Betty Crocker

oh no mommy... so I have never claimed to be a cook..actually I hate cooking!! I attempted a strawberry cake this weekend... I kept saying it looked awful and my little boy looked and me and says... "No mommy ummmm good me likes twake" I tell ya with my sons marketing skills and the looks of this one Betty better look out... .

Ever Wonder??

Do you ever wonder why some people try to make their lives seem soo perfect, when you know in fact that their life isn't at all?

I know we ALL have challenges and life throws curve balls. Some of us seem to get more balls thrown at us than others, I have bruises to prove it. Seriously, you can't have roses coming out your bootie all the time... so do they just cover it up better than others?? Or, always had help from someone (Mommy & Daddy) and never had to deal with REALLY rough times on their own? I am not sure but I have a few friends that do this and it drives me crazy..it is kinda like the whole "we NEVER Fight" thing...I mean come on are there people really out there THAT perfect? I think they need to loosen the hell up and have some fun and quit being the Jones's (or think they are). Life happens way to fast to worry about the perception people have.. at the end of the day who really cares. I have to admit some days it is fun just to listen to the shit that comes out of their mouths.. cause you damn well know better. Guess they think they are foolin someone... Silly Little Jones family ;0)

What shade of Orange?

Our house is for sure divided on shades of orange.. The "real" orange is my team ..Go Vols!! Although, my hubby really loves his Longhorns and around here that seems to be all you can buy so I made our house a wreath to go on our front door. Sometimes you have to pick your battles I guess but it scored for yet another CUTE project.

Stay Thirsty my Friends...

Ahhhhh football, family, and beers.. can't get any better than that on one fine Saturday. I am loving this birthday gift I got from Aunt Gickers 22 oz frozen mugs and a 12 pack of the best... Enjoy and stay thirsty my friends!~

Murphy- gone Bye Bye

Murphy's Law

"Anything that can go wrong will go wrong"

My dad is a funny kinda guy and he always has said Murphy doesn't just show up alone at his house he comes with all his brothers. I want to personally thank all of you for sending his whole damn family to live at my house for the past year and a half. I am glad that you all have lived wonderful lives for the past 18 months, but I am sorry to tell you they are looking for new places to live. I have packed them all up and kicked their asses out officially. Good luck and call me if you need to know thier dietary needs always happy to help but they are NOT moving back into our house we have had ENOUGH.... see ya and DON't come back you are NOT welcome here :0)

7 hrs in ER = Mad Mommy

We put in a call to Luke's surgeon/doctor last night he had suggested we take him the the Dell Childrens Hospital to the emergency room. I get to the emergency room and to my surprise there is not one but 3 waiting rooms and all three are overflowing with people and they have masks on. It looked like something out of a movie. I guess if you have insurance you get a star beside your name and get pushed to the front of the list..as we were called back pretty fast compared to some that entered at the same time. I was in amazement why some of these people were even in the emergency room.. example one kid smashed his finger really he needs to take up someones elses time in the EMERGENCY room, one kid fell off his bike hurt his back and was bi-polar and got rushed thru like he had a heart attack...REALLY. As the night wore on I started asking questions....why is it these people don't take their kids to their pediatrician in the morning? Come to find out some how some way if you take your kids in the ER and you don't have insurance we the tax payers pay for it.. the only thing they are paying for is their time. I left the ER around 3am and the little girl who had come in the same time I did had just gotten into her room. One of the nurses had mentioned at another hospital down the road the wait time was 4 hours. REALLY.. so again I ask myself..how and why is it our health care system is so messed up that this is the work around for people to use the emergency room to get health care. It was very frustrating to me that I was there for a legit reason and had to "put up with" this nonsense for 7 hours when it seemed as though maybe 1/3 of the people in there were truely there for an EMERGENCY. Do they not know what that damn word means.. it translates ya know?? I have come to the conclusion that unless one of my kids have lost a limb I will not return to that nonsense. I hope our new good ole President gets this one figured out ~

So Strong

As we spent the day yesterday at the Dell Childrens Hospital for Luke's surgery. I couldnt help but notice and take in the happiness of all the sick kids. As I handed my child to the nurse for his surgery,I broke down in tears. For some reason this was super hard for me..but as Luke went away with the nurse a young girl around the age of 8 walked past us with a huge smile on her face and turned around to tell her parents bye. She acted like a pro at this procedure..made me start thinking wow these kids are amazing. We walked around the hospital and if you have never been in this facility it is simply amazing not like any other place. I was taken a back at the kids and caught myself tearing up a few times. We passed a little boy playing in the healing garden with his mommy and he couldnt quit laughing although he was attached to an IV and had no hair. Looked as though he was a cancer patient. I know loosing anyone is a hard thing but a child it just seems so unfair. My heart broke for some of the parents but I know they are giving it a hard fight. At the end of the day I walked out with my baby and am truely grateful for each and every blessing we have had despite the challenges. We are truely blessed and god bless those kiddos and their strength.

Best Ever

As we prepare to spend my birthday at Dell Childrens hospital for Luke's surgeries I have been pretty focused, worried, concered all those feelings mommies have I guess. Totally not expecting my boys to plan and pull off a complete surprise birthday party..that was super cool to see all my friends and celebrate. The best part ever was this.. for about 2 years I have been looking for a upgrade camera but as life kept happening to our family I kinda put it on the back burner. Anyone who knows me well enough knows my middle name is "kodak" and I LOVE pictures so my boys gave me the best gift ever... I got a new Nikon D-40 camera as I finished wiping away the tears I started shotting away. Ahhhhhh life is good and yet we are so blessed!!~

(if you wonder what the dew rag on Cooper's head is all about he had an accident and that was the only way he would let me keep ice on it)

God Bless

I hear people saying we don't need this war But, I say there's some things worth fighting for
What about our freedom and this piece of ground
We didn't get to keep 'em by backing down
They say we don't realize the mess we're getting in
Before you start your preaching let me ask you this my friend...Have you forgotten??

I think this Daryl Worley song says alot and I love it.

I think about this day all the time...it is the day that changed all of our lives FOREVER and my kids lifes. I remember this day like it was yesterday I was on my way into work at IBM got there and no one was around everyone was crowded into conf rooms watching a 24 inch TV with this picture on it... the worst part for me, I was 1000 miles away from my family and didn't really have a circle of friends here in Texas, yet. I remember IBM saying it was business as usual... but I still took time off from work. I cried and I remember I just wanted to go home and be with my family. I feel so bad for those who lost their lives and the familys who lost their loved ones. I thank those who fight for our freedom everyday and their families, too. Unfortunatly, life will never be the same... we can't let our kids ride bikes until dark, we can't let our kids hang at the mall and catch a ride home, most days it scares me to let my kids out of my sight. I hope the world becomes a better place it sure seemed during that time strangers even gave their shoulders to cry on...I wasn't there but I sure felt the pain. Funny how soon one forgets!

God Bless America and thanks to those who keep fighting for our Freedom!!

Before...After??

Over the weekend my bestest friend of 31 years came to visit... it seems like it has been forever since we have seen each other but boy did we put a hurtin on Texas (and ourselves) we just aren't 25 anymore. We started out taking in a Cross Canadian Ragweed show and got to go backstage and hang with Robert Earl Keen and Cody Canada that was toooo coool...then decided we needed yet more beers until 5am we held out going strong. The weekend wasn't long enough but it was sure nice to spend time with my BFF. I simply love this girl we are like sisters even though we live across the states from each other we still laugh and cry over the phone as much as we can. She now lives in Oregon (right on the line to Idaho) and is for sure a Bull Shit University fan...LOL..love ya Buff. OMG we look like Crack hos in the after picture... whewww

Preach on Clairee..

I am sure you all know who Clairee Belcher is..right?? If not well ya should.. she is the character in the movie Steel Magnolias played by Olympia Dukakis. I am not sure which character I like the most Clairee or Ouiser played by Shirley MacLaine. Both are absolutely hilarious in this movie. Here is one of the quote I love the most..

Well, you know what they say:

if you don't have anything nice to say about anybody, come sit by me!

This was a nice topic of conversation amongst a few of my friends over a few too many drinks. If you don't have anything nice to say about someone should you keep your mouth shut? One of my friends she never says a bad word about anyone she never even really lets anything get under her skin..just a calm, cool person. Yep she is medicated I say!! She has raised her kids (17 &15) not to even talk about anybody else... "If you have nothing nice to say say nothing at all" that is great and all... BUT here is the thing I for sure have Clairee days I think we all do and I feel SOOOO much better afterwards. Helps me to know I am not the only one thinking that shit..and just to go ahead and say it out loud get it off your chest. As long as you talk about someone and say only what you would say to their face what is the issue with that? No sense in sugar coating things we all have our own opinions but hell you got those who take it personal and get their feathers ruffled. Come on, tell it like it is and get on with life, should we put the "God Bless em.." in front of it to make it go over better on the feelings part. Back where I come from as long as those three words are in front of anything you say all that falls after that is excusable. There were several opinions around the table not sure one was any more right than the other...but heck if it is the truth and that is how you feel well preach on Clairee....

Monsters

Oh no... Cooper has officially ask me about Monsters. He comes to our room in the mornings around 6 am and one morning last week (they all run together) I could tell something was wrong.. he kept squirming around and finally I hear this

"Mommy (whisper) Mommy...."

yes cooper

"wook a monster"

as he is pointing at the shadow on the ceiling of our TV shadow...

"oh no Cooper that isn't a monster! "monsters don't exist, there is NO such thing" I tell him

I sure hope this passes. It has been an ongoing thing he tells me

"no mommy Darwwk"

Last night we were sitting in the loft rocking and he could see our shadow on the wall.. he thought this was cool but still ask "Mommy, Monster?? So we had another talk about Monsters and how that is what he thought was in our bedroom. I rocked back and forth and made him wave just so he could see Monsters do NOT exist. I hope it has all ended here...

I dread this whole adventure cause myself as a 36 year old woman I am still scared of the dark and it is awful.. I have our house lit up like a airport runway. Not sure where I got this fear from but I have been known to sleep with every light in the house on and radio on too. To ensure I don't hear anything go bump outside. Booooooo. Maybe it is a fear I have to over come as I help my 2 year never get it... shewww