It's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS!

I swear I don't know where time goes? Has it really been 3 weeks since I blogged last? Ya, sorry! Anyway, things are busy as ever! UGH!
WE actually got all of our Christmas stuff out the week of Thanksgiving. We decided since Thanksgiving was a week late this year, & we are heading EAST, that we should decorate early and enjoy! Although, it just does NOT seem like December and Christmasy...is that a word jami....?? ..when it is 75degrees outside and the kids are still riding bikes and wearing shorts! WEIRD!

The kids were great helping get lights outside on the bushes, our nativity out and the tree up and decorations on! Of course we had Christmas music blaring to make the mood just right..Dan was even singing along!...I'm sure it was because he didn't have to put ANY lights up this year!
I took a few pics of our activities, but I forgot to take a pic of McKall trying to make Gram Flo's awesome sugar cookies and frosting. She wanted to make them in Holiday shapes and have red and green frosting. The cookie making was fine, we followed ALL instructions and the dough was awesome! .....but, the first batch came out of the oven and they looked like pilsbury-dough-boys, huge, fluffy, thick....GROSS...& the frosting.....grainy,slimy...GROSS! ....guess we will have to try again to make Christmas treats! Maybe next time we will just stick with Choc Chip!

EDWARD!

Galleria Mall....Twilight Tour! Having lunch while waiting in line!
Getting on CAMERA! ahahahahaaaaaaaaaa EDWARD!!! Die~Hard TWILIGHT FANS...waiting 10 hours to see ROBBERT! The AMAZING Galleria Mall....4 stories of screaming girls!
Robbert coming on stage being SHOCKED at ALL the SCREAMING GIRLS! My favorit pic of my fav VAMPIRE!

Looking right McKall and I.....McKall was screaming & was snapping as fast as I could!

OK, how many moms let their kids sluff school for the chance to see a movie star? WELL, apparently there are A LOT of COOL moms out there who are either too lienent & dont care OR who are CRAZED TWILIGHT VAMPIRE fans!!!!!

McKall is constantly on Stephenie Meyer's website checking on the latest Twilight news! Last week she found out that Robbert Pattinson was going to be here in Dallas at the Galleria Mall. So of course she was trying to finagle a way to go and get a wrist-band. We finally decided that she could be LATE for school & that we would go get in line that morning. Well, we apparently missed the memo....really, being STUPID and not knowing that the line would start forming the night before! I guess if we really thought about it we would have realized that we NEVER even had a chance of getting a ticket to see him and have a signiture! When we got to the mall yesterday morning at 8:30am and got to Hot Topic....there was a sign that said ..."Twilight Event Sold Out"........ of course McKall and I were bummed! We talked to one of the employees and he filled us in on how since we could NOT get an autograph and see him for 5 seconds....that we could go sit by the stage and wait ......ya, for 10 hours..... and get to see him answer questions and talk about the MOVIE. So, to make a long but very FUN story short....we had breakfast at our favorite, Corner Bakery, and decided to stay! Heck, we were the FIRST ones in line down on the floor by the stage and it was ONLY school and housework we were missing out on! It was fun meeting fans from all over who drove for hours, from Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and Lousiana. Having the CAMERA crews interviewing the girls and putting them on T.V. was awesome. Doing a little shopping, getting hair-cuts, spending 20dollars in the "candy~shop" , making some new friends and OF COURSE seeing Robbert....EDWARD! It turned out to be a VERY long, fun filled GIRLS/TWILIGHT/EDWARD DAY OUT!

EleCtiOn DaY!

Today is the BIG DAY! Explore the issues, research the candidates...(Hope you already did)......VOTE!

fffffoooorrrrtttty!

I've hit my PEAK! I'm in my PRIME! I'm SEXIER with my push~up bra and a few more "laugh~wrinkles"! I realize that it's time to burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear fancy clothes and NOT save it for a special occasion....bec TODAY is special! It's time to DANCE like no~one is watching....oh yea, I do that already!....and it's OK to embarass my kids! I know LIFE isn't fair, but it's still good! And there is NOTHING more rewarding than living it to it's fullest with my FAMILY! I'm NOT getting a boob~job, taking pole~dancing lessons or getting a job at Hooters...although it sounds FUN to Dan! I'm just going to keep living my incredible JOURNEY and hope there is MORE amazing, unforgettable, MEMORIES to come!

Speaking of amazing & unforgettable....last weekend was the BOMB! My SWEET husband ALWAYS comes through! He was stressed out for months about what to do for my 40th! But, somehow he planned the PERFECT weekend...and it was even a SURPRISE!

On Friday, we got all dressed UP. We went to a restraunt called III Forks, one of Dallas' BEST steak houses. I don't think we have ever had a fillet that good! YUMMY! After dinner, I was ready to go home and put the kiddies to bed......Dan instead took me to the Dallas Intercontinental Hotel...ya, the 14th floor suite! Talk about being SPOILED! We finally had ONE night to OURSELVES! He let me open 1 gift....no it was NOT a TEDDY....it was a TAMRON LENSE for my Nikon! YA BABY!!!!!!!!!! He is definitely THE MAN! :)

On Saturday I came home to a decorated house and kids and neighbors with silly~string! I walked in the door and was attacked! Kaden had one of those air-horns and scared the crap out of me & then everyone was yelling and spraying me with silly-string! I laughed till I was crying and peeing my pants! It was GREAT!

The rest of my B-DAY was spent at soccer games and football....shocking I know! ALL of my cutest FRIENDS and FAMILY from home called and SANG and WISHED me well now that I'm an old fart! .......they ALL truly MADE my day! ....I think the only thing that was missing was a DIRT~HILL~CAKE from TRISHA!!!!!!!

I had a great evening previous, and a fun B-Day with my kids! .......I didn't know it WASEN"T over yet! .......the next morning our friends, Russell & Paige, picked us up at 9a.m. We were going to my FIRST NFL FOOTBALL GAME!!!! I was soooo excited! We even went in STYLE. Russell's company has a "party-bus" that they shuttle people to and from the STADIUM. It was seriously HILARIOUS! It looks like a "short-bus"....which would be totally appropriate for US!!! ..but, once inside.....the party begins! hahahahaaa!

We get to the game an hour or so early and just "take-in" the CRAZIES! Talk about FANATICS!

WE.. DID have our COWBOY ATTIRE ON, but NO face paint, beer, banners, horns or boots!

Our seats were on the 17th row in the corner of the end-zone. I loved being so close that we could hear the players! The GAME was more like a big SHOW....lights, cameras, fire, Randy Travis, Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, Players, screaming crazy dressed-up fans.....FUN!!!!!!!

What a FANTASTIC BIRTHDAY! I LOVE 40! I love Texas! & I love my MAN!

My Lense!

Happy 40th poster!
The PARTY BUS!

TEXAS STADIUM!

Inside the DOME!

Dan's FAVORITE! He got out the BINOCS!!! hahahaha

Here come the COWBOYS! Field Goal!

Hand off to Marion Barber....He's THE MAN! Dreads and all! Look at the SIZE of these guys! T.O. is even BIG!

This is the trail of fans leaving Texas Stadium! This paking lot is full of Stretch SUV's and Limos....people comin & goin with STYLE! Like us! hahaha!

mOvINg AgaIN!!

These two pics are our staircase...going down to the front door/entry/dining.


This is a view from the back door...kitchen to the left and family room & den to the right. The other pic is obviously our kitchen. Kind of hard to tell with all the boxes in the way!

A couple more pics of the kitchen and family room...which is all open to the formal dining and entry way.

Last week we spent our FINAL night at the apt. On Friday, October 3rd, the movers came and moved us out! It was such a great feeling! We got all the furniture (which was NOT much) from our apt moved into our new home. We spent the weekend there and unpacked what we could. On Monday of last week the SEMI and 2 other large trucks came with the rest of our STUFF!! It was so funny....they just kept unloading and unloading and unloading....yea, for about 51/2 hours!! And I thought we got rid of a lot BEFORE we moved to Texas!! hahahahahaaaa Guess it's time for another garage sale! Anyway, we are in and happy! Now we just get to unpack and unpack and unpack! Hopefully you can see a little bit of our home from the pics above!

Other than getting our house in order things are just the same....you know....football, basketball, soccer, homework, church, work, play...and we even find time to eat, sleep & blog!

MIA

Ok, ok, ok, I know it has been a while since I had some blogging action! But....we have NOT had the internet for almost 2 weeks now. Yes, it is my husbands fault for messing with the provider and turning on and off service! ...MEN!! ANyway, we will be "unserviced" until next Monday or Tuesday... Then will be ready for some serious blogging updates! ...Right now I am on the internet at our Apts community computers for the residents and there are a bunch of kids waiting to get on and play games!!! ....otherwise, I would try to blog aobut SOMETHING....hahaaa!! So now you know why I am MIA for a little longer! :)

Thou Shalt Not SWEAR!......or say naughty words!

So, did you know in the scriptures it says we, you, me, us should ..."swear not at all........." "hold your tongue....." So, I have been trying really hard when I get mad or frustrated NOT to let one little tiny BAD word come out of my mouth! Well, it's NOT working! I mean, good hell, sometimes there is nothing better than letting out a blue~streak of profanities to vent your mental melt down! :) Just Kidding!! hahhaaaaa!

Really, for FHE one night we decided that we all call too many names and say too many naughty words.....you know, like idiot, butt-hole (thanx Keith), retard, dip, dinkus, stupid....and so on..... WE decided to write all of our bad words on a piece of paper, put them into a jar and bury them away, NEVER to think about them or use them again! It has only been a couple of weeks, but we are doing awesome! Sometimes we slip...but, for the most part we just say .... "ugh" and walk away and sing our favorite song! Hopefully we can keep this up and put smiles on each others faces!

ArE YoU ReADy FoR SOme FOOTBALL?!!!

Alec wearing #7 ...due to a jersey mix-up! ....It was a Lucky #7! Alec had a great game!

Finally, football is in full swing! Between Alec and Kaden we are at practices EVERY night of the week and 2 games on Saturday! Well, actually we have been practicing for about 3 weeks now, but, the REAL games just started!

Alec's team, the TCU HORNFROGS, played ARMY. The HORNFROGS beat them 24 to 2. Alec plays running~back, strong safety, linebacker & wide receiver. He had some great "ESPN HITS" and ran a 50 yard TD. It was 96degrees and the humidity made it seem like 101!!! We had a lot of boys getting "heat-sick".....whew!!!......talk about swum & swoob!! (thanx Tosh)!

Kaden's flag-football game was right after Alec's. His team is kind of pathetic....but fun to watch!

Most of the kids on his team cry if someone takes their flag or gets knocked out of bounds or falls down......Luckily there are a few tough kids who just don't care and just want to run with the ball! Kaden is sooooo funny....he tries really hard to listen and run the plays & get as many flags as he can...though, that is not EXACTLY the object of the game! hahaa! He does not cry he just puts his "game-face" on and gets tough!...(a little advice from his bro)! Kaden's team is the EAGLES. They played the COWBOYS and lost 28 to 0. ....but, they really did not even notice!!! Kaden did NOT even ask the score....in fact, he said ..."I think we lost mom....did we?" I said ya but you guys looked awesome! He was good with that and was ready to go swim! hahahahaa!

NEw AdVenTUreS!

Moving, apartment, weather and now SCHOOL! So many NEW CHANGES in our lives right now! The kids and I are trying to adjust to all of them.

We bought a house in Frisco which is about 12 miles from where we live right now. The kids schools are all within walking distance from our NEW house,,,,however, we are not in our house until Sept 30th.... So we get the fun commuting adventure every morning!

We have to get up at 6:30 A.M.(if you know my kids, that is a whole adventure in itself)!!....get ready, eat and be out the door by 7:15....the drive, in traffic, is about 25 to 30 minutes! It is like taking our kids to Brigham City every morning for school!

Ryann and Kaden start at 7:50 and end at 3:00. Mckall and Alec start at 8:35 and end at 3:55.

Our mornings are sooooo fun! I keep telling the kids that we can do ANYTHING for 4 weeks! We have 1 down....3 to go!....Then when we are in our house the kids can walk or ride bikes to school AND they can sleep until 7:15 or 7:45!!!! YEA!!!!!!!

Mckall says the Middle School is Strict! At lunch they have to sit 4 kids a side and no more at the tables....& they have to raise their hands if they want to get back in line and get seconds!!....Mckall said when they want to be done...they have to raise their hands and be excused from the lunch room......."GAY" ....that is what Mckall said! hahahaaa! Apparently, they lighten up after the first month, but, they set the expectations high on behavior!!!

As far as Kaden and Ryann go......Kaden brings home a BEHAVIOR CHART every day. It has either a smiley face or a frowny face for the day......so far Kaden is 4 smiley and 1 frowny!!! I know, I was shocked too! hahahaaaa!!!

My middle two...Alec and Ryann....just go with the flo and are doing great!

Lets get these next few weeks over with and MOVED,... AGAIN!....then we will be back to getting NORMAL! :) :) :)