At the Zoo

Last Monday we celebrated Sophia and Rachel's birthday with a day at the zoo. 

Cameron Park Zoo is in Waco; which is an hour north of us.

It was truly a MAGICAL day at the zoo.

The weather was chilly and we were the only visitors

(at least it seemed that way)

The animals were especially friendly.

We spent the day with Simon & Garfunkel singing in our ears.

*to get the full effect of our day at the zoo play the video to hear the song as you look at the pictures.              

                    



                

                     This is how all of our outings end

Happy Birthday Sophia

We celebrated Sophia's 9th birthday with a trip to the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco. 
The kids played hooky from school (it was an educational field trip).
*loads of fabulous pics to follow in my special edition Zoo Post

I can't believe my first baby is 9 YEARS OLD. I can't believe I have a 9 YEAR OLD kid!

Sophia is SPIRITED, INTENSE, a lover of animals, has a wonderful imagination, and an impressive view of the world and life in general (she really gets it). 









Happy Birthday Rachel

Rachel was born at home, surrounded by her family, 3 years ago. 
Rachel is the family baby...she always will be. 

Our baby is SPICEY, STRONG, BRAVE, CONFIDENT and FUNNY.

We celebrated her birthday at home with a sincere cake. 
Remember that line from It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown:

"He'll come here because I have the most sincere pumpkin patch and he respects sincerity." Linus

I love how the Littles are singing Happy Birthday to their baby



Friday 1.21.2011

Uneventful is today's title.

Today my head was full of cobwebs (again...geez).
I got a few things done in the office.

One small change has been made in the Foy house; no more tv for the kids.
Not the real kind of "no tv".
It's still sitting there, taking up too much space in the living room.

It's just that yesterday Rachel was watching Max and Ruby while I put clothes away.
I listened from the other room and was deeply disturbed when I heard a Dexatrim ad in the commercial break.
Little kids can't even watch freakin' Max and Ruby without being indoctrinated into being weight conscious. I imagined my sweet toddler, sucking on her hand, sitting on the couch in a diaper watching her favorite cartoon then hearing, "loose weight, be thin". Ironically that commercial was followed by a McDonald's commercial. Really?
TV cartoons will be replaced with dvd's that I choose.
I can't quit cold turkey. What else are they gonna do...read?

*side note- tomorrow is Rachel's 3rd birthday and Monday is Sophia's 9th! HOLLA.
No elaborate, themed birthday parties with handcrafted invitations here. Maybe someday I'll get my head cleared and get "it" in gear. But until then it's
just a homemade box cake, streamers and our immediate family
(that's why I had so many kids...instant party guests; with no guest gift required).
Each Birthday Little will be sincerely celebrated.

I was supposed to order chicks today. I don't know why I didn't.

Before I sign off on another day have a look at what I'm dreaming of:

Thursday 1.19.2011

A few lessons were learned and reinforced today:

1.  Don't assume you don't have to put a mattress cover on a Little's bed because that Little is NEVER a "messy" sleeper.

At 4am I heard a sweet voice beckoning me, chanting, "mama...mama...mama."
I responded to Rachel's request and unlocked her door.
*side note- Don't judge, yes we lock Rachel in her room at night. Have you met her? 
No one wants this kid free to roam at night. TRUST ME. 
Vomit everywhere, seriously everwhere. And yes, the mattress had absorbed a good portion of it. Merry Christmas. Not.

2.  Never give a child a "dry clean only" blanket to sleep with. Ever.

3.  If it smells like pee or poop...it is.
Don't try to fool yourself by saying, "it couldn't be."

Frederik Chopin, the outdoor only (yes he's neutered) Utah Garden Gnome, walzed in this afternoon and relieved himself on my side of the bed. Thank you myself for using a mattress pad THIS time.


I wasn't all too productive today.  I cleaned all day and the house is messier than this morning. I should've watched A&E all day instead.

It was just too cold to move properly today. When I took Sophia and Nathan to school at 7:30 it was 52 degrees. When I got back home, 20 minutes later, it dropped to 38. It stayed in the 30's all day. Loser temperature.

Productivity Report:
Mr. Foy kicked the hell outta installing t-posts for a deer-proof, kid and dog-restraining fence.
AND we got started on repaving our driveway.

We have big plans for this house...BIG PLANS.





Who doesn't love a toddler in princess shoes and a diaper?!



Wednesday 1.19.2011

It's fair to say that I've had better days.

Mr. Foy and I made another attempt at registering our vehicles and obtaining a Texas driver's license.
We've been a bit frazzled these days (being an adult isn't for the faint of heart).
You see, somewhere between here and Utah I "misplaced" Mr. Foy's birth certificate
(I must've put it somwhere where I wouldn't forget).
We need that certificate to fulfill our mission of becoming legit Texas residents.

Remember that hampster wheel I mentioned yesterday?

Blah blah blah...and a few more headaches along the way
(one being Sophia's dog peeing on the rug) and I was needing some respite.
So I made a quick trip to walmart to buy some stuff I don't need:

• Almond Joy (king size)
• 2 magazines (Real Simple & Martha Stewart Living)
• 2 $5 Elvis movies

Allow me to look on the bright side for a moment:

• We got the materials we need to build our fence (John Wayne is doing this himself!)
• Nathan started a new karate class, which he really enjoyed (earlier he told me that he doesn't need to learn karate to defend himself. I agreed with him)
• My mom stopped-by for a visit; just in time for me to "allow" her to babysit the girls while I ran an urgent, unexpected errand (another part of my bad day). I came home to folded clothes and clean dinner dishes. Thank you mommy.
• My gnarly, gooey pink eye is finally going away!

I thought it'd be nice if I left you with

a few of my favorite things.

This is one of our family's favorite songs:


And these cute kittens in a basket. Kittens in a basket, how cute and happy is that? These boys are HUGE now, but they used to be so tiny.

Our Utah garden gnomes, Frederik Chopin & Garfield, as kittens

Good night Wednesday, January 19th 2011.

Tuesday 1.18.2011

I broke a sweat on the hampster wheel today. Round and round; ending-up nowhere.
Mr. Foy and I had great intentions of conquering the world today. But, my gnarly, never-healing, pink eye distracted me. I know I'm not supposed to be in human contact with this impairment, but seriously, is that even possible?
Mr. Foy started the day in a most grandeous way...a sweet Scripture study with the Littles before school. I, on the other hand, fumbled through making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and getting Sophia and Nathan to school just as the bell was ringing.

A wee bit later I dragged Mr. Foy to Ikea. I had hopes of strolling through the magical aisles, selecting pieces that would heal our bathroom (it is seriously ill), then having a Disneyland experience in the Ikea restaurant. WOMP...instead we realized we were running late to meet someone on a ranch somewhere to look at his makeshift chicken coop cuz it was being offered at a steal. Just as we pulled up to Ikea we rushed in to find the shortest route to the restaurant (apparantly there isn't really a shortcut). We wolfed down a meal and swooped past all my bathroom salvation whilst holding a screaming ornery 3 year old and dragging a tired 4 year old.
Mr. Foy has requested that he never have to return to Ikea (insert sad face).

Later in the day, EmmaJune informed us that she was sick.
She fell asleep on the couch for the rest of the day.
She even slept as I bombarded the living room with my
vacuum cleaner (getting ready for our dinner guests).

Nathan has been catching lizards and losing them in the house. Nice...Not.
He feels the need to carry these creatures with him while he completes his daily chores.

And to round off the day, we shared our evening and a meal with the Missionaries.

Monday 1.17.2010

Here at the Foy home we're grateful for Dr. Martin Luther King Junior.
I'm especially grateful to live in a harmoniously diverse community.
I'm grateful that my Littles are able to be friends with all kinds of folks.
To learn that we're all the same; just trying to get back home the best way we know how.

Randomly...I used my day off to color and cut my hair.

I explained to the Littles that mommy needs to paint her hair to

cover-up all the gray hair they give me.

They understand.

*side note- I'm wearing my shades; not because my future's so bright, but because I'm hiding my insanely gnarly goopy pink eye (that refuses to go away).

The Littles spent their day wisely in the yard. Enjoying a 60 degree Texas afternoon whilst jumping, preparing a picnic of fruit snacks and pretzels, and catching lizards.

Today Mr. Foy experienced his first migraine. When his misery had subsided we hopped in his pickup and drove off into the sunset to negotiate a deal on a chicken coop. Mr. Foy was successful and we now have a coop waiting for our next adventure.

*side note- Mr. Foy is John Wayne. He doesn't mess around with life (he seriously gets things done).

Yard Work

Having a good-sized yard means A LOT of yard work to do.
We're (well, mostly David is) in the process of clearing out the woods behind our house.

This project has kicked my trash!

A day of moving sticks and limbs from one pile to another and I'm tore-back!

You couldn't even walk through here before Dave and his machete had way.

Dave and the Big Guy prepping fire wood

Emma and Rachel...not much help, but cute.

That's how we spent our Saturday