All about US!

Since I am so bad at blogging lately I thought I'd give you the rundown on the family. Basically we are all anxiously awaiting Spring Break as we are ready to come out of our Winter cave! But, I'll add to it just a bit.

Me- I have been watching TV, reading, eating, and sleeping more than necessary. Isn't that what one who is hibernating does? I am having a hard time kick starting my diet and an even harder time staying off of Facebook. I am growing my hair out again. I have a new Spring wardrobe and now need sandals and flats to match. I am more accepting of my birthday this year than last... could it be that I am maturing? Although 35 is a scary number!

Jon- He is growing more addicted to BMX by the minute. He is also getting into Facebook too, just not as much as his wife. He still falls asleep on the couch every night and snores more than ever! He is thoroughly enjoying all of his Valentine candy, maybe too much. He will be 39 next week, yikes! I am married to an old fart! But, I love him anyway. I just wish he had more gray hair than me. So not fair!

Chan- What can I say? He is a teenager. He finds hanging with friends much more appealing than family. Although this could be because his friend's moms cook every night... He got a letter jacket for football. The school paid for most of it but we spent a hefty chunk of change on add ons ($165) and he has yet to wear it. He is hot natured, yet HAD TO have that jacket! He gets better at guitar every day and is still not driving. I am putting it off as long as possible... I'm a smart mom like that. He will be 17 in 3 weeks, holy cow!

Hunter- I am not exactly sure what Hunter looks like anymore. His head is always down because he is texting or on his I-Pod touch. He too is getting super fast at BMX. He doesn't have a girlfriend currently and for the first time in 2 years only got Valentines from me. This is because he has "dated" every girl in his school and there is no one left who adores him. Poor Hunter. He has the stinkiest feet of any human being I have ever encountered. He is still working his way through puberty.

Chloe- She too is working her way through puberty, yet she seems to be hitting more roadblocks than Hunter. I am guessing because she is a girl and we are odd little creatures... She changes clothes 5 times a day and sometimes when we run errands together she sneaks on make-up. Her favorite thing to do is take pictures of herself. Some are really good, I just don't understand why we need 100 shots of the same pose. She keeps taking my blow dryer and flat iron. For real. I am not ready for this... She is also fixing to start racing BMX.

Hayden- He is doing great at spelling and reading and writes the funniest little stories that crack me up every day. His most prized possession at the moment is a plastic wallet from a Jack in the Box kid meal. He has $5 and a photo of himself in there. So cute I wanna punch him. He is doing awesome at BMX as well. He is a very sweet, laid back, kind hearted little boy. Definitely helps when his sister is being a turd. He tells me about 50 times a day that I am pretty and he loves me. I am keeping him forever, until he meets a girl who is worthy.

Coco and Daisy- They are super happy to be back home. They went straight for the pool for a drink and a welcome home lap. They have been very well behaved. Makes me think they are grateful... And, I can't help but wonder about their adventure. Coco still won't stop barking and Daisy still walks while she pees and poops. Whatever, I guess dogs have quirks too.

Pedro- He is the oddest cat we have ever owned and we've had over 10 cats in 13 years! He goes outside and immediately runs to the backyard where the dogs cover him in slobber. He claws at them like crazy, even drawing blood. Yet he still stalks into their territory. Weird. Last night he managed to detach the teddy bear from my Valentine flowers. Which he then took to the hallway and molested. Freak. He drives me batty.

And, there you have it. The down low on the fam. I sure hope my creative juices start flowing soon. Have a fantastic weekend!

Doggie Drama!

Yesterday morning my dogs decided to get out and go on an adventure! We must have driven for miles and yelled our lungs out looking for those dogs. So, today after not seeing any found ads for Labs on about 5 different websites I decided to head to the Humane Society in downtown Fort Worth and nothing. They told us that there was another shelter in FW that we could check at. It required us to drive around and through a TERRIBLE neighborhood, because yes, we did get lost! If you have ever been near the homeless shelter off of Lancaster you know about the neighborhood of which I speak... enough said! On another note, if Jon had schooled me in how to use my new navigation system I might have gotten us there quicker. We were about to turn around and go home when we decided to say a prayer that we would be able to remain calm and know where we needed to look. I was able to find the street I needed pretty easily after that and we found our destination. We go inside, sign in and start walking through a maze of dog kennels. I was feeling pretty hopeless at that point because I know my dogs and their bark and I didn't hear them. But, as we turned the last corner there they were cuddled together asleep in a little ball! They were soo happy to see us! My white dog Daisy has a pretty big gash on her head and will be going to the vet tomorrow. It cost me $120 bucks to rescue them. Boarding fees, renewal of their county license, and micro-chipping. I actually got a decent discount because they are spayed and up to date on their shots. But still! They are home now, fed, watered, and in their kennel for the night. And, tomorrow Jon and I are gonna be doing some MAJOR fence repair. So much fun! Really, I have said it before and I'll say it again: "Hi, My name is Ashley and I have a black cloud over my head."

Blah!

Blah, blah, blah....*






*translation- nothing blog worthy going on at all! Back to the grindstone. Ready for Spring Break. So ready to get our house on the market, I am ready to move and re-decorate. Visited with Kelli's family twice this weekend, that was nice. Just paid the septic guy $500 smackeroos to suck the poo out of our septic tank with his magical giant vacuum (honey wagon). My dogs have their days and nights mixed up. I think my cat's schizophrenic. Chloe and Hunter have grown out of their school uniforms from the beginning of the year, back to the mall I go. So that's about it. I am sure hoping something exciting comes up to blog about soon.

Blog Post #499!

Holy cow, I just noticed that I am 1 away from 500, DANG! WOW! SERIOUSLY! That's alot of talking and writing.

Tonight, I am gonna do one of my all-in-one posts, just because I feel this overwhelming urge to blog. Not really. Just sounded good. So, here's what's up:

I haven't started decorating for Christmas yet. If you know me, this is a shocker! I just haven't had the chance, I am just getting things running smooth since our trip and today was so windy, that the outside decorations were a no go. I will decorate by Monday morning. I have put myself on a deadline! I have 6 Christmas trees that are itching to be decorated. Yep, 6 of them.

Coco got "fixed" today. I never thought I would ever see that dog this calm. She is not doing so hot. She still won't eat or drink and she is very lethargic, even though her surgery was over 12 hours ago. Daisy is beside herself without her buddy. I finally had to put their kennels nose to nose so they could look at each other. Daisy seems so worried about Coco which is sweet. The funniest thing is Coco's buster collar, which keeps getting hooked on things like door frames and laundry baskets. The next 2 weeks are gonna be interesting.

My beautiful new boots came in the mail today. Cheers! But, they don't freaking fit!! I am bummed beyond belief. And, I am not even sure how big the extended calf of the boot was. Because the only thing stopping me from trying them on is called a BUNION! Oh man, I was ticked. That is putting it mildly. I was already creating lovely outfits in my brain, but it just wasn't meant to be. I'll just stare at chicks in knee boots and daydream. Hopefully no one gets the wrong message.

I am super excited about this weekend. My sweet little nephew Jonah is getting blessed on Sunday. So, I will be heading to Austin to see him and his Mommy and Daddy on their special day. I can't wait to see how much he's grown. I kinda feel bad about church though. I haven't been to my new ward in over 2 weeks and Sunday will make it 3. Hopefully no one forgot my name! I am really enjoying the friendships I have made and the people I have met so far. If anyone from FW 3rd is reading: I'll be back! Promise!

I am halfway through Eclipse, and I am enjoying the books more than I thought I would. I really love to read and there aren't too many books I won't read. I had heard these books were cheesy and teenagery, but so am I! Sure, there are some far-fetched parts and there have been some dull moments, but so far they are good. I am gonna go see Twilight tomorrow evening, and I am looking forward to it. And, I have promised my boys that I will start the Harry Potter books next. I have read the first book, back in 2001. Which seems forever ago, so I will be starting all over again soon.

I have moved from the fat ladies department (as my mom likes to call it) to the not fat ladies department at Dillards. I was actually able to fit into a size 14 dress tonight. Granted, I couldn't breathe or feel my breasts, but still. I have been shopping at Lane Bryant for years, so it's nice to have other options, even an XL. I was feeling pretty ick about dieting and stuff, but tonight recharged my weight loss batteries. I have a new goal of size 8 by next Summer, help me!

And, last but not least. I have been approached by a website about posting an article about popular toys for the holidays. So, if you see an article pop up in the next few days, don't be alarmed. It's just a guest blogger. And, I am getting paid. Pretty cool huh?

So, there you have it. Today's pot of blogger soup. Come back and see me real soon, ya hear?

Home Movie

So, my blog is desperately lacking pizazz. And good sidebar pictures. So, I made a movie to add some oomph... I'll work on the sidebar pictures soon, I hope. I got some footage of Hayden "talking Australian" (which is really British). He came home from school and told me he learned how to speak a different language. If you listen closely you can hear him reference Charlie. I am thinking he is referring to the "Charlie Bit Me" video. I also got footage of Coco swimming. Ignore the sock and broom in the pool. And my hick/British accent. Enjoy!

This first video is short because I wanted y'all to see Coco diving in.




This one's better. Man, I do sound like a hick though. And a dork.

Let sleeping mommies lie...

Man, can't a girl get a good night sleep? I CAN'T sleep with any noise, at all! Some people seem to not be bothered by noise and can sleep anywhere, like men. And children. So annoying. I can hear anything and everything and I am losing sleep. Ugghhh! It's Summer and me and the kids have our days and nights mixed up, bad! Most days we are still asleep at 11 or later. I know, I know, Bad Mommy. But, I love to sleep. I think it's under-rated. I say 10 hours for everyone! My kids are older and they are trained. We are totally laid back and the kids have been late sleepers forever. I do sometimes wish I could get the ball rolling earlier each day, like 10 or so. But, then I would most definitely need a nap. Anyway... just this past Friday I thought I was gonna lose my mind. My phone rang 7 times between 8 and 11, the dogs barked for a solid hour, the mail lady rang the door bell and I got 4 text messages on my cell phone. Just as soon as I would doze off, I would be awakened by some noise. I guess maybe I should try ear plugs or the people/animals in my life could try and be a little quieter. By people I mean mail carriers, UPS men, solicitors, etc. My friends and family know not to call before 12, I won't even answer it. And, let's not forget Coco and Daisy, who bark at EVERYTHING! The dogs I can't control, unless I let them sleep with me. Which ain't happening. They are too big for that not to mention my comforter is white! I could leave a no solicitor sign on the front door, move the phone and answering machine out of my room, or put my cell phone on vibrate. But, no. I guess I secretly enjoy being woken up out of a deep sleep. Such fun!

Hungry Lil' Puppies

Life with two puppies is fun. Life with two puppies is messy. Life with two puppies keeps you on your toes. When you have two puppies you can't leave anything out that they can reach or eat. This is what two puppies can eat in one week in addition to ten pounds of Iam's Smart Puppy:

Chloe's CTR ring (this one has me super sad, it just happened at 9:20 pm, several hours after the original post)
3 tubes of sunscreen
2 dog beds
4 stuffed animals
1 flashlight
1 water sprayer
1 Coke can
2 footballs
2 Mexican fan palm trees (ok, just the bark)
1 pair of bikini bottoms
1 pair of swim trunks
2 pairs of swim goggles
1 decorative foot bridge
3 beach towels
1 dog food scooper
1 pair of underwear (don't ask)
and last but not least:
each other...

New girl in town

We must not be busy enough. 'Cause today we added another mouth to feed. Meet Daisy:





She has been running around hanging out with Coco, having a blast. They are gorgeous dogs, if I do say so myself. So far she has adjusted well, hopefully this lasts. We are in love and we are nuts!!