Cookie - Our Cocker Spaniel

Hey! After two years of promises to the kids, we finally got a dog today. Melissa and I went to the dog shelter today and there was this beautiful dog that had just been brought in about 20 minutes earlier. We looked around at the others, but our hearts were smitten. We put a reserve on him, and went to run some other errands. We came back and signed the papers. Since he's been neutered, he was half price! What a deal!

Isn't he a cutie!?! He is going to be a great fit for our family! I kept him at home while Melissa went to get the kids from school. They knew we were going to look, so of course they asked Melissa if we got one. She said, "Well, we looked but some just weren't ready to take home. But dad has a "Cookie" at home for you." Aren't we sneaky? Boy were they surprised when they walked in and heard him bark.

The Pit (click me for Pit virtual tour)

This afternoon the boys and I spent a couple of hours in the pit, I mean The Pit; The University of New Mexico Pit (Arena). We had some free tickets to see the Lady Lobos play the BYU Cougars Saturday afternoon. It was a very low scoring game, and unfortunately the Lobos did not win. They just weren't taking enough shots. Way too many passes. I know, Coach Holmskog, (my hs coach) we have to wait for the good shot, but man, they passed on several good shots!

Anyway, we had a good time enjoying Lobo Dogs, Nachos and Mt. Dew! Mmmmmm!Melissa has had to work all day and Anna was at a friend's for a play day. We've got some free Men's b-ball tickets too, so hopefully Melissa and I can go on a b-ball date. Yes, she likes going, I think.

Editor's Note: By the way, feel free to leave comments so we know who, if anyone, is reading our blog. Actually, I can see by the Clustrmap that there are a few out there, but I don't know who you are unless you let us know. Does anyone know of a visitor tracker like the Clustr map, that you can zoom in and see exactly where/who it is?

My Week Thus Far

This week has not exactly gone as planned. I DID have my piano recital, which was so sweet. Seeing 12 very nervous kids zip through their songs was a hoot!

But my sweet Caleb has had the Flu for going four days now. However, today he is becoming a LITTLE bit demanding, singing "I am hungry, I am hungry..." to the tune of "Goodnight Ladies"...not that he knows that song. This morning I decided to keep him home from school another day, and I am glad that I did. His fever is back to 102 deg. Hey, isn't there a key on here that puts that little "degree circle" after a number?? If anyone knows how to do it, please email me. It's a pet peeve of mine.

Anyway, after I dropped the other kiddos off, I had to stop at the store for the traditional milk, bread, etc. run. Caleb asked for a donut, so, being the good Momma that I am when my kids are sick I said, "Sure, Baby." We just pretended there was medicine in that donut. Seemed to make him feel better...until the sugar wore off. Oops.

He had to send this pic to Grandad (my Dad) to tease him, since Grandad LOVES donuts, and is NOT supposed to eat them. That was true Caleb form!!

State Holidays, Bunk Beds and Piano Recital

One of the great perks of working for the state is that you get a few extra paid holidays, so I enjoyed having another day off today. The kids were off of school too, so we spent the day just running around town together. It was a fun day.

Last week, I started working on some bunk beds for Anna's American Girl dolls, Josefina and Julie. Here's what's done so far. Now, I'm going to paint it a bright, deep red. I should've gotten it done on this long weekend, but somehow I didn't.

Anna loves it!

Well, the piano recital went well yesterday. We had an audience of 25 for the 12 students. The recital started at 3:57 and all 12 students had finished their 2 or 3 pieces and I looked at the clock and it was only 4:21! And that was with a brief introduction of each student in between! They were nervous and fast! But they all did great! Then we had a ton of refreshments for everyone. Here's a pic of Melissa's students and their beautiful teacher standing proudly behind them, er, physically beside them.

(HINT: She's the hottie in the leopard print)

Well, I gotta go back to work tomorrow, so I better close it down for tonight.

It's Sunday...

Well, here we are again at the end, or beginning, of a new week. Soon everyone will be getting dressed and ready for church and hopefully this Sunday, there won't be any squabbles over who touched who, what anyone is wearing or anything! Riiiight!

Well, today is also Piano Recital day for Melissa's students. This afternoon 12-14 students and siblings, parents, grandparents and anyone else they invite will invade our home for about 2 hours. I've already been assigned to furniture moving and chair setup. But, I can handle it. We spent some time yesterday cleaning the living/dining room and I even got to clean out the filing cabinet. Yech! I didn't actually get done cleaning out old files, and creating some new one's we need, but I did get a bag full of trash, so I felt like I accomplished something at least.

We also finally printed out some long overdue pictures from this summer of the kids to hang on our wall. It looks pretty nice, I think.

Melissa had a rehearsal for all of the students for about an hour and a half yesterday afternoon, so the boys and I went over to the park and played a little baseball. Yes, it is hard to play baseball 2 vs 1, but we managed to have some fun for about 45 minutes. Then we were just too cold. It's so funny that now that football season is just about over for everyone (NFL winding down) Jacob and Caleb have switched to baseball. Since the rehearsal wasn't finished yet, we drove over to Wal-mart and bought a couple of baseballs. One soft "t-ball" type, and one hardball. We had been playing with a tennis ball. :)

We really haven't gotten settled in our new church yet. The kids have to some extent, but Melissa and I don't actually have the opportunity to meet anyone in just one hour a week. I know we need to get involved in a small group or some sort of ministry to meet people, but with Melissa's work schedule, it just hasn't worked out yet. Hopefully soon.

Well, it's that time now to go get ready. Have a great day!

Back to School

Ok...this morning is an exciting one for Melissa. The kids returned to school!!!!!!
I had to post this pic, because I got the biggest kick out of Caleb. He took two of his MANY "friends" with him in the van, and as he's getting out he turned to me and said, very seriously, "Oh Mom, would you babysit Spot and Diney today?"
"Of course, Pumpkin!" I love my 6 year old!

And a Happy New Year to YOU!!

Well, Christmas is offically over. I've taken all but the wreath off of our door (Jarrod's getting tired of the Jingle Bells jingling every time someone comes in), and the string of cards lining our stairway. It's not because I wish to hang on to 2007, it's more of a "Fiddle dee dee, I'll think about that tomorrow" mentality.





This week has been a confirmation that God intended children to go to school. My kids have been off since Dec. 3rd, and we are on week 5 of vacate. I'm about to do just that...VACATE!!!




I have officially given the TV permission to entertain my kids as often as it wishes! They are so great, but the "togetherness" is becoming "out-to-get-them-ness".





Yesterday Anna Mary and I made curtains for her room. I've felt so sorry for her, as she's the only girl, and with a crazy last 2 months, I've not had the time to fix up her new room. I went to Dillard's on New Year's Day for an INCREDIBLE sale (my Mom and I love to add the phrase ,"Plus our discount" because we both work at Dillard's), and was able to purchase some Tommy Hilfiger sheets for pennies on the dollar. I transformed them into Anna's new curtains!! We are now going to transform her room into a Hawaiian Paradise! Our plans are to make grass skirt tiebacks, and add a grass skirt bedskirt to her bed, a pink "surfboard" (that Jarrod doesn't know he's making for her yet) with her name on it, and a cool rug for her floor. Who says that one can't create beauty on a budget?!?
And so, I've been inspired to finish the boys' room (all football, of course), make curtains for the downstairs and my room, and generally finish "moving in" to our new home. I do not like white walls; however, "we rent, therefore we accessorize!!"
This week has opened my eyes to some new VeggieTales songs. My kids were out of the whole VT thing for quite a while, but when we discovered our new library, they began checking out quite a few newer DVD's unseen by the Flamings. My new favorite is the SUV song, sung by Larry and the lady veggie who plays one of the beauty contestants on the "Queen Esther" movie. It's hysterical!! Her voice is what makes that song. So yesterday the kids and I karioked to "Oh-oh...you and me, in our sport utility vehicles! Cruisin' to 7-11 for a bag of Frito-Lays".
Good Times!!