Super Girl and Batman...or the best we could do!

Bubba and Sarah gave the kids capes awhile ago, and they wanted to be Super Girl and Batman for tonight. We are going square dancing later tonight with all the college students, which is always our favorite Fall activity. Today we went to Makenna's field trip to the Corn Maize. It was super hot and fun! Happy Fall, Y'all!

Tagalicious

My friend Angie has tagged me...and I am feeling guilty that I have not done this yet, so here it goes.
7 Random Melissa Facts:

1. I love, love, love green olive pizza from Poppa Rollo's Pizza in Waco. I can't find a picture to do it justice. The pizza is covered completely in green olives and tons of cheese. Oh, I want some right now. I have been known to bribe cousins and aunts into bringing me some on their way here. I usually have to get up in the night to drink a gallon of water after I eat some of this wonderfulness because it is soooo salty and soooo good!

2. I repaint/reuse/refurbish nearly everything. Makenna's bed is hand me down, redone. Her nightstand used to be a coffe table in my Nanny's house. Tracen's headboard is an old queen headboard I put on the side of the bed as a kind of daybedish thing. His dresser is my old one with new knobs. Our coffee tables are my parents 70's ones that I repainted and then recovered the glass with brown suede contact paper. Our ottoman is Tyson's old coffee table with legs cut off and fabric added and tufted, kitchen table is Tyson's old one growing up, chairs are repainted and recovered, entry hall table was Tyson's parents' first dresser that was AQUA BLUE and now it is sleek and black. That is how I operate, mainly because I am cheap, and I love it!


3. I want a Subaru. Yes, I am weird, but I think they are so dependable, get great gas mileage, and are able to go anywhere. When the kids (and all the kid stuff) are gone, the plan is to get a Tribeca. WooHoo!



4. This lady had such a huge influence on my life. Most people do not know her because she died June 29, 2003. She was my Nanny. The way I plan parties, think of silly details, put my socks and slips into labeled baggies, drink Canada Dry Ginger Ale, laugh until I cry buckets and buckets of tears with my stomach hurting and face as red as a beet, cook my green beans, make red velvet cake-the real way with deep red icing, celebrate Christmas, love my family and friends, truly believe God, see suffering so differently, empathize with everyone, and the way my thumbnails look, are all from her. She would have loved to meet you, and you would have loved to meet her.


5. Jon and Kate Plus 8 is my favorite show. I laugh, cry, completely understand, and really learn a lot by watching this show. I eat more organically, recycle, and try and laugh at some situations I might normally freak out over. I have also stopped obsessing as much about cleanliness and germs...though I am still in the obsessed category. They love the Lord, love each other, and are making it work in this day and age, and I appreciate that immensely.



6. This Bible Study changed my life. We say this frequently at our house:
God is who he says he is.
God can do what he says he can do.
I am who God says I am.
I can do all things through Christ.
God's Word is alive and active in me.
I'm Believing God.


7. I am pregnant! I'm believing You, God.

Go Tech!

Tracen got to meet Graham Harrell and some dude with a huge mohawk...sorry, dude, I forgot your name, at his Preschool. It was so hilarious to see the kids all excited, and then to see their excitement wane when they gazed upon the humongous guy with crazy hair! Some laughed, some cried, some ran away, and some absolutely refused to have their picture taken with them. Graham kept asking Tracen if he could hold him for a picture, and Tracen of course said no every time. But today during the Tech/aTm game Tracen was playing with Legos, and he heard the announcers talking about Graham Harrell. He jumped up and said,"That's Graham! I KNOW him!" He likes to think he is way cool...even if he would not give Graham the time of day when he was right there! Go Tech!

Newport Beach, California

Man, such a stir over one tiny little picture of LA Ink High Voltage Tatoo Parlor! Yes, I am a closet watcher of this show...have been since the beginning. It keeps me up-to-date on how the world works outside of the flatlands. The REAL world. And let me just say that after hunting it down in LA, if Tyson and I could have thought of one single thing we wanted on our bodies for the rest of our lives, we would have gotten it there. While we were there it was "walk-ins welcome" because they weren't filming. Perfect opportunity, but just no inspiration. Back to the beginning...we were invited to my cousin's wedding in Newport. "Onboard the yacht 'Ambassador' departing at 6pm and returning portside at 10pm," to be exact. We never in a million years thought we could go. Yeah right! Tyson has had a vendor in LA, Simi Valley really, since the start of our company. They have been phone friends all this time, so Tyson decided it was time to go and visit him the same weekend as the wedding! WooHoo for executive decisions paid for by company funds! So we were off, without the kiddos, too! We absolutely loved it. Newport Beach is an entirely different world that what we are used to. Everything is immaculate and just as you might see on tv. The OC ring a bell? Homes are piled right next to each other, and rentals of a condo were 1.5 million. My cousins' friends were amazed at "all the land" you could own in Texas for under $200,000, and wanted to know what living in the Bible Belt meant. We were offered more drinks that we have ever been offered in our lives, and when I got back every time someone asked me if I wanted a drink I felt the need to explain, though Grandad just wanted to get me some water! We went to The Grove, ate at the Farmer's Market, drove all around Hollywood, Beverly, and downtown LA, found La Brea Ave and LA Ink, enjoyed seeing real surfers, walked up and down the beach, drove all around the towns of Newport and Balboa, took the ferry to Little Balboa Island, ate amazing, and actually cheap, seafood-I need a fish taco, had an original Balboa Chocolate Covered Banana...twice, longed for Roxy and Billabong stores where we live, and enjoyed a beautiful wedding on a yacht! Here are some pictures of one of the most wonderful trips we have ever been on. Tyson is already trying to figure out another reason to visit his vendor again!

Kat Von D herself, on a mural in the back of the store

Farmer's Market...best kept secret of LA, hands down


My Lavash, a flatbread filled with many things. Mine with chicken, cream and mushrooms. Origin is in the Mediterranean back in the villages in the hills. Wow.


Sweet, sweet, beautiful Sheena? I could not understand her name very well, but she worked at Moishe's Village Boreakas in Farmer's Market. She was asked in her early twenties to come and work in the US from Lebanon. She did not want to come, but her father made her. She never was able to see him and most of her family again. She had a son who hated life in LA/USA so much that he killed himself. He could not bear it here anymore. She was an amazing and beautiful and strong woman. Hug her for me if you ever go there.



Mmmmmmmm, freshly dipped! Tyson is a little too excited about this apple!



Inspiration Point and the view both ways. Well worth the steep walking trail!

Newport Pier

Taking the ferry to Balboa

I have serious cravings for these bananas. They were on the Food Network!

Michael looking for his bride, and his brother Patrick
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Uncle Terry and Danida

Michael and Cynthia

Cuz and Cuz

Happy ending to a wonderful trip!

Where the Heck Have I Been...and many random almost-posts

Alright! I have decided that my life is a bit crazier than I had first thought or expected. With the new Pre-K thing, I am only home and able to do all the one million things necessary to live as a family 2 hours one day, 2 hours another day, and then a few on Fridays. I know this absolutely does not compare to my friends who have full time jobs in any way, but it has taken us down a path of chaos. People comment (aka make fun) of the fact that my house is usually clean, picked up, and acceptable even for one of my germ-a-phobe friends to actually feel comfortable sitting on my couches. (you know who you are, lady!) After the whole mouse in the wall thing, it all went downhill fast. Laundry is piled up in our closet to the edges of the top row of hanging clothes, dust upon dust has settled everywhere, and when you sit down for a meal at the table your feet stick to the floor if you are on the west side. Just FYI so beware. AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Really? Yes. So every time I have some time to sit down and blog, I simply cannot due to house/family/Do you really need a bath/I have no underwear/No jamies are in my drawer, Mama/What are we eating for dinner/Why are you not playing with us/I wrote my name in the table dust/I think Aussie just dug a hole to China/Where are my white T-shirts/But I don't want to do my homework/I am not cutting on the lines/Can we go out to eat/Mosquitoes are taking my blood out in my bed/Give me some ice water in a new cup/I don't want that for my lunch/But I have to take this to school/Why can't you pick up my room/Tracen won't stop talking in his bed so he is keeping me awake and I might not need to go to school tomorrow with no sleep so if I don't get sleep and if my stuffy nose is not better from you propping me up in bed and giving me mentholatum on my face I will just stay home and we can all go to Bahama Bucks after lunch or maybe for breakfast.

This is where we are...

But for my friends, including germ-a-phobe #1B and #2L, which both of you know I am tied for the #2 spot, I cleaned the kitchen, both bathrooms, and dusted every single thing in our home tonight. If I could just get to that sticky floor...

So here are some of my top almost-posts from the last 2ish weeks:

~Turning around to check on who just sneezed in a class of 4 year olds and gazing upon untold amounts of globby, green, gooey, enough to fill at least 1/4 cup of snot, does, in fact, make your gag reflex nearly come undone.

~Asking a 4 year old (not mine or any of my friends' kids...they would never...?) to take off his wet jeans that he just spilled grape flavored water on and put on his extra pair from his bag in the bathroom would really mean get completely naked, sit on the floor of the bathroom, and then try and come out of the bathroom in such a state. Who knew????

~4 years old in our house = whining 20 hours a day and having fits of crying, falling, kicking, and insanity.

~When your daughter drops a tiny stuffed dog in between the bed and the wall, it is ALWAYS your fault, Mom.

~Does spraying chairs, tables, doorknobs, every marker in every box, every crayon in the baskets, each pair of scissors, all pencils, and filling the air with Lysol each and every day help at all? I told you I was tied for 2nd place with L!

~We just got back from Newport Beach, California. This will definitely be a post instead of an almost post...after the floors.

Here is a sneak pic...