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Lisa's Losin' It

So I was all set to make me a new blog. Got a nifty lil' title for it and everything. Lisa's Losin' It, catchy eh? Too bad somebody else thought of it back in 2007. Woe is me. Blibbitty bloggitty boo!

I figured I'd have a seperate spot for all my excess rambling that's not all about the fellas and isn't buildabirthday but alas there'll just have to be extra random rambling here.

Aaaaanyhoo, big news of sorts round these parts - if you don't count Josey's ongoing/neverending stomach issues we have not had to go to the doctor in two (count em up, that's TWO) whole months. Holla. And we got off pretty easy today too - sinus, ear infection, pharyngitis, the gianotti-crosti rash, and only an hour and a half of missed school. Take that truancy letters. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Also after probably three stinking months of primed kitchen cabinets I finally finished painting them today. I am still in the midst of clearing out the ole Birthday Closet but I do have a couple party games under way. I just finished typing up and posting a big long ramble about Spring Break (just scroll on down after this if you care to read it). AND as of Monday I've been losing pounds (and occasionally my mind) left and right for one whole year. Blammo. As of today I have lost 82.2 pounds exacatally. Adam said I am the secret ingredient in awesome sauce. Adam rules.

Spring Breakitty Break Break

Spring Break, hot diggitty dog :)

Spring Break started off on the minus side with a call from the school nurse already at just after 8. Aye. It was just a make sure Josey hadn't already had medicine before they gave him any call though. Of course it was then followed by a 10 o' clock, this medicine ain't working, come get the boy call.

Luckily it was just his typical stomach/headache combo and I got him settled into bed with Adam (night shift does have it's perks) and kicked off Spring Break by meeting up with some super swell gals at La Funk. I loooooooooves me some La Finca, I really really do. Chicken Breast Platter - skip the rice and salad, switcheroo it to bean soup and refried beans. It is straight up tasty. Supreme deliciousness.

We headed to my hizouse after La Finca for the early release school crew to play. The fellas had loads of fun playing with their old crew and some new boys that Jacob has been talking about nonstop since. Apparently Junior beat Angry Birds on Ben's kindle and is now Jake's hero and Elias is his "best friend".

Saturday night we met up with Mary and Savanha Banana for a rollerskating good time. O'course Ben didn't even hang long enough for me to get a picture of them. Mary assisted Josey with some hanging onto the wall ring arounds before he called it a night. Jakers on the other hand LOVED him some skating. I had bought him some skates awhile back (at the Clothes Closet obvi, 25 cents ya'll) and had been wanting to go since. He deemed himself the best skater ever and ran, hopped, and skated the night away. They had a game (don't remember what it was called) where you dropped down on the floor whenever the music went off and boy did he get into that. For a couple songs after it was over every time a song would end he'd drop to the floor. Mary and I totally did the Cha Cha Slide too. I had way too much fun doing that. My knee felt those hops in the morning I'll tell ya what.

Next morning we headed to Dallas.

Our first stop was The Rainforest Cafe.Our table was right beside a big ole gorilla that randomly hooted and moved around. Jakers moved closer to me every time the gorilla started up until I realized he thought it was real and let him know otherwise. The fellas got their typical fare of burgers and chicken but I decided to try something different (gasp!) and ordered the Tuscan Chicken. It was so good. At first I wasn't so sure about it, then it grew on me a lil, next thing I know it's gone and I'm wishing for more. The cooked (and apparently pickled) cucumbers were totally weird and just eww though. They can keep those jokers.

Next we killed some time taking pictures of giant sized candies at the candy store. They also had a sweet selection of magnets including these two

(I didn't buy either of them but I totally took the second one to heart and got me a Reese's Peanut Butter brownie, it was definitely as good as it sounds)

The Sea Life Aquarium was pretty darn swell. Before you went in they gave out trivia scratch cards. There were "Fin Facts" on the walls all through the place that gave you the info you needed. Then along the way there were lil pit stops that had the questions set up in different ways with the three answers. Ben got straight up obsessed with the "Quiz trail". Every other second he was "Where's the trail? Where's the trail?" I forgot to mention that they told them they would get a prize at the end. I kept telling the boy it was going to be some sort of tiny prize but did he listen? Course not. He was very (capital VERY VERY) displeased with his temporary tattoo prize. If you ever go there be sure and tell any quiz trail obsessed lil ones they will not be getting some grand trophy or whatever is in there wild lil imaginations.

Besides the quiz trail there were also several neat lil spots where the wall was curved back so you could stand in a lil nook and it was like you were inside or something not quite sure how to explain it. A lot of things looked 3d movieish or something. Very cool beans. There was a shark walk too which was a big curved up aquarium tunnel you walked through over a see through floor. Pretty sweet.

After the aquarium we had a little snacky snack and then swung on by the Game Stop. I am a huge Mario Party fan and as such I'd been just a'counting down the days until the realease date of Mario Party 9. It just so happened that was the day. Go on in to get it and it's not there. Ask the feller at the cash register and he informs me that it's not out yet. Um, excuse me? Do you know who you're talking to here Buster? I KNOW what day Mario Party 9 comes out. I did not say either of those two things of course, just thought them. I just ever so kindly muttered "Oh, because it was supposed to be today". He types a bit in the computer and oh, it does come out today, it must be in the back. Obvi. I told you so. See that, I know more about Mario Party 9 then the Game Stop guy. That's awesome...or really sad, you be the judge. Either way if you happened to be strolling by Grapevine Mall and saw the Mario Party 9 games taken from the back and stocked up on the shelf, you're welcome.

So after resisting the urge to immediately run home and Mario Party our lives away we headed on over to Build A Bear Workshop. Jakers picked out a dachshund which he named Fluffy Puff. Then he made a wish on the little heart (he held it up and whispered "I wish for a snow cone"), fluffed him up, picked out a hot dog costume for him, and carried his pup around with him for the rest of the night.

Fluffy Puff in tow, we hopped into line at Legoland Discovery. I admit I do not have the love of lego that the boys (mainly Josey) have. That and Pokemon I just don't get but while I can't be all awesome sauce over legos, the look on Josey's face when he walked into the big ole room with Dallas in Legos was the total definition of awesome sauce. To make it super deluxe over the top jaw dropping for him the first thing he saw was that they had the same crane as him. He found said crane through the evil evil power of Google. Short story shorter - he googles Lego City, he finds Lego sets that they no longer make and force Santa to drop two hundred dollars on a years old Lego set. The fact that Legoland had "his" crane I'm pretty sure made his whole year.

I'm jumping ahead here though. Let's see here, first thing when you go in they take your picture on the green screen. The photo place actually closed before we left so I have no clue what the photo looks like but I'm nothing if not a thorough bloggitty gal.

Next up you head into a small room with a small pit o' lego to play with whilst you watch a lego video and countdown to Professor Brickabrack. The good professor gives a spiel on how Legos are made and runs some machines with help from the audience. Then he passes out a special Lego as you get into the next line.

The next thing was the Chariot ride. You ride on these little chariots with laser guns attatched to the front. Then you shoot at Lego orcs and other such bad guys to save the princess. It was pretty darn fun. And yeah, I totally got a high score. Or at least I told Jake that I did.

After the Chariots you go on in and do whatever suits your fancy. Ben and Jake spent some quality time in the big playspace while Josey had some extra ooohing and aaahing time in the Lego Dallas room. Then all three built and raced some lego cars and made lego towers to be knocked down with the earthquake button. Then we loaded up on some drinks in the ole Lego Cafe and headed into the 4D movie.

I have to say it really was not that Legoish but the movie was definitely my favorite part. There were a couple actual Lego movies you could watch but we ended up seeing Bob the Builder. He was building a rollercoaster but first he built a Lego one to plan it out. Good tie in I thought. Anyhoo, the 4D part included wind when there was wind, water splashing on you when there was water, and la piece of resistance snow at the end. It was purty darn sweet.

Clearly this had to end with a stop at the Lego gift shop. Josey picked out a new dinosaur Lego set and Ben and Jake requested another stop at Game Stop.

After Game Stop it was time for some medieval supper at Medieval Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimes. Medieval Times is awesome. This was our second time but the first time when Jakers was actually old enough to know what was going on. The big boys loved it again of course but Jakes really really really loved it.

We made some medieval purchases before the big show - a ummmm don't know what you would call it vest type thingy for Josey, a jester hat for Bink (who proceeded to say random things like 2 + 2 is 7 alllllllll night long (and the next morning)), and a sword for lil knight Jakers. Adam even bought me a princess hat, darn tootin'.

Jacob was pretty excited about the no silverware thing especially the bowl with the handle and Josey was keen to point out to us all that it was all "Made in Medieval China".

Our blue knight put out a valiant effort but did not win. Jakers cheered and cheered for him just the same. Every time a knight on our side would come out he'd cheer and every time a knight from the opposite side came out he booed. But the blue knight, well every time he came out Jake stood up and waved his flag like crazy. That is until after the third time our knight came out and threw flowers to the audience and not specifically to me. "Why didn't you throw a flower at my mama, she's gorgeous" The boy is a hoot. He also gave me a good laugh when he had to take Josey out to the bathroom and the man holding the door for us said "My lady". Jake looked at him and said "She's my lady". It was a medieval good time.

After Medieval Times we headed home and stayed up till the crack of dawn playing Mario Party 9. The next morning Ben was still going around in his Jester's hat, Josey in crown, and Jake with his sword. We built a big ole couch pit with a throne on each side and played Mario Party 9 all the day long.

The rest of Spring Break was spent alternating between vegging out in our couch pit/thrones with Mario Party 9 and movies on the projector, running around in the yard, and wandering around in town. We painted ceramics, got ice cream, picked up a pizza and ate it at the library, played at McDonalds, played putt putt, played at a couple parks, went to Kid Station, and just generally had a top notch super awesome sauce time. And then I wrote a book about it. The End.

A Picture is worth a thousand words

Picture with me if you will...

...Josey excitedly pointing out Historical Marker signs as Jacob gives him an as if I have any idea what you're talking about smile, Ben climbing out of the end of a waterslide backwards with feet in the air and his chin still down in the water, Jacob caught in midair as he jumps in front of a mirror from one hotel bed to the other, three boys in awe of the two puppies sitting beside them on the ride home, and finally Jake fast asleep on the floor beside two sleeping puppies.

My new camera is pretty great. I love it, I really do. The software that it came with, not so much. It somehow managed to download/delete with strong emphasis on the delete part, as in I have absolutely zero photos from our trip. So, how about a thousand or so words worth roughly one or two undownloaded photos?

The week of our trip I told the big boys that we would be going somewhere Friday and that I wanted to make sure everyone's rooms were nice and clean before we left.

*Side note - Jacob already knew about it. We told him the weekend before while the big boys were spending the night at their Nana's. We told him it was a secret thinking that he would tell "the brothers" most likely the second he saw them again. For the first time ever though, Jakers kept a secret. Randomly throughout the next couple of days he would say "Hey mom", give a big thumbs up, and attempt to wink .

So every day we all worked together to get one room super tidy and since Jacob didn't slip up I decided to give the big boys a clue after each room was clean.

The first clue was "One room is clean, so here is a hint - try not to get too wet in a town called Flint." Then I gave them a coded message that spelled out "We're going to a waterpark!" They informed me that my code was way too easy and then asked to see pictures. I opened up google for them where they typed in "water" and "Flint". I had to add Texas for them but they found it pretty quick The Waterpark @ The Villages.

The next clue I gave them was a harder code to crack. They tried for awhile to figure it out but eventually just asked if I would tell them how to decode it after the next room was cleaned. That's what they get for telling me my codes are too easy.

*Insert photos of Josey and Ben sitting side by side decoding a message that spells out a website and Ben totally flipping out as he types it in and finds himself face to face with lil dachshund puppies screaming "We're getting a puppy? We're getting a puppy!"

It was a short lil' trip but we had a blast. We left out on Friday with Josey pointing out all the historical markers all the way to Flint. The waterpark was pretty darn swell. The best part about it - it was indoors! It is hot in Texas ya'll.

*Photos that would fit nicely here - Jake standing on a trio of fake rocks while water sprayed down on his head, Josey with a big ole grin as he turns the wheel to let loose a downpour onto his brother, Adam and the boys floating along together in the lazy river, Ben's feet up in the air as he slides down from one of the bigger waterslides, Josey waving at me with a look of terror/glee as he ventures further into the wave pool, Jakers hiding in a little tunnel after I said "we need to be leaving in a little bit"

Here is some person that I don't know and that probably has tons of pictures of their own trip's video of the waterpark

It was lots of fun. We definitely plan on going back one day.

After the waterpark we head to a hotel in Athens, a good midway point between Flint and our final destination, Mabank.

Ah, the Quality Inn & Suites in Athens. I strongly recommend this joint and by strongly recommend I mean good lord don't go to this place. I was completely unaware until this trip that a lot of hotels (more specifically a lot of hotels' fire codes) frown upon my three lil children. I found out from a bunch of message boards that a lot of people lie and say they have two children and just sneak in the third. Well, being the fine upstanding citizen that I am a put down all two adults and three children in my hotel search. I can't guarantee that I'll be so darn upstanding next time.

Of the ones that I found that would accept my whole crew this one looked like my best bet. I think they use the word Quality somewhat loosely. At least they didn't claim to be efficient or anything. I had this conversation at the front desk -

"I have reservations for Fenlaw"

"Oh (looks around on the computer for a couple minutes) for one day this week?"

"Yes, for tonight" (why would I be there if the reservations weren'

t that night?)

"Oh (looks around on the computer again) will you be paying with a credit card?"

"Um, I already paid"

"Oh (more looking on the computer) oh ok, yeah"

Even so, the big boys thought it was pretty neat to be in a hotel and Jacob was positively thrilled.

*It would be nice if I could put photos here of - Jacob opening the mini fridge to take one sip of his drink before closing it and then opening it again to take another sip over and over again, Jake gesturing madly at the fact that "They have a phone! And a lalarm clock!", Jacob jumping from one bed to the next, Josey grinning proudly at the little bed he built for himself on the floor, Bink and I playing cards in the bed, and the totally awesome car with a big ole skull and horns tied to the front of it in the parking lot.

After a Whataburger supper, a game of cards, and much ooohing and aaahing by Jacob over everything in sight Josey decided to put a stop to the fun by locking us out of one half of our room. Luckily we were at least locked on the side of the room that was (somewhat) air conditioned. We made several attempts at breaking in to the other room before Adam said I should just call the front desk and tell them what happened. I told him yeah I was sure they would be glad to help and most likely bill us to do so. Eventually I discover that I can screw off the knobless side of the doorknob and Adam sticks the mini screwdriver that I happen to have in my purse (I've got everything in there) inside and pop the door open.

After that lil ordeal we thank Adam profusely for having the foresight to bring along the Roku player and settle in to watch a little Netflix...in nice little spurts of two or three minutes, top notch "Free wireless high-speed internet access" at this place.

Eventually the boys talk me into taking them down to the pool. I am happy to find now that I'm home to google that I was mistaken and they weren't the location claiming to have one of the biggest outdoor pools in Texas but the boys and I had a nice discussion on the title that it likely could claim "Ickiest, dirtiest, ewwest". The experience was made that much better in that we were joined by the cast of Teen Mom throwing back shots and trying to decide if appreciate is spelled apreshiat or if maybe it does have two p's in it. It was at that point I decided it best to go shower away all evidence of their "seasonal outdoor pool".

After a long night attempting to sleep on the slabs of rock they call beds (I actually got up at one point and slept for about an hour in a chair because it was so much more comfortable) I was looking forward to the "free continental breakfast" and buffet. In their defense looking again online I do not see mention of the buffet I was expecting. Silly me, this photo on their website gave me crazy ideas -

There is a buffet there in fact. It's of course completely empty save a box of plastic spoons but still it is there. The did have make it yourself waffles which the big boys liked. Since it is a hundred stinking degrees and they were attempting to cool this entire room which opened up into the entire lobby with one fan though we decided it best to grab some of the packaged bear claws and get on our way. Jake was the only one that wanted one and it had what looked like a big bite out of it right through the plastic. Lovely. One quick bathroom break and thorough handwashings and we went on our way.

Less then an hour later we were in Mabank picking up our puppies, yep that's plural, puppies. If you don't know our boys have spent the last several years desperate for a puppy but unable to get one because of Ben's big bad dog allergies. Finally on his last retesting the dog (and most of the other) allergy is completely gone :)

We used to have a standard red dachshund named Gypsy when the boys were wee willy winkies. She was a good ole dog that slept under the two big boys cribs and barked at anyone she didn't know trying to mess with her boys. She "went to the North Pole" (I am one heckuva storyteller) though before Bink's allergies kicked in and before Jakers was born. The big boys have told Jake all about her apparently though because he keeps asking me if we can "got get Gypsy back".

We knew we wanted another standard dachshund (fyi - standards range from 16-32 pounds, while Miniatures weigh 11 pounds and under) but they are hard to find around here so that is why we ended up traveling all the way to Mabank to get our pups.

We are now the proud puppy owners of Mars and Loki. Josey named Mars before he even knew we were getting a puppy because we had discussed that when we did it would be a red dachshund. Mars - the red planet - the boy likes science. After they knew it was two Ben kept trying to think of another space related name until Adam pointed out that Mars was also the Roman god of war. He suggested Loki for the lil' one. Loki is the god of mischief....I can tell already the name will suit him.

*This would be a great spot for photos of - The happy lil faces of the fellas coming home with two puppies in the car, Mars with a oh boy what did I get myself into look on his face as Jacob hangs upside down off of the ottomon in front of him, Mars and Loki cuddled up together, Jakers and Mars pulling on either side of a little pillow with their teeth, Ben in both delight and disbelief holding Mars on his lap, Josey laying down beside Loki rubbing his belly, and both puppies fast asleep on the floor with Jake asleep right next to them.

Look here, four, count em, four actual photos (the one with Jake I took early this morning, Mars was happy to see him awake, Jake not so happy to be awake)-

blah..blah..blog

I am completely exhausted and my house is a bit of a wreck. We have had sickness from a wee lil sinus infection, to random "fancy france" rashes, to full on pneumonia up in here. Clearly the only thing for me to do is to ignore my stack o' dirty dishes and randomly decide to get on some blogging. Plus I had a wee bit of Binky amusement that was just a smidge long of a Facebook status so here I am...

So when Jake and then Ben both passed out on the couch, Josey went to his room for yet another round of Lego building, and Adam (the most recent wearer of the pneumonia badge round here) was in bed I decided to watch my taped episode of The Office before tackling our lovely Halloween themed mess.

This particular episode was about Micheal thinking he had herpes and trying to figure out who he got it from (if you watch the Office you know it was of course hilarry, if not trust me it was and by the way you need to get on some Office watching).

So I watch the entire episode completely uninterrupted (!) and then as it goes off out of nowhere Ben perks up and asks "So did he ever find out who gave him the hippies?". Yeah, Ben sleeping, not so much. I can only be glad he is a frequent mispronouncer. I told him Micheal was saying heebies, short for heebie jeebies and someone was just really "creeping him out".

On a side note Jacob has informed me that his favorite color is no longer red. It is "round steak".

Christmas 2009

Krabby Patty...yum

This is a wii pez dispenser, shoots out candy, sweeet

Ben surveying his stocking loot

I didn't force them to do this, I swear

Josey still has a wee bit of his space obsession left

I DESPISE this game, clearly Ben does not

Jakers has a bit of his mama's "sleeping with the enemy tendencies"

You'd think he'd appreciate it and quit messing with my cans

Glow in the dark stars and planets

The only thing Jakers asked for for Christmas -

"Triceratops cake!" I found this wee one with a Santa

on top and replaced it with a couple triceratops(es?)
He was very very very happy with it

Who wouldn't want a giant grasshopper

Legos, legos, and more legos - what I want to know

is how is it possible for such itty bitty insanely easy to

lose bits of plastic cost SO much hmm?

Thankfully so far he hasn't shot his eye out

We now have a laundry basket full of dinosaurs