thankful?!

thank you lord for dirty clothes...

for we have had something nice to wear...

thankful at grandmas...

i know. we had an amazing thanksgiving dinner, and have no pictures to prove it. you can see the leftovers in my mom's hand as we had our own CRAZY HAIR black friday. i DIDN'T go shopping... I'm on a new budget for the holidays-- it's called the "DON'T GO SHOPPING AND YOU WON'T SPEND MONEY" Budget. Some really smart guy wrote a few books about it, they're called, "PRETEND YOUR POOR AND YOU HAVE TO MAKE CHRISTMAS GIFTS FROM THINGS YOU ALREADY HAVE AT HOME" and "1001 THINGS YOU CAN BUY AT WAL-MART WHEN YOU'RE GROCERY SHOPPING AND STILL CONVINCE YOURSELF YOUR NOT SPENDING MONEY ON CHRISTMAS." my mom's house is amazingly organized. it makes me want to come home and clean my closets. again. i'm kicking myself for not taking more pictures... of the 6 pictures we did take- 4 were of my little sister amy. she's SO cute!! This is Aunt Amy (age 10) with her newest neice- Lily.

Amy has deep red hair with brown eyes... it's my favorite color combo!!

Isn't she adorable?!

Love her.

Cute Aunty Amy.

It is fun having my brothers who are 15 and 13 and a little sister who is 10. My kids LOVE them!! Jakob is already asking if I can be finished packing so we can leave to go to Ft. Worth the day school gets out for Christmas vacation.

We missed Aunt Patti and Justin, the Lefferts, Ionno's, and all our Moss Family... seriously, I wish we all lived on an island together. imagine the good food and fun times we'd have.

mmm. I think I may imagine Heaven as a perpetual Thanksgiving weekend. (with no weight gain and no dishes and no black friday sales to tempt us...) ok. perpetual thanksgiving may be a bit like hell... hmmm.

hope you have a big bird!!

OK, I may be going to blogger jail for this one. I copied a picture from my sweet friend's blog (jenni at conversations with my hair drier). But, isn't it soo funny? Jenni has a REAL blog- it's all professional and stuff. So, if you are one of the four people that actually read these words, and you think this is funny, go ahead and leave Jenni a comment cause she found it and I COPIED it.

Have a VERY happy thanksgiving.

Be thankful.

Life is good.

Hope you have a BIG BIRD!!

happy days...

together again.

we've missed each other, my machine and I.

and, late nights with my books on tape.

love it.

texas heroes...

Mr and Mrs Hagood

a real live cowboy and our favorite kindergarten teacher heroes. an 8 row cotton stripper... (Mr Hagood went to strippin' school and everything.) this baby can do in one week what it used to take 100 men a month to do. with his bare hands... because every momma needs a little help with her calves... Texas Heroes. love em.

texas weekends...

kids.

cows.

cotton.

love it.

Texas.

texas son...

solo rides...

Anna,

Look UP... Keep pedaling!!

I'm here beside you.

Love,

Mom

2nd Annual No Manners Dinner

THE END. THE BEGINNING.

BLOWIN' MILK BUBBLES...

THROWIN' MEATBALLS...

FLICKIN' GREEN BEANS...

OUR SWEET NEIGHBOR JOINED US FOR DINNER...

on his way home he said, "Man, I want to eat at your house EVERY night."

MMM. SPAGHETTI.

CHUBBY BUNNY.

(WARNING- DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME... IT IS VERY DANGEROUS.)

THIS IS DREW PRE-THROW-UP. A GRACEFUL CHUBBY BUNNY.

THE UNIDENTIFIED WINNER.

(THE PROFESSOR ACCUSED THE UNIDENTIFIED BIG MOUTH OF CHEATING DUE TO THE FACT THAT SHE (or he) BROKE THE MARSHMALLOWs BEFORE STRATEGICALLY PLACING THEM IN HER (or his) MOUTH. YO MAMMA SAID- you either got it or you don't. cryin about it won't change a thing.)

DESSERT ANYONE?

FINDING THE HIDDEN CANDIES...

MESSY.

COLD.

SO FUN!

GUNS UP!

LEAH-WASN'T TOO EXCITED WHEN TODD PUSHED HER FACE IN THE PIE... BUT ONCE EVERYONE LAUGHED AT HER SHE WAS OK... SHE WAS A BIT CONFUSED THE WHOLE NIGHT.

THE GRAND FINALE...

MOM COVERED WITH WHIPPED CREAM.

DAD COVERED WITH PEANUT BUTTER.

WHAT A MESS!

BATH TIME.

BED TIME.

SWEET DREAMS...

Note To Self...

When using PINPOINT Lash Injection Mascara (read about it here)... you must take your time... brush it on your lashes the long ways... IF, you are in a hurry and you use the tip and go back and forth quickly you may end up with JUST ONE long, luscious clump-like lash... not so good. unless, you like the tammy faye look. i stink at downloading videos... but SERIOUSLY you need to watch this link... it's only one minute and it will change your mascara life... it did mine. (note- IF Tammy Faye was still alive, I'm sure she'd be using PINPOINT Lash Injection Mascara.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Inm6J1lzqBI

"without my eyelashes i don't know who i'd be..."

good times... together

Saturday Night Football... The last couple of weeks we've watched Tech WIN!! So FUN! On our way home from Soccer games, we've stopped at the store and let the kids each pick one thing for our football party. (I don't even care if it is a balance meal or a healthy meal... Oh, I've come a long way baby.) --good times at the store (drew- Sprite, jakob- egg rolls, anna- nachos, ellie- avacado and pigs in a blanket) --good times at home preparing, each kid makes their own food to share (or, they take an hour showering and getting on pjs so we just make it for them) --good times watching the game (at least till half-time when Yo Momma is done telling the kids to sit down and watch... and announces- BED TIME!) Jakob's fleece blanket... Texas Tech on one side, and Texas Longhorns on the other... --good time shopping for fabric together (read about it here) --good time cutting it (4 inch long strips about every inch along the edges and a 4inx4in square cut out of the corner) and tying the edges with the whole family on Sunday afternoon --good that he remembers how much his mom loves him every night when he cuddles up $4.99 kit for fake nails --good times anticipating our nail salon day (Sunday after church and before mom's nap) --good times putting them on (actually they were annoying to apply until I started putting the sticky stuff on the fake nail, not on the girls' nails) --good times playing all Sunday with the fake nails (well, sort of. there were some tears when the nails began to fall off... i explained that these were toys for dress-up and that even if they didn't fall off before school i would make them take them off... once expectations were minimized the girls had a blast.) Game Time with Dad...

I've heard it said that one of the main responsibilities of a father is teaching their children how to play. The Professor is really good at that. He has the patience of a saint during Sunday afternoon game-time (while yo momma is napping). Some may have wondered if the Professor enjoys the actual process of playing games with his young or if he merely enjoys the fact that he always wins... hmmm. [The Professor insists that Jakob won the game pictured... that's probably why he wanted it photographed, he does let them win every now and then.] Bubble Bath time!!

We don't do this often because its not so good for little bums... but, it is SO fun when Anna is at a soccer party and the boys are at Pack Meeting and we need a quick idea for the little girls. I use Palmolive dish soap-- you can use kid shampoo, but if the kids see you do that they will make bubble baths any time you leave them alone in the bathroom. Not that we would ever leave them alone in the tub... AND, remember to wash their hair first so that when (yes, when not if) they start splashing and making a mess you can just grab them out for... BED TIME! Cooking with Phyllo dough...

I just bought this dough in the freezer section and printed out a recipe for Spanakopita and Baklava... Todd and I loved the spinach one, the kids not so much. But, they all had good times helping me put it together. So fun...

The Professor LOVES when I cook him international recipes!?!

Yo Momma: "What do you want for dinner this week honey?"

The Professor: "Have you ever wanted to learn how to cook Indian food?"

Yo Momma: pause. "NO." pause.

Yo Momma: "The correct answer would have been, how about grilled cheese and tomato soup like we have every week... Minus 10 points."

yo momma arm warmers...

These are my Yo Momma Arm Warmers...

These are the Yo Baby version... I know it's hard to tell, but they are actually socks that I modified. $3 at Target-- Target also had the cutest knee socks for kids. (I even like the socks better than the real baby legs you could buy for $11... funny that I cut the socks to make baby leg and arm warmers instead of just keeping them as socks... but SO cute!) I cut off the foot part and sewed a straight line hem on my machine and TAH DAH... I LOVE them- cause we live in TEXAS... we can wear short sleeves and throw on some arm warmers if it's a bit chilly. And, my girls LOVE them... Yes, the Professor laughs at me. He says it looks like I've been burned. He threatens to buy a pair of Man Socks and make his own arm/leg warmers. He occasionally asks, "Are you really going to wear those in public?" He rolled his eyes when I showed him my striped pair, my pink paisley pair, and I threatened to get some hot pink arm warmers with skulls on them. :) I had to show him this post on Little Birdie Secrets where I got the idea before he believed that anyone else in the world actually wore them.

luscious lashes... priceless

Can you see it?

Look closely at my lashes...

(I only did one side so you could tell the difference.)

WOW!

Luscious, long, and lovely...

YES-- this mascara is worth $20 (cough. cough.)

I debated. I held the $5.60 400x Maybeline lash enhancing mascara and compared it to Pinpoint Lash Injection... but, EVERYONE that works at the makeup store (and gets $5 commission on each bottle sold) wears Lash Injection mascara... they PROMISED me it would both lengthen and curl my lashes... the final kicker, it was

"Tested on Celebrities, NOT Animals." Come on, I'm just trying to do my part to save the rats.

Can you put a price tag on humanity? WOW!!

I walk out the door and feel like a million dollars (well, maybe $20). I know most days my lashes are worth more than my whole outfit. The Professor can't keep his hands off me. He says, "Oooh it must be those lashes." So, if you happen to see me looking especially long lashed... go ahead compliment me. I really don't know how I ever lived before PINPOINT Lash INJECTION.

yes, this is me-- multi-tasking... I'm getting ready for the rodeo, talking on the phone to my mom, and taking a picture for this blog... leah is sitting on the counter to my left 'helping'...

oh, it's so much more fun to write these silly blogs than to fold the ginormous pile of laundry that is waiting for me...

Top 10 MOMENTS... Nov 3-Nov 16

I collect memories like some people collect quotes or books. I love remembering. One of my greatest fears is forgetting the moments. This is one of the reasons why I blog-- I want to enjoy these moments, and I want to remember them. For as long as I can remember, I have gone through the week with an index card by my bed where I jot down a few words to remind me of fun moments, crazy moments, perfect moments, sad moments, etc... Here are some moments from the past couple of weeks... I'm Gonna Miss This Moment: Lily... at 3am... MY FAVORITE. The house is quiet, the baby is SO smiley, she smells like warm, fuzzy blankets. She tries so hard to talk and comes up with sweet, squeaky goo's. She snorts and squeaks when she nurses, and cuddles right to sleep. I just have to keep rocking cause I KNOW I'm gonna miss this. Eyes Catch, Laugh Together and Continue On Moment: Jakob came home from school and I was picking up the family room. I caught a glimpse of his socks the same time he caught a glimpse of his socks. They were short socks, his favorite, but they had purple and pink hearts on them. He laughed, I laughed and he said, "Ooops." Thinking and Experiencing Moment: Last night the boys and I went to the Steer Roping Nationals (with our friends the Partington's). Drew was wide-eyed and full of questions. This type of rodeo is outlawed in California because it's a bit hard on the cows- they totally flip in the air. Drew is a boy/boy, but also a tender heart. He holds my hand while we watch. When we went to get popcorn he was torn, "Mom, I want to come, but I just don't want to miss this." Please, Don't Grow Up Too Soon Moment: Anna and I had a Mommy-Date on Friday. One of the things that we did was get makeovers at a beauty supply store. The lady asked Anna what colors she liked. She said, "Anything except pink and purple." WHAT?! She picked out a deep green and shiny black eyeshadow... oooh... I like pink and purple little girls. Just Keep Smiling Moment: Friday. Thanksgiving lunch up at school... three kids, three different lunch hours... leah and lily... Leah doesn't want to sit in the stroller. Lily poops. THREE times. (Wipes fell out of the diaper bag in the car). love it... Just Keep Smiling Moment (Take 2): Friday Night. Book group. I'm in charge of the discussion. Lily. Needs to nurse right when we get there cause I'm running late. So, I'm leading the discussion, nursing a snorting, squeaking baby and... Lily poops. Blow out. THREE times. Wipes are still in the car. One baby diaper. One Leah size 4 diaper. One borrowed diaper. No change of clothes. love it... Big Mess Moment: Leah. Butter. enough said. Out of the Mouths of Babes Moments: "Maaahhm. itsMYturn... itsMYturn..." leah with me in the shower (after the butter incident)... she doesn't like to share the water. "Maaahhm. CATCH." leah climbs the changing table while I'm nursing. She found a camera. "Maaahhm? I see Cheese?" repeated ten times while I'm asking what? Finally, with a BIG smile. "CHEESE? I see Cheese?" the camera... she wanted to play with the camera. at 5am, leah is in our bed playing and wiggling. i ask if she wants to go back to her bed. she replies, "No. Nuffing." "Just ONE bite. Just ONE bite." anna has bubble tape, leah follows her around all afternoon. "itsOK elllyee, itsOK." sympathetic-leah is rubbing the back of a sobbing-ellie while had-enough-momma does pig tails... MMM... Moment: Went to a play date and both Leah and I had a bag of peanut butter Ritz crackers. I finished Leah's bag. The thought went through my mind, hmmm a lot of hers don't have peanut butter on them... still ate them. The next day I sat by Leah as she ate her ritz bits... maybe I should say I sat by her while she licked all the peanut butter off her ritz and put the crackers back into the bag. Mmmm. Glad He's Mine FOREVER Moment: I just love laughin' with my cute husband. I got some new mascara on my date with Anna... it's the subject of a future blog (read here) because it may have cost a lot of money... All weekend Todd kept telling me how beautiful he thought I was, followed up with a "it must be the lashes." And, I may have made some rockin' yo mama arm warmers (also the subject of a future blog- read here) and Todd may have spent the whole weekend mocking them. My favorite was when he told me he was going to get himself some leg warmers and wear jean shorts with his leg warmers to school. Honestly, I think Todd just tries to say funny one-liners so that he can be featured on the blog. He's a dork, but we'll be laughing together forever. Life. Lovin' the Moments. Note- Next week I hope to have a grateful for laundry moment... :)

better than child locks??!

hmmm... we may have a two year old who is a bit scared of a certain picture that came on one of The Professor's birthday cards... we may have a two year old who has a bad habit of getting into her mother's makeup... we may have accidentally left the scary picture in the makeup drawer... it may have worked so well that we may be taking the picture to Kinko's to copy and place on every possible mess in the house... we may keep the picture to staple to the coats of boys we don't want our daughters to date when they're older... we may have occasionally told a scared child that they better stay in bed and stay VERY quiet or they would wake-up the monster under their bed... we may be creating children with emotional issues... maybe. maybe not...

HELP! My shirts are shrinking...

Well, I'm not sure exactly what happened. But over the summer, my winter shirts have shrunk. Seriously. I tried on 3 long-sleeve shirts this morning and there is about two inches of cold air between my shirt and my pants. How did I wear these clothes last year? Perhaps the fact that I had #6 over the summer may account for a larger belly/chest area, thus pulling my shirts a bit shorter (it's all mathematical, and hard to explain...) But, I prefer to think it's a problem with my summer-storage... And, the air in Texas... things just shrink. that. is. it. all. of. my. shirts. have. shrunk. TGFTTTCMT... (duh. this means Thank Goodness For Tank Tops That Cover My Tummy) If you see me with a long tank and a teeny-shirt... or worse, with a little bit of bum peaking through... Please don't start singing, "Fat man in a little coat..." (name that movie for 5 pts.) Just understand... we're having problems with shrinkage. [The professor says, after reading and adequately laughing... "Really? I haven't noticed that." -- 10 points for him.]

i turned off the radio...

this is jakob eating an artichoke...

You know 4th grade boys... Mom- "How was your day?" Jake- "Good." Mom- "Did you learn anything new?" Jake- "Not really." Mom- "What do you want to do today?" Jake- "I don't really care." Mom- "How about..." Jake- "That's boring." So, last night after our PTA meeting, we were driving to the store (Jakob asked me to make him a fleece blanket with Texas Tech on one side and Texas Longhorns on the other) and, I TURNED OFF THE RADIO. WOW! I don't know if it was the late hour... the fact that we were alone together... the fact that it was an almost full moon (a waxing moon as Jakob explained)... the fact that we were going to get something that he was excited about... whatever it was, Jakob started talking, and talking, and talking... It was SO fun! He asked me what really happens in detention (my kids are scared to death of ISS- in school suspension)... then he wanted to know what was worse than detention... I told him suspension or expulsion... Jake- "Why would not being able to go to school be a bad thing?" :) He told me stories that he thought were hilarious... like the time that he and Todd ordered a large vanilla shake... Todd drank it and thought it was delicious... Jakob drank it and thought it was gross... Turns out, they messed up the order and it was really a CHOCOLATE shake... :) so, so funny (to a 4th grade boy). And, we made memories of our own... we stopped at Whataburger and ordered one med. strawberry malt for Jakob, and a kid-sized vanilla malt for me... Only the people misunderstood me and gave me a KING-SIZED malt... it was HUGE!! And, of course, SO FUNNY... (especially to a 4th grade boy). A wise friend of mine, Deborah Gaar, once told me that if she had her children to raise over the one thing she would do differently was that she would take more ONE ON ONE time with them. She said that because her husband always traveled she would encourage him to take the kids on one on one dates all the time, while she stayed home with the other children. Kids need their moms, she explained, it's essential that you have the fun times to supplement the hours of afterschool do-your-homework times. I'm grateful for the little voice in my head that said... turn off the radio. Last night, it made all the difference.

i'm never watching tv again, again...

"The media can wreak great harm on the family when it offers an inadequate or even distorted vision of life, of the family itself and of religion and morality."-- Pope John Paul II, May 2004

CONFESSION-- My name is Jenifer Moss, and I'm an addict.

In high school health class I heard that some people can be genetic alcoholics... after drinking just one beer they could become hooked. Seriously, this is one of the reasons why I've never tried beer.

I'm an addict personality... obsessive compulsive?... yeah, that's me.

I read books straight through... after the first couple chapters, I can't stop.

I stay up all night to finish a quilt.

I can't pass through the kitchen without eating one piece of chocolate from the leftover Halloween stash.

I go INSANE when my pregnant friends don't find out the sex of their babies.

And, TV is my drug of choice. It helps me to ZONE... I watch TV to numb out my life. Not so good...

My TV addiction ebbs and flows... some months are worse than others. I'm a serious all or nothing kind of girl. Aside from my addiction tendency, I HATE when I'm watching TV and the kids come out of their rooms (most of my addict television happens AFTER bedtime)... I find myself telling them to get in bed quickly because I don't want them to see what I'm watching. I HATE that I make rationalizing excuses for the CRAP I watch. (It's just one lesbian kiss, they are all sleeping around with each other- but most of the show is clean, it's real life, people are like that...) The first time I see a show it shocks me, but after awhile I get numb to the evil... I don't want to be numb.

I stopped watching rated R movies when a friend of mine said, "If you though Silence of the Lambs was a good movie, it's because you are desensitized to the evil that was in it." So true!

You know, there is so much good in the world, so many things that I wish I had time to do and I don't, I can't afford to waste my time watching CRAP semi-sin TV.

And so today I say goodbye... I may never know whether or not McDreamy and Merideth find their happily ever after... I may not know whether The Practice will be saved... Samantha will be forever who?.... It's hard, I may shake all Thursday evening as my addiction eases, but ultimately it is for the best.

Side NOTE-- There are some shows that I still think are pretty cute and clean. (Eli Stone, Pushing Daisies, Dancing with the Stars, and our Sunday favorites-- America's Funniest Home Videos and Extreme Home Makeover)...

Side NOTE 2-- My boys are wrestling/fighting too much these days... it starts out fun and ends in tears... I'm done. I've BANNED all fighting TV/Computer/Gameboy etc. If there is fighting it is out... I feel a bit powerful-- There is so much in life that I can't control, but I CAN control the outside influences of my children when they are in my home.

Side NOTE 3-- This post may seem a bit extreme... don't worry. I get on these kicks every now and then. Remember I told you I'm an addict- all or nothing type. Just because I'm obsessing doesn't mean that I'm judging your TV habits... I have spent many months obsessed with the Bachelor-- in my glass house I'm not throwing any stones...

Tis the season for media cleansing in my home... I'll let you know how we're spending all of our new free-time.

Side NOTE 4-- Yeah, I really am writing this at 3 in the morning... I woke up to feed Lily and got sucked in... I TOLD YOU, I'm an addict.