Some of the best lessons....

I must say some of the best lessons on parenting are taught by our children....as I was reminded by today....So with daddy gone I decided that it would be fun to totally focus on the kids for dinner.....picking things that they would think were fun to eat but also something new....Now, I have to say when I decide to eat "Junk" food we go all out and get it done with and then go back to eating healthy the next day.....On the menu tonight was crescent dogs, tater tots w/3 dipping sauces and brownies....Yup, you read it right, nothing green in there at all, we were totally bad!

So the kiddos helped me assemble everything and here is where a life lesson was taught again to me by Mikiah, we were rolling up the dogs and I was a little frustrated that a few were not perfect (indeed I can be a perfectionist in the kitchen) and so MJ says "Its ok Mommy, they will still cook fine!"......You know she is right, relax mommy, let the kids do it there way and learn hands on, leave your perfection hat at the door!.......She was so sweet, and I do love having them help me in the kitchen, she just reminded me again about patience and perfection.....I need a lot of one and not so much of the other.....Look at these little sous chefs....

The girls loved dinner and we are all full, although we all agreed no cheese next time....but it was still good...I may need to hit the gym a little harder but it was all worth it...So fun! Daddy was well missed at dinner.....but hey more brownies for the rest of us!!! Hee hee!

Take me with you......

.....Definitely on the minds of Lila and me for different reason I am sure....Shawn headed out this afternoon for Dallas....he will be back on Wednesday afternoon......so just a short trip this week and another one next week.......Sales training......Fun for him to get away for a little bit.....Lila really wanted to go with him.....jelly face and all....

Daddy please take me with you?

Pretty Please.......See I fit.....

I must say I enjoy Shawn's little trips.....it helps me get some much needed me time.....although this trip Joel and Mayday are here....but Mayday is recovering well and pretty much back to his normal self.....so not sure how much longer they will be here.....but its all good cause Shawn will be gone again next week.....like I was saying it will be nice to catch up on my shows that I haven't been able to watch lately....Holy NCAA Football Game and Preseason NFL.....don't get me wrong I like watching the NFL, but could do with out the preseason games....I find them Lame!.....Why do the pros need preseason anyway, I mean they are pros after all, isn't that what the off season is for!........Oh well, I do not have too much planned while daddy is away, library for the kiddos....the gym for me and the kids (gotta love the kids club)....and maybe even the park.....the kids want to paint daddy some pictures while he is gone so I suppose we will do that too....Ahhh well it is Monday and I am off to do some work while the kids are resting.......

For the Grandparents....

So here is a slightly boring video Miss Lila eating some Spaghetti....some may find quite boring....But as mommy I could watch several times....Nice to know my daughter loves spaghetti as much as I do....I tried to get her to do her 'MMMMMmmm' face, which is really funny.....maybe another time...

Can we please ban these from TV......

So Kiara asked me today if I needed Levitra? Its 9.00 am, Shawn and I are watching MSNBC catching up on politics and she walks in the room, hears the commercial on TV and then innocently asks me the question......My answer....No honey those pills are not for women....she quickly responds with "Oh, ok mommy, Daddy do you need Levitra?".....Oh man...."No, No Kiara I do not need those either".....Obviously she doesn't know what they are (a drug for ED) but this roots a bigger issue....Do we really need to SEE drug adds on TV......What happened to the days of old when you go to you Doctor talk about your issues and they come up with a solution or medication to treat the ailments......Is TV really the place for these ads?.....I mean I get it, drug companies our out to make money, but seriously the US has banned Hard Alcohol Ads on TV aren't some of these drugs just as dangerous....and not to mention our drugged society.....America is the most medicated country in the world....something we should not be proud of....I would have to think that these ads have a little bit to do with it.......Ok, Ok, I am totally rambling now.....but you see my point?

"American Prayer".....

Well it's been awhile since I have posted anything that may have to do with Barack Obama's Presidential campaign....but I wanted to share this vid, British artist Dave Stewart co-wrote the song with Bono....With the Democratic National convention next week....I felt this was appropriate to post today.....Here is to Change and restoring Hope in America.....Obama 08!

The shoes are here.....

As you can see from the new title pic MJ's shoes finally arrived....She loves them....and of course hers are the pink ones....I too ended up ordering a pair....I must say I really like these shoes and they are great for slipping on and running around.......and can I tell you how light they are....wow.....time to retire my old slip-ons......here is the totally cheesy picture I promised....At least we all have different taste!

Gotta Love Texas Rain.....

Wow, today was a wild one for weather, amidst the upper 80s we had today was down pouring hot rain.....I must say I love it.....it usually lasts 10-15 min and the Poof, blue skies, sunny and muggy....So during one of the rain storms we had a little bit of fun with some rainy day activities......The girls were begging me to get out the finger paints and so we did.....I am always amazed at how fast they do some activities....I think they were done finger painting in 10 minutes top.....So funny....but I must say Lila did well with her first finger painting experience....she only tried to eat the paint once......
Lila's big excitement today was that I moved her from her high chair to a booster seat at the table.....She LOVES it.....No more dumping food or spilling her milk all over the place.....it is nice....she even likes her snacks in her booster.....
Other then my work out early AM, walk around the 'hood with the kids, art projects and work.......we didn't do too much else.....Lila did try to help empty the dishwasher.....Yes, she is standing ON the dishwasher door.......
Mayday is finally out of the Vet Hospital..........He had one of his back legs removed on Friday and since Joel's place is 3 flights up they both will be staying with us for a week or two, living downstairs.......For those that didn't know Mayday has a type of bone cancer and this operation will alleviate 100% of his pain and hopefully help him live a few more years.....We are happy to have Mayday here recouping.....I mean who can resist this face......

Sure are getting big.....

So this morning was filled with yard work.....Trimming, Pruning, Thinning, you name it, we did it.....This Monday is our Bi-Annual Brush pick up day.....think of it as Free Trip to the Dump Day, but you don't have to take it there.....They pick it up.....So we have a huge pile of limbs, brush and trash on our sidewalk.....its always interesting to see what people are throwing out....your allowed to start putting stuff on the sidewalk about a week early.....which is fun for a nosey neighbor like me....it has been a treat to check out what people are throwing out...

After a morning of hard work we treating ourselves to a little bit of shopping.....its a Tax Free weekend here on clothing and shoes under $100......so we wanted to take advantage of that......Thanks to Grandma Paula the Twins and Shawn got new shoes at Nordstrom....I was going to buy shoe goo to fix his old pair when my mom offered to get him a new pair in celebration of his new position.....So thanks again Mom....Shawn loves his new shoes....As do the twins, Kiara and MJ got some new Nike Mary Janes......I like them so much that I may order me a pair.....the funny thing is Lila has a pair too....I got her pair about 8 months ago....we probably will look pretty silly if we all have them but who cares plus they are all different colors.....I am still debating ordering myself a pair......do I need them....my slip on Sketchers are wearing out....back and forth.....We shall see.....I am still in shock at how big Kiara's feet are right now....She is wearing a 10.5, geesh before we know it she will be in big girl sizes.....MJ is a 9-9.5 depending on the shoe....I guess I was just caught off guard....poor girl has been squeezing into her 8-9 size Crocs.....Bad Mommy.....She can not stop talking about her new shoes.....After Nordstrom we went to Target.....Since we had to order MJ's shoes (they didnt have her size in the color she wanted and let me tell you she HAD to have the bright PINK ones) I wanted to get her a new pair of flip flops....we found a pink cheap pair and she was super happy.......All in all a good day out shopping.....

So I have put together two albums below....the girls are totally into making faces and as you can see Kiara LOVES the camera.....she loves to take pictures and she loves them taken of her......Can we say Diva!

Enjoying our time....

We have been just resting down here and enjoying our last week with Daddy before he goes back to work on Monday. He is thrilled to be starting his new job.....but I must say it has been nice having him home for the last 6 weeks.....We got lots done around the house.....Too bad we didn't save enough money to head up north.....Oh well we will get WA State soon.....

Yesterday morning was about the girls.....we took them to the library to check out books and for storytime, but they are not starting storytime back up again until Sept, so we played for a little bit outside and then headed to McDonald's for lunch.....the girls were sooooo excited as we have not been to McD's in about 6 months.....After the girls Chicken McNugget Happy Meals we headed to Costco as Mommy had a craving for Non Fat Frozen Yogurt Swirl (Choc and Vanilla)....I wanted a twist cone but they didn't have Chocolate at McD.....Strange....but the Costco Frozen Yogurt was a big hit.....there was a ton so we all shared it.....YUMMY!....

When we got home the girls had me read 10 of the 17 library books they checked out.....we always seem to zoom through them.....They love to listen to stories so I suppose I should be thankful for that! Today or tomorrow we will head to the Park or SeaWorld.....Who knows.....all we know is we really want to enjoy this last 4 days with Daddy being home.....

Honey, You have paint in your hair......

Well we are almost wrapped up with our painting project.....We got everything done but the girls bathroom upstairs, but Shawn will finish that tomorrow....But we did paint the kitchen, which was not planned....we had enough of our main color to wrap it through the kitchen and since I am really not sure what all I want to do in there this color will work in the mean time....Now as you will notice our walls are pretty bare.....in time we will get some artwork and some window treatments......So enough with my talkie talk......

The Playroom....and the Twins.....

Ok so here is the playroom.....it was a dirty/pale tan before......these first 2 pics were taken before I hung pictures but they were also shot with natural light from the window.....the rest were taken late tonight with the light on.......I absolutely love this green.....and since the playroom will not always be a playroom I feel this color will work as the room changes.....or until I get bored and need to paint the room again.....The only thing left to add to the playroom is an LCD HDTVw/built in DVD player......we are going small for this room since we do not want that to be the focus of the room.....we are talking maybe a 19-20 inch one.....we will mount it on the wall where the girls comfy chairs are facing.....the big blank spot.....trust me you will see the big blank spot.......

So we finally got our doorbell replaced too.....I love the new one.....We had one of those old thin brass ones......A nice upgrade for a little money.....

Now on to the twins room......I will warn you, its white and I mean WHITE and bare....but with good reason.....I know I will be posting more pics when we finally finish their room....but this is a beginning.....My original plan for their room was to paint it white and then get about 8 bright colors and paint circles all over the room with colors overlapping.....my inspiration was a Neiman Marcus shopping bag.....the pics below do not do the bag justice....its bright shiny white with tons of bright colored circles.... I basically want there room to be bright and colorful.....So the problem came when looking at paint colors.....I found them.....but none of the colors I wanted were available in the no VOC Eco-Friendly paint....and it just wouldn't look the same with out the bright colors......So I got to thinking and now we are going to paint the same circles in bright colors just like above on stretched canvas that we are going to be purchasing and painting bright white first.....since Shawn and I like to paint this should be fun for all......plus there are tons more color choices in painters paint. We are even going to let the twins paint there own canvases......They have already picked their bedding, polka dots Kiara Blue & MJ Pink, now we just need to get the big girl beds and some window treatments....The girls will also paint their letters that are hanging on the wall.....So now that you know what we are thinking, just imagine the pics below with lots of painted stretched canvases hanging on the wall.....with bright circles of overlapping color......(Oh and just so you know it was at the twins request that we push their beds together, they love to be close to each other)........

Painting, Painting and MORE Painting.....

Yes, that is what we have been up too.....Thanks to Home Depot running a 12 month no interest (which is a great way to buy things as long as you pay it off in those 12 months) we bought all the paint for most of the rest of the house and a big effing ladder.....(do I hear Christmas Lights all over the outside of the house!!!).....When we are done finishing this big feat of painting we will only have 2 bathrooms left to paint and the kitchen walls.....Can I just tell you all how crazy I am with my house in upheaval.....ahahhahah! Messy everywhere.....everything out of sorts.....no room on the counter to cook....I am going a bit insane.....but the walls look AWESOME....We have 1 more coat for the highest part of the ceiling and 1 more coat for 2 of the living room walls and then I can put the living, dining, kitchen back in order......We have finished the playroom, the upstairs hall, and downstairs entryway and most of the living room.......I was gonna post some pics today.....but I want to finish hanging some pictures and add few more touches before I post anything.....We hope to be done by Sunday Night.....which is when I am planning on posting all the pics.....We have the twins room and their bathroom left.....which both will be bright white and I will explain why later.......and over the next month or two the twins room will slowly transform into the room I have planned....then its decorating, decorating, decorating....which for me will be hard as I don't want the same pieces of artwork hanging on my walls that the neighbors may have......Yes, I want unique pieces of art that express who Shawn and I are....It will be fun.....Maybe I can even talk Shawn into painting some pics for the house (he is an awesome painter for those that didn't know).....Hope everyone has a great weekend....Especially Erin, Happy Birthday!!!!

Uncle Merman???.......

So we have been having a good time the past two days.....the mood in the house is great and happiness is infectious....We have been celebrating Uncle Joel's 31st birthday......His birthday was Friday......So we spent the afternoon with him before he headed up to Austin to whoop it up with his boyz......He really wanted Meatballs for his birthday so Friday I whipped up G-Dad's Spicy Meatballs.....I made a ton.....I was able to make some cocktail ones for Joel before he left for Austin, they were good by the way.......The girls couldn't wait until Saturday to give Joel his presents (which is when we planned to have his party with the cheesecake birthday cake)......So he got to open them on his birthday......Speaking of his party, the girls picked the theme for him....They selected 'The Little Mermaid"......and boy did they have fun shopping at Party City for the decorations.....They picked out Ariel rings for themselves and Uncle Joel, streamers, balloons, banner, plates, cups, napkins and a Little Mermaid Candle for his cake........They even had more fun decorating this morning....and couldn't wait for Uncle Joel to come back from Austin.....and man were they excited to see him......So excited they were ready to eat dinner right when he got home so we could "Start" the party.....and because we were still celebrating Joel's B-Day on the menu for dinner was Meatball Subs....Uncle Joel loved them as did MJ....and the cake too was a big hit.....Homemade New York Cheesecake w/Raspberry Puree' and Bittersweet Chocolate Sauce......Can we say "Holy Yummy!".....It was good......

Joel's 31st Mermaid Party

Along with Joel's B-Day Party today.....it was also DB's Birthday today she is 8 years old now....we have finally put her on food for old doggies......but today was her special day so today she got 1 scoop of vanilla ice cream.....She LOVED it.....glad I am not the one that cleans up the poop in the yard!!!.....Tee Hee!

Other then that we have just been working on home projects and taking advantage of Shawn being home.....Project Number 1.....

Old Entry Way Light

New Light

I have been Tagged.....

So I have been tagged by Peaches and Posh to list 5 Things I love most and then tag 5 other people.....Only 5 things....hmmm this should be pretty easy....

1. Family is definitely at the top of my list. I LOVE my Family!!!

2. I love my Home! It took us longer then most of our friends to purchase a house and let me tell you I LOVE IT, I love decorating it and painting it and all that comes with home ownership...even the crazy stuff...

3. Cooking...as most of you know I love to cook. It is a passion of mine and I believe I could spend hours in the kitchen creating recipes.....So fun!

4. Fall......My favorite season, a sign that College Football is in full swing, although down here in Texas I will probably miss my Falls' of old.....Crisp Blue Sky in Boston, MA with the leaves turning on the tree lined streets along with the Sunny Breezy Air of Pullman, WA.....Probably my two favorite places for The Fall Season......

5. I love being green....I love recycling and reusing....We always have more recycling then garbage and I love that! I can not wait until the day we can afford Solar Panels for our roof.....

Who am I tagging......Hmmm.....Erin, Molly, Charity, Amie and Jill........