Green belt

Pierce is still in Tae Kwon Do, but I wasn't so sure for a while. Around the holiday's we kind of got out of the habit of going, so much so, that he missed a testing cycle. Normally they move up about every 6 weeks, but he's been an orange belt now for about 12 weeks. His dad and I had to have a talk with him, and let him know that if he didn't want to do this anymore, that's fine, but it was time to quit then. At first, he wanted to quit, he just seemed ready to move on. But being the 7 years old he is, and one who has a hard time make a firm decision, he later decided he would keep doing it. Shew!

We were still behind and he had to really push his self this time to get his green belt. And that he did. He dug deep and learned all of his form, and we were hitting practice almost every day. All his hard work payed off, and last night he moved to a green belt. 

He's even decided he wants to do the upcoming tournament in March. This will be the first time that he competes against other kids, actually sparring for points. 

Just like this here. 

 Paul and I were shocked at how aggressive our normally passive son was when it came time to fight. And I'm feeling a little like the Karate Kid's mom too. I mean a tournament and everything? Nobody better swipe his leg like they did to Daniel son though. (If you didn't grow up watching that movie, you don't know what I speak of)

Paul and I are so proud of Pierce. He's such a good boy, and it's awesome how hard he's worked to keep achieving these goals.

And I think it's safe to say, he's pretty proud too.

6 weeks

Did my title make everyone think I'm knocked up? 

No, just time for my happy hair update. I gotta tell you this feels a bit ridiculous, it really does. 

 Here I am today, and I swear I don't think it's growing anymore. It just sorta seems like it's stalled.

But to give a little perspective, here I am in the summer. Def much longer now. 

And Hope decided she had to be included in the hair updates, so she made her own little sign and everything. Pitiful!!

This weekend was ALL about togetherness. At least for some.

Between sickness, and a drop in the temperature, I feel as though there has been a LOT of togetherness lately. I think we are all starting to look forward to the change that summer will bring. 

Like I said, LOTS of game playing

And working on our ABC's and 123's                    

 And countless hands of UNO. 

And girly time, painting toes.

 And when I couldn't play another game, I declared to Pierce that we HAD to clean out his closet. It's ridiculous! 

 You want to know the sure fire way to get your kids to play with their toys? Just simply tell them, "If you do not start playing with your toys more, I'm giving them away. And this isn't just a mom ploy, I ain't playin' son!"  Well, guess who's been playing diligently the rest of the weekend? 

And where has daddy been during all this togetherness?  

 In the midst of God's country

 With his best friends

 And I would imagine channeling his inner boy, and acting very immature

 See it even snowed a little while they were out there. Can you imagine? Ugh.

But he loves it!

The father of my children, right here. 

And while he's away, I hate it, because I can't sleep at all. You know just in case the glass cutting, kid snatching man, crawls in the house at night. :/ But thankfully, daddy is back and all is well again!!  

Times I thought I might die from a fatal dose of embarrassment

Today's blog off post, all about our most embarrassing moments. And while I have had many embarrassing things happen to me, I have two that really stand out.

Picture it. Me, circa 1992, hair as tall as the Chrysler building, makeup as dark as a lady of the night. Sitting in Journalism, with 5 of my friends, talking about all things important in 1992. Boyfriends, tight rolled pants, 90210, dumb teachers, and of course the upcoming prom. My Journalism class was always right after lunch, so of course I had just eaten. Well, the belly was acting up, big time that day. I should have marched my tight tolled pants to the bathroom, but instead I couldn't bring myself to leave. Big mistake. In the midst of the gab fest, I, well, tooted. Dare I say it? I let a fart. And there was NO denying it was me. Believe me, I would have gladly blamed another, but all of my friends looked right at me, and my best friend said, "GRETCHEN!" Seriously, I wanted to d-i-e. I'm not one of those people who gladly lets them rip, I mean I've been married for 9 years, and still wont do that in front of my husband. You guys, toots are just embarrassing. I mean, I can't even say that 'f' word, so I speak about it, as though I'm 4. SO, you see, the high school FART was horrible for me.

My second incident was with my mother at a Wendy's restaurant. (mom you had to know I would tell this story) I was in my 20's, and mom and I had went to lunch that day at Wendy's. The place was packed full of workers on their lunch break. This Wendy's had all their tables pretty close together and you had to kind of squeeze through to even get around. Mom and I had finished lunch, and were heading out. I had ordered a salad that day, and poured red french dressing all over that bad boy, and didn't manage to finish it all. I was carrying my tray with unfinished salad, squeezing my way through all the bodies, when I somehow managed to spill said salad. Not on the floor. Oh no. Nope, I spilled it, all over a man. A man in his white dress shirt, on his work lunch break. And may I add, he was sitting at a table with lots of other people. I just kind of stood there for a second, while I looked at his shirt covered with, lettuce, cheese, croutons, and of course red french dressing. All I knew to do, was to start picking each little peace of lettuce off of him, one at a time, all the while wanting to poof myself into the invisible woman. My mom says it was HILARIOUS to watch me stand there, with my head hung in shame, picking little pieces of cheese off a man. I tried to also wipe the dressing off, but that only made it worse and set it in. I mean REALLY. Luckily for me, he was very nice about it all, because Lord knows he could have been really ugly to me. And also luckily, I never ran into the man again.

Without a doubt, she belongs to me

Hope finally got back to school today. I think we are all better. At least for the time being. :-)

Looking though her papers today, I got a big kick out of this little project Hope did.

She said they got to go through magazines and cut out stuff that they like. And 4 out of the 5, I felt as though it could have been me. 

1) Lipstick

2) Lip gloss (for when lipstick wont do, of course)

3) A fierce shoe

4) A nicely decorated room

5) A sewing machine?

I asked her about the sewing machine, because she sure doesn't know about one for me. "Hey, what's this?" "Oh, something that is shaped neat." Ha. 

I love my girly girl. 

Blog off time

It's that time again!! Time for a blog off.

I'm inviting everyone who reads me to join in the fun. Our group leader, Jaime Mac, has given out the subject....

Most embarrassing moments. YIKES!

It's due Friday (or whenever you can get around to it) Come one, come all. Let's share our embarrassing stories and laugh together!!

A drop in or 2 or maybe 3

So, being the new girl (how long am I considered a new girl anyways? What's the time limit?) I don't have many people just drop in, you know when someone unexpectedly shows up. Okay, I've never had a drop in here. 

That is until recently.

Not going to lie either. ANYTIME someone just shows up, I always start scrambling in my brain. Oh crap, is the house picked up? Are my underwear lying on the floor? I sure hope it doesn't smell in here. Hope go get dressed, NOW! You know, the usual. With that said though, it's nice to have a drop in, because it means someone likes you enough to just show up. So, I swallow it all, and hope the underwear doesn't scare them away forever.

And Hope especially enjoys a drop in that includes children! 

 Brittany dropped by last week to bring me something, and the kids had a good ol' time eating snacks and doing a little playing.

 You know, hiding behind the couch.

 AND standing in my shower. HA!!! Which btw, am I the only one who showers with a giraffe next to my razor?

 Or maybe, just a little outside playtime, on another random drop in!

 And today, my drop in brought my little sickie, a toy to play with. Sweet!

Thanks Brittany for the drop ins. I had almost forgot what they were like :)))

We may appear as sloppy hoarders, who like to eat our weight in Girl Scout Cookies.

If you were to come over to our house right now, you would be horrified. Every time I walk into our bedroom, I myself am horrified. I have to keep reminding myself that mess is temporary.

There is a big ol' consignment sale in a couple weeks, and I'm attempting to give it a go. We'll see if it's worth it all. It's been a lot of work! 

 Moving right along.

It's that time of year! Girl Scout cookie time! HOLLA! I'm all for ordering a box or two every year, but guess who did the ordering this year? Uh huh.

So, imagine my shock when I get our order total yesterday, "You owe 28.00" WHAT!!!

Oh yeah, and I'll deliver them to you at your Bible Study. IN A BOX.

 That little girl hit the jackpot when she asked Paul to order.

 Wonder how long our 8 boxes will last us?

 And lastly, Hope is still pitiful. Poor baby.

 She fell asleep on the couch for the night at 6:00, and has just been sad all day. Breaks my heart. But I'm not hating the extra snuggles.

In which our weekend was lovely. Until it ended in the toilet. Literally.

So, I've been feeling all kinds of generous this weekend. I knew that Paul had a rough day at work on Friday, so I made a big pot of chili and a special surprise just for Rico...

His very favorite. An apple pie. 

 Lest you think I've gone all domestic, please note the box in the background. Thank you Marie.

 And keeping in line with our generous loved infested weekend, Paul and I went out for our Valentines on Saturday night.

We took the kids to Brittany and Blake's while we went out, and Brittany being Brittany, made us strike a few poses.

This is where Paul finally lost it. Ha!

I had heard of the Federal Grove since we moved down here, and we finally went and tried it out.

I really like older places, and all that historical kind of stuff

1871, right up my alley. Unless I actually had to live in 1871, than that would be a problem. No red lipstick, no hoop earrings, can you imagine?

The food was really good, but by far this piece of cake alone was worth the trip. The icing was to.die.for.

After dinner, we went and saw the movie, 'This Means War' and it was funnnnnny!!! We had a really great night together.

And it's always assuring to get texts with pictures of your kids having fun while you are out, that somehow makes the cake even better, you know?

I have a feeling the kids will be asking to go back to Britt's pretty soon.

 Cookies, duck duck goose, movies, art work....but under all that fun something must have been a 'brewin, for both Hope and Layton.

During the night, Hope got up and came to our room probably 5 times or more. She kept asking for water, or asking to sleep in our bed, which really isn't like her. I had a gut feeling that something might have been bothering her, but when I asked she said "I'm okay."

Then when we got up for the day today, I could just tell she was acting weird. She didn't want breakfast, only water. Hope not want food? Something HAS to be wrong. So, while I was standing in the kitchen, I picked her up and was holding her. She laid her head down on my shoulder, and then I heard a strange noise,and within a matter of moments, she was throwing up. All over me and her. Thankfully, I was standing right next to the sink and just leaned her right on over it.

Good times. Good times.

So here we are a week later, and in the same exact place. Same pukes, different kid.

And also, Brittany sent me a text this morning, that Layton had woke up this morning with a high fever. So, both kids sick. Boo.

Seriously, if I don't get it this time, it will be a miracle, considering I began my morning wearing it.

Still a great weekend, even considering it ended in the toilet.