Lauren's artwork

On Thursday my grandma watched Lauren for me while I went to the Dr. When I returned Lauren ran up to me as she always does, and she told me that she made me some cards. So I open them one by one, and Lauren explaines what each picture is about. The majority were rainbows and stick people portraits of our family. (very lovely i might add) The last one I opened had me and the kids, but this pic of me was special. I had all kinds of short lines coming off of my legs. Lauren said those are the sticks on my legs that always poke her.

Hooper Birthday Party

Last Saturday was a Hooper birthday party. My uncle Micky turned 50, we also celebrated my aunt Teresa and my uncle Carl's birthday. It was nice to see everyone. My sister and her family, my little brother and my mom all came. I made a crockpot of chili and some sweet cornbread with corn in it. My mom made her special chicken nugget platter, they taste just like chic fillet. Heather brought my favorite, BROWNIES! I was waiting at the door for the brownies. lol Actually, I told her that I would stand at the entrance so she would know where to go, which was a good cover.
It was so nice to talk to everyone, and I wish I was able to see them more often. It is strange to me that the family that got together 4 or 5 times a year, when I was younger, I haven't seen in so long. Seeing the birthday boy is always bittersweet. My uncle looks so much like my dad, that no amount of preparation can prepare me for that first glimps of him. It broke my heart to see him play with Lauren, something my dad never got the chance to do. I know he would have adored the kids.
It is sad to think that my children will not have the HUGE family holidays that we experienced. The Easter egg hunt at my grandparent's house was always amazing. Their lawn was the perfect place for a hunt, there were millions of hidding places. The adults and the older kids would hide a couple laundry baskets full of eggs. Then the hunt was on, when there is that many cousins trying to get the eggs at the same time, it is not always pretty. If I find any old easter pics I will post them.

What a great day!

Today we were scheduled to get up early and go to the park. The early part just didn't work out, but we did make it to the park. I guess everyone had the same idea, because there were lots o' kids! The boys ran around determinded to climb anything that could be climbed, slide each slide, and swing on each swing. Lauren ran around trying hard to keep up with her boys. She and Gavin ran to get a swing and had me push them for a while. They each wanted to "go higher" than the other. Vinnie was in a tire swing. He asked me to push him, so I did, around in a circle. He really seemed to enjoy that, with all the laughing he did! The kids eventually got sweaty and thirsty, and wanted to go to the car. We left the park and were on our way to the local put-put golf establishment. We went in and got our golf balls and clubs. Lauren picked out a purpleish tinted ball, but changed her mind and chose a yellow ball. She was disapointed when she didn't get a pink club. Gavin decided on a red ball and club. Vinnie had a green ball and a black club. Gavin and Vinnie both enjoyed put-put, but Lauren did not. She was sleepy and the game was very slow-going. We quit our game after the 9th hole. I told the boys that next time we would leave the other player with her granny. We then went in to play games, Gavin and I had a heated match of air hockey. Lauren won the jackpot on the Spongebob Squarepants game and got 50 tickets. Vinnie played every shooting game in the joint. He was very excited to shoot the bad guys. Gavin had some luck in the basketball shootout, which suprised me because it was so tall. After all that we went to granny's house to watch a movie that we rented earlier in the day. The kids are tired and I am tired, but what a Great Day!

School's Out

I am so happy that the kids are out for spring break. I do not have any reason to get up, so you can bet I will be sleeping in almost every day. The boys have been counting the days for 2 weeks! We hope to have a lot of fun. They are going to invite their cousin Abby over for a sleep over. They have the days planned, the movies they want to see, a trip to the zoo, and a couple of museums. I may need to send them back to school so I can rest! Wish me luck!

hairstyle 2 cents

My sister is getting her haircut tomorrow. When I talked to her earlier she said she was still undecided on what style she was going to get. She keeps her hair shorter than I keep mine, so I didn't have any ideas about what style she should choose. So I did some research, and I found some styles that I think would be cute on her. She will probabily not see this before she goes, so this is just for fun. I guess I'll see if I get close. These are in order.

Today is my favorite national holiday, National Napping day! This holiday was started in 1999 by a professor at Boston University Mr. William Anthony. Mr. Anthony is the self proclaimed Napmaster General. In celebration of this grand holiday, I took the required nap. After which, I decided to do something special, I would like to share some holiday pics. This pictures are of random holidays and family gatherings, at each I have captured a picture of our Napmaster Anthony. ENJOY!!

New Eye Story

So, as I wrote in my last blog, my eye has been bothering me. The good news is, the swelling has gone down, the bad news is I am still experiencing pain. Thats all I've got for today.

What's up with my eye?

OK so this is kinda gross, but I have faith in you, you can handle it. Last week I was having some allergy problems, lots of sinus pressure and itchy eyes. 'Tis the season. While my head has cleared up, my eyes are still bothering me. I have rubbed them and used eye drops all week. Last night I had a hard time falling asleep due to my eyes hurting so much. So I got up, put hot packs to put on them, this relieved some of the problem. When I woke up this morning I knew before I even opened my eyes that my eyes were swollen. My eyes have hurt all day, I have decided it may be my tear ducts.(?) The swelling has gone down but the pain is still there. Any suggestions?

Tattoo'd Granny

This is kinda backtracking a bit, but I thought it was worth mentioning. I convinced my granny to get a tattoo! "Come on Granny," I said. " All the girls are doing it. Take one for the TEAM!" And I guess you all know the things that we will do when it is FOOTBALL SEASON! BOOMER...

Little Cheerleaders

Lauren and Abby attended a Cheerleading class, which was a fundraiser for the Norman North Cheerleading Squad. The girls enjoyed learning new cheers and a cute dance. The girls got to perform the dance at a basketball game the next week. They both looked so cute out there! Lauren can't wait to do it again!

House Party!!

HOUSEPARTY.COM

Houseparty.com is a website that promotes products by offering its members the opportunity to host a "buzz" party. The host will invite friends and family to the party to introduce the new product. I hosted the Orville Redenbacher and Lipstick Jungle's "Girls night in" party in August of last year. Houseparty.com sent tons of popcorn, tons of makeup, Lipstick Jungle's season premiere dvd and book, and lots of other free products. The girls enjoyed tasting the new flavors of popcorn, my favorite was the black pepper and butter. And the kids enjoyed putting the flavor salts on the plain popcorn. We all enjoyed de-flowering the bar in my new house, fun for all. At the end of the night we raffled off some gift baskets.


Yesterday I was selected as a host for the South Beach house party. I will be hosting it on the 14th of March at 5 o'clock. This party will be promoting their new line of products. I expect house party will hook us up with some cool door prizes and great goodie bags. If you are looking for some healthy lifestyle choices, don't miss this party.

Here are a few pics of the Girls Night In house party:

Something for the teachers to joke about- ME!!!

Friday is going to be a very busy day for us! Gavin, my youngest son is going to be awarded the Star Student award. I am very proud of his accomplishment. And my oldest son, Vinnie is going to have a part in his school's morning program they do every Friday. I am super proud that he volunteered to do this because he has stage fright, just like I do. Of course he brings this up at almost 9:00pm on Thursday night, because he needs a tie. OH GREAT! So I ask to see any paperwork that he has brought home that may clarify what exactly he needs. And it says that he will

"be

participating in a short skit tomorrow at GMT to promote Read Across

America week. He will need to wear a tie and be prepared to tell the name of

one of their parent's favorite books."

So I asked Vinnie what book he was going to say was my favorite, I bet you can guess what he said. I can just see it now, my child standing on the stage in front of 800 kids and ALL those teachers, and ALL those parents, he will say mom's favorite is HOP ON POP! And he wont be lying, my favorite IS hop on pop. ;)

Gavin's Birthday Party

On Sat. we celebrated Gavin's 6th birthday at Perfect Swing. The kids played games while they waited for pizza. After the pizza arrived the kids barely ate, they were so excited to get back to the games. Gavin, Lauren and Abby played in the Kids Climb It for a long time. They chased each other around, jumped in the ball pits and helped each other climb to the highest area. Vinnie decided he was too big for the climbing thing, so he played arcade games while the other kids climbed. Then it was time for cake, and what a cute cake it was! The cake was chocolate, with a monster truck smashing two cars under it. Gavin was very excited about his presents! He got some really cool stuff. After the presents, the kids ran off to play more games. The kids and I were playing a game when some teenage boys came up to us and offered the kids their tickets. They had tons of tickets! I told them thanks and that it was Gavin's birthday, they came back a little while later and gave us more! The kids told them thanks, and then they cashed them in they ended up with 1400 tickets! They split the tickets so each kid got a toy. The girls both got cups with straws and sun glasses, the boys both got guns that shoot out ping pong balls. As fun as the ping pong guns sounded, they were not the best idea. They have both been banished to the garage, because ping pong balls feel worse than I thought they would. I think the kids had a good time, and I hope the grown ups did too. It would have been more fun for the grown ups if the go carts and the bumper boats were operational.