It's almost over!!

My softball team has done pretty well this season. We came in 2nd behind the Thunder...our arch enemies!! If there is any team we hate it is the Thunder!! If there is any team we have to beat it is the Thunder...and we did...last week. It was sweet! Anyways, we are in the tournament phase of the season and it is down to the final 2 teams...to fight it out this Saturday... And those teams are none other than the Riptide (us) and the Thunder. Here are the girls tonight when we won...they are so excited...and we know we can beat them!! They're a pretty tough team though so it will take some work so this should be a pretty good game. Wish us luck...we'll keep ya posted.

what does it all mean?

My Grandma Krauss passed away back in March. She was 96...this picture was taken exactly a year before she died...didn't she look great!! I loved her so much and she and I were pretty close. She had pecan trees in her yard the whole time I was growing up and she made the best pecan pie ever!! I remember sometimes just peeling pecans with her and eating them on her front porch. Every time we would get together she would tell me stories of when she was younger...great stories. And every time I went to Texas I would surprise her. We never told her I was coming so then when I would get there she was always so surprised and so happy. I haven't been back to Texas since her funeral but it's going to be sad...I just thought about that...I will never be able to surprise her again. Anyways, I didn't realize it until today but I hadn't even dreamed about her since she died, until last night. It was so real to me. I walked into her room and she was laying in her bed and was so surprised to see me. All I remember is her telling me how much she loved me and me telling her I didn't want to leave her. I was crying and she kept assuring me that it would be okay. I must have told her a hundred times how much I loved her but she said something that was so out of context...I have been trying to figure it out all day. I am totally not one to try and disect a dream but what she said has had me trying to figure it out all day...you know...maybe there is some subliminal message in what she said. So I want some opinions on what she was trying to tell me. She said...."Nuts aren't as good if you don't throw the shells away"...what does that mean? Anyone?...anyone?

The BIGGEST one I've ever seen!!

I grew up in sunny California where they grow lots of palm trees and lots of pot(did I say that out loud??). So you can imagine my being SOOO impressed when yesterday I pulled out of my kids school and saw the biggest sunflower I have ever seen in my life. This thing was huge!! Because it was the last day of school I just happened to have my camera with me. It was drizzling at this point so I took the picture from my car across the street but you'll get the idea how big it is from the pic. Now, I know some of you have seen bigger but for me this was the BIGGEST. Look how it just towers the fence!!

Is that not huge!?!? I have decided I am going to try and grow these next year...or maybe in the fall...I just know I want them in my yard. Are they supposed to get that big? In any case, I am very impressed!!

My last 13 hours...

2 AM - Jared wakes me to tell me he's been puking...he made it to the restroom, no puke on the floor, drink some water and go back to bed...sleeps thru the rest of the night
5:30 AM - Steph comes to our room, enters the bathroom, next thing we know there's a loud thud and she is unconscious on the bathroom floor...she fainted. She is sweaty and clammy but otherwise fine, drinks some water and back to bed...this time my bed.
7:30 AM - change the first of many watery diapers of Jaroms...Jared wants to go to school and since he has no fever I send him...Steph stays home.
9 AM - Jarom has another mess for me.
11:20 AM - Steph now wants to go to school...she has not had fever at all and since tomorrow is the last day I let her go.
11:55 AM - Nurse calls, Jared has puked up all of his lunch and I need to come get him.
12:05 PM - I get to the school, get Jared and decide I should go and check on Steph, her teacher says she should probably go home as she is not herself and appears to be very pale.
12:10 PM - Leave the school with both kids.
12:30 PM - Another diaper.
2:45 PM - Michelle, my savior, brings me a Coke from Sonic...suddenly the day doesn't look so bad!!
AHHHH, the things a Coke will do for you.

a little lost

I am in the middle of a crisis and didn't want to share it with you guys as I try not to air out all of my dirty laundry (yeah right). Actually, I thought it would be over by now but since it is not, I thought I better share. I am a firm believer in posting pics on your blog with your post. There are a few occasions where I have not but for the most part I try to post pics to go with my blog posts...well, my computer is not cooperating with me..in fact, it is rebelling big time. For whatever reason, It will not read my CF card. So needless to say, I cannot download any pics right now which makes me very sad because I have taken some good ones recently. I feel like a baby without his bottle, a puppy without his mama, a car with no wheels, a pool with no water...you get the picture. I do not feel complete!! How does one blog with no pictures...or better yet, have a digital camera with no computer to put the pics in. What is a girl to do?? I'll tell you what a girl is not to do...BLOG!! So lets hope I figure this out soon...because I can't live without this wonderful world of BLOG. Life isn't the same...It's just not normal!! Without blog I am like an addict without her drug. So, pray that I find a way to post my pics soon...Until then, keep your blogs interesting because I'll be living vicariously through you.

My summer list...

Thought I'd share with you my mile long list of summer goals...
~finish the book I have been working on for my dad
~read and really study the scriptures every day
~gut and totally redo my daughters room
~build some food storage shelves (like the one's I saw yesterday at Lunch Bunch)
~make a spot in my house or garage for all of my paper crafting stuff and organize it all
~take my children to Desert Oasis at least once a week!! (they deserve that)
~do at least one scrapbook layout a week
~take a very beginning digital photography class
~start working on my fall crafts for all of my craft shows this fall
~go to San Diego (I do this every year)
~draw out my backyard (map everything out and plan for my fall garden)
whew I'm going to be busy!! what are your plans?

Our shattered windows

Saturday, Justin came in and told Steven and I that one of the windows in our work van was shattered...we went out there and sure enough, it was. We had just gotten some work done in the front and back yard and I thought maybe one of the workers accidentally hit a rock and it flew up and hit the window and shattered it. I talked to a friend of ours who replaces windows and he said he would come take care of it. Well last night, Steve came home from basketball and another one of our windows on a completely different vehicle was shattered. I am so ticked!! I mean, first of all, why would anyone intentionally do that to someone?" Not once but twice!! And secondly, Do they not realize that windows cost money!! I mean, come on people, I am made of flesh and bones not dollars and cents!! This is ridiculous!! My hubby seems to think that both were broken on the same day and we just didn't realize it. He thinks that the guys doing the work at our house hit both vehicles with rocks..in which case I'm calling La Migra!!

Floaties

For years now I have been the victim of a toddler induced epidemic called "drinking floaties". For those who are unfamiliar with this epidemic it is when a child, hopefully your own, takes a big swish of your drink and leaves little particles of food (or whatever else he has gnawed on that day) floating around in your drink. Anyone who has children can attest to this. Unless of course, they are smart enough to keep their drinks away from their children. I have always thought I was smart enough but for some strange reason my children always find these hidden drinks and leave me little floaties...this is their way of telling me that I did not outsmart them and I never will so give it up now!! Josh was the one who introduced me to floaties. He felt the urge to suck away at any straw that crossed his path!! At first I would tell him "no Josh, that drinks not for you...now leave it alone and come get your cup". He would look at me as though I were on drugs and proceed to drink out of my cup. I then resorted to hiding my drinks. This too, was unsuccessful!! He always knew where to look. Then right when Josh was outgrowing the backwash stage Justin was born and with his birth came a new round of floaties...then, of course, was Steph (who still thinks everything I have is hers) and then Jared. And just when I thought I was floatie free I found out I was pregnant with Jarom...Never did I think "Oh my goodness!! Another baby!!" The only thing I thought was "more floaties!!". Surprisingly, I haven't found many floaties with this one...he seems to always know where my drinks are though and every now and again I suck down some substance that isn't supposed to be in there but I can pretty much deal with it. What I can't deal with is what I found today...a jar full of chewed up peanuts!! Apparently he found our hidden stash of peanuts and tried them out for himself...he obviously wasn't too crazy about them because they were all chewed up and spit back in the jar looking like minced garlic...CALGON, TAKE ME AWAY!!!

tacos, tacos, and more tacos

I decided to be a real Mexican and make tacos for dinner today. As I was standing there frying the tortillas I remembered...this is why I never make tacos!! It takes too dang long to fry tortillas for a family as big as mine with appetites as big as Texas!! What you see below is only a fraction of the tortillas I make when having tacos for dinner. I'm not sure how many this is but I made 26 total.Of course, the whole time I was cooking everyone was frequenting the kitchen looking oh so hungry and malnourished!! Jarom couldn't wait any longer so he decided to gnaw on his fork..I am a firm believer in eating as a family so everyone waits until all of the tortillas are done and then I serve them. Once I serve them, they are free to eat to their hearts content...And boy were they content!! They ate...and ate...and ate!!!Til they just couldn't do it any more!!!Then I remembered...this is why I do it...because it is so rewarding watching my beautiful family enjoy the fruits of my labor...that's truly what makes me happy!

I'm no Alice!!

It's 10:26pm and I am just sitting down to write this blog entry. I have just mopped the kitchen/dining room and the entryway. I windexed the glass in my kitchen (windows, oven door, microwave oven, dishwasher door), wiped off the counters, seperated folded laundry and put the clothes in their proper stacks for the kids to put away in the morning. My son cleaned the bathroom today and my daughter cleaned the walls. They all picked up dog poop outside. And still, I look around and it looks as though we've done nothing!! Now, I know I have alot of kids but still, this is ridiculous!! How in the heck did Alice do it in the Brady Bunch? That woman kept the house clean, always had food cooking, and still had time to get involved in all the drama. I cook, clean, do laundry, and stilll there is always something else to be done. Everytime I turn around there is a stack of mail, mostly junk mail, that I haven't gone thru. There was never any junk mail at the Brady residence!! What am I doing wrong? I just can't find the time. I guess if I didn't blog that would save me about 30 minutes a day to go thru the mail but blogging is much more fun!! It is a must that I know what is going on in everyone's lives and I have to return the favor by posting something on my blog for everyone to read every now and again. I guess I just have to come to grips with the fact that I'm no Alice!! Not in this day and age...so I can't guarantee a mail free home when you come to visit but rest assured, I can let you know what's goin on in everyones lives!