Living, Learning, Loving, and Growing

Catching Chip "Chippy" Monk.

2011-06-23T06:55:00.000-04:00

In case you hadn't heard, yesterday morning a chipmunk pushed the screen out of a corner of our screen door and broke into the house as I was getting ready for work. After chasing him around, he hid so good I couldn't find him. After standing on the living room table throwing remotes and anything else within reach at every piece of furniture, trying to get him to run out so I could throw my ice cream bucket on him, I finally had to leave for work and to take chloe to the babysitters. I hated to leave him in the house, but I should have allready left for work, so it was time to go. Fortunately, he was still there waiting when Jeremy got home. Jeremy chased him around for a while, but when I got home from work he had to leave to donate blood, so Chloe and I decided to set a trap….

First off, we found an old aquarium in the basement, and used the ole stick-rope deal. Chloe so kindly prepared a chipmunk feast of peanut butter, sunflower seeds, and even a dish of water.

Secondly, she tested the trap. It seemed to work.

She then stood, watching and waiting for 'chippy', as she had so affectionately nicknamed him, to come out of hiding and feast on her delicacies. That lasted…. About 30 seconds and she got bored. So I tied string to nearby doorknob and checped every few minutes for chippy.

Daddy got home, and decided that desperate times call for desperate measures, and flipped the couch, where he thought Chippy was hiding...

Sure enough, he ran out! Since his couch hiding place was no longer an option, chippy decided to travel through the baseboards.

Daddy set a 'giraffe' decoy to lure out chippy. Chloe threw a fit at the unappropriate use of mr giraffe. Daddy quickly flipped bucket onto chippy. currently, Chippy is under said bucket, and bucket is running around living room. (Please pay no attention to the filthy was-under-the-couch-til-it-got-exposed floor!)

Let me pause to explain what happened next, because unfortunately, no pictures were taken. Chippy was dumped into aquarium with a large heavy mirror placed on top. Marc removed mirror so Chippy could finish his photo shoot, and Chippy jumped out of aquarium and ran down hall to bathroom. We'll now continue our saga….

Chippy took quite the bathroom tour

He tried to brush his teeth, but from what I heard from the other side of the door, (you know there's no way I was being locked in the bathroom with the varmin, so photo credit goes to marc) chloe threw a fit over chippy touching her toothpaste, after he tried to chew it open.

He then caught a whiff of st. maarten as he enjoyed our seashell collection….

But due to chloe's wails about him touching her seashells, I'm sure, he scaled the wall.

He realized he'd been very naughty and had gotten into lots of things and should at least wash up…

As he contemplated his next move…..

I really can't say what went wrong at this point. Basically, Chippy escaped the bathroom, even with 3 people in there making sure he didn't. He was quite clever, you see. He then proceeded to run into the craft room. Daddy and Marc quickly followed, with chloe not far behind. Marc used a paper bag as his weapon of choice, and someone valiantly scooped chippy out of a mid-air-hop right into the bag! We then took the bag outside, and chloe opened it and dumped him out. Here is chippy running/hopping like the wind…. I'M FREEEEEEEEEEEE he shouted! (Not really, but I imagine it's what he was thinking!)

We sincerely hope he doesn't visit again, but if he does……. It was certainly an adventure we won't forget!!!

My legit square sink!

2011-04-02T19:24:00.002-04:00

2011-03-23T16:57:00.000-04:00

Callback #: 231-388-2005

10 years ago

2011-03-07T13:12:00.001-05:00

10 years ago, I was a bratty little 8th grader. The "I can be your friend" Veggie tales song comes to mind.... "Have you ever seen a boy with funny clothes, a girl with braces on her teeth or freckles on her nose? If they added something about hair in these 'princess laia-esque' big poofy pigtails, that woulda been me. I really thought I looked cool, for some reason, with the bottom half of my pants so big, my now-3-year-old would gladly have used them as the best hiding spot EVER. I seriously wish I had a picture to post right now but really..... remember jnco jeans people?!?! feather lined hoods on fleeces? not fur, feathers people! and pink ones at that! I had the BEST best friend ever, Jessica J, and some other amazing friends.... Amber, my roller skating buddy, Liz & Renee, my partners in crime....and then this guy. This guy that dated all the other girls, even asked my advice about them, who just called me his 'best buddy', and couldn't see that I had the biggest crush in the WORLD on him...... ahhh the good ole' days. =) Then, 10 years ago today, Jeremy asked me to be his girlfriend and my life changed forever.

Thank you. =)

He taught me to share, and what it was like to care for another person more than yourself, for the first time in my life. He challenged me constantly to be a better person, not to swear so much, not to argue with my parents. Every spare penny he earned he spent on me. I was at a really critical point in my life, in a stage where I was really rebelling after my parents moved our family from Michigan to Illinois. I quit doing my school work, unless it seemed like something interesting. I got bad grades, intentionally. I got detentions for being late to class all the time, and whenever a friend would get a detention for being late, we'd spread the word and a few of us would get detention so we didn't have to go it alone. Never Jeremy though. He stood his ground and was always on time to class. Sometimes people say he changed after he met me, like it's a good thing, but I don't think people noticed so much exactly how much I changed for the better, just having him play such an important role in my life. Most importantly, he challenged my faith. He asked questions that made me think. Over the next several years I would grow spiritually because of him, and if I hadn't met him, I really wonder where I'd be today...

Reminds me of another song, 'I will never be, the same again. I can never return, I've closed the door.' I'm so glad I walked out that door and into a life with you. =)

I love you baby!

What I'm here for

2011-02-22T10:59:00.000-05:00

This morning I got a daily email from Proverbs 31 Ministries, I read them if I have time, and when I do they are such a blessing.... I finished this mornings, and started to pray, "Lord, make these problems go away".... how quickly I had forgotten what I just read. My prayer almost immediately changed to, "Lord, thank you for this, I know it will grow me, may your will be done". Thank you Lord, for a great reminder!

9&10 News - American Heart Association Changing Women's Risk Guidelines

2011-02-16T12:22:00.000-05:00

9&10 News - American Heart Association Changing Women's Risk Guidelines

I am so thankful they're airing this! As most of you know, I had Post Partum Cardiomyopathy after having my little one, and be aware that it can happen with NONE of these issues happening during pregnancy, it can just HAPPEN right afterwards, sometimes a day or week later, sometimes up to 6 months later!

Things I love about my husband...

2011-02-14T13:37:00.000-05:00

... He has an awesome sense of humor. We just... get each other, all the time. And we think the same.... what one of us says, the other was thinking, and we are almost always in agreement about important things.

... When he's a total kid, with our kid. And just how he is around kids in general.

... His ideas. And how when we put our ideas together, they turn into bigger and better ideas. And how we finish each other's ideas, and round them out, until it's 'just right.'

... His love for the Lord. I love that he reads his bible every night before he goes to bed and doesn't let anything get in the way of it. I love watching him worship at church. I love his servants heart.

...The fact that just a simple nod is all it takes for us to know we're in agreement on something.

Everything.

Happy Valentine's Day, Sweetie! =)

Psalm 121:5

2011-01-28T11:28:00.000-05:00

"The Lord watches over you-- the Lord is your shade at your right hand."

King James says, "The Lord is your keeper, the Lord is your shade at your right hand".

but the message says it differently...

"God's your Guardian,
right at your side to protect you—
Shielding you from sunstroke,
sheltering you from moonstroke."

So I really wonder which it is trying to say- That the Lord is like an umbrella, maybe that you'd carry in your right hand, or that the Lord is your shadow, made by your right hand? If you use the upper room devotional you probably are like, "i know where she's going with this!" and you're right.... a few days ago the devotional was on this, and compared it to the Lord being like our shadow- Always there, sometimes hard to see, sometimes big and obvious, but ALWAYS there. I LOVED that analogy. It brought me so much comfort! Also- he's seeing everything you do. He's attached to everything you do.

I love it. I'm so glad it can't come unsewed, like in Peter Pan =D.

Board Game Frame

2011-01-22T17:58:00.004-05:00

One of my absolute most favorite blogs to read is Infarrantly Creative. That lady....... genius. Pure genius. I wish I could have her over for a cup of tea and tell me what on EARTH to do with the giant cubbies in the living room, I bet she'd have the perfect idea of what to do with those monsters! Well, that monster, rather, since two of them got shelved.

Anyhow, I was reading one of her recent posts, and at the bottom it says 'you might also like...' or something like that, and something caught my eye.... "Game Board Storage Art"

Oh.
My.
STARS!!!!

I was like, that is the solution to my LIFE!!!! Okay, maybe not my whole life, only Jesus is that, but the playroom! The playroom and it's lack of cute stuff on the walls and it's crushed board game boxes stacked haphazardly...... okay not even stacked! Just... the pieces! Ohhh the pieces! Strewn from one of the house to the other! So, I knew right then and there, that this would be me and hubs weekend project!

...but then I got the stomach flu. Uck. No good. So Sunday Afternoon we're in the middle of relaxing..... and I'm feeling moderately better.... and I remembered and I just HAD to make them right then and there!

Here's what we came up with....

Diego Chutes and Ladders!

Ended up sanding the back a little after I decided to glue the fabric on as opposed to stapling, it looks yucky but we dont care =)

See Diego and his cousin down there? lol

We put a support in the middle like someone else from her blog had recommended, and we didn't used plastic baggies. I am.... a phob. A total phob. (Can that be a word??) Like, plastic baggies are a suffocation hazard. not to mention I had plastic, and the BPA, and.... my mind started racing. We were all set to fit a piece of luan about 5 inches high across the bottom, but the only luan we had was warped and.... I just didn't like it. So I thought, fabric! I hemmed this cute yellow fabric and had great intentions of stapling it on all nicely, then covering said staples with strip of nice felt to protect wall (i was going to use that in the corners too) but......lo and behold...... we're out of staples. We're always out of anything. We need a system, like some.... I don't know..... erasable board, hanging in a convienent place, to write things on when we run out of....... oh wait! we HAVE one of those! USING it would be good... I know you believe I still haven't wrote 'staples' on the list! ugh. anyhow. I ended up hot gluing the fabric on for now, I might staple when I remember to buy more staples, but oh how I love hot glue......... it might just stay. =)

We had a lovely picnic for lunch today.... Chloe insisted and set it all up!

It is exactly 60 days...

2011-01-11T14:48:00.001-05:00

...til we set sail on the Norwegian Sun!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sooooooooo excited!!!!!!!!!!

***does cheesy 80s dance... you know.... hand pointing up there....... down over there........ that thing!***

I need need NEED to get into better shape...... the problem is I can't seem to do it on my own! I need a workout buddy, a partner, a something.... A set schedule, basically, a live-in personal trainer whose premium goal is to get me into tip top shape..... not in the next two months, but maybe the next 2 years...... ya know....

Okay now that I'm done dreaming......... WHAT AM I GONNA DO?!?!?!

I'm just gonna jump right back in...

2011-01-10T16:56:00.002-05:00

...to the blogging world! It's been ages since we've had reliable Internet, I'm still not totally sure sometimes, but here's to hoping! I'm going to have a few goals on here and I hope ya'all will help keep me on track by hollering at me if I get off those tracks.....

1. I'm going to be POSITIVE!

2. I'm going to share my ideas even if I think I'll sound crazy!

3. I'm going to capitalize my I's the first time around so I don't have to go back through looking for them all afterwards and changing them to I's instead of i's....

4. I'm GOING to lose weight this year. And tell you about it! There. I just wrote it on the Internet for everyone to see so now keep me accountable in any way you'd like please!

5. I'm going to keep things short and sweet, and not ramble!

I hope everyone's having a great 2011 so far! Lots of Stomach Flu around our house but things are looking better every day!

Whatta Year!

2010-12-02T19:27:00.003-05:00

Wow.... so i know it hasn't been a whole year since i've posted, but since i've really sat down and wrote something... yeah. Wow!

Okay, so ....... bought house last august........ started working as our church secretary the next day, just 8 hours a week......... and stayed home with Chloe most of the time! Things went good, just constantly working to improve the new homestead..... joined a MOPS group........ and then, a month ago, into my lap dropped a full time job with benefits!

The Lord is SOOOOOOOO good! I am so blessed with a healthy happy precious little girl, an awesome supportive husband, an awesome supportive family/extended family, and a great life! I hope i'll get back to blogging regularly, but i wanted to update anyone who might check this =)

God Is GOOD!!!!!!!

2010-08-13T09:57:00.002-04:00

2010-05-20T21:38:00.002-04:00

I mow like I vacuum. Jeremy mows like its a parallel symmetrical geometry problem.

2010-05-11T13:05:00.002-04:00

Alright so does anyone else have as much trouble making themselves mow the lawn? we bought this house in august, and i didn't really give the lawn much thought.... but its HUGE! it's probably only like 1/2 an acre out of the ten, and i should be greatful the rest is woods, but really!!!!!!! I have always thought mowing the lawn was a waste of time and resources, but even i have to admit it looks much nicer.... and jeremy and i made a deal. i'd mow the lawn, if he'd do the dishes and get chloe to clean up the livng room! i know how sneaky right? well anyhow it took me almost 2 hours but i did 'er! and it was GREAT exercise! I was sweating like a pig when i was done.... but anyhow before the mowage happened here's our conversation....

well some background info first... a few days earlier i had texted him this quote from a book, something about simplifing your live, and one of the suggestions was 'stop mowing your lawn, and plant a meadow'. okay i SERIOUSLY thought that was about the wisest thing I had ever heard! So i thought, why can't i just plant a lawn full of wildflowers?!? well thats still my goal, ask me in a few years if its happened.... here's to hoping...... =) anyhow we're arguing the merits of whether the lawn deserves our hard earned cash to the gas tank, and i'm going on about how broke we are, and jeremy's going on about how the neighbors are gonna think we're heathens, and then i'm going on about how the inside should be our priority, thats where we have to sleep, and the laundry is getting backed up, and the floors need sweeping and mopping, and I HAVE AN MRI THURSDAY SO FEEL BAD FOR ME AND DO WHAT I SAY!!! really sending him packing ona guilt trip, i know, but thats what i did. he just laughed it off anyways, he knew i was kidding. so, i realize i'm defeated, and make him the offer about how i'll mow the lawn if he does the dishes. he obliged, grumbling about how i wouldn't get the whole thing done, blah blah blah, but guess what? I DID! and it felt good! And i told him before i went out that i'd even still do exercise hour with him... guess what? i didn't. but i still felt good cuz i had mowed that stinkin lawn! lol. what a dilemma. anyhow while i was out there and thinking, i'm like, hey, the Lord would want me to do my best in all things, maybe jeremy IS right about the whole parallel symmetrical geometrical lawn mowing and i should just repair my attitude.... and while i'm on this subject, what on EARTH would the Good Lord think of my raking/lack thereof? HEY! IDEA! Maybe i could get jeremy to put his geometrical mowing method to the raking!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHH i can tell that will be a story for another day........... =)

2010-05-07T14:58:00.002-04:00

hey all... its been forever.... please keep me in your prayers! Going for an MRI thursday, may 13th, to check out my optic nerve.... thanks!

Meijer wins!

2010-03-03T14:15:00.002-05:00

Chocolate avocado cupcake with cream cheese cauliflower frosting... Seriously. Jeremy is eating veg

2010-02-24T19:07:00.002-05:00

Broccoli laden beef stew... Muahahahahahaaa

2010-02-17T17:52:00.002-05:00

I WILL get my husband to eat broccoli!!!!

2010-02-17T14:10:00.002-05:00

sorry its been so long!!!

2010-02-15T23:19:00.003-05:00

Sorry you guys have been getting only photo updates lately! They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but some of those probably just left ya'all confused... lol! So things are going great, we're on our way back from Tennessee right now, we visited Dad and Jamie down there, went to Cumberland Caverns and Falls Creek Falls, both beutiful places, but the snow followed us down! Almost back home now, it was a 12+ hour drive, long day, will try to update more, life's been great but busy!!!

Amanda

My fabulous sister cooked her eggos on a paper plate. In the toaster oven. =)

2010-02-15T09:27:00.002-05:00

2010-02-10T11:36:00.002-05:00

Really. Didnt even mean it!!

2010-02-07T17:14:00.001-05:00

2010-02-04T20:52:00.001-05:00

Ugh. Jeremy. Ugh.

2010-01-29T16:49:00.001-05:00

Chicken little

2010-01-29T15:06:00.001-05:00

Chicken little

This is my favorite picture of the day... Going to bed to dream about our tax return coming sooner.

2010-01-28T22:45:00.001-05:00

2010-01-28T11:36:00.001-05:00

She made a "cucumber sandwich" -5 cukes- and is singing yummy yummy yummy in my tummy tummy tummy!

2010-01-25T21:32:00.001-05:00

Clunker.

2010-01-24T16:34:00.001-05:00

2010-01-23T12:45:00.001-05:00

little ballerina...

2010-01-20T18:54:00.001-05:00

snow white.... as a blond...

2010-01-20T18:54:00.000-05:00

my little ballerina!!!

2010-01-20T18:51:00.000-05:00

The US FDA is FINALLY recognizing BPA as not safe!!!!!!!!

2010-01-20T10:16:00.001-05:00

Hmm... This just has me baffled.

2010-01-19T15:06:00.001-05:00

Wisconsin has less snow than michigan even! Ugh!!! =) having fun. Chloes playin with grama lori.

2010-01-16T14:15:00.001-05:00

Amanda waiting to go in car doing her hair

2010-01-16T12:20:00.001-05:00

2010-01-16T08:25:00.001-05:00

Ughhhhhhhhhhh im feeling sick and we still have 4 hours to goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

2010-01-16T07:59:00.001-05:00

Its 6am. Heading to illinois and jeremy is BLARING some christian RAP. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

2010-01-16T06:09:00.001-05:00

Having an organizing day!

2010-01-13T22:05:00.001-05:00

2010-01-13T22:04:00.001-05:00

January's found us very busy! Ditzy moments awards go to Jeremy for saying 'do the amish deliver the wood to your house?' and krystin for responding to yahoo! Security's email asking for her user name and password, and her giving that information to them. Ahhhhh too funny. The PRAY group is working hard to bring the movie 'to save a life' (www.tosavealifemovie.com) into Cadillac 5 Theatres, and so far so good! Yesterday we went to several churches. Probably ten at least and gave them posters and such. This movie is so moving, touching, makes you laugh, cry wow was I amazed! My New Years Resolution of keeping up 'no bible, no breakfast!' has been going great!!! Sorry not much blogging lately, soooo busy! Catch up next month. But hopefully before!!

We're Back Online!!!!

2009-11-18T18:35:00.001-05:00

I have soooooooooooo missed reading all my pal's blogs!!! But we're back online after the big move!!!!! Pictures, videos, etc..... all coming soon!! we've just got dial up now so it'll be slow going but.... i'm excited to show you all what we've been up to!!!

God Bless!!
Amanda

2009-09-29T13:54:00.002-04:00

So no internet at the new house. house is coming along, carpet is coming tomorrow. Waiting for the heat guy to call back. We are freezing.

Chloe said a prayer....

2009-08-11T15:00:00.003-04:00

Chloe said a prayer a few days ago, and I jotted it down on my phone so I would remember to post it on here... We were having a snack late at night and she kept insisting that we pray. We did 4 or 5 times with me leading a few times and then brit leading once and she copied everything we said and then i said "Chloe, your turn!" and we sat there heads bowed eyes closed and she said "Lord Jesus, thank you for mommy and daddy. thanks briney and chucky and jim. thanks food. amen!" I teared up. It was amazing.

And today...

2009-08-11T11:43:00.000-04:00

... Chloe thinks its cool to change her own diaper, throw away the old one, and not put a new one on. Its a dilemma.

WFMW: freeze pops are too cold for little fingers!

2009-08-05T11:48:00.003-04:00

So my two year old loves freeze pops, you know, those tubular popsicles that you can keep on hand always cuz they don't HAVE to be in the freezer, and you can pop them in when a days coming you'll want them and you can use them to keep stuff cold in your cooler and they're just great??? yeah those things. so anyways my two year old loves the things, but was whining that they were cold so.... i put them in her sock!! i always bust them in half to open them, probably cuz i'm in a big hurry to keep her occupied and lost the scissors, or maybe they're dirty, or whatever... so a pair of socks makes great popscicle insulators...above is a picture from 10 minutes ago... and now whenever she asks for popscicles, if we don't bring them with, she says, 'mommy, socky please!'.

too precious.

and it works for me. on wednesdays or any other day.

to see more works for me wednesday tips, click here

We really need to get her out of our bed....

2009-08-05T11:27:00.002-04:00

I mean, REALLY.

such a big girl...

2009-08-04T11:40:00.002-04:00

she's growing up so fast! She just brought me a gallon of milk and her sippy cup and asked, 'Mommy, more milk please!' She's such a good girl! Now only if we could get her off the sippy cup.... lol. and out of our bed while we're at it!!! She sings 'Jesus loves me' and 'rock a bye baby' and 'twinkle twinkle little star' and her all time favorite, 'popit, yock it, pokkadotit, counwify!!' (for those of you who don't recognize it, thats a hannah montana song!) lol.... just amazing!

exactly 9 days after her 2 year birthday......

2009-07-29T16:50:00.001-04:00

.....my baby just dressed herself!!!! she had lots of ambition, daddy said, 'go get dressed so we can go get ice cream' and he didn't expect she would, but he was watchning tv and wanting to stall, and SHE WENT AND GOT DRESSED! she came back wearing a dress!!!!!!! AMAZING!!!!!!!!

stress echo tomorrow

2009-07-26T20:49:00.000-04:00

ahhhhhhh so excited hope it doesn't get me all worked up though!!!!!!!!! will post how it goes!!!!!! pray please!!!!!!

2009-07-20T14:03:00.000-04:00

The Lord is good, his love endures forever!!

The very nature of the obedience he demands is that it be given without regard to circumstances or results

2009-07-18T23:19:00.002-04:00

When I read that sentence, it just begged me to go reread the whole little paragraph. Colson had been talking about people who lived their lives, without seeing the results of their mission work, work towards the abolition of slavery, etc.... so I re-read it.... "Some might think this divine pattern cruel, but I am convinced there is a sovereign wisdom to it. Knowing how susceptible we are to success's siren call, God does not allow us to see, and therefore glory in, what is done through us. The very nature of the obedience he demands is that it be given without regard to circumstances or results."

Wow! Did that hit you square between the eyes? What an encouragement to be not to get discouraged with our youth work, even when we’re feeling burnt out!!!

He goes on to talk about the healing of the centurion's servant, how he came to Jesus on behalf of his paralyzed servant, asking for healing, and Jesus agreed to come with him, but he quickly replied that he knew Jesus didn't have to bother coming to his home, he could merely say the word and his servant would be healed. Not only did Jesus heal his servant, but he used the servant's faith as an example to the crowds! Wouldn’t you love to be an example? The centurion knew when he commanded his troops they obeyed, and saw Jesus as the master commander and gave, WILLINGLY, his unquestioning allegiance!

WOW! Talk about faith like a child!!!!!!

Colson goes on to talk about how, "Maturing faith-faith which deepens and grows as we live our Christian life- is not just knowledge, but knowledge acted upon. It is not just belief, but belief lived out- practiced!" Don't be hearers only, but doers as well, right!? HE goes on to say that faith is a state of mind that grows out of our actions, just as it also governs them.... and that 'this is real faith: believing and acting obediently regardless of circumstances or contrary evidence. After all, if faith depended on visible evidence, it wouldn't be faith!' We walk by faith, not by sight!

What it all boils down to: God is who he says he is. On that, we must be willing to stake OUR LIVES.

And oh man... it just gets better. Being reminded of all these truths we know but don't always dwell on....

He says the basis of loving god is obedience.... to obey you must know what he wants you to do, so you gotta read your bible..... duh!

Okay so I'm kinda rambling.... but if you haven't already, go grab a copy of Charles Colson's 'loving God' and go read that thing! In the first 50 pages i have been completely sucked in! I love it! Wow!!!

On another note.... my mobile blogs haven't been posting lately, so if you see a bunch of weird symbols, that’s why.... I’ll have to look into it.....

2009-07-14T21:12:00.004-04:00

Chloe saw apparently her first feather today.
She decided that it was to be called a 'bird leaf'.
She is the smartest still just 1-yearolder i know.
She's amazing.....

My favorite part of online shopping

2009-07-12T18:23:00.003-04:00

So I just realized that i haven't told you all about my favorite part of online shopping yet! Theres this amazing site, Big Crumbs, that gives you cash back, deposited right into your paypal account, just for shopping online. you get cash back from shopping at walmart.com, ebay, best buy, kmart, drugstore.com, 1800contacts, and 395 other sites, some of which I shop at often! you get a percentage of your purchase price back- 3%, sometimes even 7%, and some places are up to a certain dollar amount- orbitz, all kinds of places!

The other cool thing is, if you sign up through my link, it helps me too!! So, if you don't allready have this, check it out!!!

Click here to sign up for BigCrumbs!

quick update...

2009-07-07T16:21:00.002-04:00

so... chloe posted a couple blogs. i just noticed. they are the two previous ones... whenever she sneaks into our room she loves to pound on the computer! stinker!!!!

ahhh so life...as of late... still hunting for the right house. we got a couple we've got our eye on right now, but nothing definite.... uggghhhh its frusterating!!!!!!!! ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!! well what can you do. it's been so busy lately, these summer months, sooooooo so so so many church activities, and we've been planning a ton with the youth... 4 things this week alone!!! but i'm staying sane, keeping my house reasonably clean, and been tryign to keep healthy!!! weight is going ok, i definately have discovered i need to write down everything i eat, but i sometimes.... just... don't. terrible, i know. well i gotta go pop some dough in the oven, we're out of bread... making a whole wheat/white blend of french bread today!! gotta start something for dinner, and go to curves, and then hopefully have a relaxing evening!!!!!!!!

manda

2009-06-25T00:03:00.004-04:00

Chloe was baffled today when she saw a 'flying boat' in the sky today.
It was an airplane.
I love her.

Come check out my new layout!!!!!!!

2009-06-18T11:26:00.002-04:00

Hey! I made a new layout for my blog, come check it out when you get a chance and let me know what you think! I made a neat photo header, i'm impressed with it!

Safe Nail Polish...

2009-06-05T22:42:00.002-04:00

So today I walk into our local natural foods store, where they've never been very friendly, which ticks me off, but anyways i decided to give them another chance so i ask, 'ma'am, do you have any organic, like, safe nail polish, for kiddos?' she looks me down and says, 'well, we have this, but I wouldn't put ANY nail polish on a baby!!!' I think I might have mentioned it was for a 2 year old, not sure, but anyhow- Wow! I didn't ask you to be judgmental, I just wanted nail polish that would be safe around her, because I want to use it too!!! Having my history of health problems, I want something I can use, and use around her, and eventually she can use if she wants, that doesn't have all the harmful junk in it.... what little girl sees their mommy painting their nails and doesn't want to wear some too!??! So I am on the search! Wish me luck and any advice will be appreciated!!!

2009-06-04T09:37:00.001-04:00

Chloe just told me, "no way mom!". Little stinker!

2009-06-03T22:18:00.003-04:00

Today I had an appt, and Mom took C and I to it cuz we have no car while daddy's at work, and then we stopped bya garage sale on the way home. C was about sleeping, drinking happily on her sippy, so we let her sit in her car seat with the doors open while we stepped outside to check out the sale, we peek around a bit and as we're paying for our goods (nothing super duper exciting, or of course i would tell you about it) she starts crying REALLY LOUD! I am of course worried, as she's more or less past the 'crying just to get your attention' stage and it sounded like a 'somethings wrong, mommy!' sort of cry. so i hurry over to the car and she's so upset and is grabbing her feet, and keeps saying, 'footsies, mommy, footsies!' so i keep looking at her footsies, they look fine, but she wants her socks off, which is fine- she often likes her shoes and socks off while we're in the car, so i take them off and she has big white poofy bug bites on her big toesies! 2 on one and 1 on the other! It was crazy- what kind of bug only bites big toes? and they were poofy looking like the darn bites you get from those little black gnatty things.... and so i asked, chloe, was there a bug on your footsie?? and she says, and i quote, 'yeah, mommy, footsiebug!!!footsiebug!!! hurt mommy footsiebug!!!' aw man it was so cute... she's getting so smart, so i cuddled her the rest of the ride home- mom was driving- and she was happy after that, but poor girl.... those bugs are so bad this year! and now she thinks they aim for the feet... i just hope she watches out for them to bite her elsewhere!!!

Did i mention mom took us to BK for lunch?? It was an EXCELLENT treat out, I love the rare occasion we do get to grab lunch out, and heres an adorable picture of the day..... Chloe eating her mini-burger kidsmeal... precious!!! what a dollface...

Doctor visit went good... I have some ear problems but everything should work itself out and i got cleared to do a few things so.... exciting!!!!

I am building a website!

2009-06-01T19:52:00.002-04:00

My first site that is actually getting hosted... yay!!! Though hosting brings about all sorts of other problems, it's great fun!!! If you want to check it out, click here and let me know what you think!!!

Amanda

Happy Weekend!!

2009-04-25T10:25:00.002-04:00

Yay! *Sings to the tune of that country song...* "It's finally friday!" yay! Even though now it's Saturday morning.... its ok. Our week is out of whack cuz Jeremy had to work friday, which is really good though because that means business is picking up and we sure can use the money!

So here we are with a fairly uneventful weekend, we don't have much planned which is awesome!! So yesterday we went house hunting when Jeremy got out of work, we found two houses we really like so we'll see where that goes...

Today we're taking my dad to look at one, we looked at the other last night.....

Chloe is getting so big, saying 3 word sentences now!! She's such a big girl and still my little baby all at once.

Man I love it... being a mom, being so loved... The other day I told, ina singsong voice, "Chloe, you're so pretty!" And she said "Mommy pretty too!" Aww it melted my heart. Then she proceeded to tell me how mommy, daddy, and chloe were pretty. Daddy really appreciated it when i told him about it later! :)

So... prayers please! House hunting is so hard and so frusterating and so stressing all at once, because of the 2 hosues we so had our heart set on and they fell through... ugh. lets hope these ones go better!!!!!!

Manda

Chloe's First time answering a question....

2009-04-14T18:30:00.003-04:00

...came today when she came to me showing me pictures, saying
'mommy!' and she held up a polaroid of me.
'daddy!' as she holds up a polaroid of daddy.
'yes', i answer both times, 'you're so smart!'
'Pictures!' she says. 'yes!' i reply again, rubbing her cheek and telling her how smart she is.
so then i offhandedly remarked to her,
'you just love picutres, don't you?'
'yeah!' she said as she toddled off to go show daddy....

a good day, a very good day. my princess is growing up so fast. it was a stressful day, lots of big decisions and stressful situations, on my one stay home day out of the whole week, but a great day, a really great day!

she just ran in here, uncovered her eyes, and said, 'boo!' and daddy is telling her to come see me now, so he must be doing something important, it must be my turn to play!

WFMW: Easy Crockpot meal

2009-03-18T18:29:00.003-04:00

2 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup diced green peppers(i use frozen allready diced to amke it even easier!)
1-2 cups frozen corn
1-2 cups frozen or fresh carrots
4-6 frozen chicken breasts
1 crockpot

put it all in, cover it, cook on low a long time, or high 4-6 hours, stirring occasionally.
put it over mashed potatoes, noodles, rice, bread, whatever your fancy!
easy-peasy, DELICIOSO (as Dora the Explora is saying in the next room over haha) and fairly healthy, other than the canned soup!!

it works for me!

Click here to go see what works for me wednesday is all about or click here to see everyone else's today!!

antie bog spent the nite...

2009-03-11T15:12:00.002-04:00

and we had a blast! here's auntie bog, little miss elmo, and me.

happy birthday grandpa!

2009-03-11T15:03:00.001-04:00

Learning tower...

2009-03-07T15:48:00.002-05:00

Cuz someone out there wants to build one and asked for more detailed pictures!

Sides are plywood, carved everything out with a jigsaw, had fancy legs on the bottom, like on the tm learing tower, to keep it from tipping but it was sturdy enough without and we kept stubbing our toes, so we took them off! didn't touch up the paint yet since then, lol, can you tell?!? its quite dinged up after a year or more of use, but it so does the job and chloe is at the age where she loves to climb in and out of it!! the platform is adjustable, has dowels going throug, but looking back that was totally unnessary too as its a good height regardless, and we could have just screwed the platform on, but that does add to sturdy-ness. 1x1's in each corner, bolts through them, routered all edges, and painted it a lovely bright red! I'm going to glue some felt on all the bottom edges as it has scaped up the floor a little big, but haven't gotten to it. thought about putting wheels on it, but if they got stuck, it could tip if kiddo pushed on counter... so felt, like they put on the bottom of dining room chairs to not scratch the floor, ya know? might even just buy those round stick-on ones and stick them all over!

Sledding!

2009-02-24T12:13:00.001-05:00

Life as we know it...

2009-02-18T19:29:00.002-05:00

...is really finally starting to get back to normal. The post holiday anxiety is going away.... I don't know. Its just.... better. Now that ATF is over with I feel like I don't have any huge things coming up to stress me out.... speaking of ATF, it was great.... but Chloe was not too impressed. She loved the Bands and singing and all, but the speaker parts, she could've done without... she just wanted to run all over and holler, and of course mommy and daddy just wanted to listen, but it worked out okay, though we both had killer migranes by Saturday evening. Well, Chloe wants to play her computer game so.... I'll try and get the pictures uploaded later. Jeremy's bro and his family are up, and its going pretty great! The girls fight a bit, they're too little to understand each others actiosn, but its going! ...

do dreams mean anything?

2009-02-03T10:57:00.002-05:00

I have never thought much about it, but when you think about it, the lord showed jacob his future through dreams, and an angel appeared in a dream, and so many things dealt with dreams, and they were true, so maybe mine mean something too!

I had a weird dream last night that i remembered, as opposed to all the weird dreams i forget, and decided to look into it. do i think dreams mean something? maybe. who knows? this site i was looking at was very informational and not at all what i was expecting... http://www.dreammoods.com/

which got me thinking about dreams i had when i was younger... after we moved to illinois i had a 'recurring dream' for a long time, not sure if it was several months or exactly how long, but i had it often enough to vividly remember it. the dream was that through our new subdivision, i could take this path that went straight to this path near our old house, and another weird path to a bad neighborhood i had never been to. could this have been a way to see that i needed to follow the right path? i disregarded the dreams as being weird just sleeping random things because i thought that 'dream interpreting was just for psychists (psychos?) and cults and crazy people!' but maybe the lord was trying to show me that sometimes i was going down the wrong path, and maybe i needed to cut off that old path and grow where i was now planted! which i eventually did but it took a lot of F's in school and other unlike-me behavoirs, hanging out with the 'wrong crowd', etc.

hmmm.... something to ponder i guess? have any of you had crazy dreams that you think might have meant something, or do you thing dreams are nothing, just random thougts flying across your head? thats what i have always thought, but maybe not..... :)

The first day of the rest of my life...

2009-01-29T14:05:00.003-05:00

...being energy conscious! Haha... like every day, today is the first day of the rest of my life.... but today is different because I woke up with all sorts of ambition to lower our $300 electric bill! Allright our house is less than 1000 square feet, fairly open floor plan, and there is no way in the WORLD we can afford or have the desire to use 300 bucks worth of electric each month! So today I am doing/ have done the following:

1. Hung up all shirts, pants, etc. right out of the washer, on the shower curtain rod, and rather than drying 4 loads of laundy, am only drying 1 load. I threw all the socks and little stuff in the dryer, and when this next load is done, i'll start it drying! So maybe that'll save a few bucks...

2. Wrote 'twirly light bulbs' on the grocery list. We're going to town tomorrow, and when we get home we are IMMEDIATLY going to replace all those that we haven't allready. When I looked at the money savings on daddymorebucks.com and realized taht we could save something like 30 bucks a month if we replaced all our regular bulbs with twirly bulbs, I decided that this whole 'replacing one as it goes out' thing isn't cutting it. It is well worth the money just to buy the swirly bulbs now and replace them NOW.

3. Cleaned out the deep freeze! I realized that there wasn'ta lot in it, a turkey, 4 chickens, and a couple boxes of those ice pops that don't have to be frozen... you know the kind in the plastic that you normally buy thawed and stick them in the freeze when you get home...well anyhow i cleaned out the fridge and freezer inside, reorganized, and fit everything inside! I was gonna cook 2 of those chickens in the next few days anyways, so they can thaw now, and voila! Unplugged the deep freeze until further notice, probably for a month or so at least!

4. Washed all the laundry on cold except for the sheets! There are some things that aren't that dirty, and i am a compulsive 'wash everything on hot as heckaholic' but you know what? Lots of people wash their laundry in cold water, and by golly, i could do some of mine in cold water too!

5. There was somethiing else.... Oh yeah! I put a candle going in the bathroom, which solved a couple problems... 1 being that i turn the light on every time i go in there, and the other... it makes it smell WONDERFUL and also TAKES OFF THE CHILL! I never knew a big old candle could produce a noticeable amount of heat! But we have no direct heat source in there so this helps!!

6. Unplugged the toaster oven... A friend reminded me this morning that even though it's off, it could still suck some energy... I debated doing the same with the micro, but i like having a clock there but... we'll see. maybe i'll unplug that too.

Any other ideas on things to do to save? Let me know please!!! :) I'm desperate! And NO i will not open all the curtains to let light in because that is helping keep the heat in...So the living room gets sheers and our room gets these heavy dark drapes that i am not opening for fear of losing more precious heat!!!

A long slightly discouraging weekend....

2009-01-25T19:40:00.003-05:00

...lots of things went wrong... lack of sleep... arguments... it was a long weekend. i am discouraged about a few things but trying to keep my head up! pray. :)

thanks
Manda

Chloe and I's conversation this morning

2009-01-16T10:34:00.002-05:00

Chloe: MA! MA! MA! Ma! Mom! Mom! Mom! Moooooommmmmm!!!!!!!

Me: Chloe! Hold on darling! Okay, whats up?

C: Here! (Hands me toy french fries)

M: Oh thank you sweet heart! Are you ready to go see grandpa for the weekend?

C: Papa! Papa!!! papa!!!!

M: Okay, what do you want to bring? Elmo? Baby?

C: Elmo!!

M: Okay, go get him!!

And she runs off to get him... that kid is so stinkin smart!

tuesday, may 1st, 2007

2009-01-15T16:59:00.003-05:00

what was i doing on that day? looking through an old blog, here's a post i posted....

"there is a mouse.

THERE IS A MOUSE.
THERE IS A MOUSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it steals hershey kisses off my nightstand. well jer's nightstand. then my nightstand, cuz we kinda switched sides of the bed, well switched back, but we left our stuff, which is really each others stuff, there. we can't decide.

it wakes me up, and i hear it, and i turn on the light and try to catch it, but i am obviously 7 months pregnant and can't get a freaking mouse.

so gross.

it left a kiss there the other day, it had opened it and ate halfway through it. there were little claw marks, and it reminded me of something. i can't remember what now.

we dont' know what the kid is yet. we just know that it likes to kick at the most unoppurtune times, and it gets hungry at the weirdest times. its a kicker, all right, and no gary it is not a soccer player, we don't do that around here. unless its a girl. but it kicks like a boy. little sucker.

i can't wait for it to come out.

pam, the lady who owns the tanning salon in tustin, right? she has me all freaked out. she said its coming way earlier than the doctors say.

i have 3 due dates at this point, june 29, july 7, and july 18th.

take your pick, kiddo.

aunt nese and krystin are making a baby shower. it will be fun. if you want to come, let me or them know.

i miss my daddy.

i am slightly overwhelmed. this is my first day as 'branch manager' for the one company and 'office manager' for the other. what a joke. i feel so underqualified and overwhelmed. its not so bad though, really. i just have a todo list a mile long, and am slightly stressed due to a 6-oclock in houghton lake that im not sure what do to about.

it will all work out in the end...

so life... lately=lonely. i hope some of my friends are coming home for the summer. i miss em... and alyssa.... and jess.... and owen... they are fun people. jess is having a baby too. she's nuts.... i wouldn't have done this by choice, i don't think, but i am getting used to the whole thing.

i miss other people too, but they won't be here this summer, cuz they can't be, or they live to far away....

slowly but surely, taking one day at a time, and everything as it's thrown in my face..."

what that blog doesn't say, is that the next night, i set a trap on my nightstand before i went to bed. i woke up in the middle of the night, 7 months pregnant mind you, with my hubby working 3rd shift, to hear a scratching noise... the mouse, with only its arm caught, and falled off the back of the nightstand, with the trap caught between the nightstand and the wall, and he was dangling by his arm, kicking and scratching. SO SO SO GROSS!!! i proceeded to.... 7 months pregnant, mind you.... haul the nightstand away, at which point he ran around dragging the trap, find a box to trap him in, and scoop him into the box and set it on the porch. he was still alive when jer got home. i didn't know how to kill a mouse! SICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

okay... how crazy is that? look at my life now! how life has changed miraculously!!! i was so depressed and huge and infested with mice... ugh! now my house is spotless!!!! at least for today.... :) and i am... much less depressed!!!! thanks for reading an old blog!

Works For Me Wednesday: Powertoys image resizer for XP

2009-01-07T16:09:00.005-05:00

I've never done this before, but i finally found a wfmw tip to share, ON a wednesday! no WAY right??

Okay, seriously, easiest to use, best resizer ever.... this totally integrates itself into windows, so if you want to resize a picture quick and easy, you simply right click, click 'resize pictures' and click a preset resize or go to advanced settings to do your own, click okay, and thats it! it is AMAZING!!!!!!

click here to download it straight from microsoft, scroll down and on the right under 'doanloads' it will say 'image resizer' and it is... uh-maze-ing and the easiest thing to use!!! and it automatically saves a COPY rather than rewrinting, in the same folder! awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it also works for batch resizing!

To see more awesome WFMW tips, click here to visit rocks in my dryer's page on the wednesday tradition.

Hope this helps someone!

why on earth?

2009-01-06T12:41:00.002-05:00

do certain brands of socks come in a 'resealable bag!'?!?!
do they think we put our socks back in there after we wear them?
have they never heard of dressers?
is it a freezer bag, that we're supposed to reuse??
jeremy needed new socks. poor guys been wearing mine for too long. and then i run out and i'm not impressed. so he buys a package, i noticed it on the counter this morning.... i wonder if he noticed the nifty worthless little ziplock bag they came in. weird.....

Our christmas vacation in pictures...

2009-01-05T16:34:00.004-05:00

Chloe's new fridge magnets- which she ADORES!!!

Chloe and Daddy opening Christmas presents from Grandpa

Uncle Jeffy with his soon to be kiddo!

Baby cousin!

Getting into Grandma's cupboards!

Playing texas hold'em at Buffalo Wild Wings

This is a Chloe who doesn't want to share, and wants to take away everyone else's toys!

Thank you!

Daddy and his big brother(r) and little brother(L)

Chloe and Cousin!

Mommy almost ruining the christmas for the kiddos, right after she pulled chris's beard down and said, "look chloe, its okay, its just chris!" mommy never even believed in a santa when she was little, she was too logical, and forgets sometimes that other kiddos do! :( oopsie!

Pound it! Chloe and Grampa!

Touchdown! I love watching the bears game at Grandpa's!

Elmo waking up Chloe

wow mommy! you really got me a life size elmo to wake me up from my nap?!?!?!

Cheese!

Chloe and Grampa

Chloe and Grandpa- mommy, i thought we came to visit the other grandparents! i can see these ones anytime!!!

ugh- a terrible picture of mommy and daddy- this is why i do curves!

Chloe and uncle jordan

It was much, much, much better than last year. Much. It was very enjoyable and our car problems were minimal.

This time of year...

2009-01-04T18:58:00.001-05:00

...gets to me. It's stressing, beings that it is after christmas and after being gone, and also depressing, cuz the snow and icy roads and dull dark skies and cruddy weather. I'm trying to get the house back in order, and then i'll get pictures from christmas time up... i should just do it and say screw the house, but.... not yet. i have hope, but i am wearing myself out........!!!!!!!

Home at last!!!!!!!!!!

2008-12-29T01:34:00.003-05:00

To our icy roads and freezing cold home... but you know what? When i walked in, it was so light and bright and cheery and clean that i knew all that busting my butt to get it 'ready to leave clean' was totally worth it! Not the 'all the messes are cleaned up' sort of clean, but the 'all the laundry is done and the dishes are done and the floors are cleaned' type of clean. lovely! now if only jeremy could find his new wii game and quit bugging the squat out of me it'd all be good!!!! pictures to come soon..... :)

By the time i finished that last blog...

2008-12-16T15:18:00.001-05:00

....this is what chloe had done.

she's an adorable little monster though!

really. 2 apples, halfway around each. And it only took, like, 5 minutes! I think i'll quit cutting them up so nicely and just let her fend for herself! Maybe then we can skip toothbrushing time! (lol kidding, just trying to make aunt nese roll her eyes at me) :)

Iced Shortbread Thumbprints.... and other stuff.

2008-12-16T15:02:00.002-05:00

....Sounds so fancy schmancy and technical, doesn't it? Well, it's not. These are by far the EASIEST cookies i have ever made! I don't know where they've been all my life!!!!!!!!

Okay, so i started typing this and then noticed it was getting very quiet in the kitching where chloe was playing at the counter in her cooking stand thingy we made her. I went to take a looksie and she had somehow reached the far end of the counter and plucked off 2 cookies, which she licked all the jam out of, and gotten the whole bag of apples off the counter and started knawing her way through one. or is that nawing? my spell checks not going off on either word. whatever. haha.

Here's chloe mushing the first one around in her hands once she licked all the jam out.

And the handy little christmas decorated paper plate full, BEFORE she snatched the lower left two off of it!!!!!!!!!! :)

So anyways, mommy helped chloe presss her tiny little thumb into each and every one of these!! I so wish i could have gotten pictures of that, but being the photographer and head chef doesn't work out so well. But man are they delicious with the freezer jam we made last week!!!

Go on over to short stop's christmas cookie number 5 blog to see the recipe!

On another note... combatting Jeremy's eternal begging to know the identity of his christmas presents is... challenging. But i got a new idea! All his questions, I answer with a question!

"Is this one a shirt?"
"Do you think it's a shirt, honey?"

"Why won't you tell me what you got me?!"
"Well, why would i want to tell you your presents, sweetheart?"

"Here chloe, open daddy's present"
"Daddy, do you want a spanking?????"

And i say it all in this sickeningly sweet voice that drives him nuts and gets him off my back, he caught on very quick that the whole "knowing all your presents before you get them" tradition is going OUT THE DOOR!

2008-12-14T20:32:00.002-05:00

So busy lately preparing for illinois... We are all excited and worried at the same time, but i know we have to let go and let god! last years trip had so many problems.... mostly with our car... a tire got a huge ouchie in it and needed total replacement, a watts linkage arm went out, it really sucked... so we couldn't see the people we wanted to see around town... but this year will be different i am sure... family is our priority and we are trying not to make too many plans so it is a relaxed trip! the only plans we have so far is church with grampa on sunday and christmas with family on christmas eve and christmas day. i just hope and pray that our car will make it!

but our problems are minor compared to so many lately... a young friend who may be incarcerated... a friend who's grandpa is slowly dying at home... a friend with pregnancy complications... a friend without a job... well many of those really, and family as well... i just keep trying to remind myself to let those praises and petitions shape my worries into prayers!! help me jesus!!!

A long tomorrow....

2008-12-01T22:48:00.002-05:00

Since today was a terrible snow day for all area schools, we didn't go to curves today... So we're doing that tomorrow! And i totally forgot i was supposed to watch ayden tomorrow! but mom has graciously agreed to watch both kiddos while i'm at curves, which is so sweet of her and i'm sure will be fine, he's a good kiddo, and they play good together....

So here's the laundry that needs to be folded tomorrow....

which is now on in a huge pile on the floor, because hubby and baby are asleep, and has gotten much bigger since that picture was taken this morning, as i've done laundry all DAY!!

Here's the laundry, piled in the bathtub for lack of space, that i started with this morning... it's almost down to the top of the tub today... isn't that sick??

So it will be a long day tomorrow... but you know what? I don't even care. There's more to life and we've had a great weekend and past few weeks!!!!!

The last week, in pictures...

2008-12-01T22:38:00.002-05:00

Chloe learns something new every day... its just crazy! Here is she being a stinker at mom's house this weekend... all red faced and toasty....

And daddy has been feeding her chocolate! I about beat him!

And this is where i found her after saying goodbye to mom and dad last weekend... they came to our house for once, which was an awesome change! We watched a great movie, the Ultimate Gift, which everyone but me and dad had seen allready... well anyways I found her up on the table getting into the rice crispie treats....

And little noogen feeding daddio some burnt fisher's chips, thanks to teri!! :)

Our newly painted bedroom! Oh it's so much nicer and brighter than the dark brown! I put up with it for two years, it was my dream decor, but little houses should not be dark colors! i feel like everything's closing in on me, but its so nice and bright now! and in the painting process, our big cherry sleigh bed broke... anyone have any cool ideas with what to build out of it??? I'm thinking a funky bookshelf!!!!

Well there's our last week in pictures... hope you enjoy!:)

Guitar Praise= awesome and some other stuff

2008-12-01T22:33:00.003-05:00

So, for anyone out there looking for a Christian alternative to guitar hero, i present to you.... Guitar Praise! It is an awesome PC based version of guitar hero... and at a great price at this site! It's on sale for 79.99 right now, which is totally comparable to guitar hero prices, and free shipping no less! And because it's for a PC, you don't have to have to buy a wii or xbox or ps to play it on! Also... you can take it on road trips with a laptop!! the controller is a wireless usb controller and powered by 4 double a's... and you can buy more guitars! I am so excited about this for our youth group... oh yeah AND to make things THAT MUCH GREATER, it totally plays the words on the other half of the screen while one person is playing, so you can sing-along to it!!!!!!! and others can!!!!!!! totally sa-weet! :) glad i found this before my kiddo is old enough to beg! oh yeah and the songs are awesome, skillet and hawk nelson and stellar kart and all kinds of awesome bands!!!!!!!!! yay!!!!!

100 things I love about every day

2008-11-27T11:17:00.003-05:00

1. Wake up with a smiling baby crawling all over me, smiling, wacking me and saying "mom! mom! mom! mom!" in that adorable repetition that's only adorable when she says it!
2. Get a goodbye kiss from Jeremy while I'm still totally asleep.
3. That point in the day when Chloe gets sleepy and wants to cuddle with me until she falls asleep while playing with my face, hands, hair, glasses, whatever.
4. That when I am getting Chloe dressed she always thinks we're going 'bye bye' and if we're not she gets upset and wacks the door and tries to open it until we at least go outside and she says 'bye bye! go! bye bye! bye bye!' until she gets her way...
5. The fact that there is an amazing park 5 blocks away that we can go to any day we want.
6. Getting ready and around for the day, whether its bath time or whatever, and Chloe learning something new almost every day
7. Getting texts from Jeremy asking what I'm up to and how Chloe is doing
8. Sharing my breakfast with Chloe, and her sharing with the puppy or yelling "no! no! no! go!" if she's not in the mood to share and puppy wants her to
9. Nap Time! I've had all this fun and finally i can get something done!
10. All the other things i can't think of right now but I will add to this list later, 10 at a time....

I'm joining too!

2008-11-26T18:55:00.002-05:00

Read Tereza's blog today and knew I had to... click here to see what I'm joining and here to see where she got the idea. I'll probably get to this sometime early next week... I'm excited and I hope you're excited to see all the things our family loves doing each day! We'll basically make a list of 100 things that we love doing each day, or that make us happy. Join the fun!

Got through another season of layoffs!

2008-11-25T17:21:00.002-05:00

Jeremy got through another season of layoffs! They've been laying off people for a month or so now and we were getting very worried, as they laid off people who had been there longer than him, moved people to second shift, and otherwise turned the shop upside down. However, he was informed today officially that he won't be getting laid off! He is now a 'float' between his machines and a couple machines of people who got laid off/moved to second shift, they are really downsizing on employees right now... but praise God!! we made it through!!

wow

2008-11-21T23:25:00.002-05:00

really. you DID just see that.

Baking with daddy

2008-11-21T21:12:00.001-05:00

Daddy got a craving.

Why are you yelling at daddy? I like standing up here!

Dancing up here is so fun!!!Look at those puppies on TV over there!

Notice my cute new border above her head?

You KNOW that's the cutest little kid ya ever saw!

The puppy can't come help??

OOOOO Daddy I like how it spins!!!

Can I eat it yet???

Wow!!!

I'm not tall enough daddy!

Yes, I know, there are basketfuls of laundry on the dining table, but really, who can fold clothes when you've got one of these to play with?!?!?!? She never ceases to amaze me.... and this next post is gonna blow your mind....

I got a virus!!

2008-11-20T12:14:00.002-05:00

When i was checking my bulk mail today (sometimes good mail from friends goes in there for some reason) I got a "hallmark postcard" and it was a virus! luckily yahoo detected it, but man.... who knows whats going around these days... so if you get one of those i wouldn't recommend opening it!!!

Added anonymous commenting

2008-11-20T10:10:00.002-05:00

So... I figured out that you can have 'anonymous' comments on your blog, so people don't have to create an account just to comment! This should work out good for a lot of family who doesn't have time or doesn't want to create an account- Just please let me know who you are since it won't say, and leave me lots of comments! I love comments! :)

So... today Chloe shut her eyes to walk under the shower. That is huge! It tells me she realizes that closing her eyes will keep water out of them, and that walking into the running shower from the other half of the bathtub merits the occasion to shut her eyes!~! Too cute! And the day before she learned "yes" and to vigorously nod her head up and down while she says it... also adorable! AND last night she learned how to climb onto the dining room chairs. Not that we have a dining room, but those chairs as opposed to the living room chairs which she can allready climb onto easily... But she saw mommy drag a chair across the house to get into the top of a closet and she promptly copied me, stepping first on the bottom rung and then pulling herself up. Nothing is sacred anymore!!!!!!!!!!!

day 2 of curves....

2008-11-19T12:25:00.001-05:00

was great! Their workout system is just awesome, It's designed to work out the whole body, all muscle groups, at the right times, with the right amount of rest... it's just great! lovin it so far!

My dad in a nutshell

2008-11-17T14:42:00.002-05:00

This weekend we were at mom and dad's, and dad was having a half joking conversation with one of my sister's about their recent choices in friends of the opposite sex that they were getting rather close to.

He said to her, "you better not be settling! you know what happens when you settle?? this! (points back with both hands to himself)"
I, always loving a joke and picking on people, followed up with, "yeah, and THIS (pointing to dad) doesn't communicate all that great! And, won't bring home roses for no reason!!"
Dad interrupts the end of my sentence, interjecting with, "wait, wait now... I will buy your mom A MILLION roses.... as long as we can plant them in the yard and sell them for at least twice what I paid for them."

Those of you who know my dad are cracking up right now, cuz you know that's my dad in a nutshell right there.

Good times with the family :)

Anyone wanna join us for breakfast??

2008-11-13T12:06:00.003-05:00

An organic easy and delicious breakfast-

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

boil water, add oatmeal, stir, add cinnamon, brown sugar, and chunky applesauce, stir and let sit, cooking on low low low for about 5 more minutes, yummmm delicious easy breakfast for baby and me!!!!!!

Chloe's Christmas Wish List

2008-11-12T15:01:00.004-05:00

i have totally gotten nothing done today. it's been a long day. but i'm over it...

anyways, Chloe has been more and more into really playing with toys how they're INTENDED to be played with lately, and not just chewing on them! So here are a few things that she's loved to play with at others houses, or the library, that would *hint*hint*hint* be GREAT christmas gift ideas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

1. Winnie the Pooh's Balloon Book- this thing is AMAZING! there are 10 plastic "balloons" attatched on ribbon to the spine of the book, very securely i might add, they are non-tear-out-able, and you put them in little holes throughout the book. Too neat! She loves this at the library!!!

2. Any books with touchy feely fuzzy stuff in them- she loves to 'pet it nice' and repeats the word 'nice, nice, nice!' it is so stinkin cute!

3. Any books with lift up flaps - we saw the lift up flap bible storybook at the library today, and she gets such a kick out of it!!!

4. The Jesus Storybook Bible- I would LOVE to have this to read to her and will vow(thats how bad i would like it for her, vows are a big deal to me!) to read it to her every night before she goes to bed when it is in my power to do so!!! I have heard great things about it, and that kids actually love to read it and the parents enjoy it as well!

5. Any of the below leap frog game/learning things! She loves the alphabet one at a friends house, but i'm sure she would love any of them! They are all magnetic, stick to the fridge, (did anyone notice i cleaned my fridge off last week??) and would help keep her occupied while i'm working in the kitchen! also, they are an enclosed system, so there are no magnets showing, so they can't fall off, which worries the crap out of me, cuz if they swallow two, a kid can die, cuz they tangle in their intestines!!!!!! i know its sick!

6. Clothes for next year!! Size 2t and up!!!! She's got a lot of shoes, but could use a pair of cute winter boots, size 5 or 6!!

7. Kitchen stuff for her little tikes kitchen! She has the kitchen but no play food, pots and pans, or anything like that!!

8. A Dolly! Again, she has a dolly crib and stuff but no dolly to put in it!

And for those of you who don't know, we are into recycling, reusing, conserving, whatever... so "used but not used up" gifts, such as from abc consignment or goodwill or wherever, would be GREAT!!!!

As we speak the little stinker just woke up from her nap, she's rocking on her rocking horse staring at the tv.... reminds me of someone... oh yeah her daddy! lol kidding but she is watching rugrats, she loves rugrats, veggie tales, and 3-2-1 Penguins lately.... oops there's another idea haha... i'll try not to come up with anymore!

Thanks for tuning in!

A fresh start and a fresh snow...

2008-11-11T16:43:00.002-05:00

So... I am starting Curves!!!!!!!!! ahhh i am so excited, And i have tons of goals in mind.... For those of you who live under a rock (lol kidding sorta) curves is a womens fitness club, designed for 5 day a week, 30 minutes a day workouts. i am goign to have to start out at 3 days a week, primarily because I don't have a car while hubby is at work. But, if i take him to the park and ride 8 miles away at 4 am then he can ride to work with my uncle.... We'll have to see how that works out. Also, because he works 4 days a week, 10 hour days, the car is home on friday!!

So, I am going with 3 other ladies from church, we will carpool down there... the first two months will be free! Which is so huge right now, we're saving, and it looks like jer's shop will shut down for 2 weeks in december, so no pay there...they might let them use a few vacation days from next year... but anywas then after the 2 months it will be 34 a month, sometimes they have specials and coupons... i know it's kinda a lot but honestly i feel like no price is too high if it will help me lose weight.those of you who know me know me know that i have struggled trying to lose weight pretty much since i was 14 or so, and that i had heart failure and my thyroid is a goiter and all these other little things that have prevented me from or gotten in the way of losing weight... but now it is just getting it done with chloe, its that time of year where some days its too too cold to walk, it aggravates my asthma and i'm afraid chloe is chilly even when she's bundled up. sometimes we do workout videos but i need an accountability partner, or system, or something and i think this will really work for me!!

So i am super excited, I hope you all are too, and I am letting everyone know- so don't offer me junk food or pass along any chocolate recipes!!! :)

So by the end of the year, I would like to lose at least 10 pounds. That is a little over a pound a week, and we start next tuesday. Then by the end of next may, I want to have lost at least 20 more pounds, and by the next year, I need to have lost 30 more pounds, which will have me down a total of 60 pounds, and i will be at what i think is my ideal healthy weight. we will see though.... That might change, depending on how i am doing health wise at the time, and what the doctor says. I was doing good exercising until recently.... its just getting harder and harder, which i expected, so i am making myself do it.... well pray for me please!!!!!

And its snowing.... it took long enough, we had snow weeks ago last year, but i'm allready sick of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!