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 :)