Family

Finally found some time to sit at the computer, check some blogs and update my own! I've been wanting to do this post all week but you've gotta love spring break!

So, we had a very nice weekend. My aunt(mom's sister) celebrated her 60th birthday. In honor of the occasion, both of my uncles flew in to be here. My uncle Bill and his wife came from California and my uncle Michael came from Texas. It was our own little family reunion. It was great for my mom to be with all of her siblings again.

It got me thinking about family. How different each person in a family can be and yet in so many ways they are one. Over the years my mom and her brothers and sister have lived in different places and gone through different life changes and yet they are still bound together, sharing memories and love. It made me so grateful to have family, immediate and extended. It was great to sit around and reminisce, pull out old pictures, talk about who looks like who. It was a very wonderful weekend.

I feel blessed to have the family that I do, with all our flaws. The Lord puts our families together, knowing just the right blend for each!

Creative Adventure

I'm a little behind in posting about this particular subject since my friends here have already posted on this!

Last week one of my friends called me and told me she had a little business proposition for me. She is one of the friends that I scrapbook with and hang out with here! She is a great person and ultra creative. Anyway, she was asked to lead a creative design team at one of the scrapbook stores here in Boise. She called me and asked if I would like to be a part of that team.

I have to tell you that I was very flattered and humbled by the fact that she would ask me to be a part of her team. As most of my friends and family know, I've been scrapbooking since Hannah was a year old but I've done it as a hobby because I love it. In recent years the scrapbooking industry has just taken off and I've always felt a little behind in my creative abilities to keep up with all the great new stuff.....I like to call it "embellishment challenged!"

Since meeting and becoming friends with this group of gals, I've been able to learn so much from watching them scrapbook. They are all very creative and their layouts are equally unique! I've been able to get over my "fear" of embellishments and just go for it. I've enjoyed all of our nights getting together and scrapbooking and learning.

So when Corinna asked me to consider this I was so excited. There was also the added bonus of making a little money from each layout. Of course I wanted to call Paul and ask him what he thought...................What was I thinking?! He thought that I was talking about a "job" where I would be making tons of money (foolish man!) He supported whatever decision I made but was wondering if this is what I would be doing when I actually went back to work. Nice!

Now this design team is off and running. We got together at my house Friday night to create some layouts. It was a lot of fun. Of course there was fabulous dessert and lots of laughs. I appreciated all the tips I got and was very proud of the 10 layouts I created. I've posted a couple for you to see.

My little girl!

My little girl, Hannah. She would quickly correct me if she heard me say little, "I'm not little anymore Mom, I'm a preteen!" And in fact she is but to me she will always be my little girl.

Hannah turned 12 on Monday. She was 12 on the 12th! Her golden birthday. She's now 1 year away from officially being a teenager. I can't believe it. Where do all the years go? I can still remember the day she was born. After 13 hours of labor there she was, this sweet little thing. She didn't cry, she was so alert in the room, looking around taking everything in. I couldn't imagine loving anything or anyone any more than I loved this little person. I can remember the next morning the nurse told me that she was determined to get a little pink bow in her very small amount of hair. Actually she had no hair, she was bald. But she managed to get three little hairs tied together with pink yarn. I still have that yarn with the little hairs in it when it fell out.

Overall, Hannah has been such an easy child and in many ways a delight! She's growing up into a wonderful young lady and I couldn't be more proud of her. I was able to put together an album for her that she was very proud of(I was actually proud of myself too!) Hannah has showed it to many people and I'm so grateful I was able to make it for her. I've realized that time goes by so fast and I really need to take the time to let my children know how much I love them and how much they mean to me.

Happy Birthday Hannah!

I couldn't love you more or be any more prouder of you

if I tried!

Don't mess with Mom!

DON'T MESS WITH MOM

My son came home from school one day, With a smirk upon his face.

He decided he was smart enough, To put me in my place.

"Guess what I learned in Civics Two, that's taught by Mr. Wright?

It's all about the laws today, The 'Children's Bill of Rights.'

It says I need not clean my room, Don't have to cut my hair

No one can tell me what to think, Or speak, or what to wear.

I have freedom from religion,

And regardless what you say, I don't have to bow my head, And I sure don't have to pray.

I can wear earrings if I want, And pierce my tongue & nose.

I can read & watch just what I like, Get tattoos from head to toe.

And if you ever spank me, I'll charge you with a crime.

I'll back up all my charges, With the marks on my behind.

Don't you ever touch me, My body's only for my use,

Not for your hugs and kisses, that's just more child abuse.

Don't preach about your morals, Like your Mama did to you.

That's nothing more than mind control, And it's illegal too!

Mom, I have these children's rights, So you can't influence me,

Or I'll call Children's Services Division, Better known as C.S.D."

Of course my first instinct was To toss him out the door.

But the chance to teach him a lesson Made me think a little more.

I mulled it over carefully, I couldn't let this go.

A smile crept upon my face, he's messing with a pro.

Next day I took him shopping At the local Goodwill Store.

I told him, "Pick out all you want, there's shirts & pants galore.

I've called and checked with C.S.D. Who said they didn't care

If I bought you K-Mart shoes Instead of those Nike Airs.

I've canceled that appointment To take your driver's test.

The C.S.D. Is unconcerned So I'll decide what's best."

I said "No time to stop and eat, Or pick up stuff to munch.

And tomorrow you can start to learn To make your own sack lunch.

Just save the raging appetite, And wait till dinner time.

We're having liver and onions, A favorite dish of mine."

He asked "Can I please rent a movie, To watch on my VCR?"

"Sorry, but I sold your TV, For new tires on my car.

I also rented out your room, You'll take the couch instead.

The C.S.D. Requires Just a roof over your head.

Your clothing won't be trendy now, I'll choose what we eat.

That allowance that you used to get, Will buy me something neat.

I'm selling off your jet ski, Dirt-bike & roller blades.

Check out the 'Parents Bill of Rights', It's in effect today!

Hey hot shot, are you crying, Why are you on your knees?

Are you asking God to help you out, Instead of C.S.D..?"

How great is this?! Sometimes, I wish I could come back with something this good when my kids are whining about how unfair life is or when my son tells me it's not right for parents to spank their children with kitchen utensils!(i.e. wooden spoon) I suggest you print this out, frame it and hang it someplace your children can see it!

Patience Tester

My Lauren........she has been labeled everything from high maintenance, to strong-willed to "spirited" but I think this shirt I bought for her says it all!

In Lauren's 4 little years of life she certainly has given us a run for our money. I joke with my mom and tell her that if Lauren had been her first grandchild, she would have been her only granchild. This girl knows how to test my patience for sure. She has taken black sharpie down our newly painted hall, she has spilt chrome nail polish on our brand new leather chair. She has cut the cat's fur because, "He told me he wanted a haircut Mommy!" Most recently she swallowed a penny, in bed at 10:30 at night. I know the gray hair I have has only come in the last few years!

These past couple of days Lauren has been sick with the flu. And although no mother likes to see their kids sick, I have to admit it was a little nice with Lauren. She was very docile, just laying on the couch and sleeping. She's now 100% better and back to her normal self, hence the reason mom decided to put this shirt on her today and post about her.

Don't get me wrong, I love this child to death and for all the patience testing she does she has us all wrapped around her little finger. She can make me laugh like nothing else and life is always full of surprises when it comes to Lauren. I know the Lord has big plans for this little girl so the world better watch out!

Pork's Fat Cat

This is my fat cat Peyton! We have had Peyton for almost a
year now. We love this cat. We saved him from the gas
chamber......at least that's what they told us in order to get
us to take him home.

He's been such a great cat. He's more like a dog than a cat. He's not as moody and independent as cats tend to be. He's very social and needs to be wherever you are. He'll jump up and sit on your lap or near you all the time. He talks to us and is always contently purring. We have become very attached to him, so much so that Paul has said that if anything ever happens to him, he's not coming home!

So you can see by the way that Peyton is sitting that he is a very content cat! We took him for his yearly check-up and found out that we need to put our cat on a diet! He's 16 lbs! The vet said he's a large cat but he should only be weighing about 12 lbs. So I'm off to the store to buy Iams Lite. If I can get him down to 15 lbs. in one month I won't have to pay for 2 rounds of hearworm preventitive medicine since right now he would require two at his weight!

He's our fat, happy Garfield kitty!

Sick Piggies!

So I have 2 really sick kids! Hannah and Lauren both have the flu. Lauren started running a fever yesterday and was very lethargic(very unlike Lauren!) She had a fever all night and was in our bed coughing in my ear.....you gotta love that. Today she said her throat hurt a little, like she had a piece of hair in it(I'm guessing that was her way of telling me she had a scratchy throat) I called the doctor to make an appt., thinking for sure she had another bout of strep throat which would make the 4th time in 3 1/2 months. She didn't have strep but the doctor said she did have the flu and prescribed the RX Tamiflu. I had heard of tamiflu but had never been prescribed it. Apparently if you start taking it in the first 72 hours of the onset of flu-like symptoms it is supposed to lessen the severity of your symptoms. So she takes it twice a day for 5 days.

When we got home from the doctor, Hannah was laying on the couch, crying and complaining she didn't feel good. I took her temp and it was 103! Great, now I have 2 kids with the flu. I was able to call the doctor and get a second RX of tamiflu for Hannah. Both girls have been sleeping all evening.

There is nothing worse than when your kids are sick. I haven't seen Lauren this sick in a while. Even when she had strep she wasn't as out of it as she is now and Hannah is just weepy....I had Paul stop at the store on his way home to purchase Sprite, Airborne and Lysol!!!!! Andrew and I have already taken 2 doses of airborne already. Unfortunately that's our limit for today but I certainly don't want to get sick.

Say a prayer that we are all well soon(those of us that are sick) and that those of us that aren't won't be!

I know I will be in need of a bagel or coffee intervention soon!!!!

Pork at the Gym

Soooo, what do you all think of my ultra fabulous blog page? Perhaps it will inspire me to blog more! A dear friend (bucket) was nice enough to tweek my page for me. I'm convinced I wasn't posting as much because my original page was so boring!:0) Didn't she do a great job? Thanks so much bucket....... I love the land of pork!

So, I finally went to the Y again this Tuesday. After trying (unsuccessfully) to convince a friend of mine to go with me(you know who you are!!!!!), I met up with another friend. I dropped Lauren off at preschool and headed over. I got there at 9:20 and my other friend was already there and had been on the eliptical for 30 minutes already! I jumped right on and immediately started asking myself why I was there? Don't get me wrong I'm all for exercise and when I was exercising on a regular basis I felt great but honestly how much fun is it? It sucks! You're sore, sweaty, tired and thinking "I'm supposed to be doing this on a regular basis and if I want to see results I need to stick with it." My friend, Corinna (who designed my new page!) has been running for 6 months now and has worked herself up to 20 minutes of running. I'm so impressed with her dedication. I know from conversations that it hasn't been a bowl of cherries for her but she has stuck with it. So I ask myself....."Do I have what it takes to stay with it?" Honestly right now I don't know!

Here's the other thing...I've stayed relatively healthy this past few months. I go to the gym Tuesday and now I'm coming down with a cold! I'm convinced it's because of all the germs at the gym! Yet another reason to serious consider, "Is it worth it?!" Ha! I just say Ha!