Tag adendum

I also tag Kisha :)

my Heather...Sonic Speed Tag

Kevin sees me on the computer and says, "are you going to blog about how within 30 minutes of being home I've fixed everything in the house?" hahaha...he just had to fix the garbage disposal for me. Sure is nice to have him home :)

But no, I'm not blogging about Kevin...I was tagged by Heather, and as much as it pains me to talk about myself (hahahaha), I kid...I love question & answer posts!!


1. What was I doing 10 years ago? I had just graduated high school and was planning to head off to Texas A&M. I was totally an adult...17 and ready to take on the world! I've mentioned this in a previous post, but I'll be hesitant to send any of my kids straight to a big college like that after high school. Too many temptations that I was NOT mature enough to handle.

2. My Favorite Snacks, I LOVE snacks!: I love snacks too...and chips and salsa will always be my number one. When we were kids in Arizona my Mom always made us "cheese crisps" which is just a tortilla with shredded cheese stuck under the broiler and cut into pizza slices...dip it in salsa and it's pure heaven yall. I also love popcorn, almonds and yogurt (not at the same time)...oh, and Popsicles too. OH veggies and dill dip, love that too.

3. Five things on my to-do list today....today is not a normal day, I don't even have five things to do. I've been working hard all week in preparation for the ONLY thing I had to do today....pick Kevin up from the airport :) happy sigh

4.Things I would do if I were a billionaire: write a massive check to the Building Fund at church, pay Greg off so we could stop this court battle and we could all move to Montana together...assuming we'd still move to Montana if we were billionaires. Pay off my parents house but not tell them so they'd just get a letter in the mail saying their house was paid for. Pay off my Dad's medical bills and pay for the top-est (made up Erin word) plastic surgeon in the world to give him whatever reconstructive surgeries he'd like. Buy my Mom her Expedition back that she had to sell. Pay for Trevor to go to college. Buy Sophia a cottage. OBVIOUSLY I'd pay off our debt...and Kevin and I would build a dream house. Set money aside for three kids to go to college (ouch). Take my kids to Disney Land. Do all sorts of little things for people that they'd never expect and not tell them I did it...and clearly I'd have to pay someone to manage these billions that I've already spent a lot of.

5. Five jobs that I've had...1. retail 2. lifeguard 3. activities director at an apartment complex 4. office manager for a high end residential interior designer 5. and my favorite job ever, doing marketing and research for an educational technology distributor where I developed a serious passion for education...I'll tell you all about it sometime.

6. Five places I've lived 1. San Clemente, CA 2. Tempe, AZ 3. Houston, TX 4. Pearland, TX 5. Missoula, MT (wishful thinking)

7.Five random things people wouldn't know about me: This is tough because I'm such an open book, I really don't hold much back, but I'll try! 1. I have a heart shaped freckle on my left arm that I'm incredibly proud of (I have millions of freckles but this one is seriously a perfect heart)...I'm a hopeless romantic and I think it's proof that I'm destined for a fairy tale ending. 2. the thought of working out in front of Kevin is mortifying for me...maybe because I'm not one of those chicks that looks all freshly done and dewy whilst exercising. 3. I write blog posts in my head all day but when I actually sit down at the computer to post a blog, I draw a blank...then I decide to post some random blog about nothing but when I'm done all these other great ideas come to mind...frustrating yall! 4. speaking of "yall", when we moved to Texas I swore I'd never say "yall" or "fixin to", and I say both...LOTS. 5. I think I'm a really good singer when I'm jammin' in the car, so I turn the music down to check...and sure enough, I'm sooooo not a good singer.

8.Five cds that I'd have to take on a desert island 1. Aerosmith, Big Ones (a greatest hits) 2. Bon Jovi, Cross Road (it's a greatest hits too) 3 & 4. Marc Broussard, Carenco & Momentary Setback 5. both of Miranda Lambert's CDs and The Wreckers...see how I totally snuck seven CDs in there? haha

9. People I tag are.......CeCe, Fia, Linda, Sab, Missy & Stephanie

Rock On,
E

my bad

a while ago I posted something where I dogged Kate of John & Kate Plus Eight and I said she always seemed mean and they knew what they were doing having six babies from infertility treatments....and now, as I'm up with a wide awake 7-week old watching a little "catch up on John & Kate and their journey to eight" (that's not what they named the show...but they should have)...I'm feeling like such a biatch.

A. they just called me out and said that in all the history of fertility it's only happened 14 times that someone ended up with 6 babies...so there was no way they knew this could happen

my bad

B. I only have three kids and I can promise you that I seem mean ALL the time...so with her having eight, ya...

my bad

MY BAD yall...I must have been having a bad day when I posted that. I think Ryland is finally ready to fall asleep. PRAISE GOD.

Goodnight for real this time :)

just some stuff

I'm the self proclaimed queen of random posts...so here we go:

I'm in the process of downsizing my closet...significantly downsizing my closet. I just got rid of a huge black yard working body bag sized, um...bag, of clothes and I could do more. By "got rid of" I mean "set aside to donate"...don't worry. Usually when I go through my clothes I find myself saying, "well if I lose a bunch of weight and get some of those bony looking shoulders this might look cute" so I keep it. Today I said to myself, "self, you will never have bony looking shoulders, you are a woman of substance and bones will never protrude from any body part that has the ability to be covered by the remnants of mexicana food...rid yourself of this reminder that you will never see bony shoulders". So I got rid of a lot more clothes then usual. Then I felt bad for feeling bad that I'll never have bony shoulders. Ultra skinny is out right?

Speaking of ultra skinny...there is something wrong with me. For the last 6 weeks I have been eating sooooo good and working my butt off every day...and I have not lost one single pound since I left the hospital. Not one. And to show yall I know that a taco salad isn't diet food, I'll give you a run down of a typical day's menu:
breakfast is a Spark (Advocare...see Sabrina) and two whole wheat low fat nutrigrain waffles with a tad of spray butter (which is a total of less than 20o calories)
if I get hungry before lunch, which I rarely do, I'll eat a piece of fruit
lunch is a salad of some sort...most common is just spinach with poppyseed dressing (sometimes I add fruit or nuts to this salad too) or a spicy southwest boca burger chopped up on lettuce with some salsa
snack is almonds or fat free yogurt
dinner I make stir fry a lot with mostly veggies, some chicken and brown rice...or pretty much any lean protein and veggies...if I really want potatoes I eat sweet potatoes.
if I need something sweet it's a skinny cow fudge bar
lots of water...other drinks are diet coke or if I need coffee it's a skinny latte
And exercise wise...today I'm so sore I can barely walk up the stairs.
Are yall freakin kidding me? All this torture and not ONE pound I've lost? Plus I still look like I'm pregnant! People ask me when I'm due!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sigh

Tuesday I started my first Bible study. WOOOO HOOOO. Amanda had to make the announcement that "we're going to use the index to find Jude..." which was a shout out to her sister (me) who couldn't find Jude to save her life. Did yall know it's not even a whole page? The entire book of Jude? And those Bible pages are paper thin so Jude is a hard one to just stumble upon if your flipping, like I was. Anways, Amanda (being the glorious friend that she is) took a lot of the pressure off for me to find this one specific page in the mass of tiny paper thing pages in my brand new $7.99 pink Bible. Not that it even mattered. I'm doing this study with some pretty awesome girls...super excited to get to know yall more!!!!

Last week Hunter was in Arizona with my parents visiting my Dad's family so when Amanda called to invite us to come swim with her and Jackson it ended up being just us girls. Since then, Cierra had become obsessed with Jackson. That was until Pastor Chris stopped by to say Hi on Monday. Ever since then it's all about Chris. I think CC just decides that whoever she saw last is her new best friend....weather it be a stunning two year old or our pastor. Gotta love it.

Speaking of Pastor Chris...Ryland is getting baptised on Sunday. We're Lutherans...we do the infant thing. Sophia is her God-Mother and I'm so excited for that. I LOVE my God-Mother (who I call Aunt Theresa) and I always have, so I'm excited that Ry and Fia will get to have that special bond. Fia is Trevor's (my brother) girlfriend but she's also my friend and she's an amazing person. I love you sister and I'm so excited that you're going to be that special someone for my baby girl!

This post is taking nine and a half years to post because I have to get up every two seconds to stick Ryland's special yellow paci back in her mouth. It's not just that she loves her a good pacifier...it's this one specific yellow pacifier that they gave her at the hospital. We've bought other ones JUST like it and somehow she knows the difference. If anything ever happens to this paci (and it will, that's life) we're all in for it. So the question is, "Ryland, my dear, if you love this yellow paci so much, why do you keep spitting it out? Do you just want me to get off the computer and come hold you? You do? ok..."

Also...lastly...Kevin comes home on Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It'll be seven weeks since we've seen him. That is a ridiculously long amount of time. I'm probably going to do one of those scream and run to hug things at the airport...you know, you've seen it on movies. Yes, I'll be THAT woman...but it's all good. Then the following Wednesday, so a week from today, the girls and I are packing our bags for God's Country. We'll spend the month of July in MT with our favorite man. I'm so looking forward to it. He's been commuting since January so I'm super excited to see where he's been living. Maybe it'll snow and I'll get to make a fun post! You laugh now, but it snowed last week!!!!!

Alright...so that was long, tedious, and there were no pictures! My apologies :)

Goodnight blogging world!

belated graduation announcement

I still haven't found my cord to upload the pics on my camera...I think that's a PERFECTLY good reason for Kevin to buy me this:

Kevin doesn't agree so much. I'll be working on that.

BUUUTTT...I did get some pictures of Big H's Big Day...so I thought I'd do a little belated graduation day recap for yall!

My boy in his cap & gown (gown pronounced gow-an), feel free to shed a tear...Lord knows I did! They had all the kids walk in to the standard graduation song and all the parents stood and cheered for everyone, it was so cute. Those kids were so proud of themselves too, Hunt took it VERY seriously.


Here Hunt's either singing "I believe I can fly" or "Wind beneath my wings"...apparently the goal was to make me sob...or he was reciting one of his pledges, (as in pledge of allegiance, pledge to the christian flag and pledge to the Bible)...again, the goal was for Mom to cry like a baby. I mean, I know this was just a Pre-K graduation, but it means my baby is starting elementary school! And he can memorize things!!!!!!!!!!! (yes, I'm being dramatic...he can also read)


Cutest boy ever:


Singing "A-Tootie-Ta" or however you'd spell it...but it was C-U-T-E!!!!!!!!




That boy sang his hat crooked:


Hunter getting his diploma from his teacher, Ms. Maria. She is a saint yall. I wish I could take her with me and have her be his teacher forever. Hunter left Pre-K being able to read...and read WELL, he can write all sorts of words, he loves math, he has scripture memorized, he has a love for learning and a love of God. He tells me all the time about stories from the Bible. Him and Cierra pray before they eat, and without us initiating it! This was the greatest school and the thought they put into the graduation ceremony meant so much to all the parents. If anyone reading this needs a good preschool in NW Houston, let me know...my kids have been to several "daycares" and this place blows all others out of the water!!!!!

Hatfields vs McCoys

Apparently my wood laminate floors and Cierra's Mug Rootbeer do not get along well. Since this household is home to a real life cowboy:



I'll make an analogy that is fitting for us all...my floors:Mug Rootbeer, Hatfields:McCoys

Earlier today CC dropped a cup of Mug Rootbeer on the floor that has created a stickiness impervious to a Swiffer Wet Jet, a plain ol Swiffer Sweeper with wet cloths, Clorox Disinfecting Kitchen Cleaner, Pledge Multi Surface Cleaner, Oxy Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner, an off brand toilet cleaner and plain ol elbow grease. Now, I understand that three out of the seven attempted cleaning products are not intended for floor usage but I've become desperate.

I can promise you there is not a germ to be found in front of my couch...but the stickiness remains. How is this so?

Too old for Mom? ALREADY?!?!?!

This will not be a long post...my kids are asleep and I'm tired so I'm soon to follow, but I just had to share something. I've been on the phone with Kevin (as usual) and Ryland was laying on the couch in between where Cierra and I were sitting...she was all happy, "talking", smiling, etc so when I got off the phone I decided to pick her up...well all of a sudden she's fussy.

I tried feeding her.

Tried the trusty yellow "paci".

I did the walk & bounce thing she likes.

Changed her diaper.

Nothing is working and it's been over 30 minutes so something must be terribly wrong....right?

Well I'm getting a little tired so I layed her back down on the couch to get a drink of water....wait a minute, it's quiet. I go check and she's smiling again. Surely this can't be right. Did my child really just want to be left alone to lay on the couch?

She's not even two months old yet. This is so not cool.

Summer Make Over

Yep...Mama's trying to get a little bloggy makeover from Pink Armchair Designs, go check her out...you probably need one too (I mean that waaaaaaaaaaaaay nicer than I sounded....it's still kinda early, I've had no coffee...you can't hold me accountable for anything I say yet). Go check out her blog, sign up for the contest and tell her I sent ya....Sabrina sent me, I love Sabrina. I hope she wins (see, I CAN be nice early in the am...not that 9:40 is early, but whatever...apparently lack of caffeine makes me ramble too).

Alright, so check it out!!!!!!!!!!

I almost forgot!

I forgot to tell yall (I say "yall", I have not a clue who reads this) that is was SNOWING in Montana today. Ya, snow...in June. My man is living in a weird state...and I don't mean his state of mind, although that may be questionable as well (I kid, love you Kev)...I mean he's living in a weird state, Montana. Someone should tell Montana that it's not supposed to snow in the Summer. Maybe I'll write a letter.

In case you haven't been able to tell...

I'm really a fan of talking about myself, but that's what blogs are for right? I got this from Heather, so here we go:

1. Favorite person in the world: You know I can't pick just one,

H to the P to the S

The Diva

and Baby Sister


2. Favorite Food: Mexi of course...beef fajitas, chips and salsa, chips and queso, etc


3. Quirks about you (you being me, that probably went without saying...moving on): There are many, but how about I don't embarrass myself and I'll pick just one: I have a walking soundtrack in my head, everything I do I think about what song should be playing at the moment...and every song I hear I relate to a situation (past or present), it's messing with my reality because on more than one occasion Kevin has heard, "why can't you think about me like those lyrics in that one song (insert song lyrics here)?" to which he replies "how many times do I have to tell you that, A. I'm not a song writer and B. I can't even understand what they're saying in (insert song lyrics I was previously complaining about)" He has a point there. I also make up dance routines in my head to pop and hip hop songs...which is hilarious since I could never actually DO the dances I makes up.

This guy, Marc Broussard, writes the song lyrics that I complain about most often:


4. Any regrets in life: psh, how much time do you have? Don't get me wrong, that whole "everything happens for a reason" ideal is what gets me by in life, along with all that mumbo jumbo about "everything in my past got me to who I am today, and I love my life" etc, but that doesn't stop me from having regrets. I fully believe that I could be who I am and where I am without having made certain decisions. The person I was prior to meeting Kevin is NOT someone I'm proud of. I've forgiven myself because I know I've been forgiven, but I still regret a lot of hurt I caused other people...and myself. And also my tattoos, I don't like any of them anymore...which causes a dilemma being that they're kind of permenent and all.

5. Favorite blog recently: All of the ones I have on my daily read list, along with The Pioneer Woman and The Nesting Place...and I have no clue why I haven't put them on my daily read list yet.

6. Worst job you've ever had: hands down, TCM Forklifts...I worked there for a matter of weeks and it was B to the A to the D. They had no internet (and this was only a year ago I worked there) and were so stingy on supplies that in order to get a new pen from the supply Nazi you had to go prove to her that your current pen was out of ink...and that' just the tip of the ice burg. Not to mention, the work I did was so ridiculously simple that my day was finished about 20 minutes after I go there...no lie, and without having the world wide web there was nothing to do the rest of the day. I'm surprise I lasted as long as I did (and like I said, I didn't last long).

7. What job would you pay NOT to have: the aforementioned job at TCM.

8. Favorite Bible verse right now: um, I just bought a Bible yesterday so I'm not exactly at the favorite verse part yet. Don't get me wrong, I grew up in church but only recently has it really MEANT something to me...so ask me again in a few weeks and I'm sure I'll have some favorites!

9. Got any confessions: I just ate some left over quesadilla that belonged to Cierra, that is SOOOO not on my eating healthy plan. I also bite my cuticles, it's awful...I wish I knew how to quit you, cuticles. I can also spend too much money at the grocery store because I love to cook and I justify it because you can't get in trouble for buying groceries....right???

10. If you HAD to spend $1000 on yourself, how would you spend it: right now it would be on a personal trainer. Typically it would be on clothes but I refuse to buy clothes until I can buy them in my pre-Ryland size (or smaller).

11. Favorite thing about your house: sigh, without going into the drama I did last time, I'll say...the floors that Kevin put in. I love the look of dark wood floors next to white base boards and tan walls.

12. One thing you're bad at: saving money, self control of any sort, spelling, putting mascara on without getting it on my eyelids, finishing laundry...oh I'm sorry, did you say ONE?

13. One thing you're good at: talking. I can (and do) talk to anyone about anything at anytime...oh and to add one thing to the question above...I'm also bad at knowing when to stop talking.

14. If you could change something about your circumstances, what would it be: that's an easy one, I would live in the same city as Kevin and Hunter at the same time.

15. Who would you like to meet someday: The Pioneer Woman, but she'd probably get a restraining order...there's a borderline obsession there.

16. Who is your real life hero: as cliche as it sounds, my Mommy. She's lived a HARD life and been faced with one unimaginable obstacle after another but instead of being jaded she's the one who motivates me to stay positive and keep looking forward.

17. When are you most relaxed: when I'm at my Mom's



18. What stresses you out: the days before Kevin comes home. I want the house to be immaculate, the kids to be happy (and not fight...hahahaha), the food to be perfect, me to be a size two, etc...I want his trips home to be so perfect that he can't stand to leave again.

19. Why do you blog: I needed a good place to talk about myself



20. There should be a 2oth question...gotta keep it even, ummmm: Why do they have all those latex gloves in your hospital room after you give birth: so your brother can entertain your kids.

afternoon update

I'm standing at my bar area (where my lap top lives) doing a standing ab workout and having e-mail conversations with two friends of mine...Ryland is in her swing, she doesn't want to be, but she's being a trooper...Cierra is in the kitchen and I just paused to actually WATCH what she's doing. I am so mad I'm not quick enough or I'd have caught this on video for yall, but she's created herself a little solo mosh pit. She stands next to the oven then runs sideways to bang herself off the cabinets...like a little cabinet pin ball. And she's CRACKING herself up. There are tears in her eyes she's laughing so hard. She's LITERALLY bouncing off the walls. I guess that's my sign to get off the computer and entertain my three year old...sorry John & Amanda, we'll have to talk later. HAHAHA

DANGER!!!!!!

I'm in danger of losing my Blogger of the Year Award! I won't even tell you where I stand on my Most Spotless House Award, I'm afraid I was stripped of that honor months ago!!! I'm not one to make excuses (this is massive sarcasm by the way, excuses are the peanut butter to my jelly) but my lack of posts can be attributed to the following:

1. I've lost the cord to upload pics from my camera...and as we all know, posts are better with pictures.
2. Hunter
3. Cierra
4. Ryland
5. Vh1's Bachelor marathon

So what have I been doing with all of my time? Well a typical day starts with me pleading with Cierra to let me sleep longer...Ryland sleeps until 10 or so, CC gets up by 7:30. And CC wants to eat cereal directly upon rising so my alarm clock has been replaced with, "Mommy...Mommy...MOMMY, I want cewea...do you want to play babies? MOMMY get up! Mommy I play with baby sister?" That last one gets me out of bed.

Then we head downstairs where CC eats her weight in cereal, or sometimes oatmeal and Ryland continues to sleep on the couch or in her swing. I drink a Spark (Advocare...Sabrina sells it) wish it was a grande skinny cinnamon dolce latte with an extra shot and two sweet n lows, eat some oatmeal or eggo nutirgrain low fat whole wheat waffles with spray butter and some strawberries. Tidy the kitchen and living room. Break up about 15 fights between Hunter and Cierra, one of which is guaranteed to be, "Moooooooooooooom, Cierra won't let Ryland look at me...she's hogging all of Ryland's look space".

By now Ryland's starting to stir so I get some bottles ready and hope she can stay asleep for 45 minutes so I can do my walking video, it's not working. My formerly athletic body is laughing at the idea that I'll lose 30-40 lbs "walking 3 fast miles". My stubborn body fat prefers to be burned away via Spin and other insane amounts of cardio and weights. I ponder this fact whilst watching Regis & Kelley. Ryland wakes up. By now the big kids are literally coming out of their skin...I honestly think they will melt if I don't give them something fun to do. They go in the back yard and play cowboys.

The rest of my day is filled with breaking up more fights, watching the kids play in the blow up whale pool, trying to clean the house, starting but never finishing laundry, cooking my kids fun food while I eat low calorie low fat low carb healthy stuff, running errands, turning the music up and dancing with my big kids, playing football with Hunt and babies with Cierra, holding Ryland and making her smile, wearing my i-pod and attempting to workout but really just pretending I'm dancing in a video with Justin Timberlake, work on fixing my broken scale that is still showing the wrong weight for me (surely it's the scale right?)...etc etc etc.

Now, in case you didn't notice...showering, hair and make-up were not mentioned. Such is the life of a single-ish stay at home Mom of three. When Kevin's home I'm going to have to awake at dawn as to look like a decent person and still get everything done.

Point being, that is why I've neglected to update my blog. I hope you all have managed to continue to put one foot in front of the other every day without my posts....but I'm going to find the time to update more often, hopefully that'll win you all over so you can write letters of recommendation for me to win my Blooger of the Year Award back :)