I {Heart} Swamp People.

What's that you say? You've never heard of Swamp People?! Well, you're missing out. Maybe it's just because I'm from Cajun country and I feel like I know all these people, maybe it's because of my Cajun ancestry and my love of all things Gumbo...but I LOVE this show. It cracks me up. By far Troy Landry is my favorite, his Cajun accent is so thick that he needs captioning...adorable I'd say. Enjoy this little clip and let me know if you want to head down to the bayou with me to visit my family.

You might be scratchin' your head thinking, "Isn't she from Texas?" Why don't you google map Vidor, Texas? It's the second-to-the-last town before you get to Louisiana. Darin always tells people I'm from where they filmed "Water Boy" with Adam Sandler. He also loves to tell the story of taking a boat to bring turkeys to people for Thanksgiving who lived on the river in houses built on stilts when we visited one year. I love to tell about our neighbors who found an alligator in their backyard pond and kept swimming in the pond anyway, the time some kids found a small alligator in the "ditch" in front of the church, the time we went crabbing as a family and my cousin caught a huge alligator on his line...we left immediately (that alligator was eyeing all of us kids.) No, we're no Troy Landry's in my family but the culture of sitting on the porch eating crawdads (crawfish) makes up some of my favorite memories.

PS...sorry my family has a Southern accent, not Cajun. I lost my accent when I had to take voice and diction classes for my Theater/Film major in college. My dad says I talk like a "Yankee" now. :-(

PPS...I must apologize to my Mother for revealing that we have Cajun heritage - it's on my Dad's side, not hers. ;-)

PPPS...(last one) I dedicate this to my brother-in-law Johnny who loves life on the lake and taking his kids to spot 'gators at night. He even took my kids one night!

How To Potty-Train a Toddler Boy...

From the minute I potty-trained Allie, all I heard was how hard it was to potty-train boys. I was VERY nervous....even though I still didn't have a son. Once Roman was born, I told Darin that I had potty-trained the first two and so the third was his and especially since this was His son! ;-) Yes, I was joking but half-heartedly hoping that Darin would take me up on this.

Fast forward to last week...

My sister Melissa and her family were visiting - yes I need to blog about those fun times - and Melissa suggested we go to Target and buy all the potty-training "gear" to get started. Since Roman LOVES cars we loaded up on them and one of his other loves, candy ;-). I'd been talking to him about it for weeks but unfortunately he thought potty-train was a real train! HAHA He was super stoked about The Potty Train. I was picturing myself bringout out our Christmas train and putting it around a potty chair in the living room....just wondering if that would be the secret combination to potty-training a man child.

Sooooo...the next morning we woke up and the diaper came off. I put him on the potty and said, "Hmmm, okay Roman so what you want to do is go potty in the toilet. Okay? Just do some peepee in there." Nothing. I wondered what I was doing wrong and how could I possibly explain to him what his body was supposed to do?! Voila, call Darin in.

"So Babe, I need your help with Roman. He doesn't understand what to do."

Darin enters.

"Okay Bud. So just let one rip. Just do a big gas and stink this place up."

Roman giggles and says, "Okay, I gas! I do a Daddy one!"

And he did. And he fully understood what body function went along with that. It was a magical moment between father and son....all the while, I stood back and for the FIRST time ever appreciated the Potty-Humor bond between Father and Son.

You see, since his first "gas" Darin has been laughing it up and encouraging him to do more and bigger. Roman has gotten so uh-hem "talented" at this body function that he'll say, "Mom, shhhhh." Then he leans to the side and (as Darin puts it) "lets one rip". You can imagine my pride as a mother.

That's all it took - aside from a few accidents he's got it down. He even wore underwear to church today and came home dry!

Moral of the story - Encourage your husband to laugh and joke about your son's gas....when it's time to potty-train you'll be glad you did!

Things You Should NEVER Say to a Pregnant Lady

This pregnancy is definitely bringing it own challenges...I'll try not to complain because I know that no one really cares BUT here are some great laughs that have come from my "troubles"!

Seriously, don't EVER say this to a pregnant lady (who happens to be your wife, mother, or friend)!

What's that on your chin? - Allie
An "ouchy" - Me
Both of them? - Allie
Yes, Allie. - Me
They look like zits. - Allie
{shrug} They are. - Me
What's a zit? - Kate
Just like a sore on your face. - Me
Oh. - Kate

Next day as I'm cutting up Roman's breakfast and apparently leaning in too close he says as he points to the "ouchies" on my chin, "One, Two, Three, Four, Five..."
Good thing he's cute, I laughed.

Next day....Kate and Allie are watching TV. A commercial comes on and Kate says, "Mom, you need that." I look up to see a commercial for Proactiv. Yep, feeling good now.

Somewhere in the mix Darin says..."So do you think you're bigger this time than you were with the others?" I reply, "Yep." He says, "Ya, I thought so." Awesomeness!

Days earlier a friend says, "Sorry I gave you a double-take, I just forgot that you were pregnant."

I will now hide out in my room until the baby is born and all nastiness has melted away.

Latest Creation...

Latest creation will arrive the first week of September! I've been working very hard on it and can't wait to show you all! Based on the ultrasounds (and past history) it's a cutie :-)

I'm Probably Going to Regret this...

Every year my family does a "Sellers Variety Show"..we joke that we don't have talent but we have "variety" so we do some pretty funny things. We rarely makes it to Texas for "the show" so we often send a video. As I was looking over some old files I came across this one. I don't know what happened to the last part of it but I think it's pretty funny. haha (It's a spoof of Sandra Lee from Semi-Homemade on the Food Network...the only show I like on that network. :-)

Merry Christmas! Now go out and embarrass yourself on your blog for me..heck after Bell's this is nothin' right?!

Official Change Your Life Week

I should say that it's MY official Change My Life Week. I decided to post this so I'll have to report in on my progress. What am I changing, you ask? First of all...I'm incorporating a new household cleaning scheduled. YAYYYY! (I can hear the cheers!) No, seriously this is big news. I have lots of excuses for why I need a schedule but basically I've been choosing "FUN" over "Chores" (boo) and apparently choosing "FUN" is not a good way to teach your children the importance of "Chores" (boo) .

Basics of my program : Do 4 chores each day (one is a rotating chore that I do once a month). Of course doing dishes doesn't count towards my 4 (boo).
So I just do 4 things a day and hopefully by the end of the week our house will be sparkling.
{Thanks to Carmel for giving me a copy of her schedule! Her house is inspiring, beautiful, organized, and clean!!!}

Another thing I'm doing is plan our menu in advance and prepare dinner during the afternoon, either crock-pot or something that can go in the fridge until it goes into the oven. (today is Enchiladas).

Also, I'm working on going to bed at 10 ...cringe and waking up at 6.... double cringe!

FINAL BIG ANNOUNCEMENT....I hereby promise to FINISH my Halloween T-shirt into a Skirt project for the girls that I've been working on (neglecting mostly) for a few weeks! I will post pictures next Monday. There, I said it and now I'm committed.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who struggles with time management, desire to clean toilets, and ability to finish projects in a timely manner???!!!!

Muahhh XOX, I'm off to do some laundry!

Kitchen Help....I splurged and hired out!

Everyone who knows me knows that I HATE TO COOK! Seriously hate it. We could have yogurt, cold cereal, sandwiches, frozen dinners daily and I would not complain. Fine with me. BUT, I do think that dinner together as a family is important...dang voice in my head! So I've offered a swap to friends...if you cook for me, I'll clean for you! deal? ....so far no takers. Well...until now!

I've hired some help, two very sweet ladies who are a whiz in the kitchen!


Meet Sister Crock-it and Sister Oster.....



















I just dump some stuff in them in the morning (when I actually feel like being in the kitchen) and I leave to hang out with him.... jealous?


















When we return...voila Cheesey Broccoli Soup and Bread Bowls! Yummy! Ohhhhh, and they make a mean barbque chicken grill bread! (okay, a certain handsome Orthodontist had to help them a bit.)


















Who likes the new kitchen help?! (nevermind that one of these kids is eating a hot dog ;) )


















Just thought I'd pass this joy along, it is quickly making my life very close to perfection....well I just have to teach them to mop!

Here is Sister Crock-it's recipe for Panera Cheesey Broccoli Soup

2 can Cream of Chicken Soup (or one big can)
2 pkg (10 oz) frozen chopped broccoli
1 small onion chopped
1 quart half and half
1 pkg American cheese (cubed)

Dump and cook on high for 4 hrs. It's also great with diced potatoes and bacon.

For bread bowls just make your favorite roll recipe...Sister Oster has her own.... divide the dough into 4 -6 giant rolls and bake at 400 degrees for 10 min...or whatever you think. hehe Look at me sharing recipes! These ladies have already taught me so much!

Dance Like Nobody's Watching...

A cute couple that we know from church got married last weekend. They had a DJ at their reception that evening...as you can see Roman LOVED it. When they stopped the music to throw the bouquet and cut the cake, he CRIED like you took away his favorite toy. He danced for a solid 2 hours and as you can see he has some very unique moves. Wish we could have caught all of it on tape...it was even funnier than this video shows.

Theme Song for 2009

Who doesn't love some Chunky?!