Pot of Gold....

I've been asking God for patience and I think he's delivered. I think everyone is getting along so much better now. All the kids play so good together anymore. I'm so thankful for this. We've actually had the kids over quite a bit lately and Joey's been playing so nicely with all of them.

Today we were outside playing because everyone needed to go outside. We were PRAYING for rain, but I called McKinney (our town) the land of the forgotten rain. I think I need to start a rain dance. We haven't had rain in about a month! I think it's rained only twice in about 2 months. It never rains!

Tonight it was sprinkling, a little harder than a little sprinkle but NOT quite rain. The sun popped out from behind the clouds and out in the east sky, behind a dark blue stormy background sprung, not one but TWO rainbows.

I asked Joe to please get my camera. We let the kids on the golf course and got these photos. I am soooo thankful I got these photos. It really did capture the childhood innocence of kids and how good of friends they all are.

Olivia and Camille in the front.
Joey, Austin, Christopher, Braxton and Justin.

Olivia and Camille in the front.
Joey, Austin, Christopher, Braxton and Justin.

The kids said they were running after the pot of gold.
I just love this photo. You can see the second rainbow off to
the right.

Another one of the kids running off into the distance.

A little update from me...

I wish I had more time to update.

My friends are surprised I have any time to update. They ask me how I do it. How do I keep my house picked up, work full time, cook dinner every night and do stuff like blog?

I don't know. I just do. I just fit it all in.

I really enjoy blogging so it's my way to unwind in the evening. I also like to read emails. That is what I do to unwind.

So what is going on with me lately?

Well I joined a church - Cottonwood Creek. Joe did not and that is fine. I take the kids with me. I think the church teaches good values and I love the girls in my Bible study. I guess I do not have to defend why I joined. I am not going to force anything I learn down anyone's throats.

The Church is very down to earth. The people are sooo very nice. The church is very large. I think they have about 1800 people go on a weekly basis. The pastor is a wonderful talker and relates the Bible to real life so it's not boring to listen to. The kids enjoy going too as they go to the children's part of the church. Anyhow, I go on Sunday's with Desiree's family. Sometimes we do lunch after.

So that is where you can find me on Sunday mornings.

Today I went and looked at a new preschool for Joey. It's called Stacy's Studio and it was recommended from a woman in our bible study. We went there and Joey really enjoyed it. It's very small and reminded me a lot of Joey's daycare from Michigan - which we miss very much. He talks about his old friends from school often.

We are trying to decide if we are ready to make the plunge and enroll him. We loved the school so we are going to see. We also are on a waiting list for another school that Braxton goes to and that can guarantee him in the three day program. The school above can only get me 2 days a week now until a third day becomes available. I know that I will make the right decision in the end.

Our cat TyTy is sick - again. This time with diarrhea. I thought it went away and it's back so a vet visit - again is in our future. Cross your finger's it's not anything serious.

We got AT&T Uverse the other day and cancelled our contract with our satellite company. We love AT&T Uverse. So far everything is very stable, our cable tv and our internet, which is great.

For some reason, I don't think I will ever have a clear face. I'm ready to jump into my 30's and I still break out like a teenager.

I told Joe the other day that I was buying one of those $25 kits they sell at Walmart that has the 5 bottles, like proactiv, to see if it works. I told him it would be cheaper than gas to the doctor, the co-pay and the prescription. He agreed.

I picked up one called Acne Free - and I got the orange bottles which is the severe formula. Let me tell you - the stuff WORKS. I am nearly acne free. My acne was soooo out of control about 2 weeks ago. I started this stuff and it's worked better than any prescription I've used. If you have issues, I totally recommend it. I think it took 2 days to make a difference.

It's a lot of work but it's worth it totally. You have to wash your face every morning and evening and then tone after. Then after that in the morning you put one lotion on it and in the evening you put a repair lotion on your face. It also has a lotion to put on to spot treat. I'm telling you, run out and get it. It was $24 at Walmart for the Severe. I think the regular was $19.00.

I guess that's all. I'm exhausted and it's after 11pm. Talk to you soon.

What a day....

Saturday we were all shopping and Justin was goofing off in the cart - one of those carts you can get at Walmart where there are two seats in the back that the kids can sit on.

Justin decided to hang off the bar like he usually does and lost his balance and did a face plant right into the floor.

He started to scream and blood was POURING out of his mouth.

Joe and I looked at each other. Joe ran with him to the paper towel isle and opened up a thing of paper towels and started blotting at Justin's lip.

I ran him out to the car. I was trying to figure out if he just severely bit his lip or split it open and I'd have to take him to urgent care.

It luckily stopped bleeding and he luckily stopped crying. It was just two huge gashes from his teeth biting into his lip. It's fine now but puffy and white from where it 'scabbed' over.

I keep calling him Greg Jr. (Greg is my brother and was sooo accident prone as a kid). Justin I think has more on him already at the ripe age of not even 2 years old. Oiy.

If you click on here it will open bigger but you can
see his white lip. Poor kiddo.

We went to see Monster trucks on Sunday (see below).
Justin took a 5 min nap on the way home and would
NOT take another nap that day. They were watching
Diego and he finally just fell asleep on Joe.

Joey loves my camera. HE took these two photos! WTG Joey!

Another of Justin and Joe that Joey took!

Mud Bog in Texas - Texas Mudfest...

One of the girls on my mother's online group posted about the Texas Mudbog going on Sunday where they had MONSTER TRUCKS. Joey and Justin LOVE monster trucks so I looked into it.

It was $15/adult and kids free.

We showed up at 1pm, when it was supposed to start. They were late starting and didn't start until 2pm. That stinks because the kids were a bit restless and it was the hottest day of the year - over 100 that day.

The mom that mentioned it said to bring umbrella's to shade you and your own cooler of drinks. We did this and it helped tremendously.

Finally at 2pm they started. The first three trucks flew through the mud pit to the other side and then one after another kept getting stuck in the mud pit. Here are some of the photos. There was this long pit that was full of mud and the truck would start at the end, and then rev their engine and then full throttle it into the mud to try to make it across the pit in the fastest amount of time.

I actually loved it. We had a good time. We only stayed until 3:30 because it was soooo hot and both kids didn't have a nap.

This truck revved so long in the mud trying to get out
that it CAUGHT ON FIRE. The guy ran out with a fire
extinguisher (they are required to put them in the cab)
and put out the fire. You can see him above.

You can see some of the pit here. This little jeep
made it all the way through!

The zebra truck did NOT make it all the way through.
Look how deep the pit is!

This truck reminded me of Uncle's Fred's 'Black bomb'.
Char - you'll have to show Uncle Fred this one.

We missed the HUGE Monster trucks because they were later and we just couldn't stick out the heat to stay longer. Bummer.

Scum....or not.

Desiree had a party for out Bible study class and we invited Joe and Carolyn (our neighbor) to come.

I knew almost the people there because of the class I attend now and the Bible Study I'm going to on Tuesday night's - most of the women came.

Scum is a card game in which there are two people - scoop and scum at the end of the line and the two kings at the top. I obviously was a king. Joe, well he was scum most of the night. He couldn't get good cards. I, on the other hand, did quite well! ha! I never play cards. I guess it's beginner's luck!

The kings and queens got to wear royalty hats, and the scum funny hats. We had a blast. The kids went to the drop in daycare so it was a parent's night OUT! Yay!

Queen Briana...
Oh, I'm sure my mom and brother are saying...
"Queen Bit&* of the Universe" - my lovely
knickname growing up because I was 'high maintenance'...
Oh wait - was - haha - I guess I still AM!

Joe, who was scum, got the lovely bonnet.

Joe and I.

I told the scum that he needed to wear the funny hat.

The king ordered me to wear it for ordering around scum.
So I did. I told people I was Marge Simpson. Ha!
I guess it's a character from Cat in the Hat.

Joe is scum....

Poor Joe - wearing a hat with braids. Hahaha!

Carolyn, Christopher's mom.
We are buds (and neighbors).

Can you identify what this is??

Any clues?

Here's a hint. I live on a golf course.

8am. I was getting dressed in my master closet. I wasn't even dressed yet when I heard glass break. I was like 'Those DARN cats'. I ran out into the living room and the cats were freaking out. I heard cracking and more cracking.

No, it was a WINDOW. EIGHT AM!!!! The kids weren't even up yet!

I ran back into the closet to finish getting dressed, grabbed my cell phone and ran outside to see the window.

I got Joe on the phone and yelled, 'SOMEONE FRICKING BROKE OUR WINDOW!!!!!!'.

Some guy in a golf cart comes up along the fence and says to me

'I'm so sorry. That was me who did it. I am fully responsible. Let me get you my name and number'.

The rest was a blur. I told him congratulations. I told him he was my first broken window since we've moved in.

I asked him if he knew he broke a window and he said, 'Yes, I heard it from back there'.

You couldn't SEE the window that broke because we have dark solar screens on the windows. If I wouldn't have gone outside, he never would have know what house he hit. I told him he hit a tempered glass window, and asked him if he could hear the cracking.

He listened and said he could. He felt really bad. I couldn't believe it.

I'm telling you - that window cracked and broke all day long.

I called the company that did our solar screens out and they came out about 5pm. It took the guy THREE hours to clean up the glass because the tempered glass broke into a million different pieces.

After that we went out to dinner with Desiree's family to our favorite restaurant to top off the evening.

By the way - the glass window cost $250 and the labor to clean it up was $100. We told the guy we'd chip in $50 for the cleanup and he said he'd cover the rest. He actually said his CLIENT broke the window. Joe told him that he hopes he got the business. Ha!

The window.

This is in the evening. You can see all the shards of glass fall to the bottom window
and to the bottom of the top window too. It was all over the place.

The Beach Club

We pay about $650 for our HOA so we get a lot of benefits. One of the coolest benefits is the beach club. It's a huge pool with a sandy beach. The kids love it and so do Joe and I. We went this day in the evening between 7pm and 8pm (it closes at 8) to wind down and enjoy the rest of the day.

Joey is doing better trying to swim. He can swim underwater now pretty well. Justin is still just getting used to the water. He likes to stay up on the sandy beach part and jump up and down into the water.

Here's what it looks like - our beach club.

They have a small splash area.
Here's Justin coming down the slide!

Joey being a goof ball.

Joe sitting in the water splash part. The water
comes up in a square so you can sit in the middle.

More beach club photos

Such a goofball. He thought it was so funny to sit on this huge
blast of water, like he was peeing it. Ha!

Gonna get you mom!

By the end of the day, Justin was getting more daring
and was venturing out into the water!

This is the little slide they can slide
down there that the kids love.

Elmo for Justin...

Desiree invited us to go to the Country Club she has a membership at for breakfast with Superman and Elmo.

We took Justin (who ate free), myself, Joey, and Desiree brought her two kids - Camille and Braxton and herself.

Elmo came out with a boombox playing Sesame Street songs. Justin was just mesmerized. At first he wanted nothing to do with Elmo except to sit and watch.

Then finally he went by him ONLY if I held onto him.

Here are some photos. The kids LOVED it.

Me holding Justin with Elmo.

Elmo coming to say Hello.

Elmo was playing hide and seek. Elmo decided
that I was a good place to hide behind. I hope that doesn't
mean I'm big and fat! HA! Justin was like, OMG he's behind mom!

Elmo playing peek-a-boo behind me.
Justin was wearing his Elmo outfit he coincidentally
got at a garage sale a few weeks before!

More Elmo...and Superman

Elmo with Justin, Joey and I.

Superman was there and he could make balloon animals!
Joey and Braxton both got BUNNIES!

Justin got a kitty cat.

Here's sweaty superman doing his magic.
I later figured out that he was also Elmo (hence the sweat).

More from our Elmo/Superman Breakfast

Some of these photos were from Desiree's camera (the ones with the date stamp).
The others are mine. Here is another of Superman making animals for the kids.

Joey all excited to get his rabbit!

Braxton and Joey and their rabbits!

Camille with her heart sword and hat.

Guess what this is??

This whole Texas bug thing is new to me. I've seen more cockroaches than I've ever wanted to see. Thank goodness we have a contract with a bug spraying company. They come out quarterly and then in between as much as I want if I see bugs.

We had a cockroach issue in our garage so I had the guy come and spray IN the house, IN the garage and outside the house.

The garage is nearly rid of the creatures. Thankfully. EW!!!

The inside, I've hardly seen any bugs in awhile. I killed a spider the other day but it wasn't that big. Thankfully.

Then outside, Joe is getting ready to mow the grass and he runs over and says,

"Do you know what this is? You HAVE to come see this!"

I run outside.

He peers down and says - look at that.

I said, "SO what, it's a dead spider".

He says, "No, check it out. It has a red hourglass on it's stomach. It's a BLACK WIDOW SPIDER".

I say 'Holy crap" and run to get my camera. Here it is folks. My first (thankfully dead) black widow spider. The spray from the exterminator must have killed it when he sprayed around the house.

Unfortunately it was found dead by the kids sandbox. Since we've told Joey NOT to touch any spiders and explained about this one in particular. Oh joy.

Cockroaches, Black Widows and red fire ants - oh joy!

I don't want to know what's next!

Black Widow Spider

George Michael FINALLY came to concert.

Desiree and I went to the George Michael concert in Dallas on 7/13. I have had tickets for ever! As soon as they went on sale, I bought them. George Michael is one of my favorite artists ever and I told Joe long ago that if he ever came to concert, I was going - no questions asked. SOOO when the tickets came on sale - there were no questions asked!

I couldn't wait to go see him. The concert tickets said it promptly started at 8pm but for some weird reason, it didn't start until 9pm. By that time everyone was yelling GEORGE GEORGE GEORGE and people were even doing the WAVE around the stadium. It was the funniest thing ever because EVERYONE was doing it - it was a really good WAVE and it must have went around 10 times.

Finally when he started I could have seriously cried. I was so happy. All these years and he's back.

He played a lot of old music, some from Wham, some from the 80's Faith album, and even some newer stuff that I had no clue what it was and I feel pretty up to date on most of his music!

At the very end of the concert, he asked what song we all wanted to hear and everyone was yelling FREEDOM FREEDOM FREEDOM. I was so excited since that is one of my FAVORITE songs he has done. Gosh - talk about going out with a bang.

I screamed so loud and so much that Desiree said to me, 'You are totally going to lose your voice'. What I told her was that I have screamed like this before and much to my friend's and parent's dismay, I have never lost my voice and probably never will. And guess what - I did NOT lose my voice. Ha!

He was quite an awesome performer too! He danced the entire time, just like you have always seen him dance. In fact every single dance song he sang, the entire crowd was on their feet dancing, including me!

Everyone was also singing - including ME! I was so excited. I told Desiree like 15 times how this was one of the best times of my life. It was the best concert I have seriously ever been to. It was fun dancing, singing and having fun.

He was quite funny. He talked about being gay openly. I would say about 60% of the people IN the crowd were gay. He said he came back to the states just in time 'For California to legalize same sex marriage.' He said, 'Men can marry men, women can marry women, Fu&* everyone can marry everyone'. I was laughing so hard.

When he said 'women can marry women', two chicks in front of me cheered. What was weird was they were both there with MEN and the one girl was macking all over this guy next to her, and then macking on the other girls guy on the other side of her. What an interesting GROUP of people! It was an interesting crowd to say the least.

Desiree, the sweetie she is, bought me the $30 program as a birthday gift. It's huge and beautiful and has lots of photos of the man himself. I seriously had an awesome time.

Me in front of the American Airlines center. Desiree took the photo.

Here are some photos I got online - not taken by me.

George had this AWESOME curved led screen in back of him

and it went on the ground too as you can see here. It had the
coolest special effects. Desiree was impressed too!

George on his LED screen.

The led screen.

The concert was called 25Live.

If he ever comes back to concert, I'm TOTALLY going again.

Baby Birdie...

I hijacked Desiree's camera card to get my photos off of it to share on my blog.

One day I was at her house late and we were outside and her sprinklers came on in the front yard. I saw something move and thought it was a mouse.

I walked closer and it was a baby bird.

I believe it was pushed out of it's nest. We looked for the nest, could not find it. We looked online to figure out what to feed it and it said it's best to leave it where you found it and the momma will came back.

Unfortunately, the momma did not come back and it passed the following morning :(

I believe it was a European Starling baby. It did seem like it may have broken it's neck when it fell because it did not have good neck coordination at all. It kinda was just limp.

The poor baby. I feel so bad!

Me with the baby bird.

So tiny!

Desiree took it inside for a few minutes while
I went home to get the extension ladder. We thought maybe
it fell from on her roof but there was no nest anywhere.
Here Joey is looking at the baby bird.