The Joy blog

I need to take a lesson from Sylas

2012-02-06T16:00:00.000-08:00

Sylas is a very friendly boy and will talk to anyone. He does't really care what they look like,what they are doing or what other people think. He loves to say hi to people and ask them what they are doing and most of the time they will smile and talk to him. He is not shy or self councious. He doesn't care what people might think of him. He almost always has a smile on his face too. I wish I was like that. I would like to be able to talk to anyone and not care what they would think of me. I wish I could talk to anyone and not judge them or make any precocieved ideas about them. I don't think bad of everyone or think everyone thinks bad of me but sometimes I am worried about how they will think of me or react to me talking to them. And sometimes I do judge people for how they look or act. Sylas doesn't do that. He is only two and they don't care about that stuff yet. I just wonder where we get it from. I would love to teach my kids not to judge people for the way they look or dress. I know you have to be careful sometime because there are some weird people people out there but there are some really nice people out there that I am sure I have not met because of my insecurities or because I have pre judged them. I need to talk to more people for my buinsness because ever person is a potential client. I also want to use this buisness to minister to people and show them God's love but I cannot do that if I don't talk to them. I used to be very out going and not really care what other people think but after moving so many times and having to make friends and then leave them over and over again it is really hard to do. I don't like to meet people and get attatched to them just to have to leave them but if I hadn't made friends in florida and just been a hermit I would have missed out on meeting so many great people. Same thing with sacramento and here too. I need to remember that God is bringing people to my life for a reason and even though that is hard to do some times it is for my best. I really do miss the friends I have met along the way and hope to see them all again somedaya but I am trying to rememeber to keep myself open to make new friends as well!

wow what a busy time in our lives!

2012-02-01T21:59:00.001-08:00

We have been really busy lately! Monday we ran around with our friends to diffrent stores and then helped them put up curtins before and after we picked up the kids(Zane and Aylana). Then after picking up the second set of kids( carver and my friends two boys) we came home and had to get ready for a meeting with my wellness coach. I joined a biggest loser challenge so she came over to go over some things with me. After she left we put the boys to bed and got a few things done around the house. Tuesday we got the boys two school, ran to the store and then went to Haven's house for a Mary Kay meeting. It was nice to have some advice and some instructions on how things work. We went back to the house for lunch and then went to make sure Zane got to his leggo construction class. We had an hour to kill so we went to the dollar store to find some goodies. We spent a little too much time there so we had to rush back to pick up the boys. Zane had a great time in his Leggo constuction class! He is so excited to go again next week! Thankfully we didn't have to go anywhere that night but we realized we had to get some forms faxed to our bank for our house insurance. We don't have a fax machine so ollie had to leave early on wednesday to fax the papers.
Wednesday morning started early for us because it is the day I got to the free market and get some good food for us. I had to meet a friend at the circle at 6:20 and we rushed over to the free market. We got some yummy stuff and then rushed back so Ollie could go to work and fax the papers before he had to run to two dental appointments. I got home and made breakfast and got the kids to school on time and then ran with a friend to the store before dropping Sylas off at her house and met ollie at our house so we could get to our appointment. Ollie and I had to go down to San Fransisco to have a parent meeting with the people at UC Davis. They are evaluating him and his ADHD diagnosis. It was a two hour appointment and we had to be there a half an hour early so it was a really long day. They asked us so many questions. I am hoping this all works out great and they can really help us know how to help carver. The appointment went a little long so we had to rush back to school to get the boys. Today was a early day also so Carver and Zane both were out at the same time. I called my friend and she grabbed zane so when we got there we just had to find Carver and make sure he got to Tae kon dow class and wait for him to be done. Thankfully his teacher walked him up to his class and we waited while he had his class! He had a great time and can't wait to go back! I think we need to get him into a form of marshal arts after this class is overwith. We came home and I decided I would go grocery shopping when the boys and Ollie hung out at home. I made a quick list and ran to a couple store. I found some great deals at grocery outlet and got most of our food there. Then I ran to the goodwill just to look and found a few fun things. I got a leapfrog toy that teaches you how to write your letters for about 9 dollars and it would have been 20 dollars or more in the store. I brought it home and took it apart and fixed the one thing on it that was broken. It works well now! I also found a few movies for sylas( on on potty training) and a sweater( and shirt) for me. Then I ran to CVS and taco bell before coming home. We played with the toy and tried the guinea pig harness on I got earlier. Now I need to clean up the kitchen and rearrange the fridge and freezer so things fit better. We used to have a freezer besides the one in our fridge and our fridge in florida was so much bigger! Tomorrow thankfully we don't have to go anywhere except for school. Friday besides school I have my biggest loser meeting so hopefully I will have time to work on the house and some laundry. I may have two extra kids to take home also.Saturday I have my new consultant training from 10-12 and sunday hopefully we will make it to church. I am pretty sure next week is as crazy if not more crazy. I feel like I am running on a hamster wheel. I am not sure how to make things less crazy or create more time to get things done. I wish I knew how to make it all slow down and just breath!

New things

2012-01-27T16:45:00.000-08:00

This new year we are trying some thing to help us eat healthier, get out the door faster and be better people. One of the things I have started doing is getting up earlier on the weekdays. I have been showering before I get the boys up and while they take their baths I am able to do my skin care and make up. Also I have started putting breakfast in the crockpot so it is ready when we come down in the morning. Not only does it save us time but it helps eat healthier because it is usually oatmeal or eggs and not cereal or something sugary. I am trying to make sure I read my bible while the boys eat their breakfast and watch a cartoon. Then we get dressed and ready and if we have time we watch on more cartoon. I am going to start walking more next week and the weeks ahead. It saves on gas but I have to make sure we get out of the house in plenty of time or Carver will be late to school. It also helps me get exercise and the boys get some of the wiggles out before school and before they get home so they can sit still to listen in school or do their homework. The only bad thing about walking is that Carver starts 20 minutes earlier than Zane and gets out 1 hr after Zane so it means waiting around a lot. In the afternoon we can play at the playground if the weather is nice but it is still a long wait. I try and take a book or some Mary kay stuff to work on. I do talk to some of the other parents and it is a good time to practice my networking. I gave out some samples and buiness cards so and a few people seemed interested so I am hoping that something comes of that.I didn't ask for any names or numbers but at least it was a start. I am not confident in my self or my buisness yet but I am working on it.
Another thing I am going to try is finding recipes for dinner and breakfasts that we have all the things for and printing them out. I put them on the fridge so the recipe is easy to find and I can make it up really fast and easy. I usually make a plan but I don't print out the recipe so when I want to make it I have to find the book it's in. Then I give up and make something else. I am hoping to use what we have and not have to buy a lot. I did a few crockpot meals so I can just throw it in in the morning and dinner will be done on time. I would love to have two slow cookers so I can do both breakfasts and dinners in them but I will work with one for now! I am also trying to make sure the hous is cleaner on fridays so we don't have as much to do on the weekends and can relax more. It is hard for me to keep the house going though since I am not working two Jobs instead of just one. I have my Mary Kay buisness which would like to be more than part time and also I am on call for a friend. I am there for her kids when she is at work so if they need something and I also pick them up a couple days a week after school. I doesn't take a lot of my time but it still takes some. Her kids get out five minutes later than mine and are up at the farther campus so we have to wait longer for them. Also the other day she called me and needed me to sit with her son while she was at work because he was not feeling good. He was not contigous but he was having health issues so sylas and I stayed with him until we had to get the other boys and bring them home. We had a good time though.

TimeSavers!

2012-01-23T19:38:00.000-08:00

This weekend was fun but VERY crazy! Friday evening Judie and Phyllis came to visit. I got as much cleaned and put away as possible but things still weren't as nice as I would have liked. We stayed up late that night visiting and I got most of my stuff ready before I went to bed. I had to get up at six and leave the house by six fifty five and meet my friends. We needed to be at Jamboree by eight thirty and it was all the way in concord. We stopped at starbucks and then made it to the conference. We had a really nice time and heard some really good speakers. They had some great ideas for us and really motivated us to build our buisnesses. We had a really nice lunch and then some more classes til about 4:30. I got home after five and thanks to my wonderful husband and wonderful mother n law dinner was made and the kids were fed. Sunday we got up and got ready for Carver's birthday! Ollie ran and got the cake and we got ready for the party. We had a great pirate party with friends and then we had some quiet time.

That evening I sat down and filled out my weekly plan sheet. At my conference they talked about time importance of time management! The weekly plan sheet helps me oraganize my time and make sure I get everthing in. It also helps me figure out where I have time to work or spend time with my family.i color code it to help me see where my time is and what I am doing.

Today I got up at 6:30 like I was supposed to(as it said on weekly plan sheet) and then bathed the boys before coming down and reading my bible. I had put apple crips in the crockpot the night before and got the boys clothes set out so they sat down and ate while I read. I have decided to start using my crockpot to save me time on meals. Since there are so many things we could do in the crockpot that we can make lots of meals in it. After we ate and got dressed we ran to pick up Alayna and go to the store to pick out cupcakes for Carver's class. After dropping of the boys and taking Miss Lauren home we came home to get some stuff done. We came home and figured out what to make for dinner. We decide to make Cobb salad so we put some eggs on to boil and put some chicken out to thaw. After setting the table for dinner I got my Mary Kay stuff ready to work on and Sylas watched cartoons while I worked for an hour. When I was done Ollie had come home for lunch so we ate lunch with him and after I peeled and sliced all the eggs for dinner. We took a break till Ollie went back to work and then we started on the living room. We did a little cleaning and heated up some soup to take to a friend. That part of the day went great but it went down hill from there. We walked to pick up Zane and we left later than usual,things kept falling off the stroller and Sylas threw a huge fit. Once we were back I put the boys (except Carver) down for a nap and then laid down because I had a huge headache. Thankfully when I got up dinner was mostly made. I cut up some more veggies and we sat down for dinner. I am grateful for the timesavers I had today and will continue to use them and find more ways to save time so I can work my buisness and be there for my family!

Carver's birthday party!

2012-01-22T23:25:00.000-08:00

Carver's birthday is tomorrow and he is turning 8! We had his birthday party today! Judie came down on friday so she was able to attend his party! We had a pirate themed birthday party so the boys dressed up like pirates! I wish I had gotten better pictures of them dresses as pirates. We invited some friends in the neighboorhood. It was a small party because Carver wants to go to Tahoe and play in the snow one day. We are waiting to see if they get some good snow this winter instead of just man made stuff.
We had a game at the birthday party where you pin the treasure box on the map and we had a make your own pirate out of a ballon! We then opened presents and we had chili dogs! Carver got some really fun gifts from his friends and family. From Nana O he got a remote control baha runner and some really neat SWAT team leggos, from Nana and Papa he got a table tob foosba game, from Ollie and I he got castle blocks, a mater laptop and a pair of hand cuffs and from our friends he got a rocket that you launch with your foot!

For desert we had a pirate theme cake and we had chocolate chip ice cream! It was good! The rest of the party we played with toys and ballons. It was a fun day!

My day so far!

2012-01-19T12:32:00.000-08:00

Well it is only noon and I have gotten a lot done and still have lots to do. I got the boys bathed,dressed,fed, and walked to school. I also got the dishwasher uloaded and reloaded ( and washed) twice plus a load of laundry started. The kitchen has been sweept and the counters cleaned. Since life has been so crazy I only had time to have some coffee, a mini muffin and some string cheese. I was getting really hungry so I decided to make a meal I like to make when I am short on time or just feeling lazy. I love spinach and feta or gornozola omlets so I found a easier way to make it. I have this oval dish that I am not sure what it is for exactly but it works great for microwave omelets.

I have this oval dish that I am not sure what it is for exactly but it works great for microwave omelets.

I crack two eggs in the dish and add a little milk.. Then I beat the eggs and milk til fuff

I put it in the microwave for one minute thiry seconds and while that is cooking I put some spinach in some grapseed oil in a pot.

Make sure you make more than you think because it really reduces down. When the eggs are done I top it with a little feta or gorgonzola. Gorgonzola cheee is very stong so only use a small amount. Then top with spinach and sprinkle with adobe seasoning and put back in the microwave for 20 seconds. This melts the cheese just a little and makes sure the eggs are firm enough. If you like a runnier omelet don't put the omlet back in the microwave. Also eggs can get rubbery if they are cooked too long in the microwave and all microwaves are diffrent so you make have to do some trial and error. This is a really good meal. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I had better get back to work now before it's time to pick up the boys!

Meet our new babies!

2012-01-17T21:00:00.000-08:00

I know you have seen the pictures of our new guinea pigs but we haven't really intoduced them. This little red guy is Hamelet. He is Zane's new guinea pig. Zane names him something different about every other day. He is very curious and likes to nible. He also really likes Ms chubs. He will get nose to nose with her and sniff her. She is still no sure what is going on with them. She is not sure whether they are staying or leaving and if she likes them.

Carver's guniea pig is named Jimmy Dean and his hair is longer than Hamelets. He is shy and likes to sit on you and snuggle. He is scared of Ms chubs and won't eat out of your hand but he is really cute and getting braver every day. The boys love to play with the guinea pigs and build leggo fortresses for them. they also like to make tunnels for them to crawl through. They love to feed them too. The guinea pigs eat spinach and love to eat green peppers. They also like carrots and oranges. Guinea pigs need lots of vitamin C and eat a lot. We feed them all the time! They also need lots of water. I also clean out their cage every couple days or so because with two of them in the cage it gets messy. Thankfully it is really fast and the boys help most of the time.
It's really funny because they have little personalities. Jimmy is the bossy one. He pushes Hamelet around and won't let him inside the house. Hamelet loves to mess with Jimmy so he decided to get settle in on top of the house. He love to sleep on the house. It drives Jimmy dean nuts so he tires to get up there too. They fight but they cry when the are apart. Kinda like real brothers.

overwhelmed

2012-01-16T23:45:00.000-08:00

I am feeling stressed right now and a little overwhelemed. We have so much going on and I have so much to do right now. The house really stresses me out because I feel like no matter how hard I try I just can't get it all done. There is just so much stuff and people and not enough places to put things. I know we need to go through things and get rid of some things but we have been really busy. I am also really stressed out with the things that are going on with Carver and his school. We had an IEP meeting the other day and I thought it went really well but after we got home I got an E-mail from his special ed teacher that frustrated me. I am not happy with the end result now. I get so tired of fighting them and trying to figure out what is best for Carver. On top of all that I am trying to figure out my buisness and I have started a new job(sorta). I am helping my friends by picking up her kids and being on call when they are home by themselves. They are older so I won't be baby sitting for her just there so if they need anything and to make sure they get home okay. I think it will go fine since her kids are really good and I don't usually have anything going on after school except home stuff. It really helps her out and will help us out a little too. There is something else stressing me out too but I am not going to share right now. Oh and the fact that we don't know if we will be here or leave this summer doesn't help either. I get so tired of moving. I hate moving! I am so tired of having people go through our stuff and throw it in boxes like it is just junk. Then we move it and don't know what is what so we have to open most every box to find out what is in it. I feel like just not unpacking anything but that is not fair to the kids and some things we need. Plus some days I don't want to meet new people or connect with anyone because then I don't have anyone to say good bye to. I hate saying good bye and I hate being the new person trying to make friends again that I am going to just have to leave again.
No one undstands why I have such a hard time packing for a small trip to oregon or why I can't keep track of things. Everthing changes all the time! Nothing is ever the same! This is why I bring so much stuff all the time because I never know what is going to happen. Yes I know we have so much stuff but I have a hard time figureing out what we need and what is what! I am sorry we bring so much stuff and we impose on everyone's space but we have never really had our own space for more than a year and a half at a time!I am so tired of hearing everyone opinion of how we do things and what they don't like about us. This is what we get to deal with all the time! How would you like to leave friends all over the country and never stay in one spot for very long.I know other people do it all the time and do fine. I am not sure why i don't handle it as well as they do. I try to handle it well. I try and be flexible but there is only so many ways that I can bend before I break.It puts a lot of strain on our realtionship and people don't seem to understand that.

This week!

2012-01-16T13:20:00.000-08:00

This week is dedicated to cleaning and organizing the house. We haven't had time to get things all put away since we came how from Oregon. We had so much going on this last week that things didn't get done like they should and I didn't feel great the begining of last week. I think we are getting back into the swing of things. We will also have house guests this coming weekend so I would like the house to be put together by then. This house we live in is about half the size of our last house and we have a lot of stuff. We need to keep this place organized and clutter free just to have enough room to move in here. We get tired of triping over each other here but we are stuck til summer at least.
Carver turns eight on monday so Judie and Phylis are coming down on friday night. We are excited that they are coming down. We haven't seen our family this much in years. I would love to have things clean and put together before they come. I will see them on friday night but I will be gone on Saturday most of the day so I want to have things nice for them. I know Ollie and they boys will have a great time with them. I am bummed that I won't be here but I have jamboree that day so that will be fun. We wilk have a small party on Sunday before Judie and Phylis have to go back to Oregon.We invited a few friends and we are going to have a pirate theme. The menu will be chili dogs and chips before cake and ice cream. We also will make pirates out of ballons and pin the x on the pirate map. It shoudl be a good time for everyone.
We plan on going to Tahoe to play in the snow for Carver's birthday but we want to wait and see if they get anymore snow before we go. It is a long drive and we don't want to go for nothing. Sylas has never seen snow and it has been two years since we have been to the snow. It will have to be an over night trip because it is so far away. I was hoping to see now when we were in oregon but it didn't come til after we left so now we have to go find snow.
I got to sleep in and then I made my feta and spinach omlete( in the microwave) so I guess I had better get busy before we have to take all three boys to the dentist for cleanings. I am so glad Ollie has the day off because I don't think I could handle this on my own. I am hoping this goes well and no on freaks out.

Friday,Saturday and Sunday

2012-01-15T20:48:00.000-08:00

Friday the boys didn't have school so we stayed home and worked on organizing and cleaning. We didn't get as far as I would like but we made a dent so that was nice. I also got some of my new pictures hung up on the walls. Jennifer took some great pictures and I am so thankful papa printed some out for me. When Ollie came home I ran down to the store and got some dinner and munchies. I was invited to play Bunko for the first time and I was very excited. I feed the boys and made some black bean salad to take along with the grasshopper cake I bought at Safeway. My friend Clarissa came and picked me up and we went to play. We had a great time and there was a lot of great food there too! I was happy that there was food because I didn't get to eat at home. It was my first time playing bunko but I did pretty well! It was a nice group of people and I am hoping to get to go again. Bunko is a dice game and is fast moving but lots of fun! We started about seven thirty and didn't get out of there until 10:30. When I got home I cleaned the guinea pigs cage and got ready for training. I didn't get to bed til almost one so it was a long day!
Saturday I got up and made the breakfast for the boys before leaving to go to my training. It was a really good training. After my training I came home and made lunch and then we went shopping. We stopped at the Dollar Tree first to get some stuff for Carver's eight birthday party, then we went to walmart and got some more party stuff and a little bit of food. Then it was on to FoodMaxx for the big food shopping. We didn't get out of there til after six and then it was an hour drive home so we stopped at Carls Jr to get some food. I got the steakhouse burger which was awsome! We got home late and put away the groceries before putting the boys to bed.
Sunday we got up and didn't make it to church but they boys and I watched a cartoon called Prince of Peace( a story about Jesus's birth) and The Little Sheperd( also about Jesus's birth). They were really cute and I think the boys liked them. I love netfilx because they have so much stuff on there. After breakfast I went upstairs to work on Carver's old room that all of the stuff we hadn't unpacked from our trip thrown in there and it was a mess. I worked on organizing it off and on all day but didn't quite finish. I keep my clothes in that closet since our closets are tiny.I hung up all the clothes and organized the toys in that room. It is an office/playroom so I want to organized it so we can all fit in there nicely. While dinner was cooking I sent Ollie and the kids upstairs to watch tv while I started my first day of "Get ripped in 90 days". Today I did the Ultimate ball workout instead of arms and chest because I couldn't find my weights. It was really hard and I think I will feel my abs tomorrow! I am excited to do it and I am hoping to do well with it! Hopefully in 90 days no one will ask me when my baby is due! I hope to be looking better!

2012-01-10T19:58:00.000-08:00

We got up this morning on time and got ready and made it to school on time. We almost didn't make it on time for Carver since I needed a shower before MOPS and cook some food to take with us. We made it to school and got Carver to class before Zane remembered he needed a toy for class today. They filled up their cube jar and their reward was to bring a toy to school. We looked in the car but there was only a blaster gun so I ran home and got a toy for him. Then Sylas and I wen to the store before we ran to MOPS. Sylas went in his classroom really well which hasn't been normal. He has been crying the last couple times I dropped him off. I took my goodies up stairs and got a plate of food. The speaker wes really ans she had some great ideas on nutrion and getting kids to eat healthy. It was a great motivaton to get us all eating healthier. We had a nice talk afterward with my table group. They are really sweet ladies and it is so nice to have people that understand and are in the same place in life ( kids wise). I was headed to pick up sylas and go home when a mentor mom came up to me and asked me when my baby was due. I just looked at her and then she realized that I wasn't pregnant. She apologized and asked me how old my kids were. I left as nicely as possible and went to pick up sylas feeling very bad about myself. My baby is two and apparently I look pregnant. I will definatly will be enforcing the healthier eating program and start working out. I am alittle frustrated because I am taking two diffrent medications that cause me to gain weight and my doctor says it is just a side effect and I need to work out and deal with it. Not helpful. I think I may get a doctor who actually listens to me and understands how I feel. One that actually listens to my answer before asking me another question. So that was my wonderful day.

Our trip home

2012-01-07T22:34:00.000-08:00

On friday morning we packed up our stuff ( which took forever) , had luch with my parents and left about 2 to go home. Since the DVD play was not working we went to walmart to get a new one and I bought some munchies for the trip and dinner. We didn't get out of the grants pass til about three but we finally got on the road with a full car, car topper, five people, two guinea pigs and an English bulldog. We made a few stops for potty breaks, cleaning out the guinea pigs box and to fill up tank. The boys did really good most of time even when the DVD player would stop working and I had to climb back there and fix it. We were all packed in there very tight and we didn't get home until about 10pm. We put the boys to bed and got the guinea pigs in there cage before going to bed. This morning we got up and I went to my training. When I came home we had lunch and played with the guinea pigs. After we cleaned a little and did a little bit of unpacking we had quiet time.

We made dinner after everyone got up and we made a leggo fortress for our guinea pigs. They weren't to sure but the boys loved it! Ollie and I had a good time making it too! We cleaned out the cage and got them some food before it was time for bed and then put the little ones to bed. It is nice to be home but we miss everyone is Oregon. We had a really good time and are really glad we went. It was great to see everyone.

Let me tell you a little something

2012-01-01T22:10:00.000-08:00

Okay so I have finally decided that this is my blog and if I want to say something I am going to say it whether people like it or not. I don't think people understand or choose to understand what other people are going through. Maybe I am the same way but I see it a lot lately. It is very hard to travel with three little kids even seven hours and bring all of their stuff two stay for two weeks. It is not fun to try and figure out what we all need and get it all washed, packed and in the car and then pack the kids up and keep them entertained for seven hours. It is especially hard when we have lived in Florida for the last two years and don't know what to bring and how much we will freeze. I over packed and I am trying to keep our stuff contained and all in one place but we have a lot of stuff. There are five of us and I am trying really hard to make sure everyone is warm and happy. It is not easy to find everything in suit cases or bags and then pack it all back up when we move from one house to another visiting everyone even though we drove the seven hours to get here. It is not easy spreading our time out between everyone we want to see and not hurting any ones feelings and it isn't easy driving everywhere to see everyone. We have probably done enough driving the last week seeing everyone to go to our house and back a few times. Every time we want to go see someone else we have to load up our car and our stuff and our kids again. We have left stuff everywhere because we are trying to get places in such a hurry and spend as much time as we can with everyone that we forget things. The kids don't always get the naps they need or the understanding they need. This is hard on them and they don't always remember the rules everywhere we go. They are still little and they forget the rules or they get frustrated not being where they want to be. They don't always remember what they are allowed to play with and what they aren't. They don't always understand whey we have to get back in the car or why we are racing from on place to another. They get tired and cranky easily.We try very hard to make sure our kids obey everyone and respect every one's stuff but they are small and need to be reminded what is okay and what is not. And just because you may not agree with what we do or how we do it doesn't mean you should tell us how to do it. We are trying the best we can and we think we are doing just fine. We put up with a lot in the line of work Ollie is in and we try the best we can with what we have. I am sorry if we don't do things the way you want us too! We average a move every year and a half. We go without our stuff a lot and lots of our stuff gets broken in our moves. We never have a set home to call home. We may not pay rent right now physically but it gets taken out of our check and so does the electricity and the other stuff. We do pay it but we don't see it. We get told where to live and when we can have time off. We are told when to move and have people come in our house and pack up our stuff ( breaking a lot) and then they dump it in our next place and leave us to sort it out. My husband is paid less than 3 dollars and hour since he is paid for 24 hours and he can be made to work all of those 24 hrs. He is told how to dress, wear his hair and what he is allowed to say and do. We are told what doctors to use and have very little eye or dental coverage. I know we signed up for this but just remember when you are looking at our life and decided what we should or shouldn't be doing,what you like and don't like about it, we put up with a lot to serve our country. Don't judge us for what we do.We are doing the best we can and trying very very hard to make it work.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T19:32:00.000-08:00

We left around 2pm on friday on our trip to Oregon. The roads were nice and clear, everything went well on your trip. We got up to my parents house about 8:30pm and we were so glad to get there and out of the car! Saturday we got up and had a nice breakfast with my parents and got ready to go out to Judie's house for Christmas eve. We had a nice time playing cards and hanging out at Judie's house. A few friends came over and Ollie's sister,brother n law and the cousins came over. Our boys love to play with their cousins even though they are older. Heidi and Joe's boys are so good with our boys. I gave a few facials and a few of us went to candle light service at wolf creek church. Then it was back here to open our Christmas Jammies and we put the boys to bed. Then we put out all the presents. Ollie and I held their guinea pigs for a while. We almost lost the orange one in the couch but ened up getting him out without hurting him.
The next morning we all got up and read the Christmas Story and then started opening presents. The boys got some really fun gifts and love their guinea pigs. We named the orange one Hamlet and the black one Jimmy Dean. They are really sweet but don't like to be in close quarters. The boys played with their toys and we got dressed while we waited for everyone to show up for Christmas lunch. Around three we left Judies house( which was packed with family and friends) and left for Aunt Ruth's house. It was nice to see some family and friends we hadn't seen in a really long time.
We got to Aunt Ruth's houe and had desert and opened presents! We had a nice visit and then went to my parents house to have Christmas with them. Papa told the Christmas story and then we opened presents. We all had a nice time opening presents and got some fun stuff. They boys got pj's from nana and a blanket and pillow set so we put our pj's on and laid down to watch Horton hears a who that Auntie Sarah gave them. Syas fell asleep really early and after the movie we put everyone to bed. The next morning we had our traditional Christmas breakfast of waffles, ice cream and strawberries. After breakfast we made pumpkin rolls and cut out gingerbread cookies and cleaned up the boys to get ready for Christmas at Grandpa and Grandma Michelle. Sylas fell asleep in the car and so did I (I had a really bad headache) on the way to Medford but I work up in a nice mood than he did.

We had munches and let the boys play at Keith and Michelle's house. It was nice to visit and the boys love the new trampoline they got. They also had a great time playing with everyone. After a while we opened presents and then went over to Kay's house ( big Keith's sister) for chili dogs and desert. There was a lot of family there that we hadn't seen in long time and some I had never met. We had a great time but didn't stay too long because it was getting late. We had a long drive back to my parents and the boys were tired. Tuesday we got up and had breakfast with my parents before heading out to Judie's house to hang out with her. It is Judies week off so we will spend a lot of time with her this week. She wasn't feeling good on Tuesday so we just had a lazy day at her house. It was nice after all the running around.Wednesday we waited around wolf creek to see if I had a Mary Kay party or not and then ran to Medford to the mall to pick up Judie's glasses. We picked up my mom on the way to Medford. She wanted out of the house and has not done much driving lately because of her surgery. My Mom and I went to Bed Bath and Beyond while Judie and Ollie went to get her glasses. We stopped at a few more stores and then headed back to Grants pass to hit walmart. After getting our needs and few wants we went to my parents house and had a nice roast beef dinner! It was so very yummy and we all ate too much. We then headed back to Judie's house to retire for the night. Today we are hanging out after a nice breakfast and we leave here in a little bit to go town and then to Mom's house to get ready for the Mary Kay New year New you party!

The final Push

2011-12-22T14:35:00.000-08:00

Today is the final push to get us ready for our trip to Oregon! We have gotten all of the gifts bought and most wrapped. The kitchen is clean and so it the bathroom thankfully but we have all the clean clothes folded in the living room trying to get everthing packed. We are still washing clothes and getting things cleaned up but we are excited to leave tomorrow! Ollie is hopefully going to be home from work tomorrow at 11 so we can leave when he is home if we are ready. He is home today and we are trying to get things packed and ready so we can leave as soon as he gets home tomorrow.
The boys have been exiled to the upstairs so they don't knock over the piles of clean clothes plus they had been watching to much tv so we sent them to play with their toys.
We are so excited about going to Oregon and the weather is supposed to be clear tomorrow as we drive over the moutians. I am hoping that the snow comes at christmas or after. The boys want to see snow so badly and so do I! We can't wait to see you all!

2011-12-09T07:35:00.001-08:00

The last couple weeks!
The last couple weeks have been really crazy! Last week Zane got the stomach flu. It lasted about two days and he was better. No one got it until monday so I though we were in the clear! Sylas started throwing up sunday night and was sick til tuesday! Wednesday Carver got it and he stayed home wednesday and thrusday. He is going to school and I am hoping that everyone stays well til after we get home from Christmas in oregon. We have a pretty full weekend too so were going to have to rest when we can. I am working on cleaning and disenfecting the house today. Since both sinks in the kitchen were clogged I am behind on dishes and I need to put all the laundry away. I also have to go through and make sure we have warm clothes for everyone for when we got to Oregon. I am excited to go but afraid we will freeze. We haven't fully climatized yet from florida. I know that sound silly but it has been warm here. Tonight we have Ollie's Christmas party and tomorrow I have new consultant training. I don't have to go to the the new consultant training but I really want to complete the trainings because they I will be certified. Also this one is on money management and I could use some help with that. I am hoping to get this buisness really going well1 Sunday all we have is church which is nice because we have not put up the big Christmas tree up yet and haven't done much decorating. It doesn't feel much like hHristmas in our house! I love this season! I really do and love almost everthing that goes with it!
Another thing that has changed is that we moved Carver into the other boys room. He always wanted to sleep in there anyway and he said he wanted to be there so we will try it for a little while. I want to move around the furniture because we just moved his bed in but I don't like where it is and nothing got moved out. I want to make Carver's old room an office/ playroom.We need to move most of the toys in there so there is more room for the boys to move in the other room.I use that closet for my clothes also it works better for me not to have Carver sleeping in there. If we do stay here for four years we will probably move Carver back in there and move things around again but for now they are happy. Well I guess I had better get to work!

2011-12-08T07:15:00.001-08:00

Sylas
Sylas is two and a half now and a very sweet boy. He loves to copy anything you say,so we try and watch what we say around him. He has a very big vocabulary and speaks in full sentences. Yesterday when he was falling out of a chair ( slowly failling) he told me" a little help here". He will also put his head in his hands and say " I have a headache". Sylas right now is obseesed with a couple of cartoons called : Bob the builder, Dino squad, and superwhy. He tells me he is name is Sylas superwhy! He is always saying" superwhy to the rescue" and "Go dino". I hear those so many times a day. They are cute shows and Dino squad always has a good moral to it!
Sylas loves to sing. He sings everywhere we go and sings the songs pretty well! He likes to sing his ABC's, Jesus loves me and the Bob the builder song. He also likes to make up his own songs. This morning he was sing at me to come down stairs. I think it went like this" mommy mommy come down stairs, mommy mommy come down stairs, please please please!" it was so cute! He is a little demanding at times but we are working on that.
Sylas also loves Elmo! He has a few diffrent Elmo's. One of his Elmo's is the Potty Elmo that comes with a potty chair and a sippy cup. We bought it to encouage him to use his potty. He also has the Elmo potty video. He has peed and pooped in the potty a few times but are not there yet. He still likes to teach baby Elmo to go potty though. I think he may like his pull ups too much. They have Diego on them ( another of his favorite showes) and he loves to pick out the Diego pull-up he is going to wear. I need to buy him some Diego underwear and really work on the potty training with him but it has been really busy.
Sylas likes to be funny and Joke around. He loves to tickel people also. He likes to tell me his buns are sticking out even when they aren't and try and scare you. He loves to wressel with his brothers and daddy. He has so many funny sayings. I will have to compile them and write them all out.

2011-12-07T19:24:00.001-08:00

My Christmas List!
I am sure I wrote Christmas lists for my parents that told all the fun toys I wanted.I haven't written a Christmas list for my in such a long time but I will give it a try tonight even though most won't happen. The thing I want most for Christmas is for All my family to be together for Christmas. My family, my parents, my sister, my brother and their families all at my parents house. It has been a long time since we have all been together for christmas. Zane was just an infant then.I want us all to come up a few days before Christmas so we can all go to cut down a Christmas tree, see all the Christmas lights, take our trip to the mall to get our gifts, go to the snow and go to candle light service. I want to get up and all of us read the Christmas Story and then watch everyone open their presents from youngest to oldest. We would make a big Christmas dinner and then play games and do puzzles or watch movies the rest of the day while snacking on the leftovers. I know this won't happen because everyone is short on money this year and we are all so far away. I know we will all have good Christmas's even though we will not all be together. I miss the time we all got to spend together and didn't treasure it like I should have.
The next thing I want that may or may not come true is for Ollie to make Chief. We still don't know if he will make Chief this time or not. It would make things a little easier for us with a pay raise even though we may have to move again. It would also be good for Ollie because it would mean job promotion and more respect for him. He deserves more respect from the people around him. He is a great worker and has worked hard to move up and do the right things in his job.
I would also like to sell our house. We are paying for our beautiful house we don't live in and we are living in housing that is tiny and falling apart. We would love to sell it and get a good price for it. I don't see us going back to florida for any reason except to visit.It would be nice to have a house closer to where we are and possible live in it.
Another thing I would like for Christmas is that my Mary Kay buisness take off. It is not doing bad but not as well as I would like. I am really enjoying most of it. I like the weekly meetings and the trainings but I do have a hard time when I get rejections or no one coming to my coffees. I try not to take it to heart. I know people are busy and they are short on money especially right now. I have decided to let it make me stronger. Some of the girls at the trainings have read a book about the power of no and they are useing it to make their buisness better by trying to get a certain amount of no's a day. I am learning a lot from this and I think whether my buisness goes or doesn't it will be a good experinece for me.
Well this is what I want for Christmas or at least some of what I want.

Christmas!

2011-12-04T23:15:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that it is almost Christmas! It is so hard to believe that last year this time we were in florida and it was so hot. We had a good christmas but it was a little lonely without family. I am looking forward to going up to Oregon this year as long as Ollie's leave gets approved. I am hoping we can see some snow since sylas has not see and the rest us haven't seen it for a long time. We have started a little bit with Christmas stuff. I have the boys mostly bought for and I bought for my side of the family nephew and neices but still have to get the other side. I need to figure out what to buy teenage boys. maybe just money this year. Not sure what I will do when I have teenage boys. They are good boys though. We got a few lights up outside and a blow up pengin but I would like to get the manger scene up and the other things up. We put up the charlie brown tree and I have a cute little christmas tree on the table that is planted but I want to get the fake tree out of the garage and put it up hopefully tomorrow. I bought a new train to go around it since Ollie's doesn't work anymore. We are also doing a advent calander that mom made us and reading the christmas story. There are always so many things I want to do but we never get them all done. I try and encorperate new traditions in every year. What are your traditions you love?

mary kay november

2011-12-04T23:14:00.000-08:00

In october I signed up to be a Mary Kay Consultant. I am really enjoying the trainings and our weekly meetings. They are so motivational and they give me some girl time. I am meeting new people that I probably wouldn't have talked to otherwise.Last month I had a few goals I wanted to meet. The first one was my pearls of sharing goal. I had to share with three people to get my earrings, three more to get my bracelet and three more to get my necklace. It wasn't about getting the jewlery( that was the perk) but about learning how to share the buisness people that really are thinking about signing up. My family and friends were great at helping me out.I did six calls with my director. It was helpful to hear about the buisness and all the perks again. No one was bullied or pushed into signing up or buying anything it was just informational for them and for me. The next goal was to get 10 faces,3 interviews and 200 dollars wholesales. Thanks to some wonderful clients and family memebers I made that goal by the skin of my teeth so I plan to work harder this month to get more clients and reach my goal with more time to spare.I was literally down to the last 30 minutes. Thankfully I have some peole who love me very much. I really want to work this business well. I started it to help pay some extra bills and give me something to do that was mine. I want to use this buisness to help me reach out to women who need help. That can mean quite a few diffrent things. I want to be able to minister to women through this buisness. I feel like making women feel better about themselves and taking some time to get to know them can really help a lot of women. On of my theroies is that a lot of women in the military and moms of small children suffer from at least a slight case of the blues. Military women becuase we move around a lot and have to say good bye to people we love a lot. We don't get a choice in where we move and just kinda follow our husband around the globe. Also lots of moms with little ones don't take care of themselves like they should because they don't have the time or energy. If I can help them feel better about themselves with a facial or some girl time or a listening ear. I also am hoping that people will see Jesus through me and it will give them an opening to talk to them about it. Mary Kay has a saying: God first, family second and career third. I have been reading about Mary Kay Ash and she had some really good ideas on life. She was very motivated and driven and also had a great love for God. I don't know everthing about her but what I have read I really like. So far the only thing I don't love about the company is the dress code. We are supposed to wear skirted attire. I don't mind wearing skirts and dressing professional but sometimes it is hard to make sure I am able to get into that attire with all the stuff going on and stay clean with three the little boys. I know lots of people deal with this everyday and I am not the only one but that it is hard for me. I do feel better dressed up sometimes. Anyway I am hoping that the next month goes better goal wise and this is Gods will use it for his glory and also help it grow!

sorry it has been so long!

2011-11-27T10:04:00.000-08:00

Life has gotten a little more crazy lately. Last month I signed up to be a Mary Kay consultant. I am really enjoying it. We have a weekly meeting on tuesdays that are 45 minutes and very encouraging. My director is great and very helpful. They ladies in my unit are very nice and helpful too. They work on building self esteem and self confidence. It has been really good for me. we also have trainings on saturdays sometimes. They are fun also and very helpful. I never thought I would sell Mary Kay but I love their products and when I met my friend Haven I knew if I could suceed at this under anyone it would be her. I wanted something for me and something that would help out with the family budget. I am making new friends and haven't been doing too bad for only doing this for six weeks. I am praying that through this I can make friends and reach people for Jesus. I love to host things so I have have a few coffees at my house where people can try the products, have some coffee and have so social time. I hope that I can make them feel better about themselves and that they can see Jesus through me.
We were off of school for a week becuase of Thanksgiving and we had some company. My mom came down on the friday before Thanksgiving with Judie, Heidi, Joe and all their boys. It was a crowded trip for them but great to see them. Our house is kinda small but we found a place for everyone and had fun while they were here. Saturday we hung out here until about three and then everyone loaded up( in two vehicles this time) and went down to sacramento for a 70's birthday party for Shawna. We had a great time and everyone dressed up. Since the party didn't start til seven and got over a lot later we stayed the night at Rosie's house. It was funny to see every floor and bed taken up by people but we were all comfortable and thankful for the lodging. Sunday morning we said good bye to Judie, Heidi, Joe and the boys. Mom planned on staying the week. We ran to the Roseville action to look around for a while and then home to rest. The next week we cleaned and organized and had a great time with Nana. Papa suprised us on tuesday night instead of wednesday night since the weather was supposed to get bad the next day. We were happy to see him. The boys had a nice suprise when they woke up the next morning. Wednesday Mom and I ran around and finsihed our errands before Thanksgiving while papa and the boys played at home. We picked up a small turkey and a ham to cook for the next day and the rest of the fixings we needed.
Thanksgiving was great! We had pumpkin pancakes for breakfast with pumpkin syrup. The rest of the day was pretty lazy except for the food making and laundry. Mom finished all my laundry before she left and I am so thankful! Now I need to go through it all and put what we want to keep away. We have way to much clothes. Anyway the turkey was a little underdone and our ham didn't come with glaze but it was good and we glazed the ham with the left over pumpkin syrup. The dinner was great and we had banana cream pie and pumpkin pie with Ice cream for desert. We watched movies and played games. Friday we hung out at home til about lunch time and then Ollie and I went out for lunch and then to the bookstore without the kids. It was nice to have some time alone. The kids had a great time with nana and papa. Ollie and I went to Best buy to get a lap top but they were out of the one we wanted. We got pumpkin shakes and headed home.
My parents left very early saturday morning and we went back to bed. We will see them again and christmas and we can't wait. The rest of the day was spent just hanging out. We went to our friends house for movie night and had popcorn and hot chocolate! It was a fun time. Today we got pick up the lap top we bought online and get a few things done before the school and work week starts again.

tea party

2011-10-12T12:07:00.000-07:00

Invite personalized with Smilebox

crazy daze

2011-10-05T21:52:00.000-07:00

The last couple days have been full of things going on. Sunday the boys and I went to church since Ollie had to work. We had a good time and then went to costco for hotdogs. After some shopping we came home and took naps before cleaning the kitchen. Monday I had a really hard time getting up since I didn't sleep good and neither did sylas. I finally got my self together and got my kitchen cleaned up and the bathroom cleaned too. The boys had a good day and school and Ollie got to come home for two days off. Tuesday after taking the boys to school Ollie and sylas went with me to the doctors. They changed my medicine and did some tests so we shall see what happends now. After the docotrs we went to the human society and looked the animals. We want to get the boys guiney pigs for christmas and we were told that was a good and cheap place to get them. They had a couple pairs of them. We want two because they are social animals and we have two boys that are old enough for them. After stoping at the store to pick up my prescriptions we came for lunch and then I went to Carver's school for a training. After that I picked up Zane and he played on the playground for about an hour til carver got ready for school. We came home for quiet time and then I made dinner before going to a Mary kay meeting. It was fun getting my makeup done and I love their products.
When I got home last night I realized my garage was flooding so I truged through the water to put sand bags in front of it.
Today we dealt with the garage a little bit. We moved everything back and unloaded boxes that were wet. thankfully only one was wet. Hopefully it will dry out this weekend so we can get the pallets in there and put stuff on top of them. There was a family of salamanders living in the sand bag pile so sylas and I had fun playing with them today. He also had a great time playing in the water with Ollie. We were wet and cold after that though.Close to time to pick up the kids we went out side again and jumped my car since someone left the van door open. Then we drove around til it was time to pick the kids up from school. Tomorrow will be a sick day for us since we are having some tummy issues. I am kinda glad in one sense becuase I could use a day at home but not happy the boys are not feeling well. I am hoping to get lots done tomorrow but have it a relaxing day also. Sylas had Hand foot and mouth disease the last couple days. He got it at church on sunday so we weren't planning on going to bible study anyway. I am sad to miss it though.

Monday

2011-10-04T09:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we not a great day but at least it was productive. We hadn't been sleeping well so we had a hard time getting up. SYlas has been up a couple times a night and I am not sure why. I think he is having nightmares because he will fuss and then got back to sleep after I calm him a little. We made it to school and then sylas and I came home and watched some tv( he watched I snoozed). After a while I got my self together and started on the kitchen. I rearranged the can goods and other pantry items so they would fit better and put some shelves in my cabinets so things would fit better. My kitchen is not small but doesn't have much counter space or cabinets. We then picked up our friends and ran to the dollar store before getting Zane. We went back to our friends house to help her rearrange her furniture and then back to the school to get Carver. We usually walk to school but it was raining so we drove. I picked up a kitchen shelf from a friend and we went home. After a cartoon I put the boys up stairs to read and take naps while I finished the kitchen.

I also hung up some curtians that match my decor. After a quick dinner I put the boys in a bath and cleaned up the bathroom. Sylas had really hard time going to bed last night.I tried really hard to go to bed early but I can't seem to sleep well. I do feel better that the kitchen and bathroom are clean but I have so much more to do on the rest of the house.

Locked out!

2011-09-27T19:54:00.000-07:00

Tonight I went outside to turn the sprinklers on the grass because it was gettting kind of brown. I got a new sprinkler that is a butterfly and when the water is turned on it looks like the wings are flaping. It's really neat so I called the whole family out to look at it and that is when it happened. Carver shut the door. Now the thing about shutting the front door is that you need to make sure you have the key or hit the button becuase it atuomatically locks. We checked the other doors and finally I decided to walk down to see if our neighboors that just moved own the hill still had to the keys to their old house. I could walk through their old bedroom onto the balcony and into our bedroom ( allittle scary). THankfully they still did and we were able to get into the house. I am very thankful they had their keys or I don't know what I would have done. I have an extra key that I am going to hide outside so if it happends again we won't be out of luck. I may give our neighoors that live down the hill a key also. Just to be sure we don't get stuck again.

birthdays!

2011-09-26T09:19:00.001-07:00

Free digital scrapbooking design personalized with Smilebox

The last couple of days

2011-09-25T08:27:00.000-07:00

The last couple of days have been pretty busy. I am hoping things will settle down soon. Last week I started the HCG diet and it hasn't been going as well as I had expected. I ended up cheating 5 days in but lost weight anyway and then the next day I realized I wouldn't have enough drops becuase the drops I though I ordered didn't get ordered so I stopped for a day. I decided to check GNC but the drops they have don't work well. I ordered some that will hopefully get here by tuesday( paid extra) so I have started up again. I have lost about 8 pounds in a little over a week( counting the weight I gained on the first 3 days)and am hoping to lose quite a bit more. I hate this diet but it works and I need to lose more weight.
Thursday I finally made it to my bible study. I missed the first two weeks because of my scratched cornea and Ollie's surgery. It is a really good study and I enjoyed meeting some new people. Friday we had a sick day since Zane had been up all night coughing. We woke up late since no one slept well so we all stayed home. It was a nice day because we were able to rest when we needed too and get things done when we needed to. We watched some tv and dozed on the couch for a while. I also was able to get the kitchen cleaned back up and get some other things done.
Saturday I slept in and then we decided to check GNC for the HCG drops. Since they weren't the ones we wanted it didn't take long so we decided to check out the pet store amd the party store.
At the pet store we help some guiney pigs and asked some questions about their care. We are thinking about getting two for christmas for the boys since they cannot get turtles here. They have wanted a pet for a long time and we think they are ready for one. They have miss chubs but they would love another pet. I would also love to have a guiney pig( i never had one) and I think it would help to teach them some responsibity. We are getting two for two reasons: one because they are very social animals and can get lonely really easy and two, we have two boys who want one so there will be less fighting. We are exceited about the possiblity of getting a new pet.
At the party store we looked at the Halloween costumes and tried to decide what to be. THe boys know that they are not allowed to be anything scary. Sylas wants to be Elmo but unless we find a cheaper costume he will have to be something else. Carver wants to be the guy from prince of persua and I think Zane want to be snake eyes from G I Joes. THey change their minds a lot so we will see.
Today we would really like to go to chuch but since Zane is coughing a lot I don't think we will be able to go. I though about keeping him with us but he has coughing fits that might be too loud. I need to mow the lawn today ( ollie's wrist is stil healing) and there is a hair cuting and tea party that I may go to today also. I really need to get some organizing done today also. I have a goal of getting thign totally organized and clean before christmas. I had better get busy then.

summer

2011-09-24T21:10:00.000-07:00

This free digital scrapbook created with Smilebox

zanes 5 birthday!

2011-09-24T16:13:00.001-07:00

A free newsletter by Smilebox

Headaches and House work

2011-09-19T23:04:00.000-07:00

Today was supposed to be day one( or day 4) of my new eating plan but I got up with a horrible headach and felt awful so by the evening I decided I would wait and start tomorrow. I took the boys to school and then came home and laid down on the couch for quite a while (off and on because I had to get sylas snacks and drinks) and because I had a horrible headache. Ollie had take his medication for pain and crashed out in his chair( it knocks him out) so sylas watched some tv. Probably too much tv but when you don't feel good there isn't much you can do. I finally got up about noon and made some lunch and took a bath while Ollie and sylas hung out down stairs. Around 1:30 we walked to get Zane and then played at the playground til it was time to pick up Carver. Then we walked home to have snacks and quiet time. I put sylas down for a nap and I crashed out as well until about six. I felt better when I woke up so I made some dinner and we did some homework before baths and bed.
Since sylas slept so late he had a horribel time going to bed so I took him downstairs so he wouldn't keep his brothers up. After cleaning the kitchen(mostly) and starting the wash I put him back to bed and have decided it is about time for me to go to bed soon. I sit here and look around at all that needed to get done but didn't because I didn't feel good today. Tomorrow will be filled with park day, school helping and doctor appointments. Somedays I wish the cleaning fairies would come while I was out.I also wish I had family here so I could have a day of less repsonisbilities. Just a few hours without having to clean or cook or do laundry would be great. I get tired of being a maide,driver, alarm clock, cook, teacher, atm and more. I know that is what parenthood is but I would love a short break just to catch my breath. I love my kids so much!

A little about my life

2011-09-17T18:54:00.000-07:00

Ollie and I have been married almost ten years. We got married November 17th 2001. Since my husband is in the military and was in school when we got married we never had a honeymoon. He had to be back at school on Monday. We lived in short term housing in petaluma (kinda like a dorm room) for a month
Petaluma Dorm room
and then we were homeless for a while until our housing in Alameda was ready. We lived in oregon at our parents for a while and then in a hotel room in Alameda. We then moved into a three story town house. It was a cute little place and we began to make it our own. My mom came down and helped me by making curtains and pillows and organizing. About a year and a half later we moved into a on story because I was pregnant and I had hip and knee problems. My parents came down to help us move. It was only down the street so we packed up all our stuff and loaded it into our truck to make trips back and fourth. Mom and papa helped up get some stuff put away before they left. We lived there for about a year and a half before we were moved ( by the coast guard) to sacramento. We moved into a small apartment for a while so we could save to buy a house. Judie came and helped us move out of Alameda and to sacramento. We lived in the little apartment for about a year and a half. It was very crowded even though we just had carver. A lot of our stuff would not fit and some of it went into the storage unit while still more of it was in the house with us. After a while we deicded we should not buy a house and we should look for a bigger place. I was pregnant with Zane at the time. We found a cute little house on Ridge rim court in sacramento that had a yard and three bedrooms. The carpet was a lovely (not) shade of Raspberry and collected a lot of lint but I think it was my favorite house so far. It had a cute little yard and lots of windows so I could let the boys( carver and Will) play outside while I got stuff done in the house.
Red carpet house on ridge rim ct
We lived there happily for a year and a half( see a pattern here) until our landlords decided to sell the house and we had to move yet again. There was not much out there to rent but we found a place on Scotland drive. It was an okay house. Not as nice as our old one but we made do
The scotland drive house.
We stayed there for about a year or a little more before we were told we had to move to Miami florida. We had sylas and a month later the movers came and packed us up once again.We drove to florida we lots of stops along the way and found a long term motel we could stay in until our house was ready to move into. The one bedroom apartment.
It was a one bedroom apartment we stayed in for about two months until we bought a house on 192nd Terrace. . The house first house we bought!
It was a nice big house and we liked living in the house for a while but missed our family and started having problems with our neighboors. We replaced the carpet with lamenet floors and got the house ready to sell about a year and a half later because we had gotten early transfer back to calfiornia. Since we couldn't sell it we decided to rent it out and the packers came back to get our stuff. We drove across the country again and ended up in oregon for a month to visit family and find housing. We are now living in a three story town house on San Jose drive in Novato.
The house we are in now.
It is very small and again half of our stuff doesn't fit and we have no storage. My mom and Judie came down for the weekend to help us get things put away and figured out but it just wasn't long enough and there is not much place to put things. I get really frustrated because I feel like every time I get a place put together and to where I can get into a routine we move again. I don't see the point in unpacking sometimes or finding places for things but I know my kids need as normal as possible. It is truely frustrating because I am not close enough to family to get the breaks and the help I need. Also I have to rely on people I have met to watch my children which is really hard. I don't know them as well as I would like and I don't use them very often because I don't want to impose. I have a hard time getting motivated to organize the house and keep it clean because we are just going to move again and you would think I would be good at it but I am not. I feel like it has a lot to do with my depression because I make good friends and I get things the way I like them and we end up moving again. I don't feel like a lot of people understand me or what I got through and just judge me on what they see. I don't think they understand me or my kids. We got through a lot moving all the time and I get tired of comment about how things arent kept as clean as they should be or how I am not the house keeper I should be. I try my best with what I have. I take very good care of my kids and do a lot for them. I get tired of people saying that they are always sick. They arent always sick and moving from place to place exposes them to new germs and of course that will make them sick. I try so hard to get us organized and on time to school and other places but it's hard with thee little ones. Ollie is helpful but everytime he gets a new job he works a lot until he is broken in and then thing calm down a little. Every time we move the kids go through some behavior issues that we have to deal with. We also have learning issues that we are dealing with. I try my best to be as consistant and involved in school and school work as I can but there is only so much I can do. I have so much going on with the boys and I also need out too, so I joined a bible study and a MOPS group to make friends and keep my sanity. I need a break from my kids and that is the only breaks I get. We don't go out on dates or have time alone together. I know that there are a lot of people who live this kind of lifestyle and I am not saying poor me. I just want people to undestand a little bit of where I am coming from and what is going on. All I can do is try my best and don't judge me until you have spent a day in my flip flops.

Today

2011-09-16T21:45:00.000-07:00

Today started early with showers and getting the kids ready for school. After getting the kids ready for school I left the little one with Ollie while I dropped the kids off and got ready for my room parent meeting. From 8:45 to 9:30 I went to a room parent meeting for Zane's classroom and then I had to run to Zane's classroom to help until 10:25. We made H's and played Alphabet bingo. After that I ran home and got a few things to eat and got my paperwork for my IEP meeting for Carver that started at 11:00. Ollie wasn't feeling good because of his medicine so I ended up going without him and taking Sylas with me. We made it on time and ended up waiting til the meeting before us was over. They were very nice and one of the ladies in the office played with Sylas while I was trying to pay attention. It all went pretty well but I brought all the paper work home Ollie so he could look it over before we signed anything. Also I wanted to go over it again when I wasn't so distracted. After signing out Sylas and I went home and had lunch before we had to go get Zane.
We walked to get Zane(Sylas and I) from school and then played at the park until it was time for Carver to get out of school.
When we got home we went through a bag that a very nice lady gave us with some nice shoes and some clothes and toys in it.The little one needed a nap so we put him down and the boys went up to play with their new toys. After a while Carver and Zane went out side to play and I made chili boats for dinner. After starting the laundry and reloading the dishwasher I took a bath while the boys watched a movie with daddy. Then it was time for bed for them and I am downstairs writing this and cleaning up the downstairs because my floors are covered in sticky watermelon juice( the boys desert). I am hoping tomorrow doesn't start so early and isn't so busy. I am so very very tired today.

yesterday

2011-09-15T20:20:00.001-07:00

So today started early for us!We got up about 4:30 and put everyone in the car to go to the hospital in Napa. The boys were put in their seats with pillows and blankets and we were off. Sylas wakes up pretty happy in the morning so he was very talkative. He was singning with the praise music and taling happily. It was very cute. He talkes very well for a two year old. We got there a few minutes early so we sat out in the parking lot for a while. Ollie went in about 6am and I put a cartoon on for the boys in the back of the van. I made sure the doors were locked and put my seat down so I could lay back. I made the mistake of putting on Dora's dance party and since sylas was not strapped in he was trying dance along. I kept hearing " look mama I am doing the Mambo!". It was so cute but not that early. The boys did pretty good and I dozed off and on til about eight. I gave the boys some danish and bananas for breakfast. THen I got them dressed and we went into the hospital. Ollie's surgery started at 8:30 and we thought it was going to be a quick outpatient thing so I figured by 8:30 he'd be done and they would just have to discharge him. We got in and the boys were a little crazy from being locked up in the car for two hours. I tried to keep them in line but the hospital had pitty on my and turned on some cartoons for them. That helped for a while. They told me that Ollie was done but was still waking up. I then realized that this was going to be a long wait and I called the boys school and my biblstudy and told them we were not coming.We finally were able to see him about 11am and we got to get everyone loaded up in the car. He was a little loopy but feeling okay so we headed to starbuck to get some coffee and then to wendy's to get some food for everyone. One on our way back a little boy had to make a potty stop so we found a gas station. When we got closer to home we had to stop and get Ollie's medicine which took longer than we expected. Poor Ollie was starting to hurt by the time we got home so we put him in his chair and he fell asleep while the boys played with playdough. After a while I put everyone down for a nap( except me). They really needed it after the day we had.

Our Thursday! Ollies surgery

2011-09-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow will start very early for us. We have to be in Napa for Ollie's wrist surgery. He has a cist in his wrist that needs to be removed because it hurts him and keeps him from doing certain things. We have to be there at 6 which mean we have to leave here around five. I am going to put the boys in the car in their jammies and hopefully have their school stuff, breakfast and clothes in the car. Since Ollie's surgery isn't til about eight we will have to kill some time in the car(the kids and I) hopefully watching cartoons if I can get the DVD player hooked up. I am hoping to drop the kids off( a little late) on the way home and then leave Ollie home to rest while sylas and I catch the end of bible study. I missed the last one and I would love to at least see the video.
If gets less crazy after bible study since I only have to pick up the kids and head home. I am hoping everything goes well and we can get everyone where they need to be as close to on time as possible. I wish I had someone to watching the kids and getting them to school but since we are leaving so early and don't know anyone here I have to take them with me. I envy those people who live close to family and are able to have family and friends watch their children when they need a break. I would love to leave my kids with my parents or Ollie's mom for the weekend( or his sister or mine or my brother). I would love to be able to have a date night with my husband but for us military folk it just doesn't work. My dream is to start a support for military families that help with that kid of thing but am not sure how to do it. Something free or very low cost that would help with child care for date nights or appointments and the like. maybe someday. Anyway that is how our day will go.
I do want to say I am very thankful for the school that the boys are going to. They have a wednesday market that is free to all the people who go to the school and live near the school. Everthing is free and you can take the alotted amount home. Today we got two loaves of bread and some eggs plus lots of veggies and a little fruit. It is very early so I was thankful I could leave the kids in bed ( ollie was here) while I ran out at 6;30 to go get the stuff.Last week we got meet and veggies and pasta and some fruit. It has been helpful since the economy is so bad and we are paying for a house we don't live in. God has been really taking care of us. I am not enjoying it here yet but hoping I will soon. I think it will get better when Ollie's job schedule changes. Also if I can finish getting things to organize this house. THere is just not storage here. Cute place but no storage and small! Well anyway that is the life of the Olivers for the next day. Please pray fast healing for Ollie and sanity for us both.

School, MOPS and bible study

2011-09-13T16:21:00.000-07:00

So school started a litte over three weeks ago and the kids seem to really be liking it. We walk to school every morning except for every other tuesday and thursdays because tuesdays are MOPS and thursday mornings I have started a bible study.I missed the first bible study because I scratched my cornea and ended up in the ER wednesday night for three hours. I couldn't put my contact in so I couldn't see to drive and was in pain anyway. I will be there next week but a little late becuase Ollie has to have wrist surgery that morning. I will take him out to Napa and get his surgery done then come home and drop the kids at school and him at the house before going back. I should catch the video at the end. It is a Beth Moore study called Jesus the one and only. I am excited because I love beth moore studies.
MOPS started today and it was a lot of fun. There was not a big crowd but we still had a good time. I got to know some ladies and sylas had a great time in his class too. Next tuesday they are having a play date at a park with MOPS so we may go to that. I am excited about meeting some friends that are christians and can be support for me and me for them.
The boys and I also walk home most days because finding a parking spot is really hard and it is good exercise. I want to get the boys riding their bikes to school but we are still working on riding bikes with Zane and sylas. We have some friends we walk with and some we play with inbetween picking up Zane at 1:50 and carver at 2:50. Carver has had some home work the last couple weeks which has been hard for him and for me. He has a hard time focusing on getting it done even when I give him some time before we do it to play or watch some tv. We are trying to get as much done as early as we can so we aren't doing homework all night. We have an IEP meeting with the school on friday so we will talk to them about that. I am working with him on his reading and his sight words. He has to read for 20 minutes a day and Zanes homework is to read for 15 minutes a day. I have some really short easy books we are going to go through and make a chart so when they can read them on their own they get a star. I have also been working with Carver to remember to bring his homework home. We forgot it the first couple days. Both teachers( zane and carver's) have been very helpful with letting me know what the boys need help with so we can work on it at home. I really like the school they are going to. They teachers and principle seem really nice and helpful.

I am back online!

2011-09-09T12:16:00.001-07:00

Wow is seems like forever since I have written on this blog. Well we made it through the packing and the moving and most of the unpacking not to mention the trip across country. The packing of the house took three days and was not fun at all. We had to make sure we got the kids to and from school on time and make sure things that were not supposed to be packed were kept in a pile away from the packers. The last couple times we have moved they packed one day and moved the next but this time it took three days and they packe and moved all at the same time. It was more stressful in my book. The last day of packing I had to go to Carver's school to have a meeting with the IEP specialists. I was not happy that they waited til the last minute and didn't give me any notice. Ollie was not able to go and I was very preoccupied with everthing else that was happening I had a had time paying attention. They are required to give you ten days notice but they didn't.
Finally we got everything packed and we started cleaning. It took us much longer to clean that we expected. It was dirty but there was lot to get done for the new tenats. Thankfully my friend Angela took the kids overnight for us so we could really get some cleaning and peperation done. Then next day we picked the kids up about noon and said our good bys. It was very hard because Angela is a very good friends and we really enjoyed getting to know there family. We really miss all of the friends we made there.
From Angela's we headed to get food, gas and drop the truck off with a friend. They are trying to sell it for us. We headed out of florida and started toward Georgia to my friend Emily's house. We were in sacramento together. She is a great friend. Her husband joined the Army not to long ago and they were moved to Georgia to start there military career. We spent two nights at Emily's house and had a great time there but it was time to move on. We were going to drive straigh to texas but we got tired so we stopped one the way to sleep.Finally we got to Texas where stopped at my brother's house. We had a good time with them. The kids had a nice time playing with their cousins and chubs loved to play with their puppies. We also went out to my cousin Chrissy's place and rode her horses and had lunch with her. we ended up getting a flat tire and having to buy a new one. We left the third night and drove straight through to california. It was a 26 hour drive and we gained two hours on the way. We stayed near bakersfield I think and rested before our 8 hour drive to oregon. We were so glad to get to Ollie's mom's house. The trip was a very fast crazy one. Thankfully we didn't have anyone get sick this time and we didn't have many problems.
We stayed in oregon for three weeks before Ollie had to go down to California and check in at his new Job. We had a great time visiting family and friends. It was nice to just hang out and not have much to do. The boys and I stayed another week while Ollie came down to find us housing. We ended up getting the last avalible house in housing and we got our stuff a few days later so they boys and I drove down to see the new place. It is much smaller than our old place and only has one bathroom. It is a three story town house with three bedrooms and the only bathroom on the third floor. It has no yard but has lots of charater. I just wish it had more storage space. We have been working on unpacking and figuring out how to organized. We have had to buys some storage options for the bathroom and kitchen which was not in our budget but we are starting to get things looking better.
The boys started school about two weeks ago. Zane loves his teacher. He is in kindergarden and doing pretty well. I helped in his class the other day and was very impressed with his behavior and his teacher. Carver is in a second third grade split,which I was worried about but it has worked out good because half the class leaves to go to math while the other does writing and reading so. It is only about nine kids in his class when the others leave so it is considerable smaller and he can get more attention. I am very impessed with his teacher and his principle. They have been very helpful already and made a point to talk to me about ways we can help him. We have a IEP meeting for him coming up that will help him also.
Last sunday we tried a new church and really liked it. I joined a bible study that started on thursday which I missed because I ended up scratching my cornea. Mops starts on tuesday at that church also. We saw some friends we had't seen since Carver was born. They were with us in Alameda but moved about same time we did.
Well I had better get going and get Zane from school.He gets out an hour before Carver does and we have to find something to do between the two of them.

last post for a little while

2011-06-07T06:36:00.000-07:00

So I sit here with a mostly quiet house( except for the christian music blasting in the background) waiting for the packers to come and pack our house. They will pack today and tomorrow and then thursday they will load it all into a truck and take it away. I am not looking forward to this part because so many things get broken and I hate haing strangers going through my stuff. I also hate being without our stuff and a home for a couple weeks or more. I am a person who likes my things and needs them to be comfortable. I know my mattress has seen more years than I should but it's mine and it's semi comfortable. I also like to have my own space which you don't get when you are shoved into a car with three kids and a dog plus your honey and all our stuff. I am very excited about seeing family but sad about leaving my house and friends. I love this house and even though it is still ours someone else will be living in it while we will be living in coast guard housing. Yuck! I have also made some wonderful friends here and I will miss them tremendously. They have been there when I needed them. I am trying to learn how to go with the flow more. I think that is what God is trying to teach me. I am learning to let go of things and control of my life which I find really hard to do when I have three (well really four) boys I am repsonsible four. God has been really good at providing us with everthing we really need. Please pray for my family as we drive across the country. We have had a lot of disapointments and stress this move but we are still trying to keep our heads up and make it to Oregon with out having to push the car. Please pray for our sanity!

I am turning into a girl.

2011-06-04T16:06:00.000-07:00

So the other day Ollie commented that I was turning in to a girl. I know that sounds kinda weird because I am a girl but I have always been kind of a tom boy. I never liked to wear dresses or make-up and didn't have very good beauty habits but some things have changed lately. When I first got here I was suffering from post pardum depression and anxiety so I wasn't really feeling great about myself. I had also put on some weight and had three boys hanging all over me.
I met my friend Angela not too long after we move into this house and she really helped me with everything. We had a great time hanging out, going clothes shopping and organizing. I always admired how she was so put together with her hair make up and accessories.
I also met some ladies at biblestudy and MOPS that were great and supported me through thick and thin. They would always encourage me and helped me with organization and the kids as well. I noticed that they were all mostly put together too ( we all have our off days,especially when we have kids). They really helped my self esteem and attitude. I also started taking something for my anxiety and dression which really helped. Then Angela and I decided to do the Daniel fast. I really didn't want to do it but she convinced me and kept me accountable the whole time. It was great to have someone to do the fast with. I ended up losing about 20 pounds which also helped my self esteem.
Some of the ladies I got to MOPS and Biblestudy with sell Mary Kay so I decide to go to a party and try it out. I had been before but decided to have a follow up party since the ladie who did it was a friend. I had a really great party and got quite a bit of free stuff. My friends Lynda helped my pick out stuff that would be the best value for my money and I got started to use it just to see how I would like it. I really liked it and started to get some other things from Lynda as well. She was great at bring me samples and also helping me pick out the right shades. It is so much nicer to buy from friends who are not just out to make money but to really make you happy with your purchase.
I also got a few pretty dresses that I really liked and started to buy some braclets and neclaces that went with them. I felt really good in them and my skin has been lookng really pretty good since I have been washing my face twice a day and using all my products. I even started wearing eye make up.lol I like to dress up sometimes and feel pretty. I don't always dress up but I have been trying to make myself more presentable and take better care of myself. I like to take a bath everynight and use Mary Kay's satin hands on my hands and feet. I love to get pedicures but since that doesn't happen very often I have been trying to keep the last one I got looking pretty. I repainted my toes and finger nails and put decals on them to make them look nice. I know Ollie loves me the was but it makes me feel better when I take good care of myself and that makes me a better wife and mother.

Sylas

2011-06-03T04:23:00.000-07:00

Sylas is almost 2! His birthday is the 11th of June and I can't believe it go there so quickly.He was so little when we came to florida.

We are having a small party at the park with friends on wednesday. Just cupcakes and playing but it should be fun. Daddy won't be able to make it since the movers will be at the house but we are planning a party in oregon with family.
Sylas is a very determinded child. He likes to do his own thing and wants to do what he wants most of the time. We disagree a lot on what he is going to do. He looks exactly like Zane and acts a lot like him; Sometimes they get along and sometimes they fight a lot. Sylas has a lot of words for a little guy. He also talks in scentences. He says the normal words like mama, daddy, Zane but then he also has lots of other words. He loves to wake up in the morning and call out "Mama where are you"? It was cute the first couple times but he wakes up between 6 and 6:30am even on the weekends.He says things like" I don't yike it" and "uh oh". Everything to drink is water. Sylas loves to sing. His favorite song is " I am so happy" and he also sings "clean up, clean up" when it is time. He calls micky mouse Elmo even though we spent four days at Disney but he knows who goofy and minnie are. He also loves to sing the "hot dog" song on the end of Mickey mouse clubhouse. He loves to play peek a boo. He calls Carver "tarver" and can now say " Catherine pretty clearly. My friend's name is Cathrine and we see her everyday at school. He loves to day hi to her. He yells out "look there's cathrine" a lot. We will miss here and her girls. The boys love them. We spent lots of time a the beach with them and she is the one that invited me to MOPS and biblstudy. I don't know what I would have done without her.Sylas has learned the word "mess" and uses it a lot: mommy mess, Daddy mess.
Right now he is eating "odirt" which is one of his favortie foods. We call it yogurt. He also gets his own "bipeirs" for me to change him. He sounds kinda french when he says it.lol
He loves to go to bible study and MOPS with me and play with the kids while we have our meetings. He went through a stage where he hated it but now he goes in and doesn't even look back. He has lots of friends in there but there is one little girl that is so much like him. They even look alike. She acts just like him too. we have decided they are going to get married one day.lol Her name is Sadie and she is so cute! If I could take her with me I would. We will miss her family.

Sylas also loves Hayden. He talks non stop about Hayden. He is my friends Angela's son. We saw him everyday because he went to school with Zane.
They have a great family and we will miss them so much. We spent a lot of fun tmes with them. I will miss going to the beach with them this summer and spending thanksgiving with them. They have helped us out a lot. Not sure what we would have done without them either.
We are hoping to be stationed together again soon!
Sylas has a lot of adopted family here that we will miss but I am looking forward to him getting to know the family he has in Oregon and California too. I know he will have fun getting to know them.

Moving stuff!

2011-05-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

This last week and weekend we have had so many showings because we have put it up for rent as well as for sale. We are not totally excited because we will be across the country from our house. If we get really good renters it could be great for us but if we get bad ones, it could be really bad.
We have gotten two rental offers in so far. The first one we will ignore because they only want to give us 19 for it and also want us to pay for the yard matianece. They second was was for 2 thousand and we will probably take it. It is a married couple and the guy is an airplane pilot. They have a small dog but will pay a pet deposite.
We replaced the hotwater heater the other day and we are replacing a fan in the dining room. We also may have the inside painted.
If you asked me if I was excited about this move, you might be suprised to hear me so no. I am excited to see or family and to get out of florida but not so excited about the move. One reason I am not excited is because we have not sold or rented the house so that is a big stress. Also if we rent out the house people are going to be living in my beautiful house and not me. We have no idea where we will be living as of yet so I can't picutre where we are going. I am having a hard time figuring out where everything will go and what we need now. I know I did this less than two years okay but it was a little diffrent with a new born and it still was not fun!
I am not looking forward to the drive across the country again. We were looking forward to it because we were going the northern route and were going to see lots of things like the statue of liberty,the capital and niagra falls. We are not able to do any of that because we have to bring the dog with us. We were going to fly her but because of her breed she is not able to fly past may 15th. We couldn't get her ready by then so we are not going that way. I know some of you are thinking why do we just find her another home well this why: we already had to rip one dog away from our children and I can't do it again in less than two years. Also she is very sweet and her breed is expensive. She is a good dog and part of the family now. We also don't want to teach our children that pets are disposable. We will still see a lot of fun things on the drive but we need to stop by more pet friendly things or get a hotel room to leave her in for a while. She cannot be left in the car because it will be too hot for her. Carver is a little upset about not seeeing the statue of libertly but we will see other things and maybe sometime in the future we can go see all of those things.
Another reason I am not excited about the move is because I have lots of friends here and so do the kids. It is hard to uproot my children again so soon and move them away from their friends. We have met some really good people here. I love my biblstudy group and my MOPS group. They have been so helpful to me while I am here. They have been so friendly and inviting. Also they have been there to support me every step of the way. I know I will meet new friends but it is always hard to leave the ones I have and start over again. I will look for another MOPS group. I will truley miss the wonderful ladies here.
I know that it will be hard on the kids too. We are leaving their home and friends. This is the only place Sylas has ever known and he doesn't really know any of our family. That is sad to say because I love our family but we haven't been home in almost two years. He was so tiny when we came here. These people are our family. I know he will adjust but it may take a while. Also it is hard for the kids behavior wise to not have roots anywhere. When they don't have the normal and everyday it is hard for them to coop sometimes. I know we will have good time with family and friends and we can't wait to see them!
I know this is what God has planned for us right now and we are willing to follow him but it will still be hard. We are starting a new adventure and with any adventure there will be good times and stressful one. We know that God is watching out for us and always providing for us.

Caver's awards ceremony and my horrible rotten no good day!

2011-05-25T13:29:00.000-07:00

Last night insead of cleaning I talked to my sister and my mom on a confrence call and then went to bed because I was really tired. Sylas decided to throw a huge fit in the middle of the night and refused to be comforted. It took him quite a while to go back to sleep so I woke up very tired and decided not to get up and early and work on the house. When we did get up we had to rush around and get the boys ready for Carver's awards ceremony. He didn't want to go because he was not getting a tropy or a medal like some of the other kids. He didn't read enough A.R books to get that.I talked him into going and getting his award. Carver made it to school on time and we found a spot in the cafateria wait for the awards ceremony to begin. They had each class come up one person at a time and anounce each award which was cute but they have seven first grade classes so it took forever and Sylas was not happy about sitting around waiting for it to be over. It was so hard to keep him happy and see Carver also. My camera died the night before so I couldn't take any pictures. We went into Carver's class room the sang some more songs. They made a memory book to take home. I couldn't convice him to stay at school since all the other kids were leaving too. The ESE specialist was not happy with me because they wanted to do testing with him but I was not happy with them for waiting til the last two weeks of school. We ran through McDonalds and then took Zane to school about an hour late. I had 5 minutes to run to angela's house and then run get my doctors appointment.
Thankfully I only had two of the boys but it was still frustrating becuase they would still fight and be loud while I was trying to talk to my doctor. And I wasn't able to go get the x rays I need for my hips and knees because I had two kids and had a third one to pick up very soon.
After I got out of the doctors I got a text from Ollie saying that someone was going to look at the house so I ran to pick up Zane and then home to clean but they were already here so we left again. I was not happy because the house was not clean and no one asked me my opinion. We ran to the dollar store to get some ballons for carver's graduation and some candy for the boys. Then we came home for quiet time and to get ready for Carver's appointment. After cleaning up the house and having dinner I took all three boys to Carver's appointment because Ollie needed to put in the new hot water heater. It was kinda crazy trying to talk to the psycologist and and keep the kids happy. We picked up hot fudge sundays at McDonals and come home to eat them and clean up some more. Then it was bed time for the kids and more cleaning for me. We got to bed way too late and Sylas woke up in the middle of the night screaming plus I ended up with nightmares again. It was not a great day but at least my family is toghether and we are taken care of.

Carver

2011-05-24T19:38:00.001-07:00

Carver has been having some problems this year at school. He has a really hard time focusing and getting his work done like he needs too. He was diagnosed with ADHD ( since they don't diagnose ADD anymore). He is not hyper and doesn't distract others but is a bit of a day dreamer and can't seem to get his work done. His teacher wanted him put directly on medicine but we decided to take him to a child psycologist to get another opinion especially since his pediatriction said not to put him on medication. We also hoped that he could help us with figuring out ways to help him without medication. He did some tests and said if he had to diagnose him he would say he was ADHD. He told us even though he doesn't believe in Medicating children( unless they really needed it) that he couldn't advise us either way. He was very on the fence about it. He said he would help us either decision we made to work with Carver. We thought about it and prayed about it but what really pushed us was when I went into Carver's classroom to observe him. He was doing two tests and couldn't get any of it done. His teacher would show him where they were and two seconds later he was doing something else. She would redirect him and again and he would go back to day dreaming or playing with something else. It was heartbreaking to watch him struggle so much. I just wanted to take him home and not bring him back but I know that was not the right answer. We put him on foculine first. He was on a very low dosage and we ended up doubling it right away. He was doing better but he would metabolize it very quickly so we went to ADDERAL next. We started with a higher dosage but saw no result so with the doctors aproval we doubled it. We saw some really good results. He was able to focus and get his work done in class even though it took some time to kick in. Right now he is still on that but we are in the process of switching him to something else because he has not been eating as much, sleeping as much, and he as had some anxiety and some moods swings we don't like.
We had a parent teacher confrence with his teacher on Monday and she told us that he was not going to pass the first grade. I have not told him this yet but I am hoping he will take it well since we are going to a diffrent school anyway. We are trying really hard to work with him on his reading and writing and get him caught up. I think we may take him off the medication all together for the rest of the school year. He only has two weeks left. We are just really frustrated because we only want what is best for Carver but we are not sure what that is right now. He is such a sweet boy and we don't want his moods to change or anything to harm him. We just pray that we can figure out something that will help him so he won't fall further and further behind.

Zane's graduation

2011-05-24T19:32:00.000-07:00

Today as Zane's graduation from preschool. It was help in a theater at the college and they all got to wear caps and gowns. Each class sang two songs and they had a video presentation with pictures of the kids. Zanes class sand ABC Rock and a song called can't stand still( which fit them perfectly). It was very cute and they had a great time up there on stage. I took him ballons to his classroom and the graduation was after school. Ollie got to come which was nice. We watched him get his dipolma and then came home to order pizza and have a relaxing evening. Zane was a little upset because the paper they handed him was blank but I told him I had his real certificate at home. It seemed to satisfy him. Tomorrow we got to Carver's 1st grade awards and we will do some special things for him. He felt a little left out today I think. He is has been having some issues with his medication so that makes thing more difficult for him. We had a good day all in all and we will make tomorrow special also!

Our last MOPS

2011-05-22T15:53:00.001-07:00

This last friday was our last MOPS Meeting of the year. We break over the summer because all the kids are out of school but we plan all kinds of beach days and playdates. Friday was our Tea and Testimonies so everyone brought their tea cup(most put coffee in it) and we had a few gals tell how mops had impacted them. We also had graduation for our mommies that didn't have preschoolers anymore and thanked our table leaders and steering team.

We also introduced the new steering team and revealed our secrete sisters. Secret sisters were chosen in January and we have been secretly bringing them something to the meetings. It is fun to get a little something at the meetings and to find somethng that your sister will like. I sat near my seceret sister so I could watch her open it without her knowing. Also I got to know a little about her since I didn't know her very well before hand. They had them fill out a survey about themselves. It was neat to learn her likes and hobbies. After the testamonies we had some time to talk and then it was time to say good bye and pick up the kids. I will miss them all so much. I am hoping to find a MOPS group in California. They were always there to support me and encourage me through it all. I made some great friends that I will never forget!

My suprise party!

2011-05-22T15:25:00.000-07:00

On Friday after we came back from Disney Angela and I were supposed to go out to the Cheesecake factory for my birthday. I was under the impression that it was going to be just me and her. We dressed nice and she came and got me to go have dinner. When we got to the parking lot we were waiting for a parking space and as soon as the person in the space moved a police officer stole our spot. We couldn't believe it. We circled around and found another spot but as we were parking I saw a van that looked a lot like mine. My van has very distinctive stickers on the back so I was pretty sure it was mine. We walked into the resturant and I saw ballons and a few of my friends at the table. My friend carol and her kids were there, my friend Jessica and her little girl was there and my friend Geidy and her little girl were there too! Anglea's family as there and then Ollie and the boys walked it the door behind us. I knew I had seen my car! We had dinner and they had a few gifts for me. We all got cheese cake or ice cream for desert and we had a great time. I have such good friends! I will miss them so much!

Our Disney Adventure!

2011-05-10T07:20:00.000-07:00

Our trip began around 3 on tuesday the 26th after a crazy day of taking kids to school, going to the disney store ( for souvenirs) and cleaning the house show worthy. Oh and we also had to take MS Chubs over to Angela's house to stay for the week. Finally we were off to Orlando for our Disney Adventure! We stopped to pick up some food for the kids and were on our way again when sylas threw up all over himself. We were going to just unbuckel him and change clothes really fast but we soon found out it came out both ends so we had to pullover and clean him and me up. The car smelled lovely after that but we were on our way. Soon after that we had one of the boys tell they had to go potty. Since you have to pay every time you get off the freeway we were trying to make it to the station in the middle that is free but by the time we got there we needed to change someone elses clothes. We got gas and snacks and we were on the road again. Thankfully Sylas fell asleep and the boy were happy the rest of they way there. It was about eigth when we got there so got our key and went into our room. When we went in there was other peoples stuff there so they gave us a diffrent room. We unloaded the car and got everyone ready for bed since were going to have a big day ahead of us.
Wednesday morning we got up,bathed everyone and went to eat the continetial breakfast. They had cereal, waffles, toast, and coffee. The boys enjoyed there waffles but we decided that the next day we would eat and then bathe. After a quick trip to the store we loaded up the car and headed to target to get a few things before we went in. They had a really neat Disney section that was much cheaper than Disney World so I picked up so ponchos a couple bags and a few other things we might need. We paid our 14 dollars to park and got our stuff into the stroller to get on the tram. The tram took us to the monorail and the monorail took us into the park. We got our tickets and headed into the park. Our first stop was the swiss family Robinson tree house. The boys loved it.We also go to see goofy right as we entered the park. Next we went on the jungle cruise, it was a lot of fun also. We really wanted to go on spla

sh mountian so we ran over there. The line was not too long ( or so we though) so Ollie took the boys while sylas and I waited with the rider switch pass. The rider switch is like a fast pass but three people can go on it. It is good when you have a little one who can't go and both parents want to go. Sylas and I waited a long time for the boys to get off and then I took the boys. They did really good but Zane cried the second time because he knew what was coming. Carver loves roller coasters. While Sylas and I had waited for Ollie and the boys I got them fast passes for Big Thunder so they went on that next. Carver loved it but Zane was not to sure. I didn't get a chance to go again with the boys because the parade was about to start and we wanted to see that. We also did the pirates of the carribean and at lunch at a mexican resturant. We decided to go back to the hotel to get everyone a short nap and some dinner before the light parade and the fireworks.

When we got back we found a place to watch the parade and Ollie brought us funel cakes. The light parade was so much fun. The boys really liked it. We went into the haunted mansion which was a little too scary for the boys (opps) and then on it's a small world. We watched some of the fire works and pictures they displayed on the castle before heading back to the hotel. It was almost midnight when we got to the hotel so the boys were all asleep.
The next day we went to to walmart to buy a cooler and some water. Since they didn't have the souviner cups you can refill for a dollar we decided to bring our own water in the park. We also found a few things we needed for that day! We made our way to animal kindom and saw goofy on our way in.
We made it to the Lion King Show just in time. The boys really enjoyed it. Then we went to the Tree of Life to watch the Bugs Life show. Sylas and I had to leave because he didn't like dark and the loud. Zane was fine until the bugs ran under his chair and then he really got scared.

After that we went to the Jeep tours. That was fun but sylas fell alseep so he missed most of the tour. It was need to see some real animals since the ones at Magic kindom are all fake. We almos hit a rino on our tour.

It was not part of the tour he was just in the way and since they don't see well he didn't see us. Thankfully he moved out of the way so we could be on our way. We met lots of the charaters and went on some more trains. The boys and I went on the water rapids ride and then Carver and Ollie went on the Everest ride. I would have loved to gone but the line was so long and the boys were tired. We left at 6:00 which was closing time( after buying my birthday hat and Zanes goofy hat since he didn't want the other one anymore) and then went to Cracker Barrel to eat dinner. It was late but we decided to hit target on the way home for more water a few things.
We put the kids to bed and relaxed for the night.
Friday was my birthday so we got up and went back to the Magic Kingdom. I had my birthday ears on and got lots of attention for it.
We made our way over the Tomorrow Land to the toystory ride! We had lots of fun shooting Zurg. Then we got out pictures taken with Buzz lightyear. Afterward we went on the disney tour of how life was and is and will be( okay I can't remember what it's called). After that Carver and I went on space moutain. It was so much fun and Carver loved it too. As ever ride does it let us out into a store and we looked at a few things. Then Ollie and Carver went on space mountain again. While they were gone sylas, Zane and I went on the people mover.

We had a good time. Ollie and Carver came back with a birthday present for me. It was purse that I had seen when Carver and I had gotten of the ride I really liked and carver told Ollie about it! It was so sweet of them. We headed over to Fantasy land and got our winnie the pooh fast passes. It gave us the fast passes for Mickey's ochestra 3-D ride. Sylas didn't like it Ollie took him and the boys and I stayed. Then it was back to Winnie the pooh and some ice cream before going to the hotel to change for dinner.
We had reservations to eat with the princesses at Epcot. We made our way back over there and got our picture taken with Bell. After we were seated we could eat at the buffet and we ordered our main course. The princesses came to each table and we took our pictures with them. They also did a parade through the resturant. The food was really good and desert and a picture was included in the price. They brought me a cup cake with a candle in it.

After we ate we walked around epcot for a while and took some pictures. we didn't stay for the fireworks because the boys were tired and cold.

Saturday was our last day at the disney parks and we decided to go to MGM studios. Right away we got to see the some of the charaters and we got the boys signed up for the Jedi training. While we waited for Jedi training went to watch the Indian Jones show.
We then ran back to the Jedi training so Carver and Zane could be trained to use a light saber and fight Darth Mall. They had a great time and defeated him. We had lunch at Pizza planet and then went on a few more rides.

The park closed early that night so we went to the hotel and went to bed. We were so tired after four days in the park. Sunay we packed up and had breafast before heading over to Downtown disney.

We didn't stay very long but we did look at a few stores and had Ollie's name put on his hat. We had had the other names put on our hats at the last park. They make a great souviner. We all got shirts and I got a dress also. I love it. We then headed back to our house. It was a much better drive home then it was there. We picked up chubs and came home but the adventure was not over because Sylas fell and hit his head. Ollie picked him and he was doing that silent cry thing so I took him to get him to breath and he passed out. We started to call 911 but he came around so we loaded everyone up into the car and took him to the Emergency room. Thankfully it was a pedatric ER so we went right in. The doctor told us that she thinks he just held his breath too long but they did a Scan just to make sure. Thankful he was alright we went home and crashed.

Friday and saturday

2011-04-16T11:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a horribly crazy day. It started with the boys not wanting to get up and someone having to take a shower because of an accident. I was finally able to get the boys dressed, fed, and the house semi cleaned before taking carver to school. I then had to run to walmart to get a few things and take some movies back before dropping sylas off at a friends house and taking Zane to school. I made it to Carver's school alittle before ten after dropping the other two off to observe and help out in his classroom. His teacher had suggested I come in and observe in our last parent teacher confrence so I could see what a hard time he was having. She gave me some papers to file where I could see carver and they started with there tests. As I filed I watch carver do almost anything but work. He was not disruptive but he just could not focus on what he was supposed to be doing. He would sit there and play or look at this book or day dream. His teacher would come by and redirect him to what he was supposed to be doing but two seconds later he would be distracted again and would not have written anything down. It was so hard to watch because I didn't know quiet how bad it was and I couldn't really do anything for him. I was only there for about an hour but he didn't get any work done at all. I went ahead and took him with me when I left because he didn't have any more test and I just wanted to take him and run. I guess it was my momma instinks kicking in. I just wanted to rescue him.
We went to costco after that to get some things and have a hot dog/ salad lunch. We met angela there and hung out with her for a while. We then picked up hadyden and Zane. After a few minutes at Angela's house we left to get sylas and then headed to carver's doctors appointment. The boys were pretty good in the waiting room but that all changed when we went into the exam room. They were very hyper and all over the place. They wouldn't stop fighting and were very rude.I was so embarassed with them and frustrated that I couldn't handle them. I haven't been that humiliated in a while. After running to the store we came home to have some quiet time. I totally forgot about my physical therapy appointment and had to run back out to the store to get some things. I got home about 8:30 and put the boys to bed and then headed back out to pick up angela. We went to the cheesecake factory and had some cheesecake and espresso. It was so nice to get away from the kids and have a girls night. I had red velvate chees cake and angela had the Reeses peanut butter cup cheese cake. We split them but couldn't even finsih half. We took the rest home and took our hubbies some cheese cake home too. We got home about 11:30 and Ollie and I sat up and at the rest of our cheese cake. It was so sweet after two and a half months of no sugar but it was great! We got to bed about 12:30. It was a very long day.
Saturday Ollie took the kids down stairs and while I slept in a little bit. He woke me up about 9:30 and we got busy on the house. We had a showing scheduled between 12:30 and one. The house was looking a little on the rough side because of all the running around we had been doing and not as much cleaning. We got as much done as we could. They showed up about 40 minutes early and tired to tell me that they were only 5 minutes early. I was so angry. The house was not ready and I was a mess. After they left we made lunch and then had quiet time. Ollie and I watched a movie and started getting him packed to leave the next day. He has a school in York town Virgina this next week which means the boys and I are by ourselves. After nap time we ran to costco to get hotdogs for dinner and then to walmart for a couple things for daddy. We also looked at the easter stuff to see what the easter bunny might bring them. We stopped by DQ to get ice cream and then headed home to put the boys to bed. It was 8 pm by the time we got home. It was another long day but an okay one. My anxiet was very hight because of the showing, something new we were doing with Carver and Ollie leaving. I am hoping today will be a bette day. I have to get going so we can get to church on time. Ollie left about six thirty this morning and we miss him already. We are praying for a safe trip for him and a good week for us. Also an offer on our house soon!

Life at the Oliver's

2011-04-14T15:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. It has been really busy around here lately. Saturday we had two showings for the house. One was at 10:45 and the other at 4. I had wanted to do a yard sale that weekend with my friend to get rid of some stuff before the move but I we were two busy the week before to get ready for it and make sure the house was ready for the showings. Instead we got the house ready and left to go look at the yard sales. Ollie wanted a bar stool for when he cuts the boys hair. He usually uses a chair with books stacked on it but it still hurts his back to bend over like while cutting there hair. Since it was a community yard sale there was a lot to look at. We didn't find a stool and didn't end up buying anything but drove all over and had a decent time. Before going home we stopped at my friends house to see how she was doing and let the boys play with their friends. After lunch and naps we made sure the house was still clean and then went out again. We needed to be gone so they could look at the house. Sunday we went to church and had a pretty lazy day. It was nice not to have to do anything much.
Monday was pretty normal except around seven we had a knock on the door while I was bathing the kids and getting them in bed. A realtor came to look at the house. I am not sure why our realtor told her it would be okay when he couldn't get a hold of us but he did and I was not happy since the house was not show worthy and I had three children half dressed. She didn't come upstairs thankfully since she knew I was not happy about it.

The Daniel Fast round 2 Day 1 and 2

2011-04-01T19:29:00.000-07:00

So my friend Angela and I have decided that we wanted to go back on the Daniel Fast. We were both feeling like we needed to so we took that as God telling us to do it again. We started now because we could get 21 days in before Easter and still celebrate with our families. This was my fast guidelines this time. I didn't write out my fast guidelines last time and just focused on eating right but this time I want to focus more on God and less on my part. There are some things I want to be at peace about and some things I want to have answered. I also want to grow closer to God on this fast. I have added a few more things this time like Caffeine and lean white meats here and there. Yesterday was day one which is the juice fast. That never goes well for me. The last time was worse. I do better when I can eat. It didn't help that I had three appointments and lots of errands to run that day. It was not a fun day. Today was better. It was day two and I can eat today. I woke up not very hungry but very grumpy. I had a hard time getting the boys something to eat and figuring out what to eat for me. I didn't make sure the blender was clean the night before so I couldn't make a smoothie without some cleaning. I decided to fry an areapa and eat that. After getting Carver to school I got some coffee with soy milk and stevia. I cleaned up the house and then went with Angela to the Whole foods store. Since Zane and Hayden didn't have school we took three kids instead of just one. One the way to the whole foods store I had some mixed nuts and some water. It was good to get some protein. The boys loved the little carts at the whole foods store that were just for them and that kept them busy while we shopped. They only ran a few people over. Sylas pushed for a little while but needed to go into a bigger cart later because he got bored and decided to run around.

I found my vegan refried beans and my orzo and I also got some granola, polenta(to make lasagna out of instead of noodles), soy milk (for coffee and smoothies), soy yogurt(for breakfast with fruit and or granola and hopefully to use in place of sour cream) and some breakfast bars for the boys to eat on the way home. I got out of there under 50 dollars thankfully and we headed for home. After the trip we had some lunch ( a smoothie and chips) and had some quiet time. About 4:30 I realized that I needed to be at physical therapy by five so I fried another arepa,put some beans, tomatoes, olives and some adobo seasoning on it and ran out the door with it in hand. Thankfully it was somewhat portable. I need to do some more grocer shopping because I am out of veggies and fruits which are a big part of this diet. I have frozen ones but the fresh ones are good too.

My Fast guidelines

Good Foods
Fruits
veggies
Nuts
Beans
whole grains
Leans meats
Tea
Agave nectar
Caffeine ?

Bad Foods
Sugar
white flour
most animal products
most preservatives

This will be a 21 day fast. I am thinking about adding more things than last time because I am trying to lear to eat healthier in my everyday life and I feel this is a good way to do it. I will not eat meat everyday and I will not go overboard on the beans and peanut butter. I want to workout everyday except Sundays or Saturdays. I also want to commit to spending at least 10 minutes if not more in the word and prayer. I will start my juice fast tomorrow the 30th and then continue to the other fast on the first. I am hoping to grow closer to God through this and also to get peace about a few things that have happened while we were here in Florida and maybe some answers on why or what I was supposed to learn from them. I also would like to work on my relationship with Ollie and my self image. I know I use him to make me feel beautiful and I want to really know that in my hear of hearts that God loves me and thinks I am beautiful. I want to work on my Jesus Freakness!

Day 1
Juice fast

Day 2
Breakfast: Smoothie
Snacks:V-8 juice, rice cakes,fruit or veggies and hummus
Lunch: Black bean and Avocado salad on greens
Dinner: Tuscan chicken

Day 3
Breakfast: Smoothie w pb and spinach
Snacks:rice cakes w/pb, fruit
Lunch:Salad
Dinner: Taco soup w/ mo meat or cheese

Day 4
Breakfast: Rice cakes w/ pb
Snack: smoothie, v-8, left over soup
Lunch: Tuscan chicken
Dinner: stir fry with rice

Day 5
Breakfast: Smoothie
Snacks: rice cakes, fruit, cottage cheese?
Lunch: left over stir fry and rice
Dinner Pea spaghetti

Day 6
Breakfast: Granola?
Snacks smoothie, nuts, v-8 juice
Lunch:Tuna salad
Dinner Pasta E fogoli soup/ no meat?

Day 7
Breakfast: smoothie
Snack: rice cake,soup,v-8
Lunch: Fruit salad,
Dinner: tosadas/ meat?

Day 8
Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch: salad
Snacks: nuts, v-8
Dinner: Orzo,tomatoes,white beans

This week

2011-03-25T18:22:00.001-07:00

This week is finally over and I am so glad. Monday was crazy with lots of errands to run, tuesday was bible study and running around,wednesday we spent at the doctor learning Zane had strep throat and getting his prescriptions, thursday we spent at home on the couch with me feeling horrible(eye and nose issues)and zane feeling okay, friday everyone was back to school and I went to MOPS (even tough I have step eye and my neck is killing me) then I went to the physical therapist and get tortured. Also I came home and scrubed the house down and now i am headed to soak in a hot bath. I hope this weekend is relaxing.

Overwhelmed

2011-03-23T17:09:00.001-07:00

I just have so much going on and I feel like my life is spinning out of control. The boys go to two diffrent schools that start at two diffrent times(an hour apart) and I can't leave the house unless it's clean which means they have been late to school a few times. Zane has to have a lunch packed and carver needs money and homework done. Then today I had to take Zane to the doctor because he was not sleeping and found out he has Strep so that means he missed school and has to miss school tomorrow and take medicine twice a day for ten days. Also he had to go to the ENT to get his throat looked at and maybe get his tonsils taken out. We ususally have a appointment with a lady that comes over once a week to talk to us but she didn't come because Zane has strep. At 5:45 we had an appointment for Carver with the child psycologist which will happen every week. He is evaluating carver to diagnose him and see if he really has ADHD. I was supposed to have an appointment tomorrow with the psycologist for me but I had to cancel because I have one sick and friday I have MOPS and the lady who comes on wednesday is coming. I had errands I had to run on Monday and Tuesday was biblestudy so I haven't really been home all week and I had to cancel my physical therapy appointment for today because carver had his appointment. Now I have realized that I have double booked myself again and I have a physical therapy appointment for friday evening and we also have lady coming. Also friday while I am at MOPS Carver has his kite day so Ollie will go with him to that. And I also realized that I have to reschedule my appointment for tuesday evening because Ollie will be working late next tuesday. Also if someone wants to come see the house I have to make sure it is ready to let them come see it. Anyway that is the way my life is going right now.

Clean

2011-03-20T17:30:00.000-07:00

The kitchen has been cleaned twice, dishwasher going for the third time, the floors have been swept and moped for the second time today. The lunchs are made and the bathrooms have been scrubed again.The toys are put away and the boys have been put to bed. I am now ready to put myself in a bath and then to bed. I am exhausted.

My goals.

2011-03-20T15:51:00.000-07:00

So I started reading "The Coupon MOM's guide to cutting your grocery bills in half" for the second time again this week. I got through most of it last time but didn't really understand all of it and I didn't really try very hard. The reason I picked it up again was because I got the woman's world magazine and it had an artical about eating healthy on a budget. They had Stephanie Nelson (coupon mom) help them create a menu for them that was very healthy and very cheap.
So I read a couple chapters and then went to her website and watched a few videos on how her site works. It was very imformative and very easy to see how you can save lots of money buy picking up the newspaper on sundays with the ads and coupons in them and then using her site to get the most for your money.I picked up the newspapers and I am going to start using her site to help us save money. I also ready her chapter on how much people lose because of food going bad and not eating leftovers so tonight I decided to use some leftovers we had in the fridge. I took some pork and veggie potstickers that I had in the freezer for the main course, for a side I used some leftover white rice with pepers in it, some shredded carrots,and frozen peas to make a vegetable fried rice. I added some soy sauce and some adobo seasoning to make it taste great. For another side I took some leftover Romaine, leftover feta cheese and some dried fruit and dressing from the pantry to make a yummy salad. It all tasted great and it felt good to use up the things that were going to perish first so we didn't waste anymore money. I want to clean out the fridge better and use one of the shelves just for leftovers so they don't get forgotten and then thrown out later. I am really bad at eating leftovers but I know we need too.
Another goal this week is too clean out the garage and take somethings to the goodwill that need to go. We have too much stuff and we don't need it all. Also I would like to pack the stuff that is in there that we want to keep. So many things get broken and in our moves and it gets so frustrating. I am hoping that I can organized what is out there so I know what it is and so it won't get broken this time. I am hoping the movers will not empty my tubs into boxes this time after I get it organized. We also need to take more stuff out of the house so it will be easier to keep clean and look better for selling. The less we have the bigger it looks.
My third goal is to eat healty again and start working out. I have not gained any weight this week but I have not been eating like I should and have not been working out either. I have a very reachable goal of losing at least eight pounds by the end of april and I am hoping to reach it. I know how to eat and can meet Ollie at the gym everyday this week except for friday and wednesday if I get sylas down for a nap right after we get home from school. The boys love to go to the gym and it is a good outlet for me. I have been getting somewhat of a workout in by scrubbing the floors everyday upstairs and down. I didn't realized it was such a workout but at the end I am dripping with sweat. This is a pretty big house and after scrubbing all the floors,bathrooms and kitchen I am exhausted. I have to keep it done though since the house has to be clean for showings.
My last goal is to get my bible reading and devotions in again. I have a 24/7 bible that is in chronolgical order that I want to get through this year. I am also reading a faith deployed book for military wives that is really good.I know Ollie is not deployed but it is a really good one a friend passed on to me.

Another showing

2011-03-20T15:16:00.000-07:00

Today we got up a little late because some of us weren't 100% and we were all tired from a busy week. After some coffee and breakfast we got moving on the house. Ollie and the boys cleaned up the family room and living room while I did the kitchen. After sweeping, Ollie took the boys upstairs for baths and I mopped the downstairs, sweeped the stairs, mopped the stairs,cleaned the boys room,scrubbed all three bathrooms, and mopped the upstairs before taking my shower. After Ollie got the boys ready and I had finished the house we got into the car and went to burger king. Ms chubs was tucked nicly away in her crate so the realtors could show the house.

We had given her water and a treat to keep her happy while we were gone.

It was nice to come home to a clean house. There was a buissness card on the bench so we knew they had been there. Now we wait and see what happends. We are getting better at keeping the house clean and getting it clean in a hurry. I will be working on the garage this week to get it more organized and get rid of anything we don't need.

Oh the places we go!

2011-03-19T13:23:00.000-07:00

Today we are trying to get the house ready for another showing. We have had three so far. I am working in the garage to make it look nicer and to be able to get more stuff in it that we don't need in the house. I keep praying that someone wants to buy it soon so I can stop showing the house. It is crazy to get it ready and hard to keep it that way. This week the boys have had spring break and we have been crazy busy with the house. It wasn't very fun for them I am afraid. We did do a lot fo sleeping in though which was nice. They played outside a lot too.
I am really going to miss this house. It is the nicest house we have lived in yet. I am also worried about what we will be living in next. We have lived in so many diffrent places since we have been married. Some of them were nice others not so much.
We were married on November 11, 2001 at 10 am ( I believe).

We have a nice reception and then went to flury mannor that night.It is a beautiful bed and breakfast in jumpoff joe. We stayed one night ( the only honeymoon we really got) and then went to my parents the next day to open our presents.
We couldn't take them with us since we didn't have a place to live yet. We said good by to our families and drove down to petaluma so Ollie could be in school the next morning. He was not allowed to take off time since he was in A-school.
We had a room in the short term housing on the coast guard base since we would only be there a month. It was like a dorm room and the bathroom was down the hall. We only had our clothes and had to eat in the galley for all our meals. We had some nice friends there.

After graduation we went up to Oregon for christmas and spent some time up there. In January we moved to a hotel room in Oakland right next to the coast guard base and we lived there for a month until we got our town house in alameda housing. It was a three story town house with the first floor mostly garage and storage room. The second floor was the living room, kitchen,dining room,half bath and balcony. The third floor was a bathroom,two bedrooms and a laundry area. It was a little scary watching my dad and Ollie get the washer and dryer out of there when we moved. We lived there for about a year and a half before we moved to the one story house. We moved because I was pregnant and the stairs were hurting my hips and knees. I have always had hip and knee trouble but have to get a doctors note to move. My mom had come down and helped me decorate our first place. We had a great time making pillows and curtians. We bought pictures and all kids of things to decorate with. When we moved Mom and papa came to help us. The new house was only a few streets over so we just loaded up the truck and moved it all over. We really liked that house. It was cute and so much easier to live in than the three story. We had a cute little patio as well that our two puppies Jasmin( a boxer) and clyde( a bulldog) loved to playing. It was three bedroom one bath home with a nice walk in closet and two car gargae. The second bedroom was made into Carver's room.

We lived there for a year and a half before Ollie volunteered for a position in Sacramento. We were afraid he would have to go on a ship otherwise and this garenteed four more years in sacramento and close to family. The Movers came and packed up our stuff and Judie came down to help us clean the house and get make the move up to scramento. We had to have the house white glove inspected before they would check us out. Ollie stayed behind and got us checked out while Judie and I went to check into our little appartment in Sacramento. We had thought about buying in sacramento but didn't find anything liveable in our price range. We were hoping to save enough money in our appartment to be able to buy a house in a year. It was a two bedroom two bath apartment and quite small. Since we couldn't get our stuff delivered until the next week we went up to oregon to visit family.
We spent about a year and a half in our tiny apartment that was packed with stuff. We didn't enjoy it there but started to make friends in Sacramento. When we got pregnant with Zane we decided to move out of the apartment and rent a house. We put our owning a house dream on hold and found a cute little house to rent. It was a three bedroom house with two baths, a laundry room, two car garage and a nice back yard. It also had rasberry colored carpet througout the whole house. This was the first time we had ever had a yard. We only had the Clyde since Jasmine had a really hard time in the apartment. She had seperation anxiety and needed some place to get out her energy. We found a nice home for her with a friend of Judie.

Judie, Heidi,Joe and the boys helped us move from the apartment to our nice little house. I was very pregnant so I was not a lot of help. We loved that house. It was in a nice neighboorhood and had a park next to it. We spent a lot of time there with friends and as a family. Carver and Zane both grew to love that park and our little house. About a year and a half later a realto called us and told us that our landlords were selling the house and since were couldn't afford to buy the house we would have to leave. We found another house down the road. It was not as nice as the other house but we were having a hard time finding rentals. This house was not too far from the other one. It was a three bedroom, two bath house with a nice back yard and two car garage. The boys picked out their rooms and enjoyed their back yard. We met lots of new friends and joined the MOms club. It was lots of fun. Carver started preschool and we were very comfortable there.

About a year and a half later we got orders to go to Miami. We were not very happy about it but after I gave birth to sylas and we made a trip up to oregon and then down to LA to say good bye to family. The movers came and packed our stuff. We said good bye to our friends and headed back to Oregon. After a few days there we left on our two week drive to florida. We got to stop and see quite a few things on the way. When we finally got here we moved into some short term apartments. It was a one bedroom apartment next to the pool. It was fully furnished and quite tight.

We saw the house Ollie had picked out but also looked around at some others because this house was taking too long to get togther. After two months in the one bedroom apartment we finally moved into our new house. It was so big after the one bedroom apartment.

Our stuff came about a week later and a few weeks later Aunt Ruth came to help us settle in. We got carver into school and then found a bible study and a Mops group. They helped me so much. We had lots of problems with our neighboors and some other people but we have gotten our orders to go to station point Reyes so we are now selling our house and moving there.
I guess since we have lived in so many diffrent places I should be able to live anywhere but I just really like this house and am going to miss all the room and my beautiful floors. I love my big bedroom and bathtub. I love that the boys have room to move around but I know this is God's will and we will be okay as long as we are following God's will. He always takes care of us no matter where we go.

Pajama playdate and house showing and physical therapy

2011-03-19T13:04:00.000-07:00

Thurday evening I got a call from my realtor telling me that someone would be showing the house on Friday between 11 and 12. I was a little stressed about that since we had a breafast pajama playdate planned at 9:45 and I knew most people would be late( it is just the way our MOPS group works-no offese. I stayed up late thurday night making sure the house was pretty much ready for both the playdate and then showing. I had put a crockpot breakfast in the fridge to chill for eight hours and so I could put it in the crockpot in the at four the next morning. I finally went to be about 11:30 and set my alarm four so I would get the meal started.
Something woke me up at three so I went down and put the crockpot meal in and checked on the kids. We woke up again at 7 and got the boys into the bath while I took a shower. I dressed the kids and put them on my bed while I scrubbed down my bathroom, cleaned my room,cleaned their rooms and bathroom. After sweeping the upstairs we came down and got into the car to head to the store. I had forgotten coffee filters and few things while I was out the night before.
After a quick trip out we came home and made muffins, hot apple cider, got our casserol out of the crockpot and finished the downstairs before everyone got here. I did forget all about the pajama part of the playdate so I we were dressed in regular clothes. By 10:30 we were eating all of our goodies and the kids were having a great time. Around 11 we started cleaning up the stuff and making sure the floors were clean. My friend Erika had brought a scentsy candle warmer so the house was smelling awsome and looking pretty good. I had givn everyone a tour so the could tell me if I missed anything.
After the cleaning the kids when to playing and we were talking when we heard a knock at the door. The realtor and lady were here to look at the house so we hurridly picked up the toys again and made sure it was clean. I explained what we were doing and they asked if all these kids were mine. We took the kids out to the patio while they looked around. They thanked us and left so our playdate resumed. It was a good time.
After everyone left we had naps and then it was off to the physical therapist for me for my neck. It has been hurting really bad and I have a feeling it is because of the car accident about two years ago. She told me that my muscels are pulling my vertabre to the left and we need to loosen those muscles. She gave me a really good( but painful) massage and then put the musscle stimulation things and some ice on me. I hurt pretty bad afterwards but the ice seemed to help.

Oliver's lately

2011-03-17T06:38:00.000-07:00

This week has been going way to fast. It is spring break for the kids so they have been home underfoot. It has been a challange to get the house clean while trying to find stuff for them to do, breaking up arguments, and holding a very clingy sylas. I am not sure what is going on with him lately but he wants to be held a lot. I hope he is not getting sick. Monday we ran around like crazy and go the house clean and then the people didn't come to look at the house. We also had to fix a flat tire on my car. So far it is hold air even with us going all over but it would be nice to buy a new tire to put on it. Tuesday we started working on the kitchen and worked on the garage a bit before a friend came over. It was a quiet day at home. That night I went out to walmart after the kids were in bed to get a few groceries and some ink for the priner so I can print out some coupons online. I am trying to get better at saving money and using coupons.
Wednesday we ran to the dollar store to get some shelf paper for my cabinates so I could finish cleaning them out and decide what we need to keep in the kitchen and what we need to pack away in the gargae. The dollar store is very dangerous for us because we always find something we need to have besides what we went there for. Also it is small and the kids find it hard not to run around it there. Ollie had to work late last night so after our weekly appointment we went on a walk/bike/ scooter ride around our neighboorhood. It was nice to get out of the house for a while. When we got back I was having a little trouble figuring out dinner because I didn't get all the groceries needed to go with my detailed menu for this next two weeks. I was waiting til today to finish so I could use our WIC and then figure out what we needed. I have a bad habit of buying things we would have gotten for free from WIC and then not having enought to buy what we need. I threw a greek pasta salad together with Orzo, pesto, klamata olives, gorgonzola cheese and some diced ham. It was really good and the boys loved it too. I seasoned it was some Adobe seasoning for Goya. It is one of my favorite seasonings and I use it in everything.
Today we have to get the house ready for our playdate tomorrow and our WIC and the rest of our groceries. We are having a pajama and breakfast playdate tomorrow with our MOPS friends. It should be a lot of fun. I just need to get myself moving today and finish up.

The Daniel Fast

2011-03-13T09:41:00.000-07:00

I have had lot of questions lately about the fast I was doing so I thought I would lay it all out for you. The Daniel Fast is based on the book of Daniel in the bible when Daniel, Shardrach,Meschack and Abednego refused to define themselves on the royal wine and food and asked to be put on only Vegetables and water (Daniel 1:12). That is the origin however it has evolved of time and become a little more lenient over the years. The purpose of any fast is to deny the flesh and open your heart and mind up to God. My Goal was to deny my flesh the things I love most( sweets and processed foods) and open my heart up to what he wanted us to do and have peace with what he was doing in our lives. My friend wanted me to do it with her so I decided we would do it and keep each other accountable. Since there are so many versions of Daniel Fasts out there we decided that it didn't matter which on we did as long as we both agreed and set the guidelines before we started. We included all vegetables, fruits, whole grains that didn't have yeast,eggs or milk in them. We also included spices and oil.We were not allowed to have any Meat or animal products( eggs, milk, cheese), no preservatives or sugars either. We allowed whole wheat pasta, Agave nectar and stevia also.
We started on March 2nd( Angela started on the 1st) with just a juice fast(which was very hard) and then the next day we went right into the Daniel fast. It was very hard some days and I got discouraged because some of my recipes didn't turn out like I wanted but with Angela and Ollie's support I stuck to it and made it thirty days instead of the original 21 like I had planned. I finally found some good recipes and learned some really good eating habits. Some of my favorite things to eat were:
Avocado and Black Bean salad, Pea spaghetti, Banana and peanut butter smoothies, Peanut butter and banana topped rice cakes, stir-fry and rice.
One of the perks to this fast was that I lost 16 pounds in 33 days. It was very hard when I went to bible study or MOPS and saw all the good food everyone else was eating but I made sure I had my snacks and smoothies(which really saved me). I also ate a lot of hummus, salsa and chips.
I have done a lot of diets and never stuck to any of them but as Ollie told me" It is a lot hard to cheat on God.lol I knew if I cheated it wouldn't be on my but on God. He gave me the determination and motivation to keep going. I prayed a lot during the fast but didn't read as much I had hoped. We had a lot going on and it kept me from my reading even though it shouldn't have.
I have been off the fast for a week or two now and only gained three pounds back. I had some of the things I craved and I am now going to go back to eating really healthy. I will not omit anything except for Sugar and most perservates but I want to make sure I include lots of veggies and fruits and whole grains into my diet. I also want to start working out because I didn't do any working out when I was doing my fast. I really want to be healthy and I have lots more weight to lose. I am thankful for the experience and the good healthy habits I learned through this. Also I feel like I have grown closer to God in my walk.

Avocado and Black bean salad:
1 or 2 avocados diced
1 or 2 15 oz cans of black beans
1 or 2 diced tomatoes
1 or 2 diced green or red bell peppers
1 can sliced olives( optional)
1 15 oz can or bag of corn( optional)
2 tables spoons of lime juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon adobo seasoning
Mix first six ingredient in a bowl( drain and rinse beans)( drain tomatoes). In a smaller bowl mix the lime juice, olive oil, and seasoning. Taste and adjust ingredients as needed.
Pour over salad and eat right away for chill in fridge. Can be eaten with chips or over torn romaine lettuce.

Peanut butter and Banana smoothies
Put 1 1/2 frozen bananas in a blender
add 1 or 2 tablespoons of natural peanut butter
pour in 1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk
add 1 TBS of agave nectar
Blend until creamy, pour into a glass and enjoy. I love to add frozen strawberries or blackberries to this smoothie. You can also add a handful of spinach and you won't even taste it. This is a yummy breakfast!

Peanut butter and banana topped rice cakes
1 plain rice cake(make sure you read the ingredient to make sure there is no preservatives- publix has a good one)
1 table spoon( or less) of all natural Peanut butter
1/2 a banana sliced
Spread peanut butter on the rice cake and top with sliced bananas. I like to drizzle with Agave nectar.

Pea spagettie
Saute 1/2 diced onion in 1 TBs olive oil,1 1/2 cups frozen or fresh peas. cook until tender. Add adobo seasoning or salt and pepper. Take half of mixture and put it into a blender. Blend until smooth adding water to make it thinner. Add back into the pan and heat through. Serve over whole wheat spagettie or elbow noodles. My kids love this dish!

Tips:
Tostitoes has a yummy preservatives free chip that is much cheaper than the ones at the whole foods store.
Publix carries a really good all natural salsa with no preservatives.
Tribe origins has a preservative free Hummus( I love love the veggie one).
If you corn torilla has more than water corn flour (masa four) and lime they are not authentic.
All dried fruit not purchased at a health food store has added sugar and you cannot find dried cranberries without added sugar.
Almost everything you buy has preservatives in it so try and find what has the least amount in it and go with that. We allowed citric acid because we couldn't decided if it was natural or not.
There are thousands of preservatives so read the labels on your foods and there are some nasty things they put in to our favorite foods( like Mechanically separated chicken in hot dogs(i think)) So if you don't know what it is google it. You can google anything so use it but be careful how you word things because you can google anything.
I hope this has helped you all understand what I was doing and am trying to keep doing. maybe this will inspire some of you also

Today

2011-03-12T19:09:00.000-08:00

Today we decided to have a low key day. Our week was so hectic that we decided to not do much of anything and I had such a headache this morning that when ollie left for work the boys and I watched some cartoons together. After a while we went outside to enjoy the sun and I worked on my menus for the next two weeks while the boys played. I found some good recipes that I want to try that are pretty healthy. I am not still doing the daniel fast so I can pretty much eat what I want but I did learn some good habits that I want to keep. I enjoy eating good food and the weight I lost so I will stick to the eating healthy. I had a few days of not eating healthy and I only gained back two pounds. That is pretty good I think. I am going to make eating healthy a life style and I want to make exercise a life style too. After a nap and good meal we went on a walk/bike/ scooter ride. We had to cut it short because it got dark but that shouldn't be a problem after tomorrow. I have always talked about being more active but I haven't really be serious about eating healthy or being more active til now. I think my daniel fast really helped and God changed my attitude about food.
I made a pretty good stew that is vegan and healthy. I am not a vegan or a vegetarian but I do not condem the life style either. It is just not a life style for me. I will eat vegan and vegetarean meals more often because that is what helps me lose the weight. Plus I like some of them. Here is the recipe and the pictures I took.
Garbonzo bean stew from better homes and gardens slow cooker magazine
I changed it a little to fit what I had.
3 15 ounce cans Garbonzo beans rinsed and drained
1 pound red skined potatoes diced
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
3/4 cup chopped sweet pepper ( I didn't have it so I left it out)
1/2 chopped onion( I used granulated)
3 cloves garlic minced
2 tsp cumin seads toasted( I used ground cumin)
1/4 tsp cayenne( left it out)
2 14oz cans of vegetable broth( I used water)
I also added a couple tables spoons of Adobo seasoning
Add potatoes, tomatoes,pepper, onion and grabonzo beans to slow cooker, add cumin, paprika and cayenne. Poor broth over mixture, cover and cook on low for 9 to 10 hours or on high for 4 1/2 to five. Left over stew can be turned into Falafel style paties with tahini sauce (recipe to come).

What God has been doing in our lives!

2011-03-12T09:07:00.000-08:00

We have had a really rough time in Florida while we have been here but we have also had some good times too! I am starting to see some of the things God has done for us since we have been here. A while back I went to the psychiatrist and got put on some medication for depression and anxiety. I have had post partdum depression after each baby and taken medication afterwards but I think this depression got worse since there was no family or friends around to help us out. I believe it has really helped me along with God changing my attitude because I am starting to see the things I will miss here when we leave.
I have a great bible study and Mops group here. They are a wonderful group of ladies that encourage me every time I see them. They were very welcoming to me and I do not want to leave them. I look forward to my weekly bible study and bi weekly MOPS time. I am so very thankful to Cathrine for coming up to me on the sidewalk at school and inviting me to the groups. I went even though I knew no one and loved it right away. I have made some good friends through the kids school and through our husbands moral days. My best friend's husband works with Ollie and we have spend some fun nights playing games and eating.
I am also thankful for this house. It is a beautiful house and has lots of room for us to move around it. I love that they kids can play in the family room or the living room. We also have a big screened in patio by the water that we can watch the ducks and the kids love to play on. They ride scooters and play ball out there a lot. They also love to catch lizards out there. It would be great if we had a fence so we could play in the backyard but we have a good time anyway. I am also thankful that we do not to pay rent. We have a mortgage but it is going into our house and not someone else's house. We are able to walk to and from both boys school which we enjoy on most days. The boys love to ride their scooters or bikes and Sylas loves to ride in his car. It make it nice on the days we can't find the keys also. I am going to miss my nice big room and bath tub, my laundry room, watching the ducks on the patio and my beautiful new floors. I worry about what we will live in next and how much room we will have. I also worry that we will have carpet and I hate carpet. Silly I know but I just want us to be comfortable if we have to move.
I will miss the beautiful beaches but not the scantly clad people. I will miss going to the beach with Angela and my mops group. We went a lot last summer. We have some good times at the beach. I will miss the ducks and the lizards. I love to watch the wildlife. The geckos are my favorite because they are not aggressive and they eat the bugs. They are also fun to watch them try and blend in to things. The Annals are fun to watch when they fight, do push ups or open up the flap under their chin.
There are so many things we have not done here yet. We have not gone on a cruise, to butter fly world, a swamp tour, to Naples, or to universal studio's. Sometimes I get done about that and that we can't afford to do on our house. We went to Lowe's one day to look around and when we left we were really down. Our dream was to fix this house up even more and sell it for more money but have been really broke. Ollie told me he believes that we are here to learn how to be poor again. My reply was that I have been poor all my life. I grew up in a family that had little money (contrary to what some people believe) but God always provided for us. Ollie and I have never had lots of money either but we were not struggling like this. As we left Lowe's that night I heard God tell me that until I was content with what I had he would never give us anymore. It was a weird almost audible voice in my head but it somehow made me feel better about our life here.
I also thing God sent us here to strengthen our Marriage. It has been tested so often while we have been here. We are hardly ever away from our kids and alone with each other, we are struggling financially and we have been struggling with many other areas too but by the grace of God we are still together and happy. We love each other very much and love our children very much. God is putting people in my life that can help me work on the things I am not good at. I am working on myself and I think I am becoming a better person thanks to God.

Life as we know it.

2011-03-10T19:04:00.000-08:00

So this we has been one of the craziest we have ever had. Monday Ollie had the day off and did some home repair while I got the kids off to school ,cleaned up and then ran to my appointment. The day had already started out crazy since we couldn't find Carver's backpack so when I got to my appointment and realized that they had not put it in the computer. So I sat there for almost an hour waiting for them to write me a letter saying I was going regularly. That made me late to my next appointment by 10 minutes. Thankfully my appointment was at my house so Ollie and Sylas were home to meet her. That appointment took three hours but by then it was evening and we could relax. Tuesday Ollie started his 8 to 8 shift that he is doing this week. He is working at the golf tournament doing security. He took leave from work and is getting paid well for it. They offer it to the military every year and they enjoy it. I got the boys off to school and headed to biblestudy. Half way through I got a call from our realtor that someone wanted to see the house so I ran home to get the house ready. I asked some friends to pick up the kids so I could keep working. After all that cleaning no one came. I am glad it got done though. After a trip to the store I got the boys to bed and waited for Ollie to come home. He didn't make it home til 9 and was fried. He forgot his sun screen. Wednesday we got up and got busy making sure the house was clean and everyone made it to school. Then sylas and I went to my doctor appointment. It was not much fun trying to keep him happy but they gave me a muscle relaxor and are sending me to PT for my back and neck pain. After we picked up the boys we got a call that someone was coming to see the house so we ran around again making sure it was spottless and then after a early dinner the younger boys went to a friends house. Carver and I went to his appointment( more on that later). When we got home it was hard to tell if anyone had been there. Today after getting carver to school I worked on the house and made soup but zane ended up being late to school and after dropping off Sylas. I was almozt late. After my appointment we and a trip to walmart it was time to pick up the boys. We had some quiet time and then dinner. We went to donkin doughnut for family night and then back home to put the boys to bed. I cleaned and mad a breakfast casserole for tomorrow and now it is time for bed.

Our house is now on the market.

2011-02-23T15:26:00.000-08:00

So whether we were ready for it or not our house is now on the Market. I have been cleaning and decluttering like a mad woman and it is close to ready for people to walk through. I still have a few more things to get done before it is spottless but it is looking really good. Today I finished up the boys rooms and bathroom. They were decluttered by putting toys and books in tubs that will go in the garage. The bathroom was scrubbed down with bleach and organized a little better. Monday I scrubbed down my bathroom with bleach, organized my launry room ( and scrubbed it) and pressure washed the patio. We have been doing a lot of work on the house and we are hoping and praying that it goes for a good price.We know that it is in God's hands and whatever he wants to happen will happen. Please pray that everthing will go well!

Tenative orders

2011-02-12T05:38:00.000-08:00

So we got our tenative orders to move to Station Point Reyes California. They are not offical yet but we are pretty sure they will not change. Station Point Reyes is near pelaluma california off the 101. It is below Sacramento and is only seven hours away from our family in Oregon and maybe 8 or 9 from our family in L.A. We are very excited about moving back to the west coast. Now we are just praying for the house to sell, the move to go well, the drive back across country, a place to live and for Ollie's job there to be one he will like.
We didn't think we would be drivng back across the country this soon but we are excited to be going home and a little excited to plan our trip. I am hoping it goes better than last time. Zane got really sick and it was no fun at all. It should be interesting with sylas this time because he won't sleep the whole drive like he did last time. I think the boys will enjoy the stops better this time since they are little older.

Day 8

2011-02-09T14:12:00.000-08:00

Today was day eight of the fast. It is not going very fast and I am getting a little frustrated because some of the things I have made didn't turn out great and since I can't have caffine I am very tired. Also I am taking a new medication that makes me sleepy. We have also been very busy the last couple days fixing things around the house. Starting last thursday we fixed: the lights outside, holes in the celing, hole in the wall, put up a bike rack, the front yard with multch and a border, the sink,shower and the tub.Oh and we also fixed the arm on the door of the patio so it would close. I learned to power wash the house and put a nice edging on the shelves in my pantry that we put in while aunt ruth was here. They now look finished. We did some organizing with a new shoe rack in the garage and hooks for the coats above it. We also fixed the keypad that opens the garage door.
Needless to say we have been so busy and really stressed with everthing that is going on. The realtor has been calling to come take pictures of the inside but I am just not ready for that yet. I am trying to get things put togeth and gone through so we can pack away and get rid of things. It will be easier to keep clean for walk throughs if we have less things. We are praying for a good price on our house.
I will be very glad when this fast is over and the house is sold. Then we will be on our way to where ever we are going(hopefully california.

Day 4

2011-02-05T06:35:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was day three and I had to go to Mops. Mops days are hard because it is a rush to get out of the house and also because they have a large spread of goodies every week. Thankfully Ollie had the day off so he helped me get the boys ready so I could make my snack and get myself ready. I packed some almonds, hummus, olive tapanade,chips and some grapes to take with me. Oh I also packed so vegetable juice too. It was very hard to watch everyone drink coffee and eat the goodies but I stuck to my diet. It was a really good MOPS. They had a relationship panel that was really good. The panel was made up of married couples in various stages in life. We had written questions the week before the weeke before so they were ready for us.
After MOPS and pick up we came home and worked on the house some. We are working really hard to get this place organized and ready to sell. Thankfully Zane had a better day at school so the boys were able to play while we got stuff done. For dinner I made the boys(including Ollie) a spicy chicken sandwhich and for me I made some whole wheat orzo with white beans,tomatoes and some spices. It was really good. Even the boys(not including Ollie) ate it. I was impressed with my self. We took a trip to walmart after dinner and then to the hardware store to get a few things to help with our projects.
This morning Ollie made the boys chocolate chip pancakes(mean,I know) and I am still waiting for my baked oatmeal to get done. I hope it tuns out good. I am also making some split pea soup for lunch today. I hope that is good as well. I am finding some good recipes and some good things to eat so it hasn't been as hard as I thought. A few things we are eating have one preservative in it but we didn't know at the time we bought it we couldn't have it so we are going to still use it and then not buy it again when we are done. We figured God knows are hearts and our budgets.

My Daniel fast.

2011-02-03T19:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday marked the first day of the fast for me. It was a juice fast and was very hard. I drank lots of orange pinapple juice,tomato juice and apple juice. It was my first fast I have ever done and it was very hard. I had a very bad headache all day and was very tired. I am proud of myself that I got through it though and very thankful that I didn't cheat. I did a lot of praying but only a little reading since I had a massive headache and couldn't focus on anything. Today I started the next phase which is 20 days of no meat or animal bi producsts,no sugar, no persevatives and no caffine. It was an okay day. I woke up with no more headache and was happy to be able to eat. I had an apple and a smoothie. I am glad I can have some chips and hummus. I also found a good Olive tapanade to snack on. I have not been hungry like i though I was but should probably eat more veggies. For dinner tonight we all had tostadas. They were really good. I had my totillas and they had theirs but except for the cheese and sour cream we ate the same thing. It was nice to have dinner with everyone. We shall see what the next 19 days hold. This is not just purely a weight loss thing but a spiritual one as well. I am hoping to get a lot out of this. Thankfully I have a very supportive friend that is doing it with me.

Carver,sylas , and Zane

2011-01-29T15:38:00.000-08:00

You might remember a few months ago Carver was having trouble in school so we took him to the doctor. From the doctor we took him to the opthamologist and they said that he didn't have any eye problems.After a while of cancelled apointments on our and their part we got him back into the doctor. The doctor re checked his vision and said it was fine. He then diganosed him as ADHD (I don't think so) and said he needed an IEP in school so he could get the help he needed. I met with his teacher a few days late and she said he was not doing any better.He is very distracted and will not focus in school. He is not getting his work done and he may not pass first grade. He is good at math but not great a reading. He knows the answers to the questions just can't get them down on paper when it si asked in question form. His teacher says that she wants him on medication but his doctor doesn't want him on it until 3rd grade if he needs it. We don't know what to do but we will have a meeting soon with the ESE specailist and his teachers to see where we go from here. We are also going to do some research on the web and talk to some people about what to do next. He is happy and healthy and doing well other than school. He just turned seven and is a very sweet boy.
Zane is having some issues in school as well. His are not learning issues but behavioral issues. He was doing really well in school and obeying but the last few days I have been getting some really bad reports about him not doing what he is supposed to and not obeying his teacher. We have talked to him and are putting some consequences into effect if he doesn't straighten up. I should have realized that he was having problems at school because he has been very naughty at home lately. I am not sure what is going on but we are going to deal with it. He is healthy again.
Sylas is having some issues too. He is almost two now and I think we are headed to the terrible two's. He fights me on everything I do. From getting dressed to getting in his carseat. He is very independent and doesnt want to do anything mommy wants him to do. We are working on that.
The boys are very sweet boys and just having some issues with life. I don't blame them with all the things that have been going on. I think the next five months are going to be very. We are always praying for our children and lovingly directing them in the ways they should go.

Hurt

2011-01-29T04:55:00.000-08:00

Our family is going through a lot right now. There are many stresses on our plate that we are dealing with. Some everyone knows about and some are kept more private. We are trying our very best to survive and thrive here. It has been very hard for us this last year and a half with no family here and trying to make friends.I feel like we are doing okay. The kids are healthy, happy,and well taken care of. They may be sick off and on but usually we pass it from one to the other to the other and back again. We are in a diffrent climate from california and also they are all involved in a school like setting a couple times a week. Zane has just gotten into a school like setting everday and preschoolers are not the cleanest or the healthiest of little people. Also Ollie is not allowed to call in sick and neither is any of his workmates. They had a guy go to the ER and not be able to come in because of the medication so they sent someone to pick him up to bring him to work. You can imagine the germs they are bringing into that office.
All that to say I think we are doing okay. I think we are handling it okay. We are not perfect and will never be perfect. I don't keep a perfect house but I am trying to do better. I look around righ now and it is pretty much spotless. Not organiganized like I would like but not horrible. It has never been horrible. Ollie and I are both working hard here. He works a lot and sometimes very late. Yesterday he got up at 4:30 and didn't get home til 3 am this morning. While he is working I am dealing with the kids, the house and everthing else that needs to be handled. I have been learning to do yard work and fix things. Anything I can do to help I do. We have been learning to push on even though we are tired and get things done. We both work on making sure there are no dishes in the sink at night and that the house is looking good. We are trying to make sure that the trash is out and things are orderly.
The thing that makes me irritated and a little hurt is that when we have decided to confide in people about what we are dealing with they are not very encouraging. They are not understanding. Maybe we don't do things they way they want us to but why kick us when we are down. Why make us feel worse that we already do. why not say that we are good parents and we are doing well. It all goes back to the if you can't say anyting nice don't say anything at all. So I have decided that am only going to surround my self and talk to positive people. Why should I listen to the negitive things that they are saying. The not helpful stuff. I feel like we are striving to do Gods will. As long as we are doing that what does it matter what other people think. It just hurts that people are not being supportive and encourageing to us. Not all of you just some. We are good parents and love our children very much. We take good care of them. And we are a good family.

Our Crazy Day!

2011-01-27T15:59:00.000-08:00

Today was a very crazy day! Ollie called me while I was taking the kids to school and told me that have an opportunity to move in June if we want it and there were a few good places we can go but a few bad places too. We don't have a choice of where we go though. We had to tell them by 2pm today. We took some time and prayed about it and also we talked to some friends about it and finally decided that we should move in june. We also talked to our realtor to see how likely it would be to sell the house and break even. He got back to us with some pretty good numbers so we decided it as God opening the door for us. We believe that this is God's will and we are hoping to get a billet in petaluma. It may only be for a year since Ollie may make chief or warrent officer. we won't know where we are going from there either. I guess it is just life in the millitary though. I will really miss the good friends we have made here though. Ollie really likes his job here and his boss but we are hoping that we get a good place the next place we go. Also his boss is moving the year after next anyway so they would be leaving us. I am really good friends with is wife and I was worried about being left.

Carver's Birthday!

2011-01-23T18:12:00.000-08:00

On friday I took some cupcakes and juice to Carver's classroom to celebrate his birthday. His class sang Happy birthday to him and he tooks some pictures with is friends. That night I started making a cake we saw in a Rachel Ray magazine that Carver said he wanted. I didn't realize when I said I would make it how big it actually was or how confusing the recipe was going to be. I wish I had read the ratings below the recipe. It took me til midnight to make the two cakes since there were so many steps and you had to make each one seprate. The recipe was very strange and not well put together. They cooled overnight and the next morning we finished filling and decorating the cake. It was a chocolate cake with peanut butter filling. It tasted good but was very dense and very sweet.
At 2:30 we went to Chucky E Cheese and had a party for Carver there. we were a few minutes late but our pizza ended up a forty five minutes late. When it finally showed up it was a rush to get eat the pizza and the cake and them let him in the ticket blaster before we had to leave our table so another party could be set up for. It was very rushed and I was not happy about it. We moved to another table and let the kids to play games for a while. We had a good time bt it got very crowded at the end. When we left we went over to a friends house. The dad and son came to the party but the mom had just had back surgery right before christmas and could not come to the party. We took her cake and the boys played while we talked. The guys talked and played video games. We all had a great time.
Today we didn't make it to church. We were very tired and ended up missing the one and only service our church has. That is on draw back to our church. We got the downstairs looking good and rested until the late after noon and then took my camera back( for the third time) to best buy and then went to Lowes to get some organizing stuff. We bought some hooks for the garage to put the bikes on and a Lazor level/stud finder. We also went to publix and bought carver a small ice cream cake for tonight since we left all the cake at our friends house. All in all I think he had a pretty good birthday!

Life lately.

2011-01-23T17:57:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was crazy because we decided it was time for our Nasty carpet to go and we had laminate floors installed. They were more than we wanted to spend and we broke our no credit card rule( we had kept it for over a year) but we really needed them. The carpet was really really bad and added value to the house. They came on thursday to show us the samples and give us the price and saturday morning they were here to install them. It went really fast and they finished the living room, dinning room, and part of the kitchen before they left saturday. Thankfully they do it in sections so we didn't have to have everything out of the house. They moved things over to one side of the room and then moved them back. It was nice that they moved the heavy things instead of us having to do it. The boys loved to watch from upstairs. They came back on monday morning to finishe the kitchen and the family room. Thankfully Ollie had the day off and so did the kids so we could hang out upstairs all day instead of having to go in and out. They moved out the stove and the refridgeator to put it under there so we got to clean back there and the sides of them too. It was better than spring cleaning. I am trying to keep up with the sweeping and moping so they stay looking nice and also making sure the spills stay cleaned up. The floors are guarenteed for 20 year against water damage so that is nice incase we have a pipe break or something. The boys like the floors because some of their toys work better but they also don't like them because they are hard. It is funny also because when we had carpet Sylas would throw himself down to have a tantrum but now he lays down carefully first. The tantrums are not funny but I thought it was cute that he figured out it would hurt to throw himself down.

We have strep throat

2011-01-11T15:00:00.000-08:00

Sunday evening we the boys started complaining that there throats were hurting. We checked their forheads and they both had fevers. I made them smoothies and gave them so tylenol. The next day they stayed home from school and Zane developed a rash all over his body. We had a doctor appointment that afternoon so I wasn't going to worry just yet. When we got to the doctors office they told me that the appointment was for the next day. I asked if they had any sick appointments left because of their symptoms and they did. I sent Carver home with Ollie since he was feeling better while sylas Zane and I waited. After two hours we got out of there and went to publx to fill prescriptions. Both boys had Strep throat. we had a rough night but they seem to be feel better today. Zane is still covered in a rash and fussy but feeling better. Sylas feels lots better and is onery as ever. I am hoping by thursday Zane will be back at school.

New things I am starting

2011-01-11T14:47:00.000-08:00

This year I would like some things to be diffrent so I am working on changing my habbits. I have started eating better, watching my calories and working out. Yesterday I did a 30 day shredd with weights by Jillian and today I did her Metablisum boost. I must say I am a little sore but glad I did it. I also walked to get carver from school. Since we have been sick I have not been walking in the morning. I also am drinking my V-8 juice and drinking my smoothies. I should be eating my oatmeal in the morning but I don't like oatmeal. When I get my new phone I will ( hopefully) put an app on it that counts my calories for me. I have also really cut down on the sugar but it seems that when I start something new someone decides to get sick. I am trying to stick with it even though they are sick. Last night I was so stressed after being with sick kids and sitting at the doctor for two hours that I got a littl munchie in the evening.
The other thing I am starting has to do with the way I clean. I have decided to make a list of evething I need to do on the house in the morning or the night before. Then once I have taken the kids to school and gotten everyone settled I can start. I set the timer for fiften minutes and do one task. Now I have to break somethings done because things would not get done in the 15 min. I can always mix things up too and do stuff in one room and then go to a totally diffrent room. I put small things on there like clean counters, empty the dishwasher, sweep and mom floor. It I have time left over I can work on something else and if I don't have enough time I can set it for longer or come back later. I like it because it keeps me on task and focused. I got the idea from flylady. She likes to set timers and they play bingo with there lists. I don't usually have time to do that since I have two schools to pick up and drop off at. I am trying to use my free time for working out and cleaning. Today was kinda a bust on the cleaning but I did get the workout in. The day is not over though and I can do some cleaning still.

Still working out the bugs

2011-01-05T10:19:00.001-08:00

Today was day three of back to school for the kids. We have started walking to school as part of our new routine. It has to do partly with me needing more exercise and partly because gas is so high right now.I guess we are being a little more green too. Monday was a disaster because we left late and I ended up carrying two scooters home and pushying Sylas in his car. He also hadn't figured out that he couldn't put his legs down. I think he is a little tall for his car but not quite sure. Tuesday went a little better because we left a few minutes earlier and I left Carver's scooter and helmet as school with him. He rode home with a friend and her four girls and while trying to keep up with the girls on their bikes he crashed and skinned both his knees.
This morning we all walked to school except for Sylas, who rode his car again, but it seemed to work out better. Carver walked Chubs on the way there and Zane pushed Sylas's car for him. Sylas has found a better way to keep his feet up. Not sure if he fits better now or just found a more comfortable way. The one thing I don't like about his car is so much sticks to the wheels and it won't come off unless you hose it down. yesterday we got dog poop on there and I tried to get it off in the grass and it wouldn't come. Today we got cut grass all over the wheels and had a hard time getting it off. On the way home Zane walked the dog and I pushed Sylas. Since we had time we walked around the long way home. It was nice to get a little more exercise and not have so much whining. We are hoping to be walking to school everyday and I want to walk home most days. Yesterday I had a doctors appointment so I didn't pick up Carver and Monday I locked my keys in my car so I was waiting on that while my friend picked up Carver. I will probably walk to get Carver today since his dentis appointment is not til later.
After Sylas and I dropped off Zane, we came home and did some yard work outside. I have a push mower that requires no engine. I love it because it is quiet, safe to mow around the kids and gives the bulldog exercise. I didn't realize it gave the bulldog exercise until today though. I took both the bulldog and Sylas out with me and Ms chubbs had a great time chasing and playing with the lawn mower while I pushed it. Sylas helped a little but got bored quickly since he wasn't tall enough to reach the handle. I tired to do some weedeating with our new weedeater but the battery didn't last long. I didn't realize it needed to be charged. I love the new one because it is easy to turn off and on and so easy to use. I works so much easier than our old ones and no cord. The only frustrating part is that Sylas could wander off so I had to keep a close eye on him. He did pretty good for the most part. That was some good exercise too since I was doing all the work mowing and weedeating. I wanted to rake too but didn't get that far. Hopefully tomorrow we can do some more. Well I had better go pick up Carver from school and then we have a dentist apointment a little later. Carver has a tooth coming in behind his other ones. His baby teeth never fell out and an adult tooth just decided to come in behind them. I am hoping that this appointment will go well. I am so glad Ollie will be here for this one since I will have all three kids there and who knows what they will do. I am not a fan of the dentist myself. Please pray for us!

New years and more!

2011-01-03T16:14:00.000-08:00

New years eve we were invited to our friends house for a game and desert night. We weren't going to stay til midnight but we ended up having so much fun that we decided to stay. The boys played while the adults played apples to apples, taboo, and scequence. We also snacked on finger foods and deserts. I made a frozen pumpkin desert that mom used to make all the time and brought a chocolate fudge cake too. Angela had a multi flavored cheese cake and some other fun things. The boys had not see their friends in quite some time since they were out of town for Christmas so they had a great time. All the boys except for sylas made it to midnight. Poor Sylas couldn't handle it after 11 so I put him down in on of the boys rooms. At midnight we went outside and light some fire works and sparklers. We also had some sparkling cider since no one at the party drank. We stayed until about 12:30 but needed to get the kids to bed so we went home. We had a really great time and are blessed to have such good friends.
New years day sylas got up about the same time so I took him downstairs and let everyone else sleep. Most of that day we did nothing but hang around in our pj's. We should have gotten busy but we were just too sleepy. Sunday we decided to do all our errands so we went to Mc donalds for breakfast and then off to the party store, Best buy, walgreens and then to BJ's. We were bummed we missed church but we got every thing done we needed. Our church only has one service (which we arent used to, our old one had five)and sometimes we have a really hard time getting everyone there on time. We did get evething done by three though and came home for a snack and some quiet time.
Today was the first day of the kids going back to school. We got up on time and got showers and ate good. After our oatmeal we got dressed and ready to walk to school. Carver and Zane rode their new scooters and I pushed sylas in his new car. It didn't go as I planned since Zane had a hard time riding his scooter and sylas is a little taller than I would like for his car. We also left a little later than I would have liked so we needed to hurry. Zane ended up walking on the way there since we were in a hurry and decided he wanted to walk on the way home. I ended up carrying both carver's and Zane's scooters on the way back and pushing Sylas which was not fun and I am very happy that i could not find chubs leash because it would have been even harder to get home.
We got some stuff done here and then left to get Zane to school and go to our playdate.After I dropped Zane off I got a call saying that the play date was cancelled so we decide to go do our errands. We ran to walmart for the few odds and ends we forgot the day before and then to CVS to take something back and get some soda. After that we stopped at the gym because the lady we were supposed to go to a play date with and bring dinner to was supposed to be there but she didn't end up being there. We decided since we were out to finish our errands by going Bj's again. As I was heading away from the car I realized that my keys were still in the car. I called my friend Cathrine to come get me since Ollie couldn't get off work and his keys were at home. We killed some time shopping while we waited for her and then she took us home to get our keys. Of course when we got home I couldn't find Ollie's keys(which was weird since he is ususally so good at putting them in one spot) so she tooke me to pick up Zane instead. I called our insurance and had them send someone out to unlock the doors and had Cathrine take me back to my car. The boys and I waited at the car while Cathrine went to pick up Carver and her girls. After about 45the guy came out to un lock our doors. We then went to pick up Carver and came home for homework and snacks. Sylas also needed a nap. I got my workout in and we got homework done. It was a crazy day and I am glad it is over. I had to reschedule my doctors appointment but at least we got our car back and the groceries didn't go bad. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

Christmas time

2010-12-26T08:39:00.000-08:00

Ollie had the few days leading up til christmas off which helped a lot with having the three kids at home. We cleaned and finished our christmas shopping. The boys had made money with their cookie sale so we took them to the store to buy for each other and then to the dollar store for stocking stuffer and to by for ms chubs and sylas. Thursday night we went out to look at lights. The boys had their hot chocolate and we got some coffee. We went to Oasis church to look at their light display. They were trying to break the world record for the number of lights.They also had a skating rink and a movie playing on the side of the church.
On friday I did a lot of cleaning while Ollie keep the kids out of my hair. They also got to do some christmas crafts. We set up the web cam for skpe and made sure we could skpe Ollie's mom and my parents at the same time. The kids opened up their new pj's while and then went to bed. Ollie and I got presents put together wrapped and down to the tree. It was about midnight when stocking were hung and the wasil was in the crockpot. Finally it was time for us to go to bed too!
The next morning the boys slept in until about seven. We took showers and then headed down to read the christmas story and have some hot wasil. The wasil was a little diffrent this year because I accidently picked up peach nectar istead of pineapple juice. I had a can of pineapple so I threw that in to make it a little more like normal. After finishing "what God wants for christmas and reading the christmas story we went into the family room to pass out presents. Ollie called the grandparents while I made piles of presents by each boy. It was hard containing them while we waited to open presents but it was finally time. The tradition in my family is to start with the youngest person and have them open all their presents first. It is hard for the other ones to wait but we like it because we can see what each kid got and who it was from. The boys got some really cool gifts this year and had a blast opening their presents. We did let carver open some presents while Zane was opening them to because they got some of the same stuff. After everthing was open the boys played with their presents and the grandparents watched them for a while. We really enjoyed them being here even though they were not really here with us. I think they enjoyed it too! We signed of with the grandparents and then made our traditional Christmas breakfast(another one of mine that ollie liked) of waffles,ice cream and strawberries. We had to take the boys upstairs and shower them( they didn't get one earlier) because of the stickiness of it all.

When everyone was clean we layed down on the floor with our pillow pets and blankets to watch the Muppest christmas carol. I was a little disapointed that the boys weren't very interested in it. They love the muppets from space and I love the muppest christmas carol so I though they would too. I am hoping it was just because they had too many new toys to play with. Also we watched Jim Carry's christmas carol earlier and it was scary so that could have to do with it( we didn't know it was scary). I put the baby to bed for a nap and the boys down too. Ollie and I crashed on the couch for a while too.
A little later we smelled the turkey in the oven and decide it was time to make the side dishes. I made some green bean casserol, candied carrots, sweet potato bake, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, hawian rolls and orange jello in a mold with a christmas tree on it. We were very please with our feast (as the kids called it) and were stuffed. We put an apple pie in the oven while the kids played and we watched some tv. It was a really nice and relaxing day. After some pie the kids went to bed and we went upstairs to mellow out before bed.

We went to bed around 11 and about 4 Sylas woke up fussing. I changed him and put him back to sleep and changed another child as well. By the time i got back to bed it was almost five and knew i only had about two hours til the boys would get up. Ollie got up with the boys and let me sleep in til almost ten. Then we had some waffles ( no ice cream this time) and let the boys play til nap time. We have tons of left overs for lunch and dinner( for days). I am going to try and figure out some fun things to do with the leftovers so we eat them all. I bought a huge turkey so I could use the meat in other things. I would love to make a soup with the carcus too. Tonight we will make a happy birthday Jesus cake and have a party for him. I know it is a day late but since they think his birth was really in april we feel like we are early not late! We hope you all have a nice christmas and have a very happ new year!

Christmas Break

2010-12-21T10:13:00.001-08:00

The boys last day of school was friday and they are off til January. Saturday we stayed home and got some things taken care of and made sure the boys got plenty of rest since a couple of them were not feeling good. Sylas had a runny nose and cough and Zane had a cough but was over the runny nose part. Sunday we took the boys to church and they had a happy birthday Jesus party. They came home with two cake mixes and two frostings to have our own happy birthday Jesus party. After church we had to run to walmart to take a few things back and finish some christmas shopping. Thankfully the line moved fast but it was so packed in there. We made it out and ran to costco to get hot dogs since everyone was hungry. Since it is a dollar fifty for a drink and a hot dog it was a good deal. Then we ran to best buy to pick up my camera that I had in to be fixed. After some quiet time we had dinner and cut out some cookies out of gingerbread dough. We ususally decorate gingerbread houses but this year it wasn't in the budget so we decided to do cookies instead. Since it was so late we didn't get to decorate the cookies before bed. We have not been letting them stay up late because they are not feeling well and I was hoping the extra sleep will help them get well.
Monday Ollie didn't have to go to work until 11 so we got up and got a few things done around the house. He left a little early because he wanted to drop off my camera again. It was not working again and I was a little upset because they had had it for over a week and told me it was working fine. It did work in the store for a few minutes.
I let the boys playoutside while I did some cleaning on the patio and then we watched letter factory for awhile. When ollie came home home we had dinner and decorated the cookies. The boys had a great time doing that. We had so many cookies that we didn't get them all done.
Ollie has to work a full day today but gets wednesday thru sunday off. I am very glad because we have been working hard on the house to get it clean and it will be nice to have help. I told him I wanted a clean house for Christmas. I am hoping to get the laundry and dished done too!
After the boys and I had breakfast today ( omlets with cheese and sausage) we went upstairs to work on Sylas's room and the bathroom before naptime. I was hoping to get the older boys room but sylas was rather cranky today so I didn't get to the boys room yet. We have had a nice lunch of grilled cheese grinders and tomato soup. The boys are headed up to bed and I have unloaded the dishwasher and started again. i am headed up stairs to hopefully get my room together.

Choosing to SEE by Mary Beth Chapmain

2010-12-19T05:19:00.000-08:00

The other day I picked up Mary Beth Chapmains new book Choosing to SEE. I had heard her speak at the Women of faith confrence. I took it home and started reading it. I was balling as i was reading the dedications. Then I got to the forward and the prolouge. Beth Moore wrote the Prolouge. She is one of my favorite author/speakers. The books started out sad and then got cute and funny and then went sad again. It is about her life and her kids and her struggles. I found I could relate to a lot of her struggles in life. It was more than just the story about losing her daughter and getting throught it. The book was a great insight into the life of the lady we heard at women of faith and also the man that we heard sing. They are wonderful people who give a lot to other people. They are very big into overseas adoption and helping the orhans over in china. The adopted three little girls from there and set up funds to help other people adopt orphans from lots of other countries. They also set up Maraia's big house of hope that helps special needs orphans. Anyway in conclusions I just wanted to highly recomend this book and a box of tissues. It was wonderful and I finished it in less than a week. I couldn't put it down. You will laugh and cry and then at the end feel like you have conected with this family.

2010-12-15T14:43:00.001-08:00

W I C

2010-12-13T05:54:00.001-08:00

Every month the boys get WIC Checks so we got to the store and pick up the food that is on the list. Now I am very grateful for the food and we used it all but I just wish they could make it a little easier to use. For instance, there is a list on the check of what you can get: you have to get certain foods, certain brands, certains sizes and weights and there is not room for error. It is so frustrating when I have been in there for a half an hour looking at the sizes of everthing and the weights and then to get to the cash register and not have the right stuff. Most of the time I do have the right stuff but the cashier doesn't know anything about WIC and I have to show them exactly what it says. Then they sit there and argue with me about it, like I haven't done this a million times. Also when they gave us our first checks they never told us how to use the stupid things so that was a horrible experience. The other thing that irritates me is that we make so little money that we qualify for it. My husband has served his contry for 15 years and we still have to have assistance to make ends meet. That is just wrong to me. There are so many military families that have to be on WIC and some even qualify for food stamps. Shouldn't we pay these men and women that are serving their country enough to feed their families and live with out so much stress?
And another thing why do people look down on you if you have WIC? I am tired of the poor treatment and the looks just because me kids get assistance. There is nothing wrong with me making sure my kids eat healthy and are well taken care of.

Breakfast with Santa

2010-12-05T15:23:00.000-08:00

On Saturday morning we went to the Miami Beach Air station to have breakfast with Santa. The boys don't believe he is real or brings us presents on Christmas but they like to pretend sometimes that he is real. Carver tells me all the time that he wishes he was real and I say so do I. It would make Christmas a lot cheaper on us. We have told the boys the story of St nick and how people like to still pretend that he is real. We also tell them that they cannot tell the other kids that he is not real.
We got to the airbase and they had a breakfast buffet of fruit, pancakes,sausage, bacon and a few other good things. We had just started eating when they told us that Santa was headed this way in a helicopter. We got the kid back up and out of the hanger to watch Santa as he passed by.He circled around again and then landed. The kids went over to say hi and then went back to eat our breakfast. They started giving out presents A thru D so we had a while to wait for our turn. They had lots of things to do all around like bounce houses, spin art, coloring plates for santa, and Candy cane launching. The boys decided to launch candy canes which was kinda cool but the kids didn't actually get to launch them. They just got to tell them go. They did get a prize though so the kids were happy. After playing with their prizes it was time to get the present from santa. They boys sat on santa's lap to get their presents but they all had to sit on his lap together because there were so many kids.

They opened their gifts and we did some spin art. Then it was time to get some wiggles out. The boy went over to the big bounce house while i took sylas over to the little kids bounce house.
They all had a great time bouncing and climbing. Since Ollie had not gotten home til three in the morning from work the day before we grabbed the plates to color at home and took a few pictures and went home. The boys had a great time and so did we. It was a great kick off to the holiday season.

Our week!

2010-12-03T18:49:00.000-08:00

Monday started out okay. Everyone was well except for Sylas which was refreshing because they boys had ended up with the stomach flu on friday night. I was not in the mood for that because of the lack of sleep the previous night. We got through it though all except for Sylas. I was debating that night whether to take sylas to the doctor the next day but wasn't sure how to fit it in with bible study, a trip to BJ's and Carver's opthamologist appointment.
Tuesday morning I went ahead and made Sylas an appointment even though I would have to miss bible study. I was bummed because it was our last bible study until after christmas but he was not doing well so I took him in. When I got to the doctors office they told me I had made an appointment at their other office but could fit me in here if I wanted. We waited over two hours and I didn't end up getting Zane to school because of it. Finally we got into the waiting room and the boys were very axious. I had to borrow a diaper since I forgot one in the car and he had another diaper explosion( that was what he was there for). Thankfully they were nice about it. The doctor looked him over and also gave him his 15 month check-up and then said he had to have his shots. She said it was just a virus and gave me some cream for his bottom. They also told me that Zane needed some shots too and could do them righ then if I wanted. I didn't really want to hold to kids down for shots by myself( that is Ollie's Job) but I didn't want to make another appointment and we were already there. I told Zane he had to have shots and we talked about it but when the nurse came in the room he and gave him the first shot I had to hold him for the last two. He screamed so loud that Sylas started crying. Sylas did okay but was already crying from ealier. After the shots I had to borrow another diaper and change him again. I finally got the two boys settled down and Sylas dressed and headed over to the store to fill the prescription. We came home for a short nap until we had to pick up Carver for his Opthamologist appoinment. I had such a headache when we got home so I sat and went through some coupons while the baby slept. At 1pm I dragged Zane and Sylas out of the house and back into the car to get Carver from school. They couldn't have him come to the office when I got there because he was in music so I had to go get him and then we had to go to his classroom to get his back pack. By the time we got to the car we were running behind and had to find where we were going. The GPS took me to the hospital but didn't tell me where exactly we were going so I had to call them. I also forgot the stroller and Sylas's shoes so I had to carry him or he had to walk barefoot. I got some comments but at that point I didn't care. When we got to the office to check in I realized I didn't have my wallet but they let me go in anyway. After changing sylas again and putting his wet pants on again we went to the pediatric waiting room. Not sure why when we were sitting in the big waiting room a guy moved away from us. It kinda bothered me. Anyway we finally went into the exam room and the nurse examined Carver's eyes. She was not the nicest lady and was not happy that I forgot carver's reading glasses. At that point I was feeling like a great mom. So while she was telling me that there was nothing wrong with my child eyes I was trying to fill out paperwork and keep Sylas happy. She keep telling him to go sit over there and stay out of the way. I am not sure how old she thought he was but that doesn't work with Sylas. He doesn't get it yet. I tried to keep him occupied while she delt with Carver. The doctor came in and told me that they needed to dialate his eyes and before I could prepare carver the nurse held him down and put the drops in his eyes. That didn't go over well because he was scared and started crying which made the nurse upset and kept tell him if he didn't stop she would do it again. Finally I took the boys out to the waiting room for the 20 to 30 minutes it would take to work. They boys were tired and restless. When we did finally see the doctor he said there was no problems with his eyes and he didn't even need his reading glasses. Now I am back at square one with him and have paid over a hundred dollars for glasses he doesn't need. Not sure what to do next.
After we left there I had to go to BJ's( kinda like costco) to get the tag reading system for Carver for Christmas. The boys were hungry and fighting but the coupon expired that day so we had to go. I found a cart, threw the boys in and raced into the store to get what we needed. They boys were all over in the store since they had been sitting for two hours in the eye doctors office. I tried to contain them but didn't really blame them at that point. When we got out of the store I realized that we had left the van door open but thankfully nothing was stolen. Then when Zane went around the door to get in he almost go hit by the lady pullng out on the other side. I was just about in tears by then so we got food at Wendy's and went home.
Later that night MOPS was having a MNO at starbucks so my friend came and picked me up. It was so nice and just what I needed to get through the rest of the night. We had some good conversation and so good salted caramel hot chocolate.
When I got home I had to wrap the presents I got for the boys Christmas breakfast with Santa that was happening on saturday. As I was getting them out of the closet I realized they didn't work and since Ollie needed to take them into work the next day I went to walmart at 11pm. It was not fun but I got what I needed and came home to wrap them and go to bed. At 12:45 am I crawled into bed. Just as I did I heard someone in the bathroom having some issues. Zane was covered in diarreah so I changed him and got him back to bed. Twenty minutes later I heard him again and cleaned him up again. I put him in a pull up and put him back to bed. We did this two more times and by 2 am we finally got to sleep. Ollie gets up at 4:30 and is not the quietest person so I woke up. We finally got up at seven to take Carver to school. Sylas, Zane and I had a lazy day and he felt better thankfully.
Thursday we took Carver to school and then Zane to school. I went to my friends house for a little bit for a digital scrapbook party but left early to run some errands. We got some christmas stuff at the dollar store and came home to do some cleaning and decorating. I put a pork tenderloin in the crockpot and made some really good sides so when Ollie came home we had some yummy dinner and some decorations up. After dinner Ollie gave all the boys hair cuts. They look so handsome and a lot more like boys.
This morning I got up and ran carver to school and then to walmart to find some pants. All my have holes in them so I found some nice black ones and came home to change before taking Zane to school and then going to MOPS. I got the wrong length so they were a bit to long and I didn't have the right shoes but I went anyway. Somedays I just have those day that nothing fits right and I feel like a mess. When I got to MOPS 30 minutes late sylas didn't want to go into the child care. I am not sure what they problem was but not too long after he settled down. It was so nice to have so quiet time. We had some nice food and a good speaker.
Ollie is working late tonight so after a nap for all of us I took the boys to panda express to get chineese food and then to the store to get ice cream. We watch some Christmas shoes and then I put the boys to bed. I am hoping Ollie doesn't work too late because we have breakfast with Santa in the morning and I don't want to go by myself. I told the boys about it and they were excited except Zane keep telling me "Mom but Santa is not reall" I told him it was fun to pretend. Carver is excited but I am not sure about Zane. He had a rough day at preschool and I think he is kinda grumpy. Well I had better get some cleaning and decorating done.

Thanksgiving, black friday and the stomach flu.

2010-11-27T08:09:00.001-08:00

Well our thankgiving meal was great. We went to a friends house and we ate so much. she made some great dishes that I am going to have to get the recipes for. After lunch we hung out and went through the black friday sales ads. I decided that I wanted to go and get a few thing. She said she would look them over and see what she wanted. Our family headed home to wait for the call from Grandpa. He called about six and we went over to his hotel room to say hi. We didn't get to see him long but at least we got to see him.
We came home and put the boys to bed and then I headed out with Angela to toys r us. It opened at 10pm and we got there right on time. We ended up waiting in line for almost two hours to get into the store. The lines were crazy and ended at the street but wrapped all the way around the back of the building and then around again to the front door. We saw a friend there also so we got in line with her. They had dunkin doughnuts you could buy and a ice cream truck there too. The thing they needed was a porta potty. I had to walk all the way to the hospital to use the bathroom while my friends held my place in line. After about a hour and a half we got into the store and found all the things we needed and got in line. The line started at one end of the store and wrapped around every isle til we got to the other side to the registers. It was moving so slow. I think it took us about 2 hrs to get out of the store.
Then we went to walmart and I only found one of the things we were looking for. By then it was 2 am and the midnight crowd had left but the 5 am crowd had not made it there yet. Some people were camped out in the isles. We dug through the go backs but didn't find the leaspster anywhere. We got some good deals. We got home about and in bed by 4:30. I had been up for 23 hours straight since i went to k mart at 5 am the morning before. It was a long tiring day.
Friday we mostly watched tv and rested. About midnight we heard Zane start to throw up and it all went down him from there. After cleaning him up and getting him settled we went to bed but not for long because the baby was up with a messy diaper and Zane was up at least three more times throwing up. Carver threw up once and sylas waited til this morning to throw up. I slept in some while Ollie took the boys down stairs. So far no one has thrown up today and I am hoping it has passed. We had it really bad in april so I am trying to make sure we don't get it that bad again. I think today we will just hang out and clean up. I really wanted to go take a few things back but we don't want to push it. Please pray we get over this fast.

Happy thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-11-25T07:02:00.000-08:00

We are trying to get into the christmas spirit and get ready for thanksgiving so we have been doing some holiday stuff. Yesterday we watched Jim Carry's Christmas carol and ate Santas Christmas wish ice cream. The movie was a little scary for the kids since it was not a kids version but I think they liked it. The ice cream was good and had chocolate flecks in it. I think later on we will watch the muppets Christmas carol (which is my favorite). The kids will like that one better. After that I went over to Angela's house and helped her make the sides for thanksgiving dinner. We made green bean casserol, corn bread casserol, sweet potato casserol and we started making asperagus and pea casserol.We are going over there to day for dinner. It all looked really good.
This morning I got up at five and went to K-mart to get a few things in there Thanksgiving day sale. I bought a digital camera and a camcorder. I also bought a scooter for Zane and a bouncy turtle for sylas. I got some shoes for me too. I think I am going to take the digital camera back because the quality is not good but will keep the rest. This is the first time I have gotten up that early and went to look for sales. They had some good stuff so I am glad I went. I may go tonight or tomorrow for a couple more things.
When I got home I made carrot cake pancakes with cream cheese fluff and started getting things cleaned up. They were so good and I really needed the coffee that went with it. We are headed to Angela's house about noon so I am going to try and get some things cleaned up before we go. I am also waiting on a call from Grandpa Welden. He is coming into ft lauderdale today and will spend the night and then go on a cruise tomorrow. I am so excited to see him. I have not seen him in over a year so that will be nice. I hope evryone has a great Thanksgiving!

This week so far!

2010-11-24T05:45:00.000-08:00

Monday I dropped carver at school and then went and dropped of Zane at a friends house. Sylas and I rushed back to Carver's school to go to his thanksgiving thing. We made a cornicopia, a turkey craft and watched them sing a song. When we got there we filled a ice cream cone with all kinds of candy and snacks. That was our cornicopia. Then we sat with Carver and ate our cornicopia while we made our turkey craft. It was cute and the boys loved the candy and snacks. Sylas did pretty well sitting and waiting. Then they kids had been learning a song so they got up and did their song for us. It was so cute! We stayed for a little while longer and then had to leave.
Sylas and I went home and he took a nap while i got some cleaning and sorting done.Then we went to pick up Zane. At Zanes school they had their feast for thanks giving. They don't let the parents stay or come for many things. I think it is because the kids have a hard time staying.
Tuesday after taking the kids to school I got busy on the organizing and getting rid of things again. The kids were happy that it was their last day of school this week.

Today we are still working on the house and we are also going to get some things to make wasil and a few other holiday favorites. We are going over to our friends house tomorrow for a thanksgiving lunch and Grandpa is coming into ft lauderdale at some time too. It should be a fun day!

Today

2010-11-20T09:52:00.000-08:00

Today I got up and took the boys to the library where they were a fair like thing. They had face painting, free books and much much more. The boys went a few booths and spun the wheel to win prizes like a color book or a travel coffee mug( it's mommy's now) then we went in to watch the magic show. The boys loved it. then we went to the face painting booth and the older to boys got spider man. Sylas got a spider on his arm with a web. They look so cute! They got their free books and played a few more games. around lunch time we came home because the hotdogs were 2.50 a peice and they were small. Nex time i will try and remember to pack a lunch. We also needed to get them down for a nap before our bbq tonight and we have a lot of work to do at home. We had a great time though and I will post some pictures soon. now it is time for mommy to take a break!

Giving Blood

2010-11-20T04:38:00.000-08:00

Last night Ollie and I took the boys to the blood bus in front of the movie theater behind costco to give blood. Ollie had heard from a friend that if you give blood you get a free movie ticket. He wants to go see some movies so we went down there to give blood. I was also helping out other people too.
They had this small little bus with only on person taking blood so it took a long time. We also took the kids( no one to watch them)so that made it interesting. Ollie was the first person so the boys and I waited in the front of the bus while they tested his blood and took his info. The boys were not quite as good as I was hoping. We tried bringing a few toys and they gave them some snacks but they had a little more energy than we had hoped. We watched Ollie get his blood taken and then he took the boys outside to play while I got my blood taken. It wasn't a great experience but we helped out and got a movie ticket. I have never given blood before because I used to give plasma and you can't give blood if you want to give plasma. Afterward i had some orange juice and some cookies. I didn't pass out or feel wooshy which is nice. we came home and had corn dogs and desert and then it was time for bed. We didn't get home til after seven so we had a late dinner. It was not the evening we had planned but we had an okay time and helped out a little.

Carver and Zane

2010-11-19T12:13:00.000-08:00

So after taking Carver to the eye doctor and spending over a hundred dollars for glasses we took him to the doctor to finish his over all physical. The doctor looked at his eyes and realized that he had a problem with the muscle in his left eye. His left eye will not come into the center so when he looks up close at things he sees double. I am not sure why the eye doctor didn't see this when she spent so much time with him but the reading classes we got him are not helping him at all. He will go to the opthamologist on the 30th and they will figure out how to strengthen the muscles in his eye to help him see well. He may also have have his tests and work read to him so he can do better on them. He knows the answer just not how to get it on the paper.
Zane is doing okay in school. I an having some problems getting him to do any work. He just won't try to write his name. He acts like he is trying but I know he can do it better and I have seen him do it better. He is on of those kids that doesn't want to and you can't make him. I am trying to find ways to motivate him to learn his letters and write him name.
He is also not excited to go to school and I am not sure why. His teacher is really nice and working with him. He is fine once he gets there and says he had a good time but doesn't want to leave home to go. We are working on that as well.

talking with sylas

2010-11-19T12:08:00.000-08:00

Sylas is 17 months now and has lots of words. His favorite word is no! I know big suprise right. He also say mommy, daddy, dog dog, don't want to, and hold up. He can mimic other peple too. He loves to say hi because people say it back and loves to say bye for the same reason. He thinks it is great that people talk to him. He will yell hi at people in the grocery store until they say hi back. It is really funny and kinda embarrasing at the same time. He can also say I love you and loves to talk on the phone to nana O and nana 3 and papa. He say a lot of stuff we can't understand right now either. He knows what he is saying though. He is growing up too fast.

walking with sylas

2010-11-19T12:00:00.000-08:00

Every tuesday and a couple fridays a month I got to Florida bible church for bible study and MOPS. Since Zane is in school I only have sylas to get from the car to the door. He has a little back pack he loves to wear so I put a diaper and wipes and a change of clothes. He looks so cute carrying his backpack and walking up to the church. I have to admit that it takes twice as long to get into the church if I let him walk instead of putting him in the stroller. He has to stop and see everything, walk in ever puddle, say hi annd by to everyone. Today I was trying to get him out of the MOPS room and he had to talk to everyone and play with the chain fence that was there. Then he lad to explore every curb and every car. He just loves to see things and talk to people. He is not in a hurry to go anywhere. I miss not having to go anywhere at a certain time and being able to do what I want. Also wanting to talk to everyone and thinking that everyone is great and fun to talk to. Most everyone will talk to him too. maybe sometimes we need to slow down and take some time to explore the world around us.

Getting the hang of this coupon thing.

2010-11-14T18:30:00.000-08:00

So tonight I went to BJ's with my friend anglea who is the coupon queen. We both had out stacks of coupons and our lists in hand. I had spent the morning going through my coupons from the paper,magazines and the BJ's coupons. I also was able to pick up some more coupons at the door and from the catalog. I like BJ's because they are a lot like Costco but they also have some smaller quanities and they let you use manufacture coupons on top of their coupons. You aren't allowed to use any coupon you print yourself though. I got a ton of stuff and got up to the register right as they closed. When she finished ringing me up my bill was $215.00 ( and some odd cents) but then I handed her my stack of coupons. My total bill was 175 dollasr and some odd cents. I saved about 40 dollars in coupons! I was so excited. I haven't finished my grocery shopping yet but I am close and I stocked up on diapers, wipes, clorox wipes and a few other things! I still have a lot to learn but I feel very accomplished. I am reading the book Coupon moms was to slash your grocery bill in half and I am learning so much. I don't have all my coupons organized and haven't gotten the hang of the online coupons or digital coupons but I am sure that will come with time. I have decided to make it a game to see how much money I can save us on groceries, toletries and diapers a month.

The Oliver life

2010-11-13T16:55:00.000-08:00

The Oliver household has been so crazy lately. We have all been sick off and on for the past two weeks. Zane got it first and had it the longest. It starts with a fever and then a headache. You get chills and then a sore throat and cough. Everyone has the cough and sore throat right now but we are mostly well. The boys all went to the doctor and then were able to go to school wednesday. I should have kept them home another day because on wednesday the schools were on lockdown because aof a threat to a school and a few other buildings. I only knew because I went to Carver's school to pay for his lunch and turn a few things in. It was so weird how quiet it was. I called Zanes school (who i had just dropped off) and they were locking down right then. They asked us to leave and we did. When I went back to pick up Zane they were still locked down and were weren't allowed to get our kids. Finally at 2:00 I was allowed to get both boys. It was kinda scary not knowing when we would get our kids back.Thursday we all got the day off which was nice and then Ollie took off friday. It was nice to have him home all day. Today I have been doing laundry like crazy and getting dishes done. The kitchen is clean and dishes mostly done. I am trying to keep my sink clean and shinny. I am trying the fly lady plan. We will see how it goes!

Women of faith!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-11-01T12:28:00.000-07:00

Last week my friend told me she had a ticket to the women of faith confrence and that she was not able to go on friday nigth. She said I should go on instead. I wasn't sure i could make it because I had so many other things going. Ollie came home early on friday and he drove me over to meet the ladies I was supposed to be going with. We almost didn't make it because I couldn't find anything to wear( I know rediculous) and because we had to stop and get gas. I kinda went grumpily because Ollie and I had a fight the day before and I just wasn't in the mood. I am so glad I went. We had such a good time. They had some great worship and some great speakers. Andy Andrews spoke and was really good. He has so much energy and is all over the place. Anita Renfroe was next. She is a comedian and is so funny. She takes songs and changes the words to make the about something totally diffrent but totally real. She took one of Taylor swift songs and changes it. it was about love and romance amd she said no offense to tayolor but what do 18 year olds know about love. it was cut because taylors was about romoeo and juliet and anitas was about life after marriage and how it is not all romance. We were all crying we were laughing so hard. I think patsy clarimont was next. She is so funny also. That night Mandisa rocked the stage. It was great. I never really liked or disliked her til that night. She is a great speaker and wonderful singer. The other thing i liked is she is not a stick figure like most singers lately. She get us there and is so happy and vibrant. She doesn't have to be a size six to be happy and have a good time.
They informed me friday night that they had a ticket if I wanted to go againt saturday so i did.
We left the house a little after eight and headed back to the women of faith confrence. We started off with some worship and then Pasty clairmont came and talked to us again. She is so funny and real. Next came Lisa whelchel. She was great too. She talked about how important friendship is. She reminded us that we need our girlfriends to keep us grounded but also we need to be a good friend and a healthy friend.
After our break came Steven curtis chapman, caleb chapman and Will-Franklin chapman. They sang some songs and then Mary beth capman came to talk to us. She told the story of how their family came to be and how they survived the loss of their daughter. It is a story worth hearing. She also told of the work they are doing in china. They set up an orphanage for special needs children. The daughter they lost was a special needs ophan from china. We were all in tears by the end of her talk. They steven came back on stage to do one more song or so they thought until anita broght him and mary beth back on stage to do one more song. Steven sang and Mary beth rapped the part toby mac did on one of his old albums. It was great. After lunch we had sandi patty sing to us. It was neat to see her because i rememeber pretending to be her when i was younger. We used to listen to all her tapes.
Let's see they it was Marilyn Meberg I think and she was good.I can't remeber who came next but we had some worship and some great dramas in between all of thoes peakers. We also had Mandisa sing again right before we left. It was such a great weekend. I really needed to go. I think that the speakers were talking right to me.lol Each one of them really said somethings that i needed to hear.I can't wait to go next year! I am saving up to go and I would encourage anyone who has a chance to go to do it because there is something great about seeing so many women praising God in one place. This is something you can do that is good for you.Everyone needs to recharge their batteries sometime and this was a great way to do it!

Third times a charm

2010-10-29T05:10:00.000-07:00

I finally got Carver into the eye doctor after two rescheduled appointments( not on my part and one we waited an hour and a half before they told us.)even though he had to miss a day of school to go. I took anything they had after the crude they pulled the last time. I really like his eye doctor but they don't always have their stuff together. She told me that Carver's eyes weren't developed like they should be and he was having a hard time telling his brain what he was seeing. She said that this is a very common thing and they accidently diagnose kids with ADD that have this instead. He has to wear reading glasses for a while and she said it is something that will develope in a couple years so he won't need the glasses forever. Carver picked out a pair of blue glasses(even though I wanted the brown ones) and they should be here by the end of this week(today. I enclosed a copy of the eye test when I took the ADHD packets into the doctor. We have a appointment with him on thursday to disscus the packets. I am really hoping that this will help Carver focus more in school. I am a little worried that his new teacher has him labeled already because she keeps asking me about the doctors results and saying how she doesn't think the glasses will help. She also didn't think our sticker chart to help motivate carver to get his work done is school would help either. We are trying very hard to work with him on reading and comprehension. We are not in the class room with him evey day so we don't know exactly what is going on. I want to go in and help once a month when I can get a babysitter for sylas. I think my being involved will really help us to know what is going on.Please pray that Carver can start focusing and doing better in school. I know that God can heal anything and even if he has ADD God can heal him or at least help him to learn to function with it. He is such a sweet kid and very smart. He just has a really hard time getting it onto paper.

fallish stuff!

2010-10-27T13:53:00.000-07:00

Fall is here even though it is stil 90 degrees or hotter. Fall is one of our favorite times in our family. We love the changing leaves,Carving pumpkins, pumpkin treats, wearing costums and lots of other reasons. We don't celebrate halloween but we do let the boys dress up in costumes and go to harvest festivals. The other day for dinner I made the boys Green pepper monsters for the boys for dinner. They were fun to make and the boys loved them. Two of out the tree actually ate the pepper part too! The eyes were made with carrots and marshmallows and they were stuffed with a meat, rice and tomatoe mixture. We took the marshmallows off before we ate them.

Lat night we made light bright pumpkins. The boys pounded pegs into the pumpkiins and then put a light into them so they look like a light bright. They were pretty hard to do and we had to pre punch the wholes so the boys could pound int the pegs. The lights taht came with them are not very bright so they are hard to see but the pumpkins still look cute in the light. Ollie and I will still carve ours.

Today at Carver's school they had a harvest festival and played lots of games. They also wore crazy socks to day for red ribbon week. They aren't allowed to wear their costums to school. They had a lot of fun playing games and making crafts. I helped for about an hour before I had to run to Zanes school for his parade. he was allowed to wear his costume and they had a parade through the parking lot for all the parents. There were so cute costumes. After their parade they had a halloween party. He doesn't have school the rest of the week so they did their party today. Carver has a half day tomorrow and no school on friday. We will have to see what other fun and spooky things we can come up with to keep ourselves occupied over the weekend.

Need Ideas

2010-10-24T10:10:00.000-07:00

Since the boys are getting older we have more and more things we have to do and go to. I now have two boys in school with homework and activites. I am trying to get us on a better schedule and more organized. I also want to try and keep the house cleaner. I try but with three people pulling things out it is hard to keep up with everyone and also we are running from one school to the next and then back again. I have stuff going on too. I get so frustrated when we are searching for stuff like keys and shoes. I know we would be more productive if we were more organized and knew where everthing was. So i am looking for your tricks and tips to getting things cleaner and more organized. I am working on getting rid of more stuff and going through stuff. We have a community yard sale on the 6th so I am working on finding stuff to put out there. I am praying that people want to buy my fridge, microwave and other stuff at a good price. I want to use that money to work on getting more organized. Your ideas would be greatly appreciated.

some things are diffrent here

2010-10-24T09:51:00.000-07:00

So I have learned that are diffrent here. The other day my friend has some tadpoles that her kids were raising and were going to set free once they turned to frogs. We were over one day and they showed them to us. The boys loved them and I said" Look at the polywogs. And she said "what"? I guess that is not a term they use on the west coast. The also don't know what waterdogs are either.
Another night we were invited over to a friends house for pizza and a movie. We were all taking about what we like to eat and our diets. I told them that ollie doesn't eat the same meals we do because he is a feniky(SP) eater. They had never heard that before. They had a word that I hadn't heard either but I can't remember what it was.
I think it is funny that we are all speaking the same language but we still don't always understand each other. We have meet some really neat people and it is kinda fun to find out where they have been and all the things they have experienced. Leaving old friends to make new friends is still hard though.

Fall Changes

2010-10-22T05:26:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it is aleady october. We have been in our house about a year now and the kids have been in school for about a month. Carver has been struggling at school lately. He is having a hard time focusing and getting his work done. We are getting his eyes checked and everthing else checked out to see if there is a problem there. We are also working with him on his reading and sight words.We have also started a sticker chart to help motivate him to get his school work done at school.
Zane is doing pretty well in school. He has had a litte trouble obeying his teachers but that is what he is there for to learn. He would rather stay and play with the toys than go to the carpet for circle time. We need to start a sticker chart for him too. He enjoys playing with his friends.
Mops and bible study has started back up again. Sylas goes and plays with the kids every tuesday and twice a month on fridays while I have some MOPS and biblestudy time. We have started a study called every womans marriage. It is pretty good.
It is getting cool enought that I am able to walk chubs to school to pick up Carver most days. She loves to go with us and loves to see the kids. Since dogs aren't allowed on campus I have started tying her to a tree at the end of the campus by the crossing guard while we go to pick up Carver. She is alwasy surrounded by kids when we get back to her. There are a few that look for her every day. It also gives her a break from the walk and the heat.
We have started walking to get Zane from school to help save money on gas. I need to start walking them to school but I haven't gotten that good yet. We are just going through too much gas lately. Zane's school is a little farther than Carver's but it makes for a nice walk. I usually pick up Zane and walk back to the house (a 40 min walk)to get more water, use the restroom and pick up ms chubs.
The boys picked out their halloween costums last weekend. Carver will be Batman, Zane will be Ben 10 and sylas will either be a scare crow or a spider. Ms Chubs also got a costume because I have been looking for a tutu for her since I saw the movie the game plan and in it the boy bulldog is wearing a tutu. She hates it but I love it and so do the boys.
Tomorrow we are going to a fall festival at a church. They have lots of fun things to do like hayrides, pumpkin patchs, antique shows and a pet blessing ceremony. Not sure if we will take her or not but we thought it would be funny to take ms chubs.
We are also going to the YMCA fall festival tomorrow. It supports our childwatch at the YMCA so we can workout and not have to pay for child care. They are selling pumpkns and have all kinds of crafts for the kids.

Improving the Oliver family

2010-09-22T07:16:00.001-07:00

Things are changing here in the Oliver family and mostly because school has stated. I know this is Zane's third week of school and carver started even earlier but we are still trying to get the hang of things. Carver has a heavier workload this year so I have put him at the desk to do his homework instead of the kitchen table. We got a little spill on his homework and got introuble from the teacher. He is having trouble foucusing so I sit with him and help him with his homework. We are working on his reading skills and learning new words. I am having a confrence with his teacher on monday so hopefully she has some ideas on how to get him to focus and how i can help him more at home.
We have been trying to walk carver to school when it is not raining and when we are not running late. Chubbs loves to go with us on a walk and in the car. Today they boys rode their bikes to carver's school. Zane made it most of the way home and decided he needed to get in the stroller so I got to carry the bike. I can't wait to buy him a scooter for christmas so I can fold it up and put it in the stroller or in a backpack to carry it. They are so much lighter.
We also walked to Zane's school today. It is a little farther so Zane sat in the stoller with Sylas and had a snack. It took us a little longer than I though to get there so Zane was a few minutes late but thankfully at preschool they don't count tardies. I am going to try and walk to Zanes school a couple days a week if they weather is nice. I really need to get the exercise and I don't think the boys mind the ride. The ride back went okay except sylas decided he wanted my slimfast bar(which he couldn't have) instead of the cherios I packed for him. Next time we will pack more snacks and more toys to keep him busy. Hopefully we can avoid the temper tanturm.
I have been drinking more water, trying to eat healtier and taking a dietary supplement. I am hoping to shed this excess weight by my birthday. I have quite a bit to lose(which I will keep to myself) but it is an achieveable goal and I am setting little goals as well. I am hoping i can stick with it and get healthier.
We are also trying to make better habbits and keep this house cleaner. We are trying to be ready the night before and keep our toys picked up. My goal for the kitchen is to have the dishes done before we go to bed or at least in the dish washer. The boys are trying to get in a habbit of making their beds in the morning and I am striving really hard to get the washing all done and put away. I gave away three bags of baby clothes to a family who could really use them and even though it was hard I am glad they are out of our house. I am not sure i am ready to be done with babies but ollie is and three boys is a lot of work. I am hoping we can adopt a little girl in a few years. We also donated three bigs bags of toys to the good will a few days ago. I still have toys to go through and more clothes too. It makes me feel good when I know other people can use them. I am going to take some of the stuff to MOP swap on the first also. Well I guess I had better go and get some stuff done and put sylas down for his nap. Gotta keep on our schedule and keep things going! I will let you know how it is going!

school

2010-09-12T13:02:00.000-07:00

Make your own scrapbooking design