CONGRATULATIONS, GIL & CANDICE!!

Happy Anniversary to CMPJ and Gil. It looks as if it has been a successful 2 years. Gil has become the favorite uncle to all the kids. He makes a wonderful monster!! And Candice, we do so miss you in Utah. You were such a wonderful child to talk with. (We all feel that way.) I hope you are feeling good. This is your real new baby date. I hope we get to meet the little darling soon. We love you both and hope you have a special day.

OUR NIGHT OUT WITH THE YOUNG'UNS

Dad and I went to dinner with 'young'uns' on Sat, 28 Mar in Provo at P.J. Chan with our children's friends! After the 3rd invitation and the insistence of Curtis Beesley, Dad finally said "yes". We had fun. Curtis picked us up in his black truck (it actually needed a bit of a wash - I don't think Elizabeth would have fancied that!) He first stopped off to show us where he worked in Provo. They do cement floors - make them shiny. Here is Curtis with his middle daughter, Meredith. (She is on Face book). Curtis wants Christopher or Steven to call her. She lives in Provo with her Sis, Courtney, who is going to the "Y". Meredith will be graduating very soon from Beauty School. She is adorable - I loved her! She said, "Oh Courtney and I will go on a double date with your grandsons." (I hope it works out.) The other pictures are of Donna Secor who just brought her Son (18) to go to BYU. She lives in Colo. Julie Clawson and Ferron (her husband) will eventually move to CA after their kids finish this year's school. Brad was also there. He treated Dad like they were best friends. This baby sat very close by me at another table. She kept smiling and wanting me to play with her. So we took her picture. It was a fun night. Curtis knows everything. We do like him and his family. Stephanie, his wife, was at a young women's conference with her daughter, Bergen, who is still in high school. Maybe that is why he wanted to take us so badly. He didn't want to drive down there all alone.

CHASE'S BIRTHDAY COMING UP!!!!

To my dear family whom I love very much . . . Chase's birthday is on the 5th of April. He deserves a card from every one of you who are 17 and older!! And all the mom's and dad's need to send one. He is out there doing a great job on his mission and he should get more than a card from his Mom/Dad, and Nana/Bumpa. Let's show some support. Sometimes I feel I have a family of deadheads! Now, stop thinking of yourselves and all your awful problems for a little time and remember Chase on his birthday, which is, next Sunday, Apr. 5th. DO IT TODAY!!!

ELDER CHASE COLE
HOUSTON SOUTH MISSION
4627 AUSTIN, PARKWAY
SUGAR LAND, TX 77479

I posted Daniel's birthday, and no one bothered to tell him Happy Birthday. Shame on all of you!! Put yourself in his place for a moment and think how you would feel if no one bothered to say "Happy Birthday". Yet, you can talk about twittering, and brackets, blankets, and words to songs . . . but, where is the togetherness. We are a family, an eternal family...... where is the passion?
Elder Chase Cole

How tall is your.... blanket?

Jessa has been working on an afghan. For, like, forever.







The blanket is longer than she is. It is 9 feet 10 inches long. It fits across her king size bed perfectly. Or it will, if it ever gets done.


















It won't fit in one frame on the camera!

Tim - You are going DOWN!

Tim - I swear you had inside info when you set up your brackets - but - to my DELIGHT - you are going DOWN after the final four! Oh Yeah, Oh Yeah, Oh Yeah!

VILLANOVA 76 pittsburgh 74!!!!

March 27 HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANIEL - 13!!

Twitter

Ok, what do you all know about Twitter?
Anything?

I know that Pres. Obama does Twitter, but I just don't really get it. How do you find him anyway?

I just read a great article about twitter here:

http://freshpickedwhimsy.typepad.com/fresh_picked_whimsy/2009/03/social-networking-101twitter.html

She talks about the social networking and help to your business that Twitter can do! Are you selling something, a service, or actual items? Do you want more information about your hobby? Maybe Twitter is for you. I will look into it....I have somethings to sell.

By the way, did you know that Bumpa was on FACEBOOK?? He is, well, so am I. I don't really get that either.

Now come on people, if you know something, make a comment! Help a girl out! Do YOU Twitter?

Musical Trivia

What Movie/Musical is "Man of Constant Sorrow" from?

Today Sophia has a high fever, is nauseated, and has aching legs. I drove over to pick her up as Mommy and Daddy had to go to work. So, I have been her Fairy God Mother. I have brought her Cranberry/rasberry juice with ice, rice crackers, (one of her favorites) sliced bananas with a dab of chocolate syrup dribbled in the middle of each slice (I ended up wiping all that off the bananas). I heated her quilt in the dryer then wrapped her in it 'til she was snuggly and warm. I showed her how to swallow one Ibuprofen (she is almost 9) now, after two video's - Cinderella and Spirit - she has slipped off to sleep. I hope she feels better when she wakes up. Now, when she goes home (when her Mommy comes to pick her up) they will be able to take all of hers and Jennas bedding. I brought it all home with me to wash the germs out. (cotton/sturdy) for 55 minutes!

Cast Your Vote!

Candice is 10 days away from her due date. To cast your vote on when you think the baby will be born, you need to go to www.babyteojuarez.blogspot.com The person who gets the closest is the WINNER!

Good Luck! And don't forget to vote . . . it could happen tomorrow!

When Mom is out of the house...

This is AJ:





















Everybody say "Hi, AJ"

When I came home from breakfast today AJ was sitting on the couch and had a screwdriver stuck in his pants:
















I said,"AJ, why do you have a screwdriver stuck in your pants?"

AJ says, "Well, I was bored and so I decided to steal Justin's door."




















And this is the funny part: Mark heard me laughing, came upstairs and asked what was so funny. I told him to go and look at Justin's room. Mark walks down the hall and actually into Justin's room, looks around and says "What?"

"What's missing from this picture," I asked.

"Justin," he says.

"Take two steps backward and look again"

And that's when Mark noticed that the door was gone.

You should really live in my house. It's too much fun.

My Last Open House!

I had Open House last night at my school and it will be my last one for "who knows" how long. Teaching positions are very scarce these days. I was "officially" given a pink slip last month and told my services were no longer needed next year. It said if I wanted a job I would need to "reapply" at the district office. It was also a big milestone for my pregnancy since it was the last big thing I had to do before leaving to have the baby. Friday is my last day altogether! Here are some photos of the night's events.

We started off the evening with a Reader's Theatre of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day! All of my students were in attendance with their parents so my classroom was full. They did a great job and made everyone laugh because of their expression and movement which they added on their own. I thought of Tatia when she did this piece for one of her speech performances when she was a youth!
This is our carpet and reading area. We have Dr. Seuss hats on the wall where we wrote couplets about the foods we would not like to eat - Green Eggs and Ham reference.

We made clay dinosaurs that weren't quit ready, but oh well. We still have to get them fired and glazed and refired. I still thought they were so cute just the way they were so I put them out anyway. They are about to become extinct from the volcano!
These are more dinosaur pictures they drew along with their continent relief maps which you can't really see. Notice the bin labeled "Long Term Sub." It's full of stuff for the rest of the year.
These are our lucky shamrock mobils. If I saw a leprachaun I would. . . If I only had one wish it would be . . . I would be the luckiest person if . . .
Me at the end of the evening standing in front of my door. Gil made that door cover for me last year. It makes me laugh. I'm now done with everything, I can't believe it. Does anyone know of a good book to read??? I need something to do!!!!

Name That Practice! Competition

OK! NCAA Basketball is not the only March Madness going on. To make a long story short (although I know you all love my long stories)Don is parting ways with Mountainland Physical therapy. They are the group he has been contracting with on a per patient basis. Let's just say they put him between a rock and a hard place and he has chosen ...the rock. He is going back into business for himself - the whole caboodle. By May he will be at his new location. So. I am hoping that all the MANY creative people in our family will come up with some really good choices for his new practice name! It'll be more fun than a pie-eating contest but you don't have to throw up afterward!

One more Sophie story!

Sophie has been asked to give a talk in Primary. Unbeknownst to anyone, she started writing it all by herself. This is it:

"My talk is on each family member has a responsibility. I will be talking about my family so I will be saying stuff like well I have three sisters and one brother and a dad and a mom.

first I will be talking about my dad. His responsibility is to go to work, pay the bills and clean the house and also keep the family together but actually that's every ones job.

second I will be talking about my mom. Her responsibility is to take care of the kids make sure no ones crazy but pretty much are family is crazy. She also has to do the laundry, cook the food and clean the house.

third, one of my sisters is Haley. Her responsibility is to go to collage and help my mom do every thing.

Forth, another one of my sisters is Allysa. Her responsibility is to play soccer and do track. Play the piano and clean the pee stains off the carpet from my dog (dirt devil)."

We really laughed hard at her perceptions of the family roles. All the spelling is hers (so don't try correcting me!) and she is obviously not done. We can't wait to hear about Daniel, Jenna and herself!

This is my Life!

I was sick on tuesday. Jenna got sick (flu) on Thursday - had to stay home from work. Friday, Sophia was the lead in her 3rd grade play! Called "Rumpus in the Rainforest", she played a frog who desperately wanted to get a peek at the sky and so she asked all the different animals if they could help her. They all said no. She finally realized that she had been focusing on her own problems and had forgotten all about her friend the toucan, who was hurt. She decided to forget about herself and help her friend instead. As a result, the toucan was healed and carried her up to the sky!

Friday afternoon, Allysa had her first track meet. She had not yet run a full 300m hurdle. I was scared to death. I think I started to cry as she went over the first hurdle, praying that she wouldn't fall and kill her knee forever. Then I realized she was ahead of everyone! The last two hurdles, her form was terrible but SHE WON THE RACE! Then I put my hands over my face and REALLY cried. I hadn't realized I was that stressed over it! A little later, Lys ran the anchor leg of the 4x400 relay...and they won that race too! Yippee!

Sat - worked 8:30 - 4:00. yuk. Then I met all 4 of my girls plus Teenie (she might as well be one of my girls) to shop for Allysa's prom dress. Found a Beautiful dress! Lys wasn't sure she wanted to part with that much money...(she's a tightwad) but she finally went for it! (she had to pay half) After prom, we will dye it white and it will be her wedding dress! Not really. In my dreams.

Sunday, Mom and Dad came to my ward to hear my ward choir sing. I must say they are magnificent! I LOVE this calling. I love choosing beautiful arrangments and songs and interpreting them. We had 24 people in the choir on Sunday. They think I am terrific! Then off to a GREAT Sunday dinner...roast chicken, potes, gravy, asparagus, carrots, yummy salad, strawberries...perfect.

Monday - Jenna, Sophie, AND Haley all are sick sick sick with the flu. In 18 years as a mother, I have never had 3 children down at the exact same time with the flu. yuk. Plus, I had to do all the laundry today.

Tuesday - I signed up with ESPN for March Madness! Now, I will have to get the rest of the family signed up, too!
Here are pictures of Sophie's play.

sophie & Jenna after the play
Sophie in rumpus in the Rainforest
She is about to be squeezed by the "boa" constrictors
Joyful Face
Wishing she could see the sky

It's not too late!

It's time too start filling out your brackets! I know the Hansens are doing it on paper, they should also be doing electronically! It's not too late to join the tournament. Look at the post below to find out how.

Nana has even decided to do it!

Almost all of the Cole's are in (some with some clever team names). Where are more Glenns? Paynes? Juarez's? Hansens?

Nonrepresentational Abstract Art

Well, apparently I am feeling better. How can you tell? I have been painting!!!

Today I made this:



I haven't named it yet. Any suggestions?











I also painted this one today:








Title:
Wholly Yours






Now really this isn't anything. But it is based on a photograph of a sunset over a lake. Here is the original--just for comparison:















I am very, very happy today!!

ESPN it is

It looks like ESPN is going to be the easiest, so that's what we'll do.

The group is called "Payne Family Brackets"

The game is called Tournament Challenge at espn.com. Here is a link.

Just go there and click on "create entry" and then after you do that you'll want to join our group. It will ask you for a password which is Nana's first and "middle" name, lower case, all one word.

Hopefully that's clear, if not just email me and I'll give you the password in an email.

STEVEN, HOW ABOUT HERE

For getting straight a's. You could take your Mom, and I would take my Sugar Daddy. We would have a great time and you could show us all around.

Here's Your Prize, Candice!

Remember when Candice made every Oscar pick PERFECT??

Well, here is her homemade prize. Not quite big enough for Candice, but it is big enough for her baby. Enjoy!

Can I get a little feedback?

I'm about to create a group for us to fill out NCAA tournament brackets, but I wanted to check first to see if anyone has any preferences for a specific website. There are a couple of sites to choose from, and I wanted to make it is as easy as possible for everyone to play.

I was going to set up a group on Yahoo but ESPN, Foxsports, and some others have similar "fantasy" games as well.

Does anyone have a preference?

Do most of us have a Yahoo account?

Re: CHASES'S PICTURES!!

I looked at all of Chases pictures. And his videos. It was so fun to hear his voice and see the many different pictures. I think I liked this pic the best. So this is what happens to the clothes we send away to the underpriveleged! He is a typical missionary/and also the BEST!

Mmmmm Mmmmm

This was my dinner tonight.

A NEW SWING

While we were in Hawaii, our wonderful "fixit" man came to our backyard and put up a swing. Jenna and Sophia just found it last night when they came to have a sleepover. When they woke up this morning they scurried out side to have a swing. So I hurried out after them to take some pictures. YIPPEE the kids now have a swing at Bumpa's house!!