In the blink of an eye.....

she turned 14!

My bald-headed, blue-eyed first born is growing up WAY TOO FAST. It seems like yesterday that I was lamenting about 'missing' Mother's Day when my due date came and went. For a child that took her own sweet time to enter this world, she sure is growing too quickly for my taste.

She keeps me on the go (along with everyone else)......these days she is in rehearsals for the part of Adult Amy in Little Women. She is in her fifth year of doing shows at MTV. Her first role there was a nightingale in Once Upon A Mattress and now she is in an amazing March family so many shows later. This past year she was the Artful Dodger in Oliver; Freida in Charlie Brown; and Louisa in Sound of Music. She is continuing her passion for performing arts with her high school elective choices. She is signed up for Creative Drama and Dance Tech II (which she was thrilled to make it into after a jam-packed audition process). Much to my dismay, she isn't planning to continue with the french horn. She has really enjoyed it these past two years and even though she is quite good at it she doesn't want to do marching band or persue that avenue. Can't win them all...........and, boy-oh-boy, am I trying to figure out which battles to pick.

Another BIG milestone for her this year ---- PIERCED EARS! She simply was too afraid for the longest time and then one morning she woke up and declared that she was ready. She is enjoying that added fashion accessory while I just try to keep her from losing them.

After lunch at Ruby's (b/c Collin had to work tonight), she spent her day helping with the Little Women set before we ended the day at Farrell's. What a way to end the day.......with balloon creations, zany birthday songs, and The Zoo (that we finished about 1/2 of).

Ian the chicken head; Amanda a dog face, Suzy and Sean have giraffes and Maggie has cat ears.

He didn't know how to make a fleur-de-lis so I opted out. (shoulda got the flamingo!)

And if you think this was a topper to her day after gifts of clothes, money, and new bedding.....

Suzy topped it all with her gift of Cody Simpson concert tickets.

How sweet it is.......

Biting off more than I can chew

Those eyes tell it all.....overwhelmed! And that's exactly how I feel.

I didn't fall off the face of the earth. Our computer died in February. Well, the screen did and since it was an all-in-one deal thingie we were dead in the water. I managed to read facebook occasionally from my phone but that is too much of a pain to do for any amount of time; not that I really have time for that time-vampire anyway.

We managed to finally get a new system. THANK GOD! Driving to the library daily for homework for the kids was making me even more insane than I already am. SO nice to have the internet at my fingertips again. (Yes, I know I can search on my phone for stuff but you can't type assignments, etc.)

And now the daunty task of recovering photos from the old system that we had copied over AND praying that I can merge my Memory Manager vaults to access all my photos from the last six years. Slow and steady with a commitment to GET IT DONE!

I've missed blogging and hope to be able to jump back in and keep going like I did when the year started. Still cooking random stuff that I love sharing; being a taxi for kid activities; and looking forward to the summer that is fast approaching. Maybe I'll do some kid posts to catch everyone up on their adventures.

Never fear, I'm still out here running on the hamster wheel of life.

It's Superbowl Sunday!

The Superbowl is on this afternoon; and who cares. I am a huge football fan but this year I'm looking forward to friends visiting, great food, and funny commercials. Oh, and Madonna. I'm hoping she knocks it out of the park and shows Lady Ga-Ga who the original risque diva is. It must be the 80's girl in me. What are you going for the game?

And I have more pictures of 2012 Life in Pictures....

Jan.26th - I might have been on the losing side of the Game On challenge but I still won. I helped in serving the winning team an Italian dinner. This is my Caprese. It tasted so yummy along with the lasagna, salad, garlic bread and other NONE diet foods :)

27th....a boy and his dog.....if only the dog would SLEEP with him, Sean's life would be complete
28th.......Sound of Music picture day; they are so sweet together, love Family #3!

29th.....Amanda's mission project! the one that her notes got left at school over the weekend so it had to be turned in late. Can you say grumpy mom?

30th....welcome to the world of adolescence; it means more homework AFTER rehearsal. Gah!

31st.....and speaking of rehearsal -- it's ME, off to slappy dancer rehearsal (I was a nun the night before, bahahaha)

and then it was February! Already....always a good time to take a picture of my goofy dog. We love Fritz.

Feb. 2nd -- homemade goodness. Nothing better than walking in after a busy day to dinner 80% finished :)

Feb. 3rd .....the day I flaked. No picture :( I simply forgot but don't give up on me.

Feb. 4th....a rockin' Saturday night for Maggie. Laundry!
And now, let's 'start at the very beginning; a very good place to start'.....Maggie made us a cake for Superbowl.

Working towards being The Next Great Baker. (she used orange b/c it's all she had and we don't care about blue and red teams; it's ALL about Black and Gold!)

Pull up a chair; it's a long one!

Was it really 13 days ago that I did my last post? I am still taking daily photos but it seems like I just blinked and now it's January 25th! Between rehearsals, homework projects, and what you call LIFE, I haven't managed to sit down and actually compose a post.
Let's start with a little review--
13....aren't these the most clever.....duct tape wallets (compliments of our little friend Max)....of course, black and gold for Ian and then Sean's even has an id pocket.

14.....more random cuteness....Ian....the snuggliest little dude...always willing to toss me a smile

15....fun at the park.....with our friends' the Skverskys and Paynes....Grace fits right in with my blondies :)

16....and here is where I attempt to be June Clever. I've recently started packing Collin a lunch b/c he wants to eat better and he's tired of fast food. I did it for a couple of days and then he is now sick so I'm out of the habit. Oh well, I tried.

17......and the not-so-willing-to-toss-me-a-smile Maggie/starving after rehearsal/don't take my picture!

18....my girlie Amanda....on nights I have rehearsal she is often asleep before I get home. I love kissing her soft forehead and counting her as the blessing she is!

19.....the insanely spoiled dog....this is how I left him on Thursday night and this is exactly how I found him Friday morning. He greeted me with a yawn. (by the way, he does have a bed)

20....two of favorite things....scrapbooking and babies! My friend Laura joined us and brought her sweet little daughter. Ian and Amanda were smitten; it was so cute to watch them together.

21......hubby was out of town; kids and I had a late lunch so Cheerios....it's what's for dinner :)

22....Sunday was full of house cleaning and laundry. Here is my biggest laundry FAIL to date. I haphazardly washed the tablecloth in photo #20 with a load of kids clothes. Um, those shirts sleeves WERE white and those jeans WERE a pale lime green. AND, another load had a sparkly lip gloss explode that ruined about six pieces of clothing. Bad laundry day, but nice clean house.

23....Costco at 8pm is deadly, especially since they close at 8:30. I felt like I was on Supermarket Sweep, but I did my damage. And this is only part of what I had to put away at 9pm (after I retrieved Mag from rehearsal)

And, last but not least, 24....today....why am I posting in the middle of the day? Because Ian is home "sick"

He's armed with his bed friends; the remote and some Ginger Ale. I thought he might be getting the bug Collin has been fighting when the school called for me to get him (99* temp and tummy ache). Alas, he is FINE...an eating machine.....and not wanting to nap.

Silver lining his temp isn't going up and I got to update my blog.

A little catching up

Never fear, I'm still taking random photos and rolling with my New Year's Resolution. The week started off with shrimp and sausage jambalaya and the BCS Championship. Let's just say that the food was WAY better than the game. We'll leave it at that and move on the the Saints playoff game this weekend.

Tuesday brought a yummy dinner of ground turkey and elk tacos. Delicious and not one leftover to be had. We'll call that Photo 10A because I HAD to take another picture of Amanda during dinner (photo 10B). You see, she got a nose bleed. And the kid is amazing. She is so used to them that she just continued to eat and enjoy her food. She wanted seconds and she knew Sean would eat it all if she didn't hurry, lol!

And because I lead such a glamourous life I thought I would share Photo 11 with you. The nice clean hallway bathroom. I LOVE a clean bathroom and it doesn't last long around these parts.

And today, the 12th. A little sample of my daily craziness......

Ian says blood oranges can turn you into a vampire. Hmmmm, a vampire with empty holes where fangs should be. I'm thinking he should stick with Amanda and just continue to be my little monkey. Tomorrow is Friday the 13th.......I promise not to post another picture with Ian doing those crazy eyes. Between the full moon and his wacky side I don't think I'm ready for the 13th.

I'm finding that sometimes a photo a day can be tough. Some days are just not that exciting. Nevertheless, it's a challenge and will be fun (at least for me) to look back and see what I was up to and how the kids grow and change constantly. Speaking of change......Fritz looks like a mini-schneauzer again thanks to a haircut :)

And growing.....all of the kidlets are growing like crazy. So now you can see how I spent my Saturday......doing the clothing shuffle in the girls' room.

Photo 7

I ended up with a bag of hand-me-downs for a friend; 1/2 a bin in a Rubbermaid tub saving for Amanda; and a large bag for Goodwill. Now I wait for sales and coupons to shop for a few pairs of shoes/sandals for them and a couple of spring clothing items and they are SET. Hopefully for at least a few months.
And with all this growing, it means GROCERIES GALORE. I think I had one of my best trips ever :) See Photo 8..... 40% in savings!!!! Yes! Ian was with me and asked 'are you one of those crazy coupon ladies?' I replied: 'I love coupons and I pay attention but I don't think I'm crazy.' He promptly responded: 'Well you are crazy; everyone knows that.'

Hmmmmmm, I'm not crazy. What's CRAZY is that my 11yr. old son wears a size 10 men's shoe!?!

It's Day 5 but it's two photos; we'll call them Photo 5A (Ian finishing up 'I Was Made for Lovin' You Baby' by Kiss)

and Photo 5B

because one photo is simply not enough. Recently, nothing makes me laugh harder than my boys doing Just Dance 3 on the Wii. Nothing funnier.

Never fear, I haven't given up on my resolution already; just got busy with work and the chaos of life again. I did take a picture yesterday :) Here's what Maggie and I are up to now....

Rehearsals! I've been cast as Sister Sophia and Frau Schmidt (again) and Maggie is Louisa. She will also fill in as a young nun when needed for chorus singing. I was Louisa in high school so she thinks it's cool that she gets to play that part.

And today Photo 4.....

The sock cemetary......doesn't everyone have one? Well ours is now buried in File 13. I think everyone should join me and bury their sock cemetaries; perhaps they will find a match on the Island of Mismatched Socks (right next to the Island of Misfit Toys for all you Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer fans).

Photo 2......what is missing?

Christmas lights of course!
Nice, huh. Someone came along and stole all the lights out of the string that trimmed the garage. Stupid. Annoying. Random.

Oh well, just another string to hit the trash as we organize Christmas decorations and de-junk the garage (again!) What are you doing to work on your resolution today? Organizing, exercising, de-cluttering, eating more vegetables or eating some more chocolate :)

So, it's 2012.....did everyone ring in the New Year with Dick Clark? We did. The kids ALL made it to midnight miraculously. Ian was fading fast at 9pm so with a little silliness and a lot of prodding he made it. Little turkey --- I let him have his cider and pop his party poppers at 11pm with the AZ time zone New Year's and he promptly rolled to midnight Pacific time. Collin came home early so it was nice to have everyone home celebrating and then scattering like cockroaches to their beds.

This year my New Year's resolution is to participate in the Hope in Action 365 project. I'll TAKE a picture daily but rest assured I might not get it posted daily. (I'm not completely unreasonable). It will be interesting if not challenging. I love pictures, photography, and scrapbooking so it's all good. Add in a few photos and recipes and it's even better. And maybe I'll even learn how to use some of the features on my camera.

Here goes: Photo 1.......when you don't get your favorite team on tv, this is what you resort to.....tracking them online. Happy New Year, GEAUX Saints!

So, it's New Year's Eve. Bleh. I'm not a huge fan. I just don't get it. I don't want to go to a crowded restaurant and pay extra for mediocre food and drink specials that I don't even drink. I don't want to go to a bar and have it be overcrowded with people who are drinking heavily just because they have an excuse. And then, they aren't necessarily responsible about having a designated driver either.

Add to that.....Collin works on New Year's Eve. So it's just me and the kids. I could TRY to get a sitter but going to hang at a bar while your husband works isn't super fun either. In the past I have traveled to visit friends, but having just returned from Ohio and the thought of returning back to work so soon (Tuesday!.....thought we had extra time last year?) kind of squelched the idea of driving 1,000 miles.

Don't get me wrong --- I am ready to be D.O.N.E. with 2011. It has been very stress-filled and exhausting. It's had it's highlights but mostly it's been about trying to keep our heads above water in this sucky economy; trying to make ends meet. I lost two Aunts in the last few months. Our sweet cat 16 yr. old Shasta mysteriously disappeared and I just like to think that she got out of the house and went to die in peace. It's difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel sometimes. But in reality, as hard as I'd like to think we've had it, MANY people have had it worse.

• My friend Audrey and her family lost EVERYTHING in a house fire. They all survived and with a lot of hardwork and patience, they are home again.
• Ashton Sweet, a local Irvine teen and friend, was killed in a car accident. My friends, Janet and Julie, both lost close friends of their families.....all TEENAGERS. My heart just breaks for the families that have to deal with such tragedies.

I need to learn to count my blessings and appreciate what I do have: I have a husband who works hard for our family, I have four healthy children, I have a job (that I love), and I have a home to live in. So, as I attempt to have a quiet NYE at home with the kids [note: I said quiet/ even playing games isn't quiet!] eating finger foods and hanging out, I wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR. Here's to 2012! May it bring you good health and happines.

(And maybe a few more blog posts from me.)

I love to cook and bake! I post assorted pictures on facebook and occasionally someone will ask me for a recipe. I often cook from scratch and tweek recipes but I am a good recipe follower (I use my red Betty Crocker one a ton) and I search online occasionally mostly using allrecipes.com. I love Southern Living and Cooking Light magazine too but this recipe for Golden Caramel Cheesecake Bars literally came out of my grocery store's coupon mailer magazine. Looks like it's sponsored by Kraft.

So now that I've given proper credit and I'm not claiming this as my own, here's the recipe:
Ingredients:
24 Golden Oreo cookies, divided
2 Tbsp., butter or margarine, melted
25 Kraft Caramels
1 Tbsp. water
2 pkg. (8oz. each) of Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
1 jar (7 oz.) Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme
1 egg

Preheat: oven to 350*. Place 14 of the cookies in a food processor container; cover. Process until finely crushed. Mix with butter; press firmly onto bottom of 9-inch square baking pan. Bake 10min. or until golden brown. Cool 10min.
Place caramels and water in micro. bowl. Microwave on HIGH 1 min. or until caramels are completely melted; stirring every 30 sec. Set aside. Coarsely chop remaining 10 cookies. Beat cream cheese and marshmallow creme in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs; mix well. Stir in chopped cookies; pour over crust. Drop spoonfuls of the caramel mixture over batter; swirl with knife for marble effect.
Bake for 20 to 25 min. or until center is set. Cool completely. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Cut into 20 bars. Store in tightly covered container in refridgerator.

(note: I used store brand cream cheese and it worked just fine)  :)
SO DELICIOUS and super rich!

A LOVE Thursday post (a few minutes early)
Ten Thirteen days ago when I posted about Christmas pictures it wasn't my intention to disappear again. Life is busy as usual, but you add in the insanity of shopping, stealth gift wrapping, end of semester school projects and a couple of holiday concerts in there and you get MADNESS. But I'm not complaining, really, for once I'm not! Because it also means Christmas goodies........ Last night started it - homemade fudge. And then today it was two kinds of Chex Mix, chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter blossom cookies, and cornflake candy. Another batch of fudge was on the agenda until I realized I was out of baking chocolate. I'm also planning to make some golden cheesecake bars for a gathering with friends on Sat. night. What is your favorite holiday cookie/treat/specialty? I'm always up for making something new.

The kids are treasuring every morsel of their Advent calendars from Trader Joe's. Who doesn't like to start their day with a bit of chocolate? They are keeping a close inventory of my late night wrapping sessions and can quickly tell me if something has been added under the tree and which family member it's for. In some ways it sucks the fun out of it when they make the tree all messy and desheveled and then argue about what was added? and why does he/she have more than I do? nonsense. I know they are 'just being kids' but for all the goodness in the world make them stop arguing about. Next year I am using a mystery number system that only I will know about. They might mess up the pretty presents but I will still hold the cards. Muhahahaha.

We've watched Rudolph (my childhood favorite!) and several versions of A Christmas Carol so far but have yet to see National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. I can't believe it's taken this long but it WILL happen. And no Christmas would be complete without It's A Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve.

Merry Christmas everyone.......

Dagnabit! I meant to post last night so I could have five posts in November; that would be some sort of record for me. But alas, here I am a day late and a dollar short.
It's that time of year......time for Christmas pictures!!!! Here's a little preview of our photo taking adventure. (photos taken by my friend Sandee)

The kids had a blast climbing the trees and Fritz couldn't have been happier with chasing leaves in the wind. It was fun until we melted in the 80* heat. The boys had their shirts off before we even got home. (at least I know they can clean up for a few minutes of picture taking)

Christmas cards ordered, check!

Thanksgiving Morning Musings.......
I LOVE Thanksgiving.......the cooking and preparation, the scents around all the comfort food, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, football on the television, the crafts the kids make to decorate the table, the crisp weather and most of all the gathering of family and friends taking time away from the craziness of life to remember how blessed and thankful we are. It's probably my favorite holiday.

Yesterday day I made the cranberry relish, the pecan pie, and Grandma Hall 5-cup salad (but it's 10-cup for us b/c the kids LOVE it). Ian cut all of the celery for the stuffing and assembled it with Collin last night. This morning I'm prepping the green bean casserole, baked corn, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and baking a pumpkin pie. I am queen of the oven; that's because Collin is frying the turkey this year. With recent oven issues (and not even knowing if we were going to be able to use it) along with its small size, he decided to attempt frying the turkey this year. So, Pepperidge Farm gravy it is. (shhhh, don't tell his mother)

Another part of the day I enjoy is checking out the Black Friday sales. I have a short list of things left to get so I'll see if there are any MUST HAVES that I don't want to miss out on. Midnight is SO MUCH better for me than 5am :) But I refuse to fight with insane people over things like TVs we don't need or the latest Wii game. I don't mind the spot at the far end of the parking lot, the long lines, or the crowds. It's all a mind set......savoring in the holiday sales b/c it's the HOLIDAYS. Merry Christmas, folks. If someone tries to lose their marbles on me, I just smile and nod and wish them a Merry Christmas. It usually shuts them right up! It reminds them of what the season is truly about.

And, last but not least, let the Christmas decorating begin. Clark, aka Collin, usually starts tomorrow. Being in a rental this year, our house is MUCH smaller, but I'm sure he'll do his best to win the neighborhood decorating contest. (He's been trimming the front tree for weeks to make sure the lights will be seen, lol)

And with all the festivities DO NOT think I'm straying from the Game On! challenge. I'm taking ONE meal off today and then going to take Friday or Sat. as my food day-off so I can enjoy leftovers and maybe even some movie popcorn. I think I'll even exercise this evening to make sure I work off those extra carbs. (what is wrong with me?)

Off to cook in my pjs :)
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

......yawn....
Today has been a VERY LONG day. I'm not sure why b/c I got out of bed at 7:15am which is not far behind my normal waking-to-make-lunches time. I woke to my children UP AND AWAKE (why can't they ever get up for school like this?) playing Wii with their sleepover buddy. Cue: mad dash to the coffee pot. I worked on finishing up a digital scrapbooking project; started laundry; made breakfast; and basically just piddled around. It was a cool, dreary Saturday morning so pjs were my fashion of choice.

I got my act together around noon and we headed out to a few awesome sales and to take advantage of a promo they had to support our local public schools foundation. Successful shopping with four children is NEVER easy but we went, we shopped, we conquered! A little bribery of In-and-Out burger went a long way and it was the PERFECT treat for my Game On diet day off. We dashed home to catch the LSU game and I began to climb the laundry mountain while I banished them to their rooms for leaving their crap everywhere and being lazy laundry folders. After the shopping adventure and seeing the chaos of my living room, I simply needed them to go play quietly. I waded through three loads; made some cheater Zatarain's jambalaya for dinner and then cleaned the kitchen. HOW was it only 8pm???? Oh, and I still need to exercise (already took yesterday off, dang it!).

AND to add to my long day.........my oven is broken. Four days before Thanksgiving. Thankyouverymuch!

Much ado about the Game On! Challenge.........it's on my brain constantly so I thought it would be the perfect time to shed a little on light on my latest bit of madness.

Recently I began to notice that my clothes were getting snug and once my birthday came and went, I really realized I HAVE TO LOSE WEIGHT. To some folks, I may look just fine, but when you aren't comfortable in your own skin and you are the heaviest you have ever been NOT pregnant it's truly eye-opening. And wouldn't you know, a group of awesome women from community theatre were starting this challenge so I asked if I could join. With a little info., I was GAME! And apparently it's just what I needed.......a bit of friendly competition to make the world go round.

The basic routine: 5 small meals a day (on a schedule --carb,protein,fat), 3 liters of water, exercise daily, and adding a new habit while abandoning an old habit. No alcohol, no soda, no artificial sweeteners. You get points for meeting goals and penalties for others. There is more to it but that is it in a nutshell. Sign-me-up; I can do this. We all have good things we SHOULD be doing and things we SHOULD not be doing and you are telling me I get points for it. Awesome. Time to come clean: for good habit-- I'm taking a daily multivitamin and have to have an empty kitchen sink when I go to bed (no dishes, utensils, etc.). In other words, stop being lazy. For ridding myself of a bad habit I chose no more falling asleep in front of the tv.  My teammates are doing a variety of things as goals ranging from bible study time to no more snooze alarm. You make it want you NEED it to be. And the best part, smack talking is allowed!

In recent years I have tried to eat more healthy overall and have done a bit of meal planning here and there. But now, it helps SO MUCH. Not only are my family dinner meals planned for the next two weeks, but now I am writing down what I plan to eat during the day so I can pack my lunch w/o thinking about it. I have to get two meals in during my work day schedule so it's easy to have it in my bag and not have to worry about what might be tempting me in the staff lounge. I usually eat what my family eats at dinner for my meal 5; I just revise it a little b/c I'm not super hungry. Example: tomorrow night is turkey burgers, french fries, and fresh berries. I'll have the burger (my carb and protein) with lettuce, tomato, mustard, a tsp. of mayo (the fat). No fries or berries for me.

Here's my day tomorrow:
Meal 1 -- scrambled egg (protein&fat) with spinach and mush.; 1/2 grapefruit (carb)
Meal 2 -- Mini Babybel Light, 7 walnuts, apple (protein, fat, carb)
Meal 3 -- Blend of lettuce with carrots/bell pepp/cucumber add small amt. of chicken, sliced almonds (no dressing);  kiwi on the side
Meal 4 -- non-fat greek yogurt with fresh berries and 7 crushed walnuts
Meal 5 -- turkey burger on whole wheat bun with lett.,tom.,must.,mayo
I'll count my coffee creamer for calories and the mayo and I'm under my 100 allowed extra calories.

You can do this too. I swear it's super easy. Well, until the exercise part. At least that is the REAL challenge for me. Four kids keeps me busy enough but add in a commitment to exercise and my brain goes a little wonky. BUT I have been doing it (except for my one allowed day off) so far and I must say I think I'm rockin' it. I hate the making time and getting-ready-to-go part of changing my clothes, etc. I would much rather sit on the couch and read or play on Facebook or even clean the house. When I am out there walking/jogging pushing my lazy butt across the pavement, I don't hate it. Well, sometimes I do, but it's not like I can quit half way and call Collin to pick me up. All I can say is.....if the scale doesn't go down, I'm going to be a little  completely peeved.

Weigh-in for the week is on Wednesday morning; you have been warned.

JUMPING BACK IN....

I'm still here. I think about blogging often and even have a little list of things I want wanted to blog about. But life gets in the way and then I get so far behind that it seems silly to post about things from two months ago. Do you really want to see pictures of an Arizona trip from August?










Well, I did post pictures on Facebook from our camping trip.  Oh yes, Facebook.....another interference with my blog. See, if I post pictures there I forget to type 'the story' here.

The story of one of my favorite pictures.....Sean teaching Ian how to skip rocks. A tender moment. Those are few and far between.

And I really need to do that because I'm trying to put these blog posts in a hard-bound book. Sorta like a journal since I don't journal or anything cool like that.

Anyway, here I am. Two months into the school year. And I never did post a photo of Maggie starting 8th grade b/c she started on a different day than my other school post. Here she is....growing up too fast......

She is playing the french horn in the symphonic band and loving it. Her grades are better but she still has room for improvement. Recently she finished up her role as Freida in You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown and she will be on Royal Court at Musical Theater Village this year (it's a teen group that does extra chores around the theater, helps with tasks like scrip distribution/ ticket-taking/and show welcome speeches). She is with a great group of kids. 

Sean is next. Poor Sean is going OUT OF HIS MIND! (and taking me with him) He is counting the days until his x-rays -- Nov. 15th. We are hoping and praying that his knee is healing on it's own and that he won't need surgery. AND hoping and praying he can ease back into some physical activity.....recess and PE would be a nice start. Batting practice would be a nice bonus. The break from organized sports has been nice (for our whole family) but it's been long enough. His teacher says he is a great kid and his grades are pretty good too so I'll take it! These days his hair is the longest it's ever been with blond curls in the back (I'll try to sneak a picture). He is loving LSU and Saints football while he manages his fantasy teams. He loves telling me ALL he knows about football players and helps with my team each week.



Then there's girlie. Miss Amanda. She's such a miracle. She just finished her part as Little Red-Haired Girl in Charlie Brown and is looking forward to starting some sort of martial arts class. She has been wanting to do it for a long time and it will help with her motor control, balance, and discipline. She is doing well in school especially since she has to work REALLY hard. She isn't super far behind and often works quickly (sometimes too quickly) so she can help her teacher with stuff. Here's her book report quilt on Little Women:

She makes sure that Fritz gets fed everyday and loves Skyping with her cousin, Sarah, at college. And at 10yrs. old wears a size 8 women's shoe. Not kidding.

And then there's Ian. He loves life basically. He loves anything to do with the outdoors.....fishing, shooting, bike-riding, swimming, the beach, sports, etc. He tolerates school.....doesn't love it, but doesn't hate it (because he likes the girls, shhhhh). His teacher knows him pretty well and appreciates him for his silliness while keeping him in check. His printing is beautiful; his math skills rock; his reading is his downfall, but we all have our crosses to bear. He loves having SHORT hair but had fun trying to make a water mohawk went we went camping (where doesn he think of this stuff?). Seven is an awesome age and I never want him to grow up.

And that brings you up to date with the kidlets.......oh, wait. Halloween.......one of our awesome jacks-o-lanterns....

and the kids all ready to go. Ian was a knight, Amanda was Punky Brewster, and Sean was some gross skeleton thing. Maggie was off with her friends (b/c that's what teenagers do).

Collin and I are plugging along. Just had our 16th anniversary. I still love my job; my co-workers are awesome and the kids keep us on our toes. Still doing Creative Memories and love taking pictures. I'm getting back into meal planning (shrimp stir-fry today!) and love cooking now that I have time with minimal sports and theater commitments. Collin is still working two jobs hoping the economy will turn at some point but he's not holding his breath. He's excited about going on a deer hunting trip that his buddy Dale got him a free ticket for.

And finally, I'm joining with a group of friends for the Game On! diet challenge starting this Wednesday. It goes until Dec. 9 with Thanksgiving day off. One of my goals is to blog at least twice a week so we'll see how that goes. I will certainly need the points of meeting that goal so I can back up the smack talk. Hoping to shed a few pounds while having some fun with friends. Oh wait, I think this involves exercise. Oh, no.