MAYLIN2007

Several weeks ago I bought 11 Cornish game hens and 15 baby chicks. They weren't scheduled to be born until Sept 27. They would be delivered to us sometime after that. Well, this morning the post office called and said our chirpy little package had arrived and was waiting for us to pick it up. It was so fun to go to the post office and collect our package! Seriously, the post office will deliver most anything!!! The chicks are all doing great....except for one that died in transit. Just for your info, when the game hens get to be 2 to 2 1/2 pounds we will take the necessary steps to make them available for our freezer. The other ones will begin to lay eggs in about 5 to 6 months. In that same time period, some of our current chickens will stop laying due to old age (that being 3) and so we won't have 30 chickens laying. We will probably only have 25. As my mom would say, "ONLY??"         Also, this week while at Wal-Mart, Maylin wanted me to ask the checkout girl if ...

I have posted everyday the last 3 days. I guess I have a lot on my mind and going on in my life. If you haven't read the two posts I did yesterday or the day before, check them out. One has some fun, helpful ideas and the other is of Alex. He is so proud of the photos, he would enjoy it if you would take a look. So, on to today's post. I have been struggling lately with discouragement. I am not very proud of myself. I have been negative and bitter. Something definitely needs to change inside. For my goal this week I will be working toward the word VICTORY: which means to conquer over the adversary. I think the adversary is working on me diligently and I need to knock him over the head and take back the positive spirit I know and love. So here is to VICTORY!!!

I have never really done fun things for my kids' lunches. I think I remember trying to do fun things for Austin. That was 17 years ago, so it could have been a dream. Anyway, between his care between surgeries and Kens coming along, it stopped or the dream of it stopped. I see so many fun lunch ideas that moms do for the kids that it kills me. I wish I could do that or would do that, but just thinking about it too much makes me tired. I found a blog today that had a fabulous idea about placemat faces. You make one set and its done, except for the food part and it is JUST FOOD. No shaping is required. The kids do the work. That is my kind of fun....low mom effort. Here is the link PLACEMATS I think I will make some for Maylin. I asked my other kids if I could send a placemat with them to school and they about freaked out. I think Austin's words were, "What? Do you think I am 10!" I told him I was trying to go back in time to make up for the lousy lunches of the past. ...

Alex's football team got creamed, smashed, flattened, snubbed out, rolled over, you get the idea, they lost. Big. Time. They played a private school that can recruit. They are also an A-1 team and we are a A-2. They have yet to be scored on. All those reasons are to make me feel better. They don't, cause I really don't feel bad about it, I am just so SUPER PROUD of MY kid!!! Every single play he had 3 to 5 X-men on him. All the x-men were at least 30 pounds more than him, but HE HELD HIS OWN! He rocked. He is my hero. I just think if he can hold off that many x-men, look what he can do in real-life! He is my man.        

Took Kens to the mall. She has such luck. She found a pair of jeans that were regularly $39. They were marked down several times. The last price was $8.17. She was prepared to pay that. When we got to the register the lady said the clearance items were an additional percentage off, plus she had a coupon she would let Kens use and her final price on her pants would be $2.67. Seriously. They are really cute jeans too. Never, never has that, would that or will that happen to me. The kids also got all dressed up this week and played paparazzi. Their photos are crazy. Kens and Alex wouldn't let me post their pics. They say they are silly. Austin was napping on the couch during it, but they still took pictures of him. I knew he wouldn't like those up either. So, here are a couple from Maylin's photo shoot. I really can't believe I am not posting the other pics. Usually I don't care what the kids say and post them anyway. We had parent teacher conferences this week. All th...

This afternoon at 3:30 a fire started on the other side of the mountain from us by a gun training exercise by the National Guard. We watched the dark smoke, but it was very far away. Unfortunately, the wind has kicked up...it is very fast and the fire has now moved to our side of the mountain. My friends have been evacuated from their homes. They were given just a 5 minute warning. Close to 1,000 homes have been evacuated.These pictures are taken from my back yard. I really didn't use the zoom. I just moved around my yard. We are less than 10 miles away. I am getting nervous seeing how fast it moved in such a short amount of time. Just a reminder how life can change in an instant. Update: 9:42 p.m. My friend's parents barn has been burned and all their orchards and out buildings. Two fire trucks have surrounded the home and so far the home is still standing but it is completely surrounded by flames. Fifteen homes have been destroyed, but I am sure that has changed since I last ...

I hope everyone had the opportunity to celebrate Constitution Day! I am so grateful for that great document. I am also hopeful that it will withstand time and turmoil. My kids were so privileged to participate at school in a re-enactment of those coming to Ellis Island, those who learned about our country and Constitution and then they watched a re-enactment of a citizenship ceremony. Austin is reading the Federalist Papers too. How glad I am the whole day was spent learning about our freedoms and the celebrating the document that makes them all possible. Just a really shallow note to follow what really matters (but hey, I am excited about this too).....I went shopping Saturday and bought some new pants. Guess what? I was down a size!!! Woot, Woot. I was so excited I called my sister on her cell phone from the dressing room! I am sure those that could hear me (I tried to talk quietly) were laughing at my conversation.

This year instead of flowers in my pots, Kenzie and I decided to plant herbs. I let her pick them out and plant the seeds. She chose Spearmint, wintergreen mint, sage, basil and cilantro. She was so excited about it that she and her friend made up a song and dance about her herbs. It was pretty dang cute! We used our herbs fresh all summer. They were so good. Now that fall is coming, I went out and picked most of the sprigs and hung them upside down in bags to let them dry. Once dry, we crushed them up and put them in labeled baggies. It was easy and oh, so fun!        

I wonder who Maylin has seen put a pencil behind their ear? Hmmmmm...... Oh, its me. A pencil lives there all the time. Funny what she notices.  

(Alex is the one with the long black socks and purple stripe on them. He is pushing the two guys away with another big purple guy behind him) Today was Alex's second game. They lost their first. They won today though! Alex did terrific. He played the whole game except for about 3 minutes. He made an amazing tackle at the goal line to save the other team from making a goal. It was terrific!!! The game starts with Alex getting through the line to the quarter back. After about 3 plays, the other team begins to double team him. He spends the rest of the game pushing around 2 guys. He holds his own with them and after a bit gets them down. I wish they wouldn't do that, I love to see him come in and flatten the quarter back. But, it still is pretty great watching him hold off and knock down two players. Alex is number 54 and once again he has the X on his head for being over weight. He plays right tackle and guard. He also plays both offense and defense.        

Maylin started back to preschool on Tuesday, Sept. 7. I am late getting it up as I still didn't have a camera charger (I have one now) and took it with my phone and wasn't sure how to get it from there to here. Anyway, I finally got it. Maylin has been so excited for school. We have been counting down sleeps for weeks! When the older kids started, that made the wait harder and longer. She was so excited Monday night to have just ONE SLEEP left! She was beside herself. She has enjoyed being back and has loved seeing her old friends. She especially enjoys seeing a little boy named Brandon. She said she is going to marry him someday! I can't believe how big she is getting! What in the world happened to my baby? Time blew by.

Our neighbor's first grade boy is in a Chinese immersion program at school. The other day he came over all excited and wanted to sing "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes" with Maylin. He started singing and when she didn't he got frustrated with her that she was not singing too. I told him that she doesn't speak Chinese and that when she came here she was a baby and didn't really speak Chinese. His grandma (she adopted him) said she explains to him every day that just because she is Chinese doesn't mean she can speak it. He still doesn't seem to get it. They played together for several hours and I watched him try to teach her the song. He got so upset and said she wasn't moving her tongue right and why wasn't she forming her tongue right, because she was Chinese! Ugh!!! I tried to explain it to him again. I just had to laugh at it all. Maylin did finally get most of it and it was so cute to hear her sing it. The little boy did inform that she still ...

Today was a rough day on the home front. Lots of homework. Lots of complaining about body aches and bruises (Alex from football). A sty in my eye. And the little one was truly a pain in the neck. Can I actually say that out loud? First: She spilt, wrong word, intentionally dumped her cereal on the floor. She said she was trying to get the cereal in her baby stroller and it wouldn't cooperate. Thus the dumping. Second: constant fighting with her friend that I was babysitting. My little one would NOT share for anything. THIRD: I found milk and cereal in all of her pretend kitchen bowls, cups, pans, etc. FOURTH: She took Kens' make up purse. When I asked her to get it and return it to her sister's bed she told me she did and that all the make up was inside. Well, when sister got home she was so excited to see her makeup case, but very disappointed to find it was COMPLETELY EMPTY!!! So, after a bit in timeout, my little one finally was able to produce every last bit of sister...

Maylin: Daddy. Why do you have stripes on your forehead? Daddy: I don't have stripes. Maylin: Yes you do. Daddy as he is looking in the mirror: Great. I think she means my wrinkles.