creative juices.

this is what chillin' looks like.

she has no idea which hand to use, so she uses both.

painting hearts...and faces.

emily loves brown.

saturday.

a little trip to the salvation army today.

this one is for me.

this was my favorite book when i was in like 1st and 2nd grade.

i checked it out from our school library a lot.

i was happy to bring this home today.

along with some others. there's a brand new copy of 'the nose book'(dr seuss type), matilda...more for me, too. it's by roald dahl...i love him. there are a few missing books that the kids had taken off with. winnie the pooh and a couple of sesame street books. $6 for all. justin was working in the room and i had to help, but i made a quick run to the basement to see what 'macguyver' was doing. just this.

almost a year later, and the door is hung up.

my new headboard.

sorry i had to black and white this pic..it was too bright and yellowy.

i hate the energy efficient light bulbs.

this is the lovely gap.

i want to put columns on the sides of the door for decorative touch/to hide the gap. heidi, start looking!

there will be a shelf on top, too.

that's it for our saturday.

i'm spent. oh, i almost forgot.

justin got to pick out his own valentine's gift today.

they had seasons 1-4 of lost on sale at target for $17.

i've never seen them lower than $38 and he's been wanting them forever.

he picked out season 4 as his v-day gift.

i love gifts that we can both benefit from. :)

farewell.

for those of you who keep up with this,

you know i've been using my pioneer woman cookbook a lot.

a lot.

i was just telling justin last week that it's going to have to be a once a week book.

he's gonna gain weight.

um, he's already there.

he was 174 when he signed back into the navy in november.

today he weighed in on base at 190.

190!!!

i'd love to call it a little holiday weight,

but i think it's more like a little pw weight. :)

so now pw's book will get used like once a month.

i just made breakfast puffs today, too.

he doesn't blame just pw for his weight,

but rachel, since she sent the book to me. :)

i wrote her an e-mail today and told her he said we couldn't be friends.

ha ha!!

so farewell pw cooks...

see you in a month.

off week.

um, yeah.

so i've been missing for a bit.

sorry.

this is about the only thing i've really accomplished in days.

well, that and i cleaned out the pantry.

but now all of the stuff that i was storing in there is sitting on the

dining room table and underneath it.

not pretty.

i don't do a very good job of staying on task.

my bad.

so, yeah...i strung hearts.

so sad.

the colored hearts i cut out free hand using paper that i've had since before

emily was born.

super old.

i was tired of seeing it in my valentine's decor box.

i've spent a little time with my phone.

usually it's cause jen is texting me, wondering where the heck i am.

i haven't even gotten to read my book at all this week. i need to. maybe tonight.

i did manage to draw some pictures for my kids to color.

if you've ever read a child a sandra boynton book,

the characters looked like that.

i just freehanded a penguin and a hippo for emily,

a penguin and lion for aiden.

they liked that a lot.

justin told me, "i didn't know you could draw like that."

WHAAAAAT????

i guess i will have to introduce him to his wife. last night i watched 'the proposal' with justin. well, i watched the first 20 minutes of it with him. then his nyquil kicked in. still, i enjoyed it. funny flick. i heart ryan reynolds and his display of sarcasm. the best. i have been falling behind on my blog reading, too. the only one that i actually check everyday is rachel's. if i leave her a comment, she e-mails me back one. and if you don't know anything about me, that is the way into my heart. mail, that is. and that is why we are bff's. (in mumbled voice) whether rachel knows it or not. i really do love mail, though. love it beyond words. oh, and i haven't taken a photo in days, which is very unlike me. well, i took this one monday... or tuesday... or...what day is it?!? either way... i thought it was a funny moment. if you can see aiden, that is how he watches tv. sesame street was on, i think. something on pbs, i know for sure. i can't remember and i can't tell in the photo. anyway, justin stood there for 3 minutes watching the show before he finally turned around and told me he was leaving for work.

i've been busy working on a project, which is why i'm behind on things. it may possibly be for justin for v-day. i've been doing a lot of work on the computer for it and i am getting bed sores from sitting here so long. or chair sores. whatever. have you ever seen the friends episode where chandler stays home from work to play the old school arcade game of pacman so he can beat phoebe's scores?? his hand is all crazy looking, more like a claw when he's done after hours and hours of playing?? my hand is about like that from using the mouse all day. and i have bruises on the side of my hand from where it sits on my desk. ouch. that being said, don't judge me for not taking photos and editing them. at this point i never want to see the computer again. you know i'm serious now.

it's the little things...

just some little things that i want...

[glasses.]

not that i need them, since i have 20/15, but i've always wanted some.

even just sunglasses.

[ipod.]

okay, that's not little(price wise, i mean) but it's amazing how music makes me happy.

[double sided tape.]

you never know when you're gonna need it.

everytime i need it, i never have any.

[pink band-aids.]

or striped.

something cute.

[paper to draw on.]

so i don't keep stealing emily's.

[pens to draw with.]

my fave just ran out of ink.

and even it was one that belonged to justin.

[miraculous make-up.]

the dark circles under my eyes are making me look like my mother.

[famie to do my hair for me.]

not just a haircut.

i mean fix it for me.

everyday.

seriously.

[be on location with jessica roark.]

i'd love to watch her work her photography magic.

[a vacation.]

just with justin.

i don't care where the kids stay(my parents, in-laws, mob boss's safe house),

just as long as i can focus on he and i.

[one andes mint a day.]

okay.

maybe two.

[ponytail holders.]

um, i just pulled my hair back with a twistie-tie.

[knee to pop.]

seriously.

i've been trying to pop it for the last 12 minutes.

okay, that's all for now.

random in 2010.

a little randomness.

commercial came on while i was waiting for my movie.

spangles.

yummy food place here.

like in and out,

but not as good.

does that make sense?

probably not.

anyway, the owner, renee stevens came on

and all i could think about was what someone said about her...

"is that old woman still on the commercials for spangles??"

only i couldn't remember who that was that asked me that.

i think i'm getting old.

i did figure it out, though.

it was frank, germany's husband.

he asked me about spangles while we were in dallas.

talk about random, frank.

of all the things we could talk about that we hadn't in 2 years,

spangles is what was on the list. :)

scratch that.

i haven't talked to frank in person since 2006.

wow.

still...

i liked it.

it was like they never left and we just picked up from where

we left off the last time we saw each other.

randomness part 2:

watching 'in the land of women' with meg ryan and kristen stewart...

i cannot for the life of me remember the male leads name,

but he use to be on the o.c.

one of my fave guys.

sarcastic.

love it.

i love how meg ryan's character brings over cookies to his house...

only she doesn't bake them.

they're fig newton's that she had put on a platter

and placed plastic wrap over.

that's using your noodle.

something about this movie...

i don't know for sure what it is,

but i really like it.

i especially like it cause it's on tv and it's edited.

from all the extra words being mouthed,

there's obviously a bit of cussing in it.

meg has a line that i think we all think about from time to time.

"i just don't want to look back on my life and wonder what part

of it belonged to me."

footprints.

my house is being invaded by new inhabitants.

i may have to charge rent.

footprints everywhere.

belle's entourage. this is captain hook. he has big footprints.

the creature in the box leaves footprints and messes on my floor.

of course the boy helps pull the hay out of the box to make that mess...

could it be any grosser?

yes.

yes it could.

justin and i are putting together a chore chart for this one.

well, i say justin...

i'm sure he'll have some thoughts in the matter,

but I will be making the thing.

we decided that she is going to work for an allowance so

that she can buy her mirror that she broke.

(if you missed that episode, she had a demonic tantrum on christmas eve and

broke her full length mirror that her grandparents had just given her 10 minutes

prior to, by kicking it. not a pretty ordeal.)

we didn't want to reward her bad behavior by just getting her a new one,

but instead thought she needed to really work for it.

if you have any floors that need to be mopped at your house,

let me know. :)

hmmmm.

maybe i should make her do some chores at granny and papa's house

since it was their money she wasted.

that's a thought.

cousins were over yesterday to entertain the little ones.

the cousin's school was cancelled due to the -4 temp in the a.m.

heatwave compared to justin's bro and s.i.l., ja and heidi, in st. joe, mo.

i was talking to them on the computer at midnight and they

said it was -19 degrees at that moment.

yikes.

footprints outside.

a good sign.

even the mailman leaves prints at my house!

ice on the porch.

all i can think of is home alone and home alone 2.

come and knock on my door...

um, i won't answer it unless you call ahead of time.

AND my house is clean.

good luck catching me on a day like that.

this is what the cousins like to do.

nintendo ds.

the black hole.

emily's room.

it needs a facelift soon.

a boy in trouble.

a footprint maker.

she's been enjoying the house's heat lately.

we usually have her kennel in the garage,

but moved it in once the 7.5 foot tree was put away.

she is loved and enjoyed by all.

even the one that has to clean up her muddy prints off

the wood and carpeted floors.

i enjoy her a lot more than i did 2 yrs ago when she was a puppy,

chewing on my new baseboards.

unfortunately, there is one thing about her that the kids don't like:

hay.

they are allergic.

i was up at 2 am dumping her kennel out on the back porch to get

rid of all of the hay.

even ran the vac at 2 am to make sure it was all gone.

aiden was up coughing and wheezing so bad,

i had to give him 2 breathing treatments back to back.

i don't think him playing with the hay yesterday helped the cause at all.

all is well now.

i was making my grocery list for some pw food.

if you have the book(or even if you don't),

you have GOT TO make marlboro man's favorite sandwich.

it is the absolute best thing in that book.

even better than the cinnamon rolls.

that's right.

serious stuff.

i think it may single handedly get justin kicked out of the navy

for not meeting his weight requirement.

he told me last night he was going to start going

on base fri-sun to work out. :)

the fury and the furry.

a justin and susie conversation.

very short and hard to come by these days,

but there are some good ones.

like this:

(talking about books i already have and ones i need to get)

justin: well, they(wal-mart)had 1&2 and they had another book,

but not the fifth one.

i think the one they had was called 'the furry'.

susie:' the furry'?? you mean 'the fury'?!!?!??

justin: no, it said 'the furry'.

susie: [laughing hysterically] hon, that's 'the fury'!!!

justin:[arguing as if he was about to lose a lawsuit] no! it's not!!

it's spelled f-u-r.

fur.

not f-r-u-r-y.

fur-y.

susie: babe.

furry is f-u-r-r-y.

fury is f-u-r-y.

justin: oh.

i do not make this stuff up, people.

maize high graduate.

thank you east high for providing me with wonderful english teachers.

germany, at last!!

6 hours of driving.

5 construction zones.

2 squealing, laughing, giggling, hitting, sleeping kids.

i can't say texans aren't friendly drivers,

but the texas way of driving is driving 90 in a 65.

waiting for germany, aka aunt natalie, to meet us at the hotel.

we were about 20 minutes earlier there than them.

seeing "her friend kait" for the first time in 2 years.

she always calls her that.

at the "fancy" mall in dallas.

saks fifth avenue.

tiffany's.

pottery barn, which i had to walk by and not go into.

if they would've had a pb kids i would've gone in.

those girls ran all through the mall.

i was one of those parents.

totally worth it.

they had so much fun.

you know those kids that you want your kid to be bff's with,

but they just don't get along well enough to make it as bff's??

em and kait are not those kids at all.

ceiling in the mall over the ice skating rink.

yes, ice skating rink in the mall.

so weird.

all the levels.

our kid parade.

lunch time.

"you gotta pucker up your lips, like this..."

germany in the flesh.

big f and jus.

fun pic with kait.

if you ever go to dallas on a budget,

do not take your kid to american girl.

man, those dolls are expensive.

the girl's really wanted one.

bad.

we PROMISED we would take them to the disney store.

the 2nd mall of the day (in search of the disney store),

aiden found a buzz hat at jc penney.

and the girls found a carousel.

after our mall trip,

it was back to the hotel for us.

the kids were sooo crazy.

recently a friend of mine had visited disney in cali

for christmas and said the best things for kids are trips to hotels.

psshhhh!

not for mine.

they were awful.

no exaggeration.

thankfully we weren't there too long.

we made a run to our 3rd mall in search of the disney store.

and we found one!!!

finally.

the boy found lots of "howdy-howdy" toys.

thank you disney store for the abundance in toy story items that

my son can actually have.

and for the sale.

love clearance.

he made it out with 2 buzz plates, cups,

a bowl, 2 small CHEWABLE buzz and woody dolls(like dog toys almost-love them),

and a stuffed buzz doll to join his woody doll that granny and papa

found him for christmas.

happiest child on earth.

emily got a stuffed dug that talks(the dog from UP) per my request.

and when she doesn't want it,

i will gladly take it. :)

since i really wanted it,

i let her pick out her own toy.

good thing she's cheap.

she found a beauty and the beast figurine set.

go figure.

dinner at bj's brewhouse.

one of justins many empty glasses of dr. pepper.

i swear he thinks that stuff is water.

germany and i.

sportin' my 97 cent shirt from old navy.

getting ready to leave.

this was not a staged moment.

saying farewell.

bye, germany!

we will miss you!!

their new friends.

our hotel was on emily road.

emily liked it when judy, our gps, said emily road.

tear.

we didn't get to have any.

well. justin cried over jack n the box.

i didn't so much.

everything's bigger in texass.

hi, shelby!

oklahoma city.

i always hate seeing this sign.

i miss tulsa.

frontier city.

emily said, "that's my city!!"