MOCHA MORNINGS

i 'm not much of a bird watcher, but this little guy caught my eye yesterday morning as I was walking through the dining room. just one day after yet another snow day, the sun was shining, the temps were already on the rise and this little tweeter was soaking it all up. Texas, you gotta love it here!

...or maybe not. a bove is a picture i took Sunday. the first signs of spring. the weather was wonderful. it almost got up to 80 degrees that day. we went for a walk after church, the kids played football in the yard. we went out for ice cream. it really felt like spring was just right around the corner... b elow is a picture i took just a few minutes ago. just two days after our summer-like day. and yes, that is snow on the shurbs and the temp is 38 degrees. seriously??

s orry dear body for cheating on you this weekend. i know you must be in shock after eating cici's pizza for lunch yesterday, and then drinking that regular coke from sonic yesterday afternoon, the honey chicken biscuit from whataburger for breakfast/lunch today and then the sweet tea and piece of chocolate cake for a 11:30 p.m. snack. this has been one crazy weekend and i know i have failed you. don't worry, we will be back on track as of tomorrow, but in the meantime i just wanted to say...I'M SORRY! (but oh, it was all so GOOD!)

l unch was delicious...a nice hot bowl of select harvest soup with only 60 calories per serving. b ut oh how i would love to sink my teeth into a double cheeseburger loaded with everything, an order of fries and a large coke...regular, not diet. i did sneak a donut hole this morning, out of little j axon's bag and the guilt from that has overpowered me, so i can only imagine what a double cheeseburger would do to my soul! therefore, for my own good, i think i will stick to select harvest.

17 February 2010 Ash Wednesday 1st day of lent As of today I am quiting facebook during Lent to strengthen my relationship with God. What an awesome feeling. During this time I am going to focus on my scripture reading, which I have been slacking on,digging into our daily devotional book, "Cultivating Fruitfulness" that our church is starting on Sunday, and finishing the book "Taking Care of the ME in Mommy" by Lisa Whelchel (Blair from The Facts Of Life). Farewell Facebook...see you after Easter!

s o, this is the board that hangs in our kitchen that displays the kids chore charts and our house rules. i walked by it today and realized for the first time, in well over a month, that i have not been changing the date. i pass by this every day, how have i not noticed this? are things really that hectic around here? another question...i wonder if chores have been done since january 13th? probably not!

t here are only a few more hours left in this 14th day of febuary, and i really hate to see it go. this special day of celebrating love is one of my favorite days of the year. so, in honor of st. valentine's day i researched some interesting facts about the most romantic day of the year and thought i would share. The name Valentine comes from the Latin word valor, meaning worthy. St. Valentine's Day was declared an official holiday in 1537 when England's King Henry VIII declared it for the first time. Conversation Hearts: In 1866, candy manufacturer NECCO made the first "Conversation Hearts" — then called "Motto Hearts." According to NECCO, eight billion of these little candies are sold between January 1 and February 14. About 1 billion Valentine's Day cards are exchanged each year. 110 million roses, the majority red, will be sold and delivered within a three-day time period. In the United States, 64 percent of men do not make plans in advance for a

i love snow. i love memories as a child of playing in the snow with my two cousins. building snowmen, making snow angels and having snow ball fights. i remember my grandmother making snow cream and me just eating snow right out of a tupperware bowl with a spoon while sitting in front of the t.v. when we moved from kentucky to texas in 2007 i had accepted the fact that we wouldn't get to experience those fun-filled winters and our children would grow up being one of those kids who had never seen snow. well, yesterday the unexpected happened and God dropped a little bit of wonderland in our yard.....actually about 6 inches of it. snow days are the best days of the year. it provides endless hours of free entertainment for the kids and to me, there is nothing better than being warm and cozy and stuck in the house with the ones that i love the most. thank you God for these special days. my cup is overflowing.

c hristmas has come and gone, the new year has begun, i have lost a total of 17 pounds since the january 4th, we celebrated martin luther king's birthday, the saints won the super bowl and valentine's day is on sunday, and we have yet to hook up guitar hero that the kids got from santa and the wireless printer/copier/scanner that my husband gave me, still sits in it's box, stacked on top of guitar hero. a bove that sits my new lap top box along with the wii. i don't even notice them being there anymore until people come over and comment on how we still haven't hooked them up and want to know why. t he kids don't even ask to play guitar hero anymore, as i suppose they have given up any kind of hope that it will ever find its way out of the box. t herefore, i am sending this blog out in the void in hopes that if an electronic fairy exists he will lend us a helping hand.

" i love you through and through... yesterday, today and tomorrow, too." this is one of jaxon's favorite stories to read and one of my favorite to read to him. with valentine's day quickly approaching i found several different ways to say that one simple message that everyone longs to hear....i love you. english = i love you spanish = te amo german = lch liebe dich hawaiian = aloha au ia 'oe italian = ti amo french = je t'aime "i love your happy side, your sad side, your silly side, your mad side. I love you through and through...yesterday today and tomorrow, too."

I love late night grocery shopping at our local HEB with my husband. For me, it is a relaxing, kid-free experience and the best part is that I get to soak up some much needed alone time with the hubby. Okay, rewind, did I just say that? What happened to romantic dinners, date nights to the theater and late night trips to the coffee shop? Oh yeah, I remember, the four munchkins arguing in the living room over the Wii is what happened. So now, I just take what I can get and if late nights at HEB is it, then bring it on! To us, going to HEB is like a treasure hunt, you just never know what kind of treasure you are going to find or if you will even find one at all. Last night though, we hit the jackpot...well the clearance jackpot! Just a hodgepodge of grand things. Soap for .12 cents a bar, now who would pass that up? Natural environmental friendly diapers for $6.47 and we had diapers on our list so that was a big two thumbs up! Double Dipped Fudge Mallows for .89! Woohoo! Antibacterial

a bove is a picture taken this morning from my dining room window. r ain. coffee. thunderstorm. windy. hat. soggy. puddles. gloomy. mist. sleepy. fog. wet. umbrella. hot tea. showers. precipitation. cloud cover. change. soup. drizzle. flood. winter. cold. miserable. splash. muddy. pouring. coffee. weather. book. rain coat. temperature. dew drops. lightening. galoshes.

"For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day, so far will the snow swirl in May..." Woke up to another freezing day in Te X as and according to Phil, the ever so infamous weather predicting groundhog, we will have to suffer through another six weeks of Winter. Therefore, like the groundhog, I too would like to hibernate, only I don't want to wake up until it is at least 65 degrees out. And if hibernation isn't an option for me, and with four boys I doubt it will be, I will settle for a warm blanket, a nice bowl of Select Harvest Soup and a mid-afternoon sleazy, drama-filled movie on Lifetime !