Chocolate covered Midol

Ugh...today's one of those days. Not one of my seven (or sometimes 32 days straight) days of the month...just one of those days. Where any side I wake up is the wrong side of the bed because of the fact that I had to WAKE UP! Now I'm sitting here wishing I had a kings size Snickers, a bottle of Midol, and a 44 ounce Big Gulp of Red Bull. Oh, wouldn't life be glorious!!!

And of course when I have one of those days, I have to have a fat day. You know those days...the "sitting on the closet floor naked for an hour because none of my clothes fit- retaining water like a camel- everyone's skinnier than me" days. Soooo I'm wearing my stretchy skirt today. Blah.

I've already had Mason come sit on my lap and google 'orphanages'...letting him know that if he's not nicer to his brother then I'm taking him to one tomorrow. It was a very tender moment. And I've been seriously pondering something....WHY don't they have chocolate covered midol?!?! I mean those two just go together....it's like peanut butter and jelly, fries and ketchup, milk and cookies.....somethings are just destined to be together!!! Like Midol and Chocolate! That would be the answer to my prayers! Please, pharmeceutical company....if you're reading this...MAKE THE YUMMY MIDOL!

I smell Jordan baking cookies....I'm off to go lick the bowl and feel sorry for myself...maybe later I'll put on my favorite 90's mixed cd...you know, the cd with the music that you know makes you depressed, but you listen to it anyway. yeah. good times right there!

Viva Las Vegas!!

First off....my blog is no longer private!! yay!! ok, moving on! It was that time of year again...time for the "take three days off with the mckeons- get the heck out of dodge- leave the kids behind- remember why we got married- get a full nights sleep" vacation to Las Vegas. We had such a blast last year that we couldn't wait to go this year...and trust me, I'm already planning for next year! My old man and I stayed at the GVR (Green Valley Ranch) which is the most sinfully luxurious resort ever...it's a little piece of heaven on earth. If you ever go to Vegas check it out. Our days consisted of eating, sleeping, eating, shopping, eating, sunbathing, eating, and taking in the sights. All in all it was flippin fantastic! Jordan and Jared reached deep down inside and brought out their inner Chuck Bass (all you Gossip Girl fans know what I'm talking about. xoxo!) and threw their man vibes out all over Vegas. It was hilarious watching them wear their robes everywhere and anywhere! They made quite a few friends and fans while they were there. Meanwhile, Breanne and I wreaked havoc on the shops and made some amazing purchases. We even found a mannequin posed crawling across the floor with a "No drinking" sign on her back...so random, yet hilarious at the same time! I found my new favorite store...the Bettie Page store! It was AMAZING! I looooove Bettie Page and was ready to sell a kidney so I could go on a shopping spree. We also went and experienced the Blue Man Group perform. Adored it! Talk about an attack on the sensories! Stimulation overload was what that was! But it was a fantastic show and if you ever have the opportunity to watch it, DO IT! All except the part with the twinkie throw up. That was just weird, too weird to explain. I also experienced my first Krispy Kreme hot light donut. Yuck. Never again. Completely over rated! But I may be biased since I don't like donuts to begin with...Then all too soon it was time to come home again. Just a little secret...I was dying to come home. I missed my babies so bad it physically hurt. And yes, I woke up Presley as soon as I got home just so I could hold her. I'm pathetic! And thank you to all the wonderful people who helped take care of our munchkins, we couldn't have done this without you!! I'd tell you everything else that happened, but remember, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!! Enjoy the photos!

Just shoot me in the face...

It's 12:22 am. I can think of a number of things I'd rather be doing right now, like, I don't know...sleeping!! Instead, my sweet little prince, Levi, thought it would be fun to scream bloody murder for the last half hour...straight...So what did I do? I rushed to his bed, held him, rocked him, loved him, gave him chocolate milk, sang to him, you know- typical mommy soothing things. What did he do? Scream like a flippin banshee. In my house we have a saying "When all else fails put on Toy Story". So at 12:26 instead of having dreams about rainbows and cupcakes I'm watching Buzz rescue Woody for the 13, 697th time. Thus I felt inspired to write a little thank you letter to the people at Pixar-Disney that created this masterpiece. Here goes:

Dear Pixar-Disney,
I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude for Toy Story, Toy Story 2, and soon to be Toy Story 3. Some how your writers, all 12 of them, managed to capture all the skills I lack as a mother. It's such a relief to know that when my children are having a coniption fit over who got to use the lion towel and nothing will appease them all I have to do is say "Woody and Buzz" and all is right in the world. For all the times the soothing voices of Tim Allen and Tom Hanks have lulled my kids to sleep because mommy's warm embrace just didn't cut it, I thank you. For making everything from dishes to towels to pull ups and toys that my kids just can't live without, I can't repay you. I'd like to thank Randy Newman for writing such catchy tunes like "You've got a friend in me"....it haunts me even in my dreams. You've done sooo much for my family. I can't even count the times that I've been ready to post my kids for free on craigslist, instead I put on Toy Story and walk away, knowing I'll find them in the same exact spot in an hour and a half. And if I still want them to be quiet I can put on Toy Story 2 and they'll sit there for another hour and a half. If only I knew your trick I could use it during sacrament. So thank you Pixar for all you continue to do. Keep up the great work. I think I speak for all the mother's around the world who are up at this forsaken hour watching animated movies just so our kids will stop their ear piercing shrieking when I say thank you. I'm off to watch Stinky Pete try to sabotage the Round Up gang. Goodnight Pixar, I'll see you in my dreams. Oh, and if you have time to write back I've always wondered something...where's Andy's dad? Thanks again.
One exhausted mother,
Alicia

Happy Birthday Sang Sang!!

My how time flies...I remember living in Folsom BEGGING Jordan at least 8 times a day for a puppy. Everyday it was the same answer "Wait until we get a house"... wah wah wah. So that's exactly what I did. We moved into our house on July 21 2007 and by July 23rd we were the proud owners of the most adorable little furball...a ten week old brindle boxer we dubbed Sampson (or sang sang as the kids like to say). It was love at first sight. As soon as we made contact with his doe-like eyes, goofy paws that always seemed too big and sweet little puppy breath (those were the days), we were smitten with him.

We can honestly say that Sampson has been such a blessing to our family. I think the kids think of him more as a brother than a pet! He's so loving and patient with them. Never once has he even tried to nip them. He's always there to snuggle with, share a snack with (and by share I mean he steals your food when you're not looking), and lift you up when you're feeling blue. And he's always such a good sport when I decide to dress him up in antlers or even sombreros. He's a wonderful companion as well as a loved member of our family.

Anyone who's even been to our home knows we treat our pups like family. We had a great time celebrating Sampson's 2nd birthday last night. We made him his own milk bone cake and his party guests (bruiser and us) got to wear festive collars! I'm not so sure the whipped cream on the cake was the best idea though...my house smells like a public latrine right now thanks to my dogs foul gas!


SoHaPpY bIrThDaY Sampson!! We love you!!---love, mom, dad, mas, boogie, sissy, and boosa
(I'm gonna re-read this post the next time my dog has explosive mudbutt in his crate so I can remember than I actually like him!)

Lunch box + Fist= Tooth Fairy

Sooo...imagine my surprise yesterday when Mason comes home from school yelling "Mommy! Guess what?! I got punched in the face today!"

uhh....WHAT??? You got WHAT?! In my mind I'm gonna have to go regulate on some kindergartner, I'm trying really hard at this point to smother the latina temper, but instead I calmly ask him to tell me exactly what happened...here's how it played out...

Mom: Ok. Now from the beginning tell me what happened? Why did you get punched?

Mason: I don't know. I was just sitting eating lunch.

Mom: Uh-huh. You were just sitting there?

Mason: Yup.

Mom: You didn't do anything, or say anything to upset him?

Mason: Nope.

Mom: You just sat there. Huh.

After about ten minutes of the same conversation I was getting no where. All I knew was one minute he's partaking of a well balanced meal and the next minute it's straight UFC in the cafeteria. So now I had my little devil on the one shoulder thinking "You let him punch you and you didn't whoop him?! You could have taken him!"...Bad, I know. Now the angel on the other shoulder was beaming from ear to ear thinking "You didn't hit him back! That was a great choice, I'm so proud!"....Needless to say I chose to tell him he made a good choice, but I know that kid has nothing on my little scrapper!

A few hours later his teacher called and gave me the missing details. Apparently the delinquent that battered my son had taken a girl lunch box to school and Mason made sure that he pointed that out. The little boy didn't like that too much I guess. Well, he shouldn't have take a GIRL lunch box to school then!

So last night Mason runs out of the bathroom telling me his tooth was loose. I brushed him off. No way, it wasn't even loose this morning, why would it be so loose?....Maybe because he got PUNCHED in the MOUTH! But I wasn't about to rain on Mason's parade. He was just so excited his tooth was loose. After threating Jordan with his life.....and maybe his gun....Jordan gave up trying to tie Mason's tooth to the door and it fell out on it's own today at school. I bet Mason's teacher enjoyed that phone call she made today telling me, while hesitantly joking "Well I hope it wasn't from yesterday (feeble laughter)".

But Mason's happier than a pig in the mud!! So at the end of the day I guess that's what counts! But for the record...the next time some little punk punches my kid...it's on like donkey kong!

A day on the farm....

Yesterday was field trip day in Mason's class. I don't know if you guys remember the importance of field trip day. These kids were no joke! Apparently Fog Willow Science Farm field trip day was the day that these eager little mongrels had spent their kindergarten year preparing for. So with class t-shirts being worn proudly and with moms in tow we were off to the farm! The kids had a BLAST and they learned sooo much! Here's a couple of random facts:

Did you know that when a mama rabbit gives birth it pulls out the fur from around it's neck to keep the hairless baby bunnies warm? (kind of sick...yet sweet at the same time...I think)

Pigs DON'T sweat!! So that old phrase "sweating like a pig"....totally null and void!

All in all it was a great day! Here are some snapshots of the festivities....

Mason and his posse making some freaky squishy substance...they LoVeD this!

They made these adorable soil caterpillars that turn into a chia-pet looking kind of thing after a dip in water and a few days of sun....

I held this adorable baby goat that thought my nappy hair was a yummy snack!

This is Wilbur...I'm trying to convince Jordan into letting me get a pig...it's a work in progress

Check out the cling-ons on those behinds! Happy cows come from California!

But the best part of the day...watching a mama goat GIVE BIRTH! seriously. right in front of my face. It's a good thing Mason missed out on this part...too many questions for a 5 yr old!



I can't believe my baby's almost a first grader! At least we'll have these fun memories to look back on...rabid goats that eat hair, cows with explosive poop stuck to their behinds, and freak rabbits with no neck hair...ahhh the memories...

Thanks to my ball and chain....

Jordan Hamilton Cline....

I love you soooo much! Thanks for the amazing Mother's Day and for everything you do day in and day out. I don't know how I got so lucky with you! Thanks for giving me three beeyootiful babies to celebrate life with. I loved my special day. And remember....I can be the syrup, you can be the waffle...love you!

The Wife

Just so blessed...

bless⋅ing:

1.	the act or words of a person who blesses.

2.	a special favor, mercy, or benefit: the blessings of liberty.

3.	a favor or gift bestowed by God, thereby bringing happiness.

4.	the invoking of God's favor upon a person: The son was denied his father's blessing.

5.	praise; devotion; worship, esp. grace said before a meal: The children took turns reciting the blessing.

Lately I have just been f eeling so immensely blessed. 6 years ago I never would have pictured myself as mother of 3 and wife of 1. It was never in my plan. How humbling it is to see Heavenly Father's plan for me. Sometimes it all seems so surreal. Sometimes I almost forget I am a mother, then I hear them laugh in the next room, or they come and ask me for help and look at me with those curious eyes. It's times like those that I realize what a blessing it is to have them and to be trusted with such tender spirits. Teaching them has been the biggest learning experience for me. I love the quote "While we are trying to teach our children about life, our children teach us what life is all about."

That's just so true. It's amazing how much you learn about yourself when you're trying to teach another. I guess I'm just sentimental with Mother's Day around the bend. It's been a crazy journey the last five years. I've learned how to be the mama bear and protect my cubs. I've learned how to assemble a train track in 2 minutes flat. I've learned not to take their sloppy drool kisses for granted. I really have learned so much and I'm so grateful, and am truly truly blessed. I hope my children know how much I love them, I'd be lost without them. It gives me so much joy to see them grow, but it's hard to see their childhood slowly drifting by. I don't think I'll ever be ready for them to grow up. "Childhood is the most beautiful of all seasons." To all the Mother's who come across this, Happy Mother's Day!

Cinco De Mayo!!

Tonight was FiEsTa TiMe!!

I've always been so proud of my ethnic background (El Salvadorian/Mexican baby!)...so on days like Cinco De Mayo I absolutely loooove celebrating! But come on, who am I kidding...I'll take any reason to par-tay! We had an awesome night full of good food and good times. We were Livin La Vida Loca fo sho! You can't tell by the photos but we had a housefull!! At least a good thirty people....ay que loco! The kids had a blast bludgeoning the pinata, playing in the jumphouse, and shoveling candy into their mouths, while the grown ups chowed down on some home made carne asada, arroz, y frijoles...topped off with some grubbin churros and yummy margaritas (don't worry...they were virgin!). Muy delicioso!! Everyone had a great time and we are so thankful for the friends and family that came out to celebrate in true Cline fashion...My personal favorite moment of the night was being able to wear an awesome "stache"! Man, I wonder if everyone's gonna have gas from the beans?! Good thing my hubby's passed out on the couch with the dogs! I'm already excited for next year...maybe we can get a mariachi band! Here's a few snap shots of the night! Ole!

A few of my favorite things.....

This weekend was AwEsOmE! Here are a few of this weekends highlights...

1. My amazing husband (who knows me so well)...bought me THIS.....amazing! totally rad! The best part...it's insulated. Fanny packs are so functional,who knew?



2. I got to wear these.... (Thanks Nat, best gift EVER!)



3. So I could do this....(there's my favorite headband)



4. And my hubby made me this...heaven in my mouth...angels were singing...yum-frickin-o!


No children were seriously injured and no one puked. All in all, it was a successful weekend. I love my husband, who doesn't blink twice when I announce it's time to pull out the rain boots, we're playing in the rain! What a good sport! I can't wait to post tomorrow....My partner in crime, the Ethel to my Lucy... (you know who you are...Brooke) are having a photo shoot day...should be fun!

Sweet potatoes anyone?

Little Miss Presley turned 5 months on Saturday! She's developed quite the personality and as you can see in the photo she is perfecting her Elvis snarl...she's making her namesake so proud!!

La Familia

Los Clines...

Jordan & Alicia aka The Hubs & Queso...

{best friends and true loves just going with the flow...}

Mason aka The Dude...

{7 years old...lover of Legos, Star Wars, and pirates...}

Levi aka Boogie...

{4 years old...lover of apple juice, robots, and the ladies}

Presley aka The Little Miss...

{2 years old...lover of Hello Kitty, shoes, and being a diva...}

Bruiser & Sampson...aka Boosa & Sang-Sang

{4 years old...lovers of eating, sleeping, and being adorable...}

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Our Story

How this crazy journey began...

Technically, we met online. Jordan will beg to differ, but that's the truth. I don't lie. And yes, he stalked me for a year before we met online. That's true too, but that's a story for another day. Our first date we were supposed to go out on New Years, and I flaked. I had been at the snow all day and it just didn't work out. Not a good start, huh? A few days later I got a call from Jordan asking if we could do dinner. I already had plans, but asked him if he wanted to come along...yeaaahh....and he said yes! So the first time we physically met was at Chuck E. Cheese where I had taken my date...my adorable 2 yr old son Mason. Yes. I was a single mother of a beautiful baby boy when we met.

Talk about throwing him into shark infested waters! It was LOVE at first sight. I had a great night of watching Mason tear up Chuck E. Cheese, he had a great night of watching my booty as I played ski ball, before we called it a night. As we went out separate ways that night he left me a message asking to take me out the next night. Yes please! I saw that truck he was driving...that boy looked good!

Fast forward to the next night. Dinner for two at Macaroni Grill, where we proceeded to tell each other every thing known to man that bothers us, annoys us, our dreams, our passions, our beliefs, so on and so on. We laid it all out on the table, holding nothing back. Honest and straight forward...My kinda guy.

Afterward we talked in his truck for hours...he totally wanted to make out with me...but we didn't! We were too busy impressing each other with our hilarious animal impressions. Here he was bragging to me that he could make a sound just like a flamingo. Whatever. His flamingo impression had nothing on my chicken! So I did my chicken sound (which I'm convinced made him fall in love with me) and told him to 'Take that to the bank!'

Then you know what I did? I farted. In his truck. Straight hot boxed it. Yup. I even warned him, which I think was really nice of me. You know what he did. NOTHING! Just laughed! Match made in heaven!

55 days after our first date we took a leap of faith. We picked up a Costco cake, grabbed some take-out, called up the family, and got married spur of the moment on a random Tuesday night. We were married by Jordan's father with our loved ones gathered round. It was crazy. It was spontaneous. It was perfect.

We now have 3 kids, 2 dogs, and 1 happy family!

We're crazy.

We're cheesy.

We're The Clines.