The Cubs room

So now that Sassy has her room done and ZJ is moved up into the main part of the house, Caleb got to do something that he has been trying to do for about 7 years. He got his Cubs room. Three of the walls are white, one is Cubs blue with a white square that has the blue Cubs "W" on it. Then he put all of his memorobilia up. It's his own little special man cave. He just said though that he has to put the guitar hero up cuz it's 9:40 and he hasn't even been in his room yet. Hopefully I can get a digital camera and get some pictures of that room too.
I really don't think I have much else to say I just wanted to beat last month's posts and have more than 4 this month.

Wii

So a busy week we have had. It started last Friday night when I gave Caleb a deadline to finish Sassy's room by Sunday. We made a trip to Bloomington Friday night and got the desk stuff and the trim. I spent six hours Saturday painting until Caleb got home then we worked on trim and getting the desk in. Sunday Caleb made another trip to Bloomington to get a door. Amazingly all this stuff fit into my little car. Who needs a truck when you have a Saturn Ion! Needless to say we got the room done. I will post pictures when I get them from my stepdad. It is gorgeous and so girly.
Christmas came and went and the girls were pleased. We did the gold, frankincense, and myrrh gifts for each of them. Sassy's room was her gold gift. Jade got a video camera, and ZJ got playdoh. Santa also came and left one gift. ZJ's best gift was her bball hoop from Santa. We went to my grandma's for brunch. Then we drove to Rushville to see Caleb's grandma in the nursing home. She was so tickled to see all of us.
This morning Jade and I did our day-after-Christmas shopping. We didn't really find too many good deals, but Jade sure found a way to spend all her money. She had a blast. My grandparents, my dad, and Caleb's parents gave each of us a considerable amount of money. So she had quite a bit to spend, but she got the last bit of what she wanted. Caleb, Sassy, and I decided to pool some of our money together and buy a Wii. Yes we have come into 2008 now that it is almost over. Walmart in Lincoln did not have one so we had to drive to Bloomington to get it. We also decided to go ahead and buy Guitar Hero Aerosmith. That was for me I think! I can't wait to play that. We are bowling right now. How fun is it to bowl right in your own house.
We have had a good Christmas, and I feel truly blessed right now. We have enjoyed each other and our family time. This weekend we have our fights to watch and it is a big card, so it should be good. I think we are going to have some friends over and play some cards and play some Wii then watch the fights. It will be good. This is the first weekend that Caleb has had both Saturday and Sunday off and we don't have to work on a room in the house. I can't wait. I enjoy this time of year so much. I hope everyone else counts their blessings and remembers what life is really all about.

Zack and Cody

So we were one of the 5000 plus crazy people who stood in line Saturday night for an hour and a half at the U.S. Cellular Colleseum in Bloomington so our children could have 5 seconds to get Dylan and Cole Sprouse's autograph. For those of you who don't have young girls, they play Zack and Cody on the Suite Life of Zack and Cody on the Disney Channel. I think Jade was a little boy crazy and our very unathletic 10 year didn't say a word about the long wait. She just grinned ear to ear. Now Sassy didn't care much for the wait but the autograph picture made up for it at the end I think. We did miss the first period of the hockey game and about half of the second one. But the girls actually enjoyed the game too. Caleb and I were surprised. Of course they liked it for different reasons. Jade was actually paying attention to the game, and Sassy liked that every time the puck stopped they played music and she got to stand up with her foam finger and dance around in hopes of getting on the big TV.
Sunday, my in-laws came down and passed down old family recipes for fudge and party mix. The fudge actually turned out pretty good. We made chocolate fudge and peanut butter fudge. The peanut butter is my favorite. It was a pretty good weekend.
My plans for this week are to start my craziness of baking cookies. I'll pump out about 600 or so. Well off to go bake....

Blogging

So my friend text me the other day and told me I need to blog. I think I spoiled everyone in November posting 4 whole times! Not much has really been going on. I am starting school in January. I have taken my basic skills test and passed with flying colors. I have been substitute teaching for about a month and have been pretty busy with that. My last day at the Elks is Wednesday. I wrecked my car on Monday and now have to fork out loads of money to fix it. But when I went to pick it up they couldn't find a bill for it. Not even an order. So hopefully we can get Christmas done before we have to pay for that. We have scaled down our Christmas considerably. The girls are getting a total of 5 presents from us this year. One gold gift-a gift they really really want. One frankincense gift-a gift that brings them closer to God. One myrrh gift-a gift that covers them from head to toe. Of course Santa will bring one gift. And the Christmas Eve Elf always stops by to leave pjs. My husband and I are not buying for each other. And we have set a small limit for the other children in the family. That's it. I usually go overboard, but I usually start and finish before Thanksgiving. And I usually buy for friends, coworkers, etc. You know at Jade's school, the children are not doing a gift exchange with each other. They are bringing in a donation then going to pick 2 children from the Angel Tree and go out to Walmart to shop for gifts for someone else in need. I think this is something that teaches the students a very valuable lesson about the meaning of Christmas. I would like to incorporate this into my own classroom when I get to teach, but I don't know if I will be able to pull it off in a public classroom. I don't know if that will be bordering on laws that regulate Christ in the classroom. It almost makes me sick to think that at the time when Jesus came to give us life, we can not even respond by giving to others in His name in a public school. The correlation of the time that Jesus was taken out of schools and the rise in teen pregnancies, drop out rates, poor test scores, gangs, etc. is astounding. I have done research on this for papers in school and all I can do is laugh when the government tries to implement new laws to prevent these things, when they just need to reinstitute one important one.
But I digress. My mother-in-law told me what advent is, but I am still on the search for where did this tradition come from. I haven't been able to find that answer yet. If anyone can point me in the right direction it would be appreciated.
That's all for now.

The Weekend

So after I went to Goody's and Walmart on Friday, I came home and put up Christmas decorations. I will try to get some pics up here for all to see. I did find some good deals at Goody's, but I will not do Wal-mart again, that was just crazy. Then I got called off work on Friday because they were going to be dead, so I met Caleb up in B-town and we went to Menards and Gordman's. We got the carpet for Sesleigh's new room, and some more Christmas shopping done. I worked yesterday, then last night did something that I always used to make fun of my mom for doing. I watched the Hallmark Channel and all their Christmas movies. This morning I went to church for the first week of advent-Hope. I'm not really sure what exactly advent is. I know it is the four weeks before Christmas, but I had this problem last year. I tried to research it, but never came up with the answer I was looking for. Why do we do it, where is it at in the Bible, somebody explain it to me please!? Then today my husband got most of the painting and stuff done in Sas's room. It is her gold gift for Christmas and we hope it will be done by then. It never takes the amount of time or money that you think it will. It will be pretty cool when we get it done, she will love it. It is going to be such a girlie room-pink and purple everywhere. Well I think that's about it for now.

craziness

So yes it is 2:30 in the am and I am up. I am going to be one of those crazy shoppers for the day-after-Thanksgiving sales. I have only done this one other time, but I saw some ads for some really good deals on things the girls specifically asked for. I am only going here in town to Goody's and maybe Walmart. Then when I come home I am putting up Christmas decorations. That is usually my only tradition for after TDay.
Yesterday was a good day. We had my friend and her mom and daughter over for dinner, my in-laws came, and my mom and stepdad came over. I cooked a turkey for the first time ever. It came out beautifully if I do say so myself. I think my father-in-law was doubting my abilities for a minute, but he said it was a very good dinner. Everyone did. I am so a Monica Gellar from "Friends". I love hosting and cooking for the people I love. I think that is how I show my love to people, by cooking and baking. Isn't there an old saying that a way to a man's heart is through his stomach. I think there's some truth to that, because all it takes to make my husband happy is some sugar cookies and homemade pumpkin bars. I didn't realize how much energy it takes to make such a big meal though. We had turkey, ham, candied yams, homemade mac and cheese, pumpkin bars, sugar cookies, green beans, deviled eggs, a relish tray, rolls and homemade apple butter, and of course pie. You would have thought that I was feeding an army! It was great to see everyone laughing, eating, and enjoying themselves. I just kinda sat back, watched, and listened. I loved every minute of it, and that was what I was thankful for.

Apple Butter

So October 21 and 22 we made apple butter. The pictures of my grandparents and dad stirring were taken on the second day. That copper kettle is huge and you must constantly stir the apples. If even a little bit scorches, you have ruined the whole batch. This has been a family tradition of my grandpa's mothers for many years now. They used to have a big family get together, eat a big meal, and make loads of apple butter. The picture of Grace eating the apple was taken on the first day. That entailed peeling and coring all 6 bushels of apples. Just for those of you who don't know what a bushel is, one bushel of apples equals 56 pounds. After they are peeled and cored, we took them inside sliced them up in Grandma's fancy mixer with an attatchment, then we cook them down a bit. It just eliminates a lot of stirring the next day. Grace was having so much fun in the garage chasing apples around the floor. Then she would grab one and just chow down on it. She ate 2 apples like this. She was so cute. The first day we worked for about 8 hours, then the second day we stirred for about 7 hours then canned them up. The apples we used were really juicy, so the water cooked out of them quite a bit and we only got about 94 pints out of that whole 6 bushels. But all the work was well worth it, I love homemade apple butter.

Habakkuk

So I am still on my journey through the minor prophets. I read something the other day that did something amazing for me. I will start with a little background.
We all know what this economy is doing, and for some reason it got it's grip on me last week. I was just terrified about how we were going to make it. I was picturing our life as my grandfather's was in the Great Depression. I just kept waiting for the stock market to crash. I cannot begin to explain to you the utter sense of anxiety I felt over this. For a week straight I prayed every night for God to take my anxiety about this and my stress over the money and the "what're we gonna do's" about the possible depression our country is headed for. I kept reminding myself of that passage in Matthew I think when Jesus says, don't worry hasn't the Lord provided food for the birds, and surley He loves you more than the birds. (at least I think it says something like that) Nothing seemed to help though. It was with me every morning when I would wake up, it would stay with me all day long, and when I went to sleep it was there lurking in my dreams. (I must say I do have a very good imagination) However I kept reading the Word. I had to force myself to continue on my routine throughout the day, because I knew if I didn't this anxiety could prove to be debilitating. I don't know if anyone else has ever experienced this kind of sheer panic about any one thing in particular but if you have then you know what I am talking about.
Tuesday night I read Habakkuk. I think I like the minor prophets because I can say I read a whole book in the Bible in one night! Anyway, Habakkuk was crying out to God asking why would He let the wicked and evil people in Judah go unpunished. He just didn't understand why it seemed that they were getting richer while God's faithful people seemed to be at the mercy of the ones in control. Habakkuk prophecied of Babylon coming and taking over Judah and treating all the people of Judah like slaves. Babylon was just as evil as those people in Judah, but God had a plan. So anyway, I am just reading along with the same nagging sense of anxiety eating away at me when I'm at the end and Habakkuk says something that just hit me like a ton of bricks. Habakkuk 3:17-18 "Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vine; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, (18) yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation." Man what a resounding lesson for me. It's not about taking my worry away, it's about me rejoicing in the Lord ALWAYS. He didn't want to take it away from me. Then I wouldn't learn how to rejoice in Him even in my hard times. I mean come on the people of Judah were taken captive, held prisoner, treated like slaves, and much worse, and Habakkuk still wanted to rejoice in God. I think I can handle rejoicing in Him through some financial troubles. The rest of the chapter does go on to say something about how God will make us surefooted as deer to climb over our mountains. So while we are rejoicing in Him, He is guiding us over, through, or from our challenges. I just thought I'd share with you all. Sometimes I hear from God when I'm not even listening! How amazing is He

full swing

Well the time is here and school has started. Sesleigh is just absolutely loving kindergarten. The first pic is of Sesleigh on her bike ready to go, the second is of Sesleigh and her teacher, and the third is of Sesleigh with her really good friend at her 6th birthday party at McD's. When we walked there she chained her bike up and said bye mom. She was ready, I wasn't. It still hasn't gotten much easier, when I drop her off and she just runs up there ready and excited to learn. She is so sweet. Jade has started basketball and practices 4 nights a week. Unfortunately I will miss some of the games now that I am working at night. Zoey is getting smarter every day. She now can count to 10 and knows her colors. We have library on Tuesday mornings and she loves to go read and sing songs. Although she doesn't sing there, she waits till we leave and sings all day long...she loves twinkle twinkle and jesus loves me. She is pretty much potty trained except at night. Somedays we have a few accidents but at least I'm not spending a small fortune on diapers.
I have started reading my Bible again almost everyday. I have started on the minor prophets I believe is what you call them. I have read 3 or 4 of them so far. It is pretty intersting. I started with Ecclesiates acctually (I know that's not a minor prophet) and I loved that book.
I got the results back from my CAT scan on my lump under my arm, and it is just fatty tissue, so no more to do about that. Now I just have to wait to go to the dermatologist to see what is up with my skin. I think it is eczema but the creams are not working that well. Anyway, I just thought I would update and let everyone know about the business of our lives.

King Solomon

The other night I opened up my Bible for the first time in a while. It's sad but true. I just said whatever book I open up to I'm going to start reading. I had been trying to get through all the Psalms, not really what I needed. So I opened it up to Ecclesiates. Man it got my attention from the get go. Solomon writes about his life and how he has finally discovered that life apart from God is hollow, empty, and meaningless. A while back I wrote a blog titled the Hollow. It seemed to be consuming me and I could find no other word to describe it but hollow. I felt empty inside, nothing could liven my spirit. Well hello now I know why. I was trying to do it all on my own. I was not seeking God's words or wisdom or truth. I have made it through chapter 5 and I want to finish because it's like when I read a good book and can't wait to get to the end to see if good finally prevails. I know that it does otherwise God would not have put it in his Word. Solomon was a great man that asked God for wisdom. He got all he could ask for. He was a wealthy powerful ruler of the greatest land of his time. He had all this and he still felt hollow and empty inside. It makes me think. Solomon wrote that all the wisdom does not make you feel better because then you see and know all the things that can be, but it is not happening. He wrote about having all the money and beautiful things in life but it meant nothing because it did not fulfill him. I don't have all the wisdom, and I for sure don't have all the money. So it would make sense that my life should be simpler. I try to make things so much more complicated than they really are. I am a firm believer in the fact that life is a series of choices. Each choice has a consequence. So why do I think that it is so hard to make the right choices. I know the consequences I want to have and the choices I need to make to get those consequences. But still I don't choose them. It is all a conscious effort, that I was letting pass me by because I thought it was too hard. That's all been thrown out the window now because I will choose to pay more attention to the choices I make. I want my room in the mansion of Heaven and my crown of jewels and to dance in my maker's glory for eternity. I want to meet all the souls in Heaven and learn their experiences and read their life stories. I want my Father to wipe away my tears for the souls that will not meet me there. I want to crawl on His lap and have Him rock me to sleep at night. I want to walk through the perfect garden and have no temptations. I want to ask God all the questions that perplex me so much...like did Adam and Eve have belly buttons, what is the purpose of slugs, did the chicken or egg come first. This may not be how it really happens, but I would like to think so. God's not going to spend eternity ignoring and not delighting in His children that chose Him.

what's up

So I'll just update and let everyone know what's up. I don't know about anyone else but I remember when I was younger and I would do something wrong, I would always stay away from my mother. Even when I moved out, and I would be doing something I knew she wouldn't approve of, I just wouldn't call her for weeks at a time. I bring this up because I have stayed away from here and from God for a long time because I have not been living a Christ like life. I know we all stumble and we all still fall short of God's glory, but man I was making deliberate decisions to take the other path. The problem with this is when I go the other way, I don't talk to God, I don't want to be around Him. Then things start falling apart, bickering in my house, funds start being a problem, I mean everything is affected. Fortunately I know where to turn and I'm getting less stubborn about turning there when I need to. This past Sunday morning we had all slept in till about 8:45. I got up and looked at Caleb and said, "So I guess we're going to the 11:00 service." He grumbled and mumbled for about 10 minutes. Then he came around to the kitchen put his arms around me and said, "Thank you for making us go to church." Now he didn't mean that I was forcing them, he was saying thank you for holding him accountable. That day we had the best day together as a family. We went out to eat, took naps, and did some yard work. It was an excellent day.
On a different note ZJ has been dry for 3 days, working on day 4. We will be done with pullups comepletely by the year's end. (She still has to wear them to sleep.)
Another different note, anybody reading this in the same area as me, my mom and I are wanting to do a biggest loser contest. Start up is $10, then a dollar for every pound gained. Weigh ins weekly, probably last 8 weeks or until you reach your goal weight. Anyone interested just let me know.

just a little down today

So the stress of me not having a paycheck is coming in has hit again. I remember this from the last time I didn't work, somehow things worked out. We just have to have faith God will provide for us.
Sassy got back Sunday from a week camping trip with her Yia-Yia and Popooh. I don't think I want her to be away from me again on a holiday. ZJ missed her the most I think. Sassy had to carry ZJ around all day the day she got home. It was rather cute. Jade and Sassy are going to the circus tonight, they should have lots of fun. Jade's mom had an extra ticket and Jade thought to invite Sassy. She's so thoughtful that way. If my digital camera was working I would take pics of Jade's new room downstairs. It is awesome, I'm awful proud of my husband's craftsmanship. We have lots of birthdays coming up next month, Caleb's, Zoey's, my sister's, my nephew's, and then Sassy's all within 2 weeks of each other. Which brings us full circle to the beginning of this blog, money. Sometimes I hate money. I have to remember that it is not evil, but the root of all evil right? I don't know UGGHH!!! Just frustrated and not making much sense I guess.

A Little Update

So not wanting to be outdone by my best friend, I had to come in and change a few things up. Sam has come into the 21st century and gotten herself a blogspot and created a nice little page, so I couldn't let mine just stay how it was. I don't really know what to write, because my life is pretty much redundant every day. I chase kids and dogs around all day, clean my house (which by the way, has never been cleaner), go to the library twice a week, cook gourmet meals (hehehe), and tinker in the yard. I still am not sure what I'm doing with the whole gardening thing, but I like to dig in the dirt and plant things to watch them grow. The biggest excitement in our lives is that Jade's downstairs room is finally done, it's so cool, I'm almost jealous. And Sassy decided to break her thumb last week. It's just a small fracture on the outside of her left thumb. They can't really do much for it, but she is milking it for all its worth! Anyway, I been loving this summer, the weather has been awesome, we have been walking everywhere. Saves on gas. Good form of exercise too. Well that's about all now.

Lady of Leisure

So I've had a few weeks with not going to work. Another of my Multiple Operations Managers (M.O.M.) friends called and asked if I was a lady of leisure now. We both laughed because we know that staying at home and raising the kids is no leisurely thing. I think I work more now than when I went to work. But I don't think I would change a thing. We took the kids to the races last night, ZJ loved them except when there was a caution-the cars weren't going fast enough for her! well gotta go chase kids and dogs....

Hope

Only one thing stands a chance
Against the hollow that threatens
It is the only thing that can fight
It's hope
Only one thing can dissipate the anger
It can renew the smile
It can refresh the spirit
It's hope
It can reignite the flames of familiarity
It douses out the anguish
It picks you up from the depths of despair
It's hope
It can break through the darkness
It sends its rays to warm you
It knocks back complacency
It's hope
It defeats depression
It destroys emptiness
It triumphs over the torture
It's hope
It is available only by God's grace
It has no expense
You can get it anytime
It's hope
It will always be there
No matter how small a dose
Just reach out
It's hope
Cling to it for dear life
Don't ever let go
For when the hollow attacks again
Hope will prevail

The Hollow

You don't know what it is, but it's there
Lurking behind every empty smile
Hiding behind the seemingly perfect facade
It's the hollow
Sneaking into each intimate moment
Sometimes the sarcasm douses the flame
But the embers never die
It's the hollow
The little lies cover it for a time
But it scratches it's way to the surface
Knowing there's no one to confide in
It's the hollow
You are never sure if it's the unfulfilled dreams
Or the childhood secret dying to burst out
It could be the let down of this life
It's the hollow
It gnaws away at the spirit
It eats at your soul
It drowns you in quiet anguish
It's the hollow
You search for freedom
And almost have it in your grasp
But freedom seems no match
For it's the hollow
Tears cannot even rain down
Nothing seems to matter
Everything appears surreal
But it's the hollow
It will steal away any happiness
But not with haste, only stealth
All just seems barely out of reach
It's the hollow
Teasing, taunting, torturing
Dangling, leading, suppressing
Empty, nothing, just hollow

Last Day!

Well today is officially my last day of work! I have to work about 3.5 hours helping teachers pack up and move things to store for the summer. I am so excited. No actual plans as to what I will do with all my time. I know I will be out in the yard working a lot this summer and I hope to buy a little wading pool for the girls to play in. Z.J. just loves the water. Sassy however is terrified of it. But I think I can manage to get her in a small pool like that. I think I am going to take just one class next semester and maybe work on getting my teaching license, but we'll see. I can only do one class at a time because that is about all we can afford. So even though I only have four classes left, it will take me a while. Once Z.J. gets into school I may just substitute for a while until I come across a job here in town. I don't really want to have to travel far for my job, but that remains to be seen. Anyway, not a lot of time this morning, so I will head to work now....

Mother's Day

Well Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers reading right now. Such a yucky day for such a happy day. It is now 6:20 and I have already been outside in the pouring rain. That would be because of the gift my husband got for me for Mother's Day. Yes we officially now have a new addition to our family! He got me a big dog, well she is a puppy now, but she will be big. She is part lab, part rotweiler. She is adorable and her name is Zayna. I wanted a dog for the backyard when we get it fenced in this summer. Zayna is about 6 weeks old. I came home Friday night and Caleb had beaten me home. Well I was outside talking with the neighbor when he came out and then here comes this shy little puppy following him. He said it was a free puppy but then we had to go to Walmart and spend $150 dollars on all the stuff we needed for her! Then we gotta take her to the vet and get her shots and stuff. So much for free. But that's ok. She has been pretty good so far. The first night only a couple accidents, then only one yesterday. She wines for about 15 min. at night when she gets put in her cage. But then she sleeps, just like a little kid. But she is up at 6 a.m. sharp, ready to go potty. Pebbles is not too sure what to think of her, she just growls at her and slobbers all over the place. Zayna just wants to play with her though. Z.J. only likes the puppy when she's sleeping cuz otherwise Zayna jumps up on her. Sassy is stuck to the puppy like glue, she's such a mother hen! Anyway, I guess I'll go make some breakfast. Hey whatever happened to moms getting breakfast in bed and not having to do their normal chores on Mother's Day?

New Fixings

So construction has begun on the basement now. We are building a room downstairs for Jade. We just finished the closet. If my camera were working I would be glad to put pictures up of how handy my husband actually is. But the camera does not work when it doesn't feel like it. Anyway, Zoey has graduated to a big girl bed. Tonight will be the first night she actually gets to sleep in it. I'm hoping that it will all go well and maybe this will help her to sleep all night. She hasn't been sleeping the last few weeks and Caleb says, " I wonder why all of a sudden she isn't sleeping". I just laughed and reminded him that the child has not slept since she was born. Soccer is now over for Sassy. Today was the last game and she scored a goal. She actually has some pretty decent skills for a five year old. She got a medal from the coach and is pretty proud today. I don't really have much else right now, just hadn't written in a while, so I thought I'd give a few lines.

My Favorite Things

First I want to start by saying that an awesome family from church needs all your prayers as they deal with the loss of their little angel. That young lady touched my heart in a way I cannot even understand and she didn't even know me. I can't type anymore about or I will cry again.
I was thinking the other day as I was off work again with sick children (Z.J. was in the ER Tues. night, but all is well now, just another child on breathing treatments) about some of my favorite things and trying to see if I could figure out exactly what they meant to me.
1. New shoes! Now I don't know what it is about women and new shoes but there is just a feeling about buying a new pair of shoes that I don't think I can explain. It doesn't even have to be an expensive pair, actually the cheaper they are the better the feeling. I had to give up a pair of really cute heels that I got for $3 the other day, because with each pregnancy my feet have grown. I was pretty upset, but then it dawned on me that it meant I could go shopping for more shoes! I have to admit that new purses and belts have a similar affect on me. I think that by enjoying just a new pair of shoes so much means that I appreciate the little things in life and am grateful for all of them.
2. Weenie roasts. I love the smell of logs burning, the taste of burnt hotdogs and marshmallows, the fellowship of whoever might be there, and the feeling of sitting around a fire on a lawn chair with nothing to do but gaze at the fire. Now this gets me for a couple reasons...I always remember something when I am at a weenie roast, I can't even be sure what it is, but the smells always come back to me. (They say that your olfactory, or smell, nerves create the strongest memories). I am creating new memories by doing nothing special at all.
3. Back rubs, foot rubs, and so on! I love to just be touched. To sit there and have my arms tickled or the tension rubbed out of my shoulders or feet, that is an amazing sensation. This obviously is my love language, and it is funny because Sas is the same way. She has been since she was an infant. She used to nurse with her hand straight up in the air so I could tickle the palm of her hand. I remember staying at my grandma's as a little girl and making her tickle my arms or face until she fell asleep and then I would wake her up to keep doing it.
Now I could list probably a few more but I think these three are my top 3 favorite things, in no particular order. I don't think I could rank them, because they are all so important to me. Seems silly, I know, but I just wanted to put it out there for you all to ponder a bit...enjoy and don't forget to pray please.

changed

You know the other day after I wrote about the winter blahs, I started feeling a lot better. I even sat at the table with Z.J. as she ate breakfast and sang whatever song was in her little head. Then we threw our arms up and praised God for a new day given to us. She just laughed. She is growing up so fast. She is a little repeat machine. The words she is learning so fast just amazes me. She did learn how to say fork the other night and it really sounds like an obscenity, so that one will stay in the house for a while. She learned how to say Love you about 2 weeks ago, and it makes my heart burst every time she says it! It is so stinking cute. Sassy is sitting on the chair singing right now, "Lay my life before You, how I looove you." Our church does a wonderful job teaching our children the word of God.
This week has been pretty rough. All last week during spring break Z.J. ran a fever, and by Monday I thought she was fine. But alas, I got a call at work from the daycare saying that she was running a fever of 102. I left work early and was thankful for that because I was feeling quite bad. I couldn't get her into the dr. until 6 p.m. that day, and by the time we got there the dr. looked at me and said oh you look like you've got the flu. Z.J. had an ear infection and they tested me for the flu but it came back negative. At this point I was just wanting someone to shoot me and put me out of my misery. I felt like I had a clydesdale doing a jig on my head, I couldn't breathe, and I had the nastiest driest cough ever. By Wednesday, I was feeling better but my husband started getting it. So we have been a sick bunch this week.
Well we only have 7 weeks of school left now, it's hard to think that it's almost over. I will not be returning to work next year, but I will be helping in Sassy's classroom about once a week.
I think I need to get off here and round up the children for Sassy's soccer game today.

A case of the blahs

I think that I am just so ready for spring and summer. I like all the seasons but winter...I can't stand the cold, I'm not real fond of the snow even, and it seems like it drags on forever. I like short sleeves and flip flops, diggin in the dirt, swimming, camping, barbeques, even weenie roasts in the fall, I like the smells of spring, the warmth of summer, and the colors of fall. But lately I haven't even been able to get myself to enjoy anything because of this nasty weather. I've lost all interest in normal things. I used to enjoy and look forward to working out, now I don't even care what I eat. I used to read my Bible every night before bed, and ashamed to say I have a hard time remembering to take it to church on Sundays. I used to want to do all that I could for the church and now I don't even like to leave my house. I've been on "spring break" this whole week and I think that I've left my house 3 times. That's sad. I do enjoy not working though and Caleb said he could get used to it again. I have managed to keep the house pretty clean, get dinner on the table every night, get some painting done for the closet, and make mints and a cake for my neighbor. I've just got cabin fever so bad that I can't hardly stand it, it's driving me crazy! Anyway, that's all just thought I'd vent.

2 posts in one day!

So this song was redone by Raven for her new movie, but I remember the first time I heard this song. I think I was skating...but anyway, they attribute this song as the pioneer of rap. I don't know about all that, but man I really dig this song!

sorry it's been so long

So I haven't been on for a while so this may prove to be a fairly long one, but then again maybe not! Well let's see, first thing new and exciting is my step-daughter gave her life to Christ and got baptized yesterday at Jefferson Street Christian church. Her step-father and other step-sister got baptized as well. So what a day of rejoicing yesterday for our families. Caleb asked Jade what it meant to be baptized and she understood what it meant and she was really excited to do it. I think Caleb even teared up a bit when she went under and came back up.
Sesleigh has learned how to ride a two-wheeler bike now. She is so excited and won't stop pestering me to go out and ride. So finally yesterday we went out and she did fairly well, only 7 or 8 wipeouts. She still needs help getting started some times, but she gets to going and goes quite a ways. It is almost scary to me how much these girls are growing up. I mean Jade is making huge life altering decisions, and Sesleigh is gaining more and more independence.
As for Z.J., she is like a little sponge and ready to repeat anything you say. She has started saying Love you or something like that in the past week. Yesterday at Sunday school she learned the word happy and wouldn't quit saying it all day. She is such a Daddy's girl it is not even funny.
My husband has been busy working in the bedroom. We have been in our new huge bedroom for about 4 weeks now. It is amazing and big, Caleb said the first night that he felt like he was sleeping in a hotel room! It's nice to finally have our own space and to have it feel like a retreat. He has now started working on the closet, we have it mostly drywalled. Once we get all that done, then Caleb will start building the shelves and all that good stuff.
I think that's the biggest stuff to update about so I better get off here and get ready for work.

A day in my Life

So I haven't posted in a while and I figured I'd better before Amy gets on me again. I figured out that I have what I call motherhood ADD. Just so everyone understands, I thought I'd write about a day in my life. This is just any normal day that I don't have work. Maybe then you all will understand why I don't get the chance to get on here as much as I would like....
I get up and exercise, take my shower, eat my breakfast and enjoy my moment of peace before the chaos begins. Then the baby wakes up (I know she is no longer a baby but I like to consider her this to make me feel better), I fix her breakfast and wake the other one or two up (depending on the day it is). When I wake them up I see they have piles of laundry on their floors, so I have them take the clothes downstairs so I can do laundry. On my way downstairs, the baby screams that she needs a diaper change, and proceed to change her diapers and get her an outfit. While rumaging through the closet to find clothes I decide to gather all the empty hangers for the laundry that I am getting ready to do. I put the hangers in the hall closet and remember that I still need to clothe the naked baby. I go back to her closet to get her clothes and the middle one stops me to get help fixing her hair. I stop to pull her hair up and tell her to brush her teeth and make her bed. Then I head downstairs to do laundry. I get all the clothes sorted and a load thrown in the washer. I come upstairs to a still naked baby and a living room filled with big lego blocks. I go back to the closet for a third time and grab an outfit, determined to get clothes on the child this time. I come back out to find that the baby has filled her diaper and needs changed again. I change her and put clothes on her (first task complete: time taken 34 minutes). Then I coax the baby into picking up the blocks. As she is picking up the blocks she finds a book, so we stop to read it. In the middle of the book the oldest comes out and says she's hungry so can I please get her a bowl for some cereal. I go to the kitchen to get a bowl and realize they are all dirty, so I run water and wash a bowl, intending to do all the dishes. But the baby has other plans...she has taken off her shirt and found some kind of food from somewhere on the floor. I run to stop her from eating what I find out is dog food and put her shirt back on her only to hear water hitting the floor from the sink overflowing. I stop the water, mop up the water and decide that I might as well just mop the whole floor. I get out the bucket, but figure I'd better sweep first. I grab the broom from the pantry and can't find the dustpan. So I proceed to clean out the pantry in order to find it. In the middle of this task the middle one is now hungry and wants eggs for breakfast. I go back to the sink to wash a skillet, cook her some eggs, and get her set at the table. I decide to go downstairs to switch the laundry over before I do anything else so I can at least one load done today. I get down there to realize I left the lid up so the washer hasn't even started a full cycle. I close the lid come back upstairs, go back downstairs to get meat to lay out for supper and remember that I didn't put detergent in the washer. I put the detergent in and come back up stairs to realize that I didn't get meat for supper. I go back downstairs grab the meat, come back upstairs and find the baby with her sippy cup broken and milk all over the floor and herself. I change her clothes a second time and grab the mop bucket to fill it up, but decide sweeping is still the first step. Oh but wait, I still haven't found the dustpan. I go back to cleaning the pantry and pull out all outdated items. Then I smell a funky smell and realize the baby has filled her diaper again. I change her diaper and find out that the mess has leaked all over her clothes. I change her outfit for the third time this morning. I wash out the mess and take the clothes downstairs to be washed. When I get back upstairs the children inform me that it is time for lunch. I wash some more pans and silverware so I can make lunch. As I am cooking lunch I hear the washing machine stop, so I go downstairs to switch out laundry. I put in another load and go back upstairs to find out that lunch has burned. So now the girls get peanut butter and jelly. I figure that since it's lunch time I better at least get my teeth brushed while they are all eating. I brush my teeth and decide the sink needs cleaned. As I'm cleaning the sink I notice the mirror, bathtub, and stool need cleaned as well so I go to get the necessary items for the job and realize that I still have not finished cleaning out the pantry. I start this job for a third time, but the children are done and the baby is ready for a nap (the most glorious time of the day). And since this is just my morning and I am just tired typing all this I will end with this last thought. It is only 1 p.m. and all I have managed to accomplish is dressing the baby 3 times. My house has 120 lego blocks all over the living room floor, the table has p.b. smeared all over it, the sink is full of cold water and greasy dishsoap, dishes all over the counter and stove, the pantry door is still open, the dust pan is still MIA; there is a puddle of milk on the dining room floor, the mop bucket in the middle of the kitchen floor the broom laying in the hallway (the baby drug it there), the bathroom has towels rugs and shower curtain laying on the floor from my bright idea to clean the bathroom, and I still haven't finished brushing my teeth.

Now I want everyone to know that this may not be every day, but this is a general day in my life. And this is just the morning. My husband wonders why I want to go to bed at 7:30 and why I'm so tired by staying home with the kids all day. But I thought it would be a comic relief and I expect no sympathy from any mother who suffers Motherhood ADD. May all your days be filled with life's distractions and God's blessings....hehehe.

Just some news

So I guess my exciting news is something that should have been posted a week ago, but I started back to work this week so go figure. Caleb starts another job tomorrow! He will be making more than what we made together at his previous job. Plus, he is guaranteed the manager position at the RP store here in Lincoln. So no more traveling and he also told me that next school year I have the option to stay at home with Zoey if I want to! Woohoo! It is all pretty exciting and I know he feels more comfortable with this job. I don't really have much else to say but I wanted to let everyone know our exciting news.