What I love about Halloween

I love dressing up my little man.

He always wants to be a Hero.

and he lets me make his costume.

He also has some really fun friends.

Who have really cute little sisters! ( Who don't like Halloween )

and he's buddies with Rocky.

Happy Halloween!

Change

I have a natural tendency to avoid change. At least any change that affects my emotional life. I don't mind changing up a room or my outfit. But if you ask me to step outside of my box ...WHOA!.... not gonna happen. At least not by choice.

Well you know Gods kinda funny about things you don't like to do. HE MAKES YOU DO IT ANYWAY.

When my husband and I first got married I was the girl that had a day planner for her day planner.

I now go day by day and change my plans half way through.

I like having my husband home every night for supper.

His new position now requires him to work till 9pm.

I needed to work full time to feel like I was contributing to the family.

I'm now a stay at home mommy. ( which I love )

This newest change with my husbands job is going to take lots of prayer and patience. We are taking each day hour by hour to try and see what works best for us. My children do not like having their daddy away at night but they are handling it well. I think in some ways they may be taking it better than I am.

I am grateful for my life, family, home and my husband.

Each day will bring me a new adventure and I plan on meeting it with a smile.

I AM.

This was the title of our youth group lesson tonight. We covered all the "I AM's" in the bible and then we discussed our own "I AM's".

I AM a

mother

wife

sister

daughter

boo boo kisser

cook

helpmate

homemaker

friend

babysitter

teacher

My list could go on and on.

We discussed different "I AM" statements that we make everyday. It never fails to amaze me that answers you will get from a group of teenagers. We need to remember that Jesus always said his "I AM's" with the complete knowledge that he was God's son. But do we always have the complete knowledge to hold up our "I AM" statements? That is my agenda this week to listen for the "I AM's" from God.

Anger to Love

It's been a rough 24 hours. This morning when I opened my email this was what was waiting for me. Do not fear or be discouraged. Deuteronomy 1:21b Yesterday I had to teach my 7 year old a tough lesson in standing up for what is right even when it frightens you. Honestly I wish we had been able to avoid it all together. I had dropped off my daughter at the doctors office to have her foot rechecked. While she was doing this I took my little man across the street to play at the park. There were 6 junior high boys at the park when we got there. This should not have been a problem but unfortunately their choice of vocabulary soon made it a huge problem. I asked them politely twice to refrane from using such bad language with little children around. After the second time they proceded to just start calling me names that I won't repeat. The third time I just flat out demanded they stop. They didn't. It just amazed me. I ended up having our town cop come and make them leave. It was a horrible experience for me and for my little man. What amazed me the most was that most of the kids didn't care. Only one of them went home and told their father. Mind you I knew all of their parents. That one young man came back with his father and the father made him apologize for being with that group. This young man was not one of them that was using foul language in fact he tried to get them to apologize to me. I was very impressed with him and his father. I have to say I spent most of my night thinking about how it played out. Most of these boys are growing up in a home without any love or compassion. Much less responsibility. It breaks my heart. Nothing is expected of them so they have no expectations for themselves. It is easy to love the loveable but so much harder to love the ones who hate. That is what these children have been taught. To just hate the world and take what you want for yourself. I found myself praying for them. Praying that my God would heal them. To mend their broken spirits. I had made a comment to the police about their behavior and all he had to say was that they were his " Job Security ". It just made me sick to my stomach. My heart cried for these children. I'm still praying for an answer to this. I know my God is a big God who can handle all things. I just pray that he will heal these boys and help them through this trial in life.

Making time

I've spent the last few weeks running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Being disorganized is not good for me or the rest of my family. The more organized I manage to stay the more sane I manage to be.

I finally reworked my dayplannermommyorganizersanitysaver to work better with the flow of our family. Sometimes I need more flexibility. Sometimes not. I have a hard time finding the happy middle ground without some help from notes.

My planner consist of a sheet with regular everday chores. Sheets with morning, afternoon and evening todo's. Also I have a daily appointments sheet. It helps me to break things down for different times of day. I know if I don't get the chores done before 11am they won't get done. Phone calls and appointments work better in the afternoon.

I love having a fairly smooth running household so that I can spend more time with my husband and children. Which is the whole point of having a home.

Momma bought herself some new summer clothes!!

Yep. I did it. Bought myself some new summer clothes. Haven't bought myself any in 3 years. I also lost 24lbs which made this necessary.

It always amazes me how I can easily pick out clothing for others put finding things for myself is such a challenge. I'm what I like to refer to as a well insulated person. LOL. So finding nice looking plus size clothing that doesn't look like a cloth sack hanging on me is an issue. I'm not only well insulated. I'm also vertically challenged. So most plus size clothing that I try on is way too long on me. I am happy to say that I was able to find some nice choices today though. Here are a few that I purchased.

This polo is from Sears. Yep, I was surprised to. At 9.98 each it was a steal!

These fit great. Just enough give in them to be comfortable. These were at sears also for $19.99.

Fell in love with this necklace from http://www.francescascollections.com/product/ocean+shells+necklace.do?sortby=ourPicks#

Hopefully the next shopping trip will be for more jewelry!

Soapbox

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr...................

OK. First off I would like to state I do love animals. I have a house cat of my own. Second I do NOT love animals relieving themselves in my yard. This makes me quite cranky. It really drives me nuts when the owner stands there and watches the animal do it's business!!!! Then I get harassed for yelling at the dog to get off my lawn. Seems I hurt the owners feelings. Seriously people get a grip.

Just had to get that off my chest.

No Power and Mount Washme

What a crazy week we had. The storms knocked out our power for 3 days.

I was surprised that the things I missed the most were my washing machine and being able to read at night.

We were very fortunate that nothing on our home was tore up. The neighbors were not so lucky. So many had trees blown over in their lawns and on top of their house's. Alot of the older homes suffered damage from winds and downed trees.

At least now I can get caught up with Mount Washme as I love to call it. I think it was breeding in the dark.

Vacation or Lack of

We seem to be in more of a lacking mode lately. My hubby took two days of vacation just so he could crawl under our house and level our floors. Not what I call a great time. Fortunately it wasn't me under there.

Now that the floors are some what level we will have to learn how to walk again. It had gotten to the point if something spilled you just waited 5 minutes and let it settle on the low side of the kitchen. Sad but true. Now I may have a chance to catch the spill before it runs all the way across the room.

While the love of my life was doing the Army crawl under the house and slaving away. I felt like I should cary my own weight and slave away also. So I worked on this.

It didn't matter how many hours I had to slave away on this I knew it would be worth it.  Whatever! Took me l0 minutes. Ha Ha.

Now I can tell the hubby we both worked hard today. Think he'll believe me?

Owner of the Ugly Shoe

Yep, that would be me.

I've been working on getting ready for a 5k. Wearing the same walking shoes that I've had for the past 3 years. I definately feel like I got my monies worth.

Lately I've noticed that by mile 2 my knees and heels were killing me. Not good if your trying for 3.1 miles. So this weekend I finally bite the bullet and pulled out the wallet for these beauties.

I would love to say these are beauties and that I got them for a steal. THEIR NOT and THEY WERE NOT CHEAP. But they do the job great!

I have flat feet. Which means my feet like to turn in as I walk. Not good for the old knees. These keep my feet from rolling in. Now to get back to training. Can't wait to go for a good walk in the morning.

Changing

For the past 4 years I've focused on being a stay at home mommy. I've loved every minute of it. Due to the economy it seems it's time for a change.

So I've started doing day care in my home. I know not a huge change from what I was doing before. LOL. I had forgotten how nice it was to get a paycheck. I love the fact I get to stay at home and still bring in money for the extra's.

Hopefully this will improve our situation. We are lucky that my husbands income covers all of our bills. It's the extra's that were costing us more each month. For some reason the kids think it's fun to outgrow all of their cloths on a monthly basis. At least it sure seems like it. That and momma has gotten the letsfixitpaintitredoit fever.

Now to enjoy this beautiful day.

Thinking of Summer

I'm really missing the sunshine this morning. Instead I'm looking at snow. Southern Illinois weather never fails to amaze me. These are some of the things I'm dreaming of today.

or maybe one like this

could you imagine being a little boy with this one

Who wants to give me a million dollars? LOL.

So if I'm gonna dream I'm gonna dream BIG! Here's to dreaming about summer in the middle of snow.

Day with the boys.

It's not often I get to have a day out with my boy. Usually we all take off together. Nikki was gone on an overnight field trip. This gave me the perfect time to take off with Zane and a friend of his.

Let me explain that this trip was a reward for potty training. Many months late in coming! Armond belongs to a friend of mine. He is a wonderful child.

 He is also a child with Hunter's Syndrome ( No he doesn't chase after deer LOL). This puts him behind developmentaly. So as a reward for completing potty training I took him and Zane for a day at Gatti Town.

Needless to say they had a great time and I learned how much fun it is to have a day with boys!

Their easy to feed.

They will make you laugh like crazy.

and their even easier to please at Toys R Us!

Thank God for little boys!!

Oh' Happy Day!!

What a great weekend. I just love when Zack comes home for a visit.

Although the staying up too late catches up with me. I love the laughter and joy we share when he's home. Now I love the other two just as much. LOL. They would probably say different. Your home just feels different when all of your children are home. They bring the house to life.

I enjoyed the great weather this weekend. Being able to open the windows and enjoy a nice breeze was just heaven. The boys were able to go out and hit some golf balls and I got in a very nice walk. Nikki spent most of the weekend running with friends. I love Spring but I'm not ready for the Summer heat.

I'll be taking pictures for a special gift today. Wish me luck.

SUPPORT

I've been thinking alot lately about what it means to support the ones you love. I have a cousin in Japan who I love dearly. Luckily they are on a military base. Those of us who are state-side have been filled with fear and frustration watching the news since the massive earthquake hit. Even though we know they will be fine we still worry.

Today she posted that they(spouses and children) are being given the option to leave. She hasn't made up her mind yet and wants to have more information before they make a decision. My heart is torn on this one. One side screams "COME HOME!". The other understands that as a military spouse she knew what she was signing up for and that she wants to stay with her husband. She would never put her family any danger.

No matter what my thoughts are, my desire is to support her.

So today I think about how I can support my loved ones. To help them live their lives to the best of their abilities. Some times the decision is easy and others times I struggle. I know when I need support those who love me are always there.

So today open your hearts and minds and support the ones you love. Even if you don't agree.

Let it Shine! Let it Shine! Let it Shine!

What loveliness. Pure bliss to have sunshine. It's amazing what the sun can do for the soul.

Spent this morning delivering a Chocolate Coffee Cake to a dear friend of mine. She got to turn another year older. Hee Hee. I won't tell her age.

Both of the kids got out of school at 1:15 today so we went for a nice walk to the park. Managed to get another mile in today. I can't seem to break that 2 mile barrier. I'm working on getting ready for our 4th of July 5k. I've managed to lose 15lbs in the past 9 weeks. Not exactly breaking a world record but definitely making progress.

Well here's to some more days in the sun.

Long Overdue!!

I hate to even admit that it has been 5 months since my last haircut. Things were looking pretty shaggy around here.

This is how I looked this morning.

Yep, boring, unkept, completely stay-at-home-mom grunge.

This is what happens when you take 30 minutes for yourself.

Yes, I set an appointment for myself in 5 weeks just so I'll remember to cut my hair.

Freebie from Aveda on your Birthday!

This could make for a great freebie. I love getting things for my birthday.



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Tsunami at Home!

What a weekend. Spent most of it waiting to hear from my cousin Brandi in Japan. Northern Japan! Luckily she is on a navy base. We finally received work from her last night. It is complete devistation.

It reminds me of just how lucky and fortunate I am to have a safe home.

Now that we've survived that Tsunami lets get through the one at home. I have a pet peeve. In fact it's a very large pet peeve. DO NOT BRING CELL PHONES TO CHURCH!!! Yep, drives me nuts. So who was this horrid offender? None other than my own daughter.

Oh the shame!

She now gets to survive phoneless and internetless. Such good parenting skills. You would never guess we were youth leaders.

Some days I get it right. Other days not so right. At the end of the day I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Looking for a purpose.

It always amazes me how I can just be humming along and then.... WHAM!  Once again here I am moving my life in a different direction. I've been very content just being a stay-at-home mommy for the last 4 years. I'm still very happy being at home, but it feels like something is missing. It's time for a change. I've always enjoyed an adventure, looks like I'm going to get one!

This will be my story.

Each time I think I've got it figured it out God likes to show me just how wrong I am. LOL. Good thing He gave me a great sense of humor.