It worked out

Caleb did fine at Fantasy in Lights. We rode the Jolley Trolley and he got a little bored toward the end. Other than that, he did great. It was fun to see Grace's face. She was in awe of the lights and had the most fun. When we got back to the starting area, Caleb and Camille shared a caramel apple topped with M&M's, and Grace and Josiah shared a Cotton Candy.

Four of my stamp sets sold on Ebay. I mailed them out yesterday and ran a few errands. We went to the pharmacy to pick up Caleb's prescription, then to Target and then to Kohl's. Target had a women's fleece jacket on sale for $10 so I got one for Camille. It's very cute. I also got Gracie some "tomato" aka Play-Doh for her stocking. This is a typical question with Gracie phonetics: "Mom, aster yurnch can I pay wif tomato?" It is SO cute. I LOVE it when they mispronounce words.

I'm sending my out of town Christmas cards out today. I ordered some prints of the children's photo at www.photoworks.com and got them yesterday. I also ordered my postage stamps online. I ended up getting the ornaments because I never like the "Madonna and Child." I would love a nativity scene on a stamp. Or just baby Jesus with a star. Kind of like the graphic in the sidebar. Maybe I should suggest it.

My calf is still hurting and I can feel a lump under the skin. I think I'll call and make an appointment. Camille is not going riding today because she is being disciplined for last weeks school meltdown. After I worte about it, she melted down again and got another priviledge take away. Now, no Molly AND no riding lesson.

I went grocery shopping last night because I didn't get to go on Sunday. I bought a lot of groceries. I got two more turkeys because they are still .69 lb. That is a lot of meat for less than $9 each. The things I got for free (or less than a dime) were; Publix 16 ct sliced cheese (that was the penny coupon), Rice a Roni, refridgerated Lender's Bagels (I got 6 packs of those and they paid me .15 each to buy them!), and Swiss Miss cocoa (qty 3).
Oh, and I got 2 Aunt Jemimah frozen breakfasts for free as well. It's so fun getting free stuff. Caleb's occupational therapist was checking out in front of me at Publix. Her cart was loaded with groceries and her total was $253.00. My cart was almost as loaded and my total was $59.00. I spent $97.00 at Kroger though. It was at Kroger where I bought 2 chuck roasts ($1.99 lb) as well as the bulk of the other stuff.

Last night Gracie got out of bed crying. She said she needed to go pee. So she cried on the toilet for awhile (she was still sleepy) and finally went potty. She calmed down and I put her back to bed. I covered her up and she looked at me and said, "Mom, I love you!" It was so sweet. I have been SO blessed that God gave me these children.

Need to get school done. Blessings!

Fantasy in Lights

We plan on going to Callaway this evening for Fantasy in Lights. Caleb says he doesn't want to go, so we'll see if he ruins the trip for everyone. We would get him a babysitter, but I don't know anyone that can babysit that doesn't go to church Sunday evenings. It's expensive to go, so I really hope he's fine with it. On the Fourth of July at Callaway he pooped in his pants. I hope we don't have a repeat of that.

My calf is hurting and I am convinced I have DVT. Of course, a blood clot is going to break away and kill me. I was all set to go to the ER this morning but Olaf thinks I'm crazy. So, maybe I'll make an appointment to go to the doctor this week. Maybe not. Good thing our ladies bible study is doing "Calm My Anxious Heart." It's not helping me, is it? LOL!

I have some stamp sets on ebay that end today. Four of the 7 sets have the minimum bid. That means I'll be running to the PO tomorrow to mail them out. Or giving them to Olaf to take to work with him. He passes a PO on the way to work.

November is almost over! It has gone by fast. December is going to busy with Camille's choir schedule too. I hope to get a lot of school done in December.

I need to get in the shower. Blessings!

Shopping...

I went out shopping yesterday and that was the dumbest thing I have ever done! I went to Kohl's and the line was wrapped around the entire store to check out. Then I walked over to Parable Christian Bookstore and looked around. Then I went to Eckerd and bought some chocolate for the kids stockings. Then to Dollar General where I got Caleb a present. Caleb is so hard to buy for. He destroys everything he gets so we really don't weant to spend a lot of money on toys. I am trying to think outside the box and think of things that are not toys that he would like. He loves baseball caps, so maybe that's an idea. The other children have plenty.

I'm not sure what the plan is for today! I know I have eaten like a PIG this week. I am dreading weigh in on Monday. Blessings!

Christmas Season

It's offically the Christmas Season. Well, at least in my book. Tomorrow is the biggest shopping day of the year and I'd like to do my share. If only I had some money!:)

Thanksgiving dinner was great. Olaf did a good job. I took Camille to see "The Polar Express" tonight. She really enjoyed it. I thought it was OK. Just wait for the video if you can.

For some reason I am really hungry right now. I ate popcorn and whoppers at the movie theater. I ate a turkey sandwich when I got home from the movies...why am I so hungry???

Hope you like the new graphics. I am amazed at people's generosity when they give away these graphics for free. All the blinkies came from the first three blinkies that are linked to their webpages. Visit and get some blinkies of your own! For some stupid reason, they're addictive. Blessings!

Thanksgiving Eve

It's the evening before Thanksgiving and my home smells like pumpkin pie. I wonder how many other homes across the United States smell like pumpkin pie right now? I have SO much to be thankful for. Thank you my Heavenly Father for my salvation that You have provided me, my wonderful husband, the children I never thought I would have, my health and the health of my family, and on and on... You have blessed me beyond measure and I am truly grateful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Struggling today

I'm having a little bit of a "situation" today with Camille regarding homeschooling. I was working with her on her seven times tables with flashcards when she started crying. I asked her why she was crying and she said it was because she didn't want to do the flashcards. I told her that she needed to change her attitude and we were going to work on the flashcards until she made some progress with her seven times tables. I ended up disciplining her for her attitude (when she had several opportunities to change it) by taking away playing privledges with her best friend. You would have thought I shot the girl with a rifle! She was wailing like a professional mourner at a Hebrew funeral. Now I have ammunition!:) I am still not certain that homeschooling is the best thing for either of us at this point. She sure isn't seeing a Godly example at home from me or Olaf for that matter. The only thing she is getting here that she wouldn't be getting in public school is curriculum from a Christian perspective. She is also missing the bullying and bad influence of the other children, but she is being bullied and has the bad influence of her mother. Which is worse? Which one is the lesser of two evils? I want to preserve some relationship with Camille and I feel like I cannot do that while she is home. On the other hand, I know that sending her to school will not solve all the problems. Also, Olaf is adamant that Camille will not go to public school and I have to submit to his decision. I feel so overwhelmed and torn most of the time. It is a huge stress in my life and has been for the three years I have schooled her at home. Again, I throw up my hands in desperation and ask God to help me be the woman He has created me to be, and to accomplish the mission He has given me.

Josiah is going poo on the potty, so I need to go sit with him.

Blessings!

AAARRRGGGHHH!

This is my fourth, yes fourth, time trying to post on my blog. I have typed the same information so many times, I'm sick of doing it!:) In a nutshell:

Fernbank was worth every penny...nothing! Evolution abounds, but some stuff was fun and educational. It's hard going to a museum with little ones and a mentally challenged son. It would have cost $54 for our family to get in. I am so happy it was free.

Today Camille has a two hour choir practice. I am hoping someone else can bring her home. Caleb's bus is unpredictable and I don't want the bus to beat me home. Especially since today he had a sub driver and she was on time this morning. That is rare.

Josiah has slept part of the night in his bed the past two nights. Hallelujah! I have to admit, I do miss cuddling with him. When he cries in the middle of the night I scoop him up and put him in bed with us. I am enjoying every minute of my "baby." I don't know if the Lord will bless us again.

I gained weight this week. It caught up with me! Check my weight loss blog tomorrow to see how much.

Need to get school done before choir. I am hoping this posts...

Busy as a bee...

We went to church this morning then went out to eat at Golden Corral afterwards. Olaf got $15 in Golden Corral "bucks" for coaching Caleb's little league team. When we got home, we did the coupon thing and then I went grocery shopping. Olaf will be making our Thanksgiving meal this year. We would really like to invite someone over that doesn't have anywhere to go, but the Lord hasn't told us who that person/people are yet. If you're reading this and need a place to eat Thanksgiving dinner...let me know. Hey, Charity! What is your family doing for Thanksgiving? Want to spend it with us?

Fernbank was worth every penny; NOTHING! If I had to pay the $54 for our family to go in there, I would have been ticked. Some parts were fun and educational. You just have to look over all the evolution stuff that they teach as fact, not theory. I would like to go to their planetareum someday though.

Josiah actually slept in his own bed part of the night last night. He is in his crib sleeping right now as well. Friday afternoon I put him in his crib awake for his nap. He screamed for about two hours but finally laid down and slept for two. I think him being in the crib, in the daytime, helped ease his fears about being in there at night. Olaf said he slept so good last night not having the baby in bed with us. I actually slept better after the baby woke up and I put him in the bed with us in the middle of the night. I really pray the Lord blesses us with another child. I love babies. Especially newborns. I would like to lose some more weight before I get pregnant though.

Try the Gingerbread Coffeemate. It's even better than the Peppermint Mocha! Yummy! I got mine at Kroger.

Blessings!

Fernbank

Fernbank Museum of Natural History is giving away FREE admission to members of Callaway Gardens. We probably wouldn't go otherwise. I mean, who wants to pay $$ for being indoctrinated in evolutionary theories? It's the perfect day for Fernbank because the weather outside is kind of yucky. I'll post tomorrow and let you know how it was. In the meantime here is a link if you want to visit: http://www.fernbank.edu/museum/

Olaf has made cinnamon rolls for breakfast. They smell yummy. I'll probably eat one:) I weighed myself this morning and am up a few pounds. I am hoping it's not a "true" weight. We'll see Monday night.

Our trip to Brusters was fun. The children watched him make ice cream in the big machine. They watched him make a waffle cone. The got to taste the ice cream as it was coming out of the machine. Everyone got a cute baby cone and a coupon for a free scoop. They had fun. The whole tour was probably 30 minutes from start to finish. The manager was very nice. As he was pouring the mix into the measuring cups he told us the reason Brusters ice cream is so good is because they "moo" when pouring it. He made all of us moo real loud. Last night as Grace was telling Olaf about the field trip she said, "And when we all moo'd it made the ice cream taste good."

Off to eat. Blessings!

Brusters

We will be leaving in a few minutes for our field trip to Brusters. We are going with two other families to have a tour of the facility (it's tiny! How long can that take?) and sample some ice cream. If you don't know what Brusters is...it's only the best ice cream place on the planet! I don't really like ice cream too much, but my family loves it. Especially Olaf and Camille. It gives me a tummy ache. The children are excited about going.

Last night at Bible Study the women all laid hands on me and prayed for me. I shared with them (and now you) that I am having some major oppression from the enemy regarding depression. I feel like if I have to do one more thing, or even if one more thing is expected from me, that I am going to collapse under the weight and have a mental breakdown. I feel inches from being admitted into a mental hospital at times. Please pray for me if you feel led from the Lord. It was interesting to hear the way the different gals prayed for me. You could hear their gifts from the Lord come out in their prayers for me. Some showed compassion and empathy, some prayed with spiritual boldness rebuking the enemy, some prayed for me to recognize sin in my life and repent... I was blessed by all of them. I wish I had my internet friend to share my struggles with. It still plays in my mind the words she ended our friendship with. That is something else I have to let God take care of. I'm sure thinking of it is just adding more stress into my already anxious heart. If you are reading this Wendy, I am praying for you and your family. I miss you.

OK, I need to get shoes on Josiah and get going to Brusters. Blessings to all who take the time to read my ramblings.

Blessed Be Your Name

in the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

And blessed be Your name
when Im found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your name

Every blessing You pour out
Ill turn back to praise
And when the darkness closes in
Lord Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
when the suns shining down on me
When the worlds all as it should be
Blessed be Your name

And blessed be Your name
on the road marked with suffering
Though theres pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

What a great song by Tree 63! We sing it in church and I absolutely love this song. I'll post more tomorrow. It was a great night at Bible Study! Blessings!

Busy Wednesday

I have a moment to post before I have to take Camille to JMG. I was very blessed today in the fact that Jeannie took Camille to choir for me. She happened to stop by 15 minutes before we were to leave for choir. She drives right by the church on her way home, so I asked her if she wouldn't mind dropping Camille off. You see, Josiah woke up at 5 am this morning and never went back to sleep. He really needed a nap and I knew that he would fall asleep in the car on the way to choir. Then he would have been really fussy the rest of the day because that 15 minute car ride would have been the ONLY nap he took! It worked out well. Then, come to find out, Camille didn't have to stay after for extra practice. She called me and I went and got her. We leave for JMG in about 45 minutes. Camille did math, language arts and spelling today. JMG will count for science. The seven times table was introduced today and I realized that I can't count by 7's! LOL! I have the times tables memorized, but when I try to skip count I get all messed up. Anyway, she did well. She only missed three problems on her entire math worksheet. The desk in her room is helping us a lot. Tomorrow I need to call the school system to see if I can get Cami evaluated for occupational therapy. I have a feeling that it will be a lot of red tape. If I can't get it done through the school system then I will go up to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

Oh, I tried the most wonderful coffee stuff! It's CoffeMate Peppermint Mocha and it's only out for the holidays. If you like mint hot chocolate, then try this in your coffee. It's delicious. I want to try the Gingerbread next. I think I'll go have anothe half cup!

Blessings!

My girls and me! 

Camille and Mama before Thanksgiving Tea!

Running again..

Tuesday morning is riding lessons. We drive over 30 minutes each way for an hour lesson. I'm thinking of going twice a month vs. once a week. Just for MY benefit:) I hope to get some school done today. It's hard with all this running around that we do on Tuesday's and Wednesday's. Tomorrow Camille has to stay after regular choir practice for solo choir practice. I will see if Terri Terrell can bring her home. If not, then Josiah is going to be miserable with no nap.

Check out my weight loss blog to see how I fared last night.

Blessings!

Time to pay the piper

Yes, tonight is weigh in night. After two weeks of celebrating my birthday, I'll see how much damage has been done.

We went to Callaway Gardens yesterday. It was sunny and cool. We rode bikes about an hour again. This time we rode on the trail to the azalea Bowl and got off the bikes and walked around the garden. Josiah was so tired because he had not had his nap. Next time we ride bikes, we need to make sure that little guy isn't so sleepy. The weather was perfect though. I think the high was in the upper 50's which is great if you are riding a bike! Grace and Josiah were bundled up though.

Last night, I went grocery shopping. I saved 49% at Kroger. Our family is buying Thanksgiving dinner for a local family that cannot afford it, so I bought two turkeys at Kroger at .69 lb. I got DelMonte canned veggies for .22 per can, Gold Medal 100% Whole Wheat Bread for .95 loaf (not as great of a deal as last week!), Huggies diapers $7.48, milk .99 half gallon (I bought 3 gallons), 20 pound bag Purina Dog Food $7.49, and a whole lotta other stuff. My total at Kroger was $87.16. At Publix, I got 5 lbs of Dixie Crystal sugar for .90 each, so I bought three. The bulk of my shopping was at Kroger this week though.

Josiah still will not sleep in his bed. He screams like he is terrified. Last night he woke up several times saying "hurt" but I'm not sure where exactly he was hurting. He had a major poo in the toilet last night before going to bed, so maybe it was his tummy. He's cute when he sits on the potty. He has to look at the Readers Digest and he sits on the potty about 1/2 hour before he even starts to poo. He's a man! He's taking his time. He must have learned from Olaf.

OK, girls are up. I need to go! Blessings!

Homeschool Tea

Today I took the girls to Tammy's church (where I go for Bible Study) for a homeschool Thanksgiving Tea. It was very nice. I wore my hat that I got last year for Christmas. It's a black quilted hat with red flowers in the front. Needless to say, I was the only one in a hat, but it was fun for me. Ms. Mike prayed and did a devotional, Katie Frost (age 12) dressed up as a pilgrim and did a little speech on what the Pilgrims endured, there was great food and of course, tea. I would say there were about 35 to 40 people there. Everything looked feminine and lovely. Grace, Camille and Mama had a nice time.

If the weather is nice tomorrow, we plan on going to Callaway Gardens and riding bikes again. I haven't exercised all week, so bike riding will be good for me. I will be weighing in on Monday and I am not sure if I have lost or not. We may go to church first or we may just worship at home. Speaking of worshipping, I need to go over my chapter in "Calm My Anxious Heart" again. It's all about loving ME and accepting myself. God created me, including my personality, and "I will praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works and that my soul knows very well." Psalm 139:14 It's so hard to really accept myself sometimes. But, to know that God created me to accomplish His purposes through me, is humbling. No one else can do it...

Blessings!

He's guilty!

Oh, I am so happy that Scott Peterson was just found guilty. I was afraid that this jury, after all it's troubles and juror dismissals, would hang. I really believe justice has finally been served for Laci and baby Connor. The penalty phase starts on the 22nd I think. No matter what you think about the death penalty, this man will never get out of prison and I am so happy about that.

I am going to start writing our Christmas letter this weekend. For some of you my letter won't contain any new news because you are keeping up with us via this website. I would love to get a photo to send as well. I need to get that taken in the next week or two.

OK, just had to get my excitement out about the verdict!

Quick Week

It's Friday and it feels like it's been a quick week. Praise God!

Grace woke up this morning from a bad dream. The weird thing is, I had the same dream she did although it wasn't last night. Grace dreamed that she got ran over by a car while Papa was holding her hand. The car ran over her head and she said it hurt. A few weeks back I had the same dream. We were in a parking lot and a truck backed out right on top of Grace while Olaf was holding her hand. That is just a little too freaky that we had almost the same dream. If my dreams weren't so whacked ALL THE TIME, I'd probably read more into it than I should. I just need to pray over this situation and hand it over to the Lord. Be anxious for nothing but by everything with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

I called Dr. Osako's office this morning to talk to her about Camille. She won't be in until Tuesday, so I left a message with Charles, her nurse. Camille really needs occupational therapy I believe. She still has trouble buttoning, brushing her hair, brushing her teeth properly, etc. It's almost as if she cannot manipulate her hands correctly. It's hard to describe.

OK, I need to get this morning started. The children are eating right now. I need to eat and get school started with Camille. Blessings!

Boring Day...

Not much in the way of news today. Molly came over and played with the children for a few hours. This evening the ladies from the Bible Study all went out to eat at Golden's and then back to the church to help get ready for the Homeschool Tea this Saturday. I didn't do anything except fold napkins. I love Golden's on Thursday's. I had fried squash, sweet potato casserole and cooked cabbage. It was delicious but now my intestines are twisted with gas.

I am glad tomorrow is Friday. I love the weekends.

Blessings,