tgif

i love fridays and usually am so productive...i love to get caught up with office work/laundry/cleaning so we can enjoy the weekend as a family...saturdays begin with the traditional breakfast taco from rudys-that in itself is a whole story-never heard of a breakfast taco till i moved south-now i can't live without them...off to football game #1 and #2...errands and fun stuff fill up the afternoon...we went to the pool last weekend but it wasn't quite warm enough yet...now i am procrastinating...back to work...tfig

post-it notes

i love these...the original small little yellow square ones...i usually post them all around my computer screen and one by one remove them...i love taking them down...yesterday i had 18 post-it notes and this morning i'm starting out with 8...can't wait to see how many we have at the end of the day...on my post-it notes today are:

1. office commission checks are due for zang
2. football snack this saturday for nathans game-if i look at this all week, hopefully i'll remember to buy the snack before saturday
3. buy 3 cards...moms & eds bday/congrats ms.ashe
4. find code number for voice mail for cell phone...cant retrieve any of my messages lately
5. balance feb bank statement for zang
6. library books/dvds due today...must renew peace like a river
7. make appointment for honda for collision repairs
8. happy anniversary mom and dad today

peace and post-it.

creative mess

there are at least 5 projects going on right here/right now/right in the middle of the kitchen...can't think of a better/worse place to have this...back to scrapbooking a page in album titled 2005...scary, i'm not BEHIND really....and yes i'm sure one of the boys managed to balance my making memories hammer on the top of peace somehow...hopefully they didn't glue it there...i better go check that out...peace to your mess today.

i usually don't need an excuse to have a party

ok i'm in love with these and just have to have a party just so i can send out these awesome invitations...i can't decide which ones...the internet is the most exciting and expensive toy around...just wanted to share...they'll make ya smile.

blessings

in this mess of piles of things to do, one often needs to step back and reflect as opposed to getting overwhelmed...so i'm writing/taking my own advice and 10 blessings right now are:

• colin and i were hit in the minivan yesterday but we are ok.
• i found a $20 starbucks gift card in my wallet from christmas from steve.
• starbucks is in walking distance from our house.
• real simple magazine arrived in the mail today.
• looking forward to thursday womens luncheon at church with laura-they always have a wonderful and inspirational testimony guest speaker plus delicious food and great fellowship.
• reading peace like a river by leif enger...nothing like a great book from the library.
• football practice in march in flip flops and tee shirts...this texas weather still amazes me.
• picking up a roll of developed film yesterday...i'm still a digital camera rebel.
• watching curb your enthusiam with steve at night...talking about serious laughing...i know we are about 50 episodes behind the real world.
• cloudy days because they remind me not to take the beautiful blue sky everyday for granted.

off to pick up curly, i mean buzz cut from school...note to self...check out what #5 buzzer means...i thought it ment long hair and i ordered it for colin instead of his usually #3 buzzer so he would have a couple curls on top...no curls this month or next ....

peace.

one more day

left of spring break ! i have loved/disliked having no routine/no homework/no bedtime/no alarm clock but on the other hand i love routine/homework/bedtime/alarm clocks...so today i am sad/glad...gotta go spend some quality time with those guys just because we can. enjoy.

colins view

mommy: "our toaster oven is broken. we will have to go and buy a new one."
colin: "that's great news because now we will have a clean one!"

never said i was a cleaner - love to pick things up/organize/put away/keep it simple but a great cleaning woman i am not.
#1) the kids will never remember if the house was clean or not, only the time i spend with them.
#2) i've got the rest of my life to clean, for now i'm going to enjoy life.
#3) i'm sticking with the above for now, including less than perfect toaster ovens!

gotta love these boys

ok, so i don't own a digital carema (can't part with my cannon rebel) or an ipod(still own a cd player and actually still use it) but i do have a dell printer that scans things and look what i just figured out how to scan/how to find it in the computer/how to open it/how to send it to my blog/have to view it...not bad for an old girl...it will never admit how long this took or if i can ever do it again...put for now i just am so happy i did this... the little things that make me happy...the simple things...life just as it is...wouldn't change a thing. this is from last month when colin turned 5...he picked out the flavor - orange cake with butter cream frosting ...wasn't the best combo but colin did not want another harvey wallbanger cake (this is another whole story) so off to bake this creation that not one of my sugar-loving boys finished the first piece of...so much for trying something new/quick/out-of-a-box...lesson learned/mistake made...can't believe my baby is five...not going to even think about what happens when he starts school this august...can you say basketcase? we'll worry about that later.

pokemon theme song

we found pokemon episodes on cartoon network on demand this morning and you gotta love nathan - he sat there and wrote down every word to the pokemon theme song, kept rewinding and replaying until he got the entire song in his own language (no spell check on that piece of paper) and then sang it for me - my very own american idol show here in our house- gotta love any day that starts out like this. this of course followed colins stories titled driftwood/hungry animal/get the bad guys from the tub - his morning routine always includes a story from the tub - no water -while i take a shower and get dressed - he comes complete with props for each story - sometimes the stories are long/sometimes short but everyday. here's to a day filled with many stories and songs...

happy feet

ok how cute/deep/meaningful/musical was this movie...the boys and i just went to see this at the $1 wednesday deal...thrifty huh?...no popcorn, we each brought some valentines candy...gotta love that too...i loved how each of the boys viewed the movie differently from each of their age appropriate response...to colin it was about the blue eyed penguin, to nathan it was about the relationships happy feet had with everyone and to justin it was about the occupation he wants to do when he grows up(he wants to study the food chain and what affects it, not the ones out trying to save the animals-that would probably be too much work for him :))
heres to the music in your heart that keeps your feet happy and dancing. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord. ephesians 5:19. Peace.

love spring break

we had our first teravista scrapbook club meeting last night-just an informal crop night out...can't really get alot done in two hours but it certainly is a great dose of motivation...gotta do some things around the house today such as laundry/office work/make a nice dinner...but i've already taken a shower/baked a loaf of homemade banana bread/did a load of specials/emptied the dishwasher/sorted thru the zang stuff and put it into piles to tackle...heres to getting stuff done today. i'll never forget an episode of oprah i saw years ago that was an ah-ha moment for me when it comes to completing to everyday stuff- a mother changed her perspective instead of being overwhelmed she looked at the joy of each of these tasks- being able to wash the children's clothes in a wash machine (the joy of having children and the joy of a wash machine that actually does the work) and it has always stuck with me. so when ever the routine gets me down, i put the blessing spin on it and i'm back in the groove...here's to a grooving day!

its 1pm on a monday

and i have yet to complete one thing on my to do list (the actual written one or the mindless mental one)...floundering? no actually just enjoying having the boys on spring break - the day takes on a whole different light when you really don't have to watch the clock...we went to hobby lobby and just explored and each of the boys found a cool project to do...justin found a model airplane to build in the clearence corner and the salesclerk in the area said she would mark it down further if the price sticker code ended in *06* it was originally 18.oo and we got it for $2.56... unfortunetly we spent our savings in other parts of the store...gotta use the right side sometimes...colin and nathan found little cardboard treasure chests to paint and decorate...how could i say no...they have little collections everywhere...and we bought some shrink-art because this brought back such fun memories for me-nothing like watching the piece of plastic fold into a ball then magically shrink...can't wait to do this with the boys..of course we had to by the big pack of sharpie colorful markers to complete this project the correct way!! steve just came early with a sore knee so glad the house was picked up - somedays i'm not motivated till about 5:30 to actually pick everything up and then it's called beat the clock...off to enjoy the beautiful day-they called for rain and it was 75 and sunny all day..go figure.
peace.

gotta love saturdays

the best day of the week...no routine...no schedule yet(flag football games to start soon - which takes up most of saturday morning and early afternoon)...just a day to do whatever...today started off with words including its not fair/justin/root beer/cheese puffs...yada yada yada...get over it boys...life is not fair/your brother got a 100 on his taks test/move along...breakfast tacos from rudys - now here is another perfect example of cool things in texas - take a soft taco shell, fill it with cheese, top it with scrambled eggs and bacon(and/or a ton of other things) and what you have is a breakfast taco...cant believe i eat them/can't live without them on saturday mornings! can't really top that for news to report today...off to the pool to check out the water temp...soon enough we will be swimming every moment we can...sarah & troy joined us for pizza last night and they are on spring vacation in oregon now...texas rodeo in town...steve and j-dog are golfing...sun is shinning/mojito is minty/life is good...off to sonic for a little treat/hit the pool/read a little...enjoy the little moments.

peace & patience

spring break is officially here... i just heard the bus drive by...wish me luck...sometimes it is just so noisy all day...good noise...laughs and giggles...tears and pouts...out of the ridgid routine that usually fills our weekdays...here we go...peace.

garbage trucks

he's still into them. started as an infant. colin would sit by the front door on friday mornings and wait for the garbage/recycle/grass clipping truck to come and haul our stuff away and he is still doing it. when we moved to austin, garbage day was still on fridays, how perfect is that, and he still runs when he hears the truck coming. nothing better than a day filled with the garbage truck honking the horn as he drives away. and the excitement of the garbage truck here in austin-they have the arm on the back that hooks into the can and flips it into the hopper-that practically blew colin away the first day we saw that in real life (of course we had seen it before because his favorite vcr movie from the library is 'there goes a garbage truck' which we rented so many times that i felt guity taking it out every other week!) back to waiting for the garbage truck now - recycle truck has already struck for the day.

ok how cut is this

colin just called me to come check this out...one mommy never knows what she will find...and there on the bathroom window ledge is my peace word with dinosaurs all creatively hanging into it...mom take a picture and that i did...now that his creative juices are turned on...ten minutes later he calls me and now he has decorated the peace word with books...mom take a picture...obviously colin has watched me move my word of the year(from one of alis aezine newsletter challenges) around the house and randomly take pictures of it over the past 2 months-ok, maybe twice...and so it continues, now there are matchboxes cars...gotta go before he decides to decorate it with real food or something.
by the way, my peace word was found at marshalls for 6 dollars on the clearence rack-love those red price stickers there.
(otta get a digital camera to post pictures of life as they are happening)

fabulous friday

nothing pressing today...somedays i like this feeling, other days i like the fast, busy filled days...must set up a to-do list or i will lose the day completely.
to do...

• create something today
• prepare for next weeks scrapbooking club...what will i work on?
• call havertys furniture store
• polish my nails
• pull out 2006 photos-yikes-this is a big project-need to start working on this batch of pictures...ideas? chronologically? new plan? hum....
• work on finding a babysitter
• enjoy today and plan for spring break next week...what would the boys like to do new and exciting. last year they each got to plan a day on a $20 budget and they each had a lot of fun doing that...they still remember each day-how cute is that...

back on track...off to do those daily chores...no internet browsing for now...

i love

• God...where would we be without Him?
• my husband-he is my rock, my soul mate, my best friend...what more could a girl ask for!
• my 3 sons...and yes i used to watch the tv show...and yes i know that gives away my age!
• mojitos...my absolute new favorite cocktail...perfect for these beautiful austin days.
• mod podge...my new glue-how come i've never used this before?
• chicken tetrazzini...chicken/veggie/pasta all in one and a delicious leftover dinner.
• minibooks...need i say more...i'm still scrapbooking 2005, so minibooks are the perfect size to start and finish all in a day or two...love that feeling of finishing a project.
• ribbon...love the stripped patterns that remind me of my old croton watch with hundreds of different bands that i would change to match my outfit...wish i had that kind of time-now i wear a waterproof watch so i don't waste time taking it on and off...go figure!
• red bull...now theres an expensive can of water...love it, especially with a red straw to match the can colors. call me crazy...

back to being creative/helping with homework/making a pitcher of mojitos/folding laundry/enjoying the evening sunshine!

happy thursday

its sunny and 78 today and its hard not to be a good mood. i love this austin weather. i do not miss the cold. i do not miss the snow. i do not miss the grey days. i do not miss the cold feet in boots. i do not miss the boot puddles at every door. i do not miss the extra time to get dressed before catching the bus with hats/scarves/mittens/boots/sneakers in the backpack...ok, now i pray God does not have us moving back there anytime soon...had a parent teacher conference with colins teacher-ms.becky this morning and the only thing she could identify as a potential problem was how quick he is to cry when he fears that he has done something wrong/incorrect - wonder where he gets that from...i'm still upset about getting scammed(is that a word?) last week by some chick selling cleaner at our front door- i know exactly when she hooked me-her magic potion was able to get the oil stains off our driveway from where the mazda had a leak last year & those had been driving me crazy...rest is history...as self-punishment, no target this week!!! let me tell you its NOT easy staying out of that store...i can see the starbucks cafe as i drive by, i can hear the clearance end caps calling my name, i can smell the #1 combo for a dollar...
gotta go and pick up colin. what will i do without him this fall?? i cherish each day just hanging with him...never had this opportunity with the other two...peace and happy sun!

four things

i received this email from rachel/sarah/shannon when i was sick and i just realized that i never joined in on the fun:
4 jobs i've had: cashier at supermarket/nurses aide on the night shift/nurse on a surgical unit/bookkeeper for family business
4 movies i watch over and over: the firm/a few good men/meet the parents/top gun
4 places i've lived: studio apartment in buffalo/duplex on the lower west side of buffalo/apartment on sheridan drive in buffalo/single family home in williamsville
4 tv shows i watch: desperate housewives/friday night lights/today show/boston legal
4 vacations i've been on: st.marteen/ireland/dominican republic/walt disney world
4 foods i love: champagne/wheat thins-original/goat cheese/sonic cheddar poppers
4 places i'd rather be: making a sand castle on the beach with my boys/having a cocktail at a swim-up pool with steve/having lunch on the patio at neiman marcus with the girls/in a bubble bath with a great book, candles and a glass of champagne.

i would love to answer these questions a year from now to see the different answers...gotta go again, i can feel the bus in the neighborhood. off to homework/play time/dinner/showers - wouldn't change a thing. love it.

just because

its warm and sunny outside and i'm starting to think about an easter brunch menu. doesn't this look perfect with an egg bake (steves favorite), ham with homemade warm honey mustard sauce and fresh fruit & muffins.
Williams-Sonoma Recipe View
wishing it was sunday now...

girls just want to

figure out how to put a picture in a blog - can't wait to see how this looks/figure out how i did this/get a digital camera/confess to how long it took me to do this..... this picture is from our first annual fairway path christmas cookie exchange at shannons house back in december and the picture is from rachels digital camera. heres to many more holidays together...with austin being a very transplanted community, you find out quickly that the majority of people here have moved here/have no family here/know not a single soul when they arrive. we have been so blessed to fall into a neighborhood where we all support/help/party together through all the changes. heres to neighbors like family. rachel/sarah/me/karen/shannon

the game of life

colin and i just finished playing the game of LIFE - spongebob version, of course. in this age of game cubes/games boys/nintendo ds/internet games/computer games, its so refreshing to play a board game and although the version has changed a little-no little cars and pink/pale blue pegs -but they still have jobs/homes/pets/expenses to deal with in bikini bottom and of course some life card blessings too. heres to life-real everyday simple stuff. hope your life has a little board game it in today and don't forget to enjoy it.

why can't i

• blog everyday - its not hard...
• keep up with the laundry...the more i wash, the more there is...
• be early for everything instead of racing against the clock...
• read a couple bible verses each day...
• find a good book to read...i've started 4 lately but have not finished one yet....are there no good reads out there lately...you know the book everyone is talking about...ok, maybe i need to join the book club...
• try a new recipe for dinner...i'm in a dinner rut...the same dinners week after week...
• have a day without a to-do list...i don't think i could survive it...i'd break out in a cold sweat, pace the house, go crazy, eat everything in sight....they recently challenged people on the today show to go without a modern gaget for a week and this business man tried to give up his cell phone/blackberry/laptop/email for a week - well, he made it 40 hours which is about 39 hours longer than i could. bottom line - i like my to-do list no matter whats on it, no matter how many days i have to carry it over(thank you franklin covey for that column), no matter how many days i rewrite it ...love to cross off!
• stay awake past 10pm...red bull/starbucks coffee/no wine with dinner - tried it all - nothing works, i still start the head bobs....
• call my friends more often...not like i have to sit down and write a letter like in the old days...
• spend less time surfing on the internet...what was life like before the internet...maybe we wrote more letters/talked more with friends/tried new dinner recipes/dove into a book...makes you wonder....

gotta go. i'm mailing a card to debbie today for no reason - just to write a quick hi instead of a quick email...something about a pen and a stamp today along with a couple of 4x6 pictures inside.

groundhogging

love routine. love organization. love being productive. love it that we have slept with all the bedroom windows open for the last 2 nights - seriouly - how cool is that ! after living in buffalo my entire life, i am enjoying this new winter season ! can't believe how fun winter can be. don't get me wrong - it does get chilly here in austin - just the right kind of cold to bring out the sweaters and gloves for a couple weeks to spice up the wardrobe - then right back to t-shirts and flip flops. gotta love that. today it is cooler - 75, sunny and breezy. just dropped colin off at school and i can't wait till he eats his lunch because i put a little note inside of it today. now i'm sure with justin, i put notes inside his lunch box everyday and with nathan, i'm sure i scribbled a note on his napkin once in a while but by number 3, you kinda forget all those cool little mom things that you read about in every parenting magazine. on the way home from school on tuesday, colin simply said "you can put a note in my lunch box if you want" yikes - i wanted to cry....note to self - put a note in his lunch box on thursday and I REMEMBERED TO DO IT! its bound to be a great day....
to do list for today:

• little office work to catch up on
• laundry
• clean shower(this ones been on the list for a while - it replaced buy stuff to clean the shower on the list)
• mail nathans heb buddy bucks reward prize
• mail sympathy card to dear friend liz
• call debbie
• call mom
• transfer money to cover checks i mailed yesterday
• work on colin/daniel mini book (wish this was first thing to do)
• find a book to read - a real book - not a magazine article
• order steves refill

thats all for now. enjoy life. enjoy the little things that today brings.