All About the Argyles

Tonight we went to our gym's member appreciation night. It was a LUAU. The chef made a yummy dinner there was a face painting... snow cones... a bounce house, which Brady LOVED! Outside by the pool there was swimming and the Chick-Fil-A cow was there passing out goodies to the kids... and the finale was a show from authentic polynesian dancers. It was wholesome family fun for all.

Happy Birthday to my "Mr. Knightley", my Prince Charming, the love of my life! I never knew what unconditional love REALLY felt like until I met/fell for/married this man. He is my best friend, my counselor, my example, the yin to my yang, the best father a mother could hope for to our children. He GETS me. I love you dearly, Beej!

I forgot to tag someone else...(duh!) Brianne H., Bethanne., Chesney, Alexis, and Danielle.

I got tagged with "The Five" The Five, ten years ago… 1. I had 2 kids and was so overwhelmed that I thought I would never have anymore. 2. I was living in our first home in Carrollton. It was 1700 square feet and so stinkin' cute. It was sooo easy to keep clean. 3. I was YW President and making some of the best friends of my life with the girls I had (Lynsi, Boots, Sharon, Lauralee, Molly, Amanda, Jaimee, Megan...shall I go on?). 4. I was a crossing gaurd working an hour a day and making 400 bucks a month to sit in the car and listen to the radio. Best job ever! 5. I was graduating from UNT with an education degree. Five things on today’s “to do” list… 1. Make meal plans/grocery list for the week. 2. piano practice (for kids). 3. Some "action items" for calling. 4. Write some thank you notes. 5. schedule visiting teaching. Five snacks I enjoy 1. anything with chocolate 2. granola bars 3. diet coke 4. popcorn 5. skinny cow dip bars (hello, only 80 calories!) Five...

SO, Who are your favorites? The GIRLS... CHELSIE COURTNEY KATEE And, the GUYS JOSHUA MARK TWITCH VOTE IN THE COMMENT SECTION NOW!

One of my favorite LDS Self-help authors is Merrilee Boyack. I have heard her speak twice and met her and she is a WONDERFUL woman with some humorous, profound insight. She just came out with a new book that I can't wait to get - I have ordered it- but I wanted to share an excerpt beecause it speaks so much to some of the posts I hear from myself and my fellow bloggers. Read on: From "Toss the Guilt, Catch the Joy" If I were to ask you to describe the Perfect Woman, you'd have quick ­answers: Clearly, she is a size six. No question about that. She has been married a long time to a really important man. He's the stake president. And she's the stake Relief Society president. And they have eight ­kids--­four boys and four ­girls--­evenly spaced. And she homeschools them all. Yeah, and they all play musical instruments--­beautifully. And she's a, a, . . . a neurosurgeon, and she works out of her home, only part-­time. She has her family history done back to th...

One more post about swim team - mostly for my family-because they wanted an update. Coach "T" told us at the awards ceremony tonight that Reagan was the 8th best backstroker in the city (just under 2500 total swimmers!) for her age group. WOW! Next step, the OLYMPICS 2024??? The girls with their coach, Tammy. All 4 kids with both coaches Coach "T" and Tammy. McKinley filled in as an alternate and won two ribbons also. Tanner competed with his relay team and they won 7th and 15th place. As an aside: Don't feel bad for Jensen that she wasn't a part of ALLSTARS. She was so happy to be able to sit in the stands and cheer on her siblings. She realized that she liked all the long distance running the coaches were having her do as part of the conditioning and she has decided to go out for the cross country team at Middle School. Expect some running posts in the Fall!

The Cast of Characters: (a nod to Pioneer Woman for all you PW fans) 6-8 pairs of underwear (loosely fitting), books, puzzles, snacks, a variety of drinks, "potty candy", a timer, and a potty chair. you will also need: A WILLING PARTICIPANT! I say willing because there are guidelines to look for to make sure they are ready for this all important milestone. I will go into that further later.... Tie the pants up in the back and secure with a rubber band so that they are above the underwear. This way they will have easier access to pull their pants up and down. It is important that they do this part without assistance. That is part of potty training. Here are the main points about this program: 1. Make sure they are ready. General guidelines: atleast 20 months old? Does he urinate a good deal at one time or does he dribble throughout the day? Does he often stay dry for several hours? Does he have good enough finger/hand coordination to pull pants up and down independently? ...

Tomorrow I am staying home from church. No, I am not sick. I am not in need of a "mental health" day (well, that is debatable!). I am staying home because of this book. I have had alot of luck with the strategy/philosophy in these pages and I am putting it to the test yet again. Brady starts preschool in about 6 weeks and he has to be potty trained to go so I am under pressure. The only hard part about this system is that you have to have an ENTIRE day to completely devote to training and that has been impossible with all my older kids home for the summer. We are way busy and he is way distracted by everything going on. So, I resort to playing hookey from church. Wish me luck ladies. I will update you on Monday as to how it went....

I don't post this to brag- REALLY! But we just got some news this morning that got me thinking about what a great thing persistence and practice (and good coaching) can do. Our little Reagan had just turned 6 when they started putting the Swim team together at Cooper Fitness. Well, after a week of swim clinic we weren't sure if she was going to make it. Coach T watched her closely and had her "try out" but she could barely swim from one end of the pool to the other. Fortunately, he must have seen some potential and said that he thought she would be ok with some practice. (Honestly, though, I think it was pretty close. ). Jump forward to this morning and (7 weeks later) and we just got an email thaty says our sweet little girl has qualified for the ALL STARS meet in the 25 yard backstroke! Can you believe it? This is HUGE! This is the championships of all the swimmers in all the swim teams in the area. We are so proud of her. Everyone in our family is calling her ...

We got our proofs back from our photo sitting with Toni and now I am completely overwhelmed! I would love to say "I'll take one of each" and even though she is soooo reasonably priced for the quality that she puts out I can seriously not afford that! HELP FRIENDS! Click on the link below and go to "client proofing" at the top of the page (once you enter Toni's web site) enter in the password "Argyles" and then see all the amazing photos for yourself. I think it is easier if you stop the slide show by clicking on it and scroll through one by one. Leave your top ten. Thanks ladies! I value your opinions, all of you who frequent my blog. http://www.urbanphotostudio.com/index2.php

Be Happy Without Being Perfect: How to Break Free from the Perfection Deception by Alice Domar My review rating: 4 of 5 stars I want to go back and get my masters degree in the next few years (When Brady starts kindergarten) and specialize in counseling for women so that is why I read this book. Maybe someday I will write a paper about it-it was THAT good. It has information in it to help women who suffer from "perfection deception" - as it is coined in this book. Honestly, I think we can ALL benefit from parts of it. Specifically she identifies several areas where we (women) typically expect too much from ourselves: our appearance (weight), our homes (Martha Stewart comparisons), our job performance, parenting, and relationships with others. She helps by offering hands on tips on how to overcome anxiety, recognize destructive thinking, relax more, use cognitive therapy to re-set expectations and let things go. If you are scared away by the term cognitive therapy - don...

This past saturday we went to get family photos done by a wonder ful photographer, Toni Elmer (see urban photo blog or toni's studio). She is amazing! Here is a little taste of some of the great photos she took. If any of you are interested in getting any unique family portraits done I can put you in touch with her. She is well worth it!

"None who have always been free can understand the terrible fascinating power of the hope of freedom to those who are not free." -— Pearl S. Buck We have a long-standing tradition of doing the matching flag shirts every year. This year I was so busy with swim team that I never made it to old navy but I had the girls with me yesterday when we were at Walmart and they found these. They talked me into it. I couldn't really argue with the shirts being $2.50 each! Brent, as always, is ABSOLUTELY THRILLED to wear the matching shirts. Do you detect the sarcasm? That is why we love him - he is such a good sport.

Pioneer woman is one of my favorite blogs and I especially lover her recipes and how she shares them via step by step photos. Check out this masterpiece and maybe give it a try for the 4th. I plan to. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/fourth_of_july_/