Saturday, April 5, 2008

Missiles, Projectiles, Torpedoes...




Yes, this is apparently what my family considers our brand-new DECORATIVE pillows. I bought them thinking they were an inexpensive and "homey touch" to the living room. They see them as ammo for their wars, and I see them as a little color to rest against the couch...silly me!

















"GOTCHA DAD!"






The only casulty from the devastating decorative pillow onslaught:

Friday, April 4, 2008

Spoiled Rotten!



As of late last night, we are now the proud owners of a 2001 Ford Winstar--our new reliable vehicle! I didn't ever think that I'd be so excited over a van in my entire life. I'm so grateful, however, for the Grand Voyager (nicknamed 'Gilbert' because he looked like a giant grape on wheels) that was passed around my family for years. Since it went dead, we were able to look into another van.

I FOUND this! Ryan helped a little, (okay A LOT) and we eventually got this awesome new van. It's a Ford Winstar and it drives like a dream. It's got such fun stuff on it and it's so fun to be in. Here's what it has that we DIDN'T have before:

-heater that works!!
-AIR CONDITIONER that works!!
-back hatch stays open in its own!!
-the blinkers work (and there are these cool little arrows on my side mirrors that blink too--which Dawson just LOVES.)
-the windows are automatic, no PHYSICAL rolling up or down required!!
-THERE ARE TWO, count them, TWO sliding doors that open at....the touch of a button! I have a remote control for my van! How exciting is that?!
-I have a little mirror that allows me to see what's going on in the back!

AND.....

My most FAVORITE part about this is that I have a CD player AND a cassette player! I can play Erasure all day long while the kids can listen to a whole seperate tape! Ohhhhh, I'm in heaven.




It's got under 81K miles on it and it's just awesome. No transmission issues, no brake line leaks, no noisy struts, no leaking transmission, no broken tail light, no dented bumper, no more standing under the back hatch hoping that it doesn't come slamming down on your head (which hurts, by the way), and best of all, it runs when it is supposed to!




I'm so THANKFUL for my uncle for giving us Gilbert a few years ago. I appreciate the love and thoughtfulness of that gesture. I appreciate all the work that my parents put into it. I'm so grateful for their help.

I love my new van! It's awesome! Ryan has officially and permantantly become a passenger, not the driver!

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Splenda-ism




"The sweet life is measured in sprinkles and smiles."

(on a Splenda packet)

I thought this was cute!

One of these things is not like the other...




They're all siblings and related. One has had blonde hair for his whole life. The other two are dark hair and dark eyes and have round faces that look alike. Guess who!

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Go THROUGH not around



I turned around for just a minute to make dinner and I heard Carter grunting and making these funny sounds. Out of the corner of my eye I see him: his poor body stuck in the chair and then when I tried to get him out of there, he was stuck underneath the desk with his face plastered against the dirty hardwood floor! He tried to crawl THROUGH the chair instead of AROUND it. Sure, makes sense to me!

April Fool's Birthday

---




A little over six years ago, I was expecting a boy. I had dreams about a little boy with dark hair and dark eyes. At our ultrasound at 20 weeks, I was told that it was a boy and he would be born in March of 2002. I was overdue and finally induced on April 1st, 2002 and lo and behold, the joke was on US!


We had been talking while I was in labor about April Fools jokes. "What IF we had a girl, ha ha, April Fools!" When our baby finally arrived, we were told it was a girl. Everyone around the room laughed as we were waiting for the "April Fools" to follow her last announcement...except she never said it. It really WAS a girl!

We named her Ryanna, after her daddy. She had these huge brown eyes and lots of dark hair. When she was a baby, she always smelled pink. She had colic and made us crazy, and she was always dramatic; but she's such a sweetheart to her brothers. She's a princess and knows it.


Happy Birthday to my six year old girl!



This was the present from Grandma and Grandpa Holdaway. She got 4 Junie B. Jones books, a Curious George book and a DARLING outfit for summertime! She'll look adorable in it!



Here are some fun pictures over the last few years:


















Monday, March 31, 2008

The NEXT Survivor series


(Thanks, Emily, for sending this to me, I thought it was definitely worth sharing!)

Six married men will be dropped on an island with one car and 3 kids each for
six weeks. Each kid will play two sports and either take music or dance classes.

There is no fast food. Each man must take care of his 3 kids; keep his assigned
house clean, correct all homework, and complete science projects, cook, do
laundry, and pay a list of 'pretend' bills with not enough money.

In addition, each man will have to budget in money for groceries each week. Each
man must remember the birthdays of all their friends and relatives, and send
cards out on time. Each man must also take each child to a doctor's appointment,
a dentist appointment and a haircut appointment.

He must make one unscheduled and inconvenient visit per child to the Urgent
Care. He must also make cookies or cupcakes for a social function. Each man will
be responsible for decorating his own assigned house, planting flower s outside
and keeping it presentable at all times.

The men will only have access to television when the kids are asleep and all
chores are done. The men must shave their legs, wear makeup daily, adorn himself
with jewelry, wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes, keep fingernails polished
and eyebrows groomed. During one of the six weeks, the men will have to endure
severe abdominal cramps, back aches, and have extreme, unexplained mood swings
but never once complain or slow down from other duties.

They must attend weekly school meetings, church, and find time at least once to
spend the afternoon at the park or a similar setting. They will need to read a
book and then pray with the children each night and in the morning, feed them,
dress them, brush their teeth and comb their hair by 7:00 am.

A test will be given at the end of the six weeks, and each father will be
required to know all of the following information: each child's birthday,
height, weight, shoe size, clothes size and doctor's name Also the child's
weight at birth, length, time of birth, and length of labor, each child's
favorite color, middle name, favorite snack, favorite song, favorite drink,
favorite toy, biggest fear and what they want to be when they grow up.

The kids vote them off the island based on performance. The last man wins only
if...he still has enough energy to be intimate with his spouse at a moment's
notice.

If the last man does win, he can play the game over and over and over again for
the next 18-25 years eventually earning the right to be called Mother!

tuneage


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