Quiz Time!

Here's another quiz I found over on Kimberly's Korner . I like quizzes. They're fun and cause me to think about something other than cleaning, cooking, or wiping a bum.

Here we go!

1.If you had $5000.00 to spend on plastic surgery what would you have done?

I'd have the boobs reduced and a tummy tuck. But, I'd have to lose some major weight first for the tummy tuck to look good. Maybe I'll just throw in some lypo in there too and forget the losing weight part, but then that might put me over my $5000 limit. Ok, shutting up now. Moving on.

2. Do you watch Soap operas and if so what is your favorite and why?

I don't watch them. I weaned myself off of those YEARS ago. (Wow, that makes me sound old.)

3. Favorite clothing brand?

Favorite clothing brand? I know there are other brands out there besides Faded Glory and Cato's Fashion, but nothing else fits my pocket book. Or, my butt.

4. An afternoon shopping spree at your favorite store or maid service for a year?

I have to choose just one? I would have to choose maid service and save the shopping spree for after I have my lypo and boob reduction.

5. Would you ever vajazzle?

I don't even know what the heck that is. And probably don't want to know.

6. Favorite Disney Princess?

Belle.

7. Last movie that made you bawl your eyes out?

I can't think of one. But I did tear up over an Anita Renfroe song the other day. Boy are my hormones out of whack or what?!

8. Have you ever broken any bones and if so what?

I fractured my wrist when I was two. Does that count?


Ok, your turn! Who wants to give it a go?

P.S. I googled vajazzling. I really DIDN'T want to know. And my answer would be no. Not no way, not no how.

Miss Laurie Lou is 3!

My sweet pea is 3.

When did this happen? (About a week ago.)

Yes, that's true, but WHEN did this happen?

Where did my baby girl go?

She's still a little peamite and my baby girl, but she's potty-trained. She names her baby dolls. She loves shoes. She has pierced ears, which she asked for, and she has a sense of humor. She loves Dora, Minnie Mouse, and animals.

She can also hold her own with her brothers when needed.

It's usually needed quite often.

How can so much personality be rolled into one little person?

Moving on to the birthday party.

We had a simple family party. We grilled burgers and dogs and let the kids play in the pool. Ian got his Martha on and made pink, purple, and orange (Dora colors!) layered cupcakes with homemade chocolate buttercream frosting. The frosting didn't turn out as planned, but it wasn't bad. *Lesson learned: Follow directions. They're there for a reason.*

Opening presents with help from big brother.

Showing off her loot. A princess crown and jewelry from Granny.

I finally made her tutu that I planned to make last Christmas. Better late than never, right?

Check out the ensemble she put together before she left for maw maw's house. The tutu, Dora sandals from Granny, purple socks for gloves, and her winter hat. BEE-U-TI-FUL!!!

I almost forgot the cake part. This was after lighting the candle the second time. She was a little excited and blew out the candle before we could sing to her. (I just realized I didn't put 3 candles on her cake. Oh, well. Blame crazy mom syndrome.)

Yay!!! She got it on the 1st try . . . again.

The girl loves chocolate. What can I say? She gets it honestly.

She also scored a new swimsuit from dad and a new beach towel from her brothers. Maw Maw and Paw Paw gave her her very first fishing pole. It was a pink Dora fishing Pole. Did I mention this was Dora party? Anywho, she proudly tested out her pole yesterday when we took the kids fishing. 

And you know what? Those little rubber fish that come with the pole for casting practice really hurt when you get whacked in the head with them while you're trying to drive to the fishing hole.  

The Accidental Family Day of Fun

What the heck is that, right? Well, I'll tell you.

Our outing started something like this.

Todd went on a little camping/fishing over-nighter with an uncle, a couple of cousins and and bunch of boy scouts and other leaders I don't know.

It was in the middle of nowhere.

And when I say middle of nowhere, I mean it. I live in the middle of nowhere. But this was beyond that.

I was concerned about him going because he didn't know most of the boys, except for the cousin and two young men from church, and most of these boys were older than him. But he wanted to go, so we let him.

Then came the text this morning. "I'm ready to go." Hubby asked, "Are y'all finished or are you just ready to leave?". Todd's reply, "I'm ready to go."

We loaded up our other three and hit the road.

We finally made it to the vicinity of the camping area when we met my uncle on his way out with Todd and the two young men from church. They were heading to another creek to swim and chow down on some watermelon. Hmmm . . . didn't Todd say he was ready to come home?

Anywho, Todd hopped in the van with us, but he didn't have his sleeping bag, etc. with him so we had to go all the way to the camping area to retrieve his things.

Enter sand bar.

Aaaannnddd . . . . we're stuck. This was after many attempts to get unstuck.

It didn't work.

We are REALLY stuck.


After trying everything we could think of, changing drivers and pushers(even had Todd as a driver which made me nervous as heck) several times, and burning our feet on the HOT sand, I said a little prayer to myself because my children, who were too excited by the events unfolding,  refused politely declined. I gave it another try while Ian was looking for something to dig us out with and decided to give up wait it out.

Maybe the scouts would come back to camp soon. Heavenly Father was obviously testing my patience and heat resistance.

So, we piled out and trekked across the HOT sand.

I thought of Lehi and his family, and others in the scriptures, traveling for several years on the HOT sand and was thankful that this was only a small inconvenience that would hopefully end soon.

I did something very unlike me . . . . I tried to make the best of it. (I guess that means I'm a grumbler.)

And you know what else? I usually don't have my camera with me. Today was different.

We found some treasures on the 'beach'.

We waded in the water.

Waved at one of several boats that went by while we were there.

Found more treasures.

Had a few sweet moments between siblings. (My favorite shot!)

Showed off muscles! (Changed my mind. THIS is my favorite!)

Now this. You might think they were . . .  um . . . peeing relieving themselves in the water since there were no 'facilities' for miles. But you'd be wrong.

Well, I take that back. I can't be sure about the girl. Water seems to have that effect on her.

I like to pretend this would've been our tent and canoes if we'd actually been camping.

But we weren't.

And it's not.

We don't even own a tent or canoes.

Moving on.

Shovels!!!!!

Dad working on digging us out.

It didn't work. Ian ended up calling my parents to see if someone could come pull us out. My dad, sister, and her hubby were coming to our rescue.

Aren't we a pair?

A pair of what I don't know.

Now these two are a pair.

This was Todd after several trips to the van for various things (sunscreen, band-aids, and I can't remember what else). I got the feeling he didn't like trekking across the HOT sand.

Toes in the not HOT sand. It was still warm sand though.


 While I was goofing off documenting our accidental day of fun . . . . . . 

Ian did this! Woohoo!

Free at last!!!

We had to quickly call off the rescue squad so they wouldn't make the long trip out to the middle of nowhere.

And after all that, Todd still left his sleeping bag behind.

Sunday Sweets . . . or sweetness . . . or whatever

I have no spiritual thought today because I'm just not in a spiritual thought kind of mood. I suppose I could be if I really, REALLY tried, but my brain is exhausted. And when my brain is exhausted, my body is too.

I'm having a terrible mother day . . . again. I don't normally think of myself as a terrific mom, but I like to think I hover somewhere along the 'ok mom' border. Today, I crossed the border.

All pity-partying aside, I really think it has something to do with the type of birth control I'm using. I haven't been this *lovely* in quite a while. Oh, I still had my hissy fits, don't get me wrong, but lately it has been BEYOND hissy fit.

Just ask my poor hubby who was woken up from a dead sleep this afternoon. And he has to work tonight and all day tomorrow.

So, lack of self-confidence and parenting confidence and change in hormones . . . that's where I am today.

I guess I can only take so much being screamed at in church by a soon-to-be 3 year old. Then add to that the temper tantrums of the 11 y.o. and 7 y.o. which then leads to the tackling of the 7 y.o. by the 11 y.o. who fully knows better but seems to have no regard for his younger siblings. Thankfully this was not at church, but we hadn't been home 5 minutes. Geez, Louise! I'm raising a bunch of neanderthals!

Anywho, I do have a recipe to share.

I found this one over on Our Best Bites. You can print the recipe over on her blog if you like. She also has tons of other great recipes.

We love French Dip! This recipe is super easy, especially when you know you have a busy day ahead or if you just don't want to heat up your kitchen during the hot summer months. It's also freezable.

French Dip Sandwiches

1 2.5-3 lb. beef roast (you can use a frozen roast if you want)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper
2 1-ounce packages dry onion soup mix
2 c. water
2 cans beef broth
6-8 large buns (or more...6 would be VERY generous servings!)
Swiss, provolone, or mozzarella cheese, shredded or sliced.

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and rub roast with salt and pepper.

When very hot, carefully place roast in pan and sear on all sides. You're not cooking the meat, you're just browning it quickly on all sides to add flavor and seal in the juices. Place in crockpot and sprinkle with onions soup mix. Pour water and beef broth over roast.

Cook 8-10 hours on low or cook 4-5 hours on high and another 3-4 hours on low. You can't mess this up.The longer it cooks, the more tender it will be. When the meat is ready, shred with a fork. Place meat in crusty rolls. Top with cheese and broil open-faced in the oven or toaster oven for a few minutes, until bread is golden and cheese is melted. And don't even think about walking away--things can go from lightly-toasted to on fire within a matter of seconds when you're using your broiler. Ladle juices into small cups for dipping and enjoy!

FREEZER DIRECTIONS:
Prepare roast through the searing step; after meat has cooled, place in a plastic freezer-safe container (think Gladware), cover with onion soup mix and bouillon, and freeze. When ready to cook, put it straight into the crockpot (frozen), add 2 cups of water, and set to high until warm or, even better, simmering. Turn to low; cook for a total of 8-10 hours.


If you don't like french dip, you can easily turn these into Italian hoagies.  Use the same basic recipe, shred the meat, place on the bun, drizzle with some Italian dressing, top with mozzarella cheese, and pop it in the broiler or toaster oven to melt the cheese and toast up your bun. You can finish it off with lettuce and tomato, too. Whatever makes you happy. Enjoy!

Through Your Husband's Eyes

Wow! Four posts in five days! I'm on a roll! I'll slow down soon and neglect my blog again, but before I do, I wanted to try something new I found over on Kimberly's Korner. It's called 'Through Your Husband's Eyes.' She emailed a few questions to her hubby and invited others to do the same. I thought it would be fun to see what Ian's answers would be.

*Disclaimer---Lest you think I'm trying to post less than becoming pics of my hubs on here, they're all like this. The only one you'll see of him not making this face or some other weird shot, like nose shots, is in my sidebar. Love you, dear!

Here we go!

1. Do you spoil your wife?
Try to but lack of fundage ruins that idea. (Aw, that's ok, honey. I don't mind trying to live frugally, although we've stunk at it lately.)

2. What household chore does she do the best?
All that she does. (Which isn't much! Hahahahah! You're too nice, sweetie pie. It's kinda hard to clean with 4 kidlets running crazy and wreaking havoc wherever they go.)

3. What is her obsession?
Whatever she is doing at the moment. Right now hair bows and that darn blog. Was those stupid twilight books. (Yes, I like making hair bows even if the girl won't keep them in her hair longer than 5 minutes. And you might start a riot by calling Twilight stupid, dear. Choose your words carefully. And, for the record, I only own ONE Twilight book, thank you very much.)

4. What outfit does she wear that you wish she didn't?
I have no complaints about her wardrobe. (I bet he'd have something to say if I came home with a "Team Edward" or "Team Jacob" shirt.)

5. What is her favorite color?
If I am not mistaken, that would be a very light purple. (Yep. I like lavender. Lavender is my signature color. Quick! Name that movie! Except she says pink.)

Ok, who's next?

Flashback Friday

I was looking through my photo albums on Facebook and came across these two pictures. Wow, how time flies!

This was almost 3 years ago, not long after Lauren was born. I think she's probably 2-3 months old. I'm judging by her dress(a $5 steal at the walmarts!), which is newborn size. I know this because I just gave it away. Nah, I don't have a problem hanging on to things.

This was Easter of this year. Look at where everyone is sitting. Matt almost has the same smile and Lauren is looking off in the same direction. Deja vu! And, do we like plaid shirts at our house or what?

20 Questions

I found these questions on the Quiet Life blog.
I enjoyed reading hers so I thought I would pass it on.

Have fun with these :o)

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?

Hmmm . . . ok, so the new bangs aren't so bad.

2. Do you miss anyone right now?

My little sister.

3. If you could move anywhere else, would you?

Yes.

4. If you could choose, what would your last meal be?

Something Italian with Dr. Pepper and cheesecake for dessert.

5. What famous person, dead or alive, would you want to have lunch with?

The Pioneer Woman.

6. What was the last book you read?

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I need to broaden my horizons a little. I'm currently working on The Blind Side.

7. What was the last movie you watched?

Alice in Wonderland

8. What was the last song you heard?

Soul Sister by Train.

9. What is your dream vacation?

I'd love to go to Italy or Greece.

10. What is the next trip you will take?

To the dentist with the kids. Hey, when you live in the middle of nowhere, anywhere you have to go is a trip.

11. Did you ever go to camp?

Yes.

12. Have you ever been in love?

Not that I can remember. ;o) Of course!

13. What do you want to know about the future?

I don't think I'd want to know what day I'll die, but maybe what age I'll live to be. 

14. Where is your best friend?

At her house tending to her chickens.

15. How is your best friend?

Ok, I hope.

16. Who is the biggest gossiper you know?

I try to stay away from gossipers.

17. What does your last text message say?

Might better make that one ring floatie and a noodle or two.

18. What are 3 things you've always wanted to do, that you still plan to accomplish?

Buy a house, take a REAL family vacation every year, get completely out of debt.

19. What is one thing you learned from your parents?

How to work.

20. What is one thing you hope to teach to your own children?

To be happy with who they are wherever they are.

Zack's Last Day of 1st Grade

The school year has finally come to a close.

Or maybe it has gone by too fast.

I think most moms probably have that love-hate relationship with the school year.

And, of course, the summer will go by way too fast, but at the same time we'll be so ready to kick them out the door again. Right? I get to kick THREE out this next school year! Muwahahahaha!

I don't have any pics of Todd's last day because he didn't want me to go on his class's end-of-year party/field trip. That's ok. I know my soon-to-be 6th grader needs his independence.

Zack, on the other hand, wants me at every field trip and class party and gets quite upset if I don't come.

So, on to Zack's end-of-the-year class party. I took Matt with me because I promised to take him to Fun Day, but I was sick that day and we didn't get to go. 

Matt was being a little shy at first, but fit right in after a few minutes.

Checking out their goody bags and waiting to chow down.

Ready for some water play.

A rain dance?

It worked!

So it's artificial rain. But it worked!

Zack was a leprechaun in a former life.

(That's the only explanation for this little skip thing he does.)

I guess that would make Matt an airplane.

There's always room for popsicles! I honestly don't know how they could eat anything else.

Hey, bro, where's mine?

Thanks for a great year, Mrs. Baggett! We'll miss you!