the blolly

Out of the mouth of babes...

2010-03-19T08:24:00.000-07:00

Quotes of the day, courtesy of Middle P

"Mom, I need some short sleeve pants."

"Mom can you lower my seat up?" (in reference to his bicycle seat)

"Dad, Dad... tomorrow I don't have anything, but the other tomorrow, I'm going soccering!" (the other tomorrow = the day after tomorrow)

I'm Back!!! (i hope)

2010-03-17T21:31:00.001-07:00

Today, I was harrassed for not blogging anymore... so let's see how this goes! I'm going to try to get this blog going again, but I make no promises! There are many things going on in our lives, but nothing really new. Princess P did however turn 7 last week, yes 7! I have no ideas where the time has gone, but they have gone too fast. Happy birthday sweet girl!

Vacation

2009-09-15T07:05:00.000-07:00

About a month ago we went on vacation. We went to Florida with my extended family and it was a blast. For most of the week we stayed at our condo on the beach, but for one day... we ventured to Disney, to the Magic Kingdom to be exact. It was HOT. It was CROWDED. It was a long day. Would I do it again, yes. Only because the magic really does happen after dark. Evything lights up, the castle is gorgeous and the lights magic parage is AMAZING. Seeing Middle P's face light up when the princesess blew him kisses, was worth every penny, every degree of heat and every crowd we encountered. Would I do it again in August? Um, not if I have to. Would I ever stay a week at Disney, probably not. Call us lazy, but we would prefer to hang at the beach all day, then tackle crowds and drop buckets of money all day. Yet, it was still an experience of a life time. BTW, don't the kids look exhausted already in the pic? This was the START of the day, right after we walked through the gates! Crazy, I know.

More vacation pictures to come, eventually, once my Mr. P gets them off his laptop! Then I can maybe show you Middle P's face as he watched the parade. Oh and aren't the shirts adorable? I had Cassie over at One Great Thing at Etsy. She is great to work with and doesn't she do awesome work?!

School's in session

2009-09-14T10:46:00.001-07:00

Princess P and her first day of 1st grade and her whole class.

Middle P and he first day of preschool (finally!). This was one excited kid... although you can't tell from the photos! ;)

Somedays, this is how I feel...

2009-07-20T06:38:00.000-07:00

Why I Boycott Toys R Us

2009-07-16T19:12:00.000-07:00

Ok folks, I've been meaning to write about this for some time, but after talking with a friend of mine today I decided enough is enough with this stupid store.

My loathing of Toys R Us began when Princess P was small. We received an outfit as a gift from Toys R Us, and you could tell it was from Toys R Us, because it was their brand, TRU, in the tag... it was too small. We got it as a gift, I wasn't about to have a grandparent go sifting through hundreds of Christmas recipes to exchange one outfit for a size larger, so off to TRU I go. I get there and they tell me you can't exchange or return without a receipt. What? I can't even get the next size larger in the SAME thing? Nope, not with out a stickin receipt. I'm pissed. But whatever, I give the outfit to a friend and decide, well, I'll shop other places and if I HAVE to shop at TRU I will remember their stupid non-return policy.

Fast forward a couple years to this past November. TRU is having great sales for Christmas, I love the Fisher Price stuff that is made for girls in just pinks, and because TRU is the only place that sells this line I get the sorting bucket with blocks in pink for my niece, Lucy, for Christmas, because frankly it's just too darn cute. Well, Christmas comes and goes and because of Lucy's health we don't see her at Christmas, but I still intend on giving her the gift. When she unexpectedly passed, I couldn't bear to have it anymore. My boys weren't going to play with it, and really we already had it, just not in pink. I knew NO ONE with baby girls that I could give it to. I expressed this to my mom and she said just return it. This broke my heart to do, but I did. Or at least I TRIED!

Off I got to TRU with the Toy and the RECEIPT, yes I STILL had the receipt. I get there hand the toy and the receipt to the customer service lady and she very rudely tells me that it's past 90 days and EVEN with a receipt they can't take it back after 90 days. OK folks, 2 things here... they still carry this item AND it was only 93 days past the date of purchase, yes you read that right I had missed the 90 days by 3 whole days. (because I was distraught at the whole idea of returning this gift). I try to explain the fact that it is only 3 days past the 90 days and they say sorry. I explain the situation, just out of principal now, not because I'm desperate for my refund, but seriously! So after explaining the situation and why I was even returning it in the 1st place, the rude, customer service lady who is completely being inconvenienced by my presence, who obviously thinks I'm trying to scam the store out of hundreds of dollars, shrugs her shoulders and says "hmmph, sorry, nothing I can do". Needless to say I am irate and vow NEVER to shop at or with Toys R Us again.

I go home and write a polite email to the customer service department explaining the rudeness of the employee, my disagreement with their return policy, my situation and the fact that they will no longer be receiving my business. To which they respond "We're sorry you feel this way, but unfortunately these are our policies" and that's it. Nothing else. Boycott continues.

Today, a friend and I were chatting and she was explaining about a toy that her son had gotten for his birthday in June, a small part broke. No worries, she called Toys R Us and they couldn't help, she called Step 2, the manufacturer and they happily sent her a replacement part... which promptly broke in a few more days. The toy came from Toys R Us so she tries in vain to see if they will take it back because it keeps breaking, but, you guessed it, because she doesn't have a receipt they will do NOTHING. Now she is stuck with a broken $60 toy, is frustrated and has joined my boycott of Toys R Us vow as well.

What I don't get is that a company like this would have such POOR return policies. That a company that thrives on mommy business would risk loss of business because of poor customer service (even at the cooperate level). Anyone who knows the power of a mommy knows that us moms have a lot of opinions, talk a lot, spend a lot and are quick to spread the word. So, I hope you will join me in my boycott of Toys R Us, at least until they get the message that their return policy sucks.

Toys R Us... you were warned!

Should my life be this busy?

2009-07-09T14:23:00.001-07:00

Ok complainers, just for you... I'm back. I've been kinda busy, you know it is summer and it was my birthday and the 4th of July (even though it rained and everything was cancelled) last week.

Truly I am busy though. In the midst of trying to raise my 3 off spring while staying sane, I am also currently holding 3 volunteer "jobs"- um, yes I am crazy. But alas, whatever.

I am the president of the Board of Directors of our cooperative preschool, sometimes very simple, other times quite frustrating and discouraging, especially since we are a board of women. Need. I. Say. More?

I am also now on the board of a new women's group at my church, love this, but since it is new the kinks are still being worked out and we don't quite "flow" yet.

Then there is my biggest endeavor. I am trying to start at MOPS group at my church. MOPS stands for Mothers of Preschoolers, a christian moms group that strives to equip,encourage and develop every mother into the best possible mother they can be. I personally have been involved with a local MOPS group for 6 years and always felt our church should have one, but did I want to be in charge of it? Uh.... NO! But, here I am, jumping through many a hoop of bureaucracy to get things rolling, trying to bite my tongue when I am stalled yet again. Today however, I received an email from the original Mentor Mom of my MOPS group after I asked her to come speak to my group in the fall. This is what she responded with

"How exciting to hear about this new assignment God has given you! Would be glad to come and speak. Am available in September and December. Let me know what you come up with. May the Lord richly bless you with wisdom, clarity, enthusiasm, and energy as you answer this latest call."

How awesome is she? Her response was just what I needed in my sea of discouragement. I just have to remember that this is an assignment from God, not just something I want to do.

I also have been running with a local beginning women's running group and Saturday I will be running my 1st race in 3 years! A 5k, not the mini-tri I did 3 years ago, but it's a start right?

I came here to write about something completely different, yet I have no idea what that was, it is gone from my fried brain! So instead you got my ramblings. You like?

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T20:06:00.001-07:00

Our New Fav

2009-06-19T09:03:00.000-07:00

I got the Hannah Montana soundtrack for the kids the other day, specifically for this song, because if you know us you know that butterfly hold a place in our hearts because of our love for my niece Lucy. The other thing I love about this song is that when we listen to it, all 3 kids are mesmerized and quiet and baby p says "fly fly" over and over while flapping his little hands like butterflies, it is so sweet and something he picked up on all on his own.

Trek Yourself

2009-06-17T08:46:00.000-07:00

Mr. P as a Vulcan! (I tried to Trek myself too, but I couldn't get my face to line Up!) Oh and yes, my hubbie is a Trekkie.

Facebook Friends

2009-06-15T11:48:00.000-07:00

Today I came across Mama Sparkles. As I was perusing her blog I found a great post where she categorized her Facebook friends, after her sister asked her just where all her friends came from. I found this VERY interesting and was curious to see where my FB friends came from. This is what I came up with:

High School: 61
Mommy Friends: 45
Family: 33
Elementary School: 21
Worked with or Taught with: 13
College: 11
Church: 7
Other (mainly friends I met through others): 15

A couple of things amaze me....
1) the impact of high school and the friends we make there
2) how many people you meet just because you're a parent
3) how few of my friends come from my college years, there are SO many people I met in college and I had so many friends, where did they all go???
4) I found it interesting to see how many people overlapped categories, I had to decide which category was the most prevalent or where I really knew them from! ;)

Ugly Cakes

2009-06-14T14:49:00.001-07:00

Hey folks I came across the most awesome blog today. http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/ It is a hoot! Here are a couple pics from the blog that made me laugh out loud!

After seeing these, I don't feel so guilty about getting this cake for Middle P's 3rd birthday last year!

And now here are pics of the author of this blog (I think), anyway I am showing you these because I am seriously wanting to do this to my hair. Yes, seriously! I've been talking about dying my hair pink for a couple of weeks now, and when I saw her hair, I thought, that's it, that's what I want to do. What do you think? No, I don't have a reason for doing it, just sounds like fun.

Before we were Mr & Mrs P

2009-06-11T12:11:00.000-07:00

Back in the day, when we were just friends, before we fell in love, before we were even close to becoming Mr & Mrs P. He was my best friend then and he continues to be my best friend today.

Wordless Wednesday- Daddy's Little Helpers

2009-06-10T08:43:00.000-07:00

Daddy's Little Helpers

Find more Wordless Wednesday at 5MinutesforMom

Gallery of Cake

2009-06-09T20:02:00.000-07:00

Do you find as a mother that "making" your kid's birthday cakes is part of your job, or do you opt to buy one? In the beginning of motherhood I felt as though that's what a mom did, we made out kid's cakes.... then I started making them and I had 3 kids... my perspective has changed a little. Last year I did both, I made some cakes and I bought some cakes, truth be told I'm a sucker for Sam's Club cakes and I thought they could do a better job of Thomas the Train than I. But, it was Baby P's 1st birthday and I felt since the other 2 had "mommy made" cakes for their 1st birthdays, so should he. However, I have a friend who puts me to shame, but motivates me to try something a little different, a little harder each time. Let me show you.

For Baby P's "actual" 1st birthday I attempted to make my own fondant and decorate his cake (or two little mini cakes) with fondant icing, it wasn't the easiest, didn't turn out the greatest, but not bad for a 1st try at fondant, still pretty cute and tasted great!

Then for his birthday party I made these 2 ducky cakes and they were made with regular homemade frosting, not fondant. These I was very pleased with, no not terribly original but cute for a 1st birthday party. Large ducky cake for the party goers, small ducky cake for Baby P to dig into on his own and small orange & blue cake, just because I had left over and heck we're in "ILLINI country"!

Now to my friend's cakes... She has always been good at making her kid's birthday cakes, but last year was the 1st year she started playing around with different techniques. Case in point, this was last year's 1st cake... her son wanted a transformer cake...

Then her baby turned one last summer also, these I just thought were WAY too cute...

And then there is this year. Her son is really into the show "storm chasers", so she set out figuring out a way to make a tornado cake.

For this she too make her own fondant, but a different recipe, nonetheless it turned out darling, and I just love the smoothness of her fondant. Keep in mind she also was very overwhelmed by this undertaking, but was pleased in the end, although she claims she's going to lower the bar from now on. I'm not sure I believe that, considering this is the cake she wants to make for her baby's 2nd birthday....

she claims this one will be easier than the tornado cake, but I think she's just telling me that! ;)

Do you think I can talk her into making me this cake for my birthday in July?

Beginning & Ending

2009-06-08T09:44:00.000-07:00

Today was Princess P's last day of Kindergarten. It's hard to believe that she is not only 6, but a 1st grader already. Truly it feels like she was born last year. In the pictures with her is one of her besties TJ, they (as well as their mommies) have been friends and neighbors since they were babies and now they have just finished their 1st year of school together!

This is them today, as almost 1st graders!

Look how they've grown in just one year... this was on the 1st day of Kindergarten.

Yet, when I think of them this is what I remember, when they were just babies!

We heart teachers!

2009-06-06T22:06:00.000-07:00

I finally got pictures of the other fun surprise we did for Princess P's Kindergarten teacher a couple weeks ago. We snuck in one night (with a little help) and decorated her teacher's door. I wanted to go with some sort of theme like theses cute doors that I found on the blog http://www.tipjunkie.blogspot.com/.

But alas I ran out of time and energy to get real creative. In the end I came up with the idea of "We Love Mrs. E" as well as "We love Mrs. K" and "We love Miss S" for the aide in the classroom and the student teacher. We wrote those on big foam hearts and then we had Princess P and two of her besties write (in their ever cute kindergarten penmanship) the names of each kid in the class on foam hearts as well. I then had purchased a tub of self sticking glitter foam hearts that we let the kids slap all over the door. Overall, it turned out VERY cute and her teacher raved about it, but most of all the kids loved it and hopefully Princess P's awesome teacher knows how awesome we think she is!

Princess P and two of her besties, that she had known since she was a baby decorating the door as Kindergartners!

The finished product... the kids did great. Thanks besties mommas for your help too! ;)

Camping with kids

2009-06-05T13:06:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went on our first camping trip with the kids. We had never done this, you'd think if we wanted to try camping with kids, we would have started with just one, but no we waited until we had 3, figures. We went expecting the worst, but to our surprise we might do it again! We also went with 2 other families. One are camping pros, you know, hike up a mountain with 3 kids and only one backpack. The other family was like us, never been camping with their kids, brought a whole minivan full of stuff just like us. It was fun, even with 8 kids together. Of course the funnest part is when the kids have gone to sleep and the parents get to hang out around the campfire. However this also makes for a painful morning since at least one kid in each family will undoubtedly wake up with the sun. And of course like all camping trips we learned a few lessons:

1) You can make all the fancy meat and dinner you want over the campfire but the kids will still choose cold hot dogs for dinner.

2) A tent meant for 2-3, does not hold a family of five.

3) The backseat of a Honda Odyssey is surprisingly comfortable to sleep on.

4) You can never bring too many dry clothes, sleeping bags, firewood, garbage bags or beer.

5) The back of a Honda Odyssey makes a very nice movie theatre for children when it is thunder storming and hailing.

6) Rain drenched graham crackers DO indeed look like vomit.

7) The kids get so exhausted from playing so hard that they will actually sleep in a tent.

8) Free reign to play in a minivan is seriously more fun than anything else to kids.

9) Showering 6 kids at one time by 2 adults isn't so bad.

10) Never leave children with an open bag of Oreos.

Bonus lesson) Good friends mixed with good fun makes for the best memories.

What happens when children are left unattended with a bag of oreos, you think they are enjoying a nice treat, nicely together....

...and then you find this... an empty bag and all the cookies left, no creams or kids to be found!

Coolers full of food and FUN!

Baby Wearing Daddies- gotta love it!

Mr P. aka the reluctant baby wearing daddy (maybe because it's pink!) and Camping pro daddy aka the baby wearing pro!

Candy Gram & Chocolate Cake

2009-06-03T13:18:00.000-07:00

Well hello there....

Again, MIA, I know. It's too nice outside and the kids always want to be there, so I haven't had much time for blogging, or maybe I'm just not feeling it. (plus all my computer time has bee devoted to looking for cheap flights, car rental coupon codes etc, in hopes of talking Mr. P into flying to FL instead of the long a** drive!).

Whatever, I thought I'd stop in and show you a few things. Plus it's cold and rainy out today.

First, this has been sitting in my camera FOREVER. It is a poster that we made for Princess P's teacher for teacher appreciation week.

It says: Dear Mrs. E., Being your student has been MOUNDS of SNICKERS. You have helped me to become a SMARTIE that will help me get high SKORs- NOW & LATER. Sometimes I am slow as a TURTLE or get LAFFY TAFFY and sometimes get BUTTERFINGERs, yet you are always an EXTRA SWEETARTS to me! My wish for you is that on PAYDAY you get 100 GRAND and you will be able to go on a SHOPPING SPREE to 5th AVENUE, somewhere you can MAMBA or even the MILKY WAY! This summer I hope you get to TAKE 5 minutes of peace for yourself. Put your feet up relax and say ... M&Ms this summer; you have worked hard this year! Thank You, Princess P.

I heard that she got a kick out of it and they read it often throughout the day. This was in addition to working with my neighbor and taking her dinner one night. My neighbor made the dinner, I made the dessert, this awesome Chocolate Pudding Fudge Cake!

Plus I made cookies and brownies for the aide and the student teacher (man I would have loved that as a student teacher!). This awesom Chocolate Pudding Fudge Cake is from a recipe I found on http://www.allrecipes.com/ last year. I made it the first time for Mr. P for Father's Day and he raved about it. Let me tell you that Mr. P, really does NOT like cake, so if you find one he likes, you know you've done good. Another time I made it I gave a piece to my neighbor for her to try and she was mad I only gave her 1 piece. She insisted that I make a whole cake for her when she had her baby, which I was happy to do. This recipe is awesome. Try it, you'll love it! It is super moist, extra chocolatey, dense and perfect with a big glass of milk!

Chocolate Pudding Fudge Cake
INGREDIENTS
1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
4 eggs
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoons butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan.
2.In a large bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, milk, oil, water and eggs. Beat for 4 minutes, then mix in 2 cups chocolate chips.
3.Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
4.To make the glaze: Melt the butter and 1 cup chocolate chips in a double boiler or microwave oven. Stir until smooth and drizzle over cake.

On my heart today

2009-05-26T13:49:00.000-07:00

Hey folks, how are you? I'm good thanks for asking... My week got tons better last week. I talked to said someone and got some answers. Mr. P and I couldn't be happier with the answers we got, the direction our life is headed and of things to come. If you want more specific details, you'll just have to leave me a comment -oohh I know, fancy that, all you non-commenters ! ;)- and I will share with you more privately. I am not one to keep secrets and have always been open and honest about my life, I figure there are many of us in the same boat and hearing it from someone helps us all feel just a tad bit more "normal"- all though I may grow very old still trying to figure out what normal is.

Today I spent some time looking at Jonah's support group page. I am notorious for getting myself into stories of grief by going to his page as well as others. However, going to these sites doesn't make me feel like I need to redo my whole house, like the decorating blogs do, which is good for the pocket book! Though I'm not sure these sites are good for the psychy, but then again, after what all these mommies and daddies have endure in the name of love for their children, I can take a few moments out of my day to read their stories, and tuck their sweet angels into my heart. Here are a couple of links I cam across that are intriguing to me today, not all of them are sad.

Help raise money for EB awareness by purchasing one of these Jonah magnets! Hey you, Indiana and Louisiana readers, they don't have any Jonah magnets in your state yet, you should be the first!!

Just came across this great service Carly Dudley does of writing your child's name in the sand and taking a photo of it as a memorial. This is very neat. She also has a good blog too here:

I couldn't find button code for "Cora's playground" but it is an Etsy shop set up to raise funds to build a playground in honor of sweet angel baby Cora. Here is a link about the story:
http://www.etsy.com/storque/craftivism/love-is-a-movement-the-cora-project-3450/
Here is a link to the shop:
http://www.etsy.com/search_results.php?search_type=handmade&search_query=cora+paige

Touch A Truck

2009-05-22T08:01:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday I took the boys to one of our favorite annual events held by one of the local park districts... Touch A Truck! Or one might also call it "boy heaven" the kids love it, even Princess P loved it when she wasn't in school. They bring out all the trucks, cars, fire engines, buses, you name it, and let the kids honk the horns, climb in, climb on and pretend to drive them. So cool.

no words to describe

2009-05-18T11:58:00.000-07:00

Hey all, sorry I've been MIA. I just got done with a preschool wide garage sale at my house over the weekend, it took the week to prepare for, needless to say I was not really available or up to blogging.

Today is one of those days. Today I am struggling with my mental health. Tomorrow I talk to someone. Mr. P should be going with me to talk to this someone, but he just left to go out of town until tomorrow night (which just adds to the stress).

Mental health is tricky. It's hard to pinpoint if you suffer from a mental health problem, hormones, life, mommy hood, exhaustion, or what. Tomorrow I hope to have an answer or the start of an answer. Tomorrow I also have 10 things packed into one day, hooray. not.

Some days I wonder if I should just check in to the hospital, have them run every test possible and tell me where to go from there. Some days that's how I feel. Today is a day, a doozy of a day. I don't think I need to run to the intake dept of emergency psych services, just a doozy of a day.

And for the record, I do not feel like I am going to harm myself or my children, I'm just having a day.

The talk of the town

2009-05-08T14:54:00.000-07:00

If you haven't seen or heard about Susan Boyle from Britain's Got Talent, she is amazing... see for yourself! stunning.

Before I was a mom....

2009-05-06T20:31:00.000-07:00

Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys
or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not
my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind
and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of
having my heart outside my body..
I didn't know how special it could feel
to feed a hungry baby..
I didn't know that bond
between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
the joy,
the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment
or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom .

May you always be overwhelmed by the Grace of God rather than by the cares of life

No, I did not write this, but I thought it was AWESOME!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-06T11:59:00.000-07:00

A book Princess P made in Kindergarten yesterday, titled "Baby Lucy"

(Baby Lucy is her baby cousin who passed away in Feb at 9 mos old)

It says: I like baby Lucy. cute. She is a butterfly.

A picture of a butterfly, the tree we planted in her memory on Sunday, and a happy face.
For so many reasons, I love this book.

Find more Wordless Wednesday at 5MinutesforMom

Boys? Or me?

2009-05-05T19:16:00.000-07:00

Last week was really a week for the record books of boys... My friend was counting up all the thing Middle P did and laughing, all the while hardly believing he and I both survived. Let me begin.

Monday. Middle P and I are in the basement doing laundry. I come up and tell him he needs to come up too, Now, a few minutes later he finally arrives. A little while later I go back to my basement to find water flowing all over my floor! I look to see that the pipes between the washer and the drain basin have disconnected! Yep, somehow my 3 year old managed to dislodge 2 pipes (we think he stood on it to look into the basin). But back to the water, yep my washing machine was in the middle of dumping the 2nd tub full of water all over my basement! Yeah, what more can a mom ask for but a basement full of dirty laundry, a pipe pouring water everywhere and now a basement full of WET dirty laundry. We won't go into details about how I got the mess cleaned, how I explained all this to Mr. P and the lack of punishment Middle P received. Let me just give you the high points, Mr. P was highly impressed that I managed to tackle the catastrophe on my own, I managed to get the laundry accomplished for once and we now have a clean basement!

Wednesday. I come up from the basement, from doing laundry, what else? to find that Middle P and Baby P have not only dumped a whole box of dry spaghetti on the floor but they have proceeded to dance and jump and crush it all over the kitchen floor. Again, we won't go into details about how I got it cleaned up, let's just say the vacuum was very clogged. (maybe next time I'll try the broom).

Friday. I discover ex-lax on the floor of my bathroom, still a good amount left, but hard to tell if any was eaten. I ask Middle P about it, he claims he did NOT eat any. I ask again, and again, and still again later. No he did not eat any. Later that night my husband changes his diaper, after, I ask if it was diarrhea, and he says yes. I ask if it was bad and if there was a lot and he says yes. I proceed to tell him the story and all he says is "great". Later that night sometime while he was sleeping, Middle P has another bout, only no one knows this, until Mr. P changes him in the morning to find, huge blisters everywhere, where after getting a new diaper cries for an hour because of the pain. This is when Middle P finally fesses up, he ate mommy and daddy's chocolate. We spend a great deal of time explaining why we don't eat these things, why we don't get into the medicine cabinet, why we don't play in the bathroom, etc, etc, etc. I don't think he heard any of it, because he was in such excruciating pain. (Oh and please don't ask if we told him that this wouldn't have happened if he knew how to use the potty, because the answer is yes, about 100 times!).

I change him later to find that the blisters are huge and full of liquid. I decide to call the nurse, first she calls poison control, yeah mommy of the year award for me, please! But just so you know there is not toxic level of ex-lax, although I'm not sure I believe that. Anyway, bottom line he needs to be seen. It takes Mr. P and I both to take him, we knew it would be a 2 parent chore. We go to the Dr. and wait for about 2 hours to be seen, this was after we let Middle P ride in the floor board of the car because it hurt too bad to sit in the car seat (don't tell anyone and yes I know you all are gasping in horror because I am an car seat freak, don't judge). So we finally are seen, and the with the glimpse of his butt that the Dr. got, because Middle P was thrashing so much, we get the diagnosis of... Chemical Burn.

Yep, my 3 yr old has a CHEMICAL BURN on his butt!! Apparently the stomach acid and bile in your stomach is toxic enough to cause a chemical burn, who knew? Wow. So we are given an ointment for his butt that is given to severe burn victims, yep mother of the year award, I know. This ointment is really cool though, at least I thought so, it is an antibiotic, a pain reliever AND it eats away at the dead skin so that bacteria can't live on it, cool, I know! We are making major progress in the butt department. Not so much pain, healing nicely.

Oh and yesterday I took Baby P in for gunky eyes and he has pink eye, and so does much of Princess P's class, because she had it about a week or two ago! Yep, I know, you can just Fed Ex that mother of the year award right on over, I know I deserve it!!

Planting the Lucy Tree

2009-05-04T12:24:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy Birthday Sweet Angel Baby

2009-05-03T19:25:00.001-07:00

Today we celebrated what would have been my niece Lucy's 1st Birthday.

Happy Birthday sweet girl. Although we know the celebration you are having with Jesus is far better than any we could have had with you, we still wanted you here on earth with us to celebrate. Today, we celebrated the life we got to live with you and the joy you brought all of us. We all loved you more than you can imagine.

In your honor, we helped MoMo and FaFa plant a weeping cherry tree in their yard. This is something your daddy really wanted, and although he and your mommy couldn't be here we took lots of pictures for them. On your tree we all attached beautiful colorful butterflies, they are so pretty, reminds us of you. Your cousins picked out balloons for you, a great big butterfly, and heart happy birthday balloon and 4 pink balloons. Each one of your cousins released the pink balloons into the sky for you, and Aunt Katie released one just for you, the kids are really hoping you get them! ;) The other 2 we tied to your tree, in hopes they will still be floating next week when your daddy and mommy come to see your tree. Oh and of course we had cake, an angel food cake decorated with butterflies in your honor.

With many mixed emotions we celebrated the fact that one year ago today, you came into our world, changing our lives and our hearts forever. We miss you so, so much, and love you desperately.

Happy Birthday, Lucy.

This Sunday, help us celebrate

2009-05-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

This coming Sunday, May 3rd, would have been my niece Lucy's 1st birthday. This date brings a mix of emotions for us all. And although her mommy and daddy are having a VERY HARD time right now, I want to take the time to celebrate Lucy's life. She brought so much joy to our lives and forever changed us all.

With that said, would you help? I personally was thinking about doing a balloon release (if I planned better I might have done a butterfly release) or birthday party or something with my kids to celebrate her birthday. Might you take a moment out of your day to think of her, pray for her mommy and daddy, or do something to honor the life she shared with us here on earth. If you do something, might you take a photo and email it to me? Even if you just write her name on a piece of paper to show you thought of her or have your kiddos draw a picture or take a photo of a butterfly, I would LOVE to know that you were celebrating her life with us. And someday her mom and dad will love to see them as well.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-21T20:04:00.000-07:00

Baby Wearing at it's best!

Find more Wordless Wednesday at 5MinutesforMom

Praying for Stellan

2009-04-21T11:43:00.000-07:00

As most of you know I have been following baby Stellan's story since he was put in the hospital about a month ago (as are many of you and thousands of people around the globe!).

Today baby Stellan had surgery on his heart! He made it through, McKmama hasn't posted the details, she is getting ready to update so check her blog later:

Here is was getting ready for surgery this morning, poor guy, please pray that he will come out of this stronger, that they have solved his heart issues, that his recovery will go well and that this journey of his life is over and he is on to being a regular baby again!

Melt my heart

2009-04-21T11:28:00.000-07:00

And then there are days when I remember why I stay home with my kiddos.

Middle P with Mr. P's "head lamp" on (along with some chocolate soy milk on his face)!

They are 110% Boy (really!)

2009-04-20T19:17:00.001-07:00

They really are 110% boy, trust me. I think they get a kick out of getting into their sister's stuff more than they like sressing up like princesses. Well, maybe not Middle P, he loves it, yesterday he was wearing an apron and high heels.

Middle P as snow white (with chocolate soy milk all over his face).

Baby P as a pink princess

Middle P, as snow white, on his bike... in the house! (I know, I know, but sometimes it's just not worth the battle).

Baby P and his baby (after a toy bomb went off)

I'm no good without my spouse!

2009-04-18T12:57:00.000-07:00

Yep, I couldn't do it, couldn't run or maintain a house without him. He is out of town today, left Fri afternoon to return Sun afternoon for his annual River to River Relay Race. Since he's been gone:

I gave the kids kid cuisines for dinner last night.
The boys flooded the bathroom this morning.
I spilled nearly the whole container of Tide into my dryer!
Haven't accomplished any houswork.
Middle P is riding his bike inside.
I let the kids get cheetos at the store.
Oh and now the baby is awake, after 45 minutes, hip hip hooray, gotta love it!

Testimony Day and being refined by God

2009-04-16T13:51:00.000-07:00

I gave my testimony today, it went great and I held it together! Yeah. I can't possibly post my whole testimony, since it was 10 pages long! Here is something my mom sent me a while back that I included within the testimony, many people enjoyed this and learned a lot from the following story:

Malachi 3:3 says: 'He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.'

This verse puzzled a group in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of them offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: 'He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.' She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, 'How do you know when the silver is fully refined?'

He smiled at her and answered, 'Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it.'

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire , remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

And, whatever you are going through, you will be a better person in the end.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-14T20:56:00.001-07:00

Birthday trip to Chicago

(with ear piercing)

nervous...

#1 complete, #2 almost didn't happen, really.

Took major coaxing, but both got pierced and we were happy in the end!

I so agree

2009-04-13T19:06:00.000-07:00

So sorry, I've been neglecting my blog, I've been quite busy the past week and continue to be busy and nervous this week as I prepare to give my testimony or "faith walk" talk to my MOPS group on Thursday. I will be talking about how my walk and relationship with God has changed and grown through the losses I have suffered in the past few months. Let's pray I can make it through.

Since I don't have a brain cell to think about blogging about my own topic I wanted to share with you a post from a fellow blogger, Debbie, at Suburb Sanity. I came across her post last night about "mommy guilt" and I couldn't say it better than she did so I am going to just copy and paste it for you, I don't know if this is legal in the blog world, however I thought it was a risk worth taking. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and gain some insight as well.

Let's focus on the positive for a change

Two serious posts from me in one week? You all may start asking for your money back. But since I don't earn anything...well, the joke is on you.

My post Monday on our insecurities and how they keep us from enjoying our lives to their fullest seemed to hit home with folks. I was thinking about that post all week. That, coupled with the fact that my dear friend Heather (Hi Heather! Love ya'!) wrote a series of posts last week that dealt with her struggle to be the kind of mother she wants to be, made me focus quite a bit this week on our lives. And I have a little more pontificating to do on the subject.

I'm wondering why we are all so fixated on not being good enough? It's not like our kids aren't doing well. For the most part, all of our kids are happy, healthy, well-adjusted people. It has always been my assertion that only good mothers question the job they are doing anyway. This past week, right here in my little suburb, a six year old boy called 911 at 2:00 a.m. Why? His mommy wasn't home. Where was his mommy? At a local bar. Now, do you think that woman is a good mother? Of course not. My cat is a better mother than that and she hasn't ever had kittens. But do you think that woman, wherever she is right this minute, is questioning whether she is a good mother or not?

Let me answer that for you. No. That woman hasn't ever questioned her mothering skills. I bet anything she is ticked off that people are calling her mothering into question. After all, the kid is fine. And he knew to call 911. I bet she's thinking she is doing a swell job raising him.

So, who are these fabulous women we are all comparing ourselves to and finding that we are coming up short? Angelina? I sure hope not because the woman makes an obscene amount of money and has a nanny for each child. Other movie stars? People on TV?

Love your kids. Read to your kids. Keep them as healthy as you are able. Make them feel safe and secure. Give them a magical childhood full of imagination, tree-climbing, and fairy tales. Every year that we had a child in first grade, we read the complete Laura Ingalls Wilder series out loud as a family as a bedtime series. What a wonderful experience that was - three times over. Such simple books but they outline what is truly important in life. Unconditional love by your family. And with that love, also firm guidance.

And take care to watch what enters your body and theirs through your eyes and ears as well as your mouth. Make sure that what you watch on TV isn't undermining you, your parenting, or your confidence. Do the Housewives of Wherever make you feel worse about yourself? Turn them off. More importantly, do the commercials you see during the show make you feel worse about yourself or your life? Then turn them off. Or at least mute them.

We were watching something the other night with our older kids and we always mute commercials. The Hardee's commercial came on where the woman is performing acts on a hamburger - you know the one I mean. And one of my sons turns to me and asks, "What are they really trying to sell?" Yes indeed, young one. What are they trying to sell? And what message are we getting? Do we somehow feel inadequate because we don't look like the people we see? Or because we don't own what they are selling? Or maybe our family doesn't act like theirs? Or have you just set up unrealistic expectations in your mind about what a great mom would look and act like?

We all get frustrated. We all have bad days. And we all wish we had a rewind button on our life so we could go back and get that one right.

Focus on what a great job you are doing. Remember that not a single one of us can do it all but we can try to do everything to the best of our abilities. We can forgive ourselves when we aren't perfect. And we can support each other while we do it.

Why?

2009-04-08T19:24:00.001-07:00

Ok folks. I'm starting to wonder. Today I went to one of my favorite blogs, 5 minutes for mom and discovered that yet another family had lost their sweet baby. Maddie was 1 and a half, had been born premature and was hospitalized for breathing issues, yesterday she died VERY unexpectedly. This is so sad. My heart aches for this family. They are in my prayers and hope they are in yours as well.

But really I am starting to wonder. Why is it that I love the blog world, yet keep getting bombarded, or attached, or come across sites where a child is sick, or a child has passed away. I hate being so selfish in such a time of sadness, but really is God trying to tell me something, trying to steer me somewhere and I am just not getting it?

Why does he continue to bring such stories of sadness and devastation? No one should ever have to lose a child .... yet in the past few months I have encountered more stories of this, than in my entire life.

Maybe it just sheer coincidence. Maybe it's because those that have lost their children, cling to others who have been in the same situation and hence their networks are similar, creating a network of families with loss. But it just doesn't seem like that.

Maybe it's only for the purpose of more people praying for these children and families. Although I have noticed that in my blog world in the past couple of months, not only have I come across numerous ill babies, or babies that have passed but I have never in my life seen such devotion and trust in God. I am thoroughly amazed by the strength some of these women get from God, by the trust they have in him, by their willingness to try to understand that it is all for HIS glory, no matter the outcome. Hard as that may be to grasp, many of these women get it and share it often.

So maybe that's it. Maybe I just needed to be shown these women and their faith, and that's great, awesome, actually. However, I can't help but wonder if there's something more, if there is a bigger reason, a larger picture, something I am missing.

Rough Spot

2009-04-03T12:45:00.000-07:00

We have hit a major rough spot with middle p these days. He doesn't ever want to listen, if you ask him to do something he usually says no, if you tell him no be prepared for major tantrums (and yes we still say no, we just deal with TONS of tantrums these days), he is so stubborn (hmmm, wonder which of his parents he gets that from? both.) and so challenging right now, I seriously considered going back to work! Yes, really. ...I know.

The other day after baby p had only taken a 30 min nap and then proceeded to refuse to nap after, I seriously contemplated putting the boys in the car and driving around until mr p got home... it was 2:30 in the afternoon, Mr. p gets home at 5:30. It would have been easier than trying to fight the battles here and keep these boys from destroying the house even more. But alas I did not. I did drive them around, but it was prob only for about 30 min, then we went and got princess p and my neighbor and good friend was gracious enough to rescue us, I mean let us come over for a play date. Where of course, the boys were great. Apparently, I just need to take them places to get them to behave, but heaven forbid the grocery store or Target of other errand running place, not there, good behavior does not exist there.

I told a middle p story to my friends at MOPS yesterday, of his fiascoes from earlier this week. One friend says "I'm so glad you told us that, I feel so much more normal now." Everyone usually laughs at the story but they feel my pain too. So to make you all feel more normal too, let me share.

The other morning I left the boys in the living room to run upstairs to get middle p a shirt. Literally, all I did was get a shirt for him out of the closet and then take 30 seconds to round up the dirty clothes and toss them in a basket. While doing so I hear "I'm washing baby p's hair." To which I replied, "OH you so better NOT be... you better not be spitting on him (his new thing) or pouring water on his head... you will be in so much trouble!" I fly downstairs to find that he has not only poured water on his head, he has dumped yogurt all over his head and hair, pretending it is shampoo!" I was furious. I said "I. KNOW. YOU. DID. NOT." I'm sure with many other things, like, you know better, we don't do this, etc etc. I throw him in time out and told him to wait there until after I bathed baby p. He cries. Of course. I bathe baby p and all the while middle p is constantly asking and repeating incessantly (his other new thing), can I take a bath?

I hope this makes you feel better, I'm still at my wit's end, still wondering just how much daycare costs....

Friday Funny

2009-04-03T10:28:00.001-07:00

Ok this is hilarious! My boys didn't think it was so funny, but they were mesmerized. This is 7 year old David after the dentist!

Photo Challenge Days 1 & 2

2009-03-31T10:22:00.000-07:00

Everything Except The Grill is having a Photo Challenge Week. Each day giving you a different photo assignment, not necessarily for photographic abilities but to capture the details in your life which in turn might inspire you to pick up your camera more often and capture details more often! I think it sounds like fun! These are the assignments:

Monday- Something new
Tuesday- Something on your table
Wednesday- The view from your front door
Thursday- Something you do each day
Friday- Something old

Obviously I'm coming in on this late, go figure, so today I give you Days 1 & 2

Day 1 Something New

This is my new "mom" shirt that I got at the Hearts at Home conference. It's brown with pink wording... love it.

Day 2 Something on your table

This is one of those photo clips. Princess P helped me pick it out the other day so we could put a picture of my sweet niece Lucy , who became an angel on Feb 12th, it is butterflies because of her disorder EB, where people who suffer from it have skin as delicate as butterfly wings.

Hearts at Home

2009-03-31T07:18:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago I posted about some mommy friends and I going to "mommy school" aka Hearts at Home. Hearts at Home is a conference just for moms, it's mission statement states Hearts at Home is a Christ-centered organization that encourages, educates, and equips women in the profession of motherhood. How cool is that? An organization that understands how hard motherhood is, sees it as a profession and helps moms be the best they can be at being mommies! Because you know what? Being a mom is HARD! It's the hardest job I've ever done.
The story behind Hearts at Home
Founded in 1994, Hearts at Home began as a small ministry to mothers in Central Illinois. After seeing a local support ministry to help mothers flourish in Bloomington, IL, eight women gathered to pray about the possibility of offering education and encouragement to mothers outside of their area. They thought maybe 500 women would attend, but 1,100 showed up - and they came from 10 different states!

Since that time, the Hearts at Home mailing list has grown to over 100,000 women who desire to become better educated and equipped for the profession of motherhood. Our office is flooded with phone calls of women wanting more information about resources such as our conferences, publications, and more.

This was my 5th year attending, each year I come away with something different. Each year I go having different needs. Each year I come home refreshed and rejuvenated, ready to be a good mom again! The national conference is much like any other professional conference with key note speakers and different sessions to attend throughout the day. They usually have about 5,000 moms attend from all over the country!

This year my sessions were :

5 Minutes Until Goodbye, about making the most of your time now
Guilt Free Motherhood, because as mothers we feel guilty about everything!
When You Feel Like Screaming! Help for Frustrated Mothers!, enough said!
She's Gonna Blow: Real Help for Moms Dealing with Anger by Julie Barnhill, I've seen her speak before and she is amazing, I highly recommend her books too.

The Main Session in the afternoon was a talk given by Dr. Kevin Leman, oh man this guy is AWESOME! I was either laughing my butt off or bawling my eyes out, he is an amazing speaker and his books are pretty good too, I bought 2 of them.

As a mom I highly recommend this conference, if you ever get the chance you should go. My had to come with me last year, well she didn't actually go, she just hung around with Baby P because he refused a bottle. Anyway, she could still hear the main sesssions and watch them from the resource room. She was highly impressed. She wished they had something for moms like this when she was a struggling mom!

Also, there is always a musical group there, Sarah Groves was there one year (love her). This year there was a group called the Go Fish Guys, they are actually a christian kids group, but they are still great for adults too. They do a song called "The Mom Song", the first time I heard this was when the kids at MOPS preformed it last year, it is so cute. Here is a video of the guys doing it, not from Hearts at Home, but still very cute and funny. Will brighten your day!

I love a good bargain!

2009-03-30T11:53:00.000-07:00

So, bargain shopper friends.... A couple of weeks ago, the boys and I headed out to our local outlet mall (about 20 min away) to get baby P some new shoes at the Stride Rite store. While there I hit the Children's Place and hit the mother load. They were having a huge clearance sale of all their winter clothes, most being $2.99! After it was all said and done I bought 31 items total, something for each kiddo for next fall/winter. And guess what... I only spent $85 total! (That's less than I spent on one American Girl Doll last weekend.) Before tax each item came out to $2.60, can you believe that?! I just love it when I hit a good sale.

Conversations with Middle P

2009-03-27T13:23:00.000-07:00

Mr. P comes downstairs in his running clothes getting ready to go out and do his daily run.

Middle P :"Daddy why are you wearing your sunny pants?"

Mr. P: "My what?"

Middle P: "Your sunny pants"

Mr P: points to his shorts, "these?"

Middle P: "yes, your sunny pants"

Me: "you mean daddy's shorts, those are his sunny pants?"

Middle P: "Yep"

So apparently to Middle P (who is 3.5) shorts=sunny pants! ;)

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I am feverishly running around the house looking for my keys. I have looked EVERYWHERE. After spending a good 20 minutes looking I ask my kids if any of them had been playing with them. I specifically ask Middle P. He says, "nope". 5 minutes later Middle P says "they are in my purse" and I say "No, they are not in my purse I already looked." I continue looking for a few moments and the image of him swinging Princess P's pink purse around earlier in the afternoon pops into my head. So I say "Middle P, did you say that my keys were in YOUR purse?" Middle P, replies "Yep." I ask him where it is and of course he doesn't know. I search through the toy box, as the kids had just cleaned up all the toys in order to go outside READ: every toy in the living room plus some has just been dumped in the toy box. There it is Princess P's pretty pink purse (which for today is Middle P's, he loves him a fancy purse or fancy shoes), I unzip it a low and behold what do I find... of course, MY KEYS.
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Today Middle P and I are in the basement doing laundry. I had brought Mr P's blankets downstairs to wash (yes, we have seperate blankets, he is a furnace at night) and Middle P notices this...

Middle P: "why are you washing daddy's blankets?"

Me: "because they are dirty"

Middle P: "did daddy pee pee on his blankets?"

Me: "Um, no"

Middle P: "then why are you washing them"

Me: "they just get dirty after a while and need to be washed"

Middle P: "did daddy pee pee on his sheets?"

Me "no"

Middle P: "can I help?"

I guess I need to wash the bed linens more often then when they get "pee peed" on!

Mommies Gone Wild

2009-03-27T08:01:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago, 4 of my friends and I took off for "Mommy School" aka Hearts at Home, that we will talk about tomorrow. But first let me tell you, it is a rare occasion that moms get away from their kids and husbands overnight, even more rare to do it with friends. On a late Thursday afternoon we headed out, 5 women, in a minivan, to a mom conference. The conference started Friday morning so Thursday night was ours to have! We drove the whole 45 minutes, yeah I know we went really far, to the next town over. Upon arriving our evening consisted of checking into our hotel, going to dinner, a trip to Walmart, and ending back in our hotel for junk food, adult beverages (not enough to get excited about), tv watching, toe nail painting, internet surfing, and bed by midnight. We are a wild bunch, I know. Nevertheless it was fun. We enjoyed our time together and our "break" from our families, making us eager to get back to them the next night.

A Thousand Words Thursday

2009-03-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

Beach Baby

I know I did a Wordless Wednesday yesterday, but I was purging my basement last night and I came across this photo. I have seen this pic tons of times before but something about it struck me last night and I fell in love with it. It was taken when my daughter was 2.5, (she is now 6), her second trip to the ocean her first memory of it though. She was so excited to be there and still remembers the fun she had there. I look forward to seeing such joy in her again this summer, as well as introducing the 2 boys to the ocean, they'll love it!

I came across this "A Thousand Words Thursday" on Cheaper Than Therapy's Blog check her out here, as well as more A Thousand Words Thursdays:

Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-25T09:22:00.001-07:00

We got home one evening and upon getting him out of the car, we found him asleep... like this!

These photos pretty much show our daily lives with our crazy baby #3! Always a handful, yet always amusing!

As always you can find more Wordless Wednesday here

Pray for Stellan

2009-03-23T19:37:00.000-07:00

As you read in my previous post about petitioning for Jonah to be given free cloth diapers, the mom who is giving them away as a baby in the hospital right now. I am asking that we lift baby Stellan up in prayer as well as his mama, papa, and 3 siblings as they endure this heart wrenching time.

Her baby, Stellan, is in the hospital with an extremely high heart rate - in the upper 200's to lower 300's (what almost killed him in utero). Please be in prayer for Stellan, that his heart will flip back to a normal heart rate. They have tried several maneuvers and medications to get his heart to flip, all to no avail. From McMama herself about Stellan "We have a long road ahead. The cardiologist is already talking about some pretty big things, but for the time being, we are simply looking for a 12 hour period in which Stellan's heart would stay in a normal rhythm."

Jonah's mom posted this prayer for Stellan on her blog, how amazing is she? I hope you will all join me in praying for Stellan as well as for Jonah as always.

God, please let Stellan live, so he can tell his story - your story. Please give MckMama and Prince Charming peace as they once again fear for their son's life and turn to you for peace and comfort. Please heal his heart, Lord. Be a shield about him and wrap your arms around him. Please give his family your peace - that passes all understanding and give them small victories and hope for tomorrow. Give them a miracle.

Again, here is the link to Stellan's story:

Help Get Jonah Free Diapers!

2009-03-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

Today, I was sent a message from the Jonah Support Group, you know, the baby Jonah who we are praying for with EB. Well there is another blogger mommy who is giving away a ton of free cloth diapers. For EB babies cloth diapers are a MUST, the disposables are just too abrasive and causes blistering and open wounds. To win the diapers all you need to do is make a comment in her post about the contest. There is a campaign for as many people as possible to petition to her to make Jonah the winner!! My niece Lucy used cloth diapers, and they were amazing! So we know that they will benefit baby Jonah. Anything we can do to help other EB babies, right? So here's what you do... but it ends TODAY to hurry.

Go on over to McMama's blog post here: My Charming Kids Diaper Giveaway, go to the comments section for this post and leave a creative comment about why you think Jonah should receive the diapers. It probably would be helpful to leave a link to Jonah's mom's blog with your comment. Here is the link: http://patriceandmattwilliams.blogspot.com/.

Also, please pray for McMama and her family, her baby, Stellan, is in the hospital right now, see the story here...

Two things I'm thinking about doing...

2009-03-20T08:18:00.001-07:00

There are 2 services I am thinking about signing up for online and being my indecisive self am wavering on if I will use them, I'd like to think I will and that they will make my life easier and less stressful. What do you think?

The first is a site called e-Mealz it is a menu/meal planning tool.

This is what your $5 a month subscription gets you: a family-friendly, concise 7-day dinner meal plan for 4 to 6 people, or a 5-day dinner plan for 2 people (with concise and easy to follow recipes and directions) AND a complete, corresponding grocery list - just print and go shopping!

They claim e-Mealz:
...are written and created by REAL moms with REAL families
...are balanced and family friendly
...are as easy as possible, but delicious and kid tested!
...consist of favorite recipes collected from hundreds of moms
...come with an organized, aisle by aisle grocery list
...are for 4 to 6 people
...are based on the current week sales at your grocery
...are priced at approximately $75 per week
...Two person plans average $35 total per week

The cool thing about these menus are that, you can pick what store you shop at and you can choose diet friendly options like point (WW), low-fat, low-carb, etc.

Yeah, I am not bad at menu-planning, when I actually do it. However, my repertoire of menus is getting boring, I am not very balanced, and I have a hard time findings things for all of us (that we all will like), and really have a hard time menu planning for a family when trying to follow Weight Watchers. So I might just try this out.

The other thing I am thinking about is a site called Mint.com an online budgeting tool/site .

This service is actually FREE. It is a free budgeting site. It inputs all your financial info from you banks, credit cards, etc and tells you where you are spending your money, in a VERY visual manner. I am a very visual person,I like graphs and things.

I've heard about this site from a variety of sources, magazines, featured on news programs, etc. The only thing that is holding us back is the security. It claims to be highly secure, that none of your personal info is stored with mint,has all kinds of security measures, and that because it is so secure, and keeps such a tight track of your money that if large amounts of money are being spent they will email you right away. Testimonials claim it is easier than Quicken.

I have been looking for a way to help with our budgeting in a user friendly, visual manner. This may be my answer. The nice thing is that I don't have to keep track of the receipts, don't have to input the data myself, don't have to worry if I put in all the spending, it does it for me.

I also came across another budgeting site today, for those who use cash,
Pear Budget, it has a 30 day free trial and then is $3 a month after.

As I writing this I have come across a site the reviews Pear and Mint as well as a couple others at Being Frugal. However, in doing so I came across someone who posted in the comments that they like ClearCheckBook .

Now you see why I stew over decisions for so long, I just keep getting more options and than I get overwhelmed!

It will probably be a while before I decide on any of these things, so if you have any input or have experience with these sites I would LOVE your input.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-18T10:06:00.001-07:00

How I found him one night...
Find more Wordless Wednesdays at

Today it makes me angry

2009-03-17T22:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I've been asked to post something that won't make you cry, well today I'm afraid is not the day. I will make that a goal for tomorrow. Today I am just angry. Today I just don't get it. I am still trying to wrap my brain around all the death in my life in the past month, and trying to wrap my brain around why God does what he does and how he can let babies suffer. I know I can rationalize that God has a plan, that we don't understand that plan, look at all the people who's lives have been touched by these babies, look at all the love that has been brought out because of these babies. But still....

As you recall, I posted about Praying for Jonah, 2 days ago. This is a story I am following about the baby recently born with EB, today I was reading his mom's blog and looking at all of her pictures. I just don't know how parents of kids with EB, or anything like it, can be so strong. I often wonder if I would have the strength that you all have, truly. And although I am amazed and in awe of the strength you have as parents, and I still keep praying to God, even not knowing his plan, knowing that we only see the bottom of God's Tapestry, not the finished work, I am angry and frustrated that anyone, especially a baby should have to live like this:

Please keep praying for Jonah

Oh and while I'm angry (and sad). I'd just like to say that NO parent should ever have to lose a child, no parent should endure that pain or the pain of watching their children suffer.

The more time I spend blogging. The more I follow these stories, the more pain and heartache I hear about. The amount of blogs and videos out there dedicated to children that are sick or that have become angels, is just not right. While I think that this is awesome for parents to be able to do, to spread the awareness to share the love they had for their child.... There just should not be a reason to have such things, just let mommies go back to blogging about the naughty thing their kid said, not about the pain and suffering they are enduring or their child is or did endure.

If I have this much heartache, I cannot even imagine the heartache you feel as the parent of these children, it makes me weep for you and brings me to my knees. I pray for you and I tell as many people as I know about you, because that's all I know what to do.

A Tribute to Ryann Hope

2009-03-16T07:35:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I posted a story about a friend of mine and their child, Ryann Hope, that passed away in January at 9 days old from Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia(CDH). Yesterday, I checked their carepage/blog and they had posted a video about the story of Ryann's short life. The video is amazing, such a wonderful tribute to their sweet angel. I hope you take a moment to watch it and again take a moment to spread the word about CDH. Also, if you want to particpate CDH Awareness day is March 31st, wear turquoise to spread awareness!

Praying for Jonah

2009-03-15T14:16:00.000-07:00

I am part of a Discussion Forum for EB Awareness. Today I got an update from it. It was a story about a baby, baby Jonah, born Feb 27th with EB (Epidermolysis Bullosa) just like my niece Lucy. This little guy has been fighting this since he was born and has not gotten to go home. Unlike my niece who's first blisters did not show up until 1 week after she was born, the doctors noticed his as soon as he was born. However, I often wonder if that would not have been Lucy's case if she had come through the birth canal rather than by c-section. But I think for her that was a blessing, she did not enter the world in pain like this sweet baby Jonah.

Jonah's mom and dad had a baby before him that was still born, which makes them think that their first baby had EB as well. But baby Jonah, is fighting the good fight and his mom and dad are determined to take him home one day. His mom started a blog while she was pregnant with her first child, and has continued to blog about their life and to keep people posted about Jonah, but also as a way to cope with all that she has endured and the stress she is carrying.

They are asking for continued prayers for Jonah as well as advice on how to deal with and best treat a baby with EB. Her blog is wonderful and much needed for those that love them and baby Jonah. I think it is great and know it is great for her and helps her deal with all this. For me it was bittersweet. It makes me so amazingly sad to see babies suffering from this horrendous disease, it makes me even more sad knowing the potential fate that baby Jonah may endure. The photos bring back memories of Lucy and brings back the heartache of her short life, and the heartache I feel for my brother and sister in law. NO ONE should lose a child, NO ONE should have to watch their child suffer so much. So please add baby Jonah to your prayers and while you're at it continue to pray for a cure for EB and tell everyone you know about EB. If you have not been following my blog you can go back here to find out about it.

Also, please take the time to check out the blog for Jonah

Here are couple other links that you might be interested in
What Can I do?

Jonah's Facebook Prayer Group Page

Winston Salem Journal Newspaper Article

EB Nurse

EB Info World

Hello Internet, I have an addiction...

2009-03-11T14:15:00.000-07:00

... and that addiction is YOU! Yep, I'm sorry to say, I have to admit it, I have an addiction to the INTERNET. I spend FAR too much time with you, it is a time suck, yet I cannot resist.

There are 3 spots I hit on a regular basis. #1- Email, first and foremost where my day starts, not literally, but when I finally get to the computer. #2-Facebook, yes it is such an addiction, such a guilty pleasure, but truly I love it, I have connected with so many people that I have not seen in years, and now it seems I communicate more with people through facebook, than email or phone. #3- Here, my blog, which leads me to other blogs, which leads me to more blogs, which leads me yet to more blogs... you get the idea, before you know it, it's been hours. Luckily, I do most of that blog hopping at night while the kids are asleep, so I'm not a total loser mommy.

Before I started blogging I often spent most of my time hopping from shopping site to shopping site, not actually shopping most of the time. However one too many times had been known to impulsively hit "purchase"- but I'm sure my husband is happier that I blog rather than shop.

I came across this video about facebook, where you might ask, another blog of course! It is hilarious. If you are a facebook junky like me you will totally get it, this clip made my day and made me laugh out loud!!

So for all you internet addicts out there, I am right there with you, we can attend therapy together, virtually, maybe! ;) Here's to you and me, to all the stay at home moms who use the internet as their social outlet, comic relief, venting station, what have you- I bring you your daily chuckle!

Alison Krauss- A Living Prayer

2009-03-10T19:58:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!

2009-03-09T20:29:00.000-07:00

Today my baby girl turned 6! Six years ago today, my 1st baby, my only daughter was born. After 9 days overdue and 36 hours of labor that ended in a c-section, I met my sweet girl. Every second of pain was worth it, because on this day 6 years ago all my dreams came true, I became a mommy.

Happy Birthday sweet girl, may we continue to enjoy every second of our lives together, you have brought so much joy to mine, more than I could have ever imagined, I Love You.

As you sleep, sick for the 5th day in a row, without getting to enjoy your birthday, I thank God for you, and know we will celebrate with much joy, once you are feeling better.

Strong Willed?

2009-03-07T13:00:00.000-08:00

I'm beginning to wonder... Is my 3 year old a strong willed child? Does he fit the definition, and what really is the definition? Whatever it is, I'm starting to think more and more that he is.

Case in point #1: Today I took both boys to get their hair cut. We cut the baby's first because usually he is a handful and we have to go back to him after the other kids to fix his. But today he was an angel, and while waiting so was the 3 year old. Until... it was time for him to get his hair cut. He down right refused. I tried to take him over to the chair and he did the flailing of the legs, noodle body, stiff back, crap. I tried to sit him on my lap and he did the flat and stiff as a board thing, so I couldn't even bend him to sit in my lap. Last time, he was the angel when he got his hair cut, this time, not so much.

I took him outside, I talked with him, I told him he could have a treat after, he was already given suckers from the salon. We talked and talked, I pleaded, I got angry, I threatened, I tried to bribe, I reasoned, I asked nicely, I did it all, to no avail. We tried going back to the chair and he was kicking and screaming and crying, all the while everyone in the salon is watching. Finally, my hair dresser's next client came in, so I just had to give up. Man, I was so mad. I mean it's just a hair cut, we done this before, it's not like it's something new. Oh and for the record, while the baby was getting his hair cut, he told my sister that he wanted to have long hair like his sister! Little does he know, that now, instead of a hair cut at the salon, or long hair, I will just be forced to shave it with the clippers like I do with my husband, not my favorite look, but I can't stand the mop he has now.

Case in point #2: After the hair cut fiasco I decided to take the boys to "Read Across America" a local event in our town that encourages reading. It has all kinds of activities to do, different stations where you can sit a listen to a story being read, and in the end when you've done a bunch of activities and filled your card with stickers you get a book to take home. My daughter would have loved this, but she was home sick with her daddy.

Anyway, we get there and said strong willed child, wants NO part. Doesn't want to do the activities, doesn't want to listen to the stories, doesn't even want to walk, wants me to carry him- he's 3- his 18 mos old brother is walking without troubles, but no not him!! I cohearse him into some activities, we sit and listen to a couple stories, against his will, we kind of muddle through. Then he gets a balloon animal. This seems to brighten his mood and surprisingly he decides this stuff is kind of fun. And that lasts, oh 15 minutes and we are back to crying tantrums because I won't carry him. Again, strong willed, or just ornery?

And case in point #3, the pièce de résistance, the battle of all battles, the potty training issue! Yes, we are still battling this, and no I still cannot get the child to even GO NEAR the potty, much less sit on the blasted thing!!

So, strong willed? Ornery? 3 year old? Boy? A product of my upbringing? I don't know, but it is driving me crazy. I love ALL my kids to death. I love this kid, he can make me smile for days, he can be so sweet, so loving, so funny, but seriously, this is getting old! I'm hoping this is a phase, actually I'm praying that this is a phase and counting on it being a phase.

Blessing

2009-03-06T13:04:00.000-08:00

Last night, at a meeting at church, this was the prayer said, it is so beautiful, take the time to really let the words sink in. It came from the niece of one of the leaders, the niece is a woman who had gone astray as a teen and is now a nun in Bolivia! So, from Emily in Bolivia...

A Four Fold Franciscan Blessing

May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

May God bless you with a holy anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people, so that you may work tirelessly for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.

May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, starvation or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really can make a difference in this world, so that you are able , with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.

Amen

Filling the frame

2009-03-05T14:06:00.000-08:00

Today on one of my favorite sites, 5 Minutes for Mom, they are sharing some tips on photography and encouraging you to share examples of the tips. Today's tip is to "Fill the Frame" or basically zoom in on your subject. This is done for a variety of reasons, but mainly to really focus on your subject and remove distractions from the background. My husband is really good at this, I am a work in progress. He seems to do this with the camera, I do it more on the editing end with Photoshop. If you get a chance check out their tips, they are quite insightful.

Here are some photos of ours from our vacation last summer that seem show pretty good examples of their tips.

(Technically, you're supposed to take the tips and try them out, however, my boys are asleep and my girl is grouchy, so....)

This is one my husband took, I just love this photo. You can see how filling the frame with just my little guy makes it so much cuter, than if he had just shot the swing set with him on it.

The rest of these photos, I used photoshop to crop in close, not quite the same idea, but when working with a photo after the fact, is a great substitute.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-04T06:28:00.000-08:00

Valentine Baby... all he needs are wings and a bow and arrow!!

Find more Wordless Wednesdays at

Today I took a moment...

2009-03-03T20:32:00.000-08:00

... to thank God for you
... to adore every inch of you

... to enjoy your company

... to laugh with you

... to read to you

... to snuggle with you

... to love you with all I have.

I Love you, Mommy

Facelift

2009-03-02T22:17:00.000-08:00

I have now stayed up way too late redoing the "look" of my blog. For the record, it's 12:21 a.m. I tried a bunch of different layouts, some where the code did not work (I don't know how to write my own) and some that were just ugly. In doing so I also erased all my additions, that I had added to my last design... that really sucked! Hence I had to go back and re-add everything, all the while trying to remember what things, I had put on here. But, I'm somewhat of a perfectionist, so I would not sleep until I had it looking somewhat complete. Bottom line, what do you think? Do you like?

40 weeks and 2 days!

2009-03-02T12:41:00.001-08:00

6 Years ago, this is how I looked! Today, 6 years ago, I was 40 weeks and 2 days pregnant.

I was overdue and still teaching. But really, what else would I be doing, if I was at home, I would just be fretting over the fact that my baby girl had not arrived yet. So, each day I would walk into school and each day I would hear, "Mrs. P, you're still here?!" "You haven't had that baby yet" and most obviously, because I was still showing up each day, no, no, I had not had my baby yet and would you please stop asking me? Oh and let's not forget a certain grandma, that called every day, "how are things", "anything going on"- as if she wouldn't have been one of the first people we called!

However, I was sooo excited, through all the uncomfort, the overdueness, the constant calls of people wanting to know I was was, I was still so very excited. Do you remember that excitement? That excitement you can barely contain when preparing to have you first child? It is an experience like no other, and unfortunately it only happens once in your life. This fact in itself makes me so very sad. I love being pregnant, the first few days of having a baby at home, and oh my, meeting your baby for the first time, this is what I love and hold out for. A part of me is mourning the fact that I will never do that again, never meet one of my children for the 1st time. Not, that I don't enjoy them as they grow and love all the new and funny things they say and do each day, but that 1st meeting, there is nothing like it!

It seems like the months of being pregnant drag on for ages, and yet here I am 6 years later...already! My "baby" is turning 6. Where does the time go, and why haven't I spent more time cherishing every second of it.

Ryann Hope

2009-02-27T20:29:00.000-08:00

As I briefly mentioned in my previous post, an old friend of mine and his wife recently lost their baby girl at 9 days old to a birth defect called Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH). To learn more about CDH go to http://breathofhopeinc.com/ and spread awareness.

Ryann was diagnosed with CDH 9/11/08, born on 12/27/08 and

became an angel 9 days later on 1/5/09.

I contacted Ryann's mom, Jaime, this past week to tell her how sorry I was to hear of this news. In the course of our conversations and the sharing of the story of Lucy, she shared with me lots of info. Her carepage/blog for Ryann, her efforts to raise awareness and educate people on CDH, her fund raising for the research program being started for CDH at the hospital Ryann was, even support ideas for my brother and SIL, ways we could raise awareness for EB, and condolences and caring words about our loss, all the the midst of her grieve, and loss of her baby. How amazing is that? This is a woman I truly admire, a woman with a big heart and a wonderful mommy, not only to her baby angel, but to her 3 yr old as well.

In the midst of all this, one thing I have learned is that even when life is SOOOO hard, God puts the right people in our paths. I can't even start to tell you all the wonderful stories of people that have stepped up to support us, hug us, bring us food, send us cards or how were put into our lives just to comfort us, or even those we just correspond through via email, lending a listening ear a caring heart. This is how Jaime and I feel, she was put into my path under the worst circumstances but at the right time and for more reasons I will ever know.

Jaime is trying to raise awareness and in doing so keeps a care page/blog to share her story here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ryannsmith

Feb 2009, a month of sorrow.

2009-02-27T19:57:00.000-08:00

As February 2009 draws to a close I am pained by all that I have endured, and even more pained by the losses I have experienced and the families devastated by the losses of those we loved.

The thing about February is that, February is usually a happy month for me. My husband and I got married in February, my husband's birthday is in February and of first child was due in February (although she waited until March to be born). But not this year...

If you have kept up with my blog you will notice that during February, I had 4 deaths of people I cared very much for, in my life. All of whom died in a span of 1 week.

I find it hard to wrap my brain around 4 deaths in a week. It just doesn't seem real, and it really doesn't seem real because 2 of these were NOT circle of life situations. Two of these are just unfair. They left too much pain and sorrow and empty hearts behind.

My grandpa, a true joy in my life, a man of few words but a huge heart. The time spent the week before his death is one I will cherish forever. As my mom says, to be with someone as they die is a blessing. And I know this sounds strange, but really it is true.

Dear Maria, 40 years old, battled cancer with all her heart and soul until the very end. Please pray for her husband, Todd and her 2 sweet kiddos, Ian and Hadley.

My uncle Keith, my neighbor, my friend, my uncle who loved us all very much.

Oh and our sweet Lucy, the most painful of all our losses. Lucy, you were loved my so many, loved by hundreds of thousands, I know. You were a joy to us all. Your mommy and daddy loved you like no other. They fought so hard for you, went through the meticulous care of your skin to give you the best chance possible, to prevent any possible infection. They fought for you, they advocated for you better than anyone could, even challenging the doctors, because they knew you better than the doctors knew you and your mommy and daddy were always right. They knew their baby girl.

You, sweet Lucy are the story of true love. Although many hear your story and think of pain, you were true love. You brought out more love in this world than all of us put together will in our life times. You were loved and prayed for far and wide. In the end God decided to make you our angel, to end your pain and heal your skin. And rather than take you from the hospital hooked up to tubes he chose to bring you to him, while comfortably sleeping in the same room and love of your mommy and daddy, shortly after your mommy had fed you and loved you. We all miss you, we are all thankful you were brought into our lives, We love you, Lucy.

In the midst of this all I also learned that an old friend of mine and his wife lost their infant daughter after 9 short days on this earth. Their sweet baby, Ryann Hope was diagnosed with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH), before she was born. I am going to do a whole post on this sweet baby, they are trying to raise a lot of awareness for this birth defect and have done quite a bit of things since her death. They lost Ryann in January, please pray for them as well, Jaime, David and their 3 yr old Reggan.

Lucy

2009-02-23T11:50:00.000-08:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Daddy Daughter Dances Over the Years

2009-02-19T11:01:00.000-08:00

This year was the 4th year my husband and daughter attended their annual Daddy Daughter Date Night Dance. The 1st year they went she was not even 3, barely even able to understand what they were going to go do. Now, this is an event that my sweet girl looks forward to all year long, and a special memory that she and her daddy share. It is so fun to watch them get all dressed up and to listen to how excited she is. I think it's probably just as exciting and special for my husband, he just doesn't get quite to giddy!

Make a Smilebox greeting

7 Great Years! (with many more to come)

2009-02-17T18:07:00.001-08:00

Seven years ago, yesterday (Feb 16th), I married my best friend.

An Angel Earns Her Wings

2009-02-13T12:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, a baby angel earned her wings. At just over 9 months old this sweet face left this earth to join God in Heaven, to relieve her body of pain, to end her suffering. All the while the heavens rejoyced when she arrived and celebrated all the lives this sweet girl touched.

No one will ever know how many lives this sweet baby (my niece) changed through her story, but I know it is probably no less than hundreds of thousands, just based on the number of people I knew, who were praying for her.

We thank you sweet girl for the amount of Love you brought to our lives, the happiness and love you gave your mommy and daddy, and numerous relatives. For the way you left footprints on our hearts, leaving us forever loving you. Thank you for changing so many lives with your strength and innocence and for giving us all courage to face everyday activities that most of us take for granted.

We LOVE you and will forever miss you.

Hello, my name is Molly and I'm a Stress Eater

2009-02-11T10:13:00.001-08:00

Yep, that's me a bona fide, certifiable STRESS EATER. In the 2 weeks since my grandfather was told his lungs were not fixable, I gained 10 pounds. Yep, you read that right, TEN! Case in point. We were leaving the nursing home after my grandfather passed, and as I am walking down the hall, what am I doing? Eating M&Ms. Plus, when you are sitting in a nursing home for 12 hours a day with your family, by the bedside of someone you love whom you know is dying, how do you cope with the stress? Well me, I eat. We all ate. And we didn't eat good stuff, we ate candy, donuts, chips, burgers, lots of "convenience store food". And then after we left the nursing home, we ate some more because of the generous people who brought so much wonderfully AWESOME food to my grandma's house. Today I braved the scale and paid the price with 10 whopping pounds, oy. My husband says I need to find a better hobby, I agree. Or at least a better way to cope...

Life and Death

2009-02-10T07:13:00.000-08:00

My husband's grandma is right...people die 3 at a time.

Last Thursday morning my grandfather died, Thursday afternoon a friend of mine with 2 small children lost her battle to cancer and last evening my great uncle who used to live down the street from us died as well. Three funerals in one week is very hard, especially when they are funerals for people you know and love.

I adored my grandfather, and it is surreal to think that when I go to visit grandma he won't be sitting there in his chair. My grandparents were married for 62 years and rarely went anywhere without each other. I worry about my grandma, because, after that much time with one person how can you even begin to imagine your life without them. I pray that my husband and I can make it that long, how awesome. I find comfort in knowing that grandpa is grandma's angel watching over her and holding her close when she is sad and lonely. The night of my grandfather's passing all the cousins were driving home, everyone but me saw the same shooting star, even though we all were miles apart, going different directions, it was grandpa (and I'm sure he was cursing me for not paying enough attention to see it too!).

My friend was an amazing woman. She seriously had the most positive outlook on life, she was always smiling and happy, even when you saw her coming or going to her chemo treatments. She was sure she would beat this cancer, she never had any doubts. She lived life to the fullest, and loved her husband and children immensly. It is sad and unfair that she she had to leave this earth so soon, at such a young age and all the while leaving 2 small children, a husband who adored her and parents and in-laws. However, it was amazing to see the amount of people at her funeral, to see the MANY people whose lives she had touched in her short life. Even though I do not know why God chose to take this sweet woman so early in life, I do know that he chose to bring her into our lives and the lives of others, for the better. All those who had the privlege of knowing her were blessed. Rest in peace my dear friend.

My uncle was a hoot, kind of grumpy at times, but still one of the most kind, generous and loving people you would meet. He was so devoted to his wife and loved her so much I am surprised he hung on this long, however I was still shocked to hear of his passing because I was not even aware his time was close. He was one of those people who loved and cherished his wife like no other. When she passed years ago, his life was forever changed, still always friendly, yet with sadness in his eyes for the love he had lost. I remember going to his house, the same house that I live down the street from today, on Christmas nights where there were many, many family members there, young and old, running around, eating and playing cards. To this day when I see that house that is what I think of. My dear uncle is happy and at peace now that he is back with the love of his life, this I know for a fact.

I miss him...

2009-02-08T19:32:00.000-08:00

"When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses"

My Grandpa...

lived 84 wonderful years,

married to Grandma for 62 years

... will be missed tremendously.

You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-01-28T09:24:00.000-08:00

About 18 months ago... a sight I actually kind of miss.

Find more Wordless Wednesday at 5MinutesforMom

Tackle It Tuesday

2009-01-27T09:08:00.000-08:00

At the start of the new year I was focused on creating a simpler life, getting rid of all our junk. Well today, for Tackle It Tuesday, I finally made a step towards that goal. I finally put some organization into my life, in hopes to make it simpler!

This is how it began, I dumped the contents of these 2 baskets into a box. These 2 baskets were the equivalent of our junk drawer, since we have 3 drawers total in our kitchen!

And here is that box of junk!

And this is how it's now organized... impressive, I know. This is an old shoe hanger that was taking up space and I hung it on the coat closet we have on our main floor. I found some scrapbooking tags that I then used my handy dandy labeler to label the pockets contents. Cool isn't it. In this holds all the stuff you never know where to put, you know the phone charger, batteries, misc keys, tape, some of the kids art supplies, digital camera chargers, etc.

I wish I could take credit for this idea, but I can't and for the life of me I can't remember which blog I saw this on. If it was yours please let me know and I will give total props.

Here are some other things I organized as well. This is a top shelf in my kitchen, it used to hold bottles and bottles of medication and misc first aid supplies, for when we needed it downstairs, since we only have one bathroom (which is obviously upstairs). Now when you got to get the ibuprofen or a band aid you don't get showered with miscellaneous things falling on your head!

This is the similar idea in our bathroom. I already had this drawer in the cabinet, but it was never organized and you always had to rummage through all 3 drawers to find what you were looking for, now it is much easier to get at what you want.

Christmas in January (almost February)

2009-01-25T19:06:00.000-08:00

While reading another blog a couple days ago, I noticed she did this post, because like me she failed to post Christmas pictures right after Christmas. So I am finally getting around to showing off my family enjoying Christmas together.

This is our tree, although I prefer to call it my tree since I took the 2 older kids to get it in the freezing cold one Sat, while my hubbie was sick. And while doing this the freakin tree fell off the top of the car (my husband's hooptie) in the middle of the road, where I had to get out, pick it up, put it back on top, and re-tie it, ALL BY MYSELF!! Hence, my tree. Oh and the kids and I were the ones that decorated it too.

My girl and the doll she got from Grandma, with tons of clothes that Grandma hand made for the doll, very cute.

The baby who has finally figured out what presents "are all about" tearing into his gift, with his cousin near by.

The middle child, doing what he did all Christmas... devour cookies.

The best picture I got of all 3 of them in their "nice" clothes!! And yes that is a sifter in the baby's hand. Why we bought him actual toys is beyond me.

Christmas morning, with matching new pjs. The baby's did have matching pants, however he peed through them in the middle of the night! Again, the best picture I could get of them all together!

Why take the risk?!

2009-01-25T18:33:00.000-08:00

There are only a few things that truly enrage me, things that I am truly passionate about and one of them is proper child car seat usage. Ask anyone, if I am in or near your car I will check to make sure your car seat and child are properly installed.

You know how you see those signs that say 80% of car seats are not properly installed? Well I used to think, how hard can it be? Then after my daughter was born, we took her and the car seat to one of the cars seat inspection stations... well we had it totally wrong. She was too loose in it, the seat itself was totally loose and out of whack.

From that point on I became anal about car seats. I mean if there is one thing that can save your child's life and you have control over it, why wouldn't you do it? I am truly not embarrassed and not afraid to embarrass any of my friends by calling them out on their kid not being buckled in right. Sometimes I think I should become a car seat installation professional because I am so passionate about this.

So here are some key points:
1. Rear facing is the safest, keep them that was as long as possible, even if it is more than 2 years, do not, do not, get anxious to turn your baby around! The law is at least 1 yr AND 20lbs. Oh and just because they have grown long enough to have their feet touch the seat, does NOT make them TOO long. still keep them rear facing!

2. 5 point harnesses are the safest, the longer your kid can be in one, the better (my 3.5 yr old is still in one even though he can technically ride in a booster) the new car seat I just got him will allow him to be in a 5 pt harness until he is 65 lbs!

3. You should not be able to move the car seat side to side when it is installed in your car. (My seats don't budge). To do this put all of your weight in the bucket of the seat with one or both of your knees as you tighten the buckles.

4. Another way to get it tight if your vehicle seat reclines: recline it and install the car seat as tightly as possible. Then put the vehicle seat back upright for a tight installation

5. You should only be able to get about 1 (2 at the most) finger under the strap of the cars seat when your child is buckled in.

6. When in a 5 pt harness when buckled, the chest buckle should be about level with the child's arm pits.

7. Car seats DO expire, check the date on your car seat, they are only good for 5 years.

8. Please, Please, Please do not buy a car seat a garage sale or thrift store. Oh and if you are in an accident, turn the seat into insurance and get a new one.

9. Please don't put your kid in the front seat, unless you HAVE to, even with no air bags, air bags turned off, the back is just safer... until 12 yrs of age.

10. When it comes to booster seats, if you have a 5 point harness that will hold an older child (these are pretty new) please use this. Otherwise, make sure you follow the guidelines for the seat, usually 30 lbs and 3 yrs for a high back booster and 40lbs for a no back. I still make my 5 year old ride in a high back simply because I feel she is safer because the seat belt is fitting her better.

11. Here in Illinois, the law is that a child has to ride in a booster seat until 8 yrs of age AND 40 lbs., good standards if you ask me.

I could go on and on, but these are the key points that I seem to notice the most. Here is a link to the American Academy of Pediatrics with a guide to car seats. http://www.aap.org/FAMILY/carseatguide.htm

Oh and don't even get me started on kids NOT in car seats at all, especially those that are crawling around in the back or front while the "adult" is driving. This is just plain ridiculous, and uncalled for. I have asked my police buddies if I can call the cops on these people, they say yes, however I wonder if they would actually do anything. But truly it is child neglect to not have a child in a car seat, who legally should be. I know, I know when I was a kid they didn't have car seats either, but now we KNOW better, so we should DO better!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-01-21T12:34:00.000-08:00

My sweet little family

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Gratitude

2009-01-19T18:56:00.000-08:00

My husband and I had the privilege of going to hear a talk yesterday at our church about Making Happiness a Habit in Your Marriage. It was truly a blessing to be able to go to this with my spouse and learn things that will enrich our marriage. We both agreed that we thoroughly enjoyed it and we both took some import bits of wisdom from the talk, even if they were different bits, it was what each of us needed to hear.

There were a couple different components that were talked about in making happiness a habit, but one that stuck out for me was about gratitude. (Although the message that I found most important was not about gratitude, I still feel the gratitude part was important) The speaker spent a great deal of time talking about gratitude and how important it is, studies that have been done about gratitude, those who are grateful and their happiness factors, etc. We also had an exercise where we wrote what we were grateful for, and then we did another where we wrote 5 things we were grateful for in our spouse and then took turns reading these to each other. It was stressed that writing what you are grateful for and speaking them out loud to your spouse are far more powerful than just thinking them. This was an awesome exercise!

I've heard quite a bit about gratitude journals. You know, Oprah's always talking about it, but I'm starting to wonder if there really isn't something to this. If making a list each day of what you have gratitude for may truly change how you view the world.

Now, I've never been good at journaling, hence why I started the blog, it's the closest I will get to it as I'm not one to sit down and hand write much of anything these days. But, if research shows that those who keep a gratitude journal are happier than other people, it may be just what I need. Something that was stressed when writing a gratitude journal was that we not get "stereotypical" in what we are grateful for, like generalizations, family, spouse, health, etc. Or focusing on the same things everyday.

When asked for examples it was interesting to here some of the examples that people gave, like, coffee, ketchup, color, hot water, the color blue, email, etc. It truly doesn't have to be the big things in life that we are grateful for.

In starting my journey towards a more grateful life, and my journey of starting a gratitude journal I am going to do 2 things. One, I am going to share with you the 5 things I wrote that I was grateful for in my husband plus my gratitude for today and Two, I am attaching a video from the website http://www.gratefulness.org/ a wonderful video that really makes you stop and think and appreciate all that we have and all that we have to be grateful for.

Things I am grateful for in my spouse:
1. Intelligence
2. Humor
3. Patience
4. Looks/Handsomeness
5. Willingness to help me (ie takes off works for my appts, let's me sleep in, puts kids to bed, fixes my computer, etc)

Gratitude List for today 1/19/09
1. Parents who are willing to babysit all 3 of my kids overnight
2. Parents who live close enough to do this
3. Date night with my spouse
4. The friendship I have with my sister
5. Being a healthy and present mom for my kids

Calling all spider experts!!

2009-01-17T12:16:00.000-08:00

Spiders and I don't really get along. If I see one it's dead. I hate waking up in the morning with red itchy spots knowing that a spider or heaven forbid spiders were in my bed! Yuck.

When I was going to college one year I lived in an apartment about 4 miles outside of town in the country and I tell you what, I never saw spiders like I saw there. Huge, hairy things - hate seeing spiders the size of mice. (oh yeah had a ton of those too)

When you think of spiders you think of black or brown. But since my husband and I have lived in this house, almost 8 years, the spiders I primarily see or almost white, kind of a beige off white color. They aren't too big, THANK GOD, but there are still spiders and I hate them.

One time I tried to do a search to figure out what kind of spider they were, and if they were harmful, but I came up with nothing. So I'm enlisting the help of you folks, the few of you, to see if you might be able to help me out with my search to find out what these guys are and how to get rid of them....

This is a picture of one of these spiders that was on the ceiling of my middle child's room when he was only days old, I was screaming and yelling for husband to come in and take a picture and then kill it. I wanted to picture so I could look it up, however that did me no good. At least I get to show it to you!

I can hardly contain my excitement!

2009-01-15T19:25:00.000-08:00

I know I know now that you see why I'm so excited, you think I'm a dork, but who cares this is so cool, and I can't wait to use it!

I love UPS deliveries and apparently so do my kids because they couldn't wait for me to open this package even though it was nothing for them!

So, yep it's a labeler, how cool is that. I'm gonna be so organized, or at least everything will be labeled, I'm so excited I may just label my kids!!

Watch out bathroom cabinet, watch out toys, watch out storage tubs, watch out kitchen, kitchen cabinets, watch out husband!!! Here I come, let the labeling begin.

I've wanted one of these for a while, but never got around to buying one. Then, a budget site I check often (ok, daily) posted this on sale at a electronic site for $9.99 with shipping, regularly $29.99!!

Oh, and I promised my friend I would post the budget site I like so much: http://www.cheapcheapcheap.com/

Wordless Wednesday

2009-01-13T21:01:00.001-08:00

My sweet girl at the age of 2

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Tackle It Tuesday

2009-01-13T20:28:00.000-08:00

Today, I attempted my first "Tackle It Tuesday"from 5 Minutes for Mom. The idea is to tackle some sort of chore or home project, which yesterday's post about my laundry would have been more appropriate for, but too late, so today I post...

Dun Da Da Dun.....

Yes, this is my 3 yr old and he is in.... UNDERWEAR!!!! Whoo Hoo.

No, he is not potty trained,

Yes he did pee in them a couple hours later.

But... getting him to even put them on is our first step, I'm so excited. These are the same undies or as he calls them "panties" that we gave him for Christmas. When he opened them he looked at them, said "I don't want these" and threw them at my husband!

Yeah, I may not have truly tackled the potty training, but dang it, I'm one step closer!!!!

I guess what I had planned to tackle will have to wait until next Tuesday... but who cares, my kid wore underwear!

Look what I FINALLY accomplished!

2009-01-12T18:28:00.000-08:00

For me this is HUGE, today I finished my laundry! I know, I know, your thinking.... "AND" or "SO" but this has been piling up for weeks and I just couldn't get on top of it. I would try and never make headway. Laundry is my most hated chore as a "domestic goddess" I hate it because it is NEVER done. You get it all finished and put away and low and behold it's time to start over, ugh.

I used to love doing laundry, I really did. When I was in college I loved loading it all up, going and sitting in the warm laundromat hanging out with a snack and a magazine or sometimes a roommate or friend. (My husband used to go with me when we were just friends, even though he never did his laundry too. I guess I should have taken the hint that he liked me then, if he wanted to just hang out at the laundromat with me!!) Now... I hate it. Actually, I don't mind actually doing it, it's the lugging it down 2 flights of stairs, and even worse the lugging it back up 2 flights of stairs and the worst, is putting it away.

The problem might be that I am an all or nothing laundry girl. I like to do it all in one fell swoop and have it done or I don't do it at all. When it was just me, that was great, however now with a family of 5, leaving it to do all at once just isn't cutting it, things tend to get out of hand. It got so bad over the holidays one year, when I was pregnant with my last baby, where I got to a point that I was fed up. One day I loaded it all into my minivan and took it to the laundromat. All of our laundry filled up the back of my van and that was with the back seat folded down! Once I got there I took up the whole walkway between 2 banks of machines. I proceeded to fill all the triple loaders (which was 7 I think) and 3 double loaders, and all of them were completely jam packed. The clothes probably didn't even get clean, just wet, because they were so full. $43 and 4 hours later I was done! Granted I still had to go put it all away, but at least it was done. (and I did promptly go home and put it all away)

I think that if I had my laundry facilities on the same floor as my bedrooms I wouldn't loathe it so much, or maybe I am just telling myself that, who knows. It doesn't really matter cause that ain't happenin any time soon, so for today I wanted to share the one thing I accomplished today... my laundry!

Before:

This is all the CLEAN laundry waiting to be taken upstairs!! Dare to count the number of loads?! Ridiculous and embarrassing, I know.

After:

And this is the proof!! Something you rarely see, a cleared off folding table and no clothing on the floor. Impressive, I know. (Oh and a dog who isn't spazzing out!)

In an effort to continue with my Simpler Life theme for 2009, I dare ask... and I was wondering as I put away my children's clothing... do they have too much clothing? Now I don't know if this looks like a lot or not, but our closets are the size of telephone booths, those hangers with pants have at least 2 pair if not 3 on them, notice the hangers barely have room and this does not include pajamas, undies, socks & tights. What do you think?

The 1st pic is the baby's closet, the 2nd pic is the 3 yr old's clothes and the last is the girl's stuff.

For the record, I cannot pass up a good garage sale, clearance or consignment sale. I never purchase anything for full price, so don't go thinking I'm some shopping freak for kids clothes. Oh and we love hand-me-downs, which for the boys is a lot of what they have!

Although to be honest, I know a lot of people who's kids closets are MUCH bigger and WAY more full, so I don't feel so bad, but really that doesn't make it right, or necessary.

EB Awarness Products!!

2009-01-11T13:26:00.001-08:00

Hey all! I knew there was a way to do this, but I finally got around to doing it. Even though it meant staying up way too late last night! But I did it, I created an EB Awareness Store on Zazzle! This site is so cool. You upload your image or logo to their site and you can create any products you want. Then you can sell them and make a profit if you want, or in my case raise funding for research. Really I created this store because the number of EB Awareness products out there seemed to be very limited and I wanted something for myself and for my family.

The logo is a one of a kind creation of my brother's, his baby girl is the one who has EB, isn't it fantastic?!?!? I hope you all take the time to check it out and support my efforts to raise awareness and funding for EB!!

make custom gifts at Zazzle

Gender specific toys? PU-LEASE!

2009-01-08T20:01:00.001-08:00

So as you can see at our house gender specific toys really don't matter. When I had my daughter we had a little of everything, but of course she always got "girly" stuff and she gravitated towards it, but she also would build things and play with trains and what not, you know "typical" boy stuff. It didn't matter she is a girly girl 100%, loves pink, dresses, dolls, shoes, you name it, if it girly she digs it. But keep in mind she also flys rockets with her daddy, has mad bike riding skills, is busy working on her rock tumbling project, loves to collect rocks and sticks, but still LOVES the girly stuff.

Fast forward 2.5 years after we had our girly girl, our middle child, a boy, was born. We already had all the girl stuff, but seriously it does not matter, boys gravitate to trucks, trains, balls, dirt, destruction...you name it. Then less than 2 years after that, the baby was born, another boy and like his brother he is all boy. Keep in mind we had all the girly stuff too. Now I know I told you my boys are 100% boy, it cracks me up that they still like play with my girl's stuff too. The 3 yr old loves to dress up and the baby loves the dolls and you know what? That is totally fine with us.

It completely amazes me to hear my friends talking about their spouses or their parents/in-laws having issues with their boys playing with "girl" toys, or having something girl colored, or a doll, or heaven-forbid something princess. Seriously, come on, does it really matter? A toy is a toy, a color is a color. Let kids be kids. Yes, I agree that *most* girls will gravitate to girl stuff and *most* boys will gravitate to boy stuff, no matter what you do or what you provides. At some point they play with it all, no matter what and it makes no difference. If a boy wants to play with a pink princess, who freakin cares, if a girl wants to collect bugs, so what!! Last year my 3 yr old LOVED to wear my daughter's old princess boots and I thought it was just too cute. If he wanted to wear them in public, I didn't care, honestly it made my life easier. One, I didn't have to fight a battle with him and two, he could put them on himself, which is HUGE when you're trying to get out of the house with a baby at the same time.

This is a picture of the 3 yr old wearing his older sister's Snow White costume, I LOVE it. I love that he loves it. I love that he has NO clue that some people might raise an eyebrow at this. I love that he loves to be told he's gorgeous. As he was jumping, leaping, doing somersaults and being all out rowdy while wearing this. And when he wears the dress up shoes and purses, he's usually pushing around a big dump truck or filling the purse with cars!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-01-07T14:21:00.001-08:00

Brotherly Love

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When mom makes dinner...

2009-01-06T19:46:00.000-08:00

Last night I was making dinner, I know, I know, shocker. So, I was busy making dinner in the kitchen while I let the kids play in the living room, again I know - should really think twice about taking my eyes off the kids to make dinner. And I hear all 3 of them "up" to something, getting along too well, a little too quiet, you know all the things that make a mom nervous. I go in to check on them and this is what I find...

My girl and my 3 yr old changing the baby's diaper!

Notice how the baby just lies there and takes it all in stride... ah a true 3rd child, baby of the family.

This is a rare occasion to see the 2 older kids working together for anything, although I'll take it, even if this is what they choose to do!

No, there wasn't any poo in there, lucky for all of us!

The 3 yr old is eagerly holding up/back the baby's legs (as instructed by his bossy, I mean teaching sister)!

Not quite sure why they chose to do this on the trampoline, but one never knows when it comes to kiddos!

The end result... a little rough, but not bad for a 1st try, on a wiggly toddler at that!

Tina the Tooth Fairy

2009-01-04T20:33:00.000-08:00

My girl lost her 2nd tooth last week, this is always an exciting event. With her tooth, she wanted to leave a letter for the tooth fairy, so we had her write one. Keep in mind she is in Kindergarten and is just learning to read and write. While learning we encourage her to write phonetically (how it sounds), rather than tell her the letters to write. I love this, I love seeing phonetic writing, even though sometimes it can be a challenge to read, it is still the cutest thing I've ever seen.

For the record I was offered a job teaching a K/1 Special Education class before I took a High School job here. One of the main reasons I didn't take it was because I did not want the responsibility of teaching children to read and write. The idea just terrifies me, it still terrifies me, I'm just glad her teacher is good at it and tells me how to help my girl at home!! :)

Although this letter is cute, it's not the funny letter my brother left that asked the tooth fairy for a Vanilla Ice tape, which my stepdad had framed! Ha, we still tease him. Anyway, my girl wrote her letter, a letter I hope to keep and enjoy... in case you can't quite make it out here is what it says:

Dear ToothFairy,
I want to know your name
Love, ******
I lost 2 teeth

To which the tooth fairy responded with:
Dear ******,
My name is Tine the Tooth Fairy. Thank you for the great tooth. I can't wait to get more from you. Tell Mrs. Teacher I really liked it and to make sure you get your tooth necklace.
Love,
Tina the Tooth Fairy

These are the things that I truly enjoy about being a parent.

~Molly

EB SUCKS!

2009-01-04T19:30:00.000-08:00

If you read my 1st blog post you read about my niece and her battle with a genetic disorder called EB. EB totally sucks, and that is an understatement. If you can handle graphic photos google epidermolysis bullosa, if not just look at my previous post and don't watch the video.

So, my sweet niece not only has to battle this horrific disorder, that has NO cure, for her entire life. But she has to endure extreme daily pain and open wounds, wounds that if you and I had would put us in the hospital for weeks. Not only does she have the pain and wounds, she often has to endure secondary problems ALL the time.

Currently she is in the Children's Hospital in Cincinnati, OH. She had been sleeping a lot since Christmas, then last week she just wasn't herself, she wasn't eating, was still sleeping a lot and wouldn't take her pacifier, they took her to the hospital to have her checked out. That was last Tuesday and she is still there. At first they thought she had Osteomyelitis which is a painful infection of the bones, but they did a bone scan and that wasn't it. They now know she has an infection of the blood, which is better because she won't be on antibiotics for 6-8 weeks, just 2, but bad because an infection of the blood is much more dangerous since it can spread to your organs faster. Luckily they have found an antibiotic that is working on the infection, so they think.

But on top of the infection, they couldn't find a vein to put in a pic line (kind of a more permanent iv), so they had to surgically put in the pic line, in her chest. AND she had a blood transfusion yesterday because her hemoglobin count was too low. YEESH, can't a baby get a break?!? Seriously, how much can one baby endure, how much can one baby take. My heart breaks for this sweet baby, why, why, why should a 7 month old baby have to put up with such pain and suffering. And why should 2 parents, new parents who adore their baby, and only want the best for their child, have to watch their child suffer? Why should her 2 parents have to endure the pain of watching their child in pain. Really, it is not fair, and I know life is not fair, but for crying out loud, why should it be this unfair, for a baby?

For most parents we live for playing with and enjoying our babies. We bounce them and swing them around, we tickle and rough house, but most of that cannot be done with my niece because of the pain of her skin. We cherish the moments of playing with our babies and enjoy it on a daily if not hourly basis, but with my niece, her parents may only get to experience that enjoyment once a week, maybe even for only an hour. Seriously, I know my brother and sister in law are doing amazing with her and love her to pieces, but it truly is NOT FAIR.

So I plead with my few readers, if you know anyone in the medical field or feel like being an advocate let's start building awareness about this horrible disorder. Just start talking about it, share with people about this. Blog about it, send emails about, whatever it takes. It's time that the children affected by this start seeing remedies and maybe someday a cure. No child should have to endure this much pain, ever, for whatever reason. If you do nothing else, pray for her.

To my brother and sister in law, I give you major props, you are truly amazing. Even though your sweet girl has this, God knew to give her to you, he knew you guys would be awesome as her parents, knew that as painful as it is, you had the strength to endure caring for her. Hang in there, you are doing great, we pray for you guys everyday. Much Love.

~Molly

2009... A Simpler Life?

2009-01-01T20:36:00.000-08:00

Hey! Happy 2009!

Today in hopes sparking a trend through the rest of my house I cleaned out my computer cabinet. Now that I have 3 kids and I live in a house with just 3 small bedrooms, the computer is in a computer armoire in my living room, gone are the days of an "office. The computer cabinet was wreaking havoc, things would literally fall out and you would have to "tuck it all in" to get the doors to close, so today I did some purging, I say some because I still need to sort through some of it, but nonetheless it is cleaned up. Hurray!

For some time my husband and I have been talking about getting rid of our "stuff," actually it is usually him saying "can we throw all the junk away?" and points to some spot in the room. But I do agree... some days I look around and just want to dump it all. Some days I just get overwhelmed by the amount of stuff in my house (and for the record I tend to believe I do not have near the amount of stuff that most people do), and I don't have a big house. I can only imagine what it might look like if we had more space to fill!

A friend and I have had many discussions about dumping our stuff, leading a simpler life. I have also started seeing a lot more about it, reading more about it. It seems to be a trend right now, although a good trend. Do we need SO much stuff? Does stuff make us happier? Does stuff improve our lives? I bet many of us would agree the answer to all of this is...NO, yet we all keep buying more stuff to fill a void that many of us seem to have. Do we need such big houses? Do we need to drive brand new cars? Do our kids need ALL the new toys and games? Why has our society turned into a nation that seems to not be able to say no.

In light of all the mortgage messes out there I really am thanking God that we don't live in a house that we can't afford. I can handle our old house with only one bathroom, if it means I get to HAVE a house. No, where I live has not been hit that hard, but you never know what the future might bring.

I read an article the other day talking about living the simpler life and in it the woman had lived in this massive house with her twins, she downsized to a 1 bedroom cottage in the woods, by choice, (not that I would want to share a room with my kids) but what she said was "In our old house you could go hours, even days without seeing or talking to anyone, in this house we HAVE to interact, we have no privacy, but we are closer, spend more time together and are happier for it." This really spoke to me for some reason because I've been in those houses where you could go a great deal of time and never have to speak or interact with your family, and why would you want that?

So the computer cabinet is my starting point, starting to purge, get rid of the clutter of my house and my life, dumping the junk literally and figuratively. Also for the record, I am not really good at this simple stuff, I do tend to buy too much, I am a major factor when it comes to the amount of stuff in my house. I am far from perfect or even close to leading a simple life (just look at my driveway strewn with toys in the summer), so I am not passing judgement on anyone or any of you, I am just saying this is the life I would like to lead. Wouldn't if feel great to live in a house with just the stuff you need and truly love and enjoy without having to manage, clean and pick up the crap all the time?

So if you drive by my house and see things flying out the windows you'll know why!

~Molly

Wordless Wednesday

2008-12-31T14:32:00.001-08:00

Inspirations

2008-12-30T19:44:00.000-08:00

For a couple of years now I have been attending a Christian Moms Conference fairly close to my home called Hearts at Home, which is a different topic for a different day, but I wanted to tell you about a woman/mom I have heard speak there who is amazing, I could listen to her speak all day long and still enjoy every minute of it. Her name is Lysa TerKeurst and she is an amazing woman of God who is a speaker for and the president of Proverbs 31 ministry. However, I bring her up today for a different reason.

I was looking for her story of adoption to share with a friend of mine. This friend has a very strong passion for those far less fortunate than those of us. In particular she is passionate about humanitarian efforts in Africa, something I find commendable, honorable, oh I don't know I'm speechless, I find it awesome, it truly makes me want to be so passionate about something so worthy. She inspires me to want to help others as she does, I know it sounds cliche, but it's true and I hope she realizes that by spreading her passion little by little she is lighting fires in others. Anyway, not only does my friend have a passion for the humanitarian efforts in Africa but she would like to adopt a child or children from Africa someday. So back to Lysa... I was looking for the story of Lysa's adoption (she adopted 2 boys from Liberia) to send to my friend because I thought she might really appreciate it. As I was rewatching the story, a story that when I heard in person made me cry like a baby... in public, I thought this is something more people should here/see. Well, Oprah thought the same thing and the story was aired on Oprah a while back. Unfortunately, I could not find a copy of the video to directly post here, but you can watch it on Lysa's blog: Lysa on Oprah.

Lysa's story is heart warming, amazing, awe inspiring... you get the idea, she has 3 biological daughters and NEVER intended to adopt any children much less 2 boys from Africa, but God spoke to her and she listened. That is probably the most amazing thing about Lysa, her ability to listen when God speaks, something I find myself trying to do and often struggling with. Check out her story and how she inspired others. Enjoy.

~Molly

Dancing "Around" the Chrismas Tree

2008-12-27T20:45:00.000-08:00

My step dad is Danish, so when we celebrate Christmas (which is done on Christmas Eve) we do a couple different Danish Christmas traditions. Like, eating Ris à l'Amande (a warm rice pudding) with an almond hidden in one, the person who finds the almond in his wins a prize (traditionally a marzipan pig, but my step dad says they don't taste that good). My brother got it this year, I think he got a tin of mixed nuts, usually it is candy. It is a tradition as well to eat a large meal, usually crown roast and all the fixings, plus there is always dancing! Dancing around the Christmas tree that is.

Now, keep in mind that my mom and step dad starting dating while I was a teenager and to be subject to such things as dancing and singing around a Christmas tree in front of my family and future step family was quite painful. BUT... to get presents it's what you do, and we have ALWAYS done it, since he has been around. So, the way it goes is that you hold hands and dance in a circle around the Christmas tree. But since the tree is usually in the corner of the room, we just dance in a circle kind of like ring around the rosie. As you are dancing you sing Christmas carols, going in one direction for one song, and then the opposite direction for the next and so on. The Pièce de résistance being, singing a traditional danish carol, dancing one direction for one verse, switching for the next, then switching for the 3rd and 4th and so on, but this time getting faster with each verse. You can imagine the hilarity of it all and what on lookers might think if they saw it.

Here is some video of the "dancing", usually we have at least 4-6 more family members joining in the fun and adding many more wise cracks, so you can only imagine what it usually looks (and sounds) like! It starts with my step-dad trying to teach us the words to the danish song (which we are taught every year and still haven't learned), and then our "attempts" to "sing" it.

Late Wordless Wednesday

2008-12-27T20:22:00.001-08:00

I wanted to get a picture posted last Wednesday for a "Wordless Wednesday" entry in honor of Christmas, by alas with it being Christmas Eve and my grandfather being in the hospital, I was in a time crunch and ran out of time. I love this picture so I am going to post it anyway. This was a Christmas present from my hubbie in 2006, the same year that my another Christmas present was our surprise pregnancy of our 3rd child! Hah, but I digress, he took this on the sly one night while I was gone, played and futzed and tweaked all without my knowledge, had it blown up and framed! One of my favorite gifts by far... that and the photo book that he made as a gift last year.

Christmas Cards

2008-12-22T13:47:00.000-08:00

I love, love, love photo Christmas cards. If you take the time to send me one, please take the time to send a photo too, I especially want to see you, as well as your kids!! Yes, I love seeing pics of your kids but I am your friend and want to see your beautiful face as well!

I have toyed with making my own photo Christmas card with Photoshop in the past but never quite had the tools and didn't want to have to pay for the prints and the envelopes separately, yeah I'm cheap I know, but I send a lot. So anyway a friend and I were discussing this and then one day she called (after she made her own) and said that our local Sam's club was not only giving envelopes with their 5x7 prints, but they were charging the holiday card prices too. Whoo hoo, mixed emotions, yeah I wanted to make them, but did I want to put that much time into it? Hmmmm, the dilemma... anyway I ended up doing it. I have Adobe Photoshop and I know basic stuff, enough to be dangerous really, not enough to be as good as some of the amazing photographers out there. Many, Many hours later, I was done, yeah being as anal as I am I could have changed and tweaked for hours more, but I HAD to be done.

The bummer about making your own card is that when you send it out, no one really knows that you spend hours and hours making it, messing with backgrounds, sizing, fonts, wording, details, details and more details. Most people just assume you did it through a company, which is fine, because I still loved doing it and got to be creative (seeing how my scrap booking days have gone by the wayside) and got to send a photo Christmas card to all the people important people in my life (that had a picture of my kids and my husband and I in it)!!

Here it is, and yes the names have been changed to protect the innocent! Merry Christmas, I hope you find as much joy in something this season as I found in making my family Christmas Card.

To see the Great Bloogy Holiday Card Exchange and see more great cards check this out:

~Molly

I wish I could take such good pictures!

2008-12-20T09:27:00.000-08:00

My friend Sam is a photographer, and a darn good one at that! What she can see through the lens of her camera is amazing, I only wish I had 10% of her talent. Last February she took some amazing pictures of my kids, even though my middle child ended up being very sick (meaning he would NOT cooperate), she got good pictures of them. I thought I would share:

You can see all of her awesomeness at her website http://www.harnackphoto.com/

~Molly

"A Mom's 12 Days of Christmas"

2008-12-19T20:27:00.000-08:00

I started blogging because I love to read blogs, obvious, I guess. Anyway, there is a blog out there, a fellow Illinoisan I might add, that is pretty popular and a hoot. You can find her at http://www.mom2my6pack.blogspot.com/ , she has 6 kids and if I had 6 kids I could only hope for such humor and sanity! Recently, she posted "A Mom's 12 Days of Christmas" I loved it, thought it was hillarious and thought I might share it with you... Enjoy!

Boys=Grey Hair

2008-12-19T19:24:00.000-08:00

I have 3 kids, my oldest is a girl and my 2 youngest are boys and I'll tell you what... boys are SOOO different than girls. I really never believed this statement until I was blessed with both. Yeah, my daughter can be emotional and she will probably give me a full head of grey hair if she is anything like me, when I was a teenager. But boys, man oh man. Boys are really a whole new ball game, they keep me on my toes, like never before. I've found my boys (and most moms with boys agree) to be quite destructive, yeah they may be exploring their surroundings, but in doing so are destroying everything in site! A clean house, with boys-Ha. Forget about it. But at the same time, they can be darn cute and quite loving.

I was once sad that my 3rd child was not a girl because I thought it would be wonderful for my daughter to have a sister. The bond between sisters is much different than other sibling bonds (that's another blog for another day), but that's what I wanted for my daughter. Now that I have 2 boys in addition to her, I see that there is share a special bond between brothers as well (even it is in a mission of destruction), and my girl will be special because she is the only daughter.

But to really drive home my point that Boys=Grey Hair take a look at what has been going on in my house:

These are my boys, climbing on the dining room table, it is on-going battle to keep the baby off, and to keep the 3 yr old from joining the fun.

For the record, if you are mom, you are never allowed to talk on the phone or go to the bathroom or do laundry, you get the idea, because this is what you find... a kitchen full of Christmas sprinkles!

Christmas Sprinkles that should be played with like sand!

Christmas Sprinkles that should be "skated" upon!

~Molly

My girl & My baby

2008-12-17T08:46:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday