All About the Argyles

1. I would rather sleep than eat. 2. I hate watching sports on tv. My hubby loves watching sports on tv. Any sport. 3. Brent and I were married for 5 years before we had our first child. 4. I have a bachelors degree in Early Childhood Education. 5. I have never used my degree. 6. I have my framed degree hanging on my wall in my laundry room. 7. I do a sudoku puzzle in a bubble bath every night before bedtime pretty much without exception. 8. We go out on a date every weekend and have for the last ten years or so. 9. I love doing these little tag games and learning about people. 10. I am a Native Texan and proud of it! 11. I spend WAY TOO MUCH time watching tv. 12. I like to create order out of chaos. 13. I hate JAZZ music. It gives me a headache. 14. I don't particularly care for ice cream. 15. I can pretty much find something to like about everyone. 16. I am happy 99% of the time. 17. I am more laid back than I used to be. 5 kids has done that for me. 18. I believe I am married to...

I realized it was official that Jensen is deep into teenager-dom when I opened up my email and found a confirmation that she had gotten in to EFY this summer. Did you hear me? My baby is going to EFY this summer! It seems like just yesterday I was putting big bows in her hair and diapering her cute little butt! Where did all the time go???? I remember the one time my sister went off to EFY . She came home on such a spiritual high and couldn't stop talking about it. I want that for Jensen. None of the other girl's that she hangs out with are going. Understandeable, with the crappy economy and that fact that they raised the price substantially. It was a tough decision for us for those reasons too. There is an outside chance one of her friends might try to get in later. For now, she is going all by herself. (sigh) After consulting with several of my friends who have treaded this territory before, we were told by every one of them that it would be better to send her alone tha...

I got new bedding. I have wanted this comforter for what seems like forever but it was so pricey I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Then it went on sale, HALF OFF! Like every woman, i took that as a sign that it wanted to be mine! Now I just need a picture above the bed, hmmmm. It seems like one decorating project just leads to another... Zeus has already laid claim to the old bedding. :O)

" What Your Pet Can Teach You" by Cesar Millan 1. Live in the moment. Dogs don't regret the past or worry about the future. If we can learn to appreciate and focus on what's happening in the here and now, we'll experience a richness of living that other members of the animal kingdom enjoy. 2. Nurture a Balanced life. Dogs need to be offered exercise, discipline, and affection every day. Do the same for yourself. We humans are happier if our routines include physical activity, a sense of structure, and the opportunity to give and receive love on a daily basis. 3. Trust you instincts. Animals don't care about words. They recognize that what is really going on in any interaction is beneath the surface. By paying attention to non-verbal cues such as body language and energy, we can learn more about our friends, our loved ones, and ourselves. 4. Learn to Listen. Make the time to lend an ear to those you love or those who want to transform their lives. But don...

In honor of a day of change all over America I thought I was ready for a change too. What d'ya think of the new wallpaper folks? I love Valentine's Day so I wanted something sweet and "Valentiney". :O)

"The most important thing she’d learned over the years was that there was no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one. " — Jill Churchill I am far from a perfect mother. Some days I don't even think I could call myself a good one. Here are a few of the millions of ways that help me on my "good mother" days. 1. Try to get all the housekeeping things done so that when they get home from school in the afternoon they have my undivided attention . 2. Turn off the radio on car rides so we can talk. 3. Tell them not just that I love them but that I like them and why . 4. Family scripture study before they go off to school to armor them for the day. Middle school is tough. 5. Sometimes I say "no". 6. Home Cooked Meals . Share your best "good mom" tip! Whether it is something you do, your mom did for you, or something you have seen in another good mother. Leave them in the comments. :O)

Tanner joined a McKinney Rec team and has really had a good experience with it. He played in his first game saturday and look at the final score! (we were the visitors.) This team is AWESOME ! This is going to be such a great opportunity for him. The guys he is playing with are all a good group of boys and they are teaching him alot. His skills are really improving and he gets ALOT of playing time. (There are only 7 guys on the team) Also, I really like his coach. He is exactly what Tanner needs. He is good, knowledgeable, but not too intense. Most important, he is having fun. He is also the Brent's Assistant Coach for McKinley's team. He really enjoys that (and so does McKinley) I will post pictures from her first game next week.

Saturday night, we went to dinner with close friends from our old ward. Actually, half of the people that came are still in C2 but the other half have moved away. It was so thrilling to see everyone. I get together with the girls for lunch pretty often but this was especially nice because all the guys were there too. We stayed for almost 3 hours talking! I think we would have stayed longer but some of us had to go pick kids up from the Stake Dance. There is nothing like good friends and these are some great ones. I feel so blessed to have had them in my life. Some of them I have known for almost 20 years. I will love them forever. Jammi and Roger Jammi is so fun to talk with. She is one of the best story tellers I know. It never fails that every time I am around her, she always cracks me up. Jim and Diane Jim is one of the smartest people I have ever met. At one point he was literally a rocket scientist. Now he is doing some other genius endeavor. Diane is probably the sweetest perso...

I know many of you have had this experience so you can relate. Today was a sad day for me, and I didn't realize it would be. I got a call from my mom shortly after noon to tell me that the estate planners were coming over to meet with them to go through my grandmother's house. "GiGi" as we call her has Alzheimers. Her husband, Jim, is in the final stages of liver cancer. They just recently moved out of their house of thirty+ years to an independent living apartment complex. Mom wanted me and my sister to go over and get anything that we might want before the sale. I got pretty emotional; especially when I looked out the window that overlooks the deck in their backyard. There is a swing there that every single one of my kids loves. She only lives two blocks from our old house so we used to walk over to her house all the time and no matter what the weather, they would always want to go out there and swing with her and Papa. So many memories came flooding back to me whe...

A little poem I heard from John Bytheway on a BYU fireside (on BYUTV) today. Makes me stop and go "hmmmmm....." I might have another resolution to add to my growing list..... Builders vs. Wreckers I passed one day through a lonely town And saw men tearing a building down. With a ho-heave-ho and a husky yell They swung at a beam and a side wall fell. I asked the foreman, “Are these men skilled- The kind you’d hire if you had to build?” “Oh no!” he chuckled, “No indeed- The common laborer is all I need.” “Why I can destroy in a day or two What builders have taken weeks to do.” I thought to myself as I went on my way “Which of these rolls have I tried to play? Am I the builder who works with care Strengthening lives by rule and square, Shaping my peers to a well made plan- Helping them do the best they can- Or am I a wrecker who walks around Content with the labor of tearing down?” -Author Unknown

Last night I took Tanner to basketball practice at a middle school in a neighboring city. When I woke up this morning I realized a) I must have left the phone at the middle school by accident or b) dropped it in the parking lot on my way to the car. Oh crap! I searched high and low and all over my house, purse, and car but to no avail. I knew It HAD to be at the school. "Oh, well" I told a friend , "Fat chance that some middle schooler would find a pink razr and turn it in to the lost and found. I guess I will be buying a new phone this week." I even called and had the provider turn the service off so that I wouldn't be responsible for any calls. I had just finished making a list of all the lost phone numbers I would have to find a re-enter when... HALLELUJAH! (insert chorus of angels here) My home number rang!!! The Middle School Coach called to tell me someone had turned it in and left it on his desk. I am so glad to hear that someone out there has some integ...

I get the Real Simple quote of the day and today it was this one from Ann Frank: "Whoever is happy will make others happy too." Pretty amazing considering what a hard life she lived. I think it so true. I really love being around people who are happy despite their circumstances and Ann Frank is certainly a perfect example of that! I have a friend who suffers from chronic pain- REALLY bad chronic pain EVERY SINGLE DAY and yet the first word that comes to mind to describe her is HAPPY. Whenever I am with her I feel happy too. As a mom I think this is particularly true. I TOTALLY set the mood for my house. If I am pms-ing or irritable - it sucks the joy out of the whole house. Fortunately I realized that awhile ago so I know can do something about it now. (My family is probably really glad about that too!) A few years ago while going through a particularly hard time as a family we came up with a stupid little game that we called "finding the silver lining". We would ...

My baby is not a baby anymore! WAAAAAAH! He is a Sunbeam now. Fortunately, he has two wonderful teachers (Sister Hambly and Sister Delgado) so the transition was smoooooth!