lovinglife

I just can't help it. Wait Yes I can!

2012-01-24T02:16:00.000-06:00

and again...
found a new homemade project! I want to make my own coffee creamer! Mad scientists suit up! A friend of mine shared a site with us as we chatted about stevia sweetner. Here is the link to the recipes deliciouslyorganic.net this is a beautiful site I will be following all over the place.

Another project I hope to work on is the Craft Hope website.crafthope.com Please do check this out. If you do any crafts or sewing please help. This current project is helping kids who are fighting cancer. These are simple and easy project to help spread happiness. Please get involved!

Thats all for now...

Sunday Religion? No. Christ? YES!

2012-01-23T15:33:00.000-06:00

Sunday mornings have been a source of stress for me. It's getting 7 people ready and out the door that is the whole issue.

For us it goes a little like this:

Have you had showers?

Brushed your teeth?

Do your clothes match?

Do your clothes fit? No too small go put on something better. I don't have anything better! No? Yes you do we just bought you clothes! But I don't like that shirt, pants, etc I raved about in the store anymore. I don't care wear it anyway!

Where are my socks? So and so took my socks!

Honey what do you want the little ones to wear? That's too small she's grown out of that.

Oh no and here comes the toddler nuclear meltdown because she can't have dessert for breakfast.

Do we have our bibles? No I left mine at church 3 1/2 Sundays ago. What and you didn't say anything?

Got your coats? I don't have one, mine doesn't keep me warm, I don't need one its only 1 below out anyway! What?! Put your coats on!

The baby needs a hat!

Diaper bag ready?

Ok lets get in the car. I'll skip that whole dialogue. Wait... who forgot deodorant? We hear a low "me"... (from the back of the back of the suburban) Ugh go put it on and hurry!

... finally arriving at church. *gasp!* Helaina doesn't have any socks on and two out of 5 kids have light jackets on complaining that it's cold! (O.o) I think to myself, yeah I've got to plan the night before. This morning routine of chaos has got to change as my husband drops us off close to the door and parks the car.

I shuffle through the crowds with a bulky car seat and 4 kids as someone decided to add a little gasoline to the fire that was almost out with, "Whew I'm glad those days are over for me." I nod, although offended inside but laugh it off then proceed to catch eye contact with people I know coming or going. Some I'm glad to see some I completely avoid eye contact. Yes I admit, some people just can say some of the craziest things that I try to avoid. It makes my day easier. By the way the "Whew I'm glad those days are over for me" comment was said to me twice. Once before service and once while I was feeding baby Fia. I thought to myself wow, you know I wouldn't give this up for the world. My family as crazy and unorganized as we are, I love them. They are my world and I'm honored the God let me have a family. Yes this stage of life is a bit overwhelming at times but I am enjoying seeing my kids grow up. For some it might not have been that way. Maybe they suffered through the infant, toddler, preteen, and teen stages. I don't know but you can't assume everyone has. I for one didn't like being pregnant at all but I would never tell a pregnant woman "Whew glad those days..." She might love being pregnant for all I know. I guess people just don't think. To me that says they don't care enough about the passing person to give a passing word of encouragement. Of all places, we were at church but some are their due to their obligation to fulfill a religious tick off their list. Love doesn't reside with that motivation. I can't say they even meant well, because the words were accompanied with the head shake and facial expression. As we were leaving an older lady asked me if I had just had a new baby because she saw the car seat. I said yes and she asked how old. I said she's 4 months. She then says oh that's not so new. Well ok then! The she says, can the baby breath? I assured her yes she could. We had a fleece blanket over her to shield her from the whipping winds. She said ok, I don't want to have to do CPR. I did the smile and nod again. Maybe she didn't notice the alive and well 4 kids traveling behind me?? Wow people. Wow.

It's moments like these that make me question why do I even put up with going to church? Why when you have people
who talk to you crazy, criticize you, your parenting, your family, where you live, how you look, how often you serve, etc. Why when you can get the pod cast and rest in your own comfortable home? Well here's why. Each Sunday our Pastor fights through his or her own battles to bring a message to us. Each Sunday other families go through this same thing. I see families that I love to talk to, I see friends that encourage me, I see my kids enjoy it. I see my husband joking with others, and that makes me smile. In reality it's not about me. It's about God. Its about our spiritual growth. It's about hearing the word of God and applying it to our lives. It's not about who's wearing what, who's popular, who's got this and that. Sure that stuff happens even in church but I shake off the offenses and move ahead. I'm learning if I give it more time than the moment of dismissal it deserves it steals my joy, and my family's joy. It's not worth that. We aren't perfect but we can be aware of our actions and words. Live what we proclaim, open our eyes, and began to LIVE because God gave us our lives not to harm one another but to build one another up. I don't claim to have or to expect life to change over night. After all we are a church full of imperfect people trying to do something right. That's it. So we do this every week, (until God leads us to do something else) and we learn... some of us learn because I still have to get that morning routine down lol.

A friend of mine posted this video on facebook. I'd like to share it because it's so true. So many are going the religious route. I'm not religious and here's why.

Here I go Again...

2012-01-22T01:28:00.002-06:00

Ok, I have found my next home made product adventure! It's Non Petroleum Jelly! lol I know what's that all about? Well I just blogged earlier today on my Pure Natural Blends blog about the Mineral Oil and Petroleum Jelly ingredients. Have a look here http://purenaturalblends.blogspot.com/. I was researching alternatives to Vaseline. You know we've used it for years and like it, however being well informed I don't think I like it so much. So now ta daaaaaaa, it's Non Petroleum Jelly!! I plan on getting the alternative waxes and not beeswax. Here is a snippet from the blog

Their are many alternatives to petroleum based products. Try using products such as olive oil, almond oil, coconut oil or jojoba oil. They work better for precious baby skin too! The benefits are far greater than the byproducts of crude oil!

An alternative to petroleum jelly could be to make your own! A Non Petroleum Jelly can be made by using Bayberry Wax, Soy Wax or Candellia Wax and your favorite oil. Just use 1 ounce of wax and 1/2 cup of your oil of choice. Melt both wax and oil on very low heat in a sauce pan or a boiler. Stir the wax and oil together. Pour the wax and oil mixture it into a jar and watch it cool into a solid. You may add essential oils to give it beneficial properties and a great scent!

So I'm now on a quest to find some Bayberry wax. It just sounds interesting to use. Maybe I'll mix some lavender essential oils and use Almond Oil. I'm excited again! I'll blog about how it turned out when I get it done! If you have already done this let me know how you like it!

Seaweed Smoothie Fail. Tofu Pie Success!

2012-01-20T01:26:00.001-06:00

Ok so I'm a sucker for products and recipes. If the package looks good I want to buy it. If the claims look half honest I'm tempted. I know it makes me sound like I have a house full of junky half used products, but I don't. I don't give into temptation much after all I am a Graphic Designer trained to know and design the tricks that make us want to buy things. It still doesn't stop my curiosity though. I do have self control... sometimes. I'm still in the dog house for the Seaweed Smoothie I created. That creation literally tasted like crab! I tried hiding the seaweed taste with fruit and it just made it have a sweet yet salty crabby taste. Maybe we should have had crackers with it? No. My husband was a trooper as he always has been for me and tried it with me. He drank all his, I couldn't get half of mine down. Good thing the after taste didn't last long! Yeah, Yuck.Oops FAIL!
Anyhow, the latest is a Low Calorie Chocolate Pie I saw Chef Alton Brown made on the Dr. Oz show. Here's the thing, the main ingredient is Silken Tofu! I had never tasted Tofu before until a few days ago. I was skeptical at first but was curious enough to try it. The chocolate Pie is delicious!! My whole family liked it! Yes even my dear husband who doesn't like tofu agreed it was good! Maybe because you don't actually taste the tofu! Hmmm....
So check it out, here's the recipe and the link to where it is on the Dr. Oz site http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/alton-browns-dairy-free-chocolate-pie

IngredientsMakes 8 servings
13 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup coffee liqueur (I used a sugar free Caramel flavored Coffee syrup as a substitution)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 lb silken tofu
1 tbsp honey
1 (9-in) prepared chocolate wafer crust (store-bought is fine)

DirectionsPlace enough water in the bottom of a 4-quart saucepan to come 1 inch up the sides. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.

Place the chocolate chips and liqueur in a medium metal mixing bowl, set over the simmering water, and stir with a rubber or silicone spatula until melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

Combine the tofu, chocolate mixture, and honey in a blender or food processor and spin until smooth (about 1 minute).

Pour the filling into the crust and refrigerate for 2 hours, or until the filling sets firm.

Courtesy Alton Brown, 2011From “ Good Eats: The Early Years”

Try it! It's yummy... now where did I put my slice?

Messy Mondays Just Became Funny Mondays

2012-01-19T02:47:00.000-06:00

After seeing this posted on facebook a few times I eventually watched it. Now as homeschoolers... wait as African American homeschoolers... wait no, as an internationally blended mixed homeschooling family, we are a bit of an oddity and we love it. I'm forever a proud Texan married to a proud English husband (said in my TexBrit accent), throw in one set of twin girls, a boy, a toddler and a baby and there you have it. We get asked all sorts of questions about homeschooling and people assume all sorts of things. My family was humored by this YouTube video from Blimey Cow
Enjoy, laugh and let the truth be told!

Homemade Mouthwash & International Traveling Bees

2012-01-19T02:09:00.002-06:00

Well folks I did it! After weeks of wanting to do this, I finally got to make my own mouthwash and guess what...

I liked it!! I took a recipe from the Gorgeously Green website and modified it with ingredients I found in other online recipes. So I used:

½ cup Aloe Vera Juice
1 cup Filtered Water
1 tsp Honey
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 TBSP Witch Hazel
3 drop Lemon Essential Oil (EO)
20 drops Peppermint Essential Oil (EO)

You might ask, now why would I make my own mouthwash? Have a look at the ingredient list on the LISTERINE^® ZERO™ bottle
Active ingredient: Sodium fluoride 0.02% (0.01% w/v fluoride ion)
Inactive ingredients
water
sorbitol solution
propylene glycol
flavor
sodium lauryl sulfate
poloxamer 407
sodium benzoate
phosphoric acid
eucalyptol
thymol
methyl salicylate
sodium saccharin
menthol
disodium phosphate
sucralose
FD&C red no. 40
FD&C blue no. 1

Anyone know what all those ingredients besides Mentol are without having to google them? I know Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is in shampoos that I don't buy because it's harsh. All the others I would have to google. I don't think it's a bad idea. In fact I'll do it when the little princess tot who hit the floor running this morning goes down for a nap. But for now the list is questionable as is the rest of the other brands filling the bottles on the shelves. This LISTERINE^® ZERO™ won a best beauty award! Beware of these sort of things. Again the graphic designer in me raises a brow. Stay with the safe ingredient lists you know. Our bodies deserve better.

As for the homemade mouthwash, it's minty and I like it! I have to admit I was a little hesitant because I've read that you shouldn't consume EO's but this isn't to be swallowed! I was asked if I did the math for it's cost effectiveness and I did not because I had these things on hand. So I'd say if you have these things on hand give it a go. The honey was a bit expensive since I bought local honey. You know my daughter asked me to pick up some honey the other day and I was told years ago that you should always buy locally made honey and this article Why You Should Buy Local Honey definitely states why! As I browsed the honey jars looking for local one I was quite disappointed that Schnucks didn't have anything local. Sure they had some "distributed" in Kansas but not made locally. Note, it's only distributed and not made. On the bottle it had it printed "product of Argentina" Whoops! That's not local! I saw some jars actually imprinted with product of India, Argentina and USA all on one bottle. Um can I get Honey that doesn't travel so far? Yes. Yes, I can. I went to Dierburgs to see their selection and purchased some there. The price was higher than the other traveling bees but the quality is better. So while I didn't buy the honey solely for the purpose of this mouthwash, I did learn a lesson. My lesson was to read the back of the Honey Bear container and be ware of those international traveling bees! The EO's can be expensive too so bargain shop for price but watch the quality. If the cost effectiveness is a big factor, I'd say search online to find a recipe that has the ingredients you already have. I found a variety just searching the words "homemade mouthwash." If you do have these ingredients listed, give it a go!

So far so good. Swish Swish!

Lovin' Life

Life in Light

Natural Hair Care Products

Bok Bok Thankful!

2011-11-24T02:07:00.001-06:00

Well happy Bok Bok Gobble Gobble Thanksgiving Day! I haven't blogged daily but I've been thankful daily! Picking up from the last blog...

Day 12 I'm thankful for quite times - You know those times when you just can't think, and there is too much going on which causes you to be frustrated? This is where my quite times are most valuable. I either need to take one, or I've missed having quite time for a while. Its essential for us to rejuvenate our selves with sleep and meditation. I find that I have the best days when I've started them peacefully. Even if the day gets challenging having that quite time in the morning really helps me not to be so up tight about things that shouldn't mean a lot. So I am thankful for quite times.

Day 13 Ideas - I'm an idealist. I think of these little inventions and products daily. Some times my thoughts are silly and some are really good. My husband gets the pleasure or annoyance of hearing a lot of them. I usually start out with an enthusiastic "Honey! Wouldn't it be cool if..." It makes for interesting discussion. We'll try to figure out if it's something we'd spend time on. I've got so many things in my head that I want to do it's impossible for me to remember all of it if I don't write it down. I've found myself getting frustrated at not being able to actually make any of those inventions or products. Some of them I've forgotten. It's in my head and gone the next. I am thankful for my mind always being in a creative state. Some times it can get irritating but I am thankful that God gives me these colorful ideas.

Day 14 Possibilities and vision - Everything we create is first visualized mentally. Everything is possible with the Lord. So when we depend on him to work out the vision He gave to us, the possibilities are endless. Just take a look at the world around us. It's full of beautiful nature and beautiful people living out their visions and believing it's possible. I am thankful for the visions God gives me and the endless possibilities when we trust in Him.

Day 15 Surprises- I don't like surprises that I know of. I like complete surprises that are pleasant. I love those little surprises in life that give you a smile. It doesn't have to be this grand surprise party or huge expensive gift. I'm talking about the times when you realize it's Thursday instead of Wednesday which puts you closer to the weekend or the oh look what I've found or the Oh great I don't have to go to the store because we already have that one important item I needed sort of surprise. Those sort of things make me days brighter. I'm thankful for surprises.

Day 16 The bed - It's so nice to be able to slip into a bed and lay down comfortably especially after a long day. I love to feel that relief of rest at the end of the day. I do know it is a privilege as others aren't as lucky. It's a blessing and I'm thankful to have a bed.

Day 17 Our home- Having shelter from the unpredictable weather and a family to live with is a blessing I'm thankful for daily. I look around at my home and I'll complain about things being dirty and messes being every where, but I've got to change my prospective on it. I know it will help me to destress. A home is a blessing. It can be clean or dirty but if love resides there, it's a blessing. My husband and I got to design our own home with architects. It was a good experience. It taught us many things. It is rather neat to see and live in the designed space we thought of. Well we thought of with the help of home builders, architects, our kids, etc. We have things we would fix, add, change, and completely take out. My husband has learned to listen to me and more importantly I've learned to listen to him. Our home teaches me to be thankful for the blessings I have.

Day 18 Warm weather - Oh man am I a warm weather person! It's getting cold now and I'm not liking it. The only thing I can think of that I like about winter is there are no bugs! Warm weather makes me happy, I thrive in warm weather. It brings out a different happier person in me. I am thankful for warm weather!

Day 19 Baby cuddles, laughs and coos. I am so thankful to hear Baby Fia cooing. Her little voice is so touching. I love to see her smiley face. She's such a cuddly baby. When I hold her it's just something that warms my heart and makes me feel comforted myself. My toddler Helaina is such a hoot with her laughing now it's contagious! I can help but to laugh when I hear her laughing or running around laughing. I love hugs from my older kids as well as hearing them laugh and being able to laugh with them. Although they aren't cooing cute baby things, I enjoy ever bit of fun conversation time we get.

Day 20 My electronics - LOL I know it's silly right? Wrong! I do a lot of communication, learning, research, work, and shopping online. My laptop is one of the most used electronics along with my iphone. These two things have been quite helpful. I appreciate technology in providing convenience with our electronics. Some times my laptop is my only connection to the outside world when I don't have time to get out and about. It's not a crutch or a replacement for face to face communication though. I think people have to be aware that electronics can be crippling to the real social part of life. I wouldn't like to live my life behind a screen. I do appreciate the convenience though.

Day 21 Integrity - Wow what a characteristic to have! A person with integrity is priceless. I am trying to teach my children to have integrity. Honor your word, and do what is right regardless if anyone is watching. Integrity is such an important quality to have. I am thankful for those that possess that quality.

Day 22 - Grace. I am thankful for God's grace. God has been so gracious to me. I know I'm a nut case but God still tolerates me. Not much to say here other than Praise God for his grace upon my life!

Day 23 - Quality time and Acts of service. Those are my love language. When someone takes the time out to come visit me, talk to me or think of me I feel like they really care. It speaks volumes to my heart. When someone does something for me I feel as if I'm not worthy. I feel like they have gone above and beyond what they had to. It makes me feel special. I also speak these love languages. I love quality time with my family most of all. When we sit and talk, shop together or play a game together it makes me feel loved. I'm always doing something for one of my family members. It may not be a huge thing, more than likely it's something they may over look but in my mind, I feel like I'm telling them I love them. I do have to speak to them in their love language as well as mine. So I'm thankful when people spend quality time with me and do things for me.

Day 24 My in laws - I am thankful for my "Mum and Dad", not to be mistaken for my parents who are "Mom and Dad". For those that don't know my husband is English. So my in laws I refer to some times as Mum and Dad, or to the kid Granny and Grand dad. They have been such a blessing to me. They have come into town to see Baby Fia for the first time, visit with all their grand children, and celebrate Thanksgiving with us. Mum is forever helping me clean and care for Fia and Helaina. I don't think she knows how much she's spoiling us! I am enjoying having them here. They are so caring and good hearted I know I'm blessed to have in laws that are such a pleasure to be around. I'm so glad to be able to spend Thanksgiving with them.

Day 25 I am thankful for the time we spend with friends. I love to enjoy people. The strange thing is I have this anxiety issue right before meeting with people. I worry like crazy! We had a Thanksgiving get together while my in laws where here visiting. Boy that night was something strange for me internally. I loved having people over, but inside I was worried. I worried if people were ok, did they have a good time, was it boring, are we boring, I bet they won't come back etc. However, we have some great friends and I truly appreciate them all coming. It shows me that they care enough about us to spend some of their valuable time with us. I feel honored when people make that effort. Anxiety aside time spent with friends is a great thing. The problem is the time goes by so fast when we visit with friends. It doesn't matter if it is a party or just having coffee one on one. I get so much out of it. The anxiety before hand can be dealt with because in the end I find out that I had a great time.

Day 26 I am thankful for My husband's understanding. My honey is such an easy going guy. He has
his hot points for sure but I know that usually comes out of frustration. My girls and I went out "Black Friday" shopping. Well we didn't really get a lot of bargains. They are 13 and just wanted to shop. I took them out at 8 am. We weren't about to do the midnight or early morning thing! Of all places they wanted to go to JcPenny for clothes. They didn't really know the whole point of Black Friday was to shop the sale items. Well not just sale items the hugely discounted sale items. Nope they had no clue and I just went along with them to spend time doing something they wanted to do. So I'll skip the shopping part and head straight for the check out counter. The bill rang up way over what I expected. Oh my word! I wasn't expecting that. I made the mistake of trusting they were checking price tags. Why I didn't double check I don't know. DUH parenting moment for me! I clearance shop and if I don't have to buy anything full price I won't! Cheap? Frugal yes I am. :D I call it wise spending. This time wasn't very wise at all. So I pay and mentally try to justify that they needed clothes, and that we shopped for all 5 kids, mostly the girls. So I get home and have to tell my husband who was putting up the Christmas lights on the house. lol Uh um honey...Well guess what he did... nothing. He smiled and told me it was ok. He wanted to see with the girls got and just went on about life. I was standing there thinking well aren't you going to be upset? Nope. He wasn't bothered. I love him. He's such a great guy. After seeing his reaction a huge weight was lifted. Now we still have to budget for that spending but at least I don't have a mean dragon husband breathing down my neck.

Day 27 I am thankful for late nights with Baby Fia. LOL I know you might be like, you lie! Well let me say I'm not saying I look forward to them. I certainly like my full night of rest. Fia is quiet when she is up late nights. She wants our attention and will cry if we aren't cuddling, holding her or near by. So while we are sleepy our little smiley face baby is too cute to be crabby with. She likes to coo at you and she basically is satisfied. She's filling those late nights with love for us. While we like our sleep, I'd rather be up with a content happy baby than a fussy one. So I'm thankful that baby Fia is a happy night owl.

Day 28 I am thankful for a loud house. Well I guess if you can't beat em' join em'! Well not in all situations but this one applies well. With 5 kids, our house is always busy. When it's quiet I think they must be sleep! Kids kids ever where! Its loud and you know what, it's no yelling and screaming at one another (momma don't tolarate that mess), most of it is the kids playing. The teens on the Wii, or running around with the toddler. There are times when I want nothing but quiet. They are respectful and give me that for 5 minutes lol. If I forewarn them that I'm a bit on edge they usually try to be low key. They try, not always succesful but hey what more can I ask for. So when they are loud I know everyone is well.

Day 29 I am thankful for God's plan. I have no idea what it is for my life. All I know is the here and now. I am thankful though. I know God has a plan for me because I'm exisiting. I know God is leading me, and he is there for me. Being able to pray for guidance and not being completey lost and without hope is a blessing. I am thankful God has a plan.

Day 30 I am thankful for the future. Again, I have no idea what will happen but I have hopes and prayers that is is well. I often wonder what my children will choose as their careers, what sort of interests will they have, where will they choose to live, where will their spouses come from and be like, what sort of things will they do with the life they have been given. I see small remnents of it now, but they change their minds so much now I haven't got a clue! We were just talking with them the other night about this. One of the kids asked what did we see them being when they up. We enjoyied telling them what we saw them as. They were thrilled to talk about this. I think they were comforted by us "knowing" them and being able to talk in debt about it. Now I don't know if they will choose the careers we said or different ones but we let them know we'll support their choices. We they will listen to the Lord in their choices for the future. I am thanful for the future.

I hope your holiday season is blessed!

Day 12 - Shhh!

2011-11-13T00:11:00.004-06:00

Day 12 I am thankful for quiet time. I know it may seem simple but the older I get the more I appreciate it. I can think, relax, read, pray, and refresh during quiet time. I look forward to it. I'm less tolerant of noise on some days more than others. Having 5 kiddos in the house, there is always something going on. Today I found myself on edge with every bit of loudness that was going on. I kept it together though! It was challenging not to get snappy and short but I did ok. At least I think I did. So right now 4 out of 5 kiddos are sleep. My dear husband has baby Fia cuddled on the couch. She's still awake, but I'm off to bed soon. It's quiet.. Shhhh! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Thankful...just thankful

2011-11-11T11:28:00.001-06:00

I've noticed some of my friends on Facebook have been posting the things they are thankful for during the month of November. I like this idea so I think I will blog mine. I hope I can do daily posting! :)

Day 1- I am thankful for an magnificent God. It's amazing to have a God that words can not describe how wonderfully creative He is and how deep His love is for us. God is magnificent is countless ways. He has saved me from harm and allows me to have free will to do as I do. Even when I have run a muck of things God is there showing me the detours to get me out of it. So much to say but my words are so minimal in comparison. So just know, today and everyday God is magnificently working in our lives. I don't brag about my love for Him because I will fail Him but I can say He loves me and you anyway. He is greater than me and I am thankful for that! lol I bet you are too ;). Today and everyday I am thankful for an magnificent God.

Day 2- I am thankful for my husband. He is an handsomely amazing man. His heart is home and that is an irreplaceable blessing. He provides, he cares, he supports and he encourages us daily. He tells me I am beautiful everyday. Yes even when I am "comfortable" in sweats and worn out t-shirts with spit up down my back, he tells me I am beautiful :). He is always there when I need him. He's great father to our 5 children. He makes no separation between his step children and biological children. They all proudly call him dad. I look forward to growing old with my honey. God has really blessed me with an amazingly loving spouse. As we grow older each year together we get to know one another even more. Marriage is amazing. Marriage Rocks! You'd think you would know a person you've been married to after a while but God is amazing in renewing our relationship, letting us find out new things about ourselves through out the years. I am proud and delighted to say my husband is very intriguing and I'm so blessed God chose him for me. Today and everyday I am thankful for my husband.

Day 3 - I am thankful for my children. They drive me nuts at times but they keep me grounded. My life would be boring with out them. Each of them bring something special to our family life. Ashley has this quirky personality that adds an element of delight. She's such a creative fun girl. Our house is awakened but her huge laugh that's heard throughout. She's got an incredible quirky gift creativity and voice. God has blessed her with this soulful singing voice that is beyond her years. Angela is our family's "Legally Blonde" character. No she's not blonde but she is such a "pink princess" but has a very business woman attitude when needed. I know if I ask her to take charge she will. If there is something that needs to be address, Angela is front and center taking care of business. In the same essence of the business side, she is such a princess. She loves all things girly and pink. She and her sister both have this amazing sense of humor. They play off of one another and have me laughing daily. Adrian, wow, God sent me a boy!! He's our only boy and holds his own pretty good. He's a very shy and interesting young man. Adrian is such an intelligent kiddo. He has a slight perfectionist streak in him which makes him take his time with what ever he is doing. Adrian is creative and likes to invent and animate things. He's growing into a gentleman in helping his mom around the house lately. Helaina is a little bundle of toddler joy. She's got some tell all expressions. Everyday she's learning something new. She loves to run and laugh. She's a smart girl too. Her older sisters and brother have enjoyed watching her grow. I remember when I had an ultrasound with her in the 1st trimester. They all looked and asked, "Is that it??" They are now amazed at how she's grown and growing. They talk frequently about how they can't imagine her being older. She's got these big brown/hazel eyes, curly hair and cute dimples that are hard to resist. Right as I was typing this, Adrian who is supposed to be doing his school work can't seem to resist goofy around with his little sister. I do admit she is a fun kiddo. Baby Fia....awwww! She's so cuddly, so precious and heart warming. She's smiling and cooing now. We'll drop what we are doing to come over to see her flash a smile or coo. She's quite a serene kid and loves to be held. We don't mind it. She's got these big blue eyes that we love to gaze into when she'll let us. Fia being 2 months old sleeps most days. The moments she's awake she's got our undivided attention. Even Helaina likes to give baby Fia kisses and hugs. She's tried to feed her and brush her hair too.
I have so many great memories with them and we are always making more. As the kids grow it is a bitter sweet experience. They are growing more independently and I find my self doing a tug o war with their independence. One minute I'm like no way no how! The next I'll enjoy their independence because I find I'll have freedom. My heart longs for them to grow into honest, God loving/fearing adults. So far they seem to be on that path. My heart smiles when I think of how God has blessed me with them. Today and everyday I am thankful for my children. - Oh my word! God made me a MOM!??

Day 4 - My past trials. Why? Because God used them to make me stronger. I am thankful for the wisdom and strength it has brought me. I didn't and don't like to go through them but I am thankful for the end result. I know that if I had not gone through so trials or challenges in life, I wouldn't appreciate the value of Life as much.

Day 5- LIFE! I am thankful for life! Life is a wonderful thing. It's so fragile and so important. We aren't promised tomorrow so making everyday worth living is ideal. Not always achieved but ideal lol. I do hope with the life I've been blessed with I have encouraged others or simply made them smile. I hope with this life I'm given that I don't hinder others but help them in a positive way. I don't want to be an example of what not to do, although I am. I am striving to be a great example for good. I want to be remembered as a great person. I don't want people to see me coming and dread it thinking or saying, "Oh no here she comes." I hope to be a person others are glad to know. Life is a gift. Each one of us different and special. I find that I love those who are very different from me. Those that are out of the box thinkers, those that reach out and achieve, those that don't live to what the world has labeled them as, I want to know more and experience a bit of their world. God gives us life, it's up to us to live it. Today and everyday I am thankful for life.

Day 6 - I am thankful for those who I call friend. Those that are in my life now I thank them for spending time with me. I'm thankful they care enough to look over my goofy and strange ways. I am thankful they like me for me. Thank you for keeping me company, giving me a positive word, encouraging me, building me up and sharing a laugh or several. I thank you for being there during my dark times. Only a few have seen inside of those times. Others have only seen the outside. I appreciate my friends who truly rejoice with me in my achievements and blessings. Notice I said truly, because I know there are those that snare, smirk or say rude things instead but still call me "friend". lol Don't worry I don't intend to return the behavior. There is no blessing to them or me in that. To my friends, old, new, close, soon to be close, and distant... Thank you.

Day 7 - Modern science. When I think of how easy my life is compared to those who lived before electricity, advanced medical care, washing machines, igagets, coffee makers, showers, toilets, etc, I appreciate the hard work and innovation others before me have done. I appreciate those who worked and achieved despite how difficult it was. Our lives are made easier by the perseverance and sweat off another's brow. I'm thankful for the failed attempts that lead to success. I'm thankful they had determination not to quit but to achieve the goal and vision that God set in their hearts. Today and everyday I am thankful for modern science.

Day 8 - I am thankful for homeschooling! Some days lol, just kidding. Even on the hardest days when I want to flag down the nearest school bus to put them on, I am thankful for the option. We get up each day with a flexiable schedule. We have the pleasure of teaching our children in the way they learn, in their own timing, in safe environments, and in comfortable setting. We have the privilege to skip the bullying, peer pressure and stress that seem to infiltrate the public schools. We socialize with ease and learn as we please. I'm proud and thankful today and everyday for having the privilage to homeschool.

Day 9 - I am thankful for our health. Health is a priceless gift. I often wonder why I was the one to be a "chronic asthmatic" in my family. I remember days of being sick and lying in hospital beds. I was frequently in the hospital. They would come in and tell my mom that my lungs were full of fluid and I had a 50/50 chance. I never really knew what the other 50% chance was. All I knew is I could get better. All I had on my mind as a child is playing and seeing my friends. I didn't really know my mother's fear and struggle behind having a sick child. Now as a mother I know a little about it but not to the extreme of my mother's experience. My children have had 2 episodes of ER trips for asthmatic symptoms brought on by allergies. I was never told 50/50. They were discharged the same day. I've read about the cancers and various life threatening diseases that have invaded lives, only to take precious loved ones. It saddens my heart and causes me to say a prayer for them. Health is precious. I am thankful for my family's health. We have been blessed with no hospital ER trips since 2008. We pray to keep it that way! Today and everyday I am thankful for our health.

Day 10 - I am thankful for comfort. I am thankful that I have had a comfortable life. Even when we didn't have much growing up, we still had shelter in a safe place. We had clothes and food. We may not have had a lavish lifestyle but I sure know that God blessed us with what we had and do have today. Today and everyday I am thankful for my comfort.

Day 11- I am thankful for our military, and those who serve selflessly. I am thankful that even though I have no idea what they go through, have been through or what they are going to go through for me, they choose to do it. I am forever grateful for their big hearts. May God bless each and every person giving selflessly, Veterans and active duty. It's a blessing that someone we probably will never know cares so much for our freedom and our lives that they will put themsleves in harms way to protect us. I proudly Thank you.

I admire Who??

2011-10-19T02:24:00.000-05:00

Today as I thought about random things concerning life, friends and family I felt the Lord brought something to my attention. I pondered why I get quite annoyed with people who desire to be admired, those who desire so much attention and praise for themsleves. I wondered why this got under my skin. I felt the Lord saying, well when those seek admiration from others they take the focus off of me (The Lord). Yes! That made sense to me. When we admire or idolize a person for whatever reason, and forget where the talent or that very blessing we admire them for came from, we take our attention off of God. This was an eye opener and a relief. Up until now I used to admire the person and not God for his greatness within that person. I truly believe blessings come from above, so why focus on the human, and not God? Doesn't make sense to lift people up to the point of losing sight of God's glory. It's God who has give the person the very thing you admire.

Later on during the day I sat down and saw my Bible opened to the pages I was reading to Fia last night. She is quite the night owl so I decided to read the Bible to her. It did help she feel asleep peacefully. I noticed this scripture:

Psalm 115:1
Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.

There it was, confirmation for me.
So that just gave me a peace of mind. It leads me to praise Him for the things He has done. Instead of praising the person, I'll praise God for showing me his greatness through that person.

It's after 2am so I hope this made sense :)

Many Blessings ♥

Time flies

2011-10-19T02:11:00.001-05:00

Hello All,
Just wanted to give a quick update. Our little Fia is now a month old! Can't believe it. She's now at 12lbs 5oz. The doctor says she's doing well. She's a night owl though. Well she is if she isn't in the wrap I made. Fia loves her home made Moby Wrap knock off. It does help keep her comfortable while letting me be arms free. I'd recommend this kind of wrap over all others. I had another one I tried to use with Helaina and could never get the hang of it. I am one of those people that think, if I can make it easily, I probably will and skip buying it. This is what I did with the wrap. I had some knit fabric around the house long enough to make 2 wraps. There are tons of these wrap tutorials online.

Our Fia Serenity at 1 month old

We hope she'll keep her blue eyes. Helaina was born with blue eyes but they are a Hazel now. They turn green when she is upset though. We are waiting to see what color Fia's eyes will be. Life is so interesting with kids.

Many Blessings ♥

Happy Blessings

2011-10-19T01:54:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,
I'm late telling this but we had our beautiful blessing Fia Serenity on September 17, 2011 at 8:38am. She weighed 8lbs 15oz! We are very blessed and so happy to have our little sweetie. Oh she's such a joy to snuggle with. Her siblings adore her. Helaina who is 2 gives her kisses all the time. We are truly blessed.

Many blessings to you ♥!

Happy Blessings

2011-10-19T01:52:00.001-05:00

Affirming

2011-08-15T23:13:00.002-05:00

Hello Everyone.

Here's a short update on my progress. Im 33 weeks and soon to be 34 on Thursday. Ive got a doctor's appointment during my 35th week. Little Fia is still active as ever. She gets the hiccups several times a day. I'm not taking insulin! I'm just dieting and it's working. I've actually lost weight which is not a bad thing because I've got pounds to spare. I just turned 35 and my family did a great job making me feel special. Speaking of special I keep looking at these 3D/4D ultrasound places. I'm hoping we will get to do that some time soon.

I recently read a blog from the "My Pregnancy" iPhone app. It's about positive birth and pregnancy affirmations. It's so far the best pregnancy blog I have read as far as helping me mentally and spiritually. If you are anything like me, you think pregnancy is one big challenge ending with a wonderful reward. You worry that everything is ok while wishing, hoping and praying that time will some how fly by in a blink of an eye. I'm not a graceful, nice or even beautiful pregnant woman. I long for the delivery time to come so I can be done with all the aches, pains and sicknesses that come about normally during pregnancy so I can hold my precious little one. Funny thing is as much as I don't like being pregnant my fondest memories are that just given birth event. I love it. So while I wait life isn't fun. I'm in my third trimester and I need a bit of a pick me up. So I read this blog. Here are the affirmations on the blog for my fellow pregnant friends, please go and read the rest of what she has to say.
http://blogs.babble.com/being-pregnant/2011/08/15/positive-birth-affirmations-and-positive-pregnancy-sayings-to-focus-on/

“I am giving my baby the very best start in life.”

“I am a strong a capable mother.”

“My baby is strong and healthy and happy.”

“I feel love from those around me.”

“God is with me during this pregnancy and gives me strength as I need it for everything.”

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understand; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

“My body is beautifully and wonderfully made.”

“I surrender with confidence.”

“Just courage and patience are required to send my baby joyfully into my waiting arms.”

“I am ready and prepared for this.”

“I see myself in perfect health.”

“I see myself as the perfect mother for this child.”
“I lovingly accept my changing body.”

“I accept each stage of pregnancy as a wonderful adventure to share with my baby.”

http://blogs.babble.com/being-pregnant/2011/08/15/positive-birth-affirmations-and-positive-pregnancy-sayings-to-focus-on/

Now that's helpful! Thanks for reading!

Busy Laying Down.

2011-07-17T21:12:00.001-05:00

Hello Everyone,
Well I'm 29 weeks along. On Thursday the 21st I will be in my 30th week. I've tried not to do a countdown yet but I know I'll be counting down the time starting at the 30th week. I think we all know I'm not a fan of pregnancy but with that said, this pregnancy will bring along baby no. 5! I wish I was one of those ladies that love pregnancy but my body doesn't adapt the way I'd like to to. I've been dealing with Sciatica for a few weeks now. Not fun! So either I'm in pain (like now) or laying on the opposite side of the pain. It's a bit difficult to do when there are 4 kiddos in the house that need various things and any moment. Luckily have wonderful kids who do help me any time I've asked. I feel very guilty about not being as active as wish to be. I feel lazy laying on the couch but I'm blessed to have a family that understands. The sad thing is my girls are seeing a side of pregnancy that makes them not want to ever have kids. Well... maybe that's not so bad lol! Since my levels were elevated during my first one hour glucose test I had to go in for a three hour test. The three hour test came back normal, however they want me to do another three hour test this week. It's not like I have three hours to take out of our day to test again and again. Never mind being stuck in alternating arms 4 times. I do hope this one comes back normal and we'll be done with the testing already! Ok I know it could be worse so I'll quit going on but right now September needs to arrive quickly! We have a name for her. We've decided to name her Fia Serenity. At the moment I typed this little Fia had the hiccups and was moving up a storm kicking. Her siblings were amazed with "Whoas!" when she moved from one side to another. I don't know which limb it was but it was quite visual. They could also see her little hiccup thumbs which prompted the "Awwwww's" September come quick! Speaking of little tots, I've entered Helaina in the Gerber Generation Contest! Please vote by clicking the picture or clicking this link http://apps.facebook.com/gerberphotosearch/entry/43050/helaina.aspx

Thank you :)

So we've got a few things going on now. My dear daughter has entered a local Talent Contest! Here is the link http://www.ddhtstl.org/TalentVideos/TalentContestVoting.aspx here you can vote (daily) and view her short video entry. We are so proud of her. We received an email telling us she had made it to the Semi Finalist and she almost went to tears! Oh boy is this huge to her. Before she entered she worried so much and frustrated herself questioning if she was good enough. We had to have a talk about attitude, self doubt and motivation. She felt like we were telling her she could sing just because we were her parents. We reassured her that no, that was not the case at all. I let her know that no matter how many positive things we say to her, she's got to believe for herself that God gave her this talent. I know she is hesitant because of possible negative feedback from peers. She finally snapped out of it and did it! She says she was motivated because there is supposed to be an Elmo muppet there and she knew that Helaina would love that. How sweet, but I now she'd love the grand prize too! Ashley volunteered to record it for her and has been a great support. The silly thing about it is, Ashley has singing talent too but has no interest or motivation in doing any contests. We aren't pushing her but we want to encourage her too. They both have God given talent. When they sing together it's wonderful. We are praying Ashley will come around and let her voice be heard too. Now I do know that they are young, have lot of work to do in perfecting things, and have yet to be professionals. We are encouraging them in continuing on. I hope one day that they would sing gospel music but I'm not pressing my wishes upon them. There are a few (iphone quality) Youtube videos the girls let me upload of them singing. Here they are.

If you can't see the embeded video here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL843396A80A4AF456

Another thing we are working on is getting these books published. We are planning to publish the Colors and Shapes books in English, Spanish, and French soon. I haven't started on the Alphabet or Numbers book yet. I have Celebrationbookspublishing.com/ to sell the books through. I've got the ISBN numbers and I'm in the process of getting a Library of Congress number for them too. The hang up is getting the books printed at a low cost. I don't want the book to be over $7.95 but adding in the cost of the felt for the shapes it might be close to that.

The Pure Natural Blends business is an interesting adventure! We've been trying to update the site slowly and add options but that is taking time. I've created products I haven't put on the site yet. I've only sent them out as samples. I'm excited about using essential oils, the new product lines and getting it all up and ready to sell. If I could convince this sciatic nerve into cooperation I'd be more productive!

I've got 2 design projects going on. I said after I get these 2 design projects are done, I'm not doing any more design work until December. I really need to update my portfolio but I'm hesitant to continue as a Graphic Designer. My poor photo blog has been neglected too :( As soon as I said that, someone called me about doing some more work. Can we give the pregnant lady a break? lol! But like I said before, it could be worse. God is always looking out for us and we are forever grateful for that.

Shaping up!

2011-07-04T22:16:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone,

I haven't blogged in quite a while. The last time I announced that we were having a girl so that was a while ago. Let's see we have just been keeping it low key for now. It's a hot humid summer in St. Louis. Praise God for modern technology - A/C! These are the little things we live with everyday but at one time no one had A/C. O wonder what they did in this area for the hot humid summer weather... I thank God for him giving us witty ideas to make our lives easier!

Speaking of ideas, my Pure Natural Blends products were featured in an online video show review!!! Yippie skippy! I am/was too excited. I admit it was quite an experience to hear someone speak to an audience about my products with before and after photos. It's such a wonderful blessings to experience that. You can login as a guest to see the live show here: http://221588.myvideobroadcaster.com/playback/r/hwpM3NUB1Be3yphF
Maria has amazing tips and knowledge on hair care! She has has a Facebook page here: Naturally Rias Natural Hair Community I redesigned the Pure Natural Blends website. I hope you like it. I'm now working with essential oils to get fragrances that are pleasing. I know, be careful with the essential oils while I'm pregnant... :) I have a few product lines to add too the site too. It's just taking time to do all of what I hope to do.

So besides the business news, I recorded a video a few weeks ago of Helaina working with her shapes and colors. I had encouragement to sell the book and shapes I made! I'm doing it! The book is finished, we have the isbn and the beginnings of a Library of Congress number too. The huge hurdle for me right now is finding a printer to do what I want. I don't want to settle but it seems like no one in the USA does the kind of printing I want. So it might take more time than I'd like. The good thing is I'm working on it! Here is the video of our 1 year old... very soon to be 2 year old working with the book. Her big sister, who is phenomenal with her, Angela is working with her. Please excuse the mess in the video.

Ok that's all for now, I've got much more to say but I don't like epic long blog posts so I'll just post it another time. I hope you all have enjoyed your 4th of July!

Baby Kicks and Prayers.

2011-05-25T00:22:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone!
I just wanted to give a short update. I had an ultrasound and we found out we are having a baby girl! Yay!! We haven't officially thought of a name for her yet. We've got a few ideas but nothing solid yet. She's doing well. I've read that the average baby weight at 20 weeks is 10.5 ounces. Baby girl Cullen was 14 oz. I wonder how much she's going to weigh at birth with this head start. She's been moving around pretty good. She's already given some strong kicks. I am a few days away from the 22 week mark!

She's a girl!
Flexing that right arm like her mom already! (lol)

We've had some crazy storms in MO. I hope you all are staying safe. Our prayers are with those in Joplin, MO. Many have scheduled to drive down to help and bring items in need. We are hoping to get on board with those helping and send our love and items down there. I know Faith St. Louis Church is going to send supplies down. They sent an email out saying "Please consider dropping off your donated items to the Northwest Campus in Earth City by Wednesday, May 25th or the Central Campus in Fenton by Friday, May 27th. Some of the items that we will be collecting include: non-perishable food, toiletries, bottled water, pet food, clothing, etc." Check their website at http://faithchurchstlouis.com/ if you want to know of other relief efforts google "Joplin, MO storm relief" Our prayers are with Joplin, MO.

It's a Good Green Day

2011-04-22T11:07:00.003-05:00

As I sit here with a gloomy scenery behind me, I remember today is Good Friday and it is also Earth Day. I was watching the Early Show and they had their Earth Day segments of course. I came in late on the program so I don't know if they bothered to do a segment on Good Friday. The products shown on the show caught my eye. We do recycle daily in our home. I'm a use what we have in the house kind of thinker. I'm not as good as I want to be though. So my efforts in saving the Earth are small but we are doing something!

But can we actually "save" the Earth? Today is Good Friday. If you are like me, for many years I didn't know what Good Friday was. Good Friday is a holy day or holiday for people worldwide to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Jesus was crucified on Good Friday, and he rose again on Easter Sunday. These are days important in the life of a believer in Christ as we remember Christs sacrifice for the world. It's a weekend of remembering his undying love for us. Christ the savior saves all. I thank you my Lord for the priceless gift of salvation!

So speaking of saving, as a believer in Christ, Christ is my savior. Does that mean we don't need to do anything to preserve the gift of life, and the Earth God gave to us? Do we sit back and just do as we feel because after all Christ saves right? Well yes Christ saves however we are called to be good stewards right? We should tune in to the Earth Day awareness. As I was watching the Early show they had a few products I want to try. They mentioned a product called Replenish. Have a look at this video and visit their website to see this new option.

Replenish- Click "Like" if you think it's a better way to clean! from Team Replenish on Vimeo.

Interesting? I was! I was surprised to know that most of the cleaners only contain 5% of the cleaner and the rest water. Water is precious of course but do I really want to pay for water when I could add it for less at home? Another option is to make your own green cleaners. There are many sites online to make household cleaners. Check out http://diynatural.com/ or google "homemade cleaners".

Another product that caught my attention was the Pharox LED light bulb. I like this option better than the CFL lightbulbs because they don't contain mercury. We've tried the CFL bulbs and I haven't seen that their long lasting claims are guaranteed. We have had some go out in a short period of time. So have a look at this video about the LED light bulbs. I like that they use a lot less energy. Have a look at this video and visit their website to see this new option.

Method products were mentioned too. They highlighted the 50 load laundry detergent.

4 pumps =1 load. I'm up for trying it. I did make my own powdered detergent that I like too. I used this recipe from http://diynatural.com There are 10 recipes here at Tipnut.com I haven't tried these options but they do look like money and earth saving options. In making our own products we are more likely to use less plastic.

Speaking of plastic usage, my family watched a documentary called Tapped. We watched instantly on Netflix. Here is a trailer to the documentary. It did change the way we are thinking of bottled water. There is an innovative option to buying bottled water. It's called a filtered water bottle. Yes bottle with a water filter in it. It filters the water as you drink it. Neat? I thought so! I'm having to keep hydrated often during pregnancy and to have one of these on hand would be wonderful. You could fill up at a water fountain and have your filtered water. Check out http://www.waterbobble.com/ for example. They aren't the only company that makes these water bottles. Target sells them in their sporting goods section. This link has a list of Top water filter bottles. Do a google search on "filtered water bottle" and see. I haven't searched out which one I'd prefer. There are different designs and I'm sure they come with pros and cons. I've been using my mug of water in the car but this water bottle would be nice!

If you'd like here is the Early Show segment. They rushed through the products on the video but have more information on their site here Earth Day Article

So while we remember the gift of salvation the Lord Jesus Christ gave us, lets be good stewards of the gift of life and Earth God gave us.

Switching Gears

2011-04-11T01:12:00.000-05:00

This year has been one of our hardest in home schooling. It started with us looking into another curriculum and being convinced via their website that this was the way to go. We were originally using ABEKA Academy DVD's which I still feel are great. ABEKA has great curriculum. We felt the kids weren't doing their best so we decided to look in to BJU which is another well known Christian curriculum. Their distance learning curriculum had the kids interest because of the video clips they had online. I thought the videos looked quite appealing too. We bought the curriculum and then it arrived late August. The kids were quite excited to see their books for the school year.

We found ourselves unpacking and checking to see if we got all of our books. We did. The Spanish/English dictionary did come with some torn pages but we didn't make a fuss. That was nothing a little tape couldn't fix. I was a bit confused on where certain books and manuals where. We did a mix of DVDs for the girls and online distant learning for our son. Some things were online for my son, others were in books. The DVDs were packaged separately, for example, all of the science DVDs were in one box, the math in another, the literature in another and so on. So with each subject you have to switch out DVDs. They also have Teachers Tips on the same DVDs that the students watch. So the parents are suggested to watch these tips before each lesson the student watches. ABEKA did theirs differently. There are no teachers tips, all that is needed is in the lesson manual. Their DVDs are not separated by subject. They divided their DVDs via days. 1 DVD has 2 days of work on it. So you only use 1 DVD a day, not several. All of the lessons for that day are on one single DVD (no switching to each subject) and each day corresponds with the lesson manual. ABEKA got this one right. They made it simple for us.

We had to get used to the way BJU does their lesson plans. I have to admit I wasn't pleased. Compared to ABEKA, BJU missed the mark on making it easy on us. We found ourselves printing enough papers to have to buy another printer cartridge. We had to buy big 3 ring binders to hole punch and assemble the kids papers and my teachers papers. We spent a full weekend assembling printed lesson plans, worksheets, quizzes, challenge tests, tests, etc etc in these 3 ring binders. Maybe I'm wrong but I'm thinking, if we have paid a lot of money for this curriculum these things papers should have been done for us. There again, I'm comparing this to ABEKA. With ABEKA all of this is printed for you. The lessons plans for all of the subjects are in one big book. No printing at all. I was spoiled. We where hoping at this point that the school year was going to be good well worth all of this time spent in preparing.

Well it started out ok. I do like the way BJU has one instructor to teach directly to the student instead of ABEKA's teacher in a class room view. I do like the way BJU has different ways of teaching via experiments on screen, little skits and interviews with various people. What I don't like is how bland BJU did their videos. Of course on the website they put the more appealing videos as clips. I have to admit I even got bored watching the guest Astronomer talk in a mono toned voice about Space and Earth Science with his blue shirt, on a blue background with a fake plant next to him. His information was important however to keep the students attention it was a miss. Now I'm not saying that we should "entertain" students all the time, but lets not make it so easy to tune out teachers. I do wish I could help them with their videos. I don't think I could due to their "rules". In fact I was curious about BJU and google search. Their Wikipedia page had some some very disappointing news. As an interracial family I was quite disappointed at this part of their history, All of this information is found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Jones_University

Racial
Segregation
Although BJU admitted Asians and other minorities from its inception, it did not enroll black students until 1971, eight years after the University of South Carolina and Clemson Universityhad been integrated by court order. From 1971 to 1975, BJU admitted only married blacks, although the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had already determined in 1970 that "private schools with racially discriminatory admissions policies" were not entitled to federal tax exemption. Late in 1971, BJU filed suit to prevent the IRS from taking its tax exemption, but in 1974, in Bob Jones University v. Simon, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the university did not have standing to sue until the IRS actually assessed taxes. Four months later, on May 29, 1975, the University Board of Trustees authorized a change in policy to admit "students of any race," a move that occurred shortly before the announcement of the Supreme Court decision in Runyon v. McCrary (427 U.S. 160 [1976]), which prohibited racial exclusion in private schools.^[93]
In May 1975, as it prepared to allow unmarried blacks to enroll, BJU adopted more detailed rules prohibiting interracial dating and marriage—threatening expulsion for any student who dated or married interracially, who advocated interracial marriage, who was "affiliated with any group or organization which holds as one of its goals or advocates interracial marriage," or "who espouse, promote, or encourage others to violate the university's dating rules and regulations."^[94] In a 2000 interview, the then-president, Bob Jones III, said that interracial dating had been prohibited since the 1950s and that the policy had originated in a complaint by parents of a male Asian student who believed that their son had "nearly married" a white girl.^[95]

Bob Jones University v. United States (1983)

Main article: Bob Jones University v. United States

On January 19, 1976, the Internal Revenue Service notified the university that its tax exemption had been revoked retroactively to December 1, 1970. The school appealed the IRS decision all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the University met all other criteria for tax-exempt status and that the school's racial discrimination was based on sincerely held religious beliefs, that "God intended segregation of the races and that the Scriptures forbid interracial marriage." ^[96] The university was not challenged about the origin of its interracial dating policy, and the District Court accepted "on the basis of a full evidentiary record" BJU's argument that the rule was a sincerely held religious conviction, a finding affirmed by all subsequent courts.^[97] In December 1978, the federal district court ruled in the university's favor; two years later, that decision was overturned by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals

On January 8, 1982, just before the case was to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, President Ronald Reagan authorized his Treasury and Justice Departments to ask that the BJU case be dropped and that the previous court decisions be vacated. Political pressure quickly brought the Reagan administration to reverse itself and to ask the Court to reinstate the case. Then, in a virtually unprecedented move, the Court invited William T. Coleman, Jr. to argue the government's position in an amicus curiae brief, thus ensuring that the prosecution's position would be the one the Court wished to hear.^[98] The case was heard on October 12, 1982, and on May 24, 1983, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Bob Jones University in Bob Jones University v. United States (461 U.S. 574). The university refused to reverse its interracial dating policy and (with difficulty) paid a million dollars in back taxes. Also, in the year following the Court decision, contributions to the university declined by 13 percent.^[99]

Dropping the no-interracial-dating rule (2000)

In 2000, following a media uproar prompted by the visit of presidential candidate George W. Bush to the university, Bob Jones III abruptly dropped the interracial dating rule, announcing the change on CNN's "Larry King Live".^[100] Five years later when asked for his view of the rule change, the current president, Stephen Jones, replied, "I've never been more proud of my dad than the night he...lifted that policy."^[101]

Apology for "racially hurtful" policies (2008)

In November 2008, the university declared itself "profoundly sorry" for having allowed "institutional policies to remain in place that were racially hurtful."^[102] That year BJU enrolled students from fifty states and nearly fifty countries, representing diverse ethnicities and cultures, and the BJU administration declared itself "committed to maintaining on the campus the racial and cultural diversity and harmony characteristic of the true Church of Jesus Christ throughout the world."^[103]

By 2005, the university had established two 501(c)(3) charitable organizations to provide scholarship assistance solely for minority students.^[104] Although BJU never reapplied for federal tax-exempt status, and it continues to pay federal taxes, a number of its ancillaries, including Bob Jones Academy and the BJU Museum & Gallery, are tax-exempt entities.^[105]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Jones_University

Wow... I was quite disappointed we were giving our hard earned money to this school. I do understand that we all make mistakes but this type of view of our lifestyle is flat out disturbing. Yes hey did issue an apology but I don't feel this decision was one of their very own. This was prompted via media uproar. So I'm not fully convinced that they are truly sorry for the rules they had so late after the Civil Rights movement. We noticed certain tones in the teachers voices when they speak about African Americans. There aren't any diversity in their videos other than the Spanish teacher that we have seen. Wait, I stand corrected they used an African American man in an interview to tell how he learned to read as an adult after he was illiterate for years. Thanks BJU for that example! I'm sure they are making changes, for example their Spanish teacher, a Hispanic man was allowed to show a picture of his Caucasian wife. That was a brow lift to hope for a better BJU but I find it funny that no other instructors have shown pictures of their spouses hmmm...

Although they are making rule changes I do wonder if everyone in their company believes in their rule changes. I had a representative call the house for the last payment, I asked the lady to call my husband instead. I gave her his cell phone number. She then says, "Oh he is some where else." I was confused at this comment. I said, "Well that is his cell phone number, he is at work." What did she mean by that comment?? I don't know. Maybe she felt since the area code as different he was out of the home?? Separated?? I don't know. I figured she made a comment she should have just kept as a thought. Maybe I should have asked but that might have just fueled my frustration with BJU. I left it alone and figured we'd never buy their curriculum again.

Christians who use the Bible to segregate by race out right or sneaky don't have my support. There is no support for race segregation in the Bible. People have twisted the Word to fit their own racial agendas. God told people to stay away from certain groups of people because of their ungodly lifestyles, not skin color. http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v21/i3/interracial.asp

Galatians 3:28 ESV
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

We are surely switching gears. Next year it might be out with the new and in with the old. I did learn to research more than relying on the company's website. So as we finish this year out, I'm looking into curriculum more than I had before. I'm looking forward to ending this school year!

Lets go...

2011-04-08T12:31:00.001-05:00

Hello Everyone,
I'm sitting here ready to say forget everything lets get out and go! It's 72 degrees at the moment, and it's just beautiful outside. It's a great time to get up and go out right? No. The little tot is sleeping and the bigger tots are doing school work. The closest I'm going to get to going outside is going out on the balcony. That will work for now. When the little tot gets up then we'll fulfill that need to be out and about. We might go for ice cream or cupcakes. I hope getting out or relaxing on the balcony will help the headache I'm fighting off and the need to take a nap. The little tot decided it would be a great idea to wake her mommy and daddy up at 5 am. She was up and ready to play and start her day. That is exactly what she did too! She went down for her nap around 10 am. Yay an early break for mom! I hope this isn't a trend for her though.

I'm often asked how I'm doing with my pregnancy. Well I'm dealing with it. Doesn't sound too exciting does it? lol sorry. Lets try this again, eh I'm ok. I'm having headaches and sinus issues. It's not fun. I thought I felt the baby move a little bit last week. I don't think I've felt much of anything since then. I'm 15-16 weeks. Why the range? Well they changed my due date to Sept 29th instead of the 21st. It's odd because my LMP was Dec 15th. but the ultrasound said the baby was measuring smaller. We hope to find out if we are having a boy or girl this month. My appointment is later this month so I'll be passed the 16th week mark. That's about all with the pregnancy update. Come on September!!!

Ok enough typing... I'm going to sit outside for a bit.

We've Got Some News to Share.

2011-03-09T10:21:00.001-06:00

Hello everyone,

I haven't blogged in some time. Life gets busy as you all have experienced yourselves. As I typed this I had a little 19 month old in her high chair eating Strawberry Oatmeal repeating, "Mom. Mom. Mom." Each time I turn and say, "Yes?" she and just smiles. It's cute. She will usually start in with very expressive toddler babble using her hands and facial expressions to get her point across. For the moment it's just a smile. She's such a joy. We recorded a video of her showing us what she has learned. She seasoned it right in the middle with a spontaneous "Elmo!" Have a look here:

My older girls have turned 13! Wow I am proud to say officially have teens! Two of them... at the same time lol! God must have thought this was funny. We do have a lot of fun though. Their new request is to have facebook accounts. I'm going to have to really think on this one. One of my girls just got her first pair of glasses. She looks very studious in them. Or I should say she makes a pair of glasses look great.

My son is doing well too. He's up to the same things, Legos, school, and every electronic thing he can get his 11 year old hands on. He recently came in 2nd place with in his Lego Robotix class in the Sumo wrestling contest. They created robots that "Sumo wrestled" in a ring. I'm quite proud of him. It's amazing what the young mind can accomplish when allowed to learn and a great environment.

As for me and Rich, we are expecting baby #5! I'm 12 weeks today. My due date is September 21, 2011. Rich is hoping for a boy this time. Of course we won't be able to tell anything until week 16.

We are praying that

#1 we have a healthy baby

#2 this pregnancy is one without gestational diabetes

#3 less weight gain for me as possible.

This baby blessing is expected to be our last addition to our family. We'll be a family of 7. We favor that number. ;)

We are looking forward to warmer weather and having the new baby! Many blessings

Weekend Sewing Seeds of Love

2011-01-15T22:53:00.007-06:00

Well this Saturday started a doctors appointment at 12pm for my daugter. I was supposed to be at a friends' birthday lunch but my daughter was ill. You know sometimes I wonder if I'll ever have a life outside of house and kids. I don't know but I DO know that right now my purpose is to bring up my four blessings in the way the Lord instructs me to.

So off to the doctor we went. Don't worry we serve a living and healing God! So she's on the mend! *all the Christians that don't believe in meds or God anointing doctors close your eye and don't judge now* (lol) My daughter is a trooper. She felt better after the doctor's appointment since they gave her a breathing treatment. The doctor did prescribe medication so while we were sitting in the parking lot of the doctors office I called to check to see if the pharmacy had our prescriptions send electronically. The lady said or what I thought she said they would be ready at 3pm. That was a great mistake of miscommunication on my side. So I think hmm ok we have till 3pm and it was only 12:50pm so and we decided we'd take a trip to the fabric store.

I had promised my daughter weeks ago that I'd fix her denim skirt that had become too short with tulle. So we browsed around the store a bit and got some bargain fabrics. She got her tulle for her skirt and I basically asked her opinion about every single fabric we got to engage her in decision making and conversation. She was happy to give her opinion too. It fits her very opinionated personality. After we were done at Hancock Fabrics we decided to walk down to Once Upon A Child (OUPAC). I really like the bargains at this store but I don't like the store or the quality of staff they hire. The store is crowded, stuffy and the employees rarely smile. I know the mark up is crazy compared to what they buy used clothes for. I tried to sell there once and decided to give away my clothes instead! I saw a price tag for .99 cents from the original store item came from and OUPAC was selling it for more. For goodness sakes OUPAC take off the original price tags before your mark up and hire some friendly happy staff please! So why do I shop there? Well because I do find some good bargains. We shopped around for Snugabear. Our Snugabear is almost 18 months old and is in a 2,3 or 4T depending on the brand. She's a big girl but doesn't have the height. So with our size issue of our precious sweetpea, we didn't have a big success. We walked out with 1 out of 4 garments that don't have to be returned.

So afterwards we had a good laugh about not really finding much on our way to the pharmacy. As we were driving to Walgreens we glanced over to our right side and saw McDonalds advertising coffee and smoothie drinks. I went past it as my daughter talked about how she enjoyed the Strawberry Banana smoothie. Yes, I did a detour and headed for McDs'. Yum! We enjoyed it for sure.

We got her prescription and I noticed the pharmacist said she had 3 prescriptions total instead of them being ready at 3pm. Oops! Oh awesome miscommunication! After our short time out and about we then headed home. I started right away on the skirt for her. I don't think she was about to let me forget either. The skirt became my Saturday sewing project. It was complete after an addictional trip to Hobby Lobby for more tulle and trim for the skirt. LOL yes I did say addictional because Hobby Lobby is addicting for me. I also got more tulle for tutu's for the Snugabear. The long awaited skirt it was done! I hope she likes it. Something tells me she may not even wear it. The requirement is it's got to be worn with leggings. We don't allow our girls to wear short skirts, or short shorts. We aren't Amish but we aren't street walking either!

So after some quality time with my daughter I hope it will be a good day she'll remember. Just planting those seeds of "Mommy Loves me" in her.

Opps*those that had their eye closed earlier can open them now* ;P

Home Making a Livin'

2011-01-11T01:41:00.003-06:00

Hello everyone,
Well I've had a few projects going on for a week or so. The first one I finished tonight. It was a continuation of the last diaper post. My goal was to make ten more. Now we are well stocked on diaper covers. I thought about making the inserts but it went as far as being just a thought. We've gone back to the disposable inserts from gdiapers at the moment. We appreciate the convience of flushing them away. We keep the flip inserts on hand though. So I finished the diaper covers up and I'm quite happy with them! To save a bit of money and time I used PJs that were out grown and a couple of blankets for the fabric. My favorites are the ones made from blankets. They are soft and preciously pretty. :).

Project #2 :
Homemade deodorant! I was prompted to do this after watching The Talk (I DVR the show) when Nicole Richie was on talking about their natural choices for their household and children. I have to admit motherhood has done her well! Anyhow I found a couple of blogs and sites I'd like to share.
http://www.passionatehomemaking.com has the recipe that I used for the deodorant. I confess I was skeptical because I don't like to smell musty. So I googled more about this particular recipe that called for baking soda, cornstarch, and coconut oil. I'm a big fan of coconut oil so that got me to try it. Here is a video that shows you how to do make it: Homemake deodorant Video Now for the question, did it work for me?? In an excited voice Yes! It's a simple recipe and easy to make. I did put some essential oils in to take away the coconut smell from the coconut oil.

Project #3 :
The next project was homemade detergent. I was looking for something really simple to do a good job. Found it! http://diynatural.com/ this one is even good for our HE front loaders. It calls for ivory soap, washing soda, and borax. You grate the bar of soap and mix it in with the Borax and Washing soda and there you go! It works great!

Project #4 :
The last new one for today was to make homemade dishwashing detergent. Found a recipe using the things we already had here http://tipnut.com/homemade-dishwasher-detergent-recipes/ I used recipe #1. this worked well. Instead of the expensive JetDry, use vinegar. It works just as well and is probably better for you and the environment.
UPDATE: as of 1/11/11 I'm not fond of it. The first load which was full of coffee mugs and plates did well. The next loads of glasses not so great. They all had a dull film on them. I like for my glasses to shine. So eh it cleans but doesn't shine. I'm currently trying to seek out other recipes and tweak the one I've used

So those are my Susy Homemaker projects I've done. These all work as good as the store bought things except the Dishwashing powder. I'm not one to skimp on quality. I really like making those simple things that really cut our family grocery bill. The cost savings are great and these options are healthy. At least we know what is in the things we are using!

Ok I'm off to bed to do my S.O.A.P reading. It's really late and they are predicting a snow storm we keep watching for. Maybe we will get a good snow when we are sleeping.
Goodnight and...

My Little g is Growing

2010-12-23T13:28:00.001-06:00

Happy Merry Christmas Eve Eve everyone! I hope your holiday season is a great one. Remembering the reason for the season always puts things in to perspective.
When our little girl was born we decided that we would use gdiapers. These are hybrid diapers which means you can use disposable liners that you just flush or throw away. They are biodegradable! You can also use cloth inserts that you can wash. We liked that flexablity so we stocked up. Our little one was born 9 lbs 8.8oz and quickly moved on to the medium. She grew right through those into the large. I sold off the mediums on the gdiaper list and she's been in the large size. Well as you may have guessed she's grown out of the large. Our little one is just a big baby. She's 17 months and a solid bundle of joy! Her growing left me looking to other options. The gdiapers snaps were leaving marks on her as she grew and we weren't having that! While researching diapers we bought an Australian hybrid diaper called Booroi. I liked that the snaps were on the outside and I liked the look of the gdiaper. So not finding something that I really liked, I decided to make my own diapers. I used the gdiaper styles of closure and the Booroi's deisign of using the PUL to cover the whole diaper instead of an insert. I don't have a pattern for download but here are a few photos. I tired to put a little trip on it. So far I've got 6 or so of these diapers. We are using the flip cloth inserts and we've had no leaks yet! I'm liking them! Have a look..

This is the pattern I used. I based it off the gdiaper
and made it larger of course.

Here are 3 of the diapers I've made.
I added a little trim on the edges to some.

Here is the inside of it. It's all PUL.
I used the thin elastic on the sides to gather it.

Here are the velcro closures on the sides.

Here is a close up of the trim.

This is the inside of the diaper.

So far so good with our homemade hybrid diapers!

Chop it, Store it, Save it.

2010-12-14T14:37:00.000-06:00

Hello All,
I hope your holiday season is going well. I want to share some little tips in this blog. I found this idea on Great Day St. Louis. I forgot what day or I would have linked to it on their site. Any how to save space in your refrigerator or freezer you can store your ground meats flat. You take the meat out of the store packaging, place it in a ziplock bag and flatten it. I some times use a rolling pin to flatten or just the palm of my hand. Make sure to get the air out and seal it. Then it lays flat in your freezer or refrigerator. Another thing to do is make each bag of meat 1lb.

Another space and time saver is chopping up your veggies such as bell pepper, onions, etc and storing them in the freezer. I've learned that when my buying is larger than my use, I should chop and freeze. I missed my contacts while chopping onions! *tear drop* Doing this is easy, saves time, space and money. Just chop it, bag it, and freeze it. I use regular ziplock bags. This makes dinner time smooth with out having to chop veggies. If you buy the pre chopped it may cost more. This way you know the quality of food you have before you freeze it. Once frozen you can store them horizontally on the shelf or vertically on a door shelf.

There you have Happy Holidays!

A Dirty Smile

2010-11-20T13:21:00.001-06:00

So this is our dining room table on this grand lazy Saturday. We do plan on being productive but later on in our own timing. This picture above provides a challenge for me. I want to clean it. I look at it and think, "Whoa! I'm a bad house keeper! That needs to be put away... why is this on the table anyway? Who put that there? What in the world is the toilet paper on the table!?" Yes there is toilet paper on the table it's beside the hole puncher, hidden by the laptop screen. In fact between the time I took this photo and posted this blog the table has gotten messier! I could go on and on about how this picture makes me cringe. I'd love to have a model display home. One of my favorite things to do while building our home was to browse display homes at a home builder sites. It made me smile, sometimes. It made me laugh at times too. Mostly I got ideas of how I'd like my dream home. Everything was in place. The house was clean, it smelled good and it looked good! Even if I wasn't keen on the decor, the house was clean. I like a clean home. I struggle with that. In fact it's a new phenomenon with me. When my kids were toddlers I wished for a clean home but rarely had one. Now, I wish for one and its become a slight obsession at points. It's not at the mysophobia stage but a unclean home still bothers me. So as you might get by now, this picture above would make me miss what it actually means.

Yes the dining table is messy. My girls are making crafts and busy with doing their things they find fun. They are smiling, talking, amusing themselves in a healthy way. No they aren't sitting reading a book, or making the whole world change. They are making my world change for the better. So when I take a second look at this photo, it makes me smile. It makes me laugh too. Oh it will be cleaned up at some point today but for now I'll let it be.

I originally meant for this to be an entry on this blog but didn't notice which blog I was posting to when I clicked "publish post" so this entry is also on my photo blog. It's not the greatest quality of photos but I've decided to leave it since it sort of works.

Jedi Tutus

2010-11-02T00:53:00.003-05:00

I recently made a tutu for our little one. The no sew tutus are great and easy to make. I used this tutorial for mine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5QO_OI1t70. I got my tulle from Hobby Lobby for about 4.99 a roll. These rolls are 6 inches wide and 25 yards long. I liked this tutorial because it used the rolls I bought. The others are fine but they used the bolt of tulle that I did not buy. For this tutu I used 3 rolls. I used 2 rolls of a darker pink and 1 roll of darker pink. I counted about 10 or 11 knots and switched to the lighter color pink for 5 knots, then back to the darker pink and so on. She was sleep by the time I finished it so we waited till the next morning to let her try it on. She seemed to like her tutu. It was so darling to see her around the house in this cute thing. When her big brother came down in his Jedi robe and light saber she became quite interested...

Is this how you turn it on?

Betrayal!

lol He's such a great big brother! Watching these two play can sometimes bring tears of joy to my eyes. I don't mean to get mushy but I love seeing the kids enjoy one another.

So the tutu might be a little big but she liked it. I do plan to make more. My older girls want them too! Fun easy thing to do. Make one. :)

Knitting needles

2010-11-02T00:38:00.000-05:00

So I've decided to make my own knitting needles. It was just a fun thing I thought I would do since I just learned to knit. I prefer the wooden needles so I bought some wooden skewers and used a pencil sharpener to sharpen the ends. I painted them, put a gloss on last and super glued a wooden ball to stop the yarn from slipping off the end. Here is a photo tutorial of what I did. This is my first tutorial so please bear with me.

Here are the things I used. I went to my local craft store and purchased wooden skewers. There are a variety of sizes so choose which ever size you prefer to use. I used a pencil sharpener to sharpen the skewers. I use basic acrylic paint, clear gloss top coat and a basic paint brush. I used super glue and wood beads for the ends of the skewers. I used a styrofoam to help glue on the wooden bead.

Sharpen one end of the wooden skewer like a pencil in a pencil sharpener.

I like for mine not to have a really sharp end because I find that it catches the yarn too much.

After sharpening, paint the skewer from top to bottom. Here is a creative canvas to make your knitting needles personal and one of a kind. I painted the needles at the top left corner a bit more creative. Let the paint dry. If you don't wish to paint designs, using thin stickers may be an option. I've not tried so I can't say that it's a successful option.

After the paint has dried apply a couple of coats of the gloss for a top coat. Let the gloss dry. After the gloss has dried, stick the skewer in the styrofoam to balance it. Use the super glue to glue the wooden beads to the end of the skewer.

That's it! I've made a few of these just for fun of different sizes.

Hope you've enjoyed this little tutorial. Thanks for reading.

unNormal

2010-10-26T02:14:00.000-05:00

Ever feel like you are one of the oddest people on earth? Ever think "I bet no one ever does this." These are my thoughts on a daily basis. Some people may think it's an insult but I don't. I quite like being the odd ball God made me to be. I favor the off beat life. It took me a long while to figure out the desire to be "normal" was like chasing the wind. Maybe its more like following a tornado. The moment you think something is normal, society changes it's out of style, so last year, yada yada... it's not the norm. Things and lifestyles get old, times change, people change. Chasing "the norm" or what's in is tiresome and here is why:

Once I realized that it's not society that should determine who I am, but God, I found peace. Now it's normal in my world not to fit the mold that people would assume I would. I find there is no gain in being accepted into social circles or having the approval of others. There is such a blessing in being accepted into the Lord's kingdom and having His approval. Let me just say, His way isn't always reflected in man's behavior. Sounds all great right? Well it took me a long long while to realize that. I had to experience a lot of serious life mess ups to get here. In fact I still have to deal with past decisions due to not obeying God but doing what man said I should do. I've found that when ever I do try to do what man said, I end up rejected anyway!

Honestly, rejection hurts, but the degree of hurt depends on who is doing the rejecting ;). I've learned over time that I won't fit in a mold. Even when I tried (several times) I was eventually rejected, left in a bad way, and ended up learning a valuable lesson I had to recover from. It was difficult but I learned! Now I have preteens going through some of the same things I did at their age. I've got no miracle solutions other than to live in God's word (talk the talk and walk the walk), pray pray and pray some more, and be an excellent listener. That listener part is hard. I find myself wanting to explain more than I they really think they absorb. If you've got a parenting manual can you pass it my way?

Normality is relevant I guess. Like I said, it took me a while to like being Un-normal.
I sure like it now.

Ahh yes, God is Good... all the time. :)

You know I'm Bad! Bad Bad-really, really Bad

2010-10-24T11:39:00.003-05:00

Friday I went out to Whole Foods to get a couple of things for my daughter. We had a good drive there and were in good moods ready to find a new product we wanted to try. While shopping and minding our own business, a lady comes up and wants my 15 month old to smile at her. Why!?? Well first off this lady is a total stranger and wants to get someone new to this world to smile at her. While my toddler was comfortable with us, she was in a new environment which made the situation a little odd for her I'm sure. I mean really if you were in a unfamiliar place and an excited stranger approached you speaking words you didn't quite understand how would you react? I'd be a little alarmed and leery myself. It's an invasion of space and has got to be some what scary for them. When I see a baby in public I smile while on my merry way. I will not invade their space. If I want to pay a compliment I'll talk to the parents in passing. I won't touch the child. I'd hope they are getting enough cuddles and such from their parents. It's not a strangers job to do. Ladies remember when you were pregnant and a stranger would want to touch your belly and it gave you the creeps or felt very invasive? Imagine what children feel like!

So this lady continues on while my toddler is looking at her like she's an alien. The lady still doesn't get a clue. I needed to get this lady away without causing a scene. I don't know her and I want to be aware of how my words can effect others. So I said, "Oh she's just had her immunizations." Well that did it. Before I could finish my sentence the lady backed off like we had a disease, her expression of excitement turned to one of disgust, and said, "Oh don't talk to me about those things." She pointed and shook her finger as she said, "Bad! Bad! Bad!" and walked off. Well! How about a little insult and judgement from a stranger for you there mom!

I realize that people have very strong opinions about immunizations. People are allowed and I appreciate different opinions in life, however I feel that we have a responsibly to convey our thoughts in a respectful manner. By the way, I've heard the arguments about immunizations and it could have been a good conversation. This lady obviously had an opinion about immunizations and an opportunity (a stolen one at that!) to inform me of her reasons why immunizations where "Bad! Bad! Bad!" in her own words. Instead she planted seeds of negativity and left a mother feeling condemned with out reason. I don't like to let people ruin my day but this one put a little rain cloud out there for some time. I really didn't relax until later on that day. So I took that shade and water from the rain cloud and used the situation as an example to my girls of how not to behave.

Listen, I have my own opinions in life I'm passionate about. There are things I wish would change too but I will not degrade myself and others in voicing my opinions. I've had this happen to me on a number of occasions from friends, strangers, and family. People get really irate when others don't agree with them and they can't seem to control themselves in a mature manner. Instead these adults lose it, insult others and ultimately lose the person or audience they desire to change. Why not respectfully inform others? You will not get a person to change their minds by insults. It only makes the person look hateful and plants negative things to reap in the future. Is it worth reaping in the future? Keep in mind it's going to yield a harvest greater than what you planted.

So beware space invaders when you decide to impart your uninvited words to another, you may want to make them positive because your "harvest" will come.

What in the world are Yo-Yo's?!

2010-10-23T14:20:00.007-05:00

We like crafting but honestly we aren't pro's at it. We enjoy it though. I like it because it's great bonding time with my favorite girls in the world. I've got a few favorites but my 3 girls are #1 on my list ;). So my oldest (by 30 minutes) "Comedy Crafts" went with me to Hobby Lobby. As we were browsing about OoOohing and Ahhhhing at the different things, wishing her twin "Everything Pink" was there, Comedy Crafts saw something called a Yo-Yo Kit. Not a Yo-Yo toy but a fabric round thing. I thought "What in the world!?" She was quite drawn to this $12.99 kit. I was thought no way no how was I paying $12.99 for that! I didn't think she'd remember the kit once we left anyway. So I circumvented having the dismal preteen who didn't get what she wanted with mom's cheap tip, "Hey let's research that online first. I bet we can do that cheaper!" I'm all for looking things up first and seeing how you can do it for less. I knew we had the supplies at home. So thankfully she agreed and went on to gawk at all the other alluring things we wished to have.

The next day I thought she had forgotten all about the little round things. Nope Comedy Crafts didn't forget. As a matter of fact she researched it, found a tutorial and made them herself with no reminders from me. I was quite proud of her determination of making the Yo-Yo's. I had no idea what to do with these things. She on the other hand had a vision and enlightened me. Here's a photo of her Yo Yo's. She make a necklace with them. These little things are really easy to make.

We searched the net that day and found some cute crafty sites. One site we were really happy to find was http://www.heatherbaileystore.com She's got a lot of great ideas and beautiful creations. So inspired by her flowers I made my own and put it on a headband for our toddler. Crafts, sewing and knitting have been on the scene in our home. I'm still knitting and my next craft project later on today is to make another pair of needles. I like my wooden ones because the metal ones are just too smooth. I'm off the the library now! Have a wonderful day!

October Crafty

2010-10-21T02:40:00.000-05:00

We've been crafting and doing some fun things at home. October has been a pretty easy going month as far as being busy. We've had our things on the calendar but nothing like trips around the world :). I do miss England though. I won't go on however I still need to complete the blog draft of our trip.

So we are doing things great at home. This past weekend we went pumpkin picking! This was the first for our whole family! It was quite fun and exciting. I had no idea what to expect but Ekert Farms is a great family place to visit. We truly enjoyed ourselves. We ended up with 6 pumpkins! We took them home and actually carved them. This was also a first for us too. We found out how hard pumpkins were to carve without a kit. We fought through it. Now let me state our beliefs here, we don't celebrate halloween. As our faith is not to glorify death and the scary image of halloween, we don't participate in it. We just don't participate, nor do we judge. We have friends that enjoy the whole thing while we don't. Everyone has their own right to live their life the way they choose. For me, Halloween has never been a day I've enjoyed. I didn't like the scary stuff as a child and I still don't as an adult. Spiders and scary faces aren't fun to me in any way. I've been told that my kids are missing out, um no the kids don't miss a beat. They don't care much for the image of halloween either. They do love costumes though! We don't do witches, skeletons, mummies etc. Our kids get their fair share of sweets and dress up through out the year. So what are we going to do with the carved pumpkins? They are shriveling up right there on the fireplace lol! We carved 4 of them, cooked 1 of them and left the biggest one alone. We also got some neat gourds too. I really like the various shapes and colors of gourds. So we've used them for a little home décor.

We made pumpkin pie! Yummy!! It was the best pumpkin pie we have ever had! My husband who rarely updates his facebook status actually posted a status about the pie lol! The great thing about it is, the only thing I did was cut the pumpkin in pieces and puree the pumpkin. Our girls did the rest and it turned out great!

My latest thing is knitting! I've learned to knit! I'm so proud of myself because I've always wanted to learn to knit. The two needles were always so neat to see. A great friend of mine gave me the site Wool and The Gang. They've got some wonderful clear videos. I tried the videos on YouTube but I didn't find any good clear ones. My first project was a scarf. Easy right? Yep! My little one got a hold of it and claimed it as hers. The next project is a big soft blanket. :)

I need to blog... I need to blog...

2010-09-27T00:51:00.001-05:00

I keep thinking, I need to blog about our European Vacation! I need to... but that was back in July. I will at some point. I'm trying and I have a draft I work on every now and then. It's coming but let me just say it was a crazy fun vacation. Europe is beautiful!

So lately I've been on this sewing kick. I'm not a pro by any means but these projects have been making me happy. I love the blogs I come by about home and craft projects. The latest project at Craft Hope.com was to make Pillowcases for ConKerr who cares for terminally ill children. What a blessing to put a smile on a child's face! We joined in but only did 4. I'm glad to hear even though the project with Craft Hope is done, we can do more and send them.

Crafthope.com Project 9

We were just happy to be a part of it. Afterwards I found this cute blog on how to make a Knotty Dress So I made one:

Love this dress! I'm going to make more. I've got a few other projects I want to try making but I haven't gone to the fabric store yet.

Tonight I read a blog on making Homemade Cloth Baby Wipes. I made about 38 of them. I'm so excited to use them! I made a simple wipe solution to use with them with Water, almond oil, aloe oil and a few drops of castile soap.

Well it seems like fall is in to full swing here. The high summer temps are over and Fall came in really quick! We've turned the fireplace on and we are going to make our own Eggnog. I hope it turns out well.

Happy Fall Ya'll!

toot!

2010-06-20T23:59:00.003-05:00

Hello Everyone,

I hope you all had a splendid Father's Day! Our Father's Day was ok. Our littlest one has been a bit under the weather. She is on the mend though. Praise God for His healing!

My wonderful husband got to watch sports all day. I was glad to let him. It was so little to ask in compared to all he does. He's a wonderful man. I was honored to celebrate his 40th birthday with him this week! This was his first Father's Day being a father of an infant! Our little one is going to be 11 months soon. We all have enjoyed every bit of the time. She's such a little joy, as the older children are too. There is just something so special about watching a child grow up in the first year of life. It's priceless!

While we all enjoy the littlest cub, the older ones are just as enjoyable. I get to do big kid things with them. The latest project is Craft Hope. We did Project 8 Gulf Coast Oil Spill, which is providing help in the Gulf. Please read more about it here. We sent towels to them and 2 bottles of Dawn soap. We are so honored to help in this relief effort. You can too! We aren't the most crafty people but in the end, I don't think the craft skill level is important in compared to the help needed. Jump in and help. Not to toot our own horns or anything but we so excited to be helping in some way! It was fun doing this with the kids!

Well I've got a bit to do tomorrow. So I'm off for now!

Juggling till the Sun shines.

2010-05-16T17:04:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone!

Life is good. Today we got to sit and chat with some dear friends after church. I really enjoy this family. It's pleasant to know others friends have kids just like ours! We just might be normal or at least we know another family like ours! We plan to take the kids our later to day for some ice cream. We usually go to Sheridan's because we like the frozen custard but goodness their customer service can be improved! The one in IL is a 1000 times better. In fact we used to go there so much they sort of know my order and they are always always pleasant. I'm going to have to let the owner know that.

So far our family has been busy with school, work, home business and life with a soon to be toddler! Our schedule is a juggle but it's good. I'm constantly thinking of ideas for our home business. I often thought, "If I just had a pen and paper with me I could write this down." I have an iphone to keep notes on but it's always elsewhere! I've been in a crafty mode so I decided to make me a pouch. It's kind of goofy but I can wear it around the house. It's small enough to keep on my waist just for my pen and paper. I had a small note pad but our littlest cub decided it was good to chew on. So I have a chewed on note pad. I also made a skirt for Mother's Day!

Well the girls are coming to the end of their first Girl Scouts year. We are planning their awards dinner to be this Friday. We are praying it goes well. The kids are still in school. Oh the joys of homeschooling!

We are trying the year round schooling. We've got about 50 or so lessons to complete. Our mornings are usually filled with Math lessons. Math is not my favorite subject at all. We are doing ABEKA 6th grade math and ABEKA 4th grade math. Thank God for the manuals they send! We are doing well though. I'm trying to teach the kids that even if they don't like a subject they can still learn it. After math is done the rest of the day is pretty easy. Our little sunshine is usually sleep during math class. By the time she wakes math is over and we are moving on. To be honest I'm not sure about this year round schooling. I'm used to having a summer break. Hmmm... Well we do get our regular breaks during the year. I like being able to adjust our schedule to accommodate breaks during the school year and implement plans to help them focus and learn better. Homeschooling can be such a joy. I do appreciate our freedoms.

Well our littlest cub is turning 10 months soon! She's standing, crawling and trying to cruise the furniture a bit. We think she may be walking by her first birthday.

We had her baby dedication May 2, 2010. She talked through the whole thing! My mother has been sending me beautiful outfits for her. This is what she wore for her baby dedication. We all enjoy watching her explore and learn new things. She's learned to wave hi and bye. We think she says a soft, "Hey" but we aren't quite sure. She enjoys baths but isn't fond of water being in her eye at all!

This past week has been a rainy one. We are looking forward to being able to go to the park more often or just taking a nice walk around the neighborhood. Sun does a body good. I thrive in warm weather. It makes me happy just being out in the great weather. So hopefully Spring will brighten up and we'll be out and about.

Well keep gazing up at the amazing God we have. Keep being amazed at His wonders and magnificence. It's a blessing to continually be in awe about our God. I am daily with his blessings on our lives.

Saving Time and Money!

2010-03-15T09:48:00.001-05:00

Here are a couple of places I use while shopping online. We have a 7 month old so I this place all the time. You can get free next day delivery when you spend 49.00! I always end up spending enough to get the next day delivery. I'm there now shopping for baby proofing items! I love it because I don't always want to hassle with getting all the kids ready to go out shopping. So this online store helps with that in offering next day delivery. Love it! Click the image to save and use the code!

Get $10 off

your first order of diapers
use code HAPP1243

$49 min. total order

pampers swaddlers
huggies snug & dry
seventh generation
luvs

Ok here is another money saving tip: Use Cashbaq! Click the link

I got a check in the mail for $13.53 for shopping online. It's all free. Just sign up use their links to the shops to save. So here is my shopping for today, going to cashbaq, use their diapers.com link to save on my purchase! They have tons of shops there so where ever you shop check the site first to see if you can save a few on your purchase. They will send you a check or deposit into your pay pal account. Love it!

Now off to my baby proofing!

Live Well.

Taking a journey

2010-01-04T12:05:00.003-06:00

I've decided I would take a journey. This particular one will be a long term one. One of excitement, uncertainty and prayer lead direction. I'm excited about it and was inspired and encouraged by my husband. He's such an encouraging wonderful man. I thank God for him daily. He's given me such encouragement and I appreciate his support. This journey is one that I feel is God inspired. I feel that in this season I have found another purpose. It's going to be fun. What is this journey? It's a creatively personal one. It's one that will take some time, and will be lead by the Lord. I'm happy.

Well good bye 2009! It is a year that I'm glad to see go! The Cullen family has experienced an amazingly difficult year. Stressful blessings, if there is such a thing? We moved into the realm of being a family of 6. We've moved into a new beautiful home, and we had to let our Yorkie go to another home. It was a year of ups and downs and all arounds. Goodness it was a roller coaster ride! I'm glad to get off and walk through the amusement park of life. Yes I do see life sort of like an amusement park. Either you are on a tea cup ride going in chaotic circles of decisions, on the exciting, scary and unpredictable roller coaster of a grand life changing event, or enjoying a stroll through the park watching others take their turns on various life rides. Whatever life stage you are in, try and enjoy it. Find some amusement in what's going on around you. I had to do that several times in 2009. It sure does/did help me in troubled and good times. I wasn't always successful at it but laughter is good for the body. I struggled to find humor in taking insulin shots in my stomach that rarely regulated Gestational Diabetes for the first time in my life. I did however find a lot of humor in having a C-section for the first time. Wow that was an adventure! I'm sure the nurses in the OR had a laugh at me too. I just couldn't get past not being able to feel my legs during the procedure. Using my arms to raise up off the operating table and grab at a nurse to tell her "You don't understand I need to walk now!" was a bit out there. Our little blessing is here and we are all enjoying her. She's such a joy. I guess she is living up to the meaning of her name!

Yesterday marked the last day of the Christmas break. My wonderful husband is back at work. We are thanking the Lord for God blessing him with continual employment. The kids are back in school. They vow to wake up early enough to get through a school day early. LOL! Well with homeschooling we have the option of changing the schedule. I've got to get on grading and decorating the school rooms.

The girls have wanted to join Girl Scouts. That's been a project left on the back burner. The great thing is we have found some home school focused Girls Scout groups. I've got to dig my heals in and research to see if this is the right thing for the girls. They've missed their singing, and acting classes too. It's time to get back into that and see things blossom with in them. I'm thinking Boy Scouts and Karate for my son. *Thinking!* I've not decided yet. The Upward soccer season was over in November. I do appreciate the Upward Sports. It's something we will keep with.

The baby is doing well! She's 5 months and has two cute little teeth at the bottom! She is almost sitting stable. She'll sit by herself with supervision at this stage. She's a little noise maker. We love to hear it. It's funny because we all go, "awwww!" when she makes little noises. This is one loved little girl. She's got tons of love coming from her older sisters. They have been absolutely wonderful with her. I think they feel that she is a live doll. We often hear them express their feelings of not wanting her to grow up. I told them she is going to be turning 1 in July and from their reaction you would have thought their world was crashing down! It's wonderful to have children who love one another. Now, if we can just get them to be fair to everyone else in the family we'd be on to something! This reminds me, I do need to start reading the Power of a Praying Parent again. I've read this book a few times and it always helps me. I can see a great change when I read it. Praying over the children is so important. It combats so many obstacles.

Now, if I can just get our New Years Photo Cards to arrive, we can send out late Happy New Year cards lol! We didn't do Christmas Cards this year since I didn't get to designing them on time. I've got to better manage taking the photographs of family and coming up with a design I like better. Oh well I was told via Facebook it's better late than never to send out the photo cards. It's good to be loved regardless of your faults.

Any how I'm rambling! I'm so glad to see 2009 go. A good friend of mine told me that the number 9 was the number for judgment. Very interesting since I've heard most often that 2009 was a trying year for people. I do pray that 2010 is a blessed year filled with joy for you! May God love on you and shower you with his goodness.

Now, I must continue on my journey.

Happy Birthday Little Joy!

2009-08-06T17:27:00.003-05:00

Hello World!

I'd like to introduce you to our new baby girl! She was was born July 22nd at 9:54 am weighing 9lbs 8oz & 20.5 inches long. She is a beautiful site to our eyes. We are all doing well now. The kids are in awe about her all the time. They are great helpers and I'm so thankful to have them. They love their little sister. God has really blessed me with a great family.

Life after a Cesarean can be a bit tough on the body. I'm not over doing it and I'm not under doing it either. Unfortunately our home has stairs that I have to climb daily. I try not to so much but sometimes I forget things on either floor. We were going to set up on one floor but it just didn't seem to work out that way. The stair climbing isn't too bad now but I hated it when I just arrived home. Each day is getting better. I would have loved to be in the new house where I'd only go up a few stairs to get to our room, but it didn't workout that way. Friends and family keep telling me not to but hey, with 3 other children and life going on, it's not like I have a choice. So I try to limit the times I need to go up and down stairs. It's been 2 weeks so hopefully I'll continue to heal well.

So the birth story isn't a scary one. In fact I don't have a scary birth story with any of my children. This was the first Cesarean I've had. I had a Cesarean because of her weight. The morning started out with me getting the epidural. I know some people are for going all natural and thing medication is bad and I respect that but that's not the choice we made. I was a bit anxious about it and I don't know why. I had epidurals with the girls and my son and it didn't hurt but this time I was worried that it would. Guess what, it did! The lady ended up having to put the it in twice because she hit a vein with the first attempt. Yeah that's not what I wanted to feel at all. They gave me numbing medication but this one felt really weird. I felt a lot of pressure. My poor husband's fingers were squeezed so hard. I suspect it wasn't as easy this time because of the position I was in. With the other two pregnancies I was lying on my side, this time I was leaning forward.

After it was in and started to take effect like it was supposed to, I panicked about not being able to feel my legs. I knew in my mind that I wasn't supposed to feel my legs but I couldn't emotionally make myself comfortable with it. I had the urge to move my legs but I couldn't. I panicked and asked my husband to just move them or tap them to have me feel something. I felt nothing! That was a good thing as far as the cesarean procedure is concerned but I wasn't good with it. I felt like I wasn't going to be able to breath. The nurse told me If I could talk I could breath. So as they were wheeling me to the Operating Room I was praying and talking to myself repeating if I can talk I can breath.

Once we got to the OR they began to prep me. They transferred the 204lb me to the other table to get started. The moment they transferred me to the table, I freaked out once again on the nurses. I just remember using the hand rails to pull myself up and grabbing at a nurse. My husband told me I said, "Guys you don't understand I need to walk like NOW!" I guess I was trying to get up off the table and walk so I can feel my legs. The whole leg thing wasn't going over well with me. The nurses said it's ok these things happen we will give you something to relax you. I replied Ok O... and I was out. What ever sedative I was given worked in a matter of seconds. I guess they had to put the wild woman down! It puts me in mind of the tranquil darts they shoot at animals to get them to calm down. I was in and out through the whole thing. Whatever my husband said to me was like "Wha wha wa wa wa." and I'd reply with a dazed "Ohh." I do remember in the relaxed state praying too. I did see her go up above the curtain and off to my right. She came out crying and healthy. I really didn't get to see her much since I was out on the table and they were sewing me back up. She was being cleaned and held by her daddy! The staff was wondering when she was pulled out if she was going to hit that 10lb mark but she almost did.

After all my drama I have to say I didn't feel a thing. Not even my legs lol! I did feel some tugging but it didn't not hurt at all. In fact none of it really "hurt" except for the epidural was quite uncomfortable. They wheeled me to recovery and I felt a lot better even though my legs were still numb. I knew it was wearing off because I could wiggle my toes I was fine after it all wore off. My incision was really sore and I needed a higher dose of pain medication to get me through the first day. After that I was fine. I was so glad in the days after to be free of the IV's and all the things hooked up to me. Ahhh freedom! I was and am still very limited in activity.

As far as my brand new little one, oh we adore her! We can't get enough of this wonderful miracle that has come into our lives. I can't believe I have four children now. Each time God has blessed me greatly. Our new baby gets a lot of love and snuggles and cuddles. She's a good cuddly size. She only lost 4 ounces when we were discharged from the hospital. She's gained it right back and then some. We have a perfectly healthy beautiful baby girl. She's my biggest and longest baby I've had and she is so precious!

Pregnancy Recap and Looking Forward

2009-05-21T23:10:00.003-05:00

We are expecting another blessing to come to us soon. Her name is Helaina. While she is forming snug in my womb my body is going through so many changes. Being a parent is such a blessing even in the hard times. Hard times for me have hit. Everyone goes through hard times. I've hit one. While a miracle is happening inside me, my body isn't adjusting well to it. While I love an infant, I don't favor pregnancy. I know some will gasp at that thought but honestly it's not something I handle well. Not every woman loves being pregnant. I was happy to see a book in Borders called Pregnancy Sucks. I picked it up to see just what the author had to say. I ended up buying the book. She has a funny way of writing that I appreciated. It's real pregnancy feelings and I was glad someone else understood it. I don't seem to be blessed with perfect pregnancies. My pregnancy with twins left me on bed rest. I was swollen so much that you could leave finger prints in my legs. I was put on strict bed rest for a month. Bed rest was no fun. You'd think it is one of the easiest things to do but no it's not. There is only so much laying around a person can do. I watched TV, read magazines, played music to them, and just tried to find the best way to pass the time. I finally went in for my doctor's appointment at 36 weeks and they decided to induce me that day. I was so excited and happy. I was going to have my babies and my body back! It was hard to have two children moving around inside of me. Sharp limbs moving across my belly wasn't the best feeling for me. When they were smaller it was a joy but the larger they got the more discomfort I felt. I endured it all for a great gift. 9 months of unpleasant experiences is sort of ok compared to the gift of life that comes out of it. The girls were born and had no problems what so ever. The girls were born at 36 weeks weighing 5lbs, 5oz and 6lbs. Could you imagine if I went longer? I went from being a small 5'0 103lb to a huge180lbs! My labor wasn't horrible. I don't have a horror story to tell. In fact I was on the phone when I was being induced. My family and nurses were surprised a how calm I was through the contractions. I was induced at 4:30pm Friday till 12:00 am Saturday. They gave me a rest and started up the next day at 8:00 am. My first born came into this world at 3:48pm. Her sister came right after at 4:17 pm. They are 30 minutes apart. I was the happiest mommy. I do love having twins. It is amazing to watch them grow from an infant to the preteens they are now. Yes there are days I wonder if parenting is cut out for me. Yes there are days that I want to run and hide but over all, it is a blessing.

When the girls turned 1 years old my son was a little miracle forming within. This pregnancy was a bit different. I was planning to return to school and continue working towards me degree. I was unhappy and looking for some sort of peaceful outlet. I went through being afraid, angry and the discomforts of being pregnant again. I found out I was having a son this time. While I was happy, I was quite worried. I struggled through out the whole pregnancy worrying and dealing with the whole situation. I went back to school despite my emotions. I decided I was going to reach my goals no matter what happened. I felt pretty helpless about my life at that point but school was something that could give me a goal and hope. I was in a miserable marriage, I had two toddlers and we were barely able to pay bills. School was my outlet for years. I finally got my Bachelors degree in 2005. So back in 1999 I waddled to classes each week, learning and feeling a little better about myself. I felt I had a goal to achieve instead of just living a life I felt stuck in. My son was an active one in the womb. This sisters being a total of 11.5 lbs together, left him a lot of room to play! He would get the hiccups and it felt funny. I thought it was one of the cutest things. It's one of my favorite memories of being pregnant with him. He was born on a Thursday during finals. I had him and went back to school the next week for my final classes. My teacher was amazed that I had him and was back in class. I remember her reaction fondly, "Oh my gosh you had the baby!? What did you do have him between classes?" He was a day late and a little big. His labor wasn't as easy as the girls but it wasn't horrible either. I had a stand in doctor with a nasty bedside manner. My wonderful son came out weighing 8lbs 14oz! Again it was one of the best moments of my life. I love giving birth and seeing my baby. He was cuddly and cute. I was a mother of three! My daughters were very protective of their little brother. I was blessed with three children that had a close bond. There was no jealousy among them. They were my little blessings that provided a light in my dark world at that time. After I had my son, I said I would never have kids again. I was done. I was finished. I just couldn't bring another child into that situation. I had my tubes tied. The end.

Here, 9 years later I'm happily remarried to a remarkable man. Life is good. My husband and I decided we would have more children. I had a tubal reversal in August of 2008. We traveled to Georgia to have the surgery done at the Lakeshore Tubal Reversal Center. The center was amazing and helpful in every way the could be. I was excited about the possibility of having more children. I couldn't wait to give my husband news of me being pregnant. It was a great feeling. In November 2008 I got that chance. We were pregnant! I never would have thought that I would have been pregnant again. I will have 4 children soon. Wow! I was excited to tell him. As time went by the excitement was wearing. Nausea and discomfort took over. Here I go again... the pregnancy discomforts. This time is different. I have three children to care for. They are older and actually have been a great help. My husband is caring and nurturing. He is wonderful and I couldn't ask for more. Their excitement of anticipation helps me get through this. I'm not alone this time. I feel the comforts of family. The comforts of family provide me with the emotional support I need. The physical part of pregnancy is all on me. It's been the most challenging pregnancy physically. I'm older and my body just isn't handling it very well. I had migraines during the 2nd trimester that landed me in the hospital. I was afraid to the point of wanting to make out wills. It was such pain that I'd never wish on anyone. With prayer those headaches have stopped. The hospital chalked it up as me being dehydrated. They pumped me full of fluids via IV for a few hours and sent me home with a big bill. Soon after that I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I went to see a dietician and we tried to control it with diet. It was there I received my blood testing kit. I was told to test 5 times a day. I found myself doing the dreaded finger stick. My blood sugar levels were still high in the mornings. It signaled that it was hormonal and nothing dieting could do would fix it. I was prescribed insulin shots. Now it's insulin nightly right in the belly. Luckily the needle is tiny and very short. I've had one good day with insulin. The others haven't been so great. I can tell the difference in my energy levels now. It's amazing. The day I woke up and my levels were good I had energy. I want that back. I want to be my energetic self again. At this time I'm dragging and drained. I'm trying to think on the good things. There are so many good things in life right now to take my mind off of my health. I'm trying to not be so down about this diagnosis. The good thing is, it's temporary. After giving birth it all goes away. Yes statistic say I'll have a higher chance of it coming back but I'm not one to life off of statistics. I pray. Prayer works. I'll believe in prayer that it won't come back. I'm believing for my total and complete healing.

I sit here in my glider, 30 weeks and 4 days pregnant. That sets me at 7 1/2 months. Helaina is rolling around daily and while I experience the discomforts of pregnancy I rest knowing there is a great blessing coming soon. Life will never be the same.

Ouch I need water!

2009-03-30T00:49:00.003-05:00

This past week has been such a challenge for me. I've had migraine headaches off and on. The first 3 days were really tough. I've never had a migraine headache before so I didn't know what to expect or what to do. Honestly I was scared and still am a bit of getting another one. I tried to hold out for 3 days. I don't like going to the hospital. I will try to avoid the ER as much as I can. I spent way too much time as a child in hospitals with asthma. So this time I tried hard not to end up going. My dear incredible husband is just a beautiful work of art given to me from God. He has been such a wonderful help to me in the past weeks. He's looked after me and the kids while I was down and couldn't fully function like I usually do. He's a rock that I can count on. I am so blessed to have a wonderful husband. He worked from home Friday to keep watch over me. My eyes were hurting so bad it was difficult to even open them. So he called the OB Dr. office as soon as they opened. They called in a prescription for me. I was told to take one pill each hour and if it got to 3 pills I had to come in to be evaluated. With my history of preeclampsia they wanted to make sure the baby was doing well. My dear husband had a time getting the medication. The pharmacy was out of it, and had to call another pharmacy. The pharmacy they called said the medication they called in had been pulled from the shelves! Ugh! The pharmacist called my OB to clarify and finally they prescribed something. My husband came home with them medication and kept close watch. I took the meds, slept work up still with the headache. I took more and slept.

I did end up going in to the hospital as much as I didn't want to. My husband was adamant about us getting this checked out. We got to the hospital I am to deliver at and saw they had a nice facility. They asked me loads of questions about me. I always hated that part. When you are in pain and need care you really don't want to answer questions. I do understand that they do need information before admitting a patient though. It's just a difficult process to go through when you just want the pain to stop. It didn't take to long though. They asked me on a scale of 1 to 10 how would I rate my pain, I said an 8.

They walked me to my room and I was to put on the hospital gown that we all love. After I was dressed for patient status, I laid in the very small bed and they took blood pressure. The readings were all was fine. I was relieved to know that the tests they ran came back all normal. Baby Helaina is doing fine. They decided to give me an IV drip because they had another patient come in before me in the same condition. She happened to be dehydrated. So they assumed the same for me. This is was maybe the millionth time I've had an IV so I was used to it. The kids however have never had and IV (Praise God and we'd like it to stay that way!) so the were watching closely. As the lady searched for a vain on my wrist the kids were anticipating it to be a no mess procedure, like having your blood drawn. Well this wasn't a clean process. I had some blood squirt out and my son couldn't take it. He had to go behind the curtain. One daughter who wants to be a doctor found it fascinating, the other just kept watch. They pumped 2 1/2 bags of fluid into me. That really didn't help much, so they decided to give me some pain medication via IV. The nurse told my husband this would be a good time to go grab something to eat because the meds were supposed to help me sleep. The nurse said she had to push it in slow and as she was she told me to close my eyes. They were already closed... migraine... eyes are sensitive to light! lol! She tried to give me a visual of the meds going in and giving me relief. She did a great job but my mind was racing. It didn't put me to sleep at all. I was very uncomfortable in the small bed. There I lay in the dark hospital room wondering what in the world was going to happen. My mind starts to race thinking about death and wills. I as lonely at that point. It didn't last long thank God because my husband and kids were back. That made me happy. I find it amazing how close we are at times. I love having a family. They provided comfort mentally and kept my mind off of the pain. Overall I was a happy patient. I asked them to bring me back a Snickers bar and they came back with a king size one! So I munched on the bar as the fluids were going in.

A resident doctor (?!) came in and asked a few questions. She told me there wasn't much they could do and left. I didn't know what to expect other than to be discharged. I looked over to see my son and daughter laying on the floor, my husband standing against the wall, and my other daughter asleep in the chair. I felt so bad for them. I had to go use the restroom and give them some blankets that were in the closet. A few moments later another nurse came in with some Percocet tablets. The nurse was pregnant too and reminded me of Natalie on the show Facts of Life. She had me take those and I laid in the bed a bit longer. She came back with the 3rd bag of fluid and then I had told her I was starting to feel better. I think at that point I really just wanted to go home. The pain was still there but not as bad. I told her it was about a 3. She then said she would go inform the resident doctor that came in of my rating. About a 1/2 bag later she was discharging me. I was happy to be going home. I wasn't 100% but I was better than when I went in.

We got home around 11pm and went straight to bed. The next day I was still feeling ok. So we went on about our day. Later on that night my eyes started to hurt again and the pressure was back. I took the meds for headache and tried to go to sleep. I remember telling my husband I needed to get a will prepared. This has been one of the most scariest things I've experienced. Today we went to church and I had someone pray for the headaches. It's a dull pain but bearable. I'm trying to keep hydrated. I'm supposed to drink 3.1 liters of water a day. I had no idea how bad dehydration could get.

The headaches have come and go. Tonight, I'm ok and baby Helaina is still as active as ever. I'm feeling better and I pray I'll continue to feel better.

Kicks and Music.

2009-03-21T00:14:00.000-05:00

Well today I'm officially 22 weeks pregnant! Yay. Time is moving right along. It does seem to go slow but when I look back it's moved pretty fast. We had an ultrasound done with a technician that took measurements of the baby. I had a due date of August 1st but from the measurements it confirmed that the due date is actually July 26th. I skipped up about a week that quick! I was happy to hear that. If can negotiate the due date to be around May sometime at the next appointment we will be on a roll then! I am praying for a mild summer. The summers here are very hot and humid. I am thinking I just may be inside most of the month of July! The baby is healthy and we found out we are having a girl! We very pleased about it! Yes we do have a name chosen! She is an active little girl too! Her kicks are getting stronger and stronger. It makes me know that she is there and doing well. My wonderful husband has felt her kicks and is amazed at her activity level. We are just really happy that she will be here soon!

The home building is underway! They have poured concrete and we are waiting for it to cure. I'm praying it will not take a long time for this. The due date and the move date seem to be inching pretty close together.

Besides the pregnancy and home building life has been good. On Fridays I take the children over to Kathy's home for their music lessons. The girls are taking voice lessons and my son is taking piano lessons. I am very well pleased about their progress. We plan to video the girls singing so we can show friends and family. Kathy is very professional and fun with the children. I love sitting and listening in on their lessons. She has the kids attention the whole time and makes music fun. I really appreciate her fun approach to teaching vocal and piano lessons. They have all done very well with her as a teacher. She's written a book called Kids Learn to Sing and has a website for it and clients wanting private lessons to contact her. Visit http://kidslearntosing.com/ to see it. I'll try and post a link to the video of the girls singing when it's done.

Well it's a very late night and it's time for me and the baby to get some sleep. My honey says we are going to get me a body pillow tomorrow! Yay!

You Home School!? Why? Part 1

2009-03-06T10:42:00.005-06:00

I know some people are wondering or have wondered, why do they home school? I've wondered this about some families too. Some people are surprised to find out that we home school our children. We seem so "normal." Normal? That reaction always amuses me. What is the point of home schooling?

Home schooling families face all sorts of questions, judgments and negative reactions. I had one lady actually question me in a tone of disgust about my decision to home school. She took my home schooling as a blunt insult to her local public schools. I think this was the first face to face confrontation I had about my choice to homeschool. I've had other reactions but this one happened when I was attempting to do school bus driving. Yes I did to an be a bus driver, let me explain, at the time I was a single parent mother trying to make things work. I was an independent Graphic Designer and thought that bus driving would supplement my income. I had a dear friend that helped me with the job. It works for her family and I would have loved to see her daily but it just didn't work out. I had another friend speak some sense into me that I needed to settle down, and rest in what the Lord was giving me. I was paranoid at what was going to happen to our lives. God gave me a talent and I needed to use it. If I did I could continue to home school the children. My primary focus was my children.

See I've always home schooled them. When I became a single parent I didn't want to drastically change their lives. Yes I know "Kids are resilient" but why put them through the unnecessary stress? While I was being interviewed the lady asked me why did I home school. She said, "What? Why do you home school? You don't like the district? They have some great teachers." This lady had an abrasive personality that didn't not intimidate me. I felt confident in our homeschooling. I replied to her in a confident presence and calm tone saying, "We have just homeschooled since day 1 and I never looked into the districts when we moved here. I figured since homeschooling was working why change it?" She seemed rather surprised by my answer and reaction of respect towards her. I think that is why I got the job. Again it didn't work out because I wasn't following the Lord. I was seeking solutions to my paranoia and wasn't hearing what the Lord wanted me to do. During that troubled time in our lives, I had many people telling me different things. One would tell me I needed to put them in public school and go to work, another would tell me I needed to slow down and listen to the Lord, another telling me I could do this and not to worry etc. Lots of good and bad advice. God got my attention and gave me a peace.

I see no point in jumping into an heated argument about homeschooling vs. Public school. Yes we all have our reasons. Some are extreme on both sides and some aren't. I'm not one of those extreme people. Well I can be on other topics but when it comes to the choice of homeschooling I see no point in arguing about personal decisions. Home schooling families face ridicule from those that don't understand or agree with it. The media makes us look like weirdos any chance they get with reporting extreme cases. Despite what the negative media reports or opinions of others, home schoolers excel in great ways. I do feel that I've made the best choice for my children as well as others have to make the best choice for theirs.

Do I feel everyone home school? No! I don't believe so. Some are not able, some are not willing, some are flat out against it. Some think we are weirdo's corrupting the system. I'm ok with being thought of as weird, I've always been an off beat kind of person. I like that about me. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. It's one of God's gift to us. I appreciate it. Who wants to be in a world full of clones thinking the same things!? So no I don't feel that it is in everyone's ability to home school. I feel if you try and it's not for your family you can do no good to your children. You have to be lead and dedicated to it. It's a lifestyle change that needs to be taken seriously. Those families you find out about in the news are extreme cases. Those are extreme cases of homeschooling gone wrong, just as there are extreme cases of parenting gone wrong when children are in public schools. The simple fact that we have a Department of Child Protective Service speaks volumes about parenting gone wrong in any choice of schooling. Again the choice to home school is a lifestyle that should be taken seriously.

Do I feel better than people who send their kids to public schools? No! Why should I? I was a public schooled child. Ok maybe I shouldn't use me as an example (lol). I know many parents whom I respect in a great way that have their children in public schools. I do not feel that our family is better than them at all. People are individuals and have talents that we don't share. I don't feel that any one is better than because we all excel in different areas in life. If their children are thriving and learning then it works.

Do I feel like I can do a better job that the experienced teachers? Yes, and No. Here's why... I can not do a better job than a teacher who has been trained to teach a room full of children. In no way would I want to do such a thing or think that I could. I feel that teachers who care (there are some wacko ones, as well as wacko parents) do a phenomenal job. I feel that they are wonderful people who do extraordinary jobs. They have the position to make a positive or negative impact that last a life time for children. I've had teachers like that. Some will never be forgotten. Wow what a position to be in! That to me is a position of greatness and honor. Teachers have to deal with many different personalities and issues on a daily basis. They have to deal with the good and the bad from both the students and the parents. They have to teach in that environment. Would I be able to do that? No, because I don't have the ability or desire to teach a classroom of students. I have the ability and desire to teach my own. I feel that I can give my children a great education because we can focus on just them. The benefits of homeschooling are unlimited. We can give them an education that is individualized, and at their own pace. They have no chance of slipping through the cracks or having to play "catch up". When they are not getting something we stay on that subject until they get it. We don't have to keep up with the other students. If they get it immediately we can move on to other things. I can't teach a room full but I can teach my few. It takes dedication and time. It does require attention and involvement.

So why did I choose to home school? Because I feel the Lord lead me to do so. Yes, there are those days that I question if I should due to the attitudes and the mood of they day. Ultimately we come back to the same answer, yes we should continue to home school. It is working, the kids are learning. We have regular days of learning, we have great days the kids do well, and we have bad days of kids who don't want to go to school or do anything but sleep in and play. The challenges are there but do we give up? No we keep going. Each day is different in how it plays out. Homeschooling works for us.

Don't you feel like they need to get out of the house!? Um, Yes and I do too! Homeschooling can trigger a image of kids being kept at home all the time. This image is false. We homeschoolers don't stay in the house all the time. That would drive us crazy! Some people feel as though we homeschoolers are depriving our children of a "social life." No, I can account for my family and the families I know that home school and most of the children are very social. Mine are, in fact more outgoing than I am. I met some of my good friends from my children making friends with theirs. Another take on this is looking at the environment. Socializing isn't limited in homeschooling as it is in public schools. When we homeschoolers are out and about in the store, or on a field trip we have to teach our children to speak and interact with all walks of life. We may see a person with a disability, it lends an opportunity to interact with the person. No they are not a science experiment, they are a human being that deserves respect and that is a lesson. We may see an adult acting out at a return center, that is a lesson in how not to behave. When we have been out and about I've been questioned by others asking, "Why aren't my children in school?" Some do it nicely by asking the kids, "No school today?" LOL and they reply, "Yes." I had one lady rudely questioning me while we were walking out of a store about the children being in school. Her reason was, "I was just checking." We respectfully smiled and went on. We do have positve reactions of people being curious. Once we were checking out at the grocery store and a lady commented about our son's mohawk hairstyle. She said, "I don't think those are allowed in schools." I said, "Well we home school so it is in ours." She and the Store Manager bagging the groceries had a flood of questions I could hardly answer quick enough. They felt it was great and just wanted to know more. We have to train our children how to react responsibly in any social situation. There are many examples of how we homeschoolers are in fact at an advantage in socialization. No we don't just stay in the house. Do the public children just stay in the building? ;).

Aren't keeping your kids from experiencing the benefits of public school such as Prom, Yearbooks, Sports and Graduation? No. I have great memories of public school. I keep in touch with many friends from that time. You can make friends for a life time. Homeschooling is no different. There are many home school organizations that have Proms, Yearbooks, Sports and Graduation. Some homeschooling children have been asked to public school proms. Again it's not a limited environment. It is only as limited as we make it. Our kids have music lessons (band), acting lessons (drama club), and sports. Our home school group has a yearbook too.

What about getting them used to peer pressure? How will they survive with out being subjected to that? Some parents think the experience of peer pressure is good. I don't see the point of it. Some struggle in public schools as all kids do at some point. Some have more pressure than others. We all have to deal with helping our children through pressures in life. Even homeschoolers experience peer pressure. Mine have experienced it already. We will experience stress in life, unwanted situations and unfortunate sadness in life no matter what your schooling choice is. We have heard, "Well so and so's parents let them..." "Well so and so has one.." Our kids have felt the need to keep up with the other kids, ours have been made fun of, insulted and all sorts of other mean things children do to each other. So the peer pressure will come, it doesn't matter what school they are in. We all have the responsibility as parents to help our children deal with life's unfortunate events.

So why did I home school? Because I found this is what God has me to do. He's worked it out and we will continue to follow his lead. If he says it's time to put them in school outside the home then we will do that. Until then homeschooling it is.

Baby Arrival vs. Home Building... The Countdown is on!

2009-03-05T11:40:00.002-06:00

You know, I think I might be one of those in and out bloggers. Oh well as you all know life can get busy. It has been a little around here. It's funny though because while I feel really lazy it always seems to be something to do. I don't mind it. At least it's keeping things going. Boredom can cause people to do some crazy things. I don't want to be that person doing crazy things. I'm loony enough nowadays.

Well the latest question is, "Do you know if you are having a boy or a girl?" Well we don't have 100% answer on this. I had an ultrasound at 16 weeks to see but the cord was in the way. Hmmm... The Dr. said he was about 70% sure we are having a... I'm not telling you yet, not until we are sure! I have an ultrasound at my 20 week mark to have the baby measured so maybe then we will know for sure. We do have names picked out! I can feel the baby move on occasion. It gives me a happy feeling when it happens. The movements bring a reality to the pregnancy. It's not just me being big, it's a baby in there! I admit the experience of having a baby again is exciting. Most days I'm feeling "pregnant" you know, big, uncomfortable, and well big. I'm 18 weeks now and showing. I got some comfortable stretchy Maternity jeans. I prefer the ones with the band that covers the belly to the one that fits only underneath. I had the pants with the newer cute band that fits underneath the belly but as I grew it didn't grow with me. Now I have the traditional ones. Sometimes the old way is best. I am looking forward to being able to wear summer dresses.

So since this baby is coming along 9 years after my last pregnancy all the pregnancy experience is sort of new again. Not in a "new mom" way but I fail to remember the stages of pregnancy in depth. I find myself looking at the weekly progress to find out the development progress. I don't know when we should start buying items, or when we should have a baby shower. Some people don't have baby showers after the 2nd child or so but we are. We are thinking of having a fun get together where everyone and their kids can come and hang out or something along those lines. We don't know for sure yet. I know I do want it to be different than the traditional women only baby shower. Maybe we can finally have that BBQ in the summer!

Other than baby happenings, our home is finally making progress. We have broken ground ladies and gents! Yay! I am really excited and happy to know that trucks are digging, pushing, and driving around. Action is happening! The planning stages were great but I find myself really happy to see it actually coming to. My wonderful husband goes and stalks the lot on a daily basis. I do eagerly wait for his lunch time phone calls to give me an update. Even though I tease him about his lot stalking, it keeps me in touch on the progress too. This has been such a great experience for us to go through together. An estimated 120 days for the home to be complete. I've got an estimated 149 days until the baby arrives. We are cutting it close aren't we? Prayers have gone up daily about this whole process. The Lord has really blessed us! Oh and we feel we have even found a home church close to where we will be moving.

Our son completed another Lego Agents model. We've tried to steer him away from the Star Wars obsession. It was getting to be overboard. So I was really glad to see him complete a different model by himself. I was proud. I even snapped a photo. The girls are really excited about having a birthday this week. They will be 11. One of our girls wants a pet rabbit. She's found one on Petfinders.com and we are trying to adopt it. This will be our 2nd rabbit as a pet. The first one passed away. The rabbit she found is used to being around dogs and children which is a great plus! I admit I am getting excited to have a goofy rabbit around. I do think they are cute and I'm happy it's not another dog! So what we plan to do is give her a cage with a stuffed bunny in holding her birthday card. When she opens the card she'll read when we can get her bunny. We are hoping the adoption works out. Our other daughter wants just a Raggedy Ann doll. She is rather frugal when we ask her about things she wants. We suspect her love language is quality time. So it makes sense that she doesn't usually come up with the expensive stuff as her sister can. We do appreciate her company and the break in expenses! They do plan on sharing the rabbit. I'm sure it will some how become a family pet. So then after this adoption we will have 1 Black Labrador Retriever, 1 Yorkshire Terrier, 1 Turtle, and 1 Rabbit. I am praying we don't get talked into any more pets.

Well today is supposed to be warm. I'm thinking we will make a point to enjoy it. Oh the baby just moved!

Winter Brings the Comfort of Family

2009-01-05T11:00:00.006-06:00

I need a snuggie. Yes we saw the infomercial and I want one.

Well it is winter time! I guess you already knew that. According to the Farmer's Almanac we have 74 more days till Spring. Over the holidays it seemed like it was spring time with the temps getting up to the 60's. I enjoyed the weather but the high winds were a bit worrisome. Soon after that we are seeing lower temps again. I wonder if we will see any snow this year. I wonder what sort of summer will come. I am looking forward to warmer weather. I felt like God was sending me a present with the high temps for a couple of days. Winter is my lease favorite season of the year. I start dreading it in late August. I know it is coming. I long to live in a climate that is tropical. Until, my prayer is that I will be comfortable with my life where ever I am. I thank God for a comfortable home that keeps us warm. I am thankful to be able to stay home and have a wonderful husband. No warm climate could replace the love of a family and home.

The holidays went well. We heard from family and friends. The kids were happy as we celebrated the birth of our Savior. 2009 is here and I am thankful to be able to see it. I pray that your New Years went well. Ours did. I look forward to seeing what the year brings. I have so much to be thankful for already.

Life is very interesting around here. I'm basically a ball of emotions during this first trimester of this pregnancy. The first trimester is like that though nothing out of the norm. I often wonder if it's just me or are people really insensitive with what they say to a pregnant woman? I have no idea but it seems so. Someone actually asked me WHY we would have more kids as if we were making a bad decision. Yeah this is the type of thing I'm talking about. Then there are those that think pregnancy is easy, not a problem at all. Then there are those that say things like "Better you than me!" Those are the people that don't want kids and don't know how to keep their mouth shut about it, have no idea what a blessing a child is, or have no respect for the family unit. It is funny to see the different reactions people have. This is child number four. Am I worried about having more kids? No. Do I think four is too many? No. As a matter of fact I wish I was having boy/girl twins. I have friends that have more than four and love every bit of it. I have been fortunate to have very few silly reactions, but many many of our friends are happy for us. We are happy for us. I am, but the hormonal surge isn't my happiness so well. That is one of the hardest things to deal with is the huge hormonal surge. After reading when, why, what and how, it puts things in perspective that I can understand. As long as I have an understanding of it, I can deal with it ok. With my first three I had no idea about the hormones. I thought I was just being mean as I was told. I also struggled with postpartum and had no idea what it was. No one explained the reason for it. I had to read up on the whole thing myself. Good for me lol! With age comes maturity and wisdom. I am now re reading a book called Supernatural Childbirth. I had it 9-10 years ago when I had my first 3. It is an amazing book it gave me the encouragement I was needing. With it being a 9 year gap this pregnancy things is all new. Yes I've had 3 before but each pregnancy is unique. It's unpredictable and as the years have passed I have forgotten about the weekly development of the baby, what to do about the symptoms. I remember a bit but it's nothing like relieving it to refresh your memory. In August 2009 we will welcome our baby into the world. I am excited. As I see all the new babies around I can't wait to have a newborn. We often talk about the baby at the dinner table. Yes it will be a British born American lol! He or she will have dual citizenship (British and American). Yes, we know it will be a biracial baby. Some have actually brought this to my attention. Yes we too wonder what color eyes and hair he or she will have. My husband has blue eyes, I have brown. You say brown wins out? Scientifically, not all the time. We will have what God gives us. At this point we are wondering if the baby is a boy or girl. I can't wait to find out so we can start preparing for the nursery. It is all so exciting. Babies are so precious. The kids are really excited. Any time we pass the baby section they get so excited. I don't think I will be taking the girls shopping with me often! They will want us to buy out the store! I love their excitement though. They pray nightly for me to have a healthy pregnancy. I love it. Ash asked, "So how many more weeks do we have to wait until we can choose if it is a boy or girl." Funny! We shall be able to see in about 8-13 more weeks so the books and websites say. I have a great doctor and all is going well. I am 10 weeks.

I've had some back pain here lately so I decided to go to a Holistic Chiropractor. My first appointment was really interesting. They did a lot of testing. When I went back for the 2nd one, I had chiropractic treatment and acupuncture. It was really different. I did feel relaxed after leaving. The needles were a bit strange. I thought it was going to be painless but not the first time. It wasn't painful at all but not painless. The needles do give a little pinch when the put them on. After that it is painless. I had them in my ears, back, top of the head, legs and face. It was a good experience. I'm supposed to have three treatments a week. We shall see how it works!

Those Two Lines

2008-11-29T20:49:00.001-06:00

You know when something major happens in your life you have those emotional ups and downs? Well I'm there. I am so there! See we have been planning to have children. We actually started trying seriously in September. I took note of my cycles and marked ovulation days. I knew I was very fertile and I told my husband if he looked at me I'd be pregnant! Well Monday the 24th I was a day late on my cycle. I thought, could it be?! I called a good friend who is a nurse and asked her how early can I test. She gave me great advice. I was going to wait until the morning to take a pregnancy test. I then returned a phone call to another good friend and mentioned I was late. She told me to get it over with already and just take the test. She said her niece would test before she was late to see. So after I got off the phone with her, I did it. I took the last pregnancy test. With in a few seconds it showed two lines. One dark which was my positive like and one sort of pink which was the test line. I as surprise. I jumped around all excited thinking, "Oh my gosh how am I going to tell him!?" I was so excited I tried to think of creative ways to tell my husband. Should I wait until he gets home from work? Should I tell him as soon as possible!? I was so excited to tell him. So I took a photo of the two lines on the test and emailed it to him with the subject: I love you. I send him I love you emails all the time. So I know when he opened it he would be surprised. At the bottom of the emails I said, "I guess we should settle on names now." Within a few minutes the phone rang and it was my dear husband. After he got off the phone he immediately called his mom in England to tell her. He told me she cried. I was amused to hear she was so happy. I emailed a few close friends to let them know the news of our positive test. It was great to have that joyful support and prayers. My husband came home with flowers and chocolates in hand. The card on the flowers read, "To the mother of my 4 wonderful kids." He's such a sweetheart. The kids never questioned why he bought me flowers and I loved that. We contemplated telling them. I thought maybe we should wait until I'm bigger. We knew they have been wanting a new sibling, so we called them all to the kitchen table. We asked them to read the card. Ang read the card and it was silent for a moment. They said 4? We just looked and smiled. They said, "Dad?" We said, "Noooo!" silence again. Then Ash says, "We are going to have a new baby sister or brother???" We nodded and the shouts came out. I thought they were going to cry too! We were so happy. The kids were jumping all around in excitement. A bit later we decided to go out to eat. We haven't stopped smiling since then.

Well what now? The other say my husband wanted to buy diapers at Target. He's already picked out the nursery set we are going to get. He already had his boy named chosen before we were even married. I love, I absolutely love the fact that he is so involved and wants a family. I adore him and his love for family. We didn't get diapers the other night. In fact I think we may not go with the average on the shelf diaper. I think we may go with an eco friendly flushable diaper. I've been searching on the internet for them and came across http://www.diapers.com/ . I can't wait to start shopping for maternity clothes, diapers, and nursery items! It's such an exciting pregnancy. Monday I have my first doctor's appointment. We are going together. We pray that it all turns out alright!

Yes, I am about 4/5 weeks pregnant!

Lend a Click

2008-11-18T22:07:00.004-06:00

As I was browsing the blogs I follow I saw a blog by Mama Jenn. She has posted a blog with One click buttons and I thought I'd post the same to spread the word. One click is all it is to help out. There are no sign ups, you don't have to enter an email address or fill out surveys. Just one click and it counts. So click on a banner or all banners and help! It's that easy.

so domestic...

2008-11-10T14:33:00.005-06:00

I never saw my self as being domestic. I never saw myself as a mom who would ever home school her children either. You see before I had kids I wanted my own design firm. I wanted to be an Art Director, CEO, or President. I wanted to work for a magazine at one point too. Throughout all my dreams of what I wanted to be when I grew up, never ever did the title of "Mom" cross my mind. It wasn't a desire of mine what so ever! I had no intentions of marriage, pregnancy 0r 18 years plus of caring for kids. My life was all about me. I had no idea why any woman would want to stretch their body to no end and go through unbelievable pain to bring a hollering responsibility into the world! Yes, I thought that up until God was able to bless me in a strange way. Surprise! I was pregnant....with twins! Gasp! You can now insert your own Vincent Price laugh at this happening. He does have a sense of humor doesn't he?

Thank God my thinking changed! Thank God my life has changed! It's so much more meaningful. I now know that love people talk of, you know the love that only a mother could have. It's so much greater than I could ever imagine back then.

After having twins, I had a son. They are about 21 months apart. The youngest is soon to be 9. We want to have two more lovely children. 5 kids you say?? I know it's not for everyone but yep 5! A house full of love and something always going on!

I've become so domestic through the years! I'm a total home body when we aren't traveling some where. I like to be home with my family and do homely things like cook bread in my bread machine. I get excited when my Honey likes the bread I've baked. I get excited when the kids are happy about dinner. I got excited about the front loading washer and dryer set we got. I got excited the Dyson vacuum cleaner we got as a wedding gift, then I found myself excited about getting a Kirby Vacuum cleaner. Before family life, vacuum cleaners, washer and dyers, baking bread was boring! It was not on my list of things to do. My how things change! Is my life any more boring? Not at all! I love my life! I have a wonderful husband, and wonderful children. I like making our home some where they want to be. Yes we have gone through the school is tough and I don't want to do my chores so I want new parents stage with the kids. Again, it is always something going on! Sometimes fun, sometimes challenging. We always tend to come right back around to loving one another. At the end of the everyday, I want my family to always know I love them.

Well.. it's time to go hug on the kids, check the washer and dryer, bake some bread and feel good about the accomplishment of a clean home. It's about 3:07 pm and I can't wait till Honey is home!

Have a look at what my 10 year old spelled out with her lunch today... yes they still call me "Mommy" and absolutely I love it!

Vacation.

2008-11-08T19:46:00.007-06:00

We just came back from a wonderful family vacation! God is so good in allowing this blessing. We went to Disneyland in Anaheim California. We left October 31st and came back November 5th. While we were in the sunny land of California we went to Disneyland, California Adventures, Disney studios, Lego Land and Sea World. We also got to visit the a Disney studio set. The whole vacation was a blast! We stayed at the Paradise Pier Hotel and enjoyed the Lilo and Stitch breakfast. While we sat and had breakfast the Disney characters roam around and mess with people. We also had breakfast at the Storytellers Cafe with the characters. All of the characters came up and found my son's Mohawk fascinating. Yes it is quiet cool. A lady ask to take a photo of him while waiting in line at Sea World! She said "You are so lovely!" I was a bit surprised but, he did get a lot attention for his "cool hair." In fact after we left the Disney studios I got word that his hair was a the topic of conversation. I love it, after all I was the one to cut it like that.

So where are the pictures?! Well, the camera bag was accidentally left on the kitchen island so I good photos. I was limited to a cell phone and the HD Camcorder camera option. I did get lots videos of our trip. We did get a few photos taken by the Disney photographers and a disposable camera.

We arrived in CA at about 11pm. When we got to the hotel we were all excited and very awake. We were so happy to begin our vacation there. The kids loved seeing the Palm Trees.

The first day we went to Disneyland and had tons of fun. The crowds were not bad at all. We all rode our fair share of rides. Ash however refuses to go on any roller coaster that looks a bit extreme. She only sat out on two of them though. I was proud of her.

The second day we we went to Lego land. I wasn't too impressed to visit California only for the park but was a neat place to include on the trip. The Lego displays were amazing. They had a few fun rides. My son actually enjoyed screaming on purpose on the roller coaster rides that were not that "exciting." I guess he was making a rather sarcastic point. The kids got their drivers license from the Volvo Fun Driving School. They got to drive small cars that went up to a whole 2 MPH. I am slightly envious of their cute drivers license pictures. The best ride for me at Lego Land, was the Sky Cruiser. It's a track set high above the park with pedal cars. I think the kids liked the roller coasters. After Lego Land in Carlsbad we drove back to Anaheim to meet Ang, she was a beautiful bridesmaid in our wedding. I sure miss her!

The Third day we went to California Adventures which is right across from Disneyland. We enjoyed this place. Again, the lines were not long at all. In fact we rode the Orange Stinger about 4 or 5 times! The kids loved that ride. It was rather neat to fly high in swings. 3 out of 5 of us rode the California Screamin'. My son and daughter did not want to chance the loop. While were were walking around the park I got a good news text message from Ang. Since the girls are into acting, Ang wanted to surprise the girls with a tour of a couple of sets. Her sister, and another friend of mine, is an Associate Producer for a Disney Channel show. We left California Adventures to head to the Disney sets. The kids actually had no idea where they were until we were walking around inside the lot. While we were there they were actually taping the Suite Life On Deck. We got to see Selena Gomez taping in a scene. While Kim gave us a private tour of two of the sets we also saw Jake T. Austin and Dylan Sprouse on the lot. The girls almost lost their minds! It was a great highlight to the trip (Thank you Ang and Kim)! After the studio visit we drove down the Hollywood Blvd street. We didn't want to get out and walk down the street with the stars. Not with the kids! Then we decided to drive to the famous Rodeo Dr. We finally got to meet up with Ang again and had dinner at an Italian restaurant at the City Walk.

The fourth day we went to Sea World. Sea World was amazing. We got to see Shamu of course. None of us got wet. We also got to see the Anhuser-Busch Clydesdale horses. The horses, whales and dolphins are absolutely beautiful! I have to admit, the "Believe" theme from the Shamu's show didn't inspire me as much as the whale did. I guess it didn't touch me since I viewed most of it through a HD camcorder. After leaving Sea World we went to Medieval Times. Now that was a show! We all enjoyed yelling and cheering. They fed us "Baby Dragons" that tastes just like chicken! The knight we were cheering for threw a carnation up to us and my son caught it and gave it to me. He is such a sweet boy to his mommy.

The last day we woke up and went to have breakfast at the Story Tellers cafe and visited both Disneyland and California adventures for half a day. We had to be at the airport around 3:30 pm so we decided to make the best of our half day! We were sure sad to leave the sunny land. No one wanted to come back home. The kids wanted to bring the Palm Trees back with them. I did too! So I think we have a serious goal in mind to eventually move...again. We have a few things anchoring us here but after a few years we will be able! Yay!

Oh Anticipation...

2008-10-28T16:26:00.007-05:00

So, I've got some really exciting things going on. Today I get a delivery of some clothes I ordered online. I'm looking forward to trying them on and probably returning most of them! I like the anticipation of getting these clothes but when they don't fit, I do dread the return. Tomorrow I get another delivery of books I ordered online too! Yay! I just get so excited about tracking packages online! It's so neat to have the box sitting at your door. I love the anticipation of opening it up. I get excited even when my husband gets things. So I'm eagerly awaiting the UPS truck pulling up. They say they deliver until 7pm! Yay!

So that excitement takes care of today and tomorrow. Thursday we have a meeting with our home builder to look at more layout updates. One night I asked Honey, "Where are we going to put your parents when they come to visit?" I'm looking forward to my in laws coming to visit us. They are wonderful people. Honey's reply to my question was, "hmm." The next morning Honey informed me that he has turned our 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath home into a 6 bedroom, 4.5 home! We had to have a reasonable place to house family when they come and visit! It helps with resale value too. We have been looking at lighting for the home. I found some brilliant pendants for the kitchen island we both love. It is amazing how much we like the same things. We are so excited about building our home together. When we meet with our builder he is going to give us cabinet and counter top samples. I love samples! I've been staring at the hardwood floor sample and carpet sample for days. Saturday we were out at the lot and I had this funny idea. Since we live within a golf course, I said, "Honey lets go see if we can get a golf cart and go around the neighborhood." He agreed to go ask. I love this man! Much to our surprise, they told us to go ahead! We rode the courses and saw the backyard of our house from down below. Honey is really happy with the course and the neighborhood. He is excited to play golf there with his dad and brother this summer. Here is a view of our lot from the course. Our home will be built on the empty lot to left side of homes there.

Friday, we leave for Disneyland!! Yep we are headed to California for some fun in hopefully the sun! The kids are so excited about it. To tell you the truth, it hasn't hit me just yet. Honey and I have both been to Disney World so we figured Disneyland would be good this time. One thing to take note of, if you have kids go before they turn 10 or you will pay the adult ticket price for them. I had no idea. I thought the adult ticket price would be for adults. Apparently the Disney folks beg to differ! It's not a drastic price jump but saving a bit helps. We'll go to Lego land and Sea World too! Oh and I'm oh so happy about going to The Coffee Bean again! Honey wants to go to In and Out. I'm really looking forward to this trip!

Man, God's blessings are amazing aren't they? So I'm excited! I'm going to go now package is here!

Dear Anti-Abortion Poster Holder

2008-10-16T13:43:00.005-05:00

I would like to express my sincere concern. As I sat at a red light, I looked over to my right side to see you and your church members holding up these hand written Anti Abortion signs. Some of these posters read "Abortion Hurts" "Abortion Kills" yes I agree with both of those sayings. I admire your passion to save unborn children. What I question is how effective your posters actually are? Do they really help those that have had abortions and those that are contemplating abortion? Have you ever had anyone walk up to you and say, "Wow this really helped me?" Have you ever had anyone tell you that they felt Christ's love radiate from those signs?

My first mind is, I seriously doubt it. When I see those signs I wonder how Christ would look upon those types of signs. I think it makes people feel unworthy. Now, Christ never went around holding up a sign protesting things. He spoke against them yes, but he never made people feel as though they are filthy or unworthy. He was reaching out to those who need him. In fact people judged your very Christ like you are holding those signs. They gawked at him for having dinner with sinners. For the lady caught in adultery, did he tell her things such as "Adultery hurts" or "Adultery Kills Families?" No. He let those people judging her know they are not in any place to judge because they were not without sin themselves. He then told her she was forgiven and to sin no more.

Another curious question, why do you only pick that one thing to protest? You call it a sin, however you don't hold signs protesting Adultery, Pedophiles, Pornography, or Murder. Why not protest those too?

You see, protests like this don't convince people that Christians are loving. They make us look uncaring and judgmental. I know you mean well and want to save lives too but you don't save lives by making others feel less than. I'm sure that you bring back all the horrible memories for those who have had abortions. You see by simply holding a sign like that, you are bringing up a past for others. You are making them hurt all over again. It makes those contemplating abortion feel bad about the situation they are in. It does not offer a loving voice to them. It doesn't even offer an alternative to them. So in my eyes, you are just as bad as someone who is Pro Abortion. Your tactics are harmful. If you were to help people into the kingdom of God then offer a different alternative. Offer an encouraging positive voice to the troubled heart. Offer a safe haven for those who are scared of the situation they are in. Offer another option to abortion instead of beating them when they are already down. Hey maybe you could even offer to adopt the baby they are going to have!

Most of these ladies that go into abortion clinics are scared and don't see any other way out of it. They need help, not judgment. They need healing, not to be condemned. The physiological effects after having an abortion are life lasting. This is not a cut and dry situation. Women who have had abortions suffer greatly inside. Some less than others but there is some sort of effect. Who are you to make her suffer more? Shouldn't you be about your Father's business in helping the broken heal? Let he who is with out sin cast the first stone. Hmmm... casting stones by way of signs. When I see these people, I think of a modern day Pharisee.

These Anti-Abortion Poster Holders do not represent the true love of Christ. They represent the crowd shouting "Crucify Him!"

So How's The Home Building?

2008-10-11T23:58:00.004-05:00

Some time late last year we decided to build our first home together. Since Rich works in St.Louis and has to drive forty-five minutes away we figured we would look to get closer to his work location. This decision started out exciting, frustrating and fun. The move to St.Louis has been a long process. It's hard to pin point emotions in all of this. Some days we are really excited, other days we find ourselves exhausted and frustrated. Overall we are excited for the future. It has been a great work in progress. So here goes the story of the progress we have made.

We started out looking online at the area cookie cutter home builders. After looking at different layouts, areas, price ranges we decided to take a look at Mayer Cookies, err um I mean Homes. We took a drive over to their Seckman Lakes location to see their array of models. They seemed to have a great reputation and they were quality builders who have been around for a while. We chose a location on their new cookie sheet to place our special cookie. It was a very nice lot. Our cookie was going to be in a cul-de-sac, forest area behind us and a great view out the front. It had everything that I wanted in a home location. The cookie cutter we chose had a laundry room upstairs. I thought this was just the be all and end all to home cookies. This home cookie was special, it had my kind of sprinkles! Our neighborhood of choice was in Imperial, MO. It was beautiful and it put Rich closer to work. It was all wonderful but for some reason I just couldn't get a peace about it.

I pushed those feelings aside and went forward. The plans to build there went forward. We planned this cookie home out to point of taking out walls, switching out layouts of bathrooms, and picking out the brick and mortar. We didn't realize how the color of mortar can make such a difference from brick to brick! We went to places and chose carpets, cabinets, counter tops, and all the works. Some of the choices were mind numbing. We ended up with two file folders when most of the people only had one. The lady we were working with was absolutely wonderful! We were loving it until we found out the home we planned out was going to be one of the four biggest homes in the neighborhood. As we started working on things we ended up changing the layout, adding things to the house, the house became more expensive. This could have been a great ego trip for us but it wasn't. It made us very uneasy. Being the "big fish in the pond" wasn't what we wanted to be. Again, throughout this whole process I just couldn't get a internal peace about it. I went through all of the pros of building there in my head trying, to assure myself that this house was it. We had a great lot in a cul-de-sac, nice view out front, forest behind us, a state park near, and more. Still in all its goodness, I had no peace about it.

So one day we were talking about this big fish in the pond scenario and figured that resale value would actually hurt us. So I confessed several concerns to my honey including that I didn't have a peace about it. He was unsettled at hearing this but willing to listen. After a visit to England to attend my sister in law's wedding we came back with a fresh mind about it all. We decided to look at other model homes. I had no problem about the layout of the house, the neighborhood was the issue. We went to see McBride cookie homes in Eureka, MO. This put us a little closer to Rich's work than Imperial was. I actually thought this was just going to reassure us that we were building the right home. To my surprise the moment I stepped foot in that home and I was amazed. Scrap the other cookie! I wanted this model home as is! This home had the feel I loved! It proved that the model we had been building was all wrong! Oops!

So fast forward a couple of months. We decided we wanted to be some where we would be mid price instead of the most expensive home. The lot in Imperial was let go. Oh the one McBride home that I loved in Eureka had no lots that we liked. In fact there was a grave yard next to one lot that our Buyers agent saw. Beautiful home, undesirable lots! The only home I'd take in that neighborhood would have been the model. We did decided to hire a buyer's agent to help us. Buyers agents are different from real estate agents. We searched and searched for a lot. At one point we thought we might have to buy an existing house. While searching it was confirmed that we needed to build our home. So we continued to look for lots. We saw lot after lot and none really got us.

One day we were looking on the web and found a lot in a very desirable location. In fact we were surprised it was still available. The real estate agent made a typo in the name of the neighbor name. Anyone searching the name would not find it but we did and the chase was on! The builder Taylor Morley owned these lots that remained vacant for a while. Taylor Morley filed bankruptcy and the lots went back to the bank. Then a couple of real estate agents bought them and were trying to sell them off. That's when we came in to buy.

So, fast forward to August, we bought the lot we wanted. It felt great to own a piece of land in a beautiful neighborhood called Tapawingo on the Green in Sunset Hills, MO. This put Rich three minutes way from work. We were happy about his location. Rich and Adrian both like golfing. I even have my own set of clubs. This neighborhood is around a well established Tapawingo Golf Course. It's got beautiful views, nature all around and we are not the big fish in the pond! In fact we just might be in the low middle! So we were well pleased with the location of this lot. After buying the lot, we decided to hire an architects Heine & Croghan to help us plan out the home. We didn't want a cookie cutter pick your layout builder. We wanted something unique to our lifestyle. So we worked on it and got a plan we liked. We are happy with it.

Fast forward a bit more to September, now we are beginning our building phase. We chose the builder that had been building homes in the neighborhood already. Not Jones Company but Whalen Homes. We were warned to stay away from Jones Company homes. Whalen does build a quality home. Mr. Whalen looked at our layout, gave us a great estimate and it was a done deal. We liked some of their homes and the way he conducts business. They build a good home and we were happy to work with them.

Today we went to pick out cabinet doors, stains and counter tops. Remember, we went though this before so we knew exactly what we liked right? Wrong! This kitchen is bigger than the one we were considering. We took some elements for the other McBride home I loved and incorporated it into our home. So the cabinet colors and flooring all changed. The style of home has changed from cookie cutter to unique Tuscan style. We are doing something totally different and we like it. As the project continues on, I'll be able to post solid decisions. We are both very very excited to build our home together.
It's late, and my eyes are getting heavy so I will proof this tomorrow.

So how is the home building? Wonderfully educating! - goodnight.

Acing the Parental Road and Happily Going Broke Trying To!

2008-10-02T01:10:00.006-05:00

You know, this exciting parental road gets a little weary at times. It's full of adventures. There are personality jilts lurking at every turn. One moment I have the sweetest and most fun children in the world. The next moment they jilt me with a "What in the world were you thinking!??!" reaction. This week has been a tough one. I had one cutting her hair, one A-student 3rd grade drop out wanting to new parents because we didn't buy him the $90 Lego Star Wars toy he wanted, and one that's so angry at doing her math work she wants to scream. Funny thing is she has nothing lower than an A in math. It is all resolved and has left me feeling exhausted.

We do have great kids though. All is resolved. My son is happy at home minus the high priced Lego's. One daughter is still sporting her messed up do, and the other is calmly doing her math again. Isn't it amazing how our desire for leisure can drive us to think irrationally and make the wrong decisions in life? Now being fair, they are growing children lacking their frontal lobes of their brain development from which the ability to reason comes from, but we as adults with fully developed frontal lobes can make some silly decisions based on leisure and the desire for "fun!"

Why does this desire for leisure have such a strong influence on many, while the pride in working drives others? There is nothing like feeling accomplished. I like the feeling of a job well done. I hope to influence this sort of drive in my children. The road of desiring leisure isn't fun. They are just children and I don't expect results of an adult, but I'm not going to discount the importance of teaching them the reward in accomplishing a job well done now. One thing we have put into action is not giving money for chores around the house. We consider that things they should do. No one gives me money to do laundry! Instead of giving them money for chores or doing their fair share around the house, we give them an allowance on a grading scale for quizzes and tests.
A= $ 2.00
B= $ 1.00
C= $ 0.00
D= $-1.00
F= $-2.00
Yes, we subtract if they get D's and F's. That has motivated them not to be careless with their school work. If they want something, they need to stay up on their school work. My son is now working for that $90 toy by making keeping his grades up. We always have to remind them of this grading scale though. They tend to want us to just buy things for them. We do sometimes but things like this $90 toy is something he needs to work for. The good thing is his lowest grade this year so far has been an 88. If they all make straight A's I might happily be broke!

Snippets of updates

2008-09-06T23:18:00.003-05:00

I've not blogged in a while! Wow well lets see, I've thought of several things to blog about but never made it to the computer to put fresh thoughts to type. I don't recall specific topics but I remember thinking, "Wow I should blog about that." Life has been good. Ever feel that you are on the right track and you fear that something may go wrong or tragedy may hit? I've felt that several times. I try to cast those thoughts out and enjoy the life the Lord has blessed me with. I find my self worrying about things that could happen especially after hearing of tragic events. Do you ever do that? Life is too fragile and precious to waste it away. I hope that you are finding life good yourself.

Well the Lot in Sunset Hills is officially ours! We closed on it August 27th. We are very excited to build a home together. The process has been very interesting. Architecture has always amazed me but it is even more intriguing to see it in process. We had a meeting with the Architect and an General Contractor and they both commented on how easy the process had been with us. Apparently their are couples who get into arguments right there on the spot, making the whole process tense. I don't like it when couples get into tense situations in front of me in a casual social atmosphere. I don't want to imagine what it's like for it to happen in a business type setting. Weird but it happens. The process of building a home has been an intense sort of road to travel for me. It's a privilege, a blessing, and a wonderful opportunity. In this process I've had headaches and stress! I tend to worry so it doesn't help. I have to see a building and walk in it in order to know if I like it. So that is a limitation I'm trying to work with and get beyond. We are just praying for wisdom and favor in the whole process. We are excited about it all despite the stress points.

The kids are ready for school! I am too! They finished in June so we let them have a bit of a break into September. This year they will all be in the Abeka DVD school (www.abeka.com). I'm curious about how the year will turn out. When their books came they were all excited to see what they looked like this year. We went out and went school supply shopping. That was fun. I remember going school supply shopping when I was little. It was always some thing I looked forward to. I'm glad the kids are ready for school to start. We have set up the school rooms and are looking forward to the new year. My son will start piano lessons this week. My daughters have been taking voice lessons and have really enjoyed it. Their voice teacher (www.kidslearntosing.com) said there is exceptional talent there. Of course I was proud to hear that!

Well my personal interest besides photography has turned to sisterlocks once again. I've wanted to have my locks installed back in 2004 but never did. I've been browsing sites and photos and I have to say there are some beautiful hair styles with sisterlocks. I'm excited and can't wait to get them. What are they? Well check out the site http://www.sisterlocks.com/ it's not all that great but it's where it started. They aren't regular dread locks. http://locksblogsphotos.blogspot.com/ also has a lot of sites that show women with sisterlocks.

As far as photography goes, I've just went to a pro account on flickr (www.flickr.com/happybeans76). Yay! I'm not quite ready to venture out and book appointments. I'm still in a learning hobby phase. I've seen a few places to sell photos online. So I signed up at a site called Image kind (http://tscullen.imagekind.com/ ). I've not gone pro on that yet. I'm not sure I really like this site's functionality. I've had upload issues on several occasions. I'm still seeking out places to possibly sell photos online. While I'm doing that I've been enjoying the world of photography. Speaking of photography, we did finally complete our wedding album!! Yay! We are happy with it. Patti did a great job. You can visit her site at www.pattigabriel.com

Oh and I didn't mention anything about the presidential campaign in this blog on purpose. Wait, I will suggest not to relay on the TV as your only source of election information.

Well this blog is longer than I thought it would be. Please excuse the typos and grammar errors if any it's bed time. So I'll end it here and wish you all a goodnight, good afternoon, or good day depending on what time you are reading this.

The Lies Boys Believe

2008-06-20T07:12:00.005-05:00

All this week the kids have been in VBS (Vacation Bible School). They have had their fun and I'm glad about it. They have only gone to one VBS a summer. Since we home school, I haven't volunteered to help with a VBS. This is sort of their summer break away from mom and my summer break to get a few things done. It is just enough time for me to get errands ran and my to do list empty so I can fill it again! Although I've enjoyed the few free hours, when they are there they are constantly on my mind, hoping they are ok, wondering how their day is going etc. They have always come back really happy kids. I hope they will continue to see VBS as a happy time and later on contribute back to it in helping.

So on my journey to get things done yesterday I went to the library. I'm a self help kind of reader. I like to read books that will generally give me good ideas about life improvement. I've read fiction books that I liked, but I'm a sucker for a facts and proven methods. Some aren't so great so you take the good and dish the bad. I picked up a book called 200 Ways to Raise a Boy's Emotional Intelligence by Will Glennon. I thought, "Hmm there are so many books about girl issues, what about my boy?" So I inquired and checked it out. Within a few pages my thoughts focused on my son and how today's culture has effected our view of how a man, a son, a boy is supposed to be. There is one chapter called Exploring Your Own Assumptions that talks about our ingrained thinking of how men are "supposed" to act. The "don't cry" theory is addressed among others. The stereo type of men shouldn't cry, and non emotional so they aren't wimps is an oppressive way to stereo type. Women have had feminist rallies stating, "I'm equal andI can do whatever a man can do!" while if a man shows emotion (other than being a sports fan), they must be gay! Not true. I thought to myself, I really appreciate when my husband shows his emotions. It lets me know he cares. I appreciate him expressing feelings. It means he it says to me that strong and intelligent. I want my son to do that too.

For a while I questioned my son's crying. Why does he so easily moved? I worried that he might be the type to wear his emotions on his sleeve or be teased. I struggled with the stereotype in this situation. I didn't want to emotionally cripple him by telling him not to cry but I didn't want him to be a wimp either. This book gave me confirmation in telling me that it is ok for my son to cry. I'll continue to comfort him without worrying if his emotion is normal. I'll let him get his emotions worked out just as we confidently let the girls work theirs out. He's my son, and I am his mother who is very proud of him.

Strange Occurrences

2008-06-08T23:34:00.002-05:00

Our family went camping for the first time. We left on the 30th and returned on the 1st. We spent a great weekend with friends at the Ozarks Outdoors. Saturday we had an eventful float on the Meramac River. I really enjoyed it. In fact we all did. It was perfect weather through out the weekend. We had a few seconds of scattered showers but that was all. The night sky was beautiful. The morning we packed up we made Smores! The kids enjoyed that! The camping weekend was great for us all.

Now, I have a strange situation going on here. A neighbor of ours has had some rather strange behavior that just came to my attention. Apparently it's been going on more often than I realized. Let me try to explain. At first I thought it was a matter of coincidence. We were going for a walk one day and just before we started off I showed my girls how to do cartwheels. We had a few laughs and giggles and then decided to walk on. We walked passed our neighbor's yard and saw one of the little girls silently doing perfect cartwheels in their front yard. The girls thought she was a copy cat. I brushed it off as the kid being lonely. Now it seems every time we come out of the house, whether it be the front yard or the back yard they seem to appear doing the same thing. Now you might think oh whatever it's just you making a big deal out of nothing. No, the day I noticed it, it was obvious. I decided to do my husband a favor and mow the front lawn. So I started the mower and went on my merry way. I was very proud of my self for starting the mower all by myself by the way! I mowed one row and I turned around to go up the next and out came the neighbor with her lawn mower. She decides to mow right beside me. Along the same path... See? Yeah strange. So I decide to smile and maybe make small talk about the rain in the area or something. She responds to my initial smile and hello with a smirk and a "Humph." At felt insulting and a bit confrontational. My girls were outside and I turn around and look at them with an, "Is it me or is this strange!?" expression. They respond with hunched shoulders. We laughed and mowed on.

Today was a beautiful day and I decided to go in the backyard and read. My daughter Ash joined me. It was very peaceful and I enjoyed the quiet company. Ash looks up, chuckles then says jokingly, "Mom what if the neighbors come outside with chairs too." I laughed and said, "No I doubt it." I've never heard them come out in the backyard to play and they couldn't possibly be paying us that much attention. Shortly after her comment, her sister and brother came out to play in the water. Ash of course gave up reading with me and joined the water fun. The sound of water splashing and kids playing filled our backyard. I noticed my dog's ears went up and she ran to the fence. It caught my attention and I called her name to come back to me. I thought she was going to bark or do some territorial Yorkie like action. Immediately after calling my dog's name I heard mimicking kid sounds from the other side of the fence. I thought "Really?" Why is this strange? Because we have never heard their children laugh and play loud in the backyard before. We have been in the back yard playing many times and never heard a sound from that side. For a while I didn't even know kids lived there. They have kept to themselves and are always in the house. I find it strange that our kids have never spoken. It's just weird. I wonder what other Copy Cat neighborly situations we will find ourselves in before we move. This should be interesting...

I think I will start mowing in costume to see if she will join me next time. Any ideas? lol
- It's late. Goodnight.

Decluttering Stuff

2008-04-02T22:21:00.004-05:00

Well I haven't blogged anything in a while. While I had time I sat at the

kitchen island with my laptop with the intent to to blog. Tonight we went to the

library. I felt really bad because we have been in O'Fallon too long not to

have made a journey over to the library. We finally made a night of it. When we got back

at the house my dear husband started cooking hamburgers while watching the

Baseball game. He'll occasionally commented on the players are. I like that he talks to me like I actually know something about baseball. While he was cooking and giving me a night off from cooking, I sat at my laptop to blog this. Ashley was reading her Mysteries of the Human Body book, she wants to be a doctor so that book captured her interest. Angela was intensely looking at her Guide to Fashion book. She's into fashion and wants to be an actress. Adrian got some books on the city of St. Louis but he was playing with his Legos. He says he wants to be an Architect. He's got the drawing skills for it and he's not too bad at math. I got some books to aide in teaching the kids in math and Illinois state history. I've got too many books on my "to read" list to get any more at the library. I'm happy about what books I have now. Oh one note if you like books check out Paper Back Swap.com

Life has been a bit hectic for me. I've found myself with sleepless nights. I have

nothing to be overly stressed about but just enough things to keep my mind going.

I've been stressed, tense and just over all frustrated. To help me out I've been trying things to make life easier. One thing that really hinders me is a messy home. Our home isn't very clean right now because of dinner preparations but it won't take long to clean it up. Before, I would be stumped at where to start. There were days that I would just look at the house and be discouraged at starting to clean. So I made up a system that helped me. You see, I'm a very visual person so to some one who doesn't think like me this way may seem useless and too much work. I had to do this to help me. I took a photo of the mess, printed it out and mapped out my plan of cleaning. This helped me to see the mess in a different way, and concentrate on one area. I did this with the kitchen first and moved on to different areas. It was an eye opener. You notice things that have been over looked for a while with a photo. So if it's not too much trouble try it. In fact try it even it you have cleaned it up. A photo will reveal the mess! I was very happy with my progress. The house is still in a decent shape.
Another thing I read about was putting things in the areas you use them. For example if you go to the kitchen table to mail things out, then keep the stationary supplies (stamps, envelopes, pens etc.) in a drawer near the area. I had my coffee maker on the other side of the kitchen. I placed it closer to the sink. It made making coffee a quick task. Before then I'd go back and forth from the sink to the coffee maker. Now it's just a side step. I cleared out my utensil caddie. There were gadgets in there I don't use on a regular basis. I took those things out and it made for a neater more roomy caddie. It's these things that can really simplify your life. It did for mine!

Well I'm going to whine down now. It's getting late! Thanks for reading! Maybe tomorrow I'll blog about ... darn I just lost my train of thought! Goodnight.

uploading expressions

2008-01-08T23:04:00.000-06:00

Hello again.
Another blog so soon? Maybe but it will be short. You know how you have your wants and desires but never get around to them? One of mine is photography. I really get a joy out of viewing photos. I like to see what's going on in photos of crowds, I like expressions in portraits, I like to see beautiful color in photos of objects and a photo with an overall mood really grabs my attention. So what do I do with all this emotion and such? I thought about starting a photo group but I don't think I'd put 100% into it. I haven't totally given up on the idea. I have several friends that like photography so I think it would have a good number of people join but not now. So what did I do? I started a photo blog. Yes, a blog with a photo a day and very few words. Nothing like the gobs and gobs of photos on my picasa or flickr accounts but just a simple photo a day. I've got it up and running now. The challenge is actually uploading a photo a day. Some of them may be old from the archives and some might be new. The one I just put up is the newest one I've taken. Some maybe not be so interesting and others may just have you staring. I won't put up any old photo, it will be of something that I like. It will be of something that interests me or makes me laugh. No, not a degrading photo, but something that will generally make you smile. I like photos that give a good feeling. We've got too much pain in our lives anyway so I don't focus on that. I'm not fond of nudes either so you are highly unlikely to see any body photos. I know some may feel that the body is beautiful, natural in forum etc. Yes that is true but not something that interests me. So if you like visit here http://bytesoflight.blogspot.com/
and leave me a comment of some things that interest you. Feel free to leave me comments on the photos too.

Thanks for reading again. I hope you've had a great day or you will have one.

Another 2007 recap

2008-01-06T22:11:00.000-06:00

I guess I haven't blogged in a while. I haven't had much to write. Although I've thought on several occasions "I'm going to blog about that!" I never did. So Here I am blogging...
I've gotten recap newsletters of 2007 and thought, you know I should do that! So I'll try it now.

2007 was a ... heck of a year to be honest. I went though some really crazy times, yet one of the best things happened to me. I'll focus on that and leave the negative out.

I'll start with this....I married the greatest man since Jesus walked the earth. Yep I love my husband just that much! If you are married I hope you think your spouse is one of the greatest people too.

Earlier this year we went to England and France. The trip was one of the greatest ones I've taken. We got to see the farm where my husband grew up. I love my in laws and England is amazing. There's so much history there I couldn't imagine living there with the marvelous architecture! The weather was great the entire time we were there. It didn't rain one time. We took a ferry over to France. Getting lost in France was an humorous adventure. I think we drove the same road about 5 times! We ate at a restaurant in Calais. I had some fish with the most delicious creamy lemon sauce. My husband's French was great. I loved hearing him order for us. Back at the farm the kids enjoyed going for walks and exploring the farm while I enjoyed the European life. They really enjoyed themselves. My mother in law told me the kids are a credit to me. The compliment some how made me feel like a great mom. At that time I really needed to hear it. So far in the the kids short years they have visited Mexico, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, France, and England.

Mid summer we had a grand time with family and friends coming to share one of the greatest days of our lives. The kids keep saying they want to relive our wedding day. Me too Me too! Yes it was so much fun. We have some great memories. After we got back from the Honeymoon we found out the kids went places and had a blast with their cousins, Aunt, Uncle and grandparents. They were spoiled and loved every minute of it.

Late summer we spent getting the house in order. I didn't move out of my duplex until August 1st. We just finished putting together the last piece of furniture for the kids tonight! It's been a process of combining two homes. Room mates had to move out, we painted the kids rooms, cleaned the carpet, got rid of my old furniture on freecycle, threw out old stuff and put in new stuff. We were showered with bridal and wedding gifts. Thank you!!! The work still isn't done. I've wanted to have a get together but I haven't got it together to have a get together! In due time it will happen.

September-October was a procrastination period. I think we burned out in August. The house combining process just sort of stopped. We just spent the time growing as a family. We went to an enriching marriage class. We met some great friends and learned a lot in the class. Home School started for the kids and that took up most of the time during the day. It still is! Soccer season was in full effect, that's how we found out about the kids having allergy induced asthma. Not fun at all to see your child sick. Thank God we have a solution now.

November was a time for giving thanks. We spent it with some great friends we met at the marriage classes. Soccer season ended. The girls didn't have the best experience, and the parents were just difficult to deal with at the end. Our son's coach was a great one! We wished he could have him again but he won't be teaching his grade this coming season. Awwww :(

December brought Christmas and the end of the 07 year. It was a very happy Christmas. We sent out Christmas cards I designed myself! It took a while and I think the process almost drove Rich crazy! It got done and we mailed them out. We enjoyed our first Christmas as a family. The kids had a blast and loved their toys. I think this year was the best one for them. They are getting older and are asking for more expensive gifts. They all wanted ipods for Christmas. LOL yeah right! We got them less expensive MP3 players. Now they walk around the house with earphones on singing songs. We got a telescope for us geeks. On a cold Christmas night we were out scoping out the moon. The end of the year we celebrated with friends. We all enjoyed ourselves. One of the girls laughed so hard while playing bowling on the wii she lost her guts! Nice. It was the best New Year gathering I had ever been to. I guess that wouldn't be hard since I haven't been to any! Nope, its true it was my first New Years party ever.

January 2008 - I sit here watching CSI with my handsome husband. We are headed back to England and will embark on more exciting things to come this year!

I'm finished. I've blogged about the year. Know that all is well in our household and life is rolling on well. I hope all of your 2008 will be greater than your 2007 was! May God be with you!

Bear

2007-11-14T22:22:00.001-06:00

bear, originally uploaded by happybeans76.

This is Bear at 7 weeks old. He's a cuddly little thing. He loves setting at my feet nipping at my socks. He's more laid back than his brother Simba.

Adrian

2007-11-14T20:41:00.001-06:00

Adrian, originally uploaded by happybeans76.

This is one of my favorite photos of my son. He's such a great photogenic child.

Real Who's Don't Do What???

2007-10-24T12:41:00.000-05:00

Christians!!! Ugh

When Richard and I got married the subject of alcohol at the wedding came up. I was torn because of the different views of drinking. I thought well some Christians are against drinking and would be offended at it. I thought they would talk and think bad of us! I'd ask opinions and others would tell me to do is I wished. They didn't want to tell me what to do so the blame if any wouldn't fall on them. How conveniently sly!

Well Richard stated clearly that he wanted to have a Champagne toast. The British don't make a big deal about alcohol like Americans do apparently. I like the fact that power is not given to something that really doesn't deserve it. So we had our Champagne toast and an open bar. I thought people will talk bad about us if we do or don't. (Yeah we know you do but we'll still be nice to you.) We had a noon Reception and everyone was responsible. That leaves the question for the "Christian" was that wrong?

Today I got an email from a lady that found herself in the same dilemma. She was told by some friends "Real Christians don't drink alcohol!" Um Whoa! Where in the Bible does it anything related to "Thou shall not drink because real Christians don't drink alcohol!."

I looked up the word wind on Crosswalk.com. According to that site, there are 213 references to wine in the bible. I encourage you to look for yourself. Go to www.crosswalk.com or www.biblegateway.com and search the word "wine." As I recall wine is an alcoholic drink. People had wine as an offering to God.

Our Lord and Savior Jesus turned water... wine. Maybe it was because the water was unclean, I don't know. Maybe they just wanted wine for the drink. I haven't gone that far in my research to say. I'm not so bold as to say he was wrong! But we do know their wine is an alcoholic drink because of the warning of getting drunk from it. The Bible encourages drinking wine but warns of over indulgence. I wonder if the Christian who's over weight due to over indulging in food is a sin. I guess we can suggest that real Christians don't eat either!

There are offerings and promises of new wine, there is bathing in it, and abundant supplies of it. Look at Ester 1:7-7:7 and see how many time wine is mentioned. If it wasn't important do you think the writer would have left it out? I don't see them mentioning sandals and bracelets often in those passages! It is forbidden for to certain people for specific reasons in passages. It is not forbidden for everyone.

Sometimes Christians can be overly righteous in areas that really have no biblical bases. It just makes them look "better than." Jesus' greatest commandment is Love. Where is the love in this statement "Real Christians don't drink alcohol!."? That statement is very judgmental and alienates people. That's not love.

So the next time a righteous Christian says "Real Christians don't drink alcohol!" ask the what the definition of a Pharisee is.

A Lite Reading...

2007-10-19T23:26:00.000-05:00

Hey Yall! Many of God's Blessings to you!

I haven't blogged in a while. Life has been so busy but I find myself thinking wow I should blog about that!

Tonight Rich wanted to put a coat of paint on Ang's chest of draws tonight so it will give us a head start on tomorrow. We've got a full Saturday ahead of us starting with early morning soccer games! Rich relaxed back in the chair after painting I looked over and said Ang's brown looked like "Turd Brown." Rich looked surprised and said in his British accent, "Um... no, it's called English Saddle." Ooops!

After a good laugh we decided to retire to bed. We sit here with our laptops. Rich is playing his computer game and I had the intention of playing The Sims2, but I ran across a few blogs I read. I really like blogs especially the funny ones. I like a light entertaining read. After a long day of here and there, I like to let down light and enjoy the end of another day. Reading is a good way to do it. It can put a comforting spin on life.

As I read other blogs of mothers, I'm finding as parents we all tend to go through the same general things with kids. It's a great circle to be in. I mean how cool is it to bring up a precious person and show them the right way? It is an experience that you can't fully understand until you have personally gone through it. It's a blessing. At times it can feel like a curse. Hopefully we have more blessed days than hard ones.

I have 9 year old twin girls and a 7 year old singleton. My girls are amaze me all the time. No let me correct that, God has amazed me through them. The twins act like me in different stages of my life. It's the strangest thing to me. The oldest twin (by 30 minutes) has my personality when I was a teenager. The younger twin has the personality I had in elementary school. I understand both of them very well. We have a great time laughing, talking and sometimes crying. People say my son acts like me. I only see it when it's actually pointed out. I find myself thinking "Where does he get that from?"

I love to watch him explain things. He's just so cute!

So all three of them have my personality to different degrees. I'm sure I wasn't as entertaining as the oldest, and I think I cried a little more than the youngest. I love my children. They are just so precious. Of course I want to savor this moment... you never know what tomorrow may bring! I'm ending this as a light read while I can! Good night all.

...Just Adrian

2007-08-28T13:28:00.000-05:00

As most of you may know, I have a fondness for Photography. One of my favorite subjects is my son, Adrian. He's got a great disposition in photos and it makes taking photos of him easy. The girls are fun too and photos of them may come soon. Here are some of my favorite ones of Adrian... enjoy.

Is he an Albert Pujols??

a David Beckham??

maybe a Tiger Woods...

We don't know yet but we do know he's... just Adrian.

She’s SoOoOo Unusual!

2007-08-26T14:33:00.000-05:00

Ok so I'm such an unusual thing.

Everyone has their "thing" they get into and it effects them like nothing else.
I guess we can say it's your passion.

So one of Richard's passions is computer engineering. He gets all excited about the love of circuit boards and it's all about the 01010110 that gets him umm... excited.

We can talk about computers stuff and that's our geek glue bond like none other.

Well one of my things is typography. It's all about the type. I'm not professing to be the great all knowing typographer I just like it. It's a part of being a graphic designer. I like looking at typefaces. I was downloading fonts one night from a free font site. I browsed through them having had some very emotional comments about some of them. Some typefaces were just pointless rubbish people made just to make it. Others were useful and those were the ones that really annoy me. I love a beautiful typeface. Rich just laughed at the different somewhat spontaneous reactions I had. I saw a typeface full of stars. With an emotional outburst my reaction is "OMG Stars! I need Freakin Stars!! As I proceeded to download with glee I looked to see the font was called "Freakin Stars" I laughed and thought yeah this designer is awesome and moved on to the next download.

That same night, while cuddling with my honey I said out of the blue... "Honey the term is typeface..." Rich was like "Wha?" said all British like of course. "Yeah honey, typeface is what it looks like, font is a computer file. It's like calling the photo you hold in your hand a Jpeg." Rich replies "Ohhhh...riiight" As I smiled with content feeling that I had enlightened someone he was probably thinking (in his British accent of course) "Ok that was random."

So do you ever have those moments when your "thing" really get to you all tangled up emotionally and it makes you go all random? It's a beautiful thing. It's even better when your spouse understands it. My husband and I are geeks with no shame. We are geeks in different areas of geekness. He's more geek than me though. We cuddle and talk computers. Weird? Nope not in our house!

After reading my blog Richard informed me that the already knew it was called typeface... oh well whateva!

America: The Endogamous Melting Pot

2007-08-23T14:30:00.000-05:00

I was forwarded via email an article titled "Mr. Right Might Be White." Isn't that clever title? Isn't that "Something New?" No and if you think so you are seriously cracked. Funny this topic made news because isn't America supposed to be a Melting Pot? Are we the land of the free? No because of racism has us bound and articles such as "Mr. Right Might Be White" will continue grace the front page news.

If we were a true melting pot then people wouldn't be so shocked about Interracial relationships? Our friends raise their brows at the fact that my husband, who was a single white male, married me, a divorce black female with children. Oh the shock! Is it really? Our friends apparently really don't know us beyond their own wrong assumptions. We'll he's not American, he's British and I wasn't stereotypically looking for that "Good Black Man." If he married a white female with kids, would it be much of an issue? No and because of that get asked asked off beat rude questions. We get double takes, and have been subjected to betrayal. Why then is America the melting pot? Why would we claim such a name when our history says opposite. How can America claim that they are a melting pot when they have a history of things such as strange fruit and outlawed interracial marriages?

Have we grown any? I'd say we have but there is still racial tension and the out cry for change. Why do we cry out when we are the ones keeping it going? How do we keep it going you might ask? I have friends of many races and I hate brutality etc. We don't stop or realize the racial thoughts we have. We do nothing about the racism in our own towns. We sit back and consider the racial tension on the news someone else's problem until it hits our families. Our voices remain silent as others are suffering from hate crimes.

Interracial marriages and couples are "cute" and "different" as long as they remain outside the typical American family enforcing endogamy. So stories such as "Mr. Right Might Be White" will always make front page news and we will have the need for web sites such as Loving Day celebrating interracial marriages when our nation isn't really a melting pot.

hmmm Interesting Read...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/meltingpot/melt0222.htm

Links used...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_v._Virginia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interracial_marriage
http://www.lovingday.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Fruit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melting_pot
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endogamy

Trick? What trick?

2007-06-10T20:34:00.000-05:00

Ok so I didn't do the think of something else trick. I was totally distracted through the whole photo shoot. What was my distraction? Richard! I totally forgot about his alluring charm! He was talking to me the whole time trying to get me to not pay attention to the photographer. We goofed and laughed and had fun with it. There was one moment I was standing my Richard picking at my elbow only to look up and see that they both were waiting for me and ready to shoot. LOL oops! I thought she was getting her camera stuff ready. What was strange yet cool was we are "on location" I guess we could say. People were around watching!! Agh! Ok and tell me why people want to pass in front of the camera instead of going behind the person with the camera when there is room? It's like think people lets be considerate! She said we did good. By the way here is her website if you want to see her work. http://www.pattigabriel.com/ I hope they come out ok, better yet I should say I hope I don't look flicktid. I do prefer to take photos like that instead of a portrait studio. It's much more natural and the flash isn't so big and and annoying. I took family photos with the kids and I blinked on every one of them. With shoot yesterday there was a flash but it wasn't in your face. It was away and it looks better. We had the natural light from the day and the breeze was wonderful. I was still nervous but Richard was instrumental in me being calmer. He is just amazing. He is my darling and I couldn't have asked for more.

Engaged to my 6th grade Blackmail Photos

2007-06-06T23:36:00.001-05:00

Ok so I'm totally nervous! Richard and I have our engagement session today. Yeah I know we have been engaged for a while but it's a part of our wedding photo package. So I'm up late watching the show Who's Wedding Is It Anyway and looking at engagement photos. This is one day that I have anticipated and had anxiety over. I don't like someone else taking photos of me. I totally don't know what to do with my face and I turn out looking flicktid. I can do my own photos with my camera and remote. BTW that's how I took my self portraits. I have a camera remote so I don't have to be there pressing the button. Cool right? Yep you can get one for your digital camera too just search for it on google. Any how I'm going to try that trick that Jay said on the style channel. He said to think of something else (something sad if you want a depressed look, something that makes you happy for a joyful look...) while you are taking photos instead of focusing on trying to smile for the camera. Thinking of something else will help the emotion show on camera and it wont be a faked one. So I just pray that the trick will work and I wont rack up another pile of blackmail photos! LOL I sound wacko don't I? I know but it is a fear of mine because until those self portraits I've had horrible photos! I have literally avoided the camera like the plague until about 6 months ago. Learning how to look for pictures has been something different for me. I just wished I would have known about this for the childhood school pictures! No joke those things are blackmail for me! My most hated school picture was the one of me when I was in the 6th grade. I wanted to destroy it. It was hideous. I thought I had actually done away with them secretly! When Richard met my mom she had that 6th grade picture of me on a table. Ok I almost fell out from embarrassment! I thought oh if he doesn't run now for fear of having ugly kids I'll be lucky! No kidding, that's a picture only my mom could love and she does. Thank you Mom!

So any how besides me being freaked out about the photo session, things have been going in all sorts of directions. The wedding planning is coming together. We are determined not to be rushed for last minute preps. We want to enjoy our out of town guests because we may not see them again for a while. I am excited about seeing my sister, and friends from out of town. I'm totally honored that they would be bridesmaids. My sister and friends have been such a great influence on my life. We can have so much fun, and can get into so much trouble. I love them so much and miss the times we spent in the past. But now it's a new day a new time and I look forward to what God has for each of us. We got some great things planned. We hope that all of our guests will enjoy the day with us. It's coming up soon and yes I am very excited to be marrying my beloved and my best friend, my chosen one!

On the kid front... wow they are super excited. We are preparing their rooms and getting things fixed up. This is the first time they will have their own rooms. The girls are really excited about it all. They all got to pick the colors of their rooms. So it's really exciting for them. I remember painting my room and doing this sort of thing when I was little and how I loved my new room. It was awesome. I hope they really like their rooms. They have some pretty cool furniture too!

Ok I think I'll go to bed now.... i think....

1% Full on Drama

2007-05-07T23:57:00.000-05:00

Today was a great day. We started out late with a devotion. While we were discussing the devotion I made Grill Cheese sandwiches.

Ashley ended up getting a time out for misbehaving. Yes we still do time out because it works. She then had a cow about a spider web being in the corner. Richard happened to take this day off because of his PRK surgery. After her time out he talked to her about fear. We pointed out scriptures that supported us having dominion over the animals. We further explained dominion vs. wisdom. Of course you have dominion, however let's practice wisdom with it and not sit in front of a bear making taunting faces and poking it. You will be eating, which will be your punishment for not practicing wisdom.

The kids asked about different animals. We talked about their fear of spiders vs. other animals they seem to think are harmless like a Hippopotamus. Yeah a Hippo is harmless?! I googled the word Hippopotamus and showed them how big it was and how dangerous it is. Yes I showed them that linked picture. I we should go to the zoo and Richard looks and asks "You want to?" I was like wha? Now? Are you serious? At this moment our personalities totally flip flopped. I was thinking um we arent prepared, he's thinking yes this will be a great spontaneous lesson for them. Richard wanted to show them spiders. Ash was apprehensive about it. I was too but I wasn't going to show it. I was "BBBBad" uh I ain't afraid of no spider! Yeah we had to get over our fears of Spiders.

So we packed up and got ready to go to the zoo! The girls are asking about the "Spider House" which is actuall called the Insectarium as. They had a mental picture of tons of spiders every where. It's actually a insectarium with a lot of different insects. I tried to explain to Ash how they are behind thick glass and you can't touch them and they can't touch you.

Now Ash usually laid back and a bit carefree about things. She's like that 99% of the time. The missing 1% is full on DRAMA! When she's at that 1% you will know it with out a doubt! This kid will scream and kick and get dramatic and won't care where she is. So she's at the dark sliding doors for the insectarium. Richard, Ang and A all went in with out hesitation. I look back and Dun Dun Duuuuuuuun! Ash stops, she shakes, she puts on the 10 ton Drama Queen Crown! There it is the full blow 1% extreme "I'm scared" scene. My patience were wearing thin as I stand in the hot sun feeling the cool breeze of the sliding Insectarium doors open and close. We were out there for about 3 minutes...

So Richard, Ang and A came rushed up to her yelling "OMG you HAVE to go in there it is SO COOL!!! They were really excited about it. Ash wasn't having it. She didn't move. It was hot. I was mad. Rich decided to try to pick her up. She screamed. I was mad and hot. Did I mention I was mad and I really hot? Every time the doors opened to let me feel that cool breeze it was just a tease.

So Richard standing at the door says come this close and peak in. She inches toward the door. I stand in the door with Richard and coach her in too. We literally inched in. She looked in to see the thick glass boxes. She looks and is still sort of hesitant. Richard walks over to the Praying Mantis (this insect eats it's own and she thinks oh look it's cute!). He says look here is the praying mantis and she walks in the door and goes over to the praying mantis with the reaction of "Oh it isnt that bad it's not a party house of spider waiting to feed on humans." Honestly it was maybe 8 spiders and the rest little insects.

I was tired at that point and was just happy to be inside a cooler area. Now remember I was afraid too. LOL forget my fears I was too tired. Ashley's drama too my mind off of it. I walk through and was choosy about what I wanted to see. I nicely skipped the maggots and leeches. There was a huge bird eating spider that was as big as Richard's hand. We didn't let Ash see that one. She's getting over her fear and we didn't want to have a set back. We went into the butterfly house. It wasn't that full but it was neat to walk through.

After all that, Ash was proud of her self. Rich and I are very proud that she conquered that fear and learned to trust us. That was the big lesson for the day for her. Although I was tired, frustrated, mad, teased, annoyed... It was all worth it. I am proud of my little girl! She got big hugs and cheers and will never know just how frustrated I was with her.

OK Now the Penguins... I was really amazed and loved watching them. I wished I had my other lens that lets me get good close ups because I could have gotten some really good shots of them. I want one as a pet. Wouldn't it be cool just to have a Penguin hanging out? lol

Well today was a full day. I'm getting sleepy. I'm going to solve a sudoku puzzle and knock out...

I upgraded to Vista, and my touch pad is annoying. Good night

1...2...3... goodnight!

2007-04-21T22:39:00.000-05:00

Ok so I should be cleaning up these clothes in my living room floor instead of blogging. I should be doing things, repsonsible things but I'm not. I want to talk to you and write out my tanget thinking mind. So ok

1. England - How was it?? Everyone keeps asking. It's awesome that people are intrested. No complainging. My only complaint is that so much to say but how to say it in a little bit of time. It was awesome guys. England is wonderful, go if you can. Richard's family is simply lovely. I loved them. They are so sweet and so nice it was a wonderful visit. His parents are fun and active and it was great that they are. They took to the kids well. His mom gave me a great compliment saying "Your kids are really a great credit to you." I was speechless! So it went well with the family. We saw sites and visited places ages old. I'm a big geek for looking at old buildings and wanting to touch them. What's even more cool is that Richard likes to walk with me and talk about the buildings too. He simply the best man I have ever met. England - It's brillant!

2. My photos - Yes I took tons!! It is great to have so many photos. I'm thinking of getting an external hard drive for them or burning them to a disk. I've been drawn to Black and White pictures. It just gets me. So I've tried to take my color digital photos in to photoshop and properly make them into black and white photos. I love the contrast and the mystery. Color just leaves nothing to the imagination. They are great no doubt but B & W grabs me more. So if you get a chance check out the Black and White photos in my photo album. Let me know your thoughts. I won't think you are crazy if you comment on every single one of them. Speak your mind tell me if you like or dislike them. I like feedback. I hope you enjoy them.

3. Wedding Plans - Yes!!! It's getting closer! I'm so in love it's crazy! We are making plans and really enjoying the anticipation of our wonderful day. I've got to find a good way to do my make up and hair. I'm so ready to be married to the most wonderful man for me.

4. House work - Will I get it done tonight? No.

I'm going to drink my coffee read my book, maybe watch the style channel and prepare for church tomorrow morning.

good night.

FCUK it's 12 am!

2007-04-15T17:58:00.000-05:00

Well ignorance has been bliss for these past 2 weeks. I've not kept track of time or dates since we have been in England. England is a wonderful place. We have spent time with our future family and we have all enjoyed the sites. We've even gone to France for a day! It was a great experience. I cant say I've ever experienced such a great time. The kids have been happy playing on the farm. Tomorrow they are off to the zoo with Grand Mum and Grand Dad while Richard and I do some packing and maybe shopping. I'm on a mission to get a FCUK shirt. French Connection if you will. I've wanted one since about 2003 when my design teacher came over with the sacks to show the class. But now I have a point in getting it not just for the rise it gets out of people though. It fits us. See I was explaining this to a friend and she agreed. It makes sense that I must have this logo Tee. I'm not one for being a walking AD for big bucks companies however I'll sort an occasional Tee. Why this one? Ok well I have roots in France. My Great Grand father is a Frenchmen that came over to the US in the 1900s. So you see I have the FC - being the "French connection" and Richard's obviously the UK so FC-UK right? Right. Done. Getting the shirt and I might sport it at church. Don't be surprised.
I've been asked to take a few photos. I did.
I've got 50 hundred photos to delete and sort through and I'm still taking tons of photos while we are in England. I really really really like my digital camera!
I'm uploading photos to my Picasa photo. You can see the general ones here.
http://picasaweb.google.com/happybeans76 - These show the sites of England. I have yet to add captions on the places yet.

http://picasaweb.google.com/happybeans76/WeVisitEngland?authkey=KKu-pdz_nnU - This is the unlisted photo album of us having fun in England.

There are a lot of photos so enjoy when you can!
It's 12 am here and i'm still UP!

1am Kennel Commands

2006-10-12T01:41:00.000-05:00

Ok so I was planning to go to bed tonight after I got home from church. Didn’t happen as you can see. Its 1 am. So what happened? Why don’t I ever get to bed on time? It varies. I know there is a proven health benefit to going to bed by 10:30pm. I really want to do this. Ok so let’s take it one night at time. Tonight, went to church. After church, we went to Applebee’s and get home at about 10:30pm. Opps missed my bedtime! Nope I’m not complaining. The food was good, service was awful. We went to the one in Swansea by the way. Ok so I get home. Kids go to bed. I have time on the laptop again. Few im’s, checking email, searching on Google for items and off to bed. Nope just as soon as I said goodnight to my sweetheart the dogs started whining. I’m nice and let them out... Ok so one dog goes and comes back. Then the other one runs off. It’s dark, cold and I’m NOT about to go outside to chase this dog. There I found myself I stand at the door calling this dogs name trying not to wake the neighborhood. I wait; go to the door calling again. I thought ok so how am I going to explain this one to the kids!? I think ok the dog has tags if he is lost then someone will find him and bring him back. I had scenarios running through my head of angry neighbors showing up on my doorstep with a dirty white dog ready to yell about him pooping in their yards. Therefore, I waited. I thought maybe I could go around the house… no it’s dark and I’m not doing it. I went to the back door and called his name. No dog. I went to the front door called his name. No dog. I sit down and go to drink my coffee I fixed earlier. I hear some dog tags. He’s standing outside on the street looking at me like “Is it ok to come back?” I was about to yell NO and close the door but he was really cute in the moonlight and I said …”KENNEL NOW!” I said Baaad Bailey! He looked sad and went into his kennel. This 10:30pm to about 11:00 pm period skipped straight to 1am.

Now I think ok dog back, I don’t have to explain to some broken hearted kids in the morning. What am I doing now? Blogging my annoyances out and I’m about to partition my hard drive. Humph silly dog!

I'm Happy.

2006-08-08T13:36:00.000-05:00

Ok so today is going to be a laid back kind of day so I thought. I woke up to Radio Disney blurring. I forgot to turn off the morning alarm. I told the kids we have nothing to get up early for. They said "YES!!" and went back to sleep. I think they got up around 11:30am. This past week has been an absolute rush of excitement. I don't think I've ever been out of the house this much since college! It's been great but I'm tired a little. The kids have really enjoyed this past week too. My birthday is coming up. Plans Plans Plans. I think the kids will have more fun than I will on that day lol. Oh to be a loved kid these days.

I've had this slight smile on my face for the past few weeks because of some thing so special it's amazing. Well I've not been this happy since I gave birth.I digress to say more at this time but life is wonderful right now.

Life.

2006-07-01T01:16:00.000-05:00

"Life sucks then you die." Used to be a motto of mine. Not sure where I stand now but life right now. The kids had a blast this week at their camp. I was happy seeing them happy. Each day they would come home talking about things and the notes I left in their lunch boxes. I found out who had a crush on who, and who said what funny thing to who. Weird but I didn't get a lesson comment at all until I asked about it. I get the notion my kids when to have fun and party with their friends. It kind of made me think for a minute I missed out on volunteering. But I did like having a life this week. I thought I was going to get somethings done but I did not. But I did accomplish enjoying my time out of the house. See my life is a bit boring compared to the average person my age. I'm low key, stay out of trouble. -No honestly I am!- So this week of camp is over and the excitment may go back down to ground zero. I start my school semester July 10th for 11 weeks. Not really looking foward to that. I guess i'm just in a blah mood right now. Tomorrow isn't going to be a "great day." I'm expecting a phone call from my mom in a few minutes. Why now... I want to cry for friends who has lost her precious child. - God help them...no other words to say.

Gather.com

2006-02-21T13:50:00.000-06:00

Any of you blog on gather.com ? I have i'm addicted to blogs. I have lots of them. This is just one. tsmiles.gather.com lol

I made seperate groups for homeschoolers, designers, and mothers on gather.com join if you wish.

designers.gather.com

mothers.gather.com

homeschool.gather.com

Taking a break

2006-01-09T14:45:00.000-06:00

Ok so I'm taking a break.check out this link an interent Timeline This will humor those that were making their text blink with their first angelfire website back in the early 90's.

My dear sister just sent 2 big boxes of Christmas presents! We were in the middle of school but this treasure came and changed the course of the day. They are playing until 3:30pm. Yes I'm a nice homeschooling mother. I'm letting it get out of their systems. Hey I'd want to play to if I were them. They got some good presents!Got the crockpot going... My living room is a mess. Need to go to the Library. Need to Put classics on my imac for the kids software. I need to assess my profile. Look at tell me what you think www.tsmiles.comYeah.. I'm on a slow roll. Sllloooooow rooooollll.

Ok sooo... I've Graduated

2006-01-09T13:32:00.000-06:00

Ok So i've graduated! I now have my BLS in Studio Art and Art History. I need to get CD's made of my portfolio. I have work but I am undecided on what to put in it. Ugh! I want to eventually teach at an University. Well I'll write more later when it's nap time for the KIDS... :)

We're baaaaaaack...

2005-08-11T01:51:00.000-05:00

Well, we are all back from Texas. School starts for me on the 22nd for the kids the 18th. We rented a Buick Rendezvous! It was very nice. From Irving, TX to Belleville IL it was about 12 hours. We broke it up in two days. I drove from Irving to Joplin, MO one day and the next Joplin, MO to Belleville IL. Starting from Irving, TX wasn’t so bad. We stopped in Oklahoma City to see the kids Grandmother and Aunt. They all were so excited. The got pictures and I gave them some pictures of the kids. They got to see the Cruise pictures too. It was a nice short visit. We stayed for about 2 hours or so. Then we got back on the road to Joplin. You know this time I don’t remember seeing the big McDonalds arch. Hmm... Weird. Any how we got a hotel at the Motel 6 for a night. It was really late, like 1 almost 2 am. The kids wanted to watch Disney all night long. I let them. I thought hey we are going to be on the road for a while tomorrow maybe they will sleep! So I got some rest and they watched Disney. I think I woke up around 4 am and told them to go to sleep. So much for them staying up all night, or morning! So any how I got up and rearranged the car so they will have all their snacks in the back seat already and cleaned out the car. It was a mess already. The kids had crayons and food crumbs every where. I did really like that car! It had a lot of room. So we washed up, and got on the road about 11am. The drive wasn’t so bad. I had to make my morning calls to let everyone know I was ok. When we got into MO further there were storms off and on the highway. It was a little sprinkle here and there. Then when we got into St. Louis the rain got harder. I avoided traffic by taking 270 to 255 home. Rush hour wasn’t a thing I wanted to go through after driving so long. So we made it home all in one piece. The kids wanted to go to church. It was Wednesday service so we went. I wanted to go anyway. I wasn’t tired out like I usually am. It was a peace about this drive. It was great, one that I can do again. I didn’t dread it. So I was on the road again to go to church. We got welcomed back with open arms. It was a great feeling being back home, and seeing the people we missed. I like Wednesday service a lot more than Sunday. Its less of a rush it’s more relaxed. Any how the kids were told they grew. They did I just haven’t seen it since I’m mom I guess. But the funny thing is, when we got home I measured them against the wall and they are now four feet! I am four feet eleven! So wow the girls are gaining on me! Adrian is right behind them too. I didn’t realize it but they did grow. So back to church… I saw a lot of folks I missed dearly. Rene gave me a great hug. Bad Brad was good to see again too. I wished I could sit out and just chat at the tables but I need Jesus so I thought I shouldn’t skip out on the word! Any how Chris gave me a welcome like no other by putting ice down my back and a big hug. All the others passing by saying welcome back and heeeeey!! Was so great. Anyway life at the house is peaceful. School starts soon. I wonder if I will like this semester… Hummmm…. I hope the kids like theirs. This might be the last semester they are home schooled. I’ll have to see what way God wants us to go. I just know for know he wants me to Graduate :)

I got ripped off in a good way.

2005-07-15T23:13:00.006-05:00

Hi everyone! I'm bloggin again.

I'd like to say a big congratulations to the new Homeschool Blogger Server on Homeschoolblogger.com! They made some good improvements!

Well readers how are you? I'm just doing "ok." The kids just had a bath and we had a serious "talk" about their behavior. I tell you this parenting thing can be difficult! I think I got ripped off my kids came with out the manual! My 3 came with out manuals and shut off buttons! hmm and a no return policy! LOL I'm just kidding my kids are the absolute best thing that has happened to me besides The Good Lord.

Our talk was about their behavior. It hasn’t been so great. I have bossy, talking back, blunt rebellion going on. Some how I fell lucky because they are not in their teens yet. They are just 7, 7 and 5. So putting a good respect of the Lord in them now is essential. They also know "momma don’t play that!" I had gotten a little lazy and just was talking with idol threats of punishment. You know that goes no where. So I had to give the "talk down!" not the "Smack Down" lol They are behaving nicely now. Much like I did after I got a spanking when I was a kid.
You know, I dislike seeing parents insult or just disrespect their kids. Even though they are young, doesn’t me they don’t deserve respect. I don’t call my kids names. Simple every day "worldly" terms like "Shut up" are not allowed. I don’t like to be told to shut up and I don’t tell me kids to shut up. I saw a lady in Wal-mart that told her child to shut up and then proceeded to call the child ugly! I was shocked and so were my children. They looked at me with their mouths open and said I'm glad you don't talk to us like that! My heart went out to that little girl. It was sad to see a parent ruin their child's self esteem. They will have enough of that in the world we as parents don't need to do it. I mean I know we get pushed to our limits but that was just cruel. Speaking of being pushed to your limit, have you read the book "She's Gonna Blow" It's a great book abut how not to loose your temper with your kids. Now it ain't easy I tell you! But it is very possible to keep it under control. I've lost it and felt bad about telling them to "Just GO TO YOUR ROOM!!!" in the mad angry tone of voice.

Over all I have to say I have some of the best kids on earth. They will push your buttons but who wont!? I'm an adult and I still push folks buttons LOL. I just feel like I have an obligation to correct in love and not lead them wrong. I'm trying to teach them a few things like love God, respect all people regardless of differences, respect authority and live your dreams.
That's about it for now. I better get to my design work and eating tacos with the kids!

--out

another blog

2005-07-10T04:12:00.001-05:00

Hey yeah I'm new here. Not sure I will actually keep this blog since I have 50 billion others :).