Our Saturday Mornings

I am the new mom in class. I wasn't sure I could take photos (my first day of dance class), so I quickly snapped what I could before I was told to stop. This past weekend was our third venture and all the other moms had cameras and I didn't! LOL! Lesson learned. Emma loves this class, but it is right before lunch. And, well, right after lunch is nap.. as you can see... she is tired! She loves it though. And, yes, Zack is also in dance.. his photos are coming. The class startes with ballet and then tap (hence the tap shoes) there is an upgrade when they are older for "funk".. but my kids do enough funk at home. I thought the ballet and tap would be great. And, so far. They love it.

New things

So, my sister is coming soon and I get to be an Auntie again!! YEAH!! Little man is on his way. He doesn't have a name yet, but they are working on it.. :) So, I had to go shopping. This grab bag here was $10 for the lot.. Did I do well or what?? Yes, the two pink outfits in the back are for Reilly. I was so proud of my $10 stash I had to show what I got for my hard work! Our new couch. I have had my old couch for 10+ yrs. It's hard to believe I bought it when I first made LT and had a little extra money. I was so proud of my couch. Well, it was beige.. and with 4 kids, it was always getting dirty and needing to be washed. So, Larry convinced me it was time! This is the love set, and it matches the very compfy couch.

She's Famous

So, a friend of mine just emailed me. She is now famous!! LOL! She is the super cute blonde with 2 kids in the interview!
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/business&id=7245346

Is it Really Gone??

As of Saturday we cannot find Crinkle. Now, those of you who know Emma, she is beside herself without it. Crinkle is her safety much like Linus had his. I am not sure where it went (we still can't find it) but it's missing. After hours of searching, we finally gave up, and she was exhausted (well past her bed time) so now, she is using a "new" crinkle.. not sure if it is the same, but it works well for her. She will not let me take a photo of it. But, I promise to try and get one.

Award winning??

Well, I entered my 3 year running first place Chili in our hospital competition. Although it got rave reviews, I came in second place by 1 vote :( I got lots of kuddos and mine sold out first. So, that was a win for me! Plus, having switched to turkey and cut back on our red meat, I have to say it did taste divine!!

Why I love Mom!

So.. I have seen this before as I am sure many women have. It is soooo my life.. LOL. I appreciate all those mothers out there who have inspired me and helped me be a better mom.

Mom and Dad were watching TV when Mom said, "I'm tired, and it's getting late. I think I'll go to bed".
She went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for the next day's lunches. Rinsed out the popcorn bowls, took meat out of the freezer for supper the following evening, checked the cereal box levels, filled the sugar container, put spoons and bowls on the table and started the coffee pot for brewing the next morning. She then put some wet clothes in the dryer, put a load of clothes into the washer, ironed a shirt and secured a loose button. She picked up the game pieces left on the table, put the phone back on the charger and put the telephone book into the drawer.. She watered the plants, emptied a wastebasket and hung up a towel to dry..
She yawned and stretched and headed for the bedroom. She stopped by the desk, wrote a note to the teacher, counted out some cash for the field trip, and pulled a text book out from hiding under the chair
She signed a birthday card for a friend, addressed and stamped the envelope and wrote a quick note for the grocery store.. She put both near her purse.
Mom then washed her face with 3 in 1 cleanser, put on her Night solution & age fighting moisturizer, brushed and flossed her teeth and filed her nails..
Dad called out, "I thought you were going to bed."
"I'm on my way," she said
She put some water into the dog's dish then made sure the doors were locked and the patio light was on.
She looked in on each of the kids and pulled up their covers and kissed their foreheads. She hung up a shirt, threw some dirty socks into the hamper, and had a brief conversation with the one up still doing homework. In her own room, she set the alarm; laid out clothing for the next day, straightened up the shoe rack.. She added three things to her 6 most important things to do list. She said her prayers, and visualized the accomplishment of her goals.
About that time, Dad turned off the TV and announced to no one in particular.. "I'm going to bed"
And he did..without another thought.
Anything extraordinary here? Wonder why women live longer...?
Cause they are made for the long haul....(and they can't die sooner, they still have things to do!!!!)

Fantastic Weather

Okay- many in California will disagree with you. We (the Wootten clan) have LOVED the weather the last few days. It has poured, thundered, pelted, soaked, etc. I kind of refer to Forrest Gump- Sideways rain, upside down rain, big rain, little rain, hard rain, soft rain. It has been great. Here are some photos from our house. A great week! How we miss the weather changes! If it rained more like this in California, I would totally want to stay!

The trees blowing in the wind.. up to 35 mph.

The skies behind our house. This is just beyond the horse stables.

The horse stables.. pouring!

New House

Okay- after lots of looking/figuring out and some help from Kristen, I am happy to post some photos of the new house. It is still on base, but we upgraded.. LOL. They are brand new, and bigger. We got rid of so much that I am still amazed at how "full" our garage still is! Gulp!

Kitchen lost lots of counter space by about 4 ft. it's bigger though and all open. One great room with a "dining area" off to the right of the photo..

Big back yard with GRASS!! and sprinklers to water it! :0 The kids have not been able to enjoy it yet with all the wonderful rain and storms we have had! :) But, the stuff is out there!

Boxes, boxes oh my

Nothing like crazy boxes every where. We moved a great deal before the move, but there were a lot of boxes left. So far, I think we are done with most of them.. Now time to organize!

We were told to move all fragile things.. well this was a lot..
my china carefully wrapped
This trailer was awesome! We moved all the outdoor stuff, the extra fridge and freezer.. whew.. we did a lot. The packers were done in 4 hours.. the total move took about 8 hours. with furniture and weighing.

Moving....

Well, I never thought I was a pack rat. But how did we get more stuff.. (oh that's right.. KIDS) When we moved from Philadelphia to 29 Palms, I got rid of a lot, then I had kids. Okay get stuff. But, then we moved here, another massive dump.. Now, we are moving again.. it is amazing to me what we end up saving. Needless to say, we have filled the dumpsters, gone to Good Will and now I am on Camp Pendleton web sales! LOL! I am getting rid of some furniture, nick knacks and kids stuff we don't need!! Ugh. Monday will be here soon enough.. and I am still packing stuff. They are moving us, but the "breakables" we were told to move ourselves.. Between the paint, the kids and the boxes...gulp.. I need a vacation. :) I am taking photos.. but will have better ones of the boxes soon enough! In the mean time, this was to cute to not post.. With painting, rooms being taken apart, and such.. Larry and I are sleeping in different areas every night. Zack and Emma who randomly end up in our bed can't find us. This was Zack this am.. he found Larry on the couch (I had the girls in Emma's bed). This is what met me for my daily walk early in the morning. Neither flinched as I snapped away!

Crazy Boys

These were some photos I took of the boys and they were pretty funny. Toby was doing a monkey, and Zack? He was just being Zack.

Little Miss

Wanted to be like the boys and begged me to do one of her.. This is the only one where her eyes are open. She loves to squint...

Reilly and her Godfather

I need to take more photos next time. This is Reilly's Godfather. He is leaving for deployment and we went and got him for a few days before he needed to report here on Camp Pendleton. It was SOOOOO nice to have him for a few days. He is so funny, great with the kids, a great friend, mentor and a COMPUTER GURU! He hooked up our home server and got us backed up. He was actually the inspiration for me to get better with photography. I wanted this up so his beautiful wife could see them. We got to webcam quite a bit, and it was great getting to talk to her. (we were just there for Thanksgiving!) you'd think it had been forever. But, that is the beauty of great friends. Now, we just have to wait for him to get back for the baptism! :)

A New Year Already?

Well, it is here! WOW! We had lots of changes this last year, I can only hope for as many blessings this upcoming new year. We are in the midst of getting ready to move to a new house. With new Rank, comes a new house. We will be there for only a year and a half, but it is more space, better street, better access to the kids schools, and well, Larry really really wants to move. So, this weekend is boxes, painting, and getting ready to move.. WHEW! It will still be on base, and we are being moved. We are just moving the "important stuff".. ugh! Wish me luck!