Treasure Trooper!!!

Ok I just had to post this real quick. A friend of mine told me about this site and how you go in and register for free and then sign up for a few offers and get paid for it.
At first I was hesitant, I REALLY don't trust places like this. But I thought, you know with the kids birthdays this month and all the other expenses we have, any extra income helps right?

Well I signed up and within the first day I had already made $20. I signed up for a few offers, a lot of them free and some real cheap like $1 for a 30 day trial. I did that and then went ahead and cancelled my offers before the trials ran out. I just sat back and thought, BLEH, not going to get paid.

Well I open up my email today and see this:
From: TreasureTrooper Com To: bourlandcs@msn.com
Subject: You've Been Paid!

I quickly go over to my paypal account and low and behold. This is what I got.



$45.25. Not bad for one afternoon of filling out surveys and doing some free offers LOL

So anyway, just wanted to share that with everyone, since I thought it was real neat. Let's call it my paycheck for being a SAHM????? LOL

If you want to know more about it, go here!!!!!

I'm going birthday shopping for Jasmine :) See ya all tomorrow :)

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL!!!

I feel like a boat out at sea, during a huge thunderstorm and trying desperately to find that lighthouse. This morning Jasmine went back to school, and she was feeling normal again after almost a week of this stomach thing that's going around. She was feeling a little better last night so I thought I finally was seeing the end of this bug.

I think Nicholas is getting it though, it's now been 2 nights since we've had much sleep at all. He tosses and turns all night long. Last night he came snuggling up to me in bed and I figured "well, he's probably getting sick so maybe some mommy love will help".
This child spent the whole night whining and moaning, kicking his legs and rubbing my arms. Yeah, rubbing MY arms, like I was the one feeling sick. How sweet is that?!?!?! Made me feel all the more worse for not being able to help him. Nothing worse than seeing your child sick and knowing that nothing you do can take that ill feeling away.

This morning something weird but wonderful happened. I got all the kids in the car, my two and Scottie, Veronica's son, and left the house to take them to school. I started heading towards the main road and then did something I NEVER do. I turned into the neighborhood just down the street and said to the kids "You know, we still got time so let's go the long way". See, the kids like talking and laughing in the car on the way to school and always complain that we get there too fast.

So anyway, I turn the car around and start heading back towards my housing area. As I get closer I see a figure of a dog standing near the road, and I'm thinking "boy, that looks an awful lot like our dog Sam". I slow down and keep driving and as I get near him, I realize IT IS. He somehow got out through the back fence and is now waiting to pounce on some kids walking to school. Now I KNOW he wouldn't hurt them, but Sam is an Australian Shepherd and he's big, so just running towards the kids is enough to scare them.
Now remember, we live on base and having pets run around is a BIG NO NO. We can get in serious trouble for that, especially if they attack or hurt someone.
So I quickly pull into the nearest neighborhood, open my window and proceed to yell out "HEY SAM, GET YOUR BUTT BACK IN THE HOUSE". LOL
I turned into my own housing area and while I was driving I asked the kids to keep calling him so he would follow the car.....so now we're driving down the road with a dog on my tail and the kids inside going "SAMMMMMMMMMMM" at the top of their lungs LOL

I managed to get Sam back in the house and Curt went out back to fix the part of the fence he go out through.

So now here I am at home and I'm dumbfounded and can't believe what happened. Not because of the dog, it's not the first time he's tried to run away....although if I had good owners that fed me and loved me I would also want out of here. NOT!!!!
I'm confused because I've NEVER done that before, if I know I have time I just instantly go the longer way, and if I don't, I just go towards the main road which is faster. I could just pass it off to coincidence that I was driving down the road at the time, or I could call it for what it is. YET another example that God is with me all the time. It's funny because the closer I get to him, the more these incidents seem to happen which is good, because it keeps me motivated to continue on this path to a closer relationship with him. So I just thought I would share that with all of you!!!

I'll be cleaning the house today, I don't like waiting until the weekend to do it because then it's THAT much harder to get it done. But these past few days I admit that I haven't done much housework, I honestly haven't felt up to it, and with 2 kids sick I don't seem to have time for anything other than meeting all of their demands.

If you only knew how long it actually takes me to write my daily entries everyday, you would be amazed.
It usually goes something like this.

Sit at the computer, open up blogger.
*Mommy can I have some milk please?*
Get up, get Nicholas a cup of milk.
Sit back down and hit 'Create', type the title and.................
*Can I get a cookie please?*
Get up and fetch cookie for kid.
Sit down yet again and type the first paragraph, hear screams behind me, turn real fast to see Lola the Pug stealing the cookie from the kid.
Get up again and tell the dog NO, take the cookie away and trash it, give the kid a hug and fetch another cookie.
Sit back down and type a bit more, phone rings "Yes do you have a chip on your windshield?"
HUH?!?!?! No but I have a toddler running around and not as much money as I wish I did, you wanna fix THAT for me????
Hang up the phone and go back to blogger....type a bit more.
Mommy I wanna watch Dora....put Dora on tv or the DVD movie. No, No, I want to watch Diego.
Remove Dora and grab the Diego DVD, about to put it in. NO NO, I don't want Diego, I want Blue's Clues.
Proceed to barter and negotiate with 3 year old for the next hour about what exactly it IS he wants, which he doesn't seem to know either.
Couple of hours later, I remember that I have the blog entry just sitting there waiting patiently for me. Go back and type real fast, blah blah blah, incoherent posts and that's it.
Next day we just rinse and repeat!!!!

Now doesn't that sound like fun???? LOL
I have to tell you there are days that I honestly don't know how I get through them. The minute I step out of bed I'm already tired from being up all night, I'm in no mood for whiny kids and silly fights over who gets to sit on which spot of the couch, or who gets their lunch first, and God forbid I give Jasmine the blue towel, because RED is her favorite color....get it right mom!!!

So to those out there who have kids and know exactly what I'm talking about, I send you patience and understanding and energy vibes and here's hoping you have a whine/mess/fighting/crying free day.
To those who don't yet have kids, one day you too will be able to understand the frustration and the lack of sleep..........OH THE LACK OF SLEEP......but never doubt that it's the best job on earth and don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise, because the joys far outweigh the bad moments.

And that is IT for me, I'm tired, exhausted is more like it, nothing like a couple of days with sick kids to put you through the wringer. So I'm going to finish off my cup of coffee, which is now cold, BLEH, and then I'm going to sweep and mop and do dishes and laundry and make beds and all that other OH SO FUN stuff LOL
See ya tomorrow :)

Arggghhhhhhhhhh..................

This morning I had Jasmine all dressed and ready for school when I see her zip past me like a flying bullet. I chase after her and find her in the bathroom SICK AGAIN!!! :(
I don't know what it is about this bug that's going around, it's got everyone sick around here. What's the worst? I think I'm getting it!!! Walked around all day yesterday feeling like I was going to throw up, but never did. Today I'm not any better!!!
BUT nothing some coffee and Motrin won't fix.....I say Motrin cause that's the military's choice of medicine for anything from sore throat, to headache, to cold, to post partum delivery. LOL

I've uploaded all the Birthday photos HERE, so if you want to take a look that's where they'll be :)

I want to start this morning by wishing my brother Paul, a Happy Birthday!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL!!!

Hope you have a wonderful day and that you get everything you ever wished for. Wish we were there to celebrate with you, but we will be in thought.
Love you!!!!
Enjoy your week at the Kruger National Park...........boy am I jealous LOL

So today I'm going to be hanging out at home with the kids, watching over Jasmine and hoping Nicholas doesn't get this sick. He was feeling a little restless last night and told me his tummy hurt a bit, and since that's how Jasmine started, I am a little worried.

Easter is quickly approaching and I'm hoping now that the kids are older, that they will start watching "Jesus of Nazareth". I remember growing up, I used to LOVE easter mainly because I knew this movie would be playing and I could yet again enjoy it.
I think my favorite version is with Olivia Hussey as Mary, probably because that's the one I am most familiar with.

I'm hoping that I can instill in my kids the love for God and the scriptures and the REAL reason behind certain holidays. Won't be easy having to compete with the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus, but I'm sure we can do it.
It just seems that nowadays everything is about material things. It's all about how many presents you get and WHAT you get, and not enough about family and being together or even the reason for the celebration, know what I mean???
It's a tough world and one that is becoming increasingly hard to protect my kids from. You teach them one thing at home and then send them off to school and friends during the day, where they are being bombarded with a totally different outlook and view on things. It's a constant battle isn't it???

I was reading Shannon's post this morning and I instantly thought of those Nooma DVD's I mentioned before. The ones by Rob Bell? My favorite is called Rain, and I urge you all to go see the preview for it. I have the DVD at home and I watch it MANY MANY times. It just shows me and again reminds me that God is there for us, at all times. When we think that he is not or that he's deserted us, it's just the opposite.
How God can just stand by and watch us suffer. Where is God when it really hurts? Maybe God is actually closer to us than we think. It's during these hard times that God takes the chance to show us how much he really loves us. All we have to do is listen, and I know I know, it's not easy. When we're faced with a tragedy or a problem, we get so caught up in it that we forget everything else around, but it's always so easy to point the finger at God and say that HE is to blame, how could HE have allowed this? Shouldn't we be pointing the fingers at ourselves and asking how could WE have strayed from him? Why is it ok to reach out to the Lord and to thank him and rejoice when something good happens, but when it's something bad, to turn our backs on him? Think about it, because I for one am tired of doing it. If I can take the good then I can take the bad in life. Because HE is always with me!!!!

But moving on, I've got to make this one short because I'm constantly following poor Jasmine to the bathroom. So I'm off to do what it is that mom's do best, give lots of TLC to the sick child and smile through the piles of laundry that keep getting soiled. If any of you need me you will find me either at the bathroom, near the washer and dryer or somewhere in between both, really!!!

By the way, I suggest you clean your monitors with some Lysol after reading this post. I don't want anyone getting sick and then blaming it on me and the family germs. Go ahead, wipe it down and I will see you all later :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICHOLAS!!!

Today is our baby boy's birthday!!! Baby no more though, for he is turning 3 years old. Wow how time just flies by.

About 3 and half years ago I was at one of my lowest and hardest points in my life. I had just gone through 2 miscarriages and didn't think I would ever be able to conceive again. Then I found out I was pregnant again and it was a bitter-sweet feeling. I was ecstatic that I was pregnant but terrified that something would go wrong again.
It was a high risk pregnancy, I had to have my blood drawn EVERY week to make sure the HCG levels were still going up. I had tons of ultrasounds, but yet I still had bleeding and contractions throughout the whole pregnancy and let's not even mention morning sickness, mine was more like 24 hour sickness that lasted until my 7th month of pregnancy.

I remember being 28 weeks pregnant and going into preterm labor. Spent the night at the hospital trying to stop the contractions and then was pretty much put on bed rest. What was worse was that this happened on a friday night, and Curt was leaving for a TDY that saturday morning at 6am. Try being on bed rest with a 3 year old to take care of, not easy.....BUT DOABLE!!! :)

So Nicholas, Happy Birthday baby, I want to thank you for being so strong and for hanging in there with me. For all the ups and downs, the laughs and the tears and those times where I thought for sure I was going to loose you. I remember when he was born we all laughed because he had the longest umbilical cord, and it was wrapped all around his body. Guess it was his way of saying "I'm hanging in here and NOT going anywhere!"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICHOLAS!!!
Mommy, Daddy and Jasmine love you more than you will ever know. Thank you for making our lives so perfect.

What a Night!!!!

When Jasmine went to bed last night she was burning up and complained that her nose felt congested. I figured that she's getting another cold!!! After giving her some medicine, I put her to bed. Because both kids weren't feeling too good, they wanted to sleep in bed with me, and since hubby works weird hours and stays up all night and sleeps during the day, it worked out fine.

She falls asleep but is whining and moaning. At 1am I am awakened by her jumping up in bed and throwing up. ALL OVER MY BED!!! I start yelling for Curt to come and help me and run her to the bathroom. So now it's 1:30am and we are changing out the sheets on the bed, she managed to miss my comforter all together. YAY!!!
Back to sleep but within an hour she's up getting sick again. Seems that she's caught whatever is going around here, a lot of people with this cold/stomach bug. Of course for Jasmine it means not going to school.....and even though she can't afford to miss anymore days, what can I do????
I can't send her to school running a fever and throwing up every hour!!!!
So she's home for the day and laying on the couch.

Last night while the kids were laying next to me in bed, I caught a movie on tv, well actually more like 3 movies part of the same story.
It was "Love Comes Softly", "Love's Enduring Promise" and "Love's Long Journey". I'm not one to watch movies more than once, and I had already seen these at least twice, but I ended up watching them again. I love Janette Oke and her stories are so heart warming!!!

You all know that lately I've been on the search for a closer relationship with God. It's not easy, I'm sure you agree, but it's well worth the effort and work.
I'll be the first to admit that at times being so overwhelmed and so busy with our hectic lives, God takes the back burner, which in turn just creates MORE havoc around me. There are those days that you feel that you are being tempted over and over again but it's not surprising because it just seems to me that everyone has become so obsessed with materialistic things that they forget what is really important.
The reason I mentioned this is because my SIL Hayley, sent me this today and I thought I would share it. It's for all the kids who grew up in the 60's, 70's and 80's. Boy would I love for things to be back the way they were.

• We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans.
• When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip-flops and fluorescent 'spokey dokey's' on our wheels.
• As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags - riding in the passenger seat was a treat.
• We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle and it tasted the same.
• We ate chips, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy juice with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.
• We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no-one actually died from this.
• We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
• We would leave home in the morning and could play all day, as long as we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us and no one minded.
• We did not have Play stations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no DVDs, no Internet chat rooms.
• We had friends - we went outside and found them.
• We played elastics and rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt!
• We fell out of trees, got cut, and broke bones but there were no law suits.
• We had full on fist fights but no prosecution followed from other parents.
• We played chap-the-door-run-away and were actually afraid of the owners catching us.
• We walked to friends' homes.
• We also, believe it or not, WALKED to school; we didn't rely on mummy or daddy to drive us to school, which was just round the corner.
• We made up games with sticks and tennis balls.
• We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood.
• The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of...They actually sided with the law.
• This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
• We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.
• And you're one of them. Congratulations!

Now doesn't that make you wish you were still a kid? So what are some of your favorite memories from your childhood and the way things were back then?

I think for me there were a few, but I remember playing outside with the neighborhood kids until 10pm when it finally started getting dark in the summer. We would be called in for dinner and then go back out and play and the next morning it started all over again. We went on picnics, we played hide and seek, we played go cart races, we played hopscotch. We enjoyed life and it was fun being a kid. I didn't have soccer practice, dancing, piano lessons, basketball, softball etc etc. I was just a KID, doing what kids did best, ENJOYING LIFE!!!!

It may be hard for me to pass that on to my own children, but I will try my best. Kids nowadays are spoiled, and I know because I'm guilty of the same. Again it goes back to materialistic things. Kids have been taught that they NEED to have all the latest fashions, latest toys, best looking bikes. You know what, we were 4 kids growing up, me and my 3 brothers and we never had a bike, and neither did a lot of the kids in the neighborhood. So what did we do???
Believe it or not, the few kids who DID have bikes, shared it will all of us and we all took turns riding them, and it was fine, we weren't mocked or bullied. How things have changed???

So I leave you this morning with a trip back to the 80's with A-Ha "Take on Me".
And here is a question....What will you do to make sure that your kids enjoy their childhood, and what kind of things from your own days as a child do you still incorporate into their lives? Traditions, games, that special dinner, tell me what you are doing to share your childhood with them.

Easter Egg Hunt!!!

Yesterday we had to go to Boise, which like I said, is about 45 minutes from the base. The drive is usually really boring, but it was fun listening to Nicholas. He's about to turn 3 years old and it's like he just discovered things and looking out the car window. He was sooooooo excited just looking at the snow covered mountains, the horses, the farms and even the cars on the road. He made it interesting for us LOL

Anyway, we decided to go a bit earlier. Our appointment to get Jasmine's computer wasn't until 1pm but we got to Boise just after 10am. The reason is that yesterday I had gotten an email from Toys R Us mentioning that there would be an Easter Egg Hunt at the store. Usually Curt's squadron does one for the kids but they haven't for the past 3 years so we thought this would be nice for the kids.

We get there and they each get a map with clues etc. They have to read the clues and then go around the store and find the stickers.

Jasmine and I took off looking for the clues, I was collecting for Nicholas because he decided he just wanted to sit in the shopping cart and didn't want to walk around. Fine by me LOL
As soon as they collected all the stickers, they went back to the front counter and each got a "Easter Goodie Bag". It came filled with candy, a glitter pen, a coloring book, a comic book etc. Pretty neat and the kids were all happy!!!
Then we see the Easter Bunny........Jasmine is thrilled and goes right up to say hi and get a picture taken with him.

Nicholas about bursts into tears and is terrified of the Easter Bunny LOL

We couldn't get him near him, he didn't want candy from his basket and he certainly didn't want pictures taken. We couldn't even get Nicholas to participate in the Egg Hunt, he kept looking over his shoulder making sure the BUNNY wasn't out to get him LOL

So we let Jasmine do the egg hunt, I swear that girl is like a dog sniffing out sausage....she zipped through the store and made out like a bandit with so many eggs.

After the hunt was finished there were still some eggs laying around so we finally convinced Nicholas to get some.

Apart from Nicholas not wanting to participate much, which is understandable for his age, they both had a really good time, and so did we. We bought Nicholas some of his birthday presents there too, and come on, who doesn't have a good time walking around a Toys R Us store???? It's like a trip back in time to your own childhood!!!

Afterwards we went by Carl's Jr for some lunch. I swear that place has the best burgers, and talk about huge. I had the Portabello Mushroom Burger which was HUGE and enough to feed all 4 of us LOL

By the time we made it to the Boise Outlet Mall we were JUST in time for her class to begin.
Curt took Jasmine and I took Nicholas to walk around the stores. They were actually done pretty fast so we ended up going to the KB Toys Liquidators store and got Nicholas some more birthday presents. So he's officially bought for LOL

Except for one thing, he desperately wants a Spiderman Scooter, so I'm probably getting him one at Walmart.

So there ya have it, that was our saturday. Now today we're on the lookout for a computer desk for Jasmine's New School Computer. It came with 2nd Grade and 3rd Grade reading programs which is perfect for her cause she's reading at a 3rd grade and 4 months level. It won't be a game computer, it's strictly for homework and school so it's going in her bedroom. Hopefully we can find a computer desk around here.

Well I have cleaning to do and I have to run to the commissary for milk and some items to make Nicholas' birthday cake. I usually bake their cakes so they get to pick out the theme and then I go online and research etc.
Jasmine is getting an Ice Cream Cake this year for her party, and for Nicholas I'm baking this one:

Wow this post is long....I'm actually tired of writing LOL
Hope you guys have a great sunday, I have tons to do so I'm outta here......see ya all tomorrow morning, bright and early. :)

Shopping, Shopping!!!

I have to make this one quick, we're heading out for a day of shopping in Boise which is about 45 minutes from the base.
Funny that we don't really go there often, so many other military families stationed at this base, go to Boise at least once or twice a month. US????? Oh maybe once or twice a YEAR!!! LOL

But anyway the reason for going there today is that Jasmine's school was offering computers for the kids for just $30. She really needs her own computer for school and homework etc, so we figured, you know this is a good deal!!! So today, she has a one hour class to attend where they will show her how to use it, what software is in there etc etc....and then she gets the computer
Now, you know me, I am not a sucker for punishment, so I am NOT putting myself and everyone else through 1 hour of hearing Nicholas scream and try to touch everything......being that the computer store is in a shopping outlet.....YAY for me!!! LOL
Curt will take Jasmine to the class and Nic and I are going to walk around the stores and get some birthday presents for him and Jasmine's birthday.
We are also planning on going out to eat for his birthday which is on tuesday but since we will be in Boise we thought it would be nice to go to an actual restaurant. God help us!!!
I AM taking the camera though so that you guys can see what Boise is like......so look for those pics to be up here either tonight or in my post tomorrow morning.

Ever since we've had kids there have been very few times that we actually go to a sit down dinner, most of the times it's just drive-thru, but ever so often we will put ourselves through the ringer and allow for a sit down family meal, which usually turns into a "HURRY UP AND EAT AND LET'S GET THE HECK OUTTA HERE FAST" meal. LOL

So before I leave I want to mention a site which I absolutely love. It's called Any Soldier.
You know that there are a lot of soldiers out there, especially in Iraq right now, who need all the support they can get. One of the things they most love is getting letters. Yes they need care packages and other items, but Letters are THE MOST requested thing by these Soldiers.
When you go to this site click on "Where to Send" and on the left side you will have a HUGE list of soldiers names and addresses where you can send your letters too. Some people get put off because they don't know what to say to them, well, just speak from the heart and mostly tell them that they are appreciated and are being thought of while over there fighting for our freedom.
I wish people would understand that though a lot of soldiers get care packages and mail from family and friends, there are some that get absolutely nothing. It's got to be heartbreaking to feel so totally alone in an unsafe place. So please even if you just write ONE letter, please I ask that you reach out to the soldiers and let them know that they haven't been forgotten :)

Alright I have to get ready to leave, so I hope you all have a great weekend, and I'll be back later with an update of our day.

WHEW!!!!

I swear it's like a HUGE weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I have to start by thanking you all for your prayers when I was really freaking out and being paranoid. And then I have to thank myself, yes, myself, for finally realizing that it's not about control and that in order for God to help me I have to give him the chance to do so. Boy have I learnt so much these past few days.

So, as I'm sure you can tell, my appointment went extremely well. I got a clean bill of health and I'm doing fine. SEE YA BACK IN A YEAR!!!! That's what the doc said, and thank GOD for that LOL

But you know there's nothing like a scare like that to make you appreciate things more and slow down. I always say that just when I think things are going great, the Lord throws something my way just to remind me that I've gotten too caught up in materialistic and non important things. Thanks for the wake up call, I needed it LOL

So today I've been running around, doc appointment, downtown for some errands, library, commissary, hospital to pick up meds etc. I'm POOPED!!! I'm so ready for bed and I'm hoping the kids will cooperate with me tonight, because for the past 2 days we've had HELL trying to get to sleep.

It's yet another friday so that means "Remember When???". There are so many good stories, but I have to say that one of the best ones was with my sister in law. So here it goes:

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

*REMEMBER WHEN???*

Before my brother and sister in law got married, and while they were dating, Hayley would come sleep over at our house. We went to school together and were in the same class and good friends, so it was always fun to have her over on the weekends, it was like a pajama party every friday and saturday night.

We would pig out on chips and coke *the drink*, get your minds out of the gutter LOL
Then we would stay up all night just talking and laughing, boy we laughed so hard, you guys remember those days with your girlfriends just laughing until you cry and can't breathe anymore. LOL

So one night we are laying in bed talking and laughing etc, and then all of a sudden we hear this noise. We both clam up real fast and look at each other.

Me- What was that?!?!?
Hayley - I don't know!!!

We go back to talking and laughing and again we hear another noise which sounded like fast pitter patter of feet running around the room.
Again we stop and ask the same questions......still can't figure out what it is. At this time we decide to forget about the talking and just lay there quietly trying to figure out what it is, we sit up in the bed, in the dark and hear the noise again, we both look towards the bedroom door and since there was a light in the hallway it was easy to see anything that went by the door.
We hear the noise again and then we see it, this mouse running by my bedroom door. LOL

You KNOW that mice and girls don't mix. We jump up in bed and start screaming our heads off. LOL My two brothers come running into the room asking what's wrong and when we tell them it's a mouse they give us this "Oh brother" look. LOL
Let me just tell you it was hilarious to watch my brothers trying to catch this mouse while Hayley and I remained on top of the bed and let out blood curdling screams everytime the poor mouse ran from one side to the other. LOL

But I have to say the boys were very handy, with their brooms and all LOL

So there you have it, another remember when, I'm sure Hayley remembers it very well LOL

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

So it's friday and that means I get to relax in front of the tv tonight and watch my shows. You all know I love scary movies and scary shows. LOL
I always watch "Most Haunted" and "Derek Acorah's Ghost Towns" on the Travel Channel. Really it's for entertainment because the things they do on these shows are pretty hilarious. Curt and I always look at each other and shake our heads LOL

I'm also going to finish the last pages of my book. It's taught ME so much, mainly the fact that every single struggle and problem that we go through make us who we are today. Without going through that grief, that pain, that heartache, we wouldn't be as strong as we are. So for that I'm truly thankful.

Hope you all have a great Friday and a great weekend :)

Ok I GET it!!!!

Rain is supposed to be great and we all could use some but COME ON, is all I say!!!
It's been raining day and night for a week now and I'm sick of it......too much of anything is just, well, TOO MUCH!!!

It's not even that it's cold, we've had nice 64 degrees and above weather, but how can you enjoy it when you get soaked everytime you step outside the house???

Today I'm going to be cleaning, I've put it off for two days and that is way too much for me. I don't know what it is, my husband sometimes says I'm a clean freak, and really I'm not. I'm not one of those women that don't allow shoes in the house, or runs after everyone cleaning every drop or crumb that may fall to the ground. BUT I do like a clean house, or should I say, livable but not messy???

All the moms out there know exactly what I mean right? It's hard to juggle kids and keeping a clean house, so I tend to be one of those moms that tries to keep the house organized and mess free but still find myself throwing things into the hallway closet if someone should happen to come by. LOL

Here's one area I totally detest. That ONE spot in the living room where the toys are. GRRRR, why do they seem to migrate to the rest of the house?

Know what it reminds me of? That commercial about febreze where the lady picks up all the toys, sprays the carpet with the febreze and then turns around and the toys are all over the floor again. LOL
So here is a challenge for you, I will show my TOY CORNER, and you show me yours?

So today I have to try and get a referral for my wrist. For years now I've had these cysts. Back in 1999 I had one removed, well, aspirated or whatever. The doctor went in and poked it a couple of times with a needle and then bandaged it up really tight for a few days. It went away but he did tell me that it might come back.

What do you know???? It did come back and this time it even brought a friend!!!!
It's really painful at times and it's pretty much hard for me to do anything with this wrist, I find that I don't have the same strength that I do on my other one, that and the fact that I can't bend it back or forward much.

Wanna see?!?!?!? It's not for the faint of heart so if you cand handle it you might want to go to the bathroom or grab another cup of coffee or something.......

Ok you back? Cause I haven't shown it yet LOL

Here we go:

Isn't it unbelievable? The things your body will come up with to amuse itself. SIGH.....oh well LOL

I'm almost done with the book I mentioned in my last post. It's amazing how much the writer seems like me. I'm so impatient and guilty of trying to control everything including when and where my prayers will be answered. How lame is that? For me to think that I can control the One that made it all. So I've started a new relationship with God. Yes, I told him that I would try really really hard to just put it in his hands and then move on to something else and not dwell in it, because really think about it, if I say I hand it over to him and then continue to worry and complain, then I obviously did NOT give it to him did I? How can he help me if I keep handing him the problem and then snatching it away because he's not moving fast enough for me???

Really ladies, if you are impatient like me, you would love the book. Let me know if you get it and what you think.

Alright I'm out of here for now, I have so much to do and so little time. That laundry won't wash itself, no matter how nicely I ask it to. LOL
Adios, Adeus, Goodbye, Totsiens, Au Revoir......... Yadda Yadda Yadda......

The Power of Prayer!!!

I just had to post about this because after reading some of the other blogs this morning, which all seemed to be talking about it, I realized that we all have our own miracles and our experiences with prayer.

To see how this whole subject came about, I invite you to hop on over to Shalee and Gibee's blogs and read their posts, truly inspiring.

After reading those I started thinking about my own life and how God had worked in it, sometimes without me even realizing it. One of the greatest and best examples is with our son Nicholas.
Shannon posted about her loss through miscarriage and I can relate to it after going through 2 of my own.

The miscarriages happened within a short time of each other and it was the most excruciatingly painful moments of my life. It wasn't just a physical pain but an emotional rollercoaster. At the time I can remember thinking "Oh Lord, I will NEVER get through this, I will never again be able to smile or laugh, why me???"
I became angry, extremely angry and I questioned God's reason for letting something like this happen.

A year later, I got pregnant with Nicholas, and it was a high risk pregnancy full of ups and downs. But for the first time in my life, I put it in God's hands and didn't DEMAND that he give me a healthy baby, didn't DEMAND that he not let anything happen or that this be a "piece of cake" so to speak.
And it wasn't easy, I had a lot of hospital scares and premature labor and all sorts of stuff going on, but in the end we got our precious son. Now when I think about the miscarriages I realize that even though it was such a horrible thing to go through, it was the road to having Nicholas and it was also what made me the person I am today. Stronger and so much more confident in my faith in God.

I remember another time when Jasmine was barely a year old, we were living from paycheck to paycheck and we ran out of diapers. We went to the store and hoped and prayed we would have enough to get the pack of diapers, and it turned out we didn't. It's embarassing when you're standing there with people behind you waiting to pay, and you're told that your bank card did not go through due to INSUFFICIENT FUNDS!!!
Curt and I returned the diapers to the clerk and slowly walked out of the store thinking "what are we going to do?". Before we even left the store, the cashier came running up behind us and said "You forgot your diapers." We looked at her like she was crazy!!!
She handed us the pack of diapers and $20 bill. We were shocked and speechless, when she informed us that the lady behind us insisted on paying for the diapers and giving us the money for anything else we need. We had seen the lady and so decided to wait outside the door for her to come out and to thank her. She NEVER came out of the store and we NEVER saw her again!!! Til this day we are convinced that she was truly an Angel in every sense!!!

I have to be the most impatient person that God has ever created. So when I saw this book a few weeks ago, I knew it was made for me.

It's called "You're Late Again, Lord: The Impatient Woman's Guide to God's Timing". WHAT a find!!!!
So if you're impatient or if you ever feel like God isn't answering your prayers or not listening to what you need WHEN you need it, I invite you to grab a copy of this book and start learning, along with me, that God does things in his own timing, the only thing he asks of us is to be patient and to KNOW how to wait purposefully.