any dog.
7. He walks around, drinking his bottle out of the side of his mouth.
8. He doesn't know how to walk... he RUNS.
9. He barely crawled, and started walking at 9 months.
10. This little guy squeals when he's happy.
11. He was very crabby the day of his birthday party, but he turned on the charm for the guests and no one saw an inkling of grumpiness.
12. He was a little timid about digging into his cake but once his momma gave him a taste of the icing, he went to town!
13. He lives entirely too far away. And I love him like crazy.

Happy Birthday Baby C!! We love you!!

summer nights

We went out for ice cream tonight. Hubby said it was either go work out or do something fun with his family. My head hurt too bad for working out, but I thought maybe ice cream would help me feel better. Chocolate is the cure-all, right??

So we grabbed our little coupon card and went to Maggie Moo's. Summer had a dance intensive tonight so we made a little detour to get her picked up first. SuperGirl's hiphop teacher works at Maggie Moo's and she was hoping.hoping.hoping Miss Connie would be there. She was not disappointed... but she WAS very shy. The minute we walked in, she got super quiet and wouldn't even talk to Miss Connie! The most we could get out of her was a little wave. It was really cute...

Five ice creams later we all sat down to eat at a little table in the corner. Summer had her usual, mint chocolate chip. Pickles had chocolate with sprinkles. Hubby and I each had a large bowl of yummy-ness. And SuperGirl had blue cotton candy with M&M's. (Gross.) This was the blue ice cream. You know which one I'm talking about... blue. BLUE! By the time we were all done, we were joking that SuperGirl had bluetooth. (Oh, what a bad joke...)

We enjoyed the time together, catching up on what's new at the dance studio (this was Summer's first dancing of the summer) and how everyone was. The talk turned to friends and school and the like. Hubby was telling Summer how neat it would be to be a college freshman her senior year. He was really talking it up until he realized she'd only be 17 and going to college.

His next comment was something along the lines of, "I don't know if I want my 17 year old daughter going to class with a bunch of college guys..." I was thinking much the same thing, though she will likely be doing that as she is a year ahead in many subjects!

And SuperGirl, sweet, to the point, not one to mince words, SuperGirl, put it all in perspective when she asked, "Why, Daddy? Do you think the boys will want to kiss her?"

Really... can someone please tell me where she comes up with this stuff?

mr. mister

This little mister has his Auntie wrapped around his chubby little finger. He is almost 9 months old now. He has eight teeth. He crawls with lightning speed. And he is about to walk. In fact he took t*w*o steps at my house while he was visiting.

Mister is super good. When he is happy and content, he is good. When he is a little bit fussy, he's still good. If you ask me, God made him so good so his momma will want another one. He loved playing with his cousins. The grin I'd get when he'd spot me just melted my heart. But the only person he wants as much as his momma is his PapPap. He LOVES my dad. And I love that. It's so fun to see those two guys together.

Now, lest you think Sister didn't come on this trip, too... she did. And we had our own fun. We went shopping and out to dinner (just the two of us) for sushi. Sister knows a little bit more about this kind of thing so I just ordered everything she did. And yes, this sushi trip involved FISH. Some of it was cooked. And some of it, well, I don't really want to know, but it was good!! I was really surprised that I liked it. We had a great conversation and really enjoyed hanging out just the two of us. I am blessed!!

We had a very fun visit. Naturally, it wasn't long enough. And taking those two back to Houston wasn't fun at all.

easter 2009

Easter Sunday 2009. The service was phenomenal. Baptism was moving - we had a little friend get baptized that morning. Everything pointed to the risen savior. After the services, we had lunch with friends and enjoyed not waiting in line at a restaurant. With no evening activities, we decided to have a very relaxing afternoon at home. That is, until we got an invite to an egg hunt at the neighbor's house.

The moms and dads hid about 14 dozen eggs, plastic filled and confetti filled. They were mostly confetti filled to the kids' delight! My neighbor's mother makes them throughout the year and stores them for special occassions and Easter.

SuperGirl had a great time hunting. It's obvious we don't do egg hunts often... she walked past so many!

After the egg hunting came time to enjoy their "finds." We broke so many confetti eggs that the patio was covered in little bitty pieces of paper. And we ALL had confetti and egg shells in our hair!

It was fun sneaking up on each other... and even not being so sneaky, too!

Even dads who don't like getting their hair messed up got in on the fun. The kids learned real quick to break the egg and then mash the person's head.

Unless you have a big sister show up. And then you have to bombard her. An all out assault was launched. No sneaking here. Full throttle running toward her with eggs in hand. But you might have to chase her for a while... around the house...

And hope she runs into the parents who are posing as "base"... but who have really set a trap so you can get her!

country fair

Tonight was the Country Fair at the church. It's rained for two days straight around here - 5 inches according to my garden gnome rain gauge - and it was so nice to see the blue sky and sun for the festivities.

Summer's dance group was scheduled to dance as part of the entertainment. What a joy it was to see her group dance for His glory on the steps of our Baptist church! Their time slot was a mere 15 minutes and they had a costume change to make, so guess who got to be the MC? Yep. Mom. According to Hubby, I talked really fast and rambled. I thought I sounded like a mouse. Is my voice really that high pitched??? Anyhoo. The girls did a great job dancing.

Our church is hosting a Secret Keeper Girl conference in two weeks. We are trying so hard to get the word out and thought this would be a great platform for it. There is a bicycle, tricycle, anything with wheels parade for the kids and we thought it would be fun to enter a float with the girls to promote the conference. Aren't they cute?

In other news, Mom and Dad will be back from Florida in 19 days. Not that we are counting or anything. {grin}

Longhorn Caverns

Spring Break ended up being pretty quiet around here. Hubby thought we needed to do something so he called one evening and said, "I want to take the girls to the Longhorn Tavern either tonight or tomorrow."

I was confused. I told him that I thought that restaurant had closed down. That is, unless they reopened...

Hubby was confused. He didn't want to take the girls for a chicken fried steak dinner. He wanted to take them to a cave.

As in Longhorn CAVERNS.

Once we were on the same page, I told him I thought that was a great idea and that we should all go, making a day of it. The girls and I shopped for lunch stuff and picked out clothes to wear for the trip.

The morning we were to leave, Hubby got up and packed the cooler with all the food. I didn't have to do a thing! As we were leaving, we made a very spontaneous decision to go get SuperGirl a DS Lite for the trip. She's been suffering, watching her sisters play theirs on trips and not having her own to play on. I've been suffering, listening to the whining and wheeling-n-dealing that goes on in the back seat on trips. So. We went to Target first and got the kid a video game.

Then we hit the road, listening to 80's music on the XM Radio, visiting, and Pict-o-Chatting with each other. When we arrived, there was quite a crowd of people in the park area. We found a spot and picnicked, though it was a bit windy. The girls found an observation tower and they climbed up. Had I known then that the stairs were two sets of wobbly spiral stairs, I never would have let them go. After lunch, they got me up there. We're lucky I came back down. That was such torture!

We then went to get our tickets for the cave tour. It was quite interesting. The history behind the cave was fun to hear and the temperature inside was very comfortable! I loved that they held church down there, in the same place as the saloon... and that some folks would bring their Sunday clothes with them on Saturday night and just never go home in between. Indians used the big room for meetings and the rock for arrowheads. A bank robber once hid out down there, too!

Portions of the cave were huge, like a meeting room, and others, we had to walk all bent over to get through. All in all, it was a fun trip. We all learned something. We got to go somewhere where Hubby went often as a kid. And we all shared a memory. What a fun day!

ever ridden an elephant?

There has been this survey going around on Facebook lately, where you check off things you've done in your lifetime. There were a good deal of things on there that I haven't done yet. You know, like been to Hawaii, ridden on a helicopter, seen the Grand Canyon, or stood on the Great Wall of China. But one thing on the list, ridden on an elephant, now THAT, I've done! This was not the first time either.

I have a distinct memory of riding on an elephant as a kid. Memory fails me, but I think it was twice. Elephants have a distinct smell. And feel. Their hair is coarse and prickly. And they way they lumber around when they walk just makes for a very... uncomfortable ride.

When we were in Florida for Christmas, we stayed in Orlando with my sister and her family. On Sunday morning, we loaded everything up and went to church before heading back to my grandmother's house. On the way to Nannie's, we passed an antique mall and flea market. It was Sunday, so there was a lot going on that day. A lot.

Even pony rides.

And elephant rides.

I took one look at the elephant and looked at Hubby like a little kid, asking if we could go back and ride the elephant.

I'll be honest. That's not the way it happened. I said, "We are going back and riding that elephant! I don't care how much it costs... I am putting my kids up on that stinky, prickly elephant and I am going to ride it with them!"

So we arrived at Nannie's house. Sister pulled in behind us. BroR pulled in behind her. I got out of the car and asked if anyone else had seen the elephant. No.

NO?!?

How can you miss an ELEPHANT on the side of the road!!

BroR was in. He's like that. He can be spontaneous. I like that. Hubby wasn't getting near the smelly animal. So we all loaded up and headed back to the elephant. The rides were $5 per person, but she let us ride as a family for $20. That was one generous Romanian woman, huh? It was worth every penny. I haven't laughed as hard as that in a long time.

Pickles had a hard time keeping her flipflops on during the ride. BroR couldn't bend his legs at all. And the commentary coming from the back of the elephant was hysterical. I just remember turning around at one point and asking him if he was done having kids, because having another may prove difficult after riding up there. Summer had the front of the elephant and was practically in the splits over the back of its head. We really did have a lot of fun laughing and cutting up up there.

And then we went home, washed our hands several times, and tried not to smell each other for the rest of the day.