Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone and Happy Holiday!

Best $1000 I ever spent

When I was 16 I got my driver's license. Not right away as I turned 16 in March and I was still taking driver's ed. I also couldn't drive until I could get my own insurance so I had to have a job. Anyway - when that was all in place and I passed the test (the second time) I got a car. My first car was a 1972 Datsun B110. It was orange and we called it the little orange bomber. It's official name was the Little D - as it was my Dad's car and he was Big D. Well, driving a car that belongs to your parents has it's pitfalls. I was not allowed to drive their other cars as I was only insured on the Datsun. AND if I was to get in to any trouble the car was the first to go. My dad would take the car for missed classes, fallen grades, late curfew, you name it. I finally had enough of the car being taken away - in fact so had my mother. On one occasion I was grounded from the car except for going to school and back - I also had a job. My mom let me take the car to work too because she just couldn't get me all over town and back. Shhh don't tell - my dad still doesn't know. So anyway, enough of the car being taken away - I unloaded all of my belongings one day and literally threw the keys at my dad and told him I would buy my OWN DAMN CAR! Yes, that's exactly what I said. So, at 17 I had about $1000 in the bank and my mom tracked down a car for me to buy. I took my hard earned money over and made the exchange $1000 for a 1978 Datsun Pickup - it was red. This little truck got a lot of use. I bought it in 1990 and drove it for my entire senior year. I went to Ricks for my first year with no car but the second year my friend Stefani and I loaded up truck and headed to Idaho. We underestimated the amount it would cost in gas and had no money to stay in a hotel so we drove straight through. It was brutal but we made it. When I got married we were one of the few couples I knew with 2 cars. I had the truck and Stew had a little blue Mercury Tracer. I would go home and friends I had would ask if I remembered that little red truck and I would respond "you mean the one in my driveway at home?" I drove that little truck until 1999 when I sold it on July 4th. Why did I sell it? Well, I was a month away from having my second baby and there were only 2 seatbelts. Not enough room to haul two kids around. The second reason we sold it was because it didn't have A/C and my husband didn't want to drive it. So, off went the little red Truck - which I sold for $500 - and I got the Tracer and Stew bought a used Ford Ranger. Since then I've driven only 3 other cars - the Sienna I sold before we moved to England, the Toyota Picnic I drove IN England and now another Sienna. There are definitely days that I miss running around town in that little red truck though.

Just a Story

You know how you have a story, something that happened to you or someone else that makes people say REALLY? Well I was reading on another blog this morning and her story was about how she left for the weekend for a trip with friends and her parents moved while she was gone. They didn't move HER stuff, they just moved their things. Totally crazy - wouldn't you say? My story isn't that fantastic but at the time it was unbelievable to me.

Right before I left for college I was spending a lot of time with this guy Terry. He first dated my friend Cameo, as I was dating Pete. Things go as they sometimes do and relationships changed and Terry and I became good friends if nothing else. So time goes by and I go to Ricks College in Idaho, leaving behind all of my friends in California. I got a phone call one night from Cameo saying that she was pregnant and that she was unsure what she was going to do. She was a senior in highschool at the time. We talked about all sorts of things and about what her and her boyfriend were going to do. I would say a month or so went by and I made a phone call to Pete, who I mentioned above, and he wasn't home. I was chatting with his roommate and then asked if he wouldn't mind going a few doors down and seeing if Terry was home - Terry didn't have a phone and since Pete wasn't home I guess I figured it was fair game to chat with Terry. Then the shocking thing happened. Brian, the roommate, says "Terry isn't here anymore, he moved out." Okay, so that is curious. Where did he move to? "Cameo and Terry got married this weekend so he moved in with her." WHAT? Seriously, how do you leave for college and then a month later your best friend and your boyfriend get married? They didn't even call to let me know.

Trust

I was on my way out to lunch today and to get to the little taco shop I was craving I have to cross two sets of rail road tracks. Normally I don't think anything of it. Three things are usually occuring - traffic is flowing normally, traffic is stopped for a train, or traffic is stopped for a bus. There are two school on the road that crosses the tracks so most often there is a bus there. Today we were stopped for another reason, a truck. A Union Pacific railway worker was maneuvering his truck on to the train tracks to do whatever it is that they do riding on the rails. He was alone and had to hop in and out of his truck a few times to get the wheels on the tracks and get moving. As he drove off down the railroad tracks I had to think that he was REALLY putting his life in the hands of his coworkers. I wonder if he even thinks about it anymore - hoping that somewhere down the line everybody has hit the right switches and a train isn't going to come at him anytime soon.

How many things do we do each day that are completely putting our trust in other people. Heck, even when I drive you should all trust that I'm going to remember what side of the street I'm on, and yes I did have to think about that today after stopping to chat with a neighbor. I have to trust that my children will be taken care of at school, that other people will watch where they are driving, I even have to trust that my house was built correctly and that when I light the stove it isn't going to blow the house up.

I don't really have a huge point to this blog today - just a rambling mostly. And to be thankful I don't drive a truck on train tracks and have to worry about when the next train is coming.

Randomness

I tagged myself to share 8 random facts or habits after reading Baby Tea Leaves blog this morning. I was hoping she would have something to start my brain blogging this morning - and she did.

1. I set my alarm clock each night and then turn it off and back on just to make sure. I've also been known to get OUT of bed to then check it a 3rd time.

2. I will use the same cup for drinking water several days in a row. When I use a glass I use it less than a plastic cup - the fingerprints get to me. I'm currently back to giant iced tea cups of water.

3. I have to get up and showered and dressed before I take my kids to school. I don't even wear make-up (aside from mascara) so that's not the issue - I just don't like leaving the house and then having to come back and get ready later.

4. I like to dance. If we go to a party with dancing I dance. My husband doesn't dance so he sits and socializes with his friends - I dance.

5. This one is related to the dancing. I have been known to catch a ride home with someone else when attending a party because my husband has gone home- I am a closer. Yep - I'm well known for being part of the last group to leave. In England I was most often the designated driver as well - so I would stay and then drive everyone home. I bet they miss me!

6. I have superstitions when I bowl. I used to bowl in the morning so if I had toast with grape jelly and bowled a good game I would eat that in hopes to relive the game. Lately I bowl at night so it's fries and a coke.

7. I can not quit drinking coke. Seriously! I don't have it at home but if I am out I will order one, or two, or three. I can NOT drink diet.

8. I collect Thimbles. It makes me feel like an old lady but they are SO easy to pick up and carry - they don't take up any room in your suitcase - and they are usually inexpensive. I also don't HAVE to go to the place to collect the thimble - I take donations from the places my friends/family have been. Hint, hint!

OK so here are the rules.
Each player starts with eight random fact/habits about themselves.
People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
At the end of your blog post, you need to choose people to get tagged and list their name - (and here's where I personally break the rules. I tag everyone.)
Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged and to read your blog.

Secrets

I've been thinking lately about secrets and who we tell them to. Do you have a friend that knows all the dirty details of your life? Do you share every thought with your spouse? Is the person you tell your secrets to in fact a secret? Some of us, I'm sure, tell our secrets in our blogs. I can look back through the different stages of my life, crap I'm having stages of life now, that's not cool. Anyway - I can look back and remember who I told my secrets too. In high school it was pretty easy, you find your BFF and that's it. Easy enough to divulge what boy you like and how many times he kissed you on Friday night or whatever the latest event in your life was.

I can count on one hand the friends in my adult life that I have shared a significant secret with. I think the main reason for this is because you have to be pretty sure that the person you are talking to understands you. Someone that sees MORE than what you are saying. Turning it a little bit I remember when I got married and my Mom gave me the advice to never say anything bad about my husband because for some people that would be the one thing they remember or opinion they have. I know how much this is true because I've seen people in their blogs go on and on about how horrible their spouse has been and then they are shocked when people say "oh he is a jerk". The back pedaling starts and they realize that they were just annoyed and that in fact their spouse isn't a jerk - but too late - opinion formed. If you think you're spouse is being an idiot it works out much better if you share this with someone who knows that in fact YOU are the idiot. I've had friends in real life as well who have people convinced that they live a horrible life just because that is ALL they ever talk about.

I also think some people share things too easily. There are times my own husband says something to someone and I think to myself that I would NEVER have said that. I think I live my life a little more privately than he does. He has no trouble sharing health issues, financial problems, issues with our children and who knows what. I could probably be bleeding to death before I would mention I was a little worried. I have had to specifically TELL him not to mention X to so and so because I know he will. Perhaps this is because I worry about how those issues will reflect on me and apparently he doesn't care. hahah I don't know.

I do think it is good to have someone who understands you. Someone who knows exactly what it takes to make you laugh and someone who knows just how to put you back in your place when you need to be. Someone that you just talk to and you don't realize you are sharing the most private parts of your life because you are so comfortable with them that it doesn't occur to you to NOT share your life with them.

Of course if you don't have anyone to hear your secrets you could always go here PostSecret but I would hope that you have someone to listen to you and someone you listen to in return. I am also not going to be held responsible for any of those secrets people post because most of them are those ones that I would NOT share. Even annonymously. (They are not always rated PG so view at your own risk - I'm not a regular visitor of the site either - my own disclaimer.)

Tag from Amazed.

I saw this over at Amazed and thought I would participate. We need to keep her entertained while she's at home - so here it is. ( I have no idea why my pictures showed up as they did - but I'm sure you can figure them out.)

A Place I Would Like to Visit.



Your Age




Your Indulgences





Your Name


Or

Get It?


What You're Doing Right Now -
Well, obviously I'm blogging but the tv is on and the kids are watching SpongeBob so I guess I am too.


Your Favorite Color -
I don't actually have a favorite color - it depends on my mood. I do love tulips and this fits since they come in all colors.

My life would be better if I had more ________.

I've been participating in the Hot for the Holidays weight loss challenge over at Baby Tea Leaves each week. She usually has a prompt for blogging but I've been so busy lately that I have only done one of them. As you can see by blogging evidence I'm not on here much anymore - I'll work on that. However, I saw her prompt for today and it got me thinking.

How would my life be better? Pretty much my life as it is today is the way it will be. It would be better if I was a bit more outgoing. I take a long time to settle in and to make friends. Actually it's finding people that I am comfortable with that is the problem. I see myself so outside the circle that they are. I am not THAT girl so why would I want to hang out with them? Or better yet, why would they want to hang out with me? I am also not the one to call and ask if you want to go do something - I have this rejection phobia so I will just sit here. Don't get me wrong I do have some close friends. I have friends that I could drop by unannounced and spend the whole day and we would have a blast - but it's the new friends I have trouble with.

I was also thinking that my life would probably be better if I had made decisions based on what I wanted. I tend to be a pleaser and I do what is expected of me. I do what other people WANTED me to do - so as not to disappoint them and their expectations of me. When you live your life the way it was "expected" you miss out on a lot. When your head talks above your heart it leaves you with a wonder that can carry on for far too many years. I can look back and see how many amazing things I have in my life and things that I would never give up but I also have to wonder if I had lived the life I wanted to - how much different that would have been. How much different would I be?

The House

Having a new house is really cutting in to my personal time. Oh wait, I guess that is my personal time. I've been busy everyday unpacking boxes and finding space for things. I am behind the game because we were all sick when the movers came. Things that normally would have been done immediately are taking time because I slept on a mattress on the floor while the movers brought in all of our boxes. They must have reading issues as well. Because I was asleep I suppose they didn't mind putting boxes marked "Kitchen" in the garage and "garage" items in the dining room. The upside is my kitchen/family room is mostly put together, outside of hanging anything on the walls. I can sit here and feel like I have moved in - but outside of this little space the evidence is clear I still have work to do. Oh and did I mention they didn't bring all of our stuff? We've had things in storage here for 4 years - they didn't bring it so this Wednesday is moving day again. Hopefully this time I won't sleep through it.

Thursday Thirteen #23 We Are Homeowners!

#23 Thirteen Pictures of the New House We closed on our house today. After going to the house one last time for a quick walk through we drove almost an HOUR to the other side of town to then sit and sign paper after paper. With keys in hand we drove back to our new house!! I know Amazed has been waiting to give me advice on all things HOME. What advice do you have? What horror stories? What would you do again and what would you not do? Do you line drawers? Do you hang pictures right away? Here are Thirteen pictures of the new house: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. oops 14.

When is your birthday?

A friend of mine asked Jordan when her birthday was the other day:

B: When is your birthday?

Jordan: February 22.

B: What year?

Jordan: Um? What year?

B: Yes, what year?

Jordan: It's February 22 EVERY YEAR!

Well, duh!

Hot for the Holidays Week 2

Hot for the Holidays

So this week I am down another 1.2 lbs. I've been eating better and trying to be more active. It's mostly the better eating I think!

Okay 10 things on my lifes to do list.

1. Go to Washington D.C. Yep, I've been to the top of the Eiffel Tower but I haven't been to our nations capital.

2. Go on a Medeteranian cruise. This would have been easier when we were in England but such is life.

3. I know it isn't technically my life but the next 3: Help my boys get their Eagle in Scouts. One is 11 and the other is 9.

4. Have two boys go on missions for the church.

5. Have all 3 kids married to fantastic spouses.

6. Back to travel. I would love to go to Egypt.

7. I used to think I didn't want to go to the Great Wall of China but you know I think it would actually be really cool.

8. Lose weight! Also in this I want to be supportive in my husbands goal to lose weight as his is actually a serious need.

9. Go back to school. I think I would like to get my masters in reading.

10. Learn how to cook a gourmet meal.

The Search Has Ended!

Well, because of my cheapness I found a different table - a totally different table. It was purchased today along with 6 chairs.



I think this one will actually go better with the kitchen and I WAS going to try to get away from the whole "country kitchen" look so this should do it. Plus my friend Ellen would complain about the fact I live in the Southwest and then didn't have furniture that was correct for the area we live - or something like that. I do have to say that for the table and 6 chairs we spent 1/3 of what the other table and chairs were.

Hot For the Holidays

I've joined up with Baby Tea Leaves and her weight loss plan to get us all hot for the holidays. Today was the first weigh in and I am down 2.2 lbs. Hopefully I can keep this going! The hubs is on a pretty strict diet as well so that should help both of us. Of course the difference is I want to lose a dress size or two and he would like to live for another year or two. (Okay not THAT drastic but he does need to make changes)

Christie also wants to know what legacy we want to leave. I want to be remembered as someone who was fun. Someone who wasn't afraid to dance in the kitchen with the kids or sing at the top of my lungs in the car. There is so much time to be serious but I think it is important that I teach my kids that sometimes you just need to laugh and have fun.

In Search of

The Perfect Table. That has been my most recent quest. Tables come in all shapes and sizes but most of them so far are either too tall, too small, too formal, too ugly, too big, too square, too oval, too long or my favorite - too expensive. I also have complaints about the finish, the wood, the pedestal, the table legs, the way the chair hits my shoulder blades. Being a mom has also ruined some of my choices. I have no desire for a built in lazy susan in the middle of my table that could only be used to fling food around the room. Do you think the person that designed that also thought about what would happen if you spilled milk on the table? Isn't it going to go right through the space between the table and the lazy susan? And then lets talk about grooves. They are not so groovy I have to say. I keep picturing myself trying to get frosting, crumbs, juice, who knows what out of the grooves in the table. And then there are the chairs. Is rattan really a good option with children? Doesn't that just seem like a crumb catcher? What happens when that same glass of milk that is headed for the lazy susan changes direction and heads right towards the rush seats? Oh, these also come in a fabric of my choice? Let me repeat the ages of my children 6, 9, and 11. Let's get serious here.

I have narrowed a few things down - this is a table for the kitchen. The breakfast nook is round - requiring a round table. To adequately seat our family without elbows, knees, or fingertips touching it needs to be a 60" table. I'm currently leaning towards this one:
But with this chair
Did I mention I'm sort of cheap though? UGH!!

If you're curious this is the space it will go into:

Hello From Arizona!

It has been a whirlwind around here the last 2 weeks. We arrived on August first and I don't think we've taken a break since. In the last 2 weeks we have:

Found our church building
Bought 2 cars (a Toyota Sienna and a Corolla)
Celebrated 1 birthday
Put all 3 kids in school
Bought cell phones
Gone to the dentist
Gone to the ENT (tonsils and adenoids to come out for J9)
Had a visit to the allergy doctor
Walked through our house that is under construction
and
Shopped, shopped shopped.

Just imagine doing all of your back to school shopping in 4 days. We got here on Friday and the kids started school the next Tuesday. School has been a challenge to say the least. J11 has settled right in to 6th grade which is fantastic. He is making friends and doing well. The homework is a bit more than we're used to but he's quickly getting a handle on it. J9 started out in 4th grade but we quickly realized he was not ready for 4th so after 3 days we moved him to 3rd grade. The change was really for the best and he's making friends and feeling much better about school now. J6 is in 1st grade. This has been hard as well because she is first grade AGE but she has been in school for 2 years already and honestly some of the stuff they are doing she has done before. Fortunately the teacher has recognized this and she is giving her more difficult work. We will re-evaluate her placement at the end of September.

I'll update you with any new happenings as they come and hopefully I'll get the routine down again to get this blog moving.

Things I Will Miss

I don't know how far this list will go - mostly because I don't know if I can type very long through the tears.

I will miss the green. It is green everywhere here. Beautiful green dales. Beautiful green fields dotted with white sheep.

I will miss lambing season. Green fields dotted with big AND little sheep.

I will miss the history. To stand in a building that was built before Columbus sailed the ocean blue - fantastic.

I will miss the stone houses. I am returning to the land of stucco.

I will miss having a front yard with grass. My new home will have rocks in the front.

I will miss sticky toffee pudding at the Queens Head.

I will miss the secure feeling we had on base. I could do my shopping and the kids could sit on the floor near the tv's and watch a video - with at least 5 other kids they knew sitting on the floor too.

I will miss that in just a few hours I could be in a different country - seeing things I never thought I would see.

I will miss our church family.

I will miss teasing A. Stewart about his Scottish accent. He'll tell you that if you want to know what heaven looks like just go to Scotland.

I will miss my friend Ellen. Good thing is she's from Tucson so we're sure to cross paths again.

I will miss our friends, our neighbors, and probably all those things that in the last post I said I wouldn't miss.

Next blog will be coming from Arizona - where I probably won't ever be called Mum - but I'll keep this blog to remind me of where I've been.

Things I Won't Miss

I decided since I only have one full day left in England to create a list of the things I won't miss. Everyone asks what I WILL miss - but we'll get to that later.

12. I won't miss tv here. You never know if the language will be acceptable - not to mention the material in general. I am sitting here at 9:55pm watching BBC1 - a news program much like Dateline is on and during the interviews they have no problem saying the F word. BLEEP!

11. I won't miss the driving. When I take my kids to school in the morning I spend the majority of time driving on the wrong side of the street because their are cars parked on the road on the side I SHOULD be driving on.

10. I won't miss the small parking lots - also known as car parks.

9. I won't miss the amount of children I see sitting in the front seat of cars. They have great carseat laws here but seriously put those babies in the back seat!

8. I won't miss the exchange rate. We went out to dinner a few nights ago with friends and I can tell you if we went out to a restaraunt in the States and spent $180 we wouldn't be going back. And we probably would have gotten more than ice water and pizza!

7. I won't miss the lack of closets. We had wardrobes in every room - and we had to purchase those. I want a house with closets that come with it - not purchased from ikea.

6. I won't miss paying to park. You even have to pay when parking in the ASDA (owned by the Walmart Company) parking lot. It is 1 pound to park and you get that back if you make a purchase in the store - but having to remember to have it on hand is a task in and of itself some days.

5. I won't miss carrying two currencies. We use dollars on the base and pounds on the economy. Nothing like dumping out your change purse and sorting out your money to make a purchase.

4. I won't miss transformers. No, not those robots in disguise - but the electronic transformers that I had all over my home so that I could use many of our US appliances. You might wonder why - but it's just not cost effective to buy new crockpots, game boys, blenders, curling irons etc etc when the ones you own will work just fine when plugged in to a transformer.

3. I won't miss the smell. Those sheep in the corner of this blog aren't there for looks. We are in sheep country. There are cows as well. I have been asleep in the car and woken up and without even opening my eyes could tell we were close to home just by the small. If you don't know what it smells like when the farmers slurry their fields you're lucky. When a green field gets sprayed brown I'm sure you can figure out the result - especially if the wind is going the right direction.

2. I won't miss the winters. I won't miss dropping my kids off at school at 8:30 in the morning with the sun barely up and picking them up from school at 4pm while having to use a flashlight to get back to the car.

And lastly -

1. I won't miss the rain. It rained today just to remind me that I won't miss it!

Things I Won't Miss

I decided since I only have one full day left in England to create a list of the things I won't miss. Everyone asks what I WILL miss - but we'll get to that later.

Things I've Learned

There are a few things I have learned in the last week and I thought I would share what those are:

10. I am too involved in my boy's scout program - I cried after picking them up from their last meeting.

9. When a tent pole hits you in the mouth there is a strong possibility you will end up with a chipped tooth.

8. I need to clean my house more often - we took way too many trips to the tip (British version of the dump - but actually a parking lot full of dumpsters that they THEN take to the real dump.)

7. I should have packed my son's clothes, that way I wouldn't have had to buy him new underwear because the movers packed them. I should have packed my husbands too - because apparantly he thinks he only needs one pair of levis for the next 2 months.

6. A child can play for hours with a cardboard box and some packaging tape.

5. All walls should be painted with paint that is washable.

4. The guys at the moving company use a lot of sugar in their tea.

3. Don't say no when someone asks if you need help with anything.

2. Don't say yes when you are asked to speak in church your last Sunday - when the previous week was spent packing out.

And the number 1 thing I have learned this week is:
1. I don't want to move again for a long time.

Getting the Kids Involved

As I said in my last post I have been cleaning! It isn't just me - I have the kids involved. I figured it would be a bit traumatic if they went to school one day and came home to an empty room. I also learned my lesson back in February when I threw out a giant Patrick Star and had to confess to my 8 year old that I had thrown it away. So, this time I had them helping. Of course this morning that same 8 year old came in asking about a monster truck that had gone missing. I reminded him that he was there and had the opportunity to make the choice of give it, bin it, keep it and if he didn't see where it went I was really sorry. He then told me that I must have thrown it away while he was in the bathroom! He also tried to get me to go back to the dumpster that we had thrown the trash bags into yesterday to retrieve his toy. Oh - and did I mention the missing monster truck was a HAPPY MEAL TOY??? Of course I made up for it by taking him to Burger King for a kids meal with accompanying Pokemon toy!

I have to also tell you the best part of throwing things out. I tossed a trash bag in to the dumpster only to have a toy yell back to me "GERONIMOOOOOO" as it hit the bottom. Hahaha - what were the odds?

Where did all this junk come from???

We are in massive house cleaning mode. There are 3 piles - keep it, toss it, donate it! It's starting to look like our keep it piles are the smallest of the three. I really don't know WHERE or HOW we managed to get so much stuff over the last four years. The biggest culprite is my 8 year old. The boy is a packrat. He keeps EVERYTHING! My mom was here in February and I'm sure we filled a trash bag with things from J8's room and today I filled another. Rocks, sticks, pencils, erasers, rubber snakes, hotwheels and the list goes on and on. Oh I forgot to mention LEGOS. I don't know if I have found a nook or cranny that didn't contain a lego or two. Once again - I will return when I've dug myself out from under the hefty bags!

Still Here!

But preparing for the move is getting the best of me. I will update soon!

What's in a Name?

What is in a name? We have many little creatures in our house and they all have names. None of them are living - they are all of the stuffed animal variety. Almost four years ago I picked up a tiny monkey off of the swap table at church. He came home to live with us and soon became a regular companion to Jared. We had friends visit and when Griffin asked what his name was Jared responded "monkey" however Griffin heard "Mikey" and he's been Mikey ever since. Mikey has been to Belgium, Germany, France, and all over England. With naming Mikey Jared also started naming all his other toys. He is the quickest of the kids to name a new friend. We went to the aquarium a few weeks ago and they had lots of little animals for $1 so I let the kids choose a few. While I heard "where's my fish?" "where's my dolphin?" from the other 2 I heard "what happened to Rod?" from Jared. I'm still not sure if he even caught the cleverness of naming a fish ROD but I thought it was cute.

Jordan is also pretty good at naming her animals. She usually puts more thought in to it than Jared and sometimes they go through a few names before the right one is chosen. She has a bear named Baby Rosie but it isn't her "first". When she was 2 she fell in the Chicago Airport and we ended up in the ER getting stitches. When the entire ordeal was over the hospital staff gaver her a brown bear. The bear was quickly named "Baby Rainbow". Along with the adoption of Baby Rainbow Jordan also changed her name. For several months she changed her own middle name to Little River. Jordan Little River and her Baby Rainbow. I was never quite sure if she was getting in touch with some long lost Native American roots or if she was going through a hippie phase. Baby Rainbow ran away from home - maybe she was a hippie searching for her freedom? - and a replacement bear was called in via e-bay and Baby Rosie took her place.

Jackson is about growing out of the naming thing. He still has Lambie, a lamb he got after getting his tonsils out when he was 4. And Tigey - you guessed it - a Tiger. Come to think of it he wasn't ever in to the naming thing to begin with. I'm just hoping now when he has kids of his own they aren't named Baby, Boyie, and Girlie. We'll have to put the naming in to his wifes hands.

Happy Father's Day

I once read a sign that said "Anybody can be a Father but it takes someone special to be a Dad". I know for a fact how true this is. My Dad came in to our lives when I was just a tiny little girl. I knew from the beginning he was my Dad. I'm sure it was embarrassing for my mom that I called him Dad when they were just dating but I was obviously a little girl who needed a Dad. I have never referred to him as my stepdad, I have never even thought of him as anything other than my Dad. He has always been in my life. He baptised me, he brought me jell-o and sprite when I was sick, he was there when I got married and he's the best Grandpa my kids could ask for. He is absolutely someone special - he's my Dad!

Time for a Change

Recently I have noticed that my clothes just don't fit me. I've stepped on the scale, I've had to lay down on the bed to zip my jeans. Why is it when I was in highschool I looked HOT in tight jeans - now I just look, um not? It just didn't REALLY hit me until yesterday. I decided I needed a few new shirts so went to a local store here. There is NOTHING that tells you that you are fat like a 3 way dressing room mirror. I'm still trying to convince myself that they were magnifying my figure but I'm sure that isn't the case. Fortunately I have a little bit of motivation over at Baby Tea Leaves so we're going to fix this figure!

It isn't officially starting yet - but I'll just say that today I am 144lbs. I have never weighed this much without being pregnant. In fact, give me 8 more pounds and that's me 9 months pregnant. My goal is to be down 20 pounds by the time we move to Arizona but I don't know if that is realistic so for the challenge we'll say 10 and hope for more.

Hair in 3 Parts

So Jordan's hair has been pretty scraggly lately. She has to wear it up at school so usually by the end of the day it looks like this:



We've been growing it out so that she could look like this:


But now that is all over and we've gotten rid of the fly aways and stringy hair and she looks like this:

House Progress

This is the latest update on our house. They should be pouring the cement Wednesday or Thursday.

Hidden Talents

Today was the gym competition at the kid's school. This means gymnastics and they have class, group and solo competitions. Apparantly Jackson signed up a while ago and then forgot about it. They called his name up today and he had nothing - no music, no routine - nothing. He just put in a cd someone else brought and made up his routine as he went. Somehow he then walked away with the bronze medal. A girl got the gold, then his friend Gabriel won silver and he won the bronze. Out of the entire year 6 - about 30 kids - and he wins bronze? Apparantly I need to get this kid signed up for gymnastics because we might have another Peter Vidmar on our hands. HAHA.

What's Your Motivation?

We were cleaning the house today because our landlord is selling the place and someone was coming to look at it. This was a family job but I figured I would give the children some motivation. We have just started paying the children for a few small chores now and then so I thought that might help today. I told Jared if he wanted his allowance then he needed to get cleaning. He went upstairs and while he was cleaning up the bathroom I heard him ask Jackson "what's an allowance?" I found it pretty funny he was willing to do his job in hopes of receiving an "allowance" when he didn't even know what that was. I should have hurried upstairs and told him it was a box of rocks - but with that boy that would probably be better than money.

So, topic of the day - do you give your kids an allowance? Are there chores involved? My sister in law's children all have jobs -chores - around the house. They are not given an allowance but if they need money for anything the chore chart is looked at and then the money for the activity is given. My brother in law gives an allowance every week. The children stand in line with their hands out waiting for the cash yet I have never seen them lift a finger. What do you do?

I'm Old

I have evidence that I am old. While some of you will deny the fact it is still true. For one, I had a birthday in March and it moved me up an age bracket. You know, when you fill out a survey and it asks you to fill in your age: 19-14, 25-34, then the next one. Yep I've moved up to the next one. Well, I've come to terms with the age bracket thing but then yesterday happened. Yesterday was Family Fun Day at the kid's school. I remember when I was a kid I could run around all day, climb on stuff, play games all that stuff kids do. In fact - all the things my kids did yesterday. They had a fantastic time on the bouncy castles, climbing walls, trampoline bungee and the tug of war. Oh right, the tug of war. This is the reason I am old. I was in bed last night and I just could not get comfortable. Trying to pinpoint the problem I realize my arms ache. What could I have done that would cause my arms to ache? Oh, tug of war! Do you know that 40 elementary school children can beat 25 moms at tug of war? I can also bet that none of those 40 kids had achy arms when they went to bed. I am old!

Oh - and I have to tell you about this climbing wall. I think I posted last summer a picture of Jordan on a climbing wall at Knotts Berry Farm. She scaled the wall like a pro. I think I need to print the picture out and put it in my wallet. We went over to the climbing wall with money in hand ready for her to climb. The man took one look at her and said she was too little and that she wouldn't be able to reach. There was a boy in her class doing his best to climb the wall and I know he is not much taller than her. I just had this thought that had she been a boy he would have let her try. I complained to a friend and she said "well obviously they don't know Jordan". Luckily I distracted her with the bungee trampoline again where she perfected the double flip. Take that Wall Climbing Man!

----Amazed - I'll work in your request or if you have a great way of blogging it let me know!

Jordanism

Yesterday Jordan asked me if Youdo dolls are real. Youdo? What is a youdo doll? You know if you have one of those dolls it will make you do whatever the person does to the doll.



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Amazed - I accept all visitors!!

Friends

When I was in highschool my best friends name was Stefani. Stef was a year younger than me and actually one of those girls I couldn't stand when I first met her. Perfect hair, perfect clothes, just perfect. We were great friends in highschool. We had all sorts of great adventures together. We went to Mexico in matching shirts we had made - perhaps the only time that I have been called Mrs. Pork and laughed about it. We puffy painted shirts - there were three of us. Lori had cows on hers, Stef had bears and I had pigs. Okay, we were dorks but that's neither here nor there. As we were walking through the market someone was trying to make a deal with us - I'm sure some item we thought we had to have. He called to each of us - come back Mrs. Cow, Mrs. Bear - MRS. PORK! My Senior year we went to San Francisco togther. Our highschool basketball team made state and we convinced our parents to let us go. The best part was we had a place to stay - Stef had an uncle who lived in Oakland and he would let us stay with him. Her Uncle is a priest so we stayed in the rectory. All the other priests must have had plans that weekend because we had the whole house to ourselves. When I went to college Stef drove with me in my little red datsun pick up. We sang Billy Joel and James Taylor at the top of our lungs driving on the freeway. When I got married Stef was my bridesmaid. When she got married, the 2nd time, I was one of her bridesmaids. When she had her first child, a little girl, I was having my 3rd, also a girl. We have always kept in touch. That is until now. I should clarify that I have kept in touch - she is not. I know that she has gotten divorced recently but that is all I know. I had another friend email her and she did write back to him - but still no response to me. We weren't daily friends, we rarely talked on the phone, but we kept in touch. I only have a few friends that I have had forever that I keep in touch with and I figured she would be one that would be there forever. Now I have to figure out why she isn't returning my emails. Do I send an email asking what is going on? Do I just ignore that she doesn't respond and continue sending updated on what's going on with us and asking what's new with her? Do I put the memories in a box with other friends who have come and gone?

I Am Alive!

I am here. I know I abandoned you for a month but I am here. After being in the states for 3 weeks it has practically taken me that long to get back in to the swing of things here.

Well, we did buy a house, sort of. Everytime I would talk to Jordan on the phone during our househunt she would ask if we bought a house. We would talk about the fact that one house didn't have a bedroom for her - would she mind sleeping in the garage? She wasn't excited about that. Then I called and told her we bought dirt. Her response? WE CAN NOT LIVE IN DIRT! I really need to read the Little House on the Prarie books to her - then she'll see that you actually CAN - but we didn't buy a dugout on the banks of Plum Creek. I explained to her we bought some dirt and they are going to build on it and what the house was going to look like - a single story home - I then KNEW it was time to move back to the states. Her response then was "oh you bought a bungalow!!!"

I can tell you that I don't want to buy another house for a long time. I am way too picky. One house we walked in to still had the original flooring, wallpaper, kitchens and bathrooms from when it was built in 1962. We passed. We also passed on every single house that had a west facing backyard. I want a usable backyard and having the sun beating down directly in your backyard in 110 heat isn't the way to go. We also crossed off several based on school district. After looking at a good 30 houses we stopped by a building site - just because we were driving by. We looked at the model homes, we drove around the neighborhood, we looked again. This was it! Talk about the total package, single story, big lot (we could have gone bigger but 1/4 is plenty for our needs), good schools, decent commute. Of coure once we returned to the UK we had a woman at church critisize our choice. She has 4 children and they have lived in a 2 up and 2 down since they got married. That means there are 2 rooms downstairs - a kitchen and living room and then 2 bedrooms upstairs. She thinks if they could do that for 20 years with 4 children that it is ridiculous that anyone would need 3000 sq feet of house. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one out there that wouldn't want to spend their life sleeping on a fold out sofa in the living room - but maybe not. I mean I know I COULD survive in a 2up 2down - but if I don't have to then I'm not going to!

Here is a picture of our floor plan. And a promise I will do better at the blogging!

Still Looking

We are here in Tucson and we are busy looking at houses. In a post a few weeks ago I posted 2 options for houses - one with land and one without. We looked at the big houses with no land yesterday and they were BEAUTIFUL. There are actually some nice sized lots that back up to the desert - giving the illusion that they are not stacked one on top of the other. We picked out 4 lots that have only 1 neighbor - bottom of cul-de-sac lots. But of course those lots are not yet available - aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. We're looking at 2-4 months before those are going to be built on. So, today we go look at the house with land and a few other areas.

On the Hunt!

We are leaving in a short 6 hours to the states. The plan is to spend Easter with my parents and then leave the younger two kids with them and head to Arizona on Monday. We're taking Jackson with us - he's excited about getting to help us pick out a new house. I'll try to keep you updated on what we find and if we buy anything.

The Project

I sat in the gym with all of the other moms. I could see right off that this was going to be an interesting assembly. The children in Jared's class were going to present the projects they had been working on for the term. The project I talked to Jared about and he said he was doing it at school. When I asked him about the spoken part of his project he replied he was also doing that at school.

I sat there looking at the stage where there were grand pyramids, paper mache sculptures, a wooden sarcophagus complete with a mummified barbie, all sort of fantastic projects to show what they had learned about Ancient Egypt. One girl was even dressed in her best Egyptian costume. It was clear the children had help from home. What had I done? I left my son to do his project all on his own. I let him do it at school and I was genuinely nervous at the results.

The first three boys stood up and presented their projects and what they learned as if they were doing a news interview. It was great - and clearly written by an adult. I am fighting the tears knowing that Jared will soon have his turn and that his project will just not compare. Project after project gets presented and my stomach is just turning.

Jared stands up with his half sheet of paper and a display of plastic pyramids. They are made out of red, blue and yellow pieces that snap together to make perfect triangles. He had made about 15 of them. He stood up and read three short sentences that said he liked learning about Egypt, he had fun making the pyramids and he learned a lot. And he was BEAMING!

One of the other moms turned to me and said "parents should be banned from helping with this project". I then realized just how much Jared had done!! He took initiative. He made a plan and he followed through. His project was complete and done completely by him. He knew what he had done but why did it take me so long to realize it? I was so stuck on knowing that he has difficulties in school. Knowing that he could not produce something as extravagant as the other children. I was so proud of him - he was successful.

As the other classes left the gym they walked by the projects so they could see each one up close. I stood by and listened as kids walked by and they told him how well he did. How great all the pyramids were. I could have cried....again.

Lesson learned, I need to be proud about what he CAN do and what he does do and quit worrying about what he can't.

World Book Day!

World book day is bigger than Halloween at my house. My kids start talking about world book day as soon as one ends. I'm sure at this point you're asking what world book day is? If it is WORLD book day shouldn't you know about it? Are these the questions you're asking? Well, world book day is a day devoted to books and the best part of it is the kids get to dress up for school. Yep, they get to choose a book character and dress up and have a parade at school - all the fun stuff. In the past I have sent Tom Sawyer, Charlie Bucket, a pirate, a ninja, and Snow White. My kids also had to PROVE the pirate and the ninja before just dressing up and going to school - fortunately books like The Magic Treehouse are good for all sorts of costumes.

This year only 2 of them got to dress up as the 3rd was on a field trip. Jordan had been talking about world book day FOREVER and we had known for quite some time who she would be. Jared's was a last minute decision as he can never decide - I think they make the perfect pair! AND I'm glad to get one last chance for my kid to take an ax to school as we know that's not going to happen once we move back to the states. LOL

House Hunting!

I officially do not like house hunting. For 3 1/2 years I have looked at houses online and I usually enjoy it. Now that I'm actually serious about house hunting I hate it! We have our plane tickets and we are headed back to the US for good on August 1st - and we are homeless. I spend way too much time lately on the internet looking at houses, looking at neighborhoods, reading about schools. We know where we don't want to live, I know what school district I would prefer and I know which school district is a NO WAY. I thought I found the perfect new community - we could build a house and start brand new. Of course I then find out the lots are small. If I wanted to borrow a cup of sugar from my neighbors I could practically reach through the kitchen window in to their kitchen window to do it. So, do I want to spend money on a HOUSE or do I want to spend money on land. I could get a house for the same price - but 1/2 the size on a lot 2x as big.

Something like this - 2400 sq ft house on almost an acre - with a pool.
Notice you can't really see the neighbors house?

Or the brand new house - that is 4,000 sq ft:


you can see how close the houses are from the backyard view:



Ugh it is just such a pain. What do we REALLY want? Do I want the BEST school district (new house) or the 2nd best (the other house which was built in 1990). Do I want to start from scratch or move right in? Maybe we'll just stay here.

Happy Mum's Day!

Okay, quit looking at your calendars - it's only mother's day here in England. I know I don't want to be called Mum but I'm a bit selfish and I still think I should get to double dip in the joy of 2 mother's days in 1 year. Jordan brought home a daffodil that bloomed as soon as I put it in the window and a few little gifts she had made at school. The boys - well they forgot their stuff at school. I think they get this from their father - who went in to a whole thing about me not being British and that he didn't forget Mother's day because it isn't May. Blah blah blah. I'll get over it though as long as he doesn't forget in May. The kids sang at church today but it was so quiet and a song I had never heard before so I couldn't hear it that well. Not to mention it was the prelude music and my cell phone rang RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of it. Stew was on his way to church when he got called in to work so I then had to hop in the car and go back home and get Jared who was supposed to ride in to church with Stew. Fortunately the kids sang again at the end of RS so I got to hear them again and they were much better. Once again they sang a song I had never heard - but they had learned it better and it was great.

So - happy mother's day to all the moms out there.

Sick Day Take Two!

Yesterday Jordan decided to take a sick day. She woke up with red goopy eyes so I decided a visit to the doctor was in order. As I thought she has pink eye. The doctor had the nerve to say to her "normally I tell sick children to lay on the couch and watch tv all day but when your eyes aren't well you shouldn't watch tv it strains your eyes." UM then what are we supposed to do all day? On doctors orders we had to play. We also went out to lunch - it hardly seemed fair for Jared to be home sick the other day and that he got to go out to lunch and then to NOT take Jordan. So, off we went for a nice little lunch of chicken strips, nachos and cheese fries.

She is back at school today. Her class had an assembly this morning - I'll have to explain. Every morning the children of the entire school have assembly. There is a focus to each morning - Tuesday the older children have class assembly, Wednesday is performing arts assembly, Thursday the younger children have class assembly. You know in the states when they give announcements over the loud speaker and the kids say the pledge? Well there is no loud speaker so the children meet in the gym - have their assembly, get announcements, say a prayer and move on with their day. Jordan's assembly was today. Her class has been learning about weaving and they even went on a field trip to a factory that makes fabrics so they were able to see how it all works. In the assembly today they presented what they had learned. Each child has a speaking part, there was a poem and then they presented a fantastic round. It was a round of all the sounds in the factory and the children did a fantastic job.

Sick Day!

Yesterday Jared had a sick day. He wasn't even sick as far as I could tell but he took one anyway. He woke up at 2am complaining that his ear hurt - I gave him medicine and again at 3am he was up. By 7:30 am he was NOT awake nor was he going to wake up so I let him sleep. I took the other 2 to school and then when I got home Jared decided to get out of bed - well it was close to 10:00 by then. We just spent the day hanging out at home aside from our excursion out to Burger King for lunch. As Jackson says, Jared is "LUCKY"! Actually he isn't so lucky he is just normally a bit run down. He has asthma and has trouble sleeping restfully on a normal day. When he gets less sleep he REALLY gets run down and sometimes he just needs to sleep. Plus, being the middle child I enjoy spending time with just him - since it isn't something he gets very often. He is a funny little boy. He is also a collector. I'm sure if I didn't keep it in check he would have stacks of paper and happy meal toys piled to the ceiling in his room and you would have to walk sideways to get from the door to his bed. He also has an incredible laugh. One of those silly laughs that you can hear from any room in the house and it just makes you smile. He has always struggled whether it is with asthma, eczema, school, or making friends but he is just always happy. It's like he came in to this world thinking "this kind of sucks - I can't breath and I'm all itchy - but I'm going to make the best of it" and he does. Here's to less sickness but more sick days.

Party Party Party!

Well, the party was a success. Of course, since it wasn't completely thought out that did lead to a few hurdles. I sent out invitations saying I would pick the girls up from school at 4:00 - um I work until 4pm on Friday. Ooops. Luckily since it was Friday it wasn't a problem to leave a few minutes early to get to the school. Then I loaded up my car with 4 girls and 2 boys - since I had to pick up the boys too - and headed to the bowling alley. We had a great time bowling and the girls all got along with eachother just fine. One of the little girls had never bowled before and she was sooo afraid of the ball. She would take the ball, drop it on the lane and quickly cover her ears. After a few attempts we got a ramp and things went smoother. I think everyone had a good time and Jordan was happy so that was good.

Of course one party per weekend is not enough for us so today we had the Blue and Gold Dinner for cub scouts. I wasn't in charge of the event so that was good - no stress on my part. Our cubmaster is an absolute loser though and he was in prime form tonight. He actually received an award and wasn't even in the room for the presentations because he was out having a smoke. Rumor has it he is going to be "removed" from his post in the next week so that should give me something to blog about. He handed out all of these awards that nobody even KNEW about and neglected giving awards to people who should have also been recognized. Nothing like having an event where people walk away totally offended. Hopefully we can fix it all and we don't lose any more families. In the end though the night was good - good food, good location, all that stuff.

Last Minute Planning Anyone?

I am the worst and planning things. This Friday my daughter will be SIX! My mom has just left after being here for a month. We spent 10 days in Germany. I planned NOTHING for Jordan. I decided I would have a birthday party for her and the girls in her class. This is easy since there are ONLY 4 girls in the entire class. I figured we would do it next week - after her birthday. One of the Mom's convinced me to just do it this Friday on her birthday. So, here I am Wednesday morning handing out birthday invitations and running over to the bowling alley to reserve the lanes. They'll only get about 40 minutes or so of bowling because there is a kid's league that bowls at 5:30 - but knowing 5 & 6 year old girls - 40 minutes should be enough bowling. Then we'll have pizza and presents and cake. Voila - party is planned! I'll let you know if it all turns out as planned. My one concern is she is also inviting her friend Sophie. I just hope that the "school" friends are not real cliquey and that they remember to include Sophie. Sophie's mom thinks she'll be fine but once again - knowing 5 & 6 year old girls you never know.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow

I'll love ya tomorrow. Or at least I will return to loving you. My mom goes home tomorrow after a full month of being here. After she is gone I will return to my normal computer addiction and I will catch up with all of you. We have had a fantastic time. We spent the week in Garmisch Germany, the kids were in ski school Mon-Thurs and my mom and I played tourist. We went to Dachau, which was a great experience but it is soooooo sparce and redone that I don't think you get the real feel of what happened there. Everything was too clean. We spent a day at Oberomergau - I'll look up the spelling on that one later - and purchased same great Nativity scenes. We also went to Neushwanstein Castle - the Disney castle. It was my 2nd visit there but it was still beautiful. We had a great time and the kids loved skiing. Watch for them in a few more years on the Olympic ski slopes. We may have another Peekaboo Street on our hands.

Now I'm off to make dinner. Who knows what we'll come up with since we've been gone for 10 days and the commissary was closed today for Presidents day.

More Than a Week??

Wow, I'm really slacking on the blog front. My mom is here and general life things have taken over. We are headed to Garmisch Germany next Thursday so now I have to get all the laundry done, find all the ski clothes, haul out all the suitcases and start getting organized. Someday I will be back again on a regular basis.

Whose Idea Was This?

Working is really cramping my style. Really - whose idea was this to start working? While there is a computer sitting right on my desk there is not actually internet access to anything to keep me entertained. I've looked at a lot of news sites lately and a lot of real estate. That is when I can find a back door because real estate is one of those topics that is BLOCKED for content. Normally I wouldn't promote internet use while at work but this job some days it's all I have. I am working as a test examiner and the other day I had one guy come in and take a 2 1/2 hour test. It was a listening test so while he sat at a computer with headphones on I first read the newest people magazine and then looked at about 1500 houses online. Of course that doesn't count the few times I had to get up and put my hand on the guy's shoulder to wake him up. He's lucky I didn't fall asleep or we might both still be there.

I Hate the Internet!

Okay, actually I have a love hate relationship with the internet. I love it - my kids love it. This is a problem. We have the computer in the dining room, a fairly public place. I have told my children acceptable sites to visit and I am usually pretty informed at where they go. In fact - my husband is actually addicted to a game that he plays so he knows what the kids are doing when they are playing. I sat here on the couch and watched Jackson play a game with dirtbikes and racing and it looked harmless. He learned about the website at school. Fast forward to last night when Jordan sits down and says what does #*$#! mean? When I asked where she HEARD the word it was the internet. Namely the website with the seemingly harmless "dirtbike races". Seems there is another option where users can create characters and you can click on them and for example, drop rocks on Napoleon Dynomite and he will yell things like "IDIOT!". I guess someone else created a character who, when things are dropped on him, yells swear words. I am so annoyed. They miss out on a fun little dirtbike game because someone else has to ruin the website. And then I am reminded that I need to pay MORE attention to the entire websites they visit instead of just one area. Not to mention I get to go to the school and inform the headteacher of the website. I look forward to spring when they are playing outside until dark instead of trying to occupy their time inside.

Not The Original?

I was visiting over at Amazed today and she was talking about her name. Normally I wouldn't put both my first and last name but seeing as I'm pretty hard to locate at the moment I'm not all that bothered so I figured I would play along.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 325 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

There are 955,143 people in the U.S. with the first name Sandra and it is the 43rd most popular first name. More than 99.9 percent of people with the first name Sandra are female. Good to know because I don't think it makes a very good name for a man. I have never met a man named Sandra - but since I go by Sandy I have had the chance to know a Sandy.

My brother's name is Larry and when my mom was pregnant with me she decided if it was a girl she would name her Lori. Thankfully someone mentioned that having Larry and Lori might be a bit confusing so we didn't have to deal with that. Sandra - Sandy was just a name she liked so no exciting story behind it. However, if I was Lori there are only 128 of them with my name out there - well if that WAS my name.

In my 3rd grade class there were 4 Jenny's, I can say that I have never had another Sandy in my class at school. The only other Sandy's I have ever known were ones I went to church with. When we moved to England the first woman I met was named Sandra. She quickly told me that she "hadn't been Sandy since 6th grade - she grew out of it and goes by Sandra." I'm not sure if she realized that was a tad insulting - or I could have the attitude that I still have a fun, young name - I'm not ready to grow up and have a more "mature" name.

My last name is Weber. Pronounced WEBBER - you might not think that is worth mentioning unless you've lived in Utah. I've still never met anyone with the last name pronounced Weeber - regardless of the county, the university or the dairy. There are 103,259 people in the U.S. with the last name Weber and statistically it is the 317th most popular last name. Before I got married I was a W as well. I did not move in my space in the alphabet. One of the Sandy's I grew up with was also a W. She married another W so I suppose we'll be stuck at the end of the queue for life.

When I put in my maiden name there are only 28 of us - that's a bit more original. Not as original as my mother in law though - this site says there are 0 people with her name.

If you feel like playing along let me know.

Birthday Present?

Jordan went to a birthday party yesterday. The 4 girls in her class at school got together for E's birthday. E had a riding party. All four girls got to ride horses and learn a little bit about taking care of them. E's mom had called and invited Jordan and said she should wear her riding clothes. Since Jordan doesn't HAVE riding close we went with a pair of leggings, a sweater and her new boots. In the states we would wear a pair of jeans to ride horses but here they wear jodhpurs so leggings were more in line with that dress. The only thing Jordan had to borrow was a helmet. Any guesses on where this story is about to go? Well, she had a great time at the riding party. Then they went for pizza and had cake. Party was a success. Fast forward to this evening - bath time. Normally I would have all 3 kids just take a shower - it's quicker. Jordan wanted a bath so I decided why not. I'm glad I did even with what we found. I washed her hair and there in the tub was this little bug. Fingers crossed I rinsed some more and the evidence was clear. The little birthday presents were there!!!! An hour and a half later I think she's clear. The laundry is being done and the kids are in bed.