Life and Times Of a Crazy House

The Dang I love you momma sandwich

2012-01-11T11:42:00.000-06:00

Today the baby actually a nap so I was able to fry up some bacon for a cool breakfast experiment we are having tomorrow. I promised Eldest we could have BLT's for lunch today and miracle of miracles the baby took an afternoon nap as well so I was able to make them instead of her. I decided to experiment a little and came up with these.
Dang I love you Momma sandwiches

2 slices of bread
Tomato slices
4 slices of bacon - cooked
lettuce
slices of brie cheese
butter
a heavy skillet (not the one you cook in)

Butter your bread and set one buttered side down in a skillet place brie then bacon, tomato, lettuce, and top with more brie then place your second piece of buttered bread on top. butter side up. Gently place the second skillet on top. Check your sandwich for browning... once browned flip. Allow other side to brown.. keep the skillet on the top to smoosh you sandwich down.
once the second side is browned allow to set then cut ( i found scissors worked best)

Captioning pictures.. again

2012-01-05T11:51:00.000-06:00

Oh my Gosh what in the HECK is that smell?

Oh... daddy....I need a favor over here...

doing something right

2012-01-05T04:25:00.000-06:00

Big Daddy gave Eldest an assignment Tuesday to look through this "self help" book for women. It was based on some tv show where women can win a contest based on how much they "improve" in several areas of i don't know "beauty". She was not allowed to comment or discuss the book with us and when it was over we would discuss what she thought. This is what she thought .

Daddy, they took all these normal beautiful looking moms and turned them into pagent queens. It was so disgusting! They all had to much make-up and reveling clothing!! They had to get plastic surgery in order to stay in the group. They had to change who they were to fit what someone else wanted. I hated this book Daddy. Now here comes my favorite part.. where I realized her daddy, momma, and myself are doing a great job with her. She said what made me the most mad was in the end of this book the author said part of improving yourself is having faith in God. That God says He helps those who help themselves. Women HAVE to do these things in order to do what God wants for them!! Can you belive that daddy?! How could she say that!! God made each of us in HIS OWN IMAGE and HIS image is PERFECTION. How can changing yourself.. getting plastic surgery, wearing reveling clothing and too much make-up be what God wants for you?? If he wanted these women to look like that he would have made them look like pagent queens.

Big Daddy just looked at her and said well.. okay.. um I thought we were going to have to get around to that but well you pass.

Little Man

2012-01-04T16:25:00.000-06:00

Supernova is getting bigger and happier each day... well except the past few days but being sick will do that to you. He weighs around 15 lbs now. Fat and Happy! He LOVES to take showers with his daddy! He loves his sisters. Right now they try to see who can get him to smile first. I had forgotten how great it can be to do nothing all day but hold a little baby. He's so snuggly and sweet!!

sick baby

2012-01-04T16:10:00.000-06:00

NO BODY LOVES ME!! Here I am sick and no one is talking to me or holding me!!

Hey little man. I'll come talk to you. Tell me all about whats wrong. Sissy is right here.

My life is soo hard. I went to the ER last night. I can't even talk about what happened! I'm still having nightmares!

Oh my gosh! you poor thing!! Is there anything I can do ? Story? Snuggles?

hmmm... Do you change diapers?

Nope. Gotta talk to momma about that one.

Dang it!

Gonna be a great day casserole

2012-01-03T06:50:00.000-06:00

So I couldn't sleep this morning so I decided to make breakfast for the girls first day back to school.

It's gonna be a great day casserole
Ingredients:
1 lb of sausage
1 cup un cooked grits
4 cups of cheese (shredded)
6 eggs
3 ups of water
1/4 cup of milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
put your 3 cups of water on to boil with the lid on. Start browning your sausage. while your sausage cooks beat 6 eggs and milk in a bowl and set aside. Drain sausage and set in a seprate bowl large enough to mix all your ingredients together. Pour your grits into the now bowling water. Turn down to med low and put the lid back on your pot set for 5 min. Pour your scrambled egg mixture into your sausage skillet and cook on medium. Grease a med. size casserole dish. Once eggs and grits are finished add 1/2 the cheese to the grits and stir to combine and melt the cheese. Then add to bowl containing the sausage. Carefully stir in scrambled eggs into the mixture. Once combined pour into casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese. Cover with foil and cook for 25 min. Remove foil and cook for 5 more min.
serve warm :)
Enjoy!!

So much in love

2011-11-13T15:11:00.000-06:00

Look at his little squishy cheeks!! How can you not be crazy in love with this little boy? I tell you what EVERYONE in this house has been bit by the love bug in a huge way. I was worried with how biggwrl would react to him hogging mommy after we got home but I should have been worried by how much SHE would hog HIM. She doesn't care that he's hogging mommy she just climbs in my lap and pets him while he's eatting begging to burb him or have a turn holding him. The girls fight constantly about who's turn it is to love on him next. Daddy walks in the door wanting to hold him. and lets not even get into gramma and nanna. This boy is a love machine. Just a 9lb bundle of lovin. No one can resist the sweet baby smell ! We are powerless against it!

Supernova's Birth Story

2011-11-13T15:08:00.000-06:00

On Nov 8th we went into the hospital to get induced at 6am
they started me on the pitocin at 7am.
by 9:30am it was time to break my water.. which REALLY hurt by the way. Big daddy missed this part becuase I had kicked him out to go get a snack since i would not let him eat in the room>
I had texted back and forth with the girls all morning but when i called the only thing they cared about was if thier brother was here yet. True devotion. However BigGwrl did tell me to be brave.
then the anesthesia came in about 10 to give me my epidural. Following the same pattern as last time my bp dropped and I threw up all over the place. Luckily we were ready this time with the trash can and meds.

HOWEVER the epidural never quite kicked in. Tiny T and her family stopped by to pray with us and then it was time to check mommy again.11am. I started feeling light headed and sick to my tummy again my bp dropped again so more throwing up and more meds. We still hadn't gotten to the pushing stage so nanna came in for a bit to say hi. We kept paging the anathesia dr. to come back but he was busy then he forgot to come and give me more meds. By this time the contractions were so bad I knew it was time to push. We kicked Nanna out and called the Dr. the anathsia dr. to come back and we called the girls to come up. The nurse checked me again and sure enough it was time. 11:30 the Dr. and the anethesia dr. both walked in together I got an upper for my epidural but by then it was to late for it to work. By 12:18 after LOTS of pain! Supernova had made his entrance into the world. He was pink and perfect in every way.
He is 9lbs 7oz
We are all so in love with our new family member!

What I have learned from this experiance

2011-11-10T04:05:00.000-06:00

After having had a really rough day and then finally reaching the point that my body just kind of collapsed in on itself and I was FINALLY able to pass out asleep, I have decided to make a list of things I have learned with this delivery/ recovery experiance.

- Epidurals do not always work

- just when you think the pain can not get any worse.. it does... BUT if you keep pushing just when you think you have died it's over and there is relief.

- Even adults need to be asked things ovedr and over again

- lactation consultanats give you formula nowdays... but it's specially formulated for breastfeeding

- letting people know you are upset is a good thing

more later.... my pain pills are here and Im gonna go sleepy

A special song for getting induced

2011-11-07T19:28:00.001-06:00

the baby will come out
tomorrow
bet your bottom dollar
that tomorrow
they'll be a son

Just thinkin about
tomorrow
clears away the anxitiy
and the depression
till theres none!

When I'm stuck with a day
thats hot
and stuffy
I just stick out my chin
and grin
and say
owwwwwwwww!!

The Son will come out
tomorrow
So I gotta hang on
till tomorrow
come what may
Tomorrow! Tomorrow!
I'll love on him tomorrow!
He's only a day
away!!

time to let it all out. Venting.

2011-10-24T17:10:00.000-05:00

first.
I am in a crabby mood I won't deny it but still i just feel the need to vent and just get everything out and feel better. So on that note.

1) You (no not you) are a bad friend. All you do is take a true friendship is give and take. You must have never learned that because all you do is take. I have needed you so many times this year and they only time you decided to be a friend was when you wanted something. Well poop on you child. I know what a true and real friend is and hon it ain't you.

2) If you are a man there are just somethings you do not say to a pregnant woman especially a VERY pregnant woman. Don't say are you really going to eat that?! Don't tell her that her clothes don't fit. Don't tell her to calm down. ESPECIALLY don't tell her you know how she feels. The pregnant woman might just KILL YOU. Oh and don't complain that you only got 6 hours of sleep when YOU stayed up late watching FIREFLY.
( no bigdaddy did not say any of those things. Except the sleep one. )

3. If you are going to post something in a public forum don't be surprised when the person you were gossiping about finds out. Ie: don't vent about someone that is on your friends list. THEY WILL SEE IT.
It WILL cause drama.

see I feel so much better. Now if only purging vents would cause you to go into labor.

difference in kids

2011-08-09T07:49:00.000-05:00

Because of school starting next week we are all on the school prep. schedule. This means up at 5:30 - Quiet time from 7-7:30 then straight to bed for the little ones. Chores and Reading until 8:00 for Eldest. This also means no more naps for BigGrwl. I am really bummed about that because its our special time together and has been for at least 4 years now. I'm trying not to cry!! Having a baby on the way is helping with the MY BABY IS GOING TO KINDERGARTEN crying but still it's just so sad!!

ANYWAYS.

This also means that MY nap has to be over by 2:15 so I can go pick up the girls. MAJOR BUMMER.

So the girls decided to wake up mommy together by jumping on my bed.

Supernova was moving so the all laid on the bed watching and feeling. I love the mixed reactions from the girls.

Eldest: Ew that just feels/ looks soooooo.... (me)Cool? Awesome? (Eldest) no... discusting. There isSOMETHING growing inside your body!!

Middlest: lays her head on my belly or close to hit and talks to the baby.. Supernova can you hear me.. kick Middlest. It's okay kicking is good. Kick sissy! Supernova.. this is Middlest I love you so much.. we are going to have so much fun!!

BigGwrl: Hey Supurnova! BPPPPPPPTTTTT can you hear that? BPPPPTTTTTT I'm blowing farts on mommys belly!! awww he kicked me he likes it!!

I love it!! I can't wait to see what his personality is like!!

Today I hate

2011-07-31T16:32:00.000-05:00

I hate everything today!
I hate that my hair feels like straw dispite the tons of conditioner i put in it.
I hate that I sweat so much i have to carry deodrant in my car, and purse
I hate the tea big daddy went and got special for me
I hate the way he cleaned the house
I hate that he took the girls to Krispy Kreme and stunk up my house with doughnut smell
I hate the way my tummy feels like a 30 lbs weight
I hate drinking water all day
I hate that its 105 outside
I hate that the ac is flaky in my van
I hate that im so stuff feeling that I can barley stand to wear clothes
I hate that the only pair of shoes i have that fit feel plasticy and sweaty
I hate not being able to sleep
I hate the fact i take a nap in the afternoon and still can barley keep my eyes open by 8pm
I REALLY hate feeling this way. I know its hormones but i really do hate it. I need a hug. and maybe a chocolate cake

the sounds of the night

2011-07-29T06:52:00.000-05:00

You know how you have those nights where you just want to KILL someone? UGH.. Last night was soooooo like that. I have enough trouble sleeping through the night being pregnant then you add other junk on top of it and i'm gong to start getting ANGRY and you wouldn't like me when im angry.
So I am sound asleep at 1am when i start hearing a cricket. At first I thought it was BigDaddys new CPAP machine. The dang thing do so much that I convinced myself that MAYBE it has a noise thing built in to possibly cover the sound of the dang things hissing. NO. So I try to put a pillow over my head and roll over. But then Supernova decides hey momma is awake lets do gymnastics.. on her bladder! So i get up to go to the bathroom. Well.. someone (BIG DADDY) forgot to put Indiana in the girls room last night so she starts barking. So now i have a cricket, a dog barking, a hissing CPAP and a gymnast baby to deal with. I climb back in bed and pull two pillows over my head and all that does is make me hot and start to sweat so i try to concentrate on the white noise of the fan over all the other stuff. Then what happens? Big Daddy rolls over and the seal on his mask leaks. I seriously wanted to strangle someone!! About 4(!!!) am I have finally managed to fall back asleep when BigDaddy decides to get up and turn on the light of his CPAP so he can disassemble it. THEN he turns on the bathroom light forgetting to shut the door. I think i said something nasty before i rolled over. but then Supernova has decided hey she's awake again!! Let's play some more! So i lay still and try to convince him im still asleep. It doesn't work I roll back over only to see this strange hulking figgure standing in the dark in front of my 2nd story window!! I scream and of course it's big daddy! his reply... did you know we have a cricket in here?! That was the point if i'd had the energy I might have actually harmed someone!

Indie

2011-07-23T22:34:00.000-05:00

Indiana sleeps with the girls now that Genesis is gone. We wait to put her in there until we go to bed so that we can let her out that one last time. Tonight I walked in the hallway after the girls went to bed and even though their bedroom door was open the silly dog was laying down outside their door waiting for Tim to tell her it was time to go to bed! What kind of nut case dog do i have?! First she thinks she's my baby and that her permanent place is in my lap curled up like a baby and now this! I think this little stinker is getting a tad spoiled!!

Memphis planning

2011-07-23T17:16:00.000-05:00

If there is one thing the girls look foward to it's trips with Gramma. From the time Middlest was about 3 or 4 months old she's been going on Road trips. Our road trips TYPICALLY are to Kansas City Mo. though before my Grandma Glass passed away we would go to Detroit as well. We do lots of exploring and mini adventures on these trips and a lot of bonding with Gramma. Eldest because of school and summer visitation has never been on one of these.. until now. We would do local "adventures" that she was able to go on so this is BIG for her. Our Gramma trip for this year is... MEMPHIS!! We have spent DAYS researching where we want to go! The girls are soooo excited! Since it's high summer we are not going to the zoo this time :(, but we have to save SOMETHING for next time right? We are going to Graceland (we've been, listening non stop to Elvis and Eldest did a report on him) We are going to see the Peabody duck walk, The Riverwalk, BBQ on Beale street, the Lorraine Motel, and the glass pyramid. This is gonna be a BLAST! Stay tuned for pictures and fun things that happened!

ugh really people?!

2011-07-18T10:06:00.000-05:00

okay so on one of the forums i follow this lady is complaining because her husband who is a stay at home dad has special needs parents living next door. Apparently he can't watch a 3yr old and look after his parents as well. The running consensus was put the parents in a home and stay at home with your kids! SERIOUSLY??
I am not for putting your parents in a home in the first place. I think if we CAN take care of them we should, there are plenty of resources available to help out. I understand not everyone feels the same way I do, especially in this day and age where money and jobs are tight. But i'm sorry the are my parents and I should be the one to look after them. ( I am not saying my brother and sister are not wanting to or able this is just me in talking about :) )
I don't understand why you couldn't take care of your children and your parents. Is this not how traditionally things were done? Can we not adjust to doing both? My mother raised me that you always take your children with you so that they will learn how to behave and/ or act in certain situations. Middlest and BigGwrl were brought up with mommies volunteer work, meetings, taking people to dr's appts. ect. and while they do not always behave the way i wanted them to overall they did behave.It wasn't that hard to juggle my kids and my other responsibilities. Once again i know not everyone feels the same way. I just feel like we were given care over certain things by God and we should do our best to follow that.. guidance... perhaps not the best word but i'm on my soapbox here and not thinking clearly. OH and while we are at it.. Please quit complaining about your in laws people! They are your husbands family!! Do you think it doesn't bother him that you hate his mother and tell EVERYONE about how mean and controlling she is?? I know we don't always get along with family but airing it on Facebook and PUBLIC forums isn't the way to solve your problems. Didn't we all learn that lesson from Carolyn Bourne? Okay I need to find some OREOS now.

Genesis Leigh

2011-06-26T06:59:00.000-05:00

My oldest baby Genesis Leigh passed away Friday night. She was my first baby. I got her in 1998 when I lived in Texas. My ex and I on a whim went to the humane society in Tyler and saw this beautiful 7 month old puppy and instantly fell in love. She was so full of life :). I used her as a judge of people when I moved to Alabama a few years later. When SHE instantly fell for my now husband I knew he was a great guy. As we had children she would lay beside them as babies and nudge them back to where she wanted them once they started crawling. She never minded them crawling or laying on her. She never snapped or tried to bite them. Though she was sensitive to voices being raised. As time passed she was having more trouble seeing and hearing but she was still as gentle and loving as ever. Her favorite thing to do was curl up on the vent and hog the air coming out of it. We had been prepared for this eventuality for a long time but you are NEVER ready. It's been a hard day. Her girls and her sister Indiana miss her so much.
Rest in peace my beautiful love. Mommy misses you.

Carrying on

2011-06-20T14:31:00.000-05:00

I realize in a lot of families this really doesn't matter but in mine carrying on the family line is important. Especially since I married an only son. I'm not saying that my husband or my father in law doesn't love having girls around, But having a boy to carry on the family name is important to them. So I am SOO happy to say that our family name will continue for another generation! In less than 4 months baby boy H. will be here!!

queen sized

2011-06-18T20:26:00.000-05:00

One of the decisions BigDaddy and I made when replacing our bed...

was to get a smaller queen sized bed. We LOVED our King .. it was just big. We'd find ourselves sleeping so far away from each other. Also we'd wake up with kiddo's in the bed and not know when or how they got there. :)

So. Now we have a queen sized bed. We sleep next to each other every night AND no kiddo's allowed!!

There were some hurt feelings about this new development. It wasn't fair!! So we made a pallet on the floor beside the bed for 1 child to sleep on WHEN THEY DON'T FEEL WELL! Now they are fighting over whose fake symptoms are "worse-er". Yeah.. maybe.. its time to cut the cord :)

Math facts.

2011-06-18T19:29:00.000-05:00

Last year in school all I heard and saw from middlest was how much she was struggling with her tests.. spelling tests, math tests, every test. We'd practice until she had everything down pat then test time came and well the results were not good. This summer we've been practicing reading, spelling and taking math tests. One way we've done this is to download times math tests and do those 3x a week and the other 2 days we practice flash cards. I do not grade her on how many she gets wrong only on how many she does. She has to correct sloppy numbers and wrong answers but they do not count against her. Last week her Personal best was 24 with 7 sloppy/ wrong answers. Monday it was 33 with 8 wrong/sloppy. Today she got 40 with 5 wrong/sloppy. She gets to display her Personal Best papers and get 3 candies every time she breaks her record. If not she gets 2. Either way she is increasing her speed and her neatness and this momma could not be more proud of her little girl!

Tie Dye fun

2011-06-16T09:57:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was our Tie Dye day!! We had bought shirts for field trips then we went through all our clothes and found whites that were stained or that we just plain 'ol wanted to dye. We spent an hour or so banding them then got to dye-ing!
We had so much fun and all four of us bear the results!! BigGwrl and Middlest are covered in dye stains.. I and Eldest were lucky (or smart enough) to not get to colored.. except my foot which BigGwrl "accidently" squirted with red dye. I went around all day yesterday looking like someone hacked off my toe!! It looked like I was bleeding heavily!
These are some pictures of the girls favorite creations:

BigGwrl dye-ed a skirt that was stained

Middlest did an old pair of hand-me down pants that used to be pink but were stained with dirt and grass

Eldest said the two shirts she had in the basket were her favorites but she only wanted to model this one :)

We did over 30 items yesterday and all of them were soo cool! We LOVE Tie Dye day! I love that the girls like to wear things like this!

35 fun facts about the first 18 weeks of Pregnancy no one tells you

2011-06-12T18:55:00.000-05:00

First I wanna say I didn't write this..I found it on the internet, but I think it is so funny and true.

Yes. I stole this from someone who stole it. so Author unknown

18 weeks of pregnancy down and I am quickly approaching the halfway point. I figured this would be a good time to reflect on the past 18 weeks my belly has been growing and growing and share some often unspoken shocking facts I have learned since becoming pregnant.

Maybe I missed the memo that the Pregnant Fairy left on my pillow the night Tarzan impregnated me. Or maybe these are lessons that every pregnant girl has to learn the hard way. Either way, it’s been one heck of a learning curve at times! And that’s why today I bring to you my 35 shocking facts 18 weeks of pregnancy has taught me. So let’s dive in!

1. I’ve seem to have sprung a vagina leak. The thoughts of wearing grandma underwear and panty liners 24/7 dance around to the tune, “Don’t go chasing waterfalls” in my head. Is it really necessary that almost every hole I have should leak? That’s just not fun.

2. Veins are popping out of boobs like crazy. Like you can trace my vein on my boob with your finger crazy. Either my boobs are working out and lifting weights while I sleep or they’re going to be some incredible 24/7 milk producing machines. At this rate, I’ll have one happy, satisfied, and full baby boy.

3. Hygiene seriously lacks. Sometimes I’m so tired that I don’t wash my face before I go to bed at night. Sometimes, like today, I don’t brush my teeth until 2:24 pm. Sometimes I have greasy hair. Sometimes I only shave because I can’t stand how long the hair on my legs has gotten. As gross as all of these things are, I’m (sadly) perfectly ok with it.

4. I pee a ridiculous amount of times per day. I pee more in a day now than I peed in an entire week all together. Our water bill has increased ten-fold because of all the flushing going on around here. One of my bad habits is to go to the bathroom and then tell Tarzan that we are out of toilet paper. He hates it.

5. Not only is my belly growing, but so is everything else. My arms, butt, thighs, and body parts I didn’t even know I had are getting bigger by the day. This cannot be a good thing.

6. Hormones are beyond out of control. Just ask my husband Tarzan.

7. I cry about everything. I cry over commercials. I cry over TV shows. I cry over seeing someone do something nice for an elderly woman at the grocery store. And I cry over the fact that I cry so much. I’ve officially become lame.

8. Forgetfulness flows through me like the sand through an hour glass. The days of my life can be summed up in two words: Pregnant Brain. I had something funny to also write here, but I forgot what it was.

9. Sex. Oh yeah. Although I’d love to say that since becoming pregnant, sex is hot, steamy, incredible, and frequent, sadly it happens about as often as sequels are released for the movie Titanic.

10. Laziness has become my middle name. But so has sleep, nap, do-nothing, relax, and chill out.

11. Food has become an obsession. I swear that Taco Bell and McDonald’s are making commercials just for me. And no matter how much I eat, I’m always hungry again 30 minutes later. Sorta reminds of of eating sushi pre-pregnancy.

12. Social life. What social life? That went out the window shortly after getting pregnant and I’m often asleep on the couch by 8:30 and in bed by 9:00… Friday and Saturday nights included.

13. My constant sneezing has become a way for Tarzan to keep track of where I am in the house at all times. And this isn’t the cute sneeze like I used to have. Oh no, this sneeze is extremely loud and it’s best to have a kleenex on hand for the huge amount of snot that flows out of my nose.

14. Everything has a smell. I can smell the tile, Tarzan, the garbage in the kitchen, our dog, our couch, the TV, and the flowers in the other room all at the same time. I’d either make a great super-sniffing super hero or I could replace a few drug-sniffing dogs police use.

15. Bitchiness. Don’t mess with me. My hormones are ready to go into battle at a moments notice… and I never lose. Really.

16. My dog is attached to me like a cell phone on a 15 year-old that loves to text. She must be next to me at all times now. Too bad she won’t hop in the shower with me though, she could use a bath soon.

17. Even though I am growing a baby, I still don’t like the fact that I’m gaining weight in other spots than my stomach. Why didn’t I luck out with one of those awesome bodies that doesn’t gain weight so easily? Damn genes.

18. Google isn’t always a pregnant girl’s friend. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve looked something up and based on what I read I’d swear I was either going into labor or that I had a rare disease only found in red frogs in the Amazon jungle. No joke.

19. Most maternity clothes are as flattering as me wearing a Snuggie everywhere I go.

20. Fitted pregnancy shirts seem to work better than the flowy kind. At least you can tell I’m pregnant and not just really fat. And this is ALWAYS a plus.

21. Pimples suck. What am I, a teenager again? Well, shoot, even as a teenager I never had acne. Pimples and pregnancy seem to go hand in hand for a lot of us. Who would have known that pimples could grow into your hairline and on your head?

22. People want to touch my belly, even though it’s not a huge bump yet… and I do not like this. My belly is my belly. Your ass is your ass. Just because you have a bubble there doesn’t mean everyone who walks by can touch it. Hands off my bump!

23. I get into fights over nothing sometimes with Tarzan – over stupid things. If he forgets to put a new trash bag in the trashcan after taking it out, God help him. He’s in for a pregnant woman hormone outburst like he’s never seen.

24. People are extremely noisy. I know that they care for the most part, but I don’t care about your advice, your name choices, or how it was 20 years ago when you were pregnant. If I wanted to know what it was like, I’d ask you. And for God’s sake, the last thing I want to hear about is how you were in labor for 30 hours and you wanted to die. Or how you pooped on the table. Or how you tore so badly. Or how your baby had problems. Or how sex is just not the same. Or that the epidural didn’t work. Yea. Thanks for telling me that. Bitch.

25. Now that I’m pregnant, other pregnant women feel it’s OK to talk to me about their dark nipples or leaky vaginas. And for some strange reason this keeps happening over lunch or dinner. True story. The last thing I want to be thinking about while pouring gravy on my mashed potatoes is your leaky vagina thankyouverymuch.

26. It’s easy to make friends in dressing room hallways with others who are trying on maternity clothes. We have this new common bond. It’s like we’re all meant to be BFF’s to bond over how awful some maternity clothes can be.

27. Wearing fun heels is still do-able, but I know it will become all but a distant memory soon enough. I don’t know what it is about being pregnant and my feet being different. The same heels I wore pre-pregnancy that fit my foot just fine then, make my feet hurt like hell every time I wear them now!

28. Dreams while pregnant can get a little wild at times ranging from nightmares, to puppies, to normal sex, to bisexual sex (for the record, I’m a straight girl)

29. Migraines. Enough said.

30. I get out of breath doing just about anything now. Stairs? Forget about them. Show me the nearest elevator. What? No elevator? Carry me.

31. The wonderful sneeze and pee. It’s bad enough that I’m sneezing all the time now, but to have to worry about some pee escaping each time I do, is truly something I’d rather live without.

32. My areolae have begun their attack on my boobs. At this rate, I fear that my entire body is slowly turning into one big nipple.

33. Nausea and morning sickness are far worse than what “they” tell you it’s like. I compare it to having the worst hangover you’ve ever had and feeling like that for 24-48 hours at times. And then waking up the next day and starting all over again… and again… and again…

34. My pregnancy gas is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It’s frequent and according to Tarzan, studies should be done on a pregnant woman’s gas as it may be an effective weapon to fight wars and crime.

35. Finally, the infamous pregnancy glow that you hear about is a bunch of bullsh!t. It hasn’t happened yet and I seriously have doubts that it ever will happen. Seriously. At this rate the only thing that will be glowing on me is my stomach when the light hits it just right because my skin will be stretched out as far as it can go!

Summers when we were young..

2011-06-06T14:33:00.000-05:00

What we remember :
Getting dirty
playing games with friends
making forts
staying out until the street lights came on
drinking from the hose

What mom remembers:
i'm bored!
why can't i watch TV
she/he hit me
momma
momma
i'm hungry
im thirsty
but do i have ta?

And we wonder why momma gave us a jug of kool-aide a stack of cups, kicked us outside and locked all the doors!

SuperNova's favorite pasta salad

2011-06-06T07:46:00.000-05:00

As most of you know part of being pregnant is food aversions. With this baby they have been a little more... well just more. Supernova doesn't like meat.. except fried chicken and he doesn't like many sweets. We call the baby a diabetic vegetarian. :)
Anyways this has led us to try and figure out different recipes that momma can eat. This is one of those.

SuperNova's pasta salad:
1 package of cheese tortellini
2 small cans of sliced black olives
1 bottle of balsalmic vinegar salad dressing

boil the pasta according to directions. Open and drain the black olives. Drain pasta. While still hot add to a large bowl the pasta, the olives and 1/4 of the salad bottle. Stir. Allow to set for about 5 min then check if the dressing has been sucked up if it has then add a bit more dressing. then cover and place in fridge allowing to fully cool.
I suppose it would be good with some chicken breast cut up in it. But... well then supernova wouldn't like it :)

Sunday morning football

2011-06-05T13:28:00.000-05:00

This morning Big Daddy taught his girls how to play football :)
at first he was a little concerned about teaching them tackle instead of touch but i assured him the girls would be fine. These are no holds barred kinda chicks.

He had to show bigGwrl how to catch the ball and run for the right goal line

Eldest tried to tackle him

Middlest and bigGwrl got into a wrestling match on the field..which proved to him mommy was right

These next few are their touchdown dances :)

This one is my favorite. The others had to take potty breaks so Daddy was teaching middlest to proper way to throw a football

This one is where they switched jobs :)
They all had soo much fun!! Big daddy doesnt often get the opportunity to play games like this with the girls and they had such a good time bonding. To make this story even sweeter... He took them to CVS and let them pick our their own nail polish and he painted all their toes for them.
Now that is a DADDY!

SuperNova update

2011-06-04T20:30:00.000-05:00

I am now about 18 weeks pregnant!

I'm starting to actually FEEL preggers! Supernova is progressing just fine and on June 20th we will be doing the anatomy scan!! The girls LOVE telling EVERYONE that they are going to have a new baby soon! They are so excited and LOVE helping me look at baby stuff!

Middlest is concentrating trying to hear her baby!

Domestic Bliss??

2011-06-04T20:23:00.000-05:00

My day was what i'd consider almost perfect. All it needed was some slightly cooler temperatures. :)

We went to the SHRIMPBLAST at the VBS. Which was fun although REALLY expensive. They make the admission price cheap then charge you an arm load for food! Then we came home and I took a long relaxing bath!!
When I got out I noticed the house was quiet but there was this strange humming noise coming from outside. I look outside and BigDaddy is mowing the lawn!! Eldest and Middlest are actually playing together!! And BigGwrl well she is jumping in the mud puddles left from draining our pool. It was such a beautiful sight!! I could help but hurry outside to join the fun!!

BABY STUFF

2011-06-02T19:55:00.000-05:00

Nanna was given a bunch of baby linens from a friend and she dropped them off this evening when she picked Eldest up for Nanna Night. The girls had sooo much fun going through all the cute clothes and blankies! I haven't heard this much squealing and ohhing since the last baby shower i went to! They LOVE going through all the clothes, commenting on how small and cute everything was :). The girls are definatly excited to be having a new baby!

Memorial day 2010 and 2011

2011-05-31T15:34:00.000-05:00

These are from last Memorial Day...

These next ones are from this year :

Im seeing a theme here :)

Don't day..

2011-05-31T15:29:00.000-05:00

we apparently have certin days around the house where mommy only says NO! (so not true) Today got dubbed the DON'T day. DONT slam the door! Don't hit your sister! Don't touch that!
To pick on the girls about picking on me i've been saying DONT even more!

We got home from our daily activites and they were whining about me saying the next hour was nap/rest time NOT movie time. Then they decided to be smart and tell me they didn't have to because it was DONT day and THEY voted it was DONT take nap time. Momma didn't think that was very funny... KIDS!! I have a WHOLE summer left of this! Not to mention the one more on the way :)

the perfect pants

2011-05-27T08:14:00.000-05:00

My family has decided i've gone off the deep end. Like this is ANYTHING new.
I am a little odd i'll grant you that. I HATE my maternity pants. I am CONSTANTLY pulling them up. So with my "blossoming" figgure i've been on the look out for comfy summer appropriate pants.
it's summer. Im HOT. Im pregnant. Im getting to the point i really dont care how funny I look, as long as it's pregnant and not fat. :) I do have some dignity or so we thought. Yesterday at walmart I found the most AWESOME pair of capris! Who cares that they are REALLY jammie pants? Or that they are Dr. Seuss? Not me! These pants are soooooo comfortable! I think they are cute! I wore them out yesterday, you should have seen the look on Big Daddys face when I picked him up with my "comfy" pants on. I thought he was seriously going to have a heart attack he was trying so hard not to laugh. His opinion was well babe i married you knowing you had an odd side and im glad you are comfortable. Such a sweetheart! As for eldest I think she may hide them if I go out anywhere with her again.

shudder

2011-05-27T07:56:00.000-05:00

This morning I was brushing and about to fix BigGrwls hair when my fingers brushed on a "scab". I told her to hold still i wanted to see if she had broken out from a new shampoo that we used. So I picked the scab and pulled it out of her hair. *shudder* It was a bug! A live crawling bug!!! Panic insued as she was running to get alchol and crying that she had bugs and was going to die ( and you thought Middlest was the drama queen!). As soon as we were able to drown it we noticed it was a tick and not head lice! BigGwrl has now sworn she will never play in the sprinkler or roll in the grass again. We will see how long THAT lasts!!

Back on the air!

2011-05-26T15:35:00.000-05:00

I am FINALLY back!
Things are starting to settle down.
maybe.
We have now moved into and are starting to settle into our new home. It's slowly but surely starting to look and feel like a home.
We still don't have the girls bunk beds put up but maybe we'll get to that this weekend.

Supernova is starting to make his (we only address the baby as a boy ) presence known. He is a very active baby :) right now im enjoying being the only one who can feel the movements. It's so special and something just between us. That will all change soon enough!
We have found out what Supernova is BUT we are waiting until they do the anatomy scan next month :)
Sorry. I know it FEELS like a teaser but we want to make sure since this ultrasound was really kind of early to find out the sex for sure.

Other than that we will soon be getting back into baking and trips so stay tuned for our next adventure. Right now im going outside to play in the sprinkler!

Mothers Day

2011-05-08T06:53:00.000-05:00

This is the reason I get to celebrate Mothers Day.
My three beautiful girls.
Because of them EVERY DAY is Mothers Day.
Every day I get snuggles
hugs
kisses
special flowers
I get handmade works of art
I get fought over.
I get read to.
I am constantly told that I am the best..
cooker
bread maker
boo boo kisser
best singer
best tuck-er in-er
I am a MOMMY and it's all becuase of them....

and TECHNICALLY him.

We are survivors

2011-05-08T06:42:00.000-05:00

I wanted to share some pictures of tornado damage with you guys.

See part of the problem is some areas look fine.. no one is affected now that the power is on.. well except the news stations talking about the tornados. A lot of people just dont get how bad the damage really is! These are pictures of a local subdivision. It is almost completely leveled!!

The meteorologist said that EVERY county in North Alabama has tornado damage. EVERY COUNTY. However Tornados don't just take out everything so you will be driving along the road looking at home, trees, parks ect. then turn a corner and NOTHING. absolutely nothing. You feel like you're in a war zone. Cars flipped over, trees knocked down and houses demolished. Its a scarey thing. This isn't something you can just "get over". I am asking that you remember to pray for the Tornado SURVIVORS not Tornado VICTIMS. We are not VICTIMS we are SURVIVORS!!!

we are OKAY

2011-05-05T04:56:00.000-05:00

First off for all the friends that read this thank you alread for your help and prayers.

As some of you may know last Wednesday something like 30 known tornados hit the state of Alabama.
Several of these tornados hit the area we live in very hard. One EF4 hit within 300 yards of Eldest's mothers house. It has been so devestating to see the damage of so many areas that we are fammiliar with. A church we visited frequently was demolished. Our neighborhood was hit by straight line winds. Several of us lost our homes others just recived slight damage. Most of North Alamaba was out of power until Monday some still have no power. It has been a sobering time and a time to remember that God does indeed watch out for us.
Thank you to everyone that has helped with the relief efforts.

crazy or completely brilliant

2011-04-26T18:37:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to post this for a while but thanks to my pregnancy brain I kept forgetting. :)

So a neighbor a few trailers up from us has his stove and a dishwasher outside by the front door.
Driving or walking past during the day I never really thought much about it. Perhaps they quit working and they just set them out there and are waiting to haul them off somewhere. Doesn't it seem like everyones appliances are breaking lately??
ANYWAYS!!
We went past the other evening and the husband was cooking on the stove! Now isn't that awesome!! if my ac is broken i could sooo could see cooking outdoors. I just never pictured it being on an electric stove.

mommy games

2011-04-20T06:22:00.000-05:00

BigGwrl: What did daddy make us for bweakfast?
Mommy: Cereal
Biggwrl: I don't like cereal
Mommy: *raises eye brow* we are having cereal for breakfast
BigGwrl: OHHHHH!! I get what you are playing.. no cereal no breakfast!
Mommy: it's not a game but thats the idea.
BigGwrl: I guess im not hungry

Sisterly bonding

2011-04-19T12:24:00.000-05:00

Eldest has decided that BigGwrl should now be her barbie doll.
I heard something about spiky hair being involved.
It's not enough that she hacked off all her hair but now she should have spiky hair.
I should be excited about them wanting to spend time bonding and playing with each
other....
but really i'm scared.
Eldest can be a bit of an eveel genius.
There is really no telling what she might to do her little sister.

Bad Hair Day

2011-04-18T19:20:00.000-05:00

My child decided she needed a hair cut.

She looked like Billy Ray Cyrus .

im not kidding.

So we had to take her to go get her hair cut.

She looks.. better. It's growing on me. Its cute. She was a little sad to find out it would be a LOONNGGG time before she gets braids or pigtails.

Thats the price you pay babe.

Quick and easy pasta

2011-04-09T19:29:00.000-05:00

It's no secret in this house that eldest and I love experimenting with ways to cook pasta and this is a quick mix in type recipe

Tonight we used
1/2 a package of bacon fried crispy and allowed to cool
8oz of low fat sour cream
1 powdered vegetable mix ( for spinage dip)
1/2 a package of spaghetti (we use dreamfields)

Directions:
crumble up bacon and set aside.
mix the sour cream and dip together and allow to set in the fridge while you are cooking.
start boiling your spaghetti..
drain and dump into a bowl
add 1/2 the dip and the bacon
stir together
allow to cool and serve.

Mix ins that we have used.
melted velvetta (instead of the dip)
Drianed and rinsed Tuna
diffrent veggies

This recipe takes maybe 20 min to make and it's super yummy! Plus your imagination is the limit.. though I wouldn't recommend eatting it everyday :)

up on my relationship soap box... again

2011-04-08T14:46:00.000-05:00

Okay after reading several posts by friends on facebook I just want to vent a little so please bare with me.

- You can not have best friends of the opposite sex without emotionaly cheating on your spouse!
- Yes, talking about relationship problems with someone other than your spouse is allowing others into a three person relationship (you, your spouse, and GOD)
- A seperation rarely works. how can you work on your marriage when you are not there?
- People need attention too!
- Video games and computers CAN cause neglect of children and spouses.

Seriously people I think you need to get your priorities straight!

My ragged tag-along bible

2011-04-05T13:14:00.000-05:00

A friend made a comment on yesterdays post about my bible that made me laugh and go how well she knows me!!

This is my bible. My constant companion.

I take it with me everywhere I go. I keep everything important in it.

I have ultrasound pictures, birth announcements, wedding announcements, funeral announcements.. if it means something special to me it's in my bible.

It's post-it noted, highlighted, underlined and pretty much beat and beat up.

I think it is absolutely perfect!!

Everything about it means SOMETHING.

The cover came from a very close friend and every time I see it I think of the biblical discussions we had and how she helped me through the hardest times in my life. My bible is always close because there is ALWAYS something in it that I needed to hear. If we go on a trip it's in my car bag. When we camp it's in the tent.

To my my bible is a tangible reminder that God is always close to me.

Preparing for a Tornado

2011-04-04T15:12:00.001-05:00

Typically when bad weather is predicted we head on over to my mothers house to be on the safe side. I have a tendency lately to want to just stay here and wait until we know its going to get bad. As opposed to running over there then nothing happening. Keep it simple.
So.. The girls are old enough to start thinking about what goes into our tornado bag (tote) We decided that today the girls would brainstorm and make a list of everything they thought needed to go into our bucket. Then after the list was done they went back and weeded out the silly things and got to packing. I offered no suggestions or criticism I just let them pack the bucket. They each discussed why their suggestion should be included. Then once the bucket was packed they had to work together to carry it to the street and back into the house. In order to see if we could carry it to the tornado shelter. They couldn't. So now is when mommy helped go through it. We set out everything in piles and discussed why certain things were not as necessary as other items.. for instance they packed a case of water, 5 jars of peanut butter and 3 packages of snack crackers.. We discussed why those things were good for an emergency kit in general but not to CARRY to a storm shelter. We then re packed our bucket with BASIC items and tried to carry it. It worked!! We were able to carry it to the street without any trouble at all!!
I wanted to add that we were not the only ones with weather boxes,Bags,totes, However we were the only one with flashlights, and a weather radio.. There was however a DVD player and Cotton Candy!
Just for info we packed...
2 towels
5 trashbags
a first aide kit
a box of gloves
8 bottles of water (2 each)
2 emergency blankets
1 box of snack crackers
1 book
3 flashlights with extra batteries
our emergency radio
and Mommys Wallet

Appropriate words

2011-04-03T20:27:00.000-05:00

In our neighborhood we have a good mix of diffrent kids from diffrent backgrounds for the girls to play with. I've always thought of as a bonus. There will always be a bully, someone who is to bossy, you find those kids in every neighborhood across the world. There will always be the teenage boys gathered together to play whatever is in season and the teenage girls standing around them trying to get their attention. I love how everywhere you go you can find the same things.
I always monitor the kids watching (listening) through the windows. I step outside frequently to make sure the kids are all playing nicely. I make kool-aide and cookies for the kids to have. Typically any fights are between siblings ( mine or someone elses) or just a misunderstanding. What I don't like is watching (listening) out the window and hearing some child telling mine she is a stupid b@#$h because she tagged him. Usually we get stupid or dummy.. never words like that. I was SHOCKED. At first I thought okay I didn't hear properly so I went outside. Sure enough a few min later it happened again. So I tell the kids its time to go inside and I try to explain why being called a B(*&h is a bad thing. It's a really hard thing to explain.. Eldest wants to know how a 5/6 yr old can be so comfortable using such language.. and the littlier girls don't understand abusive behaviors. They think they are in trouble for something and thats why they cant play. Now hitting they'd understand but words what's the harm in words?

We have some news :)

2011-04-02T07:47:00.000-05:00

My BigGwrl is going to be a big sister :)

in other words.....

We are having a baby!!

the Sun, the Moon, and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader

2011-03-20T19:23:00.000-05:00

We had the BEST weather this weekend! It was warm and sunny the perfect spring weekend. I really wish we had gone camping!! We had an awesome bonfire Saturday night to celebrate the coming of the big moon. We roasted Marshmellows and everything. The highlight of the evening was Big Daddy taking the girls for a walk to see the moon and all the sudden they bust out singing and dancing.. what were they singing?? DANCING IN THE MOONLIGHT by Kings Harvest of course!!
We had such a blessed day today :) It's really nice to be able to spend a day together as a family.
We went to see Voyage of the Dawn Treader at the doller theater in town today. This was a GREAT movie. We all thought it was so much better than the previous NARNIA movies. There were a few parts after the movie was over for us to discuss paraelles between ASLAN and God. Great Time!!
I hope you all had a good of a weekend as we did!

Crazy house Crazy life :)

2011-03-20T09:45:00.000-05:00

Things have been soo crazy this past year. I dont even know where to start!!
Thankfully im back online and i'll be able to post regularly again wooohooo!!
Homeschooling for eldest and Big_gwirl is going well. We've gotten back into a good routine which of couse we dont follow :) especially on sunny days when we can learn more outside. Middlest is doing very well and is so happy to be back at her school with her bestest friends. BigDaddys new job is going great guns. He's working a lot and thats been a major adjustment for all of us but we are enjoying the time that just us girls get together :) I know the past year has been preparing us for a lot of big changes and Im so excited to update everyone on them as they come :)

Valentines Craft day

2011-02-10T19:33:00.000-06:00

We are so glad to be back in Alabama with our friends again!! To celebrate we decided to have a Valentines day craft party with our dearest friends!! We had SOOO much fun!

We decorated mail boxes with flowers and hearts...

We made Valentines for eachother....

And the best part.. We made CUPCAKES!!

We had sooo much fun decorating them!

Then to top the evening off BigDaddy made skettie!!
It was a great day! I can not wait until March's St. Patrick Craft day... now i just need ideas hehehehehe although i did learn my lesson last year with the green horseradish sauce.. i think we'll leave that one off the menu.

Moving.. again

2011-01-31T21:31:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the long absence. BigDaddy lost his job in SC and we moved BACK to Alabama. There are a lot of details and so many things i feel i need to share HOWEVER my welcome to Alabama gift was the plague. Of course it's in disguise as the flu then the cold. So once I am able to actually complete a coherent sentence I will be back to visit!

Chicken Cordon Bleu casserole

2011-01-17T21:00:00.000-06:00

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
Ingredients:
- 4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into small bite size pieces
- 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
- 8oz sour cream
-1/4 cup of milk
- 1 block of swiss cheese shredded
- 1/2 lb sliced ham cut into bite size pieces
-2 cups of bisquick
-2/3 c milk

Directions:
Grease a large cassarole pan and pre heat to 350.
Mix mushroom soup, 1/4 milk and sour cream in a bowl and set aside.
add chicken and ham to pan, add half of the cheese to the top, then add the soup mix and the rest of the cheese.
Mix bisquick and milk together in a large bowl. once combined top your casserol with the dough.
Cover with foil and cook for 30 min.
Remove foil , rotate, and cook for 30 more min.
serve warm

white chicken chili

2011-01-11T17:54:00.000-06:00

We made this for dinner tonight.
This is a combination of serveral diffrent recipes.

Ingredients:
1 bag of dry Great Northern beans (white beans)
2 32oz boxes of chicken broth
1 family sized can of Cream of Chicken soup
2 cans of Rotel (drained)
3 cloves of Garlic smashed
1 onion
1 package of chili mix
1/2 of a shredded chicken
sour cream
Montrey Jack or Mexican blend Cheese

Directions:
the night before set your beans to soak.
The next afternoon drain your beans and add them to a large soup pot. Add your 2 containers of Chicken Broth. simmer for 2 hours.
Then add shredded chicken, Rotel, Garlic, and Chili seasoning.
Allow to simmer until supper time or until beans are soft.
-Top with Sour Cream and Cheese.
I thought this soup was a little mild HOWEVER I had two little girls who do not particulary care for spicy foods right now. They both ate two bowls of this soup!!

Food, Food and more food

2011-01-10T18:31:00.000-06:00

Just in case you had not noticed i've been posting a lot of recipes lately.
It's cold and my kitchen is warm. VERY WARM.
I've been trying to make a sit down breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day and bread through out the week so we don't eat the store bought kind. Sometimes I fail but mostly i'm trying to get used to my new stove and save money by making SURE we eat at home. It's actually funny dealing with a new stove and learning all it's quirks. The other day I tried to make beef stew for my brother. It burned so badly we had to order pizza. It was cooking on LOW!!! I left the kitchen for like 15 min because I got sidetracked by evil LEGOs. ANYWAYS... I wanted apologize and say well i might be cooking a lot but it's healthy too! kinda. On the flip side i think all this cooking is making me loose weight, and the family is sharing a lot more AND I've discovered a BIG secret to baking bread.. AND it's really REALLY fun seeing the hubs and the child assisting him in the kitchen look up at the mountain of dishes. I love being the EEEEvil mommy.

Lemon bread pudding

2011-01-10T18:13:00.000-06:00

Can you tell i've been baking A LOT lately?

Supplies:
Stale bread-cubed
eggs
milk
vanilla
instant lemon pudding mix
1 large ziplock bag
9x13 greased baking dish

Directions:
scramble 6 eggs ( this is USUALLY what I start with) with milk like you are making french toast. add 1/4 tsp vanilla. mix well. Pour bread cubes into bag then pour egg mix over the bread. ( I aim for the bag being 3/4 full of egg mix) seal the bag and place in the fridge. Every 30 min flip the bag ( i usually tell everyone when they get in the fridge flip the bag).
about two hours before you want to serve it :
Preheat oven to 350
make lemon pudding according to package
pour the bread mix into the pan. Then pour the pudding over it and stir together.
cover with foil and place in oven.
Cook about 15 to 30 min until the bread pudding doesn't LOOK wet, take off foil and cook until knife comes out clean.
* if im not ready to eat the bread pudding but it's ALMOST done. I recover it and turn off the oven because you want it to be nice and warm!!

Snow Cream

2011-01-10T16:05:00.000-06:00

SNOW CREAM
Aka: I scream.. you scream..we all scream.. for SNOWCREAM!

Ingredients:
1 bowl of snow ( no yellow.. or brown)
2 cans of sweetened Condensed milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
8oz thawed whipped cream
1 empty bowl BIGGER than your snow bowl (for mixing)

Directions:
Combine the Sweetened Condenced milk, Whipped cream, and Vanilla extract in a separate bowl. Once fully mixed gather your empty bowl and your bowl of snow. add 1/2 the snow to the large bowl, pour some of the milk mix over and stir to combine adding snow and milk mix until well combined BUT NOT SATURATED!!!! Use all your snow but you dont have to use all the milk mix! Once combined freeze until chilled.
This is soooo good! It tastes a lot like vanilla ice cream!!!!

fruity Chicken Salad

2011-01-09T17:53:00.000-06:00

Fruity Chicken Salad
Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup celery diced
2 green apples peeled and diced
1/4 cup chopped nuts ( i like walnuts)
and 1/4 to a half cup, either sour cream, plain yogurt (strained), or mayonase
1 bottle raspberry balsamic vinegar or plain balsamic vinegar ( my mom likes the raspberry i like the plain)

marinate the chicken in 1/2 of the balsamic vinegar for at least an hour to overnight. The next day grill the chicken until completely white in the middle. Shred the chicken and set to soak in the rest of the Balsalmic vinegar for at least an hour. If you have not already prep the remaining ingredients. Then drain chicken and place into large bowl. Add celery, apples, and nuts. Stir to mix. Then add your sour cream or whichever you choose.
This is great on a sandwhich or just with crackers.

Your children will LOVE it. Especially since it's purple which for adults may be hard to get over but this is soo yummy!

Twinkies

2011-01-07T14:22:00.000-06:00

I forgot to mention this the other day because I was a little ashamed. I still kinda am.
Eldest and Biggwrl and I were sitting down eatting lunch and discussing the ANDES mtn. cake I had made the evening before. Eldest didn't get any because she had gone to bed early. I was explaining that it's had whipped cream injected into it. Eldest wasn't quite understanding so I said you know like a TWINKIE. They BOTH looked at me and went a WHAT? I kid you not. THEN Eldest goes.. You mean like on WALL*E?
I HAVE FAILED MY CHILDREN!!!
My kids are 12,6 1/2, and 4 1/2 and they have no idea what a TWINKIE is!!!
So I called Tim and asked him to pick up a box of TWINKIES..His reply was priceless.
Hey babe on the way home can you pick up a box of TWINKIES?
huh? can you repeat that I don't think i understood.
TWINKIES! Can you get a box of TWINKIES?
Twinkies? Seriously? You want Twinkies? Is this for real?
Babe. Our kids don't know what a TWINKIE is.
oh. I understand, I am on my way!

How lame of a mom do you have to be to not give your kids Twinkies!! I mean Seriously?!
I am the WORST mother in the world! At least this week. hahah

Mounted Pictures

2011-01-07T09:40:00.001-06:00

My formal dining room is HUGE. and my budget is.... not. So in light of this issue i've been trying to find BUDGET FRIENDLY ways to decorate it. It's been difficult, because lets face it budget friendly ideas are NOT always budget friendly. One website says to buy candles and a used mirror to decorate an unused fireplace. It cost like 30 bucks just for the candles,and that was just for the inside of the fireplace. ANYWAYS. So I decided to take some of the black of white photos of the girls and mount them on foam core. We have 9 pictures which cost about 25.00 to print as 8x10's at walmart and 2 sheets of foam core cost about 4.00 each. Then spray adhesive about 3.00.
It barley took anytime to do at all the most time consuming was the spraying and drying. (and then trying to get the spray adhesive off of ME)
All we did was cut 8x10's out of the board then coat with a LOT of adhesive spray ( i found out a large amount work better than a little) the set aside to dry.
I will post pictures as soon as we get the photos hung. and I find my camera.

Ps. If you read this article and noticed my spelling mistake i'm sorry but i was sticking to the computer. Adhesive spray is eeeeeeee-vil . It's like three days later and I still have that crap on my hands!

Potato Soup

2011-01-07T09:15:00.000-06:00

The world second best potato soup

(my mommy's is the bestest)

Ingredients:

5 potatos cut into chunks ( we do not peel our potatos the kids like the peels)

1/2 a bag of frozen corn

1 package of cheap bacon

2 onions (cut into slices)

1 package of chicken stock or 4 bullion cubes

milk

1 block of velvetta (cut into med size chunks)

carrots (sliced)

a STICK of BUTTER

Optional : add some ham for extra protein

Directions

cut your bacon into small pieces and fry until crispy- scoop out of fry pan and set bacon aside to cool

drain all but a little bit of the fat and add onions. cook until softened. drain and set aside ( i just add it to the cooked bacon)

cut up your potatos and add them to a large soup pot. pour chicken stock over the potatos until they are just covered (if you run out just add water!) and boil until the potatos are STARTING to get soft. At this point drain out some of the water and add bacon, onions, corn, butter and carrots then add milk to the pot until the level of soup is about where you want it. Allow to simmer. Stirring frequently until about 45 min before time to eat. Add cut up velevtta and stir until melted and throughly combined.

This soup is REALLY good served with garlic bread!!!

How to put on a Sportsbra

2011-01-06T16:56:00.000-06:00

HOW TO PUT ON A SPORTS BRA.

BY ANNA LEFLER

- - - -

1. Approach the sports bra with confidence, secure in the belief that you will wear it.

2. Holding the sports bra open by its bottom edge, peer into it and locate the medium-sized opening in the center of the cavity. This is your target.

3. Take a moment to ask yourself the following questions:

A. Am I naked from the waist up?B. Have I removed my glasses?

If the answer to either is "no," make the necessary adjustments and return to Step 1.

4. Snake your right arm through the right armhole as far as it will go. Repeat for left arm and left armhole.

5. Assume power stance: feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent. Hook your thumbs into the sports bra's bottom-edge elastic and pull it out in front of you as far as possible. (Note: do not let go.)

6. In one, deft motion, pull the elastic toward you and over your head. If you have martial arts training, this would be the time to release your battle cry, or kiai.

7. You should now be standing with arms pointing skyward, the sports bra encircling you at chin level, binding your biceps to your ears.

8. Remain calm. Visualize yourself wearing the sports bra while engaged in a pleasant activity, such as not watchingJersey Shore.

9. Cross your arms in front of your face, grasp the bottom of the sports bra and begin tugging it down to your chest. This process should take 2-25 minutes and can be streamlined by the removal of one of your arms (advanced yoga practitioners only).

10. If you have followed steps 1-9 correctly, the sports bra is now strapped across the rise of your bosom, compressing the breasts downward to the point that you can see your pulse in your areolas.

11. Resume power stance (see Step 5). Holding firmly to the bottom edge of the sports bra, pull it away from your body in a downward arc until it grazes your kneecaps. Then, with a scraping motion, drag the sports bra upward along the front of your body, capturing all excess flesh in its path.

12. When the bottom elastic reaches the desired altitude on your rib cage, release it. Then, while holding the top of the sports bra away from your body with one hand, plunge the other hand into the sports bra to distribute and align its contents, which should include both of your breasts.

Note: If you are unable to locate two (2) breasts in the sports bra, do not become alarmed as they are likely nearby. Remove the sports bra (see "How to Take Off a Sports Bra") and return to Step 1 of these instructions.

MORE LISTS

Stolen from McSweeney's Internet Tendency

our Andes Mtn.

2011-01-04T11:43:00.000-06:00

For the first day of school those of us who stay how took a vote on if we should make cookies or cake for Middlest. They picked chocolate cake. This recipe i made was so flipping yummy and perfect for a busy momma!!

Ingredients:
1 Devils food cake mix
eggs ( according to box)
oil (according to box)
water (according to box)
1/2 a bag of ANDES chocolate chips
Topping:
2 16oz of Whipped cream ( i found this to be to much but 1 was not quite enough so..) THAWED
1 piping bag
1 size 12 tip with coupling and ring

Make the cake following the directions on package.. add in those yummy ANDES mint chocolate chips. ( I only used 1/2 a bag and the cake was not overhelming andes tasting but just perfect for ME add a full bag if you want) stir to combine.
Pour the mix into a greased baking pan I used a 9x 11 ( i think) anyways you need to to have room on top to frost the cake after baking.
(these would also make AWESOME cupcakes)
bake until a toothpick comes out clean.
Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Make sure your whipped cream is thawed
Once the cake has cooled assemble your piping bag with the tip and fill the bag with whipped cream.
insert the tip into the cake and squeeze the whipped cream into the cake. DO NOT OVER SQUEEZE you will bust the cake!! Squeese the whipped cream into the cake in lots of diffrent places make sure well space your holes. but you still want every piece to get at least a little.
Once you have finished put the cake in the freezer for about 10 to 15 min.
The frost the top with however much whipped cream you want.
I then used a clean spatula and smacked the top of the cake so that it would look like mtn. peaks.
Put cake in the fridge until time to eat. :)
I hope you enjoy this cake
I would post a picture but....
they ate the cake...
even Eldest who rarely touches chocolate.

New Years eve

2011-01-04T07:28:00.000-06:00

We wanted to end this year with something special for our family so of course we hit Myrtle Beach. Again.

I was warm so we took a picnic and our girls and drove off toward the sunrise. Not really but it sounds good :)

Eldest had been fighting a cold and molars coming in and had not been sleeping well so we thought this adventure would also help cheer her up.

We built a sandcastle and then played giant and attacked it. We went shelling, and walking on the beach.

Then once we started to get tired we loaded back up and ate our lunch in the car while we went sight seeing.

Middlest and BigGwrl were sooo excited to see that BASSA Pro shops are here in this land too!

We trained them girls right. :) They really just like the fish tank and all the animal tracks on the floor. Eldest however.. well she found something she's ALWAYS WANTED and has decided that she and I are going to have a busy spring.

Once we finally were able to leave we discovered where all the RIPLEY'S Museums were (Tonya) so that when people (tonya) come to visit we could go. We also found a fishing pier. Eldest has been BEGGING to go on one since we've first gone to the beach.

She LOVED it. She looked for dolphins and whales. Talked to the guys fishing.

We checked for sharks and cool shells.

It was so much fun!

Then BigGwrl saw a fishing boat and started screaming that the Fire Nation was coming to attack us!! I though one guy was going to fall off the pier he was laughing so hard.

That was pretty much the end of our drive the girls were worn out and we needed to get things ready for NEW YEARS EVE!!!!!

Now this whole day Eldest was laughing and playing. We kept her meds going and other than her throat being sore she said she was feeling better.

New Years Eve... We got home and cleaned up the family room really quick so we could have our wii night. It was so much fun!! I kicked everyones butt. Then i had to go cook bread. They cheered when I left.

We ended up calling New Years at 11 because the littlier ones were tired and CRANKY and Eldest was starting to feel bad again.

About 3 she woke up and her throat hurt so bad she could barley swallow anymore. So Daddy took her to go get throat spray. No fever STILL but she had white stuff so in the morning he took her to the ER. She had Mono. yea.

We were all just so worn out that after they got back we decided EVERYONE would take a nap. We ALL slept until after 5. It's been crazy around here.

I pray you all had a much better New Years than we did.. or at least a more healthy.

Mornings

2011-01-04T06:53:00.000-06:00

Having all the kids home for almost a month and Big Daddy home for five months ALMOST helped me forget why I HATE weekday mornings. Our routine WAS BigDaddy gets school kids up, dressed, fed, and on the bus in the mornings, So I could get a little extra sleep ( this started when we first got married because it held off the morning sickness). I think it's going to change. I HATE getting up and having half empty plates and cups all over my nice clean kitchen. I HATE waking up to a huge mess left from him making lunches. I hate the clothes thrown all over the floor from the child who decided the kitchen was where she needed to get dressed. And most of all I HATE waking up and finding BigDaddys mess from the night before. Stinky socks thrown in the middle of the floor, cups everywhere, chairs where they are not supposed to be. UGH.
SO. I have decided that from now on I AM going to get up with BigDaddy and the girls. I have already started making middlest's lunches for the week ahead of time. Now comes the big stuff. No more " Did your father actually let you leave the house looking like THAT?" No more clothes on the floor. I am ready for battle. I really enjoyed waking up to making my girls breakfast and sitting at the table before our day started and being together. I'll be hornswaggled if this is going to continue. God put us in a new place so we could grow and change and I sure as heck am going to. WATCH OUT WORLD MOMMA IS GOING TO BATTLE!

Photoshop

2010-12-27T14:46:00.000-06:00

So.. I've been thinking today about Photoshop. I know people swear by it and im sure if you read enough tutorials that you can figure out how to use it, that it's awesome. HOWEVER is it cheating?
Shouldn't someone's skill be judged from how a picture looks straight out of the camera?
I use my editing software to straighten, crop, or change a picture to black and white. Thats it. Now i do realize i am not a professional but i think on occasion I take good pictures. I don't think they compare to Ansel Adams. Though.. i don't think he used Photoshop either.
I'm just saying.
I've been looking at all these pictures on various blogs i follow and they talk about how they do all this editing of pictures show before and afters.. I can see that Photoshop can take a mediocre photo and create something amazing. I dont have the time for that much fiddling around. I think a picture should be judged on the feeling not just the editing.

<----- This one.. Straight out of the camera.

Merry Christmas from us to you

2010-12-24T14:24:00.000-06:00

The Birth of Jesus

¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Merry Christmas! May God bless you all

Oh Christmas Tree...

2010-12-19T21:02:00.001-06:00

Well apparently this post got erased haha so i posted a blank blog post!

Thanks T for letting me know it wouldn't pull up.

On Sunday evening we had our tree decorating party! We made cookies, drank egg nog, and had the best time ever!!

I think our tree shrank though...

Normally the tree took over the whole living room. This year hahha in the new house it appears small.

I wonder if it has something to do with the huge ceilings?

This year.. it struck both Bigdaddy and I that our babies are growing. :( They didn't need help reaching the top. They evenly placed all the decorations. We didn't need to move any higher up. BigGwrl had some issues with knocking decorations off on accident. She said she fought she was the worstest decowaiter evew. Mommy and her had a talk and she decided she wasn't as bad as she used to be.

All in all it was a great time. :)

We are getting so excited! It's almost time for our Happy Birthday Jesus party!!

The promised land

2010-12-19T20:57:00.000-06:00

Early this week to reward the girls for all their hard work helping mommy, Daddy promised the girls he would talk them to the beach this weekend. HAHA he SOO regretted that promise come Saturday. It was cold and rainy. BigDaddy had a cold so he TRIED to talk the girls out of going. They didn't go for that.
So off we went to Myrtle Beach.

Welcome home

2010-12-13T18:56:00.000-06:00

well as of right now I don't have pictures to post because i'm doing the wifi at McD's thing. I just wanted to update everyone on what all was going on. We got here late Saturday night Got to walk through our truely amazing new house. We celebrated my eatting pizza on the floor! The next morning we went to Church and met lots of new people. People at this church actually talk to you! It gets better.. Later some men from the church stopped by to help us unpack the truck! It gets better. About 3 the pastor and the youth stopped by on their way to go caroling at the nursing home and wanted the girls to go with them. How awesome is that? We are so blessed!! The animals are adjusting. Mimi is loving all the space to roam , Genesis is laid back as usual and Indiana well the poor thing cried all the to South Carolina then cried all night and all day the next day. Today she didn't cry as much but she didn't want momma to leave her alone. :) i think that about covers a quick update.
Sorry for blathering on. i am sooo sore and sooo tired :)

Gravy

2010-12-09T20:28:00.000-06:00

It's been a stressful time lately, im not gonna lie. The girls have been crazy. I've been crazy. My saving grace has been T who always seems to know when to call or come by. She also seems to have a magical power to get the girls to behave when no one else can. Tonight is the last night in this house with all our stuff..such as it is. Tomorrow the moving truck will be loaded and we will be all packed and ready to move to South Carolina. Big_Daddy is on his way home right now and the girls are in bed (even if the lights aren't off yet). The plans i've been meticulously making for the past week about how the next few days are going to go have been in constant flux. People will call me and ask what the plans are.. then when they disagree they call Big_daddy in ANOTHER state and say how about we do this.. then HE calls and says such and such called with an idea to do things this way. To which i then have to explain that i've already told that person THIS way is how we are going to do it. *SIGH*
I'm trying TRYING to remember that this move is what God wants and my plans are not nessicarly his plans. It doesn't matter when or how things get done as long as they get done. The rest is just gravy. who cares if we start packing at noon or 5 as long as it gets done and Saturday evening I get to see the house God provided for us? NOTHING ELSE MATTERS. NOTHING.
People can change my plans, and they certinly will. They WILL complain that i'm not doing things the way they would. They can and will invite people they think are important. They can and will try to take charge and tell me how to do things. It's just the way things go. I need to remember this is just a little fraction of time. It's all just a blink. Our new life is starting soon. The rest is just gravy.

I would just like to thank daddy

2010-12-08T16:14:00.000-06:00

quote for the day...
* middlest* mommy MOMMY MOOOOMMMMYY
*me* WHAT
*middlest* Watch this! (jumps off my chair despite asking her not to do that)
*Middlesy* Does that look dangerous?
*me* yes PLEASE do not do it again
*middlest* DADDY said if it doesn't look dangerous it probably isn't and this doesn't look dangerous. See I didn't hurt myself!
-Thanks Daddy
I just wanted you to know how much your support means to me :P
By the way if you are also the one who told Rose tricycle rides are even bettew inside you better run.
im serious.

Bedtime

2010-12-06T19:35:00.000-06:00

With Big_Daddy gone bed time is even worse than normal. Those with kids know what I mean. This was my evening. We started at 6:30 so the girls would have a full hour of fussing before i got upset.

Okay little ones Go get jammies on and teeth brushed.
*yea*
Are your clothes out for tomorrow?
*ummmmmm*
are your clothes out for tomorrow?
*i think they are in the dryer*
No nothing is in the dryer look in the clothes baskets
* where are the baskets? *
Same place they were. Beside mommys bed.
* okay* * i tired to make the bed and x punched me*
go to bed. go to bed. go to bed. go to bed.
*but*
go to bed.
*but mommy*
go to bed.
*how come Eldest gets to stay up late?*
Cause I love her more and she is 12 go to bed. go to bed. go to bed bed bed. go to bed.
*do i have to go to bed*
yes. go to bed
. *im not sleepy*
I don't care go to bed.
* I have to go to bed?*
YES GO TO BED.
* you don't have to yell.*

- Can I move to South Carolina without them? Just for a few days? Please?

Our new home

2010-12-04T20:59:00.000-06:00

Today Big_Daddy made my year.

This is our new home.

It's a rental BUT it's my dream house

and this....

is my dream kitchen

all i've been able to do since Big_Daddy called is think about how much more furniture i need and how yummy my bread will be coming from that oven.

I am joking about the furniture.

kinda.

the packing chronicles

2010-12-02T21:20:00.000-06:00

So. I am sitting here.. well wallering in my chair. Big_Daddy is leaving tomorrow to go to South Carolina. SOUTH CAROLINA. In possibly 9 days I and my family will be residents of South Carolina. RURAL South Carolina. R.U.R.A.L as in doesn't even have a WALMART! Most of the time I am 100% raring to go and so super excited to see what God has planned for us. HOWEVER I have moments of incredible panic about what we are doing. Mostly while i'm surrounded by boxes and things that need to go in them. What in the WORLD am i thinking?! Seriously?! We are moving 600 something miles away from our family our support groups!! We are taking our kids away from everyone they have EVER known!! WHAT AM I THINKING!! HOLY MOLY!! Then I remember to pray. This move is in Gods plan for us. It's not supposed to be easy. I have learned so much from this experience. A move like this is scary and nerve-wracking, it is definatly not something for weenies. Thank goodness I have God to hold me up!

my job discription

2010-12-02T10:51:00.000-06:00

Big_daddy came home yesterday and told me that in able to continue reciving help paying bills the company needed me to write a note stateing that I am able to work but dont and that it needs to be noterized. I think the following will be my reply.
To whom it may concern,
I was asked to send in a note stating that I am able to work ( not disabled) but that I don't. I feel this is to make me feel like I am not contrubuting to my family. . I feel that being a stay at home mother IS a job... One I do not recive pay for.
My qualifications for these jobs are basic math, reading and cooking skills. I hold both basic and infant first aid and CPR. The ability to carry 50 lbs of dead weight, while simotasily carrying a 10 lb diaper bag, 4 grocery sacks containg milk aqnd eggs and still being able to open a locked door. The patience to deal with a whole neighborhood of children all hopped up on candy. As well as the stamina to deal with three children and a husband with the flu.

I have 7 years experiance being a short order cook and at annaual events a passive baker. I am trained in the art of stain removal and dish scrubbing. I have training as a 24 hour nurse. I monitor media consumption. I frequently work as a sanitation enginner and house cleaner. I work daily as a teacher, counslor, and a P.E. teacher. I work daily as a taxi driver, and a laundress. In addition to these I also work as a receptionist, personal aide and life coach. I have great orginazitional skills. The ability to calm a screaming child with a hug and heal boo-boos with a kiss. I can plan a party in two days AND come in under budget for it. I am a thrifty shopper and am able to save my family money each month with my budgeting. I have the ability to see through walls and to tell when a child is lying. I am a Sunday school teacher. I also have been known to be able to do craft projects in record time. I work as a photographer and historian. I am able to raise clean, respectful, well mannered children and keep a comfortable home.

I recive no salary for my job. I have instead chose to accept kisses, hugs, art work and the occasional weed (not the kind you smoke). I recive few benifits such as medical and dental coverage. However, I get the ability to raise my children the way i see fit acording to my morals instead of allowing a stranger to do the job for me.

Thank you,

XXXXX X XXXXXXXX

Working on homework TOGETHER

2010-12-01T17:24:00.000-06:00

Middlest has been having some problems in school. We study for her spelling tests, do her homework ect. and she was still having trouble passing her tests. We tried: flash cards, computer games, writing over and over, verbal spelling Pretty much everything i could think of! So I decided to try a diffrent route. Since we started homeschooling Eldest; She and Biggwrl have become a LOT closer, often leaving Middlest out. So Eldest has now been put in charge of Middlest's spelling words. This way they are learning to be more patient with each other. Eldest is working on her handwriting, reading and PATIENCE. Also she gains self esteem as they BOTH succeed. Seeing how much closer and more understanding the girls have gotten toward each other has been a HUGE reward!! I was a little sad to see my little girl doing better working with her sister than her mother but then I realized that it doesn't matter WHO works with Middlest as long as she is learning and doing better.

speaking of boxes

2010-11-29T15:00:00.000-06:00

Since we are moving and money will be tight closer to christmas i decided to order gifts ( Santa only) early this year, and have them sent to my mothers house. In case they got in after we moved. Well just our luck they all came back quickly which meant i needed to pack them in a box. We still have a medium size stack of unused boxes that when we find something to be packed we find a box the is close to the right size. Well since these are large gifts i picked the largest box. Makes sense right? NORMALLY. This box is freaking huge! I dont know where Big_Daddy found this box BUT Eldest, Middlest, BigGwrl, Big_daddy and BOTH dogs fit in this box. Seriously! It's a family box!
So everyone except me and Middlest hid in the box to wait for the bus. I went outside and waited.. the bus gets home and Middlest gets off the bus walks inside and says where did the box comefrom? I dont know the mail lady just dropped it off..
Well how did she get it in her car?
opens it and sees bodies and starts screaming until she notices they are her family
then she starts laughing.
This was Great fun!!

Thankful

2010-11-23T21:42:00.000-06:00

Things right now are a little nuts around our house. We have well a lot of boxes and a lot of mess in our house right now. We are in a kinda of limbo waiting for all the beginning of a job security checks to come in before we sign a lease on a house. So here we are waiting. Meme decided she didn't like all this packing and started peeing on my bed. EVERYTIME I put clean sheets on. EVERYTIME. So after questioning the smartest pet person i know we bought my little kitty her own crate for her and all her stuff. She hates it and she yells ALL DAY LONG. The girls are doing better then they were.. they constantly need assurances of mommy's love.. ie they are CONSTANTLY up my butt. Big Daddy did what he was supposed to when I had a check up about my celexa and sold me down river. I had decided to take control of my life and tell the doctor i wanted off my meds. He said and I qoute.. yeah..no.. i am not taking you off. As a matter of fact I want you to go back to the original doseage. All because my loving caring husband told him that he didnt think it was a good idea. I know he loves me but i still wanted to punch his nose. and yes i know it wasnt my husbands fault but still.
anyways this post is supposed to be about things I am thankful for right now.
I am Thankful : for God providing us with a new job
I am Thankful :having a home
I am Thankful : a loving Christian husband who loves me enough to say no
I am Thankful : beautiful little girls who love me
I am Thankful : for my Family
I am Thankful : for Tim's family
I am Thankful :for my friends
I am Thankful : That Jesus died to save me
There are so many other things I am Thankful for. Right now is a scary time and I am thankful for everyone who is praying for us.
Mostly I am Thankful God loves me

the secret

2010-11-14T19:18:00.000-06:00

For a while now we've been harboring a secret..no we are not having another baby.
Big_Daddy has gotten a job in South Carolina!! We are moving!! So in the space of a few weeks my house has gone from this

There is almost NOTHING left. Except for clothes.

It has been a crazy few weeks. Last weekend we were pretty sure we were moving to Wisconsin..THEN South Carolina called and asked Big _Daddy to come in for an interview. We didn't find out until this Friday for sure. There have been a lot of prayer that has gone into this decision. We are so happy God has given us the oppertunity! Now if any of you have a Rental in South Carolina can you hook us up?

God Cleanin'

2010-11-09T11:28:00.002-06:00

God cleanin'
When God tells you to clean out your lives he sure means it! A month ago God put in on my and Big Daddys heart to start cleaning up our lives. *sigh* We were not quite prepared for HOW he was going to clean up our lives. We washed and scrubbed and threw away soooo much stuff. Then God told us we needed to go where he sent us. OH BOY! As of right now we have NO idea about where God wants us to go, but we are ready.. ish. Right now my living room is FULL of packing boxes waiting to recive news. I am struck with how much JUNK five people can get to fill up seven years. I am going through stuff that in September we THOUGHT we would need ( before moving was even a possibility), Now im thinking do we REALLY need this enough to carry if half way across the country? I now understand how people leave so much stuff behind when they move. What seems important when looked at in other lights doesnt seem so special. Take for instance we have 4 tables. FOUR. One is the dinning room table, one is a sewing table, one we cut the legs off of and we use it as a coffee table and one is a round table I used as a desk. Do I REALLY need four tables? I will probably take them JUST IN CASE but im not sure how nessicary they really are. I am not REALLY sure how all of this will play out but I know God has a pourpose for all of it. God wants us to have clean lives this is apparently how he has decided how to clean out MY life.

Soul Mates

2010-11-04T21:07:00.000-05:00

God brings people into our lives for periods to teach us things and then sometimes you grow apart. This is what I believe what soul mates are. They are people that are a part of us. Even for a short time. Every time I meet one of these people I fall in love (not THAT kind) KNOWING at some point we will part. It HURTS so much. Its like a part of you is being ripped apart, because a part of you is. I miss you EVERY one of my soul mates. Everyone that even for that small amount of time touched my soul. I just needed you to know.. that EVERYONE of you makes me who I am, and I love you.

Election Day Cake!

2010-11-02T19:40:00.000-05:00

To celebrate election day we voted AND we made....

Election Day Cake!

We took a White cake mix and made it according to directions

Seprated it into 3rd's

Used food coloring to color one red and one blue.

We poured 1/2 of the white in a greased bunt cake pan.

1/2 the blue one top

1/2 the red then start over until there is no mix left.

Bake.

We did the same with the frosting.

And no the cake actually tasted better than it looked.

Except the frosting... Eldest put a little to much red coloring in the frosting.

How do you inspect candy?

2010-11-01T09:57:00.000-05:00

As I sit here with this ENORMOUS bag of candy in my lap I am forced to wonder how does everyone inspect their candy?
This is how I do it..
-All candy bars get a light squeeze. If they don't have that extra air in them they get tossed. (m&m's get this test too)
-Smarties and hard candies ALWAYS get thrown away.
-Dum-Dums i twist the wrapper if its wiggly I keep - If it sticks or falls off throw away
-Boxed candies (nerds, dots, milk duds, raisinnetts) get a shake if they shake well and are completely sealed I keep.

But what do you do about things like individual reeses cups?
Carmel apple lollipops
Tootsie rolls
Pixie sticks

Okay I feel throughly overprotective now.

What was the wierdest thing you found in YOUR child's candy bag?
Me ? I found a Fiber One bar
I thought tooth brushes were wierd!

almost Halloween...

2010-10-30T20:42:00.000-05:00

yesterday the girls and thier dearest friend went to trunk or treat at our church.

The girls won most creative in their group contest. I was soooo proud! They won Charlie brown and the great pumpkin!! So tonight we are watching Halloween movies and eating homemade pizza. super yummy. tomorrow we are going over to gwanma and pookieboos house to go trick or treating. Well the girls are I am going to curl up in the livingroom and drink hot toddies 'cause the girls so lovingly shared thier sore throats with me. btw this crust is fabulous. ill post the recipe later.

Halloween costumes on a budget

2010-10-27T21:51:00.000-05:00

Big_Daddy is still out a job like many others. We have been very blessed with plenty of help so please do not think I am in any way whining! God has taken care of our needs!
That being said and out of the way:
Halloween is coming up this weekend!!! We have no budget allowances right now for some things. Occasionally we squeeze out enough for a hot fudge sundae or another kid of special treat. The girls have been VERY good during this time about not asking for things.. except for rose.. but she is 4 and its hard for her to understand. I knew they all wanted special costumes for this year and we had discussed how we didnt have money to go buy stuff this year to make our outfits. We decided to make all the girls goddesses!! We had Eldest's outfit she made during the PERCY JACKSON session we did! We also had an extra sheet ( we thought eldest would need two for her project) and Ms. Kitty had a bunch of trim she needed to get rid of. FREE COSTUMES!! How 'bout that? Each child got a personalize goddess costume for virtually no cost. I am rather proud of myself this year!
Here are the pictures:

btw: even though they were from a diffrent project the sheets still cost about 7.00 apiece at Walmart

one reason why I homeschool!

2010-10-26T22:46:00.000-05:00

God gave me the courage to homeschool our children. I thank him all the time for putting Homeschooling on mine and Ms. Ducky's hearts this year. This is the third situation like this in our area. One was at a local middle school. I don't know where we'll be next year or how I will handle 3 homeschoolers BUT I do know that God wants me to do this. Thank you Lord

for giving ME (and Mrs. Ducky) back my children.

Woodlawn High School on Lock Down

Woodlawn High School on Lock Down

Copied from NBC13

BIRMINGHAM, Ala (WVTM) – A Lockdown at a Birmingham School was lifted earlier today, but the search for two suspects continues.

Officials put Woodlawn School on lockdown around 10:30 Tuesday morning, after two burglary suspects ran into the school.

Police arrested a third suspect away from the school. The man was armed with a “sawed off” shotgun.

Police also say someone called in a bomb threat after the school went on lockdown. Bomb sniffing dogs were deployed to make sure a bomb wasn’t actually inside the school.

Captain Allen Hatcher says the two men entered the building from its back side. Hatcher says the men were able to easily blend in. “School was in the middle of changing classes at the time that suspects ran into the building,” Hatcher told Alabama’s 13’s Hilary Golston. “That’s why they were able to kind a intermingle in with the students and go where they went.”

Hatcher says he’s been at the East Precinct for 18 months and has never seen anything like this before.

Several parents were wondering how the suspects were able to get into the building at all. It’s kind of stunning to me,” parent Irma McCoy said. “How did they get up in there in the first place.

Cystic Fibrosis and the pepsi refresh program

2010-10-26T21:16:00.000-05:00

The Pepsi Refresh voting is going on until Oct. 31st. Help Babies breath is in third place. http://www.refresheverything.com/helpbabiesbreathe

I just dont know what to say.

This is the second time we've been in the lead only to drop to third place before the voting closed.

Im just.. sad.

People in Missouri accused a CF patient of just using his "problems" as an excuse to not work. The patient was on Oxygen and in the hospital.

How can they not understand? Why can't CF awareness be as big as cancer awareness? People are SLOWLY dying of a disease... one they inheriated. NOT CONTRACTED by drugs or some other "bad" choice. SLOWLY DYING. DROWNING TO DEATH. There is no cure.

Countless Pills

Countless hospital visits... a once a year "tune-up" stay (if you're healthy) is two weeks... if you are sick you go in more often and sometimes for longer amounts of time.

But hey there is good news! The age that most survive to went up from 35 to your 50's!

I know im all over the place.. i just want a better life for these poor babies, children, teens, and adults. No one should have to go though this and if there was a way to prevent it..or for more clinical studies to maybe one day find a cure I think we should do everything in our power to do it.

Vote in the Pepsi Refresh program please. Please help these poor babies have a better life, a better chance for survival.

This is my face of CF. This is who I want a better life for. Who I want a cure for.

the Story of a Sunday Drive

2010-10-17T19:27:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time a Biggwrl wanted to take her mommy for a drive. She put the sewing box on the seat to give her some highth and started to go.

Then a sad sad man popped up in the window. She turned to ask if anyone knew who he was.

Then she remembered it was her BigDaddy and he wanted to drive Mommy. She thought she had locked him out BUT....

He got the door open anyways. She grabbed on to the steering wheel and refused to surrender it!

He tried sweet talking her and tickling her....

He tried unbuckling her seatbelt but the Biggrwl wouldn't give up she wanted to drive!!

She stood her ground and hugged the steering wheel!!

But in the end BigDaddy won the fight :)

The Legend of Noccalula

2010-10-17T18:47:00.000-05:00

See how big the Waterfall is?

The Legend of Noccalula came from the early times. Originally known as the Black Creek Falls, the legend as written by Mathilde Bilbro says that "long ago, on a mountain summit within sight and sound of a rushing waterfall, lived a great Indian Chief whose young daughter, Noccalula, was famed far and wide for her beauty and lovliness of character." Many gallant braves sought the old chief for the hand of Noccalula, but only one was favored by the girl's father, a rich chief of a powerful neighboring tribe, who had much to offer in exchange: wampum, horses, and blankets. Vainly Noccalula pleaded that her heart was already given to a young brave of her own tribe.

But this young warrior, though noted for his skill and valor, possessed little in wordly goods.
The old chief refused to listen and ordered his daughter to make ready for the marriage he had arranged. What was a maiden's silly fancy against many horses, much wampum and union with another strong tribe? The girl's lover was driven from the tribe, and a marrige agreement was made with the neighboring chief.
The wedding day came and a great feast was prepared. In silence Noccalula allowed herself to be arrayed in festive wedding robes. It was incredible!...To be sold to a stranger by the father she loved! Her chosen lover forever banished! Overcome with grief, she quietly slipped away from the merrymakers during the festivities..the soft rhythmical rush of waters called her...a moment she stood poised upon the brink of the yawning chasm. One leap - and her troubles were over.
Heartbroken, the remorseful father gave the great cataract his daughter's name. Since that day the waterfall has been called Noccalula.

Noccalula Falls

2010-10-17T18:40:00.000-05:00

On Saturday we went on a special picnic to Noccalula Falls in Gadsten Al. with our Nana. We had so much fun. Since it's been so dry the past year there really wasn't much of a waterfall this time HOWEVER we were still able to find some water to play in.

We all walked to the edge of the water fall and took pictures.

They have a petting zoo, a homestead ,which was really cool because all the building were from diffrent places in Alabama and Tenn.

How Historical! Big_Daddy, Eldest and Grumpa walked down to the base of the falls.
While Nana the little girls and myself went to play in the water. I am planning on talking T and her girls into going back later this spring. Apparently you can walk behind the falls into a "cave" and see indian writings! HOW COOL IS THAT?

On the way home we passed by SUMATANGA so that we could show Daddy. He's never been there before. Then we drove home a diffrent way so we could enjoy the trees changing colors. it was a great day!

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

2010-10-14T22:19:00.000-05:00

So as a mother I try very hard to raise RESPECTFUL children. After dealing with a 4 year old running rampant in the fabric store touching everything and putting bolts of fabric in Gwanma's basket THEN coming home and having all three of them intentially hanging on things, breaking almost everything just geneneraly running just plain NUTS. I admit I snapped. I told the little ones to bring out all thier toys, books and dollies and put them in a bucket. Eldest was to bring all of her electronics and put them in the bucket. They took all thier bikes and put them in big_daddys truck. I have decided that I am going to start a toy library. From now on until they can learn to respect other peoples toys then then wont get any! THEN later that evening their FATHER, who has been very "concerned" about the childrens lack of respect, pulled my coffee table over took off his shoes and put his naked feet on my coffee table!
You know how some mothers say well I just cant have nice things? Some days I feel like that :)
Then I get a big hug or kiss and its all worth it

Pork and Apple Stir-fry with peanut sauce

2010-10-13T20:40:00.000-05:00

Okay this was an experimental recipe that actually turned out really good and REALLY cheap.
When I say almost all the ingredients can be found in your house I mean it. None of those froo froo ingriedents.
except maybe Sesame see oil ( which I NEVER stir fry without)

Okay...
Ingredents:
4 boneless porkchops cut in strips trim fat ( thats enough for our family of 5 plus seconds for 2 hungry little girls)
2 granny smith apples thinly sliced ( like for pie) - you can do ahead and leave to soak in lemon juice
1/2 a bag of california blend veggies (I just added what looked like enough for our family)

Sauce:
1/2 of apple cider
2 tbsp of soy sauce
1/4 to 1/2 cup of peanut butter ( to taste)

start apple cider and soy sauce heating on med is a sauce pan. While that heats up go twice around the wok with your oil ( whatever kind that might be) once heated start cooking your pork in wok over high heat. Once cooked through remove from wok. go once around the pan with your oil again and add apple slices (drained if you soaked them) and cook over high heat stiring constantly until crisp tender. Add in frozen veggies keep stiring constantly. Ask someone to remove the sauce from heat and whisk in the peanut butter. once veggies are cooked and the sauce is all mixed add by ladlefull until you are happy with the amount. Stir to combine if to liquidy add a little cornstarch that has been mixed with water.

serve over rice or noodles

it was REALLY yummy. our only complaint was our rice was overcooked and really hard. :(

Soda fountian

2010-10-12T12:01:00.000-05:00

Today we decided to try a little experimant why sode explodes.

We needed Mentos, Diet soda (less sticky) and our gyser tube.

Attach tube to soda. MAKE SURE THE LYNCH PIN IS IN!

Pose for mentos commercial

MAKE SURE LYNCH PIN IS IN! Add 7 mentos to the tube.

make sure the pin is in place!

Start the count down.......
And pull the pin...
RUN!

Awesome huh?

So then They wanted to try it again to see if they could get it to explode a 2nd time.

mentos in

count down and pull pin.....

Where to start

2010-10-08T13:52:00.000-05:00

We've made Pumpkin Cake Pops

, A cotton wreath,

forts,

cookies,

we've been to the bootanical garden

We tortured Gwanma's dog Sunshine

and the apple orchard

I think we've done good on this whole fall break thing this year don't you?

Now we just have to figure out what to do with all the apples we bought :)

Apple Bourbon Pie anyone?

Applesauce?

Apple Cake?

Apple Scones?

Carmel Apples?

Chocolate coated apples?

Apple Butter?

Anyone? Anyone?

Cotton Craft

2010-10-04T20:24:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year again when the fields are covered with Dixie snow. Or for all of you North of the Mason Dixon line COTTON! Time for little girls to start begging for you to pull over so they can pick some.

I had cotton sitting around from BigGwrl and I couldn't get rid of it so, I needed to find a craft to use it all in. :)

We wanted to make sure we had enough cotton for our craft so we all took a field trip out to a near by field and picked a little more.

Then we headed to MICHAELS to buy a wreath and some ribbon.

This was our finished product.

isn't it cute? we are so excited to share it with our special someone :)

Just another crazy time

2010-10-01T10:51:00.000-05:00

Who would have thought that this cutie-wootie could have started mass chaos. ACTUALLY It started with BigGwrl telling Gwanma she should come over and listen to Taylor Swift on TV with her. For a few days now she has been teasing me about how she (Gwanma) isn't allowed to come over. Which SHE IS she just has to give me 3o min warning so i can hide the laundry! Anyways Biggwrl and I had just taken a break from cleaning mommy's room and knock knock I look out the window and there is Granma is all her loving and mischieviousness. I open the door to let her in and out goes the dogs.

Genesis will come back Indiana will not . While I am holding open the door ( stupidly) to get the dogs, Out goes the cat! UGH! After having had a cat that vanished I am VERY paranoid about having an outside cat. So now I have a stray cat and a stray dog. We finally get Indie in and try to catch Mimi who has now gone UNDER the house. I ask BigGwrl if she can get the cat (since she is small enough to get down there) well she falls down and scrapes the fire out of her knees! I though my mom was going to cry! It finally all worked out. We were finally able to bribe the cat to come out and when she did she gave us that cat look that said What is wrong with you I was just checking things out. OVERREACT much?

Why did I want 2 dogs and a cat again??

Lava floor

2010-09-30T21:19:00.000-05:00

So BigGwrl has been in rare form lately. The cool weather or our trip to sci-quest has her imagination working in overdrive. NOT THAT I EVER COMPLAIN ABOUT THAT!
So I had to laugh when I went to the bathroom and saw...

Every single pair of shoes from the shoe bucket making a path to the bathroom.
Apparently the floor turned to lava so she needed a paf to get to the potty.
I LOVE it when the kids get creative :)

BigGwrl investigates "Coconuts"

2010-09-30T19:18:00.000-05:00

On our Creek Investigation we found some "Coconuts"
So we investigated those as well These are BigGwrls field notes.

We have 9 coconuts
7 are green with brown spots

2 are black

They have a stem and black dots
They are circle or ball shaped
They are scrapey and bumpy like Mimi's tongue
They came from trees but some are on the gwound
They smell kinda like Spwite
Now we cut.

They have bwown juice.

They have pits (STONES) like a peachy
The inside DOES NOT smell like Spwite ( It smells like poo-poos)
The bwown juice does not come off of Daddys hands

We talked about how when stuff falls down animals eat it then the seeds get in thier poo-poos and grow new trees. That was cool.
Then I filled my bucket with water and the coconuts float!!

We found out all kinds of cool things. EXCEPT what they really are. But I still think they are coconuts. Mommy said maybe later we will investigate coconuts :)

P.S. Aunt J wrote mommy after she read this and told her she thought they were BLACK WALNUTS so mommy and I did more imbestigateing ( like ABBY) and they are!! but mommy said we still can't eat them

Jell-o Fun!

2010-09-20T18:59:00.000-05:00

One of the blogs I read did a post on rainbow jello and it just looked so super-awesome! Middlest and Bigwrl asked if mommy would make it so for our cooking experiment we went and bought a TON of jello ( Red, Orange, Yellow,green,blue, and purple Colors) the small boxes. We dug out a silicone heart shaped brownie pan and a glass cassarole dish. Then we started cooking..

Now I will say this 8 out of nine sites said to use either sour cream or whipped cream and either shmear it between the layers or mix with the current color you are using after it solidifys. the effect would eventually look like this...

However I am CHEAP!
I didn't do that .
We boiled 1cup of water.. stirred...and then added 1 cup of water
we measured in 1 1/2 tbsp of jello into each cup and poured what was left into the cassarole dish
we then placed it in the fridge and allowed the jello to set for apx. 30 min okay well it was closer to 15 min some of the time.
repeat the process 6 more times.
this project takes all day long
HOWEVER it is super freaking awesome
We discovered serveral things... the light does not get through shapes to show off the layers.
The heart shapes were yummy but black looking..
until you cut a thin cross section which is what the slab is.
we tried using the biscut cutters to cut circles to see it that worked but no go. Next time we'll use the whipped cream :)

Homeschool Fun

2010-09-14T20:12:00.000-05:00

After some flipping and flopping of school stuff Eldest and I have FINALLY (knock on wood) found something that fits. PERCY JACKSON. Eldest is obcessed with mythology right now so we ditched the last book we were working on and decided to do comparisons between Perseus and The Lightning thief. One of the projects we have done so far this week is a sewing project.. SOOO awesome!

She made this costume today out of a bed sheet and some braid. whole thing under 10.00$

I LOVE homeschooling!