Happy Birthday Dad!

I couldn't scan and do half of what I wanted to do, but here are a couple little treasures. Hope 5 years? Heather 4 years, Sam 1 or 2 years. Aren't we cute? And they didn't turn out to be half bad adults either.

My first week of High School, one of YOUR former H.S. Classmates turned out to be one of my teachers. The teacher spilled about how wild you were in your younger years. This could have been my one way ticket into rebellion, and then used the excuse "but you did it in High School".

But I didn't. I left that to my sister. And I liked my privileges way too much to be grounded.

You are a good Papa, and your Grandchildren (all 12 of them) seem to love you! You have fun little John Deere Tractors to play with on your shelf, and the kids seem to know exactly where they are.

I could go on and on about how feeding us Veg-All and Lima Beans was a form of child abuse. I was 4 years old when I first rode on the back of your Motorcycle with you, and it was because of that, I felt it was okay for Mac to ride on the back of the Motorcycle with Lee. There is alot more I could and would like to say, but I have to get Mac from Scouts, and I know your bedtime is 8:00pm.

I Love You Dad! Happy Birthday...Love #1

I've Been Tagged

It's been a while since I've been tagged, a year I think. These are usually fun, but this is a long one. I would like to take this time to personally thank my SIL, Jessica for tagging me.. My life is usually an open book, so you may learn nothing new about me. This came at the perfect time, because I haven't had much to blog about.


A-Z Tag

A--Attached or single: Attached. Married to husband Lee for almost 18 years. We met through a mutual friend from L.A. That is a whole post in itself!

B--Best Friend: I know I should say my husband & I love him so, so much (sorry). But...Aimee and Darci have known me and been there for me for over 20 something odd years. We have been best buds since 9th Grade or earlier. Inseparable Trio.

C--Cake or Pie: Cake, Chocolate with a Chocolate Fudge Frosting. From anywhere. Yum!

D--Day of choice: Saturday, I get to sleep in a bit. Unless it's Mac's Football season.

E--Essential Item: Purse, my life is in there.

F--Favorite Color: I like Black or dark colored cars. I like Pink because I'm out numbered 3 to 1.

G--Greatest Accomplishments: Marrying my husband, my children, and being able to take care of and raise a Special Needs baby/toddler. Without a Nurse.

H--Hometown: Yakima, Washington Population: 81,214 but it was smaller when I lived there. Thank You Google!

I--Indulgences: Godiva Chocolates, Going on a date with my husband, Going out to dinner, oh and, Checking into a Hotel Room by myself to sleep with Room Service.

J--January or July: July. It's pretty icky everywhere else in January.

K--Kids: 2 boys. McCager 13 (yes, a teenager) and Mason 7 .

L--Life is complicated without: Lee, my cell phone, and the Internet :)

M--Marriage Date: May 4th, 1991.

N--Number of Siblings: 4 - 1 Sister & 3 Brothers. 1 passed away 4 years ago, but I still have 3 brothers.

O--Oranges or Apples: Apples. I was raised in the Apple Capitol of the world. And Oranges give me cancor sores.

P--Phobias or Fears: Heights. And rodents (mice and rats).

Q--Quotes: Don't laugh. "Do or do not, there is no try." Yoda I saw the quote and loved it before I knew who said it.

R--Reasons to Smile: My Husband, My kids (especially if no one is sick), getting re-acquainted or hearing from old friends.

S--Singer/Songwriter: It depends on my mood and what I'm doing. I like Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, U2, Peter Gabriel, Sarah Brightman, Michael Buble, Josh Grobin, Pink Floyd. The scarry list goes on.

T--Tag 5 Friends: Dang it Jessica, I was going to pick Whitney! Okay. Jen from 32 Flavors, Morgan, Lucy from An Ordinary Mom, Becky, & Sachiko.

U--Unknown Fact About Me: I have Dyslexia, I have the paperwork to prove it.

V--Very Favorite Stores: Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma, Target, Lowes, Macys, Norsdstrom.

W--Worst Habit: Procrastinating.

X--X-ray or Ultrasound: Ultrasound!

Y--Your Favorite Food: Italian, Roasted Chicken, Steak, The Cheesecake Factory.

Z--Zodiac: Gemini

**Did you learn anything new?
**Will you play?

Happy 40th Birthday Lee!

I am not going to write 40 wonderful things about my husband, because I still have to bake his cake, and it would take me all day. But I am going to share why I love him so much. I promise, this won't be too sappy.
You married me despite the fact that I couldn't cook, bake, sew, or do crafts. I introduced you to your first frozen entree our first week of marriage, and you ate it.

When you come home from work, you say "Hello", take a shower, eat dinner, and then relax, sometimes falling asleep.

You are a good Dad to our boys. You include them in almost everything you do. You teach them right from wrong, how to ride a motorcycle (and make them love it), how to play X-Box (is that really a good thing), how to work and the importance of having a work ethic, how to be prepared, and a bunch of other stuff that is important too. When Mason was born and in the hospital, it was the worst time of our lives. You were strong enough for both of us. When I was falling apart at the seams or going crazy in the head, you managed to calm me down and reason with the crazy woman you were married too. Even though I was mad at you when you took me home for the first time, 8 days after Mason was born, and I left kicking & screaming-crying non stop all the way home....You were right about telling me it was time for me to come home and distance myself a little. You don't like going to hospitals, but you managed to put your feelings aside to be with our baby boy.

You like to go fast, on your motorcycle. You like tight corners. You like to take the backroads. And I'm so glad you don't own the blasted thing above anymore. But you still have your other 2 machines in your garage.

You can design something on a piece of paper, have someone else do the engineering, and then build & construct it. You can do anything and everything. You work very, very, very, hard for our family. I am grateful I am able to be a stay-at-home Mom for our boys, and you make it all possible.

We think alike. I can't read your mind (like you think I should), but when we have an idea for something, we always manage to think the same things, come to compromises, and meet in the middle. You have strong opinions about all things pertaining to our home-like wall paint colors, furniture, and appliances. Why can't you just say "Yes, Dear" and just agree?

You often times do things that you don't want to do, but do them anyways because I asked you nicely (not nagged). You do listen to me when I don't think you are.

You love James Bond. When you were at Border Patrol Academy, you were once told "Mr. Bryant, your reputation has preceeded you". It wasn't a good thing at the time, and I won't disclose the reasons why. But, this was something that you always wanted to hear. However, when I asked you who you would rather be....James Bond or Jack Bauer-you said, Jack Bauer.

You also like Chicken Divan, Pumpkin Pie, & Korean Food. You are a "Gadget" guy and manage to talk yourself into or reason yourself into buying these said gadgets. Your favorite gadget-your GPS/Navagation system-that speaks several different languages-in a female voice (which you have names for all of them), that won't yell at you when you take a wrong turn.

I am grateful you are my husband, and the father of our boys. Happy 40th Birthday! Now I have to go and bake your cake.

Resolutions for 2009

Yes, we are almost 10 days into this month, and I am just now getting to talking about making New Years Resolutions. Or I can call this "setting myself up for failure". I think I would like to re-name Resolutions and call them Goals For Myself, because really, that's what they are right?

This year started out with having a head cold, taking decongestants (the good ones from behind the Pharmacy counter), and having the worse sinus pain I have had since 1994 (yes, I remember the year). My family has also been afflicted with the same cold...Lee has said several times how he just wants TO DIE! He doesn't do sick well. Mac just suffers quietly, until he has had to blow his nose-and Mason has told me "my nose is very broken Mom". I am better, Mac is feeling better, Mason is on the mend, and I stopped asking Lee-but he hasn't told me lately that he wants to die, so that's a good sign. What a great start to 2009.

Lee's new Goals, usually don't start until after his birthday-which is the 13th of this month. He will be hitting the BIG 4-0. But that deserves a different post altogether. Lee has told me that he wants to change his eating habits (again), and has given me a menu of a few things. I pack him a breakfast of something he can eat in the truck with a hot beverage of either hot spiced apple cider (instant), hot cocoa, or his instant Korean tea (I'm not sure what it is). I also pack him a lunch with snacks. I do this LOVINGLY EVERY morning at 5:00am. The only times I didn't get up was when I was really sick a couple of times this year. I have managed to go back to bed and sleep for another hour and a half before Mac wakes up for school.

My new Goals don't start until Lee's start, because my new Goals also have to do with changing our way of eating. Lee feels the need to binge before his birthday, and then he's ready to "change". Changing our way of eating is difficult with kids. Lee and I want to lose weight, Mac's weight is fine the way it is and Mason needs to gain weight.

My friend at 32 Flavors posted her Resolutions, and I could have copied and pasted her's onto my blog. But I needed to tweak mine a bit.

1. No computer before the kids are in school. Unless it's vitally important.
2. Get up before 6:50am on school days.
3. Be in bed before or no later than 11:00pm.
4. Lose Weight.
5. Work Out. Eat Better. No Coke. (I've only had 2 Cokes since Christmas!) Drink More Water.
6. Post pic of myself on Blog and Facebook. (I'm vain-what can I say?)
7. Get my hair done more than twice a year.
8. Become more organized. Keep my part of the Office clean.

I think that is it. I have until January 13th to add more if I want. Does anyone else make yearly Goals for themselves?

Happy New Year, a few days late.

Lee's parents Mike and Patty, his sister Janean, and his brother's Calvin and Wesley came over for New Years Eve. We had a potluck Mexican Feast. Lots of food! I didn't take any pics of the food, I was busy. Because of the snow-on both parts (especially thiers) we didn't get together before Christmas.

Mason with Uncle Wes. When Uncle Wes is here all you hear from Mason is "Hey Wes, hey Wes". Mason loves to show Wesley everything.

Patty made a sign for Lee and I. It's done with vinyl lettering. I've been dying to do this, but she beat me to it, and better yet...she had our WEDDING DATE put on it. I'm going to hang this somewhere where Lee will see it every single day. He tends to forget things like our Anniversary. Well, not really, but that's another post for another time. I'll just say May and June give him high anxiety.

Here is Calvin w/ Janean. Janean is 2nd to the oldest in the family. She is mentally 2-3 years old, depending on what day of the week it is. The first time I met Mike and Patty, Janean greeted me first as soon as I walked in the door. We were literally nose to nose as she was hugging me. The very first words that Mike and Patty ever said to me was "Just push her away Hope, just push her away". It's close to impossible to get a good picture of her. She gets really excitable when there are alot of people around too.

Patty didn't get a chance to see Mac and Mason for their Birthdays, so she brought their Birthday and Christmas presents. She also made this train cake. She has these train cake molds that she baked the cakes in, then she frosted and decorated the trains with candies. She also had some licorice for train tracks.

Mike and Patty got Mac a little treasure chest with old "wheat" coins inside of it. They were the old style coins we used to use a long time ago. There was also a silver penny in it. They didn't have copper, so they used silver instead. Things I didn't know until a few days ago.

Mason got his pop gun from his grandparents. It makes a "pop" everytime you push or pull it. Because Mason is so quick, he has turned this into a "semi-automatic" weapon, making the "pop" noise fast and loudly. This was of course a big hit with him. I had to kind of hide it from him for a few hours yesterday to save my sanity. I had to help him find it because he was missing it for 2 hours, he was almost in tears. So I took it out.

And I managed to get a decent picture of Janean after all. It only took 6-7 attempts. We hope all of you had a Happy New Year!