What Summer Means to Me

My favorite thing about Summer is staying up late and sleeping way TOO LATE!!! Joely epitomized this today. Last night She stayed up way past midnight and this picture was taken today at noon. She rolled out of the rack in time for lunch. Now we are "fixin" to go to the River Beach in our neighborhood. For the record, I woke up at 9:30 which was AWESOME-- While I was at seminary graduation, President Banks mentioned how even though he no longer teaches seminary he still gets up at five am to study. I'm not delusional, I am not attempting that and I was glad he didn't pronounce it in terms of "divine inspiration" because frankly I'm not sure I could handle that edict, this summer- For now staying up late and sleeping late are summers' greatest joys and since all the camps are done with, we can all do both!

Shallow Day -TWILIGHT (what have you done to my wife?)

School's Out for Summer

Can you hear Alice Cooper Singing? I am soooo glad that school is out. This was our first full week. Dylan Hutchings came over to spend the week. He and Quentin got up early (7:30 am) to get to football camp. Last year at the end of Football Camp David said, "Hey mom, next year when you think of signing me up for football camp, Don't!!!!" David likes to play, but he's like me, anything that starts early in the morning (with the exception of seminary) can't be any good. Then in the evenings, Dylan David and I went to twilight camp.
Twilight camp is actually for cub scouts, but if there are scout leaders who want to lead merit badge classes for boy sctous whose parents are working the twilight camp then the boy scouts can go. Naturally I signed up to do it. It would be easy. Typically there are about 8 boys, I asked my other leaders who was in and The Knights both agreed. Pat taught Dentistry, her husband Erik taught Fingerprinting and I picked Weather. In hindsight, it was a really lousy idea. Instead of 8 boys we had 32!!! YES 32- CRAZY. They were of course for the most part really good and I enjoyed them, but it was too much to keep a handle on. And to be honest the boys were immensly bored. Can you blame them? Come to the camp for 3 hours to learn about WEATHER???? Fingerprinting and Dentistry were at least hands on, but Weather what was I thinking? LOL- I know what I was thinking, I picked something we could start and finish, it wasn't my best work. THen the last night we had them working on citizenship merit badges, they started some, but for the most part they wanted to play, and I don't blame them. The Cubs were doing some real fun activities including being sprayed on by a fire truck. Needless to say, next year I won't be raising my hand, and at the next few round tables, I will be ducking my head in shame- hee hee- anyhoo Alice had a blast, she was in the cub camp as a "me too" with about 8 other little sisters of cub scouts. She loved the crafts, games and comraderie with the other girls. So I will say with all certainty, I am glad I did it because it made Alice happy. I'm also very proud of David because even though he was bored, he was a super boy and did everything he was asked and he maintained a happy heart, which under the circumstances he could have gone with the "eye roll" attitude. He knows when I'm feeling down and does a good job of trying to lift my spirits. Also a shout out to Quentin because he babysat Joely for about an hour every night and he was thrilled to do so. She usually fell asleep and he could play Halo ODST uninterrupted until we got home at about ten, but for those few minutes that we were leaving he had to basically stand on his head and do a jig to keep her from going ballistic. He said, "I was like her servant" he got her ice cream, cookies, chips, Dr. Pepper, juice whatever she asked and then rocked her to sleep. Robert and I have great Kids. Oh and This would have been Quentin's third year at twilight camp and he wasn't interested in going, he's almost done with his arrow of light requirements and can't wait to be a boy scout. I realize that most of this sounds like I'm speaking a foreign language, but it is what it is.
I figure if you are still reading by now you are Allie- Hey Allie!
The boys are off on vacation with Grandma and Grandpa Mullens and the girls are watching Toy Story 2 for the very first time. This suprises me because how many times did I watch this with the boys? We have it on VHS and DVD and yet somehow the girls never saw it. I am listening to it and I still have it memorized. It makes me wonder, what else did they miss out on? I know I exposed them to the Princess Classics, but I think they missed Lion King. They saw Lion King 1 1/2 but I'm positive never Lion King 2. What else have they been deprived of? Maybe this week we will catch up on some classics as I did deep into my DVD Vault.
Robert isn't having much of a summer break, in fact he's working more. He's had to work last Sunday and he'll go in tomorrow, and probably every Sunday for awhile. He never complains and I love that. I am making a goal to be a better and supportive wife, this summer he'll have good food with plenty of veggies and no calls from the road to pick up Frenchy's or Chinese Food.
Have a great summer y'all!

Seminary comes to an end for the year.....

So what does a high school production of Don Quixote have to do with seminary?

Well the lead was Kenny Chilton, one of my students-

So Alice and Quentin and I went to watch the final showing

of the award winning production. It was great, I had no idea I had been

in the presence of such great talent. The Lighting Guy, (not pictured) was Brody Stotts, another student, and apparently he's famous in the area for his excellent skills.

Not knowing much about lighting I told him if the lighting had been bad, I would have noticed, but it seemed "spot" on to me.

The whole cast was awesome and I could stay out late, since I only had one class left.

I am not so good at the whole holding the camera out and taking a photo.

So today's class was fun and a little bittersweet, I'll miss Brody he's going to BYU in the fall but I'll still have Kenny and Brandon and hopefully three other students, and of course three months of sleeping in will be good too --- to say the least.

For class we had a breakfast party and I gave them each a dvd of "How rare a Posession" which talks about how precious the Book of Mormon is. IT's good and not cheesy, like some church videos can be.

Then we read the final "sermons" of the Book of Mormon Prophets. This was suggested by my CES supervisor, Brother Pomeroy and I thought it was a wonderful suggestion so we did, Here are the References if you are interested. In Alma and Helaman, several prophets write, but it was hard to find a "farewell" speech, so we just kind of skipped them- I hope they are not offended.

Lehi- 2 Nephi 1:21-24

Nephi- 2 Nephi 33:10-15

Jacob- Jacob 7:26-27

Enos- Enos 1:25-27

Jarom- Jarom 1:13-15

Omni- Omni 1:1-3

Amaron - Omni 1:6-8

Chemish-Omni 1:9

Abinadom Omni 1:11

The above Omni Prophets, really didn't give much info, but rather recorded that they were doing what they were old, and in the case of Chemish he was tattling that his brother only wrote what he wrote the same day he gave it to him, it's kind of funny-

Amaleki- Omni 1:25-26

King Benjamin- Mosiah 3:41, Mosiah 5:14

Basically Mosiah 2-5 is his farewell address, but in the interst of time, i focused on my two favorite scriptures.

Abinadi- Mosiah 17:10

The whole story of Abinadi is worth reviewing, but we had done just that on Monday.

Alma- He is giving instruction to different children

Alma 37:46-47

Alma 38:15

Alma 42:30-31

Samuel, a Lamanite- Helaman 15:17

Jesus Christ 3 nephi 27:30-33

Nephi 4 Nepho 15-18

Mormon -Moroni 7:48, 9: 25-26

Mornoni - Moroni 10:31-34

I'm so grateful for the three months I taught this class and I look forward to next term when I can teach Church History and Gospel Doctrine, It's going to be fun.

This summer I get to do a home study program for New Testament and Old Testament for some students that missed out on their freshman years, I'm glad to keep up the studying. We'll meet once a week and they'll do work at home, but I'll be keeping up with them.

Below is a video of a talk we studied this year from Elder Holland. I was moved to tears because of it's divinity. I hope you enjoy it, I add my testimony to his that the Book of Mormon is true and that we can obtain happiness in this life and an eternal reward in the next life by obedience to the gospel and teachings found within it.

Is it wrong to enjoy Alice being sick?

Look how sweet she looks, just sprawled out on my bed, clinging to her blankie and watching early morning nick jr cartoons, to sick to even protest the annoying baby cartoons- ADORABLE

She hasn't been feeling well for two days and this morning was especially bad. I myself was pretty tired from Seminary and restless sleep with her fever the night before, so I cuddled up with her and dozed off and on all morning with her in the crook of my arm.

Joely kept busy playing "my dot com" She loves to play Nick Jr on the computer now.

She would wake us up now and again to ask for "passion fruit juice" or if she could use the bathroom, but for the most part she was content to just play her "dot com" and watch her shows. What a sweetheart.

It is fun to have Alice all to myself. She's seven now and seems so independent. She does occasionally need "snuggle time" but mostly she just wants to do her own thing.

It's been a nice couple of days.

I think tomorrow she'll be ok to get back to school, and I'll miss her.

Looking forward to June third almost as much as the kids are.

Facebook- Amazing, Evil or somewhere in between

If you've wondered why I haven't been so dedicated with my "deep thoughts" here is because I've been sidetracked by sound bytes on Facebook.

I was slow to love Facebook, but for about 10 months now, I've been too involved in it.

At first I was just excited to reconnect with my cousins but then it grew into reading about and getting sucked into the everyday drama of people. Sometimes it was like watching reality TV starring people I was "friends" with.

So is it an Amazing Tool or is it Evil? Or is it somewhere in between...

Facebook has been amazing because of reconnecting with my cousins, I love them and miss them dearly. I spent every summer of my life until I turned 14 with them. Some of my cousins are much older than I am and so I "grew" up with their kids. Some of them are my age, and some cousins I had not seen since they were infants, but through the miracle of facebook, I can "watch" them grow into the people they've become.

I get real weepy when I see some of the pictures, happy for the memories I have of them, and weepy for the memories we don't share. I remember our grandparents and the uncles (and one of my dear aunts) who have passed away, I think of how they would love my husband and children and I miss them.
Then I get all joyful thinking about how we are all sealed together through our grandparents and one day we will meet on the other side and we will embrace and have those tears of joy again.

I thank facebook for bringing my cousins back into my life.
I love to read what they are thinking and I LOVE to see the pictures.

One cousins, Nedra, posted a ton of pictures of us all when we were much younger. They looked like pictures my Grandma Bowden had in her photo albums. Some of the cousins, were frozen in time, and those pictures are how I remember them.

It's hard to grasp my head around the fact that they, like me, have grown into adults with children of their own.

My cousin Jamie posted family pictures. Realistically I knew she was the adult in the picture, but her daughter looked just like the Jamie I "knew" when I last saw her, and again I wept tears of happiness. My cousin shawna had two children when I spent one summer with her, they were Oriana and "baby" Rhett, Rhett was one that summer, he was adorable and Oriana reminded me of snow white, now Oriana posted pictures of their entire family, I couldn't get over how grown up they all were and how many more there are ---yet Shawna looked the same to me, maybe just a little more snow on top- My cousin Duane was always teasing me, just a few years older than me made me a target of his good natured fun. I always adored him and looked forward to his teasing me. He married a wonderful girl named Kelly. I knew she was wonderful because she married Duane, and my mom and aunts always had nice things to say about her. Thanks to facebook I've been able to see her positive attitude in action and look at their beautiful children and rejoice that we are all part of the same family.

So many stories I could go on forever.

So to sum up that, I am so grateful for the cousins I didn't know, cousins that came into the family through marriage or were born after my summers in Idaho were over and because of facebook I can know them.

I have a wonderful legacy and I'm grateful to be a part of it and I'm grateful to the facebook for helping me to get in and stay in touch with my family.

On the other hand, I found a lot of time wasted reading mindless drivel. I was recently "yelled" at by an old acquaintance because I was offended by her choice of language, I realized then that I don't need to add grief into my life by reading things that are not going to uplift, so I won't be "living" on facebook as much, If it wasn't for staying in touch with my family, I'd probably just shut the whole thing off, for now I will use facebook as a tool for doing good and to uplift and ignore the unpleasantness of the "global community"

And that also means, I will stop neglecting my old friend, the blog.

So to answer my question, Facebook can be very good, if used to bring about good and uplift others and it can be a source of Evil if it's used to demean, profane and belittle. Based on my teaching of Seminary last week and this, I agree with Mormon in Moroni Chapter 7 and that is we can judge what is right and wrong as easy as we can judge day from night, things are either good and bring you closer to God or bad and carry you away from Him.

I choose Good.

I get by with a little help from my friends

Today I am especially grateful for wonderful friends.

Recently "little Red" our beloved Saturn has been on life support.

Which means Robert is driving the van, since he needs to continue to work and keep us in this lifestyle we've grown accustomed to.

Which means, Joely and I are grounded.

Fortunately we found a Lazarus Mechanic that will be able to resurrect the Transmission for a low fee. Some of you my think it's time to let "little Red" go be with Jesus, but I can't let her go.

It was in 13 years ago that Robert and I lovingly took her off the Saturn lot.
Back then, when Saturn was new, you didn't buy the car, you joined their family.

They chanted and took your picture.

You joined a cult.

Well now that Saturn is no longer, where would Little Red go if we don't keep her? I shudder to think that she would be suffer in a junk yard.

David Will be driving in 4 years, what better gift to him than the first car he ever road in?
After all she's a classic.

But back to my friends.

So since Little Red, is awaiting her transport to the mechanic, I've needed help.

And like always my great friends come through for me.

When I worked at the San Jacinto ER, one of the FEW great things about the place was meeting some great co-workers. One is Hope Hart- and like her name suggests she fills everyone's heart with hope. She's a great person and wonderful friend and she makes you feel better just by being around her. I needed to take Truffles to the vet yesterday

Look closely and you'll see the fish hook hanging out of her mouth.

When I sent Hope the distress call, she quickly agreed and even said, "Yeah I'm so glad we get to spend time together." What a great friend, not just willing to transport us but happy to spend the time with us.

As you can see Truffles is now OK --thanks Hope!

Also yesterday, I was bored in the morning, so Precious Megan picked up Joely and I and we went to the park. It was double good, because I got to spend time with both her and precious Jacob and Joely was able to play with Keegan. Megan is great and I'm glad that if I don't see her everyday, I talk to her everyday and she helps keep my sanity in check. She's also been a great friend to David, she lets him do homework at her house so he can stay focused and has inspired him to pursue running, his first race is on Saturday.

As if yesterday wasn't busy enough, Alice has art on Wednesdays, obviously I couldn't drive her there, so her art teacher Miss Alex, came and picked her up. Alex and her family have been our besties since Quentin was in 2nd grade. I'm so glad we know them, they've been so helpful and just fun to hang out with. It's always a giggle fest with them.

Another great friend came through yesterday too- Connie Whiffen and I met through cub scouts, three years ago- she's an amazing mom, patient and giving. She is always so willing to help out and I love her to pieces, her kids are some of my favorites too and her mom and husband also make me feel like family. Yesterday Connie quickly agreed to pick up David after school so he didn't have to miss his Chess Club, one of the very few things he loves about school.

On Tuesday I had to miss my monthly in-service meeting for Seminary, so my BFF Myriam took copious notes and got my packet of info for me, she called yesterday with the updates and I didn't feel so guilty for missing the meeting. Myriam is a great party planner and I've been grabbing on her coat tails to be a hostess with her for different showers, she does all the creative work and I get some of the credit- it's a great friendship.

Thinking about how blessed I was yesterday by my friends, I thought of two "old" friends from Laredo. Back then, all we had was little Red, My friend Julie Woodmansee, was so kind to pick me and the boys up so we could go to the "childrens Museum" in Laredo or go swim at her house or anything fun so we weren't stuck in our house. She made us feel so welcome in the desert. Another real good friend, Heather Moulton was the first to call to see "when" she could pick me up, not "if" I needed a ride. Heather would always thank me for the opportunity to drive us because she said it allowed her to live a longer fuller life when helping out others.

I hope to one day be as great of a friend to others like the friends I have are to me, and I hope my Children are learning how to be good friends too. I have many wonderful friends, not named, but you know who you are!

Thanks y'all!

Unable to Sleep

I anticipate the Easter Bunny will be hop hop hopping down the bunny trail.
I can't sleep.

Maybe it was all the peanut butter eggs I binged on all day.

Maybe it's the excitement of tomorrows blog worthy event,

Crawfish Boil/Easter Egg Hunt at Uncle Rex and Aunt June's house.

Maybe I'm going through the change.

I'm also anticipating a friend going into labor, what if she goes into labor and I'm asleep and don't hear the phone? Will she still be able to have the baby if I'm not literally on call?

Maybe and I think this is it, It's a list in my head of the many things left undone, that I am not motivated to do.

And maybe it's just knowing that I don't have to get up early tomorrow.

Tomorrow Night I'll post pictures of the Eggstravaganza at the Petty's house.

You'll wish you were there.

Here is the video from the birthday visit to Austin.

Please note how ADORABLE Joely is looking at all the cute egg and bunny decor.

Also note, Joely is wearing Alice's hat. LISTEN CLOSELY.

David almost went to "be with Jesus"

One of the 12 River Crossings
For those of you with an eagle eye, figure out why this is going on the awkward family photos. just remember what I learned in the 80's "crack kills"

David lost and regained his "lucky" hat. He's now a huge Owls Fan. He'll do well when he attends Rice on a full scholarship.

Climbing the rocks leading up to the top of the big rock/mountain.

Just after "the incident"

On the Very top, according to an US geological survey marker

Before I proceed, let me whine that I was unable to move the photos, but since Blogger is free, I am getting way more than I paid for.

The video was taken "before" the incident.

Robert took David and Quentin on a hike to Enchanted Rock. And of Course Alice was not be left behind. We went to mom and Dad's house for a few days of spring break and on March 19th the small clan of Mullens made their trek from Round Rock to Fredrickbsurg at 6 am. The thing with Enchanted Rock is that only a certain amount of people are allowed in each day and so you need to get there when they open. They arrived at 8:00 am and began their trek.

Joely and I are basing this blog on the information given to us. We stayed behind and promptly got back in bed. We had an early lunch at Delaware Subs with mom and dad and then went and spent the afternoon with Yvette Fuller, my sister from another mister, we also got to see Brother and Sister Davis who have always been very special to me. So special in fact that she's lived in her "new" house for 7 years or longer and I'm just now saw it on this trip. I had sooo many wonderful friends in Austin it's hard to see any of them on my trips back home.

But I digress...

So the hikers arrived at the summit at about 10 am everyone was thrilled, so excited they called me and told me they made it. Quentin however needed to hike for at least 5 miles to earn his outdoorsmen activity badge for webelos (funny side note, I just realized when I made this link that the requirement is only 3 miles--) So off they went on the hiking trails. They had a great lunch (prepared lovingly by me) and kept on trecking.

And then we almost lost David. Literally his life was in the balance.

While hiking ahead of Robert and Alice he came across a rattlesnake, coiled and ready to strike. Quentin was very close by, but as David said,"In that moment I wasn't worrying about Quentin." What Robert and Alice saw was David looking at something and then David and Quentin running like they stole something and screaming.

Apparently the snake was almost 6 feet long.

If it wasn't for the fast feet of David, he would have been left on the trail to be food for the vultures. He's too heavy to carry out.

I am so glad he can run like Forest.

And so can Quentin, as needed.

Robert reported that ALice was a trooper and only had trouble with the last 1/2 mile when her "dogs were barking."

They came home to Rudy's for dinner and one of my oldest Austin Buddies, Carla Salas joined us, it was a great weekend. I'll post another cute video of Joely seeing her gramma and us all singing happy birthday to Robert and my Dad-

Watch the The Twilight Saga: Eclipse trailer on #Fandango

Watch the The Twilight Saga: Eclipse trailer on #Fandango

Posted using ShareThis

"Go Blog about it!"

That's what Robert said to me yesterday when I called telling him I was feeling sick to my stomach. I think that's the 2010 version of

"here's a quarter call someone who cares"

What do you think?

Usually he's a little more sympathetic, but he was at work, where he is the

big boss man and it can't get out that he has a sensitive side.

So I forgave him,

But I won't forget.

About 14 years ago he made a snide comment about me becoming one dimensional, a comment that has bit him in the hind quarters more than once.

Robert forgets that I have a near perfect Instant Recall of all things said to me or heard by me.

I'm sure he'll regret ever saying, "go Blog about it."

Other than that the month has been great.

I started to teach seminary on the first day of February.

What is Seminary you ask?

Here is the official word from seminary.lds.org

Seminary provides weekday religious training for youth in public or private high schools and homeschools.

Each year we focus on one of the scriptures. This year we are studying the Book of Mormon, and while I admit, I was apprehensive at first at how I could manage the five am wake up call, teach high school age kids and get my kids to school on time, I'm happy to say I've been blessed.

With the blessing of teaching Seminary from 6:00-6:45 am each day I've been able to accomplish the following.

1. Keep my house cleaner than it has ever been, including (but not limited to) dishes being done the NIGHT before.

2.Get up early and not hate it- seriously, I wasn't a morning person. Even though some days REQUIRE a nap, I've not been unhappy with the early morning.

3. The kids only missed the bus once- miracle in itself.

4. The Kids have been very helpful in getting up with smiles and getting themselves into the shower.

5. I've really enjoyed the daily study and application.

So that's all I have to "blog about" today.

Jesus Wants Joely for a Sunbeam

In our church when you turn three you start going to primary. Primary is what other churches call Junior Sunday School, childrens church etc. The first year you are there you are called a sunbeam, and Joely well she's our little sunbeam.

She loves to sing the songs, and the above video is a medly of her favorite ones. She has been singing the sunbeam song nearly non stop since she started primary. She also loves Popcorn Popping, Do as I'm doing and Head Shoulders Knees and toes, (knees and toes). Another favorite is the Hello Song, but she just learned it last week and isnt' ready to perform it.

Joely's teacher is Sister Duncan and the other little one in her class is Keegan, you may remember him from previous posts.

Another favorite thing for her are marshmallows, as you can see in the video, she interchanged marshmallow and sunbeam.
She's a cutie patootie

Valentines Fun Fun Fun

Valentines Day began on the 12th with a party hosted by

Joely and her BFF Keegan.

It was a fun party. The kids decorated lunch bags with hearts and glue.

They colored some valentine pages and made "love visors"

They decorated cupcakes and played Bingo.

And there was candy and chips.

Before they left they handed out Valentines to each other.

It was adorable.
The moms had fun too, we had a yummy lunch of Chicken Salad and Broccoli Cheese Soup.

There wer 6 little party revelers.

On Friday David came home early (no parties for 5th grade) and watched Joley so I could go to Quentin's party. I had my cameras with me, but was swamped with workin' the party that I forgot to take pictures. Next time I'll have Quentin take pictures and film.

His teacher (Mrs. Brightwell) was wonderful. She had root beer floats and sundaes for the kids. What I liked best is she had me scooping ice cream, and another mom doing toppings and she gave each student individual attention when they came to make their choices. You can tell she really cares about her students and she has a great deal of patience.

I am so glad Quentin is in her class, her partner (the english teacher- Ms. Hammond) is great too. Quentin always comes home with great stories and her games for spelling and vocab. He really enjoys school and does well.

For Valentines Day they made "simple machines" to collect their valentines. Quentin made the "reel love machine" with a fishing reel, pully system and hinges, also an inclined plane, his simple machine turned out a little complex. All the projects were adorable. I was impressed with the creativity and talent.

On Saturday we had our annual Blue and Gold Banquet and this year we celebrated 100 years of scouting. It was a great dinner, my friend John Catered the event and it was awesome BBQ. We also were entertained by skits and jokes.
Good Times.

Sunday I was greeted with roses and chocolates- who could ask for more?

I took the kids to see the Lightening Thief last night. I'm not sure which book this was based on, because it wasn't based much on the 5 Percy Jackson books I read. I hope Rick Riordan is so disgusted he won't let them make anymore. Some of my favorite characters were absent and they added junk that did not need to be added. In addition to that - we were able to see the Gods in their true form and we all know as mortals we would be obliterated if that was true.

Very dissapointed Hollywood.

And as it is written, so shall it be done....

I can't get Charlton Heston out of my head, so I used his words as my title. My BFF Allie wrote and asked me to update, and as she writes I do her bidding- I have posted several posts tonight, scroll down and read them all for your enjoyment and my validation.

I can't get another quote from

the Old Testament-(the movie - not the book) out of my head.

"Your eyes are as beautiful as they keen"

This is what Jacob Allegedly said to Rachel, when they met. Before he was tricked into marrying her sister and then had to wait 14 years to marry her.

I really like Hollywood's version, the script is much more fun to listen to than Genesis.

But I digress.

I am writing tonight about a beauty we have in our house, Miss Alice Anne.

On thursday night she informed me of the sweetheart dance in gym class. She wanted a new dress, it needed to be beautiful and black and twirl and fabulous.

Since we don't indulge her nearly enought, we stopped at palais royal, which is in town, but I hardly ever go there, it's so expensive, but when they have sales or clearance, it's a good place.

So we went, naturally the first dress she saw was sixty bucks.

I explained how there was no way in a manger we would pay that.

Then we found a gorgous one on clearance that fit the bill.

I beleive she looked amazing-

What do you think?

You'll notice her foot cocked a little and a look of indifference, you can't teach that- it's a natural talent. And please notice the locket, it "helps me to feel warm inside"

She's so filled with confidence, I just love that she's aware of all her talents and intelligence.

I am so glad we have Alice Anne in our family!

Enjoying the balmy 40 degree weather

So we had a bright idea on the 31st of January, let's go for a day trip to the Brazos Bend State Park.

Typically it's not freezing weather, but it sure was cold in January.

Earlier in the week though it was nice and warm, like Spring for SE Texas, and Summer for like Blackfoot, Idaho.

We made our plans, we had our family meeting, we were ready to go.

Like any trip, I planned the meals.

We had watched a show on Diners Drive Ins and Dives about "Bob's Tacos and Snowballs" and it's just outside of Richmond, which is "on the way" if you detour about 15 miles or so to get to Brazos Bend state Park. And my mouth was still watering, so off we went.

I figured, It's a hole in the wall, how busy can it be....

Well Apparently everyone who watched the episode thought the same thing.

Here we are waiting outside to get in, to wait inside to be seated. We waited about an hour to get seated and then another 30 minutes or so for the food.

Normally I would have given up, but then where is the story in that.

Just look at the love Robert has in his eyes, he LOVES me to take random shots that will go on the blog. He's soooo supportive.

This is a cute girl who took our names and gave us menus. She wasn't shown on the episode, but she said it's made things sooo crazy. Normally the resteraunt closes at two, but they've been staying open passed four just to get people in the doors.

The food was good, but here is my complaint, when you think "Dive" you think cheap food, well here is a picture of the bill, for 5 people, because Joely just ate from everyone, and they included gratuity, which just bugs me.

Ok I'm getting a little bit irritated, I can't move my pictures around like I like to, and I don't know why- So if for some strange reason you are still reading this, here is a collage, press play and it will be a slide show.

Why you may ask are there pictures of feet? Surely she clicked the camera on accident. No, there was an incident with feet kicking between Quentin and Alice, each blamed the other, I took some shots to prove who it was. Not to be outdone, Joely and her "sparkle" shoes needed a picture.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

What next? Oh Yeah Family Fun Day

Ok so what do you get when you smart off to dad?

A family "fun" day.

Complete with menial tasks like cleaning out the gutters.

Pictured Below Quentin and David with happy hearts.

Joely always gets in on the action, she's the quintessential "me too"

Everyone joined in the waxing and cleaning of the Saturn (bless it's little 13 year old heart) and the Oddyssey, only three more payments...

And the taskmaster himself, Mr. Wonderful.

Actually it was a real fun day before we were hit with yet another Arctic Blast.

To quote my favorite NFL player Chad Ochocinco,
"Child Please" about the global warming. I'm just not "feeling" it. It's time to Kiss the Baby on that one.

If you are not a fan of Chad Ochocinco, you should be. His type is what keeps the NFL a game and not some political machine.

I'm just sayin'

Mom's visit

Last month mom came to stay with us for a few days. As you can see Joely was in Heaven. It was all about her and "my grandma"

All of us love the visits, but I really think, right now, Joely is getting the most out of them.

After all she's there all day.

And the kids do have things in the evenings, and then they have to go to bed early

to get to school the next day, but not Joely.

For instance one night David had some friends over before going to Cub Scouts. I was busy getting them their dinner ready so they could eat first and we could go.

I casually mentioned to Robert, "I'm getting these plates ready for the boys."

And Joely pops up from grandma's lap and says,
"What about me and my grandma?"

She made sure grandma got fed and took her shots and pills.

She made sure grandma read her books.
She also made sure grandma knew the family's pecking order

1. Joely

2. Everyone else

The funniest thing about mom's visits is that I become invisible.

Usually Joely wants to be where I am at or go wherever I go, but with Grandma she quickly says, "Bye mama" or just completly ignores me.

Grandma sleeps on the Day bed, which is where Joely is supposed to sleep, but she has called it Grandma's bed, and when she decides she'll sleep there it's never "my bed" it's always the Grandma's bed.

Pictured Below is mom sitting in the back seat of the van. Of course she'll sit there with Joely instead of riding shotgun with me. (refer to the pecking order if you are confused)

It's time for Grandma to come visit again.

The plan was to go visit her house this passed weekend, but cub scouts had their blue and gold dinner and Uncle Brian got real sick too, so now I'm not sure what weekend we can get away because Alice starts Softball practice this week, and they have practices on Saturdays.

We'll have to get Grandma again for Joely to play with.
Good Times!

Getting away in the Big Easy

Last weekend Robert and I took an early anniversary trip to New Orleans-

One of my High School BFF's was having a 40th birthday Bash.
The theme was Solid Gold Dance Party.

We took off on our road trip on Friday and had a blast. It's about 350 miles to New Orleans and we got there in about 5 hours- which is amazing.

I drive with 4 kids 200 miles to my parents house and it takes almost 5 hours- GO FIGURE-

On Friday Night we ate at Bubba Gumps and had Shrimp and we stayed in the Sheraton on Canal Street. It was sooo relaxing.
The Girls spent the weekend shopping with Rob's parents and the boys stayed with their friends.

Danielle and I have been friends since 9th grade, she's sooo much fun and we laugh and carry on like teenagers when we get together.

She met us for Brunch at the Court of Two Sisters on Saturday Morning

I know there are more things to do in New Orleans than just eat- but that's how I vacation.

The Court of two sister is a fun place to eat and listen to jazz music. I read it about in a Hemingway novel and a Faulkner novel once. Then before Robert and I went to New Orleans nine years ago for Danielle's wedding, I was reading a novel and in the novel the writer was interviewing Hemingway at the Court of Two Sisters. So we had to go then and since it was fabulous we had to return. Also I am a big fan of William Faulkner and he wrote his first novel around the corner from there and so well you just have to go.

After we left there we went to the Faulkner Book store- where he lived and I bought a Flannery O'Connor Novel. That girl was NUTS- her writing is very scary and I'm amazed that she published in the 40s and 50s. She's timeless though.

At Danielle's party she had Karaoke. Danielle, unlike most people, can actually sing. I wanted to join in the festivities and you can see our internet sensation here on you tube. For some reason they turned down my mike...hmmm must not have wanted to overshadow the birthday girl- lol

We had a great time and were just thrilled to spend some time alone, you have to do that every now and again, it's the secret of a long and happy marriage.

Speaking of which on the 27th we'll have been married for 13 years. It seems like only yesterday we went on that fate filled blind date. He still has those gorgeous green eyes and he still makes my heart skip a beat. It's been a fun 13 years and I look forward to about 40 more!

Here is another video I shot of Joely and her friend Corey at the zoo on the 31st. Alice isn't in the videos because she spent the day at a zoo camp. Click here to watch it, but I warn you it's about 6 minutes long.

Ode to some cookbooks

It's not that I never learned to cook, I just never learned to cook southern, I was raised Mormon and ate a lot of WONDERFUL food that was easy to cook.

Mom taught me how to cook and she supplied me with plenty of my favorite recipes. One of my favorite dishes is actually something my dad always makes, Meatloaf. He always cooked Lima Beans as a side dish to go with the Meatloaf and it's dreamy. Sadly nobody else cooks them the same, and I have yet to master the art of the Lima Bean.

But then I met Robert.

Robert, who is basically perfect, except for his palate.

He didnt' grow up on casseroles, and he disdains anything with "cream of..." soup in it.

We had dated a few times when I thought awww I should cook for him.

This "aww" moment came after visiting his apartment. His fridge had some sodas in it and some steak umm in the freezer.

Clearly he needed my culinary expertise.

So he picked me up from work and we went to Central Market in Austin.

Back then we didn't grocery shop like we do now.
Back then it was all magical, holding hands gazing into each other's eyes.

Grocery shopping for one meal could take HOURS.

Now we divide an conquer-

"You take the meats, I'll get produce, we'll meet in Breads

GO! GO! GO!"

But back then it was all rainbows and unicorns.

So I go first to the amazing cheese selection, because I was going to make my specialty, stuffed shells and then Robert said something I'll never forget.

"Don't get any cheese for me, I don't eat cheese except on Pizza."
What the What????

How could I cook on the fly with that info? Shouldn't he have given me that information, say the night before?

At that moment, everything I knew involved cheese.

All of my favorite dishes that I had learned from the tutelage of mom.

Broccoli and Cheese Chicken, Manicotti, Sheperds Pie, Lasagna, Most casseroles.

You know add cheese and Broil? Cheese makes it all better.

I was frusterated to say the least.

So after him hawing around I admitted I had no clue how to cook without cheese.
Sure I could have made Meatloaf, Chicken Supreme (an awesome dish that involves chicken, bacon, something else, but also cream of mushroom soup, my spidey senses told me to stay away from that) Chili, rice pilaf etc. But all of these items required a recipe, I didn't have recipes on me.

So we spent about $40.00 on kick butt salad ingredients and then picked up pizza on the way back.

After that he did the cooking, and he's good at it.

After we got married, In the Christmas of 2000, Sue, his mom started a tradition of giving me a new cookbook each year for Christmas. The above picture shows the cookbooks, minus this years cookbook.

I love the cookbooks! I've made at least one thing from each cookbook.
The first cookbook, is my third favorite cookbook ever. It is a collection of recipes from Central Baptist Church, where Robert grewup. Robert's Aunt Susan put a lot of recipes in there, I cherish it. Plus nothing beats a good Church cookbook.

The Second one was after 9/11 and Sue had been to New York that summer, it was real neat to have a cookbook from New York. I made a bread recipe and a soup recipe from there.

In 2002 she gave me the Lady and Two Sons dessert and candy cookbook. It was two days before I would no longer be the Lady with just two sons, because we were having Alice on the 27th. It has come to mean a lot to me because it was published before the Lady, Paula Deen, became famous thanks to the food network.

I love all of my cookbooks and I'm proud to say I've mastered making buttermilk biscuits, this took 12 years of practice and thanks to this years cookbook

I've mastered the art of making gravy. The formula is simple. Use two Tablespoons of pan drippings and then add two Tablespoons of thickening agent and mix quickly with a whisk. Add two cups milk and bring to a boil, stirring the whole time. If you need more or less gravy, just remember this whatever amount of grease you use in Tablespoons, add the same number of Tablespoons of thickening agent and then the same number of CUPS of liquid. Perfect everytime.

My Second favorite Cookbook is an old Exxon cookbook,that was Robert's great grandmas. IT has her name and address written in the cover and her coke a cola cake recipe in it. It also has her notes in it. Also it calls for Oleo instead of shortening, so you know the recipes will be tasty.

My favorite cookbook is last, but not least, the cookbook my friends and I put together in the Memorial Park Ward in Houston. When I say put together, I mean it quite literally. I typed the recipes, Heather formatted them and did the graphics and got everythign printed. Then Jenni, heather, Adrienne and I collated them and got them bound. It was hard work, but it has all my favorite recipes in one place. My aunt's recipes, my mom's recipes and then my friends stuff too.

So now I have in my personal arsenal instructions on how to cook almost anything. Robert is bound to like something and sometimes when he's not looking I'll add some cream of something soup, just to remind me of home.