My Monday! Out with the old!

To start off my day, my darling daughter, Juliette is wound up. I haven't even fed her yet and she is bouncing off the walls. Caralyne is still snoozing. Sean is at work. I'm on my 3rd cup of coffe.
I'm so excited we are getting new/used furniture today!!
Actually I am excited but there is more to do around the house to get ready for the new stuff. We are getting a new couch and loveseat from Sean's aunt. Which is much needed. Ours we bought years ago is falling apart and the dog hasn't made it look or smell any fresher! It is UGLY anyways! It is Mauve?!?! Who even thought this should be a color? Not my taste! Also it has small flowers(again, not my thing). And then there is the mixed match slate blue arm chair(which is getting moved to the play room!). It's in better shape, but won't match and we won't have room for it now.
Also I am getting a new kitchen table and chairs with a bench!! I have wanted the bench seating for a long time. We currently have a small table that seats 3, yes just 3. One chair was broken last summer and we never replaced it. so we either slide the computer chair over to the table or someone eats standing up, which is weird. So the new table set seats 6!
Now we can actually have people over for dinner and they won't have to stand up or everyone spread out around the house to eat!
Hoping to get the playroom picked up and rearranged before Sean gets home to move the old furniture out.
I will try to take pics and add them later.
Thanking God for all our little blessing!
These 2 things we really needed and I am so thankful the Lord has made a way to give them to us!
Financially new furniture or dining set would be put on hold till next year.

Add a little more to my plate!

No, this is not a food post! LOL

I want to apologize for being so behind on my blog. The last few weeks have been pretty busy around here.

So, for a little recap, here is my week in pictures....

Not to mention the things I don't have pictures of like "write to read week" that I volunteered for, a princess birthday party last weekend, and kindergarten recognition ceremony(camera batteries went dead, UGH!!)

Starting with Girl Scout Recognition ceremony and pizza party

Followed by her first dance recital

Then Spring band concert

Tonight was 6th grade graduation

And as for the yardword, this is what I found in my yard...

so, with their much needed "Daddy time", I really couldn't be mad at them!

There was also sidewalk chalk, tossing the ball and movies to follow this pic!

Do you Love Chonda Pierce?

Well, I Do!!
She absolutely cracks me up!!!
I could watch her videos all day long!
If you don't know who she is you are really missing out. She is a Christian Comedian. Good clean fun!
"It's the Truth!"(her famous saying!!)"
Watch this video and leave me a comment!
I want to know if you love her too!!

Have I told you....

Welcome Wednesday.
Have I told you...
Today I have writer's block, well kind of. I have so many things that I want to write about but not sure how to word it or where to start.
I recently told my daughter(she gives me tips and ideas) that I think my brain should be on an episode of Hoarders!! LOL, but seriously it is one big cluttered mess!
By the way, Hoarders is one of my favorite shows and I'm sure sooner or later I'll do a whole post about this fascinating topic.
Anyway, my house is starting to remind me of this show, not that I am a compulsive shopper/buyer or that I don't throw things away. Ask anyone in my house, if it lays out of place for more than a day or two, it's trash!! Now I believe I am somewhere inbtween a neat freak and a procrastinator. I have all the ideas and intentions of a clean, livible home with charm and very personal.
I have a husband, kids, and pets. My goal is nothing Martha Stewart would be proud of. I've always said I want my house to be lived in, not looking like a museum where you have to walk around looking, no touching! If you like the picture sitting on my bookcase, pick it up and have a closer look. I try to do my daily maintenance of the house. Laundry, dishes, make beds, wipe counters, tables, sink tops. Put all the books, movies and such away. maybe some windows or dusting(not everyday).
On the other hand, I of course do have my pet peeves about some things around my domain!
Do not leave your wet, dirty, wadded up clothes in the bathroom floor. We have a hamper, use it!
Do not leave the mayonaise knife laying on the counter for me to find "stuck" to said counter in the morning where the mayonaise has now dried up!
If the litter box needs changed, Change it!! It's not even my cat!
If it's yours, put it back. I don't care who had it last!
Please push in the dresser drawers. To me it just looks so sloppy seeing half closed drawers with or without some article of clothing hanging out of it.
If you use the ashtray, please empty it!! This means before it has a whole pack of butts piled up in it! Yuck!
Ok, OK. I'm done ranting! he he!!
Just had to get that out of my system!
So you'll see if you read closely I'm really not the one with the problem, it must be these goofballs I live with!!
No denial issues here either!

I've got Buttons!!

So Ladies, I finally figured out how to add the "Blogs I love" button box!!
Yea me!
Now my question is....
I added like 10-15 buttons, so why does it only show 3 of them when it scrolls?
I tried to google it and apparently it is a common problem with the code, but no one seems to have a remedy for this little glitch.
So please check out all the blog buttons I added and if anyone knows of a different code that works better, please pass it on and leave me a comment.
Also, if you wouldn't mind, grab my button as well!!
Thanks to all my patient followers!
I am so excited to have you follow along on my journey!
God Bless!

May~Lily of the Valley

I have always been drawn to this flower and also the song titled the same. Maybe it was an unheard messege from God. My youngest daughter's birthday is this month and she reminds me so if this flower. So delicate and precious, yet strong and determined to thrive at the same time.
I love the words and the messege of this hymn. It was written in 1881 by William C. Fry for the Salvation Army.


I've found a friend in Jesus,— He's ev'rything to me;


He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul!

The "Lily of the Valley," in Him alone I see,—

All I need to cleanse and make me fully whole:

In sorrow He's my comfort, in trouble He's my stay;

He tells me ev'ry care on Him to Roll;

(chorus)

He's the "Lily of the Valley," the Bright and Morning Star;

He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.
 
 

Sunday for me

S~So excited about going to church! For fellowship(much needed adult time), faith and friends
U~Usually running late. I'm the first one up, and last to be ready(have to get the hubs awake and girls       dressed and fed)
N~never enough coffee in my system before we leave!
D~Desperatley wanting to get closer to God
A~AMAZING!! Always a wonderful service and messege!
Y~Yearning for the rest of my day to be as peaceful.

My sundays usually are like a rollercoaster!! And not the kind filled with fun and thrills. I mean the bumpy, heartpounding, I'm about to go plummeting down kind, with the slight chance of peace in the middle where you think just for a second it may be ok.
As I said, I'm always the first one up! And somewhere in the moment before I actually begin my day, I get this crazy idea that maybe, just maybe it will be smooth sailing. I never attempt anything without that first cup of coffee. And as I'm drinking it and I start to hear the noises that tell me my house is waking up, I realize I'm going to need more coffee and prayer.
The hubs always states sometime during the day that this is his only day off. And of course NEVER gets to sleep in. Although Mon-Sat he wakes at 5:30am. sundays he sleeps til 8:45am. So another 3+hrs, apparently is not sleeeping in?!?! Yes, I am confused also, but that is his thinking!
So Juliette(my early bird) is always up after me. Bright eyed and ready to go. She gives me hope of a sunny day. Her first question is always" Are we going to church today?" As her mother I want to state without a doubt, " Absolutely!!" but as I do not drive(whole other topic), I have to say, "I don't know, we'll see how Daddy feels or what he wants to do". Now if he does decide to get up and oblige the demands of his daughter, it of course is all to please me! I have disrupted him and now I shall be punished with grumpiness and the rushed wrath of him. Now he is no monster, I assure you, but until he has his breakfast it is no joyful morning! He enjoys church as much as we do, it's just the getting up and get going part!
As for Caralyne our youngest, NOT A MORNING PERSON is quite the understatement, she is Quenn of the " 5 more minutes"!! And not a fan of being woken up, as she is a completely different child if she wakes on her own terms!
So after we have arrived at church it is much more the scene I had planned, walking hand in hand, smiling, greeting and enjoying our friends and the event at hand.
After church, it's lunch rush hour. They have grumbling tummies and can't be fed fast enough. Back to grumpy, snappy, and sometimes just rude to one another. all the while I am biting my tongue and praying for them to realize how they sound and are acting. What could I possibly say that wouldn't make them give me the" whatever" look! I really want them to see the vision of a peaceful Sunday as I vision it.
I don't want to sound like the Bossy B*, leading by example apparently is not working. I just become invisible to their cranky arguments. As I have tried to explain to sean, I need you to back me up, not argue that I am trying to look "so perfect". I can't understand how or why this is so difficult for me. Why is everything an argument about how or what we should be doing.
I guess this turned into a venting post. I really do pray for a peaceful Sunday, someday my dream will come!
Praise God!

Late night rambles

Finally, The house is quiet, maybe too quiet. So rather than get to bed early and catch up on my sleep, here I sit. Rambling!
Sean is still at school. He will be home soon. Just a few more months until he graduates. He's going for a bachelors degree in drafting. maybe I won't feel like a single Mommy 5 days a week after this!
Juliette is sleeping in the living room, due to her ceiling fan still being broken(it's on the TO-DO list).
She has a busy day ahead with school and things.
Caralyne is in her room. I can hear her TV on low, but she never actually watches it. She gets that from me. The TV is on but nobody is watching it. I like to have the noise while I'm cleaning or home alone. and sleeping.
The dog is under the kitchen table snoring like nobody's business. So, now it's not that quiet. :)
I suppose I could go catch some Ghost Hunters or catch up on my reading. Which I have been neglecting since I discovered blogging.
So, when I have a huge library fine, I'm totaly blaming it on all you ladies!!

Me: But...but... Ms. Librarian, there was this one blog, and then another, and oh this one Mom had this story . Oh then the deals and ideas and..and...
Librarian: Mrs. X, We really couldn't care less, you owe X amount of $$$$$
Ok, Ladies Goodnight!!
See you bright and early!

Have I told you....

Welcome Wednesday!

Have I told you...

That my favorite animal is the Bottlenosed Dolphin. They are just absolutely amazing creatures to me. They are so beautiful and so fascinating. Here are a few quick facts I found. Also, I watched the Life of Dolphins at Omnimax Theatre a few years back and I strongly recommend it.

Bottlenose dolphins can be found in many oceans all over the world, especially in tropical or warmer waters.
Adults range from 6-13ft in length and weigh between 400-1,000lbs. Dolphins living in colder waters(such as near Scotland), tend to be larger. Males usually out weigh females.
Because dolphins are mammals they need to come to the surface approxamitely every 5-8mins to breath.
Dolphins do not chew. They eat between 10-30lbs of food a day, primarily fish, crab, shrimp and squid.
The average dolphn lives between 35-50yrs. Dolphins are great communicaters and use several clicks, whistles and chirps.

Blogging for Dummies!

Yes, That's me!!

Ok, I could really use this book!! I am either really blonde(which I am, kinda),  I'm just slow, too busy or too impatient. I absolutely love blogging, and reading blogs. But would really like to do all the fun things and the little add-ons also. I admit I am new to all of this. There are so many great blogs out there and I want to have one. A really great blog! So, here are my bumps in the blogging road, and questions I have.
1. How do I list all the blog buttons to show off my favorite blogs?
2. How do I join all the give-aways and blog hops? (I'm really interested in this)
3. How do you get a "chat/comment" box in the side bar?
4. Are they worth it?
5.How do I add a slide show without having to add the whole "album"? Just a few specific pics.
6.What is the best site to use to get paid for blogging? (for in the future, possibly)
7. And what's up with my Shelfari? I added the code, but it just shows a link and when you click it, it goes to the home page!(not my list of books)
Wow! I really need help! Bare with me ladies, I really am trying to get the hang of this.

Rainy Monday

I am so bored. It's not that I don't have things to do. It's that it is Monday. It is drizzling rain and the temp has dropped since yesterday. I wish it would either come a good thunderstorm or the sun would just come out already. I hate this inbetween stuff.

Anyway, here I sit blooging with my cup of coffee, watching the cat whiz through the house(She must have cabin fever). Although she is an indoor cat anyway. Pepper(my beagle) is napping, but that is how she spends 18 hrs of the day anyhow. LOL. She is my Big Momma as I call her. Lazy and will eat anything, I do mean anything. Including a little flower craft my daughter's class made out of smarties and foam shapes. I found it shredded to pieces in the bedroom floor this morning.(wish I had taken a picture).

So, the kidd-os are at school and I really should get the laundry caught up, but again here I sit, trying to find my motivation. I think the rain washed it away. But in my defense I did make the bed, get the girls ready this morning, got my shower and did the dishes, and it's only 11am.

Ok, off to throw a load in and get ready to head out for lunch with a friend.
Happy Monday!

Here's my Big Momma

Junior Readers Book Review

My 12 yr. old daughter is completly bonkers over the American girls books. Especially Addy! So far Addy is her favorite. Ok, Maybe I am a little bit interested also. They are very educational books, fiction based  on history. There are several girls which each are based on different time periods and have their own book series'. And yes, they have the dolls and accessories also.(We haven't gone as far as buying dolls yet).
So, here is a little synopsis I found on the webside: 

Addy—Stories from America’s Civil War



Addy Walker is a courageous, strong girl growing up in 1864, during the Civil War. Addy’s stories tell of her daring escape with her mother from slavery, and the challenges they face afterward as they try to reunite their family. But Addy’s stories are about much more than hardship. They are full of the love and hope that help her get through the worst of times and keep her dreams alive.
Visit there website!

http://www.americangirl.com/index.php

Have I told you...

The things I love! (Aside from my children and hubby)
I Love...
Sunshine in the morning, a bright start to a new day,
the smell of my daughters, it's amazing what a mother cherishes,
good coffee in the morning, with lots of creamer,
fuzzy pants to lounge around in,
having my hair brushed and played with,
no 1-800 numbers calling,
thunderstorms at night, ironically I sleep much better,
a new book, I can't wait to crack open and start reading,
fresh sheets, clean countertops, beds that are made,
finding a black shirt that is not covered in dog hair,
looking through family photos,
playing the "Do you remember?" game with family and friends,
trivia, board games, and crosswords,
late night talks with my sister,
finding $5 in an old purse,
going tanning, my 15-20mins of peace and silence,
long car rides to anywhere,
Chinese food with family or a good friend,
and I love the feeling I have when i actually finish a project.
So, What are some little things you mommies love?

Mommy Thoughts

Ask not what your children can do for you, but what you can do for your children.

So with Mother's day just passing I have been in one of my over analyzing myself and REALLY thinking moods.
I have known many woman/mothers from all walks of life, including myself.
I have never been a material kinda girl, I've never wanted the latest new thing or the thing every Mommy "has" to have. Every year my husband and kids will ask me for weeks what I want for Mother's day. Honestly, I never have an answer. I can't think of one thing that I want them to buy me. Not flowers or candy, or anything for the house. Certainly not a jewelry kind of girl. I see all these commercials, ads, and websites/posts about this new thing ALL mother's are wanting this year and none of it appeals to me.
Anyway, you get the point. I just want time to spend with them, love them, embrace what we have and reminisce. Watch home videos and maybe have a nice dinner out. Nothing fancy.
So while they are worried about getting me a present all I keep thinking is what can I do for them, hubby included. Am I doing enough in my day to day life to deserve any"reward" for just doing my job as Mommy?
My children are my gift from God, so why do I need another gift(material)?
Do I read to them enough? Know what their interests and fears are?
Do I feed them well enough, kiss them enough? Am I being a good witness to them. Of course no mother is perfect, but do I/we really try our best or do I just give up some days and claim it as my best knowing it wasn't and there is always "more" I could have done?
I ask the Lord to guide me, give me the wisdom and strength to truly do my best everyday. Lord, never let me take for granted these most precious gifts you have layed in my hands and placed in my heart.
So, for Mother's day, I will give to my children, not ask from them.
Amen!

Happy Birthday Caralyne!

My baby girl is 7yrs. old today.
My sweet Caralye. My little miracle. Thank you Lord for seeing how much we needed each other and for allowing me the chance to be her Mother. Although it is hard for me to deal with knowing there will be no more babies for us, I will never take for granted the two most precious gifts my Lord has given us.
So to my Little Tootsie Roo, Happy Birthday Baby. Mommy and Daddy love you very much and you are an amazing joy to have in our lives!

Silly side uf us! Friday

We are silly, goofy, unpredictable and now I will share our LOL moments with you!
It's ok to laugh, we did!
Hope you enjoy the silly side of us!

Just because..

I know I missed my Wednesday post, sorry about that one. Anyway, here is my just because...
Just because I love you doesn't mean I like you all the time.
Just because I enjoy taking care of people doesn't mean I wouldn't like to be taken care of in return
Just because you say I am beautiful doesn't convince me that I am
Just because I am a SAHM doesn't mean I am lazy, selfish, unemployeed or available at your every whim
Just because I am a Christian doesn't mean I won't blow up when it all gets to be too much
Just because I am random and unpredictable doesn't mean I'm crazy
Just because I am a mother doesn't make me a perfect parent
Just because I don't smile back at you doesn't mean I really didn't want to
The reason that I wrote this...Just because