Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Liberty

As of one week ago, I am now a Liberty University student along with my Hubby, although he is enrolled in their Seminary I am just enrolled in their regular University. I decided why not get another degree, heck I have two, what's another! Business and CNA, now what am I going for......BS in Psychology with a Minor in Church Ministries. I am very excited and I start on January 18th, this is the same time that the Hubby starts back also.

This first mini semester from January to March I am taking General Psychology and Theology(Introduction to Christian Thought). Can't wait! I ordered my books last week and they should be here around Thursday, can't wait to get them and start reading!

Yesterday I checked my Liberty e-mail and found that they had received my Official Transcript from my previous College. I was ecstatic to find out that all of my classes were transferring!!! Yes! This means 1 year...at least...will be knocked off of getting this degree! How wonderful to hear!! So in all actuality I could be graduating before the Hubby is finished with his Masters of Divinity.

I am very proud, and although I know that I am going to be working very hard, it's going to be great and I can't wait!

Monday, December 28, 2009

All-n-A Days Work

So, this is the second week of Christmas/Winter Break....the kids are with their Granparents for the week(the Hubby's parents), the Hubby is on half days for today and the next two days then off for four days, and that leaves me home alone with the dog. It's lonely and boring.

Today when the Hubby got home at lunch we headed to the attic and started organizing it! We loaded up the van, it was slammed packed, with things that we took to GoodWill. Then we came back home and loaded it up again with recycling to take to the recycling center. We are over half way finished with organizing the attic and we will finish it tomorrow by going through all of the Christmas totes and sorting through all of those Christmas items that have been in storage for the past 6 years. Then we will take down the outside Christmas lights and put them up before it rains on Wednesday.

We may catch a matinee at the Movies tomorrow when the Hubby gets home from work before we finish conquering the attic and outside lights. There are a couple of movies that we would like to see.

I washed a couple of loads of towels today and some linens. I want to wash the kids' bed linens and have them fresh and clean before they get home. It always feels nice when you have fresh linens to sleep on.

Dinner tonight was pizza, we ordered it on the way to the recycling center today, it was good, but not the same as eating it with the kids!

Good night world...until tomorrow

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve! We have had a wonderful day today in our family. The Bookworm made us homemade pancakes for breakfast this morning....he loves to make pancakes, he is a very good chef! After breakfast we tidied up the house and then we rolled out and decorated and bake homemade sugar cookies. This has always been a tradition with the kids since the Princess was little and we always bake them on Christmas Eve. Following baking cookies, the kids made garland with a kit that I purchased after Christmas last year. They painted wooden snowmen, snowflakes, christmas trees, santas and reindeer and then we glued them onto the ribbon with bells and rafia, they each made one, they did a good job! Afterwards we ate lunch and watched The Grinch. We also played Mancala and watched It's A Wonderful Life too!

Now the Hubby is off to go and pick up our Christmas Eve dinner tradition Chinese! While we eat we will watch The Walton's Homecoming(another tradition on Christmas Eve). Then it will be the reading of The Night Before Christmas by the Hubby. Maybe another movie and then bed. Christmas tomorrow, now matter how old I get I always look forward to Christmas with my family and celebrating with the the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Christmas Presents

The tree is up.Your house is decorated. All of your gifts have been bought for your family and friends. But, here is the question....Do you take the time to carefully consider each person on your list and to what they may like for Christmas as a gift from you/your family?

I don't know about you but I do. I make a list of everyone that we are buying for and I carefully go through my list name by name thinking of what each person on our list may like. Taking my time to think of that perfect, sometimes unique or unusual gift. Gift cards............are not an option on my list! Gift cards are too easy of a gift, if you are going to give a gift card, you should just send money and let the person shop where-ever they want. Gift cards are a restraint to the person that gets it because they can only shop at where you "buy" the card at and most of the time that card came from your favorite store, not the person's favorite store that you are buying it for! But, it you really really truly must buy gift cards, buy a visa one, at least then the person can shop where they want! This is what my Husband's sister is getting our children, do I have a problem with it, no, because a visa gift card can be used at the KIDS favorite stores. But if you are very adament about getting a "store" gift-card how about buy a little something small to put with the gift card to give that "gift" effect!

The past 6 years while we were stationed overseas our families received gifts native to the country(countries) that we were living in. They have a collection of many different kinds of things from nutcrackers, to little wooden smoker men, to hand crafted wooden figures from trains to ornaments, to family name plaques for their homes, to handmade rugs from when the Hubby was deployed, to wonderful chocolates and candies, etc.These gifts came from the local economy, not the PX!(our family doesn't even shop at the PX here, we got so tired of the PX's when we were overseas, who cares about being tax free!) What makes these gifts special.....they were all selected and picked out specifically for the individual or family by us. We took our time to pick them out a gift, not just grab something to get their name scratched off our Christmas list. We get gifts for people because we care, not because we "have" to. You see, it's not the amount of money that you spend, it's the thought that counts and to me, the time that you put into it.

I am always excited every year to make our list and to begin our shopping. Usually by now I have completed my shopping, but this year I haven't. We have completed and bought for the most important two on our list, our two children. The rest of the list is still sitting there, for me to complete it. But for me, I am still diligently thinking about what I am going to select for the ones on our list.

The same about gifts can also apply to Christmas cards. Do you send out Christmas because you want to, or because you feel that you "have" to? If you feel the need that you have to, don't! There is no rule saying that you have to send out Christmas cards. I remember one year, we sent out New Years cards instead. Is there anything wrong with that? Absolutely not.

Do what makes you happy while you put Jesus first, others second and yourself last.

Learning from Your Dog?


Thought for the day: " We can learn so much by observing the way our pets rejoice in life's simplest moments. For a dog, every morning is Christmas morning. Every walk is the best walk, every meal is the best meal. Take time every day to celebrate the many gifts that are hidden in the ordinary events of your life." Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisperer
How true it is! Our dog Sandy, loves and finds joy in the simplest things. From waiting on me to wake-up in the mornings, to looking forward to marching in the kids' rooms in the mornings to help wake them up, to that sniff of the fresh morning air when she first goes out in the mornings, to spending time following Mom around the house during the day as I do housework, to waiting in the afternoons for the sound of the garage door going up so that she can attack Dad when he comes home from work; the simplest things she finds joy in. Her love for me and our family is never ending, she gives love with wanting nothing in return. Although a treat sure is yummy to her at times or being able to sit in Mom or Dad's lap and at the end of the day when she gets to sleep on our bed when we turn in for the night!
So, like a dog, we too should take every day to celebrate the many gifts that are hidden in the ordinary events of our lives. Your family(immediate and long distance), your house, food, your car, your job, your friends, your Church. You get the picture. What about doing....what have you done for someone else lately? Or have you been to wrapped up in yourself to think of others? Lots of times family is the one thing that people put on the back burner......people wake-up and smell the coffee, family is the number one thing(besides God) that should be your top priority! It's sad, but so true, too many have families where the only time they hear from eachother is around the Holidays, how sad! Why is this? Too busy with everyday events in their ordinary lives to think about anyone else but themselves. Too busy, to pick up a phone a call someone just to say, "hello". What does this teach and show todays children? Morals and values that I learned when I was growing are becoming scarce these days. It makes me very sad and sick to my stomach to see how so many people are rearing their children. It bothers me to think that sooo many parents try to be "friends" with their children and not the parents. It bothers me not see families in Church worshipping together and praising the Lord. It bothers me when parents let their children walk all over them and the parents show no backbone! I remember hearing a parent say one time to their child, if you don't do so and so, I'm going to tell Santa not to come see you! Gee, what a thing to tell your child! Was that parent really going to follow through with their statement? Of course not! And you know that the child knew that too, so parents, just a little hint for you, don't tell your children things that you are not going to follow through with.
So today, stop and rejoice for all the simplest things in your life. And while you stop and ponder on them, thank God while you're at it!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

15 Wonderful Years


The Hubby and I just celebrated our 15th wedding Anniversary last Thursday, and yes, this year it happened to fall on Thanksgiving.....for all of those that remembered our special day, thank you for remembering us.


We celebrated by taking a Cruise, just the Hubby and I. We took a 6 day 5 night Cruise on the Carnival Inspiration to the Western Carribean. We had a wonderful time together and are planning on taking another one on our 20th Anniversary, maybe a Panama Canal Cruise! Who knows, we may take another one before then and take the kids too, they are the perfect age for taking a cruise. It was really fun to watch all of the people that decided to take their "younger" children with them, and I am considering all children under the age of 10 "younger." These people looked miserable! Especially the ones that had babies, or toddlers or pre-schoolers or 5 year olds! All the Hubby and I could say to each-other was "Ha Ha"! I must mention here that I have the BEST Mother in the whole world! Thanks Mom for watching the kids(and Sandy our dog) for us...you are AWESOME!!!! And the kids had a really fun time with you and Dad!


15 years is along time. We actually dated for about a year and then we were engaged for almost a year, so we have "technically" been together for around 17 years! What is the secret you say? God! God has always been our rock and our foundation, not only in our marriage, but in our family and our lives. Without God in your life, you are nothing. JOY: Jesus first, Others second, and Yourself last.


As I look back over the past 15 years, I look back with joy, I anticipate the future, and I celebrate the present with laughter and love . God has blessed me with a wonderful Husband and I thank Him for that. I love you Hubby!

Friday, November 13, 2009

Good Works Don't Save Us

"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." Galatians 2:16

There is a story about a man that was visiting the burial site of a "holy man" from another religion. While visiting this site, the man asked the gatekeeper if the man was in heaven. The gatekeeper responded, that we can only hope that he is. If he did enough good deeds, our god will accept him. The man walked away grieving knowing that this "holy man" had followed a false, works-based faith with no assurance of heaven.

Some believe that doing works will get you to heaven. NOT TRUE!! Good works don't save anybody. God alone saves us by grace through faith. In Him we have assurance no other faith can offer.

Do you have that personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Have you poured your heart out to Him and asked him to come into your life and to be your Lord and Saviour? If you have I rejoice with you. If you havn't, I am saddened and pray that you will. What are you waiting for, the Father is waiting. There will be many people when we get to Heaven that we(Christians) will not see, why because they will be in hell because they did not do that one most very important step in life........asking God to be in our their life as their Saviour.

Do you have friends and family that are not Christians? Our family does. What do you do, how can you help them? Pray for them and be an example everyday of God living in and through you.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Halloween

This was the last Holiday that we had not celebrated yet since we moved back to the States from Europe. I can't believe that in 6 days we will have been back in the States for exactly 1 year. It certainly has gone by so fast, but we have enjoyed every minute of it!


We hosted a Halloween Party at our home last night. We had a wonderful time. We decorated the front and back yard and the inside of the house. Our home on the inside looked just like a haunted house....fun! On the outside we had a graveyard and black crows, a witch and her cauldron, a huge spider and his web, a tree with a face and monster surrounding him on the ground, ghosts in the windows of the house and a crime scene on the driveway of a chalk outline of the Bookworm and our dog.......it was spoooooky!


We along with all of our friends dressed up, it was a lot of fun. We had themed haunted food of all sorts, yum-o!


We played games and ate and all the kids and teens went Trick-or-Treating. It was a great time of friends, fellowship and fun! The Bookworm was a 50's Dude and The Princess was a Medieval Princess. The Hubby and I were "Tacky Tourists"!






Saturday, October 24, 2009

Nothing Like Mountain Apples

Last weekend the Hubby and kids and I went to Apple Valley to pick apples and pumpkins. We had a wonderful time. It was a very cold weekend! We were all bundled up with coats, hats, scarfs and gloves! But oh what a great time we had!




We first went and did the Corn Maze(we even took our dog Sandy with us). It was a lot of fun trying to find all of our 5 points. We eventually found all of our points and I believe that we did it under an hour. It was a great "family" team building experience. Fun for everyone!



Then we picked apples and we picked a 1/2 bushel of them. We picked 3 different types. One sweet type, Cameos, one in-between sweet and tangy the Goldrush , then the last one was the Mutsu that I use to bake in my apple pies. We also bought a huge cabbage that weighed 5 lbs! It is so big that I can have it with three different meals! We also bought homemade apple bread and apple butter. Not to mention that the kids each had a homemade apple strudel and the Hubby and I had a nice hot cup of apple cider! Yum-O!!



After picking apples we picked pumpkins. The kids each got one. It didn't take the Princess long at all to pick hers, but the Bookworm, well, let's just say that it took him a good 45 minutes! But that was OK, because we enjoyed walking around and looking at all the different sizes of pumpkins and looking at the goats and llama too! It was a fun filled day!











So, want to spend some quality time with your family this Fall, get outside and go apple and pumpkin picking! There is no better way to spend time together as a family then outside in God's wonderful world!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

When God Calls

Several years ago now, when my husband was deployed to be exact, he heard God calling him into the Ministry. We talked about getting out of the Military so that he could go to Seminary, but it wasn't the right time to do it at that time. So, I started praying 3 years ago to God this specific prayer each day. "Dear Lord, I pray that my husband will be able to somehow attend Seminary and yet, still retire out of the Army, without having to retire first or get out of the Army and then go to Seminary. Lord if that is your will, I know that You can make it happen. "

So, everyday I prayed this prayer for 3 years. A few months ago my Husband came home from work one day and told me about a local college that offered Seminary classes and the at he was thinking about possibly enrolling, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to attend this one college or another one that was in another state. A lot of the classes he could do online, but for some, he would have to take some of the classes at the College itself. He looked at me and he asked me,"How long have you been prayer?" I said,"Praying about what?" He said,"Praying for me and Seminary." I told him,"3 years."

Folks...........GOD IS GOOD! The past few weeks have been exciting in our house! The Husband decided against both of those schools and we found another Seminary that is so much better and caters to the Military and all of his classes can be taken online! And yes, he will be done in less than four years, which equals that amount of time that we have left remaining in the Army! And another yes, we have decided that 20 years is enough, he is going to retire, so that he can go into Ministry.
He got accepted into Seminary and just received his books and DVDs yesterday.....he can't wait til classes start in a week or two!

God hears us when we pray. Lots of times we want answers now, but God will always answer us and He always answers in His time.

Think about all of the blessings that God has given to you and finish this phrase, " I know I am blessed because......................................

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

The Consequence Jar

For those of you wanting to know more about "The Consequence Jar", here it is....

It's hard to find away to discipline your kids and to "stick" with it, especially when they get older. We now have a teenage daughter, the Princess, whom is 13 and a preteen, the Bookworm, whom is 10 soon to be 11 in December. And yes, he is a preteen, I teach his 4th/5th Grade Sunday School Class and the Curriculum is tagged as Preteen! Yes, I know I almost fell off my rocker!

So, one night after the Hubby and I tucked the kids into bed, we were talking and catching up on our day and talking about how we could effectively nip sassy talk, back talk, eye rolling, and just plain attitude out of our kids but be able to be consistant at the same time. That's when we thought of making a "Consequence Jar".

I took an index card and wrote on it in Red Marker, Consequence Jar and taped it to an old Mason Jar. The next night at dinner during our family's devotion time, we told the kids that we were going to come up with a Family Vision for our family. All four of us participated in making it, we didn't think that it would be right not to involve the kids. So, that night our Family Vision was made, it is: To be a family that glorifies God by, showing love, respect and encouragement to one another, through JOY:Jesus, Others, Yourself.

After we set our Family Vision, we then decided on the Family Rules. We each took a turn naming what we thought would be a good family rule.
Here is our Family Rules:
1. Respect Each Other
2. No Whining
3. Encourage Each Other
4. Practice Makes Progress
5. No Lying, Always Tell The Truth
6. No Back-talking
7. Obey Your Parents
8. No Bad Words
9. Respect Your Body
10. Do Not Interrupt When Someone is Talking
11. Do Not Be Mean
12. Use Your Manners
13. Respect Other's Property
14. Take Pride in Yourself
15. No More Than 2 Hours of Computer/TV Per Day

These were then quickly typed out on the computer and printed along with our Family Vision and then posted in our home where we all four can see them everyday and refer back to them.

Next, we told the kids that we had a new way of solving back-talking, whining, etc. "The Consequence Jar". They were quit surprised when I pulled the mason jar out. We again took turns with Mom writing on index cards tasks/consequences that were to go in the jar.

For example here are some of their consequences: pull weeds out of garden, pull weeds out of flower beds, pick up pine cones in back yard, pick up sticks in back yard, fill up all bird feeders in yard, vaccum upstairs and stairs, vaccum all of down stairs, clean both toliets, sweep drive-way, etc. I think you get the idea. These are basically chores that neither of them like to do! And yes, they both have a chore chart with daily chores.

Once all consequences were written down, we folded the index cards in half and put them all in the jar. And that was it, our Famly Vision, Family Rules and Consequence Jar done as a family and all done in one night.

How does the Consequence Jar work, well when one back talks, we say go pull, and they go straight to the jar and pull a consequence and they immediately go and do it. We of course also talk with them about their behavior as well. We have found that this does work in our family and I recommend it to everyone. It is a topic of conversation in our home when guests and friends come over, because The Consequence Jar sits in plain view on our kitchen bar. They ask, what is The Consequence Jar? And we tell them pull a card..........then they say OHHHHH, this is a good idea!

Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Another Year...

It's been awhile since I have blogged.........summer happened that's why! Well, another school year has begun. This year the Princess is the 8th grade and the Bookworm is in the 5th grade. They are both the biggest ones on each of their school campuses this year. The year has been great so far, I am praying that they both have wonderful years this year.

The Princess is still in Band this year playing her flute, she loves playing flute. She has wonderful teachers this year and she is really enjoying all of her classes. Her Algebra teacher is our Pianist at Church. The Princess tried out for the School's Girls Volleyball Team the first week of School, and she made it! We are very proud of her wanting to try something new. Her first game is tonight........GO LADY TIGERS!

The Bookworm is already getting very involved in the 5th Grade leadership at his school. He gets to School 15 minutes early every morning before all of the other students arrive and he signs in and vests-up for his position on the morning Safety Patrol. He loves being on the Safety Patrol and has been taking his job very seriously being very adamant about not being late in the mornings! The Bookworm is playing Soccer again this year. This is his 8th year playing Soccer! He started playing Soccer when he was 3 years old when we moved to Germany, wow!

The Hubby is now an Instructor of BOLC at the Army Finance School. He loves his new job. He thought that he wouldn't be able to get in front of new Lieutenants and talk, but he has found that it is very easy and enjoyable and has found that he has to have lots of candy for his throat! Funny how it is like pulling teeth to get him to talk on long trips in the van when we are going somewhere!) I guess women do have more to say than men! HA

As for me, the usual. My job never changes....the cleaing, washing, vaccuming, cooking, errands, groceries, and Mom's taxi service. But I wouldn' change it for anything in the world! I am trying to volunteer as much as I can anywhere that I may be needed, schools, church, etc. We just had one of our friends visit us that we were stationed with in Italy, it was fun to see her and spend a few days with her. For now I am getting excited about our Ladies Small Group Bible Study starting up next Monday night, we're doing the Frazzled Female by Cindi Wood, I can't wait!

As I type this it is lightly thundering and raining alittle. I love rainy days, they are absolutely my favorite kind of days. Hoping that your day is blessed and that you, like me, are thanking God for all of his many blessings that he has given to us.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Prescription for Contentment

A few years ago when my husband was deployed, I had been dealing with a lot of anxiousness in my life. All of us deal with this. Are you saying to yourself right now that you never are anxious or are not content? Ok then, have you ever complained about anything? You know you have. Have you ever complained about that person driving in the car in front of you because they are going to slow?! Anyway....

That one year when my husband was deployed was one of the years where I grew the most, I don't mean bodyweight, I mean spiritual growth. I was became stronger that year spiritually. I was apart of a wonderful Ladies' Evening Bible Study that year and it really blessed my life. The study that we did was Calm My Anxious Heart. If you are apart of a Ladies' Bible Study Group at you Church or PWOC at your Chapel, I recommend this Bible Study, especially if you have ladies and their spouses are deployed.

I am happy to say that I have been anxious free for 3 years! It's not something that happens over night, trust me, it takes a lot of work and a lot of pray.

Here's the secret recipe:

Prescription for Contentment

~Never allow yourself to complain about anything---not even the weather.
~Never picture yourself in any other circumstances or someplace else.
~Never compare your lot with another's.
~Never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise.
~Never dwell on tomorrow---remember that tomorrow is God's, not ours.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Enjoying Your Life

Have you ever thought about your life....or thought about your day? Do you often think that the only days that you can enjoy in your life are the days that you are on vacation or are off from work or when you get to go to a movie or shopping or just to take a nap? I think that we have probably all thought this my dear friend, but the TRUTH of the matter is: Jesus died so that we can all enjoy an abundant life all the time, every day.

"Whatever may be your task, work at it heartily, as for the Lord and not men, knowing that it is from the Lord that you will receive the inheritance which is your reward." Colossians 3:23

Jesus wants us to enjoy everything in our life, EVERYTHING, yes, EVERYTHING. From paying your bills, to going and buying groceries, to taking the kids to school, to weeding your garden and cutting your grass and yes, doing laundry(pray n wash).

You're thinking, I can't enjoy some of those things! Yes, you can! You can enjoy life if you determine to do so. How? It's really simple.....say to yourself that you are going to enjoy every aspect of your life because Jesus died so that I could have unspeakable joy.

Errands, cooking, bills, your job, the future, retiring, college for the kids, yard work, moves, the list could go on and on.............enjoy it, God gives us nothing that we can not handle and HE knows our every need.

Start today and start enjoying your life!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

3 Cups of Coffee and On The Edge of My Seat

Yesterday was a very nice day, windy, but nice. Sandy(our dog) and I worked in the garden all of yesterday morning pulling weeds. It was nice to be out in the cool air.

Yesterday afternoon I made a pot of coffee right before the kids came home and had a cup while waiting on them to get home from school. I had one more cup before we left for The Princess's Softball Tournament and I made a to-go cup and took it with us! Total of 3 cups..actually I may have had 4, but who's counting! So I was full of caffiene!

The Princess made it to round one of the Girl's Softball Tournament. WOW what a game! They played Taco Bell. They had already played Taco Bell 2 other times beating them both times and the last game against them went into Over Time! The Princess really had her game face on last night and pitched an AWESOME game! She in fact pitched the WHOLE game! She had me on the edge of my seat the entire game. In fact I was literally on the edge of my seat for the entire time! We started out by being behind 6-1, then we came back and tied it 6-6. All of us Parents just knew that we were going to have to go into OVER TIME AGAIN with Taco Bell, but not so! We were the Home team and got to bat last. The Princess was up to bat, bases loaded(I think), she hit and made a HOMERUN! This gave us the 1 RUN that our team needed to win! Game was over and now the Princess and her team advanced up to round two of the Girl's Softball Tournament. So, say a prayer for the Princess and her team on Thursday evening!

Goooooooooooooooooooooo P&G!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Smokin'

Ok, well this morning I decided that I needed to vaccum. So I vaccumed the kids side of the house and I vaccumed the family room and I was starting to vaccum the kitchen rugs and the dining room when my vaccumed started to smoke! Yes folks, my vaccum started smokin and smelling like smoke too! Yes, it's my fault! One of my kitchen rugs got caught in my vaccum!!! Yes, I know pretty dumb.......and now my vaccum doesn't work! We just bought it when we moved here about 5 months ago! Gee......

Well, the vaccum will be sitting on the curb in the morning waiting to take it's last ride to where it will be laid to rest.......the dump!

Guess I'll be going out and buying a new vac today!

Monday, May 4, 2009

Gray Hair

Have you ever looked in the mirror and noticed that you have started to get a "few" gray hairs? Or then again have you ever looked in the mirror one day and suddenly noticed that your whole head of hair was gray? I think that we look at gray as a color that is not added to your hair, in fact it's a color that gets subtracted!

Well, pigment called melanin is what supplies our hair with its natural color. As we age, the melanin slows down thus producing more of a white or gray color. It actually takes you longer to grow gray hair because it grows only about a half inch per month. Gray hairs are also more resistant, so they stay in your head longer than darker hairs.

You are probably asking yourself, so what is she trying to get at? We often think that gray hair means that you're getting old and will soon be forgetful. The world in general likes to say that you're getting washed out and feeble even! The Bible tells something completely different, " Gray hair is a crown of glory;it is gained by living a godly life." Proverbs 16:31

So.........the saying goes respect the wisdom of your grandparents and elders.......this is so true. So are you now going to cherish your gray hair when you get it or if you already have it? Or are you going to dye it, if you do, you may be covering up a very valuable feature.

Think about it!

Friday, April 17, 2009

Busy as Bees

Spring has sprung and this family has been as busy as bees! We have now started games for softball with the Princess and baseball with the Bookworm, not to mention regular practices as well.......thus busy! But it's a nice thing to be busy, we're out the house and enjoying the beautiful warm weather and sun that we have been so blessed to have lately.

Last night the Princess pitched another awesome game! Pitcher is her thing, and she knows it! The other pitcher last night on the other team, didn't even compare to the Princess at all! The Princess and her team won 2-9! Way to go!

The Bookworm's attitude of playing is very different than that of his sister! I guess that's the difference between an all boy team and an all girl team. Boys can be so mean to eachother! You can tell the different parenting styles that people have, or should I say, the lack of parenting. It just bewilders me at some of these boys and the rudeness that they have! He plays center outfield and does an awesome job at stopping the balls! He hit really well last night too! They lost, I don't know the final score, but they lost by 2.

So today is a free day for us, no games and no practices that is until tomorrow, the Princess has a practice tomorrow. Next week there are practices and games again. We are praying that it rains for their games on Thursday and that the games get rescheduled. I know, what a silly prayer right? Well, see, the Princess is getting inducted into the National Beta Club on next Thursday evening, the same time as their games, so they will miss their games. If it rains, they technically want miss it, and they can play them the next night! Please help us pray for rain for next Thursday!

May you have a truly blessed day today and enjoy the wonderfulness of God's glory!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Spring Break and A Movie

Well, this week the kids are on Spring Break. The week started off great. My husbands parents came down to see us over the weekend and we had a nice visit with. And no I didn't not go off of my healthy eating habits.......in fact, I lost 3.5 lbs! I will not break my weight for anything!! I have complete self-control when it comes to eating out or when we are at someone else's home, there is ALWAYS smart, healthy good for you food to eat instead of the junk that are at a lot of restaurants! I have come to far(35 pounds now)to go back to the weight that I use to be!

Sunday after Church, the Princess and I decided to go and shop for me! Yeah, feels wierd saying that! The Hubby deemed it a Mommy day for Mom to go shopping with the Princess and to buy for Mommy! I went to put on a dress to wear on Sunday for Church, and it looked like a moo-moo on me! In fact, I tried on several dresses in my closet and they were all moo-moos on me! It felt so good to throw those dressed in my yard sale pile!! I have lost at least 2 dress sizes!! Yeah! So off to shop the Princess and I did. I bought five new shirts and a pair of capris. I was looking for an Easter dress, but I didn't find one. I did however buy the Princess an Easter dress! I know I know, it was suppose to be a me day, but you know how it goes, I was going to have to take her back to get a dress anyway, so I went ahead and got it while we were there! I'll have to go find one for me when we go to my parents this weekend!

So Monday was a rainy day and the kids and I just hung out in the house all day. The kids slept in and I did laundry ALL day!

Tuesday was a cold day here, high of 54! The kids and I bundled up and I took them Spring shopping. I bought the Bookworm 5 new shirts and 2 pairs of shorts. Or as he calls them "short-pants"! The Princess only found 1 shirt that she liked and it was on the sale racked marked down from 19.99 to 1.99! What a bargain! After clothes shopping we went and opened up their savings account at the Bank, then we went to Chik-fil-a for lunch. The chargrilled salad is yummy there! Then it was off to POST! The Bookworm had a giftcard to the PX that was making a hole in his wallet, so he wanted to spend it. I detest going to the PX, we were in and out and he spent his 25.00 giftcard in less than 20 minutes! A record time!! We spent more time waiting in line for him to pay for his new game than him picking out a game! Then it was off to Aldi for grocery shopping! We were in and out of there within an hour, and only spent 134.00 for two weeks of groceries!! Not bad, not bad at all! Then we headed home stopping at our local Food Lion to pick up english muffins and skippy peanut butter(Aldi doesn't carrry these!). Then we were home! I fixed dinner, we ate and the Hubby took the Bookworm to baseball practice. I very productive day indeed.

Today was a great day! The kids slept in, the bugman came for his quarterly bug spraying of the home and then we left to go see Monsters VS. Aliens in 3D. I was glad that we went to the Matinee. Matinees cost 7.00 here, the Military discount at anytime is 7.50 and the regular cost is 9.00. So we had 3 matinee tickets at 7.00 a piece and then an extra 10.00 for 3D glasses! It was 31.00 for the matinee! Yikes! It was a good movie, and I will surely be saving our 3D glasses for when all the other 3D movies come out soon so that I do not have to pay 10 extra dollars again! After the movie it was time to go by Books a Million to buy a trip book on Washington,DC where we will be going in June for vacation. Then it was off to home! Oh yeah, and the Princess's softball coach called and said that practice had been cancelled for tonight and rescheduled for Saturday, I don't think we'll be there, it is Easter Weekend, not going to be at softball, we're going to spending it with family!

What does tomorrow hold? None of us is guaranteed tomorrow. As we get ready for this Easter weekend, are you ready for Eternity? If you died right now, do you know where you are going to spend Eternity. Do you, without a shadow of a doubt? Have you asked Jesus to come into your life, to be your Lord and Savior? If not want you ask Him today....He's waiting with open arms.

"Books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to the things written in the books. Each one was judged according to the deeds he had done." Revelation 20:12

Monday, March 23, 2009

Update on the Bookworm

The Bookworm as you know from an earlier post got injured at Baseball the other night. He awoke Thursday morning with a high temp. of 102.4. He stayed home on Thursday and on Thursday night I took him back to the UCC to see the doctor that saw him the previous night. Boy do I like Dr. Keiger! She was so nice and had the nurse on the lookout for us when we walked in so that we wouldn't have to wait! Anyway, this time they did a couple of x-rays on the Bookworm and one of them the Dr. was alittle concerned about. She said that she would talk to us when she was working again on Sunday night and let us know what the Radiologist says.

So Friday that Bookworm stays home again from school and the Nurse from the UCC calls saying that the PA that was on that day wanted to schedule a CT for the Bookworm. So we set that up for tomorrow(Tuesday). I talked to Dr. Keiger last night and she said that the xray showed that there was swelling in one particular place on his upper jaw. She said that we were going to see how he does today and if he has NO pain what-so-ever, then we will not do the CT tomorrow. He had no pain all day yesterday, I am praying that he has no pain today too. I really do not want to expose him to all of that radiation!

Thank you to all of you who have been praying for the Bookworm. And if you are wondering if he is still going to continue playing baseball, yes he is. He said of course I am! Maybe I can put him in a bubble when he is on the field so that he doesn't get hit again!

The Princess

I have to brag about the Princess on my blog today. We checked the mail when we got home yesterday from our weekend away(the kids stayed at my parents for the weekend and the Hubby took me to Charleston for my birthday), and there was a letter in the mail from the Princess's school. Usually you get something in the mail from the kids' school, what do you do, assume that it is not good! Of course that is what I did!!

Anyway, I opened it and read the long lengthy letter! I called for the Hubby and the Princess to come out where I was. The letter stated that the Princess has been chosen to be inducted into the National Junior Beta Club for her school!!!!! I don't think that I need to say how very proud we are of her, but I am going to say it anyway............I am a very proud MOM! I am just beside myself on how well she has adjusted to our move, from going to being homeschooled to public school, etc. Way to go Princess! Can't wait til the ceremony in April! I will take pictures and make sure that I post them.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Baseball

It's Spring and that means that it's time for Baseball season! The Princess is playing softball this year and the Bookworm is playing Baseball. One of them has practice just about every night of the week, The Princess even has practice on Saturdays.

Yesterday the Bookworm had practice. They practiced hitting the ball with the pitching machine and the Bookworm did very well, he adjusted to the pitching machine really quick. When it wasn't his turn batting, he covered first base. He is really good playing first, he has played first before. All was going well for the first 30 minutes of practice until the Bookworm went to catch a ball being thrown to him from third and it went "smack" right on his chin. The Bookworm's hand went right over his mouth and I thought for sure that there was going to be lots of blood and teeth everywhere when I got to the other side of the field where he was. When I got to him, there were no tears coming from him and he was still standing tall. I would have been screaming!! I checked him out and he had blood from the inside of his lip and a few of his teeth, but none of the teeth were loose, praise be to God! I grabbed his water bottle and made him rinse out his mouth and then had the Princess run to the van to get the cool gel packs that I keep in the van just "in case" something like this happens!

The Bookworm was tough and held on til the end of practice. He put the gel packs on his jaw and chin and we drove home. The swelling had already begun and so did the black and blue. When we got home we explained to Dad what had happened and decided that if he started having really bad pain in his jaw that we would take him in. We started eating dinner and the Bookworm starting complaining about the pain and that his jaw was hurting, and that when he moved his toungue in his mouth that it hurt as well. So, the Hubby put his uniform back on and took the Bookworm on Post to the UCC(urgent care center.) They left at 7 and didn't get home until 12,midnight! The doctor didn't do an xray because she didn't want to expose his whole head. She said her specialty was facial bones and she thought that he hadn't broken his jaw but told the Hubby that we need to watch him for the next 3 or so days.

So, it is almost 9 this morning and the Bookworm is still in his bunk bed sleeping. I checked on him and his face is swollen to about 2x's it's normal size. I am not waking him, he needs to rest. When he does wake-up, I plan on letting him eat if he can, put ice on his face/jaw/chin and take some more pain medicine. I thought that I would sign him in late today for school, but I think I'll let him stay home today. Who would want to go to school in pain like he is and who would want to go to school with a swollen face! So today he can stay home and get some Mama love and hugs. Tomorrow is another day, actually he has an all day field trip and I am a chaperone! Fun!

Friday, March 6, 2009

Determination&Dedication=A Better Me

I havn't blogged anything about what's been going on in my personal life, as in me and only me. Not Hubby and not the Princess and not the Bookworm, just me and not as Mom either.

Starting in January, actually 40 days ago today, I decided to clean the pantry and fridge of all junk food and ALL processed food from our home. We now eat fresh everything, and mostly organic. Back 40 days ago we also purchased the Wii Fit for our home, we already had a Wii. So I decided that I would start doing the Wii Fit for 1 hour everyday, plus walk/run around our neighborhood every night with the Hubby while we walk the dog. I set up my profile on the Wii Fit and put that I wanted to lose 30 pounds by my birthday which is March 21st. I thought yeah right, I know I want loose that much. So my venture began and everyday I did the Wii Fit, ate right, and walked/ran.

As of today I have lost 25 lbs.!!! I am very proud of myself and people have started to notice. I am not the only one that has trimmed down in the family either. The Hubby has lost too. The Princess and Bookworm have both lost also, to the point where their pants are very very baggy and loose. And let me just say that we are not dieting, we are merely just eating right and eating healthy.

So, today I did something to reward myself, I went and enjoyed the morning at the beauty salon! I am back home with a new cut to go with the beginning of a new me!

Friday, February 27, 2009

Quote of the Day

Just a thought that came to mind this morning, thought I'd share:

"A friend is like a good bra- hard to find, supportive, comfortable, and always close to your heart!"

Hoping that you have someone in your life that fits this description.
Happy Friday!

And to my in-laws: Happy Anniversary today! (My father-in-law is a faithful reader of my blog!)

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Grocery Bill Slashed in Half

OK, so I have tried shopping everywhere since we moved back to the states from Europe, literally everywhere. Yes, even the commissary on Post, and yes by using the sale papers and by clipping coupons, I have always been a coupon user. But you know where I've been shopping for the past month and a half.........ALDI! Yep, I was so happy when I found that they have one here, it feels just like being back in Germany when I go there to shop! You have to put your quarter in the buggy in order to get a buggy to use(just like Germany except you use a euro), and the checker sits at the register just like in Germany and the cash register drawer pops up just like in Germany, plus you must bring your own bags or buy them just like in Germany!

I LOVE ALDI!!! My grocery bill has been slashed by at least half since I have been shopping at ALDI! I am very happy about that. And the kicker is, I buy NO processed food at all, all of my food is fruit and vegetables....fresh things. I only spent $160.00 today and that will last for two weeks, besides that staples like bread and milk. Why is it so cheap...........the overhead, generic brands, sometimes you'll find a namebrand name, they don't take coupons either because there prices are already cheap.

So if you have an ALDI by you, try it, and I bet you'll love it!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Back to "Normal"

I havn't posted in over a week, but I assure you that I do have an excellent excuse, several to be exact. But who cares, I'm blogging today and today is a new day. As I sit at the computer and type this it is 8:30 am and I am enjoying the wonderful sunshine that is coming into my FROG window. Today looks like it is going to be a nice, sunny, beautiful day. Last night was real stormy, I do not like stormy weather and living here we will have lots of stormy weather and will probably most likely have lots of tornado warnings too.......my most scarey thing to me in the whole world! Last night, in fact for the past two nights, our dog has been right in the middle of the Hubby and I in bed, she too is scared of thunderstorms and it was stormy the past two nights!

So, I can say that today is finally a "normal" day in our home. I say this because we weren't home this past weekend. We went to see the Hubby's parents who live about 6 hours away from us. It really isn't a long, bad drive to where they live, it was nice to make a road trip and to get out of our town for a view days. We had a nice visit with them and we were able to enjoy some nice quality time with them. The Princess and the Bookworm had a wonderful time as well. They loved going bowling with Granma and Granpa. We ALL bowled and had a fun time. We also went to a Colonial House not too far from their home. It was a wonderful thing to see, and we enjoyed a great tour that one of the lady's gave us at the Colonial home. The kids also enjoyed it. The Bookworm had just finished studying the time period in school/homeschool, so he was so amazed at actually being able to see pieces that he had just studied. For instance he had just learned about indigo and hornbooks, and he got to see both of them firsthand! Thanks Granma and Granpa for a fun weekend!

We were back home on Sunday evening due to the fact that the kids had to go to school on Monday. They were suppose to have Monday off, but since it snowed a few weeks ago and they got a snow day, they had to make it up! URG, thanks school board! The next time the kids get a vacation will be for Spring Break, and unfortunately the Hubby doesn't get off then! Anyway, we get home and the Princess starts to get a temp on Sunday evening and her throat begins to hurt. Monday morning she is a high temp girl, 101.6 and so she stays home from school. Tuesday, I call the Family Care Center on Post to get an appt. to take her in and guess what, they are booked(whats new!). So I have to take her in to the UCC(Urgent Care Center) on Post, for those that think oh well, military you get free health care, wait a minute, there is a price that we have to pay and here it is..........We waited 2 and 1/2 hours before we saw a doctor and even then he was a doctor, he was a PA, he looked at the Princess for less than 3 mintues and that was it. Diagnosis tonsilitesis(but I already knew this because I looked at her throat with a flashlight at home) yeah, the PA asked me how I knew this and I told him that I looked in her throat at home with a flashlight! DUH! I am not stupid, I do have a medical background also! Anyway, getting a school excuse was an act of congress, and lets just say my fuse shot that day with him and the nurse and the LT(lieutenant) that was "in Charge". So out of there we left, and I will never be going back to the UCC unless someone has a broken limb! Then it was on to the pharmacy!

The pharmacy, hummmmm, when it comes to Army Posts here in the states and their Pharmacies I can get on my soap box really fast! Lets just say that we waited another hour and a 1/2 to get all four of the Princess's prescripions! That's right! Here is my thing with this Post Pharmacy stuff. They have a supposed "system". You walk in and you have three choices to choose from, 1 being active duty(the Hubby), 2 being dependent(me and kids) and retiree, and 3 being outside prescription from another doctor. Here goes the kicker! Active duty soldiers can ONLY pick up their own medicince, they CAN NOT pick up their dependents medicince, dependents and retirees are on the same level along with outside prescriptions. And Active duty always go ahead of everyone else. So from what I observed on Tuesday is: that you can literally sit in the Pharmacy on Post ALL day long waiting for your number to get called in order for you to get your prescripion. Why, because as long as an Active Duty person comes in, you get bumped lower and lower in the system. I really do not think that it is fair how they have this system laid out. Plus you get the retirees that come in and they have like a years worth of medicine that they are there picking up, and what about the ones that have little kids or kids in general, how do you entertain kids for that amount of time?! My solution: they have 8 pharmacy windows(not all are open), split them between Active, Dependents and Retirees and yes, in that order. Have so many windows for each group. I believe that this would eliminate the wait time. I know that there are some who are saying, well, Active Duty should go first they are the most important. Let me just say that I do not disagree with you, I agree, but the Military has got to wake-up and realize that most Active Duty have families and that families need to start getting better care and stop being treated like we are just a number. Do you know how many times we will probably get to see our supposedly PCM(primary care manager) you know our, "doctor" probably none! Why, because they always give other people appts. with them who don't have them as their PCM! I could go on and on but I want! And yes, I did put in a comment card into the ICE box on Tuesday, one for the Pharmacy and one for the UCC.

So yesterday the Princess was still home from school(day3), she was better with her temp, but had to have the antibiotics in her for a full 24 hours before she could go back. I could tell that she was starting to feel better yesterday, she wanted to practice her flute. She loves her flute, and when she doesn't practice, you know that she isn't well! She did take a long nap yesterday afternoon, which she NEVER does, not since she was 3 or 4 years old. Yesterday marked 11 years since she had her open-heart surgery. She was only 18 months old when she had her surgery. Time has really flown by.

So today, today the Princess was ready to go back to school, with her excuse in her hand! I am sure that she will come home with mounds of make-up work and she already knows that she has a Science test tomorrow. But for me and my home, it's finally back to "normal"!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Shadowing Day


This past weekend was our second quality time weekend with only one kid. This weekend the Princess went and stayed with Nana and Poppy from Thursday night until Sunday. Her school was having Shadow Day on Friday where 7th graders were able to go to work with a family member and Shadow them for the day. She decided that she wanted to go to work with my Aunt, her Great-Aunt. She is a Veterinary Assistant........how cool! So the Princess Shadowed her at work from 7 am til 7 pm, talk about a long day! She can't stop talking about all of the experiences that she had on that day, she really had a great time. And she enjoyed spending the rest of the weekend hanging out with Nana and Poppy and of course the puppy, Comet. In the above photo, the Princess is up and dressed waiting on her Great-Aunt to pick her up for "work". She received two nice scrub tops from her Aunt, she's wearing one of them.


We were able to spend some one-on-one quality time with the Bookworm. We took him to dinner, and to a movie. He had a really fun time as so did the Hubby and I. He missed his sister, and we noticed that last weekend, the Princess missed her brother. They are really close to eachother and really are sort of lost without eachother!


This weekend were all back together, we were hoping to go somewhere since the Hubby has a 4 day weekend, but the kids unfortunately do not and Monday was suppose to be a day off from school for them, but since they missed a day of school due to snow, they now have to make Monday a make-up day. Looks like their next break want be until Spring Break, but then dear Hubby can't take leave, so maybe the kids and I will venture somewhere just the three of us, who knows!

Monday, February 9, 2009

Family Photos

We recently had family photos taken. We did it a little differently this time, we went outside and with a new photographer also. My sister-in-law(or I'd like to think, sister-in-love) is a Photographer. She has her own photo business called City View Photography in Chicago, Illinois. She is a wonderful photographer and all of her clients just love the photographs that she takes for them.




This Thanksgiving she took family photos for us and when I got the CD, I fell in love with all of the pictures that she took of our family, we even managed to get our dog in the family photo also! It was a lot of fun and it was really a lot of fun having an outside set!




I wanted to share some of the wonderful photos with you and if you'd like to know more you can go to: http://www.cityviewphoto.com/


Hunting for Quail




The last two weekends have been kind of interesting and fun for us. We have been able to spend quality time with each kid alone. This was really rare for us in Europe, in fact, it NEVER happened unless one of the kids were staying at a friend's house for the night. As many of you know we live only aobut an hour and a half from my parents and the kids absolutely enjoy going to their house, as do the Hubby and I. My parents live in the country and the kids have their own clubhouse/treehouse that looks like a miniature beach house, plus for Christmas my parents got them their own four wheelers.......what kid wouldn't enjoy that! Oh yeah, plus my Dad has beagles that he raises and uses to hunt deer, so the kids love getting the dogs out and playing with them, especially the puppies! And one has caught both of their hearts, a little white beagle that they named Comet. I have to admit that he is pretty cute and if we didn't have a dog already, we would probably still him from my Dad!

Anyway...back to the Blog. So last weekend, the Bookworm got to spend the entire weekend with Nana and Poppy. He was not feeling to well last weekend, but Nana and Poppy said come on to their house, he could feel sick there just the same as here! Even though he wasn't feeling to good, he still had a great time. They went Quail hunting and boy did he love it! He told me yesterday that he would rather quail hunt than any other kind of hunting! He carried his own gun and he actually shot 3 quail all by himself! My Grandaddy would have loved to have seen the Bookworm hunting quail.

So while the Bookworm spent time at Nana and Poppy's we spent some one on one quality time with the Princess. She didn't know how to act with all of the attention just on her! We took her out to lunch at California Dreaming, we took her to Pucknel Music(a Big Music store here) where we got her some music for her flute plus a toner/metrodome, andwe took her to see a movie that she had been wanting to see. She had a great time and we enjoyed time quality time with her.
I encourage everyone to take the time to take quality time with each of your children. They need that time alone with Mom and Dad. I'm not saying that we never talk to the kids by themselves or never play a game with them by themselves, we do and all the time, but sometimes it's nice just to have Big quality time alone with each of them. We have been blessed with our children. Both of them are a blessing from God.

The above pictures are of the Bookworm and his Poppy hunting for Quail and one of the Bookworm with his quail that he shot!


Thursday, January 29, 2009

Twenty-Third Psalm

Twenty-Third Psalm

1 The Lord is my Sherpherd, I shall not want,

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
He leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of righteaousness for His name's sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

This is a passage that is generally said at funerals, I know for me it has been said at every funeral that I have gone to. You're probably thinking why is she blogging about the 23rd Psalm. Well...

My Mom gave me a bookmark that the funeral home had given to her after my Grandfather, her Father, had passed away.(It's only been about a month and a half since his death) On one side is his picture and his obituary(what was wrote up and put in the paper), on the other is the 23rd Psalm. I have the bookmark on my bedside night table, and I picked it up and was once again looking at it last night. I read the 23rd Psalm again and I suddenly looked at it in a different sense than I usally do.

You see, my Grandfather had been in the Hospital for severl weeks until one night, he stopped breathing and died. He was still in the Hospital when he died. I thought of him while I read the 23rd Psalm.......The Lord was/is my Grandfather's Shepherd, to all of us He is and we are his sheep. When we allow God our shepherd to guide us, we have contentment, and that is what my Grandfather had in the Hospital. Death casts a frightening shadow over us because we are entirely helpless in the presence of death. Although we struggle with things such as pain, suffering or disease, strength and courage can't overcome death. Death has the final word. Our shepherd, Our God, is the only one person that can walk with us through death's dark valley and bring us safely to the other side. Christ offers us eternal comfort, life is uncertain, are you following The Shepherd? I know that my Grandfather was.

God is seen as a caring shepherd and a dependable guide in this passage. We MUST follow God and His commands. He is our ONLY hope for eternal life and security.

Peace be with you.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Wii Fit

OK, so I now that most everyone knows about the Wii. We got one a few Christmases ago for the kids. Since then there have been a lot of games that are now out for the Wii. The "new" thing and high in demand is the Wii Fit. We finally found one and bought it on Saturday. Now....we are all addicted to playing the Wii Fit. It's fun to do your fitness workout using the Wii Fit and sort of Challenging each other at the same time. You can set goals for yourself and it graphs your weight and BMI everyday. I love it because it also measures and tests your balance everyday. It tells you if you are putting more weight on either of your legs than the other.

There are many things you can do on Wii Fit; first you can pick your personal trainer( a guy or a girl), then you can do yoga, strength training, balance games or aerobics. It also keeps track of your favorite games. After finishing a session in strength training or yoga, your trainer lets you know how well you did and what you need to work on and rates you. Your score goes on a score board along with everyone else's Mii(this is the virtual you that you create) that is in your home. It is a good way to exercise and a fun way to do it while competing against members in your family.

If you don't have a Wii.....go get one and get the Wii Fit also. If you have a Wii already, what are you waiting for........go get the Wii Fit!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Adjusting

Well, we have now been in the states for about two and half months. Seems like we have been here longer than that somedays. It's nice to be back! I can't really say that I miss Italy itself, but I can say that I miss the friends that we made and of course our Chapel Family that we had their.

You know, moving takes a lot out of you, it doesn't matter how many times you move, it's always draining! This made our 12th move! And it certainly want be our last, we'll probably end up moving 2 more times for sure. At least we will be here for 2 1/2 to 3 years. This move was the move where I have probably gotten rid of the most things! I cleaned house in Italy before we moved getting rid of lots of "stuff"! It was nice unpacking when our things arrived and all of the "stuff" was already gone! Now my next tackle job is our attic! I need to go through things that were in storage for almost 6 years! Mostly it's Christmas decorations and other seasonal things.

Our kids have adjusted so well with this move. It was alittle, a lot harder, on the Princess to move this time. She made some really close friends in Italy. It doesn't get easier as you get older either. I am sure that the next move will be just as hard when it comes around. The Bookworm, was ready to move, so it didn't bother him! Boys will be boys! We Homeschooled at the start of the school year because we thought that we were only going to be living here for 6 months, but of course we all know that that changed, which we are so happy that it did! So after getting our house and really looking at the schools that our home is zoned for, we decided to put the kids back into Public School. We figured that it would be a way for the kids to make friends, plus the kids are able to walk/ride their bikes to school(yes, it's that close to our home). So the kids started their schools 4 days after we moved into our house. The Princess came home after the first day and had instantly made friends, a good group of Band Kids! Band Kids are such good kids!! The Hubby and I were Band Kids! The Bookworm, well, it took him a few days to make friends,as it always does, he is very cautious about who he hangs out with. But needless to say, he now has lots of friends and lots of neighborhood boys that he plays with as well. So they have only been in school for about 4 full weeks, they got put in when the schools were half-way through their second quarter. They got their report cards on Friday. The Hubby and I had already decided that if they brought home a "C" that it would be OK this time because they were getting adjusted, etc. Yes, a "C" in our home is an "F" to us, especially to the Hubby, because we know what our kids are capable of, especially after Homeschooling for several years! Anyway, the Bookworm got all A's and 1 B on his report card! And the Princess got 3 A'S and 3 B's on hers! We were so proud of them! Needless to say we knew that they were smart kids and were capable of getting the Honor Roll. Even under the pressure of moving from one country to another, moving into a new home, going back to "real" school and all of the other things that have gone on during our move, they managed to adjust.

So when we as adults think that we are the only ones that have all the adjusting to do, think about your kids, it's a lot harder on them most of the time than it is on us.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

SNOW

Yes, we have snow at our house! The kids and I awoke early got dressed in our snow decor, put our dog Sandy's coat and snow shoes on her and we went for a walk in the snow. We had a nice walk in the snow with the nice, crisp fresh air. When we got back from our walk, the kids made snowballs and were throwing them at....yes ME! And of course Sandy was going crazy in the snow, she always does! She runs and eats it like a mad dog!

Last night the phone rang and it was a recording from the School District saying that school was canceled for today. I guess they wanted to go ahead and be prepared so that there wouldn't be any confusion on if kids went to school today or not. So my kids are happy, hanging out, their three day weekend has turned into a now 4 dayer, who knows, if it keeps snowing like it is, it could be a 5 dayer!

The kids are excited about a snow day, but lets face it, after living in Europe where it "really" snows, this is nothing! But still, it's snow and it's pretty and it doesn't snow in SC all the time! The last time it snowed was in 2003 before we moved to Germany and the kids were only 6 and 4 and they were both sick with pnemonia! The poor things couldn't even go outside and play in it, so the Hubby and I went out and made a two sided snowman for them. One side so that they could see from our front door and the other side so that the people passing by our house could see. Pretty unique.......yes it was!

Monday, January 12, 2009

My Favorite Words....

If you know me, you know that a few of my favorite words are: Cheap, Discount, On Sale, Reduced and FREE!! I think that most of us like it when we come across a really good deal, and boy do I have one to share with all of you today, but first I have to give credit where credit is due...........THANKS MOM!

I talked with my Mom at lunch time today, like I do most every day, yes people you heard me, I talk to my Mom like everyday(even when I lived in Europe I called her EVERYDAY)! Anyway, my Mom told me that she had been online registering with a variety of different restaurants. She said that you could go to restaurant sites online and subscibe to their e-mail/newsletter and that you could get great deals such as FREE dessert, appetizers, or meals just for signing up, oh yeah, and most will even send you a gift coupon on your birthday too! How cool is that!

So this afternoon I have been online checking out my most FAVORITE restaurants and signing up! It's easy to do. I think I signed up for about 15 restaurants! So check it out, why not, it's free. Here are some restaurants to get you started(sorry folks that are in Europe, it want help you out any!)Red Lobster, LongHorn Steakhouse, Ruby Tuesday, Red Robin, Chik-fil-a, Cracker Barrel, AppleBee's, Olive Garden, Captain D's & Zaxby's just to name a few.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

It's A New Year

Monday started our "new year". The hubby went back to work after being off for nearly 2 months since we moved from Italy.....not complaining, he needed a break after having command! The kids went back to school on Monday after having 2 weeks off for Christmas break. They had a great break, they spend half of their time at their Poppy and Nana's house......we couldn't get them to come home! Poppy and Nana bought them both each a brand new 4-wheeler for Christmas! Needless to say the kids want to go there and spend the night whenever they can! As for me, it's just me and the dog and cat during the day. Monday I cleaned all day, yesterday I went to look for a desk for upstairs. We need several pieces for our Bonus Room; a new computer desk/hutch, small entertainment center for Extra TV/Wii/X-Box and I would love to have two nice over-stuffed chairs and an ottoman for upstairs as well. I am finding that it is very hard to find "traditional" furniture stores anymore! Oh well, I'll eventually find something that will work and please my taste and budget!

As for today, it is rainy off and on, I plan to stay in and organize the garage as much as I can without the Hubby's help. There are somethings that he has to help me with. I have several boxes full and overflowing of things to get rid of.....I see a yard sale in my future in the Spring! My dinner is already on the stove cooking slowly for tonight, it should be done at around 5:30;dinner time. As for now, I am going to get off the computer and get busy!