Wordless Wednesday

Not Me Monday

I did not ask my daughter if her friend started her period when she told me she needed to tell me a secret about her friend. I would NEVER do that!

And I would never tell my son that if he would keep his mouth shut, he could have the Terrific Kid award like his sister. That would be awfully mean, and I would never do that!

I did not lose my shoes at work and have to hunt for them for an hour. Nope, not me!

And I certainly did not tell my son to go pee pee in a water bottle in the car because he kept having to stop and we needed to get where we were going. They would just be trashy!

Phoenix Fun

We went to Phoenix this weekend with the Hayes to see Miley Cyrus (for the girls) and a Diamondback baseball game (for the boys). We had such a great time! We checked the kids out of school at 10:00 Friday morning (so they would be counted present) and headed to Phoenix. As soon as we got to our beautiful hotel , we headed out to dinner and to the concert.
This place was amazing! It was kind of like Time Square. It had all these great big billboards, places to eat, places to shop, great big water fountains, and, of course, the concert venue. We had an amazing, rushed dinner and then headed over for The concert wasn't exactly what I expected. I guess I, as the mother (ugh I'm old), expected Hannah Montana. No, they didn't advertise it that way. They advertised it as Miley Cyrus, but.....I don't know. I expected a LITTLE bit of Hannah. Hannah is gone. She has been replaced by a very teenage Miley. I'm not saying it was tacky or inappropriate, just...well, just not baby. My kids are babies, don't ya know! And it was VERY loud! The girls were so excited to see Miley!!
I will say the show itself was amazing! She's a true rock star! She flew around the audience on a motorcycle and she did sing one song that I love to watch Kylee dance to and sing.


After the concert as we were headed to get the car in the Time Square-type area, we ran across a boy's dream store. It was called RideMakerz. It's basically a Build-A-Bear, but it's build-a-car! The boys were in heaven, which was nice since we had just left the girls' heaven. They had the shell of the cars and then all the parts, tires, engines, tool boxes, etc. You can make sports cars, monster truck, fire trucks, whatever you want. Then you head over to the station to build, where they have an electric screwdriver, and you assemble your car. I'm not sure if the little boys or the big boys enjoyed it most, but in the end, the little boys got the prize!

On Saturday, since it was 107 degrees in the desert even at the end of September, we headed to the pool. The pool at the resort was BEAUTIFUL, complete with a lazy river, a water slide,
and hourly activities for adults and kids alike. The adults putted limes for margaritas, and the kids did canonballs for...well, for something. I'm not sure what because none of ours won. Joey even got in on the adult canonball contest but got disqualified because it wasn't a canonball.

Late that afternoon, we took us out to the ballgame. The Arizona Diamondbacks stadium is something else. It was so much fun! Of course, Blaine was TOTALLY in his element and bought a bat with the $20 Dad Dad gave him, and Kylee created her own element by buying a stuffed monkey
with her $20. (I would NEVER let her buy a stuffed animal, and she knew it! She also knew I had no say in how she spent Dad Dad's money.)
Everybody had a great time! We have great friends and created great memories!
And came home EXHAUSTED!

MY Terrific Kid

Kylee received the Terrific Kid Award this morning. It is basically the student of the month award at their school.

She has received it every year except 3rd grade. Last year she was the first to receive it, and this year she is the second. She is such a great student! Now if we could just get her to ENJOY reading! She just can't understand why I read so much, and I just can't understand how she doesn't LOVE it!

Here are a couple of pictures with her principal and the other 5th grade Terrific Kids from the other classes, a serious one and a "roller coaster ride" one.



We'll keep praying Blaine gets the opportunity to attend the Terrific Kid ceremony himself. He told me yesterday he IS a terrific kid; he just didn't get the award.
I agree...now if he'll just keep his mouth shut in class. He has GREAT grades...it's just the talking!

Congratulations, Bug!

Oh hail ... again!

*****UPDATE****
House = $12,000

Remember this? Saw the adjuster today..on JUST the truck...and the estimate was $6300 in damages...to JUST the truck! The adjuster for the house comes tomorrow. Can't wait to see that!

Wordless Wednesday - Faves

Not me!

I did not let my 10 year old sit in the front seat with me since we weren't going very far.

And I certainly did not allow my 5-year old to have a lollipop after his breakfast of sugar-filled donuts.

I did not spend way too much money at Hobby Lobby and justify it because everything I bought was on sale.

I did not put on a jacket in the heat just so I could run to the grocery store with no bra on.

I did not offer my daughter $20 to clear out all the toys from her room she no longer plays with so we could give them away.

And I did not sleep late while my daughter had a pb&j and chips for breakfast to let Mommy sleep.

Uncle Curtis, Daddy or boy?

Uncle Curtis came to town -- maybe I should say THROUGH town -- today. The boys got up and went hunting this morning while Kylee and I hung out at home, doing laundry and cleaning.

After the storm last night, Remington was super dirty, so Kylee asked if she could bathe him. She was upstairs in the bathroom bathing him, so I went up to check on them. She had decided to do MORE than bathe him!

Yup, she brushed his teeth!

When the boys got home, Blaine came RUNNING inside to show me their "kill". He had several cleaned dove in a plastic bag and an empty crumpled up can of coke with holes in it.
The dove, of course, were the big boys kill and the holes in the can were shots Blaine himself had taken. He also informed me that Uncle Curtis had brought a "little friend." Meet Bill, the "little" friend.


He was so excited Uncle Curtis was here. They played and played. At one point, Blaine asked Joey, "Daddy, is Uncle Curtis a Daddy or a boy?" He also wanted to know what happened to his head and kept staring at it.


It was a short visit, and after lunch, Uncle Curtis had to head to the airport. Blaine is already asking when Uncle Curtis is coming back. Kylee just went to know when Kassie (his daughter) is coming, too.

Rodeo Rain-out

We took the kids to the rodeo tonight. Thank goodness I took these

before we left the house! When we walked into the rodeo, they wouldn't even let me IN with my camera!!
Oh, well, there wouldn't have been much to take pictures of. We got to watch about 20minutes, and here came the rain and hail. We stood under the shelter for about an hour and headed home.
Until next time, rodeo..

Kids' Trip with Papa and Nana...update

When the kids were going with Papa and Nana to go see Aunt Jackie, I decided to buy Kylee a little digital camera for her to take. It was, I admit, a selfish move because....well, I wanted pictures of their trip! When they got back, I was so excited to get them uploaded so I could see Aunt Jackie and her husband, Joey, and maybe even Freedom and Zen. I wanted to see pictures of the kids with Papa and Nana, and they're exciting adventures at the aquarium and state fair. Well, I got PART of my wish. This is what I got:

This is her view of her state fair trip:
The dogs

A girl we don't even know riding a bull

And lots and LOTS of fish at the aquarium (these are two of, literally, about 100)



She did get some good pictures of Blaine. For example:

And even one of Blaine and Papa

And I'll admit, she even got some good ones of the landscape


and even one of herself.


I was only disappointed because I really wanted to see people. We don't get to see Aunt Jackie and Uncle Joey much, and this was really their first trip with Papa and Nana. I don't want at all to negate what she took in her 144 pictures of their trip. She took some good pictures. I just wanted to see the PEOPLE.

To my relief, Nana sent me some pictures today.






I ended up getting more than I could have asked for, the best of BOTH worlds, if you will. I got to see Jackie and Joey and the kids with their grandparents, AND I got to see the trip through my creative, inventive, exciting, and precious 10 year old's eyes.