Being tagged makes me feel so cool! Thanks, McCall!

Before I do my taggy thingy, I was watching Oprah and found this freebie I thought I would share. It is a free book from Shutterfly, but you have to log onto the website before midnight Friday and complete your book by this Sunday. It’s a stretch, but $30 for free if you can swing it!

List of 8s

(and did you know that was my lucky#?)

8 T.V. Shows I Watch:

• The Office
• One Tree Hill
• Oprah
• Fox News
• American Idol
• Everybody Loves Raymond
  
• The Bachelor
• Anything on TLC, HGTV, or Food Network (Have you seen Ace of Cakes?)
  

8 Things I did yesterday:

• Pretended to sell Landon as a sack of potatoes and then squished him flat to sell him as a tortilla.
• Added spinach to our smoothies
• Visited Laura M and was inspired by Andrea’s message on how we can be uplifted by serving others, especially our families. We were talking about how easy it is to feel like a servant for your family instead of being eager to provide service for them.
• Made a chef’s salad for dinner and thought of it as ‘serving’ my kids
• Did Kenpo X
• Took a nap with Carter
• Got mad at my kids for scraping the paint off the wall
• Bought groceries with Landon while Carter played at Monica’s

8 Places I love to Eat:

• PF Changs
• Pei Wei
• Café Red Onion
• Panera Bread
• IHOP
• Lupe Tortilla
• In the pantry with the door closed (if I am being naughty)
• Sitting- it doesn’t happen very often!

8 Things I'm looking forward to:

• Going to visit my mom
• Damian coming home on Friday
• Damian finishing his MBA in May
• Breakfast in the morning…my new rule: no eating after 8 pm. Does it count if I wait til midnight?
• Celebrating our 10 year anniversary with my handsome hubby
• Christmas with my family in Utah
• The release of the Twilight movie
• Making a workout playlist and adding songs onto my iPhone

8 Reasons I am looking forward to Damian finishing his MBA:

• I think I remember him being really good looking
• My kids cry for him on his school nights
• I want to cry (or scream, or leave the house, or eat chocolate, or curl into the fetal position) when they cry
• For my list of honey do’s to be crossed off: the leaky shower, broken toilet seat, paint touch ups, 3 smoke detectors broken, remedy terrible grass, drive the ants away, fix boys train table, paint my studio...
• So we can have our garden again
• I can have help at bedtime
• Our home is a much happier and mostest funnerest place when he is around
• He will be content with his new found knowledge and skill, which will lead him down the perfect career path for him…and for me…that doesn’t involve lots of travel… and anymore school!

8 People I tag (oh and you don't have to do the looking forward to Damian getting his MBA if you don't want to):

Anyone who wants to, but I challenge:

• Linds
• Jen
• Julie
• Ruth
• Dirt
• Becky
• Mimi
• Stephanie

The future is...sTinKy?

Every Wednesday and Saturday, no matter where the boys are in the house, as soon as they hear the garbage truck round the corner they bolt out the front door. They are anxious to greet the guys who have the best job on the planet. Carter and Landon closely inspect every movement the garbage men make, running from one side of the truck to the other to get the best view.

Over the last couple of years, they have developed quite a friendship with our garbage men. They used to just stand there mesmerized, but now they smile the whole time, say “Hola!” and other broken Spanish in return, and ask to follow them down the street. Apparently garbage men have been really cool for a long time because Damian remembers he and his brothers following the truck down the street on their big wheels.

They are nice garbage men, and I am sure that having a fan club helps make the task a little lighter. We even receive benefits of their friendship besides the bi-weekly entertainment. They are more than willing to go out of their way with all of our garbage needs. After hurricane Ike, they took our huge pile of debris and left everyone else’s for a third party disposal company to collect. Or the time we put our old gas grill out just to see if they would take it. Gone.

I am glad our boys have goals of what they want to be when they get older. Maybe those goals will change as they grow, but if not, I know they will take the world’s waste management by storm and go down in the history books as the greatest garbage men ever.

On a less trashy note, Eden got her benchmark score. She was thrilled to run through the door from the bus and hand me the paper with a 100 on it! Benchmark is test that measures where the kids are compared to where they need to be when the take the state standardized test. Great job Eden!

Carter also had school news I’m proud to share. I had a phone conference with his teacher today. She told me that he was doing great. He seeks out other kids to play with, has a good vocabulary, interacts well with the teachers, is intelligent and adds insight to activities (that one I found a wee bit scary). She said his favorite activity is building with blocks and bricks and that he would do it all day if she let him. Despite having to break him and Ben apart sometimes because they are busy talking and laughing, she said Carter is a delight to have in her class and she really enjoys him. A mother’s dream!

Kudos to my kiddos! I am so proud of you!

I scored! (no Dirt, not like that)

Becky offered to watch Landon for me while I ran to Costco. Wahoo! Both Landon and I were anxious to take her up on her offer. Thanks Beck! I raced to Costco, but when I was supposed to turn right I turned left and to make a long story short ended up at Linen’s N Things.

I think it was the bargains that pulled me there. I found my fair share today! We got the boys bunk beds a couple of weeks ago, and I have been debating about what to do about bedding. The boys wanted motorcycles, but I already have so much cowboy paraphernalia that I nixed that idea.

I found a bed in a bag that I liked, but it was only in King size. It was suede in 4 different browns. It just spoke to me. I thought that for the price of $35 it was worth buying just to have the 2 euro shams, 2 standard shams, and 2 decorative pillows. Then I had the bright idea that I could just cut the duvet cover in half and use the included bed skirt as a border to add a little width to the duvets. Genius! (Pictures to come, their room is currently a disaster.)

To top that off I found a large floor pillow that matched and t-shirt sheets in chocolate brown for $15 for the complete set. So, for a grand total of $85 I completely decked out the boys beds. Yes honey, that is a good deal. I couldn’t have bought fabric to make them myself for that cheap. Thank you Linen’s N Things, and I am so sorry you are closing. We have been good friends over my home furnishing years.

I continued on my high as I met Becky and the kids for lunch. The kids were fantastic. They were using their cracker bread sticks as swords, which provided great entertainment for all. When the boys were finished, Gavin asked me to hold his hand and take him potty. So cute. Of course Landon joined the potty party train as well that rushed into the tiny stall in a hurry.

They both had to go at the same time, so we ready-aim-fired into the same potty. Well, that was the plan anyways. Gav’s aim was a little off, and unfortunately for the woman in the stall next to us, he cleared the potty and made it all the way under the stall divider onto her feet. I have seen my fair share of peeing, but that was quite impressive. However, I am sure the lady wasn’t as impressed as I was. All I could do was apologize through the stall (that was while I tried to muffle my laughter.) I made sure we were occupied in the stall until she left. Ah, little boys are great.

Home Sweet Home

After a refreshing weekend away, it is good to be home! Last night when I came home late, I crawled in bed with each of the kids and just held them. They are so precious, and such a big part of me. As I laid there snuggled up to each of their sleeping little bodies whispering why I missed them, a stream of tears rushed out of nowhere. I was caught off guard while thinking how truly lucky I am to be blessed with the house full of kids and a wonderful patient husband.

The kids piled into bed with me this morning with huge smiles telling me about everything they got to do with daddy while I was gone. Those are the moments as a mother that I hope I will never forget. They were excited about getting to go to the school’s fall festival. They told me about kids night out at the Brady’s, church, jumping on the trampoline together, and going with daddy to school where they got to write on the board and watch a movie on his computer. What a great Daddy they have!

Damian left this morning for Amelia Island, Florida for the week. He sent us this picture of the view from his room with the caption ‘Wish you guys were here with me.’ Not a bad location to have a ‘work’ meeting, huh?

I realized before I left for my trip that there would only be 5 days the rest of the month that both of us would be home at the same time. I can’t believe November is so crazy. It’s going to be Christmas before I know it!

Girlfriends Getaway 2008

I have been blessed with some of the greatest friends! When we moved here 8 years ago, I found a group of the most charitable, talented, and fun women I had ever met. For some reason they loved and accepted me and everything that comes with that, for which I will forever be grateful! Despite some friends moving away and the rest of us not even seeing each other on a regular basis, we found the time for our annual girlfriends getaway.

This year, after Ike cancelled our cruise, we celebrated Kim’s 40^th and my 30^th with a long weekend at the Hyatt Hill Country in San Antonio. As with every other getaway, we had a great time together.

We relaxed,

got pampered,

ate yummy food,

lounged by the pool,

confessed,

laughed,

cried,

got advice,

gave advice,

exercised,

tried to bike,

strolled along the Riverwalk,

read mindless magazines,

played tennis,

shopped,

and stayed up til at least 2am every night to fit it all in.

I have so many stories I could share, BUT I will spare my girlfriends by sharing any details. Anyone who has been on a girlfriends trip knows rule#1: What happens on girlfriends getaway stays on girlfriends getaway! Thanks ladies for a marvelous birthday celebration and for your friendship. I desperately needed our getaway and look forward to the next. I love you!

My mom took a turn for the worse while I was in San Antonio. She had lots of complications that weren’t anticipated during her recovery. The most serious of which was her kidneys not functioning properly. Her blood pressure was so low they gave her 2 blood transfusions, she started getting pneumonia, had fluid in her lungs, had low oxygen levels, and was pretty incoherent for a while. It was a pretty scary time, but my mom is a tough woman! She pulled through like a champ, well that’s what my dad said. I am sure I will get the real story when I talk to my mama.

I am so glad I had friends around to cry with me and support me when all I wanted to do was catch the next flight out of town.

There is nothing like Girlfriends Getaway. I think the getting away part is huge, but the having the great girlfriends to get away with is crucial! One of our friends was able to go with us for the first time this year. She had to leave early for her son's 16th birthday party, but before she left she summed up our weekend in the note she left.

G is for...

Gavin! One of Landon’s best little buddies, who is also in his little ABC school group. Gav had a show and tell of some of his favorite things, and we filled out a sheet of fill in the blank questions. One of my favorite responses: “When I grow up I want to be a dad , so that I can take a shower.”

G is for Green means Go! We had red stop signs and green go circles and practiced stopping and going.

Garden! We made a flower garden page for their books and planted tomato plants for them to take home.

When I was researching online for G ideas I came across this website www.kiddiesgames.com.

Here are a couple of games and coloring pages I thought you might enjoy, and just so you know I don't expect you to use these. But if you do and you are bilingual, they are also available in French and Spanish. Enjoy!

"The following games practice fun concepts about left and right and colors, suitable for small children.

And with their beautiful happy images of breastfeeding babies, they also present more natural images of babies than what they may see in mainstream media or products.

KiddiesGames.com is making its small contribution to this situation by featuring breastfeeding games! Children will see breastfeeding in the decor of these games, as if it is a natural every day activity, which it is."

Dress The Breastfeeding Baby Learn and practise the names of colors. click here to play online coloring pages or try clicking here to play
		Breastfeeding Left And Right Learn and practise the notions of left and right.

My strong Mama!

My mom had both her knees replaced today. It was a decision that was not reached lightly. She has been in pain for so long that we have encouraged her for a while to take the plunge. We just hoped it would change her quality of life, and of course it was hard for all of us to see her in pain.

The surgery went well, better than expected even, but I cried all day. I cried thinking of my dad and sisters there in the waiting room without me. I cried thinking of my mom under the knife. I cried most of the way through the boys at gymnastics, and having Landon there in the big boy preschool gymnastics for the first time did not help my already emotional state.I tried to be discreet with my tears, but I am sure the other moms were thinking, ‘Seriously? Girl you need to get out more!’

Carter’s coach awarded him with a trophy for how hard he worked today. He was given special instructions to ‘Spit shine it every day and put it by your bed to remember how hard you worked to get this.’ Now, that really got that tears flowing. Just kidding. I was dry by then.

As a minuscule tribute to my mom on her surgery day and in an attempt to feel closer to her, I went to 4 different nurseries looking for geraniums. My mom always plants the most beautiful pots of mixed flowers, but she always has geraniums somewhere. I finally found some, and my hunt was worth it. They were a beautiful fall coral color. I knew my mom would approve. My hunt with 3 kids lasted until dusk, but I couldn’t wait to pot them. I planted by porch light while my kids made oatmeal for dinner. (Oatmeal would have been a better choice, but I went with a chocolate bar for my dinner instead…in honor of my mom, of course!)

Something that I have always admired about my mom and dad is that they ALWAYS leave things better than they found them. They are always up for a project and one of the first questions they ask when I pick them up from the airport is always, “So, what can we do to help you while we’re here?” They are both extremely talented at playing extreme makeover home edition, and I love being the recipient.

When my parents visited last February, they decided to make my back porch a little retreat that I could enjoy. We went and picked out some beautiful glazed pots, flowers to fill them with, and two super comfy swivel rockers and a table for my back porch. My dad also put together the new grill that I had gotten Damian for Christmas that had been waiting for some love while it sat in the garage for a couple of months. Voile! A beautiful cozy retreat and back entrance for our family to enjoy. I have the best mom and dad! Please keep them in your prayers!

Election Day!

Last week when I was cuddling with Eden before bed, she told me about the mock election they had held at school that day. They were given the presidential candidates and each got a turn at the computer to cast their vote. She told me she voted for “the boy and the girl one.”

Eden had forgotten their names, but asked me if her vote would really pick our president. When I told her she had to be at least eighteen to really vote, she was disappointed. In our discussion that followed, I realized that she was much more interested in the political process than I thought given her boy/girl response. She wanted to know what the candidates names were, their differences, and how they could be so different and both believe they could make our country a better place to live. I was really surprised as she kept firing questions. I don’t know if the curiosity was spurred by not wanting to go to bed or genuine interest, but either way I was impressed.

When she had heard enough, I told her I was proud of her interest in the world going on around her. She responded that she really wished she could vote now that she knew more.

I recently read an article in Family Fun magazine (love that!) about a mom who held an election day at their house to help her kids better understand the process. I presented the idea to Eden and her eyes lit up. She started listing things we could vote for and wanted to run for president of our house for a day. After a week in the making, election day at the Vest house finally arrived.

Carter was also game for running for president. This morning we had a mock presidential debate. I was laughing my head off when Carter came down in his slippery shorts and a t-shirt with a clip on tie carrying a Book of Mormon. Eden was panicked she couldn’t find her glasses like Sarah Palin’s to go with her outfit, but I think Sarah would have approved of her chosen professional attire.

I so wish our video camera wasn’t fried. It was so cute to listen to them get into our questions.

As president, what is the first thing you will do?

Eden: “Well, making sure everyone goes to High School Musical 3 doesn’t

count, does it? No, I would go out and help people. I want to get to know people.”

Carter: “I would spank Landon’s bum if he got candy without asking, and then I would let everyone vote first. Then I would be a missionary and teach everyone about Jesus.”

As president of our house, what rules would you have?

Eden: “You have to ask before you get something out, be nice to each other, and share.”

Carter: “You shouldn’t steal money, and you can’t take your pants off at other people’s houses.”

Why do you think we should vote for YOU for president?

Eden: “Because I think I would make a good president. I would help people be good and I would be a good example. I really want to see what it would be like to be in charge for a day.”

Carter: “I am cool. It would be fun.”

Here is the ballot that Eden and I created to use after their debate:

The results are in! With a 3- 2 vote, Eden was elected president of our house for the day. Here are the rest of the votes that she tallied:

Breakfast- hootenannies and smoothie, Chore- put clothes away, Craft- beads, Exercise- jump on the trampoline, Lunch- pizza and oranges, Activity- High School Musical 3

Dinner- taco salad, Dessert- Ice cream, Bedtime story- When I Serve a Mission, Song- I am a Child of God, Bedtime prayer- Carter

As president, Eden was in charge of making all these things happen. She did a great job creating an order and giving the boys the incentive of going to the movie when we got our other things done. She got a little frustrated when the boys wouldn’t listen to her, and I found it humorous how often she played the “But I am president!” card. It was a fun day for the kids and I enjoyed NOT being president of our house for the day.

Oh, and I have 2 things to add to my list of confessions posted yesterday.

6. I really liked High School Musical 3, despite all it’s expected cheesiness.

7. For some reason Landon has some infatuation lately with touching my 'girls'. This has really bothered me, and I wonder if it is just me or he’s copping a feel on any lady he can. Tonight I fear I learned the answer.

I had a hard time getting Landon to come out of the restroom at the theatre. He was distraught that there were no paper towels (only air dryers) to dry his independently washed hands. He started to cry, and a nice lady trying to distract him told him to wipe his hands on her. I thought she was joking, but apparently Landon didn’t. He ran to her and wiped his hands up and down her legs. No words...I couldn’t make my tongue form a syllable. I was just caught off guard and it was over before I could stop him from feeling up a stranger. It’s just a good thing he’s not very tall. All you can do is laugh, right? At least this time I am pretty sure his intentions were innocent.

ConfeSSionS...

1. We have a detatched garage. I have unsuccessfully attempted, ahem, several times to unlock the back door with my minivan remote. Word to the wise, deadbolts will not unlock with a wireless remote…no matter how many times you push the &*^%*)^ little button. However, it will most likely make you laugh out loud at yourself…again.

2. I enjoy Hannah Montana’s music. Sorry to disappoint you, Jen.

3. The kids and I have a dance party almost every day. See #2. However, Damian is usually NOT invited. I don’t like dancing in front of anyone over the age of 12, including my husband. Side note: I bust out my best moves when I am in the car or home alone.

4. I write things on my to do lists even after I have done them, just so I can cross them off.

5. I have never downloaded any music! Nope, never ever. But I do have a running list of songs when that day arrives. My taste in music varies from classical to love songs to country to R&B. When I am alone, my dial always finds non-kid friendly stations (or Jen’s CD mix) that bring out the ‘thug in my white girl body,” to quote my thug twin Becky. It also causes my ‘I am so cool’ facial distortions that come only when busting out my best moves. See #3.

pinkalicious...

I am the homeroom parent for Eden’s first grade class this year. My first assignment for the year was to collect donations for the theme Pinkalicious (based on the children’s book). The parents were asked to donate anything related to the theme, basically anything pink.

Thankfully, the parents came through sending donations in, and then I put them together in the basket that will be auctioned off at the school’s fall festival. Each class has a different themed basket, and all the profits go directly to the school. Last year the baskets brought in almost $3,000 for the school. Here is the finished perfectly pink Pinkalicious basket.

Houston's International Quilt Festival

Damian’s mom and Aunt Vicki came to stay with us again this week during their yearly rendezvous to Houston’s largest convention. Really, at over 60,000 attendees it is THE largest and I can attest that it's international as we sat with ladies from Australia and New Zealand for lunch. Kris and Vicki were at the George R. Brown Convention Center taking classes all week, and Eden and I decided to tag along with them on their last day. (That is, after Damian got home from his 12.8 mile run. Just because I typed that doesn't mean I am encouraging. Impressed, maybe a little. Encouraging? Most definitely not.)

I went a couple of years ago (to the quilt show not running...well, yep at least that long), but I forgot the magnitude of the show. The best word I can come up with to describe it is overwhelming. Anything and everything that has to do with sewing or crafting can be found at the show. Well, I guess things not so related like the hair removal thingamajig I got can be found there too.

I bought a couple of products that I was really impressed with. One was the Bonash 007 (bonding agent), another was Lickety Grip (conditions fingers for better grip & control), and my very favorite is…unmentionable because it just might end up under a Christmas tree near you. There were a couple that I wanted to buy, Fabric Organizers II & Art Glitter, but showed a little restraint. Definitely worth a look if you are into sewing or glittering though.

Last summer, Kris helped Eden make a quilt. Eden picked out all the fabric, did all of the cutting and sewing (with lots of patient supervision that I can NOT fathom…it must be a grandma thing), and even used a long arm machine to quilt it herself! Pretty impressive for a six year old! They wanted to bring the quilt to show it to one of the ladies at the Festival. Well, one turned into about ten different opportunities for different people to sing Eden praises.

Eden couldn’t keep the smile from her face as people told her over and over what a brilliant job she did. One thread manufacturer told her she deserved an award and gave her 4 spools of glow in the dark thread, another asked if we would let her put her picture on her website, another gave her a package of crystals.

The most impressive encounter we had was when someone insisted that she show the famous-in-the-quilting-world and has her own tv show, Alex Anderson. She didn’t disappoint. She followed suit making such a fuss over Eden’s quilt. She told her she would be famous someday and to stick with it. Of course Eden had no idea who these people were, but she felt so S.P.E.C.I.A.L. nonetheless.

We quickly covered aisle by aisle of the convention center and made our way to the actual quilt display. It is hard to understand all the thought, preparation and time that go into these quilts. Some of them I sat in awe of how they were created. $10,000 was awarded for the Best of Show quilt, which looked like it could sell for more than that. My favorite was the quilt made by three sisters of themselves. (You can click to enlarge.) It was a great day, and I am so glad I left my to do list, piles of laundry, and stacks of clutter at home and took a day just being inspired by the creativity of others.