Life letter

The journey of parenthood has been one of the most rewarding missions I’ve ever assumed! Parenthood is challenging but peaceful, stressful but healing, confusing and logical, heartbreaking and blissful, frustrating and satisfying, demanding and gratifying, surprising yet predictable. Raising Children brings on just about every emotion the human body can possibly feel from elation all the way to distress.

Distress is where my journey has taken me lately. I have gone into survival mode forgetting everything wonderful, peaceful, or blissful. Parenthood has been anything but blissful lately. As I try to start each day on the right foot I tell myself, “Less yelling, more loving”, it never quite turns out that way. I gotten into a rut which has lead me into disaster. My kids no longer listen to my voice, as such my voice tends to get louder and louder which only causes more stress to all parties involved. Next I initiate empty threats which never get carried out. Lastly, guilt followed by remorse for not doing my job.

My job is to love these children and guide them through life, gently forming them into respectable, compassionate, independent adults. Discipline is not something I’ve ever done properly. But how can I discipline my children and not be disciplined myself with a Godly example in their lives? I will be the first to admit that my example has been nothing short of absolutely horrible!

My relationships seems be faulty with a lot of people and my kids tend to carry out the emotions they are exposed to on a daily basis. I get angry, a LOT! I yell and demoralize my husband. I complain and whine about doing the house hold chores. I gossip about EVERYTHING! I am a constant nag in my husband and children’s lives and I intend to change that!! I can’t stand all the negativity and Godlessness in my life. I tired and run down, but not enough to give up!

I had intended to make this letter about the challenges of being a parent and it has taken quite a bit of a turn. I am being to realize that if I want peace in my home I need to make some serious changes with myself first. Changes that only God can oversee and I can initiate. As I make the step to change my life and everyone in my life should and will be affected in a positive way, I only ask that you pray for me and my whole family. Please keep us in your prayers as well as send notes of encouragement, advice, and keep tabs on me! I need other believers to help me keep my eyes on God as I push forward into the life He has chosen for me!

With Love and sincerity,
Elizabeth

Supporting children with Dyslexia

Dear Friends and Family,

As many of you know Mariah has been attending private tutoring in Peoria at the Masonic Children’s Learning Center for the past two years. As she enters her third year at the learning center I am starting some fundraising for the center. The Learning Center provides private tutoring for children with dyslexia FREE of charge! However, the services they provide are anything but free for them. The wonderful staff they have commits their time to teach these children the most import tool they need for success, reading.

When Mariah started at the center just two years ago, she couldn’t even remember the whole alphabet, let alone read. Since Mariah has always been such a happy, care-free little girl this didn’t slow her down at first. The older she got the farther behind she became, and her friends were getting way ahead of her. Not just her friends who didn’t have a learning disability, but even her friends in her resource class were pulling way ahead of her. She soon became very frustrated and her spirit started to diminish. It was heartbreaking.

After joining the learning center she started to show some progress, slow at first but promising. Her attitude started to show signs of improvement as well. After just two short years of attending the Learning Center Mariah is now able to not only read, but more importantly she can sound out words and know some of the rules of language, so that she has the tools to succeed in school. At the end of the last school year she brought home a straight A report card for the first time ever!!! Now don’t get me wrong she still has modified classes and is not up to her grade level but the improvements are phenomenal!

Mariah will always struggle with written language, and school will be a challenge, but without the Learning center I know she wouldn’t be where she is today. In the last 5 years since we’ve known that Mariah had a problem she has seen, doctors, audiologists, neurologists, speech therapists, and specialists galore. All of them said the same thing, “We don’t really know why Mariah has such a hard time.” She soon was diagnosed with one of the most severe cases of dyslexia and it’s a miracle that she has come as far as she has, and I owe my thanks to the learning center as well as many others who have helped her along the way. A special thanks to ALL of her Masonic learning center tutors, Gina Cook (director of the Learning Center), Emily Wurmnest (former resource teacher), and Erin Chan (current resource teacher).

Mariah’s time at the learning center is limited. The program is two years and most children will graduate after their two years are up. In Mariah’s case she is so severe that she will be kept a third year to try and progress her even more. There is a possibility for a 4^th year if needed but after that her services will be done.

Seeing as how she is entering her third year I want to help in any way I can to try and repay a small amount for the life tools they have given my daughter, something that can never be repaid with any amount of money. Helping the learning center will help them to be able to continue these life changing services to many other children! Here are some ways you can help.

You can sponsor Mariah with any amount and it will go directly to the learning center. You can also sponsor me and/or Mariah to participate in a few fundraising events or you can join in and attend the events yourself. There will be a walk for dyslexia on Saturday morning September 25^th, 2010. Registration starts at 9:00 am and the walk starts at 10:00am. The cost is $25 for adults and $10 for children. You also get a T-shirt. You can sponsor me for the walk or participate in it yourself! There is also the Gala, which will be held on October 16, 2010 at the Weaver Ridge Golf Club. The event starts at 6:00pm with drinks and entertainment. Tickets are $100 per person. At this event there will also be a silent auction so you could also help by donating something for the auction.

Still don’t think you can help? This organization consists of a whole team of the directors, the tutors, the parents, the children, and MOST importantly God. Whether you can or can’t help financially, everyone can pray! Let’s lift up the whole team in God’s name and watch the miracles happen for these precious children He has given us! Thanks to everyone for your support!

With Love and Gratitude,

Elizabeth

(Sorry for all the background noise . I tried to edit it out with no luck. and yes I know I left the e out of "eyes")

Potty Training week continued....

I have been pleasantly surprised at the success we've had with Sierra! She is so close to being fully trained! Day 2 almost perfectly! We only had one accident and she pooped in the potty! Day 3 was rough.... many accidents but we kept trying! Day 4 we had one accident, and she stayed dry during nap time! Day 5 NO accidents!!!!! I couldn't be happier to say goodbye to double the diapers! Maybe a year from now we will have no more diapers in the house at all!

Tomorrow I'm thinking about going on an outing with the girls since Daddy and Joshua will be gone so this will be the really test! I'm not sure if I am brave enough to take her out in underwear but we'll see. I see many potty breaks in our future!

The potty training diaries......

DAY 1 - Monday, August 23

Trainee: Sierra

Age: 2 1/2

Attempts to train: 4Th time - day 1

Tools: Lots of little undies, pink versatile potty chair, books, rewards

Reward: chocolate chips

Number of accidents: 2

Number of victories: 5

This will be attempt #4 to potty train Sierra; although I must confess that in the past my attempts have not been whole hearted (put her in underwear and after the first 2 accidents she goes right back to a diaper).

The plan is too work on potty training all week.... that is the plan anyway. Today was a very good day! We started out a bit rough when Sierra has 2 accidents right off the bat only mins/secs after just having sat on the potty but after that she had no more accidents all day!!!! She went into a diaper for nap time but was in her undies up until bed time!! It's going to be a long week but it has to happen sooner or later.

Garden

Here's my first garden! I've learned many thing while growing fruits and veggies in my garden.

1. It's IMPOSABLE to keep a garden weeded.
2. If you dump your grass clippings in the location of your garden, it WILL grow and take over!
3. Rabbits prefer broccoli leaves more than anything else.
4. It's hard to grown strawberries from roots
5. I had NO idea how big the zucchini plant could grow!
6. I had NO idea zucchini's themselves could get so huge!
7. I haven't needed to water my garden in a month! The plants do fine with just the rain.
8. I have attracted many odd species of bugs.
9. cauliflower grows great in the house but not so well in the ground
10. I LOVE my garden!

Unemployment

So here we go into the world of unemployment. Chad lost his job on June 15Th. Unemployment is becoming more of a fad than anything these days. I must say we are relatively calm about it. I know God is in control and He always provides. Unemployment may take a while to kick in and things might get worse before they get better but I'm holding on to the hope that God has something better in store for us.
I have a friend who is not a believer. She asked me what we were going to do and I told her I didn't know. She said how can you be so calm? I would be freaking out! I told her that God is good and has always provided and I'm sure He will again! I hope this little example of God's faithfulness and my ability to remain calm is testimony to those who know us but do not know their MAKER! In our suffering I can only hope that God uses us for something great! If just one person sees and believes it was worth it 100 times!

Have a great day everyone!!

- Praising God in this storm!!

Elizabeth

CRAZY Life

Life is CRAZY busy right now! I'm so stressed! I've been working like to mad to make hair bows which I intend to sell Saturday at the crafters on the square! I'm really excited about this because it will be the first time I've tried to sell me bows. However, I am EXHAUSTED from making them non stop the past few weeks.I still have some prep for Saturday, like : finding a 6 foot table to sell them on. Finding someone willing to man the table with me so that I can get up and go to the bathroom and eat lunch ect.. I also need to find a sitter for part of the day, poor Chad will have worked all night and I'm not sure he'll make it all day.

Next, Kaylee turns 1 on June 12th!! So I am trying to plan a nice bday party for her.

Next. I am doing a montage for John and Julies wedding. I have been working really hard on it and still lots more to do.

Next. The wedding is June 19th. I still have to figure out how in the world Chad and I are going to be in the wedding and take care of 5 kids. Moms already said she's responsible for no-one that day and my friend Steph will be helping but I'm not sure ho much she will be able to do on her own.

Next, I have to clean the house next door (part of a new job I've picked up) tomorrow which takes like 3 - 4 hours. Then Joshua has an appointment to get his cast changed. Then Sierra and Kaylee have to get blood taken and during all that I still have to finish my bows!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel like I'm drowning.
Wishing I could walk on water right about now!

My first attempt at gardening!

Now that we've moved and are not sharing our yard with 10 neighbors we can plant a garden!! I was so excited about this. Now I'm thinking will this garden save me money? I know it will save me the convenience of having to run to the grocery store for fresh produce every week, not mention these veggies/fruits will be fresh! What about money? So far here what I've spent:

2 indoor starter beds $10.00
approximately 15 seed packets $20.00
1 strawberry root $3.00
gas for the tiller I borrowed from my father-in-law $5.00
watering can for the indoor plants $3.00

So far we're talking $41 and I can't remember if I've bought anything else.
Now figure in the water bill as the garden will need deep watering I'm guessing twice a week? Someone correct me if I'm wrong....... this is my first time. So we will save money if anything actually grows! LOL

So here's what I've done. We tilled up a nice area in the back yard behind the garage (there was already a rather large bare spot in the grass there) The soil seemed really good. Black and damp so I figured I didn't need to spend extra getting any bags of soil. I planted some indoor stuff to transfer later and then we planted everything else outside. We planted:

Sweet Corn
Carrots
Cucumber
Parsley
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Onion
Tomatoes
Jalapenos
Bell peppers
Banana peppers
Watermelon
Strawberries
Cantaloupe

I hope they grow!! Any and ALL gardening tips welcome!!

Van problems

Ok, so most of you know that our van has been giving us problems as of late. It first started with a jerking sensation while the van was trying to shift.... or so I thought it was happen while trying to shift. The van give a pretty good jerk and then it started happening more and more. We also have experienced poor pick-up. Just driving up a hill I could feel the thing trying to get up speed. Anyway we took our van into a mechanic and after about 1 1/2 days they called. They told us they had replaced the cam shaft sensor and the crack shaft sensor and also the fuel filter. I wasn't really happy because I had dropped of the van for a diagnosis and that was supposed to be all, and since no one called to authorize the repairs I was not happy. The bill ran us close to $600 dollars when I was only anticipating $50 for a dianosis. It gets better..... the 2 sensors the replaced and the fuel filter did not even fix the problem! We were informed that our PCM (powertrain control module) needed to be replaced. The quote for the part was $650 plus about 200 for labor!! OMG! Well I couldn't pay that because we just didn't have it and the unexpected repairs drained our bank account to only a few hundred. I looked for the PCM online and found a refurbished unit on ebay for $150. I ordered the part and later that week it came! Chad put the part on himself and it only took 5 mins (Why was the mechanic shop going to charge me $200 for a 5 mins job??!! CRAP!)
I was so disappointed when I test drove the van and it was STILL jerking all over the place! GRRRRR! So all this week we've been trying things like we disconnected the battery and left it all night in hopes it would reset things. No luck. The Chad found a popped fuse and replaced that. Finally today he took it up to O'Riellys and had them do a check engine light test. The 2 codes that came off indicate that we have a large EVAP leak and also the timing is off! Since the PCM didn't fix the problem now I'm wondering if any of the mechanics repairs were necessary? And how in the world could they miss the timing being off? So we bought a new PCM and the old one was probably fine. We paid them $600 to change sensors and a fuel filter when Chad could have done that himself if they would have called first. And now to find out that the other things that were replaced didn't have a thing to do with the jerking in the van makes me absolutely insane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It wasn't very warm but we still had fun!!

The kids really wanted to try out the new slip and slide Mariah got for her birthday so that's what we did! They froze but it was fun!

11 years old!

We had a GREAT day today! God couldn't have made the weather any more beautiful! Today Mariah turned 11 years old!! We started out the day by giving her a new outfit to wear for school. I picked up Mariah for lunch and we ate Steak N Shake on the back patio!


Grandma came over with gifts! Joshua planted his sun flower seeds...

We played outside after nap time....

We had a spaghetti dinner as requested by the birthday girl and then we played outside again after dinner....

Mariah went to awanas and came back with a bag full of candy haha! It was a great day!

Going CRAZY!

I used to find it hard when there was only Mariah and J.C. to correct and discipline, now we are in over our heads! I have lost control over my children (two in particular) Mariah and Joshua, my biggest challenge! I think when we added Sierra and then Kaylee to the mix, my time became very limited and discipline no long fell at the top of the list. The phrase "pick your battles" always came to mind but now I'm regretting that deeply!
I'll start by a summary of the other children first! J.C. is not a problem child at all! She is usually very helpful! My biggest problem with her is attitude but perfectly normal as a teenager for that! I do, however, worry about her intense interest in boys!
Sierra is two and into EVERYTHING right now but as far as being defiant, she's not too bad. I do find her picking up the habits of the older ones and that bothers me a bit but I'm sure if I can stop their behavior, hers will too!
And Kaylee, well... she's 9 months, enough said!
Mariah was by far the best baby/toddler! she was never fussy and never went through the terrible twos! I guess I'm paying it for it now! She has become entirely too mouthy! She back talks at every chance she gets! If I ask her to do something she may not want to do, I get a fit and not just any fit, a fit like a two year old would through! She crys and stops and yells and says "everyone hates me! You hate me!" What really scares me is she's recently started getting violent about it. She will scream blood curdling screams and pull her hair. She will attack Josh and hit him, she's even bit him and that's NOT normal for an almost 11 year old. Today while her and Joshua were supposed to cleaning there room they were arguing and she said to him "How bout I knock your teeth down your throat." I was appalled and sad at the same time. What happened to my sweet little girl? I don't know where all the violence has come from. We do not spank her, Chad and I do not getting into physical arguments.... I have lost control with her.
Joshua is a name caller and he says No after everything! He usually says stupid to anyone and anything he is mad at. When I ask him to do something even the simplest things he immediately says "NO!" even if he's in the middle of doing it! It's so frustrating! He also wines a lot! Everything is a wine and he'll ask me the same question 10 times even if I'm on the phone or busy, if I don't answer right away he just keeps asking.
The two of them are ALWAYS tattling! UHG! OK so now what?
I've lost all control here and I need it back, fast! Anyone, please give me some advice! I NEED it! I know I need to be consistent but what else can I do? I am always quick to get angry and I HATE that! I feel like it just runs in my blood like a poison I can't get rid of! Lord, please help me to lovingly correct my children and regain their respect! Help me to have the strength to be consistent and wisdom to handle these situations.

When it's warm.....

we like to go outside and play! Last week we played with sidewalk chalk! We also, skate boarded, played tennis, basketball, did some gardening, and grilled out. It was a really nice week! Then the weekend came and the weather got stupid but we still had a good time.

My weekend

J.C. came over a day early (Thursday) because she did not have school on Friday. After all the kids were in bed and Chad went to work, I stayed up talking to J.C. until 2:00am!! I LOVE talking with her and feel so greatful to have that relationship with her! We panted our nails and watch stupid youtube vids while we talked. On Friday Mariah and Josh went to Grandmas for an overnight. J.C. decided to stay and hang out for the midnight release of New Moon! We spent Friday morning cleaning. Ria, and Josh left in the early afternoon hours so J.C. and I took the babies and went to the mall. We shoped for a birthday present and looked for an Easter dress (no luck). We ate Culvers for dinner (a rare treat!) and make hair bows all evening! At midnight I went to Walmart and picked up a copy of New Moon! Walmart had a huge line for the movie! I thought I'd just be able to run in and get it, luckily the line was moving quite quickly. So J.C. and I ate nachos and watched New Moon until 3:00am! Sheeesh! Another long night. I had a lot of trouble getting out of bed Saturday but some where around 10:ooam I felt wet kisses on my cheek! I love those kid of wake up calls! Poor Sierra had woke up with a fever so she hung out with Daddy while I took all the other kids to Ava's birthday party at 5 points! We had a lot of fun swimming! Then we came home, made dinner and watched New Moon again! It was a fun weekend! Look forward to more fun this week. hopefully this coming weekend I can start prepping my garden and make it to church! Then the next weekend is Easter and hopefully Mariah's birthday party. She will be 11 years old on March 31!

It's cheaper than buying a new laptop!

Well I finally have my laptop fixed after it's been down.... oh about 15 months or so. I bought laptop with one of our hefty tax returns back in 08 for school. With-in 6 months the screen went out! yes it was still covered under warranty but I was told NOT to send it in as the repair center was down from hurricane Katrina. So I waited and waited and by the time I could send it in, they told me the warranty was up! UHG! So this year (with another hefty return) I contemplating a new laptop as electronics advance so very much each year but I decided to save the $ and just ordered a new screen. I only paid $88.60 with free shipping. It was so east to install and now my laptop is as good as new! AND we have the extra cash for bills and such! WOOHOO! Thank you Lord!

Going on strike!

Can moms go on strike? After the last two weeks I think I'm ready! The last two day have particularly made me insane! Yesterday I spent all morning cleaning up the house. This is typical as most morning evenings and afternoons... well pretty much all day is cleaning but this day I did my cleaning and then had to run Sierra to an appointment with a hematologist because she has been bruising easy. That appointment took two hours not include my drive time. Then Kaylee was having trouble breathing and has had a bad cough and wheeze the last few days so I took her to the ER after dropping Sierra back at the house. Of course I spent 4 hours at the ER only for us to be sent home with nothing. I came home and had to turn right back around and go to walmart for supplies to make valentines boxes and stuff like Gatorade for the sick babies. I sent the rest of the late evening making valentines boxes with Joshua and Mariah. What makes me want to SCREAM is not all the running and helping the children..... it the cleaning!! How in the world can I spend hours everyday cleaning and still Chad and the kids find it fit to leave HUGE messes every where? I have attached a picture of what my kitchen looked like after everyone was in bed and I did have the kitchen SPOTLESS that morning! I had all dishes done, sink cleaned, stove cleaned, floor swept, counters wiped, everything had a place and was put away..... and then this -

God speaks in simple ways!

Today was one of those days you just feel like running away! Actually, this whole week has been so crazy! I'm not sure why but the kids have been misbehaving a lot more than normal and I have been trying out some new discipline with them but it's not going well. I suppose I'm just not consistent enough with it.

Every afternoon seems to be a struggle. Kaylee and Sierra wake up from their naps right before Joshua and Mariah get home from school. That's when the fighting starts. And not just the fighting but lots of whining and then comes the 20 questions. 10 seconds of this and I'm already puling out my hair. Today seem worse, more whining and fighting. Then Chad woke up and we started fighting probably due to the stress the kids children created but we let it get to us I suppose.

Mariah had tutoring so I decided to take her so I could get out of the house for an hour. Right before leave our argument got really heated which ended up with him telling me to leave and me slamming the door. I tried to cool off on the drive over to Peoria but I just couldn't stop being angry.

I was so mad! FUMING mad! How dare he say things like that to me. After all, I just spent all day cleaning out our closets and getting rid of old clothes. I even put 5 loads of laundry away all while taking care of the little girls! I don't deserve to be treated like this! I wanted to scream and cry and protest! I felt (At that moment) like I just couldn't do it. I can't be a good mother to these kids. They are driving me crazy and I can't control them!
It felt like I was wearing a 100lb weight vest. I had an overwhelming sense of despair come over me. I sat expressionless blankly staring at the road.

There was a truck in front of me that I hadn't noticed until now. I looked up and on this trucks tailgate is a large silhouette of a man kneeling at the cross. My mind was still racing, trying to figure out a solution to my desperation. Then God showed Himself in all of His glory and I finally realized just what I was staring at! I suddenly let go and a verse came to mind:
Mathew 6:34 Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it's own.
1 Petter 5:7 Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.
I cried out saying " Lord, I NEED you! I can't do this on my own!" And I felt so much lighter and at easy. I was not angry any more. Just like that it was gone! I felt the need to tell Chad I was sorry..... which I might add doesn't happen often with either of us. Right about then I was just arriving with Mariah so I started texting Chad and before I could finish I had an incoming text. It was Chad apologizing to ME!! I was so thrilled and over joyed at how God's love worked through both our hearts and the rest of the evening went very well! It's it amazing how God speaks to us through such simple things like a picture on the tailgate of a truck? Thank you Lord for helping me to see that I need You!

Little eyes need litle glasses

Last week Sierra had eye exam. I only took her because I've noticed her standing right in front of the T.V. like she couldn't see So I thought I'd better have that checked out. Turns out she's extremely farsighted. I honestly didn't think it would be anything but I'm glad I did take her.

Shopping for the glasses was a whole other story! First I was told to go to walmart as they were the only ones who'd accept my insurance. Well they only had 2 pairs that the insurance covered and neither of them fit her not to mention how ugly they were..... sorry but big thick clear plastic round frames... yuck. Then Walmart tells me they will take up to 4 months to get them back!! At this point I decided insurance was out the window. I had no idea finding glasses for such a small child would be such a challenge. I went to 5 different eye places and NONE of them carried anything small enough for her. Luckily on my last stop this lady helping me tells me that there's a new place just opened out at the shops at grand prairie and her sister works there. She calls her sister who tells us, yes they have frames small enough! And better yet they have a deal on kids glasses. I took Sierra out there today and we were able to get two pair of glasses both with a 1 year warranty for only 86.99! What a deal! So I'm glad we found something and they should be coming in next week some time!

Still fighting!

I've been sick a total of 6 days now. At first I was just a little annoyed with minimal sneezing and a bothersome runny nose. By midweek it gone from minimal sneezing to every 10 mins and my poor nose was uncontrollably flowing and getting very sore due to my Kleenex shortage which forced the toilet paper to be used. Today I felt the worst. Throbbing headache and sinus pressure. I cannot smell or taste ANYTHING! I also ran out of my anti-depressant pills 2 days ago and the pharmacies have been giving me the run around so my mood went crashing down today which lead to a short but heated argument with Chad and I was more agitated with the children. I did make it to CVS and REFUSED to leave until I had my pills. As soon as I got the car I already had one in my system. I'm feeling SO much better now. Well.. mood wise anyway.

So as the morning drug on I thought, maybe if I just get up and do something I'll start to feel better (some times this works when I'm sick) So I did the dishes, swept the floor, cleaned the kitchen, picked up the living room, did two loads of laundry all the while nursing Kaylee feeding Sierra, and tending to Joshua's every need. After all that I got the kids down for naps and Joshua off to school. I feel asleep some where around 2:00 and Thanks to my wonderful hubby and my wonderful daughter, Mariah, I was able to sleep until around 5:30! I do feel a little better this evening, but regardless of all the cleaning I did, everything is a mess AGAIN! I'm thinking of waking everyone up a half hour early so they can pick it back up! We will see.... I do love being a mom and the house work doesn't always bother me. Some times I like doing it!

My favorite moment of the day was laying on the couch with my precious baby. She has the most beautiful eyes and the sweetest disposition! Thank you Lord I am so honored to be a mother to 5 wonderful children!

Things to do on No school Mondays!

Regardless of having colds and feeling a bit under the weather, the older kids and I went out and build a snowman today. It was fun but now I'm feeling the effects of going out when your sick! Why is it that every time I'm sick I feel the worst in the evenings?

Signs of spring!

LOOK OUT everyone, spring is on it's way!! Even with all the sub zero temperatures we've been having and the ground still covered in snow, look what I found peaking out to say hello! :)

Go Vikings!!

So I was finally able to go to one of J.C.'s games. She's been cheering all year for basketball and our schedules are so crazy I haven't been able to. Monday night Mariah and I went to her first game of the new year! Now if you know JC she's not one to be shy. Shes very outspoken and LOUD! LOL, Well, for whatever reason, ever since she was very young she gets really nervous we family is watching her. I remember going to her school concerts when she was in 2nd grade and she would just stand there while ALL the other kids where doing the hand motions and singing. Well I believe the same fate hit again as we watched her. She was off the wall with enthusiasm when we got there and then all of a sudden she's barley moving his limbs! HA! Oh well. Here's a short clip of one of her cheers. She's in the back row the second one.

Pancakes! Fun colors and shapes!

Today we made pancakes.... with a twist! I have been feeling so creative lately and this morning the end result was pancakes in the shape of: buterflies, flowers, hearts and snowmen. Look how cute they look! :)

Dear 2010, please bring us some better health!

Here it is a new year and all I want is for my family to be well again! We've had so much illness December and now into January. Back in October/November we had some MAJOR colds going on. Kaylee and Sierra seems to have these horrible runny noses for weeks! Then Kaylee developed a bronchitis like cough and was on the nebulizer for a few days. Sierra's cold turned into coup and that put her on the neb as well. We had finally gotten over that mess and then came pink eye! Yuck! Joshua, Sierra and Chad got that one. Then we had these high spiking fevers that Joshua and Sierra came down with and almost 2 weeks later we found out that Josh, Sierra and Kaylee all had strep throat! Joshua ended up getting sick one day about 7 times and we just assumed it was the strep. Well 5 days later Chad, myself and Mariah all got this tummy bug. We thought that was food related since we all got sick at the same time but who knows. That was a few days before Christmas. Thankfully we were well through Christmas. BUT JC got sick on new years eve. See, I don't know whats going on because I've bleached lysoled just about everything in this house and we keep having illness! Also weird, JC had not left the house in a week! So where'd she get it? Then today Sierra got sick in her bed during nap time. She never seemed sick and ate her lunch and dinner! She just got sick once and now is fine. Mariah also got sick about an hour or two ago.... what the heck? Is it something in the house? Food? Chemical? A germ I some how missed with my over paranoid cleaning?
I don't know whats going on but I am so tiered of sickness and my kids are too! Please pray that we recover and everyone gets health and stays that way!
Dear 2010, please bring better weather, and better health!