Here we go.....

First off, I notice everyone has code names for their kids so I will do the same.

Oldest son (6 years) = Lancelot (because he loves to be a Knight when he plays)
Middle son (3 1/2) = Einstein (because he is way too smart to be 3)
youngest son (1 year) = Bam Bam (he is full of energy all the time and very busy)

So, Lancelot started first grade yesterday, and it was our first day of public school. He did great. To say I am not a morning person, is really putting it lightly. Because of this, I did all the lunches (one for kid and one for hubby), had boys pick out what they wanted to wear, and laid out my own clothes the night before. I was showered and ready by 7:30 am, which is crazy for me. I actually have Einstein and Bam Bam napping at the exact same time each day, which means I have a quiet house for 2 1/2 hours a day. I have loved this schedule so far. Ask me in a week, when the newness of waking up early has worn off, and I may not be so excited.

I need some advice on two things. Hubby and I need a good book to read together when kids go down. The last book we read was "The Five Love Languages." Anyone have a suggestion for our next read?

Second question--I need some sack lunch ideas for a kid who doesn't like lunch meat. I can't keep making PB&J and Pimento and Cheese sandwiches all year long. Any suggestions?

Hopefully with my quiet time, I can blog more and read more blogs.

Oh...I almost forgot...I also need weeknight meal ideas to add to our repertoire.

Mountains, Caves, and Tanks...Oh My!!!

I have been absent from the blogs lately because I was getting the family ready for a mini vacation to climb Enchanted Rock and visit Longhorn Caverns in TX. We also spent a day in Fredericksburg where we toured the Nimitz Museum. The museum wasn't that fun with small kids. I would like to go back when I can actually read all the signs in the museum instead of constantly telling someone to not touch or, "Get off of that." A few days before we left, our AC in our Suburban went out (another blog), so I was busy dealing with that too. Every time I would think to blog or read blogs, I was just too tired, and decided to go brain dead in front of the TV instead.
Back to the vacation. We went with my sister, her husband, and their 3 boys. It was SOOOOO much fun. I might have grown up on a farm, but this girl is a city girl through and through. That said, I have to admit that I fell back in love with nature. I still hate bugs and creepy crawly things, but I finally know why God gave us 3 boys. Being able to share climbing this HUGE rock with my boys was such a thrill. They were so excited, which made me excited. We had planned, earlier in the year, to go to San Diego and do the zoo thing, ocean, etc...., but because we are doing this Dave Ramsey class and are so "Financially Responsible" now......we knew we couldn't blow that kind of money on that. My husband is a loan officer who deals mainly with the sub-prime market, so the pickings are slim (again, another blog). Anyway, I never knew Texas had so much to offer. We only took a 3 day trip, but it felt like one of our best vacations. We ate at one of the best bbq pits in the country- Coopers in Llano, TX. The only problem was we ate at Coopers the night before our big climb at Enchanted Rock. My big joke the next day on the climb was that I was sweating brisket. MMMMMM.......BRISKET!!!......
Where was I? Ok, so dh and I are determined to find out all the cool places to see in Tx, and then take little day or weekend trips here and there with the family to see it all. At the end of each day, we felt like we had really accomplished something besides just spending money. BTW, getting into Enchanted State Park only cost us a total of $12. My brother-in-law got a year's pass to all the TX state parks for Christmas, so they all got in free. I now know what I want for Christmas. Being in this financial class has made us search harder for affordable family entertainment, but what I've found is the best things we've done, as a family, don't necessarily have to be in neat, convenient packages. Sometimes it takes a HUNT!

The Jesus One

The Jesus One

4andcounting tagged me for the Jesus meme. I'm supposed to list 5 things I love about Jesus and then tag 5 people. I've been out of town all weekend, so sorry for the late response. 1. Jesus loves me. Sounds so simple and childlike, but I am overwhelmed that even though my love runs cold sometimes, He loves me SO passionately. And when I finally turn my head toward Him, He never hesitates to immediately embrace me. 2. Jesus loves the unlovable. This is an area that I struggle with. The more I read about Jesus, the more I realize most of us "Christians" are focusing on the wrong things. He loved the ones crucifying Him, and spitting on Him. He never thought of His reputation, but only wanted to reach those that no one else thought was worth the effort. 3. He only does what He sees His Father doing and says ONLY what His Father is saying. Too many times, I run on ahead of Him, even with good intentions, but He gently taps me on the shoulder and says, "I never told you to do THAT." He is very efficient and trustworthy. 4. He died for me. Obvious one here. Eternity in Heaven is possible for me because of this. This gives me purpose in THIS life; to tell others of this gift. 5. He said I would do even greater things than He did on Earth. This is still a mystery to me, but WOW! He has offered us so much, and given us every key to expand the Kingdom of God.

My first MEME

This is my first Meme. I don't even know what MEME means. Someone clue me in. I took this from Musingsofahousewife. High School Spirit Meme

1. Who was your best friend? I was in KS for Freshman/Soph. years. Don't know if I had a "best" friend. We all had junkie cars and played chase a lot. Junior and Senior years were in TX. My best friend then was my now Hubby. We were high school sweethearts, and spent all our time together. Looking back on it, I wish I would've had sense to limit my time with him (we were a bit needy towards each other) and developed more girl friendships.

2. Did you play any sports? Sure did. Played Volleyball and basketball. Was Athlete of the year at my school when I graduated.

3. What kind of car did you drive? My dad was kind enough to let my sister (who is only 10 mo. younger than me) share his old work pickup. It was a 1976 maroon chevy pickup. It had a push start button because the starter broke. It used to belong to my grandpa who tore the seat belts out, so it was really safe. Being my dad's former work truck it had a long tool box attached to each side of the pickup bed. Once when I was trying to look cool and impress a boy downtown, the wind picked up at the exact moment he looked my way and the toolbox lids flew open simultaneously. I looked like I was driving a pickup version of the bat mobile. Oh, it had cancer too. We lost a bit of the outside every time we washed it due to rust. My sister left the window down once when it rained, and a little plant started to grow behind the seat. It was a like a wild vine. It refused to die. Very embarrassing driving that thing around a town of only 17oo people.

4. It’s Friday night. Where were you? Usually playing in game and then cleaning up to play in the pep band for the boy's game. The girls never got pep band or cheerleaders. I am still hurt about that.

5. Were you a party animal? No. I was a goody goody too. See question 4. Like I said, to find fun in our small town, we chased each other in our crappy cars or made home movies to resemble an SNL skit.

6. Were you considered a flirt? Nope. Never have been. I am terrible at it, and usually am not friends with the flirtatious types. It makes me embarrassed for them when I see them throwing themselves shamelessly at boys. DH wishes I flirted more with him, so I am working on that.

7. Were you in the band, orchestra or choir? Yes to band and choir. Our town was too small to have an orchestra. I played the saxophone. I LOVED being in any kind of musical program. Jazz band was a favorite. I actually majored in vocal music in college.

8. Were you a nerd? I didn't think so at the time.

9. Were you ever suspended or expelled? No.

10. Can you sing the fight song? Probably some of it, but I'm too tired to think about it. I was always playing in the pep band, not singing it.

11. Who was your favorite teacher? My bible teacher/coach/youth pastor at my new school in TX. He ended up marrying us.

12. What was your school mascot? Ks=Indian, TX=Tiger

13. Did you go to the Prom? Yeah, I went as a soph. with a gross senior. I didn't like him or anything, just wanted to make my ex jealous. It didn't work, and I was grossed out by my date. He had bad breath. Then my TX school was a private HS, so we had a Junior/Senior banquet. I went with DH. I wore a red dress with puffy sleeves covered in sequins. He wore a matching cummerbund, and we borrowed a red Mazda Miata. How lame!!! My senior year, I wore an Emerald green, floor lenth dress. I went with dh again, and we looked a bit less lame. I will post a pict. on Thurs. Good idea, Musings of a Housewife!

14. If you could go back, would you? Sometimes I wish I could go back and make some better decisions or be a nicer person. I wish I would've had the sense and confidence that I have now to be a friend to everyone.. I was too worried about my reputation, at times. I bet we all wish we had more confidence back then.

15. What do you remember most about graduation? We wore royal blue gowns, I sang in a quartet "I'll Keep Believing" by Point of Grace, and also wondered why everyone was crying. I couldn't wait to get to college.

16. Where were you on Senior Skip Day? I don't think we had one.

17. Did you have a job your senior year? 2 weeks at a clothes store. They put me in the changing room putting clothes back on a hanger. It stunk BIG TIME!

18. Where did you go most often for lunch? cafeteria. We weren't allowed off campus.

19. Have you gained weight since then? 40 pounds with each baby. I've lost it each time. I am about 10 pounds heavier than at grad.

20. What did you do after graduation? I don't remember.

21. What year did you graduate? 1994.

22. Who was your Senior Prom Date? dh

23. Are you going/did you go to your 10 year reunion? Yeah, I went to the one in KS. It was so weird. A lot of the old hunks were bald. I felt like I was in a time warp. I enjoyed talking with them all.

You wanna play? Consider yourself tagged.

Run for Your LIFE!!!!!

Mary at Owlhaven is hosting a carnival today called My Childhood Home. I grew up 6 miles outside of a small town in Kansas. My father is a farmer, so, yes, I grew up on a farm. My childhood home was a single wide trailer. I never thought anything of living in a trailer until I hit junior high. Thankfully we moved to town right around then and into a nicer house. Anyway, living in KS meant that we were subject to many tornadoes. Obviously our trailer did not have a basement. We lived on several acres of ground. There was 1/4 mile of wild grass between our trailer and a major highway. There was a ditch that ran between the highway and the grass. So to paint the picture better, it was our trailer, 1/4 mile of wild grass, ditch, and then the highway. Let me just say that the patch of wild grass was so large that we used a tractor to mow it and that still took forever. We were always told that if a tornado came we were to run through the grass to the ditch and get in the "tornado/atomic bomb is comin" position. Did I mention I lived there during my elementary years? Also, remember, there weren't any sirens 6 miles in the country, so the only forewarning one would get for a tornado coming might only be "RUN, THE TWISTER IS IN THE FRONT YARD!!!" To make a short story long, I never had to run for my life, but the trauma still set in. To this day, I still have nightmares of trying to get across that HUGE yard of wild grass to the ditch only to be protected by a small dent in the earth. HOW WAS THAT GOING TO PROTECT US??? I guess the tornado wouldn't see us crouching there, and would move on to to kill other saps who chose to park their trailer too far from a major ditch. This is probably not what Mary had in mind, but it is what immediately came to mind when I thought of my childhood home. I will add the fuzzy memories another time.

Add On to "Start My Diet Tomorrow"

"it really works when you stick to it." That seems so obvious but it really is the hardest part. I got too content with how far I HAD come that I fell off the strict wagon. I fit back into my old clothes, so I wasn't as desperate to finish to goal. I totally woke up this morning hungry and thought, "Ooh, I want a piece of homemade bread with real butter on it for breakfast." But then, I remembered my WW commitment, so I had Fiber One cereal instead, and feel totally satisfied. It is a complete mental decision, at this point.

Ok...I start my diet tomorrow....

How many times have I said that? I usually say it right after a huge, fattening meal. I have been wanting to get back on Weight Watchers for a while now. I have 12-15 more pounds to lose to get to my goal. Weight Watchers works so well for me, personally, that I should probably be able to get it off in about 4 weeks. I lost 33 pounds on it before I quit and I haven't gained any of it back. Mind you, 30 pounds of that was after 3rd baby. I am just so tired of not being happy in my own skin. I remember feeling so content in my skin, when I got married, that I didn't even mind facing the mirror while I ate at the Olive Garden. So, I am posting this to the world ( or the 2 of you that actually read this) that as of Sat. I am back on WW. I have 23 points a day to spend. I will be writing down EVERYTHING I eat. I have a WW journal, so don't worry. You don't have to endure reading how many crackers I had in a day. Feel free to ask me every now and then if I am keeping up with it. I probably will post if I've had a weight loss or gain. And I will definitely tell you when I get to my goal. If anyone out there wants to be WW buddies, just let me know.