Boo Humbug!

Some days are so long. And it's not that they are bad, they are just taking forever to end. Today is one of those days. I need to go get supper on and get ready for the trick-or-treaters that are going to be showing up before long. We are going to let the girls put on their princess dresses to hand out the candy. That's about the closest I can comfortably get to celebrating this demonic holiday. If we didn't live in a housing addition that had 1,098,570 children in it we wouldn't even be doing that. I just hate Halloween. Why are people drawn to something that tries to glorify ghosts, witches, death, and all sorts of spooky and nasty creatures? I don't get it. I'll just take me some Thanksgiving, thank you very much.

Part of Aunt Rachel's comment that she left on my cousin's blog:

If it's the Swine Flu, you'll need Oinkment. If it's the Bird Flu, you'll need Tweetments.

You're funny, Aunt Rachel.

No Kidding!

I have been in such a creative slump here lately. I used to think of the best posts all throughout the day and most never made it to the computer but they were good. Now I think of nothing. Nada. Zilch. I used to write the most hilarious posts while I took a shower. It's too bad I didn't have a voice recorder in there because by the time I was actually at the computer I could never remember the paragraphs that had been created earlier. So you would just end up reading some lame "I love this/these" type post. Cheating posts, I call them. One post was about past clothing. Specifically, large, elastic waist-banded blue flowered culottes that were the complete basis for my wardrobe in the 7th grade. In 9th grade I had moved on from culottes to skirts that came to my ankles. I had a skirt that became known as My Ever Familiar Skirt. It was brown with little flowers on it. And I wore it EVERY DAY. No kidding. I hated having to always wear a skirt in public and this skirt was the only skirt I owned that didn't make me feel like a complete loser when I was the only girl at the horse club not wearing riding pants. It was, to me, barely stylish and I was clinging to that since everything else I owned was not stylish at all. I mean, AT ALL. I still own this skirt. I put it on about once every 2 or 3 years just to smile and remember all the good I-want-to-go hide-in-the-corner-and-be-invisible moments.

In the 6th grade I a wore a mini skirt everyday. No kidding! I was a rebel. Wait a minute, That's not right. I wasn't a rebel. That was just my delusion talking. I did wear a mini-skirt but it was a blue jean mini skirt with a foot of eyelet lace sewed on to the bottom so that it hit me below the knees. Sometimes, when I actually did want to be a rebel, I would go into the ladies bathroom and tuck the lace up under the skirt and stand and twist and look at myself and imagine what it would be like if I actually could let the world see my knees. In college I did buy a blue jean mini skirt but I never had the guts to wear it. Thankfully. It's no one's business what my scar covered knees look like. But it was there, hanging in my closet, letting me know that I was a dork.

I want to share a picture with you. You need to prepare yourself b/c it is rough. You might cringe. You might even cry. Maybe I shouldn't post it and spare you the agony. Nah. At least you aren't in the picture (well, some of you are). Ok. I think I will start with something a little less shocking.

Here we have Sarah sporting our Nana's old swimming suit. Cute, isn't she?

Next up, we have me in an outfit that I made myself and was quite proud of. I also considered this extremely fashionable.

I'm just easing you in, by the way.

Below, you will see two different pictures of me in My Ever Familiar Skirt. Notice once the cold weather hit I added sock to the ensemble. Snazzy.

It's about to get ugly.

This is "us." Aren't we looking goooood. Mmh! I'm the one front and center. The one with the hair that apparently got overlooked that day. The one with white socks and Keds.

And now for the big one. It's so bad. I'm laughing so hard right now. Don't just glance at this picture. Study it. The longer you look the more you will laugh. Check out the placement of Rachel's waistband. Check out Asa's pants. Check out my mini skirt. Check out Anna's skirt. And then, go make sure your children are wearing something appropriate. Or, (I like this idea better) put them in some of your old clothes and take a picture so that later in life they will have something to blog about.

Jesse, Anna, Matt, Rachel (snicker, snicker), Asa (guffaw), Luke, Me, Stephanie, Leah

The Pupinni Sisters

I am loving these girls. How fun is their website?

Love this!

http://www.handmadecharlotte.com/dance-shoes-for-the-father-and-the-daughter/

A FactList

Fact 1. My house stinks. Eily has pooped a lot this morning.

Fact 2. I have 133 SwagBucks.

Fact 3. I cannot decide if I want to cash them in and have another contest or hold out for the $20 Target e-card and use it for myself.

Fact4. My rib is still out and it hurts.

Fact 5. I am going to see the Pioneer Woman in Little Rock in 2 weeks. She is going to sign my cookbook.

Fact 6. I am already tired of being home and I haven't been home all weekend.

Fact 7. This is Jason's last full week at the Art Center. Woot!

Fact 8. I am going to be in a cook-off over Thanksgiving weekend.

Fact 9. My two oldest girls are walking around wearing the following:
Elaina- panties, Eily's coat, blue rain boots
Claire- bikini cut orange polka dotted panties worn backwards which has created quite
the wedgie, pink cowgirl boots, Jason's Buddy Holly glasses, and a Teletubbie bag that contains all of our Mr. Potato Head toys.

Fact 10: The door is shut and the blinds are drawn and apparently for good reason. (see fact 9)


Happy Monday, everyone!

Here you go, Nanny.

Sorry about the whole booger picking and eating thing. I wasn't even looking at her and didn't realize that was on the video.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A new world has been presented

Elaina read from her first book today. Not her reading lesson book, a regular old book. A bright new world has been opened to her. Today she saw the wonderful places that you can visit and people that you can meet once you delve into a book. Do you want to hear her adventure? Are you ready for this? Here we go...

Balls, balls, balls. Big balls. Little balls. Balls for you and me. (turn the page)I like balls. I can play with this one. I make it go up and down. You can play with me. Look out. (this is where it gets really exciting.) Here it comes. Get it. Get it. (Turn the page) This is fun to play. The ball is a little one. Can you get this little ball? Look at the little ones here. Pretty little ones. Make one go in. Make one go out.

I'll spare you the rest. With books as exciting and dramatic as this I think I'll soon be having to pry the books away from her fingers just to get her to get dressed.

Don't you agree?

Shew!

It's 5 o'clock and I have the entire house cleaned except the playroom and I will work on that after supper. I think I have done well but the girls are the one's that have been truly exceptional. They played together so well and only fought a couple of times. And by fighting I mean arguing, not actual fist fighting. That was main reason I was able to get so much accomplished. Tonight, after supper I am going to clean that playroom and then start labeling picture cd's. Slowly, I am getting there.

They've learned!!

While I was mowing the back yard the two oldest girls were outside playing. They lost interest after a bit and came inside. I finished the back yard, mowed the side and front yards and finally made it inside. They were in my room playing dress-up with my clothes that were folded and piled on my bed. They are no longer folded. Anyway, I just noticed that when they came inside they took off their shoes at the backdoor and piled them neatly to the side. I feel very proud. They did it. They learned something. All that nagging was not in vain. It stuck with them.

And they learned.
Now if I could just convince Jason that nagging is educational and beneficial and not just irritating to listen to.

I'm taking a mid day break. So far I have cleaned the kitchen. It took about two hours and if you knew the size of my kitchen that would tell you just how bad it was. I have also completed all the laundry and mowed the yards. Eily is now awake so the cleaning will slow down a little bit again but that's ok. I am moving on to the dining room and living room now. Wish me speed!

This was about a year and a half ago.

Click on the picture to watch. You have to watch it twice because for some reason it won't play the whole thing the first time.

Time for another one

I am alone with the girls this weekend. Except for a quick trip to the grocery store tomorrow to get more milk we aren't going anywhere. We are staying here and getting things done!

Therefore, here is another list:

My Weekend List

1. Get the house completely cleaned (the deep kind of cleaning) from top to bottom, left to right
2. Get the front and back yards mowed
3. Get the PC advertisement ideas going and possibly accomplished
4. Get laundry done
5. Order mini catalogs (this one's iffy)
6. Go through the picture cd's and label them
7. Get PC bag ready to go for the show on Monday
8. Stay happy and don't gripe at the girls

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This morning on the way to school, the girls and I started talking about God and how he was everywhere all the time. I explained that He was in the car with us and it became so real to me and all day I have felt Him near. It makes a difference in your day when that thought is constantly on your mind. It makes a difference in how I talked for sure and I don't mean bad language because I don't use language to begin with. I mean in the tone of my voice. I can be pretty cranky sounding to the girls and it is really showing in the way they talk to each other. Especially in the way Claire talks. The other night Jason and I had a pretty big argument and now thinking back and picturing God there listening to what I said and how I said it makes me ashamed and sad and very, very embarrassed.

I hope this "strong feeling of presence" stays around. I can use it.

Scratch

This has tickled me pink. Oh my goodness. Please go read this, especially if you are a girl. So funny.

Ok. Now that you are done, can you imagine? A pink wool thong. No thank you.

Guess what! I've earned $3.33 from my little Juice Box Jungle widget over there on the right.

I'm thinking it's going to take a while to save up enough money for a cool prize. Unless you want a candy bar as the prize. Or a pencil.

Yummy to my...ears

There is nothing that can compare with Christopher Plummer singing Edelweiss.
Mmmmhhh.

Except Moon River

Dr. Travis, maybe you could bring your table to my house.

Eily has been running a fever for two days. She acts like she feels very, very yucky. We were supposed to go to Toddler Hour, the chiro and Chuck E. Cheese today but the first two didn't happen. Audrey finished her last reading lesson this week so her reward was to go to CEC. Since Elaina and Claire had been so excited about it, Ashlie came and picked them up on their way. It was a sweet gesture on Ashlie's part because that means she will be watching 6 kids. Fun.

I really needed to go to the chiro. I have a rib on my right side that is always slipping out of place. Now that I have been exercising it has really been a pain. Every time I do a crunch it pops and feels so icky. Maybe Eily will get well soon and maybe no one else will get this.

That's not very likely to happen.

I would also like to say that I am about to go do Day 4 of my exercising and I can already tell a huge difference in my endurance. Also, in my bladder control. Bring on those jumping jacks!
(Sorry if I have offended any males but it's a true side effect of having those little babies that you drool over. Things like jumping jacks and trampolines can be very scary and sometimes embarrassing once one has experienced childbirth.)

I've updated it

For the family members that have our names for Family Day and Christmas:
My Everchanging Wishlist

It brings my blood to a boil, but in a good way. (Pun intended)

All my life I have tried to figure out what is my "thing." I enjoy a lot of different hobbies. I enjoy singing, playing (at) the piano, taking pictures, cooking, scrap booking, horse riding, sewing, etc... I have give all a fair shot at being proclaimed "The Thing." But there is only one that truly makes my stomach get tingly when I think about it. Only one thing that I could spend hours reading about. One thing I could experimenting with and not get a least a little bit bored. One thing that if there is a gift in the Secret Santa that relates to it I will not be playing nice and will end up with that gift. One thing that I will always, always, always want to do.
Cook.
I love to cook. I love to cook. I love to cook.

I could let it completely consume me if I didn't have better sense.
When the girls get a little bit older I look forward to spending some serious blocks of time developing my knowledge of cooking. Learning about ratios and how they are the means for being able to cook anything without a recipe. I get giddy at the thought.

I have a Holiday Entertaining cookbook and it has been calling out to me for two years. "Open me! Use me! Throw a party!"
This year I am obeying. I would like to announce the first ever Annual Holiday Sacran Dinner. I want everyone that wants to come, come. But... I will have to have an accurate head count so RSVP is mandatory. One thing you should know, it will be good, it will be clean and it will be fun.
The date is still pending but I would love to hear how many of you are interested in the idea, if you think it would be better to do it before Christmas or right afterwards, etc... I will have to limit the guest list at some point so it's somewhat a first come, first serve basis and once I get a feel for how many people are interested I can figure out what the cut off number is. I might even have a certain number of tickets available. My brain is still trying to figure out the best way to do this. Children will be welcome so don't worry about having to find a babysitter and if I do use the ticket idea they won't require them. I would love to meet some of you far away readers and also hook up with the familiar faces. Oohhhh, I'm getting so excited just thinking about this!! Ahh!!!
Please, give me feedback!

October 3

I feel the baby bug about to bite.

Day 2

I died.

October 1, 2009

I just completed day one of The 30 Day Shred. The only muscles that I can now control are my finger muscles and even they are wanting to go awry.
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Ok. I wrote those two sentences above and then Eily started crying. I had just finished my workout and had somehow managed to get my moving-like-a-noodle body over to the computer, completely sink into the chair, and she wakes up. Babies seem to always have that perfect kind of timing. The word perfect is dripping with sarcasm in case you didn't get that on your own. Not only did she wake up but she woke up CRANKY! The only way that she would stop crying was if I was standing. You do day one level one of The 30 Day Shred and you tell me how well you stand right afterwards. It wasn't easy.

On a much sadder and different note,
One of my most favorite people in the world, Danny Davis (he drove the carriage in our wedding), is battling cancer. It started out as melanoma on his face, had moved to his liver and lungs and then today they found out that it's in his brain. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.