tHE eNGLISH

So Corey has 4 girls on his team from England and they are all fun and cute and hilarious!!! (and good players we hope)
We love them already. This is what we love:
"that's a right nice car you have there"
"...they just keep bringing the chips then?, you don't have to pay more?"
"I turned around and there was a lad, right there in my room"
And Emersons comments:
"Mama, they can speak Spanish"
"The English are taking me to the movies tonight"

Isn't it true that when you are around them, you want to speak like them, and soon whether you meant to or not, you are adding your own little english accent in. Scary.

I wanted to wait...

I wanted to wait to FIND my cord to download my pictures onto this post...but I feared KT would take my blog off her roll if I didn't blog soon!! (oh the pressure)
Let's just say we were totally the Griswolds moving here (and if you don't know who they are, you are not old enough to read this blog)!!! We had SO much stuff. We had Corey's truck loaded down and on the top were bikes and on the back was the grill. Hilarious! I will post the pictures later, because I feel them worthy of being seen.
Since then, we have been a little busy.
Moved here Thursday night
I had a job interview on Friday
Got the job on Friday
Had to enroll 3 kids in a private prep school, order summer reading, teach Mac multiplication (1-12),have kids tested to make sure they are smart enough to get into the school, buy $500.00 worth of uniforms, move into a friends house with them (5 Roses in one bedroom with all of our luggage...), finish remodeling our rental house here, have PODS forget to deliver all our possessions on Tuesday, call them they will deliver Thursday (yes they came), begin to move into rental house. Also coach new cheer team Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday from 9:00-1:00 (set up by previous coach, thanks a lot), try to find reasonable "work" clothes out of clothes left unpacked. Buy "chapel shoes", God forbid they wear tennis shoes to chapel, get uniforms altered to fit our height challenged boy, have numerous adult beverages to cope with all stress.
Seriously, we are busy, but enjoying being here. Life has not fallen into a good schedule yet, maybe after we move into the rental, maybe after school starts, maybe never...

I am a dork!

I have "tidiness" syndrome.
I cannot let things be where they do not belong. I do not like stuff to be out of place and all over the place. I am (surprise) not a fan of clutter and I am NOT a hoarder. I barely keep what we actually need, getting rid of things as soon as possible. That is the one great thing about moving so frequently...the purging of the stuff. I have my sentimental things, those I couldn't part with, but the stuff...whatever. Oh and it is VERY easy to get rid of the kids things (when they are not looking) or my husbands 5000+ t-shirts (when he is at soccer camp).
Today is the cleaning of the house day! I have all the products and I need to get moving. Emy and her friend Juli want to clean the bathrooms...go for it!
We close on Thursday and then move on to Texas...and more getting on with life.

kids...

My kids are hilarious...
i know everyone says that about their kids, and i do not think mine are extra funny or anything,,. but just things that make me smile.
Right now Emy and Mac are both scrubbing the bath tub. With soft scrub and brushes (not their toothbrushes) and they are working so hard on the water stain that I personally know will never come out. But I didn't tell them that, and they are working so hard together trying to out the spot...
Yesterday Emy asked me to "get me on the website to look at homes, because I like to look at homes" hmmm wonder where she saw that???
When I was telling Kennedy about a potential house in Texas she asked 1. does it have a pool 2. do I have my own bathroom 3. does it have 2 living areas. so I guess it should really be simple then...

since the last post...

1. still haven't found "the house". I mean is there a "the house"? The last time I was MAJOR excited about a house was in Westerville ohio. The little red house. And I did love our yellow house in Winona Lake! I really thought our rental house in Texas was so adorable, even though it had it's issues. Both our of houses here, are just houses to me. I really didn't want to buy the one we are in, (I thought it was ugly). But we cute-i-fied it right up and I like it. but it is not love. so to find "the house" in Tyler is stressing me out! It feels compounded by this fact...what schools we want the kids to go to.
2. had a bit of road rage last bight. I mean I know you have had these thoughts before, like you really just want to run into the back of someone going so slow...on purpose...because they think it is funny to make you suffer. I am not asking for people to speed, only to GO THE FREAKIN SPEED LIMIT! I am thinking, well who cares I will show you and I will just run into your car, how would you like that! I had a BIG expedition, you in your BABY honda...let's see how that would turn out for you!
3. scored BIG time on some actual moving boxes!! One of my friend's, sister's, husband's, boyfriends, niece (just kidding, it was said friend's next door neighbor) was just professionally moved here (@&#!!!) from Alabama and she had major NICE boxes stacked in her garage. Yipee! No dumpster diving for me!
4. decided I would make worlds #1 worst single mom. (well, maybe not as bad as Brittany, oh wait she gave her kids up right?) Corey has been MIA since July 6. (He is really at Ole Miss soccer camp, I do actually know where he is, I am simply stating he has been MIA from this family.)sucks. I guess after 16 years, I am kinda used to him being around...
5. decided to share to all my fabric softner... Snuggle liquid. It lasts on your clothes forever! I love it

Here I am again

I have a neck ache
My butt is asleep
All I do is sit here and look for a house in Tyler Texas.
All I really do is look at the same houses that I saw yesterday (and the day before and the day before... etc x infinity) lol
So instead I am going to tell you what I love...

I love my fabric softner and I highly recommend it. If you want to know what I use, you will have to do something crazy like...leave a freakin comment!....so that I know there are actual people reading this...
oh I'm sorry, did that sound harsh?

I love hazelnuts.
Bet you weren't expecting that one! You can buy them chopped now (b/c it was so hard to chop them up in the past) and I toast them and put them on everything! Or I buy them whole and just grate them into sauces. I use them now instead of pecans etc... ssooooo delicious! fun.

I love sweating.
When I am at the pool. Getting all hot and sweaty (in the 2.5 seconds after I get there) and waiting for the break time at the pool, then sliding into the cool fresh water. delightful.

I love pigtails.
If I could I would put Emy's hair in pigtails everyday. Unfortunately, she thinks that her hair looks better down (uncombed, and roughly tucked behind her ears) so she is forever pulling out her pigtails and just going with the look. precious.

I love cool mornings.
Today, an unusually cool (only 63 degrees) morning made me want to jump up and down in my driveway. What I really did, was drag the trash cans to the curb in my pyjamas WITHOUT SWEATING which never happens in Mississippi in the middle of July. pure joy.

Should and Should Nots

What I should be doing:
Find a house to move into in Tyler Texas (in 16 days)
Pack up house in Brandon MS (what... I have packed 5 boxes already!)
Keep house clean, just in case contract falls through
Pray that our nazi, I mean inspector, gives our buyers a good report (he just "failed" a house in my neighborhood last Friday)
Scope out the job market in Tyler Texas (I really think at this point I could be a realtor, I already know everything about every house possible)
Become fluent in Spanish (in like 16 days) Seriously, I applied for a cheer coach position at a high school and they called today and offered me a teaching position, a SPANISH teaching position, in a HIGH school, in TEXAS, where actual Mexicans live. I was like "No, I applied for the cheer coach position" hello, where is the correlation? Just because I minored in Spanish in college (who doesn't) and taught ELEMENTARY Spanish last year (IN MISSISSIPPI...not too many Mexican here) does this somehow qualify me to teach? wow. that is all I can say.

What I should NOT be doing:
Sitting by the pool for 5 hours
Taking the kids out to lunch because I am too lazy to make something
Surfing other blogs so i am "up" on all my friends (I really know very few of them) lives
Talking on the phone to friends
Keep up with reading the 4 books that I am currently reading (that calls for a post in itself, I am very excited about each book. Perhaps when I am procrastinating later tonight I will make that entry)
Dream about living in a foreign country
Eating cereal for dinner, for the 3rd night in a row...

My passport story

Well, just when you think you have everything worked out...
I finally went downtown to get my passport processed, and after a 20 minute drive and a short wait there I was.
All of my paperwork completed and the cutest picture of myself to go on the passport.
Actually I took 2 different pictures down, and I was asking the lady there to help me decide which one to use.
They were both very good pictures I had cropped out of family pictures.
I mean, you need a good picture, it is a 10 year commitment!
So imagine my surprise when I get there and she says
"all photos have to have a white background"
that's right people, I should have actually read all the paperwork.
So...what to do??? Go home and get a new photo?? Drive all that way for a good photo?
The vain part is screaming YES
The reasonable part is whispering, no it is okay, just have her take one right here right now and be done with it.
That sounded good, until I caught a look of myself in the mirror.
Did I mention that I had just come from the gym?
With a NIKE hat on my head and
NO MAKEUP and
a (sweaty) grey t-shirt on????
Passport lady is like "do you have a brush?"
As if I carry one around just in case I need to have a passport photo taken (even though I had 2 lovely sets in my purse, one with a gray-ish background ((come on that is close enough)) and one with a purple background)
So she is clearly startled by my choice to have my picture taken.
Well, I can't take a passport photo with my hat on (sort of terrorist-ish) so I take it off and "fluff" my hair and then pull it back into a pony-tail (my daily summer do) and pull some out to make like I have bangs (at least some hair) and then even before I can put on lipstick, she takes the picture.
There you go.
My 10 year passport with the world's ugliest photo!!!
love it.

Roxanne

I had exactly 16 hours of having my husband and my oldest daughter home...and what did they do???
Rock Band!
Corey and Kennedy were in Tyler for soccer camp last week, and then they left already this morning for Ole Miss soccer camp! I had enough time to wash all their clothes and have one delicious dinner and a fun night (!) and then off to camp again...
The most fun was hearing Corey sing Roxanne....priceless!

update:Emy

Last night I told you about how we prayed throughout our house...
Well, this morning when she was in her bathroom washing her hands, I heard her talking.
Not just talking
She was praying that someone would "love our bathroom, and be happy to have our house so we can get a house in Texas Tyler" (that is how she says where we are moving).
How much cuter can you get?

Emerson and I

I really cannot believe how old Emy is getting. She actually acts older than she is (maybe a 3rd child thing) but she is so fun to be around! Last night we had to go out to dinner (someone wanted to show our house at 7:45!) and with just she and I (no chaos from older siblings) I really enjoyed being with her! Also she has lost 3 teeth already! She turned 5 in January, and none of my kids lost their teeth that early.

Before we left the house, she and I went room by room to pray over our house. We walked into each room and said our prayers, and she was stinkin adorable! She would always start "Dear Lord, our Lord..." and at least 2 different times throughout the prayer she would say "and I love you so much Jesus". Sometimes we held hands, and sometimes we had our hands in the air, and sometimes we put our hands on a piece of furniture. She is precious.

It is hard...

Some of you will be surprised to see me write that I am sad to move from here. After my 5 years of Mississippi bashing (sorry people, but really it was all true) I will still be sad to move. One of the only reasons I can truly come to understand is that this is the place we have lived the longest!!! It may actually tie with living in WL (1992-1997), but that was a lOOOOng time and 2 children ago.
Today I read the roster of Kennedy's soccer team (here in MS) and I actually cried. Even though she has already made her team in Texas, I am still sad.
I guess it is just a part of moving, but one that I really didn't expect to feel leaving here.

only in Mississippi

Well, last night we officially became "rednecks"!
We went alligator spotting at 10:30pm. 6 adults and 9 kids on a pontoon boat in the Reservoir!
It was sort of fun, sort of scary and VERY buggy!!! It is LOUD at night on the water. All the frogs, birds, insects, alligators eating small children...lol
A fun night though, and I will miss the people we were with. They have said "We all decided, you are not moving, Corey can commute"
It's a thought...

she's growing up

So, my firstborn child is already 12.
That sounds young, yet old at the same time.
For her birthday she scored $140.00 in cash. Today she wanted to go shopping. She wanted to go shopping at Abercrombie. So we went there and she laid down $112.00 for new clothes. She spent $50.00 alone on 1 pair of jeans!!! I don't even spend $50.00 on jeans. (in fact I just bought a pair from The Gap for $13.99, cute boot cut ones)
So anyway, she is growing up.
But then we leave Abercrombie, and she wants to go and buy a Webkinz. She is still my baby.

Preacher Boy

Mac with a do-rag that they made at VBS, and a necklace from the sandy beaches of Trinidad! Stinkin adorable.

Pie Pics

Blueberries +

Elbow grease +

oven =

DELICIOUS dessert!

Hungry???

Yesterday Kennedy and Emerson and I went blueberry picking! We had a great time picking, even though it was 100 degrees out, Emerson kept saying (whining) "Can we be done farming, it is too hot to be farmers". If she only knew. We spent exactly 45 minutes "farming". hilarious.
Anyway, what do you do with a gallon bucket of delicious blueberries??? Bake!
This morning we had whole wheat blueberry pancakes topped with banana chunks and toasted chopped hazelnuts, with just a drzzle of maple syrup! Wash that down with milk (good for your bones) and coffee (good for being happy) and what else can you ask for??
Kennedy has baked 2 Country Blueberry Pies (those pictures will come next) and we are making a Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake for a dinner party tonight.
In addition to all of that for today, I have frozen blueberries in 3 cup measurements, for use in the future.
What a bargain, kid labor and $9.00...works for me!

Zucchini Yeast Rolls

It started out with wanting to buy locally and eat seasonally...and this recipe fit the bill for both! Fresh green and yellow zucchini shredded with dry milk and whole wheat flour...yum yum

This is the recipe, I hope you can read it!

These are the finished rolls. I LOVE yeast. It is an amazing product and of course makes everything taste better! I love to watch the dough rise, and then to punch it back down, only to have it rise again. Genius. After these rolls were finished, I sliced fresh tomatoes thin and drizzled them with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and dashed them with salt and pepper: washed fresh cut spinach and slices of muenster cheese. This was a beautiful and TASTY sandwich... I wish I had taken a picture before my friends and I gobbled them all up!

I know I know...too many photos!