Alice at Miss Alex's Art Show

Pictured above is our good friend Alex Pena with a cyanotype she did of Alice and put in her Senior Art Show at Houston Baptist University.

This picture was taken last April in front of our house. Alex came over to pick up her boys and Alice and Robert were blowing bubbles outside. Alex LITERALLY jumped out of their suburban with her camera in hand and took a million shots of Alice. To me the picture looks like Alice is actually conjuring up these bubbles, like a forest sprite. This one she chose to show! We feel so honored, she was only able to choose 5 of her pieces and one was of Alice. Even more exciting is we get this WONDERFUL piece of artwork to keep in our collection once the show is over.

Alex and her husband Robert have two wonderful boys Daniel and Jacob and we are so blessed to count them as our friends. We love the Penas.

It was fun to take Alice to the show and see all the neat artwork. She was a little shy and told me "I feel a little nervous with all these people saying I'm beautiful.."

To see a closeup of the cyanotype go to her gallery and look at her art portfolio. The cyanotypes are on the second page of that gallery.

Alex can make one for you, too she charges a mere $200 for the heirloom piece

you can contact her at

http://www.peatreephoto.com/

Thanks Alex you are a Rock Star!

Oxy clean really does get the Blood out!

The other day, and by other I mean it could have been yesterday or 4 weeks ago. Now that I'm working nights the days all blend together, I can't recall when it happened, but I do regret not getting the camera out.

Joely and I came home from shopping at HEB for FRESH produce, unlike the crap they try and pass off as human food here in crosby, I digress. We came home to what I can only describe as a crime scene. There was blood everywhere. I quickly gathered my wits and remembered Alice is at school, David and Quentin are at school- the Saturn wasn't parked outside so I assumed Robert was at work- I guess realistically there could have been a car jacking/home invasion but I mean whose gonna take off in the Saturn (besides sainted Robert every day?) So that leaves a couple of theories- ( I did check closets and bedrooms for severed heads/corpses- ya never know!)

1. Our house is over an indian burial ground and it's going to be like Poltergeist from here on out. Allegedly it could happen, legend states that Crosby is built on an indian burial ground..



2. The blood really isn't there, and I'm dreaming about crime scenes based on my extensive knowledge of crime and police procedure that I've learned from countless hours of dedicated crime drama watching. (man those CSI guys are thorough)



3. Something happened to Sammi-

It was actually number three. Sammi was bleeding from a wound on her paw. It was apparently like a child's head wound, it most certainly looked worse than what it was. I got her cleaned up (a herculian task) and sent her outside because I couldn't control the bleeding from the small wound and it's not exactly feasible to get a bandaid on a dog when all I have are tatoo band-aids She's fine, I took her to the vet she didn't require stitches and she's on an antibiotic along with some medicine for arthritis (she's almost 12 and just a tad obese)

I was then left with the mess of the carpet. I searched my cabinets for some blood be gone and found an oxy clean spray bottle for the carpet. I followed the instructions and before I could even suck it up in my steam cleaner the blood was gone. Pretty cool huh?

We are so glad to have Sammi and I hate that she's been sick, I hope she's around another 12 years.

Peaceful

Doesn't this just make you want to pick her up and snuggle her?

She's adorable.

This morning our friends came over to play and they wore her out.

Shortly after they left she grabbed her blankets and watched a couple of minutes of

Yo Gabba Gabba and fell to sleep.

I just love how she makes my heart warm.

It makes me think of a quote I love by Neal A. Maxwell

"When the real history of mankind is fully disclosed, will it feature the echoes of gunfire or the shaping sounds of lullabies? The great armistices made by military men or the peacemaking of women in homes and neighborhoods? Will what happened in cradles and kitchens prove to be more controlling than what happened in congresses?"

When I see her sleeping, I KNOW he's right. I first heard this quote in 2003 or 2004 he gave it in a talk in General Conference. I loved it and put it on my fridge where it remains today. Recently I borrowed/took forever a book from my mom that has sermons about the joy of being a woman. One of his sermons is in there and so was this quote. The book was printed in 1978, his message is just as timely today as it was then.

Do you Remember?

You know how there are events that you remember forever? You remember where you were, what you were doing, how you felt?

Ask anyone born before 1955 what they were doing when President Kennedy was shot and they'll tell you where they were and how they felt.

I remember in 1980 when Mount St. Helens errupted. I was eating breakfast and watching a variety type show called "Kids are people Too." They interrupted the show and said it was happening. I don't recall any images shown at that time. I remember being scared, even though the mountain was a long ways away, it was still in the same state. Later our grass would be covered in ash.

I remember walking through the upstairs commons area of my Doherty High School Library in 1986 and seeing the space shuttle with the teacher on it blowing up. I remember feeling such sadness for her and the "real" astronauts. I remember thinking it was a joke, waiting for a punch line, like it was a Saturday night Live skit or a David Letterman stunt.

In 1997 when Princess Di died, my old chum Jo was visiting Robert and I in Austin. We were settling down to watch Saturday Night live when the news broke in about the accident. We were giggling and waiting for the joke, it wasn't a joke. For whatever reason her death astounded me. I thought of her young children and her legacy of community service

Jo and I both felt bad for laughing.

Most recently I remember where I was and what I was doing when the news showed Columbine ten years ago today. I was holding my six month old Quentin and David was playing nearby. We were visiting mom and dad in Austin. I was sitting on mom's pink chair and Quentin was nursing. I dont' remember what was on tv when they broke in. I just remember crying and holding the babies close. I couldn't then and still have trouble beleiving that children can be pushed so far and react with such violence. I thought at that moment I would never allow my children to go to school. I remember thinking how bizaare that the kids had cell phones- I did not even have a cell phone at that time- I'll never forget the "boy in the window." I remember thinking that this could never happen again, and yet it has. And it happens often enough that it becomes kind of second nature to us.

Is it horrifying anymore? Do we even remember the names of the other schools and the other perpetrators or victims? Virginia Tech comes to my mind, but nothing else.

How does your Garden Grow?

Today Miss Joely the monkey helped me in the Garden. She was quick to grab a shovel and really wanted to dig up the tomato plants. I had to tell her no. She rolled her eyes dropped her shoulders and sighed "MOMMY!!!" she got over it and began climbing on her swing set.

These pictures go out to my friends of the Northland who are getting dumped on by snow and cold. We planted our tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers about a month or so ago- look how great they look!

And this is my first attempt at straweberries- look we already have one turning red. Alice and I are soooo excited about it!

Alice is soo excited that I used the three R's- Reduce Reuse and Recycle to make my strawberry pots. I had received FREE (can you beleive it) these used tires. I got them two years ago for a scout activity that never came to fruition. They've been a harvesting ground for mosquitos and now they are pots for my strawberries and cilantro. I have one left and we'll plant some Flowers in them. I think Robert may be dissapointed to not have them to complain about anymore.

Yesterday I fruitlessly drove out to Liberty, TX (the first city on the Trinity, established in 1831) to take Joely's picture in the bluebonnets. Some nurses at work said there were bluebonnets everywhere- Joe and I never found them, so we came BACK to Crosby and took pictures at our duck pond- look how adorable she is!!! She's wearing an amazing dress that's an actual heirloom, I hesitate to say hand me down -- First Harper Moulton wore it, our dear friend in Laredo. She was 4 1/2- then when Alice was 2 1/2, Harper gave it to her. And now Joely wears it. Miracle of all Miracles, I even have the original shoes. The original easter bonnet didn't make all the moves, but I treasure this dress. When Harper has a little girl, I'll send it on to her and since I know she's responsible like her mom, she'll send it back to my girls for their girls to wear. When I see the girls in this dress I am reminded of what great blessings we received as a result of our friendships with the Moultons. I'll always cherish Trevor and the kids, but it's thinking of Heather that makes me cry! I miss her so much, we had so much fun laughing and goofing off and of course myriad spiritual experiences in Laredo. Now they live the good life in San Diego, California. I just keep hoping the international business will bring them back to Zion and specifically the greater Houston Area.

For now I just have the dress and the memories
So here is our little cute patootie

Takin' a Break, Easter Style

SMOKIN'

Robert wanted a smoker for his birthday, but he got an outdoor fireplace instead. Quentin picked it out. So THANKFULLY Robert's grandma and my parents gave him money so he could get what he really wanted and this passed week I finally went to Lowe's and picked it up. He spent Saturday and Sunday smoking various meats. It was a great weekend foodwise and Robert was awesome learning the tricks of his new trade.

Keeping up with the Mullens family tradition of sometimes following tradition, the girls and I dyed eggs. Quentin was the camera man. David would have participated but it was hard enough for Joely to take turns with ALice, if she would have had to wait for two turns, she may have given birth to a cow! Poor Baby, it's hard to be two.

And as always the Hunt. It's no so much the Kill, but the thrill of th Hunt. Joely was more interested in the chocolate bunny left in her basket than finding the eggs. But when she realized they had more candy she got into it. Everyone loves an easter egg hunt, Even Sammi Jo got into the fun. The "severe weather experts" predicted torrential rain and flooding for Sunday, so we got up early to make sure the hunt would be outdoors. The "torrential" storms were pretty light weight though.

The best news of the Easter Break was finding out that Chuy's is now in Humble, TX not eggsactly in my own backyard but it's closer- so we had Easter Monday Lunch, courtesy of Chuy's! YEAH CHUY's

More to Come- Taking the cubscouts to juvenile court to see Judge Tony Polumbo in action

Reminiscings on the beautiful blue dress Joely wore for Easter (hey she even stayed in nursery all by herself-good times)

Hope all is well!

Milestones

First off I can't find my camera cord. I unplugged it to plug in another USB cord to my cricut machine and now I can't find it. Robert even cleaned the room but since he wasn't looking for it, it is not to be found. I fear I put it someplace where I wouldn't forget where it was and well you all know how that goes...
So last month March 6-8 to be exact David had his big webelos Campout. Not to toot my own horn (but I love to do that) I was in charge of the District Event. It's called "Webelos Woods" and the older Webelos have their Arrow of Light Ceremony and graduate to Boy Scouts and the younger webelos work on their activity pins and just enjoy camping with the big scouts. Our District has a ton of packs and troops and honestly I lost count of all the participants, but there were a lot. I didn't have much to do except gather registration forms. Each troop was the host and made the activities for the packs camping with them. Our pack, pack 264, has a unique group because all of the parents participate. We had 20 boys there and 25 adults. It makes it fun for the boys and even more fun for the parents. We also have an awesome camp cook. This time though we conceded and let the Boy scout Troop cook for us, and well we all left hungry, so next time back to our own camp cook! (hee hee)
Since I'm blogging about it, you know there is more to it than a campout. On thursday night I had worked until six am and came home and with Rob's help got everyone off to school and then he took Joely shopping while I slept. My friend John came by about one to get me and take our boys out of school along with some other parents so we'd have first dibs on the camp site - And then Robert was taking the girls to his parents house and he'd come up later. The thing is the boys have NOOOOO Problem coming home early from school but Alice worries about Mrs. Randolph being sad that she left early or missed school. So We get there and set up (David set up his own tent, a requirement) and we were having some good times, but I wasn't feeling real good. I assumed I was tired. I went to another part of the campground to check in the packs and troops when I started to feel real bad. EVENTUALLY Robert gets there (after eating at Chikfila) and we go back to our camp and I decide to go to bed early (8:30) by 10:00 everyone was in their tents (a stupid Boy Scout rule of the troop we were camping with) and by 10:30 I was throwing up in the woods--- VERY BELOW AVERAGE!!!!! IT was horrible and worse still because I had no way to get back home. I had rode up with my friend John and Robert had a rental car becuase his was in the shop and I didn't need to be on the rental. I didn't want Robert to leave and drive me home because what if one of the boys (they were sleeping in their own tents) woke up and we were gone, so I spent the night throwing chum out to the racoons. I caught a ride home in the morning and slept the day away and came back in the evenign.
I'll never forget Webelos Woods! LOL
Ok the title is Milestones- Joely is Potty Trained!!! You know those morons that says "They'll potty train when they are ready" I always mocked them. Well morons at times can get it right because last Tuesday Joely woke up saying. "I go pee pee in the potty" and she did and she's been doing it ever since. That first day she went at myfriend Connie's houseand also at Walmart- she even went number two- so to me that's potty trained. The last few days her diaper has been dry in the morning even. Yeah Joely!
This is definalty a sweet not bittersweet milestone. I'm greatful to have this hurdle behind us-

Another milestone (VER BITTER AND NO SWEET)is I finally talked to David about how babies come to be and he was a bit mortified. He said "I'm only going to that one time since I just want one baby" I'm holding him to that. Beleive me I hated the talk and I know there will be many more. The only thing he liked was knowing something that the other kids don't know. A neat thing about David was I could explain the science to him and he understood that. Antoher neat thing, the internet had scientific pictures of the reproductive system so that he could easily follow how things go. Although he did say, "It seems kind of wierd"
yes David you are right , it is kind of wierd. But he gained some comfort when I explained that all mammals procreate the same way, and that it's just a natural part of biology. I told him there would be more questions and feeling later, but that was the science of it all.

David's Deep Thoughts

David tend to think deep and share his thoughts while I'm in the car alone with him. Either driving him to his "tutoring" at Grandma Mullens house or on the way to Webelo Scouts. I guess he doesn't have much opportunity to talk to me uninterrupted except when we are driving around, just the two of us.
So last night on the way to Cub Scouts he's asking about the Ressurection. This is a subject that always fascinates him. He asks about the animals, hair etc. This conversation went a little different. Here it is.
D- "So mom, when we ressurect when is that going to happen?"
Me" Well we dont' know when, but when Jesus Comes Again he will call out and all the people will ressurrect, but not necessarily at the same time."
D-"what if I'm still alive then?"
Me," Well then your body will change in a "twinkling of an eye" is what the scriptures say."
D-"I wonder how that will feel"
Me'"I don't know"
D-"so will we still be able to have children after the ressurection?"
Me-"Hmm, I guess so- but I don't know"
D-"I see a flaw in the plan then."
Me'"what's the flaw mr. David?"
d-"well if nobody is ever going to die, yet we still have children, eventually the earth will run out of room"
Me-"Wow david I never thought about that."
And I was struck dumb for a spell.
David never ceases to amaze me the depth that he can think at his young age of ten. He's a real blessing and I'm glad to be his mom.

Happy Valentines Day

Meat on a Stick

What says I love you more than meat on a stick. I thought a lovely shishkabob dinner would be a fun way to eat and share our mutual adoration. I was right. Look how lovely they turned out! I used stew meat and chicken breasts. I marinated the chicken breasts in pineapple juice and the stew meat was a mixture of olive oil, garlic salt, kosher salt and of course tony chacheres.

Robert did the honor of grilling and we served them over a bed of dirty Cajun rice. Them Cajuns know how to love.
This was Friday Night, the 13th, kind of a prelude to our real celebration.

David is working on a research project about some of the great Texas Battles, in the great Revolutionary War. Not the one that started with a tea party in Boston, but before the war between the states. This was Texas' freedom from Mexico, specifically the Evil Santa Anna.

He could choose Gonzales, The Alamo (remember the Alamo), Goliad and San Jacinto. He didn't' care, so I chose for him and I chose Gonzales, where the revolution began with a flag saying, "come and get it" I thought it would be fun to go visit Gonzales and see the museum and the cannon etc. So Valentines Day we headed westbound on I-10, with the directions back home on the printer. I kind of remembered which exit to take, but I also figured it would be clearly marked, since it's such a big deal for Texas.

I was wrong, plus it was much farther away than I thought it was.

So for lunch we stopped just outside of Sealy at Mikeskas BBQ



Robert and I had been there before, back in the day ( we were still dating) . I couldn't even eat the food because of all the taxidermy hanging around, but since then I've had 4 children, I can eat anything, anywhere, so we stopped. You know a place is going to be good, if it has the menu on the outside!

Here is a sampling of the taxidermy, there were all kinds of animals. You get the feeling that you were eating a recently stuffed animal. It's creepy, but the food is excellent. We even met Mr. Mikeska, he talked to us and gave each of the kids a Susan B. Anthony dollar coin.
We ate brisket, sausage, chicken and sides of green beans and new potatoes. No french fries or Salad (poor Alice) but nobody complained. In fact I wondered out loud, "What are the poor people eating for lunch today?" IT was delicious.

Here is Alice our Vegan eating her Vegetarian BBQ Chicken-Yummo

Alice and Quentin enjoying Sausage and Brisket sandwiches

Robert sharing Green Beans with either me or Alice

The true worth of a BBQ joint is the all you can eat pickles. David loves pickles, he filled the Styrofoam up twice with pickles and managed to eat his whole sandwich and mot of Quentin's too.

Ya gotta love a place with stuffed polar bears handing out candy.

The only animal we did not see stuffed was the ever elusive jackalope, and believe me Robert combed the place looking for one. Jackalopes are real and they are indigenous to Texas.

Since there was candy, Joely would not look at the camera, she loves candy!!

Ok so we didn't make it to Gonzales, apparently it's closer to Seguin, so we turned around in Shulenburg and drove back home. When we were almost to Houston, David asked when we were going to stop in Gonzales. David is a mastermind at paying close attention to details, as long as they are in his handheld game.

We had fun anyway and we'll have to do the research the old fashioned way, on Wikapedia.

Alice's Chef Party

Putting the finishing touches on the cupcakes

Alice chose a delicous Brownie Cupcake, with Chocolate Ganache Frosting, topped with a strawberry. The Cupcake of Queens!

The party was such a blast! We were able to us the Crosby Community Center's kitchen for the extravaganza. It was perfect because there was plenty of room for the kids to make their pizzas and fruit salads, and then they could use the whole big room for running and silly fun. Plus my house was left unscatthed, I didn't have to worry about parking or limiting the guest list. Alice wanted to invite all of her friends from church, Romand and Logan, her classmates, and the girls in her dance class. I made 40 invites and 20 kiddos came.

I apologize for the lack of documentation. When you are ankle deep in the party, it's hard to remember the camera.

When the kids first arrived they were given an apron, chef hat and fabric markers. They stayed busy creating fun little works of art on their aprons. This doubled as their "goody bag" so instead of a bunch of candy and junky toys (that kids love and moms hate) they took home their aprons and hats.

This is a not so great picture of the kids doing their aprons, it is an AWESOME picture of Megan Love's beautiful profile.

Then the games began. With 20 kids (give or take) making pizzas, I needed all the help I could get. I'm so greatful for the moms that were ever so helpful. Diane and Galadriel kept everything going too, Diane was worried (and correctly so) that we would run out of time, so we got things started. We had to be all cleaned up and out of the Center by 9:00 PM or we would lose the 125.00 deposit. Galadriel cleaned up the kitchen after the pizzas and started the work on the fruit salads.

Here is Galadriel cutting up bananas and strawberries.

The kids who were interested made fruit salad parfaits with vanilla yogurt, bananas, blueberries, strawberries and granola- YUMMO-

Diane and Tom- this is after Diane gave her sweat equity in the kitchen
Robert was glad that Tom came, otherwise (using a direct quote here) "it would have been like a shower or something similiar" So thanks Tom for coming to the Party!

This is my friend Cindy, she was awesome to help too! Here she is pouring punch. I found a great idea at Walmart. They have zoo pal cups with lids, kind of like sippy cups. It was perfect and there wasn't any spills. I made a quick punch of Passion Fruit, Pinapple Juice and Ginger Ale. It was very refreshing. The kids loved it and especially loved the sippy cups with animals on it.
Simon Says, "Always have a quick and physical game you can pull out to keep the natives under control"
Robert was a quick thinker and got them playing Simon Says. That kept them busy until the pizzas were ready.

Here are some of the revelers enjoying their pizza and cupcakes.

All in all it was a fun party. Alice LOVED it. The boys had fun too. I'm glad that it went as well as I imagined. That usually does not happen. I"m more of a Clark Griswold, I imagine them to be much greater than what I actually pull off. I'm glad I had tons of help and that the kids were adorable and happy to participate!

Good Times! The last party I "threw" for Alice was when she turned three. I did a little tea party. It was fun but her birthday kind of falls at a crummy time to actually do a birthday party. Please don't worry, her grandmas (all four of them) make sure she's amply compensated with gifts, it's just I havn't been able to do a real party that often. For instance her first birthday Dorothy changed Christmas Eve to be a celebration for Alice. She slept through it but there was cake, ice cream and plenty of gifts in addition to the traditional christmas presents. Then on her actual birthday we were in Austin, so we ate at Hula Hut and gave her presents. Dad heated the pool so we could all swim. Her second Birthday we were ankle deep into a move to East Texas. Again her grandmas came through. My parents came to visit her and the other grandmas loaded up the van with additional presents for her to open on her birthday. Her third birthday I did the tea party, but waited until Valentines Day. Her fourth birthday, Grandma Dorothy threw her a party. Joely was two weeks old and I wasn't in any shape to plan anything other than feeding the baby. Last year she just wanted to be with Grandma "Farms" (my mom) so she ate at Chuys saw two movies and lived the good life. The reason I'm doing this rambling is because one day she'll complain that people forgot her birthday and well it's just not true, she may not have always had a traditional friends over party, but she most certainly never had a Birthmas party.

More exiting things to come... How the Mullens Celebrated Valentines Day with a Road trip to nowhere (but we did eat some good BBQ)

12 years, 13 years who is counting?

Robert and I celebrated twelve years of wedded bliss on Saturday the 31st. I had been going around saying 13 years but on Saturday I realized that we had been married almost two years when David was born so that would make him eleven and he's only ten, and then some rudimentary math later I realized that 2009-1997 is only 12 years, so although it feels like we've been married forever, it's only 12 short- fun filled years.

Technically we were married on the 27th, twelve months and one day from the day we met, but that was on a Tuesday night and who really wants to celebrate on a weeknight?
So we made a romantic getaway on Saturday, we stayed at the Intercontinental hotel near the Galleria. For Dinner we ate at a new to us Pappas restaurant called Yia Yia Mary's. IT was awesome Greek Food. We both ate different choices, for instance Robert didn't just get Fried Shrimp- he got a traditional Greek skewered meat. I ordered a lamb gyro (hero) and we shared this awesome sausage with fried tomatoes and feta as an appetizer. I made sure to save room for dessert and we shared an awesome chocolate cake drenched in raspberry sauce.

It was fun to get some time to ourselves. The kids all had fun. Quentin went to Uncle Bo and Aunt Tessie's house. Uncle Bo took him to the auto show and to the monster truck jam and then they later made cd's of the foo fighters and Kid Rock. Quentin also borrowed a ton of movies from Uncle Bo's extensive DVD collection. I was happy to watch Sleeping Beauty for the first time in ages. We have it on VHS but it's been years since our VCR worked.
David spent another fun filled weekend with Travis Anderson. Travis (and his parents) are very good friends of ours. They are VERY KIND to have David spend lots of nights with them. Travis is a wonderful kid, I call him "value added" when he comes to our house, he makes things easier. Everyone gets along and he is very polite and super funny. Alice and Joely were spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa Mullens. Originally Mom and Dad were supposed to visit, and keep the kids, but then their car got in an accident. Fortunately they were in a restaurant when it happened and only the car was hurt, but it suffered extensive damage and so they were unable to make the trip.
I'll blog about Alice's chef party later and upload some pictures. It was a smashing success, she had 20 little friends over playing, cooking, dancing, eating and competing in a Super Simon Says game (thanks to the quick thinking Robert)
I know I should get all mushy mushy and tell you all the great things about Robert, but I'm afraid many of you would go into some kind of diabetic coma. Suffice it to say that I am so happy to be married to him and that he's my "baby daddy" -- Seriously he's wonderful and we're wonderful together. I know our kids will one day realize what a special Dad they have. Right now they take all of his gracious giving for granted. He truly does think of all of us first.
I started painting the interior of our house, so I'll see how "lovey dovey" we continue during the "restoration" of the house.

Show of hands, who hated the dresses?

Our New First Lady, Michelle Obama

I'm sure most of you talked about her choices of dresses. I know I did. Last night at work everyone was up in arms because the dresses weren't awesome. Mrs. Obama always dresses so fashionable and with the exception of the dress she wore for the inaguration, hands down, everyone hated them.

But my question is, why should we care what she wears? She's so much more than her dresses. Here is what she has already accomplished in her professional life

Michelle's impressive resume includes: Former associate dean at the University of Chicago; a member of six boards of directors including the prestigious Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and Tree House Foods; and Vice President, Community and External Affairs at the University of Chicago Hospitals. In this position she was responsible for all programs and initiatives that involve the relationships between the hospitals and the community as well as management of the hospitals' business diversity program.

In any interview I've heard her say, "first and foremost I am am a mother."

I hope she gets more press for what she has done and what she will do rather than what is she wearing. I just don't think she's shallow and we as a country shouldn't be either.

It reminds me of when Kay Bailey Hutchinson was elected Senator from Texas. The Headline in the Austin (yes the capital paper) said, "UT Cheerleader wins Senate"

It did not list all of her many accomplishments, just the one she got from a popularity vote as Cheerleader for UT, when she was 20.

Have we really come a long way Baby?

Another name for her could be Cybil

Here she is crying.

I asked her and Quentin to pick up the manure.

And yes it's manure, with a dog the size of Sammi Jo (bless her thyroid challenged heart)

it's not merely dog poo, but manure.

You'd think she was crying because she had to clean up after Sammi.

But no, she was crying, no not just crying, SCREAMING and CRYING because

Quentin picked it all up quicker than she could get her shoes on and get outside.

He didn't leave her any poop to clean up.

Mean big brother

Nothing like a good case of sibling rivalry to get the dirty jobs done lickety split.

So the Good News is....

I finally bought a steam cleaner. The bad news was it was because I was ankle deep in vomit. Joely is still sick and the boys had a relapse yesterday. I kept them home today and it was only to my torment. I sent them to school yesterday only to have the nurse call me to pick them up at different times. They could have been at school today. I requested their WEEK'S WORTH of work. One teacher gave ONE WORKSHEET- David's math teacher gave him plenty of work, but his english/reading teacher sent nothing. Quentin's math teacher sent nothing. I gave them a full day in advance to get me the work.
I'm tired and bitter- lol

But I do love my steam cleaner. I'm certain Gala is happy that I won't be borrowing hers to clean up animal and human bodily fluids anymore. Bless her!!!

We had to cancel our trip to mom and dad's this weekend due to airborne illnesses, but we look forward to them coming to Alice's birthday party in a couple of weeks- She turned 6 last month, but who would want to come to a party on the 27th of December? Seriously- so we just postponed it until the end of this month. My friend Jo in Superior, CO (she just loves being Superior) has a business called Super Kids Cooking Classes, where she and her partner (business partner not life partner) teach cooking classes for all ages at YMCA's and community centers in the Superior (I think that's near Boulder or Denver or somethign like that) area. They also do birthday parties, so she told me how to pull this off and we are having a "Little Chef" themed party for Alice. We'll make pizzas, slushies and they'll decorate their own hats and aprons to take home with them along with some fun recipes to start their own cookbooks with.
I'm actually looking forward to this party. We are using the Crosby Community Center for it because they have a big kitchen and it's free! I'll be making the invites this weekend. I bought a cute tray yesterday at Target to hold the cupcakes. I am going to try and be all Adrienne Yanceyish and make fancy pants cupcakes.

I prefer the chum bucket is half full

Joely has been spewing in the nights the last four nights. She acts fine all day and then sometime in the night she gets sick- EVERYWHERE- seriously this morning I was holding her, she retched and then I just kind of waited for her head to turn completely around.
So tonight, I'm at work and Robert knew something was up, Quentin didn't want to eat. So he laid down on the couch with a chum bucket close at hand. That Chum bucket is now quite full.
Robert wakes up to the retched stench that can only come from deep down inside the stomach and parts of the stomach lining. Turns out, while in her sleep, Alice voided the contents of her pizza dinner, all over our bed and herself.
Picture if you will, my precious husband cleaning up a precious little muffin named Alice and then cleaning up the bedding, mattress etc all while trying not to yak himself. He did good though, it turns out his intestinal fortitude came through. I believe he was actually happy to go to work this morning to free himself from what can only be described (quoting Goonies here) a "barfeteria." At last check Alice's chum bucket was most totally and completely half full
Looking forward to the car ride to Dr. Barry's this morning.
In the best interest of you my dear readers, I am leaving this all to your imagination and I won't be posting pictures of the bile.
Blessed Be!

Closing the Coffin on Vampires....

It is with a fond farewell I say adieu to Vampire Books, for a spell. I began my love/fear relationship with Vampires with the Lost Boys in High school. I was so terrified after watching that movie, I had my mom come sleep with me and yes I was in High school, but my room was all the way down in the basement (it was a completed basement complete with a food storage room, game room and bathroom, but still the basement when the next Living creature's room was on the second floor because Brian was working out of town.. I digress) Since then I've tried to find out all I could to defeat a vampire, if I ever came in contact with them. It's hard to know what's real and what is just folklore. So I always have Garlic or Garlic Salt around, I don't beleive in Holy water, But I'm pretty sure I could stake a vampire with a wooden spoon, if called on. It's important that once you stake the vampire, you sever it's head. Staking it will only make it weak for a spell. Once the head is severed you burn the remains and the vampire won't rise again. Last Thanksgiving (2007) I started reading Stephenie Myers books. I admit now that her book is less about vampires and more about a love story between two star crossed "teens" She took a lot of liberties with what a real vampire is like and what he/she does. I still like the work, but it's not really a tome about vampires. So then I read Nora Robert cirlce trilogy which starts with Morrigans Cross. Like all good Nora Roberts book there is an underlying love story. Every character gets paired up and she usually writes three books. This one starts out in medieval time with one brother being turned into a vampire. It ends in a fantasy world but she stays true to the vampire lore I beleive in. Also in the third book at one point it was so terrifying I had to skip to the end, I simply couldn't read it anymore and sleep!!! It all ends good and Nora Roberts was h appy with the books because she said her brothers were finally able to enjoy a book she wrote. I also read the House of Night series about a Vampire finishing school. IN this series you don't become a vampire by being drained of your blood and then drinking the blood of a vampire, it's simply a metabolic change that happens around puberty. You become Marked as a vampire and need to go to a finishing type boarding school at night. It was an easy very easy read and fun too. Then enter the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Series by Charlaine Harris. This is a hillarious acount of Vampires being able to be "out of the coffin." In the book,the Japanese have created a synthetic blood that has all the nutrients of human blood. While it was originally intended to replace donated blood for humans it turns out vampires can survive on it, so they literally came out of their coffins and let the world know they are real. Sookie is a small town Louisianna waitress who happens to be telepathic and comes into all kinds of misadventures because of her association with the vampires and other magical creatures. I read five or six of those. So I thought I was ready for the grandmother of them all, Anne Rice. I had Robert buy me the Vampire Chronicles for Christmas. I just read Interview with the Vampire and I'm still horrified. I simply can't read anything by Anne Rice. You get the feeling that she really did sit down with a vampire and find out all these things. It was so scary that I would be afraid while driving home from work thinking that my precious Honda Odyseey could be overcome by vampire or coven of vampires. So because of that I'm "closing the coffin," I think I'll go back to reading things less supernatural/evil and more uplifting. I chose an Amy Tan Novel, called Saving Fish from Drowning, of course though it involves a ghost but I'm sure it won't frighten me in the middle of the night.
I'll still maintain my knowledge of how to thwart a vampire.....just in case.

Party like it's 1999 and too many bipeds at the zoo.

This is our own personal Rock Band. Tonight as we ring in the new year we will be rockin' out to the tunes on Rock Band. Not pictured is Quentin on vocals, he's pretty awesome at hitting the pitch, not so awesome at getting the right words, but he has fun. David is pretty wicked on drums. He does all kinds of fancy moves.

Yesterday was a zoo day. Apparently everyone in Houston had the same idea. And those lame West U moms with their huge mega stroller, high heels and digital cam corders were seriously irrititating me. We decided there were way too many bipeds at the zoo, but for the kids sake, we saw everything but the monkeys and reptiles. Well also we missed the bird house and the aquarium. Normally we don't hit all four of those exhibits, but always the reptiles and at least one of the others. Usually the aquarium on the way out or in, but again, too many bipeds!!!

They have several new elephants so that was nice to see and I always love to watch the meer kats. They have a new 3.5 million dollar elephant barn that can hold up to 9 elephants comfrotably. David was funny he said, "Look mom, it's an elephant habitat, just like in the wild complete with steel bars and lots of poop." He has inhereited our sarcasm, and I appreciate that. Sadly the Koalas have gone home to San Diego and there wern't any praire dogs out and the Ken and Sharon Lay Prarie Dog exhibit. Joely was either in our out of the stroller and also she'd get angry when she couldn't climb up and see the exhibit, she most certainly did not want to be picked up by a very willing dad to see, she wanted to do it herself. That led to a few unforgettable moments with her.

This is in the natural encounters exhibit, by far my favorite "house" at the zoo. It holds a lot of fun precious memories. Where else but on Kim Possible can you see Naked Mole rats?

Joely spent a lot of time "people watching" but when an animal caught her eye, it was a delight, she'd screach and exclain, "wook Daddy or wook Dadid" she was so much fun.
In case you don't know, Alice and I went to the zoo almost every week the year I had Joely. She was in a special zoo class and so the zoo is definatly her stomping grounds. We went several times last year, but we havn't been back since the summer. She was a little miffed that they had moved the zebras, they are still in the same general area as where they were, but now they are in the exhibit with all the other hooved animals. Alice and I agree zebras are special and should be treated to their own habitat.

Afterwards it was lunch at Chuys, and it was a miracle, we were able to find parking and we were seated immediatly. Since it was so near Alice's birthday I told the waiter we'd like some brouhaha, but he said they didn't do that at that Chuy's but they would bring her some soapapillas, she was satisfied with that and Robert breathed a sigh of relief. He hates the added attention in a public venue.

We didn't get to see Uncle Bo and Aunt Tessie, they are both fighting the flu. We hope to see them soon-

Happy New Year one and all

Cousins in the news

These are two of my cousins, Todd and Tracy Mecham, with Santa!

Apparently the Seattle area of Washington has been hit with a ton of snow and Todd and Tracy made a sculpture of Santa, they are kids at heart. My memories of Todd and Tracy are neither Todd or Tracy, but always Todd AND Tracy. They are two brothers who I never remember being apart. It's been a long time since I've seen them and I miss them, it was fun to see them "live" on the internet.

Tracy's son submitted the story to the local news station. Click on the title for the link!

Merry Christmas Washington Cousins!

Spreading a little Christmas Cheer

So when it comes to Christmas I absolutly stink at taking a zillion pictures. In fact on Christmas Morning I didn't get any of the boys- just the girls??? On Christmas Eve we go to two Christmas Parties, one with Rob's Dad's side of the family and then later with his mom's side. There are presents and family galore, but by the time we make it to Grandma Dorothy's I forget the camera or lose it among the carnage that is Christmas. Here are some cute pics though- We had a great time and we've been too busy Rocking Out with Rock Band so I can't be expected to Blog or take pictures or cook warm food! After all I got five stars on Blondie's, "One way or another"

Here are the boys trying to get out the door with their haul. Note how crappy they are dressed. NO longer will they listen to me and dress cute or match. I have lost that small amount of control.

On the other hand, Here is Alice all decked out like a beautiful snow princess with here equally beautiful cousin Miss Madison Victoria. They are loving their new stuffed animals. Aunt Darlene gave Alice and Joely little Webkinz and Madison is loving the stuffed bear from her Aunt Sue (rob's mom)

And last but not least, here is David admist the fun, reading a book. Just like his dad and his grandpa's, his nose will always be in a book.

I also started working at San Jacinto Methodist Hospital doing Patient registration in the ER, it's pretty brainless, but its ez money and in the ER there is never a dull moment! Tomorrow we are going to the zoo and then have dinner with Uncle Bo and Aunt Tassie and the "new" Chuy's.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and has plans for a fun New Year!