Dental Insurance

You know I shudder to think of all those not fortunate enough to have dental insurance.

Jasmine had her dentist appointment today and everything went fine, except that she needs to have some minor fillings done on all 4 molars. Well when I say minor I'm thinking, can't be that bad, or expensive right?

It comes out to almost $200 for all 4 teeth. GO UNITED CONCORDIA!!! *Shudder*. Then I decide, well I have some dental work that needs to be done, 2 cavities, a bridge, a crown replaced etc etc........I almost passed out when I was handed the print out where it states that our share for all of this is $2038. OMG, now I understand why there are people walking around with bad teeth, who can afford this? If this is how much we have to pay having dental insurance, I don't even want to think about doing without.

All in all a good day. Now here is a question though? Why is it that when I go to the store and take Nicholas, I almost end up in tears? He will NOT behave for me, causes me to chase him all over the place, throws tantrums etc. I took Jasmine to the dentist and Curt took Nicholas to Walmart while we were gone. I ask him how he was, almost cringing cause I'm waiting to hear him complain and he says "Oh he was perfect, I've never seen such a well behaved kid"! WHAT?!?!?! HOLD ON A SEC!!!! My Nicholas was the perfect well behavid kid....why, why is all I ask. Don't get me wrong I'm glad he was good for daddy but how about sharing that goodness with mommy? LOL


Anyway, I wanted to send out a huge "WELCOME HOME" to the troops that just returned from Iraq, the SP's that were gone for 6 months have been arriving back on base since last week. I'm so thrilled for their families and for them. Nothing better than seeing a homecoming reunion, always brings tears to my eyes.

I'm so tired today, not sure why, I actually got some sleep last night and haven't done much today but hey, if the body says it's tired, who am I to complain right? Guess I better get off here while I'm still making sense....you ever have those days where you find yourself babbling and not even remembering what you said? I am feeling like that right now LOL

Goodnight all, see ya tomorrow.

Just when you think you're doing better

you watch something on TV and BAM, you're right back where you were. I'm sure right now you're all wondering what I'm talking about.

Last night I was watching Related, I love that show, and Ginnie lost her baby. It was such a painful episode to watch. For those that don't know, in 2001 I had 2 miscarriages. It was the most excruciating time of my life, not just physically but emotionally, it's just one of those things that happen and you can't comprehend. For the most part I can say that I'm ok now and that I don't cry about it every day, like I did the first year. BUT, there's still times that I watch something or hear something and it takes me right back to when it happened. I remember at the time, feeling soooooo mad at myself, thinking that it was my fault, after all, it was my body right?
But anyway, just goes to remind you that some things stay with you forever, no matter what. I know my 2 angels are in heaven and that one day I will see them again. My heart goes out to all the moms out there who have gone through or are currently going through a miscarriage.

Alright now that I got that out of the way, it's time to stop feeling sorry for myself. You know that's the one thing that I LOVE about being a mom and having noise and chaos around me, it doesn't allow you much time to sit and wallow and complain about things. I welcome that craziness at times like these.

Hubby started the exercise yesterday, so he worked a 12 hour shift. He got home at 6am on the dot and came upstairs to tell me that he would take the kids to school....Jasmine and Scottie, my friend Veronica's son. He told me to go ahead and sleep in and I thought "WOW, really?". So I try to go back to sleep only to have Nicholas wide awake and ready to get up, he came into the room and tried to get me to get up with him and I said "Go see daddy, he's downstairs" LOL
So he did, but 30 minutes later I was awakened by a wonderful smell. Here comes curt walking up the stairs again "surprise honey, I made breakfast for everyone".
Man do I love this guy. He made coffee, bacon, eggs, toast, by the time I came downstairs he had nicholas in a clean diaper and sitting at the table ready to eat.

Next time I decide to yell or go postal about him forgetting to take out the trash, I will have to remember that after a 12 hour shift, which I know he was exhausted, he still took the time to come home and fix breakfast for us all.

Switching gears here for a moment, I'm still trying to get this whole potty training thing underway. I remember with Jasmine, she was 2 and half years old, Curt had just been deployed to OEF in the beginning of November 2001. I was feeling sorry for myself and needed something to keep me on track so I thought, HEY LET'S BEGIN THE POTTY TRAINING. LOL
Within 2 weeks Jasmine was fully potty trained. So when it came time for Nicholas I thought, you know it's pretty easy, it worked great with her, I'm sure it will be a breeze.

Uhhhhhh, he'll be turning 3 in April and still in diapers. Where did I go wrong? Of course reading about how boys are harder to train does NOT help me, it just frustrates me. We have days that I put on his big boy underwear and he does nothing in them, goes to the potty and everything goes fine, then the very next day he has accident after accident and wants NOTHING to do with the potty.
Then everyone kept suggesting the cheerios in the toilet......hmmmm well that didn't work, he thought they were his snack. BARF!!!
I'm on the verge of giving up but I can't, I don't want him wearing diapers when he's walking down the aisle on his wedding day. LOL

If anyone out there has ANY advice, I'm all ears. God knows I need all the help I can get right now.
Well time to get going, Jasmine has a dentist appointment today so I need to pick her up from school at 1:30pm. Right now, I'm going to get some cleaning done and my menus made for the next 2 weeks. YAY payday is tomorrow!!!

I'm so ready for bed...

Well today was kinda slow. I didn't get much done around the house, since noon I've had this headache that just does NOT want to go away. Guess having an active 2 year old and a 5 month old puppy doesn't help either. Didn't think two small beings could make so much noise when put together.

Curt just left for work and the beginning of an exercise. Won't see him until the end of the week, BUT I'm not complaining because it could be worse, he could be deployed right now, right?

We've had our dinner and I've done the dishes and I think it's time to head upstairs for bath time and homework, reading etc.

So glad the Olympics are over, I was getting tired of flipping through channels, trying to find something to watch while my usual shows are not on. Tonight they're back, so I'm eager to watch 7th Heaven and Related.
Right now it's time for Nancy Grace....LOVE that show.

I'm cutting this one short, not feeling too good and Nicholas is walking around with the sniffles, sounds like he may be getting another cold. Time to start attacking it before it gets worse.

From me it's goodnight, sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite.
I leave you with a prayer for the troops over in Iraq. God Bless.

Prayer for the Troops in Iraq Dear Lord, please hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them, Father, as they protect us. When they are tired, give them strength and rest. If they are wounded, Father, give them comfort. When they are lonely, may they feel you near them. Grant them strength, courage, and wisdom for their tasks. And, Lord, uplift and strengthen the families and loved ones who wait for their return. Please, Father, bring a quick end to all this conflict. I pray in the name of Jesus, our Saviour. Amen.

Rain Rain go away.........

Welcome to Mountain Home, Idaho!

Arrgghhh, did I ever mention how annoying rain can be when you have to take kids to school and errands to run?
It started last night and it's still going. Now, mind you, I LOVE rain, but only if I'm either watching a movie, or laying in bed. Ahhhh, who doesn't love sleeping to the sound of the rain?

First I want to thank all that have left comments on my blog. It's always great getting to know and meet new people, and what's even better is that I came across some South African bloggers, as suggested by Lisanne over at Bathtub Junkie. I visited one of the sites and started off the day crying. LOL Yeah, isn't that wonderful, then again I think, if I can get this crying out of the way I might have a great day ahead. I hope!!!
Going back to why I was crying, it's because the lady Hannah had posted a bunch of photos she took during her trip to South Africa last year. Oh man did it bring back good memories.

Anyway, I started off this blog with a picture of downtown Mountain Home. Just because. Don't have much planned for today. Going to head over to the Self Help and grab a carpet cleaner.
Kids+Carpet=Weekly carpet cleaning.
I needed something from the store, but since it's monday it means the good ol' Commissary is closed...have to wait until tomorrow, or better yet, will wait until wednesday when I do my groceries.

Today is the start of an exercise. For those military wives out there, you know what that means. 12 hour shifts.
Curt is on the 6pm to 6am shift.......sigh, I can't stand that shift....it's like working midshift. It wouldn't be so bad if we didn't have kids, but have you ever tried to tell a 2 year old that he has to keep his voice down to a whisper all morning until early afternoon. Not to mention having to constantly chase the dog back downstairs. She's figured out how to get over or through the gate that I put up blocking the stairs. She runs up there and tries to jump in bed with hubby. How annoying!!! If I'm NOT allowed to go sleep neither is anyone else LOL

So Curt and I have been talking about maybe going overseas. It's a tough decision because we've been stationed here for 8 years and know everything. The kids love it here, Jasmine loves her school and is used to it. We don't have too many years left before he retires....only about 5 or 6. We either stay here, or we could try for overseas orders, maybe for 2 or 4 years and then come back here to retire. We would love to go to Azores, Italy or Germany. Will see!!!

Hope you're all having a good start to the week. I'm about to go deal with more laundry, I think my washer is starting to give out. Yesterday I had to run a load of laundry 2 times to get it clean, first time they came out looking just as I had put them in.....I know I'm a bit forgetful at times, but I swear I turned on the washer, and then put them in the dryer. Right????
Well, I'll be back later with more updates on things in potato land.

AHHH NANDO'S CHICKEN......

When I was in South Africa there was this fast food/restaurant called "Nando's Chicken". I LOVED it. This morning I was surfing the net and for some odd reason I decided to look up Nando's and it was like I was instantly taken back to Johannesburg and that OH SO GOOD Peri-Peri Chicken. You have NOT tasted yummy chicken until you've had a good portuguese grilled Peri-Peri Chicken....oh Lordy, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. What I loved about Nando's too is that you can purchase their Hot sauce and other grilling sauces and what's best, you can get it HERE in the USA. Now THAT just made my day, go ahead and give them a try, I swear you won't be disappointed.

Very affordable prices and so much to choose from. I know what I'll be buying this pay day. Every payday I try to buy something that makes me feel closer to home. Last one I bought a whole bunch of products from a South African store, just items I would have known from back home, from candy bars, to cookies, to BOEREWORS a south african sausage that is delicious for BBQ's.

Portuguese food is all about the marinades, the garlic, the olive oil, wine and piri piri (chillies), the hotter the better. I can NOT wait to use my new hot sauce and marinades this summer. Will probably have to keep people away with a broom LOL

Another one of my all time favorites was Longhorn Steakhouse. Unfortunately, FOR ME, they don't have one in Idaho or the west coast.....but if you get a chance to try one where they do have one, go ahead. Here's the states where there IS a Longhorn Steakhouse.Have a great meal and think of me when you're there LOL......

Wow what a trip down memory lane, I don't know whether to cry or laugh. If there are any other South Africans out there reading my blog.....a big HOWZIT! Hoe gaan dit?
Sorry just all of a sudden got some Afrikaans stuck in my brain....it won't last long, it never did for some reason. How sad! LOL

What happened to the nice weather?

I spoke too soon yesterday cause we woke up this morning to 30 degrees weather. SIGH, I was so happy thinking we were finally going to have warmer temperatures. Oh well....

I am pretty impressed with myself. Remember the to do list from yesterday? I can proudly say that I actually got all of it done. YAY!
What's nice is that the weather was warm so while hubby and I cleaned the back yard, the kids got to play on the trampoline....well, Curt and I got to go jump a bit too. What's the fun if we just do the work and don't get to bounce too huh?

I got more sewing done yesterday, I am almost done with Jasmine's first dress....here's a pic of where I am right now. She keeps asking me if she can wear it already, impatient little one isn't she? LOL

I also managed to make some Hawaiian Sweet Bread which came out OH SO GOOD! I got my laundry done, got the cars cleaned out and started a new crafting project last night. I had no idea I would have so much fun with it. I have this Ribbon Embroidery Kit that I got either for my birthday or christmas a while ago, and I had never had the chance to get into it. Last night I decided to pull it out and give it a crack, I LOVED it. I'm having SO much fun with it. This is the one I have:

It's called "The Potting Shed" and I've only done the one birdhouse, that's all I had time to do last night, but still, I'm really impressed with it.

So anyway, yeah I had a very productive day yesterday, for the first time in a LONG time, I actually felt like I got stuff done. Usually I walk around thinking, "you know I really want to get that sewing done, or try this recipe" or whatever it may be.
But you guys know how it is, between kids, hubby, house, my graphics work etc, I don't get time for hobbies.

What's on the agenda for today you may ask? I'm really not sure. Other than trying to get that dress finished I want to pick up some more movies to watch. I go through these stages you know, I either don't watch anything for months and months or I watch movies constantly. Last night while I did my embroidery, I sat up in bed and watched "Monster in Law", it was pretty funny although I have to say that I don't care for Jane Fonda. I do have "Must have Dogs" in my TBW (to be watched) pile. Might watch that one today if I don't find anything else at the library. Well I'm off to do some more cleaning, the day you don't see me with a broom in one hand and a bottle of 409 cleaner in the other, you KNOW somethings not right. :)

Show me the light at the end of the tunnel....

I'm sooooooooo tired. I honestly don't remember the last time I slept in on a weekend. It's 6:30am this morning and I hear "mommy time to get up"....GRRRR, go away!
So I'm laying there slipping in and out of sleep, I mean, every minute counts right? But I couldn't keep the kids in bed for longer than 15 minutes. 6:45am and I'm up on a saturday morning....YIPPEE!!!

This is going to be a looooong day. I'm sitting here with my coffee which is actually nice and warm, I made sure that I gave the kids everything they needed and told them not to interrupt me for 10 minutes so that I could have my coffee. They're playing with hula hoops, and I have to say that they don't use them the right way, otherwise I wouldn't have been whacked on the head with one.

So this morning, I'm going through my usual email, blog, etc routine, and I come across this funny quiz. How would you be described in a dictionary? You enter your name and it gives you the definition. Now here is what mine said, and don't laugh.......LOL

Sandra -- [noun]: A person with a taste for acorns 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

A TASTE FOR ACORNS?!?!?!?! Figures, I couldn't have something cool, it had to be acorns. LOL

I went ahead and put in Curt's name and the kids too and this is what I got LOL

Curtis: Curtis --[noun]:A master of storytelling
Jasmine: Jasmine --[noun]: A person who likes to steal cans of tuna
Nicholas: Nicholas --[adjective]: Tastes like fried chicken

Hmmmmmm well now, I have a kid who steals cans of tuna and one who apparently tastes like fried chicken. Life couldn't be better!!! LOL
Go ahead, give it a try and see how you would be defined in a dictionary. If anything it will start your weekend off with a smile.

I think I'm going to do a good cleaning of this house today. I don't really want to or feel like it, but I figure if I do then it will be easier to keep it clean during the week. The day is not starting out very good, both kids seem to be in a bad mood and there's a lot of yelling, so I need to switch gears and get them involved in something entertaining, it's the only way I can get them to stop fighting.

So here's my to do list for today:

• Do all the laundry, fold and put away
• Vacuum and dust living room
• Clean backyard
• Make bread using the Breadmaker (yeah I'm not that Martha Stewartish to do without it)
• Clean out the truck and car, you'd be amazed at the things you find in there
• Return the books and movies to the library (Alone this time, thank God)

So that's pretty much it for now. Again, I advise you to get out there and enjoy the warmer temperatures, don't get stuck at home doing nothing, take the kids to the park, take the dogs for a walk or just go for a drive somewhere.

I end this blog with a thought for this morning:

After reading some of my other favorite blogs, some of them from military wives and widows and even soldiers in Iraq, I realize how lucky I am to have a wonderful family and to have them all close by. Please Please, love your husband, love your kids, and don't dwell on the small things. My heart goes out to all the military families who are at this moment going through a hard time, whether the spouse is temporarily deployed or over in Iraq, and especially to the military widows who I hold dear in my heart. A HUGE thank you to them all for the daily sacrifices made.
God Bless!!!

TGIF, that's all I'm saying!

Ahhhhhh the end of another crazy week. Did I ever tell you how much I love fridays? Because I really do. I think I'm in a really good mood today because the weather is actually cooperating. We've had higher temps, well not really hot, but much better than usual. When you're faced with snow and rain and temperatures in the negative, you welcome the 50 degrees with open arms. LOL

I should be cleaning but I am really not in the mood. I haven't been getting much sleep lately, don't know why. Last night was another perfect example of me laying in bed, feeling exhausted but just staring at the ceiling and mentally challenging myself to go to sleep. Didn't happen!!!
I was still awake when Curt got home at 11:30pm, and was STILL awake when he went to bed at 2am. How retarded is that??? He should be home early tonight which means he takes the kids and mommy gets to go upstairs and lay in bed watching tv or reading a book.......SIGH life is good!!!

My morning started ok, a bit rocky because of 2 kids fighting. I don't know where they get the energy to do it first thing in the morning, I usually drag myself around and don't fully wake up until 8am when I get in the car to drive them to school. So before Nicholas even got dressed, THIS is what we went through, take a look:


I think the dog looks confused LOL......Nicholas was cracking me up because of the way he stands there, and I have to walk away or turn my back to them so I don't laugh. He thought it was funny at first, the whole idea of putting his nose up against the wall was just hilarious until he realized "hey wait a second, I'm actually in trouble". Boy did he change his attitude then.

Got nothing planned for today, just cleaning I guess, Oh and the laundry...BLEH! This is going to be another slow, uneventful weekend. This is what happens when you're on a budget and trying to save money. OH which reminds me, I finally got my results back for the MMR test and they are faxing it over to the other doctor's office. Maybe by next week I'll have my paperwork ready for INS. Wish me luck!!!

I WILL be making Koeksisters this weekend, just gotta remember to run to the store and pick up Cream of Tartar and something else, can't believe I forgot what it is right now, but it's another ingredient I'm missing. If you want to know what Koeksisters are and want the recipe yourself, don't forget to check out my other blog, Full Bellies, Happy Kids. I just posted the recipe this morning.

Well I'm off, to do, I don't know what. Will be back later to let you know how the rest of the day went, for now it's looking up but by the time the kids get together this afternoon, who knows!!!! LOL

Why do I even bother?

You know I try so hard to do nice things for these kids but somehow they always get thrown back in my face, so to speak. So this afternoon, after getting Jasmine from school, I decide "let's go to the library". I'm thinking you know it's a nice day outside, it's actually 55 degrees which feels sooooooo good, and it would be great to get the kids out for a bit.

We head on over to the library and before we even get out of the car I turn around and say "now listen up, you better not even think about misbehaving inside here, understood?" and I get the usual "yes mommy, I understand" from the back of the car. So I think, great, they are actually being really good right now. We get in the library and find our movies and head back to get the books, and then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, it all starts. Nicholas is running around yelling and talking loud and I'm constantly pulling him aside and saying "be quiet, use your inside voice", of course that doesn't work, he looks at me, smiles and takes off again.
We finally get everything and I'm standing there waiting to check them out, when from behind me on the chairs I start hearing fighting and pushing and Nicholas screaming at the top of his lungs. GOD please, make a hole big enough for me to get into, I'm so embarassed I just want to run out of there.

So we try to leave and Nicholas decides that he's not ready so he throws himself on the ground and does not want to budge, I do the whole mom threatening thing....I walk to the door and act like I'm leaving without him at which point he runs after me. We get back in the car and I'm fuming to say the least, is it too much to ask to go anywhere without it being a HUGE commotion?

We get home and they walk in the door and straight away start fighting and screaming and complaining about who gets to sit where on the couch and who gets to watch their movie first. So now I've had it, I grab them both and take them to the hallway where I proceed to put them with their noses up against the wall and their hands at their sides, for every time they turn around I add another minute. It goes fine with Jasmine and when her 5 minutes are up I ask her if she knows why she got punished and she tells me because they were fighting and not listening....I hug her and send her on her way. Oh did I forget to mention that this whole time I'm having to fight nicholas and put him back against the wall? Yeah, as you can see it didn't go down too well with him but after 5 minutes of this he finally realize that he might as well go along with it and he did. I then hugged him and explained why he was punished and I have to say that for the rest of the afternoon I have had no incidents.....how about that?!?!?!?

That's how my afternoon has been going. But here's something really cool that I got in my inbox this morning, you put in the date of your birth, or marriage or whatever, and you find out what was the number one song at the time. How cool is that?

So here is my list:

1. The day I was born: August 10,1974 ... "Feel Like Makin' Love" by Roberta Flack
2. The day I started high school: January 9, 1988 ... "So Emotional" by Whitney Houston
   
3. The day I graduated from High School: November 3, 1992 ... "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men
4. The day I met my husband: August 12, 1997 ... "I'll Be Missing You" by Puff Daddy & Faith Evans featuring 112
5. The day we got married: August 12, 1998 ... "The Boy Is Mine" by Brandy & Monica
6. The day I moved to the USA: September 19, 1998 ... "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith
7. The day my hubby was born: May 22, 1973 ... "Frankenstein" by The Edgar Winter Group
8. The day Jasmine was born: April 25, 1999 ... "No Scrubs" by TLC
9. The day Nicholas was born: April 11, 2003 ... "In Da Club" by 50 Cent
10. The day Jasmine started Kindergarten: August 31, 2004 ... "Lean Back" by Terror Squad
    

And that's it for today, don't forget to check my food blog for today's recipe. Hopefully the kids will eat with NO problems.
Have a great night everyone.........God Bless!

Coffee anyone?

Alright well I have a hot cup of coffee which actually, nevermind, it's not hot anymore. Dagnabit I hate it when that happens. You know when you pour yourself a cup of coffee and take one sip and it's so good and hot and then you set it down and walk away to deal with kids, or dogs or whatever.....you come back and think it's only been a few minutes, take a sip and it's the most disgusting foul tasting cold coffee? Sigh, yeah well that's where I'm at right now, but I don't want to go grab another cup because this IS my second and I have this whole rule about only having 2 cups of coffee a day.

So, I decided to start this blog today with a video, I just think it's so funny. It's from SheDaisy (yes it's country music, so if you don't like it, I'm sorry, just move on to something else), and it's called God Bless the American Housewife, which is I would say perfect for me right, I am after all just a housewife. LOL

EDIT: Watch the Video HERE.

With Curt's new job we can actually email back and forth. Last night I'm sitting at the computer, after the kids are asleep, and I get an email from him. It's about this article that was published "Good Conduct Medal Award Elimination Explained" and you can read the article there. Well Curt decided to send off an email to his First Shirt (First Sergeant) about the article and he in return told him that he agreed with his view and that he should maybe send it off to the Stars and Stripes or Airmen's Magazine. So, Curt did that and it seems that they might be publishing his letter in the Stars and Stripes. He's sooooooo excited about that, so I'm happy for him. I can't wait to see it in the paper :) You know I'll post it here right? LOL

Ack, I can't take this coffee anymore, it's seriously making me sick to my stomach. Hope your day started with a MUCH better cup of coffee. Oh and before I forget, please leave a comment if you read my blog....just would love to know who reads it. Alright well I'll be back soon with more insanities, but for now, there's a kitchen calling for cleaning and a 2 year old fighting with a puppy. Ahhhhh the joys of motherhood!!!!

Fly Ladies, Fly with the Flylady!

I've been trying really hard to come up with a good house cleaning routine. See, my problem is that I tend to leave all my laundry until the weekend, which means I end up doing 5 or 6 loads and then folding it all, but by the time I'm done, I'm just not in the mood to put it away. I also find that I tend to never have enough time to do my sewing, knitting and other crafts.

So, I went on over to one of my favorite sites, The Flylady, and am going to try and do what she suggests. Step by step and one day at a time, I figure I've got nothing to loose right?
I love that site because she seems to know too well how we always get sidetracked by other things and by the time time you realize it, your home is cluttered. I've started by doing something which I've been needing to do for a long time, and that is a shelf for the entrance of the house. It used to be that every morning we would be running around looking for gloves, hats and scarves. So, and being cheap, not wanting to go out and buy some sort of baskets or boxes, I used 2 old lego boxes which I was going to get rid of anyway, and I labeled them. One for Jasmine and one for Nicholas. They each have their own box now and that is where they dump their stuff when they get home, the next morning, everything is in the right spot and easy to find.

Now why didn't I think of that before? It would have saved me a lot of grief.

One thing I finally realized last night is that no matter how much your child tells you that they will get up in the morning without any crying and fighting, it's NOT the truth. So, last night I'm sitting in bed, Nicholas has fallen asleep next to me, and Jasmine is laying down on daddy's side (remember Curt is working swing shifts so he's not home until midnight). American Idol comes on and she knows I want to watch it so she says "Oh mommy can I watch it with you?" and I think to myself, you know it's only one night, it's not like I do this every day, so I say ok. Well, American Idol didn't finish until 9pm, and I know that's not that late, but for Jasmine, that's major alarms going off. She fights me to sleep for another 30 minutes in which I keep repeating "GO TO SLEEP" and "you're going to have a hard time getting up tomorrow". Well what do you know? I couldn't get her out of bed before 7:30am which is already way too late, seeing as we need to leave the house at 8am to go to school. NEVER DO THAT AGAIN MOMMY!!!
So she wasn't very thrilled when I informed her this morning that her bedtime tonight is 7:30pm. LOL

My sinus is still driving me insane and I'm starting to think that I might have a case of allergies going on too. It would also explain why the constant congested nose. I don't even want to go there, I'm tired of always having something going on, it's either my nose, or it's a cold, or it's something else. Forget it! Maybe if I don't think about it, it will go away? Hmmm, won't hold my breath on that!

Well that's pretty much all that's going on here. I got the downstairs bathroom clean and the kitchen too, which I'm so happy to say that I SHINED MY SINK. Boy, won't the Flylady be happy!!!

So for now, it's goodbye, have a great rest of day, I'm off to try and get some sewing done. This is the pattern and the fabric I'm using, won't it look cute once it's done? Will keep you up to date on how the project is coming along. :)

100 Things about me........

in no particular order!!

1. I'm 31 years old at the time I write this.
2. I'm wife to an Air Force Sergeant.
3. I gave birth to 2 beautiful kids, Jasmine who is 6 years old and Nicholas who is 2 years old.
4. I had 2 miscarriages and have my 2 angels waiting for me in heaven!
5. I love to read!!! SURPRISE, SURPRISE!!!
6. I love Romance and Biography books!
7. I have 3 brothers and one sister!
8. I've been married almost 8 years
9. I lived most of my life in South Africa.
10. I graduated from The Hill High School in 1992.
11. I was born in Mozambique, a small country in Africa.
12. I've lived in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Portugal, South African and now the USA.
13. I have a wonderful family spread out over the world.
14. When I was a child, one of my favorite things to do was play with my brothers and learn to cook with my greatgrandmother.
15. I went to school both in Portugal and in South Africa.
16. I went with my family to watch "ET: The Extraterrestrial" when it first came out.
17. I have light brown eyes.
18. I actually like brussel sprouts.
19. I am addicted to coffee.
20. I need to lose 10 pounds.
21. I collect nothing.
22. I color my hair because I have way too many gray hairs....yeah it's sad!
23. I haven't had long nails in years.
24. I love ironing.
25. I play computer games with my husband.
26. We're both addicted to astronomy and love using our telescopes.
27. Blogging has become a wonderful outlet for me.
28. I love to sing and have actually sang in front of a lot of people.
29. I love old photographs.
30. We are stationed in Idaho right now and far from any family.
31. I've got to learn to manage my time better.
32. I love to shop online.
33. I'm terribly self conscious and don't take well to compliments.
34. I drive a 94 Thunderbird, which is my first car!!
35. I hate two faced people.
36. I love my sisters in law.
37. I dream of owning my own bookstore in the future.
38. I have either visited, lived in or stopped by 9 countries: Portugal, Spain, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Botswana, Mozambique, England, South Africa, USA.
39. I would love to go to Italy and Greece!
40. I wish I had a fireplace!
41. I love the smell of onions and garlic frying on the stove.
42. My decorating style is definitely country.
43. Hubby and I dream of owning a log house in the mountains.
44. Hubby and I met on the internet.
45. We met August 12 1997, and got married August 12, 1998.
46. We never had a honeymoon.
47. I love big family get togethers.
48. I love cooking!
49. I do not like tomatoes.
50. My favorite movie is "The Sound of Music".
51. I can't stand to watch other musicals though.
52. I am a semi-organized person.
53. I used to be a radio DJ.
54. My first dog was a Pug named Rambo.
55. I've met a few famous people.
56. Hubby and I haven't had a date since I was pregnant with our first child.
57. I love all sorts of music.
58. I still don't know how to swim.
59. I love food.
60. I love camping.
61. I have a weakness for chocolate!
62. I love shoes and clothes.....I have to work hard to control the urge to buy more.
63. I have a fear of heights.
64. I love flying.
65. I am trying to work on a budget that actually works.
66. I love christmas at home.
67. I don't have a cell phone.
68. Hate people who talk on the cellphone while driving.
69. I wish that more of my family had blogs.
70. The new sweetener, Splenda, is my new favorite.
71. Thinking of 100 facts about me is getting very difficult!
72. I love yard sales and make a point of going to them every saturday.
73. I am a homebody. Even though I have traveled a lot, home is where I want to be.
74. I don't like drinking and partying, would rather be home with my kids and hubby.
75. I hate all sorts of ads on tv....it's annoying.
76. I love American Idol, ER, Related, 7th Heaven and Touched by an Angel.
77. I've only had 2 hospital stays when I had my children.
78. I'm afraid of snakes and I hate moths.
79. I love seafood.
80. My favorite thing to have for dinner is a big steak and fries.
81. I am a very loyal person.
82. I love diet coke.
83. I don't want to be alone, but an hour or so a day is great for my spirits.
84. I have the perfect kids.
85. I love to laugh.
86. I love sewing and knitting and all sorts of crafts.
87. I tend to neglect emails and forget to stay in touch.
88. I love travelling.
89. I'm obsessed with my digital camera and taking pictures of my kids.
90. I miss my greatgrandma a LOT!
91. I think I yell too much....gotta work on that.
92. My husband is my best friend.
93. I try to be the best mom I can be.
94. I love summertime and going on walks with the kids.
95. I support our troops, being a military wife I know too well the sacrifice they make.
96. I wish I had enough money to buy whatever I wanted, but not be rich.
97. I hate talking on the phone.
98. I love Food Network.
100. Last but not least, I'm a great person to have around but watch out when you get on my wrong side, the claws definitely come out!

If you want your children to listen to you.......

pretend you're talking on the phone. It doesn't matter where they are or what they're doing, you get on the phone and they'll appear out of nowhere. Unbelievable, but so true and I know right now a lot of parents are nodding they heads YES, YES, that's so true.

I think the last time I was able to have a telephone converstation where I actually HEARD what the other person was saying, was when I was pregnant with Jasmine. From then on, just forget it.
I brought this up, not because I had nothing else to say, but because again today I was on the phone with my doctor trying to find out if my MMR results are back (which by the way they aren't, big surprise there!), and I had to tell her to wait a second and then turn around and yell like a mad woman at the 2 kids who chose that moment to get in each other's face.......but mind you, the minute I hung up I heard "I love you Nicholas" "I love you Jasmine". Come again??????

So anyway, nothing much happened today, I had a WIC appointment which I actually didn't forget to go to like my last one. I would be embarassed to admit that, but at the time we were all sick in bed with that awful flu, so I can't be blamed entirely for missing it. After all, I wasn't exactly in the mood or able to get out of bed.

Picked up Jasmine from school and then headed to the Commissary to get my WIC checks, needed milk badly, and a few other items. I have to say that the kids actually behaved today, I didn't have to yell once or chase little legs down the produce aisle while yelling at the other one "PUT THAT APPLE DOWN, DON'T YOU DARE TAKE A BITE OF IT". Yeah, sad but true. Nicholas seems to think that the fruit at the store is set out just for him.....like the people there are that nice.

I updated my profile photo this morning, Jasmine got that pic of me right before we left for school and I actually like it, that's a first because I hate seeing myself in any kind of photos. Also, I started a food blog called "Full Bellies, Happy Kids", be sure to check it out. I will post the recipe of whatever we are eating that day and keep you up to date on how mealtime is going over here. It's never easy, if only I would eat as much as they do then I could loose the last 10 pounds that have haunted me for years.

Well, that's it for today, I'm about to go start dinner, then I have 2 loads of laundry to put away.
I'm hoping to have the dishes dones and the kids bathed, homeworks done and ready for bed by 7pm. American Idol is on tonight and I don't want to miss it.
Have a safe night everyone, and God Bless.

Just a quick note to all........

If you check on the right side of the blog, under links, you will now find a link to photos of Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, where we are stationed, I will be adding more as I upload them and I'm also still getting pics of the house, should have them soon.

If you don't want to go look for the link or are just too lazy to, just go here. Hehehehe

See ya later :)

Happy President's Day!!!

I have to say that I actually got a bit more sleep last night, my sinus didn't bug me as much. Thank God for that!!!

It's weird when a holiday is on a weekday because it throws my schedule all out of whack. I'm thinking it's sunday and it's monday.......at least this will be a 4 day week right?

Nicholas and I have been up since 6:30am, his internal alarm clock was set a bit earlier today, just my luck. We've had our breakfast and we've been sitting here for hours doing absolutely nothing, well, he was watching cartoons on tv and I was sitting on the computer doing my usual email, blog etc etc. I was also looking up activities and places to visit this summer. We plan on going camping because Nicholas is finally big enough for it, I just didn't want to do the whole tent, out in the wild thing, with a kid younger than 2 years old, that would have just been asking for trouble.

People don't really seem to realize how beautiful it is around Mountain Home. I know that the base is pretty much in the middle of nowhere but if you just drive a few minutes out of the area you are surrounded by canyons, waterfalls, state parks etc. That's what we plan on doing this summer, we've been here for 8 years and haven't really explored much of Idaho, I think it's about time we do. We're not wanting to do overnight stays because obviously that will get expensive, but day trips are definitely in our plans. Will be fun keeping a journal of our trips too.

So what do I have planned for today? NOTHING. Oh wait, taking pictures of the house, I'm constantly rearranging and adding new things so I thought it would be nice to get some updated photos for you guys to see. I'm in the process of moving all my photos to my.opera.com because fotki is always either unavailable or acting weird and half the time the photos are not showing up. Will finish doing that today and while I'm at it, I might as well burn the pics to a cd so that I don't loose them should my computer go weird again.

Well Happy President's Day!!! Enjoy your day off from work!!!

Sinus, Sinus oh Sinus!!!

I think I've about had it with this Sinus issue. I can't take this anymore, honestly, I'm just done with these constant sinus headaches and feeling unwell. I'm done with not being able to breathe right, I'm done with feeling like I have a huge tennis ball stuck in my nostrils and preventing me from breathing right. Now does that sound like I woke up in a good mood?

I'm so frustrated with it all. Finally got over that horrible flu we had and now it's the sinus, why is it always something else huh?
If I was single and had no kids, I wouldn't really care, that would just mean I could stay in bed as long as I wanted, probably all day long. Wouldn't have to worry about meals and laundry and whatever that sticky stuff is on my kitchen floor......I bet Nicholas was playing with a juice box again.

So yeah, let's just say that I spent the whole night waking up, every hour or so, because I couldn't breathe through my nose. What's more annoying is when someone says to you "well just breathe through your mouth?". Ok Sherlock, if it was that easy I wouldn't be complaining now would I? I wish I could just breathe through my mouth and forget about the fact that there seems to be NO air circulating at all through my nose. Guess I'm just difficult!

It's been snowing since yesterday afternoon so everything is white outside, but I do see the sun peeking through the clouds so I'm sure pretty soon it will all be melted. That's good, cause I want to get the pictures taken of the base, something which I was supposed to do yesterday and then ended up sitting on the couch watching a movie. (hehehe)
I'm in the process of uploading the pics we took at the park yesterday, so by the time I'm done with this blog I should have the link up for you.

This is what I have to do today:

1. Finish my laundry, still have 2 loads to go
2. Vacuum downstairs and upstairs
3. Clean the bathrooms
4. Mop the floors
5. Change all the linens on the beds

It doesn't seem like much but when you have 2 young kids running around you, believe me, it will take me most of the day just to get it accomplished.

BTW, just got done with the photos taken at the park so go HERE to see them.
Well Curt just woke up so I guess it's time for me to get off here and go start my cleaning, I can just have the kids play with him and that way I can get things done faster.

Have a great weekend guys!!!

Not very much got done....

I knew it, I knew it. I shouldn't even try to make all these plans of things I'm going to do on the weekend because it usually turns out that nothing gets done.

I DID manage to sneak off to the library without the kids. My way of thinking is that they get to spend some time with daddy, but deep down we all know that it's mommy that is needing the alone time.
I picked up 3 movies for us to watch. I got Dark Waters which we already watched and it wasn't scary, just I don't know, just something. You will have to see the previews for yourself and decide. I also picked up Luther and Tiptoes, only reason I even got that one is because Matthew McConaghey is in it LOL
Also picked up more books, and you know I always wonder WHY....I have a HUGE TBR(To be Read) pile, but what can I say....I'm addicted to books. My dream is to one day own my very own bookstore. Gotta keep dreaming!!!

When I got back we took the kids to the park and that was fun, except for the fact that it was freezing outside and it started snowing on us, not that the kids seemed to mind, they were just happy playing. Got some good photos and will post them tomorrow when I add them to my album.

It's now 7:44pm and I'm ready to head upstairs. It's MY time and everyone knows not to bother mommy for an hour. I think I'm going to read a bit. I picked up the first 4 books from Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum Series, they are supposed to be very funny, so I'm looking forward to those. I'm going to finish "You're Late again Lord", only have a few pages left and then will let you know how that was.

OH I did make fudge today. I finally found an easy fudge recipe that works and it comes out perfect everytime. Now if only I could keep from eating enormous amounts of it.

Well off to bed for me. Here's hoping that you all have a good night and sweet sweet dreams.

Beautiful Mountain Home, Idaho!

Woke up this morning and it's 8 degrees outside. Can you say FREEZING?!?!?!
But don't let that take away from the fact that Mountain Home is just beautiful. Thought I would start the blog with a photo.

I know I have to go out today so I'm dreading it already, I guess I will just wait until it warms up a bit, or so I hope.
You know just like I was saying yesterday, this morning at 7am sharp, Nicholas is awake and ready to get up......sigh....I wish I could get some more sleep at least on the weekends, but oh well.

So today I don't have much planned, just gotta make a run to the library to return some books and movies, and then I'm hoping to get some crafts done. I have these really cute dresses that I'm wanting to make for Jasmine, for spring and summertime. I just never seem to have the time for it during the week, and it's no use pulling out the sewing machine if I can't even get to it. Wouldn't want to have something else out for Nicholas to mess with.

I did finish my book yesterday, and now I'm going to restart my other one. I'm a very impatient person when it comes to waiting for things, especially, and I hate to admit this, but especially when it comes to prayer or when I think that things aren't moving quite fast enough for me. I know, I know, that's not the right thing to do, but I can't help it. So a few weeks ago I picked up a book called "You're Late Again Lord: The Impatient Woman's Guide to God's Timing" by Karen Phillips Goodman. I just started laughing when I saw the book cause that is SO me. LOL

So I got it and read the first 1 or 2 pages and then got sidetracked (as usual), but now I'm really eager to finish it and it's no use trying to move on from where I was because I can't even remember what I read anymore. Just going to start from the beginning again and this time try not to get diverted with other stuff. If only I could keep the kids from making a mess, or knocking things down or bugging me every 2 seconds........Oh wait, like THAT'S gonna happen, well it was good to dream for a few seconds LOL

I'm planning on also getting some pictures taken of the base. We've been stationed here for almost 8 years and I don't think I ever did take many pictures, so I was thinking that would be something cool to do this afternoon. Kinda like keeping a digital scrapbook of our lives, which seems to be so popular nowadays. Don't worry, I will share the pictures here, after all, I think it's only fair that everyone sees where we live. Check back soon, I should have some up for you all.

Well I guess I should get cracking.....it's already 9:17am and I'm still sitting here in my PJ's. I love having my morning cup of coffee while I sit at the computer and check email, update my blog etc etc. I'm so used to it that I don't think I could get my day started otherwise. Off to take a shower and get dressed for the day. I'm hoping to update again later today, just to let you know how our saturday went and exactly HOW MUCH I did manage to accomplish. HA, that is going to be something!!!

I LOVE Fridays!!!

I love listening to music and I find it so relaxing, it's like I can't get through the day if I don't have some sort of music or tv or something in the background. Does that make sense?
Not that I don't need the noise, having the kids and the puppy running around is enough noise for anyone to bear. But anyway, here is one of my favorite songs for you to listen to while I blog away. Especially dedicated to all the soldiers and families out there.

Watch the American Soldier Video.

I'm SO glad that Curt is home today and not having to go to work this afternoon. This means that he can go pick up Jasmine from school. I really don't want to go back out again. After being out there for only 20 minutes in that horrible cold, I have the worst Sinus Headache. Yes I know, you're probably wondering "what is she doing on the computer if she has a headache?", BUT, the answer is that I really enjoy blogging and besides if I don't do this, how would you know what is going on here with us? HUH? Good point isn't it? LOL

So anyway, as I was saying, I love friday's because I get to stay up a little later and not have to worry about how many hours of sleep I got before the dreaded alarm goes off. Unfortunately, as many of you parents know, kids seem to have their own internal alarm clock and no matter if it's tuesday or saturday, by 7am, my kids are awake and ready to get going. I on the other hand usually drag myself out of bed at 6:30am and by 9pm I'm officially DONE.
But going back to what I was saying, friday's means daddy gets the kids at nighttime for a few hours and mommy gets to crawl into bed with a good book or the tv. It works out great for us because daddy gets the time with kids that he wants, since he doesn't seem them much during the week......AND mommy gets some time to herself since usually during the week, I can't even go to the bathroom without an audience.

Now there are some shows that I just do NOT miss for anything. One being Nancy Grace, I just LOVE that woman. She always seems to say exactly what is on everyone's minds and she has no problems calling it like she sees it, which is rare to find nowadays, people seem to be more worried with pleasing others and so scared of saying their true feelings. You will also find that my tv is usually turned onto the Food Network Channel, what can I say, I LOVE cooking. Absolutely adore Rachel Ray, Sandra Lee and Paula Deen.

Tonight though I think I'm going to finish my book. I'm in the middle of Dianne Castell's "Til there was U", which is just sooooooo cute. Love it.
So from me, it's Adeus Amigos (like we say in portuguese) and see ya later alligator (like my kids say) LOL

Why are schools so difficult at times?

This is a pic of the kids this morning as I'm rushing them out the door. For some reason they decided they wanted their picture taken, right there and then. GO FIGURE.

So Jasmine's school has this policy about the weather and when the kids are allowed inside the building etc., which to me is just weird because I remember my days in school and we would just go into the building and wait by our classrooms and at recess we didn't HAVE to go out to the playground. I guess things change.

Now, unless it's 10 degrees F. or less, the kids are not allowed inside the school until 8:20am. Are you kidding me?!?!? Do they even realize how cold 10 degrees is?!?!?!

Then they have the same policy for recess, if it's 10 degrees or less the kids don't have recess outside, and if it's a little higher than that then they are allowed outside during intervals to get fresh air. That's all fine and dandy, BUT, the problem is that it seems they don't always follow the so called "policy".

So today I go and have lunch with Jasmine. The weather outside says 21 degrees but with the windchill it's at 13 degrees. Let me tell you, it's FREEZING. The kids are let out to have recess, they are all standing out there trying to play but with teeth chattering and some of them visibly cold. I tried to stay the whole recess but I have to admit that within 20 minutes I had to leave, I could NOT feel my face. My ears were killing me, my hands and legs were numb. Now I ask myself, if I as an adult can't even stand that cold, how are the little first graders supposed to?
Jasmine is the kind of kid that gets sick easily, the slightest temperature change and she has the sniffles and a small cold.......so what do I have waiting for me this weekend? Yeah, I'm sure you've guessed it, probably a cold.

Just wish the school would pay a little more attention to these things. It's way too cold to be out there, and of course I'm sure the teachers and staff don't complain because they get to sit inside the warm school building. Absolutely Ridiculous!!!!

Can you say CRAZY weather?!?!?!

We've had pretty good weather for about 2 weeks and I had almost forgot about the snow.....well I guess as usual, when I think something is too good to be true, it usually is LOL

So this morning, I wake up and it feels sort of cold and I don't think anything of it, but then I open the door to take the kids to school and I'm greeted with this.........


Let's just say that's enough to make me want to crawl back into bed instead of taking kids to school, driving in the slippery snow, running errands etc. SIGH......oh well, guess winter is NOT going away anytime soon. I was so hoping it was, I'm ready for summer and sun and being able to wear shorts.

It's funny because up until a short while ago, whenever someone asked me what my favorite season was, I would always cheerily say "WINTER". WHY? OH WHY? Why would I ever say that? Now that I've lived through months and months of snow, I just can't understand why I would ever think that way. I guess maybe because I'm from Africa and I'm used to the heat AND I had never seen snow up close. Only in movies. Yeah I know, that sounds kinda sad, and it was in a way, but then again if you've never lived in Africa and watched those beautiful sunsets and hid inside the house during one of the GREAT Africa thunderstorms, you just wouldn't know what I'm talking about, would you?

So when I first got here I was sooooooo excited to see snow, I was like a kid. It started snowing and I'm throwing on coats and gloves and scarves and running out to play. Mind you, we won't tell anyone that I was 24 at the time and slightly pregnant (ummm....about 8 weeks along lol). But now it's been almost 8 years and I think I'm getting just a little sick of it. I miss the Africa weather. Look here's a pic of MY home.......

 
Now tell me that doesn't look awesome?!?!?!?

Anyway, I'm off to get groceries....can't wait to chase Nicholas around the store again. (that's a joke obviously). Wish me luck!!!

Valentine's Day is for kids????

I used to LOVE Valentine's Day, and I remember waiting impatiently to see if I would get anything from a secret admirer, but THAT was when I was young. Then I got married and suddenly to me, Valentine's Day just didn't fit in with the daily craziness of being a parent.

I don't think my husband and I have exchanged Valentine's Gifts for years now. I guess it's just a day like any other.

But, for Jasmine, who is only 6 years old, it was a GREAT day. She woke up and the first thing out of her mouth was "HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY MOMMY, DADDY, NICHOLAS". She was just running around and couldn't wait to get to school for their party. It's so nice being young and carefree isn't it?

We went to her school party and it was fun for the kids, they had a blast, they got to eat all sorts of goodies and exchange valentines. I took some pics which I'm sharing here....hope you guys enjoy it.

If you want to see the rest of the pics, just go HERE:

As for me, well, I'm going back to making my grocery list and doing laundry. Ahhhh the joys of motherhood. LOL

Slow, uneventful weekend!!!

Well that was pretty much what this weekend was. Didn't do much at all, can't even say that I cleaned the house as thoroughly as I usually do.

You know there's days that I clean and clean and clean, it's like I'm nesting without actually being pregnant. LOL
Then there's those days that I get up in the morning and just want to sit around all day and do nothing, which in itself is impossible because being a mom we are not allowed such luxuries. Kids want to eat and then they want a snack and then they want to play, etc etc etc, you get my drift. I know all the moms out there know exactly what I mean.

So anyway, this weekend was one of those. Oh wait, we did go out on saturday morning, and that was to run to the dollar store to buy stuff for Jasmine's valentine's party at school. When you sit down and think about how much money you're going to spend just making gifts for 24 kids, it's amazing how quickly you come up with shortcuts and other ideas.
I'm not saying I'm cheap, but, honestly, when having to buy for 24 kids it does get a bit expensive.
Soooooo, we went to the dollar store and were able to buy all sorts of Valentine's goodies to make gift bags for the party. I'm sure the kids will enjoy it. You can never go wrong with candy, pencils, play dough and that sort of stuff.

I did spend a lot of time this weekend just messing around with my PSP program which I absolutely LOVE. Can't say enough about it, it's just so much fun to create all sorts of goodies from nothing. This is one I made, which I think came out pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

I love all sorts of crafts and it's so much fun making something that you can say "hey, I did that all by myself without any help, and it came out really good". I've started working on a Recipe Scrapbook, which is from a kit my mom in law gave me, and it's so much fun messing around with it. I also have sewing I want to get done, and not to mention my latest craziness, Soap Making. I'm SO eager to get into this. Will keep you all posted as to what is going on and will even show you pictures of my creations.

Maybe I should change my name to Crafty Sandra??? LOL Uhhh, nevermind I don't like that. I'll just stick to my normal name LOL

This is the reason puppies get away with everything

Now how can you stay mad at a face like this? LOL

I think Lola knows she's cute so she will go out of her way to try and do things she knows better not to do, only to have me struggle with either yelling at her or just laughing. I must say that for the most part I've grown immune to her cute puppy eyes, I have to use the same technique I use with my kids or I would be in serious trouble.

Today has been one of those uneventful days.......nothing major happens, you just move on from minute to minute and hour to hour and before you know it, it's bedtime. Or so I hope.

There's so much I want to get done but for some reason there aren't enough hours in the day. I was just thinking earlier of when I was younger and the days seemed to drag on, especially at nighttime, I never had the time to sleep. That was just toooooooo boring for antsy ol' me.
Now I have the reverse affect, I get to bed, fall asleep and open my eyes 5 minutes later (or so I think), to realize that the alarm clock is about to go off. GRRRRRRRR, how annoying!!!
Can you tell I'm in one of those weird moods? LOL

I was so bored earlier that I started taking pics of everything that moved....got some cute ones of Nicholas though, like this one.....

So anyway, off I go, it's time to fix dinner......good ol' Lasagna, Yum.....just wish it wouldn't take so long to fix, that's the only turn off for me, but then again, if I wasn't cooking I would have to be finding something else to keep me busy. See I'm in one of those days that I really don't feel like cleaning, which is fine, because I did all my cleaning yesterday, so all I have today is the usual dishes etc....not too bad huh?

Well you're free to go do whatever it is you were doing....mommy duty calls for me, or is it SCREAMS for me?!?!?!?

You have GOT to see these DVD's!!!!

When my mother in law was here for the holidays, she introduced Curt and I to these wonderful DVD's by a man named Rob Bell. He is a leading pastor and breakthrough communicator in the Christian Community and these short films are about God and our Lives.

But he is no ordinary pastor because for me there is one thing that determines whether I'm going to enjoy listening to the word or not....and unfortunately if it's done in a monotonous tone, I tend to get bored easily. What I love about Rob Bell is that he uses everyday examples and explains things in such a wonderful way that keeps you captivated to the screens.

So far we have Rain and Dust and both are just extraordinary. So if you have a chance to pick these up, go ahead, I promise you will NOT be disappointed.

Talk about ridiculous!!!!

I finally got ahold of my doctor yesterday, only to be told that somehow they managed to loose the results of my MMR test. Well now I have to redo it. I don't understand how a hospital looses test results. Go Figure!!!

I had to go back up there and redo the WHOLE panel of tests including the Rubella and Rubeola which I had ALREADY done and have the results for. I made it very clear that I'm NOT redoing these tests again so they better make sure they know what they're doing this time. It's actually quite scary to realize that your doctors can botch up your results so easily. GO DOCTORS!!!

House Breaking a puppy is no easy task......

When we first got Lola I thought, you know, I can do this it will be easy......and it WAS for the first 3 months but now we're heading for disaster.

Miss Lola has decided that she does NOT want to go potty outside anymore, which means I sit out there with her for 30 minutes, sounding like a parrot "go potty Lola", "Lola go potty".....over and over and over again, but to no avail.
She runs around, she tries to chase cars, she chews on her leash, you name it!!!
All this just to turn around and come back in the house where she then proceeds to relieve herself.

Can you say "TICKED OFF?". I'm at my wits end with her, it's just so frustrating to deal with it day in and day out because I'm also in the process of potty training Nicholas. But before you all start saying "I told you so", let me tell you that even though I may be venting and may be annoyed with Lola, and there are days that I just want to run away..........I'm smiling through it and will continue to enforce the potty training for both her AND Nicholas. There, doesn't that sound like the perfect mom?!?!?!?! LOL

Anyway, I'm still trying to get the doctor's office in Boise and the one on Base to figure out exactly what the MMR (Mumps test) is.....they seem to both be confused about whether the Rubella or Rubeola is the test for it.....are you kidding me? And I entrust my life in these hands?
So now we play the cat and mouse game and we wait, just wait for them to figure it all out amongst themselves. You know wouldn't it be easier to just tell me to go and do a new blood test? I mean it IS after all MY blood and I'm willing to part with a small amount for test purposes. SIGH......unbelievable!

Well here I go, grab the phone and try again to decipher all of this. Let me tell you something, the day that I get that Green Card in my hand, I am throwing a party or having a few drinks, it will definitely be a HUGE weight off my shoulders.

And so it continues.........

I thought that I was finally done with the whole "Green Card" thing, and that I could finally send all the paperwork in etc.

Yesterday I go for my medical exam and everything is fine except for one minor (which is a pain in the behind) detail. It seems that my doctor printed out 2 of the same results for my blood work and forgot to include the one for MMR (Mumps,measles etc)......so you may be wondering what exactly does that mean?
Well let's just say that instead of having all my paperwork ready to go today, now I have to get ahold of my doctor again, which in itself is not an easy thing, and then have them fax those results to the OTHER doctor and THEN they will mail me the forms so that I can mail everything to the INS.

You know I keep thinking, "it's ok", I've been waiting so long, a few more days or week or two won't hurt, but the fact is that it DOES hurt, it's frustrating as heck, I really wanted this done with. Ok so enough whining about it, I need to get myself back in gear and get this taken care of as soon as possible.

We had a pretty good day other than that, we went by Chili's for lunch and that is always great.....I never thought I could handle so much food and mind you, I'm still not back to normal after last week's flu/stomach bug/whatever it was thing. By the time we got home at 5:30pm, I was DONE. I just wanted to go to bed, that's how cruddy I felt.
So off I go to the telephone....let's see how long it will take to get ahold of the doctor and get everything done.......Oh and by the way, just before I forget, I have my chest x-ray sitting in the trunk of the car. I have to return it to the hospital today, which would be great if I could get the trunk opened. SIGH!!!

Seems that my dear husband decided to use a dinosaur toy to hold the trunk open to take something out and then it got lodged in there somehow so now I can't get it open. What do I say to that?!?!?!?! I know who is going to be fixing my car trunk, and it ain't ME!!!

Wish Me Luck!!!

I'm in the process of getting my Residency taken care of, or as many of you may know as "Green Card".

Let me tell you, this is just painful. I would rather give birth than go through this whole process again. I don't think I've ever seen so much paperwork in my life, not even in school, and back then I used to feel like I was drowning in it.

So this afternoon I have a physical exam in Boise, which is about 45 minutes from where we live. I hate going to the doctor and not because I have something against them, but come on, who here really LIKES going to doctors? And I don't even know the guy, it's bad enough going to my family doctor which I know, but someone who I've never met before is a little unnerving. So, wish me luck and hope that it's painless (I'm sure it wil be but anyway).

Only thing that is making me eager to go is knowing that soon I can put all this behind me and not have to worry about it again. Well, that and the fact that we hardly ever go to Boise just cause it's not a drive we enjoy doing, BUT when we do go, it means SHOPPING!!! YEAH BABY, shopping, I'm going shopping, we're going shopping........if I can convince hubby to do so. Hmmm wonder what I can use as a bribe......actually, nevermind I better not even go there.

Better get moving, still got so much to do to get ready for this. Will let you know how it went. For now I'm going to go take a shower and wash my hair and all that fun stuff that women like doing.

Just GO to sleep....Pleaseeeeeee!

My husband is in the Air Force and being a military family, it means that we have to get used to weird schedules and 12 hour shifts etc. I've learnt to just deal with it and accept it and pretty much just move on......but there are days that I really just want to scream.

So, he's on swing shifts, which means going in at 3:00pm and getting out of work around 11pm or whenever. That's all fine and dandy, but of course the kids don't understand, which leads to the usual "when is daddy coming home?" "how come I don't see daddy anymore?" "can daddy get me out of the bathtub?".
Anyway, swing shifts usually means that I gotta do the nightly routine on my own, baths, reading, and the dreaded bedtime. So I finally get all that accomplished, and mind you, I was feeling really proud of myself because the kids were asleep at 7:30pm.

I sat up and watched some tv and finally fell asleep at 10:30pm. Hubby gets home at 11:20pm and our youngest Nicholas decides it's time to get up.........NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, No No No No NO, mind you I've just fallen asleep and I really don't want to have to deal with this right now.
I know all mom's out there know exactly what I'm talking about. You are soooo tired that you actually feel nauseous.

So now I have to convince Nicholas that it really IS bedtime. Isn't it amazing how many excuses kids come up with? He was thirsty, and then his tummy was hungry and then he saw a monster and then the pillow wasn't just right.......GRRRRRR
Finally at 2:30am he goes back to sleep but now it's taking me forever to do the same. I think it was about 3:10 am when I did the same and then the dreaded alarm goes off at 6:30 am.......Great, just great, here we start another day and I already feel ready to head back to bed.

I'm just hoping we have a good day and everything runs smoothly, but judging from the look on Nicholas' face, I would have to say that we are heading for a full blown MOMMY AGAINST NICHOLAS day. Wish me luck!!!

Sigh....where to begin?

Sometimes I wonder what the heck I signed up for.

So last week the kids and I were all sick with the flu, or whatever it is. Flu would be putting it mildly I think because not only did we have the usual symptoms but then to make matters worse, we had a stomach bug too. Needless to say we spent the WEEK (yes you heard right), the whole week in bed. By wednesday night, I just couldn't bear to be in bed anymore and felt like my body was ready to just snap apart.

We're finally getting back to normal, but just the fact that mommy was sick too, is enough to send the house into turmoil. It's like waking up after a really bad hurricane and finding that some sort of mysterious small tornado, plowed it's way through your house.

So, here I am, Jasmine is back to school and now I'm left trying to clean and get the house back to normal.

Curt is back on swing shift, which might I add, I detest. hehehe
It's not only weird hours but the fact that he never gets to see the kids. He gets up when Jasmine is already in school and then leaves for work before she gets out and doesn't get back home until late late at night.....sigh, it's going to be another hard time putting up with the kids complaining that they don't see daddy, but you know, again, it's all part of being a military family and it comes with the territory.

So go ahead, go back to doing whatever it is you were doing.....me I'm grabbing the cleaning pail and heading upstairs for the oh so wonderful cleaning.
Just hope I get some reading time today, nothing better than a book.....see there I go again, thinking of something else to get my mind off the cleaning ahead.......SIGH!!!!

Well I finally did it, got my own blog!

What better way to have family and friends keep up to date on what is going on with us, than having a place where they can come to, right?!?!

Well at least that's my plan. I'm an Air Force Wife and stay at home mom to our wonderful children. Jasmine who is 6 years old and halfway through First Grade, and Nicholas who is 2 years old, but going on at least 10. Yeah, you see for the longest time I kept wondering when he would start talking, cause I would see all the other 2 year old's blabbling away, and then as if from night to day it happened.

Now there are days that we have to tell him to be quiet, cause he just won't stop. LOL
But that's ok, it's just another part of being a parent.

So, this is my plan. Have this online blog where I can come to every day and let everyone know what is going on back here in Potato Land.