Where did La go? Oh, she crawled into a hole and died.....

I thought this story would be a better closing for the year instead of my last post. One for the road, if you will. Enjoy....

The week before Christmas was probably one of the most stress filled weeks I've ever had in my life. Too bad children don't understand stress and adjust their needs accordingly. Too bad.

Thursday night I was trying to do a million things, one of them being helping John David finish all his homework and do all his math flashcards. It really wasn't a big deal since he's a smart guy and he knows them well, but his silliness was getting in the way. I told him a few times to focus so we could get the job done. He persisted though and gave a booming loud, spit filled answer right in my face. Nice.

Under normal circumstances I would have swiftly taken his little rear into the bedroom for some discipline, but these were not normal circumstances. I was highly stressed and severely sleep deprived. So I did what any other mom would have done. I grabbed his newly built lego creation that he had spent the whole evening working on and I hurled it across the room. (Shameful, I know.)

He immediately burst into tears as I covered my shocked face in horror at my own actions. I gathered him in my arms and we both apologized to each other. We cleaned up the mess together and then finished the flash cards. It was done.

I thought.

Fast forward to his class Christmas party the next afternoon. I got there a few minutes early to set up (remember, I was "Marge"?) and the students were all working on their last work sheet of the year. John David decided it was an ideal time to make an announcement to all his friends and his teacher too. (Clearly, the child has judgment problems.)

In my mind I saw myself lunging at him across the room to stuff his mouth full of pink erasers and pencil shavings - anything to keep him from sharing this bit of dirty laundry. But before I could execute any plan, he was happily shaming me. "Hey everyone, guess what my mom did? She got so angry at me last night that she threw my legos across the room and broke it into a million pieces! Hahahahahaha!"

What could I do? I discreetly glared at him and hid my face from the curious glances of his teacher. I think all his friends were scared of me. They got over it as soon as I started the Chipmunk Christmas album though. I'm cool that way.

In retrospect, I probably should have just said, "Yep, that's what happens when you spit in my face kids." I'm not that cool though. I'm working on it.......

Quickie From Colorado

We're still with my family in the Denver area. We arrived last Sunday night after a 2 hour drive plus 2 flights. John booked our flight with exactly two objectives - get a bunch of mileage points with American Airlines so he can go platinum and get the cheapest fare. This resulted in a weird route and awful schedule for babies. We got here though!

We celebrated Christmas early with John's family and then packed up our stuff and moved it all over to our house. (Yes, I know, I haven't even posted "after" pictures of the Piece yet. Patience dear friends.) Before we could even finish moving all of our things, John's parents' packers and movers arrived! It was crazy. When we get back home, they will be gone (sniff sniff - for those of you who think I might be sarcastically sniffing just because these are my in-laws, you would be wrong. I'm going to miss them a lot!) and I will have a whole house to get in order with four kids under feet. That should lend itself to a number of blog posts right there.....except that I won't have internet right away, I don't think. We haven't set up any phone, cable, or internet yet so we'll be living in the dark ages for awhile. That might be kind of nice, at least until Lost starts back up and then I'll be a crazy woman if my cable is not on!

Santa brought me the Nikon camera I've been dreaming of for so long and I'm finally able to capture the pictures that have been in my head. Once we're home and internet is up, I'll have quite the picture post, I'm sure!

Santa also brought me some really cool boots that I can't wait to wear. I need some skinny jeans because my big bootcut ones are too big to tuck in. These boots are made by Crocs though - am I the only one who didn't know that Crocs aren't just the one kind of shoe? They make all kinds of awesome shoes! These are some super nice ones, let me tell you. John got a pair of Crocs too (no, his are not boots into which he tucks his skinny jeans!) and he LOVES them. He said they are so comfortable. But then yesterday, he and I went to get pedicures. When he put his crocs on afterwards he said it was like walking in the clouds. I wonder how many women have gotten a pedicure with their husband? Kind of fun. Tomorrow we'll go get massages together. Yes, it's a hard life here in the mountains.

I'm pretty sure that this post is not living up to its name so I should wrap things up. It's been a wonderful, albeit different, Christmas. I hope everyone else had a fantabulous week too. When we're up and running at home, I'll get to posting frequently again. This might be it for awhile though. Until next year.......

Are You Watching, Julie?

My big sister, Julie Ann Hix, was born on December 15th, 1976. In honor of her life, which lasted only four years, here are some pictures of my own two sweet girls. I'm so happy they have each other. I hope Julie looks down from heaven to see what we would have been. I'm sorry we missed out on growing up together.

You would have given me make-up lessons.

We could have worn matching clothes!

We would have always had a talking buddy at restaurants.

I would have taken all of your cool, big girl things and worn them.

We could have knocked 'em all dead with our swimsuits at the pool!

We would have tried all the latest hairstyles together.

We would have looked a lot alike, yet so different too.

You would have taken good care of me.

We would have loved each other even when we didn't feel like it.

We would have played lots of games together.

You would have helped me get to school.

I just know......

we would have been the best of friends......

Picture Tag

This is from the Christmas season of 2005! We were telling the kids the Christmas story using the "What God Wants for Christmas" set. That's Julia in the picture, but it sure looks like Aulora!

I tag:

DBH
Wasabullfrog
Deweyhafta
Beautiful Chaos

Go to the fourth picture folder you have and go to the fourth picture. Explain what it is and don't crop or edit it. Then tag four more people to do the same.....(I think I got those directions right!)

This Little Piggy

Sandy bought me some of those toe socks today - you know the kind that are like gloves for your feet? I took one look at them at thought, "Hmmm, I'm not sure my big long toes will fit in those."

I hadn't had a chance to try them on before Julia saw them and commented, "Your toes will never fit in those. They're too big."

We may need to work on tactfulness in the future.....

Something to Sign Up For On January 1st

This would be fun! (in a tortuous kind of way) Has anyone done this before?

Slothly Shopping

Actually, I think it's just plain smart shopping. I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping and I haven't gone inside even one store! Woohoo! Amazon has been my friend this year! I even signed up for a free one month trial of Amazon prime so I could get free shipping that was even faster than what I would have paid for. My stuff starts coming in 2 days! =)

The really cool part (although I'm not sure it gets cooler than NOT going through the mall with a double stroller plus a 5 year old for hours on end), is that I bought some really cool things for the kids that I don't think I would have gotten otherwise like this super cool educational game called Wild Planet Hyper Dash:


and this magnetic toy that is the greatest I've seen in all my years of raising a boy:


and a number of these drawing books for Julia:


Of course I had to get something for myself (well, technically this is for the kids if you think about it):

And then I noticed this cd:



and realized that I never bought it when it came out! And I got it for only$2.40! I LOVE Hillsong kid music!

These digital bookmark timers are so great that I bought one for each of the older kids. We can use them for recording John David's school reading time or we can set it for a certain amount of game time or whatever else we want to do! I can't wait to get these!



Please hurry, Mr. Mailman! I love mail!

Buckskins? Tunics? Naked?

John David is supposed to answer the question "What would a boy or girl from the Apache tribe wear?" for a school project he is doing. We have no trouble finding the answer for what an adult would wear, but a child? Even wikipedia proved to be no help. (Oh wikipedia, how you've failed me!)

I absolutely can't squeeze in a trip to the downtown library right now (it's freezing cold, four kids, busy trying to move, yadda, yadda, yadda, same ol', same ol'), so the internet is all we have to go on. The internet and YOU! =)

I wonder if we should just give the description of what the adults wore:

" Originally Apache women wore buckskin dresses and the men wore leather war shirts and breechcloths. In the 1800's, many Apache men began to wear white cotton tunics and pants, which they adopted from the Mexicans, and many Apache women wore calico skirts and dresses. The Apaches wore mocassins or high moccasin boots on their feet. An Apache lady's dress or warrior's shirt was often fringed and beaded for decoration."

John says the kids probably ran around naked. That would cause a problem though since part of the project is drawing a picture of a boy or girl standing beside their dwelling. Ha! Wouldn't that be funny! I'm pretty sure his teacher would not be amused as she's a pretty no-nonsense kind of gal. (I do love her though!)

Any Apache experts out there?

(This post reminds me of a funny story about John when he was little. I think he was about Julia's age or so when he drew a bunch of pictures during church and then tried selling them afterwards. He was a pretty decent artist so you can imagine the reaction he got when people saw what he had drawn - a side view of an indian wearing only a breechcloth! And I think there was a breeze blowing that breechcloth around!!! John's mom still has that picture somewhere. Maybe one day I'll get to scan it in and post it for your viewing pleasure.....)

What Does This Say About Me???

While in Dallas, I mentioned we went to the Museum of Art. We sat down and spent some time at a station where you were supposed to create art with a limited amount of supplies. I got right down to business making mine. Admittedly, I am not the most artistic person in the world, but I try my best. I was pretty proud of my creation, which I lovingly called "Bug from the Hood" (notice his grill)........


until John produced his.....

Julia's Mouth Strikes Again

Did you know that when your panties are shriveled and backwards they are uncomfortable? That's what Julia tells me anyway.

She also referred to my bra as a "nurnie park". Nurnie comes from whenever I've nursed, as in "the baby wants some nurnie now", but "park"? I'm clueless on that one. That girl really cracks me up.....

I think some duct tape over her mouth is in order....

I braved Target today (with four children and LOTS of shopping mobs) to buy a couple of birthday gifts. We found a really cute Hello Kitty diary set for Julia's friend and I thought it was a great gift. We were almost to the cash registers when Julia made it clear that she did not agree. She could be heard loudly saying, and I quote,

"I don't want to give my friend diarrhea! She already has a diarrhea and I don't want to give her another diarrhea!"

Yes, shopping with children is most certainly at the top of my list titled "things worse than getting your upper lip waxed". (Not that I've ever done that. I'm just guessing on that one.)

He'll Be Home For Christmas

My manly man is finally home and not leaving after just one or two days! Yea! He doesn't have to go back to work until January 4th. How great is that? I'm not going to think about how he'll be gone for four weeks straight (most likely) when he leaves again. On the other hand, it will be kind of fun to get the new house all beautiful looking before he arrives back home. It will just stink to not have a set of muscles around in case I need them. Oh well. I'm sure I can handle it - I do, after all, still have those python arms from having loaded and unloaded those three van loads of tile. Yes, I know I look like a fragile flower with my sweater and coat on (I chill easily you know), but I'm actually quite _______ - I can't for the life of me think of the right word here. Muscular, strong, hefty, sturdy. None of those sound right, but you get the idea.

My day is filled with birthday parties the kids were invited to, errands, laundry, and other equally thrilling things. If you're good, I'll post the details later. hahaha.

Adult Fantasies

Well, in keeping with how the title of my last post apparently sounded (seriously, what is wrong with you people?), check out this post. This really cracked me up and it is oh so very true!

Girl Toy Worth Buying!

I totally LOVE the girls' new Mrs. Goodbee doll house. They got it for their birthdays and they have played and played and played and then played some more with that thing! It's great!

The thing that is so genius (and yet so seemingly obvious) is that it can be played with on both sides so more than one child can happily play. (In other words, it gives mommy some time to catch up on blogs! or put on make-up or take a shower, but please, let's keep our priorities straight.)

Our kids get tons of toys (what can I say? they have lots of fans.) but this is one toy that hasn't been forgotten about after just a couple of days. That's a win in my book!

Shhh....don't tell my eight year old son I told you, but I've even caught him playing a time or two!!! hehehehe

For more things getting some love today, head over to The Diaper Diaries for Things I Love Thursdays....

I'm Large and In Charge

Hopefully mostly in charge, but if the shoe fits.....

I'm in charge of John David's class Christmas party. It will last about one hour and there will be games, crafts, food, or whatever else I want to plan. I have a list of parents who will help so I'm not on my own. John David is more than excited about this and tonight he said that I could be the queen and he could be the king of the party. hahaha, what a funny boy.

On to the point of the post - I'm looking for ideas. So gimme, gimme, gimme!

I'm Not Ready!!!

My little man-child is growing up! There are so many things bringing this home lately and it just makes me want to squeeze him tight and never let go.

Tonight he made his first phone call by himself. Are my children sheltered? He's eight and this is the first time. Anyway, he brought home his best school bud's phone number and asked to call him. We practiced phone etiquette first (as I could totally envision him talking in some weird alien voice when the child's mother answered) and then he dialed the number. He forgot to say "This is John David" and skipped right ahead to the "May I speak with Samuel please?" part, but that's ok. He was still very well-mannered sounding. (Quite the accomplishment if you ask me.) He and Samuel talked and laughed for about 10 minutes until I told him it was time to get off the phone. He was grinning from ear to ear and I could see the wheels in his head turning - a whole new world had just opened up for him!

And then there's this:

I don't have the picture of his exact bed we're getting, but his is just like this except in black and silver, not black and camo. The point being, he's going to be such a big kid with his own room and his own desk for homework. (And legos. You can't forget the legos and that right there should make me feel better. How big can he be if he still plays with those, right?)

He is also losing teeth like crazy. It's a wonder he can still eat. Speaking of eating, the child never stops! I think we might have to follow Dewey's lead and leave a pot of beans on the stove all day for his black hole of a stomach. After I picked him up from school today I had to run a couple of errands and he seriously thought he would die of starvation before we got home. He wanted me to stop at every fast food place we saw and was leaning over moaning dramatically. Puh-lease.

Such a big little man he's turning into.

Mini-Dallas-Vacation

I know it's late in coming, but that's just the way I'm rolling these days. We had a great time on our little mini-vacation in Dallas. It was awesome to only have the older two kids! Staying in a hotel was actually enjoyable - not a huge drag like it usually is with the babies. And you just can't beat that Embassy Suites breakfast every morning! We ate until we were stuffed every day and then didn't need to eat again until late afternoon. It really saved a lot of money on food.

We did go to the King Tut exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art, but they don't allow any photography inside. This photo taking mama was sad. It was very interesting, but not really as great as I thought it would be. King Tut is not actually there because they won't let him leave the Valley of the Kings. (or something like that.)

After the Tut let down, we went over to the rest of the museum. There was a tunnel you walk through and when you get to the end you are in a big room with a special kind of light that eliminates all color! It was so strange! I kept thinking of Julia's Care Bear movie where an evil villain takes away the color. Or maybe that's Strawberry Shortcake. Who can keep up?

We also went to the Reunion Tower only to find out that it's been closed for months for remodeling. We went up the elevator for the adjoining Hyatt hotel, but it didn't go up as high. It was still cool though.

I took the kids to see Bolt at North Park Mall. I was really tired and kept falling asleep (hey, it was a dark room and my rear was parked in a comfy chair. what can I say?) so I'm probably not the best person to give a review. The kids liked it a lot though.

Rain Forrest Cafe was fun since the kids had never been before. John David really wanted that volcano dessert, but as it was $15, I talked him into getting a smoothie instead. Well, dumb me. By the time we all got our dessert of choice, (Daddy - chocolate covered banana and strawberry, Me - sliver, yes SLIVER, I promise!, of fudge, John David - smoothie, Julia - dippin' dots) it cost even more than the volcano. Oh well. It was fun.

We got to visit my grandma and she surprised the kids with early Christmas presents.

We ate at Pappasitos - yummy, yummy, yummy! Is there a reason why that restaurant is not in every city across America? It should be.

And for the record, I tried to be in a picture. I gave John the camera and said, "Take my picture so everyone will know I was here too!" I held the kids and smiled. It was all for nothing though. My wonderful, extremely intelligent man could not figure out my little camera. So you'll just have to take my word for it - I WAS THERE.

One more thing: while I totally LOVE my squishie little babies, it's going to be so great one day when they are all a little older and we can go and do things again without great difficulty. Oh, and I'll be able to take a nap too. Oh yeah....

(these pictures were all taken with my old, not so great anymore camera. thankfully, my new charger has arrived for my good camera so no one will be forced to endure pictures like these again.)

I feel kind of sorry for John David

Why? I was doing some housework today and looked up to see all three of his siblings messing with his stuff while he was off at school, helpless to shoo them away. Julia was into his new dinosaur play set, Aulora was messing with his spider man lego set he just put together, and Joshua was sucking on the Wii controller.

You can bet your bottom dollar that I didn't tell him all of that. It's going to be so nice when he has his own room soon.