He's Here

We are now a Pug Family. We picked up Charlie this morning. I have a lot to tell you about meeting him last night and picking him up today but I don't have time. I was at a Baby Shower this afternoon and tonight have to go help set up the church for our 25th Anniversary Lunch tomorrow. Here are a few quick pics from today

We are adding to the Family

No don't get too excited. We are starting the process of getting a new dog. Since we lost our Buddy http://thecraftsblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/budman.html, it has been a little lonely at our house. Poor Landree is still missing him and asks for him daily. On Friday, we are going to meet two dogs in the pug rescue out of Austin. The first one is a Chug- okay not really, she's half pug, half chihuahua. I sent her link to Brian as a joke that Peyton would love her. He responded with we could always get two. She's four months old and they think she will only get 10 pounds. I told him she might not make it in our house with Landree. He thinks she would so we're going to meet her.


The other dog we're going to meet is a 2 1/2 year old Pug named Charlie Chaplin. He was rescued from a puppy mill where he lived in a wire cage. He is so handsome and kind of reminds me of a Baxter (our English Bulldog).


We told the girls about it tonight and of course they are excited. We have explained that they might not be right for our family and we will keep looking if they don't work out and that Brian and I make the decision not them. Yeah right, they also know we can be suckers too. So we're driving up to Austin Friday afternoon and then we'll come home and make our decision.

Oh and Momma, if you're reading this from Wisconsin, Melanie got a Great Dane Puppy. Yeah, I'm being 8 again and ratting her out. I told her she should name it Horse because that is what's she's going to be feeding.

My Husband Rocks

There is a group of blogs that do My Husband Rocks every Friday. I can tell you now that I won't remember to do it every Friday but this questionnaire caught my eye.

1. Where did you meet?
At a ZTA/TKE exchange in college. He was a little intoxicated and kept hitting on one of the new pledges in my sorority. I went into rescue her and ended up dancing with him. It took another 2 months before we started dating.

2. How long did you date b/f you were married?
2½ years

3. What does he do that surprises you?
DVRs all the kid shows (Suite Life of Zach and Cody, Hannah Montana, Raven, etc…) and watches them with Peyton and will go to any Kid’s Movie without complaint

4. What is your favorite quality of his?
How loyal his to anyone who means something to him

5. What is your favorite feature of his?
When I first met him- That face with the Craft S**t Eating Grin- that is what his sister calls it
After almost 13 years- His Chest because when my world seems to falls apart, my head fits there perfectly

6. Does he have a nickname for you?

Not really, he calls me Baby when he needs something or apologizing and DammitErica when he’s aggravated

7. What is his favorite food?
He loves a good steak with French Fries and wash it down with a big piece of Chocolate Cake

8. What is his favorite sport?
Is fishing or hunting a sport? Football

9. When and where was your first kiss?
April 13, 1996- At my apartment- our second date- Yeah I’m a dork because I know the date

10. What do you like to do together?
Being on a private sailboat in the Caribbean- okay so we’ve only done it once but loved it. We love having snack night and watching a movie, sans kids

11. Do you have any children?
Two girlies

12. Does he have a hidden talent?
He is hilarious and once he gets going, it’s really hard to stop him

13. Who said "I love you" first?
I did

14. What is his favorite type of music?
Country- mainly Hank William’s Jr

15. What do you admire most about him?
How hard he works and the fact that his whole world centers around the three girls in this house.
16. Do you think he will read this?
Only if someone tells him he should- he doesn’t read the blog

It has hit

Peyton has the flu with a 104 degree temperature. She's the only one in the house that got the flu shot/mist so pray for the rest of us. Since yesterday afternoon we have watched 5 different Beethoven movies- there's been a marathon on Disney. If any more of us go down, it could be a LONG week. I'm getting off my butt now to clean the house so that if I go down at least we won't be living in a pig stye.

First day with a Trainer

Okay so as everyone can see from pictures on this blog, my butt has gotten too big and way out of hand. Brian and Haley have been trying to "convince" in the most loving of ways that I needed to start exercising. The thing is, I HATE EXERCISING. Oh everyone says just find something you like and you'll love it. NO- I don't. I like nothing about sweating, sucking wind, and my head feeling like it's going to explode. Nope don't like it.

Anyone that knew me as a kid knows that I have never been a sport's kid, didn't have the coordination for it or competitive streak. However, many people don't realize I was an outdoors kid and the Mud Pie Queen of the trailer park I grew up in and I have even eaten dirt on saltines. We just had to be within Momma's shouting range and we lived outside and you know living in Louisiana I must have sweat. So this isn't a girly I don't like to sweat thing. I don't like to be too cold either, I like comfortable in particular central heat and air.

Well I have a two story house with 16 stairs- My Mother-in-Law counted them for me. One day Landree fell asleep in the car on the way home. People, I didn't think I was going to be able to get her up the stairs without a rest. Now granted she is 37 pounds but still not being able to carry my own child up the stairs disturbed me. Then I went to a meeting where I probably outweighed every woman there by at least 50 pounds. So I decided I might need to do something. Haley had been telling me about this wonderful neighbor of hers who did personal training in her home for like the last year- yes I said 1 full year. I mentioned it to Haley that I might want her number. Of course my wonderful friend got excited and bought me two sessions with her. Well crap, I was committed now. So through email, I set up my first appointment with Katie.

I was nervous and Brian kept calling to check on me that morning and Haley was working from home that day and I was supposed to go by and see her on my way out. I got to Katie's house on a Monday morning not knowing what to expect. This cute face met me

Doesn't she look all nice and sweet? And you're thinking at this point I'm going to say yah, she only looks that way. I'm not, she really is nice and sweet but good heavens that day I thought she might kill me. She first put me on a treadmill and immediately put the incline on 3 and told me that 3 is the new 0- yeah right. When you haven't even been doing 0- 3 is a lot. Then she put the speed down and started bumping up incline- hello, I have been known to fall walking on a flat surface an incline of 5-7 is a bit much. Well I survived that and then had to do squats on the wall with an exercise ball behind me- well let's just say that my coordination issues came in and I fell. But Katie was right there encouraging all the way.

The session is a bit of a blur- I did 12 stations but I will never forget one of the stations. She has this pair of yellow spin bikes. I'm thinking- I've got this. During one of my workout stints in college I rode the fool out of a stationary bike. This was my worst ASSumption of them all with ass being the key word here. The only thing a spin bike has in common with a stationary bike is two pedals and wheels. I won't even say a seat because a spin bike does not have a seat. Oh don't get me wrong- it is billed as a seat but I would be willing to bet it isn't half as big as the seat on the Disney kid's bike I have out in the garage. I kept telling Katie I thought something was wrong with the seat but I soon learned no that it was just my fat butt. It was so bad that Katie had to help me get my feet into the shoe holder on the pedal. People I did not think I was going to make it on that blasted bike and I only had to do 3 minutes. I got to thinking I had to be about done when Katie told me okay you got about a minute and a half left- Are you freaking kidding me?

That session I did all kinds of weights, treadmill, bike, stairs, you name it. Then at the end she put me lying down on the same exercise ball I had fallen with doing squats and told me we were going to do crunches. Lord have mercy I could barely balance laying on this ball let alone try to lift my head up. I thought come on abs where ever you are, don't fail me now. Well the abs informed me I hadn't used them is so damn long that I was on my own. I got all panicky and maybe got two off before I slipped off. Katie took pity on me and sent me on my way with orders to drink lots of water.

I wondered if I would be able to get myself into my Suburban. Thank heavens it has running bars but my legs were awfully shaky. I went by Haley's and mentioned the bike and she felt my pain and told me I might not walk normal for a week so that made me feel a little better. I stopped by McDonalds on the way home and got a salad because I wasn't sure if I was capable of fixing my own meal. The next night I had weight watchers. I sat next to Haley and remember making the mistake of trying to cross my legs. The next day I really wasn't sure I was going to be able to get on and off the potty. Wednesday night Brian had to pull me out of the chair to go to bed.

I still got up the next day and went to see Katie and I have been going ever since. I haven't noticed a huge weight difference but my body is definitely shifting things around and I am sooo much stronger. I haven't seen 3 pound weights since that first week or two, last week I did an entire 1 hour session on that bike I thought I was going to die doing 3 minutes on a 2 months ago, and now I can sit on that exercise ball, have Katie throw me a medicine ball, lay down back, put the ball over my head, sit back up and throw it back to her. I started having really bad back trouble that I normally have to go see a chiropractor to get fixed. I pretty much don't stand up straight for the first hour I'm up. Then one day after I had bent over I realized that I could use my butt and thigh muscles to stand back up. Since that day, I have had very little back pain- whatta ya know- 3 months of physical therapy didn't even teach me that. Do I like exercise now- NO, but I do like how I feel after I've gotten it done.

Girlie Giggles

So Peyton has learned how to spell and we're sunk. The other night my beloved husband looked over at me and said, "For some reason I have G-A-S." In turn Peyton who was sitting in his lap pipes up immediately, "You have gas, I'm moving." Then a few days later, I was brushing her teeth and I told Brian to look at one of her new ones and asked, "Does that tooth look, Y-E-L-L-O-W?" Peyton then hollers, "Do I have Yellow Teeth?" So we're just about at the end of spelling. Haley tells me I have a few years of pig latin left.

Tonight I started singing Jingle Bells- yes I know it is past time but it was the only thing I could think of to get a Hannah Montana song out of my mind and you know that stuff will rot your brain. I then realized Landree was singing with me but a slightly different version. She was singing, "Tinker Bell, Tinker Bell, Tinker all the way..."

Keep Landree in your thoughts tomorrow. She's going to Mother's Day Out in panties. So far this week we have made it with only one accident a day and luckily those have been at home.

Thanksgiving 2008

So yes I know how pitiful it is that it is now 2009 and I am just now giving you my Thanksgiving post. I'm going with the better late than never stance.

I'll actually start the week before Thanksgiving. Peyton's class was set to have a big Pow Wow on the Friday before Thanksgiving and we were asked to send in a large white t-shirt. Well the mom that was in charge of transforming these shirts into Indian garb bailed out at the last moment and I stepped in. I then spent 3 VERY LATE nights doing the following, dying 24 shirts in tea, cutting fringe on the sleeves and bottom, and putting pony beads on the fringe. My fingers were not functioning well by the end of it. Luckily two other moms did the painting on the front. I then remembered after I left a meeting at church at 10PM that I still I had to send Landree's Class snack for Thanksgiving so I made these little darlings from Cocoa Krispies and Fruit Loops.

The next night I stayed up again WAAAYYY too late to make this shirt for Silent Auction the next day during the Renaissance Fair.

It was the logo of the new high school, Johnson Jaguars. This week is one of the weeks I decided to make my New Year's Goals of not procrastinating and telling people outside my house No more often.

We finally made it to Friday the day of the big PowWow. I went up that morning and helped Peyton's class move from room to room, making Native American crafts. Later in the day Brian and I went back to help Peyton's class get ready. We got to watch them some on the playground which is always fun. She was Howling Wolf which we felt was completely appropriate for our loud mouth.

Here is was 8 classrooms of Kindergartners look like- 176 kids

They sang 10-12 songs with our favorite being one where the turkey didn't get away and did end up on the table. It was a great day and Peyton had a lot of fun.

I like standing behind one of my kids, you can't see how big my butt is these days.

Mom came down on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and we were so thankful she was here because the next day when Buddy died it was great to have her here to help with the girls. I made my first turkey by myself. I brined and cooked it using Alton Brown's method and I was so proud, I felt I had to take a picture

We also had the Craft Family Sweet Potato Casserole which might as well be dessert, the Pioneer Woman's Garlic Mashed Potato w/roasted garlic- yum, green beans with carrots and garlic- yes we like garlic, and rolls. Then chocolate and apple pie (I cheated and got a Mrs. Smiths). I made Landree her own mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, and soy chocolate pie. It's nice to know I can cook an entire full meal by myself. It was a really nice and relaxing day.

Mom and I went to the Friday sales but not too early. There really wasn't much we wanted to get. That weekend we got out all of our Christmas decorations and bless her heart, Landree had broken 4 ornaments in less than hour. Mom also helped me break out my new sewing machine. While we were in Hancocks I found an Abby Cadabby flannel print and mom helped me pick out a pattern to make pj bottoms. As you can see, I had lots of help

Mom had several ornament projects to make with the girls. Peyton had a great time making hers and Landree needed lots of Nana help

We got the snowman out front blown up and the girls decided to do their normal head turn- Those are Landree's new PJ pants, she put them on as soon as I finished them.

Then they got their giggle boxes turned on and you can see Landree practically bursting with energy in this series of pictures. You can always click on a picture to make it bigger.

Here are the girls having survived Thanksgiving

New Header

All right Grandparents, I know you don't actually go to the blog and instead you read it through email. Just wanted to let you know I changed the blog header. For the rest of you, that's one item checked off my two week to do list.

2009 Goals

Okay so normally I'm not one to do resolutions and certainly not in a public setting. I usually plan on losing weight and that usually doesn't happen or doesn't stick so I'm not doing that one this year. You'll probably find this boring but I'm putting it on here so that in a few months I'll be able to look back and see if I have accomplished any of it. So here we go with this years goals

• STOP procrastinating. I put everything off to the last minute. I'm then running around like a chicken with my head cut off, staying up late, aggravating my husband, letting other things go while I'm trying to get that project done, and then getting it finished at the last absolute minute where I'm usually not happy with whatever it is with no time to fix it.
• Embrace being a Homemaker- Ouch I hate that word. I recently read an article titled, "Is the Art of Homemaking Lost?" If I would have read that two years ago before we moved, I would have snorted and said something about what the hell kind of art is it to clean, straighten up, clean faces and butts, and cook. Well now that I'm here I realize it is in an art or a skill that I am sorely lacking. So my goal is to figure out a family/household schedule on how to get all that needs to be accomplished done during the day and not hold it all until right before someone comes over. I think I'm seeing a repeat of that whole procrastination thing again.
• Organized- Okay so you're seeing a general theme here of needing to get my butt in gear. I have crap all over this house that I have only lived in a year and a half. I saw some show on being organized and it said everything needs to have a place and it dawned on me this is half my problem. The first half, I have too much crap and the second half- not all my crap has a place.
• No/Yes- I need to tell people outside my house Yes less and No more and tell the people inside my house Yes more and No less.
• Family/Movie Game night with the girls each week. We are always together but I want to make it more of a tradition so that we continue it.

Okay so that's what I've got for now. What are some of yours? I might need to add them to my list.