Best Wishes for Wedded Bliss

Zac's dad died unexpectedly in a horrific car accident a few years back. His mom, Kathy, was devastated but has always kept her head up. She lives for the here and now.

Last year Kathy's good friend introduced her to a long time "family friend" who they thought might be a good friend or companion for Kathy. Sure enough, he and Kathy became friends and have enjoyed going out and living life to its fullest.

Little did anyone know that 8 months later Kathy and the "family friend" would run down to the courthouse and get married! Sneaky little devils! But they did... and we're thrilled.


Although I'm sure it's hard for Zac to see someone else in his dad's "spot," Zac has been such a source of support for his mom. He's happy to see her happy. He's glad she's found love. He's glad she'll be taken care of. He's happy she's able to move on with her life. He's happy to welcome Jerry into the family.

Congratulations to Jerry and Kathy Abbott married 4/16/2008!

You two make a great couple!

PS: Jerry has recorded several CD's and has a voice that could melt butter. He's known around the State of Alabama. Wish I could upload his songs to this blog but I don't know how to host them. If you have any idea let me know....

Just something Fun... I always knew I loved Cinderella

Today I took a quiz to see which Princess I most closely resemble. The verdict is in:

Dignified and hard working. With a gentle and soft-spoken manner you have something many people don't. Patience. Even through the moments of heartbreak you're still able to hold onto all of your hopes and dreams. Bide your time; your dream will come true.

Click this link and take the quiz (some of the questions and answers are pretty funny)... Which Princess Are You?

FFF- Favorite Foto Friday

Bryant and his Ganny on her last visit (2 weeks ago) to Boise.

I don't know why Bryant thinks it's cool to make the "peace sign" in every photo.

But now he's got Ganny doing it too.

Sometimes I've got to Bitch

This is going to be one of *those* kinds of blogs tonight...

I wish that I could say that I am feeling fabulous and full of positive thoughts and feelings right now, but I happen to be an honest person and I can't lie well. S o how am I REALLY feeling, you ask?... CRABBY!

What is wrong with me? I'd say that I'm irritable ... but that wouldn't begin to describe it. I'm edgy ... angry ... and nearly everyone is getting on my last nerve. I want to snap ... and the next person who comes up and says something asinine or "wants" something from me is going to feel my wrath.

Seem like so many people feels like whatever is going on in their life is the most important thing on the planet. And you know I'm a "listener" ... and so by listening I get drawn into everyone's drama. Anyone who is sad or frustrated or lonely or angry ... they come to me. Nine times out of ten I'm happy to be a shoulder to cry on.

Oh, but not today ... today I am sick and tired of self-centered, narcissistic people who don't understand that people around them have feelings too. I am sick and tired of overbearing, self-important people who think they're better than everyone else. For once I would like someone to just do "me a favor"... rather than always expecting me to do "them the favor." It feels like everyone wants *something* from me.

Okay, that's all. I'm done bitching. Now we can get back to our regularly scheduled blogging...

These swimsuits go together, well, SWIMMINGLY!

Some of you have commented or emailed me about the swimsuits that MacKenzie, Delaine and Cassidee were wearing in my last post.

They are by Modbe.


Modbe is a clothing line whose philosophy is...
"Modest is Hottest."

If you're anything like me, I'm shocked at the swimwear that many pre-teens and teenagers are wearing these days. Last week I saw a 10 year old girl at the pool in a PLAYBOY bunny bikini! How inappropriate is that?

Modbe swimwear has several styles of swimsuits... but they're known for their tankinis which are more modest than a normal swimsuit. They have more of a back and come up higher on the chest. They've also got the length, so you can bend over and you're still not going to be exposing your butt crack!


FYI, Modbe is a clothing company that has clothing too. Their clothes offer appropriate coverage and flatters a variety of body types. They go from children's sizes to plus sizes. Everything is super quality and lasts forever.


I don't mean to sound like a salesman... and I don't benefit at all from this post... but I thought I would educated you. I had no idea there was a company like Modbe until last fall.

Click Here to view more clothing from Modbe.

What have we been up to?

Bryant's been having the time of his life with the 5 kids here to play with!

On Wednesday they built a fort in the kitchen and played "school bus" for hours...

Then they talked us mom's into letting them eat the dinner of champions...

dino nuggies, ketchup and cheese balls....
They got to eat their dinner inside the "school bus"too ... so cool!
And we're not really sure what happened... but somehow the cheese balls and the "school bus" created some static electricity. All the kids came out looking like this :)
And by night fall the kids were fast asleep.

Bryant and Delaine love to snuggle in their sleeping bags.

On Thursday we surprised the kids by going to Chuck E. Cheese for the afternoon.
Did you notice Delaine is missing from the picture above? Well she was busy hiding under our table! She is terrified of Chuck E. Cheese.I could lie to you and say we went to Chuck E. Cheese so the kids could play... but I'd be lying.

Christy and I played harder than the kids.

We rode rides, played games, won tickets and best of all... performed with Chuck E. Cheese on stage.
The kids with all their "loot" and faces full of smile from our great day at Chuck E. Cheese

Friday we went swimming at our local pool. Swimming is always a big hit with kids!

Christy bought a cool underwater camera... and we thought we had some really cool pictures... but nah there was NOTHING on the film. Darn.

At least you didn't have to see me in my swimsuit!

Traveling Friends... PIF... Sneaky Kids... Liar...

Several Random Things I want to Mention...

********************
My good friend & fellow blogger, Christy, arrived from Utah last night with her 4 children. It's Spring Break for them... so they're here to play with us this week. Of course I wouldn't let them stay anywhere but with us... so the house is in utter chaos with 5 kids under the age of 7! We're having a super super super time with them though.

The "Dog Pile" Picture

Left to Right: MacKenzie, Christy, Carson, Bryant, Delaine, Jenny and Cassidee

Lined Up and Ready to Head to Bed
Left to Right: Carson, Cassidee, Bryant, Delaine and MacKenzie

***********************

I received my Pay It Forward gift from my blogger friend, Soltana.

Is there anything better than opening the mailbox and finding a letter and/or package?

Her handmade gift is awesome. A picture frame decorated with wooden baseball embelishments... complete with Bryant's name on it.

It has a place of honor right in the middle of my fridge.

**********************
I went to get a snack for the kids out of the pantry (while I was in the middle of writing the blog). I opened the door, looked down at the orange cheese balls and SCREAMED.

Do you see what I saw?

Okay... look closer... this is what I saw!

It's fake of course. But holy crap!

When I find which one of these sneaky kids hid it that plastic rat the pantry they're going to pay! (right now they think it's so funny that they're all trying to take credit for it)

**************************

And lastly, Christy went upstairs to put "the babies" down for a nap and she never came back (I knew darn well she'd fallen asleep with the babies).

Two hours later she walked downstairs like nothing had happened.

Look at her face... "What? No! I wasn't asleep"

Uh, if only she saw her hair... a dead give away. Not to mention that she had a flower stuck to the side of her face!

I laughed so hard. Nice try Christy! Better luck tomorrow at Nap Time!

The Curse of the T-Shirt

Bryant received a new t-shirt from a friend last week.

He thinks the shirt is really funny. It says "Chick Dig Scraped Knees."

He wore it for the first time on Saturday.

Well, he was cursed by the t-shirt.

Within HOURS of putting it on, his knees were severely scraped up.

Yep, that's right... a skateboard trick gone wrong.

His hand was pretty scraped up too (it's glistening because they're covered in Neosporin)!

The wounds didn't phase him (as you can see by his impish smile below).

But I did make him take the shirt off immediately...

So what do you chicks think? Do you dig scraped knees?

One of my favorite Activities....

Do you know what this money in my hand signals?
Hint #1: I'm doing it at 7:40 on a Saturday morning...

Hint #2: I do it with my neighbor, Jen. We try to do it every weekend. We use it as an opportunity for a break from our husbands and kids!

But today we took Bryant and Karsyn with us ('cause we're nice like that) ...

Hint #3: We're very specific and have a certain routine. On our first stop we always get a 32 oz. diet coke and a donut...

Hint #4: On our second stop we see things like this...Hint #5: On our third stop we see these Spy Glasses...

Hint #6: We make many stops all morning long. Actually, the more stops the better!

It's one of my VERY FAVORITE things to do...

Can you guess?

-
-

-

-

-

-

-

That's right... I am an AVID garage saler. And today I got to have my first "fix" of the season!

We got some awesome deals... including a whole laundry basket full of brand new Ralph Lauren extra-large bath towels for $5.00!

So, now you know... don't call me on Saturday mornings... I won't be home!

This Kid ROCKS!

Children are natural climbers... and Bryant has always been a climber. Even as a baby he would climb up things until he fell back down (almost giving me a heart attack)!

Things aren't that different now. At 5 he is still constantly climbing.

So, Zac and I decided to put his climbing skills to good use. We signed him up for an indoor Rock Climbing class.



We're not talking baby walls... we're talking walls covered in textured concrete to create not only the appearance of real rock, but also the feel. These wall structures have intense overhangs, varying pitches and angles and are over 60 ft high!

He started by learning how to get his harness on. He had to learn how to be a safe climber.

Then he started. He got to experience the thrill of rock climbing.
He climbed and he climbed. His instructor made him feel safe and secure as he climbed higher and higher.
Eventually he got so high he was a little scared. Zac told him he could he could overcome his fear. Bryant decided to keep climbing.
Zac and I noticed that by the end of his Rock Climbing class, Bryant had learned skills beyond how to climb rocks. He learned how to be aware of his surroundings. He learned to be sensible when dealing with challenges. He learned to overcome fears. And most importantly, he learned to judge and contemplate his actions... especially ones that could be inherently dangerous.

This kid ROCKS... and we do so love our little climber!

I have a new "sister"...

I have a new "sister"...

but probably not the traditional kind you're thinking of!

Today my mom and dad adopted a new 3 pound baby...

a puggle (a pug and beagle mix).

They named her Bella.

Welcome to the family girl!

Suzi's ultrasound update...

I know many of you have been waiting for me to post about my sister, Suzi's, 20 week ultrasound that took place today.

The baby is healthy and the estimated due date is August 21, 2008.

And the sex of the baby is....

And so... let the shopping begin!

Go Sidewinders Go!

Perhaps you've noticed I've been absent from blogging this week. Well, I've been running around without time to hardly even use the bathroom... let alone blog!

Baseball Fever has hit our house. Bryant is playing his second year of Babe Ruth. I am "team mom." Between coordinating team snack schedules, uniforms, calling parents, etc. things have been a bit crazy for me!

Bryant's had two Babe Ruth games this week. He's doing excellent. He's a natural athlete and it shows. Without much effort he's managed to hit 3 home runs and tag 6 players out!

It's such a pleasure to watch these little 4 and 5 year olds play ball. The find sheer delight in the simplest of things. They cheer for each and every player... regardless of how they do. They're excited to be outside and in the fresh air... even though it's still cold. They happily say hello to the other team players... even though they're opponents. They are competitive and keep score... and yet they know how to win and lose gracefully. Personally, I think us Adult have a lot to learn from these kids.

I'll tell you what, there is nothing cuter than a bunch of 4 & 5 year olds in their baseball uniforms. Here's Bryant and his "girlfriend" Krystel (who plays on the same team).