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.