Is it Christmas yet?

I am not sure who told Olivia that after her birthday would be Christmas and then she could get more presents. I am sure the person who told her this was doing it because 4 days after her birthday she wanted more barbies and this person was probably in the middle of cooking dinner and had already tried to explain the whole present thing and how Birthdays are so much more then that. I bet the person quit trying to reason with a a three year old and blurted something like this " Seriously Olivia, if you be good for at least 60 more days and quit whining, hitting your brother and give up the Binky then you can get presents under a tree!"

What a concept Olivia thought...from that moment on..every commercial I hear how she needs and wants this and that...Today I found magazine pages on my fridge with what she needs...

I guess I set myself up on this one..being how I am the one who told her the next present date! I am now looking for a great way to share the story of Jesus maybe I can reason with her then..

Pesky fruit flies

When we moved in our home I swear there was Fruit flies living in the walls and in the floors! They are everywhere! I have tried to use chemicals but it never really works! We have misquotes everywhere but that is a whole different story..I killed 14 of them in my bathroom! YUKKKKKK...

Anyways...years ago my sister in laws sister told me to take a shot glass and fill in half with dish soap and half with vinegar...VIOLA! by morning you have a shot glass filled with those pesky fruit flies!

Frugal Dinners

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love a good deal! I try to be first in line a the local thrift store and I am always bring things to consignment to make extra cash or to buy clothes for the family. I always shop in the clearance section of every store ( I start there). I do like nice things and trendy fun things but at some point I don't want to die leaving my children all this debt and I hate my husband working all the time. I heard Clark Howard ( Radio Personality) one time say he only shops in stores with concrete floors! LOVE IT!

I am always asked how I find things or how I can use 400.00 a month to feed our ever so growing family. I won't bore you with all the details but the more I share what we have for dinner I am always in awe over the fact that more people don't do this.

I start by 1 trip to Wal-mart & Costco once a month ...I get all canned food and more at Wal-mart and other things like cream cheese , Mayo, Juice boxes at Costco..

I make 1 trip to our local produce stand. Then my main goal is every 10 days for milk and misc. at the grocery store.

I always try for balanced dinners..not to much carbs, always a vegetable and Protein! I am huge believer in breakfast for Dinner...oh, and I am okay with pizza for breakfast! why not?

I strive to make 2 pounds of taco meat at least once during the week...

we have Taco salad...taco's..taco Omelets and Taco Soup.

We make soup at least once a week...I buy Bear Creek and then add from there ( Cheap and Fast!) I buy the Potato soup and add sausage, celery, carrots, 2 cans corn and onions...You can do the same wiht the chili mix and so forth.

Biscuits and gravy with fresh fruit and scrambled eggs are favorite!

Crock pot meals..Always cheap and easy!

If you need more ideas..buy 1 Bisquick cookbook, 1 rival crock pot cookbook and 1 Campbell's cookbook...You won't be disappointed and many times all the recipes are 5 ingredients or less.

If you have any great "cheap' dinners to share PLEASE PLEASE share!

The Sarah Palin story

I thought that this was a great story...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddRoiVWfLyU

Girls Weekend!

What a great weekend! We headed up to Silver Lake Friday to enjoy piece and quiet and lots of laughter...Had my nails and toes painted along with lots of magazines and NO KIDS!

When we woke up we did not want to leave...Until next time girls!

Blah.Blah.Blah

Both boys have been recently grounded..both separate issues. Today was the first day they are off ungrounding and both were up and showered at the crack dawn so they could check their myspace. It was then that both of them really didn't understand why they got grounded.

I really think they thought I wanted to extra house cleaners all week. So I went through why and trust is a very important part of life and if nobody trust you then your character and integrity will mean nothing.

I swear they heard" blah.blah,blah.blah"

On that note I am trying to enjoy the journey of tweenagers and teenagers ..smelly socks, undone homework ( I did tell them every missing assignment is one day grounded) along with a whole list of Blah blah blah's.

I think it is even comical that they think I am so old that I forgot what high school was like. How could I forget those where some good years !? I am sure my mom sounded the same way..Blah.Blah.blah.

I couldn't resist

I have been uploading all my pcitures to costco and I came across a few that melted my heart...Olivia when she was little....time...it goes by quickly.






I have no idea why they are small!?

I want...

My Morning rant:


I want chips for breakfast. I want Max & Ruby. I want you to drive me 3 block to school. I want an apple. I want an Ipod. I want a bike. I want a barbie. I want a new sweatshirt. I want 20 bucks. I want a birthday party. I want a prize. I want that truck. I want my new tights. As I type this my darling 3 year old is yelling...I want that to the TV!

Well, my precious children....

I want a nap. I want a mocha. I want a new vehicle. I want a new clothes...however I will not get any of these things at this moment...I guess I understand your pain! and my moms...she used to give us the speech before we would even get into the store..." Do not ask for anything!" I SOOOOO get it now!

I am Old

After washing my cell phone and realizing that it was not going to ever work again..I went to the cell store and picked out a new one. We got it home and Matthew hurried and did all of chores so he could set up my new phone.

After he was all said and done he tried to explain to me all of the features it had to offer. He could tell that I didn't really care as long as I could just make a call. He looked at me and said " Why am I even telling you? Your to old to figure it out"

Thanks Matthew love you too!

PS he was to young because he played with dad's phone and lost all the contacts :)

* Corn*

My awesome husband went out and purchased 6o ears of corn to cook and freeze. He did all the work and I am so excited! It was fun to get the boys involved..I keep telling them they will make super husbands one day.

New tutu's

Here she is the tutu dress Grammie Karen bought for her. She put it on yesterday and has yet to remove it for the day. I had to make her put it on over her pajama's.





Olivia loves tutu's..You can find her in the grocery store with a tutu, the pool, on the trampoline, and anywhere in between with her tutu on..some times she will put on her barn boots with them and call it a masterpizza as she twirls and calls herself beautiful.

I have even learned to make tutus for the simple fact I will not pay 45 bucks for one. I think I am going to call dance school tomorrow...

Splish Splash He was taken a bath

Carter loves bath time and has really out grown the sink due to the fact we have more water on the floor then in the sink. He loves to splash!
I am unable to bath him in the tub due to my back and most of his baths are given by his grammie...I miss not being able to bath him so today I tried and it was enjoyable. I just had to capture the moment.

Oh MY!

Went to Bellingham yesterday and what did I see at Macy's!!?? Stirrup pants....I could not believe it! I knew the some 80's fashion was in ( I love the colorful stuff!) but stirrup pants?

My best friend once said...if you have worn it before your to old to wear it again. I believe her now.

Party Time

We celebrated Olivia's 3rd birthday with friends & family on Friday. She got lots of Barbies and fun girly stuff. Thanks everyone for coming to celebrate with us and for her. It means so much to all of us!

When is sharing to much?

Normally I post on my family and different outings we may take...but I lay in bed at night thinking of all the things I could share with you...Funny things, sad things, scary things, emotional things. I sometimes wonder if sharing to much is not okay and other times I think it is perfectly okay because we are normal( yeah, right) we have the same struggles as many of you and we have parenting issues like many of you. So when is sharing to much? When does it cross the line when you have so many readers out there?

For the most part I am not a secert person, I don't pretend to be someone I am not however, I would really like to get the mommy of the year award. I think that would be wonderful but I know I am slacker mom so I just keep running for the title. No seriously, I never feel I have something to hide or be something I am not. It does not take fancy cars, decorated houses, expensive clothes or stainless steel appliances, granite anything...those would all be nice but going into debt for these things is not me. I do however get intimidated by people who have these things. It is not because I want them but a little voice in my head tells me that I am not good enough. Blame in on childhood I don't care but yes, I do feel not good enough but I am content with my beautiful home and my vehicles.

So now maybe I shared to much...I don't know if you even like reading the ones like these ( Sappy personal ones) or if you really don't care. So I ask you readers and fellow blogger when is sharing to much!?

MOM! MOMMY! MOOOOOM

Why!?? Why!!?? Must my children yell from the beds 15 times after they were to be in bed!? Why must they need just one more thing!? Even the 11 & 15 year olds do it..sign homework slips after bedtime , one more drink, one more anything and I will scream!

I love this one...

3:15pm...Mom "Hey, you should start your homework"

Boys~ I have none

Mom " Okay. do your chores and then you can go play....

Boys -9:30pm flying up the stairs in a huge panic for poster board because WHY!? yep...homework...irritates me!

Tomorrows a new day...looking forward to it!

A little Girl

3 years a go my water broke at 7:30 in the morning...by 10:38pm the world had a new little girl...

A little girl who would give her mom a run for her money from the first day. A Little girl who needed special help to breathe and eat the first 10 days of her Life. A little girl that melted my heart the first time I held her. A little girl who would cry till 2 am everyday and I would stand by the door till you dad walked in from working to hand you off to him. A little girl who loves Max & Ruby. A little girl who calls for her " broder" when in trouble. A little girl who has to sleep with a pony tail on the top of her head every night or she can't sleep. A little girl who loves to go in dad's trailer. A little girl who reminds me that she doesn't have baby in her tummy she has Jesus.

Sleeplessness nights till 18 months...only wanting mommy & daddy...tutu's..4 outfit changes in a single afternoon...hair Pretties.binkies..blankies..cuppies..everything ending in "e"...pouting lips...deep stares..nose crinkles...

Nothing will ever compare to having this journey of raising our Olivia Sue....She is Olivia...nothing more and nothing less. She has taught me so much as a mom and has tested every parenting idea & trick I have read or learned. She has taught me healing and most of all patience...

Happy 3rd Birthday Ms. Susie..I am so grateful to be your mom! Your Dad & I are so in love with you...

Everyone needs a Cheerleader

What you will hear from our cheerleader... Some copied from mom & dad

* Go Matt
* don't hurt them Matt
* awww darn it
* get the ball Matt
* Matt you are best
* Matt number 9 is my son
* Tackle the one boy

It was her idea to wear her pink ballerina outfit/cheerleader outfit

Chicken or eggs......

Matthew came to the door asking if we wanted eggs or chicken!??? I was in the hospital so I had no idea that for 3 days we had a guest...a very cute guest. Our guest woke up Mikey at 6:18am looking for food or a friend...We had to let our guest move to my sisters farm...I am still wondering how the guest arrived!??

7 Months Old

Carter is 7th months old!! He is learning to sit up ( his butt needs to flatten out!) he rolls all over and is just learning to scoot backwards. He is trying people food. So far loves to naw on pizza crust, ritz crackers and other fun bites...No teeth...he is finding his voice and making sure he is heard by all who enter. He snuggles and loves all day long.

Visitors.....

When your in the hospital for 6 days friends & family can make long days better. So does trashy magazines! :)

The View from 221

I have been here for 6 days now and not much changes in room 221..maybe the visitors or the nurses but the view out the window to all the heating and cooling ducts has stayed the same. The patient next door got to see the helicopter..That's okay they say I get to go home tonight.

As I sit here with all the silence I have been able to ponder over so many thoughts,ideas, and pray like I have never prayed before. Obedience has been a huge issue for myself and my children. Learning to obey God's word and to have a reverent obedient heart towards discipline. not only for my kids but for myself. discipline over finances, raising my kids, being a godly wife and so many other issues where discipline will come into play.

You are probably asking yourself where the last paragraph came into play....well I am not sure. I don't think I have had this much time by myself so I think I am just bored and feel like rambling....or it could be that I know I have a 2 year old waiting for me at the door...So I prepared myself for what is to come in the next day.

Overall...I am excited to go home and see my family...Have no more pain when it comes to taking care of them. Loving on them and kiss them..

When Moms away Grammie will Play

Prunes anyone!???

Ella

Look who got to finally cuddle with me! I have not been able to hold her even though we got to be in the same hospital together for 3 days. She was able to go home today. I just loved holding her and Olivia did not get jealous at all She wanted me to have a baby. I told her we had Carter but she wanted a sister....

Day 4

I had some good looking visitors today. My Babies came to crawl into my bed with me and watch TV. Oh, how I miss them. I miss the way they smile the way the get excited. I just had to cuddle them...It made me cry when the Left and I could hear Olivia screaming all the way down the elevator. Who really knows when I can go home...soon I hope but then again I am sure this peace in quiet will still be calling my name.

Still here

I still have the remote all to myself...Seriously..Pain is getting under control. It still hurts a lot but they are trying different drugs. I am trying a steroid to help the nerve. My sister is still in here so she comes and hangs out on the extra bed in my room and takes a shower. What are the chances of both of being here at the same time!? Mom is going back & forth taking care of us and Jenn has been room hoping also.

I might go home tomorrow I am not sure yet...Enjoy the weather looks like it is going to be nice! Maybe I will get to be pushed out in the sun to breathe fresh air...Not recycled dry air :) I will keep up all updated!

Awww..Peace & quiet

Here I sit in the hospital no one yelling my name, no one asking where something might be, no bedtime routine, no dishes ,no laundry just me and my drugs and the TV all to myself. I am sitting here watching Big Brother :) and about ready to sleep.



Sometimes trying to find the positive in a negative can be challenging however tonight I am going to take the mommy time even if I have to go the hospital to get it...Have you ever tried to blog with drugs?

Another One!!!???

I am a bit disappointed and a bit relieved that the pain in my back and in my leg over the last 3 weeks was not in my head!! I went in Tuesday for an MRI and 9:30 pm the nurse called from the doctors office to tell me that I am going to need emergency back surgery Friday. Imagine my disbelief considering I just had one 5 weeks ago!!

I can't believe what a journey this has been....Most of you know that I was injured 3 years ago..I never ever imagined that it would be like this. This will be my 3rd surgery in 2 years. I am becoming a pro!

I will be admitted tonight with surgery taking place tomorrow. Jeremy trying to keep things on the lighter side expressed his joy for me as he knows I get to have at least 8 hours of good solid sleep while he is at home with all the kiddo's.

What an amazing man! I know when you get married that you take a vow for sickness & health...You think that is so far down the road and don't really give it much thought. Going through this and having days I just can't walk or shower myself,lift the babies, or even drive he has never left my side. Never tried to give up. He is an amazing husband who has given up so much of his life to make sure I am okay! I love you babe!

So with that...I have a mommy list 100 miles long! Okay not really but it is long! all the Laundry caught up (HAHAH IMPOSSIBLE!)...rugs and bedding...All the bathrooms, stocking the fridge with quick snacks to go , milk, juice all that fun stuff. Walmart , Costco and the banking...Paying all the bills...wheww...I better go get started looks like a busy day good thing my mom is coming!

Ella Jo

My Sister had her baby Saturday Morning...Tammy has been under alot of stress due to her husband leaving her and having 3 other kids to care for. She went into labor and drover herself to the hospital where they did an emergency c-section ( Baby was breech) Ella was born at 34 weeks and weighed 5 pounds 13 ounces and is 18 inches long....oh and she is super CUTE!!!

Tammy started to hemorrhage and lost a lot of blood. Monday they did 3 blood transfusions. She is doing much better now.

Ella is still weak and is learning to eat. She has had to go on oxygen along with feeding tubes,iv's...not a lot of fun.

In a situation like this Prayers are always needed!

We Love you Tammy and no matter what we are your voice and are here for you.

Labor Day 2008

We had a great labor day weekend...Busy but would you really expect anything different from me!?? We stayed in the big town of Sumas! Because we had our Montana Silversmith jewelry booth set up there. I came home every night to sleep...nothing like your own bed :0). Jeremy's parents have a home on Silver Lake so we headed up there Monday for a BBQ with some family.

Jeremy headed out Friday night to get a great camping spot (first come first serve) It was a great spot until Saturday night when we where in the trailer and all of the sudden we realize that the dance for the rodeo was 19 feet from our door and the walk path was under our awning! So the kids decided they would just dance in the trailer...Good thing the dance ended on the earlier side.

Here are some pictures of the kids being Kids..........