A sigh of relief.......

So we all can breath easy down here in SA. We found out today that Shawn got the job he interviewed for at his current place of employment. He is really excited about starting fresh in a new department and double-ly excited about getting back in to sales......plus its in a totally different building which is even closer to our house.....he starts mid August so we will have him home for a few more weeks.....Yeah! House projects anyone???? Maybe we will get our painting done!......Anyway, just wanted to share the good news of the day.....His new Director and VP are both excited and feel Shawn will be a great fit in their division.......I am excited that our health care and benefits don't change! Phew!......

Super Sunny Sunday.....

Oh man is it hot out.....Well, it's always hot out. Who am I kidding in July in Texas.....So after having 1 and 1/2 straight days of rain thanks to Hurricane Dolly we are back to our HOT HOT days.....Gotta love the upper 90's.....It was funny, when it was raining, I was thinking how much the grey skies and clouds reminded me of Seattle but all I had to do was walk outside and feel how warm it was with the rain and be reminded that we are indeed in Texas......But man it was nice to finally get some good rain......

We have just been hanging around the house most of the time....Soaking up all this Daddy time. We have not heard back from Shawn's second interview on Wed....but we knew the HR lady working on this position was out all last week, so hopefully we will hear early this coming week....Shawn felt pretty good after the interview, and thought if he didn't get it, it would be because his sales experience is not in the banking industry, but you never know as some of that stuff is teachable.....We will let you know what we here....

Today we had a picnic at the park......Sarah had given me a list of some good parks in our area and kid friendly places so last night we decided we would get out early this morning and have lunch at Orsinger County Park, the goal was to play, play, play and eat all before it got tooooo hot out.....The girls had a great time.....Lila too, she loves the playscapes.....quite the daredevil I must say.....Reminds me a lot of my friend Melissa's daughter Natalie when she was younger.....Lila is not shy to try new things.....The girls loved having our picnic....they even helped make their sandwiches before we left.....Fun for all.....and pretty close to the house.....

Playing & Park July 08

So after going back and forth and around and around I think I have finally come up with a theme for Lila's room.....I originally wanted to do something brown/pink/fuchsia but its just to common for me now.....and I thought about getting Central Park Toile Bedding in Pink and I like it, but had second thoughts....So after searching and getting ideas we are going to go with a French Inspired Whimsical Garden theme.....and am going to play off these sheets below, they are actually from Pottery Barn Kids.......funny cause they were my first choice.....and when we get Lila and big girl bed I will get the pink comforter shown below in blue (also shown below), that is if they still have it in blue....if not Pink would be ok too.....shoot maybe I will buy it all after we are in a situation when I can afford to splurge.....
.....but anyway it will be nice to add some green, blue and bright pink to her room to go with the light pink already in there....and I can not wait to go to the antique shops nearby and look for whimsical items that I can incorporate in to her theme.....all will have to wait until Shawn gets a job, but its so fun to plan!!!.....He too is excited about the theme and even helped me pick out the sheets.......and we are thinking of doing some more painting on one of the walls, maybe diamonds, or stripes or who knows.....

Up to our old tricks......

Wow, the last two days have totally flown by.....I finally got back in to the gym Monday morning and will be there every morning this week.....Shawn and I have a bet going and I hate to lose.....anyway I have a new favorite cardio machine at the gym.....I am addicted.....its a Precor AMT......Love it....and I actually have some sore muscles today....My favorite thing about it is you have to pretty much flex your core stomach muscles to even operate.....I just feel like I am running on air.....Today was another good workout....and I am burning more calories then I use too....I guess I just finally feel more motivated....I bet it because of the bet.....Hmmm....

So yesterday we went to Home Depot.....Shawn got a gift card for his birthday and spend, spend, spend we went.....Best time too, take advantage of Shawn being home to do some projects.....Well we ended up getting our dark accent paint for the living (great room).....we are actually going to paint 3 colors in our great room....plus the ceiling.....We also got a pink for Lila's room....we feel it will be a good base coat to play off of....all the paint we got was the Freshaire Choice, we absolutely love this paint....there are not a ton of bright colors but its just really nice to paint and not have the over barring scent and again be Eco-Friendly.....Its also nice to be able to live in the room, or in Lila's case we started her room this morning and she gets to sleep in it tonight....Anyway so we also got two new sconces to replace some U-G-L-Y brass ones.....the new ones were on sale and a super good deal....and we were able to put CFL bulbs in them....Love it.....So here are some pics of some of the stuff we have been up too....We still need to paint the ceiling (Need a 18ft ladder first) and then the other 3 walls (you can kind of see the colors I have picked out in my photos).....and of course the playroom and the twins room and the 3 bathrooms....and the kitchen, but we will get there.....I must say now that we have part of the living room painted I am itching to get it done.......We think it is going to look great.....

Painting Fun July 08

Today has been a great day.......The girls and I headed across the street for a play date....so nice to literally walk across the street.....Sarah and her daughter Naomi (2.5 yrs) had come by yesterday to ask us if we wanted to play....the girls were THRILLED and so was I.....I have always enjoyed talking to Sarah outside and looked forward to getting to know her better....the funny think is she always manages to come by when our house is a total wreck.....Oh well.....We hung out over there for most of the morning....it allowed Shawn to paint Lila's room with out interruptions.....Anyway we had a great time and Sarah invited me to join a mommy group that will start up again in the fall....they meet for guest speakers, and play dates, and Mommy Coffee Nights and what not.....Sounds like it will be fun....she said most of the moms are young and fun.....Sarah is pregnant with her 2nd child due in November.....a girl of course......they are such great neighbors....

Tonight we had the a great dinner and Shawn thought it was blog worthy.....so here is a pic....it was Texas BBQ Pork Chops, Creamy Cheesy Crock pot Corn, BBQ Black Beans and Fried Okra.....can I just tell you all my kids LOVED the Okra.....I will be posting the corn recipe soon on the Breezy....It was super good and easy.....and I am totally full......of course look at our plates.

So we do not have too much going on the rest of the week.....Shawn has a 2nd interview tomorrow at his company.....hopefully something will pan out with this, but he is still plugging away with his job search.....we are remaining up beat.....So we shall see.....

A weekend in the Sun....

Ahhh, one thing Southern Texas is not lacking is Sunny Weather, well that is now that Shawn's parents are gone.....This weekend was no exception....It was a warm one. And we pretty much spent the weekend out in it. Saturday we got a late start but ended up making it to SeaWorld for Texas Cougar Day (A day for Washington State University Alums living in Texas to go to SeaWorld and hang out) and since we have Seasons Passes we really had no excuse not to go. I am so glad we did though, we all had a great time, we of course started in Coug Fashion by having a few free Cervezas in the Anheuser-Busch Hospitality House.....Love it. We do now have a new house rule, "No SeaWorld on Saturdays".....especially in July.....HOLY MOLY there were so many people there on Saturday...
Today has been pretty relaxing, we headed out to Costco around noontime for some staples and of course some lunch.....I mean you really can not beat lunch for the 5 of us for under $6.00, sure the Polish Dog I had was more calories then I needed but oh well, you only live once......We had another warm day and so we stayed cool by hanging out at the pool most of the afternoon.....All of the girls love the pool.....its the little things......Now I am chilling watching the ESPYs on ESPN....I do love it when Hollywood and Sport mixes.....and I must say Justin Timberlake is the perfect host for this.....Love it.....here are just a few shot from today.....

One of those moments....

So a funny thing happened to me tonight.....I was shaping my eyebrows (long overdue and much needed).....first off I must say I have the best eyebrow shaping kit from Anastasia (you can get it at Nordstrom too)....anywho....I was plucking away in a mirror that makes your face look gigantic and I started to notice them....you know them....lines, pour marks, blemishes, tired eyes......lets just say my face wouldn't look so hot in High Definition......for the first time in a long time I really stared at myself....."Wow" I thought......"I am really starting to show some age!".......and I am not writing this to make you feel sorry for me or tell me its normal.....but I just really feel so immature inside sometimes and so young that I was caught off guard at the site in the mirror.....a sight showing the early signs of just getting older.....my skin is not so elastic as it use to be.....and that doesn't just go for the face.....Yes, Yes, I do use face cream everyday.....and I have started to use Daily Moisture lotion for my body that contains SPF 15 (Thanks Nanna for leaving the Lubriderm Lotion, I love it) and I drink TONs of water and do my best to eat healthy and get my exercise in......I guess its all about getting older and growing up.....I suppose I am not such a spring chick anymore......just wanted to share in case any of you other ladies may be feeling the same.....

Friendship Bread Fiasco......Just say NO!

Ok, so note to self.....If someone comes knocking with a Friendship Bread starter do not answer.....turn down the lights.....turn off the noise......and act like you are not home.....If you end up answering.....remember to give ALL your starters away.....Ok, Ok, I am being silly.....but seriously, until I read that I could freeze it, I have been making Friendship Bread like mad......it was fine when Shawn's Parents were here.....until I decided I didn't have anyone to give the starters too.....so Yes, I kept all 4......So the good news is I did learn you can freeze them....but I had already started the 10 day process so I couldn't really freeze any until today.....and speaking of today can I just tell you I am baked out......I baked 6 loaves of Friendship Bread (I only have 2 pans) and made a Chocolate Pudding Cake out of a Friendship Bread starter......and I still didn't use all the starters I had.....Yes, I had to throw one out....but was excited that I could find so many variations of what to do with the starter....there are two more beside the chocolate that I want to make.....But for now I am taking a break and have stored my 4 starters in the freezer.....Now we just need to eat the a ton of bread on my counter.......but we all like it so I am sure it won't last long.....I may go give some to the single guys across the street......We shall see.....

Other then my baking insane-ness and working, I have not done much else today......I have tons of laundry to fold.....YUP, my laundry washer is back to his old tricks of washing and washing and washing w/o folding......I suppose its ok since he is not a very good folder anyway (sorry honey)......The girls had a good day tearing apart their room.....they called it "Playing a game," but they slid their mattresses off their toddler daybeds and were sliding down them into a pile of stuffed animals.....I should have taken some pics....but they played "this game" for a 2-3 hours.....All we could hear from downstairs was non-stop girly giggling.....So funny......even Lila was enjoying the fun! She sure does love her big sister time!

MJ was excited when I checked the mail and Nanna had sent her an American Girl Catalog (MJ calls it her Dollie Magazine)....Now she won't put it down.....See what I mean.....

And here is a pic of Kiara helping me in the kitchen.....she was taking a pic of me and the cake.....but I caught her with my camera.....

Getting back into it.....

Well with Nanna and Grandpa gone and Shawn home, we are busy getting back into the groove of life....Today I spent most of the day catching up on my work....I actually put in an 8 hour day....haven't done one of those in awhile....and I still have more work to do....it's all good I suspected I would be spending today and tomorrow playing catch up......

Lila has been speaking pretty well lately and she totally cracked me up this morning.....she did one of those "No, No, No" while shaking her head and pointing her finger.....Now I am wondering if I point my finger when I say no.....I really must watch myself.....but seriously "NO" is her new favorite word....and she says it in so many different pitches.....just depends on what she is doing....or what the twins are doing to her.....or taking from her....but she is by far the most vocal screamer of our girls and I suppose that is the way it should be considering she is the youngest.....And today Lila tried to go "Goth".....seriously its blue marker.....but from far away it could pass....The twins now know to put their markers away when they are done with them...
So today was box day.....Grandma sent a box to the girls last week and let me tell you they were thrilled when they saw the UPS man head towards our door.....and they couldn't wait to see what was inside.....can you see the excitement in their faces???So yes the twins got Cinderella Princess dresses....they LOVE them and we now have glitter all over our house....lets just say it "Sparkles!".......Lila got a Minnie Mouse dress that is adorable and she will be able to wear it for awhile.....and of course they all had to put them on right then.....they also got the cutest purses....they are totally small and cute and came with "Cash" as the girls call it.....So thanks Grandma.....we love it all.....

Bye Bye King Johnson & Banana Nanna Anna

Ahhh so where did we leave off......Our visit with Nanna and Grandpa has ended, Shawn dropped his parents off at the airport early this morning.....We sure did enjoy their stay......the girls have new nicknames for them as you can see by the title.....they also have started calling daddy "Big Brown" ever since the rode him like a horse with their cowboy hats on.....So funny....

Tuesday the boys went out for most of the day and had a guys day at the bar.....they played some shuffle board and pool......from the sounds of it they all had a great time, while Nanna and I stayed home with the girls and did projects......So Wednesday Anna and I headed out for our girls day filled with shoe shopping, kitchen gadget shopping, Lunch with White Peach Sangria all at La Cantera, and then we hit a glass art store Stained Glass Crafters Workbench, which was pretty cool and the ladies were super nice and they have TONS of classes....I am thinking about signing up for a refresher course on cutting glass again....(for those of you who don't know, I use to do stained glass in High School, I made 2-3 windows it was pretty cool)....I think fusing glass would be so fun and also glass bead making.....we shall see....Anyway I got a new pair of heels, some kitchen mixing bowls (which are bright and awesome), some 25 year old Balsamic Vinegar (Yummy!) .....Anna also got shoes and kitchen stuff and fun supplies.....We had a great time. That night we met up with the family and we all went to dinner at La Fogata. Seriously the best Margaritas in town. I love this place it really makes you feel like you are some where else....The outdoor seating is the best.....and the food very good!
I think that brings me to Thursday....Shawn had an interview at his company for another position.....he feels it went pretty well and we are confident that he will have a second interview.....Hopefully it will go well too and he gets this job.....but if not he continues to apply and follow up on other jobs down here.....after his interview we headed to SeaWorld.....We caught a few shows and checked out the dolphin pool, penguins and sharks.....we ended our visit with the kids cooling off in Shamu Harbor.....I think next visit (which will be Saturday the 19th for Texas Cougar Day) we will hit the water park that is inside SeaWorld.......On our way home we stopped at Rudy's for some BBQ....soooo good....and then home we went all tired and full. Later that night Shawn and I snuck out for our Homeowners Association meeting.....It was at Matamoros a Mexican restaurant close to the neighborhood.......the meeting was ok, got to meet some more neighbors and got to know some neighbors better....can't really go wrong with free food and some quality time together away from the kids. Plus Nanna and Grandpa got to spend some QT with the grandkids.....

Let see yesterday we celebrated Joel's birthday a few weeks early.....he got a really cool gift from his parents.....here is a pic of it.....and you can get them at Sticks & Stones......it says FAMILY in case you can not tell.....anyway it's very cool.....and of course he got a necklace from the twins....Joel had a few things to to in the AM for work so the rest of us headed out to breakfast at Le Peep, another great meal there.....that afternoon Nanna and I slipped away to get a pedicure.....AHHH, I love them so much and hadn't had one in a long time.....We went to Spa Jane and had a great time. The place is pretty funky and cool. I really can not wait till the girls are older.....it will be so fun to take them to a place like this.....My new toe color is Flashbulb Fuchsia.......I love it! We ended our night with some Pool time and Steaks for Joel's birthday dinner.....Gotta love good quality family time......

We just want to thank Nanna and Grandpa for everything.....and especially Grandpa for helping Shawn do all the little projects around the house, the water softener leak in the laundry room, the leaky kitchen faucet, the magnetic tot locks on my kitchen cabinet (so nice to keep all the cleaners in one locked spot that is easy to open), the hose reel outside, I may have left something out but anyway......I really appreciate it!.......I will end with some pics.....

2nd Half Harper Visit

Just having too much fun.......

So to all you faithful I to apologize.....many of you have emailed or called to see how we are and I appreciate it.....We are doing great and really enjoying our time with Nanna and Grandpa.....We have been on the go so much that I just hadn't had the time to upload all the photos and sit down to blog.....my free moments on the the computer have been dedicated to getting all my work done.......but on this lovely Tuesday morning I have plenty of time to catch you all up on some of the highlights......Can I just say we have had a lot of rain the past few days.....it has been so nice.....ok on with it.....

The first few days were filled with workouts, grocery shopping, project shopping and good ole catching up and even a few card games....Harper vs Harper Canasata is always fun........Then there was the 4th of July......We laid low, stay home and BBQ'ed the traditional Hamburgers, Hot dogs, Macaroni Salad and drank these blue drinks.......so good and so fun.....

Saturday we all loaded in the the Suburban and headed up to Austin......We had lunch on the lake/river which reminded me so much of my summers at Lake Chelan......I ate one of the best burgers I have had in a long time......The girls loved eating right next to the water and the LOVED seeing all the boats.....Now they want to go on a boat ride......After lunch we drove through UT's (University of Texas) campus very cool.....and did some shopping.......We ate some really gooooood Italian Gelato.....Kiara was covered from head to toe in chocolate......Of course we didn't take and pics.....Anyway it was a great day up in Austin.....its so Beautiful up there.....just love all the water, hills and green trees......

Sunday it was a project morning......Nanna and I helped the twins start a paper mache' project......Our plan was to make Pinatas for Daddy and Uncle Joel's birthday.....I must say that Daddy's Birthday was yesterday and the pinatas are still drying.....oh well we will get them done......Nanna and Grandpa watched the girls on Sunday afternoon so Shawn and I could go to a movie......We had a great time we went and saw Wanted, we both really enjoyed the movie and our time away from the kiddos.....while we were out Nanna, Grandpa and Uncle Joel did a few more projects with the girls. They made some marbled colored paper with Shaving Cream and also beaded some necklaces.......From what the girls told us they had a SUPER GREAT TIME.......Love it......

Yesterday was Shawn's 32nd Birthday.....we did what he wanted to do.....We went to a Western Wear store. Grandpa and the girls all got Cowboy Hats......They are awesome....The girls LOVE them.....We also got Lila's ceiling painted with this eco friendly paint called Freshaire Choice, you can get it at Home Depot, its a little more expensive but the kids can help and Lila was able to sleep in her own room on the same night we painted. We are actually going to use this same paint in the living/dining area.....So the reason we only painted the ceiling was I wanted Shawn to put on Lila's new ceiling fan (Thanks Nanna/Grandpa) since her room is so hot and the fan she had in there did absolutely nothing........He wouldn't put it up unless we painting the ceiling......well now its done......and once Shawn gets a new job we will finish painting her room.....but it looks fine for now.........We finished the night with an awesome dinner of Shawn's choice, everything on the grill, Steak, Shrimp, Asparagus, Bread, Jerry's Margaritas......and a Double Chocolate, Mousse Cake that Nanna made......Lets just say my workout was much needed this morning.....Burn that cake off......Probably my favorite part of Shawn's Birthday was that he wore a beaded necklace that the girls made him......I mean he wore it ALL DAY.....didn't matter where we went yesterday, he had it on.....Love it!!!

So here is an overload of pics from the last week or sooo......YES, there are a bunch......Enjoy!

1st half Harper Visit