Thankful... Day One

I cannot believe that it is already November 1st. Last night we had a nice, short Halloween. After feeding everyone dinner, we took the kids to the festival at church. We spent about an hour there playing games for candy, running through bounce houses, and finding our way through the playground maze. We stopped and walked a couple of blocks gaining the kiddos a little more candy. This was the earliest we had ever been home on Halloween. It was nice. :)

I looked at Facebook a little while ago and began reading many of my friend's statuses stating what they are thankful for on this first day of November. I tried doing that last November and did pretty well although I didn't hit every day of the month.

I give thanks daily for many things but there is something special about this month, what with Thanksgiving and all, that makes one focus one each of those things that make my world go 'round. Instead of sharing on Facebook, though, and in an attempt to not visit Facebook as often, I decided to write a thankful post here each day this month. I am also hoping that writing here will become habit and I will come back more often. So, on to day one...

Today, I am thankful to be citizen of the United States of America. I have a few issues with the way the world and our country has gone in general, but I am proud that I call these nifty, fifty United States my home.

Thankful... Day One

Awkward

Someone please tell me that I am not the only adult who still feels like a thirteen year old girl at times.

Minus the new boobs because after nursing three kids, they are so not like-new.

Maybe I'm just being silly. Sometimes, though, I still feel like the last kid to be picked in gym class. Seriously. It's not a good feeling. I look at other women and they seem like they just have it all together. They never make a mistake and they always do what they are supposed to do. I, on the other hand, feel like a doofus when as I stand there talking to them. I always seem to say something stupid or just feel like I don't measure up. This is really noticeable to me when it comes to the homeschooling community. The ladies are marvelous. Really, they are. It seems like they are such better moms and teachers than I. Involved in just about every activity under the sun, kids are excelling in all points of curriculum, and they still have time to get a nutritious, clean-eating meal on the table when hubby gets home.

It's not just me, is it?!

I'm working hard on becoming that stellar mom and wife that I see around me. I have joined an accountability group to help me make sure I start my day off right and I think that will help a lot. Starting my day out with a cup o' joe and Jesus should help. I need some of that accountability when it comes to getting up and going to church on Sunday, as well. Sean usually likes to stay up pretty late on the weekends... okay, we are all naturally night owls and we love sleeping in a day or two on the weekend. That so does not help. I'm going to keep working on it, though, because as it says in Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through Him who strengthens me!

Awkward

Going to Church

Last night my honey and I had a nice talk about church. When we first began dating and started living our lives together, we would occasionally attend the baptist church I grew up going to. The church I was baptized in at the age of ten.

We soon moved to the DFW area where church was not quite a priority. It wasn't even in the top ten on the priority list. Our marriage suffered but we stuck through it.

I have always believed in God. I have never lived in a strong, Christian home. My mom took us to church on Sundays but that is where church stayed. Sometimes I went to church with Grandma. She attended Church of Christ and was a good, godly woman who I looked up to. I found out not too long ago that scolded my dad for letting Mom take us to a Baptist church. Dad never took us to church but didn't oppose our attending. He says he "doesn't believe in that stuff".

Sean and I have been through so much crazy stuff in our sixteen years together. I have not always been a very good wife and mother. I have made huge mistakes. I made horrible choices in my marriage and tried to destroy it with my bare hands. Then, just as I had almost given in to the enemy, I became pregnant. I often tell myself that a baby saved my life. My baby saved me. I began to see that I had to do better for my family. I still dealt with depression after having the baby but wouldn't let it get me down.

Over the past few years I have worked very hard to redeem myself. To my husband. My children. And most importantly, my Father. I began to study the Word. I have stopped worrying about what the world thinks of me and started worrying about whether or not I have pleased God. It's tough, but it feels so good!

So last night Sean and I were talking. I believe it was in April that we went to Houston to celebrate Sean's grandfather's life that had expired in January. Sean had never told me this before, but last night he told me how attending the Catholic service made him feel closer to God. It lit a fire inside of me. It seems that my prayers for him to personally draw closer to God for his own good are working! (Ugh, I'm tearing up now.)

We decided together that we will try out going to a local Catholic church and see how we all like it. That day in April was my and the kids first mass ever. I had little clue as to what was going I, but I did enjoy it very much.

Last night I sat up for a little while searching and researching Catholicism. I believe I have been fed some misconceptions but that's really no surprise. Hence, the reason I research anything that is of importance to me. We're going to try this and I am excited. It could be a whole new season in our lives.

Going to Church

Ramblings...

I keep sitting down and trying to write but nothing comes out. I think I'm trying too hard. Maybe I should not think too much about it...

So much going on lately. I'm getting excited for school to start back up. We're starting on September 4th. I love that we get to choose when we begin. Sage and Raiden will actually start next week. Sage begins her World View Studies class and they both begin Latin at the church. Wow, I'm really excited!

I think I have been scaring the crud out of my husband here lately. In a good way, though. *hehe* The more research I do, the more crap I want to keep out of all our bodies. I stopped vaccinating KK at 18 months because she had a reaction to the MMR. I was worried about my decision to not vaccinate for a while. Then I came across a group on Facebook that shares tons of information that has helped me come to the decision to not vaccinate my kids any more. There are horrible, horrible things in those vaccines. I am so glad that I have educated myself and know that I have the choice as to whether or not I want to inject my kids and myself with poison.

Aaaahhh! The West Nile Virus! It is the first and last thing they talk about on the news now days. I am so tired of hearing about it. Yes, I am worried about it. Yes, I am taking measures to make sure we are not bitten by mosquitoes and that we do what we can to prevent mosquitoes from breeding around our home. I am taking those measures. I don't expect the government to do it for me. There has been a big push for aerial pesticide spraying in the area because of the "epidemic" of WNV (West Nile Virus). Epidemic? I am pushing for no spraying! I really am sorry for those who have gotten sick or have lost a loved one to WNV but I don't want a blanket of cancer inducing chemicals being sprayed over our homes. I work very hard to keep toxins out of my family's bodies. I don't need the government hand delivering them to our door.

Okay, complaining  over.

Today we had our monthly mom's meeting with our homeschool support group. We have such a lovely group of ladies. I was able to meet two of our new moms and a couple of their sweet kids at today's meeting. That little boy was so cute I could've scooped him up and brought him home with me. I don't think his mother would have approved, though being that it's the first time I met them and all. We had a great meeting. I am hoping we have more in attendance next month. I think it may help that the meeting are during the day now instead of the evening. I don't know about the rest of the ladies, but I like to spend my evening at home with my honey and kiddos. I am already waiting quite impatiently for our first group field trip. We will be going to an orchard. I'm so excited! I tried to take my kids to this same farm last October and was basically told that I was too late. Apparently they do all sorts of kids out there for field trips. I was told that there will be another group out there when we will be. Boo. We will have a great time, though!

I guess I'll go cook up some grub for these people. I don't know what their deal is. They expect me to feed them every.single.day. ;)

Ramblings...

The Best Parts...

Hello again! I decided to crawl out of the deep, dark abyss that I call life and say hi. We really have been quite busy most of the time and it's been kind of nice. Although, I do enjoy our lazy days.

One of the best things over the past few months has to be our new car. We were super thankful when Sean's motor went kaput in his ol' trusty Nissan. We bought that car brand new in 2000 soon after finding out we were going to be a family of four. It meant some sacrifice once again on the kids part, but Dad had no worry about getting to work.

Our first unofficial JMG meeting

Our Junior Master Gardeners group has taken up much of our time over the past few months and we are loving it! We meet once a week and the kids get to dig in the dirt and get in touch with nature. They also get to run around the garden like a bunch of loons and they like that. :)

The best part of JMG has been the friendships I have found. It hasn't always been easy for me to make friends or trust people. I have to say, though, the ladies in my homeschool support group are awesome. I have been working hard on being a better person and opening myself up to new things and that has helped me open up to some really great people.

It really has been one of the best times of my life here lately. I have a sweet husband, great kids, and best of all, a loving God. All of which are truly the best parts. 

The Best Parts...

Guess who's back... back again...

Hey, look! It's the worst blogger in the world!

Ahh, yes, I am back again and boy what a week this has been. Mostly in a good way although I think I'm going to stop praying for patience because every time I do, the kids are real boogers that day. hehe

I have to say that since Sean got this new job, things have been looking up for us. God really blessed us. It's nice to be able to pay your bills before the due date and still have money left over. I know! It's great!

Last week and the week before we were doing a little internet searching. It seems my husband finally gave in to us needing a new car. Well, not new new, but new-to-us new. Which is how we would prefer it. Last week we found the perfect vehicle with everything in it. Well almost. It comes with a flip down dvd player but Sean wants to add some screens to the headrests as well. Otherwise, it has a moon roof, touchscreen navigation/stereo, leather seats with memory set (yay!), tow hitch, and as I said before, a dvd player. Now we're just waiting on it to get shipped in from California. It's only been a week but it feels like foreeeever! Also, it's blue. Just like we wanted. I can't wait!


On another note, I got myself up and went to church this past Sunday morning. It had been a while since I had been to our church. We checked out a couple others to see if we may prefer something different, but I feel at home at this church. I am really glad I went. I almost cried to when I saw my neighbor and stopped to talk to her. She is the sweetest little woman I know and it felt so good to be back in the Lord's house. I even went to the women's group Sunday night. I felt like I belong there. Not something I feel very often. The kids also seemed to enjoy being back at church. Maybe this Sunday we can get there early enough for Sunday School class. Maybe this Sunday we can get Sean to go with us. Last Sunday he needed a haircut so he didn't want to go. Yeah, I'm still trying to explain to him that no one cares. Especially God.


Another thing I did Sunday was attend a meeting at the church regarding the start up of a new homeschool academy. I'm kind of excited about this for the kids. I think that starting in the fall my kids will be in the pastor's Latin class. I have wanted to teach the kids Latin, but I don't know it myself soooo.... I think it's going to be great for them.


It also looks like I'm going to be heading up a Junior Master Gardener class with a group of kids from our homeschool group. I have wanted to put the kids in the program and I wanted to plant a garden so I was super excited when one of the other moms asked about doing a community garden. The JMG was sort of my idea so I said I wouldn't mind leading that. I like it. It makes me feel like I have some purpose. Ya know, besides taking care of my kids and cleaning up after my husband. ;-)


Now I'm going to try harder at keeping up with my blog and writing on a more regular basis. Until next time, have a blessed day!

Guess who's back... back again...

Bring it on!

Wowzer, wowzer, wowzer! I have really missed blogging lately and have been trying to get back on here. So here I am!

So much has been going on around here. Halloween was a ton of fun with our sweet babies despite the fact that I fell and apparently twisted my ankle something fierce. All I know is it is swollen, bruised, and super sore.

This past week we have been remodeling our bedroom. We took everything out and painted the walls a beautiful blue. We still have to cut and paint the trim before installing it but the room already looks amazing! I don't want any more white walls in my house whatsoever!

Now on to something that I am super excited about. The kids, eh, not as much. As many bloggers probably already know, November is NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month. The kids and are participating for the first time this year and I can't wait to see what the kids write about! There is a preset word minimum for adults of 50,000 that I hope to achieve but I have adjusted both of the kids goals. Sage is expected to write a minimum of 24,000 words and Raiden's goal is 15,000. That doesn't sound too difficult for a 13 and 10 year old, does it? I'm hoping that next year Sage will be able to make the 50,000 word goal! You may want to say a little prayer for us. We're getting started a bit late! (the story of my life)

Bring it on!

Sweet Dreams

Yesterday evening I took the kids on a little trip to Target. Over the past couple of weeks I have been trying to make Sean's and my bed toddler-free. I am proud to announce that my efforts were successful. But not without resistance. Kaitlan usually finds some reason to get out of bed. Even if it's just lying on the floor instead of her bed. I don't get that. Her bed is so much softer than the floor. One night she even told me that she couldn't get into her bed because there was a robot in it. Seriously? I don't know where she comes up with this stuff. So, the reason I dragged the kiddos to Target at 8:30 at night. I told KK last week that if she starts sleeping in her own bed like a big girl I would buy her a new baby doll. That's right. I am not beyond bribery one bit. I also owe Pandora Radio and Sleepytime Tunes a *huge* thank you! Raiden even falls asleep quicker with the awesome, soothing music they play. Now KK has a new Dora doll and Sean and I have our bed back. With the occasional early morning snuggler which I am not completely opposed to.

Sweet Dreams

Liar

Okay, so I lied.

I have told myself that I am happy when I am oh so obviously not happy. I actually feel as though I am falling apart inside. Medication can't keep the negative thought from entering my head. It can't keep the 'what-ifs' away.

I don't feel that I am a difficult person. I don't ask for a lot. I know that I am unable to make my husband happy right now, though. I think he has basically given up on our marriage. He is just waiting for me to leave. I have tried to work on myself but it doesn't seem to be enough. I want my relationship with God to be first and foremost. I need that. Sean on the other hand seems to push God away more and more.

Neither of us are being good examples to our children either. I think they see that, too. It makes me sad.

We are in a bad place right now. I am going to try to hold it together, though. I am going to pray. I am going to trust in God and seek his guidance. I have to make my marriage work. I know this is His will.

Liar

Faster than you think

School starts around here in just over three weeks now. I believe I almost have the kids curriculum finished.

Almost.

I'm getting excited, though!

We're going to give preschool a shot this year as well. Boy am I nervous about that! Little miss KK is such a firecracker and so so smart. I feel like I need to do something to keep that little brain stimulated. It's going to be so much fun!!

ABC pages are printing as I type this.

We are doing a free preparatory program that I found online. And who doesn't like free! It's called Brightly Beaming Resources. I love this site. It just makes no sense to me to pay so much for school and curriculum when you can learn plenty for free or very cheap! Even for my older kids. The library is full of books. Wonderful, paper books. The kids will be reading plenty of classic books. Some that I don't even think I've read yet! I guess I better get on that. He he

I am using a site that seems to loosely follow the Charlotte Mason method. It's called Old Fashion Education. I love it as well! Our math program is free also. The only things left to get are science and a Texas History curriculum. Both Sage and Raiden want to do Texas History and I found an awesome curriculum for just over $100. I'm sure Rai will want to go over it again at some point and it will also work great for Kaitlan.

I am getting much more confident in my ability to home school the kids. I still want to focus on our work a lot, but want to try to branch out more and add some activities that we may have missed out on last year. We already signed up for 4-H and need to get started on building a rabbit hutch.

Rabbits. Oh boy.

Okay, I have got to get back on task! I want to make sure I have everything ready when the day comes. Wish me luck!!

Faster than you think

Tea Time with Daddy

I thought this was so super cute. KK pulled out her little tea set and asked Daddy to have some tea with her. With all that cuteness, I had to pull out the camera!

Tea for me

 tea for you

and more tea for me

 

You have to mix it up, Dad

This is fun!

I think it's good now

Cheeeeers!!!

drink it up

That was some good tea :)

Tea Time with Daddy

Proud Mommy Moment

This weekend I had a proud mommy moment. Only the thing is, it isn't even my kid.

Almost four years ago we became friends with a family who we met as they were the leaders for our son's Cub Scout den. They actually have two sons that are in the den. The older of the two is a few years older in age, but participates in the same den due to the fact that he is autistic and basically on the same level as our 9 year old boys.

I tell you, this kid is awesome! He is so super smart and I love his affinity for telling the complete and utter truth. 

So I guess you want to know why we're so proud, huh? Well in his 13 years of life, he has never slept over at anyone's house besides his grandparents. Really just his granddad's. He is such a Pop-Pop's boy! This past Friday my friend H and I took our kiddos to CiCi's for lunch and I was asked before we left if both boys could stay the night. H and I looked at each other with wide eyes. 

Of course they could stay!

That evening we did a kid switch. They also have two daughters so Sage stayed over there while the boys stayed at our house. We had a great night of PS3 playing and then all three boys crashed in the living room. 

He never once asked to even call his mom. 

Both of us were so proud of him! It's a big step with any kid, but it was a huge step for my man C. He has tried once before at another friend of ours home a year ago and was calling to go home within a couple of hours. 

I have to say that I am so honored that he trusts us enough to actually make that leap. He wants so badly to be like other teenage boys. He is such a sweetheart. I hope we can have him over again sometime soon.

Proud Mommy Moment

Fun with Government

Doesn't everyone love a day at the DMV?

Yeah, neither do I!

But that is exactly where I spent most of my Tuesday this week. In an attempt to renew my extremely overdue driver license, I headed down to the local Department of Public Safety office. I couldn't believe my eyes when I rode up at about 9:30 and the line was out the door! Fourty-five minutes later I was back out the door. Apparently you need three forms of identification here when you want to renew. I don't ever remember that from times I've renewed my license in the past. So how many forms of ID can one person have? Not too many from what the DPS agent tells me.

So back home I went, searched for my high school diploma and went up to the DPS for the third time. Oh yes! The third time. I went up on Friday and was turned away due to lack of identification. The lady wasn't real clear that time so I wasn't real sure how many items I had to have. Well it was three. I'm really beginning to dislike the number three now.

Now with my social security card, my old license, and my high school diploma  in hand (I also brought my marriage license just in case) I stood back in that month long line which was actually inside of the doors at this time. Woo hoo! So I stood in line. I gave them my three forms of identification. Then I sat for 2 more hours just to get yet another awful picture on yet another form of identification. 

Don't laugh. Please.

That is definitely the face of a tired, sick woman who has been at the DPS for hours on end. And yes, my picture that was taken approximately 10 years ago was almost as bad.

Why do I look so mad when I'm at the DPS office?!

I'm just very thankful that I now have a legal Texas ID and can buy a margarita or a glass of wine when out with my husband or friends. Although. I will be back once Dallas County courts get caught up on their paperwork and I can go get my actual driver license. Oh joy. 0_0

Fun with Government

Ready for the change

I don't get people who do things with the intention of other people not knowing. That sounds so vague. I know. Really, I don't get people that do things that are not bad and still want to hide it. If you wanted to hide it, why do it in the first place?! I guess I need to explain, huh?

Some friends had invited me out and I accepted since it was my birthday weekend. They all were going to get Glamour Shots done and go out dancing after. First of all, I'm a stay at home mom where all of these other women are working moms with only one or two kids so I'm the odd man out so to speak. And I am often left out. Being that I am usually left out, I was pretty excited to be invited along. I know, I sound like a giant loser. It's kind of like being the in-between kind of kid who knows all the cool kids and gets to hang out with them for a while until my dad loses his job and I can't afford the coolest shoes anymore so I don't get invited to hang out as much any more. No, I'm not trying to gain sympathy either. I think I used to be a friend of convenience since we all have boys that are the same age and they are all in Scouts together. We used to be closer. But not so much since I started home schooling and one of them has gotten divorced so they all think it's okay to go out almost every weekend. I don't think it's okay. 

Fast forward three weeks later after we all received our pictures. 

There was one of the women that I have always been closer to than the others. I only bought a picture of myself and not any of the group but my friend (we'll call her Sally) had received the group pictures from another one of the girls and shared them with me. Well, the only ones I received were of us all in a white men's button up shirts fishnet stockings and heels. Not my idea but I thought it would be cute so went along with it. Well what do we all do with pictures nowadays? We post 'em on Facebook! I posted my single picture and the two group pictures I received just to get a call today from Sally asking me to take the group pictures down. She said that her son may be president one day and she doesn't want that on the internet. 

Then why did you do it in the first place!!??!!

I told her that I didn't see it as a big deal. I wanted to tell her that there is no way her son is going to be president if he has to sit her down and ask her to spend time with him instead of going out and she keeps calling that time she spends with him "punishment". It's a group of women. There are no men there except for the photographer. I agreed to take them down though to appease the others. If I had known the whole thing was going to be such a big deal, I would have never gone in the first place. There was so much more to the night that I just don't feel like going into.

Truthfully, a feel that a couple of the women are really genuine. They could be real, true friends but I have had issues with friends in the past that has made it hard for me to get close to others. Sally seems like a good friend, but she also seems like the type to turn around and talk about you when you walk out the door. I've known her for almost 5 years and still don't know if I trust completely. 

This all is one reason why I can't wait for our life to change here. I am ready to make real friends. We have been presented with the most amazing opportunity with some of the awesomest, er, most awesome people I have ever met! The wheels have been set in motion. Now we just have to keep them greased and on the right track. One of these days you'll hear of us!

Ready for the change

I'm so excited

And I just can't hide it!

(dunt dunt doo da doo)

Anywho. I'll spare you all my musical skills. Dang I should do that vloggy-style! Ha! Just kidding. I wouldn't do that to you guys.

Here lately the hubs and I have been quite busy. I don't want to go into details, but we are finally working on something that will give us financial freedom at last! And yes, it is legal. :P Hopefully, by the grace of God and with some real commitment, things will be looking up in the next few months. AAAHHH!!! I'm just so excited about it!

I love my dear husband so much. He is my rock. My life. He has also been sick for the past week. Something with his stomach. He isn't "getting sick" but he does feel cruddy. He hasn't been at work this week and I reeeally kinda wish he would get better and get back to work! My days are thrown off by him lying in bed all day watching t.v. Raiden and I are sitting at the computer studying the Ojibwa while Sean sits there watching Modern Marvels. It's a bit distracting and annoying. I love him though and I will hang on to hope that it isn't anything serious.

I'm so excited

Someone's Special Day

I felt it was time for a new post. So here I am.

Christmas was great! We visited C-town for just a few days and then headed back home where Sean had a whole week off from work! We did a lot of laying around and a lot of cleaning. I let Sean get rid of a bunch of Kaitlan's baby stuff that I was holding on to. Hoping he would agree that we could have another baby. But I guess he's right. We have three beautiful blessings that we are more than grateful for.

Speaking of our three blessings, today marks thirteen years since we were blessed with our first. Sage is officially a teenager as of 8:39 this morning! It really is an awesome thing to watch our babies grow before us. They make me so happy!

Some other exciting news... Sean came across a Nikon D60 and put a down payment on it for me!!! **happy dance** I've been moping about mine since it died on us at the end of this summer. I don't know what all accessories will come with it, but I can't wait to get my hands on it!!

This Saturday we all piled into the car and drove down to Houston to visit Sean's granddad. He has been in an assisted living home for several years now suffering from alzheimer's. We all hung out for a while visiting with some of Sean's uncles, aunts, cousins and his dad. We had Chipotle. We drove around downtown Houston for a bit when we were told the wrong direction towards food. And we visited some more. Yesterday afternoon we got the call that his granddad passed. He wanted to be cremated so they will be having a memorial for him in a few months.

Okay, I'm getting out of here. We're going to our family's favorite restaurant for Sage's birthday dinner!!

Someone's Special Day

What's going on

Boy, oh, boy is December a busy month or what?! But it is so much fun! Now that I stay home and home school the kids it seems I have never been busier. It's great being able to have such a flexible schedule!

This last week has been kinda yucky. Sean worked really late all week long. Now when I say late, I mean late. He has to be in at 6am and wasn't been getting home most nights until around midnight. Then he had to be up and back at work come 6am. Plus he missed all of the fun we had last week and over the weekend. It stinks but I guess we should look at all of the extra time as a God-send being that it's the holiday season and all. At least that's the way we choose to look at it!

Last week Thursday we had our Cub Scout Christmas party. Our den I planned it this year and I am glad it's over! That was the first time I have planned any kind of event like this on my own and it is so stressful. Especially when not a single person many people will cooperate with you!

Since my camera stopped working, all I have is my cell phone for pictures (and that's why it's such a crappy pic!). So here's Raiden on Santa's lap at the party. He visits each year. In fact, I wish I could find Kaitlan's picture from last year. Even funnier is the one taken this year the day after Thanksgiving. My sister's boyfriend snapped a shot of Kaitlan running back to her daddy's arms. She wouldn't even go see Santa at the Scout party... and he's a family friend! I guess Sean's pre-Christmas prep on Santa didn't work!

A couple of days before that Christmas party we had really nice weather and took advantage by going to the park.

We had lunch.

Then the kids played.

And they climbed.

And they slid.

And just had a good time.

Apparently this is the look I get now when I ask Kaitlan to pose for a picture. I don't get it, but it's still cute!

We went to the Christmas luncheon for our home school group on Saturday. The food was delicious and included an apple pie I made and from-scratch green bean casserole with fresh green beans so pretty that I had to take a picture of them.

The kids had a book walk and did some crafts.

Sage working on her her ornament. Kaitlan playing with sequins.

I guess this is the finished product.

Raiden working on his snowman ornament.

Raiden's finished snowman.

And then one of the Santa wish list holder craft that we did at home.

Besides all of this fun stuff we've been baking lots of cookies and I've been trying not to eat them! We head out to C-town in the morning and then back home on Saturday. Next week Sean is off so hopefully we'll get some stuff done around the house (yeah right!) and get to have some much need family fun.

Everyone have a very merry Christmas!!

What's going on

Hostile Environment

I think it was about 3 weeks ago that I talked to my dad and he told me about the trip he would be taking. He works on the road and stays out there often for up to a month or so. He has even started going to other near-by countries.

This time it's different, though. Pakistan isn't Dominican Republic. Nothing like it.

He called me last night and said that it did scare him some. Actually, I think it scares him a lot. He hasn't been sleeping well and all of the paperwork is overwhelming.

Apparently, the airport my dad will be working at has bombs dropping "no closer than a half mile away."

U.S. bombs, that is. You know how those Taliban guys keep hiding out in Pakistan? Yeah. That's who they're after.

My dad tells me that he has had his employers take out a hefty life insurance plan on him in case something were to happen to him over there. He's also getting his will in order.

I would rather just have my dad back home safely. 

It's really cool, all the traveling he does now. But it's not so cool that he's going into such a hostile environment this time.

I'll tell you this. My praying knees are going to be busier than usual.

Hostile Environment

You Annoy Me!!!

I am the oldest of three girls. I have to admit that, although I am a pretty laid back, conservative person, there were moments that my sisters would get on my nerves. What I don't remember was getting annoyed by them for doing things that had absolutely nothing to do with me or when they were in a completely different room than myself.

Let me explain.

I love my almost-teen daughter so much. She is a smart, caring, sensitive young lady. She gives me a ton of attitude, but she also gives me so much joy.

While sitting at the computer yesterday, she came to me for help with her Language Arts assignment. As she walked up behind me I could hear her talking under her breath about how she was "gonna kill him". Raiden was in the front room keeping Kaitlan entertained until I came back to prepare lunch. I hear this kind of thing quite often from her. I understand that he's her little brother and I know that he does bug her plenty, but he was in the other room. Talking to someone else! The poor kid can't do anything right in his big sister's eyes.

My response was to stop right there before anything else and ask her (very calmly I may add) what it was that he was doing to directly annoy her. She tried to walk away. Yeah, that's the response I get much of the time when I try to talk to her or get on to her about something. I figure it's pretty normal for a pre-teen/teen. Right?

I wrangled her back in and gave her a talkin' to. I explained to her how her words can hurt not only her brother, but herself. How we never know what tomorrow holds for any of us. I asked her how she would feel if those type of words were the last she spoke to her brother. Needless to say, there were a few tears by the time I finished talking to her. I also talked plenty about how her attitude needs to change. How she makes the rest of us feel like we are making her life miserable.

This kid. I love her so much. I am trying my hardest to make life as happy as I can for her, but she is always crabby and throwing darts at just about everyone in the house. (Not literal darts!) What else can I do?!? She gets to do so much more than her little brother. And rightfully so. I let her stay the night with friends or have friends over when she hasn't cleaned her room or finished all of her chores. Maybe THAT is part of the problem. We have given our children so many liberties without earning them that they now expect them.

AAAAAHHHHH!!!!! So frustrating!

You Annoy Me!!!

Fall Fun

Where, O, where to begin this....

I've been thinking about my blog more here lately. I keep asking myself, "Self, why can't you just get in there and write a little something about your day?" So, it may be boring, but I'm going to attempt to get on and just write something. I have already missed the first day of November, but I will now try to get into a habit of writing each day. Wish me luck. :)

With Halloween being on a Sunday, it made for quite a full weekend. I actually wanted to go out on Friday evening, but I'm kinda glad we didn't. I think we got plenty of junk on Saturday and Sunday. We started out Saturday evening with a carnival in downtown. It was a great family friendly event and the kids, well, the two kids we had with us, had a blast. Sage didn't go because she decided to go watch Paranormal Activity 2 with her friend and friend's mom. I didn't really want her to go see it, but she's smart enough to know that that sort of stuff is just a movie and not real. Not to say that she doesn't understand that Satan really does tempt us everyday and.... Okay, I'm getting into a whole 'nother subject now. Let's just say she knows what it truth and what is Hollywood. Reeling it back in now.

So come Sunday, we had a birthday party for an awesome little man. My friend H's amazing little boy turned 1!!! He slept most of the time we were there, but it was still a great gathering with our friends.

After Lil' Man dug into his cake, we headed out to try to get our little monster to nap. I say little monster because she was tired and acting like, well, a little monster. :) The nap never happened, but it's amazing what a nursing session does for that kid. Once we got Sagie made up, we all headed out to the fall festival at the church. We had a great time. Sean lost the keys. Someone found them (thank you, Lord and Pastor Daniel!). And we headed to a trunk or treat at another local church. We tried our hand at the cake walk. We lost. But we did have a great time. We ended the night with some more trick or treating in the neighborhood. I think we ended up getting home no later than 8:30 so we did pretty darn good. We also did pretty darn good in the candy-getting department. I'm trying to change up some of our eating habits and what we put into our bodies, but I think I'll take it easy on them for now as far as the goodies go. It's not like they get to eat a pound of candy a day!

Now on to the good stuff. Apparently our camera decided to die on us after our vacation this summer, so I have no real camera, but I did get a few shots of the kids with my phone:

My 80s rocker chick!

There's Tony Romo! Broken clavicle and all.

And last but definitely not least, my little angel baby.

Fall Fun