What's going on??

The game......

2009-09-08T18:46:00.004-07:00

High hopes, expectations, a winning spirit. We went into the game with a great attitude. I had a great time spending time with my Dad, the game however not so plesant.

The last king of Camelot......

2009-08-26T18:49:00.003-07:00

Today was a sad day for me. I have loved the Kennedy's from a young age. In high school I read many many books about them, some were several hundreds of pages long. I think I have my mother and her side of the family to thank. They are from Boston, and later the Cape. My mother has a library card signed by Sen. John Kennedy. I have been to Hyannis and the JFK museum there, I have seen the Kennedy compound (from the road). Teddy was the last great king of their Camelot. He was and extraordinary man. He dealt with a lot of tragedy in his life, more than any man should have to deal with. He took over as the man of the family at a young age.

If all you know of Teddy Kennedy is that he was the younger brother of Jack, and Bobby, and his involvement in Chappaquiddick then you don't know who he was.

Today for me was a very sad day, I could not take my eyes off the news. I streamed the Boston News Channel all day. I am watching "Teddy: In his own words", I just can't help it. I have even pre-ordered Teddy's autobiography, soI can have it to read as well.

To quote my mother "The “Lion of the Senate” has issued his final roar"

The Ruby Anniversary.......

2009-08-16T15:33:00.002-07:00

Happy 40th Anniversary to my parents!!!!

You all sure know how to set an example! You both still have that twinkle in your eye!

Congrats and I hope you have another great 40 years ahead of you!

Breanna turns 4!!!!

2009-08-13T18:42:00.005-07:00

Here are some pictures of Breanna's birthday!

We had a GREAT time. Breanna LOVED her party. She is still talking about it. Thanks to everyone who came for making her feel so special!

The beginning.....meeting the teacher...

2009-08-12T19:04:00.002-07:00

So last week we had Meet the Teacher Day at Breanna's new "big kid" school. Yep that is right, my little baby is getting ready to make the big transition to actual school. We had gone and gotten all of her supplies, got a special new princess backpack, and were all ready for the evening.

Breanna was SUPER excited about it. She was READY to go. She even decided to take her "camera" so that she could take pictures of her new school herself.

This was in her actual classroom. After we had met the teacher. I almost could not get her out of there. She loved all of the books, and new things that there was to explore.

After exploring the classroom and dropping off all of our supplies we went and joined the PTO, bought the new school t-shirts, and the new school decals. WOW Pre-K was a little more involved than I was ready for. It is going to be a great adventure for all of us!!

From the mouthes of babes....part 4

2009-07-29T21:07:00.002-07:00

Breanna tonight: "Mom I want a diamond necklace"

Me: (thinking that some kid at school mentioned diamonds) "who talked about a diamond necklace?"

Breanna: "No one Mom, I just want a diamond necklace"

UGGHHH I am in trouble!! (she is only 4!!!)

(birthday party pics coming soon)

Happy 4th Birthday Ladybug!

2009-07-20T14:46:00.008-07:00

Today is my first borns 4th birthday.

This was the first glimpse we got of her little face.

We all survived the first year. She was just as outgoing and happy as she is now. She talks a lot more now, although I should have known she was going to be a talker when she uttered her first question at 9 months (what's that?)

At two is became VERY apparent that this little girl loves to talk. She loved to cuddle, and was already a great big sister.

At four her personality is shining through, she is funny, and loves to make people laugh. She appreciates small things, she says "ohh that is just beautiful", "isn't that lovely", "your killin me smalls" a lot. She loves, loves, loves to talk. She makes friends very easily. She loves everything and anything princess. I almost can't get her to wear anything other than a dress. She has a great imagination, and loves playing make believe everything. She makes us laugh all the time, in fact during dinner as she told me she needed more chicken, I told her she had to finish her corn as well, and she looked at me and said "Mommy don't look at me and be a fussy, fuss" (LOL). She is very sensitive and loving. She is a night owl, she is NOT a morning person. I am very lucky to have such a great little girl!

Finally we have the internet back.....and the 4th of July

2009-07-15T15:23:00.005-07:00

So we finally have our Internet back. So now I can share our 4th of July pictures. We had our favorite neighbors over. A big thunderstorm came through about 6:15 so we had to stop cooking and wait it out. Finally we got back underway, we had a great evening!

This is Breanna and JJ in the afternoon, before everything got started.

This was a little later when Jay and the kids walked around to the neighbors to ask them if it was ok with them if we shot off fireworks later in the evening.

Jay shot off some little spinners and other small firecrackers for the kids.

Breanna's face in the next picture made me laugh.

This is in the evening when we were with our neighbors. Jay and Darrell shot off the bigger fireworks.

Our neighbors baby, who is 6 months old, got a little scared in the beginning, and so Breanna and JJ went over to Gracie to make sure that she knew it was ok. Breanna LOVES Gracie!!

Ugghh

2009-07-10T19:10:00.001-07:00

Our modem decided it needed a break, so it broke. Ordered a new one, and was sent the wrong one. It has been a huge mess trying to get the right one.

I have lots of 4th of July pics to post. As soon as the new modem gets here there will be posting again.

Had to post this from my phone, that is why it is short.

Happy Birthday Aunt Awissa!!

2009-07-01T07:07:00.002-07:00

Your niece Breanna called you tonight and left you a message on your voicemail. She lovingly called to say Happy Birthday Aunt Awissa!!

We love you. We hope you enjoy your last 364 days in your 20's.
You are my little sis. I love you. I will always be there for you, as you have been for me. I still feel like the older protective sister, and I might always feel that way.

I am proud of you and all of you accomplishments. You are an amazing woman, sister, daughter,granddaughter, friend, aunt, and nurse.

You will always be my little sister no matter how old you get, when we are 80 you will still be my little sister, and I will still be protective over you. I hope you have a great day!!

Love you,

Too H-O-T !!!

2009-06-22T15:51:00.002-07:00

It was 84 outside this morning at 7am. I was expecting it to be hot, but not this hot.

This was after I had been driving awhile. When I first got in the car it said 105, and climbed up to 107. It stayed there the rest of the way home. For June this is WAY to hot. I can't wait to see what August has in store for us!

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T11:20:00.003-07:00

Happy Fathers Day!!

My Dad I know is enjoying his day. He and my Mom are here.....

that is a picture my mom send me via-text of them arriving in Belize.

Jay got a fathers day gift as well. I had been hunting and hunting for grills that were on sale. I finally found the right one for the right price. So the picture below is his Father's day gift. He is outside now assembling it. It completely his set of grills. We have the smoker, the charcoal grill and this is his gas grill. Anyone who knows Jay know that he loves to BBQ outside.

Who are these people, Part 2

2009-06-07T11:41:00.003-07:00

Do you recognise these people?

They are my parents. My dad has 100% found in inner Harley guy. He now owns a wallet that has a chain attached. He has transformed from the suit and tie, short hair cut (well he still has that), no facial hair dad.

I love my biker Dad, and my biker Mom. I am glad that he has found his inner biker dude!

Thank you General Motors.

2009-06-01T17:53:00.006-07:00

Did my post title throw you off. Well it might, but I have a lot to thank GM for. When life hands you lemons.....well this is my lemonade. Today wasn't the best day. GM officially filed bankruptcy. The "old GM" is done and soon the "new GM" will take over.

General Motors has provided my family with a lot of amazing opportunities. It started with my Grandfather who worked for MIC. My grandparents moved around (as most GM families do) and at one point they transferred my Grandfather to Massachusetts. That is where my father met my mother. Thanks to GM for that, without them my sister and I would surely not exist.

My Dad began working for GM while he was in college at the parts warehouse during the summers. Immediately after graduating from OU he began working for GMAC. GMAC gave us many adventures, we moved a lot during my childhood. Was I sad when I had to pack up and move, yes. As an adult am I thankful for all of the places and people I have gotten to met as a result of those moves, absolutely. I still am in contact with some of the people I met while living in Houston, Chicago, St. Louis, and El Paso (I was to young when I left Little Rock to have friends I was 1 1/2 years old). My parents are still in contact with several of their friends that they have met over the years as well.

They helped pay for both my sisters education and mine. They have provided a stable environment for my family for a LONG time. I learned to drive in a GM vehicle. I have ONLY ever owned GM vehicles. I might ONLY ever own GM vehicles.

My parents final move before my father retired after 32+ years at GMAC was to OKC. My parents then convinced me to come down and check out OKC. I was living outside of Denver at the time. I came down and visited and decided to move here. I am thankful to GMAC for moving my parents here, I love it here, I love being close to them, I love that I see them, even if it is just passing in our cars. I rarely have a day during the school year that I don't see one of my parent while we are going to or coming home from work. Had GM not moved my dad here I would not have met Jay and in turn would not have Breanna and JJ.

They are basically responsible for the meeting of my parents, and the meeting of Jay and I.

So to the "old GM" I would like to Thank You, I am sad that you had to leave us. You are a HUGE part of my family. Thanks for everything.

I am happy to return a bit of money though my taxes to help you out. You have done so much for us it is the least I can do.

Final post for May....

2009-05-31T07:49:00.003-07:00

All I can say is I am very happy that today is the last day of May. That means that I am done (after this post) with my post a day in May challenge. It all started with Nichole (go see her posts). I will have completed my NaBloPoMo. I might try to do it again in the future. I will not be doing it in June that is for sure. July seems to be filled with good events maybe I will try it again then.

I hope you have enjoyed my whole month of posts. I am sure that my Grandparents liked it. They got to see a ton of pics of the kiddos. After all that is how this blog all started, a way for me to share with family and friends who don't live close to us what we were up to and so they could see pictures of the kids more often!

JJ's Interview

2009-05-30T11:18:00.005-07:00

JJ’s Interview

What is you favorite toy?

My Spiderman

What is you favorite game?

Daddy

Who is your best friend?

Addi

What is your favorite color?

white

What is your favorite food?

Strawberry

What do you like to do more than anything?

Play outside

Where is your favorite place besides home?

Go to school

What is your favorite show?

Scooby Doo

What is your favorite clothing?

My shoes

What is your favorite thing at Grandma and Grandad’s house?

Play with Dexter

What are your pets names?

Scout and bubba

What do you like to do at school?

Play with Caley (his teacher).

What’s your favorite thing to do with Daddy?

I don’t want to bite Daddy. (huh?)

What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy?

Books.

An interview with Breanna.

2009-05-29T15:46:00.005-07:00

What is your favorite toy?

Ummm my stroller

What is your favorite game?

The choo-choo game

Who is your best friend?

Luke (a boy, Jay isn't going to like that)

What is your favorite color?

pink

What is your favorite food?

fruit

What do you like to do more than anything?

playing

Where is your favorite place besides home?

Grandma’s house

What is your favorite show?

Princess shows

What is your favorite clothing?

dresses

What is your favorite thing at Grandma and Grandad’s house?

play

What are your pets names?

My bear

Who is Hannah Montana (she has been saying her name lately)?

She is in movies

What do you like to do at school?

Go outside.

What’s your favorite thing to do with Daddy?

Play on the floor.

What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy?

Snuggle

Is there anything else you would like to say?

No.

Can you tell she isn't feeling to well.....Breanna saying she has nothing else to say is NOT normal. She actually had to come home early because she was running a fever.

Old Picture...

2009-05-28T15:22:00.003-07:00

So I told Nichole I was running out of things to post about EVERYDAY. So I asked her for a suggestion, she gave me one (and I am sending one to you Nichole as well). She said post an older picture of you and Jay.

So here it was Jay's birthday and we were at my parents house celebrating.

Attack of the little people.

2009-05-27T15:57:00.002-07:00

Jay has been getting on the trampoline with the kids. They REALLY like to jump on him. They like to do that more than jump when he is on there with them. They really go after him. There is constant laughter coming from them while they are jumping on him.

Spraygrounds Part 2, and a classic pout.

2009-05-26T16:35:00.005-07:00

More of the spraygrounds. These are at a lot of the parks in our area. They are completely free to go to, so that makes them even better! The kids LOVE, LOVE them!

With a 2 and 3 year old even if they are having a GREAT time, there area always moments like these below. JJ was crying because his ball was under a part of the falling water that he didn't want it to be.

This is a CLASSIC Breanna face. She had gotten in trouble and was sitting in time-out for something. This is her pouting face. Anyone that has seen Breanna in trouble knows this is the face. She was acting completely pitiful. She was in time-out for no more than 60 seconds, but she was acting like her whole world was coming to an end!

Let the jumping begin!!

2009-05-25T11:42:00.004-07:00

It took Jay and I three and a half hours, but the trampoline is together. It is HUGE, a lot bigger than I was expecting.

The kids got right up there and started jumping. They had a blast. It was a little warm outside, ok it was HOT! So, we were only out for a little bit. We will be spending A LOT of time out there this summer!

Our new exterminators....

2009-05-24T14:01:00.003-07:00

They are VERY efficient at getting all of the bugs that are around our house. We have sprayed around the house and in the yard, but there are still a very bugs.

The best part about our new exterminators is that they are completely FREE!!

We have some in the from yard, and there are some in the backyard as well.

Spraygrounds are OPEN!!

2009-05-23T10:24:00.008-07:00

Today the spraygrounds officially opened for the summer. We were there a few minutes before the opening. So they kids played on the playground for a little bit. Then the water part opened. There aren't a lot of words needed, just look at them go!!

We might go back tonight (depending on the weather) and cook out some hamburgers on the grills that are out there and let them run their little hearts out!

Breanna LOVED the "spray garden" as she calls it last year, JJ didn't he wouldn't even get anywhere near the water. He sat on the bench the whole time. Not this year though, he was in there running around. Neither one of them wanted to leave.

Friday night...

2009-05-22T15:42:00.007-07:00

This is my Friday night. Laptop, Nuvo (in the glass), the TV on the Soup.

After the week I have had I am taking tonight off. Jay is in charge of the kids. I am on vacation tonight!

PS...If you haven't ever tried Nuvo it is a must! (thanks Jess)

and don't look at the cords, we are working on that!! Soon there will be shelves and a cord cover!

I got a lot of questions on what is that pink stuff. So I downloaded a picture of the bottle. This is a must try it is awesome!

Dreams...

2009-05-21T17:15:00.003-07:00

So I have had dreams well actually nightmares the last 2 night that have woken me up from a sound sleep. I am not the type to wake up and go right back to sleep, it takes me awhile, between 30 min to an hour. It is not fun!

What are these dreams about? WORK, yep that is right, work.

The new position I have is going to be a lot more work, and might be a lot tougher than we (my boss and I) had originally thought. She has actually asked me on Wed if I regretted taking the position. I said no, and no I am not regretting taking the position. It just turns out that so far the position is a lot more intense than we had originally planned on it being. This is before the actual project/demo kicks off.

It has been postponed 3 times now, and July 1 seems to be the start date as of now (originally it was April 1st). We need the extra time to get ready for it.

So as the weeks tick down to go time things are getting sorted out and planned. Most departments in the hospital have their plan of action. However, I do not. There are still to many unknowns when it comes to the accounting side of things.

This summer will surely be an interesting one at work that is for sure!

I hope tonight I get some real rest!

There will be jumping.....lots of jumping

2009-05-20T17:16:00.004-07:00

So a few days ago I posted something on Facebook. We were going to get Breanna a trampoline for her birthday. The question was do I get it now (so they can enjoy it all summer) or wait till her birthday at the end of July. I got some advice from one of my mom's friends (thanks weezer), a former teacher of mine, and lots of friends to get it NOW. Not to wait so that they can enjoy it all summer. Our neighbors have one, and Breanna is constantly asking to go and jump on it. It however doesn't have a "cage" on it to keep her from jumping right off. So she doesn't get to go over there as much as she would like.

So next week sometime the trampoline will arrive and then Jay will have the duty of putting it together.

Bathtime Fun!!

2009-05-19T17:50:00.003-07:00

So the kiddos favorite thing is to take their bath at the end of the evening. They will sit in there till the water gets cold. They play and play. They are in there so long that Jay and I take turns watching them while they are in there.
They play together with cups, and bubble wands.

You can see the farmers tans that they are already sporting from playing outside already this summer.

They "swim" together.

Can you tell that they enjoy bath time?

V8 Soups my new Fav on the go/at work lunch..

2009-05-18T15:28:00.005-07:00

My Mom told me about these. They are GREAT soups,and full of good things. Lots of veggies, and vitamins. Best part is that they don't have to be refrigerated and they will fill you up. There is a lot of soup in a box. The two pictured below are my fav's, but there are 5 different soups. I am sure they are all great.

Officially over 1/2 way there.....

2009-05-17T12:52:00.002-07:00

Have you noticed the influx of posts this month? It is because Nichole decided that maybe she would post something everyday in May since she had been lacking in posts in April (due to traveling and visiting with friends). I commented on her post and said I would do it along with her. Then we both joined NaBloPoMo (National Blog Post Month) as a little motivation.

So here we are officially over 1/2 there. We have posted something everyday so far in the month of May. It isn't easy to find something to post about everyday!

Go check out what Nichole has had to say so far this month HERE.

Random Picture Challange

2009-05-16T08:52:00.006-07:00

9th picture folder

or September 2008

18th picture

This was in the 9th folder and it was the 18th picture. It was JJ when he first started to pull up and walk around. He went and crawled up onto Breanna's Dora couch and then pulled up on his jumpy-jumpy. I had taken tons of pictures of him doing it. That was a long time ago. Well it seems like a long time ago. It was about 1.5 years ago.

The storm that wasn't.....

2009-05-15T17:11:00.003-07:00

Wednesday we were supposed to have really bad storms. The storms did form, and they did come close, but the storm cells split and there was a small column of OK that didn't get hit by these storms. For once we were in that area. We have had huge hail, tons of ran and strong winds in the last 6 months. I did get out and take some pictures of the clouds. They looked different than your normal storm clouds. We had some bubble looking clouds at first and then they turned dark.

You can see the split in the storms here. One went east and the other went south. Both storms produced tornadoes, and very strong winds. I was VERY happy that they decided to skip our area.

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce turned Baked Spaghetti....Crock-pot style

2009-05-14T16:08:00.007-07:00

So last weekend jay decided that we should have homemade spaghetti sauce. So we decided to do it in the crock-pot and then add the spaghetti noodles and make a baked spaghetti. It wasn't your put it in the crock-pot and forget it kind of meal, but it was well worth it in the end.

Here are the Roma tomato's (3lbs) all cut up and in the crock-pot to simmer.

This is what they looked like after one hour. I had taken a large cooking fork and mashed them up a bit.

Here is what they looked like after two hours. it started to look more like actual spaghetti sauce.

Then I cut up a green pepper, red pepper, a large onion, and 2 cloves of garlic, and added them to the mixture. Along with some oregano, parsley, mushrooms, and a bit of Emeril's Italian Seasonings.

This is what it looked like with everything added.

Then I cooked the meat, half sausage, half ground beef with some more minced garlic and Emerils.

Started the pasta boiling.

After another hour and adding the meat I took 1/2 of it out of the crock-pot. Clearly there was WAY to much sauce. I froze it so that we could use it later.

Then I added the cooked spaghetti to the sauce and mixed it all up.

After about another 45 minutes I added some Parmesan, and Mozzarella on the top let it cook for about another 20 minutes and it was done.

We ate this for days. Jay loved it. The kids loved it. I loved it.

I wasn't an easy meal time wise, it was relatively not to labor intensive. It was REALLY good!

****lots of pictures just for you Jess******

Picasso??

2009-05-13T04:25:00.003-07:00

Nope, even those these are great abstract pictures, they were not done by Picasso. They are ALL Breanna's doing. She loves to color we have lots of Breanna's original art hanging up.

Here she is hard at work. She prefers to color after taking her clothes off for the evening.

More curls.....and just because I think they are cute!

2009-05-12T14:54:00.004-07:00

This is a picture of the kiddos the other morning. Breanna LOVES her curls now, she wants me to curl her hair all the time!!
And I should mention that Breanna's hair has serious VOLUME when it is curled! (and she is in a half smile during the picture)

Mothers Day gifts from the kiddos!

2009-05-11T15:07:00.002-07:00

Breanna and JJ both made Mother's Day gifts at school. They came out adorable, and they were so proud of them. They talked about them all weekend.

Breanna's was flowers that were planted in little clay pots that they had decorated. I told her that we would plant them outside (when it quits raining) so that we can enjoy them for a long time to come.

JJ's present was a dish of potpourri that was decorated to look like and cherry pie. Complete with little red balls inside of it. The potpourri smelled great! It was so cute with his little hand prints on them. There was also a cute little card with a poem on it.

Happy Mothers Day Mom!!

2009-05-10T06:51:00.005-07:00

(My mom and JJ the day afterhe was born)

This is not an original put together by me, but I think it is perfect for Mother's Day. I hope you have a great day Mom!! I love you!!
Mother's Day brings to mind
The thousands of things you did for me
that helped make me happier,
stronger and wiser,
because I had you as a role model.

I'm grateful for all the times
you healed my hurts
and calmed my fears,
so that I could face the world
feeling safe and secure.

I'm thankful for all you showed me
about how to love and give--
lessons that now bring
so many blessings to me
each and every day.

Your sacrifices and unselfishness
did not go unnoticed, Mom.
I admire you, I respect you,
I love you.
And I'm so glad you're my mother!

Happy Mother's Day!

Finally got to mow.....

2009-05-09T15:59:00.003-07:00

It had been a really wet April and beginning of May. We had not had an opportunity to mow the lawn in a few weeks. Needless to say it needed it. Finally I got out on Thurs night (since I don't have class anymore!!) and got the front yard mowed. Now we have neighbors that haven't mowed their yards at all this year, so there are two pictures of their yards too. They have weeds the size of small bushes.
This neighbor actually got out and got his yard mowed today. So it looks a lot better than this now.

This neighbor how ever is our "problem mowing" neighbor. He DOESN'T mow. Never. His yard is the only one on our little street that won't be mowed regularly this summer. His weeds are CRAZY. In fact he no longer has grass in a lot of areas because the weeds have killed it. These weeds are literally 3 feet tall.

I love these sunsets

2009-05-08T15:33:00.004-07:00

We have had two strait days of sunshine. Before that it was 10 days of gray, rainy days. I loved getting to see the sunset again! So I went out back and took some pictures. It is supposed to rain again all weekend, well really until Tues.
So I will miss these sunsets until they again return.

Breanna and JJ bake a cake!!

2009-05-07T15:37:00.003-07:00

It was Grandma's birthday on Sunday. So Breanna, JJ, and I decided that we would bake her a cake. They both helped a lot. Breanna added the water, JJ added the oil, and we all each added an egg.

They actually sat and watched the cake bake for all 35 minutes. Having a 2 and 3 year old sit still for that long watching a cake bake is amazing to me. Usually I can't get them to sit still that long for anything.

Here they are after we got the cake all decorated. They helped with this too. They put the sprinkles on the cake.

And here is the finished product. You can see area's that have a lot of sprinkles on them. They really didn't understand spreading them out. They just dumped handfuls in areas.

Curls, Curls, and More Curls

2009-05-06T15:13:00.003-07:00

I had the CRAZY idea that it would be fun to put curlers in Breanna's hair before we went to my parents house on Sunday. So after she took a bath I put all of these in her hair. Can you imagine that with a 3 year old, although I must say she sat still a lot longer than I thought that she would!

Most of the curls came out great. There was one that didn't seem to want to curl, it really didn't take. I don't think that her hair in that curler was completely dry. So here is the after shot. Her hair stayed really curly the next day too. Even after we washed it there was still a hint of curl in it.

She really enjoyed having curly hair. We are going to have to do it more often!

****see Nichole I did a post with no food in it just for you!!****

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!

2009-05-05T15:45:00.001-07:00

So for the kiddos school I had to make a Mexican dish for them to have today for Cinco de Mayo.

I thought and thought. I wanted something simple and easy to make. So I decided on Banana Quesadillas. I figured the kids were going to have plenty of chips, queso, salsa ect. (from the sign up sheets). That a desert would be good.

They really were yummy and easy to make.

Here are the ingredients.....
1 package of cream cheese
2 bananas
1/4 cup of powdered sugar.
8-10 tortillas

Mix the cream cheese, bananas, and powdered sugar together well. A mixer helps, but I did it with a fork. I softened the cream cheese in the microwave for about 30 seconds on medium heat.
Soften the tortillas in the microwave. Then spread the mixture onto half of a tortilla, fold in half.

Then put them in the frig to chill. (I did this overnight).

Take out and cut tortillas into 3rds. Sprinkle with some powdered sugar and serve.
The kiddos LOVED them.

**Sorry there are no pictures but I didn't take any at 6:30 this morning when I got them all plated up.

Mom's B-day dinner....

2009-05-04T14:50:00.006-07:00

My Dad got up a 6:15am to start smoking the meats. We had 2 chickens and a Boston Butt. It was YUMMY!! We even got to take some home!

Breanna was running around with her curly hair, purse, and bracelets!JJ playing with the bead table.

Marley, stuck in his cage.

Dexter hanging out in the bedroom

Meats are off the smoker and ready to be eaten.

Everyone getting ready to dig in. We had a great meal. My mom made potato casserole, baked beans, and coleslaw.

Mom blowing out the candles on her cake.

JJ digging into his cake

Breanna and Grandma enjoying some cake and ice cream

Big hugs for Nana.

Hugs for Nana from JJ as well.

Big, Happy Birthday hugs for Grandma. (Marley included)

We had a great time at my parents house celebrating my Mom's birthday.

Happy Birthday Mom!!

2009-05-03T06:26:00.002-07:00

Today is my Mom's birthday. We will be going over there this afternoon to celebrate it with her!

Mom, I hope you have a great day! I love you!

Meat....lots of smoked meat!!

2009-05-02T09:01:00.004-07:00

One of Jay favorite things to do is to smoke meat, any meat, out on our smoker. Even in the pouring rain he will be out there!

Here are somethings that we cooked last weekend.
Ribs all seasoned up and ready to go....

Boston Butt is ready to go too.

As you can see it was raining. So we had to pull the smoker closer to the house. By the way it is still raining.
Ribs are wrapped up and cooking.

Then uncovered and almost done.

We pulled the Boston Butt off of the smoker and put it in the crock-pot and let it finish cooking with onions, a sweet red pepper, and BBQ sauce.

Here are the ribs ready to be eaten.

Boston Butt is done, all shredded and ready to be put on a bun and eaten.

We are all of this for a long time. There was tons of it.

This weekend I am trying to make homemade spaghetti sauce, not from a recipe but just a recipe I made up. We will see how it goes!

Some Monther-Son time.....

2009-05-01T18:58:00.003-07:00

As I previously posted JJ had a staph infection on his tummy this week. It was a tiny tiny spot. As I said before he couldn't go to daycare because he could have passed it on. So I got to stay home with him. Today Friday I did go to work, thanks to my Mom and Dad, who went above and beyond to make sure that I could go. My dad took the morning shift, and watched him after his bus run, and my mom took 1/2 a day off to watch him all afternoon. Do I have great parents or what?

Wed afternoon JJ and I went shopping. We got new shoes and jammies for both him and Breanna. JJ loved his Mickey Mouse jammies so much that he wouldn't take them off on Thurs.

Thurs was a GREAT day. I took Breanna to school. Then JJ and I came home and had breakfast. My mom use to make us egg sandwiches, and we loved them. So what did I make for JJ and

I of course egg sandwiches. I used croissants instead of bread, but we loved them all the same!

We spent the rest of the day playing, taking a nap, snuggling, and just enjoyed having a mother-son day all to ourselves. As you can see he may have had a tiny staph infection, but it had no effect on his attitude and demeanor. He was my happy little boy!

When it rains it pours

2009-04-29T12:32:00.003-07:00

So today I get a call from the director of the daycare saying that I should probably come and look at JJ. He had what looked like a bug bite on his lower abdomen. Today is swelled up and got pretty red, tender, and had a white head on it.

So off to the doctor we went. Turns out that the little bug bite (or what ever it was) turned into a Staph infection. He can't go back to daycare till Monday. That's right folks I will be home with him till Monday. We were assured that if we kept it covered and were vigilant about washing our hands when we touched the area that we will have nothing to worry about.

So we were off to Walgreens to fill his prescription. While I was there I stocked up on some other things that I felt were essentials.

We got home I gave him the medicine, got him all band aided up and now we are sitting at home. I switched from these band aids to big square ones that MORE than covered the area. I wiped everything down with Clorox wipes, washed all of the bedding, and used more hand sanitizer than I care to mention.

JJ is not sick, he is running around like nothing is wrong. Thankfully. Poor kid!

The other thing is that Jay got a temp job that he started today. So I am the one that has to stay home with him. Jay can't really miss day 2 and 3 of his new job!

When the bad economic conditions hit home......

2009-04-21T16:18:00.004-07:00

Yep, I had a different post I was planning on posting, but life gets in the way sometimes.

The downturn in the economy has finally hit home. Everyone has heard about the price of oil going down. That is GREAT for the price of gas, bring on the $40.00 FULL tank of gas! It has effected the oil companies in a completely different way, their stocks have plummeted (along with many others) and they have been forced to shut down a lot of existing rigs in our area, and plans to put up more rigs have been put on hold. In turn it has lead to a lot of lay-offs in our area. Jay works in rig support, on the motor controls and plc's (the motorized electrical components of a rig) not on one particular rig, but on several wells in our area. This meant that they could shut rigs down and still need him. Instead of having 8 rigs to provide support to he would just have less. We had avoided the first few rounds, and there was a little hope. In Dec or Jan they "think" that the rig count will begin to climb.

We had held onto that hope till Monday. His area was down to 2 rigs, within just a few miles of each other. Recently he has had less and less work. More just going and checking on those two rigs, trying to prevent a problem from happening. Jay got a call Monday morning that he needed to come into the shop to meet with his boss, and his bosses boss. Not good. I knew when he called me and told me about the call that the likely hood that this meeting was a good one was very small.

So the falling price of oil, the downturn in the economy, and the lowering rig count finally got us. Jay got laid-off on Monday. We don't know what is next, he is scrambling to find a job, just a job to pay the bills. Thankfully he has an unlimited electrical license, so he can go back to that for awhile. He has sent his resume to several places that deal in the motor control/plc area. It would take more time to get one of these job, so the interim job is what he is trying to find now.

Sorry this post is kind of a bummer, and not the normal happy post, but it is what is going on here. I think I will go outside with the kids, enjoy the nice weather, and try to remember what it feels like to be a kid,and not have to worry about silly little things like jobs. =)

Cha-cha-cha-Changes.........

2009-04-14T21:08:00.002-07:00

Are things looking a little different around here? Yep! That is because two great girls gave me a birthday present that is perfect. Jess and Tami decided that for my birthday that they would get me a blog-makeover!

Here is the card...........blogmaster (why you ask???) is because I introduced Jess (and in turn Tami) to the world of blogs. When they were just starting out I was able to answer any of their questions. Now that they have had their blogs for awhile they don't have that many questions.
Here is the card itself. I believe my mouth dropped when I opened it and read what they had done!

Now i have to say a BIG thank you to Erin! She is the designer of my blog makeover. you should go and look at her designs. She REALLY does GREAT, GREAT work!!

So thank you Jess, Tami, and Erin. The three of you combined gave me a great birthday present!!

Go see Erin here http://www.designerblogsbyerin.blogspot.com/

You are my sunshine.......

2009-04-13T17:12:00.006-07:00

So the toothbrush that I bought Breanna for Easter sings "You Are My Sunshine". She made it play that song yesterday over and over.

Tonight when it was time to brush our teeth. Breanna brushed hers and then came up to me and gave me a hug and said "Mommy, that is the song you sing to me when I was a baby", " I love you" and she crawled up in my lap and asked me to sing it to her again. She snuggled with me while I sang it to her twice. She hugged, and kissed me and told me she loved me.

Ahhhh.......those are the moments!

*****I had not said anything about the song previously. I sang that song to her NUMEROUS times a day (moslty at bedtime) well into her second year of life.

The song I sang to JJ was (and my mom will like this) was Kenny Chesney's Anything but Mine

Easter 2009

2009-04-12T07:08:00.005-07:00

The Easter Bunny brought the kids new summer chairs, an Easter cookie, a marshmallow lollipop, and new toothbrushes. They were more than excited! I try not to give them candy, or sugar, so these treats were very special to them!

Breanna and her Easter cookie.

Dancing in her Easter dress.

They were happy kiddos.

Can you tell he was happy?

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!

A whole lot of nuthin......

2009-04-08T15:43:00.003-07:00

That is what has been going on. We have had a few quiet weeks.
The kids had their Easter party at school today, so they are full of sugar.

One thing is that Breanna had started singing this song....don't know where she learned it, but she sings it all the time. I am going to ask Ms. J (her teacher) if she knows how she learned it. You should see her running around the house singing it. It is really cute.

Scary looking clouds

2009-03-30T17:07:00.003-07:00

These were all JUST taken outside in my backyard. Those are some scary looking clouds!

You can see the sun at the bottom of this one.

*****update....the rain has turned to hail!!

The Fort....

2009-03-28T18:33:00.004-07:00

The fort...

It was a great day. We played, colored, drew, laughed, we had our pizza. We enjoyed our fort. The kids loved having their own little area to play in. It was a great inside snow day!

Tomorrow......camping in??

2009-03-27T18:50:00.002-07:00

Yep that is the plan. Jay is out of town, so it is just the kiddos and I. We are going to have a camping in day.

It is snowing/raining ice outside right now. More snow is expected over night and into tomorrow morning.

I know it is almost April and we are getting snow. I decided to make the best of the situation. I bought new coloring books, learning to write your letters books, and movies. So tomorrow the kids and I will have our breakfast version of the BBQ cups. We will play inside, color, learn to write some letters (I hope). Play some games.

Then come dinner time I will set up a "tent" and we will have a picnic. I have bought everything needed to make some homemade pizza (one of the favorite things that my mom makes although it is her pizza roll). Their side will have turkey pepperoni and my side will have fresh mozzarella and basil. Then we will get in our tent watch some movies and go to sleep.

Hopefully we will all survive our day locked up inside with Mom!!

I just hope they will enjoy the day as much as I know I will!!

BBQ cups.......YUMMY, and easy!

2009-03-24T16:41:00.005-07:00

This is a recipe I make often. Simply because it is so easy, there is a WIDE variety of variations, and everyone seems to love them.

Here are the ingredients that I used tonight:

1lb ground turkey (I used ground beef sometimes)

1 can of Hatch green chili's

1 can of Pillsbury Grand rolls

about 1/2 or less a cup of BBQ sauce

They are EASY, EASY!! Preheat your oven to 400. All you do is brown the turkey (or ground beef). Drain the fat, put the meat into a bowl. Add the green chilies and the BBQ sauce and mix well. Then get a muffin pan out. Open the package of biscuits and form into the muffin pan. Fill the "cups" of biscuits with the meat mixture, top with a sprinkle of your favorite cheese. Put them in the oven and cook for 8 to 10 minutes. Then you are DONE. Easy right.

Variations I have made:

Eggs and sausage for breakfast

Chopped brisket and BBQ

Italian sausage with onions and green peppers

Shredder BBQ chicken

I have a good friend who makes pizza cups with sausage, pepperoni, pizza sauce, and cheese.

Basically anything you can come up with will work

From the mouths of babes.......

2009-03-20T16:14:00.006-07:00

Last night Breanna asked me if she could have some apple juice. Now this was after her bath, and we had brushed her teeth. So my answer was no. She responded to my no with the following

"You're killing me smalls"

Really that came out of her mouth. It has quickly become her favorite answer to our "no" responses.

***honestly all I could do was laugh, found out later that her teacher says that to the kids, and they think it is hillarious!

Also ifyou need a reference it is from the movie The Sandlot.

I can't believe I actually won something....

2009-03-19T17:36:00.003-07:00

Really I did. I have been reading Lilly and Roy's blog for awhile. Lilly has contests to raise awareness for Cancer research, and raise money for her Relay for Life team. Roy had been diagnosed with bladder cancer and it had spread to tissue around his bladder, after all of that a new tumor was found in his bladder cavity.

They are an amazing family. They completely are in love with their grandchild Sam.

You can you and visit Lilly and Roy HERE. I encourage you to go and read their blog. It is not only informational, but funny! Lilly has a great sense of humor. I am glad that I found her and she has become one of my blogging friends!

Jay and I are not only going to be smelling good, but looking good come Easter!

Muaah, thanks Lilly!

What to do with the "left over" TV

2009-03-16T16:38:00.001-07:00

Turn it into your computer screen. We now have a 36 inch computer screen. It was all Jay's doing he hooked it all up.

He plays computer games on it, so there was some benefits to him as well. As for me I am now seeing everything!

Wordful Wed......

2009-03-10T17:55:00.006-07:00

This was taken when Big bird came over the loud speaker to say that Elmo and his friends were coming out in five minutes! Can you imagine their faces when Elmo actually made his first appearence. It was too dark to take a picture then!

Go here for more

Taking the two kiddos downtown....by myself

2009-03-07T18:12:00.006-08:00

So today was the day. I had bought tickets, good tickets for Breanna, JJ and I to go downtown to go see Sesame Street Live's Elmo's Green Thumb. It was the first time I had taken both kids downtown (with hundreds of other people) by myself. It wasn't that bad. They both behaved very well. I didn't lose either one of them in the crowd, so it was a good day! (haha)

We got there got our "treats". An Elmo hat for JJ and a Zoe doll for Breanna. We got to our seats about 15 min before show time. JJ LOVED it, (I knew he would), Breanna asked if we could go home at intermission. We stayed till the end, even though Breanna wanted to leave. JJ was just in love with the show and I couldn't leave. View from the floor, our seats were a little closer, but I thought the stage was set up nicely!

JJ in his Elmo hat. Which he adores. (and they got a shaved ice drink too)

Breanna waiting for the show to start. She didn't enjoy the show as much as she did last year. She still liked it, but it wasn't the same.

Kiddos posing outside the show. Before it began we walked around got some treats and looked at all of the stands that they had out.

Big bird, Elmo, and Elmo's flower Sunny. Really we were this close.

Weekend Plans

2009-03-05T19:03:00.002-08:00

This weekend I will be taking the kids to this show!

Jay has taken Sat off to do things around the house that need to be done before spring hits! Sat morning Breanna, JJ, and I will be going to see Elmo's Green Thumb.

Last year I took Breanna, while my parents watched JJ. This year JJ is old enough to love Elmo (and he does love Elmo) so I am taking them both to see the show. Jay was scheduled to work (as I said before) so it will just be the kiddos and I going! Wish me luck!!

New job????

2009-03-03T16:31:00.004-08:00

Yep, it is me this time not Jay. No I didn't leave the current place that I am working at. Just a little change in job position.

I am now a Financial Analyst.

I will be focusing on our ACE Demo. If you want to know what that is you can go and check it out HERE.

More responsibility, yes. More work, yes. A little scared of the unknown, yes. Excited as nothing else, YES!!!

It was made official today.
YEAH me!!
***** and I should say that the unknown just means that the ACE demo that I will be focusing on is a completely new thing at work, we just found out about it in Jan.!!

Dinner.......

2009-02-28T17:22:00.008-08:00

Tonight we cooked, Jay and I cooked together.

First London broil, in the crock pot simmering all day in 1/2 cup BBQ sauce, 2 tblsp apple cider vinegar, 2 tblsp dijon mustard, and 6 oz of dark beer. Taken out, shredded, (while sauce was skimmed of fat and reduced).
Returned to the crock pot with the reduced sauce. To simmer for a few minutes.

Some homemade coleslaw to top the shredded beef.

Pioneer Woman's crashed potatoes

Stuffed tomato's with rice, ricotta cheese, and italian seasoning. Topped with some mozzarella and some more italian seasoning.

All plated up. It was a great meal!!

Honest Scrap Award

2009-02-28T11:08:00.007-08:00

Reeni over at Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice handed my the Honest Scrap Award. (Thanks Reeni) You should go and check out her blog, she has some really great recipes. The instructions for this award are: Write 10 honest things about yourself. Then pass the award on.
So here goes:

1. I have the same middle name as my Dad. My daughter has the same middle name as I do.

2. I love staying home on the weekends, hanging out around the house and spending time with Jay and the kids. I don't like to have to be 5 places all in one weekend.

3. I like to cook. I have always liked creating different things. Somethings that I make are strange combo's, but they work. (usually)

4. I am pretty good listener. I really try to listen and take in what what people are telling me.

5. I love almost anything related to reality television.

6. I have lived in 8 different cities.

7. I had an artistic 5 grade teacher, she made us do all kinds of small little classes during the year. One of them was napkin folding. I still use this now. (really I do).

8. I am a chicken person. I would rather eat chicken than steak, pork, or just about anything else.

9. I have always been good with numbers. Even as a young child I would be able to tell my mom the phone numbers of her friends.

10. I applied for a new position at work last week. I hope I get it!!

I pass this award on to:

Jess @ Det Jess

The Potato Queen

Angela @ Hanging with Mrs. Cooper

Michelle @ Froggy Bottom Blog

Liz @ My Crazy Life with 4 Boys

Hope you ladies have a GREAT weekend!!

Wordful Wed....Just like his Daddy????

2009-02-24T15:38:00.011-08:00

I think he likes the XBox 360, what do you think?

For more got to Angie's.

Yesterday, and Jay's job

2009-02-23T14:51:00.004-08:00

****First let me say that Jay's job has been saved. He was not included in the lay-offs that Nabors/Canrig have been doing. There have been lots around this area recently (mostly the end of last week). Jay got called into the office in another town this morning and we were thinking the worst. People had already been calling and checking to see if there had been lay-offs here. He got to the office and it was more of a "we know what you are hearing" meeting. Jay was assured that his job was stable and that they valued him as an employee, there were lay-offs that have happened, but he would not be included in them......whhheewwww. I was SERIOUSLY worried. He has only been with this company for 4 mon, so when it came to laying off people I thought that he would have been at the top of the list. Not so it seems.****

We did go outside and enjoy the day. We had a great day of riding out bikes around and around our cul-de-sac. We met some new neighbors. Our street is now almost full. There are still two homes for sale but the other 6 (including ours) now has families living in them. We have a little mirco Mid-America street. Our neighbors consists of a single dad with a young daughter, a retired set of grandparents, a couple about 40 with kids in junior high, a married couple in their 30's who have cats and dog but no kids, a single guy, and us.

Playing catch

Playing some T-ball (Breanna is better at hitting a ball than I am!)

All in all a great family day.

Spring Fever had set in......

2009-02-22T10:57:00.005-08:00

That is right. I am having a case of spring fever. It is a BEAUTIFUL day outside, the sun is shining, there are just a few fluffy clouds in the sky. It only 50 outside so we won't be running around like the pictures below, but we are going to go outside and enjoy the sunshine! Now can someone please tell me when it will get warmer outside!!

(pics are from last May)

B-day turning 31

2009-02-20T17:41:00.007-08:00

Really to be completely honest 31 bothered me more than 30. I don't know exactly why, but it really did.
So my b-day was awhile back (less than a month), but I never posted a blog post about it. It was simple, filled with laughter, and pretty much me.
Jay made chili, it was good. Spicy, but not to spicy. (Jess liked it). He cooked it in the crock-pot all day long.

My Mom and Dad came over and brought me this cake. Seriously look at it, have you even seen anything that temps your sweet tooth more. It was chocolate, chocolate fudge, with chocolate topping. Pure heaven! They also took the kiddos for the night so that the girls (Jess, and the Potato Queen) could come over and we could stay up late and laugh and not worry about waking up the kids (and I could sleep in a little in the morning)

Jess and Potato Queen came arms full. They arrived with wine, champagne, and cupcakes. Quite possibly the best cupcakes ever.

We spent the night online (no surprise there). We laughed, talked, drank wine, champagne, ate chili and cupcakes, and had a great time.

Thanks to all of you that made turning 31 a little less painful!

Bad behavior = a good result

2009-02-18T03:46:00.002-08:00

When does bad behavior work out to actually be a good thing? Not very often.

Last week my mom had picked up the kids from school as she does on Thurs (THANKS Mom) so that I can take a class that will hopefully secure me a better position at work. I called my mom before class to make sure that the kids were behaving, and that they were ok. My mom said "When I picked them up today they said that JJ had hit Ms J" I thought oh that can't be good. Ms. J is Breanna's teacher and I just love her, she is a no b.s. kind of teacher. She is the kind that will stop bad behavior in an instant. She is firm, but not mean. She is there in the mornings when I drop the kiddos off. JJ stays with her until his teacher comes to work.

So fast forward a bit. To the next morning when I stop by to drop off the kids Valentines treats and presents to their friends. Ms. J is there as usual. My mom has not dropped the kids off yet, so it is just her and I. She sees me and says "I have got to tell you something!!"

Inside my head at this point I am thinking oh crap, this isn't going to be good. My mom had told me that JJ had hit her.

Ms. J "JJ did something yesterday that you just have to hear about"

me still in my head, ohh no here it comes

Ms. J "JJ was acting up yesterday and I told him he was going to go to time out. I picked him up to put him outside the door and he flug backwards"

me - still thinking to myself oh great he we go

Ms. J "I had a cyst on my wrist. It was a liquid cyst. I was going to have to have surgery on it to remove it" "When JJ flung his head backwards I was afraid he was going to hit the wall with his head, and so I put my hand behind his head"

Me - out loud "oh no"

Ms J " He flung his head right into the cyst on my wrist, and you know it popped. Now I don't have to have surgery"

So that is the one time that a terrible 2 tantrum has actually ended up helping someone.
Ms. J doesn't have to have surgery, thanks to my 2 year old throwing a fit.

I Love TARGET!!

2009-02-17T15:22:00.004-08:00

Why because I got all of these "springy" outfits for Breanna. She loves them and I do too!! Seriously Target has some really cute stuff for little kids. I got all of these and got leggings to go with the dresses. I have already let her wear some of these outfits on our warmer days.

Anyone with little girls should seriously check them out!

Black dress with white butterflies and flowers. (black leggings and white leggings to go with it)
Colorful flowered top.

Another flower top and some cute khaki pants to with it. She wore this one today.

Little brown colorful dress. Leggings to go with this one too!

Brown dress embroidered with some very cute flowers.

I can't wait for it to be a little warmer so she can wear them all.

What happens when your daddy is a "gamer"

2009-02-15T11:46:00.005-08:00

It means that you get to play games on the X-box 360 too.

Today Jay helped Breanna and JJ play Rocky and Bullwinkle online. All they basically had to do was pick the right color button and push it. They had a blast sitting with Daddy and playing "his game"

You can see the new TV on the wall. Now we just have to figure out how to hide all of the cords.

This is the shrimp chili that we had last night, with a dollop of daisy (sour cream), and a slice of avocado. It was yummy. Jay is eating the left-overs now.

Valentines Love.....

2009-02-14T07:15:00.007-08:00

Happy Valentines Day!

Today I have fallen in love, with this.......

This is the brand new 50 inch Plasma tv that is now hanging on the wall in our living room. Let me tell you if you haven't ever watched HD tv on a plasma you are missing out. We went yesterday to look at TV's and I was dead set on getting an LCD. After getting there and looking at all of them I was sold on plasma. The picture is nothing like anything I have ever seen. (when does OU football start?) I watched Survivor on it this morning and it was like watching a whole different show.

So, it is Valentines Day, so we are going to make dinner together. We are going to make something that I found on my new FAVORITE foodie blog! If you are looking for something great to make for dinner, and are running out of ideas, go to this blog CINNAMON SPICE & EVERYTHING NICE she rocks! I have already made the polenta recipe, and everyone loved it. Tonight for our Valentines dinner were are going to have the Shrimp Chili.

Hope you all have a GREAT Valentines Day!

Why I no longer have any eye shadow.....

2009-02-11T18:57:00.006-08:00

This isn't the first time she has done this, but this time she used ALL if the eyeshadow!! As you can see she was very proud of herself!

Go here for more Wordful Wed

Are you tired of my weather posts??? Today Tornados!

2009-02-10T15:07:00.005-08:00

Today......I bring you tornado's and hail. That's right tornado's in Feb!! We got evacuated to the basement at work, and a funnel cloud went right over us. A tornado hit and tore the roof completely off the Target that I shop at (and my parents live by). I have been in contact with both of my parents all afternoon. My Mom was on lock-down at school, where my Dad eventually joined her. I drove by their house on my way home (and stopped for a few minutes in their garage while the hail went past) there was NO damage at their house. Then I was off to get the kids, as soon as I drove into the parking lot the tornado sirens went off AGAIN. So it was inside to sit in the shelter with the kiddos.

We had a small break in the storms and I headed out and came home. As soon as I got the kiddos inside the rain began and quickly turned to hail! Lots and lots of hail. It winds were blowing about 65mph so it was into the bathroom we went. The bad part of the storm passed after about a half hour.

We are all ok. I no longer have a Target to shop at and there is extensive damage in Edmond. Please keep all of those folks in you thoughts! The storms have weakened, so hopefully no more bad weather tonight.

Update....Many stores and homes have been damaged. Thankfully my family can count ourselves lucky, no damage to any of our homes.

I hadn't realized it at first, but Jay had let my cat out this morning! She came back just a few minutes ago. She is fine, wet and tired, but fine!

What happens when you go to visit your Grandparents

2009-02-09T15:09:00.006-08:00

My sister (on the left) and I (on the right) while at my Grandparents house around 1991.

Why this post with this picture. Let me tell you. I had been BEGGING, and BEGGING my mother to buy me a sheer top, with all the sequins, and well you can see all that went with it. she absolutely refused over and over. Not matter how hard I tried, I was not getting one if these shirts.

What happens next you might ask? We go to visit my Grandparents in Little Rock. Grandma takes us to the store and say what ever we want she will buy us. So here it is, my one and only golden opportunity! I jumped on it. I got the shirt, the black tank top that went underneath, and not to mention some overall shorts that I was NEVER going to actually wear as overalls, they were always going to be worn as you see them.

We got off the plane my mother just looked at me, she knew right then I had gotten away with something! I wore the heck out of that shirt too.

I am sure that my time will come too, Breanna will come home with something that I wouldn't have bought her!

PS Thanks for the idea Nichole, this was pretty blog worthy!

Don't like the weather....wait 24 hours!

2009-02-08T10:31:00.003-08:00

Problem is we LOVED the weather yesterday. It is true what they say though, if you don't like the weather in OK, wait 24 hours and it will be completely different!

Today the clouds have turned gray, and promise us some rain, which truthfully we need desperately!

So today we went and got some balloons to help brighten the day, since we would be inside ALL day. We were really out to get some diapers before the rain started, but hey balloons aren't a bad bonus. We are watching movies and playing inside! I will be washing clothes, cleaning and getting ready for the week ahead.

A beautiful day in the neighborhood.....

2009-02-07T14:02:00.006-08:00

It is currently 75 outside right now, that's right 75!! So what else would we do except go outside and enjoy it! Jay is on his way to Middle-of-nowhere New Mexico for work, so it was just us all day long.

We rode our bike, and cars around the neighborhood!

Went out back and got to play T-ball for awhile (thanks to aunt Melissa)

Don't worry she didn't swing with JJ anywhere near the ball, she just got ready and waited!

We went and played on the swing set....

and ran around. Let me tell you those kiddos are WORN out! We were out going and going for no less than 2.5 hours! They LOVED it. It hasn't been this nice outside for a LONG time.

Tomorrow forecast call for rain, lots of rain, so we really lucked out today!

Abby

2009-02-06T19:03:00.003-08:00

There is a little girl in OKC who is currently fighting the hard fight. She had been diagnosed with cancer awhile back. Her name is Abby. She had been adopted by the Riggs Family in Norman from Guatemala.

Abby is currently in Children's, the same Children's that JJ was in. Things have taken a turn for the worse, she need all the love and prayers she can get.

Please go and visit her families blog The Riggs

and her Dad has his own blog at BrentRiggs.com

This is Abby

Why not GO RED??

2009-02-02T17:50:00.008-08:00

If you are stopping by from SITS.....Welcome SISTas!! Hope you get some good info from my post!! Happy Fridday!! I am working on getting to all of your blogs and leaving a comment, so if you leave one, expect one in return!!

I have posted about this before but Feb is the month for the GO RED for WOMEN campaign for the American Heart Association...since I work at the OK Heart Hospital it is a big thing for us. We celebrate and try to get women active in the GO RED campaign. I have seen heart disease effect women from 32-95.

Here is a little about the Go Red Campaign from the American Heart Assoc.

"Today, our near-term goal is nothing less than a 25% reduction in coronary heart disease and stroke risk by the year 2010.
As we work toward that goal, we're working hard to change the perception that heart disease is a "man's disease." And it's working! By teaching more and more women how to talk to their doctors about heart disease, we can save thousands of lives every year. Because the good news is that heart disease is often preventable!
And in case anyone still believes that heart disease is only a concern for older women, we encourage you to read the Inspiring Stories we've collected. Together, they make the case plain and simple: the time for action is now!"

Friday is GO RED day. I hope you all will participate, as I know me, as well as the people that I work with will......here is some more from the Go Red Campaign site

"Join with millions of women, as well as companies, organizations and cities across America on National Wear Red Day, Friday, Feb. 6, 2009. By wearing red and making a donation, you'll help the American Heart Association support ongoing research and education about women and heart disease.
Plan a Wear Red Day It's easy to be a part of this special day. Consider organizing a National Wear Red Day at your workplace, with your faith-based organization, at your community center or in your home. We've made it simple with our free, downloadable tools. Use them anytime of the year to host your own Wear Red Day event. It's a great way to raise awareness and help us fight our No. 1 killer - heart disease.
Start by registering as a Wear Red Day Coordinator/Host. You'll get free, downloadable tools to help you plan and execute your Wear Red Day. They're available on your registration confirmation email. (Already registered to host a Wear Red Day event? Then please visit this page.)
Next, visit Shop Go Red to find apparel, accessories and more from our sponsors to help you show your support for women and the fight against heart disease.
Download our free Conversations from the Heart: A Go Red For Women Discussion Guide to get the conversation going about heart health. Share it with your HR representative, employer, coworkers, family, friends.
Make a connection with your local American Heart Association.
See the cities and companies below that helped make National Wear Red Day a success.
After Your Event, Come back and take the Wear Red Day Survey The Go Red For Women post-Wear Red Day Survey is available now through April 1, 2009. Please return to this site after you have held your Wear Red Day activities to complete the survey. It will help us help you with future events. Thank you!"

and I thank you for reading this. Women seem to be the overlooked ones. This campaign makes

sure that women are informed and involved. If you are in the OKC area the OK Heart Hospital kicks off our events on Friday at 10:30 on our second floor balcony. It will be a full month of events. You can check out our events at http://www.okheart.com/ .

Serious Life Mag - a local publication

2009-02-01T15:08:00.004-08:00

I wanted you to know about this publication I’m a part of called Serious.Life Magazine. They just published the February issue today, and I am in their Featured Blog Directory. It’s a very high quality magazine… you’ll really like it.

The magazine includes a lot of great content from bloggers you’ll appreciate, as well as great features, photos and other content. The magazine is owned and published by a family who have seven kids, three adopted and one who has Leukemia (http://www.riggsfamilyblog.com/). The magazine gives away a bunch of ads to charities and ministries. Besides great articles on interesting people, there is a lot about family, adoption, personal finance, spiritual life, humor… all sorts of “life” topics.

Again, the subscription is free, and I know you’ll enjoy the magazine, so take a minute to check it out and sign up to get future issues. http://www.seriouslifemagazine.com/

31 on the 31st!!!

2009-01-30T15:56:00.004-08:00

Yep that is right. I will be celebrating once a life time birthday (like you every get to have any other kind). This time my age will directly correspond with the date of my birth. So I will the 31 on Jan 31st.
As my Dad says you really need to thank your parents on your birthday, because with out them you wouldn't have a birthday at all. So THANK YOU Mom and Dad, and in turn Grandma and Grandad, Nana (and Papa) because without any of you doing what you did (don't want to think about that part) I would not have a birthday to celebrate tomorrow! We will (if all goes as planned) start with breakfast with my parents. Then an evening of fun with the Jess and the Potato Queen at our house!

And another note. Happy Birthday to my Dad!! Today is his birthday! (and he thanks his parents too). You are a great father and grandfather, and we love you!!
PS.. I saw you on your motorcycle today and waved HI, but you must not have seen me.....or maybe it is better that you don't wave and keep your hand in the bike.....yep that is a better idea! To see last years post to my Dad go HERE.

Wordful Wed.....Ice, Ice, Baby

2009-01-27T16:35:00.009-08:00

This weeks theme on my blog seems to be the ice/snow storm that we seem to be having right now . So here are some more pictures of the ice and snow.

This is the grass.....

The neighbors trampolene, COVERED in ice (please excuse the camera cord in the second picture)

Our tree limbs are covered in ice. Thick ice. I was actually surprised that they weren't breaking, these are relatively new trees.

Our poor bushes, they aren't that old. Every bit of them is coated in ice.

So tomorrow is likely to be another snow day for most, but not for me. I have to go into work. Part of my job is to recon the payroll files, send them to the bank and then pay all of our payroll taxes to the government. We get paid on Thurs, which means the files need to be sent tomorrow. So I will be heading out in the morning to make sure our paychecks are in the bank when they are suppose to be.

To see more got to Seven Clown Circus and visit Angie!

It's raining....ICE

2009-01-27T06:37:00.004-08:00

That's right we have more ice. Now in the form of sleet. If you turn on the TV all you can watch on ABC, NBC, and CBS, are the local weather guys talking about the ice. Here is the backyard it is a little deceptive, it looks like snow, but they are really small pieces of ice.

See not snow, little balls of ice, under that is the layer of ice. It makes it super slick outside.

It does make things pretty outside, as long as you don't have to be outside. Jay's work truck is out in the street, it isn't going anywhere today!

This was this morning you can see the balls of ice falling. The wind is also blowing, so it stings a little when one hits you. (am I back in Chicago?)

This is going to be my view of the snow for the rest of the day. Looking from the inside out! We are staying inside watching movies, playing games and cooking a homemade pizza!

Word of the day.......ICE

2009-01-26T15:51:00.004-08:00

That's right folks ICE. It is what is right now covering the grass, trees, cars, houses, and the roads.

It took me about 1.5 hours to get home today, it usually takes me 30 min. We got out of work early, but not as early as I would have liked to. I think I asked what time can we go home more than my boss wanted to hear. Finally daycare called and said they were closing and would more than likely be closed tomorrow. That was my ticket home! Almost all of us got to go home, except poor Jess she had to be there till the courier came, why I don't know. (but I won't get into that too much, it is a touchy subject with Jess right now)

I got down to my car (after sliding all over the parking lot) only to find I had about 1/4 of an inch of ice encapsulating my car. I can tell you it honestly took me about 30 minutes to finally get the ice thin enough to get it to scrap off my car. I had called up to my co-workers to tell them about the ice, and about 4 of them came down and started their cars. The scariest part was getting the kids out of the car when we got home and getting them into the house. I took very small steps, as the driveway was a complete sheet of ice.

So all said and done we are all home, except for my poor Dad who had to take the kiddos home on the school bus. He probably won't be home for another hour my mother estimates. Wait he is home..mom called Dad is home safe and sound!

Hopefully this time the power stays on, my parents has already gone out once.

Tomorrow we will all be snuggled down inside (yep.....already told work I would NOT be there tomorrow). Jay's work is on lock down sue to the roads so we get a treat of having him home tomorrow too!

My new favorite thing.

2009-01-25T15:59:00.002-08:00

This is my new favorite thing.........My GE Convection/Toaster Oven!

I love it I have used it all weekend. I cooked veggies, the kids chicken nuggets, toasted hamburger buns, bascially if I cooked it this weekend I used this! It came with a lot of accessories, a pan, a broiling pan, racks, all of which I have used!

Thank you to my Grandparents for giving it to me for Christmas!

Want to win this.........

2009-01-25T13:35:00.002-08:00

this is the beautiful bracelet that Angie at Seven Clown Circus is having a giveaway for. Go check her blog out to see how to win!!

Wordful Wed.......

2009-01-21T00:00:00.001-08:00

Look Mom I dressed myself....notice the lime green headband, blue shirt, pink pants...

and not to be left out, the Halloween socks!!
Visit Angie for more.....

Barack O-mama???

2009-01-20T16:01:00.005-08:00

Conversation I just had with Breanna:

ME: Breanna today was a big day, we got a new President, do you know what his name is?

Breanna: SANTA!!! (VERY exited)

ME: No not Santa, his name is Barack Obama. He is our new President.

Breanna: Barack O-mama?

ME: Not Barack O-mama, Barack Obama.

Breanna : Santa and Barack O-mama will bring me presents?

ME: (at this point realizing it might not make sense to a 3 year old) No Breanna not present, he is the President.

Breanna: ok mommy.

I can say that I did stop what I was doing today and watched the Inauguration. It was special, (of course I think that they are all special). This one may be more special than others. I can say that I was more surprised that there weren't more people in my office watching. I think there were about 8 of us out of 50 or so watching! I don't think it matters who you voted for at this point, but I did think that there would be more people watching. I enjoyed watching it. I grew up listening to Aretha so I loved getting to hear her sing. I thought that Pres. Obama's speech was wonderful, moving, strait forward, and had a great sense of pulling together as a nation.

I can say I DID vote for Pres Bush both times that he ran. Deep down he is just a country boy from Texas. I even watched his homecoming in Texas. Midland to be exact. Quite close to my old stomping grounds, and home to some VERY dear friends. There was lots of country music and fans there.

That in the afternoon my mood turned a little somber. If you know me you know that I have a special place in my heart for the Kennedy's. Maybe it is because my mother and her side of the family is from the Boston area. My mom grew up in the John/Bobby Kennedy era. Something about that family has always fascinated me. I have read books, been to the Kennedy Museum, seen the Kennedy Compound, been to Deeley Plaza, and the 6th Floor Museum. basically if it is Kennedy I have read, researched it, watched it. My heart sank a bit while listening to NPR's coverage they broke in to say that Sen Teddy Kennedy had collapsed and had been taken by ambulance to the hospital. Since then I have found out that it was a seizure. He is expected to stay in the hospital, but will be released. According to CNN John Kerry said "He has his Irish up," Kerry said. "Ted Kennedy is going to be back in the Senate fighting for the things he cares about."

Get well Mr. Kennedy!

Fun, fun, fun!!!!

2009-01-17T14:46:00.006-08:00

This weekend we had a birthday to go to. It happened to be where Breanna takes gymnastics at. They have a playzone that they rent out for birthday parties. Breanna's teacher Miss Brandee was also there working while we were at the party. They had a great time playing with everyone, and getting to play in the playzone!

Here we are in the car getting ready to p-a-r-t-y!!

We went upstairs before the party started to get ready, and set our stuff down.

Then it was off to the playzone, as you can see the kids had a great time and since they are familiar with the place they jumped right into running around and doing their favorite things.

JJ has always loved the ball pit!

After 45 minutes of playing we went back upstairs for cake, ice cream and the opening of all of the birthday presents.

All of the kiddos together! Most of these kids belong to my co-workers. Between birthday parties, softball games, and work get togethers these kids have been around each other for awhile!

Then it was back downstairs to play (ie...run off the sugar they just ate). They got 45 more minutes to run. This time the kids found some balloons. They had a blast carrying them around.

My First Blog Award.....

2009-01-14T14:46:00.007-08:00

I got my first official blog award. I received it from Julia at Our Simple Life. Very sweet. You made my day Julia, thank you!

Here is the meaning of the award:

It is the Friendship Award which means:

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

So here goes I pass the award onto:

Jess at Det, Jess, and all the rest

Potato.....that's right the Potato Queen

Stephanie at The Journey to Maya Grace

Nichole at Learning to Love Dallas (she is the reason I started a blog in the first place)

Ellen and Sharon at Two Friends' Tales and Travels

Sandy......who doesn't love Momisodes.....PS.... look she is finally back to blogging!! Yeah!

Heather at HZIINC (Heather, Zoie, Indie)

and Angie at Seven Clown Circus

Thank you ladies for writing blogs that I love to read!!

Oklahoma Firefighter Museum

2009-01-13T15:37:00.004-08:00

While my family was all in town for Thanksgiving we decided to go to the Oklahoma Firefighter museum. Frank is a firefighter, and my grandparents had family and friends that were firefighters. I didn't know this was in OKC, but it was VERY interesting find. This is the outside of the actual museum.

This is the display case in the lobby, it had memorabilia from the Oklahoma Bombing, and 9/11.

The inside of one of the rooms in the museum, they have a lot of old firetrucks. They have the oldest one in Oklahoma.

This is the one of the walls of patches. There are 3 and they are HUGE and filled with different badges.

Frank managed to find one badge that looked a bit familiar to him.

Old, firetruck tires

This is the first Fire Station in Oklahoma. It was in Ft Supply, it is from 1869.

Some old helmets.

These are real horses that pulled that fire truck.

An old engine, I thought that it was pretty.

This is the clock tower on the walk over to the Fallen Firefighter Memorial.

Here is the memorial statue, and the pictures that follow are that of the actual memorial walls. It was very beautiful, and a wonderful tribute to the men who have given their lives saving others.

If you ever have a free day I suggest going and seeing it. There are handheld devices that you will be given to walk around the museum and you enter in the number on the exhibit and it will give you the history behind what you are looking at.

International Delurking Day....

2009-01-12T15:08:00.003-08:00

Found this out from Angie.....today is Delurking Day!!!

So if you have stopped here and you aren't my family, Jess, Stephanie, or Potato....tell me who you are!! Happy Delurking day!

Birthday #1 Songs....

2009-01-10T18:01:00.004-08:00

Thought this would be interesting....here are the #1 songs when......

I was born..."Stayin' Alive" by The Bee Gees

Jay was born...."Down Under" by Men at Work

Breanna was born..."We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey

JJ was born..."My Love" by Justin Timberlake featuring T.I

My sister..."Coming Up (Live at Glasgow)" by Paul McCartney

My Mom.... "'The Third Man' Theme" by Anton Karas

My Dad... "I Can Dream, Can't I?" by The Andrews Sisters

(this one is not song by the Andrews sisters but it is the song....I can dream can't I?

Nana...."Whispering" by Paul Whiteman

Grandma and Grandad...funny put their #1 songs are the same...... "Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean" by Gallagher & Shean

Lookie Here.......

2009-01-10T15:10:00.000-08:00

I have nominated some of my friends!!!

click on the above text!!

Picture challange

2009-01-10T09:20:00.002-08:00

The challange.....goto your May folder and post picture #21. Here it is....Breanna with pink eye!! Poor little girls eyes were sooo swollen and red, but by the next day she was doing a lot better!!

Go HERE for more

24 hours from now......

2009-01-07T17:00:00.002-08:00

Boomer Sooner!!!

The champagne is chilling in the frig, now we just need to celebrate!! Tomorrow night we will be watching the big game!

Present from Potato

2009-01-06T16:30:00.004-08:00

The Potato Queen bought Breanna a present. They(Breanna and Potato) both love the sparkle and the shimmer. They are both princess-esque! It was a princess bible. It was written completely like a princess would love. Plus the cover had a crown that had white and pink crystals on it!

I will let Breanna's face say it all.......

She LOVED it!! She slept with it, guarded it from her brother, basically where ever she is, her princess bible isn't far behind!!

Breanna says THANK YOU Queenie!!

Christmas Day......

2009-01-01T13:56:00.005-08:00

Grandma, Grandad, Great Grandma, Great Grandad, and Nana all came over bright and early with arms full of presents for the kiddos.

Presents under, around, and infront of the tree!

Kiddos before they tore into the presents.

JJ opening his t-ball set for Aunt Melissa

Great-Grandad and Breanna sat for a long time reading books, truthfully I don't know which one had more fun. =)

Breanna eating at Grandma and Grandad's house.

The day was great, we got to spend the whole day with family. We had a great meal prepared my my Mom, and great pies that my Dad made! The only thing missing was Melissa!!

Me and My Boy

2009-01-01T09:49:00.004-08:00

LOVE HIM!!!!!

*******mind you we were BOTH home sick when we took the picture*******

The Gingerbread house

2009-01-01T07:50:00.002-08:00

Here is the construction of our Gingerbread house. This is the first year that we have done this. I thought that the kids might have been old enough to not eat all the candy and actually enjoy decorating with it. They did sneak a few pieces, but almost all of the candy ended up on the house.

Not to bad for a 2and 3 year old!! I was pretty proud of them.