Does this only happen to me?

Well, we're here in Crowley, Texas. I have lots to post about this new place, but I don't have time today. I'll post it later (just like I always say that about writing in my journal) :)

As many of you may know, I love going on Sunday drives. It's just something I learned to love while growing up. Anyway, so, what better place to take a Sunday drive than a new place (and thanks to our best friend, the Garmin, we don't have to worry about not being able to find our way back home). So, after church, we quickly ate lunch, changed into our comfy clothes, and took off on our little adventure. It was fun to see the quaint little towns and all the green open space not far south of Fort Worth. We saw 2 big (Texas-sized) garage sales along the way, and decided to stop to look around. (Is it bad to look at a garage sale on Sunday? I didn't think it was bad, and we didn't find anything to buy anyway).

While we were at the last garage sale, Tyler threw up all over his clothes. I'm at least grateful he didn't puke in the car. So, we wiped him up with half a package of baby wipes, and then Chris stripped him down to his skivies. Obviously, we decided to go straight home with our nearly naked child, who quickly fell asleep once we started heading home.

One the way back, we drove over a bolt, which blew our tire about 8 miles from home. Luckily, it was almost right in front of a Firestone, which happened to be opened on a Sunday. So, we limped with our now shredded tire into the parking lot realizing that Christmas is quickly going down the drain. We had to buy a set of tires, because, of course, you can't just buy one tire. I am grateful that Firestone was open and that we at least didn't have to replace the rim, though.

So, there we were sitting in the half-full Firestone lobby in our scroungies, with our nearly naked sleeping child. One lady just stared; I'm sure she was wondering about the hillbillies who drive around with their naked child. We really enjoyed watching the Poker championships with sport commentators for an hour, too. Welcome to Texas!!! Do we dare to go on anymore adventures?

Lego Master

I think Legos are the perfect toy. They were definitely our favorite toys (next to Barbies) when I was growing up. Anyway, I've been really impressed with how good Tyler is at building stings. He brought this air place to me today, and WOW! This is way cooler than I could make!

He made this sword and shield for me and he made a set for himself, so we could have a sword fight. Hilarious! I thought it was cute that he put a handle on his shield and tapered his sword. He's been building these like this for the past month, and, for the life of me, I don't know where he sees swords and shields or how he knows how to make them. I guess boys are born with these instincts. He makes guns, too. Better, more realistic look guns than I could make (I don't have a picture of these right now). Again, I don't know where he's learning this stuff. But, I'm impressed with his creativity.


And, finally, here's his transformer man. He made this about a month ago with his megablocks.
Like I said, I love how Legos bring our the creativity in kids.

This Summer

Now, that summer is over, I guess I should share some of our adventures. Can you tell I finally got around to downloading the photos off my camera?

For Memorial Day, our neighbors saved us from a day of our usual boringness and invited us to hang out with them. We went up to Cedar City to their favorite old fashioned burger joint, and then went up to the college campus and looked around. We also took the kids to Cedar Adventure Learning park, which was really awesome. Man, I wish I was a kid!


In June, we went on our traditional "Sego Family Camp Trip". We stayed at a nice cabin up in Timberlakes. Had our usual "gabfest" (according to Chris). Drove fourwheelers. Went to the lake. Had a family talent(less) show; I wish I had pictures. Talked, talked, talked, and had loads of fun! I love this tradition!

(Aren't we a bunch of party animals.)

I re-potty trained Tyler. This time I had to up the anty with better rewards for pooping in the pot. We had lots of ice cream for a couple of weeks, until we were confident he was completely trained. He still asks for ice cream when he poops, but ,luckily, he doesn't "punish" me for not delivering the goods.

For July 4th, our friends invited us to celebrate with them again. We went to the Cedar City parade, which Tyler loved (mostly he loved chasing after candy). He got sprayed by the fire truck, which sparked an extreme interest in fire trucks. Then we went to lunch again at the favorite burger joint, went to the park again, went to a splash park to cool off after the winter heat, and ended the day with fireworks and rootbeer floats. Another great holiday! Even if we couldn't share it with our family, it was nice of them to invite us to share it with theirs.


We spent Pioneer Day going on nice canyon drive and finishing the night off with a barbecue and fireworks with Chris' brother Chad and his wife Melissa. As usual the pyro in the boys came out with the fireworks. It was quite a display!

We spent time in downtown St. George. Tyler is obsessed with fire trucks and had to take a picture in this. We've had fun at splash parks and regular parks as much as we could, avoiding the extreme heat as much as possible.
Overall, it was a nice summer! Sad it's over, but glad the weather is cooling off a bit. Now, I can't wait for the fall and Halloween!

My Little Artist

Tyler drew these pictures today, and I thought they were so adorable I had to share. Keep in mind, I did not help him with these at all. Also, keep in mind, he's only 3. Daddy is my favorite of the pictures. I thought it was cute that he included a mustache on Chris.

I think it's funny he remembered to put longer hair on me and on my mom.

Happy Anniversary to Me!

It's been a great five years with the handsomest guy I know!

Spell/Grammar Check

I was just rereading my post about the past year, and noticed a huge grammatical/spelling error. We got our new dog from a homeless couple we MET at the park. Nope, there is no long story about us petting homeless people at any parks. Just thought I should clarify.

There's No Reasoning with a Three-Year-Old

Today, I did a little Tyler and mommy day, since yesterday I felt like I had failed as a mother of an attention starved child. So, I took Tyler to lunch, the store, and swimming for a special day. Where did he want to go to lunch? DelTaco? I can't remember the last time I ate there. But, DelTaco it was. And he insisted on wearing a Santa Clause hat. I tried to bribe him not to wear the hat to lunch or at the store, but he refused. Luckily, I tricked him into not wearing it at the pool.

One Year - It's About Time!

Wow, it's been a long year since I last posted. I have received several requests and light rebukes to post again. So, here I am and here's my past year in a nut shell.

WORK, WORK, WORK! My new job turned into a full-time, suck-the-life-out-of-me type of job. Really, I don't mind it so much, but, for a while, it was consuming my life. The job also changed, so I am now doing all of the bookkeeping and I oversee the marketing. It's an okay job; at least it helps pay the bills. And, it is nice to work from home to be close to Tyler and work mostly on my own terms.

In May 2009, we visited the Grand Canyon (North Rim). It's surprising how close it is to us - only about 2.5 hours away. It was my first visit ever. Wow, that is one big hole! Not much else to say about that. It was a pretty drive, too.

In June 2009, we lost our dog Sadie. She learned to jump the fence and got a lost for a few days. While we were looking for her, a nice family a few blocks away took her in for a few days while they tried to find her owners. They were so nice they fed her food from their table and even let her sleep in their bed with them (Gross, gross, gross, since I knew how long it'd been since she had a bath and she wasn't an indoor dog! Who does that? Who let's a stray dog sleep in their bed?). Needless to say, she was useless to us after that. The spoiled dog kept jumping the fence to go back to luxury living. I swear they had us on speed dial. After the 6th escape, we let them keep her. It was sad to lose her, and I miss her lots. But, we just aren't indoor dog people.

In June 2009, Mr. Rooter Plumbing Franchise contacted Chris to ask him to open a franchise in St. George. And, after several discussions with them, many prayers, lots of contemplation, and a visit to Waco, TX, we decided to go for it and buy the franchise for our area. In July, we signed the paperwork and went back to Waco, TX for a week long training to start our franchise. We were excited about the prospects. Even though neither of us had heard of Mr. Rooter Plumbing, we were told it was the 2nd largest plumbing franchise and were impressed with the quality and reputation of the company. In August, we officially opened our doors (or our van). We started with no phone book ads (since corporate told us the internet was just as effective as phone books), which was crazy. But we started getting a few calls. We were excited! But calls weren't consistent and growth wasn't what we were told to expect. It turns out, the internet isn't huge, especially in St. George, retirement-resort community, UT. So, we awaited January when our first phone book would come out.

In the meantime, in November 2009, my sister Becca got married. She married a nice guy form Cedar City, so we enjoyed her frequent visits up until her wedding. It was nice to have an excuse to visit family up north. We were very excited for Becca and also to invite Dane into our family.

Here's how cute Tyler looked. I couldnt' resist putting this up here.

In December 2009, we had a nice small Christmas. This was the first year I didn’t spend Christmas with my family, which was a sad event. But, it was nice to have Christmas with our small family and start some new traditions.

In January 2010, our first phone book came out. We had a small spurt of calls, which was hopeful. We were excited for our new, thriving franchise to grow (big – just like we were told it would). Things started picking up, and I got more hopeful with each call. However, calls never picked up like expected. Most calls turned into price shoppers, and, with the economy in the state that it is, people turned away at the pricing. We started to learn that, regardless of the superior service, people want to save money. Things had changed in the past few years; people who used to prefer great service, now preferred low prices. We also discovered that many other franchises who opened in late 2008 to now are struggling. Not good news for the Hoods.

In February 2010, I potty trained Tyler. It was surprisingly easy, using “Toilet Training in Less Than a Day”. He did amazingly great with very accidents. Yeah!

In March 2010, Tyler turned 3. I love this kid so much. He cracks me up every day. Also, in March, 6 weeks after potty training, he decided he didn’t want to potty train anymore. So, started having “accidents” on purpose. He told me he decided he wanted to wear diapers again. Not yeah! Potty training now down the toilet. My stubborn child still choses to wear diapers and will only potty in the big boy pot occasionally on his own terms. There should be a joke about a plumber whose son refuses to use the toilet. Oh well, I’ll start worrying when he’s five (if he’s still not potty trained).

In April 2010, Julie, Michelle, and I (being obsessed with Project Runway) decided to do our own Project Sego Runway. We actually decided to start it in February, but who’s counting. It really took place in April. Here’s what I created without any patterns. I thought I did great, and am pretty proud of my “skillz”.

In May 2010, I turned 35. Wow, that sounds old is all I can say. It’s been a rough year, but I’ve learned a lot and I hope not to repeat it. Chris gave me Chiweenie (Chiwawa/Weiner dog mix) puppy that we got from a homeless couple we pet at the splash park (long story) for my birthday/Mothers’ Day. He knew how much I missed Sadie. Tyler named the dog “Six Pack” and it stuck, since he is so small and opposite of the name. Really, I think the dog has been the best thing for Tyler, who spends half the day playing with and singing to him.

In June 2010, with work still slow and franchise costs so high, we decided to break up with Mr. Rooter. This is a good decision, and the funny thing is, since we made the decision, work is starting to pick up a bit. Go figure.

In one year, we’ve come full circle. We lost a dog and found a new one. We started a new business and went back to the old one. GO FIGURE!