Pictures!

Here is the ever so precious and precocious Delyla on her 1st birthday - of course, riding her princess Ariel scooter. She loves it!

Darion is acting like a turtle in the next picture. We were at the awesome Houston zoo!

Princess Delyla on Halloween - such a cutie pie!

Darion and Dalton as Batman and Indiana Jones on Halloween!

Delyla's first steps and her first 2 teeth - more on the way!

This picture is for Alison - remember when Paxton, Stanton, and Darion wore these PJ's? Here are the last 2 wearing them proudly! Our little pumpkins...
Here is a picture of Brett Favre. Yes, he slept in my bed last night...hmmmm

I wish this was in focus. Jon caught this picture of Dalton on the Carousel at the Zoo. He was sooooooo excited that Daddy was there. He waved every time we went around. A special day with dad is all it takes to make these kids happy... Meee tooooo!

Where are you?

I can't believe I haven't had time to blog in a month! Well, I guess I can. Life is hectic though right? I lost around 35 pounds this week when I stopped keeping little Garrett during the day. I look and feel great! Too bad the weight didn't actually come off of my butt... (for those of you who need clarification - the 35 pounds was the little boy no longer coming to my house at 6:15 in the morning)

It was just more than I was willing to handle - having an extra three year old that is not biologically yours around is a ton of work. So far, this week has been a dream, quiet, easy. I will never complain about my angel Dalton again (well, atleast for a few days longer).

We did however gain a new member to the family - Brett Favre is his name and he is a 6 week old mutt of a lab type variety. He is sooooo cuddly and cute. Darion really needed a buddy and Brett fits the bill. I'll post pictures tomorrow when I can. Talk about precious. We were going to wait until Christmas to get him a pet, but a sweet friend mentioned her puppies were old enough to be adopted, so we took the kids by her house yesterday and Darion picked out his little buddy. My only requirement is that he picks up the poo.... and that the dog didn't end up being named after a pokemon character. I won in both regards and Darion named him after my favorite football player. Isn't he sweet? Now when Kareena called today and I told her I had to go help Brett Favre potty, I wasn't really lying! Hee Hee...

So many exciting things have happened in the past month! Delyla turned 1 and had a precious princesss party complete with castle cake and frosting. She loved eating the frosting and made adorable faces throughout. She knew that all of the fuss was about her and acted like quite a diva. She has us all wrapped around her finger! She took her first steps last week and will only attempt them when no one is looking. She's not quite sure what to think of the puppy at this point. She doesn't like it to be too near her if she is on the floor. I hope they warm up to eachother.

Dalton has bee having a blast with mommy almost all to himself this week. Daddy even stayed home and we all went to the zoo. He is in heaven and I think he is enjoying not having to share... not sure if that is good or not at this point, but we'll go with the flow...

Darion got 3 awards at school today! He was awarded a certificate for math achievement, and 2 certificates for kids meals at Applebee's - one for getting an A on his 6-weeks math test and the other for getting an A on his 6-weeks reading test! Gooooooo Darion!

Jon switched car dealerships and is now working back at the Friendly Ford here in Crosby. He has enjoyed the switch so far, but is looking for a change out of the car sales business. Who could blame him with the economy in such a state and the American car manufacturers in such a mess...

Me? Well, as we all know, I sit around with my feet on a silken cushion, eating bon bons and watching the food network. Wait, don't pinch me!!!! I'd like to stay asleep a little longer.... awww man, the dog and Delyla have both just taken a giant poo and it looks like they've been eating out of the same dog bowl... Calgon, take me away..... far.

What makes me happy?

I've been thinking alot about what actually makes me happy and then tonight as I was looking through my camera and uploading pictures, it hit me, that I've got everything I need to be happy right here and right now. I've got a wonderful family full of love and kindness. I've got great friends all over. I've got a home to live in and a car to drive and I can almost afford to fill it up now! I've got an amazing, romantic, hard working husband and three unbearably adorable, smart and fun children. My parents are supportive and kind and thoughtful, as are my siblings. We all seem even closer than we were as kids. But most of all, even if I didn't have any of these things, I've got my faith to sustain me through any trial that could test my happiness quotient. I rarely lack the ability to "get happy" and have always been told by people that I just smile all of the time and radiate a kind of joy. I know that I am this way because of my testimony of The Church and of Jesus Christ. I wish I would have known it when I was younger.

Here are some pictures of my kids doing some of the things that make me happy. I have to live vicariously sometimes because I'm so busy, but it really shows that we do have some good times together! I had trouble posting the pictures where I could type around them, so here's the description followed by the pictures. Aren't my kids the bomb?

Hanging out with friends (here's Dalton with his preschool buddies) , Being a goof ball and laughing (Darion in his Indiana Jones hat being goofy at his birthday party), digging into some major chocolate without any guilt (I helped a little), being outdoors (a cool breeze), playing with Delyla (she has 3 pacifiers which made her very happy that day), a nice warm bath without interruption ( here's Delyla getting a bath after a messy dinner - she was too messy for the tub and went straight to the sink!), finding joy in everyday things (like a new park with a water area), a good book (this is my ultimate best day, A good book)...

Well, I guess I am going to have to face the facts... The blogging world just can't have been the same the last few weeks without my clever ramblings blocking everyones network... It just seems that I don't have enough time to even wash my hair! We have been soooo busy.

My parents came to stay with us for a week and a half after the storm and then headed up to take care of my sister during her stem cell transplant (which seems to be going as well as it can be when you erradicate your entire immune system...). We had some fun and silly times while they were here. Luckily, once they spoke to contractors and got bids on repairing the damage their beach house took from Ike, the house didn't require as much work as they had originally thought. They should be able to move back in whenever they are ready, which was probably yesterday right? However, being the wonderful parents that they are, they are lovingly caring for Roxanne and I'm sure she really appreciates and needs the help.

Jon and I evacuated with the boys to Waco during Hurricane Ike and had a great time at Grandma's house with Jon's two brothers. I'll have to post the pictures. We ate and ate and ate and watched movies and played baseball. Good Times, Good Times.

When we got home we had a couple of days without power, but all in all, we were very blessed. We had food, power, and Jon home until the car dealership opened back up. It was heaven. We just never get to spend much time with him. Thanks to Ike, we got almost 2 whole weeks. Now, if we could get two weeks where we aren't evacuating, that would truly be heaven.

Once power was back on, we got back to the normal chaos that is the Family Bohannon. I am keeping an extra little guy named Garrett during the day. He is almost 3 and has giant blue eyes. Such a sweetie! He and Dalton get along really well. I keep 2 other kids after school too. They come home about the time that Darion does and the the party really starts. Now I know what all of those typical Mormon moms feel like. Six kids is alot to have around and I only have them all together for a couple of hours. I actually enjoy it most days and really am glad to be able to be a mom and work and earn money without having to put my babies in daycare.

We have a Great book club group. Most of the girls are from church. Most of the time we actually discuss the book. All of the time it is super fun, great stress relief and uplifting too. We have read some wonderful books so far. I'll have to update my Shelfari to show. We are going to tackle a few books this month in a round robin kind of way I think. I love to read and never seem to have enough time. I love to read a book that one of my friends says is worth my time. Just knowing that I won't be disgusted or offended or bored half way through is worth so much when my time is so limited. We're reading a book called Emma by Anita Stansfield that is a retelling of Joseph and Emma Smith's relationship. A little sappy, but enjoyable and romantic. We're also going to read a book called No One Can Take Your Place by Sheri Dew. It will hopefully help us to reaffirm our faith and give us all strength to be witnesses of Jesus Christ as times get tougher. The last Sheri Dew book we all read was so awesome. I have high hopes for this one too. The third book is called The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It was recommended on Stephenie Meyer's web-site and sounds really engrossing . I imagine that when it is my turn with that book, that my family will be put on hold and I will be ordering pizza so that I can read it and read it fast.

My birthday came and thankfully went without too much of a bang. I didn't see any new wrinkles in the mirror, even if there are a few more pounds on the scale. Maybe the extra pounds are filling in the wrinkles for me. Maybe I shouldn't try to lose weight at all. Skinny or wrinkled? What would you choose???

I'll try to post some pics of my little sweeties later this weekend. Delyla has 2 little teeth on the bottom now and almost enought hair on top to do a silly little pony tail like Pebbles Flinstone. I imagine that she'll be walking any time now. Girls are so cool! Dalton has had a little bit of a hard time since the hurricane. I think he's been feeling insecure, which means "mommy, hold me... all day" , but we're living through it. Who can turn down an adorable curly headed three year old with elephant tears in his eyes? Darion is plugging along in school. Reading more each day and whizzing through any math or art they throw his way. Such a neat kid. Jon is back to work and though the market is in a slump, he is working hard and selling as much as he can. All in all, we are great. The only thing that could make it better would be a house that doesn't need a bunch of work and a view worth looking at out the window. But, we'll be happy wherever we are.

On and on she droned whether anyone read or not. Cathartic therapy.... blogging rocks.

On again, off again...

Hey everyone! Just jotting a quick post to let everyone know we came through the storm just fine. We evacuated to Wacky Waco and had a really great time at Carolyn's (my MIL). We came back to Crosby about 4 days after the storm and had 4 more days with no power. It was fun and I absolutely loved not having a TV, but I did miss the computer. My parents had some damage to their beach house, but nothing too major. They have been staying with us the last week or so and are heading up to stay with Roxanne in the hospital. Her stem cell transplant is tomorrow and we are all praying that everything will go smoothly and that those fresh new cells will revive and heal her body. It's been chaos, but I'm loving every exhausting minute of it! Thanks to everyone that called and emailed wondering about how we are.

Good times, Good times

Here are some pictures from the weekend I spent with Roxanne. First off, here is Delyla as I am leaving to go to Dallas. No remorse, no worries, excitement to have Daddy all to herself. We are always competing for his attention. She almost always wins and who could blame Jon for that? She is adorable. She was playing in the yard while the a/c man was removing our old unit. Quite the nature girl, like her mama... Here is a gorgeous picture of Roxanne and Kevin at the Pocket Sandwich. It was so nice to spend the weekend with them. I witnessed them constantly doing small, nice things for eachother. You could tell that they truly love eachother. I could cry (and have) in gratitude that my sweet deserving sister has finally found a guy that is sweet to her as well. Nobody's perfect, but we all deserve to be treated with kindness every day and they seem to genuinely try to do that. Gotta love 'em.
The Twisted Sisters...
On Sunday (yes, sunday... dad will shoot me for breaking the Sabbath...) Roxanne and I went to lunch and met up with my two oldest friends - (well almost oldest, I do have one friend that I've known since the 4th grade). Tanya (blondie on the right) and Alison (my redheaded step sister on the left). This is a different Alison than the infamous Allison Batchelder from NM. Tanya, Alison and I have such a long history. There is nothing as wonderful as a friend who has known you for so long, through good and bad choices, skinny, fat, happy, sad, pregnant, not pregnant, lonely or full of love. Any friend who could love you through middle school dorkiness and high school drama deserves a giant bear hug and a diamond ring. We joked about old boyfriends and friends and feuds. It was great! These two girls are so awesome and I love them so much. It was exciting to hear about their families and to know that we are still close enough be able to count on eachother. I'll have to dig up an old high school picture to post with this one some day. You know, all in all, except for Foxy Roxy being currently bald, we all look pretty much the same. Must be good genes.
Finally, I just had to post this picture. Delyla was in the living room alone for a second while Jon left the room. She was mesmerized by the Moday night foosball... I couldn't believe that she was so glued to the tube when it wasn't even Brett Favre the amazing playing. I guess we all have to start somewhere.

Can we say addict?????

I'm here at Roxanne's using her sweet Mac computer with a FIOS connection. Talk about fast! I am in absolute heaven. My computer is just deplorably slow in comparison. I'm going to have to find a way to upgrade. It took me longer to pick a new background than it did to change it. It would have been hours, days, weeks, months of utter tedium had I attempted it at home. Isn't it cute? I am not addicted to blogging yet, but man, if I had a fast computer and a fast connection, you guys would be super sick of me... Lucky for you all, I'm still a dinosaur in comparison to most. Oh well, we can all have a dream.

We're having so much fun here in Dallas! Last night we went to see a play called Moon Over Buffalo at a little dive theater called The Pocket Sandwich theater. We've always gone there off and on since I've was a teenager. It was a really funny, situational comedy where people were mistaken for others etc. I'll post pics when I get back home. Of course, we looked gorgeous!

Today we've been mostly lazy. We made some amazing sushi for lunch before Roxanne's boyfriend Kevin went to work. Ahi tuna, Salmon, Crab..... delicious! We followed the pig out session with a movie and 42 candy bars. We watched Juno and of course I cried so I'm all puffy and goofy looking. Overall, I think it was worth a one time watch. Anything that makes me cry isn't usually a preference for a second watch. Saddness sticks with me unfortunately. I work hard to be this perky person, people!

I do miss Jon and the kids so much, but am really enjoying just chilling out with my sister. She is a deep thinker and she loves music and movies and cross-stitching. She is such a hard worker and has strong opinions about things. We are like night and day in so many ways. We lucked out yesterday when we went to Baylor to meet her nurse for some testing. She didn't need to get the bone marrow biopsy after all - major relief, because evidentely it really hurts. Looks like she'll be heading to the hospital at the end of the month for the big stem cell transplant.

See everyone soon!

Peace and quiet.....sort of

Well, I sit alone in a dark apartment contemplating my navel (as dad would say). I'm in big D at Roxanne's unable to sleep past 7:00 am - maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow on that . I'm lucky to be here at all... Our Air Conditioner went out on Wednesday afternoon about 2 hours before 3 extra kids and 4 piano students were going to show up. By the time the kids got off the bus it was almost 90 degrees in the house. Yes, I looked and smelled beautiful. The first repairman we had over thought we needed an entirely new system - a mere $8,000 - pocket change, right? Well, Jon came home in a panic and got the lo-down on what was broken and began calling other repairmen. Thank you that my husband is a salesman. After a million phone calls, he had secured us a new condenser unit for outside, parts and labor for $2000. Yes, I think Jon rocks too...


When we realized that we weren't going to have to sell one of the children to afford air conditioning (you can imagine the logic... 3 year old, a/c, 3 year old, a/c...) Jon let me hop in the truck and head to Dallas. Only a few hours behind the original schedule. I got here around 3:00 yesterday, starving and in sore need of a potty - I just knew that if I stopped along the way, Jon would call, change his mind about dealing with utter chaos while I was gone, and beg me to come home. So, I bee lined it here. I talked to Jon around 8:30 last night and the house seemed to be cooling off, so I think life in Texas will continue uninterrupted while I am gone.


We went to Fry's electronics extravaganza and drooled at the amazing computers, gaming systems etc. We shopped for CD's and movies. We got massages. Talk about full service electronics shopping. Yes, I said massages... They had these amazing massage chairs that gave you a full body massage while you laid there and jiggled in the middle of the store. If you closed your eyes, you almost felt alone...that is, until you hear the bass thumping some P Diddy crap in the stereo department. It was really fun to shop with my sister and her boyfriend Kevin. They really know computers and they really love all kinds of music. We came home and watched football and then the Republican Convention. Go McCain! Gotta love Sarah Palin too!

Well on to a new fun day with my sister! I can't believe I have 3 more days - I actually ate lunch without a kids menu late yesterday - weird. Although, we did get the crayons... we colored in the chili peppers at Chili's to benefit cancer...


Thanks a million gazillion to My Big Hunk for letting me come to Dallas. Thanks to Sweet Mama K, the most considerate person ever, for keeping my kids so I could hang with Roxanne - I owe you guys, although payback will occur in extremely different ways... I guess we won't go there... hmmmm

Ahhh, Friends...

It has happened.... Dalton and Delyla are asleep at the same time and guess what??? I have no idea what to do with my time. Does that happen to anyone? I constantly feel like I don't get any time to myself and here it is, but I'm clueless what to do with it! Thank goodness that so many of my friends have cool blogs to check out. Although now that I have posted this, Jon will read it and know exactly why the laundry isn't done... oops again! I could read a book, but that would be lazy right? I could scrapbook, but we all know that by the time I get an idea together they will wake up. I could clean...but that is what I always do. I guess I'll just have to get the bon bons out of the freezer, prop up my feet and watch a cooking show. Eat your heart out Martha Stewart, I'm going to relax - well, atleast I'm going to try. Wish me luck!

Here's Darion! Big 3rd grader!!! I can't believe it. He is so much fun too. Workin' the camera like a pro... Darion started school last Monday and said that he likes his new teachers. He is riding the bus this year and informed me that it is not cool to have your mom waiting at the bus stop, so I watch out the window this year with a sad tear running down my face. Pretty soon he won't like me at all...

Well, while Darion has been at school, I have been putting Dalton to work. He has decided that he wants to be a Chef, so when we went to Target this week, we bought him some plastic food (tasty and realistic...) for his kitchen. He is hilarious! He will take your order and prepare you something entirely different from what you ordered. Here he is giving me an order of pizza and french fries. My dream lunch. Luckily, this food is all calorie free, because the set came with donuts and brownies too. Dalton will not let the meal be over until he gives you the check and you pay (thank heaven for monopoly money).

What a little charmer. He expects a tip too. Just like his dad...

I thought I would be really in for it when school started back, but Dalton, Delyla and I have had some great days so far.


I am headed to Dallas later this week to help out my sister. They have postponed her stem cell transplant due to some insurance junk, but she still needed help with other appointments. I am so excited to go! A couple of days with no kids and a rockin' cool sister! I am sooooo lucky!

Here we are!

Well this isn't turning out at all like I expected it too, but I guess it is going to have to do... My pictures are about as out of order as my house!!! Here's a catalog of what we've been up to the last couple of weeks. Jon's mom and brother came to visit, the kids and I went to the beach, we had a super duper family fun day that included the sport of all sports, bowling, which I totally kicked butt at!!! Here's Mr. Dalton who had his very own style of bowling. He would throw that ball out there with all of his might and it would literally inch its way down the lane, barely having any measurable momentum. Eventually, it would get to the pins. Thank you to the genius that created the bumpers which we all benefitted from. Dalton was sooooo in to the entire thing. We ate greasy nachos with Sprite and burped. He's got great potential! Talk about Quality Time.
Darion's victory dance after rolling a spare I think. He had a hilarious style too. If you know him, you won't be at all suprised that he sprinted to the line, spun the ball in a very ferocious, hyper way, and danced all the way back, all the while talking our ears off.
Here's the final score card. D Dog , of course is Darion, Bowser is Dalton, then I am Big Daddy and Jon is G Mama.... wait, what was that Jon?, I'm sorry, Jon stepped in and tried to falsify the truth so that everyone that reads my blog won't know that yes, here in plain print, there is evidence... I beat him ( I of course am G Mama... meaning Gorgeous and Great at everything)!!! Not that 132 is a score to be proud of, but, hey, I'll take a win how ever I can get it! Jon complained that the yucky lady sitting near us smoking like a chimney messed him up. Still, I beat him by a sizeable amount... please be sure to note the 2 strikes in a row, thank you very much!

Here's dad in his usual beach pose. It would be my preferable pose as well if I didn't have six little legs to keep up with.
Here's a visual of the lovely bowling shoes. Precious, and highly fashionable.
The most adorable bowler in the crowd, as well as the slimmest and most educated.
Darion sprinting to the line.
Jon playing with his pink ball. We won't really respond too much to that one, this is a family friendly blog...

Mom and Dad with the grand kids. We were at a fun benefit for an American Legion place where mom and dad go dancing. The kids had so much fun. Darion and Poppy are sporting their Indiana Jones hats and the quietest shirts they had. Dalton is wearing a ball cap that we call the "shorty" hat after the character in the Temple of Doom movie. There was a delicious roasted chicken dinner and a fun band playing mostly country music. I was the youngest babe there and the only one there with kids, I think, but my angelic children were soooooo well behaved, you would have never guessed that they were the same little tasmanian devils that I usually tote around town. Darion and Dalton helped serve food and then danced the night away!
The love birds... Mom and Dad have been married 40 years this year. Amazing that they could put up with eachother..... I mean, how lovely that they have endured through the good and the bad and been such amazing examples to us. Thanks mom and dad! Love you!!!
Dalton taking Mema for a spin around the dance floor.
Darion learning to do the Texas Two Step. He was really good at it by the end of the night!
Delyla, during the one moment that she wasn't eating the sand. Those were fun diapers...

Jon and his mom at Chili's.
Uncle BJ and the boys displaying their Mario and Yoshi action figures. They were lost forever about 2 hours later (the action figures, not the kids...)
Delyla the Diva wearing Gammy's necklace and eating cheerios. Quite the life of the party!
Darion demonstrating the finer technique required in the game of golf.
The gang ready to go out and hit the links.

Yes, our lives are as adorable as they appear on this blog, but don't be fooled...we have a dark side. Maybe I'll blog about it another time. Toodles!

The Mesmerizer...

No, I am not a child abuser, but yes, that is one huge goose egg. This photo was taken about 4 hours after Darion had a run in with a grill at the park. It was super freaky as Darion put it. Within seconds of bashing his head on the corner of the grill, he had a golf ball sized bump. By the time we thought to take a picture of it, it was substantially smaller. Thank goodness...
They were playing some type of super hero game and of course D-Dog was totally into the speed and thrill of the game. He popped up from a crouched run and bam!!! Lights out mister!! He was really tough through the whole thing. My reaction was not "ideal", but it was motherly and I eventually pulled it together. We raced home, put ice on it and he was fine. We spent the rest of the day thinking up fictitious super hero names and powers to go with them. The most accurate description for Darion the rest of the day was THE MESMERIZER. Here's why: the Mesmerizer speaks, incessantly, lulling its victims into a restful sort of trance that unless he stops speaking, they can never snap out of. Yes, I was lucky enough to be the object of the Mesmerizer's attention the rest of the day...blah, blah, blah... Now I know what my mom and dad had to go through. I still have problems stopping talking sometimes. I couldn't tell you anything we talked about and I can't describe my relief when Jon finally came home and he became the next victim of the Mesmerizer's charm. Oh sweet release!
This afternoon I cam into the living room and saw Delyla engrossed in the activities going on outside. It was adorable. Even taking the picture didn't peel her attention away.
Darion and Dalton had a friend over and they were playing in the plastic swimming pool outside. I'm not sure if they could have been enjoying themselves more going absolutely crazy and making a huge mess. Hot summer days in Texas - gotta love 'em. Especially when I get to stay inside with the a/c on and watch through the window.

Oops, I farkled...

Have you ever played Farkle? It is a super fun dice game. If I was as cool as Kareena, I'd take the time to find and awesome link to tell you the rules, but let's face it, there's no chance I could come even close to being as cool as she is... Anyway, look it up! You use six dice and keep score based on the rules - we looked them up on Wikipedia. The game is fast paced and even Dalton loves it, since he is able to roll the dice and there isn't a gameboard for him to mess with and make the rest of us crazy. Here, I'm attempting to put a little mojo on the dice with the rally hat on. I was showing Delyla how it's done, and as you can see, she was really interested.
The boys had to copy their cool mom of course by getting rally hats on and blowing on their dice too. Jon wasn't worried, he always wins everything... That is his, does she have the camera out again for that blog? face. Do your husbands have one??? This is all new to me.
After it all played out, Jon won - of course. He always wins at every game. I tried a last ditch effort to see if Delyla would blow on the dice, but she was not wanting to do anything except eat them. Maybe next time. We try to have a family game night once a week and we were soooo lucky that Jon was home for this one, even if he did win - by ALOT!