SUGGESTIONS????????

I need HELP!
On Sunday, while I was at the movies with Amber, my sweet children plus one friend that was over decided to make microwave popcorn. Usually that is fine, but these were the snack size bags.....and they pressed the button on the microwave that says "popcorn" to cook them. The popcorn button is for full size bags, not snack size. As you can guess.........I have this terrible smell in the microwave from the burning (and lots of smoke according to Thomas). I think they tried 4-5 bags and gave up. "Where was Dad", I asked. "Watching football" was the response.

Any hints from all of you Heloise-types would greatly be appreciated and tried!

Weekend Wrap-up

We had a busy weekend! On Saturday morning, Jill and Thomas had their last bball games for their season. Jills team went 5-1 and poor Thomas's team went 0-6. I think they both enjoyed the season and are now looking forward to baseball/softball.

Sat afternoon Jill attended a softball camp. The weather was awesome!! She can really hit that ball! (She learned this from Shelley and I.....right??!!.....OK, maybe Cathe, too.)

Sat night we had our annual "Treat Your Sweetheart" dinner at church. This year we had it catered by a local restaurant instead of 35 of us trying to go to Waco and get back to church at a reasonable time for DESSERT! The men all have to cook a dessert, by themselves, and then it is judged! Jonathan has won before, his BFF (do boys have BFFs??) Trent has won before......but this year it was Joey who won. Trent got second, J got third! Joey made these bon bon type things with cherries in the middle. SO delicious. Trent made a brownie with chocolate cheesecake on top with beautiful berries and J made chocolate macaroon brownies. They were both ooh la la too!

Sunday after church my friend Amber and I went to see PS I LOVE YOU at the dollar movie.
It was good.......such a girl show!

In relation to the last post, they also make a Scooba robot that MOPS! We are borrowing/testing one that Trent's mom has. I used it this morning in the kitchen------it so totally ROCKS. You put the cleaning solution (from Bed Bath and Beyond or Linens N Things) in plus some water and let it go. It has separate reservoirs for clean and dirty water, so it is always mopping with clean water. Charge the thing up and let it go.......Does this mean that I am lazy now? Actually.........I really dont care if it makes me lazy---it is my little R2D2 helper!

This week will be crazy: J is gone to do an enrollment in DeLeon for a few days then has another in Waco for 3 days when he is back, the kids have VDay parties, and projects are due!
YIKES!

Vacuum Cleaning Robot

My sweet husband bought one of these vacuum cleaning robots yesterday.....the irobot Roomba 5th Generation. I was a little skeptical at first, but........now I am a BELIEVER! You let it charge on the docking station first, then let it go! It comes with virtual walls that you can block off spaces with if you only want it to do a certain area. Last night while we were bathing the kids, doing homework, eating dinner, etc. we set it in our front room, which is carpeted, and WOW!
It vacuums under the furniture and everything. No wonder people have such bad allergies.
It also does hardwood and tile floors. The little sweeper that you can see in the pic swipes the baseboards.

Today I set it off in our living room and forgot the virtual wall or to set something in front of the hall door----and, needless to say, it was LOST! I lost the robot. When Jill got home from school I had her help me look for it....it had gotten stuck under my bed on the cord to the mattress warmer. She retrieved it for me and it is vacuuming as we speak!

There is also one called the Scooba, that MOPS! Maybe I will get it for Valentines Day. Isnt that a romantic gift? Maybe I will buy it for VDay for Jonathan.......he does the mopping (and most vacuuming) after all. He is better at it than I am! : ) He is stronger!

Now if I could just find one that does laundry and changes the sheets!

Cocoa is HOME!

Cocoa is HOME from his stay at the pet hospital after his PARVO scare! We are so glad that he is alive and well. THANK YOU, Dr Meurer!

Jill went on a bowling trip with all the kids in the 3rd grade who read enough Bluebonnet Books to qualify. She had a great time and LOVED the shoes. How about that cheesy smile?

A beautiful sunset out our back windows I thought I would share.................

The boys playing sword fighters in the rain yesterday (in their socks! where are their shoes??? On the trampoline they said).......Dont you love the rainbow in the background?

Things You Learn At The Dinner Table

While having dinner tonight, Thomas asked Jonathan if he thought Grant was the smartest kid around. J answered that he is a pretty smart kid......why do you ask?

Thomas replies, "Jill and I got him to eat dirt and a plant a couple of days ago!" Then he just laughed..............

Sweet Maddie.........

Today is our niece Maddie's birthday. She would have been 10 years old. I know that she, Jill, and Hope (another niece) would have been the best of friends. They were all born within one calendar year of each other. Say a prayer for J's sister, Carra, her husband Jimmy, and boys---Davis and Jake today especially. Its a sad day for our family, but I cannot even imagine what it is like for them.

We miss that brown-eyed girl.

Today..........

I did get my voice back yesterday----so now I can answer my own phone! You know its the little things that make me happy! Thanks to all of you for your home remedies----the one I forgot on the last post was to gargle with alum water. NASTY is all I have to say about that one.

Our little 4 month old dog, Coco, is very sick. I got home yesterday around 4:30 and she was throwing up what looked like white foam......I called the vet......he was out somewhere with someone's horse and was going to be a while. The vet tech gave me the number to the animal hospital in Waco and I took Coco there. After some testing, it was determined that she has Parvo. NOT GOOD.
She had to spend the night at the hospital with an IV for fluids and antibiotics. He had to be picked up by 7:30 am this morning (thanks, Dad, for picking up the dog you dont like!) and taken to our regular vet. I took him there this morning after the 3rd grade parent breakfast and the vet says he has to stay there! For up to a week or more! He is going to be on the IV there, too.
Say a little prayer for Coco. We love that little dog.

It is also contagious----and we have another Shih Tzu that is 5 months old and she is fine. I did take her back to the vet today to get a booster shot to make sure that she doesn't get it, too. We are also bleaching everything! EVERYTHING! I am going to get another pillow for the dogs today. My sweet budget nazi is going crazy over this.........but..........it has to be done.

Maybe I should be selling pet insurance. I have heard of it.........I thought it was a little crazy until I paid the bill for the one night in the hospital. OH MY. I will keep you all updated about Coco.

The kids are all fine. J has a Girl Scout Bowling Trip tonight, we have bball games tomorrow, signups for softball/baseball/tball this weekend, and of course......some football game on Sunday.