Someone Shouted at Me!

Look!  I am pretty excited about being Shouted at!  Thanks for the shout out!  If you have time check out more of her blog.  I promise you will love it and you can find some great links and giveaways too!
Have a marvelous Monday!

Coincdence? I think not

We try to remain upbeat and positive, but my husband has been unemployed for several months now and things are a tad tight.  The Professor was running low on clothes that fit and so I was hitting craigslist looking for a good deal.  I  found a great set of clothes in his size.  My husband thought it was a good deal, but that we just could not really afford it.  I emailed the lady and told her thanks but no thanks and moved on with my day.  About 45 minutes later my phone  rings.  It was an elderly woman and she said she had our name that we needed some help with food.  She wanted to set up a time for us to pick up some food to help our family.  I was thrilled!  We had signed up for it through the school and I was glad to hear that we would have some help.  When we signed up for the food, we also had the option of signing up for coats and Christmas gifts for the kids.  We decided not to.  One, we have really good winter coats (thank you Grandma!) and two, even though we cannot really afford a big Christmas, we both know that there are people with bigger needs than ours and getting Christmas gifts is not really a need.  As a mom this has been hard on me but I have just tried to get the girls more focused on giving.  We did two shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child and we have done some baking and stuff for others.  Well, back to the phone call...the lady says, "I see on here that you did not sign up for gifts for your three kids."  I explain to her what I just wrote up above. She says, "Well, the thing is, someone else gave us your kids names." I again stated that we would be fine.  She said, "Well, here is the deal.  A family wants to buy for a family that has three young kids.  They have asked for this specifically.  You are the only family that fits this role.  Can this family please have your name to buy for your kids and to get some baby clothes."  Wow.  We said yes and I just wanted to cry.  I have no doubt that God orchestrated all this.  We had just given our financial testimony a few weeks ago at church and once again God is proving to us how faithful He is when we are faithful with what we have.  I believe this just may be our best Christmas ever.


 

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!
This year I am thankful for-
My amazing husband! I love him more than ever.  He is so good to me and is a wonderful father to our kids.  He works hard for us and takes good care of us all.
For the Genius! She is so smart! I love watching her learn to play piano and learn to be a big sister to TWO.  She brings so much happiness into our lives.
For the Hippie! She is a free spirit!  I love the way she keeps us on our toes and love watching her learn how it is being a big sister.
For the Professor! He is a sweet and strong little boy.  I love watching him light up and laugh at his family.
For all my family and friends.  I love them more than they can ever know.
 

Small, small world

Now I bet you have "It's a small world after all" running through your head. Ha!!!
With my husband being unemployed this year I am having to be very creative in shopping for the kids.  I have been hitting craigslist.  My sister-in-law lives in a different state and in a bigger city.  I found two postings there that we wanted to get.  She said she was willing to get them for us and bring them here at Thanksgiving.  She paid for and picked up the first item (a set of Legos).  I contacted the people with the second lot (some board games).  I was explaining how we would be sending my sister-in-law as we lived in a different state.  They replied back, "Oh, is your sister-in-law ******?"  "um, yes."  "Cool.  We are going to her house tonight and will deliver the games!"  Now tell me, how WILD is that???? Anyone else have any small world stories like this?

Who's Laughing Now?

Our girls have a real cute sense of humor.  They just do not get jokes.  Their sense of humor is more like this.  "Knock, Knock." "Who's there?" "Apple."  "Apple who?"  "I like applesauce!" Then they laugh and laugh!!  So today we were doing some deep cleaning and reorganizing here at home.  I was helping the Genius go through her privacy box and empty it out some.  The stuff she collects is just amazing.  She had this bendy little cheap snowman thing from LAST Christmas in there.  She pulled it out and started giggling.  She says, "mommy! Look! It says 'Jesus loves you snow much' Isn't that funny?  See, they took the word the 'so' and added some letters and spelled 'snow' instead! Hahahahahaha!"  Snow, I better get off but have a berry good night.

The Judge

Yesterday the Hippie and I were talking about school.  She told me that she needs to wear gloves or mittens to go outside on the playground.  Since we had not been told this by the school I asked her how she knew this.  She said, "The Judge told us."  "The Judge?"  "You know Mommy, the people outside at the playground with the whistles and they are always telling people what they cannot do?"  LOL! I got quite a chuckle over that one and hope you did too!  So, who is your Judge?

My Christmas Wish List

My never gonna happen wish list

I REALLY want a carpet shampooer.  I know, lame right?  But this year since my husband is unemployed I will just have to dream! But you know what? That is ok.  I am blessed with a wonderful husband who loves me very, very much and always reminds me of that fact, three wonderful, thriving, healthy and smart children and a God who is in control of everything.  Who could ask for anything more?

Photo Op.

Jesus Banks

If you have been reading our blog for awhile you may be aware of our Christmas tradition involving the girls Jesus Banks (if not you can read this post).  Yesterday we sat down to ask the girls what they wanted to spend their Jesus money on.  At their young ages we do give them about three choices, but aside from that we do not influence them in any way.  They both chose to do Operation Christmas Child.  If you are not familiar with them, you can watch this video.  The girls decided they would do two children (so two shoe boxes).  They chose to do one boy and one girl, both in the ages 2-4 category.  So I took the Genius out shopping.  To me, this is the best part.  They take their Jesus bank into the store(s) that we go to.  So, we load up the cart with items she selected.   Again, we try to not offer too much input.  She was so smart with her choices.  She chose plain white socks, an 8 pack, so that each child could have 4 pairs.  She picked some marbles, toy cars, hair clips and many other items.  She lugged her stuff up to the counter and the total was rung up.  I painstakingly counted out all her pennies and dimes and other money.  She was $1.83 short.  Not a big deal, so I pulled out our card to pay for the rest.  An elderly gentleman in line behind us stopped me, pulled out his wallet and paid the $1.83 she owed.  Wow.  Talk about two examples of the true meaning of Christmas and the holidays.  Two little girls reaching out to children on the other side of world and one elderly man showing an unexpected kindness to a little girl.  Absolutely a memory she will never forget.

Family Fun Jar

Funny, because the Family Fun Jar actually does not involve a jar at all, but rather a little Ziplock container.  We have a Family Fun Jar though and it is something we have been doing for about a year now.  It is a reward jar.  What we do is have the girls sit down and come up with a list of rewards they would like to win.  Amazingly, they choose mostly things that are free!  Lately they have chosen: bake cookies together, take a hike together, have a tea party, wrestle with daddy and a few others.  We write their choices on pieces of paper and put them into the jar.  When we "catch" the girls doing something good (above and beyond the norm.) we let them choose a slip of paper.  The cool thing is, we usually do not tell them while they are doing it.  My husband surprises them at some random time of the time.  He will call them and ask one of them to stand at attention, then he makes a "formal" presentation of the jar and states why they get to pick a reward.  It is really fun!  Recently the Hippie was doing her nightly chore and when she was done, she asked for an extra chore AND completed it very well! She picked a "wrestle with Daddy" slip of paper.  Last night the Genius got to choose because she cleared her sisters dinner dishes and was just extra helpful around the house.  Her reward was a family hike.  Last night my husband took them on a night "hike" through our neighborhood, complete with flashlights (ooh, aahhh).  They had a blast!  If you don't have a Family Fun Jar you might want to think of starting one.  It is a really fun tradition!

Oh, and when we choose a reward we throw the slip of paper away so that we can add new ones when the jar is empty.

Strawberry Shortcake

Our girls like us to record episodes of Strawberry Shortcake for them to watch.  It is a pretty cute show and usually has a fairly clear cut moral to it.  We watch it several times a week.  My husband and I often joke about how "berry much we like it" etc.  They use the word berry on the show ALL the time.  The other night when the Genius was at the hospital, I was watching an episode with the Hippie.  Strawberry Shortcake said something like, "I was so berry upset".  The Hippie looked over at me and said, "Mommy! I get it!  It's like a joke! Instead of saying 'very' they say 'berry' "!  Wow.  I was kinda speechless.  Glad she is in on the joke now =)

Hevea Product Review

I am very excited to be doing a review for Hevea!  I am also excited because this is my first review.

About Hevea: Hevea was started by a mom.  Her name is Terese.  She wanted a pacifier that was up to her personal standards.  Terese believes in sustainability and she supports this belief in numerous ways.  Hevea uses 100% recycled paper for packaging, uses Soy ink which uses less energy and is a renewable resource and their pacifiers and teethers are made of 100% natural rubber.  For more information you can visit Terese and the Hevea website by clicking here.  You can also connect with them on facebook by visiting their facebook page.

My Experience:  I received a Hevea 100% natural rubber pacifier for review.  They have several styles to choose from.  I received the Car Orthodontic Pacifier.

The first thing I noticed was the minimal packaging.  As a committed recycler this really made my day, plus it was very easy to open.  The next thing that caught my eye was the fact that the packaging was made out of 100% recyclable papers (another bonus).  After opening the packaging, recycling the paper, I was immediately impressed with the feel of the pacifier.  It was smooth and all one piece.  You also have the option to buy this cute little pacifier bag as well.

* * * * - I give it a 4 out of 5 star rating.  I liked everything about it, but I think that with a price tag of $9.95 that it is not affordable to everyone.  Overall I was very impressed with the Hevea pacifier and the company as a whole. 

The product in this review was provided to me free of cost for the purpose of conducting this review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are not influenced by monetary or other means of compensation.

Veteran's Day

Today is a day easy to overlook for some people.  But we must never forget the people who have fought for our country.  My husband served with the Marines and then after we were married he also served in the Army.  He served during Desert Storm and Operation Enduring Freedom.  I am so proud of him and the legacy he is leaving our children.  It is really neat to see the girls developing pride in this too.  The Genius during her musical got to sing some patriotic songs and she was smiling at her Daddy the whole time.  When the vets in the audience had to stand up, she proudly pointed out her Daddy.  Last night before bed she made sure to lay out a red, white and blue outfit for Veteran's day.  She said it is extra special because "daddy is a two-time vet, the Marines and Army."  So, thank you Cliff for your service and loving your country and family enough to serve.  Thank you to my Grandpa, my uncles, my husband's step-father and all of our friends and family who have served.  And a thank you as well to the family members of those serving, because you are sacrificing too.

The New Morning Cartoon

The morning after the Genius had her stitches this is what I woke up to....
I came out of our room and found the two girls snuggled up on the couch and sharing a blanket.  When I came around the corner I saw the National Arthritis Convention was on the T.V.  I asked why exactly they were watching this and the Hippie said, "We think the President is giving a commercial instead of cartoons today."  LOL!  You never know what you will wake up to when you have kids =)

Oh What a Night

Today was a beautiful fall day.  When the girls got home from school, my husband chucked their backpacks and took them outside to play.  It started out so wonderfully!  When the Professor woke up, I grabbed him and we went out to join them.  As we rounded the corner I heard the Genius screaming.  Loudly.  I saw my husband carrying her and there was a lot of blood.  We got her to the garage and started examining.  She had gotten hit with a broken swing and she had a nick above her eye.  It was not too bad of a cut but there was a LOT of blood.  Plus the cut was wide.  The Genius is allergic to adhesive.  So she cannot have band aids or medical tape.  My husband took her to the Emergency Room.  She only ended up with one stitch but for the poor kid it was quite the ordeal.  She was shaking all over.  She said, "My legs shook every time someone came in the room but Daddy".  The Hippie was here at home terrified.  She kept talking about how Sissy had bled just like the dog wreck and was it taking a long time because something happened to Sissy and how did I know that Sissy was ok.  The Professor was grumpy and glum because of his shots.  Here's hoping tomorrow will be better!

Chunky Monkey

Don't you just want to squish his little cheeks? We do sometimes!

Kids in a Bath

The Professor is growing up.  He recently had his first bubble bath!  We plopped him in with his sisters!  He looked like the King of Bath time!  His sisters held him and washed him and entertained him.  In fact, his sisters are probably his favorite people right now.  They walk into the room and he laughs.  They dance and he laughs.  They say his name...he laughs.  You get the picture!  In fact, I think one of the most special things in the world is watching your children interact with each other and develop relationships with each other.  So far, our three are off to a pretty good start!

Why I Cried Last Night

Last night the Genius performed at her school for the second grade musical.  Notice I used the word performed.  Our little girl was up on the stage in front of HUNDREDS of people!!! She did the motions, she sang, she even hammed it up a teeny bit!  You could not tell that she has Selective Mutism!  There were no weird facial expressions and she was happy!  I just sat there crying.  I was the only one crying.  But I was remembering about 4 years ago watching her in a preschool musical where her anxiety had her frozen and she made this weird face the whole time and had zero fun.  Last night was amazing!!! She is kicking her anxiety to the curb!  I wish this meant it was the end, but she still has a ways to go as she does not speak at all at Awanas or to her piano teacher or to our neighbors, but she is making huge progress and we are so stinking proud!!! Love you sweetie!!!

Someone is 4 months old

Isn't he just the cutest little thing?  The Professor is 4 months old now.  He is such a good baby!  He sleeps great at night, smiles all the time and is now laughing and giggling!  He loves his cloth diapers, soft, fuzzy blankets, being held, playing with his sisters, being in his sisters room and playing with his toys (or my cell phone). 
Happy 4 months Professor!! We love you bunches!

Camp Out Sisters

Part Salsa dancing, part tai chi and part...cheeseballs. Love these kiddos!