Random

Can't really think of anything of much importance to post about. We have settled back into a semi normal routine now that Christmas is over. Once Kayleigh goes back to school, we will (hopefully) be completely back to normal. I really love normal. Last December 14 we had a house fire and lost everything, and our lives were chaotic for the first 6 months of this year, then all of July was CRAZY, and I have come to appreciate normal alot!

Here is a peak at what July looked like. We had closed on our new house, but were still living in the rent house because the air in our new house wasn't working. And we were fighting with our homeowners insurance about who should pay for it, and they were being really big pains. I think I wrote about all that in my posts back then. So we had bought one house, were living in another and still had a garage full of stuff at our house that burnt, because the garage was detached and at the back of the yard and everything in there was fine. We had people in the process of buying that lot, and it was moving ridiculously slow. It was 110 degrees in the shade and I had a ton of moving, painting and cleaning to do, and I was losing my mind! On top of that, our content portion of our settlement from insurance was in process, had been since March when we were told that would take about a month, mmm hmmm! So even if we wanted to move in to our house, we had no furniture, or the money to buy a whole house full! Finally at the very end of July, the air was fixed, the money came in and we were in moved in by August 1. So we were finally back to "normal". Have I mentioned how much I love normal, lol!

Any one have any big plans for tonight. Donny is working, so it's just me and the kiddos home alone. I foresee early bedtimes, for the kids, and me eating way too much junk and watching tv or movies early into the morning. Oh the exciting life of a mother and wife! But quite normal, hehe.

Any resolutions? It's the oldest one on record, but mine should be to lose weight. Right now though I feel no motivatin to lose anything. I really love me some chocolate and greasy foods. I'll jump on the weight loss wagon some time soon. The thing with me is, I'm all in or all out. Once I start excercising and losing weight I am very consistent and motivated and I lose a ton of weight. But until I am completely on board and ready to do it, I will fail if I try halfheartedly.

So there is my random post. Everyone have a wonderful New Years Eve!

I am alive

Yes, I am still alive, I survived Christmas. Unfortunately I just got a facebook page and now I have been spending my internet time consumed with catching up with old friends!

We had a wonderful Christmas, as we always have. And then here comes the "new" year, which really isn't a celebration to me, it's just another way to "celebrate" the fact that I am a year older and probably have the start of another fine line on my face. (I am obsessed with not getting wrinkles). Then there is the oh so dreary month of January, ugh! I have the after Christmas doldrums, can you tell?

I really promise this time I will try to blog more often, when the inmates will give me five minutes to myself that is, lol!

Christmas Chaos

Even though I had pretty much gotten all my Christmas shopping done early this year, an earmark of a truly worry free Christmas, this Christmas is the busiest one I have ever had. I won't bore you with all the sordid details, I just have a butt load of things to do, and judging by the size of my butt, that's a lot!

We are having a family get together at our house at Christmas for the first time ever, that and a bunch of misc. odd things have come up and I am swamped, therefore the reason for not much posting going on. I like having plenty to do so I am not bored, I bore easily, but I hate being so busy I feel stressed, and I am annoyed that that is where I am right now and I can't enjoy the holiday season like I want to. So I thought I would post some pics, for no reason whatsoever.


Here is Kayleigh posing nicely.
And miraculously Gabe is posing nicely.

And our angelic children who took a great picture in one take!

And that was a big fat lie! Here is what the night looked like really.

And then we have Gwendolyn posing nicely. After I finally wiped the boogar hanging from her nose that daddy left there for all her close up shots, gotta love men.

Sad

So this morning I was looking at the "show off your trees" day at Sara's blog, http://www.butterville.blogspot.com/ and wow, there are some amazing trees and decorations on there. I am sad because we lost our tree and decorations last year in our fire. We had, like most people, been collecting ornaments over the years, and it makes me incredibly sad that they are gone. All of the "baby's first Christmas ones", Kayleigh's princess, Barbie, Barney, Elmo and all that reflected her obsession for that year. The very few we had bought for Gabe. The ones I had gotten on vacation. Our veggie tales manger scene is gone. Her hand print reindeer ornament. Everyday another sentimental Christmas item will come to my mind and make me sad. We will start all over and collect more from this day on, but I will always feel sad about them.

Sorry this is short and sad, just needed to share.

Want to add that, don't get me wrong, I am so very thankful for all that we do have, and my beautiful healthy family and everything that is important is right here with me. Just have moments of nostalgia over those things.

My Black Friday Shopping

I know this is a little late, but better late than never right! I know alot of people cringe at the thought of shopping on that day, but I love it. My friend and I embrace the day. We go knowing there will be crowds, traffic and long check out lines, but we got expecting to have a good time and are patient and enjoy each other's company!

Donny and I left the house at 3 am that morning and went to Wal Mart. He got in line for a blue ray player and I got in line for the portable dvd players, and my friend got in line for a computer. Holy cow is all I can say. I got pushed and shoved like nobody's business for a $50 dvd player that may have been worth $75 max! I was at the front of the group, and when the clock struck 5 it was every man for himself, I was being pushed from both sides and shoved from the back and it scared me pretty bad. I did get the dvd player, but my legs were shaking so bad after that, and I just wanted to get out of that store! We got quite a few good deals from Wal Mart when it was all said and done, but geesh, I have been to lots of Black Friday sales and that has never happened to me before.

So Donny took all our loot and went home then my friend and I took off for our day of shopping. It was great. I got tons of stuff, most on sale, a few things that weren't, but I got most of my shopping done, which is a relief. We hit Target, Kmart, ToysRUs, Gordmans, Once Upon a Child (a used kids clothes store), Archivers (a scrapbook store), Big Lots, Hobby Lobby, Best Buy, Goodwill, Lowes and Sam's Club. My favorite bargains were at Archivers. I am a beginning scrapbooker, and I really like it, but I am too frugal to want to pay high dollar for any of the supplies. I spent $30 and got I think $60-$70 worth of supplies, so that was exciting.

We got home that night after 9, and I was beat! But more fun than the shopping was just getting to spend the day with a good friend. To be able to eat at a grown up restaurant, Olive Garden (yum), and have adult conversation all day. Don't get me wrong I LOVE hunting for a bargain, but everything is more fun with a friend. I can't wait to get to do it again next year!

I need help

Ok, so I am very electronically challenged, but if you will notice I actually have my blog decorated for Christmas, no small feat let me tell ya. Of course I need my title juiced up too, but hey baby steps. Anyway, I have looked everywhere and I can't figure out how to get those dang screwdriver/wrench thingies from appearing at the bottom right of all my elements. It really didn't matter on my generic background, but now that I'm all fancy, I want them gone! Can anyone give a girl some info.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I think Thanksgiving is my favorite family holiday. I LOVE Christmas, I love everything about it, the songs, the shopping, the decorations, the cookies, the parties, the church services, of course most of all our true celebration of Christmas. But to me, Thanksgiving, is a simple time that focuses solely on family and blessings, and it gives me warm fuzzies!

As I get a few years under my belt it also is bitter sweet. Because, as we all know, things change. My grandparents, who we always spent the day with, along with all my aunts, uncles and cousins, have both died in the past 6 years, and it makes me so incredibly sad at times. And now of course, so has our tradition of getting together with that side of the family every Thanksgiving. It happens you know, all the aunts and uncles get their own grandkids, and everyone has scattered to the wind, and it is near impossible to get us all together.

Anyway, I digress. I want to say how today how thankful I am for my grandpa, what a man! He was a Southern Baptist preacher, he was warm, caring, loving, and didn't ever have anything bad to say about anyone. In my entire life, I had never heard him say an ill thing about a single person, ever! That is quite an accomplishment. He made sure that we all knew that he loved us. Every time we saw him, we got hugs and I love you's, every time. He was a true example of what it meant to try to be Christ like.

I guess though what makes him even more special to me is that, he wasn't even my biological grandfather. My mom and dad, even though he is not my biological dad he is my dad, always has been, in every sense of the word, got married when I was 2. I have no memory of that so my life as it is now, is simply to me how it always was. But if I didn't know the facts about my birth, I would never have known I wasn't an "official" member of that family. There was never ever a difference made, I was his granddaughter and that was that! I don't think people can really know how special that is unless you have experienced it, it touches me more than my words can express. My dad is the same, but this post is about my grandpa, so he will have to wait for his own post, lol. My grandpa married my husband and I, and that gift is so precious to me. I will see him again in Heaven someday, and wow, what a gift God has given us to say that!

Sorry about the rambling post, I was just reminiscing a little.

So anyone Black Friday shopping! I am! My friend and I are leaving sometime around 3 am, with no kids and no husbands, and will be back sometime with the next 24 hours. Honestly that is the bestsest Christmas present I could get, I am so excited about that, I do feel like I felt as a kid the night before Christmas.

I will let you all know if I survived.

Have a wonderful day with your families, and take a picture in your mind of these times, they certainly are fleeting!

Counting my Blessings.

Hello to any left of my friends out there who might have checked in on my blog. I am going to try to get back into my blogging life again. I've missed everyone, but I still know what you did last week, lol!

Of course this is a "corny" counting my blessings blog. I say corny because at this time of the year the word thankful just becomes so reduntant. I of course , like anyone living in the good ole' USA, have more to be thankful for than I deserve. So I am listing two things today.

#1 I am thankful to my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. First, He died a horrific, painful death on a cross, so that I could spend eternity in Heaven, not hell. Second, I am thankful because I accepted that gift of salvation, for without acceptance that death means nothing. And last because He has been/is more to me than just a fire escape. He has been my best friend, my confidante, my dad, my Saviour, my "bank" when I was in need, He has held me when no one on this earth could comfort me. He has loved me unconditionally through all my imperfections, and although we think people on earth do to, He is the only one who can see what we are like on the "inside", and I know for me that can be pretty ugly at times.

#2 I am thankful that my children have plenty of food. I know this one sounds trite and overused, but I am going to link a picture here that has changed my life. WARNING, it is quite graphic and very sad, and is a downer right now, so if you are on a holiday high, and want to stay there, you might want to view it later. www.snopes.com/photos/people/kevincarter.asp This picture says it all about how much we have to be thankful for, and I have never viewed my life the same since seeing it, I actually printed off the picture, so I can never ever forget how blessed I am.

I hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving, and I will post a much more light hearted post next time, I promise!

Hiatus

In case you haven't noticed, I have been taking a bit of a break from posting. Well the trend is going to continue. I know that is a faux pas in blogger land, that you are supposed to post often to keep your followers and gain new ones, but it can't be helped. I am going through some things personally and I just need a "break" from feeling the need to post every other day. I really love blogging, so this is stinky for me.

Don't worry, nothing major is going on, my marriage and children are fine and no one has a fatal disease or anything. It's just a "me" thing. So pray for me, and I will be back soon, I promise.

Mean time I will lurk alot on your blogs, but may not comment, just want you to know that I will still be around in "spirit".

Love ya all!

Long time no write

I know I have been away for a while, I just had some things going on and didn't make any time to do this, sorry! I will do extra blogs now to make up for it, how about that? Saturday we went to our towns trick or treat for businesses, it was lots of fun, and nice that the kids get to wear the costumes more than once. We did a Star Wars theme this year, so if you aren't familiar with the movies, you may not who these people are, lol. May I present:

Princess Leia.


Darth Vader (quite fitting, I might add)

And Padme Amidala

This is getting ridiculous!

Gwen has 7 jackets and 5 coats that she can wear now, and 8 that she can grow into! Holy cow, that is 20! Now before you think I am a shop a holic, let me set you straight. I am one! J/K, only at rummage sales. I get 85% of the kids clothes at consignment or rummage sales, or if I am really lucky someone gives us hand me downs. Point is I didn't buy any of the coats that Gwen can currently wear, unless they were Kayleighs when she was that age. Most of them came from my friend Angie. We have a system, I give her all Kayleigh's clothes that she outgrows for her little girl, then when she is done she gives me all her little girls clothes. But geez louise, 12 jackets/coats for this winter, that isn't getting ridiculous, it is! All my kids have pretty much a whole fall/winter wardrobe though, thanks to buying at garage sales this summer.

My rummage sale was a smashing success, and we can now park in our garage, hooray! For cold, yucky weather is just around the corner.

Sorry to all my bloggy friends, my rummage sale took up so much of my time, that and the clean up afterwards, that I haven't had the chance to be online much and check everyone's blogs out. I will get back to normal soon!

I gotta go over my lesson for Bible study tomorrow morning at church. I guess it's a good idea for the teacher to know what she is talking about! Have a great night!

Worst Mom of the Year Nominee

That would be me. Here's what happened. Went to church tonight, just me and the two oldest ones. Dropped both kids off at their class, I go into church. Church is over, I go to choir practice. I look at the clock at 7:35, immediately bolt out of my seat right in the middle of the song because I forgot to get my 3 year old from his class and it was over at 7:00. I am not too freaked out because his teacher is a good friend, and would have brought him into the sanctuary if I happened to not go get him when they were done, theoretically of course. No biggie, they had taken him downstairs to class with big sis cause they knew I was in choir practice. Talk about feeling like an idiot! I forgot about my kid, duh!

Tomorrow is a rummage sale at my house. So hopefully my pocketbook will be little bit fuller and our garage a little bit emptier, well hopefully alot on both of those!

And finally got all of our furniture in, so pics are coming soon! I have taken pics of a few of the rooms, because they were the ones that were clean. Now I just need to get the other ones clean to take their picture too! So maybe by this time next year, lol!

We went to a pumpkin patch on Saturday. Gotta say it wasn't the best day ever. First it was hot, 85 degrees. There is just something not right about it being that warm while you are out celebrating fall. Gwen was't feeling that great, translate, screamed, whined, pretty much made me miserable too. Kayleigh and Gabe were really whiney too when we first got there. But after lunch and a drink, everyone perked up and had a really good time. Here are some pics. Now I am not the best picture taker, and totally forget to take pictures of like the sign and such to remember where we were, but here are my feeble attempts at pictures.



Here is everyone when we first got there.

I wish you could see what this picture is really about. There was a "scary" barn, very tame, that had a man holding his head talking to us. But not scary at all, even though it sounds very age inappropriate for a 1 and 3 year old, lol! Anyway, that thing held Gwen in a trance, it was soo funny, everyone was laughing at her.

Of course here they are with the pumpkins.

I think the kids did have some fun, it's a memory anyway, lol.

I found out yesterday that I have tendenitis in my right foot. Pretty much my big toe will not bend, really funky. I hurt it back in the winter playing volleyball and it never has been the same, then Friday I was walking up the stairs and did something weird to it and now it is not good. It is fairly swollen and it hurts. The doc gave me some anti inflammatory, and if that doesn't work it might need surgery. I have had surgery on both my feet before, I had some major boney bunion issues that I was born with, and had the bunions removed as an adult, and foot surgery is not fun! Not to mention that volleyball season begins again in January, and I have to be healthy for that!

Also found out that Gabe and Gwen have hand, foot and mouth disease. Which makes sense now, cause Gwen has been super grouchy and not eating or drinking much for the last week. I think though that we are probably at the tail end of it now, so hopefully by the end of the week we will be through that sickness.

Have a great day!

Darn Wal-Mart

I went to Wal Mart to get garbage bags and milk and spent $115, argh. Happens all the time, I think the technical term for it is Wal Mart shoppers amnesia. You come out of the store with $100 over what you intended to spend and have no idea how you did it. What happened to me is, I realized that we also needed diapers and pullups - $37, the milk was $11, toilet paper - $4, trash bags -$7, and so on and so forth, and before you know it, a cart full. But I thank God that we have the $115 to spend there, so many people now are struggling, and my heart and prayers go out to them!

Donny is at Disaster Relief Training tonight, so the next time there is a disaster, such as tornado, hurricane, etc., he will be qualified to go help! Me and the kids are on our own, so in just a bit it is bath time, a little bit of play time then blessed bed time and alone time for mommy, woo hoo! Have a great night!

Scary things

Ok, it's that time of year again. When every channel except LMN starts showing all the scary movies ever made, and every other commercial is a preview for a scary movie. Have I ever mentioned I don't like scary movies. Not that I don't like them, just that whenever I watch one I become an 8 year old kid again and want to sleep with my mom for a month! So I just don't watch them, sometimes the previews scare me so bad that I get freaked out.

Let me tell you what started my scary movie phobia. When I was like 5 my parents were going to see the movie Amityville Horror, anyone remember that one. Well I didn't want to stay with my aunt and uncle and whined to go with my parents, and they let me! Ok, let me say my parents were relatively smart people, and I have no idea what they were smokin' that day, but what the heck, I was stinkin' 5 years old, I should have never been allowed to see that movie! I didn't sleep by myself for years, and that is not exaggerating! Finally when I had gotten over that, when I was in the 4th grade the movie Excorcist was playing on tv. Uh huh, I know all of you cringed when I said that, yep, my mom had another brain fart and let me see that movie. I did not sleep the rest of the night, and didn't want to sleep alone for months after that. I'm pretty sure I need therapy.

Right after Donny and I got married we watched the movie Scream, and that night after we were in bed I made him get up and go to the bathroom with me, that is how bad it is. Even suspense/thriller movies are hard for me to watch if they are gory and gross. So this "season" is very hard on me. Donny works swing shift, so 2 out of every 5 weeks he is on nights, so if I happen to see a really freaky preview on one of those nights, I might lose some sleep. I'm a big chicken and I am proud of it! Besides, some of those movies are just evilness to me, and I don't need to see any more of that cause there is enough of that on the news already.

Anyway, not much point to this post, except to share a part of myself. Oh and I did not repeat my parent's mistake and let my kids watch adult movies. The scariest thing they have seen is, I guess The Wizard of Oz, I am definitely not going to let them be "crippled" by my fears, lol!

Another Random Post

I just can't think of anything very relevant to write about lately. I guess life is just like that though isn't it, kind of random? Never know what a day will bring.

I love the Duggars. For anyone who doesn't know who they are, they are the family in Arkansas who has 17 kids, with one on the way. I know there are people out there who don't like them, so if that is you, by all means you can disagree with me, but please don't post anything nasty about them, thank you. I think the thing I like the most about them, is that their children when old enough to make their own decisions, still rely on the wisdom of their parents to greatly influence their choices. That even though they could do what they wanted in the situation, they trust that their parents want only what is best for them, and follow their lead. That truly is the test of a good parent, isn't it. If my children have that attitude when they are adults I will feel like I did my job the way God intended. Trust me, I am a far cry from a Michelle Duggar, never have I seen a more patient woman, but it is inspiring to watch them parent and see the results of that parenting. Loving, compasionate, wise children.

Gabe likes to eat egg noodles raw and crunchy, I think that's gross.

Kayleigh has learned so much after just 3 piano lessons and I am so excited about that. I can barely play the piano. And if you would like to hear a song from me, give me the very easy music and about a month of practice for an hour a day, and then I will play for you! I want her to be able to play whatever her heart desires, cause I wish I could sooo badly.

I read an amazing story on this blog today, Sara at www.butterville.blogspot.com. I encourage anyone who wants to read an uplifting story to head over there.

Wow

Someone I don't know, left me my first hateful comment today on here. I have already deleted it of course, but it was pretty bad. If the point of the comment is to make me angry, it didn't. It just seems odd to me. I mean, being hateful to someone who has no clue who you are, kind of loses it's punch doesn't it? I guess the point is to annoy and irritate people, but it wasn't even annoying. Maybe I should feel flattered that they stopped by to read my blog? I think someone has a little too much time on their hands. I have a few floors that need to be scrubbed..........anyone?

A Random Post

Ok, so you know how I said I wanted a bread recipe cause I am trying to be more healthy. I also am trying to gradually get us into mostly, as much as possible, eating organically. Today at the store I had to get some flour, and naturally I wanted to buy organic. Wow, it is expensive! It is $3 more a bag than regular flour. I bit the bullet and bought it, as things come up that we need, especially staple items like flour I am going to buy organic, so hopefully it won't hurt the pocketbook as bad. But it's worth it. I am also going to make some zuccini bread, yum. And the zuccini is from a friends garden, so it is really good!

Tomorrow me and some girlfriends are going to a scrapbook store, they are going to shop, I am going to try to actually finish my 8 year olds baby scrapbook. Yep, you heard right, I am about 8 years behind in my scrapbooking. ~sigh~ Maybe some day I will get caught up! Then we are going to Kohl's and finally to the movies to Nights in Rodanthe. It's going to be lots of fun!

And finally here are some pics of my kids, cause their so stinkin' cute!

Once again, here is Captain underpants, this time wearing the complete outfit!

This is what Gwen spends alot of her days doing, screaming because she doesn't get her way.

Kayleigh doing her homework, what a big kid she is now.

And these two just cause their cute.

Calling all cooks.

I am on the hunt for a great and easy homemade bread recipe. And I stress easy! I am trying to be healthier and more frugal, and I want to see if it will be cheaper, and not too much extra work to make my own bread. So if you have one, please leave it for me, thanks.

Scary Times

Let me first say that I am not staying awake at night worried about what is going on in the financial world......yet. Things are scary right now, but it isn't the first time tough times have come and certainly won't be the last. I do know though that things can get much worse, and that is scary. As a christian I do trust in God to take care of us, and the Bible tells us not to worry, but I am human and I do.

I worry about my parents. My dad lost his job a year and a half ago, due to his company moving to India, nice, huh?! And he is def. a good ways away from being old enough to retire. Which, with this economy, who knows if/when that will happen. He has another job, but it doesn't pay near what he did make, my mom works too, but they are barely making it right now. I still have a younger brother and sister that live with them, so I know that makes it hard. His story is one of millions across the country, I know.

Anyone ever seen the boxing movie The Cinderella Man, it is set during the depression. I know those times could happen again, and it wasn't pretty.

So here is my plan to get us ready. We have to cut out most unnecessary spending, I say most, not all. We can still afford some frivolous things. I consider my self inherently frugal, and I am, but I do my fair share of wasteful spending. So our belts are going to get tighter. Not as much McDonalds or a new purse here, or a new shirt there, or getting highlights. I can go back to just one color. We need to quit eating junk anyway, so that could definitely go. Maybe with all this cutting away of junk, I will cut away some of this fat I have been holding on to as well!

My point is, we need to be better prepared for whatever comes, good or bad. So here I go. Hmmmm, I think this might call for some spread sheets and lists. I LOVE to organize, oh goody!

It's my party......

and I'll cry if I want to! I am going to whine a little bit here. I have not gotten over my head stuff and now I feel super lousy. I feel very light headed and just generally yucky and tired. It has been over a week since all this started, so I am wondering if it has turned into a sinus infection or something. I have never had one, but with my symptoms continuing to get worse I think it's more than just a cold or allergies.

Also today is our town wide rummage sales and here I sit at home sick with three kids. I love, love, love, love rummage sales. I am a rummage sale freak! So it is breaking my heart to not get to go:(

Ok, pity party is over, gotta go to stinky Wal Mart to get milk and bread or my kids might starve, yuk! Hope everyone else is having a much better day!

I'm In Love!

Ok, you can totally tell I am a mom of three if I am blogging about my washer and dryer, lol! Only a mom would do that. But I love these guys. We got them about 2 months ago and they are fabulous. I did not have a front loading washer before, and man was I missing out! These were on clearance at Sears for like $700 a piece, which is not much much more than the top loaders, and were worth every penny. They would have been worth the $1000 that they were originally priced at! Why do I love them so much you ask?

Well before if I did all the laundry in one day it would take at least 15 loads, in the tiny washer we had. Now 7-9, depending on how many towels there are. And one load a day keeps me caught up, where before I had to do at least 2 loads a day to keep caught up. Bottom line, less time doing laundry! Hallelujah! And like every woman I know, I loathe laundry, so any less laundry time is great. If you ever need a new washer, front loaders are the only way to go, if you ask me, unless of course you enjoy doing laundry! Here are a few pics. Aren't they pretty?




Of course Gabe had to get in on the picture taking action.

In case you are wondering, this is his usual attire, he is Captain underpants, lol!

Pics

Here are some pics just because:)


I think she has inherited her mom's shoe fettish!


Riding brother's bike, this time wearing sissy's shoes.

I don't think you can see in this picture and truly appreciate how really filthy his face and hands are, obviously it makes him very happy!

Daddy cut his hair, but Gabe likes to think he does it as well.

She always does this when Daddy is watching her. Makes me wonder what he is actually doing while I am gone, lol!

I'm It!

I have been tagged by Charisse at www.charissejournal.blogspot.com.

Here are the rules:
Link the person who tagged you
Mention the rules on your blog
Tell about 6 quirks of yours
Tag 6 fellow bloggers of yours to do the same
Leave a comment to let them know

#1 Not sure if this is quirky or not, but spit grosses me out. Any kind of spit. And what really grosses me out is when kids chew up some food and then spit it back out, blak!

#2 I don't like cats. Not that I want harm to come to them, but I can't stand touching them. And I absolutely hate it when they try to rub up against my legs. Yes, for you cat lovers, I think kittens are adorable, but they do grow up!

#3 When/if I get the stomach flu I never throw up. I just lay around in misery all day feeling super nauseated. So I always gag myself so I can vomit to get some relief. I know that is gross, but hey this is a quirky list.

#4 Ok this is another kind of gross one. If my husband has a pimple on his back I cannot rest until it is popped. I like get obsessed with it or something.

#5 I can eat sour cream on almost anything. I am a huge condiment lover, and when we were on Atkins sour cream was one of the few condiments you could have so I learned to eat it with everything. Eggs, steak, fries, if it was dippable or sauce worthy it got sour cream and I came to really like it on everything.

#6 I don't like to write with blue ink, black only please.

There ya go, not too quirky, but who knows everybody might think I'm super wierd!

Typical Mom Day

All high school students should have to live for one full week with all the responsibilities of a mom with at least 2 kids, preferably more. Cause I'm telling you even those of us who were "old" when we had our kids and were in a good marriage would have thought good and hard before having kids if we truly knew how hard it was when they are little.

I am soooo sleepy this morning, Gabe did not fall asleep until about midnight last night, so I did not get to sleep til after he did. Today is my day to take snack to Kayleigh's brownie meeting tonight, so I am working on homemade cookies right now. I know, I know, I could have just bought something today since I am so tired, but I was determined not to. I am really bad about having the plans to make something homemade and then caving and buying store made, so I purposed to not do that this time, and thankfully they are almost all done! Gwen is cutting God only knows how many teeth right now and is super fussy. I have neither showered nor brushed my teeth yet. And this definitely is not one of the "bad" days, it's just a typical day.

I want to clarify that I love being a stay at home mom, but being a mom, either stay home or work outside the home, is not for the faint of heart. There is lots of vomit, poop, sleepless nights, baby fat (mine, not theirs), stress, snot, slobber, did I mention vomit and puke? But there is also, big beautiful innocent eyes, soft baby curls, laughs, love, hugs, kisses and smiles of pure joy. I guess the payoff is worth it, but the journey can be kind of rough!

It Should Be A Law That Moms Can't Get Sick

I feel pretty lousy today, it's sinus stuff. Let me first say that before I had kids it was a rare occasion for me to even have a cold. So not only have my lovely children wrecked my looks, they have wrecked my health as well, lol! Every single time the stomach flu or regular flu bug enters my house I get it. Last winter alone I had the stomach flu, regular flu and strep throat, ugh. I am already dreading this winter and all the germy's it brings with it. I need to get on some really potent vitamins. I also used to never, ever have allergy/sinus problems, now every spring and fall I battle it. Oh, I guess it is worth it to look at three beautiful, mostly smiling, faces everyday, and to get the hugs and kisses from said children. Some day, preferably soon, I will have my pre baby body back, and maybe someday I will have my pre baby health back too? Eh, here's to hoping!

My Favorite Day of the Week

is Sunday. Since I was a little bitty kid Sunday morning has meant getting up (relatively) early, putting on your pretty dress and going to church. After church was eating lunch and resting, then going to church that night. To some people that might sound like the most boring day ever, but I have never thought church was boring. I guess cause I always went to exciting churches that really love the Lord. There is something very comforting to me to have this routine/tradition. And it has never just been a routine for me, that I just did it because I was supposed to, and it shouldn't for anyone, I have always thoroughly enjoyed church. We should worship God and talk with Him all the time every day, but to have a day set aside especially for that to me is special.

And now I am able to share this with my own children, and it is the greatest lesson in faithfulness that I believe I can teach them, as my own parents taught me. Our tradition is to go out to eat after church, no cooking goes on in this house on Sunday, lol! I still like to "rest" in the afternoons. But I honestly cannot wait for Sundays to roll around. On Sunday nights I think oh I can't wait until it is Sunday again. And I hope that my children feel the same way when they are adults.

Every day should be Sunday for a Christian, and I really do strive to live that every day, I do not want to be a "Sunday" Christian. That is what I want my children to see in me the most, not only do I love going to church on Sunday, but that my christianity doesn't end when I walk out those church doors. That truly is my desire.

I hope every one enjoys their Sunday as much as I will enjoy mine!

A binky addict

I was looking back over the pics I just posted and noticed that in every single one of them Gwen has her binky in her mouth. Her binky is her most favoritest thing on earth. But I guess I need to snap more pics of her without it, lol! She really doesn't have it 24/7, just 23/7! Honestly I am not even going to think of breaking her from it until she is two. We might cut back on it and keep it only for sleepy times, or when she is sick or I have to leave her somewhere at about 18 months.

But when we broke Gabe from his binky at 18 months he went from sleeping through the night to waking about 4 times a night and that lasted until just recently and I am NOT doing that again. And if anybody (my mil, oops did I type that out loud!) might hint around that she is too old to have a binky and that I should break her from it, they can feel free to come to my house and spend the night and get up with her when she wakes in the middle of the night, every night, for the next 2 years until she learns to sleep soundly without it, and I am most certainly NOT joking, lol!

Taking a binky from a toddler that sleeps soundly is like waking a bear from hibernation, you just don't do it!

More pics

Here are some more pics I thought I would share.

Here are the kiddos with dad outside on the swing on a gorgeous fall day.


I was finally able to get what little hair Gwen has in a little ponytail. She looked sooo cute, of course it lasted only a couple of hours, but it's the first time she has ever left anything in her hair.

This is how Gwen wakes up every morning, in a chair with her cup, doll and her blankey.

After I took this picture of Gabe I realized how fitting it really was. He can be a sweet, loving, stick up for his sisters great boy. And then can be as ornery as a snake the next minute, punching his sisters in the back. I guess that is the typical struggle of good vs. evil that we all face. As a Christian the Holy Spirit is prompting us to do what is right and what God wants us to do and our flesh is pulling us in the other direction. Sometimes the Spirit gets the victory and sometimes our flesh does. Luckily we don't wear our colors on the outside to show which one is winning from day to day! And boy am I thankful for that, lol!

Nuttin' Honey

Nothing much going on right now, and that feels soooo good! I am having a pampered chef party tonight. Looking forward to that. I am not one who goes to a lot of these kind of parties and I never have them, so it should be a fun rare treat. But I gotta do some cleaning first, yuk!

Parent/teacher conference was last night for Kayleigh. The first one of the year is not a one on one meeting, just a group meeting to go over rules, expectations, etc. Kayleigh does very well in school so far. But in the next 2-3 years the work and the tests will get much harder and way more complicated and I worry about her alot. She is very smart, so it's not that I dont' think she can learn it, but she distracts very easily, daydreams alot, doesn't listen close enough and doesn't follow directions well. Sometimes it also seems like concepts that take steps to figure out are very difficult for her, such as math, all these together can be a bad combination. We will cross that bridge when we come to it, and maybe by then she will have disciplined herself, along with our help, to be a better listener.

Kayleigh's bed still has not come in yet, I am getting very impatient! When it does I will take pictures of our house and finally post them. I just know everyone is waiting with baited breath, right?!

I am having a giant garage sale in a couple of weeks, can't wait to get it cleaned out so we can actually park in it. Especially on days when it is raining sheets, like on Sunday when I was trying to get in the van to go to church and got dumped on, thanks Ike!

Have a great day!

Bloggy Friends

I have really gotten into blogging lately, and love that I am making all these new online friends. I am reading alot of blogs and adding new ones to my list quite often. I love it! Of course eventually I would probably run out of room for all the ones I read, but until then my list will just continue to grow. You can never have too many friends!

So, I have a question - Why do you think blogging is so much fun for so many people. Why are we so interested in other peoples lives? Are we nosy, bored, curious, etc.? For me it's a lot of all of those. Mostly curiosity. And I like to read stories that make me feel good about life and are refreshing and uplifting and are about real people. That and I am just plain nosy, lol!

Why do you read?

Do You Remember?

What you were doing when you heard the news. I know none of us will ever forget what we were doing 7 years ago today. Any time I see the video of the airplane hitting the towers it brings back all the emotions and thoughts from that day. There just aren't words for how we all felt. What a scary world we live in. But as a Christian I hold fast in my belief that God is in control and I can trust in Him, that no matter what happens He allows it, and when the bad things do happen He is there to hold us up and carry us through it. I don't understand His plan or why these things happen, but I do as a parent understand a tiny bit of His love for us, His children. And that is what I rest in.

Whence cometh my help, my help comes from the Lord. Psalms

Some random pics.

I thought I would post a few pics today, haven't done any before and will try to do some more often. I also realized I need to step up the picture taking, don't have very many recent ones:( Anyway here ya go.

Gwen at our old house being silly.




Our first night in the new house, it's a little blurry, sorry.

Gwen with crazy morning hair.

Kayleigh's first day of school with her teacher.

"Fall"ing into a routine

Today is the beginning of the end of summer, it was pretty chilly this morning and is nice and cool today. But that's ok, autumn is awesome as well! The air is off the windows are open and it is a great day weather wise.

We have "fall"en into a pretty good routine now that school has started, which is really nice, cause my life was feeling very chaotic this summer! Glad that's all over.

I spent too much money today, yuk! This morning when I put Gabe's cold weather shoes on they were really tight so we headed out to do some shopping. We went to JCPenneys, and they had their infant shoes bogo, so he and Gwen both got a pair of New Balance gym shoes that are velcro, the best invention ever for a 3 year old! They are both super cute, and these are Gwen's first pair of gym shoes cause she has only worn the soft Robeez type shoes til now. Then Kayleigh needed leotards, tights and shoes for dance class so we went to Wal Mart and Payless for those things and all together they were about $60, but the leotards I bought her should last a couple of years, hopefully. And we had lunch at Cracker Barrel, yummy!

On a political note, I absolutely, positively cannot wait for this election to be over. I am soooo tired of the mudslinging, negative ads on both sides and the slew of misinformation that abounds about all of the candidates. It makes me sick, every 4 years I get really disgusted! Don't get me wrong I love our country, usually genuinely like who I vote for and feel very blessed to be able to vote and wouldn't want it any other way, but campaigning today is just way out of control in my humble opinion. And I don't necessarily think it is always the candidates doing, but it is their campaign and I think the buck ultimately stops with them and to me none of them do a very good job of keeping that in check. Just wanted to vent a little about that, I won't blog about it again, but needed to get that off my chest. Whew, I feel better already, lol!

My Hubby's gonna be a deacon! Updated at bottom

I realized I hadn't written about this, so here it is! Our church recently asked 7 or 8 men to consider being considered (lol) to be a deacon and Donny was one of them.

For those who may not know, our faith, we are Baptist, have men in the church who under the pastor/preacher are leaders/servants in the church.

They are leaders in the sense that they help guide the church in spiritual decisions and are there to give any counseling or prayer for people in the church when the pastor has a lot on his plate and are to be good examples of what a christian should be.

They are servants in the sense that they are there to assist the pastor, and the church, in anything that they need.

It is a huge honor to be asked to be one, but also a great responsiblity, not only for Donny but for me and the kids as well. I am very proud of him, and pray that God gives us the strength and grace to be Godly, loving, supportive Christians, in our church and in our community. Please pray for us!

I updated to add that he passed the "test", realized that I left that out of the post. They ask candidates questions to see if they qualify, or are a fit for the position and now they all are being ordained this Sunday evening. He even bought a suit for the event, which is quite remarkable for Donny. Anyway just thought I would add that in case anyone was wondering.

A good mommy day.

Before I had kids, and I think we all do, I dreamt about what the days will be like at home with them. Of course before you have them you have NO idea that all those ideas are hysterical cause we all know parenthood isn't anything what we thought it would be, it's better of course, but definitely different, and much harder, than we thought. But today I had one of those almost perfect mommy days, for me anyway!

I got up early, which for me is a major deal, I'm not an early, early morning person. But I have been getting up at 6 am since our oldest started back to school and my days are much more productive. Anyway, got up early, got her to school and got all the morning chores done that I like to do, making the beds, doing and putting away a few loads of laundry, general picking up. Gwen went down for a nap at 11:00, and Gabe and I had an hour of preschool.

My poor middle child, he has been so left out of the educational loop, lol! When Kayleigh was his age, she knew her alphabet, could identify all of them, knew all her shapes, even the weird ones like trapezoid, all her colors could count to at least 10, etc. Because I worked with her all the time! Since Gabe and Gwen were born closer together, and we had the fire he has learned pretty much nothing, and I am very embarrassed and ashamed of that. For the past month I have been working on colors with him and vowed that when Kayleigh went back to school I would work with him alot. So today was our first day of that.

He did very well, we did playdough to work on colors and cut out shapes, we sang the alphabet song together quite a few times, he doesn't know it yet, but I know it won't take him long. Then when he gets all of that down I want to start letter recognition and spelling his name. We had such a good time and he is so lovable and calm when he has me or dad all to himself, it was just really nice.

Then we all had lunch, as Gwen had awaken, and after lunch I made homemade no bake cookies. I felt very much the homemaker/sahm stereotype today and it felt nice cause I don't feel that way very often! I usually don't have enough energy or patience! I know everyday will not be this productive or calm, and I won't always feel very energetic or patient, but I will take those days when I can get them and enjoy every minute of them, and will file these days away in my memory for when my kids are adults and playing play dough with their own children, cause as we all know those days are just around the corner!

My oldest baby turns 8!

I know people have been saying this for the past 2000 years, but where has the time gone! I cannot believe it has been 8 years since she was born. The first few years of her life were so tough because of all the hurdles we faced and seemed to just go by, one lazy day after another, with no end in sight to her being a lovable sweet innocent toddler. And then she started kindergarten and, bam, her life is flying by like an airplane.

She has come such a long way. For a little girl who didn't walk until she was almost 2, or say any words until she was over 2. Couldn't jump, run, hop, skip, or do any of the things her friends were doing when they were 2 or 3, didn't feed herself until she was like 19 months, and we had no idea if she would ever be completely "normal", she is amazing! She not only walks, she plays kick ball with all her friends at school, she won't shut up most of the time, lol, jumps on the trampoline, and does all the things a normal 8 year old does. I look back at those first few weeks of her life and I am so thankful for where she is today. It was a devastating time in our lives and we didn't know where life would take us with this beautiful red headed baby that we loved so much and hurt so much for. It has been the best ride of our lives and we are so blessed and so thankful to God for her everyday.

She is still a lovable sweet innocent little girl, who is sooo smart and compassionate, of which I am the most proud of her. I hope the next 8 years are just as sweet as the first 8, although I think we might be in for a bumpy ride, lol! Thank you God for my children.

A great blog for busy moms!

I am now a contributor to a blog, www.busymommyproductreview.blogspot.com, it's in my blog list. The blog is great, there are giveaways you can enter ALL the time. And then a few moms, like me, will review products, like books or perhaps baby products, etc., and also websites and other blogs, then rate them and talk about them on this blog. And maybe also give you some tips on ways to not be so "busy"! So pretty much the purpose of the blog is to make the lives of busy moms, as we all are, a little bit easier and a lot more fun! Check it out!

Surgery went well

Everything went well today. We had to wait almost an hour in pre op and that was a bummer cause Gwen was a little cranky from no food or liquids since the night before. The procedure only took about 5 minutes, and went well, the doctor told me that she had puss in her left ear and to expect some yucky drainage today. So poor Gwen was probably in some pain and I didn't even know it, so really glad we got the tubes done.

When she started waking up from the anesthesia she was really wild eyed and disoriented and that is always scary. She slugged back a cup of diluted juice really fast and that along with the anesthesia made her sick and she vomited, but after an hour and vomiting again she was back to normal. She ate a normal lunch and had a cup of milk with it and did just fine. She isn't acting like she is any pain at all, so all is well. Really glad it's over!

Tubes Tomorrow

Tomorrow morning is tubes day for Gwen, woo hoo! Hope it goes smooth and quick, will post after it's done to update her progress. Appreciate any prayers to head our way.

Correction to last post

Ok, I will blame this on mom brain or lack of sleep, but I bought the New Testament on cd not dvd! Oye, I even proofread that post and didn't notice that I had written dvd like 10 times! So hopefully the post makes more sense now, lol!

A Great Investment

In June I went to the Women of Faith conference in St. Louis, if you haven't heard of it before it is a huge conference with a great lineup of christian speakers, all women, and you get encouraged and uplifted to be a better christian, mom and woman! So anyway, they had the New Testament on dvd for sale, it was read by a bunch of famous people, like Kimberly Paisley, Luke Perry, Marissa Tomei, etc. That part really didn't matter to me, but I had been wanting to get the Bible on dvd for a long time just hadn't because it was expensive, it was on sale there for $40 so I bought it for Donny for our anniversary, although secretly it was for me mostly, does that make me a bad wife, lol?

Just the other day I got our portable dvd player, put it in the laundry room and broke out the dvd's. I thought that since I spend a good 15-20 minutes a pop in there sorting washing and folding the laundry, and generally the kids don't bother me while I am in there, it would be a great time to listen to them. And let me tell you it has been wonderful. I have read the New Testament several times, not that I am a super christian or anything, but going to church all my life and attending a christian school it was kind of required reading, but listening to it read puts such a unique spin on it. Honestly it really does feel as if you could be standing there actually listening to Jesus talk to the disciples, it is amazing and humbling! I have gotten through the first 6 chapters of Matthew in a couple of days and it feels like I have barely spent any time in there at all, it so captivating. I know this sounds weird but I honestly look forward to going down there to do the laundry, I almost (gasp) am excited about it! If you have ever thought about getting the Bible on dvd, or know anyone who would be interested in it I highly recommend it. The one I have is called the Word of Promise, and is called dramatic audio theatre, they are reading it word for word but there are sound effects and it is a dramatic reading and that makes it so interesting, and is the NKJV version, in case anyone was wondering.

I know I am just going on and on about this set, but I think it really can change the way I or anyone else, can understand and gain a new love and appreciation for God's word.

As a side note, my butt still hurts, but is slowly getting better! Hopefully some day I will be able to sit on it for more than 10 minutes without having to switch cheeks, lol!

Update on my butt!

So my butt is still in a lot of pain, :( I am going to the doctor today to make sure there is nothing else wrong and to see if she can maybe give me some stronger pain killers for at night. Oh the joy!

I have been laying off the computer this week, I spend way too much time on it, and need to take a bit of a break so my family and house do not suffer. I will try to post once in a while though.

All is going well in general, life is settling down. I still need to do a thorough cleaning out of the garage and then we are having a big garage sale. School starts in a couple of weeks and then it is back to normal life for us, hopefully. Something it feels like we haven't had since December.

Gwen is getting her tubes put in on the 27th, man will that be a life saver this winter to not constantly have a kid at the doctors office. It seems like I have spent the last 4 winters at the doctors with both pregnancies and Gabes fight with ear infections, so I am believing this winter will be different.

We should be getting the rest of our furniture in the next 2-3 weeks, and then I will finally post some pics of the new place.

Oh, and tonight Donny and I, with a couple of friends, and no kiddos, are going to a seafood buffet, I can't wait. I LOVE seafood. Here's to a great start to the weekend!

My Butt hurts!

No this is not what one of my kids said today, that is what I am saying. I fell going down our family room steps early this morning, right on my butt, ouch! Gabe woke up and wanted a drink and as I headed down there somehow my feet just flew right out from underneath me, sigh! So now I feel like I did after I had babies, that soreness on your coccyx (sp?) or tailbone, whatever you want to call it, only multiplied by 100, it hurts!

The most painful part is sitting down and getting up, oh man those are killers. Actually it pretty much is excruciating pain most of the time, except when I am lying down, I'm by myself with three young kids today, yeah there will be a lot of opportunities to do that! Oh and I am waddling like a pregnant woman too cause that is the least painful way to walk. I thought I was done with all that stuff, darn the steps!

A bad start to the day.

Ok, so this isn't a super positive post, and for any one who might happen to read this blog you might remember that a while back I vowed only positive ones cause I was griping and complaining about house screw ups too much. All that is over, so I have lifted the bann, as long as I don't complain everyday!

First Gwen did NOT sleep well last night, she is getting a couple of molars, they are barely cut through, and OH MY GOSH, she is a terrible teether. Then when I get up Donny tells me there is garbage all over our patio. It was so late last night when I bagged up the garbage I didn't feel like taking all the way to the can so I sat it right outside our back door. We have a fence around our back yard, so no big critters can get in, but apparently a stray cat or two decided to have some old chinese food for a snack last night, argh!

Then when I woke up this morning both little ones had leaked and their clothes were wet and I absolutely HATE that! Then my nosy toddler won't stay out of anything and picked up her discarded pee soaked pj bottoms to play with them, yuk! Then she pulled my coffed cup off the table, thankfully it is a thermos cup with a lid, but it still splashed coffee all over the wall.

I am going to take a shower, get the kiddos ready and get out of this house for a little while and hope we all start having a better day!

My kids are home

Our kiddos got back from grandma and grandpas today and boy am I glad, I was starting to miss them really bad! Of course for a day or two after they get home they are pretty ornery and tired and we have to deal with that, but it was worth it for a few days of rest.

I am having some cell phone issues. My precious baby Gwen lost my brand new phone back in April. And before you think well she shouldn't have let her have the phone, please know it is not a habit to let one year olds play with expensive electronics in our house. I had been rocking Gwen to sleep and had put the phone on silent so as not to wake her up, well she didn't go to sleep so I put her down forgetting my phone was in the floor beside the rocking chair. Until I wanted to make a phone call and couldn't find it. Donny and I searched the house for 2 hours with no luck, and of course we couldn't call it to find it because it was on silent, argh! I took Donny's old phone to tide me over, hoping we would eventually find my nice new shiny purple phone that I loved. So now we have moved and guess what, never have found the darn phone! Donny's old phone loses charge after not even a whole day so I am trying to find a nice used one on ebay, cause I can't get a new one again until October of next year. Not having a lot of luck. I am sure this isn't going to be the last thing Gwen is going to do that will cost me some money, but I am hoping she won't do anything this big again for a long time.

What to write about?

My goal is to write often on this blog. Somedays there is nothing remotely exciting, or interesting, to write. Today was one of those days.

The kids are at Grandma and Grandpas, so I did a lot of errands. Went to the post office and did our change of address, got the oil changed in the van, bought a new pair of glasses cause I hadn't replaced mine since the fire, went to Aldi (a discount grocery store in our area) and last, but most fun, got a pedicure.

I LOVE pedicures! I don't get to do a lot of things just for me, but this is one thing I like to splurge on when I have the time to do it. They are so relaxing, I almost fall asleep while they are working on my feet! I would love to get one everyday.

Then a friend and I ordered our bedroom furniture tonight. So that was my day, even though it sounds boring to everyone else, for me, a mother of three young children, when I am able to do these mundane things by myself it is a great day!

This n That

Life has settled down alot! The last few months have been so full of chaos and drama that I almost feel like I will be bored, lol! Praise the Lord for bored! Here is a little bit about the kiddos, cause I don't seem to write much about them.

School starts for Kayleigh in a month, 2nd grade, wow! She is growing up so fast, it makes me sad.

I want to start Gabe in preschool sometime this school year, I guess I need to get on that, huh? It's a private preschool/daycare, so they are flexible, so I think they will be able to get him in. I mostly want him in for the social aspect and to give his momma a break :)

And baby Gwen, what a corker! She is a little drama queen. But she is soooo smart, she understands every single thing I say to her. I can tell her to take a cup to her bubby and off she goes, I am amazed everyday at her level of communicating.

So back to our normal life again. No more fires, insurance drama, a/c drama, moving drama or Jennifer drama, lol! At least not any that has to deal with our old house, our a/c, moving or insurance. Oh my, I hope not!

We're IN!

Last night we spent our first night in our new house! And tonight I sit here with only 2 totes left to unpack! With lots of help every single thing is put away in the house. Can you say wow! To me that is quite an accomplisment. Of course I have been absolutely positively worn out last night and tonight, but it is worth it.

Now our garage is a different story. It is full of about 50 empty totes, alot of totes full of garage sale goodies for me to get rid of and some misc. things. This stuff will have to wait though, cause I am taking a day off tomorrow!

I will post pics soon, just want to get all of our furniture first. And we don't have that much more to get on that front either.

What a journey this past 7 months has been, and I am so glad to see it come to an end. What a blessing all my friends and family have been, and what a great God that I serve to have been so good to me. Words can never express my thankfulness for every thing I have, and most importantly my thankfulness to my Heavenly Father for guiding me through all this!

Blessings.

Ya know when things seem to be going smoothly and you think, oh yeah we're gonna get there now. Well that seems that is when things get twisted. We did get our insurance check today for all of our stuff, but because of the size of the check, the bank has put a hold on the funds for 5 business days. Ok, I knew they would probably put a hold on at least a big chunk of it, cause sometimes they will let you take a small portion of a large check and you get the rest when the check clears, kwim? I got to take $100 of the money, and it was a pretty LARGE check. Needless to say that doesn't buy a lot of furniture, lol!

But, when I went in today to tell the people that we had our living room suite and a hutch on hold with that we couldn't get the stuff until next Wednesday, they did a very nice thing for us. The owners son goes to the same christian school as our daughter, so we know them, and she told the sales girl to go ahead and let us get the furniture delivered tomorrow if we just give them a post dated check for next Wednesday! People can be really nice and thoughtful when given the chance! And then one of my good friends went to Sears with me and put the washer and dryer we wanted on her Sears card and told us to just pay her back on Wednesday as well. Very sweet!! God has soooo blessed us with good people in our lives, family, friends, acquaintances and just strangers have shown us so much kindness! I have a lot of paying it forward to do, and i can't wait!

I also ordered the kids bunk beds today and hopefully they will be in next week. Moving in this weekend, or that is the plan anyway.

God is good, all the time!

Oh, and I am going to try to start posting pictures. Hopefully it isn't too hard cause I am electronically challenged! So I am going to start with pics of the new house sometime next week.

Now we will have $$ as well!

So when it rains it pours I guess. We have been waiting for 4 months to get the rest of our insurance content money "any day". Needless to say we were getting a bit impatient to get it, cause without it we can't buy anything! Of course living without a washer and dryer wouldn't be that bad, would it? I got an email with our insurance man to day to call him, and yep our money is comin'! Woo hoo! I think that now we might actually be able to get our life settled down again. We are so blessed though, God has been so good to us that I can't complain, even if we did move in without a couch or kitchen table, it'd be all right!

I haven't talked that much about the kiddos lately. Not that much to report. Gwen is getting teeth #5 and 6, Gabe is his usual ornery adorable self! Although on the Kayleigh front I have some disturbing news. She will only be 8 in a month, but she is already starting to get a bit of a womanly figure. Not much at all, but just enough to completely FREAK me out! I looked it up on webmd and it said it was perfectly normal. But it hurts really bad to see your first born take one tiny step toward adulthood. I really need to have an age appropriate talk about aunt flo sometime soon, but since I didn't start mine until I was 14 and from what all I have read a good indication of when a girl will get her first visit is when her mom did, I am hoping it is several years before she actually ever experiences it! Man I am never ever going to tell her I talked about this on a blog, it might scar her for life, lol!

We Have Air

So we decided to ditch trying to get an answer from the home warranty people and just paid to have the air fixed on our own. If they happen to come back and say that our appeal is approved we will try to get them to reimburse us, but I am not holding out too much hope. Our realtor is now working on the case for us as well, she was gone for the first three weeks of the ordeal, but it doesn't matter to me anymore, we have air and can move and that's all that matters.

We will definitely be moved in by this weekend, Lord willin' and the creek don't rise, lol!

I Spoke Too Soon

So apparently Donny did not get the memo about us moving this weekend, lol! I don't know what happened, but some form of miscommunication transpired. Cause I thought we were going to move completely tomorrow, and have told about a hundred people that, and apparently Donny had a different thought. The plan is, I guess, to be here at least another week, trying to get the a/c issues worked out. Will update any more non talking Donny and I do:)

Need a tote?

Cause I got about 40 empty ones in my garage! That is how many my girlfriend and I went through today, putting all that stuff away. It should seriously be against the law to have that much stuff stored away. I am absolutely pooped! There are still about 10 left that have clothes in them that the kids have yet to grow into, and I want to go through them and hang as much up as I can, then hopefully no more totes for a while!

The plan is to move in completely tomorrow! I will just be glad when it is over!

Our ENT visit and our bed.

I'll start with Gwen's ear issues. We saw an ENT today because she has been having lots of ear infections, and on the last one her ear drum burst. We weren't even there 2 minutes and he said let's do tubes. Hallelujah for not beating around the bush! First he said this isn't even ear infection season, so it won't get better, it will only get worse. Second she is allergic to amoxicyllin(SP?) and that limits the doctors ability to treat the infections properly, plus you don't want your kids on meds all the time. And third with her ear drum rupturing that starts more complications, so in other words let's just nip it in the bud and do tubes. Yay for a nip-it-in-the-bud-doctor. The end of August is when they will get done.

We got our select comfort bed in today. They told me on delivery day they would call me about 30 minutes before they came to let me know a specific time, the general time was between 9 and 1. It was about 10:30, and I am in the midst of rushing to get 3 kids ready for Gwen's appointment and the select comfort guys call and say they are at my house with the bed! I was like "what, I thought you were supposed to call before you show up", they said they did and left me a message. Well I had no message on my phone. I can't miss Gwen's appointment, so I call my friend Julie, and thankfully she goes over there ,in her jammies, to let them in. What a good friend. And the poor thing ended up getting stung by a bee while she was there. I owe her big time!

A Productive Day!

So Donny and I worked so hard today cleaning out the garage at our old house that contained about 30 totes and tons of various other things. It took us 3 loads in our friends trailer to get it all. And whew am I tired. This was the day that I had been dreading pretty much since right after the fire! And it is such a relief to have it over with. Last night I couldn't stop thinking about how today was going to stink, and it pretty much did, but it's all done. Woooohooooo!

The kids are back home from grandparents, and it is good to have them home. I def. enjoy getting some "time off", but I really miss them while they are gone.

So it's more moving the next few days and hopefully we will be moved in by Friday night. Keep your fingers crossed and your prayers coming.

A Pretty Good Day

I moved 2 loads of little stuff to the house, stuff like winter coats, shoes, refrigerator magnets, alot of toys, etc. Which after I look at the rent house it doesn't look like much, but it is all that stuff that takes what seems like forever to move and put away. Got it all put away as well, so hopefully when we move in this weekend we will have most things unpacked and put away, and just have to deal with some totes with nonessentials in them when I get the time.

I also got a pedicure today. Ahhhh, one of my most favorite things about living in this century, and I guess the last one too, is that we have pedicures. Sooooo relaxing. When we just had one child, I went pretty much every month in the summer time, now I am lucky to go once a summer!

The kids are at grandma and grandpa's, they come home tomorrow. I am going to get a good nights sleep tonight, and get a lot done tomorrow, then my never ending days will begin again, lol! Wouldn't trade em for anything in the world though!

Only Good News!

So after one of the most frustrating weeks of my life, and feeling like I am always complaining and whining and being a drama queen, I have vowed to be only positive. It's either that or go insane!

On a positive note, my in laws are taking the kids for a few days starting tomorrow, so that I can get some major moving done. With the kids gone on Monday and Tuesday, I should be able to pretty much get everything moved, and we plan to be in by the end of the week, if the air is fixed sooner, we will move in even sooner!

Also on a positive note, even though I am not as thin as I want to be, I do have a good tan! I haven't had a tan since I was in high school and hoed cotton in the summer for a job. It does make me feel good about myself.

Will try to post pics of the house asap, and as soon as I figure out how to!

More Frustrations!

Ok, I am back with more frustrations! So ya know in the post about the home warranty issues, I needed to fax some info to them to appeal their denial of our claim. I faxed it last Thursday morning. I called them today to see where they were coming with it and the lady on the phone kindly tells me they didn't receive a fax at all. I swear the second she said that, I could feel my blood pressure shoot through the top of my head. I felt all this anger just wash all over me! And yes it was faxed to the right phone number. I just started crying on the phone with her, and she asked me if I wanted to refax or to send a request to the store where I sent the original fax. I was like whatever, she said she would send the request and I requested very firmly that they call me and let me know when that fax was received, then I very Christian like hung up on her. Bad attitude, I know, but I just could not handle it any more! I have just more than had it with this company. I was just overwhelmed with anger, frustration, hopelessness, etc. ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

So I refaxed it, and immediately called to see if they received the fax, and the lady on the phone kindly told me that faxes don't show up for about 48 hours after they are received. Again, up goes my blood pressure. She explains to me that there is not a person standing there receiving faxes, so there is no way to know if it was received, yadda, yadda, yadda! I ask to speak to a supervisor, she tells me a supervisor won't even speak to me until they received my faxed info. I am like, huh? If I want to speak to a supervisor about something I can't? That went on for a few minutes, with my blood pressure continuing to go up again. Finally she understood that I was asking if I could just speak to a supervisor about how I HATE their company, not about our claim, and then she tells me I can speak to one, which I didn't even really want to deal with that right now. I tell her I just want to know, as quickly as humanly possible, that the darn (I really want to use about a dozen colorful words right here, but being the deacon's wife that I am, darn it is, lol) fax has been received. She tells me that has already been noted on my page from my tearful phone call earlier, to call me when it is received. And honestly, the previous people that I have spoken to have probably put a description of a crazy, demanding, cranky woman on that page as well, but I really don't give a .......darn! Although I have really tried my best not to throw up all my frustration on the people I am speaking to because I know this is not their fault.

I am honestly done with this stupid company. It has nothing to do with whether they are going to pay the claim or not and everything to do with the fact that no one seems to know anything about anything, and in no way are they going to go out of their way to help you. They don't have a time frame for when an appeal might be looked at, they don't know if a faxed has been received, they don't have an email address to send complaints to, and I mean what company in this century doesn't have an email address, really?! I am so tired of getting no answers and a run around, and trust me someone is going to hear about it, and if they don't try to do better, I am going to tell everyone I know to never buy from them! I am so tired of feeling like an evil, complaining witch when I talk to these people. I want to be the nice, kind, considerate, loving person I "usually" am, lol!

This n That

Not much going on right now. I did get my hair cut and highlighted last weekend, I got more drastic blond and red highlights with the dark color underneath on the back. I really like it. But the cut just wasn't working for me. I liked it, but my hair has a lot of body to it and the way she cut it made the bottom flip out so much I looked like I had wings. So I went back yesterday to get it cut shorter, and I like it much better. But it is definitely shorter. I haven't had it this short in a long time. As soon as I can think of it, I will have Donny take a pic of me and post it on here. Getting ready in the mornings will be so much easier, and that really has been my goal all along.

Not been getting much sleep lately. Gwen just isn't a sound sleeper anyway, but the past few nights have been bad because she has the beginning of an ear infection. I took her to the doc yesterday and he gave us a script, so hopefully by tonight she is feeling better!

We got the Toy Story movies for the kids, Kayleigh has seen them lots of times before, but they are new to Gabe, and he loves them! I am glad, cause those movies are so cute, and so much better than Thomas the Train, lol!

We got Kayleigh a new backpack and her school supplies last night. She doesn't start til after Labor Day, just kind of got a jump start on it.

So that's it for now. Hopefully we will hear back from the Home Warranty people on Monday about if they cover the a/c repairs and then can get on with moving in!