SOOOOOOOOOOO...........................

I KNEW you would ALL be jumping at the chance to get something TOTALLY awesome from me! And when I get up to the kingdom of heaven, and HF asks me if I served my fellow man, I'm going to have to say- well.... people went running when I offered to serve! So, if I don't make it in... it is on your heads! Seriously... NO seriously! (and for people who may not know me...insert sarcasm here):)

And just a reminder- there is one spot open! TAKE IT! For Shauna and Jill, please e-mail me your addresses at: bertieranger4@gmail.com-- Jill, I think I have yours- but go ahead and e-mail it to me again:) You will be getting the BEST gifts EVER!!:)

On a 2nd note - who has been watching the Bachelor this season??

I'm one of those reality tv SNOBS-- if I don't like any of the people on their then I don't watch- if I do.... then I'll watch(which means I haven't watched The Bachelor or Bachelorette for about 5 years.) The season finale is coming up- March 2nd!... and I think it would be fun to have us ALL get together and watch it! At my house-- but first I need to know who watches it- so if the part-AY sounds fun-- or if you just want to come to my house for some chill time (after fhe of course) then LEAVE a comment and we will DO IT!

Paying IT forward!

You'll find out what "it" is below!
(also...go either read the book or see the movie... they are AWESOME!)
I thought it was a true story... because how exciting would it be if it was... then Chet burst my bubble (AGAIN!) and told me it was fiction! You can bet I was all over google on THAT one too. So, I'm glad WE are making it a true story now! The wonderful world of BLOGGERS!


Pay it Forward

Here's the game. The first three people to comment on this post get a prize from me. Maybe it will be handmade, maybe it will be a treat, but you will receive a package in the mail from me very soon. (or free babysitting?) or dinner? depending on where you live... AND I also sew now... so you may get one of my rare prized sewing projects that may or may not be perfect.

But no matter what you get, you can bet it will be done with LOVE!

Now, here's the catch.

You must be willing to "Pay it Forward." You will also need to send a treat or a little something to three people who comment on your blog.

So comment away!!

PS: Cassie- that reminds me... did you ever get that power pod I sent you? Like 6 years ago? I can't remember if I sent it. (the one you won)

Star light, Star bright, First star I see tonight!

The kids were jumping out on the trampoline last night when Ethan came running in... saying:

Ethan" "Mom! I saw a star... and it is the FIRST one. The only one in the sky! So I made a wish!!

Me: You did? What did you wish for (expecting to hear "I can't tell you or it won't come true" but instead)

Ethan: A Golden Punch buggy (of course!)

Me: A golden punch buggy? Why?

Ethan: Because we have never had one before and I would LOVE it!

Me: Well, alrighty then!

Something tells me-- Ethan goes to bed at night and dreams of this:

Great Friday NIGHT!!

Friday night was AMAZING! We went to go see Legally Blonde the Musical and it was absolutely FANTASTIC!! It was super cute! As a tribute I have added 2 of the songs from the play and one has video clips from the show.. so check it OUT! And if it comes to your town... GO. SEE. IT!

Emily, and one of her friends, Erin, my dad, Chet and I were the ones who were lucky enough to get to go... and Emily and I can't get some of the songs out of our heads:)

OMG! OMG! YOU GUYS!!

Then after the play we headed over to the Melting Pot for desserts and they are THE BEST!!If you have not been to the Melting Pot-- you have to splurge and do that too! Totally worth it (but take some friends with you!)

Emily and Ade totally put some of those bad dippers down!

We ended up getting home around 12:20, and by the time I got back from taking the baby sitter home, it was probably 12:45... AND I had to be at the church by 8:40 for a volleyball tournament (and I thought that was bad)... but my poor babysitter had to be to her school by 6:30 for a band competition! So a big THANK YOU to her:)


ps. why is the spell checker telling me I am spelling "blonde" wrong-- it is TOTALLY spelled with an "e". Just look at the title of the musical:)

Some Good News and Some Bad News

First the good news.... this morning as I was tidying up I noticed that Dante and Erin both put their shoes where they were supposed to next to our back door. It brought tears to my eyes... this doesn't happen often without a little nudge and most the time without a Dante, Dante, Dante,... Erin,Erin,Erin.... put your shoes away, put your shoes away, put your shoes away!! But for whatever reason-- (hopefully habit?) THEY DID IT!!! (without me asking!)

Now for the bad news! This brought different tears to my eyes!

Tis' the wonderful season of crane flies! I HATE crane flies! I ABHOR crane flies! To this day I will runaway from a crane fly if it starts flying in the same room as me... and usually squealing simultaneously.

I know they are "harmless" you say... but, I've had more then one dream in my lifetime that these things (along with moths) ATTACK me! and I won't kill one on purpose for the sole reasoning that the little things friends will come back and get their revenge on me! DON'T LAUGH AT ME!

Growing up in Texas I have come to learn to at least to "live" with the little buggers because they EAT mosquitoes. Yes, they eat them.

Well, until one day, their was one in my shower, and I REFUSE to shower if one is in my bathroom because what if one of its legs gets wet, and then it falls down into my hair and I accidentally wash him into my hair (and I could go on and on).. and Chet says "JUST KILL IT!" and my hasty reply of "But it eats mosquitoes, and they are the "good" kind of bug" made Chet look at me like I was a complete MORON Then he states.... they don't eat mosquitoes... look at them... do you think they could actually EAT a mosquito??

Seriously... it bummed me MORE to hear this, then it did when I learned there was no Easter Bunny. You mean, I've been "living" with these creatures for NO good reason?? Who fooled me! And how come my husband knows everything??? I did google it to be sure, because I so badly wanted to be like, "Nuh-uh! SEE!SEE!SEE!! They DO eat mosquitoes!" But no dice!

So, I'm sorry to have to burst your bubble on that one........

but let us not dwell on the negative... and remember--- Dante and Erin did put their shoes away in their proper place-- AND they put them away neatly:)

Back to blogging ALL around

I'm back to my regular blogging these days, and I have also started up my 2 motivational blogs again! However, due to time--- I'm only updating them every other day vs. daily, and I'll try my best to update my family blog daily.

Today I updated my Happiness from the Inside Out blog.

Tomorrow it will be my Life: Have It Your Way blog.

So, if you were faithful readers before, I'm just letting you know that I AM BACK! (and as always accepting guest posters, if you are interested e-mail me at bertieranger4@gmail.com)

ENJOY!

I enjoy being a girl!

Who else loves that song from the Flower Drum Song? Anyone? Anyone? If not, go listen to it now! It empowers me:) Oh, and how I LOVE being a girl!!! And so does my little Erin.

She got her ears pierced six weeks ago, which means I had SIX weeks of, "Mom... has it been six weeks yet?" "Mom, can I take my earrings out yet?" To which I set up a calendar for her to circle each day, so that she would KNOW how much longer she would have til she could take out her earrings and put in new ones. To which she would forget, and each week she would ask... "How many days has it been so I can circle them and has it been SIX weeks YET?" We finally settled on, You can take them out when it is Dante's birthday... she finally understood.

I remember so FONDLY how excited I was to wear dangly earrings... and hoops... and anything that wasn't just a stud (they are actually cute now, the ones they gave me were ugly) Anyways, Erin was just as giddy and excited, to get more super girly earrings! I LOVE earrings and I'm glad she does too.

How cute is her outfit, and she is wearing her hoops and showing you her "dangly butterfly" earrings.

So, you want to know where I get my awesome blog designs from??

FOR FREE!

Let me first tell you a little secret about me. I'm competitive.


I like to try to stay ahead of the game. Now, I realize that this is absolutely ridiculous. Especially with my wonderful blogging friends. But I am! So, when I see now that everyone has "cutest blog on the block" backgrounds... I think, ok, well- yes they have 1 million different free backgrounds- but I don't even want the CHANCE of me having the same background as someone else (I know, retarded!) But I also don't really care to pay for one to be done for me. I'll learn how eventually how to do it.. I think... I hope!

Anyhow, so I have been looking up different "free background" blogspots that will allow you keep your widgets... and I found one, that not only has free backgrounds and headers, it also lists OTHER free background sites to try! So, it is kind of like one stop shopping- no more googling, trying to find a different one (even though I probably will after telling you my secret)

It is www.mybloggingdesigns.blogspot.com. I love it! She has on her sidebar, free digital scrapbooking sites, and free blogging background sites. My current one is from: alliebrownslayouts.blogspot.com! It is springy and that is why I chose it- and to motivate me to get my arse in my own garden (I wish I was competitive in that area, dang it!)

So, there you go- you now know what I have been hiding, and now I can live my life to the fullest! I needed to get that off my chest, and for the record.. I'm sorry for always having a cuter blog background then you... but I can't help it;)

What do you need to get off your chest? Let's talk!

Like (fill in the blank), Like Ethan

The other day Ethan and I walked over to the kids school (checkout Ethan's awesome volunteer badge) and on our way home I decided to take some snapshots of me and Ephers. When I downloaded them to my computer I couldn't stop laughing.... Who has he been watching to have the "myspace/facebook faces" down to a T?

You fill in the blank!
(I'll give you a hint... It's not me- obviously I'm too self-conscious to make pre-posed faces and can only smile)

MY First SEWING Project!!

(still waiting for D's baptism pics - so another post in the meantime)

This past week my mother in-law was cool enough to teach me how to use my NEW sewing machine! I had been meaning to go over to my mom's to learn, and you would think since we live a block away from one another I would have managed to do so--- but that didn't quite happen. So, I jumped at the chance to ask my expert mother in law if she would do the honors.
Luckily she said yes, and eight hours later I was able to say that I created THIS masterpiece:


No, it isn't perfect, NOT even close- I sewed one of the pockets on and instead of leaving the top open, so that it is an actual "pocket" I sewed right over it- and was too impatient to get my first sewing project done, that I didn't even take it out- so now it is just a decoration- but I'm still VERY proud of my cute new apron! -crooked stitches and all:)

Hopefully as I become more efficient with my sewing machine- it won't take me EIGHT hours every time I attempt something. This was literally the first time I have even TOUCHED a sewing machine for appropriate uses-- in fact- I know I have touched the foot thingy (what is that called again?) that makes the needle go up and down tons of times when I was younger- because that was fun... but the thought that actual sewing could be fun too- never crossed my mind. But it IS, especially since you get an end result right away!

Thanks Donna for helping me out and I dedicate my apron to you.... but I am keeping it for myself:)

Happy Birthday Dante!!

Dante turned EIGHT! He was baptized on his birthday, the 13th- and those pics are forth coming, as I forgot my camera in the hullabaloo and I'm waiting for my sister to e-mail them to me. Until I get those pictures here are EIGHT things I love about Dante!
1. Dante is VERY giving! Yesterday they had their Valentines Day parties and I'm usually ALL over their goodies. This time I wasn't because I was busy making cookies, and Dante comes over to me and hands me a KitKat (my fav. candy bar) and says, "Here Mom, this is for you!" I said, "It is for me, or you are giving it to me?" Dante then says he is giving it to me and I said that it was ok- he should have it because it is HIS candy... and he was VERY adamant that I have it because they are my favorite. How thoughtful was that:) I must be doing something right;)

2. Dante has a GREAT sense of humor! I'm always hearing funny stories about him. For instance, one of Dante's primary teachers came up to me and told me that one day during sharing time... the primary president was sitting on the table teaching... when she got off... she kind of lost her balance a little but caught herself before falling.... and Dante in a whisper sing-songy voice to his primary teacher said, "AND that is whyyy we don't sit on TAAAA-BBBles".

3. He also can take a joke... Chet and I can't get past him ANYMORE! We are in for it, when he starts to pull tricks on us! Every since he could talk- I swear his first sentence was, "That's a joke Dad, that's a joke!"

4. He gives the best prayers, or what Chet likes to call "mini- sermons". If you ask him to bless the food- he will most often forget to bless the food because he gets off on tangents of what he is currently learning in primary, and how greatful he is. The funniest prayer was on an Easter Sunday when he was 4... his prayer went something like this, "Dear Heavenly Father, We thank you for this day, Jesus died a long time ago, but then he was resurrected 3 days later, and when those guys went to the tomb and rolled the stone away, they couldn't find him. They all started to cry (at about this point I start tip-toeing towards him to remind him we are blessing the food) Then Mary came to sit by his tomb and she cried, when Jesus showed up again, and she was happily crying. (then a light nudge from me) OH, and please bless the food and I'm so greatful for the food. Amen. " But his prayers are so sweet and sincere! I love them!

5. He is such an amazing BIG brother! Sometimes he doesn't understand "why he has to do EVERYTHING"... but he always does whatever I ask eventually for Erin and Ethan, like sharing his last bite of candy he got from school, or going outside to bounce them on the trampoline, etc... He is caring and if you EVER saw him with Minnie--- your heart would melt! He LOVES his little niece and nephew.

6. He is smart! He has problems in the conduct area in school... but he is smart and has always had straight A's-- and never asks me questions, just reads the directions and knows what needs to be done. He LOVES math and science.

7. He enjoys everything he does! Dante is not the greatest athlete... but he tries hard at soccer and enjoys it thoroughly! He has FUN playing and doesn't matter if you win or lose (now, board games are a different story) He enjoys piano, he enjoys swimming, he enjoys FOOD, he enjoys riding his bike EVERYWHERE. He always enjoys everything (whether he is trying something new, or doing something old) and I love that about him.

8. I love Dante because he is who he is! He keeps all of us laughing, weather it is one of his tantrums that have gotten few and far between- but when he has one, he HAS one! Or one of his innocent answers to my question or an innocent comeback to one of my rhetorical questions or statements (like when you are an adult you can do anything you want and he answers with, NO- I can't be shot out of a cannon) Now I know where his dreams lie!

I'm proud of Dante and am so glad I have been blessed with him in my life. He brings joy to us everyday!

Christmas and New Years... and I'm caught up!

Ok, because I can't blog out of "sequential" order because I'm a control freak like that (but not about anything else... well- laundry too) here is a little about our Christmas and New Years-- and then from there on out, I'll get to blog regularly, because Dante is getting baptized tomorrow. YES- for all you crazy fans out there- I HAVE an EIGHT year old- and that is just INSANE to me! Where does the time go?? EIGHT!!

Back to Christmas morning:)


Dante got this awesome red ryder bb gun! He's super excited and you can tell from this super picture!

Erin got lots and lots of girlie stuff, like these cute boots! And she got her ears pierced for Christmas too:) (I recommend going to a place where they will pierce both ears at the same time. After she got the first one pierced, a few tears came, and she asked if she "had" to get the other one pierced too.) It is all better now!

Ethan got this fun power ranger helmet because he is in LOVE with power rangers! I can't believe they are still around- and they have like 25 different kinds. I can't tell you how many mornings Ethan would want to watch power rangers, and I would find it- just to hear.. No MOM- this is power rangers operation overdrive, I want power rangers mystic force (and there are seriously like 10 different power ranger teams!) This helmet allows you to do power ranger missions and he LOVES it! He is our power RANGER!
Chet showing off his mad skillz at shooting a bb gun.

Dante taking his turn.
Ethan wasn't going to let the big boys have all the fun without him-- and he didn't do too bad either. Erin playing with one of her other new toys, light brite. I used to LOVE doing this as a kid-- but they were HUGE honky tonk things back then, now they are cute enough to keep out:)

And, while the kids and Chet were having fun with their gifts.. I had fun clean up duty. The JOY of after Christmas morning glory!
I would have been playing with my new toy- my brand new singer sewing machine--- but I was scared I would break it... but you'll see very soon my first project:)Chet got some cool stuff too- but I'm bummed he bagged my coolest gift idea- just in case he wanted something else. I had offered to get him stand-up improv classes (that lasted 6 weeks and an opportunity to get on the improv troupe) at our local comedy club- and he was all for it at first- and I was so excited I FINALLY came up with something that he LOVED-- and it came and went. Maybe next year:)

After we settled down, we went over to have a late lunch at my moms house, where I made this adorable cake, on my new Christmas cake stand. I have TOTAL skillz!

Then it was New Years! YEAH-- and boy was it fun! My dad put together a game night- where we played family feud- for PRIZES- and some of his prizes rock-- and others you are like, "what??" So, if you are someone who gets a prize early on- and you happen to get a good one, then someone can take that prize from you when they win one- instead of drawing a different prize, and so on and so forth.

Here is Chet and I (kid free!)

Here is how the game works... there were 4 different teams, and you spin the wheel for money and prizes! My dad is Pat Sayjack and my mom is Vanna White (if they were the hosts for Family Feud)


And here is what everyone that came (minus Gabby and Mi-Mi, who had left a little early) showing off their AMAZING prizes! There was also an HP photo printer up for grabs, 1 FULL box of Cheescake Factory Tuxedo cheesecake, and 1 full box of Cheesecake Factory banana pie cream cheesecake, 100 bucks, and then you had the silly gifts like stuffed animals, a wizard of oz mug(that was actually pretty cute) a wierd vegetable that looked like a decrepid hand.. that NO one wanted to touch!

I can't wait for next year!!