The van is fixed

Let's just pray that it stays fixed. We have changed two of the four oxygen sensors now. I hope the other two don't go bad. It cost over $300 today. (I'd insert a crying face here, but dont have one.)

Karen got some good news today! Her Pet/CT scan revelealed that there is only cancer activity in her breast, NOT in her liver. Praise God!

On a very sad note, Lisa, who was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in December 2004, passed away today. Will you please pray for her family? She just turned 34 years old and has two very young children. Cancer sucks. It just does.

Special Olympics

It was a gorgeous day for Special Olympics yesterday. It was cool but sunny. I actually got a little bit of a burn on my face. I put pictures on Flickr. You can click the link in my sidebar and see the few pics I took. My camera batteries died. I had just recharged them. I hate rechargable batteries. Anyway, Caleb decided to moonwalk the 50 yard dash instead of run it. He just wanted the attention. He moonwalked it backwards by the way. Go take a look. He competed in the 50 yard dash, the softball throw, and the standing long jump. All he wanted to do was to go to the "Olympic Village" and get popcorn and Sprite.

My weigh in sucked last night. I gained a lot of weight. Weight I didn't "deserve" to gain either. I have to believe that the FIRM is building muscle faster than my fat is dissipating. It's still frustrating though. I will keep pressing on. I will update my Weight Loss blog later today. But I refuse to change my ticker!!

Eight more days until Disney! Eight. More. Days.

We are dropping the van off this evening to get the oxygen sensor replaced. Praying that this will fix all our problems and we will have a nice safe ride to Orlando.

Have a great weekend!

Tuesday

and still not much to report.

Special Olympics was supposed to be tomorrow but they have moved it to Thursday because of the likelihood of rain.

I think I have found a new riding instructor for Camille. Yes again. The girl that we just started with, quit. I'm not holding my breath. I just pray this one works out.

Please pray for Karen. Things are not progressing as we hoped.

I have a dear friend who is pregnant but I can't say who. They want to wait awhile before announcing it.

Take a look at these pictures. They are my online friends! Twelve of them got together in Dallas for a weekend of fun. I'm totally jealous.

I did a 55 minute FIRM video today and burned over 500 calories. Check out my weight loss blog.

Do you know I have an online friend in New Zealand? (Hi Wilm!) And you know what else? Their water spins clockwise when it goes down the drain. Ours (being the top half of the world) spins counter clockwise.

I also get hits on my blog from places like the UK, Poland, and Iceland. How cool is that?

I love my Mother's Day present

I got my Polar F4 Heart Rate Monitor and I love it. I have worked out twice with it. It's a pretty cool little toy. Today I did a 45 minute DVD and burned 450 calories. The hard part for me is writing down everything I eat.

Next weekend we will be getting our van fixed. We have had a check engine light on for FOREVER. We knew it was an Oxygen Sensor and Olaf assured me that it was not necessary to change. He said it only had to do with emissions and would not affect the way the engine actually ran. Well....today we had an alignement and tire rotation done and Olaf asked the guy to hook it up to the computer to see if there were any other faults showing up in the engine. Needless to say, there were several. Olaf called the Mazda dealer service department and talked to a mechanic there. He explained the situation and the mechanic said that the Oxygen Sensor could be causing all those other faults. Hmmm.... So, next weekend we will have the Oxygen Sensor replaced and pray nothing else goes bad on the way to Orlando. Our tax refund that is paying for this trip keeps dwindling with stuff like this. Sucketh. Some of it is my fault becuase I used $109 to join Weight Watchers for ten weeks and then Olaf bought me a Mother's Day gift that cost $80. I guess I should shut up!:)


It's been raining here for the past couple of days. I hate rain. I grew up in Springfield, Oregon where all it does is rain. So when it rains here I fear it will never stop. The only way you can tell it's summer in Oregon is when the rain gets warmer. A true Oregonian has webbed feet. And FYI, it is not pronounced Ore-gone. Like Gone With the Wind. It is pronounced Orygun.

Josiah caught a caterpillar a few days ago and was keeping it for a pet. He would go outside and touch it and carry it all around. Well, he left the box outside and the rain killed it last night. He is now on a search for a new caterpillar and nothing else is appeasing him. Poor child.

Olaf is cleaning the inside of the van right now. I admit it. I am a slob. I let the children eat in the car. The paper wrappings of straws and candy mints are strewn all over my floorboard. A small animal could live for a month on the french fries that are sure to be found on the floor near my children. And everytime (everytime) my husband cleans out the car for me, I get "the" lecture. Good thing he only does it once a year!:)


Two weeks from today and we leave for Disney World. Yee Haw!

Not much to blog about

But I'll blog for Tammy.

I washed the curtains in my room as well as the matching thingamabobs that hang off the railings around my bed. I have an open canopy bed and there are these little curtain lace things that hang around the bed. Am I making any sense? Anyway, they were filthy. Olaf has asthma really bad and these things had an inch of dust on them. Not condusive to an asthmatic.

I just finished the FIRM Jiggle Free Arms. It's only 30 minutes, but it's better than nothing. Olaf ordered the heart rate monitor that I wanted for Mother's Day. It should be here tomorrow. Woo Hoo! Now I can see how many calories I am actually burning doing the FIRM.

On another note, Josiah doesn't eat. Anything. Except chocolate. I bought him french fries today from McDonalds. They are sitting there untouched. You can see every bone in his body. I am trying not to worry.

I got a coupon in the mail today from Yankee Candle. Buy two of the large jars, get one free. I have to do that. I love Yankee Candles. I do not like fruity scents though. Yuck.

Camille is almost done with her school year. She has 16 more days. We will start back up somewhere in the beginning of July. She will be in the fifth grade and Grace will be in Kindergarten. They are growing up way too fast.

Tonight is the Amazing Race. I hope the hippies catch up. I want them to win.

Have a great day!!

Dumb

So, I had this Metabolite that I bought on clearance YEARS ago. You know, the one WITH the ephedra? It was in the clearance bin at Publix becasue they were going to the ephedra free formula. So, I spent the $1.99 for a bottle of 180 pills. And it sat in my cupboard for two or three years. Until today. I get it out and look at the expiration date. It expired a year ago. I figure I may as well try it and see if it works anyway. I took the 2 caplets one hour prior to eating just like it said. Now I am a shaky, jittery, mess. I guess ephedra doesn't expire afterall. I also know why people got hooked on this stuff. I feel like I am on speed. My heart is racing, my hands are literally shaking, and I want to clean my house. Something is definitely wrong:0)

Camille finished her standardized test today and it is sitting in the mailbox. They grade it and send the results to me. I am certain the girl scored awesome in math. I'm not sure about reading and language. It will take three or four weeks to get the results back. Right now she and Grace are at the table playing school. I LOVE that. They are both learning so much when they do that. Right now Camille has her counting by twos.

I ordered the bulk of my curriculum for next year already. ABeka had free shipping this month. At the homeschool conference (the day before we leave for Disney) I plan on buying the GA History stuff from Notgrass. I will also do A Reason for Writing with both of the girls and maybe Explode the Code with Gracie.

Josiah wants me to sit with him in the chair, so off I go! Have a great day.

Happy Easter

I hope everyone is having a blessed day. We started it out with the children finding their baskets this morning. Then we hid about 60 plastic eggs in the front yard for the children to find. Needless to say, my children have eaten so much chocolate that I am surprised they aren't throwing up. We all sat down to watch the Donut Man's Ressurection Celebration (thinking that would be good for the little ones) when Grace decided she needed to wash her hands. I called her back to the living room because she was missing the whole point of the story when she promptly told me "I don't care." Well, if you don't care about the real reason for Easter then obviously you don't care about Easter at all. And if that is true, then you just lost your Easter Basket and everything inside of it. Olaf took her to the bedroom and explained how awful that attitude was and asked her to pray and tell the Lord she was sorry. She refused. I took her Easter Basket away. She cried and still refused to pray. I say predestination, Olaf says not! LOL! She finally did pray when I went in and told her to, which really negates the prayer altogether. Why didn't these children come with a step by step manual?

I just ate a egg salad sandwich for lunch. I have no idea how many Weight Watchers points that is and I really don't want to. It had a TON of mayo on it. I really need to be good the rest of the day. I mean...really, really good. For supper tonight we are grilling hamburgers and hot dogs. I will eat the 97% fat free Hebrew National Hot Dogs for one point each. They are actually quite good. The bun is 2 points each though. So for 6 points I can have two hot dogs.

Have a great Easter everyone. The Lord has risen!

Words.

ALIVE!

by Max Lucado

ROAD. DARK. STARS. SHADOWS. FOUR. SANDALS. Robes. Quiet. Suspense. Grove. Trees. Alone. Questions. Anguish. “Father!” Sweat. God. Man. God-Man. Prostrate. Blood. “NO!” “Yes.” Angels. Comfort.

Footsteps. Torches. Voices. Romans. Surprise. Swords. Kiss. Confusion. Betrayal. Fearful. Run! Bound. Wrists. Marching.

Courtyard. Priests. Lamps. Sanhedrin. Caiaphas. Sneer. Silk. Arrogance. Beard. Plotting. Barefoot. Rope. Calm. Shove. Kick. Annas. Indignant. Messiah? Trial. Nazarene. Confident. Question. Answer. Punch!

Peter. “Me?” Rooster. Thrice. Guilt.

Proceedings. Court. Rejection. Prosecute. Weary. Pale. Witnesses. Liars. Inconsistent. Silence. Stares. “Blasphemer!” Anger. Waiting. Bruised. Dirty. Fatigued. Guards. Spit. Blindfold. Mocking. Blows. Fire. Twilight.

Sunrise. Golden. Jerusalem. Temple. Passover. Lambs. Lamb. Worshipers. Priests. Messiah. Hearing. Fraud. Prisoner. Waiting. Standing. Shifting. Strategy. “Pilate!” Trap. Murmurs. Exit.

Stirring. Parade. Crowd. Swell. Romans. Pilate. Toga. Annoyed. Nervous. Officers. Tunics. Spears. Silence. “Charge?” “Blasphemy.” Indifference. Ignore. (Wife. Dream.) Worry. Interview. Lips. Pain. Determined. “King?”

“Heaven.” “Truth.” “Truth?” Sarcasm. (Fear.) “Innocent!” Roar. Voices. “Galilean!” “Galilee?” “Herod!”

9:00 A.M. Marchers. Palace. Herod. Fox. Schemer. Paunchy. Crown. Cape. Scepter. Hall. Elegance. Silence. Manipulate. Useless. Vexed. Revile. Taunt. “King?” Robe. Theatrical. Cynical. Hateful. “Pilate!”

Marching. Uproar. Prisoner. Hushed. Pilate. “Innocent!” Bedlam. “Barabbas!” Riot. Despair. Christ. Bare. Rings. Wall. Back. Whip. Slash. Scourge. Tear. Bone. Moan. Flesh. Rhythm. Silence. Whip! Silence. Whip! Silence. Whip! Thorns. Stinging. Blind. Laughter. Jeering. Scepter. Slap. Governor. Distraught. (Almost.) Eyes. Jesus. Decision. Power. Freedom? Threats. Looks. Yelling. Weak. Basin. Water. Swayed. Compromise. Blood. Guilt.

Soldiers. Thieves. Crosspiece. Shoulder. Heavy. Beam. Heavy. Sun. Stagger. Incline. Houses. Shops. Faces. Mourners. Murmurs. Pilgrims. Women. Tumble. Cobblestone. Exhaustion. Gasping. Simon. Pathetic. Golgotha.

Skull. Calvary. Crosses. Execution. Death. Noon. Tears. Observers. Wails. Wine. Nude. Bruised. Swollen. Crossbeam. Sign. Ground. Nails. Pound. Pound. Pound. Pierced. Contorted. Thirst. Terrible. Grace. Writhing. Raised. Mounted. Hung. Suspended. Spasms. Heaving. Sarcasm. Sponge. Tears. Taunts. Forgiveness. Dice. Gambling. Darkness.

Absurdity.

Death. Life.

Pain. Peace.

Condemn. Promise.

Nowhere. Somewhere.

Him. Us.

“Father!” Robbers. Paradise. Wailing. Weeping. Stunned. “Mother.” Compassion. Darkness. “My God!” Afraid. Scapegoat. Wilderness. Vinegar. “Father.” Silence. Sigh. Death. Relief.

Earthquake. Cemetery. Tombs. Bodies. Mystery. Curtain. Spear. Blood. Water. Spices. Linen. Tomb. Fear. Waiting. Despair. Stone. Mary. Running. Maybe? Peter. John. Belief. Enlightenment. Truth. Mankind. Alive. Alive.

Alive!

Amazing Race is on tonight

I'm so happy they moved The Amazing Race to Wednesday at 8:00 pm. That just rocks.

I had an IEP meeting with Caleb's teacher today. Of course she is taking another position and won't be his teacher next year. Goals really didn't change too much. It should be another normal year.

I actually fit into a smaller size pants today. That is always fun. I think I have only lost five pounds in two weeks, but I have been doing the FIRM everyday. The video I did today really kicks my butt. I cannot do it all. As a matter of fact, I leave out the arm part and only do the leg part and I still can't make it through the entire video. Let's see if I can find a link to it. Here it is. I cannot wait until I actually start to see a difference again.

My Pampered Chef party was a huge success. I got two half price items and $90 in free product. Thank you to everyone who came or bought something.

Do you know they make zero calorie salad dressing? It isn't bad either. I found it at Publix. Check it out. I have tried the Creamy Bacon and the Honey Mustard. I prefer the latter, but they are both good.

Time to go veg in front of the TV for an hour.

Pampered Chef

I am having a Pampered Chef party tonight. It has been planned for well over a month and I am hoping (and praying) that someone shows up. If you want to order and have it count toward my show please go here and enter my name as the host.

Disney is less than four weeks away. The children are absolutely GIDDY with excitement.

My eight pound loss due to the stomach bug did not stay off. I knew it wouldn't. I think I gained four back. But, four pounds in two weeks is still a good weight loss for me. I am being diligent about doing the FIRM. I remember last time I was doing the FIRM I was getting really discouraged because the weight was not coming off. I think I am one of those people who build muscle faster than my fat dissolves. That means I need to be persistant no matter what the scale does. It doesn't make me feel any better when my husband has lost 10 pounds in the same two week period though.

OK, so much I need to do today. Have a great day.

I'm here

Wow. What a stomach virus. Josiah, Camille, Olaf, and myself all came down with it Tuesday morning. Josiah started heaving in my bed (yuck) at 2:30 am. I started at 5:30 am, Camille started at 7:30 am. Not enough toilets. And it lingers. Josiah threw up twice yesterday too. Two days after the initial sickness. The good thing is you feel much better 24 hours after it starts. Still nauseous, but you can get out of bed. I went to Weight Watchers last night just for fun (I knew it would be a good weigh in) and I was down eight pounds. I am starting to update my weight loss blog again.

Caleb has not caught this nasty virus so please pray that he doesn't.

Have a great weekend.

We are so sick

Yesterday was awful. Everyone had the stomach flu except Caleb. I am just waiting for him to get it. My tummy is still queasy. This is not fun.

Sick children

Wouldn't you know it? Spring Break for Caleb is this week and it is starting with sick children. I took Camille to the doctor on Friday because her tonsils are huge (to the point of touching each other)although not red or anything. I wanted to make sure she was OK and maybe get a referral to the ENT doctor. (Gotta love those HMO's) The doctor gave her some Sudal and said she was fine. Friday night Josiah starts running a temp. We look in his throat and his tonsils are red with puss pockets on them. I figured it was strep and I took him to the doctor Saturday morning. They did a strep test which was negative so they didn't give me any antibiotics. I still think it's bacterial and will probably take him back to the doctor this week and demand antibiotics for this poor child. He has a fever and nasty throat. No other symptoms. Then, as Olaf was running errands with Grace in the van, she starts vomiting. Profusely. He brought her home and she proceeded to vomit every five minutes (no exaggeration) for four hours. We tried phenegran and it didn't help at all. So, the pediatrician on call called in for some Zofran. It's an anti-nausea drug that they give Chemo patients. It did slow down the vomiting, but it didn't stop it. She slept with me last night so I could take care of her. I felt so helpless because there was nothing I could do to help her. She was so brave though. I am so proud of her. I am just praying that no one else gets the stomach virus. Josiah sure doesn't need it on top of his current illness. I am afraid to vomit so I am totally freaked out by it all. It's Spring Break so Caleb is home all week. That is hard enough as it is, but to have them vomiting will not be fun. Pray for us.

I'll check back in and let you know how it is going. If you don't hear from me for a few days it's because everyone is puking. That will help me with Weight Watchers this week though. Hmm...

Chicken Little

That movie is so darn cute. I like the music in it too. Caleb laughs hysterically at that pig.

So, Weight Watchers starts tomorrow. I am mentally preparing. Wax on, wax off.

Can I just say that Camille is awesome at math? She is, she is. I don't know why that makes me so proud, but it does. She is a sweet young lady and I hope she continues to serve the Lord with her whole heart. She watched the TV special on the Duggars and said she wanted 16 children too.

Less than five weeks until we go to Disney World. We are staying here. I am mentally preparing (hmmm, that sounds familiar) so I don't get too stressed. Believe me, a Disney World vacation is not my idea of relaxing. Especially with Caleb in the mix. However, Olaf and I are praying that we are relaxed and calm throughout the trip. I certainly don't want the children remembering their mother an anxious woman the entire time. The tax return money is in the bank and waiting for us to buy the tickets. I guess we should do that soon. We found an awesome site for discounted tickets. If you buy four days they give you two for free. Not that I really want to go to the Disney parks all 6 days that we are there, but hey...it's free. Can you believe that it is going to cost our family $1,146 just to get in? That is a lot of jack. However, they will remember it for a long time. Praise God that our condo in Orlando only cost $200 for the entire week thanks to a very generous woman who gave us a week in her timeshare. We also have to see if our next door neighbor will be able to take care of our menagerie while we are gone. They are really good neighbors. He works at a bakery where they make Weight Watchers cakes. He brings us over some goodies every now and then. If they cannot, then we will see if our friends down the street can do it. I just feel bad because someone needs to come three times a day to let the dogs out. We'll keep the cats in the garage while we are gone, but someone is going to need to scoop the litter. The birds will need to be fed at least twice while we are gone too. We are like Noah's Ark...everything in two's.

So, peace out! (I love quoting Napolean Dynamite) Have a great day!

I went to Alabama last weekend

I couldn't post about my plans prior because I went to see Becky as a surprise. She will be celebrating her 40th birthday next month and Charity and I wanted to surprise her. We drove about 4 1/2 hours to spend the day with Becky and Ashley.

(Susan, Becky, Ashley)

Ashley let us stay the night in her parent's house while they were away and we had a wonderful time. On the way, Charity and I stopped in Birmingham to pick up a cake at Edgar's Bakery. Oh what a gorgeous bakery! Their cakes are not only tasty they are gorgeous too. I bought a strawberry cake, cinnamon rolls, cookies, and rugalach. We ate some of the cake for Becky's birthday and I brought the rest home for the family. It is yummy.


It was just plain old fun driving four hours with Charity. We talked about everything under the sun. Our lives, our childhood, our marriages, our children... What a blessing to have her for a friend. We had a fantastic time. Here is a picture of Charity in the car.


On another note, I start Weight Watchers this Thursday. I so do not want to weigh in.

Thanks to everyone who left me a comment. You guys rock!

And just for fun:

ESTJ - "Administrator". Much in touch with the external environment. Very responsible. Pillar of strength. 8.7% of total population.

Take Free Jung Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

It's way too stinkin' early for this post!

It's Saturday. It is 6:10 am. Thank you Caleb. Thank God for coffee.

Today Caleb has a baseball game and he is excited as always. Olaf said that he did a fantastic job last week. (Remember I didn't go?) He said he played so well that he is sure it was just a fluke. We'll see...

I received the PASS Test to give to Camille. I looked it over and I am certain that she will not do very well in Language Arts. I am giggling as I write this because if I had to take that test, I wouldn't do so well either. The math section will be fairly easy for her. Reading should be no problem as well, except for the vocabulary section. She'll stink at that. (And so do I, hence the word "stink" in the previous sentence.)

Oh, I looked at my friend Tammy's website. She is a realtor in Bend, OR. Take a look at her listings! WOW! That's a lot of jack, eh? That first house wouldn't cost more than 100-110K here in GA! YOU GO GIRL!

Oh there goes that bird chirping again. I'm glad I'm not asleep right now.

Have a great weekend! And please, leave a comment. When I go to stat counter and I see all the people that come to my blog I am amazed. I'm international you know?:0) So please leave a comment and let me know who you. I would really appreciate it!

G.K. Chesterton

How can it be a large career to tell other people's children about
(arithmetic), and a small career to tell one's own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone? No; a woman's function is laborious because it is gigantic, not because it is minute.

My Space

Have y'all heard of it? Here is my site. Cheri made me join (well, she didn't make me) and today it was all worth it. I found a friend from high school. How fun! It was completely by accident how I found him. MySpace is mostly for the younger crowd. I mean, I'm really old for that site. But, I was trying to find people from my high school that were about my age. I went to a person's site who I do not know at all and the song that was playing on his site said the music was by none other than my friend, Scott Southworth. Tammy! Can you believe I found Scott Southworth?

On the homefront, I watched The Wedding Singer today. Loved it! Completely loved it. OK, I'll admit it. I cried. I really did. I graduated in 1985 so all the music was fabulous.

I am starting Weight Watchers next Thursday. Not tomorrow, but the following Thursday. Waiting for tax return money. Until then I am going to eat normally (like a pig) and drink normally (some sort of adult beverage at night.)

My little guy is sitting in my lap which is making this rather hard to type. I need to go love on him. Have a great night.

This, that, and the other

Nothing much to blog about. Except that it seems like everyone is pregnant. I called a friend last night that I haven't talked to for a few months and she is expecting (Ms. Martha, I'm talking about Sharalyn). This will be her second child and she is a high risk pregnancy. She has tachycardia and takes beta blockers for it. She cannot take them while she is pregnant and her heart just races and causes chest pain. Pray for her.

Camille is doing math right now. I ordered her achievement test and will give that to her in April. Since she took the same test last year it will be fun to see how much she has improved. I was looking through this catalog (on paper not online) last night. They have some great books and curriculum. There is a Children's Club for young girls called Keepers At Home Club For Girls. Their little boy club is Contenders For The Faith Club For Boys. It sounds like something I would love to do with Camille. I am going e-mail our local homeschool group to see if anyone already has a group going. If not, I just may start one.

I have been awake since about 3:00 am. You want to know why? Because some bird that obviously thought it was morning started chirping in my backyard and did not stop. Finally...finally, at 6:40-ish he shut up. The only thing I can think of is he spent too much time at the birdie bar and was looking for a date. I tried to find him but it was dark. I SO would have shot him with the BB gun. I would have pumped that gun up as high as my fat arm would let me and blasted the feathers right off him. I normally would not kill anything, but I would have taken great pleasure in shooting this bird. Maybe you can earn a badge in the Keepers At Home Club for shooting birds?? Well, maybe that would be in the boys club, but I bet you can earn a badge for frying it up in a pan!:)

Mmmm, all this talk of bird makes me hungry. I need to go eat breakfast.

Gracie Girl

Grace was watching Charlotte's Web today when Templeton the rat came on. (Remember his voice was done by Paul Lynde) Anyway, she says, "That rat is FATTER than Mama!" Oh my. It is certainly time to lose weight!:)