Trophy Wife

i'm gonna miss chantze!

2006-12-08T04:36:00.000-08:00

Chantze is leaving me for about 9 days. I am going to miss him so much. He is going to Florida and going to have so much fun without me. I am so proud of him. He brought his grades up to a B+ and he earned & saved his own money for the trip. You know what else? He shared his birthday money with Paul & Hailie so they would have money to spend at Target too. He is such a good, generous, and nice boy. Thank you, Jesus!

I love Chantze so much. I won't cry like I use to when he would go on trips with my parents but I will get panicy. Pray for him and if you read this today, call him tonight and wish him lots of fun.

birthday party

2006-11-07T05:27:00.000-08:00

Top L-R: the only picture we had of Brian and Pam together was from a distance and from behind, Fritz and Mom, Elia and Kristin and Bethany, Mom and Dad, Eddie, Laura, Ray's sketch of Chris Baldus, us of course, and Brian and Pam again (cuz we needed nine pictures)

Thank you everyone for my birthday party and presents. The food was great! I loved all my presents! The game was fun but you were suppose to let the birthday girl win (don't forget Violet, you promised I would win at Balderdash next time we play). AND Ray promised a full body rub down. I should be getting that soon. BTW, Ray made sure I felt very special this year. :)

I love you all!

hey

2006-10-21T07:17:00.000-07:00

I am so proud of Hailie. She really is sweet and is very mature. Kindness and compassion is in her genetic make-up. I have heard so many stories about how she will not follow her friends when her friends want to be unkind. She definately takes after her daddy.

Pray for Chantze. He is having a very hard time in science. He really needs your prayers because I would like him to be able to go to Florida in December.

Elia needs prayer. She was diagnosed with UTI (urinary track infection). For those who do not know, she has one kidney that functions properly. The other kidney is bad but does function a little. So this is very serious. She was not hospitalized because she didn't spike a fever but she really needs your prayers.

Grace and Emily are so sweet. I miss them.

My mom and dad helps us so much that I just wanted to post them and tell everyone that I love them very much.

old pics-recent stories

2006-10-14T05:37:00.000-07:00

One night, Paige came out of her bedroom whimpering. She told her daddy, "Brooke keeps making me get out of bed and I fall asleep on the bus. I don't want to turn the movie on."
Ray didn't know what to say so out of his wisdom, he pulled out this...
"ok".

On another night, Brooke was playing so nice. She had her toys placed just right on the road mat that her aunt Wendy gave her. Everything was nice and she was happy but then here comes Chantze. He started to walk passed but stopped and put his butt right in the middle of her little town. Brooke clenched her teeth and balled up both fists then jumped at him with no warning at all. I told Chantze he deserved every bit of her wrath.

Just an FYI on Hailie. If you mistaken her for wearing white nylons DON'T EVER blurt it out. Just trust me on that.

Dan and Katie came over for the twins' b-day party. I love these two. They both are fun and don't seem to worry about anything. They have God in their lives and are not ashamed to express that. They are suppose to be at Elia's b-day party tonight. I hope they make it. I definately want to try to make more of an effort of hanging with them more often. The nice thing is that they have kids my kids age.

One more story about the girls. The other night I had decided to play dolls with the twins. The way they play is like this...
Brooke tells you how to play and Paige agrees with her.

So Brooke was telling me how to play and Paige was saying "yeah mom, do that". Well, I must have not been doing it right because they both told me I couldn't play anymore but I could watch. What's the deal with that? I asked them why and Brooke told me I wasn't playing right and Paige agreed with her by saying "yeah, mom. you wasn't playing right".

what a good man

2006-08-19T18:45:00.000-07:00

ray is so good to us. he is a wonderful father. he loves them so much. he wants to give them so much more than what we can give them. i love this picture because you can see how happy he is when he is with his children and how happy they are when they are with him. there are kids that get a lot--toys, clothes, ipods, computers, etc.--our kids get hugs, kisses, and our prayers everyday. our kids are happy. they have a daddy that pays attention to them. just look at this picture--they're happy.

as a husband, he is just so great. he treats me so good. he listens to me even when he doesn't feel like talking. he is patient with me. he puts up with me when i throw my baby fits. i can tell he loves me. i also get hugs and kisses everyday. he told me he wants to give me much more but i am so happy, what more could he give me? i know he is feeling discouraged about his books being rejected. i know it will happen soon. i pray almost everday for him. God is so good and i just know He will answer this prayer. ray is so talented. i try so hard to encourage him when he gets the rejection letters. i tell him it's in God's timing and He is sending the perfect agent for you. sometimes, though, i get discourage and that is when it is the hardest to encourage. i do believe God will give us this request--i can feel it in my heart when i pray.

ray, you are a wonderful husband and father. don't let anyone or anything get you down. we love you so much. and one more thing that is so great about you is that you always keep your word to the children and to me. wasn't there a promise about a back rub?

cutiepie

2006-08-19T18:20:00.000-07:00

we watched a movie called Nanny McPhee. it was a very cool movie about this father who couldn't manage his kids so he would hire a nanny. btw, the mom passed away. anyway, the kids would drive all the nannies away until this one nanny came along. she looked like a witch and had magical powers. she was tough on the kids but in the end the kids weren't brats anymore.

the night we watched this movie i told the kids to brush their teeth. paige told me to wait. i gave her a few minutes then said "paige, go brush your teeth".

"no, mama, i want to finish this."
"go brush your teeth or i will call nanny mcphee"
"no, no wait. you don't know her number."
"oh, yes i do. 755-2594"
paige ran into the bathroom to brush her teeth. i went outside to talk to ray. the door opened and it was paige. she was crying and said "mama, did you answer the phone?"
i asked "answer the phone?"
"did you call her? did you call nanny mcphee?"
i gave her a big hug and told her nanny mcphee isn't real. i was joking.

2006-08-05T18:05:00.000-07:00

dang it! when i saved this hailie wasn't covered up. sorry, sweetie. at least it shows your pretty face.

goof'in

2006-08-05T17:47:00.000-07:00

wasting time

2006-08-05T12:39:00.000-07:00

9 years Anniversary

2006-08-01T18:48:00.000-07:00

Ray and I started dating almost 11 yrs ago. We’ll be married for 9 yrs tomorrow. 11 yrs is a long time but it feels like only a few days. I was a single mom when we met. I had made many ugly decisions and have very dark secrets. He took Chantze in as his own and he doesn’t care about my past. He is a wonderful father to all 3 of his daughters and his son. He is a wonderful husband. He tells me I am beautiful all the time. He takes care of me. Scrapes my car window in the winter and drives because he knows how much I hate driving. He doesn’t care that I am a terrible housewife. He is fun, talented and very smart. He makes me very happy. I love him so much. Ray gives me something that no one else can—a love that can only be satisfied by him. Happy Anniversary, baby!

the answers are in

2006-06-30T18:32:00.000-07:00

1. true.
2. true. He walked in, I gasped then used my shirt to cover myself.
3. false, but this did happen to a friend of mine.
4. true. We were playing hiding go seek.
5. true. I was so embarrassed! The snot dropped and she quickly moved her arm. I have never seen an old woman move so fast.
6. true. I was wearing a tight, white turtleneck.
7. false
8. true. I was happy when they fired me. I hated working there.
9. true. It’s a wonder I am not wider.
10. True. It was kind of a boring night though.

Rottendad did great! Only 2 wrong. Chilldaddy...honey, you let someone beat you but you did come in 2nd with 4 wrong. Vflower & Ssweet only 7 wrong.

I did notice that all of you said true for #3. Why is that? Hmmm...I'll have to think about that.

I do believe CD came in 2nd because I usually say the same stories over and over and he never stops me and say "I've heard it". He's a sweety.

believe it or not

2006-06-26T18:34:00.000-07:00

1. I smoked weed a few times.

2. In high school, I was dressing in the locker room when a big football player decided to walk in.

3. A friend of mine died at an early age. At the funeral I saw many high school friends. One asked me how I was doing and my response was "Well, I'm living."

4. I have a huge scar on my butt from being chased by the police in a cemetary.

5. One day at work, I had a really bad cold with a runny nose. Snot fell out of my nose while I was drawing blood. The patient dodged.

6. In high school during lunch, a boy yelled "hey Jenkins! I can see your nipples!" That same day I was asked out by a very popular boy.

7. I broke a windmill at a miniature golf place

8. I was fired from Hardy's

9. I worked at a donut shop and an icecream shop

10. A couple of my friends stole a camper then picked up a bunch of us to go camping.

my kids

2006-06-24T07:05:00.000-07:00

short stories

2006-06-22T17:27:00.000-07:00

I will never forget when the twins were 2yrs old they would get into physical fights. And I would watch them for a little while before I pulled them apart.

I will never forget the time Chantze's bedroom was right next to ours. In fact, he had 2 doors. One between our bedroom and his and the other between the kitchen and his bedroom. He use to be scared of the dark so he would leave his bedroom light on. One night, I told him to shut off his light. He didn't want to because he was scared. So I went into his room and told him to go turn on the kitchen light. He was too scared to go into the kitchen by himself. I told him that I would stand right there and he had nothing to be scared of. He slowly walked into the kitchen then I shut the door. He raced back, pounding on the door and was screaming. He was panicing so much that he couldn't get the door open. I got in trouble but Chantze isn't scared anymore.

I'll never forget the time when Hailie was 3yrs old, she said "damn" while sitting on Ray's lap. It was the same age she ate a booger. I don't think she does this anymore but I will have to ask.

I will never forget our first anniversary when Ray smashed his head on the side of the pool. He was so sweet. He never yelled at me the whole time I was laughing.

I have lots more memories but I want to play barbies with the twins now. God gave me a wonderful family. I love all of them so much.

smile violet!

2006-06-18T08:06:00.000-07:00

guess who?

2006-06-11T14:12:00.000-07:00

Can you guess who this is?

I'll post the real pic later this week.

here's a quicky

2006-05-18T17:19:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick post for you. It's late so don't check grammer or spelling errors.

Ray and I went shopping at walmart today. We bought some wine coolers and Ray had to show his I.D. He asked the cashier (who was training) if she needed my ID also. The girl turns to her trainer and asked, "do we have to do that?"
The trainer, who was an older woman, looked at me, waves her hand and said, "no, she's over 21".
I said "thaaanks"
She laughed and said, "I have a gift of guessing the right age. You're at least...over 27."
She asked Ray, "are you 25?"
Ray chuckled and said "yup"
The woman laughed and kept appologizing for her special gift.
Was I offended? ooohh, yeah!
I sat in the van pouting the whole way home.

Laura, now I know how you felt when Leslie thought I was your daughter.

dang it!

2006-04-25T16:25:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged! 6 random things about me. Where do I start?

1. I become an insane, mad woman when I lose things. This is probably why Ray is still smoking.

2. I love to scare my kids to tears--literally. Wendy and I almost had Hailie, Chantze, and Brooke crying just this past weekend. Brooke was an accident. I believe the more you scare your kids, the stronger they become.

3. I hate working. It cuts into my play time.

4. I get bored really easy. There has been times where I started pacing around the house yelling "we have to go somewhere! We have to get out of here!"

5. My favorite sport is volleyball.

6. I own the most wonderful husband ever. Yes, he is my property and is not for sale.

go away Easter bunny

2006-04-20T16:38:00.000-07:00

top right: Harold, top left: Alfred

bottom right: Paige & Brooke, bottom left: papa

The Easter bunny visited our house on Easter weekend. In fact, 3 Easter bunnies visited! The first Easter bunny was found next to our garage door. The kids named him Harold the Easter bunny. This one is in bunny heaven.

The 2nd one was found in Pepper’s mouth covered with dog drool. This bunny’s name is Alfred. Oh, how cute it is, but it is so much work. I didn’t know they made bottles and nipples that small. I have to freeze the milk so it won’t go bad. I have to warm the milk to feed the bunny. The bunny likes to be wrapped in a towel before I feed it and then it goes to sleep. As soon as it starts eating solids, it’s going outside.

Brooke found the 3rd Easter bunny. She picked it up and cradled it in her arms. Then, she took it to papa. Papa took it from her. He noticed the potbelly and the rancid smell. He said, “It’s dead” then through it in the woods. Brooke asked, “Why did you throw it?”
Papa said, “Because it stinks.”

Do you think the Easter bunny will visit next year? I hope not.

big girl with very big questions

2006-04-08T18:47:00.000-07:00

This is Brooke! She's getting so big that she is even growing out of her pictures.

It was just Brooke and me in the house this morning. She had her toys on the kitchen table playing and I was cleaning around her. She stopped playing, looked at me and asked, "It's ok for a boy to touch your booboos (boobs) and your butt only if your married, right mama?"
I said, "that's right, only husbands. "
Brooke then asked, "does daddy touch your booboos and butt?"
I didn't know what to say. Do I stretch the truth or change the subject? I didn't have much time because she kept staring at me waiting for an answer. So I said, "yes, but only if he asks really nice". She said, "ok" and then started to play with her toys again.

So? Did I do the right thing or will I be paying for therapy later? Be honest. As honest as I was with Brooke.

calling all roosters

2006-03-20T15:49:00.000-08:00

This is Chantze. He is a boy not a rooster. But try to tell my dad's rooster that he is not a rooster. The rooster won't believe you. My dad has a beautiful rooster. It is yellow, brown, and orange. This rooster is actually pretty nice compared to the other roosters we've had growing up. This one doesn't attack anyone except Chantze. Everyday when the rooster is out Chantze has to run from it while the rest of us walk right up to it.

One day, Ray was waiting in the van for Chantze. Chantze was wearing a bright orange sweatshirt. Ray saw Chantze in the side view mirror making horrible faces and then he heard him scream and run. Ray jumped out of the van and saw the rooster chasing Chantze across the yard. Ray started running after the rooster. So now, close your eyes and picture what is going on. A small boy screaming and running from an even smaller bird. Then a big man running after this small bird. Wouldn't this just look funny?

Another rooster story...
My Uncle Sam was painting my sister's house when he saw her father-in-law, who is very small and 80 yrs old, walk out of his house to the chicken coop. Now, my sister had a mean rooster. This rooster would attack anything! A few minutes later, Uncle Sam goes into my sister's house and told her that he is sure he saw her father-in-law just killed their rooster. Come to find out, he did kill the rooster. The father-in-law killed it with his cane.

the crazy gene

2006-03-11T11:09:00.000-08:00

My dad loves his chickens. He feeds them, waters them and he even lets them out of their coop to eat bugs. Every night he takes them back to their coop so they will be safe from the animals outside. What lucky chickens.

A few months ago, dad would come out to feed the chickens and he would find a dead chicken ripped to shreds. Only the bones would be left. This was happening almost every day. The chickens began to roost as high as they could and as far away from the right side of the coop as they could. Dad would have to shove the rooster and yell, "Get in there you crazy rooster!" Then dad started to leave the lights on for the chickens hoping that whatever was getting the chickens would stay out. Didn't work.

It became routine for the chickens to try to back away from the coop while dad shoved them in there, yelling at them and calling them stupid chickens. One night as dad was yelling and shoving the chickens and the rooster to their death, he saw some bags in the corner of the coop. He decided he would clean it up. The chickens were staring at the bags and were making a bunch of noise. Dad paid no attention to them. He started to throw the bags in a pile in front of him when suddenly he saw it. It poked its head out. He tried to hit it with a bag but it didn't do much good. So he grabbed a pitchfork and stabbed it over and over. I can almost hear him yell, "die! die! die!" as he stabbed. The chickens all stayed as far away from dad as possible but still it seemed as though they were rooting him on as they were making lots of noise (maybe they were yelling, "die! die! die!"). Then finally, there stood dad, pitchfork in hand, and a dead possum at his feet.

The chickens are now safe but dad still leaves the light on for them. That same night, he brought the possum into the breezeway to show my 5 yrs old twins and my 10 yrs ago son. They stared, wide-eyed and mouth open, then one squeaked out, "what happened?"

Now, I have told you 2 stories of my dad, one about a demon (see below) and the other about a stabbing. Do you think my mom is worried? Is my dad going crazy? Well, let me tell you, my mom is not worried because dad has not changed a bit. My mom married a crazy man.

Is craziness genetic? I don't know, maybe you should ask Ray.

The pretend microphone works best for me

2006-03-09T16:02:00.000-08:00

I love to sing. I also love to tell stories so let me tell you a story of me singing. Most of my family has heard this story before.

My twin sister, Wendy, my cousins, Kenny and Randy, and me were all at a karaoke bar. After a few drinks, Wendy talked me into getting up on stage with her and Kenny. It was our turn. We all walk up and grabbed a microphone and waited for our song to come up.
"Rockin Robin by Michael Jackson"
Kenny yells, "I am not singing a Michael Jackson song!"
Wendy and I convince him that it was not a Micheal Jackson song by saying, "Micheal Jackson is from the 70's. This is a 50's song". So then we sang our hearts out. The song ended and the audience yells, "BOOO! Get off the stage!"

Later that night, I saw a friend of mine and she said, "you sucked".
I replied, "ha ha ha, I know."

Am I discouraged? Nooo. Ray and all of his family lies to me to encourage me to sing. But you know what really keeps me singing? It's when I am all by myself with the radio cranked loud, I'm playing my pretend guitar or piano, depending on the song, and the crowd thinks I sound great through my pretend microphone.

Um...am I the only one that sings through a pretend microphone?

this is bethany

2006-03-07T16:20:00.000-08:00

a shriveled pear?

2006-03-05T05:59:00.000-08:00

Brooke is the one in the purple dress and Paige is the one in the white. One night, I decided I needed to start exercising again. I like to watch TV while I exercise so I was deciding what movie would be nice to watch. Brooke came into the room and stood behind me. Here is the conversation that took place:

Brooke: "mama, you have a fat butt"
me: "that's why I am going to exercise"
Brooke: "nothing else is fat, just your butt. How does your butt get fat and not anything else?"
me: "I don't know, I guess I'm a pear"
Brooke: "mama, it's just your butt. nothing else is fat. your butt is big..."
I interrupted and said "oookkk, Brooke. I'm going to exercise now."

A couple days later, Paige and I were in the bathroom together. I was looking in the mirror and Paige said "mama, you don't look old"
I asked "I don't?"
Paige responds, "no, you look fine. You don't have wrinkles like meemaw."

Out of the conversations I had with my girls, I have come up with the conclusion that they believe I look like a pear but not a shriveled pear...yet.

my dad and...the devil?

2006-03-03T20:00:00.000-08:00

This is my dad. He is so great. I love him dearly. He is a man of faith and has encountered God many times. BUT he has also encountered demons, which I witnessed once when I was a kid.

Are you ready for a story? A story that may change your skepticism on the spiritual realm? Here is that story...

One night, my son, Chantze, stayed with his papa. Before dad went to bed, he told Chantze to make sure he turn the TV off before he falls asleep. Dad then went upstairs to bed. In the middle of the night, dad woke up and went downstairs to use the bathroom. He saw Chantze sleeping on the couch and the TV still on. He turned the TV off, used the bathroom, and then went back upstairs. A few minutes after he lay down, he felt something in the bed with him. He asked, "Who's there?" At that moment, his cat's head popped up and said, "It's me, papa." Dad yelled, "Oh, Yeah!" then grabbed the cat around the neck, pushed it down, flipped the covers over it and punched it in the head. Whatever was under those covers yelled "it's me, papa! Chantze!" And then started to giggle.

This is what really happened...after dad came back upstairs and lay back down; he didn't realize he had fallen asleep. While he was asleep, Chantze climbed in bed with him. The cat always slept with my dad. When dad woke up, he thought the cat was demon possessed. And by the way, it was Chantze's head that got punched not the demon possessed cat.

Well? Are you spooked?

my kids

2006-02-18T15:18:00.000-08:00

what can I say...I love my kids. Hailie is so sweet and awesome. Chantze is so cool and crazy. Brooke is so loving and also so sweet. Paige is so crazy and awesome too. They too are so wonderful!!!

this is my last post for a little while. :)

my husband

2006-02-18T15:07:00.000-08:00

My husband...he is so great. I love him very much. His family is awesome. Our children are so wonderful. God has dropped some huge blessings in my life.

Ray is so talented, smart, and sexy. He always says nice things about me. He makes me feel smart, pretty, and overall good. He is so awesome!

my 2nd post I did all by myself

2006-02-18T14:19:00.000-08:00

I had a really hard time choosing a picture for my post. I wanted it to be very special being that I did this all by myself. Although, I am not sure why I have 3 pictures of someone's legs.

You're probably wondering why I am posting after I said I probably won't? I have an excellent reason--I don't feel like cleaning my kitchen. So, here I sit typing words next to 3 pairs of colorful legs while Ray did the dishes and is now playing spiderman.

First and maybe only post.

2006-02-16T12:53:00.000-08:00

Don't expect a whole lot, I probably won't be posting.

Trophy Wife

i'm gonna miss chantze!

birthday party

hey

old pics-recent stories

what a good man

more booboo questions

cutiepie

more

goof'in

wasting time

9 years Anniversary

the answers are in

believe it or not

my kids

short stories

smile violet!

guess who?

here's a quicky

dang it!

go away Easter bunny

big girl with very big questions

calling all roosters

the crazy gene

The pretend microphone works best for me

this is bethany

a shriveled pear?

my dad and...the devil?

my kids

my husband

my 2nd post I did all by myself

First and maybe only post.