Another short quick post...

Go vote for RIGHT HERE for Jaymi's daughter at the Jone's Soda Co. site.

Heed this warning...

Please read my post about some important prayer needs of some of our fellow bloggers.(I updated it this morning, Wednesday, with a couple more)

On a funnier note...

I have read several things THIS VERY WEEK about toddlers and markers....and I've laughed...HA HA HA HA HA HA

Why is it that I don't heed these "warnings" seemingly sent from God? Do not turn your back on an almost 2 year old who has markers....unless you want a big laugh.

Here is some motivation for those of you with young children...BUY WASHABLE MARKERS!







:-)

Prayer *updated*

Several people that I have come to "know" are in need of prayer so I thought I'd post links so you can go, read and pray...

I've added 3 more people to the top of the list and I will continue to add more if there is more to add....

These women range from people who I know very well to people who I don't know very well at all....but then 2 things they all have in common are that #1 they really need special prayer and #2 they all have this awesome faith that no matter the circumstances GOD is in control...they are all amazing!!!

If you are on this list I hope you don't mind that I have put you here. Please email me if you wish to be taken off for any reason. I will totally not feel bad at all!!!

*Dionna* for the spiritual warfare going on in her life.

*Annette* for her husband and her finances.


*Holy Mama* for her daughter.

Gwen for her brother (Here is some background.) and her daughter.

Kris for her husband's health.

Emily as her husband is away in Iraq.

Christy for her family as they have had some very heartbreaking news about and she is pregnant.

Amanda for her husband and her family as she is also pregnant and they have been having some hardships.

If I've missed someone it's only cuz I'm trying to catch up on my blogs and i haven't quite gotten there yet....I may be adding some soon.

Thanks...
I'm going to post the lyrics to some songs and the links to hear them for any of you who need some encouragement today...

Click here to Listen to 'Letting-Go by Shawn McDonald'
(Still looking for the lyrics to Shawn McDonald's song)


Click here to Listen to 'Praise-You-In-The-Storm
PRAISE YOU IN THE STORM
Casting Crowns
I was sure by now
God You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say "Amen"
and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God
Who gives and takes away

Chorus:
I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry You raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God
Who gives and takes away

Chorus

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth



Click here to listen to 'Trading-My-Sorrows by Darrell Evans'
TRADING MY SORROW
Darrell Evans
I'm trading my sorrow
I'm trading my shame
I'm laying it down for the joy of the Lord

I'm trading my sickness
I'm trading my pain
I'm laying it down for the joy of the Lord

Chorus:
And we say yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord
Yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord
Yes Lord yes Lord yes yes Lord Amen

I'm pressed but not crushed persecuted not abandoned
Struck down but not destroyed
I'm blessed beyond the curse for his promise will endure
And his joy's gonna be my strength

Though the sorrow may last for the night
His joy comes with the morning

Just a Few Things to Share...

Remember when I wrote this and this? Well, e-mom excerpted a little bit from a book on marriage that is along the same lines. You can find it here.

If you haven't visited e-mom's site you definitley should!

I have severaly projects I'm gonna try to tackle for my first Tackle It Tuesday...

I got so much done yesterday and my house is in really good shape. The laundry is done so I am spending today on special projects...I even got a couple done yesterday.

One of the emails I got from FlyLady was a testimonial about a lady who saw this huge mess as such a big project. She thought she would wait until after her son went to bed and then she would tackle it...but then, she though no, we'll set the timer for 15 minutes and see what we get done. Her and her son got to it and I think it was 4 minute later that were done!! I think that alot about how I make these little cluttered corners seem like such big projects and then, when I go to do them, they are NOTHING! WOO HOO! I'm so psyched!

OK...I'll take pictures and post them this afternoon or this evening.

Until then...remember, we as mother's and wive's have the influence and power in our homes to set the tone...what tone are you setting. Sometimes I wake up grumpy and with a headache and as everyone else wakes up they all sort of absorb that same attitude and everyone seems grumpy...BUT, if I ON PURPOSE decide to be happy and smile the entire household seems to follow my lead...I'm not saying we can't have bad days and feels sick, and I'm not saying to live in a pretend happy Leave It To Beaver world...I'm saying we CHOOSE our attitudes, and those attitudes determine the entire tone and mood of our households....just something that keeps coming into my mind and something I HAVE TO REMIND MYSELF OF everyday...

Have a GREAT DAY!

Things to do...LOTS of Things to Do...

It's 730am, Monday morning.

I am committed to spending this week trying to accomplish at least a few things on my LONG LIST of projects that I want to get done this summer.

I've been doing well at keeping my house clean, the laundry pretty much done and the dishes done :-)....but there are nooks and crannies in this house that just have stuff and I HATE THAT....

SO I AM BOUND AND DETERMINED to get at least 3 things on my LONG LIST done this week. I hate clutter and I feel like I'm surrounded by it...THAT MUST END or I may go nuts...if I'm not already there....

So off I go to do my everyday cleaning AND to tackle a project, any project...

I also want to start reading...I haven't read a book in so SOOOOOO long and Heather got me interested in this book and now I have it...I just have to start reading it.

Ahhh....so many things, so little time...

So really, I'm off to start my day and see what I get done.

Thanks to everyone who is still stopping by and thanks to everyone for your awesome comments. You guys really are awesome friends.

Until later...maybe I'll post pictures of the projects I do....



:-)

And More Pics from Daddy's Day

 
 
 
  

More Pics from Daddy's Day

 
 
 
  

And more......

 
  

Catching Up and Falling Behind

I have over 200 new items on my bloglines.....

I am not going to just go through and clear them out....I am trying to read all of them.

I read a few and comment.....the next time I come back there is more.....

I've hardly been at my computer in the last week and a half. It's been nice actually....I've thought of a bazillion things to write and hopefully will write them for you all to read...one day.

I have read all of the comments I've gotten and I usually try to respond, HOWEVER, I feel if I respond to one I have to respond to them all....SO I haven't responded at all....BUT THANK YOU, TO ALL OF YOU!

Funny how I feel this obligation to a bunch of people I've never met in real life...but you guys ARE my friends! I never think about the fact that many of us have never met, or talked outside of our blogs. I think it's pretty awesome how the Lord has brought together all of us who would have never met otherwise...totally rocks!

So just know, if you've missed me...if you've noticed I haven't been "around" as much....I am probably swimming, or shopping, or watering the garden, or watching a movie, or going to the park or ATTEMPTING TO READ A BOOK FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS.....all with my girls!! My oldest daughter has been spending more time with us recently....I LOVE IT! We have been having a totaly blast.

So far this has been the best summer in my recent memory....

Father's Day was AWESOME....my girls and I went to a really nice tobacco shop and got my husband 4 really good cigars...NOW...we give him a hard time about smoking them, but we know how much he enjoys one every once in awhile...My oldest was nearly squealing by the time he got to open them....she was so excited to see his reaction...he thought it was a joke and there would be candy cigars or something...

But to his delight....they were the real thing.

We had some delicious kabobs on the grill and some even MORE delicious homemade chocolate filled eclairs courtesy of my oldest daughter and my mom-in-law.

It was a great day.

My husband is the greatest father my two girls could ever have. He is so in love with his two girls. He would do anything for them and they know it! He is a Godly role-model and although he knows he's not perfect he strives day after day to learn more about the Lord so he can teach our girls not only with words but by his example...I praise the Lord for my husband and the father of my daughters!!!

THANKS TO BLOGGER I AM NOT ABLE TO SHARE ANY MORE OF MY PICTURES...I WILL TRY TO ADD THEM LATER! :-(

Busy Busy Busy

Well....since school got out we've been so busy!

Lots and LOTS of swimming....several appointments for the oldest...the oldest started cheerleading 3 days a week for 2 hours each day...Wednesday night church started up for the summer (our church does Wednesday night classes and they are in like 6 week sessions with a few weeks between each session)....did I mention LOTS AND LOTS of swimming!

Without much detail I just want to share that yesterday was an amazing AMAZING day in the Lord! The Lord orchestrated the entire day moment by moment in a way that we couldn't have ever EVER imagined. I can't share details and I wish I could. Just that there has been a situation that has needed some resolution, and the Lord pulled EVERYTHING together yesterday beyond any of our expectations. It was a day that I believe helped my oldest daughter grow in faith just by watching the Lord work...you could almost see HIM working before your eyes! It just drove the foundation of my faith even deeper and stronger....it made me realize EVEN MORE that we fret and worry about things we have no control over...THE LORD IS IN CONTROL and can see the whole picture even when we can't. If we don't have faith that HE can do it and if we don't give our fears, hesitations, worries, and doubts over to HIM, in the end...we will try to do it ourselves and we will always fail. HE NEVER FAILS...HE can work through us if we allow HIM too....but we can't get in the way and we need to give it ALL TO HIM...not just part of it. WE HAVE TO REMEMBER that HE sees the entire picture...things we can't see and things we don't know.

ANYWAY...God is so good! I love it when HE surprises us!


On a blogger note....when I'm doing my posts I don't have the tabs at the top right that say HTML and whatever the other one is....when I type my posts it is always in the HTML way....anyone have any ideas of how to get those tabs back??????

:-)
I hope you all have a great day! We have another busy one in front of us so I better get moving (more than my fingers!)

I Love My Husband....

We have only talked once about getting a dishwasher and that was at Christmas. We decided against it at that point because we are renting and didn't know how long we would stay here before we bought a house. Remember...I got this beauty instead...which by the way, works beautifully and is still totally cool looking!

On Saturday morning...out of the blue...while he and my girls were eating breakfast at the kitchen table...he told me to find a dishwasher and get it.

HUH?

WHAT DID HE SAY?

A WHAT?

Praise the Lord...I found this one. Top of the line Kenmore portable dishwasher...best part, floor model, TOTALLY MARKED DOWN!!!!....perfect condition....it's so cool...SO COOL!

CAN I JUST TELL YOU....There has not been dirty dishes in my sink since Saturday. I have not had to hand wash anything since Saturday.

MY HUSBAND TOTALLY ROCKS! He is so good to me! I am so blessed to have him and I thank God every day for him!

From now on Ken does my dishes...Ken More...hee hee (get it? It's a Kenmore dishwasher)

Thank you baby! Thank you for working so hard for us. Thank you for taking such good care of us. Thank you for everything!!!!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

my fishies

New Pics

Check out the new pics on my photoblog.

My girls are both fish...the oldest is a fantastic swimmer but alas, she is at camp so was not with us for these pics...no doubt there will be some soon with her.

And yes...I know my hubby is a hottie...but he's mine..ALL MINE!!! (ok, so I know most of you are married but I still had to say it...:-)

Uh...duh.

Click HERE for the story.

I hope none of you know this poor guy and if you do...sorry.

But if you do could you ask him...WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?

Say what you want about WalMart BUT....

 
 


Do you see it? Look closely at her bottom lip...it is swollen and red...

Yesterday afternoon, my mom, my youngest and I went on our usual Saturday trip to Walmart...now, does your Walmart have those really cool carts with the double blue seats for kids? Well, my youngest has to sit in that now...no more of that baby stuff!

As we were going through the self check outs I was at on and my mom was at another beside and ahead of me (you know how they are staggard?)...my youngest was leaning all the way to the side and looking up saying "lights, lights, lights"...and kind of swinging back and forth...I saw NO HARM in this...HA! I should've known better and just ducktaped the child in place...

I look down to scan something or bag something..it's all a fog now...and all of a sudden I hear SCREAMING coming from MY CHILD...this is not normal...she is not a screamer or even much of a cryer...she never has been, even since birth...when she was born and they handed her to me I started yelling "Whats wrong with her! She's not crying..."

BACK TO THE STORY AT HAND....my mother ran around the cart to her and I ran over to her and there is blood coming from her mouth area...I remain calm praying there is no missing teeth...HERE COMES THE "WALMART ROCKS PART"....all of a sudden there are at least 5 associates around us...2 came running with paper towels 2 came and said "what can we do" and the 5th person was the manager...he came and said "oh no! is she ok...awww....poor baby...can I get you some ice" and I said "sure"....All 5 were so concerned ***Some may say they were probably worried about being sued or whatever...LET ME TELL YOU...there was no way they could fake the concern on their faces...in their voices...they saw my little princess with blood on her face and shirt and they were really truly concerned..."***

WELL...in her usual fashion my little one stopped crying after about 1 minute and only whimpered a tiny bit more. One of the associates offered to ring up the rest of my stuff up for me...so I said "sure"...The manager came back with a rubber glove full of ice for her.

What I figure happened is that in her swinging back and forth sideways and half upside down...was that she smacked her mouth on the bar on the side of the cart and her front teeth went straight into her lip...deep...YUK and OUCH!

These people were like angels...no kidding...by the time we walked away they had all gone back to wherever they came from....it was so surreal. They really were there so quickly and they worked so fast to help get us what we needed...

THANK YOU WALMART! Just another reason I LOVE YOU GUYS! 

BY THE WAY....Check out the new pics on my photo blog of the outfits that my mom (GG) bought for the little one...we had a tiny fashion show...

Off To Camp...

Sisters...the morning the oldest leaves for camp...6:20am....watching Sesame Street together....the oldest had the tips of her hair died what was supposed to be pink (ended up red and so cool!!!)....She's off to camp now...until Wednesday...(sigh)...we were up until 11:30 packing and going over the checklist a million times...she's so excited!

  

The Red Tipped Hair...

I think it totally rocks! I want to do something funky like this!!
She has the most BEAUTIFUL hair!

  

Ugh...I did it AGAIN!

Ok...So it's Works for me Wednesday FIRST, then Three Things Thursday (I would do Thursday Thirteen too but COME ONE! I can barely get 3 things done!) and Tasty Thursday...ALL IN ONE! WOOHOO, what fun!


(brought to you by Rocks in My Dryer.)

OK...so sometimes I get WAY off track when I'm trying to do my housecleaning. And sometimes it seems like there is so much to do and I don't know where to start...
Well...thanks to FlyLady and Yahoo's Calendar and Reminders I'm on track EVERYDAY!

I've taken most of the stuff FlyLady sends out in her emails (if you've signed up you kow what I mean...if not YOU SHOULD if this is an area where you struggle AND you want to do better... :-) and I've made a daily calendar and plugged each of these things in at a certain time. I know there are a TRILLION other calendar and reminder programs but it just happens that I use yahoo...the reason I like it is because when it's time for the next thing I hear a noise from my computer...Up on my screen is a little box that says what is next...

This may sound elementary BUT LET ME TELL YOU....it has made housekeeping so much easier...most of the time I get ahead of it which is kind of fun...but it really keeps me on task and helps me to remember everything that needs to be done...

Here is my morning calendar...
6:00am-7:00am - Wake up, Make Coffee, Make Breakfast, Make Lunches, Make Bed, Send everyone off to wherever they are going...

7:00am-8:00am - Straighten up the Living Room (usually the messiest in the house) Get dressed, hair, makeup..(doing your hair and makeup can TOTALLY CHANGE how you feel about yourself) Usually the little one is up during this time so that make this take a little longer

8:00am-9:30am - Laundry into the washer, Trash out, Do the dishes, Baby fed and dressed

9:30am-10:00am - I straighten all the rooms up...not really cleaning yet..just getting them in order..

10:00am-11:00am - Weekly Home Blessing(FlyLady) which includes: vacuum, dust, mop, mirrors and windows, change sheets. Most of these I do every other day)instead of just once a week, on the in between days I try to tackle a project I've been wanting to do.

11:00am-12:00pm - Put dishes away, Fold Laundry/Restart dryer if it needs to be Lunchtime (straighten any messes that SOMEONE may have made)

12:00pm-1:00pm - Wind down for nap (there is a few things I have to do to get ready for her nap such as get her little blanket bed set up on the LR floor...bring in the loud dogs that bark at everything, read to her, sing to here...etc.

1:00pm-3:00pm - NAPTIME...during this time I usually nap, shower, computer, fold clothes, put clothes away....anything I need to do that is easier to do when she's asleep.

3:00pm-6:00pm - Run any errands I have to do, get dinner started, finish laundry...this is kind of a tying up loose ends time...

6:00pm-8:00pm - Dinner, clean up, garden, play, tv time...

8:00pm-9:00pm - bathtime for baby, get baby ready for bed...baby to bed

9:00pm-10:30pm - MY TIME...computer, cuddle with hubby, watch TV....

10:30pm - BY THIS TIME my hubby, myself and our oldest usually are in bed or we head to bed...


I don't always get everything done EVERY DAY but it has changed my household completly...It feels REALLY good!


(brought to you by Sheila.)
Three things not many people know about me.

(1) I sold Mary Kay for awhile before I was pregnant...then I just couldn't do it consistently but I LOVE the products and still use thema and plan to do it again ONE DAY...

(2) My major is/was Political Science...before I met my hubby I had decided I was never going to be married or have a family. I wanted to be a prosecutor (DA), then become a judge, then a Senator...funny how love changes things...now I want to raise my girls and be a Government teacher (although I have fantasies about being a profiler or detective for the FBI sometimes :-)

(3) I have 2 older brothers...one of which I will do an entire post on in the near future to show him I really do love him and I still think he's totally cool....(I have posted about the other one several times).


(Brought to you by Jessica.)
This is rather simple but RARELY can you look in my fridge and not see this.
It's a grilled chicken salad.

I grill boneless skinless chicken breasts on my HUGE George Foreman. Then I shred it.
I use a dark bag mix of lettuce and i throw in some spinach too.
I add red, yellow, orange and green bell peppers.
I add celery.
I add cucumbers.
I add blue cheese crumbles.
I add shredded parmesan cheese and cheddar cheese.
I add croutons sometimes too.

I put it all in a bowl and shake it up.

I eat this ALL the time with some yummy ranch that I get from a local restaraunt. (I'm very picky about ranch dressing and this place is the best!)

There you have it!