Music

I have been mulling over this music thing. I'm torn, I see both sides of it. Chet happens to be music boy and the family as a whole enjoys a good dance party every now and again. The music I put on here really does represent us. I am also bias because when I pull up my blog I like the music. I think I will do a song of the week thing. This way there will only be one song and I will put it at the top of the blog so you can turn it off easier if you don't like it. I have wanted to do a weekly thing but couldn't think of a original one, so I'll give this a try. Knowing my self I'll get behind. Let me know if this is any better? Some of you don't hear it any way but for the rest of us who use the sound on our computers more often and can't remember to always turn the volume down you won't have to scroll all the way to the bottom. Thanks for all the feedback on this pressing issue;)

Not a slacker, just busy.

I have not blogged because we have company!!! My brother Jack and his sweet wife Ashley are here (Yahoo!). I will blog soon about all the fun we are having and my thoughts on music.

Be Honest!

Is it annoying when you come to someone's page and there is music? I really want to know. Sometimes it is for me. So I am trying to decide if I should take it off. Let me know what ya think.

Spring Break 2008

It's the worst to check someone's blog and they haven't updated it in a week!!!

Chet had a conference in Dallas this week and the kids were on spring break so we tagged along. The trip started out a little rainy we were up super early Monday morning so Chet could catch the first keynote speaker (it was on attitude we really needed that one). I was up till 2am getting everything ready to go and only got two hours of sleep (no biggie I'll just sleep on the 3 hour ride, right) WRONG! About 45 min. into the ride I hear in the background a word I choose not to post here on this family oriented blog. I ask what is wrong and Chet informs me that the car is not working. And it is of course pouring (and I do mean pouring). We pull over in front of some abandoned shop and just sit there as Chet gets angrier and angrier Chet, " We don't even have anything, we have nothing, we don't even have paper towels!" I tend to stress a little less then Chet so I calmly remind him that paper towels won't do us that much good right now anyway. We are barely able to make it into Waco (I can't even think about Waco without thinking about David Koresh and the Branch Davidians) and just our good luck the Mazda dealership is right off the freeway and they even have Enterprise Car Rental on site. We were on our way within about 30min. including breakfast. For car trouble in the rain that went as well as it can go. Dallas (being a big city and all) had a lot for us to do. The kids and I sent Daddy to his day camp and we set out for the Museum. The Children's Museum is always a crowd fav. We also checked out the Natural History Museum and that felt good and educational (I was having a "see I can be a good mom" day). Next stop was the awesomely huge Dallas Galleria mall, it has everything (and by that I do mean everything, even ice-skating). We had dessert at the American Girl Doll Bistro and Boutique and that was a fun little treat. They let you borrow one of their dolls to eat with if you don't want to purchase one of their overpriced items. Chet coincidentally learned that same day that the avg. ticket at that store is $900.00 (you heard me). It was time to pickup Daddy so we headed back to the hotel where myself and the 3 crazies stuck out like a sore thumb (we were staying where three business conventions were taking place). The next day Daddy had a little break so he got to go with us to the Dallas Arboretum Botanical Gardens. We had a great time there seeing the amazing spring time blooms. We dropped Daddy back at his Daddy camp and headed for the Dallas Zoo. The Zoo was as zoo's go and the kids had a great time there as well. By the end of the day the little legs had been pushed to their limit and it made for a nice quiet evening in the hotel room ;) We packed up in the morning and headed back to pickup the van but first we had to make a very important stop. This is another of the loveable things about Chet (that I think few people know, but it could be a guy thing too) he loves a good convenience store. You know the kind that is actually clean has a fountain beverage station with every flavor know to man, flavored syrups, any specialty food the region has to offer, every flavor beef/ bison/venison/turkey jerky, a great selection of ice-cream treats and of course local souvenirs second to none. We may make the two hour drive north this summer to Italy, TX as our big family vacation. We took off towards Waco where We picked up the trusty old van and headed home. All and all it was some good family memories.



Look how Happy Chet is!!!





If you read the last post you will understand these pictures. As I mentioned it was a rainy day and this is outside the museum. Carli and gravity have quite the relationship.

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

You got to love Carli!

I have always felt that comparatively Carli 5 is slightly more coordinated than her older sister Amy 8. The strange thing is that Carli seems to have more accidents. In my last post I did not give the good details about our picnic in the park. Through out the evening Carli must have hit the dirt at least 6(not exaggerating) times. But here is where it gets good. The family heads over to the playground and first stop is the swings. I am pushing Carson (he's new at the big kid swings) and the girls are both waiting for their Dad. I offer to push them but no (Carli especially) they want their Dad. Chet walks past Carson and gives him a shove with the intent of scarring him (cause it's soooooo funny when the 4yr old is scared) the shove was to hard in my opinion. Then he proceeds to push the girls again too rough. But the girls aren't scared. I repeatedly ask him to take it easy and he proceeds to not hear a word I say. Next thing I know he is pushing Carli from the front and some how she ends up on the ground. I calmly scowl at Chet and throw in the I told you so as I am comforting Carli ( Chat maintains his innocents and says that Carli should have been holding on tighter). She gets over it and is ready to get back on the swing.... Chet is back at pushing too rough and before I can get anything out of my mouth Carli is falling to the ground again and this time hits her head. So Now I am really cursing Chet and he just keeps saying he didn't do anything and I need to chill out. I really wish some one could have caught this on tape because it really was a show. Carli was fine and only tripped once on the way back to the car. Once we get to the car Chet comments on the fact that Carli is always tripping and falling. Now any of you that have known Chet know that he is athletically inclined and has a few good dance moves, you know he is a coordinated guy. But if you know Chet then you are also familiar with at least one if not more of his accidents (soccer, rock climbing, basketball just to name a few). I think when it comes to Carli you can use the old cliché "Like Father, like Daughter". Need more proof? Tuesday morning I received a call from the school nurse. She assured me that everything was fine but that Carli had hit her head. No she didn't trip or loose her grip on the swings. She hit her head on the Computer (you heard me). The nurse proceeds tell me that I need to watch for signs of a concussion and that I should wake her at least once in the night. I am thinking Carli can be a little dramatic and how bad can it be (I am known for my compassionate heart). When Carli gets home from school that day her war wounds are obvious. She has a bump and a scratch on her forehead and a scratch on her nose. I have yet to figure out exactly how a computer with no extremities has scratched her face but that's the story everyone seems to be sticking to. I might question it if I didn't know who her father is;)

A couple of nice days!

Last Sunday was my birthday and the old man really came through with just the right thing. Saturday morning Chet helped me get the house and children all ready for the day and then we headed out. Nothing overly exciting just a day hanging as a family. He had told me that we would be going out for the evening for my birthday. When we got home and he needed to run an errand so I hung out on the computer without feeling guilty as the house was already "babysitter ready". Chet got home and I spent a few more minutes in the office and when I came out there was my favorite kind of flowers sitting on the counter and he was preparing food. At this point he informed me that we would be staying home and a few of your neighbors were coming over. It was just what I was in the mood for. I didn't really feel like getting all dressed up to go out anyway. The next great surprise was that he was actually listing when I kept saying I really wanted a new phone. In the past I have not been much of a "texter" but I have recently discovered how enjoyable it can be and needed a phone with a real keyboard. Chet's first response to my request was "you really need a smart phone just to text?" I assured him I was a very busy person with lots of appointments and I would be utilizing all features the phone had to offer. After that I was sure I was just white noise every time I brought it up. But here is my new baby! Jack (after my dad and my brother... coincidentally it's a blackjackII). I love it and my calendar is full I'll have you know and my texting speed is increasing by the day. It was a great birthday. My husband deserves credit for putting so much thought into it! Thank you Honey!!!

The other day that deserves mention it this last Thurs. For most of our marriage eating out has been a regular weekly activity. Of late we have been good about eating at home and things were getting a little monotonous. So I decided to have a picnic at the park for dinner. Many of the perks of eating out with out the cost. We had a lovely time feeding the ducks and walking around the duck pond. We finished off the night with one of our favorite activities "Jungle gym tag". If you need a good work out play tag on the playground equipment with your kids. Her are a few pics of the evening.

Good Reads

I have a B day post I need to do but really quick I have to tell you about the best website. One of my best buddies just told me about this!
http://www.goodreads.com/
If your a reader you will love this. It's a great way to keep track of the books you have read and the books on the to-read list. There are tons of reviews of books and a great place to share info. Check it out and be my friend there (asrowles@hotmail.com you will need my email address to find me.)