Candy and Ladybugs

Bricks 4 Kidz

2011-09-27T14:48:00.001-06:00

Big changes this year. Moving, new schools for the girls, new jobs for Joe and me. Well, Joe is with the same company but he has a new job. He is now working in Metrology. What ever that is, measurements of how the machine puts the memory on the wafer? I think. My new job is with Bricks 4 Kidz. They are a company that teach math and science through the use of legos. I've done transportation, space, natural disasters, and invention units. The kits we are are very cool and inclue gears, pullies, motors and battery packs. All very neat. We make moving models. We even made a dragster that the kids got to race. The girls are adjusting well to school. Jamie is doing well in middle school. She has adapted. She doesn't like middle school, but then again, who did? Not very many people. Faith is loving her school. She told me that I would love to work there because the teachers have so much fun. :) That is a sign of a good school. Both girls have made many friends. Faith goes out to play, even in 108 degree weather. I wish it was that easy to make friends as an adult! We are enjoying out house. The location is great. We live close to everything and are in a good school district. But most of all we enjoyed the pool this summer. It is rapidly cooling down though, and we aren't in it as much as we used to be.

Will this work?

2011-09-04T15:57:00.001-06:00

I have been trying to publish a post for some time and it hasn't worked. This will be my last try. I'm thinking of moving to Wordpress, where my sister now blogs. We are now in Phoenix, and getting settled. I have a very part time job. It is only about 15 hours a week. So I'm still looking for a full time job. Joe is doing well at work. Faith loves school and has made a lot of new friends. Jamie doesn't like school very much, but who loves middle school, right? She is making friends, so that is good news. we live in a great neighborhood with nice neighbors and lots of stores around. I hope all is well with you. If I get a new job, I'll post all about it. :)

We're moving, Finally!

2011-06-17T20:37:00.002-06:00

We have had the house packed, and cleaned our town house. Now we're ready to hit the road early in the morning! :) We'll be in Phoenix on Tuesday. And our stuff will come to our house on Wednesday. In the meantime we are staying in hotels, one room hotels. Jamie isn't too happy about this. She is really wanting some alone time. :) She has her own room in our new house, so she'll be getting some of that.

See you in Phoenix!

In a month and a week!

2011-05-09T17:02:00.003-06:00

In a month and a week we will be moving to Phoenix, AZ! Wahoo! I will be closer to my family! Joe has to go down there on Thurday for a couple of weeks and will then come home to help us move. Just a month ago it seemed so far away! Now we're letting the rent company know, and other companies that we are moving. The movers came and looked at our stuff so they can give Joe's company a quote on packing us. That is right! I don't have to pack! Wahoo! :)

Here we come Phoenix! Here we come hot weather! And sun!!!!!!!!!!!

With this ring, I thee wed, again 25 years later

2011-04-22T10:59:00.002-06:00

I went to Phoenix last week, by myself, to watch my parents renew their vows and have a grand party afterwards. It all went great. My mom had a huge suprise for us! A couple of years ago when she got the idea to do this, her and her best friend, Annette, went and bought a wedding dress. We thought she was going to get married in her dress that she wore to Katie's wedding. Which is a very beautiful dress, btw.

We had the party in my parents back yard and it was beautiful! The weather was perfect, and the help that volunteered to help my parents were great! It was nice for us kids to just relax and enjoy the party instead of having to do all of the grunt work.

One of the best parts of the weekend was that I got to hang out with my sister Katie for most of the time! We got to chat and just be together, which was my favorite part. She lives in Virginia and is about to have a baby boy. So I won't get to see her for a little while, unless I can fly out to see her this summer.

All is well and we should be down in Phoneix in a couple of months. It will be nice to get settled, although, we are renting a house and should only have to live in it for a year. So we won't be able to get too settled.

Jamie is about to go on a camping trip with school. She's super excited and can't wait to spend time with her friends.

I am going to go to the beach with some girl friends next weekend and am super excited for that. :) :) :) Luckily Joe has the weekend off so he can be with the girls while I'm gone.

I hope all is well with all of you. :)

Sunday Gratitudes, a day late

2011-04-11T09:00:00.003-06:00

I haven't done these for a while, so I think it is high time I get back into it!

1. I'm grateful for the chance to fly to Phoenix to spend time with my family as my parents renew their vows for their 25th wedding anniversary. :) It is going to be a fun time and I'm looking forward to see my sister Katie. She's very pregnant, so that will be a fun thing to see too. :)

2. My girls are both healthy, and happy. Faith is steadily improving in school and Jamie is excelling. How blessed I am to have two such wonderful girls.

3. I recently started making a menu for the month, and am suprised at how much easier it is when dinner time comes and I know what is for dinner! I'm thankful that I'm able to feed my family and that it is a little easier now that I'm a little more organized. :)

4. I'm grateful that my husband has a good job and that this job can move us down to Phoenix so we can be closer to my family. In a little over 2 months, we'll be in Phoenix! :) I'm so excited.

I hope all is well with you. I'd love to hear what your grateful for! :)

Some of my Favorite Things

2011-04-09T22:51:00.007-06:00

These are some of my favorite things:

To Drink:

To Wear:

To Eat:

To Watch:

To Wait for:

Falling down the hill

2011-03-18T11:21:00.002-06:00

Ok, now that I'm 40, I'm falling down the hill that I went over last week. And it seems like I'm falling fast! I'm patiently, okay, maybe not so patiently, waiting for my Oregon Teaching certificate to come in the mail. They are still processing certficates that were received in December! Mine was received at the end of January, and expired in February. Luckily they gave me an extension until the end of school.

Next, the rolling down the hill continues. We are trying to clear our storage shed of all the clutter we haven't needed, but still want. This means that we are going through a lot of boxes and bringing everything to our house to store in our garage. The movers, which are coming in June, don't go to storage sheds. YIKES! We are about 3 months away from moving! I'm sure those three months will go by fast. It sure seems like a long time from now.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying the friends that I've made here and trying to have a 1/2 way normal life for the girls. Jamie is still taking piano lessons and Faith love to play with her friends. Life is going pretty well, even with all that rolling down the hill. :)

Standing at the top of the hill!

2011-03-06T19:49:00.003-07:00

I'm standing at the top of the hill! I'm looking down at where I'll start walking in two days. YIKES! I'm about to turn 40! Where did the time go? I don't feel 40, and I don't think I look 40. I sure don't dress like a 40 year old. Should I dress like a 40 year old? I like my converse, and vans. And the kids seem to relate to me better when I wear those shoes. :)

I don't mind turning as long as I don't have to act like it or look like it. :)

On my way to being a teacher in Arizona! and Oregon.

2011-02-03T16:32:00.002-07:00

I am almost finished with all of the assessments I need for my Oregon certification. I passed the PRAXIS and Special education assessments. Now I just need one more assessment on Child Abuse prevetion and anit-discrimination.

Luckily these assessments work for the state of AZ as well! Whew! I want to take my assessment to be a high qualified Reading specialist as well before I get my AZ certification. I am pretty sure I need to take one class, and then I'll be set for AZ. Wahoo!

Joe is coming back from Holland tomorrow. Then he'll be off to Phoenix some time in March. We'll follow him in June when school is out. Which as of now is June 10th. There are a few days they can add on at the end of the school year if there is money. This is highly doubtful in my eyes. And why bother! It is the end of the school year, it isn't like there is a whole lot of learning going on the last few days of school anyway.

2 NY's resolutions

2011-01-02T13:00:00.003-07:00

I have two resolutions for this year. 1 will be helped by me moving to Phoenix. I want to better my relationships. I have already started working on this by calling my mom and sister more often. I need to call people more often. I've been very lazy about this.

Number two is to try to get my triglycerides down by March. I am going to schedule my 80,000 miles check up, aka my 40 year check up. That's right! In March I'll be 40! OMGOSH! I would like for my doctor to be happy about my cholesterol this year. :)

So what are your resolutions for this year? Do you have any?

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-20T21:52:00.004-07:00

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! I think we all need to remember what this holiday season is all about. It isn't about the presents, shopping, trees, decorations, etc. It is about the time we can spend with our families, and most improtantly the birth of Jesus Christ. Without His birth, He couldn't have died for our sins 33 years later. And without that, we wouldn't be forgiven of our sins. It is through this grace that we can be assured that we are going to Heaven. Praise God.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T12:06:00.002-07:00

I want to wish you and your families Happy Anniversary! We are here in Oregon celebrating just the four of us. The turkey is about to go in the oven, then the fun begins! Wahoo!

I'm looking forward to next year when I can help my dad and mom make Thanksgiving dinner, and clean up afterwards. And help my mom decorate for Christmas. It will be a great holiday season. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

To settle in, or to remain on extended vacation?

2010-10-28T23:05:00.002-06:00

I have been wondering if I should settle in here and make friends, or act as if I'm still on an extended vacation. I've decided that since the girls and I might be here until school gets out, I might as well make friends. I haven't been very happy just being in limbo, and trying to fly under the friend radar.

So what I've been doing is making coffee (Chai Latte Tea) dates with friends, and this weekend I'm going to go to a women's retreat for church. This retreat is specifically made to make friends. It isn't a retreat with a speaker. We are just going to chill out and enjoy each other's company. There are some amazing women coming to the retreat and I look forward to relaxing and getting to know them. :)

I'll post pictures of the girls on Halloween next week. Well, Jamie won't be dressed up, but Faith is going to be a dog! :)

Back to School!

2010-09-13T22:35:00.003-06:00

It sure has been a long time since I posted last. I haven't had much to say this summer. Just a lot of hanging out with the girls and traveling around the Northwest to say goodbye to friends.

School has started and the girls are so excited to have great teachers this year. And to be back with their friends, of course. :) They both have men teachers, which is new to both of them. I hope and pray that they have a great year.

It has only been a week since school started, so I haven't subbed yet. I've been checking out what I need to renew my teaching certificate, and get a new teaching certificate in Arizona. There are a lot of hoops to jump through. I hope to have it all done by Christmas. We'll see.

Graduation pictures!

2010-05-13T20:50:00.003-06:00

This last weekend I graduated from Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho. I am particularly proud that I graduated with a 3.9 gpa. It was hard and I'm soooooooo glad that it is done now. :) Here are some pictures of the fun weekend.

Joe, the girls and I

My parents and I

Big announcement!

2010-05-01T15:06:00.002-06:00

I have a big announcement. Most of you already know this. We're moving to Phoenix!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are going to live up in Arrowhead by my mom. That way I can be closer to my brothers and their family, and the girls can go back to Legend Springs Elementary where they went last year. It is an excellent school. Joe is going to be commuting to the Chandler area, which will not be very much fun for him, but he is willing to do this so we can be by family. What a great guy! It was either he commutes to work, or we drive up to my mom's a lot.

We aren't sure when we're going to move. It will depend on when a machine is done being made in The Netherlands. It is due to be shipped to the US towards the end of the year. I sure hope it happens before Christmas, because I don't want to miss another holiday. Especially since my sister will be there this year. Too bad we aren't moving this summer. That would have worked out so much better. But as I learned growing up a WalMart daughter, I know that you can't exactly choose when you're going to move. It is often decided for you.

Phoenix Adventures

2010-03-31T09:53:00.002-06:00

We just got back from an incredible trip to Arizona. I'll start from the very beginning, a very good place to start... Can you hear me singing that? :)

Let me just tell you, if we end up staying up here in Portland, we are flying down to Phoenix, not driving! What a long, long, long drive that was. On Friday we drove to Sacramento, CA. I think it took 9 hours or so. We were glad to get to our hotel. Faith tried to swim in the outdoor heated swim pool. I forgot my suit, so she had to go alone and got bored rather quickly. Can't blame her. The next days trip was 11 hours or more and took forever! Especially between LA and Phoenix. We've seen all of CA now and it is quite a beautiful state.

We finally made it to my parents house in time to see my brothers, sister-in-laws and nieces and nephews before they had to go home and put the little ones to bed. It was so nice to have a welcome party for us. :) I have the best family. :)

My mom and dad decided that next year for their 25th wedding anniversary that they are going to renew their vows. So my mom, sisters and I planned for their wedding! We went to a bridal fair (which was lame) and to David's Bridal to try on dresses. We even went to the church that I got married in. We're unsure if they are going to let us have the ceremony there since we aren't members. We're hopeful though because it is a cute church.

My mom had her 60th birthday when we were there, so we celebrated that. It was fun. She got to have one dinner with all 5 of her kids there and their families, except for one spouse who wasn't able to make it. She was missed.

We left there missing my family bunches. I really was hoping that Joe would be able to move us down there in a few years. When we got home, he checked into it and guess what? We might be moving to Phoenix!!!!!!!!!! HOLY COW! I'm sooooooooo happy. He put in for a position down there that would potentially further his career and get us closer to our family. :) We are all so excited at the possibility. This means we can actually take vacations, and hopefully Joe's parents would want to move to Phoenix since it is so warm down there. That would be even more awesome!

To blog, or not to blog

2010-03-10T14:34:00.002-07:00

My life is kind of on an even ride right now and not very interesting for blogging. So do I blog that I just took some hamburger out of the freezer for dinner? Do I blog that I sat and listened to a kid read a state assessment this morning and almost feel asleep? I'm afraid if I blog about my mundane life, you'll fall asleep. I'll just give you a quick update on us, and let you go on with your cyber surfing. :)

Jamie: back at school and almost done coughing. She loves playing piano and plays every chance she can get. Even when Joe is sleeping, which he doesn't mind. That means she's playing that expensive piano that we lugged all the way from Boise. :) Well, we had movers to move it. :)

Faith: is going amazing at reading! She's getting so much better. I'm so proud of her. She still doesn't want to read, but at least it isn't as hard for her as it was a year ago.

Joe: is shift lead at work now. He is on his way to being a supervisor. :) He likes work, and is working the shift he wants. Life is good for him. :)

House: people have looked at our house, so that is good. I hope that someone wants to put an offer on it soon. It will be good to be over that part of our lives and move on to the rest of our lives.

Me: I'm another year older, and hopefully wiser. Just subbing as often as I can, which is most days of the week. I have a few teachers here and there that request me for jobs, which is nice. It is good to be wanted, professionally. I know I'm wanted at home. :)

Thanks for reading!

She's doing better!

2010-03-03T23:15:00.003-07:00

Jamie is doing so much better that she went to school today. :) And she made it through the whole day. :) I'm so glad that she is doing better. :)

Week of sickness!

2010-02-27T18:39:00.003-07:00

Jamie has been sick for a week! She's had a fever this whole time, although it isn't as bad as it was the first few days. Poor thing! She's really missed school. She's very social and has missed her friends. I hope that she will be well enough to go to school on Monday.

I'll keep you updated.

4 generations in one day!

2010-02-21T20:28:00.003-07:00

I spoke with four generations of women in one day! It was a great day for phone conversations. First I talked to my sister Katie, her and I are the same generation. Then I talked to my mom, that is generation number 2. After that my grandma called, and that is generation number 3. Finally I talked to my daughters, of course, so that makes generation number 4. :) I had great conversations with all of them. My grandma is doing well. It has been 7 weeks since her fall. She still has some soreness and flashes of pain in her heard, but she's feeling so much better. We are all so blessed that the hand of God was around her when she fell down that escalator. My mom is doing okay. Being a Realtor in AZ right now is really hard. If you could pray for business for them, that would be appreciated. Katie is doing awesome. She's such a great mommy. I love to hear her stories of her and her almost 1 year old daughter, Sarah. :)

And finally there is my daughters. Faith is great! We went to church this morning and hung out all day. Jamie on the other hand is sick. She has a high fever, no appetite, and a major headache. :( Tomorrow I will take her to the doctor if she's not better by tomorrow morning. Please pray that she gets better quickly.

Look what came in the mail!

2010-02-02T14:25:00.004-07:00

I got my Master's degree in the mail the other day! Wahoo! I graduate with a 3.9 GPA. I will walk the stage in May with my family coming to Nampa Idaho to see me. :) It will be so exciting. :) I will get hooded. :)

Sunday gratitudes

2010-01-24T13:42:00.002-07:00

I haven't done this for a while, shame on me!

1. I'm grateful that I have two very healthy girls. They are doing so well since we moved. They are doing well in school. Faith is getting the help she needs with reading and writing. She has great teachers. :)

2. I'm grateful that we found a Realtor to help us sell our house and do what we need to do for a short sale. I'll miss that beautiful house.

3. I'm grateful for new friends at my new church. It was nice to sit with them this morning and not have to sit by myself.

4. I'm grateful that we found a church that we fit into to, and that teaches God's Word to us. My church also has a great worship team that leads us with great songs.

5. I'm grateful that we found a nice, little, house in a nice neighborhood. It will be a nice, little, home for us to live in until we can buy a bigger house.

I hope you all have a great week.

Howdy Peeps!

2010-01-19T19:34:00.002-07:00

How are things going out there in blog land? They are going up and down here. Ups first, my sister-in-law is about to have a baby!!!!!!!!! She's expecting a boy at any time, we are all so excited. My grandma is doing awesome! She went out to dinner with friends just a week after she fell down the escalator. Just thinking how bad it could have been makes me shiver. I've been working pretty steadily with subbing for our school district. I don't usually have to drive very far, and have had some great jobs. :)

Down: We had a comp ran on our house and it came in a little over 1/2 of what we bought the house for. So it looks like we're going to try to short sale it since we can't sell it for what we bought it for. :( I hate to walk away from it, but we can't afford to have two houses until the market rebounds, which could be years and years.

Other than that bit of bad news, things are going great. The girls love school, and seem to be doing pretty well. :)

My Grandma is doing much better

2010-01-11T08:39:00.002-07:00

She's in a normal room and they are going to continue monitoring her clot. Thanks for all of you who are praying for her. She's going to continue to need prayers until that clot is gone. She's going to need daily CAT scans for a while to monitor it.

My aunt who also live in Houston is already talking to a lawyer, so that is good. There are going to be some hefty medical bills.

Prayers for my Grandma

2010-01-09T22:19:00.002-07:00

Can you please keep my Grandma, Marilyn in your prayers. She fell down a complete flight of escalators today. She is in the ICU with a head injury. Looks like she had a clot between her brain and her skull. They are going to rescan her in the morning to see if it has changed in size. Please pray that she makes it through the night and that the scan shows good news in the morning. I will keep you updated on her progress.

Merry Christmas to my friends and family!

2009-12-24T19:00:00.002-07:00

I hope you all have a great Christmas and enjoy your friends and family. We are missing our family this Christmas for the first time. Joe is working over the holidays. We're happy he has a job and is at home with us for the holidays.

I got two more As on my last classes. Wahoo! I'm done! :) At least I think I'm done. I haven't heard that I need to do anything else. I'll take it. :)

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-16T16:04:00.002-07:00

'Tis the Season! :) I love this time of year. I love celebrating the birth of our Savior and worshiping him through singing Christmas Carols. I love Christmas Carols!

This year is going to be hard because we're not going home for Christmas this year. Joe has to work, and might even work on Christmas day. :( So we might have to rearrange some things.

I am looking forward to spending time with the girls over the break. We are going to do crafts and visit with friends. :) It should be a fun two weeks. :)

I hope you all have a great Christmas. I love you all!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T15:20:00.003-07:00

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving! Faith is downstairs sleeping on the couch in front of the TV. After all, that is one of the things thanksgiving is about. :) Jamie is playing on the computer playing Sims. Joe just got off of the phone with his mom. (Hi ma!) I am up here in the bedroom doing homework. Fun! Fun!

Do not fear though, the turkey is in the oven, the jello is in the fridge. And the rest of our dinner can't be prepared until 5:00. So we're all set. No more eating until dinner is ready. :)

One week and a few days until my Master's work will be done! :) I am excited and nervous about getting all of my work done. But luckily I'm a substitute teacher and can take next week off to study. :)

I know it is strange...

2009-11-14T20:46:00.002-07:00

I know it is strange, but we were so excited to go to WalMart today! There are no WalMarts around here! URG! So we drove to Woodburn to go to WalMart. We didn't buy an exorbitant amount of things. We just really missed WalMart so we went. And since we had to drive so far away, we couldn't buy groceries there that would spoil or melt.

I have two cute pairs of boots and not skits to wear with them, right now. So I went out this evening on my own and bought two cute skirts, two shirts, and a pair of jammies. :) It was fun to get out and go shopping. I only wish I had a girlfriend to go with me.

Staying Busy

2009-11-07T22:04:00.003-07:00

I've been staying busy subbing. I didn't think I would be quite so busy. I've been to 1/2 of the elementary schools in the district, all but one of the middle schools and one high school. I just got signed up for the girls' school, so hopefully I'll be subbing there soon. I would love to sub there most if not all of the time.

I subbed in a classroom that is the same as my old classroom, with the very special ed. It was fun. Of course, there was none of the paper work, meetings or politics. But it made me miss my old job and hope that I can work with those very special students once more.

The girls are busy with school. Jamie is taking an art class once a week. And Faith is coming with me to homework club. I tutor two students during homework club and help other students when I can.

As promised! Halloween pictures!

2009-10-27T20:14:00.002-06:00

Coming soon!

2009-10-27T08:49:00.003-06:00

I am going to have the girls try on their costumes for Halloween. I'll take pictures and have them up here today or tomorrow. :) No worries.

In the meantime, and update on the family. Jamie is doing wonderfully in school. I couldn't ask for a better students. She's thriving at Quatama. Faith is getting a lot of help at school and I look forward to seeing her grow this year. She has started to play the recorder and loves it. Maybe I can get her to play the flute. Speaking of music, Jamie has started with piano lessons again. She loves it, and so far her teacher seems like a great teacher.

Joe is working those wacked out shifts still. It is crazy! He is working around the clock shifts and only 3 or 4 of one shift before he switches to anther shift. Poor guy. Thank heavens to Niquil.

I am working 2-4 days a week as a sub. It is challenging and interesting all at the same time. Middle schoolers like to push buttons and see how far they can push their sub. But the elementary students are gems. I love subbing for the elementary kids. My Master's program is wrapping up. I'm so excited to be almost finished with it. We're going to party here in December, that is for sure! :) Graduation isn't until May though. So we'll have a big party at our house in Meridian then. It is empty so there is plenty of space for anyone to sleep if they want to come to my graduation. :)

Thanks for stopping by and reading!

The rain has started!

2009-10-14T12:10:00.002-06:00

That rain has started and should end in March or April. :) The girls love it! They were out with their umbrellas earlier. I had to make them come in since Faith is still sick. We are going to look at rain boots today when we go to Target.

Jamie is going to cook dinner tonight. She has been missing Papa and his cooking. He always let her help cook with him. I make easy dishes, so there is less opportunity for her to help. But she picked out a recipe for tonight that she is going to make mostly by herself. I'll have to help her with the gas stove, of course.

Faith is getting better. She seems mostly back to normal. No fever, just an annoying sniffy nose and cough. This makes me very happy because I was pretty worried about her on Monday. Jamie is 100% better as well. :)

Today we have parent/teacher goal setting conferences at school. They are today and tomorrow with Friday off. So the girls have a 5 day weekend. I could have worked today, but we have the conferences so I turned down the job.

Thursday I have to go see my dentist to get a filling repaired. He is in Seattle tomorrow. He is my dentist from Boise. So that is closer, but in unfamiliar territory. I have a good friend up there that I haven't seen since high school, so I'm going to hook up with her. That should be fun, and make the trip up there worth it. :)

Sick Girlie number two!

2009-10-10T11:55:00.003-06:00

Faith is now sick. :( She is just coughing so far, but that is how it started with Jamie. Later after an appt I have, I'm going to get them both Jamba Juice again. They can use all of the fruit and vitamins they can get. Me too, because I sure don't want to get it!

Poor sick girlie!

2009-10-07T10:07:00.002-06:00

Jamie is at home today with the flu. :( She started losing her voice a couple days ago, now has a cough, runny nose, fever and a headache. So being the good mom I am, I went a picked up the flu essentials at Walgreen's, along with Jamba Juice. She's happily sitting on the couch now with her Jamba Juice and a movie. :) Well, as happy as one can be while sick. When she gets better, I'll have to take her to the doctor to get a flu shot. Of us girls, she is the only one not to have the flu shot.

Shopping with the girls

2009-10-03T18:46:00.003-06:00

We went shopping today on this fine fall day. There were a few clouds, but no rain. :) It was nice to be out with the girls instead of watching football at home. hehe!

The girls needed some pants. Last years are too short, of course. And it is now too chilly in the morning to get away with shorts, even on the warmer days. So Jamie got some jeans, and Faith got some stretch pants. She loves comfort, that one. :)

I made pork loin and butternut squash the other day in the crock pot. I liked it and Joe liked it, but the girls didn't. It needed something. I'll have to experiment to see what I can add to make it taste better.

I joined a gym and hired a personal trainer! I need to get serious about my weight and doing it by myself hasn't been working so well. I'm just getting bigger and bigger and bigger. I've met with my trainer twice. He kicked my butt last night! Wow! It was hard, but I felt stronger for doing it. :) I also swam for 30 minutes on Thursday. I felt good about that too. :)

Finally, Back to School Pictures!

2009-09-21T22:27:00.002-06:00

Here you go! Back to school pictures. The girls are really enjoying their teachers. Jamie will not be getting the perfect attendance award. She's already out with a low grade fever, sore throat and the sniffles. That's right folks, I think she has the flu! OI! I will see if her doctor wants to see her tomorrow to confirm what is up with her. It would be nice to know when I can send her back to school.

Cash for Toys!

2009-09-09T13:34:00.002-06:00

Back to school pictures coming soon!

Our girls have tooooooooooooooooooo many toys! They also have a hard time giving up toys, but they want more toys. So I came up with an ingenious idea. I am buying their toys so they can get cash to buy a new toy. I am offering them a quarter for small toys, fifty cents for bigger toys and one dollar for big toys. They've already brought us quite a few toys, and we just started this last night. If they bring us a bunch of toys for just one new toy, that works for me! :) When we have a good pile of toys, we'll take them to a charity and give them away. Well, the nice toys anyway.

Thanks to my sister for recommending her peeps to come visit me. I love the encouragement.

SAHM again?

2009-09-06T14:04:00.002-06:00

I think I might be a stay at home mom again. Even if I do get to sub, I will probably not be working as steady as if I was a teacher. So this might be an answer to prayer. I was soooooooooooo busy the last two year with work and school. I only have a semester of school left, and it won't be as busy of a semester as it has been in the past. Then in the spring semester, I won't have school. So I think I'll work on my praxis for the state for my Teacher's certification. I'll also be able to get this house unpacked and organized. Some of that means getting rid of stuff, and some means sending stuff back to Boise. At least I'm getting some decluttering done.

So that is my life in a nutshell. The girls start school on Tuesday. Jamie seems to be calmer about it than Faith. Faith says she's a little scared. :( I know she'll be fine. I hope she doesn't cry like last year. I'll keep you all updated on how they do. :)

Not only did we move in, but...

2009-08-31T11:45:00.002-06:00

The ants moved in too!!!!!!!!! So, I have ant bait all over our house. My mil gave me advice on getting some ant killer and spraying it where ever they can come in. I found where they were coming in, in the pantry. So I put ant baits there and they are eating that now. Hopefully that will work. I can see them in my bedroom going for that ant bait. Eat it up you little buggers!!!!!!!!!!!

On a side note, I keep typing aunts, hehe. :)

Random!

2009-08-18T21:09:00.002-06:00

We say this a lot these days with Jamie. She comes out of the blue and blurts out something. So we reply, "Random!" hehe

*School starts in a few weeks, and still no job, or teacher certificate in hand. I might have to be a stay at home mom. Which I am okay with, really. I can get my house in order and finish my master's degree. I also want to lose some weight, so more time for that would be nice.

*I'm sitting here staring at boxes. My bedroom is 1/2 packed. Faith may end up with the most boxes per room. She has 20 boxes of stuff just for her room! We're going to have to go through those when we get to our new home.

*Tomorrow they finish packing.

*Thursday they load the truck.

* Friday I clean.

*Saturday we drive to our new home in Hillsboro.

*Monday we sign papers and Tuesday we start moving in! Wahoo!

I am excited to move and get the girls started in school. Fun! Fun!

The Discovery Center

2009-08-14T14:32:00.002-06:00

No pictures of the girls, they moved from display to display too fast. :)

The girls and I went to the Discovery Center Science Museum today. The girls had a ball playing with all of the displays. They have a "Good Vibrations" area right now. It was pretty neat. They even have a piano display that is just the insides of the piano so you can touch it and pluck the strings. Pretty neat.

Afterward, we headed to DQ for lunch. The girls love going there. They get an ice cream treat for dessert. Now we're home, "freezing." The girls are freezing, but it feels good to me. We have a cold front here right now and it is only 69. I can only imagine how chilly my Phx family would be if they were here right now. :)

I am kind of aimlessly wandering around my life right now. With not major school project to work on at the moment, I am restless. I'll get used to it. :) I took up a cross stitch project that I started last fall before Christmas. It says 08 on it. OOOPS! I think I'll just leave it. I started it then. When I sign it, I'll put 09. :) Or 10 if I put it away again. :)

I hope all are well. I miss you all and would love to hear how things are going on in your neck of the woods.

My thesis is done!

2009-08-12T20:13:00.002-06:00

My thesis is done! I handed it in. Baring any major mistakes, I should get a good grade on it. My professor said it was a great paper, so I don't see that I'll have any trouble with it. What a relief to be done with such a big project. Whew! This fall should be fairly easy. So no worries there. Then I'm done in December. :) Wahoo!

Statistics!

2009-08-09T16:24:00.003-06:00

I have too much information for my Master's Thesis and am totally confused on what to do with it. I gave up and e-mailed my statistics professor and asked him. I just am at a loss on what to do.

Joe is working on his Mustang trying to get it to work. He had to put his old heads back on because the new one is warped. :( As long as he gets it running, I don't care. I don't think it will come to Portland, unless he parks it on the street. We only have a 2 car garage.

The girls are playing nicely together, whew! I don't know how I would have gotten through this master's program if they didn't play well together. It would have been a nightmare.

Do you snore? I snore and am wondering if I need to see someone about it when we get to Portland. I know I need to lose some weight, but I snored when I was in a size 2! So that can't be all of it. Sometimes Joe doesn't know how I don't wake myself up.

Well, that got random. :) I avoiding going back to my paper. I'm stuck and will probably have to wait until I can get help from my prof.

Oh yah, BTW!

2009-07-31T17:50:00.002-06:00

By the way, Joe is home! I did take one picture of the girls holding a sign for him. But there was too much hugging and kissing to get a picture after he got home. We are very grateful to have him home. We've been cleaning the house up, and relaxing since he got home. I have time now to clean, until I start working on my paper, which I will do tomorrow and Sunday. I want to have it turned in by Monday.

We are going on a house/apartment hunting trip on Tuesday for four days. I hope we find something in that time. We are torn on whether to find a house this size and move all of our stuff and rent this one out. Or leave 1/2 of our stuff and move to an apartment for less rent. Depending on how well renters take care of our yard and house, both options would be about the same money wise. Plus we'd probably go with a rental company to rent the house, so that takes a chunk out of the rent.

See, JOe and I haven't been up to much since he got home. Nothing exciting for me to write about, today anyway. I'll write about our anniversary on Sunday. Our anniversary is tomorrow. :) 17 Years.

New Bike and New glasses

2009-07-30T12:34:00.003-06:00

Jamie was riding a little girl bike and it was getting too small for her. So we went to Walmart and got her a new street cruising bike. She wanted a bike that didn't have hand breaks. So we got her this cute bike. :)

And here are Faith's new glasses. The ones she gets to take home. :) She looks so cute. I hope they help with her reading.

Zoo and Glasses

2009-07-15T21:34:00.004-06:00

The big news is that Faith needs glasses! She only needs them to read and may outgrow this need, but currently her eyes are working too hard to see the words so she has to wear reading glasses. If you know her parents, you know she may be in for a life of glasses.

Here are the ones she picked out.

Now for the Zoo. We went to the zoo yesterday and saw the new, well new to us, Africa Exhibit. There are lions, giraffes, hyenas, and warthogs. The new Lion exhibit lets the lions go right up the the glass so you are less than a foot away from them. So neat! I love that. A lioness was sleeping right by the glass. They have huge paws! :) Here are some pictures from the zoo.

The girls in front of an Elephant statue.

The lioness by the glass.

Less than three weeks!

2009-07-07T17:27:00.003-06:00

Less than three weeks until Joe comes home! Wahoo! I'm so excited. Yipppppppeeeeeeeee!!!

Today was part 2 of 3 of dentist appointments for me. My dentist wasn't happy with how an inlay (inner strong filling used to replace using a crown) was looking. The margins were weak, so he decided that he'd replace it with a crown. It was originally supposed to be 2 parts. Well, during part 1, they did an xray and found that my tooth is dead and there was an abscess. I didn't even feel it. So I had to have a root canal. No biggie, it is my second one. That made my dentist experience last 3 parts instead of 2. Today was the crown preparation. Next will be the cementing of the crown. What an ordeal! At least I had the girls in VBS, so I didn't have to find somewhere to take them. Whew! Part three will be after Joe gets home. Joy! :)

The girls are having fun playing with friends, and going to VBS. Fun, Fun! We might go bowling on Thursday, and the Zoo on Friday.

VBS, homework, job hunts

2009-06-22T13:08:00.002-06:00

This is the summer of lots of reading for my Master's, taking the girls to VBS at many churches, and looking for a job in Oregon. Busy, busy, busy. Not busy enough for the girls. They wish we were doing more. Jamie wishes I didn't have homework, but I'm almost done. Next summer I shouldn't have any classes, hopefully, unless I have to take something for the state of Oregon.

This week Jamie and Faith are going to VBS at Meridian First Baptist. It is called a Passport to the Promise Land. Faith had a ball this morning. She didn't really want to go, so that is a good sign. :)

The job hunt is still on going. I don't have my Oregon Teaching Certificate yet, so most people won't even look at me. Oh well, hopefully I'll still get a job next fall.

VBS Week!

2009-06-15T09:28:00.003-06:00

The girls are at Church this week for VBS! Too bad there isn't better weather. I feel a little bit guilty not helping out, but then I think of all of the homework I have to do for school this week and I don't feel so guilty! I have a lot to do!

The girls will have fun, and I'll get some work done. It's a win, win situation! :)

No Three Bs today

2009-06-12T15:16:00.002-06:00

The sky was dark, dark, dark. So we just did breakfast. We'll do books tomorrow to make up for it. The girls are playing school, so they are getting their books that way. They did "Fun Friday" today and watched movies. hehe! Apparently Faith is a "bad student" and Jamie has had to write her up. (rolleyes) KIDS!

Since we've been home...

2009-06-10T21:46:00.003-06:00

Wow! Since we've been home I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to call anyone, except for my bff Kristi. I've done homework, two weeks worth in one week. I weeded the front flower bed which was full of weeds and grass. I then put down weed blocker and mulch. I have unpacked about 1/2 of my things. Not all of it yet. I am working from the curb, to the downstairs to the rooms upstairs. I want to have company over eventually.

The girls and I saw "Up" today. It is a good movie. We'll have to buy it when it comes out on DVD. The girls loved it, especially the talking dogs. They thought that was hilarious.

We started the three Bs today: Breakfast, Biking and Books. Books includes Jamie working on her piano, and Faith and I working on reading. That way we get the exercise, reading and piano done in the morning before we get on with our summer relaxing. :)

Home sweet home!

2009-06-04T18:23:00.002-06:00

We are home! It is so good to be home. :) I had to get re-acclimated to my house. Now we're unpacking and getting settled. The girls are playing with all of their toys like Christmas morning. Too cute!

It felt good to sleep in my room last night, but a little lonely. We're almost in the 40s for how many days until Joe gets home. In the mean time, I have a lot of homework, housework, reading to do with Faith, and yard work to keep me busy, busy, busy until Joe gets home. :)

I made it, but some of my stuff didn't

2009-06-01T22:43:00.003-06:00

I made it out of Phoenix! We are currently in Vegas. Not a long drive today. Tomorrow will be longer. Then we stop in Twin Falls, Idaho. Joe is worried that I will get too tired to make it all the way to Boise. Fine by me. It was really hard to stay awake just driving from Phoenix to Vegas.

I made it! But some of my stuff didn't. After living a year in Phoenix, inspite of losing my doggie and her huge crate, some of my stuff had to stay in Phoenix! YIKES! I left behind about 8 bankers boxes and a few other odds and ends. That will easily fit in the van when we come back at Thanksgiving to get it. I was so determined to get it all in there. But darnit... I would need a conversion van to get it all home.

I'm so excited to see all of my friends in Boise. I miss them dearly!

Stressed out!

2009-05-29T23:57:00.002-06:00

There is a list of things I need to do this weekend, and not enough time! I need to finish packing my things, into the van. The key is into the van. I'm not sure how our things got so out of hand. But I have too many things now! I'm not sure it will all fit! We did come down here with a dog and a huge crate. But it seems that we have more stuff.

I also have a lot of homework to do, and haven't had a chance to work on it all. OI! When am I going to have time to do all of that? Plus spend time with family before I leave? HELP!!!!!

Family!

2009-05-17T21:54:00.005-06:00

This was a great weekend with family. My sister and her baby Sarah are here. My Grandma was here. My youngest brother Justin graduated from Arizona State University. And we had the girls' and Gavin's picture taken yesterday. Whew! What a great weekend. And I managed to get all of my homework done too. :) Enjoy the pictures.

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-09T16:46:00.002-06:00

I hope you all have a great Mother's Day! Here are some flowers for all of the wonderful Mother's I love.

Finished my class!

2009-05-03T22:48:00.002-06:00

Wahoo! I just finished my class. I turned in my last assignment, and will now be on pins and needles until I find out my grade. I hope to keep up my straight A record. We'll see! My next class starts the day after Mother's day. I hope it is as interesting as it sounds. :)

Scrapbooking retreat

2009-05-02T23:57:00.002-06:00

I am at a scrapbooking retreat this weekend. I finished all of my pictures that I brought, and am now working on my cross stitch. I'm no where near caught up, but the girls' albums are in Idaho. I don't want to start on new stuff until I am with their albums. I don't want to miss days. Plus all of my stuff is up there.

I did however manage to get a nieces and nephew album started. I have all of these pictures of the nieces and nephew, and thought that instead of scrapping them in the girls' albums, I would start an album for just their cousins. I made one for my mom too that included all of the grandchildren. All of the pictures I had anyway. Since we've been down here for a year, almost, I have had a lot of pictures of the grandkids. :)

Well, back to my cross stitch! :)

Last Piano lesson

2009-04-27T14:34:00.003-06:00

Today is Jamie's last piano lesson down here in Phoenix. Next month we are moving, so I didn't sign her up for piano lessons. I figured we'd be busy with moving back to Idaho, and the end of school. So we'll resume piano lessons as soon as we get to Hillsboro.

Jamie is sad that she's done with this teacher. She has loved working with her. She's a very nice teacher and has a gentle way of getting Jamie to learn more without making her upset. I hope that we can find a teacher like that in Hillsboro.

Meanwhile, she'll practice the few songs they skipped in her book. I might practice along with her so that she knows she playing the song right. And I could use the practice too. :)

My Cross stitch

2009-04-24T19:24:00.003-06:00

When I'm too tired in the evening to do my homework for school, I sit and do cross stitch. :) Here are my results. My sister's mother in law asked about what I'm doing, so here you go! :)

My progress

What it will look like when I'm done. :)

I think I'm going to like it there!

2009-04-24T14:38:00.002-06:00

I have been tracking the weather in Portland and I think I'm going to like it there. I am not a big fan of sun, it is too hot. And I like temps in the 50s and 60s. That is normal temps for them. :)

I'm hoping to get a job there in the fall and work with kids and their reading. :) And I want to live by Joe's work, and I would like to work in the same school as the girls. That would be awesome. In my perfect world. :)

2 more weeks, and 4 more weeks

2009-04-21T12:02:00.002-06:00

I have 2 more weeks of the current class I'm taking. I have a ton of work to do for it. And yesterday I totally didn't feel like doing it. OI!

We have 4 more weeks of school here. The last 2 weeks will be just fluff and stuff because we'll have progress reports in already, and all of our other paper work done. So that will be me packing and the kids reading. I'm mean, I'll still make them work. :)

Other than that, nothing else is going on. There really isn't time to do anything else besides pack! :) Oh, Jamie's last piano lesson is next week as well. She's bummed. She likes her teacher. We'll have to find a teacher as soon as we get to Portland.

An experience to remember!

2009-04-18T23:25:00.004-06:00

Today Jamie and I went with a friend of mine and her two daughters to a Nascar race. We were very close to the race, which made it two things: very hard to see what was going on, and very, very, very loud! Praise God for ear plugs. I have to say it is very surreal to be walking right next to cars whizzing by you at 200+ mph with nothing more than a chain link fence separating you and the cars. The cars looked like blurs going by us. We were almost across from Tony Stewart's pit, so that was cool.

We walked around all day looking at all the sites. It was fun, fun, fun. We spent way too much money on food and one t-shirt. I wanted a shirt that says Phoenix International Raceway since we are moving to Portland soon.

By the way, Mark Martin won and Tony Stewart came in 2nd. :)

Easter Egg Hunt in Warm Sunny Phoenix

2009-04-12T23:57:00.006-06:00

The weather was beautiful down here today. No wind, plenty of sunshine. Beeeauuutiful!

Here are some pictures!

Jamie finding an egg.

Faith with her eggs.

Jordan looking for eggs.

Tatum looking ever so cute!

Happy Resurrection Day!

2009-04-12T14:21:00.003-06:00

He is Risen, He is risen indeed! I asked my girls what "Easter" is all about and Faith piped up with Easter Eggs. NOT! So we talked about why we celebrate Resurrection day and why it isn't all about the easter bunny. Christ died on the cross for our sins, so that we could enter the kingdom of God without the blemish of sin. I told them about the awful things he went through before, during and after the cross. Someday, when they are ready, I hope to show them "The Passion" movie. They are not ready for all of that realization yet.

Happy Resurrection Day!

Faith's turn!

2009-04-10T12:47:00.003-06:00

Faith was jealous that I just posted about Jamie, so I'm going to post about what an awesome, sweet, caring girl Faith is as well. Faith is so vigilant. Whenever I have dairy, she reminds me to take a dairy pill. In the evening, she reminds Papa to take his restless leg pills. She always tries to make sure everyone is comfy and happy as well. She's an all around caring girl. Ultra Sweet! :)

My sweet, sweet girl

2009-04-09T22:39:00.002-06:00

We were watching Marley and Me tonight. It was getting towards the end of the movie,and Jamie knew I was going to cry. We watched this movie in the movie theater. So Jamie knew what was going on. She said she had to go get something and came back with some tissues for me! Wow! :) She's is such a sweetheart. I love her so much.

Moore inspirations

2009-04-08T22:05:00.002-06:00

We are doing the video section of the "Wishing Up" Bible study by Beth Moore. Tonight we talked about how much good our tongue can do. Last week we talked about how much harm our mouth can do. One of my favorite quotes from tonight was from Proverbs 15:4, "The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit." Also, "But few words bring the joy of the right word in the now moment." Proverbs 15:23 KJV "...a word spoken in due season, how good it is." Beth Moore said in closing, "God will tell us what to say, and how to say it."

So for all of those who have put their foot in their mouth, or just spoke without thinking, God can be a tool for you. Sometimes he will lead you to think about what you say before you say it, and sometimes he will provide you with the proper thing to say in the moment.

One more week done!

2009-04-05T21:38:00.002-06:00

The girls and I are getting excited to go home. And to live with daddy again! He might be home in June now. That would be nice. We'll go straight home to Portland with him right away then. We think.

We had an uneventful week. Same old, same old. The nieces stayed over night for the weekend. That was fun. My niece, Tatum, is growing up so she isn't as much work as she was before. She's also able to play with the other girls better. It was great. Of course all this happens right before we leave. :)

Joe was "jet setting" all over Europe this weekend. He went to Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg. They saw where Patton is buried, along with over 5,000 other soldiers. It was very surreal for him to see. He also saw a German Car show, as in a car show in Germany, not a car show with just German cars. Pretty cool. I got a new picture of him to put on my wallpaper too, so that is nice.

My sister is doing well with her baby. The baby needs to let her sleep longer at night. Too bad. My sister is so tired.

I hope you all have a great, great week!

A week in the life...

2009-03-29T23:02:00.002-06:00

Life had been crazy. So I thought I'd give you a little picture into my life, along with the girls' life, as they are a huge part of my life. :)

Monday: Piano lessons for Jamie and some reading for school. Help Faith with her homework for 1-2 hours.

Tuesday: Run errands, and some reading for school. Help Faith with her homework for 1-2 hours.

Wednesday: Help Faith with homework for 1 hour, run and get fast food. Then we go to AWANA and Bible study.

Thursday: Read for school, homework with Faith for 1-2 hours.

Friday: stay after school and plan for the next week. And then relax with the girls.

Saturday: Laundry and homework

Sunday: Church and homework.

Wow! When I'm done with my Master's I'll have loads of time to scrapbook, cross stitch, read, etc. :)

Sunday Grattitudes

2009-03-22T17:31:00.001-06:00

I haven't done grattitudes for a while. It isn't that I haven't had things to get grateful for, I just have been so busy that I haven't posted. I'm on spring break for work and school, so I have a little bit of time to post.

1. Spring Break! I'm thankful that my school is flexible on when we can do spring break to coincide with our work school schedule. I was able to do spring break for work and school this last week. It was nice to be able to relax with my husband for a week. :)

2. My husband, Joe, is here! Wahoo! I miss him so much. I am going to be very sad on Friday after he leaves.

3. My girls have enjoyed spring break as well.

4. I'm grateful for the seminar I went to this week. Lindamood Bell is a great program. I can't wait to start working on it with Faith this coming week. Then in Portland I may open a clinic for teaching this program.

5. My new meds are working. So far, so good.

Book nut!

2009-03-18T08:31:00.002-06:00

I am a book nut. But right now I am in a season of my life that I don't have the time I would like to read my beloved books. I do read. I read about helping children learn to read. Not quite the fiction or inspirational reading that I would like. It is very helpful though. :)

The reason I wrote this, was a blog friend of mine lost her favorite Bible. :( She's having a hard time finding it, and I was thinking about how many Bibles I have. Here in Phoenix, my temporary home, I have four Bibles! YIKES! I have a NASB study Bible. That is the original Bible I came down here with. I decided that I wanted a smaller Bible, so I got a thin line NASB in brown and pink. Too cute! Then I heard about a Chronological Bible that has a plan to read it in one year. Well, I had to have that! I don't think I'll get it done in a year, but I have been reading it as often as I can keep my eyes open before I go to bed. Well, then our church, my Bible study and Sunday school uses NIV. So off to the Bible store I go to buy another Bible. I got a fuchsia and pink very small NIV Bible. It is the cutest Bible I've seen, besides Faith's Easy Reader NIVr Bible. :) So that is how I came to have 4 Bibles in Phoenix. Crazy! I also have a 4 translation Bible at home. I miss it, but didn't want to pack it up and bring it down here.

As for books, I have bought my fair share of them as well while I've been here. And I've been able to read a little more than half of them. Not too bad. :)

Tell me about your books and Bibles. :)

Lessons I've learned

2009-03-08T15:17:00.002-06:00

I've learned a couple of profound lessons in the last few weeks that I wanted to share with my friends. :)

"Low" self-esteem can be too much focus on yourself. Always thinking that someone else is talking about you, thinking other think you are ugly, or that everything you do isn't good enough, is self focus. God does not want us to focus on ourselves, good or bad. He wants us to focus on Him and how we can show Him though ourselves. Wow! This was a shock to me, since I've had a low self esteem. I thought that when I walked past someone, and they were talking, that they were talking about me. Beth Moore says that even if they are talking about you, so what! As long as you handle yourself with a dignity that reflects Jesus, that is all that matters. Wow! Wow! Wow!

Next, I heard a great quote today in class. We were talking about the pitfalls in life and how we can be going along just fine and all of a sudden we've fallen into a pit. A quote from James McDonald was that is isn't how many times we fall, but how long we stay there. Whoa, back the car up! I thought that as a maturing Christian I wasn't supposed to fall anymore. I was supposed to constantly stay on the path. I felt bad because I'd fallen. The fact is, that we fall no matter what we do. We can't help it. We are in our earthy bodies, with earthy desires, on earth!

With these two tidbits of wisdom, I think I will be able to survive the adventures we have ahead.

A tranformation

2009-03-03T22:38:00.002-07:00

My sister has been transformed. She was a woman, who hadn't gone through the rite of passage into motherhood. Now she's there! It is so sweet to hear her talk about her little baby. I called my mom yesterday and I just listened to her singing to her little baby, and loving her. She may not even know that I was listening to her. Dan and her are awesome parents! And I know they are going to be the best parents for Sarah.

It is hard to believe that my girls were that little once. I wish I had my baby books here.

Sunday Grattitudes

2009-03-01T14:08:00.002-07:00

I haven't done Sunday Grattitudes for a while. I've been worn out! Worn out, worn out. YIKES! I don't know why? I am just working, going to school raising two beautiful little girls and all as a "single" mom. If it weren't for my dad, I'm not sure how I'd be doing this. Glory be the day when Joe, the girls and I will be living together as a family again.

So now for the grattitudes.

1. My happy, healthy niece is doing awesome! And my sister is healing nicely from her c-section too. I'm grateful that she has lots of help from my mom, Dan's mom and Dan. :) I wish I could hold little Sarah. That will have to wait until May when they come for Justin's graduation.

2. I got two more As in my master's program! Yahoo! I've gotten 2 A-s, so I don't have a 4.0 anymore, but pretty dang close. I am just so excited about this. I had a hard time in school. Listening to lectures just wasn't my thing. This on-line learning rocks! :)

3. I have a loving husband who loves me more than anything. He is missing us like crazy. Too bad I couldn't send one of the girls back with him. hehe! But we're all in school and have to stay here.

4. Jamie and Faith are very happy and love each other very much. They play so well together. It sure makes doing my homework that much easier. I'm also happy that they love each other so very much.

I have to get back to my homework. I have to read, read, read. :) Thanks for reading!

My niece is here!

2009-02-23T19:50:00.004-07:00

And she's super cute. I just wish I could go see her. :) Here are some pictures.

New post on my teacher website

2009-02-18T22:29:00.001-07:00

I just posted on my teacher website about the beautiful children that I am honored to teach. Check it out! http://christianspedteacher.blogspot.com/

Wild and crazy girls weekend!

2009-02-15T21:48:00.004-07:00

Well, we had a long weekend this weekend, no school tomorrow! :) I have had the last two weeks of from school and classes start up again this week. So I don't have any pressing homework to do. So the girls and I have had a "wild and crazy weekend." hehe! We have been watching family and kid movies galore! We've watched "Space Chimps," "Snow Buddies," "Madagascar 2," and "Open Season 2." We also have a couple Air Bud movies to watch. We went to the mall today and bought Easter dresses.

Faith's Easter outfit, I let her get a tunic and stretch pants.

Jamie's Easter dress.

Tonight Jordan stayed overnight and we're having pancakes in the morning. :) Fun, Fun, Fun! :)

Big spending day!

2009-02-09T21:06:00.002-07:00

Holy Cow! I didn't set out to spend all of my upcoming pay check today, but I did! YIKES! Sorry hunny! I called and ordered three text books this morning that didn't get ordered via a website last week. (I hope I get those before my class starts this weekend.) Then I hit Target to get a binder for my upcoming class. They had swim suits! My swim suit died, so I got two new suits. I'll try them on, and see if they both look good. That and some other things from Target made for a nice bill! At least the suits weren't expensive. Next I took the girls to Olive Garden for dinner and we went back to Target to get them some suits. Jamie out grew hers and Faith's fell apart. I think Faith could still wear the same suit she wore when she was 2! She's so skinny. When I got home, I realized I hadn't made hotel reservations for my conference in March. YIKES! So dang, there goes my check for this week.

I guess I'll be staying close to home and off of the online shopping for quite a while! :)

Girls weekend!

2009-02-06T17:55:00.002-07:00

No, not the I'm going out with girls my own age weekend. My nieces are here this weekend! And my dad is way far out numbered: 5 girls to 1 guy. 6 girls if you count the dog. :) But do you know what? He loves it that way. He loves all of these little girls here. It is just too bad he has so much work to do this weekend. I on the other hand am off this weekend and next weekend from what I now call "learning school," AKA my master's degree. So we are going to play, maybe do our nails and watch cartoons. :) Hopefully dad will have time to make pancakes in the morning for breakfast.

Tonight, my dad is taking Jamie and Faith to a Father Daughter Dance. He is excited about it. :)

My sister is 37 weeks! I'm so excited! After two miscarriages this is awesome! Little Sarah should be here soon. I so wish I could be there. Her husband got a new job, so they'll be moving back to live by Langley. Gracious! A new baby, selling a house and moving. Busy, Busy, Busy!

Bad blogger! Bad blogger!

2009-01-28T21:46:00.002-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. I've been sooooooooooooo busy! My current class is done this week. So I have a lot to do. But I figured I'd let you all know that we're still here.

Joe had a coming back to the US date, June 26th. That is one day after Faith's birthday. We should be back home by then. But, where will Joe be working when he comes home? That is the question that is on my mind? I suppose we'll find one sometime before he comes home. I hope we can sell the house quickly, and can join him before school starts.

I'll post more next week when my class is done. :)

We're on the move!

2009-01-22T16:51:00.003-07:00

Joe just accepted an offer to transfer to Hillsboro, Oregon. That is a suburb of Portland. So sometime this year, probably next winter we'll be moving. We have to sell our house, and Joe has a machine to finish building in Holland and then install in Oregon. We're not sure when all of that will be done.

What an adventure! After this time apart from Joe, I don't care where we live as long as we can all be together. :)

A broken record

2009-01-18T23:40:00.002-07:00

I feel like I'm a broken record lately. It is all about the homework with me. I'm finishing up a class right now and it is requiring me to do a lot of homework. YIKES! I tried to do all of the reading, but even with my half time job, there is no way for me to fit is all in. Right now I'm just focusing on getting all of the assignments done. 11 more months of this and then I will have my Master's degree. It is sure a lot harder than getting my Bachelor's degree. I don't think I will work on my doctorate. Not unless we win the lottery.

This week will be busy. I'm thankful that tomorrow we have the day off. I am going to try to finish my homework tonight, and then spend some time with the girls tomorrow.

I'm so thankful for all the help I have. It is still very overwhelming to have all of this work to do, however. Please pray that I can get it all done.

Busy week

2009-01-15T20:38:00.002-07:00

So I've been pretty busy this week and haven't had a chance to post. I did get news from Joe that he is going to be the machine "father" of the machine he's helping build in Holland. That means he will continue to help build it, and when it goes to the customer who bought it, he'll install it there. So next summer Joe will be in Portland installing the machine. We will go out there for a while and hang out with him. The bulk of our summer will be spent in Idaho enjoying our house, the girls and I that is. We are going to hang at the water park, and declutter my house. At least Joe will be in the country and able to visit us often.

As for my week, I've had a lot of meetings this week. I've also been testing some students at school. I love testing kids and see how they do with the assessments. Things are work are going much better now. I'm enjoying my job again. My heart doesn't race as I drive to work anymore. Praise God for that!

I started a Bible study at Church this week. It is on Esther by Beth Moore. I already know I won't have time for the homework. I'm basically doing this study to gleam what I can during class and make some new friends. I think I need to get out of the house and make some friends. :)

Sunday Grattitudes

2009-01-11T19:58:00.002-07:00

I have a lot of stress in my life. So focusing once a week on what I'm thankful for is sure a good thing!

1. I'm thankful that I am here in Phoenix getting help from my parents. Although I really want to be back home in Boise, I'm thankful for all the help with the girls.

2. I'm thankful for a new roommate at school who is starting to be a good friend. We went to see "Chicago" yesterday. It was a good musical.

3. I'm thankful for good books. I bought some Francine Rivers books. I'm reading "Redeeming Love" right now. It is a good book.

4. I'm thankful that Joe has a good job. Although it isn't good for us to be apart, at least he's able to provide for his family. We'll be together soon. We miss him so much!

5. I'm thankful for my healthy, happy girls. They get along so well together. They could keep each other company and play together well all weekend.

6. I'm thankful that this is the year I graduate from College with my Master's degree. I forget what it was like to not have homework!

7. I'm thankful that my sister's baby is happily still growing in her tummy.

I hope all of you have a great week! I hope to hear what you all have planned. :)

Julie: let me know when you have time to go out for a drink! :)

Who had the most fun?

2009-01-10T21:22:00.004-07:00

My brother Brandon, my dad and my nephew Gavin spend all day on Friday setting up these train sets. It was unbelievable. They used a 10 foot table, and a 5 foot table. These are the tables we used to sit 18 people on Christmas day for dinner. The trains are Thomas trains.

I think my dad had the most fun! With my nephew in a close second. :) My dad kept getting calls for work and didn't want to leave his trains. It was pretty cute.

Here are the girls playing with the train on Saturday morning. They had fun with it too, but not as long as Papa, Uncle Brandon and Gavin did! :)

Lunch with a dear friend

2009-01-07T16:12:00.002-07:00

My sil, Julie, took me out for lunch today. She's been reading my posts and responses to my sister's posts, and figured out that I'm depressed. So she offered to take me out to lunch today. :) It was nice to get away and talk with an adult. We went to Chevy's and I had fajitas and two sour apple margaritas. YUMMY!

Thanks so much Julie! I had a great time. :)

New Blog design, New music, New year

2009-01-04T22:47:00.003-07:00

I am usually very sad to see Christmas go. December 26th is a hard day for me. I love the Christmas season and hate to see it go. This year was no exception. I got my usual Christmas-day-after let down. Joe know it and is used to it, bless his heart. But on the 27th, I snapped out of it. I was ready to help my mom tear it all down and put it away! I think in my own little mind, the quicker we get over with it, the quicker we can get on with the year and the quicker Joe, the girls and I can be back together. Crazy I know. It also means that the chaos has ended. With all of the other chaos in my life, the Christmas chaos was just about more than I could handle this year. I realize that things started to go down hill for me when the season started. So I'm hoping that with the status quo being re-established, my life will be a little less chaotic.

I have one more week to get caught up with my Master's homework. I planned too much to do for the last week of school, so we will continue with those studies. And this week will bring a lot of moving. My school roommate and I didn't get a chance to move our classroom over break. So we will be doing that after school this week.

I am looking forward to the changes that this year brings. I am really looking forward to living as a family again. I miss my best friend. He is such a huge part of our lives, and he misses us just as much. I will never take our little family for granted again. No matter what happens, as long as we are together, that is all that matters.

My resolution this year is to stay sane, and love my family as much as I possibly can. :)

My Family!

2008-12-30T23:25:00.003-07:00

Here is my family! All five kids, and their spouses, and the kids! All 18 of us!

We have from the left, Joe, me, Jamie and Faith. Then Dan and Katie. Then Brandon, Julie, Gavin (little curly head boy) and Ashlyn. Next is Scott, Laura, and their two girls, Jordan and Tatum. My youngest brother, Justin and his wife Merideth are next to my mom and dad. We will be joined by Baby Sarah this year in February. And Scott and Laura are trying for a boy. That should round out the grandkids, barring any unexpected blessings. :)

2008 Grattitudes

2008-12-30T11:12:00.003-07:00

Wow! What a year! I have been here in Phoenix for 4 months, and will be going home in 4 1/2 more months. I'm looking forward to that! It has been a hard year, but I will try to remember the positive.

1. Joe has a job! And they seem to really like him there. He is in Holland helping a new machine build. That way when they come to the US, he can service it when they install them and when the machine needs to be fixed.

2. I have a job too! I'm working .5 part time. I love it! If I can keep this up in the future, I will. Leaving at lunch is so awesome!

3. Jamie is an awesome student! She's getting all As and Bs in school. She enjoys school and reading.

4. Faith has grown so much in her reading ability. It is a struggle, but we're working very hard and hope to have her caught up by the beginning of 3rd grade.

5. I'm grateful for the help I've been getting from my mom and dad. I would probably have had to quit my Master's program without their help.

6. I'm doing well with school. I have a 3.95 gpa. It is so much easier to do the online thing than it was to listen to lectures. I'm glad I found a teaching style the is compatible with my learning style. :)

7. I'm so happy that I have a beautiful house up in Idaho waiting for me. And awesome neighbors who look in on my house often. :)

8. I'm happy I have great friends: in Idaho, in Arizona, and all over the world on the internet. :)

9. I'm grateful for a Church Family in Idaho as well as a nice Sunday School class here in AZ.

10. I'm grateful that I have the support of the Lord Jesus Christ. Without him I would have had a nervous breakdown and would have stayed in bed for the last 4 months.

8 Things

2008-12-23T09:36:00.002-07:00

I've been tagged by a good friend, Jennifer. So here we go. This is a neat one.

8 Things

8 TV shows I watch

Life
Mentalist
ER
NCIS
CSI
Burn Notice
Law and Order
Privileged

8 Favorite Restaurants

Chick Fil A
Olive Garden
Paradise Bakery
Red Robin
Applebees
Fudruckers
White Water Pizza
NYPD Pizza

8 Things that happened to me today

(I'm going to use yesterday, because I just got up)

Went to walmart to pic up pictures
Joe hugged me, more than 8 times! :)
I felt baby Sarah kick me from Katie's Tummy
I skipped lunch
It rained on me
I cleaned my bedroom
I hugged Katie
I tickled Ashlyn, my niece

8 Things I look forward to

Joe, the girls and I living as a family again
Going home to my own house, bed, etc.
Christmas morning
Christmas Eve services at Church
Seeing my sister's baby, Sarah
Seeing Dan, my bil, that I haven't seen for so long
Going to The Scottsdale Resort with Joe in a few days
Spending time with my family today

8 things I wish for

to be 35 lbs lighter
To live as a family under one roof again
another doggie, preferably a Westie
to play the piano well
to play my flute even better
to have time to read and do cross stitch
for my master's to be done!
for my family to all live closer

8 people I tag to complete this

Katie
Laura
Carrie
Julie(you'll have to use a reply to do this.) :)
Angela
Amanda
My mom (you'll have to use a reply as well)
I can only think of 7

:)

Baby Booties!

2008-12-22T19:47:00.003-07:00

My girls can be so funny! I was making cupcakes for my sister's baby shower. I told them I was putting baby booties on them. They both looked at me funny. Jamie asked if I was putting socks on them. I said no, baby booties. They both said, "Gross!" I realized they thought I was going to put baby bottoms on the cupcakes, not baby booties, as in little crocheted booties! LOL! You can see that I didn't put baby bottoms on the cupcakes. hehe!

My little sister is here!

2008-12-17T23:08:00.003-07:00

My little sister is here! She's very pregnant too! And too cute! Love the belly! No stretch marks on her belly, it is perfect. I'm so glad to see her. It has been a long time since I've seen her.

And 2 days and 19 hours and 19 minutes until Joe comes home! If his plane is on time, that is. :) I can't wait to see him. I miss him so much!

Single digits!

2008-12-10T23:00:00.002-07:00

Joe will be home in 9 days! Wahoo! I'm so happy. I just wish it was for good. I'm grateful that he has a steady job. A job with security in this unstable time. I know that this is hard for him and for us. But with the economy like it is, a steady job is very important.

I guess I'd better get busy on some Christmas cards and gift wrapping. I have just about all of my shopping done. I just need to wrap. Amazon was my main store this year. I rarely go out without the girls, so I had to shop another way in secret. :)

12 days to go!

2008-12-07T15:18:00.002-07:00

12 days to go, not counting today! I'm to excited to see my love. And the girls can't wait to see their daddy.

There is so much to do this time of year. I just want to remind you all to rest. If you don't, then your body will force you to rest. A loved one of mine didn't rest enough, and now she is stuck in bed. She even rested all day yesterday. She tried to do too much with little sleep and now she can't do anything. So just remember, early to bed, but not early to rise. :)

Merry Christmas and Praise to God for sending his Son away from Himself, so that he could come to earth and save us from our sins. I can't imagine being away from my kids for 33 years, and especially knowing what was going to happen at the end of that time.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

2008-11-28T09:45:00.002-07:00

Yahoo! I'm not a freak anymore for listening to Christmas music! hehe! I waited until November this year. :) Usually I start in October. I just love Christmas music. I got three new CDs this year: The new Amy Grant, Faith Hill and Michael Bublee. All three are outstanding CDs.

Our Thanksgiving was a success. The turkey was juicy, even the white meat, especially the white meat. My dad did a stupendous job! Kudos, Dad! Mom, Grandma and I made the place beautiful by starting to decorate for Christmas, and I did the table with the good china and crystal goblets. I should have taken a picture! I'll do it again for Christmas. We had some neighbors over, Ed, Rebecca and their son Drew. A good time was had by all. Ed got along famously with my nieces and daughters. They had a huge tickle fest. It reminded me of when their Uncle Dan is here. I'm sure there will be plenty of tickle fests at Christmas time when Dan is here. Drew was a big help and seemed to enjoy our chaotic house.

This morning the women in our house all slept in and didn't go shopping. We planned to be out by 10 this morning, but mom had a nightmare and now has a killer migraine. So I'll work on my homework until she is well enough to wake up. I have plenty of homework to keep me busy for the rest of the weekend! YIKES!

Joe comes home in 21 days! Sunday we will be in the teens for the countdown! Wahoo! We are very excited about that. :)

Merry Christmas season, all! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-26T20:47:00.002-07:00

I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving. I have so much to be thankful for this year.

1. My faith in Jesus has kept me going this year even though it has been one of the hardest years so far. Praise Jesus for that.

2. My husband is so very caring and is trying to do what is best for his family. He is a great, great, man. :)

3. My girls are happy, and healthy. Not to mention pretty cute! :)

4. My parents took us in so that we could have their help through this difficult year.

I could go on. :) Have a Happy Thanksgiving! :)