The Sheriff's back in town...

and he sure is cute!

Last week at Boog's school, they had western days. They could choose to wear their cowboy/cowgirl get up any day they wanted. I asked Boog all week if he wanted to wear his cowboy outfit (not that we have a cowboy outfit, but I was willing to go out and buy one!) and he continued day after day saying, "Nah, that's ok. I don't want to. Fair enough, some kids do not want to be cowboys, I am ok with that.

Enter Thursday night already way past bedtime and Boog in his sweetest little brother voice ever says, "Sour Apple, (and no he did not really call him that)can I borrow your cowboy hat tomorrow? I'm going to dress up like a cowboy!" WHAT?!? Are you flippin' kidding me? It is 9:30pm on the evening before the last day of school for the week. I am freakin out. You have got to be kidding me, seriuosly, you want to dress up tomorrow? I have been practically begging you all week and you have been saying no. Great, just great. Ok...humm, mind goes into over drive.

When the older kids were younger, I think starting in Kindergarten, they had Go Texan Days at school and every year we would trod off to the local western store and buy 2 pairs of boots, 2 hats (sometimes), western jeans and shirts, sometimes belts too. Occasionally they wore them after the fact, if we went to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo but generally we were good for a few wears in our new "cowboy/cowgirl get ups" so I felt justified. Anything to make my babies happy. So...anyone that knows me, knows that I "save" things. Ok, well on this particular occasion, all I can find are a small pair of PINK cowgirl boots! Great, just great. We found Sour Apple's hat, I dug around everywhere I could think of, no boots, I did manage to find a little leather vest that must have been Sour Apple's when he was younger, in the top of Boog's closet. We threw together a shirt, with pearl buttons, some jeans and a pair of Timberland boot shoes with the hat and viola...

Meet the Sherriff. I must say...he is pretty darned cute, even with no official cowboy get up. By the way, I am afraid to continue looking too hard for the boots because you know that I will find them! :) The first few pics are from my phone so the quality is not as good but the smiles were way better and that always wins!



Reach for the sky!

5 Question Friday

These were the questions and here is what you are supposed to do. Copy and paste them to your blog then go back to her post, if you like and link up to join the fun. I think I might try to do this weekly. What do ya think? Sound fun?

1. Do you sing karaoke? If so, what is your go to song?

2. What is your favorite coffee drink?

3. If you could choose your own name, what would it be?

4. Were you ever bullied?

5. How often do you eat fast food?

Alrighty, here we go...

1.Do you sing Karoke? Oh boy. I should probably plead the 5th here. Other than at home, you know we have Rock Band right, I would normally never so much as consider singing in front of other people. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE TO SING. But wait, I NEVER said I COULD sing. So...here is where it gets good...Once upon a time, not so long ago, my hubby and I got to go out with some couples friends for a few of our friends birthdays. And guess where we went?!? Yep, to a karoke bar. I NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES (short of having a few bottles of liquid confidence)WOULD CONSIDER SINGING IN PUBLIC. Well, guess what? I joined the ladies for a few numbers, started out in the very back of the crowd, next song, moved closer to the front, mic in hand then BEGGED (YES BEGGED) a very friendly man we met that night, to sing a duet with me!!! For the record, Thank God his wife made him leave before that train wreck had a chance to happen! So to make a short story long...YES, I sang karoke and while out that night, informed my husband that we needed to do that weekly! Ha! Oops, I was supposed to say what song too. Humm, at home for Rock Band it is Free Fallin, Shot thru the Heart, Dead or Alive, Summer of 69 and Two Princes. That fateful night, it was Baby got back (come on, get up off of the floor, it was not THAT funny), Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and the one I begged the guy to sing with me (which he agreed to do before his wife drug him home) was Summer Nights. That would have been BAD! Hehe

2. What is your favorite coffee drink? Easy. NONE. I cannot stand coffee.

3. If you could choose your own name, what would it be? Oh wow, really? Humm, when I was younger, I was dying for my name to be Jennifer! I do not know why but I wanted to be Jennifer. My mother said that she almost named me Valarie!!! What? I look nothing like a Valarie, I have tried to picture it, Valarie, Val, Rie...uh, no thanks. It is not for me. Not that I love my name as it is, but thank the good Lord above, an aunt and an uncle, and I am NOT Valarie! Now...Humm, I really do not know. When we name our people on our Rock Band tour, I usually choose some cool flashy name, like Jaysmine, Jade, Sasha or something like that but I really do not feel like those fit either. I will have to think on this one, sorry to disappoint but nothing comes to mind. I do not really see myself with another name even though I am not fond of the one I have.

4. Were you ever bullied? As a young child, yes, by our neighbor. Her name was Kelly and she was my age but she was smaller than me. I remember that she was one mean little girl, I remember she had blonde hair that always looked messy. I also remember her being at my 5th birthday party. What were my parents thinking? I can remember coming home crying because of something she had done to me, pushed me, hit me, shoved me or whatever and my parents (lovely roll models, LOL) telling me that if she hit me, to "hit her back." I remember walking over to her house and telling her just that, "My parents told me that if you hit me again, to hit you back! WAAAAAAHHHH!!!" *running home crying* "She hit me again!"

As a teen and adult, uh...you must not know me very well. Let us just say that Kelly made me tough and after her, NO ONE has pushed me around or bullied me!

5. How often do you eat fast food? Humm, what do you consider fast food? Burger places, hardly ever, Taco Bell weekly, Chipotle every other day, well ok, maybe not every other day but at least 2 times a week. Some weeks we have pizza from our favorite little pizza place in town, you remember the one.

Okie dokie...I am out of here...

Now, go over to see Mama M and take a peek at everyone elses's 5 Question Friday posts! And make sure to link up and join us for some fun.

Not me! Monday

Welcome to Not me! Monday, where we can be brutally honest and live to tell about it.

Friday night, my wonderful and handsome husband and I did not get to go on yet another date this year! That would make 3 in less than 2 months people! Nope, not us! We never get out!

Speaking of the date, we soooo did not need that date. We have not been ugly to each other and just plain crabby in general since everyone was sick a few weeks ago. Nope, we always get along beautifully. We always agree on everything and always slather eachother with never ending affection and attention. We have not been exhausted and mentally drained lately so there was no reason to take a few hours alone together to recharge.

Saturday night, we did not get to meet up with 2 sets of friends for dinner at Chipotle. Nope, for starters, we do not like Chipotle and secondly, we would never be lucky enough to meet friends for dinner, muchless 2 sets of them! The kids did not have a great time hanging out with buddies either. The food was not awesome (as usual) either. Nope, it was horrible. After dinner, we did not meet up with yet another set of friends and hang out and enjoy the cool crisp wind and great conversation. We would never be lucky enough to see 3 sets of friends in one night, ever!

I have not been in a crabby funk lately. Nope, I am always in a wonderful mood, cheerful and happy all of the time. Seriuosly...I really am! I would never been in a funk and not know why. Not me.

I have not been freaked out (yet again) because I have been thinking about my baby turning 5! Good gracious! My baby is nowhere near turning 5 and he certianly does not tell me often that he is indeed almost 5. I am glad too because that just might send me over the edge. And trust me, here lately...we do not need me any closer to that edge!

Speaking of my baby not turning 5, we did not go to the school's open house and pick up registration papers for kindergarten either! Nope, I will not be letting my baby leave for kindergarten. Not me!

Ok, I think that is probably all I am up to confessing for now so head on over to MckMama's and badger someone else! ;o) As for me, I will be hanging out in my funk I am sure! Happy not me'ing.

writers block...

Well, that is what I would have if I were actually a writer that is. And can you actually call it that if you think of great ideas when you lay down at night, play the whole post out in your head exactly how it should go? When you are driving down the road and wonder if you would sound like an idiot if you spoke the whole post out into your voice recorder on your phone? Maybe it is just called, "I am married with 4 children, 2 of which are under the age of 5 and require lots of attention and supervision" so I just really do not have time to sit down and write?

Any way you look at it, I have really sucked (excuse the harsh language) at keeping up with this lately. I would love to use the excuse that I have been busy, but...Well, technically I have been busy but it honestly feels like busy doing nothing, yet it is always something. Ever feel that way? You are busy and gone all of the time yet you have nothing to show for it? That is me. Maybe part of it is having 3 kids in 3 different schools in 3 different cities? Humm, that is likely a good reason. Is it that 3 days a week I take Boog to pre-school but do not come home in between dropping him off at 9 and picking him up at 12? I am still a loser, I do not feel comfortable getting too far away from the school. I will venture to the mall, which is 5-7 minutes away, Target is about the same distance and Wal-Mart is even closer. Lots of mornings, I just go to the shopping center right behind the school and sit at the Bagel Cafe and have breakfast. After that, Tutti-Frutti usually falls asleep in the car so I just find somewhere to park and either read, make phone calls, text or play on my phone while he sleeps. There is a park that is across from the school and we have sat there countless times and just messed around. Mops recently started again so I do venture to the church (probably 5 minutes away) and have some adult interaction with some really cool mommies!

I really think it feels like I have no time because of the little one. Now that he is mobile, he is into everything and I do mean everything! Oooh, let me tell you, this kid is a mess. He is quite the little character already, all whopping 20 pounds and 29 inches of him. I wonder if he is ever going to grow?!? He will be 18 months old soon, on the 27th actually. Where does the time go? He is the light of my life. He warms my heart, busy body and all. So I am pretty sure that he is one of the main reasons my free time is little to non existant these days.

I guess I really need to start taking notes so that I remember these killer topics I think of late at night. There were some good ones last week. Humm...mommy brain. Maybe I should carry around a notebook and hand write them when Tutti-Frutti is sleeping in the car and we are waiting on Boog to finish school. Now theres an idea. Can you say hand cramp?!?

Goodnight everyone.

Not me! Monday

Welcome to Not me! Monday, where we can be brutally honest and live to tell about it.

Last Friday while I was in MOPS, my pager did not go off, signaling that my dear sweet little one was in distress. Nope, remember...my kids LOVE MOPS and would never cry the whole entire time I was gone! They play nicely with other children while Mommy has a little time away with the other Mommies.

Recently, without really even noticing, we have not started a tradition of always going to Taco Bell on Sunday for lunch since Daddy is working. Nope, I feed my children home cooked meals at every meal. I mean seriously, that is what stay at home mommies are supposed to do, right?!?

We did not finally get our xbox back (did I even mention that it broke and we had to send it off for the red ring of death warranty repair?) last Friday. So last night after dinner, the Round the World Rock Tour did not start back up. Nope, we put our kids in bed at a reasonable time and spent the rest of Valentines Day together alone.

For dinner last night, we did not make pink and red heart shaped pancakes for the kids. Nope, we do not ever put that much thought or effort into making something for the kiddos.



They did not LOVE IT either! Oh, and this was not taken with my phone either, I am not so tacky as to post a picture on my blog that I used my phone camera to take. I am not so lazy that I just uploaded it to the computer instead of getting up, going to the other room to get the camera that has much better pictures of the pancakes! Nope, not me!

For Valentines Day, my hubby was not sooo super sweet that he and the children made poster signs for them to hold and him to photograph to put in a digital picture frame for my gift. Nope, he is not that thoughtful.

I do not have the most amazing husband and kids ever...Nope, not me. I am not that lucky!

Now, how bout you? What did you not do this week? Hop on over to MckMama's and see what is going on over there. Happy Monday!

Children's Museum

I am finally getting some new(ish) pictures posted. Last week before all he#$ broke loose, we took the two little boys to the children's museum downtown for a day of fun. They had a great time. Daddy was already feeling pretty rough, but we had been planning the trip for over a month. Since Boog started pre-school, we do not really have any free days that Daddy is off so when we heard Boog would not have school last week because of teacher conferences, we jumped on the chance to plan a trip.

We dropped the big kids off at school and headed downtown. It was a perfect day to go, cold and rainy. When we got there, there were quite a few kids there. I think there must have been some field trips going on. That is not too bad because they ususally leave right after having lunch. Tutti-Frutti and I headed to the baby area upstairs. He had a blast wandering around the place seeing things that were his size for once.

Before we headed upstairs, we checked out a few things with Daddy and Boog. He thought he was hotstuff in the chair!



There are little doors with working knobs, locks, latches, doorbells and...



LIGHT SWITCHES! This kid LOVES to turn lights on and off. You cannot carry him by a switch with him not freaking out saying "on on on" ok well it is more like "ah ah ah."



He liked the tunnel but would not go in...



He spent HOURS walking back and forth over this bridge. It has bumpy waves in the middle of it and he thought that was great. On one end, there are baby steps and the other slopes off to the floor. He went back and forth for hours. He would walk away to do something else and see the bridge and haul it right back over to go across again.



Ah...a toilet flusher. His favorite! He spends his time at home trying to sneak into the bathroom when you are not looking just to flush the toilet. Humm, I do not see the fun in it but I am not 1!



There was a small ball pit and he had a blast in there, he was kicking his feet and squeeling, throwing balls and having a great time. I saw some of the cutest smiles and sweetest laughter ever...of course I did not have the camera out the whole time so I did not get all of it.



Daddy and Boog came to find us and played for a while upstairs before lunch.



Kids love doors.



Ah ha, look what we found. Boog wanted to know if that was the cow's bobby (you know...it's you know...)

*we used to call his (you know) a booty and he thought we were saying bobby...so there you have it, here it is a bobby!



We explained what it was so he had to go down for a closer inspection.



Good thing it was not a "working" cow, that would have gone right in the eye!



He wanted Daddy to make him look like Yoshi from Mario. He even drew Yoshi on a napkin so Daddy would know what he looked like. Daddy did not do it like he wanted and he was not impressed.



I got a few shots before they went in the bathroom to wash it all off. :-(



Poor baby, maybe he wanted his face painted too?



Lacing a wooden block of "cheese" with a little wooden "mouse." By golly I think my baby is a genius, he could lace the whole block of cheese!



I am glad we went because the next week was a living nightmare with everyone being sick around here. I hate that they were probably already not feeling well and we drug them out in the weather. Who knew?

Thanks and an update.

Thanks everyone for stopping by to check on us and for your well wishes. We really appreciate them!

As for updates, there are not really many. The kids are starting to feel better today. Boog was feeling better yesterday but still coughing his head off and such. Tutti-Frutti is a little less crabby today, thankfully! We did skip music today so we were stuck inside another day. Sort of. We did escape to the DQ drive-thru for a dipped cone. You know, because those always make everything better. The kiddos had no fever so we figured we would treat them to a treat. They seemed to enjoy it. Until Tutti-Frutti decided that he wanted to hold his own cone in the car, in the carseat. Uh...no honey. I do not think so, Mommy will do it. Thanks anyway.

So, there we are. Dad and I are feeling better too, just wish the cough would go away...

Hopefully we will be up and running again soon.

Under the weather...

And boy is that an understatement. I will not be participating in Not me! Monday today. Not that I do not have plenty of those to go around from this past week but I honestly have not so much as turned the computer on in days. This is coming from my phone actually. This might get interesting to say the least.

Anyway, just about everyone in our house has been sick for the last week. Let me just say that Monday was our best day. Boog did not have school and Sour Apple got out at noon on Wednesday. We spent the rest of last week either in the dentist (remember last weeks Not me?) or at the doctor and/or the pharmacy. Daddy ended up taking 4 days off because he was sick. While I was at the dentist with all 4 kiddos on Thursday, he was seeing the doctor. He had bronchitis, got 2 shots and 2 prescriptions. Friday, we were in he doctor with the 2 little guys. Boog had pneumonia. Tutti-Frutti had an ear infection. After that visit we stopped at the pharmacy for another bag of drugs then off to the urgent care so I could be seen. I had bronchitis. I got one shot and 2 prescriptions. The weekend was rough. No one felt good. We shipped the 2 big kids off for the weekend hoping to spare them even though Sour Apple had just been sick the week before. The little guys ran fever all weekend. They had the chills. Tutti-Frutti slept nearly all day. We all felt horrible. We survived. Barely. Only to get up this morning with a tiny tot burning up again. Back to he doctor this morning with Tutti-Frutti. He has the flu. 2 more new prescriptions.

Boy we have sure spent a lot at the dentist, doctor and pharmacy since last Thursday. A mini vacation might have been cheaper. I am sure it would have been more fun.

Hopefully we are on the mend. Have a great week. I'll be back when I can.

what a day

Let me start off by saying shouting...THANK GOD I AM THE ONLY ONE IN THE HOUSE WHO IS AWAKE!!! Do not get me wrong, I love my family...I love my kids and I love my husband but tonight I had had enough! Haha! Today was quite the day.

Well, I guess it actually started a few nights ago when we had our date night and went to bed way too late for our old selves then spent the rest of the night up and down with a cranky 17 month old. We spent all day Sunday waiting for bed time to roll around. We somehow got lucky enough to go to bed when the kids did at 8:30, I should have known better than to get excited. My thought was, well at least if I go to bed this early, it will not be quite so bad getting up with Tutti-Frutti at all hours of the night. What is up with this kid? Why will he not sleep?!? Anyway...I must have jinxed myself because we were in bed by 8:30 and he was up by 10:30 and then on and off for the rest of the night. Last night, we went to bed around 10:30, I guess I figured what's the point in laying down early, I will just get woken up soon anyway. We made it till about 1:45 when we woke to Boog coughing and hacking like he was a dying seal. Oh great, croup! Thanks! He was screaming like a wild animal, coughing, barking, crouping, crying, flipping out, freaking out and just plain going ballistic. My thought was...get him downstairs before he wakes the rest of them up! (I know, sensitive mother!) I remembered what the doctor had said each time we take him in for this, "take him out into the cool night air and he will begin breathing better." Uh huh, yea right! I am sure the neighbors were giving us the what for from their beds at around 2am. He was screaming and crying and flipping out wanting to go inside. I tried to calm him down, tried to explain that the cool air would help with his breathing...yadda yadda. He was not buying it. We finally convinced him to hush long enough to get him inside and do a breathing treatment, we had done inhalers while outside. We got him hooked up to the nebulizer and turned on the tv. Yay, we are watching tv at 2:30am! Just what I want to be doing. All the while I am crossing my fingers and praying that the commotion does not wake Mr Crabby in the Middle of the Night Pants! So...it is 2:30 and we are watching the new Disney Channel show Chuggington. Great. Not sleeping. Watching tv.

I try to convince Boog to sleep on the couch (it is way cooler downstairs) with someone, his choice, mommy or daddy. Nope, he is not having any part of that so upstairs we go, praying still. We get loaded up in the bed, Boog goes to sleep within 5 minutes, I get rolled over and snuggled up and comfortable and guess what happens!?! Yep, Tutti-Frutti is awake. Great. I go and pat him back to sleep, do not pick him up and SCORE he dozes back off so back to bed I go. I load up, roll over, snuggle up, close my eyes and guess what?!? Yep...it's him again. Great. I go back in, pat him to sleep, do not pick him up and SCORE he dozes back off so back to bed I go. This time, I load up, roll over, snug...CRAP. He is up again already. Does this kid ever sleep? What is wrong with my sweet precious baby boy? Why will he not sleep?!? So...back in, pat him to sleep, do not pick him up and SCORE...one last time. He is asleep good this time. Head back to bed, load up, roll over, snuggle up, close my eyes and bingo. I am sleeping. It is now 4am. 5am rolls around...guess what? Yep. Nevermind, send dad to get him, put him in the bed, I give up, nurse him, doze off and the FREAKIN ALARM GOES OFF!!! UGGG!

Today we had Boog's teacher conference at school to determine Kindergarten readiness...they say that he is ready. I am not.

We had music today. It was fun. An old friend from 4 years back who had a daughter in one of Boog's classes rejoined Tutti-Frutti's class with her new little girl. It was great to see them.

Come home, husband sick, big kids out to play nicely with each other (yay) have dinner, little kids cranky, husband with chills and cranky, put kids and husband to bed, come downstairs and (very quitely) do the "THANK GOD EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE IS ASLEEP" dance.

wheew. But I will leave you with a few shots from today. These were right before my crazy dog escaped from the house, (he NEVER runs off, until today) and headed across the road, to poop in the neighbor's yard (UGG) then disappear to the back of another neighbor's house, INTO their backyard (why was their gate open?) and up to BARK at THEIR backdoor, which was by the way being opened by one of their guests. Great, not only are my and I both in their backyard (uninvited) but we are caught! Sheesh...





i love my family!

Not me! Monday

Welcome to Not me! Monday, where we can be brutally honest and live to tell about it.

This weekend, my hubby and I did not get to have yet another night out this month (making the grand total stand at 2) with friends. Nope, not us, we always stay home every night, of every weekend to make sure we are the one putting the kiddos to bed. It was not a friend's birthday shindig that we attended and it was not at a karaoke bar! It was not an absolute blast either. Nope, we stood in a corner bored the whole time!

Being the shy gal that I am, while at the shindig, I did not join other women and actually sing a few songs either. Nope, way to super shy for that one!

This week, the kids are not out of school for a few extra days. They have to go every single day this week! So, as for making the best of them not having days off, I absolutely did not make a dental appointment for 3/4 of them on a day my husband has to work. Nope, what...do I look that crazy?!?

I am not enjoying this cold weather that blew back in either. Nope, not me. I hate the cold!

I am not thrilled that MOPS started again last Friday. I mean who would be excited about hanging out with their friends on a Friday morning, eating good food and having a 2 hour break from kiddos? Not me!

Ok, join the fun...head on over to MckMama's and join us! Happy Not me'ing!