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January 2007
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I keep thinking I should do this again :)

October 31, 2007, 8:44 am

Stuff: all in one grammatically incorrect paragraph...

Yeah, I've just had nothing to say the last few days. Sorry. And I have yet to get the photos off my camera. Not too much going on: The kids had fun carving pumpkins last night and are looking forward to free candy tonight. Brittany's school says she was supposed to get her first MMR shot AFTER her first birthday, but since she had hers before - then it doesn't count and she has to get another one. By tomorrow. So I guess she and I will be heading to the base in the morning so she can continue to go to school. I had to get an MMR before I could start college because there was no record of me having a second one. It hurt. And in case you wondered, I only took three classes. One semester of night courses. As it turns out, I don't like school. The socializing was fun, which is how I felt in kindergarten through twelfth grade, but the school part of it? Not so much. I'll just keep my degree from the school of life. I always hated having to sit through someone just sitting and lecturing. You should have seen me in business meetings when I was working for ChevronTexaco. I would draw caricatures of the rest of the people in the room, keep hitting the snack table, talk to the person next to me (usually making them laugh and disrupting the meeting - oops), or leave to make an "important" phone call. I so was not cut out for the corporate world. lol I am completely fulfilled with my role as a wife and mother, and have never had any desire to 'get that degree' and have some sort of business career so I can feel like I have accomplished something. At all. Yeah, I go off on rabbit trails a lot. Let's see, what else? Jacob is a big mess. He is into everything and constantly searches for something to dump out or destroy. Just a typical boy. Oh, and he has this fascination with throwing himself off the couch. He thinks it's funny. And I have multiple near heart attacks every day. I'm reading through the Bible chronologically - I never did that before. I'm in Job, which falls in the middle of Genesis. I'm looking forward to reading through the Psalms and putting them together with what was going on in David's life at the time he wrote them. Andy has been working a lot - training for the EIB. This is the last week of football for Justice. I think I said that in another post. I'm still having headaches. Not fun. Jacob just came over and licked my laptop. Silly! I've been trying to walk more - it's a mile to the end of the sidewalk in my neighborhood, so I walk there and back = 2 miles. Okay, so I won't be running any marathons anytime soon, but at least it's something! Okay, that's it. I'm out.

October 27, 2007, 1:50 pm

Good food, sports, time alone with the hubby, and Sippy Cup 101...

I'm taking a break from my day to have some leftovers from last night... chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, white gravy, steamed broccoli and carrots, and baked beans... so yum! We eat well when I'm feeling well (and feeling well for the second day in a row, I might add). Justice's team won their game this morning (yay!), and next week will be their last game (they only play 5-6 games in a season). And basketball practice doesn't start until December, so we'll have a little break. Actually, with just one child playing a sport at a time, it's really been no big deal getting him to practices and going to games. It was when there was two or more activities at a time that it got tricky and a bit overwhelming; I'm sure that time will come again though - I DO have five kids. lol

Andy and I are about to hit his favorite coffee shop for a few minutes alone (our *splurge* place), and then grab some groceries at WinCo (my new favorite grocery store - it's so cheap), and running by Wally World to get a birthday gift for our neighbor, who is having a party tonight that Brittany will be attending. Whew. That was a really long run-on sentence. You may have noticed that I like those - long, run-on sentences - I can't help it... it's how I speak so it flows into my blog.

I have photos on my camera, but not on the computer yet. I'll try to get some up here at some point this weekend.

Oh, and for all my readers with new babies, I am going to give a 'Sippy Cup 101' class soon. I can't tell you how much sippy cups have been a source of frustration in this house in the last 14 years. But there is hope. There ARE some that work that are under five dollars. More on that later. I know you will all be waiting on pins and needles. ;)

October 26, 2007, 12:24 pm

The Golden Compass...

There is a movie coming out in December called The Golden Compass. We had seen the previews and it looked like something the kids would enjoy - fantasy, adventure, etc. I just did some reading about the movie, and my children will NOT be watching this movie or the next two movies in the trilogy (nor will I). If you are a Christian, and have thought about taking your kids to see this movie, I implore you to read the following websites first. The Snopes site is just a place where they let you know if email rumors are true or false, and they have a write-up on the film. If you don't want to read the entire Wikipedia page, just skip down to "Controversies" and read that paragraph. Trust me, your children will live if they don't get to see this movie. Any movie taken from a book that ends with the author "killing God" so the children can do whatever they please is NOT going to be seen by my family. I don't care how "watered down" the movie is from the books so they can avoid controversy (which they aren't doing a very good job of avoiding - the Catholic church is already boycotting the film).

http://snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His_Dark_Materials:_The_Golden_Compass

p.s. This is the 2nd post of today, so scroll down if you didn't see the one from this morning. :)

October 26, 2007, 9:15 am

and I've come to the conclusion...

Philippians 4:10-13 "But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

...that I need to be content. I am the first one to shout "Happiness is a choice!" to those who are down and out, but here I am not practicing what I preach (so to speak). Sure, I am happy in many areas, and I am content with my material goods and my family, etcetera, and I'm not actually depressed or in a state of constant sulking, but I have let myself partake in a pity party because of my health. The last time I checked, the Bible didn't say "...in whatsoever state I am - unless I am ill - to be content." I have found myself thinking, "if I was healthy, I could get so much done, and life would be so much easier", but it was worded in a way so it could sound as though I was happy - just wishing for a little energy and good health... but really, I cannot deceive myself any further. I have been discontent with my state of being. I have been on a road of self-pity (a.k.a. selfishness), and lo and behold - it hasn't helped at all. So while I will continue my quest for good health (because it is a legitimate and honorable thing to take care of yourself and try to be the best you can be, with God's help), I will no longer be discouraged or wallow in a pool of feeling sorry for myself. I will be content in whatsoever state I am. And I will count my blessings, because they are many.

And an update...

Well, the whole family (except Andy) ended up getting the stomach flu, but thankfully it was a 24-hour bug that only took an extra day or two to recover from. We are all either over it or on the tail end of being over it. It seems to have struck Brittany the hardest. I was impressed with Jacob's ability to puke IN the bowl at least 1/2 the time. And now I'm washing everything in the house as I continue to recover myself. Fun stuff. I'm so so glad Andy didn't get it, as he has had to work a lot lately, and the stomach flu does not mesh well with EIB (expert infantry badge) training.

I forgot to say that Justice's team won their game on Saturday. And this weekend they get to play in the stadium. Normally, they play on soccer and football fields that are set up behind the high school stadium, but each team gets to play inside the actual stadium for one game. Justice is pretty excited about that. He's really enjoying playing - we're pretty sure he'll continue this sport every year.

Darby lost her tennis shoes. They've been missing for almost two weeks. Gone. No one can find them. She's been wearing some boots to school that are *almost* too small. Also, we have a 'home' cell phone (Andy and I each have one, and then we have an extra one we keep at home for instances such as if Brittany is babysitting, etc., since we have no actual home phone), and it has been gone for a week. Someone said they heard it ringing in the boys' room yesterday, but with me being sick, and the kids on their way to school - our search didn't last long. And the battery seems to have died now, because when I call it, it just brings me straight to voice mail. So we'll be searching for tennis shoes and the cell phone this weekend. Sounds like a good excuse to get everyone cleaning and organizing to me. :)

Jacob's vocabulary grows every day. It's so adorable. I LOVE this stage when they are learning how to communicate and talking more and more with the little toddler voice. He still looks at me as though I have gone completely mad when I set him on the potty though. I keep thinking it'll just 'click' with him one of these days, but so far, nothing. He tells me if he needs a new diaper though, so I'm thinking he should know beforehand as well. I know he is number five, but seriously - potty training has been my least successful parenting skill with all the kids. I think because I just hate the hassle of it and am never committed enough.

So it turns out that Washington weather is absolutey gorgeous in the summer... but not really the rest of the year. It should be an interesting winter. lol Actually, we have had a few pretty days here and there, but mostly it is just cold and gloomy.

Okay, so that was a LOT of talk, so I guess I need a photo. I'll see if I can find something to leave you with...

I had forgotten about these. In September, Andy took the boys to shoot their bb and airsoft guns at this place behind our neighborhood where people have left old, abandoned cars, and there are tons of trails for 4-wheeling. Here are a few of the photos Andy took:

October 22, 2007, 10:23 am

It's 10 a.m. and I'm posting my 2nd post of the day...

Well, Justice woke up feeling bad around 7 a.m. He didn't throw up until about 30 minutes ago, so I'm glad that I kept him home from school. THANK THE LORD I have not gotten this virus. I'm determined NOT to get it. I've washed my hands around 800 times in the past 5 hours. And it's an absolutely gorgeous day - warm and sunny, the first day like this in a while - so Justice is completely ticked off that the weather is perfect when he is sick. However, I plan on taking Jacob for a walk once Brittany is home to keep an eye on the sickies.

Charmaine, on her blog, tagged me with a question last week, and I forgot to answer it, so I'll answer it now:

Q: Your people want to make a statue in your honor. What will it be made out of and what victory will it commemorate?

A: My people? Does that mean I'm the ruler of a country or something? That could be fun. Well, my statue would have to make people laugh. And the victory would be something like curing cancer or making sure all the people in third world countries were fed and protected. A monkey would be involved. Maybe a marble likeness of me (wearing extremely fashionable clothing of course) holding a monkey on a leash? With funny quotes on a plaque? Okay, so none of this will ever happen. :)

October 22, 2007, 6:08 am

Airborne...

It's 6:08 a.m., and I've already been up for 45 minutes. And I just guzzled a glass of Airborne. Because I inhaled vomit fumes when I was cleaning up after Darby. Yep... it's another virus. I think Jarvis brought it home from school on Friday (gotta love those parents that send their kids to school sick!!). On Saturday morning, he was throwing up and had the 'other' stomach virus symptom as well. He was absolutely fine by Sunday, so thankfully it just seems to be a 24-hour bug. Unfortunately, though, when you have a big family, these illnesses don't like to stop at one person. Darby spent the most time with Jarvis before the puking started, and I'm hoping that close contact (they were on his bed playing video games together Friday evening) is the *only* reason she woke up this morning vomiting her way to the bathroom (THAT was fun cleaning up). I took some Airborne just in case (that stuff is disgusting! But it has worked around here in the past). Hopefully it's not too late for it to make a difference. Hopefully Andy doesn't start barfing on the guys at work. And hopefully Andrea and Adam didn't catch anything from us!! The only curious thing so far... even though Darby's belly hurts and she is still working on getting the barf out of her nose... she is still talking non-stop. At 6:14 a.m.

October 21, 2007, 3:07 pm

Listography...

Andrea, on her recent visit to my house, brought me the most amazing book! It's called Listography, and it rocks. I guess it started as a website for people obsessed with lists (uh, people like me), and they made a book. Andrea and I spent some time on Friday just sitting and filling out the lists in our books (she got one for herself as well). It's so fun! There are pages for lists like 'places I've lived', 'favorite friends', 'favorite movie stars', and a few pages to list 'firsts', like 'first drug' (ha!), and a few pages to list 'lasts', like 'last thing I lost'. It's genius. It even has funny illustrations. I highly recommend you all RUN to Borders and buy a copy for yourself. Now. {eta... according to the listography blog, you have to go to Barnes & Noble or Amazon to get the book, not Borders}. And in honor of my new favorite book, here is a list of things I have to tell you:

1. Andrea brought me some hand-me-down clothes including two never-worn pairs of jeans that fit me perfect. So awesome! (I needed some clothes).
2. I love strawberry smoothies from Forza (a local coffee chain).
3. Biolage conditioner works wonders. I had stopped using it for a while (cause it's expensive) and paid the price with split ends and frizzy flyaways, but I bought some more (it was on sale) last time I was getting a haircut and my hair is thanking me. I will be loyal from now on.
4. I've been wearing make-up more often lately. It makes me feel pretty.
5. I want to get some cute rain boots since, well, we ARE in the Seattle area, and as Niles says "it rains nine months of the year in Seattle." (he doesn't say it in frasier, but I don't know his real name, so i just call him niles - he says it in sleepless in seattle)
6. My washing machine is on the brink of dying. It was the cheapest machine available when we bought it circa 1999, so it has lasted a while. But it looks like it's run is ending. I'll be happy to have a new machine, but not happy about the extra expense.
7. I've been making library requests for movies I want to see and books I want to read. If there is something you feel I *must* read or see, just let me know and maybe I'll give it a try.
8. I've been missing the south lately. Not Texas in any way, shape, or form, but the Tennessee area. Kinda strange for me, as I've pretty much been a nomad most of my life.
9. I'm thinking about rearranging all the books on our shelves by color. It would be harder to find a book, but it would look cool.
10. I'm trying to figure out what color we want in our bedroom (it's colorless at the moment - white linens, neutral beige carpet - so boring). Any suggestions?

October 18, 2007, 8:34 am

I have no witty title.

We had teacher conferences at the elementary school this week. Justice, Jarvis, and Darby all three have a teacher that is suited JUST for them - it's pretty cool (and even more proof that God answers prayer). They are all doing well in school and making friends. They have become pretty adaptable with all the moving we've done.

Jacob has always been a 'momma's boy'. Andy being in Iraq for Jacob's first 10 months helped with that (he was always with me, day and night). He does play well with the other kids, and he LOVES rough-housing with Daddy... but he *must* get his mommy cuddling in. Sometimes he'll just run over and squeeze my legs and making a huging noise and then run back to playing. He is leaning against me right now while I type and hugging my arm. This is in no way a complaint... I LOVE his constant cuddling with me (he's so squishy and adorable!). Plus, he's just 21 months old. If he continues to want to cuddle constantly when he is in, say, 6th grade or so... then we may have to take some action - lol! Justice was this way too when he was little, but by the time he hit around age 6 or so I could barely get him to come near me. So I am TOTALLY enjoying Jacob's attention while it lasts. :)

Well, I made another life change. I'm pretty set in my healthy eating habits now, so it was time to take another step forward. This one is more traumatic than the food though, and I don't know if I'll be able to keep it up. I slept on my back last night. *gasp* Since this probably means nothing to you, I'll explain. I LOVE sleeping on my stomach. I lie on my stomach with my arms up under the pillow (arms bent upward with elbows by my side) and my head turned to the side on the edge of my squishy pillow. Apparently, this is not good for my neck and back, and since I'm thinking more and more that my neck is the root issue to my problems (with certain foods being triggers to migraines, but my neck being the main cause - yeah, I've been reading lots of books), I decided to take action. My sleep habits being the first (I already do all sorts of stretches/neck exercises). Okay, so after that long explanation... Last night was not fun! First of all, I have always had nightmares when I sleep on my back (I don't know why, okay?!), and last night was no exception. It's rare I have a nightmare that *bothers* me to the point I can't get back to sleep, and last night it was just mild nightmares, so no big deal really. I kept waking up wondering why I was so uncomfortable and trying to roll over. But I forced myself to stay on my back. I did turn to my side a few times when I just couldn't take it anymore, and this morning I laid on my stomach for about ten minutes before I got out of bed. This is going to take some time to create the right sleeping position habits. Ugh. Too much information on that? It's because I didn't sleep well last night and I can't summarize properly when I have had no sleep.

I woke up with another migraine yesterday (the straw that broke the camels back in getting me to change my sleeping position), but it seems to have subsided for the most part. But while I was drugged up, and it's hard to walk around and do much physical activity when my head is spinning, I did three more scrapbook pages. They're in my gallery at scrapsupply if you want to see them.

Andrea and Adam will be here today, and the house is a wreck. Okay, it's not like totally destroyed - I could 'straighten' it up with about one hour's worth of work, but it needs some deep cleaning (and to me, that means it's a wreck). I need to scrub bathrooms and mop floors and dust furniture and tchotchkes (trying out a new word there). I need to change sheets and vacuum and do laundry too. I'd really like to get the rest of the photos hung on the walls and go buy a new bookcase for the kids books that are just stacked in piles on the landing waiting for a bookcase too. And clean out the garage and the van. But I'll probably just do the basic 'straightening', change the sheets that they'll be sleeping on, and squirt some Windex around the bathroom they'll be using. I'm one of those people that likes to have my house without ONE speck of dirt when I have company, but with the onset of the combination of health problems and five children... well, my standards have forcibly been lowered. Andy was going to help get some of those things done this week, but he ended up working *really* long days this week, so he wasn't able. He is always really good about helping around the house when/if he has time, especially when I'm not feeling up to par. He's so nice (and did you see his comment on my guestbook yesterday? I love him). :)

Jacob is in love with Barney. About a month or two ago, Brittany put in an old Barney Christmas DVD we've had for years, and he went crazy. He asks for 'Bah-ney' all the time now. 'Bah-ney' has even beat 'Curious George' and 'Surprise!' (what he calls 'Madagascar' because it's the first line in the movie). So I've been getting him different Barney movies from the library. At some point since Brittany and Justice were toddlers (my last kids that liked Barney), they've gotten someone new to do Barney's voice - and wow. The new Barney is even more annoying than the old one. But hey - I've learned lots of new, really enunciated, catchy songs.

And I leave you with some photos...

Brittany loves Krispy Kreme donuts, so Andy and I got her donuts (and hats, of course) for her birthday party. If Brittany (the FOURTEEN year old) had cooperated, we'd have had a photo where everyone was smiling and looking at the camera. Usually, it's the small ones who are the culprits. lol

lighting the candles on the donuts :)

Jacob is wondering why everyone is singing to Brittany :-D

I still can't believe I have a 14 year old child!

opening gifts (we got her paints, some favorite candy, two books - one of which she's been asking for for a while, a couple of cute shirts, some different shaped boxes to paint/cover/whatever, a handheld Tetris game [good call, Andy], and I think that's it)

Jacob approved of the donuts! (I used this photo on one of the layouts I made yesterday)

After the party, Andy cut all the boys' hair. After watching Justice and Jarvis get their hair cut, Jacob was ready for his turn...

This was only the 2nd hair cut he's ever gotten (the first being in the hotel room just after we arrived in WA). He was flinching a little when the scissors came near him [p.s. Brittany took all the photos of Jacob getting his hair cut]

What do you think? Short bangs and long everywhere else? lol... He was actually really good for Andy and held pretty still.

Being a cutie

Um... I don't have a photo of the finished product, so you'll have to be in suspense there. I meant to get a picture of all three of the boys together with their new 'dos, but yeah - that hasn't happened. Maybe today?! Hold your breath, okay? :)

October 15, 2007, 4:31 pm

I'm in a random state of mind lately...

Started on this layout last night and finished it this morning. I painted the flowers. No, I never claimed to be an artist. lol

I sometimes wish I had a life that allowed me to scrapbook (or make cards, or paint) for hours every day. I love it.

I found a handful of headache books at the library and am reading through them. The first one claims that if I do what it says, it'll get rid of my chronic headaches. I'll keep you posted. :)

I am in the middle of a Sidney Sheldon book. I found a couple of paperbacks at the library (they have a sale rack at the front) for 50 cents, so I figured 'why not?' Matt goes on about him, but I had never read any of his books. I'm really enjoying the murder mystery/suspense novel I'm reading by him, and I will probably start on his other book as soon as I finish this one. Who knew? Well, I guess Matt did. I didn't realize Sidney Sheldon had been around so long - he wrote 'The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer' screenplay (movie with Cary Grant and Shirley Temple that is really funny). And a bunch of other stuff I had heard of. So it looks like I have another favorite author to add to my list. Yay.

The kids have half days of school all this week and were home by 11:30 this morning. The teachers have conferences all week; mine are tomorrow afternoon (for the three middle kids - Brittany still has full days).

Brittany goes to her new orthodontist in the morning. She's REALLY excited. Ha.

I found a new grocery store that has better prices than Wal-mart on lots of the things that I buy! It's called WinCo and it just opened up right down the street. Exciting stuff for me!

A mom of a kid on Justice's football team gave me a stack of FREE food coupons for Chipotle. I didn't even know there was a Chipotle around here - I ate at one with my friend Vicki in Ohio a few years back and it was delicious!!! We'll probably scope that out this week, because I'm all about free food! :)

October 13, 2007, 9:23am

DO I?! DO I?! For all you know I'm "Crewman Number Six"!!!

• I just realized I haven't updated in four days. I deserve to be taken into the streets and beat.
• Andy and I have been studying about the Nephilim in the Bible. Fascinating stuff. Andy's parents started the study, and we became fastly immersed in it.
• Justice's 2nd football game is in a few hours. Should be fun. :)
• I spent all of last evening helping Brittany get a craft area, complete with an extra table, set up in her room. It looks great, and we hope to hang her paintings and do some more organizing today.
• I received my grand prize box from Scrapsupply that I won on World Cardmaking Day. I can't wait to play with it all!!
• Marci sent two boxes of clothes for the boys (we love hand-me-downs!), but only one of them arrived. We waited. And we waited. It never came. Yesterday, I was at the post office, so I thought I'd ask about it. They said they'd look in the back, but without a tracking number there wasn't much they could do. Of course they said it was not there. I got in the van and called Marci, and just as we started talking, the guy from the P.O. came running to my van window. He said, "your box is here!" I went in, and sure enough - the box had been sitting in the back of the post office since September 29th, or so the black magic marker on the side of the box would have me believe. Gotta love the USPS. Hey, I'm just happy we got the box, and so is Justice because there was a pair of Heely's in there that fit him perfectly. (Thor, Heely's are tennis shoes with the wheels that pop out - you know the annoying shoes kids wear nowadays that make them glide through the middle of the store and knock people over.) :)
• Brittany took her test for the 'gifted' classes at school, and she is now in the advanced Social Studies and English/Reading classes. Apparently, they don't usually test kids in the middle of the school year (which is why we haven't had the kids in very many advanced classes before - because they switch schools too often and don't test until the end of the year for the following school year), but her teachers noticed that she was a lot smarter than the other kids in her classes. Um... except for Pre-Algebra... even though she says she is bored in there. But that's not because the math is too challenging, it's because she has an incredibly boring teacher. When I went to the open house, I realized about ten minutes into her Pre-Algebra's teacher's speech that I had been completely zoned out and in PetraLand and hadn't heard a word she had said. I cannot imagine listening to that woman every day. I'm sure I'd fail her class. (but Brittany, if you are reading this, I expect YOU to make straight A's... :)).
• I think I'm going to have to REtake the video tour of our house because my first one was too long for youtube and I can't get it to open on my computer, so editing it is out of the question. Not sure what I did wrong. I was using Andy's Kodak camera to record it; maybe I need to just use the camcorder.
• Andrea and Adam will be at our house next week; we're really looking forward to visiting with them! :)
• I have not eaten candy, processed junky foods, or desserts of any kind since I started my diet in July! This is a complete world record for me. Not even one M&M. I'm so proud of myself. I think the fact that I am allowed to eat pure honey, fruit, and to sweeten my herbal tea with organic sugar, helps me stave off the cravings for the crappy foods.
• I am, however, still getting migraines (although I felt fabulous yesterday and do today as well - after about two weeks of feeling crappy). I have another doctor appointment in mid-November (takes a while to get in). I'm hoping they can take a look at my neck and see if the soreness is causing tension headaches, which in turn are causing more migraines. Because I seem to have the food thing figured out, which accounted for some of the migraines, but there's obviously more to it than just food. After compiling my headache diary into a chart, I realized that my migraines are down from 5 days a week to only 2 to 4 days per week, but I get some sort of headache nearly every day. Yeah, that's not normal.
• Jacob is talking up a storm. He speaks in sentences, and will repeat anything we say or do. The cutest? When he enunciates perfectly "ba-na-na". :)

October 9, 2007, 4:43 pm

As promised...

Here are a few photos from the weekend:

Justice intensely playing in his first game (they do flag football, which, until this past week, I didn't know meant they actually use 'flags' - they have to pull the flags off the other guy [as opposed to tackling]).

At half time, mindlessly chewing on their mouth guards - lol

Justice hanging out with his football buddy at halftime

Jarvis apparently didn't get the memo that when it's COLD outside, you wear a COAT, not a sweatshirt. He was freezing. He knows to bring a coat next time. (...a quote from when we were leaving the house, "I don't need a coat mom; the sweatshirt will be fine.")

The social butterfly consorting with her peeps (she barely spoke to us the whole time - she was too busy; I don't even think she knew there was a football game going on - lol)

Justice in the air grabbing at that kids' flags just as he threw the football (his team won though... so it was all good) :)

Jacob playing Britt's PSP on Sunday morning while the rest of us were getting ready for church (photo by Britt)

Another shot of Jacob being a cutie, taken by Britt

Beautiful Brittany, on her birthday (her 'party' will be this coming weekend - yes we are a week late on everyone this year for some reason - lol)

cards I made on World Cardmaking Day (for closer details of each one, see my gallery at Scrapsupply)

October 8, 2007, 12:26 pm

2nd post of the day...

Justice's team won their first football game on Saturday. They looked great out there and Justice had a blast. I'll post some photos later with more details of the game.

I spent Saturday afternoon creating cards and playing at Scrapsupply for World Cardmaking Day. I made tons of cards (I'll put some photos of those on here later as well), and I won two gift certificates for playing 'layout bingo' AND I won the grand prize of a bind it all machine along with supplies!!! I was/am so excited. A bind it all machine is for making your own coiled books. I love using little books for mini albums, so am stoked to be able to make my own with this machine that I never would have been able to afford on my own! Woo hoo! :)

October 8, 2007, 10:54 am

Yesterday, Brittany turned 14! I cannot believe I have a 14 year old. She is getting so tall (well, compared to me - which isn't hard - ha!), and she is so smart and mature. She is not at all a typical teenager in the sense that she's not chasing after boys and she doesn't have a rebellious attitude and she does not care about popularity or giving into peer pressure. She doesn't want to be just like the 'popular' kids; she is her own person, and that includes being a strong Christian, being artsy and creative (her bedroom is covered in paint and thread), being an amazing big sister, being super helpful to me, excelling at school, babysitting whenever she can, loving all sorts of music, dreaming of becoming a journalist and a missionary to Africa, and spending her free time figuring out which Ivy League college best deserves her attention. She is amazing and I am so blessed to have such a wonderful daughter.

October 4, 2007

Determination and savings...

I've had it. There was a time, several years back, when we were living in a crappy apartment making next to nothing, and I said (upon observing a couple who made triple what we did yet were barely scraping by just like us) "if we made x amount of money, we'd have it made!" Fast forward to now. We are making x amount of money. But the rent has tripled, there are more children, and we've added two car payments. So yeah, we don't "have it made." But I think we COULD. So, as hinted in my post from a couple of days ago, I am GOING to make it work better. I am going to SAVE. I am going to SCRIMP. I am going to be FRUGAL. I'm sure all of us have areas where we blow money we don't have or we think "if only I had saved, I could get a new washer/dryer" (or maybe only I think that as I listen to my washing machine bang against the wall and water leaks out of it). I have a tendency to spend money when I have it instead of saving it for a rainy day. It burns a hole in my pocket. Even though I know I'm going to need it soon for something else. And so we continue to live paycheck to paycheck and I keep saying "I really should make some cuts somewhere, but offhand I just don't know where." Well no more! I have detailed spreadsheets showing exactly where our money goes each month. It's just a matter of taking a few minutes to set up a strict budget and sticking to it. A matter of using craigslist or freecycle to find a free, used bookcase instead of spending 80 or 100 bucks on a new one. A matter of making more food from scratch. A matter of... well, you get the idea. I know most people keep all their financial issues to themselves (why is it that people are completely comfortable talking about intimate details, but they can't bear to speak of money???), but I'm hoping to inspire someone else with my new goals (*gasp* I said the word "goals"). Okay, I'm going to go put some stuff on ebay (stuff that has been sitting around collecting dust that I keep SAYING I'm going to put on ebay but never do), and then do some work on our new budget. I'll keep you posted. Within the next couple of days, I plan on having a schedule worked out of short term and long term goals (such as "we will pay off the van in x amount of months" and "we will have x amount saved up for Christmas this year"). I'll share as much as I am comfortable sharing with you guys (but really if anyone wanted to know how much we make, they need only look at a military pay schedule - lol).

By the way, my migraine was gone this morning. Thank the Lord!!! AND... I figured it out, I think. I had a major lightbulb moment last night (thanks to the prayers of some friends/family and also to the reliability of my good ole health diary that I fill in every night). I knew that cheese (well, cheese that has tyramine in it) and MSG triggered migraines, but I didn't know I had an intolerance to wheat. But now I know. I had a Quizno's sub the other day with whole wheat bread. I got it without cheese or dressing with only fillings I knew I could have, so I was like "what's the story?" But a week or so ago I had a Subway sub with white bread that didn't bother me at all. And the pumpkin bread I made last week severely disagreed with me (I thought it was just the flu, but I think there was more to it now), and it had whole wheat flour in it. And there were a couple other days I had wheat (I actually don't eat wheat often, but now and then because I thought it was harmless for me), but it triggered a reaction. So I figured it out - yay. So I'm back to making progress instead of feeling like I'm at a complete and utter standstill. Today will be a better day. I'm still tired from the migraine, but my head is not throbbing. Whew. I should have my energy back by tomorrow. Okay, that paragraph was longer than I planned.

Ebay, here I come. {p.s. if you need any abeka text/work/quiz/test books, I may be putting them on ebay today, so let me know if you are interested. Let's see, what else? There is an emergency strobe light on there now. It ends Saturday. I'll be putting some clothes on there. But probably nothing anyone wants (amazingly people seem to bid on my old, crap clothes though). I don't know what else - whatever I can find. :)}

October 3, 2007, 5:05 pm

A whole lot of nothing...

I opened up Dreamweaver, and I had a blog topic in mind, but as I type, my mind is a blank. I have no idea what I was going to say. Yep, it's day 2 of the horrid migraine. By the way, if you've called today (or really most days of the last week), I haven't answered my phone (except Andy because, well, he's my husband) so try calling once the migraine goes away, or emailing. Nothing personal. I just can't bear to talk on the phone right now. I did get a chance to talk to Papa (Andy's grandfather) the other day when I was having a good day. I always enjoy chatting with him... he's one of my favorite people in the world. When we lived in Springfield, I saw him every single day for four and a half years (we lived in the same apartment complex).

Hmmm... what to say, what to say.

World Cardmaking Day is this coming Saturday. What are you guys doing? I'll be cyber-attending the party over at Scrapsupply - well, when I'm not at Justice's first football game. Andy will be going to the 'friends of the library sale'. I'm hoping he can pick up a few books for me. That afternoon, they're having an 'all you can fit in a bag' for $2.50. And you know we need more books (that was a joke - we have TONS of books). Oh, I tried uploading my video tour of the house to youtube, but alas... the file was too large (it can only be 100k and mine was more than 150k). Either I'll have to split the video up or redo it on high speed (maybe I'll talk like a chipmunk during the narration). I'll keep you posted.

Yeah, I'm out. Until next time...

October 2, 2007, 10:07 pm

Just a quick post because I'm updating my blog for October. I don't really have anything to say, I have had a migraine today (ran out of my prescription medicine and had to call in a refill, which won't be ready until Thursday). I'm not sure of the cause of it, but I woke up with it today. I could deal with the pain if it didn't have all the other symptoms, you know?!

Zane (Kendra's 3 year old son who had the spleen removed last week) is home and recovering well. Thank you to all who were praying for him!

I was thinking I'd like to be one of those frugal people who found great deals at garage sales, refinished furniture, clipped coupons (I do a little, but not much), found new uses for old items... I am a frugal zealot at heart... and I think once I don't have five kids running around - making it SO much easier to just spend five bucks on that container of Clorox wipes than mixing up a mixture of vinegar and water in a spray bottle - that I WILL be frugal. I'm going to save money like a madwoman. So I can blow it on scrapbooking supplies and clothes. Instead of my weight in paper towels and baby wipes. I do save money on many things, like avoiding name brands when shopping for everything from clothes to food to toys, shopping at Walmart instead of the WAY expensive grocery store, etc... but that is just out of plain ole necessity. I have always WANTED to go above and beyond that. I have always wanted to be like those people you read about who came home with $178 worth of groceries but it only cost them $12 because they had so many coupons and knew where all the sales were. But that stuff takes time and energy - two things I seem to be lacking. One day. One day.

More later... I hope you are all enjoying the autumn (or 'fall' if you prefer) weather and having a good October so far!! :)

October 1, 2007, 6:26 pm

Happy birthday to Tanner (a few days late). :)

Andrew...

On Friday, Andrew turned 33. We didn't do much on his actual birthday - since he was expected in late that night (he got home in the afternoon though). On Saturday, Brittany and I did a little shopping and then I took Andy out on a date that night. We had a great time (as we always do when we get a chance to go on a date) and I think Andy had a good birthday weekend. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY! I LOVE YOU!! :)

A few photos to share...

This is what happened when I let Jacob feed his yogurt to himself. :)

They fell asleep in Jarvis bed the other night after watching a movie together. :)

How to get over my fear of slugs: 1. Listen when the kids tell me "Mom, you HAVE to come outside for a minute!", 2. Let them take photos of the slug that is bigger than Darby's hand so that when I download the photos from the camera there are several photos like the above. (p.s. it's not really working - they still give me the major heebie jeebies. *SHUDDER SHUDDER*)

My Andy Pandy opening his birthday present from me. Did I mention how much I love him? :)