Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from March, 2010

April

Wow! I cannot believe that April is in less than two hours! Where has this year gone?!?!!? April should be fun. . .a different fun than March. . .we are pretty much staying put for the month and I am glad for that (however, if you told me I would have to go back to El Nido again, I wouldn't be too sad). So, here is what our (Braner Party of 7's) month looks like in a nutshell: I have a lot of fun things to look forward to! My parents come this weekend and I couldn't be more excited! I miss them so much and I am so glad that they'll be here with us! They rented a house (ski in/ski out--or board in/board out) up at the mountain, so we'll be snowboarding bums all weekend! I just can't wait to be with them! This is the best and worst part of the move. It really makes me sad that we don't live next door anymore, but I really love our long weekends when we have them all to ourselves!!! Another WONDERFUL thing is that Andy is finally coming home!!! He ha

Technology for Moms

There are so many amazing inventions in our worlds. The Internet and email and fax machines blow me away! (I realize that the fax machine is very outdated, but it still blows me away.) Going to the moon and airplanes in general boggle my mind! So, I'm thinking, why can't someone invent something that every mom would relish? What am I talking about? The luxury loo. I want someone to invent a special toilet room for moms to have in their homes. It would be painted a relaxing shade of blue or green or somewhere in between. There would be a waterfall and relaxing music. It would be two minutes of sheer spa bliss. This special bathroom would silently transport you far far away from toddlers who want to sit on your lap when you're doing your business and from tweens with silly homework questions that could wait a few minutes. It would take you away from five year olds wanting a snack and eight year olds wanting their hair braided. The luxury loo would give moms just

Best Blender Ever!!!

Okay, this blender is amazing! I realize that this blog post could have been found in some 1950s home-making magazine, but I really love my new blender! I just made smoothies for five children in less than five seconds with ZERO big chunks of ice. And then I decided to make a small serving of guacamole for my snack and that took all of about four seconds. I love it! I recommend that you all put your old blender in your garage sales this spring and head to Sam's (or wherever) and get yourself the Ninja Master Prep! You will not be disappointed!

Spring Boarding

We headed up to the mountain yesterday and it was BEAUTIFUL!!! The snow was great and the sun was bright! The day couldn't have been more perfect!

More Pics From El Nido

Okay, so here are a few more pictures that other people took while we were in the Philippines. I thought I'd share them with you all! (That is a jelly fish I am holding in the third picture.)

My Heroes

Okay, this is Gabby, Tiki, Dax and Dax's friend, Jude playing inside on this snowy day. Hysterical that they are all being superheroes and playing so well together! On another note, I thought of some stories from our trip to put on "paper." Tiki went through a three day spell where he was talking about his "parents in Africa." It was so strange. Some of the stories were believable and many were TALL tales. So, I'm not sure what of the stories I can hold on to as fact (I know that I can NOT hold on to the story where Tiki met a moose who spoke English and whose name was Dax), but the stories flowed for three days. It was weird how jealous I got of the "other" mother. Weird. That is NOT the reaction I would have guessed that I would have had (I guess it proves that I'm a selfish human). If any of the stories were true, then it makes me think that he may be older than they say he is. Who knows. I hope that as his English improves, I can

T Minus 23 Days Until Tri The Rim

Okay, so the triathlon is in 23 days and I am so out of shape! I did absolutely NOTHING for the three weeks I was gone and my body is feeling it. . .I am SO dealtitudeified (nice word I made up meaning not used to breathing in the altitude). YIKES! I swam today and it wasn't too bad. . .however it is the biking and running that I am PETRIFIED of. . .PETRIFIED!!! Training is back on, though. . .we'll see!!!

Colorado Plates & New Bedding

Well, I got my Colorado license plates! I am now about as local as I can be. . .I've got the plates, the license, the address, the ski pass and the bills coming to my home to prove it! The plates on Andy's car expire next month, so soon we will both be total and complete residents! I also had a minor (major?) splurge today. I decorated my house for spring yesterday and jut got in the mood to freshen some things up. I went to Home Depot (with the brood) and bought new plants. I went to Pier One and bought some new throw pillows for my living room couch to spring up my furniture. And then I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and bought new bedding! My bed doesn't quite look like the picture (maybe if I would have ironed my duvet cover first), but it is fresh and springy! I'm just going to blame the splurge on missing my husband! The entire family overslept this morning and all five kids were out cold. I forgot to set my alarm and the jet lag took us well past the school

What a Whirlwind!!!

Oh my goodness...what an amazingly wonderful 18 days we have had! Hawaii with Andy was just what the doctor ordered! I loved my time with him and no one else! I also enjoyed my alone time while he was speaking at the convention! The weather was beautiful and the time with my hubby was much needed (and overdue)! Unfortunately, I have ZERO pictures from our time. I can't believe it. Oh well. Tulsa was great. It was fun for everything to be so new for Tiki. The kids were wonderful on the drive. We loved our time with BeBe and PaPa. . .although it was much too short! SWING JUMPING: Branson was great! It was weird being a guest in my parents' home for the first time ever. It was weird being the "visitor" to the town that was my home for 35 years. Seeing my Gran'ma and my parents was the best ever! Being the guest definitely has its perks. . .undivided attention for four days! My parents didn't even go to work!!! It was wonderful! One night we had

Ice Dam & A Leaky Roof

Well, apparently our roof shoveling adventures weren't quite enough in January. We got an ice dam. . . . ? So, Andy had the wonderful opportunity to spend seven hours this weekend with a pick axe up on our roof. . .problem solved! He did, however, fall off the roof while I was at the spa. Not good. I had the kids all playing their PSP's and Nintendo DS's in my room (under where he was de-icing) so that they could call 911 just in case, but they didn't quite hear the big fall. Thankfully, he is fairly okay--just a bit sore! Thanks, Andy!