CHOCOLATE, KNITTER, MOM....Yup, that's me!

ANNIE

2010-11-18T13:04:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful weekend we had watching our son and his friends perform in Haven Academy of the Arts production of ANNIE. These kids get better and better every show! I watched my son for the first time do on stage what he does normally at home: perform! LOL He has always had the ability to sing and act but he took the role of "Rooster" and really made it his own. The results were fantastic!

BACK ON TRACK

2010-04-21T08:46:00.000-07:00

It has been such a long time since my last post. I apologize for not being more active and keeping in touch with you.

It has been a long journey to this moment. One I will not quickly forget. On Monday my husband started a new job after being out of work for nearly 2 1/2 years. He is nervous and not sure if he is the "right" man for the job yet. I cannot image how a man feels when he cannot take care of his family but I do know how my man feels, lost.

He has been Blessed with a job back in his own field! That is our God at work for sure. After a major healing in the relationship with his prior boss, it was, in the end, his prior boss who got him the interview and went to bat for him. He told the new boss that Eddie was still working for him and that work had slowed down so he wanted to help him get a new job since he had a family. How amazing redempion is! How great is our God!!

I wish I could say that I knew it all along but I did not. I have had many ups and downs over the past 2 years and have wondered if I somehow disobeyed God in such a way that he turned His back on me. How wrong I was! Our God is a loving God. "'The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion." Numbers 14:18a

The moment I realized that I felt something lift from me. It was a large bolder I had been carrying around for way too long. I was not raised with a loving God so for me I figured I was being punished in some way. But God does not put us through anything that He cannot handle. I know, it suppose to be "that we cannot handle", but I guess I do not see it that way anymore.

I am grateful for the job that the Lord has given Eddie and pray my husband excels in it! In the meantime, I am getting my family and home back on track. I am also getting me back on track too. For the past 8 months I have been looking for work that I can do to supplement our income without being away from home too often. Since I love network marketing I decided to research companies to work for. All together I found 3 that I liked. through prayer and God's intervention, I settled on a skin care company called NU SKIN. Funny that it never occurred to me before since I have always loved skin care and make-up. Anyway, a very dear friend of mine told my story to a women who has been very successful in that company. When she heard my story she called me and asked to meet. I joined the Nu Skin family with her constant guidance, support and help. I am actually loving what I am doing! So I will be talking about skin care and products as I learn them. Hope you don't mind?

All in all I know that the journey continues. That is why I love life and my Savior. I am never alone, never a failure and never unloved.

God Bless you all.

A THANKFUL HEART

2009-11-27T09:43:00.000-08:00

A very Happy Thanksgiving to you all! There is so much that I am grateful for in my life today. With my husband still unemployed (18 months), I have had a chance too look back and see how we got to today.

There are so many people in my life that have been our "angels" for our Heavenly Father. They have given us money randomly, dropped off bags of food periodically and prayed and loved us all the way through. I have tried to figure out why God still has us in this situation. You see, I believe in a VERY LARGE God who is bigger than the government, bigger than the economy and much bigger than everyone else. So that said, why are we still without a job? I do not have that answer yet, but I do know that our Heavenly F ather is in control of everything.

Over the last few months I have been very busy with taking care of my Mom who was hospitalized at the beginning of October. Prior to that my husband's oldest sister was very sick with cancer and we lost her in September. Needless to say, life is in session!

One-day-at-a-time we are healing and just beginning to come back to life. I put my 2 side businesses on hold and have been home mostly taking care of what needed to be done each day. Again, I could not have survived without the love and support of the people I have chosen to call Family. God may have our life on hold in one area, but he is busy at work in many others for the good.

Most of my life I have been independent of the help of others, enjoyed pitching in to help wherever I could and loved to just give things away. I never really "needed" people until now. The most amazing part of my journey is that I have had to learn to be dependent. That has been very hard for me. I never realized how much ego is involved in independence. The Lord has showered me with riches. Showered me with love. Showered me with help. My walls have been so high and so thick it was only recently that I was able to see all this. Feeling loved has never come easy for me either and when you are in a situation like ours and the people you deeply love and care about are at risk, you go into survival mode. When that happens it is so hard to feel anything else. But the Lord has melted the hard tough wall, self-willed heart through His mighty power of love.

I will be forever grateful to Dianne, Irene, Trish (just for starters!) and many others for the great love, care and support they have given to me and to my family. But most of all I will always be grateful to them for overwhelming my life and heart with their precious love.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and to yours. I hope you will find the part of your life that has been touched this year and find a way to share it.

STILL....THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME

2009-08-02T13:51:00.000-07:00

After almost 3 weeks away, we are finally home. It felt so good to walk into my humble home. There are 5 of us in this sweet 3 bedroom, 2 bath, no den or Family room house. We spend much of our time here together. So having an opportunity to get away to a LARGE home on 1/2 acre (almost) of land was quite a treat for us!

I love the peace and quiet as I live near one of the Country's (and the World's) largest airports. I live in a large City with lot's of traffic noise, sirens and car horns. So the calm of Kernville was quite a shock to mine and my Family's systems for the first few days. LOL

I wrote last week about my older son's bordem. How he had such a hard time finding a way to just "be". THAT I have found is learned behavior for sure as I have had to learn that too.

My friend Jane suggested that I give Dante a camera and just let him go on an adventure with it! Jane, that was just the BEST advice. Thank you so much for that. He had fun shooting pictures all over Deb's property. I asked him to take pictures of God's creation. To try and see it through the eyes of God. Below are some of my favorites.

I LOVE this picture! it is the grapevines that grow just the most wonderful sweet grapes!

One of the many trees on the property.

This is one of Jake's personal favorites, the frog pond!

This morning our Pastor talked about being "content". Mmm, someone talked to me about that very thing this week?

Through the past almost 2 years that we have been going through all the changes I have shared with you in the past, being "content" has tapped me on the shoulder once or twice but I quickly ignored it! After all, who wants to be content on 3/4 less that what they lived on before? However, if I put all my hope in that same old basket of wants, I will never get away from the place I am in. I hope that makes sense?

Today's message topped off my week of thinking about do I want to be content in the first place? LOL Of course I do because I believe I am powerless to change many of what is happening in my life in the first place so why not open my eyes and heart to the idea that, this may be all there will ever be again, and if that is so, why not just be happy and content with what God has given me? This is not a bad thing, it is a spiritual thing. I have had a lot in my life and blessed beyond my dreams. To be content to me means to be at peace, to have acceptance and to know that I am right where I am suppose to be. I am getting there and it feels pretty good. After all, the most important things in life I realized, I already have. My husband, my children, my mom, my family and my friends. We all have great health and that alone IS great welath! As long as we can keep or kids eating and playing, they are happy too! LOL Sound good to me!

I am working on just being content. It feels right and it feels good.

Until next time........enjoy your self!

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:11-13)

Here are a few highlights of our trip!

Dante with the Kern River behind him.

Lunch on the Kern River!

It's a good day!

Daddy & Jake River rafting.

Tourist!

The beautiful River Kern.

Kunf Fu Jake!

WHAT TO DO...WHAT TO DO...

2009-07-22T10:23:00.000-07:00

We are still here in beautiful Kernville. The weather is gorgeous and HOT! My husband Eddie is busy working on his "to do" list which is the main reason we are here. Jake is continuously looking for frogs in the "frog" pond (they are ceramic but he is hoping for a real one real soon) and Dante is just bored! Ugh the teen years. I am not ready. Don't think I ever will be but they are on my "door step" now and I have to get ready.

It use to be that I could entertain Dante pretty easily. Not now. He is a great kid tho and is always fun to be with. It is just keeping him entertained seems harder than before.

Whenever we come up here we are on the go. This time there is an agenda that much be met first. How do you convince a 12 1/2 year old that helping is a fun thing? LOL

We will go off to the lake and he will swim until he drops. Boys; keep them physically active and they are happy. It is just the way God made them.

Being up here always gets me thinking about living somewhere else. I see the beauty and want to have more of that in my own life. Living in a City that is crowded and now water rationing is killing off gardens, makes me feel like cement is not my friend. But where to go? The unemployment level is rising in California and Eddie has been on so many interviews and put out so many resumes that he is getting very discouraged. I pray about it all the time. But I get disappointed too sometimes. It is hard to understand why we are still in this situation because I see God as bigger that the recession, bigger than the issues in California and bigger than the issues in the U.S. It has me thinking about leaving California to hopefully find a healthy economy in another State where we can raise our kids and live simply.

Los Angeles is over rated and over charging to live here. Since my zip code is a Los Angeles zip code, we are charged for everything! Only my relationship with Christ seems to be improving because I must lean into Him to stay strong. Some days are easier than others, but it is always where I get peace.

I hope that you and your family are surviving the problems this economy is bringing on and that you do not loose hope because without hope we have nothing. Hope is the one thing I cannot live without. I live without a lot these days and I am just fine. So are my children. Maybe that is why Dante is so bored? Have we given him too much and now that we have cut back on so much he feels lost as to know what to do? Wow, if so that is sad. Back to prayer. Prayer is my answer to everything and the ONLY tool in my tool box that has ever constantly sustained me.

When I come to Kernville I feel at peace with everything. The mighty hand of God is everywhere. The trees, the river, the lake, the birds, the animals and all the amazing blooming flowers. Getting a break from the noise, the cement and the fears I have is a huge blessing.

I know that our Father has a great plan for us. He knows everything and sees everything. I also am coming to terms with the fact that if He wanted Eddie to have a job he would have one. Until then, both Eddie and I are doing whatever work comes our way and grateful to have it. My heart goes out to anyone going through this too. I know first hand a mother's concerns for caring for her family but God is good and His promises are real. And that we CAN count on!

"And we know that all things work together for the good to them who love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose". Romans 8:28 (KJV)

IT'S A GOOD DAY IN PARADISE!

2009-07-15T12:18:00.000-07:00

It is finally time for our family vacation! Whew. Just in the nick of time too. EVERYONE is burned out and in need of real down time.

We have been here in one of our favorite places, Kernville, CA for 3 days. It has taken that long for me to feel just a little rested. Crazy huh? Life just gets so busy sometimes and we don't realize how burned out we are. We are not a crazy busy family because when I started homeschooling I was told that crazy busy is not healthy for our kids. I have found that to be a great truth.

Eddie & I have tried to curb Dante's need to be doing something every minute of every day. Instead, he is learning to take care not run constantly in his day-to-day life. But sometimes you just cannot help it.

We just completed a huge play Dante was in with many rehearsals and parent participation preceded by a convention that Eddie and I both are volunteers for. We love all of it but it just so happened that this was a 9 day period of non stop fun/work. Now that we are on vacation, I realized that today is the first day we are all relaxed. Even Dante finally is relaxing. Of course not so for Jake! When you are 4 you are ALWAYS very busy with things to do. Need to feed the birds, run around the backyard, go swimming every minute, play with toys, run around the backyard some more...well you get it.

The best part for me is being away from the constant need to be busy. I cannot rest at home because there is the house to be cleaned, laundry to be done, appointments to drive people to, kids, gardening, etc. But up here in Kernville, I can do all those things and still feel like I am resting? What is that about?

I love Debra and Jeff's house. It is big inside and out. There is always something to do or not. There is just beautiful birds, trees and other wild life. Of course there is the Kern River and the Lake!

I love being in God's handy work. Watching the beautiful grapevine's Jeff has growing. The bird's Debra feeds. Oh and I cannot forget the skunks and racoon's that stop by at night to just say hello.

So the bottom line is that today we have a beautiful day, in a beautiful place and a way to enjoy time together as a family. Thank you Father for this great gift and thank you Jeff and Debra. I'll keep you posted on all the fun.

It is a good day in paradise!

WILLY WONKA & DANTE

2009-07-10T17:51:00.001-07:00

Dante and the play he has been working on since the end of April opened last night. Our church has a fantastic drama ministry called Haven Academy for the Arts. It is a non-profit organization designed to give kids from 5-18 a safe play to learn and enjoy all types of arts.

Dante has done a few plays over the past 3 years and really loves it. Who knew!

This production has been a blast for him. He plays the deaf Grandpa in the show and wears a grey wig. By the way, he looks just like my Mom. Hilarious!

All the kids in this production are between 12 & 20 years old. Except the Um Pa Loom Pa's of course. Who by the way are pretty great themselves.

One of the main focuses the director, Rebekah has is character development. I do not mean the ones they play but the ones they are. She works to build respect, trust, patience, kindness and relationships between the kids. it show too because they really care about each other. I think this is such an amazing idea considering what entertainment really is...competitive.

Since Dante is home schooled, it is an amazing gift to have an opportunity like this for him. The Academy has so much to offer. Since both my husband and I have been in entertainment most of our lives, we are not surprised by his interest. We have never pushed him, just drove him to try-outs. He has done all this on his own and we are both really proud of him. Dante has kept his commitments, showed up for everything and has tried to do a really good job.

Congratulations Rebekah and to the entire cast of WILLY WONKA for all your hard work and a show well done!

Dante as Grandpa George

Willy Wonka & the Um Pa Loom Pa's

IT'S ROUND-UP TIME & AMERICA'S BIRTHDAY

2009-07-04T12:49:00.000-07:00

What a great time of year. I get to celebrate the freedom from alcohol and freedom as a citizen of this Country I love! I am passionate about both.

I have spent the last few days with friends and family at a yearly AA convention where I actually got sober. Most of these folks I only get to see once a year and others I see often. The great feeling is that we LOVE being together regardless. Freedom from bondage is surely a gift from God. I guess that is why I am so passionate about my sobriety and the blessing of being an American.

The Statue of Liberty re-opened today in New York. What a perfect day for that! I remember going about 20 years ago and just being moved beyond words at the sight of her. We live in the greatest country in the world. I try to do my part each day through prayer and example to keep this gift. I do not like the alternative for either one in my life.

I hope you all have an awesome 4th! Watch out for the seeds in the watermelon! LOL

God Bless you all and please dear Lord, God Bless this wonderful land!

JAKE GRATUATES FROM PRE-K

2009-06-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I have posted here. The past month has been so busy with fun and celebrations! Thank you Lord for fun and celebrations.

Birthdays, 2 high school graduations, party to celebrate said graduation, Father's Day and of course the end of the school year celebrations for Jake and his class.

Jake graduated from Pre-K and now it is off to kindergarten for Jake in September. Doesn't seem possible at all. As many of you know he has Developmental Delays and is part of the Special Education in school. So in order for us to get him the services he needs, we have to comply with the L.A. City School District.

Jake going to Kindergarten is so scary for me because he is 4 and will not turn 5 until the end of November. That means his first semester he will be 4 NOT 5. Developmental Delays effect their level of maturity so putting him "ahead" does not make sense to me. The new teacher told me they are never to hold any back which was my request from the beginning. Because of the lack of maturity that comes with Jake's situation, I do not need him going to college at 17!

It is a very frustrating process because you are one of many but to you, it is all about your child only. They told me he could do very well and move to first grade with no problems! Really? Move to first grade at 5 years old? The school district NEEDS the money so they do not hold kids back and lowered the kindergarten entry age to 4! Push them in push them out! It is the mentality like this one that has always driven me crazy with L.A. City Schools. I took Dante out after a miserable year in Kindergarten there and started homeschooling him in the first grade. I worked in the classroom 2 days a week and all I did was test the kids. The testing worn on them and they would cry when I would try to get answers from them. I just wanted to help teach them to read. I must say that the Lord did also put it on my heart to bring Dante home because I would have NEVER done it on my own. But with Jake, Eddie and I cannot afford the services he needs so in order for him to get them he has to stay in public school.

I have decide to let him go and take it one semester at a time. The heart of a Mother is like a raging lion when her child's needs are at stake. I know I will through prayer get what Jake needs because I have faith that the Lord has his very mighty hand in this. All the signs show me that already. So for now I will continue to make peace with kindergarten in September. Take him to his speech therapy and keep a Mother's watchful eye on the class and the teacher. It is so much easier when they are little and gets a bit harder to get the services they need (even if they need them) as they get older. By the time they are 6 years old the district no longer recognizes developmental delays as a problem. NOW they start calling it "learning disabilities". UGH!!! All right? I figure they have reports hundreds of pages long that support that revelation, but to me I can't see what the difference is. And they are no longer considered the same and your child is basically just moved along unless some burning need arises.

I get very emotionally involved and resort to prayer often. I can begin to feel powerless quickly otherwise. I think the not knowing how his class will be is the biggest part right now. When your child has delayed speech and cannot tell you all of what he needs to, it becomes a situation where you have to be right there in the middle to see so you can understand what he is communicating. Jake is doing well in speech but is still a year or more behind putting him at late 3 years old in his talking ability. We have moments when he will say a sentence crystal clear. It is always a time of celebration. We celebrate every victory no matter how big or small. So we celebrated his day at Pre-K with his 2 amazing teachers who he just ADORES. I think because these 2 women are so wonderful and he truly loves them, it makes it hard for Mom to let go too. I trust these women with my son, I know they love him and have always taken very good care of him in the almost 2 years he has been with them.

Eddie and I showed Jake his new school and he cried and said "I want to go back to my school". :-( Poor guy. he asks for his teachers everyday. Thank you Lord for these 2 amazing women. They really care about these children and do everything they can to help us parents make the best choices for them. Both of them have been fighting with me to get Jake what he needs.

Thank you Father for the Special Ed Teachers, they truly are wonderful advocates for our children.

We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

Colossians 1:3

CATCHING UP

2009-05-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I last blogged here and I am sorry for being away so long.

Since we last 'talked" I have been busy just doing life. I opened a new shop on Etsy called Pixel Rose. I have been creating blog banners and background's for a while now. I became so curious as to "how to" on blogs. I saw so many blogs that looks personal and looked like you were coming into an extension of their home. The blog theme's I found were just not for me.

After playing around with all this I started making my own themes and my own banner's for my Etsy shop. I guess I finally got the courage to put my creations up for sale. NOW, I am like a crazy person who just cannot stop making them! LOl I gues there are worst things in life to be addicted to. So when you can, I would like to invite you to my "open" house at Pixel Rose on etsy.com!

I had a wonderful Mother's Day's. Eddie and the Boy's spoiled me! I had my breakfast in bed and watched a little morning t.v. (which I NEVER do). We went to church in the morning and to my Husband's sister's home for a visit and pizza in the afternoon.

The boy's all played together and Terrin and I "played" in her new garden. This girl is SO creative! I always look forward to seeing her end projects because she has an eye for corners and walls like no one else I know. She turned this small front yard into a beautiful walk way with a great corner patio right out front at then end of the grass! We planted the flowers and there it was. This warm and inviting "coffee" spot! A perfect place to have some quiet with a cup of morning coffee.

With my Mom at the table, my family and I enjoyed a simple dinner made by Dad. :)

So let me know what you have been up to as I always love to hear from you!

Love to all,
Rita

A LITTLE SHOT OF EASTER DAY

2009-04-23T09:48:00.000-07:00

I thought you might like to see the boys for a lighter blog today! Here are a few of our pictures from our backyard Easter egg hunt. Hope you enjoy them!

My Guys.

Dante

Hey, what's this?

Run Jakey run!!!

THE TRUTH ABOUT TAX DAY TEA PARTY'S

2009-04-17T10:53:00.000-07:00

At the end of this video you can see Eddie and I straight ahead in the crowd. Yes, we were there. We carried the American Flag and our signs stating that the SPENDING HAD TO STOP IN WDC.

Over the last 2 days I have watched and laughed and been really angry at the news media and their "take" or as I affectionately call it "spin" about the events of April 15th.

A while back groups of people got really angry about the so called economy stimulus bill and protested like the Colonist did back in 1773 in the Boston Harbor. Since then this idea has grown and grown.

Now I am not an activist, a politician or even a "news" blogger. I am an American citizen who is being extremely effected by what is happening in the economy in our country today. My husband lost his job last June. Since that time he has been offered 4 jobs and ALL have fallen through. He has placed almost 100 resumes with NO response. Eddie is a VERY smart and talented guy with excellent qualifications. He is willing to take a drop in pay and a start back at the bottom of his career if he needs to. Still, no job. We live on unemployment and whatever I make from my 2 businesses (Monavie & Etsy store). Where I made $200.00 to $300.00 a week part-time online, I am now lucky if I earn $25.00 a month. But I am not only speaking of us, I am talking about this entire County. Many, many families have similar stories to tell.

While our current Administration boast of "good" results from the out of control spending , thousands of people in every state are loosing jobs every month. Major corporations and long-time company's are closing their doors. This is why I braved 40-50 mile per hour winds at the ocean (Los Angeles) and a chilly 50 degree day at the beach (burrrrr) to carry my sign.

Never have I ever been counseled to spend more of my money so I could "stimulate" my personal economy. Never have I been counseled to borrow from whom ever would lend to me. Instead, I cut back. I stop services. I work harder and take whatever is offered to me. I barter and I have lot's of garage sales! That is what I ask of my government. Cut back, stop borrowing, drop unnecessary services (pork!) and take some pay cuts yourself!

Instead, they are making money! Yea, right of the press! That lowers the value of our current dollar. They attack people who have money and are doing well?? What is that about? Is that not what capitalism is all about? I say God Bless them! Keep it up! And now we have to help stop the "stink" in a state that "suffers" from the stink of pig!! Really? Unbelievable.

The media reports were a joke. Instead of thousands of people turning up, they report a "few" hundred. Instead of the TRUE protest signs, they showed the ones attacking Obama. Instead of taking us seriously, they made fun of us, called us terrorist, said we were "unwarranted" in our complaints! Nancy Pelosi said the we are not a "grass roots" movement started by everyday American people but a"astro turf" movement backed by BIG money on the "right winged" side! LOL LOL LOL Nancy, you are so wrong.

This was not started by BIG money, Fox News or talk radio. It WAS however supported by Fox News and talk radio because if you loose touch with the people, you loose your audience i.e. MSNBC.

There you have it. This is all coming from everyday American's just like me. I pray the direction and the control on spending happens quick becaus living like this is not only hard it is frightening. I have 2 boys.

Maybe we can start a prayer chain for each other where we pray everyday for businesses to grow, record numbers of people no longer unemployed and a responsible handling of our money by out government. I know if we stick together and help each other as we are all doing, things will only get better. I would love to pray for you. Leave me your request.

Until next time........

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HALEIGH

2009-04-14T15:38:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

KERNVILLE FISHING DERBY...AND OTHER THINGS TOO!

2009-04-07T18:14:00.000-07:00

Dante, Jake & Haleigh

This weekend was the 20th Annual Fishing Derby up in Kernville, Ca. We have never gone before so this was really a treat.

Eddie loves to fish and when her heard the fish were tagged with prize money, well he just loved it even more!

Both days Debra (she owns the home we stay in when we are there) had everyone out the door by 6ish..that would be A.M. in case you were wondering.

Debra's got her list!

Debra is always organized and ALWAYS has the most fun stuff planned for the kids. She is a big kid herself and they just LOVE her. She is also just the best chef around so you KNOW we had the greatest food all weekend. Of course we all look it now!

Jake being...well, Jake!

Later in the morning they came back to the house and picked Jake up so he could go and have some fun too. He is such a goob! Of course he loved it. But now I have to explain to him that we only eat the fish in the lake, not our 2 fish in our bowls at home! The fish are safe...for now!

Haleigh had a great time too.

My beautiful Haleigh will be 13 next week. Can't hardly believe it! She loved the Derby and fished like a pro! You go Haleigh girl!! Happy Birthday Honey. :)

Daddy & Jake

Eddie is such a great sport. As much as he loves to fish I was told (because I stayed home...6 am..really? NO!) he made sure everyone's pole was ready with those gross things that are alive on each one...bait. Yuck. I do love fishing too but someone had to stay home and well do something?

They fished both days and the only thing they caught was Eddie's hat! It flew off his head and they all started going for it in the lake! Ahhhhh, so funny. Oh yea, and they caught a dead fish that was not tagged with the big money. Oh, well, there is always next year!!

If you are reading this through your email, you might want to go to the blog so you can see all the fun pictures!

We had a fun day with a baby sparrow that fell onto Debra's deck. Sweet little guy got his "foot" caught in the deck so I used a stick to help him get himself out. Apparently he was dazed because he did not fly away or even move. we sat around him and watched him for a long time. The kids loved being so close to a wild bird. Eventually he started walking around and just looking at us, wondering who or what we were. Eddie got a long stick and helped him jump on but instead the little guy jumped on Eddie's pants and just hung on! Eddie finally got him into a tree using the stick. Later when we checked on him he was not there. We hoped that he got his wings going and flew home.

Until next time..........

A BALANCE CALLED LOVE

2009-03-31T07:53:00.000-07:00

"Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." 1 Corinthians 8:1b

How true is that verse! I blog about Jake most of the time. He is always giving me material to write about.

Having a child with Developmental Delays can be tough some days so I arm myself with knowledge. What to do when this or that happens, etc. My Bible verses also are very important because they teach me, calm me and "arm" me with knowledge also. But, this verse (1 Corinthians 8:1b) keeps me focused on what is most important. Love.

As a parent I am aware that my Boys need to be taught and shown what is right and what is wrong. In the day-to-day life it seems I spend most of my time doing just that. but this verse reminds me of what, as a Mom, is the most important of all because disciple without love is painful for the child. They feel things about themselves a parent never wants their child to feel. The more I seek that balance the happier my kids seem to be.

I am learning to laugh more and let more just "roll" of me. Keeping with this new philosophy, I take pause before I say anything to my boys now.....well at least I do when I remember! LOL

Saturday afternoon Jake was playing outside in the backyard. He LOVES bugs and dirt. What fun when you are a boy. He also knows how much I love to garden and how much I love flowers.

After he had been out there for about an hour, he came running in yelling for me to close my eyes and come and see! He had filled up my watering pitcher with dirt and picked flowers from my garden. The he arranged the flowers in that pitcher making Mommy a special recipe!

My Husband said, "please do not be mad when you see what he has done". The mess was horrendous!

As a walked out the backdoor, I saw it. The sweetest, most thoughtful gift Jake could have ever done. It was SO well done! I am not saying that because he is my son, I mean it was very well done. Jake said it was his"recipe"! LOL Yes it was.

And there is was, my verse:

"Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." 1 Corinthians 8:1b

Love builds up, it certainly does. I am so thankful for all the help and reminders God, you and Jake give me on a regular basis to remember that love builds it does not destroy!

EUREKA!!! DID WE FIND IT??????

2009-03-20T12:22:00.000-07:00

We FINALLY broke down and put a lock on Jake's door. It is a bolt lock that twist from the outside. He can never get locked in but we can lock it from the outside. It is very safe and very simple. We lock it when we go to sleep and he calls us if he needs us. He is no longer up and running around the house by himself in the middle of the night!! After ALL my frustrating attempts at everything else, it works!! The first night he fussed about it and then nothing. That was all. He just says goodnight Mommy and goes to bed! WOW, who knew?? Now when he wakes up he calls my name and I go get him. AND for some reason, he is sleeping later too which is good for everyone. He is sleeping better and happier all day long!

SO, are we done yet!!! NO!!!!

We put a different gate that is very tall on the laundry room doorway to keep the dog back there and stop her from roaming the house with her clicking nails all night long. Guess what? It works too! Even my little senile dog is sleeping better...aaaawwwwww.

Does this mean I am done yet? NO!!!!

Ok, so this morning I got Jake up and put him in bed with me. For whatever his reasons he did not feel like today! I told him he could go back to his room and play but could not go anywhere else. He decided to not heed my instructions and instead ran off to find the dog. SOMEHOW he managed to open the little doggy door on the gate, (which by the way, was locked?) and crawl through! HE CRAWLED THROUGH the doggy door on the gate and hid in the back bathroom with the dog who started clicking all over the floor with her nails!!! UGH!

I still cannot figure out how Jake did that. Those of you who know him know he is not a small guy. He is cute and round!! LOL But he did, he wiggled his way through that doggy door and was so proud of himself too!!! Oh my gosh!!! What a character!! We really thought we had him this time!! LOL .......... Eddie and I just lost it! We laughed so hard!! But quietly so as not to let Jake know we thought it was funny. He is just too amazing! How DOES he do that?

Dear Lord,
PLEASE let Jake grow up to be an amazing and bright boy, teenager and man who uses the beautiful gifts you have given him for GOOD ONLY!!!!
Amen!

LOL!

JAKE STRIKES AGAIN!!!!!!

2009-03-14T14:00:00.000-07:00

Imagine you are in a deep and peaceful sleep. Then, out of nowhere......WHAM!!! Jake strikes again!!

Of I go into the dark hallway looking for him. I KNOW I heard him, I also heard our senile dogs pitter patter of her nails on the hardwood floor. THAT is never a good sign because it means she is NOT in the kitchen. The only way that happens, is Master Jake has struck again.

The strange thing I noticed this time, is that Jake's door to his room was closed and the blanket we put on the floor at his door (the door bottom is high in case a carpet is ever put in) to block the light was in place. Snoop Mom is on the case. I go into the dining room and there is the dog. She is walking in circles (because she is senile and has no real idea where she is going) in an attempt to hide I imagine from that crazy little boy who keeps telling me he just wants to help Sissey escape! Off to bed with her. The problem is, in her little senile mind she is not going back to bed, she is going somehwre, anywhere! Now I am spending 10 minutes putting the dog back into her bed 20 times. Then the real snooping begins. Where is Jake??

After looking in all the usual places like under the dining room table, the living room and behind the couch, I heard a strange noise coming from the laundry room area. Lo and behold, there he was, hiding behind the back bathroom door gigling. UGH!!!! That Boy!!!!

Off I go with Jake in tow back to his bed. All the usual instruction said, "DON'T get out of bed, DON'T go into the kitchen and DON'T TOUCH the dog!" Within minutes, the sound of Jake's bedroom door hits my ears and we are both off and running down the hallway again in the dark of the night.

Now, believe me when I tell you that we are doing ALL the things that all of you have suggested. For example, we used bungee cords to hold the door so he could open it but not open it enough to wiggle through. He almost tossed the dresser the cords were attached to. Toss that idea out.

Next, we put up the old baby gate that LOCKS, in his doorway so when he opened his door at 4 AM, he could see out but could not get out. Well, never one to be held back, Jake just piled a bunch of toy boxes and crawled (at 3:30 AM) over the top of the gate. By the way, this is NOT a short gate. We really thought we had him. I almost had a good night sleep that night thinking he is safe in his room. Silly me! Toss that idea, not safe.

We even tried having Eddie sleep on the couch to send a message to Jake (consistancy ya know) that Mom and Dad aren't going to take it anymore!!! Silly us!! Toss that idea out.

Those are just a couple of the things we have tried. It was suggest that we get a dutch door for his room but we are afraid he will just climb that too. Unless we put barbed wire but then DCFS will haul us off to jail! LOL Just kidding!!!

Finally, we are going to have to go to our last resort. One we both hate but are at a loss to do anything else. We are going to put a chain lock on the outside of the door. He can open and see out but cannot do anything more. The goal is to keep him in his room and safe. He will yell and wake us up, but at least I know he won't get hurt.

There you have it. My day or night in the life with Jake (just this week). Even with all of this he is still the funniest, smartest and strongest little 4 year old there is.

Pray for us, PLEASE!!!

2009-03-07T21:42:00.000-08:00

Today's Humming Bird Photo!

BECAUSE PATIENCE IS MORE THAN ENDURANCE

2009-03-07T18:30:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite daily devotional's is by OSWALD CHAMBERS.
I found his book on a sale table at a book store a few years ago and brought it home. I didn't know anything about him, just his name. Little did I know that this little book would change me from the inside out.

There are many favorite "days" in the book that I highlight with read often. One of my favorite's is May 8, THE PATIENCE OF FAITH. The writing of the day (cira 1900) was strong and direct about everything related to our person relationship with the Lord. This day is no different.

May 8 ~ Patience is more than endurance. A saint's life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and He stretches and strains, and every now and again the saint says - "I cannot stand any more." God does not heed, He goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight, then He lets it fly. Trust yourself in God's hands. For what have you need of patience just now? Maintain your relationship to Jesus Christ by the patience of faith. "Though He slay me, yet will I wait for Him."

I am the "saint" that he is quoting in that paragraph! LOL This past 18 months has really tested my endurance AND faith. Eddie on disability, running through ALL our savings and retirement (I guess that one is looking good in todays economy), then no money for 8 weeks, finally unemployment and the shock of what they ended up giving us to live on, and now still no job start date on the horizon after being told he "got the job". You can say that my faith has taken a BIG ride.

I love the part where Oswald says that "He goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight". Man, I hope His purpose is in sight soon! LOL

Faith and the endurance it takes to keep on that path was easy until November when we lost the disibility benefits. Well, maybe easy in comparison to now. It was tight, but we were doing ok. The REAL walk of faith has been since that time until now.

"God has ventured all in Jesus Christ to save us, now He wants us to venture our all in abandoned confidence in Him." Mmmmm, what an order, help me to go through with it because some days are harder than others. Some days I throw myself into my kids, house, work and other days I sleep a lot. Either way, I am focusing on what I believe will be the exciting conclusion to my story! I have been down plenty of time before and God has ALWAYS kept his promises. I know he will now too. It is just hard some days to keep that in the front line of my thinking. Maybe that is what faith is????? Not the fear of how will I feed my kids, not the frustration of today being just like yesterday, but knowing that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and tommorrow and so are his promises. I just have to keep my head in the middle, between the beginning and the end, no promise goes unkept. So I focus on the promises so that I don't fail in my faith.

Yesterday at the grocery store of all places, I picked up a new book. A little pocket book called The NLT Bible Promise Book. Just in the nick of time!

Patience ~ The Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God's promises to be fulfilled. Romans 15:4

Thank you Lord for NEVER leaving me or forsaking me even when I deserve it.

JUST ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE

2009-03-03T08:34:00.001-08:00

I'm sorry it has been so long since I have posted here. I got hit sideways with this ugly cold that is going around. Now, I have been sick with colds before, but I have never felt like I was not going to get up again!!! I have been in bed off and on for 2 weeks now. Nasty, nasty, nasty respiratory icky germ going around people! Wear your masks... LOL

Many of you know that Eddie heard back from a company he interviewed with. Well, we are STILL waiting for a start date! Crazy huh? Meanwhile, he got a lead on another job that just might be a good one too. I still feel like we are living in the "hurry up and wait" zone. That is the crazy part of our lives this past 18 months. EVERYTHING is taking so long. I know, God is in control. :)

Jake has been relatively the same lately. Still bugging the dog, trying to run the house and tell us all what to do! LOL Oh my gosh he is so funny. He is doing well in speech therapy. He started last month and seems to like the therapist which is a step in the right direction.

Jake and I love hummingbirds. We have this crazy game we seem to be loosing with them where Jake whispers, "hungging ber Mamama". I then run and grab my camera and off we go trying to capture these beauties in flight. We feed them and they also love the flowers we have around too. Here is one of the most recent pictures we were able to get. Not that great but I am challenged and on a mission to get the best photo I can!!!

"Because I asked the LORD for him." 1 Samuel 1:20

2009-02-17T15:46:00.000-08:00

I was window shopping on Etsy.com today, when I came across a seller who makes the most unusual but lovely plaques. Her seller name is redletterwords. They are 12x12 and 3/4" wide. Hang them, set them on a shelf, etc........ I became so touched by her work because it is simple but elegant. She uses Bible verses along with other text.

As I looked at all her designs, I came across one that REALLY set me back!

I Prayed for this Child and the Lord granted what I asked of Him. (1 Samuel 1:20)

WELL!!!!!!!

That hit me pretty hard. I have been whining, crying and struggling with Jake and his unwillingness to stop doing the things we ask him to stop doing. Most are about manners, etc. The biggies are what he thinks is fun to do like showering the dog, hiding her poo (my personal favorite), playing with his toys in the dining room at 3 am. Reading that verse took my breath away because, you see, I DID pray for this boy. And yes, the Lord gave him to me.

Oh how I love the word of God. It is fresh air to me all of the time. How cool is our Lord that he got my attention window shopping!!! Aaaaahhhhhhhh, I love it! LOL I love my Jakey too. No one lights up a room the way he does, no one can laugh as hard or as great as he, and I love him because I prayed and my Lord granted what I asked for. Thank you Jesus.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

2009-02-14T07:36:00.001-08:00

Love is in the air...........

On this special day where we stop for a moment from our busy schedules to think about the people in our lives we love, I thought that I would share this amazing story from a business associate of mine. I had a whole different idea about what I would post today, but as it says on my sidebar...As for me and my blog, we will serve the Lord!!

This was written by my friend Mimi from Mimi's Chenille Boutique.

I want to tell you about a very special friend of mine, who made me smile and laugh! She was very special to me, you knew you could always count on her when you were down, when you needed a cup of sugar and just wanted to share a cup of coffee with in the morning, or anytime! Her name was Agnes, "Ag" as we all called her! She could make you laugh even when your heart was blue or aching. She was my best friend! You always know when you meet someone you just "click" with and this was true for me!

I moved to North Carolina in 1996, not by choosing, but because of my husband's job being eliminated due to "base closures" when Clinton was in office! Oh, I didn't want to move, we had built our life, our home and memories in Virginia, but we had no choice! My husband had 8 years left before he could retire, my daughter, who was 16 at the time, still had college to attend and we knew couldn't send her to college without relocating and getting the retirement he had worked so hard for! So we moved! It was dreadful, in a new place, where we knew no one, had to make friends again and try to fit in! While we settled, bought an old house built in 1890, just to keep me and my mind occupied while I renovated and redecorated!

Well, about a year later, I hear all this commotion across the street, boy, were they loud! I thought to myself, "oh, great" what kind of neighbors are we getting!! Well, it was Ag and Kenny, they were from New Jersey and had rented the house from the previous couple who had renovated it and moved to another part of the city! Little did I know at the time, she would be one of my best friends! She was Italian, talked with a "Jersey" accent and said what she had to say! They were wonderful neighbors, we became very good friends, traveled, antiqued, dined and even had a "luau" party! They had bought property and Kenny was going to build a house on the land they had purchased!

Ag and I had so much fun looking for antique pieces to use in their new house! One day, we went antiquing and stopped at this little place, we found a gorgeous oak fireplace surround and an antique white iron bed! Well, actually I found the bed, and she oohed and aahed, asked me "Deb, you want this bed" (I have four bedrooms upstairs, anyway, I said "no, I don't", so she got it. It went into her new house in Bath! Every time I saw that bed, I drooled, but it was perfect for them! We always joked about it, because I told her more than once, I could kick myself for not getting, and she would say, "you had your chance, it's mine now!". We had so many wonderful times and I truly miss her! You see, she died on her birthday of cancer, after loosing her wonderful husband and friend, to pancreatic cancer, only five months before, not even suspecting she had cancer!

So, I dedicate this heart to my friend Ag, and wanted you to know the story behind this heart!

I was on eBay looking for beautiful crocheted doilies and roses. I emailed one of the sellers to ask a question about her beautiful work. Add a bit of info about me and she emailed back, told me she had a sister who lived where I do, mentioned their names and I also most fell over, it was Ag's sister! What fate it was, she is now my friend, though lives in another state, and crochets the most beautiful things, you can find her on etsy!

There is more and you can see the rest on Mimi's blog.

Watching the Lord work in such powerful ways in our lives is my favorite part of day-to-day life. Thank you Father for your love, your grace and for this very special day where we can remember you and the amazing heart you have for us!

Call the people in your life today who mean so much to you and let them know how much you care.
With all my love to all of you.....A very HAPPY DAY OF LOVE

xoxoxo

WHAT NOW???????

2009-02-12T12:43:00.001-08:00

I have been blogging for awhile now. I THOUGHT I was going to blog about everything in our lives. Eddie, the kids, friends, places we go, blah blah blah. It has become pretty clear to me that I blog about Jake 90% of the time. Now don't get me wrong, he is funny and does some of the most bizarre things but this AM takes the cake...or maybe it runs a close first place next to trying to get the dog in the shower with him so they could "clean up" at the crack of dawn!

Ok, I am shaking off a bug right now, bad headache, chills...the whole deal. This morning Eddie got up with Jake which he rarely does, so I could sleep. That means Eddie has no idea what to expect when he reaches the kitchen or livingroom first thing. he has no idea what to look for or where to look for it first thing in the sunrise of morning.

It seems like it is every morning that I end up disciplining Jake and sending him to his room because he is playing in the kitchen with our sinile dog Sissey, who thinks my livingroom carpet is the backyard grass (if you get my meaning). Now fast forward to about 10 am this morning. All of a sudden I heard Eddie yell..."NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" Jake of course ran and hid because he KNEW what he had done. Apparently, Jake (once again) went into the kitchen before dawn. In an attempt to set Sissey free, he moved the doorway blocks (chairs, etc.) that keep Sissey in the kitchen and let her out into the living room and eventually to my rug. Being senile, she is thinking my living room rug was the grass...you guessed it.....she did her business right there on my carpet!!! UGH. I must be getting through to Jake because he knew he or Sissey or both of them were now in trouble with Mom. So Jake decided to hide Sissey's poo himself. But where????? Mmmmm..... I know he thought........IN MY CLOTHES DRIER WITH MY CLEAN CLOTHES!@%$#%$#^&%%

WHAT am I going to do with this child????????? Eddie just lost his mind! Jake of course eventually came out of hiding and when Eddie told him (the same thing I say everyday) not to let the dog out, stay in your bed and of course, DON't touch the dog mess!!! Jake just said "Oh?".

What is left for me to say? Either I need or Jake needs therapy. I'll let you know what I figure out.

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF BLOGGING

2009-02-05T09:25:00.000-08:00

I love to blog! It took so long to figure out what blogging was and why people did it. Of cousre I know now why. It is to create and stay connected to a community of like minded people. I have become friends with people I have never seen and I am learning that the blog community is a caring community too.

I have 4 blog and each has its own unique purpose.

Right here ~ This is my personal blog devoted to Family, Faith and Friends. This is were my story begins and continues. The people I love can check in anytime and see what we are up too and watch my children grow,
Vintage Heart 2 ~ My online store blog. I joined a network of business women who have turned out to be the most wonderful group of people. The talent alone is mind boggling! Each Friday is Flea Market day and people from all over the country (maybe the world) shop in all the stores that are part of the network. There I showcase the things I make and the vintage treasures I have found.
Queens Corner Cottage ~ This is an information blog helping people learn how to buy, sell and research vintage items. I am part of a huge vintage community and I love it. On this blog I showcase one highly collectible vintage item at a time and try to provide the information someone may need to sell it. I also give information about selling on Ebay, Etsy and Ruby Lane.
Blogbackground4u ~ I became obsessed with templates for Ebay, blogger, and banners for Etsy. I went on a quest to learn how to make my own. In my travels I found some of the most talented and generous artist who give away digital papers, elements, etc. to create my own. On this blog everyone is welcome to stop by and snag any of the free blogger templates they want.

I have always known that networking is an important piece of relational existance in life. With each other we will end up with a very sad life.

I welcome anyone to comment and let me know they were here. As of now, I only know of one person who reads this on a regular basis. LOL

Ok, back to work for me. Take care.

MORE PHOTOS

2009-02-02T14:46:00.001-08:00

It was such a gorgeous day too. Even my little birdie friend thought so!!

HAPPY MONDAY

2009-02-02T09:27:00.000-08:00

Good Morning All!

I hope everyone had a fun Super Bowl weekend. My Steelers won so I am very happy about that.

To update you on my digi world addiction, I have created a new blog where you can pick up free blogger backgrounds for your blog. I am just having the most fun I have had in awhile. One thing I know about myself is that art is soothing to me. Singing, performing, making with my hands ~ cooking, gardening, making jewelry, and now the fabulous world of digital art. It is so great for people like me who cannot draw a straight line to save their life!! LOL All the backgrounds are free. I am going to create a signature to add to your site so we can offer these to more people.

On to the fun stuff. Can someone please help me keep Jake in his bed? saturday night he decided that he was done sleeping at 4 AM. I heard him up and around. I got up and found him in the kitchen, with the light on playing with our senile dog. GREAT.

My poor dog, she gets lost in the kitchen and here is this little 4 year old trying to play with her at 4 AM.

I got everyone back to bed with great resistance from both. A short time later Jake was up again. Back to bed we go only to have him up again 30 minutes later. Man, if it was legal I would tie him to that bed! LOl Not really. I just cannot figure out why he thinks that 4AM is such a fun time of the day!

This has become a nightly occurrence and the result of it is no sleep for Mommy. It would not be so bad, but he now states that he does not take naps anymore (and he doesn't). You can just imagine how fun he is at about 5 PM.

Come on Mom's, please help me here....(Rita cry's...)

That is all for today. Oh, Queen Mary field trip was fun. I think Irene and I liked it more than the kids though. Typical.

I AM LOVING THE DIGI WORLD!!!

2009-01-27T07:26:00.000-08:00

It is almost 7:30 a.m. ~ Here I am in my usual A.M. position, coffee, my computer and Jake. Today he woke me up at a little before 6:00 am., which is about normal for him. On a GOOD day, I get to sleep in until 7:00 am!

Today is field trip day at the Queen Mary. Irene and I are taking Haleigh and Dante for the day. I love the QM. The vintage architect and style suites me fine. I hope Dante has fun today. As he approached 13 (Mom is now crying) it seems harder to please him. Teen years stink!! How hard it is to be a teen.

When I was in my teens I think some of my most painful days happened. My parents were so strict. Which I realize was not a bad thing. Eddie's parents were just the opposite. He is determined to have strong boundaries for the boys.

Anyway, I see Dante searching for who/what to "be". He has a fabulous sense of humor that he got from me!! Yea! I am such a firm believer that if you can laugh, you can survive. Fortunately, he can laugh.

I am now obsessed with learning how to create my own templates for Blogger. I cannot seem to find any for free that have any personality so I make my own. Since my brain does not function when numbers are involved, (LOL) it took me awhile to really understand the "code" language. I cannot say I completely do, but I am happy to report that I understand enough to make my own templates!! It is not as hard as I thought. There is a big connection to the Digital Scrapbook market and template creating. Because of the kindness and brilliant creativety of these talent people, I was able to find many free downloadable kits that I can mix and use to make my own templates.

The current one you see now is one I made. It is about as close to what I want as I can make for today. Don't be surprised if there are new ones whenever you stop by!!! LOL

I really love making these templates. It is such a great outlet for me. I just made 2 more for my other 2 blog pages. You can go to my store at: www.vintageheart2.blogspot.com and to my blog dedicated to selling online, buying and collecting all things vintage at www.queenscornercottage.blogspot.com. I am the most excited about the way the Vintage Heart 2 page turned out. You let me know which ones you like.

I am going to add some links on the side bar so if you want to make your own you can find some too. I am also going to start listing and explaining how you can use the templates I am making for yourself.

Don't panic, it is really simple. I need to find all the info on the wordpress and typepad templates also. So that is what I am going to do! Stay tuned for the new templates. If I can, I will list them today if not you will have to wait until Wednesday.....Queen Mary first...........

ANN COULTER'S HORRIFIC APPEARANCE ON THE VIEW

2009-01-13T11:24:00.000-08:00

It is the most upsetting thing to watch people criticize one group of people continuously. Example, the View. This show has always had a bias against ANYONE who disagrees with their opinion on any given subject. Where is the respect for difference of ideas? When Obama was on they drooled all over him and when McCain was on Whoopi Goldberg attacked him asking if he was going to reinstate slavery!! Real Whoopi? Slavery? How did she come to that conclusion?

I know I am more conservative than most, but so what? I don't have to agree with everyone I know. I have friends with whom I agree to disagree with!

Ann Coulter was on the View yesterday. She was under fire the entire time she was on the air. She has her passionate feelings about our Country and there is nothing wrong with that. BUT, the women on the View made the situation out to be that Ann is attacking Liberals, single mothers,the media. etc. A comment was made by one of the "View" women (Joy) about Sarah Palin, that she had been "whinning" in the media about how she was portrayed. It is very clear to those of us that don't agree with the "politics" of Obama, that indeed Gov. Palin WAS treated badly by the liberal media.

The View use to be a show that was fun and entertaining. Now I find it bias, unnerving and disrespectful to many other Americans that don't share their view. Ms. Walters would be wise to return to a platform where ALL points of views are entertained and respected.

You can watch the 8 minute video clip of Ann's guest appearance on You Tube and judge for yourself. Feel free to comment as I would love to see what you think.

YES VIRGINIA, THERE IS A SAVIOR

2009-01-05T12:19:00.000-08:00

Well the new year has finally arrived! All the yelling and cheering is over and it is time to get back to "reality". Ugh.

I must say that the Holiday Season was very different for us than ever before. We love to participate in charities that help others have a better Christmas. For them and their children. This year, WE were our own charity.

It is so weird to even talk about it out loud. There is joy, overwhelm, embarrassment and even a little shame. I guess I never saw myself as a "have not".

I have to say that we do HAVE a lot because we still have our health, our Family and our Friends. For me, that is what has always mattered.

There are so many people out of work, alone, in bad health, etc. How does our Father in heaven do it all? Because He is AMAZING and mighty! I had never before experienced His amazing power so much at one time in my life before now.

Little did I know that there was to be a huge lesson for me in all of this. I have always had a hard time asking for help. But this was different, my Boy's were in need too.

Whenever I watch Holiday movies, I cry at the Spirit of Christmas in all the endings and how wonderful people can be. This year I LIVED the Spirit of Christmas and cried at how wonderful people are.

With Eddie out of work and his disability ending, there looked like there was no hope in sight. He applied for unemployment in early December but with the Holiday's and how slow they are, anyway, well you know.

I ended up calling one of my pastor's to talk and get some spiritual guidance.
Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise. Proverbs 19:20

It was hard to tell him everything, but I did. He was so kind and told me to talk to the elders of our church. So I did. Believe me when I tell you that I got to a point where I did not know how to keep everyone fed since the money was going out and there was none coming in. A few days later we received a gift card for food from them. In the past month or so we have had 2 total from them. It was just the best thing we could have ever received. That meant that I knew my kids would eat and have the basics for their day to day meals met.

The next thing that happened was my dear friend Trish asked me to come over one day and go Christmas "shopping" through all the items she had bought throughout the year in various places. She LOVES to garage sale and finds just the most incredible things! Brand new in the box, clothes with the tags still on them, on and on it goes. A few days earlier my boy's wrote out their Christmas list. They put checks next to the ones they really really wanted. For some reason I had that list in my purse? I do not know why because I had no money to shop with??? LOL

In the LARGE group of items she laid out for me to chose from there they were. Two of the checked marked items Dante wanted and a couple that Jake wanted. I just sat down in a chair stunned. How do these things happen?

A few days later a friend of mine came over and gave me 4 gift cards from Target and told me to go shop for my boy's. Then I received an anonymous envelope with money in it. From the first day of December right up to the day after Christmas, friends were dropping by with gifts for my boys and cash for us. It was like I had fallen into the movie "It's A Wonderful Life". Believe me when I tell you that that movie this year had a whole new meaning for me.

We were given food for Christmas eve dinner and for Christmas day too. All of the cash we received we put away towards January's rent. On January 1st we had what we needed to pay our rent! Praise God!!!

Although Eddie is still out of work, we continue to trust our Lord and Savior with our lives and the lives of our children. We cannot thank Him or you enough for the love and support we have received. I pray that we NEVER have to go through anything like this again. I pray that Eddie finds good solid work soon as unemployment is not quite enough.......

Through all of this I know today that yes there is a Savior, yes He loves me dearly, yes he will NEVER leave me or forsake me and yes, I AM His.

I pray for all of you that this year will be the very best you have ever had in Christ.

Amen

2008-12-19T09:19:00.000-08:00

Christmas is only a few days away and I am already ready for Friday.....of next week!!!

The wait is just too much for Jake. LOL He ask me every day, "Is Ho Ho coming today"? Um, Ho Ho is Santa. No matter how many times I tell him, he continues to call Santa Ho Ho.

Anyway, everday is a challenge around here. What with Eddie still looking for work, a house full of cold filled sickies and oh yea, Christmas.

This is a weird year. My Holiday spirit is alive, but my pocket book is not!!! LOL Oh well. It is good for my kids to know that gifts are NOT what the Season is about. They are reminded that Jesus IS the reason for the Season and on Christmas morning before we open even one gift, we will sing and wish Him a very Happy Birthday.

I am so gratful for the friends that the Lord has put in my life. The kindness has overwhelmed me. Never one for letting people know how bad things might really be, I caved in due to WAY to much heart ache. Now I am reaching out and asking for help. Now I am letting the people in my life know how tough it really is. That said, "There but for the grace of God go I" because there are others whose situations are FAR worst than mine.

Two weeks ago I called and spoke for quite awhile to one of my pastors. I told him everything. One thing he asked me was, "do you write?". LOL Ah, no, not on paper very often. BUT, later I realized, I BLOG!!!!! Thank you Lord that I blog.

Being able to "talk" here has been a gift that I never realized until today. Being able to tell you a little about my life has been such a gift. I am thankful to anyone who might read this.

I love to write and always have. Not about me or my feeelings but about my daily funny things that go on in my home. For instance, this morning I got up to find that Jake had put half of a bannana in our senile senior dog's water dish, added water to her dried food, took the pop-up rolls in the can out of the fridge and tried to open them, got into my unopened package of Crazy Glue and thankully, could not open it. All this between the hours of 7 A.M and 8 A.M. I think Jake is going to give Jack Bauer and 24 a run for their money!!!!

So in closing, I thank my Savior for my life, I thank Him for all of you and I thank him for a roof over our heads, food on our table and a warm bed to sleep in for all of us. It has just become that simple.

God Bless you and your loved ones.

Merry Christmas!!!

2008-11-29T11:02:00.000-08:00

AUTISM AND JENNY McCARTHY'S NEW BOOK

Recently, a very close friend of mine who is also a Monavie success story, told me about a group of Mom's who discovered wonderful benefits from giving their autistic children Monavie Active.

This amazing account from Jenny's book lets the world know that there is hope for their children too. Monavie DOES NOT cure autism. What it DOES do is to provide their brains with essential fatty acids and glyconutrients. These ingredients are deficiencies in children with autism. Their bodies need these ingredients because of the autoimmune disorder most autistic children have.

I have been very interested in this information because my 4 year old son Jacob, who we adopted from the county and came to us as a result of a drug addicted mother, was a prime candidate for autism. By the grace of God he does not have autism. However, he has many other delays which concern me. At 4 years old it is not clear to me (because his speech is so delayed) just how the juice is helping him. All he knows right now is that it taste good!!!

I gave Active to Dante and he found that his concentration had REALLY improved. The funny thing is that I gave it to him for growing pains!

MonaVie Active is a delicious blend of the Brazilian açai berry—one of nature’s top superfoods—and 18 other body-beneficial fruits, assembled in an advanced formula that contains glucosamine to promote healthy joint function.

Because I believe so strongly in this product, I had to publish this post. I believe that many people are out there who need better health but are afraid to trust anything except a doctor's medication. Both can be used together to promote the best health each of us can receive!

God Bless

Where is Jake???

2008-11-20T08:42:00.000-08:00

The weekend is coming! The weekend is coming!! OK, I guess I like the weekends. It is just so much more relaxing than Monday through Friday.

Every morning Jake wakes me up at about 6 am. If not, it is because he is doing something that he should not be doing.

The other morning I woke up on my own and my bedroom was bright. My first thought was what time is it? It was almost 8:00. My next thought was JAKE!!! He was way to quiet and nowhere to be found. Eddie got up quickly and started calling his name with no answer. I could hear the garbage trucks outside and immediately thought he had figured out how to get out and did!

After about 4 times of Eddie calling his name, Jake finally said here I am dad and the next thing I heard was, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING"! YIKES!

Well, Jake was in our back bathroom, standing in the shower with no clothes on trying to get our dog in there with him so he could give him a bath. There was my hand lotion and hand soap all over the place. All over Jake, all over the dog and ALL over the bathroom.

You might think this is funny but I assure you it was not. Eddie caught him right before he got the water on all the way. Not to mention the mess but the water would have been so dangerous because he turned the hot on first. Oh my gosh my heart.

I have to admit that a few days later when my heart started to beat normal again, I did find it funny. Mmmmm, only a bit.

This little boy is my dare devil. If he sees it, he will try it. If he wants to do something, he just does it.

Recently Dante found a stash behind Jake's dresser. My body lotion, some of my jewelry, some of my hair products????? I just do not know why he thinks he needs all that stuff! LOL

He is my sweetheart though. he has a smile that would stop a truck. He is very smart and that is very scary.

So if you are a Mom of boys, I wish you luck and I will keep you in my prayers because I know just how much fun they can be!!!

2008-11-10T18:51:00.000-08:00

Are We Done Yet?

2008-11-01T08:16:00.000-07:00

Halloween is over!! Yippy! I have never liked Halloween that much. When I was single my friends and I would have Halloween parties and make silly fun houses, use dry ice in the punch bowl, try to scare our friends half to death......nothing more than that!!! LOL

I remember trick or treating when I was little and not liking the big kids to much. They were mean to the little kids. Some would throw fire cracker in front of us. Not fun.

Now I am a Mom and I have my kids begging me to take them out on that crazy night so that they can go to strangers homes and beg for candy. Ok?????????

I like to stay close to home because our neighborhood is insane on Halloween. There are 7 families on our street that seem to be in competition with each other to see who can have the biggest, scariest, most interesting Halloween display ever. Last year the community whoever they ares, named our street first place and best place to go trick or treating. Great! They have been doing this for about 4 years now and every year my street has to be blocked off because there are so many people it is not safe for the kids to let the cars in. THIS year was the most packed I have ever seen. There were soooo many people I thought that all of Westchester was on my street!!!

They started coming at 5:00 while it was still light outside. At one point I must have had 20 kids in line for candy on my front lawn! CRAZY!!

I think that I am going to have to start buying Halloween candy in June so there will be enough for that out of control night!

Now the weekend before was Dante's 12th birthday and on the same day my Brother got married in my back yard. I'm tired. So much busy busy busy gets boring and exhausting after awhile. Anyway, then it was Halloween and tonight a birthday party.

The Holiday Season is upon us....Are we done yet???

The Kernville 2008 Tour

2008-09-16T16:39:00.001-07:00

MY DAY IN THE LIFE OF JAKE

2008-09-09T07:51:00.000-07:00

Crazy Baby!!! That is what I hear myself say quite a lot.

I hear my friends talk about the differences in their children's personalities all the time. One mom said that her youngest does everything and anything that her other children never thought of. I realized then she was telling my story.

Jacob is a sweet, bright and happy little boy (most of the time). He and Dante really love each other but there are times I do wonder.

The last week in August through Labor Day, we were on vacation with friends up in Kernville, CA. There were 9 of us counting the kids. Well, it became a very comical talk over breakfast everyday about what Jake did that morning before everyone got up. There was something every single morning!

See, Jake is my very early riser. I trained Dante to sleep late but somehow it just did not work with Jake. I am a night person and Jake is a crack of dawn person. Yuck. On most morning's he is up at 6:30 am. There are however those times when 5 am looks really good to him. (Coffee please.)

Eddie and I with the kids arrived in Kernville a few days before everyone else so that we could get Jake adjusted to his environment before everyone arrived. Eddie put Jake to bed one night and told him that when he wakes up he could get out of his bed and turn the little t.v. on in his room and to watch it quietly. This was my husbands attempt at helping me to get more sleep.Something we try on a daily basis. We are not quitters you know! At 5 am that morning I heard voices. I just could not make out where they were coming from. Had someone arrived? So early? So I got up to find the voices and I did. I went into Jakes room and there he was sitting in the video chair in the dark, watching Rosanne. "Hi Mommy", he said so very proud. UGH. So I finally convinced him it was not morning yet and back to bed he went.

Another morning for reasons I still cannot figure out, Jake woke me up and announced that he went pee. Very good I told him. I praised him for going to the bathroom. Nooooo he told me and took me outside to the porch where I found a large but lovely pool of little Jake pee!! Why there?? No one but Jake knows.

It has become a joke in our house about what we will find when we get up in the morning. What will he do next?

Our first morning home I heard him running around the house so of course, I JUMPED out of bed. There he was in the kitchen (at 6 am) with a very large (I still cannot figure out how he got this jug from the fridge?) plastic jug of lemonade on the floor. He had a little cup for himself and was just about to pour it when I walked in the kitchen. Then I turned around to find that he had shared the lemonade with our dog Sissey. There was a very generous amount of pink lemonade in her water bowl! Do you see why I so desperately NEED this blog?

I am so thankful that today all these things are funny and that so far no one (including the dog) has been harmed in the making of all these stories.

I am going to break for now, but I will be back later for some fun photo's of our trip.

Until then...

Stuff

2008-08-25T18:45:00.000-07:00

We are getting ready for our last get-away of the summer. I love to go but I do not like the work it takes to get ready. Yuck. Once the packing is done, I am ready for fun.

Jake goes back to school on Sept. 3rd. So does Dante. I am looking forward to Jake returning so that he can go back to getting the help he needs for his speech issues.

Some days I feel like crying because he is struggling so much. Other days I get so excited because he said a word he never could. He is so frustrated, poor little guy. The school district will be setting him up with a speech therapist once a week. I just keep praying for him to catch up. I know it is in the Lord time and not mine.

New topic!

I love blogging. It is such a fun way to stay in touch. I do not promote my blog, so I don't even know if anyone is even reading this????? If anyone ever does, please leave me comments so I know you where here! LOL

WELCOME HOME DANTE!!!

2008-08-16T16:21:00.000-07:00

Here it is August already and I have not written one thing all summer. It has been busy in a weird sort of way. I can't say it was bad, just not always fun busy.

Well, Dante went to Hume Lake this week and just got home. I missed him so much. It was so good to see him. My boy came home a young man. He is such an amazing guy anyway, but this was very noticable.

He could not wait to tell me all about the new friends he made and what he did. he loved it sooo much he cannot wait until next summer. Wow!!! That's great because what a pain he was up until he boarded that bus to leave!!! LOL

He did and said everything he could think of to stay home. Funny how we are. Fear is always trying to get in and just ruin our fun.

So in the end he had just the "best time ever". Cool. As a Mom, that is the very best I could have ever heard.

Now Jake on the other hand...... Well, he went to summer school. Three hours a day for five days a week. So being busy this summer had to do with getting Jake off to school everyday. But the up side was how much free time I had too.

We are off to Kernville in 2 weeks and I cannot wait. We will get to go to the Lake and swim and picnic...ahhhhhhhh.

L.A. Zoo

2008-08-13T18:02:00.000-07:00

We went to the zoo last week for the first time in a long time. It was Jake's first time and that just made it even more fun. Dante was the video taker and I was the picture taker. I do not thin Dante ever shut the camera off! It will be very interesting to see what he did.

We saw the gorilla camp. The baby gorilla was hilarious! Unfortunetly, it was so hot that day that most of the animals were hiding. But we did manage to take some good shots. My favorites were the pink flamingos. I am so used to seeing the plastic ones that I was amazed to see ones that were breathing!

APRIL FOOLS!

2008-04-02T08:59:00.000-07:00

My son Dante thinks that April Fools day is a holiday! He waits all year for the big day when he can torment and torture me ALL day. It started in the morning and finally stop in the evening. I must admit he catches me off guard. LOL

Jake is now taking the bus to and from school. Although I enjoy my new found freedom, it always feels so weird to way bye to him. At first I kept having this awful feeling that I was "giving" him to a perfect stranger. And I was!! Jake was a champ. He thought he was going on an adventure. He would see the bus coming and just JUMP onto the bus.

Well, the party is over! He is over his excitement about riding on the bus and does not want to go now. Now when he sees the bus he starts to cry. :( I hate it. The other day Eddie and I could hear him screaming on the bus all the way to the corner!

Ahhhhh, toddlers. Thank God they grow out of it......then they grow into pre-teens..... Great.

First Day Jitters

2008-03-04T14:34:00.000-08:00

Well, today was the big day... FINALLY. Jake started Pre-K today after months of trying to get this done. Paperwork and medical info. The medical information took our old medical center 5 request before I received the correct paperwork. UGH!

So, to day was the first day of school for Jake. I am so excited for him and for me so I can get a few things accomplished with Dante for school each day. But, when it came time to take him I fell apart. I do not like the idea of giving my child to what are to he and me, strangers. His teacher is friendly and she came very highly recommended for the the special needs that Jake has. Still however, she is a stranger. So I dropped him off and stayed for the next almost 3 hours in close range of the school. You know, just in case. :)

Jake did very well she said. He participated and I picked him up in one piece. Whew. So day one is over. I sure hope day two goes better....... for me!

Oh, my house!

2008-02-24T08:53:00.000-08:00

When I was growing up I remember that my Mom would always say "cleanliness is next to Godliness". Um, ok? So what does that mean? My hair, my nails, my bedroom? WHAT!!

Now here I am a woman, mom and wife and I still ask myself what does that mean. I'd hoped by this point in my life I would have that answer squared away. All joking aside I know that a clean HEART is truly next to Godliness. Whew! Because if it is that my house was to be next to Godliness, well my salvation would be over!

I live with my Husband, my 11 year old son, my 3 year old son and my Nephew who just turned 18 on Friday. I have a dog and 2 hermit crabs (not because I wanted those crabs). We rent a wonderful home that has a one bedroom mother-in-law house in the back where my Mom AND my Brother live. Let me just say that there are days that I want to move, just me.

I have always had a nice house, decorated to suit my taste, always clean and always organized. But today I find that on any given day I may have one or two rooms that are cleaned and organized and the rest of the house is organizationally challenged! No way would I have lived like that when I was single or even when my older son was a baby.

When I was working in the world I was always told that one of my best assets on the job was how organized I am. My files, my desk, my in/out box, etc. where clean and everything was just so easy to find. Now I need metal detector to find what I need in my house.

Every day I wake up to the same "work" load. Washing clothes, cleaning the kitchen, sweeping the floors, vacuuming, cooking, beds, chasing my 3 year old, keeping my boys from using T.V. to entertain themselves, and the list goes on. I always prided myself on the fact that I was a very good multi-tasker, but now I may have to turn my crown in. If I where me, I would fire "that woman" who works in my house. I would take her spatula away and send her down the road. But, noooooooooo. All I hear is "well, maybe tomorrow will be an easier day for you". Gee thanks!

Now, I do not want anyone to think that I do not love my family or appreciate that I have one because I do. I just would love to be done with my "work" load early in the day so I could...I don't know....pull weeds, water the yard, plant stuff. I know it sounds like more work but the garden is NEVER work to me. The garden is my quiet place where I go to "feel" God. I see His beauty in the flowers and trees and I love to feed His birds and watch them eat. The need for quiet times is real. The need for quiet with God is real. Amen to that!

With all I have already said I know in my heart what is true, that I do all things as though I am doing them for the Lord. When I think and focus just on that, I feel energized to complete anything in front of me. I have learned that even the "maid" gets a day off! I have become content with the fact that all my rooms may only be "done" when I have parties or when certain company comes to visit. I am content with the understanding that my salvation has nothing to do with whether or not I swept my floors today or whether all the laundry gets put away. Our Lord has given me a ministry which took me a very long time to understand that this is just what it is, a ministry. In my ministry I clean, I homeschool, I chase my 3 year old, I counsel my nephew and I love my husband and all of them too. What a blessing. What a joy. I am so very grateful that the Lord thought I was the right person for this job. I am also grateful that He shows me so much grace in how maybe I might get everything done today...or not. I am so very grateful for the women in my life who laugh with me and not at me and for their hugs and encouragement.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-10T09:00:00.000-08:00

Y It is almost Valentine's Day. The day when I was single I dreaded! I think the entire time I was single I had about 2 good Valentine's Days. I had the same distain for New Years Eve too! So then I got married. Well, Valentine's Day is still no big deal. I guess I have finally gotten over it all because I finally realized that the only reason I cared in the first place was because it meant someone cared. Silly to me now.

It is interesting to see how my "needs" have changed and my idea of what is important and what isn't has changed also. I love how the Lord changes us. Thank you Lord for that or I would still be so lost in my own yuck!

This weekend I am working on a communication book for Jake. It was really hard to get started on it because denial can be a comfort sometimes. Yet it hurts my heart to see him struggle so much at trying to get his needs across to us. Trish has a program at her school that can make these books. Once I got started it was pretty easy. I am almost finished with it. I want to make it easy and fun for him. Then he can take it wherever he goes and can take out a picture and show the "thing" he wants or what he is trying to say. I also realized that I was afraid he would not talk at all and become depended on the book. Once again I am reminded that God is in control not me. Praise God for His control and NOT mine!

Trish played a game with Jake to show me how to use the book and Jake responded quickly to it. I am sure he thinks it is just a game. Anyway, I will keep you posted as to his progress.

2008-01-18T19:11:00.000-08:00

What a crazy week it has been. I cannot wait until Jake starts pre-school. He is bored and I have run out of ways to entertain him I guess. At school they have a lot going on during the time they are there so when he gets home he is pretty mellow. My day gets crazy when I try to balance Dante's school work with Jake's mischief!! When you throw family "issues" into the mix, well long naps are in order.

My Mom turned 80 this week. She does pretty well for 80! It is so hard to get use to the age thing sometimes since I do not feel my own age. I am so happy that in our society today, age is not looked at the same way it use to be. I read that 40 is the new 30, 50 is the new 40...so I guess Mom you are 70. Boy will she be happy to hear that.

By the way, the white stuff on Jake is baby powder. You should have seen his room. UGH! What a mess. Now we are into the potty training stage. I hate the pottery training stage. What a mess! :) We are done with formula, baby food, crib, and baby bottles. I am thissssss close to freedom. I am finally done with the baby stage but I still think it is my favorite stage of development. It moves fast and there is so much to enjoy. I love my boys and I loved being a foster mom. I had such beautiful babies. After 7 babies (Dante then 6 foster babies and finally Jake) I feel very paternally filled up. Yea!

To bad Dante isn't still a baby. Is 11 the new 20? Get this, he is 11 and he has a girlfriend. Well that would be fine except that she wants to DATE! OMGosh!!! Is she kidding? She calls here often and always asks Dante to come over. Dante asked me if he could double-date with his friend to the movies with NO adults! NO WAY, I told him. I wouldn't let him go to the movies with one of his guy friends alone. He's 11 for pete sakes. Anyway, confused and at a total loss for what to do, I got online and googled "11 year olds dating". Guess what? That day the New York Times had an article on just that. Apparently dating as young as 8 is ALL the rage. Ok, here is where the blog thing really comes in handy.

What parent in their right mind (or not) encourage and allow their 8 year old child to have a date? The article said that parents drive the "couple" (for lack of better term) to dinner and then pick them up for a movie at one of their homes. That is INSANE! Insane I tell you. The article talked about how parents seem to be so concerned with their childs socialization that they think there is no harm in their child going out to dinner or wherever with what they consider to be their boy/girl friend.

So, I got on Focus on the Family's website and this is what they say. Talk to your child about the true purpose of dating (which Dante says means you like someone) which is to find a life mate. That at 11 there is still so many areas of life to explore and learn about that it is very difficult to know what kind of mate you need or want. Ok, so I tell Dante all that and he says to me, "Mom, it's only a movie!" Ahhhhh, if only he was 2 again.

Now I am off to family night where we spend more time trying to make up our minds what to do/watch than we do doing it!? But still we have fun. Take care and I will talk to you soon.

2008-01-16T16:46:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year

2008-01-07T09:43:00.000-08:00

Happy 2008!

Wow, it's over? That went fast. How does that happen? It takes soooo long to get ready for the Holidays and it is over in a blink of the eye. :)

What a wonderful time we have had up here in Kernville this year. We had family and friends with us over the New Years weekend thru New Years Day. Walks, hikes, Uno card games, food, chocolate (my personal favorite), more food, and a very small amount of snow. It was a great time had by all.

I of course got a really bad cold that hit me New Years Eve day. I went to bed about 11 p.m. because I could no longer hold my head up on my shoulders. I ended up loosing my voice for about 5 days. Try calling your 3 year old away from the creek edge with no voice! My girlfriend Irene became my translator for my children. LOL I would tell her what to say and she would call it out to them. Of course my boys thought it was all so funny. Mmmm, haha!

I am getting our things together for the ride home. Clean my girlfriends home and stuff our car with bags and kids and off we go.............

After I get home I can upload some pictures. So for now I guess just checking in is all I can do. I am going to keep this site as my permanent blog because I just like what Blog spot offers better. I get bored and need to change stuff around so at least here I can do it. Talk to ya soon!

Finally! A Breakthrough!!!

2007-12-23T23:41:00.000-08:00

Well, as I said in my previous blog, I am obsessed with figuring out this code system for template designs. I FINALLY did IT!! Yea. It is a slight step forward and now I am trying to crack that puppy open all the way. The first bit of clarity started to make sense but now I am working on breaking through the next chunk-o-clarity.

There are so many talented web designers out there. I am amazed. My current favorite is a website called: A Joyful Heart ~ http://www.ajoyfulheart.com . She has great templates and little by little I am figuring out how to make them. Not to copy, but to create my own style. I am starting but I start - stop - start - stop. There is so much for me to learn.

Well, back to my cookies. Bake, bake, bake, fall over and die and bake some more!!!!

Hobbie or Obsession???

2007-12-14T23:43:00.000-08:00

My first ever blog was about fear and “how do I do this?”. But after, mmm 3 blogs I am now a seasoned vet!!! This is turning into the most fun I have had in a long time. Thank you Jenny for introducing me to this. My friend Jenny has a signature on all her emails like mine which of course is how I discovered that idea in the first place. I fell in love with her blog AND her prescious family reading her entries. So that is how this whole thing got started. Before this I just starred at the ones I would come across and wonder what the heck they were for!Ok, staying in my darling personality, I have now become OBSESSED with blogging and all that goes with it. What should I write about next, where can I find those cute templates and the most distressing is, how do I make my OWN templates. As if homeschooling, raising my Boys and running my online store wasn’t enough. Apparently not! I must say that I am having so much fun. Even if no one reads these I am at least talking to an adult, me. I am not bad company so I really don’t mind. I have no idea if or when anyone will ever read these! LOL Journaling has never been one of my favorite pastimes. But writing is. Writing is something I have loved since I was in junior high school. I won favor with my teachers throughout high school with my writing and one teacher submitted a story I wrote to some city wide competition. I did not win but it sure felt good that she did that. As a homeschool Mom I spend a lot of time encouraging Dante to write. He will say what do I write about andI tell him everything and anything, just write! As it turns out, he is very good at it. Praise God! Finally, someone to share my love of writing with.Ok, where was I? OBSESSION. I have spent the last week trying to learn how to make my own template designs. I figured out how to make Ebay templates for my auctions so I thought this would not be to hard. YIKES! It has me wondering if I even have a brain. How DO these techies do this? All the codes and the “stuff” that makes these templates work is mind boggling for me. I am an artist you see. I don DO numbers. Well, I don’t do them well. NEVER the quitter I am still at it. So, I will keep you updated as I surf the net and my eye balls bleed. At least I am clear on what I want since I have now seen at least a couple of hundred blogger templates!So on with my day I go. Teach school, try and keep Jake from destroying the house, my daily chores and what should I put in my store next. I hope you all have a wonderful day. I will try not to get caught up in the stress of the Holidays as the true meaning of Christmas is the celebration of our Saviours birth. Now THAT is something to celebrate!

2007-12-03T09:21:00.000-08:00

Christmas in Kernville. This is a special place for myself and my family. It is a desert/mountain area that is just beautiful. It does get really hot in the summer. But there is the Kern River and the Lake to keep us cool.

In the winter is snows but does not last long. The elevation is not high enough to keep the snow on the ground for days on end. We love to stay at our friends home. This is a picture I took in their backyard. It just does not get prettier than this! Except maybe for Lake Tahoe. Kernville is closer though so that makes it so much easier to drive with the kids to. Tahoe is 8 hours from us and Kernville is 3 hours.

There is something so peaceful and calming about being in Kernville for us. When we need to unwind, Kernville here we come! With any luck it will snow/

CHRISTMAS?!

2007-11-29T09:51:00.000-08:00

Christmas is in a few weeks?! Ok, how did this happen? I'm still cleaning up the sand from summer!

My Mom always says that time goes faster when you get older. I am beginning to think she is right. One minute I was 40 and now here I am at 50ish......

Saturday is my longest and dearest childhood friends birthday. She will be 52! Yikes. When I was growing up, 52 was ready for the rest home. I am so grateful that 52 is nothing age wise by today's standards.

I guess my age scares me because I have these beautiful boys I dearly love and want to see grow up. I also hope to be here long enough to be a grandmother. But I know that the Lord is in control of my life and not me so I just leave that up to Him.

Dante is learning Spanish. Now that would be great except for one little problem. I got a D in Spanish! Oh, did I mention that I am his homeschool teacher? Yea, see, now you get it. So I should say that WE are learning Spanish.

So now what does all this have to do with Christmas? Well, it is the small and large things of everyday life that seems to make Christmas so stressful for many of us. The need to please and try to make everyone happy is stressful (not to mention ridiculous!) all on its own. Now, add the Holidays on to that pile and what do you have? A MESS! Too much stress. A stress mess!!!

So as we continue to trudge through each day approaching that scary morning when we hope we have not forgotten anything or anyone and that all we have done is enough, remember that it is only one day and does not deserve SO much power. I just need to remember it is our Lords birthday anyway and all the gifts are really for Him.

Until next time, be well and happy!

Jake is 3!

2007-11-26T14:04:00.000-08:00

Well, there they are. My daily inspirations. The little one is Jake and he just turned 3 yesterday. It was so much fun watching his face as he opened his presents. When all was said and done, he liked the $1.00 stretchy bugs the best! Hilarious! My husband said we should just buy kids under 5 years old $1.00 toys and they would be in heaven.

Jake is my long awaited 2nd child. The older one is Dante and he is 11 years old. We just could not seem to have any more on our own so we decided to adopt. It took me a very long time to decide if I could go through with adoption because I was so afraid of the child being taken away, so after much research, my husband and I settled on adoption through an agency that vendered with the county. We went to about 3, no 4 different orientations and final picked one. After becoming a certified Foster Parent we waited and waited. We wanted a baby so that we could be sure to allow Dante to be the oldest and well I wanted a baby! We became foster parents not to foster children but to be able to bring a child we wanted to adopt into our home without waiting for adoption papers etc., to get going. I never started out as a foster mom but that is what I became.

We ended up leaving that agency for many reasons but mostly because we never received a child in the almost year we were with them.

One day when I was at a Bible Study I attended, a women heard about what had happened with the prior agency and she gave me her sister-in-laws number. Her sister-in-law is one of three women who started a foster to adopt agency. I called her and the rest as they say is history.

We became a foster family and had the honor of caring for 6 children before Jake was introduced to us. He had some delays and health issues but we did not care because we gave over our desires to God long ago so whoever he gave us we knew would be perfect.

There is so much more to tell about my sweet boy, but that is for a blog later. I am very grateful for the journey because I see how God used my family and myself for His work. What an honor!

HOW DO I DO THIS?

2007-08-30T09:37:00.000-07:00

Well, this is my first official post on my new blogger page. ....................... Ok, now what do I do?

This whole blog thing has really confussed me for a long time. I am not as hip as I use to be. (Who would ever believe that!) I pretty much just read stuff and move on. The biggest internet step I have taken is creating my own myspace page which no one seems to visit?

Being a writer is something I have always enjoyed. What a great way to get out all those ideas that are uniquely my own! :)

I wish I could promise you that you will find great entertainment in my blogs, but I cannot. I CAN promise that you will like the pictures!!!

I became motivated to do this (after about a year of thinking about it) after I read a blog by a women who received 179 thousand hits on one of her Ebay listings! She wrote the funniest description I have ever read. After reading her blogs I realized what a gift blogging really is. A place to "get it all out" for free!!! LOL No therapist fees to pay, no need for prozac, just write! She is very gifted and her focus is on the funny stuff her kids do. For me, my focus is communication. Whether anyone but me reads this blog or not, I love having a place to share life. I guess that is it? This blog is a place to share life, because at the end of the day that is all we really do. We share our lives with each other. Some share well and others never learned how to share. They are the ones whose Mom's should have used the time-out chair more!