Peek-a-Boo

Who is that hiding under the towel?

Peek-a-boo! It's Sweetheart. He wasn't so happy that I was drying him after his soak. He sucked into his shell as far as he could go.

He was still unsure about coming out to say hello.

Emogene tried to help by talking to him sweetly and giving him a little rub.

It worked!

He then enjoyed some bok choy. Sheldon was going nuts in the living room. He desperately wanted to get into the bathroom. Sweetheart went back outside and enjoyed some grazing in the sun before going back into his warm house.

I Love Fall

Why do I love fall?

The color orange looks so good in pictures and corduroy dresses are totally acceptable.

The cool weather leads to more cuddling with my joys.

The girls are happier when they get to use permanent markers.

When they are happy, I am happy.

Hattie gets to draw a person with sharp teeth.

Tip, don't you dare call them pointy teeth. She is a little sensitive about it.

Then, some mom forgets to put up the permanent markers.

One of our chairs has forever been marked by Hattie.

Fall is great!

Double Your Fun

These are the cutest D*ublemint Twins ever! Not many children knew what they were exactly, but the old people did. Some people just thought they were regular gum, candy, or a candy bar. But that doesn't matter because, they were very unique. Not one other child looked like them.

Pumpkin Shopping

Leave it to Tricia to wait until the last minute to go pumpkin shopping. We wanted to go to a pumpkin patch, but we had stuff to do in town today and couldn't get out to the country in time to pick out the fall themed produce. We took the girls to Wh*le F**ds. As we were driving up to the store, I caught sight of the autumn harvest. I quickly got the girls attention so they could get a good look before we parked. Hollering insued as soon as they saw them. Hattie was SCREAMING, "THOSE ARE NOT PUNKINS!" She did this more than once. Emogene was asking what happened to them. We quickly had a lecture on discrimination and that God created all things beautiful. Eric and I were giggling a lot. They then got to pick out a pumpkin.

I thought they were all beautiful.

I made poor Emogene take a picture with the sun in her eyes.

She picked a beautiful Cinderella pumpkin.

Hattie then found hers. It looked interesting and dark green. I liked the large stem.

We then went inside and found Turban Squash.
We had to take a picture with them.

Don't worry. We went to two other grocery stores before we found those children some real pumpkins. There were only three left, and we picked two of the least rotten.

I decided to try to be M*rtha Stewart and monogrammed one of them.

I did decorate my front garden with all of the cool pumpkins. Could someone please remind me to throw them away around December 1st? Last year's pumpkins stayed out until around March. Hattie is still upset with me for tossing them.

Her Perfect Mommy

I was helping Hattie get ready for school when she let out a loud toot. We giggled a little, and she told me she did it last night too. She then asked, "Mommy, why don't you do that?"
Did you hear that? Hattie thinks her mommy doesn't pass gas. It brought a tear to my eye. She thinks her mommy is perfect. Awwww. She needs to learn the term, silent but deadly. That's what Eric uses to describe my "perfection."

How Many More

I wonder how many more punches and slaps I can take from Isabel before she walks home. I am being abused thanks to the Volkswagen Beetle and Taxis. The taxis are totally my fault. I made up that game after she noticed the drastic difference in the number of taxis here compared to China. We see maybe two or three a day. Sometimes we go all day without seeing one. The problem is, we slap the other person's forehead when a taxi is spotted. Isabel has a knack for getting my eyeball in on the slap. I could possibly be blinder. Should I take this abuse? NO, I think Isabel will suddenly begin exercising more.
But, I totally want to keep playing. I just don't want to get hit anymore. It is a distraction while driving.

Ready, Set, Go

What has this little princess started doing that I love? Racing me everywhere. She hollers out, "I'm gonna win!" She then takes off. She takes off at a speed that suggests she thinks her mommy is going to start into a full run to try and beat her. I might surprise her one day and beat her by a landslide, but for now I continue walking at my slow pace. She doesn't seem to notice. Well, I'm glad Hattie is getting exercise.

Homecoming Week

We had homecoming week this week. I was such a bad blogging mommy. I didn't take pictures of Emogene and Hattie dressed up as cowgirls. I did get a picture of them on twin day. It was not as easy as I thought it would be. I started dressing them alike that morning and discovered that Emogene's shirt had become a belly shirt. They reluctantly wore camp t-shirts. They would much rather have worn their uniform, crazy. I jump at the chance to wear jeans.

Here are my little twins with their cousin Dy'mond.

She is my niece since her mom is my twin (see next picture).

"Why yes, we are twins. I'm the one on the right. Alicia is on the left. Do you see how our names are similar, Tricia and Alicia? Our husbands are both Eric. It's amazing how twins live similar lives and choose similar husbands."

I broke out the D*ublemint Twins posters again this year. It was a repeat, but I did have a different twin this year. You will see a three-peat of these posters next week. Emogene and Hattie will be using them as their costumes. They will get to have accessories though. By far, I think these are the cheapest costumes I've ever gotten.

My class had to decorate a door for homecoming. I came up with the idea, and a very kind family member came to put it up for me. You see, the elementary doors are mainly decorated by the teachers, and I didn't have a lot of extra time this week. My loving family member came to do it. Look closely at the top line and see if you notice anything. Oh, and that is Isabel's leg.

This was Emogene's game face. She was fierce.

Cool and Unique Christmas Gifts

I wanted to share a couple of cool inexpensive gifts for girls. I have a hard time finding gifts for our oldest Isabel, so I thought I would share some cool things I've found on http://www.etsy.com/ .


Last year we gave her a locket made from a recycled steel auto part. I sent the artist a picture of Isabel, and she created lockets for her to wear with her own picture done in different colors. It was so cool. You can go here to purchase one for a unique gift (locket).

I got this neat wall art for Emogene and Hattie's room. I haven't hung it up yet because we were thinking about moving and I wanted to save it for their next room. You can find this beautiful wall art here (chandelier).

I hope this helps some of you purchase for your older girls. The younger girls would also loooove the locket with their picture on it.

For boys, I don't have any sons yet, but I looked around etsy for those that do. Check out the wooden toys here (boat) and truck here (truck and paint). I also found a beautiful wooden kitchen set for boys or girls here (kitchen).

If you are new to etsy, be sure to look on the right-hand side to check out everything the seller has for sale. You might miss out on something else you would like. I found other neat things like hotrod shaped crayons and lego cuff links for dad. I could spend all day looking for things on etsy.

Have fun shopping.

A Birthday Party

The girls went to a birthday party today. They had a lot of fun with the pinata.

Hattie really put some pain upon the pinata.

Emogene swung like a major leager.
They also had fun in spacewalk. Until....

we ended up in the emergency room.

Emogene hyper-extended her knee. Another child fell on her knee and as she said, "It made it pop backwards." It also popped backwards again when she tried to walk. She has on a knee brace and crutches. We are hoping it will heal in a week.

Poor Emogene

Hattie said, "Look what I got at the pep rally!!!"
Mommy said, "That is great Hattie. Emogene, what did you get from the pep rally?"

Oh.

Hattie's Man

The joy that filled this child when she spotted the "black man" from one of her favorite movies. She had to cozy up to him.

The Spa

Emogene bought a spa kit with her gift card to W*lm*rt. I walked into the living room and found that the girls had set up a spa on the floor. Hattie was the servant and Emogene was being pampered. Those are fake cucumbers that came with the set. It was so cute.

Hungry, Hungry, Tortoise

Even a little chilly weather doesn't keep my Sweetheart from coming out to eat. He tried eating the red circle on the box in the background. It was only down for a few minutes, but he took his chance at a quick trot to try and eat the yummy red thing. He then went back to grazing. He is now warm and cozy in his heated house.

Green Chicken Anyone?

Dude what is wrong with your chicken? This was the common thought from everyone but Eric tonight. He cooked green chicken for us. I looked at the girls' plates and thought, "Why did Eric serve them rice and guacamole? He knows Emogene hates guacamole."
Well it was green mole sauce with chicken. Isabel wouldn't try it. I gave most of mine to the dog. I don't think the girls ate more than a bite of theirs. Eric liked it though.
When Isabel asked what it was I said, "It is chicken. It is just a little under the weather." I may not have liked it, but it was still better than having to be the one to cook. I was doing laundry. I prefer that to cooking.

Emogene Time

Due to Emogene being sick, we missed school three days this week. She felt good on Friday, but I kept her out anyway. I was going to need to miss almost the whole day because of wedding stuff, so I kept her home again. Some of the kids with the "virus" at our school relapsed and I wanted to try and prevent it.
Hattie is going to need some serious mommy time soon. She did not like going to school without us. She threw a huge fit in the office and hollered out, "My mom isn't even sick. She was laughing." Well, I know I can never play hookie from work. Hattie will rat me out.

We were on our way to the wedding place. Emogene enjoyed all of the wedding preparations. We had a good time together. I need to also show this picture to my friend. She saw a picture of me from my high school graduation and was shocked to see me with make-up on. Surprise, I do occasionally try to look girlie.

Look at her sweet smile. Her front teeth are wiggling.

This could be the last picture with her cute little teeth.

I love spending time with this little freckle-faced girl.

Introducing Uncle Tony

Here he is, Uncle Tony. He has been a part of our family for a long time, but now it is official. I will have to have them over more often. He needs to be around my kids more. He has trouble remembering Emogene's name. I had her introduce herself to him twice today. She also called him a nim-come-poop. I don't know where she learned that one. Look forward to seeing more of Emogene and Hattie, Uncle Nimcomepoop.

The Big Wedding

Yesterday was the day we have been waiting for for a long time. My little sister got married. It was a lot of stress and preparation. It was a beautiful wedding. I didn't have a good camera with me, so I used my phone for pictures.

Here is Brittany, aka Boof or Boofer, getting ready.

Here are my parents waiting for the ceremony to begin.
This was their last child to get married. We shed some tears.

Ahhhhh! It is the headless bride!

She was soooo gorgeous! This was her "can't breathe" look.

Here is my mom, sister (right), and Kimberly. I didn't get any pictures of me in my dress.

Candace and my sister-in-law Dendy (with the camera) are in the background.

We took lots of pictures before the wedding started. It was a gorgeous outside, night wedding with candles lighting the way. The bridesmaids carried candles with a wreath of fresh flowers around them. It was gorgeous but a little chilly. It was 90 degrees the night of the rehearsal and 60 degrees during the wedding.

Emogene and her daddy danced a little. Emogene danced a lot by herself.

She is probably a little soar today from her crazy dancing. The bridesmaids also performed a line dance to "Thriller." It was quite comical. We may show up on the Internet. The other bridesmaids learned it on Thursday night. I went home and went to sleep. I had to learn it the day of the wedding. I totally rocked it.

Hattie was very excited to blow bubbles for the departing couple.

She also managed to get my necklace before the night was over.

The couple were excited to leave and will honeymoon in the Dominican Republic. I can't wait for them to have kids. My sister Risti also can't wait. Aunt Boofer thinks we are all the worst parents. We can't wait to see her parenting methods. She has mentioned locking out kids in her spare bedroom often. I wonder how long it will take for social services to be called after her kids are born.

Do We Favor?

We went to get my van inspected yesterday. Here was our conversation with the mechanic.

Him: "You have a van full."
I don't consider three kids a van full, but whatever.
Him: "How old is she?"
Me: "16."
Him: "She is pretty."
Me: "Yes she is."
Him:" What do you want to be when you get older?"
Isabel: "A liar."
Me: "She means lawyer, but pretty close to the same thing."
I then go inside with him to pay for my new sticker.
Him: " She seems to have her head on straight."
Me: "She is a very good kid."
Him: "She doesn't look like you."

My possible answers:
Me: "We are pretty sure she was switched at birth, but we forgot to mention it."
Me: "Oh, my husband is black." This was provided by Hattie's teacher.

My actual answer:
Me: She is an international student staying with us from China.

Man, this was my chance to say something really sarcastic, and I blew it.
Maybe I'll be quicker with my comeback next time.
I am loving that people think she is my daughter.

Little Piggie

This little piggie went to market.
This little piggie stayed home.
This little piggie had roast beef.
This little piggie had none.
Emogene piggie coughed all the way home.

Well, I got a sub for the rest of the week. Emogene made it at school fever free for many hours until about 2:00. She spiked 101.7 fever. She insists you be exact. She won't let me say 101 or over 101. It has to be 101.7. She felt much better when we got home, but I think that was just the ibuprofen talking.

Hattie is convinced she is ill as well. I'm not doubting that she will catch this virus, but she tells her teacher everyday that she doesn't feel well. I told her she was okay for now.

Isabel is also trying her hardest to get out of school tomorrow. She has research papers due on Thursday, and she wants to work on them all day tomorrow. Did I mention Isabel slept from 2:00pm on Sunday afternoon until 9:00am Monday morning? Someone has no good excuse for not having her papers written.

I don't want my other two kids to get this virus, but they sure do want to miss school. Let's end it with Emogene. Tomorrow will be a germ ridding day. It may be too late though. I shouldn't have let my children share drinks so much.

Nooooo!

Emogene started coughing today. She tells me she doesn't feel well. She has a low grade temp (99.2). Please don't let this be the start of something bigger. Please pray for her to feel better in the morning. We have a nasty virus going through out classroom, and I was hoping it would skip her. She said it feels like a tooth is stuck in her throat. She checked and they were all still in her mouth :).

Girlie Stuff

I'm getting ready to be in my baby sister's wedding on Friday. We were out of school today so I got busy trying to get some things done. I needed a pedicure. I promised the girls if they were well behaved I would let them get their nails done as well. They didn't know that I would have probably let them get them done anyway. Their is just something about a mommy and her girls getting their nails done together. The joy and amazement at the sight of all the different polish colors is fun to witness. I love watching them walk around with their fingers and toes spread out. Hattie chose knee high boots to wear for the day. I had to carry her for a while until she thought it was safe enough to wear shoes. She would go into a tyraid if you came close to touching her newly painted nails.

Emogene found her color.

It was turqouise.

Hattie liked a deep purple/pink combo color. Notice her boots. If it were allowed, she would be wearing these to school. She had them on earlier with just her undies.

Pray for the Thieves

The girls and I were the first to arrive on the scene at church last night. The church had been broken into. We walked in and I immediately noticed something was wrong.
#1 The door was already unlocked.
#2 I saw muddy footprints and a dumped over garbage can.
#3 I found a broken window in the back.

I ushered the children back out of the building. We went back to the car. I called my dad.

Upon further inspection, I found that our sound system was missing. The television was missing as well. After other people showed up, we decided to go in and compromise the evidence even more. We felt the thieves must have been desperate. They had worked so hard carrying out the heavy stuff that they worked up an appetite. They had stolen the chips and cookies from the fridge. I'm pretty sure we had eaten some of them already. We poured out all of the opened liters of soft drinks just in case they drank out of them. The garbage bag was also missing from one of the trash cans. I wanted so badly to go in the dark with a flashlight and act like a C S Eye agent. I'm pretty sure those agents could have told us the type of shoe and size from the shoe prints. They could have tracked down the store where the shoes were purchased. It would have been solved quickly. We don't expect to get the stuff back. We are praying for the thieves and hoping something good comes out of something bad.

Cards Anyone?

I was telling a friend, we will call her D, about a great new product Thirty-One is coming out with soon (plug). It is a cute card carrier with 30 cards in it for $30. I was thinking that was a good deal.

Well, D told me a way to get hundreds of free cards that may or may not have a funny odor. Are you ready for this money saving tip? She gets her cards from THE DUMPSTER AT THE DOLLAR STORE. She is a dumpster diver. Apparently, the store throws away all the cards that are missing envelopes. D takes them out of the dumpster and buys a big box of envelopes and still saves tons of money. Are you ready to start dumpster diving?

Don't just stop at cards! D also found undergarments in the dumpster. Wow, how cool is that? Her sister received the undergarments from D. The tags were still on them. Did the sister know? It doesn't matter. They were free!!

I know you want to just jump up and run to your nearest dumpster, but don't go unprepared. You will need a slicker suit to keep clean. I also recommend V*porub for under the nose to help with the smell. Bring a flashlight so you can see. Did I mention you should do this at night? I think that would be best. You may go now. Happy dumpster diving!

I will be sure to share anymore money saving tips from D. That is if she ever talks to me again.

Disclaimer: The picture above does not include D. I thought it best to keep her picture and full name off of the blog, just in case she was wanted for dumpster stealing. The picture is from Twin Day at school last year.

Is It Wrong...

... to only put a couple of dollars into the empty gas tank because you know your husband will be using the van next.

... to sneak chocolate or any guilty snack into your mouth while driving without your children seeing you, but it is only to keep your children from having an overeating problem. It isn't because your selfish and don't want to share.

... to throw a small piece of food out of the car window (for example, a chicken nugget). You then tell your children it is to feed the birds. You say this to help keep your children from thinking you have gone against one of your most important rules (no littering). Your oldest then begins to almost hyperventilate because the nugget is in the middle of the road and the bird will get run over trying to get it. Therefore, you are a bird killer. Is that wrong?

I Am Insane

We had a small party for Emogene today. I only served chips and juice, and I BOUGHT cupcakes (gasp). I also had a laps in sanity when I planned the party. I decided a St*mpin' Up party was the way to go. Hattie screamed most of the time and refused to do what she was told. Then she would get upset that she cut her paper to shreds when she needed the whole sheet. A couple of girls were constantly calling my name for help. It was nerve wracking but I survived, and they all had a good time.

Emogene was having a blast being a big kid crafter.

She was ready to make her pencil holder.

Rachel was applying her flower.

Missy was helping her girls make the perfect notepad and pencil holder.

Pacee was having trouble deciding on the best paper for her project.

Look at this table. I embarrassingly did not help pick it up. Kathryn was the St*mpin' Up expert that I hired to help the children create. I also needed her stuff and her ideas. She picked up after we were done. I was a little preoccupied with my Thirty One products. I surprised the visiting mothers by pushing my business on them. I did get an order from my cousin and some possible business from my gooooood friend Missy. I am telling you, I will pretty much forgive anyone for wrong doing and do almost anything for you if you do a Thirty-One party.

Keep that in mind.

Here were the bought cupcakes. Eric was concerned about the arrangement of the cupcakes. He couldn't figure out what it spelled. I revealed that I ordered the first initial of each little party guest. I had to change an extra E into a C for Caitlyn. I thought it began with a K.

Someone was getting excited about her cupcake.

She made a wish, but wouldn't tell me.

She got this from Caitlyn and Kylie. They always give her something to encourage her creativity.

Emogene loves to read and she has a lot to read now. She also got a gift card to Wal-Mart. She is very excited about the possibility of picking out a gift.

We had a great time!