Tune in Tomorrow.

Jason's soccer photos.
Photos and story of Bowser's release.
Chuck E. Cheese photos.
New Layout and a mini book.
Random photos of the boys.
A review of our Thursday.
A preview of our weekend.
A new month.

Meet Bowser, our pet for a day.

Yesterday I was out in the yard with Lincoln, whom was barking at bricks and on the phone with Lewis. I just happened to look down and there was this tiny precious slider turtle. That would of been what the dog was really barking at. I quickly scooped him up, but not before he scared me by touching me. Ugh. Then the dog touched me and I came unglued. I am not really into amphibians that much. I thought Jason would be thrilled to see him after school and the babies too. I put him in a bowl. Then set the bowl in the sink in case he escaped from the bowl.

Then I called the Hubby whom immediately demanded that I get rid of it ASAP. He was fretting about the diseases they carry. I did a little surfin on the net. There was a scare in the 70's with salmonella. But as long as the babies are not chewing on the turtle, we should be safe. And with lots of hand washing.

But because neither of us really know how to take care of a turtle, we still decided it would be best to let him go in the pond. Jason, who understands that Bowser may be sad in captivity and without his family, has asked to keep him one more day. So tomorrow, we will let our little "pet of the day" back into the great outdoors.

The twins are in awe of the turtle. They stand by the counter, pointing and grunting till I bring the cage down to their level. They are not allowed to touch. They got to touch his shell yesterday a few time, but no more touching. Safety First. I say, "Let's go see your turtle" and they run off to see him. They are both so vocal and giddy when they get to see him. Zachary wants the lid open for a better view most of the time, but he listens when I say, "Don't Touch." I was so surprised that Jason wanted to hold him several times. He is not big on crawling things. Me either.

An April Read.

Ugh. This book took me 20 days to get into. After those 20 days, I was still only 30 pages in. I picked it up on Tuesday and finished in Wednesday. It was a quick two day read. It was just good. Not something I would recommend really. A good story, but 85% boring. I pushed on to learn what happened. This was an Oprah selection from 2000 that I picked up at the Goodwill for 50 cents.

A line I loved, "Love is Love, where ever it lands."

I liked this idea, "we have no right to let go of so much that shaped us; we shouldn't be allowed to forget."

Wednesday.

First, I wanted to share my photo book that came a few days ago. I made it on Shutterfly. You can see the whole thing a few posts below and can order yourself a copy if you'd like. I think they are like $24 plus shipping. It is a wonderfully done, 20 page hardback book. Some of the pages appear blurry, but that is only my photo. These are a few of my favorite photos of the family and kids their relatives. I will make more of these.

I update the post with the layouts add one more layout. Scroll down or click the link here.

I have photos to post here and to flickr. Check that out too.

New Number: 142.4 which is 28.1 pounds lost.

Am I a size 2 yet?

More posts here later. Now I need to roll with Wednesday.

Happy Birthday Bell.

Got Photos?

I do. This is my newest little box that I got at Micheal's over the weekend for $5.99. I am using it to store all my photos.. Well, some of my photos. Mostly all my film from 2003-2005. But it was able to hold what was in two regular photo boxes, so that is double the space. It fits perfectly in my IKEA cubes and I have another in black that is for Jason's papers. I will definitely be getting more of these. I have another box of photo envelopes that need a box of their own too.

Also, I fixed my Dubuque layout and will edit the post below later. More photos up on flickr too.

UPDATED: Three Layouts on Tuesday.

UPDATES: Added another layout that I am not liking. I may re-do it later. Sorry about the bad photo. I fixed the layout with the missing Uu in Dubuque.. I did leave the missspelled layout too because it shows the whole page.

Awwww.. There is nothing better than glue, paper and photos. These are two simple layouts that I did yesterday. Spring layouts are photos I took in 2006 at the park in Tescott and Dubuque is a town in Iowa we would visit regularly. Okay, I just realized that there is a Uu missing from that page. Will be fixing that now. Hoping for more productions today and maybe a mini soon too.

The Dake Family Photos.

Click here to view this photo book larger

My Boxer Boy.

Seriously, how many photos will this little love of mine have to tolerate over the next decade? I may need a larger memory card or to get rid of a kid or two. This could not be a prettier pup. I think we got the pick of the litter. Renee-You are Awesome. I love him sitting so pretty at my feet and when he is lying down resting or all sprawled out sleeping. Jacques says the pup gets more sleep than us. I agree. He is almost 11 weeks in these photos.

I don't even mind when he is gnawing the flesh off my feet with those razor sharp teeth. His paws are precious. Huge, but precious. It is amazing to think how much he has grown in the few weeks he has been home with us. He tolerated his first bath on Saturday evening. Jacques and Jason gave him one. You aren't suppose to bathe boxers often, but I think once a month is good. Any advice, pooch owners?

I always wondered why people took photos of their pets or scrapped pages of them, I thought, "Weirdos." Ohhhh wait, that is me now. This week brings his first trip to the vet for an exam and shots. Anyone know what shots typically range, not including the exam?

Two Day Recap.

Saturday-Photos Above are Saturday. An early morning haircut for Jason. The weather was a deadly 93 degrees by noon and we had a soccer game. It was agonizing. Those poor players. Ryan fell asleep he was so miserable. Jason score once and we won the game, 5-4. It was a great game. Then to McD's play place with 4 other team mates and their parents. Home for yard work. I cleaned house. I also had the hubby re-do a chandelier. Baths for four boys and a dog. We had friends over for Taco Bell, their treat, and we watched Role Models on Pay Per View. They left close to midnight.

Sunday- These photos are Sunday. Early morning yard work with the boys' help, sort of. We ran errands. Home Depot, Michael's, Target, and then Texas Roadhouse for lunch. Back home, it was baby nap time/put the hubby to work time. I had the him paint the dining room. We spent a lot of time outside, but the mosquito's were horrible. I have a few bites and Zachary has one. From now on it is Off every time we go out. Supper was Roadhouse leftovers then three boys had baths. We also spent some inside time playing American Idol on the Wii. That's kind of fun should be illegal. Jason was rocking to YMCA. A bunch more weekend photos on flickr.

Another post later with Lincoln photos, a scrap page and shoes : )

Things I Would Love TO DO.

-Play the harmonica.

-Nose Pierced. Bell? May? September?

-Hawaii with Hubby in Two Years.

-Have big biceps.

-Teach Zachary how to sleep and speak French.

-See New Kids On The Block Live.

-Aerosmith with the Hubby. They in Charlotte in July, but we have no sitter. Ugh. I saw them once with Bell and the parental units, best concert of my life.

-Kids Names Tattoos. I am no fan of tattoos. Although I have 6, if I could snap my fingers, I would remove all but 2. This is probably why teens should not get ink. My boys will know that tattoos are the devil, along with girls.

Artwork.

Two pictures by Jason yesterday. All he does is draw all day when he is inside. I posted a bunch more on flickr.. Just click here: Jason's Work. Above is Two Face. Batman and Robin with Alfred. Han Solo. A drawing of Mommy. The Riddler and The Penguin on computer paint. Flapjack.

Friday.

Thank Goodness. It has been a long week with whiny babies and lots of coffee. This weekend is all about soccer, painting a room or two here, and Lincoln's first vet visit.

Jason had some funnies over the last few days:

"Ladies don't drink beer."

"Mom when you die, I am going to have a family. But first I have to make some money for my wife. Like one hundred and fifty dollars."

Zachary is rocking the whole diaper thing. He actually lets me know when he has pooped by coming to me and tugging at his pants. I ask him if he needs a new diaper and he says yes. He is not even one and a half. I am thinking he will be a super early potty trainer.

Zachary is also obsessed with hand tracing, which I don't mind. Yesterday, I must have traced it 7 times. Whenever I have paper out, he comes up with his hand and grunts. We do it over and over until I can hide the notebook. Ryan doesn't care for the hand trace or photography. I can never catch him for photos. Zachary hams it up and says, "Cheese" whenever the cameras are out, even the phone camera. Zachary also had 3 new molars coming in. Total Teeth: 9 Ryan has 12

Ummm, I also traced Lincoln's paw.

Tonight I am going to attempt to see 17 Again after I get the babies asleep. It is showing at 925 and 955. I wish I had a hot date to foot the bill and make out with during the previews.

Ohhh and a neat note. I took a very reliable quiz on FB "How many times you will be married" and the answer was Once. I guess that means George Strait and I have no chance. That will crush him for sure.

Here's to movie butter popcorn, Happy Friday.

Our Earth Day Review.

Jason and I spent Earth Day thinking of things we could do to help out and things we already do to help out Earth. I watched Oprah and took in all the ideas and made some notes. I was truly inspired by some of the ideas. Here we go..

First Jason and I started off by unplugging everything in our house before we left for 3 hours. Even though things are turned off, they still suck out some energy. We unplugged the tv, Wii, lamps, microwave, coffee pot, and even the washer and dryer. We saved some amazing energy that night. We are making a it a habit too. Now here are things we already do..

Use a water purifier.
Reusable cups and lunch packers.
Water off while brushing teeth or doing dishes.
Only wash with a full load of dishes/laundry.
Never drying dishes with dish washer.
Bathe the kids together.
Jacques and I shower together, saving water is just one benefit : )
LED nightlights, use less power.
Use natural light during the day in the house. No lamps or lights.
Power strips for the studio and TV center.
3 of 5 appliances are Energy Star.
Jason's homework we reuse daily.
All our bills are paperless.
We recycle our vehicle oils and ink cartridges.
Reuse all our Walmart sacks for many things.
We use many reusable totes/bags.
I buy all recycled notebooks for Jason and me.
Earth friendly dog supplies.

Things we plan to start doing:
Get recycle bins: Paper, Glass, Plastics and Aluminum.
Call and quit junk magazines.
Say No to too many grocery sacks.
Try to cut back/quit Ziplocs. *** Yikes!
Try safe Earth friendly cleaners. ***Yikes, Clorox is my BFF.
Meatless Mondays. We are no vegans, but we can manage that.
Water heater blanket.
Turning down the water heater 20 degrees.

There are always things to add and work on. And I am sure there are more that I could list for both categories, but this is a great starting point. Hugs and Happy Every Day Earth Day!

Two New Pages.

Photos of two simple pages that I did last week. My scanner is acting up. Would of liked a little something else on the green page, but was tired of having it out unfinished on the desk. Maybe I will fiddle with it another day. Both layouts are already added to their albums, which is almost as amazing as actually scrapping.

Handsome Heartbreaker.

Isn't he adorable? Today at school they were taking graduation photos and were suppose to be all spiffed up. I think he met that expectation. These were taken here before I took him to school. There are more on flickr and look for another post later today.

Wednesday.

I have nothing new or exciting for you. Just some photos from yesterday. Note the babies hair cuts. More are posted on flickr. Today is Earth Day, Karate and Softball. The babies are napping. Laundry and the dishwasher are going. I did a load of dishes by hand. Now some studio time, surfin the web and maybe some paper love. Let's rock this Wednesday, Mother Earth.

a beer and a blonde.

Rarely do we have beer in the house. When we want a beer, we have to go to the store. But on Saturday evening, we were going to BBQ and I said I thought a beer would be nice. So we got some booze. Jacques popped the lid off mine and gave it to me. And I reply, "I am going to wait for the mountains to turn blue before I drink mine." You know, like on the commercials. Then the hubby points out that I may have to wait along time for those mountains to turn blue: I am drinking Bud Light.

I love this song. It won't be like this for long. Mandi, you will too. All Moms and Dads will. Give it a listen.

Jacques and I do not have a Will drawn up. We intend on having one done soon and we talk about it daily. I thought because a ton of people read this and as an unofficial document, I am making sure you all know that we want the Allemans to have our boys. Allemans: You know this. Buy a HUGE house and just run with it. You are the best couple I know and would love our boys' as your own. Insert tear here. Also the hubby and I are talking about Hawaii in a couple years for our 10th anniversary, can you keep the kids then too? Thanks.

Open Water 2: Adrift yet another "based on true events" movie of people stranded in the ocean. It is lame, yet entertaining a few times, but the end is a "what the hell happened?" But I am here to clear up that. In the real life events, all 6 friends died. I am assuming that is how the movie ends too.

Idol tonight, Hooray. I am loving this season. Gokey, Adam, Kris. I even downloaded some of their songs for the pod. But did you know, 8 seasons in, I have still never voted.

Tons of new photos on flickr including the boys hair cuts and Easter.

This week we have karate 4 times, speech 2 times and 2 soccer games. Jacques has softball too.

I am hoping to post some new video soon too. Zachary and Ryan have new tricks. Look for some video of Lincoln and Jason too.

Saw Adam Sandler in the Zohan movie. Holy Funny!

I want to see 17 Again this weekend.

Monday Evening.

Both babies are down to sleep. Jason is still up. Yesterday I gave the babies' haircuts. They look bigger. I have found that trying to take a decent photo of the dog is much harder than snapping photos of the kids. Odd. Posted new photos on flickr. Tomorrow is Speech. Today was karate. Taco Bell for supper for me and the kids. Prepping packages to mail off. Dog at my feet. Zachary's new thing is to swing on the swings. Ryan is the best sleeper and nap-taker ever. Need to call Grandma to say goodnight. Need some reading time. Off to Facebook it before bed. Hugs, M

April 16 Photos

Zachary giving a pound. His newest trick.

Messy Boys. Outside before bath. Runny noses and dirt, yum.

Ryan at the dog pen. Always sitting there.

Twins fighting over one trike that we have two of.

Daddy and Jason and Mommy and Jason.

Lincoln's found his place at my feet in the studio.

Zachary and Lincoln. Zachary being "soft."

Ryan, safety first. Goggles and all. At the dog fence.

Twins in the morning.

Zachary saying, "Hot" and touching the oven that's off.