Ok, I'm Losing It !

2008-07-31T02:42:00.003-07:00

Oh, because I like to confuse you all and because I have alot of time on my hands with hubby gone, well basically I'm an insomniac, I've changed the diet blog. I liked the "I am more than a number" theme so the new blog address is:

http://immorethananumber.blogspot.com/ .

Head on over to check it out. Oh, and you can join too if you want! (wink-wink)

P.s. Thanks for being patient with me:)

Yay!

2008-07-17T21:32:00.003-07:00

(I thought I posted this blog last week and since no one responded I thought no one was interested. It was sitting as draft, I never posted it! Duh! Sooo, if anyone is interested, leave a comment and I'll set this up next week sometime.)

Oh yay! I've got Becky and mlpinky on board! Anyone else care to join us on our weightloss journeys? You don't have to follow a specific program to join, we can all do our own. I want to make this a place where we can encourage one another and track our progresses. I was thinking about doing one of those tickers in my sidebar for each person as well as a comment box for each person so we can encourage one another along. I'd also like us to share healthy tips as well as dieting tips with each other that we think might be useful to the others. What do you all think? Anyone else wanna' join?

Here ya go!

2008-07-09T23:44:00.004-07:00

Clicky on the thumbnail and it'll take you to the new blog. I'll be revamping this one back into my dieting blog. Can't really find a layout/graphics I like so it might take me a bit. Beck, wanna join me again?! I've got a bunch to lose:P

Love, Jen

New Blog

2008-07-09T03:26:00.002-07:00

Tomorrow night I'll be launching my new personal blog. Stay tuned!

I'm still alive!

2008-07-06T22:06:00.003-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a little while. It's been a really busy week! Our washer quit working last weekend so I spent a couple of days pricing those. We're in our 4th week of school and we're on a roll but that takes time. Since Hannah's gone still, I'm on "puppy duty" every night to play with and supervise Layla. Michael is starting online classes with Univ. of Phx at the end of the month so we priced and bought him a new laptop to use for school. And lastly, since he's starting to travel again this next week, we decided to just spend time with Daddy over the holiday.

PLUS....I'm revamping my blogs. Yep, read it right. Blogs, plural. I've got a little project that I've been busy working on. I'm trying to channel my creativity into something productive LOL.

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July. We had a very relaxing day. Went and watched a small show at the park then came home and lit off of few things. We're allowed to do fireworks here, just a few restrictions. No sticks of dynamite or nothin'.

We watched a show on TBN on Friday about POW's in Vietnam. It was a really touching testimony of God's grace on their lives. Anyway, one of the men said something that has just stuck with me all weekend so I wanted to share it here, if I may.

"Freedom has a completely different taste to those who have to fight for their freedom and those who take it for granted."

May we never take our precious freedom here in America for granted. We might not have it forever! But, we WILL always have our freedom from sin and death in Christ Jesus. No one can take that away! Praise God!

2008-06-24T21:26:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

2008-06-24T21:21:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Meet Layla

2008-06-21T22:50:00.002-07:00

I realized the other day that I had not shared something on my blog:)

Back in February we added another addition to our family....Layla.

Actually she's Hannah's puppy. We'd been promising Hannah for 4 years that when we "settled down" somewhere she could get her own puppy. Well, back in February we assumed we WERE settled down in Abq so here she is! We're not sure IF we're settled here or not or what our future holds but alas Layla will be along for the ride...

BTW, she is the sweetest dog EVER! And smart as a whip. She learned 3 "tricks" in the first 3 days we had her and she was barely 4 months old....

Petroglyphs

2008-06-02T23:27:00.006-07:00

The first weekend in May my sister came down to visit us. Mom also took vacation and came over from Phx. We visited the Petroglyph National Monument about a mile from our house. It was really neat and of course we're tying it into history next year.

It was a fun little trip!

Grand Canyon

2008-06-02T23:19:00.004-07:00

We visited the Grand Canyon over Mother's Day weekend. It was a nice trip although the kids weren't really as impressed.

Grandma and the kids.

That's all I'm posting. Most of the photos look the same. Big hole in the ground LOL.

Bedrock City

2008-06-02T23:08:00.007-07:00

20 miles outside of the Grand Canyon is a little theme park called Bedrock city. Of course we had to stop! I mean who doesn't want to have a Yabba Dabba Do time?!

All of these were out-takes. This was the best one....

Pebbles, I mean Hailey driving without a license.

Hannah making friends with Betty.

The gang taking the car for a spin.

Our Fishin' hole

2008-06-02T23:04:00.004-07:00

Memorial Day weekend.

We caught 1 trout, 5 crawfish, wicked sunburns, and the stomach flu but we had a good time:)

2008-06-02T22:52:00.003-07:00

Last Sunday when we went fishing, we also visited the Jemez Indian Ruins.

This was a giant underground Kiva. A Kiva is an outdoor oven. There's more to it than that such as it's supposed to be sacred somehow but that's all I know:) Anyways the kids actually got to climb down into this one.

Family pic!

This was a rather large ruins compound. This was about 1/4 of it....

Anyways, this was a fun day and we're going to tie this in next year to our history.

Birthday X 3

2008-06-02T22:33:00.009-07:00

My baby turned 1 on may 3rd. Jake's birthday was 1 week before and Auntie Rikki's birthday was 1 week before that so we did a group birthday this year:) The theme was luau/beach/pirate. I made hawaiian chicken w/rice for dinner. You get the drift....

Hailey's sandcastle cake. Very simple, but I WAS doing 3 cakes in one day...

Hailey "wearing" the family birthday hat. Still not sure what to do with her cake.

Jake holding his sunken treasure chest cake. He loved it:)

Jake putting up with-err wearing the birthday hat and Brandon singing HIS rendition of Happy Birthday.

Auntie Rikki holding her cake.

Auntie Rikki being very polite and putting up with our traditions....

Completely random photos....

2008-06-02T22:16:00.006-07:00

Jake lost his first tooth last week.

This is how real ladies get around lol. Actually this is how Hailey crawls in a dress. We call it the monkey crawl.

Jake pushin' Hailey around.

Hailey working on Hannah's Math-U-See. Gotta' start 'em young! LOL

Hailey playing with Hannah's dollies. She was actually rocking them:)

2008-06-02T22:14:00.001-07:00

Flowers my honey brought home on Friday night:)

2008-05-31T01:21:00.001-07:00

Hannah gave up on her skates long ago but Jake's still rollin'....

2008-05-31T01:08:00.001-07:00

Here's a pic of the Grand Canyon. I'll post "regular" ones tomorrow. This one's tweek'd.

2008-05-31T00:49:00.002-07:00

Hannah took this picture and I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE it. See I was able to bring out his blue eye!

2008-05-31T00:42:00.002-07:00

I love this pic of Matthew but I wish I could bring the color out in both his eyes. He has beautiful blue eyes. Picassa will only let me do 1 circle of color and it would show the flesh tone between his eyes...I still love the pic though.

2008-05-31T00:30:00.001-07:00

A pic from the Abq botanical gardens last week.

2008-05-30T23:54:00.002-07:00

Ok, I downloaded Picasa from google so I can tweek my photos and hopefully be able to size them down so they'll upload faster to blogspot. I'm gonna play around a bit:)

I love this one! This was taken at the park about 3 weeks ago.

Park Day back in April

2008-05-30T21:47:00.009-07:00

Here are some of the pics I've been promising. Not sure how far I'll get as it's taking forEVER to load them.

2008-05-28T23:10:00.004-07:00

Wow, it's been awhile since I updated, huh? Not much has changed in the job department. Michael interviewed with a company and they are excited to hire him but they have a "hold" on hiring anyone because of the construction slowdown. He's not too sure of his job security where he's at so we're going to continue to look. I'm patiently waiting and trusting. Both God and Michael's decisions as well.

We finished up school at the beginning of May and I'm all ready to start again. The kids are driving me crazy because they are bored.

We've taken a few small trips in the last month. Mother's day weekend we met Mom in Flagstaff, stayed a night at her boss' condo there and then drove up to the Grand Canyon. It was totally cool. If you haven't been, GO!

Then, this last weekend we took a day trip up North a little, to a small river on the Jemez Indian Reservation to go fishing. It was gorgeous up there! Think Sedona, Az with the red rock only "cozier". We caught a 6" trout and 6 crawfish. We didn't keep the trout since it was too small.

We also visited the Petroglyph National Park right next to our house. We did that when my sister was down from Washington. It's basically ancient indian drawings on the volcanic rock there. We live right next to 3 extinct volcanoes. It was really cool. Even the kids enjoyed that one.

I've got some great pics I'll have to try and post sometime.

Take care!

2008-04-10T00:19:00.008-07:00

Ok, a few quick updates and huge prayer request.We're almost done with school. I think we have 2 1/2 weeks left! And we survived, LOL.Next year we're going "classical". I'm a little nervous about that but we'll work it out.

We visited a church on Sunday. We'll be going again next week. They have a small homeschool group and I've already made one friend! I got invited to park day which was today but Hannah had a dentist appt so we couldn't make it.

Ok, now for the prayer request. Long story short. Michael's not traveling anymore (right now). He's also NOT the DM of Abq. They decided not to give it to him. They decided that they'd use him as a "trainer" for the company. You know, what he's been doing the last 4 years! Basically what all this means is that he lost the promotion, yet they still expect him to train the Abq staff, then he's supposed to start traveling again training people in various offices. Well, the whole reason we moved here was to settle down! We were done with the training and he applied for a position where we could settle down. So, we've decided that this company no longer offers what we need personally as a family, and we're moving on. Michael applied for a postition in Austin, Tx. today with one of his clients. His client sounded pretty excited that he was applying, so I think he's got a pretty good chance of getting the job. Anyways, we need prayer for wisdom right now. We've got some logistics to work out if we're indeed moving again. This whole thing is from God and we're clearly seeing it. We literally felt God asking us to choose the family or his company. We're choosing the family, but we're really quite shaken up over all this. He's been with this company for 7 years. Prayers would be greatly appreciated! And in case anyone's wondering why he lost the promotion. They've just decided that he's so great at the operations side of the business, they're going to keep him there because he's so valuable.(blah-blah-blah) I just wanted to make sure that everyone knows that he didn't do anything "wrong". Oh, and by the way, they knew in February that they weren't going to promote him. He found out on Saturday, 2 days before he was supposed to start as DM. Nice huh? You can tell we're a little frustrated with them!

Ok, on another note. If you could also pray for my grandfather as well. He was just diagnosed with lung cancer and I guess it's pretty aggressive. They said that when you find out that you have this particular one, it's already spread somewhere else.

And a praise on this same note. My grandmother in Washington, who's been dying of lung cancer, might not even have it! Can you believe that? She got a new Dr. who looked her over and said she was healthy and to plan on "living" because she's got awhile. He ordered chest x-rays to see what's going on, and they couldn't find any spots. They've ordered a CAT scan to get a better look, but if she still has lung cancer, it's the slowest growing cancer on the face of the earth! LOL

2008-03-21T01:23:00.009-07:00

Oh, thank you to everyone for sending your well wishes and concern over my lack of posting. We are alive! Abq is definately growing on us. The first month I seriously just wanted to pack up and head back to Phx. I'm fine now though, LOL.We don't have internet at the house. Don't know when we will. It's just not a priority for me right now. Moneywise or timewise. Frankly, it was just consuming too much of my time. I am a "learner" and got into the habit of running to the web to research anything and everything and it just took too much time. Not to mention my blog-hopping, list reading, email reading, etc....so I'm on a sabbatical for now. I hope you understand! I do miss everyone though!
Here are Hailey's latest pics. She's almost 11 months now. Can you believe it!?!
Some other updates....
We're 3/4 of the way done with school. This year has been a little rough. I have a sneaking suspicion that Brandon has dyslexia and it's really taken a toll on the both of us. I'm trying something new this next year and if things don't improve I'll have to figure something else out.
We're enjoying Abq finally. Haven't found a church yet. And honestly, we've only visited one so far. It's not my most favoritest thing to do you know. There are some "doozies" out there. We've got 2 more in our radar and are hoping one will work out. Michael is STILL traveling to Las Vegas. I've just given up being upset about it and am just rolling with it now. I just feel bad for him, he's "missed" 9 of Hailey's 11 months by traveling. I'm thankful though that he does get to see us on the weekends. There are military people who don't get to see their families for months at a time, trying to keep things in perspective:) He should be done at the end of April and is more than excited to get started in Abq. They are really wanting him to come as well. They are currently without a manager. We have a new doggie, actually she's Hannah's, named Layla. She's a miniature dachshund with longish red hair. She's a sweetheart. My camera got lost in the move, like it's GONE, so I haven't been able to take any pictures. I'm probably going to break down here this weekend and get a new one. Well, that's about all. Again, I miss everyone. I hope to join everyone here again in the next few months. We'll see.
Love,

2008-01-22T01:50:00.002-07:00

I was doing a little blog reading tonight and was sad to see that little Madeline has passed away. Please, pray for her family. It was a long, hard road for them and I know they are heartbroken.Also, please continue praying for little Noah. He is back in the hospital and very sick. It breaks my heart to see these little ones suffer and so much!

2008-01-20T23:36:00.001-07:00

Just doing a quick update:) Still trying to figure out internet for the new house and I've really just enjoyed this month long break from email, blogs, etc. I've been concentrating on getting things unpacked. Still have our room and the schoolroom to do but I'll get there. We actually did some schoolwork these last two weeks. Michael is still traveling to Vegas and will be until the end of February. It feels so weird to be in a strange place where you don't know anyone! At least before I've had hubby, not so this time, it's just me and the kids! Oh well. The house is growing on me. Just the right size. Big enough for a family of 7 but small enough for me to be able to keep clean. The neighborhood is very quiet. We're in a gated community so not lots of traffic. Right now we're in Washington at my Dad's house. We flew in yesterday. The trip went VERY well. We made through security very easily and the kids were very well behaved. Even Hailey. We were seated in the front row so we had extra leg room and I was able to set her up on the floor with toys and snacks. She just had a good ole time! Dad's 50th birthday party is on Friday. We're having dinner at a restaurant and then heading to Chuck E. Cheese for fun. I've enjoyed seeing my Grandma. She looks and is doing so good up here. You'd never know she had terminal lung cancer! They are taking very good care of her. Well, better go.Love,

2008-01-01T09:20:00.001-07:00

I'm feeling a little better today. Still have the stomach bug but not as badly. We talked with the company and the movers are supposed to be here this morning between 10-12noon. Thanks for praying.

2007-12-31T19:52:00.001-07:00

I'm REALLY homesick right now. The movers didn't come on Sunday and they won't be here until tomorrow (we hope!!). It is FREEZING here. The cold is not doing my bronchitis any good. I got the stomach bug last night and I'm feeling horrible. Hailey is a "bucket of crabs" and our dog has gone off the deep end. This is so not a fun way to spend your birthday! I've not been grouchy per se', but I feel horrible and don't want to be bothered. Kinda' hard when you have a baby who is unhappy with everything. We'll survive. Things have been and could be worse:) Please pray for my health though. I've had bronchitis for 2 1/2 weeks and now a stomach bug. I'm so sick of being sick! Hailey and Matthew have the bronchitis still but I think the stomach bug has gone through everyone now. Please pray that these movers will indeed come tomorrow. We were told that they were but they also said that by law they were only required to deliver within 3-21 days of the date you put on the paperwork for delivery. Of course they don't tell you that when they're picking up your stuff! Michael flys out on Wednesday for Vegas and he needs his work clothes and I really need HIM. He's been so great about all of this. Bless his heart! He's washing clothes right now because Hailey threw up on my from coughing so hard from the cold air....

2007-12-30T09:09:00.001-07:00

We're here in Abq. The movers come today. It was a long drive. About 10 hours with stops. We've been sick with the colds we've had for 2 weeks now and we've picked up some kindof stomach bug. Opie refused to eat for 4 days because of stress. It's been fun LOL. But I'm still choosing joy. I've not been a grouchy mama! My next post might not be for a week or two until the internet gets hooked up. Take care everyone!

Merry Christmas!!

2007-12-25T11:07:00.000-07:00

I'm here. We're still alive.

We had our Christmas yesterday afternoon. Went out to dinner. We wanted to go to a mexican place but surprise, they were all closed. The party poopers! Anyways, we ended up at Denny's ::snort:: After that, the Grandmas and the older kids went to see Enchanted and me, Michael, and Hailey went shopping at CVS drugstore and looking at Christmas lights. The stores were all closed too. The party poopers! LOL I've got pics to share but will probably not post until after the movers come and we're in a hotel tomorrow night. Maybe even this weekend, we'll see how things go!

Today, we slept in. Michael went and bought some more trash bags at CVS. They're the only ones open again. And then we're going to sort through every room in the house while the Grandmas entertain the kids. So, how is your Christmas!?

Why?

2007-12-19T00:03:00.000-07:00

Why oh WHY do we have to sleep? I mean I've got a "to-do" list out the kazoo. I want to stay up all night accomplishing it, and probably even have the energy to do it, and here it is, midnight, and I really *should* go to bed so I can be somewhat useful and be the caretaker of 5 kids tomorrow.....why?
Goodnight:)

Cletus take the Reel!

2007-12-18T16:05:00.000-07:00

Following that funny homeschool clip here's a hilarious music video. It's a spoof of Carrie Underwood's "Jesus, take the wheel" song. Anyone who's familiar with fishing will get a kick out of this:)http://timhawkins.net/video-audio.htmClick on the "Cletus take the Reel" video.....
JTTW can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky4rfA_tebY

Funny Homeschool video clip!

2007-12-18T15:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, when I SHOULD be doing "moving" things I'm here surfing the net and this was posted by someone on the support4homeschool yahoo group. http://www.doublesharpevideo.com/HomeSchool2/Homeschool2.html

2007-12-18T14:56:00.000-07:00

I came across this devotional just in time for the New Year. I am planning on doing it and I encourage you all to do it as well. Just click on the graphic....I may track my progress on here if anyone wants to join me weekly for a discussion type study. Leave me a comment if you're interested!

Can't think of a snazzy title!

2007-12-17T22:20:00.001-07:00

Just some quick updates. I've got a major project to do tonight while the kids are sleeping. I've gotta' totally clean the living room area. Complete with moving furniture and vacuuming them under the cushions and then shampooing the carpet in there. Ugh.

We've had colds since Thursday or so. We had to cancel dinner and movie night with Almerry and her family on Friday night because of it and I skipped morning church with the sickos yesterday morning. We did go last night since they were having our farewell fellowship. It was so SPECIAL. I only did the ugly cry once, and that was when my hubby was giving his salvation testimony. Someone had suggested that he share it since they had heard it when we had dinner at their house one night. Long story short about that, God had been working in Michael's heart for awhile, he kept rejecting salvation, I was being convicted about dating an unsaved man-knew I couldn't be unequally yoked, the night that I prayed for his salvation and told God that I'd break up with him that night if he didn't get saved that night, Michael got saved at prayer meeting. Michael had no idea that I had prayed that. Makes me choke up every time I hear Michael tell it. Anyways, it was a really nice night. We're sure going to miss everyone.

We have got a totally booked and crazy next 10 days. Somehow we'll make it out alive on the other end. LOL

Here's what my next 10 days looks like:

Tuesday: Clean Kitchen and work on my room. AWANA that night.

Wednesday: Sort craft/fabric (big job!) and continue bedroom. Lunch with Almerry and kids.

Thursday: Shampoo upstairs carpets. Deep clean bathrooms. Start sorting through the mountains of clothes that we own. Must eliminate some of the mountains!

Friday: Clean an office this morning for last time. Clean out and shampoo the carpets in the van. Dinner and movie night with the Zenkos.

Saturday: Garage sale! Clean other office for the last time. Possible dinner with Pastor and his family.

Sunday: Church. Lunch at friend's house. Movie "National Treasure 2" at the mall that evening.

Monday: Open Christmas gifts. Fix Christmas dinner. Cleanup and possibly head across the valley to visit Michael' cousin/family over there.

Tuesday: Eat leftovers up. Clean out fridge. Any last-minute sorting/cleaning/packing/landscaping etc.

Wednesday: Movers Come! Stay night in hotel.

Thursday: House cleaner comes. Maybe. I might do this. Prepare for road trip. Stay in hotel.

Friday: Carpet cleaner comes. Leave town after he's done. 7 1/2 hr drive to Abq.

I'm going to try really hard to choose joy through all of this. In fact I told Michael that one of his gifts this year was that I'd be patient/understanding/cheerful and all that good stuff through all of this. I also told him that that means that everything bad that CAN happen, probably WILL! Pray for me?!

Please pray...

2007-12-14T00:45:00.000-07:00

I've been really busy, or really preoccupied lately and am just now catching up on some blogs. Marisa passed away on December 6th. She's left behind 3 small children. She was *only* 35 or so. Please pray for her husband and children. I know this has got to be unbearable for them....

Friday favorites

2007-12-14T00:27:00.000-07:00

I think I've missed the last couple of Fridays so I'm going to post 3 this week.

#1) Babies. Aren't they wonderful....

#2) Sunshine. What would I do without sunshine?

#3) Very cute 3 year-olds and they're verbiage. Matthew told me yesterday, "Mom, me very love you...lots." Now, if that doesn't melt a mamma's heart, I don't know what will.

Drawing #3

2007-12-13T02:52:00.000-07:00

Becky won this one! I picked up your prize today, will pop it in the mail tomorrow or Friday when I mail out Christmas packages. Thanks everyone for joining in my little drawings. Maybe next time I won't be so preoccupied and can come up with something more fun:)

I'm finally moving....

2007-12-13T02:26:00.000-07:00

I just got done with the homemade Christmas gifts that I need to mail tomorrow. I've still got the kids' capes and 2 blessing pillowcases to do. I'll probably wait until this weekend to work on those.

I'm officially out of "denial" that we are moving. Ok, I'll just come out and say it, I've been depressed:) This was a move that we were waiting over 3 years for. It happened and we were happy and relieved. Then I got to thinking about all that we were leaving behind here and I sortof went into denial or something. Seriously, we have movers coming the day after Christmas and I've pretty much done NOTHING to prepare for them. It doesn't help that Michael is out of town M-F either. I've snapped out of it and am planning on working like a mad woman tomorrow and this weekend on the house. We're hoping to have a bit of a garage sale on Saturday but I have a feeling it will be raining, we'll see.

Sunday evening after church service they are having a farewell fellowship for us. I am sooo not looking forward to it. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE that our church wants to show their love for us but seriously I don't know if I can hold myself together. I really, REALLY don't wanna' do the "ugly cry" in front of 75 people! I really don't want to leave this church. Besides, I dislike attention in general. Tried to get out of the baby shower back in May but they wouldn't let me:) The babyshower blessed me though and I know Sunday night will bless us as well. Still, the UGLY CRY!

Matthew woke up today with a cold. Poor guy, he's been sneezing all day. Snot comes out his nose, he bends over so it doesn't run down his face saying, "Mom! Me need kleenex!" It's so cute, I had to share. Hope I didn't gross ya'll out! He's also got the asthma cough that always comes with his colds. Hopefully that doesn't get worse. I don't have an updated dosage for his meds. The last time he needed them was when he was 1 1/2.....he's almost 4 now.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-12T03:07:00.000-07:00

The month before Christmas

When all through our land,

Not a Christian was praying

Nor taking a stand.

How the P C Police had taken away,

The reason for Christmas -

no one could say.

The children were told by their schools not to sing,

About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.

It might hurt people's feelings,the teachers would say

December 25this just a "Holiday".

Yet the shoppers were readywith cash, checks and credit

Pushing folks down to the floorjust to get it!

CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod

Something was changing, something quite odd!

Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa

In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.

As Targets were hanging their trees upside down

At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.

At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears

You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.

Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty

Are words that were used to intimidate me.

Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzer

On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton!

At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter

To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.

And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith

Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace.

The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded

The reason for the season, stopped before it started.

So as you celebrate "Winter Break" under your "Dream Tree"

Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.

Choose your words carefully, choose what you say

Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS, not Happy Holiday!

I really am losing it!

2007-12-05T14:26:00.000-07:00

Last night I lived up to my blog's name. We went to AWANA last night. We got out of the car. I checked the younger two into nursery and Cubbies. Went to game time and supervised games. Went downstairs to do handbook time with my group. Our group leader asked me if Jake had stayed home from AWANA last night. I said, "No, he's here somewhere. Maybe in the bathroom?" then I thought about it for a second....you know he wasn't at game time. My darling little boy who is ALWAYS the first one out of the car and running off to do his own thing had fallen asleep in the van and I hadn't noticed. He was still asleep an hour later when I realized he was MIA. Ooooh, bad mom award right there!

In my defense, if I'm allowed one, I only had about 3 1/2 hours sleep Monday night and had one of those "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days" yesterday. Won't bore you with the details but it involved about 15 different movers, the property management co., and a rescheduled Dr. appt that I never got the message for. I was frazzled by the time awana came last night.

The pic that I had done for Michael for Christmas was done by Rick Green. He does some really cute things!

Drawing #3

2007-12-04T11:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry, didn't get to post last night. Busy researching housing and moving companys.... #1) The words flammable and inflammable mean the same thing. TRUE (Both adjectives describe a substance that is easily ignited. Because inflammable is thought by some to mean "not easily ignited" flammable is preferred for use on warning labels.)

#2) What color button is the A button on the controller sold with the original Nintendo Entertainment System? RED

#3) A chocolate bar contains more caffeine than a cup of coffee. FALSE (A cup of coffee contains two to five times the caffeine of a chocolate bar.)

Now, go ahead and leave a comment to enter the drawing!

Soooo.....

2007-12-03T16:17:00.001-07:00

Whudya think??

I'm going to frame it, maybe in a shadowbox with some poker chips etc. and maybe a nameplate that says, "My Full House."

(BTW, this is Michael's Christmas gift this year for him to hang in his new office.)

If you look closely:

Hannah is the Queen of Diamonds.....my girly girl.

Hailey is the Queen of Hearts....do I need to explain?

Brandon is the King of Spades.....

Jake is the King of Clubs.....

Matthew is the King of Hearts....

The boys, just read into what you may with their "suits". I won't go into details ::snort::.

2007-12-03T13:22:00.000-07:00

Almerry wins question 2! I'm not sure what your prize will be yet, I've not had the time to make the ornaments that I wanted to, but I'll find something good! I promise I won't temp you with a carb-a-licious anything...

As for the next contests, I'm going to combine them into one last drawing. I've gotten overwhelmed with moving and "life" in general. We're moving at the end of the month by the way. I'll post the next 3 questions with their answers. You just read them, chalk them up as useless trivia, then click below and leave a comment so I can enter you in the drawing. How's that for easy!? I'll have a giftcard of some sort to make it easy on myself as well.

I'll post the 3 questions tonight sometime. This one will close on Friday night at Midnight MST.

2007-12-02T18:58:00.000-07:00

I won't be up until Midnight tonight, I'm just too tired. So, the contest will end tomorrow (Monday) at high-noon MST. There's still a chance to enter! I hope everyone's having a great weekend!

Contest #2 Question...

2007-11-30T22:10:00.000-07:00

How many strikes would you need to post a perfect 300 score in ten-pin bowling?

This contest ends Sunday night at Midnight MST.

(Becky, you better get this one right!)

Cute-Cute-CUTE!

2007-11-30T01:38:00.001-07:00

I came across this etsy shop tonight and just had to share.....

2007-11-28T01:36:00.000-07:00

What Your Soul Really Looks Like

You are very passionate and quite temperamental. While you can be moody, you always crave comfort.

You are not a very grounded person. You prefer dreams to reality. For you, it's all about possibilities.

You believe that people see you as a bit small and insignificant. People pay more attention to you than you think.

Your near future is a lot like the present, and as far as you're concerned, that's a very good thing.

For you, love is all about caring and comfort. You couldn't fall in love with someone you didn't trust.

Inside the Room of Your Soul

Those who know me IRL, what do you think?

My new talents

2007-11-28T00:59:00.001-07:00

Well, fairly new...

"I can situp by myself!"

"And, I can crawl!"

"And, I look cute doing both!"

P.S. This is the reason I'm still up this late posting. She woke up and I started taking pics of my cutie patootie!

Winner of Contest #1

2007-11-27T23:54:00.001-07:00

Congratulations! Almerry is the winner of Contest #1.

(There's also a handmade Christmas ornament that I'm working on!)

If you were lost in the Sonoran Desert, the pulp of the saguaro cactus would be an excellent source of water.

FALSE!

"Many cacti contain high concentrations of oxalic acid and would be more likely to make a hapless wanderer ill than to quench their thirst."

************

I've always believed than you could/should eat a cactus if you were lost in the desert. Looks like we all thought that! According to the internet, you can eat a "barrel cactus", the saguaro could actually poison you! See, I could have just saved your life with this little 'ole question!

Question #2 will be posted on Friday morning, will end on Sunday at Midnight! This one will be for handmade Christmas Ornaments.

Contest #1

2007-11-26T13:17:00.000-07:00

I've got one entry in my first trivia question contest! So far I've got a couple of Mary Englebreit things in the prize package and will be working on a matching Christmas ornament to go with. Come on everyone, take a guess! I'm drawing a name tomorrow night at midnight!

Why?!

2007-11-26T01:47:00.001-07:00

These are actual Christmas ornaments that I found online....

Nothing says, "Feliz Navidad!" like a taco on your tree...

"Beef, it's what's for..." Christmas?!?

Symphony and sickness

2007-11-26T00:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, so last night we had our much anticipated date night at the symphony.

We started our night by meeting up with Michael's former boss and his wife at one of my favorite restaurants here called Caffe Boa. We went there about 2 years ago for Michael's office Christmas party and I had the most wonderful chicken saltimboca EVER. I've been wanting to go back ever since, and finally ~~got my way~~ convinced him that last night was the night to go back, especially because we are moving soon. Oh my WOW. It was just as yummy as I remembered....

After that, we raced to the symphony. Michael is a talker and he we lost track of time. My review of the symphony itself, is that they did a great job. Some of those people, especially the pianist and the lead violinist in particular, really take their jobs SERIOUSLY. I mean the pianist put everything he had into each 3 or 4-note spurt that he had and that lead violinist couldn't keep his bum on his chair. They really got "into" it. We, on the other hand, could not have been more bored to DEATH. I'm sorry. I've gotta' be honest here. The first symphony was about unrest, completely dark, slow, and depressing. And it was an hour long folks. The second was about a man's love for his beloved. It had nice periods of uplifting and lovely waltz's, but ended in the man's execution with fleeting thoughts of his beloved throughout these depressing and dark periods. That too, was an hour long. Seriously, we will probably never go again. LOL

I did enjoy wearing my coat though! I'm glad I didn't wear my tall heels and just wore my kitten heels as we had a nice little walk from the parking garage to symphony hall. All-in-all, it was a nice evening. I told Michael we probably would have had a better time just hanging at the restaurant longer with our friends. The symphony was a waste of time and money. Oh well, now we can say we've been there!

Now, on to the sickness part. Michael woke up with a head cold this morning and a pounding headache. I woke up with an "almost" migraine and nauseous because of it. I've gotten headaches all week. I have been able to knock them down with 800 mg of ibuprofen, but they come back. Anyways, we stayed home from church today. We pretty much lazed around because we felt crummy. My headache is pretty much gone but I can tell it's still hovering and ready to come back at any moment. You know the kind...

The weather has FINALLY cooled down around here. It's down in the 60's at night, 70's during the day. It's starting to feel like fall! We actually had to turn on the heat this morning to take the chill off of the house. I know Becky is soooo laughing at me right now up in Washington! What is it, like 35F up there???

Baby Noah

2007-11-26T00:07:00.000-07:00

Baby Noah has a full body infection. He is very, very sick. Please continue to pray for the little guy.

Contest #1

2007-11-25T14:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, in trying to figure out WHAT kind of contest to do, I decided to pull out the cards from our favorite board game Cranium, to see if there were any interesting ones. Basically just to see if any jumped out at me...I'll be doing 5 seperate contests, consisting of 1 trivia question each, up until Christmas. I found 5 trivia questions that I believe EVERYONE just NEEDS to know in their lifetime. Who knows, some just might save your life one day! Ok, just kidding but you never know.....

The rules are pretty simple. Just answer the question in my comments. You don't have to have a blog to enter. The official answer to the question will come from the Cranium card that I have in my hand. If you find a differing answer on the internet, I apologize! I'm going off the answer that I've got. I'll have the contest open for 3 days each and will draw a name on Midnight of the 3rd day from the entries with the correct answer. Simple enough!?

Ok, here goes.

#1) If you were lost in the Sonoran Desert (we live here!), the chewed pulp of the saguaro cactus would be an excellent source of water.

TRUE or FALSE?

This contest will end on Tuesday 11/27 at Midnight MST.

I stand corrected...

2007-11-25T12:05:00.000-07:00

Because I am also a little "anal retentive" when it comes to spelling, I would like to thank Hal for correcting my spelling of the word "whilst". I have seen it in an actual book spelled my original way of "whilest" but ok, I believe you. I am no longer quite as fond of the word, since it now sounds and feels like my mouth is numbed by novocaine when I say it. I guess I won't be using my beloved (albeit
made-up) word "whilest" any longer....off to mourn the injustice of it all.

P.S. I looked up both the words "novocaine" and "albeit" just to make sure that I had spelled them correctly. I have a complex now...LOL

Coming Soon!

2007-11-24T02:17:00.000-07:00

K, so I've been reading The Pioneer Woman (warning PG-13ish) pretty regularly lately and she's gotten me in the spirit of having give-aways. Nothing major like hers. Her recent one was for a $500 American Express giftcard. But hopefully they'll be fun none-the-less! I'll be announcing soon WHAT exactly the contest will be. I picked up the prize(s) today whilest (I love that word!) shopping.Keep checking back because there will be a deadline. That's why I'm posting a few days ahead of time. So, hopefully everyone can join in!

Funny things heard in my house...er, car.

2007-11-24T02:08:00.000-07:00

We were driving around today. The kids were getting a little loud and rowdy in the back....

Me: Chil-dren, settle down in the back!
Hannah and Brandon: K, Mom...
Jake: Mom, I'm not doin' nuthin'. Just pickin' my boo-guhs!

I kid-you-NOT!

Friday Favorite!

2007-11-24T02:03:00.000-07:00

I forgot to do one last week. This week's Friday Favorite is (:::Drum Roll:::)

York Mints. I found this tin in Hubby's luggage and finished it off with the kids. I asked permission first of course....hehehe.

Our Thanksgiving

2007-11-24T01:51:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we had Almerry and her family over. A co-worker of her husband's. And another co-worker of his and his wife and daughter. Clear as muddy water you say? The details really don't matter. What matters is that we had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving. The food all turned out great. I didn't have to cook it all. Almerry brought some food and helped me once she got to our house. We ate dinner. We visited. We ate pie. We played Cranium. We visited a little more. What a great day:) So many things to be thankful for and I'm gonna' bore you all with a short list, K?

#1) A wonderful Heavenly Father who loves me more than I'll ever comprehend and never understand W-H-Y???

#2) A wonderful Husband who loves me also. I don't understand that either but he swears he does...oh, and he's really patient with me too.

#3) My children. ALL of them. I'm learning more everyday just how thankful I am for them.

#4) My friends. I don't have alot like some people, but I sure have good ones!

#5) My church family. I'm really, REALLY gonna' miss my church family!

Oh, I could go on and on-health, food, housing, etc. but like I said, I won't do a long list.....

Black Friday

2007-11-24T01:15:00.000-07:00

This morning Michael slept through his early wakeup call. We weren't able to snag 2 of the 4 gifts we were going to get for the kids. We made it too late. Oh well!

I did however meet my friend Almerry at Joann's and got some REALLY cheap (I mean inexpensive, yada-yada) fabric. I single-handedly knocked out 9 Christmas gifts at Joann's today for about $21 with tax. Cool huh? I've already gotten 2 of them done for Hailey. Here's the pic to prove it....
One of those no-sew blankets and a snoedel (snoo-duhl?). Basically lots of soft, snuggly, cozy goodness just for her:) Albuquerque has SNOW this time of year. Did you know that!? I haven't seen snow in like 3 years...anyways their gifts this year will be warm and snuggly to prepare us for NM. I'm also getting the kids each a stuffed animal from Becky that you warm in the microwave and send to bed with them...

Everyone else that I didn't quite know what to get something for are getting "Blessing Pillows". I got the idea from here. I, of course can't afford $35/person for those so I'm making my own. Joann's had flannel on sale for $.97/yard today so I totally took advantage of that! I'm advertising her site here though because I think hers are so great and I sortof feel guilty for using her idea....

After Joann's we headed to a quilt store in Mesa. It was a really nice store. I was impressed. Not that thats saying alot but I'm really, REALLY snobby when it comes to quilt stores. Either they "have it" or they don't. It's THAT simple people! I couldn't really tell you what the *it* is, but some just don't have it....

Tonight, me and Michael played Cranium with Hannah and Brandon. It's really an adult game but we worked it and we all had fun! This was the game that we played yesterday with all the adult guests at our Thanksgiving dinner. I guess I'll have to go ahead and write up a post about that next. Huh?!

Happy Feet

2007-11-19T02:29:00.000-07:00

This is *SO* not really important in the scheme of things but look what I found on clearance on Saturday. The shoes that I wanted earlier this Summer! They were almost half-price:) I told Michael to make them one of my Christmas gifts this year.

My feet are happy now.....

Pray for Noah

2007-11-19T02:23:00.000-07:00

Prayers are needed for baby Noah. He is back in the hospital with something seriously wrong with him.....Please Pray!

2007-11-18T14:46:00.000-07:00

Cute Hailey pic. Ignore the cookie on her shirt...

Aren't I cute with my hat on?!

Hailey "eating" a ribbon decoration at Michael's office.

Michael's "trashed" office. Notice the fake snow on his pictures.

(BTW, I've gotten sick. I'm bummed because we were having a missionary speaker and our church's Thanksgiving fellowship today. We missed it.)

Wool Contest Photos

2007-11-18T14:34:00.000-07:00

I listed all of the people that I know personally that were there yesterday. Liane (far left) is my friend from church-she is a fellow homeschool momma. She crocheted a beautiful poncho and won first place in her gategory. Her daughter Emily next to her sewed a really beautiful grey dress that has pink trim and won first in her gategory. Lane, won first place in her gategory and sewed a really cute 2-piece outfit. I think she made her own pattern even. Her sister is Courtney who sewed that really cute purple plaid skirt-she won 2nd in her and Hannah's category. Then there's Hannah, she didn't place this year but she had lots of fun! Next is little 'old me! I won first, there was only one of me in my category. Then there's my good friend Almerry. She's the state director of the competition. She didn't have anything to do with the judging! The judging was done by 3 indendent ladies. They have degrees in fashion and either teach or own their own businesses.

Me, Hannah, and Almerry

(This is the outfit I'm wearing to the symphony next weekend.)

2007-11-18T11:43:00.000-07:00

I've got to find my camera cord to post pics from the contest yesterday. Ooooh, the suspense!

I just wanted to make a quick post that my friend Becky is trying to raise some money for Christmas and is selling a few things on Etsy. Please visit her shop and see if there's anything you might want to get for gifts this year:) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Update~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Becky, look what I found while surfing the net today! I hurried to add it to this post. This is Becky's old website banner from about 5 years ago?? It was on someone's banner exchange page. She used to sell her bags and I was selling handmade soap at the time.....

Blah, Blah, Blog

2007-11-16T00:37:00.000-07:00

Got the dress ALMOST done. I've just got to sew up the hem tomorrow night. It fits also! Well, it zips up without too much trouble. That counts right!?

Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day. I'm dropping the kids off at my friend Almerry's house first thing in the morning so me and Michael can go and clean an office quickly. I hate cleaning an office while they're all there so I'm hoping to be in and out without too much intrusion on our part.

After that we come home. Hubby's got some work to do from home. We'll be heading to his office tomorrow afternoon for their monthly BBQ. He hasn't been in the office for the last 3 weeks since he's been up in Vegas. They are supposed to announce his promotion to everyone tomorrow at the BBQ. I bought a bunch of party stuff today and dropped it off this afternoon with his boss with explicit instuctions to "TRASH HIS OFFICE!". I got streamers, silly string, etc....it'll be a hoot! I'll try and remember my camera. He has no clue what's coming....(sinister laugh here)

Sorry, couldn't help it!

2007-11-15T01:04:00.000-07:00

These bumperstickers can be ordered here.

Wednesday's Whatevers

2007-11-14T22:24:00.001-07:00

Today I spent a good amount of time trying to finish up my dress that I'm wearing on Saturday for the wool competition and the 24th to the symphony with Michael. It is made out of the same fabric as the lining of my coat entered in the wool contest. A weird grayish/purple/silky/crepey fabric. I'm HOPING that it fits me! If it does, I think I'll just squeeze in! I've had a hard time staying on my diet. Been "good" for over a week now but I haven't lost as much as I had wanted to by this time. Oh well:) Anyways, I'm going to keep plugging away at the dress tonight and hopefully get it done. I don't want to be up all night on Friday working on it....

P.S. Michael comes home tomorrow night!!!

10 things about me...

2007-11-13T23:38:00.000-07:00

You always wanted to know. Well, maybe NOT, but I'm gonna' tell you anyways!

1) I was homeschooled in the 90's. Back before it was popular and all...

2) Me and Michael were engaged when I was 15.......almost 16.

3) I dressed up as a she-devil the last halloween we celebrated. (eww, huh!)

4) I never imagined I'd have 5 kids. I told Michael he'd be lucky if I had two! (needlephobia!)

5) I can make soap....from scratch.

6) I won first place in the wool contest coming up on Saturday. I know already because I'm the only one that entered my division LOL.

7) My favorite, absolute FAVORITE, none even comes CLOSE favorite color is purple. Any purple!

8) I wanna' own a potbellied pig someday named Maggie.

9) I vowed to NEVER live in the desert. I loathed and truly hated it back when. I have moved to AZ twice and I'm on my way to finally settle our family down in NM. Go figure!

10) (This is really harder than it looks. You should try it and leave me a comment....) Umm, I bite my nails! I try to quit and can usually last a good 3 months or so but fall off the wagon!

Help!

2007-11-13T22:19:00.000-07:00

Ok, I've got 1 vote Seahawks theme, 1 vote Full House theme....need to break this tie!

Christmas shopping...need your help!

2007-11-13T12:35:00.000-07:00

I was at a loss as to what to get Michael for Christmas. I can't afford what he REALLY wants which is an X-Box 360 or whatever it's called....I've been reading Dawn's blog and I really got a kick out of her "Little Old Woman in the Shoe" drawing for her blog. I looked down at the bottom and found a link to Rick Green who drew it for her. I'm thinking that I'll get a pic done for Michael to hang in his new office. I need your help though! I'm stuck between two ideas.

#1) Him with a Seahawks jersey on, throwing a football to our three boys on the other side of the page. The footbal maybe bouncing off of one of their heads and the girls in the middle in the back ground a little dressed as cheerleaders. Hubby is a TOTAL Seahawks fan, his license plate says HWKSFAN. LOL

#2) Michael's clever answer to people who keep asking us if/when we're having more children has been, "We're done. We've got our full house." Get it? 3 boys-2 girls. Anyways, I thought about having him draw a full house with the kid's faces as the kings and queens. Hannah could be the Queen of diamonds (she's girly and glittery) and Hailey could be the Queen of Hearts (she's really been the queen of all our hearts since she's been born!). So, WDYT??? Please vote in my comments box!

2007-11-13T12:19:00.000-07:00

Check out Bridget's baby snoedels that she has for sale on etsy.

My blog's a genius!?

2007-11-13T12:14:00.000-07:00

I always thought I was a genius.......TO-tally kidding! I'm not sure I agree with it, but hey I'll take it:) Thanks to Kristine for this one!

Saturday November 10th, 2007

2007-11-11T01:37:00.000-07:00

Today we went up to an arts and crafts festival up in Fountain Hills. We had plans to also check on our geocache that we placed up there, but we were too tired once we got done with the fair. Our geocache is about 1/2 mile up a mountain walking trail....here are some pics from our day!

Hailey riding in the sling and actually liking it:)

Hailey taking a nap about half-way through.

Heading back to the car. Me and Hailey bringing up the rear as usual.

The lake before the fountain went off.

The fountain....

Hope you had a great Saturday too!

(P.S. I just noticed the date stamp is wrong on our camera LOL)

Another Friday Favorite

2007-11-10T02:51:00.000-07:00

It's technically Saturday but I wanted to add another Friday Favorite...one of my favorite children's books...

Friday "Favorites"

2007-11-09T03:52:00.000-07:00

I'm stealing an idea I've seen on a few blogs...Friday Favorites. Here's mine.

One of my favorite things is holding Hailey after her middle of the night feeding. She's still small enough to snuggle up just right on my shoulder and I can cup her little bum and "dance" with her while I burp her before putting her back to bed. She usually falls asleep on my shoulder but puts her head on my shoulder even if she's still awake. Ahhh, I L-O-V-E it! (Her too!)

Funny things heard in my house.....

2007-11-07T20:09:00.000-07:00

Two funny things heard in my house, one yesterday, one tonight....

Yesterday at the Dr's office Hannah was sitting on the Dr's stool at the little counter and doing her schoolwork. Matthew crawled underneath and started picking on her. She kept asking him to please quit so she could concentrate. To this he replied, "Hannah, take it like a man!".

Tonight we were flipping channels. They have the country music awards on tonight. Hannah asked why they just go on TV and sing songs. Brandon replied, "Because they are SO talented, they just can't stand it, they HAVE to sing!".

Where do they get this stuff!?

2007-11-07T15:11:00.000-07:00

Al-Buh-ker-kee, here we come! Right back where we started fr....well, we didn't START there but we're GOING there:) I texted Michael a pic today of "sick Hailey" (poor baby!). He texted back the message "I love you. From the new Albuquerque DM." He'll still be in Las Vegas for another 4 or 5 weeks, then they'll make plans for him going to Albuquerque. I'm guessing we'll be moving at the first of the year??

2007-11-06T16:07:00.000-07:00

Wow, everyone's been really quiet in the blog-world! I thought I'd do a small entry to jump-start us all back?! Michael has been working up in Vegas the last week and a half. He'll probably be there through November, maybe longer. He comes home on the weekends so it's not TOO bad but still....

He also applied for a position in Albuquerque last week! We should know if anything comes of it this week, probably tomorrow. We're at peace one way or another but I am a little impatient that it takes so long to find these things out. Internally I'm saying to myself, "I need to be looking for houses!" "I need to start purging and packing and cleaning!" I'm trying to be calm about it though....

Hailey had her 6 month checkup this afternoon. Can you believe she's already 6 months old!? Well, anyways she looks good except she's on the small side. I'm going to push babyfood a little more. She's really not fond of any food except graham crackers. Oh, and some cheerios that she had at our friends' house last week. She's gonna be really miserable tonight and tomorrow. She got 5 shots today, argh....

2007-11-02T00:26:00.000-07:00

I'm D-O-N-E!!! With my wool contest entry that is. My good friend Almerry allowed us to invade her house tonight so I could use her sewing machine to do the buttonholes and finish up my coat. Hannah also finished her skirt and it looks great on her. I totally forgot to get pics so you'll have to wait another 2 weeks until the contest to see those. Thanks Almerry! You saved me!

2007-10-31T14:15:00.000-07:00

Oh, and please keep praying for baby Noah. There's a good post from a few days ago on HOW to pray for them.....

2007-10-31T14:12:00.000-07:00

In case anyone's wondering where I am.....I'm sewing! LOL Well, sewing in between homeschooling, church, and just plain L-I-F-E. I won't tell you how late I stayed up last night but let's just say the roosters were almost crowin'......only one more day to go then I can have my sanity back:) Will take pics tomorrow before I turn it in.

Please pray right now

2007-10-24T12:55:00.000-07:00

I was doing my daily blog-hop and there is an update at baby Noah's blog. He needs prayer right now! I've linked in this message so you can just click on over and see what's going on with this dear baby...

Thanks!

Monday Pics

2007-10-23T00:54:00.000-07:00

Brandon doing his schoolwork...

Hailey doing pushups. She's trying to crawl....

What was that bright light???

Matt and Hailey playing cars...

Hit his head on the coffee table...

I was showering and Hannah gave Hailey a graham cracker. They get a kick out of her making faces while trying new flavors. I guess they decided to take a picture, I found it when I was uploading the others...

Other happenings today include...housework, always fun. Schoolwork, we got it all done! Office cleaning at hubby's office tonight. I planned on sewing tonight but am just too tired. Me and Hub stayed up late talking.

Our afternoon

2007-10-21T22:37:00.000-07:00

Me and Hannah spent the afternoon together.
We spent most of the afternoon at 2 different Joann's stores. The one store only had 3 buttons and I needed 4. I spent wayyy to0 many brain cells deciding which buttons to put on my wool contest jacket. These are what I ended up with...

For my grey jacket w/purple satiny lining. They reminded me of the famous Skagit Valley Tulip Festival from "back home". What do you think of them? Think about what a jacket would look like with metallic, pearl, or plain buttons....they each would totally change the "look". Like I said, it was a hard decision for me. I know, I'm pathetic! LOL

I also bought some costume fabric that was on sale to make the kids capes for Christmas like these I found on Etsy.

They'll totally get a kick out of them, and they'll only cost me around $5 a piece! These won't even get touched until December though!

Some glimpses of Hailey's week....

2007-10-21T22:15:00.000-07:00

Hailey getting ready for church this morning....

Helping with yardwork....

Playing with Brandon...

Playing with Jake.....

Are we done playing yet???? Mom, rescue me....

Baptism today

2007-10-21T22:10:00.000-07:00

Here's the play-by-play....

Waiting for Pastor Williams to meet us.....

Pastor speaking on baptism and salvation....

Brandon stating "Yes!" that he's accepted Christ and reciting his chosen verse, John 3:16....

Being baptized....

My Tuesday

2007-10-17T03:10:00.000-07:00

Got off to a sloowww start. Matthew got a "cold" on Saturday, Hailey got it yesterday (Monday), and I've gotten it today. I was really-really tired this morning.

I wasn't real productive until this afternoon, then things got a little crazy. Picture this....me fixing dinner for the kids (carb-laden one), pleading with Brandon to hold his little sister just a little longer so I can fix it (she screams when put down), walking Hannah through sewing her skirt for the wool contest, and answering Hubs' call asking me what I want him to stop and get for *us* (low-carb) for dinner on the way home.....all at the same time! Nope, I didn't pull any of my hair out but thank you for asking:)

I made a quick run to the grocery store after the kids were tucked into bed. My Love had forgotten the milk and bread that I actually had him stopping at the store for on the way home. Took Opie for the ride. I LOVE having a dog I can take on car rides. Came home and took Opie for a 15 minute "huffin' it" walk around the block.

After that, I finished cutting out all the pieces for *my* wool contest entry. I had to cut out the lining and the interfacing pieces. I started sewing it the other night too, it's a miracle! My "plan" is to do one step a night until I get it done. That's my PLAN. We'll see what life holds.

Here's a peek at the pattern that I ended up using...

I Found It!!!

2007-10-17T02:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, last night (reaLLY late!) I was watching the news and they had a story about stay-at-home mommies who blog. They profiled a woman who has six kids blah-blah-blah. Well I was kicking myself for not writing down her blog addy, silly me was gonna "remember" it today LOL, anyways while I was surfing tonight I found a link to this lady's ebay auction she had back in August and in it was the addy to her blog! She's funny, you should check her out....one other cool thing that was in the story. She makes money with her blog.....like $4,000/month money!

Monday's weighin

2007-10-16T16:03:00.000-07:00

Weighin day was yesterday. I am the same. No biggie, I just need to exercise more. Hopefully I can afford that granny bike on Friday:)

188/167/135

I can do all things though Christ which strengthens me. Philippians 4:12, 13

We can do anything we want if we stick to it long enough.Helen Keller

2007-10-14T18:38:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd pop in and do a quick update.

Still on my diet. Today I woke up with food-poisoning again, guess I shouldn't have had my "cheat" day yesterday. Tomorrow is weighin day though so maybe it'll be good to me:) As far as exercise, I've been doing good, could always do better I guess. I've been taking daily walks with Opie and doing various other exercises. I'm currently looking into getting an exercise bike again. One of the granny "fan" types where the arms move. We'll see if I can afford it on payday on Friday.
This worked really good for me back in 2005 when I was losing weight for Hub's company trip to Puerto Rico. Now, I'm trying to lose for a possible trip in March to Atlantis. We were told to buy our passports but haven't received an official invite yet......we'll see. Childcare for a week for 5 kids is very different than for 3 or even 4.

I got my jacket cut out for the wool contest. I might start sewing tonight. We'll see. I went ahead and pinned the main part together and tried it on to see if the thing was going to fit, it looks very possible, I'm still trying to lose these 10 lbs just in case though.

Can you believe that it's already the middle of October. I was looking at a calendar yesterday and Christmas will be here before we know it! Good grief, where'd the year go?

Just click!

2007-10-10T12:59:00.000-07:00

I came across a little button on a lady's website today. By clicking on it, the breast cancer site can give someone a free mammogram. It is sponser-supported and will cost you nothing. Please click everytime you visit my blog:) I'll put it over on the left, just scroll down a tad.

Randomness from my Tuesday...

2007-10-10T02:07:00.000-07:00

Today we went up to Michael's work to visit the famous "V.P." He's in town until tomorrow from Wa. It was a good visit. The kids behaved very well, that's always good!

After that we raced to church. Brandon needed to meet with Pastor to go over his upcoming baptism. I guess he wanted to talk with him once more before the deacons vote on him on Thursday. Pastor was reassured and he'll be baptized on Sunday:)

Grabbed Mc D's on the way. I was good and got my salad with GRILLED chicken.

Had a good night at AWANA. I have been just blessed by this little arabic boy that has been coming. It just really blessed my heart tonight to see this little arabic boy memorizing and learning Scripture, the TRUTH, not learning the false teachings of the Koran. He started coming with an arabic family that are members of our church. They (husband/wife) were both born in Baghdad. They were saved over there after hearing some missionaries, moved here and are now Americans. Anyways, in the current political world that we live in, it was just refreshing for me to see him learning about the one and only God in AWANA tonight:)

K, it's late. Gotta' go to bed!

Weigh-in day!

2007-10-08T17:26:00.000-07:00

Weigh-in today was good! I'm down 10 lbs from last week when I started. I'm now at 167. Most of it water weight, but encouraging none-the-less. I'm hoping to lose another 10 in the next month.

We've not had much anything interesting going on around here. I cleaned the 2 offices this weekend. Was in nursery yesterday at church with one of my friends and fellow homeschool mamma. That was a nice visit. We usually don't really get a chance to talk, just US, no kids interupting...

Today I haven't accomplished nearly enough! We haven't even done school so we'll have to play catch up this week. Tonight Hannah is getting her skirt cut out for the wool contest. I'm debating whether or not to sew up the full length jacket that I've got or just submit the crocheted capelet. I'm hesitant to do the capelet since my friend that was with me in nursery yesterday is entering the crocheting category. I don't know anyone that's entering the sewing category.....oh decisions, decisions! I did find a gorgeous purple crepe fabric to use as the jacket lining and the dress underneath. I guess I can go ahead and do it anyways since I was hoping to wear this outfit to the symphony next month. Michael had gotten tickets at an auction dinner earlier this year.

Ok, Hailey is screaming and I can't take it anymore! All she wants is to be held. I was trying to get her used to being in her walker and playing by herself. I guess that's what happens when you've got alot of siblings, you get used to being "entertained"!

188/167/135

We must all suffer from one of two pains:
the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.
The difference is discipline weighs ounces
while regret weighs tons.(or lbs. in my case!)
Jim Rohn

Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established. Proverbs 16:3

And it starts....

2007-10-04T21:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, I started my diet yesterday. I was good all day until last night, we were at the mall getting Hailey's ears pierced. I ended up with mexican food. I didn't over-eat though! I lost 2 lbs overnight. (water weight, blah-blah-blah)

This morning I was determined to do this. I stayed good all day. I even exercised! So, we'll see how far I get this time.....

I dug up some quotes and verses last night to help keep me on track and remind me to keep going. Again, this is probably going to be a spiritual journey, bear with me. I rely on food for comfort, stress, etc. and not God, I'll admit it. Gotta' fix that first!

Inspirational Scriptures....for dieting.

2007-10-04T01:11:00.000-07:00

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of sound mind.

2 Tim 1:17

Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established. Proverbs 16:3

Whatsoever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord and not unto men..Colossians 3:23

I can do all things though Christ which strengthens me. Philippians 4:12, 13

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 1 Corinthians 6:19

Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. Philippians 3:19

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1

Inspirational quotes....for dieting.

2007-10-04T00:52:00.000-07:00

We can do anything we want if we stick to it long enough.
Helen Keller

Good habits result from resisting temptation.
Ancient proverb

Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more;
whine less, breath more; talk less, say more,
and all good things will be yours.
Swedish proverb

He who restrains his appetite avoids debt.
Chinese proverb

Everything must have a beginning.
French proverb

We must all suffer from one of two pains:
the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.
The difference is discipline weighs ounces
while regret weighs tons.
Jim Rohn

'Now' is the operative word. Everything you put
in your way is just a method of putting off the
hour when you could actually be doing your dream.
You don't need endless time and perfect conditions.
Do it now. Do it today. Do it for twenty minutes
and watch your heart start beating.
Barbara Sher

A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan
and a deadline.
Harvey Mackay

...who waits until circumstances completely favor his undertaking,
will never accomplish anything.
Martin Luther

A goal without a deadline is a dream.
Alec Mackenzie

Real obstacles don't take you in circles. They can be overcome.
Invented ones are like a maze.
Barbara Sher

There is no failure except in no longer trying.
Elbert Hubbard

People begin to become successful the minute they decide to be.
Harvey Mackay

Hard work often leads to success. No work seldom does.
Harvey Mackay

Our history is not our destiny.
Alan Cohen

The distance is nothing; it is only the first step that is difficult.
Mme. Du Deffand

Success lies in only one direction: straight ahead.
If you backtrack, you get sidetracked.