There's no place like home!!

No place at all. Which is why we've decided to move back home. We will be driving our loaded U-haul out of Texas the morning of July 13th. Jason actually brought up the idea of moving last August. We had just moved into our apartment, the kids had started new schools, he had started a new job.... We just knew it wasn't the right time. We've been planning since then to make this move as smooth as possible. And now(well, July!) is the right time. We'll have all of our loose ends wrapped up and on our way to a whole new chapter of the Hallock Family Chronicles. The kids are so excited!! They can't wait to be closer to family. We've lived away for to long, it's time to go home. The kids are going to Grammie's over memorial day weekend and will be there until we arrive in Kansas in mid-July. This will give us an opportunity to pack in an organized manner and save big bucks on daycare. We will live with my Grammie and Grampy until we get on our own. Hopefully it will be no more than a few months. We want to have Thanksgiving at our house this year :0) Jason and I have already been scoping out for jobs and houses. Derby is a great town, and the suburb of a large city. It'll give us the small town feel with everything we need close by.

http://www.derbyks.com/

Wanna know a secret??

Everyone has been asking me about the countdown on the side. What's the secret?? When are you going to tell us?? Well, the time has come to announce the secret!!! Are you excited??? I bet you are!! Tune in tomorrow so you can find out!!

A Great Day :0)

This is me and my $200 "check" I won last week. I specifically asked the photographer to take my pic so I could post it. Hehehe.

I can't wait to get these gift cards. I have lots to buy!!

a LIttLE BiT Of RaNDOMneSs

***I'M FEELING BETTER, NOSE IS A LITTLE TENDER, BUT I'M NOT COMPLAINING. ON SATURDAY I WAS PREPARED TO MEET MY MAKER, SO TODAY IS BETTER

***THE KIDS ARE GETTING SUPER ANTSY TO GO TO GRAMMIES. JONATHAN CHECKS THE BLOG DAILY TO SEE THE COUNTDOWN, AND I'VE ALREADY HAD TO SEND SAVANNAH BACK TO HER ROOM TO UNPACK TWICE!!

***HAD MY ANNUAL REVIEW AT WORK TODAY. IT WAS BETTER THAN I WAS EXPECTING, BUT NOT AS GOOD AS IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN. OH WELL. WOO-SAH!

***COOK CHILDREN? WE WERE IN THE SHOPPING CENTER WHERE THERE IS A COOK CHILDREN'S PEDIATRIC CLINIC. WOULDN'T YOU KNOW THE LIGHTS IN THE WORD PEDIATRIC ARE BURNT OUT, ALL YOU CAN READ IS COOK CHILDREN'S. SO MY SWEET BABY SAYS, WITH EYES FULL OF TERROR, "MOMMA, DO THEY REALLY COOK CHILDREN THERE?" I WANTED TO SAY YES, JUST TO BE PLAYFUL, BUT HER EYES TOLD ME THIS WAS NO LAUGHING MATTER. SO I HAD TO TELL HER THE TRUTH, NO CHILDREN ARE COOKED THERE.

***THE KIDS BROUGHT HOME THEIR REPORT CARDS AND OF COURSE THEY ARE SUPER SMART. JONATHAN'S LOWEST GRADE WAS AN 84, BUT EVERYTHING ELSE WAS OVER A 90. HE EVEN BROUGHT UP HIS HANDWRITING FROM AN "N" TO AN "S". THAT'S A HUGE DEAL. I TRULY THINK SAVANNAH WRITES BETTER THAN HIM. HE JUST DOESN'T CARE AND GOES TO FAST. SAVANNAH WAS "DEVELOPED" IN ALL HER SKILLS AND RECEIVED AN "E" IN ALL CATEGORIES EXCEPT FOR...FOLLOWS DIRECTIONS IN CLASS AND REMAINS QUITE AT APPROPRIATE TIMES....HA. COLOR ME SURPRISED!!!

***I HAVE DONE SOMETHING THAT I DIDN'T KNOW IF OR WHEN I WOULD BE ABLE TO DO. IT'S BEEN 2 WEEKS AND I'M STILL GOING STRONG, SO I HAVE FAITH IT WILL BE OK. I'M LIKE A JUNKIE, WAITING FOR THE URGE TO COME FOR THE FIX, BUT NOTHING YET. PRAISE GOD! THIS WAS ONE OF MY NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS AND I'M SO HAPPY TO BE ON MY WAY TO BEING CLEAN:)

***4 MONTHS, 2 DAYS....NUFF SAID!!


***WE HAVE AN INCENTIVE PROGRAM AT WORK, WITH AUCTIONS AND ALL THIS FUN STUFF. LAST WEEK I BID AND WON, BASICALLY 200 BUCKS. YOU HAVE TO REDEEM IT IN GIFT CARDS, WHICH IS FINE WITH ME. I ORDERED A $50 RED LOBSTER GC, AND 3 $50 MARSHALL'S GC. PLUS I STILL HAVE MY $25 MOVIE GC FROM VALENTINES DAY, SO WHEN MY OTHERS ARRIVE WE WILL HAVE A HUGE HALLOCK FAMILY FUN DAY!! THE KIDS NEED SPRING AND SUMMER CLOTHES, AND I NEED A LOBSTER TAIL!!! HEHEHEHE :0)

AND THEY ACT LIKE THEY DON'T LOVE EACH OTHER!!

Last Night was Bad!!

I feel 75% better, except for my throat and ear. I woke up about 3 a.m. just sobbing, b/c of the pain in my ear. I'm so dehydrated b/c it hurts so bad to swallow. I only drink when my mouth is cotton. Since my nose is stuffed and I have to sleep with my mouth open to breath, that's about every hour. I swish just enough water around to relieve the cotton feeling then hold my ear and grimace in pain while I swallow. When I woke up last night it was the worst it's ever been. I broke down and took some leftover tylenol with codine and had Jason put some homeopathic ear drops in. Then proceeded to lay there and cry. It was horrible. I woke up this morning feeling better, not great, but better. As long as I don't swallow the pain is bearable. I kinda wish the ear drum would just rupture already. Once that happens the pain will subside.

Be sure to check out the other site. I did some scrappy pages last night, and hope to do more today :0)

We have a new baby!!

This is our new Baby Ball Python, well Jason's anyway.... He is about a month old , and weighs 75 grams, it's actually very pretty, for a snake.

The best thing about being sick...

Is that my hubby and kiddos are doing all the normal Hallock Saturday Chores, and I'm laying in bed getting ready to take a nap. Now honestly, I'd rather clean than feel the way I do, but if I have to find an upside to this sickness that would be it!!

Miserable

Fever
Chills
Nausea
Vomiting
Body Aches
Ear Pain
Headache
Sore Throat
Snotty Nose-yes green :0(

Yes, my friends I have it all.

Here's to sleeping all day and a speedy recovery

Snow!

We'll we finally saw snow over here today. It started coming down pretty good about noon or so. At 1:30 Jason's company announced they could go home. Our department finally got released about 3:30. We went and picked up the kiddos from day care and stopped to get some Starbucks. Savannah is feeling better, but Jason and I are still pretty icky. I actually feel worse today then I have the last 2 days. I'm praying it freezes tonight and school is canceled so I can stay home with the kiddos tomorrow. I feel so miserable! This winter has been hard on us. We have all been sicker this winter than we ever have been in the past. Jason is out getting me meds right now. The warm bath helped a little too. Hopefully I'll be able to knock out soon without waking up in coughing fits. Which kinda stinks b/c New Amsterdamn is one tonight, and I'm really diggin' it.

***************

Jonathan playing outside alone b/c everyone else is sick :0(

Kiddos on the way in from the snow
Jonathan getting ready to snowball Daddy

My boi!
A veiw of the snow of our apt landing

Who said 3 out of 4 ain't bad?

Well, whom ever they were, they were wrong. 3 out of 4 of the Hallock's are sick. Thankfully Jonathan is not sick. He has the sacred TAKS test tomorrow. I've never seen people go as crazy over standardized testing as they do in Texas. It's insane! He scored an 89% on the 2006 test, so we are not worried about him not doing well. However, as an extra incentive he has been told he'll receive any DS game of his choice if he receives 97% or higher. Slightly unattainable? Maybe. Everyone has to have a goal though. Jason and Savannah stayed home today with their fevery, coughy, snotty selves. Hopefully tomorrow everyone will be OK, and back to normal. We didn't get any snow last night. That stinks. I hate snow less winters! AGH!

Blah, Blah, Blah

I hate insurance. I hate insurance. They are stupid. Why can't I be rich?

The end of another weekend :(

Yet another weekend gone to fast! Friday night we didn't do much. I had a bad day at work and Jason was tired so we pooped out early. Saturday Jason went in to work while the kids and I stayed home and tended to the domestic duties. By the time Jason came home the house was spotless and the laundry was done. I had even made this for our room:

The pics were black white and red, so they are a perfect match for our room. I used the same ribbon, paper , and embellishments from the LOVE we made last week. I had the perfect place to hang it and it looks great.

Savannah also made 4 SB pages! She loves scrappin too.

While we were finishing these up Jason and Jonathan went and played some b-ball. Then of course added dirty clothes to my empty laundry basket. Grrrr....

Jason and I made dinner together. What fabulous cuisine did we come up with you ask? My favorite breakfast of all time! We had sausage gravy over biscuits with hashbrowns and scrambled eggs. Yummy. After dinner we sat down for some Hallock Family Movie Night. We watched The Game Plan. It was very cute! I love watching clean wholesome movies with the kids.

During the movie Savannah had a mental breakdown. For no apparent reason she started crying for her Aunt Misty. I mean sobbing uncontrollably. I had her call Misty to try and calm her down, but I think it may have scared poor Misty to death. Nobody wants to answer the phone to sobbing on the other end. That'll make anybody's heart stop. Misty got her calmed down a little by promising a summer visit. Savannah has talked about it non-stop since last night.

She was even talking about it when she woke up in the middle of the night with a fever. Yes, a fever. No real reason I can tell. No vomit. Thank God! She just came into our room burning up. I gave her some Tylenol and brought her out to the couch. We were going to try a new church today, but nope. Can't take a sickie to Church. She's laying next to me with her melodic snore keeping me company as I type. Jason and Jonathan are out playing B-ball again and I'm just here chillin. I have been nursing a headache for about 3 days now. I think it's work related. I need a lower stress job. That place is insane with stress. Agh!

Opportunities for Grace

I was going to put the quote below on my sidebar, but I decided it was to good. I love it. It is from the book I finished last night. I read it, then I read it again, and then I read it again. It just stopped me in my tracks. It is so true. People always think when bad things happen to them that God is punishing them. This quote totally put another spin on the trials and tribulations we endure.


We're all given terrible trials sometimes, things we think will break our spirit and kill us, and they make us stronger in the end. They seem like the cruelest blows, but in a funny way they're like compliments from God. If he didn't love you and believe in you, He wouldn't give you challenges like this. They're opportunities for Grace.

My Cube

Savannah asked me to take pictures of where I work, so she could see. I figured I'd share them with ya'll too. You can see where I sit and answer your e-mails, talk to you on the phone, and dream of much bigger and better things than this cube.

My Name Plates. I have had the regular one since I started, I got the fancy new one when I completed my OJT training :)

This is my work area from the "door way" of my cube.
Looking into my cube
The wall behind me.
This is what I see when I'm sitting in my chair. Except I don't see Tom anymore, I changed it to a pic of Jason and I.
So now when you call or e-mail me you get a visual of my little work world :0)

The Love/Hate of Sundays

I love the weekends. I get to hang out with my family, shop, clean, veg, cook. Yesterday Jason was going to go into work for awhile, but decided not to. We took the kids to lunch at THEIR favorite place. Then went grocery shopping, and to the park to play.

Jason Slam Dunkin'

Savannah doing the beam
Jason trying to teach Savannah how to bat(it didn't work)Mr.Cool
My boy, he doesn't li to smile b/c of his teeth, it makes him look sad in all his shots



We had an awesome time. We played HORSE, catch, Savannah and I enjoyed the sun and read a little bit. It was an awesome way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon.

When we got home I fixed an awesome dinner of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans. Misty told me that they were having that on Friday and I had been craving it ever since. It was SO yummy!! After dinner Savannah left to go to Kiyah's and the boys( Welton was here) had a grand time having the place to themselves. They eat tons of junk food and watched a football movie Jonathan rented.

While the boys were doing that, Jason and I worked on these....

I bought the letters last weekend when I bought the rest of the goodies for our room. They turned out so good! I love them. Also, on Saturday my pics for over the bed arrived. Yippee!! Jason and I haven't decided if we want to mat and frame them, or put them on a canvas and decorate the canvas's to match the letters. Either way I am loving our room. It only needs a few more things to be "done". The kids are not allowed to watch TV in there anymore, so that almost eliminates the clutter. It's always clean....ahhhhh... I love it.

Today I am working on laundry, and chilin. I am hoping to do some digi LO's later so check the other site if you get a chance. Jason has lemon bars in the oven, I can't wait for those babys to cool. They are my favorite treat!! I hope the day starts moving a little slower, I hate to see Sundays end!!

Turn On Your Speakers!!

I love this song! Jason sent it to me today at work.

Underpaid

I'm about sick and tired of doing my TL's job. I'm about to throw a bunch of crap you may or may not understand, but it's a vent and I don't know any other way to vent it. Previously I split the investor portion of our job with another girl. So you'd think when she announced she was going to be out for 2 weeks they'd train someone to take her position right? Nope. Let's give Angel the portfolios for all the private investors! This part is Ok, I have 2 assistants, so I can delegate to them and do the work that I really enjoy(spreadsheets, reports, and investor contact). However, even with 2 assistants, this is a huge task. I am constantly busy. All this would be A-OK except my TL doesn't know how to do her job. She is constantly sending me crap, asking me crap, and having me do her crap. Which of course interferes with my job. Today she had me going in circles, b/c she didn't know what she was doing!! She wanted me to find her a contact. Fine. I found the internal contact, that would be who would possibly be able to help her find the external contact. Well, she doesn't know if this is the right person, so she wants ME to e-mail and find out if it is. Bottomline: She wants me to e-mail b/c she doesn't really know what to say or what information she is looking for. AAGGGH! So annoying. So glad it won't be going on to much longer.

Good Day :0) Bad Day :0(

Good: I called Staci this morning to chit-chat, and discovered she was in Ft. Worth!! Only 10 minutes from house. So I convinced her(it didn't take much) to swing by and visit. I had not seen her with my own 2 eyes since Memorial day weekend last year when Grace turned 3. We had a great time chatting, laughing, and playing with the kiddos. I got to play with this little guy who is 1 today!

Happy Birthday Morgan!!

Me and Staci

Photo taken by "Big Girl" Gracie! She did awesome!

After every pic Gracie took of Staci and I she wanted to take a picture with her Mommy.

Don't they look Cutie?

Me and my other Gracie Girl!!!
Gracie rockin the "innocent girl" pose!!

Bad: I took the car in for brakes and it needs bunches of other crap too. That's not so bad. The bad part is that they have to order some parts and I may not get it back until tomorrow! WHAT! I was very nice to the fellow and explained we are a one car family and I NEED THAT CAR BY 2:30!!!! He is in the process of trying to find the parts at differant dealerships, and hopefully he will be able to send one of his guys to go pick them up. If not I will have to rent a car for a day! Agh! What a pain!

Wheeew!

This weekend has flown by! Thankfully I have tomorrow off too! Yesterday we went and did some running around. I bought my Febuary gift for the Year of Angel! I picked up some goodies at Micheals for our bedroom. I really want to make it a special place for Jason and I , instead of the family hang out it is now. So this is what I got:
Can you take a stab at what the colors will be? I also bought some letters at Hobby Lobby to put on the wall, and e-mailed Mellibelle to order the 12x12 prints for over the bed. I need candles though(ahem, Staci) Yipee!!! We also picked up the stuff for Jonathans school project on the Planets. It turned out pretty good. It was a family project for sure!

We tried a new church this morning, and I am so frustrated. We cannot find one up here that we both like. We are tempted to stop being lazy bums, and just get up early to drive back to Meadowridge. It had the music and the message that we love. Not to mention people we adore. I keep in contact with some of the people from down there and I may see what the scoop is with the schedules now.

I did our taxes this weekend and we are getting back......$11. Yes, $11 bucks. I'm not suprised, I actually thought we'd have to pay in. It cost me $7.95 to file, so ya, not really making any money. Oh well.

I have pretty much firmed up the kiddos trip to Grammies. Jason and I have to put in the vacation time for the Friday before Memorial day, but that's it! Jonathan and Savannah are stoked to spend 7 weeks with Grammie, and Jason and I are stoked to spend 7 weeks child free! It makes me super thrilled that I have Big Kids that I can send off to the grandparents.

Jason and Jonathan are off playing basketball and will be home soon, so I better go and start dinner. I hope ya'll had a great weekend too!

The Best Valentines Day ever!!

This V-day ROCKED!! Jason and the kids got up and opened their gifts at 6:15 before I went to work. Jason got a movie, a CD, and some candy. The Savannah got some HSM stuff and Jonthan got NBB stuff. Then when I got to work.....Jason sent a dozen orange roses!! They are so pretty. I love them!!! Much better than red.

I love them( AND HIM) so much

Instead of going out we decided to stay home and try our hand at our new favorite food...SUSHI! We all went to the asian market and bought the goodies. The kids thought it was neat, but smelly!! This is our Sushi stash....

The Hallock Sushi Bar.....

rice, avacado, cream cheese, cucumber, imitiation crab meat, and salmon( yes, raw)

Not pictured: Nori

Sushi Chef Jason

Yummy!!! The sushi looks good too......hehehe
Savannah LOVED the Califonia rolls, Jonathan choose to eat one then proclaim he was "so full"

He's such a chesseburger and FF kid. He never wants to try anything new.
At work I won a valentines gift basket. It had bubble bath, candles, rose petals, cider, crystal classes, a teddy bear, chocolates and a $25 movie gift card. It was a nice unexpected v-day gift for Jason.
When the kids went to bed he came into the bedroom and saw this......

I shouldn't have to tell you how the night ended....