Monday, March 30, 2009

Music for Monday

This is what I heard on the way to the grocery store. What a treat!
I love this song! It reminds me, once again, of my parents partying at the beach when I was little...
and of Lyla and me drinking red wine listening to her daddy's albums!!
Did any of y'all ever watch old movies on TBS when you were little?
There was one called, "how to stuff a w!ld bikini" and stevie wonder was in it as a kid or teenager?!

The baby bump!

Okay, the bump this time is really big.
Andy says that it is the biggest one yet...
ughh...
Victor is in such a mama's boy stage he and wants to be carried all the time...by ME!
This equals..back pain. But he is sort of irresistable, and he knows that i won't say no.
Here is the picture:

Here is another picture of Victor in his big boy bed.
We put the crib in the attic for a while.
This bed was my mama's when she was a little girl! She slept in this bed in her mama and daddy's bedroom. :) We had to have the mattress made and Andy's mama had to make sheets for it--which were made for Elena so they are a bit girlie. Who cares?
V. was so excited that his face lit up like a Christmas tree! He immediately wanted to play cars in the bed, all while snuggling My-My(his elephant) and drinking a hot milk bottle. So sweet!


In every picture I take of V. he is saying, "mama, i wa see" He wants to see the picture he is in --so he cannot sit still to get his picture taken.

Here is Elena with the Turtle that was in our yard Sunday.
She will pick up any bug or lizard or worm or anything...which makes playing in the yard really fun.

Of course she wanted to hold it like a baby, upside down, and feed it leaves.
So cute!

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Has it occurred

to anyone else out there that juices that say they have 50% less of everything (sugar/calories) are just watered down juice?
Do those commercials bug y'all too?
The one I just saw was Cutie pie Kyr@ sedgewhatever dancing around in her kitchen, with her cutie pie shoes on and her size 0 jeans.
She was like that, of course, b/c she drinks 50% less concentrated juice.
But if she is smart she also just buys regular juice, and if she wants it to have 50%less she just puts four oz. instead of 8 and puts the rest water, no?

Do these commercials bug y'all too? Do y'all water down juice?

Friday, March 27, 2009

varias cosas del viernes

gallery of....
STRETCHMARKS!!! ughh.
That is what just came up when I g00gled 23 wks. Pr3gnant.
Who in the world wants to look at that?
Who is the world could resist? Not me. :)
It was just as terrible as I imagined.

on Fr0g and to@d. E. and I read andy's old book tonight before she went to bed.
I just love fr0g and to@d.
I can still remember a girl on the bus reading me the ice cream story out of her reading book when I was little--I would have to have been in Kindergarten.
It's the one where to@d goes to get them some ice cream and it melts all over him and he begins to look like a monster...very funny.

15 lbs. gained so far --my goal was to gain only 20 the whole time.
Well, I have 17 weeks to go and a five lb. leeway. anyone who reads this, and knows me, knows that i am an eater, not a starver...so I think I am going to have to bump it up a bit.
ughhh...

The rain today was sooooo pretty here. It was the gentle spring kind that falls straight down and looks like a shower.
I was having my workday at school and i was the only one in my room, so it was nice to just do m3dicaid billing and listen to the rain.

bueno--that's all folks!
hope you had a good week. :)

Wednesday, March 25, 2009





We had a great party day today! Capturing the pre-school class as guests was super-easy. Last night the cake turned out beautifully, and it was good too. :)
E. got a big purple Barbie bike for her birthday--it is the big one y'all. I would have sworn it would be too big, but no. She can ride it! She is growing like a weed!
Now after all that picn!king and all this partying I am tired...so it's off to read some for me.
E. is sleeping with us tonight....as a birthday treat--and so I can hold her all I want to. :)

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Four years ago today...



I was almost in labor with E. Vamos if there is such a thing as almost in labor. :)
My doctor's appt that morning resulted in me having my "membranes stripp3d" and taking castor oil--2oz with 7up and some Easter cookies--Then, I went shopping, as I shopped I took detours into the bathrooms--castor oil, folks.
I bought a cute little Gue$$ outfit from Ro$$ for a girl (I did not know she was a girl, but I wanted her to be). :)
So, I hung out all day in la la land...in that 40 wks pregnant sorta way.
Then Andy came home from work and we ordered pizza. Boy, was her nervous!
We watched basketball (UNC won the NCAA title that year) and I wondered the whole time whether I was in labor or not...I was having contractions.
We sat and sat.
At about 10 oclock I knew I was in labor because I got scared--in the animal instinct sorta way.
Sooooo....we went to the hospital.
Things that amazed me that day:
How happy a person can feel who knows there is impending pain, major PAIN!! I was truly blissful. :)
How reliant I was on Andy to be my rock and to help me not be scared--and how good he was at it.
How WONDERFUL nurses are!!! God Bless them all!!

E. was born the next day-after two and a half long hours of pushing and not one drop of any pain medication at all. :)

The foto is of her when she was about nine months old.
We'll see how it turns out I rerieved it from w@lgr33ns.
Our newborn ones are not on this computer.

What a special day! Today, four years later, we are going to make a beautiful "princess nay nays cake" It is in the shape of a butterfly, it will have care bear candies and purple sprinkles on it.

Monday, March 23, 2009

corazon



Here is another attempt to post this video.
I will explain later...V. wants to watch "cas"

Let's see if this works...y'all watch it now...it is good!

Update:
Explanation: This song is about a heart. "This is the story of a heart.."
The woman who sings in the song is named Elena and she is famous in Spain? I guess?
Jarabe de P@lo songs...I have put those up here before...but I love this one.
It is a fun one to holler sing while I am driving.
The clapping etc. in this song is really good to me...It is Sevillana music. :)
Hola Isabel y David, aun estais leyendo?

bueno..Andy has to use the computer.
:)

"case of the mondays"

I just published this with just a title! :)
I guess I am a bit more spacey than I thought I would be.
There will be pictures on the blog again soon...this is a promise.
Mixed media is always nice.
The other day I was going to put up a song, but you!bu3 would not do right.
This weekend was nice.
We played and played.
Saturday we went to TWO birthday parties.
Both were great.
AT one my cousin dressed up like Barn3y! It was completely cute.
He was a good sport, and his two year old little boy was in love--so was E!
She was mesmerized.
Then we went to an oasis in the swamp called, "deadwood"
I guess someone wanted to recreate the wild west in the middle of no where.
It is the coolest place! There is a giant playground, putt-putt, a small rollercoaster, a train to ride, a giant fake waterfountain with the bluest water you have ever seen (hmm hmm??).
Kids LOVE IT! Victor was thrilled to ride on a train. :)
It was also a totally laid back place. The people who own it have basically no rules as far as what you can bring/can't bring etc. You can go out there and grill all your own food, bring all your own drinks etc.-even though they sell that stuff there.
We had the best time...so that was a really good birthday party idea, that I will have to remember. :)
Sunday we hung out at Andy's mama's house b/c his sister and her little boy were in town for a couple days.
B. and the V man are the same age, so they have fun playing beside one another.

I guess that is all for now....just ramblin!

Oh the title of this is from the movie Off!ce sp@ce. If you have never seen this movie, you need to see it! This is probably my funniest movie. :)

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Yippie

Today instead of my usual seeing children for therapy all day, I got to go to a class! :)
This is actually a good one.
Also, I get to have a lunch break--the real kind. So instead of staring at the beige cinder blocks while I went into a trance and ate a hot p0cket, I got to go to Elena's preschool and see her, and then we went to the library and checked out her artwork that is on display there. While I was at the library I checked out another B. K!ngs0lver book. This is so exciting.
I just don't want to read it too fast. :)
The other book I just finished was sooooo....hmm...well, it was nice for putting me to sleep at night, after three pages.
There were tropical drinks and sand on the cover, so I thought..hey a book about a vacation, why not? --plus my sister sent it to me. :)

pues, Andy is watching basketball. I will always equate March madness with having a baby, since I had two right in the middle of the madness.
Elena started t-ball tonight. When she and Andy got home she was sooo excited! He said they just divided into little groups and ran around and practiced throwing the ball some.
This chica has no knowledge of such things, as I was never involved in a team sport, besides the years I sat the bench on the volleyball team so that I could at least appear to be involved on paper when I applied to college. I always thought it was nuts that people would dive knees first onto the floor after a ball...AND my arms were too weak to overhand serve the ball. (pitiful, no?) I always thought, as a I sat the bench, how nice it would be to be a professional bench sitter--like for the NBA or something and get all that money for just sitting there. HA! I would be good at it. I was a good bench sitter.

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Sweet

The other day I was driving home and I was thinking about how it seems like women have this burden of being the thoughtful ones. Almost every woman I know spends a good amount of her time/organizational skills/money being "thoughtful." They keep calendars of every birthday in the family, they keep card organizers, they really ponder if gifts they buy are "good enough" for whatever occasion.
I have almost made a complete decision not to participate. I do not have this calendar. In any given year if I decide to send a card--I will. If I see something cool for someone, I will buy it, if I have some money. This rebellion has filled me with guilt at times. My sister in law--the perfect, thoughtful woman. This has made me feel guilty.
Half the people we do all this stuff for happen to be men. Fathers, brothers, sons, boyfriends, guy friends..grandfathers etc....on and on.
I have never, and I really mean never, known a man who was "thoughtful." This does not mean that they do not love people. I know the men who love me love me. My daddy has always taken the best care of all of our family, Andy is the best friend and husband I could have ever wished to marry and I know he loves me. BUT no men that I know keep lists of birthdays. They do not buy cards. (Andy buys me gifts for certain occasions--but he does not extend formal "thoughtful" gestures to others).
I actually thought, "I bet my Daddy could not tell anyone any of our birthdays"
This does not make me have a chip on my shoulder, I have just decided to handle my thoughtfulness the manly way. I am not going to send out cards, unless I want to. If I want to buy you a $100 dollar scarf one year and forget your birthday for five, well I will. :) I might have a lot of other things going on...

Part II: Sunday my Daddy came over un-announced. I was taking a nap. He came and sat in the recliner and talked to Andy and watched the babies play and they watched "b0b the builder". When it was over Victor wanted to see it some more and Andy had to explain that there was no more, the show was over.

Part III: Monday night my Daddy showed up to Victor's party and he had a wrapped present --which I just knew that my mama had bought before and sent him over here with--It was a b0b the builder DVD.

Andy: Susan, your dad did that. You know that right? He went out and bought that Sunday after he was here.
Susan: Andy, do you really think that? My Daddy has never done that...Who do you think wrapped it? Mama is gone...

Later, my mama told me that my Daddy had indeed gone out and bought that DVD for Victor and he called her at the cottage to ask her where the wrapping paper was so he could wrap it.

Sweet.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Every morning

At my school children from a different Kindergarten or First grade class sing the national anthem over the intercom.
It is hilarious! There is always one child who is the star--b/c he or she sings the loudest--whether on key or not, vamos.
It comes over the intercom LOUD--so you can put that last bit of coffee down...b/c if you aren't awake after this song--you are in a fog for the day.
They also don't know the words, and they cannot read the words--they would not understand them anyway, so they just sing whatever..."and a big happy meal, would beeee sooooo gooooodddd" --really, I child said this one day. They just say whatever to the tune of the song, "Oh say ayy sweet pea, by the don's early night" etc.
you get the idea, no?
CUTE--and if that will not make even a grumpy old man smile--nothing could.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

cozier than cozy

This day has been so rainy and cozy.
Victor has a fever and we have been hanging our around the house.
Elena and I made his birthday cake for tomorrow night--which will have "cas" decorations of course.
We are also making french onion soup from scratch --which is fun. I have been craving this--Maybe b/c of the rain?
:)
YUM!
Grandma Eva turned 96 today. I always think...96 years ago today G-ma Eva's mama pushed her out...
Two years ago today I was super-ready to push Victor out! :)
Tomorrow he will be two.
:)
Actually--Two years ago on this day I was in labor--just walking around having contractions cleaning up stuff etc. Andy put a Dora car together for E. for her birthday and we went to the Dr. that night...so he was well on his way. It rained so hard that night!!! Like it is today. :)

i am off to watch a cake cool.
There was a video I wanted to put up here and youtu#e is acting funny.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

on the box

soapbox alert:
on the news tonight:
"Obama is ordering a restructering of the FDA b/c of concerns over food safety"
I put that in quotes, eventhough the news really only said something like that, not exactly that.
Well, all I could think was, "it's about fuck!ng time. :)
Everytime I hear about the salmonella peanuts, all I can think is...how did a sh!t born (originated) bacteria end up in the peanuts in the first place? peanuts don't sh!t.????
When I read books like the little gem bethany sent over, all I can think is...why in the hell are we eating cow meat that has been pumped full of so many antibiotics, not to mention chicken blood or cow blood (for protein--gotta gettum fat quick for all of us fat-asses who want cheap steak in abundance at the wal-hell)? Have y'all seen on the news the ones that are falling over and look pitiful? WEll, if those can manage to be shoved up--we eat em...yep...it's true....yuck, no? Have you ever wondered why they are doing all that falling over?

Now, do you reckon this re-structured FDA is going to look into any of these absolute abominations?? Or are they just going to pay "scientists" a bunch of money to sit around at tables and make comittees??? hmmm..I hope they get into the nitty gritty of the food that is shitty! (We've been doing lots of rhyming around here lately.

Also thanks to bethany (she sent me the info):
The O man is re-instituting some council on women and girls...good job, I say...whatever that might get done (which might actually be something considered the o man is pretty serious about his womAn and his daughters) I think Tim Mcgraw should be on it...he seems to be a feminist dad every time i hear him in interviews--which is not often. and they could put faith hill up there to cuss at evil doers (did y'all hear the whole "get off his B@lls" outburst at a concert? FUNNY!

Now you might think, if you did not know me, that I am about three beers over the limit..the way I ramble and cuss, but no (I am pregnant), I am just lacking some good quality adult interactions.
Now, I will very carefully step off the soapbox and put it away for another time.

**yes i use foul language** my sweet heart born-with-the-conscience-of-a-nun (think mother theresa here, not the child beating kind) daughter is trying to train me not to do it. I am trying to train her to be at least a little tolerant of the ones that are not terrible. andy does not let me do any real cussing around her --he is smart. Parents who cuss have kids who cuss I suppose.
She tells me, "mama, that is not a word for us, say, 'goodness gracious' mama"
So sweet, no?

That's all folks--off to the cama.

Friday, March 13, 2009

The Friday Evening Post

Bullets, I have no editor.
**I had my second ugly A** shirt offense this week.
*Victor stayed awake, and so did I one night this week. :)He knocked on the head board of the bed. Explained everything he knows how to explain. Laughed. Asked for drink. On and on...until he drifted off, at 5 AM. He looked so precious sleeping his baby sleep when I woke up at six thirty to get ready for work. :)
**apparently the shirts I am wearing look like "moo moos" to andy. That is what he called today's choice. HA! I really don't care. They are clean and soft--and they were free (did I mention the sanford and son gene?).
*We had a two hour staff meeting on Monday with three fluff activities.--Three--That is two too many, folks. One fluff activity is all that should be allowed at any mass meeting. When it was five til five and there were ten ladies playing family feud...well, let's just say I was about to pull my d@mn hair out.
**Elena is getting into telling knock knock jokes, and she knows how to tell one--the formula..she just does not know about funny. to her they are all funny--any one she can make up. it is sooooo cute. She and andy are knock knock buddies.
*I think I might be understanding a mother/son connection. I am a sucker for anything Victor does, in a way that leaves me unable to discipline him or say "no" to him, (sort of like how andy is with nay nays). So much for not believing in all that...life sure does have its lessons to teach, no?

Those are all the highlights of the week. :)
Tomorrow I am off for a morning to myself to buy my babes a couple presents. Victor is getting a Mack truck from the movie c@rs. he loves that movie--in the repetitive two year old way. we watch the movie and the songs from it over and over. Of course I think it is the cutest thing ever and i just watch it over and over. :)
elena is getting a new cash register with working buttons--the one we have is old and it was free from somewhere, and she is into cash registers whenever we see them at the store or at other people's houses.
bueno--
I am rambling, i am tired. :)
Melissa...invite me to read your blog...puleeeeze! :)
What a surprise when I went to check it this morning and it was invite only.!!

have a great weekend!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

The weekend & today





Here are some fotos of our weekend that included a trip to the airport (we have on here! :) ), a trip to L0we's --which I LOVE that place, and lots of planting stuff.
:)
The shadow one is of Victor's hand. He said, "bye bye ai pane" Caroline got to fly an airplane Saturday b/c she works hard and completed a project in school. Cool incentive to work hard.
Elena helped me plant seeds, and then she talked baby talk to them--b/c I told they were fragile, and that they were going to grow into teeny baby plants first.
She ran around all afternoon with her shirt off to soak up the vitamin D. :)

Today: We just got an invitation from Camelia to eat Tacos tonight. :)YUM! I think it is cool she invited us to dine...instead of just taking food y running. ;).
Sweet.
Also: We have news that Andy's cousin's new wife just had a baby and they named her Eva..hmm hmm. Now, this is a person we never see. I saw him ..let's see...two years ago at Thanksgiving.
So, we are keeping our name! :)


Buenos, pues, bye! :)

Sunday, March 8, 2009

international day of the woman? women's day?

If you check out the blog in Spanish, and Maryellen's blog you can see that all around the world women are celebrated on this day.
Interesting.
I have a constant rhetorical conversation with myself about how women are treated. Not me. Not necessarily in the U.S., but in the U.S. also.
I wonder what we would all do here if militants took over.
Obligated girls to stay home from school.
Made all women walk around wearing tarps with a mesh screen to see through so we could do errands.
Refused to let us become physicians, or be treated by them.
Would we allow ourselves to be obligated?
Would the men in our lives now allow this type of change for us? for our daughters?
Would we allow institutionalized sexism disguised by the oh so classic, "will of god"?
hmmm....
As my fellow blogger pointed out, Are the women who are infected with HIV and are digging through trash piles to find food that is not that rotten --for the husbands and children, are they celebrating this day?
Are the little girls who live in cages and are forced to get F^cked so their dad can have money to buy some liquor, do their moms celebrate this day? will they ever?
hmmm....
Until all humans with vaginas can celebrate this day, I don't think I'll be celebrating much.
Crying is more like it. I do not consider myself to be a militant feminist...I teeter-totter between hopeless and hopeful.

Friday, March 6, 2009

an ode to Tamales...

When I was driving out of the school parking lot today I thought to myself, "I sure wish Camelia would have some tamales today.."
When Andy walked in from getting the kids, what did he say? "Camelia sent Tamales!"
OMG y'all.
Tamales are just soooo good.
It is such a nice Friday treat to have something so yummy waiting.
They are kind of like a pouch of yummy spicey meat wrapped up in dough that made out of cornmeal and is the same consistency as a cornmeal dumpling that people put in collards...(Morgan, this is something you would find out how to cook) There are red ones and green ones. They have pork in them when this particular tamale lady makes them, vamos.
I have never had one in a Mexican restaurant, so I am not sure if they exist there.
People have always just made them and given them to me. :)
Thank God they think I am worthy of their tamales b/c I sure love them.
Andy loves them just as much as me. :) My mama does too.
We took them to a party once...all the people there loved them.
I think this Tamale lady should set up a cart somewhere...
:)
I just scarfed down two of them--boom--with a big ole glass of ginger ale.
Eva (the fetus) loves spicey stuff, so she is probably happy in there.
:)
Enough about Tamales...I am off to comfort Elena who either was pushed off the swing, or wants a friend to come play...she can't make up her mind.

Birthday parties

This is something I was just not cut out for.
Both of my children have birthdays in one month, along with a niece, and my friend's child.
I don't have to plan but two of the parties.
Nervous breakdown.
I called my mama crying this morning already.
I hate birthday parties (planning them).
Grinch?
Where is Morgan--or some inspiration when I need it?
Inspiration came.
"Don't have one. That is the craziest mess in the world anyway. I have never had but one birthday party in my life. He is two. He does not care. Make a cake, sing to him and let him open a present at suppa, and forget it."
Problem solved, Problem solved.
My daddy chimed in in the background, "I never had a birthday party, and I turned out just fine."
Of course they also all slept in one room in the winter time, and reportedly put cardboard in their shoes when they were holey. ;).
At any rate.
My inspiration is this, Keep it simple.
I loved Bethany's birthday party post b/c it was about a party at chuck e cheese with ONLY IMMEDIATE FAMILY THERE. :)
Great idea.
It seems like we have created a beast with the birthday party thing.
People drive to Greenville with three year-olds and rent out places etc.
I cannot compete--so I will drop out of the running. :)

Happy Friday.
If I get through today without crying in front of someone--oh wait, I already did that--
Shoot...

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Busy night!

Wow, when I logged in I checked out my blog bar and it looks like we are all doing some bloggin tonight, chicas! :)
Yay! but due to my having to do things in a particular order...hmm hmm, I will add my juicy tid-bit, and THEN I will relax and enjoy the ones y'all have added.
Work first, then relax, no?
First a picture:



This was taken this morning. This is what Elena and Victor did--no posing, here, promise. Elena had just gotten out of bed, and after the V man checked out the affection sharing you know he had to have a piece of that. :) He has a temper but he is extremely affectionate. He even winks at little old ladies! HA! When he has not seen me all day, he winks at me. swoon...

Here is a quote from the poisonwood bible, by good ole B. Kingsolver. When I read the book I folded this page down b/c I really liked this passage:
"But the last one: the baby who trails her scent like a flag of surrender through your life when there will be no more coming after--oh, that's love by a different name. She is the babe you hold in your arms for an housr after she's gone to sleep. If you put her down in the crib, she might wake up changed and fly away. So instead you rock by the window, drinking the light from her skin, breathing her exhaled dreams. Your heart bays to the double crescent moons of closed lashed on her cheeks. She's the one you can't put down."

I just love the way that B. Kingsolver writes. It is just beautiful. :)

Okay, I would write a thankful thursday post...but it's not thursday yet, huH?
I earned my salary today, folks, and I am tired.
So, here's to enjoying the posts of others, and journeying to Whitney's world. :)

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Cozy Day

I think this is going to be the coziest day so far in our house.
It is raining like crazy and it is dark outside and it is cold.
We are just going to stay here all day. :)
Cozy.
Victor is taking a monster nap.
Elena and Andy are eating Wendy's food.
I am listening to the rain.

Last night Andy and I watched the netflix movie I got about 2 months ago and have avoided watching b/c I knew it would put me into the throws of contemplation.
It is called, "Born into Br0thels".
It is a documentary, and it ended up being not as depressing as I thought b/c instead of dwelling on the fact that these children were born into terrible circumstances the lady doing her research or whatever tried to help the children.
The children took a photography class with her and she tried to figure out the Indian beauracracy to get them into schools etc.
That part was good. Seeing how people, "live in complete filth worse than animals" (this is how one of the children described it) as evidence he photographed some nasty old shoes lying beside the pile of dishes to be washed--this was truly depressing and really hard to understand.
It was heartbreaking. Soooo....anyway...you can imagine the hell i caught from Andy about this choice. :) --we have TOTALLY different movie taste.
:) One time I ACCIDENTALLY picked out a soviet produced movie about Cuba from the 70s or so...--Yikes! We just cut it off. ;)--but you never know until you try.
We take turns with netfl!x.
This is the last depressing one I will get. I think we will get nem0 next.

Have a great cozy day! Bethany, I think y'all are going to get some ice or snow there...

Spot on!

Spot is our family's chihuahua.  He is what we call, "an evil dictator/stuffed animal come to life".  Sometimes, after he has ...