she's back

apparently the monkey had a great time in OKC visiting my uncle and his fam. she got to watch movies and play games. of course the grandmas always enjoy getting her for a weekend. the grandmas are my mom and her sister. they are identical twins out of a set of triplets. when monkey was little she met my aunt sue for the first time and decided that she was grandma sue. now we just call them the grandmas. we had a relatively uneventful weekend. we had pizza night with the cowden clan as usual. then we just kind of hung out saturday. the hubby went to work sat afternoon and her highness and i went to visit pattylicious for a few hours. finch's dad and his good friend tony stopped by for the evening to rest before heading to idaho to hunt. big 'uns came by and had chicken and dumplings with us last night. we had jello beans for dessert. she is particularly fond of them, so we made them just for her. now i am listening to the sound of a darling little girl who refuses to nap. hope everyone has a happy halloween and a great week.

finished

i finished my envelope and sent it out yesterday. i wanted to do more stuff, but alas i ran out of room. i hope she likes the things i sent. i finished the narnia series, they were awesome. her highness has her "pumpkin party" at mdo on tuesday. i'm in charge of the cookies. i am so excited. there are only 8 kids in her class, so i will try not to go overboard. the hubby and i are in discussions about expanding the clan soon. in case anyone wondered to pay out of pocket for a pregnancy will only cost us $7500. that is if we pay in advance. if we wait until the end of the pregnancy to pay it will cost around $10,000 to $12,000. that is if you don't need a c-section. those cost a whole lot more. i will let you know what happens. hope everyone has a great hump day.

pictures and a few random thoughts

ok, so i wanted to put some of the pics up from the cowden/dunkin clan trip to the "amazingly fun farm". here the dunkins are riding the cow train. her highness is sitting on daddy's lap and monkey is riding in the back. the two cowden kids were in the front of the cow train.


here are the cowdens on the hay ride over to the pumpkin patch. can't you see the excitement on their faces.



random photo of my brother's grooms cakes and one of the wedding cakes. i think they're pretty.

this is the wee highness posing as pumpkin head. isn't she funny.
so, all day yesterday her highness would announce "pee pee" and dash for the bathroom. about 1 of 4 was the real thing, but i'm not complaining. the problem was that she didn't want to wear a diaper. no one else who goes potty on the toilet wears one. you see the logic. for those who are wondering, although i think the ankle should be ready for my 3 mile walk, it has other ideas. come on 6 days is enough time to heal. the fam went shopping on saturday to get me a bday gift and i was thrilled. i got an electric roaster and a hand mixer. please don't think i'm being sarcastic, i really am tickled pink. now i can do the turkey in the roaster and have the oven left for stuffing and rolls. woo hoo. anyway, i'd love to stay and blog, but the house needs to be cleaned. hope everyone has a great day

quick note

this is just a quick line to tell you what happened not 30 minutes ago. her highness patted her diaper and announced "pee pee". i quickly took her to the bathroom where i quickly disrobed her of her jammies and her diaper. she sat down on the potty and actually peed. is it too soon to be excited? i'm pretty sure it was a fluke, but i am still thrilled. i will try to post more later. woo hoo

all quiet on the home front

well, i just wanted to put a little note up to say how much fun i have had stuffing my envelope. i have enjoyed myself immensely. usually the only time i get to really craft is when i need to. other wise my time is largely controlled by the fam. i hope to have everything finished this weekend. then i can put it in the mail on monday. it is kind of funny that the lady i got in the swap is a southpaw, so are my hubby and eldest child, the youngest is still using both. for those of you with children, do you ever get up a little early on saturdays just to have the house to yourself? i love the peace of a quiet house. i also love the sounds of a full house. hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.

home is where the heart is

last night i answered the phone when big 'uns called expecting a fun but probably short phone call, it was 9:15 after all. anywho, as the call progressed from silly people acting silly to what her plans were this weekend the conversation got much heavier. she and biker will be getting there angel from the angel tree, they are both way excited. the HOG club's angels come from one of the local children's homes. i offhandedly made the remark that it was wonderful that they do this, but do any of them keep up with their kid through out the year. as many of you know i spent 4 years of my childhood in a children's home, so this subject hits way to close to home for me. anywho, it was a great discussion about what life is like for most of the kids in these homes. most of the club is surprised when the kids ask for things like belts, socks or simple cheap toys. most of these kids came out of ugly situations in which the necessities weren't met much less the niceties. as i got to thinking about the discussion my mind wandered to my own children. they have never known what it is like to wonder about your next meal, and i am glad. i am glad that my daughters have only known security and love. sorry this blog was a little deep, but i really wanted to clear my head. i am working hard to get my envelope stuffed, but there are a few things i want to "craft" for the envelope. hope everyone has a blessed weekend.

a birthday thought, or two

when i was in college, the first time, some friends and i put together wish lists. on these lists we included things that we wished were reality. in honor of my birthday here is my wish list.

I WISH:

that abuse was punishable by death.
the size of a woman's brain mattered more than the size of her waist.
for people to see God's love in me.
that friends acted like friends all of the time, not just when it was convenient.
for my children to know what real love is.
that women understood that we are often our own worst enemy.
that all children could understand unconditional love.
that parents understood how precious childhood really is.

now a short list of thanks
I AM THANKFUL FOR:

fall, i hate the hot weather.
a husband who can do just about anything that he puts his mind to.
kisses from children who love me no matter how bad of a mom i think i might be.
friends, always. those that are close and far away.
my health, i know it sounds corny, but really i am.
my education, i might be just a housewife, but i'm glad that i am an educated housewife.

viva las vegas

ok, this may be short because her highness could wake up any minute. this is my blog on the vegas trip. the hubby was in class from 8:30 to about 5:30 everyday we were there, so i got lots of me time. i read some great books, walked the strip a few times, and wandered the expo floor looking for freebies. on friday i stood in line for several hours waiting to get an autograph for the monkey. vanessa hudgens, gabriella from high school musical, was at vision expo doing autographs. i knew that the monkey would be thrilled, so there i stood waiting for her autograph. we had a lovely dinner Wednesday night at the grand luxe cafe in the venetian. we went to the hoya hospitality room thurs and fri night. we had gelato and watched the fountains at the bellagio. friday night after the hoya room we went to the marchon party. we only stayed for a little while, but it was great. they had an elvis impersonator and a shakira impersonator. some lady flashed elvis and he got "all shook up" and forgot the words to his song. we had a really great time, but we were glad to be home. we missed the girls terrible. monkey met us at the airport and dashed to us to give us hugs as soon as she saw us. then on to get her highness. she was delighted to see us, but wouldn't let us out of her sight. in fact sunday morning i had to stay in the nursery with her so she would stop screaming. she did really well yesterday with MDO. no crying until i picked her up in the afternoon. well that is the readers digest version of the trip.

tag i'm it

i was tagged, not sure what that means, but i think i'm suppose to fill out the 4 things list and post it. here it is. for those of you who are curious, we had a great time in vegas. i don't gamble and that makes it a little better for all involved. pattylicious took wonderful care of her highness and grandma and the monkey fared well.

4 jobs i've held

domestic goddess
box office manager of blinn college
short order cook
cashier

4 films i could watch over and over


tombstone (you're a daisy if you do)
if lucy fell
fools rush in
XXX (vin is hot in this movie)

4 shows i love to watch

moonlight (comes on right after ghost whisperer, and it is fab.)

CSI: Vegas

ghost whisperer

Criminal minds

4 places i have lived

happy, tx

winona, tx

brenham, tx

mc dade, tx

4 Favorite Foods

how do you choose just four?

oranges
chocolate
dessert (just about any)
bbq pizza

4 Favorite Colors

Yellow
Purple
cobalt blue
green

4 Places I Would Love to Be Right Now

where i am

with my friends

with my family

snuggling w/the hubby in front of a warm fire

4 Names I Love But Would/Could Not Use for my Children

i don't have any names that i just absolutely adore, but wouldn't name my children.

i think that i am suppose to tag other people, but i'm not sure so .... i tag leah and pattylicious

so much to say

where do i start? tomorrow we go to vegas, woo hoo. i am really excited, and i hope mine and pattylicious' friendship can survive her keeping aislyn for almost a week. the monkey informed us yesterday that she has the highest reading level in the class. not bad for the little girl who three weeks ago had the lowest reading level in the class. sunday the cowden and dunkin clan are going to go to the corn maze and pumpkin patch at the amazingly fun farm. i went with the girls on saturday and we had a blast. some of the pics are below. the radio station KGNC was there and the monkey informed me that i should sign up to win the $100 they were giving away. i humored her because let's face it if it wasn't for bad luck i would have no luck at all. well, i'm glad i listened, I WON! what else? her highness is learning more signs everyday. she can now do : more, please, a version of daddy and mommy, cookie, eat, bird, cat, and i love you. if any of you live in the amarillo area, the corn maze is an absolute blast. it is about a 45 minute walk if you don't get lost. then you can take the hayride to the pumpkin patch, it's roughly 4 acres. there are all kinds of different pumpkins and when we go next week we are loading up on them. i hope everyone has a great week.

this is a corn cannon. the person helping with the cannon puts the corn on the cob in the cannon, then the person who is shooting the cannon pushes the button and sees how far it goes. monkey had a blast.

this is the girls in the maze. monkey led the way through. we had a really good time, but it was terrible windy.

the cow train. when her highness fell asleep monkey rode it and said it was a blast.

monkey being cute.

me and her highness having fun.