that time my brother was on the Ellen show

Okay, okay, so technically he wasn't on the show, but! If you watch (which, actually, I don't) then you may have seen yesterday's episode with a phone call from Gladys. Well, Gladys is chatting with Ellen about all sorts of fun stuff and then brings up how people can be so kind and do good things for others.... much like her neighbor, who happens to also be her mailman, which would be my brother.

Anyhow, I'm sharing the video with you all because I can and it's fun. Also, because it's kind of exciting to hear your brother being talked about (in a good way) on national television. Even if it's only a few seconds at the end of a funny phone call.



Get this, I knew nothing of it until my mother in law called saying (barely after I could finsish saying hello), "Gladys called Ellen!" I'm thinking, okay, well that's neat because I actually know who you're talking about...  "She mentioned your brother and said how he was helping fight the wildfire." Needless to say, I was on Ellen's site in a flash watching her talk to my brother's neighbor, Gladys. (Btw, thanks for telling me, apparently my brother had already found out from Gladys and told my mom to watch it....... no one tells me anything.)

making a fire break to save "all the critters"

my bro and CLB

Original link:
 http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2012/01/a_phone_call_from_gladys_0130.php

 I guess I'm just a proud sister.

weekend review

I got the bathroom painted Friday, although my little angels were not helpful during their nap time. It was so much fun having to paint that tiny space (which was also the most challenging of all rooms) with the door shut for half of it. Oh well, I think I recovered by dinner time to make cheese enchiladas. It's all a bit fuzzy though.

Saturday we did some family shopping/browsing at Home Depot and Best Buy, because isn't that where all the cool people shop? Anyhow we ended up scoring a major deal on a bathroom vanity and my dreams came true when we (clearly I mean T) installed it Sunday afternoon. The most overheard phrase at our casa right now is, "Wow! It's so different!"

T and I went on a date and the restaurant we wanted to go to was "unexpectedly busy" so we decided to try it at a later date and headed down the street and around the corner to one of our favorite places. We talked and talked. It was great to only be interrupted for our dinner. We had chicken fried steak and it was delicious. Then we picked up the kiddos and looked at the clock which told us we were losers. It was 9:30 and we both thought it was at least 11. I do suppose a four hour long dinner would have been somewhat excessive.

Sunday we went to church. We even arrived 15 minutes early (an incredible feat for our family). We were able to meet the pastor before service and were assured that no one would mind our children and he certainly understood since he has four ranging for 4-9 years old (I think that was the age range). They were sitting with their mama on the front row. Our kids were really well behaved. The church even hands out special kid themed bulletins they can fill out and color. They had a cry room and nursery that we were lucky enough to not visit. Yea! Anyhow, we really liked it and will probably go back next weekend.

We stopped at a playground on the way home and the kids got to run off some energy and we had lunch there. After we got home the kids took naps and I chilled while T worked on the bathroom.

It was a really nice weekend. I guess I have to get back to the everyday things now. I've got really big plans and I'm sure you can guess what they are. bye for now!

ten happy things friday

1.) Early mornings with just me and him at the table with our coffee.

2.) Watching the sunrise and the misty fog coming off the water.

3.) Seeing my mom yesterday.

4.) Snuggling with Rose. Even at 4:49am. (I was going to wake up in 10-30 minutes anyhow.)

5.) Tomorrow is date night. I say that like we routinely have date nights... Ha! Glad that T arranged it and babysitters (thanks Pappy G & Grandma! and Ethan and Shauna- I'm sure the kids will seek you out in record time if y'all happen to not meet them at the door!)

6.) Paint. I have it ready to go and hopefully during nap time I can knock out the majority of the bathroom. I'll have to work fast!

7.) The kids getting along and sharing. They even want to share their fruit snacks with me! That's a big deal around here.

8.) The weather. Today our high is 70. (Tomorrow is awful with a high of only 57. Go ahead and roll your eyes everyone that lives north of the Red River.)

9.) I just realized I get to dress up twice this weekend! It's exciting to think about, but I know when it comes to choosing what to wear I'll be completely stumped.  Can't I just wear jeans everywhere?

10.) Good friends. The ones I know in person and the ones I'm making through the blog world. I really enjoy reading your blogs and seeing how similar and sometimes how different our lives are. Thanks for your comments (and for your suggestions on yesterday's post).

Have a great weekend!

a question for you

Those of you that attend church and have children what do you do to keep them quiet during the service?

A few Sundays into attending a very, very small church (we doubled the attendance and I'm not even joking) after failed attempts at shushing a loud/inquisitive child and then having him, in turn, hush the pastor we gave up. No amount of picture Bibles, prayer books, snacks or pen and paper occupied him for more than five minutes before I or T had to wait outside with him. (There was no other option!) We also had a newborn to deal with and the handful of regular members of the church routinely had to adjust their hearing aids or tell the pastor to speak up at the beginning of each sermon. This made for an awkward morning for our much younger family, although everyone was kind and always said how much they liked seeing us.

So, this coming Sunday we are thinking of trying out a new church and I'm more than a little worried that (ohmygosh) we will have to endure a lot more attention than the always pleasant "Hi, we're new! I will never remember your name, but you seem nice! Can we sit in the very back?" meet and greet. I am already dreading introductions and the inevitable "shake your neighbors hand" thing. (Please don't let them do this.) I guess I'm little nervous.

Your suggestions on what to pack as quiet activities/attention grabbers will be so very much appreciated, as well as any advice on how to prepare them for the quiet time that they will likely have to endure.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

P.S. Ages are 5, 3.5 and 2.

almost wordless wednesday

It looks like we got some rain, finally. 

I do believe I could have paddled a canoe down our driveway and 

(if the gate hadn't been closed) 

on down our road.

top left/bottom left: 6:30am 

I luckily escaped being struck by lightening multiple times in my attempt to photograph (poorly) the flash flooding event of January 2012

top right: stock tanks should always have water (possibly a mirage?)

bottom right: who needs ankle weights when you can have fifteen pounds of mud on your boots?