mcdonalds

today colin and i took nathan a mcdonalds lunch to school and had lunch with him with a somewhat noisy cafeteria...and you know what...he'll remember this lunch forever - because thats nathan...this is the stuff memories are made of...love making memories and scrapbooking them but i did not drag the camera to the lunch room with me otherwise the memory would of been wiped out by the embarrassment...is it a careful line between the two...just as a side note, we saw justin eating lunch/stopped to say hi/saw his ears turn red/thought that stopping by to say hi might be like taking a picture in the cafeteria/didn't stand too long and chat...don't want to traumatize anyone...heres to memories without embarrassment...peace.

sit, read and think

i read this link from ali edwards blog today and i loved it so much that i had to post it on both blogs...it is just good thought provoking stuff...the joshua bell name has been a household word growing up with lauren and the violin...read about pearls before breakfast and then digest it and then enjoy today.

happy fourteen

i can't believe that we have been married for fourteen years...where did they go to??? i look at this picture and the day seems like a lifetime ago and look how young we look - like kids...our biggest decisions were where to go out for dinner tonight and what plans do we have for the weekend?? life changes...we change...kids change us...time changes us...our today changes our tomorrow...we grow stronger each day so we can enjoy our life together...where there is life, there is love.
i used this picture today to make a layout - a one picture lo (yikes ! and its a 4x6) and i also figured out how to print a copy of it off my printer (yikes, again!) and i even used paint and my own handwriting (not printing!)...talk about leaving the comfort zone...and guess what, i love it...it is so different for me...too cool!
happy anniversary to you steve...heres to life!

is it monday already?

where do the weekends go? they are by far the fastest 2 days of the whole week...after that football saturday we rolled right into a fun relaxing sunday...church at 8:15 (new time)...steve played golf with the guys at 11am and the boys and i headed over to the new borders for a relaxing pile of books and magazines along with a coffee/milk/bagel/donut at the seattles best cafe upstairs...its so cool to see them at the age where they enjoy and appreciate reading...nathan has already finished his new book/colin is busy working on his construction sticker book/justin has been sharing great facts from ripleys believe it or not book...the ripleys brought back sunday morning memories for me when i would turn to the comic section just to find the interesting ripleys section...life is a circle...off to the grocery store...home to enjoy some sunshine...steve took the boys up to the courts to practice basketball...steves world famous cheeseburgers on the grill...sippel stories over dinner...walk around the block(without the kids !)...finished up with a little soprano/entourage tv...talk about connecting the dots with each other today...quality time...the good stuff...the batteries are recharged and we are off to another week...peace.

its all good

today we spent the day at football...back to back games for both boys = 4 hours of fun, no wins this week though...colin was a trooper and handled it well...i was a little nervous considering that there are no bathroom facilities around...it was a very windy, partly cloudy, cool day - not the norm around here...it was in the 60's but everyone had on their hats and gloves...funny how when it was like 40 degrees and sunny in buffalo on that first nice spring day, people would break out the shorts and down here its just the opposite! the buffalo sabres are in the playoffs and the boys (all four) are into the game tonight...its all good - mixed with a little sun/wind burn to match. (thanks tanya for the great picture of colin and jace!)

quick update

i am down to 2 little yellow squares...i found three i could put up but i'm going to wait till tomorrow and enjoy this almost clear monitor...love that feeling...back to work before the bus comes flying down the street...

procrastinating-it notes

this is were i am today and i am not moving until all of these post-it notes are gone...well, at least most of them (check here for a cool new free sample from post-it...the post-it index cards! can't wait to try them out)...these are not things to do, these are things that i don't want to do...i love my to-do list...i have them everywhere but these yellow squares are the more challenging/time consuming tasks...almost all of them are office work related with the exception of 'find pin # to retrieve voice messages off texas cell phone'...i have not been able to get my voice mail messages off my cell phone since december 2006 because i can't locate my pin number and every time i try to get this resolved, i have been on hold way to long...well the time has come to deal with this and it looks like about 20 other notes...so i am going to stay focused and start one by one taking these down...its a cloudy warm day here...i will not scrapbook/read/play/go to starbucks/surf the net until i finish some of this stuff...i know what a great feeling it will be and a sense of accomplishment...so here i go...peace for all of your little post-it notes!

"can i (fill in the blank) or no?"

this is colins newest saying...he uses it in many ways such as:

• can i go outside and play or no?
• can i have a glass of milk of no?
• can i watch a dvd or no?
• can i play on the computer or no?
• can we go to mcdonalds today for lunch and play on the playground or no?

love that little dude...he is truly the blend of justin and nathan...we are so blessed with our boys...can't even remember life without them!

art is in the air here today

colin has just learned how to draw his friends at school and you just gotta love it...i know that i have the first people drawings from justin and nathan around here somewhere...wouldn't it be cool to frame each one and hang them on the wall...maybe in my space time or the next time i'm trying to procrastinate i'll go look for them...peace

justin wanted his picture

on the blog so here is last months honor roll award certificate...he has made honor roll all three quarters which is wonderful and amazing since he hardly spends any time doing his homework...he just seems to pick up quickly on new material and absolutely loves math...must get these characteristics from steve, certainly not from me...he puts together power point presentations with his eyes closed...its been his new hobby the past couple weeks (i didn't even know that we had power point on this computer) yikes ! i'm so behind...

quote of the day

i have a new favorite blog site...it a new quote every day... you can visit it here...and this was one from this week that i loved...
Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have film. -- Unknown

i am procrastinating again today

Today I took the design personality quiz (as recommended from elise on her blog) and here are my results:

Peaceful
Discreet
Non-Aggressive
You are easy-going yet discreet. You make friends effortlessly, yet enjoy your privacy and independence. You like to get away from it all and be alone from time to time to contemplate the meaning of life and enjoy yourself. You need space, so you escape to beautiful hideaways, but you are not a loner. You are at peace with yourself and the world, and you appreciate life and what this world has to offer.

ok...thats me ! except of course when i'm on the phone today with the ge dishwasher warrenty department... i could actually feel my blood pressure going up with the increase of tone in my voice...definely a coorelation between the two...and yes, i was procrastinating again - i chose calling ge repair over finishing up some office work....i am off to find a new way to avoid this pile on my desk...its the "to do" pile that slowly grows about one or two sheets higher each day as i take care of the immediate work this is more of the figure out/solve/rebalance pile...its not a bad pile just kinda boring...

i am a catching-up-procrastinator

this is me...i work really hard to catch up with a project/office work then i do not stay on top of it which leads me to being behind which leads me to work really hard to catch up again...and around and around i go...why is this?...the laundry is all caught up and if i would just do one load a day there would be no problem...no need to get up at 6am to throw a load of wash into the dryer so the boys don't have to wear wet socks or dirty socks from football the night before...if i just paid the bills when they arrived then there would be no late fees...but somehow i find it more challenging to just randomly guess when the bills are due...if i would just scrapbook the pictures as they arrive while the thoughts/ideas/emotions/dates/general year/location...but no i find it much more fun to try to guess the month and year by looking at nates smile (he had the silliest grin for years while his teeth grew in) or perhaps guessing what year by looking at my hair style...on the other hand, if i never procrastinated, i would never feel that minute of victory/accomplishment when i squeeze in right before the clock strikes twelve...that rush of joy that i did it in the nick of time...hope you are enjoying a good book/starbucks/sitting in the sun while you procrastinate....

creative day

look what colin brought home from school today ! i love it...

"the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again." luke 24:7 ...can you even imagine that day for Jesus? we are so blessed to be His children and this simple picture just reminds me of this.

got through the chores early today...well, not early, i just stayed a little more focused/a little less aadd (adult attention deficit disorder) than normal...library/dry cleaners/grocery shopping...and decided to work on myplaying cards project that i have been ignoring...i took some creative motivation from emily/one playing card a week challenge and added a little of elises motivation of creating a new playing card everyday and kinda wound up with my own set...just stuff from everyday life...photos/scraps/stuff/mailers/words/brochures...its a minbook all of its own with an eyelet inserted in the upper left hand corner...they hang together off a chain...fun eye candy...real simple stuff...real life memories...

whats wrong with this picture?

do you remember highlights magazine? there was a hidden picture page where you had to find all the little pictures and then on the back cover was the whats wrong with this picture page and you would have to find all the silly things...well, colin is really in to this lately and he will sit and pour over old issues of the magazine (sounds like a little of his mom in him - you should check out my overflowing-magazines-to-finish-looking-at-before-i-recycle-them-basket!) and the other day he came out of the bathroom and stood in the doorway and said, "mom, whats wrong with this picture?" now normally i don't take pictures of the boys in the underwear but this was too funny...he was in such a hurry to get dressed that i think he forgot to take off the used pair....love this life...just had to share...

and a drum roll please...

because i won on lisa bearsons blog contest titled "the best $40.00 ever spent."
a couple weeks ago, as i was cruising around my favorite blog sites, lisa wrote about the best $40 she spent was purchasing a couple kites at coscos and a true family day followed...well, you obviously know what comes next, a contest to share your best purchase...mine was so easy and you can read it here...i really wish i would of taken the time to reread it but i never enter these contests but i had the perfect answer and i just typed and sent and out of over 200 entries, mine was the top 10 !! yeah...we each receive a package from daisyd's...which i was just admiring at the local scrapbook store this week...who says no one ever wins?!...anyways the short answer was the $20 each i gave to justin and nathan last year on spring break and they had to plan a whole day on the fixed amount and not go over...mom and dad graded them on creativity/planning/budgeting and they each had 1 week to plan for their special day...nathan took us all (four, dad had to work) to the movies (we went to the first showing of the day because the seats were discounted an additional 25 cents each and we saw the shaggy dog with tim allen...nathan packed a small healthy snack and spring water for us to munch on during the movie. $11.00 ...next off to the library and playground then to the toy store were he bought each of his brothers a small toy from the $1.00 bin (we were in there over a hour/really cool toys to play with/felt badly we didn't spend more...) then off to mcdonalds for dinner were nathan carefully ordered for us all off the $ 1.00 menu and then we played on the indoor playground for another extended period of time...then off to home to enjoy a movie that nathan had checked out at the library for us...he followed his plan to a tee and it was a fun and memorable day...justins turn was a couple days later (didn't want to do them back to back) and he really didn't think he could top nathans day and kinda gave up BUT as luck would have it at 5pm ms nicki called and said that gregg was at a place in austin called the main event, lets go check it out...well, its like a chuckie cheese on steroids for families...there was bowling/glow in the dark putt-putt/rock wall climbing/food/cocktails and a video arcade...so justin spent his $20 on a video charge card and then walked around on spent it mostly on his brothers...buying then games and rides with his prepaid special card...needless to say, it was a really fun event and the boys had a great time and justin was proud that he was able to 'buy' games for his brothers...steve and i voted that both days were a huge success...ok, guess that was the long version...i certainly didn't enter all that in the contest...but still fun times and fun memories and all three boys still talk about the day...we tried to do it again this year but that really is only a once in a every couple years event!! may your day be filled with wonderful memories...peace.

staying focused

today, colin and i arrive at target for our daily dose of vitamin target and heres a colin classic quote as i'm getting him into the cart :

colin: "ok now mom stay focused."

he has a little of steve in him...go to the store...get what you need...leave. and i'm alittle more like...lets get a cup of coffee to drink while we explore every single aisle and end cap in this place...lets read every package label...lets just wander thru the hardware section...lets look at every $1 bin in the front of the store kind of experience.

the mother next to us BURST out laughing when she heard colins line. this is good stuff.

easter sunday in an eggshell

Can't believe its the monday after easter already. easter flew right bye us.
In an eggshell, a quick review of the holiday:

• cold/windy/40 degrees...no we did not go home to buffalo


• plastic egg hunt started at 7:30 am


• colin found all 12 green eggs and his basket in 25 minutes


• nathan found all his blue eggs and basket in 40 minutes


• justin found 11 purple eggs and then we left for church


• easter service at 9:30 with the hudson family


• justin returned home/found egg#12/then he was able to open up his shipping taped clue which stated "no clues for you dude - too old - keep on looking for your basket"


• justin, after much despair, found his basket in the kitchen garbage can under the plastic liner


• yu-gi-oh cards are much better easter presents than chocolate candy


• brunch at the hudsons, complete with egg bake and mimosas


• afternoon walk and picked a couple bluebonnets when no one was looking


• leftover pizza for dinner


• season premiere of entourage

fun/relaxing/busy day - hoppy easter memories!

friday nite bowling

we took the boys bowling last night along with the hudsons...i totally have not a clue how to bowl but we had a riot and the boys did great...i think their scores were higher than mine, although thats not saying much...it was such a fun change and something completely different to do and of course we had dinner and drinks while we bowled...gotta love that combo! our saturday morning football games were cancelled due to the cold rainy day...in buffalo, this would of been the normal conditions to play in...are we kinda spoiled down here that we don't play in a little rain?...well, i love to be spoiled then...somehow its so much easier to cheer the boys on in warm sunny weather...just hanging today, colored easter eggs, started a game of payday(we play for a whole year, meaning 12 times around the board NOT for 12 months...i'm a good mom, not a crazy one!)and just relaxing inside. made another blog this week for the siblings in attempts to keep up whats going on in their lifes instead of hearing it thru mom...this should be fun and because we are a foursome of procrastinators (thanks dad) we started on just a weekly blog commitment...i'm already going thru old pictures that will get us laughing for sure...if this works out, maybe i'll see if the sippel outlaws want to whip one up for the family...
heres hoping you find your favorite flavor of jelly beans in your basket tomorrow.

container store

as long as i'm on a store thing today, check this out at the container store...i purposely stay away from that intersection in town because there is a container store/crate and barrel/whole foods/smith and hawkins/old navy/best buy/pier one kids all on ONE corner...please don't ask whats on the other corner and down the street...just too cool shopping here...i need to get a real job to support such habits...

target

who/what/where did i shop before target? this is my burning question #1 today and of course its follow-up question - # 2 why can't i just go in and purchase ONLY the things on my list!? i spent one hour in target yesterday and i only had 5 things on my list...it is a very dangerous store...i go to a regular target(super target is 15 minutes further) and i can get everything from a cafe mocha at the mini starbucks in the front of the store to a bottle of champagne to scrapbooking stuff to a gift/card/wrapping paper/tape/shipping box/mailing label...love it...plus if you get lucky - the starbucks person will find you aimlessly shopping down an aisle and offer you a free mini sample of some high caloric, delicious drink to enjoy as you continue to shop the end caps looking for the orange-red clearance stickers! what can't you buy at target....peace for the target shoppers out there today...

pardonmewhatdidyousay?

translation = "pardon me what did you say?" and this is colins newest quote or should i say word because he says it as if its all one word...cracks us up and steve and i are the only ones who understand it.
5 things i am enjoying right now:

• a new set of mini arcylic stamps for $1 at michaels (too cute)
• a good book to read - the history of love - i'm really enjoying this book
• propel strawberry-kiwi water flavor packets - just pour this into a bottle of spring water, shake and delicious
• friday nite lights - love this tv show
• blueprint magazine - martha meets real simple in glossy form

multitasking for a minute

the wash machine is humming away...colin is filling his plastic eggs for his easter celebration at school tomorrow...dinner is defrosting...cranking thru some of this office work...answering emails...chatting with mom on the phone...no internet searching for this girl, at least not right now...filling the april calendar with the school events...its all good. now if i could only find a way to add a couple more hours to each day....

kindergarten registration

i can't believe that colin is almost starting school...i'm not sure what i'll do without my little helper around all day to keep me company...this house is going to be very quiet...he is so excited today to go to registration at cactus ranch where "the brothers" go everyday...he's happy/i'm sad...he's excited to venture out into the world/i'm scared that he's out in the world...can't believe it's here, it seems like just yesterday he was born and now he's getting ready for kindergarten...WHERE DID THOSE FIVE YEARS GO!! i want them back - well, most of them at least!! i love my uninterrupted sleep every night tooooo much to go back to that world...i'm off to stock up on kleenex, if registration is bringing on this sentimental hormonal day, i can only imagine what a basket case i'll be this august...can you say empty nest even if the three boys are only in elementary school all day? peace for new routines, peace for growing up and spreading your wings, peace for just this great journey called life! i'm off to find his baby pictures now...

visit from poppa and grandma

bob and faith were here for a long weekend visit from florida and we packed so much into the long weekend...we had such a nice visit...it was a mini-vacation for steve as well. they arrived on thursday and the boys and i were there to pick them up at the airport...a quick chicken pot pie dinner and off to nathans second grade musical 'go fish' at school...on friday the weather did not cooperate with us so we hit the blanton museum on ut campus and off to the texas state museum for lunch...for dinner we went downtown to sandra bullocks new restaurant for dinner (thats a whole separate blog on that event)and made it home by 10pm...the boys football games were cancelled on saturday due to the rain from friday so the guys went golfing and we went up to georgetown for lunch and walked around the square, peeking into all the cute stores...saturday night we hosted a cocktail party with sarah and troy and sarahs parents, anne and pete...lots of laughs and a ton of food...off to church sunday morning followed by brunch at zjetas...our absolute favorite brunch place...a quick stop at whole foods for ingredients for steves world famous cheeseburgers for dinner...on monday, the guys went golfing and we went shopping at a new place called the domain...i found a new great kitchen store called sur la table and i think we spent an hour in there just looking at all the cool kitchen stuff...after football practice we went to the texas roadhouse for dinner...great food and great service (wish we could say the same for bess bistro - again, a whole separate blog entry) ...tuesday am just came too quickly and back to the airport before we knew it!! time to catch up around here - i've been on vacation too - haven't touched the dyson in 5 days - slight withdrawl...behind in office work too - yikes - the piles are huge on my desk...i'm am obviously procrastinating by blogging instead of hitting the quickbooks...guilt is now setting in...off to tackle some piles...peace.

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.