Hansen Highlights

My Life Is Like.....

2010-06-29T10:56:00.004-05:00

....an old country song. I have been out of commission for a while and am just now starting to get back in the groove of things. I thought I would start off and tell my story of what happened.

May 24th around 8pm my daughters, Annie and Rebecca were playing on the couch in the living room. They were falling off the top of the couch to the seat. Annie fell off the top of the couch and landed on the seat and then had enough momentum that she was going to fall on the floor. So, Annie decided to grab onto Rebecca and pull her off the couch. Rebecca landed on Annie's arm breaking both bones in her forearm. It clearly was broken.

We drove 45 miles to the nearest hospital that had a orthopedic surgeon. The entire drive Annie talked about random things that 4 year olds usually talk about. So, we get in and see the doctor and they didn't want to set her arm that night because they would have to put her out and she had already eaten dinner and didn't want to risk her aspirating on the food. The next morning we had to bring her back so they could set her arm on an empty stomach. Here is a picture of Annie after her arm was set and put in her cast. Pitiful, huh?

The girls and I were walking out the door to pick up Matt in town because he went to work that morning. We noticed that my mother-in-laws dog had gotten bit by something. At that point we weren't sure what. Good thing my mother-in-law hadn't left for work yet. She was able to take her dog to the vet. Her dog, Rudy, got bit by a venomous snake. Not sure what kind. I was not happy to hear this news because that meant we had to be really careful when we went out on our property. I guess that is country living for you. We got on the road and took Annie back to the hospital so they could set her arm and put it in a cast. They had to put her completely out because it would have been pretty painful due to the manipulation the doctor would have to do to get it straight.

Matt and I unloaded the girls out of the car in the parking lot of the hospital. I then reached back into the car to get some paper work from the car that we had to turn in for Annie's visit. My daughter, Rebecca, shut my hand in the car door. We went in and got Annie fixed up, but I had to wait and come back to my local hospital to see the doctor about my hand.

We get back into town and I get to my doctor at 2:45pm. They take ex rays and find that I broke my finger. It is the bone that connects to my hand on my right pinkie finger. Yes, I am right handed, so a lot of things went undone for a while. The doctor splinted my hand and referred me to the orthopedic surgeon. So, the next day I went to see the same doctor that Annie had seen for her arm. He put a cast on me for two weeks.

I let Annie pick the color. I got my cast off about two weeks ago. The swelling is almost gone and the bruising is completely gone. I have to tape the two fingers together and wear a soft cast. Although, this week it has felt a ton better and I haven't been wearing the soft cast that much. My finger is still sore when I move it and try to bend it.

Annie goes back to the doctor on July 8th. I think she is going to get her cast off then. She will have had it for 6 weeks. I will have a check up at the same time. We hope that Annie gets her cast off then, so we can enjoy our summer at the pool or at least in the sprinkler. See I do have a good excuse for not blogging, right?

Happy 4th Birthday, Annie

2010-04-23T10:37:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby girl. I can't believe you are growing up so fast. I love your cute and silly personality, you make me laugh. I love the joy and excitement that you bring to others. I love the little girl that you are becoming. Happy 4th Birthday, Annie Elizabeth!

Annie sitting in a tree.

Annie's silly grin.

Annie striking a pose.

Annie hamming it up for the camera.

My little 4 year old.

More Pictures

2010-04-22T09:25:00.002-05:00

My house is twice the size of my old house and has taken time to get organized and to take pictures of it, so I can share with my wonderful readers. My house was built in 1950 but has been completely remodeled. In fact, I was told at some point during the sale that the floor plan is completely different than the original design. I heard that the master bedroom used to be the kitchen area, which makes sense because of where some doors are placed in that room. I will follow up with that room on a later blog. Anyway, today I am showing the formal living room and family room.

Below are pictures of the formal living room. Like I said this house was twice the size of my old house, so there is a lack of furniture in this particular room. I am not sure what we are going to do in this room, but if I find a nice couch at a reasonable price it will go in here.

This is my Texas room, aka the family room. This, so far, is my favorite room in the house. I love the textured walls, wainscoting, fan, decor, just everything that gives this room the special feel of being a Texas room. The furniture in this room is everything we had in our other house. It all fit in this room. The shelves in the corner are built-in and came with the house. I have a set of longhorn horns that I have not put up on the wall yet. To me that totally adds character to this Texas room. They will be hung over the doorway.

I am looking forward to having friends and family come out for a visit. Our first overnight guests will be here in May. I am looking forward to spending time and entertaining in my new house. We will have to have some good old guitar picking and singing for the entertainment and some good barbecue to fill our stomachs.

Easter 2010

2010-04-15T13:07:00.002-05:00

Here are some Easter pictures I thought I would share. Rebecca went on 3 Easter egg hunts and Annie went on 2. They had so much candy, we still do. We do remind the girls that Easter is about Jesus and not the Easter bunny.

This first picture is of the girls waiting while Matt hides the eggs outside. I did have to keep Rebecca from peeking out the window a couple of times. Silly girl.

This picture is of the girls hunting Easter eggs. Rebecca had to wear her boots on the hunt. I think it is her way making a fashion statement.

This picture is the girls showing off their eggs they found. And wishing everyone a Happy Easter.

So, this is my 4th post since I have started blogging again. Not sure if I am getting any readers. I am trying to think of some interesting things to write about. I am still doing some research on where I am living. Seriously, this place has history, I just want to get my facts right. Besides, it gives me something to do.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-14T08:52:00.002-05:00

The History of Gustine, TX

2010-04-13T14:46:00.002-05:00

Gustine, in southeastern Comanche County, was settled about 1873 by H. H. Blankenship and M. B. Odell. The first settlement, which was called Old Evergreen, was about three-quarters of a mile northeast of the present site. The post office was established on January 6, 1888, with Samuel Gustine, for whom the town is named, as first postmaster. Religious services were held under a tree until a union church was built. The first store was built in 1889. In the early 1890s the town was moved to its present site to take advantage of a newly opened road between Comanche and Hamilton. By 1895 the town had eight or ten residences, a school, a cotton gin, a corn mill, and a general store. Aided by the arrival of the Cotton Belt line (officially known as the St. Louis Southwestern Railway of Texas) in 1911, Gustine thrived; its three churches, two banks, one newspaper, and other businesses served a population of 900 in 1914. The next year Gustine was incorporated. In 1940 its population was only 409, but it remained at roughly that level through the mid-1960s. The community's population reached a low of 324 in 1980, but by 1986 a population of 416, a bank, eight other businesses, and a post office were reported there. In the 1980s Gustine was an agricultural community with an economy based on cattle, goats, hogs, grain, peanuts, pecans, and fruits. In 1990 the population was 430.

This is main street.

This is the First National Bank in Gustine.

This Union Cemetary is about 2 miles from my house. It has some very old graves and is home to several Confederate Soldiers.

This building is vacant but was built with petrofied wood and rocks. And apparently it was Christmas when this photo was taken because of the sleigh and reindeer decoration.

As you can see this building is vacant as are many down Main Street. Not sure what used to be here.

My next post will be about Comanche County. There is a lot of history in this county. I will do some research and blog about my findings. Stay tuned for your next history lesson.

It's About Time!

2010-04-12T14:47:00.003-05:00

I am sure that is what you are thinking. It has been such a long time since I have sat down and blogged. Once you get into the habit of not blogging, it is really hard to get back into it again. So, I have decided to change the look of my blog and to start reading some blogs that I used to really enjoy reading. What do you think about the new look? I like it.

My last blog I left pictures of the outside of our new house. Here is some pictures of the inside. Not too many to show. I need to get some more pictures taken and get them on here.

This is the dining area.

This is Annie's room.

This is a different angle of Annie's room. No window, but she's okay with it.

Rebecca's room.

Different angle.

This is all for now. I have to ease back into this. I will be thinking of all the great things I can tell you about Gustine, TX. I will have to do some research. It is not the most flattering town in Texas.

New House

2009-11-10T10:42:00.004-06:00

Our Front Porch

Our backyard area.

Different angle of backyard

Matt's Man Cave.

The Guest House

Our Acreage

Our Frontyard with 5 Pecan Trees and 1 Pomagranate Tree

Our Driveway

Truly Blessed

2009-09-23T11:54:00.002-05:00

For those of you who keep up with my blog, I know it's been a while. We moved and I have been busy unpacking and trying to find a place for all of our stuff. Plus, I didn't have Internet right away and that was torture. I would post pictures of the new house, but I can't find my cord to download pictures from my camera to my computer. So, maybe next time. I thought I would tell you in detail about our moving experience. It was truly God's hand at work.

We put our house on the market July 1st. I am guessing we had maybe a dozen showings before we got an offer on July 30th. Yes, it only took 30 days to have our house under contract. In this market, it was awesome. I had seen several house in the area that had been for sale for at least 6 months. The girl had the inspection done and nothing major came up. Just a few odds and ends came up that were easily fixed.

So, since everything was coming together with the sale of our house we thought we ought to start looking at where we were going to go. We looked into renting something because we didn't know if we wanted to build or not. However, when it came down to rentals, we couldn't find any. So, we went to a local Realtor office in Comanche and looked at some houses. We found one. We made an offer and we haggled with that for a couple of days. Then we finally agreed on the on a price. We were going to get a house. However, time was ticking and we had to be out of our house by August 27th. So, we set a closing date of August 28th for the house we wanted to by.

Several people told me that they weren't sure if our mortgage company would be able to get it done in time. We had our inspection, appraisal done and all of our paperwork done. All we could do was wait. Our mortgage company was great about getting all the financial stuff in order to make this purchase go through at that date.

So, I started packing a few boxes but knew that I was going to get packers and movers to move me. It was so much weight taken off my shoulders to have someone come in and pack me up. The packers came in on August 26th to pack us. They packed everything. Then the movers came to load the trucks on August 27th. That was the day we closed on our house. We were allowed to have the place until 8pm that night. However, there was major problem. The moving company that we went with had underestimated how many trucks we needed for our house. They planned on two trucks for our house and a 10 x 10 storage unit we had. Well, we needed 3 trucks for our house and storage unit. We didn't realize this until later that afternoon when stuff was starting to close and the clock was ticking until we had to be out. So, the company brought in a third truck. But was unable to pick up the stuff in storage due to the time they got finished loading my stuff.

It was 20 minutes until 8pm and the girl who was buying our house came by and asked if we needed more time. I told her yes just another hour should do it. I told her the ordeal with the trucks and she was very kind to let us have an extra hour. So, we put it in high gear and got everything loaded and cleaned as much as possible. It started raining while the guys were loading things and so they were tracking in all kinds of dirt and junk on their shoes. We finally got out of there at 9pm and headed straight for McDonald's. We were all hungry and that's what was open and we were able to drive to Comanche that night.

We stayed in a hotel in Comanche. Our closing for our new house was at 11am. We signed our lives away on August 28th, or at least that is what it feels like when you sign like a hundred papers at once. Our closing took an hour to get done. We met the people who were living there. They were very nice. We headed to our new house about noon. We were there no more than 10 minutes before the moving trucks came with our stuff. The timing was perfect.

The guys unloaded the three trucks and then it was my turn to start unpacking. Which still isn't done. But I have my house. Can you see how smoothly everything went? It couldn't have been an easier move. It was amazing.

So, we now own a 2,900 square foot house that was built in 1950. It was an old farm house. It has been completely remodeled in the last 5 years. I have wood floors, fake, but nice. Our house sits on 1.87 acres. It has a huge shop or man cave for my husband and a guest house for my mother in law. We have about a dozen pecan trees, two pear trees, and probably a dozen or more live oak trees. Big ones too. You can see the stars and hear the crickets and silence when the girls aren't screaming. It is total country living. Something I am going to have to get used to again.

The people in town are nice, very nice. My mother in law has been looking for work and everywhere we go she asks if anyone knows of anyone hiring. They stop and think and give her a few ideas of who may be hiring. Living here is definitely a slower paced life and it is going to take some getting used to.

This all for now, but I hope to post some pictures of the new place soon. I just need to find all my stuff first.

Moving

2009-08-26T09:55:00.003-05:00

Just thought I would write one last time. My house is being packed up by the movers as I type. It is fun to watch someone else do all the work, but I guess we pay for it in the end. Anyway, I will write more when we get Internet hooked back up. This will be my last blog at the "old" house. Anyway, yay, kind of excited to get this over with.

Happy Early Birthday, Baby Bec!

2009-08-23T22:16:00.002-05:00

Thought I would give a shout out to my Baby Bec who isn't much of a baby anymore. Rebecca is turning 5 on Friday. Rebecca is my first born and the most beautiful baby girl ever. Yes, I am biased and I will say the same thing about my other baby girl too, because I can. Anyway, Rebecca is so smart and funny. She surprises me with something new everyday. Sometimes it isn't a good new surprise, but nonetheless a surprise. There are days that I sit back and look and think "wow she looks just like me, but acts just like her father!"

Rebecca has learned a lot this last year. She has learned to write her name really well, write other letters, ride her bike, drive a car (well a kid car), swing on a swing by pumping her legs and much more that I can't think of right now.

This year we decided to buy Rebecca house. She gets a house for her birthday. Who gets a house for her birthday? Rebecca does. We are moving to our new house on Friday. I will finally have my family all under one roof all of the time. It will be a good move and I am looking forward to getting settled. I am going to be busy for the rest of the week. The movers are coming to pack us up on Wednesday, Thursday they are going to load the truck and the Friday we unpack.

My next post will have pictures of the new house and I promise to get back to writing more often. This summer has been crazy and I am glad that everything is finally settling down and getting back to what I call normal.

Happy 5th Birthday, Rebecca Glenn!

Monthly Post

2009-08-03T13:47:00.004-05:00

Since blogger is cooperating with me, I will start with pictures from our vacation. The girls had a great time. Can't you tell?

Seems like I only have time to post once a month. My monthly posts will be, hopefully, changing in the upcoming months. Actually, a whole lot is going to be changing in the months ahead. In my last post I mentioned that our house was up on the market. Well, it is now under contract! Took 30 days to be semi-sold. I say semi-sold because nothing is final yet. But it will be on August 27th. Yes, August 27th. That is why I may not have time to write in the next couple of months, but I will try. I know how much everyone misses my posts.

Matt and I haven't found a house to buy yet. We may end up renting for a while. Not sure what is going to happen. My mother in law and I are going to go to Comanche tomorrow to look at houses. Not sure what I will end up with. There is one house I have been wanting from day one. It is on 7.8 acres and was built in the 1880's. Anyway, it has had three families that have lived in it for the past 120 years. It is 5 bedrooms and three bathrooms. It has been completely remodeled. It has original wood floors that have been refinished. It is gorgeous. Here is a link to the house. Take a virtually tour, you will be able to see more. Click here to see website. The only reason why we have not bought the house is the price. That is probably the reason why we won't buy the house too. The house has been reduced again and still isn't in our price range. My husband has spoken to the owners and they are really wanting to move. Not sure if they would just take any old offer or not. But, isn't it beautiful?

I just got back from a three week vacation with the girls. We went to California and saw my mom and dad. While there we saw my brother and his family, Matt's aunt and some friends, my grandparents, and my little brother. We went to the beach and the girls had the best time. I was thinking that we will have to make this an annual event.

My mom is doing well. She is taking her treatments just fine. My mom sleeps a lot after each treatment of chemo but other than that she is her normal self. My mom really enjoyed seeing the girls and they enjoyed spending three weeks with Grammy.

Until next time.....

Checking In

2009-07-02T08:50:00.002-05:00

I know, it's been a while since my last post. Life has been CRAZY around here. I have been vacuuming, dusting, sweeping, wiping, scrubbing, painting, washing, making, mowing, watering, watching, waiting, drying, and now typing. All these things over and over again. Our house is finally on the market! It was a long process but worth it because the house looks great.

We put the house up yesterday and are waiting for our first showing and hoping that all goes well and we sell this house soon. This is all new to me since I've never sold a house before. I just hope everything goes smoothly and some lucky, pre-approved person that can put 20% down can buy our house.

Since the house is on the market and ready to go. I am taking a vacation. A LONG vacation. I am leaving with my girls on Sunday and we are driving to California. Should be an adventure. I am not sure how long I am going to stay. Probably about 3 weeks. Since I am driving I have the freedom of not planning this trip. Looking forward to seeing my family and some friends along the way.

Pictures

2009-05-28T21:33:00.001-05:00

Annie on her 3rd birthday showing off her swimsuit.

Annie getting her hair done.

Rebecca getting ready for Annie's birthday party.

Annie getting ready for church on Easter Sunday.

Rebecca getting her hair done before church.

Isn't she sweet?

Rebecca not looking at the camera.

Rebecca and her silly faces.

Rebecca and Annie posing with Gabe.

Rebecca and Annie checking out their loot.

Playing around.

Rebecca happy about getting some candy.

Annie, obviously, really wanting to get that egg open.

Annie and I decorating eggs.

Rebecca and I decorating eggs.

Oh, and we had a litter of Vizsla puppies. Eight to be exact.

Aren't they cute?

You know you want one.

The puppies are 3 weeks old today. I will post more recent pictures later. They are so cute. Copper had 3 girls and 5 boys. Can my life be a little crazier?

The Story

2009-05-07T14:31:00.002-05:00

So, I thought I would explain my last post that I wrote in such haste to help clarify my mind and not to stress over what was going on. It has taken a while to find out exactly what is going on. My mom has breast cancer. A very aggressive breast cancer. I cannot even wrap my mind around how my mom is feeling. I feel sick to my stomach every time I think about it, so I am sure that it is ten times worse for my mom. We have no family history on my moms side of cancer. I just don't understand.

My parents went in and spoke with the doctor/surgeon today to go over their options. The doctors said they want to do 6 months of chemotherapy before they do a lumpectomy. Then they want to do radiation, then another round of chemo. That was the plan that the doctors want to do, but that was not the only option. I am not sure I heard any other options when my dad was explaining this to me or if he didn't even say the other option. They will decide soon.

My mom is scheduled to retire next year. She is a kindergarten teacher. The best one I might add and there are a lot of people that would agree with me and they are no relation. My mom has been with me through two c-sections and gallbladder surgery and I would like to be there to help my mom and dad through this time. I want to help cook, clean, and just be there for moral support. Today, my mom can't even speak to me because she is so upset. Which doesn't make me feel to good. I want to be there for my mom like she been there for me throughout my entire life. It is so hard for me to live so far from them during this time.

So, you ask why don't I go out there to visit? Well, I would love to go and can go, but have been encouraged not to come. Which is heart breaking to say the least. I am already "out of the loop" with my family because I live to far away, but now this is a major ordeal and I want to help, but should I go if my parents think I should stay home?

I am asking all my readers to pray for my mom and dad. Just because my mom is physically going through this my dad needs prayers to stay strong on her behalf. I can't imagine what they are thinking. I need prayer warriors to pray hard for a full recovery. I know my moms process will not be an easy journey, but I pray that it will be a successful one. I pray for strength for them both. I pray that they make the right decisions for treatments. I pray for the doctors to perform God's miracle on my mom. I pray that God places a healing hand on my mom. I pray for a wonderful outcome. I pray for stronger faith while going through this difficult time.

Just pray.....

Moments

2009-05-01T08:54:00.003-05:00

You know those moments in life where some thing, good or bad, happens and you remember it for the rest of your life. You know exactly what you were doing, how old you were, the happiness or disappointment you felt. You know what I am talking about.

Well, I had one of those moments last night. It was not a happy moment, but a very sad and devastating blow. I don't want to go into details right now on what happened, but my life will never be the same.

I can't seem to stop crying over the news I received. My mind won't accept the devastating blow and won't let me move on and absorb what happened.

I know I did not provide much information, but I can't at the moment because I don't know much. I just needed to express some feelings because if I don't I am going to explode.

Annie Bananie

2009-04-23T22:50:00.002-05:00

Today my sweet baby girl turned 3. It is hard to believe that I don't have a little baby anymore, but a little girl. Annie surprises me everyday. If it isn't something she does, it is something she says. This girl cracks me up and keeps me on my toes.

It seems just like yesterday when I was in labor with her and she was the cutest baby ever. And now she is going to pre-school and talking and talking and well, talking. This last year Annie has grown up so much. Annie stopped taking a pacifier, by force, but none the less she got rid of something that made her seem more like a baby. She is potty trained and what an awesome reward that is to me, as her mother, the one who changed 99% of her diapers.

A bit about Annie. Annie is smart, witty, cuddly, and full of energy. I am so blessed to have such a sweetie for a daughter.

Both my daughters bring me pure joy and endless laughter in my life. Not one day goes by where I can't imagine my life without my girls.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Annie Bananie! I love you and look forward to the years to come.

Peeved!

2009-04-20T18:46:00.004-05:00

So, how many of you have credit cards? How many of you carry a balance on your credit cards? How many of you have seen an increase in your monthly APR? Not one, but two of my cards have gone up to 14.99%. Really. Actually, we got a notice on our Bank of America card that was 8.9% and was going to increase to 14.99% if we did not call before a certain date. So, that one technically didn't change. The other credit card that did go up from 6.9% to 14.99% was Citibank. We did not receive a notice in the mail, but they claim to have sent them out in November. So, that card has more than doubled in interest. Citibank will not lower our monthly percent back because we didn't call before the date given.

Who in their right mind would want their interest rate to go up so they could pay the bank, that received bailout money, more money because they are greedy? Yes, 116 banks received money from the Obama plan to help out the banks. The banks then turn around and stick it people who are in good standing and have not defaulted on any payments. The banks are going to get their money, but why do they need to hurt tax paying Americans, in tough times, just because they are getting greedy? Isn't this why they had to get bailed out in the first place, because of greed?

Obama is going to meet with four or so banks that took bailout money. I hope that since he is the one that bailed the banks out with his step in good faith with the banking community he makes the banks go back to the original percentage rates that people signed up under. I totally agree with the banks who go after people who don't pay on time, but not the ones who have done no wrong.

I know that when these two cards get paid off, we will no longer be doing business with Bank of America or Citibank. Both of these banks have taken bailout money because they needed help. But look at these banks stick it to hard working Americans who are in hard times, but are still getting their money, I might add, I just don't get it.

Mary Kay Makeover Monday

2009-04-20T18:14:00.003-05:00

This is Mary Kay's "Botox in a bottle". Well, it does not have botox or needles, just a wonderful solution, that prevents those not so funny laugh lines. This is a two step solution. Well, not exactly two steps. There is a day solution and a night solution. It is a wonderful product that you can see results pretty quickly.

TimeWise® Day Solution Sunscreen SPF 25
Think of it as a veil of defense. This innovative product helps prevent lines and discoloration before they occur by blocking damaging UVA/UVB rays. Plus, a calming peptide helps relax expression lines.

Characteristics

Suitable for Sensitive Skin
Fragrance-free
Oil-free
Non-comedogenic

TimeWise® Night Solution
A unique delivery system of encapsulated vitamins and antioxidants combined with collagen-enhancing peptides help fade away deep lines and wrinkles. Nutribeads® microcapsules are even more vitamin-packed.

Characteristics

Suitable for Sensitive Skin
Fragrance-free
Oil-free
Non-comedogenic

Like all Mary Kay products, they work best if used together. They have been chemically designed to work together for the best result. These products should be used with the TimeWise 3-1 Cleanser and Moisturizer. With all these products your face will see benefits of anti-aging.

Mary Kay Makeover Monday

2009-04-13T22:19:00.004-05:00

This product is called TimeWise Firming Eye Cream. It is so awesome. If you have trouble with tired looking eyes that are baggy or have darkness around the eyes this will take care of that problem instantly.

This product was tested and here is what the end result was.

96% saw an improvement in the overall appearance of the skin around the eyes *
100% saw a visible reduction in roughness/dryness around the eyes *
up to 25% firmer skin around the eyes *
up to 40% reduction of dark circles under the eyes *
up to 75% improved silkiness of skin around the eyes *

*Based on a 12-week clinical study

Characteristics

Suitable for Sensitive Skin
Clinically tested for skin irritancy and allergy
Ophthalmologist-tested
Suitable for contact lens wearers

How It Works
As the skin ages, it loses moisture and becomes dry and porous, weakening your skin’s natural barrier that guards against free radical and environmental damage. TimeWise® Firming Eye Cream works to better protect the skin around the delicate eye area while it counteracts this damage. The combined power of a collagen-enhancing peptide duo works to build/restore the supporting structure to revitalize cells for firmer skin. Soothing botanical extracts and brightening agents are employed to condition and prepare the skin for moisturization, resulting in a more even skin tone.

You should try it, it really works.

Oh, The Possibilities.....

2009-04-11T20:08:00.003-05:00

Just a short blog here. I just wanted to show this house as a possible house for us. This house was built in the 1900's. It is 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms on 1 acre, in town. I know a little big for us, but oh, the potential. The inside is a little dated, but since the mortgage isn't going to break the bank, we could totally remodel this house and make it our own. Matt and I have not seen this house in person. Isn't the internet wonderful? We are going to try and look at this house on Monday. It has been on the market for 460 days. Hope nothing major is wrong with it. We are not too thrilled about the way the inside looks, but it will work with some work. We absolutely love, LOVE the outside. Just look at that porch. Can you see me rocking on the porch in my rocking chair. No, I am not an old lady either, but the joys of a small Texas town could do this to me. Anyway, what do you all think about this. This could be a possible home for my family. I will keep you updated.

For Sale by Owner

2009-04-08T19:02:00.004-05:00

Yes, we finally got around to putting a For Sale by Owner sign in our yard. So, I guess it is official, we are moving and this is just the first step in this whirlwind process. Our house offically is not ready to show, but since that sign is out there we will have to get our act together and get stuff done. And in the meantime we will be advertising and seeing if there is an interest in our house. I think I might post some pictures on Craigslist and see if we get any bites.

We found nine acres in Comanche with a small one bedroom house on the property for not too much. So, while my husband is working he can live there. When we sell the house we will build a suitable size house for our family on that property. The existing house will become my mother-in-laws house, a little granny unit as we call it. The property has Coastal grass which is hay. We can have someone cut the hay and make some money. So, I guess we will have a working ranch/farm.

Nothing is set yet on the house. We will go out and see it tomorrow and see if it is worth it. I am kind of excited about this because at least it will be a plan and I will know where I will live in a year. I don't like having uncertainty in my life, so this is a good thing. I just pray that it all works out and this is where we are supposed to be.

The City of Comanche is growing on me. It seems like the more I go out there the more I like it. The people are all really nice, but I am sure that once we get there we will learn the inside and out of the small town politics that always exist. Last visit we ate at this restaurant called Star Beau's. It was a really cute restaurant. They had the best chicken salad sandwich. It was so good. They also had a really good homade cheesecake that was drizzled with carmel sauce. Yum. Anyway, when we go out there I would like to try this place again. Plus, the guy who I think was the owner was really nice and more than willing to help us find a place to buy. I do love that aspect of small town living.

Mary Kay Makeover Monday

2009-04-06T19:56:00.005-05:00

I thought I would show you our limited edition of our spring colors. We call this our Coastal Colors Collection. In the pictures above the colors look a little bright, but when you look at the model on the front of our magazine, it looks so good. You can see a picture of our model wearing the Coastal Colors Collection by visiting my website at www.marykay.com/jenshand. I have not had the opportunity to try these colors out yet, but will soon.

Here are the colors up close with more detailed information. With global beauty as the inspiration, the Coastal Colors Collection embraces the color and cultures of the world. Straight off the catwalks in New York, Milan and Paris, the makeup colors are inspired by scenic locales around the world.

The limited-edition Mary Kay® Eyeliner Pencils come in two shades that complement the eye color palette perfectly: Tahitian Gold and Bahama Blue, $10 each.

The Mary Kay® Mineral Eye Color Palette in Coastal Colors is a reflection of earth, sea and sky and enhances the beauty of every skin tone, $15.

Choose a limited-edition Mary Kay® Lip Gloss in Polynesian Petals, Caribbean Coral or Hawaiian Sunset, $13 each.

Don't you just love these trendy colors. When I try these new colors I will tell you about them. And with every Mary Kay product we guarantee our products, 100%. If you purchase something that you don't like or doesn't do what if claims, you can return the product to your Mary Kay Beauty Consultant and get a full refund or trade for another product. How many products can you try out and return if you are not satisfied? I don't know of any.

If you are interested in this product or another one of our products from Mary Kay go to my website www.marykay.com/jenshand. Let me know if this is something that interests you.

Mary Kay Makeover Monday

2009-03-30T09:25:00.004-05:00

I thought I would highlight a product from Mary Kay every Monday. It will help me learn more about the products I sell and maybe spread the word to my readers.

Pictured above is our Mary Kay Time Wise Microdermabrasion Set. From personal experience, this is a great product. Leaves your skin feeling instantly feeling smooth and soft. The Mary Kay Company has tested their products and found that after using the Time Wise Microdermabrasion Set for just one week: 85% Saw an improvement in skin texture, 73% Saw a reduction in fine lines, and 71% Saw pores that looked smaller.

Characteristics

Clinically tested for skin irritancy and allergy
Fragrance-free
Oil-free
Non-comedogenic

How It Works

Step 1: Refine is an advanced exfoliator that immediately energizes the skin to reveal a more radiant, healthy-looking surface. This creamy, white lotion with exfoliating crystals:
Feeds and nourishes the skin from below through increased microcirculation. This brings oxygen to the top of the skin to stimulate circulation creating a healthy, more radiant glow.
Reduces the appearance of pores by effectively removing the dead skin cells that naturally form inside and around the outer edge of every pore.

Step 2: Replenish is immediately absorbed into the skin to instantly smooth and soften. This lightweight, opalescent lavender serum: Feeds and nourishes the skin from above with an exclusive Mary Kay triple tea complex. Aids the rejuvenation process, and protects against environmental pollutants. Soothes the skin, and helps to bring it back in balance.
Prepares the skin for the next step in skin care.

If you are interested in this product or another one of our products from Mary Kay go to my website www.marykay.com/jenshand. You can see all the products that we have to offer and learn about what each one does. I even have a virtual makeover thing on there so you can see what colors will look like on you before you purchase them.

We are offering a free promotional deal right now. If you purchase $40 or more of Mary Kay product we are offering a trial size of our Microdermabrasion Set, which includes, the Miracle Set. The Miracle set is a 3 in 1 cleanser, moisturizer, and Day and Night Solution.

Let me know if this is something that interests you. I will be highlighting a Mary Kay product each Monday.

Blog Malfunction

2009-03-29T22:11:00.003-05:00

Thought I would right a quick little blurb about how I thought I lost my blog. I was trying to change my blog background and totally lost, or so I thought, EVERYTHING! I have been writing this blog for over a year now and I thought it was gone. I totally freaked out and had to walk away from the computer for a while.

So,when I get back to the computer, thinking maybe, just maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought. Well, it still was bad and I didn't know how to fix it. After searching around blogger for help I found what I was looking for. I found how to undo what needed to be done. It worked! However, I had to tweak and tweak different things to make it how I wanted it to appear. It definitely was a challenge, but I think if I were to try it again it would be much easier.

I am still trying to figure out the header part. I would like to add a picture but haven't figured that out. So, if you know any blogger secrets, share with me so I can get my blog looking how I would like it to be. Anyway, that is my stress of the day.

Back to the Boonies

2009-03-21T20:17:00.004-05:00

So, I guess I should break the news that we are moving. I am not happy about this at all. I normally would be happy about moving into a bigger, nicer home, but I will be moving away from my friends, my kids friends, our church, and the city that I have grown to love.

I grew up in a extremely small town in southern California called Blythe. Growing up our source of fun was riding quads in the desert, going to the river, raising animals for 4-H (I always had fun), and just having fun with friends. In my small town we had a K-Mart, a couple of grocery stores, a movie theater, (which was in business when I was younger then went out and them came back in when I was out of high school), one high school, one middle school, three elementary schools, one hospital (that totally sucked), a variety of churches and hands down the best Mexican food around. The graduating class at the HS was a couple hundred students. The closest mall was 135 miles from our town and the nearest airport was 150 miles away. This town was primarily an agriculture town and it still is but there are two state prisons out in the desert so a lot of correctional officers live there. The hottest summer I remember the temperature got to 137. This temperature was unofficial because it was our personal thermometer at home. Even if it wasn't accurate (which I am pretty sure it was) it was still stinking hot. This town is small and I enjoyed growing up there, but would not like to live there. My parents and grand parents still live there and I will always hold Blythe near and dear to my heart because it is always home for me.

When I went away to college, I thought I moved up in the world because I had a mall down the road and two Walmarts and all sorts of extra curricular activities that I was not used to. I was very home sick for the small town feel of home and Mexican food which is so different here in Texas. But I grew to love the bigger city. Sure I didn't know how to drive in much traffic and got lost quite often, but loved it because of how different it was from where I grew up.

My college town was just a stepping stone to the big metroplex I am in today. So, after college I move to the big city because that is where the jobs were. Yeah, the jobs were here and I got one, but that is a going off somewhere I don't want to blog about right now. So, we stayed here in the metroplex and started our family. The big city took a while to get used to and not having my family close by was super hard. But then I made friends and found my niche in my community and church. The driving part of the big city, well, still takes a GPS for me to get around. But I definitely know how to drive and handle a lot of cars on the road. Who would have thought a small town girl would find her way around this huge city and love it. But I do.

I love all the places that I can take my kids for cheap or free entertainment. There are so many opportunities here for my family. Good schools, good church, good entertainment, and good friends. It took me a while to make friends and get in the groove of being out here, but I did and now we are moving. Just when I like it and am used to it and have found little secret cool places to take the kids and how cool our recreation center is that my kids are finally old enough to go to and that the zoo is half price on Wednesdays, we have to move. I am not ready, I don't want to go.

Sure, I have played with the idea of moving out in the country and get back to the small town feel of what my life used to be. I am all up for moving a little further out but not from civilization all together. My husband applied for a job in a small town two hours southwest of the metroplex. This town is home of the Indians and a Peach and Melon festival. It has one grocery store and the nearest Walmart is 30 miles away. The population of this town is just under 5000 people. There is no fast food, no parks (there was one but it was poorly taken care of and I wouldn't want to take my kids there), no public pools, just not much of anything that I am accustom to. The housing is not what I am used to so, I hope that we can build a home. This town is smaller and more remote than what I grew up in. I feel like I am back tracking in life and am starting all over. I just don't want to do this. I am comfortable where I am.

This has all kind of hit me at once, so I will have to expand on this subject later when stuff has soaked in and my life has some sort of direction.

Birthday Blog

2009-03-14T11:13:00.003-05:00

My birthday was yesterday. It was pretty uneventful. Just like every other birthday when you get older. Rebecca asked me why I didn't have a cake or get presents. I told her that when you get old, you don't always have a party or get presents or have a cake. She was confused. I probably scared her for life and she won't want to ever grow up. But, that is the way it goes.

I did however, get some presents. They just weren't very exciting, at least to a 4 year old. I got 4 different gift cards. Money is always good for me.

I also thought I was going to be free and clear of any ailments on my birthday. I was wrong. I always have some sort of issue on my birthday and I have ever since I was a kid. I remember having strep throat on at least two birthdays and the chicken pox on another and have just been randomly sick on several others. Well, this year I got conjunctivitis of the eye, which is known as pink eye. I looked real attractive on my birthday. I actually was diagnosed the day before my birthday, so it didn't look as bad as it did the first day. It was swollen and I couldn't open my eye completely. The second day, my birthday, my eye looked normal but was really red. I was still able to go out and have fun on my birthday.

My husband took me out for my birthday dinner. We went to Pappadeaux's, which is a Cajun restaurant. It was really good. It was nice to get out without the kids too. My mother-in-law watched the girls for us. My mother-in-law moved in with us and I am glad to have the extra help with the girls. I will write more on her big move from California to Texas.

My husband got some news on my birthday. He got a job offer for a job that he really wants. He has to decide if he wants to take it or not by Monday. I don't want to go. We would have to pick up and move out in the middle of no where. I have just started to feel comfortable with where we are at. I like it here. I like our church, our friends, our house, the area we live in, the big city. My husband wants to move us two hours from here, out in the middle of no where. Are you kidding me? I grew up in a little town out in the middle of no where and loved moving out here where you were close to everything and there is so much to do. Apparently, this small town that my husband wants to move our family has a Walmart. Woo hoo! I know it is hard to be sarcastic when blogging, but that was totally a sarcastic woo hoo. We are going out to the little town today to take a look. This job would pay my husband quite a bit more, benefits are better, cost of living is probably cheaper and my mother-in-law would move out there with us. I don't know, we are just going to have go see it. I will post on our decision on Monday, since that is when I will know if I have to move to the boonies.

Interview with Rebecca

2009-03-05T07:09:00.004-06:00

I asked my 4 year old daughter some questions and here is what Rebecca had to say. These are her words and some of them are quite funny. I will try to get Annie to answer these questions in a day or so. It will be interesting to see what a 2 year old thinks of her mom.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Don't touch!

2. What makes mom happy?
When I clean up.

3. What makes mom sad?
When I don't clean up.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
By tickling me!

5. What was your mom like as a child?
A baby.

6. How old is your mom?
I don't know.

7. How tall is your mom?
Big.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Get on the computer desk.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Listen.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Fancy clothes, famous.

11. What is your mom really good at?
Making bows.

12. What is your mom not very good at?
I don't know.

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Fix things.

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Strawberries.

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
Being married to daddy.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Tom and Jerry.

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Play games.

18. How are you and your mom the same?
You're tall and I'm small.

19. How are you and your mom different?
I'm small.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Takes care of me.

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
You got married.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
The park.

Radar

2009-02-24T12:29:00.003-06:00

When you become a mom, you have this radar or what kids think are eyes in the back of your head. Although, most of the things my kids do are so obvious what they are doing before I make it into the room they are in.

So, two nights ago my daughter, Rebecca, has been waking up in the middle of the night. She got up and came in my room and brought her sister, Annie, with her. It was 12:30am. Rebecca asks me if they could play in her room quietly. I told her no, because it was 12:30 in the morning. Rebecca thought that the sun was going to come up anytime now and that it would be okay to play. I put them back into bed and threatened them if they got out of bed. It didn't work. Two hours later I put them back to bed for the last time. Only because they actually stayed.

They were up bright and early that morning and I was in no mood to deal with the day, but unfortunately, when you are a mom, you don't get any days off. I know, who would sign up for this job. So, I go through my entire day exhausted but looking forward to when the girls go to bed. They go to bed between 7:30-8:00pm. So, they finally went to bed.

I stay up a little longer to just relax and just listen to the quiet. Finally, I get to bed and I lay down and instantly I am asleep. I am pretty sure that I slept pretty good. All of a sudden, my mommy radar goes off. I heard Rebecca say, "let's go outside." I look at my clock, it was 3:30am. Running into Rebecca's room to stop her "great idea", I hear her tell Annie (who is still sleeping in bed) it is cold outside and they will need to put on their jackets. I find Rebecca standing in her room, wide awake and wanting to go play. I tell Rebecca it is still night time and she needs to get back in her bed. Reluctantly, Rebecca crawls back in her bed. I leave or so Rebecca thought, because she tries to wake Annie up. This kid is killing me! So, I tell her that if she can't be quiet she can go sleep somewhere else. Then at a little after 4:00am I hear both girls talking. I get out of bed again and tell them they need to go back to sleep. If I hear them again I was going to separate them. They like to sleep with each other. But I think that is going to have to stop because neither one of them are getting the sleep that they need.

So, I make it to bed and get back to sleep. Both girls stayed in bed for the rest of the night. Unfortunately, the morning came to soon. I wish I could have slept a little longer.

Mary Kay

2009-02-15T18:45:00.005-06:00

I feel as if I have neglected my blog lately. I wanted this blog to be something that someone enjoys reading and comes back to every now and then. I have been kind of bummed at the lack of people that frequent my blog. Anyway, I will try harder to think of somethings that I would like to write about.

So, my best friends mom, Shari, sells Mary Kay. She has just started and so I thought I would help her out and get her started by letting her practice giving me a facial and trying out their products. So, Shari called me to get a facial. She said she had to do 15 faces in 15 days. I thought okay, I am a stay at home mom that doesn't get away very often and needs some pampering. I actually was really excited to take some time out for myself and focus on me for a change.

I went to my facial and was really impressed by the product line that Mary Kay had out. Their cleanser and moisturizer is great, but what I really liked was their microdermabrasion product. Since I have a really bad case of acne in college I had these horrible acne scars that I thought were more noticeable than they really were, but aren't we all like that? I actually didn't realize how much I liked this product until the very next day. I notice how awesome and soft my skin was. Anyway, after my facial, I purchased a couple of things from Shari, but could not spend much money, so I only purchased some eye make-up remover and some eye gel that takes away puffy eyes. Being a mom that gets up early with the kiddos, my eyes look puffy, and this stuff really works. But like I said the very next day, I really had wished I got the microdermabrasion set.

So, I was done with my facial and when I received my products, Shari asked me if I would like to host a party with some friends so she could get practice doing a group of people. So, of course I thought I could gather some friends and have a get together. I invited all my stay at home mom friends that I knew would like to get out of the house. But unfortunately, most of my friends had something else planned for that day. Two of my friends showed up to the party. It actually was a lot of fun. And my friends loved the products that Mary Kay had to offer.

For hosting the party I was entitled to some free products since my friends were so gracious enough to purchase some products. I was able to get $75 worth of free product. I was really excited and was thinking of what I could get. Hmmm. Of course I was going to get the microdermabrasion set and would still have money left for something else. But Shari had other plans for me and said that Mary Kay was offering a promotional deal right now and if I signed up to be a consultant and sell Mary Kay I would put my $75 towards me signing up to be a consultant and receive $325 of product free. All I had to do is sell Mary Kay and since my friends bought some products they would be my clients when they needed to re-order. Hmmm. I thought I won't be out of any money and if I don't like it I have nothing to lose because I just got $325 worth of product for free. So, that is what I did. I am now a Mary Kay consultant. Plus, since I signed up as a consultant, Shari, moves up a level and is closer to her pink Caddy.

In my big ol' box of free products I got all the cleansing products except the microdermabrasion set. It is a new product and it has not made it into the box yet. So, as disappointed as I am about not having that great product, I have to wait until I sell some Mary Kay and am able to support my beauty regiment. Since using the cleanser, moisturizer, Day and Night solution, which takes away wrinkles because of the retinal in the solution. If any of you have read my previous entry titled A Wrinkle In Time, you will know that I have been concerned about not aging so gracefully. Anyway, I think I have found the perfect product to help me.

So, I was scared of being a consultant because I don't want to be pushy. That is not my nature and I don't like it when people are pushy and won't take no for an answer. So, here is my little non-pushy sale for Mary Kay. I sell it, if you want some leave me a comment with your email address and I will email you back.

Who Would Have Thought.....

2009-02-05T16:08:00.002-06:00

You know those little annoying shadow stains that you get on your clothes? Well, I know how to get them out. I accidentally washed and dried a tube of Carmex with my clothes. Needless to say, the Carmex tube was empty when I pulled it out of the dryer. And my clothes had these greasy looking spots all over them. I tried washing them again with a stain remover, but that didn't work.

I called my mom to see if she had any tricks. She couldn't think of anything that I haven't already tried. My mom did say that my cousin, Tonya, might be able to help. My mom said that when my cousin was living in Spain, her host mother got out all kinds of stains. So, I called my cousin. Tonya told me that her host mother just beat the crap out of the stains, literally. Tonya said that there wasn't anything special that her host mother used. Tonya did tell me that a crayon got in her dryer and melted everywhere and made such a mess. She went to the Crayola website and it had a remedy that would help get out melted crayon out of your clothes. So, I thought since Carmex and crayons have a waxy, oily base to them this remedy might just work.

The remedy is W-D 40. Yes, that lubricating spray that makes your doors stop squeaking. W-D 40 and Dawn dish soap that is. It actually works. I was very impressed. I just thought I would share that little tidbit of information for those of you who have a nasty shadow stained shirt that you are about to throw away. Try this first.

Am I Right for the Job?

2009-01-22T17:39:00.004-06:00

So, lately, okay not lately. Mealtimes at my house have always been a battle. Mainly, my 4 year old. She is the most picky eater EVER! Rebecca won't try anything new and sometimes won't even eat something she has always loved. I don't get it and it is totally getting on my nerves. Sometimes I even ask her what she wants to eat. I usually give her a choice between two things and then sometimes I don't give her a choice at all, she just eats what I made for dinner. Which usually doesn't go over well.

Today, she wanted lunch, she saw some Ritz crackers on the counter and said she wanted some of those for lunch. Okay, so I thought she can have cheese, crackers, pepperoni (that she loved a couple of days ago), and some baby carrots. She only ate the crackers. She was done. I told her if she was not going to eat at lunchtime she can go clean her room instead. She gladly went to her room and picked up a couple of things. However, when I did that, Annie, who was eating okay decided she was done also. Annie did manage to eat all her crackers, cheese, and some pepperoni. Since Annie is only 2 1/2, I put her down for a nap instead.

Rebecca came out of her room and said she was hungry. I told her that her food was still on the table and she could go eat it. Rebecca ate a some cheese and was done. That was her last chance, I was not playing her game anymore. She went back to her room to finish cleaning. I later found her asleep. I have decided that I did not win that round.

About 4pm, Rebecca tells me she is hungry. Okay, I will give them an early dinner and surely, they will eat everything I give them no matter what it is. Since I was not ready to cook dinner for all of us, I gave them some chicken nuggets and mixed veggies. Of course they ate the chicken nuggets. An hour later I am still trying to get them to eat their veggies.

Even when they do eat, it takes them forever. They goof off and talk constantly. I will be sitting their monitoring them too. I don't get why they can't just eat and then go play. Tonight, when Rebecca was eating her dinner she kept talking and goofing even after she was asked to stop. She was nearly done with her plate, but she kept on and on. Then she would look up at me and smile and say she was sorry. Really? She was totally pushing my buttons and she knew it. I was so mad. A 4 year old got me and she is teaching my 2 year old how to do it.

Any suggestions or tricks would gladly be appreciated. I have taken privileges, toys, and other things away and it doesn't work. I am willing to try anything.

So, It's Been a While......

2009-01-17T09:41:00.008-06:00

Yeah, I know, it's been a while. The month of December was pretty crazy for me and it lead straight in to January. And before I knew it, I hadn't blogged in nearly 2 months. So, I guess I will tell you what we have been up to.

Early December was spent Christmas shopping and getting my house ready for our company. I tried to do most of my shopping online so I wouldn't have to get out in the traffic congested mall area. I did make it to the mall and a few other places without too much trouble but did manage to find some really good deals online for the niece and nephews. I was really excited about the free shipping to two different addresses that Toys R Us had going.

So, like I said I had to get my house prepared for our company. I needed to make sure I had enough pillows, sheets and blankets. I realized that I had never had house guests in the cold winter months and needed more blankets. Walmart fixed that problem with these really plush blankets. They had the same ones at Target, but for double the price. It was obvious where I would be buying the blankets. Then I just had to maintain a clean house with my two girls messing it up an hour later. I would sweep and mop the floor and at dinner it never failed, one of the girls would spill their milk. So, I would have to do it again. Anyway, I managed to have a spotless house before my guests came.

Our house guests started arriving on December 18th. My brother-in-law, Travis, sister-in-law, Sigi, and niece, Olivia from England. And then the best mother-in-law ever, Brenda came out from California. I had a house full with everyone on the 18th, but was expecting more on the 21st. My mom and dad came in on the 21st. I have a three bedroom, two bathroom house and 10 people in my house. Well, obviously, I didn't have enough room to house that many people, so my best friend and neighbor, Leah and her husband offered up their guest room. That was so generous of them and really convenient for us to be right next door. So, it worked out.

While everyone was here visiting we went on the North Pole Express. It was a spin off of the movie Polar Express. We thought it would be fun for the kids. It was nice. The girls liked it, but I thought it was a little pricey for what they had going. It is probably something that we won't be doing in the future. I did get pictures of the girls with Santa. They turned out great. No tears this year.

I thought these turned out so cute. I am kind of sad that Annie won't remember sitting with Santa because she was asleep. Before we went on the train we went in and saw Santa taking pictures. Annie was waving from a distance to Santa. It was so cute. We would have had the pictures taken before the train ride, but thought we needed to get in line for the train. Anyway, the train ride wore her out. Oh, and I forgot to mention, it was so cold that day. It didn't get above freezing and the wind was blowing. That did not stop us from getting out and about, but it sure was nice coming home for a heater and a fire. Oh and Sigi made some wonderful mulled wine. It is warm wine and some other stuff. It is yummy. Helped take the chill of the day off.

The next day we went Gaylord Texan. This place is so awesome. I kept telling my dear husband that would be a nice get away for the two of us. It was a pretty fancy place that we could never slap that much money down for a night away. But it was fun to imagine that we could. This place is a duplicate of the San Antonio River walk. On a smaller scale. It has hotels, shops, and restaurants. We went to this place because they have an ICE! exhibit there. The ICE! exhibit is huge ice sculptures. They had an ice train, slide, reindeer, elves, etc. It was pretty cool. I have some pictures on my camera of this place but can't find my camera to download them. This place is so cold to keep the sculptures from melting. It was 7 degrees inside. They provided us with parkas that we wore over our own jackets. Poor Annie was so little that her jacket was so big she couldn't move. We didn't make her wear it the whole time because she just cried. The exhibit was pretty amazing that we would do it again.

The rest of the Christmas week was pretty uneventful. We just had our Christmas here at the house. We all opened presents and the girls of course got way too much for Christmas. I don't know how may Disney Princess Barbies we ended up with, I think about six between my girls. Everyone enjoyed the day. We had a wonderful spread for our dinner. We had ham, tri-tip, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, and cranberries. I might be missing something in there but I don't remember. Oh and we had three different pies. They were good.

My parents left the day after Christmas. I was sad to have them go so soon, but they were off to visit my aunt and uncle in North Carolina. My uncle was throwing a surprise birthday party for my aunt and thought it wouldn't be the same if her sister (my mom) wasn't there to spend it with her. So, they were off to NC for a couple of days and then they would be flying home to California to get back to work. I am hoping that my mom will come out in the spring or summer this year.

The day after Christmas, we went to Granbury, Texas to go visit with Uncle Willis and Aunt Linda. It was a nice visit. Uncle Willis just had shoulder replacement surgery and was up and around and doing wonderful. We got in a little walk to visit the horses that are on the neighboring property. Then we all came in a played a game of Phase 10. If you don't know what Phase 10 is, get in your car and go to Walmart and get Phase 10. It is a card game that is so much fun.

Travis, Sigi and Olivia were headed off to Austin to visit some friends of theirs. They left from Granbury and would spend almost a week in Austin. So, while they were gone it we only had Matt's mom staying with us. It was nice to have the house a little bit back to normal. At least the girls didn't have to sleep on the floor in our room anymore.

On December 29th, Matt and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. It is supposed to be the year of the itch, so I've heard, but all is well and we are still happily married. Since we had a built in babysitter (Brenda) we took advantage and went to dinner. We went to Razzoo's, which is a Cajun place. It was good. Then we came home. We played Phase 10 with Brenda and then went to bed.

I ended up getting so sick that night and I thought I had food poisoning. The next day I just laid around not feeling good and was so tired. This bug hit me so hard and really fast. The next day was New Year's Eve and I still wasn't feeling good. I had started running a fever, so obviously it was not the food. My throat was killing me too. I called my doctor to see if I could get in and they were booked. So, I went to a Care Now and found out I had strep throat. I was so sick. Got on some antibiotics and went on my way.

My neighbor, Leah, was having a party for New Year's Eve and insisted that I come. I had started my antibiotic and had been able to control my fever and thought I can make it. So, I did. I just sat there on the couch, but had a lot of fun watching other people. Travis and Sigi got back that evening and came over as well. If you go to You Tube and type in Footloose you may see our little party. I haven't gotten a chance to look yet but it was pretty funny while I was sitting on the couch. Anyway, we stayed up until midnight and I went home shortly after that. I was exhausted.

I felt a little better the next day. The antibiotics were kicking in. For the rest of that week we didn't do a whole lot. We had the most wonderful weather. It was in the 80's. It was so nice. We took the girls to the park to feed the ducks and play around. It was nice to get out and get some fresh air. Rebecca, Olivia and Annie got along really well and it was fun to see them play together.

Matt's mom left on Monday, January 5th. I hated to see her go but she had to get back to work. Matt's dad (Don) and step-mom (Daryln) came in on the 5th as well. It was good to see them again. It had been a year since we saw Don and at least two years since we had seen Daryln. We would stay up late talking and then have to get up early when the kids would wake up. You would think they would have slept in for us, but no.

On Wednesday, we went to the Fort Worth Zoo. It was such a beautiful day. It got into the 70's. The zoo wasn't packed like I had seen it before and it was just an all around great day. We got see baby monkeys, baby lion cubs and baby orange tigers. The lion cubs were the most entertaining. They were chasing each other and then the mom would get after them. It was so cute to watch them. The girls went into the bird section. They have all these small colorful birds and you walk through their area and you can feed them. Matt and I don't care for this section so we sent the girls in with the grandparents and they looked like they were having so much fun. They have gotten some bird seed on a stick and the birds would come over and land on their stick. Annie and Rebecca didn't know what to think they got scared and tried to shake the birds off. It was so funny. The birds would also land on there arms. I am still cracking up. That was a fun day.

On Thursday, Sigi, Daryln and I went to the mall. Daryln wanted to get the girls an outfit. We found some really good deals at Gymboree. It was a nice day. We had lunch at the mall. It was nice to have a little girls day without the little girls. Then when we got home we talked Matt and Travis into taking Sigi and I to the movies and dinner. Since we did have the grandparents as babysitters. It was so nice. We saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. That was a good movie a little weird but good. Then we went to Red Robin for dinner. It was good. Then we came back home.

On Friday, we went to Cleburne State Park. It was another wonderful day. We had a picnic in the park and the girls played on the playground for a while. Then we took a little hike by the lake that was there. The girls had so much fun. That night we went out to dinner for Travis and Sigi's last night here. We went to a BBQ place that was really good. I definitely would go back.

On Saturday, Travis, Sigi, and Olivia left to go home. They had a long flight ahead of them. They had so much luggage between them. They had a total of six bags and a couple of carry-ons. Earlier in the visit Kohl's was having these awesome sales and we had 30% off coupons and Sigi bought bedding, bath towels and clothes for all of them. So, that is why all the luggage. I am sure she is very pleased with her purchases. Travis did mention that when they were unpacking their bags, it was like Christmas all over again. It was such a nice visit and I look forward to doing it again. We really enjoyed their company.

On Monday the 12th, Don and Daryln left to go home. It was nice to see them. It was also nice to get back to a normal routine. Rebecca was to go back to her pre-K class at the rec center. She woke up with the lump on her neck by her ear that was really sore. I gave her some Ibuprofen and she was fine. I didn't think it was weird that she has this lump and no other symptoms so I made an appointment with her doctor later that day. Good thing I did, because when I picked her up from school she was not well at all. She was running a fever. Her doctor told me that she had lymphnotitus. Which is an infection in the lymphnode. Never heard of that before, but would explain the pain and swollen lymphnode. We got her on antibiotics and went on our way.

On Thursday, Rebecca's doctor's office called and told me that the culture they sent off came back and she had strep throat. They tested her in the office and that test came back negative. I had no idea that they were sending off a specimen. Anyway, I was a little ticked that her doctor told me she was not contagious and I could send her to school. Strep throat is highly contagious. I just hope that none of her classmates get it. On a good note, both Annie and Matt have been infected twice and they have not gotten it.....yet. I am hoping that we will be strep free in this household.

Anyway, that is what I have been up to. I just didn't have time to blog during these last couple of months. You can see why. Anyway, all is good here and back to normal. I am glad to get back into a routine with the girls. I will try to get out a blog sooner than later. I don't know that many people keep up on this blog anyway and actually missed it. If there are any lurkers out there leave a message, de-lurk yourself.

Potty Trained!

2008-11-25T18:00:00.003-06:00

Last week I really tried hard to get Annie to go to the bathroom on the potty. All the time. She wore her panties all week and peed in the potty all week, with the exception of a two accidents and one of them was right in front of the toilet. Whoops!

Annie would pee on the potty all the time and tell me all the time too. However, it was like pulling teeth to get her to go #2. She was very much like Rebecca in this situation. She would not go in the potty. She would wait until she had a diaper on or she would wake up early in the morning and do the deed in her diaper before coming into my room to wake me up with a good old whiff of the stink in her diaper.

Matt's mom got Annie a Snow White costume for Christmas, but I had to dangle something over her head to make her go on the potty all the time. So, Annie would sit on the toilet and I would bring out the dress so she could see it and tell her as soon as she goes on the potty all the time she could wear it whenever she wanted.

So, on Thursday night, about 9:30pm, way past my babies bedtime, she said she had to go #2, so we rush into the bathroom. I get out the Snow White costume and of course she is begging to wear it without doing her business. It took a while to get done but Annie finally went #2 on the potty. I was so, so excited and happy. Annie got to wear her Snow White costume at around 10pm that night. It was cute. She wanted to sleep in it. But it is too poofy to sleep comfortably.

Annie has worn her Snow White costume everyday since she's gone. Annie also has not had an accident since. She tells me and she actually does what she says she needs to do. It is such a weight off my shoulders and bank account. Diapers were getting expensive. Annie does wear a diaper at night, but I will switch her to pull ups when I run out of diapers. She still needs the protection at night.

We went to Hobby Lobby today for a Christmas tree. Annie of course had to go as Snow White. She got so many comments and smiles. It was cute. A lady went up to her and told her she was the prettiest Snow White she had ever seen. I told Annie to tell her why she is dressed up as Snow White. She told the lady she pee peed in the potty. The lady got really excited and told her what a big girl she was. As I type Annie is eating her dinner in her Snow White costume. I think I might have to pry that dress off her. I am sure she will want to wear it all week.

A Wrinkle in Time

2008-11-19T15:08:00.004-06:00

No, I am not talking about the book. I am talking about my face. Really.

I discovered several wrinkles on my forehead the other morning. Really. I know I am only 30. When I turned 30, I was not very excited to have crossed this milestone. In fact, I dreaded that birthday. However, people kept telling that 30 is the new 20. Okay, so I convinced myself of this and decided it was true. Now that I think back, on the people who were telling me that lie, were not yet 30. If you ever hear anyone tell you that, it is a lie. By the time that I reached 30, I had a husband, two kids and tons of responsibility and stress that I would not have wanted when I was 20. So, I guess being in your 30's is like being a perfectly ripe fruit. I guess when I turn 40 I will be rotten and spoiled.

Anyway, back to my wrinkles. I can see that I have aged in my face and am a little disappointed in what I see. Like I said I am only 30. That is not that old. I will be looking into some creams that help take away the wrinkles. I need some help around my eyes too. I wouldn't take the step towards plastic surgery because I am not that brave nor do I have the money to do that. So, if any of you out there have some wrinkle issues that have been helped by some over the counter product, let me know. I have heard there is some Mary Kay product that works. I will try that first.

Four in the Bed and the Little One Said, Roll Over, Roll Over.....

2008-11-12T10:30:00.006-06:00

Early on Tuesday morning we had a huge thunder storm move through. We were under tornado watch earlier Monday evening but I think it had expired by the time we went to bed. But at 3:30 in the morning we had lightning and thunder and the hardest rain we've had in a long time. I was sure that when I got up in the morning I would find our fence blown down or a tree limb or two laying on the ground. Thankfully there was no damage.

Both girls were scared of the loud crashing thunder and made there way into our bed. At least we have a king size bed, so we weren't too squished. They did go right back to sleep while I stayed up and listened to the rain and the thunder. It lasted for at least 30 minutes. It stopped once but came back a couple of minutes later.

Even though I couldn't go back to sleep right away, I did enjoy the sleeping family moment and thought how wonderful it is. Although, I am not going to say that every time I am awake in the middle of the night.

Something We Should All Think About......

2008-10-31T13:56:00.004-05:00

When Did It Change?
By: Jennifer Hansen

When did people start caring more about the world than being God fearing followers of Jesus Christ? I read a blog that had a video on it that basically said they wanted to teach their children how to respect and save the earth and that was their reason for voting for Barack Obama. Really that is what you want to teach your kids? I want to teach my kids to love God and know what being a Christian is.

After hearing that, I am just wondering what happened to the people who are God fearing people and want their children to know that too. We need people who believe that marriage is between one man and one woman and people who believe that killing a life by abortion is more wrong than not “going green”. This world will not be here forever. Anyone who has read the Bible knows this world is not our home. This is not the place we should be living for; heaven is the place we ultimately should care about.

This election should not be based on Democrat or Republican, black or white, male or female, rich or poor, but it is. It should be about what is right and wrong. It should be, how would our Lord vote if he were voting? Do you want to legalize abortion and gay/lesbian marriage? The Bible says, “He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, for this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." (Matt. 19:4, 5) Even if you would not get an abortion, but still think that it is okay to have the right to do so, in my opinion, you are just as guilty by voting that “right” into law. The bible says abortion is wrong. “Thou shall not murder.” (Exodus 20:13) It’s one of the Ten Commandments. Why don’t we want to teach our children those values instead? I am not saying that it is wrong to recycle, eat organic food or “go green” by using different light bulbs or using recycled bags for your groceries, but these issues are not what we will be judged for in the end by God.

What happened to people’s morals and values? I know that the people of this country have nominated two potential presidents, but now we need to vote for the lesser of the two evils. Keep your Christianity and morals of right and wrong when voting. Don’t let the new popular trend blur your view on what we need to teach our children. We will be answering to the Lord for decisions we make on this earth, don’t we want to make a smart decision that our God can be proud of?

This message was not approved by Barack Obama or John McCain, but I know that my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, would approve this message.

Been Busy

2008-10-22T19:12:00.004-05:00

Well, my title says it all. I have been busy. Not really with anything in particular, just busy. The girls have been congested and trying to get sick and so have I. I am running around trying to make sure everyone has all the right medicines on hand just in case it gets bad at night, like it tends to do.

I have to admit that I have not been running. With my schedule and my husbands schedule I am not finding a good time to get out and do it. Matt's schedule should cool off a bit and then I will get back into it. I did the first week of running went just fine. The second week started out well, but by the end of the week, I could not find a good time to get out and run. The third week well, it just didn't happen. Especially since the girls have been trying to get sick and the weather has changed and it has been raining too. I am not going to run in the rain on purpose.

Today, I took the girls to get their pictures made. They turned out great. Don't ya think?

Oh, before I end this post, I thought I would share that I made some homemade apple butter. It turned out wonderful. I have never canned anything, but have watched my dad do it several times growing up and helped out a bit too. Anyway, I love it on biscuits. Yum. Sami, you don't have to leave any at my parents house unless you want to. I actually would love to compare how yours came out vs. mine. I actually didn't make as much as I would have liked. I bought a lot of apples, but they really cook down. My first batch only made 3 pints. My second batch made 10 8oz. jars. I am going to give some away as gifts for Christmas.

Published Another Article

2008-10-10T22:09:00.003-05:00

Here is another article. If you want to know how to make babyfood, take a look, if not you should take a look anyway. I get paid more if you do.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1072042/how_to_make_your_own_baby_food.html

Oh My Gosh!

2008-10-07T21:00:00.005-05:00

So, I did my first mile run today. It hurt so bad. Really. I did a little warm up and stretched and got all ready to go. I had my watch set on stop watch mode so I can see how out of shape I was. I told myself that I was not going to look at my time until I finished.

I clicked on my stop watch and headed off for my mile run. Yes, only one mile. I told Matt that I wouldn't be gone long, I was only going to run a mile. Back in the day, it only took me 8-10 minutes to run a mile. Man, have things changed. So, I am running and I just start to hurt. My breathing is out of control and my chest hurt and I stopped to walk. I shouldn't have looked at my watch to see how long it took me to stop and walk, but I did. I ran for 3 minutes and thought I was going to die. Wow, I am so out of shape. What happened?

So, I thought okay, I'm out of shape but do a brisk walk and I'll get better next time. I walked and felt better and then tried to run again. That didn't last long. This is really going to be a tough goal to accomplish.

I got to my street and thought okay, I am going to run all the way home. Not, that did not happen. I finally got back to my house and it took about 13-14 minutes to finish that mile. The reason I don't have the exact time is because I forgot to look at my watch when I got to the house. Man, this is bad. My legs felt like jello and now they just ache.

Tomorrow is my rest day. Yeah, I am totally resting. I am going to accomplish this goal, it just might take me longer. I am going to do this, yes I can!

Thanks for all the encouragement. It really helps to know that people are watching my progress and are encouraging. This just adds to my motivation that keeps me going.

Half-Marathon

2008-10-06T10:57:00.007-05:00

Okay, so I thought I needed to get into shape. I am going to run a half-marathon. I have done some research on how to start training and feel that if I keep up with my goal, I will be a better person for it. I have not yet signed up for a run yet, but need to start training.

While doing some research I came across several training websites that broke down a weekly schedule. I could only find schedules that were for 12 weeks training. I followed one schedule as a guideline, but added an additional 4 weeks. I am starting out really, really slow. I have not run since high school.

Here is my schedule.

Week-- Monday --Tuesday-- Wednesday-- Thursday-- Friday-- Saturday-- Sunday
1 -------Rest----- --1 mi-------- Rest------- -1 mi------ Rest--- ---1.5 mi ----1 mi

2----- --Rest------- 1 mi-------- Rest------- -1 mi----- CT/Rest-- 1.5 mi -----1 mi

3----- --Rest---- ---1 mi-------- 1 mi--------- 1 mi----- CT/Rest-- 1.5 mi -----1 mi

4----- --Rest---- ---1.5 mi------ Rest--------- 1.5 mi ---CT/Rest-- 2 mi-- ----1.5 mi

5 -------Rest--- ----1.5 mi ------Rest --------1.5 mi ----CT/Rest--- 3 mi -----1.5 mi

6----- --Rest------- 2 mi -------1.5 mi -------2 mi------ CT/Rest--- 3 mi----- 2 mi

7 -------Rest---- ---2 mi------- Rest------ ---2 mi------ CT/Rest--- 4 mi -----2 mi

8 -------Rest -------2.5 mi -----Rest---------2.5 mi ----CT/Rest ----5 mi -----2.5 mi

9---- --Rest-------- 2.5 mi------ 2 mi --------2.5 mi-----CT/Rest ---6 mi -----2.5 mi

10--- --Rest-------- 3 mi -------Rest-------- 3 mi ------CT/Rest ----7 mi -----3 mi

11 -----Rest --------3 mi -------Rest------ ---3 mi ------CT/Rest----8 mi--- --3 mi

12 -----Rest---- ---3.5 mi ------3 mi------ --3.5 mi------CT/Rest ---9 mi -----3.5 mi

13 -----Rest---- ---3.5 mi---- --Rest------ --3.5 mi -----CT/Rest ---10 mi ----3.5 mi

14 -----Rest---- ---4 mi -------Rest ---------4 mi -------CT/Rest ---11 mi ----4 mi

15 -----Rest---- ---4 mi -------3.5 mi------- 4 mi -------CT/Rest ---12 mi ----4 mi
16--- --Rest--- ----5 mi --------Rest-------- 5 mi -------CT/Rest ---13.1 mi--- 5 mi

After this 16 week training I should be ready to run a half marathon, which is 13.1 miles. I am going to work hard and document my progress. I am going to try to stick to this schedule. If I feel like I am not ready to up the miles then I will continue whatever miles I can do and up it when it better suits me. It is good to have a plan though. I can do this, yes I can!

Exciting News!

2008-09-29T14:37:00.003-05:00

I am a published writer! Click the link below and read my article. With every view, I get $1.50. Anyway, go take a look.

www.associatedcontent.com/article/1056169/pumpkin_patches_in_the_dfw_area.html

Yay! I've been published!

Pre-School

2008-09-20T16:29:00.006-05:00

Rebecca started pre-school at the beginning on September. Here is a picture of her first day. She is excited to be going back. This year she is going two days a week for 3 1/2 hours. It is a great class with only 8 students.

On my last post I mentioned that Rebecca milked a stuffed cow at school. Well, here is a picture of the cow. That is not Rebecca in the picture.

Here is Rebecca attempting to milk the cow. I asked her how she liked milking the cow and she said, "Mommy, the cow didn't pee in the bucket for me." I told her that the cow was not peeing in the bucket it was milk. She missed the concept. Oh well, she still likes milk.

Here is Rebecca playing some games in the classroom. Her teacher is really great and Rebecca really likes her. She had her last year and she will have her again next year. If when Annie turns 3 she can go to pre-school, but it will be in the morning for a hour and 45 minutes.

Obviously, this is Rebecca messing around in her chair. I am sure she has fallen out of it a time or two because that is what she does when she is at home.

Here is Annie sleeping away while Rebecca is at school. It is nice to have some quiet time at the house. When we drop off Rebecca, Annie and I, come home and eat lunch. Annie takes a nap soon after lunch and doesn't wake up until just before we have to leave to pick Rebecca up. It is really nice. Isn't Annie sweet sleeping?

If You Are In Need Of A Laugh....Read!

2008-09-18T16:09:00.005-05:00

Okay, today, Rebecca milked a cow in her pre-K class. Really! It wasn't a real cow but functioned like it. Anyway, all the kids took turns milking the cow. When it was Rebecca's turn she tried it and told me that "the cow did not pee in the bucket for her." How funny is that? I just hope she doesn't stop drinking milk.

On more of a not so funny note, our refrigerator broke. We are thinking that we want a new one anyway, so we weren't going to call anyone out to fix it. We figured that we would spend a minimum of $300+ for parts and labor and might take a while get it fixed, falling into the weekend. So, we will splurge and break into our savings and get a new one. I will update you on this issue because I know my readers really care about my NEW refrigerator. I just pray that nothing breaks in the meantime like it did last time. Our A/C broke and needed a new part, $5oo later and then our water heater broke so we had to get a new one. Lets just pray that this is an isolated incident.

Pacifier Update

2008-09-14T21:00:00.004-05:00

It has been 24 days since I took away Annie's pacifier. It has been a long 24 days, but a successful 24 days. There were many, many times I wanted to give her the pacifier, but knew that if I went down that road I would regret it. I stuck to my guns and held out and we have had success!

I have noticed that Annie has had to learn a different method to sooth herself to get to sleep. So, you can imagine how my nights have been in the last 24 days, not good. I have just gotten Annie to take naps again. Bedtime is still a struggle, but is slowly getting better. I have tried many methods such as rocking her, letting her sleep on the couch, putting her in bed with Rebecca and a few more. Annie has gotten in the habit of not going to bed easily and has taken that ability and ran with it. I am not so sure it is a pacifier issue anymore. I think she is just getting in the norm of not going to bed good. And of course Rebecca picks up on this and does her best not to go to bed easy either. If anyone says that being a mom was easy, they were poorly informed.

24 days ago, I started on this journey that I had no idea how it would turn out, but had hopes that it would not be too unbearable to get the job done. I have accomplished what I set out to do and now am maintaining the work I have done. This is just a little reward of a job well done that mommies need every once in a while to keep going and striving to teach their children well.

My next adventure is potty training. I hate this one. One down, one to go. Annie has shown me that she may be easier than Rebecca, but we still aren't there yet. Once I get potty training completed, I will let you know. It is a gradual process but a really rewarding and a money saver too.

Why I'm Voting Republican

2008-09-04T13:09:00.007-05:00

Only the facts.

2008 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE COMPARISON ISSUE

Favors new drilling offshore US

McCain-Yes

Obama-No

Will appoint judges who interpret the law, not make it

McCain-Yes

Obama-No

Served in the US Armed Forces
McCain-Yes

Obama-No

Amount of time served in the US Senate
McCain-22 YEARS

Obama-173 DAYS

Will institute a socialized national health care plan
McCain-No

Obama-Yes

Supports abortion throughout the pregnancy
McCain-No

Obama-Yes

Would pull troops out of Iraq immediately
McCain-No

Obama-Yes

Supports gun ownership rights
McCain-Yes

Obama-No

Supports homosexual marriage
McCain-No

Obama-Yes

Proposed programs will mean a huge tax increase
McCain-No

Obama-Yes

Voted against making English the official language
McCain-No

Obama-Yes

Voted to give Social Security benefits to illegals
McCain-No

Obama-Yes

CAPITAL GAINS TAX
MCCAIN
0% on home sales up to $500,000 per home (couples). McCain does not propose any change in existing home sales income tax.

OBAMA
28% on profit from ALL home sales. (How does this affect you? If you sell your home and make a profit, you will pay 28% of your gain on taxes. If you are heading toward retirement and would like to down-size your home or move into a retirement community, 28% of the money you make from your home will go to taxes. This proposal will adversely affect the elderly who are counting on the income from their homes as part of their retirement income.)

DIVIDEND TAX
MCCAIN
15% (no change)

OBAMA
39.6% - (How will this affect you? If you have any money invested in stock market, IRA, mutual funds, college funds, life insurance, retirement accounts, or anything that pays or reinvests dividends, you will now be paying nearly 40% of the money earned on taxes if Obama becomes president. The experts predict that 'Higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains would crash the stock market, yet do absolutely nothing to cut the deficit.')

INCOME TAX
MCCAIN
(no changes)
Single making 30K - tax $4,500

Single making 50K - tax $12,500

Single making 75K - tax $18,750

Married making 60K- tax $9,000

Married making 75K - tax $18,750

Married making 125K - tax $31,250

OBAMA (reversion to pre-Bush tax cuts)
Single making 30K - tax $8,400

Single making 50K - tax $14,000

Single making 75K - tax $23,250

Married making 60K - tax $16,800

Married making 75K - tax $21,000

Married making 125K - tax $38,750

INHERITANCE TAX
MCCAIN
- 0% (No change, Bush repealed this tax)

OBAMA
Restore the inheritance tax . How does it affect you? 50% taxes on your estate after you die. The family farm will have to be divided in half to pay this tax.
The largest transfer of wealth will be in the next 20-30 years. $40-50 Trillion dollars is expected to change hands.

NEW TAXES PROPOSED BY OBAMA
New government taxes proposed on homes that are more than 2400 square feet. New gasoline taxes, New taxes on natural resources consumption (heating gas, water, electricity) New taxes on retirement accounts, New taxes to pay for socialized medicine.

You can verify the above at the following web sites:
http://money.cnn.com/news/specials/election/2008/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.taxes.html http://elections.foxnews.com/?s=proposed+taxes
http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/politics/articles/mccain_obama_offer_different_visions_on_taxes.html%A0 http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/barack_obama/
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/john_mccain/

Happy 4th Birthday, Rebecca!

2008-08-28T21:54:00.005-05:00

Happy 4th Birthday, baby girl. You are so sweet and growing up so quick. You will always be my first baby girl. I love you very much.

Flashback: Part 2

2008-08-28T21:41:00.005-05:00

Continued from yesterday....I know you all were holding on to your seats! HA!

So, the doctor came in and checked one more time for any progression and there was none. I was stuck at a 3. We decided to have the c-section.

They got me prepped for surgery and it all went very quickly. The doctor said they were going to up my epidural, so I would feel nothing from my chest down. That was not the case. I was numb from mid abdomen down. That was not enough. I felt some excruciating pain and then they had to give me something that completely knocked me out. I really have no memory of my first child being born. That is okay, I have tons of pictures that I cannot locate on the computer now to show you all.

Rebecca Glenn Hansen was born at 1:45am on August 28, 2004. She weighed in at 8 pounds even. She was 20 inches long. She was so cute.

Flashback

2008-08-27T18:14:00.005-05:00

Four years ago today, I was 37 weeks pregnant (3 weeks from my due date) with my first baby girl. It was a Friday and I was all ready for her arrival for the most part. My weekly visit to my doctor was on Monday and all was well. My doctor did however make comments about how big my baby girl was going to be. Which scared me to death.

Like I said earlier, it was Friday. I noticed since Wednesday that I had felt like I peed my pants, not a lot just a little. You know when you are pregnant, very pregnant that you have lack of bladder control. Well, that is what I thought until Friday. My husband went to work that morning and I told him that I think it was my water that had a slow leak and that I would be having the baby today. I made sure to tell him that he would have to find someone to come in for him when I confirmed with my doctor we were going to have the baby today. So, he goes to work and I get ready and get to my doctor's office by around 10am.

I walked in the office and told the lady that I did not have an appointment, but I think my water broke. She got me right back. Anyway, doctor checked and my water had broke, but I was not dilated any. He told me to go to the hospital. I said I would have to go home first and pick up my bag and call my husband. So, I was starving when I got out of the doctor's office and picked up a hamburger and fries on my way home. Knowing they were not going to let me eat while I was in the hospital. I called my husband and told him that he needed to get home soon. He had to wait for someone to come relieve him from work. So, I made my many phone calls to tell everyone that we were going to have a baby today. I was so excited and not too nervous because at that point I was not having any contractions.

Well, I waited and waited for Matt to get home. It was just before 1 pm and I knew that I needed to get to the hospital because my doctor said to meet him over there. So, I could not wait any longer. I drove myself to the hospital and checked in. The nurses were like, you drove yourself? I was not in pain so why not? I signed a bunch of papers and the nurses started me on potosin and an antibiotic since my water had started leaking since Wednesday. Matt arrived about an hour after I got there. It was a relief to know he got here and I would not have to do this by myself.

Some of Matt's cousins and his aunt and uncle arrived and wait for our baby girl. My contractions were getting pretty strong and consistent. It was funny because at one point Matt's uncle, cousin and Matt were all sitting in the room in front of me and watching the monitor telling me I was having a contraction. Like I didn't know. I can laugh about it now. At around this point I asked for an epidural. That helped a lot, however it slowed my contractions way down so they had to up the potosin.

My back was killing me at this point. The doctor came in and checked my status and I was dilated to a 3. The nurses told me I can take a bath and that might help my back pain. So, I did that but then I had to get out and back into bed, so they could hook me back up to the monitors. I forget what time it was at this point, but know it was getting late and I was hungry and so, so very thirsty. They would give me nothing. All but one cousin stayed and kept us company. I was glad to have her there. I got the best pictures from her.

So, I continued my ever so long labor and was mighty uncomfortable. My mom was on her way but would not make until early the next morning. My doctor was not happy with my progression so he said he would give me a hour to decide if I wanted to proceed with a c-section or keep trying. At this point I am still a 3 and have been in labor for 12 hours.

To be continued...........

The Terrible Addiction

2008-08-22T08:38:00.004-05:00

This intervention was not planned. However, I could not pass up the opportunity to break-free of this terrible addiction. It is still touch and go at the moment, but going better than I thought it would. We still have ups and downs but we are getting through it.

Addicted to: The Pacifier

User: Annie Elizabeth Hansen

Has used for: Just shy of 2 1/2 years

She is so cute with her pacifier, but it was getting to be a nuisance. We could not go anywhere without it and heaven forbid if we lost it while we were out. In some previous posts I attempted to take it away gradually and it worked real well. Annie was only permitted to have it during naps and bedtime. Then we went on vacation....and we backtracked. While we were on the plane to California I gave her the pacifier to help with any discomfort she may have in her ears since she has had numerous ear infections. Anyway, that is when it started and I was her dealer.

Now back to yesterday. I have been trying to potty train Annie and she has been doing okay. That is a different post altogether. Anyway, while sitting on the toilet after her nap she yawned and her pacifier fell in the toilet. Of course, Annie freaked out and was totally grossed out. I fished out the pacifier. There was nothing in the toilet. I repeat there was nothing in there. Anyway, I told her that since it fell in the toilet, we were going to have to put it in the trash. Yeah, I could have boiled it, but really it was time to get rid of it. And of course I have 4 pacifiers secretly hidden in my bathroom, but she doesn't need to know that.

Last night was the big test. I put the girls to bed at 7:30pm, but Annie did not actually go to sleep until 11pm. It was so sad and so hard to keep this up. Annie begged and cried for her pacifier. She kept telling me "I need my pacifier." Really if she can tell me that she needs it, it is totally time. So, I held her and she finally fell asleep whispering pacifier. Sad. I thought I was going to break down and provide one but I stuck it out and helped her through her first night. Annie did sleep throughout the night without waking up. I was shocked. I did not sleep well just thinking that I was going to have to get up and sleep in her room all night long. Matt brought Annie in when he left for work at 6:30am. Annie was crying for her pacifier. So, we got up and got her preoccupied with something else.

We will do it again today. Annie is pretty grumpy, but I think that last night was a real break through for her. I feel bad that I am doing this to her but know in the long run she will be better off.

Tagged!

2008-08-20T08:49:00.005-05:00

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you
2. Post the rules to your blog
3. Write 6 random things about myself
4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them
5. Let each person you have tagged know by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is posted.

As you can see from the title, I've been tagged. Thanks, Marie-Etta (http://junebride2008.blogspot.com/) I don't know how to do links.

1 - I love chocolate dipped strawberries. I can eat several of them at one sitting. I don't get the chance to do that often at all. Hmmm, maybe I should learn how to make them.

2 - I hate to clean but love how my house looks and smells after I have done it. I also have this feeling of accomplishment, like my life has a purpose. And then two seconds later it doesn't look like I have done anything because of all the toys. I need to work on the girls.

3 - I count the steps that it takes to get to the mailbox. I don't know why I do this but I have done this since I live in Blythe with my parents. I also count the stairs while going up a staircase. Most houses have 14 steps.

4 - I don't think I have a good singing voice but sing to my kids all the time and don't care what it sounds like. I hope they don't mind either.

5 - I put together two day beds, a dresser and a bookshelf. One day bed and the dresser was put together while I was super, super pregnant. I was pretty proud of myself. I thought I was pretty handy.

6 - I don't know how to really work the sewing machine but have made two curtains and need to work on the third panel. My husband says I should read the instructions, but I have done pretty good so far.

Okay, now for tagging six people. Yeah, so it's only going to be four because I only know a handful of people on my links list personally.
1-Lori
2-Meredith
3- Melody
4- Sami

Sweet N' Sassy

2008-08-17T13:48:00.009-05:00

The girls went to a birthday party yesterday at Sweet N' Sassy. Sweet N' Sassy is a little girls salon. They do manicures, pedicures, haircuts and up do's. Anyway, their friend Brooke had her 4th birthday party here. It was so cool. The girls loved it. I knew that they were going to look completely different so, I took a before picture and several after pictures. Here are the girls before we left the house.

Rebecca and Annie's before party pictures. (The spot on Annie's shirt is a water spot!)

First, the girls got to pick out a fancy dress. There were about 4-5 young ladies fixing hair, painting nails and applying make-up. There were eight little girls at the party getting pampered. They all looked so cute. Here are some pictures of the girls getting pampered.

These are the dresses that they picked out. Rebecca really loved her dress and so did 2 other girls at the party. They had some for sale, so I thought maybe I would get Rebecca one for playing dress up at home. It was $56. We didn't get it. Annie picked out a little ballerina outfit.

Here is Rebecca getting her hair fixed. It looked so cute. They sprayed this glitter spray all over their hair.

Here is Annie getting her hair and nails done at the same time. For a 2 year old she sat pretty good. They did however put clear glitter nail polish on her because the lady could just see her getting another color all over the place.

Here is Rebecca getting her nails painted. The color was bright pink.

Here is Annie picking out what color eye shadow she wanted. She picked pink. Look how cooperative she is being!

Here is Rebecca getting her make-up done. She is totally loving this.

These two pictures of the girls are as good as I could get them together. They kept bouncing around, they were so excited.

Here are the girls dancing on stage.

Here is Annie and Rebecca playing limbo at the party.

Here is Rebecca working the model stage. She is so pretty!

Here is all the girls at the party. Annie is back there somewhere.

All in all they had a great birthday party. It was just as much fun for the parent that came for this wonderful photo opportunity. This one definitely goes down into one the favorite and most memorable birthday parties.

Incompetence

2008-08-16T21:32:00.006-05:00

I went to Walmart this evening to get some milk. We've been going through a ton of milk lately because my husband and I have been drinking Slim Fast shakes in the morning. So, the milk has been going faster than normal.

Anyway, all I had to get was two gallons of milk and put some money on a gas card. I get into the express lane, 20 items or less. The guy in front of me had about 12 items in his basket. The people in front of him were gathering their bags and leaving. The guy unloads the small things from his cart and he lifts out a case of coke and sprite for the cashier to ring up and he put those back in his cart. The cashier gives the guy his total and he pays. The guy gathers his bags and heads for the door.

It is my turn. Well, the cashier looks at the guy leaving and noticed that she did not ring up the two cases of bottled water and a case of Dr. Pepper that were on the rack under the cart. She said something to me that she did not ring up those items, but does nothing about it. Wow! She continued to ring up my items. I was out of there fairly quick, but can you believe she just let that guy go after noticing her mistake and saying something to me about it? Really!

As my husband often tells incompetent people, if he did his job half as bad as you do, people would be dead. Being the former paramedic that he used to be, but how true is that. He tells people that when they give him the wrong change in his favor and he tries to set him straight and they won't take the corrected money back. I never worked in fast food, but I wonder how many registers were off at the end of the day.

Lacking ZZZzzz

2008-08-14T12:52:00.007-05:00

Annie has been a night owl lately. She will go to bed at her normal time with minimal fuss, but 2am comes around and she is coming into my room. On my side of the bed. Waking me up (and not my husband.) Haven't figured out why both my children come to my side of the bed when they get up in the middle of the night. I am not closest to the door.

Anyway, so, I put Annie back to bed and attempt to go back to sleep. It usually takes a while before I can actually get to sleep again. I am not sure how long I have been trying to go to sleep when I hear the creaking of Annie's door opening. You have got to be kidding me. Since, I had turned her away from my room, I figured she was headed for Rebecca's. I was right. I caught her entering Rebecca's room wearing a headband over her eyes (like sunglasses), a Sleeping Beauty wand and a book of Bible stories. She obviously wasn't going in there to sleep. So, I catch her and take her back to her bed. She cries and I go back to bed. It was ten till 3 at this point.

Annie stays in her room just long enough for me to get to slumber land again when she is standing at my side of the bed again. So, giving up, I put her in bed with me. It takes her a bit to get comfortable. Annie attempts to talk and it is followed up by a SHH! Then she starts stroking my face. Come on how sweet, but annoying can you be and nearly 4am. I totally ignore her and actually get to sleep again. She finally gets the wiggles out and is out too.

7:30am rolls around when Rebecca rallies for the morning. Again to my side of the bed. She thinks that she needs in between Annie and I. She she manages to do that and then decides she doesn't want to sleep, she wants to watch cartoons in the living room. Meaning in order for her to do that I have to get out of bed, find the remote and wake up just enough to find something for her to watch. I told her to not come into my room and ask for breakfast. I told her that I will get her breakfast when I get up. Rebecca gave me an hour before she yells from the living room that she is hungry and wants breakfast. She did exactly what I told her. She did not come into my room to tell me she was hungry, she just yelled it. Hmmm....so I get up and that is the start to my day.

About Us

2008-08-11T20:16:00.006-05:00

Well, I have been neglecting my blog. Obviously, since I have not posted anything since the end of July and we are close to the middle of August. I am in a writing slump. I am having trouble thinking of something worth while and interesting to write about. I just want it to be fun and interesting for my readers. Which by the way am thinking aren't too many. After all, I don't get many comments on my subjects.

Sure, I can always write about my two angels. That is always a hit with the family that actually reads my blog. So, here is a little bit about what they are into these days.

Rebecca, who is almost 4, is independent and head strong, just like her dad. Rebecca finished her swimming lessons and loved it. She moved up from her pre-school class to level 1. She is becoming quite a little swimmer. She seems to like to go underwater a lot. Rebecca just learned how to ride her big girl bike with training wheels. And she can actually steer and pedal at the same time. When it cools off a bit more, she will get more practice. I just enrolled Rebecca in pre-school. She starts September 2nd. Her class will be from 11:00-2:30, two days a week. I am really looking forward to that. It will be nice to have one on one time with Annie. I also enrolled Rebecca in a class that will teach her tap, ballet and rhythmic dancing. With her pre-school class schedule, I was unable to get her into tumbling, which she may be a little disappointed, but it is only for 8 weeks and then we can try it next time.

Annie, who is almost 2 1/2, is mellow, but following in her sister footsteps as far as the attitude thing goes. Annie just finished swimming lessons and will be promoted to the pre-school class next summer. Skill wise she was ready now, but I know she would not sit there and listen to her teachers while the other kids take their turns. Her favorite part of swimming lessons was jumping off the diving board and side of the pool. Seriously, she has no fear of the water. It was great. Annie likes to play with her baby dolls and loves to play with her big sister. The girls play pretty well together, not including the hitting that might go on.....we are still working on that. I enrolled Annie in a music class. She has taken this class before and really enjoys it. I also enrolled her in a mommy and me tumbling class.

Matt is enjoying his new position with his company. He is good at it and doesn't seem to miss being a Flight Paramedic. He is able to work from home, which is nice, however, we need an office where he can close the doors and not be interrupted by the girls. We are looking into moving to a bigger house. We will let you know what goes down with that situation as it comes up. Matt is becoming more corporate everyday. What I mean by corporate is he dresses up when he needs to go to work (dress shoes, ironed clothes, etc.), is a pro at texting (sometimes while driving), and has conference calls. It is good to see him like this. It truly fits.

Me....well, I take care of the house, kids and all the other stuff that fits in the "mom" category. I am looking forward to school starting to get back into a routine with the girls. Since, Matt will be home somewhat, I want to start working out again. I am tired of the "mom" body that I have acquired since having kids and am looking forward to being me again. Or at least a skinnier me. I try to keep the girls active without spending a ton of money. I think I have become quite thrifty and look for free or cheap things to do for entertainment. I am active in my mommies group and enjoy getting together, when my schedule permits, with other moms and letting the kiddos play. I look forward to going to church and get my spiritual fill. Church is even better now, that Matt is able to come every Sunday. I hated sitting alone when he had to work Sundays.

I love to write, so I will try to keep up with my blog as much as possible. I always wanted to be a writer (of some sort), so I will do some research and find topics to discuss.

A Kidless Weekend

2008-07-23T08:45:00.006-05:00

Matt and I had our first weekend alone, without the kids, in four years. Yeah, I know, we don't get out much and really didn't want to impose and ask someone to watch our kids. Matt had a work dinner so we thought we would try to get someone to watch the girls. We asked our wonderful neighbors and they were available. That was so nice of them. Plus, I thought it would be easier on the girls if they had trouble sleeping at someone else's house, they could come next door and sleep in their own bed. It worked out well. Girls were really good and Kevin and Leah seemed to really enjoy the girls staying with them.

We left on Friday night and stayed in Eastland, TX. Then the next morning we got up and drove to Breckenridge, TX. Matt had to teach a class at 8 at the hospital. So, I sat in the class and read, filed my nails and just had an over all relaxing day without the constant whine I sometimes hear all day. Matt's class got out around noon. We got some lunch and drove to Temple, where the dinner was. It was a long drive and I wasn't looking forward to driving back home after the dinner was over.

So, we got to Temple, TX and stopped at a Starbucks, had some coffee and then got dressed in their restroom. We thought it would be kind of weird if we were to get dressed in the hotel bathroom without having a room. Anyway, so we got dressed up. We looked good. Unfortunately, we did not get a picture of us all dressed up. Maybe next time. But we looked good. So, we did the dinner thing and left the hotel just before 10pm. We were on our way home. We didn't get home until midnight.

Leah put the girls to bed in their beds at home so we would not have to move them when we got home. They did good all weekend. Here are some pictures to prove it.

Below are the pictures of them the next morning. Aren't they cute! We did enjoy our time away but, were happy to be home with our babies. The girls were so wore out from the weekend they went to bed at 7 pm on Sunday night. It was nice.

I Miss My Friends

2008-07-16T11:19:00.004-05:00

So, two of my friends that lived pretty close to me moved within a week of each other. They are not too terribly far, but far enough to not get together. It is sad and it seems like a very tragic end to a great friendship. Although we will always remain friends, I don't think we will see each other very often so, we will grow further and further apart and our kids will probably forget one another.

I am just not sure that I am willing to let these two friends go. It will be harder to get together, but we will have to all make an effort. We need to find common ground for all of us and meet as much as our busy schedules will allow, which may get a little tricky, since some of our kids are in school this year. Plus, we all are on a budget and gas prices seem to be breaking the bank these days. Yeah, this really isn't looking good, but I will do my best to meet up with my dear friends.

I met my two friends, one through the Hurst Rec. Center and the other through my mommies group. We really hit it off. They were just two of those people that you shared so much in common, that we were bound to be great friends. In fact, one of my friends and I went to the same college. And the other friend, her kids and my kids are exactly the same age. Her daughter is two weeks older than Rebecca and her son is four days younger than Annie. That is crazy. But that is the bond that I share with my friends.

I feel like I am writing a eulogy for my friends. I just miss my friends and hope that we can find enough time in our busy schedules to get together. It would be a tragedy to let this friendship end.

Moo, Moo, Oink, Oink, Cluck, Cluck, Up Chuck?

2008-07-14T14:38:00.004-05:00

This is our freezer. It is full of meat and some veggies. Anyway, we went to this place called Country Meat Market. You can get a year supply of meat. We got beef, pork, chicken and fish. It is fresh and is "Choice" in the USDA grading system. Choice is a higher grade of meat than what you get at a regular grocery store. You can get Choice at places like Costco. Anyway, that is a lesson in itself.

We went on July 4th thinking we are going to get 400 lbs of meat at like $300. Boy, were we wrong. First, we got the down low of what they were all about. They took us (Matt, Rebecca, Annie and I) in the back where the beef is hanging from a chain that has several hooks on it and hangs from the ceiling. My first thought when I walked in the back is, I'm going to have to sterilize my shoes. There was some chunks of meat on the floor that had missed the trash can and the smell was not anything to write home about either. Matt is holding Rebecca and I have Annie, when the guy is explaining the different cuts and what we get in our bulk order. Well, lets just say that the stench of the place and the dead cow and pig hanging right there didn't help Annie any. Poor girl started dry heaving like she was going to barf all over the place. Annie did her first dry heave and I thought she had trouble swallowing the skittle that she was eating. Then she did it two more times in a row and I thought we are going to have a huge mess if I don't get her out of here. I am the type that if I see someone barf, I am most likely going to join you.

So, I told the guy that if I don't get out of here we are going to have a big mess and excused myself leaving Matt and Rebecca in the back. They guy finished and they came out and we discussed our options and asked questions on how everything works. Well, come to find out that it was going to cost us like $260 a month for a year. That is like a car payment to us. We weren't going to be able to do that. We were ready to walk out when the owner came out and said let see if I can make a better deal for you. So, he asked what can you spend a month? I said $100. He said let me see what I can do. He comes back out and said I can get you 270 pounds of meat beef for $116 a month. Okay, now that is more like it. On top of that he is throwing in 100 pork chops, ribs, bacon, 20 T-bones, 20 NY Strips, Angus brisket, chicken breasts, sausage, salmon, shrimp and veggies. Plus, he gave us a $100 discount and did not charge us the processing fee. Nice. So, we said okay and they started cutting up our meat to our specifications. Like our ground beef is in 1 pound packages and our steaks cut to 1 inch thickness. Makes it nice. Anyway, Matt goes in the back and starts writing as fast as he can on the packages what is inside. Anyway, it was done in like 20 minutes.

We got every cut of steak you can think of. We have like 30 pounds of ground beef. We have roasts coming out our ears. Every cut of the roasts, pork and beef. We are set for over a year. Clearly, by the picture there is no way we can eat all this meat in a year. It will be interesting to see how much we do go through.

We signed our papers and headed out the door with a year supply of meat in our van. The great thing about this is if there is a cut that we don't like or it gets freezer burn (which they guarantee for 18 months) we can take it back to their store and replace it pound for pound or cut for cut for free. That is great. Anyway, if we pay off our meat in 90 days it is interest free. Our full payment is going out tomorrow. Yay! This will save us time and money by having everything we need in our freezer right now. I am so glad we were able to do this. The people were so great and we plan on using them again when we need more meat. Overall, it was a really great experience and happy to report there were no barfing incidence. Oh, and the meat is really good too.

Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming in One Trip

2008-06-30T11:38:00.011-05:00

Here are some pictures of the girls on our vacation. We left on May 31st and came back on June 21st. During those 2 weeks the girls got to travel through 7 states.

We spent our time visiting, going to the river and playing. There were so many people under one roof at my parents house in Blythe, CA. We had my brother Tyson, SIL Jenny, their kids, Emma, Gabriel and Isaiah, my other brother, Ryan, my cousin, Tonya, her husband, Rich, and their kids, Hartley, Andrew and Ella, my aunt, Glenda, my mom and dad, Matt, Rebecca, Annie and I. That is a lot of people. However, There was a only a couple of days when all of us were there. It was great to see all the kids play together. The oldest was 5 and the youngest was 1. My mom prepared a nice area for the kids to play with all the toys, but they never wanted to stay in that area.

We made it to the river twice while we were out there. My girls loved being in the water. It was very refreshing to go in and get wet since it was so hot outside. Wish we could have spent more time there. That is one of my favorite places.

The girls and I spent two weeks in Blythe visiting everyone and then spent a week in Idaho. It was nice to get away with just my girls and my mom. That is where the other states in the title come into play, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. The girls traveled really well and we only lost the pacifier once. Yeah, I know, you thought we had broke Annie of the pacifier. Nope, she still gets it during nap and at night. One the airplane we thought it would help her ears, which I think it did. The entire 3 weeks we were gone I could not pry the thing out of her mouth. So, now I have to re-ween her. Lets just say it is going better this time around.

Anyway, here are some pictures of our vacation and at the end, are some pictures of our Memorial Day. All I have to say is it is good to be home and sleeping in my own bed.

This is Annie playing outside in Idaho.

Rebecca and Annie enjoying the great weather we had in Island Park, ID.

Rebecca and Annie visiting Grammy at her house in ID. The girls found the fake deer in the back yard. Annie was scared of them at first.

My beautiful Rebecca who doesn't want her pictures taken anymore, but I actually get some good one every once in a while.

Rebecca and Annie playing in the dandelions and pine cones.

Rebecca and Annie on their way to Yellowstone National Park. My mom's house is 25 miles away from the West Yellowstone, MT entrance.

Rebecca and Annie looking at the boiling mud pots in Yellowstone National Park. Rebecca is posing by the Spasm Geyser.

Grammy and her girls on posing on the dock by their house.

Rebecca and Annie wondering around in Idaho.

Annie and Rebecca riding on the tractor with Grampy.

Rebecca getting a great ride on Grampy's tractor.

All the kids had a good time on Grampy's tractor. My dad was totally loving this.

Memorial Day 2008

Before we went on our vacation we spent our Memorial Day with Papa Willis and Grammie Lin in Granbury, TX. As you can see by the pictures.....the girls had a great time. We brought Rebecca's bike out so Papa Willis could help her learn how to ride. Unfortunately, the chain was too tight and Rebecca was unable to pedal. But Papa Willis fixed the problem but Rebecca has not gotten a chance to try again.

After we left Granbury, we headed to San Antonio to buy a Jetta TDI for Matt. Since he got this great new position at work he thought he needed to get a new car to save gas money. He can go 700 miles on one tank of gas. Gotta love it.

The trip to San Antonio was just a quick trip to get the car. No fun was had while we were there. Maybe sometime in the near future we can take the girls back and go see the Alamo or not take the girls and have a nice weekend kid-free. My vote is for the 2nd one!

What did you say?

2008-06-03T15:00:00.003-05:00

Okay, so we are out here in Blythe, California visiting family. We are having a great time.

On Monday, the girls and I go visit my mom at work. My mom takes us around to visit everyone in the office and some of her teacher friends. We go say "hi" to my 5th grade teacher, Marcella Thomas. She is a beautiful black woman. Anyway, Marcella tells the girls to come give her a hug and the girls go and give her a hug. Rebecca then told Marcella "you're black all over, aren't you?" What?!?! Marcella said, "Yes I am and you're light all over aren't you?" Rebecca then answered, "yes".

Anyway, I am glad it happened to Marcella instead of some random person that could have taken that the wrong way.

Sisters: Are Built in Friends

2008-05-21T17:27:00.005-05:00

I thought I would share some pictures of the girls playing. They are just getting pretty good at playing well with each other.

They are having a picnic on the floor in the living room.

I thought this was a funny one. Annie is eating her "blueberry muffin" with a spoon!

Here is Rebecca and Annie outside playing with the water table. In the last couple of days it has been warm enough to get the water toys out and let them play. This will probably be something we do everyday.

Yes, this is a picture of Rebecca with her finger up her nose. I think she gets it from her dad. I added this lovely picture because I couldn't get any other pictures of the girls together outside today. Just so everyone knows nothing came out on the finger, so it could have been an innocent scratch.

Lately, I have not been able to get any good pictures of Rebecca with her cute smile, so I told her that I needed to take some pictures of her so I can send them to grandma. This is what I got.

Annie kept getting closer and closer to the camera. She too is getting to the stage of not wanting to take pictures. So, I will be getting action shots of her from afar for now.

Then the picture taking got a little silly. This is Annie telling me her name is Chubby. Another thing their dad taught them to do. It actually is quite funny. And of course Rebecca, making her funny face for the camera. Not sure who taught her this.

I Saw the Light...

2008-05-20T12:55:00.012-05:00

I thought I would share my story on how awesome Lasik surgery is. I am so happy with the results of my Lasik surgery. I am 20/20 as of right now and it may continue to get better.

I chose my doctor through my insurance. My doctor and surgeon are providers on my insurance and that helped with the process of choosing a well-known doctor. Both doctors had rave reviews and had other doctors recommending their patients to these doctors. If you are looking to get this procedure done, I would recommend that you ask your eye doctor who they would recommend. I would not go with someone that runs ads and has coupons for $299 per eye because they might not be the best out there. Also, if your eye sight is really bad you will not qualify for the $299 per eye. I went to one of those places and just felt like they were very pushy and just wanted your money and didn't really care about the outcome of your vision.

When I first went in to my doctor they run you through 3-4 different tests to see if you are a candidate for Lasik. Then, I went and met with the doctor and he looked at the results of the tests and he lets you know if you are a candidate for the surgery. I was a good candidate for this procedure, very good. My doctor was not pushy and let me decide if I wanted to proceed with him or not. I felt very comfortable. It took me a while to get back with my doctor on setting a date for the Lasik. It took a while because it is a costly procedure. My insurance company gave me a discount for going to someone on the provider list. With the discount I still had to pay $3500. Ouch! But well worth it.

After I decided that we were able to fork out the money for this, I called and made another consultation appointment with my doctor. This appointment they ran more tests, like 10, and then they dilate your eyes. I saw my doctor and he confirmed, again, that I was an excellent candidate for this procedure. I then set my appointment for the surgery. My doctor always does the surgery on Fridays, so I made my appointment for the next week.

The two times that I went in to see my doctor, I never saw another person in the office. So, I was thinking that they might not get a lot of business. I was so, so wrong! That Friday when I checked in the place was packed. Matt dropped me off at 10:20am. He was going to take the girls to Costco and get a couple of things and come back and sit in the car while the girls watched something on the DVD player. So, I go in sit for about 15 minutes and then they call me back and I sign the waiver and pay. Then I sit in another waiting room. I was there for about 10 minutes before they called me back. At this point I am stinking nervous. They prep you for surgery. They put drops in my eyes to numb them and clean my eyes and then I meet the surgeon. I sat for about 5 minutes and then I they take me in the room with the laser that makes the flap. This was the worst out of the entire procedure. And it wasn't that bad. With this laser they are making the flap. It takes 20 seconds per eye. Yeah, I said 20 seconds per eye. There was a lot of pressure, but no pain. The pressure was uncomfortable but it was over in 20 seconds. After that I sat in a room for a couple of minutes and then they took me to another room that has the correction laser. At this point, my vision is like looking through wax paper. This is normal at this point. I am set for the correction. They fold the flap over and do the correction and it takes 20 seconds per eye. Amazing. I am done. After this the surgeon puts the flaps into place and I am taken to another room and my doctor looks at my eyes. At this point everything is blurry. Which is normal. I put on my oh so sexy shades and walk out the door. Matt and the girls are waiting in the car for me. I am in the car on the way home at 11:30am. It was so quick and easy.

When I get home I am supposed to keep my eyes closed for two hours. Which was so easy to do because all I wanted to do is close them. They were burning and irritated, like I had really, really dirty contacts in. After the two hours were up, I could open my eyes and start my eye drops. I had an antibiotic drop that I put in four times a day for the next 5 days. Then I had some steroid drops that I was to put in every waking hour for the first 24 hours and then 4 times a day for the next 4 days. I also had some lubricant drops for dryness that I was to use every waking hour for the first 5 days. It was a lot to remember but, I got the hang of it. So, I start my drops and my eyes were so irritated still, which is normal, I just wanted to leave them closed. When I did open my eyes, I could see a difference in my vision. Still a little hazy but I could see credits on the television where I could never have seen them without my contacts or glasses. It was already working. I did continue to keep my eyes closed a while longer, they just felt better closed. At 4:00pm I opened my eyes and the burning and irritation had gotten a lot better. I didn't have the urge to close my eyes. I was able to see a lot more. It was the most amazing feeling.

The next day I had my post-op appointment. I was able to drive there myself. I went in and they took me back and looked at my eyes to see if they were healing. I was able to read the line of letters and had 20/20 vision less than 24 hours after my surgery. Yay, I was so excited. Everything was so clear.

It has been 11 days since my surgery and all is good. I do have to be careful about rubbing my eyes. That is a huge no no. I have had some allergy eyes so my doctor gave me some drops for the itching. The doctor says everything looks good and he doesn't need to see me for another year and a half. Nice. It is so nice to wake up and see in the morning and not have to deal with putting in contacts. It is so wonderful to be able to see. I don't know why I waited so long.

Haircuts, Free Stuff and All Kinds of Fun....

2008-05-08T11:11:00.010-05:00

Okay, first off, this last week, Rebecca saw a picture of herself with bangs and decided that she wanted me to cut her bangs. Several months ago Rebecca didn't want me to cut her bangs anymore, so we started pulling them back to keep them out of her face. Her bangs were about to her chin when I cut them. Here is a cute picture with her bangs. Just pretend she doesn't have the red eye.

And of course Miss Annie not wanting to take a picture of her cute hairdo. Annie is finally letting me do something with her hair. She is still likely to take it out before the day is through, but this is a start.

Okay, on with the "free stuff". The girls and I along with my friend Laura and her two boys went to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens on Monday. It was really beautiful. The flowers were all in bloom, the weather was nice, although we had a few sprinkles, and of course it was free to get in to the Botanical Gardens.

We had a nice little picnic and I didn't care if the girls were screaming and running around while they should be eating their lunch. It was nice to go to a place where you can let your kids mess around and not worry about bothering someone else. Sure there were people there, but if they didn't like those screaming kids then they could go find another place to sit. There really weren't a whole lot of people there and the girls weren't too terribly annoying, they were just having fun. Here are some picture of the kiddos at the Botanical Gardens.

Of course you can't get a picture of them without saying "Cheese"! From left to right. Elliott, Rebecca, Oliver and Annie.

I decided to dress the girls in matching outfits that day because I thought if one of them got away from me, then I would only have to remember one outfit when giving a description to the cops. The girls were tired and needed a break.

Here is Rebecca, Elliott, and Oliver playing with bubbles. In the background you can see all the flowers in bloom. We were in the Rose Garden and they had tons of roses that were all in bloom.

Here are the kids taking an Oreo pit stop. They could not got any further until they had their oreos. Don't they look so cute with their Oreo faces?

As you can see from this shot, how beautiful it was at the gardens. All the kids had fun and again it was free. The girls were whooped and fell asleep in the car. It was a nice day. I plan to do more outings there.

Okay, on with "all kinds of fun". Tomorrow is the BIG day for me. I am going in at 10:30am for my lasik procedure. I am supposed to keep my eyes closed for the first 2 hours after the surgery. Then I can open them put my medicine in and continue to keep them closed for most of the day. Hmm, sounds like I might get a nap tomorrow. Oh, and I have to wear theses sexy sunglasses all day tomorrow, inside and out. I'll be sure to get a picture of that. My doctor said I should see results by tomorrow evening. Saturday I can drive myself to the doctor for my post-op appointment. I am looking forward to it and the long term effects of it. I am a bit nervous today and probably won't get any sleep tonight because of it. I will write as soon as I can to let everyone know how well everything went.

I better run for now, I thought I ought to clean the house and make it all nice and neat because I probably won't feel like doing it tomorrow.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

2008-05-04T23:59:00.009-05:00

My dear old Dad is 59 today,

oh my goodness, what can I say?

He raised me with a very strong hand,

and today that is how I stand.

He taught me many things like right from wrong,

and maybe a little song.

His kindness and gentle nature is one to portray,
and makes me wish I weren't so far away.

Happy Birthday! I love you, Dad! See you soon.

7 Random Things About Me

2008-05-03T08:47:00.004-05:00

1 - I love chocolate dipped strawberries. I can eat several of them at one sitting. I don't get the chance to do that often at all. Hmmm, maybe I should learn how to make them.

2 - I hate to clean but love how my house looks and smells after I have done it. I also have this feeling of accomplishment, like my life has a purpose. And then two seconds later it doesn't look like I have done anything because of all the toys. I need to work on the girls.

3 - I count the steps that it takes to get to the mailbox. I don't know why I do this but I have done this since I live in Blythe with my parents. I also count the stairs while going up a staircase. Most houses have 14 steps.

4 - I don't think I have a good singing voice but sing to my kids all the time and don't care what it sounds like. I hope they don't mind either.

5 - I put together two day beds, a dresser and a bookshelf. One day bed and the dresser was put together while I was super, super pregnant. I was pretty proud of myself. I thought I was pretty handy.

6 - I don't know how to really work the sewing machine but have made two curtains and need to work on the third panel. My husband says I should read the instructions, but I have done pretty good so far.

7 - My most favorite food made at home is spaghetti with meat sauce. My most favorite food to eat out is Mexican food. My least favorite food is tuna casserole. I don't eat that anymore.

Updates

2008-05-01T07:55:00.004-05:00

So, I thought I would throw out a little blog while I am waiting for the girls to finish their breakfast. Thought I would update you on a couple of things that I have previously posted about.

First, my brother, Tyson. He is doing much, much better. They have moved him out of the ICU and found an antibiotic that works for his type of infection. The doctors have him walking the halls about 4 times a day, to get him moving again. He also has to blow into that machine thing to strengthen his lungs after his surgery. Since they moved him into a regular room, Tyson will be able to use his computer and see all the wonderful things I am saying about him and of course check his email and such. I have not heard when he will be released to go home, but hopefully it will be soon. I know he can't stand just sitting in the hospital. Oh and his kids will be able to come see him since he is not in ICU anymore.

Second, Annie's pacifier. She only gets the pacifier at night and during naps. The withdrawals are much, much better. She is not cranky or agitated like she was in the beginning. Whenever Annie gets hurt or something sets her off she comes over to me and asks for it. It was definitely a comforting factor for her. When she does this I try to get her to get comfort from her little stuffed bunny. Seems to work for the most part. For some reason she has been a night owl. She goes to bed at her normal time and then is up for at least a couple of hours. Last night I told her if she didn't stay in her bed, I was going to take her pacifier away and that worked.

Third, I am getting lasik surgery next week. I know I have not written about this yet. I have an appointment today for all the pre-op testing and other stuff they will do. I am very nervous, but really excited too. I am going to be able to wake up in the morning and see my alarm clock without my glasses. I will be able to watch TV, drive, wear my sunglasses without my glasses or contacts. I will update on this subject later.

Now, I have to get Rebecca to school and go do my workout. Looking forward to being kidless for about an hour!

My Dear Brother...

2008-04-27T13:59:00.006-05:00

My dear brother, Tyson, is in the hospital.

Yesterday, Tyson and his family were on their way to Bakersfield to celebrate his mother-in-laws birthday. He had had a stomach ache since the night before, but felt like he could make it out of town for the day. Well, his stomach continued to hurt and so his brother-in-law took him to an Urgent Care in Bakersfield where he saw a nurse or a physicians assistance, he never saw a doctor. They took blood and ran some tests and ruled out his liver, kidneys and some other things. They finally said they thought he had gallstones and told him to check in with his doctor on Monday and sent him with a prescription for vicadin. Since his family wasn't planning on spending the night they filled the prescription and headed for their hour drive home. The pain continued and Tyson took a vicadin and that upset his stomach and he wasn't able to keep it down. By the time the arrived home he had a fever and was in a lot of pain. So my sister-in-law took him to the ER in Simi Valley and they said that his appendix has ruptured. Oh my goodness! I cannot believe that they could not figure this out at the Urgent Care. That is negligence!

They rushed Tyson into the OR for an emergency appendectomy and they were able to do the surgery laproscopically, which makes for a quicker recovery. While they were in surgery the surgeon noticed a small hernia and some scar tissue, which is really weird since Tyson has never had surgery before. They were able to take care of the hernia and all went well with that. Tyson will be in the hospital for about 5 days. My mom is going out there to help out with the kids. Please keep Tyson and his family in your prayers.

The picture above is Tyson and Rebecca when she was about 8 months old. I couldn't find any other pictures of my brother. I love you big bro! Get well soon.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Annie!!!

2008-04-23T22:03:00.009-05:00

Today is Annie's 2nd birthday. She was very excited all day about it being her birthday. We serenaded her with the Happy Birthday song throughout the day. Annie would have the biggest grin on her face whenever we started to sing.

For her birthday we had our neighbors, Kevin and Leah, and our good friends, Chris and Amanda over for dinner. We were going to have hamburgers, potato salad and birthday cake but instead just went out for burgers and then came home for cake. Rebecca wanted Annie to have a pink cake. So, I made a strawberry cake with strawberry icing out of a box. I followed the directions on the box, but for some reason the cake stuck to the pan and broke apart. So, I thought, this can still work. I put the first layer, that was still intact down and frosted it. Then came the top layer that was in about 3 pieces. I place it on top and thought the frosting will act like glue and no one will ever know that the cake was falling apart. It didn't work. The cracks in the cake began to separate and slide off. By the time we ate the cake, it looked like the cake had earthquake fault lines. It looked horrible, but tasted good. I personally am not a big fan of strawberry cake, so it didn't taste that great to me.

After dinner, Annie opened her presents. It was like Christmas all over again. She got a lot of stuff. Annie got clothes, a Dora backpack, Dora toy, cash register, play camera, apron, binoculars, a purse with play lipstick, perfume, cell phone, and sunglasses. She cleaned up! Rebecca cleaned up too, even though it wasn't her birthday. Seems like the grandparents can't help but get the other kid a present too. Rebecca got a Dora backpack, clothes and binoculars. Those silly grandparents!

On Saturday, we had the local family out for her birthday party. However, it was not a good time for everyone because Papa Willis and Grammie Linda were the only ones that were able to make it. It was nice to just visit with them because we had not seen them since before Christmas. For this little party we had chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting. Those were good. That was more to my liking. Rebecca and Annie got to open some more presents. They got clothes, books, and puzzles. They enjoyed spending time with Papa Willis and Grammie Linda.

Overall, Annie had a great birthday. I catch her singing happy birthday to herself every once in a while. It is cute. It is funny to think that I have a 2 and 3 year old.

So Sweet

2008-04-17T12:50:00.005-05:00

While going through and sorting pictures on the computer, I found these pictures of the girls. The bond that they have and are going to have for the rest of their lives is priceless. My mom and her sister are so close and that is what I see in my girls. Makes me wish that I had a sister...though I have been blessed with two of the best brothers ever. Anyway, thought I would share the pictures that I ran across.

As you can see these pictures were taken before the pacifier was taken away. We are on day 5 of no pacifier. When I say no pacifier, I mean during the day. However, I did let Annie go to sleep with one for her nap and then took it away when she was asleep. Lets just say that her nap was less than an hour, more like 30 minutes. I am going to try maybe going cold turkey. I've got to break this habit.

Has Anyone Seen My Sanity???

2008-04-15T12:33:00.003-05:00

Okay, I think my title says it all. The terrible two's have struck our household and has slowly and painfully chased my sanity out the door. This has got to be the worst way to lose your mind.... slowly. You are very aware that it is happening to you and you try to muster up some strength to hold on for dear life, but then it just can't take it anymore and heads out the door. I just wish I could let my body follow it and re-group.

This is day 3 of the no "Bink" situation. I think that is playing a huge, huge role in the whole tense atmosphere in my house. Annie has just been a bear (and I am being so nice by using this word instead of so many others that come to mind) lately and just agitated. It is like the pacifiers have caffeine or nicotine on them and she is going through withdrawals.

Today, my dear friend Laura and I went to lunch and of course we had to bring the kiddos. So, we had a nice pleasant lunch and then we let the kids play in the play area, while I got some venting out. It sure is nice to have friends to talk to at these very trying times. My sanity enjoyed that a lot. So, before I knew what was going on, Annie was in the middle of a meltdown over a french fry (or I think that was what it was over). She was screaming and refusing to put her shoes on. I am really trying not to make eye contact with anyone for fear of some dirty looks. So, I am carrying Annie out of the restaurant kicking and screaming and at that moment I lost my sanity.

We made it home and I am sitting in the quietest house ever trying to mend my frazzled nerves. I am re-thinking the "Bink" situation. I am just about to give in and try it again later. Both girls are taking naps. They will be up soon and I will have to do it all over again. I am so envious of my friends that have family close by to help. That is the only down fall to living here in Texas.

Reverse Psychology or Just Plain Mean

2008-04-14T12:05:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, I got the wild idea to try and take away "the Bink" (pacifier) from Annie, who will be 2 next week. I didn't want to be mean mommy and let her go cold turkey, so I googled how to wean from a pacifier. There was an article that said cut the very tip off of the pacifier and give it to your child. The lady who wrote the article said that her son continued taking the pacifier, even after she cut the tip off. She did say that he put it in his mouth and then took it back out and inspect it and then continued to use it. So, the next week she cut a little bit more off and her son would not have anything to do with it. And it was his decision not to use the pacifier.

So, I did it! I cut off the tip off of two pacifiers and left two intact (just in case it back fires). I gave Annie the altered pacifier and she put it in her mouth and immediately took it out and looked at it. She told me it was broken and handed it back to me. Annie continued to look for another pacifier. She found the other "broken" one. Again the same thing. And that was the end of it. Annie had made up her mind that she did not want a broken one.

However, that night she wanted a "Bink" and I tried to give her a broken one. She was not going to have it. She hollered and begged for me to give her a "Bink". So, I broke out the good pacifiers and gave her a good one to go to bed with. I figured she did not have one hanging in her mouth all day so she could have one at night and during a nap. This is a start.

This is day two and it is going very well. She asks for a "Bink" and we find a broken one and she hands it back to me and says she doesn't want it and that is the end of it. I am thinking this might not be so bad. I think by next week we will have broken the habit, except for at night, which is fine. I will break the night habit very soon and just give the broken ones to her and make her realize that she doesn't need it anymore. But don't you like the way that I made it her decision.

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The Texas Bluebonnets are out. Last weekend we went out looking for them to get the girls pictures taken. We found a huge patch of them on the side of the freeway. But it was a big hill and the girls were no where close to being by any on coming cars. The pictures turned out great. Take a look....

I have to throw this bottom picture in too. This is one of my favorites. Rebecca and Annie are eating breakfast while sharing the same chair. They are really close and enjoy playing, sleeping and eating together. Don't get me wrong, we do have our moments of screaming and yelling and time-outs for hitting, but I love the moments that they have pictured below.

Three's A Crowd

2008-04-03T12:16:00.003-05:00

Okay, in my previous post I explained what our weekly routine was. Well, we have a new twist to our routine. I started watching a little boy occasionally. I have watched him total of 3 days, not in a row but sporadically. Anyway, the first two times watching Tyler were on days that I didn't have anything scheduled so we didn't go anywhere, until today.

Today, is Thursday and Rebecca has school. So, I loaded up the kids early so, just in case anything came up, we would not be late. Everything went smoothly until I took Rebecca to the bathroom before her class started. Annie and Tyler are in the double stroller while I am helping Rebecca go to the bathroom on an automatic flushing toilet. Okay, so I put Rebecca on the toilet and cover the sensor with my hand so the toilet won't flush and scare the poor child out of ever using the toilet again. Well, Rebecca was just doing what she was told, but she ended up peeing on her pants while sitting on the toilet. The stream just didn't want to land in the toilet. So, I am telling Rebecca to stop and she can't, of course. So, Rebecca gets finished and we pull up her pants and they are pretty wet. Hmmm. I didn't bring another change of clothes for her because she hadn't ever needed a pair of clothes before and that is just one more thing I have to remember and lug around. So, before her class I talked to her teacher about it and she said she doesn't mind if she still comes to class, but of course Rebecca was like no way, I'm wet.

So, instead of going all the way home for a change of clothes, I ran by target and purchased Dora panties and some pants. During the shopping trip I was thinking this is me with 3 kids. I had Rebecca and Annie riding in the back part of the basket and Tyler in the front. The girls were pushing and fussing in the back at each other and I was constantly telling one of them or both of them to sit down. I was ready to pull my hair out. It wasn't because I had a 3rd kid with me it was just the events of the day and it wasn't even 9:30 in the morning yet.

I just confirmed my plans to having no more children. Having Tyler here has definitely made me see my future with 3 and I didn't like what I saw. It was lugging 3 kids in the car, putting their seat belts on, getting them out of the car, putting 2 in a stroller and fussing at the 3rd one to be okay with walking. Then after picking up Rebecca from school walking to the car, thinking I should have gotten the stroller out, because Annie is going one way Rebecca is going another while I was carrying Tyler. It took entirely too long with much frustration getting the 3 in the car. Tyler being the easiest. So, can't you see that with 2, my hands are already full. It is hard to make my two listen to me when I just can't grab them and make them go where I need them to go while carrying a baby.

No pictures today.

The Routine

2008-03-30T15:28:00.008-05:00

Well, it has been two weeks since I have written a blog. Not a whole lot has happened. Just the daily routine. So, I thought I would share our daily routine or not so much of a routine.

On Monday and Friday, we don't have anything scheduled.

Tuesday, Rebecca has pre-school at 8:45 to 10:30 at the Hurst Rec. center. She loves going to her class. Rebecca is learning how to write her letters and enjoys her arts and craft time. While Rebecca is in class, Annie and I go upstairs (at the Rec center) to the indoor track. Since we are Hurst residents we pay $25 a year and have access to the gym. So, I try to walk really fast and get 2 miles in before 9:30 because Annie has her Parent and Tot tumbling class. Annie really likes her tumbling class. I put her in this class once before but she was a little too young and didn't want to do what she was supposed to be doing. Now, she is leading the class like she has been doing this all along. The kids go on this obstacle course thing and do front rolls and climb over things and jump and all sorts of things. The parents assist their kids. Then they go over to the teacher and learn some other gymnastic skill. Annie's class is only 30 minutes so, we have some time to kill waiting for Rebecca. I usually strike up a conversation with one of the other moms and Annie gets antsy in her stroller. Then it is time to pick up Rebecca. Then we come home and hang out and do some chores around the house. Still trying to get Rebecca to help me with the chores. So far, I have not been too lucky.

Wednesday, Rebecca has her tumbling class at 10:00. She has been doing her tumbling class for a while now and is quite good at it, if she would just sit still and pay attention. She is so wiggly. Rebecca's class works on some more advanced gymnastics equipment. She walks on the balance beam, with assistance from her teacher and then tries it by herself on a lower balance beam. After Rebecca's class, Annie has a music class. They sing songs, dance and play some instruments. You can really see Annie's personality in this class. The teacher in this class is real animated and great with the kids. After class we head home.

Thursday, Rebecca has her pre-school class again at 8:45-10:30. Depending on Matt's schedule that day, depends on what I get to do. If Matt is working I usually take Annie and go grocery shopping. It is so much easier to go shopping with one kid than two. If Matt is home, then I go work out at the Rec. center in their cardio room. Last week I worked out on the Cross Trainer. I went for 99 minutes. I burned 820 calories and went 5.75 miles. That was so cool. I hurt like crazy that whole day after, but was excited to burn 820 calories. After my workout, I picked up Rebecca from her class and headed home.

I scheduled the girls classes this way so it would leave us time plenty of time if we wanted to go somewhere for a long weekend or just be more available to go see Papa Willis and Grammie Linda. We also leave this time open to go play with friends and go to the park.

Matt and I started Weight Watchers last week, well kind of. We are eating like we are on Weight Watchers with the points, but we don't pay to go to the meetings. We figured we are a good enough team to be accountable for what we eat. So far we have not been too bad. Although, Matt went to work and was coming home and was going to pass a Carl's Jr. Carl's Jr. is pretty scarce out here. They have 2 or 3 in the state of Texas that we know of. Anyway, I told Matt he better not fall off the wagon without me. So, he brought us home a Western Bacon Cheeseburger with ranch. Yum. We had eaten really good all week until Friday. I just keep reminding myself about 820 calories I burned and gained back in one sitting and then some, I'm sure. Anyway, this week we are going be good. We know what we can eat a lot of, a little of and none at all.

The main reason, well my main reason, for the the diet is I will be making a trip home in June. If I plan on being in Blythe in June, I plan on being at the river in a bathing suit. I at least gotta look okay in a bathing suit instead of gross. Anyway, my goal is 30 pounds or more before I get to Blythe. Wish me luck! Prayers are welcome!

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you....Annie is potty training. She is not even 2 yet and doing very well. I hope to be out of diapers by the end of the year. Yay, for Annie! I will keep you updated on her progress. I am sure it will be the title of a blog in the future.

Here are some pictures of the girls in their new PJ's.

30...Ugh....

2008-03-16T20:40:00.011-05:00

Well, this past Thursday, I turned the big 30. I have officially moved into another age bracket. I don't feel old, but when you say that you are 30, it kinda hits you. I have accomplished what I have thought I would have accomplished by this age. I have a college degree, husband, 2 kids, a dog, a cat, a mortgage, car payments, accumulated debt, and am doing what I love and hate at the same time. I would not change a thing.....except for the debt, that is never good.

On my birthday, I spent my day doing nothing. I thought I was going to have a miserable day, I am usually sick on my birthday. But I was as healthy as can be. I spent time with my family and friends and over all it was a very good day. Rebecca and Annie told me Happy Birthday every time they thought of it (which was a lot). They were so excited to have cake and blow out the candles. Just like all kids, they love a party.

So, for my "party" we went to Mi Pueblo for some good Mexican food and some awesome margaritas. YUM! My friends Kevin and Leah joined us for the festivities. Then Kevin got a little sneaky and told our waitress that it was my birthday. So everyone sang Happy Birthday to me. Got a little teary eyed in the moment just having a really great time with my wonderful family and great friends. Wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Okay, maybe I would have enjoyed some more family that I don't get to see to often. Now that would have been nice.

Now I leave you with some pictures of the festivities.

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On Saturday we went to the Hurst Easter Egg Hunt. We went last year and had a great time. Both girls loaded their baskets full of candy (that is gross) and plastic eggs that have free kids meals at Chick-fil-a. Anyway, the girls had a great time.

Now here are some pictures of the girls at the Hurst Eggstavaganza....

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Oh, and go to this blog and check out Dana's quilt she is giving away!!!

http://www.oldredbarnco.blogspot.com/

Crazy Texas Weather

2008-03-09T13:50:00.010-05:00

This past week we had the pleasure of having a snow day. The funny thing is the day before was in the mid 70's. That is Texas for you, one day you are sunny, wearing summer clothes and then the next day you are freezing cold, snowing outside and trying to remember where you put your jacket. The girls absolutely loved it though. However, the wind was so cold while it was snowing that it was just too much for them to stay outside for too long. I did manage to get a couple of pictures. I think we ended up with 3 or 4 inches of snow. The flakes were huge. They were about an inch in diameter and coming down really fast. Other parts of the area got like 9 inches. Of course, it was gone by the next day as it got up to 45 degrees.

When the snow was gone the girls kept looking outside asking where the snow went and when it was going to come back. Well, I didn't have a good enough answer because this is what I found them looking like a little while later. By the way, they are in time out.

So, they got into the baby powder and decided to have a snow storm in Annie's room. The mess wasn't too terribly bad, but enough for them to have a time out. I know it is not right to point fingers when they were obviously both at fault, but Rebecca was the definite colporate in the whole ordeal. She is a smart little kid that tries to get away with everything. She definitely pushes the limit and my buttons at the same time. Motherhood is by far the most stressful yet rewarding bliss I have ever been through. It is constant, ongoing, and never a dull moment. My cup is full and sometimes over flowing, there will be no more little Hansen's running around, at least on this branch of the family tree.

Anyway, since I started this blog, I feel like I am using my brain a little bit more than usual. I have to think about spelling and grammar. Plus, I am keeping up on the picture taking that I kind of let go for a while because of schedules and laziness. On that note, I will leave you with some more pictures of my precious little angels.

A few of my favorite things.....

2008-03-03T14:55:00.011-06:00

I am just sitting here thinking about some of the special moments that are in my life and thought I would write them down.

When Annie comes in my room in the morning and we have a little while to cuddle before everyone else gets up.
When Annie puts her hands on my cheeks and wants me to say, "Hi, my name is Chubby...". Thanks to Matt she loves that.

When both my girls sing "Froggy went a courting and he did right, uh huh."

When both girls dance and sing when Matt plays his guitar.

When Rebecca cuddles up with me and pretends to be a baby again.
When I put Rebecca in bed and she says her prayers and we rub noses.

When we all go out and do something as a family. Doesn't happen often but those are the best days of my life.

When Matt sings and plays his guitar.

When we spend time with our best friends and neighbors, Kevin and Leah. They are really great people.

When Matt plays with the girls and makes them laugh.

I sometimes feel as if my life is at a stand still and everyone is passing me by. I will look at this blog and be thankful everyday for what I have and what my family and friends mean to me.

These pictures were taken on February 15, 2008. These are my favorite pictures of the girls, right now anyway. I love the way the photographer took the pic

Pete and Re-Pete

2008-03-01T10:24:00.019-06:00

Okay, with the girls being very close in age, I feel my entire day consists of re-runs. Pete (Rebecca) does something, whether it is good or bad, and then Re-Pete (Annie) comes along and does the same thing. It can get quite comical at times but when it is something bad, all I am thinking is how do I stop Re-Pete from doing it.

It also goes the other way around. Annie, being the baby she is, wants to really act the part of baby and then here comes Rebecca doing the baby thing too. Rebecca wants to have a pacifier that Annie has. (By the way, I am thinking of taking the pacifier away, if you all have any suggestions of doing so, fill me in.) Or she will whine like Annie does. Gets quite stressful at times.

Anyway, here are some pictures of Pete and Re-Pete. They are playing in Matt's cowboy boots.

Blessed

2008-02-12T13:39:00.000-06:00

A wonderful friend of mine started sharing her daily life on her blog so, I thought I would give it a shot. While reading my friends blog I went to one of her friends listed on the side of her page and then on to someone elses page. I ended up on a young couples page. This young couple had their first baby that had some health issues. I kept reading and reading to find out what the problem was that this little boy had. I went all the way back to last year. I read that the couple was to have twins and one twin died shortly after birth. This just makes me count every blessing in my life and not to take anything for granted.

Even though my girls seem to be little monsters at times, they are my little blessings from God. God gave me my two girls healthy and without complications. Now it is my job to teach them to wonderful young women and upstanding citizens. God has entrusted me to mold their lives and keep them safe. I just pray to God that I am doing everything right.

Rebecca, who is 3, says her prayers every night. She says it so clear and cute. That is one indication that I am on the right road to bringing up my girls in the light of the Lord. My youngest, Annie, who is 21 months, does her best in saying her prayers. The words aren't quite there but her whole heart is in it. I know she doesn't understand the meaning but that will come later. I am just so blessed to have a wonderful family.

This picture was taken about a week ago. My husband, Matt, got the girls a little green house. They planted their seeds and are ready for the flowers to start growing. The girls ask to see the flowers every day. It did not take long for them to sprout up. I guess the next step is to plant them outside or in a larger pot soon. The girls had a lot of fun doing this project with their daddy. As you can tell in this picture both girls were told to say cheese and that is exactly what they are doing.