Recognize!

"I got a reward!"

Sew Disappointed

I was really excited to get back to the sewing machine this weekend. Caitlin wanted straps on her spa wrap and a little turtle on the pocket... and I wanted to make her happy.

I messed up with my measurements a little and also accidentally faced the towel wrong side out. But it wasn't noticeable enough for me to backtrack. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

I just wish Caitlin was too... It's just not her kind of thing.

Po...porn

I've been away for almost a month. Life has seemed too serious and personal to keep up a blog. I've also been overwhelmed starting 'new eating habits'... It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle change :)

But my hubby asked me to start blogging again, he enjoys me and my ramblings.

Today is the perfect day to write about!

We watch Amazing Race as a family and on the first episode we each picked a team. Whoever's team lasted the longest won. Last week I became the winner :)

For my prize I wanted the whole family to go painting at Texas U Can Paint, my new favorite hangout/activity.
http://www.texasucanpaint.com

So today we went to paint a bucket of p-o-p-c-o-r-n. We were having a great time and almost finished with our paintings when there was a tragic, and hilarious, spelling error made by Honey. Poporn. P-o-r-n!

I wanted to laugh so hard! The instructor was able to fix the mistake. But when hubby accidentally did the same thing p-o-r-n... I lost it, too hilarious!

Something must have been in the air. I was being so careful... But all of a sudden I had an "o" instead of a "c" behind my "p"!

Caitlin was the only one to spell popcorn correctly. Crazy!

We can't wait to go back and paint again. We are going to hang all four of our paintings on the kitchen wall. I love it!

Lego...land

We finally visited the land of legos to celebrate Caitlin's birthday.  Hubby gets all the credit for coordinating the whole party.  I just showed up dreading the experience.

All the girlies had a great time... and... I thought it was pretty nifty too.

Kate, Hank, MIB

I woke up cuddled with my littlest girlie.  Honey was at a friends house and Hubby was at work.  Just me and my baby.  She has agreed to stay my baby forever. 

We headed over to my sister's to visit Kate and Hank. Caitlin agreed to this trip after I PROMISED that she would not have to hold, touch, talk-to, or take a picture with the baby. It is so funny.  My kids freeze around babies. There is no "oh, so cute!" It's complete deer-in-the-headlights!

I think it is my fault.  When my third girlie, Eleanor, was born and we went to the hospital to meet her I might have... threatened them a little. You know. Don't be loud. No running. No playing. All the things you tell a 6- and 2-year-old before going into a hospital. But I must have over-done it.

Anyway, I hope they get over it. I really want grandgirlies in 15 years.

I won't lie.  It is my goal to become Kate's favorite.  I even let her play with my lipstick.

She. Is. A.dor.a.ble!

That is some fancy lipstick!

My sisters get major kudos for not giving me any crap while I played make-up with Kate. When my girlies were little I was so strict and mean about make-up and nail polish. If they even pretended with my girls I flipped out. I'm older and wiser now.

I did pay a little attention to Henry too.

But honestly, my main man isn't very interesting yet. He chilled the whole time... 

he's gonna be a heartbreaker!

I'm trying really hard to get out more. Get over myself already. Get over my issues. So when Hubby proposed dinner and a movie I said yes.

Dinner at Genghis Grill and then Men in Black 3.

Caitlin was too distracted to look at the camera. She has a beautiful profile.

Honey is so beautiful.

Hubby... is a wise guy. Always trying to be funny. We coordinated while he was buying tickets to laugh at everything he said. It was hi-larious! The girlies did a perfect job. This is totally a game we'll play again. Hubby wanted us to admit that sometimes we were laughing for real. (We will never admit that.)

Okay, MIB3 was awesome! My favorite one for sure.  I think if you saw this movie without seeing the first one it wouldn't be as funny... but it would still be fun.

Caitlin just walked in with a home-made MIB costume. She even created a Neuralyzer and she's about to erase my mem...

Freckles

Caitlin bought (with her own money) the Irish warrior Merida.

We were cuddled up on the bed with Merida admiring her beauty and her bow.

Caitlin said she loved how different she is from her other barbies... Freckles! And she wished she could have blue eyes too.

No, Caitlin is too beautiful to change anything... But I would love to have Merida's hair.

What about her freckles? Caitlin wants to know. I love her freckles and your freckles too, but I have way more than both of you. Angel kisses.

You don't have any freckles mommy!

WHAT?

We investigated closely... Even asked hubby to come look. Has my face merged into one big freckle... That no one can see anymore?

Well, we are glad Caitlin still has hers. And I'm covered on my arm and shoulders... I'll miss my face freckles now that I know they are gone :(

Eyeball

Caitlin's self-portrait...

Character and Character

Caitlin is very proud of her Character Awards, she earned Respect AND Perseverance this month! I was so excited to see them when I got home.

Caitlin's a little photo shy lately, she's over-it! She said I could come to field day on Friday if I promised not to bring a camera (as if!) Unfortunately I don't think I'm going to be able to make it... maybe some of my peeps can take pictures for me, we won't tell Caitlin ;)

While Caitlin was SHOWING character I was BEING a character!  Had such a fun lunch with my friend Stacy today.  After we had some pizza I stopped to get my boss a sub from Jersey Mike's... definitely a guy's joint... until we invaded!

I wrote down specifically what Peter asked for: regular #13 on wheat, Mike's way... he said "they'll know." So I told the young man "a regular #13 on wheat Mike's way" and he nodded. I'd spoken the language they understood.

The young man sliced the bread and revealed a bread bubble (technical term for... I don't know, when there is a big bubble of air under the crust.) Eeek. Bread. Yummy. No room for air bubbles!

"Um, this is for my boss... can you use a different bread? This one has a bubble."

He looks at the man working the vegi section and shows a slight smile, "you got a tough boss?" as he slices new bread.

The man standing next to him says "What are you having?"

... "Nothing, just the sandwich for my boss."

"You're not going to eat one of my sandwiches?"

... "Um... I always thought this was a 'guys place.'" I say glancing at Stacy.

"Her boss won't let us eat." Stacy pipes in. (BTW, I should mention that Stacy is a-dor-a-ble!

Both the men laugh. I can tell now that the vegi guy is the Manager and he says "It's 2012! There's no 'guy's place,' you two come back and your sandwiches are on me."

Such a sweety!

We are so going back for a free sandwich! And plotting free food from the other restaurants in the area!

So check out Jersey Mike's 'cause this guy was charming :)

Princess in the Hood

Cuddles

rain taps the window
light flashes and the wind blows
cuddle my girlies

A Good Cry

Sometimes I need a good cry... I can't pin down a specific reason, just the need to get some emotion out.

I like to turn to movies for these "good cries." I used to have the perfect movie, Silence Like Glass, but I can't find it anywhere. Tonight I'm watching Stepmom. It's playing on ABC Family. Otherwise I would have watched The Notebook... That brings on tears and has the bonus of Ryan Gosling :)!

After my good cry I always count my blessings... Here are two big ones!

Third Ear

I missed two days posting this week! Just emotionally spent.  But some good times to share too...

Monday morning...

Walking into work I pass Lee, "Does that mean you have a third ear?"

Very FUNNY! Look at the picture and think about it.

Aaron had to explain it to me... but it's hi-larious!

Almost made up for the day that followed.

Tuesday...

Big music day for me.  I had a lot of data entry to do and listened to Pandora radio.  It reminded me of the old days of making mix-tapes/cds.  You type in a song or group and it selects like songs.  I find a lot of new artists this way and have started taking pictures of them so that I can remember that I liked them when I decide to purchase songs.  I was SO excited when this song, Dog Days Are Over, came onto the station.  I l-o-v-e this song but didn't know what artist performed it.

Now I know!

Kinda interesting how I found this song to begin with... a pole dance routine.

This is an amazing feat of strength and beauty.

Total rock star, right?

I originally couldn't access this video on YouTube because of parental-lock-controls.  I was a little frustrated because I couldn't figure out how to turn parental-lock off. Siobain said "It's easy" and then showed me how... doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of the parental-lock?...

Wednesday...

Very productive day... and much better than Monday and Tuesday.  A project approved and a birthday celebration at Hard 8.  I think of Hard 8 as a guys place to eat.  You basically walk by this hugh-mung-ga-loid grill/smoker and point to the meat you want.

It is yummy.

These are the smokers you pass to get to the "serving" smoker/grill.  Everyone smells like smoked meat afterward. You cant see very well in this photo but there are four huge smokers at work here, you can see the smoke coming out of the seams.

I'm not sure what they cook in these fire pits... but we discussed that a person would die instantly if they were thrown in here.  I was thinking of Hansel & Gretel. But even with these morbid thoughts I was able to enjoy my beef skewer and the best beans in Texas.

For shizzle if you are in the DFW area you gotta stop by here.

When I got home Caitlin had turned into Katniss.  She made a bow and arrow... the bow was made from a puppet stick and string, the arrow is her Harry Potter wand. Very creative!

She is ADORABLE!

My baby, 13!

While my sister Siobian is in the hospital with her 24-hour-old son, Henry, I am spending the day with my birthday girl, 13-year-old Siobain. I can't believe my baby is a "teenager"! We went to the early show, 10:00 am, of The Avengers. A completely packed theater, but it was a good movie. When we got out (12:30!) we came home to grill hot dogs, open presents, and eat cake!

I broke down and gave Siobain a bunch of Hetalia gifts... but I also gave her the Animation-ish program.  I can't wait to see the awesome projects she will create! Here is her first test project...

Apparently Derp is something you say when you've done something clumsy or ignorant... I learn something new every day.

Hubby wins the best-daddy-award with this cake! He took in a printout of Honey's favorite character and had a cake made... one-upping me at every turn :)

For dinner we went to Five Guys... Siobain's pick.

The main dinner topic was super-heroes.  Marvel vs. DC comics.  Hubby's top 10... 

1. Batman

2. Silver surfer

3. The Flash

4. Superman

5. Spiderman

6. Ironman

7. Wolverine

8. Kato

9. Mighty Mouse

10. Underdog

I think Caitlin enjoys the Hulk...

Wishing my baby a happy new year!

Let's Get Together!

Caitlin asked me to set the camera up and show her how to take pictures.  She didn't want any other help, so I left her to it.  Then she was ready to put it into the computer and I helped her navigate iMovie.

My beautiful baby! Here is her masterpiece...

Happy Birth Day!

I had a wonderful evening with my sisters and Gorgeous last night.  I've been lucky to help take care of my littlest girlie in the evenings this past week.  Siobain has gotten too pregnant to pick Kate up, so I became part of their bedtime routine for three wonderful nights.

Last night Gorgeous came over and so did Sarah... the contractions were three minutes apart and then two minutes apart.  Siobain was such a trooper, giving Kate this bedtime routine for the last time while breathing through pain (I can only assume the routine will change when the baby comes home.)

I got my iPhone out and using the stop-watch I wrote down the contraction times and durations.  Such a little thing made me feel part of the action.

Of coarse we had moments of laughter... and I felt closer to these three important women than I had in a long time.

I stayed home with Kate while Mom and Sarah took Siobain to the hospital.  I'm sure there was lots of excitement going on, but I was happy with my job of making sure Kate and Auggie the Doggie were safe and sound.

When hubby Jason arrived at the hospital everyone left and let them experience this miracle together... and Henry arrived...

So exciting! I now have 5 girlies and 1 main man.  I was admittedly disappointed when I found out that Siobain was having a boy but there is nothing but joy now, how can there be anything else once I set my eyes on my  main man.

This photo is a little funny.  My baby girlies (9!) and (13!) are not that "in to" babies.  So we discussed the photo plan before we went into the room.  No one wanted to hold Henry... so I decided Caitlin would hold Henry and Siobain would hug them both.

Once we were in the room it was clear that I had prepped this photo... and my girlies followed directions... and then handed Henry off as soon as possible. Hubby on the other hand... I had to tell him "NO, we are done having babies." I don't think he would have given Henry back if I hadn't taken him right out of his arms. 

Such a joyous day and thanks be to God for a healthy mother and baby.

Seizures

A few weeks ago I was frustrated with the pharmacy because they said they didn't have a prescription from my GYN...

... This week I was filling out my expense report and found the slip mixed in with my receipts. Yea! I won't need to call and ask for a new script.

When I dropped by the pharmacy on the way home tonight I happily handed over the slip to the new, handsome, young assistant.

He looked at it and said, "okay, this is for seizures."

"No, it shouldn't be... "

Unless my eggs are having seizures... Which would explain so much!

But he came back with a blush, reading from a printout. "Pain due to blood loss durring menst..." His voice fades.

I like to call them B!tch Pills, but I spared him that information.

I'm just happy to have them.

Caitlin has said that she never wants to grow up, Neverland is a plausible destination to her.

And I'm happy to have my baby...

Tiny Dancer

Caitlin cracked me up tonight with a second performance of her latest dance.

The first performance was held in the Doctors office... Poor Honey has a bad sinus infection. Hopefully she can go to school tomorrow!

I prayed with Vera today. I love praying with her.

Zonked (A to Z)

Wow! April 30th. I can't wait to do this again next year... Hopefully I'll be in a calmer and more peaceful place mentally.

But I finished the challenge despite everything going on. Very satisfying... I didn't get to visit many other blogs, I've got the list though and am going to visit every one of them eventually.

Siobain was home sick today and I feel beat up. We're both zonked! And I'm ready for some hubby cuddles.

Congrats to my fellow bloggers, it's wonderful to feel part of the pack.

X marks the spot (A to Z)

Today my baby girlie turned 9!!! Oh my, it does not feel like it's been that long since we brought her home from the hospital.

Her birthday party is next weekend but we had our own party tonight too... nothing says par-tay like Chick-fil-A!

This is the only photo I have of all the girlies...

as usual, no one is looking the same direction.

This whole evening was very spur-of-the-moment. The girlies wanted to go see the Pirate Captain movie and for sure we wanted cousins E and M to come.  Then we decided to meet for a quick dinner... So I called to let my sister Siobain know so she wouldn't be left out... and all the cousins were able to be together!

"X" = ME left behind in the parking lot!

Xanthippe, an ill tempered woman... 

I've drawn a diagram.  I met the family straight from work, so we had two cars at Chick-fil-a.  We decided to all drive in one car across the street to the theater, 'cause there parking lot is c-r-a-z-y!

But... hubby forgot me. Sigh... and laughed about it.  I'll get even ;)

The movie was okay.  Not great.  The older girlies loved it but when Mia said it was time to go I was more than happy to sit in the lobby with her.  We had some quality time.

How beautiful are my girlies!

Caitlin had a very fancy cake that Hubby picked out.  He went to 3 stores to find one that was just right! I need to start baking again, I do feel a little guilty that she didn't get a home-made cake.

Well, except for being left in the parking lot, the day was really great!

Valuable Toys (A to Z)

I remember Caitlin's first birthday... She received all these amazing toys but the only thing she was interested in were the boxes.

It makes me happy that she can still enjoy a box... Sometimes you don't need to "think outside the box" to be creative.