True Companions

.: (You really should read this first!) :. OK - so I know I haven't blogged in FOREVER!! But I wanted to blog this to make sure that no one got caught as I almost did. So I was home today - Jilly was sleeping so it was nice and quiet at my house. I sat on the couch and was flipping through the channels. I watched a commercial for US Fidelis (one we have all seen many, many times). It is a company that claims they give you insurance coverage for your car so you never have to pay for any repairs again - even over 100,000 miles. With the fact that we have 2 vehicles that fall under that description I thought I would call and get a quote for coverage. So I call and talk to the guy. After a lengthy discussion, it sounded like a pretty good deal. I got Greg on the phone to discuss whether or not we should invest in this coverage. He was much more skeptical than I was. He asked a few questions and then my cell phone coverage disappeared (divine cell phone intervention????). In t...

.: (You really should read this first!) :. Well we are all back from our vacation to MN. (Pictures to come). We came back to 115 degree heat and a freezer full of rotten meat. We are making all kinds of improvements to the house (i.e. painting, hanging more stuff on the walls, rearranging the furniture, etc.) Jen is quite the busybody. The girls went to UT and even TX and NV as well. The boys will be back from MN soon and we can rearrange our schedules once again. Life is certainly interesting! Jileighan is a ball of energy and as smiley and loving as she has always been. Thanks to Auntie Kathy she now has a new little playhouse to practice being MOM. We are doing well and hope it cools off SOON!!!

I love my Father! He is my Hero, my Example, my Mentor, my Friend. I hope he knows how much I love and appreciate him. Thanks for being a wonderful Father! I love you DAD!

This is what happens when your well intentioned children take their little sister so mom can sleep in on Mother's day morning: ....... She eats pictures and gets the ink all over herself, of course! Just a quick note to tell all the mom's in my life that I love you all! I am so thankful for all of the advice (good and bad) that I get. I am a better mom for having you all in my life!!

Hrmm.. I hope the above photo doesn't qualify as Awkward . LOL

You'll have to ask Jen to tell you the story on this one... but I found a T-shirt that is almost perfect for the occasion. JEN'S NOTE: The cat threw up on Kendall's bed and Jilly happened to find it before I did. My sister's favorite text message: Jilly ate cat vomit for breakfast. Should I be worried??

After much debate, I have convinced Greg that he really could be a "two dog man". A free cocker spaniel fell into our possession. My mother (who is currently addicted to the humane society - and is bringing home her fourth dog tomorrow [crazy woman!!]) came across a woman who was needing a new home for her one year old cocker. After much negotiation (and the promise of a new super computer) Callie came to live with us. So far, she has been a great dog!!

I'm sure you could take this idea and run with it.. but take a look at this: http://www.boingboing.net/2009/04/21/freaky-food-fun-inse.html What do you think? Do you think the kids would like this?

Finally...after a short sabbatical....here I am (mighty mouse would finish it with.... to save the day!!) Well... I blew off hours of laundry (sorry, honey) and spent that last couple of hours online reading everyone else's blogs. I left a lot of comments and realized that I haven't actually blogged forever (OK since Christmas). But I felt a little bit better knowing that Dani and Amber are further behind than I am. (ha ha ha! sorry....schadenfreude) But anyway, I will try to blog and do laundry and workout and everything else I am supposed to do. Nothing like a challenge to keep life interesting. After all raising hooligans (see previous post) is hard work!! I have to blog steal this from Sarah and Twylla because it is hilarious. And you all know how real this really is, right? Again, just to quote my shirt...Just because I am a Woolf....Doesn't mean I can't love a vampire.

So our youngest son decided that it would be cool to take a knife to school today. Jen called me to let me know that she got the call from the principal's office and that she had to return to the school to pick him up. I think she had just dropped them off and it hadn't been an hour until she had to turn back and get him. I'm just happy this didn't happen in the Gilbert School district where they have ZERO TOLERANCE policy. Otherwise I think we would have to do this every morning: Needless to say, Jen wasn't happy. He also lied to his teacher. When asked if his mother knew that he had the pocket knife at school he said, "YES". Oh what fun.

Wow, it's bad when you haven't written in your blog for nearly a month. Now Jen usually updates this blog more than me, but I fear she has become quite busy herself. I just started school again (MBA at Keller) and hope that this ALL ONLINE SCHOOL is going to go well for me. So far so good. Maybe I will get some time to post a video or two. I really need to figure out a better way to post quality video without the compression engine screwing up my quality each time I post. grrr.. .: (You really should read this first!) :.

Well we made it through to another year. I guess we didn't really sit down and write out our new year's resolutions, but there are definitely some changes coming. I will be enrolling in school this week. I am going to go back for my Masters in Business Admin with an emphasis on Project Management. The budget cuts at work pretty much mean I will being paying for it... :( But maybe I can recover something after I get started. It will be worth it I am sure.

OK - so since I didn't post for anything in January I thought I would do this a month at a time. Jilly, the boys and I spent New Years with my sister and her family in Minnesota. Well, the boys were with their dad. But we had a great time. We had lunch at the American Girl Store at the Mall of America. Jilly loved all the dolls. I am going to take her back there for her 3rd birthday and get her first American Girl doll. We saw my friends Andrea and Kandi in Anoka. Then came home to the new year of school. Life was pretty normal for the remainder of the month. Jilly learned to drink out of a sippy cup but other than that we are just trudging along.

Picture Tag For Picture Tag this is what you do: 1. Open your picture file 2. Go to the fourth folder 3.Open the fourth picture 4. Post the picture on your blog and write about it. Sounds very easy and straightforward. So here it is: It's not surprising that the 4th picture would be one of Jilly. It was taken on my birthday (July 29th). I was trying to take a picture of her with her new earrings for my sister - but every time she smiled her chubby cheeks would cover them up. LOL

So, my friend Sarah took our family pictures. I LOVE THEM!!! They are so awesome. Greg posted them to his Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/geowulf/ They are so great! She did such a good job! .: (You really should read this first!) :.

So the kids FINALLY convinced me that we should decorate our tree. This would be the first year that I was brave enough to allow them to put the ornaments on themselves. Usually I just do it while they are at school or gone somewhere so I didn't need to worry. This year I let them help. Actually they did everything except one ornament (my special bird) and the angel on the top. And believe it or not I didn't have to do too much fixing. Actually all I had to move was some of them that were actually sitting on the floor and some that had three or four per branch. It's fun. It is a fun tree. I did realize that the girls don't have very many ornaments that are theirs. I may need to fix that. Maybe we will start something new this year. We will see what I come up with. The final product:

Sooo....what does it feel like to be the parents of the most amazingly beautiful baby ever you ask???? It is spectacular!! My friend Sarah took family pictures for us for Christmas. This is the only one I have gotten so far but isn't she amazing??

Here in Arizona we like to visit with Sanchez Claus. Sometimes he is also referred to as Kris Gringo. He's the guy you consult with and ask for presents for Christmas. You know the guy, right?!

Danny lost his first tooth today!! We have been dealing with a bit of a "snaggletooth" (as my sister kept calling him) for quite a few days now. Every time I would touch it he would screamand cry. This morning he crawled into bed with me and when we were ready to get up he rolled over and said "hey - my tooth fell out". And that was it. He is excited for the tooth fairy to come tonight. We were supposed to be in San Diego today for Brandee's wedding - I'm still soo sad we weren't able to go. Jilly and I were both diagnosed with pneumonia the other day. Blech!! I was more worried about her. When we went to the Urgent Care my mom went with us and they made them check me out also, and my nasty cough. I guess it is a good thing they did. I probably would have never gone in to be checked. So, since Greg had taken the day off we decided to put up the Christmas Tree. After school, we are going to get the kids and go see Santa and then they can come home and dec...

You guys missed an awesome party!!!! But don't worry you can still order and get your items before Christmas. Feel free to shop the catalog online and call me to place the order 763-458-9177. I would like to close my party by Friday, but if you know you are going to order and need a little longer - call me and let me know. SCENTSY IS SAFE for your home and family. No Wick, No Flame, No Soot, No Worries! You will LOVE Scentsy!