Pioneer Woman...dang her hide.

I had to take a break from this dastardly woman due to the large amount of cream cheese she was causing me to cook with, but my rumbling tummy naviagated my computer to her site...and darn it, would you look at this? I will be making this. Just so ya know.

One week to go!

Only one more week of school! Can we do it? YES WE CAN! We threw a swimming party last night for our schoolie pals to celebrate the end of kindergarten, first and third grade! HOOHOO! Wait. I have to do first grade again next year with Soph. Oh well! The kids had a super time, and let me tell you...there were quite a few kiddos in the pool. Whoa. I was concerned there for a bit that we'd have to swim in shifts. PFffftt. It was so much fun, Sam wants to do it when we go back to school. I'm not ready to talk about "Back to School" yet, so we'll save that decision for another day.
GrandPinkieMa spent the night after the swim party, and she stayed around and made the kids sugar cookies for lunch while I went to my hair appointment. It's almost 1, and lunch hasn't even been mentioned yet. Sugar high! I think we'll spend all day inside doing nothing but playing...well, maybe I'll organize a closet. Or not.
Next week we'll be busy with swim practice and gymnastics, and then Saturday we're going to pick up what we need for camping! We're getting really excited about our trip! I'm pretty excited about the food we'll eat on our trip. We always eat so good when we're camping, and why is it that the food tastes so much better when you've been outdoors?
Well, I'm off to do nothing! Happy weekend.

It was God's grace what killed the dinosaurs.....

My oldest 2 bravely watched Jurassic Park this evening. Jack suffered only minor angst at the suspense and drama; however, Sam watched it through his fingers and kept a death grip on my arm throughout most of the dinosaur scenes. As he brushed his teeth, he said, "I guess it was God's grace what killed the dinosaurs so they wouldn't eat us. That's pretty nice of God, I think."

Sophy spent her first evening back at the gym tonight. She hasn't been since December, and she was able to get back in with the same group of girls but with a different coach. Her previous coach was a young college girl studying to be a kindergarten teacher, and she coached like a kindergarten teacher. Her new coach coaches like...well, a coach. She was still pretty much on the same level as the rest of the girls even though they are 9-10 year olds and even though we've missed 5 or 6 months. She is certainly in her element, and I do not intend to pull her out again. She really has a gift in this area.

PDaddy is checking Jack out of school early tomorrow for a doc visit to get a physical for swim team. It's not a requirement for the team, but due to the strenuous swimming they are doing and the fact that he has complained of shortness of breath/chest tightness and pain after their workouts, we're just going to look into it before we get too far along to make sure everything is okay. We were told Jack had mild asthma as a 4 year old, but he really has only had probs with it when he has been sick. Anyway, we'll see what they say. Jack is just excited because PDaddy plans to take him to lunch.

Sam is so ready for school to be out. I really feel for the kid. I never knew a 7 year old that hates school so much. So very much. Only one more week after this one, if it ever ends. I'm hoping to find someone to get Sam started in piano lessons. It's something that he genuinely wants to do, and he's very excited about learning. The kid is multi-faceted, let me tell you. He doesn't know whether to roll in mud or learn something civilized.

Well, I'm off to do something constructive. Ha. Right.

I saw this in another gal's blog and thought I'd kill some time with it. Actually, it's rather juvenile....which is probably why it appealed to me. Still, I've never really understood who comes up with these things? And yet. YET they intrigue me.
A - Attached or Single: Is it just me or is "attached" sort of a creepy reference for marriage?
B - Best Friend(s): What if a person doesn't have any friends. This could be awkward.
C - Cake or Pie: Well that's easy. Cake, of course. Pie has meringue which is gross and spelled funny.
D - Day of Choice: Day of choice? Do you get a choice? Like you'd wake up and go, "Crap, it's Tuesday? No, I thought I specifically requested today to be Saturday!"
E - Essential Item: Essential like toilet paper? Or like a Cherry Coke and Cheezits?
F - Favorite Color(s): Not beige.
G - Gummy Bears or Worms: Gee. Uhm. Neither? I'm going with Pepperoni pizza with mushrooms.
H - Hometown: As in birthplace? Albuquerque? Or the place I call home? Not Albuquerque.
I - Indulgence(s): Ooooh. Now this...THIS is a good question...but honestly, is it any of your business? I think not.
J - January or July: July, actually, but what about the other months? I hope they aren't seeking legal representation for month discrimination.
K - Kids: Is this a yes or no question?
L - Life is incomplete without: Well the obvious answer would be....life.
M - Marriage Date: Finally, something I can get behind. January 11, 1997
N - Number of Siblings: 2 brothers. Not that they care.
O - Oranges or Apples: I haven't eaten fruit since 1989. I'm a recovering fruiter.
P- Phobias or Fears: Yes. The list is long and sordid, and I'm a hypochondriac too while we're listing all of my shortcomings.
Q - Quote: I'd love to put something pithy here, but I can never remember quotes. Frankly, I don't believe anyone ever remembers them...I just think some people have better reference materials than others. The closest thing I could reference at this point is the Brookshire Brothers Sunday coupon flyer, and it says "A Celebration of Family and Community!" Which is supposed to have something to do with grocery shopping, I think.
R- Ring size: Who came up with these?
S - Season: What? Right now? It's like Sprummer, but I think summer officially kicks off in June. If you need the other seasonal date markers, you can look on any calendar.
T- Tag 3 Friends: We don't play tag anymore. We got old and slow.
U - Unknown fact about me: Most unknown facts are unknown for a reason. Der.
V - Very favorite stores: Very favorite? That's cute.
W - Worst Habit: I have no bad habits. I'm perfect.
X-ray or Ultrasound: No thanks. I haven't met my deductable.
Y - Your Favorite Food(s): Sugar, Flour, Starch
Z - Zodiac: Why didn't Zylophone get picked for this one? As in, do you play the zylophone? No, by the way, I do not. Oh wait, Zylophone starts with an X. So, yeah. That's why. In that case, Leo.

How does my garden grow?

This is a very strange angle for some reason, but it's a teensy corner of one bed and path. It was taken about 2 weeks ago, so there are tons of things that have sprouted, grown, and bloomed since then. You pretty much can't even see the ground anymore in this bed. Right now, my bloomers are my gladiolas, freesias, lantana, day lilies, and zinnias. The sunflowers are about as tall as I am, but they haven't bloomed yet.
This is a PARTIAL photo of Jack's 40-pound cabbage that was a planting assignment from his science class. The plants were donated by http://www.bonnieplants.com/. Bonnie’s 3rd Grade Cabbage Program distributes free cabbage plants to third-grade classrooms whose teachers sign up to participate. This year 1,200,000 third-graders will be planting and taking care of their own cabbage plants. You can learn more about the program, which also awards a $1,000 scholarship to one student in each state, by visiting the Third Grade Cabbage Program page of this web site (so says the website). I'd say it lives up to it's name. Again, this photo was taken about a month ago. The cabbage is HUGE now, and we basically put it in the dirt and that was it. I don't think we'll be entering the scholarship contest, still...we've had fun watching it grow and looking at the cabbages that were submitted on line. If the teensy cabbage we started with is any indicator of the type of produce Bonnie sales, then I highly recommend their product. As you can see, it's quite a substantial vegetable.

The dollhouse we built a few months back sits beside the giant gardenia bush that is now covered in sweet smelling blooms. That one bush makes our entire yard smell divine. Since this photo was taken, the zinnias and marigolds that I planted from seed have grown to about waist heighth and bloomed along the sides of the house.

As a prince sings...

Prince Charming (not PDaddy...the REAL Prince Charming) is crooning with Cinderella to the tune of SO THIS IS LOVE from the CD player in Sophy's room, the boys are making armpit farts that I can hear through their closed door, and Pongo and Honey are playing tug-of-war with a dog chewie on the floor. Yep, it's just another bedtime at the Pinkie house.

We had an uber relaxing weekend. PDaddy had a 3 day weekend for the first time since October. He actually had a family shoot on Saturday afternoon, but it wrapped up quickly and that was that. We had some friends over, and we grilled and laughed until we were in pain while the kids acted like maniacs in the pool. Sunday a.m. we went to church and then to see Indiana Jones. Sigh.....I love Harry. Was the movie good? I don't know. I just am in such love with Harry that he could have, regrets to Randy Jackson, "read the phone book", and I would've been happy. I enjoyed the movie. No, it's not realistic. There. I said it. BUT WHO CARES? Not. Me. So. There.
After the movie, we headed to the book store where I was accosted, not once but twice, by weird crazies....the strangest of which approached me with a written (I do not lie) message on a strip of toilet paper and tried to get me to take it from his hand and read it. All without him saying a word to me. Instead of words, he kept wagging his eyebrows at me while jerking his head towards the toilet paper note that was scribbled with jibberish and pictures. Not to mention (ok, I'll mention) the fact that he had a crazy wall-eye and was wearing a beret. I have never had a good experience with people in berets. I shall not elaborate. Just trust me on that fact.
Where was I? Bookstore. Wall-eyed crazies. Oh yes. We got take out munchies from McAllister's since it was past supper time, but we were full from the oversized load of buttered popcorn that we had with Indiana, came home and put the kids to bed. I went for a swim (I'm attempting to be diligent with some water aerobics). After that, PDaddy and I watched Girl Interrupted, which I have never watched but have often used the title to call sketchy females who I encounter, during which we ate our Grilled Chicken Ceasar Wraps from McAllister's. Might I say at this time that Angelina Jolie has, apparently, always had the inflated lipage that she sports today. She was collagen when collagen wasn't cool. I think I liked the movie, except where disturbed girl #3 hung herself. Yeah. Downer.
Even though it was late, we watched Disturbia with Shia LeBouf (how does that guy spell his name?) It's totally not my type of movie, but I must say that I enjoyed it rather much. It was just the right mix of suspense, funny, etc. By the time the movie was over, it was like midnight, so I read for a bit then we hit the hay.
PDaddy spent the morning doing yard work, and the kids spent most of the day in the pool. We ordered pizza this evening and watched the new season of American Gladiator with Jack which made him so incredibly happy. He loves that show. I cranked out the Blue Bell Moo Bars during the show, and we all sat and moo'd while we ate them. Good times, guys. Good times.

And now, here I sit. The CD has moved on to Sleeping Beauty, who is also singing with HER Prince Charming. I can no longer hear anything from the boy's room which isn't nearly as comforting as you'd think it would be. I better go check it out.

The weekend....and just in time, too.

Speed Racer. Don't bother! We saw it this evening, after a long wait fraught with anticipation and angst, only to discover that it's a candy-colored let down. It is, quite honestly, the worst movie I've ever seen. And I've seen a lot of movies. Jack loved it, of course, but I was very disappointed in the gun-toting and shooting, booty shots, and general violence. I can safely say we will not be buying the DVD, no matter how much it disappoints my #1 son.

After The Great Let Down movie, we met the GrandPinkies for sup at OutBack. We also went to the Splash pool store to pick up some lounge floaties and such. PDaddy and I soaked our feet in the pool for a few minutes after putting the kids to bed. The water temp is 84 degrees. Something tells me that we'll be swimming a good bit this weekend.

PDaddy has a free morning/early afternoon tomorrow for the first time in ages, so we plan to snag some donut-age....then, we'll be dropping of PDaddy's jeep at the shop to have a bit of tire rotating. After that, I wanna pick up some plantey things for the back patio at the nursery. Tomorrow eve we're having friends over for a grill and a swim. ((As I type, Honey is beside me chasing her tail in circles trying to bite it.))

Things I've said this week:

* Get your tongue out of the butter.

* Where are you going with that hammer?

* What possessed you to carve your name into my classroom door?

* I'm not sure what keeps water from soaking into a ditch.

* What ever you do, do NOT repeat that when you get to school.

* Sure you can run for student council president when you get to 8th grade, so you can make the morning announcements over the intercom in your mean, robot voice.

* Well, hurry up and catch him and punch him back.

* Get your teeth off of your brother's elbow right this minute.

* For the 5th and final time, put Uranus back where you found it.

* Please stop trying to give birth to a wolf.

* I can promise you that is not where baby wolves get their milk from. Please stop.

* People do not get awards for peeing no matter what your daddy told you.

* You really shouldn't ask someone to take their teeth out so you can see them.

He's got the whole solar system in His hands.

Sorry to make this so short and sweet, but this is our only night this week with no swim team practice--and we'll be busy constructing, or should I say RE-constructing, the solar system.
Be back soon!

10 Things in Jack, Sam, and Sophy's Room

Boys Room:

• Solar system and planes flying from ceiling



• Hot Wheels cars



• Marbles EVERYWHERE!



• 18 wheelers



• Punching bag



• Tons and tons of books



• Computer desk and computer



• Paper airplanes



• Globe


• Legos, Legos, and more Legos

Sophy's Room:

• Butterflies and sparkley ornaments hanging from ceiling



• Fairy net over her bed



• Snowglobes and matroyshkas



• Barbie fairies



• Pink roller skates



• Fairy wands and costumes



• Butterfly mobile hangs in her window



• Birdhouses on the walls



• Giant stuffed elephant on the bed



• Glass elephants and Josef birthday angels

Eye to the sky, er...calendar

Now that dance is over, I can finally catch my breath and....wait. Scratch that. Swim team starts tomorrow for Jack. It's not as bad as all that actually. Swim team is way less mommy involved and far more enjoyable, at least in my opinion, to be involved with. Not that I didn't enjoy Sophy's dance year, I really did. It was just so involving and dramatic. I mean, the production yesterday involved about 150 girls. Yeah. Dramatic is a good word. Anywho, we're rolling right along, and we'll be working out with the swim team for the next couple of weeks getting ready for time trials which will be held in Nacogdoches. All of our meets this year are in Lufkin and Nacogdoches.
We have a few field trips coming up for the Pinkie kids, a play day at school (field day), and kindergarten graduation for the Sophster. The kids want to have a swim party here for some kiddos, so I guess we'll do that before school winds down.
The day after school gets out, we leave for our camping trip with my side of the family. The kids are excited about fishing in the river again with their cousins. We're going to a new location this year. Last year, we were deep in the hill country and visited caves, waterfalls, caverns, and tubed on the San Gabriel River. This year, we'll be north of the hill country. We have reservations for the entire week at this place. The lady who runs the place says that you can see dinosaur footprints in the riverbed! We also have planned a picnic, fishing, tubing, horseback riding (I believe this is the place), and the kids are extremely excited about the kite flying. There is a pasture that the owner says is great for kite flying, so all of the cousins are picking out their own kites to try out. Of course, we'll also do the usual hiking, marshmallow roasting, etc. I'm pretty sure we'll also visit a nearby state park dedicated to dinosaurs and fossils, Dinosaur Valley State Park, and there is a good possibility that the Pinkie family will hit Six Flags on the way home and spend one night in the Big D area. I haven't been to Six Flags since I was in middle school, but I'd love to take the kids to ride the Mini Mine Train. WWwwwhheeeeeee.
Also in June, we'll be doing a week of swimming lessons. Jack is in level 4 or 5 of the Red Cross certification, Sam is somewhere floating (no pun intended) between level 1 and level 2. Sophy should test out of level 2 this year. Her teacher kept her in L2 last year because of her age/size because she feels like level 3 is a bit more involved, and we aren't trying to rush her. To get out of level 2, I think she'll have to tread water for 2 minutes (?) and survival float for a certain length of time. I need to look up the requirements, so I'll know for sure. I think our Pinkiecousin, E, will spend some time with us this summer...and for that I can not tell you how excited Sophy is!
Last but not least, we'll celebrate two birthdays in June. Jack will be 10, EEK! And PDaddy will be....21 again! Hoohoo!!!
Ter, I hope you are recovering! R sent me his pic, and he's beautiful! Once you're better tell me what's going on! Have the sisters stopped fighting over him yet? :-)

Ladies and Gentlemen, Sophy has left the building.

The photo says it all. The Big Day finally arrived with one heckuva long recital complete with costume changes, more body glitter than I ever recall seeing under one roof, and lots of hip shaking and toe tapping. Sophy had a good time, and we had a lovely meal at IHOP afterwards to celebrate the dance year being over! Hoohoo! Our Tuesday nights are free now!! YEEHAWWW!!

Funnies

My friend Ter, who is probably in labor as I type with child #4, recently posted some funnies heard around her house lately with three daughters running amuck. It dawned on me as I read them that I hadn't posted Pinkie musings in a while, so here goes! 10 funnies.

• If I promise to train him, can we get a pet alligator to keep in the pool?
• Mom, hurry outside! I made you a Mother's Day present out of mud!
• Can we go to Michigan on June 20th?
• When you asked me to make up my bed, you really, REALLY hurt my feelings.
• Dad, if you know what is good for you, you'll do what mom says.
• If everyone on Earth died, would it be dark? Who would turn on the lights then?
• One day mom, you're gonna be really old. Then, you're gonna die.
• Do people eat rats?
• Can you call a peacock a poopcock?
• Mom, when are you going to learn how to bake a cake?

My favorite classroom view....the kind with no students!

We wrote fractured fairy tales recently. If you'd like to be greatly disturbed, read a middle schoolers version of a fractured fairy tale. Whoa. Very enlightening. Very enlightening.

Ahhh, I love an empty classroom. HA! I'm mostly kidding. This is a glimpse into a portion of my day, sans students. Of course, you can't see my orange and purple sparkly borders, and my orange, blue, purple, and pink plaid borders. Or my fushcia, turquoise, and orange flowers hanging from the ceiling. Still, you get the idea. Or not. HA! I actually was tortured sat through high school algebra in this very classroom. I'd like to think my room has a little more pizzaz than the room did back in the gap...or maybe it's just more distracting? Pfft.

Monet?

Well, I'm no Monet...but I snappd this photo in an attempt to show you what my gladiolas looked like as they open up. It didn't quite work out, but it looks so cool!

The garden is on fire!

Well, not on fire at the moment...it's POURING down rain right now along with thunder and an insane amount of lightening! I'm preparing a slideshow of before, during and after of my gardens. This is my birdbath as of yesterday afternoon. All of the blooms you see here came from seeds. I'm most proud of the marigolds which I have NEVER even dreamed of growing from seed before this year. In my largest garden, the zinnias and lantana are crazy, crazy. I think this weekend I'm going to put out a few more roses and maybe a hydrangea or two in my kitchen window bed. Billy Graham is growing so nicely that I might have to get him a friend to grow with. For those of you who remember my jasmine, Aretha, she made the move with us in November, and she is also growing nicely...although not anywhere a vicinity next to Billy. That would just be weird, right?

My mother's day giftie!

Can you tell what it is?

I hope that I actually get to use it now and again...ha!

Wolves, Moose, and a Baby is Born!

(Here are the kids posing in front of the clocktower early this morning before breakfast. They were DRAGGING! Sam and Soph are watching an interactive roller coaster ride at the arcade last night. It was a rough ride!)

I should mention the baby first...because everything else pales in comparison to such a blessed event! A sweet babe was born this weekend, you can visit her here! Happy Birthday to her! Regrets to Stevie, but isn't she lovely? As far as I know all other pregnant folks are still gestating...right?

In other, not-so-significant news, we are home from Great Wolf Lodge. Yes. Yes. We took another trip that didn't involve puke! Sometimes I wonder when I'll be able to stop rating trips as puking and non. Well, whenever it is, it isn't yet. So....wonder of wonders, no one vomited, and the kids had such a good time they all (at one time) began to sob and whimper that they "never wanted to leave," and we weren't really even leaving at that point. Of course, after two days of constant moving, swimming, jumping, sliding, splashing, etc. the tears may have been from exhaustion.

Great Wolf Lodge is quite the place, let me tell you. It reminded me of a cruise ship. There are like 4 restaurants, constant kid's activities, an arcade, an interactive magic quest game that takes you all over the massive complex, an indoor water park that is insanely wet (don't even think of going in and staying dry...nope), a Pizza Hut, a Starbucks, and lots more that I can't recall. We checked in yesterday afternoon and headed straight to the waterpark. Somehow we managed to get the kids up to the room around 8pm or so. Then we headed to the lobby to watch the clocktower that sings/moves with characters and then to the arcade for a late night flashy-light fix. After hitting the breakfast buffet and more swimming, we left with 3 really tired and somewhat sad children. PDaddy and the kids put together my MDay gift when we made it home, so I'll post a pic of it soon. Oh, it's very, very sweetttt.

Billy Graham is blooming.

I planted a rose way back in December that was named Billy Graham. Now, I do name my plants if they earn the right. However, I did not name Billy. He came with that name. The good news is that the Reverend is blooming, and he smells so sweet.

The kids are so excited about our road trip this weekend to this happenin' place. Our Louisiana cousins are coming too and will be here tomorrow evening, and for that reason, the kids' excitement level is off the charts. They are as excited for their cousins coming to visit as they are about the indoor water park. We'll all leave together Saturday morning for some indoor, chlorinated fun.

Sophy's class is having a Fairy Tale parade tomorrow, so she is going in her Tinkerbell costume and wings. Oh yes, she refuses to leave the wings at home. I'm sure her teacher will be pleased.

Next week is the final week before Sophy's dance recital. We have dance rehearsals every night next week. I'm sad the dance year will end, but I'm excited that she'll be able to get back into gymnastics. I'm not sure if we'll do dance next year, but I'm hoping to just stick with tumbling if at all possible.

Jack has his first swim team practice the week following Sophy's recital. I'm thinking time trials will be the weekend following that. Once all of this is over, school will be so close to being finished. So close. So, so very close.

Gee, it's pretty late. I think I'll go soak and read. I'll update w/pics when we get home if I do not update again before we leave.

It takes a village....to keep the coyotes under control.

Sam created a village this evening, complete with a municipal water supply, roads and bridges, and a resident pack of coyotes (don't worry, they were corraled in a pit.) Have I ever mentioned that the molecules of Sam's DNA are welded together with dirt? Yes, indeedy.