inspiring

I have often said with pride, "I'm of Pioneer stalk". When most people say this they of course are referring to their pioneer heritage/ancestors. I am in fact a decedent of faithful pioneers but that's not the only reason I utter these words. My mother posted a very inspiring post that I think is very much worth reading by all. She inspires me daily and raised me to be the woman I am today. I know she's a one in a million mother, daughter, sister, friend, wife and faithful member of the church. I'm sure her pioneer ancestors have watch her with great pride in their posterity. I would encourage everyone to take a moment and read her latest post. I think it will give you a little insight into me and my siblings.

quick question

Does anyone else out there struggle with the "word verification" when commenting on other people's blogs? I feel like an idiot because sometimes it takes me like three tries to get it right. I swear sometimes they don't use real numbers or letters. It's like they're using cave drawing symbols or something. I look all over my keyboard for something that looks like a match, then I take a guess and... WRONG!! Very frustrating...

just because...

I couldn't handle seeing the huge words DOVE and BLOOD staring back at me every time I came to check my blog (I guess I really didn't fix that problem did I?). I'm sure most of you felt the same way. The first week of school went ok (there was a minor problem but I'm afraid I would scar my kid if I reported about it on my public blog). I feel like I did ok with all the scheduling and rushing around to be every where we needed to be this week. I know I can improve but I'm pretty proud with how things went this week.

Here are the highlights from my week:

1. I was never late this whole week

2. I was in bed asleep by 10:30 this entire week

3. I showered every morning this week (I know that's kinda tmi but I sometimes get in the habit of "taking a morning off" and just wearing the pony tail)

4. my kids all had enough time to get dressed, do hair and brush their teeth before school this entire week

5. I still had enough energy to make dinner every night this week except one


Things I can improve on for next week:

1. Make a better lunch for myself (I have lived of microwave popcorn and string cheese this last week)

2. get my dishes done before I go to sleep... I think I have two sinks full right now that I need to catch up on

3. layout an outfit for Morgan the night before so Jeremy doesn't have to freelance it (two days ago I picked up my baby wearing size 12 month khaki pants and a size 5T t-shirt... she will be two in November)

4. do my makeup before I leave for work... I hate trying to fight for a spot of the mirror in the girls bathroom with all the teenagers

a conversation I never dreamed I would have

Me: Jeremy could you PLEASE clean out the dove blood that spilled in our fridge.

Jeremy: The kids are the ones that spilled it.

Me: Yeah... I don't care who spilled it they were you're doves.

Jeremy: Ok


*** I didn't go with a picture on this one***

i have a friend in Little Rock, AK?!?!

Dear Little Rock visitor,

I like to check out who my visitors are on my sitemeter link. It won't tell me who you are but it does tell me where you're from. I can almost always figure out who it was based on the city that is listed. For a while now I have had a regular visitor from Little Rock and I would love to know who you are. I'm not crazy or creepy I promise (I'm sure you already know that since you read my blog) I'm just very curious to see if it's someone I know in real life or someone that stumbled onto my blog. Please know you are welcome to my blog and I hope you have enjoyed yourself so far. Please also consider coming out of the woodwork and identifying yourself. I'm such a curious person by nature (I've always hated surprises) I don't like being in the dark about anything. I sure do hope to "meet" you by email or comment!!!

Best Regards,

Your blog buddy Liza

P.S. Little Rock sure does look beautiful in the pictures I managed to find online. Is this a picture of lake or river?

second happiest day of the year

In our house the last day of school is the happiest day of the year but the first day of school is pretty far up there. I think we were ALL ready to go back this year. Jacob is now a 4th grader (I can't believe it!!!) Riley is in 2nd grade and our little Brooke started kindergarten this year.

Jacob is totally thrilled that he now gets to change classes and teachers, they even call the different classes "periods". He has three teachers he sees everyday and two more that he sees on a rotation. Jacob has Ms. Belizzi for English and writing first thing in the morning then he goes to Mr. Majtako for science, then he sees Mrs. Lester for math and then rotates between gym and music at the end of the day. I know that Jake loves this "big kid" schedule. As a side note Mr. Metjeko graduated from the school I work at in 2003, does that seem crazy to anyone else?

Riley is in Jacob's old 2nd grade class with Mrs. Renteria. This will be an adjustment for Riley because she had a very whimsical teacher last year who really appreciated Riley and all her antics. I was always getting reports from her old teacher about how funny Riley is and how she just can't be upset with all of Riley's talking because it all reminds her so much of herself. On the first day of school Jacob told Riley that Mrs. Renteria is strict and doesn't tolerate a lot of nonsense (I think he might have heard her say that a couple of times). Riley LOVES LOVES LOVES being in 2nd grade and she has nothing but nice things to say about her class and teacher. Riley has promised me that she will be very quite in class and be the best 2nd grader ever. She really wanted to wear this skirt on the first day of school. Jeremy later told me that he thought she looked like a little Pentecostal between the skirt and hair all pulled back.

Brooke is in kindergarten every day from 8-2:15. The normal kindergarten day ends at 1:30 but the principal has put Brooke in the extended kindergarten program as a "model student/helper". The longer kindergarten is for kids that have been flagged as needing more help. I needed Brooke to stay on campus until I can pick her up at 4:00 and our fabulous principal figured out a way to make sure that Brooke is watched over until I could get there. She stays with the extended kindergarten until 2:15 and then "helps" in the office until 3:00 at which time she will join Jake and Riley in an after school tutoring program to help kids that need a little extra help. He did all this moving around and arranging just so that he wouldn't lose our family when I told him we might transfer to a school that has an after school day care program for kindergarten. What a great guy!!! Brooke is doing soooo good in kindergarten so far (it's only been two days of course). I was a little afraid that she might get all shy and sad when I left her but she has been wonderful so far. Her teacher, Ms. Kraft, emailed me today and told me that Brooke is her little "sweetie pie" and that Brooke is an excellent helper in the extended class. Brooke comes home singing all the songs she has learned and makes Morgan play kindergarten with her all afternoon. Brooke always plays the part of Ms. Kraft and she always calls Morgan "Ms. Morgan". It's very cute!

Morgan is back with Ms. Teresa. We have used her for about three years off and on. All of my girls have gone to her at some point. Morgan seems to really like going there and she always does fun stuff while she's there. I know Morgan is being taken good care of so I don't have to worry about her all day. Morgan didn't like the idea of me handing her back to Ms. Teresa for a picture. I mean I had just gotten there and now I'm passing her back to her teacher... I don't blame her. Did I mention that daddy does her hair? I just have to throw that one out because I really do try and take some pride in how my girl's hair looks.

I have some new freshman this year at school but mostly I am with the kids I already knew. I have two math classes, two computer classes, one history class, one English class, and a gym class. My schedule will most likely change another six times before the week is out but for now that's my schedule. I really love my job. I always tell people if you have to work this is an awesome job to have. I get to be around some really great (and some not so great) teenagers all day. I am always off work when my kids are out of school and you get a lot of time off (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Break, SUMMER). You really can't beat a school job in my opinion. Here are some of our interpreters during our lunch break. For the most part we are a fun bunch of ladies especially that Deb (this is for her benefit I know for a fact that she likes to blog stalk and never leave a comment :)).

Here's a picture of me and one of our other interpreters Chelsea. We both started together and this is our fouth year interpreting together. She didn't make it into the picture and I couldn't leave her out. We have been great friends from the first day we meet and she makes life at work so much nicer.

a request

Dear Blogger buddies,

I know there are many wonderful worthwhile causes that you can choose to support but I am asking you today to support a cause that is very close to my family.

I think most of you know that our son Jacob has psoriasis. He developed the disease when he was six years old and he has spent the last two and half years trying to stay clear. Jacob now is under the care of a wonderful doctor in Dallas who has kept him all cleared up now for three months. He takes serious medications in order to keep his skin and body healthy. Last weekend when Jacob and I were in Orlando for the National Psoriasis Foundation conference we learned about a walk for awareness that will be going on in Dallas on September 20th. Jacob really wanted to participate in the fund raiser/awareness raiser and I did as well. We signed up as a team to walk and now we are asking our friends, family, coworker and any one else who will listen for donations. The foundation does amazing work to better the lives of people with psoriasis. Jacob and I are blessed to be associated with such wonderful caring people. We really want to give back and try and bring more light to this disease.

Psoriasis is a common, chronic, noncontagious skin disease that causes red, scaly patches, which can appear on any part of the body. It can cause the skin to itch, crack and bleed as well as hair to fall out. Psoriasis on the hands or feet can prevent people from doing everyday tasks such as writing or walking. Ten percent to 30 percent of people with psoriasis also develop psoriatic arthritis, which causes pain, stiffness and swelling in and around the joints. The National Psoriasis Foundation is dedicated to improving the quality of life of people who have psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Through education and advocacy, the Psoriasis Foundation promotes awareness and understanding, ensures access to treatment, and supports research that will lead to effective management and, ultimately, a cure. According to the National Institutes of Health, as many as 7.5 million Americans have psoriasis (of which approximately 1 million of these patients are children). I am asking you to help me make a difference in the lives of those affected by this disease.

I know money is tight for most families right now but if you felt you had it in your budget to participate in this cause we would greatly appreciate it. We sent out emails inviting many of you to participate but we didn't have every one's email addresses so I thought I would post it here on my blog as well. To make a donation please go to my personal page to find out more about psoriasis or other ways you can help with finding a cure please go to the National Psoriasis Foundation website.

Thank you all so much for your kind words, prayers and support,

The Clement Family

a special visitor

We had a very special visitor come to our home. Our cute little niece Olivia sent her friend "Flat Susan" to our home for a visit. We decided to take Flat Susan out to see a famous Amarillo site. This was also our first time visiting the Cadillac Ranch even though we have lived here for nine years. We think Susan enjoyed herself, she smiled the entire time. My kids all thought the whole thing was a little weird. There were lots of questions like, "why are they drawing on the cars?" "How did the cars get buried?" "What are we suppose to do here?" I don't think they saw the vision. We saw some "artists" adding to the constantly changing "art" (they got it). I'm glad we made the little voyage so we can proudly say, "we've seen the Cadillac Ranch".

We are now looking for a fun place for Susan to visit next. If anyone would like to host Susan for a visit please email me and give me your address.

a trip of a life time

I had such an amazing time with Jacob in Orlando. I loved meeting so many new friends at the psoriasis conference and attending the informative workshops. I loved that we were literally a five minute walk from all the shops and restaurants in Downtown Disney. I loved having the opportunity to take Jake to the Magic Kingdom. I loved every minute of it. I would have to say that my favorite part of our whole adventure was being able to spend some one on one time with Jake. I really feel almost guilty that Jake and I got this special weekend together. He was so excited about the flight to Orlando. It was such a joy for me to watch his excitement. I loved how he was up for anything and was so reasonable and rational with our limitations and schedule. He never once complained about not getting something that he wanted or not having enough time to do something. He just went with the flow the entire time. We walked ALL OVER Downtown Disney holding hands (I don't know how much longer I can get away with that) taking pictures with the huge statues of all the Disney characters.

Jake also appreciated all the nice little details of our fancy resort. We would come back to our room after a long day and the first thing he would want to do is put on the big white robe and sit out on the balcony regardless to how muggy and hot it was. He also took advantage of the free massages that were being offered at the convention. He was not going to miss one bit of the experience of spending time in such a nice hotel.

It was a trip neither of us will ever forget. I think my favorite part of the whole trip was on the last night when we were at Disney World's Magic Kingdom. It was dark and the firework show was starting. The crowd of people was very thick but I figured we would be able to see everything since it was a firework show. Disney used different light tricks and technologies to project images onto Cinderella's castle. I knew that Jacob was missing that part of it so I knelt down and had him climb up onto my back. Jacob is now nine years old and getting to be a very big boy. I knew that this was most likely the last time I would be able to carry him on my back. I got a little emotional as I thought about this and Jacob being the very sensitive boy that he is leaned over and gave me a big squeeze around my neck and a little kiss on my cheek. He stayed up there for the next 20 minutes totally enamored by the show.

The show was pretty amazing but I preferred watching his face from the corners of my eye. It truly was a magical moment. It will be a very special memory for me for my entire life. Thank you so much Jeremy, Aunt Laura, and Brooke and Garth Thomas for watching my girls so that Jake and I could have our magic weekend together. Thank you so much to all the other people who so kindly helped Jake and I out with the spending/Disney ticket money. I know we would have had fun with our weekend without the trip to Magic Kingdom and the spending money for prizes and nice lunches together but I'm not going to lie those things really did make it that much more special. A huge THANK YOU to the National Psoriasis Foundation for providing the scholarship money so that this trip could even be possible I can't tell you how much it meant to Jacob to meet other children (for the first time in his life) who also have a serious case of psoriasis. He was always told he was not "the only one" who had psoriasis but until he met the other kids I don't know if he believed me.

I recommend everyone taking a one on one weekend with their kids. I hope through out the years I can continue this tradition with my girls.

Jacob has posted his thoughts and lots of pictures from our weekend in Orlando please take a minute and check it out on his blog. He loves to get comments!!

talk about a LOL

My sister Emily had this one on her blog and I had to steal. So funny!!

***please note that about 52 seconds into the original Rick video Barack seems to makes an appearance***

line.... CROSSED

On Friday morning I drove all of my children and our favorite babysitter/friend Elizabeth along with her little brother to Dallas. Jake had another doctor's appointment and I didn't really feel like asking another huge favor of my friends and family around here so I took everyone along. It was a solid 6 hour drive which meant we had to leave at 5 am to arrive in time for his 11:40 am appointment. The appointment went wonderfully. Dr. Menter continues to be amazed at how well Jacob is responding to his medication and how clear his skin is. Dr. Menter is one of the world's leading research doctors for psoriasis so he usually has some visiting doctor with him. This trip he had a very gracious doctor from Japan who was shadowing Dr. Menter. After his visit with Dr. Menter we had to go to lab and Jake had to have three small vials of blood drawn. He is so brave when he had blood work done. I am so impressed with him!!

We got to stay in a very nice hotel (thank you mom and dad) which is always exciting. I was exhausted from the drive so after lunch we went to the hotel and they kindly let us check in early. I laid down for a nap with Morgan while Elizabeth watched the kids in the other room keeping them entertained with her laptop and the t.v. After a while I guess Elizabeth also started getting tired so she joined me in the bedroom and fell asleep on her bed. She made sure the t.v. was on Cartoon Network and trusted that the kids would be ok. At some point I wake up to an adult's voice in the t.v. room. I rush in there and a hotel lady is there asking if everything is ok. I was confused and I'm sure she could tell because she explained that someone had dialed 911 from this room. I was very irritated because my kids know better than to do that. I assured the woman everything was fine and I apologized for the inconvenience. Then when she left I asked who was the one making the phone calls. I believe it was Riley and Brooke although they tried to blame it on Jake. Either way everyone got my lecture and I disconnected the phone. After a while everyone was saying they were bored so I suggested swimming until dinner time. We all went out to the pool and the kids started swimming. I didn't realize how late it was getting so we decided to order some pizza that we could eat out by the pool when it got there. We put in our order and they said it would be between 45-60 minutes. I let the front desk know that we are expecting pizza. The kids had a blast swimming and playing after about an hour the pizza guy showed up. He was a very old delivery guy I would guess well into his 70s. He puts the pizzas and drinks down on the table and says the total is $34.46. I hand him $37 and then I wait as he very uncomfortably counts the money twice. I chalked it up to his age because it all took a very long time. Then he turns to me and asks, "$37?" I'm a little confused so I say, "yeah just keep the change for your tip". He looks at the money and then at me and says, "it's customary to tip 15%." I was in shock when he said this. I didn't know what to do except that I still had a couple of ones in my hand so I gave him another one. He looked at it and said, "this isn't 15% if you wanted to pay the customary rate you would still owe me a couple of dollars." Like I said I was in shock... I handed him my last dollar in my hand because I just wanted him to leave. He left and as he was leaving he said, "if you're going to be in town for a while I have some coupons in my car..." I said, "No I don't think I will be ordering from you again." I told Elizabeth what happened and it made me even more angry. I wanted to do something so I called up his manager and told her my whole story.

I felt like he had crossed the line with it all. Do you think I did the right thing? Looking back I wish I had the quick thinking to just take my money back and tell him, "here's a tip for you... don't be so rude. Just cancel my order we don't want it. I will go ahead and call your manager and let them know why we had to cancel." The manager was very apologetic she agreed that he crossed the line and offered to send us a free order the next day. I explained that we will be leaving sometime in the morning but that I thought she should explain to her driver that it is very rude to ask for more of a tip.

I know I'm cheap but I sorta thought my $2.50 tip was reasonable. I think I'm always a good tipper at a restaurant where my waiter or waitress is actually doing something. I mean all he did was bring me my pizza which he is paid to do from Papa John's. I could see paying 15-20% if I asked him to get me some glasses with ice and to pour my drinks. To bring me more napkins for my kids to clean up after we are done but come on... Give me a break!!

throw back Thursday??

I don't think I was blogging much when I made this video. This was made in February of 2007. The kids are huge fans of Uncle Sean's band the Silent Sevens so they wanted to make a movie of them singing to their favorite Silent Sevens song. I think once you have a tribute band you've definantly made it. It's a little long but worth watching, Jake hits some killer high notes at the end.

***As a fun side game count how many times Riley has a mini melt down...***