A little fiasco...

I just have to laugh because this is so stupid!! I ordered my kids' easter clothes on walmart.com last night. I received a confirmation email saying my order was being processed and would be shipped to Grandma and Grandpa Evelyn in Bakersfield, CA soon. Hmmm..... red flag!! Something isn't right. I send them photos periodically from walmart.com and somehow they are my default shipping address for all of walmart's website. The kicker: "there's nothing they can do". I'll just have to make arrangements to pick them up 2500 miles away. I emailed customer service (because there's no phone #) like 2 hours after placing the order. You know what? I think it would have been easier to load all 4 of my kids into the car and drive to Walmart and buy them.

What would you do? Should I have G&G just do a return to sender? or a forward? Or should I have them return the items for me and start over? Annoying! I don't want them to have to deal with this. They're both WELL into their 80's. Maybe I won't say anything and they can open it and get a good chuckle.

Manatee Viewing and One Week

Hooray!! One week down! I won't say how many we have left, because its still a lot. But things are going very well so far. We've had plenty of communication on the phone and a little with Skype. For the most part, the kids are handling it well and I feel like I have the support I need available. Plus, as an added bonus, we have a few visitors to look forward to in the coming months!

Saturday, we met up with the Alvarez Family and went to see the manatees at the TECO Power plant. Apparently the manatees like the warmer water and they really gather on cold days. It was kind of a cool day and there were plenty of them. Although, most of them were just under the surface of the water. It was cool to see.



The kids stopped to talk to the docent. They were full of questions for him. I think he was a little surprised by their extreme curiosity.
They have a manatee museum with all kinds of activities and displays to help people learn about these huge mammals. Elle was a little disappointed when we arrived at the viewing area, but she quickly became interested and was the most difficult to pry away from it.

Scammed....

I just have to add a note. We took Jarin's car to a mechanic to have it fixed up in every possible way so we could sell it. The mechanic is prior military and offered to park it in his yard with a for sale sign because he lives in a much more visible place then we do. He found a buyer who was ready to pay in cash, so I came to his house and signed the title over to her. After I filled out the paperwork, she tried to get me to write that the selling price was "gift" so she wouldn't have to pay taxes. If you know me, you know I don't roll that way. So I told her sorry, but the car was NOT a gift, so there was no reason for me to write that.

Then she called me this morning and said the car broke down and she wanted some of her money back. I told her to call Jim because he had just fixed it. Surely he could figure it out or I can take the car back. Jim called me back and said she was just trying to get money out of me. Her mechanic lied and Jim called him out on it. Hopefully I won't hear from her again. I like to believe that people are generally honest. But she most definitely isn't and I don't need the drama. I am so thankful for Jim who was really looking out for me here.

Some privacy...

A few of you asked why we decided to go private with the blog. Nothing creepy happened. I don't think any weirdos are stalking us. All is well.

Jarin just left for a deployment to Qatar for 4 1/2 months and we both felt like our family is more vulnerable in his absence. So, we decided to go off the radar, at least while he is gone. When he returns, we'll probably open it up again. We think its really fun to find blogs of long-lost friends and don't want to permanently drop off the earth. We're not trying to close ourselves off from friends and family, but we just needed a little more security.

A new look...

Elle got a new haircut today.  She has the world's most awesome hair.  Its thick and shiny, has tons of body and holds curl/style like a champ.  Its amazing!!!  She's been begging me to cut her hair so she could donate it to Locks of Love.  She and Hannah did it together about 2 years ago and I guess she really loved it.  What's not to love?  She got a sassy little bob to match her personality and was able to help someone out!  I took 11 inches off.  Here are some pictures.

Before:

( I thought this was so cute!  She's helping Jesse see inside the mixing bowl.)

During:

After:

We're going private

I've gone back and forth on this one and I think its time for us to make our blog private, at least for a while. I'll probably change the settings in about a week. If you want an invitation, just shoot me an email at wildthayn@yahoo.com and I'll make sure you receive one. Thanks!

Christmas Day

Christmas morning came early.  Too early.  I heard the girls around 5:00 am.  Being the sugary sweet mommy dearest that I am, I lovingly invited them to return to bed and resume Christmas morning festivities anytime after 7:00 am.  I was so thankful they didn't wake up until 8:40!!!  Woohoo!!  An extra hour and 40 minutes of sleep for me and the Mister.  Here are some pictures of their favorite things:

Hannah got an ipod shuffle, pink.  I think it has rocketed her into teenage-ness.  Augh!!!

This wasn't Elle's favorite present, but her tonsils are too awesome not to put this one up.  Her favorite present was a sparkly box filled with Hannah Montana stationary and pencils.  Anybody want a pen pal?

Jesse was too cute with his new pirate get-up from Logan.

Nate's favorite gift was the Little People fire engine from Santa.  He and Jesse push each other around the house on it.  I love it too because every minute spent on the fire truck is a minute that he isn't emptying out cupboards or my purse or somebody's toy box.

Christmas Eve

I'm going to try and catch up before I get too far behind...

On Christmas Eve, we had the missionaries over and went Christmas caroling and delivered some treats.  Then, the kids reenacted the nativity.  Jarin taught them a couple of new songs and walked them through the whole thing.  It was so cute and so funny!  Unfortunately, Nate tuckered out early and when he's done, he is DONE.  So, we just put him to bed and he missed the whole thing.

Then the kids opened their Christmas Eve presents.  They totally know that its always pajamas now.  It kind of takes the fun out of it, but we still string them along and try to make it fun.  Check out how wound up they are!!  Its amazing to me that they actually fell asleep before Santa came.