Happy Birthday Juliette!

Today my Big Girl turns 12!
I am still in shock that I am a Mother to a pre-teen!!
Lord, give me strength! 
Thank you for this precious gift and giving me the wonderful opportunity at this journey called Motherhood!
Here are a few pics of my 1st born through the years!
Happy birthday My Ladybug!
At ages 1,3,5,7,9 and most recent(11-12), she took it last week

Have I told you....

So I am following a few blogs and have browsed alot more. Anyway I keep seeing these "Wordless Wednesdays". Well, all my tips from fellow bloggers say to keep your blog original, so I want to do something a little different for my Wednesday posts.
I promise I will try to be faithful in this!
So, from now on mine will be " Have I Told You..." Wednesdays. I will pick a random thing, whatever God leads me to write about that Wednesday. It may be anything, a little more info into who I REALLY am, a new recipe,a bit of useless info I think you should know, my feelings on a topic, maybe even a pic crazy day!
So for today, April 28, 2010

Have I Told You...

That I am a born again Christian. I was saved at the age of 23 and my life has completely changed. I am not perfect, but I am trying to be a better witness everyday.
I attend "The Greatest church in Ohio" (kinda our inside motto) Lindenwald Baptist Church
I have made a ton of friends and our family is very active in the wonderful programs they offer.
I serve a Risen Savior, Jesus Christ. He has blessed my life beyond my imagination. I have learned to count my blessing and learn through my struggles and trials.

Bedtime Business..

Why OH Why is bedtime so hectic? Really, it's not that serious! I do the whole loving Mommy thing. Tuck them in(seperate rooms), say their prayers, have a little chit chat about their day, tickle their backs, give them kisses, and wish them sweet dreams.
 So, why is it that as soon as I start writing, getting in my fuzzy pants with a good book or simply try to wrap up my day, they suddenly are wide awake?
So here is a list of the TOP 10 excuses they use as they are getting in and out of bed, going from room to room calling "Mommy"!
1. I need a drink
2. I'm hungry
3. I can't sleep
4. I have to pee
5. Can I sleep with you?
6.I forgot to do "something"
7. What was that noise?
8. Mommy, Are YOU asleep?
9. When is Daddy getting home?
10.Can you come lay with me?
Usually they will end up sleeping together, sometimes in the bed, sometimes not...

My creative side....

Today has a been pretty lazy. I spent some time loading and going through my 600 + pic on the computer. I went through and edited/played around with a few of them. so, here are a few I thought I would share. Hope you enjoy, possibly more to come soon. Yes, this is yet another of my hobbies and many unfinished projects. But it's a start!

Simply entertaining

Well, It is the year 2010! Ok, I know you already knew that, but what does that mean as parents? I was just thinking back to my own chilhood days as I watch my own children play. So many things have changed since I was a kid. Some had bikes, Nintendo, pogs,etc. But what I was thinking is that back then it depended on your family's financial status. not every kid had those things. If you were a kid that didn't, then you just found a friend that did. For the most part you could be content knowing you could go to a friend's house to play with those things. It was not that big of an issue(for me anyway), to actually OWN the toy/game.
Now everyone has a wii, cell phone, ipod, laptop, and I'm talking kids under 12yrs old.
Now of course my own kids hound me day in and day out that THEY need these things. We do own a wii, for the family, and they have their own TV in their room,and bikes, my soon to be 12yr old has a pre pay phone(currently out of minutes), that she must earn her phone time for.

So, I guess my big thing is that I am old fashion. I want my kids to use their imaginations and simply "find" something to do. So one day I gave them some plastics cups, a ladle, and paper plates and told them to go out and have an imaginary picnic. They looked at me like I had lost my mind..... but eventually, they played together on the porch for over an hour and I noticed how well they worked together when there was no fighting over the remote, "No, that's mine", "Get out of my room", "I'm soooo bored", or just randomly aggrevating each other to have "something" to do. It was a good day and they learned to make the most of what we have.   Mommy smiles :)

MUD PIES!

Better? Before?

Trials Throughout..

Goals, Dreams, Change
For better or worse,
No matter what.

You say that you are doing this to make you a better person, to give us a better life and to make us all happier. To be able to give us more things.
I loved you just the way you were, So better for whom?
I loved the life we had, When we had time and energy for eachother and our children.
I never asked you for "things"....
I was happy..... before...

Confession of me

I am at a place  in my relationship where I don't know whether to keep on going and pray or just scream in his face that we are messed up!!
I love being a SAHM, but with everything changing I feel I have triple duty! I get the kids up, fed, dressed, off to school. Then spend most days either cleaning, picking up, or most often running errands(grocery, bank, taking things to school for the kids, or going shopping for the things they need or we need for the house). Also, running around looking for the "I have to have this"! random things Sean needs for school, work or softball. All the while he is calling me or texting me....
"What's wrong, you sound tired!"
"Are you mad at me?"
"I guess I'll let you go, you sound too busy to talk to me anyway!!" < In a not so nice voice.
"Where are you, were you, are you going to be?"
"Did so and so get ahold of you?", " I told them to call the house phone!"< BTW! Thx Sean
News Flash, I cannot sit on the phone all day & talk about nothing!
You may actually have to deal with it yourself!
I only have 2 kids, not 3! Seriously!
Also, where are YOU???
I feel like a single mom most days, who only sees you on payday, long enough to balance the checkbook & start all over again this week. Give a little 5minute recap of our week!
BTW! you missed Science fair, World's fair & Julie's Christmas band concert!
You haven't been or taken Caralyne to ANY dance classes or GS meetings
The girls do not see you from Sunday evening til Thursday night.(work and schhol Mon-Wed, softball on Fri and Sat)
Now you decide you would rather play softball as a fill-in then come spend the evening with us.
When you are here all you do is play Warden, when you have NO IDEA how our day has gone.
"Clean your room"
"Listen to your Mom"
"Why haven't you done this or that?"
UGGHH!! I just want to scream..."You have no idea, so SHUT-UP!!
I don't want to hear about Rumpke or softball or even what new fun thing you learned at school!!!
I want to relax, have a little affection and posotive attention and maybe even a conversation about something I did or that happened in my day!
Ok, So that was my vent for the day. IDK. Maybe I'm losing it Big time!
Any advice?

Counting my blessings

Today has been one of those aggravating( I wish I was more productive) days. The plan was to get up early, get a good start on the housework, a really thorough cleaning, try to come up with a waterproof way of temporarily fixing the broken tiles in the shower, fix a healthier lunch for my kids, spend some funtime with them, get some serious writing in, and my biggest challenge... QUIT SMOKING!!
It is now almost 3pm and I have managed to carry a migraine with me most of the day, we had a mixture of lunches. Me..scrambled eggs with ham and green peppers(shared with Caralyne), Juliette ate a piece of toast, chips and leftover chili from last night. As for the bathroom wall, after 2 of us taking showers the wall is now too wet to worry with.
After even the most unorganized day I still Thank God for the blessing of today.
My children are safe, healthy, happy and loved~ I love this saying, got it from the imfamous Kate Gosslin.
BTW! In my opinion it is probably the smartest thing she has ever said~~Not a big fan of hers, can you tell?
Anyway,
It wasn't Applebee's or Red Lobster, but we have food in our stomachs today!
We have a roof over our head,  even if the bathroom is slowly falling apart. One shower at a time!
We have beds to sleep in at night, even if they didn't get made this morning
My husband has a fulltime job with benefits, even if he complains everyday about the slackers he works with and the dangerous conditions
We have each other, even if we bicker and drive each other crazy most days.
My life is not fancy, we are not wealthy and our car is 13 yrs old.
But we are together, we have love & The Lord and we have no car payment!!
Amen! Amen!