SoCal Journeys

1-1-11

2011-01-01T21:31:00.000-08:00

So, today's 1/1/11, which actually completely missed my attention until about 9:30 tonite when I saw somebody had posted it on Facebook. Go fig. Yep, I'm that on top of things today. ;)

I HAD a big long list of to-do's today, important, time consuming and need-to-get-done kinda things.

Instead, I read Plan B by Pete Wilson, took a shower and watched some tv. Then had dinner. Oh wait...I had breakfast before I started reading the book. And I had lunch sometime in the middle of the book. So, I did eat. In case you were concerned. *cough*

So, I read a book today and it was good. I'm still processing it, chewing it over in my mind. It talked a lot about what to do when God doesn't show up the way you think He will, or should, when all of sudden something in your life goes awry in both small and large ways and you're left with making a Plan B. Or T...if things seem to happen that way a lot. Or rather, I should say, it doesn't talk a lot about WHAT to do when that happens, cuz what comes next is kinda dependant on the person's situation, but what to do in relation to God. And that is to basically...TRUST.

TRUST that He is there. Even when the pain is so severe you can't think, hardly breathe, the anger is so hot white that you can't see, when the numbness makes you so cold that you cease to feel anything at all....through all that and then some...TRUST that God is there, even when you can't feel Him, or his presence, his words, anything.

2010 brought some huge changes for our family. Moving away from all of our friends, the only house we've known for a very long time and the only one the kids have ever known, new job for my husband, learning to deal with being a single parent when he's travelling for work and gone for months at a time, learning to deal with living in a super tiny place that doesn't have a kitchen so we share with my parents who live next door, tho that means going over there for every meal, that has 3/4 of a bathroom that all 5 of us share, not having room for a lot of things, trying to make our room work as a bedroom, living room and office, dealing with a super old power grid that pops breakers with too much of anything, paying for 3 different storage units (tho soon it'll be down to 2, and as soon as we can build a large shed, none) STILL not being able to find most things, even almost 10 months later. Still not having made any friends down here except a couple of teenagers, and they're just more like having more kids than a friend.

Facing loss of identity when our whole world was rocked by this. Struggling to get on our feet financially and knowing that we won't be buying another house anytime soon. Wanting to be in a 'real' house again. Wanting to grow our family more as we've always planned through biological and adoption, and wondering where to put them....were we able to get pregnant again, which isn't happening (keep in mind it took almost 4 yrs to get pregnant with KC) and we've been trying since he was 9 mos old and he turned 2 in September!! Yearning to be back in Riverside on our old street, in our old house with our neighbors and friends and old church and and and...

And we're in Plan B. And this is right where God wants us. And we don't know what the future holds. And not having any control over it is scary. And it sucks.

And finally being able to write again is sooooo freeing!!! Just had to get that out there!

I've been struggling, fighting and in despair over this "Plan B". I'm working on surrendering to it, knowing that it's God's will for us to be here, seeing reason after reason and purpose after purpose and STILL rebelling that we're HERE, HERE of all places, and being so full of pride and embarrassment that we don't have the big nice house anymore in the nice neighborhood and ...all that. It's pride. And it's wrong. And when we lived in the 'big house' in the nice neighborhood and all that, I wanted to move. And we didn't appreciate what we had and didn't take care of the blessing God had provided. But we had felt his prompting to move for years and ignored it and finally it was made evident to us that he meant business.

So, we moved. And we live next to my folks now, right back where I grew up. And we're still trying to learn some of the same lessons. And I'm still struggling to figure out who I am and what I'm supposed to be doing with my life. But I know I've wasted a lot of time moping, mourning the loss of what was and dramatizing it into something shiny and pretty and all that, when it wasn't and isn't and can't be changed anyway, instead of focusing on now and the future and what God's got planned for us and me and what I can be doing to glorify him and bring honor to His name.

So, last year was summed up in the word...CHANGE.

2011 I want to be summed up in the word...TRUST.

And I'm working on that. Trusting Him. With all my heart. And not leaning on my own feeble understanding of things and how *I* think they should go, and when they should go, and how and all that. Trusting Him that HE has a plan, and we're smack dab in the middle of it, so just hang on and enjoy the ride! That's what I'm working on. That, and reflecting Christ more in my own family, to my husband in being a better helpmate to him, and to my boys as a better mom to them, showing them who God is and helping them grow in their own relationship with Him. THAT'S a very important job, one that will have repercussions for lifetimes to come.

Soooo....Happy New Year.....I TRUST that this year brings many blessings, great and small to all of you and yours...and that we all learn to trust in God more in everything we say and do!!

I blinked and 2010 is over

2010-12-27T00:40:00.000-08:00

After what's seemed like forever and a half since I've written, I've decided to once again dip my pen in the inkwell of life and try to write again. We'll see what happens.

We're a few short days away from the end of 2010. A year full of joy, pain, upheaval, tears, laughter, heartache and happiness. If it could be summed up in one word, it would be

CHANGE.

A lot has changed this year. Home. Jobs. Death. Friends. Outlook on a lot of things. 2011 will bring more changes, good, bad and everything in between. Should be quite a ride!

I'm not promising to post every day, but I'm definitely gonna be posting more often...if I can get the hang of this blog thing again. I haven't opened up in a long time and I'm definitely out of practice!! But, I'm sure it's just like riding a bike...right??

We'll see!

Labor Pains

2009-11-05T22:06:00.001-08:00

I was talking to a very good friend of mine this morning about some of the major things going on in my life right now. She said she'd continue to pray and my knee jerk reaction was to balk at that and say that God and I aren't speaking right now. Or rather...I'm talking/whining and He's the Father that's being patient with me while I stomp my feet and throw a fit. She commented that just because I was feeling all the pain of what life's throwing at me doesn't mean that God's not there, that He's not listening, not still loving me. And I KNOW she's right, but still.

Then she said...

"Sometimes we have to endure pain in order to grow and experience God's grace. It's like having kids. If we didn't go through the pains of childbirth we wouldn't have these wonderful babies of ours. They're worth it, ain't they!?!"

I still wanted to argue. And I still wanted to wallow. And object. Cuz...ya know. I'm a human and that's what we do. It's easier to wallow. It's easier to wrap the pain and depressing thoughts around me and have a pity party. I wanted to say...SOMETHING to argue back but I couldn't cuz I knew she was right!!!

So her words continued to eat at me as they sank their teeth in further and further, chewing through my rebellion and whiny brattiness. Started me thinking of labor pains.

My parents had been married for a little while they started trying to have a baby. Month after month after months of trying and still, no baby coming. Then one day my dad came home to find my mom laying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor.

She almost died.

Turns out that the dr that she'd been seeing for month for her cold symptoms that just wouldn't go away, and assured her repeatedly that she was definitely NOT pregnant, completely missed the fact that she WAS indeed pregnant with an ectopic.

By the time she was rushed to the hospital she was 5 months along.

Many, many months later, when she was finally released from the hospital where she'd been all that time due to so many surgeries to fix all the damage done...that dr was long gone. Skipped outta town never to be seen or heard from again.

Years passed. Numerous failed fertility treatments gave way to pursuing adoption. The were assigned a social worker that took a dislike to them as they were unwilling to play the mind games she wanted them to. She decided instead to run them through the ringer. She stalled their paper work, threw up every obstacle she could, told them she KNEW they would be horrible parents, that no child would EVER bond with them but especially with my mom (and ask ANYbody, she's a very, very sweet lady!!).

They kept going. Persevered through it all. Finally got a new social worker. Things started happening. They were approved. Now the search was on for a child. Some friends told them about a little girl that was available for adoption down in Mississippi. They lived in California. Another obstacle. More red tape. More delays. But the excitement was growing. Their hope was back.

After 10 long years of trying to be parents, on October 16th, 1984 their dream finally came true. They got to meet their little girl for the first time.

I was that little girl.

And I was 10 years old.

The very long, very painful journey that they had to go through was the very journey that enabled them to be the parents that were available to adopt me.

Ten years of trying and they ended up with a ten year old little girl. The irony is never lost on us!!

Oh, and the bonding issues? The ones that that social worker was SURE would be a problem?

Never happened!

From the moment my mom and I met, we were connected, instant bond. Now that I'm a mom I know the feeling of meeting your baby for the first time. Love at first sight. That bond has only grown deeper and stronger over the years. My mom always kids that she'd love to find that spiteful social worker and go 'nah nah nah nah naaaah!' ;)

My side of the story and what all went on in those first 10 years of life...well, that's a story for a different day.

But was it worth it to go through the 10 years of pain and frustration, aching and longing? I speak for myself when I say ABSOLUTELY!!! I know I can speak for my parents when I say again ABSOLUTELY!!!

We recently celebrated my 25th 'birthday'. We always celebrated the day my parents 'got' me as my '2nd' birthday. So while I turned 35 earlier this year, I'm really only 25!!! ;)

Now about that pity party I was throwing myself this morning (and trust me, I DO love a good party!!)

It's gone!!

It left instead the peace that passes all understanding that no matter what lies ahead, no matter the major changes brewing and all the pain and frustration we will endure through all that, it will be worth it on the other side.

One more thing....

God and I are speaking again. ;)

Abandoning one's self to the joys of summer

2009-06-16T13:55:00.000-07:00

So while I'm still not fully back on the blogging bandwagon, I did wanna share this picture with you. It reminds that Summer is a huge celebrity the world over and even with it's incredible heat here in the IE of SoCal, or the unbearable mugginess and 'squitos back east/midwest, it's still FUN. So go ahead....jump right in and enjoy yourself!!

(click on the picture for the full effect!!)

Wow...where has the time gone?

2009-06-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

I just looked at the date of my last post. April 14th. Really? Seriously? Holy Cow. I really didn't think it was THAT long ago, and that really does seem like a VEEEERRRRRYYY long time!!

I won't regale you with tales of being busy or give you a huge long, long, looooooonnng post as to what we've been up to. My memory's just not that good. LOL I know we have been busy and gone through some crazy things, but mostly it's just a boring reason....not enough time on the computer to write a post.

And it seemed like the longer I was away from blogging, the more daunting of a task it was to get back into the swing of things! What do I say? Do I give all the gory, boring details of WHY I've been gone so long or WHAT I've been up to? No, I don't think I should do that to the few readers I've got, lol.

So suffice to say...I'm back. And now that I've gotten my 'comeback' post done I can jump in and catch up on fun stuff again. I've got some stories to tell and pictures to post....with three adorable boys it'd be impossible NOT to, but I'll save that for next time ;)

And since this small post has taken exactly a WEEK to finish, don't hold your breath for me to become a blogging machine again. LOL Then again, ya just never know what'll happen!

Happy Friday Eve!!

True Story Tuesday and one for the record books

2009-04-14T15:22:00.000-07:00

Ready for this week’s True Story Tuesday?? It’s a chance to share what seems too amazing or miraculous to have happened in real life.

This Easter, like all the holidays since Kian was born, snuck up on me and rushed by me way too fast. I did manage to get the boys their baskets (thanks to my WONDERFUL mom who always makes them!!) and I did get their Easter Basket Treasure Hunt done on Sunday, and they DID get to go to an Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday (thanks to their awesome cousin Kimmi and her hubs) BUT...the age old tradition of coloring eggs??? Just didn't get on the ball quick enough to do it BEFORE the holiday.

However, I promised them that they would and could decorate eggs, and today I finally had time enough to 'get 'er done'. I also had to climb and conquer Mt. Saint Laundry and tackle the Clutter Monster that moved in and stubbornly refuses to go away! Minor details. But, I did promise them and despite my inner struggle at the thought of yet ANOTHER mess about to be made when I was battling all the OTHER messes, I went ahead and got the eggs out and put them on to boil. I went about working on my other chores, not forgetting about the eggs, just waiting for the water to boil to turn off the stove. After all, it's not like this was the first time I've done this ya know!

Ahem.

I took a small break to go feed the baby and put him down for a nap. At least, that was the plan when I headed upstairs with him! He had something else in mind however... mainly, me holding him while he slept instead of snuggling down in his bed. Cuz, ya know, Mama's arms are always better than bed!! So I obliged him cuz 1) he doesn't insist on this very often and B) (and more importantly) cuz he's only gonna be this small once, and time moves fast enough!

So I'm sitting upstairs rocking the baby and I hear DH start making lunch. Then I heard him banging around in the kitchen and thought, oh, AND he's doing dishes...how awesome is he!!

Did I mention he's also laying tile today in the boy's bathroom?? And that he had his second root canal yesterday and is in quite a bit of pain from that?? No? Oh, and that most men aren't known for their ability to multi-task to this degree, my husband included???

No? Huh. Go fig.

So, the likelihood that he would stop laying/cutting tile to start making lunch (and it smelled like he was COOKING or GRILLING something really good, which shoulda been another tipoff cuz I don't have anything ready to BE cooked/grilled!!!) AND to do the dishes (again, mid project, cuz he DOES cook/grill/AND do dishes other times, he's pretty awesome that way!! umm, tho not usually at the same time) was pretty much nil.

Then it started to smell like something was burning and also like he was banging pots and pans around and I thought, hmm...oooooooook....what IS he doing???

So I head downstairs to see what all the commotion was (the baby was awake by this time) only to walk into a smoky kitchen!!! I looked to the cause of the smoke and see the pot of eggs and realize OH NO!!! I had completely forgotten about them! But...not only were the eggs smoking and burned....they were EXPLODING!!! And not just 'popping' exploding...I mean 'taking off into the stratosphere' (or at least my kitchen ceiling!!) kinda exploding!

I. kid. you. not. I had no idea they did that. 'Course, I've never done anything like this before so you can see why I didn't have the knowledge in the ol' data banks that when you boil the eggs too long, say, for HOURS at a time, and there's no water left and the fire's still going strong...the eggs will heat and heat til they EXPLODE.

Huh. Go fig. Now I know.

*snort*

So, I assess the damage and start opening up all the windows, doors, turn the whole house fan on to suck out the smell, etc. Then I take a look around the kitchen and see pieces of egg. All. Over. Ceilings...walls....counter....floor....stove, etc. Threw out the eggs (umm...obviously) and assessed the pot (one of my favs too btw!) and had to toss it out as well. Boo!

My boys....the same ones that have been driving me nuts lately with all their squabbling but that I STILL (finally) made eggs for...well, sorta, yes, MY boys, ask me...WHILE I'm doing all of the above...."Soooooo....are ya gonna make some more eggs for us????"

Huh. Let me get back to you on that!!! (insert screaming woman fleeing the men with the little white coat)

*roll*

*sigh*

Oh....and THEN I get to go find my husband and tell him what I had done. Or rather, add to the list of the 'crazy things I've done recently'. He was working on cutting tile but said, after I told him what I had done, "I GOTTA see this" chortling all the way. So we head into the kitchen and as soon as he sees the mess busts up laughing, at which point the boys start laughing (cuz they hadn't been too sure of what to make of it before that) and I kinda, sorta, not-really-cuz-I'd-rather-the-ground-just-open-up-and-swallow-me-whole, laughed along.

*snort*

*laugh*

*cry*

Ohhhhh....what a day!

We headed to Lowes shortly after cuz he needed some different blades for his saw and we needed a smoke detector for the kitchen. Turns out that whole room (the kitchen and family room are all one long room) doesn't have a smoke detector, which kinda woulda been handy today to clue me in to what was going on....BEFORE it got to the pyrotechnic part!!

We also grabbed lunch OUT cuz, well, the kitchen was kinda outta commission.

And the smell??? The one thats permeated all throughout the house??? Some friends mentioned that if I simmer water and vinegar for a few hours it'll get rid of the yucky smell. They also mentioned that then of course my house will smell like vinegar but it would be better than burned eggs.

Then again, the thought of boiling, even simmering, anything else today just doesn't sound good.

Go fig.

*snort*

True Story Tuesday

2009-03-24T11:41:00.000-07:00

This is the first edition of True Story Tuesday. Go visit Rachel at Once Upon A Miracle to join in, don't miss out on the very first edition ever.

So in thinking of all the 'true stories' that I have yet to tell...the first one that popped into mind was about Jacob, our oldest. And though he's 9 now...he still has this problem!!

When he was about 3, we were in the car on the way to somewhere, driving along with a jabbery toddler/preschooler that LOVED to talk. I'm sure you've met one of those or have a few yourself! So Jake was talking about something and got upset cuz I didn't give him the answer he wanted I guess cuz he started talking back, and in a way that needed a little correction. So, I pulled out the trusty comment that many parents before me (including my own) have used for years and it went something like this...

"Jacob, don't talk back to Mommy, that's not ok"

Jake was quiet for a couple seconds and then said...

"I no talk back. I talk FORWARD!"

Seriously, I kid you not, those were his exact words. And to this day, and that including, it still just cracks me up!!!

Sooo...what's your True Story for the day???

Finally Friday!!!

2009-03-20T10:18:00.000-07:00

Oh. My. Goodness. It's Friday!!! YAY!

Well...sorta.

Our cat...who's been such an awesome cat for over 2 years (and we've had him since birth since we used to have his mama) decided to once again pee...in my bathroom. AAARRGGHHH!! He did this a few weeks ago but we thought it was cuz he couldn't get to his box. This time, he had no excuse. So he peed between our two sinks in the master bathroom (there's a space under the counter for a chair or whatever) AND decided to poop on the dog's bed. What's up with that???????

Then, while I'm trying to take care of that my boys are yelling that the stingray is dead!! The stingray is dead!!

Oh no...please don't be dead! But sure enough, one look at the fish tank and yep, the poor guy is toast.

So the boys are upset, I'm mad at the blankety cat and trying to clean up his messes AND trying to ~~get my hands around his scrawny neck~~ catch him to throw him outside for now so he doesn't do any more damage. I'm also trying to corral the boys into the kitchen to decide what they want to eat for breakfast and then EAT IT so I can get them to their art class in time. Yes, yes, they are homeschooled but they're taking a very awesome 3 day art class and today's day #2.

TGIF?

Welll.....yes and no.

NO, cuz what the heck kinda FRIDAY morning is this? This is a total MONDAY morning in the making!! Hello! Didn't they get that memo?

But...YES, cuz my hubby has 3 day weekends!! Which is even better considering his theme lately could be "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad...work schedule!!!" His work changed the hours a few weeks ago to where he has to be up at 1:30 A. M. so he can be to work by 2:30 A. M. Ya, I didn't know there was such a time either, so can't even type it correctly!! But then the next week they said, well, since we're making you work such nasty hours, we'll give you 4/10 work days, so you'll have to work a couple extra hours every day but we'll give you Mondays off. Sweet! ish. But then the NEXT week they said, oh wait, we changed the flight schedules (he's a crew chief in the Air Guard) so now you need to be in at 4:30am. Well, that's a little better but he still has to get up at 3:30am. Blech.

But wait, that's not all!

To make it even MORE terrible, horrible, no good and VERY BAD!!!!!!!!!! They will change the schedule every week to accomodate the flight schedule. So this week, 3:30am, last week 1:30am, next week....well, we just CAN'T WAIT to find out (and he won't know til later today!!)

Oh joyous rapture. NOT

So ya, we're excited it's Friday. REALLY excited. It means my sweet hubby gets to sleep in past 3:30 and has 3 days to spend with us! Which is awesome, especially since we're going to....

DISNEYLAND!!!!

Yup, Monday. We're getting our passes back and enjoying the day at the park. Only 'downside' is that since we're not sure yet of his schedule for next week we prolly won't stay too late cuz he'll need to get SOME sleep!!! But that's ok, that's what passes are for!!

The other bad part to the schedule is that obviously he needs to go to bed early but I've also lost my tag team partner when the baby wakes up during the night! Which...he still does like clockwork and when DADDY gets up with him he goes down easily but when Mommy gets him he wants to nurse. So it makes for a more tired Mommy too. Blech! Hopefully they change it and STICK WITH IT soon so we can all adjust to it instead of this constantly changing thing which just sucks!!

*****************************

So, anyway, back to today...

My best friend, Charita, and her husband finally started trying for a baby last fall and were so excited to find out right after Christmas that they were expecting. She and I thought it was pretty cool cuz I had found out a year before, same day, that I was expecting, so her baby would be due around the beginning of Sept, just like Kian was.

She went to the OB last Friday for her first checkup, even though she was 15 weeks along. They were looking forward to seeing their baby for the first time via ultrasound, hearing the heartbeat, etc. Instead they were devestated to find out that she had miscarried early on. The 'good' news, the dr said, was that they were pg again and roughly 4 weeks along.

She sent me a text this morning that she just found out she miscarried again.

They goes in to the dr next week to see running tests and blood work, etc, to hopefully give them some answers and hope for the future. Please pray that it's an 'easy' fix...as in perhaps progesterone supplments, etc, as I know sometimes that can make all the difference.

But regardless, it doesn't ease their grief right now so please pray for them. She's 37 (which I know is NOT 'that' old, but OBs and whatnot say she's 'advanced maternal age) and her and I have known each other since we were 15 and 17...so quite a long time!!

********************

Ok....to end this on some awesome news...my baby just took an almost 1.5 hr nap!! WOOOOHOOO!!! This is awesome HUGE news cuz he's a half hour napper, so an hour and half? WOOT!

Sooooo...it's Finally Friday.....how's your week been???

Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

Hanging with Daddy

Not Me Monday

2009-03-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

This week provided quite a bit of entertainment from James, our 6 year old, as he's learning to read. Upon learning the group of words...'as, has and was', he did NOT respond to learning that 'was' did not sound like 'has' but 'WUZ' by saying..."Oooohhh...like...

WAZZUP DUDE!!!"

Ahh, boys...gotta love them lil dudes! ;)

But seriously, whatever helps him remember and learn that tricky lil bugger wuz...I mean was.

The real kicker, and one that goes down in the annals of family history, came the next day when we were visiting my parents. Grandma was listening to him read his words, including a whole lot of new words he just started reading that day. As he came across the word "Hal" my mom explained that it's a man's name. To which my darling innocent child did NOT then reply with....

"Ya...like, What the Hal is going on here!!!!!!"

My mom did NOT almost pee her pants laughing so hard! As did my dad when she told him what happened. She also did/does NOT enjoy (to great lengths I might add!) repeating it to everyone she comes across including the ladies at her quilting class, her sisters and brother and the ladies at the church. Oh, and did I mention she's the pastor's wife? And she is NOT still giggling over it.

(and for the record, no, we DON'T say that around here, not even with innocent Hal as a replacement!)

Seriously.

So, what the Hal didn't ya'll do this week???

Not Me Monday

2009-03-09T22:26:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

So it is not me that has been doing very blond things...I mean, really blond things, lately. Nope, not me.

For instance...

It was not me who, while on the phone with my mom (and using the headset) looked down on my desk and saw my cellphone laying there open and wondered why it was open, hit exit and closed it.

Which hung up on my mom.

Nope, wasn't me!

And then the next day, while on the phone again, could not FIND THE PHONE. After looking all over the area I was sitting at, I finally noticed the phone laying right in front of me. Because I had just laid it down after getting OFF the phone! Yes, I was TALKING on it when I started to look for it!!!

I mean seriously. NOT me.

And it was certainly NOT me who bought a fresh rotisserie chicken at Sams Club only to get home and try to figure out what to do for dinner. Upon not thinking of anything creative decide to go with the General Tsos chicken that I had also got at Sams Club.

After putting it in the oven I turned around and saw the rotisserie sitting there waiting for me.

Oh. My. Goodness.

It was not me who then startled my husband with my rather loud and rather crazy laugh as I realized what I had done. He then did not reassure me that it was fine and we could just have both.

Cuz really, who wouldn't want TWO chickens for dinner?

All of this happened last week. I seem to be getting blonder and blonder. But like I've always said...

Blond is not a hair color...it's a state of mind!

P.S.
On a serious note...I've been having dizzy spells, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, lips feeling numb, etc. I woke up this morning in the wee hours and after giving DH the opportunity to go get the baby I laid back down and realized the room was spinning. Or the bed was. I dunno. My eyes were closed and it was not a pleasant experience. The only other times that's ever happened was the first (and only) time I ever got drunk (just because I had never had the experience before and wanted to 'try' it, and NEVER wanted to do it again!!!) and once when I had vertigo, which was also NOT a pleasant experience and I NEVER want to do that again either! I actually thought I had vertigo again this morning with the spinning thing, but when I woke up later it was gone.

S'anyway, I have an appt with the dr later this month, but if ya'll could be in prayer that it's nothing serious I'd really appreciate it!!!

Please pray for Ryan!

2009-03-01T16:44:00.001-08:00

*****UPDATE*****

I talked to Angela over the weekend and she said the CT scan came back negative, so no tumor!! YAY!!! They put him on heavy duty migraine meds that seem to be working for now, though they make him pretty drowsy. They still haven't found the cause but she said the headaches aren't coming as often so THANK YOU for your prayers!!!!

My best friend Angela's youngest son, Ryan, (he's 10) has had headaches now for over a week that just won't go away. She's taken him to the dr for it and they're playing the wait and see game. As in we'll wait and see if they go away. But Angela's been a nurse for many many years and she says the only 2 things she knows that cause a sudden headache that doesn't go away and that's either a a tumor or meningitis. I'm praying for him that it turns out to be something else entirely, and easily fixable. She's calling the dr back tomorrow to see if they can see him earlier than they had planned cuz he's in pain and she wants to get the ball rolling with the testing.

Soooo, please pray for both Ryan and Angela, that God will heal him quickly and lead the dr's to make the correct diagnosis!!

Someday Syndrome

2009-02-18T12:33:00.000-08:00

I found this article today and thought it was pretty cool. Enjoy!

How to Cure Someday Syndrome
Someday Syndrome: not doing what you want to because you don’t know what it is, probably because you’re procrastinating about it, or because you have too much stuff getting in your way.

Everyone suffers from Someday Syndrome at some point in their lives, often catching it repeatedly. You probably have something similar going on in your life – a project, a task, a goal – that you just haven’t got around to doing yet. Right? It would be easy to quote Nike and say: Just Do It, but if it were that simple Someday Syndrome wouldn’t exist. Here are some key ways to cure Someday Syndrome so that you don’t need to suffer through a cure.

Steps

Be you. This is the happiness project’s number one happiness commandment. Maybe you’re not doing something because in reality, it doesn’t fit with who you are. If so, dump the idea and the expectations that likely came along with it, and go find something that suits you better.
Clear out the junk. If you don’t know what would suit you better, it could be because your mind and emotions are all cluttered up. If your mind’s in chaos, how could you possibly make a clear decision on getting rid of your somedays? The clutter includes the negative thoughts (like thinking that you would never be able to run more than 30 minutes without dying), or negative attitudes (saying to yourself "I'm too lazy to run").
- How to Overcome Procrastination Using Self Talk
- How to Be Optimistic
Know what you want. And why you want it. If you are going cure Someday Syndrome, you’ll need to know details about that desire and the reasons behind it. And if you don’t know what that is, the blogosphere is full of blogs ready to help you figure out your dreams.
Make a grand plan. “Grand” because this is the big picture plan. Don’t get carried away. Planning can feel like action, but really it’s no different than talking. Until you actually do something, you’re still procrastinating. Starting is more important than getting into detailed plans.
Take one step at a time. The only details you need to choose at this point is first steps. Don't get overwhelmed by details. Just focus on just the next two or three things that you're going to do.
Ignore the rest. That’s right. Ignore everything else in the goal except what you’re working on. We often use comparisons of where we are now to where we want to be as a form of procrastination. While checking in is always a good thing, we can do it when each small task is completed, and not in the middle of a task. When you're in the middle of my current activity, don’t think about what’s coming up next week. Why would you want to freak yourself out?
Get help. Daniel Gilbert in his book Stumbling on Happiness, says that the best route to figuring out if our goals will actually make us happy is to talk to others who have done it. Also try to be lazy when you can be, so if someone else has done the work, then there’s no need to waste your time reinventing the wheel, now is there?
Don’t compare. Be careful when you get help, because the dream-shattering tendency to compare lurks nearby.
Be uncomfortable. Judith Sills in her book The Comfort Trap, or What If You’re Riding a Dead Horse? talks about how we might be terribly unhappy, but we’re comfortable so we don’t do anything about the unhappiness. Happiness is a risk, but the current situation even if it’s painful is safe. Which would you prefer? Comfortably in pain and unhappy or uncomfortably blissful?
Celebrate the process as well as the end. Acknowledge your progress. Use your FaceBook, blogs, other means to write about the progress. Tell others. And in turn, this sharing inspires others and helps them move past their own Somedays and toward achieving their goals.
Don’t stop at the easy point. Wait a second. It's important to push yourself just a little bit further than you think you can go. Commit beyond your initial goals. While you’re celebrating and taking it one step at a time, come up with one unexpected action you can take that’ll add energy, excitement and a bit of fear to your goal. That bit of fear will probably be the best motivator you’ve ever found.

Original source of article, Zen Habits, Alex Fayle, 11 ways to cure someday syndrome. Shared under an uncopyright licence.

Not Me Monday

2009-02-16T17:56:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

This past week I did NOT buy my kid's valentine's for the homeschool valentines party, 60 EACH, instead of opting to make them. I did NOT feel guilty about this so decide that we should make a crafty something or nuther to hold the candy. I then did not look all over Michaels for said craft, after all, they SHOULD have crafty stuff, right?? I did NOT only find one little thing that 'would work' though wasn't all that thrilled with it.

I then did NOT realize the next day I had only gotten enough of the craft and candy for ONE kid to give out (remember, they EACH needed 60) I then did NOT spend half the day trying to figure out something *I* could make for the craft.

I did NOT decide to scrap the WHOLE craft idea and just get some more candy for the other kid and call it good!

I did NOT find all the empty wrappers of the BAG and a HALF of Kit Kats that my boys finished off between the two of them over the weekend. I mean, come on! I know it's Valentine's Day, but REALLY? A bag and a half???? And you didn't give ME any????

I then did NOT laugh at them in an evil voice as they forgot they have a dentist appt on Wednesday. Poor, poor kidlings. Hee hee hee. Such SWEET justice!

I have NOT been sick so much lately that I've been sick MORE than I've been well! I did NOT just pick up ANOTHER cold and have an annoying cough that is that tickle kind cuz of the cold weather. I have an EXCELLENT immune system and hardly ever get sick, so I can NOT be sick again, that's just UNHEARD of!!!

No, I did NOT just say COLD weather. This is Southern California. We do NOT have rain, cold weather (in the 40s, 50s), hail, etc. We most certainly do NOT ever see snow, except from a very far distance off on the mountains.

It was NOT me that was complaining a couple weeks ago that this winter has sucked royally in the WINTER department, that it hasn't been cold enough, or rained enough, etc. So it's NOT me thats enjoying all this COLD weather and rain and was dismayed to see the forecast is calling for 70!!!!!!!!!!!!! by Thursday!! Boo!! I want more WINTER!! No, I do NOT want ice storms and lose my electricity for days on end like my friends in WV, but still.

Oh, and remember the pill saga? Well, having never found the two boxes I KNOW I have, I did NOT then decide to just switch to the mini pill since I have 3 months filled of that sitting on my desk. And I have NOT regretted it since starting it last week! Yuk! The side effects with this are blech, I want my Yasmin!!! I just don't want the $50 copay!!

So, what didn't you do this week?

I'm a horrible blogger!

2009-02-11T11:55:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I'm a horrible blogger. I'm not consistent, ie, I don't post every day, or even every other day, I don't stay current with the memes, etc. I STILL haven't filled out the 25 random things you're not sure you really wanted to know about me, or however that goes, or any of the other ones that look really fun but require me to focus and think and sit still for longer than a few minutes at a time.

And while that's bad on my part, that's not what makes me a bad, horrible, no good blogger.

I don't leave comments!

Well, ok, I DO, but just, no very often. And not because I don't find it moving/touching/funny/hilarious/crazy/insane/right on, etc but because I'm 'subscribed' to 60 different blogs, cuz there's just so much good stuff out there, and I read them in Google Reader.

Which is awesome for READING the new posts.

NOT awesome cuz it doesn't let me comment without going to the site!

To me, the purpose of a reader is to consolidate all the feeds of the blogs I like to keep up with in ONE place so I can QUICKLY enjoy my fetish of good blog reads. But when I want to comment, I have to go to the various different sites, which then kinda defeats the purpose (for me) of consolidation!

So, I'm a horrible blogger. But the first step is admitting you have a problem, umm, that *I* have a problem, not YOU, nevermind, you knew what I meant!

Anyway, I have been researching other rss readers but still haven't found one that I can leave comments through. But, I will endeavor to leave more comment love cuz really, I do love the posts I read, they're so full of life and good stuff, I gotta give the bravos!!

How do YOU keep up with all the blogs you follow? How many DO you follow? Do you go to each site to comment?

Help me here, I wanna be a better blogger!!!

Sleep? What's that?

2009-02-08T11:03:00.000-08:00

So, I've been sick this week. Have a cough. Ya know the kind, mildly annoying during the day, monster at nite, especially after you've been laying down/reclining with your head raised for a number of hours and all the goop deposits into your chest and you have to cough, and cough and COUGH forever to dislodge it all. Well, throw in a baby that has been getting up between 12-2am, and then every 1-1.5 hrs until morning, and well, I've been coughing...A LOT! Cuz I'll get to sleep, the stuff drains, baby wakes up, I start coughing the stuff up. And the cycle starts over.

I don't know WHY he's getting up so many times at nite. I've tried just patting his back, that occasionally works but he'll generally then wake up 10-15 mins later and REALLY get up. The only way to get him back to sleep is either Alex gets up with him, walks/rocks him for 10 mins or so and he goes back to sleep. Or, if I get up with him, he has to nurse. That gets him back to sleep quickly and the quiestest but I know he doesn't HAVE to nurse during the nite so I don't know what's causing this!! I've tried letting him sleep in his crib, well, tried that last nite cuz I was sleeping in the recliner thats in there so I could 'sleep with my head elevated', same routine though. I've tried having him sleep right next to me in bed but that's only worked like twice. I dunno, I'm at my wits ends.

I ordered a copy the Baby Sleep Coach System that guarantees to get them sleeping more, which I know we both need, he needs it just as much as Mommy needs him to! So we'll see how it works, I'm desperate!!

Loooooong, uninterrupted sleep.....my dear friend....I miss you so!!!

Please pray for Abby!!

2009-02-07T09:19:00.000-08:00

This little girl and her family need a lot of prayers right now!! She's very very sick and getting worse. So please, take a few minutes today to intercede on her behalf!!

I have no voice!!

2009-02-06T08:57:00.000-08:00

Well, at least HERE I do, but I've been taken down by a yukky virus that has me coughing all the time and thus...hoarse from the coughing. Blech. My sweet husband stayed home from work yesterday and today to take care of the kids (and me!!) so I've been able to rest some more, which is good. But, he also REALLY wanted me to go to the dr cuz he wanted me to have some kinda relief from the coughing, etc. I was pretty sure they were gonna tell me what Jake's dr told him last week....humidifier, liquids, rest, saline spray, rest, sleep propped up, liquids, etc. And yep, sure 'nuff, that's what I was told. She said to take cold meds and then realized I'm still nursing and said, oh, wait...brb. Oh sorry, you can't. Gee, thanks.

I'm pretty sure there's SOMETHING I can take for this while nursing but not quite sure what. Soooo, if any of you might know, please share the wealth of knowledge!!

It's crazy how I make up my mind to do something and get slammed with sickness 2 weeks in a row! Especially since I very rarely get sick!!!

Anyway, enough whining, just wanted to let ya know, I'm still here, just...muzzled a bit. ;)

Wordless Wednesdays

2009-02-04T09:54:00.000-08:00

My entry today for (almost) Wordless Wednesday is a picture of my Grandma Lucy meeting Kian for the first time. My Grandma is 80 and has congestive heart failure and was recently hospitalized for it. She's home again now (she lives with my parents, she's my mom's mom) but is much weaker and tires out much faster. We're not sure how much time she still has with us but we're so thankful for all the time we do have!! She was sooo excited about her new greatgrandbaby, couldn't wait to hold him and spoil him!! She has her 9th on the way, due sometime in August. We're kinda hoping for a girl as of the 8 great grandkids, 7 of them are boys!! She has her good days and bad but she has a lot of people praying for her that her good days far exceed her bad for as long as possible!!

And the winner is....

2009-02-02T11:56:00.000-08:00

Julie at wife.mom.nurse!!! Congrats!! You were chosen via Random.org! I will be contacting you shortly with your prizes!

Thanks for playing everyone, I'll be having more contests soon so stay tuned!!

Not Me Monday

2009-02-01T21:01:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I soooooo can NOT believe it's February ALREADY! Holy cow, another year's about to disappear too quickly!

I did NOT have my very first contest last week and find that it was a lot of fun and can't wait to announce the WINNER!!! Nope, not me!

I did NOT realize this week after posting said contest regarding my weight and all that jazz that choosing NOW to start a new diet (can you say PMS time???) was NOT the best choice of timing!!! So not only did I NOT lose weight this week, I gained!!

I did NOT start off the week planning on doing the Wii Fit every day only to get the stomach flu early in the week and end up laying around in bed or my chair, but definitely not bouncing around on the Wii! And then, due to passing along said stomach flu to the DDC (dear darling children) I still did not get around to bouncing around on the Wii. I then did NOT have DSH (dear sweet husband) move said Wii to OUR bedroom so I can do the Wii whenever I want without ~~having to share~~, err, ~~hear IS-IT-MY-TURN YET??~~, ummm, ~~distract/entertain my children with all my bouncing~~ aww heck with it, just enjoy it whenever I want to!!! So there! ;)

I did NOT start cleaning my office out yesterday only to give up shortly thereafter cuz the task is so daunting! I did NOT then go take a very refreshing nap instead!!

I did NOT try to clean my office out ONLY because I can't find two boxes of birth control pills that I just KNOW are around here somewhere!!!! After Kian was born DH went and filled all my prescriptions that they sent home with me, including the one for the pill. We got 3 mos supply. I started taking it the beginning of December, but to my dismay couldn't find the other two boxes when AF showed up. ACKK!

I did NOT then just get the next 'batch' order filled at the pharmacy. That's lazy, right?

I did NOT then have to pay $50 for the prescription since our new insurance doesn't pay for THIS pill...BUT, I didn't get the name brand, oh no, I got the generic. But they don't cover that either saying it's non-formulary....not that I have a clue what THAT means. To make matters worse, I only got ONE box this time, not 3! What's that all about???

I have NOT been looking all over the place for those other two boxes all month then, since I know that AF will be visiting again next week and either I find those @*&%$ pills or pay another $50 or get a rx for a different pill (but I LIKE this one!!) *sigh* I can't find them anywhere!! Boo!!!

No, the last four NOTs did not all revolve around 'the pill'. That's just...silly.

I did NOT declare two days of this week 'sick days' and let my kids off from doing school work just because one of them was sick. Not too sick just sick enough that he said I-just-want-to-lay-on-the-couch-all-day-and-watch-tv-and-that-will-make-it-all-better...you know, one of THOSE kinda days. I did NOT let him/them do that especially since I was busy and it was easier on me to deal with what I needed to get done than to do school anyway with cranky kidlings. I would NOT just do that...no no no, not me.

I did NOT have to take Kian for his 4 month checkup a little less than a week before he turned 5 months. I mean, I'm ALWAYS on time getting my boys in for their checkups! Which is why Jake will be getting his 9 yr checkup next month, even though he turned 9 earlier in January. And James, poor James, he turned 6 back in October and he will finally be getting HIS 6 year checkup next month as well. And both boys are NOT looking forward to it anyway as there's a possibility of SHOTS, James gets all worked up just thinking about it!

I did NOT get so tired of being tired because Kian got OUT of the habit of sleeping all through the night when he was sick and INTO the habit of getting up more times than can be counted! I did NOT get so tired of it that I threatened to tell the Dr on him (cuz of course, SHE can make him behave...right?) I did indeed tell on him to her and she tsked-tsked him and said well, if he doesn't stop you'll just have to let him cry. Ummm...I did NOT just hear you correctly oh dr-that-I-moved-heaven-and-earth-to-change-our-insurance-to-during-open-enrollment-even-though-it-meant-we-pay-more-for-our-insurance-for-by-A-LOT!!!! Umm, no, we don't do CIO. ESPECIALLY when he's still sleeping in his bassinet right next to me and no thank you, I'm not ready for him to go to his big boy crib yet!!!

He did NOT then sleep through the night that very same nite! I did NOT keep waking up every hour or so to check on him and see if he was waking up to eat. No, I would have been smart and SLEPT, right??? We have NOT then tried to mimic every.single.thing. we did that nite to get a repeat performance! LOL He's sleeping better, not getting up as often but still, not fully through the nite. But, I'll take it, it's definitely more sleep!!!

And lastly I did NOT find the cutest 'lunchbox' today at Target....just for me!!! My boys took it as a cue that they needed new lunchboxes to which I said ummm...not even close pals!! I then did NOT try to find a pic of said cute 'lunchbox' online to show all you wonderful peeps only to find none, zip. BOO! I then NOT take of pic of it just cuz I HAD to share!!!! Here it is....
....ain't it cute!!!! I think so too! I finally have a cute 'girly' lunchbag for the fieldtrips, parties, etc that we do all the time with our homeschool group. I'm so excited!!! Woohoo!! AND, it's big enough that I have plenty of room for the baby's food/snacks/sippy cups (down the line) so double score! :)

Soooo....what didn't YOU do this week???

For those who played along with the contest last week I'll be posting the winner in a separate post...so stay tuned!!!

Wish me luck!!! I'm gonna get ORGANIZED!!!

2009-01-31T09:16:00.000-08:00

So I read saw this post this morning by and she has this really cool contraption as a giveaway. It's the Neat Receipts machine, I've seen it before at the store and thought...hmmm, I need one of those, but...not right now. So I see it again this morning at her site and it's up for grabs in a contest and I'm like....oooooh,, me likey!! The way to 'enter' the contest is to leave a comment answering the question..."What's your biggest organizing challenge at home?"

Oh, well, that's easy! MY OFFICE!!!

So this is my reply....

"My biggest challenge is my home office. It’s a separate room, complete with DOOR, so my dear loved ones (mom, hubster, like to HELP me clean the house every once in a great while and throw the excess “I-don’t-know-where-this-goes-so-I’ll-just-put-it-in-here-for-now” SHtuff in MY office. I also have homeschooling stuff, baby stuff (from our new addition that’s now 5 mos old) and business stuff since I also have a home business!! Which consists of an entire wall of shelves that hold…baby stuff…for the diaper cakes/baskets for the business. And there’s paperwork….gobs and googles of paperwork. And stuff. Oh. my. word. STUFF!!! It’s insane. And depressing. I don’t like to be in there because there’s too much STUFF and clogs my thought processes completely!! BOO! HOWEVER! I have resolved to spend this weekend cleaning said nasty pit OUT with the help of the hubster (who will do the heavy lifting and the babysitting, yay!!) So…any ya’ll in my neck of the woods, swing on by and help this poor mama out…PLEASE!!"

=P

Yep, that's right, that's my monumental task this weekend. Clean/clear out my office as it's just not functioning the way that it should!!! It's a very 'pretty' office, DH painted it for me a few years ago, put in ceiling fan, recessed lights, new blinds, etc. I have a very pretty desk set that looks awesome in there, etc. It's just...well, become such a dumping ground that when I go in there, I have to dig to find my BRAND NEW AWESOME LOOKING keyboard to do anything on my BRAND NEW COMPUTER that DH just built and is drooling over since it's SUPER FAST and better than his even! (I've been on my laptop for weeks now, it's just easier!) SO, that's my task at hand.

If you don't hear from me by Monday...send help...lots of it! =P

Soooo....what is YOUR biggest organizational challenge???

Friday Flashback

2009-01-30T08:50:00.000-08:00

Today's flashback takes us back a little over 3 years ago to December 2005. We went away for the weekend for my DH's Christmas party that was being held down at Camp Pendelton. That year his unit had their party at the beach and if you had an RV you could bring it and camp out or you could just rent a bungalow. We didn't have an RV so went with the bungalow. We had a lot of fun, grilling, campfire, sand castles, etc. Hey, we're Californians...it's got it's perks, not the least of which is enjoying the beach in DECEMBER!

So anyway, after the party was over we headed back to the bungalow to settle in for the night. After DH had brought in the bags and I asked if that was it and he said yes. I said, "Are you suuuuureeee???" to which he looked at me and said...warily....uhh, yes, that's it, it's empty. Why??

I just gave him "The Look". You know, the one that all wives learn immediately upon the saying of the marriage vows? The one that is then perfected when the first child is welcomed to the family. You know. THE LOOK.

DH... beginning to squirm...."Hon, really, there's no more bags, what's up?"

Me...Remember the suitcase I specifically told you NOT to forget? The one that's more important than the rest of all our bags combined?? Ya know...the one that has all the boys clothes, pullups, jammies, blankets, stuffys, etc. Ya....THAT one. Seriously?

DH....'deer (or should I say Dear) in the headlights look' Oh. crap.

Me....*sigh* You know....THAT sigh. The one we learned when we learned the LOOK.

Nevermind...I'll think of something.

So, thankfully DH had brought an extra shirt to sleep in, and he gave that one to one Jake and the one that he had been wearing to the party to James and that's how they slept that nite, and they were ok with that. They were having so much fun camping that they were even (almost/mostly) ok with the forgetting of their blankets/stuffys. They (thankfully) had ONE (each) stuffy in the car so it wasn't a complete meltdown, and I had thankfully stashed a couple pullups in the car (though I didn't have a diaper bag anymore obviously)

We did have a great time that weekend and are planning to go again this year. Though I think...I'LL pack the car this time!! =P

Here's a few more pics...since I had so much fun tripping down memory lane looking at them!

The first pic...James thinks the ocean is TOO LOUD.
Second pic, Jake is looking for treasures the ocean gave up, James is throwing them back.
Third pic, Jake's showing me a shell he found.
Fourth pic, James is playing "fetch" with the ocean.
Fifith pic, James turns around and says 'cheese' for the camera and RIGHT after I snapped this pic the wave that's building behind him swallowed him up and drenched him completely!!!

Very cute blanket giveaway

2009-01-29T17:03:00.000-08:00

Simple Mom is having a very cool giveaway for a very adorable blanket!!!

Check it out here!

A Thousand Word Thursday

2009-01-29T09:04:00.001-08:00

Jo-Jo (the bird) and Buttons (the cat)

The contest is still going on, click here for your chance of $50 of prizes!!
Want to join in on the fun of A Thousand Words Thursday, grab a button from HERE.

Check out this contest hosted by C.C.!!

2009-01-28T13:10:00.000-08:00

Head on over to http://his-heart.blogspot.com/2009/01/are-you-ready-for-it.html for your chance to win a copy of an awesome book!!!

Thank you!!

2009-01-28T09:31:00.001-08:00

Hi Ladies,

I just wanted to say THANK YOU for the wonderful comments, you guys are awesome!

Yes, I do have the Wii Fit and it's a lot of fun (while seriously kickin' my tookus) I haven't done it the last couple days though cuz Monday was crazy busy, I stayed up late Sunday trying to get my post posted on MckMama's site, only to see she didn't pay til 8ish my time (California). Ah well. ;) By then I had a rental to get ready for (see www.planetstork.com if you need more info on that!) went and got that done, home by noon, then it was lunchtime/schooltime/crash time by the time DH got home at 3:30!! Then yesterday I had a touch of the stomach bug....blech!

So, anyway, on to today, we're doing our school time now then on to the Wii Fit. It works for me for what I need it for and also P.E. for the boys, woot!

Catch yas later!!

April

Not Me Monday AND 100th POST CONTEST!!

2009-01-26T00:01:00.000-08:00

Need some cheap therapy? Join in with 100's of others from over at MckMama's My Charming Kids and spill the beans on all the things you did NOT do this week!!

I did NOT realize yesterday that I'm almost to my 100th post and so did everything I could to make sure that this NOT ME post was my 100th!! I did NOT do that just so that all of you reading this would have a chance to play along in my first ever contest and maybe win a prize!! I would NOT do something like that...would I?? NOT ME!! (Contest info at bottom of post!)

I did NOT think about this post all week and keep telling myself to write the stuff down so I wouldn't forget it. I then did NOT then sure enough forget half the things I wanted to tell you about (that I didn't do of course) (and I blame it on nursing-brain...the baby's sucking all my memory out!!)

I did NOT tease DH about losing a filling, and then some MORE when he lost another. Just because he's 9 years older than me does NOT mean he's OLD. Just...oldISH. I did NOT then lose a filling of my own...a very old filling that basically makes up almost half a tooth. The universe is just so funny about balancing out the scales isn't it!!

I did NOT have the biggest, nastiest fight with my DH, whom I really rarely fight with (think maybe one a year?) If I did, I most certainly would NOT be blogging about it!! I did NOT not speak to him, except for necessities, for a whole week, not due to me giving him the 'silent treatment' but because I was so shattered I didn't know WHAT to say or where to start. I did NOT learn so much about myself and cry out to God for His mercy so much that week that I was then able to talk again a week later and though it wasn't anything DH said at the time that allowed me to forgive and move on, but by God's grace alone and all the mercy and forgiveness He has shown me over the years that allowed me to easily forgive and start afresh. I WILL ask for your prayers though as we begin the FIREPROOF series for couples this next week. I WILL also ask that my husband will come to know God in a personal relationship through all this as he doesn't yet but is open!!

I did NOT have a blast going to see WICKED-The Musical with my mom a couple weeks ago. Even though it was my second time seeing it I did NOT act like it was my first all over again! I did NOT enjoy it so much and wish it hadn't left LA so that I could go see it again!! My mom and I had soooo much fun as we don't get to see each other that often, even though we 'only' live 1.5 hrs from each other!! And though it was my first 'long' time away from the baby and it was refreshing, boy did I miss him!!!!

Ok, I haven't done this in a really long time, so I am NOT gonna cut this short so A) I don't go on and on forever cuz there is soooo much that I have NOT done recently and 2) I can get to the CONTEST part of the post!

Ok, so THIS is my 100th post. Yay me! The funny part is, this blog is really old so FINALLY getting to 100 is pretty funny that it took this long. Anywho, my slowness is your benefit!! I'm celebrating my 100th by having my first contest!! Woohoo!!

Ok, so this is what I want to do. I've been thinking about this for a few days and asking God, ok, what can I do with this, I want to do something special and longer lasting than just a day. I want it to be a blessing not just to me but others as well. So...how can I do that?

Well.....all this talk/thoughts of 100 kept leading me back to the 100 lbs I need to lose. Yes, 100. I've tried/pseudo-tried various things in the past but I've been at/around this weight for a few years now. I keep saying I'm gonna get it off, someday, and ya'll know how 'someday' just never gets around to coming. Sooooo, I'm gonna step waaaaaaaay out of my comfort zone (more so than admitting that I need to lose that much in the first place!!!) and ask all of you (that want to) to be my support team and pray for me on this journey. My goal is 2 lbs a week so that in a little less than a year, I'll be a whole new me!! Before I've always said, 'a year is too long' and I want to lose it MUCH faster than that (who doesn't!) Then ANOTHER year passes, and I'm still the same weight/size (or bigger). So, no more! I've got 3 beautiful boys that I want to really LIVE for, play with, be out and active with them, etc, and most importantly be a good example of HEALTHY to them. So, I NEED to do this.

I'm calling this the "Less of Me" journey as in less of me and more of Him. God is doing some crazy wonderful things in my life and heart and this journey is going to be possible with HIS help! So the goal of my contest is to see how many supporters/prayer partners/weight loss buddies I can find. Will you commit to sticking with me for a year? To pray for me and encourage me along the way? AND! Do any of you want to join me in this? Doesn't matter if it's 'only' 5-10 (those can sometimes be the hardest!!) or 50 or 100 or more, I will be your prayer buddy and supporter and pray for you and your efforts!!! Prayer has become my total comfort and strength lately and I realized that while I may not be able to go out and DO everything I want to change the world, I most certainly CAN pray!!

So ok, here's how the contest works....

You'll get one entry for doing any/all of the following.

Leave a comment that you will be my prayer supporter/encourager
Follow my blog (if you already follow just let me know)
Follow me on Twitter
If you want me to be your buddy in your weight loss journey, let me know and that's another entry!!

So that gives you up to four entries for the contest!! I'll leave this open til next Monday's Not Me post and announce the winner then.

The winner will receive....

$25 Gift certificate to Amazon.com
AND
$25 Gift card to either Target or Starbucks (their choice)
(or if you don't have either store close by, the whole $50 to Amazon!!)

Of course, if any of you are looking to join me in my "Less of Me" saga, you'll automatically "win" a buddy who promises to support and pray for you!!!

So that's it! This is my first contest (not my last!!) and I wanted it to be something 'different' and I think this fits the bill! I want to be a blessing to God and have a chance to help make a difference in other's lives. And while this contest IS about making me LESS of me, I do want to make my blog and my life MORE about Him, so hopefully this will be a good start!!

Thanks for playing and GOOD LUCK!!!

*****UPDATE*****

Please submit a separate comment for each entry as I'll be using Random.org to choose the winner and it makes it easier that way!! THANKS!!!

Big boy!!!

2009-01-25T22:08:00.000-08:00

This is Kian in the shopping cart yesterday at Sam's Club. We don't currently have one of those shopping cover carts so this is a make shift one and his first time sitting in a cart (without the aid of his infant carrier!!) We used the JJ Cole Bundle Me (LOVE, LOVE LOVE this thing, use it all the time!!) as his 'padding' , though you can't really see much of it cuz his burpie's in the way, and then strapped him in with the strap in the cart. We also added the boy's jackets after this pic was taken cuz he kept listing to the right a bit, lol. He thought it was pretty cool to get to see everything and whatnot. I think he looks so big!! I can't believe he's already over 4.5 months old!! He'll be 5 mos a week from Wednesday!!! TIME FLIES!!!!

This was taken with my camera phone, turned out pretty good which surprises me!! I uploaded a whole bunch of pics off my phone and found a ton I didn't even know were there! I'll be posting some over the next few days/weeks!

Happy Chinese New Year!!

2009-01-25T21:54:00.000-08:00

So some of you know that my DH is Chinese. Come on people, his picture's in my header, kinda easy to spot the Asian one. Anywho...tomorrow marks Chinese New Year...Year of the Ox.

I was born in the Year of the Tiger...(ya, I'm awesome)
DH was born in the Year of the Snake...
Jake was born in the Year of the Rabbit...(missed the Year of the Dragon by about 2 weeks!!)
James was born in the Year of the Horse...
Kian was born in the Year of the Rat.

So...what year were YOU born in??

Time is running out.....

2009-01-25T21:39:00.001-08:00

Tick....tock...tick....tock....

100th post...

Contest...

almost here!!

Wii Fit is awesome!!

2009-01-25T21:27:00.000-08:00

So I mentioned that my folks got us all the Wii for Christmas, including the Wii Fit. Yes, I have THE best parents in the universe. Anyway, we've been playing with the Fit for a few days now (cuz remember, we just got it this week...Santa was a bit delayed in getting it here!) So anyway, what the Fit does with your "Mii" character (little cartoon caricature of yourself) is soooo not nice!! After it does the body evaluation (weight, height, age, bmi, etc) it alters your Mii to reflect your true weight/size, whatever. Now, I know I need to lose some weight...ok, a LOT, but having your little Mii plump up before your eyes is so....mean. =P Not really, just...having the truth looking back at you in a cartoon is...harshly truthful. Ah well, I digress from my point.

Which is...

The Wii Fit is awesome!!!

We played with DH tonite for the first time and I think he really thought it was gonna be a lot easier than it is, it really does work you out! Sure, some of the moves are 'easy' but with the Fit you've got to always be 'balanced' and stuff, ie, doing it THEIR way, which makes you concentrate and all that. Anyway, it seriously kicked his butt!! LOL

Anyway, it's a lot of fun, I really can't recommend it enough cuz it's just too freakin' awesome!!!!

Pray for Kelly!!

2009-01-25T21:25:00.000-08:00

Please keep Kelly in your prayers!! She feels like she's getting a cold or something, but anything of the sort will keep her out of NICU and she won't be able to visit with Harper!! Please pray she'll feel all better in the morning!!

Brains...by Mark Gungor (very funny!!)

2009-01-25T17:32:00.001-08:00

A friend of mine sent this to me via email and I thought it was sogood I looked it up on Youtube...enjoy!!

Random Picture Challenge

2009-01-25T11:37:00.000-08:00

This random picture challenge is to post the 30th picture from the August '07 picture files. Well, first of all, I'm not nearly that organized yet, and secondly, I don't HAVE any pics from August '07 because of the Great Computer Crash of '08 that wiped out almost a years worth of my pics. Tear! Soooo, this is a pic from August '08 taken at our friend's house where we were having a baby shower for her as she ended up delivering their little boy 3 weeks exactly before Kian made his grand entrance. *I* did not get in the water, even though it looked SOOOOO inviting as I was quite pregnant at the time and was NOT gonna get in my suit in front of everyone! BUT, I did enjoy watching all the cool water fun and splashing!! Makes me wanna go swimming!!!

For more fun and pics check out the challenge over at 4 Little Men & Girly Twins

Almost to 100!

2009-01-25T10:46:00.000-08:00

I noticed yesterday that I'm almost to my 100th post, which is really quite funny considering how OLD this blog is!! LOL However, that being here nor there, or here AND there, whatever, I decided to celebrate this momentous occasion by having my first ever CONTEST!!!

YAY ME!

So, be on the watch for my 100th post, it will be in the next couple days and it'll be fun AND the prizes will be cool.

Like me. ;)~

New look....again!

2009-01-24T16:29:00.000-08:00

Ya, I know, I change the look on my blogs a lot. BUT! This time is cuz I combined this blog with my family blog cuz keeping them separate just no longer works for me. And since I love, love, LOVE the layout of the family blog, I was delighted to be able to bring it over here and incorporate it into this one!! Everything's pretty much the same only more...family! LOL I gots pics now folks!! My family will be glad to hear that I've finally got more pics up as I've been bad about getting them posted anywhere. Taken, yes, posted...not so much!

Yes, I'm still here...kinda.

2009-01-23T22:13:00.000-08:00

So I took an unannounced break from everything blogging. Not easy to explain other than overwhelm on too many fronts and 'keeping up with the Jones" of blogging was just 'one more thing' to do. And since I'm not blogging for 'everyone else' it seemed silly to impose another 'thing' on myself. And since it was a lot of fun to do the Not Me's on Monday, and Talented Tuesdays, and Wordless Wednesdays and etc, etc on every day of the week I just couldn't keep up with myself. And since I'm too much of a perfectionist, I couldn't just scale back on the posting, oh no, it was all or nothing, so *poof* I disappeared! ;)

S'anyway, I'm venturing into the fray once more. Not sure that I'll be doing all the daily things as I really do have a lot going on and blogging EVERY day just doesn't fit into my schedule. Not to say that I won't ever blog more than two days in a row, but...just giving myself an out!

This month has seemed to go by relatively slow, which is out of character for my time relevance...usually I'm commenting on how FAST time's going. But I dunno, this month has been busy and slow, all rolled into one. It seems like the month should be over and yet we still have a week to go. I'm not complaining mind you, I'm enjoying the perceived slow-down. It already seems like Christmas was soooooooo long ago and the rest of year won't be here for a looooong time. LOL

This month has seen the baby get a little more mobile...in the sense of rolling around and almost sitting up on his own. My firstborn turned 9 and thinks he's an adult now. And my sweet James has perfected the DRAMA QUEEN roll, complete with eye rolling, finger/hand waving and all out riot of aggrieved personage. We started up again with school and that's going well. The baby had his first cold and decided to go all out and get bronchiolitis instead, cuz really, if you're gonna get sick, you should get SICK! He also had a full blown flare up of eczema that was just yuk and required steroid cream to finally get under control. Also a nebulizer cuz he started wheezing with his cough (cuz ya know, gotta go ALL OUT) So ya, that was great fun. Then he gave it all to his brothers (minus the eczema, Jake's already got that and we just didn't know it til Kian was diagnosed with it, go fig) only THEY decided they didn't like what he had so they mutated it to just a little bit of a cough and mostly just a stuffy/runny nose, though James did let his cough get bad enough one night to induce vomiting....IN THE CAR. Ya, good times.

Let's see, what else. My parent's dog passed away last week, he was old and pretty sick and after fighting all week and him being in and out of the vet's and in pain and close to $2000, they finally had to let him go. Then this week my mom's mom ended up in the hospital with congestive heart failure (which she had already been dx with) as she was so full of fluids the count was off the charts. They were able to get her drained and they're changing her meds, she should be going home tomorrow, which is good. What's even better though is that my mom got her first good night's sleep in a looooooooooong time as my grandme gets her up during the night a LOT, so that was a blessing in disguise!

Alex and I had a huge nasty fight a couple weeks ago, our worst ever. For about a week I walked around shell shocked and really didn't know how we could move forward from it. But God works in wonderfully mysterious ways and through it I learned a lot about myself, my husband, our marriage and our family. I found a wonderful quote that goes something like "Shattered dreams are ordained opportunities" We're still working on things and will be starting therapy soon so please pray that God uses this opportunity to bring us both not just closer together but closer to Him. And on that note, that He will bring about Alex coming to know Him personally, as He doesn't yet but is open to it!

On a cool note....we got our Wii this week! It was our Christmas present from my parents and we've just had to wait til the stores got them back in stock. We've been having a blast getting to know the new toy, working out on the Wii Fit (which is REALLY hilarious at times) and just have fun playing together. My parents are the best, even before the Wii, but they continually outdo themselves in spoiling us!

I could go on about little things, big things, days, weeks, events, etc that have happened, but I don't want to be here all night and nobody wants to read a book! I will endeavor to post more often cuz this really is something I enjoy and have missed!!! Btw, if you're on Facebook or Twitter you can look me up as I've been on those more often than blogging lately. Just saying. Ya know, if you're interested. ;)

TTFN!

Please pray!!

2009-01-07T11:19:00.001-08:00

http://prayforthelamberths.wordpress.com/

Please, please, please pray for this family!!!

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-01T22:06:00.001-08:00

I know I've been horribly remiss lately with the whole posting thing but my head's been elsewhere and there was that whole Christmas thing. But I just wanted to say real quick...

Happy New Year!!!!

May 2009 bring much more happiness for all of you!

Dear Santa

2008-12-24T10:38:00.000-08:00

I just HAD to share my boy's Santa letters this year...they're too cute! They dictated, I wrote them out, but everything is verbatim from them.

The first is from my 6 yr old.

Dear Santa,

I've been good...today. I've been TRYING to be good!
Even though my brother gets on my nerves a lot, we still get along...mostly.
What I want most this year is a Green Machine.
Because it's really important to me.
Because my mom really wants me to have it.
I believe in you Santa!
Have a Merry Christmas!
Stay warm and fly safely!!
Love, James

P.S. How's the North Pole doing??

I just about bust a gut laughing about the Green Machine. See, the boys asked for their big thing and James' was the Green Machine. But, he's so worried that he's not going to get anything else, or that he won't get the other stuff he wants that he kept changing his Santa gift wish. So when it came time to do the Santa letter, he said a few other things and well, I already know what Santa got him so kept prompting him for the GM. Like...oh, but don't you want that?? Ya know, if Santa brings Jake his then you won't have one (yes, I know, shameless, bad, bad, Mommy, my kids will need therapy for sure!) But I was also panicking a bit too cuz he was picking stuff that wasn't on his original Christmas list last month and I am DONE shopping, ain't no way I'm going out in that madness! So, he finally said ok to the Green Machine (cuz he REALLY does want it!) and when I asked him WHY he wanted it he said 'because it's really important to me' and when I was puzzled with that answer and asked him WHY it's so important he said 'because my MOM really wants me to get it!!!' LOL =P Well, I do! But so does he, honest!!

And now for my 8 yr old (almost 9, only 21 days left!!)

Dear Santa,
How have you been? And how's Mrs. Claus doing??
Is she feeling good? Cuz I know my Grandma's not because she is sick.
How are the reindeer? Are they well fed and ready to fly?
Oh ya! I forgot to tell you! My baby brother rolled over by himself and can say Mama!! (almost)
Are the elves working hard on the toys?
And speaking of toys...
The thing I want most this year is a Kick-N-Go because I tried it at Sports Authority and really liked it.
But we snooped in the garage and saw the Kick-N-Go that my parents bought and they took it back. :(
On Christmas Eve I'm going to have a nice time with my family and then leave you some cookies and milk before I go to bed.
The last thing I want the most of all, Santa, is my family to all get together and have a swell Christmas!! I love you Santa!!

Love, Jacob

P.S.
I believe in you, Santa!! Have a safe flight!!

P.P.S.
How cold is it at the North Pole??

Yes, they were kinda snooping in the garage, though not really. DH just didn't hide their gifts very well (which I told him at the time but he disagreed so I let him learn this valuable lesson, lol) So they think we took them back because they disappeared, so then they asked if they could ask Santa to bring them and we said, sure! ;) I know, I know.

But I thought they both did really well on their letters this year and I wanted to share them with you. I thought they were both just precious!! AND, because they didn't get written until Monday...yes, the 22nd, we adopted the tradition of sending the Santa letters through the fire in the fireplace...and that got done...last nite. Yep, nothing like teaching our kids to wait til the last minute!!! =P

Wordless Wednesdays

2008-12-03T10:39:00.000-08:00

Some (overdue) pics

2008-12-01T22:07:00.000-08:00

Isn't he just so adorable??? I took this pic this past weekend when we were outside watching Daddy hang Christmas lights. It's very bright around our house so we HAD to wear shades, and I snapped some pics with his on the top of his head and they turned out soooooooo adorable.

Not that I'm biased or anything.

Cuz of course I AM!

We had a very wonderful Thanksgiving with my parents and Grandma, very relaxing and uneventful. We always enjoy getting together and wish that we lived closer! The time goes by so quickly and before we know it it's time to head back home. But it was fun and we're looking forward to seeing each other again for Christmas. Though, Grandma will be coming up before then for our annual tradition of making Christmas cookies!!

Alex and the boys got all our lights hung up on the house over the weekend. We've started 'going green' with our lights but haven't switched over completely to LEDs, just a little as time allows. However, what we didn't realize is the HUGE difference in color between regular and LED lights. SOOOOO, the lower half of the house is decked out in the new LEDS icicles and the second story of the house is the traditional ones...which are more yellow than the bright white LEDs, lol. But hey, it's still all 'purty' and lit and that's what counts, right? Now to get the rest of the decorations up INSIDE the house. Right now the stuff is all in bins in the middle of the living room. Hopefully tomorrow will bring about some emptying of those bins!!

I'm working on getting a lot of pics uploaded and will post when I do!

Not Me Monday

2008-12-01T07:09:00.000-08:00

It's Monday again...already, and you know what that means! Time for MckMama's Not Me Monday!! Check out her site for the source of all this fun and join in yourself with all the things you did NOT do this week!!

As for me, here's a few things I didn't do...

I did not make a post on our family blog PROMISING pictures AND videos of the baby a week ago Saturday and STILL have yet to post even one pic. That would be...procrastinating and lazy, which obviously I'm not!

I did not find a recipe at the grocery store and decide to make it, spur of the moment, for our local homeschool group's Harvest Party. I would definitely have put more forethought into it than that! I then did not find out that it was sooooo yummy and a huge hit that I did not make it again for Thanksgiving Day with the family where it was once again, a huge hit. ;)

I did not watch my husband and boys climb around the roof like monkeys this weekend putting up the Christmas lights. I did not then hold my breath the whole time as I projected MY fear of heights on them as you will not ever find ME on the roof hanging the lights!! I then did not take the yearly picture of the boys up on the roof as part of our family tradition, in the same pose from year to year to watch as the years change my boys to young men.

I did not enjoy a very nice Thanksgiving Day with my parents and family and enjoy all the wonderful food that my mom and grandma made. They provided all the food this year except for the dish that I mentioned above and it was all so yummy! We then did not enjoy the leftovers for the next 3 days and regret that it goes so fast! We're definitely not looking forward to Christmas dinner and all the leftovers that will bring!

Finally, I do not have soooooo much to be thankful for this year, not the least of which is my new baby, Kian Andrew, who is finally here after waiting so long for him! I cannot believe he's already almost 3 months old, time goes by fast at this age. Well, pretty much at any age the past few years, lol!! Seems like just yesterday my other boys were this age!! I'm so very, very thankful for my boys and my husband and so much more! God is indeed GOOD!

Soooo, what didn't you do this week???

Not Me Monday

2008-11-24T16:31:00.001-08:00

It's time again to bare my soul...to fess up to all the things I did NOT do this week...

I did not start this post and then promptly forget everything I did NOT do last week. After all, that's a sign on ancient old age and I'm not THAT old....am I?? I mean, it was just last week...how I can not remember what I did NOT do last week??? Sheesh! LOL, well, this should be pretty short then, huh?

Hmm.....thinking....

Ok, ok. I got it. Last week my baby did not learn some new MAD SKILLS that I did NOT blog about on my family blog. Including the new skill of holding things and putting them to his mouth to chew on. Yay baby!! So I did NOT then rush to Babies'R'Us and buy four new toys for him to play/chew with/on, cuz ya know, he NEEDS four. For, ya know, V A R I E T Y.

I then most certainly did NOT leave ALL of those new MUST-HAVE-RIGHT-THEN-CUZ-OMG-HE-LEARNED-A-NEW-THING toys at home on Friday when we took the kids to Knotts Berry Farm. And really needed something for him to play with while he sat there staring at us while we ate our lunch and he didn't have anything to do. Umm...nope, I didn't do that!

I did not get all my kids and husband put to bed one evening only to hear from my oldest son..."Mom, our toilet's backed up and overflowing". This most definitely would not be from the same son who stops up our toilets on a regular basis because he refuses to learn not to use half the roll of the &@#$ toilet paper when he goes to the bathroom. I then did not ignore the bathroom for awhile thinking that it was JUST stopped up, as usual, because after all, I was busy blurfing (blog surfing) When I finally did go investigate 15 minutes later I did NOT find 1.5 inches of water on the bathroom floor!!! In the UPSTAIRS bathroom! That would have crazy! After all, DH wasn't just asleep but had had two medical procedures done that day and was wiped out! (plus we figured out the next day that he had inadvertently taken 2 Tylenol PM that nite too, which was another reason he was NOT helpful) I then did not have to use a ton of towels to soak up the floor only to discover when I was done and went back stairs (to blurf some more) that the light outside my office, in the hallway, directly under the bathroom upstairs, was now dripping. It's the latest craze out here apparently cuz soon the exhaust fan in the downstairs bathroom joined in. Not to be outdone by electrical fixtures, the doorway leading into the laundry room did NOT start pouring water out it's seam by the hinges...that would be impossible, right? And when I did wake poor DH to ascertain WHAT THE HECK AM I SUPPOSED TO DO....he did NOT tell me to just "let it drip" and then roll over and go back to sleep. After all, that would be....too logical and illogical at the same time!!

I did not then look at the bright side when it was all done and be thankful that it was CLEAN water...no waste products were floating around nor was anything other than just plain ol' water. Granted, it was toilet water, but still, JUST water! And then did NOT say...well, at least the floors are cleaner in the boy's bathroom now!

Lastly, I did NOT fail to get all caught up on the laundry....again. Ya know. The laundry that wasn't caught up last week. The one where LAST Monday I was doing the laundry from the previous week? Well. I did NOT leave the clean clothes, somewhat neatly folded in piles on the couch all week simply cuz my DH neglected to put it away (and it's HIS job to do so) That would be petty and silly and ...well, it IS his job!!! But I did at least get it all CLEAN!

So what all did you NOT do this week???

MAD SKILLS

2008-11-22T23:05:00.000-08:00

I mentioned before that Kian had learned some new MAD SKILLS this week and that they deserve their own post and here it is!! =P

The boy is my first thumb sucker, the other two were never interested in anything other than fingers, but Kian is slowly mastering his thumb. Still needs work but it's cute to watch. But on the flipside I DON'T want to encourage it cuz I'm worried that it'll be a really hard habit to break!! Any thumbsucker moms out there have some advice for me???

Tuesday morning I was taking the sheets off my bed and Kian was laying in his bassinet watching/supervising. He was smiling and cooing at me, trying to entice me away from that stuff (that looked pretty boring to him) and come play with him instead. He was talking and cooing and I asked him what was so funny. Then I stopped and looked at him and said...YOU LAUGHED! For the VERY FIRST TIME! He just smiled and gave me that look that babies have perfected like...well, duuuuh, silly female! =P So yes, Kian giggled for the first time this week so we've spent the rest of the week trying to get him to do it again, with various degrees of success! =P

Wednesday he was sitting in his hi-chair while I was making lunch. He has the "Rainforest" hi-chair so it has this toy that sits in the middle of the tray to keep them occupied (especially when they're not eating in the chair yet!) Well, I didn't know that to get the songs to play you could turn this little animal on the left side OR push the other animal button on the right. So I picked up Kian's hand and pushed the button and voila! Lights and sounds, yay!! I went about making the rest of lunch. The song doesn't last very long, obviously, so it was quiet for a little bit (well, *I* was yapping to the baby, but other than THAT, it was quiet) The next thing I heard brought that yapping to a stop. The toy was singing again!!! Kian pushed the button! He remembered...hmm, do this and my toy works! Well, *I* already knew he was a genius but I wanted to share PROOF of it with you all. Not that I'm biased or anything! =P

Thursday we had some errands to run including a trip to Michaels in Moreno Valley. The boys and I love to go there cuz there's always so much fun stuff to do! Well I found what I was looking for and I let the boys pick out something from their $1 bin. They each picked out these bells on a string. We quickly figured out that Kian really likes the sound of the bells cuz he was getting fussy and wanted out of his carseat, but since we were getting ready to leave the store I didn't want to take him out, only to have to put him right back in when we got to the car! So the boys would shake their bell and he would stop fussing and was just fascinated with the sound! So as we were standing in line I asked Jake if I could borrow his bell. I put it in Kian's hand, figuring he would drop it pretty quick as he usually does with stuff, but that perhaps it would distract him for a minute. But instead...he grabbed onto the bell tightly, waved it around so it made noise and then did that thing that all babies learn....put it in his mouth!! LOL Umm, before you panic, it was still in the package and the bell is pretty large so he'd have a hard time getting it all in his mouth anyway, but still. And I was RIGHT there, watching him and telling him what a smart baby he is for putting it in his mouth. LOL Mad skills, remember? Well, I start paying for the stuff and I hear, Mom, Kian's taken the toy outta the wrapper! WHAT? *sigh* Sure enough, he's finagled the bell outta the wrapper somehow and was happily chewing on the bell/string. Well then I had to be the MEANER MOMMY and take it away, which he wasn't happy about, no, not at all! So I promised him I'd get him a new toy from Babies'R'Us that he COULD chew on. So that's what we did. Left Michaels and went straight to BRU where I promptly bought him FOUR new toys for his chewing pleasure! Even one that has a bell in it that sounds like his brothers, since he liked that sound so much!!

Which leads us to Friday, when we took the boys to Knott's Berry Farm. We were sitting in Mrs Knotts eating our lunch before heading into the park and I realized....oh. my. goodness. After getting all those wonderful toys for the baby on Thursday I neglected to bring even ONE with us!! D'OH!! Ya, I'm a bad mommy, so totally outta practice on this baby thing!! Sheesh! But, he definitely had a lot to keep him occupied though. All the waitresses kept stopping by to ~~flirt with~~ talk to Kian and tell him how handsome he is and what a cutie, etc. He played coy and shy but lapped up all the attention, lol. Then when we headed into the park we got him set up in the stroller so he could check out all the sights and sounds and he was just mesmerized by the whole shebang. He handled his ~~first~~ second trip to an amusement park (first was California Adventure for Mickey's Trick-or-Treat Party) He handled the whole day really well, didn't fuss in the car, didn't fuss much at the park unless he wanted to go to sleep, and was just a real trooper the whole time.

That leads us to today...one last brag on my baby for the week. I mentioned earlier about the toy on his hi-chair, well today he figured out the other side, the one that you have to turn the animal to make the music. And no, I'm not making this up. In fact, I took video of it just to prove it! But I'll have to post it later cuz it's late and I'm tired!! In fact, I'm posting this now but I'll edit it later to show video and pics from the week. I PROMISE!!

But for now...G'NITE!

Saturday Snippets

2008-11-22T21:54:00.000-08:00

Whew! It's Saturday again...how'd that happen? This week has been a lot of fun! Kian experienced a lot of firsts and learned some new MAD SKILLS, which is always so awesome to witness and deserves it's very own post, so stay tuned for that! The boy's each got some 1-on-1 time with us which they thought was pretty awesome and we got to take them someplace as a family where they'd never been to before, so that was cool!

Thursday when the boys and I were out running errands we ended up driving by the movie theater, the one that has $2 movies and my children can run around get their bugs out before the movie starts. THAT one. The one I've been telling them for a couple weeks that we really should go and see how well Kian does, after all, it's usually pretty empty so he wouldn't be disturbing anybody if he got a little fussy and if we HAD to leave we wouldn't be out a ton of $$$. So they of course reminded me of that when we saw it and I quickly formulated a plan that sounded even better. How 'bout we wait til Daddy gets home from work and he can stay home with the baby and it'll be JUST US! Well, they liked that idea...buuuuuut...."well, what if Daddy wants to go???" Umm, well, ummm, ok, ya, he could come along too, I just thought it'd be kinda cool if it was JUST US, since ya know, we don't get to do that very often since the baby got here. "Oh, well, ok, ya, that sounds good." *sigh* Ok, well, how 'bout this instead....I'LL stay home with the baby and YOU GUYS can go with dad, it'll be JUST BOYS!!! (I really did want a night OUT!) Jacob was all over that, sounds great, ya, woohoo! James was like...but I wanted to go with you!!! Awwww, he's still my little guy! So plan C. Ok, how'sabout Jacob and Daddy go to the movie tonite (this was Thursday remember) and James and I'll stay home and watch the baby, and then another nite James and I'll go and Jake and Daddy will stay home and watch the baby. YAY!!! Best plan EVER, Mom! You're the best, woohoo, and the crowd roars! Then James said...then you can play the Xbox with me while Dad and Jake are at the movies! Umm...yaaaaa, ok...maybe, if the baby LETS me do something like that! Well, that's what I was thinking but instead I just agreed. After all, he'd been asking me to play a game with him for a couple days and I kept deferring to the baby's wishes, meanie mommy that I am. See, before Kian came along, we did that whole week at "Grandma's house" thing. Jake went first, spent a week down with my folks and James got my undivided attention. Then it was time to swap and Jake got it, etc. When in reality they each got 2 weeks of undivided attention from the GPs and parents. When it was James' turn up here he and I played a lot of Xbox cuz that's what he wanted to do and I wanted to do whatever he wanted to do. Sooooo, fast forward to now, and he still wants to do that with me, which is cool. I have fun doing it as well.

But I also serve a new master now. A very adorable, drooling, sometimes smiling, sometimes fussy, but always attention stealing, master. And I really thought James and I would get to play more on the Xbox, but Kian was having none of that, thank-you-very-much. Jake and Alex were gone for 3.5-4 hrs and James and I got to play for 30 mins. Soooo not fair. But, it's all good, James was glad we got to play, though Mommy is not NEARLY as nice to play with when she's holding a cranky baby AND dealing with a controller that won't let me switch between a sword and bow and arrow, wazzup with that? Though, James in his infinite patience with his dear OLD mom, tried valiently to explain but I wouldn't listen cuz I wasn't hearing that it didn't work, I was hearing some story about how Jake did something to it when they were playing Star Wars and now it does that, which didn't make any sense to me so I disregarded it. Which I shouldn't have done since what he really meant was Jake dropped it hard enough when they were playing Star Wars so now the 'brain' is a big jiggety and doesn't always do what you ask. He then just swapped out controllers on me when I went to put the baby down to sleep and told me that he 'fixed' it for me and I finally got it and felt very sheepish. Baaaaaaaaaad mommy. (ok, so that was really a bad pun, but I'm tired, roll with it) So we each had fun and James and I are looking forward to our turn to go see a flic. Though, he more than I as the movie is "Igor" and DH said it was as boring as Bee Movie. Yes, we're kid show snobs. But we don't care, it's not about the movie, it's the experience and the boy's (and us) are all over that!

And speaking of experience, Friday we took the boys to Knott's Berry Farm for the very first time!! Alex and I hadn't even been since I was pregnant with Jacob and he convinced me to go to Knotts SCARY Farm, so it's been a long time for us as well. However, instead of remembering birthdays, anniversarys, etc, ya know, important stuff like that, my husband remembers in fine detail amusement parks and important stuff like THAT. Ya know, like where all the bathrooms are, and what rides are where and what USED to be where there's now something new, and what all the rides DO and all that. And considering it's been 9 years since we were last there, that's pretty impressive to me. Especially since Knotts has so many new rides and stuff. And last time we weren't in Camp Snoopy, and yet he still knew the area. Impressive folks, impressive. Who needs to remember bdays and wedding anniversary when you can remember the layout of an entire theme park???

So we got there around noon and ate lunch first at Mrs Knotts. I really thought the fried chicken would be better since there was so much hype over it, but it was still good. After that we headed into the park. Alex being a military man WE were able to get in for free, but had to buy the boy's tickets. But $30 for 2 tickets isn't too bad. We walked around for a little bit and very quickly ended up at Camp Snoopy where we proceeded to spend most of the afternoon. We thought the park closed at 6 but found out (at 6:10) that it was actually open til 7. The boys went on a lot of rides, and by boys I mean, James went on most of the rides in Camp Snoopy, and Jake and Alex went on most of the big coasters in the park. James did end up going on Jaguar, Pony Express and accidentally on Wipeout. I say accidentally cuz he and I both thought it was just a ride that went round and round. Ok, he can handle that. And he did, at first. At first he was Mr Macho and was like Oh ya, this is easy, woohoo. Then it got faster, and started to rise and then started to tilt and rock back and forth. While spinning really, really fast. I get a headache thinking about it. My heart was in my throat for him watching him and I wanted to scream at the guy controlling the motion to STOP IT! LET MY BABY OFF! He was hanging on for dear life, kinda hunkered down on the bar. I was so torn!! Do I make it stop and let him off? Do I let him finish the ride? He wasn't crying or looking scared just very dizzy/dazed. I let him finish and as it slowed down James raised his head and looked around. When it stopped I asked him "well, how was it?" (again, trying not to make MY fear, his) "Not too bad" was his Mr Macho response. LOL He was pretty dizzy and when asked if he wanted to go on it again I got a very loud resounding NO WAY! Followed by a very fast disclaimer..."Unless Jacob goes with me!!" LOL Ahhh, my baby's getting to be such a big boy!!

And speaking of big boys, Jake is quite the big boy, he already is just about to Alex's shoulders. He's not quite 9 yet but we know he's gonna be over 6 ft! We just didn't think he'd be there by the time he was 10, lol. He's such a huge help around the house though. They're both still totally taken with Kian and dote on him all the time. They compete to see who gets to hold him or who's going to get to entertain him and keep him company while mom is busy with something. I'm so thankful for my boys!! I've already requested DH provide the BOY sperm again next time so we have another boy. Yes, yes, I DO want a girl, but I look at Jacob and James and see how close they are and want that for Kian as well. So I asked for another little boy for Kian to play with. So, that should be pretty easy, right? We've got the BOY recipe down pat! 'Course, that'll prolly mean we finally get a girl, lol. Ahh well, we'll take 'em however we get 'em!

Anyway, that's about it for now. Be watching for pics and video that I'll be adding soon!!! And for Kian's MAD SKILLS post!!

Small Fry Contest!!

2008-11-22T11:57:00.000-08:00

MckMama over at My Charming Kids is having a really cool contest!! just by blogging about it you'll get a chance to win a new blog header, some new camera toys and some other fun stuff, which sounds totally awesome to me!!! Her youngest daughter, Small Fry, is the inspiration for the name of this contest. Head on over there and check it out as well as HOW CUTE Small Fry is!!

A Thousand Words Thursday

2008-11-20T09:47:00.000-08:00

I took this picture of Jake a few years ago when we went camping at the beach. As soon as I saw the way the pic turned out I knew I'd have to put it together with these words!

Wordless Wednesdays

2008-11-19T13:56:00.000-08:00

It's Wednesday and my first time participating in Wordless Wednesday. LOL, ok, so not COMPLETELY wordless, obviously!

This is Jacob Alexander Chin...on his birthday of course. I always think he's saying "WHY?????" Why is it so bright out here??? Why is it sooooo cold??? WHY can't I go back IN?!?!? ;) It seems like soooo long ago and yet not that long ago that he was so little!

Now he's almost 9, comes just about up to Alex's shoulder and is a very big boy. Then again, taking a look at those feet, that shoulda been my first clue that this boy was gonna be BIG!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-11-19T10:51:00.000-08:00

"I can explain, Mom, really!!!!"

My mud monsters....having waaaaaaaaay too much fun!

Not Me Monday

2008-11-17T09:22:00.000-08:00

This is my first "Not Me" post, though I've been enjoying them at My Charming Kids and Matters of the Heart for awhile now but didn't feel up to the challenge of participating. But now I do so here we go. ;)

As mother to three, and three boys at that, and the youngest being a very small little 10 weeks old (though, HE's not very small, he's already 14lbs!!) life around here has been....chaoticly blessed! It's sooooo awesome to look over, or down, and see this little baby that was prayed for for sooooo long and still seems surreal that he's here! BUT! With that and adjusting to having a baby now after about 6 years since last doing it....the CHAOS has gotten out of hand in some areas around here. Which leads me to the first NOT ME moment this week....

I most certainly did NOT try to pay for something at Sams Club on Saturday only to be told that my credit card was expired! I think I looked sufficiently confused and even commented to the clerk about how I have no idea HOW that happened and wondering WHY the bank hadn't sent my new card. After all, I most certainly would NOT have let the mail get so out of hand and behind on getting sorted and filed and instead just PILED that I would have somehow missed that the bank sent my new debit card back in September!! That realization hit me while I was in line there on Saturday, but it definitely did not take me 'til today to actually FINALLY find the new card and activate it!

And speaking of that item that I just HAD to have...I did NOT then return the item the very next morning, unopened and unused simply because I changed my mind. No, I did not, that would have been too fickle of me.

Another area of chaos around here would be laundry...that never, ever ending, never TRULY catching-up-on chore (cuz even if all the clothes are put away you're wearing something, aren't you? Well then, that's dirty too.) So I obviously would NOT still have part of last week's laundry to do today, which is laundry day, before I could start on TODAY's laundry. No, I most definitely didn't do that. That would mean I still have clothes on the couch (clean, folded, waiting for one of the minions to put away) Though in my defense, DH was at the hospital half the day Tuesday for two different procedures (EGD and colonoscopy) and had taken Monday off as well so we had spent 'laundry day' running around doing errands, and then I had ulcer pain flare up Tues-Thu, so that really threw the week off. But still, I would NOT have just let the rest of the laundry that still needed to be washed get so 'unpiled' that it was spread all over the floor by the foot of the stairs til we were walking on it! That would just be lazy.

With having a new baby in the house again, there's been so many amazing moments that I want to capture and bottle up...the smells, sights, sounds, how he feels, everything, its just sooo cool. We tried for this little guy for almost 4 years and my body just wasn't cooperating!! But now that he's here in all his wondrous glory we're trying to take precautions that he doesn't end up being a big brother too soon! However, I've never taken "the pill" while breastfeeding before and even though both my OB and pediatrician have assured me it's fine I'm still concerned it could affect my milk supply (the only side effect that they did say MAY happen) So all that to say that I am NOT stalling on starting my birth control pills. That would just be tempting fate too much!!

And lastly, I did NOT put off writing thank you notes for my son's birthday party, that was last month, til TODAY. No, I did NOT do that, that would have been procrastinating to the nth.

That's all the time I have for you today, baby's crying! Be sure to tune in next time for another exciting adventure of NOT ME MONDAY!!!

P.S. It did NOT take me over 6 hrs to get this sent out today due to so many interruptions!! No, that would just show my lack of time management so obviously I did NOT do that!

Blogs, blogs and more blogs!

2008-11-14T21:52:00.000-08:00

So I spent this week updating the look on my blogs. Plural. As in way more than just one simple little blog. Cuz ya know, ONE would be easy to maintain. Two, more work but still manageable. But me, the constant overachiever-wannabe, no, I have 4 that I'm currently trying to juggle. Cuz it seems that while there's a lot of chaos around me (house, biz, life in general) for my blogs, I can be super organized. To the point of being anal perhaps. I'm actually trying to consolidate the blogs, the 4 will indeed soon become 3. But the 3 will still be 3, at least for now.

So currently I have this one. And this one. And this one. And working on this one. I even have two others but thankfully don't post to those very often anymore!

So why so many blogs? Well, I dunno. Really. I have been trying to figure it out over the past couple days. This one is more for my creative stuff and ME stuff. Socal Journeys is all about the family, kids, etc. The baby one, well, that's the 4th that's going to be merged with Socal soon so that will be going away. And Little Sonshines, that's for the homeschooling stuff, just school stuff.

Now, I suppose, I could be a normal person and consolidate it all into one, or maybe just two, maybe the homeschooling stuff could be mixed in with the everyday life stuff over on SoCal, but
I dunno, I LIKE having it separate. At least for now. Just like I liked having a separate place to talk about my pregnancy. That site actually took over from my old blog that I had when I was trying to get pregnant, a separate place that I could talk all about the TTC (trying to conceive) stuff that just didn't feel 'ok' to talk about on the regular family blog. LOL

So....does any of this make any sense?? It pretty much does to me but then again, it's confusing to me sometimes and I try to start figuring out a way to get rid of a couple...with no luck, lol.

Am I the only that has this problem???

And did I mention? I'm thinking of starting another blog, for my business?? I think it'd be kinda cool to 'connect' with my customers that way. And God knows, I don't seem to have enough to do since I have ALL this time to make blogs and keep up with them all!! =P

Or at least make them. It remains to be seen if I can keep up with them!!

Heard Recently

2008-11-14T16:42:00.000-08:00

James..."Ya know, I got a pink one and I was gonna give it to you (since you're a gul) but only if you give me TWO of 'dem."

Me..."A pink one of what?"

James..."A gumball"

Me..."And two of what??"

James..."Quarters"

Me..."So let me get this straight. I gave you a quarter for the gumball machine and you got a pink one so you were going to give me it (since it was pink, and I'm a girl) but ONLY if I gave you TWO more quarters?????"

James..."YES! But now it's too late cuz we already left the store and 'sides, I already ate it!"

Somehow, he makes it seem OOOOH so logical!

November....where'd you come from?

2008-11-05T15:05:00.000-08:00

So I keep thinking it's still September.

'Til I realize it's October.

Only to smack myself in the forehead when I realize that NO...it's REALLY November!!

I realize I'm way overdue for an update, but it'll have to wait. I have a new man in my life and he's very....

...possesive.

...and time consuming.

...and suuuuch a hottie!!

In fact...he's sucking on my neck right now so I better go feed him before my husband wonders where I got the hickies! =P

But I will write soon!

"And it didn't even hurt!"

2008-08-24T18:57:00.000-07:00

My baby lost his first tooth last nite!!

James has had a wiggly tooth for weeks now and has fretted and worried and thought WAAAAAAYYY too much over the whole thing and what would happen, and how much it'll hurt, etc. We've had lots and lots and lots of conversations about it!!! LOL

So last nite on our way back from dinner with their Auntie Alice and Uncle Gary, he announces from the back seat that his tooth is falling out....right that minute! Me, from the front seat, begin to panic slightly as I don't want it to come out IN THE CAR! I mean, he could lose it! Or swallow it, or...I dunno, but it shouldn't come out in the car! So I'm (uncharacteristically) not driving and keep telling Alex (who's having some conservation with Gary about something and not really paying attention to the drama unfolding in the back seat) to hurry up and get home already!! And telling James....DON'T TOUCH IT! And telling Jacob...DON'T TOUCH IT and quit scaring your brother with talk of pain and blood and all that!

So we finally make it back to the house and we get in, James and I rush to the bathroom (ok, so did Jake but I booted his butt out) and sure enough, that tooth was laying down flat as a pancake. Until I saw it I wasn't sure if it was going to HAVE to come out that nite or if it was just 'really' loose, etc. But no, it was definitely coming out. So I looked at James and said, ok, you ready for this? And counted to 3....1............2.............3......POOF, out it came, super easy cuz it was already out and just barely hanging on. Whew!

He looked in the mirror and got the biggest grin on his face....and in that instant got so much older....that big milestone he just passed, that badge of honor that marks him as one of the 'big guys'. He went rushing out to show everyone and got a big round of applause and then called Grandma and Grandpa and told them...

"I lost my first toof...and I didn't even cwy!!!"

He was amazed that 'it didn't even hurt' when Mom pulled it out! ('course, he got it easy cuz it really was just so barely hanging on I didn't have to 'tug' on it at all, unlike Jake's first tooth, the little sucker was a bit tougher but HAD to come out as well)

So he was visited for the very first time by the tooth fairy last nite, and thought that was very cool indeed. And of course it meant they were both up before the sun this morning cuz of the excitement of the day. Alex is still sleeping and I'll prolly head back to bed for some more shuteye when he gets up, lol, I didn't get to bed til about midnite...had some 'fairy' business to take care of! ;)

Though....in true James style, he did tell me...."I wonder what I'll get when I lose my NEXT tooth...cuz ya know....this toof here next to the one that fell out? It's starting to get loose, too!" I just laughed...(while thinking...OH BOY!) and said....hmmm...I dunno, maybe a new car?? To which he laughed and said ....."Moooooooooooom" And then eased my mind a bit and said...."No, not a new car, but maybe some quarters or pennies? Or maybe a new toy like the dentist gives?" I said, well, I don't think the tooth fairy does toys, just money, but I guess we'll have to see what happens next time, huh? And he was satisfied (for now) with that answer.

Latest on Carolyn

2008-08-17T15:49:00.001-07:00

I talked to her on Friday and she said that she's hoping to get to go home by this weekend. Haven't heard yet whether or not that happened, but hoping that it did!

She was still in a lot of pain as for some reason she seems to be resistant to most pain meds this time around. When I talked to her they had just given her a shot of something else and it was taking affect while we were talking as she was getting sleepy and it was taking the edge off the pain, which is a good thing!! However, she was worried that once they released her and she went home, not having appropriate pain meds til she healed enough and being home with all the kids, etc, she's worried she'll be in too much pain. She still has two drainage tubes as well and will have a nurse come over every day for a week or two or til they take them out to take care of her bandages and whatnot.

Please continue to pray that she heals up nicely and the pain will dissipate or at least become tolerable and respond to Motrin or the like (no heavy narcotics is her wish!!)

Thanks!!

UPDATE ON MY SIS

2008-08-12T08:05:00.001-07:00

I got a text msg from my sister last nite around 930 my time. She was in surgery for over 5 hours but they finally found and removed the wandering gall stone. She has a huge incision now from that surgery and was in a ton of pain as none of the pain meds were working. Please continue to pray for her and her family that she'll heal quickly and be pain free completely soon!!

Thanks!!!

Prayer request for my sister

2008-08-11T10:40:00.001-07:00

Just wanna send a shout out to my sister Carolyn who's back in the hospital with complications from having her gall bladder removed a couple weeks ago. She developed pancreatitis and had to stay in the hospital for over a week. I heard from her yesterday that she's back in the hospital again, one of the larger stones escaped before they removed her gall bladder so she's having surgery today to remove that. We're hoping and praying that she doesn't develop the pancreatitis again, though it's already still slightly inflamed, so they're being optimistic that they'll be able to get in and do what needs to be done and NOT aggravate it further!

Please also pray for her husband, Tony, and their kids as not having mom home is a big deal!! Tony's working OT every week to make ends meet, but with Carolyn being in the hospital he's been taking time off to watch the kids, visit with her, etc. On top of that, he's got the flu so he's run down and stressed to the max. It's putting a very large strain on their relationship as well as finances, etc. So please just pray that she will get better (completely) soon and that he will relax and be the man that she needs right now without all the stress and baggage that goes along with it.

The hardest part for them is they don't have a support system, no church family/close friends that will step in and help out. Both sides of their family are either too busy with their own things to help or just don't care enough, which is sad. Or of course, live waaaaaay out in California, which is a tad far from Kansas City!!! So please, please say a quick prayer for these guys, they really need a break!!

Also, if you have a minute, please leave her a comment on her blog letting her know she's being thought of today! It'd mean sooooo much to her (and me!!) THANKS! Carolyn's blog

I love you Carolyn!!! GET WELL SOON!!!!

8/8/08

2008-08-08T12:17:00.001-07:00

Today's the 8th day of the 8th month of the 8th year of the new millennium. Kinda interesting though I realize these "kind of" days come around every year, at least for awhile anyway (at least til 12/12/12) So I figured it'd be a good day to post something.

Not sure what, but...SOMETHING! =P

I've been pretty quiet on my blogs lately, not so quiet in my head but just...not so much of what's being said in my head is able to translate to intelligible words.

I've been working on cleaning out my office the last couple days, which is such a huge undertaking that I find myself perfecting the fine art of procrastination this morning. Not to say that I haven't done anything yet in here, but I don't think plugging in my laptop (cuz it was about to die and I wanted to be ONLINE) counts as doing much. On the flipside, I've done a lot of reading of blogs this morning and even found a plethora of homeschooling resources that I didn't have before, which has gotta be a good thing, right? But then I feel guilty cuz I need to finish my office and get everything put away so that I can more effectively finish planning out our school year and start implenting it so it's not too much to handle all at once (as in, baby arrives AND we start school, better to do one thing atta time!!)

Sooooo, what am I planning on doing now? Gonna go get dressed (still in my jammies) and then head to the grocery store. After all, we DO need milk and cheese and bread, etc. My office? Well..umm....it'll still be here waiting for me.

And waiting.

*sigh*

Jamesisms

2008-08-08T12:03:00.000-07:00

For those who've been blessed with meeting James and interacted with him you'll know his personality is such that he keeps you hopping!! Last week he said a couple things that just had to be remembered as they were just sooo...James. ;)

James came into my office and said the "B" word. *B*O*R*E*D* Which, you moms out there KNOW, is an open invitation to give them all kinds of 'things to do'. LOL Usually things they don't WANT to do. However, this time I came up with other things to do that he might actually WANT to do, but to no avail. So I said...

"Well, why don't you play a board game with your brother? You guys like those!"

"Mooooooooom!!! I don't want to!!"

"Why not??"

"Cuz I don't want to be BORED! And I'll just be BORED playing a BOARD game!"

ROFLMAO

"Umm...sweetie, not THAT kinda board game!!!"

;)

And another...

James was telling me that his throat hurt and I was asking him what kinda hurt (scratchy, sore to swallow, etc) and did it just start hurting, etc. He said scratchy/sore and it had been hurting for 3 days in a row now.

"And the first day of the row....."

LOL, I've just never heard that phrased that way before!!!

And this one just today. I got home from grocery shopping and of course they wanna snoop and see what I got...for THEM. I said, nope, sorry, didn't get you anything this time, just stuff for me and Daddy. To which he replied with his usual....'mooooooooom' and roll of the eyes. He started grabbing stuff outta the bags, lickin' his lips and I told him to go outside and play, to which he said...

"No"

To which I said, with both eyebrows raised and "The Look"

"James Thomas! Don't you tell ME no, son! I'll put so much yucky stuff in your mouth you'll wish you hadn't been born!!!"

To which the smart mouth child that he is responded (in a sing-song girly voice)

"Oh Mom! PLEEEEEASE let me be born!! PLEEEEEAAAAAASSSEEE let me live" as he scampered out the door.

To which I promptly busted up laughing to...cuz honestly, how could you NOT laugh at him? LOL

Crash

2008-07-21T21:58:00.000-07:00

Sooooo.....my computer crashed over the weekend!! And of course, because it's MY computer and has to be so much like ME, it didn't just merely die, it died in grand fashion. *roll* It fried the power supply, mother board AND my hard drive. I was fine with the first two, but when I heard about the hard drive I went into denial. No. Friggin. Way.

You see, I have an external drive...great big huge number of gigabytes and everything, enough to back up everything near and dear to my heart. However...it's nearly died TWICE in the last 6 months...not exactly the embodiment of dependability!! So I haven't backed up anything to it since January, and then what I did back up to it, while important, isn't EVERYTHING that I coulda/shoulda backed up.

So I've lost all pictures taken, all docs, emails, etc etc etc. The loss is staggering to me and my brain still refuses to accept the enormity of it and hangs on to the hope that somehow, someway, we'll be able to recover the data. As for the computer itself, that's secondary to the 'stuff'!! My dear sweet husband builds computers and with the exception of our laptops and Jacob's computer, has built all the computers in the house (we have 5 desktops, 2 laptops, yes, we're a geeky nerdy computer family)

I started to ask DH tonite to hook my laptop up to my printer so I could print out a bunch of stuff for the baby shower this weekend when it suddenly hit me.....awwww crap...it's gone!!! And the shower I'm cohosting in 2 weeks? Ya, I get to redo all the stuff I'd created for that.

Boo. Stinkin. Hooooo!!!

So DH is looking into data recovery places and has run across some places that will do it for "Mere Hundreds" *roll* I know it's expensive but I'm hoping that somehow, someway we'll be able to get it back. I've got hundreds of emails, docs, pics, etc that just can't be replaced. Plus the worst part is it's not 'just' personal stuff but business as well.

Slowly but surely I'm running into things that are on my computer...and can no longer access. I told DH tonite there's going to be MANY 'awww crap' episodes as I find different things that I NEED and are just no longer there!!! :(

Another thing that I'm finding that sucks so bad is that I use Outlook religiously. I have all my contacts in there, of course, (and don't have now) but also all my schedules, to-dos WITH reminders (which for this scatter brained mom is a MUST) and notes and all that jazz. I really feel like part of my brain has been lobotomized, I stored a lot of stuff there for the computer to remember FOR me. And now that it went *POOF* I feel...hmm, gee, feels like I should be doing something but have no idea what!!!! Grrrrr!

So boys and girls...the moral of this story is...backup everything, and then back that up too! And while you're at it, better have a backup for that one...just in case. Cuz ya just never know when part of your life can be wiped away in an instant!!!

Tire Tracks

2008-07-11T09:26:00.000-07:00

So I jumped in the shower this morning .... ok, seriously, quit laughing, OBVIOUSLY I didn't REALLY 'jump' since that's just not in my level of activity of late. *sigh*

Ok...so I stepped into the shower this morning (happy now?) and noticed that...hmm...we've had visitors. Of the two-legged persuasion.

We have a rather large house. It even has 3 full bathrooms. And yet...it seems, we can only use 2. The boy's bathroom upstairs has been ground zero for lots of painting projects and other home repairs, so their tub and whatnot are full of all kinds of hardware...making taking a bath rather...too adventurous even for them. So that leaves the downstairs bathroom and our master bath. Now...the downstairs bathroom is your normal tub/shower combo and that's usually where the boy's get their cleanin' up done. The master bath has a separate tub and shower stall, which is pretty common nowadays but when I met Alex 10 years ago, well, it was the first time I'd ever seen such a newfangled thing and was rightly impressed!! But I digress...

I stepped into the shower this morning...careful to avoid the bottle of body wash that belongs to James. As well as the Blue Angels jet and Speed Racer car. Now, to be fair, Alex does like Speed Racer a LOT, so I guess it COULD be his...but combined with the jet and soap, I pretty much knew who the rightful owner was. I chuckled to myself as I scooted the jet and car out of footstep reach so that I didn't end up flying through the air without the slightest of ease, as these toys reminded me of how blessed I am and how much I love my boys. Even when they leave their stuff all over...it still warms my heart!

So as my shower progressed and the glass door/wall steamed up I noticed...right as James height...tire tracks on the glass 'magically' appearing, as if to say, JAMES WAS HERE!!! I wish I had a camera, (though maybe I'll go heat the shower up later and see if they appear again to see if I can get a shot) to capture these moments. The little moments are what make up the fabric of our lives and so often we're soooo busy we miss them! So today, right now, I'm thankful to have been blessed with that little moment this morning...endearing my children to me even more.

'Cuz you know...when they get home from Summer Splash...they WILL be picking up all their toys!!!

=P

In the shade...

2008-07-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I got the 'rare' opportunity of swimming...ALONE! The boys had just gone over to their friend Noah's house to play when I decided to go swimming WITH them...so I ended up still swimming...in peace and quiet! Let me tell ya...it was nice! And quiet...too quiet! LOL Nobody was swimming over, under or around me, 'accidentally' splashing me, etc. I laughed to myself for thinking it was too quiet, considering how many times I've swam with them wishing I could have some QUIET time to float around. LOL, just never satisfied!

So I relaxed and floated and enjoyed my peace and quiet, did some cloud watching, listened to the birds singing, felt the wind blowing and just slowed down long enough to 'be' quiet without all the hectic-ness of life. It was really very nice!!!

I talked to God for a bit...asked Him to show me some great sign, some great philosophical insight, some....thing. And I waited. And waited. And listened to the birds sing. And felt the wind blow. And waited. Cuz I mean, after all, that's what God does, right? Performs on command? Hmm..no? Fine 'den (to steal James' fav expression)

So I kept swimming, rather embarrassed now and feeling quite foolish for having had such thought cuz really it was the first time I'd ever thought that, at least that I can recall (and ya'll know about my swiss cheese memory, right?) So I swam around for awhile more, trying to keep my face out of the sun. Our sunscreen works AWESOME (I still haven't had even ONE sunburn this summer!!) but I don't like to spray it on my face, and I forgot to grab a hat for shade and well, I was NOT gonna get OUT of the pool just for a hat!

So, I faced away from the sun. That felt nice on my back, nice and warm w/o fear of getting burned by it. After awhile though, I WANTED to face the other way, yet the pesky sun was full on in my face. I kept looking for shade, but I couldn't find any that would full shade me. I finally propped up one of the boy's boogie boards on the ladder and thought...there! Finally, some shade!!

Then I got to thinking...ya know, we do that with God a lot! We want to be in His presence, we want to feel the fullness of His love and warmth and protection, but sometimes...being that close to His glory is hard...and uncomfortable. So we put up barriers between us, nothing HUGE per se, after all, we still want to feel His warmth and love, we just want to feel His glory...in the shade, the shadows are a little easier to take. Sometimes the brightness shows up our faults a little too well, but...hey, we LIKE those faults! We don't wanna have to 'give up' everything, I mean...sheesh...we don't wanna be "Jesus Freaks"! So we want it both ways, we want the closeness with God, and we want it in the shade.

So, I had my board in place...enjoying the shade, relaxing. Then the board started to blow over (remember the wind I mentioned??) A little perturbed, I straightened it back up and went back to enjoying the shade, sun and warmth. Ahhh...this is nice, I thought. The board started to blow over again. "Seriously!!!" I said to nobody in particular except the universe at large for DARING to mess with my serenity! Wedged it a little better and laid back on my raft, contemplating nothing and enjoying it immensely. Then the board blew off the ladder completely!! ARRGGGHH!

And I realized. Oh! I see. God wants to be with us, completely, no barriers. And if He's gotta blow them all down...He will! He'll even give slight, subtle gentle hints first, giving us a chance to remove them ourselves. Then He'll shake things up a bit more to see if we get the hint...and then just blow them outta the way! I was too stubborn, I wanted that barrier there! I didn't WANT the sun on my face (and before you go all healthy/green on me, yes, I understand that being in the shade, out of the harmful effects of the sun IS a good thing, but humor me here, it's MY blog!! LOL) We want to hide sometimes from the fullness of the "Almighty" or at least wait til it's not quite so bright and doesn't hurt our eyes/hearts so much cuz it's revealing parts about us that we don't want to see/acknowledge. Heck, hiding from God isn't anything new...Adam and Eve started the whole thing way back when with some fig leaves!

So anyway...I left the board down and said 'thanks for the object lesson'...I guess. I 'got' it but didn't get it, and have been 'mulling it over' (like my mom likes to say) ever since. It wasn't quite what I was looking for, not nearly as "Hollywood" as what it coulda been...but it was something! ;) And actually, I really did 'get' it enough right away to realize that it was something I needed to 'hear', I just didn't necessarily WANT to hear it. It was after all, one of those things that smacks of 'churchiness' that I'm still really not comfortable with. But it also spoke to me about something I've been trying to work on lately...mainly being the kind of person that I want to be as opposed to the person that I sometimes am. And sometimes, the person that I am doesn't WANT to be the person that *I* want me to be!! LOL

I was talking to my sister today, explaining to her that I was talking to my self yesterday (and I talk to my self A LOT) and I and my self were discussing blogs and why I have more than one and whether or not I should consolidate them; *I* thought I should, especially after the baby's born, it'd much easier to just update one, but *MY SELF* thought that I should keep at least two (I do actually have a couple other blogs that I'm not using at the moment but are always 'there' if I need/want them) cuz "MY SELF" thought it would be good to have some place for me to ramble on and on about nothing and everything, and then a place to post family stuff that people would actually want to read. LOL So, the consensus was that I'd keep everything the way it is for now and we'll re-evaluate it later. I told my sister (who already knows that I'm completely crazy) that I like to compartMENTALize things because I'm anal, though of course you wouldn't know it by looking at my house! LOL

All that to say that *I* and *MY SELF* don't always agree. So when I say that who I am now isn't who I want to be, but that the self that I am now doesn't always WANT to change and be the person that *I* (and God) want me to be, maybe that makes it a little easier (and less psychotic) to understand! =P

The funny thing is though, I think God's winning. Cuz when I'm the person that isn't being the one I/God WANT me to be, I really feel it inside, I feel...I dunno, different. Like...ok...this is awkward but I really don't want to be doing/saying/thinking this, even if it's something I've been doing/saying/thinking for years! It's good in a way cuz it reaffirms to/for me that what I've chosen for me is the right path, for me. I don't think I'll ever be one of those 'churchy' people, at least I hope not (it's a long story, but I grew up in church all my life, the path I'm on now is sooooo different!) but I do hope to be one of those people that people say...I want what she's got! Cuz I see some great people out there, flawed, imperfect but great examples of what it means to live in/by/through faith, to walk with God and have a REAL relationship that has nothing to do with churchiness (no, I'm not really anti-church, just anti-fake) and I see them and follow their lives on a 'normal' day in day out basis and say...I want what THEY have!!

Disneyland Trip

2008-07-08T21:46:00.000-07:00

So we went to Disneyland on Thursday, the last day our passes were good. They actually expired on Sunday the 6th, but Friday, Saturday & Sunday were blockout dates due to the holiday weekend, so Thursday was THE day to go!

We parked in the Timon parking lot around 11:45 and got over to where the tram picks you up and waited for about 20-30 minutes which seemed like a very long time, and for a tram, it was! But it finally came and we were headed for fun.

We decided to do California Adventure first, got in, headed to the Hollywood Backlot and Alex & Jake went on Tower of Terror for the first time ever (for either of them)
James and I checked out Disney Animation's Sorcerer's Workshop and Character Closeups while the big boys were on the ride, then met up with them and headed over to Paradise Pier, got FastPasses for Alex & Jake for California Screamin' and went to Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill for some lunch.

After we ate and walked around for a little bit, Alex & Jake went on CA Screamin' and had a blast, and it was also the first time for both of them to get to go on it. James was finally tall enough, but chose to pass it up 'this time' but says he'll go on it 'for sure' next time. I was pretty jealous cuz I really wanna go on it, it looks like a ton of fun!

We were all able to go on the Sun Wheel though I was holding the video camera recording James' reaction to all the swings and whatnots and whooooo...talk about getting dizzy! LOL It was a lot of fun though and after we kissed the ground after getting off (just kidding...well, sorta) we headed out to Golden State so the boys could ride Grizzly River Run but the line was very long and even with FastPass it was still a 4 hr wait til we could come back! So we headed out, stopped at Soarin' Over California, my favorite ride there AND one I can go on while pregnant, but alas, the line too was very long and FastPass had us coming back much, much later.

So we headed over to Disneyland...got over there around 4...grabbed some cold bottles of water and headed to Star Tours, one of the boy's FAV rides, which is why it was the first we hit! They lucked out with a very short 5-10 minute wait, which is so very rare! After that, we managed to hit quite a few of the rides, between FastPass and just standing in line, the boys were able to get in Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Indiana Jones, and we were all able to go on the Disney Railroad all the way around the Park, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion.

The Park wasn't actually all that crowded, definitely busy, but no more so than most of the other times we'd been there. In fact, it seemed as though CA Adv was busier than Disneyland, which was unusual! And while it was hot, there was usually a pretty nice breeze to cool us off, so it was a very enjoyable day. We sure do LOVE to go to Disneyland, there's just something about the place! We'll miss having our passes but know that we'll have them back soon enough and it just makes us appreciate them even more!!

I added a picture album with more pics from our trip, so be sure to check them out!! ~~~>

Happiest Place on Earth

2008-07-02T21:08:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we're going to Disneyland!! YAY!!! We've had passes now for a year and have thoroughly enjoyed them, though to be honest, we would have enjoyed them more if I wasn't pregnant! I woulda been taking the kids a lot more and gotten to go on a lot more rides that I still haven't gone on for years now! It seems that we kept going last summer/fall for a few hours here and there, mainly to try and avoid the hot heat and or the thick crowds. So we'd not go on the rides that had the loooooooong lines, and those are the ones that I've still not been able to go on since getting knocked up, lol.

We debated and thought hard about renewing our passes; we'd both love to keep them. But...not only is the cost prohibitive right now as we have a few other things we can put the $$$ towards but once the baby gets here...well, going with a baby isn't impossible but again, one of us at a time wouldn't be able to go on the rides, and I still wouldn't be able to take the boys ALONE as I still wouldn't get to go on the rides!! LOL

My goal is to renew them by next spring though, the baby will be old enough to enjoy all the sites and sounds and all that, and we really haven't even scratched of both the parks, there's sooooo much to explore and see and do and learn, beyond all the hype and rides and whatnot. And next spring will be here before we know it, especially once the baby gets here, it'll just go really fast and VOILA! We'll have our passes back!

So, back to tomorrow. Our passes expire this Sunday but tomorrow is the last day our passes are good before hitting the 'blockout' dates of this weekend. Besides, who in their right mind wants to go on a holiday weekend???? Well, ya, ok, we're not crazy smart either going tomorrow, we KNOW it'll be crowded, but, well, we kinda 'have' to. We haven't been since January, which is really just pitiful I tell ya, and definitely overdue and it's our last chance. I haven't been up to taking them alone, I guess cuz I'm still not comfortable sending them to go stand in long lines alone! I know how they are in lines with us there, so, I dunno, I guess they'd be good but still. And even though Alex generally has Fridays off, we've still not managed to get there. I dunno, time just flies by and you look back AMAZED that that much time has gone by!!!

So wish us luck, we'll be there all day, it's gonna be a ton of fun, but hot, and a lot of walking, which...both of which tend to give me lots of Braxton Hicks, and it's a bit too early to need to 'do a lot of walking to induce labor' type a thing. Our aim/goal is to have fun, stay cool, stay hydrated, take a million and three pictures and just have a blast.

Afterall...it's the Happiest Place on Earth...right?

My boy's in the paper!

2008-07-02T11:44:00.001-07:00

Jake made the paper!!! He attended a day summer camp last year and did a picture on emotions (he was given 'sad' to do, hence the face!) A couple weeks ago, a reporter did an article on the art studio where he went and picked some pics from their 'wall of artists' and Jake's was one of them!

The whole article is here.... Jake's story though I'm not sure if you have to sign in to view it or not.

Here's the other pics I scanned from the paper!

Fear of the future

2008-06-30T22:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, the boys and I went to church . We hadn't been in quite awhile despite our best intentions. DH was busy with projects around the house so opted to keep working on those. Since I hadn't been in awhile, I had no idea what the message was gonna be on and didn't know that it'd be the last of a series that had been going on about fear.

Yesterdays was specifically on "The Fear of What the Future Holds" and "Moving from Fear to Trust".

I was kinda floored...how did THEY know what was going on in my life??? LOL

Actually, I immediately understood that it was really a message for pretty much everyone there as there's a LOT of topsy turvey things going on with finances/economy, etc, not to mention just 'normal' life stuff of relationships and tragedies/disasters that happen to us or those we love.

The first verse that was used was Is. 41:10 and I've pulled out the parts that really hit home with me where God said..."I AM with you. I AM your God. I WILL strengthen you and help you and uphold you with my hand."

I picture a parent...which is so easy for me to do since becoming one so many moons ago...with a scared child and comforting that child by saying, I'm right here, I've got you. Mommy's here, I'm holding your hand and not gonna let go!!

But the other part that hit me about this verse was the "I AM" part. Now, granted, growing up in church all my life I know that God is the 'great I am'. Ok, great. Wonderful. Really. That's awesome. But what the heck does that have to do with me??? Yesterday it struck me with this verse cuz it says...I *AM*. Not...I *WAS*. Not I "COULD BE" or "MAYBE SOMEDAY" but I AM Right now, always. Not if you do everything perfectly and live the perfect little "christian" life and blah blah blah. Nope, no stipulations on our part. Just. I am. This is me. This is what I'm promising you. I AM with you. Through all the crap that life throws at you. I AM YOUR God, personalized/personal to you, I am YOUR God. I will strengthen you. I'm not gonna just let you deal with this on your own power cuz I know you can't, you need me. I will strengthen you when you can't go on any more. I will help you, I WANT to help you. I will uphold you with my hand. I looked up 'uphold' on this site and it says...

1 a: to give support to b: to support against an opponent
2 a: to keep elevated b: to lift up

So He's saying...I will give support to you...in lots of different ways so watch out!! You'll get a card from someone out of the blue, you'll hear my voice in a song you've heard for years, you'll see me in the kindness of strangers, you'll feel me in the warm embrace of friends...I WILL support you!!

I will also support you against what you're going through! When the negative forces of life are bashing against your defenses, I will support you.

I will keep you elevated...above the raging waters of life that threaten to rip you from your moorings and tumble you about and pull you down into the depths, I will keep you elevated above that. I will keep your head above water so you don't sink into the darkest depths...

...but if you do...I will lift you up...out of those depths and back into the Light. I will lift you out of the negativeness and apathy that is all around us in this world and show you beauty and wonder again.

I AM with you. I AM your God. All the way...in every way. I've got your back. I can see through the doors of the future, I've got a plan for you that will just blow your mind, I've got ya, you're safe in my arms!!

The parts of the verse I haven't mentioned are also wonderful and full of promise..."Do NOT fear. Do NOT be dismayed." Wow. Well, sure, that's easy for you to say God...you're not going through this!!! Oh, but wait. The verse actually says...So do not fear...I AM WITH YOU! So..you mean you're going through this WITH me??? Wow. Ok, that's more like it!! "Do NOT be dismayed. Well sure, that sounds easy enough but you don't understand, there's all this "BIG PICTURE" stuff that I can see sooooooooo easily and you just don't GET that the what-ifs are really bad! But wait...it says...Do not be dismayed for *I* am YOUR God. I DO know exactly what the future holds and I CAN see the GRANDEST BIG PICTURE that your imagination can't even fathom!!! I have a plan for you!! I am with you every step of the way, so don't worry, don't stress, don't freak out and fall apart...but if you do, bring it to me, bring ME your stress and your freaking out and fall apart on me. I love you more than anyone could ever love you and I've got you...you're safe, you're all mine.

That...sounds wonderful, doesn't it? But ooooohhhh, how hard it is to REALLY trust, really let go and let Him have it all. We've been so programmed to DO SOMETHING that to just "Trust God" sounds like a pat answer or whimsical bumper sticker. That's all fine and dandy to do when life's a bed of roses and we feel we're in complete control, but trust Him when life's been turned upside down and our whole world is spinning OUT of control??? Well...sure, I'll pray, and I'll say the 'right' words...but deep down...I dunno. Deep down it's different. Deep down I say, well, yabut...if I'm NOT worrying doesn't that 'look' like I'm indifferent to the problem?? Doesn't that make me look like a cold heartless person that doesn't REALLY care?? Or people might think I'm just making up drama, that there's not REALLY something 'big' going on if I'm so relaxed and at peace, I musta just made the whole thing up or blew it all out of proportion. Drama Queen...thaz me.

The last step in stopping the fear that was talked about yesterday was "Trusting your Heavenly Father". Even when you know that the outcome might not be what you'd like it be, trust Him that He's got even better plans ahead. Trust Him when the unthinkable has happened and you wonder HOW He could have done this, if He REALLY loved me how could He have ....fill in the blank. But the last part that was said was...trust Him that whatever we're going through will be used for His glory.

Soooo many blogs/stories I've read about recently have involved some just heart-wrenching stories. The stark and open honesty of these people to share their heartache and pain...and yet...through it all...still trust in God. Still know that He's in control. He's still the same God he was before the tragedy happened. He's still holding their hand. It's showed me over and over and over again...THAT's what I want!! I want THAT trust. I want THAT relationship. And that's what I'm working on with MY God.

So...we have the 'fear' of what Alex's job will be in another couple months. We have that unknown. We have that big WHAT-IF. We know that we could have to move, it IS a possibility for various reasons. I don't know what the future holds. But this I do know...that MY God is with me. MY God will strengthen me and help me and uphold me. And through it all, I can use this to praise Him and give Him the glory for everything that He's done for me and my family and how, no matter what the circumstance, He has always, always provided...

...always.

So is it summer yet?

2008-06-29T13:41:00.000-07:00

The boys knew that June 20th was the first day of summer. It's been marked on our calendar for a long time now. Even when the temps started rising higher and higher, they still didn't think that "SUMMER" was here, cuz it wasn't past 'the official day'.

Soooo, we passed that miraculous day, celebrated it with triple digit heat as if to say...SEE!!!!! SUMMER is REALLY here!!!

But all week I've been hearing, "Well...when summer gets here, then we can do blah blah blah." Or "well ya, but that's when it'll be HOT cuz summer will be here". LOL It's funny to hear/listen to cuz the understanding just isn't quite there yet that THIS is summer! This IS as hot as it'll get on a 'normal' day, with the occasional spike up into the 100's to make us dream of fall, accompanied by the dreaded sweltering nites that only the chugging of the a/c unit AND fans can put a dent in. This is summer in the IE. It doesn't show up on the 20th of June and doesn't disappear Sept 22nd. Now obviously I understand that in some places, it does, just...not here, not in SoCal. SoCal, you get 90 degree days in January, I have pics of the boys running through the sprinklers to prove it. And you'll even get cold days...oh wait, no, no you won't. This is SoCal, we don't DO cold. =P

We do have cool days during our 'winter', as in the highs are in the 50's and everyone's bundled up like Eskimos. And most of us, ok, at least my mom and I, enjoy the cold for all it's worth. We KNOW the heat that's coming. We like the cold! Now, my mom's a bit more extreme than I, she'd like to live where it snows most of the time, though she'll be the first to admit that she would NOT want to have to shovel it, or drive in it (and it's nasty twin..ICE) but the cold part, ya, definitely.

So...summer's here. It's just gonna stick around for another 3 months and make us fall on our knees and thank the good Lord above when 'fall' finally gets here, which means days in the 70s and low 80s and we all go....ahhhhhh....THIS is nice!!

Waiting on the Lord...WILL renew our strength!

2008-06-26T22:32:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday Alex was informed that his orders will not be renewed for his current position with the unit he works with now (he's military if that helps to explain the 'orders') So basically that means that come Sept he won't be working there anymore. When he transferred to this unit 3 years ago he kept rehire rights with his former unit that if, within 5 years, he wanted to come back to work there, he could. So that's the good news, that he DOES have a job to 'go back to'. The bad news is, it's a HUGE paycut! To the point where we wouldn't be able to afford to stay in our house as our payments have gone up a lot in 3 years (though we're now in a fixed interest, which is good news, it won't KEEP going up) Sooooo, that's the news that he brought home last Tuesday...that he won't have his job anymore, has to go back to his old one which means a lot less money, and we have to move.

Needless to say, it's been a helluva week!

Those that know me well know that I'm not an easy crier, yet I did a lot of it last week and just couldn't seem to turn the leaky faucet off for very long! I'd be fine and then without warning, I'm leaking again!

I prayed and prayed and prayed some more, never doubting that God was the same God He was before we'd gotten the news, that His love for us had not changed one iota, and that He grieved with us for our pain and sorrow, but that never once did He not have us safe in His arms! His plans for us, though we can't see them, are not to hurt or harm us, that's NOT the kind of God we have, and when I remembered that, when I remembered that though I feel like I don't have any control over this (and for those that know me, THAT's something I have issues with!!) that HE does and through it all will keep us safe and sound.

I struggled for peace, I struggled to understand, since as I looked at the 'problem' placed in front of us, we'd be having to move very shortly after the baby's born, and WHO would WANT to do that???? And where would we go? Would be still be local? Have to move out of state? Move somewhere else in-state? There were too many unknowns for me. It was just too overwhelming.

I'd look around the house and think...this is the place I've lived the longest! My whole life I've moved around so many times, that THIS is the longest I've lived in one house/place. And the kids, this is all they've known! Our memories are here, ALL of our memories as a family are here.

And you remember the floor, right? I mean, Alex had literally just finished the last bit of it on Monday nite. (ok, ok, so we still need baseboards, but BESIDES that!) And then Tuesday we get this news. I told God...ya know, SERIOUSLY!??!?!?!? You couldn't have bothered to drop this news on us BEFORE we laid these beautiful floors???? Grumble, grumble, grumble. And yes, I know, I still owe ya'll the 'finished' pics, I'll do my darndest to get those taken and uploaded today.

And of course, there's the nursery.

But, ironically, and prolly cuz besides getting relatively cleaned out it hasn't really been touched, this was the easiest of the things to 'let go'. And I said, well, that's one less thing to have to do. Cuz why set it all up if we'll be moving come Sept/Oct anyway, right? The baby will be in our room for a few months anyway, so there's no RUSH to have to have the nursery done, (other than it's done and I won't have to do it after the baby's here) so it's ok. And I already know exactly what I wanted to do in there and I can duplicate that anywhere, so, no worries.

But the rest of it, well, ya know the saying..."If these walls could talk..."?? Of course, THAT had to keep playing over and over in my head.

So that's the emotional take from my side. From Alex's it was/is worse in some respects. He's definitely not an (outward) crier but you can see that part of his spirit has been crushed by this news. Plus, he still has to work at the same place til Sept, and his 'want-to' isn't there anymore. Men process things a whole lot differently than women and for him he blames himself for this even though there is no blame to be laid. It wasn't anything he did/didn't do that resulted in his orders not being renewed, it was/is strictly politics and the unit that took over this facility last year (long story, but it's not the same unit he signed on with 3 years ago, but it is still the same facility) has wanted one of "their" guys in his slot and have been pushing and prodding and finally got their way. And while he knows this in his head, it's still a big blow and he feels like he's failed in some way, which is just sucky for all of us. For you wives out there that have gone through similar situations, your words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated!! I'm a huge nurturer, that's just who I am especially for my loved ones, but I know that *I* can't erase his pain/anger/frustration, etc, and knowing what to say and how to 'be there' without babying him or coddling, which is just annoying at times, well, some wisdom would help!

So, now we're a week out from there and the news hasn't changed. However, the good news is that our mortgage company has worked out a deal with us to lower our interest rate which lowers our interest and we're locked into that for 5 years (then it'll go back to where it was, but still a fixed mtg, or we'll refinance to a lower interest, etc, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there) That saves us quite a bit per month, but still doesn't close the gap between what we need to cover our bills and what he'll be bringing in if he goes back to his 'old job'. And that's an irony in and of itself anyway, as his 'old job' doesn't even exist anymore!! He transferred out of his old unit because he was a crew chief working on the C135s, and when the last BRAC happened, they got all their planes taken away from them and gives to other units because there was a chance (at the time it was only a 'chance') that they'd be getting the Predators (unmanned spy planes) but there was no guarantee and Alex wanted to be working, not sitting around twiddling his thumbs. So, he transferred to working at the alert facility and gets to work on F16s now, which he likes and is really cool. His old unit did indeed end up with the Predators though, but of course, there's a lot less positions available now because it's a lot smaller plane, etc. Soooo, we're waiting to here where he'll be placed there. He's also looking into any other positions that are open ON THE BASE that pays equivilant to what he's making now. Best case scenario (that we can think of, though of course God's best case always outstrips ours!!) is that he'd find another active duty position (which is what he's got now) as then his pay would stay the same, same bennies, etc. Well, ok, not really, best case would be to find position that pays even MORE than he makes now, and keeps the same bennies, etc. =P

Sooo, that's what we need the prayers focused on now, is where his next job will be. He does 'have' a job but knows that if he takes that he'll also need to get a part time job to supplement. Our business is growing and we've been very busy lately, so your continued prayers for that would be AWESOME as well. We've got plans that within the next week or two will provide a lot more advertising and getting the word out, and all of it provides more income. Cuz if we can get the business bringing in a consistent amount of $ then he won't need to get a PT job, which would be awesome! So pray that our business keeps doing well, pray that he finds the job he's supposed to have that will bring him the fulfillment and contentment that he needs as a man, and that we'll continue to feel God's plan for us. We know that He's got some great things in store for us, and we even feel that we will be moving, we're just trying to not have to move with a newborn!! LOL

So, if you've read all the way through this whole thing, thanks for putting up with my ramblings!!! I know I'm a bit long winded, but I come by it honestly...from both parents!! =P

Waiting....waiting....

2008-06-26T10:23:00.000-07:00

Hot time in the ol' town lately

2008-06-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

So yes, this is another post about...the weather! But seriously, when it's been over 100 for almost a week and it had barely been in the 90's before that, it was quite the shocker. June isn't usually THAT hot, we get the June gloom thing and go from there. But no, we went from gloom to bloomin' hot heat! It started last Tuesday or Wednesday, culminating with Friday being the hottest at 112, though it cooled on Saturday to 107 and a balmy 105 on Sunday to 101 yesterday. Today and the rest of the week is SUPPOSED to only be in the low 90s, so, we'll see!

The boy's have been dealing with it like only kids can and enjoying the fact that because it's SOOOOO hot it's warmed the pool up quite a bit so it's really quite perfect. They and I were in it yesterday for about 3 hrs, we were pretty water logged by the time we got out but it felt really good and cooled us off. Best of all is that none of us got sunburned at all, which is a miracle in and of itself considering how WHITE I am (they take after Daddy and brown up nicely) Actually, Alex is the only one's that's gotten sunburned this year, to the point where almost his whole back was peeling, and that's a first for him!!!

June's flying by so quickly, less than a week now til July's here. We've been busy around the house with various projects, got the pool all setup, got the garage halfway cleaned out and got new floors laid in the living/dining room, which was the BIGGEST project yet!! They look sooooooo awesome now!! I'm gonna be painting the upstairs hallway sometime this week as well as cleaning out/reorganizing the family room. Then next week or so I'll probably start painting the nursery (though I dreamed I did that last nite and painted it a really YUK color!) so that can be just about done. I've got two baby showers being held for me next month, and a birthday party to go to in between those and helping to throw another baby shower for a friend the week after that, so right now the only Saturdays I've got open are this coming one and the one on the 4th, which will prolly end up being at a friends! That's gonna make July seem to go by quickly as well.

The boys are going to Summer Splash (VBS) at our church the first week in July and they're very excited about it! Mommy's excited for it too cuz they'll be at that for a week every morning!! And it's the week that my shower's up here, so I'll have lots of time to clean and get ready.

Ok, all this talk of projects and stuff...won't get done if I stay on here all day!

Hmm...THIS is California??

2008-05-23T22:26:00.000-07:00

When Alex walked in from work last nite, I was happy to see him. I love it when he's home, or at least 95% of the time (and trust me, he feels the same! lol) but especially on Thursday nites because it generally means that he has a 3 day weekend ahead of him and I get him for 3 days! But this time's different cuz he also gets Monday off for Memorial Day, so 4 days! YAY!! Now before some of you women think I'm just insane, let me tell you that yes, there was a time when it was easier for me when he was at work and not underfoot than when he was home. But...I dunno, times have changed and I love having him home. Well, most of the time. ;)

But I digress...

So he walks in looking like his usual "Yellow Power Ranger" (he rides a motorcycle and his jacket and helmet is yellow/black, so he's had that nickname for years when he's in his gear) He pulls his helmet off and says....

"I saw a TORNADO on my way home from work!!!!!"

Honestly, my first thought was, oh dear, he's REALLY exhausted and now he's seeing things. LOL I mean, come on, we live in Southern CALIFORNIA. Seriously. But me, being such a wise (ass) wife merely said..."Ya right, this is CALIFORNIA!!" Which was obviously not the reaction he was going for I guess. LOL So he proceeded to fill me in on it, saying that there were TWO of them crossing the 215 and how he pelted with hail and other debris on his way down Van Buren as the tornado was headed through the field parallel to his way home. He was trying to outrun it to get home to warn us, but it dissipated when it got to the end of the field, which is about 2 blocks from here. I was still skeptical, not of him, per se, just...this is California, we don't DO tornadoes here! So I said..."well, what do you want to do? We don't have a basement, soooo???" He's like, well, just be ready to go somewhere to get away from it! I'm like..oh, ok. Yes, I know I'm a bit slow!

So the kids were getting all pumped cuz while he wasn't telling THEM they love to eavesdrop and heard something about weather, sky, etc, so they wanted to go look. So when he went upstairs I said go ahead, go look. But then I hear Alex yelling for them to get back inside so I decide, hmm, ok, let's see what there is to see. So I go out and sure enough the sky is black and gray and mad and boiling, but no twisters in sight. It had started hailing again though which is why (i'm assuming) he didn't want them out there.

Alex called his boss to let him know that he'd made it home safely and his boss said that on the east side of the base cars were getting covered in SNOW! Though I think it later turned out to be hail and lots and lots of it, but still!

Umm...it's May 22nd. In Southern California!

Throughout the rest of the evening we checked on stories coming out here and there and apparently we got a smattering of almost everything. Snow, rain, hail, lightening, thunder, tornadoes, and periodic rays of sun.

It was definitely something to remember....crazy, crazy weather!!

Here's a link to more pics and video of it! CRAZY CA WEATHER

THIS is California???

2008-05-23T10:57:00.000-07:00

New look...on a lot of things

2008-05-22T23:13:00.000-07:00

So I made a new header for this blog tonite, got tired of looking at the old one even though I'm not even on this blog that much. But hey, it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind...often...and her blog, etc. I did the same kinda thing for the baby's site as I wanted to change that up since it's been the same for the last 5 months or so.

So when I was designing the new look and making the new header I was trying to come up with a 'catchy' name, something that stands out and sounds really cool. I've been to a ton of blogs that have such awesomely cool names that I really wish *I* had thought them up!! But alas, nothing came to me. Guess I used up all my creativity for the day designing other stuff, lol. So I just used BluRayn cuz that's *ME* and a part of my fav verse, Isaiah 40:31.

The past couple months have been very stressful for Alex and I as we are struggling financially as are sooooo many people across the nation. At times it feels like we're fighting a losing battle with the mortgage and will end up losing it and other times like it's merely a speedbump on the road of life and we'll be just fine and we'll be here a very long time. When I start getting super stressed and feeling like it's all too much to bear...this verse keeps coming to mind and it's been my favorite since I was young...

"They that WAIT upon the Lord WILL renew their strength...(I love that part especially when the pregnancy fatigue kicks in and I just wanna sleep all day but can't!!)
...they will mount up with wings like eagles...
...they will RUN and NOT be weary...(don't you love that? I can't walk too far w/o getting weary!!)
...they will walk and NOT faint!! (See...even when you're just 'walking' you'll still have the strength and stamina needed to get through!)

So I thought it was very fitting that I put that on my personal blog, the one that's just about me and my musings and thoughts. Not the family's page, not Baby Boo's page, not anything other than this one. This is where I talk about things that matter to me on a more personal level, not that there won't be stories and whatnots from the other areas of my life too, but...well, you know what I mean!

The fatigue from this pregnancy varies on a daily basis it seems. Sometimes I have lots of energy all day, sometimes it doesn't kick in til 8pm, other times I've got it first thing in the morning but by 10am I'm ready for a nap! So I say this verse as a prayer and claim the promise that God WILL renew my strength and keep me going! And let me tell ya, it works!! Much better than caffeine! =P

But speaking of rest it's 11:30PM and I'm needing my beauty roost!!

2008....already!!

2008-05-06T19:22:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's already 2008....as in I haven't posted in.....waaaaaaay too long. But, in my humble defense, I WAS posting a lot on my fertility blog...about...well, the journey of TTC. And that's where I posted most everything, until I got my BFP back in December, a mere 3 days after Christmas (hey, Santa's got a LOT to do, it's ok that he was a little late!!) So, fast forward to now...I'm 22weeks along, due in September and we're having a .....oh wait...we're not telling. ;)

The baby's got it's own blog HERE if you wanna read all about that.

I thought I'd revive this blog for talking about everything else that isn't baby related. It'll prolly still be 'mommy' related, or family related, but well, at least it's someplace to 'go' to write about everything else that goes on in my head. With the baby's site I feel like I 'should' be writing about the pregnancy, but that gets old after awhile when there's nothing going on!! (and by nothing going on I mean of course that everything's going just fine and smooth as silk, which is a GOOD THING!)

So I'll be slowly updating stuff about what's gone on since I last posted as there have been a LOT of changes!!! But right now, I gotta get dinner on the table!!

The joys of "L"

2007-12-13T08:57:00.000-08:00

Ya know, when your tongue hasn't quite mastered that tricky "L" sound and it comes out "W" everytime, it can make for some interesting conversations! Just the other day, James was dancing around singing a song from the soundtrack of "Pirates of the Caribbean" (the ride, not the movie) My mom and grandma were up visiting and got to hear his version of it and we all had a good laugh cuz he was dancing around singing... "A Pirates *W*ife for Me"

ROFL

An update...awhile in the coming!

2007-07-08T00:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I've been remiss in my posting. So shoot me. ;)

Here's the latest on the mystery lump.

It never went away, even after surgery. In fact, it's still in the exact same spot, feels exactly the same and everything. I had a CT scan done last month cuz I thought that the hernia was back. Yesterday got those results and surprise, no hernia. But this surgeon (different from the one that operated) said that he thinks it's a lipoma. HA! That's exactly what my reg dr said originally! She said that's what she thought since nothing showed up on the ct scan. But when she sent me to a surgeon to see if surgery was needed, he said it wasn't a lipoma but a hernia and I had surgery a couple weeks later. So now I think I never had a hernia and had surgery for nothing :(

The good news is that the lipoma isn't dangerous and surgery is not needed until/unless it becomes painful and annoying and I want it removed. Given that I've been on bcp since Feb and we're anxious to start ttc again, surgery can definitely wait! I'm very glad I don't have to have ANOTHER surgery as it was just a big kink in my plans!!

Ok, that's about it, I've updated everything on the other blogs. I'll check in here more often though!

Quick update...

2007-01-07T17:49:00.000-08:00

So I took a nap this afternoon (surprise, surprise!) and the dr FINALLY called after about 4 hours! But to his defense the caller ID showed up as the hospital so he might have been in surgery or making rounds, so I'm not peeved.

Anyway, he told DH that I could have ripped something but that unless I'm running a high fever to not worry but just take it very easy. He said, "she's not supposed to be lifting or anything!!" DH's like, 'she didn't, she just rolled over wrong!' he's like, "well, she's not supposed to be doing that either!!"

*rolls eyes*

My goodness, it's been awhile!!

2007-01-07T12:29:00.000-08:00

So, yes, I know, it's been far too long since I posted. But then again, I have a good excuse, I think. Prolly. Well, you decide.

A few months ago I found a lump in my stomach, right near my belly button. It felt like the tip of a knuckle and was just really weird. By the time I went to the dr about it it felt like the size of an elbow, and she referred me out for a CT scan and then to a surgeon as she thought it was a lipoma which is "an unnatural grouping of natural fatty cells". The surgeon told me that no, it wasn't a lipoma, it was a hernia. Apparently it was caused by the stomach wall getting weakened from my gall bladder surgery almost 15 years ago.

SOOOO, the day after Christmas I got to have surgery to repair it, aren't I lucky?? Yessireee! And obviously I'm still enjoying the side benefits of THAT wonderful thing! (NOT) I have a 6" scar running across my stomach and a hole, yes, HOLE, where they had a JP drain. On Wednesday I pulled a muscle (I *think*) near the incision site and now I'm in more pain than I was before getting the staples and tube removed (also on Wednesday which is what led to me thinking I was *soooo* much better!!) Also, I still get tired very quickly which just really sucks! I'm sick and tired of feeling sick and tired!!

So my goal right now for this year is to start going to the gym regularly, and starting to eat a low carb. I'm also going on the pill for 3-6 mos, so that will enable me to just focus on my weight, not the possibility of getting pg. So that's my plan. I'll start going to the gym as soon as I'm fully healed. I pulled a muscle or what feels like it, close/on the edge of the incision and it's been hurting a lot, so that's showed me that I still have to take it easy. And like I said, I get tired out easily as well, but I'll just do the best I can. I'll be starting the low carb as soon as I can go grocery shopping. I'm using the menu from SavingDinner.com, the Body Clutter one. I also have the book and have been reading it and writing in my journal in response to the questions they ask. If I get brave enough I'll post some of what I've written at a later time.

I just called and left a message for the dr to call me since I want to see if this is a pulled muscle or not. Alex wants to take me to the ER but I know that's always a few hours and taking the kids just doesn't sound like a fun family outing! So we compromised by me calling the dr and seeing what he'll say. I'm still waiting for him to call though, and haven't had to call him after hours before so have no idea how long it'll take for him to call back. I've only ever seen him 3 times, the first consultation, day of surgery and follow up on Wednesday. So, we'll see. Hopefully he'll call back soon!

Why doesn't coffee work 100% of the time??

2006-10-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this is my first blog entry at this new site. So far, so cool. ;)

So my question is...

Why doesn't coffee work 100% of the time to wake me up??? Seriously! I have a choice in the morning, leaded or unleaded. Today, I went with leaded. But, is it working?? NOOOOOOOOO! I could soooo easily go back to bed. And since DH made breakfast this morning, the boys are off playing, sorta, I could do it. But, I also have a lot of errands to run today, not the least of which is to take the boys to the Pumpkin Patch, so I really don't think going back to bed for a few hours would be a good idea. Maybe tomorrow!

We just had LilJ's party yesterday and it was a lot of fun, though stressful getting it all ready in time. ESPECIALLY since BigJ is in baseball and had an 8am game!

So that's all ya get for now. Gotta go hit the showers to get going for the day. :whip: That should work to wake me up, right? If not, maybe a trip to Starbucks is in order!! :hyper: THAT usually works!!

Wow...

2006-09-30T22:32:00.000-07:00

tomorrow is October. 19 days from now my baby will be 4!! Time flies, that's for sure! As long as it was still September I could pretend that fall wasn't here yet, summer was still the rage, even with a kid in school. But with October ringing itself in tomorrow, well...the gig's up. Fall's here, pumpkins, costumes, and all the fixin's!

Time does fly!!

2006-09-10T16:46:00.000-07:00

So I haven't posted in awhile, shoot me! Not that any body's reading this ANYWAY! I can tell from the plethora of comments that I have a massive following. LOL

Anyway, it's September already, and worse, it's almost the MIDDLE of September!!!

The teeth finally cleared up, had to get that one tooth packed THREE times cuz of dry socket but it finally healed. Still get food stuck in the hole but it's filling in more and more, so that's all good. Health has been good for weeks now as well, past the flu bug stage finally. YAY!

We're moving forward with teh refi. The appraiser will be out tomorrow so we've been busy little beavers cleaning up for that. Got the side yard cleaned out completely, including the jacuzzi, so that's a major accomplishment!! Feels good to see clean out there, that's for sure!

Had a baby shower rental today, nice drive, nice day. Setup really easy too considering it's the first rental that was a 'stand' instead of stake. Have to go pick it up in about 30 minutes, so that part sucks, but oh well. ;)

Big J started school 2 weeks ago, he's really enoying it a lot and his teacher is wonderful! He really feels like a big kid now too cuz he's on the 'mixed' playground with all the other grades, so he's arrived. He's giving us headaches with his attitude lately though, I think I've got quite a few more gray hairs now!! =( Ah well, I'm sure this too shall pass.

Well, off to be productive! Please, don't be shy, leave a comment, give me some lovin'. =P

CONGRATS CAROLYN & TONY!!

2006-08-10T17:03:00.000-07:00

My sister Carolyn posted this on her blog today....

"2nd Beta and U/S results!!!!

Well we got our 2nd beta results back from the draw on 8-7 and they were 947!! That's a doubling time of 29 hours! They say high numbers can mean multiples??? Oh boy!! So they sent us in to get an U/S today.......Well I couldn't believe it, me and Tony went in and I had to drink tons of water so they could do an exterior u/s first. Well right when she touched the wand to my uterus she saw a small sac, but not real clear, so she did the vaginal u/s and found the tiny lil sac, and you can even see the yolk sac!! She said well usually this early we don't see that, but it is measuring 4 1/2 weeks so all looks good!! I go to the doctors for my first official OB appt on 8-29 and they will do another u/s to see the heartbeat then
I am soo happy that I am in tears right now. And here I was a few weeks ago crying thinking it would take me like a year to get pg again!!
Well here's the pics I got from the u/s today we are of course on cloud nine!!!"

I'm so happy for her and Tony!! Can't wait to meet my new nephew/niece!!

Sick and tired of being sick and tired!!

2006-08-06T19:51:00.000-07:00

I had my wisdom teeth pulled a week ago Friday, the 28th. They knocked me out for it and pulled all four, including one that was impacted. Later that day I had the joy of throwing up THREE times from the drugs they used to knock me out! I finally got some meds that made that go away and then could just deal with the pain. Although I had vicodan, it didn't really do much. By Tuesday I was calling the dr and got in same day. Turns out I had 'dry socket' in the hole where the impacted tooth was. For those of you unfamiliar with this condition, it felt like the whole bottom row of teeth on my right side ALL had infections/toothache, my cheek was infected (and soooooo sore) my gums, my EAR, temple, jaw, basically whole right side of my face!! And all from ONE socket! So he packed some stuff in it that tasted really nasty but numbed it up nicely and within a few hours I finally had peace!! I got it repacked when I went in on Friday, and I go back in tomorrow for another checkup. Dunno if I'll need the repacking or not. That socket is STILL being trouble, and my cheek is still stiff right down in there. So if I eat ANYTHING, inevitably a piece of food gets stuck between the jaw and cheek that I can't get out. And that's just annoying!!!

Last month was a blur, really. It started out fine, but then, I got sick the second week. Stomach flu. Caught it from the lil one, then I got it, then the big one got it. Oh, and a couple days before the lil one got it, DH splashed pool chemicals in his eyes and had to be rushed to the ER!! So that week was pretty crazy, to stay the least!! I ended up hoarse from throwing up, and that lasted into the latter part of the next week. Then, just when I felt completely better, that next Monday I got the 'regular' flu; fever, sore throat, cough, body/joint aches, ears hurt, etc. That lasted a couple days and I ended up hoarse AGAIN from the cough. So I worked on getting better all week cuz on FRIDAY of that week, I had my teeth pulled. And you know what the next week (which was last week) was like. So July was a big blur of sickness. Blech!!

Now the big one's sick with a sore throat, runny nose and cough. I keep telling him, stay away from me, I CAN NOT get sick again!! And before you criticize that, I just mean not to get right in my face, or lay on me around my shoulders, etc. Not with just getting over my last bout. I finally have my voice completely back 100%, I'd like to keep it that way.

Plus, I think my immune system might not be at 100%. I don't usually get sick, even when the kids do and coughing all over me, etc. But I got sick twice last month, back to back. Weird.

Also, I found a 'lump' in my stomach a few weeks ago. Went to the dr this last week and she thinks it's an abdominal fibroid and ordered a CT scan. I of course googled fibroid when I got home but kept finding info on uterine ones, which this is definitely NOT. It's right next to, but above, my belly button and to the left. It doesn't hurt but it's gotten bigger in the past couple weeks. It's about an inch or so and feels like an elbow or knee feels like when I'm pg. Which of course, I'm not.

So, lots going on physically. I would really like to get past all of this and have a clean bill of health!!

Swimming in deep waters...

2006-07-19T20:12:00.000-07:00

That's the goal. Swimming. In DEEP waters. Or at least 8 ft. We're at the beginning stages of looking at pools. We're currently looking at an inground pool that has the lining in it, not sure if they have a 'special' name or not. It would be really nice to have a 'real' pool, and we're really hoping that it all works out. We also want to put in a patio, grill area, furniture, tables, etc. I will post pics when we start excavation and keep you up to date!

Yes, I've been AWOL for awhile!!

2006-07-06T08:46:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I disappeared for awhile. So sue me. =P Seriously, it's just been crazy lately and blogging just wasn't a priority. I do beg your forgiveness and promise to post more often. Really!

YES, DH is HOME!! The trip out to TX was uneventful except for a flat tire in Flagstaff. Thankfully I was parked at a gas station when it decided to happen (must've run over something on the way in the parking lot cuz it wasn't flat on the fwy, either that or somebody knifed it!) and the place had a garage that changed it for me for free. The only bad part was the spare wasn't good, different size than the others and I still had a very long way to go. So $181 later I was set and on my way.

The rest of the trip was good, made good time and everyone was very happy to see each other!! It was an adjustment having DH home, and especially since the very next Friday was Jake's last day of school. Then everybody was home and that really threw me for a loop. But we managed and life goes on.

We went to NJ for a wedding in mid June. Had a really time visiting with all the family, good seeing everyone again (especially since I'd only met them once before at DH's dad's funeral) The kids had a blast being around all their cousins and were spoiled rotten since the next youngest cousin is 15! They had a lot of fun though and didn't really wanna leave. I LOVED all the trees there, it's sooooo greeen!!! And the weather cooperated nicely by not getting hot and/or humid until the day before we left. Then it treated us to some very, very hot and very very humid weather, which we were VERY happy to leave behind!

We did get some sight seeing done, went up to West Point one day and walked around there and took lots of pics. Then another we took the ferry over to Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty. Both were very cool and yes, lots more pics! And yes, I'll post some soon!

The boys have been in swim lessons for the past 2 weeks and are enjoying them immensely. Which is great, for them. Me...not so much. I mean, last week was triple digit heat!! And I have to sit there and watch them get to splash around in the nice cool pool for 40 mins! Me...I WANT TO SWIM TOO!! Ah well. DH did get our pool set up in the backyard this weekend. Even though it's only a 15'x42" one, it's still enough to get in and cool off in. The kids love it of course and it does definitely cool ya off. Plus, they sleep really well!

Well, I know this is short but I gotta git. Will write more often though!!

Hmm...been awhile!

2006-04-17T21:36:00.000-07:00

It's kinda funny, I blogged daily for quite awhile, couldn't get enough of it, even did it twice a day sometimes, and then now haven't blogged for a couple weeks! =P Ahh well, I'm back!

Ok, lessee, what's happened since last I reported.

The business started doing pretty good, had people calling, making reservations, etc. Had my first moon rental and also my first set of twins, which was pretty cool. (Oh, in case you're clueless as to what in the world I'm talking about, click on the link that says "Our family business")

My folks were able to come up and visit last week. They live 1.5 hrs from here but life's been so crazy hectic they haven't been able to get up here since late January. We had a really nice visit and as usual didn't want them to leave.

We only have 4.2 weeks left til I leave to go pick up Alex!! Time's definitely going by quickly and I know it's God that's doing it, cuz when I first looked at the whole FOUR AND A HALF MONTHS I wondered how in the world I'd do it. But it's not been too bad and time's gone by fast. The kids have been really good, not giving me any fits (more so than usual anyway) so that's all good.

Speaking of kidlings...Jake tripped tonite and sprained his foot. Iced it, talked to DH (who's a first aid instructor) and decided to take him into Urgent Care for eval since he couldn't walk on it even after 30-45 minutes. Our UC is right down the street and it's just like going to the dr, same co-pay, etc, and much better hours since our kids usually do stuff that needs attending to in the evening/weekend or even holidays!

And speaking of THAT, hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!! We had a quiet one just being the 3 of us. We went to Easter services at church (The Grove) in the morning, then went out to lunch. It was a nice service although there were sooooo many people there!!! We all had a good time though.

We adopted a soldier through Operation AC. We've done this before and enjoyed the experience and wanted to do it again. Doesn't really matter whether you think the war is 'right' or not, the soliders over there still need support and love from home. So the guy we have is 22 and will be there for another year or so. A long time to be away from home!! Hopefully we can give him a little comfort and taste of home once in awhile.

I also found a blog about a guy who's actually been over there awhile, not in the military, just as a writer. He's got some amazing stories, lemme tell ya!! Some of them have been submitted for the Pulitzer prize!! If you're interested check out Michael Yon/ or under my links section

That's about it, at least for now. I'll update more when I think of something ;) I'll also post more so I don't fall so far behind.

G'nite!

6.5 weeks and counting

2006-04-02T13:46:00.000-07:00

6 weeks from Wed I get to go get my honey!! YAY!!!

IT'S FRIDAY!!!!

2006-03-31T10:24:00.000-08:00

So it's Friday AND payday...need I say more??? =P

2006-03-29T16:26:00.000-08:00

So, I had the ever so bright idea to stay up late last nite and clean. I do better cleaning at nite than in the daytime cuz i have more energy and don't have the rugrats making messes faster than i can clean. I finally fell into bed around 345 am. Yes, AM. Had to get up 3 hrs later to get the big guy off to school. I tried to make coffee this morning but I'm so out of practice it tasted like sludge. And since I was merely exhausted not dying, I didn't feel the need to devour it. So since I had no luck with the caffeine route I went back to bed. Of course that does not mean I got a whole heck of a lot of deep sleep seeing as how I had a 3 yr running around, asking me questions every little while, etc. But at least I got to rest. I'm still feeling the effects. Feels like I took meds that make you sleepy, you know that groggy, foggy kinda existence. Sorta sucks. Especially since the boy's bedtime isn't for another 2.5 hrs. And who knows, given my quirkiness, I'll prolly be awake by then! :(

The morning after

2006-03-25T09:21:00.000-08:00

So this is what James' eye looks like this morning.

Ya, I know. Poor baby!!!

But, he's running around all over the place as usual this morning, jumping and bouncing off the walls. So it only bruised his eye, not his spirit.

Which is a pretty good lesson about life, huh?

James' first shiner

2006-03-24T18:25:00.000-08:00

Well, it was bound to happen and tonight it did. James got his first shiner! He was playing with Jacob and a neighbor kid. The two older ones were hitting a football back and forth with bats. Yes, a football with bats. Yes, kids do weird things. I had gone inside for a minute and was on my way out the door when I heard the scream. Then the crying. You moms know the cry, the one that gets your heart tripping up into your throat. The one where you drop everything and run to your kid. That cry. I got there a second or two later and the first thing I see is James standing there screaming covering his left eye. The neighbor's son was standing right behind him holding a bat.

That was the panic moment. That was the moment where my heart stopped for a minute.

There were 3 bats in the yard, 2 of which were the soft cushiony kind. The other was the wooden Jr Lil Slugger.

And yes, of course, it was the wooden one that made contact with my baby's face.

I called my husband and told him "The FIRST thing you're gonna do when you get home is teach me first aid!!" He's an instructor and knows all that good stuff, but me, well, I just have my mom instincts. I had already put ice on it which is what he said to do first. I was already keeping an eye on him closely (of course) for any sign of concussion.

THANK GOD!! After the panic had subsided and he was running around again like nothing had happened, I thanked God and his guardian angels that the bat missed his eye and eye socket. Caught him right on the corner of his cheek bone, but at least missed the eye itself. That was my first thought when I saw him covering his eye and the other kid with the bat. "Oh no, don't let him lose his eye!!" I expected to see blood and was so relieved to not! Thankfully, he's doing fine and will just have to explain to everyone for awhile what happened....

"No, my mommy doesn't beat me!" =P

James' first shiner

2006-03-24T18:02:00.000-08:00

I've been busy!

2006-03-24T15:01:00.000-08:00

So, today I made two new blogs, one for our family and one for our journey to get pregnant again....they are...

http://ovarytales.blogspot.com (umm..you can prolly figure that one out!!)
http://chinclan.blogspot.com (again, pretty self explanatory!)

The "present"

2006-03-23T08:21:00.000-08:00

Last night I had a stork delivery to do. I was getting tools out of the car, setting the stork up, etc (in case you're clueless click the link for my biz and you'll get a visual) The boys were for the most part behaving themselves as the general rule while I'm setting up the stork/moon is that they need to be quiet. Not completely so, I AM a realist, but no yelling as I have the hatch and side door open. The neighborhoods are generally quiet and sounds travels quite a ways!

Anyway, they were being boys and started making boy noises. I *think* they were trying to fake burps. I'm 'trying' to teach them not to do that around adults, or at least around ladies since most adult men would prolly find it amusing, given that they're still adolescents themselves! This is a conversation that happened next...

"buuuurrrrrrrrppp"

Hysterical laughter

"bbbbuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrpppppp"

More hysterical laughter

I poke my head in the front passenger side to get some tools out of the bag that was up there. "Umm, guys, that's enough."

"BUUUURRRRPPP" (and again, remember, these are fake burps, not the real McCoy)

"Guys! I said enough, you don't do that in front of a lady! There's a lady present here!!"

Jake (the 6yr old) "Where's the lady, Mom??"

I hang my head. Oy...haven't I taught them ANYTHING???

"Umm...I'M the lady, remember???"

"Oh ya, but, where's the present??"

James pipes in and tries to look around the seat to see the 'present' too. "Where's the present, I wanna see the present tooooo!!"

"No, no no, there's not a PRESENT, there's a lady present!"

"Oh, so you have a present, can I see it? What is it, where is it?" This from the 6yr old, again.

So then of course I try to explain the difference between the two and how though they sound the same, they're not and how present means 'here'.

Silence greets this explanation and a set of eyes that look way to old to belong to a 6yr old just look at me like I'm a) making it up, or 2) lying to him and just trying to hide the 'present'.

"Oh, ok Mom." But the look says much more.

I finish setting up the stork as they go back to playing. No more mention was made of the 'present' though I'm still not sure if they (or at least the big guy) got what I was trying to say after all. And all because I'm "TRYING" to teach my boys manners around a lady, something that isn't instilled in every young man nowadays.

*sigh*

Oh, the joys of motherhood!!! ;)

I'm officially moved!

2006-03-18T22:04:00.000-08:00

So I moved all my posts today from LiveJournal to here. Did all that cuz I found I liked the features better here than there. Plus I had this blog first. And it's a pain in the hooha to keep up countless blogs!!

I also got my MY page done. Actually, that's a big fat lie. I only got it started, barely. But it at least have something on it and points here, so that's all good!

What is it? Oh..ya. It's www.AprilChin.com.

How cool is that? I got my own site with my own name! Now I rank right up there with Oprah!! Well, ok, but close! ;)

Waaaay too tired tonite, gonna go sleep now.

Well...it's hump day...

2006-03-15T08:30:00.000-08:00

I'm tired this morning. I feel like I've been going going for awhile, but really just had a full day yesterday. It was a great day just busy.

We've reached the halfway mark with DH, 10 wks gone, 10 wks to go. The boys and I are so looking forward to him getting home, we really REALLY miss him!!! :(

Getting my caffeine fix right now so hopefully will be waking up soon so I can get my house clean today. I'm tired of looking at it so want to get it cleaned up. I also want to go look at paint and maybe knock off one of my projects this weekend. We'll see. If I do anything I'll post before and after shots.

Thaz about it for now. Still not fully awake, though starting to get there.

Toodle-Onies!!

DA#2 - I trust the process of life

2006-03-15T08:17:00.000-08:00

"There is a rhythm and flow to life and I am part of it. Life support me and brings to me only good and positive experiences. I trust the process of life to bring me my highest good."

DA - I love my body

2006-03-15T08:15:00.000-08:00

"I create peacefulness in my mind, and my body reflects the peacefulness as perfect health."

SoCal Journeys

1-1-11

I blinked and 2010 is over

Labor Pains

Abandoning one's self to the joys of summer

Wow...where has the time gone?

True Story Tuesday and one for the record books

True Story Tuesday

Finally Friday!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Not Me Monday

Not Me Monday

Please pray for Ryan!

Someday Syndrome

Not Me Monday

I'm a horrible blogger!

Sleep? What's that?

Please pray for Abby!!

I have no voice!!

Wordless Wednesdays

And the winner is....

Not Me Monday

Wish me luck!!! I'm gonna get ORGANIZED!!!

Friday Flashback

Very cute blanket giveaway

A Thousand Word Thursday

Check out this contest hosted by C.C.!!

Thank you!!

Not Me Monday AND 100th POST CONTEST!!

Big boy!!!

Happy Chinese New Year!!

Time is running out.....

Wii Fit is awesome!!

Pray for Kelly!!

Brains...by Mark Gungor (very funny!!)

Random Picture Challenge

Almost to 100!

New look....again!

Yes, I'm still here...kinda.

Please pray!!

Happy New Year!!!

Dear Santa

Wordless Wednesdays

Some (overdue) pics

Not Me Monday

Not Me Monday

MAD SKILLS

Saturday Snippets

Small Fry Contest!!

A Thousand Words Thursday

Wordless Wednesdays

Wordless Wednesday

Not Me Monday

Blogs, blogs and more blogs!

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November....where'd you come from?

"And it didn't even hurt!"

Latest on Carolyn

***UPDATE ON MY SIS***

Prayer request for my sister

8/8/08

Jamesisms

Crash

Tire Tracks

In the shade...

Disneyland Trip

Happiest Place on Earth

My boy's in the paper!

Fear of the future

So is it summer yet?

Waiting on the Lord...WILL renew our strength!

Waiting....waiting....

Hot time in the ol' town lately

Hmm...THIS is California??

THIS is California???

New look...on a lot of things

2008....already!!

The joys of "L"

An update...awhile in the coming!

Quick update...

UPDATE ON MY SIS