The Muffoletto Family

Happy Thanksgiving...

2008-11-27T11:51:00.003-06:00

Just wanted to wish everyone a very happy thanksgiving. We are about to have our turkey sandwiches to tide us over until the big dinner at Aunt Barb/Patty's house. We are looking forward to getting together with family.

I hope everyone has a very blessed day. Love to all.

Let's see if this will work...

2008-11-27T01:16:00.001-06:00

I am trying to link my facebook profile to my blog and then perhaps I will update my blog more often.

Giving this a try.....

I Just Received...

2008-10-18T20:10:00.003-05:00

The sweetest note from Marie. I have to type it here.

Dear Mommy I love and you are the best mommy ever and you are my best friend ever and I am so happy that you have me in my activities like horseback and young chefs academy and swimming and you make my days at school fun and you are fun with me.

Does that not just melt your heart! Well we are here in Hutto and have been in Texas now for a little over a year. We are settling, but don't quite feel settled. We are just renting a house which is not a place we want to stay for very long. We have realized that now is the time for us to buy a house with all the houses selling for very cheap, but just don't know which little city we want to settle in. There are pros and cons every where and while it would be nice to stay in Hutto the houses here are over priced and not very well built. We would love to have an old house, but that would mean we would have to live in Taylor and we are not sure if we want to drive the 10 miles to Hutto each day for work. If however we decide on Taylor we can get a very old house with big trees and get to do some work on it and make it our own. We just can't decide.

Marie is doing wonderful in school. She loves second grade. I asked her what her favorite things to do at school where and she said art class and homework. I am still working at her school which is so wonderful. I can dry the tears when she gets upset and be involved with her education. I had an opportunity to move to district, but turned it down. I would have to work during the summer and I would obviously not be at her school. I asked Marie what she would think and she does not want me to leave. Another opportunity will come up when she is older.

Marie is still in horseback riding and is now taking cooking classes. She goes to a place called Young Chef's Academy in Round Rock. She loves cooking and is always asking to do stuff here at home. We also still have her in swimming classes. Some of you knew that before the beginning of this year Marie did not like to put her head under water. She now can swim and is doing a really good job. We drive into Austin to a place called Emler swim and we just love it there. I don't think I could ask for a better place. We now cannot get her out of the water. We would really like to find a place that has enough land for a pool. Even if it is an above ground pool I would really like for us to have one.

Well I must close for now. LSU is not doing well so I need to walk away from the TV. Love to all.

Over a year and about time...

2008-09-11T23:19:00.004-05:00

I guess since it has been over a year that I have posted I should at least say Hi! I don't think I have any readers left, but perhaps I will gain some new ones. Tomorrow at work I should have a lot of time to blog so I will update on the goings on with our family. They are dismissing the kiddos early for the hurricane, but the employees have to stay. Bummer!

Dance Recital

2007-05-20T00:25:00.000-05:00

This will be a very short note this evening. It is past midnight and I still have the kitchen and Marie's art area to clean before I can go to bed.

The recital was great. Marie did a wonderful job. I wished everyone could have been there to see her dance. She really gets better every year. It was so sad for me to think that this is the last year she will dance here in Norman. You will see she was a little sad also in the pictures with the studio owner and then with her teacher. Rockie, the studio owner, has been such a wonderful teacher to Marie during the three years we have been here. She told Marie that it was like seeing one of her seniors graduate having to say goodbye to Marie. So here are a bunch of pictures for all to see.

Love to all.

Talent Show!

2007-05-19T12:00:00.001-05:00

Hello All...I just wanted to write a brief update on what is going on around here. Some of you already know the stress we have been enduring about the talent show, but for those of you who do not here is the story.

Marie decided she wanted to be in the talent show. She wanted to do her dance from Dallas Cowboy camp this past summer. Of course she does not remember most of the dance. I agree to learn it myself and then teach it to her. Well that lasted about a weekend. I learned the dance, but she was not in any mood to learn. She we gave that up and decided to learn a song. The song we picked out was Then He Kissed Me by the Crystals. The song can be seen at the beginning of the movie Adventures in Babysitting. Anyway so we go on a trek to learn this song in the three days before tryouts. Then the night before tryouts she decides that she does not want to tryout. Then the day of tryouts we go back and forth about wanting to and not wanting to tryout. By lunch time I have decided that she must try out.

Now let me give everyone reading this my reasons behind forcing her to tryout. At this point she is taking the easy way out. She pretty much knows the song and gets to try out using the song with the words. She is trying out in front of teachers that she already knows and feels comfortable with. So after some fighting she relents and decides what is really going to happen if she just tries. I also have to remind her that she might not even get asked to be in the talent show. You see there were about 60 people or so trying out and they try to only have about 35-40. So what really are her chances.

So she tries out. She does a great job and we move on. I know as a mother I should be saying I really hope she gets into the talent show, but deep down I just hope we can use this audition as a learning experience and move on and not have to go through this again. She has by this point informed me that even if she gets in she is not going to do the Talent Show. I agree because honestly I don't think she will get in. This is actually the first year they have even let kids in kindergarten try out.

Well guess what name is on the list?! She is the only person in kindergarten asked to be in the talent show. Everyone wants her to be in the show so I give it my best shot to convince her to be in it. I was fighting a loosing battle so I decide to have the girls at her gym work on her. I have to agree to take her, Talia, and Jasmine to lunch for a girls afternoon. Talia and Jasmine are two of her friends that are in 4th grade and both got into the talent show. I am good friends with both of their mothers.

So we have decided to be in the talent show and I thought things would settle down. Guess who was wrong?! She did not want to practice so again we went back and forth. It would have been easier at this point to just pull her out, but by now she wanted to be in the show.

Yesterday I was so proud of her. Other than having a break down in the morning because she did not want to tuck her shirt in we had a great morning. I was working at the school so I gave her a kiss and left her in her classroom. We were all packed into the cafeteria for the talent show. I was told that is was expected to run 2 1/2 hours and Marie was close to the end. I was of course worried about how the audience was going to be by the time she got up to perform.

They were great and she was great. She had a lot of support from all the kids in the school. She remembered the words and even when she messed up she just got back into the song and kept going. I don't think I breathed the entire time she was on stage and I honestly almost started crying. All the stress and problems that being in this talent show had caused literally melted away when I saw her up there. At no moment during her performance did she look nervous. She was just up there singing to her entire school and parents! I believe she was very proud of herself also.

So the day went along and I was stuck up in middle school with the wild kids for the day. I actually did not have any classes, but I had visitors stay with me during the elective times. During the second elective they called me down because Marie had flowers delivered. Luckily I had her favorite 8th grader with me and he and I went down to deliver her the flowers. Her daddy sent her some beautiful flowers. She was so happy to get them and even happier that Mr. JV brought them to her.

So we left school and headed out to her dance recital dress rehearsal. That went great also!

Well I must close now and add some pictures of our day. This last picture with the curly hair is from today. We are getting ready for the dance recital which will be at 7pm. I will attempt to blog about that tomorrow, but it might not happen for a few days. We have an open house tomorrow so I am taking her to see Shrek the Third in the theater while the open house is going on. Please pray that the house goes under contract soon. We are ready to get started on our move to Texas.

Love to all.

Question: Can you ever really finish the laundry?

2007-05-13T23:34:00.000-05:00

Answer...No because there is always something hidden. Well Mother's day has got much better as the sun came up. Marie was awake watching me when I opened up my eyes. She was ready for me to open my other mother's day present. So I did. I got some really nice pairs of earrings. They were buy 1 get 1 free. Such a bargain shopper. We decided to go out for breakfast since she was feeling better. So off to Golden Corral for the all you can eat breakfast buffet.

Well it started off ok. We were eating and enjoying each others company. Then the itching started and I discovered that the rash was spreading. It was then on her cheek and neck. The rest of the meal was not as nice as the beginning because we rushed to finish so we could get home and get a bath and some more lotion on.

So we got home and put Roman out back for a little while. Today was the first day in I can't even tell you how long that it has not rained so we all went out back to pull a few weeds before Marie got in the shower. Well I decided to wash off the back porch while we were out there. With all the rain Roman has been using it as his potty. So I pulled the hose out and Marie got it in her mind that she wanted to get wet. So I sprayed her down and she ran around a little bit. It was nice to be outside and having a fun time while I sun was out. She kept screaming that she was having more fun that she had at her birthday party.

Note to self...skip all the planning, snowcone machine, slip and slide etc. and just pull out water hose.

So she got in the shower while I got to work cleaning the house. By the way by this time the rash has spread to her legs. I guess after work tomorrow we will be headed to the doctor.

I spent the rest of the day picking up and putting away and getting the house ready for an open house this Tuesday and then Sunday. I am really ready for the house to be sold. I know that in the right timing it will sell, but it is getting really stressful keeping this house up and running with all the stuff going on. I would just like for it to go under contract so that I can stop stressing over every last detail.

Anyway so I have been working on the dreaded laundry. I will honestly say that I never quite finish the laundry in one day. I don't know how two people can go through so many clothes, but it happens. There always seems to be something that needs cleaning. So I made it my goal today to get the laundry washed, dried, and at least folded. I was not sure if I would get it put away, but that can wait until tomorrow. So now at 11:55 pm I have fallen short of my goal. The last load is in the washer with one in the dryer. If I had not decided to wash my sheets tonight then I would be finishing up, but after having Marie in my bed last night I decided I wanted clean sheets.

So I was all proud of myself even putting the clothes off my back in the washer before running through the house to jump in the shower. I wanted everything to be washed. So I took my shower and got into some nice clean jammies. Then I went to put my bed back in order and needed to get my comforter that was still in the bathroom. You will never guess what was in the tub under the comforter?! The pants Marie was wearing last night when she had her accident.

So no you can never finish the laundry. It is seriously impossible.

Have a happy mother's day one and all. I am off to dry my hair. I am working in Kindergarten tomorrow so please pray for me. I NEVER agree to work in the lower grades unless they are desperate. Well they were desperate.

Oh and don't even begin to ask me what I found out is going on at Disney while we are there....Ugh....Yeah the washer just finished. Lets see if my towels are dry...Ahhhh the life....

Love to all....

And and Happy Mother's Day to You....

2007-05-13T01:06:00.000-05:00

If you check the time of this post you will discover that we are in the wee hours of the morning. I was all set to head to bed after a pretty relaxing day...minus a little stress...stuff happens and now I am not tired so I will post instead.

So Marie spent most of the day over at a friends house which was really nice. I had the day to myself! She came back and insisted on me opening one of my mother's day presents because she wanted me to wear it for mother's day. While she was in my lap opening the package up for me I noticed her arms. Well they are covered in a rash of sorts. So I freak out and end up calling her doctors office. They believe it is only hives (from what we cannot figure out) so we went off to Wal-Mart to get some cream and Benadryl. So I creamed her up and gave her some medicine and some ice packs to put on her arms and put her in my bed with a movie. So she falls asleep and I keep working on her teachers end of the year gifts. In case anyone wants to know I made them quilts with all the kids names in a different square. Thankfully they are finished. So I spent a little time reading my new trash magazine (US weekly) and decided I would finish it up in my bed.

So I go to move her from my bed and when I go to pick her up I notice that something is wet. Now mind you we have not had any accidents since we got out of the pull ups at least two years ago. I guess the mixture of the hives making her feel bad and the medicine made her have an accident. So I wake her up and she does not believe me that she is wet and goes potty and then I have to make her change out of her wet clothes. So we do this, I check the arms, and put her back to bed with a little more medicine. Then I move on to my bed. She had to be sleeping with MY satin blanket under her. So this dry clean only queen size blanket had to be wet down and is now hanging to dry. To make matters worse and a little more gross when I wet the blanket down I saw into the center and there are some nasty dark looking stuff in the filler. I think now is the time for someone to purchase me a new satin blanket. So then I have to take my comforter and try to wet it down and get it a little clean. Luckily my satin blanket absorbed most of the wetness. So now I will be heading to bed in a little while with just a sheet because I put most of my other favorite blankets in storage. If I was a bad mom I would take her satin blanket and make her sleep with something else, but I do feel bad for her because of the rash.

So here we are a little over an hour into mother's day and I already have this?! Oh boy what does the rest of the day have in store for me?! I guess everyone will have to wait to find out....

Love to all...

Jamie Needs a Break!!

2007-04-26T19:07:00.000-05:00

Ok I am in serious need of a break so I will type out my frustrations! It has been 24 days since my last message and that is because honestly I do not think I have stopped since then.

First and best news of all I have a nephew named Edward William. He was born on Good Friday, April 6th. He was 7 pounds 12 ounces. My sister went through so much to bring this little boy into the world, but what an angel he is! Marie and I got down there on Thursday. They had already been to the hospital early that morning after having a night of labor. Unfortunately they did not have a very nice or caring nurse and she sent them home. We spent Thursday evening walking my sister as I like to put it around the blocks. We had pizza and went to bed. I was positive that they would have me up in the middle of the night rushing to the hospital. The next morning after a horrible night for them they went back to the hospital.

An angel seemed to be on duty that morning because they were admitted to the hospital. Marie and I went up to the hospital around lunch time and she was still in labor and in a lot of pain. She got the epidural and was finally resting a little. Baby Eddie however was doing something with his cord because every time Carmen changed positions Eddie's heart rate dropped dramatically. A cesarean was finally done and little Eddie made his way into the world.

How did Marie respond to this little one you may be asking?! Not so good in the beginning, but by Sunday she seemed to have warmed up to him. You see her Kiki and Uncle Eddie are her two favorite people next to JJ and I and for once she did not have their undivided attention. That was a lot for a 6 year old to understand. Plus with the other stuff that as a reader you know about it was a VERY difficult trip.

We stayed until Monday and got to see Eddie come home from the hospital and then we made our way back here to Norman to get back to our normal life.

Normal life?! Ha!!!! Today is the half way point of the thing that is going on in my life. IS IT ONLY HALF WAY OVER?! From the way I feel it has gone on for months and months and months. We did great in the beginning, but now OH MY GOODNESS!! Everything is a challenge. Just getting her up in the morning is like pulling teeth. I had to use every ounce of my strength during homework tonight not to jump off the deep end. I finally did loose it when she was working on her sight words and let me preface by saying WE KNOW our sight words. She looked at the word "into" and said she had never seen it before. Mind you not five minutes earlier she had read it in her book. Out of the 30 or so sight words she must know by the middle of next month she was able to say 3 of them. 3 OF THEM!!! At one point not so far in the past we knew them all. Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Perhaps I expect too much out of her, but I don't want an argument after every request. I also don't want to be yelled at. BY NO MEANS should I be yelled at. This has been happening when I get her in the car to go home from school. I handle it by telling her she does not yell at me, telling her why it is not ok to yell at me, and then telling her that we will not talk until she can calm down. I get a quick I'm sorry which I tell her I am tired of hearing that she is sorry and that she needs to prove it and then she pouts. By the way the last thing I need to hear is how this is a thing and that she will out grow it. I know she will out grow it and I know I did the same thing, BUT it is driving me CRAZY!

Thank goodness Grey's Anatomy is on tonight. If she will get in bed and stay in bed before 8:00 I will be able to watch it without interruptions. Record it you might say...well it conflicts with CSI and I am recording that because it is not shown again. Grey's Anatomy on the other hand repeats and will be recorded tomorrow night, but I am working tomorrow and some of the middle school studentstalk with me about the show and I don't want to hear about something I have not watched.

And another thing....I bring this on myself, but we need the money. I am working SO many days. It is like a full time job, but I am paid next to nothing. If I did not love the kids and the school it would not be worth all the headaches. But I do love the kids and the school. Also right now I am about the only substitute that is available to work. Plus I have this little feeling of guilt if a teacher asks for me by name I always take the job. If they take the time to ask for me then the least I can do is take their place for the day. I guess I am doing something right because I keep getting more jobs!

Well it is getting late...I have not eaten dinner...Marie is still up...Grey's starts in less than a half hour. Love to all.

Prayer Request

2007-04-02T19:56:00.000-05:00

Hello All! I need to ask for some prayers for my sister this evening. Her baby is due tomorrow and they went to the doctor today and she is only 1cm dilated. I know that by this point she could be much further along, but I would still like to ask everyone to pray for her. They are scheduled to induce her on Monday and I know she does not want to have to get to that point.

Please pray that God will bring this baby safely and naturally into this world. Please also pass the word along to any praying friends you may have. If we can just lift her up in prayer I think that regardless of what happens she can have some peace with it. I would just like to take as much stress and worry off of her mind that we can.

We are headed down there on Thursday so we will be together for Easter. I wish we could head down there right now, but that is just not possible. I want to thank everyone who will lift her up in the next few days. As soon as the baby is born I will post some pictures of my Godchild.

Love to all.

Pink Party

2007-03-31T22:29:00.000-05:00

Tonight Marie and I got to attend a pink party in her honor. It was so much fun. Two of my friends from bible study threw it and as they put on the invitation we were celebrating all things pink. We had pink lemonade, pink Alfredo sauce, pink cupcakes, strawberries etc etc etc. The girls all took a bubble bath in the jacuzzi tub and watched Barbie Princess and the Pauper. My friend Diana made them t-shirts that said "Pink Party" had all the girls names and then said "Celebrating all things pink." Marie is tucked in her bed with her shirt on. There were so many pictures that I took I have uploaded them to an album that you can see. I did not take any of them out because I think they are so cute. It was so nice to just get away for the night and think of girl things and let the girls run around and play. I hope everyone enjoys the pictures. By the way if you don't remember how to get to my online albums you just go to picasaweb.google.com/jamielyn

Love to all.

Question: Can a day get any worse?

2007-03-31T11:27:00.000-05:00

Answer: Yes! Ok so if you read the last posting you will know that Thursday night was not good. Friday started out ok however rainy it was. We had a swamp in the front and back yards because it rained ALL day long. So after picking Marie up from school we decided to stay home for the rest of the night. I checked my voice mail and there was a message from our Realtors office saying that they had scheduled a showing for Saturday between 3:30-4:30.

Happy to have a showing I realized I needed to get the entire house back in order after having the carpet cleaned and also get the house smelling more like a house. So I have some carpet sprinkle and got to work. I had most of the living room carpet vacuumed and started working on the rug. Now mind you at this point I have the rest of the house left to vacuum. Well the motor on the vacuum decides to quit working. So I am stuck with and entire house that I have sprinkled powder on and no vacuum to clean it with.

Luckily we have good neighbors who were able to loan me their vacuum. So now I sit in a pretty clean house. I still have to make up my bed and finish cleaning my office. As I clean my office Marie is in here messing it up so hopefully I will be able to gt it clean in time for the showing.

So today, Saturday, is going better. I have to say the one high point of my day yesterday happened while I was trying to close my eyes for an hour. Someone rung the doorbell and I ignored it because the last thing I wanted to do was deal with any people. Well when I went to leave to pick Marie up from school there were a dozen roses on the front porch. I could not for the life of me think why I would be getting flowers. Well I have to say I have the best husband in the world. He remembers things that for the life of me I could never remember. Ten years ago yesterday JJ and I started dating. I know he remembers these things, but I never expected roses. It was the one big thing of my day however I cried the entire way to pick Marie up because I have such a wonderful husband.

Well I must get going and attempt to get this office cleaned. Hopefully today will be better than the past few. If anything the sun is shining so that is a start.

Love to all.

The Worst Night

2007-03-30T07:16:00.000-05:00

Ok I am living on so little sleep right now that I am not sure how I will make it through bible study this morning. Let me tell everyone the story of why I am about to fall asleep.

As my readers will know I had the carpet cleaned yesterday. Now unless you watch the weather channel you would not know that we had rain storms all day yesterday except of course when they were here to clean the carpets which was a blessing. Anyway they did a wonderful job on the carpet. They even got out the one stain from the night we moved into the house and I dropped a cherry limeade on the carpet. Well along with a great job they had to use a lot more solution than normal. I finally placed what the carpet smell that was all over the house. It was a mix of formaldehyde and old Windex window cleaner. Not a good mix. Plus the carpet was still wet. So in my office I sat with this window open. I could not get to the window in the living room to get it open because the living room was REALLY wet. When I was able to get into my bedroom I opened those windows, but discovered the rain was blowing and got our bedroom wet again. So I lived through the smell and wetness until I went to get Marie from school.

So after school we went to the mall. Ok I hate shopping with a child who now has an opinion on what she wants to wear. Almost two hours later we decided on a few outfits. As a side note most of them are being returned because when we got home and she was picking out an outfit for today she mentioned that she did not want to wear this one or that one because it was a little itchy. Well in the two hours of trying on these clothes do you not think there was a good idea to tell me any of this!!!!!!! Ok so we came home and some of the carpet was still wet. The smell was just as bad or in my opinion worse because the house had been closed up for four hours.

Following JJ's advice we were to sleep in my office with the window open. So I inflated the aerobed and put Marie to bed in here and I found a way to leap on to the couch and get that window open in the living room. I also put the air on about 60 to get some air flowing. So I laid on the couch freezing my nose off with two huge candles lit. Marie would not fall asleep so at almost 10 I went to lay with her. The smell was in my office because she had closed the window. I opened the window back up and went to fall asleep. This was when the fun started....

The cat was not happy about us being in here on the aerobed so she kept coming in and walking on me. I tried closing her out, but then she cried and scratched on the doors. Ok at about 1145 I woke up because I felt like I was laying on the floor. Well apparently our aerobed has a small hole in it. So I re inflated and went to lay in the lay-z-boy that is still in my office. That not being the comfort that I wanted and at this point the headache I was working on all day had become so bad that all I wanted to do was curl up in a little ball. So I went to lay back down and found the Marie had taken up the entire bed. I moved her over and laid back down. For the rest of the night I would fall asleep for a little while and then wake right back up when I had hit the floor. So to complain a little my back hurts, my neck hurts, I am grumpy, I still have a headache, and my aerobed has a hole somewhere or it is leaking air somewhere.

Through all this you will never guess who had a good night sleep?! You guessed right Marie.

I will close with the smell has subsided somewhat and the carpet is dry.

Love to all.

I found a better way

2007-03-29T08:24:00.000-05:00

Hello All! I have to admit that today I am typing in the most comfortable way possible so this could be long. I must start with a a little background and then I will get into why I am so comfy! Since the house has been on sale there have been a lot of comments about the carpet needing to be cleaned. So I made the appointment for today to get the carpet cleaned. I found out I did not have to move the big pieces of furniture, but did need to move the smaller things. So I spent most of yesterday moving some stuff around. Since I will not be able to walk on the carpet for a few hours after they clean it I decided I would want to be comfortable so I moved my lay-z-boy chair into my office. So as I was sitting in it I discovered that if I moved it closer to my desk I could sit with my feet up and type! Maple is sitting in the doorway wondering what is about to happen. I already put her in the bathroom, but I needed something out of it and she ran out. She now will not go near the bathroom. In a little while I will have to force her in there.

Roman you may be asking is at doggy day camp. Doggy day camp you may ask...Well with the house on the market there have been some times when he needs to be out of the house for the day. I found this place called Camp Bow Wow in Moore where they have day camp and overnight camp. I just love this place. The animals get to play all day together, the little ones in one area and the bigger ones in the other. They can play inside and outside. Once it gets warmer they will have little pools they can splash in. They get put in a cabin at lunch time for a little rest time. He always comes home and sleeps the next day. When we pull up he about jumps out of the car. Whenever we travel he is going to stay at Camp. Last time we went out of town and boarded him at a vet. I felt so bad because he was in a little cage and only got put out twice a day. At Camp Bow Wow he plays all day and then gets a bigger place with a fleece blanket and a campfire treat o sleep. During the night they have classical music playing so they don't feel lonely. To top everything off they have online web cams so we can watch and make sure he is doing ok. Plus each time I call and make him an appointment they always tell me how much they love him. Anyway enough about Roman.

Marie is still doing great. We get her report card today so we shall see how she does. She has done great all the other times so I am not too worried. She had a week off from gymnastics so she is slowly getting back into the swing of things. She is very excited about going to an Easter egg hunt on Wednesday. There is a chapter of my college sorority here and I am a member of the alumni group. The college chapter is having an Easter egg hunt for the kids of the alumni. She is very excited about getting to go to a sorority house for the first time. She watches Legally Blonde all the time and the main girl lives in a sorority house in the beginning. Marie also asked that I let everyone know she has a dance recital on May 19th at 7pm. She really would like anyone that wants to visit us to come that weekend. She will be doing ballet, tap, and jazz at this recital. She seems more excited about this recital than the others so it should be a good one.

Other than this nothing more is going on around here. Tomorrow is uniform break day, crazy hat, and ice cream sundae day. She is very excited about the day. They should have been off school tomorrow, but are using the day to make up for a snow day we had earlier in the year. So the principal wants it to be a fun day. She got a pink cowboy hat that has a crown on it. I am not sure if she wants to put anything else on it because she really likes the hat the way it is. I don't care one way or another. I will make sure that I take a picture of her tomorrow so everyone can see how cute she looks. Let us hear from everyone when you get a chance.

Love to all.

I have the worlds craziest dog...

2007-03-27T08:32:00.000-05:00

Ok crazy or stupid would be a good word for Roman this morning. We have been having issues since well... everyone knows. He has been peeing inside the house which he never does. So I figured maybe he is just bored or something so my plan was to start taking him on walks. When we left the house this morning I brought him in the car to drop off Marie at school. It was not raining when we left the house, but when we returned it was raining so I was not going to take him on a walk. Well he decided different. So with umbrella I took him on a walk around the block. He got nice and wet, but went potty while we were out so maybe that is what he needed. Now hopefully he will settle down in his room. That is if Maple will stop pacing in front of the baby gate. She likes to torture him!

We are still having sleeping problems in our house, but last night I curled up with her in my bed and had her asleep by 10. I put her back in her bed at that point and I actually went to bed. It was nice to be in bed asleep before 1 or 2. She did pretty good at gym having been off for a week. She almost has her headstand and has started working on one hand cartwheels. It is so nice to see how much she has learned in the 7 months that she has been training with Steve. Before we started she could barely do a cartwheel, could not do a backward roll, and was too afraid of the balance beam to get on it. That has all changed. We are so thankful that the Nunnos opened their gym when they did. Now if we move she has a great base to take with her where ever we may move.

Not that anyone really cares, but we had another one of our meals last night. It was gourmet macaroni and cheese. I was not sure what you could do to mac and cheese to make it gourmet, but they sure found a way. I cut up some turkey to put in it and boy was it good. Marie had two bowls full. It was so yummy! I feel so fortunate to have this stuff in our freezer to turn to.

Well I am going to go and take a little nap. I think I deserve a few minutes of quiet time before I have to really start my day. We have another open house on Sunday so I will spend the rest of the week and Friday night cleaning up the house to get it show ready. Our bible study pink party has been moved to Saturday night instead of Friday so we will go to church on Sunday this week. Roman will head off to Camp Bow Wow for Sunday to get him out of the house. He loves playing there to it will be a nice treat for him.

Love to all...

Jr. Zookeeper Continued...

2007-03-23T20:30:00.000-05:00

Hello All. What an eventful day we had today. I learned something today when I dropped Marie off at the Little River Zoo this morning. First off I must preface by saying I got dressed this morning in my khaki's, brown shirt, and my cute little leopard shoes (Target $9.99). So I went to drop her off. They have us walk into the zoo and bring the kids to a little picnic area. Now mind you this zoo has some animals roaming around such as big ducks. Well they are not the nicest ducks. So after I told her goodbye I started to walk back to my car. Well one of the ducks chased after me pecking at my shoes. I had to make a run for my car. Need-less-to-say I do not like ducks.

Marie had a great time again today. Her teacher out there told me that she is the biggest helper she has had. She also said that no matter what needed to be done Marie did not complain once. I guess this goes to show me that when she likes what she is doing she does not complain! Her big thing the past two days has been she got to make the rabbit her salad and bring it to the rabbit. I have some pictures of her from the day that I have put on a web album for all to see. The site address is http://picasaweb.google.com/jamielyn I will try to keep putting up pictures there as I get them. I found that this service through Google makes sharing my pictures so much easier. I have yet to try to order prints, but if I do I will let everyone know what is was like.

I must also share the horrible night I had last night. I put Marie to bed about 7:30 and was waiting for her to fall asleep. If she does not have school the next day I let her sleep in the room with me. Ok so around 10 she comes in and tells me that she saw an ant on my side table and one on the floor. Stressed I ran into my bedroom and found the one ant on my side table. Then I go and look next to the bed she is sleeping on. I notice a few ants near the trash can so I figure there were a few in there. Well in the corner was Marie's chewy sweet tarts that I thought she had finished two days earlier when I found the empty wrapper. Well you could barely tell that the candy was yellow. First off I HATE ANTS! Second it took me about an hour to get them all cleaned up. For the rest of the night I felt like I had ants crawling on me. I took a very hot shower, but still felt them. So now we have ant traps in our bedroom and Marie got in quite a bit of trouble.

Well I guess that is all that has happened the past few days. We had plans to go to Stations of the Cross tonight, as we have been doing most of Lent, but she was so dirty that it took quite a while to get her cleaned up. I guess we will not go any more this Lent. Next Friday some friends from bible study are throwing a "Spa" party for Marie and I. We are going to dress in pink PJs (thanks for the Valentine present honey!) and have pedicures and the kiddos are going to watch Barbie princess movies while the moms chat. It should be a lot of fun. I just love my bible study. They have been so good to me giving me Barnes and Noble, Michael's, and Sonic gift cards as well as this party. Most of us have been together for two years and when we leave I will miss them so much!!

Love to all.

Jr. Zookeeper

2007-03-22T16:57:00.000-05:00

Greetings from Norman. In my quest to keep this blog up to date I will give everyone a brief over view of what went on today.

Marie started Jr. Zookeeper at the Little River Zoo here in Norman. She has done this two other times. The main point of this program is to teach children about how to take care of animals and how to respect them. This zoo is unique because all of their animals have been abandoned or were rescued. Each animal has a story about how they got to where they are today. What I love about this zoo is that when you visit everyone gets a tour guide who takes you around and tells you all about the animals.

Marie herself has so many different stories to tell about these animals. The one I got to hear about today was the animal named Toby. It is so named because its mom pulled off two of its toes. What I also love about this experience is that Marie is worked very hard. They have them doing the jobs that a zookeeper would do. They clean out cages (poop and all), they feed the animals, and they have special little places they go in the zoo to rest and relax. During the summer when she went she actually was on the news being a pooper scooper girl. We will have to make that DVD available for everyone to see.

When I picked her up from the zoo she looked beat and had a bird feather sticking out of her braid. We got home and played fetch with Roman. Actually I threw the toys and she chashed after them for about 30 minutes. Roman and I had a nice time watching her! I have her well trained. She is in the shower now and dinner will be ready as soon as she is done. In case anyone is wondering we are having sweet and sour meatballs with rice and then probably strawberries and grapes and maybe some carrots.

I have to tell everyone about where we got the dinner we are having. There is a place here called Dish it up. You go and prepare the food and then freeze it. We decided to try it this month since JJ is normally the main cook. The food is really good and many of the things like our meatballs can just be thrown in the crock pot. On Monday and Wednesday when we are at the gym until after 6 these make an easy meal to come home to. I know most cities have some sort of place like this. They offered a discount to teachers (since I sub I got to have it) and they actually delivered the food to my school. It is worth trying. Makes our life a lot easier. I also think this would be a fun business to have. Something think about in the future.

Ok I need to go and hurry her up. Love to all! I will try to take some pictures of the tired and dirty girl tomorrow. If I don't get any tomorrow then at her graduation on Saturday I will get some.

Love to all.

My oh my....

2007-03-20T19:06:00.000-05:00

I did not realize it had been as long as it has since I last updated this thing. Actually I don't think there is anyone really watching this thing, but in case there are still people out there here is an update and some pictures.

So Marie is still doing great in school. She loves gymnastics and ballet and just had another gymnastics meet last Friday. She got a 1st place in Vault and Beam and a 2nd place in Bars and Floor. She would have gotten a 1st in Floor if she had not forgotten a handstand during the routine. I think she was just so happy that she had done everything else great. She did a great job regardless of what ribbons she got. Here is a picture of her and her coach. If we end up moving to Texas we are going to really miss this gym and all the coaches.

JJ is doing well. He is enjoying his job, but I think is looking forward to getting out the Air Force. Hopefully he will have a job lined up soon so we will know where we are living. JJ and Marie went to the Daddy Daughter dance at the beginning of February. They seemed to have a great time. I felt really bad because as they were getting ready I was passing a kidney stone. I did however get a beautiful picture of the two of them before they headed off. I have used this picture as the picture on my checks so where ever I go I can see the two of them. Ok I guess I will share the picture. In my opinion I have the most beautiful little girl in the world.

I am still working at the school. I really enjoy being up there with all the kiddos and am learning a lot about myself and the patience I have (or lack there of...)

The house is still on the market. We have only had two people come and look at the house which is a little depressing. However we do not really want the house to sell until school gets out. We put it on the market early because houses in our area take about 100 days before they sell. I am going to miss this house when we leave however I will be happy to move on hopefully closer to family.

I really cannot think of anything else to report. I can tell everyone two things I have discovered I do not like to do. #1 put my hand into the sink disposal to pull things out that fell in and got stuck and #2 take out the trash. For those of you who know me you will know why I am forced to do these things now and for those of you who have not figured it out email me privately and I will let you in on the information.

Well I have started reading Pride and Prejudice and am really into it so I would like to go and read some more. Next blog post I will tell everyone about the trip we are planning to Florida at the end of school year and what we have scheduled! Love to all.

Long time coming...

2006-11-18T19:55:00.000-06:00

I did not realize how long it has been since I posted. So I am guessing this might be a long one. Sit back, relax, and I will try and figure out what we have been doing for the past month.

First off JJ did not get the job with google. While we are very upset he did not get the job we are not so upset about not moving to New York. Plus, JJ got to see New York for a little while so now he can say he has been. The entire trip was filled with delayed flights and I think he was happy when he finally made it home. The experience was great, but I firmly believe God has a different plan for our family. Now we are putting all of our efforts into finding a job either here in Norman or in Texas. So we could still use all the prayers possible while we work through this high stress time in our life.

I have been quite sick for a few weeks and thought I was feeling better. Now I am not so sure. I went to the doctor two weeks ago and was diagnosed with bronchitis. I finished my medicine and started to feel better, but yesterday and today the sore throat and stuffiness has set back in. To be gross I have started to hack up some nasty stuff. I think I might have to make my way back to the doctor next week and make sure this has not progressed to something else. I had a birthday since last time I wrote and was actually sick for the day. I did get out and go for Japanese food with JJ and Marie. While we lived in Indonesia my dad took me most years to a Japanese restaurant where they cooked the food in front of you. I always loved doing that so I am starting a new birthday tradition for myself. So next year everyone will know where to find me for my birthday! I got some great presents and spent most of the day resting. I finished my last bible study yesterday as a facilitator. I have been facilitating some sort of bible study for a year and a half and am taking a break next semester. We still have our ladies brunch that I am planning and then my work is done. We did a book called courageous Women by Stacy Mitch. It looked at all the important women in the bible. It was an ok book, but the group was what made it great. We had a group of about 20 ladies and were very diverse so there were some lively conversations. I do however look forward to taking a little time off, but I will more than likely join a study as a participant.

Now on to my pride and joy...Marie! She has grown up so much since she started school. We are forever sounding out words and learning so much. I found the other day when we went grocery shopping that I must write neater because she was trying to follow the list and could not read my handwriting. I spent most of the time telling her what the word was supposed to be and she kept questioning why I was writing it wrong. I have however learned my lesson. She loves school and loves her teachers. They are always telling me how caring and compassionate she is to her fellow classmates and to her teachers. I love hearing these things! We are still doing dance and gymnastics. She asked to quit Pom class and we let her. She is really in love with gymnastics and she had her first meet yesterday. Now before people go up in arms about her being to young to compete this was a fun meet. Every child got some sort of ribbon as long as they tried. If they were able to do their entire routine with no mistakes and no help they got a blue one, if they had some help they got a red one, and then if they were helped pretty much the entire time they got either a white or a pink. With that said Marie got the following ribbons: floor routine - blue, vault - blue, uneven bars - red, beam - blue. We are so proud of her that I cannot even put it into words. She has been practicing very hard and loves doing her gymnastics. If we would let her she would probably live at the gym. She is training under Steve Nunno who just opened up a new gym here in Norman. He is the former coach of Shannon Miller (Olympic gold medalist) and former OU girls gymnastics coach. We know Steve because his three kids go to the same school Marie goes to. He is just such a wonderful coach and has hired some great people to work with the kiddos. Marie used to be so afraid of doing some gymnastics things, but some how Steve can get her to do the things and then once she does it she loves them! We feel so blessed to have her in his program and would love to be able to stay here and let her keep training under him.

We are heading to Austin this week for Thanksgiving. We are actually going to drive to Austin and then grab my sister and brother-in-law and head to Houston for Thanksgiving day with my mother. Mom has to work so we are going to eat at the restaurant with her. Then we are heading back to Austin to spend a little time with family. Just a short trip because JJ is trying to save up his vacation time for when he gets close to getting out of the Air Force and also for interview time. While in Austin we will probably spend a little time looking at houses and neighborhoods and also make a drive by some of the schools we are interested in.

For Christmas we are spending our time here at home as usual. JJ and Marie (and perhaps me) will go to Baton Rouge for JJ's brothers PhD graduation. Richie graduates on the 21st of December. Marie will have to miss her last couple of days of school in order to go to the graduation. The reason I am not sure about me yet is because of music practice at church. Graduation is so close to Christmas that I am not sure if I will be able to miss the practices. I have committed to playing flute for two masses on the 24th and then mass on the 25th. We have practice scheduled for the 20th. As it gets closer to the time I will figure out how things are going and then we will make the decision as to who will travel. They will drive back on the 22nd because Marie and I have tickets to see the Nutcracker. We are going to Tulsa to see the ballet and then at that performance they have a special thing where you pay a little extra and the kids get to go on stage and have snacks with dancers, goodies, and their picture taken with a dancer in costume. She is very excited about going and I am excited about taking her for her first time! We used to go as kids every Christmas so I hope to have this become a tradition for us.

I think that is all the information I have to pass along to everyone. I will close now and post some pictures. These are from last night at the gymnastics meet. Love to all!

Just a quick one...

2006-10-14T12:21:00.000-05:00

Hello All! We are on our way out for a celebration lunch today. Why you may ask?! Two reasons. JJ has been asked to do a 4th interview with Google and his official date to leave the Air Force has been approved. His last day in will be September 29, 2007. Google will be flying him to New York on Tuesday night and he will be doing his interview on Wednesday and then flying back home. Please, please, please keep him in your thoughts and prayers as he travels and then during his interviews. They will take place on Wednesday from 1-5 eastern time zone. He will not know anything when he gets back, but as soon as we know anything I will post it here.

Love to all...

Third Interview...

2006-09-25T09:51:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that JJ has been asked to do a third interview with Google! It will be another phone interview and should take place within the next two weeks. We are SO excited! Please pray that this one goes as great as his other two.

Everything else is going great around here. Love to all!

What to say...

2006-09-19T09:24:00.000-05:00

Well it has been over a month since my last update and so much has happened I do not even know where to begin. I guess I will just start with the good stuff.

Marie performed at Texas Stadium on the 31st. I was actually scared that when she got there and saw how big it was and how many people were watching that she would get scared and not want to do it. Well she went off and went through the tunnel and did her dance. She was of course excellent. We had a great time at the game. Our friend Kelly from here and Norman and her boyfriend came to the game as did our old across the street neighbors. They moved to Dallas over Christmas so it was nice to see them again at the game. We had a great time and Marie danced and cheered the entire game. Now the game went into overtime because it was a tie so we stayed. If someone had told me that if neither team scored they would leave a preseason game in a tie we would have left earlier. So need-less-to-say we stayed a really long time for a game to end in a tie! Oh well we had a great time.

Marie is enjoying kindergarten. She does not like the homework, but is working through this. She has been promoted in gymnastics which means we go to class twice a week for two hours instead of twice a week for one hour. Now at least I can go and do something while she is at the gym, but she is really tired when we get home. We are also still doing ballet, tap, and jazz, but I think she wants to quit pom class. I don't really mind if she quits because it is on Friday afternoons and we are just all really tired come Friday afternoon. If it were any other day we would probably stay in, but I am not going to push.

I am busy working hard. They are keeping me busy substitute teaching. I have spent all of my time in the middle school which I like much more than the elementary. There are some kids that I want to just strangle, but overall they are a good bunch. I had a little scare for a few weeks that now that it has passed I will share. I had a mamogram two weeks ago and they found something that looked abnormal. It had not been there six months before when I had a mammogram so they wanted to investigate. Well I had a biopsy on Friday and got the results on Saturday. Praise God it is only calcified scar tissue. It was a difficult few weeks, but we worked through it and are so thankful for the good results.

Well I guess I have saved the biggest news for last. JJ has decided to get out of the Air Force. The Air Force is trying to reduce the number of people in so they are offering an incentive plan to get out. Well we considered it for a very long time and decided it was our time to get out. He has turned in all the paperwork and gotten about a million signatures (not really!) and we are just waiting on the final OK. He has requested to get out next September. So we still have a while to figure out what we are going to do. With all of his vacation time he has saved up he will actually be starting his vacation at the beginning of July. That way hopefully he will have another job lined up and we will pull in two salaries for a few months! So now we are looking for him a new job. We would like to move to Texas or Louisiana to be closer to family, but would love to stay here also. Overall we are just going to go where God gives us work. We really believe God is directing us on our new journey. JJ had a phone interview on Wednesday with Google. He has his next phone interview tomorrow I believe. If he passes this interview there is one last phone interview before they fly him to New York. Google would be such a fun place for him to work so please keep him in your prayers. Also if he works at Google I want to get a job there also. We just LOVE google.

Well I think that is all I have to report. I have to start getting ready to sub in literature. I will be there for the rest of the week. I hope everyone is doing well. Love to all.

First Day...

2006-08-16T08:47:00.000-05:00

Well I have just dropped Marie off at her first day of Kindergarden. All went well and there were no tears and she didn't hang on and want me to stay. I think the reason was her best friend Emma is in her class again this year. Here are pictures I took this morning. Enjoy and I will update once I know how the day went. Love to all.

102, 101, 101, 102, 105, 106, 107, 107...

2006-07-21T10:51:00.000-05:00

I know this may seem like an odd way to start a post, but I just thought everyone would like to see what our temperatures have been for the past eight days. These are just the normal temperatures not even with the heat index. It is very hot around here so we have not been doing much of anything except trying to stay cool.

Well we had Marie's birthday party on Saturday and even though it was hot we had a good time. It was a Luau and we had a wonderful girl who came and did a hula dance and then taught the kids a little dance. I know the kids at the party had a fun time during the hula dance, but I am not so sure about Marie. She says she had a good time, but during the lesson she just sat there and watched. Oh well at least her friends had a good time. She got lots of great presents and she has been having fun playing with them all week. Even though it has been extremely hot she has been going on the back porch and playing with her sidewalk paint. That stuff is the best stuff we have ever come across. I only wish we had a cover over our driveway so she could have a larger area to paint. Oh well at least we have a covered back porch.

Other than the party we have not been doing much at all here. JJ has been in his room busy studying and working. I have not been busy doing much of anything. I am working on some cards, but mostly just having a lazy few weeks. Planning the party took a lot out of me so I am taking a break. However I need to get started on thank you cards! Well I am not sure what else to write so I will close....Love to all!

Football Ticket Question

2006-07-02T22:27:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post tonight...Marie will be performing before the Dallas Cowboy football game on August 31st. Kickoff is at 7:00 and her performance will be at about 6:45. The tickets for the game will be $30. Everyone is invited to attend however we need to know how many people are going to go to Dallas for the game. We have to have the final count in to the Cowboy office by Wednesday morning so I need anyone that wants to go to either email me or call me and let me know. This is going to be a great event with Marie down on the field at TEXAS STADIUM!! So if there is any way you can get away try to come. If not we will have the video available! Let us hear from everyone! Love to all!

A picture is worth a thousand words...

2006-06-30T20:57:00.000-05:00

More later. Love to all!

Well....

2006-06-29T01:52:00.000-05:00

We came home with a 2nd place trophy tonight. The girls put their heart in the game, but the other team wanted it more. We had already beaten them twice and I just think they wanted blood. I know they were VERY upset and there were some tears shed, but the girls put up such a good fight this entire season that we were really proud of what they accomplished. I mean they went undefeated in regular season. That in itself deserves a trophy!

As a mom I can tell you all the bad calls and why we should have won and how upset the other coach made the parents and our kiddos and also how another team parent got thrown out of the game, but....At least I can say the season is over and out of all the teams in the city of Norman, Oklahoma the All Saints Blue Eagles are #2. They are the silver medalist and for that Marie is getting a piece of silver jewelry!

Well we had day one of Dallas Cowboy Cheerleading Camp and Marie had a great time! The girl that is leading her group is named Starr Spangler (you can look her up!) and Marie had a great time with her. Starr said that she had a fun time with Marie. We are taking our newly won trophy to show Starr tomorrow. She seems like the type of person that will make that 2nd feel like a 1st.

Anyway it is 2am and I could ramble on for hours, but instead I will bid everyone good night and I will write more tomorrow.

Love to all!

We are ALMOST the champions...

2006-06-27T10:50:00.000-05:00

Well we have one more game in the tournament and if we win that we are the champions! Last night the team won again in a very close game. It has been very difficult to sit and watch the last few games, but they have pulled together as a team and brought home the win. So tomorrow night at 7:00 pm we have the next game. If we win then it is all over with. If we lose we play again I believe an hour later and if we win that then we can call the girls the champions!

Now for those of you who know our summer plans would think that we should be in Dallas tomorrow night. Well you are correct except for the fact we are driving back in for the game! Call us crazy, but how many times is our child going to be in the championship game? It could be a million or this could be the only shot. Regardless we are going to make the short drive so she can play and then drive back to Dallas.

Speaking of Dallas we are leaving in a few hours to go get ready for Dallas Cowboy cheerleading camp! Marie is so excited about going to camp this year! We are excited about just getting away for a few days! First however we have to get this house cleaned and get packed. So I guess I should get going and work on cleaning this room and then packing! Love to all!

I didn't think I would have any pain....

2006-06-23T08:43:00.000-05:00

Well I thought I was going to be a lucky one and not have any pain from this surgery. They said in my paperwork that from the gas they put in me that I might have pain in my upper back. As I went to sleep last night I was thinking to myself how lucky I was that I was not going to have that pain. Well when I woke up this morning not only does my upper back hurt, but my incision spot hurts also! Oh well at least now things are fixed! I have taken some pain medicine about an hour ago and it is starting to work, but I cannot go to sleep just yet. JJ ran into work for a few minutes and is leaving there in 15 minutes to come and get Marie and take her to Jr. Zookeeper and then I can crash out! Actually first I have to get her hair up and her sunscreen on! Ok I have so much more to blog about, but my brain is just every where and I don't think I could type a straight thought. So we are still doing good around here as long as I can get Marie back in my room and get sunscreen on her!

Love to all!

Out of the Hospital

2006-06-22T21:38:00.000-05:00

Greetings from my bed! I had my procedures today and have been home resting since about six this evening. While I was awake for a little while and feeling OK I figured I would post a little some thing about what went on and what the doctor said. First off I have to say thanks to the nurses and everyone at the Surgical Hospital of Oklahoma. They are some of the nicest people I have come across in a medical facility. I really like this hospital because they make you feel very comfortable. In the pre-op area they have this big lay-z-boy chairs that you recline back in and they gave me this warm blanket to wrap up in. When they put you in the wheelchair to go to the operating room you sit on another warm blanket. They once you get on the table they put the warm blanket back on you. They really worry about your comfort. For those of you who have been around me for any other surgery you know I normally get sick from the anesthesia well this is the second time it did not happen. In recovery they gave me crackers and water and made me eat them and I felt SO good after eating them. Then I had to walk to the second part of recovery, with a short stop in the potty! There I waited to go home. The crackers had been so good I asked for some more and they offered me peanut butter crackers. I finished those in about two seconds and after my IV was out and got some more. I was being a little piglet, but each thing I ate made me feel more conscious and less like I was ready to go back to sleep. A very dirty Marie and JJ got to bring me home from the hospital and we actually stopped for snocones on our way home. They put me to bed and then ran some errands, got my medicine and then some Jason's Deli as a treat. Daddy you will be happy to know that you still hold a very special place in my heart because you are still the ONLY person to experience me throwing up Jason's Deli Broccoli Cheese soup. I tempted fate tonight and lucky JJ did not get to see any after it went in. I guess my body knows that my daddy will ALWAYS love me no matter what I do after surgery and cannot ever get rid of me. JJ on the other hand.....oh I know he would clean it up! Anyway enough gross stuff! Suffice it to say they were great at the hospital and I felt really good when I left. I need to find out what that anesthesiologist gave me because I need it every time!

Now on to what went on (other than me eating) and the preliminary results. My doctor by the way was Todd Robinett from an OB/Gyn practice in Moore, Oklahoma. Just to let everyone know I did not get my medical degree today rather the hospital gave these great print outs that tell what each procedure was, what it looked for, and then what the side effects will be.

The first thing was a laparoscopy. This is an exploratory test that uses an instrument to see inside of my abdomen. They put gas inside to be able to see inside the abdomen well. They had to do a tiny incision just above my belly button for this test.

Next was a chromotubation. This is where they put blue dye in the uterus and it flows through the Fallopian tubes. This will show if there is anything blocking the tubes. Some times this can help make the tubes flow a little better. My left tube did not flow very well at all. That was as far as the doctor went so we will see in a week or so if there was anything else with that. JJ thinks it is cool because the doctor said there is a small chance there might be some blue come out of the incision. Won't that be great if it happens!

The hysteroscopy was another test done. This is where they go inside the uterus to see what is going on. They discovered I have endometriosis pretty bad. He told JJ that I might have to be on medicine to keep this under control.

Finally her performed a dilation and curettage also known as a D&C. My cervix was opened and the lining of the uterus was scraped of extra tissue. This should help make a good place for a baby to grow.

Dr. Robinett also discovered a cyst on my right ovary that was drained. He took some biopsies and we should know the results in the next few weeks. I will let everyone know what we discover.

I guess I waited a little too long to have all this discovered, but I really feel like my doctor has a handle on what we need to do to get me feeling better. I am starting to get a little out of it and am not really sure what kind of sense I am currently making. I guess this is why they say not to make any major decisions for 24 hours. Maybe for me they should have said no blogging for 24 hours. Well thank goodness for our laptop so I can lay and type. You know so far the only thing that is really bothering me with is the gas in my belly is making me feel like I need to go potty all the time. Also the cat won't come near me because of some smell. I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad as she likes to step on my belly.

I want to thank everyone for lifting me up in prayer today. I know God was working through these wonderful people and I feel very blessed that I am on the road to being healed. By the way when I am feeling better I have this great little women's encouragement that I will have to share that I read right before I went to the hospital. It has nothing to do with medical things, but instead was about doing something with your talents or passions for the Kingdom of God. I have been thinking a lot about this during the summer this little email really brought it all together. Anyway I need to get up, drink some water (they apparently had trouble getting my breathing tube in and now my throat feels raw!) and then make a little visit to the potty. Didn't you want to know that?!

Once I feel better and once my hubby loads a different picture program on my computer I can crop and post some soccer and park pictures. FYI: Failure to Launch with Matt Mcconaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker comes out on the 27th. My sister and I saw it at Alamo Draft house in Austin and thought it was great. This is one worth renting!

Love to all!

Leaving Town...

2006-06-09T15:40:00.000-05:00

Greetings all! Marie is currently having quiet time, I am listening to the laundry, and JJ just left for the gym so I figured it would be a good time to update the blog. Well it has been about two weeks since school got out and we have actually had no more injuries to report. Marie went to soccer camp last week and I honestly don't think she had that great of a time. First off it was a full day of camp. Three out of the four days it rained in the afternoon which meant they had to go inside. I would not be so upset with the week if when they went inside they did some soccer related stuff, but instead they watched movies. If I had wanted Marie to watch movies I would have kept her at home. She was not happy about being stuck inside either. I just hope that soccer camp next week in Texas will be better. I know the big difference is the one in Texas will only be a half day. I know she is excited about it, but I am not sure if it is the camp she is excited about or if seeing Kiki is what she can't wait for. I can't wait to see what she will learn during the week. We don't really have any other plans for the week except going to Dallas for an Arbonne meeting and mom coming in on Sunday so if anyone else in Austin wants to get together they just need to give Carmen a call.

This week Marie also went to a Girl Scout day camp. They spent the day at the park playing games, doing crafts, and having a scavenger hunt. She was really excited because she got her first patch. We came home and I gave her my Brownie sash with my patches on it. She was so excited and wore it to her doctors appointment. Marie is not sick we just had to go and get a physical before she can attend soccer camp. While we were there we also had her six year old check up. We did not think there would be any shots involved with this appointment, but I was wrong. Oklahoma requires the hepatitis A vaccine and she had the first part last year and had to get the second part this year. Well she has gotten a lot stronger than the last shot because it was much harder to hold her down for this one. Well we got the shot and then went to get sno-cones. She was in SO much pain that she could not even get out of the car at the sno-cone place. (I am being VERY sarcastic right now!) She is much better now, but I have a feeling it will be difficult to get her to the doctor ever again! Just to let everyone know she weighs 48 1/2 pounds and is 3'8" tall. She is getting tall which I think makes JJ a little scared. I don't think he wants to look up to her when she is bad.

I believe I have neglected to tell everyone about Marie's tball team this year. They are the blue Eagles and are an all girls team all from her school. What I am SO proud of is that they are un defeated. They play so well together! We have really enjoyed watching all the games. We have one tonight at 9pm which explains why we made Marie have quiet time today. We had a game at 9 last Monday and it was not until after 10 that we finished so it was a late night. So we had rest time so we won't be falling asleep in the dugout!

Marie's birthday party is well into the planning stages. We are officially having a luau with a heavy emphasis on flip flops. So far we have a hula dancer hired to entertain and teach the kids a little dance. We will have the normal cupcakes, ice cream, and snocones. While I am in Austin I plan to purchase the plates, napkins etc because party city has a good price on them and we don't have a party city here. You also can't order from party city online and the only other place online I can find them is double the price and then $9 shipping on top of that. So this party will be one not to miss so start booking your flights or planning your road trips. So far we have confirmed out of town guests of Ed, Carmen, and my mom is flying in the morning of the party which is also her birthday! So let us know so we can clear off a bed for you!

Well I should get back to resting! I have spent the last two days cleaning the house and it is now done except for the laundry. I know I should be packing, but I need clean clothes to pack first! Packing is the easy part! I also need to clean out my car and give it a quick vacuum because I hate traveling in a dirty car! So if anyone needs me in the next week they can drop me an email, but I can't promise I will be very quick about getting back to you! Sorry to say that, but I don't know what the week will be like. I will try to post some pictures from the trip as I take them, but if I don't get a chance I will when I get back. Oh by the way my surgery is currently scheduled for the 19th. I have to get confirmation from the doctor, but if you don't read anything about a date change just say a prayer for me on the 19th. I will post once I feel up to it to let everyone know how it went! Take care! Love to all!

83 days until school starts again...

2006-05-25T20:30:00.000-05:00

Well school ended today at 11:30 and we almost had to make a trip to the emergency room. Well not really but we did have a little accident. Marie's face had a quick meeting with the arm of the sofa. Actually we were watching High School Musical and she was dancing and spinning and well the rest is history.

Now I thought she had just bumped herself and was going into drama queen mode so I put her in my lap and then discovered the blood gushing. Well we ran to the bathroom and she had calmed down a little until she saw her lip. Not dealing with busted lips very often I made the mistake of putting toilet paper on it. Not working we decided that calling daddy might be a good idea. I know now that putting ice directly on the bleeding lip will in a little while stop the bleeding.

So I guess what I am trying to say is we haven't even officially started summer vacation and this happens. What is going to happen by the end of the summer??? Save us!! Come for a visit!

Love to all.

What a show...

2006-05-20T23:29:00.000-05:00

Well we are home from the recitals! We had a very busy day but luckily we were able to stay out of the heat and enjoy some good dancing. Marie was wonderful in all three of her dances. She looked so beautiful and so grown up on stage. We are getting the video of the recitals so be prepared when we come to visit we will be bringing the video! Here are a few pictures so everyone will feel like they were with us. Love to all!

Some Pictures for Your Enjoyment!

2006-05-19T21:38:00.000-05:00

Just two pictures for everyone to enjoy. I will post more after the recital tomorrow! I could not believe Marie when she came around the corner with her new baby in the stroller! She wasn't really happy when I took the cheer picture because she wanted to sit under the tree. Oh well I can get better tomorrow! Love to all!

Happy Late Mothers Day!

2006-05-16T20:24:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a great Sunday even if you are not currently a mommy! In order not to fight the crowds at restaurants we had my mom's day dinner the night before. While I was gone to Houston JJ found that we have a Tony Roma's in Oklahoma City. For those of you who know me well you will know this is by far my favorite restaurant in the world. Just as an aside this is the place where I went for my high school graduation dinner. The Carolina Honey's are the best thing to put in your mouth! Anyway we had a great dinner and it was definitely not crowded which was great.

So on Sunday since we were not going out to dinner we packed everything we needed to get done into one day. We started out with church where as I have been doing since January I played my flute. For the first time however I had a little solo. When I say solo there were times when the piano and choir were not singing or playing and only the one and only marvelous flute player (Me in case you didn't follow) was playing. I had a great time because I just love playing my flute. Then choir was serving the donuts and I got put on clean up so we went over and served and then cleaned up. Once we got home we planted a new tree in the back yard and dug up the pond we had put out there. Why everyone is probably asking did we dig up a perfectly good and new pond?! Well our little doggie was very interested in the pond and thanks to his size if he fell in he would probably drown!

As an aside my moms Labrador fell/jumped in the pond and we had to help her get out.

So back to the new pond. We got a fountain like thing where the water is completely contained and there is no water standing. It is very pretty and looks like a ceramic vase. It goes quite well in my meditation garden. I still however need some religious statues to put in there and then a little bistro set or something to sit on so I can spend nice mornings out there and think and pray. By the way anyone can take that as hints for any presents you may want to get me...

Well you would think we could get this little project done in one afternoon, but we ran out of dirt to fill in the hole. We also didn't have enough rocks to make it look good. So off to Lowe's for more dirt and rocks. So the dirt and rocks are sitting in the garage. Perhaps next Sunday we can get it finished! Wishful thinking!

We are all doing pretty good around here. Marie is getting over a little cold so she has been a little grumpy the past few days. We are struggling with going to sleep at night. We don't struggle putting her in bed the first time, but she continually gets up to give kisses, go potty, etc. We put her in bed between 730 and 800, but she is still up as late as 900 or 1000. We have to get her up by 645 to start getting ready for school. I was told not to go by how long they are sleeping but rather by how they act in the morning and as it gets close to bed time. She is a grump in the morning and a grump in the evening so I figured she is not getting enough sleep. So I am not really sure what we can do without gluing her to the bed! We have told her not to get up unless she has to go to the bathroom. Well she goes potty all the time and we are afraid if we tell her she can't get up to go potty that we will take a huge step back in the potty business. So ideas and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. It just gets a little frustrating putting her to bed and never really knowing when she is going to be asleep or when she will be making an appearance!

We have dance recital this Saturday! Marie will be performing at both recitals this year. At the first one she will be doing her Pom routine to the song Hey Mickey. They are wearing little pink and white cheerleader outfits. They are very cute! At the second recital she is doing ballet and tap. They have a beautiful lavender outfit with sage green accents and I think three dark pinkish/purple flowers. For ballet they are wearing a sage fluffy skirt that goes down past their knees. For tap they don't wear the skirt. For tap they are dancing to Zip-a-dee-doo-dah and for ballet to a song called Autumn leaves. I am not really sure about that song so I will let everyone know. She is really excited about being in the recital this year. We have not taken pictures yet, but I will post some from the recital for all to see.

I am sure everyone is wondering what we are doing this summer so here is a listing of what all Marie will be doing. We would love to have anyone and everyone come and visit! We have not made any plans for travel except for the events that are out of Oklahoma. So pick a date and come and visit!

May 30-June 2 - University of Oklahoma Soccer Camp, Norman, OK

June 7 - Girl Scout Day Camp (a chance to get to know something about the girl scouts so she can decide if she wants to be a daisy next year) Norman, OK

June 12-16 - University of Texas soccer Camp, Austin, TX

June 19-23 - Junior Zoo Keeper at Little River Zoo, Norman, OK

June 28-30 - Junior Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader Camp, Irving, TX

July 6, 7, 8 - University of Oklahoma Gymnastics Camp, Norman, OK

July 11, 13, 18, 20 - All Saints Catholic School Learning Camp

July 24-28 - Vacation Bible School at St. Mark Catholic Church

August 14 - Back to School Night

August 16 - First Day of Kindergarten!

Well we are pretty busy this summer as everyone can see. We are trying to get Marie to find what she likes the most and hopefully after this summer she will know what she wants to do as her after school activities. We also have these great opportunities by being in a college town that we really want to take advantage of it while we can. She is SO excited about all of her camps this summer and she pretty much can't decide which one she is more looking forward to. The only thing we might not do is the vacation bible school depending on if we decide to travel any or not this summer. I really hope some people will be able to come and visit us for some of you for the first time. (Dad hint, hint, hint)

Mark your calendar now because Marie's birthday party will be held on Saturday, July 15 in honor of mom! After the foot surgery we know she cannot come so we are going to celebrate for her! I expect someone to come for her party this year! I know Marie would love to have her family here for the weekend so please think carefully about taking the trip. Other than Christy, Ed and my mom, I don't think anyone else in the family has been here for one of her famous parties. If you thought last year was fun just wait!!!

Well I worked today so I am pretty tired. I want to go and lay myself down however I think Marie fell asleep in my bed. I might just go and sleep in her bed! Either that or JJ can move her! Love to all and please think about coming for a visit!

PS The pictures are of the front flower bed. The tree is the one we planted in the back so that is gone. Also here is a picture of my roses. I just love them!

One of those days...

2006-05-02T07:02:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had one of those days where nothing goes right?! Well I had one yesterday! Let me preface by saying if you don't want to know anything personal about me just stop reading now...

Some of you knew I was supposed to have minor surgery yesterday. Notice the supposed in the last sentence. Anyway I was scheduled to have a laparoscopy test (looks inside at the ovaries etc.), hysteroscopy (looks inside the uterus) and a D&C (where they scrape the uterus). I have been having my time of the month about every two weeks or so and it has been quite bad and also quite painful. We arrived at the hospital a little after 630 a.m. I was not brought back into pre-op until 7:30 a.m. Around 8:00 a.m. they told me that the machine used for the procedures was not working. Apparently there was no hot water in the operating room. The hot water would sterilize the machine. Kind of important! Long story short around 12:30 p.m. all I could get out of the nurses was that they might be able to do my procedure at 2:30 or 3:00 p.m., but they could not guarantee the time. Need-less-to-say I went home having no procedure. They are going to reschedule for later.

So now I am left trying to figure out the reason why something like this would be delayed. I know God has a plan, but I never figured I would have this postponed. Anyway so everything we had planned for yesterday has been put on hold. I did however get to go to Marie's first t-ball game which was fun. They won by he way 21-14! She has a really good team this year.

As a little update...I am obviously back from Houston. I ended up staying two weeks. The foot surgery mom had was a little more complicated than expected. They ended up having to put pins in her toes and a screw in the side of her toe. She could not drive for two weeks and honestly if the procedure was not planned I would have probably stayed another week until the pins come out. She is however driving and seems to be doing ok. I know she is really tired, but that is expected after having such an intense surgery. We had a good time while I was in Houston just doing our own thing and not having to rush around for any one or any thing. Marie was with me the first week and then we met half way and gave her to my sister who met JJ halfway so she could come back to school.

So that is what is going on around here. We are all doing good except we would all use some more sleep! I should get going now and get Marie ready for school! Let me hear from everyone and I will post when the procedure is rescheduled! Love to all!

Just a Short One!

2006-04-11T21:11:00.000-05:00

Greetings from the windy state of Oklahoma. Just wanted to check in and let everyone know what is going on around here. We spent the weekend working in the yard and our red faces show for the work we did. We dug up the flower beds and planted all new plants. We had to do this because every thing we planted last fall died. We have discovered that the soil here is horrible so we are trying to only plant native plants in the beds. I am doing a lot of container gardening so I can control the soil. I also planted a rose bush in a container and here is a picture of my first rose. I am quite proud of it. I have about four other roses ready to open up. I have always loved growing roses when I was a kid in our backyard so this is just up my alley. I am also trying to grow strawberries which I also grew as a kid. Hopefully I will have pictures of strawberries in the coming months.

Marie started tball practice tonight. We are very impressed by how she has improved since last season. I was a little concerned about playing her in the kindergarten/1st grade team this year, but I don't think we have any need to worry. She is gearing up for her recital in dance and I think that will be a lot of fun to watch again this year. They also started working on their program for gymnastics which will happen next month. She is getting excited about starting kindergarten next year. I bought a book to work on with her over the summer and she keeps trying to take it and work on the pages. I am going to have to hide it from her until it is time to work on the pages.

JJ is sore and tired from all the work he did in the yard. Next week while Marie and I are gone he will have to work in the garage so we can actually get in there again. He has been working out at the YMCA every day so he is pretty much sore all the time. Hopefully the soreness will pass as he works out more.

Now speaking of Marie and I being out of town...My mom is having foot surgery on Monday so Marie and I are flying out on Easter Sunday to take care of her for the week. Nobody needs to worry about Marie missing school, her school is closed for the week so all the teachers can go to a teacher conference in Atlanta. So we are going to spend the week playing in Houston! Roman is going to spend the week with his daddy. He had a very busy weekend with helping us dig and plant and run around. This is a picture of him stealing my little shovel and trying to run away with it. He got so tired on Sunday that he was laying down in Marie's chair resting. We are still having trouble getting him to go to the bathroom outside. At least he only does things in his room and he did go twice outside over the weekend. Next week JJ is going to try and get him going outside more often using puppy pads. We are going to keep our fingers crossed that he trains easily. However his breed is pretty stubborn so we shall see.

Well I should go now. I need some time to relax and then practice my flute. I am playing at church on Thursday, Friday, Saturday night, and Sunday for Easter. I am going to be tired after the weekend. Love to all and I will write again later. Happy Easter to all!

Here we go again!

2006-04-02T18:59:00.000-05:00

Ok so viewing my dates I have discovered I like to write on the 2nd of the month. I know I need to put things on more often, but things just spin out of control around here! So lets see what has happened since the last time I wrote.

We went to my sisters house for spring break this year. We successfully helped her clean out and go through her spare room and turn it into a spare room/office. I had hoped we would have had the time to go through her spare room which hopefully will be turned into a nursery soon! We will work again when Marie goes to soccer camp at the beginning of the summer. It was a very busy week, but the room turned out beautiful, in my opinion. I felt like we left their house in major chaos so hopefully we will be invited back again! We had such a great time spending time with my sister and her husband. Hopefully we can go for a visit some time when we don't have a long list of work to do and we can enjoy each others company.

We got to get together with the entire family at Grannys house for dinner one night. My father was actually in town also so there were kids running around all over the place. It was SO wonderful to get together and let the cousins see each other and let the little ones run. Of course the food was great. I still want to get the trifle recipe because it was really good. Since I have given up chocolate deserts have been hard to find.

Roman, the puppy, is growing bigger every day. He is very stubborn which makes him fit perfectly into our family. He has not quite gotten the hang of going potty outside, but luckily he goes in his room (the laundry room) on the towels. I know training a mini dachshunds is difficult so I will be patient. I believe God gave Roman to us to teach me patience so I know as soon as I learn my lesson things should get easier.

JJ is still working hard at work and also at home. He is still working on his masters which will be going on for quite a while longer. He is going to the Y and exercising a lot which is great. We took Marie to the Y on Friday to go swimming. Since we have not taken her swimming since last summer we had a little trouble getting her to take the death grip off our neck. JJ finally got her to hold on to the kick board and kick around. I think I will have to start taking her to the Y each week so we can start to maybe like the water again. For those of you who don't know Marie has this little fear of the water. We had private lessons last year and that seemed to work, but I guess taking six months off was not our best move as parents. Oh well we have learned or lesson.

I am still being a substitute at Marie's school which I still love. I really enjoy being up there at the school and getting to know the children. They are really a great bunch of kids and I have been enjoying each and every day up there. I am still enjoying every craft I can get my hands on and have started making rosaries. I actually finished my first one on Friday. It was just a practice one and is plastic, but it turned out beautiful if I do say so myself. I am still playing my flute in the choir at church and having such a great time. It is about to get really busy with me playing on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil, and 9am Easter Sunday. Then Marie and I are flying out to Houston on Sunday. Mom is having foot surgery on Monday and then the three of us are playing for the rest of the week. I am also hoping to get together with a friend of mine from college who I haven't seen in probably four years or more. I am hoping that will happen.

Now on to Marie...We are still as busy as ever. She got to carry the cross at chapel last week. I was so proud of how well she did. She finally scored her first goal in soccer on Saturday. The only problem was it was in the other teams goal! She was so proud. Hopefully we can get the goal going in the other way! She is still enjoying dance and pom class and is gearing up for the recital. I can't wait to see the pom routine because it is to the song Hey Mickey which I love. She is still doing gymnastics and is getting better with each class. We are going to do a little three day gymnastics clinic with the OU gymnastics team this summer which she is looking forward to. Hopefully we can get some people to come and visit us this summer because we have quite a few activities planned to keep us busy. Even though I don't like Norman that much they do have A LOT of stuff for kids to do over the summer!

Well I could babble on forever, but I guess I should just add some pictures and do a spell check and get this posted. I promise I will update this more often and I know I say that every time, but at least I will put pictures more often.

Love to all.

Our New Addition

2006-03-02T21:53:00.000-06:00

Here are pictures of the newest addition to our family. His name is Roman and he is a miniature dachshund that is almost 9 weeks old. He is really little and will be less than 12 pounds when he is fully grown. Marie is enjoying him, but does not like it when Roman gets hyper and chases her around. He is doing pretty well, but is still having some little puppy problems. He has however slept through the night for about four nights now. So enjoy.

Also here is a picture from the day that it snowed.

Jump Rope for Heart

2006-02-02T17:06:00.000-06:00

Hi Everyone! I just wanted to let everyone know that Marie will be participating in a Jump Rope for Heart for the American Heart Association on March 6th. If you would like to donate money to sponsor her let me know. I have sent out some email links, but if you have trouble reading it let me know and I can send it on.

Things are going pretty good around here. I am about to cook some dinner and then run off to bunco! Have a great weekend.

Love to all!

I am back!!

2006-01-31T08:24:00.000-06:00

Hello All! I know I have taken a VERY long time off from updating this blog, but I can give no other excuse except we have been busy. So as quickly as I can I will give an update on what everyone it up to in the Muffoletto household.

JJ is working hard and also getting back into his masters program after taking a few weeks off for Christmas break. I know he will be happy to complete the work, but that is still a ways off. I am so proud of the way he was working so hard on getting the courses completed. He has plans to do some woodworking projects, but I think he can't decide which one to start first. We have also got to get the garage cleaned up because it got a little messy over the holidays. Plus he was so wonderful and put down hardwood floors in my office and dining room so there is carpet and carpet pad taking up room. The next nice weekend I know we will spend some time out there picking things up. Plus the baby bed and changing table are in there waiting for me to sand and repaint for my sister!

I am working quite hard on so many different things. Of course I am taking care of Marie and trying to stay healthy. I have had strep throat twice in the past month and a half or so. That is one illness I hate having. I came down with it again while my mom was here so she got to take care of me for a few days. I have started playing my flute in the church choir. There are not many pieces of music that are written for flute so I have had to transcribe all the pieces and that has taken me quite a long time. I have finally finished the set I have currently. Last count I have transcribed 64 songs. It is all worth the effort because I forgot how much I love playing my flute. Finally all the money dad spent on flutes and lessons in high school has paid off! I am so excited that a friend finally convinced me to start playing it. I do have a lot of practice ahead of me, but it is just so nice to be up in front of everyone with the choir behind me and playing such beautiful music. I think church music is the best to play! Everyone will have to come visit so they can hear me. The only downside to playing is the choir is at 9:00 mass so I have to get up early on Sunday. I don't mind so much, but the rest of the family needs a little adjustment time. I have also started substitute teaching at Marie's school. They have been in need of subs for a while and I decided it was the best job to have while she is in school and while we do not have anyone around here to help out with her. I have had a good time with the classes I have been in. Only one class got on my nerves, but I just did not give them recess in the afternoon and made them sit quietly. I have a lot of the siblings of Marie's friends so I know the parents which makes things easier. Tomorrow I am going to be in a middle school math class so I am looking forward to that. I forgot how much I love math until I was teaching math to 2 and 3rd graders. A long time ago my dream was to be a math teacher so I guess I get to live out a little of that dream. I would really like to get into teaching a new course that is going to be offered in schools. There is a new law that requires all high school students to take a budgeting/financial class prior to graduation. That would be SO great to teach! I am going to talk with my friend who works for the Oklahoma Education superintendent and find out how I can get into that and what if any classes I need to take. I think that would be the best of both worlds. I would get to use my financial background and also have good teacher hours. I am also leading a moms group at church. The book we decided on this semester is Stories from a Mothers Heart. It is not too deep of a book which I think will be great for all involved. So I guess what I am trying to say is I am keeping very busy.

Now on to Marie, my pride, my joy, my greatest accomplishment...She is doing wonderful. I did not realize this until I started working at her school, but everyone around there know who she is. I guess she just has that personality that everyone remembers. I am so proud of all her accomplishments. She is doing great in school and excelling at everything she tries. I have always said I want her to try everything, sports, music, dance etc. And let her find what she loves and what she is good at. Well I have to stop letting her try things because she is good at most and we are running out of time to do stuff! She is in ballet, tap, and pom (class where they learn how to cheer) and will be having a recital in May for those who might want to make a long weekend trip. She has gymnastics. She finally did an almost perfect cartwheel last week. We will see if she remembers how she did it this week! We are starting soccer back up this month which she is very excited about. We plan to head down to Austin the 12-17 of June to attend soccer day camp. I have sent and email to UT to find out when the registration forms will be available online so I will give everyone an update when we get registered. She is very excited about going to a camp where she can learn how to play better soccer. This summer she plans to also be a Jr. Zookeeper at a little zoo near our house. All we have talked about since going to visit the zoo was being a zookeeper. It is a neat program they have where the kids get to interact with the animals, clean their cages, make food for them etc. The zoo is a little open free roam kind of place. Mind you the attack animals are in cages, but driving into the zoo we had to wait for the ducks, peacocks, etc to cross the road.

Speaking of birds we had a funny experience last night. I decided we should go up to this big field where all the Canadian geese have moved to and feed them a little bread. The first thing out of Marie's mouth was that the last time she fed birds her Uncle Eddie let a duck bite her! Ed, you will never live that one down! We had a great time feeding a little group that came near us. You could tell who the male bird was because he was being very aggressive toward the other geese. We were doing good until they started making noise to alert the other geese that we were feeding them. I kid you not every one of the geese starting heading toward us. I am not exaggerating, but it felt like 100 were heading our way. Marie had driven her little barbie jeep over and we ran and told her to get going fast. They were being loud and moving in. We got away and told Marie they were coming after her because they loved her. Luckily none of them followed us home, but we told Marie that they would come by the house and tap on her window. She seemed excited about that prospect. I am not sure if we will go feed them again, but you never know when it comes to my crazy ideas.

Well I need to get going! I would post a picture, but I am not sure where JJ copied the most recent pictures on the computer. When he tells me I will post a picture of Marie performing at half time of a basketball game. She went to a pom clinic and they performed a little dance at the high school basketball game. Very cute! Love to all!

Oklahoma City Fires

2006-01-02T07:08:00.000-06:00

Just a quick note about the fires in Oklahoma City since it did make the national news this morning . We live about 30 minutes south of OKC. The fires are North of OKC so they are a little less than an hour away from our house. The easiest way to know if we are in danger is if they start saying that the city of Moore has fires or the city of Norman. We are located in the Southeast corner of Norman so we have all of Norman and all of Moore and half of OKC in between us and the fires. Unless someone does something stupid then currently there are no fires in Norman. However the latest fire in OKC seemed to be started by someone throwing a cigarette butt out their window so....Don't worry about us because we will run as fast as we can if there are any fires near us. I promise!

Marie is currently having her breakfast in anticipation of her first day back at school. JJ and I will spend the day getting the house back in order after the time off. Then JJ will be back at work tomorrow then I can get things back in the order I want! Gotta go dry my hair. Love to all.

and the final score is...

2005-12-30T22:59:00.001-06:00

Miami 3/ LSU 40

I think that is all I have to say! Oh wait....

Geaux Tigers!

I'm Baaaaack...

2005-12-30T19:24:00.000-06:00

So we have scored a field goal. The game is now tied. There is something very ironic about this game that I just figured out. I will write just one sentence. LSU is playing the Hurricanes. I think with all that Baton Rouge went through they should have put another team in to play LSU. On the flip side you would think we would want to kick the tushies of the hurricanes after everything they (the real ones) did to Louisiana this year. Something to think about.'

Next thing...I have found the job I want. You know the guy that stands next to the upright and signals a field goal. That is a job I think I would be great at. I would only work weekends pretty much and I could just stand there and put my arms in the air. I wonder what that job pays. I guess I will have to look into it.

Gosh I had something else I wanted to write about this evening, but I cannot remember what it was. I am now pretty impressed with Matt Flynn. He is not afraid to run when he doesn't have someone open. OH MY GOODNESS WE JUST SCORED A TOUCHDOWN. Can someone tell me why we did not go with Flynn to begin with. Also Matty you need to remember you hold the ball during the kick. Stop running off the field.

So now to put the readers on the spot...When is someone going to come and visit us. I know Mom is coming this month, but that leaves 11 months more in the year. I would like to schedule some visits from people. So here are the dates that Marie has a holiday:

Spring Break #1: March 13-17

Spring Break #2: April 14-21

School gets out on May 25th. We have two spring breaks this year because the second time off is Good Friday/Easter along with the Catholic teachers conference. I would like if one of these times is the same as my sisters break to come down and clean sweep her two spare bedrooms and decorate for the baby. That is if she wants me to come down. She will have to let us know if either week is the same and then I will need some Austin family to be willing to play with Marie while I clean! So just let me know. Also Carmen I need to know if you want me to paint the baby furniture that we bought a few years ago in anticipation of us having another baby. If you want to use them and we don't get pregnant in the next few months let me know.

Ok I will go back to playing on my computer and let anyone that made it this far stop reading. Hopefully LSU will be able to hold on and win this game. Keep your fingers crossed. Here are some more pictures of Marie for your entertainment. Love to all.

I feel like some peach cobbler...

2005-12-30T18:32:00.000-06:00

Greeting all who are reading. Not really sure who other than my mom read on a regular basis but welcome to all and welcome back mom. I am sitting here getting ready to watch the Chick-fil-A peach bowl and I could really go for some Chick-fil-A right about now. Some peach cobbler also, but alas I will make due with the pizza we ordered. Too bad you can't get peach on pizza. I will make due with the pineapple I ordered. The reason I am not talking details about the game is because I am a little nervous about the game. We have our back up quarterback in the game and this would be his first ever game to start. Luckily the first kick was out of bounds so we get ok field position to start. Please oh please do well Matt Flynn and DON'T throw any interceptions. Ok I feel a little better because Matt's first play got almost a first down. Ok off football no wait he did a pretty pass. Oh my gosh can you see that I am a girl. Next thing you know I will start discussing the clothes. Well Miami is wearing a beautiful orange shirt to match the theme of the evening, Peaches, while LSU is wearing their white jerseys which are just going to get dirty. OH MY GOODNESS!

Marie is doing good. She is being loud and full of energy. I cannot believe she starts back to school on Monday. We drove around the block yesterday and she is doing much better. About half way around the block she told me that the driving hurts her shoulder. I also got my foot run over. Imagine if it was a real car and she ran over my foot. Wow, JJ is SO teaching her how to drive. (yes JJ you are doing it!) Times like this really make me miss my powpow who taught me how to drive. If he were still alive I could just ship her off and when my car came back it would be nice and clean and shiny from armor all. Hmmmmmm maybe my dad should teach her how. He will be teaching Vanessa so he could just do both at the same time. I really like that idea and I know JJ would LOVE that idea.

Ok back to how I got my foot run over. There is this stupid little truck that parks over the sidewalk. There is no way for us to just run over the grass at their house so we have to go out in the street. So I stand in the street so she has to turn the wheel and not go very far in the street. Well we (meaning Marie) cannot figure out how to exit the side walk and turn the wheel quickly so as not to go straight at me! So as she is about to hit me she turns the wheel and instead runs over my foot. I was not a happy camper! That was our last time around the block yesterday and the last time I am taking her around the block by ourselves!

Football update...Miami just scored a field goal in the first quarter. There is something to be said about wearing the color of the fruit of the game.

Ok I must break now and eat, but I am sure I will be back with some more useless information soon. Love to all!

All I want for Christmas Next Year is....

2005-12-28T14:12:00.000-06:00

I have fallen in love with one of Marie's Christmas presents. She got color wonder markers and I just love them. I will be going out to purchase my own so I don't have to share! I just thought I would let everyone know about my new addiction. I spent more time on Christmas day coloring than Marie did. She also got the color wonder finger paints and for those parents reading this I have to give my mixed opinion about them. First off we are already out of the paints. The are very oily and while they don't get color all over everything they do get an oily substance all over. Marie used all of them on about two pictures. Also the colors are not very pretty. The red looks more like a brick color and the other colors are pretty dull. So waste of money in my opinion. I do however like the fact that I have no paints anywhere in my house, but I just won't buy any paints instead of buying the color wonder ones. I will however always buy the markers. I just love how you can't get colors out of the lines so even if you are not a perfect artist you can't tell.

Well we are getting ready for the new year around here. I am going to start taking down the tree and the rest of the decorations tonight. When JJ is off on Friday we are going to try and take down the outside lights. It is about time to go back to normal seeing how Marie goes back to school on Monday. Not much of a break, but also not enough time for her to get bored with things. She is still enjoying all of her toys she got for Christmas. I am not enjoying all the new stuff to clean up, but we are working on finding places for everything. Hopefully we will get it figured out real soon.

Not much more around here so I will close unless something big happens in the next few minutes. Oh Marie is getting better at driving her car so hopefully soon we won't be spending more time on the grass than on the sidewalk. I will keep everyone posted. Love to all.

Christmas Thanks!

2005-12-25T22:20:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to thank everyone for all the gifts we received this Christmas. We are very lucky to have such a generous family. Marie played with her toys all day while JJ and I got some well deserved rest. Santa brought her a barbie Jeep, courtesy of a guy who works in JJ's office, so we had to spend some time outside learning to drive. Most all of our neighbors have little wheel marks in their yards! I am sure eventually she will get the hang of it and if not she can practice until she is 16! I think she had a great time driving along and would be much better if she would pay attention to driving and not playing with the gadgets in the car. A quote I heard a few times was "Marie put the phone down and drive" I think JJ's favorite gift is his slippers since he has had them on the entire day. They are slippers with little flashlights on the toes that light up when he goes into the dark. They are really cool. I just don't think I can even decide which is my favorite gift. I got such cool stuff, but especially love my ipod docking station. (Thanks Kiki!) So again thanks to everyone and we hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! Love to all!
Oh and Maple did not wait for her gift to be taken off the cardboard before she started!

Merry Christmas

2005-12-25T00:24:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! Yes we are still up. We finished putting together toys and are about to hit the bed. We have Marie sleeping in the middle of us so she can't get up before we do.

So enjoy your day and rejoice Christ is born today! We love you all!

The Sweetest Story Ever Told

2005-12-23T18:42:00.000-06:00

I have to say a huge thank you to the Ezell family for the gift they brought over to the house. I have to share this with everyone because it really helps you realize what this season is really about. Anyway Dana brought us a plate of cookies with a card.

The front of the card has a picture of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus in the manger. It says Did you know the story of Jesus is the sweetest story ever told? Enjoy the cookies and the story they tell.

The inside had the following story.
An angel brought the glorious news to the shepherds that a Savior had been born.
Wise men followed a bright star to the manger where Jesus lay.
They brought precious gifts much like the gifts we have under our tree.
The best gift of all that day was Jesus. God sent His only Son that whoever accepts Him into their heart will have life everlasting and go to heaven.
Let the bells ring out this holiday season as we celebrate Jesus' birthday and God's greatest gift to us.

Ok so on the plate of cookies there was an angel, star, Christmas tree, heart, and bells. I just think it is such a great present to give to someone this holiday season. I just had to share this with everyone. Thanks again Dana!

Note on my last post: I realized tonight that my Christmas tree and tree skirt are Martha Stewart. Not sure what I am really going to do about keeping them. I think I will have to keep them because our tree is so cool. It rotates! I will have to think on this for a while.

I have an announcement to make...

2005-12-22T00:01:00.000-06:00

No I am not pregnant. If you want that news please visit my sisters blog! So my big announcement is (you might need to sit down for this) I am no longer obsessed with Martha Stewart.

I guess I need to give a little history to my obsession and how it has come to pass. First off I have always wanted to be Martha Stewart, work for her, and have every product she makes. I would even be willing to go to jail with her if I could come out looking so good. (Not really, but follow the strength of my obsession) Ok so I think she is great. However things started to change when she no longer had control over MSLO. Her magazine articles became boring and not as glamorous as they used to be. The ideas where no longer on the cutting edge and no longer set the trends they used to set. I have also found she has diversified so much that the reason I love her (GREAT ideas, beautiful books and magazines, and did I say great ideas!) well there was nothing to grab on to.

Unlike most I find the stuff she did very easy to duplicate and loved the results. I do in fact enjoy dipping pumpkins in glue and rolling them in glitter to make center pieces. (Haven't gotten around to doing this, but I still have time) I still have one of my first projects I copied and it is on our door every Christmas. (I made a wreath out of bells!)

Ok so I cancelled my subscription to the magazine. As I said it was getting boring and after something like 10 years I could not get them to change my name from Mr. Jamie to anything else! I don't even miss getting it which really surprised me. I also used to be able to spend hours on her website, but no longer. Then tonight happened....

I have been following her show, Martha Stewart Apprentice, religiously. I was so jealous that I did not get to compete, but that is Martha's loss. For those of you who did not follow, it came down to Dawna and Bethenny. Dawna is the corporate type who in my opinion does not have a creative bone in her body. Bethenny however is very creative. She is a little high strung, but her ideas were always so creative. I can also be a little high strung so I can totally relate. Until recently when I thought of Martha Stewart I thought of new ideas and trends in homemaking. So I thought for sure Bethenny would be a great pick to start bringing her back to her creative side. Well I guess I was wrong. She chose Dawna. Then to top it off she announces another new venture. A new magazine something like body and soul or some crazy nonsense like that. Well Dawna is the perfect person for that venture, but how can Martha add another thing to her line when I feel like she is forgetting about her true fans who have tried to stay with her, but can't seem to find anything to grab on to anymore.

Oh wow I am so upset and disillusioned. Someone I considered an idol has really over the past few months let me down. I really relied upon her for some of my creativity and loved when people called me a young Martha Stewart. Now however I do not want anyone to tell me I am being Martha Stewart like. I am actually considering getting rid of my Martha Stewart label maker. Probably not because it is so pretty.

So now I am in search of a new creative icon. I know I should become one, but I would have to get a following and would have to start a magazine or some sort and am not sure where to start with that. So I guess any ideas would be great!

Luckily I do have a new magazine that I can curl up with called Real Simple. Nothing like Martha creative wise, but I do get good ideas for shopping from it. I should probably no longer read it because I always want everything and that can't be good. I just don't know what to do. Oh what to do and where to go........

Other than that nothing more is going on around here. I just got back from Austin for my Granny's birthday party. It was so nice to see everyone there, but it made me wish we lived closer so we all could have gone. I was a little upset that I missed seeing my father who came in on Tuesday and I left Monday. Perhaps if he told me he would be in town I might have stayed. Hint hint Dad stay in touch! (I still love you!) We are in the process of getting ready for Christmas. Marie is very excited about Santa coming and I am ready to open my presents! I have some cleaning to do tomorrow and then JJ is off on Friday. We are going to get some steaks because that is what we are doing for Christmas this year. I felt like doing something different because with only the three of us there was no need for tons of food. I have not decided which Mass to go to this year, but will figure that out tomorrow. Well my hair is wet and I need to dry it. Love to all and I will post again soon. Sorry I don't have any pictures. I am just too upset......

Christmas Wish List Updated

2005-12-10T22:07:00.000-06:00

Ok. Everyone is being so good to us this year that I have to update Marie's Christmas wish list. The only things left on the list are the following...

Leapster Electronic Book Finding Nemo - $19.99
Leapster Recharging Kit - $29.99
Fisher Price Star Station - 49.99
Polly Pocket Pet Friends Gift Set
Leapster Software: Sponge Bob Square Pants
Polly Pocket Rock n Roller Coaster Hotel

I hate to even say this, but just about all of these things are sold out online and most are even gone from the stores. I guess Marie knows how to pick the popular toys this season.

Now I have had some questions about what else I want. So here are some more things.

Creative Memories
Galaxy Micro Maker - $8.00
Mini Circle Maker - $16.00
Borderlines Pattern 'n letter ruler - $6.50
Tape Runner Refills - $4.75 (I can use tons of these)
Rainbow Fine Tip Pens - $10.60
Pastel Fine Tip Pens - $10.60
Journaling Mate Case - $8.50
Shades of Black and White Paper - $6.00
Memory Mate Case - $12.00

Burberry Scarf (Long one)
Burberry Blanket (I wish)

Ok I feel as if I need to explain why I want creative memories items when I am a Stampin' Up consultant. I LOVE stampin up for making cards and gifts, but with this new catalog I feel like they have drastically reduced their line of scrapbooking supplies. I am also not happy with the albums they have currently. I have also been running through the markers at such a high rate. When they changed to the new markers I have found the brush tip is not holding up and also I am running out of ink a LOT faster. For example I have had my markers for something like three years. Well obviously they are starting to run out which by the way it is amazing they have lasted so long. I purchased all new bold brights about 6 months ago. I have already had to replace the real red. So the short end of it is I have separate stuff for my card making and my scrapbooking. Except of course my stamps. NOBODY will ever make a better stamp, stamp pad, or matching colors than Stampin' Up. I am still VERY loyal to their original line which is card making supplies. They are the best company in the world for card making supplies which is my first love. Until Stampin' Up expands their scrapbook line I have to look for other suppliers. I don't think Stampin' Up will expand because it does not make good business sense.

Ok now that I have given my commercial for how GREAT stampin up is for card making supplies I think I will get going for tonight. I need to get on to sleep because we have church tomorrow and then we have to clean because we have company coming tomorrow night. Hopefully Richie and Michele will be able to stay more than just overnight! Love to everyone and thanks to everyone for being so generous this season.

All I have to say is...

2005-12-07T21:25:00.000-06:00

it snowed. I thought we were over this when we moved from Ohio to Oklahoma. Mind you it was not as bad as Ohio but still. I thought I moved to the South. I guess this proves yet again that the real south does not start until you hit Texas!

FYI: Current Temperature 16. Feels like ZERO!

Christmas Lights

2005-12-05T07:04:00.000-06:00

I guess since we are not having company this Christmas (and since my sister posted on her blog) I should post pictures of our Christmas decorations. JJ did a wonderful job this year. Last year in case anyone remembers he was in Alabama so the decorations were less than stellar because I put them up. He borrowed our neighbors extension ladder and was able to get the top peak of the house. We let Marie pick out which two buddies we would put in the front yard and then the rest was just put together from stuff I got on sale last year. We are very happy with what we did and will probably add something else after Christmas this year as we always do. It was JJ's idea to put the red and green lights in the porch lights and if he had his way and we had tons of money he would have put red and green lights in all of our spot lights and walkway lights. So I hope everyone enjoys the lights as much as we have enjoyed them already! Love to all!

More on the Christmas Presents

2005-11-30T21:38:00.000-06:00

Ok I found the actual list that Marie made while at Toys R Us. So here they are..

Bella Dancerella Home Ballet Studio w/ VHS instruction and ballet bar
Just like home Dairy Queen Playset
Just like home Subway Play Food Set
Polly Pocket Rock n Roller Coaster Hotel
Polly Pocket Quick Click House of Style
Polly Pocket Pet Friends Gift Set
Leapster Software: Sponge Bob Square Pants

Hope everyone can find something of interest. I am off to watch my apprentice Martha Stewart that I taped. I SHOULD have been on this show!

Christmas Present Wish List

2005-11-30T08:48:00.000-06:00

As requested by many here is our Christmas present wish list.

JJ - Gift cards to Lowe's. He wants more tools from Sears, but he has been getting tools for the past few years so I convinced him that it would be better to get Lowe's cards so he can get wood. So he wants Lowe's.

Jamie
Creative Memories - Memory Mate Carryall - $52.00
Creative Memories - DecoFile Decorative Supply Organizer - $20.00
Creative Memories - DecoFile Folders - $12.00
Starbucks Gift Cards
Hobby Lobby Gift Cards
Target Gift Cards - we are in need of new side tables and some new furniture stuffs to start replacing some old pieces.
Anything Burberry

Marie
Fisher Price Star Station - 49.99
Disney Princess Cinderella Magical Talking Vanity - 69.99
Fisher Price Power Wheels Dora ATV Power Wheel - $199.99
Polly Pocket Snow Cool Hotel Playset - $29.99
Polly Pocket Cool Careers Gift Set - $16.99
Dora Slumber Sofa - $34.99
Crayola Color Wonder Variety Pack - $14.99
Crayola Color Wonder Finger Paints - $7.99
Leapster Electronic Book Finding Nemo - $19.99
Leapster Recharging Kit - $29.99

I am sure there is more that Marie wants, but I don't remember. She comes and tells me something almost daily so I will update when she tells me more. I ask everyone to please not send Stuffed Animals, Barbies, or Polly Pockets other than the ones listed. I realized we have 16 barbies and an entire case of pollies.

So far this is our list so I hope there is something you can find that is interesting! Love to all.

Clean Sweep

2005-11-30T07:14:00.000-06:00

Some of you know this, but for those who don't I will fill you in. I decided to do a clean sweep on Marie's bedroom. (Clean Sweep is a TV show on TLC) Well the main point of clean sweep is to get all of your stuff out of the room and go through it. So I did just that. I pulled ALL of her stuff out and put it in the hallway and various different locations through the house. What started all this is the fact we got Marie a loft bed for an early Christmas present. (Loft bed is an elevated bed where she can play under. This bed is not very high as JJ can still stand next to it and read her a story) Anyway after everything was out and all over the house I cleaned the carpet thanks to my neighbor Jenna and her steam cleaner! Then it came to my mind that we were supposed to have company on Wednesday. (this was Monday by the way and the bed came Tuesday) So I had to work and work and work, but let me tell you it looks beautiful. You can now see no toys. They are all under the bed and the bed came with curtains to cover everything up. A neat freaks best friend! This morning I put everything under and feel so good about her room. Actually there is an exception. I need hooks hung in her closet so I can hang all of her bags and purses and get them off the floor. Then after I clean the rest of the house I am going to go though all of her clothes. Some how she hit a growth spurt and nothing fits her! I am not looking forward to the teenage years.

So we have done the clean sweep thing and there are a lot of stuffed toys that are going to charity. We still have not even made a dent in her stuffed toys, but we took out what she would not miss! It is getting close to time to leave for school and since someone requested breakfast in bed she is still in bed! I figured it was the first night in her new bed so....

PS When I get home in a little while if I get the kitchen floor cleaned I will post our Christmas wish list. If not it will get posted later this evening! So stay tuned!

Skating/Christmas

2005-11-23T19:24:00.000-06:00

Happy day before Thanksgiving! As promised here is the first picture of Marie skating. She did in fact leave the wall and had a good time. We had to pretty much bribe her to leave because she did not want to. I know she will want to go back again soon. She is already talking about having her birthday party at the skate rink. How many months away is that seven?!

Well we are getting ready for the big day tomorrow. We are having ham and the fixings in a very laid back setting. We plan to clean the house tonight or during the day tomorrow and then pull out all the Christmas decorations and get ready for the next holiday.

I have such wonderful news for everyone! I have finished my Christmas shopping except for Marie! There are still some things that I have to make, but the purchasing part is finished. I cannot tell everyone how excited I am about this. It has been such a jungle in the stores the past few days that I cannot even imagine what it is going to be like closer to Christmas. I think I am going to get whatever we want for Marie online this year!

Well I need to get to cleaning this messy house so I can start getting in the Christmas spirit tomorrow. Plus I have a toll house pie to bake for JJ. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Harry Potter

2005-11-23T01:36:00.000-06:00

Ok I just finished watching the latest in the line of Harry Potter movies. I hate to even be saying this, but I was not impressed. As a person who has read all the books I was completely confused while watching this movie. It felt very choppy and left out SO much important stuff. I won't go on for days and list everything just take my advice. If you liked the last one wait until this one comes to the dollar theater. Don't waste your time or money on it.

I will post more tomorrow with some pictures of Marie's first roller skating party!

Good night!

LSU

2005-11-19T23:27:00.000-06:00

I believe I can say that LSU has won their game tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Geaux Tigers!!!!! and by the way for those of you who did not hear OU LOST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are one very happy family here in Norman!

Blog Change

2005-11-18T22:01:00.000-06:00

Ok I had my first blog spam so I have had to add a special step in order for everyone to post comments. You will just have to go through one security verification where it shows you some letters and numbers and you just type what you see. Also I have allowed anyone to post comments even if you are not registered. So grans you can now post any and all comments.

So sorry about the added step. I can't believe I am already dealing with spam on my second day. As JJ put it these are probably a bunch of kids who need to have their computers taken away.

Goodnight for now...

Oh so much...

2005-11-18T21:29:00.000-06:00

Wow today has been quite eventful. Well not so much, but I am going to post anyway. Marie had pom class this afternoon after school. For those of you who do not know what pom is well it is a class where they are teaching Marie cheers and dances. She loves the classes. After pom we came home and JJ had a fire lit in the fire pit. We grilled italian sausages and ate outside. It was a little colder than I thought it would be so we kind of wrapped up and ate. Then we roasted marshmallows and made smores. This was the first time Marie had a smore that was cooked the correct way. I can't believe we have not taken her camping. She did not want to come inside and talked about wanting to bring her sleeping bag outside to sleep. I don't think so!

It was a very fun evening. I have to say I really love my family. We have so much fun together. We really laugh a lot which is such a great thing!

Well the evening was going ok until I hear JJ raise his voice. Apparently Marie pulled her her curtain rod out of the wall. Well it is now sitting in the living room and she was put to bed about 40 minutes ago. We had told her not to touch the rod, but she is 5 and it goes in one ear and out the other. I really don't want to put the rod back up since it is right by her bed, but they are room darkening and they really help her sleep longer. Perhaps we will have to buy some new blinds that will take care of that. Any ideas?

I need to go and find some hobby to work on. I have finished a lot of stuff and have been avoiding starting anything else, but I realized today while I was sitting at pom that I had no book or cross stitch to work on. I will have to change that. Oh by the way I am so excited! I was given the position of prayer leader in my bible study! We only have three more sessions this go around, but they want me to pick the next study and lead it. By the way does any one have any suggestions for a study to work on. I am looking at Life Management for Busy Women by Elizabeth George but I am still really open for suggestions! Beverly...Aunt Barb...Aunt Patty...Grans...Carmen...Christine

Off to find a new hobby! By the way Grans or Carmen can you pass along my site to Aunt Barb and Aunt Patty. I do not have their email addresses. It is on my computer that JJ has been working on for a few months so I don't have it. Thanks!

First New York Post

2005-11-18T16:29:00.000-06:00

November 3, 2005
Day 1

Up at 3:30 a.m. to leave for the airport at 4:00 a.m. Our plane left ontime and we went through Dallas with a short stop then off to New York La Guardia. We landed at 11:50 a.m. ten minutes early. The approach was what I only could dream of. First I saw the statue of liberty. It looked so small on the island and in the middle of the harbor. Then the Manhattan skyline. It is what I always dreamed it would be, stunning.

So we got our luggage, got in a cab and started on our way to the hotel. Well the taxi driver stopped us a block away from the hotel and then told us we had to walk to the hotel. Well we were not about to drag our luggage. The cabbie tried to tell us it would take an extra hour to make the block. Well we made him take us directly to the door. He was so huffy about it so he only got a thirty cent tip.

The hotel was so cute and from the moment we entered everyone was so nice. We were too early so we could not check in, but could leave our luggage and go out and about. We did however find out that for some reason we had been upgraded to a jr. Deluxe king room. Not to look at gift horse in the mouth we said great and went to find lunch.

On our way to Trump Tower we passed radio city music hall (the musicians were striking), the ice rink, St. Patrick's Cathedral and so many other places. We ate in the bottom of Trump Tower. I had a cajun turkey sandwich (it was surprisingly spicy), a piece of white chocolate mousse cake and a sprite. They had the 'good' ice! (same as sonic ice!) The food was yummy, but pretty expensive.

We left lunch to find the Fendi flagship store that was supposed to open today. Well obviously our invites got lost so....We went to Tiffanys. They have elevator attendants! I bought two things. A present and then a ring for me. The ring says "Please return to tiffany's" I love it!

We left there and went to Bergdoff's shoe department. There were so many pairs of Manolos that I could have passed out! My dream pair, that I did not know existed, a pair of cheetah print kitten heel shoes, were there. They are still there :(

We left the store and went by the Plaza hotel, it is closed for remodeling. We were on the side of central park. Then through times square to our room.

We got checked in and what a room we have! We have so much space and there is even a couch. We were a little too tired having gotten up early and walking all day so we went to a place called Smiley's. It is like a convenience store with a buffet I got sesame chicken, noodles, papaya, pineapple, chicken Caesar salad, yogurt and a cherry coke. When we walked back after filling up our to go plates we went back through times square. I was so shocked by how many lights were on! It was brighter tonight than it was during the day. Off to sleep!

November 4, 2005
Day 2

My eyes popped open a little after six. I took my shower, got ready, and we hit the road. We walked to where they tape the today show. We saw Matt Lauer, Katie Couric, and Al Roker. We got a great surprise when across the street at the ice rink at Rockefeller center Dorothy Hamil was skating. She looked so beautiful and graceful skating along.

We met two ladies who were going to run the marathon on Sunday and exchanged info with them. We considered going on the NBC studio tour, but instead decided to go to the top of the rock (top of Rockefeller center). We found out it just opened on the 1st. We got a coupon for buy one get one free tickets. We took a very cool elevator to the top. They had a clear ceiling that projected pictures. Also all the way up there were neon light sticks leading the way up. The view was amazing! You could see for miles. It really gave me a great perspective on the city. Wow what a view!

From the top of the rock we headed out for some shopping. American Girl, Burberry, Barney's, and Bloomingdales. I have discovered at Barney's there is no way I can ever afford to purchase anything at all! I am in love with Burberry. I want the $695 long poncho, but will dream about that for a very long time! In my dreams!

After shopping we went to China Grill to eat. The food was great. I had Confucius chicken salad that four people could have eaten and still have leftovers and then crab cakes. Susan had these wonderful crispy spinach. If every veggie was like that I would become a vegetarian!

After lunch we came back to the room to freshen up before heading to Queens for the taping of Hope and Faith. We left and walked to the subway. Yikes! It wasn't as bad as I expected. I was so freaked about things that I made sure I brought antibacterial wipes for the ride to Queens and then some for the way back! It was much cleaner than I thought. There was no spray paint anywhere. The only graffiti was etched on the windows.

We got off the subway at Hunter's Point and went out to catch the shuttle to the studio. We checked in and waited then were let inside the studio. After of course going through a metal detector and having our purses searched.

The set looked SO good. It was just like I was with them. We got settled and come to find out we had this audience warm up guy named Phil Stiller who was hilarious. He was there to keep us entertained. He did this in so many ways such as called our loved ones and talking to them. We got them to call JJ. Phil asked him where he was at and JJ said a birthday party. Phil asked him why he was having a birthday party for me while I was gone.. JJ came back with a "they are more fun without her." Well the audience went against JJ. Before they got off the phone Phil made JJ tell everyone in the audience how wonderful I am. JJ also made some comment that I cannot remember that Phil responded with "well she married you didn't she?!" Well I got a hat out of the deal which I want Kelly Ripa to sign.

I found out that the studio we were at as the same studio where they taped sex and the city! Chris Noth had once been there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also the lady who does the costumes for Hope & Faith, Patricia Field also clothed the sex and the city girls. She really stood out with her RED hair and a yellow jacket that had black cat fireworks advertised on the back. What an outfit, but she coud totally pull it off.

This taping was better than I ever could have imagined. They fed us pizza and cookies and gave us "Hope and Faith" water. The cast interacted with us. It was SO great. Faith Ford made a joke that made me laugh so hard. They were talking about boys being brownies and Phil asked what they would be called and Faith said brownies with nuts! It was really nice to see how the taping went. They would perform then the director would tweak a few parts or rewrite then they would do it again and continue the process until they were happy.

There were mistakes of course in the episode we saw. (#310 which will be aired on November 25th so watch) Ted threw his award on the table and it broke. Also when Ted was going upstairs but first had to do an impression of the hulk he could not stop laughing. Oh my Ted is SO cute! He does not look a day older than he looked in Happy Days! After they finished taping they did a Christmas PSA and one to run during the soul train awards. Kelly had a hard time getting the words out correctly. It was so great to see when they were finished the cast were all hugging each other and really looked like they all cared about each other. Oh I forgot that the three kids were sitting during downtime doing special handshakes. Then the youngest two were throwing a tennis ball to each other. During downtime Paulie Litt came up in the audience and sang Frank Sinatra. He is so darling!

When the taping finished we got back on the shuttle to the subway and rode it back to Manhattan. It was very well lit and I was not worried for on minute about being underground.

On our walk back we saw a movie being taped called gardener of Eden. It did not look interesting so we came back and got in our jammies. They delivered our milk and cookies and we are about to go to sleep...finally!

If you have made it this far you will have to stay tuned for the next few days.

T.G.I.F.

2005-11-18T09:24:00.000-06:00

We had our first comments!! Thanks Dad for taking care of that for me and Grans don't worry if you couldn't get your comments posted I was happy to get an email from you.

In answer to a few questions I have received no we are not going to have a turkey. I bought turkey lunch meat if anyone really needs their turkey fix. I like to just go to the honey baked ham store and pick out my ham and then I am done. I have also discovered their excellent sides so since we are not having company I got their sides and will cheat this year. If we were to ever have someone join us for thanksgiving then I do the real stuff, but since JJ won't eat most of the stuff I like the idea of not having a major mess to clean up.

In answer to my next question I had "what is a blog?" well it is a lot of things to a lot of different people. For us it is a way for me to have a running dialog with everyone and feel like we are much closer than we really are. Plus it is an easy way for me to share pictures and news that some times I might forget to send in an email.

I am so happy to hear that Dad is safe in Egypt. I wish you were here so you could share in our ham and I might just make a turkey if you were here. Probably not since the honey baked ham store does a nice turkey. We all want to see pictures from you trip so maybe you need to start one of these to let us know what all is going on. Or if you want I can give you permission to post on our blog and you can post pictures here. Just let me know what you want to do. I know everyone is just really curious because I don't think any of us has been to Egypt nor will we go with the exception of Carmen our world traveler.

Speaking of Carmen I got her this wonderful Christmas gift that I want to annoy her that I am going to keep a secret from her. For those of you new to this blog Carmen is my sister and we cannot keep anything from each other. This year however I want her to have a big surprise. So if anyone else wants to know what I got her email me and I will let you know.

Well Marie and I have to leave for school in five minutes and she is not finished with breakfast nor is she dressed. Hopefully some interesting stuff happens today so I can have something more to post. Love to all and thanks for reading this far.

First Post

2005-11-17T20:42:00.000-06:00

Greetings from Oklahoma! Marie just got out of the bath and wants her dessert while JJ and I are watching Law and Order. Typical night for the Muffoletto family!

Just to let everyone know we are staying here for Thanksgiving this year due to work. I have bought our Honey Baked Ham and the sides and we are going to spend a hopefully relaxing weekend together.

The weather has finally gotten cold here, but not cold enough to put the heat on. Perhaps the way things go we will not have to turn the heat on at all.

All for now. In the next few days I will start posting the info from my New York trip! I wrote each night about what I did so I plan to type it up so everyone can see. Until then enjoy the pic of Marie.