Joely gets a haircut, but keeps the curls!!!

Robert's dad has been hounding me for months now to get Joely's hair cut. I usually listen to him, but I rebelled on this. The thought of cutting off her beautiful curls killed me. After the other kids first haircuts, the curls were left on the floor never to return. Well Q-bone still gets some curls if his hair is left raggedy, but nothing like mine. I just really wanted one of my minions to have my blessing/curse of naturally curly hair. Well she's nearly two (wah wah wah) and I havn't cut her hair and her little paws keep pushing her hair out of her face, so I decided to bite the bullet and getterdone. I am happy to report she still has her beautiful curls.

Right now it becomes clear, she's not going to go peacefully along. She's saying "MOMMY!!!"

And here she is going to take her drink and blanket and go home. If you can imagine, Quentin was beside himself with worry, he kept telling me, "She doesn't need her haircut, let's just go." He's such a good brother always has her back.

H enegaged her in a cute game of "monkey see monkey do." It's her favorite game, once she figured out she could get people to copy her, we play it all the time, and it's a great game because it's all very quiet.

And once again there was peace in the Valley. Quentin gave her his pokemon handbook and she was happy.

And for some reason I didn't take a picture of the final product, but trust me she still looks adorable!

Halloween Fun for the boys

David was not happy with the first costume I had him wear last week to the church Halloween Party. I had been asking him for about a month, what do you want to be? What do you want to be? And he wouldn't answer. So at 4:00, when we needed to leave I gave him a cape and hat and told him he was a wizard. At that point he wanted to be an alien, which I could not just pull out of my butt in just ten minutes (even as some would point out, it's an awfully large butt) So he went unhappily as a sad Wizard who was embarrassed. My friend Gala was at the party and she took pity on the poor depressed Wizard. The next afternoon she brought him an alien costume over, all I had to do was add tinfoil. So he wore it to the School Open House on Thursday Night. He was real nervous to wear it because "what if nobody else wears costumes?" But there were a lot of kids wearing cosutmes, nonetheless, he came in Second Place in the school costume contest! Thanks Gala! He finally smiled AND he won a Pokemon Poster.




David the Depressed Wizard and David the award winning Alien.

As far as his depression goes, he never looks much more excited than the above pictures with the excpetion of when he's swimming or opening up a new game.

Last year Quentin was all about Tom Brady. Tom Brady was a football God. This year he suffered an injury and now his career his dead. So Quentin went to Halloween Festivities as a Dead Tom Brady. At the Church party, I did his make up real nice, but for the real day, I messed it up and he thought he looked ridiculous. So I dressed up even more retarded. (ok yes I know I'm not supposed to say that word anymore, but seriously nothing else describes what I wore better) I didn't want him to look the most ridiculous, so I put on the YELLOW Den leader shirt (and Aryn you thought the other one was a clown suit) and a Wolf Cub Hat and I looked VERY VERY VERY LAME- so Quentin felt better. I did not allow photographs taken of me in the costume, it's that horrific. The good News, Quentin won "funniest Costume" and was given a "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" do it yourself book, that he wanted from last week's book fair.




After his friends Halloween Party Quentin and two friend spent the night to celbrate the 9th anniversary of Quentin's Advent. IT was fun for all involved. They stayed up until five am. Then rolled out of bed around noon in time to scarf down some hot dogs and head over to Travis' birthday party. Quentin has been recovering quite nicely from his strep throat problems, until after all the partying. I think he pushed it a little too much and he had to convalesce on Sunday. Here's a picture of the boys all trashed out on Saturday Morning.





Quentin got an Ipod Shuffle from us for his birthday and next weekend he'll spend with Grandma Mullens. My parents are sending him the game he requested, officially his birthday will be tomorrow. We have a little somthing planned for him, but since he reads my blog I won't spill the beans. The school just called and he's sick again, I will post about the girls fun later!

Flashback Friday err Sunday

If I did this right, you should be able to see Toonces the driving cat. Just click on the title. This was from when SNL was Saturday Night Live and it was consistantly funny. I am flashbacking to Toonces because we now have a stray that shows up for Tuna a couple of times a week. She/he looks just like Toonces from the Salad Days of my youth. When we lived on Thonig Road, we had a Toonces there too. I even trapped her and had her well him fixed. But when I tried to trap him to move to Laredo, he ran off, never to be seen again, until he/she reincarnated and came on our door step a couple of weeks ago. Thanks for the second chance Toonces.



Halloween was fun, and I'll post tomorrow all the pix and comments-- but David purchased a new computer game and Robert needed to do some work-- so I havn't had a chance to add anything- but as a spoiler, here is the cutest litte Trick or treater we saw!

QUACK! QUACK!

This one goes out to the one I love

Robert was chosen as employee of the month. As a reward he was able to pick from several prizes some where a outdoor fire pit, golf clubs, watches, a night at a european marriot, camping equipment, etc. He chose the cuisinart!

"It's party time. It's one thing when you're preparing food for yourself or for your immediate family. But when your friends and extended family are coming over, you need power and size to simplify food prep. After all, there's enough love and skill that goes into creating dishes you want to share. The process of preparation needs to be simpler, easier. That's when you need this.The Custom 14-cup Processor offers a heavy-duty motor that ensures consistent chopping, slicing and shredding of your ingredients. It will also knead up to 3 pounds of dough. Famous for having the largest feed tube on the market, minimizing the need to precut ingredients. Includes a instructional video and recipe book to get you started. That's the core purpose of cuisine as art. That's why you need this Cuisinart Food Processor. It's the vital tool for when friends come over and you want to do and be your best. Are you ready to party? Detachable Disc Stem Spatula Cuisinart How-to Video / Instruction Manual / Recipe Book Dependability is supported by Cuisinart's Full 5-year Motor Warranty and Limited 3-year Warranty on the whole product."

He should have got something only he would enjoy, but Robert is not like that, he got something he knew I wanted and we'd all enjoy- Just think of al lthe breads I'll make with the bread hook....
Plus Quentin is super excited, he can't wait to make salsa. It's already shipped, so we should get it tomorrow, just in time for weekend fun.

Robert also will be featured in the Siemen's magazine, he was interviewed and EVERYTHING- as you all know - Robert is not big on attention, but this is well deserved. This honor is for his hard work keeping things online and ontime during the aftermath of the Hurricane. He is the employee of the month for the whole Process Analytics Division of Siemens, not just his plant- so it's a big deal, even if I did tease him about it. To be fair, he did say he was eligble for the jelly of the month club, so I thought it was just some chump thing, but a cuisinart and a write up in the magazine, well that's a pretty big deal!!!
Go ROBERT!!!!

Also if you are so inclined, check out Quentin's blog. He's been home sick a couple of days with strep throat, so he started a blog. He's got a few writing assignments for cub scouts so he posted one about america, and he'll post the other stuff. Turn the volume down as he has the Foo Fighters' rockin on the blog.

Flashback Friday

I saw this on a blog I was "skulking" --does anyone read blogs of people they don't know? I don't follow any (per se) but I do on occasion (OK TWICE A DAY) click on the blogs listed on friends and then go to a blog of someone I don't know, then click on a blog of their favorites and so on and so on and so on. Anyhoo, I do get results and happen across old friends that way, but I do kind of feel like Gladys Kravitz when I do.. I'm drawn to read the innerworkings of people I do not know, yet at the same time repulsed by my own compulsion....

I digress, back to Flashback Friday- If any of you out there remember me when I reigned supreme in my 1976 SR5 Toyota Corolla Sportscoup, (five speed standard transmission, it could go 0-60 in like 15 minutes, it was saweet) please validate me, if you didn't know me then, please validate me with laughter. This picture was taken 20 years ago, back when Boy Bands were unheard of, Bon Jovi had long hair, Rob Lowe was a discrace because of a naughty video, (now similiar videos, well they make you a star) we were still iving in the Reagan/Bush years of peace, prosperity and no inflation, the mall was an important destination, not a necessary evil like today, Thursday night TV included shows I could actually watch with my children now, and I was still planning on dancing on the hood of Whitesnake's car, I had a little fantasy going that I was Tawny Kitaen....What happened to her man? I just googled her and she's nothing like I remember,( I won't even put a link to her- it's that bad!) maybe she peeked to early- ANYHOO DIGRESSING AGAIN- here I go again on my own!

I call this, I love the eighties-Look closer you'll see blue mascara, yes blue mascara. Do they even still make the blue mascara? Should they have ever made the blue mascara?

I'm still trying to figure out Photoshop elements (I aint' much on book learnin') so I can't scan real well, so here's a digital picture of a regular picture- it's not soo awesome, but I'll figure out these new fangled machines one day...

like totally, gag me with a spoon

A couple of fun days

Add crocs to the list of things, I have no idea how our mother's survived without them, actually I wonder how on earth I had three kids before crocs were invented???

Yesterday I went with some friends to a new fun park in the NE Harris County Area. This park has a dirt bike "arena", Skate Park, Cool equipment, a spray park, ampitheater and two and 1/2 miles of hike/bike trails. Also it has clean bathrooms, which to me is amazing. And it's pretty close to my little corner of the world. I took my friend Megan's kiddos and the boy she babysits along with my friend Amanda and her daughter Anoi. It was fun to have every seat in the van full! We met Beautiful Briane and Groovey Gala and it was a great day. Gala took Quentin there with her kids last weekend and I am happy to say it is as cool as Quentin said it was, maybe even cooler! I am so glad that I've made some wonderful friends here in our small town. It sure makes the days fly with friends to play with and laugh with. Gala really is groovy and she keeps such a cheery attitude that even though I try and be grumpy, I just can't when I'm with her! Brianne isn't just beautiful, she's smart and funny too. I shouldn't always focus on Brianne's beauty, all my girlfriends are gorgeous, but she's got that one in a million beauty that kind of takes your breath away, you'll have to see her to understand, it's the whole package, she's super tall-ya know kind of Cindy Crawfordish--I digress-- Amanda and I met last year through cub scouts. Actually we were at a school funtion and she sat down by me and another cub scout mama and she was just so bubbly and adorable we invited her to come to the cub scout rally and now a year later, she's one of my favorites in Crosby. It's funny how as an adult it's not as easy to get A BFF, not like say Alice, her criteria is "anna is in my primary class and in Kindergarten too, she'll be my BFF" Remember those days, you liked someone's shoes and that was all it took to be friends? As an adult you kind of have to have a little bit more of a common ground. But Thanks to Church and Cub Scouts I've met some great women and men who have become my dear friends.

This is Amanda on the zip line- isn't she cool?

Amanda in her cool Paris Hilton Shades, adorned by Mya, Anoi, Keegan and Keegan-
This little thing, spins in circles, it's in the part of the park with the adult equipment.

Another cool Amanda vignette, she made cupcakes for the whole crowd- all total 10 children 4 adults- Have you ever enjoyed a cupcake as much as this little one seems to be doing?

Speaking of BFF's

My friend's Dana and Mellissa (cub scout mama's) go to the community center for aerobics on MWF, and today they convinced me I'd enjoy it too- So I got her royal highness up early, clearly she's not onboard to be going out, but she was a cute little trooper.

Here is some proof I was actually there. To be honest, it was fun, not too hard, but hard enough. A couple of times I wanted to wimp out, but then I'd see the little 80 year old lady kicking her legs higher or her crunches tighter and well I didn't want to be behind the octagenarian.
Hmm, what would freud say? I think in every picture I've posted I'm either wearing my "clown suit" (quoting Aryn Fitzwater) aka my scout uniform, or my scout t-shirt????

Mellissa and I are the Bear Den Leaders, (quentin's group) we have a lot of fun. She's very organized and always on time, I fly by the seat of my pants and am always 5 minutes late, So we complement each other, I'd say her more than me, but we get the job done and with minimal complaints from the scouts.

I met Dana at a Bear Meeting last year, her son Travis is/was in David's den. Dana and her husband Dale are VERY COOL, and very funny, plus they invite David over to spend the night at least once a month (THANK YOU FOREVER DALE AND DANA) It didn't take Dana too long to sign up to be on the Pack Commitee, her official title is "Advancement Coordinator" but she likes to call herself the personal shopper of Pack 264. On a cub scout level, I'm so glad she's involved, and on a personal level, I'm super glad to count the Anderson's as our friends. My friend Connie was the Bear leader last year and she was/is so cool that every boy pretty much brought a friend. We started out with 6 adorable boys and ended the year with 12. The boys LIVE to go to Miss Connie's house and even though they have a different den leader,and they are now webelos and last count we had 16 boys in 4th grade-- we still pretty much always meet at Connnie's place because she lives on like "a million acres" to quote David and there is plenty of room for a quick game of tag, ultimate frisbee or just plain goofing off. Dana's son Travis, Connie's son JT and Jon Lasseigne's (the cool "army guy" who taught the boys to ride a bike) son Ean ("it's the french spelling of Ian" says Ean) are over to spend the night tonight to celebrate the tenth anniversary of David's Advent. The night promises to be filled with tom foolery and video games.

Here's a peekEan, Travis and David- playing a Wii game, step away from the TV boys- Travis brought extra Wiimotes, so nobody would have to take turns, some of the games you can play up to 12 players- pretty sweet!

And here is a new set of Legos from Travis. Travis and David promise it will be put together by night's end (which they remind me will be at aproximatly six am) I hope so, I can just see myself tripping over these tomorrow.

This is cute JT -- He just wants to build right now.

I kind of (well not really) feel bad that I didn't invite all of David's friends, but three extra is a good manageable number. Even more manageable because Robert and the other three kids went to spend the night with his parents. Quentin was supposed to stay home with the party, but the siren call of Grandma Mullens was too hard to resist. He brought his wallet along, in case "grandma wants to go shopping."

I'm fixin' to crank up my I-Tunes and make some paper crafts.

Check out this fabulous Seamstress

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

I saw this on Renee's blog and had to make a link to it. She's giving the costume away to some lucky person who links her blog!!!! I can't imagine giving the costume away and I know at least one little princess who would adore it, but the odds are against us---- Anyway mainly I just want everyone to see her blog, it's FANTASTICAL!!!!

Now that mom has her fancy schmancy seewing machine, perhaps she can start on some costumes for next year's Halloween for Alice and Joely.....
It makes me remember many Halloweens' of the best unique costumes. Mom even let me use her wedding veil when I was the bride of Frankenstein, we never wore masks, but she always did something amazing with makeup. I went to a Halloween party at church and didn't speak, so that nobody knew who I was, she could have been doing this for the movie industry.

I have to find a picture of David's second halloween and Quentin's first, where she made them matching peas in a pod costumes, ADORABLE...

Hope everyone's day is SPOOKTACULAR

Should I have made him walk to school?

This Blog is about Quentin Michael, aka Quentonius Maximus or Q-bone

This morning was a good morning for Quentin, he was allowed to be the last person to get up. He bathed and dressed quickly. He didn't complain about toast for breakfast, he ate his food and drank his chocolate milk. He was dressed and had his teeth brushed. He gathered everyone's backpacks for them. He was first out the door.

He sat down to wait for the bus when he remembered he forgot his library books. He asked to go back home to get them, I told him to "run like the wind bullseye" or he would "miss the bus and walk to school."

He ran to the house and then walked slow, slower, and slowest back to the bus stop. Which by that point the bus was leaving, I even stalled to complain to the bus driver that my poor sweet innocent Alice had been assualted yesterday. I guess assaulted was a little dramatic, she was "hit" by a mean girl- no other details.

Anyway as we walked back to the house, I told him to keep on walking. He didn't take me seriously, so I thought, what would mom have done? She would have said the same thing, but she would have drove me to school, so I caved. I did however make him sit quietly and read his book, hardly punishment, but I did make him be about 2 minutes late, which was the ultimate torture.

He was late because I was making cupcakes, (see robert I'm learning and planning ahead) I have to make cupcakes for Alice's class party next week, and they have to be orange, my grandma Bowden had an orange cake recipe. I wanted to see if I could replicate it in cupcake form (and I can) and if I needed more batter (and I don't) and if the frosting is worth making (and it isn't) But now I am prepared for next Friday, I'll add food coloring, because the cakes are too pastel and I'll use a frosting can, because cooking the frosting is too time consuming (sorry Grandma, although it is delicioso) and not really worthy of kids who are going to so excited they probably won't eat the cupcake anyway.

I'll post her recipe later. I am going to run the cupcakes over to some pre-school guinea pigs at my friend Gala's house.

"Mom, are you going to put this on your blog?"

Asked David when I told him to pose by his sister yesterday.

I said, "YES!!! OF COURSE!"

He just shook his head and smiled at me.
So yesterday little Joely and I volunteered at Newport Elementary School where David, Quentin and all third and fourth graders in Crosby attend. We worked the club desk. Kids come to the desk and show me their good papers and I tell them how awesome they are and stamp their papers and sign their card. Its' fun because all the kids are happy, they did good on something and they get to leave class for a few minutes. Its very rewarding. Especially this time because last year David's teachers never took the time to send his class when I volunteered, (Yes I do hold a grudge) but yesterday after the teachers knew I was there, the whole class came at different times. Quentin came too- but I forgot I had the camera when he was there.

If you've spent anytime with us you'll know that Joely is always on the lookout for David. She calls his name constantly and is always looking out for him. Here she is yelling "DAVID! DAVID! DAVID!" But we hadn't seen him yet.

Here she is at the desk with her supplies. When Quentin came up, she looked up and said, "DAVID?" and he laughed and said no it's Quentin. He then went back through this door and the rest of the time there she was at the door looking for "David"

We had fun. Quentin was going to his friends house after school, so I asked David if he wanted to be signed out an hour early and he said, "YES YES YES, unless you think Alice will be scared on the bus by herself." I told him she'd be fine and he was happy to get a head start on his video games.

His birthday is on Monday and Mom and Dad sent him a new DS game called Locks Quest and Maw Maw Jo JO had given him money and he had me pick up the new SIMS Creator game for his DS- I can't beleive he'll be ten in just two days. Robert just took him to go spend the weekend with Grandma Sue. He's looking forward to the alone time and to get spoiled in everyway. Grandma's are good about meeting his needs, in a timely manner.

Here is a cute picture of Robert with Joely, I had tried to lay her down, but she wasn't ready so she ran right to her Dad for protection. Please note she has her baby with her, every baby is called Delyla now, since our good friends have a baby named Delyla. .

Do you like Halloween?

I thought that nobody could outdo my mom on the love of Halloween, but I think that this lady does outdo my mom- check out her blog!

http://murfreesborohaunts.blogspot.com/

What Font are you?

I just took a personality test to determine which computer font I am, and I came out as Comic Sans. Here is the description.

Comic Sans - You are easy going and have a good sense of humor. You are a nice change from the norm. Beware of becoming too cliche.

Funny thing is I do worry about being a cliche, I try to substitute Bon Bons for peanut butter cups and Soap Operas for DVR's Crime Dramas, but I still think I could be considered a cliche of a stay at home mom. I wouldn't describe myself as EASY GOING, (I can get intense) but I do have a good sense of humor.

Anyhoo take the test and let me know what font you are- If I did this correctly, but clicking on the title you'll be taken to quizilla for the test.

Oh and Joely peed (how do you spell that?) everywhere but the potty today, I think I'm pretty much giving up until after the new year.. Again being a cliche, only talking about my childrens triumphs and failures-

The Princess and the Pea

"thank you for my haircut"

That was how Alice began her prayer last night. Everyone tells her how beautiful she is with her short hair and it doesn't hurt to comb it, plus she can style it herself. It's so important to her that it makes it into her prayers. She ended last night's prayer with the following plea, "Please help me to stay in my bed all night so that these beautiful things will stay mine as long as I want them."

She was referring to her cute bedset, a couple of times last week she fussed a bit about going to bed and I reminded her that I would pack everything back up and take it to Miss Arcalee, she really wants to keep them, so she's been sleeping in her bed for an entire week!

THANKS ARCALEE!

Tonight I'll take a picture of her in her bed and post it.

Blessed Twilight...

Yes I know this was written for teens/young adults. Yes I know I'm pushing 40 and high school was a long time ago. I don't even remember turning 17--although I vaguely remember a car stereo for that birthday to replace the am analog radio-- But I LOVE THIS SERIES!!!! I beleive that Stephanie Myers is a genius. Most importantly I CAN NOT wait for the movie to come out- and thanks to the marketing Gods, it comes out in a little over a month. If you are wondering what this music is, it's the beautiful Lullaby that Edward created for Bella. It could happen, Vampires COULD be real and they COULD be well almost human and fall in love with us.

So if I've done this correctly, just click on the poster and you'll be directed to the official trailer on You Tube!

$2.85, yep that's the truth!!!

Wal-mart is selling gas for 2.85 a gallon!!! I did a double take, I'm going to get my camera and go back and take a picture of that sign. I remember when we had to pay 2.00 a gallon for gas and thought that was bad and here I am rejoicing over less than three dollars. I also remember scrounging up 79 cents to get a gallon of gas together in my 1976 sr5 Toyota Corrolla Sportscoup. Those were the days!

If only my camera would have been handy...

I took Alice to school today, when we were leaving she was putting on a pink feather boa to match her outfit. I asked her, "are you sure about this?" she said, "Of course I am." so I told her she may have to take it off and put it in her backpack and if so she can't get mad. She looked at me like I'm an idiot (I'm certain I'll see this look more and more often) and told me, "I Look Fabulous!" Who could argue with that? So When I dropped her off the Principal, Mr. Davenport, was there to help her out of the car. He told her she looked beautiful, while thanking him she gave me this knowing look with a raised eyebrow as if to say, "See Mom????" I am glad that Robert and I have raised a girl with such self esteem, it will come in handy later!
You may be wondering where she got the pink feather boa. My friend Arcalee (Rhymes with parsley) gave her and Joely her daughter's Hand me down Bed Sets and all the cute decor that goes with them. The Feather Boa is a decoration for one of the bed sets- but Alice didn't agree with that. Boas are for wearing. Another miracle occured because when I gave her the bed sets after school yesterday, I told her Miss Arcalee (in texas you say Miss and then the person's first name--regardless of marital status-- in the north I would have said, Mrs. Gautier) would only give her these beautiful things if she'd be a big girl and sleep in her bed.. She thought about it and said, "OK I can do this!" When bedtime came, she was a bit apprehensive, but she did it and she slept there the whole night!!! Usually she wakes up some time and get into bed with us, but she only had pleasant dreams in her beautiful bed. The comforter she chose had a penguin from Surf's up on it and beautiful flowers, the bed skirt is a grass skirt- it's adorable. I'll take a picture of her in it with her feather boa after school.
Joely's bed is really cute lots of bright colors, for those of you that will understand the reference, It makes me think of Lizzy McGuire. She usually doesn't want any covers when you lay her down, but last night she got all comfortable on her pillows and reached down to pull up the sheets and the comforter, then blew me a kiss and said "Bye" ___ VERY ADORABLE!!!
OH and Joely is still not potty trained, but she's trying so I give her an "R" for readiness and I give myself an "N" for needs improvement.

Portrait of an Unhappy Heart

For my dear readers that are following this blog- Joely is taking a nap, she's in a diaper during her sleep, so I thought I'd share a little diddy about Precious Prince David.

Last Night apparently David lost his mind and made a rare bad choice. The only consequence that fit the crime was the worst one known to David--- NO VIDEO GAMES ON FRIDAY-- ever Since first grade for D-money (as we like to call him) and Q-bone and now Allie Cat- we don't allow video games during the week, it was a smart request from his principal, Kim Buckner of Henderson ISD, in east texas. (I think that was a way run on sentence) So DAVID loves the weekends, he usually makes good choices all week, he literally can not stand to lose this privilige, except for last night.

When he got off the bus, he looked liked a slinky. So low to the ground were his precious shoulders. He begged to be able to earn back his precious video games, but I explained that "Rules and Consequences prove that we love you." He quietely muttered, "I don't feel the love" So I told him he could help me make a snack that my friend Jo told me about. I found it on Rachel Ray's website, It's called Banana Sushi.
He said he'd be glad to help, if afterwards he could play his Xbox 360, I told him no X box, so he said he'd help but (and he did have a wee twinkle in his eye when he said it) he would NOT have a happy heart.

So this is him not having a happy heart, and doing his darndest to not smile.

And this is him with his creation in his mouth, again no smiles

I don't know how many of you are familiar with the Mullens Family mantra of a "happy heart." It started innocently enough with a family home evening lesson about happy hearts. When the kids are irritated about chores etc, I remind them of their Happy Hearts, It used to bring smile and joy to their faces, but now it brings evil smiles and rolled eyes, nonetheless, I perservere! And sometimes, on the rare days that I grumble, they remind me to have my happy heart.

Robert will be Happy

BUT I'M NOT!!!!

I'm boycotting Dancing with the Stars this season, after Monday nights choice of music and the young kid trying to act sexy and the dominatrix/trannie outfits. I guess I"ve lost my sense of humor, but I DO NOT like the song "I kissed a girl" and it's wildy innapropriate for a show that sells itself as family entertainment. I guess the funny thing is that Lance Bass danced to it and he's not attracted to girls, so it was supposed to be tongue in cheek.

That song is hideous, I was listenting to a regular radio station instead of a cd one evening and it came on and I found myself singing along with it, I still can hear the chorus and it appals me! Seriously- and then my friend who lives in Blackfoot IDAHO, the potato capital of the world, tells me she passed the high school and saw two girls making out- this is in podunk Idaho--- I'm thinking that the media that makes this all mainstream is helping to encourage children- YES CHILDREN- to make lifestyle choices they are not equipped to make and will be very hard to come back from.

Stepping off my soapbox-

I'll be out of touch for awhile, we/I are potty training with Joely. So far I'm getting trained on her physical cues and although she had only one success she has had her accidents in the bathroom, so I think she'll be good to go pretty quickly, but it takes CONSTANT VIGILENCE, so I won't be able to e-mail, blog or basically use the phone for a couple of weeks, If you need me I'll be sitting on the side of the bathtub, cheering on the cutest little Mullens of them all.

I changed the music to reflect Joely's taste. I also added a personal favorite, "the rainbow connection" Recently I fell in love with it again because it was sung on the Office in pig latin. But it's been a personal favorite for years. Here is a funny memory- I always associate it now with a very very young 12 year old Chris Mason. I can still picture his angelic little face and his proud mom! He Sang it at a Talent Show in I think 1985?? He was adorable up there with all his confidence. I wonder, does he still sing? Does he still know the song by heart? Does he remember the Talent show? Also why do I only remember his performance and not any other?

Queen Bee

Today Alice told me that when she grows up she wants to be the Queen Bee. I had to fight the urge to sarcastically respond by saying, "sweetheart you are already there!"

She also told me she was planning on adopting children so I could be a grandma and that she wasn't going to take her children to church because she'd hate to bore her children! AWWWW the pay that doesn't come in an envelope!

Here is Alice pictured without a happy heart while "helping/being forced to help" us clean up the backyard one day post Hurricane Ike

a Picture Tag from Kristy Sinks

The rules of the game. Go to your pictures folder and take the fourth picture from the fourth file and post it. That's it. Then tag four friends:)

This picture is from Easter this year. The Library hosted an easter egg hunt on a day that I think Quentin must have been home "sick" or maybe it was during spring break, not sure.. Anyhoo, this is him helping Baby Joely. Funny thing is today, she's wearing the same pants,

How fun to get tagged for pictures, I was tagged for recipes before. This is way more fun!

I tag Hiedie, Aryn, Meghan, Karla, Jan and Renae!

Home Sweet Home, or an Inconvenient Truth

We are home now and we have power, cable, internet,phone and cell service!!!

Good times, Good Times!

A few days ago my friend Jan Mason posted the following quote on her blog and it really gave me pause and made me think about this little inconvenience we went through for 12 days- I wanted to steal the quote right away but I thought it would be nicer if I waited a few days, today it's very appropriate.

“One of life's best coping mechanisms is to know the difference between an inconvenience and a problem. If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you've got a problem. Everything else is an inconvenience. Life is inconvenient. Life is lumpy. A lump in the oatmeal, a lump in the throat and a lump in the breast are not the same kind of lump. One needs to learn the difference.”~Robert Fulghum

I have to admit that I felt like things were horrible but really in hindsight, it was just an inconvenience, we had no loss to our property, everyone was healthy and safe and we had plenty to eat. Also when it got bleak we had places of refuge. The kids and I were pampered in Austin (I have my savage tan back) and Robert was able to get back to work pretty quickly. Some people are still out of work and that is a problem, who can afford to be out of work for 1/2 a month or longer?

The kids are back in school today, if you ask David he'd say that's a problem, but Alice felt the whole two weeks off was very inconvenient, after all Mrs. Randolph really misses her! Quentin is getting over a flu (an inconvenience that delayed our trip home by one day) but I think he'll go to school after gym today.

Two material things I'm greatful for are our propane grill (and propane products) and our little am/fm radio. It was great to hear the news without the luxury of tv and warm food was great-.

As promised here is my photo log of the days of Ike.

This is Friday Night when the power went out a full 8 hours before the storm even hit.

These are some pictures that my husband took when he went out into the EYE of the storm, even though they say NEVER GO OUT IN THE EYE OF THE STORM- I was yelling at him from my mattress in the house.

I guess it was pretty cool, but I was afraid to go out there and then get blown to OZ or something.

Assessing the Damage, aka the Morning After

Our front yard, we lost 5 trees from the front and back, but none landed on the house!

The Port O Can on Port O Call

Livin' Like Refugees

The Monkey's Uncle

Since we were with mom and dad for 9 days we actually got to see Brian on his days off- He's nocturnal but made a day appearance in the pool to appease Quentin. When he came out I thought maybe the Jonas Brothers or Hannah Montana had came out- because everyone was screaiming with Delight. Even Joely became friends with Uncle Brian on this trip, I think the Oreo cookies helped, but now she's a fan. He spent a couple hours being jumped on by the boys and appeasing many requests to "throw me, throw me" and "one more time, please" And for some reason I only got pictures of him and Alice, but he was bombarded on all sides. Thanks for being a good sport Uncle Brian.

At the wildflower center of Miss Ladybird's fame

The wildflower center was celebrating the launch of it's spanish language website, so it was all about latin america, good food and fun crafts all for a buck!

Day ten, still no power

Power is coming back to Crosby, just not where we live. A couple of friends in the neighborhood report power and we are supposed to have it by end of business today. We shall see.

Robert has spent evenings with his parents in Baytown, they got power back on Friday and we are still in Austin. We have been swimming non-stop and seeing a couple of old friends (ann and luci). On Friday night we went to the wildflower center in way south austin, in fact I've never been so far south on MoPac before, it was an adventure. It was a lot of fun and the admission was only one dollar for the "nature night" which included food and crafts. It's usually the exhorbitant amount fo $7 for adults and $5 for kids and it's not worth that, but it's worth a buck buck buck! I took pictures and will post them when we get back to Crosby with power.(shout out to Jan- they have these about ten times a year, they would be a great cheap activity girls or scout activity- the next one is in October-you probably already know this though!)

The superintendent of Crosby ISD informed us school will resume on Thursday, so I hope that means we'll have power before that. Robert reports that Sammi Jo is very very very unhappy with the turn of events and hates being an outside dog. Quentin really missed his dad yesterday, he didn't watch any football, good thing it was just the cowboys! Alice said she missed dad so much her stomach hurt.

Livin' like a refugee

I didn't think to put my camera cord in my bag when I fled from Crosby, but if I did you'd see we are not exactly having a bad time as refugees. Dad heated the pool two days in a row. It's been a blast to lounge and swim. Yesterday Alex Pena and her boys Daniel and Jacob came by to swim and play. They are fellow Crosby Refugees, Cub Scout pals and best friends. They are staying with their Aunts in Bastrop. Tonight we go see Luci and her clan and play in their parklike Backyard. Grandma is in hog heaven with all the little people around.
I checked out centerpoint energy's restoration website, and it doesn't bode well for Crosby. They have assesed the damage and it's on the list of to look at after the 22nd. Most of Houston should be with power by Monday, the places hit harder will have to wait. Robert's plant brought in a generator so he and his people can get back to work. They hope to have full power by Monday also.
We miss Robert and Sammi Jo.

Maybe Rick Perry Read my Blog

Hmm I received an automated phone call this morning from the superintendent of Crosby ISD. The National Guard was set up in the High School giving out MRE's, Ice and Water. IN my very egocentric mind, I have to beleive that Rick Perry,(click here for a photo of him-he's in the hat) does not want me angry with him! LOL-
My friend Mellissa called and her grandma has power. She lives over by the Kindergarten, so that's good news. She also spoke with some linemen on her street and they were there accessing damages and would be coming back. So I guess Recovery is finally making it to Crosby.

If the Hurricane doesn't getcha, the "recovery" will

Day FIVE-
We are still without electricity. I finally gave up and became and evacuee. The kids and I are in Austin. Robert and Sammi stayed behind. Robert is hoping his plant will be up and running tomorrow or Thursday, if not he'll come spend the weekend with us in Austin.
It is very frusterating living in Crosby. Technically we are covered by Harris County Precinct three. I feel totally left out without any kind of city government. The Fema "PODS" are not anywhere near Crosby. Well as I type this they did add one in Highlands, which is close, but before this afternoon they had several in areas that had electricity. Now we as a family did ok, we ate out of the freezer, a ton of pork products and only had to get into the actual 72 hour kit for breakfast this morning. The cold ice ran out yesterday. The most insane part of this mess, is the lack of gas. It's crazy, I was in line for hours to get gas. People in Crosby are getting crazy from the frusteration and are ready to blow. I nearly witnessed me a killin' while in line when somebody cut in line, (allegedly just trying to get into walmart for formula, it was apparently a baby daddy) Things will get worse before they get better.
I am totally greatful that things were not worse for us and that we have a nice place to stay (with a pool) but I'm still sad and frusterated about my wee town. Pray power gets restored to all areas, not just the west side of Houston.
I'm also very sick of hearing the anti-Christ Rick Perry talking about patience and the Texas Spirit. Get some gas in the station butt munch and some ice in people's coolers, then we can be patient. So while He and George Bush are jetting around galveston, we can't get fuel for our vehicles.
We were told "don't evacuate" so we listened and now they won't even get us gas- that should be the first thing that goes out and it shouldn't be too hard logistically. Literally, I could see the Exxon refinery as I waited for gas in Baytown on Monday.
Do I sound bitter? I am!!!!

Weathering the Stomr

My friend Alex came by with her laptop and wi fi connection,so I'm doing a quick post. We are without power for a long time. I can't imagine that it will be up this week. She drove me around the neighborhood and their are trees uprooted, houses ruined and it's just one smalll comunity. Gas lines are insane. I thought it wasn't too bad, we were indeed blessed. We lost a lot of trees, but no house damage. A special thanks goes out to BRother Matt Clinger he came over with his chainsaw to cut the trees for Robert. We were able to get all the debris picked up real quick after that. We are forever greatful to him.
We lost power at 7:00 pm on Friday night, long before the storm even hit, and hte kids began to be apprehensive. So David said a very sweet prayer and asked that we all have courage and that our house would be safe and the inside would be safe. I believe it was the prayer of a faithful little boy that kept our house safe. Especailly now after seeing the destruction. My inlaws are ok and although they live in Baytown they did not flood. We just pray for the Centerpoint Energy workers to get us in power quickly.
I probably won't be able to post for awhile. We'll also probably leave and go into austin tomorrow or the next day. Look for us mom- our cell signals are sporadic at best. We still have plenty fo food and water, just really bored right now--(The DS's are no longer working and the kids are plowing through the books we checked out.)
I'm just glad it wasn't worse.
Love
Kareena