Sums it up

If there ever were a picture that sums up my kids relationship - it's this one.

Cooper being the dare devil, taking a chance, wanting to be wild and free.  His smile proves it.

And then there's his Big Sister - my Olivia Grace.....wanting to help, protect, make sure her little "bother" doesn't get hurt....being a little mommy.  Her heart is good and her heart is big. 

There's no doubt they are two different human beings - they fight, they bicker, they annoy each other.  CONSTANTLY.  Yet, I always seem to find moments like these where they are actually *enjoying* each other's company. 

One week until.....

One week until my baby girl.....my first born turns......

NINE years old.

When did this happen?  If she goes to college at 18 years old, I'm already half way?  NO, NO, NO!!!! Olivia is awesome - she may be stubborn, loving on her own terms, and the biggest "little mommy" ever - she also has a heart of gold and is loyal to anyone she loves.  Yes, she takes after her Mommy in a lot of ways.  :) 

She's growing up.  And her brother is right behind her.  *sigh*

I know, I know

I know, I know......I said I was going to get better at blogging.  I really do apologize!

I signed Al and I (yes, you read that - I signed Al up) to coach Upward Soccer this year.  I thought it would be fun and really get us connected as a family.  I swear sometimes we are all plugged into some sort of iPod, iPad, iPhone and I'm just tired of it.  I know NOTHING.  And I mean NOTHING about soccer.  I do know you're supposed to kick the ball into the goal.  That's about it.  I was really hoping I'd get smaller kids, but we ended up with O's age group.  Which means, they keep score and I've got to try to teach these girls something about soccer and maybe, just maybe win a game or two.  I already hate the pressure.  Ha ha!  We are looking forward to it though and I hope this is an experience that Al and I will both enjoy.  If not, I'll never hear the end of it from him.  :)

On a more serious note - one of my oldest and dearest friends lost her brother over the weekend. Please say an extra prayer for the Lloyd family.  Casey was a son, brother, father and loved by many.  I remember him best as a young kid - he loved coming over to our house to see my dad.  Tommi Lynn and Becky were wonderful big sisters and always looked out for their little brother.  Prayers are needed to help the family through this difficult time and the days ahead when they must pick up the pieces and continue on.  

Washing clothes

Thank you Pinterest for another great recipe!

Homemade laundry detergent!!! Very simple, works great, and should last a LOT longer than the store bought stuff. And I'm hoping it'll help some with O's allergies. *crossing fingers*

Pinterest is making me all "Susie Homemaker" - have you noticed? :)

What a load of......

CRAP.

Sorry folks, there's no other way to say it.

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-dept-criminal-justice/death-penalty/death-row-inmates-case-about-more-innocence/

My cousin Barry was shot and killed while on duty in Houston, Texas in December of 2000.  The man who shot and killed him is on death row.

He may now have a chance to get a new trial because he supposedly was not defended properly.  What a load of crap.  So, you're first two lawyers weren't good enough to get a guilty man off so you have a right to find a lawyer who is?  Are you kidding me?

I'm by no means "Pro Death Penalty" but I'm not completely against it either.  I understand that there are innocent people put in jail all the time - but this man is far from innocent.  He's basically trying to place blame on the other guy simply because the other guy's father was also a cop.  He's trying to say he was framed so that the police community could protect one of their own.  Yeah right.  I was never for the death penalty until my cousin was murdered.  Such a sad circumstance to happen for me to realize that sometimes the death penalty isn't the wrong answer.  I simply believe that there are some crimes that should be punishable by death. 

Where were my cousin's rights when he was arresting this guy and he shot him?  All because he had a record and would likely do jail time.  It completely and utterly infuriates me.  I can't imagine what my Aunt and Uncle and all my cousins go through while dealing with this.  The victim and the lives of their family always seem to be the least of importance.  That's just wrong.  We spend so much time focusing on the rights of the criminal that we forget why they are a criminal to begin with.  I pray that "Will" doesn't get his new trial and all his efforts are exhausted.  I know that sounds cruel, but I'm not sorry.  I'm just not.

No bashing me for my opinions - it's my blog after all. 

Brooms

What is the deal with all the broom pictures? They are really annoying the hell out of me.

And even more annoying is the fact Al and I can't get ours to stand. Ugh.

What a stupid waste of time. (I would feel differently if we weren't LOSERS.)

Sinful dessert

Thanks to Pinterest, I've found a few yummy recipes to try out.

And then I found the most glorious recipe of all........

The cookie dough/Oreo/brownie dessert. I've seen it a few times on the site and finally decided to give it a try.

OMG....,it is delicious! Even Al, who normally doesn't go crazy for sweets, loved it. He told me not to take it all to work bc he wanted seconds. Score for me!!!

Happy birthday.......

Dr. Seuss!!!! And Jon Bon Jovi. :)

Our trip to Biltmore

We spent last weekend in Asheville, NC.

It was a fun weekend - I got to hang out and catch up with one of my dearest friends Kelly and her gang and we took the kids to Biltmore.  Al had never been either so this was killing two birds with one stone (so to speak.) 

I was VERY surprised that the kids had such a good time.  I was expecting them to hate it - especially since it was raining and COLD - but they were in awe of Biltmore.  O even said that she wanted to build a house as big as it when she grew up.  Yeah, probably not going to happen O!

I was sort of disappointed in the gardens.  And yes, I know it's February but still.  There was nothing but DIRT.  The Greenhouse was fabulous though (and not because it was warm and dry but that certainly helped!) and was probably my favorite part of our tour.  The flowers and plants in there was so beautiful that a few didn't even look real.  I would have touched, but that would have led the kids to pulling leaves off of everything and us kicked out.  So I refrained.  Especially the boy - he would have knocked over some priceless tree or something and we'd be on Headline News.

O will tell you that we toured all 250 rooms of Biltmore, but I can assure you that we did not.  I do think we climbed every single stair at least twice though.  My legs were so sore the next day, they hurt when I blinked.  And I run so that just goes to show you how much walking up and down you do!  Cooper's favorite room was the pool (of course) but he kept referring to it as "the big bathtub."  He did great with his audio guide, which really surprised me.  O swears her audio guide said the Vanderbilt's daughter's name was Lila but I heard it 100 times and it was always Cornelia.   She hears what she wants too folks, that's all I can say.

I do want to go back in the spring when the gardens are in bloom and it's not freezing cold.  Or raining.  Of all the days to finally rain, it just had to be the day we went.  Oh well.  We still had a good time and the kids even passed out on the way home and didn't fight as much.

Happy Birthday Big Brother!

Happy Birthday Martin!!!! 

You are quite possibly the world's best brother (it helps that you live far away) and the kids love you to pieces!  We all hope you have a fantastic birthday and hope to see you soon! 

Even Al.  And that says a lot. 

Road Trip

I'm so giddy about our road trip starting tomorrow, I can't stand myself! 

We're heading up to Asheville, NC to go to Biltmore on Sunday.  Al and the kids have never been, and I went so long ago I don't remember much, so I thought we'd make a trip out of it.  Tickets were on sale and the kids get in FREE....so why not?  :)

We're going up tomorrow and having dinner with one of my oldest and dearest friends, Kelly and her gang.  I haven't seen my friend in a few years so it'll be nice to catch up.  I miss her so much!  It's nice to have a few friends that have been around pretty much your entire life and STILL love you.  Kelly is one of those friends for me.  I don't know what I would without her. 

So, be on the lookout for some pictures!  Not sure if you're allowed to take them in the Biltmore, but if you are, you know I'll be shooting.  I just hope the kids aren't bored.  I plan on bribing them with a trip to the fancy "Biltmore themed" McDonald's if they do well!  Wish me luck!

Happy Heart Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to my loyal bloggers!!!

Al surprised me with flowers. He's the best people. For reals.

The kids had a dance at school and came home with lots of goodies. THA had gifts parents could buy to be given out at school and O was giddy that she got one. Cooper was a typical boy about it. Ha!

My little monsters are my best valentine's though!

Kids at the park

Just a few pictures of the kids at the park.

And no, I did not pick out O's outfit!

TNA Wrestling

Al and I took the kids to see wrestling at the Civic Center. Coop is a HUGE, huge fan of wrestling. It's seriously the only thing that boy thinks about.

We had floor seats so we were pretty close to the action! Which was pretty cool. We even got autographs from Jeff Hardy, Gail Kim, ODB, Eric Young, and AJ Styles. I don't think the kids will forget it for awhile. :)

Even Al was happy - his idol, Rick Flair (wwwhhhhoooooo!) was there.

You got to love her fashion sense.

Or lack there of. :)

O insists, no really, INSISTS on dressing herself for school. Which usually isn't a problem. Until these shoes.

They are super tall, super fabulous, super sparkly, and go with EVERYTHING. Or so she thinks.

One thing I know - she's a cool kid. So if anyone can pull them off, it's OGG for sure. I'll admit - they are growing on me. :)

George

I call him Georgie Porgie. :)

Got another one

We got another dog!

Back Story:  I've been reading up on taking Molly (our Boston Terrier) running with me.  She's been on walks with us, and always seems to poop out.  I thought she was just lazy.  But from what I've been reading online about her breed, she just can't go for any length of time.  I saw mixed reviews on whether or not she could be a good running (or jogging in my case) partner and I figured she wouldn't be much protection if I needed it anyways. 

That brings us up to to speed.....so basically I started looking at Craigslist and in the paper for puppies.  I wanted something a little bigger than Molly, could run with me, and had to be good with kids.  I found George. 

He's *supposedly* a boxer/rat terrier mix.  And I guess he could be but I'll never really know.  He's so calm and relaxed, he makes Molly look BAD.  Ha ha!  The kids love him, he seems to love the kids.  We only got him Saturday so we're all still adjusting.  I think Molly is probably having the hardest time adjusting since she's been the lone dog for almost 3 years now.  But I think in the long run, she's going to be happy she finally has a playmate to run around the house and backyard with. 

I won't lie though - he ain't a pretty dog.  

Little things

It doesn't take much to make my two happy. All you need is a Statue of Liberty statue. Haha.

O said she wasn't a fan of Red Robin but I think I changed her mind when she saw Ms Liberty. :)

That and she got carrots with ranch as a side. Funny kids.

Training Molly

Livvie is on a mission to teach Molly tricks.

I have to admit, she's done a FANTASTIC job at teaching her to sit. Molly is having the time of her life with O's new found hobby - she's racking up on treats! Haha!

Good luck OGG!

Her great big heart

Wow.

My girl has such a big heart. She's been holding on to $12 to buy some hamster toy she wants. Well, today a girl on our road was going house to house taking donations for her school. Before I could say anything, O says, "I have some money!" and ran in the house. She gave her entire $12!

O's compassion and big heart are two of my favorite qualities about her. She can be so selfless and thoughtful. I hope she stays that way. FOREVER.