Mom's Highway

Not sure what to do...

2012-01-22T17:40:00.004-06:00

At what point do you let your child investigate (search) for things online on their own and not worry about the "trouble" out there waiting to find them? Anna has been looking at and researching ok things online, but she was told something at "school" over a year ago that she had to research on Netflix and we do NOT in any way want her looking at this content or anything like it again. So, now the question is, how much freedom do we give her online. We've blocked a lot off her iPod Touch, but she is not always with us. Sigh. Just not sure where to go with this. She hasn't been at a public school in a year. Well, almost and she is just now remembering things that were said to her there and trying to find out for sure if they are real. Just scary content that she doesn't need to deal with.

Sad...

2012-01-05T10:02:00.002-06:00

All the hurt and pain I go through each time someone has a new baby, no one will ever know...I feel excited for them and love the new baby, but deep down inside I am hurting....Its something no one will ever understand....

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T14:30:00.001-06:00

or something like that...

*Trees are down.
*Ornaments are wrapped in tissue and put away.
*Lights are off the outside of the house.
*Everything is packed up and in the storage closet.
*Living Room is Vacuumed and Arranged appropriately.
*Dishes are Done.
*Laundry is Almost Done.
*School planning for new semester is beginning.

I guess that's about all there is. Gotta go.

Out with a Bang....

2011-12-31T10:40:00.001-06:00

Well, maybe not quite a bang. How bout out with a lousy upper respiratory infection, or something of the sort. I knew yesterday that I should have gone to the Doctor for some medicine, but I didn't, so now I have to suffer through with whatever over the counter stuff I can manage to find that will half way alleviate some of the symptoms. BLAH!! I have so much I want to do, and need to do, but I hardly doubt that I will be getting any of it done. The furthest I've gone today is to take a shower, which helped a little. Ate some breakfast, then I've been basically glued to the couch. Nothing better to do. Don't feel like it. So, lets end 2011 on this blah note.
Hopefully it will be better in 2012. Although 2011 was pretty good. I mean we did buy a house you know. ;-) Anyhow. Let's just get to it. Y'ALL have a HAPPY NEW YEAR! Love everyone. See you soon!!

Christmas is Done

2011-12-26T19:30:00.001-06:00

I'm so thankful that Christmas is done. I love Christmas, but working retail at Christmas is starting to take its toll. I hate how commercialized it has become. I hate how people act when they wait too long to buy their gifts and what they wanted it now out of stock. It's all nuts. We did Christmas on a smaller scale this year. Anna did still get one larger expensive gift, but overall, Christmas was small and I rather enjoyed it. Smaller is better sometimes. We also didn't have to go crazy spending the money with others. I will likely continue to keep it small. Emphasizing the true meaning of Christmas, Jesus Birthday.

In the same token, I've about had it with my job...period. I don't want to be in charge of so much anymore. I want to go in and work and go home. I want to be able to spend more time with my daughter and concentrate on her schooling. I'm just not quite sure how to go about this and still bring home the money I need to make ends meet in our house. Something, somewhere has got to give. I'm just not sure what or where or how, but something.

As for school, I know we homeschool so we can do things at our own pace, but right now I feel so far behind. I feel like we aren't doing enough to actually call it schooling. We've basically had the entire month of December off, except for about 2-3 days. Things have just been so hectic. Not sure what to do there either, but it is related to work again, so I guess that has to give a bit. We also need a slight change of curriculum, but the one I want to try is costly. I'll have to pray about that one. I'm thinking the change will help us to complete more schooling though.

Well, I guess that's about it for now. So thankful that the holiday is over and that things are starting to get back to normal. But also extremely tired and stressed out over things. Anyhow. I do hope that all of you have a VERY good New Year. I doubt that I will be posting again before then, so there you have it. Take care.

Anna Funny

2011-11-26T13:43:00.002-06:00

I'm watching TV with Anna and she sees a commercial for a certain type of dog food. She said we could buy that for Wall-e. I said "no, cause its e-x-p-e-n-s-i-v-e!" She turned around right back and said "S-a-v-e m-o-n-e-y!" (Yes, we spelled out the words. She was pretty quick with her response!! LOL!!)

This and That

2011-11-13T12:45:00.001-06:00

Wow!! Its November 13th already. I'm not sure where the time has gone. Here is a little bit of randomness for you all to ponder.

Christmas decorations are up. We put up the tree and outside lights yesterday. It looks fun at our house right now. I love Christmas time. Lights are oh so pretty and we really need to leave that tree up all year. I love to look at the memories on our tree. Oh and apparently us hanging Christmas lights outside yesterday made my neighbors want to hang lights this year. Their kids are really all grown, or pretty close. Their youngest is in school at a local college, so they really haven't put anything up, but with us having a "little one" (Sh! Don't tell her I put that) they are probably going to put theirs up too. A little more Christmas spirit to go around.

We have a new manager at the store I work at. He is nice as a person, but absolutely LOUSY as a manager. He has no interest in learning what he needs to know behind the scenes of working or operating the store. All he cares about is customer service and sales number, which are all fine and dandy, BUT, having a store manager not know the inner workings of the company and how to do the daily and weekly paperwork is NOT a good thing. There are two of us there that know more than he does and he is not interested in learning. Sigh! I'm really trying to get along with him, but its trying my patience a whole lot.

Anna's birthday was a huge success. She said it was, "the BEST birthday I ever had!" I am very glad she enjoyed it. Total cost including the gifts we gave her, about $35. I usually spend that on just her cake. I am so glad she enjoyed it. We are thinking of a smaller party next year. We'll see how that goes.

As for Anna, she is doing good too. The PDD diagnosis this year was a shock, but it explains so much. She is behind her peers emotionally and developmentally. She may always be somewhat behind. I have come to understand that she will always understand things different from other kids and not always fully comprehend everything. It only scratches the surface for her. She doesn't see anything beyond what you actually say. If you say its "raining cats and dogs," she will probably always be looking outside for them. Everything in her world is very literal. If I could get everyone to understand that, life would be easier, but it will never be that way. She also copies and says things that she hears others say, even if the timing is not right. She copies me a LOT!! She doesn't always use the words in the correct context though. The word she says a lot right now out of context is "seriously!" LOL! Yes, its cause I say it alot, but her context timing of using it is almost always off. What can I say. She also still does not like loud shrill nosies, but is fine with doing it herself. Again, its the PDD and the sensory part of it. I get it. Most people don't. SIGH!! I guess I'm just rambling now trying to get people to understand my girl. None of this really matters in the long run of things. She will always be my girl and I will always be there to love and care for her. As long or short as I get. She is our gift from God!!

I guess that's all for now. I hope you all have a great week and enjoy next week with your families for Thanksgiving. Take care and I will talk to you all later.

Things to think about...

2011-10-21T17:30:00.001-05:00

If you don't like what I have to say, I don't really care...I have lots going through my brain and I have to figure out how to get all the info out without offending someone, so on my blog it goes.

A. I am trying to figure out what to do about our homeschool group. Anna likes being with other kids, but (and this is a huge but) the group we are currently in is overwhelmingly huge! I mean it has over 300 people there every week. I like a fair sized group, but would rather there be around 100 people at the most. It feels very impersonal to me now. So my thoughts on this are to start a weekly play type group of my own, which is very difficult for me to do considering my current workload of school and homeschool. My other thought is to join another group that already exists or maybe up my participation in another group I am in and see if we can't meet a little more often. Sigh, see, lots of info going through my head. Like I said, Anna likes being there, so I really am not sure where to go with this.

B. We are planning a very simple sweet party for Anna's tenth and I feel like we are letting her down, since we have done a few larger parties already. The thing is, with the house we just got there were some expenses with moving and we have not recovered from that yet. My goal is for her to get to play in the park with her friends and have cupcakes and juice, but that depends on the weather. I REALLY would love to have a simple party at the house, but I just don't know if I can handle everyone in our small house. (I love everyone, I really do, but that is a LOT of people in one small space.) Praying that the weather cooperates so we can do the park thing. LOL!!

C. Since we are on such a tight budget right now, we will not be able to spring for the gift for Anna that we were going to get her for Christmas, so now we must keep our eyes peeled for for something that she will like really well that is reasonably priced. We will see what happens there. Its not that we needed the bigger thing, but it would have been nice to get it. She doesn't need it though. It was more of a luxury than a necessity. We will have to see what becomes of that. We do need to focus on the true meaning of Christmas, so maybe this is a good year to learn that part really well.

D. I no longer have the luxury of an iPhone. My phone bit the dust and again with the budget thing, we can not replace it and of course we had no insurance on it, sooooo. I am using a regular old rinky phone. Maybe we can save some money on the data plan, since I won't be using anything. Who knows. I have grown accustomed to a smart phone and have used it every day since getting it, even on the day of my surgery, when I mostly slept. LOL! Who knows, but maybe it'll help me concentrate more on what is most important.

E. I think that's all for now. Its a lot for me to think on, but it'll be alright. Please let me know if you have any thoughts or ideas for us/me. I might could use the advice right now. Thanks and please don't take offense to anything I said. I just had to express myself.

Settling In

2011-10-16T16:30:00.001-05:00

We have now been in our house 3 weeks and we are pretty much settled in. Things are looking like they should and we have everything put away for the most part. (Minus the 6-10 boxes I threw in a closet and shut the door on.) We even have half a routine back. Anna and I are fully into school and working as hard as we can. Jeremy is still working daytime and with the exception of Sunday, when I am off and Monday when I work a 10 hour day, I am back to afternoon/evening work. We have officially broken in the house too. Friday night the dog threw up on the brand new carpet and Friday afternoon I broke a toilet, so yeah, it is officially our house. We have even met some of the new neighbors and Anna has bought ice cream from the ice cream truck once. (Would have been twice, but whoever did it the second time never stopped. He wasn't even looking for kids. Very sad little girl on my hands.) All in all, its not too bad. We are happy and scared still, but we love it. I will still try and get those pictures I promised posted. Especially Anna's room. It's way cute in pink.

Now, we have the holidays to look forward to. My birthday is next week, followed by Anna's two weeks later, then Christmas. I am ready for the holidays to come so we can get our new house initiated for our long Christmas!! Take care all and be sure to check back for updates.

2 days...

2011-09-20T00:00:00.003-05:00

We have 2 days, yes count em, 2 days until we close on our new house. To say I am excited is an understatement. I am thrilled to death. We will finally have our OWN house once again. I am so ready for this move. Now, we need some volunteers. Anyone up for a cleaning party Thursday afternoon to evening? How about moving small boxes and putting away as many basics as possible Friday? Not that, well how about moving the big furniture and appliances Saturday morning? If nothing else, just stop by and say hi. Have a look around, before we fill the new house with family love, including carpet stains and dirt. LOL!! So ready for this week to be done. Ready to be in the new house. Ready for the move to be complete. Ready for chaos to be over. Wanna join me?

Blah...

2011-08-31T22:40:00.002-05:00

Blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah? Blah Blah Blah blah blah blah. Blah. Blah. Blah!!

House Found

2011-08-25T23:04:00.004-05:00

We have found a house and we will close on September 22. We are really happy and nervous all at the same time. Everything is working out smoothly. It has been great. We are still negotiating a few things, but hopefully that will all be done by end of next week.

I still haven't started packing, but we HAVE started school for this year. (Yeah, I know. Bad timing, LOL!!) We are moving along though. Anna and I are enjoying it, even though we've only done 3 days. Tomorrow we go on our first field trip of the school year to an old fashioned ice cream shop. We are going to learn about the history of ice cream and then enjoy a treat. How fun is that?! We start our weekly homeschool group next week. Anna is excited about that. She is taking Body Systems and ballet. Yes, ballet again!! LOL! She likes it. I let her because she has fun in there.

Oh and to add to our fun in life, my mom is moving about a week and a half before me. It was supposed to be after, but it will be before. By the 15th, so life is definitely interesting. Just thought I would update. Pictures of the house will be up when we get moved in. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

House Hunting Update

2011-08-18T22:34:00.003-05:00

We have looked and looked and looked at more houses. We have seen so many. Some are great and some not so great. We found 2-3 we really liked. We placed an offer on one, but the counter they sent back left us with nothing we could do but throw in the towel on that house, so we did and placed an offer on another house today. I'm excited about this house. I think it is beautiful. I am very guarded about the whole thing. We are trying not to be too over the top, but it is fun and nerve wrecking all at the same time. I'm hoping we have a counter back on this one tomorrow morning so that we can decide how to counter back tomorrow afternoon, if the need arises. See, what did I say...exciting!! As soon as we find THE house and get the keys, there will be a post showing the pictures.

School has not started yet for us. It look like we will be getting in 3-4 days a week of school to start for now. There will also be one day that we are with a homeschool group, so that will be field trips and P.E. (ballet-this semester) and great learning about body systems. Those are the classes Anna is taking this semester. I am for sure doing this semester, but I will have to re-evaluate next semester and see what happens.

I guess that's all for now. I am finishing off another grueling back to school season and I am plenty ready for us to have a set schedule at home and work. I'm ready for my department to be back to normal. I am also very glad that with this weekend being tax free weekend that I do not have to work. YEAH!!! I'm very glad about that. Take care all.

Change is Brewing

2011-08-06T22:06:00.004-05:00

Well, we are at it again. CHANGE! I like some changes and others I do not. Our new change that is coming is...a new house for us. We are not sure when or where we will get one, but we are pre-approved for a mortgage and we are on the hunt. It may take us a while to find something suitable, or it may be quick, but we will begin viewing houses starting Monday. I am very excited about this. We will be getting enough room to have a school area in the new place. It is something that is a must. I want to have a place to do school that isn't all over my living room and kitchen. It will be great though. We are super excited.

As for school, we are getting ready to start the next school year. We will be doing 3rd grade math and 4th grade everything else. This is what we feel is best for Anna and will help her to be more successful. She is on grade level in everything else, so we do not see the need to hold her back. One of the reasons to homeschool is so she can keep going in the areas she is strong, so that is what we are doing.

Guess that's really about it as far as change. We are very excited about this prospect and as soon as we find that special place, we will let you be aware of it. More moving excitement is sure to follow shortly thereafter. LOL! Thank for all for being excited with us. We will keep you updated.

Rant Time

2011-07-10T13:00:00.000-05:00

Why is it that kids think they are entitled to anything they want, when they want it and how they want it? I am sick of this mentality. Don't get me wrong, my child is not perfect, but when she gets these urges and wants her way right then and there, she gets a full correcting right away. We do not give in to the every whim of our child and never will. It teaches them to think they are "entitled" to whatever they may want. It is very hard to work in a society like that.

Another thing that is annoying me is work ethic. It went by the wayside along with work for what you want. Things don't just get handed out on a silver platter. There are far too many people who think they can stand around yacking at each other and think they are going to earn a paycheck. What happened to hard work. I'd like to say that hard work is always rewarded, but you are listening to a hard worker who hasn't had an evaluation at work in over 3 years. Yes, I AM a very hard worker and I know it. I work to the best of my ability at everything, which is why they can't make it without me.-Remember I was out for 5 weeks earlier this year...it took me 3 weeks when I came back to fix things right again and get us back on track. Point proven?

Another I wish would stop is the last minute parties and such. There are people on such a limited budget that buying a gift puts them in a position of milk and bread or buy a gift for my child to go to a party. A lot pick the latter and sometimes we have too, but is it so hard to plan in advance so that people on limited incomes can plan for the gift and not have to decide between basics and letting their children be normal kids. The same concept goes for homeschooling. Not everyone who homeschool their kids has a nice big six figure salary coming in. Some choose to homeschool for their kids and have to work hard to keep it up. Buying any curriculum you want doesn't always happen then. You have to buy something that is cheaper sometimes just to say you are meeting the state requirements for schooling. Along the same lines is field trips, eating out and anything else that costs money. Sometimes, or for some people, a lot of times those are luxuries. Some people do not have any extra income. Some people live from paycheck to paycheck literally. Some people are lucky to have milk for cereal in their house or a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter. Some people do not have this disposable income so to speak. Some people barely pay their bills each month and only spend $200 on groceries for the whole month, if they are lucky. Sometimes I wish that people would look out for others and see a need and help. Sometimes I just wish that people were more considerate with their planning so as not to burden those who are less fortunate than they are. Sometimes I wish that things were good for everyone and no one struggled.

Forgive the rant time. If you read it all the way through to the end, thank you. If you didn't, that's fine too. I just needed to get this all out there. No comments are necessary. Just think on it.

Summer & School Front

2011-07-02T23:15:00.001-05:00

Well, we have not done the 2-3 days a week with math, so I have a strong feeling that we will have to play catch up again. I'm hoping to start back to school in the next 2-3 weeks. I will have all our new curriculum in hand by the end of the month except for math and that will be a few more weeks out. We have on the other hand tried to enjoy our summer. I have worked like a crazy person, but Anna has had a rather relaxed and enjoyable summer. She did get to go to horse camp and I will have to make another post with all those pictures. We also took a mini trip to Dallas for my nephews birthday. (Also another post.) Other than that, we haven't done much else. Cleaned and played with the dog. He has quite a personality by the way. I will have to post soon about the crazy dog. He is so human-like its not funny. Anyhow, so I apparently have a lot of posts coming up if I'll just sit down and write. For now though its late and I need to go to bed. Hopefully I'll get some spunk soon and you can see our fun. Good night all and Happy 4th of July weekend!! Be safe!

School's Out

2011-06-02T17:46:00.003-05:00

I made an executive decision today and decided that we were done with school for the summer. I flipped through the remaining 2 weeks of lessons looking for new content that would help us for 4th grade, but there was nothing. I decided then and there that we were ready for the summer break. Now granted our break may only be a month long and we will more than likely start back in July, it is still our summer break. We will continue to do two math worksheets every day or every other day through out the summer, but that will take less than 30 minutes to an hour out of the day, depending on the pages we do. So, it's official. We are on summer break.

Now, hopefully I can get her into the horse camp she wants to go to. I may have dropped the ball on that idea. UGH! Bad Mommy moment!! I told her that if we didn't get horse camp that I would let her take private lessons for a month or so. I'm hoping that it'll come through. She was way excited about horse camp again this year. I can't believe that I let that drop.

Anyhow, that's our update for now. Have a good weekend all.

Blogging-or Lack Thereof

2011-05-30T07:30:00.001-05:00

Sorry I haven't been blogging like I want to. I mean I have, but I've been on one that no one can read. There is a lot going on through my head right now, but nothing that I can really share. I can give you all a brief run down of my life. Work, Clean, School, Eat, Sleep, Repeat! LOL! That's about all I do. I am trying hard to get Anna on summer vacation for school, but we are about a month out from that unless we do some serious doubling of lessons. In our defense, we started a half a year of schooling at the end of February and we are right on target for that date. LOL! Work has been eating up a lot of my time. I have work quite a bit of overtime recently and thought that I was going to enjoy the extra money in my check, but alas it is all being spent on therapy for my knee, which may possibly be working a little bit. Its either that or my doctor prescribed a very potent cream to rub on it twice a day. Either way, it is feeling a little better, which I really like. As for work, this is my departments busy season, so I have to make sure that everything runs smoothly for it. I know school just got out, but we have been gearing up for back to school for quite a while. Its keeping me busy.

Anyhow, that in a nutshell is it. Oh that and the fact that the surgery I had was unsuccessful and all the cysts and fibroids are back. The only thing that was successful was the reconstruction portion. UGH! Anyhow, not sure what they are going to do. I see the specialist at the end of June, so I sit in limbo till I see her.

Anyhow, time to get up and moving for the day. We have a few plans for this Memorial Day and I need to get moving. Have a good day all. Take care.

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T21:35:00.001-05:00

I had what could be one of the best Mother's Days ever this year. I was under the impression that we were completely unable to have anything this year. (My surgery really ate into our money and we will be paying for it for at least the next year. That's another story though.) Anyhow, so I was a little sad when the day started. That was until I took my shower.

Upon leaving the shower there was a little something on the counter to start my day. I put my glasses on to find a beautiful red rose in a heart shaped balloon from my husband and daughter. I would have been more than happy with that, but underneath that was a beautiful card from my husband and another from my daughter. My husbands card proceeded to make me cry. He told me how much he appreciated and loved me. I needed that. It was perfect. Anna made me out a cute card as well.

I then finished my morning routine and went to find my cell phone. When I unplugged it from the wall, I didn't even notice anything different. I was walking the hallway to the living room when I realized that I also received a new case for my phone. There was a black case with pink that I had been eyeing for a while. I would never have spent that kind of money on one for myself, but as a gift I was shocked. It was the icing on the cake.

I hope all the other Mom's had a VERY HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

Newsboys

2011-05-06T19:15:00.006-05:00

On Tuesday we had the opportunity to go see the Newsboys in concert. We really didn't want to see all the other groups, but it was a package deal. Anna was super excited about going to see them. I decided to make this the best first concert she'd ever been to. She got a shirt and a poster. Here are a few pictures of that evening. (We took over 100.) LOL!!

Anna showing her shirt and poster:

Michael Tait Singing:
The best picture of Michael Tait:

Drummer Duncan Phillips:

The whole crew at the end:
We stayed around for about an hour after the concert was done and had her poster autographed and bought a couple CD's which we also had autographed. It was great! I am so glad she had a great time and that she enjoyed herself. She sat mesmerized through the entire concert. She just watched. All I heard about all night and all Wednesday was the concert though. The opening act was Carlos Whitakker. He really is a great singer as well. They also had Disciple, which is way to rockish for me and I left for a break during their show and Kutless. Kutless is pretty good too. We had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the show. Newsboys drummer Duncan made the best faces as he played the drums. He really cracked me up. Like I said we REALLY enjoyed the concert!

The other thing that we did during the concert was gain a Compassion sponsor child. We now have a second little girl who is 9 years old all the way across the world in Africa. Yes she is the same age as Anna. It was God I tell you! We were handed a little boy in the audience, but I really wanted a girl. So I took the packet to the booth and said can we please get a little girl? They looked at me and said I'm sorry, but there were only 200 kids for this concert and they are all gone. I said okay and thought about just giving that one back and waiting. I wanted a girl so that Anna could relate. I turned around not 5 seconds later and the guy had a little girl in his hand. I looked at him and said can I swap you. The little girl we got is the same age as Anna (4 months older) and is from Africa. Anna said she was beautiful. Anyhow, we have her info packet on our family ready and Anna has already written her a letter and drew a picture for her. That will all go out tomorrow in the mail. It was God working there. We are very excited about this. I have explained to Anna over and over again how this provides a good schooling for her and medical care and food and water. I am very happy about this.

Anyhow, I guess this is long enough. I hope everyone has a great weekend! More posts to come later, I hope. Take care.

Plant Study

2011-05-02T21:25:00.005-05:00

Anna and I are reading about plants in school, so what better way to learn than to see which plant will grow faster and taller. So, we planted Sunflowers and Daisies. We have had fun watching them sprout so quickly. We labeled the pots and set them to grow. Here are some pictures.

Day 1:

Day 4 (Sunflower sprouted first):

Day 5 (Sunflower is growing fast):

Day 6 (You can't see it, but the daisy did finally sprout):

Day 8 (We planted the sunflowers outside):

We have had a great time and have since reused the sunflower pot to start some morning glories. They will be blue. They are doing really well too. We still have one daisy sprout, but its not near strong enough to be taken outside yet. I'm praying that it stays alive to make it that far. The sunflowers are still doing good outside, which is surprising. I thought for sure we would lose them with the cold we have had lately. I'm about to take the morning glories outside for transplanting too and start some more inside. Its been a lot of fun and she has enjoyed it and so have I. Its fun to watch them grow. We will continue this through the spring. I will bring you some more updates as we get them. It was well worth it.

New Routine and other things

2011-04-13T11:17:00.006-05:00

We are slowly getting into the groove of a new routine. With me still working full-time, it has been a change to homeschool and do this. Anna and I are getting used to it though and we get done what we can.

She was super excited about school today as we planted two types of flowers this morning and I had her make predictions for them. We planted daisy and sunflower seeds. She has predicted that the sunflower will sprout through the soil first and that the daisy will grow tallest. She also wrote down step-by-step directions about how we planted the seeds. It was fun. She finished her writing with this sentence; "I think that planting the daisy and the sunflower was very fun. Everybody should plant flowers." I would think that she had a good time with it. We also are going to try taking a daily picture to monitor their growth. That will be fun to watch as well.

As for the other things, she has discovered the truth about all the seasonal myths. She is handling it well, but she was not happy to say the least. She couldn't believe that Santa was not real. She figured the Easter Bunny out last year, but still insisted on the other. This was half instigated by a friend from church telling her that none of it was real. I had a conversation with her Sunday about it all and we gave her several days to think about it. This morning I discussed it with her again. She understands, but isn't happy. I told her that Santa is about the spirit of giving and is a fun character for kids. She is not to tell anyone. I also told her that it will not stop Christmas or Easter. We will still buy her things, but that now she knows who really cared enough to bring her the things she asks for. Like I said, it was hard for her, but she is going to be fine. It did not completely devastate her. OK, well, I have other things as well, but they will have to wait. We are heading out for some lunch and errands before I go to work. Take care all.

Back to work

2011-03-29T14:00:00.001-05:00

I started back to work yesterday. It wasn't a bad first day back. I kind of enjoyed it, but cleaning up after being gone for almost 5 weeks was a lot of work. I managed to get everything back in order the way I like it, start a new "to do" list, and start ordering again. I was kind of glad to be back and kind of not. I enjoyed being home with Anna. I got her back started on schooling and we had a routine down. (We are of course starting a new routine with me back at work.) It was good though. We have completely messed with the dogs sense of anything routine. He doesn't understand the change in schedules and he is a little angry with us, but nothing that a new set of blinds wouldn't fix. LOL!! He climbed on the couch and ate the blinds wherever he could reach. How fun was that. It almost makes me wish we had a camera to record his little outbursts. I bet they are hilarious! (Not replacing the blinds, but you know.) Alright, getting ready for work now, so I better be going. I'll try and check in soon. Take care.

Newsboys Here We Come!!

2011-03-05T10:41:00.003-06:00

Anna is very much into Newsboys. She loves listening to them and watching videos on You Tube. She knows the names of who used to be in the group and who is in the group now. She likes them very much. Anyhow, I made a promise to her last year that if they ever came to Lubbock, I would definitely buy tickets and take her to see them. Well, they are coming in May. May 3rd, our family will be sitting on the front row by the stage and watching Anna's favorite group. To say she is excited is an understatement. She is thrilled. It should be an adventure. I am not really thrilled about the two other bands coming with them, but I am keeping my promise and for the most part I like the Newsboys, so we will go and enjoy it. So as the title says...Newsboys Here We Come!!

And the Surgery results are...

2011-02-26T19:30:00.001-06:00

Well, the surgery was a success. The successfully removed a wall that went all the way down the middle on my uterus and took out one really large fibroid, one smaller one and drained a cyst. So, we are done for now. Wednesday was a lot of sleep and recovery from surgery. I don't remember a whole lot that happened Wednesday. Thursday I had a few people come to visit, including both my doctors and we were pretty set on me going home on Friday.

Friday morning someone decided that I needed to have an iron IV. I did great on Friday morning. I had a few visitors, ate some lunch and they disconnected the IV. I was all cleared and ready to go. About two hours later, I want to say about 4pm, before I had been fully discharged, I had a BAD reaction. I ran a high fever, got really chilled, shivered and chattered and moaned. I went down hill and fast. I felt downright awful. Worse then I ever remember feeling. EVER! The finally determined that it was a negative reaction to the iron and that I would need a new IV and lots of meds to clear me up. It took over 8 hours, but around 12:30am, I started to feel okay again.

I awoke fully for the day Saturday at 8:00am. I was felling good and ready to go, but would they let me go? I had breakfast, then around 10am, they brought me my morning medicines. At that time I was getting ready for a morning shower, so they covered my IV with some tape. They gave me one medicine in my IV, then I had to have the IV flushed. The medicine went in fine, but she blew the IV out of my arm with the flush. It was a mess. Didn't hurt, but made a big mess.

Anyhow, I showered and ordered lunch, walked the halls slowly and waited patiently to see the doctor. I was hoping and praying that they would let me go. When the doctor came to see me, she looked my my IV, took vitals and determined I was good to go. We were out of there by 1:15pm and home by 1:30pm. I am so glad to be home. It was good relief to relax on my couch and watch my TV and check out my things. So glad that I didn't have to call the nurse every time I needed something or call ahead an hour before I wanted my supper. YEAH!! I AM HOME!!

Changes and Surgery

2011-02-22T18:06:00.003-06:00

Well, lots of changes have happened. We are back homeschooling as of Friday. Anna is much calmer and mornings are a lot smoother already. We are excited and happy about this change. I am glad we came back to it.

As for the surgery, tomorrow morning, bright and early at 5:30am, I will be admitted to the hospital for exploratory and then full surgery. There is a possibility of a hysterectomy, but I won't know what all they do until I wake up. I am not in the least bit worried about the surgery, just the recovery. This will put me out of work for 6 weeks. I am a little worried about that, but I will be able to pick back up when I am cleared.

I will have some time on my hands afer surgery, so maybe I will get on here at least once more? Hey, you never know?!

Anyhow, if you all have time or can, prayers are appreciated for a successful surgery and a good recovery. I know I am in good hands. Thanks so much.

Asked Anna...

2011-01-16T14:03:00.003-06:00

her opinion on going back to homeschool or staying in regular school and she listed some good points for homeschool.

1. You only gave me spelling tests at homeschool. At school I take a test in everything every week.

2. We did history. (Anna LOVES history, but since it isn't tested in school, they have done none of it.)

3. There was no math tests every week. (I never tested her. I checked her work everyday so I knew how she was doing.)

4. No one made fun of her clothes everyday. (She has a little bully picking on her at school. This girl picks on her outfit everyday. EVERY DAY! How depressing is that for a child.)

Anyhow, we haven't made any permanent decisions yet, but I really am seriously considering pulling her back home for school. Not sure how yet, since I want to remain full-time, but I'm starting to side with yes we will probably go back to it. I know a lot of people are against it, but this is whats right for our family. I'll make a more permanent decision by end of month or so. Please continue to pray. Thank you.

Thinking...

2011-01-09T16:13:00.005-06:00

about pulling Anna back home for school at the end of this school year. I have good reason of course, many of which I am not sure I should post, but I don't feel she is getting what she needs in school overall. That's what it all boils down to. I wish I could say more, but for now that's all I think I need to say. Prayers are appreciated to ensure we are making a sound decision for Anna and our family. Thanks all.

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T16:38:00.003-06:00

Happy New Year Everyone!! We had a few people over last night for a littlew while. Here are the pics...

Michelle & Avery:

Michelle & Jeremy:

Michelle & I:

Avery & Anna:

Michelle & Anna:

Anna:

Hope everyone celebrated the New Year in right. I myself slept it in. Anna spent the night with Avery and I'm not feeling 100% myself, so I went to bed at 11:00pm. If its any consolation, I did watch the ball drop in New York before I went to bed, so although not technically the New Year here, it was somewhere. LOL!

Hope you all have a great New Year. God Bless you all. Take care.
(Excuse the centered text at the end. Can't get it to work right.)

Just right...I think

2010-12-29T07:43:00.005-06:00

Well, after this huge debate with Christmas being too much, I have decided that it was just right for this year. We had a great time and I even forgot to wrap some things. It might have looked like a lot, but it was pretty small actually. The dollhouse was a big hit!! Here are some pictures from that fun day.

Reading Christmas Eve:
"Santa's" Milk & Cookie:
All set up Christmas Eve:
Opening Presents:
A Horse from Tangled! Thanks Mom & Dad:

Baby Kahn! A Big hit:

(She has a larger horse that looks just like this one that she named Kahn, so it was a perfect match for that one. She was super excited about it.)

Jeremy's Stash:

Nicole's Stash:

Anna's Stash:

Anna's looks like a lot, but it was really all big stuff. She had a good time and I got some great deals. It was a lot of fun. Would have been more fun for her if I had remember where I hid everything and wrapped it, but oh well. I am sure she didn't mind. It was a lot of fun and I am glad we got those items. Now if only I could clean up everything? Ah well. I promised Jeremy I would leave up the tree till after New Year's Day, but you can bet your buttons that January 2nd it'll all be down. I want my house back. Hope everyone else had a good Christmas too and if I don't get back here before then, Happy New Year to you all. May 2011 be good to you all and may you be blessed!! Take care!

Too much?

2010-12-19T17:03:00.004-06:00

Well, it is Christmas again and I always think we get Anna too much. I try to limit it, but its hard, since she is the only one. This year, there are two gifts from Santa and about 5 main ones from us, along with little junk. Is that too much? She has friends who get only two gifts and some that get tons. I feel we are middle of the road in regards to this, but still feel like maybe we over-indulge in the holiday. Not sure yet. Nothing she gets is especially fantastic and this is the most she has gotten in several years, but I still sometimes think that it is too much. UGH!! What a complicated dilemma. I'm not sure. Anyhow, that's what I am thinking right now. Do you think she gets too much, too little or just the right amount? I won't be offended by any answers, just looking for a happy middle ground. Thanks!

Anna's 9th Birthday

2010-11-14T07:00:00.001-06:00

Exactly one week ago today my little girl turned 9 year old. She was super excited about her birthday and her party. She just really wanted it. I can't say I blame her. It is the one day that is completely devoted to you. Anyhow, here are some pictures from her party.

Anna wanted to "make jewelry" for her birthday party, so we went and bought some beads and the threading stuff to make necklaces and bracelets. Someone should have warned me to cut them extra long so we had room to tie them. LOL! I had a very hard time tying them closed, and some of them never made it home, but for the most part the kids had a great time.

At one point in Anna's party we had someone come in who needed some help with money, so someone started an impromptu game of musical chairs to occupy the kids. (We had her party at the church, so it isn't an unusual request. We got him taken care of, then promptly locked the doors.)

Opening gifts is always fun. She got some neat stuff. She also got a lot of new clothes, which you don't see here. LOL!!

We also had one amazing cake! A co-worker of mine made it for Anna's birthday and I had no idea what to expect. She went way above the call and made this totally awesome cake that had everyone awe struck!

As you can tell we all had a good time and Anna absolutely loved it. I am so glad that so many of the friends and family came out to help her celebrate her big day. It wasn't this birthday I'm worried about, it'll be next years birthday when she turns 10 and hits the double digits. I may have to cry then. I would have to say that this years party was a huge success. Anna had a great time and that's all that counts.

It's ALL about the PJs

2010-11-13T07:39:00.005-06:00

It's ALL about the PJs at our house. Anna is kind of obsessed with "Footy" pajamas. She absolutely loves them and can't wait to wear them. The only problem is that she outgrew them last year and I gave them away without replacing them. Yes, I know that's a problem, especially when they are her "favorite pajamas." Well, every time we passed them in the store all last winter she kept insisting that she NEEDED some new footy pajamas. "Mom, please. You promised." UGH!! That's what I get. Well, last year came and went and I never bought her a new pair. Then, they came out with the winter stuff again this year. "Mom, I just gotta have them. You got rid of my other ones and I loved them so much. PLEASE get me a new pair." Well, I finally gave in. I still don't see the fascination with them as I used to think they were for babies AND I hated getting all undressed to go to the bathroom, but so be it. My daughter loves them and thinks they are the bestest pajamas, so for her birthday I got her some.

Promptly after opening them she asked if she could wear them that night. Uh, nope. It was 70 degrees outside. Too hot for footy pjs. But last night it dipped down into the 20s. Yep, Daddy and I both agreed that she could wear her footy pjs last night. That was plenty cold enough to wear hot jamys. Here are some pictures of her proudly wearing her new pjs.

AND, she insisted that I take one of her pretending to read a book, cause we were of course taking pictures of her in pajamas and the only other time we did that was Christmas in front of the tree in an attempt to get "cute" Christmas pictures. Anyhow, here is that pose too for you viewing enjoyment. (Oh and YES she picked out "The Night Before Christmas.")

As you can tell, my darling daughter was thrilled to death about her new footy PJs and I am glad we got them. She loves them and I can guarantee that they will get lots of use!

Can I Scream????

2010-11-12T16:36:00.004-06:00

UGH!! Can I SCREAM!!! I had the worst pictures ever of Anna taken a few weeks ago and I was assured that they would print fine, BUT they printed horribly! They are all blurry and out of focus and the new one that FINALLY came in is so dark you can't see her!! I am so not happy with this company. I am in the process of asking for a refund, since I obviously will have to go some where else and do them again. What happened to good old fashioned customer service!!! I had to call another stores location to get in contact with a regional manager. I am very upset and sad to know that we will have to do this again. You can only get the initial pictures once. Taking them again somewhere else is almost pointless. UGH!!! So upset and frustrated!!! Her pose and smile were so cute too. Sigh!!.......

ARD done...

2010-11-03T13:02:00.004-05:00

IEP set in place. Praying that we got everything in there that will be neccesary for Anna to succeed in school. They say she is adjusting quickly and well. She already has several "friends" and is very social with the other kids. Her reading teacher said that her reading is very good. She has tested her and has had Anna read to her. (She always has read well...once she decided to do it. LOL!) It made me feel a little better, but as her Momma, I will still always worry. Glad that's done and that we are seeing some swift action in this. I pray that all is enough for her to succeed.

Guess that's all. I better go find something better to do with me afternoon. Take care all.

She's In

2010-11-02T21:15:00.003-05:00

She's in public school for now. It is a tough thing for me, but Anna is resilient and she came out the first day saying she liked it and she likes all her teachers. They switch classes for everything. She is getting more "hot" lunches, because they are tons cheaper. We have a meeting tomorrow morning to find out what help they will be given. The ARD was a lot faster than I anticipated, but I'm glad. We'll know tomorrow how far they'll go to help her. She is slightly behind in math...but this is not through any fault of her own. She was at a school that hadn't started multiplication or division yet, but this school she's at, they have. (I actually love the way they start them out on division AND I think she actually grasped the concept.) Guess that's the update for now. I'll check in later this week after the meeting tomorrow. Take care.

Hard Decisions

2010-10-27T09:55:00.002-05:00

Well, I think we/I have decided that we have to at least try the public school. No one really truly knows or understands why the decision is so hard for me, except my dear husband. It is hard. VERY hard. We will go out this weekend and get a few basic school supplies that Anna didn't have to have for private school and then we will register and start at the new school Monday. I will continue to pray, but I have to at least give it a shot. If after that six weeks time period I still feel hesitant or not comfortable, then I will make that decision to bring Anna back home. (My sis-in-law was my encouragement for this. She called right after I posted the last post and encouraged me to at least try it. If it doesn't work, then there really is nothing lost but 6 weeks or so and I can always pull her back home if I absolutely hate it.) I will give it my best shot and continue to pray. Thanks for those who cared enough to encourage and pray for me. We will continue to need prayers.

Asking for Prayers

2010-10-26T08:02:00.001-05:00

(This is a lot personal and hard for me to post, but we need prayers.)

Please pray for guidance. We have withdrawn Anna from the private school effective this Friday and the plan was to put her in public school, but I'm not so sure about this plan. I really need prayers for guidance that we make the right decisions. I am running out of time to decide this as it will need to be on the paperwork first thing Friday and because I'm making the schedule for work for next week and if we will indeed be homeschooling again, we will need to tweak it just right. I make that schedule for tomorrow. Thanks all for the prayers. I always hope I'm making the right decision for my little girl and acting on faith and not self, but sometimes I question and double guess myself. Thank you in advance again. God bless.

Changes are Brewing....AGAIN!

2010-10-18T17:05:00.004-05:00

Well, changes are brewing....again!! I know, not shocking in my household. As of last week, Wednesday to be exact, Anna will finish out this month at her current private school AND we will be putting her in a close by public school with LOTS of prayer. It was a tough decision, but we really need to put aside the money we are paying in tuition every month and save up for other expenses we have coming (like medical on my end.) It was a good school and I liked their curriculum, but they have no extra resources for children who need extra help, which left Jeremy and I schooling Anna at home to the tune of 1-6 hours a day. (YEAH, I know really developmentally appropriate for an 8 year old. NOT!) Anyhow, so from November 1st, till Christmas we are trying out the public school. We will be praying a whole lot as this is not really high on my list of where to send her to school. Anyhow, if it works, she will continue, if not, after Christmas I will be changing my work schedule and going to back to homeschooling forever more. Anyhow, that's all. We could use prayers for Anna and for us as a family. This was a very hard decision and not one we came by lightly. I am really personally struggling with this idea, but I am giving it a shot, to say that at least we tried. I hope it works.

My Beautiful Gift from God!

2010-10-08T08:03:00.006-05:00

Today I was thinking about how lucky and blessed I am to have a beautiful gift from God. He gave her to us to raise and love and show His ways. She is more than we could ever ask for. She is smart and witty and very funny. She thinks of things in ways like no one else can. She loves unconditionally and she has a smile like no other. She is my special little girl and I love her deeply. She is our little miracle and our pride and joy! She is the light of our lives.

Outside playing in rocks:

Roping a tree (she's a little cowgirl):

See that beautiful smile:

She completes our family picture:

See! BEAUTIFUL!!!

I love this girl with all my heart and feel extremely lucky and blessed to call her mine. God truly knew what he was doing when he gave us this beautiful little girl. She is truly a joy to have in my life. I am proud to call her my daughter!

School Troubles?

2010-10-05T20:35:00.006-05:00

***WARNING: FRUSTRATION VENT AHEAD!!!

We are beyond frustrated with school. Anna has a major test again tomorrow on vocabulary words that are way beyond 3rd grade. I received them tonight. The test is tomorrow. By the time I got home from work, that didn't give me much time to make sure she knows them all. These words are hard. We will be going over them again in the morning.

They keep pulling her out of PE for finishing class work, which results in her needing to do make up work for PE. She has this make up work completed and on time, but she never gets to take it to PE with her and she has a different teacher for that class. UGH! So, we spent the time doing the work, but she loses points for not turning it in. Not fun.

Math is hard too. We have been working on it and working on it, but she is still behind. I received a timed math paper back with a "memorize facts" comment written on it. That's all we've been working on. She had completed 4 questions out of 25-30 in the 5 minute time period. Anna has gotten better at the math and even a little faster, but when she feels the least bit threatened, she shuts down. I'm not sure how else to drill it into her. We started touch math with the intention of it making things faster, and it does, but not fast enough.

I love the school that we picked out and the things that they stand for. I like Anna's teacher, but I also feel like they are not giving her enough to work with. They just expect her to pick up with the other kids and be able to perform at the same level. She is trying hard, but still struggling. I have e-mailed the teacher and the principal. I have tried keeping a daily log open with the teacher. I have tried watching her in class and observing the teacher's technique. I have tried doing the work at home, but that is paying to have her in a good school and still homeschooling. I just don't know what else to try right now. They are not willing to work with parents and get the student to feel confident. They are not making it easy to transition. I am just beyond frustrated. I do not feel that they are working with us or with Anna and her learning disabilities. She is trying hard and we are trying hard with little results. There is no one else to contact at the school. No one.

I just do not know what to do right now. I do not know if I should move her to another school, where they are better equipped or do I move her back home with me and go back to working full-time nights again. (I really am enjoying my days. REALLY!) I will not got back part-time. I am working full-time. I took a promotion at work to be able to put Anna in school and I will not go back on that. I will have to figure this out. This will require a lot of prayer. I really wanted to give it till Christmas break to decide, but it is obvious to us that something will have to be done sooner. There is just too much stress involved in schooling her where she is at. We need something different.

All I'm asking for is prayer and guidance. We don't need criticism. We just need prayer. Thanks all and thanks for understanding.

New Doctor

2010-09-22T13:07:00.004-05:00

Well, after four years of no health insurance and over five since my last complete check up, I finally have health insurance and a new doctor who I love! He is so kind and gentle. I like him already!! Just wanted to share! I am a very happy person today. (Even though he is sending me for a billion tests. LOL!!)

I will get to see a dermatologist and get skin tags removed and he is referring me to a Rheumatologist, hopefully different from the last one I saw, so I can get a full RA work up again. If I can't get in with a different one, he is referring me to one in Midland. There is one there that he likes. (Could mean some road trips in our future, but it would be worth it.) I also get to have my first mammogram, based on family history, among other reasons. (YIPEE...NOT!)

Anyhow, I am hoping that I can keep this doctor for a very long time. He's good. (Prayers needed for the good Rheumy here. I wouldn't mind driving to Midland, but would rather stay here.) Thanks all.

Meeting Done

2010-09-14T21:41:00.003-05:00

We met with Anna's teacher and the principal briefly today. Her teacher and I feel that it is more the fact that Anna has never been in the school setting till this year. She is passing all her classes, and doing better in some than others. Her teacher is doing her best to help her along. I will continue to keep in touch with her teacher on a regular basis and we will continue to do a little bit of extra work at home. She will catch up to the class and she will do fine. I am very glad that we had the meeting. I was able to go over the work with her teacher and we both think that it would be more detrimental to her for her to go back a grade, so we will continue to work hard to make this transition work for her. I am very glad that we had the meeting and now I know exactly where she sits and how she is doing. We are seeing great progress with Anna in school and she is starting to understand what she needs to do. By the next progress report we should see considerable improvement and she should be fully adapted to her class and routines. Thanks for all the prayers. They were very much appreciated.

Meeting

2010-09-13T21:19:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow we meet with Anna's teacher and the principal about her schooling. She seems to understand and know how to do the work, but has absolutely no idea how to work independently to complete it. She is too used to me sitting there saying do this one and do this one and now do this one. She has absolutely no idea how to do work on her own and especially not with all the distractions of a classroom. She doesn't understand the consequences of not getting her work done and even if she says she does, she doesn't remember when she would need to. We are going to try and set a plan in place between us, the teacher and the principal. It may be that she needs a "buddy" to check in on her and make sure that she is doing the assigned work, not helping her, but just making sure she has done it...kind of what I do, but someone in her class. We may just need to let her see the grades she'll get if she doesn't do her work. Maybe threaten her with repeating 3rd grade? UGH! I don't know. I just know that we are meeting them tomorrow. I'm praying for understanding and results. We will need to have a plan in place.

We started working on her diorama today for her reading project. She seems set on doing this, so even though she has absolutely no clue what one is, we are doing one. She will still have a written portion of the project, but it will be her work. Today I showed her how to make 3-D grass with her construction paper. That was fun to watch. I'll post pictures of her progress and the finished work next week when she's completely done. YES, I have been taking pictures of her working on her diorama. It is her first big project. I am not reading the book. This is all on her. Her project and her work. I may show her how to do things, but I am not doing it. The pictures ought to be fun to watch.

Alright. Time for me to crash in bed. Have a good night. Take care all.

An hour of Awe

2010-09-08T11:20:00.002-05:00

Well, today Anna had an appointment with her allergist, so when I took her back to school I sat in on the class for an hour. My child is very lost. She can't follow more than one step directions and they were giving her a page with 10. I also talked with the secretary AND the teacher has NEVER seen all her file, so she has absolutely no idea about Anna's testing we had done at the middle of the last school year. SO, needless to say I will be scheduling a conference with Anna's teacher after I know she's had time to read over the file. I will also be making more class visits to observe again and see how things are going. Still have no further information on the tally slip, but hope to have more today after school. But I do get the sense that this class is run on a LOT of independent work and Anna is not used to working like that. It explains a lot of the incomplete papers that we have coming home to finish. It also explains the grades she's been getting. I should have observed sooner, but I really wanted to make sure Anna knew what she was doing and that she had time to learn the whole routine of the classroom. I'm very glad that I stepped in for a few minutes...okay an hour (that I'm sure Anna just wanted me to go away.) I'm hoping that after her teacher reads the file it will all be a bit better. I'm praying for that. It was very insightful. Should have done this two weeks ago!

At Odds with the Teacher

2010-09-07T19:52:00.004-05:00

Yes, already! My daughter came home with her homework folder and it says to pick a fiction book for book project. What book project? I look online where it lists this info and its no where to be found. Of course it is now after 7pm and she doesn't know, maybe make a diorama she says about the book. Sheesh. That's a lot of help there! Good grief.

Next thing in her folder is a sticky note with three pages listed on it. I have no idea what it is for, so I ask Anna if she was missing these pages. She said yes. SOOOO, off I go to dig through the stacks of papers she has already brought home and low and behold, at least 2/3 were in the stack. UGH! They are only in that stack if they are in the keep at home section of her folder, so I put a note with them and place about 5 other pages that "might" be the third paper and place those back in her folder for the teacher. Its a very good thing I had kept all her papers to now, otherwise we might be in trouble. I also took the rest of her school papers and placed them into a large three ring notebook with dividers. I have a feeling this won't be the first time I have to dig through work that had already been sent home.

Then, as I'm digging through my daughter's backpack the rest of the way, I find a tally slip. A tally slip is only given if they've been in trouble, BUT the dang thing is not dated or filled out. It has to be from today as she got a new backpack this weekend. UGH again. SOOOO, she's been in trouble at school for something, but since the teacher can't be bothered to fill out her section, I ain't signing the darn thing. All I have is Anna's word that she wasn't paying attention. I don't know in what subject or anything.

I'm already having a HUGE issue with this teacher. She does not do her job. I don't care if she's been teaching 4 years or 40(ding ding ding), she needs to do her job. I try to keep Anna current on things, but if you send home papers in the keep at home side, I should not have to file them to be able to find them again for you when you decide to record the information. Most parents trash most of those papers anyhow. She should be very glad I had not done so...at least not yet. I also should not have to take a tally slip and figure out what my lovely child did during your class. It is your job to fill out the date, time and infraction. IT is NOT mine!! I have her correct work and send it back. I will discipline my daughter IF you can be bothered to do your job and fill out the proper spots.

I WILL NOT try and figure out this school thing on my own. So FAR, the only warm welcome we have gotten is from the office staff. The rest has been trial and error. No one tells you anything. The handbook is not clear. Everyone treats you like you've been there the whole time your child has been in school. It has not been very fun for me to figure this mess out. I am NOT a happy momma right now!!!

P.S. I taught for 5 years in a public school, so YES, I do know what the teacher's should do! DO NOT try to tell me otherwise!! UGH!

Bio-Letters

2010-09-05T13:59:00.005-05:00

UGH!!! I absolutely wish we had only agreed to once or twice a year on letters to bio-mother. UGH!! We are having to write 4 times a year, but I just don't want to. She shows little interest in my daughter most of the year and she doesn't understand the fact that we will not let her see Anna again for a very long time. The whole content of her letters is asking for a visit. Not just once, but the last letter she wrote asked us to meet her once a week. YEAH right! First of all, we live 6 hours away. Second of all, the last visit we had was detrimental to Anna's well-being. Third of all....N_O_ NO!!!! Its not happening.

Its not that I'm not happy to have some contact with bio-family, its just that I don't want to write 4 times a year. I have nothing to say to the woman. Honestly. NOTHING! I tell her the same things every letter. (Anna is tall. What size she is currently in, even though she will never get anything from her. How school is going. What she likes in school and what she doesn't like. BLAH! BLAH! Blah!) I stopped sending a whole bunch of pictures each time as well and now only send 1-2 per letter. I bet that wasn't well received, but oh well.

The point is, I just don't want to write these letters anymore. Unfortunately, we are bound by the stupid agreement, until Anna turns 18. Not that bio-mom would know the difference, but if she did figure it out one day and realized we weren't holding up to our end of the agreement, she could sue us. Anyhow. I guess that's all. Its just one of the parts of our adoption I don't like. I regret signing that agreement, completely. I can't wait till we're done with it. Praying I can make it another 9 years and a few months.

This and That

2010-09-04T18:43:00.005-05:00

Well, school has been in session now for two weeks and today when I asked Anna if she wanted to go back to homeschooling or stay in school, she said school, so I guess that would mean its going well. She is doing great on some things and not so good on others, but she likes it overall. I am very happy with our decision to put her in school. So far it is working out great. We have my mom's help as she picks Anna up nearly every day. It is good for both of them.

Last weekend we had some surprise visitors...my sister and her family came for a visit. I almost cried when they walked into my work. I so was not expecting them to come, but I am so glad they did come. I finally got to meet my new nephew who was 6 weeks old and my mom got to meet her new grandbaby. It was a good visit, even if it was a flying trip. I am so happy for them and I can't wait to visit with them again! Here are some pictures from that visit:

Norman and Micah:

Nanny and Micah:
Graciela hugs Anna:

Anna, Graciela & Micah:

Again, it was a lot of fun and I am so glad they came. We had a great visit.

Today, Anna and I have been a couple of busy bees. We started the morning at Tar*get to get her a new backpack. I found one I liked for her, but she wanted the "pink" one, only because it was pink. Ugh! I didn't like it as well, so I slowly convinced her that the one I found was cute and it has a stuffed animal hanging off it. We ended up with the one I like, because I AM Mom after all. Then headed off the Kohl*s. I love that store. They have such nice clothes and we got some excellent deals. Anna got 3 pairs of capris, 3 pairs of capri leggings, and 2 shirts. I got me 4 shirts. We spent about $50 and saved about $120. LOL!! That tells you how much they were on clearance. All were 70-80% off, except one of my favorite shirts, it was only 50% off. I think we did good and I'm happy with our purchases.

Anna and I then headed home and painted her finger nails and toe nails. ELECTRIC BLUE!!! LOL!! I found it at the local discount store that I dislike shopping at and bought it. It was a fun color. Here are some pictures from that:

We followed that up this afternoon by making a batch of no-bake chocolate cookies. YUMMY!! Now, if they would ever harden, we can eat them all up. LOL! That was all today. I'm off for two more days, whatever will I do with my time. I'm not used to being off, let alone a 3-day weekend. We have had so much fun today. Hope we can keep it up.

1st Day of School

2010-08-23T16:36:00.004-05:00

Today was literally Anna's first day of school. We are not homeschooling this year. Instead we found her a nice Christian school to go to and we went full force with it. Anna was excited and scared. She should be, its all new and she hasn't been away from us hardly at all in the last 3 years. (The year before that she was in daycare, but that was all play.) Anyhow, after much prayer and deliberation, we decided that it was in our best interest to put her in school. Public school is just NOT an option for us, so we are paying a good deal of money to have her in a good school. Anyhow, she tested into third grade, which is right where she should be and so here we are....Anna's first day of school!

Love this picture and the way she posed her legs:

At the school waiting:

This is how I left her, a little nervous, but okay:

Anyhow, she did great and had a good time. She will adjust and said that her favorite thing was recess. Her favorite subject is of course reading. No surprise there as that was her favorite when I was teaching her. She's good at it. Anyhow, here's to a new year full of new adventures, including school! Praying that we made the right decision for her and for our family. Thank you all for your continued support and prayer.

Dear Lord

2010-08-08T15:30:00.002-05:00

Dear Lord....Help me to be strong and brave and not have fear. I don't like fear. Thank you. Amen.

Changes!!!

2010-08-01T08:15:00.001-05:00

Well, lots has changed in the last few weeks. Not only did I get the key holder position, but I also went full time AND in 23 days, Anna will be starting school. She will NOT go to public school, as I don't think that is a good fit for our family. She will go to a private school. I am praying that this is the right decision for our family. Truthfully, I love being at home with Anna, but I did not like being fully responsible for her learning and frankly, I didn't want to be home anymore. I wanted to be out and about. I'm just not a home body. I love being out. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change being home with Anna for 3 years for anything, but I was starting to not enjoy it. We were homeschooling for all the wrong reasons. Most people have no idea why, and I prefer that they never do, but we were mostly homeschooling out of fear. I am letting go of that fear and letting God take care. He is taking care of everything.

Anna tested into the third grade, which is exactly where she should be. We will work extra hard in math so she can be somewhat on level. I really am trying to make sure she gets down the addition and subtraction facts in the next three weeks. We are drilling flash cards, which is my least favorite way to do it, but time is short for her to learn it and learn it well. I am very happy with the school we have chosen. It was a short test, but I really think the placement will be wonderful. She will wear a uniform one day a week and the rest of the time she will wear regular clothes.

The next few weeks will be trying and hard. We have registration to pay and then tuition all in one month. We even have to buy school supplies and some new school clothes. We also have no child care this summer, so it means finding someone to watch Anna every time I work right now. I also am trying to learn all the things that go into my promotion at work. It is a lot to take in, but we will make it. God has provided the means and we are taking it. It is a life-style change for us. We have gotten used to either Jeremy or I being at home with Anna almost exclusively for the last 6 years. He stayed home with her while she was younger and then I stayed home with her the last 3 years. (She spent only 1 year in day care when we first moved here.)

Anyhow...there are a lot of changes in store. They are scary and exciting all at the same time. I pray that these changes will be good for our family, for our marriage and for Anna. I pray that God will take care of all that needs to be taken care of. I also pray that Anna does good in the next school year. I am trusting God with all the details. It will be good.

Hold that thought

2010-07-21T08:04:00.003-05:00

Ok, So hold that thought on my last post. I got a promotion at work this week, but only cause I asked for it. :-) It was a position that had been previously only allowed for full-timers, but since so much at work is changing anyhow, I asked if they would consider a part-timer. I got it and so far I'm happy. I hope it stays this way for a while. Unfortunately, I've come to realize at work that a lot of bad things happen in cycle with everyone's monthly cycle. LOL!! Guess tempers and moods flare at certain times. I guess it makes us cranky...you think? LOL! Anyhow, I got the promotion and I am learning new things right now which makes me happy for a time. Praying for the best, cause lately I've been known to speak my mind. Have a good week.

Wanted: Read On!

2010-07-15T18:05:00.002-05:00

Wanted:
New Job!

Requirements:
*Appreciate the workers you have and the hard work they do.
*Talk with respect to your employees.
*Know how to make a schedule.

Date: Two Weeks from today

RSVP: ASAP

Contact: Me

Comments: UGH!

Getting Tall

2010-07-08T09:19:00.003-05:00

Everybody keeps commenting on how tall Anna is getting, so lets put statistics to it. Last month when she went to the Dr, she was 4'3". This month, only 30 days later, she is 4'5". She has shot up 2 inches in only 30 days. She is in fact getting very tall.

She is also very beautiful. She has long dark hair that is still got some perm in it from 2 years ago. Apparently it REALLY stuck to the ends this time. LOL! She is our little princess in every way. I love her very much and wouldn't change her for the world.

Doubt?...Couldn't be!!

2010-06-30T07:00:00.001-05:00

Lately I have been doubting whether homeschooling is right for our family. Is this really what is best for Anna as well as for myself. I mean let's face it. Homeschooling is tough. Its hard. Its a lot of work. Its tiring and exhausting. Well, wouldn't you know God has a funny way of telling me that we are supposed to do it. I recently signed up on website for homeschooling parents. I was checking out their curriculum and in order to fully access some features, we had to sign up. Anyhow, I signed up and also started receiving their daily devotional. Yesterday I got this one:

Poor, Pitiful Me
Tuesday / June 29, 2010

"O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever" (Psalm 118:1).

Standing in the basement doing laundry, I wondered, "How much of your life do you sacrifice before there's nothing more to give?" I was missing a beautiful summer day outside and feeling frustrated that there was so little time for the things I enjoyed. I dreamed of relaxing in the sun with an ice cold glass of lemonade and a good book or riding my horse into the open pastures near our ranch. Homeschooling seemed to be consuming my entire life, and each day I felt a little more drained. If I wasn't teaching my children, I was cleaning their messes. Would there ever be time again for me?

Self-pity is a destructive force in a person's life because it fails to acknowledge God's goodness with a grateful heart. The Hebrew nation's constant grumbling is a prime example (Psalm 106:25). For over 470 years, they cried out to God for a deliverer to rescue them from bondage in Egypt. When deliverance finally came and Moses led them to the Promised Land, they continued to complain, even to the point of longing to go back to Egypt. Although God had proven Himself mighty with miracles and provisions, they failed to be thankful for His loving hand of protection.

What about you? If the demands of homeschooling have you down, stop your personal pity party and think again about what the Lord has done. Your days might be busy, but God has blessed you with incredible opportunities to change the world through your children's lives. Let praise and thankfulness replace your "poor me's" and watch as God blesses your faithfulness in serving Him as a homeschooling parent. "I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth" (Psalm 34:1).

Father, forgive my selfishness when I fail to appreciate all You have given to our family. Lift my heart today and help me to focus on the things in life that are truly important. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Yeah, I know....slap in the face, right? Well, even after this I still had my doubts. I mean I know it is what I want to do, but like I said....IT IS A LOT OF HARD WORK!! Well, anyhow, if that wasn't enough for me, this morning I open my e-mail to this little number:

Unfulfilled Days
Wednesday / June 30, 2010

Do homeschooling parents ever admit that life is anything but one blissful moment after another with their children? If they're honest, they will. As much as we would like to proclaim homeschooling's benefits and see our children's lives through "rose-colored glasses," we must also attest to our children's sinful behavior that causes disruption in the home and unproductive homeschooling days. Children easily demonstrate sinful actions of selfishness, greed, jealousy, and other undesirable characteristics that require daily correction and training in righteousness. Like management in the workplace, wise homeschooling parents must allow for down times in academic productivity to address the more important issue of character building in their child.

Amazingly, there are many similarities between our relationship with our children and God's relationship with us. As His children, we demonstrate actions that disrupt God's family of believers. With selfishness, pride, and rebellion, we fail to be productive in accomplishing God's will. Daily, God must discipline us and provide the instruction in righteousness that will develop Christ-like character. Patiently, He continues to perfect the work He has begun in us, so our lives will bear much fruit for His name's sake (Philippians 1:6).

Are the frustrations of homeschooling tempting you to give up teaching your children? Do you find yourself taking one step forward and two steps backwards? Just as God gently corrects and teaches you in your spiritual walk, allow the Lord to help you show that same patience toward your children. Although your days may seem unfulfilling, you are giving your child the exact education he needs. "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Lord, how difficult it is to stay on track in our homeschooling! Remind me that we are learning more than just academics and show me how to deal with my children's true needs. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Yeah....let me just say that even though it is a lot of hard work and sometimes, okay, a lot of times, I wonder if we are doing right for Anna by doing this, I would also think that this is a wake up call. I get it Lord, I really do get it!! So, even though it is hard work. Even though we are not the ideal homeschool family. Even though we could really use the money if I went back to work full-time. Even though Anna has a learning disability. Even though it costs a lot. Even though it is time consuming...Even though a lot of other reasons. I get it. Homeschooling is the right fit for out family and God has made that evidently clear to me. So, its back to fall planning I go. No more delays. No more excuses. No more wondering. Its just planning time. That's all. Time to work on the wonderful opportunity given to us.

Bath Time?

2010-06-29T09:00:00.001-05:00

In the length of time it takes for me to take a bath in the morning, my daughter had managed to transform the living room into what I call the Barbie circus!! LOL. Here is what you see upon entering the living room:

As you can see, Barbie is the ring leader. She is all decked out in her riding clothes of course. ;-) Can't you see the boots?

Then we have this little number. Its called horse balancing.

What? You can't see it? Here's a better angle:

Don't you wish you could bend over a horse like this and still have a huge smile? I know I sure do. (NOT!!) LOL!!

Oh and in case you are wondering what's under the blankets by the carriage, its all 4 of the kids. Apparently the circus is not good for their eyes or something like that. Either that or it was bed time. Take your pick.

Happy 5th Family Day

2010-06-22T08:15:00.001-05:00

Here is what your Daddy posted on his Face*book account:

5 years ago today my wife and I completed a journey that changed our lives forever. The change brought an indescribable joy and love to our house that would remain forever. This joy and love came in the form of a very special little 3 year old girl that holds the key and reins to our hearts to this day and will continue to do so until we pass away. We have been through so much as a family but through our trials our love for each other has gotten stronger. The judge may have sounded the gavel to start this family but God's intentions for you were clear since the day you were born. We love and cherish you more and more with each passing day. Happy Family Day, Anna!

Here is what I posted like an hour later:

Today is our Family Day Celebration. Happy Family Day Anna!! We love you very much!! We didn't need a judge to tell us that you were meant to be our daughter!!

Here are the comments left by all the people who love you:

Aunt Natashia said, "We are blessed that God put you in our lives. You are very loved and I could not imagine the family without you!"

***Note....if you all have comments to add, please let me know and I will add them. I plan on printing this post and keeping them for Anna to read. Thanks all.

Superficial

2010-06-02T23:06:00.004-05:00

I've had it with superficial people! I can't stand people who do not want to include me for who I am. I don't get it. Please, don't include me in things out of obligation. I'd rather not go at all and YES, I CAN tell when you are superficial. I do not need the stress in my life. I need people who know who I am and love me anyways! I need someone to include me (and Anna) cause you like to spend time with us. I do NOT like to be an after-thought of your plans. The oh yeah, we need to call Nicole and see if she wants to go long after you've made plans or started makes me mad. Just don't call at all. I've had it.

What I do need is someone who likes me for who I am and what I am about. I am not going to change to please you. I want someone who will go shopping with me, knowing I can't buy the $30 pair of shoes on the rack. I will be the one hunting down the $5 and under clearance. Anything over $10 is usually out of our price range. I want someone who like to spend time at the park and do other free or nearly free things. The play areas in restaurants are good too. I need someone who will call and say "Hey! How's it going?" and truly want to know. I need someone who is true to their word! I need a real friend, not superficial. Superficial people annoy me!

There, now I've said my piece about it all. If you are my really friend, you can ignore this. If you are a superficial person, then stop it. I need only true friends.

Sincerely Me!

No More Sundays....

2010-05-28T07:10:00.000-05:00

Yes, ALREADY! They stopped doing it after I've only done two because we lost too many people and we need every possible person on the floor right now at all times. SO...there is not any more Sunday night work. UGH!! I was really counting on that for extra hours I need. We really needed the money from it. Oh well. Nothing I can do. It will all work out in the end.

Starting to look for homeschool items for the fall. Glad I bought a bunch early. We already have history, reading and Bible. Still trying to get Math, Science, Cursive handwriting and Spelling. I may use an eclectic mix of workbooks this year from the store that are all going to be 90% off (starting June 7th). Yes, its not ideal, but at this point it is very practical and affordable for us. It won't hurt. We just will work through them like any other curriculum. I think it will work and that we truly can do it. Spelling I will buy what I always have...it works well and she loves it. It is only $20 for the year anyhow.

My mom has had a friend visit from Canada for the past week. She is very quiet and seems almost shy, but she has known me since i was a baby, so I have been trying to make sure to get over to my mom's a few times. I hope they had a good visit.

Alright, I better close for now. Anna just looked over and said this looked very long. I told her it was still short, but its okay. Have a good weekend all. And for those of you who may still read....THANKS!

Working Sundays

2010-05-17T01:35:00.001-05:00

I am now working on Sundays placing orders at the store I'm at. It is okay, but I think Anna is taking it hard. Here is the note I found on the kitchen table when I got home:

"Hi Mom. I got in trouble and Daddy wasn't kidding."

I then go to my room to change and there is the following note:

"I miss you Mom. I Love you. Love your girl Anna."

Now, don't get me worng, this is just the first week to work Sunday, but I think it was hard on her. What do you think? I think she will get used to it, but we have had a lot of work changes in the last couple of weeks. I now only get to put her to bed on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Thursday, Friday and Sunday I am at work at bedtime. Saturday's it really depends. I feel bad, but I must work to pay bills and put food on the table. I'll have to make sure to give her extra loving tomorrow. This too shall pass.

What to do?

2010-04-30T08:30:00.003-05:00

I have some big decisions to make as far as homeschool groups in the fall.

One group we are in, I absolutely LOVE the people, but the only thing we can do with them is a field trip once a month. I also do that groups Mom's Night Out. I have been really unable to participate in the groups Family Night, because I work. I am thinking about changing it for the fall though and making it so I can not work on Monday nights. It may be better that way.

The other group we are in is changing to every Friday. I would have to teach and be in a committee of some sort and we would be committed to being there every single Friday, which I really am hesitant about. It is a good group, although very large. They also do good field trips once a month. Anna is aiming for this group.

Right now I am leaning toward the group with people I love and changing my work schedule to no Mondays so we can participate fully. Guess I know what my heart wants to do, but I'm having a battle with my brain. I've been doing that a lot lately. Hmmm. I need to stop that. It would make life easier if I'd stop thinking and go with what my heart says. LOL!!

Pictures

2010-04-21T18:10:00.000-05:00

All day I have been cleaning house and working on pictures. Since we went digital, we have been very behind at developing pictures and those that we have developed are way out of order. I spent this afternoon going through three picture boxes of pictures and placing them in order in a couple of albums. I still have big gaps in the albums, but it is better than sitting in boxes. I just wish we were ALL the way caught up on our photo developing. I have big plans to scrapbook eventually, but until I get all the pictures developed and in order, those plans will have to wait. I am proud of the work I accomplished this afternoon though. They are better off in a photo album than in boxes and when I get the pictures to where I want them, then I can scrapbook them all and make them even better. I love to scrapbook and feel like Anna is missing out if I don't scrapbook at least a couple years of her pictures. A big goal for me would be to scrapbook them all, but we take a LOT of pictures...and by a lot, I mean a whole LOT!! Anyhow, I guess that's all for now. Debating if I am heading to church or not. Have a good week. Take care.

Figuring it Out

2010-04-15T13:40:00.001-05:00

I would like to say that we have another year or two of the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus, but my darling little girl is extremely smart. At Easter, she discovered the eggs still in the fridge in the morning not hidden. The eggs usually got hidden while she was in her morning bath. She didn't even make it that far this time. As soon as she woke up, she was checking everything out. Problem solved by telling her that the Easter Bunny was running late and needed to come back while we were at church.

Yesterday, she had 6 teeth pulled by the dentist, so the Tooth Fairy had to come overnight. We started a "letter" from the Tooth Fairy last time and fairy dust as her cousin had always gotten it and she didn't understand why she didn't. Anyhow, this morning she got up and said that the fairy dust looked just like our glitter in the house. I quickly solved that one by stating that she may have gotten the same kind or maybe she borrowed ours. Sheesh!!

Anyhow, with all the things she is guessing, I'm willing to bet that by Christmas she will have it ALL figured out. She is very bright and knows already that the Santa's at the mall are just helpers or other men dressed in Santa suits. I wish she would believe a little longer, but she is way too smart. My little girl is growing up. I don't know what else to say. It is kind of sad to me. I want her to be a little girl for a little longer, but she is growing up.

Easter Pictures

2010-04-08T08:00:00.003-05:00

Here are some pictures from Easter this past Sunday. Anna had a lot of fun and looked so cute. The best part was that she learned about writing on the eggs with a white crayon before dying them. She loved that part. It was like surprise messages. She thought it was really fascinating. Anyhow, here are a few pictures from Easter.

The Eggs:

The Basket:

My Easter Princess:

Finding the Eggs:
Hunt Number Two with cousins:

It was a lot of fun although this year Anna got very smart. The "Easter Bunny" hides the eggs and our died eggs while she is in the bath every year, but when she woke up, the first thing she did was check the fridge. Lo and behold, there's the eggs that the Easter Bunny should have hid. Good grief. (We weren't up yet, or else it would have been done.) Anyhow, being the quick thinking mom I am, I told her he was on a tight schedule and running late, but that he said he would be back while we were at church to hide the eggs. Thank goodness she bought it. While we took my mom home, the Easter Bunny hurried home and hid all 30 eggs. LOL! Good work Easter Bunny! It saved the day.

Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Have a good week all, or what's left of it anyways. Take care.

Babies Movie

2010-03-27T08:02:00.002-05:00

Ok, I admit, I'm attracted to babies period, but this movie looks too cute. I do believe that I WILL go see this one in the theatres. I will definately take my mom, but may even take Anna to it. It looks so cute and neat and is definately a learning experience of the different cultures. Watch the trailer and tell me what you think...

Blah..Doctors...blah!!!

2010-03-26T14:56:00.003-05:00

Is so sick of lousy doctors...I see better doctors at the clinic than Anna sees on a regular basis. Here we are nearly 5 months out from initial visit on swollen tonsils and they still say its viral. UGH!! I took her in again today and that is what she said. She also said not to bring her back in unless she runs a fever over 100.4. Good grief. It isn't strep, it never is, but plain old tonsillitis, probably. They said again, yes, they're swollen and inflamed. Give her cough drops and gargle with warm salt water. UGH! How do I get them to understand that this is a chronic problem unless I keep bringing her in. They aren't getting it. This never goes away. It gets slightly better and flares back up. Is my 8 year old supposed to live on cough drops and chloraseptic spray? UGH!! I know this is all cause she has Medicaid. If we had her on Jeremy's insurance, her tonsils would already have been pulled out months, if not years ago. OK, vent over. I am just one frustrated Momma!!

My Little Girl is Famous....

2010-03-20T08:00:00.002-05:00

My little girl is featured in the paper yet again for something fun we have done. She has spent the afternoon's of what is most kid's Spring Break at the Lubbock Lake Landmark taking classes. We still schooled through Spring Break as Much as Possible, but these were "Spring Break Classes." Anyhow, the newspaper was out yesterday and they interviewed the kids and took pictures. It was too cute. So although they got my daughter's age wrong, I will put it up here for you all to read. (She is 8, not 7 as the article states.)

Life Lessons: Local children learn about natural world during their spring break
By Adam D. Young AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
Friday, March 19, 2010
Story
last updated at 3/19/2010 - 12:17 am

Dozens of Lubbock children spent
their spring break digging in the dirt, sounding like thunder storms and eating
worms.

Well, that dirt-digging was a lesson on planting a garden of
life-sustaining vegetables and grains. That sound of thunder was produced by
Native American rope-and-string toys the children built themselves. And the
worms ...

"I'm not sure if it's alive or if it's gummy," 7-year-old
Keller Pettit said, lifting a spoonful of "worms and dirt" dessert to his mouth.

"Of course it's gummy - real worms aren't colored. They're brown,"
8-year-old Alyson Oliver said before she grabbed her own cup of a concoction
containing Cool Whip, gummy worms, Oreo cookies and vanilla pudding.

Alyson and Keller were among dozens of children eating, learning and
playing Thursday during the weeklong Spring Break Fest afternoon program at
Lubbock Lake Landmark.

The Landmark offered children the nature-oriented
course as a way to introduce them to the outdoors, said Susan Rowe, Lubbock Lake
Landmark education program manager.

"I want them to get in touch with
nature and develop not necessarily a love, but a concern or caring for nature,"
she said. "I also want them to know they can do things for themselves - they can
grown food."

A highlight of Thursday's program had the children working
with Landmark volunteers to plant Three Sisters Native American Gardens, a
combination of bean, corns and squash planted in a specific sequence within a
circle.

The three vegetables are important in Native American culture
because each provides essential nutrients the others don't, said Kristen Vogt, a
student intern at the Landmark who coordinated lessons for the program.

Beans provide protein and fat, corn provides sugar and squash provides
carbohydrates, she said.

Vogt sat with 7-year-old Anna Lonis, a
home-schooled student from Lubbock, trying to show her the order to plant the
vegetables. She told Anna the corn seed is planted first, in the center of the
intended plot.

The bean plants are buried around the corn kernel to
assist the beans' growth, said Rowe.

"The runner beans use corn as a
pole to grow up," she said.

Squash seeds, which will produce wide green
leaves, are planted outside of the circle.

"Their leaves will keep
moisture in the soil," Rowe said.

The children hadn't finished planting
the seeds and plants in the ground before they were hyper and wanted play time.

"I'm going to talk to the armadillo," Keller said, pointing to a more
than 3-foot-long armadillo statue he wanted to climb in a nearby field.

"Guys, you need to plant the squash," Vogt told the class.

Working with the children seemed a bit hectic, especially with the noise
and excitement produced by their thunder noise makers.

"They were loud
yesterday," she said. "That's why we went outside. We even had one boy that
repeatedly kept hitting himself in the leg."

Anna said the program at
the Landmark was a fun way for her to meet new friends and spend her time during
spring break. But being home schooled, she said, gave her a different
perspective than her peers on spring break.

"You do home school at home,
so I've been on spring break for a very long while," she said.

To
comment on this story:

adam.young@lubbockonline.com l 766-8725

charles.reinken@lubbockonline.com l 766-8706

OUR KIDS/Local
children learn about natural world during their spring break

Pretty cute, huh?!! If you want to see the pictures that went with it, here is the link, but she is not in any of them. Told you it was special!! :-)

http://lubbockonline.com/stories/031910/fea_592710272.shtml

Spring Cleaning...

2010-03-19T11:35:00.001-05:00

Yeah right...that lasted all of about that one day. Then I had to work and have no other bites on the things I am selling since then. It was short-lived. I still have lots to do. I may get it done by summer. MAY! No guarantees.

We have lots of other things going on, so that always gets put to the back-burner.

My car is acting up again. I swear the electrical in that car is going to kill me. My air conditioner went out and has been out. I put it in to be repaired and it is a short in the wiring somewhere. Where, they don't know. They can't find it, but somewhere it is shorting out. All the mechanical is fine, but to have a short. UGH! With all the other things that car needs fixed, I'm about ready to throw in the towel on it. About, but not yet. Can't afford a car payment.

Ok...that's all for now. Look for a more upbeat post tomorrow....its a surprise!! :-) Take care.

Spring Cleaning and Clearing

2010-03-12T14:50:00.001-06:00

Spring Cleaning is going very well. I am cleaning up and especially clearing out. Some things have sold already and I am meeting someone else in 15 minutes at a nearby store. It will probably take me a week or more to clear out all that I want gone. We somehow manage to gather all kinds of excess throughout the course of the year.

We did use some of the money for things I've already sold to pay our library fines. Anna and I took back the books and paid the fines. For what I paid, I could have bought 2-3 books. I hope that never happens again, or I will ONLY buy our books. At least then I don't have to worry about them going back. LOL! I changed my e-mail address with them so hopefully we are good to go and I will catch it sooner next time.

Anyhow, that's all for now. Take care all. Have a good weekend and Happy Spring Cleaning to all!! :-)

School Update

2010-03-05T15:25:00.001-06:00

We have been doing school, although not everyday and not consistently, we have been doing it. I was looking at her Reading and realized that if we don't want to school through the entire summer, we need to start doubling up on some lessons. We are way behind where we should be. Spelling is about right. We have 7 weeks left of spelling. History is about 25 lessons left. Math, well, we ditched Saxon and went to various workbooks. Until we build the basic skills and master them, there is no need to move on with the harder things like skip counting and multiplication and the like. We do about 3-4 pages a day from several workbooks. It's easier on me, but also frustrating. We have successfully completed our second unit study or lapbook. It was a lot of fun. This one ended up being a double. The Olympics covers a lot of info and we didn't even do everything we could have. What we did do filled two folders. We are enjoying them and they are simple to do. Science, well, that is hit or miss. I think I'm about to buy a magnet kit and we are going to work through the rest of the book we started a few months ago. OK, we BARELY started it, but that because we don't have the materials to do it. We may also invest in a microscope for more fun with it.

As for field trips, we still go on trips with two homeschool groups. One is very large and takes good field trips. The other group also take good field trips, but it is a LOT smaller and we seem to come away with more knowledge.

Anna is taking the IOWA test in April. We may not test her this way again for a while, but it will give us a good idea as to where we are truly at. Anyhow, I guess that's about as much of an update as I can come up with. I know I haven't been good at keeping up on here, but I'd rather spend more time with my daughter. Keep in touch and I will at least try to update every few weeks. Take care all.

Commercial Tears

2010-02-17T08:49:00.003-06:00

This commerical made me cry. It is so true and every mom needs to watch this. It is truly the best thought out commercial ever. Thanks P&G!!

Lapbooks/Unit Studies

2010-01-26T07:50:00.002-06:00

We are trying to end our study on horses this week so we can start on the Olympics sometime next week or the week after. I am very excited about it. This has saved us from the bore of everyday typical "school." The text book approach was getting really boring and we were both dreading school time. Now with books and mini-studies, we are thoroughly enjoying it again. (And it doesn't take as long each day-BIG YEAH!!) I will post pics of our first completed book when we get it all put together.

I guess that's our big update for now. I know there isn't anyone really reading my blog anymore, but I like it, so I will keep posting when I can. Have a good week all.

Uh....Happy New Year?

2010-01-14T08:45:00.001-06:00

Ok, so I am not the world's best blogger. Not too good at Face*book either right now, but there have been other more important things to do. Christmas was great. Pictures are on my Face*book account. Too hard to get them off the disc to post here, so sorry. I didn't get to them fast enough. Will some New Year's pictures do? Yeah, they just might have to. Here are some pictures of Anna playing with her new scooter from Christmas.

Excuse the funny face on the second picture. The "sun was in my eyes." LOL!! She doesn't like the sun directly in her eyes for pictures.

The New Year has brought some changes to our homeschooling as well. We ditched the direct textbook curriculum method of history and science and are doing lapbooks (mini unit studies). So far we haven't finished the first one, but we are liking what we are doing. Horses!! Yes, of course we did horses. That's Anna's favorite thing. She absolutely loves horses!! Now, if I can find someone to show her all the really hard work of taking care of a horse. I think that will at least make it a little more realistic. LOL!! We'll get there. I also have the second one printed and ready on The Great Depression and stuff, but I think it will wait. The winter Olympics are coming up and surely there will be more fun things to do with that for a while. Sports, countries, techniques, etc. What's more fun that learning about something we will surely be watching on TV anyways? I just hope someone puts out some good material for that.

Other than that, things are the same ole, same ole. Lives still revolve around church, work and school. We are having a fun time. Hope you all have a Happy New Year. Yes, I am a lot late with this post, but its okay. Take care.

Merry Christmas!!

2009-12-23T21:59:00.003-06:00

All the fun to be had is in two days. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas. I will post some of our pics after the holiday. Maybe even by Sunday, but don't hold your breath. LOL!!

Merry Christmas all!! Have a great day with your family!!

Thanksgiving Pics

2009-12-07T09:00:00.000-06:00

At long last, here are the Thanksgiving pics from last month. As a family, we did two, but Anna and I had three Thanksgivings. It was a ton of fun. :-) Enjoy!!

Cecilia pointing to the light:

Gather round the food (Thanksgivng #1):

Time to eat:

Kid's Breakfast (Thanksgiving #2):

Time to talk:

Some cute kids:

Eating time:

Making Turkey's (Thanksgiving #3):

Thanksgiving

2009-11-28T07:11:00.004-06:00

Thanksgiving pics and blog post coming as soon as my hubby uploads the pics off the camera!! LOL!! We had two Thanksgivings this year with his family. It was fun and great. Stay tuned!!

Anna's Birthday

2009-11-20T14:12:00.003-06:00

Well, Anna's birthday came just like every year, but this year we decided to do something extra special. This year we went roller skating. It was great. The kids and adults alike all had a great time. Here are some pictures of that special day.

Family Picture:

Cake Time:

Anna's Special Guests:

Posing for a Picture for Daddy:

Anna's Beautifully fun cake:

We had a great time and are thinking about doing something "extra" fun again next year. Skating was terrific and the kids thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks Shaena for all your help cleaning. I couldn't have done it without you. Thanks to all who came out to make Anna's birthday extra special. It was a lot of fun.

Soccer

2009-11-17T08:51:00.004-06:00

October drew to a close Anna's soccer season. She had a great time and really did get a bit better. We ended the season with a parents versus the kids game. Here are a few more soccer pics that you might enjoy seeing from that last game!!

Go Anna!!!

Go Mom!!!

Go Dad!!!

Family Picture:

As you can see we had a great time with that last game. It was tiring, but a lot of fun. Anna really enjoyed soccer and we are looking forward to her next sporting endeavor, whatever that may be!!

My Birthday

2009-11-12T07:00:00.001-06:00

Ok, I know we missed it and I am really behind in blogging, but now I am trying to catch up. For my birthday in October, I was semi-sick. I had some sort of viral infection that made me nauseous and not like the smell or look of food, but Jeremy tried to make it special anyways. After getting ready in the morning for church, Jeremy and Anna showered me with gifts and love.

After church, we went to his mom's for a roast dinner, which is one of my favorites. We also had cake there. It was good. After some peaceful time and relaxation in the afternoon, I was blind folded and taken on a crazy drive through parts of Lubbock for a dinner at my favorite restaurant:

It was a lot of fun. We had a very good time and it was definitely a birthday I will never forget.

(P.S. I don't know why Anna looks so silly, but we really had a great time.) :-)

Throw Out the Potatoes Dear!

2009-11-11T07:00:00.001-06:00

LOL!!! Ok, We have an inside family joke between Jeremy and I. It happened a long time ago when I asked him to "throw out the potatoes in the fridge." He threw out my brand new 10 lb bag of potatoes and not the old nasty mashed potatoes that I was meaning for him to throw out. We still laugh about it to this day. LOL. It was just a misunderstanding. Well, yesterday at dinner, I noticed Anna had a glass of water on the table from the sponge painting she was doing earlier, so I asked her to dump the water in the sink and throw out the container. I certainly did not realize or even think about the bottled water she had sitting directly beside it and sure enough, my darling daughter takes the full bottled water, dumps it in the sink and throws the bottle in the trash. I started griping at her for not being careful and why would we waste that water, it costs too much to buy bottled water, etc, etc. My husband looks at me and starts laughing and states "throw out the potatoes dear." I was done for then. LOL!! Jeremy and I both burst into a ton of laughter while our daughter looked at us like we were crazy!!

New Posts...

2009-11-10T13:08:00.002-06:00

New Posts are coming soon. I have lots to write about and hope to have some time to write it all in. Sorry I've been neglecting my blog, but new blogs are heading your way!! :-) I can promise you that. We've missed my birthday, Anna's birthday, soccer, our first Thanksgiving (we get two this year) and the setting up of Christmas stuff, so I promise you some fun blogs with pictures are heading your way!! Keep an eye out!

Uhm...sorry

2009-10-15T00:55:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posts on my blog. As I said before, F.a.c.e.b.o.o.k.!!! Its getting in the way. LOL!! As for a quick update, my birthday is coming in in 10 short days!! YEAH, I think. We are busy preparing for Anna's birthday in about 3 ish weeks. Give or take a few days. I will be fun and we are very excited. Oh and Anna has bought her own make up kit a Barbie car and an outfit for Barbies with her saved money. She was super excited!! The make up came with strict instructions that if we ever, and I mean EVER caught her sharing any of it, it will go straight to the trash can....no exceptions. I think she gets it. She has been putting eyeshadow and lipstick on half the day. LOL!! Oh and we found a really inexpensive body glitter at Wal.Mart. It is a spray on and is a lot of fun. I used to love body glitter and if I didn't think it would be weird for someone my age, I think it would be fun to wear!! (LOL...Shhh...don't tell!!) Ok, I will update again when I can. I need to post some more soccer pics from the last few games. She has her mind set on baseball for the spring. UGH!! We went and looked at costs today and for the cost of just one thing, I had bought ALL her soccer stuff. We'll see how she is when the time comes. I'm thinking of putting her in gymnastics for the winter months just for the physical activity. It would be good for her.

Ok, its VERY late and I need to get up and teach my pretty little girl tomorrow. Night all!!

Monday Bowling

2009-09-30T06:30:00.001-05:00

On Monday afternoon, we went bowling with Jeremy's sister Tiffany and her husband Steven. Since you all have probably already seen the typical bowling pictures, here are a few new and unique pictures we took while we were out there having fun.

Family picture:

Bowling Shoes:

"Our" Bowling Shoes:

Hitting the pins:

Whole group picture:

(In case you need to know from front to back-Anna, Me, Jeremy, Tiffany and Steven.)

Final Scores:

As you can tell we had a great time. Yes, Anna beat me the second game. She's starting to get some strength behind her balls and she even got a strike. It was a whole lot of fun and we will definitely need to bowl again when they bring the kids down on the next trip. Bowling is so much fun.

Our Day at the Fair

2009-09-29T06:30:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we went to the Fair early in the morning. Number one, it isn't busy and number two, its pretty much free if we go early enough because the midway isn't open yet. Anna and I always go to look at the animals every year. It is educational and she still thinks its fun. Anyhow, here is our morning at the fair in pictures.

Petting a Cow:

Watching them Milk "Candy" the cow:

Petting Pygmy Goats:

Touching a goats mouth:

Holding a baby duck:

Eating fair goodies:

Clinging to Daddy:

Posing for a cute picture on the way out:

That was it. Of course there were a few things in between, like petting sheep and holding a baby chick, but those were the highlights of our trip. Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Rainbow

2009-09-28T21:40:00.001-05:00

We had a lot of rain on 9/13/09. I had taken a few pictures of the beautiful rainbow that followed. It literally went from one end of the sky to another. Because of where I live, I couldn't capture that, but I did capture a couple a pictures of the pretty rainbow. Hope you enjoy.

Shucking Corn!!

2009-09-11T06:00:00.001-05:00

On Wednesday, we had some corn in the fridge. I told Anna that I needed to shuck the corn and then we could eat it. LOL!!
She looked at me and said, "I wanna shuck corn."
To which I replied, "Do you even know what shucking is?"
Anna, being the smart cookie she is, says, "Yeah, it where you take off all the yucky stuff."

Anyhow, she did end up learning how to shuck corn and did pretty good at it. Too bad this won't last. She thinks its fun to help still. LOL!! I let her shuck all the corn she wanted though.

Initial Picture

(She didn't realize the hairs were slimy):

Much better

(I told her she didn't have to touch the hairs, just the greens):

First Corn almost all shucked:

Pot of corn getting ready to cook:

Eating the fruit of our labor:

First Soccer Game

2009-09-10T07:40:00.001-05:00

Anna had her first soccer game on Tuesday night. It went well, but they don't officially take score at this age. (Which, by the way, my husband did and it was 6-0!) Anyhow, the kids had a great time and learned a bunch about the game. It was fun to watch all the kids swarm after the ball and follow it. They all kept asking for turns to kick it in when it went out and all. Too cute!! Here are a few pictures from the game (Oh yeah, she's wearing the pink shorts and blue jersey):

As you can see, the kids had a good time and that is what is important. She now has a set coach and will be practicing with a set team. The first game was also the first time she has had this coach. UH, yeah...whatever, but it was okay. She will learn and get better and things will be good. Anyhow, hope you enjoyed. (Sorry the pics aren't the best, I can only zoom in so far.) Have a good day and stay tuned to my blog again tomorrow for another batch of pictures. Of what you ask? Awe, nope, I can't tell you. You'll have to wait!!

Labor Day

2009-09-08T07:50:00.001-05:00

Well, yesterday was labor day and I labored!! LOL...meaning I worked hard. I had a long busy day at work and we still had to stay till 45 minutes after we closed getting it all done enough to leave. I am glad today is a regular day and I only work for 4 hours. YEAH!!! Tonight I have Bible study, and Anna has what I think is a practice for soccer...it better be a practice, no one said we were starting games yet and she doesn't have her uniform, so it should be just a practice.

This week we officially start messing up the school schedule. LOL!! We have been going for 4 weeks now and we have been able to keep up pretty well, but we have a lot to do and it messes with the schedule. I have been weighing things in my mind about one of the home school groups we are in...there are just too many people and I am over-whelmed by the sheer size of the group. I haven't paid my dues yet for the group and I may not. I am thinking of pulling us out this week. (Not sure yet, but seriously thinking about it.) I can't handle a huge crowd of people. Its too much.

Anyhow, that's the update for now. I have to go kick Anna out of the shower before she uses all the hot water and I can't do dishes. We still need to go to a store this morning for milk and juice, so we need to get moving anyhow. Have a good day all. Take care.

Medical Update

2009-09-04T07:00:00.001-05:00

I know some of you ave been waiting for an update, I have too. LOL!! I have decided that the rheumatologist I saw is crazy. He is not only a lousy doctor, but he has a horrible bedside manner. Even my primary doctor said so. Its no wonder he had an opening faster than the other. Anyhow, enough on that, I do have a diagnosis from my primary doctor and they are following a treatment plan based on the results of my two expensive and way off the wall specialist visits. It is Rheumatoid Arthritis. All his notes say it is, even if he told me it wasn't. (He's one confusing doctor to follow!!) Anyhow, on Wednesday I started on a typical DMARD (disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug.) We will see how all this goes. My primary care doctor did not have good things to say about the rheumy I saw and neither do I. Anyhow, so for right now, I am praying that this is a good course of treatment and in a few weeks I see results. I go back in a month for a re-check. Anyhow, that's all for now. Just thought you all might want to be updated too, all 6 of you!! LOL!! Have a good weekend.

Soccer Pics...Finally!!

2009-09-03T07:39:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the delay. At long last, soccer pics are here. Keep in mind, she was just dressed up for a practice. We don't have uniforms yet. Oh and she wasn't too happy when we started, so the first picture isn't that good, but here they are.

Do I have to Mom?

OK, I'll smile!

This is more fun!

Anyhow, I will try and get more. She was mad at me about something before we took these pics, but for the life of me, I can't remember what it was. It must not have been too important. LOL!! Anyhow, I hope you all enjoyed.

Soccer Update

2009-08-31T23:08:00.004-05:00

UGH!! I digress. Sorry, no soccer pictures yet. I will try and force my ever loving little girl into taking a few pictures tomorrow. We haven't gotten the uniform shirt yet, and I was hoping that we would have it before I shot some pics to throw on here. Anna is still loving soccer and loves going to practice. She is practicing 3 days a week right now which I think is great for her. Not only is it good exercise, but she also has to listen to someone besides her mom and dad. LOL!! I do promise though that as soon as I get some, you all will see them. That's all for tonight. Its late. :-)

Soccer Legs

2009-08-20T07:00:00.003-05:00

Here is a bit of a picture teaser... LOL!!

I promise I'll take a better picture, but I don't get to go to practices. I only asked off for the games. :-)

Soccer Checklist

2009-08-19T15:05:00.004-05:00

Signed Up, check
Paid in Full, check
Bought all the gear, check
Eagerly awaiting first practice, check!

LOL!! We got Anna all she needed for soccer today from Aca*demy!! Yes, that's the place. It was almost half what I was going to spend at Wal*mart or Tar*get and I even bought two pair of shorts! I really like their price on some basics, like plain colored tee shirts for kids, $1.99. Her shorts were $3.99 a pair and her cleats were...get this....only $6.99. REALLY!! Just $6.99. They were marked for $8.99, which is still under half of what Target charges...not name brand, but they made her very happy and they will serve their purpose. I will be going back. Stay tuned for pictures coming up. I can't wait to get a full picture of her in the uniform!!

Uhm...Blogging....Not so much

2009-08-18T14:50:00.001-05:00

Ok, ok. I have not been blogging too much. I got caught up with FB!! I can't help it. It's WAY easier to use and I get instant feedback. LOL!!

Not much has changed here. We started school last week and so far it is going well. I do need to invest in the teacher's manuals for Anna's reading program as there are a few things that you just can't do without them. Too hard to figure it out.

Anna started soccer yesterday and will have her first "official" practice on Thursday. Not sure who her coach will be, but we know that she will like it. I will take her tomorrow to buy all the things she needs for the game.

Anna is also saying funny things lately. While I was horsing around with her and getting ready to stop, she looked up at me and said "Keep doting on me please." LOL!!! I didn't even know she knew that word, let along what it meant.

On my health, well, if the Doctor's office could EVER return calls like they say, I might have something to tell you, but they don't so I don't. I will call them again Thursday if no work by then. They told me I would for sure hear something Monday. YEAH right!! Its half way through Tuesday and still nothing. I sometimes wished I had insurance so I could afford a better doctor, but I don't. Its a double-edged sword. I call them and they get annoyed and since they can't call me, I get annoyed. LOL. Bad combination.

Ok, that's it for my update. I better get going and find an afternoon snack. Take care all. Thanks for reading and sticking by me.

Power Problems

2009-08-11T08:10:00.003-05:00

Ok, my night last night went something like this.

6:30 - Mom's Night Out
9:30 - Return home
9:45 - Power goes out
10:03 - Call electric company

Then comes a WHOLE lot of waiting. On what, I'm not sure, but it was getting VERY HOT!!!!

12:16 - Place second call to electric company
12:38 - Light some new candles and blow out the ones that were burned down to the bottom
12:43 - Electric company FINALLY decides to grace us with their presence in the back alley. It was HOT and miserable. YUCK!!
1:07 - Power comes back on!! Thank you Lord!!!
1:34 - After fixing everything and trying to relax, collapse into bed and sleep.

Seriously, does it take over 3 hours to get someone out to fix the power? UGH!! I was hot, hurting and miserably tired, but could not really rest with candles going throughout the house. Anyhow, that's how my night went. Morning isn't starting off much better. Since the power was out so long, my husband woke me at 6:00 ish to iron his work shirt. YUCK! It would have been done if the power didn't go out. Anyhow, that's all. I'm done. Time to get ready for the day. Take care all.

Too Much?

2009-08-08T09:05:00.001-05:00

I have come to the realization recently that maybe we are doing too much school work. I mean we have to do the basics, Language Arts and Math, but by the time I do those, who really wants to do Science and Social Studies? I mean honestly, Anna loves them, but I am thinking of skipping out on them this year and letting her do Switched on Schoolhouse on the computer next year. What are your thoughts on this? I'm not too hot in either subject to be quite honest and while I don't mind her being interested, by the time we do math, writing, grammar, reading and spelling; to be quite honest I'm exhausted and don't really care to teach those. Is taking one year off those two going to kill us? I mean we'll still do them to some degree, but do we have to have a structured program for them? Can't we just read books and other things of that nature till next year? Hmmmm!!!! Now I've got myself thinking. Stay tuned. I may have my own answer later in the day. Your thoughts will also be helpful and appreciated! Thanks.

Last Free Week

2009-08-03T07:52:00.002-05:00

School for us is to start next week. It will be a bit hectic, but we are starting none-the-less. Its time to get the show on the road. We took off last week completely and we are taking off this week completely, so that will be a nice break. I hope I'm ready for school to start. Anyhow. not much else to say right now. I want to keep this blog positive, so I better close for now. Happy August all.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes...YUM!

2009-07-30T10:30:00.001-05:00

Ok, so this morning when I asked Anna what she wanted for breakfast she said Chocolate chip pancakes. Me being the crazy mom I am, didn't even think about the frozen ones in the freezer courtesy of one big name brand company, and said ok...we'll have to go buy some chocolate chips, but you know that Daddy makes better pancakes. She said ok and I know, but I want them. So, we proceed to get showered, dressed and ready and go buy some chocolate chips.

I get home and make the batter and say to drop in some chips. Ok, well, some is a lot to a 7 year old, but it was better that way. Here are some pics of what turned out to be MY BEST PANCAKES EVER!!!! YUM!!!

Right after we dropped in the chips:

Flipped over (Top):

Bottom:

Not so many chips in this one, but yum anyhow:

Cut up with Syrup for Anna:

They were so good. Don't they look good? YUM!! We'll have to do that again if I remember how I made this batch so extra yummy!! Have a good day all!! Go make some yummy pancakes!!

20 bucks?!

2009-07-26T13:05:00.001-05:00

What can you get for 20 bucks now-a-days? Here is what we got today while out shopping:

Not too bad if I do say so myself. Here is a basic run down of all we got. Anna and I had fun.

Wal*mart:

*Two loaves of bread 1.47 each

*0ne pair of running shoes for Anna $10

Office*Depot:

*6 packages of glue sticks at 20 cents each

Office*Max:

*6 boxes of crayons at 1 cent each

*6 folders at 25 cents each

Barnes*and*Noble:

*Book for Anna free

Krispy*Creme:

*2 donuts and 1 milk $3.54

Okay. So the glue sticks had a limit of 3, but when you get your child to check out and she's old enough we can get six. Same with the crayons. Limit 3, but Anna also checked out, so we got six.

Anna really needed some new running shoes that fit and they were listed in the Wal*Mart flyer for $9 so we went to look. Of course, knowing my luck, we could never find the sale shoes, but the ones she got were only $10, so I figured that was pretty good.

Krispy*Creme was NOT on the list of places to stop at, but one place, not listed, didn't open till 12 and I needed a potty break, so we went on over. Of course you can't use the facilities without buying at least one donut. LOL!! We got one each and shared a milk.

Barnes*&*Noble has a summer reading program and if your kids read 8 books and write their favorite part of the book down, you take that in and the kids get a free book from a certain selection. It was great!! Anna loves to read, so what better encouragement than a free book.

Anyhow, that was our fun of the morning. We got some good deals, most of which we will donate to a back to school drive or two for less fortunate kids and we had fun at the same time. When the money ran out, we came home. And yes, I only took $20. I had 50 cents in my purse, so it may be just over 20, but not too bad in my opinion.

Have a good week all. Take care and thanks for reading!

At least I know he loves me....

2009-07-25T07:15:00.001-05:00

Ok, Ok. Weird Title. I know, but its true. I was having a very vivid dream about shopping somewhere with my sister and mother and all of a sudden some man comes over and asks for a certain book by a certain author. He says where's the person who work here. Apparently this was some little shop and they only had one worker at the time so I said he's right there at the checkout at the moment, but I can show you where it is. (Remember it was a dream...unless I was at work I would never really do this!!) Anyhow, I take him to where the books are and he starts attacking me. I mean out right physically trying to take me down. I was kicking and clawing and screaming. Yes, I was screaming help. Help me. Get him away from me. HELP!! HELP!! Apparently the last help was said out loud and my nice husband sat straight up in be and said "What the heck?" That brought me out of the dream almost instantly. I laid there for a few minutes and then started giggling intensely. At least I know he loves me!! I couldn't get any one's attention in the dream, but in real life my husband sits straight up tries to solve the problem!! I thought it was neat and funny. Like I said at least I know he loves me!!