The purge

In a life of consumerism and instant gratification, the purge holds a necessary spot in our lives. We are constantly bombarded with flyers, commercials, radio ads, etc... All telling us, we absolutely need this, that, or the other thing. We are encourage to shop for a good feeling, we" Deserve" it. We are even loan money to shop with, so the old saying," Sorry, I have no money right now", is no longer necessary. We now have stores where we can buy almost every thing. You go in for a jug of milk and your eye can be drawn to many other things from clothes, furniture to small appliances. If you are tired from a long day, you don't even have to leave your own home now to shop. You can shop online. You can have the purchase shipped right to your door, I mean how convenient is that.
With the convenience of shopping now and the ease of getting credit, it is very easy to find ourselves buried under things in our home. If you are like me and have a large family, that is easily multiplied by each member. The stuff will soon start to take over if we allow it. We will soon be controlled by our stuff, if we don't control it. Possessions make us work for them. We work to buy it, work to shop for it, work to clean it, work to keep it in good repair and we work to move it with us. We need to make sure that we are not working for things, that are not important to us. If we only have twenty four hours a day, let not waste it doing something as foolish as working for an item that is not of great worth to us.
I think that we need to ask ourselves why we have certain things in our home. Do you love it, Do you use it ( at least in the last year) or is it a keepsake. If the item does not fall into these categories, than why do you have it? It just maybe time to pass it along to someone else. There is a great feeling that goes with giving too?
I sent three garbage bags out of the house yesterday and I hope to at least meet that challenge again today or maybe pass it. I extend the challenge to you, if you will except.

Friends

Life is interesting as it goes by. Many times it takes you down roads far from where you are use to being. Sometimes it takes you to places you never thought you would visit. But most of the time it just takes you really fast to somewhere out there. I find that if you are not consistently at the wheel steering and giving your full attention to where you want to go, you find yourself wandering out there. Life can get pretty busy for me and many times I will throw the survival button on. I will just coast and keep my head above the water. This has gotten me through some tough times in my life, however, it has it's pitfalls as well. You see, when you are just keeping your head above the water, you are not high enough to enjoy the journey. I have missed many sites along the way. I also don't take time to connect with my friends. This is bad for the friendship area. I have had many friends out there that I have lost touch with because of this silly survival tactic. I am sure that I also have missed meeting many new friends along the journey because I couldn't lift my head high enough to see.
With age, comes some pretty intense self examination. I have decided that the journey this far would have been nicer if I had somehow kept my friends with me.
Recently, I have reconnected with a friend from high school. We were not always with each other but we spoke often and I think somehow found comfort in each other. Our friendship, though girl/guy, was not complicated. I think that our values were very similar and we sat beside each other in class. It was like a safe relationship, if you will. I don't think that we were looking for anything else, other than a friend in each other. This seemed to bring a breath of fresh air to me. I wasn't worried about impressing or putting on a show. He really saw me, at my best and worst(poor him) and that was ok. Now that is a friend. It seemed a little awkward at first because now I am married and somehow I feel funny with a guy friend. But, I am grateful for a chance to share this comfortable friendship again. Thanks, for being the same old friend even after twenty years. I wonder if I might be able to rekindle a few more after this Saturday's reunion. Friends can sure make the path nicer. I need to remember to make time for my friendships to grow.

Training trips for Mothers

For the next week or so, my sweetheart is gone on a business trip. He will be working longish hours but none the less, he is away to a foreign country. Thus having the opportunities to experience different cultures and have some personal time. Do I sound a little jealous yet? Well, I guess, I kind of am. You see, he has been able to attend business trips before, usually without me tagging along. On the other hand, I have not been so blessed. You see, as Stay at home moms, we are not given this opportunity. I have been thinking of this lately. I have come to the decision that, I have a very demanding career and to have business/ training trips, would be very wise. You see, as mothers we are expected to cover such a vast amount of knowledge in our everyday living, that no one person can possess all this talent. Therefore, that is where the learning and training comes in. Imagine, attending cooking classes in Europe, attending healthy living classes in Australia, or parenting classes in the B.C. mountains. Wow, we could be learning a lot of useful information, having some personal time and meeting other awesome moms. I think I need to start a business that caters to mom's who want to develop their skills to a higher level. I think that to have knowledge to share with your family is very important. We are usually home so there is lots of opportunities for teaching our families, these wonderful skills. Just a thought for now but maybe someday, my second career.

Keeping your mind alive

Sometimes I wonder what other, stay at home, mothers do to keep their minds alive. I have been home longer than most. I have been pretty much home now for 13 years, raising my clan and will still be home for a while longer. My youngest still needs her mommy close by. I realize that parenting requires lots of thinking, sometimes too much. I also understand that being a homemaker does as well; however, I still find myself loosing some of my brain power. I can feel it is a little different. I try to read and write as often as I can but I just don't have as much time now as I did before. I am thinking of taking a course or somethings soon. I just love to learn and think that as Mothers, the more we learn, the more we have to share with our families.
Just some thoughts, this beautiful summer day.

A few of my favorite things

Today, I have chosen to be total selfish and talk all about me. I hope that this is not always the case, but for today, it is all about me. There are many, many things that I enjoy. I have to mention my family and friends. The first thing that comes to mind is the sun. I love the sun, it doesn't have to be really hot, but it does have to be bright. The next two things on my list kind of go together. They are flowers and balloons. I love color. Lots of it. I also love to teach. I taught kindergarten for five years and have taught in various positions in my church for the last twenty years. Yikes, that makes me feel really old. I love to exercise, I know it may sound silly, but I do. I am not as fit as I would like to be, but it isn't because I don't like to exercise. My favorite is to just walk. I love to walk alone or with a friend, all is good with me. What else, Hmmm... I love to get dressed up and go out. Unfortunately, where I live there is not a lot of places to go that are not bars. I don't do the drinking thing and therefore, feel a little uncomfortable when people start falling all over the place. I love chocolate: sorry body, now you know the problem. I also love, Fresh Fruit!!! yum. This is what keeps me from getting huge.
In the way of doing things, I love to read, to dance,(don't get much chances for that anymore) to watch romantic comedies or better known as the chick flick. I like to just go for drives. I like to decorate cakes too. I have made almost every birthday cake for my children's birthdays. Just curious, that is roughly 74 birthday cakes through the last 18 years. Wow! That doesn't include the cakes that I have made for others. Maybe I should have been a baker.
O' k, what else: the number 11, every holiday, pretty aprons, girls nights out (what are they???),traveling for no reason, the smell and taste of cooked apples and the thrill of finishing a project. Well that is pretty much all I can think of except two. A smile and a <>
Have a great day

Stinky Self Esteem

Isn't it interesting how you can look so forward to seeing old friends but as the time draws closer, you start to have your doubts. I am being totally honest here, so don't laugh. I am approaching my 20th high school reunion. I have been looking so forward to this event. But as it is now only a couple of weeks away, I am getting cold feet.
I really enjoyed high school. I hung out with a lot of different people and tried to be nice to everyone; therefore, I think that I was liked by most people that knew me. I was not popular by any stretch of the imagination but I think that I managed not to tick too many people off. I have fond memories of high school and those that I spent some time with along the way.
But the thought of meeting those people again, after so long, kind of makes me nervous. Most of the people I knew back than are now working with small families and many still stay in touch with each other. I on the other hand, am a stay at home mom with a very large family and have not have time over the years to do to much at all. Of course I look older and am not exactly the same size either. Don't get me wrong, I am not an "old fatty" but not exactly what I would like. I have those high school fears of walking into the room and no one talking to me. I will be taking my husband with me, so to be honest, I don't want to look lame in front of him either.
I have said that I would go, so I won't back out, but I sure hope this is a positive experience for me and that I might even rekindle some old friendships. I think that I would enjoy some" girl time". Anyway, just my thoughts as I listen to some great "80's" music.

Day Trip

Today my husband had to take a trip to renew his passport. The driving time was about seven hours there and back. That is a long old trip for one day. However, I had a very good reason for tagging along. Our oldest son is living there and I am missing him more than I could ever express. We decided that we would meet him at work and take him out for lunch and have a quick visit. Our whole visit lasted about forty-five minutes long. Not long enough!!! However, one takes whatever one can, at this point. So, I wonder how many of you would drive seven hours for a forty-five minute visit with an awesome son. I sure would! In fact, I would do it again, given an opportunity. Boy, I miss my children when they are not at home. His time with me seems so short now as I look back at it. He was and is a good boy, one who would always make his mom proud.

Life is Living

Sorry, that I have been gone so long without posting but life is living. I have been kept fairly busy with my family and a few other things. School is out now and with so many people in the house, times can be lively. Not always the kind of lively I like, but lively no less. I really want to get my family back into some kind of routine. We seem to have fallen out of our routine already. I seem to be running around in circles and not really accomplishing my goals. I will definitely be working on this.
We have moved our sandbox in front of my kitchen window and I am really enjoying watching my two littlest boys play in the sand. We have also set up our on-ground pool for the summer. The children are finding their warm weather a lot more bearable now. They have so much fun in there, they stay in until they are shivering cold. Buying that pool last summer was a good investment, I declare.
Well, July 1st, found us having a nice supper of: Corn on the cob, hamburgers, potato salad. It was well eaten up. Later that night we enjoyed some ice cream cones and fireworks that are put on by the city. The weather was picture perfect, too.

"Happy Birthday Canada"

High heels

I have had a lot of opportunities to be having fun with my kiddos lately. But I have not had many opportunities for the big girl, high heels. I did wear a pair the other night when my sweetheart and I took our sweet sixteen daughter out for a special supper. It was very nice and both I and my daughter dressed up. I LOVE it!! I like the feel of being all done up. I feel like a lady and I enjoy it. Spit up has it place, but sometimes a girl just needs her high heels.

Summer is in the Air

There are certain key events that occur each year just before the summer hits. The weather is obviously one of them. As the days start to get longer and warmer, my mind turns to summer ideas and I know that I have made it through another winter. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy winter for a little while but winter last longer than my enjoyment of it. I enjoy each season for awhile but eventually get bored of it. Another key event is that of the end of the school year. My high schooler finished today. She just finished her grade ten year. Wow, I can't believe she is growing up so fast, we all know what that means for me.(older still) My others will be finishing in just ten days. I will now be thinking of how to keep them busy and me sane this summer. I will be assigning some reading this summer to keep a couple of my boys in semi-school mode. But I still need some ideas that will be fun for them and not kill me or my pocketbook. Any ideas, please let me know.

Time

Isn't time an interesting thing. Sometimes, time seems to stand still and at other times it seems to fly by. My mother told me, when I was little, that when I got older, time would move faster. I must admit that, that seems to be the case. With each passing year, I find my time soaring pass me. The magic slow down of time, is to be waiting for something. Man, it seems like time actually stands still. I am not the most impatient person, but even I have a hard time with that one. I guess we actually have the control of our time, to a degree. In fact, it is the same each day, each of us get the same twenty-four hours a day and we decide what we are going to do with it. Often, we feel like we have to do certain things and they are taking up our time. However, in reality, we allow others to assign us tasks or job, etc... A good example of this would be our jobs. We say the boss is making us work "X" amount of hours, when in fact, we are the ones who decided to take that job. We are often guilty of giving away our time and blaming others. We also fall guilty of "time wasters". A "time waster", could be somethings like tv, computers, phone calls, anyway you get the picture. This whole "time" thing has just been on my mind. I guess I have been amazed at the difference. You see as I watch my baby grow, I am reminded of how fast time can fly but as I wait for one of my children to do a chore, I am reminded of how time can actually stand still.

Knowing what you Want!!

How can one be happy if one doesn't know what she wants? I have spent many years taking care of others, which is a wonderful service. However, one must always take care of themselves as well. I seem to have forgotten this little detail. You may ask, why is this so important. Think of the last time you traveled by plane. When the flight attendant speaks to the passengers at the beginning of the flight, she instructs the passengers on emergency procedures. One of those instructions are to place the oxygen mask on your own face first before helping others you are traveling with. We must realize that in order to lift others we must be on higher ground so to speak. If we are not taking enough time to fulfill our own needs, eventually we may not be of help to our love ones either. We must be well in a whole sense. We need to take time for our physical bodies as well as mental, emotional, etc... This is hard, as I struggle with it often, myself. Others are not usually going to freely give you opportunities to do this, many times you will need to be strong, not greedy, just strong. We need to remember ourselves as a person with dreams, needs and wants too. We really need to take some time to keep these alive and in turn, keep ourselves alive and complete. These things make us better people, better wives and better mothers. Find some time today and start taking care of someone special, someone like YOU!

What do butterflies eat?

The other day I was on a walk with my now six year old. As we were walking he spotted a butterflies flying by. He said that he wanted to catch it. I asked him what he would do with it. He told me that he would feed it. So I thought the next logical question was, what do butterflies eat. Well, I am afraid that I had shown my son, my lack of intelligence, as he threw his hands down in disbelief. He than went on to say," Mom, they eat butter, you know that they are called butterflies!
If only life was so simple and things actually were as they appeared.

Sweet Sixteen

My oldest daughter turned sixteen this week. I tried to make it special for her but there is no way I could show her by material possessions how special she is to me. I am so thankful for her and her sweet spirit. She is turning into such a wonderful young lady.
Happy Birthday, Sweetie!
And I know that you will want to get your license now and yes, start dating.

Kids = laughs

Well, I just needed to posted this funny little experience we had today. I was a waiting a phone call from a family member coming to visit from out of province. I was working in the kitchen with my older daughter when the phone rang. The problem was we were unable to find the phone. We could here it but couldn't find the silly thing. I, being a great finder, found the phone, but you could never guess where! In the potato bag, yes, you heard right. The phone was in the potato bag. The funniest part was that no one seemed to put it there. Funny how that happens, isn't it? Good thing that Mom's take the course, "Finding things,101"

Spanking or No Spanking ?

I was reading a blog and found this quote about spanking our children and some of the effects that can come from it.

"Researchers at Columbia University looked at 88 corporal punishment studies and found a definite connection between spanking and 10 negative outcomes, including damaged parent-child relationships, increased potential for aggression, lying, cheating, bullying and depression, as well as a greater chance that the spanked child will physically abuse his or her own children.'

Armin Brott, McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Weekend Blessings

What a wonderful weekend I had. On Saturday morning my family and I went to Nova Scotia to attend a church Conference which was very uplifting and inspiring. We also had a little Seminary Graduation for those youth who had completed the assigned work for the year and for some the whole program. It is a youth program to help them learn the scriptures. I was very proud of my daughter as she has worked hard and did all that was required. She received her certificate. That is two years down for her and two more to go. It is a four year program. We had a nice dinner afterwards and a family dance. I love to dance and at times was the only person up there so I took my baby with me. She loved the music. It was great.
On Sunday we went to Church in Halifax with Cory. Wow, I sure am proud of him. It is amazing how I can have such great kiddos. He is doing wonderful and is doing good getting ready for his mission. He is also heeding other counsel given to him by his leaders. His obedience is a blessing to his mother, that is for sure. I drove all weekend as we needed to take two cars. I was so proud of myself, as I don't usually drive so much. Rob usually takes care of that. But this weekend I did it. Over all, I just had a great weekend. The weather was really nice too. This was great as we were also out on a ferry twice. I hope I can continue with all these good feelings for the rest of the week.

Be Careful, Very, Very Careful

My last post was on our voices and finding them. I just thought I better attach this warning with it. The warning is that sometimes when you use your voice you may wish that you had lost it. Our voices can sometimes get us into big trouble. Trouble that can hurt others and ourselves. I really have experienced this recently. I have spent a long time biting my lip and recently wanted to stop. Well, lets just say I picked the wrong time to stop biting my lip and start running off at the mouth. Please always remember to be respectful when speaking to others. If you can't be respectful, learn from my lesson and bite the lip. I guess another lesson taught to me. To speak is a good thing but only when you can be respectful.

Voices

What a beautiful day I have today. The temperatures are nice and the sun is out and shining beautifully. When I awoke this morning at 6:00am, the sun was out and I could hear the birds singing. Now that is my way of waking up. Today I thought I would like to blog about our voice. I have been thinking about my voice lately. The tone I use, who I have been talking to, what I have been talking about, and of course when to speak and when not to. This last part is the one that has been throwing me lately. When I was younger, my mother told me that, I should be a lawyer as I had the mouth for it. I was very opinionated as a child and loved the chance to debate. I truly thought that I was right and loved the opportunity to show the other person the light, so to speak. I somehow had great confidence in my knowledge and abilities. Somehow over the years, I have lost a lot of the confidence and in turn seemed to have lost a lot of my voice also. It is interesting how they seem to go hand in hand. Now to have an opinion takes a lot of energy and time and to actually be willing to discuss it at length seems exhausting, so often I don't bother. I seem to let things go, or not see them through as I would have in the past. I think that there must be a middle ground in this problem. I am working to find it, not to far either way. Voices can be interesting, educating and even beautiful. I am looking for mind.

Chocolate cake for my Kiddos

Today I had a great day. I accomplished a lot and am very happy with my results; however the best part of the day was the chocolate cake. I wanted to make a chocolate cake for after school snack time today. The cake turned out tasty but it stuck terribly to the pan. Arrg! Of course that fact did not have any effect on my little ones. They don't really care as long as they can eat the cake. Today my 7th kiddo asked me,
"Why did you make a cake?"
I said," I made you a cake because I love you."
" But why," he asked again.
I said," I made you a cake because I thought you might like one."
His reply," And I very, very do!"
I so love my kiddos. They are so cute and indeed a wonderful blessing to me.

Husband's Career Path

The big change that I was talking about last week was about my husband changing accounting firms. He has been hired by another firm. He starts in two weeks. He has found a better fit, one might say. This new firm, sounds so much more like his style and he is getting excited to start. He just has a few little jobs to finish at his current firm before moving on. I wish my sweetie best of luck and would like to tell his new firm how lucky they are to have him. He is truly a great worker and very good at what he does. Changes, Changes, always changes!!!

Working from Home

A large family is a wonderful blessing but it does come with a few hitches, one might say. One of those hitches is income. Almost everything in this life has a price tag. Those price tags are finding their place in front of my eyes a lot lately. I have a child who is planing and working now to go on a mission for our church this fall. I would really like to help him out financially as he has such a worthy and wonderful goal. I also have numerous children who have all sorts of desires to do special things. I also have a mouth that requires much dental work. All of these things are good and not really extras. I am very grateful for all the hard work that my husband does for our family. He works hard to bring home a good income but with the size of our family, the income needs to be a little larger than it is right now. His income will be larger in a few years but we need to pay the price, as the saying goes. For now though, I have a slight problem. I really need to make some extra money. I am planning on babysitting some extra children this fall, but I really wish that I could do something else maybe. Don't get me wrong, I love children. I just think, right now with other responsibilities, this is maybe a little much. I am hoping to find a way to make money from home. With the price of gas and my two little ones still at home, this is really the only way. Wish me luck and if you know of any thing, please let me know.

Playtime on Rainy Days

Today the weather is not very nice. It is cool and wet, not very good for sandbox play. My second youngest really enjoys his outside time and could live in his sandbox. Well today I decided to take the boys to McD's for a slow, long lunch and playtime. We were there for about two hours. The boys had a great time. The second youngest even found some friends that he had met before. I almost enjoyed myself also. I met several people that I knew and enjoyed a short chat. When it came time to leave the boys were sad about leaving but didn't give me any trouble about going. I couldn't believe it. They usually give me a very hard time often filled with tears and all. As I thought about this as I drove home, the thought occurred to me that I was always rushing them. We have never spent that long there before. I think that today, the difference was that they had enough time to really have fun and get a little energy out. The little ones can now be found curled up on the couch watching Franklin the turtle for quiet time. Ah, over all not a bad day at all.

Changes

I belief the saying goes, " the only things certain in life, is death and taxes." Well, this sure seems to be true in my life. There is always something changing. Sometimes I like change as it keeps life from becoming boring. However, I find change a little stressful, even if it is a good change. I can't share the changes yet, but stay tune and I will share when I can. Sometimes in life, you go with your heart and sometimes you go with your head, but you must always take the walk with Christ at your side. I have personally found that if I partner with Jesus, I am always on the right path.

Photos

I am learning how to use photos and clip art to make my blog more eye catching. Please bear with me as I keep trying to find little bits of time to further my knowledge.

A Late Mother's Day Post

Even though Mother's day is all over for another year, I really wanted to take this opportunity to thank my husband and kids. They really made it wonderful. It actually started on Thursday and went to Sunday night, goodies along the way. I just felt wonderful. I liked and appreciated my gifts and breakfast in bed but a few things were very special to me. I really liked the fact that my 12 year old made me eggs for breakfast. He is just learning how to cook. I was really impressed. I also really enjoyed my phone call from my oldest who is living in another province right now. Oh! how I miss him. Something that may sound funny but my husband's voice or tone it was so full of love whenever he spoke to me. I just felt so loved by my whole family on Sunday. Thanks again, family. I really love being your Mom and wife.

I also had a chance to drop off a gift and spend a few moments with my own mother. She is not well and is finding life very difficult. It was nice to spend some time with her. I do get to see her often as she needs a lot of help to accomplish her daily needs. But at this point, I know to enjoy every opportunity given to me.

Happy belated Mother's Day to all mothers and future mothers.

Mommy Moment!!

I am sorry that it has been so long since I posted but I have a confession to make. I couldn't remember my password. Do you believe that I had a total mommy moment where I just totally could not remember the information that I needed to get on to my blog. I really think I need some time to take it easy.

Saving Money

I just had my daily dose of the sparrowsnest blog. The address is as follows. http://www.thesparrowsnest.typepad.com I just love Mrs.Wilt and have read her blog for a long time. This month she is doing a theme on being Frugal. I for one, can sure use this. I encourage you all, to take a minute and drop by and she what she is sharing. It is nice when you are a stay at home mom to try to save money, it is kind of like making it. Some things that I do is : make bread and other bake goods, try to limit junk food and try to combine my trips to save on gas. Who can't appreciate a little less money going into the tank of the car. Well, here is a pat on the back for everyone who saves a few pennies or more today!!!

I'm Back !!

HI, I am finally back and trying to recommit to this blog. I love the idea of writing but to make the time to do it can be the challenge. I am looking to be doing a lot of work around our house soon, I hope that I can keep up with the blog also.

I am also looking to do some soul searching. There are a few things that I need to think about and with family commitments, finding that time is very difficult for me. Do you ever think that you are just loosing yourself. It says in the Bible that if you loose yourself in serving others, you will find yourself. I guess I may missing something because I am not finding me. I still seem to be lost out in the abyss of time. I need to either find me again or reinvent me. Hey the reinventing sounds kind of neat. I wonder if I can reinvent a new body while I am at it! LOL

Time is Flying By

Well, time keeps flying by. We have been and still are not all up to par. I am not well, either. I just thought I would post to let you know that we are still all here. I look forward to posting about number #4's History fair project and #5's Drama festival experience. Please stay tuned!

Birthday Craz'

Wow, what a busy month. We have three birthdays this month. My Husband will be 36, James turns 4 on Saturday and Christopher will be 6 on the 16th. Wow, am I busy. That is a lot of cake, parties and presents. I hope they all have a wonderful time on their special days because they are all special to me.

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart

Here is my birthday man. He hardly looks a year older. Just as handsome as always!

Lost in Action

Sorry for the time lapse but life sometimes hits hard. This has been one of those times as many round me are sick and require special attention. My mother who is very, very ill also came down with a virus which has put her in the hospital and to the emergency room. This virus, maybe just a normal virus for most of us but to those with serious illnesses, this is dangerous stuff. I am very worry as I see her breathing worsen and her spirit sink down. She is a stubborn lady and I think that , that is what has kept her alive this long. I love my mom and as it has only been her and I for quite some time now, I worry how I will ever take her passing. I know that it has got to happen sometime. She is making comments about her pending death and that it is just a slow one. These comments worry me. It is like she is giving up or something. I hope that she is strong enough to overcome this one. I just want as much time with her as I can get, call me greedy. Well, on a much happier note, we had a great day outside yesterday. The temperature went to eight and we went out for James to ride on his bike. He is doing such as great job. I am hopeful that spring weather maybe here to stay soon, very soon.

Happy April Fool's Day!

The best thing about April fool's day, is that it is over again for another year. I really love holidays but not this one. Maybe some year I will change my mind but for now,no way!

Teenagers

Teenagers are bad news right. Full of themselves, mean and crazy. Right?
Wrong
Wrong
Wrong, so wrong
I have two teenagers and will soon have three and I think that they are so wonderful. I can think of so many situations where they have truly risen to the occasion, so to speak. They are not perfect, but than neither am I. They have their share of problems but than again so do I. I want to share with you a simple example. I was going to the hospital to check on a friend, who is in with her little girl. With me not being home that meant that one of my teens and the soon to be teen had to babysit. There were no complains and the teenager insisted that I took the rest of the homemade chocolate chip cookies that she made the night before. Little did my teen know that the little girl was not eating or drinking and the nurses and Mom were concerned. When the little one saw the cookies, she just started eating them like there was no problem at all, then she started on a banana. Hurray! Hurray for my friend's little one and Hurray for my teen. I think that without the doubt I have had the privilege to meet so many amazing teens.

Unplanned Dental Trip

Well, the nightmare happened again. I had to go to the dentist. Don't get me wrong, I really like my dentist. He is a very nice man and tries very hard to do the impossible, make me comfortable. He has a great office, very modern and up-to-date equipment. He works with his wife, so it is very calm yet professional , at least as far as they go. I, on the other hand am not calm. I start feeling anxious on the trip there and as I walk into the room with the banana shape chair my legs turn to jello. I am not normally such a wimp, after all eight births with no drugs is nothing to take lightly,but somehow this is different.
Well, with a lot of prayer and some wiggling in my seat, I made it through once again. I thought hurray, I did it. That changed suddenly as I was given the bill. I had to have a x-ray and some work on on three teeth as one cavity had spread to the tooth beside it( bad spacing). Well I was so surprised to see the bill, I had to look twice. I almost had to ask the lady at the desk to confirm the amount. Unfortunately for me, the amount was correct. $583.00. I still think I want to cry. I just can't help but think of all the things I could have bought for that much money. Well, no new make up, spring clothes,etc... for a few more paydays.

Be Prepared

Yesterday I attended a preparedness workshop given by our church. There were several displays set up along with a presentation by our local Red Cross Emergency Response Team. What an interesting meeting. Of course like all good things, there were few in attendance, which was disappointing. There were displays on: the Red Cross, 72 hour emergency kits, generators, food storage and I think there was one more which I am unsure of. I helped out with the food storage table. We displayed different ways to preserve food. For an example, we had a dehydrator, foil sealing bags, mason jars, and the number ten size cans. We had a lady ( Thanks Marie!) running the sealer for all to see. This is a new way for us, so we are all just learning how to use it. It is amazing the ways we have to store and keep our food safe. I really believe that if we are prepared we will not fear and are also less likely to become a victim ourselves. At home, we are trying to put together a 72 hour kit for our family. This is something that will be a continually job for a little while. I hope others will take the opportunity to get prepared for whatever may come their way. Preparedness needs to happened before the event starts. If we wait until something bad happens, it will be too late. Remember, if Noah waited to build his ark until the rain started, He would have been in trouble. Let's not be caught unprepared.

Costochondritis

Who would have thought that my news years resolution was going to injury me. One of my resolutions for 2008 was just 15 minutes of exercise each day. It doesn't sound like a lot but I have started to see results, Hurray! I recently added a resistance band to my routines. Oh boy, was it a workout. It was doing really well hitting a specific trouble area for me (my arms); however, it was also causing a new problem to my body. It is called costochondritis. It is swelling in the chest area. Actually in the rib and lung area. It causes pain when one breaths in or out. Since breathing is kind of necessary, I took a trip to the doctors today. I am thankful that it was amazing quick and now I am back on my way to recovery. I will need to alter my exercise routines just a little to allow this to heal. I will still be exercising though. I really need it and really do enjoy it, too. I think that most of us can give 15 minutes a day, to our bodies since we are expecting many, many years in return.

Afterschool Bliss or Nightmare?

We all know what happens to those wonderful little angels about an hour after arriving home from school. First, we here all the intriguing news of the day, then the snack(which usually ends up being a meal), then the homework. By now, something is happening, something not too pretty, I might add. Those little angels are morphing, morphing into some kind of monster. This is the monster who cannot sit in the same room as his/her sibling. It cannot carrying on a civil conversation, heck, they can't even breath the same air as another family member. Does this event happen in your home each week night? I have only two tips for you:

1. Feed them as soon as they come in.

2. Send them outside to play. The environment is bigger and perhaps, just maybe there is enough air out there for more than one.

Now, if this doesn't work. There is only one option left. Yes ladies, strap on those heels, call a babysitter and head to somewhere quiet and blissful.

Up And Running

Well, here I am in the blog world. I have been reading other blogs for quite sometime now and thought I really needed to take the leap. I have spent many years dealing with the rubber boots (and still have a few more to go) but now I am dusting off the high heels. I look forward to sharing some thoughts, ideas and well, who knows what else. The Journey has begun. I am so excited!!!