For You Aunt LeeAnn

Picture Tag

This is my very most favoritest photo ever! I took this picture of little Brenny and Danica in about 2000. How precious is this. I would like to get it blown up to about 20x30 for my bedroom.

Husband Tag

Husband Tag!

What is your husbands name? Lee Robert Diaz

How long have you been married? Thirteen and a half years.

How long did you date? We dated for six months and were engaged for six months.

How old is he? 33 just since September

Who eats more sweets? Usually I do, however, when Lee gets a sweet tooth I make him go to the store. If I go it looks like I am a binge eater. He asks me to get four different kinds of sweet rolls, candy and a million other things. I learned my lesson after the first time not to go.

Who said "I love you" first? He did. It was Easter morning 1994.

Who is taller? Um let me think... He is but only by about 16 inches.

Who is the better singer? That would be me. Lee cannot carry a tune in a bucket.

Who is smarter? Lee is very much the smart one. I hated school.

Who does the laundry? I do the laundry, even though he is very good at it. He is better at ironing than I am.

Who pays the bills? Lee pays the bills. When we were first married I payed them. After a few months of emotional breakdowns we decided it was best for him to do it.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Lee

Does he snore? Yes, for sure without a doubt. If I don't fall asleep first, I don't sleep that night.

What does he do in his spare time? If it is not snowing or raining he is on the golf course. If it is, then it is TV, Sunday is football, and that is only because he did fantasy football this year, and golf shows any other time.

Does he mow the lawn? He used to, he even bought a ride on mower. But quite frankly, it looks like crap when he does it with that so I do it with a regular lawn mower.

Who cooks dinner? Ha Ha! That would be me. He can barely make ramen. Funny story, he was sick one day, so I went to the store and got him his soup, Gatorade, sprite and a few other snack things he enjoys when he is ill. He was all set, I had to leave for something and I was going to be gone for a while. I told him I was leaving, and he asked if there was anything else in the house to eat while I was gone. I told him that there was stuff to make sandwiches in the fridge. He looked at me in such a way that made me ask " What's wrong?" He responded, "I don't know how to make a sandwich." I laughed and told him that was too sad. He still doesn't make his own sandwiches.

Who drives? Depends. If we have the kids and we drive the Jetta, I drive, he does if its just the two of us, he drives. If we are in the truck, He drives. Even though he gives me major anxiety when he drives. It's not just him though, I am just a bad passenger.

Who is the first to say they are wrong? Well, I can't really say that either of us ever admit that. We don't argue about too many things. I'm not saying we don't ever disagree, we just usually both admit it I guess.

Who kissed who first? I totally kissed him first. He never really had a lot of girlfriends so he was a little inexperienced. He needed someone to take the reigns, and make the first move. I was never really that shy.

Who asked who out first? Hmm... He set me up with his friend Jason and he was supposed to go out with a mutual friend. She backed out and so it ended up being a threesome. After that he kept showing up at the end of my shift, and would say that he "forgot something". He would take me home and then one night we decided we were hungry, so we went and got something to eat. We both got food poisoning, and we were not apart for an evening after that. So I guess neither of us asked first.

Who wears the pants? In terms of finances, he does. On all other matters concerning home and family, I wear them.

Does he say he loves you everyday? At least once. He kisses me and says it every morning before he leaves for work. If he forgets, he calls and apologizes. He usually says it three or more times a day though. We are definitely an I Love You kind of family!!!

Thanks Bubba! that was fun.

Missing in Action

So.... I have become and irresponsible mother

this last week. I found something that completely grabbed my attention and made me neglect my daily chores.

I have been hearing from a lot of people about these books and when you start reading them they are impossible to put down.

Well, while I was at Sam's club last Sunday, I always look at the books (not that I like to read or anything, for real, I am not a great fan of books) I like to see if anything will grab my attention. It very rarely does. I came across "Twilight". So remembering that everyone just loved this book and the others that followed, I decided to buy it. Little did I know that I would be completely in love with this book. I started to read it after I got home. I had to take a break for a barbeque at Lee's mom's house for fathers day.

I could not get out of there fast enough. We went home and Lee decided to go get in a "quick nine", so I took advantage of his absence and started to read again.

Well long story shortened, I finished the first book, wich is nearly 500 pages, on Monday night. Oh my Gravy!!! It was so good that while I was at the Grocery store on tuesday I bought "New Moon". I finished that one on Wednesday night. I swore that before I bought the last one "Eclipse", I would get all of my household chores done and grocery shopping done.

That didn't happen. I went shopping Friday and decided when I saw it that I would just get it and start when I finished cleaning the house. I got as far as the kitchen and living room. It called to me and said "READ ME NOW!" So I did. I Finished it on Sunday morning while Lee was golfing.

So beware, if you buy these books make sure you don't have anything to do!!!

Brennan Lee

This is Brennan, my first born. Brennan is and always has been very mature for his age! He began speaking in full sentences when he was just 12 months old. Oh the looks you get when you talk to this little baby like he is a seven year old child. I remember being at the grocery store walking up and down the isles with little Brenny in the front of the cart. I was carrying on like I was having a conversation with an adult. I noticed that there was the same guy in every isle that I went down, I didn't think anything of it until Brennan said in his little grown up voice, "Mom that man is wierd". I looked up at him and he was just starring at Brennan and me. I have to admit that I was a little creeped out when he approached us. He looked at me and then looked at Brennan and said, "I am sorry that it seems like I am following you but I just could not believe that this little thing could be saying the things that he is. He looks so little but he must be three, is he small for his age?" I replied "NO he is only 15 months old." The man just looked at him in disbelief and leaned down to him and said, "You, little man, are wise beyond your years!"

Brennan is wise beyond his years and has always had a grasp on everything everyone does or tells him, not the best thing in the world all the time! He is able to pick most things up quickly and accells in the things that interest him. He likes mostly sports, like soccer, skateboarding (even though at this particular point in time the skateboard is off limits due to the fact that he "lost" his helmet", and he enjoys golfing with Lee. Even in school he does quite well even though he enjoys socializing with others a little too much at times.

Friends are never a problem for Brennan, he seems to attract them like bees to honey! Kids are just naturally drawn to him. It must be his incredibly good looks and charm! Who could resist his beautiful brown eyes and toothy smile?

It is hard sometimes to reason with Brennan, he is very persistent and likes to get his way. He is stubborn and pigheaded at times. I wonder where he gets that from. It must be a Diaz traight! HA HA!! He is a lot like me ad we butt heads quite a bit.

I think that in the eleven years that we have been blessed with the presence of such a wonderful human being, there has never been a day that he or myself have gone without saying "I love you". He is very loving and cares about what you care about. He is a blessing in every way.

Brennan is a wonderful kid and We love him very much. I just thought I should share with you the wonderfullness of Brennan.

I hate cleaning!!

I have to say, I absolutly hate cleaning. It is my least favorite thing to do in the world. I know how to do it and I do it well. However I feel at times that it is never ending.

There are times when I get overwhelmed and I just don't want to and I feel that my childrens messes have gotten out of control. I mean there are days that I shut the door to their rooms and brush it off and say I will get to it later.

I remember as a child that my mom made us do chores every saturday. I hated it then too. Now that I am a mom I know that my mom made us do these chores because she did not make the mess. She did her fair share of chores that moms are expected to do. She was constantly moving. Not surprising since there are nine of us. She was usually busy baking or making things to sustain our daily living.

I was deep in thought last week, contemplating what I could do to keep my family whine free this summer but caught up on daily chores. And keeping them from saying "I AM BORED THERE IS NOTHING TO DO".

So I sat down and made one of my "lists", something of which I and infamous for. I planned out each day to the hour. It is now Thursday and I am pleased to say, so far so good.

It will not kill our children to make them do simple chores and some not so simple chores. It makes me a happier mom and wife when I am not getting bogged down with daily things. My mother-in-law always says, "If your not in the world you should be preparing to be in it". Basically we should be training our children to be responsible adults with a respect for a job well done.

5 Simple Pleasures

It has taken me a while to think of my five simple pleasures but here they are in no particular order:



1:Paper-let me explain. I love to scrapbook. I think that I probably have oh maybe somewhere in the thousands. I love to go to the scrapbook stores, craft stores and expos. I always tell myself and my friends not to let me buy anymore paper because there is no way in this lifetime that I will ever be able to use every piece of paper that I have. Even still, what do you think I gravitate to more. Every time!



2:Girls Night Out- I try to take at least one weekend night a month (sometimes it doesn't happen that regularly) I go down to my sister Kristi's, who incidently is one of by best friends, Alicia and a few of our other friends go. We usually have at least five of us. We either go and get pedicures or when money is tight we do our own. Then we do dinner at Johnny Carinos and then a movie or bowling. We also play cards. It is the one night that I know I can let my hair down and not worry who is being mean to who and who won't let me play with that toy. It is very important as a mom of three to have MOM time. I usually spend the night and go home refreshed the next morning, ready to be showered with love from my kids who missed me so much. It is good for them too!



3:Golf-No i do not golf, however I do on occassion like to find a babysitter and ride the golf cart and watch Leeferd golf. It is fantastically peaceful and wonderful to spend time just the two of us.



4:Fingernail Polish-I love the smell and look of a fresh manicure. The Acetone and the polish its self. Silly huh?



5:Family Dinner Time-I make my family sit together three nights a week and every other Sunday. What you say? Even though my family is still quite young, there is still the hectic running around, soccer practices and waiting for dad to get home from work or golf. It is the perfect time to catch up on what everyone has done that day and what is to come for the week. It also makes my kids eat food that they would normally just leave sitting on the table because it is gross or wierd.



Well that's it. They seem silly. Oh well. Thanks for the tag Bubba!!

Easing the Cost of Gas!

I have to take and pick up Brennan from school every day. I made the choice three years ago to put him in a school that was not in our area because it was a better school with what I feel has higher standards and dare I say a better class of students. I have been driving my very large gas hog of a pickup truck. I am guessing that I would fill my truck at least once a week with the daily trips to the school, which is only about three miles from my home, and my weekly Thursday trips to Moms and by weekly family dinner trips to my various brothers and sisters places. Each time I filled the truck it would cost no less than $60 and lately it was costing about $70 to $75. OUCH!! Along with that Lee works in Salt Lake and the Gateway and had to fill his car up at least once a week at $40 a trip to the gas station.

Thank heaven for The Front Runner!! Lee's work pays for him to ride the train to and from work. Nice huh? Now Lee drives the truck two miles down our street and parks it at the train station and I have been able to drive our more economical car to and from my various errands and pickups. What a savings.

This is just this past Christmas. Our tradition is to have matching PJ's. Normally I sew five pair of jammie bottoms and we all wear the same thing on Christmas Eve when we go to see our movie. The next morning it makes for great pictures. This year however, I have found that time is wizzing past me. I bought the PJ's this year and only for the kids. So CUTE! Maybe this year I should start sewing now and then they will be done before the holidays. With my luck the kids will have another one of there growth spirts and they won't fit. I love traditions.

Yellowstone National Park 2006