Thank heavens for little girls......

I probably should praise my children more often than I do so I guess this is a good start. This morning Doug had to go into work to round and find out all about his patients since he starts a new service tomorrow and I was in charge of getting everyone ready. I haven't had to do this in a while since Doug has been at church with us almost every Sunday for the past 6 months. As I was frantically trying to get Luke dressed and tie Jared's shoes. Taylor went and got the church bag ready for me. (yes I should of probably done this last night) She packed a bag of cereal, cookies, and got a sippy cup of juice for Weston. As I was doing the last minute things around the house I heard her yell "mom we are getting into the car" okay I said and didn't think anything of it. Well, as I was grabbing my purse she had already buckled Luke & Weston in their seats and they had the key in the car ignition turned over and were listening to our new Lion King sound track. They were ready to go and waiting on me. What would I do without Taylor? She is an amazing 8 year old and I need to tell her how much I appreciate her and what a big helper she is. Thanks to her we made it to church ontime. (that is a bonus for the clouse family). I love you Taylor and am proud that you are my only daughter!

Cultural Arts

If you can't tell they are saying wow w/ 3 fingers
on each side and the "O" is their mouth. Pretty
cheesy, but Jared learned this from his kinder
teacher and now does it all the time! This is how
they now express their excitment.


Today we had a busy fun filled day. Doug & I took Taylor and Jared to see the Broadway musical the Lion King. It was absolutely amazing. The costumes were very cool and it was even better than I anticipated it to be. As we were leaving Taylor asked if we could go to the next show or tomorrow. I replied by saying maybe next year (little did she know it cost a small fortune) But I must say that it was worth every penny. The music, stage, and overall production was fabulous. I would definitely recommend this musical to any family willing to pay the price. We weren't really allowed to take pictures inside, but I was able to take one of the stage which really doesn't do justice to what it really looked like. They decorated the theatre as a jungle it was so cool! I splurged and bought the cd while I was there too, and I think this has replaced Taylor's favorite (Highschool Musical cd) which she listens to 24/7. Hurray for some new tunes! We also got a magnet which I couldn't pass up. We have collected a magnet for every occasion or place we have ever been. Pretty soon I think our fridge will be one HUGE magnet!

Weight Watchers Rocks!

AFTER

The new young hip Doug! And yes, he is wearing a trendy

Hollister t- shirt. I think that this is he new favorite attire!

Don't cha love the new frames he just got!

BEFORE
(We had to throw away these pants he was wearing...it was a great day!)

I know that most everyone knows or has known about Doug's significant weight loss (30+ lbs). Since I am using this as a journal for myself I am going to write it out anyway......The funny thing is that most people asked him why he was even doing it and that they thought he really didn't need to loose the weight. Well, for as long as I can remember Doug has always wanted to lose weight and has tried different techniques but nothing ever worked. So it was a personal decision on his part and I was going to support him 100% of the way. It wasn't until Jan 1st of this year we were inspired by other family members (thanks Jen & Kathy) to jump on the weight watcher band wagon. I must say it took a lot of effort on both of our parts since I was doing most of the cooking. We literally ate home almost everyday for lunch and dinner. (Doug was only able to do that because he had two months of research) I think it worked for Doug because the program is based on a point system and he was constantly just keeping tally of his points for the day. The great thing about W.W. is that if you exercise you can earn extra points, therefore you are able to eat a little bigger portions or have a low fat treat. (He literally lived on skinny cows) Here is proof evidence of the before & after Doug! I must say that I married a hottie in my book.

Bike Rodeo/Fiesta continued

Maci Gordon w/Jared
Mackenzi Gordon w/Taylor


Jared's b est buddies Josh, Javi, and Nicki.
Mrs. Turner w/Jared

Taylor in action
It was freezing cold so I had to hold Luke to keep warm.
Doug really wanted to be a participant
Jared concentrating really hard!

Bike Rodeo/Fiesta

Doug & I pretty much spent the morning at the kids school today. It was the bike rodeo at Thornton Elementary. Believe it or not it was freezing this morning! It was more of an obstacle course and each grade level competed with one another. Jared won for his grade level! He was so excited and will receive a trophy for it. Once that was over we went home and ran a few errands and I was back up at school for the annual Fiesta Party! The 3rd graders ate a mexican meal and played bingo. Kinder had a little mini carnival which included cracking eggs on each others heads (their favorite part) It is a big thing here to empty the eggs out of the shells and refill them with confetti. Fiesta is more of a Mexican Mardi Gras an excuse to party and eat lots of food in my opinion. The kids even get out of school tomorrow for what the call "The Battle of the Flowers" There are tons of festivities down town and have tons of food. I am excited to get the poster for fiesta this year it is pretty cool and similar to the ones they have for Jazz Fest in New Orleans.

Doug's room continued.........

I forgot to add the entry way picture so here it is!

Doug's Room

I am posting this in behalf of mom who wanted to see "Doug's creative, artistic ability" The front room of our house used to be what we called a "dead" room. It just had our computer in it with no other furniture. It wasn't until this year we decided to turn it into the kids semi-playroom. Since Hobby Lobby was having a big sale on frames, molding and furniture we decided to take our opportunity and decorate. Doug took our old bookshelves that the Gruwell family gave us and painted them black. He also took our old kitchen table and cut the legs off to make a cool little table (like the ones you see in potterybarn kids). He took the Wal-mart stools and painted them black as well. The kids art work that you see what an idea I stole from my friend Allison and works out great because the kids can just clip up their school projects instead of hanging them all over my fridge. I love our new coat hooks so that when the kids get off of the bus they can just hang up their backpacks and coats instead of throwing them all over the floor. The room is kind of a mixture of New Orleans and Texas all in one. I really didn't have any other place to hang my Texas quilt and we still love the hand painting that Chanel did for us (displayed by the door) along with Doug's sign. I am so proud of him and his creativity!! Maybe he should do some designing on the side of being an orthopedist!

Home Improvements

It seems as though every April/May we always do a house project. Since Doug is off the rest of this week and starts his Trauma rotation on Monday we decided to paint a room. Last week his deputy chairman needed to get rid of one of his couches and was nice enough to pawn it onto us. (we were thrilled as being a charity for him) We had mixed emotions about getting rid of the plaid couch (not really) it was on its last leg and I don't think our cushions were really cushions. It was a hammy down from Doug's parents and went through a few siblings before it was delivered to us. Our new couch (pictured) is green which is pretty much the same as our walls so now we are painting the room tan. We are so excited to have a room where our whole family can sit!

Fairwell to the valley of the sun....

Today we headed back to San Antonio and the old routine of things. I will have to say that it started out a little stressful because one of our tickets was standby. I was glad that I checked availablity early enough so that we could get on the 12:00 flight instead of the 3:00 one. Needless to say, we all made it in one piece even though I thought I was going to go crazy with some of my kids. No, and it wasn't Luke or Weston believe it or not. They both slept the entire flight. Taylor and Jared were driving me crazy and proceeded to fight the entire time. Can't we all just get along!! We are just glad we made it home in one piece and I think are in for a rude awakening in the morning since it was two hours difference in time for us.

Visiting G'ma & G'pa's House

This weekend we were able to see family and best of all eat at Dad & Mom Clouse's for dinner. You can bet we have all gained a few pounds with all of the delicious food we have eaten. We even got to eat homemade icecream with hot fudge sauce. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins. It was even great for us because we never had to entertain our kids!

Wedding Day Bliss

We have had a busy weekend....my sister got married in Sedona so we were able to take a small vacation home to AZ. The kids had a blast seeing all of their grandmas, grandpas and of course their cousins. Janet looked amazingly beautiful! Taylor was a flowergirl and Jared was in charge of the rings. They both loved having their important rolls in the wedding. The red rock that I have posted is the background of the ranch she got married at. It was so beautiful and green there. We are so happy for both Aaron and Janet. Or should I say Mr. and Mrs. Muth?