Sunburns and Tension

This weekend ended up being pretty good. We got to spend time together as a family. One of my most favorite things to do.

I took the kids to the Rooster Days Parade on Saturday. Em was marching with the band. And C loves parades, especially music!  We took the kids to ride rides and eat carnival food after the parade. We were outside from 9:45am until 6:15pm. Being the wonderful horrible mother that I am, I completely forgot to put sunscreen on my children. It was cold and windy outside, people. But I've heard that you get more sun with an overcast...so all 3 of my babies had red noses and cheeks :(   Finally around 3pm when I saw C's little red cheeks, I thought to myself ..."OMG, you need to put some sunscreen on your children!". So out to Mini I ran and lathered my babies up with sunscreen. It didn't help much. But its the thought that counts. Right? Wrong!  My baby was so worn out and tired by the time we got home, I bathed him, fed us dinner, and put him to bed. I watched a movie and the big kids did whatever they wanted to do.

I got up and made a fattening yummy breakfast on Sunday morning.  We slept in and missed the 9am service at COTM and then by the time we were done eating breakfast and cleaning up the kitchen it was 10:30am and the kids were not ready and the baby was tired so I thought there was no way I could make it to the 11am service either. That is when my light bulb went off.  C could stay home and take his nap while Alan was there and the big kids wanted to go back to bed anyways...so I decided to hurry up and get myself ready. Pulled my hair back, brushed my teeth, put on some makeup, and clothes.  I was out the door in 10 minutes and at church by 10:55am! I'm 110% positive that God wanted me to hear this service. It was about TENSION! Are you the one causing the tension? Why yes I am. And He knows all about the tension I cause, and the tension that is in my life. I cried about 4 times during the service. I went home and hugged my family, which included the man who is in my life. I can't wait to find out what the next three series will be about.

Later that afternoon, Colton and I played outside while the big kids were riding bikes and playing down the street. We played with bubbles and he had so much fun. I love getting to spend as much time as I can with my kids. Even when they are driving me crazy with their demands, requests, and questions.  I love being their mom. It is seriously, without a doubt, my most favorite thing to be.

"I love bubbles!"

"Life is a long lesson in humility."

buh bye curls :-(

Emilee wanted a haircut and feathers. At least when I made her an appointment she wanted feathers. A couple days before her appointment she informed me that she wanted some color card thing.  My hair-girl Lindsey got her in earlier than expected due to a cancellation and unfortunately she didn't have any of the color that Emilee wanted. So she just got a cut. 

And so did my baby!  She wasn't supposed to cut that many of the curls off.  I thought I said not to.  Maybe I did say to cut the back.  Only because it looked like a mullet and when it was wet it went right in between his shoulder blades. Haha! But I loved his curls.

bye sweet curls :-(

And now I am having "buyers remorse" because I want to take back his haircut and return it for the curls.  He looks older now without the curls. He still has wavy hair. But the curls are gone for now. I bet we will just shave it off this summer anyways. Maybe. I don't know if I will be able to, but I'm sure his daddy will try to.

the curls are gone :-(

I know it's just hair. And he has had a haircut before. But this just makes me sad.

Vacations...

School is almost out, which has me thinking a lot about summer vacation. With daycare expenses, we aren't going to be able to do anything too exciting (aka expensive) this summer.  But I still want to do something fun with my kids.

I definitely want to take them camping this year. Which may just be a coo-coo idea of mine since we all know how hot it can get in the summer months in Oklahoma. And since we have a baby (almost 15 months).  We will go to Turner Falls.  It is somewhere I used to go as a little girl with my parents and sister. I really enjoyed it. Well from what I remember!

We also have the opportunity to go to Branson, MO with some good friends of ours. They have season passes and get to invite friends for free. I have never been to Silver Dollar City and neither have the kids. I'm really hoping that is something we can go do!

We were planning a road trip to Chicago. Until gas prices started to skyrocket!  My friend Hailey lives there. We would have been able to stay with her to save money on a hotel room. But still gas is way too much!  Right now it costs about $60 just to fill Mini up! Ugh!  We planned on going to a baseball game, Six Flags, and shopping!! I wanted to take Zack to the Lego store so bad.

Another thing I have been thinking about is a vacation with just Alan. I have NOT gone anywhere for more than a day without my kids since Em was a baby. She is now 12 years old. I think some alone time for Alan and I would be so nice. We could definitely use it!

Here are some vacations (family or alone) I have been thinking about:

Hawaii (family vacation)

Destin, FL (again!)

Destin, FL - May 2010

New Orleans (just Alan and I - we went thru here on the way to Destin and had fun walking around, etc)

Carnival Cruise (maybe doing a Western Caribbean cruise?)

Disney World (must take Em & Z before they are 18...haha)

St. Thomas


Here are some of the things we have done with the kids:

San Antonio, TX - we went to Sea World, the River Walk, and a childrens museum. We also went to New Braunfels while there and spent the day at one of the best waterparks ever. You must go to Schlitterbahn at least once in your life.

Destin, FL - we had so much fun just lounging on the beach, swimming, eating, etc. This was such a relaxing vacation. We went with Alan's family and stayed in a condo right on the beach.

Kansas City, KS - my dad took the kids, my mom, and I to Great Wolf Lodge. We had so much fun!

Jasper, AR - we took the kids to just relax, eat, spend some time together, and go rafting on the Buffalo River. We stayed in a cute cabin. We also went to a cavern to explore the caves but I can't remember which one.


I really enjoy being able to get away from work, the daily routine, and just spend time alone with my kids.  I hope they can look back and have good memories of our vacations, no matter how big or small they are.

Please tell me your vacation ideas. Some of your favorite places you have been, the places you want to go, etc. I'd love to hear about them!

Z got baptized :-)

We went to COTM (Church on the Move) on Saturday night for their Easter service. It was an awesome service. I really like COTM. They have great live music and the messages from Pastor Willie George are always good. I love his booming voice. 

Anyways, at the end of the service they were calling men, women and children up who wanted to be baptized. Zack was sitting about 10 people down from me and after about the 4th time that Pastor Willie George called for people to come up, I didn't even see Zack get up.  But I saw him start walking towards the front. And I was thinking "where is he going?".  My son, who is 10 years old, made the decision on his own that evening to be baptized. I'm not going to lie, I had tears in my eyes.

After he was baptized, he met us out in the hall. He said "mom, why are you crying?" and I told him that I was just so proud of him. 

Later on in the car as we were talking I asked him what made him decide to do that and did he know what being baptized meant.  He said "I'm not sure why I got up, I just felt something telling me to. And yes mom being baptized means that I am new in God and my sins are washed away".  So proud of Zackary and his decision.

Not suitable for children...

I'm linking up to The RHOK again and now everyone will call me a liar because this time it isn't all about my kids...oops! Please forgive me!

I had a bachelorette party to attend! So no kids allowed for obvious reasons. I kinda got dressed up which means I wore heels and applied lipstick!

Loving Instagram!

I met the girls at TeKei's. I ordered the Tiger Roll and some Edamame! It was delicious!

This had tempura shrimp, ahi tuna,
avocado, spicy and sweet soy sauce

Leslie (Alan's sister) opened her gifts and got her clues for the Scavenger Hunt! After dinner, all of us piled in to a huge white van and started our journey. The van was decorated with signs about it being the last night out, etc. And there may or may not have been alcohol involved and private man part straws to drink out of. Our first stop was Woodland Hills Mall at 8:20pm. We had 3 stores to go to in less than 40 minutes. This is the part where I curse myself for wearing heels! We went to Victoria's Secret, Frederick's of Hollywood, and Spencer's. *I forgot to mention that we got stopped by a rent-a-cop inside the mall for taking pictures inside of the stores, he compared us to 12 year old girls. How rude!*  After she found the items on her list, we headed across the street to Barnes & Noble. Our next and last stop was Priscilla's. Let me remind you that I was with Alan's sisters, his mom, his aunt, and his cousins inside Priscilla's....it was rather interesting. And just use your imagination when you think of the items on her list! I'm trying to keep it Rated R here! 

Leslie with her husband!

We loaded back up and went to SoCo's for a little while! I was having a good time but midnight was approaching and it was time for me to go to bed! So I left and they headed to another bar (one I will NEVER go to!).

It was so nice getting out to celebrate Leslie's upcoming wedding, but I was ready to cuddle with this little boy:

"Hello! Can you hear me now?"
This is the new FootPhone! LOL!

In MY Neck of the Woods...

Linking up with The RHOK to show them what is going on in my neck of the woods...

My kiddos got a trampoline for all of their birthdays from their nana (my mom), and mama and papa (my grandparents). They were able to enjoy it all weekend long since the weather was so nice!

I love the way big sister and big brother are with baby boy. They love him so much and he is equally smitten with them. 

It is always about my kids in my neck of the woods...

FAILING! haha :-)

I am already failing at my weekly menu. I just want to be WINNING like Charlie Sheen.

We had a busy weekend!  My daughter turned 12 and she forced me to take her, 2 of her friends, and my niece to the mall on Saturday. I was tortured for 4 hours!! No joke! Did I mention how much I hate the mall? Well I do! Being pleasantly plump (muffin top galore), short (not even 5'2"), and large in the chest area makes trying on what I think would look cute majorly depressing.

Anyways...on to the menu. Food: the main reason why I'm a fatty!

Tuesday - Breakfast for dinner! Breakfast burritos with hashbrowns.
Wednesday - Crockpot Lasagna (I'll do a step-by-step post in the next few days), salad, bread.
Thursday - Beef Taco Burgers, Tortilla Chips with Guacamole (yum!)
Friday - I get to eat at TeKei's for Leslie's Bachelorette Party so Alan and the kids are on their own!
Saturday - Crockpot Lemon Chicken, rice, veggies. (Have you tried the Steam Fresh kinds in the frozen aisle? I just tried one the other day, it was Asparagus, Carrots, & Corn. I could have eaten the whole bag by myself! They were yummy.)