Snowmageddon 2011 is coming...

Last Monday my dryer went out, thankfully it was drying my last load of laundry for the day, so it wasn't that big of a deal.
Seeing as I only do laundry once a week, I figured I had a week to get it fixed.
We called the repair man and the next day he came out and told us that the heating coil (?) was broken, or something like that, and that they have to order the part from Samsung and then he would be back to fix it. Luckily Samsung had the part we needed instead of having to wait for it back order. Unluckily he is supposed to come back tomorrow to fix it.
And since my laundry day is Monday and we are all almost out of clean clothes, I headed over to my mom's house today to do my laundry.
Which would have been a much better plan if I didn't also have to take Micah to the ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat Dr.) this morning.*
My mom has two washing machines and two dryers. One set was my grandma's. I believe they are older than I am. And they still run great!
Although I wasn't able to get all my laundry done before having to race home to beat my kids home from school. My wonderful Walter offered to switch it out for me so that it could be dry and Mr. Vargas could pick it up later. So a big shout out to My Walter for saving the day and spending his day off helping me with my laundry. Love that man.


OH and in case you haven't heard we are supposed to be getting the worst snow storm ever tonight. It is so bad that even before the first drop of rain/sleet/snow anything ALL the public schools in the area have closed for tomorrow. So tomorrow will be another snow day.  We are going to try and stay warm, you do the same!

*Micah will be getting tubes in both ears on the 11th, and then hopefully he will be able to hear better and also start speaking real English instead of what he speaks now, which is really hard to understand most of the time.







Here is MY grandma's washer...ain't she a beaut!

Day 31

Wrapping up

A couple days ago I posted my "Where I am From" poem and challenged you my readers to join in and do the poem as well.

Thank you to all that did, I hope it did challenge you and make you better writers, not that you really needed it.

Here are the links from the people that posted. Please go visit, read and comment to let them know what a great job they did.

http://bonibunch.blogspot.com/2011/01/where-im-from-i-am-from-whitest-sands.html 
http://www.wearegoingtobelate.com/2011/01/where-im-from-fun-poem.html
http://jennylynnbabington.blogspot.com/2011/01/where-i-am-from.html
http://thatfootballmom.blogspot.com/2011/01/where-i-am-from.html
http://annasjoyblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/where-im-from.html


It's not too late, you can still join and post on the original blog post comments or on this one.

Here is the template again.

Now moving on to this week.
Mine looks busy with Dr.'s Appointments starting the week, and visiting my new niece Ayla ending it, with a the possibility of a few snow days in between.

Stay warm people.

Day 30

Perfect Day

The weather today was my favorite!
It doesn't get much better than this.
This temperature at my home in January. I'll take it!

Day 29

"Where I am From"

“Where I’m From”

I am from a huge willow tree in the backyard with big branches for stretching out on and reading a good book,

From a pink Huffy with streamers flowing from the handlebars and a bent up purple Hula Hoop.

I am from a home with always used things, never new, but with love-so much love.

Crisp, dark mornings; the sound of newspapers hitting porches.

I am from fallen leaves that we raked for a quarter a bag,

The petunias Grandma let me help her plant each spring; I admit I did brag,The sweet smell always brings back memories of being in her arms.

I’m from going to Poppo and Grandma’s house on Sunday afternoons and being stubborn when I know I’m right, from Bell and Siegel.

I’m from the “Everyone is accepted as part of our family” and “With education and hard work you can achieve anything”,From “Rise and shine and give God the glory” and “Children are a blessing and never a curse”.

I’m from loving God first, others second, and myself third. To being the best me, I can be.

I’m from a single Momma who worked too many jobs for not enough pay, so that her four children could go to private schools every day.

This is a poem that I wrote for my Comp I class. I have to be honest with you, when I first saw the assignment I was not happy about it, and while I was doing it, all I could think was how much it was going to suck. But I don't think it turned out too bad. Obviously or I would not post it for all to see.

This assignment was meant to help us to be more descriptive with our writing.

The poem originally came from George Ella Lyon and we were given a template to fill in.

Now here is the challenge for all of my blogger friends out there.

Here is the template, you fill it in with where you are from, and post it on your blog.

If you do this please come back by and leave me a comment with a link to your blog so I can enjoy yours as well.

to see the template and some examples of other people's poems go here

 

 

 

and since I am posting this earlier in the day to give you all a chance to get the assignment done, my P.O.D. is of the little boys eating breakfast, real exciting I know!

Day 28

{Embrace the Camera}

These guys are just too cool in their aviator shades

See me {embracing} the camera in the reflection. That counts right?

Day 27

"What She Wore Wednesday"

A lovely lady who I do not know, but whose blog I follow, does this thing called

"What I Wore Wednesday"

well what I wore today was not interesting in the least so I am shaking it up and doing

"What SHE Wore Wednesday"

Where I feature what my daughter Avrah wore.

And since the sun was out we took advantage of it and had a little photo shoot.

Pink with white polk-a-dot sweater over a cream dress with tulle paired with cream and pink polk-a-dot leggings.

purchased at Target

awesome hair clip made especially for Avrah by Miss Ashlee, you can find more of her work at http://www.etsy.com/shop/tweetbabydesigns

Showing off her "Sock Monkey Shoes"

by Paul Frank

from Target

And that is "What SHE Wore Today".

What did you wear today?

And as promised, today's {Picture of the Day} is not of food.

Day 26



Frustrations and Victory

I'm two weeks into my Comp I class,

 I am really looking forward to seeing my writing evolve, and seeing where it takes me.

But today held quite a bit of frustration, most of it revolved around this class, not the work itself, but the program that I have to use to submit the work and receive assignments hasn't been working properly.

Luckily the Professor is understanding.

Dinner was Crispy Salmon over wilted baby spinach with steamed asparagus

I was so sure that NO ONE would eat dinner let alone like it, but I was wrong!

They all ate the Salmon, not so much the asparagus (even though it was yumm)

4 out of 5 of the kiddos ate their fish with ketchup, gross I know...but when your kids are underweight you let little things like that slide, well at least I do.

I'm not sure why, but it seems like most of my Pictures of the Day are food pictures.

Maybe because it actually will sit still for me.

Tomorrow it will not be food.

Day 25

Laundry Monday

If you haven't read about this morning's workout in my VBF's blog,

then go here and read it. So FUNNY!

I kicked major laundry tail today!

and

Avrah helped me make a kicken' dinner

Stuffed Peppers

They were sooo good.

Day 24

Looking Forward to Monday

While I enjoyed the extra two days with the kiddos, I am beyond happy that they will be going back to school tomorrow.

Today we went to lunch with some of our good friends. They have 6 children plus one on the way. And we of course have 5. When we get together it is always fun and of course loud, and a little bit crazy.

They have a Josiah that is the same age as my Josiah, and of course they are best buds.

But this is a picture him and Lee, who is Judah's age :)

 Future Mr. and Mrs. Baker?

Day 23

I am looking forward to a little down time this week. What are your plans for the week?

Chess and Movies

Today was the annual chess tournament. 

Judah has participated the last three years.

While this is the first year he didn't win any of his five games, he did learn a good life lesson.

If you don't practice don't expect to beat those that have.

Future Chess Champions?

There was a lot of standing around waiting.

Mr. Vargas and I decided to be brave tonight and take ALL five of the kiddos to the movies.

Megamind is playing at the $1 theater (we saw it in 3D so it was $4 each, which is way better then $9.50).

The older kids really enjoyed the movie, but I think that maybe we will wait a little bit longer before taking Hosea and Micah again. They made it about half way through the movie before becoming truly unruly.

Day 22

Sushi!

I am convinced that Mr. Vargas makes the best sushi in town.

From the classic California roll, to his own "American style"

"The Everything Roll"

He does it all, and it is all so delish'

I never want to go out for sushi again!

Day 21

{embraceing} the snowday

It's Thursday which as you may know is {Embrace} the camera

But also today is a snow day, which means everyone gets to lounge around in their pajamas all day.

 I thought I would {embrace} one of my big boys who are usually gone during the day.

So I started off with Josiah.

but those of you with multiple children may know that taking pictures with just one kiddo when the others are around, is nearly impossible.

and then their is the sweetness that is my Micah

and how is this for the P.O.D. (picture of the day)

Day 20

growing up too fast

Last week I took Avrah to the dance shop to buy her some new dance clothes.

When I asked her what kind she wanted, she said black leotard, black tights, and black skirt.

I thought that looked a little too grown up.

We compromised and ended up with a black skirt

and now she wants to be a

Ballet Teacher.

Day 19

Isn't technology grand!

Tonight my sister called me and we were able to facetime.

So I was able to see my new niece in real time.

And of course I had to catch the moment for you guys to share with me..

I'd like to introduce you to Ayla Jewel

Aren't those cheeks scrumptious! I also love that you can see my kids adoring their new cousin.

Ayla with her Dadda. And still her adoring cousins

I'm sorry I just couldn't resist one more.

Oh and because of my sister's awesomeness I get to go out there and kiss those sweet cheeks in February! YEAH!

Today's picture of the day is what I am privileged to see in my rear view mirror most days. Aren't I lucky!

Day 18

ZUMBA Baby!

My school's gym was closed this morning, because of MLK Day. So my VBF and I decided that instead of skipping we would try something else.

We decided to go try out Zumba. We used to do this about a year ago when we both had memberships to the Y.

I have never claimed to be graceful, or to have any rhythm. In fact if someone were to record me doing Zumba and send it to AFV I'm pretty sure it would win.

But we did have fun, and we did have a good workout.

Josiah wasn't feeling too well today, so he was chosen to be my picture of the day model.

Day 17

We Love Qdoba

On Sundays,

I can feed this hungry bunch

For a grand total of $15!

Yes, that includes their parents.

Today's "Picture of the Day" was a close one.

Runner up

Day 16

Silly Girls

Trying to get some good pictures of a "Heart Ladybug" and her friend

proved to be

a little bit harder

then one would have thought.

Silly girls.

Day 15

My Six Favorite People

Day 14

Peasant Beef Casserole Recipe

I suppose it was unfair of me to post pictures of food without telling what it was, so here it is. Hope your family enjoys it as much as mine did.

Peasant Beef Casserole

Ingredients:

2 lbs Beef stew meat, cubed
2 C frozen peas
1 ½ c sliced carrots
2 onions, chopped
¾ cup water
3 tomatoes, chopped
¼ c fresh parsley
Salt & pepper to taste


Preheat oven to 275.
Mix meat, peas, carrots, onions, water, tomatoes, parsley, salt and pepper in a 3-quart casserole dish. Bake, covered tightly for 5 hours.








Super easy, good for you, and best of all YUM!

{embraceing} Judah

{Embracing} the camera

My sister had her baby last night, she had a little girl named Ayla Jewel and she is gorgeous just like her mama. I would love to {embrace} my new niece but since they live in DC I will just have to wait, but while I'm waiting I'm embracing my baby.

He is a big stuff 4th grader and doesn't have much time for mom most days, but yesterday he had a little oral surgery (see the swollen, chapped lips) and I was fortunate enough to be able to take him and spend some time with him.

And then today Josiah and Avrah went over to a friend’s house after school so we were able to hang out just the two of us for a brief moment while the little boys slept and before he talked me into letting one of his friends come over, and then Mama was ignored again.


To read more about my new niece and to see pictures you can go here

And please be sure to go check out what the  {embrace} movement (yes, when there are 75 people linking ahead of me I would call it a movement ;) )  is all about over at Emily's blog.

Day 13

and 5 hours later! YUMM

My Anna Joy

My sister has been in labor all day, and incredibly she has been blogging, while in labor. Talk about SUPER WOMAN! But then again this is the girl that after being hit by a car while running a marathon, she got up and FINISHED the race!
You can go read about it here.

I could not be more proud of my big sister!

Tomorrow I will be able to tell you all about my new niece or nephew.


This is one of my favorite pictures in my house, don't know why but it can always make me smile.

Day 12

Two Things Tuesday

The word for today is unexpected.

1. The first thing that was unexpected was that I ran a mile this morning, we used to do this everymorning, but haven't ran one straight since mid November. I hope to start adding to this soon.

2. The second thing was that I was able to go see my VBF after our morning workout. Her washing machine broke, again. One of the tubes on the inside had come undone and so I went over to her house and helped her fix it, hopefully this time it stays fixed.

3. The third thing was an unexpected trip to Pryor. Mr. Vargas' dad is running for Mayor of Pryor, and we had some signs and t-shirts to take to them. We had a great time. Thanks for all the bananas and cookies MeMaw!

See that third one was unexpected wasn't it?

What are your two or three things?



Day 11