Happy New Year

Have a wonderful New Year from my family to yours!!!

I've been busy- at least that's my excuse

I hadn't blogged in a while because I'd been busy.

Busy with last minute Christmas stuff.

Busy with parties. (kids)

Busy with dentist appointments and other appointments.

And just busy baking.

We made these blueberry thumbprint cookies.
Then we made these Oreo truffles. Or Oreo balls as I call them.

And we even made these little Mexican shortbread cookies in 6 different shapes.

I was even able to make some tamales this year. It had been a couple of years since I'd made any. They are a lot of work for just one person. But boy are they sure yummy.

So now that I have eaten all that I made, I think it's time to get some exercising done so that my hips don't become wider loads.

Any ideas on how to get my workout started?

The polyester navy blue 'marry me suit'

When AB was 4 and my neighbor's little girl E was 5, AB decided he was going to get a 'marry me' suit. He bugged and bugged me until I took him to the store to find a 'marry me' suit.

Him and E were going to get married. Since I didn't want to spend lots of money on a suit I knew AB would never wear, I took him to Goodwill.

We looked and looked and no suit was good enough. Until he found this navy blue polyester suit that was 4 sizes too big and looked like it was from the 70's.

It had the matching jacket and pants. The pants were bell-bottomed on the bottom and narrow on top. Can you say Welcome Back Kotter?

So I splurged and paid $5 for this 'marry me' suit. AB was so proud of his purchase. We got home and he put it on. Of course it was way too big, but it didn't matter to him.

Across the street he went to E's house. She would always play dress up with her Cinderella dress or whatever she had. AB went to show her his new 'marry me' suit. I'm not sure if he asked her to marry him, but he came home with her trailing him.

As the years went by, this suit was used for dress up. Never left the house. Until one time that AB decided he wanted to wear it to church. He had grown up some so it wasn't as big as it used to be.

Here he is with his suit on last year. On the way to church.
Since the pants had to be rolled up, it didn't really matter that they were bell bottomed.

Fast forward one year. AB has found this suit again and tried it on last week. He was quite happy that this 'marry me' suit fit him perfect now. The bell bottom of the pants are quite wide. The tightness of the upper part of the pant fits perfectly. The jacket is a little tight, but to AB it fits perfect.

So perfect that he wanted to wear this polyester hideous suit to church last week.

I distracted him and he forgot all about it.

I'm going to have to get rid of this suit before he decides to wear it out of the house again.

A tradition

During the Christmas season, I always try to do things with the boys. You know, traditions.

When I was growing up, our tradition was finding that perfect 'live' tree, then bringing it home, decorating it and then watching that 'live' tree die because we always forgot to water it.

Of course, we also had other traditions. Like baking cookies, making candy, making tamales and eating.

I still do all those with the boys. I sometimes get so behind on what I'm doing that I end up making it all myself.

But one thing that we have done for the last three years is put their hand print on a tree skirt.

I bought some red muslim and cut it out. You Martha's out there would hem and haw and whatever you do to sew and make it look pretty.

I don't. I just cut it. And left it that way. Without being hemmed up. So there.

Anyway, the boys then play with the silver or gold paint before the decide that they have enough paint on their hands and place it on the fabric. AKA the tree skirt.

They have fun doing this and since I'm a sucker for hand prints, I have fun watching it.

Wordless Wednesday

Gifts from my Secret Santa

Kori was hosting a Secret Santa Shindig and I signed up. I never do these kind of things, but thought this might be fun.

She sent out the information for my person that I was to be a Secret Santa and then yesterday I get mine in the mail.

When the doorbell rang, I had to beat the boys to the door for fear that it would be their Christmas presents. All three of us running and fighting to see who would get to the door first.

My secret Santa was Dawn.

I open the box and find these two wrapped presents in there.


Since I hardly ever get to open presents, I didn't let the boys open them for me. It was mine. All mine!!!!

I opened the big gift and found this beautiful glass platter.

And then off to the second present to open and I find this.

Barefoot Contessa. How cool is that? I loooove Barefoot Contessa. I've made some of her recipes and they are wonderful. This contains all the stuff to make these peanut butter bars. I can't wait to make them and put them on my new snack tray.

So thanks Dawn for the wonderful gifts and thanks Kori for hosting this.

Am I truly listening?

I had been feeling sort of guilty for not doing more during this Christmas time. It being the most wonderful time of the year. I didn't even want to put a tree up. I know, I'm a scrooge, so what.

Anyway, the boys helped put up and decorate the tree and it was fun. They even took out a little one that they have taken over and use it as their 'toy' tree. I will post later on this.

The craziness and business actually was dominating my life. Doing this, doing that. Going here, going there. Getting this, getting that. Well, you get the picture.

I hadn't been feeling the spirit of getting ready for Christmas.

Along this line, there were other issues that were arising in my life.

I had been asking God to show me what it was that He wanted me to do. I took the quiet and the no response as a sign that maybe He was not ready to reveal His plan to me on these certain issues.

Yesterday at church, our pastor was taking about these issues that I had been dealing with. How not to let the business take over our lives because we would miss what God wanted us to see.

He even said that God sometimes wanted us to be alone. Alone with Him.

Have you ever felt like the sermon is speaking directly to you? Well, it couldn't have been any plainer than if the pastor put my name on that sermon yesterday.

I then realized that God was talking to me. I just wasn't listening to Him. Not because I was too busy, but because it wasn't the answer that I wanted to hear.

I felt much better with what I knew God had been telling me and it felt great to know that I wasn't a scrooge.

I had lost focus on the reason for the season. I had allowed the business and craziness to take control of my life.

I am concentrating on making sure that my kids know the true meaning of Christmas. And that they understand it all.


Anyway, I just wanted to relay that message to you out there.

There is a difference between being alone and being lonely, but maybe God is trying to get you alone with Him.

Pepita and her Chocolate cake

Pepita looked in the cupboard for the cake mixes. She had to make a cake for the cake walk. They asked her about it a month ago.

"Where are my cake mixes?" she asked the kids
"Remember Mamita?" said one of the kids "we said we wanted to make a birthday cake for the dog and we asked you if we could use the cake mixes. You told us yes."

Oh, Pepita remembered alright. But she thought they had made a cake out of dog food, not cake mix.

"We mixed the cake mix with the dog food and that was the birthday cake" said the children

That could explain why the dog was sick for a month.

"I guess I'll have to make one from scratch" she sighed.

After she kicked all the kids out of the house and locked them out, she started making the cake.

A decadent double layer of chocolate cake made with creamy chocolicius frosting. All made from scratch.

She was finishing up her masterpiece when the baby of the family, Jr., named lovingly after his father Pepito, came asking if he could lick the beaters.

Actually, after 10 kids, names just didn't matter anymore. The last four kids were named Jr. And two of them were girls.

So Pepita gave Jr. the beater and finished frosting the cake.

"Mamita," said Jr. "there is stuff all over your carpet in your bedroom. I tried to clean it but it's not working."

Pepita goes to take a look. Chocolate frosting all over the carpet.

She leaves the finished masterpiece and sets out to take the stains out of the carpet.

When it was time to leave to drop the cake off at the school, Pepita gave it one last lovingly look. Martha Stewart would be proud of her. But not really because she didn't put fancy shmancy stuff on top like Martha would probably do. But then again, Martha doesn't have 10 kids, so there.

She tells the kids to get ready to go run some errands after they drop the cake off. They all gather their coats and bags for fencing class.

Pepita goes to the kitchen to put plastic wrap over the cake when she notices a smudge on the side of the cake. All the way from the top layer to the very bottom of the cake.

She looks around and who is standing there looking at her with the most innocent eyes around?Why Jr. of course.

"Did you lick the frosting off?" she asked

"No" he says shyly with innocence

"Why did you lick the frosting off?" she rephrased the question

"Because it's so good Mamita"

She shooed him off before she would lock him up in the closet for a long time. With his own chocolate cake.

Pepita fixed the cake and put the plastic wrapping on. She then loaded it in the very back of the van.

"It will be safe here" she exclaimed

The kids were loaded in the van and she drove to the school. The lady in charge came out to receive the cake.

When Pepita opened the back of the van, she is dismayed at what she finds.

One of the kids had thrown their bag with their fencing equipment in it, on top of the cake.

The plastic was looking very chocolaty by that time. It no longer protected the cake, it was the cake.

Pepita looked over to the lady who looked at the cake.

Pepita picked up the plastic off of the cake as much as she could and then handed the cake over to the lady.

Smiling, Pepita said, "I hope you enjoy. Gotta go."

And with that Pepita made her grand exit out of the parking lot.

She didn't know why, but she had a feeling that they wouldn't be asking her to make anymore cakes for the cake walk.

The lizards in my house

Last week, AB brought home a toy lizard from church. The instructions on the lizard said to put it in water, leave in there between 3 to 7 days and it would grow to be 36 inches.

So we put it in a bowl and watched it grow.

And grow.


UB wanted one too. He found a lizard in his toy box and put it in a cup of water.

We watched it. And watched it.

AB's lizard had to be moved into the bathtub. It was getting too big for the bucket. This thing grew and grew.

When it was ready, the boys took it out of the tub and has now been used as a weapon. A weapon to hurt each other. Their logic? "It can't hurt too bad mom, it's soft and wet."

AB twirls this thing by the tail. He throws it by the legs. He grabs it from the head and whacks UB with the tail.

Meanwhile, UB is very optimistic that his lizard will grow to be 9 feet long. So we are still waiting.

He has big plans for his lizard. The lizard that will never grow. The lizard that is actually not there anymore.

Plans that include whacking AB with the tail. Or throwing it while it is still wet, up against the wall to see the water splat out.

Poor UB is going to be disappointed when he finds out that I threw the water away because I was tired of it hanging around my kitchen counter.

It's all my fault that I prevented this little lizard from growing to be 9 feet tall.

I think I'll just tell him that AB's lizard ate it.

Funny Spanish T'was the night before Christmas

This is for my Spanish understanding wannabe's.



T'was the night before Christmas, and all through the casa,
Not a creature was stirring- Caramba! Que Pasa?
The work was all done, and the tired old nanas
Had tucked all the children away in their camas.
The stockings were hung in their places con cuidada,
When all of a sudden I heard such a grito.
I jumped to my feet like a frightened cabrito!
I ran to la ventana to look para afuera.
And whol in the world do you think que era?
San Nicolas in a trineo and a big red sombrero,
Came flying along like a crazy bombero!
And, pulling the sleigh, en vez de venado,
Habian ocho burritos, approaching volados;
I watched as they came, and this quaint little hombre,
Was shouting and whistling and calling my nombre:
"Ay, Pancho! Ay, Pepe! Ay Licha! Ay, Beto!
Ay Nato! Ay, Memo! Maruca y Neto!
Then standing erect with his hand on his pecho,
He flew to the top of our very own techo!
With his round little paunch like a bowl of jalea,
He struggled to fit down our own chimenea;
Then huffing and puffing at last in our sala;
From bags full of trinkets and toys from Guatemala.
He filled all the stockings with lovely regalos,
For none of the children had been very malos.
Then chuckling aloud (he seemed very contento)
He turned like a flash and was gone like the viento.
But I heard him exclaim- and this is the verdad-
SALUD Y PESETAS! FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Shopping at 4am? I am insane.....

We went to St. Louis for Thanksgiving. We caravan ed with Hubster's brother and sister and cousins and Aunt to get there. We started off early and 12 hours later, we end up at his sister's house. It was fun. That's all I'm going to say about that.

We wake up the next morning and AB is excited to go spend the morning with my brother-in-law. The same one that broke his arm last year. AB woke up early. At 5am. To tell me that he was going to go wake up his Aunt and Uncle so that he and his Uncle could go 'shopping'.

Since I had just gone to bed at 1am, waking me up at 5 was not really a good idea. I tell him to go back to sleep since there is no movement in the house. He insists that he is getting up. I insist he go back to sleep.

I win. After he falls asleep crying.

He then wakes up at 7 when he hears voices in the kitchen. He gets dressed, tells UB that he needs to get dressed as well and off he went to wake up the other little cousin. When they are all dressed, they tell us that their Uncle D was taking them to IHOP and then shopping.

Uncle D had a 5, 6 and 7 year old boy with him. He took them to eat a big breakfast at IHOP then off they went shopping at Wal-Mart. They each came back loaded with toys.

They then went outside to play in the leaves with Uncle D.
While the boys were outside playing, my organized sister-in-law was looking at her list that was posted on her fridge, to see what needed to be put in the oven first. She had gotten all the casseroles ready the day we were traveling and so all she had to do was put them in the oven. She even had all the dishes out with a sign in each one telling what food item went in it. She is so like me. NOT! I wish I were like that, but I'm a procrastinator.

We did have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Even if we did eat 3 hours after we originally said. But I was Thankful for all the family there and no one hurting each other.

We went to bed at 1:30am. I was exhausted and wanted to sleep in, but my sister-in-laws wanted to go shopping with the other 4,000 people in the neighborhood. I get up at 3:30 and we load up (I'm the driver) and drive to Kohl's. All I can think about when I see that the line to get in the store is 2 miles long (no lie) is that I am insane. Insane to be out in the cold and with all those people.

Since I used to work in retail for 12 years, I vowed that I would never be like those crazy people fighting over cheap toys. That is why I went as the driver. Besides, I got to hang out with my 3 sister-in-laws.

My sil M that lives there and I decided we didn't need to go to Kohl's, so I drop off my other two sil's and we drive to Target because there was some stuff there that we were wanting. We park, see the short line and talk to stay awake. The 2 sil's show up and get in the car with us. It is 5 minutes to 5 and we think we have a good chance of getting stuff at Target. Until we realize that they don't open until 6.

Off to Wal-Mart we go. We have 5 minutes before they open the doors. They have no Supercenters there so it is a small regular Wal-Mart. I again drop off the shopping queens and I go find a parking spot in a neighboring town.

Can I just say that it is insanity? INSANITY!!!!!!!!!

It seemed like there were thousands of people there in a small store. Lines everywhere just to get down the aisles. People fighting over who was there first. Even fighting over the computers. People throwing stuff on the floor because it wasn't what they wanted and not to mention, people invading my space. MY SPACE. I don't like it when complete strangers want a piggy back ride down the aisles. I need my space.

My sil's are like competing for the supermarket sweep contest. They do good. They got all they wanted, with the exception of one thing. We get out of there and drive back to Target. Almost 6 by this time, had to make it there in time.

In time we did. We got there just as they were opening the doors. We park, run in and look for what we wanted.

We get home by 7 and go back to bed. We were tired. All that fighting the crowds gets a girl tired.

It was a fun time, but not something that I enjoy doing. I only went to hang out with my sil's. That was the main reason I went. But I am insane for going out that early instead of staying home under the warm blankets and sleeping.

INSANE I tell you!

Wordless Wednesday

The questions that arise at the grocery store while checking out

Because the boys are always with me, they end up going grocery shopping with me. Most of the times they like it, every once in a while they complain.

But, since I don't give them an option, they have to go where I go.

We went to the Toy Shop to pack up boxes for families. The Toy Shop is a place where people donate toys and this place then gives the toys away to families that need them. The boys like to go pack boxes for kids.

The only problem with that is that they want to 'try out' every toy there to see what it sounds like. So at one point, there were all these toys making noise. I think the old ladies were ready for us to leave.

After we left the Toy Shop, we had some time to go to the grocery store before UB had karate. We did our shopping and were waiting in line. In a long line. But in the grocery stores defense, they only have 5 or 6 registers and they did have 3 of them open.

Apparently, that wasn't enough for the impatient older man behind me. He was not happy that there were more than 4 people in line.

Some poor employee was walking past him and he asked her if they had any more cashiers. She looked at him calmly and said that she thought they were getting some more.

He was still complaining and moved from behind me to another register.

They finally open up 2 more registers and people start moving to those newly opened registers.

He of course doesn't move fast enough and still doesn't get to the front of the line. The 2 people in front of me decide to move and so I am next in line.

I can hear him complaining and I look at the line where he is and ask him if he would like to go before me. No, he says, I'll just wait. So wait he did.

While we were in line, AB was reading all those headlines on the magazines.

You know, the drama headlines of Hollywood.

The "Brad and Angie fight because of Jen" or "How to lose 30 lbs in 4 days" or "Eat all you want and still lose weight" or "Brad finally apologizes to Jen and Angie get jealous" or "Vanessa (from High School musical) shows you how to get in shape for the Holidays"

AB was reading all the magazines and was telling me about them.

He then says, "Mom, I don't understand what this means. Come look."

I tell him to just read it to me as I was pushing the shopping cart to the register.

Out loud he says "How to get big cleavage, What does that mean mom?"

I look around to make sure no one was listening.

"Umm," I said "help me unload these groceries."

"But mom, what does that mean?"

"What does that other magazine say?" I ask

"Patrick Swayze is still sexy. Who is Patrick Swayze and what is sexy."

I hurry up and pay and get out of there. I'll have to distract him next time with a candy bar.

Will the magic eraser clean a marked up car?

Well, I'm back!

I do have lots to tell, but it's going to have to wait.

We arrived home late on Saturday night. We then did nothing but rest yesterday. So while I was resting and reading the paper, the boys decided to 'paint' a little car toy. With sharpies.

They then decided to 'take off the paint' with water. So this morning I look in their bathroom and there is a sink full of water and bubbles. The car toy is somewhere in there. Along with a magic eraser.

The boys thought that if they put a magic eraser in the water with the car, the magic eraser will magically clean the car.

This is the reason I can't blog right now. I've got to go clean up lots of little magic eraser pieces that disintegrated in the sink. Along with making sure the boys clean up the 5 gallons of water that are all over the floor and the counter top.

Taking a bloggy break

To my one faithful reader,
Sorry I haven't been blogging. I have not been inspired. I will continue to take a bloggy break until next Monday. Hope you come back.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Where did all the Pizza go?

I signed the boys up for the Pizza Hut book-it program. I received the coupons for a free personal pan pizza (monthly) but due to my wonderful organizational skills, I can not find them.

So I promised them that I would treat them to Pizza monthly if they did their reading.

Last night, I took them to a local Pizza place. I do believe it was senior citizen night because the room was full of them.

I notice several different kinds of pizzas on the buffet table. Cheese, pepperoni, sausage, sausage w/jalapenos and Canadian bacon. I bend down to ask UB which one he would like. "I'm thinking mom" he kept telling me. When he finally decided he wanted pepperoni, I look for it and it is gone.

I tell UB to pick another one. "Pepperoni mom" I explain to him that during the time that he was thinking about it, it finished.

He settles on sausage and cheese.

When I sit down to eat and look around at the seniors in the room, I notice a table with two senior couples. They have plates loaded full with pizza. I then realize what they had done.

On an empty chair next to one of the men is a pizza. The pepperoni pizza that mysteriously disappeared from the buffet table.

I then notice another empty chair with another pizza on it next to the other man.


So, I ask you, is it still considered a buffet when you have the pizza's at your table and don't share with anyone else?

To the lady who was speeding at Wal-Mart

Dear Speed Racer,

I'm not sure you are aware of this, but striped lines in front of the doors at the grocery store mean that pedestrians are walking and you should SLOW down.

Now, I'm no expert on line color and line details, but I do know that when you are driving and you see people walking with grocery bags in their hands or in the their shopping carts, you should slow down and not try to run them over.

The only reason that I didn't roll my shopping cart in your path is because my kids were with me. And I don't want them to think that it's OK to do that.

The only reason that I didn't walk straight onto your path and end up on your hood is because I was trying to keep my kids from getting run over.

So be prepared speed racer lady, next time you come zooming in front of me be hoping that I don't have my kids with me because I will jump out in front of you. And if you don't stop, then I will end up as your hood ornament and hold on for dear life as you either speed up
or stop and see if I have damaged your beautiful speeding car.

But don't be surprised if my shopping cart full of groceries paid for with Hubster's hard earned money ends up accidentally hitting your beautiful speeding car. It won't be my fault, the slope of the road made it go down by itself.

I'm warning you speed racer lady, be afraid , be very afraid.

Signed,
angry mom with two kids who you almost ran over at the grocery store

Happy Anniversary to Hubster and Me!

10 years ago I married a wonderful man.

A man that has been encouraging when I've made mistakes.

A man that has been been a spiritual leader.

A man that has been supportive of me.

A man that has learned how to deal with a hormonal wife during two pregnancies.

A man that is a wonderful husband and a loving father.

A man that is my best friend.

While we have had our differences during these 10 years, we have grown closer together.

I thank God everyday for this wonderful man the He has placed in my life. This man that I look forward to continue to get to know as our likes and dislikes change with age.

As I celebrate my 10 years, I will look forward to many more years with this man called Hubster.

Why I had to drop my pants down

Yesterday, I had to have a procedure done that involved dropping my pants , taking deep breaths, then laying still.

I am taken from the waiting room by this young guy. Mid twenties at least.

He takes me to a cold, semi dark room and tells me to lay down on the table.

He then puts a sheet over my lower body and tells me to pull my pants down to above my knees.

I'm a little nervous about this whole thing so it doesn't amuse me at all.

I then have to take a deep breath, let it out, deep breath and hold it. Lie still.

This is done twice.

When It's all finished, the young man comes back to my side and says "We're done now. You can pull your pants back on."

By this time, I'm feeling relieved about the whole thing and look at him. He didn't realize how it sounded, but I couldn't hold it in anymore.

I burst out laughing.

He of course looked at me strange.

The whole thing was just funny to me at that time. Dropping my pants down, taking deep breaths, laying still, and then being told we're done.

And all of this just for a CAT scan.

For those of you that didn't know I was having this done, bet y'all thought it was something else.

Well, how do you say it then?

The boys speak in two different, distinct slangs.

AB doesn't have one and UB has an Okie, Mexican slang.

Being from Texas, we say y'all, wanna, dontcha, yontoo and several more.

AB thinks he's from some upper class Okie area. He only speaks in complete sentences and corrects those that don't.

UB on the other hand, likes his slang.

He speaks just like the Okie's do. With a Mexican twist.

I try to encourage him to speak in complete sentences and use proper words because as much as I like my friends from Oklahoma, their hick slang is rubbing off on UB.

For example, people here say "I done did that" instead of "I already did that"

Or "let's go that a way" or how about "We done gone". Done is a very popular word 'round here.

And UB adds his hick language as well.

The sentence "The first man was Adam" is said in UB language "Thu fuirst ma-yn wus Aeedum"

With a strong Mexican accent finishing it all up.

So I guess I need to work on his English before he goes off to college because then he'll be telling his professors, "Y'all know I dun diyd thaut, so leut's go fiind the ma-yn thaut stole my horse. He dun goun and weynt that a way."

The boys and the family

My mom used to be a teacher's aide. When the teacher's would get new stuff, she would be given some of the stuff that was not wanted anymore.

At this time, I was attending college and studying to get my degree in Elementary Education. I was working at the time and the job offer where I was working, along with the pay offer was more impressive than a teaching job.

So mom kept all these things hoping one day I would use my degree.

Here I am, using my degree, but not getting paid for it with real money. But I do say, the benefits are better.

Anyway, I have these little wooden figures that come in sets. One set is of Community workers, another set is a family and another set is of farm animals.

Even though they are old, they have come in handy. The boys enjoy playing with them.

The other day, the boys had all three sets all over the dining room table. They had their own little village going on.

I was working in the kitchen and AB kept hollering at me to tell me that UB was being 'sick'.

"What do you mean 'sick'" I asked?

"Well," he says "he keeps saying that the grandma is going to marry the little boy. That's just sick mom, she's too old for him."

Hmm, I say

"And he says that the old man is going to marry the little girl. That's even sicker. Tell him to stop being grosse mom."

So I tell UB to play nice.

Later, I hear this from AB "My horse is going to poop all over your living room. Then he's going to pee all over your couch."

Evil laugh from both boys.

I just love living in a house with boys.

Wordless Wednesday

Halloween 2008

Here is Jake. The boys made this scarecrow and named him Jake. I think Jake is going to be my riding companion in the car from now on. I'll use him as my target for adult conversation. That way, I know he'll never talk back, or correct me. I will always be right. At least to him. The boys had a blast going door to door begging for candy. Instead of saying Trick or treat, they would say "please". I've got some explaining to do.

I'm not really sure what or who they are supposed to be. Army guys with glow in the dark face paint that didn't really glow in the dark. Although, I'm not sure if they allow red chucks and flip flops in combat. Happy the clown joined us for some action.

The boys ended up having a great time. Getting lots of candy, and making us glad this is all over. Now I just have to hide the candy little by little so that UB won't eat it in the shower anymore.

What your child draws during art!

If you really want to know what you look like to your family. Look at the picture that your child drew of you during art. Signing off to go get an attitude adjustment. I'm off to choose joy!!!!

The many hats

As a woman, and I'm speaking as a woman because that's what God made me. Anyways, as a woman, we are expected to wear lots of hats.

Here are some examples of the hats that I wear:

Wife, mom, daughter, teacher, cook, cleaning lady, nurse, laundry worker, housekeeper, bookkeeper, accountant, taxi cab driver, entertainer, jungle gym.

I know that there are lots more, but these will do for now.

Sometimes I find it hard to wear all the hats. I know that my Lord sustains me and he makes it possible, but sometimes, I don't listen.

I'm always too busy to stop and play games with the boys.

Last week, as I was wearing the teacher hat, UB and I were reading on the floor cozied up on lots of pillows. All of a sudden he started tickling me. It went into a tickling party. Pretty soon AB joined us and we were all playing this game.

We laughed and played for a good 30 minutes. I had taken off all my hats and was just me. When it was time for me to put on my cook hat, the boys said they would like to do it again.

I just can't believe that it took me that long to realize that sometimes we have to take off all our hats and let God hold them for us.

Anyway, so here is a picture of me as I continue my au naturale hair color. I wasn't going this short, but decided that in order to get a lot of the color off, I needed to. It was actually shorter not too long ago. Some places were even shorter than the rest of my hair. So short that UB said I had a mohawk. I'll be so glad when my hair grows out.

Is it noise or is it music?

Hubster and I went on a date Saturday night. Well, if you call going to a nightclub and listening to noise a date.

When I was growing up, mom had us listen to Brenda Lee, or Freddy Martinez or just oldies. Then I discovered George Strait.

As I was getting older, my friends introduced me to Duran Duran, OMD, The Outfield, Little River Band, Chicago, Foreigner and such. And of course I still listened to George Strait.

There came a point in my life when all I would listen to was country with the emphasis being on, yes, you guessed it. George Strait.

I think I liked him because he was from San Antonio. That and his sexy country drawl just made it worthwhile to listen to.

When I met Hubster, he introduced me to Classic Rock.

When I became a Christian, I started listening to lots of groups like Mercy Me, Point of Grace, Casting Crowns or other Christian music.

So when Teenster had a battle of the bands competition a couple of months ago, Hubster went with a cousin of his. Teenster plays none of the above type of music.

They won that contest and Saturday were the finals.

So Hubster and I found a babysitter, went to the city to eat at Salt Grass, boy was that delicious, then went downtown to go to the club where Teenster was playing.

They were having some sort of zombie fest so there were lots and lots of people. The Haunted House was a hopping place as well.

Walking into the nightclub felt weird. We weren't there to party hard or to make fools of ourselves, we were just there to support Teenster.

I just don't understand it. The girls were clothes that are 2 sizes too small. And guys dress well, strange. Then the music they were playing in between sets was vulgar. Extremely. All these teenagers just drinking and laughing and dancing. What happened to me?

Anyway, so Teensters band gets up there. They have great potential to go places. They do have talent. All they have to do is learn how to gel together when they play their instruments.

Of course, I call it noise when I can't understand the singer. I'm sure the young kids understand it. But not me. It's noise to me when the guitar player tries to be louder than the drummer who tries to be louder than the bass player who tries to be louder than the screaming singer.

I'm no recording studio representative. Just a mom.

But they did sound pretty good. They ended up getting third place. Teenster wasn't happy, but we were proud of him.

We left early because it was getting past our bed time. Just kidding. Our sitter needed to leave.

We leave the club and Hubster and I just look at each other and start to laugh. Are we just too old for this? The loud vulgar noise/music, the smell of cigarette/ash tray on your clothes, hair and every place you didn't think that would stick on?

But especially the fact that it's only 9:30 and that we would like nothing better than to take showers, get in our pajamas and lay in bed?

Hmm, I guess we need to broaden our horizons.

We don't need our heater on yet!

The cooler weather has arrived. With the cooler weather come a couple of things.

First, I don't need the A/C. And second, I don't need the heater. Yet.

We like it to be cool in our house. The only time we turn our heater on is if we've got icicles hanging down our nose when we wake up in the morning.

And when it's cold outside, with no heater turned on, it means that it is pretty chilly in my house.

I would rather bake something to warm up the house than to turn that heater on.

So yesterday, it was colder in my house than it was outside.

So we did what any other crazy person would do and went somewhere where I knew would be warm.

The library.

I had intentions of taking the boys to story time. But as I arrived there, I realized that it was almost over.

We go in to get books. All three of us get some books and go up the elevator to sit on the nice comfy couches to read.

A couple of years ago, AB got his hand stuck in the elevator. Don't know how he did it, but it sure was scary. He stays clear of all moving parts of the elevator now.

UB was excited to be upstairs. I read with him and then he went to look for a magazine. He walked back and forth from where we were sitting to another area with some comfy chairs.

Thinking we were going to get kicked out for UB being a distraction, we decide to go home.

UB pushes the button to the elevator. We get in and we wait. And wait. And wait. Something is just not right, but we still just wait. The elevator isn't going anywhere.

During this time of our wait, AB tells me with a big grin that dropping that paperclip down from the top floor was fun.

What do you mean dropping? When did you drop it? I was with you the entire time.

Well, he obviously dropped it while I wasn't looking. While still not moving in the elevator, I explain to him why he shouldn't do that and tell him to never do that again. Uh huh.

At this time, I realize that we still haven't moved. Thinking that we are going to be stuck in an elevator in the libraray, I start looking around.

I ask UB if he had pushed the button. No. What button should he push?

I push the correct button, the elevator starts going down and when we get there, I hightail it out of the library before we end up getting kicked out.

Hey, at least we warmed up enough to enjoy our cool house again.

Heaven

Scene: Kitchen where I am washing dishes and UB is sweeping for me

UB: Mom, when I die, I want to be in Heaven with you

ME: How do you get to Heaven?

UB: You have to go to church first

ME: Church?

UB: Yes, you go to church in that big box when you die

Hmmmmm!

What is this in the tub?

I don't know if anyone has the same problem I do, but I don't understand why my boys can't aim in the toilet.

It ends up everywhere but in the toilet. The walls, the floor, the rim and seat of the toilet. You name it, it's on there.

Don't tell me to make the boys clean the toilet because that doesn't work. They fight over who cleans what toilet. AND, they have fun doing it.

So last thursday, I took apart the toilet seat and cleaned every inch of it. From the seat, to the screws. It was nasty.

Hubster had the boys with him, so I was getting a lot done. I wiped it all. The walls, the floor and everyting else.

I really don't know why, because we were having freshmen boys for the next two nights. But I did anyway.

I then pulled the shower curtain back and I found some pee in there. Yes, you heard me right. Pee. In. The. Bathtub.

All I can say is it's a good thing the boys were with their father at that particular moment.

I called Hubster and told him to look each one in the eyes and ask who did it.

No one owned up to it.

I did get upset then started to ask God "Why didn't you send me any girls. Why only boys?"

And He said "Why NOT boys?"

So I shut my mouth and continued cleaning. They took a long time getting home. I guess they figured I needed to cool down.

Then they took me to Whataburger. Who can be mad after a Whataburger?

So I ask you to be the judge. Who do you think peed in the tub?


Culprit #1














Culprit #2

You decide!!!

I'm not leaving without my Krispy Kreme!!!

Recently, we went to the city to get the seat belt fixed in my car. Everytime a kid would sit in the middle in the back seat, they would complain about not being able to buckle up.

And since I don't have the midas touch, it wouldn't work for me either.

Hubster of course could get it to work. But I can't take Hubster with me everywhere I go, someone's got to make some money so that I can stay home and watch spanish soap operas and build Lego's.

I'm kidding. I don't watch those spanish shows ALL day.

So we went. Hubster ended up going with us since he had to go check on some jobs while we were there.

We went to the dealership and the guy called me out and said that it was working fine. Figures.

He then asks me if I was putting the middle seat belt into the middle latch. Well, maybe that was my problem dude, I was using the side seat belt that is located by the door, into that latch.

OF COURSE NOT DUDE!!!! I may be a stay at home, homeschool mom and lose some brain cells sometimes because I don't have much adult interaction, but I know where the seat belt goes.

But I kept my nice smile on and told him that I was doing it correctly. Even the boys said that it hadn't been working properly.

Whatever!

We go check out the jobs that Hubster's guys are working at. This takes a while because there are two jobs and Hubster has to talk to all on site.

But that's okay because our next stop is Krispy Kreme.

When we arrive at Krispy Kreme, I go into the woman's bathroom and the boys go into the men's bathroom with Hubster.

I'm using the bathroom but then hear knocking on my door. What do you do when someone knocks? Say "Hey, yeah, I'm here. That's why the door is locked" So I just stayed quiet. Didn't feel like talking to strangers.

Then another knock. Good grief!!! I open the door and it is Hubster and AB. Hubster is asking me if I heard knocking on the door. Why yes, I say. Well, that was me, he says. He's not happy.

I ask what's wrong. Here comes UB holding his hiney with a towel. Well, as they were running, yes running, into the bathroom to beat each other as to who was going to be first, UB slipped on a puddle of pee and water mixture and fell on his butt.

Normally, I would laugh at this because there's not much you can do. But with Hubster around, laughing was not an option.

So I held my innocent look pose and listened to the story.

While Hubster took UB to go strip off his clothes in the car, AB and I stayed to get donuts. There was no way we were leaving Krispy Kreme without donuts.

We get in the car and then decide to go to Wal-Mart. We would have gone home but I still needed to go to Mardels.

I tell Hubster to drop me off at the doors while he goes to the gas station to fill up. It was $2.41. Of course, all the rest of the city thought that was a good deal too. I look for some clothes, pay for them then see that they are still filling up.

I walk over there and Hubster is not happy. It seems that the pay at the pump thing was having issues and wouldn't take his card. He had to walk up to the lady and pay her.

I tell UB to get dressed. He tells me that he needs underwear. Underwear? I didn't get any underwear. He says it's okay, he can put his ironman clothes on without underwear.

We stop at Mardels so that I can get a Bible for the pastor in Ecuador. AB and I get down while Hubster and UB (commando) wait in the car.

I get the Bible, pay for it and tell them to engrave it. I go back for it and the name is crooked. Hubster tells me I shouldn't accept it like that. I go back in and tell them my problem. She says that they can refund me 1/2 my money back and then put a gold plate on top with the name on it.

I decided to get a refund on that one, buy a new one and start again. This time I hung out while the girl engraved it. It worked.

It was dinner time and we decided to go eat some Mexican food. We sit there and we pray that God just help us relax and watch over us.

And you know what? All this time, I believe it was God telling us to slow down. If we would have listened, all those things wouldn't have happened.

But then, I wouldn't have anything to write about.

Dressing like it's summer in the cold fall days

It is 55 degrees outside. Can you tell?

This is how the boys dress when it's 100 and this is apparently how they are going to dress when it is sub zero.

Looks like I'm going to have to hide the tank tops and shorts and flip flops this winter.

I'm sure I'll get looks of "you neglectful mother" or "what kind of mother are you" when we go out today, but you know what?

Some battles are just not worth fighting.

Wordless Wednesday

AB and his red converse

Guess what we got in the mail?

Anyone?

Well, let me show you.
Yup, AB got his new red converse Chuck Taylors. He was extremely excited.

The only 'opportunity' I see is that AB is OCD. A lot. Not a little.

He has to match. Everything is about matching for AB. His shoes have to match the rest of his outfit.

He even gets embarrassed when UB doesn't match. Doesn't even want to be seen with UB during these mismatched times.

So after AB got his shoes and was wanting to wear them, the dilemma came about what to wear.

Red shoes just don't match much with.

So the tears came flowing down because the shoes would match with the shirt but not the shorts. Or with the shorts and not the shirt.

But suddenly, the tears stopped because he found an outfit that matched and that he could live with.
I think the red shoes are going to make it in AB's world.

He might be wearing the same outfit day in and day out, but the shoes will definately survive.

Don't you think he's happy now?

Why do I have to break up fights about heads?

"I want my head back"
"Please give me back my head"
"mooooommm, he has my head"

That is what I awoke to yesterday morning.

It was early, I hadn't had my morning coke and they were arguing over a head.

A Lego head, just in case you are wondering.

That is what little boys fight over.

UB doesn't understand the concept of trading and AB takes advantage of it. Even if they are just playing, AB takes it out of context and tries to make UB think that he gave it to him.

AB did do the right thing and gave his brother his head back. Heads, good grief. Never did I think I was going to be in the middle of a fight about heads.

Life with kids.

So here are a few pictures of some of the heads and bodies I found. They are all scattered all over in different places in the house so not all of them were there for the family photo.

Some are getting ready for dinner while the others are left to starve.
This poor chump is saying "where is my body mate?" But he can't see that his friend has no legs.

And I really don't want to know what's going on here. It seems to me that Darth and his compadres are getting ready for a manly dinner.

But wait, what's that on the table? A head? Or a hair piece? I guess it's up to your imagination.

Fields of Faith

We went to Fields of Faith at the football stadium last night. Hubster was playing in a band and we went to listen.

We are his groupies you know. Experienced ones as well, according to some friends, who saw that I had a chair to sit on and the boys had a blanket to lay on.

It was neat to see all these kids represent different schools. All coming together to sing praise to the Lord and to listen to His word.

Hubster wanted me to take pictures of the event. I started taking pictures of the band, and then of some cute kids that were dancing. I just love taking pictures of kids. And no, I'm not a pervert. Their innocence just captivates me.

But after a while I was just enjoying God's presence there. I looked around and saw all these kids worshipping God without worrying about what their friends thought. Or without fear of persecution.

It made me appreciate the freedom of where we live.

Yes, there was the middle schoolers who were more interested in playing with members of the opposite sex. And there were the junior high kids who were passing notes, but then there were the older kids who were there to pray together and encourage each other.

At one time, what really got me was this young guy. He was singing loud and raising his hands up. After a while, he got down on his knees and was singing and praying. Several kids around him looked at him and were giggling and whispering to each other while pointing at him, but he didn't care. He wasn't there for them.

So that is why I didn't take pictures after a while. I got caught up in watching what was happening.

It was a wonderful time. The band did great. The turnout was fantastic and I do think that all the kids enjoyed it.

Even mine. UB wanted to just run the length of the football field over and over again and AB was just wanting to play a game on the phone.

What do you find on a nature walk?

I decided to take the boys on a nature walk to celebrate fall. Never mind that it was 90 degrees out there and that the calendar and the news said it was Fall. But I'm thinking that Fall didn't get the memo that it was supposed to make a cool appearance.

Anyway, so I told the boys we were going on a nature walk. Down our country road, to find things that God had created. Along with smelling the beaty of outdoor odor.

We start off with AB listening to his MP3 player and UB carrying his 'backpack' (a small grocery bag) with his cap gun and caps. Just don't know when you might need that stuff.

I asked them, "Can you see something that God created?" "Yes, mom." the answered with excitement in their voices "these bones".

We continued on and I said, "Take a deep breath and tell me what you smell?" They did as I asked and AB said "a dead animal" UB said "my toot".

I could see this little trip was going to be FUN!!!!

So we continued on and we found some branches that the boys used as walking sticks, which later ended up being weapons towards each other.

They found some rocks, some nuts and a whole bunch of other stuff that makes sense only to boys.

On the way back home, I was walking ahead of the boys and this is the conversation they were having.

UB: that was fun right AB?

AB: Yes, I think we found some cool stuff. Those bones rocked! And I even have my cup.

UB: Yes, and I have my nuts.

Aaaahhh, the joys of living in a house with boys.

Church and UB

It was a Sunday evening. We were having The Lord's Supper at church as well as watching some baptisms. What a great way to start the new week.

We watch the baptisms, the Pastor preaches a bit and then he tells us to take some time to clean our hearts out. So that when we receive communion, we have pure hearts. Some people go up to the altar. I choose to stay in my pew in order to keep a close eye on the boys. I turn around and get on my knees to pray where I am.

I am in deep prayer and am talking to God when I feel someone climb my back. I open an eye and UB is on back there. Just like a baby monkey get's on it's mom's back.

He just lays on me and I go back to prayer because at least I know that he's staying out of trouble.

When all of a sudden, in a quiet room of people praying you hear it. It sounds like a song, but it's not a hymn of any sort. I realize it's my watch. My watch that is playing the song M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E.

I try to reach the watch in order to turn it off, but UB is hanging on top of me and holding the button. I get him off and turn the watch off.

I try to go back to praying, but the tune of the song is in my head. Besides, it's hard to pray when you have one eye open while making sure your kid isn't doing anything noisy again.

And then it happens. I hear a toot. I open the eye that wasn't open and there UB is, grinning at me with a proud grin.

I realize that it's no use in praying anymore because the people all around us have obviously heard the commotion going on and are by this time laughing.

Next time, I think I'll just sit on UB while I pray.

What happens when the mommy is sick?

I got sick Friday after the Wildlife Expo and it continued until Monday, when I could no longer stand the pain. I went to the Dr. to find out that I had a bladder infection. Any longer, because my kidneys were already being affected, and I would have had to visit the ER.

You don't realize how serious it is until you hear it from the Dr. Now, in my opinion, I have a high tolerance for pain. But this ranked right underneath labor pains before the epidural.

We still had school because even though the teacher is sick, life must go on. And it's kind of hard to find a substitute teacher for you. If that even exists for a home school mom. Besides, my principal is tough, no sick days for me.

After school, I was laying in bed in a fetal position trying to pretend the pain wasn't there and trying to get warm since I seemed to be freezing. I gave the boys free reign.

I knew they wouldn't be doing anything bad because we had just had a Bible lesson on how God sees everything we do. Imagine UB's surprise during the lesson when I told him that God knew if he was lying or not. So I wasn't worried about them recking the house.

They rub rocks with sticks to try to make fire, they leave the sink on with the drain closed, but I knew they wouldn't tear the house too bad.

I vaguely heard them talking about making an experiment, a concoction of some sort. At that point, I didn't care what they did.

So this is what I find in my freezer when I went to look for something to make for lunch yesterday.
Each boy had his own 'concoction' milk jug. I started to ask what was in it, but changed my mind.

I think this one had some grass and flowers in it. Among other 'natural' stuff.

Oh look! There is even a wad of paper towels. Frozen. Ready for the next experiment.

Oh well, it could have been worse. And, I will throw it all away this weekend when I empty the freezer out in order to defrost it.

So what's in your freezer?