Wallpaper................blech

So, the new house has silver lame wallpaper in the kitchen. I bought all the stuff to get it off. I spent three hours yesterday, attempting to get it off the wall. I got about one third of it off, maybe creeping towards a half. But the paste is still on the wall, and I understand you have to get that off too.

Stripping wallpaper is not for the faint at heart. First you have to score the wall, then spread on the goo, then wait, then start taking pieces off. Just when you are ready to give it up for the day, you get a really big piece off and keep going. I officially hate stripping wallpaper. I am beginning to look at the white with black felt wallpaper in the front hallway in a whole new light. It's not so bad. It's actually coming back into style. Because as hard as the silver lame stuff is, the felt stuff will be harder. So what if my front hallways looks like a bordello, what do I care?

Okay, I will probably be stripping

that bad boy too, but MAN, this is harder than I thought. I clearly remember helping my sister do this like twenty years ago and you used some kind of toxic stuff with gloves and it just shooped right off the wall. I could not find the toxic stuff. I need the toxic stuff, not this stuff I can use without gloves and around children.

One of my best friends has a steamer, but she lives in Illinois and I live in Michigan. How much pizza and wine do you have to promise to get people to help you strip wallpaper? Just asking.

Have you ever taken on a home improvement project that should have been easy and once you got into it, wanted to just stop? That's how I feel right now.

God bless you and yours.

New Years?

When I was younger, we used to go to the Tempe Block Party on New Year's Eve. I actually saw the Gin Blossoms there in concert. Met them too and my friend Cindy dated the drummer. I used to be cool. The Tempe Block Party is an outside party where they shut down Mill Ave and there are games and beer gardens and fun. Leave there, get some Denny's and get home around 4:00 a.m. No problem.

Now, we stay home with the kids, eat snacks and make noise at midnight. If we make it that far. Then we go to bed and "sleep in" until 8 or 9 in the morning. Woohoo. Hey, if that makes me uncool, so be it. I cannot come back from a six hour drunk anymore. It takes at least a week and I do NOT have that kind of time. I don't even drink anymore. I just don't see the point.

So we stay in and have fun and we love it. I probably like it more than all those wild New Year's of my youth because I don't have to recover. Except from too little sleep. That is no big deal. I can always go to bed at like 7:00 p.m. the next night. So I am an old fogey and I love it. I don't want to be out there with all the non-designated driver's at 3:00 a.m. It's a slim chance that a drunk driver will plow into my house. I know it happens, but it's a one in a million to me. Being out there on the roads definitely increases my chances of being hurt or worse.

So what do you do on New Years? Stay home with the kids or go out and play? Share the love.

God bless you and yours.

So, when it rains, it pours

Yesterday morning, in a spurt of energy, I planned my day. Wake up at 5:30, read bible, make coffee, finish laundry, run to new house to strip wallpaper, get some stuff for closing on new house, go to work. Well........In getting the laundry basket, which was quite full, off of our little "shelf" on the sink by the washer, the board covering the sink slid off and landed right on my right foot. The pain was instant and would not go away. After about 45 minutes of trying to convince myself that I was fine, that shooting pain when I moved my foot was normal, I gave up. I woke up my mother-in-law, and explained the situation.

I have to tell you, I hate the ER and will avoid it at all costs. I would rather just go to urgent care. If that makes me stupid, so be it. Urgent care does not open until 10:00 a.m.. How is that "urgent"? Six in the morning is urgent, ten in the morning is just humming along. So after ice and swelling, I am off to urgent care. With the nine thousand other people who got sick or hurt this weekend.

In between all this, I have to call my boss at Starbucks and tell her I think I broke my foot. We have been super, super busy this holiday season, so this went over like a lead balloon. She was great and got my next three shifts covered, but I feel as if I am letting my team down. I hate that.

As I sit in not so "urgent" care, I get called back, and X-rayed and there is no break. Then why all the pain I ask? Well, you have bruised the soft tissue and that usually hurts worse than a break. Great. More pain and a longer "recovery". Fabulous. All this and we are supposed to close on the new house this week and move and get stuff done and all that jazz.

I have several friends who are going through the "pouring" stage. It's not just raining, it's not just pouring, it's flooding in epic proportions. I am constantly amazed how much junk life can throw at a mom/wife and how we continue to bounce back and keep going. We, as moms and warriors of God, ROCK. I will admit to a lot of praying and reading of the bible, but that is my "go to" strategy. Pray and give it to God and sit back and be amazed at His wondrous grace. We beat the Energizer bunny, hands down.

I will limp along on my day today, did not sleep well, might go back to bed. Is it raining in your life??? Some sprinkles or a downpour? Share the love.

God bless you and yours.

Shelby mother pens 'Chicken Soup' stories - News - Advisor

Shelby mother pens 'Chicken Soup' stories - News - Advisor & Source

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When to take down Christmas

So the eternal question is......when do we take down Christmas. I know some people leave the lights on their house all year long, but I am not speaking about them. When do you take down the Christmas stuff?

I admit it, I love Christmas. Love it. Love everything about it. Wanted more snow this year, and that didn't happen, but still, love it. I have collected nativity scenes for years and I love putting them out. Since we have been living in limbo for a couple of years, they have stayed packed, but I am looking forward to getting them all out next year. I have bins upon bins of Christmas decorations. I did restrain myself this year because we are moving shortly, so there is not that much stuff out.

I do remember one year when the thought of putting it all away became overwhelming to me. I think we do that to ourselves sometimes, psych ourselves out of something. I finally put everything away when my in-laws were coming to visit, in February. Yikes. Sometimes the thought of the job is worse than the job itself.

My usual routine, because I have a fake tree, is put it up right after Thanksgiving and take it down on New Year's Day. That seems about right and gets me just about six whole weeks of Christmas cheer. I usually forget one thing and that stays up all year. But I had a dear friend once tell me that you are supposed to do that, so there.

When do you take down Christmas? How does it make you feel? Share the love.

God bless you and yours.

Taking some time off....

Taking a little time off to move and be crazed by that. And of course, taking time off to celebrate Christmas with the family. I will see you in the new year. God bless us everyone.

God bless you and yours.

Wrapping the gifts

So, as I sit here blogging, I need to be wrapping. The shopping is done (mostly) and now I must wrap. I do this after many years of wrapping on Christmas Eve and cursing myself for not doing it sooner. I have no rhyme or reason on how to wrap, I just want to get it done.

I have a friend who wraps her kids presents all in different paper for each child. One gets santa, one gets candy canes, etc. etc. So then, she puts them all under the tree and doesn't tell them which is which until Christmas morning. That's one way of doing things. I admire it, I just don't do it.

I also do not put any presents under the tree until Christmas eve after the kids have gone to bed. To me, there is something so magical about waking up to all that under the tree. I love that expression of joy on their faces when they see it all. That's my tradition.

Everyone has different and wonderful traditions. Some open presents on Christmas Eve, some go to midnight mass, some have family Christmas early (we did that yesterday and the house was CLEAN) some just read the Chrismas story on Christmas eve. Whatever your tradition is, I say embrace it. Be silly, be serious, be whatever you need to be, just embrace the season and the craziness.

I am off to wrap, wrap, wrap. Have a blessed day.

God bless you and yours.

Cleaning for Christmas

Why do we do this? The family is coming over Sunday, so we need to clean every nook and cranny. Why? Is the family really looking in corners for dust bunnies? The house will be destroyed after thirty people eat dinner, sit around talking, someone will wrestle. Blah, blah, blah. So why do we do it?

And who in the heck started this anyways? I mean, I clean up on a regular basis, and there is no black ring in my toilet, so who was the first? Can we go back in time and beat her up a little bit? Was she cocky enough to have a maid and demand this stuff? I'm just saying.

Isn't your family supposed to love you warts and all? Why not dust bunnies and all? Today, I shall move the couches, vacuum the couches, deep clean the bathroom, and then go to Starbucks and work for five hours in an outdoor mall when the wind chill is five below zero. Whatever.

I love Christmas as much as the next person, but this is getting ridiculous. What are you cleaning up for this Christmas season.

God bless you and yours.

Dreaming of a White Christmas

So, we get rain instead of snow. My kids were very disappointed that they did not have a snow day. They live for snow days, and we only get about three a year. We had a little snow and now rain, and later, just for kicks and giggles, it's getting cold enough to freeze all the rain. Should make rush hour interesting.

My favorite past time in the midwest is watching snow fall. It's so calming and quiet. Turn off every electrical appliance, and light and watch it snow. The big fat flakes are the best. I would settle for around ten inches on Christmas Eve, as long as I am off and can sit and enjoy the snow.

My kids want to have snowball fights, make snow angels and snow men. I do too. So fun. This month we are getting ready to move right after Christmas, so I will take all the calm I can get, and all the fun.

So, as our holidays get more and more hectic, I encourage you to slow down, watch some snow or a sunset, or the grass grow. Take a minute or an hour and settle your soul.

God bless you and yours.

To Carmel Corn or not to Carmel Corn

As Christmas approaches, I am ferklempt. I do not really feel like doing my holiday baking. I always make carmel corn. Last year, for our women's tea at church, I made carmel corn for 100 ladies. Yuck. Don't get me wrong, I love me some carmel corn. Especially when it comes out of the oven and you eat it warm. It is seriously the best stuff in the world.

So here I sit, getting ready to move right after Christmas. I have the family Christmas here this Sunday. I have youth events and chaos and love and stuff to do. I do not have that warm fuzzy feeling of baking and love in the kitchen. Because to bake is to love. I always bake with love and I always make carmel corn for the holidays. It's just a crazy holiday for me this year.

I don't want to make cookies or decorate them or clean up after the whole baking scene.

Here is my question, is that wrong? Is it wrong not to want to bake for hours on end and be so tired I cannot see? I am already that tired and I have not baked one small thing. I love Christmas, but this one will probably be very low key.

So, am I wrong or right? Should I bake or not? Share the love.

God bless you and yours.

The New House

So, after months of searching and eleven offers, we have a contract on a new house. Well, it's new to me. It's an 1800 square foot ranch with an 1800 square foot finished basement. It's on a lake, which is very nice. It also has not been updated since 1963, when it was built. We call it the disco house. I will add some more pictures to the side of this post, you will die laughing. The thing is, the basement is so obnoxious I have to keep it pristine. It has red and orange shag carpet up the walls surrounding my black naugahyde circle bar. Now, we are not big drinkers, and the bar will probably be stocked with pop and juice, and for parties, the occasional beer or wine. It does have a mini-fridge.

It's the main level I have issues with, serious issues. Sky blue and silver lame wallpaper in the kitchen. That matches the white countertops with sky blue trim. Which matches the painted cabinets that, for some unknown reason, they took sky blue detail tape, the kind you detail cars with, and "accented" the cabinets with it. They also used sky blue shelf paper, even on the outside of a cabinet, to "blend" it in with the whole kitchen theme. When you finally recover enough to look down, it's to see lavender linoleum (it was probably sky blue in 1963) inset with white starbursts in key locations. There are no words.

We also have a "yellow" bathroom. Here in the midwest in the 1960/1970 era they color coded bathrooms. So I have a yellow tub/shower, yellow tile all around it and up the walls, yellow sinks and a yellow toilet. This can be done quite tastefully if you downplay the color in the rest of the bathroom, they decided to accent it more. I have gold faucets. Gold lame butterfly wallpaper. They painted the cabinets yellow. They put those smokey gold lined mirror squares around the toilet. It's a sight not to be believed. We also have a pink bathroom, accented with gray. And pink roses on the striped wallpaper. Again, you have to see it to believe it.

This said, some paint, and new kitchen counter tops and some tile here and there and it will be an awesome house. It has cove ceilings and in it's day was definitely a custom house. We just need to give it some tender loving care. I have lovingly described this house at work and some unknown Santa delivered a disco ball to me by way of an elf. I have absolutely no idea who it was, but I am hanging that bad boy in the basement. Now all I need is a lava lamp and strobe light.

Any moving horror stories? What about wallpaper? Share the love. And the pictures if you have them. At the end of the day, the view is worth it.

God bless you and yours.

Black Friday sales

Okay, was I the only one who went out at 4:00 a.m. to get a portable DVD player for $47.00? Just asking. I actually hit Walmart and Target and was home by 8:15. Does this make me a crazy person or a saver of money? Most people will tell you both.

The Black Friday sales are not for the faint at heart or the easily offended. The line in Target started in the very back of books, went through electronics, back around garden to the food section, where you "looped around" and went back to garden, to bikes and then you began the loop towards the front of the store. At one point, the lines intersect. Some lady was mad. Very mad, she had gotten in the wrong line. Because there was a line for electronics that was different than the regular line. There was mass confusion and chaos ensued. This lady wanted to make sure no one was cutting in line in front of her because she had already, blah, blah, blah...... It's the Black Friday sales, what did you expect? There are going to be lines, ridiculous lines, there is no avoiding them.

There is a bonus to the lines. People swarm at the opening and just start shoving stuff into their carts. Then, as they sit in line for 30-45 minutes (or longer) they discard what they really don't want. That is how I found a hoodie in Tyler's size. Because, when I finally reached the hoodie section, there were three smalls left in blazing red. Standing in line there were digital photo frames, DVDs, various articles of clothing and someone actually put down one of the Ipod touch's that were on sale. Someone scooped that puppy right up. You have to be on alert for these things, the discards can be something you came in for and missed because you were getting something else.

I have seen it all at these sales. Oh, the humanity. I find it ironic that while attempting to get a bargain for the "giving" season, someone, in order to get a good parking space, nearly ran down ten people, honking all the way. All sense of decency goes out the window. Unless you stand by me, I refuse, absolutely refuse, to be rude or upset if I missed my "bargain". That is just the nature of the beast. I say "excuse me" and "thank you" and I will pass you the movie you cannot reach because the carts are ten deep. A little help, a little smile, a joke to pass the time. All these things can make the chaos a little bit cheerier.

So, did you go out on Friday, or sleep quietly in your bed? Share your story.

God bless you and yours.

I'm back in the land of the living.

Hello folks. Sorry I have been away, sick as two dogs. I did not have the flu, I had bronchitis and two ear infections. When I first went to the doctor, I only had one ear infection. I had to tell the doctor that only four year olds get ear infections, he laughed at me. I also had to go back to the doctor, because, even on antibiotics, I had gotten worse instead of better. I hate that. So more antibiotics, stronger ones and lots of sleep and I am better. Sort of. I am still coughing up stuff, but I at least can function.

So, I apologize for being away so long. How is everyone? Everyone eat too much on turkey day? We will be taking on some issues of Christmas and family and all that jazz in the coming weeks.

God bless you and yours and we will be talking tomorrow.

So sick, so sorry

Sorry to say I have not been blogging because I have the flu. I do not know if it is the 'swine' because going to the doctor so he can tell me I have the flu is ridiculous. I am pushing fluids and should be up and running next week. God bless.

Getting hurt or lying, which is worse.....

So yesterday, I come home from a nice Home Depot trip to see the whole family one the front porch. It was a beautiful fall day here in Michigan, 66 degrees and sunny. So no surprise there. Then I see Tatum, tears streaming, sitting there with ice on her shoulder. What happened you ask? Well do you want what the cousins and her brother and the neighborhood kids came up with or do you want the truth?

What they all came up with, to avoid getting in trouble (which was ten times worse for lying) was that she tripped in the woods and fell. What actually happened was that she was being lifted up by three of them to touch a rope in a tree in the woods and someone slipped and she fell directly on her shoulder. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, a simple fall or falling from five feet up. Which would make her cry and scream when we try to move her arm???

So after a trip to the Urgent Care, which is anything but urgent, no broken bones, but a severe bruise. I get out of the minivan and there are all the little liars in the driveway. So I yell at them all, because I am ticked off. I am not angry that Tatum got hurt, that is just kid stuff that happens. For the love of Pete, the day before JJ Kosek was jumping out of our tree into a pile of leaves, from 15 feet up. Of course, when I saw him, I made him stop, but he had already done it three or four times. Kids are kids and stuff happens. I was mad that they lied how she was hurt, because it does matter. It matters, because a fall from a hight is worse than a trip and fall.

Of course, all the kids think I am insane, but I am used to that. I really am mad about it. My question to all of you is, am I way off base or right on the mark. Seriously, I want to know.

God bless you and yours.

The Swine Flu

Okay, our youth group has started to ask, "do you have the swine?" when anyone coughs or does not feel good. Schools are closing, although, much to my children's chagrin, ours have not. People are standing in long lines to get the H1N1 vaccine. The question is to vaccinate or not to vaccinate my kids.

Here's my problem, when I brought it up, that I was going to call the pediatrician and take them in, my fifteen year old flat out refused to go. He has watched the youtube video of the cheerleader who, because of the H1N1 vaccine, can no longer walk straight and has various motor skill difficulties now. He feels that there is no long term studies on the vaccine and does not want to get it. I hate to say it, but he makes a great point. In all of our panicking, are we going too far?

My other problem is that there is mercury in the vaccine. Manufacturers use mercury as a preservative in vaccines. Cooper has Asperger's syndrome, which is a form of autism. I don't think he should have the vaccine because there is so much research about autistic children not being able to filter out certain metals and other products out of their bodies. The metals then form proteins in their brain that mimic opiates, thus the rocking back and forth, etc. You have to do your own research, and make your own decisions, but mine is to not get Cooper the vaccine.

That leaves me two children, who if they get vaccinated and the others don't and the swine gets into my house, we are all going to be sick. So I made the decision to not get my kids vaccinated against the swine. Quite frankly, everyone I know who has had it touch their homes, if watched and managed properly, have been fine after some very rough days. I am not taking this lightly, I am just wondering if we are all overreacting ever so slightly. I know this is serious, and if my kids run a fever for more than ten straight hours, I will be hitting the doctor's office. I am not being foolish, I am being cautious. I have lysoled and cleaned and make use of hand sanitizer.

What are you doing about the Swine? Share the love and wash your hands.

God bless you and yours.

Thanksgiving approaches.....

As thoughts of turkeys and stuffing and yumminess, I have to think about all the work that goes into the day. It is a lot of work. If you are the one cooking, it's a long day. My husband says that it is the best meal I make all year. Wow, that is a compliment. I do love to cook, and I love thanksgiving, so I don't really mind cooking, but it is a tiring day.

What do you make for Thanksgiving? I make a roasted turkey, stuffing (traditional sage with celery and onion),mashed potatoes, corn, green bean cassarole, sweet potatoes with apples and cinnamon, creamed spinach, crescent rolls, pumpkin pie and apple pie. Oh and gravy, lots of gravy.

Some friends fry a turkey, which I have tried, and it is awesome. Some smoke a turkey. Some barbeque a turkey. I love turkey. I talk to mine when I am preparing it. My kids think I am nuts. I have to talk to it so it turns out right.

What are your Thanksgiving traditions? Share the love.

God bless you and yours.

Halloween is approaching

I have to say, I do like Halloween. Candy, apple cider and all that jazz. I have pumpkin lights up, much like Christmas lights. I bought pumpkins. Unlike a lot of people in Michigan, I have no problem buying my pumpkins at Walmart. I do not have to go to a patch and pick my own and pay for the experience. I may try to grow some at some point in my life, but this year, I got them at Wallyworld.

I have made candy bags. I just cannot hand out one piece of candy. This is my mother-in-law's fault, as she started me on this journey. I do really miss Halloweenie. In our neighborhood in Az, we had hotdogs down in Kim's cul-de-sac and everyone brought something to share. Yummo. We all sat down there to hand out candy. If you were VIP, you could go into Kim's house to get some chili, a closely guarded secret. It was our own personal block party of fun. I miss that.

Here in Shelby Township, Michigan they have the BEST trick or treating protocol. At 7:00 p.m. the tornado siren goes off signaling the start of trick or treating. At 8:00 p.m. the same alarm goes off to signal the end of trick or treating. No late night ringing of the bell. No chaos. No children wandering until all times of the night. Awesome. Done in an hour. Love it. Everyone should do this everywhere, it just makes sense. The only thing that would make it safer would be to ban driving of all kinds on side streets during this time. I know that is a pipe dream, but there you go.

What Halloween traditions to you observe? Share the love.

God bless you and yours.

Twelve Year Old Boys

All I can say is, if I did not know I would get through this, I would ship him off to military school. I have a fifteen year old boy, so I know this is a phase. But working our way through the phase may kill me. Let me explain.

Progress reports came in the mail. After weeks of asking the proper questions..."have any homework?" "Any missing assignments?" "How is middle school?" we get the ugly truth. Grant is failing English (I believe it is now called Language Arts) and getting a D in tech ed. Now, all I have heard about tech ed is how easy it is. That it is a no brainer and super easy. Well apparently, so is getting a D. My mother taught english for over forty years and I am actually scared to tell her of this. She will die. Maybe literally. Seriously, this is her grandson and he is failing at his native language.

So Scott and I lower the boom. Grant is grounded, this gets a shrug. Grant is down to three meals a day, no snacks, the hair gets cut off, he has more chores to do and he has to get all his grades up to a B. Not a B-, a B. All this and all I get is a shrug of the shoulders like so what? So then, I ground him from youth group and the David Crowder concert this sunday, which is a youth group event. Now I get the tears rolling. You see, if you don't take away something they care about, they will just keep doing what they are doing.

Twelve year old boys are an odd bunch. They are hormonal, but do not know why. They are trying to be "men" but are still boys at heart. Middle school, which we all remember, has it's own set of horrors to deal with. I get all that. I just hate, and I do mean hate, the shoulder shrug, the constant arguing of his point, and the dreaded eye roll. When Bill Cosby, in Himself, talks about, "Don't you roll your eyes at me, I will roll them right back into your head" I get it. I am also quite familiar with the "I don't know" Really? Really, really? You don't know how your sister got a bloody nose? You don't know how my nail clippers got onto your bed. You don't know why you have four missing assignments? Which I found at the bottom of your locker when I went to your middle school and helped you clean it out. He would have had a B in English but for the missing assignments. Why? Why, why, why, why why?

Maybe it's seventh grade. Maybe it's middle school. Maybe it's just me as a mom. I don't know. Wait a minute........that is not acceptable. Oh no, maybe they really don't know.

So any twelve year olds out there in your life? Share the chaos.

God bless you and yours.

I am back from Vicodan Land

Okay, so my minor procedure on friday knocked me out more than I thought it would. I had more pain than I thought. Definitely more than the cramping they say is going to happen. I got some great stuff through my IV in the recovery room. Could feel it go up my neck. Whoooooo. Then I was on vicodan the rest of the day. Don't remember much. I know I watched "He's not that into you" and thought it was mediocre at best. I also watched Monsters vs. Aliens, which I think I loved, but it's a little fuzzy in parts.

By friday midnight, it was obvious that the vicodan and my acid reflux did not agree with one another. So I switched to four tylenols. Yes, I know you are not supposed to take four tylenols at once, but it was still painful. By the time I got Tylenol 3 with codeine called in on Saturday, I did not need it. I was just tired and needed to rest. Sunday I did too much with church, fall fun day, and small groups, so monday I was tired. Today is my first day back at work, so we will see how it goes.

I think the anesthesia kicked my butt more than the procedure itself. I know I feel quite well after the Novasure and hopefully it will put an end to my very bad, very painful periods. We shall see next month.

Have you ever been to vicodan land? Did you come back okay? Share the hazy memories.

God bless you and yours.

A little time off

So, tomorrow I am having some out patient surgery. Nothing serious, just the Novasure procedure, to stop my heavy monthly cycles. So, I will not be blogging for a while, but will be back next week. Have a blessed week and look for the funny in everything.

God bless you and yours.

Picture day.....the horror

Okay, up until this point, I have enjoyed picture day in my family. Pick out a nice shirt, comb some hair, maybe some curling for Tatum. No problem. Well Tatum is now eleven years old. She is shaving her legs and today, straightening her hair. She got up at 5:30 to start this process.

She picked out her shirt (I believe it's hollister a hand me down for sure) and straightened her hair. Then, she humbly came down and asked if she could wear some mascara and some lip gloss. I let her do that. Then she came down and asked if she could wear some eye shadow. Now she is pushing it. I say no. She stomps up the stairs. I tell her to watch it, or I will scrub her face.

Now Grant is in the bathroom brushing his teeth and will not let her in. Let the screaming commence. Oh my gosh, she still has 45 minutes until the bus and she has to fix her lip gloss. God help me. Trying to be sympathetic was a little trying after the fourth attempt at lip gloss with no smears. Then a flick of the hair, in the lip gloss, let's all start over again. I just went into my bedroom and screamed into my pillow.

Let's not overlook the fact that now she can pick her background color. There are six choices. Finally, after yelling at her after the fifteenth "I don't know", she picks purple. Ten bucks says she changes her mind if her best friend picked something else.

She is off to the bus. Someone pass the valium or at the very least, tequila. Yikes. For the record, Cooper could not care less, but he picked a green background, his favorite color. Of course it did not match his shirt......oh well.

Any pre-teen girls in your life? Share the love.

God bless you and yours.

So......not writing as much

Many may have noticed that I am not writing as much as I used to. Bad habit to fall into, but I will try to improve. We just have so much going on with trying to find a house. Making over ten offers on ten houses only to be beat out of them all by a higher offer or a cash offer. Who has 160 grand just sitting around in today's economy? So all I do is look at foreclosed houses and then race around to do an offer and then fax the offer and then etc. etc. etc..

I admit to being quite weary in all of this and very depressed. It seems like I am doing all God is requiring of me to get all this stuff done. I look at just about every house out there, even the scary ones. I was feeling quite scared and then yesterday in church I was reminded of God's capabilities. God's, not mine.

"How can you say the Lord does not see your troubles...How can you say God ignores your rights? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak." Isaiah 40: 27-29

That is some powerful stuff. God does not get tired of me. God gives me strength. Sometimes, our greatest faith is born out of our greatest struggles. So what are you struggling with today? Get out your bible and solve those problems. God is good and he is our heavenly father who loves us dearly. He has the power to stop and bend down and pick you up today. To uphold you. To care for you. To provide for you in a way that no one else can. Go to Him and be comforted.

God bless you and yours.

To doctor or not to doctor

Cooper came home glassy eyed and feverish yesterday. I could tell he was way off his game. Poor sweetie. In today's swine flu chaos, I debated taking him into the doctor. I gave him dinner, he ate it and kept it down. I gave him Tylenol and that got his fever down. I had him take a shower and go to bed early.

This morning, so far, he is nice and cool. So, in the flu pandemic, what to do with a fever? I am not a panicking type mom, but the flu hits hard and fast. Is it wrong to take a minute and not rush off to the doctor? What do you think? Are you going to the doctor no matter what? Do we risk not taking them? I am curious as to how everyone is handling the flu season with the swine on the horizon.

So, let me know what you are dealing with today as far as sickness goes. Share the love, but keep your own germs!

God bless you and yours.

My first Homecoming Dance

Okay, I am a sappy mom. I admit that. Any school program where three year olds are singing, I am crying my eyes out. If it's my child, all the more. Tyler, my fifteen year old is going to two homecomings. Both with girls that are just friends. One last weekend, one this weekend. He is wearing his dad's black suit. I have bought a black shirt. One girl accessorized with hot pink, so I bought a hot pink tie. The next girl is wearing yellow, so I bought a yellow tie. Last friday, Tyler did a dress rehearsal. He came down stairs, all dressed up and I admit it. I cried.

He looked me in the eye and said, "NO!". I am not allowed to cry, even when he leaves. He is so grown up and he looked so handsome. I cannot wait to post some pictures. I was so proud of him and all he did was dress up.

I know, as the mother of four, this is only one of many homecoming dances. And proms. And everything in between. I love it. Pictures, corsages, all that jazz. No one ever asked me to homecoming, so I never went. Girls today don't wait, they either go with their friends, or ask a boy that is a friend. Love it. No more anxiety. You go girls.

So what new milestone are you hitting this year with your kids? Is it first steps, first dance? Share the love.

God bless you and yours.

Strictly for the girls.......

Okay, so I have really bad periods. Very bad and heavy and all that stuff. So I finally found an OB/GYN here in Michigan that I like and he suggests we look at everything. I have an ultrasound, that shows some Andiometriosis (sp?) and then they schedule a biopsy. No cancer or anything, they just need a tissue sample to see what method of treatment is best for me. I have never had one of those done, but I go off to the doctor.

I have done a little research. I might get crampy, it could hurt a little, stuff like that. My doc told me to get some advil on board about two hours prior, to help with any pain. I am prepared. I get taken into a little exam room, asked all the right questions and told to undress from the waist down and sit in this chair/exam table thing with a sheet over all my business and wait.

Doc comes in, we talk about when the results will be in, various options for me when we know the results and so forth. He calls in the nurse, tells me to sit back and proceeds to push a pedal that literally turns me upside down. So my business is right up in his face. Hello.....the chair was not upside down when I entered the room, how am I supposed to know I would be upside down for this little procedure. Really? Really, really? Yes, upside down. The whole thing takes about a minute and a half. I did feel a pinch, but not much more.

You know and I know, after having children, we lose all modesty. And I do trust and like my doctor, but come on, upside down? I still cannot get over it. Is there no justice in this world? How come men aren't upside down? Or scooting closer to the edge of the table? Why is this saved just for us? If you are going to tell me this goes back to Eve and all that apple stuff, I am gonna blow a gasket. Is there no justice? I don't know.

I know we have to do these things for our health, I was just sharing with you in case you have to go in for a biopsy of your nether regions. I'm just saying......

God bless you and yours.

It's Fall!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, a crispness to the air, the leaves beginning to change. I love it. Here in Michigan, it means cider mills and fresh warm cinnamon donuts. There is nothing like fresh pressed cider and warm donuts. All the fall decorations are coming out and the soup pot has returned.

Yesterday was the first crisp day of the year and I made chili. Yummo. Chili with lil smokies in it with cheese on top and sourdough bread with butter. I ask you, does it get any better than that? Why yes it does because there was apple pie for dessert, made by my own little hands. Oh yeah, and I got to get out my down comforter and sleep under the weight of loveliness. I love sleeping under a bunch of blankets, makes me feel all burrowed in and comfy. I have to find my slippers and my cabin socks.

Cabin socks are these hand knit socks my mom makes and mails to me from Arizona. I love them, but I also wear them out. Every year I wear out the heels of them. They really are not repairable, so I then call my mom and I get more sent to me. Unfortunately, my brother in law and sister in law also love cabin socks. Being the generous person I am, I will give them a pair or two a year. But I think they have stolen some extras and are hoarding them in secret.

So what do you do for fall? Do you live in a state where it is actually a season, or just a feeling? Share the love.

God bless you and yours.

new week, new possiblities

Okay, we all hate Mondays, me too. But today, I will take the position of a brand new week means brand new opportunities. I will try my personal best to be positive. This will, of course, last until someone cuts me off in traffic, but hey, I can try.

Our attitude is directly related to how our days are going. I have good days and bad days. And sometimes (like the week before my period) the smallest thing will set me off. I don't have to be rational if I am right. Case closed.

I do try to be as positive as possible. Mostly because I work with the most miserable person on earth. This person is bound and determined to make everyone's life miserable around her. At first, this angered me, but as I have come to recognize their attitude, I actually pity her. I am convinced she will die alone. This isn't some seventeen year old idiot. This person is approaching thirty, it should be figured out by now. I am not saying I was little miss mary sunshine in my early twenties. I was and idiot, but usually in a good mood. As you age, you learn lessons in protocol and reading people. I have always said, when you hit your thirties, you learn to close your mouth more. Just my opinion.

So where is your attitude this morning? Can you rescue it from the pooper? Can you pull it out of the monday blues and find a little sunshine this morning? Let me know.

God bless you and yours.

A staple to the head

Sound worse than it really is. Grant called me from middle school yesterday right as the bus should have been pulling away from the school. I thought he had missed the bus. So he tells me that he was hit in the head with a chair. Again, sounds worse than it really is. Grant was bending down to get his chair to put up at the end of the day. Another kid was picking his chair up, and it met Grant's scalp in a perfect storm of end of the day chaos.

Some points to make............Grant himself called me. Not a teacher, not a counselor, not anyone in authority. He was bleeding from the head. As I was waiting for him in the hall, in front of the assistant principal and the principal, they had no idea Grant was even hurt. Once I told them why I was there, they asked all the right questions. Also, my pediatrician, even though he has been in practice probably thirty years, does not do stitches in the office. I was referred to the ER, in the same medical building.

So as I await treatment in the ER, I have already called my backup, the one and only Janet, mother-in-law supreme, to get my other children where they have to be. You see, as you and I both know, if a monkey wrench it thrown into our days, we must then re-arrange the rest of our day. We are not free to just go willy nilly to the ER. Silly moms, chaos is our lives. We must make the calls, inform the dads, let them know you have it all under control, make sure all the kids will get where they need to go. This can then involve friends stepping in, family being roused from their routines, any and all help is called in. Because you have probably been called and stepped in when needed. We get all this done while waiting for the triage nurse to look at our kid.

They take a look and get us back to "minor" treatment. Clean it up, and tell Grant it would hurt more to numb it up and stitch it than to just staple it. The physician's assistant talks him through it, and one staple later, we are on our way. I did go to the pediatrician first, just trying to save some money if he did not indeed need stitches. Which he did. Which I knew, but money is tight, so off to the pediatrician first. Long day. One clue, if your child is hurt, always let them explain what happened. They know the story and then it does not look like you are trying to cover something up. The very last thing you need is CPS knocking on your door because you talked over your kid to explain what happened. That's just my two cents thrown in for free.

So, now he is affectionately called staple head by one and all. Thrilling, thrilling day. Just one more reason we as moms need to stick together.

Any staples in your life? Share the metal.

God bless you and yours.

Waffles

For reasons I have yet to understand, some of my son's friends from our youth group, have decided to come over this morning for waffles. Let's get something straight right away. I don't make homemade waffles. I never have. I owned a waffle iron once, and never used it. These will be Eggos from the freezer. They just want to come over and say hi to "Momma Kay". Okay........

The teenage mind in hilarious. I am sure this started as some kind of joke. They don't even go to my son's high school, but to one farther away. Yet, they are coming over for waffles. I realize this is just a ploy to be random, but hey, I do love these kids.

So I must go and warm up the toaster. I thought briefly about getting some sausage yesterday to compliment the waffles, but where is the randomness in that? I will get out my Costco size syrup and the butter and the plates and make them waffles. Hilarious. If you have not hung out with teenagers lately, let me tell you, "random" is one of their favorite words.

Literally, five kids are getting up earlier than they have to, all in the name of crappy waffles from a wild haired, not had enough coffee, crazy lady. Okey dokey. Gotta love it.

What is random in your life today? Share the love.

God bless you and yours.

Hubby's birthday

So tomorrow, my husband will turn 40. He will tell you that I will always be older than him. While that is true, and somewhat cruel, he is hitting the big four oh. I have asked him what he wants. He wants new white t-shirts and underwear. That's it. Don't go all out. Just some new underthings.

Whatever. I will get him his underwear. This brings up a great question. Why are guys so hard to buy for? How much cologne and ties can we buy? How many audio books (they mostly hate to read), money clips, even six packs of their favorite beer can we buy? How many stupid t-shirts with some kind of stupid saying about something they used to joke about? He was a golf professional for fifteen years, so he needs no clubs, no shirts, no tees, nothing regarding golf. I have, in the past, gotten him an official Tiger's jersey. An official Red-Wings jersey, and we don't buy Lions anything, they are horrible. Even Detroiters don't buy Lions stuff, it's just embarrassing to own. He likes the Suns more than the Pistons, and he has a Suns jersey.

What do you get your hubby for his birthday? Father's day? Christmas? Just curious. I need more ideas please.

Have a great day, God bless you and yours.

Different Parenting......

We have all run up against another mother that parents their child differently than we do. I always try to respect what they are doing. Aside from beating the crud out of a kid, I usually just shake my head and walk away. I don't want someone interfering with my parenting and I will respect someone else's style, even if I don't agree with it. Sometimes, though, I get totally perplexed.

I am a youth leader at our church. We have some kids whose parents don't come to our church, but the kids do. Most are fine with that, we don't sacrifice cats in the basement or require you to give up your oldest child for service. It's just a non-denominational bible based church. Nothing weird going on. But I have actually been to the church, and researched the children's programs before enrolling my children in them. There is a family whose teenagers are fighting with their parents to come to youth group. The parents let them go to church camp, go on a mission trip, cross state lines with us, but now, they are "too into" it, and it has to stop. Too into church. Too into getting close to God. Too into not fighting with each other and doing good. Not that they are perfect or that our youth group spits out perfect kids, not gonna happen, but we are trying to get God into the center of these kids lives.

So riddle me this.........why? I want you to know that when these kids have asked me, I always tell them, that though this is hard, they must respect their parents. I do not encourage them to disobey their parents or sneak out or anything. Nor does any leader, we respect the parents role in the family. We have offered to speak to the parents to address any concerns to no avail. We are going to be doing a purity bible study in small groups for both the boys and the girls. I would love my kids to be exposed to that. I read the book and I am blown away at the challenges that this study encourages these young people to address and handle. I think it is going to be amazing.

I know I am "in" the church, so my view may be skewed, but when my kids wanted to get involved in this group, I researched it. Just like I would soccer, or band or whatever thing they were interested in. That's my job, so I don't understand any parent who would say NO, and not do their research. It also confuses me that these kids have freedom in just about all areas in their lives, just not for God. There are worse things these kiddos could want to be involved in.

Share your opinions, am I off base, right on, or should just stay out of it. Again, I have always encouraged these kids to, above all else, respect their parents. Let me know.

God bless you and yours.

So, every now and again

So, from time to time, I turn on MTV to see what's on. What happened to all the videos? And why does every rap video have high priced cars and higher priced women? And where is rock and roll? Do they even show videos anymore? I am trying to catch up on what my kids are into and there are no videos, just reality shows. And the reality shows are pretty staged, don't you think.

On facebook, a friend of mine posted the video that started it all, Video killed the Radio star. This for me, brought back nostalgia from high school, my first concert and all that. Do you have any 80's memories that stand out?

Big hair? Parachute pants? The horror when Eddie Van Halen started playing the keyboards? The final acceptance of the same. The Go'Gos and Thriller? Hair bands, the good ones and the not so good ones who had one great song. What hits it for you? I actually found a picture of me in my Catholic School uniform............tragic.

Are you an 80's chick? Share the love.

God bless you and yours.

Okay, I gave in to coffee

So, I was off caffeine completely for nine months. It took five horrible days filled with headaches to get off the stuff. Just proof that my body was addicted, right? Well, I had just sort of slipped in August, one cup on Saturday, that was it. Then school started. How in the heck am I supposed to wake up every day at 5:30 in the morning with no caffeine? So I have allowed myself one cup a day of coffee. Okay, it's a big cup, but still, I need some caffeine.

So, I love it. I have missed it. I need it. I work at Starbucks for cripes sake, now do you feel my pain of giving it up? One beautiful cup of java in the morning with two sweet-n-lows and some cream. Yep, cream, not milk, not skim milk, not creamer, but real, honest to goodness cream. That is my indulgence. Real cream in my coffee. I don't know if that is a midwest thing, but people here put half-n-half in the coffee. We stopped putting out whole milk and non-fat at work and we really only have about three people a week ask for it. Everyone else puts in cream. It is an indulgence, but since I am watching everything else, cream in my coffee is worth it.

So, I have officially fallen off the wagon of caffeine. There are worse things I could be addicted to. Okay, I love chocolate too, so kill me. Life is good with a great cup of coffee (I grind my beans every morning) and a nice piece of chocolate. Yum.

What do you indulge in? Or are you sticking to your guns and being good? Either way, good for you.

God bless you and yours.

A bee sting gone wrong....

So I get home from working last night at five thirtyish and my niece is here to do my hair (went a little blonder) and I am told to look at my 15 year old son's hand. He had gotten stung by something on Sunday. By five o'clock his had was hot and red and swollen. Believe it or not, I had to take him kicking and screaming to our night owl clinic at the doctor's office. I had to threaten him with missing youth group and band practice.

We arrive at the night owl clinic at six o'clock, we got called back at 7:45. Every five minutes, Tyler asks me to leave, I absolutely refuse to leave until a doctor looks at his hand. Finally, the doctor comes in and take a look, not happy. Puts him on antibiotics because it looks like cellulitis (sp?) and tells us to keep an antihistemine on board. Oh yeah, if streaks start going up his arm, emergency room. A little more red today is normal, but streaks up the arm, ER.

All this from some kind of sting/bite from some sort of flying insect who remains anonymous. What the heck? Bee stings are supposed to hurt and you put some baking soda paste on them and they go the heck away. Not red streaks up arms and emergency rooms. I did not like the look of the hand this morning, but the doc says a little worse this morning is normal. I am very worried about what it will look like when he gets home from school today.

So anything weird happen to your kids from a bug bite? Share the swelling.........

God bless you and yours.

Forgot Cooper's Lunch

Sorry so late today, apparently I am a horrible mom. As I went to get a tea bag down, I noticed the brown paper bags that are used to pack Cooper's lunch. Then it hit me. I did not pack his lunch. Now you may say, "That's okay, he won't starve". Let's remember, this is my Aspberger's boy and his schedule may not be interrupted. He will not eat cafeteria food, not because he may not like it, but because the entire cafeteria smells like a cafeteria. So I scrambled myself into the shower because I work today, and I cannot go out looking like death. If I had the day off I would have just thrown on a bra and gone and delivered his lunch.

If you can call it lunch. He has the same thing every day. Pretzels, wheat thins and a Capri Sun. Goldfish crackers for snack. Do not deviate from the menu, ever, ever ever. Well, I delivered his lunch and scrambled back home to write my blog before work.

What have you forgotten lately? Make you cry or make you laugh? Share the love.

God bless you and yours.

The homework dilemma

Okay, I am old. I am not ashamed to admit that I have reached the ripe old age 42 and that I went to middle school thirty years ago. That being said, I believe that I am not an idiot. I am educated, and keep up on current events and such. I often say I am full of useless information. My husband and his brother, in an attempt to stump me, took out a dictionary one day. They picked words at random and I knew the meaning or what it was about in every case. I do read a lot. I love to read. Okay, so I am what I would call intelligent. Mostly.

So, the homework of a middle school child should not be that hard. I mean, the Scientific Method and all that jazz. The problem was that a packet was sent home to be completed, all these blank spaces, but no book or workbook or hand out to go with it. So, how am I supposed to help with this stuff? I could not. Let me give you an example.

"1. Ask a question. Also known as __________. This step is what puts the scientific method into action and is based upon___________. Involves a defined question. (what, why, how statements).

No book, no workbook, no nothing. So what do I do? It only got worse from there. The first page has two definitions on it, nothing really to do with the scientific method. There is a page with some type of graph type thing about the scientific method and a paragraph kind of explaining it, that being said, no book, no specific words to help out. I know I wasn't in class and that no notes were taken. It is seventh grade and the first week of school. These kids barely know what day it is at this point. They can't figure out their locker combination and can barely find their way around a new school with new students from four or five grade schools. Basically, the don't know their elbows from their you know whats.

So I have to make a call this morning and Grant is going in before school to talk to the teacher and possibly do the homework at lunch. Am I out of line to expect my child to be properly equipped to do his homework? I am not that mom. I do not excuse homework, he has to do it, but he needs the proper tools to complete it. Help me out here moms, am I out of line? Just asking.

What challenges are you facing this school year? Share the love.....

God bless you and yours.

The Beautiful Silence...

After a chaotic summer of petty arguments, back biting, fighting over the gaming station, fighting over which show to watch, finally, a little silence. You see, all my children went to school and I did not have to work until later in the morning. So after forgetting backpacks, putting on shoes, getting all lunches packed, etc., I sat on the couch and listened to the quiet.

I believe there is a wonderfulness to the quiet. The perfect balance of a dog at my feet, a cup of coffee in my hand and the quiet. I used to laugh hilariously at the Cosby show. Every fall, Cliff and Claire would have this huge celebration on the first day of school. Taking back the house. Yeah, baby. Celebrate. Kids are in school. If I clean a room, when I walk back into the same room, it will still be clean. That alone is a minor miracle. I can go to the store and not come home to two kids beating the crud out of each other. Life is good.

I think that it is okay to like the silence. There is nothing wrong with liking the peace and quiet of an empty home. I love it when they are home too. I love having a houseful of kids, I just like it better when they are so tired from school, they don't have the energy to fight. Or they are so bogged down with homework, they don't have time to fight. That's what I call peace and quiet.

Do you ever find yourself listening to the quiet? I am all about it.

God bless you and your quietness.......

Oops, First day of school blocked my blog

So as I got four children off to three different schools yesterday, I also had to get myself ready for work at 7:30. That's right, mom of the year here forgot to take the first day of school off. I did not go with my youngest to the bus stop. Bad mommy, bad, bad mommy. Although, they are in the fifth and sixth grades respectively, so I don't feel too bad. My middle schooler wanted to take a shower in the morning, even though he had taken one the night before. We had to adjust his way of thinking, because I am not washing that many towels every darn day.

As my high schooler walked down the driveway, I stood in the doorway and asked if he was okay. He looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Uh, yeah......." I could not help it, it was his first day of high school. Big bad high school. He was absolutely fine.

It brought back the memory of his first day of kindergarten. He went to a small private preschool/kindergarten. The classroom was too small for the parents to go inside, so as they lined up our little ones, and marched them into class, we moms and dad just stood outside and waved and smiled. Then they closed the door. For many of us standing there, this was our first child going to school all day for the first time. The door closed and we all looked at each other and started to bawl. No sissy crying, true bawling our eyes out. Our babies were in school. So many of us had our younger ones in strollers, I personally had Grant and the twins in a triple stroller. After a couple of minutes and many hugs, we dispersed to run our errands or whatever. Our babies in kindergarten, sigh........

Now my "baby" is in high school, has his driving permit, and plays guitar. Where did it all go? Don't blink, next time I open my eyes he will be walking down the aisle.

How was your first day? Share the love.

God bless you and yours.

The Last Hurrah....

Ah, Labor day weekend. To those of you whose children have already started school, you are thinking, big deal, to those of us in Michigan, we are gearing up for the last fun time of summer. Temperatures are already cooling off and some of the leaves on the very tops of the trees are beginning to turn color.

So as people hurry off to get "up north" and get all the food necessary for a proper barbecue, I shall sit on my deck and relax. Of course I am working two of the three days, so goes the chaos of retail, but I will still get my barbecue on.

My main goal this weekend is to get the kids ready for school on Tuesday. Yeah, they are going back. All the moms shall sigh a sigh of relief and go out to breakfast and smile and the silence in their homes. It's the most wonderful time of the year. I love back to school, love it, love it, love it. I just wish my chicas from AZ were here so we could go and have some coffee. Yeah me! Miss my gal pals there.

What do you do on Labor Day weekend? Share the love and the recipes.

God bless you and yours.

You can take the kid out of the fight......

But you cannot take the fight out of the kid. I told my children that bed was at 9:30 last night. Getting ready for school on tuesday. Grant fought me tooth and nail. Man, that kid has tenacity. But MoooooooooooOOOOOOOm, I won't be able to sleep. Mom, no, listen, Mom, Mom, Mom. Gosh, you never listen to me. MOM, it's not fair. I am older than Tatum and she is still up. Mom, what about Tyler? Mom, how come? Mom, just listen to me for a minute, MOm. Geez, no one else is going to bed this early.

The only thing that worked was telling him if he did not get in his room and stay there, he was grounded until school. Please note, you do not see Cooper in that conversation. That is because, creature of habit that he is, he was already in bed. He goes up, brushes his teeth, goes to the bathroom, asks for prayers and goes to bed at 9:00 every night. Sometimes earlier if he is tired. All summer he has done this. I know my day with him is probably coming, but since he likes schedules, maybe not.....

Do you have one certain child who will fight with you about something until the end of the earth? Share the love.

God bless you and yours.

I did it!

I just received my second notice on a second story that will be published! Now I am up to two stories published in three books. My newest accomplishments come from the Chicken Soup for the Soul enterprise. I will have two different stories in two different books. And it's a paying gig. Yeah me!

So what is my advice to you at this point in my life? If you have a spark in your heart for something, try it. Go for it. Branch out. Life in not only about paying the bills and trudging through it. Try. What has been your dream? What has held you back from trying.

I have always wanted to write, but having three kids in diapers does not leave any time to do anything except keep three kids in clean diapers and make sure your fourth child is not running amok breaking stuff in the house. I understand if your children are very little that living in that season of your life leaves you very little time for anything else. But as your children get older, you may find that burning desire in your heart becomes stronger. Don't let your dream drown in your life. If I can do it, anyone can.

So what is sparking a small flame in your heart today? What do you want to be when you grow up, even though, technically, you are grown up? Spread your wings a little a jump out of the nest. Try.

God bless you and yours.

200 posts??????

Wow, seems like yesterday I was sitting at Glorietta Christian writer's conference figuring out what the heck a blog was and how to create one.

I think I have written on just about anything and everything related to kids. And parenting kids, and so on.

I feel blessed to have you all in my life and am going to take today to just be grateful to still be writing.

God bless you and yours.

Another Rainy day

Why is so hard to get out of bed when it is raining cats and dogs outside. I want to curl up with a good book and leave the world behind. I am covered in mosquito bites from last night's hangtime at the Kosek's. I did use spray, but apparently left out some key areas and now have several bites in those areas, should be an interesting day at work.

I am sitting here contemplating life and realize that I love a rainy day. I takes these days to bake and cook and make the house smell yummy. I have to do laundry and get ready for work and go pick up Tyler, who spent the night at the Kosek's. Last hurrah of the summer. They gave up the idea of sleeping outside somewhere around the ten thousandth mosquito bite. I hope Stacey survived, all three of her children had friends spend the night, quite a houseful. I believe at last count it was 19 kids altogether. God bless her and Dan, I don't think I would have been able to handle that.

So I must go through the mud to pick up Tyler in the "country" this morning. Make something for lunch and then go to work. Maybe it will rain all day and the teenagers will avoid the mall tonight. Oh well, Hope springs eternal.

What do you do on rainy days?

God bless you and yours.

Sophomore Registration

Quick one today, I have to take a shower so I do not embarrass my child at registration. We go this morning so he can get his picture taken and get his class assignment. Where did all the time go. A good friend of mine is saying goodbye to her daughter as she leaves for college today. So many kids getting ready for new adventures. Amazing. Then, last night when I was working, there was a very pregnant woman expecting her first child. Some days it seems like yesterday when I got the news I was pregnant with Tyler, now he is starting high school.

First steps, first words, first hurts, first smiles, all so long ago. I relish the times we spend together now. Having conversations, sharing Facebook, whatever. He still doesn't have a cell phone. Won't get one until he can pay for it himself. Life sometimes, is not fair.

I am off to get in the shower and put on make-up on my day off, a minor miracle really. I will not cry and make him red in the face. I will be happy that he has reached another milestone in his life. I will be happy.

God bless you and yours.

Rainy days and laundry

So, I slept late because it is raining and I kept thinking it was six in the morning. Nothing like a good sleep in. That being said, I am a little behind in the laundry thing, so off I go to sort the stuff, wash, dry, fluff and put away the laundry.

Laundry is a never ending task in my world. Yours too I imagine. What do the kids actually do in their clothes to make them so dirty. I cannot fathom it. Thank God for bleach and all those pre-treating sprays. I have come to know that I can get everything out except Sharpies. That's really not too shabby.

I still have ten orphaned socks, cannot find the other one for the life of me. There are in sock purgatory, with lost other items that will show up at weird times. Oh well.

So I am off to get going on the laundry and finding missing socks. Making beds and cleaning rooms are the order of the day for the kiddos. Last summer hang time tomorrow out at the Koseks, cannot wait for that. Should be a blast.

Have a great day, God bless you and yours.

Relying on God

In today's world, or at least in our little worlds, we pretty much run everything. We all know that if momma goes down, everything goes down. We are very used to being in charge and getting things done. We do fundraising, we run meetings and businesses, we run PTA's and parents meetings, we meet the teachers, we get the kids where they need to go. Moms do all these things and we do them well. I wonder though if sometimes in our need for control, we forget about God.

God has always been in my life. Even when I walked away from church and faith, I knew He was watching over me. But I can tell you that it has taken a long time for Him to be the center of my life. If I am running everything well, why do I need God? Good question, we are all very good at running our lives and making things run smoothly. But without God in my center, I sometimes felt I was running out of control. Satan had an easy mark, because I was so tired. I gave into sin because I could justify it. I am not saying I am a sin free person now, that is just foolish. But I do think I am doing a better job at recognizing it in my life and praying about it.

I have shared that I read the book "Fasting" by Jentezen Franklin. Although I was bringing God into my daily life by choosing to start my day in the bible and praying. Every day I do this to center my self and those around me. Although this is a daily ritual, I was shocked at how much closer I have gotten to God through fasting. It opened up an entire new look at my life. Fasting is part of my "three strands are not easily broken" life. Give, pray, fast. Three strands that are keeping me centered in chaos.

You see, my life right now is in chaos. My mother-in-law through no fault of her own is losing her house. Scott and I tried to save it and were told it was considered a family bail out. We can get a mortgage, but no one will give us a mortgage to buy her house. Thirty banks said no. So as we began to search for a home, we found the NSP program. A federally funded program to get foreclosed homes off the market. As we put in offers, they get rejected or someone got there first. We need sixty days to close on this type of deal and we have around 45 days left in the house we are in. Chaos reigns supreme in my life. It seems as if the blackness is closing in.

But as I fast and pray and continue to give, monetarily and through time and talent, I am peaceful. God is in control. I am not. He is working supernaturally to put us in the house that He needs us to be in. I cannot see all that is going on behind the scenes but He can. I have let go of this and given it to God. I still do my part of the work. I look for houses, go through them, put in offers, run around and get papers signed. Now, I have to wait and see and pray and hope. As I come closer to God, He comes closer to me.

So as the chaos I am in errupts, I will be calm, I will pray and know that God is with me. I release the control to him alone and know that we will all be fine. We will get the house that God has picked for us. We will amaze everyone involved by making it happen when it seems it should not, and we will tell them it is by God's grace that these things have happened.

Releasing control to God is the hardest thing I have ever done. I struggle with it and want to take things back and make them work my way. In doing that, I could be closing a door that God is opening. I have to let Him work.

Where is chaos reigning supreme in your life? Get your bible out, get into a Spirit filled church, and get some good friends around you who support you and will pray for you.

God bless you and yours.

Getting Ready for Three different schools.

Okay, Tyler is in high school, Grant in middle school and the twins at elementary school. So where does this leave us? Running around like crazy people and going nuts. Filling out forms in quadruplcat (sp?) and going to open houses. Yikes, sounds like madness and it is.

We don't start school here in Michigan until after Labor Day, so it is late this year. I have two more weeks of at home kids. So bored with each other that they fight constantly and make me crazy. I did get them all new shoes. Except for Tatum, she has inherited my shoe fetish and has way too many shoes. And hand me downs from all her cousins. Yikes, she has more shoes than I do. I was very happy with my extra 30% off at Kohls and the shoes were all on sale, so three pairs of boys/men shoes for 80 bucks is not too bad.

Hit all the back to school sales for supplies, don't really need crayons and markers and all that jazz, but needed spiral notebooks, pencils, and paper. I need folders too, but I just remembered, I did not buy those yet, oops. I will get those later. I always buy markers and crayons when they are sale so I do not have to buy them in the middle of the school year for projects.

After all of this, we just wait until the day of school starts. Yeah!!!! I may take the day off and go listen to the silence. I love listening to the silence. It's my favorite sound.

What have you done to get ready for school? How are the kiddies doing?

God bless you and yours.

Why do what you do?

Interesting.... our new youth pastor asked us to go around the table and explain why we work with the youth group. Most of us have felt called by God to be there. The funny thing is, God called us all in very different ways. He works like that a lot of the time. I think the point is to come when He calls. It's never easy, but it's always worth it.

I was "called" when my children wanted to go to winter church camp. We did not have the money, but I had heard there were "scholarships" available. So I went up to Pastor Tim and asked him about it and then told him I would do all the fundraising for the mission trip. Silly girl, fundraising is for people who have time. I did not. That being said, between the cookie dough fundraiser, the silent auction/spaghetti dinner, the car washes and the mission letters going out, we raised all we needed to raise.

Somewhere in the middle of all that chaos, I fell in love with these kids. So when PT asked me if I would be interested in being a leader at our summer church camp, Velocity, I said yes. Then I fell in love even more. These kids' hearts are on fire for God it is amazing to watch. How could I NOT be a part of it.

So where is God calling you today? Share the love.

God bless you and yours.

Had to get Squished

Sorry so late today. Between writing up yet another offer to a bank for a foreclosed home and going to the doctor's today, this is it.

I had my mammogram today. Blech. Necessary and all that, but jeez louise, I hate it. And then, the first squish was not good enough and they had to do it again. Oh, and relax. Oh, and don't breathe. Man, at least it was a gal. I often wonder if there are any men doing mammograms. Wouldn't that get awkward? I mean, they have to position every thing just so. And my girls are not what they were before children. I think I would rather die than have a guy do that. I'm just saying.

Other than that, I had to have an ultrasound because of my really bad, really heavy monthly friends. Who is really no friend of all. I mean, I am done having children, why do I have to have periods. I have not had an ultrasound since the twins, and all that with a full bladder. Again, I say, Blech. Oh well, hopefully this gets me closer to a solution.

What's new in your medical world? Is there anything more embarrassing than being a girl? Just asking.

God bless you and yours.

If God is for us, who can stand against us?

As my life gets more chaotic, I find myself, at odd times going to my bible to seek comfort. Since I usually seek comfort in brownies or some kind of chocolate and then, as an afterthought, go to God, this is a new one for me. Going to God first is becoming a habit of mine that I want to keep. I am embracing all the comfort of knowing I have a heavenly father that watches over my every step. And knowing that all things happen in His perfect time, not my own.

That's a tough one to wrap my mind around. His perfect timing. We understand it once we come through something hard. Being in the middle of something hard, it is not so easy to understand God' timing. We have the perfect solutions, if only He would show up. It is humbling to come to a place and know that He is showing up right on time. His time is not our time. We just wish He would hurry the heck up sometimes.

As the things of this world weigh us down, let us all lighten our loads a little bit. Go to God and receive his peace. Which, according to the bible, we cannot fathom the depth of His peace, if we go to Him and ask for it. Our Heavenly Father wants to know what we are going through and help us through it. We just have to accept it. Receive His Peace.

I encourage you all to go to God with all your stuff. The small stuff too. I truly believe He just wants the conversation to start. No fancy words, just a lightening of our hearts. Stand in the shadow of His protection.

God bless you and yours.

Maxed Out

So, between looking for a house, getting ready for school, sleep overs, teenagers, and all the rest, I am a little maxed out. I know we have all been on this precipice before. Standing on the edge, knowing something very small could pitch us over it. Usually, during these times, I like to hibernate. That is so, if I do go bonkers, I do not offend those around me. I don't have time to hibernate, so someone could get offended.

It could be the teenager who has become accustomed to telling me what he thinks he is going to do instead of asking. It could be the surly co-worker, who is so miserable, I believe that this person will die alone with hundreds of cats. It could be my brother in law's dog whom we babysit every day, who at this present time is jumping on me and trying to get me to pet him, thus messing up my typing. All these have a decent shot at throwing me over the edge.

If you add in that I have been up since three in the morning because I woke up thinking about all that is going on in my life, and tossed and turned until I just got up to read my bible. That helped a lot, but I am still exhausted.

What do you do when you are maxed out?

God bless you and yours.

Sorry no blog

Sorry, we have a family emergency, my mother in law's sister in law was in a car accident yesterday in the morning. Someone ran a red light. She is 75 and has two broken legs, at the hospital late last night and have to work this morning. Please pray for Aunt Margie, she is spunky, but 75 and her right femur is smashed and her left tibia is smashed. Not exaggerating, saw the x-rays. Have a great day, God bless.

Blessed with Teenagers

So, for whatever reason, this week, I am the kool-aid house. Last night was movie night at our house for a lot of kids that are friends of Tyler's and happen to be in our youth group. For whatever reason, they don't like scary movies, but it is a tradition to watch scary movies. Karley brought her own blanket to hide under.

The only thing I asked was that they pick up a little. To my shock and amazement, they did! Cameron and Rico slept over. Rico is not his real name, but there are two Erics in youth group, so Rico is Rico. As in "It's boom boom time Rico".

As of August 15, in preparation for school, there will be no more sleep overs. Sorry to be such a drag, but there you go. I know they did not go to bed before three in the morning. And I hate crabby kids.

I know I have said it before, but I love having all these kids around. It probably helps that I got to know most of them at Velocity and know their hearts are on God. I did start to watch the movie, 1408 with John Cusack. I am a huge John Cusack fan. But just when it got really creepy, I went the heck to bed. No creepiness for me. I like my sleep too much.

So who is hanging out at your house this summer? Share the love.

God bless you and yours.

Hey, I cooked for something.....

So yesterday, due to vacations, Tyler's bible study group was at our house. Since many families are on vacation, about ten kids showed up, mostly my chicas. That would be chicas por Jesus from Velocity. Fun times. Then, Pastor Tim took Tyler and two of the gals to the mall. I said I would make tacos for dinner and they all came back and ate them. Then the hubby got home with his brother Keith and Grant had Elijah sleeping over, so it was worth it to cook.

Tacos are easy and healthy. Lean ground beef, cook it up and add the seasoning. Chop up some lettuce and tomatoes. Sour cream and I found the bonus, guacamole in my freezer. Soft tortillas, we are a soft taco family. Queso dip and chips. Shredded cheese. I normally make home made salsa, but I did not have the stuff on hands, a great alternative is Chuck and Dave's fresh stuff. You can get a really big one at Sam's club. Then it is just pile on what you like. You can even make nachos if you like. Really, it's a twenty minute meal.

Oh, I did make Redonna cheese crisps or quesadillas. See, I used to just throw some shredded cheese on a tortilla and stick it in the microwave. That was until my small children went to my friends house. She puts butter on two tortillas, cheese in the middle and fries it in a pan like a grilled cheese sandwich. Crispy yumminess and you cannot go back to limp, hotness from the microwave. Then I cut them up with a pizza cutter and wahlah, Redonna cheese crisp.

So, tacos for a crowd went well. I love a full kitchen, especially full of teenagers. Love it. Oh, we had ice cream for dessert. PT had two kinds, it is his weakness after all.

I hope your kitchen gets filled to the rim soon.

God bless you and yours.

I cook for nothing

As a working mom, sometimes I feel guilty that my kids don't get home cooking. Sometimes I feel so guilty, I make a wonderful dinner. That is usually the day that my husband comes home and says, "I had a late lunch, looks great, but I am not hungry". The kids are eating over their friends houses and all my hard work goes into the fridge as leftovers.

This summer, I have discovered that kids like carnival food. Any day I get out the deep fryer and make chicken nuggets, french fries and cheese sticks, they are happy. I cannot, in all good motherhood, do this more than once or twice a month. My kids would die of a heart attack by the time they were twenty. Hey, everyone loves the deep fried stuff. Of course we do, or we would not go to the state fair for elephant ears and indian fry bread. Or deep fried twinkies. I actually tried one of those, all I can say is, not worth it. Totally disgusting. Now, a real, dipped, deep fried corn dog, that I can do. There is something magical about it. Crispy yumminess, dipped in mustard, so good. Baking frozen corn dogs out of a box do not compare to deep fried freshly dipped ones. Hmmmmmm, when is the state fair?

So, after grilling and salad making and Sunday dinners and all my hard work, all they really want is carnival food. Well, being a mom, I must shove something healthy down their gullets, or it's just wrong. Every time I see some child with pop or kool-aid in a bottle, I want to talk to the mom. Not that pop and kool-aid are bad, they should just be used in moderation, not as a daily drink for hydration. And I don't think they ever belong in a bottle. Just my opinion, but seriously, come on.

So what's for dinner tonight you ask? It is my day off from my other job, so I will grill out whatever meat is on sale. Marinate it in Italian dressing. Make a cole-slaw/ramen salad, and maybe some roasted potatoes. See? Protein, green stuff, potatoes. Nice balance. The deep fryer shall wait for another day. Oooooohhhhh, I have watermelon for desert. Not the healthiest of fruits, but hey, it's summer.

What are you making for dinner?

God bless you and yours.

Let the groaning begin....

In an effort to get my children ready for school, we have started cutting back on their curfews and bedtimes. Also, the time they get up in the morning. After many years of trying to wake children up on the first four weeks of school, starting this procedure a couple of weeks early seems to work out. They hate it. They push it. They try to stay up late with lame excuses. I don't fall for it. These kids have to get up early now so they can get up early then. The end.

Of course, this means no sleeping in for me either. That five in the morning alarm is going to start going off again. Why did I ever stop getting up at five? It is hard to get up at five and keep going. Especially since I gave up caffeine and I cannot have my coffee. Coffee good, stomach bad. Oh well.

What routines do you start doing before school? Do you let your kids sleep in to the bitter end? Or do you try to get them into school mode a little early? Let me know.

God bless you and yours.

Manners

As I work at Starbucks and serve countless people in a day, I am dumbfounded by their lack of manners. Mostly teenagers, but lately, old and young alike, have lost their ability to be kind and courteous. This results in me coming home on a friday night after working, waking Tyler from a dead sleep and lecturing him to make sure my kids do not act like mongrels. When did the manners stop? I actually came home yesterday hating the public at large.

I know as I sat at my dinner table, I had to ask politely, "could you pass the peas please?" and once they hit my hand, I had to say thank you. I want to know why parents stopped teaching their children manners. I did not. My kids are polite. Total strangers tell me how polite my children are, so I am pretty confident in this. Manners begin in your home, period. Please and thank you should be uttered thoughtlessly, not eliminated from their vocabulary. If one more teenager asks me to "get me a strawberry frappacino" I think I shall ask for the magic word. "What's the magic word?" I don't care if there is a line out the door every friday, I must take a stand for humanity and insist on the magic word. Then, I think the bar person should physically hold the frappacino hostage until the other magic word is uttered, thank you. Such a small amount of effort to be polite and we all have fallen short some how.

I am constantly amazed at the children of today and how much they lack in manners, common etiquette, and the simple matter of being around adults. Most cannot hold a conversation without including all the texting synonyms. Some cannot spell, because of the same synonyms. Omg, idk what to do with these kids. Most teenagers cannot even order properly because they are texting at the same time. Rude, rude, rude. We have to put it to a stop.

If my mother and I were in a line and I was a teenager and I was rude I know she would have slapped me silly, made me apologize and then slapped me again. Rudeness is running rampant and I want to know when this started. Because most of my friends discipline as I do, I know you are all going to agree with me, but is anyone out there who would like to get on a soap box and tell me why manners are not important? Just checking.

God bless you and yours.

A Summer Reading Suggestion.

Okay, first, sorry for no blog yesterday. I had to get up at midnight to go get the boys from their Cedar Point trip and then I had to open Starbucks. I could barely see straight, let alone blog about anything that was worth reading. Missed you guys too.

Second, you have read Stealing Home by Allison Pittman. Even if you don't read historical romance. Even if you don't read Christian historical romance. Her blend of characters, brutally honesty in writing and the story are worth picking this book up. I have to be honest and tell you I only picked it up because I met Allison at the Glorietta Christian Writers Seminar and we have become friends. We should all support our friends. I am not a big reader of Christian fiction. That being said, I loved this book. Could not put it down and it caused many a late night before I finished it. Great read. Perfect for a quiet afternoon on the beach or poolside.

I love finding a new author that I like. Knowing her personally only makes it better. She works very hard on her craft, something that I know is not easy to do. I have also read her book, Saturdays with Stella, which is non-fiction. Also, a great read, especially if you are wrestling to find your place in God's family.

So, I encourage you to go out and get Stealing Home, you will enjoy it. What are you reading around the pool this summer?

God bless you and yours.

What the........

As I roll over last night I hear something in the bathroom. Check the clock, it's 1:30 in the morning. I realize the sounds coming from the bathroom are my son's nightly rituals for getting ready for bed. Huh? It's one thirty in the morning, he should be in bed. Especially because they had to get up at 5:30 to go to Cedar Point with our youth group. So I ask you, am I crazy? I know teenagers like to stay up late, but what I cannot figure out is why? Sleep is good, sleep is fun, sleep is necessary. He knew he would not be able to sleep in, so why stay up so late? I don't get it. I really don't.

Then I realized he had been out skateboarding all day and had not checked in. Wrong answer. I asked him this morning when he got home and I believe he was home at curfew. But I dropped him off at like one in the afternoon. Not a word all day. I know he is all of fifteen and can handle himself, but really, throw the momma a bone here.

So, here I sit, perplexed, do I make him wake me up when he gets home, so I know he is safe and sound? Do I rely on his word, which is pretty honest if I do say so myself. He will use this as an excuse to say he should have a cell phone, then I could a hold of him whenever I wanted. That is not going to happen. All his friends have cell phones, I can always embarrass him and call one of them.

I am not sure I will survive these teenage years. Yikes. I wonder if God gives us teenagers to teach us perseverance. Good question when I get to heaven. My only hope is that I know someday, hopefully years from now, I will laugh at him handling his own teenagers. That will be worth the wait.

God bless you and yours.

Okay, the laundry soap is a go

IT WORKS. My clothes are whiter and brighter. I cannot believe I did not find this sooner. What a God send. Saving money, I mean tons and tons of money and it works really really well. I was a little skeptical. I mean, who can really make ten gallons of laundry soap for two dollars? Well, I can. And I will from now on, so worth the maybe half an hour it takes to whip up.

I was a little scared when I uncovered it Saturday morning and there was a gelatinous mess in a bucket. Then I followed directions and stirred it up, divvied it up with half water, half stirred up stuff and now I use it every day and it is wonderful.

All the stuff in the recipe is stuff our grandmas used. Borax, Fels-Naptha soap bar, washing soda. The stuff they used before commercials told you that you needed the newer and the better. Well, the older stuff is just as good or better in my opinion.

Again, I call out, what do you do to save money? Let me know.

God bless you and yours.

Making homemade laundry soap.....

Okay, my friend Bonnie, on her facebook, but this link on how to make homemade laundry soap. Two dollars for ten gallons. I am going to give it a try. It takes about a half an hour and has to sit overnight, but at that kind of savings, I am willing to try it. The link for the recipe is http://www.duggarfamily.com/recipes.html. I hope this helps anyone with the time and inclination to save some money. Bonnie also swears by their second fabric softener trick, so I am trying that too.

What are you doing to save money? What are you willing to try? I am trying this, Bonnie has been using it for the last couple of months, so why not? I would love for all of us to share our money saving tips here in the comments section. And if you try the laundry soap, let me know about it.

In today's economy, we have to buckle down. Five years ago, if you told me I would be making laundry soap, I would have said you are out of your cotton picking mind. Now, I am willing to try it to save at least twenty dollars a month on the stuff. We get our movies from the library, no renting for us. Why rent when you get them for free? You do have to wait for new releases, but there are so many great old ones, who cares? We also do our book shopping at the library. We eat the meat that is on special, the fruit that is on special and if we have a coupon, all the better. Teaching our children the value of a dollar is only helping them later in life.

So, share the love and pass the coupons.

God bless you and yours.

Okay, driving, day two

So yesterday was library day. Tyler asked if he could drive, I said yes, being the cool mom that I am. Cooper sat in the backseat with his blanket over his head. As we headed out, about one minute into our trip, I gave Tyler a heads up. He was not stopping and traffic was. He is still not stopping, I start yelling. All of a sudden, I have both hands on the roof of the van and my foot is on the dashboard and I am yelling, STOP, STOP, TYLER, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP, at the top of my voice. He starts to stop and comes to a complete stop about one inch from the next guys bumper. Cooper starts crying in the back seat.

Not a good moment for me. I am supposed to be teaching him to drive and be calm and all that. But the guy who taught him to drive at driver's education had a brake on his side of the car, I don't. I need one. I may not survive this whole thing. Man, I cannot believe I freaked out like that, but he was not stopping. Not stopping. Then later, when it was time to go to VBS, I would not let him drive because it was rush hour. Someone please back me up on this. It is only his second day. I got the look of death and the silent treatment, all the way there. I cannot win with this battle. I am the adult though, and I can survive the death looks. This is not my first rodeo, but it is my first time teaching him to drive.

As visions of accidents run through my head, I am perplexed as how to proceed in this matter. I know he has to drive to learn, but am I really the one who needs to do it? I know I am, but man, I may not survive it. Truly, I could have a heart attack in the seat next to him. Then what?

Anyone one out there dealing with this driving situation? Help me out please, I need some advice.

God bless you and yours.