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I have so many exciting things I want to tell you! LIKE I got my dishes off layaway today! I almost forgot to pick them up! I paid our bills, wrote out the tithe check, folded laundry, I even stopped at the commissary and bought cute cookies for the kids.

Tomorrow I am heading down to Palm Springs to go shopping with Dawn and all my children. We are going to have a lot of fun. Mainly I am just going to check out sam's clubs prices..but I have a few things I want to get the kids like socks and underwear, and the girls some nightgowns..let me tell you that is a major task in itself!

Well I am heading to bed..I really wanted to watch my downloaded 24 series tonight but I am going to go soak in the tub and relax and head to bed. I am going to try and squeeze in a trip to the gym before going tomorrow and picking up Dawn.

Have a good night!

I FEEL SOOOOOO AWESOME! LOLOLOL

Ok Maybe I am being a little weird here! I just feel like I have accomplished a lot this week!

I just got home from getting the smog done on our Ford..and thanks to GOD for letting it pass smog test!
When I walked up to get it done said to me "is your check engine light on?" And I know I had seen it on before but it hadn't been for a while. They told me if it came on it would fail automaticly! So I prayed and prayed that God would have MERCY on us and let it pass!

Then the guy says..ok were done, lets get it taken care of..and I said did it pass? And guess what.... IT PASSED!! as soon as I was done I went and got gas then I drove over to get the base stickers on right away! I had already done my van..(thursday) and the Jeep ( wednesday). The stickers had been expired since January and I had been driving around for 2 months with expired base stickers! They never said a word and I didnt even know they were expired till the other day they said..Ma'am did you know your stickers are expired! (Tuesday night) So I got them all done! We wont have to worry about that aspect of our vehicles till 2010!

I also called the garbage facility and I am getting another garbage can and a BIG recycle bin. I just cant take the overflowing trash cans! We are really needing something bigger since we always have bags of trash sitting loose on the curb. I hope that will make a difference!

I also took care of some things that needed phone calls and I had maintance come fix some things this week. I still have a LIST of things that need to be done but I am making progress!

I even exercised twice this week..I am going to exercise tonight too..I would have this morning but my day got away from me.

I feel like I have gotten so much done! Its a great feeling! So do you feel Awesome???

Posting cause I can..

Well I was at Dawn's house tonight mostly yaking but cutting out fabric . I am not procrastinating as bad as normally so I might have these dresses done early this year.

Anyways, Dawn was going to blog tonight inbetween my fabric cutting but did she get too? NO so she told me I can't blog tonight..DID I LISTEN? HA HA HA NO.

I have actually had a super busy week. I have actually been going to the gym several times this week. My goal is 3 times a week..anything else is just extra and I have gone twice now. :) I am happy about that!

The men in our church are heading to San Diego to go on a fishing trip next month and 3 of my boys will be going. It is going to be a bit expensive..but I think it will be a good time for them. At least a break from their mother. It will be around the same week as our trip to Rialto so I guess we will count that as our vacation. I have always wanted to go on one of those fishing trips but its always such a "man" thing. At first Justin didnt want to go..but since he really has no choice in the matter..because I think he just doesnt know he really WANTS to go..He is going to have to learn to enjoy himself. I think once he gets down there and away from real life he will have a great time. Or he can sit and pout the whole time and give our Pastor some GREAT material to preach from. The choice really is his.

Anyways, I came home to an absolutely silent house. ALL my children are in bed. Like I said I have had a really rough first few days of this week. Sunday was very hard on me, probably because I just am not getting enough sleep..as I blog this at midnight. Its not really the amount of sleep as I am getting more than 6 hours every night..I think its the fact that I am just not getting good sleep. It seems to be very interrupted and maybe I just need to get more sleep since I have a lot more added stress of just being the only parent here right now.

So that is my *update*

More Mug Shots

Here are some mug shots of 2 of my children, Jacob and Jerrica.

Jacob's statistics he is 12 almost 13. He likes airplanes. His favorite color is Red. His favorite animal is Penguins. He likes submarines. His favorite food is a chicken sandwhich. He likes anything raspberry. He has a fish named Rocky. He likes to play with kids all ages and loves to play with Joseph. He wants to be an engineer designing sumbarines and airplanes.



Jerrica is my 2nd daughter. When she was little her favorite color was Brick Red. Her favorite color now is Blue. She likes horses and cheetahs. She wants to be a MOMMY when she gets older...awww. She loves babies and has really enjoyed being a big sister to Joseph. Her favorite book in the Bible is James. Her favorite song is Come Thou Fount. Her favorite food is canadian bacon and pineapple pizza. She likes to watch 24 with her mother ..ahem. And she likes to stay up late. GASP! Where in the world does she get this from.

Cool Tricks!

Look! Its Joshua..also known as Q-tip (Dawn) or Squishy (mom). Yes..look at the cool tricks he can do! As you see Jared his older brother is doing a one arm hold up. Just a cool bunch of kids!

DARK CLOUDS!

LOOK CLOUDS! Its going to rain! Well I hope! This is the view from my back yard! :) I LOVE RAIN!

Reading BY Osmosis

We are still working on Jared's reading. He is making progress, but he is a lot like his older brother Justin, in that he seems to need a little slower pace. I thought Justin would NEVER learn to read. And actually I thought I just was this horrible teacher. HOWEVER I found out one of the most IMPORTANT truths about teaching reading with my first child.

NO ONE LEARNS THE SAME STUFF AT THE SAME TIME

This is ONE of my biggest reasons why I homeschool. If your not learning where the rest of the class is..you get left behind and labeled as slow. THANK GOD THAT I HOMESCHOOLED MY CHILDREN. Justin would have been labeled slow. You see, he had trouble getting the blending of the words. He could not hear the individual sounds and struggled with putting them together. In fact after we had taught all the of the letter sounds it was time that he was reading and my friend Louise, her little girl Hannah had already started reading and was taking off. You can imagine the feelings of inadequacy I was having. BUT I told myself 2 things..1. I have a boy 2. Every one learns differently and this is why I am teaching.

So you know what I did? I had 4 months left of school but we had finished all our books except for our reading. So..I put it all away. YEP I DID! Then we just had FUN for 4 months and 3 months of summer. NO stress..we went to the park, we went to people's houses, we looked at nature. Gosh we had so much fun! I read to the boys we had NO stress. Want to know what happened the next year..(1st grade) I bought some beginning readers and started him in the first book and the most amazing thing happened. With in 2 weeks he was reading! I mean..he was taking off like a rocket through his books. He may have been slow at reading outloud..but he would devour books. Its so funny because once he started reading he never stopped.

With the next two boys..they were both very different. Jason was reading very early but has NEVER had the love for reading like Justin has. I wonder if I should have waited..even though he was "able" to read early. Jacob took even longer than Justin to learn to read. See Jacob is left handed. Not that I think it matters but he really does think differently. It's those little things you know. When Jacob was learning to read he would forget with in hours what the letter sounds were. It was so frustrating because he wanted to read but it was a struggle. I took time off with him. When he did learn to read he caught up VERY quickly.

So after those experiences you know what I did when I had Jessica. NOTHING. We bought her some leap frog phonics toys, the one she loved was the phonics desk. She would play with that thing over and over and over. She was reading 3 letter words and writing them down well before I ever taught her a thing. She would point out letters in a book and tell me the sound of them as I was reading. She was my easiest to teach..hmm wonder why? So with these last kiddo's we do a lot of phonics games and Starfall and just fun. Its time for Jared to start reading and I know it is paying off . I know in just a few months he will have his reading leap and I will think..why in the world did I even worry. There is something to be said for waiting till the child is ready to learn. It seems to all click when you wait till they are ready.

Responding to some comments

Recently I posted about Infant feeding and my take on breastfeeding. You can find that post here My Take on Infant Feeding.

You know, I was a little hesitant to even write about this. Around the time I originally started typing it up I had decided to wait on it. (YES I have LOTS of drafts ) One of my reasons in almost NOT posting this was because I know some women who did not breastfeed that maybe didnt know any different or didnt have the support that they could have had and would have had their feelings hurt in reading this. It is not my intent to hurt them. Of course I know women on the other hand who will not breastfeed for what ever reason and are very adamant about their decision. Usually those are the ones that view it as dirty. I so scratch my head at these women. You can't read your Bible and NOT see that BREASTS are not the big stinking deal that people make them out to be. YES men like them..PRAISE GOD. And YES we probably shouldn't whip them out..but I think a lot of the wierd perceptions women have about breastfeeding is because they view thier breasts more as something for pleasure. What galls me is a woman can almost walk down the streets with it all showing..and sometimes it is..but flip out if a woman is breastfeeding her child in public. THAT is another post. I will say this much. I would LOVE to see someone approach me and say something. I feel I am very modest in nursing..I don't throw the blanket over my shoulder ( I think it draws more attention ) but I will use the receiving blanket and strategicly place it. I have walked around nursing my baby in the mall and you would NEVER know I was nursing. HOW do I know this..because I have had people come up to me and lift the blanket and get their shocked face and appologize profusely. Ok they might have seen 1/2 inch of skin..so what? YOU will definetly see way more than that during the summer at any store. but like I said that is another post.

Something that was just preached last night..YOU CANT CHANGE YOUR PAST there is no sense stressing out about it. I figure there are plenty of mistakes I have made..I look back and I have so many regrets..but I cant change them..I just say to myself..well now that I know this about that I will do such and such instead. Thats all you can do. I also like to use my regrets to help others not to make the same mistake. I have made BIG blunders..(unwed pregnancy) but I look back and see that God used even that to bring about Good. I know had I not gotten pregnant I probably would be on a very bad path. I know that had I not met my husband I would not be saved today. God KNEW what was best for me..even when I totally messed up. I know that we are all in a learning process. Learning about life here on this earth and our life to come in Heaven. We are bound to make mistakes. I just hope I can share some of what I have learned to others so they do not go through the same mistakes I have.

A song for my friend Dawn

I have decided to never eat out. I have decided to never eat out. I have decided to never eat out..No turning back, no turning back.

No McDonalds or Carls JR. No McDonalds or Carls JR. No McDonalds or Carls JR . No turning back, no turning back.

Though some may tease me..still I wont eat out. Though some may tease me..still I won't eat out. Though some may tease me..still I won't eat out. No turning back, no turning back.

No egg Mcmuffins, or tasty french fries, No egg McMuffins or tasty french fries, No egg McMuffins or tasty french fries..no turning back, no turning back.

No quarter pounder or chicken sandwhich, No quarter pounder or chicken sandwhich, No quarter pounder or chicken sandwich No turning back, no turning back.

7 Laws of Reaping and Sowing

That was tonights message. It was really good and very convicting. I don't promise to give you everything on it but some of the highlights.

Our text was Galations 6:7-10 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them whoare of the household of faith.

1. We reap what we have not sown.

We sometimes benifit from other people's labors. Examples of this : Seeing someone get saved, usually they have had seeds planted and we may be there for the harvest, but not for the sowing.
Num 14:18, Romans 2:5&6

2. We reap the same kind of fruit we sow.
You so good things..you will reap good things..evil..reap evil.
Job 8:14, John 3:6 Examples in nature, cats have cats, orange trees have orange trees, etc.
If your sowing discord you wont reap unity, if you sow lies you won't reap truth.
If you sow of the flesh you wont reap of the Spirit. To many now a days try to live in the flesh but reap of the Spirit. It wont happen

The works of the Flesh: Galations 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Works of the Spirit: Galations 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law

3. We always reap in a different season than we sow.
Farmers plant the seed and patiently wait till the harvest. And there will be a harvest. It may be tares and weeds or fruit and wheat. Vs 9 of Galations.

4. We always reap MORE than we sow. Hosea 8:7

5. We reap in porportion to what we sow. You sow sparingly..you reap sparingly, abundantly you reap abundantly

6. We reap good only when we persevere.

7. We can't do anything about what we have already sown.
yesterday is gone and nothing you can do about it. You cant go and undo what has already been done..but live today for the Lord.
Keep your garden..keep the weeds out of your life. Water your heart with the word of God. Its only by keeping in THIS BOOK ( The BIBLE) that we will do good works in the Spirit.

I know there was so much more to this message than I can get across but one thing that really struck me was the fact that we are sowing every day..either in the Spirit or in the Flesh. There WILL be a harvest waiting for us. I just kept thinking of how many times I live in the flesh and what is my harvest going to be?

Today is a good day to plant good seed.

What is your harvest going to be?

Guess where I am going April 20th??

I am heading down to Rialto to hear Sam Gipp Preach. What a perfect excuse to go visit my twin Gina! Her hubby, Jorge, pastors Rialto Bible Baptist Church I am soooooooo did you get that..soooooooo looking forward to visiting and staying in a HOTEL and being pampered. Gina told me she was planning on giving me a pedicure. ( She is ONE talented woman) She said she doesn't even mind the smell.

I better start packing!

My Tag Board is totally cracking me up!

When I first signed up for my tag-board I had put in a setting to get email notifications of the tags. Well I never did. No biggie..I never bothered worrying about it. Well today I have been receiving email notifications for tags clear back in November! Gotta love technology! At least it gave me a laugh and a reason to check my email!

My Take on Infant feeding.

Although Joseph is 18 months old and so this really doesn't apply to him anymore. I thought it would be a good place to post my views on infant feeding. First off..I breastfeed. I believe it is the GOLD standard and the BEST you can give your child. There are so many benefits to breastmilk that are continually being discovered. So basically scientists know its good and are continually discovering just how good it really is. I always get a little irritated at these formula companies..when they discover something in breastmilk that is important for brain development...like DHA & ARA they add it to their formulas as if now their formula is better than breastmilk. And sometimes they will label it..with twice the amount of DHA & ARA than in breastmilk. They are finding more and more how unique breastmilk is. It is amazing to me how perfect this food is! They can't replicate breastmilk in any shape or form..but women in our day and age have bought into the lie that bottle feeding is an acceptable alternative.

I know women who think breastfeeding is nasty almost sinful. A practice almost as disgusting as using the toilet. Sad. I shake my head at these women because in truth , they have sad ideas about God's creation. They hinder their baby from getting the best that they can give them and buy into the lie that formula is just as good if not better.

I find it odd that most women that formula feed also start their children out on solids early. They get those babies on cereal as early as possible so they can get them sleeping through the night so they don't have to be bothered by having to wake up. Not even realizing they are bring more harm to their children than good.

Kelly Mom has a very good website dealing with why you should not feed your baby before 6 months of age.

I am on several mothering boards and a few Christian boards and it never fails that eventually some new mother will ask about feeding her baby. Usually its a mother who is probably doing too much to begin with in regards to doing a ministry or working , she is tired because she isn't resting. As soon as she asks , suddenly vultures come out of the woodwork! EVERY one has advice. And their advice is sooo appalling! Usually the WORST advice comes from some woman who raised her kids 30 years ago and she will proceed tell her to get one of those bottles and fill it full of formula and baby cereal and watch the magic as your baby glugs it down. She might even be given advice on how to "prop" the bottle ..but that is a whole 'nother can of worms. Anyway, What is just amazingly sad is, even if told how damaging this practice is, you will find she will take their advice. What in the world I think?

I find most women when they ask questions they already know the answer they just want someone to agree with them and make them feel better about their choice. I realize older women can have some good advice, but not on feeding and especially if they didn't breastfeed and are not keen on the idea of breastfeeding. They really can not be used as a source of "wisdom".

Some of the most startling things I have read is how DAMAGING this practice is to an infant. Their stomachs do not have the lining in them that we have till they are 6 months old or older. That is because they do not have the same type of stomach acids we do till later. What does this mean? It means their stomachs are basically OPEN. A good thing if they are breastfed because they absorb all the nutrients right into their blood stream. Hence why breastfed babies eat ever 2 hours, they metabolize their food faster. Formula on the other hand is not the same and takes longer. The sad part about formula is because a baby does not have the strong acids in their stomach, it is harder for them to digest formula . (hence the 3 hours or more between feedings.) Is this better? I don't think so. I shamefully must say, that with my first child I only breastfed 3 months. Of all my children, he is the one that seems to have some slight food allergies. My other children have no problems. I had no idea that I set my son up for numerous allergies and health problems.

Now that I know how formula pales in comparison to breastmilk, I wish I had breastfed him longer. There is nothing I can do about it now. I wish I could go back and do it differently. Knowing the things I know now..so much REGRET. Oh how I hate that feeling. Not only is it guilt but its knowing the way it should have been, could have been and not able to change the outcome. I realize this is a very touchy subject and I realize there are going to be people who do not agree with my views. I also know there are rare instances where formula may be the only choice for a child. I did not write this to argue with the ones set in their ways, or for the woman who has some warped body perception problems and finds breastfeeding sinful, or the woman who maybe feels guilty she didn't breastfeed and wants everyone to partake in her misery. But I am writing to the woman who wants the best for her child, who wants answers and not bamboozled into believing a lie. Its for the woman who wants someone to encourage her to keep going and help her to know she can make it through those hard times and the pat on back that she is doing the best she can and even if it seems the easy way is to just give up and give a bottle..to know that her hard work and sacrifice will pay off. Its hard to sacrifice as a mother and give up your time for your children. The easy way..well it is easy..but its never better.

Herd of Buffalo

I started this back in January..forgot all about it.

I am sitting here..reading blogs and such. I KNOW its late and I am going to have to sneak into bed so not to wake Jim. He gets kind of cranky if I am up too late.
Anyways, pretty much nightly at my house you can hear a herd of buffalo running down the stairs. NO its not my kids..its the cats! Casey, the cat we have had the longest, when it was just her..she would run down those steps and I would crack up at how much noise she would make and she is a tiny tiny cat. But now that we have several cats..if they all come down at once its pretty funny! Some times I just feel like going YEEE HAW! And roping those cats. LOL But I am sure Jim would wake up and find out just HOW late I was up.

We are a little incompatible in that area. I am a total night owl..but JIM he is this really happy cheerful morning person. Sometimes he even breaks into song! ME? I don't even like to talk to anyone the first couple hours I am awake. I dont think I've always been this way but have become this way as I have become older and more set in my ways...( that strikes me funny).

Most of my kids are like Jim..these cheerful fast moving morning people. They start out their day busy, loud and crazy! Jason and Jerrica are more like me.

That's not saying though that I cant change. I have in the past been a morning person. It was while I was pregnant with my 3rd Child. I had insomia with Jacob and I would wake up at 3am and go shopping at walmart when it went to 24 hours. I loved it! I would get home right before Jim would wake for work clean house and then cook breakfast feed the kids and crash for my morning nap! For a while after Joshua was born, I would get up and go to the gym in the wee hours of the morning. I loved it but I just cant do that anymore..I wonder if staying up too late has anything to do with that?

One of my goals for this year is to go to bed earlier and get up earlier. (this i write after midnight)

Anyways, since I discovered this draft well after Jim has left. Let me tell you, he has been gone a MONTH and after a month of staying up late doing what I want, I tell you, although I enjoy the quiet time, I sure wish I knew I was going to have to sneak up the stairs to not wake Jim. I am seriously contemplating trying to become a morning person. (we will see how long that lasts) I realize that right now it is soo late and it looks like I am really a NIGHT OWL, but actually I had fallen asleep at 11pm tonight on the couch and just a little bit ago I woke up and headed upstairs for bed..which brings me partly why I came back down to blog and then got sidetracked editing some draft posts I started.
So the reason I am blogging at 4am is to tell you what sweet girls I have.
Tonight, when they went to bed, at some point, they went upstairs and made my bed. And let me tell you that was some feat! The feather bed had slipped down so this morning I had just pulled part of it off the floor and set it on my bed. Joshua was still sleeping so I didn't want to wake him. So I just figured I would go back up and make my bed later. I laughed as I wrote this because I rarely make it back upstairs because my day usually gets pretty busy. So tonight as was heading back up there I remembered I needed to make my bed and sort of dreaded it. So what a surprise to see it already done and now I just have to get in it and go back to sleep for the rest of the night/morning. So I am off..to dream land. And tomorrow it is EARLY bedtime for me.

Are we having fun yet???

Well I just got home from the ER. WOW I just can't get enough excitement into my day. This afternoon Jared and Jason were playing "tip the pig" as Jared told us in the ER today. Jason and Jared had been playing a game where Jason would have to take the "pig" back outside to the pen? I guess he had grabbed hold of him and tipped him upside down..(hmm) Jared was grabbing Jason's leg and to which Jason thought he was grabbing else where and ended up dropping Jared on his nose. It was really awful actually. There was blood EVERY where! (which jason cleaned up. ) It took a LONG time for me to get his nose to stop bleeding. It looked fine when I had checked him out earlier today, but tonight he came to me and complained about his nose hurting. It was swollen and purple and looked slightly crooked. So I took him in tonight to have it checked out. I don't even know what they do for broken noses..I do now.

Normally when you head to the ER, you never know if your going to wait 3 hours or 10 minutes. Talk about the LORD's timing, when I got there there was not ONE person in the waiting room. We got right in.

Jared was so funny while he was there. If you know Jared, you will know what a talkative ham he is. During our wait to see the Doctor after getting checked in, we were talking and Jared was telling me that he has been looking through the microscope with Jason at germs and the germs have knives. Then he showed me this small cut on his thumb and told me that he has to be careful or the germs will want to have a party on his thumb. I was laughing so hard. Yes we have some interesting conversations with Jared. So, even though it was a major change in my schedule, I enjoyed spending that time with Jared discussing germs and injuries and microscopes.
We were out of there pretty fast and I know he brightened up their day. He sure did mine.

Did I want to drive or what?

Well I headed out late tonight to pick up Jason's cake. His birthday is tomorrow but we are sort of doing it tonight. He is having a couple of friends over to play video games all night. Anyways, on the way to the commissary, I came up to the Del Valle light (the main traffic light on this 2 light base) and I noticed that the cars were backed up all the way from the front gate. In fact the cars coming towards me were backed up clear to the Adobe Flats back gate..which was not open. Just imagine a super HUGE traffic jam. The worst part of this is that even if you were not leaving the base you were forced to sit in traffic because from one side of the base to the other there is only ONE street open since they are doing construction on the only other street that goes through.
When I went into the commissary all traffic was pretty much a stand still going towards the main gate. When I came out, it was even worse. I did end up taking a "short" cut behind the commissary towards the other light to get into traffic. It took me over 15 minutes to go 20 feet. Thankfully I was chatting with my friend Dawn who I could see over at Carls Jr. About the time I had finally made it to the Carl's Jr entrance I had decided to just head home. At about that time, the traffic started moving and I was home 15 minutes later. Did it ever make me thankful for smooth flowing traffic!

Anyways, Jason is turning 15 tomorrow.

As I was typing this I had 2 weird kids racing for the jeep to bring me my cell phone. How weird..had I known it was such a wonderful task I would give it more often because they just about beat the door down to get it to me. STRANGE children. I have NO idea where they get this from.

So..Jason will be 15. I bought him some clothes..typical 15 year old fare. He also has a raincheck from me for a particular DS game that comes out in June.

Well, I better get in a few minutes I am going to have a burnt offering instead of dinner.

Home of the Bloody Nose

Ok this week there have been 3 reported nose bleeds in this family and today..not sure if I should put this out there..cause some people will run with it. But this morning I was sitting on the couch and holding Joseph and went to move some hair out of my face and ended up scratching the inside of my nose and my nose started BLEEDING. And NO I wasn't picking my nose!

Prize Winner of Defiance Oio

Last night I watched a movie called the "Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio" . It is well worth your time in renting. I laughed, I cried and when it ended, I was wanting to see more. Its about a woman who had 10 children and because her husband was a drinker, he didn't bring home much of his paycheck. She entered and won contests and supplemented her families income. If you have the time to check it out I highly recommend it.

How Long does creamer last?

Um..you remember my creamer I bought in December? Well..I didnt like it remember? Well It is still in my fridge waiting for me to drink it. HA I am scared! So maybe I should throw it out. Its like this constant reminder that there is unfinished buisness in the fridge. You know I never did get that Mint chocolate Mocha. I did have a friend say she picked me up some..but I know she ended up sampling it and it was probably so good she had to keep it.

But..I think I am over that. You know now that the girl scouts cookies are here. OK I am really kidding here. I totally avoided them this year. Mostly because they discontinued the flavor I wanted the raspberry pinwheels or whachamahuya ones. All I know is they had them last year and I only bought ONE box not knowing they were the best cookie of all time and when I got around to eating that one..I was LIKE whoa..where did this cookie come from?? By that time they were sold out and it figures they didnt sell them this year. Another good reason NOT to buy cookies this year is the fact that they are $4.00 a box. Ok buying 10 cookies for 4.00 seems a little outrageous to me. I just can't justify it so no girl scout in my area received an order. I almost feel bad, but Thank Goodness I started my diet JUST before they came around. It was a lot easier to say no to them. I secretly think this is all part of their plan. See this year they didnt have some of my favorites, so a lot of dissapointed people were quite bummed that their raspberry whatchamahuya's were not sold. So..NEXT year they will come out with them and everyone remembering how they were not sold last year will snatch them up. We wont even care that this year they are $5.00 because we will justify it with the fact that if we don't get them now..who knows when they will sell them again.

Some of us will justify the expense because.."were going to freeze them" YEAH RIGHT..I did that last year and I tell you they survived ONE WEEK in my freezer. They were eaten WELL before then. I must say freezing them did help them to last longer than normal 30 minutes. It also helped me win cool points with Jim when I pulled out of the freezer his favorite peanutbutter yucky cookies. (you might not catch this little known fact..I am not a peanut butter fan)

You know..just typing "little known fact" made my mind skip. HA..It seriously makes me want to type something about how I don't like peanutbutter every day for like 6 weeks. BUT I wont do that to you. Just giving you an idea of how my mind works. Scary isnt it?

BACK to my creamer question, how long does non-dairy creamer last in the fridge. I really want to know this because I almost had a chance to try out creamer that had been left in someones fridge for two years. I KNOW it was 2 years old because I was the one that bought it. I wont mention anyone's fridge in this case.( to protect the innocent) So do you think it would have been still good? Is it like Twinkies and have a shelf life of 20 years? I just couldnt bring myself to drink it. It still smelled good though. I imagine my 3 month old creamers are probably still good but I doubt I will like them more now than I did then. Maybe I should leave them in there till Jim comes home? Or take up boat building ..oh wait I am getting way out there..never mind that last bit. I guess MAYBE I should get some sleep before I get really giddy here.

So..anyone want to try some creamer?

What a Peaceful Day!

Well my kids went to my friend Dawn's house this morning. The boys went to play risk with Bro. Ross and the girls went and played with Sonya and Alayna.

So my day was soo quiet and peaceful..till the repair man showed up um..3 hours early! YIKES I was still in my nightgown and being a slug..so I hurried and got dressed! So now the house is repaired, well I still have to call in a few things but don't want to stress them out. A little at a time.

So, now my children are home and well its still peaceful. We have church tonight so we probably should get ready for that. Its such a beautiful day today. The sun is shining and a nice breeze is blowing and the weather is warm. Anyone want to come visit me?

On a good note!

I have made it to piano practice 2 weeks in a row! I am sooo proud of me! HA HA! My kitchen is STILL making me smile...although the floor isn't. I guess I should break out my mop. Well of course I would LIKE to..but the commissary was sold out of the replacement heads to my mop. DARN I was so looking forward to mopping my floor today.

Tomorrow I think the kids and I are going to get up and leave the house. I am sick of sitting in my house. I don't know what we are going to do but we are going to do something. Maybe we will head to Indian Cove and take some pictures.

Something I did this week and maybe I should take pictures of it. But I took a bunch of learning posters..some I bought YEARS ago and plastered them all over my walls in my dining room and onwards up the stairs. It looks pretty neat. Its actually hard for me to do that sort of thing because I like things a certain way and I would rather have a "class room" for those posters but I thought about it and decided WHO CARES I'm doing it anyways. A Big step out of the box for me. I have such ideas of how things should go. Like for instance..the bed has to be centered on the wall with night stands on either side of the bed. Although my room isnt like that right now..the dressers should be centered also. ( I have too much junk in there to do that right now) But that is how I am..I like things a certain way because in my Mind they are to be that way. Poor Jim..he has always wanted to butt one of the sides up against the wall. Thats so horrifying to me! And the thing is..who has made these rules about how things should be..I know I certianly didn't but someone did and I just picked up on it. I am going to have to say it was JCPenney. See all those years of my youth was spent pouring over the catalogs. I would look at bedding and couches and entertainment stands, curtains, clothing and wedding dresses and baby cribs. So really, how I decorate my house was shapened by JCPenney. Had they shoved beds against the walls and had motorcycles in the living room and carbuerator parts in the dishwasher maybe, just maybe Jim and I would have been a little more compatible. But Alas, they did not. I would like to think it was rather a good thing. Of course, now that I think of it.. we really haven't had a JCPenny catalog in our home because for 10 years we were out of country and didn't get them and I always forget to pick one up when they do come out. GASP my kids are going to be wierd!!!

1 month down 6 to go

Today Jim has been gone for 1 month. I feel like I have bumbled through this month with no purpose. This last week has been really hard. I'm really tired and I have no motivation. Even when I do have motivation, I have no motivation.

I hate the feeling of getting in a rut..but I dont even feel like pulling myself out of it. How sad is that? Any of you have any rut removing suggestions?

Just because JOJO

FLAPPY!

Yes Joshua is a camera ham. Here he is with his FLAPPY.

And YES you can put FLAPPY on your head!!!

Flappy is a GREAT friend!

Ahhh.I am sitting down.

Well I had a busy day! I finished the birthday cake this morning. I had it all done except for the flowers before I had to take Justin to work this morning. In fact, I felt so at ease I went yard saling. I found 2 coats one was only 25 cents and I found Joshua a BLUE coat..(his favorite color btw) that one was 2.00 so I bought 2 really NICE coats for 2.25. NOT BAD!

Joshua bought a stuffed animal. He was so cute about it. He picked it up and said to me..LOOK MOM Its my FLAPPY. I was like what?? He then says. ITs my Flappy. Well I said..put it back and he did..( he obeyed! YEAH) but as we were leaving he kept saying..Mom you cant leave my flappy there. So who could resist a plea like that? NOT I said the soft centered gooey Mom. So he picked his Flappy up and bought him for 25 cents. He was so sweet and said Thank you Mom for my Flappy. YES FLAPPY has joined our home. I will definetly get the pictures up tomorrow after church. Joshua also got some crayons and a ball and another flashlight. Then we stopped at Dawn's house and he was shopping off the table. When we came home He had this arm full of toys. I was shocked because I didnt remember him getting ALL that. So Joshua really likes going to yard sales now. Tonight someone mentioned yard sales and He said to me. Mom I really like yard sales. Can we go again?

After I came home I finished the cake..even slapped some war paint on then we headed to the park to freeze to death as we celebrated our Pastor's Daughter's Birthday. It was so cold and WINDY. And Joseph fell asleep shortly after we got there so I held a sleeping baby for 2 hours or so. I was glad when the party disbanded and we could go home. I was so tired when we came home I laid on the couch and dozed while Joseph jumped on my back and because I was so tired I didnt even notice.

I didnt really sleep..well the jumping on my back was rather rythmic but sleep just kept escaping from me. Oh I also made some Chai Tea tonight. A year or so ago I had bought some instant Chai Tea from one of those home party companies called Tastefully Simple? I think that was the name of the company. It was so good but Extreemely expensive. Anyways, because I am sooo CHEAP and can't bear to spend money on something I can make myself..I searched the internet far and wide..OK really I went to allrecipes.com and typed in Chai Tea. Anyway, after searching day and night for a chai tea recipe I noticed the 2nd recipe in the list. It had 5 stars and so I looked it over. First of all it said it was for those frequent Chai emergencies. Just the wording alone told me IT WAS THE ONE. ( DA DA ) Anyways, It is a GREAT BAD FOR YOU TEA! So I totally recommend it. and let me tell you it takes care of those emergencies.

So, my kitchen is clean and making me smile, I have instant chai tea for way less than I was getting it for and most of my children are in bed. AHHH peace and quiet what a precious commodity! So good night!

I am still here!

I know its been a few days since I posted. I guess I have been busy!

Monday, I organized toys. I sorted and seperated and now the toys are in some semblence of order.

Tuesday piano day. I actually did a lot on tuesday..I just cant remember what it was!

Wednesday I ran to walmart for a birthday present for our Pastor's little girl. That was chaos enough I guess.

Thursday I organized my kitchen. It was a lot of work but I have things the way I want them. I wish my hubby could see it..he would really like it. I even have an empty cabinet..(waiting for my dishes that are on layaway) I also went through my kitchen stuff and got rid of a few things. I still need to clean out my pantry and I need to pull out the appliances and clean under them.

Today, I cleaned my hutch and threw away a ton of stuff. I even went through some baskets of junk. I still have them but I am working my way through them.

I guess I am just keeping busy because I am hitting a blue period. I am really missing my hubby and not to mention I am having a hard week with the kids. I was really stressed out and some of it was me just having trouble coping with all that is going on in my life. Some of it was them just being naughty.

I feel like I am making headway in organizing my home. I have been sick for so long with no energy or motivation to do anything and I feel like I am back to normal. I am also in pursuit of simplifying our life. We have so much STUFF. TOO MUCH that is for sure.

Well I am heading to bed. I have a cake to finish decorating in the morning and I am just plain exhausted tonight. BUT my kitchen is clean . It sure does make me smile every time I open a cabinet! :) Its the little things that make my day!

Still Researching Unschooling

I found this blog entry on unschooling.com. I find it rather humerous actually and disturbing all at the same time. Total Institution

I am not saying college doesnt have it's place but WOW very interesting perspective.

Marks of a New Testament Church

For my benifit and for anyone who cares to read about the TRUE history of the Church.

Trail of Blood

Here is a link on Baptist Distinctives

More Baptist History

Piano for Jerrica

Jerrica had her 1st Piano Lesson Tuesday! She was pretty excited about starting piano. Something cute she said..her teacher asked her if she knows the scales..because Jessica has been teaching her quite a bit and so Jerrica zips out the c scale with her right hand. So her teacher says "That was great Jerrica, can you do it with your left hand?" Her reply was " No I'm right handed."

Unschooling

I have been doing research on Unschooling. Mostly because it was recently brought up on a Christian board that I am on. I was actually quite surprised at how many who knew nothing about this method of schooling were soo quick to make judgements on it with out actually knowing anything about it. I myself have a lot of snippets of opinion from hearing bits and pieces of other peoples opinions on this subject. Being that I try not to form opinions on things I know nothing about, I have decided to research this method. Some of what I have been reading has been so interesting. Like this article a woman wrote on how her children learned to read.

Reading Article.

As I read this article and pondered the whole stress free learning here, I kept thinking of this verse : Deuteronomy 6:7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

I do believe there are some things that do require structure, but reading this opens my eyes that there is so much more to learning than just workbooks and tests. In talking to women who unschool. The one chord that I keep seeing in their lives is all the learning opportunities they make for their children. Most I see, are not at home 8 hours a day sitting in front of their tv or computer while their kids do their own thing. They are actively taking their children to the library, field trips, parks where they bring their sketch books and sketch butterflies or what ever interested them that day. Just seems to me that these women who practice unschooling really love to be around their children and strive to make every day a meaningful learning experience. That is what I want in my family, my kids to enjoy going on a walk..and seeing something new..to go home and look it up on the computer to marvel at wow..we saw that. Oh and look did you know this about them? To me it seems very natural and real! Its taking the time to get to know your child and learn what they enjoy..not just do this page..or that page. But hey look Jessica..what is that bug on that flower. Stealing this thought from Gina, She said to me the other day " The things my children are experts in, are the things I never taught them". Isnt that the truth!

Jason, when he wanted to learn how to do flips..went to the library and got a book..he is an expert at them. how many times he has gone to the library to learn how to make a laser (YIKES) Jason is very bright, in fact, a lot of times I find that he is bored with school. He is the first one to complain that he doesnt know why he has to learn the same things over and over. He has no problem learning a concept right away. And you know what..I see no reason in making him do page after page sometimes of things he has already learned. Well except for the fact we do things in life sometimes we don't want to do. Although I can find better ways to bring that point across.

I am not done researching this unschooling method, and I am not even sure I will agree to everything..but I certianly do not see it as negative way of teaching. Homeschooling not even 20 years ago was considered strange and WRONG even by Christians when people first starting doing it. Just because its not the way you think things should be doesnt always mean its wrong. I am willing to have an open mind and not quickly show my ignorance by dismissing something I know nothing about. I also realize..as in ALL things there are always bad examples that will be thrown up to prove how wrong any method of schooling is, I do not think anyone should make an opinion based on one example. I hear all the time about how I wont do such and such because My mom, sister, cousin, friend, lady in church, etc did and they failed. I wont base anything on someone else's results or lack of. I always chuckle inside when I hear people who have an opinion like that because they basicly are saying..I won't do that because I am just like the person I am bashing.! They just don't realize it.

Thats like saying:
I wont make lasagna because my friend made one 2 years ago and it didnt turn out. Think about it. * note edited to not confuse my sister about lasagna..Its an example not an actual event..and I actually do make lasagna (quite well) *

I am sure I will have more thoughts in the future.

Picture of My Man !

Jim sent me this today. He looks sooo happy! :) Now I miss him even more.

More Joshua Sayings

Tonight Joshua and Jared were drinking juice. Joshua askes me..Mom what kind of Juice is this? And I tell him that is Orange Peach and Mango. And he says to me " Mom, I hate this Juice, its driving me crazy."


I could just eat him up!

Neat website!!

I found this website. A magical Childhood What a breath of fresh air! I think I like it because its a little goofy like me. I know we are going to do some of those things this week even..and I am not telling them where I got them..they are just going to think I am ONE awesome Mom! Which reminds me..we havent had a midnight shake run in a LONG time..I think we are going to have to cook one up! Remember you have to be in your pajamas or its just not a midnight shake run..well..driver wont be..can you see me trying to explain that to the military police?

Rewards! Rewards! Rewards

Ok as an incentive for my children to encourage them to work more diligently in their daily studies, I am looking for ideas for things they can earn. We used to do a treasure box that every friday they could pick something from the box.
I guess I want something that they will work towards weekly..with possible monthy and quarterly rewards. Or larger rewards for consistancy.
I know people tend to work harder for something they want...its the finding what they want.

I know.and it has been suggested that there are other means of motivation. However I am trying to make this positive. Not saying that other means don't have their place..but I guess I want this to be like a pay check for hard work. Even though, I think the satisfaction of doing their work should be enough. LOL I am cracking myself up!

Anyways, I am open to suggestions for weekly rewards, consistancy rewards..( 6 weeks, 9 weeks..) And bigger rewards. I would also like to reward for work above and beyond .

Any suggestions? Ideas?

Horses

When Jim and I bought our first set of furniture I bought this picture with it. I had fallen in love with it.

I guess we were going through our country phase at the time so it probably was appropriate. Although I really don't even like horse stuff..or at least not IN to it like people I grew up with were. I was busy collecting other horse items when we got orders to Okinawa Japan. So, I boxed up all my stuff..even my painting.. and kissed them all fondly goodbye as we placed them in storage. I didn't see them again for 6 years.

While in Okinawa I got into more of the birdhouse/Victorian look. Pink, florals and anything GLASS. I know surprising huh?

For years, because I am the type that tries too hard to please everyone, I never knew what I liked. It wasn't till I was trying to decorate my bedroom that I realized that I like florals and pinks. I had for YEARS tried to find something for my bedroom that would be liked by both Jim and myself. I would show him bedding set after bedding set. Things that were mostly manly looking..like plaids with just a touch of girlie. Maybe an eyelet bedskirt and pillows. He was always like.. "ho hum..yeah that's nice" Which in Jimlish is..I don't like it.

After say..YEARS of this long and daunting task to spend money on bedding that we would both like, I finally decided that I didn't care if he liked it I was going to get what I wanted. I went out the next day and bought this girlie, girlie floral pink bedding and went home and scurried and set up my bed. You should have seen the LOOK on Jim's face and you should have seen mine when he said "OH I LIKE IT!" I was like.."you do??" He even came home the next day with PINK CARPET!

Unfortunately for Jim is..that day I decided I would decorate the way I liked. Which is GIRLIE!

I guess that is why I am surprised at how taken I was with the BLUE couches..they aren't' particularly girlie. Anyway....

Back to my horses.. if I am going to buy something horsey I do have a few rules. NO humans in the picture..unless its like a little girl or boy dressed in period clothes and doing something cute. I rarely see those..so.NO HUMANS and definetly NO Marlboro man riding the horse. Ok so maybe thats the only rule. Well other than it sort of has to "go" with the living room. Like..usually I say no to the Neon Green Horse pictures.

I'm not sure I am even particularly crazy about western stuff.
And since we are talking about rules to things in my house. I like victorian stuff but there are some things I don't like. I don't like OLD victorian looking stuff. And I don't like pictures with girls and women. hmm.. No humans...I am seeing a trend here. I prefer more of the lace. roses and such.

Oh and I don't like victorian shoes.

I'm gonna die Mom.

That's what Joshua said to me while I was washing diapers today. After recovering from the shock that my little boy would think he was going to die I asked him "Why do you think your going to die?" And he said to me "cause, if you don't take care of me Mom, I'm gonna die." So I assured him that I would take good care of him! Joshua is just tooo cute! :)

Tonight Jim called and Joshua *wanted* to talk to Daddy! YEA! I was very happy about that!

Well I better get off here..not much of an update today. I have been in slug mode for the last 2 days. Nice and slow day. But hey I washed Diapers..I feel like such a good MOM LOL :)

What have you done today?

Well for me..not much. I did drag the kids out on a 2 mile walk. I was so wishing I could drive the jeep home about 1/2 way through. Oh cleaned house a little..even did some laundry. Then I sat in my chair had had Jessica brush my hair while I fell asleep. It didnt last long. I got a phone call and it woke me up. SO much for being lazy.

I made a dessert for me thats low fat low sugar. We will see if the kids like it..hee hee. I don't know just kind of having a slug day here. It's supposed to rain tonight..(yea!!)
So not much..sorry..bit on the boring side I guess!

I have lost 10.2 pounds so far!

I am so excited. After 2-3 weeks of only losing .2 suddenly I dropped 2.8 pounds! I have reached MY first goal!

Ok I know this is dumb but I did it anyways

Your 80s Heartthrob Is

Bill Gates

Who's Your 80's Heartthrob?

I am so cracking up.

Did I mention I sang a special today?

I sang one 2 weeks ago..right before Jim left and it was horrible. I woke up that morning with sore throat. Well wouldnt you know..I woke up again today with another cruddy voice thing going on. But I sang better than last time. (It was the Lord) I think it also helped that it wasnt as high of a song but I was kind of disappointed because I sure would LIKE to sing NICELY at least not with this weird voice thing going on. The only reason I can think of for why I keep getting sick is..that my friend Dawn was supposed to sing with me both times and both times she has been sick..and both times I have been sick. (But not as bad) So..maybe its her fault? LOL Sounds good to me.

The Lord knows and I figure if he wants a song sung with a scratchy voice then that is fine for me. I am not singing to win any medals. I am just glad he allowed me to sing at all! Did I ever mention I love to sing? I used to sing a lot more at least during the day.

Honestly last time when I messed up and my voice was soo bad I wanted to cry and never ever sing again..but then I hung around for the scheduling there I go volunteering! I guess its also because I sure could use some practice and it being a small church..that rotation comes around pretty fast. It gives them something to pray about....We need to pray for Jamie's voice..cause I don't think I can stand to hear it again.
LOL OH wait what if they pray I get laryngitis? Now that would be a lovely sound! I would be singing way low then! HA! Well they better get to praying..cause the girls and I are singing on Thursday. Speaking of LOW

You know I had to laugh tonight. I love it when the men sing..and tonight Bro. Ross and Pastor Anderson sang Victory in Jesus. Not that their singing was funny, It was GREAT..but It struck me funny how differently men and women sing. I mean women usually pick these beautiful, lovely, graceful songs, MEN however seem to pick these rugged charging songs. Thinking about the differences in selections from this morning to this evening made me laugh!

Also tonight our pastor announced the "sick" rules for our church..because we have been hit pretty hard with illness..and not once , not twice but over and over. As he was reading the "rules" I sat there invisioning antibacterial gel dispensers at the entry way to our church with ushers standing gaurd making sure you cleanse before entering. It probably isnt a bad idea though!

OH and we got our phone call from Jim tonight! Poor Joshua wouldn't talk to Daddy. So we held it to his head so Jim could talk to him..well he wouldnt say anything, but after we took the phone away he cried saying he didn't want to talk to Daddy. Poor guy..he is having a hard time. I felt so bad for Jim though.
Jacob is neat though..he sent Jim a tic tack toe game. Jim has to play and then send it back. What a cool idea. I was impressed. ( It made me cry) So the were talking about that tonight.

Of course he talked about flying with Justin. I didn't talk to him much..but I have email :)

Time to count the sheep! Have a good night!

Sissor Insanity!

Well I have my pattern cut out. I am NOW heading to the ironing board to press it all out! I'm not sure if I will get to cutting out fabric tonight. Joseph is sleeping so I figured I would take advantage of the time! My kids are watching Wallace and Grommit. Its a british movie. SO FUNNY. Jim is supposed to call today so waiting for his call. I hope he doesnt call while we are at church. I sort of flipped out after church because someone had pushed the donot disturb button. I don't even know how long it was on that. I love that button by the way! I use it all the time during the day! Its nice because I don't feel like I have to answer the phone I can return calls later.

Well as I was typing this I actually went and ironed my pattern so all I have to do is get some free time to start on the fabric. It might be a while!

Well in just a bit we will be packing up the van to head back to church. I just hope we don't miss Jim's call during this time.

Park Day!

Well we had a park day with all the wives and children from Jim's unit today. It was FUN actually! I enjoyed myself! The kids had a great time! We stayed 3 hours! I am hoping that means EARLY bedtimes!

I met a few homeschoolers and a few women who are still breastfeeding..(like me)! That was nice!

One thing I heard about and want to do with the kids is Walk to Iraq and Back. Its about 7300 miles to Iraq from Twentynine Palms. Of course to do that in the time Jim is gone..thats like 23 miles a day in walking. OK we probably wont be able to do that! SO we are going to do it as a family and maybe add a few families in with us. I know the wives of Jim's unit are planning to do this also! I thought some of my friends and family would like to commit to walking 1 or 2 miles a day with us and adding their scores weekly?

Also..My friends little girl..who is 7 sang to day and here is a link so you can see her singing. SO cute! :) Nannette Singing

Well thats it for me! I have to get off this computer and get something done. Have a good Weekend!

If I Had Money To Blow

I would go here and have some of my pocket diapers embroidered. I really love some of the designs! Of course then your babies diaper would be worth about the price of gold! I can dream though..and in my dreams..my baby has tigers and lions and all things fluffly embroidered on his bum. :)

Spring Dresses

Here is the pattern I am using. Jessica's will be pink and Jerrica's will be purple. THEN they told me they wanted the same color. Oh well! They will just not have to match this time!

I only have 15 minutes to type this!

Cause I havent even gotten ready for church which starts in 1 hour. I still have hair to fix!

Justin had flying today and let me tell you I am READY for that to be over. IT just takes sooo long for me to go there and come back..not to mention the fact that I thought Justin was going to be flying for 2 hours instead of one and I LEFT him at the airport. I FEEL horrible..cause we would have been home sooo much sooner.

Since we were late getting home..I figured we might as well stop at walmart and see if they have any dresses for the girls. NOPE so I went to check out patterns and guess what..I went nuts and bought this pattern for the girls for this fancy dress and spent money on fabrics. WHAT WAS I THINKING???? So NOW I have to get dresses whipped up..I guess we will get them done for "Easter" I am so not into that. When is easter anyways? I don't even know. I don't know what I was thinking..because each dress is going to take a LOT of time which I am desperately short of. So guess my computer time will suffer..( Its about time)

I better slap some make up on and at least comb through my hair..I want to look as if I tried a little.