Last Post of 2008

Well another year is almost upon us and I thought I would get in a last post of this year. I haven't posted often in the last year but with four kids I find spare time a rare thing. These past two weeks has been kind of crazy and not just because of Christmas. My grandmother-in-law got really sick the Sunday before Christmas. She was 86 years old so we knew she wasn't going to be with us to much longer. She was rushed to the ER and they admitted her to the hospital for a bleed in the brain( I wasn't there to hear exactly what the doctor said but that's the my best understanding of what everyone has said) and she wasn't given long to live. Due to the DNR in place, the doctors were unwilling to operate. They kept her comfortable and she passed on Tuesday the 23rd. She had a lot of memory loss prior to her illness and didn't recognize many of us in the family but the night before she passed she started preaching to everyone and knew clearly who everyone was and who wasn't there. They all said she was telling them if they don't understand what they need to do to get where she was going they needed to understand. From what everyone said she was very sure about it all.

So with her passing Christmas was extra crazy. We had someone from church anonymously give us money and a gift card for walmart. So we used the cash for the bills. I couldn't believe it. We had gotten a little bit behind on the bills and the cash was the exact amount we had needed to get caught up. We used the gift card to buy the kids Christmas gifts. Then my mother-in-law's church(mostly made up of DH family) started taking up money to buy my kids Christmas all because my sister-in-law "felt the impression" that the Lord wanted her to do it. They didn't announce who it was for just that it was for a family that wasn't doing so well financially. There was also a local charity that my other sister-in-law works a lot for. She signed my kids up for their Christmas program. All the kids would have gotten from me and DH was going to be one small gift each. By the time all was said and done, my kids had more gifts than I ever remember having in one Christmas! In the picture below the tree had about a foot and a half from the bottom to the floor. The gifts are so tightly packed under it. they are stuffed in the corner behind it and everywhere around it! I was so over whelmed and grateful to the Lord and those who He had worked through for blessing our family like He has.


I am truly grateful for the gospel and the light and knowledge we have found within it. The Lord has truly blessed my family!
This has been a GREAT year!

In Memory of Wrinkles 1996-2008

I don't really have a topic for this post except maybe an update.
Well, I haven't written in a while so I'll catch you up.

A week or so ago my dog got hit by a car right in front of my children and I while we were waiting for the school bus. Wrinkles has been my dog for nearly 13 years. I got her when I was 10. Several times I felt like she was my only friend. She brought me comfort so many times when nothing else did. She gave an unconditional love. I've had her since she was born. I owned her mother. We basically grew up together.

It was my first real loss. I have had 2 grandmothers pass away but I wasn't all that close to either of them so their passings didn't effect me (especially since I know the gospel and know I will see them again). But loosing my little dog hurt really bad. When she got hit I couldn't help it but I screamed. I think I scared my kids to death. I hate that I scared them but that was rough. Even now just thinking about it is making me cry. I loved that dog. I knew she didn't have much longer here in this life (she had cancer) but to have her taken so fast and so violently was very VERY hard. It was hard to go through that day. I didn't send Hannah to school after that. I don't think she could have functioned. It upset her terribly. She and I once back at the house held each other and just bawled. I couldn't stop seeing her coming out from under that car. I couldn't/can't get it out of my head. My second oldest is 3. It upset her too but I think it was mine and Hannah's reactions that scared her the most.

I had to call my mom to come get her off the road so my husband could bury her when he got home because with the kids I couldn't. I don't think I could have even if it wasn't for the kids. The car didn't stop or slow down. They just kept going. They didn't even blow the horn to try to get her off the road. They hit her so hard it drug her for like 15 feet. She was all tore up. She was thankfully dead on impact. So she didn't suffer.

I miss her. I feel like the worst person in the world because I think it was all my fault. I should have put her in the house before we went down there. I should have been paying attention to where she was. I should have done something. I just miss her. I hope I will see my precious Wrinkles again and be able to tell her I am sorry for not being a better owner to her.

If this post is written bad or makes no sense please forgive me. I needed a place to vent my grief and this is the best place I've found.

Reba & Kelly Concert in Birmingham, AL

I HAD A BLAST! I HAVEN'T HAD SO MUCH FUN IN YEARS!!!

We were literally front and center. I was less than 5 feet away from the mic.
Their opening act was the girl that played Barbara Jean on Reba. She was okay. I am just not a fan of dumb humor. She did make me laugh a time or two but it was just to scripted. If I can say the next line before she does then its boring to me and I did that and cracked my mom up a time or two just because it was funny that I said the exact thing she did.


Then when Reba and Kelly came out we were all on our feet! I had my camera and was snapping away. I think I took over 150 pictures. Mom also had her camera but because it looked "to professional" they wouldn't let her use it. She was very upset by this. She still enjoyed it very much though.

Reba & Kelly looked like they were having a blast up there and I think after watching them I so could do that! LOL They were laughing and cracking up in between songs and were keeping the crowd into it too.



My mother and I both noticed things about them we didn't realize before. Mom said Kelly has a big butt. I noticed Reba has very large nostrils(this could be just the fact that I was right below her LOL). One thing about Kelly I saw that I liked was the fact that she was bare foot. HEHE I am the queen of bare feet. If it was me on that stage I would have been bare foot too. She had long jeans that came down over her feet that hid it from most other people but since I was so close I saw her toes sticking out. I loved the pants she had on they were jeans that had been split up to the calf and long black tassels sewn in the slit. I want some like that but then again I am a housewife/stay-at-home-mom where would I wear them? LOL



I probably looked crazy but every song they sang that I knew I was belting out as hard as they were but there wasn't a problem with this because there were these huge speakers on the floor in front of us and if anyone could have heard even a sound i made over them I would be amazed. The speakers were so loud they shook my body. This wasn't a problem for me but Mom said she wished they would have not had them as high. I don't see how they could have had them any lower because over all the people no one would hear the singers.





They even got their pregnant back up singer out in front a time or two. She was so cute rockin out up there, big belly and all.



They sang all my favorite songs and a few I hadn't heard before. At one point they totally had me fooled. They reintroduced one another and waved to the crowd and walked off stage. The band played a little and then walked off too. They hadn't sung "Fancy" or "Because of You" or a two more I was looking so forward to hearing live. So I was starting to get very disappointed.



Right about that time the band came back out and then Reba and Kelly came up out of the middle of the stage. They of course saved the favorites for last.



To say the least, I had so much fun. I needed it and I really enjoyed it.

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Family Photograph

Well, today I got in the mail a flyer/ad for Portrait Innovations and realized I really need to have a family portrait made because the last time we had one made was when my oldest was 11 months and she is now almost 6! (I know its really NOT a good one of me) To say the least, its time!

I have tons of pictures of Hannah(oldest), both snapshots and professional. I have a lot of snap shots and like 1 or 2 pro pics of Chyenne, several snapshots of Jordan, and multiple snap shots of Adam. I have absolutely zero pro pics of Jordan and Adam and no family pics at all.

How is it that from child #1 you have tons of pics but from child 2 on there are fewer and fewer pics? I always heard that it happens but I was like "No I am not going to do that." But now 3 years after my second was born I have failed in that regard. A lot of it comes from us being so low incomed all the time but a lot of it is also the fact that I just haven't set aside the time to go and do it.

When I got the flyer, I tried to call and schedule an appointment but they said they weren't making appointments beyond 2 weeks. I guess its because of the holiday season. I will be calling again in a few weeks because I would schedule it for sooner but I need to do it after James gets paid and after I go to the Kelly Clarkson & Reba concert because I need to do it on a Friday when we have the time.

I hope we can get a good one this year. I have never been to PI but I have seen some good pics they have done and I have heard its MUCH better the the Wal-mart photo place. As soon as I get them I will put one up here and you all can see my beautiful family. I admit it I really am proud of them!

Holding to the Iron Rod

My husband and I got married a little over 6 years ago. At that time I wasn't attending church at all for about 2 years. I was doing just about everything I shouldn't have been doing at that time. But when we became pregnant with our now oldest daughter I decided that I couldn't imagine raising my child without the gospel. I knew that no matter what I* had done I wanted her to know the truth and know her Heavenly Father. So after we got married I started the road back to Christ. I started coming to church again. It was difficult when all the girls I knew were asking me why I could no longer come to Young Women's with them. I had to explain the I had to go to Relief Society now because I was married and going to be a mother.
I talked with the bishop and repented. It was very hard but I knew it was what I had to do. I am so grateful for the atonement and for the opportunity to be forgiven.

Well I started coming regularly and got to where I really wanted an eternal family. I started pestering my hubby to come with me and to listen to the missionaries. He listened only to please me but it took over six months before he agreed to be baptised. I am so thankful to those wonderful sister missionaries (Sister Abel & Sister Corbett) for their patients and kindness to him.

So he was baptised and was coming to church and was a strong faithful member. He was studying everyday and was talking to everyone he met about the gospel(even if they really didn't want to hear it).
That lasted about 8 months and he fell away and was doing things that weren't right and sadly enough I followed him on some of it. We were inactive for a short while. I used to say it was because my back was bad ( ended up having back surgery at 17) but the truth was we were doing things I knew were wrong. We came back and repented. I have never stopped since that time.

We were sealed in the temple in 2006 and I couldn't even begin to describe my joy at having an eternal family! We were sealed to our two little girls and any children we had after that time would be sealed to us automatically.

About two weeks after we were sealed my husband stopped coming to church. I only ever got the reason of, "I just don't want to" or "I don't believe it." He said he enjoyed the temple and wanted to go often when we were there. I do not know what caused him to stop coming but he only came like 3 or 4 times at most in the last two years. I think it was a lot of responsibility and he didn't want to do it.

He started coming back in September and has only missed one Sunday since coming back. The change of heart came about because our second son(child #4) was born at the end of June and he would be the only child of ours he wouldn't have blessed since he was baptized. It is very important to him now and he seems to be truly happy coming back. He said that yesterday during PH he actually felt the brotherhood he had longed for all along.

I am so happy to see him coming back and taking care of our family. I am so excited but on the other hand I am totally terrified he will stop coming again and it will break my heart once more. Be that as it may, I have made a promise to my self that I will not under any circumstance push him to go no matter how bad I want him to be there. I know it has to be his choice and not a feeling of being obligated to go. No matter weather he continues to go or not I will never Father willing stop coming to church and lose my eternal faith in Heavenly Father.

An Abundance of GREAT Resources

Here is a list of some of the sites I have found that are full of great tips/ideas that have proved very useful to me. Some are blogs some are not. All are full of things that could probably benefit everyone.

http://jordansfarm.wordpress.com/recipes/

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/index1.htm

http://frugalabundance.com/

http://www.livingonadime.com/

http://www.handprintsonthewall.org/

http://www.afreebieempire.com/

http://cheapcindy.blogspot.com/

http://www.couponmom.com/

http://www.homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com/

http://soprano.com/freestuff.asp?from=/vote.asp?linkno=250&linkno=250&ref=http://www.soprano.com/vote/vote.asp?linkno=250

http://www.handprintsonthewall.org/category/frugality/lessons-from-butterberry-farm/

http://familyfun.go.com/

Well these are most of the sites I have found that have been a big help to me and my family. I think if you can't find one thing on this list that can help you there has got to be something wrong! LOL
If you have a site or tip that has helped you in any way I'd love to know about it so I can learn more.
Have a great day!

Kindergaten Theft

So, my daughter came home with a strike in her conduct folder for the first time today. It was kind of sad when I think back on it. She had to get off the bus and walk up the hill to the house by herself because it was raining and our van has gone on hiatus. She was walking very slowly and with her head down. She didn't but barley lift her chin when I called to her from the front porch to welcome her home. When she got to the side walk she quietly said she didn't get a star today. When I asked her to tell me what she did she stated that the teacher sent a note home. I told her, "No. I want to hear it from you." She says she can't remember. I continue to ask her but she wont budge. I finally pull out her conduct folder and read the note from the teacher once we were in the house. I read that she was "taking things from others." Then I go to the bottom and read the note from the teacher that says,"After nap, I caught Hannah trying to put one of my charts(that is poster board sized) into her book bad. I was very surprised that it was Hannah doing this. We had a talk about it."

I did my best not to crack up when I read that she was trying to shove a big poster into a small back pack. I can just imagine how that looked. I have no clue why she wanted it so bad because I asked her if she liked it and just decided she wanted it. She said no. I also asked if someone told her to do it. She again said no. I talked with her and so did Daddy and she knew exactly why it was wrong and she even said a prayer to ask for forgiveness. I know that wasn't necessary but it taught her a valuable lesson on the repentance process.

I am proud of her for doing the things necessary to make up for this mistake. I just cant believe she is so big already. Its so amazing how fast they have grown and have begun to mature. I want them to succeed and I know for that to happen I have to teach them the core principles of the gospel. The repentance process is so hard to grasp and understand when you try to do for the first time when your older. So I am trying to teach my children the things that will help them the most in life.

The Big Cookie in the Sky

Well my 3 year old daughter Chyenne walked with Hannah and I to the bus stop the other morning and she was very concerned for the moon.
As we are walking back to the house she looks at the sky and exclaims, "Look Mommy!! I see the moon!!" I nod and keep walking. I mean really to me it was just the moon. Well to her beautiful mind its much more. She continues looking up at while walking and holding my hand (so as not to trip), "Mommy!" Real concern was written all over that precious face. "The moon is broken!" I get a kick out of this one and barely suppress my giggle to explain, "It’s not broken. We just can't see all of it right now."
This satisfies (or maybe pacifies) her for a few more steps. Then she looks back at the moon and back to me again. "Who ate it?!" This time there was no way I could have kept that laughter in! I laughed all the way back to the house.

Yard Sale Craziness

So I haven't posted this past week because I have been so busy preparing for the yard sale we had this past weekend.
I told my neighbor and friend that we were planning a yard sale and she decided to join me out there and have one too. She said her huge attic was completely full. Well,we got permission from the guy who owns the two building and tiny church at the end of our road on the main road. He is actually the guy who owns the building that mother's company rents in another city. He's a really nice guy. So anyway, James and I get up at 5am and start moving things to the end of the road. After the 4 hours or more it took to get it all set up I was ready to call it quits! LOL there was just so much to set up and out. I probably had twice the amount of clothes I had last year and that's saying something because last year I had 4 tables worth and this year I only had one huge table and two smaller ones to work with. I really needed more tables! James helped me before work then left. He came back because he asked his boss if they needed him and he was told it was fine for him to come back home.

Well, by the time he got back I still wasn't even close to being done with all the set up. So I told him to set some things out and gave him specific instructions on how to do it. HMMM! He maybe listened to the first sentence and thought he knew what to do. well of course he didn't have I had to fix it and re instruct him about 3 times and finally when I told him to set out the homemade wheat bread I made for the sale I told him there were there 4 loaves that were different from all the rest and to set them on a separate shelf. When I look over at them I see they are all mixed and I tell him a little exasperatedly that he yet again did it wrong. Now the first few times it wasn't so bad because it was just the clothes and it was easily fixed but this time it was bad because I didn't have the different bread marked in any way! So after telling him it wasn't right he got frustrated and stormed off. I had a customer there at that point but thankfully he was over settling up with my neighbor and didn't pay James any attention.

He decided to come back after 30 mins of cool down time at the house. He apologized and we finished all the set up. It was pretty slow at first but after 10am we had a lot of people stopping and also a lot that passed us and turned around to come back. I sold a lot of the bulk stuff the first day and sold a few clothes. I was surprised I didn't sell more clothes because last year I mostly only had clothes and toys. James went back up to the house for a little while when things slowed down and when he came back he told me my mother had called. The people who rent the building the tiny church was in were complaining about us being in front of their building. I was SO mad. I mean I had permission to be there and there weren't even in there on Friday and Saturdays. I was told I didn't have to move Friday but Saturday I had to set up to the right of their building. I could be out there just not in front of their church! The problem was my neighbor was beside us with all her stuff there. That was the biggest drama on Friday.

Saturday we get up at 5:30(because it was all still set up on the tables and I didn't have to do much prep. It turned out to be more prep than I expected but a lot less than the day before. I made sure none of my stuff was in front of their church and was doing good.I was enjoying talking to the customers and helping find anything they asked for. I had several people that were surprised at the low prices I had on thing. For example, I had a toddler bed with a mattress and all for $10. I know that seems low but I didn't need it and I priced everything to go. I needed to get as much clutter out as I could.

At about 11:30 the preacher man for that church shows up and tells me we are going to have to move. They were going to have a service and needed all the parking space there was! ERRRR!!! I called my mother and she called the owner. He told us that if they are not in there we didn't have to go anywhere but if they were having a service we had to move over to where they could park. My problem with this is there was a whole other side of their church to park on. So I moved over just barely and said they can get their cars in and that was good enough. Well he gets mad and has one of the teens move his car right up next to one of my tables as close as he could and still be able to squeeze out of the car door. All the while shouting, "They are going to learn to respect me!!" To top it off they had a total of 7 cars that all but 2 fit right in front of the building and the two that didn't parked on the opposite side from us, which was closer to the door anyhow! So there really was no need for him to be so incredibly rude. I am so baffled at all this because I really think he only called a service because we were out there. The only time I have ever seen anyone at that church on a Saturday was when they had a yard sale! He just really didn't show what I think a christian attitude should be.

Well all in all the yard sale was a success. We made a little over $350 and got a lot of the junk out of my house. Now my daughters' closet will be able to be use for clothes instead of piles and piles of boxes and bags of clothes. I now will be able to catch up on bills (from since James had his surgeries). I didn't sale much bread. I made 9 big loafs and 7 small ones. I sold 3 small ones! I really thought people would love to get fresh homemade whole wheat bread but I guess not. Now we have a lot of bread. LOL I got a little burned in the sun so if I ever have one again I will be getting me a great big floppy hat.

Poison Control: Kids Eat the Strangest Things

So today I read a blog post about a mom who had to check with poison control to see if dry wall was dangerous when the child ate it. It reminded me of something Chyenne did when she was around 1 year old.

At that age we called her our little goat. She would eat anything. I have pages in my journal that say "Chewed on by our little goat aka Chyenne." So one day she was playing in the living room and we were in the process or adding trim and cleaning up the dry wall mud that had fallen between the wall and the floor (there was about an inch between where it all fell while the work was being done). She decided that the dried mud looked tasty. I pick her up and see she is 'foaming at the mouth' and I am freaking out. I am searching around to figure out what she had eaten and finally my eyes land on the crack. I am like "oh my gosh! She ate the sheet rock stuff!!" I hand her to my husband and run to the phone and call the poison control. The lady patiently tells me that she will be okay and to just give her extra water.

Chyenne is the only one of my four children I have ever had to call poison control for. My oldest is almost 6 and youngest is 2 months old. Well Chyenne(3) decided a month or so ago to drink the whole bottle of gas drops which she pulled out of the diaper bag I left in the living room after changing a diaper. I am in the kitchen cleaning or something and I hear a wet rubbery squeaking. I look over into the kitchen and see she is chewing on something. I made her bring it to me. She brings me the dropper part and I start to realize what it was. I jump over the gate and grab up the now empty bottle and freak. I called poison control just knowing she was going to die of an over dose on simethicone (gas drops). I step in the next room to be able to hear the operator on the phone. She tells me yet again Chy will be okay again just to give her extra water. I go back in the room wit the kids and Chyenne has spit up/puked a little of the drops. My guess on that is that her stomach just couldn't handle the sudden amount of the drops.

I just hope I never have to rush one of them to the ER because they somehow got into something more dangerous. I know I am hoping against hope there. Kids will be kids!

Lazy Mondays, Preschool, & Lemon vehicals

For some reason Mondays are my worst days for house work. I don't ever want to do anything on Mondays. I guess its the fact that its the first day after the weekend and I am still recovering from having everyone home all weekend. I love the week days when Hannah is at school, James is at work, and my mother is at work as well. I only have my 3 youngest at home. They are great. Chyenne & Jordan play great together most days and Adam is a great baby.
Now don't get me wrong, I love my family and love spending time with them. It's just that when everyone is home it gets pretty crazy and loud(mostly James LOL). So by Monday I am glad for the quiet and I just soak it up on and lounge around playing on the net, reading, or watching TV.

Our van, that we just bought in April, has stopped working yet again. This time we cant take it back to the dealer and say fix it even though i know they never really fixed it. They just did something to get it by for a month or two so we would have to fix it later on. So now, I can't go anywhere. Even if I took James to work and my mom put Hannah on the bus it wouldn't work because then Hannah would get home after school and I wouldn't have anywhere for everyone to sit in the car to go back to get James. So I can't go anywhere with out some one else taking us or getting James from work. Hmmmm. House arrest again! Not that I would be going all the time all over the place but it is a good thing to be able to take the kids to the doctor when they need to go. Adam has gotten his siblings cold and is really congested but I have no way of taking him to the doctor. Or take the kids to the play group that just started back up. We dont have the money to get it fixed so I dont know what we are going to do. I just hope something happens that we all need to go somewhere at the same time!

Yesterday was our first successful home preschool day. We are learning about the ocean this month. Yesterday we sang songs and counted, colored, cut out, and pasted seashells. The kids had a blast doing it. I also think they loved having some structured "play." That's all it was to them was playtime. I made sure not to focus on "teaching" them and focus on playing with them and enjoying the time we were spending together. Today we will be "making" a sand pail and adding sand and shells to it.
I ordered these lessons that we are doing from Home Preschool Program. If it wasn't so costly I would be ordering their programs each month because I think they are great. They provide everything from the lesson plans to the crafts and supplies to the music. About the only thing you have to get is the snacks!

2 Worlds 2 Voices Tour 2008

On Monday, my mother and I saw a commercial to announce that Reba McEntire & Kelly Clarkson are coming to Birmingham. We were both like we want to go to that sooooooo bad!! They are my two favorite singers! I have loved Reba's music since I was little and have liked Kelly since Miss Independent and LOVED her since her breakaway album. The fact that they are coming together has me bouncing off the walls!



I don't have any money to spare and neither does my mom. James had to have 2 surgeries back to back last month and we are still trying to catch up on the bills because he was out of work so long. I want to go so bad that I started calculating the money we had to see if I could possibly find an extra $100. Of course, as anyone who struggles financially knows, there is no wiggle room in a very tight budget. I knew we didn’t have it so I started trying to think of ways to get money another way. I tried everyday to win them on the radio but of course every time I called I got the busy signal. I tried to think of ways to make money fast. I looked for anything I had around here I could sell. My husband, who knew how much I really wanted to go, was even willing to give me one of his video games. When I bulked at this one he said something along the lines of,” I know how much you really want to go and you never ever do or buy anything for yourself. You always sacrifice your wants for me or the family and you don’t think twice about it. Its time you have something for yourself." Now of course I bawled at that but unfortunately the games weren't worth enough to pay for the tickets.

So I decided my last resort was to ask my dad (my mother and father were never married and I don't ask my dad for money or anything hardly ever. The last time I asked him for something was when our car had a flat tire and we didn’t have any money to get it fixed. I hate asking him for money because we don’t see each other often and it feels like I am using him. He wasn't around a lot when I was a kid but in recent years he's been great and my kids and I love him to death but we just don't get to see him a lot because we live a good distance apart. But as I said I REALLY wanted to go to this concert. So I asked if he would give me the money for my birthday (October 3rd). I was sooooooooo excited when he said he would! Excited may be an understatement.



So I had the money and I was going to be able to get the tickets! Now I had to go wait in line to get them. Mom and I thought it was a good possibility that there were going to be a lot of people in line for tickets because Reba hasn’t been to Birmingham in 10 years. So she suggested I go up there about 4or5am but I didn’t want to wait that long so I got there (accompanied by the best hubby in the world) at like 3:30am. James thought I was crazy for wanting to go that early and his predictions came true when we got there and no one was in line. We were there for like an hour and a half before the first people got there. I was first in line. The sad thing was when the tickets went on sale at 10am there were only four people there! But I don’t care because I got front row tickets!!! I expected to get okay maybe even good tickets but I never guessed I would get front row!

Now all I got to do is wait for these 61 days to pass. Oh, how slow time goes by when you are waiting for something.

Monster Mushrooms

Well this past week we have had a lot of mushrooms come up in our nieghborhood. There have been some pretty ginornous ones. I first spotted them in my nirghbors yard where I thought a larger white soft ball was there but upon closer inspection it was a huge round mushroom. Two days later it had flattened out completely on top and looked like a large saucer. There are several in my yard too. There are ones that look like pancakes and one that looks like a ladybug half pipe. LOL I can just picture a ladybug on a skateboard doing tricks on it! I'm crazy I know.



There are some normal sized ones too but most of them are huge. I found one this morning that was decaying. It was covered in fruit flies and looked pretty nasty in a cool kida way.

Homeschool Freebie of the Day website

I discovered this wonderful site a little while back. Its a site dedicated to homeschooling families. They have free things for download to help out in teach you children. There are also things for you. I have gotten things like ways to cut your children's hair at home, great stories for the children, great craft ideas, and so much more! I have subscribed to the newsletter and there's even more in there! They put in "subscriber exclusives" in each email. There are the freebies on the site listed, the exclusive freebies, and a "deal of the week" in there sometimes where you get a special discount on some other resource they have tracked down. These are really great! I once got 20 ebooks for $8 when they were originally $50 and they were all very useful!!
I haven't seen anything on this site I didn't like. Check it out here!

Enjoy!

No baby, just crazy

I took a test and nope I'm not pregnant just crazy! LOL as usual.

Going Crazy or Baby?

So, the past week I have had to get up at least a minimum of 2 times a night to pee. I also today decided I wanted to have a handful of raisins as a snack. Then after eating about 2 I decided I wanted some chocolate chips with them. As I was warming my lunch, I also decided that a little peanut butter with them would be good(which I have never fixed or eaten before). I mixed them up with some and started to eat it and decided it still needed something. So, I went back to the kitchen and got some oats and mixed into it. Started to eat this and decided a dash of cinnamon would be the perfect addition. LoL!
All these additions were added like 2 mns apart from each other. After doing all this I realized I was craving this! Another thing going on with me right now is my mind is cloudy and I've been clumsy. What does frequent urination, cravings, mindlessness, and being clumsy sound like to you?
Well to me it sounds like me when I am pregnant. Now, my youngest is 2 months and I have an IUD! If I am pregnant this is a total shock, a welcome one, but none-the-less a shock!
I remember last time I had an IUD my period stopped but it stopped after like 3 months. This time I had my period on August 1st and still haven't started this month. So, I will have to get a test and make sure.

Family: Expect the unexpected!!

This morning in all our morning craziness the baby wakes up in his bassinet screaming out in pain. My husband is in the kitchen and is closest to our room. So he starts in that direction with me on his heels in no time( men never seem to move as fast as a worried mother!). As we are going around the bed to get the baby he turns to me and quickly holds something out and says, "Here hold this." I automatically reach out and take whatever it is. I mean wouldn't you have? Well the reason he was in the kitchen was he was preparing his lunch. So I was handed 2 cold wet slices of lunch meat! Once it was in my hand I stopped walking and had to look at the gross wet things in my hand. He picks up the baby and sees the look on my face and cracks up. "I can't believe you actually took it!" was his reaction.

Now my new motto with the family is: Family:Expect the Unexpected! Not that this is a new revelation, what with all the times I find cheese and a trail of ants behind the couch(yesterday!) or hear the screams from my son's room and upon investigation find my 1 year old on the tallest dresser with no explanation possible for how he got there. There are so many things that happen in a house of 6 that are just bizarre. Most of the times its something the kids do that is the craziest or most unexplainable. Like when my oldest was just 2 she got a necklace off of a teddy bear that she had managed to get on there with out me being able to remove it. I mean I tried for like 20 minutes to get it off then looked at her and said sorry but I couldn't get it off and gave it back to her. I look at her a few minutes later and realized she had it off and it looked to still be completely intact and so did the bear. I got them from her and looked for a place where she had to have broke the necklace to get it off. There was no such place nor was the bear damaged at all! I still to this day have no clue how she got the beads on the bear or off of it.

So now I just need to remember, especially as my kids get older, there will be even more things to expect to be crazy around here.

Child Communication & Doctors Offices

You ever realize how children change in a pediatricians waiting room? Well it is possible its just my children that decide to either become very vocal or want to hide behind(or under) me. A few months ago I took my 1 year old son to the doctor for his 18 month check up. I had him in his little stroller and he was set and content. We went to the well child waiting room and sat down to wait. We were there for about 5 minutes and another mom with a 2 year old daughter came in and sat across from us. Her daughter sat at the table that was between us. She was obviously very curious about my son. She kept stealing glances in his direction. Finally she came over closer to a chair directly in front of us.
She was looking at him and her mom said something along the lines of don't mess with them. I looked up and told her that she wasn't bothering us. I told Jordan(my son)to say hello. He babbled at her. Then they suddenly they were in a conversation that only the two of them could understand. It was so neat to watch them because I know they knew what the other was saying. I commented on this to her mom and she said, "This is strange! She has completely reverted back to baby talk. She normally can talk well for a 2 year old." I thought that was a pretty neat thing to see/hear.

Our rights as women to vote

This was an email I received today. The sad thing is I didn't know things were that bad. I mean I was taught that women had to 'fight' for their rights but I never knew it was as bad as this says it was.

A Message for all women
THIS IS MOVING. HOW QUICKLY WE FORGET.....IF ....WE EVER KNEW...... WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE
This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers; they lived only 90 years ago. Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote. And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.' They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air. They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women. Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote. For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms. When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press. So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work?
Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining? Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of new movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling family:georgia;font-size:85%;">booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder. All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more routine.
Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege.
Sometimes it was inconvenient.
My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women's history,
saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk
about it, she looked angry. She was--with herself. 'One thought
kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,' she said.
'What would those women think of the way I use, or don't use my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just
younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.' The
right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again.'
HBO released the movie on video and DVD . I wish all history,
social studies and government teachers would include the movie in
their curriculum I want it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere
else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing,
but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think
a little shock therapy is in order.
It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy.
The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.'
Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the women you know.
We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so
hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote democratic republican or independent party - remember to vote.
History is being made.

Heels and purses

HYSo, I kept my nephew last night and his mom will be coming in a few hours to get him. Its my sister and her hubby's anniversary. So I agreed to keep the munchkin so they could have time together, alone. She lives an hour or so away from me. Her dad (we are half sisters) lives like 10 mins. from her but he and his wife refuse to keep their grandson and so my sister never gets a break. Its sad. I wish she lived closer so I could help her more.

Well its hasn't been as bad as I thought it might be. See Dallas(my nephew) is an only child for one thing and for another he is a tiny bit delayed. At one point we were worried he was autistic. A fact which I believe is still possible, if only a little. He gets very loud and doesn't quite talk as well as he should by almost 4 years old. He has done good though. He had a little difficulty going to bed last night because I put my kids to bed a lot earlier than my sister does. He usually goes to bed around 10 or 11. I put mine down somewhere between 730 -8pm. Last night I thought I should try to wait till 830 or 9 but I got suddenly tired and decided not to wait.

We moved my youngest daughters bed into my sons room and put my daughter in her sisters bed(big sister was at grandma's for the night). Dallas got in the bed just fine, we gave kisses and hugs and said good night and turned off the lights and closed the door. I went into my daughters room to say prayers and tell her good night. I wasn't in there 3 mins. before he was screaming. I finished up in with my daughter and went in to tell him he was okay and to go to sleep. I did this 3 times and thankfully he finally calmed down and slept the rest the night just fine.

Since he is an only child he doesn't have sisters or girl toys around. He has become fascinated with my daughter's heels and purse! I am cracking up at this. My son doesn't even play with the heels (by his own choice not me stopping him). I am going to take a picture or Dallas in the heels with the purse and give it to my sister. Her redneck backwoods husband will really love that. He's the beer guzzling, wrestling watching, mud ridding type. The funny thing is my sister has turned like that too. See our mother who raised us both on her own was raised in California, so we didn't grow up in the boondocks (or at least not with that mentality). Our talk is southern but not like most people we live around. NOT THAT ANY OF THAT IS WRONG OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. I Do Not think I am better than anyone. My point is that when we were growing up I never would have pictured my sister the way she is now.

Anyway we shall see how the heels and purse go over when mommy comes to get him.
Really wish I could go out and do something today. Tropical storm Faye is dropping some needed rain on us. Its pretty wet outside so playing outside is out. We are broke so going out isn't an option. Gas prices are still crazy(even though they are saying on the news "they are falling" Ha! not that I've noticed!).

I guess I will find something to do (not that with 4 kids+1 that will be hard).

Getting Better at Cleaning

Setting up everything for a home to be run smoothly is a continual process. I have lived in this home for 6 months and I still am not completely settled the way I want it to be. Maybe its because I have things in a certain place to keep the children(or the thing) safe. Or maybe its because I am renting this house and have a feeling that we will end up moving and haven't made myself put things in a permanent location. Whatever my reason I am trying now to get more organized and focused on my housekeeping abilities. I am widely known as the worst housekeeper ever. The sad thing is I have had a few jobs where I was a maid type worker and cleaning is what I was paid for. I can clean any house or place great as long as its not my own.



But all that is going to change! I am motivated and will not loose that motivation! I mean it! No, I really do. Okay maybe i will slip up and forget the dinner dishes and maybe that basket of laundry will sit there for a day or two but I am trying to improve.



I recently bought a few ebooks all about home (and life) organization. I have ready two of them so far and have had some pretty good tips and ideas come from them. I was thinking of dedicating an entire post to the best household tips I've ever read/heard. Does that sound like something you'd like to read? If so leave a comment to this post and let me know.

Labor & Delivery

Being that my last post was when I found out I was expecting, I think I need to write now.
We had Adam Elijah on June 23, 2008. He was 8lbs 14oz 21.5 in.(he was a BIG baby. Over a pound heavier than my second biggest was at 7.11!). The pregnancy went great. I didn’t even have gestational diabetes this time, which blew me away since I had it with my last one and was borderline with my second. The labor was a different story.
My doctor had to go to France for 2 weeks and didn’t get back till the day after my due date. I was not happy about having to see her partners. I really like her and wanted it to be with her. I also know that if she would have been there for this delivery it would have gone smoother.
Well, I went in on the 23rd for my appointment @9am with one of her partners and I had been having irregular contractions since the day before. I didn’t think anything of them since they were all too common throughout all of my pregnancies from about 5 months on. I had to do the pee in a cup thing as usual when I got there but this time I was shocked to see blood in the cup and when I wiped. Before I could even say something to the nurse she said "There’s a lot of blood in your urine." She let the doctor know and he promptly came in and checked me and said I was almost 5cm (I was 3 for 2 weeks in a row before that). They called next door to the hospital and let them know I was on my way.
I got there @10 & they hooked my up to the monitors and waited a while to get a good look at how my contractions were coming (they were not in any set pattern). Two hours later @ 12:30 the doctor I used with my first came in and she broke my water and told me that when I wanted the epidural to just ask.
Ten minutes later the nurse came in and was going to hook up the pitocin since she thought my contractions weren’t getting started. I was going to tell her I wanted to wait off on the pit because I knew they were coming and were getting stronger and more regular but then she realized I was having one again after just having one like 3 mins or lees before that one. So she said "okay we can wait and see if they keep picking up." I already had my husband there but I called my mom to let her know the contractions were getting faster and a lot stronger. She was going to be there for the birth and was on her way there from work.
An hour later she got there and I was trying to hold off from getting the epidural for as long as possible because I didn’t want it to interfere with me having a vaginal birth (my 1st was a C-section because they gave me the epidural to early). The contractions had gotten unbearable and very close together, like back to back with 30 seconds or lees between. I called to the nurse and told them I wanted it. They called the guy who does it and he was "on his way." An hour later, he still wasn't there and I was dieing! They had paged him 3 times already and I was at 9cm.
When the nurse checked me and I was at 9 she should have paged the doctor but she was so worried about me being in so much pain she wanted me to have the epidural. In truth if she would have just got the doc there and let me push him out I would have been fine. Well the doc for the epidural got there (@ 2:15) and they sat me up to do it and I told them (well maybe told isn’t the right word lol I kind of yelled at them) "he's coming out!!" The anesthesiologist said we could do the epidural with me lying on my side, so that how it was done (@225). They always send the family out of the room when they do it. So when they let my husband back in the room he got very angry at the anesthesiologist for cracking jokes about "only being here for moral support."
James and my mom were at the end of the bed while the nurses were setting things up for the birth (all the while I'm still laying there in a LOT of pain). James looked up at me and realized the baby was coming out! He was like "Hey! Uhmmm Uhmmm!" Pointing at me. The nurse yelled and said "Pull that table over here!" James slung it out of the lil room they keep all the stuff in to her. She told me to push then a second later to stop so she could clean his mouth and nose out. Then a tiny push again had him out! The nurse delivered him before the doctor could even make it in the room. By the time the doctor made it they already had him off of my belly to the warmer and were cleaning him the rest of the way and doing all the stuff they do. I told the doc when she got there she missed the party and she was like "I can see that." All she had to do was deliver the placenta. I was perfectly fine after he was out. He was born at 2:37pm. 2 hours and 5 mins after the water was broke. The epidural didn’t even have time to do anything. I was full able to move my legs and felt every inch of Adam come out. After he was out, I sat up and the nurse pulled it out, saying something along the lines of "a lot of good this did ya."
So well I guess it went well as far as no complications or anything like that.

Well, I have written enough for now. I need to go fix the zoo crew here some lunch before the decide to raid the fridge themselves(oh what a mess! I shudder at the thought!)!