Hello? Yes, I'm cool. How's it going?

If I call you and the caller ID says "A girl with a really awesome phone is calling you", it's probably me.

Yes, I stood in line yesterday morning to get the new iphone, and yes that probably makes me a nerd, but remember I was already a nerd for standing in line for various Harry Potter releases, so nerdiness is not new to me. The only difference is waiting for Harry Potter and waiting for the iphone is yesterday no one was dressed up like an iphone.

I still haven't read any of the instructions so I probably know only about 5% of what the phone can actually do, but it's still totally cool.

Test, Test, 1...2..3...Mic check, mic check

Ok, can everyone hear me? Good. Hold on let me step up on my soap box, alright I'm ready.

I just watched a segment on the Today show that made me laugh out loud, not because it was funny but because it was absurd. The segment was on cutting your budget in half during our hard economic times. I was interested because I'm always interested in money saving tips. The segment started and it was about a family in Texas who spends $660 a week. So the challenge was to cut that in half.

Here are the things they cut out: getting the car washed, Starbucks, pedicures and manicures, eating out, trips to the mall, having the house cleaned, lawn service.

They were successful, they cut the budget almost 80%, great for them. However, what about the people who never even did any of those things? What about people who couldn't afford groceries before they became more expensive? What about the families who can't afford gas to get to and home from work?

Or, what about middle income families? Who splurge to eat out once a week, who now have to budget gas, who already mow their own lawns, clean their own houses and make their own coffee? WHAT ABOUT THE NORMAL PEOPLE? Come on Today show, give a sister some help!

While I'm on my soap box, let me something else off my chest. This may seem out of left field but, whatever, it's on my mind. Let's discuss the Dixie Chicks. I read a blog the other day where the blogger had been to see Charlie Robison and she stated that he was married to one of the Dixie Chicks and made the comment that that wasn't something to be proud of. I'll have to say I was shocked. I mean wasn't that whole thing a long time ago? My love for the Dixie Chicks never wavered through the whole "George Bush sucks for taking us to war" stuff. I think they are talented artists, perhaps Natalie said too much, but we are a narrow-minded people if we hold that grudge for long. And aren't most of us somewhere in the back of our heads thinking that maybe it's time to bring our sons and daughters home? That maybe it's time for this war to be over? Time for George to hit the road...

I think I'm going to sing extra loud while I listen to my Dixie Chicks CD today.

My kids need a playdate

They aren't playing very well together and a playdate always makes that better.

I'm not even going to talk about 4th of July because I can't get my pictures to load on blogger.

This morning I went to Discount Tire to have my tires rotated and left 10 minutes later because I need 2 new tires instead, aaack. Tires are not fun money spending.

I've got to be the applier of sunscreen this week so I can be not -so- tan for my dermatologist appointment. I don't want to get a hard time.

Bowen has earned two G.I. Joes for pooping on the potty, we're making progress.

Friday the new iphone is launching and I really want one. Jonathan is going out of town so if I want to be in line to get one Friday I have to take the kids with me. Anyone want to babysit at the crack of dawn on Friday?

The summer is flying by all of a sudden. I'm really feeling wary of my new job. Maybe that's why things are going fast, because I'm nervous.

Opinions and Pictures

OK I need some opinions:

First: Is it time for me to get my roots done? Some stylists I've asked have said to wait until my roots are an inch long. That seems pretty long for someone with short hair. But what they are telling me would save me some money. What do you think, how do the roots look?

Second: How do you get a three year old to poop in the potty? I've said before that I'm not the most patient potty trainer there ever was so the pooping thing is getting old real fast. Bowen can tee tee any time we put him on the potty. He's pooped at both his grandparents' houses but not ours. Grrr...Any suggestions? He better be glad he's cute.

Here are some pictures from our visit to Abilene and the train ride Mimi, Bowen, Blake and I took today:

I know my Mom won't love the picture above but it shows the hard work we have to do to actually get Bowen to look at the camera these days.

Strep Froat

as Bowen would say...Poor Meredith is really sick with Strep. Mimi came to the rescue today and is staying with Blake until Mere feels up to "mommy-ing" again.

Mere: Bowen would like you to know that you will feel better again and that you will get rainbow Popsicles if you have to have your tonsils out.

This week Laine is going to "summer camp", she is so happy and SO tired.

Bowen and I went to the Zoo today! It was nice and cool, a perfect Zoo day.

Last week we had fun times in Abilene and even got to see Linda, Robin and Reegan for a day!

Has anyone tried to schedule a Dermatologist appointment lately? Jeez! When I called the receptionist told me they were scheduling for the second week in September. I made an appointment with the PA and got in the second week in July.

Which brings me to why I made that appointment...little bitty pimples ALL OVER MY BACK, and arms, and chest, and on and on. What is the deal! I'm 33! This is totally grossing me out! It looks terrible. I just want a magic pill that will make them all go away. Blech.

Sometimes mail is fun!

Usually mail is boring: bills, junk mail, ads. Generally mail is interesting because Linda signs me up to get samples and you never know what you'll end up with. Sometimes mail is fun! Like yesterday! When I drove up to the house there was a package on the front porch, that was really exciting! Then there was another package in the mail, bonus!

Package number 1 contained my beach bag from Land's End. I searched forever for a really big bag I could take to the pool. I wanted it to hold our towels, snacks, drinks and any other things that needed to come along, like Bowen. I think all that will fit into this ginormous bag.

The next package was the necklace I ordered from Lisa Leonard designs. Her jewelry is so simple and beautiful. I ordered this one for myself for our Anniversary, I know I probably shouldn't buy my own present, but there it is.

You can see that each little medallion has Jonathan, Laine and Bowen's initial. I love it! Thanks Jonathan!

I'm really excited because Meredith and I are headed to Abilene tomorrow and Linda Robin and Reegan are going to come too! Laine and Bowen are already there, we're going to have such fun.

Babysitting Blake

For 6 months Jonathan and I have looked forward to the day when we would get to babysit Blake and teach her some important things about life... Well about ten minutes into the sitting we noticed she had scooted out of sight..... :(

We found her on our bed reading Twilight

(if you don't know what this book is go get it it's fabulous)
So we brought her back into the living room to watch baby einstein

and as I was getting the movie out I turned around and.......

She had found my Ipod and was jamming out to some Busta Rhymes!!! By this time Jonathan and I became a little concerned of her behavior, taking off without telling us.. her choice in music on the Ipod....very, very concerning! Jonathan suggested we give her something to eat a healthy light bedtime snack. So I pulled her up to the table to feed her in the high chair, I left for maybe 5 seconds, I heard Jonathan let out a small yelp of concern I turned around to go to her thinking she might be falling out of the high chair and........

She had pulled a Diet coke from the table and a bagel from a bagel bag and had already started munching!!!! So we got her fed finally and evidently she wanted more because she scooted over to the fridge and proceeded to open it up and get the milk out...unbelievable!!!

Well needless to say I need to clean her bottle out and clean up our kitchen!! As I was washing out her bottle I heard a small squeaking sound followed by another squeaking sound when I finally got curious I turned around and what in the world......
Blake had made stairs out of the drawers on the kitchen cabinet and had climbed up onto the counter and had opened a bag of M&M's and had probably already eaten half of the bag....What in the world is going on with this kid??? Finally we had had just about enough and I told Jonathan maybe we should just give her a bath and see if she would want to take a nap. So we went into the bathroom and I started filling up the tub...Splash ... Splash ... I really paid no mind due to the water running and such but then I realized the splash was coming from behind me....
I turned around and Blake was half in and half out of the potty!!! It was at this point we decided to stop taking pictures of what we are pretty sure CPS will get a call on!!

WE LOVE BLAKE!!!!!

Before and After

First Before and After is Bowen's TOTALLY cute haircut! I was really nervous about taking him because I'm always so certain whoever cuts his hair will screw it up. I should know better because the girls at Cool Cuts for Kids always do a really good job. Doesn't he look handsome? Check out the underwear in the first picture. He's doing really well with the tee tee part but he hasn't pooped in days, not even in his pants. I am now armed with prune juice.




The next Before and After is for my teeth. I tried Crest Whitestrips Premium. You use them twice a day for 10 days. I had taken pictures throughout but I guess they disappeared. Here is one pretty close up and then one after the 10 days. I can tell a difference, can you?

First day of the Big Boy job!

Jonathan headed out the door today for his new job. I can't wait to see where this opportunity takes him. I could tell he was a little nervous because when I got home from running he was sitting at the table ready to go. As soon as I walked past him, he stood up and was ready to hit the road. Hopefully I'll have some more info by the end of the day.

Events of the weekend

We had a very eventful weekend at the Williams' house! Friday Jonathan got home from Mexico and then went and picked the kids up while I finished up teaching lessons. It's great having them back.

Saturday was our 11th Anniversary! Jonathan and I decided that is doesn't seem like we've been married that long and we also think we've both gotten better over the last 11 years. Here's to the next 11! My day started with a run at Luke's, a trip to Wal-Mart and then a pedicure to correct my swimming pool feet. Jonathan had decided that he wanted an ipod for a combo Anniversary/Father's Day gift so we went and got that at Best Buy. We got ready and dropped the kids off at Mere and Ryan's and we went to eat at Reata and then to a movie. The food was great, the movie not so great. The Happening wasn't all that happening.

Father's Day we went to church and then to eat at Fuzzy's, Jonathan's chose well. We hung out that afternoon and then Mere and Ryan came over for Father's Day burgers and homemade Blackberry ice cream.

I thought I'd end with some reasons I love MY Dad!

1. He is one of the smartest people I know.

2. He always thinks of really cool things to do.

3. I have never worried about my children when he is with them. They are always happy, well-fed and usually tired from all the stuff they do together.

4. He is open-minded.

5. He and my mom did a great job of teaching us that all people are equal.

Happy Father's Day Dad, I Love You!

Crispy like bacon

Tomorrow is the LAST DAY OF SWIMMING LESSONS! It's a good thing too because I'm crispy like bacon. And I promise I'm putting on sunscreen like 5 times during the day and I am still looking like my last name ought to be Morales or something. All my lessons are awesome, there were a couple that I was worried about at the beginning of the week but they are swimming converts now. I really love teaching swimming. It's so wonderful to see the huge progress these little ones can make in just 7 days. It makes my heart all smiley when they are so proud of themselves.

Another thing I'm super excited about is I went shopping for Laine today. That doesn't sound like a big deal however because of the whole uniform thing I don't need to buy her many clothes during the school year. I've also decided I'm not a very good shopper for her, I shop for her like I shop for me, in pieces. You see I don't have many "outfits" I buy separates that mostly involve solid colors that all can be worn together. That is boring for a 5 year old. So I went to Kohl's and Target today and got her some cute outfits! Everything I bought was on sale too! I'll post some pictures of her in her new digs after she gets back.

Admitting...

that on the way home from getting my teeth cleaned I noticed that a little spider was on my dash board. You might think that's no big deal except that I am really uncomfortable around spiders because I always think they are going to jump on my face. I eyed the spider warily he was trying to climb up on the windshield and couldn't when he suddenly JUMPED on the windshield. That was it for me. I leaned as far as I could away from the jumping spider of death and kept driving all the time talking to the spider telling him he better stay away from me. Well, he didn't listen and started scurrying up the windshield and closer to my head. He then started his way over to my window, then I really looked strange, leaning as far as I could towards the passenger side of the car. I drove like that the entire way home. When I pulled up in the driveway I climbed over to the passenger side because I could no longer see spider of death out of my peripheral vision. I found I weapon (Blake's grey mouse, sorry Mere) and whacked him with it. He jumped, thankfully not on my face and I whacked him again. I couldn't get him, mainly because he jumped off the seat. So, now I have to drive to swimming lesson in a few minutes with Jumping Spider of Death still in my car. I'm scared.

On Hold

Can't Blog.

Must keep reading.

Stephenie Meyer.

Twilight.

Go buy it.

Hot Fun in the Summertime!

Since the weather is getting warmer, Shauna decided I needed a new look for my blog! I absolutely LOVE it, it fits my summertime mood perfectly, thanks Shauna! If you want your blog to look as cute as mine there is a button to push so you can go see what Shauna has to offer.

News Flash:

I am home alone, I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do with myself. Tonight I went and had my toenails painted, enjoyed a chocolate shake, went shopping and was really disappointed when the Ulta by my house was closed for renovations. Got some Bath and Body works shower gel on sale for $3 and ate Chipotle because I didn't have to cook supper. Now I'm up past my bedtime because I don't have to get to school until 8:15 tomorrow!

Ok now to the story Jonathan alluded to in his comment on my last post. Monday evening Jonathan and I were scurrying around to get ready for his end of the year teacher banquet because our sitter fell through and at the last minute we got some friends to watch the kids so we could go. We had bathed the kids early and put on PJ's so we didn't have to mess with it later. Well, Bowen suddenly starts crying because he stubbed his toe. We had learned in the past that if he gets really worked up about something the result is throw-up coming out his mouth. I had believed that it was because his tonsils were really large and made him gag really easily. That hypothesis was blown out of the water on Monday night. Bowen cried and cried and cried until he barfed. Lots. Of. Chocolate. Ice. Cream. It was SO GROSS. Poor Bowen barfing, poor Laine crying over and over gross, gross, gross. I was afraid she was going to have sympathy barf so I ushered her into the bathroom and tried to distract her. Turns out she was just scared and sad that Bowen had gotten sick. The best part was we were only 15 minutes late to the dinner, we are awesome.

Teeing in the Potty

Last weekend Bowen suddenly decided he wanted to "tee" on the potty. We sat him on the potty, he went and I thought "that was a fluke, he won't do it again". Boy, was I wrong, he tee teed on the potty all weekend! We kept him in a pull-up, but every time he asked to go we took him and did it! We are SO proud and I'm jumping for joy because I don't have to actually teach him to use the potty. I REALLY dislike potty training, I don't quite have the depth of patience it takes to do it without getting frustrated. Bowen even peed in the grass when we were out in the backyard playing!

Here's a funny story: The evening of the blog fight between me and Jonathan, I had called and left him a message asking him where the camcorder charger was. Well, about 2 minutes later, the house phone rang and I picked it up (we don't have caller ID) and a male said "Heather" and I shouted WHAT?! in the meanest voice I could muster. The voice said "this is ____ _______" MY PRINCIPAL!!!!!!! I backpedaled as quickly as I could stating that I had just had an argument with Jonathan and I thought it was him. It was SO embarrassing and SO funny at the same time!

The other funny story is from Saturday. I took the kids to the Y to swim, well our Y pool was closed for repairs so I took them to the one a little farther away but it has a cool water park. We got there and had been playing for about 15 minutes when the lifeguards started blowing whistles and telling people to get out of the water. I was wondering why, when I saw a large turd floating in the water. Someone tell me how a turd escapes a swimsuit? I mean girl suits are tight and boy suits have the liner in them, someone had to have pooped it and then set it free. We left shortly after because they weren't going to let people back in the pool for an hour.

Blogs and Email

We all know that when you write an email or a blog you can't use tone of voice or gestures to help convey your meaning. I made a mistake with my writing last night when I wrote the last paragraph. When I said it in my head it sounded cute and a little sarcastic. He took it as all sarcasm and a little naggy, so he wrote a sarcastic remark right back at me. I decided to delete it mainly because it hurt my feelings. When I went back and read my words without my cutesy voice I realized it did sound demeaning. Does that mean he should have written a yucky comment back, no I don't think so, but he did.

So, I'm apologising to you Jonathan, for forgetting that blogs don't have a tone of voice.

What is the opposite of Super Supper?

Because whatever it is, we had it tonight. Or perhaps I should say didn't have it. I was running late this afternoon so Jonathan started supper, grilled chicken, baked beans, green beans, and grilled pineapple. Sounds pretty good right? Well, Jonathan cut into his chicken first and immediately spit it out when he bit it. I tried it and it was like biting into one of those toy rubber chickens, and it didn't taste right. Ugh, so I don't know if the chicken was bad or what. If it was bad I'm not sure why because I bought it before the sell by date and immediately froze it. So, it was an official fend for yourself night. Laine had chicken nuggets, Bowen had waffles and I ate everything planned in the meal except for the chicken. It's so frustrating when supper is ruined for some reason.

Tomorrow and Friday are Field Days at my school. I'm ready for 2:50 on Friday because that means my stress is over for the year. And to those of you who read my blog and work with me, sorry about the NO SHORTS rule, I decided I wouldn't wear shorts either if no one else could.

I'm SO excited for summer!

Jonathan do you even READ by blog anymore? If you do, it would be great if you would comment every once in a while. I mean not every time just sometimes! Love Ya, Thanks.

Memorial Day!

We had a grand time over at Travis and Julie's house today! Everyone came home tired and a little sunburned. I blame the sunburn on the fact that spray on sunscreen is not a good as the lotion kind. Last summer, I bought some and at the end of my swimming lessons I could see the ribbon of white skin in a sea of redness. That's the way we all look this afternoon because I chose to use someone 's sunscreen instead of bringing my own. Now, I'll know better.

This is going to be a busy week with field day two days this week and just all the other end of the year stuff. Eight more days of school for me!

Random Thoughts

*When you are running in hot weather, does it ever start feeling cooler?

*I met someone this afternoon that I generally did not like, that rarely happens to me.

*This afternoon I was able to walk around my gym for next year, it was SO big and it doesn't look like a dungeon!

*My swimming lessons are already full up. So if you see me the week of June 9th and I look like a prune, don't worry, I'll be OK.

*Jonathan went to the midnight showing of Indiana Jones last night and HATED it.

*I PLUCKED a hair off my CHIN tonight. Wait. What did I say? What I meant to say was, hmmmm...Son of a bitch?

* I love new tennis shoes, and, does it ever get easier to run in the heat?

* How do my kids keep getting cuter, will they blow up from cuteness?

*Every once in a while when I think about my new job, I panic and think "Am I doing the right thing?" but then I get better.

* T-minus not very long until: School is over, Jonathan's new job starts, gas prices make me ACTUALLY throw-up instead of just feeling like it.

Shauna is giving stuff away!

My friend Shauna designs blogs and they are SUPER cute, take mine for example! Head on over to www.seemydesignsbyshauna.com and enter to win a blog redesign!