We got her fixed

We found her cuddling in the dog's bed last Sunday with the new boy from church, so we decided to get her fixed :) Nah, our Dog had an issue with a Dew Claw, the cone lasted about 10 hours before we felt too sorry for her to make her wear it. Brad thought it would be funny to put it on Abbie, but seriously, we did catch her in the Dog bed with the boy from church. "We were just cuddling!"... he gave her a kiss on the cheek before he went home.

Victoria's Class Picture

How awesome is this, I LOVE The head tilt. So classic.

Where do liers go?

Well, right now she's in her room. What do you think is the best way to discipline lying? Brad's always taught the girls that the worst thing you can do is lie, its way worse than the actual thing you did you're lying about. But Miss Abigail seems to think otherwise, and is lying at least a few times a day... things like "This piece accidentally fell off the piano all by itself." It was obvious that there is no way in the laws of gravity and force and all the laws of the world that it just randomly fell off by itself. She took it off, or played with it, and so it fell off. Not that it really mattered, but it was the fact that she lied about it. What should I do? Any suggestions?

3 french ducks...7 geese a laying...

Well, we had 3 ducks in our lake, and now we have 7 geese as well! Abbie and I fed them this morning. They are AWESOME! I heard a goose honk outside and looked out my office window and 7 geese were all waddling their way to our lake! (Its more of a pond, but they call them lakes here in Dallas) They were just walking in from the street, it was kinda funny to see, so Abbie and I went out and fed them to welcome them to the neighborhood :)

I love Fridays :)

Man, I really do love Fridays. There's something encouraging about waking up in the morning, knowing that you only have to finish up the day and you get so much reward at the end, a GREAT WEEKEND ahead of you! I woke up this morning after a great dream, and made some yummy strawberry crepes, and dropped off Tori at school. Man, there is something surreal about watching your child run from the car to the school with their huge backpack on, not even looking back. It just is surreal, its the best word I can find for it. I love Victoria and Abigail so much, they are amazing, and I'm so blessed to have them.

Ode to my Washer and Dryer

Well, most of you know we moved on January 1st. Well, our other Washer/Dryer was unable to come along, they had to go back to the company we rented them from. I figured it was MUCH cheaper to get a set on Craigslist than to pay $40.00 a month. SO... I decided we'd get a used set on Craigslist. Well, quickly we realized we were kinda broke, and so every time we paid our bills we said, "we'll wait until our next paycheck"... well, it was 2 weeks before we decided to break down and go to the Laundry Mat, so we did that, Great FHE :), great lesson on cultural diversity and home economics... and financial budgeting as well. So after that we were good for another two weeks... well, since our last experience at the Laundry Mat i was a little resistant to go again and I decided it was TIME to go get our own... then we went broke again... so I figured, if a Washing Machine could do it, why can't I? A Tub is as good as any place to launder my clothes, its like handwashing everything, that can't be that hard. So I sorted through our boxes full of dirty clothes (you know you have too many clothes when you can go this long without doing the laundry) and put all the whites in the tub with a bunch of HOT water and laundry soap. Then I pulled my pants up to my knees and followed the movie "A Walk in the Clouds" with Keanu Reeves where they stepped on the grapes to make wine... well, I stepped all over my clothes to make them clean. I figured it was just as good as a washer, right? And kind of adventurous :) SO, that was great, I let them soak for a good few hours, and I called it good... SO then I decided we can't wear them wet, its time to dry. So I rinsed them a few times (filling the tub, stirring the clothes like food, and then draining it) And then I took out the first item... tried to wring it out, and thought to myself, "Hmm, thats kinda hard." So I did my best and hung it up. As you can imagine with a tub full of whites, the wringing out process wears on my poor little hands and it took FOREVER, and even after much wringing, they were still dripping wet. After about 1 1/2 hours, I realized that the Washing Machine in truly a miraculous invention. How did they do this back in the day with 8 kids and farming in dirt? I don't know. I decided that all these years I have truly taken advantage of my washing machine and not given it the proper appreciation and respect that it truly deserves. So I left the rest of the clothes in the tub to await our future washing machine that I'd rather get than have food on our table.

Here now is my ode to my old washer:

"Oh Washer, Where have you been? You were so good to me for so long, and now you are gone. And I miss you dear washer. I miss you so dear. I'm sorry I never thanked you for your hard work. Please come back and wash my clothes so I don't have to, please?!"

SO, we found a washer/dryer set on craigslist for $100. $100!!!! That's it!!! I was so excited. I had all my clothes in piles, ready to take their long awaited treatment in our new/used washer/dryer...

We get them home and they are probably about 12-15 years old, I know we had the exact same set growing up, so it could be older than that... yes, I'm getting old... anyway, so I do my first load in the washer and take out the clothes and I'm absolutely AMAZED at how non-soaking they are, truly a miracle. So I put them in the dryer and turn it on, and I'm all excited, and then I open it up later and realize... they are still wet! What the HECK!?! Yeah, the dryer doesn't work. It pushes air through, but there is no heat. AHhhhh Maaaannnnnn! SO, back to the hanging method, luckily there is no dripping wet clothes this time, just very damp, but STILL, do you know how long it takes for a towel to dry without a dryer? Approximately a day and a half, and if you are needing a towel, a day and a half is a VERY LONG TIME! SO, needless to say I didn't do any more laundry besides that first load, and the rest just waited there, for OVER A WEEK! We debated on if we should get a heating unit thingy for the dryer or if we should just get a new one, or another used one from craigslist. After much debating, and way too many days to do it, I finally broke down and found one that would deliver to me for only $125.00. Plus a 6 month warranty. SO, on Monday, I finally got my dryer that works, and here is my ode to my newly used dryer:

"Oh Dryer, oh dryer, where have you been. I've needed you for so long, and now you are here. Thank you dear dryer for all that you do, I'm so grateful for your drying abilities and for the heat that you bring to my warm clothes. YOU ROCK!"

There you go, good times.

Here's to My Hottie-Happy Birthday!!!

It's Brad's Birthday Today, and I'm SO Excited for him to be 29!!!! This is like the long awaited age before you're "old" in child terms :) Here are some pictures to look at through the years of my wonderful husband who is truly my BEST FRIEND in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD. I'm not going to try to attempt the same type of entry he gave to me on my birthday, but I will say that if you know Brad, you know how lucky I am, and I think that probably sums it up. He has the kindest most giving heart than anyone I have ever met in the entire world. Last year we spent almost his entire birthday pulling people out of a blizzard. This year, we'll be playing putt putt and go karts in 72 degree weather. But I think he'd prefer serving people if he had a choice. He truly is an example to all of us. Happy Birthday Bradley!