Cakes

Celebrating four friends birthdays tomorrow and I am bringing the cake. I am happy with the one and not as happy with the other but oh well that is me. Here is the wii controller cake and what is suppose to be a white maltese. It was also my first time ever to mess with fondant. It was different to work with.

Ice....

Woke up this morning to this

All the schools surrounding us are closed. Of course Brae said that this meant we didn't have school either. At first I told him we only cancel if there is enough snow and ice to stop of us from walking from the bedrooms to the schoolroom.
But after getting around and watching the gloom I lost my desire for school too.

So we had game day. Brae is so glad we had no school...yet we worked with money and grammar.

So all in all a good non-school day. We are staying in and warm today.

Wild Shootin

My friend was telling me about a play set at Target where you set up targets and shoot at them and the signal makes them bounce up. She was getting one for a class she is teaching on the Wild West and I thought I would get a set so she could borrow it and have two for her class and Brae would have it.

Tonight we got it. He has had so much fun. You have to line it up perfect for it to work. He had to get Britt's cowboy hat on. He has done the whole shoot em up, twirl the gun, blow on the barrel, he squints one eye to shoot, it is all around cute to watch.

Basketball

I know the kids are going to get tougher and the games tougher as Britt gets older. But wow some of those parents are awful. The main director of the club had to threaten to throw out a parent for the season if he didn't calm down. The coach got warned as well. Luckily it was the game before us and not our game but parents were screaming across the court, coach was screaming at the players and other coach...this is 5th & 6th graders.

Tonight was a good game. Britt's team lost but she played well and really rebounded and hustled good. Just have to get her more aggressive. I always liked playing for the less competitive leagues that she did when she was younger but I can tell now that it has hurt her game somewhat. I can tell the kids that have been at this club since 1st grade versus the ones coming from less competitive leagues. But oh well she loves it and is doing great.

A few pics..

Inauguration Day

Today we took the day to study Inauguration process and being the President.

It was fun.

First we did a general study on the Inauguration process, looking at the menu for the lunches, the china, all the fun details using this inauguration site

We also had fun playing the game If You Were President. We also decorated the oval office learning about some of the past presidents as we went.

We did some fun activities on what we would do etc Britt was all about the environment while Brae was ready to get the tank and take over the world. On the scholastic site they had to give money to the budget Brae was all about the army and Britt all about the environment and some to the others. Brae gave no money to education budget..LOL....that boy!

Here is a pic of the craft we did.

Should be an interesting wedding...

End of the month we are headed to Texas for my cousins wedding. Braden is the groomsman. My cousin has went to great lengths to include Braden in all aspects and even throwing his bachelor party at an arcade so Braden could go.

Anyway my son has it in his head that he is not going to wear the tuxedo. This morning he said "I think I would rather stand in front of the church naked than wear a tux"...that boy. So I see bribery coming into play...LOL.

Of course it might rank up there when Brittney was a flower girl age 5 and started making gagging noises when the bride and groom kissed and saying yuck yuck yuck.

I am thinking after a gagging flower girl and a nude groomsman we may not be asked to be in anymore weddings.

Busy busy busy I don't think that even covers it.

Okay I thought the holiday craziness would be done and January would be busy but not as busy. Oh I was so wrong. I haven't had this much going on in a while.
Of course the freelance work I do for the attorney's picks this month to pick up. For some reason my insomnia that I always suffer from and usually benefit from has went away I have slept in until 6:30 or 7 for over a week...that is SO unlike me. 4:00 am is my usual sleeping in and I functioned fine and got stuff done now I am sleeping in when I need to be up getting stuff done.

Wait I am not done complaining yet...

Then home school co-op because of course me that can't say no is in charge of it and this looks to be the largest one yet considering we had well over 100 kids last time let me just say eek. With the regular school, therapies, doctors, sports, etc makes for a crazy busy mommy.

Oh and don't forget traveling in 2 weeks to a wedding where my little boy gets to be a groomsman. Someone asked him the other day if he was going to be the ring bearer and he said "I am more important than a ring bearer I am the groomsman". Bless my cousin for making him feel so special and for having his bachelor party at a video arcade just so they could include Brae. Of course I have nothing to wear and I have yet to have Britt try on her dresses left over from the cruise to see if she can wear something from there. If not I will be out and about looking for two dresses.

So if I am missing in action you know why thanks to the fact that I just whined for 5 minutes...but it made me feel better..LOL.

Date Night

I don't know how long it had been since hubby and I had a date night but it had been too long. Last night we made up for it. Mom and Dad had the kids. We went out to dinner, looking around some stores, played wii fit (isn't that what everyone does on date night?...LOL). Basically just had a wonderful time together.

Today is mom/daughter time. I won two tickets to an American Girl Tea party so going to go to that. Britt has a basketball ball game but it isn't until later so it all worked out. She has been really needing some mom time so we will have that today.

Then I guess tomorrow why Britt is at basketball practice I will have mom/son time. Of course if I let Brae choose what he wants to do then we will be playing video games and that is fine with me. So everyone will have had their time this weekend....I guess my time is in May when I sneak off to the home school conference with friends...LOL.

My little smart alleck

The setting: School is done, and Brae says he needs something to do.

Me: "Why don't you read one of your new books you got for Christmas?"
Brae: (Lays in the floor holding his stomach laughing) "Good one, mom good joke mom, hey sis did you hear mom's joke it was so funny".

I took that as he wasn't going to get his new book out. Ugh trying to motivate that boy to read will lead to all my gray hair.

New Year!

2009 New Year, New Resolutions!

I did fairly well with last years resolutions as I am definitely in better shape than I was last year at this time. Of course still have a long way to go too.

We talked to the kids about resolutions. We are all making a few and putting them up on the refrigerator. I told Brae that it would be good for him to read every day he said "I can't do every day but how about 5 out of 7". I told him it was a deal. Of course if I can get him to do that without an argument that will be a miracle in itself...lol.

We had a quiet new years, watched the ball drop and watched lots of Disney channel.

Last night the kids had friends spend the night so they had a blast with that. It is so funny watching them all grow up. The girls were in Kindergarten when they became friends.

Planning a quiet weekend or at least quiet Saturday. Then Sunday Britt's basketball starts back up after the holiday break. Then not a weekend or a Thursday night free until end of March I think...eek.

The wii fit is still a big hit here. We are all loving it. We are all so competitive when one of us breaks a record the others are challenged to break that one and on and on.

Tree Hugger

I now have recycle bins in my kitchen, am not allowed to by paper plates, and get yelled out if I am seen using styrofoam. All this plus other stuff is courtesy of the tree hugger to be living in the house.

At first I thought it was a phase but it is only becoming more consistent. She will spend an hour researching the congressman in Alaska and sending him a letter about the polar bears.

Her door is covered with homemade posters about the enviroment. I am getting a kick out of my husband's reaction. Not that he is for polluting but he is also not on the global warming band wagon. So it is kinda funny and will sure to bring interesting conversations to our house in the future.

Registered

Time to train!
I am officially signed up for the OKC Memorial Marathon (I am doing the half marathon).
13.1 miles!
Eeek.
My friend Stephanie is doing it too. I think we can keep each other motivated.
Just knowing I am registered kicks me in gear.
I am going to find a few local 5 and 15k's to do before the marathon. I think there is one in March and the first of April to get me back in the swing of races before the marathon.

Socks

As promised I am telling about my socks I got for Christmas.

Nothing like Christmas to remind me where I stand with MIL.

Wouldn't be so bad if she wouldn't ask me to do bulk of her shopping so I know exactly what she spent on everyone else.

What did I get from MIL. A pair of pink socks, wrapped in a nice bow, the tag was on the back of one of the socks....it said 2 Pack....hmmmm...I only got one pair. I am a firm believer in it is the thought that counts but come on give me a break. The joy of gift giving with MIL...it does beat the M&M's I got one year, or the statute of a tombstone the first year (I still kick myself for not taking a picture of that for proof forever but still 14 years later I can picture it in my head perfect).
So if I look at it actually the gifts are getting better the ornament last year was a step up from the M&M's and the M&M's were a step up from the statute and various other gifts through the years. Hey maybe next year I will get both pairs of socks...aww something to look forward to. LOL!

Britt and her doll

Just loved this pic. Britt is such a cowgirl at heart. Everytime she goes to my parents she has to wear her hat. She has been begging for boots. So Nana and Papa took care of that. When mom asked me what else to get her I knew just the thing. She had bookmarked this outfit in American Girl catalog. Of course now she says all she needs is a horse to go with all this stuff! That too will have to be a Nana thing because so not happening from Mom and Dad...LOL.

Merry Christmas!

Sitting here looking through the pictures from Christmas and just enjoying the evening. We had a wonderful Christmas. Several times I thought about how blessed we are and how lucky I am we are all together this year.

I got a wii fit from hubby and the kids. Wow it is so much fun we have all been playing on it today. It is so precise I highly recommend them.

Hubby is ready to try out his gift in the morning. I was lucky to get it at 50% off from Tuesday Morning after I had decided I wouldn't be able to get him one.

Britt was BEYOND THRILLED when she opened her American Girl Kaya doll.

Brae was thrilled with all his gifts and I loved seeing his face light up.
Here he is rocking out on his little drum set that Santa brought him.


We had hubby's family and mine at different times and luckily it was drama free. I did get a pair of socks from MIL but that probably deserves it's own blog post..lol.

A few more random pics and then I am dumping a bunch in flickr...

Elfed!

The doorbell rang at around 9:30ish last night. On the porch was a bag full of goodies for the kiddos with a poem about being elfed. I have my thoughts on who did it. Then we got a call at 10:00 asking us if we had just elfed them. They thought it was me. Which it is such a cute idea and so totally something I would do but alas I didn't think of it this year. So now gotta come up with someone else to pass along the elf cheer to. Thanks a lot friend for giving me something else to do...LOL.

Seriously thanks to the secret elf who I have a sneaking suspicion reads my blog. The kids aren't even up yet but they are going to LOVE the whole concept of it and the candy will be a big hit this morning.

Good memories

Before leaving Austin area we had to have some good memories too. We got to take the kids to a Christmas light show at a summer waterpark called Schliterbahn they had transformed it to a Christmas Winterland. Of course it was 86 degrees so some of the winterland had to be in your imagination..lol. They had ice skating, etc we went right before it got dark to enjoy some of the things then watched the park turn gorgeous with millions of lights. We didn't stay long but were glad we got to do something fun. Brae is doing so wonderful now, new meds and time to get over some scary memories will help a lot. Here are some pics of my bounce back boy and Britt.


Of course my sons absolute favorite thing was right before leaving my uncle who is a truck driver took Braden to see his big truck and the plant that he hauls for. It was the highlight he liked it way more than the park with the lights. He loved the horn.

Glad to have some nice memories of Austin too instead of just hospital memories.

I'm still here!

Those that know me well know why I have been missing in action. Roller coaster ride with Brae and medical issues. We have been in Austin this week. Hopefully we will get to take a little break and have some fun before we go home. I know when Brae is feeling better because he gets even ornerier. He keeps everyone laughing he is such a trooper. I thought I would throw up a post so that my hubby's lovely pic wasn't still at the top. Hopefully we will get out to a neat Christmas light display and I can post something fun next instead of a post on medical issues.

O Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree

Thank you Stephanie!

My husband says I can't say no to people. Well I wasn't the one on the parade float dressed as a Christmas Tree. LOL. I couldn't get my camera going and then after they passed I realized that I had my settings wrong. Luckily we got to watch the parade with Stephanie and she snapped this pic so at least we have some proof of the tree. Of course my cute little elf is waving to me but the real focus is the Christmas Tree.

Presents wrapped and busy day ahead

We got presents wrapped last night. Mom and dad took the kids. We wrapped until we were both sick of wrapping. Got all the families done, and the kids. We want everything organized before we leave for Austin on Tuesday. MIL is house sitting again, last time I was agitated when we returned hopefully this time will be smoother.

Today is busy day we go to see the ballet this morning, lunch, basketball game of Britt's, dinner, work on parade float, then watch Brae in the parade on the boy scout float. Then I want to take the kids to look at some specific lights and things and I am afraid we won't have a chance if we don't do it tonight. Also have to fit in a trip to Target and the health food store in there somewhere.

Tomorrow is going to be catch up day and house organizing cleaning before we leave day. Hubby has to be up at 2am for a computer thing at work (don't you love my technical talk about his work?"...lol). So I know he will be tired tomorrow so we will just stay home and get things accomplished...hopefully.

At least gifts are wrapped I feel better about that. Now just 103 other things to mark off the list..lol.