Be Eternally Grateful, We Have It So Good!!!

When its Joey's turn to say family prayer before we go to bed he always says the same thing..."Thanks for all we have..." His words are true. I am grateful by what we have but really we have it great. We are so blessed. All of you reading this blog are very blessed. We have rough patches and hard times in life but it is important to remember how good we truly have it. Recently my extended family was having a lot of trials and heart ache and it effected me. My grandmother is suffering from breast cancer and I am so worried about her, my dad was diagnosed with basel skin cancer, my mom was dealing with some trials of her own. All of this trickled down to me and I really have been effected by it all. All of us have had times of trials in our lives and it is important to remember that somebody out there has it worse than you. When you are complaining that your washing machine keeps backing up (love ya joc) be grateful you have clothes to wash, when you complain that you can't go out for dinner be grateful you have food at home to eat, and this is my problem, I complain my house is too small when I should be grateful I have a roof over my head.

The following video is not intended to make you feel guilted into giving money to any charity. I don't even know who to give money to if you wanted. My intention was to make you really think about how good we really do have it here.

I am however warning you, don't watch this at work, I cried like a baby and I would rather you be at home or somewhere private so you can really reflect on your life.

Rich and Angie

I realized I have been doing a lot of talking about the kids but not any about the rest of the family.

Rich is doing great! He still works for Energen Resources as a Lease Operator. He has a bunch of wells that he is responsible for. He likes his job and really likes being outside everyday. We joke around and say that we are part of the oilfield pet club. He has brought hme a few lizzards (we kept those for a while in a tank), a triantula (that one was gone immediatly) and most recently a 6 foot long bull snake named Reggie. That one was also gone the same day. Rich caught it for his brother Aaron and it was only at our house for a few hours, during which he was in the garage in a cardboard box. He still works with the young men at church. Thats fun for him because he has excuses often to go fishing and do "guy" stuff.

Rich and Reggie the snake

As far as me I still stay at home with the kids. I guess I still technically sell Avon but I haven't been working to hard at it. I got out of my groove after I had Lillie and Joey hit the terrible twos about that time and I was hesitant to go anywhere with them. I help my parents out at the hardware store in the evenings by doing all the office work for them. I like it because I can help the family out a little bit but I can do it after Rich is home so I don't have to drag the kids with me. I also love doing cake decorating and all sorts of other crafts. Right now my current project is developing a website and a blog that I am hoping will bring in some money so I can contribute even more to the family. Check out my other blog and email me your stories so I can help make it grow and become an even better place for moms. Its called the Mommy Chronicles and the website is http://motherhoodisamazing.blogspot.com/ My other website is still undercontruction but I will let you all know once it is all finished.

This spring we had to find new homes for our beloved dogs, Bo and Duke. Bo was escaping from our yard everyday it seemed and I was very affraid one of these days his luck was going to run out on him and he'd get hit by a car or somethig bad like that. We decided it was in the best interest of the dogs that we look for them a new home. We needed to send Duke with them because they are buddies and would be very sad if they were seperated. I looked around and tried to find them homes here but it wasn't going very well. My dad was talking to a lady at the hardware store one day, she runs the Aztec Animal Shelter, and found out that they coordinate big dog rescues with a place in Denver. They were sending a truck out the following week. It was sudden but we knew it was in the best interest for the dogs. It broke my heart and I cried over them for about a week but I know it was the best thing for them. The good news was they got to go to the rescue together and the rescue folks were going to try and find them a home together. They also screen their potential adoptive families heavily, they don't give dogs to just whoever. That made me feel so much better. Bo and Duke we love you and miss you dearly!

"Baby Food Is Gross!"

I have not been able to get Lillie to eat much of anything lately. I tried religiously to get her to eat her 3 meals a day of baby food like to doctor told us to do at her 6 month check-up. She would take like 3 bites and then she'd be done. I was getting so frustrated because I want her to eat solids, she is so much happier when she has a full belly and solids just stick around a lot longer than milk. Plus she is old enough that she doesn't need to be attached to a bottle all the time. She loves the little puff snacks and she is really interested in what we are eating. I tried one night to let her snitch some rice and little things she could handle off of our plate and sure enough she ate like a pig. Light bulb moment, She doesn't like baby food!! This is hard for me because I was so by the book with Joey. I followed every recommendation there was to follow. With her, I'm just happy to get her to eat. Of course, I'm not giving her anything she can't handle or anything she shouldn't be having yet so we are ok but who says she has toeat baby food. A long time ago there wasn't even store bought baby food and parents did what I'm doing now. The other aspect of this is that she want to be in control, she like to feed herself. Here are some shots of her doing just that.

"This is so much better than baby food!"

Pizza Time!!

Last night Rich had a service project he had to go to. He was gone all evening so Joey and I decided it would be fun to make pizza for dinner. Joey loves to cook so I knew he would have a great time. I had been given some pre-made pizza crusts so all we had to do was add the sauce and the toppings and bake them.


First I gave Joey is pizza crust and put some sauce on it for him. I gave him a spoon and told him to spread it around. That kid spread, and spread, and spread. When I told him ok Joey you did good, he said, "no mom its not done yet." The only way I got him to quit spreading is by offering him some cheese and toppings to put on it.





He put A LOT of toppings on his pizza! Cheese, cheese and more cheese, a TON of pepperoni and some olives. Actually he did really well, in the olive department. It was the funniest thing, after he put the toppings on he said very matter of factly, "Mom, give me some more of that BBQ sauce!" I laughed and said, "honey thats not BBQ sauce its pizza sauce."

Between what ended up on the pizza and what

he ate, we used a lot of cheese!

"Its gonna be the best pizza ever!"

I made me a nice vegetarian pizza of course, cheese, olives, mushrooms, and artichoke hearts. For pizza it wasn't too bad! We baked them and while they baked I cleaned up the kitchen. Its funny, I was trying to not have a lot of dishes to do so I was using foil and paper plates. I even gave Joey a plastic spoon to spread the sauce with. I don't think it really mattered because my floor was such a mess from making pizza I had to mop when we were done.

We sat down to eat together, just the two of us. It was really nice we don't get to do that enough! He ate sooooo good, I need to let him make his dinner more often!

Who's In Charge

Lillie, Lillie, Lillie, what am I going to do with you? Where should I start, that girl keeps me on my toes!

First of all, her new method of transportation is rolling. She hasn't quite learned to crawl yet so if she wants to go somewhere she justs rolls there. The other day we put her on a blanked to play on and I went into the kitchen to work on dinner. I heard her grunting which usually means she up against the couch and can't go any further. I went in there to help her out and found her wrapped up in the blanket. She did it all herself it was so funny. She just gave me this look as if to say, "Really mom, help me out and stop laughing at me." She wasn't mad just a little irritated.

Next on the Lillie is crazy list is why this post is called "Who's In Charge." She really likes her pacifier. We call them dummys since that is what they are called in England where Rich served his mission. At night I she sucks on one and I put like 4 more in her crib with her so that when she wakes up at night she can find one on her own without freaking out and making me get up to find one for her. She is one smart little girl. Last night she woke up and threw all of her dummies out of her crib and started fussing. I went in, pulled the crib back from the wall and then gave her one and put the rest around her so she could have more for later. I went back to bed and went to sleep. Again, she woke up. I went in to her and again, the dummies were on the floor and behind the bed. I retrieved them again and then went back to bed. I went to sleep, again. She woke up, again. I went in there and I realized, "She is throwing these things down to get me in her room!" Finally after about an hour I got her back to sleep. Needless to say I am a little tires today.

Although she is high maitenance she is still my little sweetie and as cute as can be. I love her so much. She is not even 8 months old and she is already weighing 18 lbs. I swear her and Joey are opposites in so many ways. She has 8 lbs to go and then she will catch up to him. She loves playing on the floor with her toys and entertaining us and playing with her bubba.

My Little Fishy

Joey is a little fish. I am so proud of him. He has learned to hold his breath and go underwater and get his dive sticks in our hot tub! He is great! We bought him some goggles at Target and that has opened up a whole new world to him. We will throw out his dive sticks and tell him, "OK Joey get the red stick." He will hold his breath and go all the way underwater and retrieve the correct stick!

We recently took the sticks and the goggles to the Durango Rec Center but the pool there that was deep enough for him to dive in was to cold. I was bummed because I wanted him to try it out in a little deeper water than hour hot tub. We are working on floating on his back. I really want him to learn this because just in case he fell in a pool to deep for him he could float on his back till we could help him.

We are going to be taking Mom and Tot swimming lessons again this summer (as long as my mom can watch Lillie). He will really enjoy it I know he will. Last year he did good but he is so much more mature this year and I really think he will progress even more. Its scary to think but next year he will be ready for real swimming lessons without me there. But then I can start taking Lillie to Mom and Tot lessons and start the cycle again.

Decided to give in to technology!

Geez I sound old when I say that but its so true! I have always said, I will never social network and I will never blog but I finally jumped on the bandwagon.

I got a new phone, a blackberry, only because it was a one piece phone and I figured Joey would have a harder time breaking this one than a regular ol' flip phone. On the phone I had internet and facebook. Well a lightbulb turned on. I decided I have this phone why not use it.

My first step down internet communication (other than email, that doesn't count, come on I'm not that out of touch with reality) was Facebook. I signed up and I couldn't believe how many of my friends have joined. Was I really that behind the times? Well apparently so, but anyways. I have totally become a facebook junkie. I love being able to see whats going on in my friends life, so many have moved away but I can still chat with them. Not to mention my family, my younger cousins, and some older are on there too. I am really enjoying being able to keep in contact with them. Some of my cousins I haven't spoke to in what seems like forever but now we are already casually talking about organazing a family reunion.

Well my best friend started blogging and another lightbulb moment. How fun. Now Robby and Ginger can't nag me because I don't email enough pictures to them of the kids. Now they, and others, can just check out my blog and see the kids but also read the stories about our lives.

I am so excited about all of this. Check back often for more updates.