Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Wordless Wednesday



For more wordless wednesday posts, go to Five Minutes for mom!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

A TAG

I have been tagged for a meme, which of course I don't mind at all. I am just a little behind on getting this one up. Katie over at Great life-Happy 2 b me was so kind as to tag me for this 4 things meme. I had to think a bit, but here are my answers..

4 Things I was doing 10 years ago:

  1. Purchasing my wedding dress and planning my wedding
  2. Selecting fabric and having my bridesmaids get their dresses made.
  3. Dreaming of buying our own house
  4. Was a Human Resource Manager at a large department store and did not like my job

4 Things I was doing 5 years ago: (This one is hard 5 years ago has been erased from my memory. Not such a great year for me)

  1. Enjoying being home with my 2 year old boy and my 6 month old baby girl
  2. Painting our home that was a pukey pink color a warm red (which I miss, we've since put siding up)
  3. Deciding to join the steering team in my MOPS group for the first time.
  4. Going out of my mind! I don't really know, I just remember a lot of stress back then.

4 Things I did yesterday:

  1. Woke up! Isn't that amazing? I got out of bed and started my day. (with a cuppa joe in hand of course)
  2. Had a cookout with family and hung out all afternoon just catching up while the kids played games in the yard. Nice time.
  3. Went to Taco Bell for dinner - Just me and Ethan. We don't get too much one on one these days so I took him with me.
  4. Went to Jason's Baseball game - which they won! Whoo-hoo!
4 Shows I like to watch:
  1. Dancing with the Stars
  2. Men in Trees
  3. Notes from the Underbelly
  4. I can't think of another one, When I get a chance to watch something it is usually because I set the DVR. I haven't seen any shows lately to record. Although I did catch Last Comic Standing last week and watched it. I like stand up comedians. I like to laugh.

4 Things I love to do:

  1. Hang out at the beach with the kids
  2. Go for walks or bike rides
  3. Take pictures
  4. BLOG! I have two of them that I work on whenever I get the chance. I haven't started scrap booking yet, so this is what I do.

So there you have it, there is my tag. I have to get back downstairs and pack a truck load of lunches for field day tomorrow and clean up a kitchen. yuck, so I tag YOU. Yes you, so leave me a comment and let me know when you have this up!

Have a great one!

Tackle It Tuesday


Click on the button for more tackles

Well with having a long weekend and nice weather. YAY! My house is a wreck. I have tackles to do, but today I have to tackle just some yucky ol' housework.
I am having trouble getting going this morning too as outside has taken a turn and it is cold drizzling and not a drop of sunshine. Nice because it means we will be indoors and much easier to get things done, but all I need is a sunny morning and a big pot of coffee and I can tackle anything!

So once I find an ounce of motivation, here is what I need to tackle today.

  • LAUNDRY! Luckily we went out and bought a new Maytag washer this weekend. Our old one lasted us 12 years and was on its last leg. This one washes so much faster AND I can put more in per load! Love it! But I have 3 loads of unfolded laundry that will have to be fluffed then folded and put away. Plus a load of whites to soak and wash and strip all the beds and wash sheets.
  • Clean the Kitchen- Top to bottom. Unload dishwasher, wash windows, counters and sweep and mop
  • Toy Room which somehow keeps getting messy. Don't know how...

That is the main part of it. I am trying to use my crock pot more, so I need to look up some good recipes. HEY, IF YOU HAVE A GOOD CROCK POT RECIPE THAT WORKS FOR YOUR FAMILY LET ME KNOW! LEAVE ME A COMMENT, OR E-MAIL ME lovemybusybugs@yahoo.com I'd love to find some more. I used it twice last week and it made life so much easier, I want to make life easier more often!

Other tackles I need to work on this week are: Re-organize the girls room, my closet, the bathroom closet and the pantry. eek. I am hoping to work on one each day, but we'll see how that goes.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Little Miss Sunshine

My 5 yr old had her preschool graduation/spring program Wednesday night and our 3 yr old was sick so we couldn't go to my SIL for her to pretty us up.(she's a beautician) so mom had to attempt to do some fancy hair(mom doesn't do fancy hair) So since miss Elena has straight hair I thought how fun to put some curls in her hair! Well she wasn't too happy about this whole process as you can see. She wanted her hair down with a headband.
I was loving it because she had curls like momma, but they pretty much fell out by time program time came. I was able to pull it out of her face and bribe her with some dangly earrings, so it all worked out in the end. But I just had to share this face! Love it.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

thursday Thirteen


Two weeks ago or so I did the Blockbuster Online thing.There were so many movies out that I wanted to see and I kept walking into Blockbuster so I decided to just do the online. Much better deal when you can rent unlimited for one price. So over the last two weeks we have been watching way to many movies waiting for this Ohio weather to warm up already!

Last year at this time the kids were wearing shorts to school. This year we are still wearing socks and shoes and jackets. I'm ready for some warmth!!

So I watched some really good movies and some that were just okay. Here is a list of 13 of them. A few of them I am reliving through my kids which is so much fun.
  1. Juno - This was a surprisingly good movie.

  2. The Water Horse - The kids liked it, but not enough to watch more than once

  3. The Namesake - Real Good Movie

  4. Hairspray - Gonna have to buy this one the girls have watched it over and over. Even my 3 yr old walks around singing "Good Morning Baltimore!"

  5. 27 Dresses - Okay

  6. Jane Austen Book Club - I love Jane Austen movies, but this was just okay

  7. Charlie Wilson's War - my dh liked it

  8. P.S. I love You - I haven't cried so much in a movie in I don't remember when

  9. Dan in Real Life- This was a cute movie. I liked it

  10. Monster House- I have actually seen this a million times, but we still don't own it and it actually is a good kids movie that I am surprised my kids don't get scared by.

  11. ET - I can remember seeing this at the movies when I was a kid

  12. Indian Jones - Raiders of the Lost Ark

  13. Indiana Jones - Temple of Doom - I have always liked the Indiana Jones movies, am curious to see how a 65 yr old Indiana does. We are gearing up for when it comes out this weekend. YAY! Just need to watch # 3 sometime this week.

So that is my list, I think I am movied out. Come on nice weather, I need some fresh air!!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Wordless Wednesday


(The comic is clickable if you want to read it better, just click, I couldn't get it any larger for some reason)
For more posts, click on over to Five Minutes for MOM!

Friday, May 16, 2008

Tell me your Story


My friend KC referred me to a blog. Diane over at Meyers on the Hood is having a Tell Me Your Story Bloggy Carnival. About a year ago I sat down for the first time and wrote out my testimony. I was amazed by how much I had forgotten that had gone on in my life and it was wonderful to see how things all play together and where you end up from it all. I had given my testimony to my MOPS group last year when we had a tea and treasure day. So I am copying the story and sharing it with you.

(Mind you, this is the longest post I have EVER done!)

I am a fairly new Christian. I have always known God. Believed in God my whole life, but only recently have had a relationship with Jesus Christ.

When I was younger – elementary school age- my mom & Dad sent us to church on a church bus. I don’t remember my parents going to church, but me, my brother and my 5 cousins who lived next door piled on the bus and went to the Baptist Church. I don’t remember a whole lot from those days, but I remember having fun. I liked going to church and I remember the church doing nice things for our family when my mom died. My mom was killed in a car accident when I was 8 yrs old. That night it happened is a flashback I live over way to often. It was a very hard thing for me to understand why that happened. Back then I was angry about it often. This happening really changed me and especially changed our family.

My dad was young. Just 26 when this happened. He became isolated from us kids. He turned to heavy metal music, partying and a new girlfriend. I came home from school one day two months after my mom died to a new girlfriend living in my house playing mommy. It was a scary, uncertain time in my life. I am thankful my aunt and uncle and cousins lived next door. I spent much time there. But even that became strained. My whole family turned against my dad because of his behavior. Some of the people I so needed to be around I no longer was allowed to be with. I felt very much alone.

As the next few years went on we saw my dad go from one girlfriend to the next- always moving them into our house. My dad joined a Hard Rock band and me & my brother were dragged from bar to bar while they had shows to play. Brought to strangers houses so the band could practice. Or we had a houseful of people mostly guys in and out all the time. Most of the time when we were brought along we had no idea where we were. Usually we hadn’t had much to eat and we were left alone a lot. By the time I was 11 yrs old I was pretty much responsible for both myself and my brother. We moved to a new town and even though the church bus came all the way to our new house to pick us up, we didn’t get on. Dad was never awake to make us so we didn’t. I didn’t have much faith in God at that point. All I could see was that I had nothing.

Luckily the summer before 6th grade I met a girl who was my age that lived in my neighborhood. We instantly became best friends. One thing that intrigued me about her family was that went to church every Sunday. And if you were sick, you stayed home and watched mass on TV. They were Catholic and that was different church then I had seen before. It made me want something again. I would see all these families attending service together and I wanted that so badly. Lucky for me they let me come along each week. Even bought me a new coat and some things I could wear to church. They didn’t even mind when I was there on TV church days. I was part of something and I liked it. I started praying again. There is one prayer during that time that always stands out to me.
When you think of unanswered prayers that were really answered but you didn’t know it until years later? The summer between 7th and 8th grade I knew we were moving from a small town to a larger town. I was terrified. Everyone told me horror stories of things that would happen. How the kids would be. How I would be treated. I prayed every night for God to bring the right kind of friends into my life. I didn’t want to meet kids who did drugs or who were fooling around. When we moved I met the “popular” kids and hung around with them. I made a lot of friends but those were the kids I kept struggling to stick with. Finally a fight with one girl caused me to start hanging around some of the other kids I had met. I was so upset for so long, but didn’t realize that was what I asked for. God pushed me away from the kids that later would be kicked out of school, doing drugs and having 1, sometimes 2 kids while they were still in high school. God answered my prayer!
Freshman year I met another friend who’s family went to a Catholic church. Her family invited me to come along also. I would walk across town each week to come because my dad wouldn’t drive me. I can remember it being the one time all week I would feel at peace. My whole life felt out of control, but on Sunday it was all okay. I continued to go to church with her throughout high school and even went to a few youth events with her.

During my high school years my dad did marry one of the girlfriends. My step mom started out to be the best thing that happened to us. She brought us close together as a family. Something we hadn’t been since my mom passed. At the time when she moved in we lived in a large house. My brother and I lived upstairs, Dad downstairs and we shared the kitchen. His side of the house was locked. My stepmom took down the locks and opened the door. Only for a short time though. She became pregnant. I was thrilled. Maybe I would get a sister! I did get a sister at 17 yrs old, but once she was born, so was my stepmothers addiction to pain killers. My little family was torn apart again. There was screaming, sometimes hitting. I knew this wasn’t the life I wanted. I was working to pay for all of my things and when my things and money started missing I had to move out. One of my friends witnessed the way I was being treated and told her parents. I left the house a month after I turned 18, since I was still in high school my friends parents asked me to move in with them. I lived there until I left for college.

When I moved back this way I started going to church. Methodist Church, with my grandma. We did that and we always went out to lunch afterwards. It was nice and I enjoyed the time spent with Grandma but I was needing something I just didn’t know what was missing. During this time I broke off my 5 year mentally abusive relationship with my high school boyfriend. I got my first real job, first apartment and started praying a little more. I was dissatisfied with myself and things going on in my life but had no idea how to make them better.

I met my husband and we dated for two years then he proposed. At the time he proposed my cousin was dating a preachers son and was making some complete life changes. We both did the partying scene late in high school and college her more so than I. So I was curious as to what was making her change. We started having some deep conversations about the lord and religion. When I asked her to be in my wedding, she accepted, then declined. She wouldn’t participate in a bachlorette party, or have champagne for the toast. Wow. What was making her change this much! I wanted to know more about this. So once Bill and I were married and on the advice of the pastor who married us, I started looking for a church that would be our church. It wasn’t until after I had our first child Ethan that I started going to her church. It was there that I started to feel a little different. I knew there were changes in my life I needed to make, but I kept making excuses for why I couldn’t take the time to make them. I was afraid to change my life too drastically. One day Pastor was really delivering a message that spoke to me. I sat there in the pew and I thought what is this about that people say they feel different, that they feel Jesus. I didn’t understand. So I just said to myself. Jesus, I believe in you, I want to know more about you, I ask you to come into my life today. Come into my heart I want to know what this is about.
The best way I can describe that feeling I felt that day is the Grinch. How his heart grows. I felt my heart outside of my body and was filled with warmth, like the biggest bear hug ever.
I knew Jesus was there. I knew things would be different. I stayed at her church for awhile but as Ethan grew I wanted him to be at home too. I was embarrassed to tell anyone that I never read the whole Bible or that I really didn’t understand what Easter was about. Most people assumed I was where my cousin was spiritually. I felt dumb and unsure of myself. I questioned if this really was the right time to do this.
Not long after a friend of mine invited me to MOPS. She was new to it and thought that it might be something I would enjoy since not many of my friends were moms. I thought I would check it out. It took me some time, but I met some other moms that I felt comfortable talking with and I felt more at ease asking questions about things I was unsure of. I bought a new Bible for myself and it was one geared for moms so I could relate to what I was reading. Someone told me to start by reading the Gospels and even taking that step made me so much more confident in this choice that I made!
Another thing that really helped me was by reading the children’s bible stories. Then when I would hear about them in church or come across them they made a little more sense.

Shortly after coming to MOPS, we switched churches and started coming to Church here. Since accepting the Lord as my savior there have been many times that I know God has helped us through. But mostly the year I was pg with my daughter Elena and the year that followed was a time that we were hit with everything. Financially, Emotionally. While I was pg I lost my job, then Bill was laid off early that year, Elena was sick- we were on the verge of losing so much. But by having faith and learning to trust God we made it through. We got through each month and learned to not question how it happened. Relationships that were strained were mended and somehow we came out of that year even stronger.

I am still growing in my walk with Christ. But as I look back I can see that I have always been drawn to God, always wanted religion in my life, always wanted to be loved. It took me 25 years until I found it and I know I can never loose God’s love. I am so thankful for the place that I am in my life now. I can see how God has protected me. Allowed me to be in so many different positions but helped me to make the right decisions. Some of the things I’ve seen in my life a young girl never should have to see. Who I am standing here is different than I ever have been. I’ve always had a positive attitude about most things, but now I look at each obstacle in life in a different way. Nothing is as much of a challenge as before because I know we don’t go through anything alone. I can always give my troubles, my worries and especially my praises to God!

I’ve learned that prayers don’t have to just be for the major things. Major crisis, major illness. God wants to hear from you and help you with the simplist things. I wake up each morning and pray that I don’t start my day off yelling at my kids, or not to forget to say something loving to my husband before he leaves in the morning. It’s amazing to me how even mundane things can be better just by taking a minute to talk it over with God.

As a mother I am so proud of where my children are spiritually. To see where my faith can help them know the Lord and see them start out having confidence in and loving Jesus. To see my husband grow and come closer as well.

The other day my 4 year old daughter asked me where wind came from while she was swinging. I told her God made the wind. She then asked me to give her a push on the swing, at the time I couldn’t leave the baby where she was. Just then a huge gust of wind gave her a big push. She yells out “THANK YOU JESUS!” with the biggest smile on her face. I had the biggest smile in my heart because that is what I say too, THANK YOU JESUS!!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Want something FREE? Go out and get it!

Today, Thursday May 15, 2008 is the day for you if you'd like a free deal!

Dunkin Donuts is having free iced coffee day! Stop in between 10AM and 10PM for your free treat! Not sure where there is one close to you? Click the link above to find a store near you.

Also participating McDonalds restaurants are giving from 7AM-10:30 AM today the Southern Style Chicken Biscuit and from 10:30AM - 7 PM you can receive a southern style Chicken Sandwich. Now you do have to purchase a medium or large beverage to get your free sandwich, but you would need something to wash it down anyways, right?

So go out and treat yourself to something FREE - TODAY!!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Wordless Wednesday - Our Potato Head Family

Got to Five Minutes for MOM for more wordless wednesday posts!

Tackle It Tuesday!

An update from last week. Our patio door is now installed!! YAY! It is amazing how different it feels in the room now. Here is the after photo. Instead of clicking a link to last week. Here is the before.

My next tackles are to paint the trim and find curtains for the door.

I really did a bunch of tackles yesterday. Cleaned up from the busy weekend. It was party central here. We had a birthday party and then a fiesta. A mexican buffet and ended the evening hanging around the fire pit. So nice.


I went through all the clothes bins and got out all the summer clothes, made a list of what each kid needs and tomarrow we begin the shopping.


So busy day yesterday, busy day tomarrow. My tackle today is going to MOPS. Our last official meeting of the year. and Taking it easy.

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Random Things MEME

I have been tagged by KC the mindless chatter of a busy mom blogger for a meme. It's been awhile since I 've done one and this is short and sweet so here it goes.

3 Random Things about myself meme.

Here are the rules:
1.
Post three random things about yourself.
2. In your post, link to the person who tagged you.
3. Tag at least five other bloggers. Let them know you've tagged them by commenting on their blog with an invite to participate.


1. I have an obsession with baking. There always is some sort of baked goods around my house. Mostly cookies and I eat entirely too many of them! I have a major sweet tooth and I always am wanting something fresh baked and usually chocolate is involved.

2. I love to take pictures and have only had a handful of what I have taken over the last 3 years on actual print. I am 3 years behind on getting pics and putting them in albums (since child #4 arrived, hmmm) That is a goal I have for myself this summer. To start getting the ones I want printed and put in order.

3. I don't really care to watch much tv. I actually suggested to my dh to cancel cable for the summer to cut back on an extra expense since we are usually gone or outside. (Of course he wants to watch baseball on weekends so that is a no go - I did remind him that half the time he is outside listening to it on the radio anyways, but oh well)

So there you have it. 3 random things you may or may not have known about me. I now have to tag 5 people. hmmm most of my bloggy friends have blogged as much as me so we'll see who responds.
1. Tina the Palm Tree Fanatic
2. Stacey @ Under my Rock
3. Shaunda
4. Katie @ Great Life Happy 2bme
5. Melissa @ Life with Two

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Tackle It Tuesday -Tear em up / Tear em down

So it is Tuesday and I have a few things going on. My baby will be turning 3 on Friday so there is a party to prepare for. YAY! Which means cleaning the house and TRYING to keep it that way which really means doing my regular cleaning and then Friday running around the house like a madwoman cleaning it again :) On top of that we are throwing a little home construction in the mix just so it doesn't get boring. Oh don't forget to add a sick 5 year old who spent Saturday night in the ER for vomiting for a day and a half straight has been sick again and we have to make a DR appt today to see what is going on with her. and PRAY no one else develops what she has in the meantime. So my Tackles are the birthday pinata. Natalie helped me mix up the paste which was my wordless Wednesday post last week. Here is my picture of it almost done.And the finished product!! I was happy that it actually turned out like a rainbow! I was going to get brave and attempt a DORA head, but when I mentioned rainbow, she was so excited. Now it does take a little work to make it yourself, we took about a week from start to finish. You could probably do one in a day or two if you didn't get to detailed and spent a lot of time, but the best part is this cost me a whole....$1.50 to make. Can you believe it? If I would of bought her one it would be anywhere from $15-20. Now I could find them cheaper if I looked I'm sure. But you can't beat $1.50. I purchased the candy to fill it for under $10 so I am still way under priced for the ones I have seen. Gotta love that. The next project won't be done by myself we are hiring people to do it. But we are installing a new patio door. Since we added a deck onto the side of our house (about 3 years ago) we have talked about how much nicer it would be to have a sliding door to go out to it. The porch door is in our hallway so you have to go either outside through the kitchen and walk around or through the dining room into the hall and around. When you are bringing food out and stuff it is a pain. So they are coming today! YAY! Here is what our dining room currently looks like. I will post an after pic once they finish. They are coming early this morning to get started. What are your tackles today? Go to Five Minutes for MOM to see some more!