carson came walking in and i looked up and said--it's a school marm. and taylor said--no, it's BRIANNE! i have to agree!


ok--so i have committed to taking a picture a day this december. amidst all that is going on in my life i want to document the holidays. With this picture you can see that the holidays are coinciding with finals at ASU. But i did have eggnog for dinner last night and put warm flannel blankets on my bed. tis the season...L

casa grande ruins. that was the field trip i went on with anna last week. very cool. the hohokams lived here around 700 years ago. amazing site and we got to see one of the three owls that live there. since i am taking a class of native american poetry this semester as well as a middle ages history class i found this quite interesting. i am making a new years resolution early this year--and i rarely make resolutions as i usually find them cliché. i was reading a blog the other day and this woman has a picture every day on her blog. everyday. which means she took the picture, downloaded it, edited it and posted it. but i loved looking at her pictures and wishing i took more pictures. the last year was pretty rough for our family but i see a bright and happy future. and i've decided i don't want to miss it. so i am vowing to take more pictures and blog more often. i would love it if i could take a picture a day all of next year. i'm willing at least give it a try...L

I scrapped. It is a Christmas miracle. It felt so good too.

taylor is in photo class this semester and she took this photo. her class had to take different types of images and i convinced her to take one of the stop sign in our neighborhood. the rare times i update my blog i always want to put a picture on but i haven't had much time lately to take many pictures.

school is going well for everyone. we are almost to midterms for me and quarters for everyone else. i go back and forth between my homework and the girls--and we all look at haley's 1st grade homework and sigh. lol everyone is adjusting to the move and all the changes that go with that. i am so proud of my girls--they have had a tough year and they are doing well in school and help me out a lot.

tonight we were playing this game--don't know the name of it--but you fill a thimble with water and then everyone tries to guess the answer to the question they ask--whoever gets it right gets the water thrown on them. so it's haley's turn and she asks who is her favorite movie star. after a lot of hannah montana, demi lovato, selena gomez and ashley tisdale answers carson finally asks for a clue--the first letter of the name. haley tells us T. so more guesses with no luck and carson says--ok--give us the second letter. which then haley replies--SWIFT. lol didn't take long then to figure it out...L

it's back to school. actually school started for the girls about 3 weeks ago and my school started last week. let's see--a list of my classes: literary theory and criticism, indigenous poetry and paris and florence in the middle ages. lots of light reading! however a really humorous thing happened at school. dallas was here visiting and so i took him to ASU with me to my classes. my poetry class is about native american poetry. our teacher is a native american. she asked us to list all the negative stereotypes that people associate with native americans. so my son jumps up there and writes 'lazy' on the board. and there are a lot of people up there writing things like--uneducated, poor, drunks, bloodthirsty savages, mystical, dirty, superstitious, etc. then there is one boy up there who is looking around at everyone and he says "i think i'm confused." so my son says--oh, that's my fault. i told him we were writing our personality traits up there. oh my gosh. everyone in class is laughing. i'm like--don't take your kids to school with you. lesson learned. ha

in more exciting news. happy birthday brianne. it's a boy. not mine. my future grandson. let the shopping begin...L

i can't believe it's been a month since i blogged! well, not much to say or do anyway. life has been pretty busy here. i found a house down in the valley. we are packing up and getting ready to move before school starts. i am enrolled in ASU and the girls are enrolled in their schools as well. everyone is pretty excited about the move and we picked out paint colors for the new house. taylor has a sky blue, anna and haley have a pretty periwinkle blue and carson's room is going to be hot pink, black and white. i can't wait to get settled.

this packing thing is wearing thin! i don't feel that well today and i have an entire house to finish packing. the girls are helping me and i had a friend from work come and help last week which was so nice. in other news brianne and jeff got to hear MY GRANDBABIES heart beat! dallas went out on a second date and the girls had a great time with their aunt debbie and uncle dennis in california. carson is officially 13! by my next blog i will probaby be in my house...L

I'M GOING TO BE A GRANDMA!!!!!

i got this package in the mail today from brianne. little stinker kept it a secret for a few weeks. i'm so happy!!!! oh my gosh. i can't even believe our family will have a cute little baby on january 11, 2009!!!!

congratulations brianne and jeff...

here are some pics from my family reunion a few weeks ago.




and here are some more...





i had a lot of fun up in pinetop with my family and girls. the older i get the more i enjoy seeing my cousins and aunt and uncles that were a big part of my life. we went go-kart racing, antique shopping and had a blast...

old friends. i got to see shanna this week. it was so nice. i miss her. and i scrapped. i got 8 pages done! on a vacation album i've been working on for three years. lol i also got to annoy kaelene. always a treat. lol and kerry--that is shanna eating serrano's bean dip. just for you.

in other news--anna and i survived the catalina island field trip. we kayaked, snorkeled, soaked up the sun, made friends and watched dolphins swim in the ocean. no pictures because they are on my phone and i have no cable to download yet.

in other news i have registered for college! yay for me. i'm so excited to start school. i have decided to go to radiology tech school that has opened at our little college in prescott. it is a 2 year degree. i plan on doing that and then maybe becoming an ultrasound tech. i have a few prerequisites to do before i can start the program. math. again. because after 10 years you have to take it again. so sad. i have also contacted ASU about finishing my bachelor's degree as well. so i have some options.

anna and haley's last day of school was yesterday. it was a nice program. my favorite part (besides seeing my girls on stage) was the director of their school's little anecdote. she told a story of an old man that walked along the beach every morning with a pail collecting the starfish on the sand and throwing them back into the ocean. another man stopped him and asked why he did this as the next morning it would be the same thing all over again and that it didn't matter. the old man grabbed a starfish out of the pail and threw it as far as he could out into the ocean. he looked at the man and said 'it mattered to that one.' great story.

i haven't blogged in like forever. but i had to quickly tell what happened with brianne and jeff's visit. brianne cooked and cleaned the entire weekend. so fun. she made me mexican lasagne, bread pudding, vegetarian monte cristo sandwiches and my favorite eggs benedict! i can never make fun of her cooking again. not that i could before, i just did. lol plus she gave me and taylor facials and her and jeff colored and hunted easter eggs with the girls. plus they also were the easter bunny this year.

i have to say that there is no better feeling or reward in this world than having raised the most wonderful children. and brianne is just that. i love you honey. and your sweet husband. now go make me grandbabies...

so i watched nickelodeon's kids choice awards show. more than once...L

so this week is spring break for my girls. taylor went to colorado with her friend and her friend's mom and is having a blast. all the girls were not excited to find out that mom does not get a spring break from work. me too! but i made a game plan. i told them that every night they would get something from me to have to do the next day. so the first day it was coloring books. today it was sidewalk chalk. tomorrow they have bubbles and a mask to paint and decorate. also i told them that since i got off work earlier all week we would do some fun things together. last night we went and saw 'race to witch mountain' which we all thoroughly enjoyed. and i'm sure for different reasons. lol

tonight we went and had dinner at wildflower bread company and went and bought the crafts for tomorrow and i took carson to Rue 21 where she got some much needed shirts on sale. i have to tell you that carson has been such a big help to me this week. with taylor gone it is just her watching the little ones. every day this week carson has cleaned the house, did the dishes, done the laundry, made my bed with clean sheets! and taken care of the little ones with no complaints. and all of this she has done on her own. i did not ask her to do it. so she got a trip to the store. carson has always been such a help around the house. she is going to make a good mommy one day. love you carson.

and in honor of saint patricks day--a limerick:

There was a young lady one fall
Who wore a newspaper dress to a ball.
The dress caught fire
And burned her entire
Front page, sporting section and all...L

so last weekend as i was complaining about all the stuff i needed to get done around the house a wise person told me to take the girls and go do something. so we did. we went to the zoo here in prescott. it was a treat. they have a new tiger. we also got to see a black bear, porcupine, mountain lion and some horrendously nasty spiders. it was beautiful weather and i was glad i slowed down for a minute and enjoyed my girls and nature.

now, over on kaelene's blog she is doing a cute little 'pay it forward' type of thing. she said that the first five posters to her blog would get something handmade from her within the year. but the catch was that you had to give away something on your blog as well. so since taylor just watched that movie in school and i love kaelene i will offer something handmade by me within the year to the first five posters on my blog. and it made me think of my favorite quote on 'the soprano's': i know every day is a gift, but does it have to be a pair of socks? so no socks from me...L

my sweet girls. love 'em. have a good weekend...L

for my birthday i had my kids let me take pictures of them with me and them alone and all together and any combo i could think of. they couldn't deny their mom her one birthday request. photos. of course it is taking me an impossibly long time to photoshop them, scrap them or any other thing. that's my life right now.

but i just had the most incredible experience with taylor lately. it's personal and private and something i will hold with me for a long time. we connected on a level that i'm sure doesn't happen all the time with a teenager and her mom. although i've never had a problem yet with teenagers. i always enjoyed my kids when they were teenagers. and i'm enjoying taylor and carson right now too.

and brianne called me with a sweet memory she had this week. one where she was at home outside watching and waiting for me to come home. and how she always was happiest when i was there at home with her. thanks brianne for sharing that with me today. i am happy when i have my girls (and one boy!LOL) at home with me. i know it's not PC to say as a woman that your kids are your life. but MY KIDS ARE MY LIFE! i love them and cherish them and enjoy having them with me. ok--sometimes i do enjoy a minute or two to myself...L

it's been a crazy week around here. but there have been a few bright spots.

it snowed like crazy on monday. all day and night and it was so pretty the next morning. the girls got a snow day and a delayed start. they sledded down the driveway, built a snowman and made lots of laundry for me!

i received some late birthday gifts from shanna and kerry on the same day. and they came on a day that i needed cheering up. if you can't tell i got a music cd (linkin park), hot tamales and mickey d's gift certificate from kerry. shanna sent me a wicked cool birthday card and ALL of her own patterns that she makes. i am always teasing her that she doesn't share her skills with me and she did.

so i just wanted to give my two good friends a big hug and kiss. they cheered me up and made me happy with some of my favorite things in life!! i would never have gotten through so many tough times without the love and support of these two--and all my other friends, neighbors and sweet children.

love you all...L

see any similarities here???