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.