A Happy Father's Day

I think a happy Father's Day was had at our home :) First off, Daddy got a wish to come true. After doing yard work on Saturday, Jim laid in his hammock. He told that just once he wished that while he was out there in his hammock, the deer would come out.....




....viola...your wish is granted :)

On Father's Day we went outside that morning and found that it was already miserably hot. But it's so beautiful in the backyard, we just love to sit out there. So I decided that setting out the sprinkler might make it cooler...for the kids anyway :)



This is Matt doing his Urkel (sp?) impression and Nat's imitating his voice...and I gotta tell you, she does a perfect Urkel impression "...did I do that???" :)


And here's the reason that Jim got to celebrate on Sunday :)...





Hope all the Dad's out there had a GREAT Father's Day. Sorry for my delayed wishes...been a crazy week.

We are all packed up and ready to head to the beach. We will be gone 9.5 wonderful days starting at 2:30 today!!!! I will post the typical beach photos sometime next week...I hope.

And one last woo hoo....I hit 29 lbs lost this morning!!!!!!! After 1 month at the same weight, my scale finally gave me a break and let me see a 2 lbs loss right before I leave for vacation! Thank you Scale :) Now, I just gotta be a good girl and not put on my typical 10lbs of vacation wieght!!!

Hope you all have a great weekend and week!

...what chu say belly?

:) Now that the big kids are out of school for summer, Brayden comes into my room to watch tv till they wake up...so they can sleep in. This morning as he was sitting on my bed eating his nummies I hear this... "..what chu say belly? You need nummies?" :) I just laugh to myself and I ask him if his belly is talking to him. He just laughs and says "...no, my belly can't talk. There's no face..." This probably isn't as funny to you as it is to me. Some things don't always come off as funny unless you are there :)

In my own personal "belly" news, I am holding steady at 27 lbs lost since the last week of Feb. It's very slow going at this point, but I'm still losing inches and my BMI continues to drop. Trying very hard at this point NOT to just go by what the scale says. This has been one of the hardest weight loss journeys I've been on, but my SWEET, SWEET husband told me that he feels I look the best I have in 10 years :) He know JUST want to say some days :)

Today Nat will start softball camp from 1-4....weather permitting. I sure want her to go and have fun. But I sure would LOVE the rain!!! Matt will go to a sports camp/vbs tonight. First of many fun activities I'm trying to get lined out for them this summer. Friday Jim made them each a scavenger hunt. It took him about 3 hours to create and took them about 30 mins to find the treasure :) They sure had fun!

We are on the count down to our annual beach trip...and as always, it can't get here soon enough. My sisters and my parents will be down there the same week we are and my brother will be doming down one day during that week. Jim's cousin Bill and his family will come down for a day or two and Jim's little sister (by proxy) Reagan (you can go to her link on my page and then go to her daughter's link off of her page and see one C-U-T-E baby girl) will be getting to come with her family the last weekend we are there. This will be a great vacation with lots of loved ones to share it with. We will also be putting Karen's ashes out to sea...and I know she's ready for her beach trip also :)

Hope you all have a great week and SUPER BIG CONGRATS to Gary, Lyndsey, and Sage to their new baby boy Isaia. He's just beautiful!!!

Good news and Elephant news :)

The good news....

Matthew had the opportunity to read 360 additional minutes (over a 3-4 week period) to earn a free 6-flags ticket. ...and he did it, and then some! We found out that Matthew no only received the free ticket, but was the ONLY child in his grade to do the extra reading. He was so proud to be the only one to receive the free ticket. And we are very proud of him also! In other "Matthew" news, he started art class with Nat at the 1st of May. He is really enjoying it. He's just now starting his first project since he's had to do "basics" up until now. So we are anxious to see his first masterpiece :)

Natalie applied to be on the Jr. Dolls Dance Team for 8th grade. What this is, is a team outside of dance class (which she will be taking next year) that practices with the high school team and gets to do 2-3 half-time performances with them during the football season. We are so excited for her. She had such crummy luck with athletics this year since she only made the Cross Country team. The coaches said she tried really hard in all sports, but just too many girls went out for everything. She has also made the journalism team and will get to be on the year book staff next year. Another great thing for her! I think she will really be an asset with her artistic mind ;)

Brayden is doing exceptionally well with the acupressure allergy treatments! I'd explain the process, but it's just too "out there". Just know that it works and it's a GOOD thing :) I'm attempting to completely break him of the gugga today. Kinda have no choice since he woke up and we couldn't find it anywhere. So...guess today's as good a day as any. And since he lost it, he seems to be doing ok with it. As opposed to me taking it away from him. Wish us luck........ Potty training, yikes...won't go there. It's still gonna be a while on that....

Tonight is the last softball game of the season. We were supposed to have a game on Tues, but got rained out. Hoping for one more win to the girls really GREAT season. I'll do my best to remember the camera this time...since it kinda is my last chance!!!

Elephant news......

Yep, that's right....he/she's back!!! And yesterday it was not over cast, so I'm really confused why the elephant(raccoon) was out so much yesterday. It started off coming out of the woods all puffed up cause Marbles was barking at it. Then it scurried over to the shed and when under it. Then it went over to the playground and up a tree. It did this several times yesterday. it never looked like it was walking drunk and when I went out a few time to give it a "love tap" with the bb gun, it never hissed/growled at me or tried to come at me. So, I'm think maybe it has babies? Is anyone out there a raccoon expert? Do they have babies in the tree, or would they be what's under the shed? Would i hear them if they "cried"?

That's all for now. Have a great day!

Elephant in the backyard?

Ok, since the last post didn't captivate too many (and thank you to those that it did :))...try this out for kicks...

Yesterday as I was working at my desk and Brayden was in the living room watching tv, I hear him scream "...he's back, he's back..." I ask him "who's back?". He says "...him!!!!!". Now, mind you that my parents were to be showing up at around this time, so I think that he's seen them outside. So I get up and go the front and don't see them there, but I do see Brayden standing on the couch pointing outside towards the playgroud. And he hollers at me "...LLLLOOOOOOOKKKK...it's a, it's a...ELEPHANT!" Well, of course I HAD to look! :) It wasn't exactly and elephant, but it was an animal that we'd yet to see in our backyard. It was a HUGE racoon. And as I spot him (after a very good chuckle), he attacks a squirrel, snatchs him up in his mouth, and runs up the tree. Now my first thought is ...is it rabid? Cause I thought if a nocturnal animal came out in the day that it might be rabid. Plus, it'd just attacked and killed a squirrel!! I didn't knwo they did that (but they do). So I called the animal control lady and she said that since yesterday was over cast that it probably threw him off. And since he wasn't appearing to be walking "drunk", and was able to make it up a tree...we should be good. But to just give him his space.

When Brayden got up this morning and the sun came out...he did look for the elephant, but he wasn't there. I'm wondering what type zoo animal might appear in my backyard today?!!?

Jumping in with BOTH feet

Ok, I've been dipping my toes in the waters of Herbal Healing. I will be flat out honest that when it was first suggested to me, I did the raised eyebrow and thought "yeah, ok...that was sweet advice, but I ain't going that route". That stuff's for hippies, flower power, guru believing type folks.

Well, I finally gave in and changed my backwards way of thinking when we just couldn't seem to get a grasp on Brayden's gastrointestinal and respiratory problems. The sweet nurse at our pediatrician's office pulled me to the side one day and told me that some herbal supplements could really help Brayden in ways that all the meds he was on couldn't (...but don't dare tell the dr. she told me that). And he'd been so sick for so long, I threw in the towel and gave it a shot. Wow! We went from seeing the dr. weekly (no joke) to seeing her maybe twice a year. Amazing difference. I became a believer. Then when I was having some health issues a while back my OB/GYN suggested some herbal supplements in lieu of prescribing meds that I could most likely become allergic to (my drug allergy list is crazy long). I am now hooked. And I have the big kids on supplements also. My health food store LOVES seeing me drive up :)

Now this didn't just all happen in the last month. Stuff I've mentioned has happen over the last 2 or so years. With in that time I've become a "regular" at the health food store. They were so helpful when I was trying to find an herbal route to go with for Karen when we found out she had Cancer. And low and behold, one of the ladies who works up there had Cancer that spread like Karen's. They'd given her 1 month to live. So she started a Herbal regimen along with Herbal Chemo. Each time I'd go into the store and see her I'd just smile cause I knew she was going thru the same fight as Karen. And to see here there was just an inspiration. Shortly after Karen passed away, I started noticing that Marcy wasn't in the store anymore....and so I thought that she too had passed. Her sister works in the store as well, but I didn't want to ask cause I know it's painful. But I was in there just a few weeks ago and the subject came up and she told me that her sister and moved back home to Trent, TX because she was CANCER FREE! That's right CANCER FREE. This lady who was stage 4, 1 month to live, 27 brain tumors...same boat as my sister is ALIVE...and free from that freakin monster! I just started bawling. Not sad, but floored that I couldn't have been more persuasive to my sister's doctor and my sister. BUT, I have now told my family (and this goes to all that I love...family, friends, all of you)...If someone I love finds out that they have Cancer...I will be a pain in the rear and I will do everything in my power to convince you that the Herbal route is not only less invasive, but WORKS!!!!!!!!!! (...now stepping back down off my pulpit :))

Now with that all being said and me rambling on an on... You'd think that I would be going the herbal route again when Brayden's dr. tells me that Brayden's asthma and allergies (food and inhaled) have gotten to the point that there is not another med she can prescribe to help him. (If you see a few blogs ago, there' a picture of Brayden's last allergy attack that affected his eyes...and prompted the dr. to say this). So we went to the ENT/Allergist and found that this baby is soo, soo, soo allergic. I wasn't all in my head. Literally, EVERY fruit and veggie that he's eaten, he's formed an antibody to. Therefore, he's allergic to all the fruits and veggies he's eaten...or that I ate while he was in utero!!! (He's off the chart on many, many airborne allergies also.) So the suggestion was trying to do sublingual drops that he has to hold under his tongue for 3 mins and not swallow. ...yeah, that's not working out so well with a 3 year old. All we have is practice drops right now and today we are supposed to tell her if we think it'll work or not. The alternative is weekly shots for a year. So I talked to my sister Cheryl...who knows that I'm slowly converting to the Herbal ways :) And she says "why don't you see if there's a Herbal or alternative method of healing for this?" Duh... So I explore and ask around. Our very good friend (Jim's little Sister by proxy :)) Reagan (who also has had life long food allergy issues) tells us about acupuncture that she's having done for her food allergies. She sends me the website and I look up and see if there's a local practitioner. THERE IS! So I call and find out that they they do needleless acupuncture in 1-2 sessions and she can produce the SAME RESULTS as what the ENT/Allegist is suggesting will take a year. Some of you may be saying "yeah right", but as Jim said...this acupuncture thing has been around for centuries!!! There's got to be something that's right about it. Yes, it's a bit odd for me to think of healing my baby in a non medical way. But IF I'm gonna make the strong statement that I did earlier about loved ones, cancer, and herbal healing....guess I better adopt that way of thinking in all matters and quit just dipping my toes in the water and jump in with both feet!!! If it doesn't work...it doesn't work...but at least we tried and didn't just close our eyes to a form of healing that's worked for so many for centuries! That ENT/Allergist will still be there and will take our money for the next year...if need be. :)

That's all for now folks....of to go buy me my tie-dyed shirt and Birkenstocks!!

Spring Break 08!!!!!!!

Finally posting!! Mind you that I had a good 500+ pictures to mull thru and try to use the best to capture the excitement of our trip. But still, I feel the pictures just don't do 1/2 of it any justice.

We spent our first night in Amarillo..uneventful. Then woke up and drove to Santa Fe. We spent the afternoon in downtown browsing shops, art galleries, and street vendors. Nat was in hog heaven in the art galleries. And all the "Arties" were just in love with her and her love of art! She was sooo in her element!! Matt had a good time chasing birds in the courtyard and picking what ring he HAD to have...that is now no where to be found now??!?!? :) Brayden just took it easy in the stroller.

The next day Bradyden wasn't feeling to hot so he and I stayed at the motel. Jim and the big kids went to Bandelier National Park (http://www.nps.gov/band/photosmultimedia/index.htm). The kids had a great time hiking up to and into the cliff dwellings. And checking out the petroglyh's on the rocks.



The next day we did a LOT of driving. But it was beautiful...even when we were driving thru a BLIZZARD!! ..really!

Welcome to Colorado :)


It's just flipping gorgeous!!


Brayden still didn't feel to great. So this is his shot with the Colorado snow :) (sorry..picture came out kinda dark).


Welcome to UT! (Told you we did a LOT of driving...well Jim drove, we rode :))


The first town we came to was Monticello, UT and it had this beautiful backdrop! It's not much of a town, but the scenery sure makes up for it! This picture doesn't do it justice...but it may look even better if you click on it and enlarge it. You'll see that the clouds are creeping over the top of the mountain. So beautiful!


The first arch we came to was just outside of Moab, UT. It was called Wilson's Arch( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson's_Arch ).It was on the side of the road so Jim and the kids hopped out and up the side of the hill they went!


Brayden and I hung back so I could take pictures. Brayden (still not found of having his picture taken) was making me feel as if I were his paparazzi! :)



We stayed in Moab 3 wonderful nights. The first day we headed out to the Arches National Park (http://www.nps.gov/arch). This all day adventure was fantastic! We saw the 3 Gossips, Big horn sheep (rock not animal), and this rock below...Balanced Rock...all in the first section of the park.


I call this "Balanced Brayden" :)


Since he was feeling better, he decided to test his strength and move this rock... bummer, it didn't budge :)


As we progressed into the park the arches got bigger and bigger...and the hikes longer and longer. Here you see that Brayden is still bound and determined to move rocks...and size wasn't going to stop him!! This is at the Double Arch, which I didn't find a good picture of...must be in Nat's 300+ pictures...that I have yet to go thru.


I can't remember the name of this arch, but it was just to the left of the Double Arches. You see me taking a breather on a rock down below and in the upper right corner there's Matt in a grey jacket and Nat in a pink.


That afternoon we came back into town and had another fun time of browsing, shopping, and check out more art galleries. Then we got up the next day and headed to Canyonlands (http://www.nps.gov/cany/photosmultimedia/photogallery.htm)


Why is it called Canyonlands you might ask :)? Well THIS is why!! Once again, the picture JUST doesn't do it justice. It's the beauty as far as you can see. And the picture just doesn't allow you to see the depth, colors, and distance. It's just breath taking!


At this section of the park I was a bit nervous. There are NO railing just a path that they tell you stay on with one side...dirt...other side cliff and a LONG way down! Yowza! The kids had fun...but I was on pin and needles barking for them to STAY BACK!


The kids haven't gotten along this well in ages. We will definately be doing this again :)



After our fun time in Moab, we headed back to Colorado to go to Mesa Verde (http://www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm). If yo know the areas that we have been going you might wonder why we were backtracking to go to Mesa Verde...when just 3 days prior we'd driven right by it. Well, remember me mentioning that we'd driven thru a blizzard?!? That was while we were passing the Mesa Verde entrance! We could see more than a few feet in front of us at that time and if you have ever been to Mesa Verde you'd know that the drive up to the park can be treturous (sp?) even on a bight shiny summer day!! Plus, it was closed off due to the weather. There was still a considerable amount of snow on the ground, but the roads were cleared and they had to of the cliff dwelling areas opened for us to go see.




After leaving Mesa Verde we had our longest segment of driving yet. That night we stayed in Socorro, NM. Again, uneventful...except for the mass of people walking along the interstate for Pilgrimage. And this was at around midnight that night. And when we got going the next morning...they were still walking! We headed out to White Sands (http://www.nps.gov/whsa/photosmultimedia/index.htm) and got there a little after lunch. Never in my wild dreams would I think that the kids would enjoy this soooo much!


By far one of Jim and I's favorite pictures!


The kids came across a young couple who were leaving the park and gave them their "sand" disk. They were stoked!


Matt was first to try it...of course. And he HAD to find the steepest drop off!


After watching Nat and Matt sled...it was little guys turn.


They did this for at least a good hour!


White Sands was such a hit! Not so much for me after wards...cause there was no where to wash all the sand off...and I'm such a freak when it comes to having cleanliness! :) We then headed back into town and headed up the mountain to go to Cloudcroft. I love this little town. We hit a few shops before everyone started closing up for the day. Then hoped back into the Suburban to make the nice long haul to Carlsbad. The first 1/2 of this trip is beautiful! So scenic. Then when you get about 60 or miles from Artiesa...the not so beautiful sets in. Man, what a change :(

The last day of out of state travel landed us at Carlsbad Caverns (http://www.nps.gov/cave/photosmultimedia/index.htm). This is the only picture that really came out since all the interior pictures have to be taken without a flash. Not everyone abided by that rule...but we did :) Jim took a picture of us after exiting the cave...but we were (well I was) pretty mangled looking :)


After finishing up in Carlsbad we headed back to TX! The following day was Easter to we drove to my parent house to meet up with our family and have a wonderful Easter! It was so great to see everyone again and to share the stories of our super fun vacation!

I left out a lot of stories and pictures, but I just could get that into a blog! Anytime any of you come to the house, we can share more pictures and stories with you one on one. And maybe let the kids fill you in on their take of it all :)

Now, if you enjoyed this blog...please be a sweetie and give me some love by commenting :) Have a great week

...bear with me....

We had a wonderful time on Spring Break and I really can't wait to share the pics with you, but afer being gone for 11 wonderful days...I'm still trying to get caught up on everything workwise. Plus we are now into Softball Season and our sweet baby boy got seriously sick last Friday. He's much better now, but it was very scary for the first 48 hours!!! Here's a pic that just might make you say "Poor Baby"...I know we said it like 50 million times...and I think we all shed tears over it.


He can actully open his eyes in this picture, but when I got him that morning he was completely swillen shut. And not with goop or tears, just the swelling was so severe. But he is A-OK now and no long term damage has occured. He still has bumps on the whites of his eyes, but the dr. says they will continue to go down.

Everyone is doing good, but just busy schedules. Matt's the only that's no got us running all over...he's just been along for the ride :)

So bear with me....I'll do my very best to get a Spring Break post up next week. And if you could...please :)....post a comment once you read it. It always helps us bloggers stay motivated :)

...till next week........

Tree People, Snow Beasts, and 36 years of marriage!

Like that title??? It's a lot like my life...all over the place :)...and I love it!

Starting off with the Tree People. These pictures took place at my parents weekend before last. Nat started the tree climbing, and Matt couldn't be sized up...so...he HAD to climb! Plus, as you'll see, Brayden was armed with a weapon...so the tree was really the only safe place for them :)








Speaking of my parents....HAPPY 36th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congrats and THANK YOU! THANK YOU for loving each other as much as you do and for giving us kids such a great picture of what marriage should be!

Now onto the snow beasts! Surely by now you've read my freaked out ramblings about the snow storm...if not, see the post below.

Here are some shots of the kids playing in the snow:

This was taken while it was still snowing. And that baby was having a time trudging thru that deep snow...but he was loving it!


This is the next day and he was ready to hit SOMETHING with a snowball. So...my truck took a beating :)


Matt was undecided on "...make a snowman, or pelt someone with a snowball??" We ALL know what choice the boy made :)


The next day we made REAL snowcones. That I must say my pickle snowcone was GR8! Matt choose a gatorade one.


She's a beauty alright!


This was Nat's proud creation! Brayden helped :)

We will be gone starting Friday thru Monday the 24th on Spring Break. Plus my computer's going to the doctor while we are out. So, you won't hear from us for a while. Get ready for a post FULL of pictures from our trip when we get back. Hope you all have a great Spring Break!