Kids say the darndest things.....

You all know that Jasmine is out of school since last week friday. Well yesterday I was doing my usual daily cleaning of the house and she stopped me after an hour and said.....well, the conversation went like this:

Jasmine: What are you doing mommy?
Me: I'm cleaning the house.
Jasmine: Why?
Me: Umm because that's what I do everyday.
Jasmine: EVERYDAY?!?!?! You do all this everyday??? Wow, I'm never getting married cause I don't want to do this.
Me: Well honey, it's not that bad, I actually enjoy it and it keeps me busy while you are at school and daddy is at work.
Jasmine: Oh I didn't know you did this everyday!
Me: What did you think I did?
Jasmine: I thought you wrote in your blog!!!

SNAP, crack that whip!!!!! So she thought I wrote on my blog all day LOL
I wish, is all I can say, if I could just sit on the computer and write and read all day, that would be wonderful.

So with kids being out of school I've had to come up with some sort of schedule for the summer. While school is in session I usually don't need to do this because we're so busy with errands, school projects etc.
If I don't do it now though, I have to deal with the sibling rivalry, the fight over who gets control of the TV, the constant whining "I want a snack", "I'm bored play with me". You know what it's like right?

So I've decided that everyday we do a craft together. The kids LOVE crafts and making cool things and it gives me time to bond with them too, plus we get free homemade decorations. I get this catalog from Oriental Trading Company and they have tons of craft kits and supplies. I just ordered a whole bunch that we can do together, and they are very inexpensive.
Like this one, I ordered this Flower Recipe Holder, Magic-Scratch Bookmarks, Smile Face Fun Pencil Toppers and some others.

My MIL had given Nicholas a Foam Picture Frame Kit, so yesterday we sat down and made those, the kids had fun decorating their own.

Today we're baking cookies. Heath Bits Peanut Butter Cookies. They are SO yummy, if you love toffee, peanut butter and chocolate then you have GOT to try these.

Tomorrow morning we are picking up report cards at the school. Jasmine is excited just to see her teacher. She LOVES her and is very relieved to know that next year she can still go visit her and see her at school. Amazing how much they bond with the teachers, especially the good ones.

Well that's it for me, I have housework to do, cookies to bake and kids to love. It's a lotta work I tell ya :)
Hope you all have a fantastic day and I'll see you back tomorrow :)

Works for Me Wednesday!!!

So here we are, another wednesday and another tip for everyone out there. I was racking my brains out trying to think of things that I do to make my life easier, it's funny because when I'm not thinking about having to jot them down here, I can name a bunch, but then I sit at the computer and I draw a complete blank.

Anyway, this one has helped me a lot with something that I ALWAYS seemed to forget. Family Birthdays!!!!

If you're like me and have a huge family, it's hard to keep track of all the birthdays. So here is my tip for today.

I went out and bought a Greeting Card Organizer. They are very inexpensive and have cute designs on them.

I labeled them all from January to December and then added an index card to each section with all the birthday dates and names for that month. Every month on the first, when I got get groceries and run my errands, I buy all the birthday cards for that month and a book of stamps, bring them home, sit down and write them out, place them in the envelopes and add the stamps. Place them back in the organizer and then when it's time to mail them out, I just remove them and send them off.

I do however have a birthday calendar too to keep track of when the cards need to be mailed.

I've noticed though that ever since I've started doing it this way, I never forget to mail off cards. My biggest issue at times was that by the time I realized it was someone's birthday, I STILL had to go buy a card and stamps etc. It wasn't always possible for different reasons and I would end up not sending anything, which is WRONG, soooo wrong LOL

Hope this helps someone else. As always don't forget to check out Shannon's blog for a list of participants and if you play along, go and add in your name to the list. :)

Treasure Tuesday!!!

Another Tuesday and time for another treasure to be shared. I have to be honest here because I was drawing a total blank and not knowing what to share. Then I remembered that when Jasmine was in kindergarten, around mother's day, they had to make something to bring home. I literally cried my eyes out when I read the poem.

A piece of me I give to you. I painted this flower To say "I love you". The heart is you The hand is me. To show we are friends- The best there can be. I hope you will save it And look back someday At the flower we shared On your special day. -Kathleen Lademan-

And this is the whole picture together. How adorable is that???

So there you have it, my Treasure for this Tuesday. If you want to play along or look at a list of other treasures, just head on over to Faith's Blog "Faithful Mommy".

TACKLE IT TUESDAY!!!

Morning ladies, come right on in and make yourselves comfortable, I have some pictures to share.

Janice over at 5 minutes for mom, came up with this great concept. In her own words:

Each week on Tuesday, I am going to post before and after pictures of a project or trouble area that I tacked this week.

I will link to any of you who are also playing along.

The project can be little or big – whatever you want. It could be a drawer you cleaned out, the inside of your fridge, closet or cupboard. It could be your scrapbook area or your garden. And if you are so organized that your house doesn’t need any work, you could even post a before/after picture of a new recipe you are trying out.

This is such a neat idea, mainly because like Janice said, sometimes your housework gets left behind when you're sitting on the computer visiting all the blogs. Let's face it, no one likes housework but it has to be done, and what better way than to feel an incentive right?

So thank you Janice for this great idea. I'm definitely playing along :)

Here is my first Tackle it Tuesday.

As many of you know, we spent this weekend working on the kids rooms. We were inundated with toys, they were just everywhere, no matter what part of the house you were sure to find a toy laying around. No more, hubby and I sat down and went through all the toy boxes and got rid of bags of toys, yes you heard right, BAGS. They were all donated to the Airman's Attic on base.

First we tackled Nicholas' room. The way we had the bed and everything set up, the room looked tiny with no space to play at all. We did some shifting around and moving, got rid of tons of toys that weren't played with anymore and finally managed to make it look much bigger. He loves it, he's been in there every chance he gets and even invited his sister over for a "Sleep Over", although I think he made her pay in imaginary money to enter his room. LOL

Before pics:

After:



Now onto Jasmine's room. Hers wasn't as bad, but we did add her new computer so things were starting to look a bit crowded in there. We did some major reorganizing, this child has literally thousands of dinosaurs. I'm not kidding you here, by the time I got all of them together they covered her bedroom floor. So here is what I did, I took one of those underbed drawers with wheels on it, filled it with all her dinosaurs and pushed it back under the bed, now when she wants to play, she just pulls it out, plays and then shoves them back in there and pushes it under the bed again. Much easier.
We filled up two of these with other toys and placed them in her closet, they fit in there perfectly.

So here are the pics before:

And after:

I have to tell you, it was hard work, two days of going through endless toy boxes and moving and rearranging, but the end result is worth it and it feels SO much better.

If you want to check out other participants, head on over to 5 Minutes for Mom and check the links. Can't wait to see everyone's projects. :)

Toys, Toys, Toys

Didn't even have a chance to post anything yesterday. We spent the day reorganizing Nicholas' room and going through the endless toy boxes, so we could separate what is to keep, what is to donate and what is trash.

Let me tell you something, the next time you go by the store and pick up a toy and think "Aww this is wonderful, the kids will love it". STOP, PUT IT DOWN!!!!
Walk away....remember they already have a million gazillion others sitting at home.
We've spoiled our kids, yes, I'm not ashamed to say it, but it all comes back to bite you in the behind, the minute you try to get rid of anything.

We literally spent the whole day just going through the boxes. Oh and the endless amount of legos, toys that you have NO idea existed, miscellanous just sitting around with either a missing arm or leg or part of a set that's been thrown out years ago. And then there's those that you pick up, set down and stare at it trying to figure out what exactly it's supposed to be or do. Is there a purpose for it??? Mind boggling!!!!

Got it done though and now both rooms are organized, both kids each have their own toy box upstairs and kid toys are NO longer welcome to live and multiply in the living room. They have a small basket which they will use to put in 10 toys every morning to bring downstairs, if any time they want to change a toy, it goes back to the room and gets exchanged. I hate to become like a warden around here, but hey, it will save us the headache everytime we do spring cleaning.

Yesterday, for the first time in a LONG time, I had the feeling of utter contentment, being happy where I am, with who I am and what I'm doing. Don't get me wrong, I'm generally happy, we have a good life, but we don't always feel that peace and calm.
I did last night, after the rooms were done, after the kids had their bath and were walking around in their slippers and pj's, with their freshly washed hair and smelling like heaven. I took one look at them and felt it, I am sure you heard that earth shattering crack?
You must have because it was amazing!!!!

Let me explain for fear that any out there might think I wasn't happy before. I was happy and am happy with my life, but there's always some sort of stress or worry, there's always been the weight issue with me, not happy with that part of my life.
When I felt that feeling come over me, it was one of utter peace and calm and for that moment, I didn't feel fat, I didn't feel stressed, I didn't feel tired or achy, I didn't even feel like a mommy, it was one of those HALLELUIAH *insert dramatic music* moments. Understand????
Even though it was a short one it showed me just how loving and amazing God really is, and for once, just once in a long time I felt what it must be like to walk close to him, to let him take all the weight off your shoulder and Oh.Boy. I want it again!!!!

It's not something you can really convey, and I don't think there are words to describe exactly how it felt, other than Heavenly. I think this was IT for me, that one defyning moment, that slap on the forehead, light bulb going off kinda thing.
I finally found what I was looking for, what I needed to show me that it's fine (actually better than fine) to leave it in his hands and feel at peace with it. Thank you Lord, thank you thank you thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I will no longer be the whiny, stubborn child fighting you for control over my problems, I humbly and willingly give it ALL to you, take it, I don't want it LOL

But moving on, what do we have planned for today??? Some more reorganizing, this time the living room.
I think I'm working on all my projects for Janice's "Tackle it Tuesday". If you want to know more about it, go on over to 5 minutes for mom, she's come up with a great concept of how to get your house organizing while still being able to blog. Hey, what more could you ask for???

So I'm out of here. Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day.

I will see you all tomorrow morning for another "Treasure Tuesday" and the new "Tackle it Tuesday". :)

UNCLUTTERED FAITH!!!

Play Hard, Laugh Hard, and leave the worries to your father.

You all know that I'm trying really hard to build a stronger relationship with God. He has been so patient with me even during those times of utter annoyance on my part. I find myself whining about something that doesn't go my way, and yet he's still there.
He's always doing something for me, but I'm so caught up in daily life that I don't see it.

Me: Oh God, are you still there?
God: Yes, where else do you want me to be?
Me: But I can't feel you, I can't see you and I'm so frustrated right now, why can't I see what you're doing?
God: That's easy, you aren't paying attention!!!
Me: yes I am, at least I think I am.....
God: Sandra, take your hands off your face, how can you see what I'm doing for you when you deliberately shield yourself from it?
Me: Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize that is what I was doing.

It's a hard thing to accept. To admit that the reason you don't feel him is because YOU are not letting it happen. You're too busy, or too scared or too worried about something. Why do we fight it? Momrn2 had a brilliant post the other day, she talked about surrendering to Him during our worst times and trusting in the outcome, no matter how difficult it may be, and of course as parents it's one of the HARDEST things to go through. We have the urge to control and the urge to be a part of whatever happens, and no matter how much we love Him, it's a hard thing to go through.

I guess that is what Faith is. Trusting and being certain of what we can not see. Believing when it doesn’t make sense. Being confident when it seems utter chaos. (Hebrews 11:1)

I have so many examples of God working in our lives, and not just after being married, but long before then. I think one day I may just start sharing our family's journey and our encounters with God, with Satan and our struggles to remain Christians. You would be surprised at just what we've seen and endured.

I want so bad to have Uncluttered Faith. You know the kind of passion for living that can't wait for tomorrow? I think the best example of that are our kids. They live for the moment and it's no wonder that Jesus said we must have the heart of a child before we enter the kingdom of heaven.

Quit looking at life like an adult and see it through the eyes of a child.
Essential counsel for us sober-minded, serious-faced, sour-pussed adults. Necessary advice for us Charles Atlas wannabes who shoulder the world. Good words for those of use who seldom say "I can't wait until I wake up," and more often state, "I can't wait to go to bed."

Just recently I read "And the Angels Were Silent" by Max Lucado. Wow is all I can say. Max Lucado takes us through the last week of Jesus' life. What it must have felt like for him, what did he feel, what was in his heart and what mattered to God at that moment.

I think the reason I'm bringing all this up today is because this past week I've been feeling sad, upset and depressed in a way. I can't quite grasp exactly why I'm feeling this way, but all I know is that it has to do with school being over. It's a bitter sweet feeling I think, the thought that my daughter is now done with first grade and starting second grade in just a few months. All these doubts and worries come into my mind, will she do fine? will her new teacher be nice? will she get along with the kids in her class?

I can hear God saying "Let it go, don't worry about it, let me deal with this and you will see that everything will be fine." and I weakly smile an "ok". BUT, I haven't put it in his hands because I still cringe when I think about it, I still feel my heart twisting in antecipation of what's to come. It's hard, and I am slowly letting go, not easy but doable.
I will let you know when I finally release it unto his hands.

Well it's time for me to close, but before I do I ask that you all say a prayer for the troops and even if you just stop for a minute this weekend to remember them all, remember their sacrifices and remember their families.

Have a beautiful Memorial Day Weekend!!!

Almighty God,
we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces
at home and abroad.
Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace;
strengthen them in their trials and temptations;
give them courage to face the perils which beset them;
and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

Honey I'm HOME!!!!

Yep, sick and mopy Sandra has LEFT the building, she took her yucky feeling, her weak body, her bucket and her ginger ale and moved on to the next unsuspecting victim. Be sure to wipe down your monitors after visiting my site, last thing I need is anyone getting this bug from me.

I'm so thankful for all the prayers and well wishes, like I said yesterday, I don't know how I made it through these past 3 days.
Unfortunately hubby got it too, he was sent home from work yesterday, by the time he got home he was deathly pale and feeling awful. He spent the whole day in bed and he seems to be a bit better this morning, Thank God, he didn't get to vomit. I'm thankful for that.

So, yeah, I'm back to my normal self, now I can drink my pitcher mug of coffee, eat my toast, post on my blog and go back and read all my favorite ones and ACTUALLY leave comments. If I haven't been on your blog the past few days, it's just because my stomach got the better of me.

Today is the last day of school and it's a bitter sweet feeling. I love Jasmine's First Grade Teacher, she's just the sweetest and so wonderful with the kids. You just know when you've come across at teach that will always stay on your kids minds and hearts. We've been extremely lucky and blessed to have that happen not only this year but with her Kindergarten teacher too.

While reading my mail this morning, I had one from my wonderful SIL Hayley. It's called "The Five Finger Prayer" and it's SO neat, that I just had to share with you all.

1. Your thumb is nearest you. So begin your prayers by praying for
those closest to you. They are the easiest to remember. To pray for
our loved ones is, as C. S. Lewis once said, a "sweet duty."

2. The next finger is the pointing finger. Pray for those who teach,
instruct and heal. This includes teachers, doctors, and ministers.
They need support and wisdom in pointing others in the right
direction. Keep them in your prayers.

3. The next finger is the tallest finger. It reminds us of our
leaders. Pray for the president, leaders in business and industry,
and administrators. These people shape our nation and guide public
opinion. They need God's guidance.

4. The fourth fingeris our ring finger. Surprising to many is the
fact that this is our weakest finger; as any piano teacher will
testify. It should remind us to pray for those who are weak, in
trouble or in pain. They need your prayers day and night. You cannot
pray too much for them.

5. And lastly comes our little finger; the smallest finger of all
which is where we should place ourselves in relation to God and
others. As the Bible says, "The least shall be the greatest among
you." Your pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself. By the
time you have prayed for the other four groups, your own needs will
be put into proper perspective and you will be able to pray for
yourself more effectively.

Isn't that a great way to remember to pray? I don't know about you all, but there have been times that I am so desperate to pray and then draw a complete blank and end up babbling like a fool, making no sense at all, then I wonder why God didn't answer my prayer????
Well Sandra, maybe if you spoke in words and sentences he could understand!!!!!

There must be times that he sits up there just shaking his head and thinking "Oh boy, this one is definitely a sandwich short of a picnic." Of course he doesn't really think that, because he loves us unconditionally, even during our dumb no so brilliant moments.

I'm a little annoyed, we were supposed to go see some Volcanoes that are just 15 minutes away, the kids were so excited to go look and well, so were we, the big kids you know. BUT we are expecting thunderstorms starting today and all through next week Tuesday. Why?!?!?! Who ordered these?!?!?! So now we're going to spend this long weekend just sitting home, can't even go outside to play get some fresh air. Guess we'll make this a movie watching weekend, not that I mind, but I would rather be climbing a Volcano, looking in the hole thingy (whatever it's called, Volcano mouth??? whatever), collecting lava rocks and getting some exercise. Actually that's starting to sound like too much work LOL

Well my friends, I better get moving. I have stuff to do, no places to go, you know, FUN FUN!!!
Hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, if you live in a sunny place, go camping for me and take some pics then come back and share ok???
I'll be back later with my "Remember When???" for this friday. :)

BLEH!!! Mothering and Sickness should NOT

Don't forget to remember me - Carrie Underwood

be allowed to co-exist. Really....I think mother's shouldn't ever get sick.
I am feeling a little better this morning, I'm not vomiting anymore but that constant feeling of nausea is still here surrounding me.

I want to start by thanking you all for the kind words and for the prayers, I don't know how I made it through yesterday, it's all a blur actually. I couldn't walk, every step I took felt like my head was going to explode and the only time I felt a little better would be laying down, BUT with my body being so weak and hurting so bad, that was just not working either.

Here's what I have learnt......when a mother is sick, the world doesn't stop. Wouldn't it be great if it did??? If somehow everything would pause until you were back to 100% health???
It doesn't work that way though, and I spent yesterday doing nothing more than being sick and praying every chance I got, and let me tell you, if it hadn't been for all your prayers and God co-mothering with me, I don't know how I would have taken care of the kids.
Just fixing them lunch was an adventure all it's own......nothing worse than being sick to your stomach and trying to fix mac n cheese or hotdogs or anything for that matter.

I'm so extremely grateful that my kids cooperated though, they were really good for me, and when I took them both upstairs to my bed so I could try and get some rest, they stayed there watching tv and not making a sound. I even got some pictures they drew to make me feel better.......Nicholas' one was a bunch of squiggles which he then proudly explained in detail that it was me "puking". In his own words "look it's mommy puking". Ummmm thanks honey, that's beautiful (not really what I wanted to see or hear when I'm sick to my stomach, but hey).

Tomorrow is the last day of school, Thank God!!! I think by this time of the year, the kids are tired of school and so are the parents. See when I was growing up I was one of those kids that really didn't care much for school. I kept thinking "I can NOT wait until I'm done and then I won't ever have to worry about getting up early and all that". WRONG!!!
I'm not in school and I'm still getting up early to get MY kids off to school. In many ways, I think that parents go through the whole school years with their children, we live it through them, not only because we get up with them but we go through the happy times and the bullies, the detentions, the thinking spots, the achievements etc. It's been a true learning experience for me.

I have so much to do today, it's crazy how the house just falls apart when mommy is out of commission. BUT, I don't want to push it because I'm not 100% yet, so I'm going to take it easy.

Curt just emailed me and said that he is not feeling well at all, seems he might be getting what I had. AGH, I hope not!!! He will probably be home early from work. That's the thing with this stomach flu, once you start feeling sick it only takes about an hour for things to get worse. Hopefully he doesn't get exactly what I had, I would hate for him to go through it, it's one of those things that you don't wish on your worst enemy.

Well that's it for me. I am going to finish my tea and my toast and then I have to head to the commissary to get WIC and to the Self Help for a Carpet Cleaner. THEN I'm coming home to relax, if I push it anymore I'm probably just going to relapse.

I hope you all have a fantastic day and an ever better long weekend. Have fun with the family and stay safe. I'm sending you all cyber hugs and thank you again for the prayers :)

Works for Me Wednesday!!!

Ok Ladies I'm going to make this one really sort. Since yesterday at about 2pm I've been really sick, vomiting every 15 minutes. I haven't been able to keep anythin down since about 11am yesterday and I'm not feeling good at all. My body is really sore and I spent the night in the bathroom. Nothing like a really bad stomach bug to make you loose weight, I went from 137lbs yesterday to 133lbs this morning, pretty scary.

So if you can, send a little prayer my way, I know it's nothing serious but having the two kids to take care of while not being able to walk and getting sick every 15 minutes, is not easy, I'm going to need all the help I can get.

Anyway, here's my WFMW, remember to go on over to Shannon's blog for a list of other participants.

During the winter times every morning it was chaos trying to find gloves, hats and scarves. There was always one missing.

I realized that I had to come up with a way to keep them all in one spot to make our mornings easier. Since I didn't want to go out and buy a shelf or boxes, I decided to use what I already had.

I had a small shelf by the entryway, I cleared up the top shelf and then found these two empty lego boxes that belonged to the kids and were going to the trash. I put a label on each with their names, and everytime they got home, that is where they dumped all their stuff. Never again did we have missing items.

Now that it's summer time, we use the boxes for their library books, water bottles, baseball caps or anything else we need for our outings. It works for me.

Well I better get off here, I'm not feeling well at all, but wanted to share my WFMW. Hope you all have a great day and hopefully I'll be back tomorrow and back to my usual self.

Treasure Tuesday!!!

Today my treasure is very near and dear to our hearts. It's all about my father in law, Doug.

When I first met him I have to tell you that he intimidated me, he was the kind of person that you instantly gave respect to and didn't dare go against his wishes. He was a retired Marine, Drill Sergeant and I guess that was part of the authority that he had. He was the most amazing man you could ever meet, and unfortunately for me, I didn't get to enjoy his presence for as long as I wished to.

I don't even know where to begin to tell you how sweet and kind he was. A true family man.
He loved the military, he served in Vietnam and by the time he retired in 1987 he had a huge number of medals, including National Defense Service Medal; Vietnam Service Medal; and the Vietnam Presidential Unit Citation with Palm and Frame. Just to name a few.

These are just some of the mementos that Curt kept from his dad, and he treasures them dearly.

Dad got diagnosed with cancer in 2000 and it was such a blow to the family. He passed away in February 2003, just two months before Nicholas was born. He was so excited to be having a grandson and it broke our hearts that he didn't get a chance to see him and play with him.
But like Curt and I said many times, he got to hold Nicholas before he was born, he was the first to see him and it makes us happy to know that he was there and will always be there.
We gave Nicholas the name of Nicholas Wayne, Wayne being Dad's middle name too.

During the period that dad was extremely sick, he still took time to take us out and spend time with the family. The last time we were there visiting, 7 months before he passed, the morning before we left to come back home, he got us up at 7am to go fishing with him.

We didn't know it at the time, but these would become some of our FAVORITE memories from the time spent with dad.

RIP Dad. We love you and miss you more than words could ever say!!!!
Thank you for being the best husband, father, father in law, grandfather and friend that anyone could ever wish for. You made our lives so much better just by being in them. We love you!!!

And that's my Treasure for this Tuesday, to see a list of other participants, just head on over to Faith's blog "Faithful Mommy".

Finally, Finally claimed back my bed.....

Good morning fellow bloggers, come on in, I have hot coffee and bagels with cream cheese, but if that doesn't appeal to you I'm sure I can whip something else up.

As the title of this post says.....I've claimed back our bed, Yes, because for the past few years I've had kids who don't want to sleep alone and always end up in bed with us during the night. It's frustrating and really annoying, nothing like getting punched in the eye to wake you out of a deep sleep. Not to mention the excruciating blinding pain that comes with it.

So last night, they both decided they wanted to sleep together on Jasmine's bunk bed. Me being the mother hen that I am, do not allow them to sleep on the top bunk, yes, I know, it's ridiculous but I'm just paranoid like that. I keep thinking that Jasmine being so ditzy at times, will wake up in the middle of the night to run to the bathroom, and will jump right off the bunk bed. Will it really happen???? Not likely, BUT I won't test luck!!!!

They slept on the bottom. Nicholas still managed to climb into bed with us at 4am but Jasmine stayed in hers all night. Thank GOD!!!!

So yesterday we had spent the day cleaning the front yard and playing with the kids. While we were outside we started hearing a lot of chirping, we looked over to the neighbors driveway and saw mommy bird with about 20 little ones following her around.
Of course me being the PAPPARAZZI that I am, I run and grab my camera. I swear I am like those blood thirsty photographers with a camera in hand, always ready to grab that prize winning shot. I don't send them in anywhere, but they're winners in my heart. How lame!!! LOL

Here are the pics I took, some are blurry cause the little buggers were running fast.

This little one couldn't get to the mom. She had climbed up the little cement step and he just couldn't seem to get up there. We finally helped him up by using something for him to climb on, we didn't want to touch him with our bare hands or his mom would reject him.
Here are the little ones trying to find a spot to climb up to mom.

After we had seen all these little ones, we came out to the back yard to start the grill. We start hearing chirping coming out of our shed. Low and behold there's a nest in there and this is what we find.

I guess our weekend really was for the birds. LOL It's amazing though, we got to see two different bird species, both with little babies, how sweet.

Yesterday while the kids and Curt were jumping on the trampoline, Jasmine lost another tooth. It was already wobbly so when Nicholas bumped her with his arm, the tooth went flying off. Great for her, but AGAIN annoying for me. It just meant I would have to deal with the whole Tooth Fairy issue again. What's up with this thing of loosing teeth in between paychecks???
I don't know about all of you, but I'm not rich and I usually don't have tons of money laying around just waiting for a tooth to come out. It would be so much easier if the teeth would decide to leave little mouths, RIGHT after payday, now THAT I could work with.

Switching gears now to wish a very special Happy Birthday to my hubby!!!

I know he is not too thrilled at turning 33 years old, but I think he looks good no matter how old he may be turning. LOL

33 years ago the love of my life was born, I obviously didn't know it at the time and all the ups and downs that we both had through our lives, ultimately led us to each other. I always knew that God was working towards this and when we first met we were showed way too many signs to ever deny it.

I thank Curt for being the best husband and father anyone could ever wish for. I also thank him for his daily sacrifices in the military, I don't think soldiers ever get thanked enough. I thank him for the laughs, for the cries and for always being there no matter what happens or what I look like. Yes, if he can wake up next to me with no make up and still call me beautiful, the man is a keeper!!!

So babe, I hope you have a wonderful day and just know that our lives are so much better for having you in them. We love you more than words could ever say.

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!!

And with that said, I'm OUT!!! Time to get kids to school and start cleaning etc. Hope you all have a wonderful Manic Monday!!! Well maybe just Monday, forget the Manic. :)
Time to go refill my coffee mug!!!!

Fun MEME and nothing else, zip, nada......

I'm POOPED, being doing so much this weekend that I have no energy left in me. My brain cells are fried, hence the lack of topic or interesting story to tell. Hey I guess even the SAHM household gets boring at times....who knew?!?!?!

This whole weekend we've spent cleaning the yards, washing cars, having BBQ's and just enjoying family time together.

We've played with water guns, hosed each other down while washing the cars, rode bikes, went for walks, jumped on the trampoline, you name it......we did it!!!

It's only barely 6pm and I'm exhausted. My body hurts from all the activities we've had going the past two days, so I'm heading upstairs for a warm bath and then getting into bed with a good book. I hope you've all had as great of a weekend as I did and I'll see you all back here tomorrow morning. I'll bring the coffee and maybe even throw in some bagels if you'll join me???

Here, I'll leave you all with a fun MEME!!!

A-Z

Saw this MEME online and thought it would be fun to do. I tag anyone who wants to give it a go, just let me know on my comments so I can check it out.

A is for Age: 31

B is for Blooms: White Roses, Tulips and Calla Lilies

C is for Career: Raising two children into responsible, productive young adults! Enough said!

D is for Dad’s Name: Dario

E is for Essential Item to Bring to a Party: Depends on the party!!!

F is for Favorite Songs at the Moment: James Blunt "You're Beautiful"

G is for Goof-off Thing to Do: Jumping on the trampoline with the kids

H is for Hometown: Lourenco Marques (Mozambique)

I is for Instrument You Play: None unfortunately but would love to play piano.

J is for Jam or Jelly you Like: Strawberry Jam

K is for Kids: Two, daughter - 7 years old and son - 3 years old

L is for Living Arrangement: Hubby, myself, son and daughter with three dogs at a house on base where hubby is currently stationed.

M is for Mom’s Name: Jacinta

N is for Names of Good Friends: Hayley

O is for Overnight Hospital Stays: Just two when my kids were born.

P is for Phobias: Snakes and mice

Q is for Quotes you Like: Dance, as though no one is watching you, Love, as though you have never been hurt before, Sing, as though no one can hear you, Live, as though heaven is on earth. -souza

R is for Relationship That Lasted Longest: 8 years married to my hubby!!!

S is for Siblings: 3 brothers and one sister.

T is for Texas: Don't mess with Texas!!!

U is for Unique Trait: Umm, aren’t we all unique in our own way?

V is for Vegetables You Love: Cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, corn, spinach....too many!

W is for Worst Traits: Stubborness definitely.

X is for X-rays You’ve Had: Chest and wrist

Y is for Yummy Food You Make: My family loves my portuguese food

Z is for Zodiac Sign: Leo

THANK YOU GOD!!!

I woke up this morning to a wonderful update by Heidi over at "My Quiet Corner". You all know that momrn2's little one has been seriously sick in the hospital, doctors running all sorts of tests trying to find out what was wrong.
Yesterday they finally figured it out and she had to have emergency surgery, a very delicate one as it seemed that she had a twisted bowel in two places which involved both artery and vein.
We all continued to pray for her and later found out that the surgery went well.
I'm in awe of the outpour of support and prayer that momrn2 has received. Thank God for the blogging community and the power of prayer.

I came across this cool little tool yesterday. It's so funny and I'm embarassed to say that I spent about an hour just messing with it. It's called the Newspaper Clipping Generator and I can JUST see me using this all the time. LOL

Hubby wasn't too impressed, I guess I'm venturing into dangerous territory when it comes to making fun of his computer games LOL

Lately I've been feeling a little on the down side, I don't really know why or what it is. I'm suspecting it might be the end of school looming over us, for some it's a wonderful time, for me it means my baby girl is now going to second grade, not so little anymore.

If there's one thing I've learnt about motherhood is that nothing is predictable. There are very few things you can always count on, but for the most part, you blink your eyes and they've gone from infants to big kids, just like that. Makes me realize that every moment should be treasured.

I used to be the kind of mom that worried too much about what *society* thought. God forbid I went against what everyone else said was the RIGHT way to raise my children. If they dropped a toy on the floor I would run behind and pick it up, the sight of one of the kids running into the living room and catapulting onto the couch with a juice box in their hands, had me screaming like a psycho and running at turbo speed to try and intercept them.
Then I woke up one morning and realized that I'm missing out on so much, I'm missing out on having fun with my kids and just relaxing, time goes by so fast, you have to enjoy every day and make every minute count.

I turned to God and said "Look, I don't even need to go into details because you know me like no one else, you know what I think, what I feel, what scares me and what makes me tick. But I'm at a loss here, I don't know how to let go without causing more chaos around me." It didn't take long for me to get into the right frame of mind and to start enjoying the kids.
"Take it with a grain of salt." Yes, Yes, that is exactly what I'm going to do!!!!

We laugh, we have fun and if there is a mess to be cleaned after, that's fine. *GASP*, I can't believe I said that out loud!!!
It's not the end of the world and I would much rather see a smile on my kids faces than have to freak out over something that is easily fixed. - a happy kid or a mess free house- it's not that hard to choose!!!

This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
PSALM 118:24 NIV

And with that said I think it's time to venture into the warm weather and do some gardening. Have a great saturday everyone!!!

Pitter Patter Pitter Patter!!!

Took me a while to fall asleep last night, but after I did I was lulled the rest of the night with the pitter patter of rain. I don't know about you, but THAT is the best sound to sleep with for me. The rain, the thunder and even the lightning was just amazing and we were in desperate need of that after these scorching two weeks.

You know I'm really enjoying my new template, no matter how bad of a day I may be having, clicking onto my blog always makes me feel like I'm somewhere else, on the beach having a great time and listening to the waves.

I want to start today by asking you all to head on over to momrn2's blog "My Quiet Corner", she really needs some prayers right now. Her 8 year old daughter is in the hospital undergoing all sorts of tests to find out why she has been vomiting for the past 11 or so days. PLEASE head on over and say a prayer for her precious little girl and the family too.

Another blog I would love you to visit is Julie's "Everyday Mommy". Especially for those moms that have sons, she has a great post on raising them and a new blog set up etc, but I'll let her explain, I'm not too good at trying to summarize things. I will just say that it has to do with my new button on my sidebar, the "Just Like Joshua" one.

I'm thrilled that I actually got everything done on my to do list yesterday. It was one of those days where you get a second wind around noon and then zip through the house like a tornado. I cleaned and scrubbed and mopped and vacuumed, I even put new curtains in the living room, washed windows, you name it, I did it.
Yes it was exhausting and by the time I got into bed by back hurt, BUT the outcome is so worth it, nothing like waking up to a really clean house smelling like flowers......well maybe not flowers, but it smells clean.

I want to share another quote from the book "Another Fine Mess Lord". I came upon it yesterday right after I watched ER and the whole war and Iraq issue. These words seemed to fit just perfectly.

We sometimes face enemies who want to destroy us, or maybe we're just in the path of someone else's misguided ambition. When that happens, we can accept the situation or learn how to change it through our own acts of courage and obedience to God's Word. Like Esther, you can work where you are, with what is within your control, do what you know, and learn the rest as God teaches. With powerful courage and more powerful belief, your destiny will find you, one victory at a time.

It really takes me right back to Joshua's book and the repeating words "Be Strong and of Good Courage". This book has taught me that every decision requiring great insight requires great courage. I choose to be courageous not weak and with God at my side, I KNOW I can achieve whatever I want to.

Blogger has been acting weird as usual, so if it seems that I haven't been to your blog or left a comment the past few entries, please know that it's NOT me. Here's how it goes, every morning I sit down and read through all of my favorite blogs, yes I said ALL. LOL
There's some on blogger that I get to and it has an entry from a few days ago, I refresh again and again but nothing. Then I go away, come back the next day, and all of a sudden I have 4 or 5 entries that WERE there, but blogger was hiding them from me???? For fear of?????
I wish I knew. So anyway, just letting you all know, if you don't see a comment from me it's because I'm being held captive by blogger somewhere in cyberspace until it decides to spit me out again and show me what I missed.

I just realized today is friday. Maybe I'm having too much coffee or not enough, I seem to get lost in the days. Does that ever happen to you guys? I think my life has become so predictable and the days are all the same that suddenly it doesn't matter if it's monday or thursday or even saturday, I'm still going to be doing the same things, cleaning, cooking, chasing after kids, etc.....see it never changes.

Being that it really IS friday, here is my "Remember When???".

When my dad was young he used to play roller hockey. It's always been one of his passions, so when years later in South Africa, he was offered the position of coach for one of the teams, he gladly took it. This was wonderful, not only did he get to do what he loved, but during the summer time we got to travel with him and his team, all over the country. It was a blast.

So one of the trips to us to Durban. To keep the expenses cheaper, we booked rooms at a local YMCA. We get to the place, my dad checks in and then goes off to see to the team, make sure they are in the right rooms, give them the schedules and times to be in bed, all that fun stuff that coaches do.
Since my sister in law (who at the time was just dating my brother), had come with, we shared a room. My stepmom handed us the key and we looked at it briefly. Apparently we were on the second floor. We dragged our luggage upstairs, there were NO elevators. Again we glance down at the key number and then head to the room we are supposed to be in. I stick the key in and try to turn but nothing happens. We look at each totally confused and then being girls, we start giggling and laughing, we both grab onto the door handle and start jiggling it and pushing the key in and trying our best to get it open.

Next thing we know, this man in his underwear opens the door. I think we both stopped breathing right there and then. All we could do is stare in disbelief. He says "what are you doing?", and we answer "this is our room", and so the following conversation begins:

Weird man in underwear: "No this is MY room"
Scared to death girls: "NOOOOO, we have the key, they just gave us this key, you're in our room"
Weird man in underwear: "Umm actually, NO this is my room, I've been here a while"
Scared to death girls: "Actually, this is OUR room, again, they just gave us the key"
Weird man in underwear: "This is room 112, what does your key say?"
Scared to death girls: "It says *look down at the key again*, OH, it says 212, I'm SO sorry".

Walk away from the man, drop the bags and burst out laughing. We had JUST tried to break into this man's room while he took a nap....or at least that's what we're hoping he was doing in his underwear, anything else is just too weird and gross to think of.

So there you have it, one more of our adventures!!! Until I started writing these down, I had NO idea how exciting of a life I actually have LOL

Wow one more week and school is out. I just can't believe how fast it went and that my little girl is already done with First Grade. Nothing like that to make you feel older!!!

So I'm off to work on a template for Charla. Then I have to work on my back yard, the one thing about living on base is the constant visits by the housing inspectors and the threats of contacting the commanders etc. It's frustrating really.....BUT we gotta do what we gotta do right?

Hope you all have a fantastic friday. I will see you all back here tomorrow :)
God bless,

Ahhhh beautiful morning......

The weather has just been amazing lately, and even though we're supposed to have some thunderstorms later today, we're still enjoying the warm temperatures.

I took some pictures of the kids as we were getting ready to leave the house. Then I got back from dropping off Jasmine and quickly made myself a new desktop using the pictures. What do you think?

Thank you all for the wonderful comments left about my new blog look. I love messing around with graphics programs and just recently started learning html and how to tweak templates to my liking. I would have never guessed that it would be so much fun.

These past 3 days the kids have been at each other's throats, you wouldn't tell by the pics above, but really, I'm about to go nuts. I keep thinking that if this is what awaits me when school lets out next week, I will either go completely crazy, or run away. I'm looking forward to the summer break just so we can sleep in and not feel so rushed, but as awful as it may sound right now, I'm not really looking forward to the two kids being in the house 24 hours a day. I better start working on some ideas for outings.

For those of you that check my food blog, I updated it this morning with the recipe for those Cream Tarts I had mentioned and I also posted a recipe for the Salisbury Steak I make, as per request from one of the ladies. As always I love hearing from everyone, and if you try one of the recipes, let me know how you liked it :)

So here is my to do list for today:

• Laundry
• Sweep and Mop
• Vacuum
• Wash Windows
• Wash Curtains
• Give Lola a bath

Doesn't sound like much at all, but withschool letting out earlier today and the two kids home, who knows what I'll get distracted with. Hopefully I can get everything on the list done, that's my goal.

I weighed myself today, don't ask why, I don't know, sometimes I think I like putting myself through the whole "Weight Issue" torture. So I get on the scale this morning and it says 130lbs, so now I'm ecstatic, I'm jumping up and down and thinking WOOHOO, you did!!!
Well nevermind that I've been eating too much lately, not drinking enough water, and snacking at night time. I try I really really try to stop and just can't help myself, it's totally out of control.
But I am in denial, I mean seriously, 130lbs?!?!!?!?!?
I look back down and it says ERROR.....it stays there, flashing at me, taunting me, I can almost see it smiling evily and cackling.
I get back on it and it says 137lbs........well DAGNABIT!!! Not only was the 130lbs a fluke, but now I'm being told that I actually PUT ON a pound. That scale is ONE inch closer to getting dumped!!!!

I think I'm having a "Flug Day", if you don't know what that is, head on over to Emily's blog, she will explain LOL

My son has taken to speaking spanish. I've tried so hard to talk to them in portuguese, because that's my language and I would love for them to be bilingual....but no, Dora the Explorer has beat me to the punch. She has achieved what I haven't been able to. Maybe if I start video recording myself saying things in portuguese and acting silly, like a cartoon? Wouldn't be that far fetched to do, my life is like a crazy cartoon at times.
The reason I bring this up is because just now as I was sitting here typing, Nicholas said "mommy help me", he wanted some help with one of his toys. I said just a minute and then he said in a stern voice "Mommy Ajuda me". THAT caught my attention. This kid is going places, he knows just what to say to get you to listen.

Well I'de love to stay and chat all day, but duty calls. This thing of being a mother sometimes gets in the way of things, but hey, it's what I signed up for right? Besides, if I didn't have my kids to keep me busy I wouldn't know what to do with myself. I better get started on that to do list, unfortunately no matter how much I beg it to, it won't get done on it's own. *sigh* it's not too much to ask!!!!

Well whatcha think???

I was getting a little bored with my old template. I'm sure by now you've realized that I get bored easily LOL

So I decided to mess around and make a new template, I like this one, it makes me want to go to beach somewhere. What do you guys think???
Does it feel calm, relaxing and summery???

My favorites!!!!

You know I was thinking about Oprah the other day. Yeah well, it's not like I usually think about her during the day, but for some reason I was thinking back on her "Oprah's Favorite Things" and I realized that there a few things that I just recently discovered that I just LOVE. So I thought I would start today by sharing them with you.

The first is my latest chips craze. While grocery shopping the other day I saw these and thought I would give them a try, let me tell you, I ate the whole bag by myself. Yes I feel horrible but my hips love me right now. I just couldn't eat one and put the bag down. Focus Sandra focus!!!!!

But no I couldn't stop there, oh noooooo, that wouldn't be me. I'm addicted to chips, and then I wonder why I have such a hard time loosing weight. Anyway, these next ones I just found yesterday and oh boy, not only do they remind me of the chips above, but they are spicy too and OH SO GOOD!!!

Now moving on to something else that I have become addicted to. If you ever come to my house and wonder what that wonderful smell is, look no further than the can in my left hand.....yes, because I literally walk around with that can, where I go, it goes.
I'm talking about the Air Infusions by Glade. The pink one is my favorite - Garden Bliss-.
It freshens my house and leaves this wonderful amazing smell.

And here's my last one. This nifty little Chores Chart. I heard about it through one of the ladies that left a comment on Shannon's blog when we were discussing Chores and Allowances. I've since gotten one for myself and it's wonderful with the kids.

Now on to other things, I had mentioned Karon Phillips Goodman's new blog. This morning she has a neat little Guess it Game sorta thing going on LOL Sorry I couldn't think of better words to explain it, just go on over and have a look and see if you can guess the book of the Bible that she is talking about.

If you look on over to my sidebar, almost all the way at the bottom, I've added this nifty new little Prayer Card. All you have to do is enter the name of the person you are praying for, then scroll down the menu and pick what the prayer is about, for example, I've used it to pray for Matt, Dan, Jeff and a couple other troops currently in Iraq. You enter their name and then it takes you to a different page where a prayer and scriptures specifically for that person is listed. It's such a great little tool, I'm just loving it.

I just finished adding my menus for the next two weeks, on my food blog. I started the blog as a way to keep track of what we are eating and also in my journey to find foods that my kids will eat, without much fuss. I've been lucky so far, so I've been posting the recipes that have worked for us, maybe they will work for your kids too :) Remember now, I'm portuguese and I I do cook portuguese food as well as the occasional South African dish seeing that I lived there for most of my life. Later today I will posting one of Portugal's favorite desserts called "Pasteis de Nata", they are these wonderful little Cream Cakes made with Puff Pastry. Deliscious, so be sure to check that out.

So here I go, mop and bucket in one hand, vacuum in the other, it's time for housework. You know with this wonderful weather we've been having, my mind keeps taking me to the beach. Boy do I miss the ocean, the waves, the sand and the sun, the smell of sun tan lotion, the laughter of little ones building sand castles, the smell of ice cream. Ahhhhh it's one of those Calgon Take me Away moments!!!!

Works for Me Wednesday!!!

You have no idea how addictive this is. I literally spend all week trying to think of the perfect tip to give and let me say that I usually can come up with tons, right until the morning of. For some reason my mind takes extended leave and I'm drawing a blank. How annoying!!!

Anyway, for those who are reading this for the first time, one of my favorite bloggers, Shannon over at Rocks in my Dryer, came up with this theme called "Works for Me Wednesday" in which you share your tips or advice or whatever, that make your life easier.
For a list of all the participants, check out her site, I will also add your links to mine if you leave me a comment letting me know that you're playing too.

Here's mine for this week.

I have tons of different cooking gadgets, slow cooker, turbo cooker, George Foreman Grill, Rotisserie etc. To make room on my counters and so it doesn't look cluttered, I have these neatly stored away in my kitchen cabinets, BUT the problem is that I tend to forget they exist.

So I've started taking one out each week or two and then I find recipes for them and use it as much as I can. Once that time is up, it gets stored back in it's place and out comes another one.
I've found that this way, I'm actually using them all, trying out different recipes AND I don't just let them collect dust. Works for Me!!!!

If you play along, let me know and I will put up a link here too :)

Wow talk about a nice surprise :)

This morning while doing the Treasure Tuesday I get an email notification, so I go over and check it. I have my blog set up to send me an email anytime someone posts a comment.
I open up the email and I'm thinking "Oh no way, that can NOT be what I think it is". Someone had posted a comment on my blog and not just anyone, one of my favorite authors and as many of you know, has been a great inspiration to me. You know who I'm talking about yet????
I don't know if I should tell you, should I?

Maybe I should do the Ryan Seacrest thing and say "I will tell you who it is, RIGHT after this commercial break!"

Go on, go get some coffee because you're going to be blown away LOL

Alright, alright, I think I've kept you in the dark long enough. The comment was left by Karon Phillips Goodman. Ring a bell???

You're Late Again Lord?
Another Fine Mess Lord?

YEAH YEAH, that's the one, the author actually left me a comment and added me to her blog. I'm thrilled beyond words. Here's what she said:

Dear Sandra ~~ Thank you for your kind words about my book! I'm truly touched :) [I don't know much about blogging, but I'm trying to start and I added you to my list :)] Thanks again!

Many blessings,
Karon
http://karongoodman.blogspot.com/

So if you get a chance today and if you're interested in Karon's books, I'm sure you've heard so much about them through my blog, I'm constantly talking about them LOL, go on over and say hi to her, she's just started a blog called Every Woman's Travels.

Jasmine's school is having their yearly Family BBQ, so we get to go eat with her, she's so excited that daddy will be able to make it, usually he's working and can't be there.

I did my weigh in today and I'm still at 136 lbs. I would be upset BUT I've truly been eating like a pig since sunday. Maybe because it was Mother's Day and I had a huge breakfast and then a big lunch etc, yesterday with all the running around I ended up having McDonald's which I'm sure have the fat in my body throwing a party. If that isn't bad enough, hubby picked up Krispy Kreme donuts....WHY, WHY would he do something like that???? Not only do I love donus, but Krispy Kreme? That's torture. So I'm ashamed to say that I had 3 yesterday and one this morning, I can practically feel the fat pumping through my veins "Woohoo she's feeling rebellious, let's multiply, she won't even know." *Sigh*

You know how I always say that when I'm reading "Another Fine Mess Lord" or when I read the other one, there were always words that jumped out at me?
Yesterday was no exception, listen to this:

"The path to more order and peace is the same no matter what the situation, no matter if it happens in your home and you can touch it, or if it happens in your heart and you can feel it. Making sense of the chaos in your life brings order, and it's not complicated unless you choose to make it so. There's always less disorder when there's more of God in everything you do. Know that, put it first."

So many times I think, well if I can just get this problem fixed then I will be able to concentrate on God. NO NO NO NO......big NO NO!!!! That's not the way it is. Put God FIRST, then the problem will get fixed. I used to believe that I only needed God for something major, something really earth shattering. Wow was I a fool. The minute I started involving Him in the smallest detail, everything moved a lot more smoothly. I don't know why I brought this up today, maybe I'm just hoping that if anything, it will help remind some of us that He needs to come first and the chaos will disappear.

I leave you today with a prayer for the troops, you know how much I appreciate them and their sacrifices.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the brave
young men and women of America
who are now in the battle front defending freedom.

May they come home, honorably and victoriously,
before we have been apart from them too long and may
they all come home safely into the arms of those
who love and miss them.

God Bless
each and every one of our young men and women
and may He protect and watch over them
during this time of conflict.

Our prayers will not cease until they are all safely home.

Treasure Tuesday!!!

It's such a beautiful morning and already 60 degrees outside, so I'm sitting here with the sunshine, a cup of steaming hot coffee and a *whisper - Krispy Kreme donut*. I feel so rebellious being on a diet and all. Ahhhhhh!!!

My Treasure Tuesday for today are my nieces and nephews, not only because I love them to death, but because being a long distance Aunt makes things so much harder.

I'm going to start with my beautiful niece Tiffany. When she was born and her mommy had to go back to work, she stayed with me and my grandmother. We took care of her during the day until she went back home around 5pm. When I left South Africa in 1998, Tiffany was about to turn 2 years old. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life, I felt as if I was leaving my own child and till this day she holds a very special place in my heart. On sunday for Mother's Day I got to talk to her and the first thing she said was "I miss you so much, when are you coming to visit?". Wow, talk about my heartbreaking.
"Hey China, that noise you heard around 7pm was actually my heart breaking in two".

Now my wonderful and gorgeous little man, Colby. Colby is Tiffany's brother and unfortunately I have yet to meet him in person. I just look at his sweet little face and want to squeeze him so hard. Colby reminds me a lot of Nicholas, they both look very much alike and could pass for brothers LOL
Colby is one of my treasures and more so because I have yet to hold him in my arms :)

My next Treasure is my wonderful nephew Dylan. When my older brother married my sister in law, Dylan was two years old. It didn't matter to us, because he instantly became a part of our family. My brother adopted him and gave him our last name, but all that is just legalities because Dylan knows how much we love him. I want so much to shower him with love and to hug him and kiss him, so I hope I can do that soon :)

This is my little princess Taryn-Lee. Taryn-Lee is Dylan's sister and the apple of daddy's eye. When she was born I remember my brother sending me a photo of her and one of myself at her age, I swear we looked identical :)
She's such a sweetheart and I love talking to her on the phone, she gets so shy around me but I know that's because she hasn't actually seen me in person yet. Another little treasure of mine and one that I hold dear to my heart :)

And last but not least, the baby of the family. My beautiful little Alyssa. Just look at that little face :)
I also haven't met Alyssa yet but I have so much love for her. It's heartbreaking not being able to spoil them and play with them and just shower them with love and affection.
Alyssa is my younger brother's daughter, so she's my baby's baby, does that make sense? LOL

And there you have it, those are my Treasures for this Tuesday. I love them all to death and hope more than anything that someday really soon, I can finally wrap my arms around them and tell them IN PERSON, just how much I love them. :)

For more Treasure Tuesday participants, head on over to Faith's blog. :)

CopyKat Recipes

I've had this site bookmarked under my favorites for, oh about 5 years now. If you've never checked it out but would love to know how to make some of your favorite restaurant dishes, then THIS is the place to go.

They have the recipes for some of the most popular dishes and restaurants, like Sonic's Cherry Limeade, Olive Garden's 5-cheese Lasagna, Outback Steakhouse Walkabout Soup or the Aussie Fries, TGI Friday's 9 Layer Dip etc.

I've made many of these before and they turned out really well, so go ahead and check them out at CopyKat Recipes. I'm sure you can find one of your favorite dishes.

The reason I'm mentioning this is because while making my menu's and grocery list, I was writing down the ingredients for the Chili's Monterey Chicken that I'm making tonight. It's sooooooooo good!!!

Just had to share with you all :)

MEME and Others!!!

I've been tagged by Julie at Everyday Mommy, for this Bernard Pivot MEME, so here goes. Loved her answers so it will be tough to make mine as good as hers LOL

What is your favorite word? Ridiculous.

What is your least favorite word? Booger.

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? People who inspire me

What turns you off? Ignorance and Back Stabbing.

What is your favorite curse word? Hmmm well I wouldn't say I have a favorite, they're all nasty, but I do let out the occasional S ending with a T.

What sound or noise do you love? My hubby playing with the kids.

What sound or noise do you hate? Fingernails on a blackboard.

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Physical Therapist.

What profession would you not like to do? Garbage man/woman.

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? Being that Heaven DOES exist, I'm hoping that God will say "Sandra, I'm so proud of you". Boy that would be Heaven, literally, well you know what I mean.

Taggity, tag, tag, tag...Janice, Mel, Courtney, Emily, Flipflopmamma, momrn2, Toni, Lisanne.

Alright now moving on to other things, I have to tell you guys that I have the BEST husband in the world. I know he reads my blog everynight, so I'm sure he'll be all proud of himself, but he has reason to LOL

So yesterday being Mother's Day, he got up with the kids so I could sleep in. By the time I woke up they had made me a huge breakfast. The rest of the day I was not allowed to do anything in the house. Everytime I got up, I was told to sit back down and NOT move a finger. He did the dishes, he cleaned up my kitchen, he did the laundry, he made lunch, he set the table, he took care of the kids, you name it, HE DID IT!!!
I think the best part was when he said "honey I'm doing the dishes and putting them away, now you may not be able to find your stuff after that, but at least I tried". LOL How funny is that?!?!?!

It's weird because I always say that I wish I had a day of doing nothing, but really, it's a bit frustrating when you're used to keeping busy each day. So I played "The Sims 2". I don't know if anyone else out there plays that game, but I love it, it's fun making families and houses and watching them grow, I think it's a typical mommy game LOL

Today it's back to the hustle and bustle of school and work. I'm so glad school is almost coming to an end, this has been ONE nutty year.
I think Jasmine is also about done, she always starts the year eager to go and we get to this time and I get the "I don't want to go to school, I want to stay home today". Yeah, well, I'll get back to you on that one!!!

Trying to get Jasmine to school this morning was painful, I would rather settle for a root canal or hours of birthing with no drugs. Seriously, it can get THAT bad!!!
That girl moves at a snails pace when she doesn't want to do something.....so by the time I got her out of the house it was 8:10am, the bell rings at 8:20am so we had 10 minutes to get there. Since the weather is supposed to be in the 90's this week, I told the kids that we would be doing LOADS of walking, I mean, it's good for you right, and it's nice outside.....but seeing that we were late we piled into the car.
I managed to drop her off 4 minutes before the bell rang and then headed to get some gas in my poor little car.

I get to the pump, insert my card and it tells me to see the cashier.

*Mommy I want out of the car*

*No Nicholas, you stay in there while mommy gets gas*

Remove card, insert again (you BETTER work this time). "Please see the cashier", are you friggin kidding me?!?!?!?

*mommy I want out*

Grab Nicholas and head inside to be told that all the cards from my Bank have been giving them problems this morning. So I go ahead and pay for the gas inside and then head back out to gas up.

*I don't want to go in the car, I want to say out with you*
*Nicholas, get in THE CAR*

*ok ok I'm going*

Fill up the car, well, put in $20 and got about 3/4 tank. Not too bad, considering those same dollars would only give my hubby's Dodge Truck about a 1/4 tank if that LOL

*SIGH*, yep I can already tell this is going to be one of those crazy days, it's always like that around payday. Bills to pay, groceries to get and then throw in some running around with kids, library runs, housework......you know Mother's Day was nice because I didn't have to do anything, but come on, now it's back to the usual and I have to wait a whole year, 365 days for that again. Is it bad that I'm already counting down the days to next year????

Well ladies, that's it for me today, I better get my grocery list and menus done, pay some bills and do some cleaning before heading to walmart.
Sending you all tons of sunshine and happy spring days. Thank you all for the sweet comments left yesterday, you guys (well gals), are truly amazing ;)

Happy Mother's Day!!!

I don't have much time to post this morning, for obviousy reasons :)
But I wanted to wish all the moms out there, a wonderful Mother's Day. All the wonderful mother's in my family, my mom, my stepmother, my mother in law, my sisters in law, my grandmothers and my friends and last but not least, the wonderful mother's and friends I've met through the blogging world.
May you all have a beautiful Mother's Day!!!! I love you all :)

MOTHER'S LOVE

Her love is like
an island in life's ocean,
vast and wide

A peaceful, quiet shelter
From the wind, the rain, the tide.
'Tis bound on the north by Hope,
By Patience on the West,
By tender Counsel on the South
And on the East by Rest.

Above it like a beacon light
Shine Faith, and Truth, and Prayer;
And thro' the changing scenes of life
I find a haven there.

~Author Unknown~

You know you're on a diet when........

you are so immersed into a book and then certain words have you sallivating. Really, it happened to me last night!!!
I'm laying in bed reading a book, not food related, and these words come up: "Listen, remember she's my daughter, not one of your cupcakes." *DROOL*.....ooohhhh cupcakes, imagine a big chocolate one with chocolate frosting, oooh oohhh no, one with cream cheese frosting and coconut on top, or a white one with sprinkles.....*DROOL*......UMMM where was I???

That's exactly how it went, I had to put the book down and remind myself that I'm watching my weight and cupcakes are a big no no right now. Wow who knew a book called "Navy Brides" would have me craving a cupcake????

I ended up not going to the party last night, Nicholas was not feeling well at all and was running a bit of a temperature, and now it seems Curt and I are heading the same way. It just seems that there's always a cold going around this place, just when you think you're safe, out come the Kleenex again.
Since I didn't go to the party, I did however speak with Valerie in the afternoon and placed an order. Now, I'm not one for spending tons of money and The BodyShop is a bit pricey, but it's only this one time so I thought "why not?", call it my gift to myself for Mother's Day!!!
I got the Papaya Body Butter, Papaya Shower Gel and Papaya Body Scrub, plus a bottle of Strawberry Body Lotion for Jasmine. Can't wait to get those in :)

While reading through "Another Fine Mess Lord", one of the subjects was "It's a List, A Choice". This is what it said:

"Do you face each day knowing God is right beside you? Do you have the great belief in Him that frames everything else? Do you have the faith that can move mountains and the strength that can slay giants? It's more of God first, in these ways and many others, that brings you the order you want.
Finding that order means filling the voids where you need God to be, allowing more of Him in your home and heart so you can keep what you need and discard the rest.
Remember: What you need and don't have is disrupting the order of your life, and what you have and don't need is disrupting the order of your life. Understand both, and order and peace will follow."

"I will not forget you!
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands"
ISAIAH 49:15-16 NIV

Again I say WOW. We've lived our whole lives in this thought that the more you have, the better off you are. We struggle through life to make money to buy those "material" things that only seem to bring more unhappiness and stress, but that is what society finds acceptable right???
Change like anything, is a hard concept to grasp, it means going out of your comfort zone and doing something that many will not accept, many will criticize, but if you do it, the rewards far outweigh those times. I'm willing to do it, I'm willing to get ready of those things that are only weighing me down, in order to make room for those things that will not only make me spiritually lighter but also happier and stress free.

"Lord, You know what I have and what I don't want to have. Please help me bring order to the chaos".

I thought that every Saturday I would post a list of the sites I visited during the week, those that caught my attention for one reason or another....call it Sandy's Weekly Surfing. Why not?!?!?

Lori Foster - I've been visiting Lori's site for a while now, I actually help her make graphics for her site and her Cafepress store. If you love romance books, then be sure to check out her site, she's awesome :)

FamilyLife - My MIL actually introduced me to this site and I'm sure glad she did, it's a christian site with so much information and great articles. There are devotionals for couples, Parenting tips, Family Issues etc. Great site, be sure to check it out, and if you have little ones, this article "I Want To Do It Myself" is wonderful.

PrayerCentral - Great place for prayers and for teaching you how to pray hence this quote "If you don't want wimpy results, don't pray wimpy prayers."

Nooma - Remember the Nooma DVD's I've mentioned before? This is the main site for the, you can read about them, you can watch previews and even download discussion books for each DVD.

The Salt Cellar - Christian Store with a wide selection of music, books, kid products etc. Check it out, it's wonderful :)

Well my coffee has gone cold and my toast is now soggy, so I think that means my blogging for today is done. I truly hope that you all have a wonderful weekend, whether spent at home with the family, or out camping or having fun. I will be here tomorrow with a special "Mother's Day" wish to everyone and then back to normal blogging on monday :)

Remember When???

This post is late today, I just couldn't think of a story to share with you all due to being extremely tired and not feeling too great.

But it's friday, and what would fridays over at Diary of a SAHM be, without our usual "Remember When???".

We were taking our usual summer trips from Idaho to Oklahoma, to visit Curt's family. Jasmine was about to turn 1 year old and we thought it would be great to have a celebration with the family. We set out on the road and it was a really good drive until about 5 hours into it.

Just as we got to Evanston, Wyoming, the van started acting weird, but we didn't think anything of it and tried to keep going. Not much further up the road, about a mile or so, it finally gave out on us. We tried to get it restarted but nothing, it seemed like we needed a new battery, which didn't make sense because this one was not that old.

So we make a call to my in laws and decided that this is not going to work, there's no way we will make it to Oklahoma in this van.
We get back in and start driving back, well we went about another mile and had to pull over again, the van was JUST not working. By this time we realize we are in serious trouble, here we are on a friday afternoon, there are no auto shops in sight and the one that is in the town is already closed. We started getting hungry, so Curt got out and walked about 2 miles to the nearest town to get some Arby's for us.

We quickly ate and then decided to try and get back on the road. It was pure hell, we could only go about a mile at a time before the van turned off again. We managed to do this all the way to Tremonton, Utah, which is right on the border with Idaho. We found a Denny's and had some dinner then called a friend on base back home and asked if there was any way he could come get us, he said ok and here we are thinking we're saved.
Wel,l our friend ended up not seeing us on the road and the van broke down for good before Idaho, now it's night time, we are in the middle of NOWHERE, surrounded by mountains, with an infant and no place to sleep, eat, or use the bathroom.
I prayed and prayed and prayed that God would get us out of this situation, imploring with him the need for us to somehow find a way back home, especially for the baby.

No sooner had I said that than we saw a car pull up with an older couple. The husband got out and asked what the problem was and we explained that the van had broken down, he told us it seemed that it was a blown head gasket, which pretty much means you're not going anywhere, it's part of the engine.
They then offered to tow us all the way back to our house at the base. Turns out they were mormon and he had been stationed at the base before so he knew exactly where it was.
Praise the Lord!!! He not only found us a tow for free, but all the way to our front door.

Just another sign that he is always at our sides no matter what!!! All you have to do is ask :)

TGIF and Remember When???

Boy am I glad this week is over, I feel like I've been running on overdrive.
Nicholas is still sick, and if he's not better by this afternoon I think I'm taking him in to the ER, he has a horrible cough and this wheezing sound in his lungs. Agghhhh nothing like that to make a mom go bonkers.
Know what I mean? I used to be fine with all kinds of sounds, they meant nothing to me, then I became a mom and boy did that change fast.

• Wheezing - OMG they must have bronchitis.
• Coughing - What if it's pneumonia?
• Screaming - Someone is badly hurt!
• Ow Ow Ow - YIKES what if a bone is protruding?
• Sneezing - Dagnabit he's got a cold again.

See?!?!?!? That's how my mommy mind works. Pretty scary huh?

Tonight I have a BodyShop Party to attend. I really want to go just to get out of the house, but now I'm faced with this decision. Curt is working his usual hours which means he won't be home until at least 12am. The girl throwing the party said I could bring the kids and let them play with hers, but my whole worry is that I won't be able to have fun having to constantly watch what they are doing, or rather, what NICHOLAS is doing since he's only 3 years old.
Should I still go? I need some input here, pretty please!!!!

So last night I watched ER, I always do. All I have to say is, OMG!!! I cried my eyes out the whole show. If anyone else watched it you will know what I'm talking about, watching anything military related really hits home, it's heartbreaking. I think I let it all out though, I started crying over the show and then just let my other sadness come through, and boy do I feel good now. Nothing like a good cry once in a while right?

This morning the base commissary is having their usual Case Lot Sale. It's a great place to buy in bulk, last one they had I was able to purchase a box of 4 big laundry detergent bottles for only $7. Can't beat that right???
So that's where I'm headed this morning.

Today is Military Spouse Appreciation Day. I want to send a HUGE thank you and a Happy Day to all the wonderful military wives out there. You are such an incredible and important part of the military life and I hope you know how much you are appreciated. Veronica, Court, Emily, Kbug, Courtney, April, dzygoneby, syvanna, airforcewife, stacy. There are so many more out there, wish I knew them all.
If you're not a military spouse but know someone who is, please go by and let them know how much they are appreciated. :)

I've been so busy lately, and with Nicholas sick I haven't had time to think of my "Remember When???" story for today, so I will just leave it out for now, and will come back this afternoon with one.

Hope you all have a wonderful day, enjoy your friday. :)

Another Fine Mess Lord!

I finally got the book in the mail yesterday and let me tell you, it's worth it. What a great book it is!!!
I started reading it and right in the first pages it grabbed my attention. Listen to this:

"We are what we make room for in our hearts. We are full of peace that has lived there since we were born, if we'll just let it breathe. We can have a life of simplicity, order, and insight when we allow ourselves to be possessed by the love of God, the intangible, unsurpassed, grace-filled love of God. It's what possesses us that counts. That's the more we need in our lives if we are to have less - more God, more peace, less of everything else."

"Sometimes the more things we hold (that we once thought important), the less peace we have (which we once thought we could manufacture)."

Wow, talk about an eye opener. I think we get so caught up with all the material things that we loose track of what really matters. It's so true that the more you have the more stress and complications you have in life. Can't wait to keep reading this book!!!

I want to start by thanking everyone for the kind and sweet comments left yesterday. It meant a lot to me and made me feel so much better.
I'm having a better day today, putting it all in the Lord's hands and letting him carry me through this month of sadness.

Carrie Underwood "Jesus Take The Wheel".

This song gets me through a lot, it always reminds me to let Jesus take the Wheel, let him do the driving. There's times to drive and there's times to be the passenger, sit back, and let someone else guide you. With Jesus at the wheel you CAN'T go wrong, EVER!!!

Reading Shannon's blog this morning just reiterated what I said. She talks about being tired, and those moments in life when you think....I can't do this anymore!!!
We've all been there and we've all had them, but somehow we pick ourselves back up and continue. See, I don't believe that we shouldn't have a bad day, we're moms, we're entitled to them. There's a difference between having God in your life and by your side......and just walking alone without him.
If you have him with you, you fall, you stumble, but you get back up and continue, get knocked down again, get back up and continue forward.
Without him, you fall and you stay there, in that dark and lonely place. If you have a minute, just go on over and say hi to Shannon and let her know that we are ALL on the same boat and occasionally feel the blah's too.

I've been on the so called "Diet"....shhhhh, can't say it loud for fear of my body hearing.
I've done really good this week, I've chugged tons of water, I've even done the exercises they suggest and counted my calories. Hope when I weigh myself on monday I will have lost at least a pound. Keeping my fingers crossed!!!

Remember the badger problem at the school? Well it still hasn't been fixed. We keep being told that it's their "natural habitat". This is frustrating, I don't understand what they are waiting for. A badger attacking one of the little ones during recess???
I'm going to stay on their case about this, until someone does something, anything, just not sit there and wait for a kid to get hurt. Isn't it always like that though??? Don't pay any attention until something major happens and THEN we wake up and try to do the right thing.

I have tons to do today, so I'm making this one short....well by my standards I guess cause it's not short at all LOL

I'm ending this post with a Night Prayer of a Wife and Mother. Just love this one :)
See you all tomorrow :)

Night Prayer of a Wife and Mother

Lord, bless the man with whom I sleep
And in Your constant care him keep.
Bless our children as they grow,
Keep them safe from head to toe.
Bless all those in heaven with You
Give them the peace and rest they're due.
Bless all my family and my friends
Help them with means to their good ends.
And Lord, please bless me with sleep divine
To mend and soothe a weary mind. Amen.

Edit: I was tagged by Julie at Everyday Mommy, so here goes :)

ABC'S of MEME

Accent: Being from South Africa I have a british accent, although I've lost a lot of it, but people ALWAYS tell.

Bible Book that I like: I would have to say Joshua. Especially for "Be Strong and of Good Courage".

Chore I don't care for: Dishes

Dog or Cat: Dogs

Essential Electronics: Coffeepot, Computer, TV.

Favorite Cologne: Stetson

Gold or Silver: Gold

Handbag I Carry Most Often: I don't, got so used to diaper bags that I hardly have a purse LOL

Insomnia: Yes, it appeared out of nowhere the minute I gave birth to my first child

Job Title: Follower of Christ, Wife, Mother, Friend, Chauffeur, Chef, Psychologist, Laundromat Manager

Kids: Daughter Jasmine, 7 years old and Son Nicholas, 3 years old

Living Arrangements: Us four, plus three dogs in Air Force Base Housing.

Most Admirable Trait: Good Listener

Naughtiest Childhood Behavior: Being Miss Drama

Overnight Hospital Stays: April 1999 for the birth of Jasmine and then April 2003 for the birth of Nicholas

Phobias: Mice, they totally gross me out. If you want to see me scream like a little girl, show me a mouse.

Quote: "We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey."
-Stephen Covey

Religion: Christian

Siblings: One sister and 3 brothers

Time I Wake Up: 6am

Unusual Talent or Skill: Ummm I sing and once recorded an album AND sang in front of 2000 people

Vegetable I Refuse to Eat: Tomato

Worst Habit: Eating junk food

X-rays: Chest and Wrist

Yummy Stuff I Cook: Oh Lordy, I can't think of one, my hubby and kids say EVERYTHING LOL

Zoo Animal I Like Most: Panda

I tag anyone who reads this, if you read it, consider yourself tagged LOL And I WILL go check to make sure, well, not really, but anyway.....TAG YOU'RE IT!!!

The Bond that Never Breaks........

Last night I was feeling really down and depressed, and I couldn't understand why. I was on the verge of tears and everything was getting to me.
I tried to figure out what the problem was but obviously was getting nowhere. When I got ready for bed and was doing my usual prayer, I mentioned to God that something was really upsetting me and that I needed some sign or guidance as to what it was.
I fell asleep and then had a dream, or what I think was a dream.
It went something like this:

I was walking through a beautiful garden, just amazed at all the beauty around me. Out of nowhere I heard this voice say "mommy", I stopped and turned around and saw a little girl walking towards me. As I'm sitting there looking at her I am thinking "this isn't Jasmine, who is this?", but I felt a huge bond with her. She came over and we hugged and just talked, I don't remember what it was about and it was all kinda hazy, but I remember talking for what seemed like hours. All of sudden I woke up, sat up in bed and I knew why I was upset.
It hadn't even occurred to me that it was around this time in 2001 when I had my first miscarriage. WOW!!!
It all makes sense now because I get really down and sad around May-June of every year, the time I had both the miscarriages in 2001.

I thanked the Lord for showing me the reason why I was so upset. It put my mind at ease and helped me understand the reason for feeling that way.
Guess it really is true that a mother and child bond never breaks, no matter how little or how long we've had them in our lives.

For those of you that don't know, I have this love for coffee mugs. I could just collect tons and never get tired of them. This morning while messing around with my Graphics Program, I decided to make myself some mugs at my Cafepress Store. So I made one for every day of the week, except Thursday, still need one for that day. But here is the cool thing, I guess so they would inspire me, lol, I used the different themes. So I have the "On the Menu Monday", "Treasure Tuesday", "Works for Me Wednesday", "Remember When Friday". Need to find a theme for Thursday that I like, I'm not too keen on the Thursday Thirteen LOL

Don't forget to check out the Works for Me Wednesday post, just below. Shannon has a list of all the participants and they have tons of useful tips to make your life easier :)

On base we have a place called "Airman's Attic". They are located at every base and they are pretty much like a thrift store just that everything is free. According to how many members you have in your family etc, they assign how many items of clothing or miscellanous you can get. Mine turned out to be something crazy like 80 items of clothing a month and 20 miscellanous.
Now that spring has started, I've gone through spring cleaning the house, and when I got to the kids rooms I realized that the clothes that didn't fit them anymore, were far more than the clothes that were now left on the hangers. Just a few lonely items remained. So, what I do, I take all those clothes (in good condition, some of them practically new), to the airman's attic as a donation, and then on monday, wednesday and thursday I go back and get more summer outfits for them. You would be surprised at all the NEW clothes I have found up there. I don't think I need to buy my kids anything for a LONG time.
It becomes sort of an exchange system!!!

Well I have to get going, got housework to do. I wish Emily would come over and help me with laundry LOL
We both seem to love doing it, and I have to say I really like her idea of having the guys come and help us do it instead of going overseas.....THAT would rock!!! LOL

Works for Me Wednesday!!!

I'm just loving these WFMW, thanks Shannon for such a great idea :)
As always don't forget to check out her site for the list of other participants, I'm sure you'll find at least one whose idea will blow you away.

So here is mine for today:

With spring here and summer just around the corner, I find that I'm craving ice cream a LOT. Now since I know how expensive it can get and how fattening it is, last year out of mere necessity, I tried something new.

It was a summer afternoon, the kids and I decided to go have some fun on the trampoline. Before we did though I had told the kids that if they behaved and didn't throw a huge fit when I said it's time to come back in the house, we would have ice cream sandwiches. I was convinced I still had some in the freezer.
While the kids were getting their sandals on etc, I decided to check. I DIDN'T HAVE ANY!!!

But now I was really craving them. So this is what I did, IMPROVISE!!!
I grabbed a box of Honey Graham Crackers and a Tub of Fat Free Cool Whip. I made my own ice cream sandwiches, wrapped each one individually using Cling Wrap, and stuck them in the freezer. I must have made 24 or more since the kids got involved helping too and it was fun.

Let me tell you, they turned out really good and so much healthier than the usual ice cream sandwiches. The kids and I loved them and from that day on, every summer I've kept a stash of them in the freezer. It definitely Works for Me!!!!

EDIT: Just wanted to let you all know that I've tried different flavor graham crackers and different flavored Cool Whip, even the Strawberry one and they turned out really good :)

Treasure Tuesday and others......

Boy has blogger been PMSing today. It's been like pulling teeth trying to get on ANY blogs associated with blogger, and let's not even mention trying to post anything.
It seems to have given me a few minutes so I'm going to try and get this posted as quick as possible.

I'm going to start with my Treasure Tuesday. For more info and a list of other participants be sure to check out Faith at Faithful Mommy :)

My treasure today is a scrapbook that I started when I met hubby. As a lot of you who read my blog know, we met online and talked back and forth for a year. During that time, I accumulated a lot of letters, photos, emails etc.

This may seem like a small thing to others but it's a HUGE treasure to me. I brought it all the way from South Africa and it's lasted 9 years so far, hope it lasts many many more.

One of the first thing Curt sent me was a poem he had written for me. He sent it about a week or two after we had met. I actually entered this poem online a few months ago and it has now been picked to be part of a Poetry Book being published this year. How exciting!!!!

I even kept the backs of CD's that he had bought and sent over to South Africa. The kids LOVE going through the scrapbook and reading the letters daddy sent mommy.

Nothing like picking up the scrapbook and going through it. There's so many memories in there and it always makes us smile and remind us of why we fell in love. :)
So that's my Treasure for Today :)

Alright now moving on, yesterday after picking up Jasmine from school I was faced with one of the issues I've always hoped I wouldn't have to deal with.
Apparently she took some candy from the teachers desk. Now if I didn't care I honestly would have just let it go, but I think that it's extremely important to teach kids right from wrong at an early age.
Today it's a piece of candy, tomorrow it's a car, know what I mean?

Jasmine didn't exactly understand what she had done. When I brought it to her attention then she started getting the picture and was extremely embarassed to have done it. I made her take the piece of candy back to the teacher, I think she learnt her lesson and will never do it again.
Anyone else out there had to deal with this issue already?

So yesterday I told you I would start posting my weight.

136 lbs

I found a really good site that I'm sure will help me. My goal is to go back down to 125 lbs by July 1st, 2006. If you are wanting to loose weight too and don't know where to start, or maybe you want a good place to keep track of your calories, then THIS is the place to go.
It's called SparkePeople and it's a free site. It's got tons of awesome calculators and tools, exercises you can do, menu plans, printable shopping lists etc.

Let me tell you, I had NO idea how many calories I was consuming until I tracked them yesterday. For me to loose this weight I need to eat between 1200-1550 calories a day, by dinner time yesterday I had consumed 2100. OMG, OMG, OMG.....I was soooooo upset with myself. It was that pineaplle upside down cake I tell ya. And those Lay's Chips didn't help either, but then again, maybe it was the Milky Way Bar I had.........SEE, even writing it down, I can't believe I ate all that in one day as well as my normal meals.
So I'm determined to make this work...wish me luck LOL

I was laying in bed last night, after the kids had fallen asleep, and I thought that I would read, but wasn't really in the mood for any of the books I had on my night table, so I went looking for one and then came across a book on my TBR (To Be Read) Pile. It was by Debbie Macomber and it's called "Navy Brides". It's a compilation of 3 different stories and I read the first one last night, I just couldn't put it down. I could relate to so much in the book due to being a military wife.
I think any military spouse could relate to the feelings portrayed by the characters, that feeling of comraderie, knowing that when your husband is deployed you have others to turn to, others feeling the same way and going through the same notions. Can't wait to finish the book tonight.

Before I close this post I want to point you in the direction of some blogs I found are worth checking out and just love visiting. Everytime I add a new blog to my blogroll I'll be sure to post it so you all can also check them out.

5 Minutes for Mom - What a great site, it has tons of information, tons of links to other mom, christian, military sites. It's definitely a must read.

Midnight in Iraq - Jeff is a Marine officer deployed to Iraq right now. His blog and his words give us true insight as to what their daily life is like over there. He always has tons of pictures and great stories to share. Please go on over to show your support, the soldiers always love knowing that us back home are thinking of them and praying for their safety.

The Desert Excursion: 365 days in Iraq - a 24/7 Soldier Medic - Nick Bope is deployed to Iraq with Emily's hubby Dan. Nick also gives us first hand insight as to their days spent in the sandbox. Another worthwhile blog to visit and show support.

Well ladies, hope you all have a wonderful tuesday. Oh and don't forget to head on over to Kisses of Sunshine for today's "Tuesday Toss-up", she is sharing MercyMe's latest video, really neat :)

Also, if you have little ones and are wondering how to approach the whole "Allowances and Chores" subject, check out Shannon's blog today, there's loads of great tips.

And that's it for today. I have more laundry to finish and some ironing to do, then the usual daily housecleaning. Don't know how much I'll get done, my sinus headache went away but seems to be returning today, yuck.

GRRRRRRRR!!!!

If you've been visiting my blog for a while, you know that I don't like my scale, and that's putting it mildly. If you read my other scale post back in march, you will understand one of the reasons why.

Yesterday I had said that I was going to start my weight chart today, and would post it on the blog etc. Well, I decided to start tomorrow LOL
The reason is that this weekend while running around with the family and with the sinus headache going on, I didn't watch what I ate, or rather, I watched and kept eating. *Sigh*. Yeah yeah, I know, but I have this love affair with food and if my body even suspects I'm wanting to diet it goes beserk on me and I find myself literally raiding the refrigerator or running to the nearest fast food place. It's weird!!!!
If I don't mention the word diet and just start eating more veggies and fruits, drinking water and so forth, then my body is fine with it, so I have to lie to her (my body). LOL

We got a lot done yesterday, rearranged and reorganized Jasmine's room. We finally found a desk for her computer so now she's all set. But in doing all this we realized just how spoilt she really is. We found gifts from Christmas and her birthday that have yet to be opened.
It really does go to show that things nowadays are so different from when I was a child. I remember getting presents and being so excited, I opened every single one and played with them all. Not now, nuh uh, there are toys and books in Jasmine's room that she had totally forgotten about.
So this is what I did, I took all the toys that haven't been opened and put them away in a separate area, then I told Curt that next Christmas I will just wrap these back up and give them to her again. She wouldn't even know the difference. (well, I won't really do that, but it's a nice thought LOL)

I mentioned before that I take all my old books that I don't want to keep, and I post them on Paperbackswap.com, when you first sign up you get I think 9 credits which are good for 9 books. You then post your books, if someone wants one of them, you get an email saying the book has been requested. Then you print out the wrapper, wrap the book and attach 4 stamps and mail it off, once the person gets the book they go to their paperbackswap account and put it down as being received, and then you get another credit in return. Well that's what I've been doing since last year and I've been able to get a lot of nice christian books that I wanted. Last week I was able to request "Another Fine Mess, Lord!: Finding Simplicity, Order & Insight in a Complicated World" by Karon Phillips Goodman. I'm SO looking forward to this book, this is from the same author as "You're Late Again, Lord!: The Impatient Woman's Guide to God's Timing". Now THAT book has taught me a lot.

Chaotic mom has a really funny post this morning, so go on over and read it. I think all women can relate to that feeling.

This morning while reading my email I got this from a friend. It's called "Don't Drive on Sunday". Check out the site and see what you think. This will be easy for me because since spring started and the weather is so nice, I try to get as much walking as possible, just don't like being cooped up in the car.

I don't know if I'm getting old or what it is, but I find myself doing really stupid things lately. One of the biggest ones definitely has to be the dishwasher and washer/dryer. I'm so good about loading them and getting the detergents etc in there, then I walk away, YEAH, just walk away as if by some invisible force they will remember to start on their own. Come oooonnnnn.....how many times do I have to do this before I realize that it's ME who has to tell them what to do?

So in keeping with the spirit of this, I noticed that I would put something on the stove or oven and when I went back to check it, nothing was happening. I really thought I must be loosing my mind, until yesterday afternoon, I walk into the kitchen and find my 3 year old turning the knob off. So THAT is what is going on....unfortunately I can't blame him for the others. Oh well, I tried!!!

Traci over at "Mostly Precious Moments" started at new column named "On the Menu Monday". I just had to jump on this train too, I think it's a great idea to swap recipes and see what everyone else is cooking.

So this is what we're having today, the kids and hubby love this roast because it just falls apart and is soooooo tasty. Enjoy!!!

Awesome Slow Cooker Pot Roast

INGREDIENTS:

* 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
* 1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
* 1 1/4 cups water
* 5 1/2 pounds pot roast

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a slow cooker, mix cream of mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix and water. Place pot roast in slow cooker and coat with soup mixture.
2. Cook on High setting for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low setting for 8 to 9 hours.

Well this was fun and now I have to go finish my laundry, if it were up to me I would be on the computer all day long, just blogging away and chatting with friends.....but reality calls. I have a 3 year old feeding the dog "french toast sticks". Time to go do the mommy thing.....hope you all have a great monday :)

If I could just get rid of

this Sinus pressure, I would be a much happier person today. For the past 3 days I've had the worst sinus headache and even though it's nothing new to me, for some reason this time it's worse because the daylight is bugging me.
Doesn't help either that I can only take my medication when I KNOW I'm not going out the rest of the day, those pills knock me out. Alright, enough complaining from me :)

Yesterday turned out to be a really awesome Family Day for us. We started off the morning having fun on the trampoline and then I had to take Jasmine to a birthday party at the bowling alley. After the party, Jasmine and I headed back home to pick up the boys for lunch and we all decided to head on back to the alley for some bowling. WHAT FUN!!!

We got home around 4:30pm and it was such a gorgeous day outside that we decided to go out for a walk and to the park with the kids and Lola. I'm just loving this warm weather, it feels great to get nice fresh air instead of being cooped up in the house.
So, here is a little video of yesterday. Enjoy!!!

But now that I'm looking outside, the weather is looking kinda yucky, it's cloudy and it's supposed to rain this afternoon, so I think we may be stuck in the house again. We have a few library movies to watch so it won't be too bad, although we are all thinking of going for a game of bowling AGAIN, since sundays it's only $1 a game. Guess we caught the bowling bug!!! LOL
Unfortunately, I think Nicholas and I are also coming down with a spring cold, feeling a little congested this morning and I heard him coughing too, I'm just hoping that Jasmine doesn't get it, she's missed way too much school this year due to sickness.

Every morning while reading my favorite blogs I always come across a useful tip or link. This time I found something that most of us using blogger, have been looking for. A way to make categories on our sidebars. If you go HERE, you can follow the simple instructions and in no time have your own blog categorized. Look over at my left menu, just under my "Recent Entries". How neat is that?

Another fun quiz or tool I found is called The Mom Salary Wizard. You enter how many kids you have, the zip code you live in and also the hours you spend each week on each household task. It then calculates the salary you should be getting a year. Well, mine is $128,270!!! If only!!! LOL
Go ahead and give it a go and let's see what yours would be :)

After reading "Ramblings of a SAHM" and Katie's weight loss journey, I've decided it's high time I start doing the same. So every week I'm going to post my weight until I'm down to where I want to be, which is 125lbs. Boy this is going to be tough, but I think that if I can post it on here I will really feel compelled to do my best and start loosing those pounds. Wish me luck, I have a strong love affair with food, it's going to be hard to let go.
Will post my weight tomorrow morning and then next week monday again to see if I've managed to loose any. If anyone wants to embark on this journey with me, feel free to jump aboard the "Weight Loss Train", should be an interesting ride LOL

Well I better get off the computer, have to go start the grill for lunch. I missed BBQ's, it's always so cold during the winter and with all the snow we get here I don't even TRY to get out there to grill something for dinner. Even though it's cloudy today, it's in the 50's so it feels good being out there.

Have a great sunday everyone. I'm going to have a burger and then relax in front of the tv with a good dose of Sinus medication........ahhhhhh heaven. :)

This and That!!!

While surfing the net yesterday I came upon this site called Pathways to Peace. It's such an uplifting place.

"Our goal is to create beautiful, inspiring presentations that make a positive difference in the lives of millions of people around the world."

They have two powerful presentations which you can view here, please do, I promise you will be touched by the messages and also reminded of how wonderful God is :)

Pathways to Peace
Interview with God

This morning I want to start by bringing your attention to two beautiful and amazing ladies that I have met through the blogging world.

The first one is Courtney, she is married to Matt who is currently deployed to Iraq. They have 3 beautiful children. Courtney is the typical military wife, totally supportive of her husband while having to endure months and months of separation, being the mom and the dad for the kids and keeping the house running while daddy is away.
I ask that you go over to her site "Waiting on my Soldier" and show some support, and say a prayer for them during this rough period.

The next lady is Emily. Now a lot of you already had the pleasure of meeting Em through the blogs. She's another amazing military wife dealing with the daily struggles of life while her soldier hubby Dan, is away in Iraq. Emily is so devoted to God that it's truly inspiring to read her posts and her journey through this deployment. So again I ask, if you have some time, please go on over to "Consider how the Lillies Grow" and show her some support and also keep them in your prayers.

Being a military wife myself, it's always wonderful to hear a word of encouragement and know that there are people supporting us and our husbands and praying for us.

Yesterday was the school's Annual Carnival. Because Curt was working "late man", which means going in at 8pm until everything and everyone is done for the night, he was able to go with us for an hour. The kids had a blast. Jasmine got to ride a horse which was the highlight of her night, boy that girl loves horses, she even asked the owner how much she paid for hers.
Yeah I can just see us dishing out $800 for a horse that mommy is too scared to get on. LOL

Inside the school we played all sorts of games, well, the KIDS played the games. They got tons of prizes and candy so they were happy, and they even got their faces painted.

Julie from Everyday Mommy, had said in my comments yesterday that she wanted to see a pic of me sans the coffee mug LOL So just for you Julie, and I don't do this for everyone because I HATE having my picture taken LOL, I let the kids snap a couple of pics of me. Enjoy!!!
Don't say I didn't warn you though, I'm not photogenic at all, I always think I look weird in my photos and I'm extremely self conscious, but anyway......here you go LOL

And I just had to post these because I LOVE how they turned out :)


Alright that's it for photos LOL

So today Jasmine has a birthday party to go to, it's also at the Bowling Alley just like hers was, so she's excited. I'm excited too because I get to go and Nicholas stays with daddy :)

Later we are rearranging the living room/office area, we have to make room for Jasmine's new computer. I think we're running out of room in this house, I just can't wait until we get moved to new housing, but knowing my luck we will finally get orders somewhere just after or before we move LOL

Yesterday while reading my favorite blogs, I saw that Momrn2 at "My Quiet Corner", had posted her 100 things, and that got me thinking about mine which I posted sometime back in February, so if you want to see my list and learn a bit more about me, then go HERE.

As I'm sitting here typing, I have the most gorgeous sunlight coming in to the living room. The weather has been amazing lately, temperatures go up to the 80's and it's made for some much needed outside time. So with that said, I'm going to get dressed and start my day. I will probably be back later with an update of how the day went, hope you all have a great saturday :)

Are you READY for this??????

So we've been hearing stories of badgers being spotted on base. Yesterday afternoon, Jasmine had gone to play at a friends house and when I went to go pick her up, I saw Jamie (friend's mom) walking with Jasmine towards me and looking a little scared of something.

I asked what was wrong and they told me they had just seen a badger on the school grounds. Now mind you, Jamie's house is RIGHT behind the school. Jamie informed me that the badger was really big, so Janet another friend and neighbor had called up the base housing informing them.
Do you know what they told her????

"We can't do anything about that, we have a refuge out there!" WHAT?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!
A badger refuge on school grounds? Now I've never personally seen a badger, only on tv, but those things have HUGE claws and they are big, they are also quite vicious. So this morning I'm calling the school, the security desk on base AND Animology on base. Something has to be done, our kids are out there during recess playing and the last thing I want is one badly hurt because people were just not taking this issue seriously.

Anyway, you know even though I'm 31, some of the jargon used nowadays, really confuses me. It took me forever to figure out what "Bling Bling" meant. Now that I know, I find it funny that my daughter has a shirt saying exactly that, especially since she informed me the other day that she wants to get her ears pierced but only if she can get diamond earrings. Ummm YEAH, I'll get right to work on that one.

Today is only half day at school, so they get out at 1:30pm to prepare for the Annual School Carnival. Kids always have a blast. Each classroom is decorated for different games where they can win prizes. The gym also has tons of games they can play plus food like hotdogs, nachos etc. It's not a big deal but the kids love it and it's one of those nice times to have kids and teachers interact on a social level, just laughing and having a good ol' time. So we're definitely going today.

Yesterday before Curt left for work, Nicholas asked daddy to make his hair spiky. They both took off for the bathroom and minutes later they emerged with spiked hair. Nic was all proud and showing off what daddy had done for him. When Curt tried to walk out the door, Nicholas ran straight to him and grabbed his legs crying "I want to go to work with you". We told him he couldn't do that, especially since daddy works with the F-16's. He cried and cried and kept asking and we kept telling that he just couldn't go and we were sorry.
Next thing we know, he runs into the living room and we hear "I DON'T WANT MY SPIKY".
We find him in there wildly and frantically rubbing his hair to get the spiky out LOL
It was hilarious for him to even do that, it's like, "well you can't take me to work with you, then forget it, I don't want the spiky you gave me" LOL

I know this post is full of pics of my kids, but they're just so gorgeous, I couldn't help myself today. Sorry if I'm bragging!!!
They were goofing off this morning and gave me perfect opportunity to snap some pics :)

Ok so on to today's "Remember When???". This one is about our trip last summer to Utah. I'm sure my mother in law and brother in law will get a kick out of it again. Everyone had a good laugh at my expense, including MYSELF LOL

Last year June, my MIL and BIL came to visit for about a month. We always love having them over because we laugh and play games and just enjoy talking and having fun. This time though since they were staying longer, we had a couple of outings planned. One of them took us to Ogden, Utah, four hours from where we live. We were going to the Ogden Dinosaur Musem/Park, which the kids just love and though we'd been there before, we wanted to take Mom and Chris.
So we get there and we are walking around and looking at all the great dinosaur exhibits etc. They have this big outside area where you walk around and there's dinosaurs all over the place, in the trees, bush etc.

We were having a great time!!! We start walking towards this exhibit which is located through a small trail covered in trees etc, which leads to almost like a small cave with a dinosaur skeleton inside. Curt, the kids and Chris all went ahead first and then mom and I were last, on the way up from the trail, for some unknown reason, I decided to step in front of mom and walk ahead. Next thing I know I hear birds flying and then feel what seemed like HUGE rain drops. In my mind I'm thinking "Good Lord, those are HUGE rain drops, I mean I felt them on my arm and legs". I look down and instead am met with the biggest bird poop I've ever seen. LOL
Instantly this light bulb goes off in my head and I'm almost afraid to look down at my clothes.
YEAH, I got pooped on!!!! And not just a small little drop, these were like 5 or 6 HUGE droppings on my arms and legs. LOL
It felt like the birds came out of nowhere and just flew low over me and dropped their bombs. I just burst out laughing, even though I realized that now I have to finish the outing looking like I just stepped out of a paintball session. LOL

Alright this is a really long post, so I hope no one fell asleep, I promise to keep the one tomorrow short and sweet, how's that?

Well it's time to pick up the phone and start Badger Hunting, hopefully we will have the badgers cleared out of the school areas soon. As for today, Jasmine and Scottie have been told to play near the school building, I'm just terrified of a kid getting hurt out there.
Have an awesome friday everyone.
I leave you with a little insight for May 5.

MORE TRUTHS BROUGHT TO US BY CHILDREN:

• Don't let your mom brush your hair when she's mad at your dad.
• If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. It's always the second person who gets caught.

Weathering the Storms!!!

Storms come to every life. Threats to income, conflict in marriages, rebellion from children, disease, disaster, and death - the storms attack with a fury. Some weather the storms; others are blown away by them. What makes the difference? Is it accidental? Is it just luck? No. The difference lies in where we choose to take shelter.

The power in those words is unbelievable. For so long I've been saying that "it's the way we choose to look at things that makes the difference" and especially WHO we choose to put the burden on that affects the outcome.

It's easy to get blown away, to give up and think, well, I tried (not really), but this is just bigger than me!!! The fact is that there IS something bigger than you, but it's not the problem, it's God.
Why do we constantly fight the urge to put everything in his hands? Is it because we want to continue controlling every detail of ours lives and putting all of that in the Lord's hands somehow makes us weaker?

I know that for me, the past struggles I've had, miscarriages, financial problems, conflicts in the marriage and so on, only caused me to turn towards God. But I also know that there are those who choose to do otherwise and end up in a spiral, their whole world falling apart.
What got me thinking about this, was the post on Gibee's blog "Kisses of Sunshine" yesterday. Go on over and read it if you haven't yet. She talks about Trusting the Shepherd, and oh my, what powerful words she has to share with us all.

So here is my question to you. In which shelter will you choose to weather the storms - God's strong house, or a flimsy tent?

I pick the strong house!!!

"And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible."
Mark 10:27

We're almost at the end of another week, time just seems to be flying by. This morning while leaving to take Jasmine to school, I talked to my neighbor, she was cleaning out her car in preparations to take her husband to the airport. Her husband leaves today on a 1 year tour to Korea. I could have just said hi and kept walking, but I made it a point to ask her how SHE was doing. See, it's always so easy to think about the soldier heading out, and yes we need to worry about them too, but I think it's a good feeling to have someone ask about YOU and how you are feeling. She just shrugged and said she was OK, but I could tell she had been crying.
My heart breaks for her.
Our husbands are our lives and when they get sent anywhere in the world, no matter for how long or short a period of time, it's always a hard thing to deal with.
So I let her know that if she ever needs anything, we are right next door. If you could today, pray for her and her husband, so they both may have the strength to get through the next year.

So my kids think I'm some sort of SuperWoman. The reason is that ever since I've had kids, and I know a lot of moms will agree with me, I've developed or rather INCREASED my senses.
I can be upstairs and the kids playing downstairs in the living room, and I will tell them to stop doing something without even seeing them.

Kids - "how did you know?"
Mom - "I just do!"

I'm sound asleep and one of the kids just stirs in his bed, I jump up and run to check on them.

Hubby - "What the heck are you doing?"
Mom - "checking on the kids"
Hubby - "Why? I didn't hear them cry"
Mom - "they didn't, I just felt them stir in their sleep"
Hubby - (looking at me like I grew two heads) "ooookkkaaayyyyy"

Giving the kids a bath yesterday.

Mom - "I think Lola just did something in your bedroom Jasmine."
Jasmine - "did what?"
Mom - "I think she went potty in your bedroom, I can smell it"
Jasmine - "no you can't, I can't smell anything"
Mom - "ok why don't you get out of the bathtub and go check and then let me know?"
2 minutes later........
Jasmine - "mommy, Lola pooped on my rug".
BINGO!!!!

So yeah, these abilities are great but at other times they can become quite frustrating, as I'm overwhelmed with conversations or smells that I don't want to be familiar with.
Any other mom out there suddenly become SUPERWOMAN??? If you did, let me know LOL

I think I've babble on long enough today. My coffee has gone cold and my toast has now become a rock hard piece of bread, I'm sure it could do bodily harm if flung across the room.
I have laundry waiting to be switched from washer to dryer, so I better get on that........hope I remember to turn it ON afterwards, you know, maybe these extra refined senses are taking away from my brain power? That wouldn't be a good thing, what good could come of a dumb mommy with an incredible sense of smell?

WORKS FOR ME WEDNESDAY!!!

I'm loving this "Works for me Wednesday", and I've picked up some amazing tips from all the ladies. Can't wait to read the new ones today. :)
For more WFMW participants, head on over to Shannon's Blog :)
So here is my tip for this week.

Usually during the summer we take trips from Idaho to Oklahoma to visit my mother in law. Now having two young kids, you know that it's going to be one heck of a ride LOL

Kids get bored easily and not even 4 hours into our 24 hour drive, they are already fighting, crying, wanting to get out of the car etc.

So, last time we went to Oklahoma I decided I had to come up with something to keep them busy. The first thing I did was obviously, use the toy boxes that we got for them.
Then I went online and printed out a map of the USA showing some of the major cities we would drive through. They each got one of these maps and a highlighter. I mapped out our route on each one and the kids were able to follow along on the trip and cross out every place we went through, it also gave them a sense of how far or how close we were.
Another good idea was to give them each one of those disposable cameras which they used to take photos of every spot we stopped at, along with little souvenirs they would pick up along the way.

When you get back home, you can just sit down and make a scrapbook of your summer trip. It's a nice keepsake to have!!!

One other tip is to try and travel as much as you can during the night, the kids are asleep for longer and don't get as bored, PLUS you can get a few more hours in the trip before having to stop.

*************************************

On to something else......this morning I got an email from my mother in law. She volunteers at this Pregnancy Resource Center and this is what she had to say:

It is a Christ-centered organization. I had to sign a statement of faith before they would welcome me aboard. All the women are good Christian women.
Our goal is to give God the glory as we help young women who find themselves in a
crisis. We prepare ourselves with prayer. We meet together before
our shift and pray for the young women who will be walking through the doors. We tell them up front that we are a Christian organization and are funded totally by donations of churches and individuals. We share God's love and encourage them to find their strength in God's love and compassion for them. We let them talk and share their fears or concerns.

We offer free pregnancy tests and one free ultrasound right there at the center. Everything is kept confidential. They can trust us. We also provide diapers, formula and baby clothes to meet the client's needs. All our services are 100% free.

We give special attention to teens. We have abstinence-until-marriage programs.
And we have excellent videos the girls can watch in a quiet private room that shares knowledge and education regarding choices they make today - that will effect them tomorrow.

I think it's just amazing and a great opportunity to share the Lord's love and work with others.
They are having a Walk for Life on Saturday the 13th of May, and that is their main fund raiser, so if you're anywhere near the Lawton, Oklahoma area, and would like to check it out, that would be wonderful.

The reason I'm posting about this is that they really appreciate prayers for the ministry and the work they are doing, so if you could just send out a prayer for them, I would be so grateful.

So last night I'm watching tv, and in between one of my shows I was AGAIN surfing the channels. I stopped at MTV's "My Super Sweet Sixteen" show and I am appalled.
Yes absolutely disgusted with what I was seeing. Now mind you, I'm not against spoiling your kids, Lord knows I've spoiled mine but to a certain extent. There's a point in time where you have to draw the line and encourage children to learn about money, allowances and working towards what you want. You start giving them everything and they just don't appreciate what they have and later grow to be stubborn, greedy and ungrateful adults.

That unfortunately is what I saw on the show. Ok so for those that don't know what it's about, it's pretty much rich families throwing "Sweet Sixteen" parties for their teens. That's all fine and dandy but when you see a 15 year old girl throw a tantrum because she wants a car NOW, and her dad had to work out the details so she could only get the car (OF HER CHOICE) the following morning....that just makes me sick.

On a different note, I am so excited, I got my mail this morning and had a movie from Netflix waiting. I had forgotten about it, and when I opened it I jumped for joy......."The Hiding Place", movie about Corrie Ten Boom's book. Guess what I'm watching tonight??? :)

Well I gotta get going, have to start cleaning my carpets, managed to get a carpet cleaner from the Self Help on base. Will let you all know how I liked the movie. Hope everyone has a great day, and again don't forget to head on over to Rocks in my Dryer for the list of Works for me Wednesday participants :)

TREASURE TUESDAY!!!

My greatgrandmother was by far the most influential woman in my life. She taught me SO much and I only hope that one day I can pass on if just a tenth of what she instilled in me.

So my Tuesday Treasures are ALL about my Bio (it's pronounced Bee-awww, not bio like something else LOL).

First let me tell you a bit about her. She was born in 1906 and when she was 4 years old her mother died of cancer. Her father then took on the sole responsibility of raising her and her older brother, until he remarried and then had another son. Within a few years, and when her older brother was 29, he was suddenly killed while out fishing. Apparently he was struck by lightning and fell into the ocean. Now my greatgrandma had been cooking and taking care of the house since she was a little girl, around 8 or 9. Her dad had to work so she would make sure he had his meals ready when he got home.
Unfortunately when she was 13 years old, she came home from school only to find her father had hung himself in the kitchen.

Such a tragic life she had and you would have thought it would be enough to keep her down, but it didn't, she was the strongest and most courageous woman I have EVER come across.
She married when she was 16 years old and her husband, my greatgrandpa, was 26. They had a wonderful life together, but he unfortunately also later passed away with cancer when she was just 40 something years old.

My bio was the family matriarch. She pretty much raised me and my brothers while our parents were out working, she cooked meals for sometimes 20 people, took care of the housework, the kids, anything and everything. One of the things I most treasure and remember was her nightly ritual. She would get ready for bed and then sit down, kiss the photo of her husband and pray, then go to sleep. This went on for years and years and years.
She got really sick when she was 94 years old, and I remember the day I left South Africa to come to the States. I kissed her goodbye and gave her a huge hug and told her I loved her, she just smiled back at me so sweetly and said "I love you sandra, you be a good wife and a good mother and I hope to see you someday soon".

That was September 1998!!!
March 24, 1999, I was laying in bed and the phone rang at 5am, it was one of my older brothers and I knew what he was going to say. She passed away a month before Jasmine was born.
My heart still aches for her and I miss her terribly, but I know she's watching over me and the kids.

I will forever be greatful for what she taught me, I am the woman I am today because of HER.
I have a few items that belonged to her, and I treasure them dearly. So these are my TUESDAY TREASURES!!!

This is my greatgrandfather. I have the original jewelry box which contains this pendant. It's so beautiful and I love looking it at it every chance I get. :)

This is an old old old pin that my greatgrandmother used to wear. She passed this on to my daughter Jasmine. I am keeping it for her until she's old enough to take care of it :)

This ring belonged to my greatgrandmother and was given to her by my greatgrandfather. I always loved looking at it, so when she passed away, it was one of the things that came to me. I try not to wear it too often for fear of loosing it. :)

And there you have it, my Tuesday Treasures. Sorry the post was so long, but I hope you all enjoy it :)

Before I close though, I want to send out a Happy Birthday to my sister in law, Lilian.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIL!!!

Sis, I hope you have a wonderful day and that you get everything you've ever wished for. I wish I was there to celebrate with all of you, but just know that I will be there in spirit and thought.

We love you sis and miss you tons.

Wow it's May!!!!

I just can't believe how fast this year is going by. It feels like just yesterday we were putting away the christmas decorations and now we're almost heading into summer break.

I'm going to be running around today, it's always like that on payday. See, being military we get paid on the 1st and the 15th of each month, so those are two sure HECTIC days for us.

Jasmine woke up this morning with a cough and she felt a little warm, but not warm enough to stay home from school, I just hope she isn't coming down with another cold, you all know how easily she gets sick, so I'm praying to God that she gets over whatever this is FAST.

My dad sent me two more photos from the Kruger National Park, so I'm posting them here for you all to enjoy. How amazing that the animals are that close huh?
I remember a certain story that my dad always tells us, about how they went to the Park when they were little, and they had their windows wide open. They came across some monkeys and before they could close the windows the monkeys jumped into the back seat and proceeded to eat the bananas they had back there LOL
I think I would have passed out with fright!!!
So here you go, a photo of another elephant (I can see dad is getting adventurous again and not sitting back a mile away lol), and one of a mommy and baby monkey. :)

Again last night as I was searching the tv for something interesting to watch, I was lucky to catch another program by Pastor McBath. This time the topic was "The purpose filled Life", and wow it blew me away.

Something really stuck with me.

You'll never find life until you find purpose in something bigger than yourself.

• You cannot be a blessing in your own strength.
• You cannot be a blessing and walk in pride.
• You cannot be a blessing until you're willing to serve.
• You cannot be a blessing until you listen to God for instructions.

How true is that??? Something else that I was reminded of is that once you give your life to God the REAL work begins. It's almost like being selected for a class or course and then you study and you work for it, you don't just get accepted and that's it. It would be so much easier if it was that way, but what would we learn?

So here's my weekend recap:

The good: We spent saturday morning and afternoon cleaning, mowing and planting out in the front yard, it was hard work but the yard looks great.

The bad: At about 5pm I was watching tv and got a SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH. Next thing I know we are being hit by hail, 60pmh winds, thunder and lightning, which in turn destroyed my newly planted tulips.

The good: I was finally able to fit my comforter into my washer, so I wouldn't have to drag it to the laundromat every friday when I change the bed, therefore I washed IT, plus all the sheets and the mattress protector at home.

The bad: I was so thrilled with the newly discovered ability and money saving technique, that I quickly made the bed back up only to discover that I totally forgot to put the mattress protector back on.......it now reminds me WHY we need a new mattress, those springs killed me all night.

The good: Managed to watch "Flighplan" and "Narnia" on sunday.

The bad: Started the movies at 1pm and didn't finish watching until 6pm because of the thousand interruptions by little ones. "I want a snack"...."no nicholas you can't play my game"...."leave me alone jasmine"...."can I have popcorn?"......."this movie is boring"....."I'm tired"....."can you get me a drink, I'm thirsty". You get the idea right?

The good: Got all my laundry done.

The bad: woke up this morning to realize that for some insane reason, I put the last load in the dryer, threw in the dryer sheets but FORGOT to turn it on, so now I have wet, moldy smelling clothes which need to be washed again.

So there you have it, my weekend summary, sounds exciting doesn't it? lol

I better get a move on, gotta get my menus and grocery list ready, have tons to do today.
Hope you all have a wonderful first day of May :)