James 1:17

T-Ball

2011-06-17T07:57:00.000-05:00

Bekah did t-ball in May. It was a short 4 week program to help introduce kids to T-ball. I'm not sure who was more excited - Mommy or Bekah. (Okay..I think it was Mommy). I loved t-ball when I was a kid and was excited to share that with her.

We went out and got her a glove and bat and batting T to practice. (Of course the bat, ball and glove are in pink!) We played a few times but Bekah can be a bit of a perfectionist and if it doesn't come easily the first time or two she wants to give up.

After realizing that she wasn't an instant success she decided she didn't want to go "because I'm not good at it." We tried to explain to her that none of the kids would be good at it and they were all there to learn. The first week was hard. She didn't want to leave my side at first and didn't want to participate. The coaches eventually got her to participate though and by the fourth (and last day) she was all gun-ho. Wish they would have had another session but we will have to wait until next year. We still play at home though sometimes so perhaps next year she will be much more confident.

Although I told Bekah none of the kids would be "good" at it yet I learned I was wrong. Keep in mind these are 4 and 5 year olds yet there was one little boy who either had a dad and older brothers that worked with him or else a whole lot of natural talent. His form was impressive for throwing and catching and he was one of the few who figured out how to catch the ball in his glove. Another mom and I joked that if he could sign his name we should get his autograph now as we could see some great potential in his future!

Oops...mommy wasn't paying attention!

2011-06-16T07:50:00.001-05:00

Recently on one of our beautiful sunny days I was outside talking with the neighbors while the kids were playing. After a while Bekah went inside to get a drink and Lizzie followed. I heard Bekah yell, "Mommy, Lizzie needs help!" but didn't respond right away. I finished my conversation then went inside. This is what I found...

Yes, that is Desitin Lizzie has smeared all over her face. She thought it was lotion and was quite proud of herself. Not only did she put the lotion on but she had climbed up on top of the changing table without help. Have you ever tried to clean up Desitin off of your skin? It's oily and does NOT remove quickly. (I'm sure that is what makes it work so well!) When it's on my hands I use super hot water and a lot of dish soap--however, that was not an option with Lizzie's face! It took many, many warm washcloths. The rest of the day her face was oily and smelled like Desitin.

Next time Bekah tells me Lizzie needs help I will respond a little quicker. Lesson Learned!

One-liners by Bekah

2011-06-15T07:49:00.000-05:00

Last night I asked Bekah to get her pajamas on; and then I asked her again...and again....and again. (Isn't it sad how at four one can already be losing her hearing?) Eventually she looked up from what she was doing and said "Mommy, you're giving me a headache!"

How does one explain to a four year old that more than likely it's the other way around and the best way to avoid two headaches would be for her to listen -- the first time???

I find amusement in Bekah's one liners--even when she is being sassy- it's hard sometimes to keep a straight face, I think part of why they are so funny to me is that she isn't trying to be funny but is just being quite serious.

Examples...(This happened a while ago but it's one I haven't forgotten because it is just so "Bekah") When putting away the playdough I asked her to put the containers back in the long tube they came in. Her response? "Mom it's not a tube, it's a cylinder!" She is much like her daddy and can be quite black and white. She likes to be exact in her description of things and will correct you quickly if she disagrees. Yet she also has a vivid imagination and loves to pretend and create stories.

One day when she was having a tough day I told her that if a certain behavior continued she would have a consequence. Her response? "No, thank you. Those are not my favorite!"

Another day after having received a consequence of a swat on the butt she looked at me and stated "I'm wiping that off and starting over." Seriously, how does one not laugh at these times? It's so hard!!!

Another recent favorite was when I once again had to remind her that consequences would follow bad choices and she said to me, "Mom, you just ruined a perfectly good day!"

Hmm, as I re-read this I realized that many of these occur during times of discipline. I know there are many others but I seem to remember these the most...perhaps because they strike me as humorous in a not so humorous situation.

I recently got this storage bench at a garage sale. It was a good deal and I've been wanting one for a while now. The first day we had it Bekah said she was going to nap on it. I tried to explain to her that it wouldn't be comfortable. It was hard and small and nothing like a bed. But she was insistent. Finally I was like okay, thinking she would lay on it for a few minutes and decide it uncomfortable. However, by the time I came back from laying Lizzie down she was fast asleep. She ended up sleeping for a couple of hours all scrunched up on this hard wooden bench. I have a feeling she did so just to prove her mama wrong! lol

Funny Girls

2011-05-09T20:19:00.000-05:00

I know it's not possible but I wish I could remember every funny / cute saying or action my girls do. I guess this blog is going to have to be my memory for me. :) I often will write things on facebook as they happen but they only save your comments for so long so need to remember to come here and write them for myself.

The day after my last post Bekah was talking about marriage again and I told her she was too young but we could talk when she was 25. Her response..."But mommy, I can already talk!"

Currently they are "square dancing" -- their version which consists of putting four square papers on the floor and dancing around them! :) So creative that Bekah is!

Innocence...

2011-05-05T14:24:00.000-05:00

I hope my girls remain "innocent" for a long time. I love that we are able to keep their lives fairly simply at this point.

Last night while watching a Disney movie the two main characters held hands for the first time and Bekah said "Awwww, they are going to get married!" :)

Today while playing with a friend who is a boy - she said to him "I want to marry you - hold my hand!"

We had their first dentist appointment today for both girls. They both did a great job. No cavities for either one and overall look really good. Yay!

Overheard...

2011-02-24T13:14:00.000-06:00

I heard Bekah playing with her dolls today and listened in on the following conversation....

Baby doll: "Mommy, Mommy, stay home with Daddy and me."

Mommy doll: "No, I have to go to work."

Baby doll: "Please Mommy, stay home and play with me."

Mommy doll: "Do you want to eat?"

Sigh..... the cold, hard facts of life - do they have to learn them so young?

Bekah's Eating

2011-02-10T09:27:00.000-06:00

Myth = Eating is easy

Truth: Eating is the MOST complex physical task that human beings engage in. It is the ONLY human task which requires every one of your organ systems, and requires that those systems work correctly. In addition, EVERY muscle in the body is involved (one swallow for example, takes 26 muscles and 6 cranial nerves to coordinate). Plus, eating is the only task children do which requires simultaneous coordination of all eight of our sensory systems.

Many of you have heard me talk about Bekah's eating issues. We aren't really sure why she has issues - we are assuming it was because it was the numerous bouts of stomach flu she had as an infant that caused these negative reactions to food. We could be wrong though and it could be something totally different. We may never know. Bekah at this time can't really articulate the whys and by the time she is able to she may not know herself.

We enrolled her in an SOS feeding program (Sequential Oral Sensory) which was developed by Kay A. Toomey. She did very well in this program and while she is not eating a huge amount of new foods she has added some and is growing and developing as she should. When we started she would eat some fruits, orange cheese, chicken ring nuggets (only the ring shaped), some cereal, PB&J sandwiches and a few other things. Certain foods would make her scream, tantrum and/or vomit just by looking at it. There were days where she would just see me take something out of the cupboard to start making it for dinner and would just have a total melt down. Those issues are gone. She will now tolerate most food on her plate-though she remains quite adamant that she is not eating that. Since the therapy she will now eat cheese pizza, yogurt, mozzarella cheese, pickles, raisins, and a few other items. In the last few months she has begun to eat "regular" chicken nuggets. (It was almost silly the emotions I felt the first time we went to McDonalds and was able to order her a regular Happy Meal).

The cheese pizza was a huge process that took almost 8 months. We started with baking just some plain crusts with a little bit of butter on it. I had her help and see what it was. She has always liked garlic so it was not a big step to make it garlic butter on the crust. Adding cheese took a long time. She liked cheese but could not tolerate melted cheese. It took several times of having her put the cheese on and then watching it melt while in the oven for her to feel safe enough to take a bite. After that we began to add a smidgen of sauce and slowly increased it. Today she will eat most any cheese pizza and now will even share a pizza with Lizzie that has veggies and pepperoni or sausage on half.

Through this process I have "met" many people that are going through similar issues. Most of them are via the Internet and we have shared many emails encouraging each other and swapping stories. God has also brought people right here in my hometown with similar issues which has been such a blessing. It allows one to find humor in the journey and knowing that we are not alone or that it is an issue of "bad parenting" is comforting - to say the least.

One of my 'online buddies' sent me this video. I can't believe I missed this but will add this in here so if interested you can see a little of what Bekah deals with. ABC - Extremely Picky Eaters Struggle

Bekah's Birthday

2011-02-09T14:03:00.000-06:00

Rebekah celebrated her 4th birthday in December (yes, I'm late getting the pictures out)! I can't believe it has been 4 years since she was born...it's been so fun watching her grow.

We started the day, bright and early, by making cupcakes. Bekah loves to help cook in the kitchen and has gotten quite talented at adding ingredients, cracking eggs and stirring them all together. We did cupcakes as they were quicker to do since time was limited.

While the cupcakes were baking we blew up balloons and decorated. After all one can't have a party without decorations and balloons! The more balloons the better. I had bought a big bag of balloons at the dollar store - lesson learned! :) lol About 1/3 of them were unusable due to holes or being malformed. However, I do believe it was still cheaper in the long run then buying super expensive balloons and having them all work!

Around 10:30 AM several of her little friends showed up - we had 12 kids in total - 11 of those 4 and under. Praise God three of the moms stayed and helped. Thanks ladies!!!

Bekah loves to do arts and crafts so when I asked her what she wanted to do at her birthday party she quickly responded "Paint!" Oh Boy! So I purchased some frames for $1 each at Michael's and some decorative items to add on there as well as paint and paint brushes. I also picked up some plastic table clothes at the dollar store.

I wasn't sure what to expect - that many children in my small house with paint. But I must say they all did a great job. There was no paint spilled on the floor and it was all on the plastic table cover. Kid's clothes were relatively clean (Yes, I did warn parents and told them to come in 'get dirty' clothes). I learned a few lessons as well though: First - don't give kids every color of paint - I think most of the kids went home with army green/gray frames as they mixed all the colors together. Later we had extra frames and I gave Lizzie and Bekah just two colors each (two that when mixed, would make another pretty color). :) Oh well - live and learn. My second lesson learned is that kids do crafts in variable amounts of time. Bekah is one who can sit for well over an hour working on something...not so much with other 2, 3 and 4 year olds. However, the ones that were done early did a great job cleaning up and playing nicely while the others finished.

After painting we had pizza - and let it be know that three Jack's pizza will feed 4 mom's and 12 kids! :) And of course cupcakes! Bekah wanted green and pink so we got some "spray" frosting in those colors and she sprayed each one after I frosted it with a white base. If I was really nifty like Amanda over at I Am Baker I could have been much more creative with the cake...but alas - it is not my gift!: ) Pink cupcakes with pink and green frosting.

I believe a good time was had by all! :) Bekah loved creating the frames and still talks about it. One thing about winter birthdays is you can't really have them outside. Going to Chuck E Cheese's is just way beyond our price range (do you know they charge about $18 PER KID for a party there and you get a slice of pizza, a pop and a piece of cake with a few tokens for each one!) So I need to put on my creative hat and start thinking up many more ideas for the future. Anyone want to share some???

Bedtime Stories

2011-02-05T20:43:00.000-06:00

Usually we read stories to the girls before bed. Tonight Bekah (age 4 years 1 month) created and told her own:

Once upon a time there was a princess. Her name was Bekah. She lived in a big castle and had a pink egg. Inside the egg was a baby dragon. One day the dragon hatched. Bekah named the dragon Zoey. She (Zoey) roared very loudly. They lived very happy. The end!

How to get a 3 year old to pick up the living room...

2011-01-07T12:34:00.001-06:00

Rebekah loves the Wii - LOVES the Wii! Before she turned four she had mastered several of the games. Her favorites are on the Wii sports resort game which came with the Wii. She likes a few of the games on the Wii Fit but I don't need her getting focused in on weighing in at this point in her life. We haven't purchased any of the "kids" games yet but if anyone has any recommendations we are willing to listen.

Anyway, often after dinner, Bekah asks to play the Wii with Daddy or myself. One night I told her there just wasn't room because of all the toys on the floor. Next thing I knew she was picking up all those toys and putting them away! Whoo hoo. So far it has worked just about every time. Sometimes she states she can't do it all - which is understandable...we have too many toys and certainly need to go through them...again. But she does do it - without complaining and we do help her as it's only fair. :)

She also certainly has the gift of encouragement. Since she can beat me often you can hear her saying "Come on Mommy, you can do it!" I do believe that is one of her gifts - words of encouragement.

Kayaking

How to keep kids busy...

2011-01-06T12:12:00.002-06:00

I love Fisher Price Little People. If I had my way we would have every set and all the accessories - however, we don't have the $$ or the space or do my kids have that much interest in them. However, I did get the Fisher Price Nativity scene. Bekah also got another one as a Birthday Gift so we have two. Fisher Price also has a little Drummer Boy set, a Three Wisemen set, and a Bethlehem Inn set (Fisher Price Nativity. They all connect to each other and are a great way to tell the Christmas story and have a manger scene that toddlers can handle without fear.

I pulled out the sets this year and put them out on the table. For the next two hours the three kiddos were busy with this set. They shared (it helped that I had two mangers and Ricky just wanted to put the trees together) and set up their scenes and did their imaginative play. For a while the only noise would be the songs of Away in the Manger and Drummer Boy (since the pieces play those songs). They have been a favorite all season and I will be sad to see them go back into storage. However, I think one of the reasons it was a favorite is that it was "new" to them so it will be "new" again next year, and the next, and the next....

There were a few extras in the cast - Mickey, Minnie and Strawberry Shortcake all participated.

Even Mickey worships Jesus! :)

These make me happy!

2011-01-05T14:58:00.002-06:00

I love the look of the Department 56 houses. I've been collecting them for years - mostly back before I children, and had money and space! We put them up the first year of our marriage 5 years ago but haven't put them up since. I was determined to get some of them up this year. A house down the street had them up on their kitchen cabinets last year. I stole the idea from them. I saw them through their windows one night while we were on a walk and thought they looked great up there! The only disadvantage of having them up so high is you can't put out all the little accessories. Well, you could but you wouldn't really see them. It was a lot of work. Not sure when they will come down. Recently a friend of mine told me that she had put hers up on her cabinets and ended up keeping them up there for 3 years. Do I dare?

" I'm Not Tired!"

2011-01-04T12:56:00.001-06:00

The other day when it was time for rest time Bekah declared that she wasn't tired. I told her she needed to sit in the red chair and rest anyway. I did give in to her pleas for a "Gogurt" (which is yogurt in a tube). A few minutes later I looked over at her and she was sound asleep with the yogurt tube still in her mouth. Reason #287 as to why you don't believe a three year old when they say they are not tired! :)

State Fair--Oops - forgot to post this!

2011-01-03T17:13:00.000-06:00

It's that time of year - State Fair time - Back to school time - although since I have no school age children and am no longer teaching it doesn't hold quite the same meaning.
We had a pretty good time at the Fair - the kids were amazed at all the sights and sounds and the baby cows! I didn't take many pictures. Not sure why - perhaps it was just too hot! It was a sunny clear day and we stopped in the shade any chance we got. I think both the girls enjoyed the parade the most - followed by the animals. Although the food was a big hit. One advantage of it being so hot is that you don't really want to eat anything. We shared some some smoothies which were delicious and nice and cool.

Here baby cow...come here...

That Sun is Bright!

Shade, shade - we took it anywhere we could get it!

Looking Cool - or trying to...

Lizzie is Two!

2011-01-03T16:56:00.000-06:00

Lizzie turned "2" on November 14th. We were to have a Birthday party for her that weekend, however, due to snow and me being sick we ended up canceling it...again. (For those that don't remember we had to cancel hers last year due to both girls and Les having H1N1). I see a habit forming here - and I'm pretty sure I don't like this one!

However, on her birthday Grandma Sherry and Grandpa Jim came up and visited. They stayed in a hotel with a pool which we were able to use. The pool was quite chilly but the hot tub was fabulous!

OW!

The Flash is TOO bright!

After the pool we got dressed and Grandma and Grandpa treated us all to dinner at Cuzzy's - a new restaurant in town. The food was quite good and I am sure we will be back. Grandma Sherry and I shared a pizza - they say they are for one but the two of us had some left over so be warned!

What is that???

They brought out the wrong pizza so instead of the tiny little individual birthday brownie they normally do they brought out this HUGE Sundae. Lizzie was in heaven! (And Bekah didn't mind either). It took all of us to make a dent it and I'm pretty sure we wiped it clean! Should have taken an after picture!

Hamming it up for the camera!


Faster Grandpa!

After that we headed home and opened presents! That was the best part! lol

Lizzie loves to walk like a penguin and will say "Waddle, waddle, waddle" as she does. I'm not sure how she started that but as a result she received many penguin items and more are coming for Christmas!

Because of the huge sundae we had at the restaurant no one wanted cake that night so we had it the next night - which was just fine - we could celebrate our birthdays everyday!!!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-30T16:29:00.000-06:00

We had a nice quiet Thanksgiving at home - just the four of us. That's nice sometimes...I still would prefer all the family around (more hands with the clean - up lol) but sometimes it is nice to be with just your family. It seems that even with the kids little our time with just the four of us is limited. I can't imagine how it is when they get older and get involved in all their activities!

Bekah was a big help in the kitchen. She loves to help cook. She didn't eat anything she made - with the exception of the cranberries. Those are her "favorite", she says. Lizzie at it all - she will munch on just about anything - if she's hungry. They both had no problem with the pie though. :) It was a hit with everyone!

We got to meet Buzz!

2010-11-29T14:48:00.001-06:00

We got to meet Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story and we didn't even have to go to Disney World. He came and visited our local community center one Saturday morning. Bekah was pretty excited to see him but Lizzie wanted no part of him - at least at first. She did eventually wave from a distance but we never got her close enough for a picture. They had several crafts to do like creating an alien headband, making a Woody paper doll and putting Buzz into space - which involved a lot of glitter. (Thank goodness I didn't have to clean that up - 50+ toddlers and elementary students with many large canisters of glitter makes for a very sparkly floor!). They also served Toy Story crackers and lemonade which may have been the biggest hit of all! :) Both the girls love crafts so this was the perfect event for them. Thanks CCC!

Hmmmm Fresh Corn on the Cob

2010-11-07T06:39:00.000-06:00

Yummmm Fresh corn on the cob - I think it was the best I ever had this year! Enough said!

Mother's Day Gift

2010-11-06T07:08:00.001-05:00

So...I know that Mother's day was a long time ago...but I'm trying to play catch-up here. :) We don't have a lot of storage in our kitchen which could be a source of frustration at times. So for mother's day Les and Bekah built some shelves to hold all those kitchen "extras" that are nice to have but don't use everyday. Our garage is in the back of the house so the door in the kitchen goes out into our garage. We have a landing to walk out onto and then stairs to the right that go down into the garage. On the left is a tall empty wall which Les (with the help of Bekah) put up several shelves to hold all these extras. It helped free up three cupboards in the kitchen/dining room. Yay! Someday I WILL be organized someday! :)

Chickens are our friends....right?

2010-11-05T07:15:00.000-05:00

Not too far from our house is a nursery which hosts a farmer's market each week as well as has a small petting zoo and playground for the kids. We went out there one evening to explore and get some fresh produce. The girls had fun running around. Bekah wasn't sure about the petting zoo but Lizzie - our fearless child - seemed to bond with one of the chickens. I'm not so sure what kind it is but the chicken just hopped right out of the cage and followed Lizzie around - even to the play ground. Not sure if it was hoping for food or just has a fondness for little ones. :) Lizzie thought it all quite amusing and danced around the chick.

While we were there I had taken some cash out of my purse and put it in my pocket so I could buy some yummies at the farmer's market. After walking around and deciding what we wanted I went to get the cash out it was gone! I checked every pocket and retraced our steps multiple times looking for it. It was a windy day and other people around so I figured it had either blown into the waist-high weeds around the sides. I was bummed thinking I would have to go home empty-handed. We went and played in the playground and played with the chicken some more when I noticed something on the ground. It was three dollars folded up. It wasn't my money and there was no one else around so I was pretty excited that I would be able to get some fresh green peppers since ours were not yet ready in our garden. I went back out front and bought the peppers and a fresh lemon and headed back to the car. As I got in I looked into my purse and there was my money sitting right on top! Not sure how that happened but it was a great reminder that God provides! PTL!

Neighborhood Fun

2010-11-04T13:13:00.000-05:00

Remember summer? It was here not too long ago. It was a great summer! As the kids have gotten older it has become much easier to go places and do all sorts of things. We took many trips to area parks but we have a great neighborhood with many children so most of our days were just spent playing outside with them. Both of our neighbors each have two kids as well - all around the same age so it was fun to get to know the other moms and dads as well as let our kids get to know each other and play and explore.

We all had some type of water play toys so we took turns pulling them out and letting the other kids play. Even after dinner the toys would come out and one house and soon all the kids would be there. That was nice because then the dads had a chance to join in and play too. As mom we are fortunate because we all work part-time so get to spend most of our days home with the kiddos.

Garage Sale Treasure!

2010-07-01T13:56:00.000-05:00

Who knew that $4 can buy a treasure? We pulled up to a garage sale and I saw this sitting on the side of the driveway. Bekah was all excited about the picnic table but I told her it probably wasn't for sale. We got up and looked at it and sure enough there was a price tag on it - $4.00. I was so surprised! I asked the people..."Really? $4.00?" It was! Sold! We've had a few picnics since then with the neighbor kids and I am sure many more to come!

Memorial Day

2010-06-08T10:44:00.000-05:00

We didn't have any big plans for Memorial Day. So on Sunday night I called a friend and we decided to meet up at a local park/beach. We have some awesome parks and beaches around here filled with great playgrounds. We got there about 10 AM and it was surprisingly empty .We played for a while..slides, swings, tire swings, digging, zip lines, bouncing things and a lot of equipment to climb. After about an hour of that we were hungry so ate a picnic lunch and then headed to the beach.

Lizzie wasn't so sure about the lake. It was pretty cold still and filled with a lot of algae and the occasional fish - much different from her bath water! She was fine being out there as long as she was cuddled. The girl holding her in the picture is my God daughter - I have a picture of her about 10 years ago when she was about Lizzie's age at that same beach on Memorial Day! Man, has time flown!!!

Bekah wasn't too keen on the water much either. She went out with me once but was a little too cold for her liking. She did, however, have a blast playing in the sand with daddy and on her own. She also thoroughly enjoyed playing with the shower they have on the beach to wash off the sand - she just kept filling up her bucket and carrying it to water the sand.

Rain brings Rainbows!

2010-06-07T15:54:00.000-05:00

What does one do when you have many small children and it's rainy and windy and cold outside? You make your own rainbows of course. My good friend Amanda is quite famous for her rainbow pancakes. We have done pink flower pancakes at our house before but never the full rainbow. So when we had a rainy, gray day I thought what a perfect day to make our own rainbows. The kids got to help a little but still too small to work on the electric griddle. (If you want to see really, glorious vivid rainbow pancakes {or even a rainbow cake} you need to check out Amanda's blog. She rocks at not only photographing food and her super cute children but also is a semi-pro baker so uses top of the line food coloring to get super vivid colors.

All the kids super enjoyed the pancakes. It was a fun treat but not one we will do often - besides the amount of dishes it created and the time it took to make a gazillion small pancakes the diapers the next day were not so friendly! :)

Note: I'm so proud - see my girls - they are eating their fruit first and then their pancakes!!! Such healthy eaters! :) lol

Sunday School Picnic

2010-06-01T12:29:00.002-05:00

We recently attended our church's Sunday School picnic. We held it at a local park. It was an afternoon of good old-fashioned fun!

Rebekah and Les participated in the three-legged race. They did pretty well together despite the height difference. I think they may have come in last but that's okay - as the youngest (and maybe the oldest) participants out there the fact that they didn't fall was pretty good! :) lol

After the three legged race was the race in the burlap sacks. (I'm sure there is a name for it but it is escaping me right now!) Rebekah tried hard but she and the other 3/4 year olds had the same problem where they would jump but not move their sack so eventually they would just about jump right out of their sack. I do have some fun video of it but at this time I can't figure out how to put it up here. (I used to have a nifty little button that said "Add video" that I would hit but it has gone and I dont' know how to do it anymore. If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear from you!)

After that we played tug-a-war. I took pictures, Les anchored one end with Rebekah's help...

...and Lizzie coached everyone along making sure everyone did their share! lol

After games and eating our fill the big excitement was watching the fish. The fish are very used to being fed at this dock so if they see anyone up on the dock they will come right up - literally hundreds of them. Which is great for them if they are just being fed...not so great if it's a fisherman!

It's been so wonderful to be outside - I'm trying to enjoy each day but as I keep adding items to my calendar it just reminds how quickly these summer days go and before you know it winter will be here!!!

Hope you are all able to get out and enjoy the sun - soak up that Vitamin D! :) lol

Menu Plan Monday

2010-05-31T20:57:00.000-05:00

I know it's been a while since I have posted my menus. I have been doing them...most weeks. It really does help to save money and make shopping easier if I know what I am going to have. I try to sit down with my coupons and ads to see what is on sale and make my menu off of that. It does help save a lot of money!

Check out I'm An Organizing Junkie to get more menu ideas!

Monday: Picnic Lunch at the Beach
Dinner: Turkey Salad w/ Cherries and Walnuts

Tuesday: Firecracker Chicken

Wednesday: Crock Pot roast w/ veggies

Thursday: Chicken Sandwiches, herb-roasted oven fries

Friday: Taco Salad

Saturday: Lunch: Pancakes and sausage
Dinner: Buffalo Sliders, chips, veggies

Sunday: Unknown for lunch but we always have Pizza for dinner so that's nice! :)

More Cake! :)

2010-05-27T17:49:00.003-05:00

Rebekah was recently invited to some friends' birthday party. Robby and Will are twins who turned five. Sadly our whole family was hit with a super nasty stomach bug and was not able to make it. She was pretty disappointed as she is still really "into" birthdays - I mean really, what 3 year old isn't? Cake, presents, balloons, games? Life doesn't get any better.

So I made her a promise that once we were all better we would have them over and have a party for them at our house. "With a cake?" of course.

Bekah wanted another purse cake but I told her that five year old boys were probably not real excited about a purse cake so we headed to the computer and looked through many, many cakes where she decided on a car one. Thank goodness I still had my friend's round cake pans since I hadn't bought any for myself yet (Thanks Julie!) So we made them this race track. We got the cars but I wasn't thinking clearly and chose brown and green cars to put on a brown and green cake. Should have gone with red and yellow to show up a bit more - but the kids didn't care so I'm not going to stress about it. :)

Will and Robby - big smiles before cutting the cake!

Robby and Bekah enjoying every bite (and the green tongues it gave them)

Lizzie enjoyed the cake too...she mixed it right in with her pizza...mmm yum!

What is that? Or things we do for our kids!

2010-05-26T19:44:00.002-05:00

Can you guess what this is - Yes, it's food - it's edible...

Does this picture help?

Yes - it's black spaghetti. Pasta continues to be one of the most negative foods for Rebekah so we are working with her on making it a little more "fun" for her. I recently took Rebekah to the pasta aisle at Super Target and told her she could choose any type of pasta to try. I thought for sure she would go for the Mickey shaped pasta, or the daisies, or the letters - or maybe even the little O's but nope - not my daughter - she marched right over and picked the black spaghetti. She declared it "my favorite" (I'm not sure she quite has the understanding of that yet).

So I thought - what the heck...I'll try it. I didn't bother looking at any recipes. I just cooked it like spaghetti as per the instructions on the back and while it didn't look too appetizing to us it did taste just like regular spaghetti. Once you covered it with the red sauce it wasn't so bad.

Of course - she didn't eat any. She did touch it though and tried slurping it which is a huge step. If you remember when we started this at one point when pasta would touch her lips she would vomit almost instantly. She still hasn't eaten any pasta but is much more tolerant of it.

I found out later it's colored with either squid ink or cuttlefish ink. I think I'm glad I didn't know that before hand. I recently looked online to see what others were saying about it and found an Italian recipe blog that made it look a little more appetizing...but it still doesn't look like something I would make on a regular basis. Feel free to check it out at lucullian delights.

Minnesota Weather Confusion

2010-05-25T19:39:00.001-05:00

** Another post written a while back!

We live in MN - a land of 10,000 lakes and weather that changes every few minutes - or so it seems some days. It's hard to be three in MN and after months and months of having to wear coats and boots and hats and mittens and scarves and layers upon layers to suddenly be free from all that. We finally had a nice warm day after a cold, cold winter. We loved playing outside but Bekah just was not sure about being out there without boots. It's hard to give up those habits. She wanted to wear her coat too but after figuring out it didn't fit over the wings she was content to go outside without it.

Grandma's Birthday

2010-05-25T02:47:00.000-05:00

***Note: I wrote this post long ago. Then I got a few questions asking why I didn't blog anymore. Low and behold instead of posting my blogs I have just been saving them so I will get them out for my few dedicated readers.

My mom came to visit in late march - once again she was willing to spend her birthday with us. Rebekah is really into birthdays these days and is always asking when someones birthday is. I found a site online that has a gazillion (well, maybe hundreds) of birthday cake ideas - some with video. Bekah and I would sit and watch them make these fun cakes.

When I told her Grandma was going to be her for her birthday her response was ... "We have to make her a birthday cake!" I asked her "What kind of cake would you like to make her?" "A purse cake," was her reply. So we went online and found a video that taught us how to do the "purse cake". Of course I didn't have the right pans for it but a friend was coming to visit that day and I called her quick and asked her if she had two 8 inch round cake pans --( I mean really, how does one NOT have round cake pans???) She came through for me (thanks Julie- I promise I'll get them back to you...someday!)

Bekah and I made the cake. She is a great stirrer and loves to dump the ingredients in. She is finally getting the concept that you have to cook the food. (When we first started baking together as soon as the ingredients were mixed and in the pan she wanted to eat it - thinking it was done.)

We had to wait a day to decorate it until I got the rest of the ingredients and had time but I think it turned out pretty cute! :) Bekah was thrilled with it and still talks about it. It was pretty tasty too although I wasn't quite sure how to cut it. It's not the quality of Amanda's cake over at I Am Baker - no secret surprises inside and yes - it came out of a box but I'm still pretty happy with it. Plus Mom and Bekah liked it so that's all that matters...right?

Here's mom with her cake. In case you're wondering why it looks like we gave Grandma a memory game and snowman coloring book let me assure you - we didn't. We got her a strawberry pot (which Bekah gave the secret away) so hopefully she will have fresh strawberries this summer. My friend that was coming over brought some Christmas presents for the girls that they never received. We were to go to their house for Christmas Eve but we had a terrible snow storm so ended up staying home and this was the first chance we had to get together - only three months late!

Easter Sunday

2010-04-15T21:59:00.000-05:00

"They" predicted rain for Easter Morning. As the week progressed "they" kept changing, and changing and changing...and sure enough we awoke on Easter AM to beautiful sunny blue skies and warm weather. I was so thrilled - a perfect day to celebrate the risen Christ!

Okay - I have to admit - I was also thrilled that my girls could wear their cute little Easter dresses and sandels without having to bundle them up. (It still is sometimes all about me! lol)

After a glorious Easter service where God was glorified again and again we traveled north to a friend's house for Easter dinner. Kathy is the mother of one of my dearest friends - Julie. For the past 20+ years I have been welcomed in their homes and lives for numerous holiday and personal celebrations. For many of those years I spent those celebrations chasing and playing with one or all of my four godchildren. That day there was a little bit of payback occuring as I got to sit and chat with the adults while my godchildren entertained my little ones!

My girls love to be outside. They kept the kids busy going in and out of the doors - Lizzie only tried to walk through the deck screen once. :) Quick learner.

They had an egg hunt for the kids. Bekah LOVED it. She has a good eye and found many more than she was supposed to so we snuck some into Lizzie's basket so it was fair. She didn't mind as long as she could keep looking.

"Grandma Kathy" bought them each Easter baskets. Bekah's was a brown puppy dog; Lizzie's was a hippo. What was so funny was that Bekah's "security" is a brown puppy she calls "Favorite Puppy" and Lizzie's nighttime friend is a Hippo - how's that for perfect!

Rebekah was a bit overwhelmed when we first got there because there were many face she didn't know - many of those people she was meeting for the first time. She spent the first half hour on Daddy's lap and then once she realized some of the other kids were watching Aladdin she started poking her head out. Lizzie, on the other hand, is not shy at all. She just would walk around and around saying "hi" to all and sitting on any lap that would let her. Once Bekah warmed up though she was fine to be away from us for periods of time. Her favorite time - after the egg hunt, of course - was telling Carly what to draw in chalk. (In case you couldn't tell in the last pic that is our family! Bekah, of course, is covering up the pic of Lizzie!)

I hope you all had a fabulous Easter!

Palm Sunday

2010-04-15T14:30:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite parts about Palm Sunday (besides the reason we celebrate) is seeing the children walk down the aisles at church waving their palm branches and shouting "Hosanna!" There is something so innocent and precious about it that I just am drawn in. I remember being pregnant with Rebekah and thinking someday my child will be doing that -- and this past Palm Sunday - she did! :) It was so great to walk with her up the aisle - both of us waving our palm branches and saying "Hosanna!" The children stayed up front as the choir sang - waving their branches.

She seemed to really enjoy it at first, however, as it went on I could see her start to "shut down". She starts to get overwhelmed after a while. I have talked to her food therapist about this who is also an Occupational Therapist. She believes that Rebekah's sensory processing abilities are more limited then an average child. I don't fully understand it myself but we are learning. From what I understand most of us have a certain level that we can get to without being annoyed. Then there is an area above that that allows us to tolerate above that for a certain amount of time. Rebekah's "time" is limited at that level. So one thing they work with her on is supposed to help her extend this time. We have seen some improvement over the time we have been working with her.

As you can see by the second picture after a while she "shut down". She enjoys the noise and movements and people for a while and then it just gets to be a bit too much for her. She does well at taking a "time out" for herself. We have noticed that when she starts to get overwhelmed she will remove herself and go do a quiet activity by herself for a while. In this type of situation that really isn't a option so after sitting down for a while she got up and came and sat on my lap but did stay in the sanctuary and watch until the song was finished and then walked out with the other children.

It certainly has been a lesson in patience for Les and I. So thankful we have each other to depend on as well as friends, family and of course, the Lord. Some days are filled with prayers!!! :)

Hope you all are well!

Funny Girl!

2010-04-05T23:55:00.000-05:00

Today Rebekah was crying and I asked her "Why are you crying?"

She was silent for a minute then looked up at me and said "I'm not crying...my eyes are watering."

Twice today I looked over and found Lizzie sitting in the middle of the dining room table. Yesterday she couldn't get up on the chair. Why are they growing so fast???

A Happier Post

2010-02-10T16:00:00.000-06:00

My Mother told me that my last post was sad. I didn't mean for it to be sad. Yes, I must admit it was a bit whiney. Perhaps wanting some sympathy was an underlying reason for posting - sympathy and understanding. I am thankful that I am healthy though. There are others out there in blog land that are dealing with sick kids while being sick themselves. I have been quite fortunate to have stayed fairly healthy this winter despite all the germs around me. Perhaps it was all the colds I had when I was little - maybe now I am immune to many of them. I once heard that you can only get a cold once but since there are over 900 varieties of them you don't have much chance of ever getting to a point where you are immune to them all. (Not sure how accurate that is - just one of those trivial pieces I read/heard somewhere and it's stuck with me).

So let's talk about what has been happy these past weeks. One nice thing about being sick is you have the right to the big red chair. It's in the center of the room and from that chair you can see pretty much the whole first floor of the house. It's also super comfy and great for cuddling. I spent the first two weeks in that chair after giving birth to my girls day and night.

Another great thing about being sick is comfort food. I know some people don't eat when they are sick while others get comfort from food. Last night Lizzie got her first ice cream cone. (They are little kiddie cones). She had no problem figuring out what to do with it. She thoroughly enjoyed every bite! Funny how I didn't find any "leftovers" in her chair or on the floor like I normally do after she is done eating.
Bekah always enjoys spending time on the floor with daddy. Playing toys, rolling around, or having horsey rides. It always reminds me of doing that with my dad. He was great about that and I am so happy to see my daughters building the same memories with their father.

Bekah received some games from a friend from church. She loves doing the shape/color game and we have spent quite a bit of time making rainbows. She is learning a lot about shapes and colors and is very good at sorting them out.

Earlier this month we headed out to Underwater World. I went with a friend with her three kids and I had my two plus R. Yep, six kids total - 2 4-year olds, 1 3-year old, 2 one-year olds and a 3 week old. It was an adventure but all the kids did a great job. They were all so fascinated with all the fish. For part of it you walk through a huge tube that goes through the huge tanks so the fish are swimming over head. Bekah and R were not too sure about that at first but soon got pretty excited about it all.We learned about all different types of fish, turtles and sting rays. We saw "Dory" and "Nemo" - actually many of them. Bekahs favorite though was the "Pocpopus" (or octopus depending upon how you want to pronounce it).

Lizzie is learning the fine art of dressing up. She thinks she is pretty cute - we happen to agree!

Mommy has learned that her memory is not always accurate. These are the owies that Lizzie received as she fell down the stairs. I remember them much worse than that. Sadly, Lizzie has NOT learned to be safe on the stairs all time. She does tend to be a bit of a daredevil. She loves to climb on EVERYTHING. She has even learned to move a small chair to where she wants to get to for step up. I'm not sure I want her learning that yet - if ever.

Mommy has been learning some new recipes. These are the chicken parmesan roll-ups I made a few weeks back. They do make a pretty dish.

Lizzie and Bekah are working hard on learning to share. So far they are doing a pretty good job! This was Rebekah sharing her ice cream with Lizzie. Now that's a good big sister to share even her Ice Cream!

They are becoming good buddies and it has been fun to seem them really start to interact. Here they are watching a movie together, "sharing" popcorn. (That worked by Bekah, every once in a while, popping a piece into Lizzie's mouth.) Lizzie is also learning to love books. It started with one that she got for Christmas. At first that was the only book she would read. Needless to say DH and I got sick of it pretty quick. Thankfully she has reached out and embraced other books now and I am thrilled that she loves to read just as much as her big sister and mommy.

Hope this was a happier post for you mom! :) (And everyone else. Don't mean to be a whiner!!!! :)

Hope you are all happy and healthy!

BTW - Girls are no better. Have a feeling we will be seeing our pediatrician tomorrow. God Bless!!!

PS. I don't know why some of my writings came out like links but I am too tired to try and fix it and Lizzie is demanding hugs and loves and that's WAY more important! :)

Again we are sick...

2010-02-09T10:23:00.000-06:00

Once again we have the ickies at our house. Lizzie, Bekah and DH are all sick - again. This has just been crazy. I am about ready to open our windows despite the cold and snow and get this icky, sicky air out of our house! Last night I think I slept maybe 1.5 hours total between the two girls. Bekah was the worst. She was complaining about her ear hurting but this morning said it was fine. I hate taking them in for every little thing. We will see how it goes for the day and if she's still not doing well I will take her in late this afternoon. I know of two families who have chicken pox though so I think I will be happy with the cough and cold. However, Bekah is not eating well but at least she is drinking. She has thrown up the last two nights after eating a small amount and drinking juice. Giving her mainly water now and some bland foods.

Bekah's therapy is going well. I struggle sometimes with the necessity of it. It's a lot of money and time and I often wonder if she is just really a picky eater but last week at therapy we were reaffirmed in our belief that it is more than just that and truly a sensory issue. Our therapist introduced noodles to her. She had cute noodles that looked like daisies but at first Rebekah would not even touch them. Then as C and I were building towers with them she eventually joined in and started playing with them. However, as soon as that noodle touched her lips she vomited. C, her therapist, was surprised at how quickly it happened. Bekah didn't gag or anything - just up it came. Poor thing. But she recovered nicely. Now that she is older she isn't so scared and we are able to more easily explain why she threw up. So we will keep moving on and keep working with her. Just praying that she is a fast learner! :) C did say that was a totally sensory reaction. Sometimes I am thinking it is maybe a good thing she doesn't like noodles. With a history of diabetes in the family it might be a good thing to not like!

I finally got Lizzie's 1 year pictures done despite the fact that she is already 14.5 months old!!! Just a tad behind. However, she had H1N1 on her first birthday, then it was the holidays and trying to get in to get pictures is just impossible. Then she had an ear infection. After that she fell down the stairs and got rug burn down one side of her face. As that started to heal she fell and cut her other cheek with a toy. Even though she was sick and snotty nosed I took her in. We got some cute ones. They aren't amazing but they will be a good memory and fun to scrapbook.

Now I just need to get Bekah in for her 3 year photos - hopefully sometime before she is four! :)

Hope all is well with each of you!

God Bless

Silly Bekah (and Menus)

2010-01-28T19:41:00.000-06:00

Today as we were getting into the van Rebekah pointed at the side of the van and said "There's snow all over my van". "No, honey," I said, "That's salt". Bekah responded "Oh." Then she pointed to some mud on the side and said "And pepper too!" :)

I have been doing menus the last two weeks but it's been a couple of weeks of "Cleaning out the Freezer" so nothing too exciting. Been feeding the family some box meals (like Lasagna, chicken nuggets, etc.) Not the healthiest but trying to add in lots of fruit and veggies. Next week I will post as I am hoping to add some items I haven't done in a while.

Lizzie's been fighting a cold the last couple of weeks again. No antibiotics this time. Just Tylenol and after three nights of being up all night with her a little bit of Benadryl. She seems to be feeling better though she has been doing two naps a day which would be nice except her naps are before and after Bekah's so I rarely have any "kid-free" time.

We've been doing okay with our toddler free time. It's a lot harder than I thought. We have done many different activities and right now 30 minutes is a long time for one activity for Bekah so I have been trying two 15 minute activities throughout the day and that seems to work better.

Have a great week!

Menu Plan Monday

2010-01-10T17:32:00.000-06:00

It's time again for my Menu for the week. I hope you made some time to check out her website. Be careful though - it could make you lose hours of your day!

First let me tell you about the recipes from last week. I made three new ones and they all were pretty good. The chicken parmesan bundles were my husband's favorite. They took a lot more work than any of the others but it was worth it. They were pretty yummy. I'm not a big spinach person and this had a little too much in it for me. I think next time I would not use the whole box - would still get the benefits of the spinach but the taste wouldn't be quite so strong.

The tortilla pie was awesome and I can see it being a common fixture on here. I used turkey meat instead of beef to help make it a little healthier (but then used sour cream and avocado as garnishes). I used tomatoes with green chili's to give it the Mexican taste but I think it would be just as good with Italian tomatoes for that Italian taste.

The salmon was the biggest surprise for me though. It was good! And that's huge as I don't like salmon. I know I should, I know it's healthy but I just have never, ever liked it. My MIL made a dish once that was okay but this was down right good. Will for sure make this again. The Citrus relish was super yummy. Elizabeth ate that. She wasn't so sure about the salmon but ate that right up! :) This is a relative easy dish that presents fancy!

For next week we are having:

Monday - Weeknight Lasagna Toss

Tuesday - Easy Baked Cheese and Vegetable Twist (I've made this before. It's a yummy, chilly night food. May serve with soup. I don't add mushrooms or tomatoes but do add in some turkey and maybe some carrots for more veggies.)

Wednesday - Awana night

Thursday - Taco Salad

Friday - Spicy Garlic Chicken (I use the box as a starter but we have found that it comes with a lot of sauce so I always add more veggies - water chestnuts, green peppers, red peppers, carrots and broccoli. It ends up doubling the amount of food almost without adding many calories or fat. I also will often make brown rice instead of the normal white rice if I am feeling healthy!)

Saturday - quiche I have used this recipe many, many times. Super quick and easy. I have done many variations of it - one of our favorites is broccoli with colby jack cheese. Be creative! :)

Sunday - Chicken in the crockpot

Hope you all have a good week!

The Things Kids Say...

2010-01-08T23:48:00.001-06:00

Tonight Rebekah tripped and said "Ow, my sock hurts!"

This morning she mentioned something about her daddy to someone at church. They asked where he was and she said "He runned away." (We are working on grammar). There is a little bit of truth in that...although somedays I am sure that he would prefer to just stay home and not have to "run away".

After Awana DH was driving the girls home and Rebekah was concerned because "Her house was lost - find it, daddy!" They did (it's all of three miles away!)

Just thought I would share a smile with you today.

Had our first family game night last night. It was great. Two games of CandyLand. DH won one, and Bekah won one. For some reason I am NOT good at Candyland. Watch out Bekah...someday you'll want to play Monopoly with Mommy! lol

Bekah wanted Lizzie to play too and was not easy to convince that Lizzie really didn't care. Someday...but last night it was more about eating her red gingerbread man.

TV Free Toddler Time

2010-01-04T15:37:00.000-06:00

A fellow blogger (mother of 9 and one on the way) has created a challenge for those of us with toddlers to set aside a minimum of 1/2 hour a day where the TV is off and we are focused on an activity. (I guess this would fall under my "FUN" resolution.) If we do 7 in a row we get on her weekly smiley face list! lol You know, it really is the little things. :)

Today Bekah and I played with her Tag Jr. She has several of the books but today we concentrated on her favorite one (at this time). She seems to love David Smells. It's a book about our senses. I know she's not really reading at this point but she certainly can tell you with almost 100% accuracy what each page says now. It's awfully cute.

After reading the book, over and over and over and over (well, you get the point) we did some of the worksheets that you can download from Leap Frog. Even with those she was able to mostly tell me what each said. It has been so fun to see her vocabulary just blossom these last few months. There was a period of time where I was concerned but no longer. "They" say the average three year old has an average of 300 words so one night a few days after her third birthday I sat down and made a list. In about an hour I had 301 and when I showed it to DH the next day he came up with a bunch more. Throughout that whole day I kept thinking - "Oh yeah, I forgot that one, I forgot that one...." So - no worries at this point.

One reason for the worry is that Bekah is not a good eater. She is an extreme picky eater and has been since she was about 13 months old. At that time was the first time she had the stomach flu and threw up a bunch of green beans. Since then she has not eaten anything green except for pickles and the occasional green apple. She later got ill again and stopped eating pasta, rice, other veggies like carrots and corn (she had had fried rice with veggies). About a month ago she was down to eating toast w/ peanut butter and jelly, some fruits, some cereal, cheese (only orange though) and of course chips and cookies. She wouldn't eat pudding or jello and had stopped eating applesauce and yogurt and string cheese (if it was white). The biggest concern was that she had lost two lbs so at 3 she was 2 lbs less then she was at 2.It could get to a point where it could affect her development.

We took her to see an Occupational Therapist and while there is not yet an official diagnosis it sounds like they believe her to have "food anxiety". They are working with her each week on different foods. It's all very interesting. We have had a few sessions so far and it seems pretty positive. She is again eating yogurt and applesauce and took a bite of a fishstick. She did spit it out but at least she tried it! :)

It is so weird to think of a toddler with an eating disorder but I heard from a friend who's daughter was in a treatment program that there was a whole wing for toddlers with severe eating disorders! It's hard to wrap one's mind around that.

I'm thankful that my doctor is pro-active and that we are getting her help early where habits are a little easier to change. Please continue to pray that all continues to go well and the treatment is a successful.

Have a great Monday!!!

Menu Plan Monday

2010-01-03T21:39:00.000-06:00

One "resolution" I seem to have every year is to get organized. I must have missed that gift when they were passing it out. :) I like things organized but I usually just don't know where to start. So - this year I am starting with menu planning. I've "heard" in my research that menu planning saves time in the kitchen, encourages healthier eating, saves money on groceries, limits waste of food, eliminates my 4 PM "Oh shoot - what am I going to make for dinner I have nothing thawed!" stress out and just helps me organize one more aspect of my life. Baby steps!

I found Laura over at I'm an Organizing Junkie who must have received my organization gift. One of the great things she does is post her family menu every Monday - usually with links to get the recipes! Not only does she post her menus but she puts up a Mr. Linky where other organized people put up their menus! Last week there were over 250 I believe. 250 times 7 recipes equals 1750 ideas - each week!!! How great is that! So feel free to head on over and take a look. I may not post each week but so far have the next three weeks planned out. Boy - did it make shopping a lot easier. I bought the food we needed, nothing extra, and was able to plan the menu around the deals and sales!

So here is my menu for the week - with recipes for some of the items. Go check out Laura!

Monday - Chicken Parmesan Bundles
Tuesday - Easy Pleasing Meatloaf
Wednesday - Awana (As the secretary I go early with the girls so we eat dinner there - usually something light or sandwiches.
Thursday - Tortilla Pie
Friday - Citrus Salmon with Orange Relish
Saturday - Lunch - leftovers Supper - Grilled Cheese/Salad
Sunday - Lunch - pot roast w/ veggies and potatos Supper - pizza

I have to be honest ... Three of these recipes are new. The chicken parmesan, the tortilla pie, and the citrus salmon we have not had before but I get in such ruts of cooking that I need some new recipes. I hope they turn out well...I'll let you know! :) My goal for the new year is to try 4 new recipes a month - at least. With planning ahead menus it is easier to do because you have everything you need and it's ready to go.

Have a great week!

It's a New Year

2010-01-01T23:52:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year - a little late! (Not that you're surprised by that...I'm usually late and am often playing catch up).

What are your resolutions?

I always come up with some...I never make it the whole year through but I figure if I have goals and achieve a percentage of them I am still better at the end of the year then I was at the beginning.

I also like alliteration.

So I came up with my resolutions and figured I would remember them best if they were "catchy".

1. FAITH - I've always had faith but one can always improve. I need to spend more time studying the scriptures. I need to not leave my weekly Bible study for the last day and do it all at once. I need to pray more...alone, with my husband, and with my children. My children's spiritual walk is my responsibility. It is my job to teach them and there is nothing more important. I need to make my Faith more of a priority. I take it for granted sometimes and I need to find my zeal again.

2. FRUGAL - I ~~like~~ love to shop. I always have. The hunt for a good bargain, the perfect present, something cute for ______, a new toy, even grocery shopping - whatever the reason I enjoy it whether it be in the stores or from my computer. However, money is tight these days. There isn't an unlimited supply and I hate the thought that we are in debt. So my goal this year is to work hard on getting us out of debt, limit careless and impulsive spending, and be wise and frugal with our spending. I want to be able to give more to charities and church and to help others out. We have so much - much more than we need. I also want to weed out my items. Clothes, toys, and collectibles all are in abundance for each of us.

3. FIT - Let's face it...I need to get fit. My DH could get more fit. AND my girls need to stay fit so they have a healthy lifestyle from a young age. We are members of a wonderful community center so there is no reason that we are not there several times a week working out, playing and swimming. They offer daycare which we get for free based on our membership so the girls get to play and socialize for an hour and DH and I can work out - really - it's not hard is it?

4. FUN - I want to do more "fun" with my family. More hands on activities with the girls. Seeing how much fun we had making the ornaments I saw how important that was for Bekah to do those hands on activities. I found a very helpful website, TV Free Toddler Time (link is also on my sidebar). This is filled with wonderful ideas of things to do with your little ones that cost minimal to nothing and that don't include the TV. I also want to look for things to do as a family. Anyone have any ideas they would like to share of something fun they do with their family?

So that's my FOUR resolutions....Faith, Frugal, Fit and Fun - all large but doable and all for my Family!

God Bless!

Decorating the tree

2009-12-21T16:19:00.001-06:00

We have decorated our tree but Rebekah was quite concerned that we didn't have a star for the top so the other morning I got out some stickers and yellow paper and we made a star for the top and star ornaments which she decorated with star stickers. She was pretty excited about making the ornaments.

So the next day we set about making some dough ornaments. I found the recipe online somewhere. It's pretty easy - 1 cup of flour, 1/2 cup table salt and 1/2 cup warm water. You mix it together, roll out the dough and use cookie cutters to cut out the shapes. Place them on a baking pan and bake at 250 for 2 hours or until hardened. (The bigger ones took more like 2.5 to 3 hours) Let cool.

They recommend using acrylic paints but since I was dealing with a two year old we used crayola craft paint. It worked out okay. Probably not as shiny and when it was thicker in areas it cracked as it dried...BUT it cleaned up really well and at this point that is more what matters.

So if you receive these as gifts from Bekah please act surprised! :) She worked hard on them! :)

Yesterday was our church's Christmas program. Last year Bekah didn't want to be up front. For the Palm Sunday program she was held by her teacher. This year she participated in the program and lasted about half way through. Not sure if she was bored or just tired or if she had had just enough. She was really excited about it and kept asking "now, now?" I think she would have gone up and joined the adult choir if we had let her! :) She did participate though and I got some cute pics and some video of her doing some of the actions. Hoping next year she will make it through the whole thing! :)

Lizzie was too young for the Christmas program but had a good time hanging out in the nursery with her pal. They were pretty cute together! :) (Of course I'm a little partial. )

Really?

2009-12-16T11:30:00.001-06:00

Really? A month since I have posted? I've written a hundred posts in my head...not sure why you didn't get them? lol

It's been a VERY busy month. This is what's been going on with us since last time I posted.

Lizzie got an ear infection.

The next week Lizzie, Rebekah and DH all got H1N1. Rebekah had an ear infection. The "Big Red Chair" is the place desired when not feeling well.

Two days later Lizzie turned one. Had to cancel her party as no one wanted germs as a party favor. Had a nice quiet evening at home. Bekah helped to make pancakes and Lizzie got to open a few gifts.

Birthday pancakes as I had no cake that day.

*This is a two year old who is having a hard time just watching her sister play with her new toys. Hard concept to understand for a little one.

Following week back at the doctor - DH and Lizzie have sinus infections.

Had a quiet Thanksgiving at home alone.

Bekah was a big help with the green bean casserole and the stuffing.

She also set up our "centerpiece" for the table.

She was excited to eat at the "fancy" table but....

did not find a single item to her liking and didn't take one bite. (Perhaps all that work tired her out!)

After her nap she was more than willing to take a bite of pie! :)

Two days later had Lizzie's birthday party. It was great fun, noisy and quite enjoyable. Quite a few were not able to come as it was a busy weekend but we enjoyed the fun and fellowship with those that could.

These were made by my friend Amanda -- check out her baking blog.

Lizzie received this tea set which Rebekah immediately took over ...

and convinced the boys to join her in her tea party.

The Party girl with my Goddaughter ... seems just yesterday we were celebrating her first birthday!

We got our first big snowstorm. We had about a two foot drift in our driveway that DH had to shovel through before he could go to work. Bekah "helped".

We had Rebekah's third birthday party. Her birthday isn't until the 22 of December but after talking to some of those we wanted to have come it was just too busy a time of year so we decided to do it earlier. We had it at our local community center which was fun but not sure I would do it again. If I did I would do it differently.

The night before I made her banner - good thing I rolled it out to check it - had done the whole thing backwards ... had to take it apart and redo it.

She kept closing her eyes so I told her "Big eyes" - this is what I got...big eyes! :)

Her big Minnie Mouse balloon - she certainly had Big eyes when we brought this out!

A big cupcake for the birthday girl!

We have also enjoyed walks around our neighborhood - before it got super cold! Many of our neighbors decorate for Christmas so there are a lot of lights to see.

Now we have Bekah's b-day coming up; Christmas shopping to complete, crafts to make, Christmas cards to go out, packages to ship and a few other things that I am sure I am missing as well as all the daily "stuff" we need to do each day. Not a lot of time for boredom around here!

Hope you all have a very blessed CHRISTtmas!

I got this from Amanda and wanted to share it with you.

C, the first letter in Christmas, stands for the person who alone gives any day eternal significance: Christ our Lord. It is easy to shove Christ aside on this holiday, but we should celebrate the birth of Jesus, whose very name means “the Lord is salvation” and whose title, “Christ,” points to His role as the Redeemer of humankind. If Jesus is not Christ in your life, celebrating the birth of an obscure Jewish carpenter’s son is meaningless to you.

H stands for history. The birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ are not myths or fantasy, but are historical realities.

R stands for rejoice, an appropriate response in recognition of what Christ has done.

I stands for the Incarnation, describing that glorious event in which God became man.

S stands for St. Nicholas, the fourth century bishop of Myra, a Christian whose story — embellished by years of telling — nevertheless exemplifies Christian faithfulness and charity. Christmas should remind us of the faithfulness of God, without which we have no hope of redemption through His greatest gift, His Son (John 3:16).

T stands for tradition, the stories and customs associated with Christmas.

M stands for the magi, or wise men, directed by God to find and worship Christ. We shouldn’t forget that no one is wealthy enough, powerful enough, or far enough away that he or she should not bow before Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Tim. 6:15).

A stands for advent, a word referring to Christ's coming. Christ came once in Bethlehem — as an infant who grew to manhood, died for our sins, and rose again the third day. Christians eagerly look forward to His Second Coming — “the blessed hope” (Titus 2:13).

S stands for salvation, made possible by the coming of Christ. The gospel story is so simple we often forget it, but so profound it affects every individual. We are all sinners, separated from God, with absolutely no way to reach God except He reached down to us through His Son. With the coming of Christmas comes recognition that because He came, He died, and because He died and lives again, we also may live (Rom. 6:8; 8:11).

Christmas is not primarily a celebration of human life, although each human life is valuable; not primarily a celebration of peace and love, although peace and love are noble. The center and circumference of Christmas should be the celebration of the birth of our Lord: “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).

Some random Pics

2009-11-15T22:38:00.001-06:00

NOTE: * I started this post a while ago and am just now getting around to actually posting it! :)

How do you get a two year old to calm down and forget her disappointment from not being able to do something she wants? Have her wash dishes! No...really! She currently LOVES to wash dishes. Even though we have a dishwasher I will put a few of her items in the sink with some bubbles, water and a sponge and she will be busy for quite a while - usually wanting to stay much longer than I have patience for. I had to take pictures to show her this when she is older and whines about having to do dishes. Look at how intent she is on it. Not only does she do the dishes but I usually end up getting at least part of my kitchen floor washed in the process!

I had purchased these matching sweaters for my girls last winter on clearance with visions of beautiful, outside, fall family pictures. Sadly the weather did not cooperate and with snow in October it was too cold to be outside for pictures. Once it warmed up in NOVEMBER the pretty leaves were long gone. Maybe next year? So I settled for some on the couch. Once again Miss Rebekah had other ideas. This is probably the best one of her where she is not crying, fighting or covering her face. Can you tell by how I'm gritting my teeth that I'm not real pleased with the behavior? SO there will more than likely be NO family picture in our Christmas card this year - so enjoy this one! :)

Here are Lizzie's 11 month pictures. She makes a pretty cute duck I must say! :)

I just like this picture of DH with his girls so thought I would share. That chair certainly seems to be the spot to cuddle. It's held us many, many hours with happy kids, sad kids, sleepy kids, naughty kids, newborn kids and so on. I will be sad if we ever have to say good bye to that chair! Many, many memories in it.

I recently watched my friend's daughter for a few days. She's almost 4 months old but since she was a preemie is still pretty tiny. I think she's about 7.5 lbs in this pic. Lizzie wasn't so sure about her. She certainly wasn't real fond of my holding her. When she was sitting in the bumbo seat she would bend down and look at her like "Who are you and what are you doing in my house?"

Lizzie is standing! Watch out world! Only for short periods of time but I have a feeling it won't be long now!

There will be more update soon - Lizzie's turning one on the 14th so I am sure I will have many pictures and stories to share!

God Bless!

I love me some coupons!

2009-11-07T22:50:00.001-06:00

I have always loved coupons. I find it even harder to pass up a "good deal" - sometimes even when the product isn't needed. However, now that I have a family to feed and care for my search for ways to save has taken on a whole new meaning (and life one might say).

I remember as a child my mom joined a coupon club or something like that. She would clip all the coupons she could find and then get together with other ladies and trade coupons for items they used. It seemed like a lot of work to me - too much work to save $.10 here or a quarter there. I don't remember it lasting long but I think she did a lot of it while we were at school so it may have lasted a lot longer than I remember.

Today I am so thankful for the Internet. Not only can you now find a gazillion coupons online through a variety of different sources there are people out there who do all the research for you and post it on their blogs so you can find some awesome deals and match-up coupons with sales and all that fun stuff.

Often when I go shopping I have a pile of coupons like this.

Usually Target is the store where I use the most coupons. There are several reasons for this. First - it's the closest store to us that has pretty much everything we need. However, I will not buy most produce from our SuperTarget (Sorry Target) as 1) it is usually more expensive than other stores (at times double the price) and 2) I have not had much luck of it lasting more than a couple of days. It seems to come to them already ripe so if I need it that night or the next day I will get it but otherwise I will head out to Rainbow, Cub or Walmart to get more fresh produce (Today for example I watched them unpack huge boxes of bananas which in most stores are still slightly green when put out. There wasn't a green nanner in sight. They were all already quite yellow and a few with brown on them already. Good for banana bread but not so good if you want bananas for the week. I usually buy a small bunch of yellow bananas and then a larger bunch of green ones that will be ready by the time we are ready for them).

The second reason is that Target has a fantastic policy that they will take a Target coupon for an item as well as a manufacturer coupon at the same time. This can save you a whole boatload of money. You can find Target coupons at their website, however, they only have them on there a week and then change them. I have found this website that stores them until they expire so you can go back and print them if you forget or you decide you want more. Also you can tell it how many to print of each one and it will print only the ones you want. It's fantabulous!!! :) The website is called Organic Grocery Deals Coupons Generator. Use it, love it, save a lot of money!!!

For example, today I got a Christmas present for Rebekah. We decided to get her a Leapfrog Tag Junior. She loves to read books with us and this will give her a head start to reading them on their own. It's a little pen that you can hook up to your computer and download information for each of the books. Not only will it read the story but it also will do different sounds and songs and activities with the kids. You can also print off certificates, activities and coloring pages on your computer. I'm pretty excited about it.

Anyway, the Tag Jr. (which is for 2-4 year olds) was on sale for $28.99 at Target this week (Sorry this is late notice for the sale though I am sure it will be on sale again before Christmas). I got a $10 coupon from Organic Deals (look under the 11/25 list of coupons). I also got a $10 off coupon from Leapfrog. That was $20 off so got the Tag Jr. with one book for $8.99 (orginally $34.99). Also with the LeapFrog coupon was a coupon for $5.00 off each book You can print as many as you want). The Tag Jr. books are $10.99 normally but were on sale for $8.99 today so got each book for $3.99 after coupons. SO something that would have normally cost me a total of $67.96 cost me $20.96 today. Whoo hoo. That leaves more $$ for other gifts! :) It will be so great for her to have on the long trips to the grandparent's house. I can't wait to play with it myself but I already had my DH hide it so I wouldn't be tempted to open it and try it (I did play with the one in store though!).

The three books I got were these three:

(This is for anyone wondering what to get her for Christmas/Birthday coming up! :) hint, hint! lol) If you do decide to get a book for Bekah or a set for your own child/grandchild be sure to use those coupons!!! Every penny counts!

At the checkout today I saw the total on the screen of $219.08 and just about had a heart attack! That was way over my budget but I had hope! :) Then the young man asked me for my coupons. I gladly handed them over and prayed that it would be down to $120 which was my original goal. I try to keep track in my head as I go but I know I sometimes get distracted (can you believe it???). Final total..................$119.68

That is a savings of $99.43! I was pretty proud of myself. I can't take all the credit though. A few other sites that have been a big help are:

This is an awesome site. It's way more than I need but I have learned to scan quick and find what I need/want and can use.

This site has a lot of different stores - many we don't have up here in the frozen tundra but have found a lot of help on this site. One awesome thing they have is coupon policies for many of the stores. I have printed them out and carried them with me. I had one bad experience with Target once where both the cashier and then the manager told me I couldn't use the coupons as I wanted. I whipped that ole policy out of my purse and showed them exactly where it said I could do that and lo and behold they allowed it. I have only had the one bad experience but that was enough. Let's just say I will never go through Theresa's lane again (although I haven't seen her there in the past few months so she may be gone).

Red Plum

Coupons.com

SmartSource

A couple of tips with these coupon sites: You can usually print off two of each coupon you want. Either reload or hit your browsers back button. Keep checking back because often during the month and almost always at the beginning of the month the coupons are reset so there are new ones or you can print off more. We have two computers at our house so I will print two from each computer and if it's a really good coupon will print at a friend's or at work.

Here is another trick with the Coupons.com and the Smart Source Coupons. IF you sign up for My Points you can earn 10 points for every coupon you print and redeem. You can also earn 25 extra points for if you print and redeem 10 or more in a month. (I used probably 15 today -that's 175 points). What do you get with these points? Gift cards!!!! For example you can get a $25 gift card for Target for 3800 points or a $50 gift card for 7500 points. They have them for pretty much anything you can imagine - well almost anything! Our favorites have been Target, Walmart and Red Lobster! (That's how we got Rebekah's play kitchen for her birthday last year). You can also earn points by shopping online (stores will give you anywhere from 1 to 10 points per dollar), subscribing to magazines and looking at ads. If you choose to do this first please let me know so I can recommend you (then we both get extra points) but also set up a different email as you will get a lot of mail. You get 5-20 points for looking at a web page. From there you can earn extra points by subscribing, buying, or taking a survey. I think last year my DH and I earned about $150 in gift cards. We then used some of those gift cards ordering online through the mypoints site and received more points for doing so! :)

Hope this helps some of you save some pennies! I'm looking for great ideas from all of you.

I am wondering how others organize their coupons. I have mine in a small accordian file and organized by type of coupon (such as frozen foods, dairy, healthy and beauty, etc.).

What do you do? What works for you? What hasn't worked for you?

Catching Up

2009-10-13T11:53:00.001-05:00

How does life get so busy? I am not sure I will ever understand that at all. I thought having little ones would mean a lot of time at home and yet it seems most days we have somewhere to go or something to do.

I knew our warm sunny days were limited so I have been trying to get the kids outside as much as possible. Good thing too because this is what we awoke to on Saturday morning. On Monday we got another two inches - it snowed pretty much all day. It's mostly gone today already but Reba sure was excited to see it all. Her mantra that day was "snow, mama, snow" and "play in snow, mama, play". Last Thursday I had my friend's 4-year old twins as well. The kids all had a good time together but I kow it's not something I could do full time. Despite the cold they enjoyed playing in the sand and on the bikes. Many chalk drawings were also added to our sidewalk that day. Sadly I didn't get any pictures of those. Reba likes to trace things so we had many bottoms and legs outlined that she had traced around the other kids.

Last Friday we went to the apple orchard. I was sure that this would be a perfect oppurtunity to get some fantastic fall pictures. Afterall are there any cuter pictures then little kids with pumpkins and apples and haybales on a crisp sunny day? It took me about 20 minutes to figure out the clothes I wanted them to wear. Ones that would complement each other for the sister/sister pictures as well as be very fall like in their individual pictures. I should have known better.

First it was cold...about 45 degrees. All the other kids were in winter jackets but not mine! I just had fall coats as I had not yet discovered the whereabouts of the winter coats at our house (they have been found along with hats and mittens now). Poor Lizzie had four layers on - poor thing could hardly move her arms. It reminded me a bit of the little brother in The Christmas Story.

Here is my little farmer girl. She does like the horses. We haven't done a pony ride with her yet. I am sure she will love it after how much she loved the carousel ride this summer. I thought she was going to climb right up the fence and try to get in with the horses. She would have been stuck as there was probably a good 6-8 inches of mud in there.

I thought this picture was super cute. Her and two of her buddies watching the foal. She did get to pet it later. (She did have a hat but it was so big it kept falling off so she ended up going hat free the rest of the day). It would have been a much better picture had I gotten down and taken it from their level but my knee still isn't cooperating 100% and I wasn't sure I could get back up.

These are some of Reba's responses of mommy asking her to take some pictures. She wanted no part of it.

Liza wasn't much better. She just sat there and cried - little stinker. Regardless these will STILL be going in the scrapbook.

This is probably the best one I got of Reba with the pumpkins. She didn't know I was taking it so she didn't have time to protest until I tried to get the second one.

This week has the promise to be a little quieter - we shall see.

God Bless

2009-10-07T22:57:00.000-05:00

What do you do on what could quite possibly be the last warm day for months and months? You play outside - in sand - with water - and bare feet - not caring if you get dirty, wet or turn yourself blue.

Bright blue sand from Walmart + Water from the hose = hours, and hours, and if mommy would let us, hours of fun!

If you notice Liza was not invited to this party. I did not want to be changing blue diapers for the next week so she was stuck on the porch in her walker. Poor thing. I kept telling her next summer, next summer - not that she has any idea how long that is. But then the neighbors came out to play so she got to go crawl around their porch and play with their toys so she was plenty happy. Don't think she even realized that she missed anything!

In other news...

Reba is starting to "try" new types of food. As many of you know we have had many struggles, tantrums, and meltdowns (Reba's had a hard time too lol) trying to get her to eat a balanced diet. She isn't sickly or super skinny so we aren't worried about health at all. Low nutrition can affect development but we aren't really seeing any evidence of that. Since her seizure due to dehydration in January we make sure that she drinks plenty through the day. She currently drinks more juice then is "suggested" by "the experts" but we still mix her juice with water and often give her the fruit/veggie combos as those are the only "veggies" she will eat.

I did get her to eat some carrots the other day. I cut them up into tiny pieces and mixed them in with rice kripie treats. She bought the "orange sprinkles" the first day but after that she was done. Part of the problem I believe is that the carrots had more moisture in them than I expected which caused the krispies to lose their krispiness. They became stale quite quickly. Oh well - it was worth a try.

The other night she tried a bit of stuffing. She chewed it 3 or 4 times and then spit it out. She also tried a black olive after seeing daddy eat them. Nope- that wasn't a hit either. She did eat egg pie the other day though and was quite proud of herself. (Egg pie at our house is the same as quiche - it just sounds better to a 2 year old!) While talking on the phone to Grandma and Grandpa that night she repeated about 20 times "I ate egg pie". She was quite proud of herself. We were quite proud of her too.

We were going to take her to see a dietician but at $250 an hour we decided to pass. We will get there and someday we will sit and tell stories of all the creative things I have done. The other night we had brats and so I took a brat bun, put red jelly on one side and peanut butter on the other. Down the middle I put 1/2 a banana. It looked almost like our dinner. She wasn't so sure about it right away but after a few finger licks she decided it was yummy and she ate the entire thing. Whoo hoo! (See you can learn things from watching the Disney channel)! :)

Well it's getting late. Hope you all are doing well! God bless

Rainy Thursday Morning

2009-10-01T08:17:00.001-05:00

It's rainy, it's cold, and I have three not so happy, enthusiastic children. Not sure what will be on for the day. We can't color because Reba lost the use of her crayons for two days due to her coloring the door, the wall, and the computer keyboard - all in one day. She also can't go play in her room because yesterday she she empty out part of her closet and three of her dresser drawers twice (once throwing them all down the stairs) and had started a third time when I caught her. She now has a lock on her door. We will try again in a little while.

The community center does have it's gym tot time today but it's from like 1 - 2:30 which is the middle of naptime and there is no way we are giving that up today!!!

I am going to try to make rice krispie bars today. it's been a long time. I love them and they aren't wise to have around the house. I am going to add carrots though. I know, I know it's weird but I got the idea when we got fall krispy bars at target. They had yellow and orange krispies in them and Reba ate them so I thought maybe I could add some very tiny carrot pieces into the mix and see if she will accept that. Her eating is still a huge issue in this house. It's affecting many things such as potty training and could potentially affect her development. We've been to the doctor and she is having us see a pediatric dietitian which is a week from Friday. I am currently keeping a food log for her. Not much on it. Yesterday she had 1/4 cup chex cereal, 4 oz grape juice, 1/3 apple with peanut butter and some peaches. Before bed she did have a breakfast shake but that is a pretty typical day. She's a tough one!

We started Parent/Child swimming lessons last Saturday. It went pretty well. Reba struggled some and didn't always want to do what the class was doing. I think part of the problem is that she is very familiar with the pool and is used to being able to doing her own thing. The concept of 'class' hasn't really sunk in yet! :) For example they wanted us to work on them sliding into the water off the side. Reba would have none of that - she wanted to jump in like she always does. I may have to take her to practice with her to get her used to having to do some of the skills while there. Seven weeks to go - will be interesting how she does. I'm not too worried because she will have to repeat this class next year as they can't start the independent classes until they are 4.

Liza is 10 and a half months old now. I can't believe it! She is developing her own personality. She's is much more demanding and needing of attention then her big sister was at her age. But we don't mind so much...just takes a little longer to get the dishes and laundry done! :)

She is pulling herself up and occasionally has let go when she is interested in something but as soon as she realizes she is standing on her own - plop! - down she goes. She is quite vocal and is currently standing by my chair voicing her opinions. She LOVES going up the stairs - we have them blocked but sometimes she can still crawl up and over - she is a determined child!

Here are her 10 month pictures - a few of them anyway.We did Reba's 9 month pictures in a similar fashion. As the photographer was taking her pictures she said I was just going through our sample book and there are several that are similar to what you are doing. Lo and behold those were Reba's pictures form 2 years ago. Reba's pictures are also in there from her ballerina pictures. In fact the manager said that they used those as an example at their district headquarter meetings to use to train people on how to add special effects and do multi-image sheets. She's a mini-model!

As you may have noticed I switched to using nicknames for the girls. It was too confusing for some (and sometimes for me) to use middle names.
Hope you all have a blessed day!

Not Me Monday!

2009-09-28T20:36:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm back to doing Not Me Mondays! One would think that it would be a super long one since it's been a while but I figure I can leave all the "old" ones out and just focus on this past week. I am sure if I think hard enough I can come up with enough "Not Me" moments.

For starters it is NOT me that is currently allowing both girls to eat Chex cereal in the living room so I have a little peace and quiet and can type this rather than do the dishes or vacuum a dirty floor (that now most certainly does not have tiny bits of Chex cereal all over it).

It was NOT me that after breaking a glass bowl on our kitchen floor trusted that my husband and the broom got each tiny sliver of glass and continued to walk around in my stocking feet. Therefor it is NOT me that currently has two tiny holes (one in each foot) now.

It was NOT me that took advantage of the daycare at the community center that after my physical therapy today I did not allow my children to stay in there an extra 30 minutes so 1) I could work on my Bible study in peace and quiet in the cafe sipping a cold diet coke and 2) so they would be extra tired out and take an extra long nap this afternoon.

It was NOT me that took 8 days to finish a weeks worth of laundry only to finally have it upstairs and still waiting to be put away causing a large mountain of laundry to have formed on our bathroom floors.

It was NOT me that rather than being angry with my daughter smiled when I saw that she had colored on every drawer of her dresser. It did NOT give me a little bit of pleasure as it hit me that "I'm a mom!" and this is what mom's deal with. (And if my daughter DID do such a thing she would have wisely chosen to do so with chalk so it was easily wiped off with a sock).

It was also NOT me that took an hour and 15 minute drive prior to our Mom and Tots group at church because my children were so crabby and whiney that I knew that if they didn't nap before going someone would have wound up in the looney bin and that person most likely would have been me! I am much more frugal with our gas money and would never drive just to get my children to nap!

It was also NOT me that bought my husband not one, not two but three Glenn Beck books because I wanted to read them too! I am certainly not that self-centered!

Well, I think that is enough for now....I am sure there will be new opportunities for more next week!

What haven't you done?

2.5 hours of Controlled Chaos - Otherwise known as Awana! :)

2009-09-24T08:14:00.000-05:00

Last night was my first official night as the Awana Sparks Secretary. The directors and leaders of our church have often described it as 2 hours of Controlled Chaos and now I understand what they mean. It was wonderful! There is such energy and such joy there it is hard to put it into words. It is an amazing feeling to be a part of a group of almost 200 who are being positive, encouraging and learning/teaching about Jesus. In a lot of ways it reminded me of when I worked at camp (Phantom Ranch) - just much more condensed. However, the feeling was the same.

Although I have known about Awana since I was a child I was never a part of it. One of the reasons we chose our church was because of the Awana program they offered. After all I heard about it I knew that was something I wanted for my children. Not only does my church provide Awana for our children but also for many, many children in the community. I would say about 80% of the children involved are not from our church. We have almost 150 children that come every Wednesday night. It is amazing and I can not wait for the girls to be a part of it.

For those that don't know what Awana is you can check it out here - Awana. In a nutshell Awana stands for Approved workmen are not ashamed as taken from 2 Timothy 2:15 of the Bible. Joy will start next year as a 3 year old and will be involved until 6th grade as a participant. After that she can become a LIT which is a Leader In Training program that allows Jr. and Sr. high students to help out and learn to be leaders.

I must admit that I felt a little teary-eyed as I watched the Cubbies go by (the 3 and 4 year olds) and imagining Joy there next year. I am sure she will love it. Both girls will be there some nights in the nursery program now on the nights Les is working late.

I am working with the Sparks which are students in grades K-2. I forgot what it is like working with kids that age. After years of teaching high school it's quite different! :) There was not much down time as I am still learning how to do everything and get myself organized. I figure by Thanksgiving I should be good to go!! (Christy, as a former Sparks Secretary I will take any suggestions!).

Well, I am off to PT. Still doing that for my knee surgery. Have a ways to go but hopefully will be as good as new in the next month or so!

A Fresh (safe) Start

2009-09-22T08:36:00.000-05:00

I started a new blog for a few different reasons. I guess the main reason is that we don't live in a perfect world. Our last blog was very open about our names, locations, etc. I am a very trusting person..sometimes too trusting. I have a hard time believing that people would intentionally be evil - although I know it's true. I know that there have been times in my life where I have hurt others - intentionally or not. However, it is beyond my comprehension that there are people out there that would stalk and prey on innocent young children.

We recently had a speaker at work that talked about personal safety. He was a police officer from the area and he had some really good ideas. I think some of his ideas (such as not having any pictures at work of your children or family) were a little far fetched. As a police officer - then yes, I could see that. But I think there are a lot of jobs where you would probably be okay. However, his talk made me realize that I need to be a little more cautious. Hence the new blog, ...a fresh start...a new beginning of hopefully a more consistent blog (although I have learned to not make promises). On this blog I will be calling our children by their middle names...just so you know.

When trying to think of a new name for our blog I tried to be creative. There are some cute names out there - but nothing I could compete with and you can't really "copy" a blog name - especially if you are a regular reader of their blog. I thought about "Just another mommy blog..." but that seemed a little self-deprecating and I want to be more then "just another..." So then I thought about what is important in my life, and what do I write about; what is important to me.

My family and my faith are my two most important facets of my life. They are the pieces that I want to share the most of, that I want to be most known for.

So my next step was to find a verse from the Bible to represent both. I thought of several. One of which is my all time favorite and I consider a life verse - Jeremiah 29:11-13. For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. But that didn't seem to fit just right.

Later that week I was reading a book and this verse popped out at me. James 1:17 "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father." and the light bulb went off!

That is a wonderful verse to share with others to describe our life - my life. I have been blessed with many wonderful things! I am in continued amazement with how full my life is. For those that are new to my blog here is a super quick replay of my life. (I'll start after college to keep it short).

The Lord led me to a unique teaching job. As a result of that I ended up owning my own business educating students. I was making good money and was happy but by early thirties I had given up hope of ever having a family of my own - or even getting married. In the Spring of 2004, just before my 35th birthday, a friend recommended that I try E-Harmony. I went online, looked at it a little, filled out the profile and was pleased with the matches I received but still didn't hold out a lot of hope. I signed up anyway and paid for a full year. Well, much to my surprise soon after joining I started conversing back and forth with a gentleman who reminded me much of my father. August 28, 2004 was our first date -- it lasted 10 hours. Valentine's day, 2005, we got engaged and we were married August 27, 2005 -- 364 days after our first date!

I had warned Les that I would probably not ever be able to have children. I have HAIR-AN syndrome and so doctors had told me that the likelihood of me conceiving naturally was slim. I had spoken to my doctor about some fertility medication and Les and I had talked about adoption. Imagine our surprise and joy to find out I was expecting the day before Mother's Day, 2006 (while on birth control). Our oldest daughter Joy was born December 22, 2006 and came home on Christmas Day!'

In April 2007 Les and I purchased and moved into our house.

In November 2008 our second daughter, Grace was born.

In January 2009 we got a mini-van.

We are certainly looking forward to 2010!!! :)

I know that I have no one to thank but God for these blessings. It certainly isn't anything Les or I did to receive such gifts. We certainly don't deserve them but we are thankful each and everyday for them.

I am not a theologian. I do not pretend to understand how God works. I am not the person to ask "Why, then, do bad things happen to good people?" or even "Why do good things happen to bad people?" Have we had heartache and pain - sure. Have we had it even close to the extent of others -- no way. I can't explain why. I can't explain why I was born in America, given the family I was given. I just know that I need to be thankful to God each and every day for what He has given me. I also know that He is in control. That God sees the big picture. My job is to continue to trust in Him and do what I can--to train up my children in the Lord, to be a neighbor and a helper and friend to those in need, to give of myself, my time, my money.

So anyway...welcome to my new journal. I am hoping that now that it is fall and we are settling into somewhat of a routine my time for blogging and reading your blogs will increase! I hope everyone had fantastic summers!

God Bless!