Making Sweet Tea out of Lemons. :)

For nine years I have had the issue of splitting holidays and weekends for my girls. In the beginning it didn't really bother me, but a lot changed as both myself and then my girls' father remarried. Even now, the only time our shared schedule really bothers me is Christmas break.

My girls a blessed to be able to enjoy the beginning of Christmas break with their Dad and the family on that side. He typically picks them up from school and then they come home Christmas day about noon.

My confession? Seeing them post on their social media of choice about what they got and all, hurts. It hurts because we cannot afford to spend money like that. I would love to, but we just can't. We can't because we have committed to live within what is our means.

This year has been an eye opener as to what is important. How much we spend on the gifts and even the gifts themselves is not what is important. What is important is the love that we share. The most important gift that I can give my children is for them to know God. All the other stuff is just that, stuff.

So what if I can't afford to buy my kids iPods and netbooks and cameras or whatnot. My kids have me, and I will always be there for them.

Drop Biscuits and what?!? Chocolate Gravy? *Chocolate Covered Anything Day

It has been a crazy week and this morning made it worse. As a mom and college student there are tricky schedules to keep. This week included four snow days for the kids while I had my finals for college. Take comfort in knowing that everybody has survived.

This morning in particular, I had to be at Austin Peay (APSU) before 8am for my last final. This meant that I needed to leave the house between 6 and 6:30. (We have had winter weather this week so I did not know what to expect with the roads) Needless to say, when there is not a schedule, the children slept in. I had taken my final and was back home before the girls got up, and the boys had only been up long enough to eat breakfast.

All of this explained, I felt the need to make a scratch treat. So I made drop biscuits and chocolate gravy. Isn't it a must since today, December 16th, is National Chocolate Covered Anything Day?

I figure I must share recipes then, correct? To start with the biscuits, it's just grandma's baking powder biscuit. We use almond milk instead of cow's milk.

Drop Biscuits Covered in Chocolate Gravy

Drop Biscuits

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450'. Mix your dry ingredients. form a bowl in the middle of the mixture for butter and milk. (make sure your butter is softened) Stir with a wooden spoon until completely mixed. Use a table spoon to 'drop' biscuits on a cookie sheet. Makes 12-15.  Cook 10-12 minutes dependent on your oven.

Chocolate Gravy

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon butter

Mix dry ingredients in saucepan and then add milk. Over a medium flame stir until gravy thickens to desired consistency. (If needed you can add a little flour) Once thick, remove from flame. Add vanilla and butter. Absolutely WONDERFUL on hot biscuits.

Wordless Wednesday

Took a week, but patience paid off!

Painfully Truthful...

I am about to admit the real reason I haven't been posting so much. It's because...

...because I am not a supermom. In fact I don't believe that I am even a half decent mom. This belief comes from the result of trying to do what I know to do and failing miserably. It gets even better. As a Christ Follower, I know that I should turn to God so that he can have my back, but then my "fixer" self gets in the way.

For those that aren't sure or just don't know, our family is a blended one. You know, the his, her and ours complex. We have times that things are going great and the lines seem to be invisible. Then there are times where there are difficult walls to break through.

Right now, we are having a difficult time. The whole parenting by the seat of our pants and having a 16yo daughter that wants to do what she wants to do all while trying to keep everything else under control. There is no one person at fault in the scheme of things. All I know is that, we have to get through this and the only way is with God.

The scripture says "With GOD all things are possible" not "With myself all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26). In order to survive this stage, we have no other choice but to rely on God and turn to him.

I ask for prayer. This trial is with our oldest, there are five more blessings behind her.

Wordless Wednesday

Anticipation of Snow

With Thankful Hearts!

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High; 

- Psalm 92:1 (ESV)

The Lord has blessed us well this year.

• We have our health, and when any of us were under the weather God provided the means for us to get medical treatment.
• We have our home that God gave to us 
• We have our vehicles
• We may not have the best, but we have what we need
• We have our family and friends that God has put in our lives for this season

Happy Birthday G1!!

Happy Sweet 16 G1!! Can't believe you are 16 already. Sure everything hasn't been rosy, but we are so blessed to have you as our daughter. Love you sweetie!

Happy Birthday B1!

Going to school on the Birthday!

Today is B1's 9th birthday. He is growing so much. He has overcome a lot of things this year that come with maturity. We are SO proud of him.

Momma & Daddy love you bud!

Wordless Wednesday - November 3, 2010

Fall at Austin Peay State University in the Morning.

Life is like a fall of colors!

It is so hard to believe that it is October already! Seems like yesterday I was anticipating my kids all being in school and myself starting my sophomore year in college. Now our temperatures have FINALLY cooled off and we have even had a couple brisk mornings.

I love this time a year. In the mornings on my drive into school it is gorgeous to see the fog with intense colors in the leaves peaking through as the sun wakes up the world. I even find myself looking forward to going over the Cumberland River on the McClure bridge it is so gorgeous. The way the fog rises from the river and surrounds the bridge the image of flying crosses the mind for just a few minutes.

The kids are doing well. G1 had to buckle down and get to work in her classes when she got put on academic alert. I think she is good now. G! and G3 have really enjoyed the marching band season. Their last contest was this past Saturday in Lebanon. The band placed 2nd there. They placed 1st in Waverly the week before.

G2 is doing really good in school. I am praying her IEP meeting later on this month is a discharge from what we are seeing. (She has been on in due to low academics) All the grades we have seen this year are A's and B's. We are really proud of her stepping up and getting it together.

All three boys are doing well in school. B1 is mostly As and Bs and only an occasional behavior flair, none as bad as a couple years ago. (B1 has sensory issues)  B2 is making straight As, but he is so emotional. We are trying to decide if we should leave things alone so he can get used to the fact that there are different types of teachers or if we need to speak to the principal. He has a lot of homework every night and it's a constant battle, but his grades are good. That brings us to B3... I will probably be making a post on his blog about his stuff. He is doing good. He could be doing better. According to one progress report he has all his first 9 weeks skills mastered. According to another sheet he doesn't (and it was done after the other).

So... that is a catch up. I am trying to get my time managed, it can be difficult. My classes are doing good. I may not have a 4.0 this semester, but I am working as hard as I can. :)

Time Flies...

We are still here. Our schedule got turned upside down worse than I thought it would when school started, and right about the time we got into that groove, school started for me.

My new goal is to post at least once or twice a week. Fall is so crazy for our family. (So is spring, but fall seems more so)

G1 & G3 are enjoying the Marching Band season with the High School. I think I mentioned how G3 was invited to join the high school band this year (she's in 8th grade). Obviously the sibling rivalry is there, but thankfully the band is big enough for the both of them. G2 is doing very well academically in the 7th grade. I think she finally adjusted to being in middle school.

The boys are enjoying being car riders. B1 brags about it because he's not getting in trouble on the bus anymore, now if he would just put all that energy to academics he would be the top of his class. B2 is in an emotional year. He is doing well with his grades, he is just more emotional since school started. B3... well, according to the mid nine weeks progress report he has all the skills mastered. I don't see the evidence in of that in the work he brings home. We are working with him though, and praying.

Life is moving fast though. I have just finished my third week of my sophomore year and I feel beat. It's just so life consuming. The amazing thing is that I see God's blessing. Financial aid covered everything, my classes fall in the schedule perfect for me taking the kids to school... now if I could just get the studying and homework done while also giving the kids enough time.

I pray each of you are blessed!

Modesty... Not Just Being Conservative

I have noticed on a few blogs that the issue of modesty is being discussed. It is an issue that our family deals with pretty much daily. (Especially since we have three teen girls now)

Since our oldest daughter, shall we say... "busted out" with puberty we have had an issue with being modest. It's no longer just a make sure you are wearing shorts with that night shirt kinda thing in our house.

The main issue we have is that the "cute" clothes that our eldest wants to wear are not made for her size. When we explain this to her she complains that we want her to be a conservative shrew. Trying to explain the difference between modesty and conservative has been difficult. Thankfully, the high school is helping.

Much to the dismay of most of the students at our local High School, a strict dress code has been put in place. The kids can wear blue jeans or khaki pants or shorts/skirts (to the knee) with a white/navy/red/grey button up or polo shirt. Only one button on the shirt can be undone. The students can also wear shirts that are school sponsored.

I love it! Now, it's not just me that is requiring my kids to dress modestly. The other side is that they are discovering they can be creative and "liberal" while still being modest.

Colorful Metaphors

Wow. This post is going to make me sound like an old dried up shrew.

Friday, G3 called me and told me that there was a kid texting her and calling her names and being mean. I did not realize to the extent of what was going on until she got home Sunday afternoon. Hubs and I prayed for her and prayed for wisdom on what to do. At that point some of the messages had gotten erased so I didn't know that we could really do anything.

Then Monday comes. The same kid starts it up again. This times all the messages were saved. We got the kid's number blocked and made sure to lock the messages, including G3's replies.

This morning I drove G3 to school and went in with her to speak with the principal. We ended up speaking with the assistant principal and to my pleasure, discovered that they have implemented a zero tolerance rule for harassment and bullying. We have the assistant principal's word that this will be taken care of.

The really bad part though? We are talking a 13 year old girl using words that you would expect from an old drunken soldier. I was shocked. I mean, I don't consider myself naive, I know kids curse. I am shocked at the extreme of the language.

Do you have issues like that?



(And yes... the title is from Mr. Spock's use of profanity in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

Birthday Boy!

Hard to believe it's 7yrs already big boy! This afternoon right about 5p is your official time.

Have a Happy Birthday Bubbalicious! (B2)

School has Sprung!

Here in middle Tennessee it seems there are kids going back to school all over the place. Many counties are starting early due to the floods in May that cause an abrupt halt to the school year. We are not in one of those counties.

A few years ago (like 9) our county voted to go on a modified year round schedule. I have loved it! The kids like it, seems to be a win/win. We have 9 weeks on 2 weeks off essentially. Our spring break is altered due to Easter and such, but the gist is 9/2. Then we get 8 weeks for summer.

This means we start school at the beginning of August.

Our first day of school was Monday. Had open house for the boys Sunday. Had writers cramp by Sunday evening. All those forms! I am just glad we had most of the school supplies. We have G1, G3, and B3 left to complete on the supply list, but have most of what they need. It never ceases to amaze me by how much is requested to be provided.

Our children are growing up SO fast. G1 is a Sophmore(10th), G2 is in 7th grade, G3 is in 8th grade, B1 is in 3rd grade, B2 is in 2nd grade and this coming Tuesday B3 will "finally" be in Kindergarten. (He added the finally because he doesn't think it is fair his brothers and sisters have already gone back to school.) Seems like yesterday that G1 was starting Kindergarten.

This time of year for us is always hectic and chaotic. We have to stop and breath occasionally or we get caught up in it without knowing what to do with ourselves. "Busy-ness" is not from God. Being busy keeps you from God, so when there is change, it is really important to keep your eyes on God. We have learned that lesson many times and are hoping we finally "got it" so that we don't have to go through it again.

Be Blessed!

Birthday Girl!

13 years ago at 1:04am This beautiful child was born. Hard to believe she is thirteen already!

Happy Birthday G3!

Food Additives

It's one of those things that is nearly impossible to get away from... food additives. The hard part is that unless you have a really green thumb, an awful lot of time, and the same... you can't always eat food in it's natural form.

We began having issues with food when G3 was young. She has a mild lactose intolerance. Dairy products mess with her digestive track. Several times when she was little she would come home from seeing relatives and no more than five steps in the door throw up from eating banana pudding or ice cream or grilled cheese. We knew what it was because it was soured, and well... you just know.

To take care of the issue we switched to sweet acidophilus milk and didn't let her have dairy after lunch. It seems as long as the dairy doesn't sit on her stomach she does better. And she also seems to have built some resistance.

Then enter B3. Once he was nursing full time we started noticing that he would have sour spit ups and sometimes full vomiting. We made sure I quite drinking and eating dairy and he was fine. (Great for him, not for me) His colic was gone, his spitting up stopped, perfection. The problem there was when it was time to wean him he couldn't do milk. The sweet acidophilus was more tolerated than skim or whole milk, but it still upset the tummy. He had the same reaction to soy milk which surprised us until we learned that the make up of both are very close. We finally found Almond Milk and he loves it, plus it is good for him.

When B3 was about 2 1/2 we noticed he was getting very hyper and very fussy and got concerned. Started keeping a food diary in order to relate foods with behavior. This is when I got suspicious of Red 40. See, my niece is allergic to red 40. She gets very sick if she eats something with it. So I went a couple weeks with no red... Benji became a completely different child. His sensory issues calmed down considerably. So when he started preschool I expressed that I didn't want him to have anything with red in it. (this began my education in the education system)

Things went great for awhile, until one day he had a bad day. Seems that he couldn't control his behavior and was "bouncing" all over the room. I looked at him while me and the teacher were talking and noticed he had a koolaid mustache that was red. I asked what he had for snack and it was Hawaiian Punch and some crackers. I assured the teacher that we would talk with B3 and it would all be taken care of.

He was "bouncing" until about 11pm that night and missed school the next day due to "hangover" symptoms. I went to the doctor and got a note stating NO RED 40 or DAIRY products.

Now let me say, Red 40 has been approved by the FDA, but I think they need to do more testing. Another food additive that we noticed B3 reacts to is Azodicarbonamide. It's in most of your commercially made breads. The chemical is used to make the bread rise uniformly. Interestingly it is banned in Australia and most of Europe. Red 40 is a relative of Azodicarbonamide.

More info on Azodicarbonamide ...
Azodicarbonamide (CICADS)
Another Reason to Avoid Most Breads

More info on Red 40
The Chemistry of Red 40


I am not trying to scare people, just to inform. Be careful of what you feed your children and yourself.

2 day delivery = 3 days?

So, I forget who I was talking to but I must have bragged too much because it came back to bite me.

A friend was asking about cell phones and I had shared how I had the BlackBerry 8530 Curve 2 from Verizon. I went on to tell this friend that I never had a problem with the phone or with service from Verizon and was really happy with them.

Tuesday morning my battery charge went completely within 2 hours. All I was doing was playing on Twitter, wasn't making phone calls. I recharged it thinking maybe I forgot to charge it the night before. This time I called Jeff and was talking to him, the phone got hot. Not too hot to touch, but hotter than it should get. After we got off the phone I was texting a friend and in the middle of it, everything went black. I took the battery out and took the phone with me because I had to meet another friend to sell her some smart cards. About 20 minutes passed, I put the battery back in and it slowly came back on. But it was instantly HOT.

After I picked up the girls from Band Camp, drove into the our local Verizon store.

Smart Cards, Discount Cards to Help Band Students

One may ask what exactly is a smart card... that would be a good question.

In middle TN area, a "Smart Card" is a discount card that you buy in order to get discounts at restaurants, stores, etc.

G1 & G3's Marching Band is selling these "Smart Cards" to pay band fees and also to support the band.

While band can be expensive, we believe that the girls being involved in the art of music is a great thing. It not only gives a sense of school pride, it betters the kids for life. Did you know that the majority of kids that go to college have some past with musical instruments? Whether it was playing in the school band or taking private lessons, music was a key part in their life. Many colleges and universities will also give scholarship money to those that play in the school band even if their major isn't music related.

Anyhow, for those in middle Tennessee, if you are interested in getting a Smart Card they are $12. You can leave a comment here or email me faith (at) heaveninourhearts (dot) com with what county you need and I will get with you. We have until August 12th to get the money turned in.

:)

And just a P.S. if you use the Smart Cards you will get your $12 back in no time. It's a win win situation.

Motivation

It's been a fast summer. Seems like it has flown by so quickly.

Here, we have roughly eight weeks for summer break. We are on a modified schedule that is loosely considered a 9-2 schedule. We have nine week grading periods and between them is a break. Fall and Winter breaks are two weeks while spring break is a week and a half or so. It really works good for us. Plus the elementary schools have day care that runs year round if parents need it.

While I was waiting to pick up my marching band girls from the high school I realized that school starts August 2nd. The shock is that it's only about 12 days from now. There is back to school shopping to do, last minute preparations, schedule shifting, just SO MUCH! Then we have two birthdays that first week of school.

The excitement never ends huh?

This all comes down to the title of this post... motivation.

A Return

I have missed everybody. For the last 10 days we only had dial-up internet and well, the phone lines in our house aren't the best for that. I am happy to say that now I am back on WiFi and hopeful to get back to posting and having fun online.  :)

Our family had a roller coaster this past week and I am still recuperating.

G1 and G3 realized Wednesday that band camp started Thursday. At least I had G1's clarinet back and had reeds for both of them. Even managed to get them up on time and to the school. (That's even with a friend spending the night and going with them!)  I was also very happy that the service on the clarinet was only $45. (new pads and tune)

B3 is happy now, I wasn't sure how he would react when we got the letter that he wasn't able to go to the school he went to for preschool. I spoke with the principal and I understand and it is better to know now than in the middle of the year. I am okay with that. Just now we have to get alot of documentation together and call a M-Team meeting as soon as possible at the other school. The other school that I have past prejudice with.

B2 is glad that B3 will be going to the same school and wants to show him the ropes. I don't think he will get a chance to since he will be in 2nd grade and B3 is going into Kindergarten. I do however laugh that B1 is disappointed because that means I will drive the three of them to school instead of them riding the bus. (B3 gets over-sensitized and can't handle crowds and loud noise.)

The weekend was great though when we had friends and family come over and had a cookout. All of the kids loved it, everybody had at least one friend, and my nephews I think have permanent blushing from the teen girls flirting with them. It was cute and enjoying being with everybody.

Now just praying this week goes well as we begin the back to school madness! Gotta make sure B3 is registered for the new school and get supply lists for all 6. School here starts August 2nd. Makes it a little hard to take advantage of the tax holiday for Tennessee August 6-8.

Tackle-It Tuesday - Mom's Desk

It's another tackle! This one I have been putting off for awhile. I'm not 100 % happy yet, but it is a huge progress.

A little back story, I started college in fall of 2009. I had plans to keep my desk area perfectly organized and have everything where it needed to be and cute and just perfect. Then life happened.

I really don't know how I could have expected any different than what happened to have happened. Let me remind you, I am a married mom of six. We have two in band, one of which also plays softball, and then just normal family stuff. Plus, B3 was still in physical therapy then. My schedule got crazy and organizing and keeping up went out the window.

So... here we go!

Zucchini Bread

So, in the interest of getting more veggies in the kids diet, we dug out an old recipe from grandma.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teasppon ground nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1 cup finely shredded, unpeeled zucchini
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
1/4 teasppon finely shredded lemon peel

1. Grease bottom and sides of 8x4x2 loaf pan & set aside.
2. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt and nutmeg in a medium bowl.
3. In separate bowl combine sugar, zucchini, oil, egg and lemon peel being sure to mix well.
4. Add dry mixture to zucchini mixture, stirring until moistened.
5. Pour batter into pan and bake 55-60 minutes in a preheated 350' oven.
6. When wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, bread is done. Cool in pan on cooling rack for about 10 minutes, then remove from pan to cool completely.

ENJOY!!

Murphy Cat

Our sweet 12 year old cat that wasn't suppose to survive has been on my mind a lot lately. Let me give you the back story...

About twelve years ago, my sister in law found this tiny little kitten abandoned in the parking lot where she worked. She took the kitten home, named her Calliope and nursed her to health on infant formula. A couple months went by and it turned out she wasn't a good match for my brother's family, so I took her.

Not long after we got Murphy (which we changed her name), she was sick so I took her to the vet. She had intestinal parasites and a kidney infection, along with skin irritation. So we got her medicine and nursed her to health. Everything cleared up for several months and then she had another severe kidney or bladder infection. It got to the point that the vet told us he wouldn't recommend her being on the steriods again due to side effects.

She was healthy and clear for about a year... Then she got a sore under her collar and had to be "operated on" since they were putting her under they went ahead and spayed her too. She had a hard time waking up after surgery and was very sleepy the first few days after. It seems with all the kidney/bladder infections there may have been some damage.

By her 3rd year she was healthy! Minus the occasional skin flair ups. Seems Murph is allergic to fleas. By year 5 we figured out keeping her on Revolution solved the skin issue. She's had two serious kidney/bladder infections since then but has been clear for 4 years.

Now we are seeing the effects of the steroids. Her back hips are sore. She gets very cranky when the weather turns. And her wheezing is getting worse. (Due to the shape of her face she wheezes)

However, as long as our 10 month old Neko kitty leaves her alone, you never notice a change in her.

Anyhow, just felt like sharing about my 7th child.

Wordless Wednesday - 4th of July

Fireworks at White Bluff's Veteran's Ball Field.

The Three Musketeers - B2, B1, B3

Zuchinni!

Our garden is off to a good start. Green Peppers, bush beans, zuchinni, white potatoes, orange tomatoes, a couple sweet potatoes... Plus garlic chives, basil, thyme and mint. We also have 3 grape vines, 2 blackberry bushes & 2 apple trees.

We have harvested about 5 zuchinni and 1 green pepper.

A Moment

I feel like I have been incredibly busy this week, but in reality I haven't. Or just not busy enough for me to acknowledge I have been busy?

I have been fighting a migraine most of the week. That and just not feeling 100%. Other than that, keeping up with the schedules.

Monday and Tuesday were sitting at home days. We stayed home, the kids played outside. They went stir crazy, but understood I really wasn't feeling well. Wednesday I gladly helped my sister in law and took one of my nephews to summer school. Jeff got tires on his car. And I took two of the girls to see their movie. After that we went to church.

I am enjoying the class me and Jeff are taking, it's iMarriage.

Non-Wordless Wednesday

  (Benji (B3), Bubbalicious (B2) & G3)

Hello! I am sad that I missed both Monday Mingle and Tackle It Tuesday this week, both mornings I woke up with a bad headache. Today we are doing better.

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle

Yesterday was our bi-annual trip to the dentist with the kiddos. Always eventful, this time around I decided we would have all six go on the same day to cut down on gas and travel. That was the plan at least.

For us, dental trips start with getting B3 his antibiotic. (Since it's his aortic valve that is defective we have to be careful he doesn't get an infection) This is always fun because from what we know, liquid amoxicillian has red 40 in it. B3 is allergic to red 40, it increases his heart rate and he is like a high bounce ball bouncing off the walls continually for hours (last time he had it, it took 12 hours before he passed out). So we have to get the capsule to break open and give to him with applesauce. He's good about it and takes it more or less without a problem.

So... our appointment was suppose to be at 10:30 yesterday, the receptionist called about 8:30 and told us we could go ahead and come in since they had some cancellations. I real quick gave B3 his meds and

Dairy Free Blueberry Muffins

These are DELICIOUS muffins, all of my blessings love them, not just my lactose intolerant ones. They are very easy to make and good for one on one time with the kids.

For those that keep up on Twitter, me and B3 made this batch yesterday. (We actually made two batches so we would have some left over for breakfast this morning.)  B3 loved how easy it is to mix, all I had to do was the measurements. It was good mom/son bonding time while everybody else was tending to the garden.

Monday Mingle - June 21, 2010

Here it is for this week!

I apologize for being a bit late. Today was a difficult day for me. I am so glad my kids were well behaved today and helped out around the house. I was just too tired.

This week's topic for the mingle is aging. Talk about loaded questions huh?
 

Enjoy it and in fact, feel free to join in!

It's All Fun & Games

It's Father's Day weekend. Dad gets to decide what he wants to do, and he chose to just relax.

There's only one problem with that request, there are six children that live in our house. :)

The day started out pretty good. We had done the running around yesterday, so today we only had to do two things. Those things? The softball awards for G3 and I had to run by the Post Office to get the mail for ParentsForChrist.com. Sounds simple right?

Dad spent the morning playing video games until he decided to move the CD racks in our bedroom and clean the ceiling. While he is doing this G2, G3, and B1 went out in the pool, B3 starts crying because he thinks G3 left him. Neko (our boy cat) decides to attack Murphy (the older lady) and drowns out the scream of the vacuum. I separate the cats, tell B3 that G3 has not left him and calm him down. Dad finishes and then goes back to video games. I couldn't help but laugh about it, until B3 noticed G2, G3, and B1 in the pool because G1 went outside. B2 was busy playing his Nintendo DS while all this was going on.

Stinky, Smelly, YUCK!

Today was a hard one.

See, B2 has an issue at bedtime that we try to not make a big deal about. It's one of those things that we know has to run it's course. But somedays...

Let me explain. B2 has an issue with staying dry at night. He is fully potty trained during the day, he just sleeps so soundly that, well, we have accidents. B2 is almost 7, we've talked to the doctor about it, and we are pretty much in a holding pattern unless we want to spend a ton of money on alarms that will wake him (and us) up to go to the restroom. My thoughts are that I don't see the need... this is the third generation that we know of with this issue. Typically grown out of by the time they are ten.

Wordless Wednesday

Tackle It Tuesday - Boys Toys

We all have those areas that we like to put off right? I have a pile of toys sitting in my living room that have been needing to go through for a couple weeks now.

You know... missing pieces, broken toys, scattered parts, etc...

So, for my first Tackle It Tuesday, I will take care of the pile of toys. (And hopefully find all the parts to everything!)

Bright & Early

I find myself actually awake this morning. It's odd. I usually sleep in as late as I can. During the school year hubby wakes the kids up and gets them going for school, all I have to do is be somewhat conscious for about 15 minutes and then I sleep till about 10am. So you can imagine summer comes and I sleep in daily right? Not the last two days.

Yesterday I woke up about 6:30 and forced myself back to sleep.

Today, I tried to go back to sleep... but I was awake at 5:30. Decided to go ahead and eat breakfast. Found myself cleaning the toilet in the master bath. Seems b3 and hubby forget to turn the light on at times if ya know what I mean. LOL. And now I am playing around online.

Monday Mingle - June 14, 2010

So, in rebuilding and redesigning our family blog I having been looking for interesting things to include. I heard about the Monday Mingle but never really looked into before. Then seeing it was a vlog, I almost decided not to venture forth.

But I also thought I could have some fun with it. LOL... It's a break from the norm in that it isn't focused on the craziness of our home completely. At least this week, huh?

Enjoy, this first venture.

If you are happy and you know it clap your hands!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. - Philippians 4:6 (NIV)

My heart strings were finally relaxed today as I picked up G1 & G3. Finally I had all my ducklings under my wing.

The girls had gone to Florida with their dad for a week. I was anxious. I know I should be anxious, after all, the Lord says "do not be anxious". I was a little, even after praying.

It wasn't just that they were gone for a week though. See... G1 is a teen and the week before she went to Florida was a rough one in terms of parenting. I can blame this and that and that and this for her feelings; but when it comes down to it, I don't think it really matters.