Greetings 2006!

So happy together....

My favorite picture thus far. *sigh*

Grrrrrr!

WTH is wrong with people? This literally makes me sick to my stomach.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10634256/

My new best friend....

Effin Mold and Cedar! Grrrr!

Christmas Recap 2005

Well folks, we made it. We're home. I finally get to sleep in my own bed tonight. YAY. I can't wait. The kids are in bed and I'm on the verge of passing out from exhaustion. Thank God I don't have a lot of things to do this week. I want to rest and take naps whenever possible.

Let's see. Where did the fun begin? Oh yeah. Richard worked Friday night. I was doing so good with packing and getting things ready for Saturday (even had stuff in the burb!). I was thrilled to get Maeve in bed and was hoping that Kyra would go to bed somewhat early so that "Santa" could come. I put Kyra in her bed and she said her prayers. I had just turned the light out when I heard the most gawd awful noise. Yep. It's Holiday Vomitfest 2005! It was everywhere. I put her in the bathtub and washed EVERYTHING on her bed. Mind you, it's about 10:00 when all of this happens. I put her in front of the TV and let her watch a few shows with a bowl and a towel right next to her. I then talked her into sleeping in my room on the floor in her sleeping bag. I PRAYED that it was a fluke and set out the Santa gifts and finally went to bed. I slept like crap because I was sick with worry that we'd end up staying home and not go anywhere.

Richard walked in the door on Saturday morning and got Kyra up. Santa had come. Boy what excitement! Maeve slept in (LOL!) and didn't wake up till about 30 minutes later. So, Kyra got to open up gifts on her own. I loved hearing, "This is exactly what I wanted!" Ahhhhh....pure bliss. You'd never know that she was sick the night before. A fluke! GREAT!

Maeve and Richard both had a morning nap on Saturday morning before we left. We packed up our house (I'm not kidding) and left for La Grange around noon. Between Bastrop and Smithville, Kyra pukes again. Luckily, I had the huge bowl and the towel along. No more cookies for that kid. I gave her strict instructions to eat crackers and bread for the rest of the day.

Christmas Eve was nice. Maeve was hugely fussy though because toofie #4 had just come through that morning and it was a top one. Ugh. She also had a stuffy nose (still does). Amidst all of the activity, she DID NOT want to nap. We opened gifts with my mom's side. We draw names every year, so it's always fun to see what everyone gets. The girls got the motherload of toys and clothes. We ate some pork steaks with delicious sides! That night everyone left early and even Richard, the girls, and my dad went to bed early, so Lisa, Nathan, and I chatted around the fire pit till all hours. *yawn*

Christmas Day came and it's also my dad's birthday. So we left La Grange around noon and headed to Victoria. Lisa and Nathan brought their washer boxes to my dad's, so they played that. Maeve took and nap and so did I. That evening, we grilled hot dogs and enjoyed the hot ass weather. Then we opened gifts. Again, the girls got too much stuff. That night my sister had a ton of friends over for what seemed like the St. Joseph class of 1998 reunion. LOL!

Then yesterday happened. It was a calm day till around noon. We were supposed to be at Richard's grandparents' house in Austwell around 1:00. It takes about 30 minutes to get there from Victoria. It's noon and I'm loading things in the car. The night before, I asked Richard to take the gifts out of the burban for fear of someone breaking in our vehicle and stealing them (I have a thing about vehicles being left unlocked at night). So, he does that. He sets the trashbags full of gifts in the garage (can you see where I'm going with this?). Well yesterday was trash pick-up for my dad. My doting father never thought to ask us what was in those trash bags, so guess what? Yep, he pitched them. The garbage comes and gets them. We were leaving and I ask Richard, "What happened to those bags with the gifts?" All of a sudden I hear "Uh oh." I started flipping out. I mean REALLY flipping out. I spent all of that time and energy on gifts for 5 people (Richard's nieces and nephews and his mom). I can't stop crying. My dad feels horrible and apologizes like 50 billion times. I cry more. Then my dad leaves the house. I am still crying and tell Richard, "Well, we can't go to your grandparents' house without any gifts." So Richard and I head to Target. We are there on the WORST day. It's jam packed. We buy some bags and in the meantime, my dad calls and says, "I found the garbage truck! I'm following it to the dump and will salvage what I can." O.M.G. Richard and I go back to my dad's and Kyra joyfully proclaims that indeed she got to open all of their gifts! LOL! The shirts were all fine. The photography and the calendar for Richard's mom were not. No biggie. We put the shirts in bags and headed to Austwell. Little did we know that there was more fun to be had!

First off, I must say that there's always been bad blood between Richard's dad and his grandparents. This goes waaaaaay back. I've heard stories. Richard's dad didn't make amends with his parents till he was on his deathbed. It was all very sad. Since then, it's been understood that we'd try to be nice to these people. A few suggested that we have Christmas at their house this year. Fine. I had to pull Richard's teeth to get him to agree to go, but we did. We get there a little late and were happy to find out that Richard's sister wasn't even there yet. Saweeeet! I walk in and immediately see the motherload of gifts and I SWEAR that I was thinking to myself, "We'll be here till tomorrow unwrapping all of this!" We ate and Richard was very concerned about what he was eating. He wanted to know who made what for fear of being drugged I guess. Also, this house was starting to freak me out. It's like NOTHING has been touched since 1962. Very weird. Very scary. I didn't want to lay Maeve down anywhere to change her. I would have gone back to the car to do that. I'm serious. Anyway, we start unwrapping gifts and we unwrapped Beanie Baby after Beanie Baby after Beanie Baby from Richard's grandmother. They were for us adults too. It was ridiculous. I bet we got 50 (no that's not a typo) Beanie Babies. Ugh. The kids got awesome gifts from Grandma Debbie, Uncle Jerry, and Aunt Marie and Uncle Matt. But the whole Beanie Baby thing really ruined the good gifts. Honestly, it was absurd. It took us 2 1/2 hours to unwrap all of that crap. Richard left some on the back of the boat for sale! PIMP! We packed up and left. Richard was driving and I was scared for my life. He was *that* ticked off. I mean come on! You have money, so buy some NICE gifts! And telling everyone to "Slow down!" was pitiful. We would have been there till 6 this morning if everyone would have unwrapped one by one. It was baaaaaad. Richard was making me laugh on the way home and said, "Give me a Beanie Baby." I asked, "Why?" He said, "Just give me one!" What did he do next? Yup. He started throwing them out the window! I bet that they saw them this morning. LOL! He kept saying, "What did they do? Rob a McDonald's to get all of these?" He told his mom this morning what he did and she nearly died she was laughing so much. That's Richard for ya.

We came back today with the motherload of gifts. I called the girls' Godparents to see what they were doing on the way back and they were about 5 miles ahead of us on the road, so they came back here to the house and gave the girls their gifts and Kyra and Jake got to play for a bit. I'm so beat and am ready to get back into a routine! My house is a wreck, but I don't care. My girls are happy. Kyra is extremely excited over the fishing pole that daddy got her and the portable DVD player that Papoo got her.

And I love the new Christmas Carol that Melissa made up on Alien's blog...."Oh holy shit, we have too many presents...."

Exactly.

A Christmas baby....

My friend Anna called me this morning. She had her baby yesterday evening. Little Jocelyn Grace was born by c-section around 5:30 last night. She weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. and was a little over 19 inches long! A peanut!

Anna sounded so great on the phone. I could tell that she's very excited. It looks like she'll be coming home on Christmas Day!

This isn't the end of the baby circle. Up next: My friend Emily in January!

My "niece" and "nephew".......

I got this in the mail today and had to take a picture of this picture with my camera. This is Calli and Raider. They belong to my sister, Lisa and my brother-in-law, Nathan. Cute, huh?

It's just a little crush....

For those that don't know the soap world, this is Tom Pelphrey of "Guiding Light". I found a banner with a picture of him that I liked, so I posted it here. Yummy huh? I've always thought that he looks a bit like Keanu Reeves, though I've never really cared for Keanu Reeves. Tom is different though. ;)

I am Prancer....

You Are Prancer

You are the perfect reindeer, with perfect hooves and perfect flying form. Why You're Naughty: Because you're Santa's pet, and you won't let anyone show you up. Why You're Nice: You have the softest fur and the sweetest carrot breath.

http://www.blogger.com/
Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

My ultimate Body Flow mix....

Jen, I thought you'd enjoy this.

If I had to choose my "perfect" class, this would be it.

Track 1 (Tai Chi warmup)- Center of the Sun by Conjure One (Body Flow 22)
Track 2 (Sun Salutations)- Dice by Finley Quaye & William Orbit (Body Flow 27)
Track 3 (Strength....Warrior Poses)- Love's Devine by Seal (Body Flow 25)
Track 4 (Balance)- Miserere by Paul Schwartz and The Joyful Company of Singers (Body Flow 24....but originally in Body Flow 16)
Track 5 (Hip Openers)- Gabriel by Lamb (Body Flow 18)
Track 6 (Pilates...Abs)- My Culture by Giant Leap featuring Robbie Williams (Body Flow 19)
Track 7 (Pilates...Back)- Last Thing On My Mind byRonan Keating & LeAnn Rimes (Body Flow 30)
Track 8 (Twists)- Who Wants To Live Forever by Dune (Body Flow 23)
Track 9 (Forward Bends/Hamstrings)- Think Twice by Groove Armada with Neneh Cherry (Body Flow 21)
Tracks 10 and 11 (Relaxation/Meditation)- The Velocity Of Love by Suzanne Ciani and Reprise: Spiritual by B-Tribe (Body Flow 18)

I've been tagged.....

Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot.

Shelli
Mel
Lynda's Great Journey
The Houston Chronicles
Kim's Blog

Questions!
What were you doing 10 years ago? I was probably very grateful to have my 1st semester of college out of the way. Other than that, I don't remember much.

What were you doing a year ago? Still teaching 2 classes a week, working for a photographer, getting ready for Miss Maeve to arrive. My tummy was growing by leaps and bounds. On December 15th of last year, we found out that we were having a girl. That was very exciting!

5 snacks you enjoy? Cream cheese on crackers, popcorn, yogurt, peanuts, and the occassional chips and salsa

5 songs you know all the lyrics to: This is sad. The only ones that are popping into my head are the theme songs to children's shows. I know the ones from Dora, Dragontales, Cyberchase, Maya and Miguel, and Spongebob. *sigh*

5 things you would do if you were a millionare: Buy Richard the mother of all bass boats, pay off all debt, set aside a HUGE amount of $$$ for the kids for college, buy a house on the lake, and take a trip around the world.

5 bad habits: I sometimes drive with my knee (bad, bad habit), I snack in front of Kyra (Richard is also guilty of this....we are trying to get her to eat better), I've cussed in front of Kyra (again, Richard also guilty), I tend to clean up after two people (guess who?) that need to learn how to clean up after themselves, I wash things that are lying on the floor....clean or not (in fact, I'm obsessive about this)

5 things I like doing: Blogging :), exercising, eating out ALONE with Richard (did this yesterday as a matter of fact), giving the kiddos their baths and putting them to bed, sleeping

5 things you would never wear, get new or buy new again: I would never buy a movie. We now have a DVD burner. *gasp* I'd never wear anything from the 80's again unless I was dressing up for Halloween. I'd never buy a brand new computer with everything "top of the line" because Richard can build computers himself and save us $$$. I'll never buy a new car again unless I win the lottery. I would never buy any article of clothing that cost more than $100. I can't believe that I used to do that!

Tag 5 people:

Alien
Melissa
Denise
Mary
Krishna (because she needs to update her effin blog!)

Bling, bling.....

Richard took me to the mall today. Well that was a big mistake. I thought we'd never get to the place and then once we were there, I thought we'd never make it out of there. It was a zoo!

We dropped the kids off at Mona's and went in search for a ring for me. Maeve's birthstone is a diamond and Kyra's is a pearl, so I'm looking for a very cute ring that combines the two. No such luck. I hate the gaudy pearl rings with the itty bitty diamonds on the side. So, I came up with the idea that I want to find a band that combines the two (alternating little diamonds and little pearls). I'm beginning to think that no such thing exists and that if I want something like that, we'll have to go the custom route. Ugh. We didn't buy a thing at the mall and I was so upset and frustrated when we left there. All was better when we went and ate at Serranos! LOL!

I did just come across my dream ring though. This is it:
http://www.topazery.com/pics_database/pics.php?item=rg1441
How beautiful is this? Think I could win the lottery? ;)

Kyra funnies....

-This weekend Kyra told Richard that she wants to learn how to drive. She asked him if he'd teach her how. He said, "Yes, in about 12 years." LOL! I don't think she realizes how long 12 years is. This morning in the car, she mentioned it again. She said, "I really want to learn how to drive a car." We are in soooo much trouble.

-This morning, she drew her daddy a picture at the gym because "he was sick and throwed up last night." Lovely.

-She wants to leave cookies and chocolate milk out for Santa. She's never had chocolate milk before, so I thought that was kind of weird.

-She wakes up every morning and says, "Is it Christmas yet?" She's been doing this for the last month, so it's getting rather old. *sigh*

-She expects mail in the mailbox everyday for her. When there is none, she pouts. Boy will she be pleasantly surprised when she and her daddy get home this afternoon from running errands. There are cards from Grandma Debbie....one for her and one for Maeve. I didn't dare open them. That's her job.

-Maeve is now getting rather skilled at pulling Kyra's hair. Kyra says, "Stop it Maeve! You're hurting me!" I calmly tell Kyra that Maeve is just a baby and she doesn't know right from wrong yet. And so the sibling rivalry begins.....

-Kyra was playing a slot machine at Richard's boss's house last night. When she ran out of coins, she said, "I think this machine is broken!" LMAO! If she only knew.....

Christmas plans....

And so it begins. There's one week till Christmas. Let the hustle and bustle begin! LOL!

We went to Richard's Christmas party this evening. It was at his boss's house, which is just a neighborhood over here in Buda. Because Richard didn't make plans for someone to watch the girls, he suggested that we just go and take the girls for a while. We took two cars and I told him that if Maeve gets fussy, then we'd leave. Well, we got there around 3:30 and ended up staying till 6:30! Maeve was so good! Nobody even knew she was there! Kyra was in awe of the pinball machine and the slot machine that they had there. They were so well behaved! I was so proud of the both of them. Richard is still over there and I'm sure he's had a few brews. Good thing it'll take him like 2 minutes to get home!

As far as what we'll do for Christmas, here it goes. On Saturday morning (Christmas Eve), the BIG MAN will have paid a visit to the girls, so they'll open presents and then we'll head on out for La Grange later that afternoon to my sister's. We'll have Christmas there with my mom's side of the family and go to church. On Christmas Day, we'll head to Victoria! A first! We'll celebrate my dad's birthday at his house and open gifts between our immediate family. Then on the 26th, we'll head down to Austwell to see Richard's grandparents and celebrate with them and his mom, sister, and brother. We'll stay at my dad's that Monday night and then come back up here on Tuesday. WHEW! I'm going to rest up this week.

I've gotten everything wrapped except for a few things for the girls. I'll do that tonight. Then I'm waiting for two other things to come by mail either tomorrow or Tuesday. I want to plan what to cook this week and pack toward the end of the week. I want to relax and just hang out with the kiddos on Thursday and Friday. I hope that Maeve's 4th tooth peeks through soon so that she's sleeping like a baby again. *yawn*

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of my family and friends....old and new. I hope that you find time to reflect upon your blessings this week and find joy and peace in your heart.

I'm going to write a "Reflection '05" post soon. It'll be long. Get ready.

I hate the phone....

I'm sitting here waiting for the SOBs at Lillian Vernon to get to my call. I tried calling yesterday, but finally gave up after having to wait forever. I called initially and they said that my wait was 12 minutes. Fine. After 10 minutes went by, they said that my wait time was 10 minutes. Then another 10 minutes go by and they said that my wait time was 8 minutes. Good Lord! By the time they'd answer, it would have been midnight! I told Richard that they must have 1 person answering the phones. He said that they are just busy because of the holidays. It's just freakin ridiculous to sit on the phone this long. It reminds me of that episode of Friends where Phoebe waits till the next day! LOL!

I'm calling because I ordered something for my sister and it was never shipped. Things were shipped in separate packages, so I thought it would come. It never did. Then they charged my credit card for it. That REALLY ticked me off. So here I wait. This classical elevator crap is making me want to bang my head against a wall.

I told Richard that I'm going to take a shower and then coming back to my phone. It's on speaker. I bet they still haven't answered my call after another 15 minutes. Ugh.

Stupid, stupid holidays! ;)

Argh!

http://www.eurekareporter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ArticleID=6464

This article really ticks me off. OK, if you were sitting on a plane with nowhere to go, would you rather sit next to a screaming baby or one that was happily being nursed to sleep?

Some people are so stupid and uneducated.

Her creative mind strikes again....

She put sunglasses on a Santa ornament on the tree and begged me to come look. She said, "I told you that Santa put them there!" Uh huh. Sure he did. LOL! Then when I told her that I wanted to take a picture, she begged to be in it too! Look at that smirk on her face. It just screams, "Guilty as charged!" LOL!

Once again I must say that there is never a dull moment around this house.

One more thing....

Geez we've been busy today. Fussy too. So I checked in Maeve's mouth and sure enough, toofie #3 is here. It's the top front one. Lovely. Hope she doesn't hurt me. ;)

My Christmas angel.....

Kyra's Christmas program at school was today. I knew that I'd be going solo with Maeve in tow, so I was hoping for the best. Maeve and I grabbed a seat off to the side and surprisingly, she was entertained, so I grabbed the camcorder to video the entire thing. I had to stop a few times because she was grabbing the lense cap, but I got the important stuff. I also got some cute pics. I just had to post one. Everyone in Kyra's class got to choose what they wanted to be for the program. Kyra chose an angel. She did so good! She stood up there and sang and did the hand motions to the songs. I was so proud. I was such a sap as well and my eyes filled with tears. I kept thinking to myself, "That's my baby up there!" Where did the time go? Oh and notice the spaghetti sauce sleeves that she has! LOL! Guess what they had for lunch? ;) After the program, we got to go to the reception hall for all kinds of goodies and everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to Baby Jesus. It was so sweet. Then we went back to her classroom to grab the motherload of goodies. Good thing her teacher put everything in a bag for me. I had Maeve with me, so I had my hands full already! I can't wait to show Richard the video when he wakes up this afternoon!

I heart my UPS man.....

I just love that guy. I don't know who he is, but God put him on this block for a reason! LOL! He must know that we have a baby in the house after I left the "Do not knock or ring doorbell, baby sleeping" sign on the front door over a month ago. He never knocked or rang the doorbell (unlike the other idiots that can't read) and just left the packages at the front door.

But guess what he does now? He leaves the packages at the SIDE DOOR so that when we get out of the car, we see them right there and can take them into the house! WOW! This also prevents Mia from seeing him at the front door and having her usual "barkfest". I feel like he really knows how we work around here. We never come in the front door anyway. We always come in the side door after getting out of the car. How does he know that? I guess it doesn't take a genius to figure it out, but I'm just grateful that he's so kind! :)

Now I'm thinking that he probably has kids and understands. I really need to bake him some Christmas cookies. After all, he deserves it after delivering all of the crap that Richard orders off of Ebay! LOL!

Not to be outdone....

This is where we find Mia most of the time....on our bed under the covers. I swear this dog is the laziest one on the planet. She sleeps with Richard during the day and with me at night. Last night, she was in her crate sleeping till I went to bed. Then she discovered that Richard's electric blanket was left on, so she went to lay on that. Whenever I wash my sheets and I get them out of the dryer, she lays on them too! The other day I told Kyra that Mia doesn't need anything for Christmas because it's Christmas everyday for her. I did have a horrible nightmare last night about something happening to her though. It really freaked me out. I was glad to find her under the covers....laying right next to me. Oh, and Richard took Maeve for walks in the jogging stroller two days this week and let Mia go along. Richard said that she does pretty well with a leash. He needs to take a picture of that because I still can't picture it. LOL!

My angel.....

Mr. Sandman......

I'm exhausted tonight. Richard put Kyra to bed at 8:00 (we've been trying to get her to go to bed earlier) and now I'm sitting here waiting for Maeve to fall asleep. Then I'm heading to bed myself. I bet my little Mia is already there waiting for me. I went on a wrapping rampage last night and wrapped a ton of gifts. I finished up at Walmart today, but have no desire whatsoever to wrap a single gift tonight. I like to "space" my wrappings so that I don't get burned out. I did put a few things in gift bags today, so I did accomplish something. What's funny is that Kyra woke up this morning and said, "Hey, there are more presents under the tree." LOL! That kid notices everything.....especially everything under a Christmas tree!

My house is a wreck, but I don't care. Sleep is more important. I'll clean up in the morning.

G'night! Zzzzzzzzzzzz.......

50 random thoughts....

1.) I hope I make it to 50. LOL!
2.) Jen, I did see Top Gun.....too many times.
3.) I probably have most of the lines in the movie memorized.
4.) I've heard that there are a lot of scenes in the movie that break continuity, so it doesn't "flow" really well.
5.) I never noticed till I came across a website about it.
6.) Here's one: http://www.moviemistakes.com/film1312
7.) Another movie that I've seen waaaay too many times is Dirty Dancing.
8.) "Nobody puts Baby in a corner." LMAO!
9.) I don't understand the appeal of Tom Cruise or Patrick Swayze.
10.) But they were good movies at the time.
11.) I can't remember the last movie I saw at the theater.
12.) I bet it was before Kyra was born.
13.) I need to get out more often! LOL!
14.) I ate a bunch of junk today.
15.) Now I'm feeling guilty about it.
16.) I must work out in the morning!
17.) Maeve is finally asleep.
18.) The kid is going through a MAJOR spell of separation anxiety right now.
19.) She must be able to see us at all times.
20.) While it's perfectly normal at this age, it's also perfectly annoying.
21.) Kyra has 3, no make that 4, imaginary friends.
22.) I know that two of their names are Jackie and Nina.
23.) She won't tell me the other 2.
24.) My dad was in awe this weekend because he said that, "talking to Kyra is like talking to an adult."
25.) Well, DUH! She's my smartypants.
26.) Whenever Kyra wants something, she comes up to me and says, "You're the best mommy ever!"
27.) I always say, "What do you want now?" LOL!
28.) I'm not done Christmas shopping.
29.) The game plan is to finish on Tuesday while Kyra is at school.
30.) Kyra has asked for a Dancing Dora Doll, but I don't want to buy her one. She got one last Christmas and never plays with the damn thing.
31.) If I hear her mention it after Christmas, then we're just taking the money that Papoo gives her and we'll buy the damn thing.
32.) Don't get me wrong though....she'll have PLENTY of gifts under the tree.
33.) Maeve doesn't care about the gifts so much....just give her the wrapping paper! LOL!
34.) We left Mia by herself this weekend while we were gone.
35.) She did fine.
36.) The dog never eats or drinks while we're gone though and that worries me.
37.) She was happy to see us today.
38.) We didn't dare tell my dad that we left her here by herself.
39.) He would have had a fit.
40.) Richard wants to get another dog by February.
41.) I think he's crazy.
42.) Maeve is *this close* to crawling and pulling herself up to at least kneel against something.
43.) That + new puppy = crazy me
44.) I thought about my Granny a lot yesterday at the wedding.
45.) Her sister came up to me and talked about how much she misses her.
46.) We both agreed that we miss all of the letters, cards, and phone calls.
47.) *sigh*
48.) I need to start a new tradition with the girls and bake Christmas cookies.
49.) Thinking about Granny doing that totally got me motivated.
50.) Now if I could just do it. :)

Well, we made it!

Megan and Mike's wedding was yesterday and we survived! LOL! Actually, the kiddos were so good. Kyra sat up front at church with Papoo and daddy and was quiet. Maeve and I opted for the cry room because she's Miss Screecher nowadays. Ugh.

Kyra rode with Papoo to the reception. She was a bit bored there at first, but immediately perked up when her cousins, William and Kalyn arrived. Maeve got to play with cousin Nadia. They are only separated by 3 months (Maeve is older). They stared at each other. It was cute. Julie is nursing Nadia as well, so we had lots to talk about.

The spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread were so good! The idea of having that served at the wedding was so cool! Kyra kept bringing me more pieces of cake. I don't know what that was all about. I only had one piece.

My Uncle Gary and Aunt Sandra led the grand march and did an awesome job! Was there ever a doubt? ;) I got plenty of great pics that I'll upload soon. By the end of the night, William even "lost" his first tooth! Actually, his mommy pulled it, but still! How exciting! I'm sure he got a visit from the tooth fairy last night.

We had a great time overall. The decorations were beautiful. Megan and Mike are so adorable and will make a great married couple and parents. Everyone loved dancing to the Dujka Brothers and the kids loved doing the chicken dance. Kyra and Kalyn went up to the stage screaming that request, so John and Mark had no choice but to play it. Then they played the Bunny Hop! OMG! That took me waaaaaay back.

We stayed at a motel in La Grange last night. My dad got us two rooms. Of course, Kyra wanted to stay with him, so she and my dad took one room, while Maeve, Richard, and I were in the other. I heard that Kyra fell asleep after her hiccups subsided around 11:00. Maeve went down right away too and only woke up to nurse at 5 this morning. Richard was up at 7 and I heard this tapping on the window. It was Mike and Megan. They stayed 4 doors down from us! Lovely. Richard went to my dad's room with Kyra and they talked while Maeve and I slept in till 9:30! Baby was tired! Maeve didn't nap much yesterday at all.....too much activity.

This afternoon, we went to Uncle Joe and Aunt Glenda's to watch Megan and Mike open their gifts (with a little help from Kyra, of course) and then came home. We got home around 2:30 before the Cowboys started.

What a weekend! I'm pooped. I'm hoping to get to bed a little earlier tonight and work out lots this week and get my shopping and gift wrapping done.

Amen to that!

This is so funny!

http://www.illwillpress.com/xmas.html

Bitter cold.....

Baby, it's cooooooold outside!

Geez, we were at 85 degrees on Saturday. WTF happened? ;)

I realize that the hot-cold-hot-cold is probably the reason why people get so sick this time of year. The damn weather can't make up its mind.

Richard left for work tonight and oh-so-conveniently forgot to let the faucets drip outside. So guess who assumed that duty? Grrrrrrr!

I get very nostalgic this time of year. I miss my Granny terribly. She would have already started her Christmas baking. Her Christmas card would be one of the first that we'd get. We'd be making plans to all be at her house on Christmas Eve. Some of us would go to church that evening and some of us would wait to go to midnight mass. We'd all gather in her itty bitty living room for our gift exchange.

I'm glad that Mike and Megan live in her house now. At least it's being taken care of. I wouldn't have it any other way. They will now have a family of their own in that house.

Speaking of Mike and Megan, their wedding is this weekend! We are so excited! Kyra wants to dance, dance, dance to the Dujka Brothers! YAY!

I just listened to a kick ass version of "Little Drummer Boy" by Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond. Sweet!

While we're at it, I have to wonder where the heck this year went. Good Lord. Maeve is 7 months old already! Richard was staring at her today and said, "I can't believe she's so big already." Yeah, me either. *sniff, sniff*

A few years ago while we were riding around looking at Christmas lights, I witnessed my first shooting star. May all of the stars shine bright for you this Christmas and may the magic of the season fill your heart with joy and love.

Billboard babble.....

So I'm sitting here watching the Billboard Music Awards and here are a few of my opinions:

1.) Will Mariah Carey ever wear an outfit that fits her? Good Lord. She gets bigger and her clothes get smaller. Ugh. I will never understand why my dear husband is so obsessed with her.

2.) I DO NOT understand the "talent" that is Ashlee Simpson. She sounds horrible. She looks like she has no idea what she's doing.

3.) Kevin Federline...aka K-Fed, is supposed to perform tonight. Lovely. Like that guy needs a bigger head. I hope everyone boos at him.

4.) Toby Keith looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Either he was drunk or stoned or he was having a bit of trouble with his earpiece. I don't like him anyway.

5.) I love how they throw in all of the Victoria's Secret commercials. And I say this sarcastically. Like I want to be reminded of what I don't and will never look like.

6.) LOL! R. Kelly is "playing" a guitar. WTF? At least he's not still "trapped in the closet".

7.) What was up with Gwen Stefani's outfit tonight? Girl used to dress so classy. Now she's just always in a bunch of rags just like the rest of them.

8.) I'm sure they'll be more to come. We've got another hour to go!

Everybody gotta get away sometime....

Today was one of those days that you wish you could savor forever.

I dropped Kyra off at school at 9 this morning and Maeve stayed with Richard. I headed for New Braunfels to see a friend of mine that I hadn't seen in over a year. I got to her house around 10 and we chatted for a while. We went to lunch at the lovely Huisache restaurant in New Braunfels. After that, we headed down to Gruene to do some shopping at all of the cool shops. What a beautiful place! I've been there lots of times, but there was something really neat about the atmosphere today. The weather was perfect and all of the Christmas decorations were beautiful. After that, we drove through Landa Park and headed back to her house. I left there a little after 4! WOW! An entire day full of ADULT conversation! I definitely needed it and I can't wait to do it again. Next time, I'll probably be done breastfeeding, so I'll definitely order that glass of wine. ;)

Richard took care of Maeve all day and picked Kyra up from school. Good daddy. :)

Word association....

I say ... and you think ... ?

1.) Amazing:: Today
2.) Delights:: Cookies
3.) Inspired:: Jen (because she inspired this post!)
4.) Disgusted:: Roadkill
5.) You:: Me
6.) Vagina:: Yes
7.) Palm:: Springs
8.) Sweetheart:: Kiddos
9.) Guilt:: Always
10.) More to come:: OK!

Walmart adventures....

You know this time of year it's always interesting to venture into Walmart and see what you'll come across.

First of all, EMERIL is going to be at our Walmart tomorrow evening! My mother-in-law would be here in a heartbeat if I told her. She LOVES him. I used to really like him, but lately he's such a cheeseball on his show that I quit watching it. I do, however, love the Food Network. I've just grown accustomed to some of the other personalities on that channel. And this is my favorite time of the year to watch it because of all the holiday food and decorating ideas. Last night, I watched a Gingerbread Championship. Damn I wanted to eat all those houses! LOL!

Anywho, I was laughing at the slew of gift cards they have at Walmart. They have one for every personality. There must be 30 different kinds. I just don't see the point though. OK, so Kyra gets a Disney Princess gift card from Walmart. She can't keep the darn thing. She has to take it to Walmart and use it. So then it's gone. What a waste. In my opinion, a gift card is a gift card. They all do the exact same thing. Ugh.

Walmart definitely isn't stupid. They have all sorts of ploys that work to make money. You go there shopping for a few things and end up with an entire basket full of stuff. They make everything readily available so that you don't have to shop anywhere else. I swear that adding a grocery store is the smartest thing that the store has ever done. People shop on one side of the store just to pick up the items that they'd normally get at Walmart and while they're there, they think, "I need to pick up some milk or bread...." and then they buy all of their groceries as well. Sure their prices are cheap, but that doesn't matter. You always end up spending over $100 anyway. Again, this is how they make their money. They are smart. We are stupid.

I have a rant about the checkout line though. Notice that they have those little turn-styles. When you check out, the cashiers bag your stuff and then turn it so that you can put the bags into your basket. I swear that the person that invented this is a wackjob. The person before me didn't check the entire turn-style before leaving, so guess what happened? Yes, she PAID for stuff that she bought and it got left there. Now this has happened to Richard before and he was TICKED OFF, so I know to make sure that I got all of my stuff. I came home today and told Richard about the lady in front of me and he said, "Well, you know that they just put those items back on the shelf and they've made a few extra bucks." Ok, so you take how many times that happens in a day and multiply it by all of the stores in the area and multiply that by all of the stores in the state and then multiply that by all of the stores in the country. Walmart is ripping all of us off! We are suckers!

I'm really beginning to think Walmart is evil. ;)

Warm and fuzzy....

We had such a great weekend.

On Saturday morning, I ran/walked on my treadmill. I haven't done that in a while. I've been busy teaching and taking other classes that I almost forgot my treadmill was out in Richard's room outside. Then Melissa called and we took Kyra and Jake to Budafest in the afternoon. They rode rides at the carnival, climbed on a firetruck, saw Santa, ate chocolate treats, and played on the playground. They had a blast!

On Sunday morning, the kiddos were up early, so Richard, Kyra, and I watched "Polar Express". Richard borrowed the DVD from a friend of his. Richard and Kyra went to see it on Tuesday at the IMAX theater, so Kyra knew everything about the movie and ruined a lot of parts for me. Grrrr! Richard is such a softy and cried at the end. He said that he wanted to cry at the theater but didn't for fear of being made fun of! Shhhh don't tell him that I blogged about that! LOL!

Kyra and I went to church and I wrapped a few gifts in the afternoon. I took a long shower and gave myself a pedicure this evening. It was nice.

I need more weekends like this one.

It's my turn....

10 Random things about me you may not know:
1.) I eat a salad everyday (or at least try to).
2.) I love watching the birthing shows on TLC and Discovery Health. There's just something magical about a baby coming into the world.
3.) I'm obsessed with grooming the girls....brushing hair, clipping nails, cleaning ears, etc. I must bathe them every night and soap them down so that they smell good.
4.) I can't stand when cabinets or closet doors are left open. It freaks me out.
5.) I read a book to Kyra every night and then we pray together.
6.) I love taking naps in the recliner. It reminds me of the newborn days with Maeve when she and I would cuddle for hours.
7.) I love the smell of cinnamon.
8.) I never had a dog before Mia.
9.) I get "sensory overload" very easily. I can't stand it when 2 tvs are on at the same time or the tv and the radio are on at the same time. When I talk on the phone, I must turn down the radio or tv.
10.) At night when I go to bed, I check to make sure that all of the doors are locked. I've done this for years.


9 Places I've visited:
1.) Las Vegas
2.) Grand Old Opry
3.) Graceland
4.) Santa Claus Land (it's in Indiana, I think)
5.) The Alamo
6.) Branson, Missouri (twice)
7.) NASA in Houston
8.) Schlitterbahn (probably a dozen times or more)
9.) Colorado (don't remember which cities though)

8 Ways to win my heart:
1.) Take me out for a nice dinner.
2.) Buy me a Texas Music CD.
3.) Love my kids as much as I do.
4.) Make me laugh.
5.) Bring me roses.
6.) Dress casual.
7.) Enjoy nature.
8.) Want to spend time with my family.

7 Things I must do before I die:
1.) Watch the girls graduate from HS, get married, have kids, etc. This one is VERY important to me since my mom didn't see me or my sister do anything of these things.
2.) Witness a vaginal birth (weird, I know, but since I had c/s, I feel like I missed out!).
3.) Learn to water ski.
4.) Learn to snow ski.
5.) Become a bone marrow donor.
6.) Wear a bikini and feel good about it.
7.) Reconcile with those long lost friends and tell them that I love them.

6 Things I'm afraid of:
1.) Fire
2.) Snakes
3.) Losing my husband.
4.) Losing my kids.
5.) Losing my dad.
6.) Losing my sister.

5 Things I don't like:
1.) Liars
2.) Watermelon
3.) Addictions
4.) Hearing about people that hurt their kids on purpose.
5.) Cats

4 Ways to turn me off:
1.) Lie.
2.) Pretend that you don't care when in fact, you do.
3.) Ignore me.
4.) Pretend that you're someone that you're not.

3 Things I do everyday:
1.) Hug and kiss the girls.
2.) Read my friends' blogs.
3.) Thank God for my health.

2 Things that make me happy:
1.) My family
2.) My friends

1 Thing that's on my mind right now:
I wonder how long Maeve is going to nap this morning.


***Jen, you've been tagged, so get on it sista!