J & J

So I just realized that I never posted about a few things and thought I would catch up. In the beginning of April we had Dan's cousin and her little boy here for a visit. It was so much fun to be able to spend quality time with them and to get to know Jackson a little bit. He was so funny and so cute! Jena is a great mom and it was fun to see her in that role. We did some fun stuff....but most importantly, we took Jena on her first trip to none other than Wal Mart. It was fun to have them and I thought I'd post some pics of the event.

This is Jackson and Walker "playing" with Willie. They liked to see him out the window. Notice Jackson's car and "moo." I don't think he set those two things down the entire time he was at my house. I was SO grateful we had at least one boy toy for Jackson. The next picture is Jackson "cookie monstering" the rocks at the park.

And of course we had to post a picture of Jena and Jackson at the pool. It was pretty chilly water, but we were all brave and tried it out! We miss you Jena and Jackson! Thanks for coming to visit us, and come back soon, okay?? Tarin wants to know if you got a car yet?

So so so much!

So, I have so much to post about. This past week was Ella's 4th birthday. She has been so excited to be 4. She thinks she is so much bigger, and is definately much bigger than she was a year ago when she turned three. She wants to know how much longer she will get to be four. I think she thinks we are going to make her be three again. Truthfully, I don't know if I could handle her being three again. We had a birthday party on Monday, the coldest day yet this spring...at the swimming pool. Luckily most of her friends were brave enough to still come out and play. Most of them ended up with colds, but they came and we all had a great time. She got some fun new "hair" from auntie Hillary and has been wearing it to be Hannah Montana as often as she can.

I homemade her birthday cake. Go me. I had a friend give me a pattern. If you don't look too closely it actually looks pretty good. Good enough for a four year old anyway. She thought it was fabulous!

This past week we also had some crazy weather...I mean tornadic weather. I was so happy to leave the tornadic part of my life up north...I don't like it at all. I thought for sure we would get away from it as we moved south, but I guess not. We had to pull the kids out of bed and bring them downstairs. Once the storm passed, we just left them there and went to sleep. We just had a tree tip over, but some of our friends and neighbors had a lot of damage to their homes and property. I have heard that the tornado actually touched down not too far away from our house. I am so grateful that it stayed clear of us and pray that nothing like it comes by for a good long time.

This weekend I went with some friends to Corpus Christi to run in the Beach to Bay Relay Marathon. It was fun and total and complete chaos. I ran the fourth leg of the race and by the time my team mate got to me, we were already 2 and 1/2 hours into the race...and before I had even started they announced "WE HAVE A WINNER!" I laughed and continued to run. As a team we did pretty well. We finished in about 4 hours and 45 minutes. I really didn't know what to expect. I ran my personal best by far. I ran about 4.94 miles in about 37 minutes. That was WAY faster than I have EVER run, and my body knew it. The only downside to the race, was that after it was over, we quickly showered and then SAT in a car for a LONG ride home. Needless to say we are all a bit stiff today. I think this will definately become an annual tradition for me. It was a kick! My friend wants me to run a 1/2 marathon with her in June. We will both be in Utah/Idaho at the same time and she is going to run one. We will see. 13 miles is a lot different than the mileage that my body is used to running right now. I guess I would have a few weeks to train though.

So that is a short version of what has been going on!

Let's not forget about Willie

As I sit here at work, wondering if I’m going to hit my Number this month, I often turn to our Blog to Seek motivation in my kiddos faces. This time after re-reading through the Blog I’ve noticed that we neglect to talk about our 6th member of the Family… Willie. Willie is a 80 pound Boxer/German Shepherd mix that has been with us for a little over three years. He is the world’s greatest Dog.

I’ve dedicated this post to Willie.

Our 1^st attempt with a dog didn’t go so well
The huge White German Shepherd Sailor wasn’t meant to me
It was a long Valentines Night
Because of the Bite!!!

We adopted you as a 7 month old pup.
Your coming into this world was a little rocky.
Being the only survivor of a litter of seven,
Losing your momma on day eleven.

We had to have you.
We lavished you with affection
You instantly joined our crew
we deemed you doggy perfection.

You shed way too much
and your breath really stinks
You whine all day
and you eat food left in Walker’s Tray

But despite all your flaws and annoying doggy habits
I can't help myself - I still love you, Willie
We should pet you more and show you we care
But instead we ignore you and whine about your hair

Your tail never fails to wag when you see me
The kids aren't always gentle, but you're as patient as can be
You're my home security system - your barks are my alarm
We hope the burglars don't see past the barks to your charm

I've been saying I wish to be pet-free
But I don't really mean it, not really, you see
Because I would miss you and all your doggy ways
Even though my house would stay cleaner for days

But you wouldn't be here to follow me around
And watch over us as you sleep on the ground
I'd miss your ugly face and your loyal heart
And your sad little eyes whenever we're apart

So keep on being the Willie that we love
And continue to come back to us no matter how hard we shove
Because though we don't show it as much as we should
You're part of the family, and miss you we would

WE LOVE YOU WILLIE!!!!

Here’s a little bit of History for you… FYI

The Phrase "Man's Best Friend" originated in a court of law. Back in October 28, 1869, A man's dog (named old drum), was shot to death by a neighbor. Animals had no rights back in those days, but the man wanted justice and so he hired 3 lawyers to sue the man who shot his dog. One of these lawyers, named George Graham Vest, is given credit for originally coining the phrase "Man's Best Friend" during his final summation to the jury. By the time he was finished with his speech, the jury only took 2 minutes to reach a verdict. The jury awarded the victim $5 (a very large amount of money back then). The jury also wanted the man to be sent to prison, but there were no laws governing this type of incident back then so the judge was not able to honor the jury's request for prison time.

This is a record of the final summation given by the lawyer...

(GOOD Stuff) if you are not a dog lover there is no need to continue past this point

Gentlemen of the Jury

The best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son and daughter that he had reared with loving care may become ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies away from him when he may need it most. Man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees and do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our head. The only absolutely unselfish friend a man may have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog.

A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and poverty, in health and sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, when the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he can be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of a pauper as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert... he remains.

When riches take wings and reputations fall to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. If fortune drives the master forth an outcast into the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard him against danger, to fight against his enemies, and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes his master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his grave side will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws and his eyes sad, but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death.

The Ring

Just a few days before the 4th birthday, Ella was given a ring by a cute boy at her school. Apparantly he won it from a vending machine and has been saving it for Ella for a week. She was happy to show me the ring Deegan gave her and she said that it was her "marry ring" and that Deegan wants to marry her and so does every boy in her class. On top of that, they all want to kiss her on the lips. What is a girl to do? I guess when the first ring you get is in pre-school, that only raises the bar each year and who knows what her expectations will be of some poor guy she meets in college!

Texas Ties

So, if you would have told me ten years ago that in my future I would be living in Texas and that I would like it, I would have dropped dead. However I am now starting to feel like I have some Texas Ties and some Texas roots that will run deep and will run with me wherever I may go. I worked with a friend the first place we lived in Texas in the Primary of our ward. I got to know their family and really enjoyed them. When we moved to our current home, we found out that the parents of our good friends lived where we were moving to. I am now working in the Young Women with our good friends mom. I just love it! I love that no matter where you go in the our church, you meet someone from somewhere that you'd know in a previous experience. I love the smallness of the world when it comes to church service. This is something that makes me happy today!

No Proof

So, I did it, a few weekends ago I ran a 10K through the city. It was a total kick. I finished in just about 57 1/2 minutes. That is a great time for me....although I know someone who finished in 47 minutes....woah that is too fast. Anyway, they emailed me today and said they had some pictures of me running...unfortunately, they are copywrited and won't let me post them. But I thought it was worth a mention in the blog. I am kindof bummed, but oh well!

Checked Off

So, thanks to the late night updating the blog and feeling like a slacker because I didn't get anything done yesterday, today I kicked it into high gear. Cleaned all three bathrooms, floors and all. Cleaned out the girls drawers and closets and even put stuff back in the attic (which is usually a job I save for Dan). So yeah! I feel productive. I even made cookies and dinner. It helps that I have been waiting around for repairmen all day, which is probably the ONLY reason I stayed home today. But, it was worth it! I feel a lot better about the days accomplishments. If only I can do the same tomorrow.

Should's

So, today and this week has been one of those weeks filled with "shoulds." I know dinking around on the computer isn't productive (although sometimes I pay bills) but what I "should" be doing is cleaning the bathroom. Yes, the upstairs toilet has been neglected for some time. I "should" be arranging my cupboards preparing for some much needed food storage. I "should" be playing with the kids rather than pawning them off in front of the TV. I "should" make dinner, but I need to run to Wal Mart anyway...and a few nuggets won't kill them since it is located in the store. So, needless to say, I have taken a week off. Maybe next week I will get something accomplished. This week started out pretty good, on Monday I cleaned and organized three of my kitchen cupboards. I was on a roll until the boy woke up. All productivity stops when he's awake....can I blame the rest on him?

I have goals of organizing all the kids closets and drawers. I have goals of putting the grown out of/into clothes into the attic and taking the rest to the goodwill. I have goals of cleaning out Dan's closet while he's away. He is getting TOO skinny and NONE of his clothes fit. It really isn't fair. I am hoping now that I have pointed out all my goals maybe one by one I can knock them off the list. I would love to do laundry, but the dryer vent has been disconnected while they are fixing a leaking roof. Lucky for us, the builder is paying for and fixing it entirely. So, no laundry today. Oh well, it looks like it will be a busy Saturday.

Maybe next week they won't all be "shoulds" but will be competed tasks.