OUT of my brain

Lunch MY way

2012-01-16T14:16:00.000-08:00

I just think it is very funny (to me) when it is time for lunch I am so not "ready" for it... I guess it's the fact that we seemed to JUST have had breakfast... Anyways, most days I will do leftovers or whatever I have (depending on what was served for breakfast). Well today AGAIN was one of those days where I was SO not ready for lunch, and the kids were already playing outside (school work finished, YES my kid did work on MLK day, Youtube ANYONE?). So how does this lunch sound from today (for the big boys) raw spinach leaves, buttermilk ranch, a chunk of sharp cheddar cheese (YUP cut right off the block) a handful of T.J. potato chips and last but not least an orange, not even peeled! HA HA HA! It is still sitting on the counter waiting for me... The baby woke up GROUCHY, so for my lunch I ate a few leaves and stuffed them in my mouth and a couple of chips (that he REALLY wanted, TRYING to grab as I chomped them) and YUMMY YUMMY cheese for ME (pepper jack right off the block)! It's funny to ME! :)
Off to go and peel an orange!
OH and the baby's lunch? He got a few pinches of a "nanner" and his easy eaaaaassssssssy fav. food BOOB!

Advent!

2011-12-20T10:00:00.000-08:00

Pretty neat video :) Thought I would share it...

Some Christmastime fun!

2011-12-19T14:08:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to see a live Nativity scene here in town... The kids and I were very excited as they have never seen one "play out". Beforehand we have watched the movie "The nativity story" and we have always read the Christmas story (a million times) :) BUT we were excited to see it in front of us, it always makes you feels SO special and makes it SO real.

We took the kids to get some pizza and then headed over to the church. Walking up to the church (they had the walkways lined with candles and people directing which way to start then which way to go next). We were greeted by a news camera :) AND STOPPED by a man dressed as a soldier talking about the census and then he let us pass, and we proceeded to each stop along the way (Angels/Shepard's/three kings/pony's) with each stop they had a short story teller sharing about what happened on that special night, and then sang a Christmas carol. The last stop we went into the church where Joseph/Mary and baby Jesus were. VERY touching! The people there were all so friendly and kind, they directed us over to the "fellowship" hall and we had some cookies and hot cocoa. BUT before we left we stood around a fire and roasted marshmallows for smores!! (They also offered hot dogs, but had we knew we would NOT have ate pizza beforehand) :) I am SO glad we went to this, it was a very special part of our Christmas festivities....

After this BP said he had a surprise for us! We drove about 10 minutes and was stopped in a HUGE amount of traffic, almost decided NOT to go, but we did some maneuvering (WITH GODS HAND) and found our way (NOT even knowing WHERE we were going, taking side streets etc) and landed ourselves right where we had wanted to be WITHOUT waiting in MILES of traffic! THANK YOU LORD! Our surprise was not the traffic, LOL , it was a gorgeous 2 mile lane of houses (BEAUTIFUL houses) decorated! Check out the pictures on the website (we forgot the camera). We had such a great time looking at all the lights and decorations. The baby REALLY liked it, he was wide eyed the whole time!!

Glow Bug diaper review

2011-12-18T14:43:00.000-08:00

Super excited for ANOTHER diaper review! I just "HEART" this diaper! Super SUPER fun colors and SO SO CUTE!
Again this is a pocket diaper that you stuff with an insert. So here is the pro and cons list

Pros:
Opening at both ends with a snap in insert to stay in place
super soft inside
COOL colors (I so like the black)
Very easy to snap and put on baby
Holds a ton of pee AND poo :) WITH gussets like a regular paper diaper (SUPER neat)
Adjustable sized diaper

Cons:
AGAIN NONE (just that I WANT more and I DONT have any!!)

Check out their diapers (BEWARE you WILL be hooked)! You can also go to their website and BUY some :)

Just look at how TRIM these fit, and yet they HOLD it all in... EVEN on my chubby Monkey :)

Lotus Bumz cloth diaper review

2011-12-18T14:30:00.000-08:00

Super excited that I won a Lotus Bumz diaper, and such a nice shade of blue too!
I decided with little "monkey boy" that I wanted to cloth diaper (again like I did part time with Phillip and Preston), sadly I got rid of the diapers that I had used as they were pretty "tore up" :) Anyways, on my quest to re-establish my "stash" I entered in some CD giveaways!! AND I WON! (not 1 but 3, reviews to come).
OK so I'm going to explain the diaper as best as I can and do a pro's and con's list too :)
The diaper is a "pocket" diaper, stuffed with a nice insert
You can see and read on it on their FB page and on their website:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lotus-Bumz-Cloth-Diapers/219102691476642
http://www.lotusbumz.com/
I would have to say these diapers are a very good price compared to pricey diapers (you know the ones I am talking about)! But with that being said, I think these diapers hold their own when compared again to costly diapers, they are just as good in quality as the pricier ones.

Ok so here is the list (you can read more about the diapers on their site)

Pros:
Low prices
super soft lining (inside AND out)
Definitely holds a LOT of pee pee :)
Not bulky at all (even with two inserts, even though I only have been using one)

Cons:
Not cheap enough for me to stock up just yet :)

And that is it :) Make sure to read up on these diapers and LIKE their FB page!!!!!

Elegant baby!

2011-09-19T18:04:00.001-07:00

I WANT to win this FUN giveaway for Phoenix! I recently met a mom at our new church and her little boy had these pants on, SUPER soft and SUPER CUTE! I WANT them :) Go here and check it out..
http://mamato3blessings.blogspot.com/2011/09/elegant-baby-luxury-baby-products.html#comment-form

Carne! :)

2011-09-03T14:34:00.000-07:00

So this morning P. was up getting a snack (like he does EVERY morning) it usually consists of a "carrot sauce" a banana or even a granola bar, whatever it is, it is a "SNACK" until I get around to making breakfast. Well this morning, he kept on asking for another one and ANOTHER one, I told him NO, that is enough... Well LITTLE BOY decided to sneak past me holding something and ran to the "play room", OF COURSE I saw him :) I went in and asked him what he had, he was holding it behind his back.. "SORRY mom" he said, I said "WHAT IS IT P" He then handed me what he had! It was a BAGGIE of CARNE ASADA (left over from our dinner last night)!! SERIOUSLY?! Carne asada P? Oh come on your NOT that HUNGRY!! LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!! He is his fathers son!

CRACK ME UP!!

2011-08-24T01:34:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, tonight I decided to take the boys OUT to dinner to Wienersnitzel.. What fun! I think I had more fun then them :) I did not have to cook! LOL! OK so we were sitting down eating and P. (my naughty BUT OH SO FUNNY little boy) is looking past me (behind me) and says to me "mom there is an OLD lady looking at me". I told him TRYING NOT TO LAUGH, "THAT IS NOT NICE, say sorry to her", he proceeds to explain to me, that she IS old, what is wrong with that, and that his Uma Linda told him to say "older" NOT old but (as he explains to me) "you ARE "older" then me, but your NOT "OLD" so why do I have to say "older", the lady right there (POINTING AT HER) is "OLD".... AHHHHH OH GREAT!! BY this time, I am just cracking up, I can hardly stand it.. I FELT SO BAD though! He then told me she WAS laughing at him.. .OH GOOD ;) I DID NOT even want to turn around to face her!! AND IF you know P. he is LOUD when talking, his talking is YELLING (we often joke he is deaf or something).

AFTER all of this laughter and shooshing and stuff, L.P. decides to change the subject OR something (I dont know?) so his way of changing the subject he says "Cool mom, that is cool"... I say, "WHAT is COOL?" He then says "that you have one more rib then me"... LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL I could NOT even deal with that, I cracked up! Side note, we had recently studied (again) in Genesis for a lesson in our church and had got into some discussion about the ribs etc. BUT WHY NOW??? LOL!!

OH MY KIDS are SO FUNNY!!! Well after our dinner we had some ice-cream and then went to Target. I was more then a little brave to take them without B.P., yes it IS only 3 of them, but P. is a little out of sorts when we go out, MORE then a little some times, BUT tonight he was EXCELLENT!! I was so proud of him!!! AND my HUGE help L.P.! Thank you Lord for a great evening with my boys! OH and Monkey boy (AKA Phoenix) was good as ever, he is a GOOD baby :)

Little "oink oinks"

2011-08-21T16:55:00.000-07:00

3 pounds of grapes within an afternoon? GOODNESS! These kids eat so much, BUT not necessarily at one time, they take after me in this department, they just eat ALL day :) They eat 3 SMALL meals each day, but they graze on (healthy, not ALWAYS healthy BUT mostly healthy) snacks in between about 3-4 times a day also! BUT I dont really mind, this is what keeps the metabolism healthy! I DO give my kids treats and let them indulge in them right along with me, I think this makes them NOT feel deprived because IF so deprived when given the chance they would OVER indulge.. Make sense?! NOT TONS of treats everyday, but if I am "treating" in front of them, they get to also (IF they want to, mind you they are NOT real big sweet eaters, THAT they get from their dad) :) AND one thing I HATE is portion sizes and forcing kids to EAT it? This makes me wonder what they will be eating when they are older, STRETCHING their tummy's? I like to "portion" their foods, and they have to eat the amount, but NEVER do I over load their plates and MAKE them eat it... Makes NO sense.. WHY do we want our kids to OVEREAT? USE judgement when it comes to portions and what they eat :) Just on my mind today thinking of them carrying around an entire basket of grapes while playing and EATING them all in an afternoon (as their snack) ;)

Couple of days back "home"

2011-08-20T13:26:00.000-07:00

This past week (Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday) we came down again to the Central coast! Tuesday we went to Peachys house and visited, Lindsey and Steve AND the new baby came too. Later that day we went to eat at Senor Sanchos w/the Adams family ;) We finished our day at my parents house with a bbq of our FAV foods, my mom is the BOMB at bbqn' chicken ;) YEAH!

Wednesday we got up early to my moms YUMMY breakfast with a cup of coffee waiting for me, my mom is WONDERFUL to us when we come! We went to the beach to meet my friend Stephanie and her girls, the kids had a wonderful time playing together looking for crabs and playing tag :) After the beach time we went over to Olivias house and hung out there, then after to my in-laws house. We ended our day back at my moms house a little late and tuckered out :)

Thursday was the last day to be in town, we got up early and went to get doughnuts and take a quick visit to my bro-in laws place of work. After we went for a birthday lunch at Mayas restaurant, BP is the big 35!! We drove up to Paso and did a quick couple of stops before heading home :( It was a good drive back, but the heat was INTENSE and NOT what we were looking forward to.... BOOOO! But we made it home safe and sound, and it was good to be in our home again ;) Here are some fun pictures from our days...

Our days are definitely FULL when we come down, and it is HARD to see everyone :( This is the hardest part of coming, is the leaving and not getting to see everyone I want to see SO badly.. :(

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2311057218507.141087.1311673752&l=bd5ca2548f&type=1

Good night afterall

2011-08-12T15:07:00.000-07:00

So I think I spoke (blogged) too soon ;) Phoenix has been sleeping great once again, YIPPEE! He actually went to sleep last night by 10 and did not wake up until 4, then back to sleep before I could even really wake up, and not up again until after 8, to that I dozed off until 9 (with him next to me) and woke up to realize he was back sleeping again :) I got up and made breakfast and almost ate before he woke up for good... YEAH for a good sleeping baby! LP was NOT a good sleeper, but he was my first and I could barely remember it ;) I could sleep in with him until noon if I wanted, so no big deal. Phillip slept really well, but he was difficult in the fact that I was NOT really allowed to "let" him sleep, because of his heart condition I HAD to wake him up every couple of hours (or he would have slept ALL night). And feedings were LONG and difficult, but by 6 months or so he was all better and a good sleeper (with an occasional night feedings). NOW P. on the other hand, OMW he was HORRIBLE ;) He woke (well never really slept) every hour and did not really sleep in between, he fussed all night long. I remember looking at the clock and thinking WOW I got a whole 20 minutes of sleep :) BUT mind you he was like this until he STOPPED nursing AT 3 HA HA HA!! He is just a little difficult ;) So I guess I am just so excited to have a baby sleep more then 3 hour stretches at a time, SO nice to me Phoenix!

3 AM!!!!!!

2011-08-10T18:25:00.000-07:00

YIKES so lately Phoenix has been falling asleep (for the night) at 3AM! YES you read it 3AM! LUCKILY I stay up LATE, but not that late usually ;) He falls asleep at 3ish (or before by a tad), then will sleep all the way until like 8:30 or 9 then eat then back to sleep instantly until like 12, then eat again then sleep IF I let him ;) He will go to sleep off and on during the day and some times sleep for 4 hour nap! YIKES! Today in particular, he has been sleeping for about 4 hours so far, I woke him up to feed him, and then put him down on the couch, and talked to him and he was smiling and such, but then I got up to do something real quick, came back and he was OUT! He rarely sleeps when we are out (he is too "busy") so naps when we are home seem really long, guessing he is making up for sleep he NEEDS...
He cracks me up, smiling in his sleep eyes half open and all TRYING to stay awake ;) LOL! Well he was REALLY good for the first 3 weeks or so, sleeping from like 10ish until like 5 and napping during the day, but now he is a little pill bug, but it's OK he is just too cute for words, so I will just go to bed REALLY late these nights (and TRY and sleep in), just him and I :)

Blog for June and July :) FINALLY!

2011-08-05T16:05:00.000-07:00

SO I'm sitting here FINALLY going to post again :) Well lets see the month of June has passed AND the month of July! WOW!!
I think I will just do one big update by linking some pictures for you all to see :D
First of all June was a BUSY month, I had a baby (obviously) Phoenix Jude was born on June 15, 6lbs 10 ounces.. The weeks up until his birth were very lazy, I did absolutely NOTHING, I lied around most days because I was feeling very light headed and short of breath, my BP was VERY low at times so it was best to WHAT?, just rest :) FUN FUN for me :) So at 39 weeks I went in for an induction; Tuesday night, I was already a 4 (after not being at all dilated the last week). I had pit for only a little while and started an active labor only a couple of hours of getting there. I had started getting some pretty strong contractions about 4 AM and with one hard contraction at about 5:50 my water broke and he was born about 6:05 :) YES my labors go SUPER fast after waters are broke, and I did not really push, he just slid out (literally) ONLY had to push out his shoulders :) He was face up but turned on his own and came out with his hand by his face, and as soon as he was out I pulled him to my chest and he started sucking his thumb and looking around! The nurse (NOT my Midwife) was SO concerned (SO LAME) as to why he was not crying, LOL, DUH girl my baby was super content with looking around wide eyed and sucking his thumb while laying on my chest :) He lied there for quite a while looking around as we talked to him and took pictures. He only really cried a couple of times as they cleaned him up (which took only a few minutes) they brought him back to me and he nursed for a good hour while I ate and dropped crumbs on his head :) (EXACTLY like with Preston)... Life is grand :) My midwife was NOT the one concerned what so ever, it was the nurse, it freaked her out to see him SO content, she even called the NICU, they examined him for a QUICK second and must have thought WHY ON EARTH are we examining a baby that is bright eyed and nursing vigorously?!! LOL! And even when it was time to take his bath etc. he just sucked away on his little thumb, SO SO CUTE! He is super chill, THANKFULLY!
The rest of the month is a blur, it consisted of taking care of a super smiley newborn, which the time goes by WAY too fast in my opinion :(

July was too fast too, we spent the 4th with my sisters, visited friends, and just enjoyed traveling back and forth from this hot pit (Clovis) over to the beach and Paso :) We went to the fair, beach (Phoenix first time), water park (no pictures of either place, BOO) and lots of fun walks and shopping outings...
Now here are some pictures to share with you all who dont have a FB (which you NEED to get one in my opinion) :) I always say EVEN IF YOU JUST GET ONE FOR ME :)

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2142107634873.134058.1311673752&l=1b79397a3f&type=1

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2225385636771.137119.1311673752&l=e618eece9b&type=1

Our fun day at the lake!

2011-05-11T17:11:00.000-07:00

Very fun day today, gorgeous weather and playing at the lake! Since BP had yesterday and today off (cleaned and ran around yesterday for most of the day) today he decided he was going to take the boys fishing at the entrance to the lake (where he works). Last night they got all the gear ready and we packed a ton of snacks :) Today when we got to the original area he was thinking about, neither of us cared for it (since the lake was really full it made the so called small creek area VERY full and too close to the shore where there was suppose to be benches and walking ways.) So we decided to just go all the way to the lake! It was WONDERFUL, so nice out, sitting along side the "beach" and the kids and BP fishing... It was starting to get a little warm so the kids did not take long to splash and play in the water :) I soaked my feet and got a nice burn! After we went to lunch up north a bit to a place that we normally only visit once a year when we are heading to or from Shaver lake, it was a NICE treat! We are definitely going to the lake again, SOON! It turned out to be a long afternoon, since the original plan was just fishing on the creek part of the lake, but the actual lake made it all the more fun, the kids were soaked and burnt and ready to come home :) YEA!!!
Of course there is a ton more pictures, but I will post them on my fb account :)

Finally a post, our weekend!

2011-05-08T16:00:00.000-07:00

WOW! I decided to post really quickly! Wanted to make sure I journal our days here in our new town :)
Yesterday (Saturday) the kids and I ventured out and had a good afternoon, our first stop was to a local comic book shop that was celebrating "national comic book day", the kids got a FREE comic book!! YIPPEE!!! After that we headed over to Borders where they were having a (VERY odd) book release. Why we went?! FOR FREE legos that is why!! :) Afterwards We walked the plaza area, stopped for some Sees candy (BEFORE dinner) then we ooo and ahhhh at all the STORES for miles we met BP at a Mexican restaurant for dinner. Nicely it had a little play area on the inside so after we ate the kids played for a while. I needed the SITTING that is for sure, after all that walking, I WAS BEAT :)
I like that everything is so close to us, every store you can imagine really.... FUN!!
Today was our first Sunday here, we decided to go over to a church that was introduced to us by a couple that BP had met through work. I previously looked up the church online and found it interesting enough to try it out. I was a little hesitant to go because I was not really "ready" (clothes/nails etc. you know all the important things) SO instead of me being my normal OCD I decided to "LET IT GO" and just GO ;) I have been dealing with that quite a bit lately (letting go of it and NOT being OCD)... OK so anyways I stopped at a McD's on the way for a TREAT (hash-browns), we really enjoyed them (NOT, EWW :)) Arriving at this church was interesting enough, HA HA HA, HUGE, we are NOT used to HUGE churches, but it was fine.. A police was there upon arriving, YEA a police, we had to try and figure out where the entrance was beyond a TON of people gathered out front. They were eating, YES eating :) We wasted our time/money and taste buds on NASTY McD's when here all along they had a VERY yummy "buffet" of treats going on!! We grubbed needless to say, we had our hands full, then quickly realized we had to eat it all before going in, BUT apparently you CAN eat inside ;) ANOTHER unusual for us, BUT again totally fine by me! The room was PACKED wall to wall, we seated ourselves fine in the back row (that was what was left, and worked out better), the worship was different, again but fine, and the message was excellent (I needed it).. After service we AGAIN charged the "buffet" of treats, this time taking it with us (OJ and bagels)! Headed over to Kmart and Ihop... The rest of my day consist of watching the boys put together their bunk-beds, VERY interesting ;)
Hopefully I will continue posting, we shall see....

How time just goes

2010-07-29T22:54:00.000-07:00

EESH! ANOTHER two weekends here and gone, CRAZY! Well we have been really busy, keeping the kids moving and having fun! Last weekend (17-18) we did some bike riding, and went to the beach with my sister and fam, nice to spend the afternoon with my fam. and then we all went to concerts in the park. It was one of BP's friends b.day, so BP ans his pals had a little "sleepover" and BBQ. IT was a LONG NIGHT!
We again went to the beach starting this past weekend (22-23) with my friend and her kids, we had a ton of fun, SO relaxing! We went to the fair on Saturday with my bro-in law and BP's friend, my sis and fam. to see the Time, it was a lot of fun. We saw the pig races and ate WAY to much, the kids were WAY TO SPOILED that night :) LP had a blast with Uncle Joey, who rode roller-coasters with him, they were a pair of dorks!! :)
BP left town on Sunday, and that began my LONG week :) IT IS HARD WITHOUT HIM! Sunday night my mommy spent the night with us, we had a nice night together. Monday was LONG, my dryer had broke on Sunday and I was FREAKING out, but my PastorS came to my rescue and saved my sanity :) Tues my sis, kids and I went to the fair, we had a really fun time, cracked up at my niece, she won a pig nose for being a cheerleader for the pig:) FUN!! The kids rode some rides, I guess my kids did NOT get enough of them the other night :) LOL!! P had soccer after (which made for a long day, he was TIRED, NO I WAS tired)! Wed we vegged out ALL day, SO nice, then went to Applebees for din din and then church!
Today (now Thursday, you see I'm counting down the days)!! GOT up SO STINKIN' EARLY to go down with our church to the city park to have a pancake breakfast, rode on a train and a hay ride, I LOVED every MINUTE OF IT!!! We had FUN!!!!!!!! Im SO glad I got up and went:)
After me and the kids went down to SLO to do some errands, and then went to have lunch at my moms shop (made a lunch), then we went on a nice little walk by the water (I brought the kids scooters, and I RAN next to them):) After we went and played down by the water for a couple of hours, until I started to doze off OOPS! So I figured I'd better go and relax at my moms house for a bit. So P and I took a little snooze until my mom came home from work, then we went to eat at Home Town Buffet AND PIGGED OUT! :) Then I decided I'd better come home for the night, after all we had been away from home for almost 14 hours! When we got home, my little man LP took out the garbage can, just like his Dad, what a MAN...
HOPEFULLY BP will be home SOON, I MISS him SO much...
To be continued with the rest of our weekend... ;) AND hopefully some pictures!

Our weekend

2010-07-12T23:45:00.000-07:00

Another weekend here and gone too fast, but always fun!
Friday the kids and I went over to a friends house to play and have lunch. They had a wonderful time playing in their peaceful, full of adventures yard :) They played all sorts of fun games from "spy", "bug catchers" and "ninjas". I cracked up watching P., he just had to take his shoes off and rub his toes in the mud, and venture out with the older kids. LP and his buddy were dripping with sweat and all red faced by the end of our afternoon. And P had fun with his little friend too, taking turns pushing each other on the tree swing. We had a really nice lunch together on a blanket in the warm sun. I really enjoyed myself, as the kids played so much that us adults could actually just SIT and TALK! Very nice time together, getting to know each other more. Later that night we went to the Concerts in the park with my sis and her fam and my mom. We finished the night with ice cream from Cold Stone! OH YUM!
Saturday we went to the Lavender festival, it was very interesting, it was more a craft fare then anything. It was hot out so we were MUCH happier to be heading to the beach! We spent the rest of our day at the beach with our friends that came once again to visit us ( to escape the HOT weather in Fresno). We had a really nice time visiting again, while the kids played in the sand and ran all over the place! We ended our time together at Duckies (seems to be our tradition these days). I'm glad that they came to visit with us, our kids play so well together, and we sure can chat it up for hours:) Don't get BP started :) OH and there was ANOTHER wedding that day too, really cool....
After our friends headed home we went over to my moms shop (the boys needed haircuts) we were not sure we really wanted to go (sunburn, tired and all of that) but we did:). After my mom took us to eat at our FAMOUS spot, DOCKSIDE:) For a late night snack (about 9pm) of clam chowder and fish n chips! OH YUM!!!!
Sunday was a relaxing, YET sad day:( We realized we had lost our Bunny Bugzy:( The last time we saw him was LATE Friday night. Because we left early on Saturday we sort of figured he was still sleeping in his hiding spot and that we would just see him later in the night when we got home (like usual) but come Sunday and nothing... We are very sad. I was awaken by THUNDER early Sunday morning, and BP was already outside bringing in his tools that he had out from working on the trailer, looking for Bugzy and covering the lawn mower too. I ran outside with a towel over my head and drug in the BBQ and called for Bugzy:( NOTHING....
What a depressing day after that, we thought maybe he was spooked (although he does NOT spook easy) and maybe he hid really well. After church we went looking more for him, BP moved some wood pile and searched in every crevice of our yard and nothing:( Bugzy just usually comes out when he hears us and wants to see us, NOT hide:( That is NOT like him to LEAVE, and not show up, he likes to be around when we are outside. He sleeps usually in the day off and on, but if we are outside he IS too...
We put signs out today (Monday), prayed and cried:( WHY??!! Its just not fair... Tonight LP was very sad and crying before bed, I just felt like screaming, I prayed and tried to give him peace... This is what I came up with (or what God gave me rather) "we have to trust God, he HAS a plan, if we trust him then we have to TRUST him always, we have faith that he knows what is going on, not us. Maybe JUST MAYBE someone out there was praying for a miracle for a sick child, or a lonely child (maybe they were poor or broke) and Bugzy was their miracle, 'they' just opened their door and BAM there is a bunny on their doorstep, 'their miracle'... "
WE needed peace tonight, and in a small way I think we BOTH needed to hear from God, he IS IN control ALWAYS! EVEN if we DO NOT feel it, he IS.....

No pictures tonight, I just don't feel like posting them.

GOOD night...

Our 4th of July

2010-07-05T12:29:00.000-07:00

Another fun day for us! Got up early and went over to Cayucos (with our friends that are here from San Bernardino) to look at the sand castles. After we went over to my in-laws for lunch (BBQ beef, baked potatoes, veggies, strawberry shortcake, and and and) and a bonfire. We visited with our family and friends and had a nice relaxing afternoon. It was nice to just let the kids play and not have to watch there every little move (and have the grands do it for us!), they got really dirty and enjoyed themselves a TON!
After we went over to the beach with some other friends and there we had a nice fire and a HUGE HUGE HUGE, did I say HUGE firework show. My word, it was HUGE, there were SO many fireworks on that beach. I MYSELF loved it, I saw so many different kinds of fireworks, it was NICE! The kids (a friend of mine and my kids) were so busy taking care of the dog in the tent, they would come out now and then to watch, but I think they LOVED playing with the dog MORE:) It was cute.
We really enjoyed good company and AGAIN relaxing while the kids ran ALL over the dunes and playing. My friend had a really good spread for us, she made mac salad, tri-tip to roast on a stick and hot dogs and of course MARSHMALLOWS! We had to finally call it a night, but MAN THERE were SO MANY fireworks, it was insane! A man mentioned to us that they call it "war of the worlds" there, it was that INSANE! IT was so nice, I LOVED it, at one point I actually thought the "real" show had started and had all the kids watching, but the I realized AGAIN it was the people along the beach doing it again... SO FUN! Now that is what I call FIREWORKS!! :)
We ended our night by going to eat a midnight snack at my moms house (she was at a party and brought us home some of her left overs!!).
There are too many pictures to share on here, so I have to find the time to load them to my FB account .

My weekend

2010-06-28T00:40:00.000-07:00

Saturday we went on another bike ride, we are making it a rather nice routine. I love to get my cardio workout done with my family OUTDOORS..
Later that night my mom took us to our FAV restaurant in MB, Dockside, IT IS SO GOOD!
I love my weekends.... Although today was a bit "off", Preston had a fever and said his "teef hurt" :( We went to church (regardless of the fever, ), and it was good, and he was "fine" at lunch. He took a rather long nap, and is still on the mend, the fever is doing its job.. I don't like to see him all "yucky feeling", but that is childhood... He is a trooper!

This is Prestons' fever look! AND he IS still posing:)

Cruising MB high!

Little Paul taking the lead

Beach day fun

2010-06-26T00:40:00.000-07:00

Today we had a fun day hanging out at the beach! My good friend came from Fresno with her family, we had a really fun time together. The older two kids out of the bunch had SO much fun together, playing in the water, digging, and talking talking and talking (LP came home looking for the first star in the sky, she told him that he is to wish on one for her so they can see each other SOON again) SO CUTE! The younger three stood close to us and played so nicely with the sand:) It was VERY relaxing to just sit and visit. We also watched a wedding RIGHT there next to us, very neat, the kids thought that was really cool.
We ended the time together with dinner at Duckies.

P

GIGANTIC UPDATE

2010-06-23T12:40:00.001-07:00

Lets see how I'm going to update the past three months of our lives? I am going to try my hardest to do it. I have so much to share, but I'm only going to do as much as I can, actually I will share the events that have pictures (that is the only way I remember things) :)
Lets see, Easter we went to church (dressed in our cute new outfits), we had lunch at my mom/dads house.
Beach days/bike rides and hiking trips (boys only on the hikes); As a family we try to get out as much as possible, it does not take much money (other then gas) to have a really nice afternoon of play. I usually pack a lunch and we take the bikes or just the chairs and a blanket.
Mothers day was spent together at Dorns restaurant and then LOTS of lounging at my mom/dads house, then followed by BP and I having dinner ALONE @ Tahoe Joe's (while the kids relaxed with my parents).
P. and LP are both taking Karate (Little Dragons), and what a fun time that is for them, just being BOYS!
We have been meeting with our HS group weekly and the boys have built some great friendships and so have I. (included are just a few; Abalone farm and a goat farm)
Our first "summer" trip we went to the Monterey Aquarium with Peachy and fam. We had a really nice time as always.
BP tends to bike ride in more scarier places then I can handle :) so he has some good rides and hikes with a friend or alone (he has some really nice pictures, too many to share).
For Memorial day we went to the Los Osos cemetery (second time) for the service, it was really nice to be there with the kids, this year was very fun since LP has been studying so much history (he knew the words to most songs and enjoyed seeing all the different flags of our country). After, we went over to the cemetery in AG to see my great great grandfathers memorial. It was amazing! Of course the day ended with a BBQ and bonfire..
We have been fishing, and to the Mission with our church..
I'm really excited that we finally got a tent trailer, and the kids LOVE it, we have it parked in the backyard and while BP was cleaning it, it served as a CLUBHOUSE:) I can't wait for our first trip in it (SOON, July 3rd!).
I love being with my family and friends, as much as possible!
I REALLY need to keep track of all our fun times, and AGAIN I'm going to REALLY REALLY REALLY try to post on here MORE often!

I know I missed a TON of fun things we did and FUN things the kids do, but I AM GOING to try more now ;)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Snow trip 2010

2010-03-18T23:33:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it was another year and we were at the snow again! Time sure does go by SO fast.
Friday we went up to Shaver lake and went to our wonderful cabin that we stood in last year, it is the BEST house ever! Friday it was cloudy but we decided to just let the kids OUT to play, WELL IT rained on them, it was sort of annoying but oh well! Then later it SNOWED, they played in the snow and LOVED it. P's face was drenched from looking at it fall on him, and of course TRYING to eat it! YIPPEE! We were so happy that it snowed for us, and it was SO GORGEOUS!
Saturday was a fun day too, the kids were out sledding and it SNOWED AGAIN, and again and SOME MORE:) By this time I was getting a little tired of wet kids, so they finally came in to dry off. But that was OK, we had LOTS of fun, the kids played and played! And that gave BP and Steve a chance to go and do some snowboarding, they had so much fun, BUT no videos or pictures:(
Sunday we headed over to Sierra Summit, it was a GORGEOUS sunny day out! The kids got there skis, the older kids snowboarded:) It was SO much fun watching my kids blast down the mountain (bunny slope), they did REALLY well. This was LP second year, but this was P's FIRST year (and only being 2). They did so good, they cracked me up. They would just talk and talk as they were going down the mountain, like it was no big deal to concentrate or anything, KIDS! It WAS hard getting them all geared up, for instance; P. NOW semi-potty trained, decided to "have to go #2" AFTER I have him ALL geared up, AWW it was crazy, ski boots up to the shin and LAYERS of clothes:) OH well its ALL SO WORTH IT!
We had such a FUN time, four days of SNOW, that is FUN! We visited until ALL hours of the night and did not get much rest, but that is what its all about. We ate a ton, talked a ton, and of course PLAYED a ton! I cant wait until next year!
ENJOY the pictures, BUT beware, it is ANOTHER long one... BUT OH SO cute (videos of my kids SKIING!)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Caring for little creatures

2010-03-07T21:00:00.000-08:00

BP told me a story about his day at work the other day, he told me that there were a ton of pigeons at this house (and a ton of other animals too, the previous owner housed all of these animals), the new owners were trying to get rid of the birds, so they stopped feeding them so that they would just leave. BP noticed the mom pigeon (he remembered her with her baby from another day), and she was looking for food (the baby was not there anymore, he could not find it). She was poking around BP NOT afraid of him, so he picked up a shovel and started shopping up the ground for her so she could eat:) There were a ton of worms coming out, he even threw some worms for her so that she could eat! He said the bird looked at him doing this, and HE said she looked like she was saying "THANK YOU" and then she started eating:)
He said that was his good deed for the day:)

Our new friend!

2010-03-07T00:11:00.000-08:00

When we got home yesterday, our neighbor girl was waiting for us, she seemed very eager to talk to me about something REALLY important, she said she was WAITING for me to get home. I barely got out of the car and she was explaining to me how she and her Grandma were leaving for a while and that she NEEDED me to watch her BIRD! Bird, hmmm I thought, well how long would I have to care for it and what do I NEED to do to it??? She assured me that he would NOT be any trouble, and that I could keep him outside (she knows how I am). I hesitated, but her little face was so concerned and she was sort of sad when I told her I did not think I wanted to. She told me that she could not take her with her on there trip (they were going to visit her mom for a while, or at least is what SHE told me) she said she would have to find him a home if we could not watch him for her (little did she know). She wanted him to live with us while she was gone. I asked her what if the bird dies while we have him, that makes me nervous taking care of someones animal, we are responsible for it, she told me that it was OK if he died at least she knew he was with us and that was a good thing:( SO I finally decided that I would take him, I told her that she had to have her Grandma come and talk to me to be sure this was all legit (she has a tendency to lie a bit). She told me she would be right over with the bird, and sure enough I watched her cross the street with a little bird cage and her Grandma following with the bag of food at the door. She finally brought over all his goodies and thanked us and told us she would be back around JUNE, JUNE?? SERIOUSLY?! She was:)
BUT sadly I knew something was up; the next day BP talked with the Grandma alone and sadly the little girl is going back to live with her mom:( She is NOT coming back, but the Grandma did not want to tell her just yet. She thinks that she is just going to go and stay with her mom for a while and that her mom WILL NOT let her bring the bird:( SO this was so very important that we took care of the bird for her, she thought she would be able to get him back as soon as she was back HOME:(
Anyways, the Grandma gave BP the details on how to care for the bird, NOW this bird is ours! I thought about getting rid of it, BP said NO WAY! HE already likes it so much:) AND so do the kids! Its sort of cute, and I sort of feel badly for the little guy:( AND for our little friend that some day will come back to visit him, her little Doritos.. She named him that because he has orange feet!

March 1st.

2010-03-01T08:29:00.000-08:00

"Your words were found, and I ate them."
Jer. 15:16 NKJV

A woman bought a parrot, took him home, and then returned him to the pet store the next day. "This bird doesn't talk," she told the owner. "Does he have a mirror?" asked the owner. "Parrots love mirrors. They see themselves and start up a conversation." So the woman bought the mirror. Next day she returned. The bird still wasn't talking. "How about a ladder? Parrots love walking up and down a ladder. A happy parrot is more likely to talk." The woman bought a ladder. Sure enough, she was back the next day; the bird still was not talking. "Does your parrot have a swing? If not, that's the problem. He'll relax and talk up a storm." The woman reluctantly bought a swing and left. When she walked into the store the next day her countenance had changed. "The parrot died," she said. The pet store owner was shocked. "I'm so sorry. Tell me, did he ever say a word?" he asked. "Yes, right before he died," the woman replied. "He said, 'Don't they sell any food at that pet store?'" The moral of this story is: You can spend your life on mirrors, focusing on appearance; on ladders, focusing on career success; on swings, focusing on entertainment and starve to death spiritually if you don't feed yourself on God's Word each day! Jeremiah said, "Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart."

Hiking

2010-02-20T09:31:00.000-08:00

LP has been wanting me for a long time now to blog about his hiking adventure that he went on with his Dad! So now this is ALL from him:

A couple of weeks ago my Dad took me hiking at a ranch that the Indians used to live at. We saw lots of different things like: gophers, deers, and the ocean with a ton of seals playing in the waves. We found lots of different benches that people made on the trail so that you can rest. We brought lots of stuff with us like: Life water, extra pairs of socks( I played in the mud, but my socks did not get wet, because I had on my rain boots), different change of clothes and snacks (bananas, applesauce). After the hiking trail we were hungry from all the walking, climbing up the steep hills, running and skipping, my Dad knew of a place that had good burgers, but when we got there and ordered our burgers the cashier said that they only take cash, not debit, so we had to go to the deli there instead. We had to get hot-dogs, but they were really good...

Daily devotions 12Th

2010-02-12T10:53:00.000-08:00

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne." Isa.6:1 NIV

God is still on the throne!

The Bible says that in the end times certain things will happen, like: (1) Wars, famines, and earthquakes (see Mt 24:6-7) For much of the world these things are now a daily reality. (2) Jesus said: "Many will come in MY name...and will deceive (Mt. 24:5 NKJV). In recent years we've seen the rise of false prophets claiming to speak for God. (3) Jesus also said: "You will be hated...for My names sake" (Mt 24:9NKJV). Christians are under attack worldwide in places like China, Sudan, Africa, Saudi Arabia and North Korea. (4) Jesus said: "This gospel...will be preached in all the world...the end will come" (Mt 24:14 NKJV) Technology is making this increasingly possible through print, TV, radio and the internet. (5) God said He would shake things up until only those things which cannot be shaken would remain (see Heb. 12:27). All around us corporate executives are caving in to greed while our financial security goes up in smoke. But take heart Child of God-when governments flounder and leaders fail, God STILL rules, His Word STILL stands, His plans are STILL being fulfilled. Isaiah wrote: "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted." That's all Isaiah needed to know, and its all YOU need to know too! God's not pacing the streets of heaven worrying about what's happening. He's still on the throne, so fix your eyes on Him and keep them THERE! Charles Spurgeon said, "God has promised to keep His people, and He will keep His promise."

Daily devotions 11th

2010-02-11T18:42:00.000-08:00

"You... tested us...refined us like silver...[and]...brought us to a place of abundance."
Ps.66:10-12 NIV

It's a test of faith

When Jesus explained the cost of following Him, some of his disciples walked away. Yet the impact of those who didn't is still felt in the world today. By the time they wrote their epistles, His apostles had learned to see every test in life as a chance to strengthen their faith and multiply their effectiveness.
Tests of faith are opportunities to surrender something of value to God, even when we have the right not to. IN a test of faith you'll feel assaulted and stretched by circumstances, yet not distant from God; tried by them, but not judged or guilty. The Psalmist writes: "For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver... you brought us to a place of abundance." A test of faith doesn't really test anything unless it pushes you beyond your last test-past what you've already proven! If you try to run or pull back each time you reach what seems like your limit, you'll never know how much you can trust God, the end result is never in doubt. If you're wondering today, "How much more can I take?" Listen to the words of Bishop J.C. Ryle: "This only we may be assured of, that if tomorrow brings a cross, He who sends it can and will send the grace to bear it." In God's kingdom it works like this: "Faith tested, character refined, abundance given."

Daily devotions

2010-02-10T08:47:00.000-08:00

I decided that I'm going to blog my daily devotions (hopefully) everyday... Every day when I read a devotion from my book, I feel like I should be writing them on here for "someone" to read, I don't know who, or if anyone?! BUT I will for as long as I feel like God wants me to.

Wednesday Feb.10th

"Jesus stooped down"

LIFT them!

Remember the woman "caught in the act" of adultery? The Pharisees stooped to pick up stones. Jesus stopped to pick her up. Which group are you in? You cant be choosy about who you help. Some of us think we should only help those who believe like we do. NO. "Uphold the weak, be patient with all" (1 Th 5:14 NKJV).
Theres a story about a guy who fell into a pit and couldnt get out: A subjective person came along and said, "I feel for you down there." An objective person came along and said, "Well, its logical somebody would fall down there." A Pharisee said, " Only bad people fall into pits." A judgmental Christian said, "You deserve your pit." A realist said, "Now thats a pit." A geologists told him to apprecitate the rock strata in the pit. A tax agent asked him if he was paying taxes on the pit. A self-pitying person said, "You havent seen anything until you've seen my pit." An optimist said, "Things could be worse." A pessimist said, "Things will get worse." Jesus, seeing the guy in the pit, reached down, took him by the hand and lifted him out of the pit.
Have you noticed how Jesus ends his famous parable about the Good Samaritan? "Go and do likewise" (Lk.10:37 NKJV). You have power to affect the lives of those around you. Your encouragement can be the difference-maker in someones day, week, or even life, sending them in a whole new direction. But its difficult to encourage people if you don't know what they need. So become a student of people. Learn what makes them tick, know what lifts them.

REALLY real!

2010-02-07T23:09:00.000-08:00

Lately LP has had a couple of nightmares, and it is horrible for him. They range from God taking P to heaven, to weird men in the house, we deal with it accordingly and he moves on and forgets them! SO anyways, this particular nightmare (a man in our bathroom) scared LP so much, he was NOT happy. We prayed again the next night that he would not think of this nightmare or even remember it. I told him (like I always do) that Jesus is with him and he does NOT have to be scared. He was not too happy and not wanting to sleep, so I told him to continue to pray while I was trying to put P down to sleep (right next to him in my bed, LP sleeps in his bed next to ours). I rubbed his head while he prayed, he told me it was not working:( I told him he just needed to continue and God would be here for him. Well he prayed and prayed. Then the next few nights he had not had any nightmares, we talked some more, he had some questions, questions that I know I have already told him the answers too, but I think as he gets older he is learning more and understanding more and wants to REALLY know God MORE. While in bed again, we prayed and talked about feeling Gods presence on/around him, he asked HOW do I feel him, and he cried (now remind you we have had several conversations/devotions about this), he said he wanted TO FEEL him and know he IS there and real. I told him GOD will answer this LP, you just ask him and while I sing (I sing worship songs to the boys EVERY single night until they are asleep) REALLY pray! He said he wanted to FEEL him FEEL him! Finally he was asleep.... A couple of days later (tonight), after praying, LP said "MOM, you are going to be SO HAPPY for me, remember how I said I wanted to feel GOD, well I DID!! The other night I was not completely sleeping yet when you left the room, and I was facing the wall with my bottom facing P's crib, and I felt God touch by my upper part of my leg. I know Mom this is funny, but I DID, I don't know why he picked that part but he DID, it was like this"... (he then described to me how it felt to him and exactly where God touched him!) He continued; " I was NOT scared, I just thought it was funny and was SO happy! "I think I can explain this, sometimes when we want something really bad, we have to pray, and I know it does not happen fast but it WILL, that is Gods way of testing us, like it wont happen right away all the time, but it will, just keep praying, God wants to see how much you really want it".
We laughed and I shared more with him, and he was REALLY excited, oh and SO WAS I!

I was thinking while he was explaining all of this, he has once before explained this to me a while back when he was sick, I cant remember exactly when, it was quite a while ago (and I WISH I would have written it down). Well anyways, he was NOT feeling well, and we prayed and prayed.. Every-time he woke up and was feeling really badly we prayed, and he would say WHY am I not better, we prayed? FINALLY he did get better and that is when he told me the same analogy: God is testing us to see how we will pray and how much we want it and then he WILL do it!!
Isn't he just the cutest thing EVER!! EVERY day my child reads his bible, he LOVES to talk about God, his word and lessons! I love you LP, you make my heart SING!

To the MOVIES!

2010-01-26T23:30:00.000-08:00

So last Saturday me and the boys ventured out to the movies! I have to admit I was a bit nervous, OR should I say a LOT nervous;) P has been to the movies MAYBE twice and each time was a nightmare! SO needless to say I decided to just go for it...
LP was REALLY excited to go, so was I (besides the fact of P being crazy in there). We got to the movie about 35 minutes EARLY (on purpose), went to the bathroom, then we got our HUGE bucket of pop-corn (the one with the REFILLS, VERY important, you will find out below). I picked up a tray and put some in for me with some extra seasons, P ended up liking mine too;) SO finally in there I set them up (you know wiped the arm rests) opened there candy, put there drinks in the cup holders, set there popcorn on there laps, THEN P decides he wants to get up DROPPING the popcorn (MINE, the one on the tray with MY SEASONING on it). Well then I decided since it was early enough I would go and get more pop-corn (since LP had almost finished more then half of what was left in his), told the kids DON'T MOVE, went and had it filled, RE-filled my tray with the seasoning:) THEN went back in, decided P could use a booster (since he decided he did NOT want to sit in his stroller OR my lap anymore). SO I went out and got a booster,WIPED it down and sat him in it,drink in holder, tray in his lap and candy in the little area on the booster to hold it! THEN LP decided WOW I want a booster too! I guess P looked real HIGH to him, so he wanted to be HIGHER! SO I went out got a booster for him WIPED it down and put his cup in the holder, gave him back his LARGE bucket and re-set his candy in the little holder. Then I set the stroller in the other isle right in front of us HOPING that now one would sit in front of the kids (and it worked!). The movie started and P sort of looked scared (BUT in a good way, it was dark and he was NOT moving)! After about 10 minutes or so P decided he was bored or tired, either way he wanted to nurse and lay down, SO I took the pop-corn from him, closed his candy, and nursed him AND GUESS WHAT?? He SLEPT for almost ALL the movie :)!!!!!!! It was nice, no craziness at ALL!! I'm SO GLAD WE WENT! The movie was PERFECT, I cant wait until it comes out on DVD, its a for sure purchase!
OH and NOW my little spy is EVEN MORE SURE he is going to be a spy when he is old enough:)

My b.day 32 years!!!!!!!!

2010-01-13T12:28:00.000-08:00

WOWIE! I'm 32, that is crazy to me, THIRTY- TWO! LP counted down the days until my b.day, he was SUPER excited about it, WAY more then me:) He, ON A DAILY basis tells me "Mom your THIRTY-TWO, and NEXT year you will be THIRTY-THREE"! KIDS!!
We had a really good relaxed day, the kids woke me up in the morning a little to early, they were playing there instruments for me DRUMS and FLUTES! They were making music for me to start my b.day off right;) Hmmm... Needless to say I was quite tired so we ALL took a nap for 2 1/2 hours, YIPPEE!! I needed it really bad.... When BP got home I got to open my gifts, a gorgeous locket (LP's idea, he wanted me to put a picture of Phillip in it, isn't that SO cute?!) and BP brought me home Sees candy (I have been TRYING to get that candy for months and every time we go to SLO they are CLOSED). YA ME, I was really excited! We all went to dinner at Big Bubbas (I eat free!), we got tater chips for an app., I ordered a VERY large dish; three beef ribs/two pork ribs/1/4 of chicken/baked potato/bread and fries, of course I did NOT eat it all, I shared with BOTH the boys (most of the meal was covered, $20 of it, we payed ONLY $4). BP got a grilled chicken sandwich with beans . They bring out a very large dessert, and we ALL shared it (and even had some left, that is how big it is!). LP rode the bull, he said it "damaged" him:) LOL!
Later we came home and watched a "G-force" and ate pop-corn, and stayed up WAY to late!
I had a wonderful birthday, treated like a Queen by all my boys :) Seriously LP will make a perfect husband when he gets married (his Dad is teaching him REALLY well)!! I love my family!!!!!!!

Thinking back....

2009-12-31T15:58:00.000-08:00

Little Paul was talking to me about going on our snow trip this year, he talks A LOT:) He asked me how many days are we going to be staying this year? I thought about it, and started to count the days off, Friday, Saturday, Sunday then we will go home on Monday. He told me that we were going to miss church:( Then he started to thinking back about our last trips to the snow, and he mentioned the one two years ago (when he was five) just talking about the cabin we stood in and what we did. He then said he remembered how he missed church then too, and how he MISSED HIS FIRST communion because it happened to be THAT Sunday!!!! HOW does he remember that? He is TOO funny, he told me that I talked to him about it and told him he would have to wait until the following month, than he could finally do it:)
I love his brain!

(Little Paul's first communion age 5 Easter Sunday 2008)

OH MY GOODNESS!

2009-12-28T23:00:00.001-08:00

WOW am I really really posting an update?!!??!! YES I am:) Its been over two months, TWO months since I last posted:( That really really really makes me sad, I did not journal my extremely interesting life. Well I had good intentions, yes I did, but I guess I'm not disciplined enough or I just feel like I have so much to write about and if I miss a day or an event I just keep thinking I will one day update and I never do (oh the perfectionist in me)! Well I am saying it again, I'm going to start to update my blog/journal from now on ;) Really I am going to.... Even if its just pictures and a few words, I love re-reading my own blog, and I am finding out that people really missed me on here, they just barely mentioned to me that they read my blog! IMAGINE THAT...
All about my my days of Christmas, long but wonderful! Christmas eve day we went over to my in-laws and had lunch, opened WAY to many presents; seriously my kids were showered in gifts! After we loaded the TWO trash bags full of toys we headed over to Peach's house and ate dinner (I felt like all I did was eat over these days). Christmas morning we got up and opened all our gifts, the kids were so cute with all there comments and excitement, I love it! We watched the Disney parade for a bit, played some, and then went over to Peachie's again, opened MORE presents, ate prime rib dinner (pigged out)! Later that eve. we went over to Olivia's house and opened MORE:) ATE dessert NOT dinner again:) It was a late night, but good, I'm so glad my family is close enough to be together for the Holidays, and we don't have to travel too far! BTW: I am posting LOTS of pictures on my FB account (its much easier to post on there then one by one on here), I really don't go on my my-space anymore, and I rarely post pictures there, so here is the link for my pictures (cuzz I KNOW you will all WANT TO SEE THEM, there are LOTS of new pics of the baby!):)

PANDA

2009-10-07T23:20:00.000-07:00

Today I was reading to Preston some of his little board books, he was pointing to each thing in the book. He says Hmm? for each thing and I tell him what each one is, cat/dog/horse/car etc. Well in one of the books we were reading had a Panda bear, he pointed to it and I said "Panda Bear" he said Hmm? I said "Panda Bear" AGAIN AND AGAIN, he keeps saying Hmmm? Then he finally said "NO, Nummies" I said "NO PANDA BEAR" he said "NO NUMMIES" ???????????????????????? OH THEN I FINALLY got it, he was referring to "PANDA EXPRESS"!!!!!!!! HOW smart is he?!!! LOL!

CLICK/VISIT away!!

2009-09-10T00:39:00.001-07:00

This could win me $500 bucks, PLEASE click it for me a ton, tell your friends ALL YOUR family! :) Its good GREAT stuff, I always use Purex!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU!
Here is the link:

http://www.thissheetworks.com/leona_williams

PUREX INSIDER:)

2009-09-10T00:32:00.001-07:00

Here it is!!!! I am an official "Insider"....

Yet another day (Saturday)

2009-09-05T23:44:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Morro Bay to escape the heat (even though it WAS NOT hot today, go figure)! We went to eat with my mom and Kyler at Chapalas restaurant and had some OKAY food. After that we went and watched BP launch on his Kayak on the bay, the kids played for a while by the rocks. While BP was out on the water we then went over to Dorn's to catch one of the many Trolleys (just for fun), we took the one that takes you to the North end of MB. It was fun and of course the kids had fun ringing the bell:)
After a long ride we went back to Dorn's and got some fried artichoke hearts and clam chowder with fresh warm sourdough bread, YUMMY. We met back to my moms shop, PLANNING on cutting the guys hair BUT I was just to tuckered out and had a stupid headache. So we decided to come home... On our way home on the Hwy.41 coming around one of the sharp turns, I was startled AWAKE ( I was dozing off) to BP loudly saying something like "OMG" and swerving OFF to the side of the rode (NOT many "turn offs" on that rode, THANK GOD there was one), as he bumped off to the side I look to see that a car was crashing into the side of the mountain! Apparently BP said as he came around the corner the car was flipping and swerving around and that is when he QUICKLY turned off to the side as it was coming toward us! Immediately we (and every other person in the other cars) acted really fast, BP jumped out of the car and ran over to the guy, I looked back at the kids (of course) and jumped out of the car and called 911 (THANKFULLY my phone ALWAYS has reception EVEN in the mountains!). Seriously everyone at this scene seemed to act SO quickly, there was THANKFULLY two men (in separate cars) that were retired Firefighters, one jumped out and stopped the traffic, mind you this wrecked car is in one lane (in a two way), and his rear end is in the other with A TON of glass/stuff/parts from his car etc. all over the place, so cars are coming around the corner from BOTH ends to a SUDDEN halt, because of the blind spot, so there was screeching and LOTS of slamming on brakes! VERY scary:( Thankfully this other older man quickly grabbed a broom from his truck (of course he had a broom):) and started sweeping all the debris off to the side as another guy started PICKING up pieces of the car and junk off that part of the road so to getting the traffic moving in one lane. The guy was all shook up of course, BP stayed talking to him, making sure he was alright (he had a bloody arm/hand, but seemed fine), he was telling BP that he was REALLY upset because he was driving on a suspended licenses (OOPS)! Well finally after awhile a Sheriff came.... It was really a scary thing, we THANK GOD for everyone's safety, it could have been MUCH worse. Thank GOD for my hubby who DOES NOT "tailgate" other cars, and has a VERY quick reaction.... Could you imagine IF he was following the car in front of him too closely, as the other car SLAMMED on his brakes (we were behind this car who was behind the car wrecking).
I thank GOD, I thank GOD for the BLOOD OF JESUS, for safety/shelter/shield!
Well after all the excitement we were just about to Atascadero when P. started choking on his spit (he was sleeping, hate it when that happens), so we pulled on over to the ZOO parking lot and I took him out of his car-seat and he threw up, BLAH, and then he nursed and was fine:) FINALLY we got home to a REALLY gorgeous evening and took the bunny out to play in the back yard while ALL the boys played soccer:) By this time we were ALL so hungry, so we went and got a pizza and drove to San Miguel to take my sister and BIL my "NEW TO ME" laptop to "clean up".
THEE END!
Was this a good day? YES:)

LP's performance in church

2009-09-04T12:53:00.001-07:00

This is WAY overdue! I'm not even sure when he did it:)
BUT here it is....

I AM spoiled (AND thankful!)

2009-09-04T12:30:00.001-07:00

This happens OFTEN in my house... BP helps me out with MY chores for me, he WANTS to help me (isn't that wonderful)!! Most of the time he will surprise me with a clean kitchen, vac./sweep, and trash thrown (that is his job to throw the trash, BUT I don't have to even say it). These particular pictures are from an evening that we came in late to dirty dinner dishes (that I did not do because we were in a rush out that night). He knew it was late, AND I was tired (so was he), but he did it just for ME:) I HAD to take a picture to brag on him;)

WOOHOO!!

Trash thrown, and kitchen shinning!

c

Even my cookie sheet is "soaking" (with a wet rag on it):)

Also wanted to share pictures of my (BP's) bathroom.
Those photos on the wall are BP's (click to enlarge)

BIke ride (Friday)

2009-08-28T23:17:00.000-07:00

(LP trying to keep up without sinking in the sand)

We are strong riders:)

(heres BP with all the gear, he has LP's bike too)

Today we went over to the beach (Morro Bay) to go on a ride, it was SO warm there, NOT usual for Morro Bay. It was a crazy day just TRYING to get over there; First off we went to go and get a few screws for the seat (the seat did not come with hardware), waited in the car for BP (which seemed like a half an hour) the clerk was lame, BP was supposed to write down each screw size himself that he was buying (NOT normal, he said usually they have a size chart they go by) SO he had to go back and write down EACH one, DUMB! After he FINALLY came back to the car, he said that there was a fire!! It was RIGHT by where we were, like next door to the building on a mountain! So we of course WANTED to see it, drove about a block and there it was! We watched it for a while and took some pictures. Then we decided that well it was past lunch time so we had better get the kids some food, SO we went over to TB (which was right there), BUT they were closed due to the fire (there electricity was out). AHHHHHHHHHH, so we decided to go to a deli a couple miles away to get some corn dogs, they only had TWO (not four), BOOHOO! BP got us fried burrito's BLAH!BARF! I did not eat mine! Finally we headed over to the beach, BP unloaded the bikes, AND the new seat and started to mount it on his bike, WELL IT DID NOT FIT right!!!!! BOOHOOO AGAIN, we had to load the KIDS, AND the BIKES back in the car and go back to the store to get some more screws! AGAIN he went in (which seemed like a YEAR)!! FINALLY we went back to the beach and unloaded once again, and this time the seat mounted beautifully! Helmets on, kid in tow, back pack and we were set to go on our ride.... OH but wait, we had to walk our bikes DOWN to the hard sand part of the beach, EASY?? NO HARD!! Especially with LP's bike, we now have a nickname for it "TANK"!!! This was such a sight to see, BP was dragging his bike with P on it, AND carrying "TANK" on his bike too, OH AND the back pack:) I was of course dragging my own bike!! FINALLY we made it down to the water (hard sand, NOT quick sand). LOL this was really another sight to see, LP trying to ride "TANK" in the sand, it was SO sad for him:( EVEN I was having a hard time, I wonder if the sand was just EXTRA soft today just for us:)!!! We really did LAUGH OUT LOUD! It was so funny!! FINALLY BP had an idea that we TRY and ride a ways down the beach over to another part where we could WALK BACK UP THE SOFT SAND and go back to the streets where there is a little community called "The Cloisters", this has a really nice bike path and neighborhood sidewalks, park AND bathroom (cause you know by now EVERYONE had to go). We headed down the beach (WELL falling, getting wet etc.) Finally coming to the point where we had to walk up the soft sand area, AHHHHHHHHHHHHH LOL! This was crazy, I wore SANDALS (the sand was BOILING, and I kept slipping;)) POOR BP though, he once again DRAGGED his bike with P on it and carried the backpack AND LP's bike (its a good thing he is STRONG)!!! WE THEN MADE it there, YA!! We got on the path and rode like champs, ALL over the place! The houses are gorgeous there (of course right on the beach), we took the paths, went to the bathroom, and even decided to take a DIRT path with lots of bumps. LP did SO SO SO GOOD (for his FIRST ever official bike ride). WE are so proud of him, he lasted the whole time and did not give up ONE time OR get irritated. We then ended our ride, going along the lower side of the freeway (NOT next to it) there was a bike path that we took all the way back to the car (cutting through the high school). We were NOT going to go back on the beach and ride back that way, OH THE HORROR!! :)

WE DID have a BLAST, it was just FUNNY how all the events took place:) We now decided that LP needs a new bike AND some biking gloves, seriously his little hands were SO SO red and raw by the end of the ride. AND I need to wear tennis shoes next time EVEN if we go to the beach:) All and all I think we rode for almost two hours!
After that we went and picked up my mom and we went and had a much NEEDED dinner at a really yummy restaurant (WE WERE REALLY HUNGRY), mom and I had shrimp and chips, LP and P had fish and chips (they were SO good), and BP had a cheeseburger (of course). We sat on the patio which is right over the water, and just rested (it was gorgeous out). After we walked along the waterfront to the candy store, but it was closed, so we walked back down the other direction and made it to another candy store and got a cinnamon roll and rock candy.
Before we headed home, we stopped and cut the guys hair, and that was the end of MY day:)

Camping

2009-08-28T22:22:00.000-07:00

To further celebrate BP's b.day we went over to Morro Bay to camp for the night. We went early Saturday morning and ran around and did a ton of stuff before we went over to our site to set up (about noon). We had the same site that we had last year, its our (MY) favorite one, its right across from the bathroom:) This time I decided that I would like to sleep in the back of my car, REALLY, it "sounded" fun???!!! So BP still decided to set up my BIG tent , he set up another smaller one for Shawn. Later on Peachy, John and Jordan came to play, BUT not to stay over though (not prego mama, they just stood at my mom/dads house). My mom came, and some friends also came to veg out with us and eat, we hung out ALL afternoon, the kids got WAY to dirty, we BBQ a ton of food, and vegged out:)
AND yes I did end up sleeping in the car with the boys, it was OKAY but not to comfortable. We were definitely warm, and NOT cold like usually in our tent, but it was hard on my back (NO air mattress in there). On Sunday we got up WAY to early (before 6) goofed off for awhile before we headed over to Mayas for breakfast (HEY I'm on vacation here).. YUMMY it was good, AND I did not have to clean up the mess;) After we went over to the beach so the kids could play some more, AND we could rest.
The weekend was great, BUT we were REALLY tired afterward:)
Im not going to post all my pictures here, WAY to many, but eventually I will get them posted SOMEWHERE (maybe Facebook or Myspace?)

Pain....

2009-08-19T20:15:00.001-07:00

(Posted by a friend)

"A wife who loses her husband is called a widow. A husband who loses his wife is called a widower. A child who loses their parents is called an orphan. There is no word for a parent who loses a child... That's how awful the loss is." ~Jay Neugeboren

Birthday Boy!

2009-08-18T23:34:00.000-07:00

CLICK THE PICTURE TO MAKE IT LARGE:)

Today was B.P.'s b.day! The kids and I left the house to do some shopping right around the time he was expected home, pre-planned so that he could get a nice nap:) We picked him up when he was ready, and went to eat dinner at Big Bubbas. We had a really nice dinner together, the kids loved it (all the dancing/bull ridin', annimated GIANT Buffalo head, AND even the fish pond!). LP even rode the bull, BUT we did not get any pictures of him (I forgot the camera) he did really good!
We tried to give BP the best B.day, because he is the best Dad and hub. This weekend we will extend the fun with camping (of course BP's favorite thing to do).
Thanks B.P for just being YOU, you are the best in the world, I hope you had a perfect evening out with us!!!!

Picture updates!

2009-08-17T12:01:00.001-07:00

So instead of TRYING to update on each event that has taken place over the last few months, I thought I would try (just for me:)) do a "out of order" picture update;
On Memorial day we went over to the memorial service at the Los Osos cemetery. It was great to go to that, we watched war planes fly by, helicopter landing and taking off, sky divers, and of course the service, followed by a great FREE lunch (Tri-tip). After we went over to "art in the park", walked around and looked at ART:) Later we went over to the beach and played!
Little Paul has gone through some belts in Little Dragons, he is now a PURPLE belt!! He is doing so good, he loves it. He also started the 5:00 class (the more advanced class), he already is doing good, but he would rather "play" in the Dragons class:) That's fine by me, hes a kid, its his class!
In June Little Paul graduated from First grade:) They had a little promotion ceremony for the kids, it was so cute. I have other pictures of him holding his certificate, BUT they will not load? WE were SO proud (SO WAS HE)!
For the 4th of July we went over to the beach to see the sand castles/parade, then later we went to the in-laws for a BBQ. Then that night we went to Barney Schwartz park to see the fire works!! Lastly we ended our night VERY late at sister Olivia's to do some FIREWORKS!!! The kids had a blast!

I don't have many pictures from the fair:( BUT we did go three times,the kids rode rides and we ate some good fair food:) We shopped, played games, LOVED the goats, watched the pig races, watched a concert (Naked brothers band), and watched Jordan perform. We had fun every-time we went, and stayed just about until they closed, the kids did PERFECTLY!

NOW we finally got our little bunny home, he is almost 7 weeks, but we were able to bring him home a little early:) HE is so cute, he is a really good little guy! Bugzy is his name, isn't that the cutest??!! He is at the moment living in his HUGE cage in the living room on our side table under a window, I'm not sure I like that area (does not go to well with my decor).
So that's the best I can do for me, to get some of the details down (I guess I happy now about that)!!
HOPEFULLY SOON, I will get better at JUST posting, even if it does NOT have pics.!

No pictures:(

2009-07-28T23:37:00.000-07:00

I still have not figured a way to be able to put more pictures in my computer, I have no more room:( In fact I am really frustrated, I went and made a couple of those CD things at Target, BUT for some reason my videos did not upload? I will have to ask around and see why this did not work out? But anyways, I wanted to post some pictures, and share about it (for the memory) but I don't want to unless I have the proper photos (that's a perfectionist here).
Ive missed out on taking pictures (no more room on either of the cards): two fair days, pool fun at my sisters, beach days AND much more:( I think I will just go and get another card (they are not to pricey compared to more storage for my computer).
Until then, I think I will just update some of my pictures on my myspace page, BUT I just love to come back to my blog and read about fun stuff we do:) oh well!

I really just need to make the time and MAKE myself come on here and blog about each of my days, at least for my sake, even if they are lacking pictures:)

Getting ready!

2009-07-26T22:13:00.000-07:00

So we finally decided on a pet for our family, a Mini Rex Rabbit. We did some research, and looked at many rabbits, and fell in love:) We visited the best place on the planet, I HIGHLY recommend them to anyone that wants to adopt a WABBIT. We had so much fun going over and playing with the rabbits, we had a lot of variety to choose from. The rabbits are up in the loft of this huge ole' barn, this was NOT me at all, but I did it, and it was so much fun! I cant wait to bring our little guy home, he is such a cutie. We are almost ready for him, we got a really large cage for him, a litter pan (YES they are potty trained), some food and treats and a water thing, now all we need to get is the bedding and hay!
He is ready to come home about Aug.11Th, but we will be out of town for our family reunion on the 8Th, so SOON after that we will have him home:) YEAH!!!

This is not our rabbit, but VERY close;)

MIA AGAIN!! Im back!

2009-07-23T23:24:00.000-07:00

What is going on with me:) WHY have I not made one stinkin' blog post in almost two months!!? Well I was not motivated enough, due to the fact that my computer is annoying me (its running SLOW again). So frustrating to me, so sad to me:( BUT I THINK I'm back at it? I think I might have to back track a TON but oh well, it works... I also am in need of some MORE free space on my computer for ALL my millions of pictures I take, that's another story. So for now we will see if I get all my blog posts up to date?

WARNING!

2009-05-27T01:25:00.000-07:00

So Saturday started out to be a nice day, I was on my way over to the Arts festival to see Jordan perform once again. I was driving around and around the "down town" area trying to find a parking. I passed the Library multiple times (each time waving at Bro-in-law John), and back around the park and so on. There were tons of people coming and going, so I was sure I could find a parking close enough so that I did not have to take with me all my stuff (Preston's diapers/sweaters etc. I usually don't mind parking far away, it sometimes is nice walking a bit to your destination, but this particular day, I did not feel like caring around all his junk BUT I wish I did). Well on my attempt to go around the block again, I see a Police officer coming toward me on motorcycle, I looked at him (we made eye contact) AND HE TURNED AROUND!!!!!!!!! I JUST KNEW IT! He was going to pull me over! WHAT FOR? Well as I pulled over, he had his lights on, he came over and asked me "license, registration and insurance" EWWW NOT even a "hello"!! I started to pull out my junk, and asked him WHY he pulled me over????????? He said "WELL, your seat belt was under your armpit" WHAT??? I was SHOCKED! MY ARMPIT!????? I literally asked him if he was serious or not, he was, and he was not humored by my shock either. He continued on by explaining to me that they are really getting strict about the seat belt law "Click it or ticket" and have ZERO tolerance (so NO chance at letting me go) AND wearing your seat belt the "wrong" way is the same thing as NOT wearing it at all! So he gave me the ticket and I asked him how much do tickets like this cost, he said they are about $130 BUCKS! I told him that I WILL be at COURT, he said they could give me a payment plan there. I told him, NO I will be fighting it! He did seem not happy about the me showing up for court, and he tried to change the subject and chat about the economy and payment plans, LOL! OH well!

So after my mom took me to lunch at Chilis with a friend and the kiddos, I was MAD~ so I did a "little" shopping too:)

Paul's Grandpa

2009-05-23T00:05:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday we left our house about 6PM and headed down to Riverside for Grandpa Joe's memorial service. We got to our Hotel about midnight, which we did NOT like (it was not to MY liking). Paul was my hero:) HE went and TOLD them that his wife did NOT like the room OR the area and that he wanted his money back (not to charge his card) and that we would be leaving! YEAH!! I was thrilled when we arrived at our next room at almost 1 in the morning, it was so NICE! LP and I jumped around the room and hugged BP and thanked him for our much nicer room. The kids were delirious by this time, they jumped on the beds while I unpacked there P.J.'s, and finally we all settled in about 2 AM. We slept in a bit on Thursday since we did not have to be at the cemetery until 1:00. We had breakfast at our Hotel (it was a full waffle bar) so that worked out perfect for us, we all like waffles (AND it was FREE).

The service started at 1:30, so we got there a bit early and was able to visit with BP's family before it started. The service was really nice, BPs dad did most of it, and then it ended with people sharing about different memories. It was a really nice afternoon, the weather was just perfect, and the area was really pretty with all the pretty landscape. After the service we went over to BPs Aunts house for lunch and visited and relaxed. We headed home at about 8PM (a little late, but it was okay), we did not get home until about 1:30 AM!

Paul was very close to his Grandpa, his Grandpa lived with them for some time when they were younger and then Paul lived with him for awhile as a young adult. Paul has a lot of good memories of his Grandpa Joe, and plenty of stories to share with his own boys.... Paul will miss him very much:(

Weekend time

2009-05-22T23:32:00.000-07:00

So I forgot to post about our weekend:) This is going to be quick, I just have been so crazy busy, but I don't want to miss out on any of my memories!

Friday: Went to Isaiah's school to watch him in his "Jog-A-Thon". He did so good, he would run REAL fast when he came around in front of us:) We sat and had lunch with him in the cafeteria with all his buddies (they were so funny) a table full of BOYS!

Saturday: Haircuts for my boys in Morro Bay, beach day fun, then Paul and I went to dinner ALONE @ Tahoe Joe's and after went to Borders.

Sunday: Church/lunch/nap RELAXATION!

Isaiah won a "school shirt"!

Isaiah's fan club

Going for a ride with Papa

Buckle-up for safety:)

They went FAST, they beat me to Olivia's!!

My (Mothers day) weekend

2009-05-13T23:06:00.001-07:00

Well this is a little late, but better late then never!

Friday we had a full day of running around, then later my brother brought over my nephew Kyler (to spend the night with us), we all went to the store to pick out some treats for everyone (we were going over to Olivia's). BP waited in the car with the boys while I went in with every ones request, I came out with: Pizza, Oreo cookies, Pepsi, Dr.Pepper, Sprite, banana cream pie, Lemon meringue pie, chocolate cake, 10 mini Ben and Jerry's ice cream cups, carton of Rocky road ice cream, and chips= VERY hyper kids but VERY happy:)

We hung out at Olivia's, the kids played and ate! We came home about 11:30, and I knew that Kyler and LP would not be sleeping any time soon, so they all had there baths, then I put P. to sleep while K and LP played until almost FOUR in the morning:) They were SO funny, by about 2am they were just cracking up FOR NO REASON, they made me laugh (and it made me remember when I was a kid). I myself just caught up with some over due emails, and shopped around online!! BP and P slept through it all, party poopers!! LOL!!

Early the next morning (WAY TO EARLY) I got up to make some breakfast for the kids, BP had to work:( SO it was just me and the boys, and a nice breakfast spread! The kids played some more, Kyler left about 10:15 because he had Karate class (POOR TIRED KID), then the boys and I took a NAP:)

Later when BP got home we did some Moms day shopping and came home and lounged around outside.

Sunday we went to my moms church in Morro Bay (I use to go to this church way back when for quite a long time, so it was a FLASH BACK to be in there again). This church is really different from mine though, Whats so different you ask? Well lets just say I was sipping on hot chocolate while I sat and listened to the message:) We got to visit and picked out cookies/donuts/coffee etc. before the Pastor preached. It was a great Love message, for us to understand the love God has for us. As Moms we know how much we love our children, well GOD loves us even more! AND I REALLY enjoyed it! It was really kick back, it was fun, and I'm glad I went to be with my mom. After we went to eat at a Mexican restaurant at Cayucos beach, GORGEOUS weather AND yummy food! After we ate we went to do some SHOPPING!! WHOOP!! Fun!! We walked down town, hit up the Cold Stone and all the good stores then ended our shopping day at Old Navy.
We came home and enjoyed some MUCH needed rest:)

It was a good weekend!

(Here they are sleeping with my satin blanket!!)

THE SUN IS IN OUR EYES:) Not the best picture, but its cute, and we are together!

I received some really nice gifts (flowers/clothes etc.), one that I really wanted was a purse (I LOVE IT), but this is what BP did for me AGAIN:) He did a wonderful job... I need to set everything up (pictures, candle holders etc.) but it looks so NICE! This is an accent wall in my living room, right next to the kitchen.

Yet another!!

2009-05-09T22:35:00.000-07:00

Thank you Carol!!

The Cord

We are connected,

My child and I,

By an invisible cord

Not seen by the eye.

It's not like the cord

That connects us 'tilbirth,

This cord can't be seen

By any on earth.

This cord does its work

Right from the start,

It bonds us together,

Attached at the heart.

I know that it's there

Though no one can see

The invisible cord

From my child to me.

The strength of this cord,

Is hard to describe,

It can't be destroyed,

It can't be denied.

It's stronger than any cord

Man could create.

It withstands the test,

Can hold any weight.

And though you are gone,

Though you're not here withme,

The cord is still there,

But no one can see.

It pulls at my heart,

I am bruised...

I am sore.

But this cord is my lifeline

As never before.

I am thankful that GodConnects us this way,

A parent and a child--Death can't take it away!

Terri Apostolakos

Happy Mothers day card

2009-05-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

Thank you Frannie (Angel Mindis mom)

Happy Mothers Day Mommy, from your special angel above.I want to say Mommy,Thank You,for your unconditional love.
I am so sorry Mommy, that I had to leave you here on earth. You took such good care of me Mommy, ever since my birth.
Please Mommy, it hurts me, to see you sad and cry. I really am happy Mommy and the prettiest angel in the sky.
I am still here Mommy, in everything you see and do. I am the sun shining in the sky when it is ever so blue.
I am the birds singing in the light of an early dawn. I am the smell of Daddys freshly mowed lawn.
I am the sound of raindrops, on your window pane. I am the rainbow, at the end of the rain.
I am the butterfly fluttering by with delicate ease. I am the sound of wind blowing through the trees.
I am the ladybug, found walking your arm one time in May. I am here Mommy, thinking of you, on Mothers Day.

My weekend

2009-05-04T21:16:00.000-07:00

I think since I always seem to be writing about my weekends, I will just title the posts "my Saturday" OR "My weekend" and stuff like that:) Its hard for me to come up with a title when I'm posting, I don't know why?

Friday: Story time for Preston (this was his second official class) he did good the first time as well as this time too, he thinks he is so big! After the kids and I went over to Target and had yucky pizza, then walked to Fashion Bug, Ross (L.P wanted a new blanket, a FLUFFY one he said), Michael's back to the car (because I forgot my coupon) and back to Michael's OH AND BACK to Ross (I forgot something). We headed home and stopped by Taco Bell (I know GROSS, all this "fast food", but L.P. was not eating good in the last week and lost a little bit of weight, SO he picked this days food-just a few of his FAVORITE CHEAPER foods ) We then went over to cut Dajas hair:) Came home to B.P laying out a NEW piece of carpet we got FREE from Craig's list (we love our garage, yes we do!) The kids flipped around on the rug:) and L.P played with his neighbor friends, and the rest of the night was a relaxing one! So for Saturday (B.P's FIRST Saturday OFF in a LONG TIME!! WOOOHOO): we left early and ran some errands (one which I did NOT know about, Paul took me to pick out a paint color for my kitchen!). After that we went to eat a quick lunch and headed over to Morro Bay for the car show. We walked around for a long time:) REALLY LONG TIME:) I don't mind car shows, but I'm not to interested in the cars, but B.P and L.P are, I just love to shop at the vender's (this show did not have to many though:( After we had ice-cream at Fosters then went over to my moms shop so I could cut the boys hair AGAIN!

We came home and relaxed in the garage a bit (we do this often, its like our family room, NO joke, I will post pictures of my garage someday with its new carpet). Put the kids to bed AND B.P started painting my KITCHEN FOR ME:) We did not get home until like 7pm and he started painting at 8:30pm!! HES SO NICE TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had told him I would like my kitchen painted a new color, so he did it:) YA ME!!

Sunday: Church, lunch, Trader Joe's, Wal-mart, home to play ALL afternoon in the wonderful weather! My Mom and Dad came over to visit with us, B.P. and my Dad talked "shop" (way to much) half the time laying under my dads ole' car! Mom and I just sat around outside with the kids and L.P two little friends. And that was my weekend:)

Is there a bee in my hair?? WHY do they always bug me?

L.P's fav. car!

Here's B.P painting, I love the color! The other pictures (below) I'm ONLY showing you the top part of my Kitchen, SINCE I took these with DISHES on the counter (CAN'T ruin the pictures you know!?!?!)..... I know OCD!

In the pictures below are B.P's photos that I matted and framed, gorgeous huh?

My Saturday

2009-04-25T22:34:00.000-07:00

I just can not believe another Saturday was here and now its gone, CRAZY!

Today the boys and I got up really early and headed over to the Paso Hot springs to see my nephew Kyler do a Karate Demo. It was so so neat, I really enjoyed it! He is really good at what he does, and the "stunts" suit his personality really well. He is such a up beat kid!

After the demo we rushed down to SLO to the Autism walk there at the Mission. We did not participate in the walk, but we did look at the informational booths, which was really interesting stuff. Jordan was performing THREE dances (the last dance is one that they JUST started working on, and the teacher decided at the last minute THE NIGHT before that they would do it, so Peachy was "fixing up" a costume at 8 at night, I think they BOTH did well) (just so you know "Simon" got scared off and ran away:)). It was so much fun to see her do her dances, she does REALLY good!

After that we walked downtown to have lunch at Mothers Tavern, I had a really good portabella mushroom cap/feta cheese/tomato/spinach veggie "burger", that's what they called it! We then walked over to have some frozen yogurt. Mom and I (and the boys) went to Old Navy, and "I" shopped while LP and mom colored at a table they had for the "non shoppers":P Preston slept the whole time I was shopping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) SO needless to say I actually was able to THINK and buy myself some good stuff! Then went over to Costco, my mom drove over while I nursed P in the back seat;) Our plan was to walk, but it worked out better this way.

Came home to a really nice sunny evening, BP was home by then and just had bought a new weed eater (HE WAS THRILLED, he wanted me to take a picture of him hugging it):) So he did some yard work with LP and P and I cleaned/organized my car. We ended the evening outside with some of our neighborhood kids, LP and P running around the garage and the front, TO THE BACK YARD until they drove me nuts, and it was time to FINALLY call it a day (about 8pm). Kids to BED:)

Im a proud Aunt, can you tell!??!! Here's the videos of the kids today....

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

WAR paint!!

2009-04-23T23:07:00.000-07:00

This is what goes on when I "take five" to go and shower!! I cracked up so hard when I saw this, how could you NOT! AND they were so serious about it too, LP said that they NEEDED this on there face, REALLY?!!!:) LOL!!

I love that they can play together and entertain each other so well, especially since they are five years apart... BUT who could tell?! P. is so grown up for his age, it scares me a little;) Although he does still "want" to be a baby at times, but he also is a "big" boy too... Enjoy!

Family.....

2009-04-22T10:25:00.000-07:00

Thanks "cousin BIFF"!!!
F A M I L Y
I ran into a stranger as he passed by, 'Oh excuse me please' was my reply. He said, 'Please excuse me too; I wasn't watching for you.' We were very polite, this stranger and I.. We went on our way and we said goodbye. But at home a different story is told, How we treat our loved ones, young and old. Later that day, cooking the evening meal, My son stood beside me very still. When I turned, I nearly knocked him down. 'Move out of the way,' I said with a frown. He walked away, his little heart broken. I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken. While I lay awake in bed, God's still small voice came to me and said, 'While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use, but the family you love, you seem to abuse. Go and look on the kitchen floor, You'll find some flowers there by the door. Those are the flowers he brought for you. He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue. He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise, you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes.' By this time, I felt very small, And now my tears began to fall. I quietly went and knelt by his bed; 'Wake up, little one, wake up,' I said. 'Are these the flowers you picked for me?' He smiled, 'I found 'em, out by the tree. I picked 'em because they're pretty like you. I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue.' I said, 'Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today; I shouldn't have yelled at you that way.' He said, 'Oh, Mom, that's okay. I love you anyway.' I said, 'Son, I love you too, and I do like the flowers, especially the blue.' FAMILY Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than into our own family, an unwise investment indeed, don't you think? So what is behind the story? Do you know what the word FAMILY means?
FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU

He does NOT need any music, he makes it!

2009-04-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

This is Preston when you give him an instrument, or he hears music (ANY KIND OF MUSIC)! Notice in here how he bangs the tambourine on his hip (WHO taught him that?) AND how he tries to snap:) HE is just to cute, I had to record him doing this so I can share it with all of you....

Sunday fun!

2009-04-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

WOW another post, Im good!!!

So on Sunday we went to church (like always), then ate at the Templeton Deli (like always), then headed over to Wal-mart to pick up a "Shop vac" (since ours blew) and of course LOTS of other stuff we just NEEDED:). We had to be at the Karate school for L.P to take group pictures, it was SO hot in there (it was like 90 outside AND 190 inside), SO annoying! After that we went home and picked up some extra clothes and the car wash stuff and then headed to Morro Bay. IT was gorgeous there (much cooler then here, but still about 78). We met my mom at the shop and I cut all of the boys hair, quickly:) THEN we went down to the water front and took a long walk to the beach. After that we went to dinner at a very yummy seafood restaurant "Dockside", I had my regular of clam chowder and coleslaw, mom had shrimp and chips and the guys had fish and chips.

To end our day we came home to wait for a guy that had been working on our lawn mower. I posted an ad on Craigslist to see if anyone would work/fix our mower for CHEAP, and we got a few people respond P and I both agreed that this guy sounded the best. HE PICKED up our mower on Saturday NIGHT at about 9pm (when P was ready for him to come), and had it ready for us Sunday night (when WE were ready for him, he had it ready EARLIER that day but we were obviously not home) and HE brought it to US at about 9:30pm when WE got home!!!!!! AND he only charged us $35!!!!!!! HOW cool is that?!! He was really nice, and did a ton of extras that we did not even ask for. So B.P decided he wanted to give him more money, and when the guy was leaving I guess he counted his money on the way to the car and yelled for P. and said that he had given him to much money, WOW HOW HONEST! God truly blessed us!

Paso Palooza!!

2009-04-18T22:59:00.000-07:00

This morning the kids and I (B.P had/got to work yet another Saturday), so we went over to the fair grounds. We walked around and stopped at some of the booths that interested us; the first one L.P made a noodle necklace, and I made a noodle bracelet for Preston, next we entered a Mary Kay raffle HOPING I win:) then over to the Library booth where BOTH the boys won a book. It was a really nice box of books that L.P was allowed to choose from, he chose two Scholastic books for 2ND level readers, one was about our solar system and the other (for brother) was an adventure of two twin babies:) (he said he will read them for Preston). Next over to do a craft from a local church, L.P traced his hand and made a lamb (REALLY cute). We did a few more booths, then went over to the "entertainment", we snacked on popcorn/snow cones and watched the performers (singing). IT was fun! THEN finally Jordan performed a really cute dance (that I DID NOT get:(, but PLAN on getting it from Peachy), then we watched some more dancers and lastly Jordan did another one! It was a lot of fun! We played one game before we left, we waited to long and they were closing up, but L.P was happy that he won a finger puppet:)

We all headed over to have lunch at a mexican resturant, and that was our day!!!!!

Donna enjoying the entertainment!!

MIA!!!

2009-04-17T22:52:00.000-07:00

That's me here in "blog land" "MIA", where on earth have I been? I don't know, but I think its just been ME being too lazy to blog. I am sad that I have NONE of the past month on my blog:( I am MAKING myself do this MORE often, NO matter what. Even if I'm the only one who reads it:) I LOVE to come back and read about what I did "that" day or holiday (even Little Paul comes to the blog and browses, he likes looking at the pictures and reading about our fun times:))

So officially TODAY here is my post for the day:)

Today started out like every other day, up with the kids/breakfast/chores then school. Preston had a nap and little Paul played with play-dough while I did some more chores. Later on we decided to go out on the town since it was such a gorgeous day (WHY can't ALL summer be this gorgeous!?) We parked in the parking area sort of by Kohl's and walked over to shop around. I had Kohl's "cash" so I decided to buy the boys some shorts and Preston a REALLY cute duck towel. Little Paul thinks I'm really funny when I shop, I think he is really entertained by it, the way I CAN'T decide on anything AND I talk to myself "NO you don't need this" or "UGH this is not the right thing" and stuff like that. AND little Paul entertains me too, he makes up songs while we shop about what we are doing:) AND he entertains Preston by playing "peek-a-boo" and "wheres your cheek, wheres your forehead" LOL!!
After that Little Paul kept telling me he was SO hungry (I think it was because he overheard a lady talking about tacos from Taco Bell), so we walked over back to the car to put our bags away and walked to Panda Express. After that we walked over to Wal-mart and did some more shopping. Lit.Paul loves to read me my list, and constantly remind me of WHAT we need (hes such the helper).
We ended coming home right as Paul got home about 7pm, so we played a little outside (since it was still SO nice), came in, had dinner and hung out some more.... That's my day, maybe not to exciting, but WE enjoyed it so I had to write about it:)

Snow trip 2009

2009-03-11T22:47:00.001-07:00

WOW what a wonderful time we had on our snow trip! We headed out on Friday morning, we made our first stop to get some fries for the kids (early morning treat) little Paul got him and Preston some stickers to entertain them (AND it worked). Next stop was in Auberry to visit with Johns dad (Peachys father in law), we visited with him, his horses and the cutest ole' dog Whitney:) Preston loved that dog, he was to cute with him. While the kids were trying to play fetch with Whitney, Preston picked up a blade of grass and tried to play along by throwing it to him:) After we ate lunch from the best Mexican restaurant in the world, we were on our way up to Shaver.

We had a really pleasant drive the whole way there, wonderful weather and scenery! We showed up to our WONDERFUL house called Baldwin Sweets about 3ish and unloaded our stuff, and of course ran around the house just so excited. This house was the BOMB, it was so nice/convenient/clean and just PERFECT! We flipped a coin for the biggest room and we won, but next year we will rotate:) As soon as we checked everything out we headed out doors to play.. The snow was SO deep and soft it was sort of hard to walk, but the kids did NOT mind that, they played until it was TOO freezing! That night we ate Chile relleno that my mom made and the BEST chocolate chip cookies that Peachy made. The kids and guys played pool and guitar hero while we visited together.

Saturday morning we ate pancakes/bacon and eggs and then headed out to play again. Mom BBQ burgers for lunch, the kids had Hebrew nationals, we just ate too much! That night for dinner my brother BBQ the best steaks for each of us, Jill made lots of yummy food to go with it, we really pigged out! The kids watched movies, played charades, cards and ran around to way to late in the night!
Sunday we ate Menudo and steak and eggs, then we headed for Sierra Summit to go play some more. Big Paul, Kyler and my brother snow boarded, John, Jordan and Little Paul did some skiing! This was so fun to watch, they did SO good, ALL of them. It was really a fun day out there on the slopes:) Later that night we came home and ate some spaghetti/chicken pasta that Peachy and I cooked, and vegged on the couch and watched a movie. Monday was the sad day, we got up and let the kids go out for a few hours while we packed up:( We headed on our way out about 11ish, we went down the hill back to Auberry to eat at that BEST Mexican restaurant, to our surprise Johns dad was there just finishing up, so we were able to eat with him and visit with him once more before we left home. Mom ended up driving with us home because we were going to shop in Fresno. We went to Old Navy, Marshall's, Sports Authority and Children's place! WOOHOO:) I needed my therapy due to my vacation ending:)

The whole trip was such a PERFECT time, we had so much fun! Everything was just so easy,convenient and fun! We were so blessed on our trip, every detail was touched by God, I am so thankful!

SO here are my pictures of this trip, some of them are not going to make sense to some of you (like pictures of the drawers/closets, but WE LOVED the organization of it) so we had to show every detail. So hope you can make it through to the end of this LONG video:) I would love to explain each picture, but it would take too long:) BUT if you have any questions, I will explain:)

Oh the picture of Preston sleeping on the sled, YES he was sleeping!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Presenting the NEW "cool" Paul!

2009-02-19T22:25:00.000-08:00

So our nightly routine is over for now! I was getting so tired of the long hair, and in a "hidden" way so was little Paul.... NO MORE nightly conditioner/blow-drying/knots/tangles/fussing! Its done! He really DOES like it, in fact Big Paul caught him playing the "air guitar" in front of the mirror right after I cut and styled it!! Just so you know, Little Paul "is" in a band, hes a ROCK STAR:) LOL!! He is TOO funny/cute!

Little Paul: Mom why does everyone always have to call me "Little Paul", it makes me feel like small..

Mom: Well because Dad is the "big" and you are the "Little", so its just easier.

Little Paul: I sort of want people to start just calling me PAUL, is that okay?
Mom: HMMM we can TRY, but it will be hard!

MY ROCK STAR!

I told him that I wanted a serious face, AND after all of that above:) I finally got this!!

"Snow day"

2009-02-18T01:14:00.002-08:00

WOW isn't this FUN! We had WARM weather one week and THEN SNOW!! Big Paul took the kids and I on a drive over to Santa Margarita and Pozo to check it out, it was a blast to see it "here"! Even though we are headed over to Shaver Lake in a couple of weeks, it was so gorgeous and exciting to see it so close to home. It makes me thankful that we live in such a beautiful area that we can enjoy such lovely scenery, we love to drive around all over the county just to look at all the views, we are BLESSED!

Fire!!

2009-02-18T00:58:00.001-08:00

Some of you may know that Big Paul has started his training on the weekends for CDF!! He has been working really hard at it, major WORK (butt kickin' work and book work)! The training is Saturday and Sunday for five weeks, ALL day.. He is doing a great job at it, I'm really impressed by him and his effort. He is not sure if he will be hired on this fire season (due to the State budgets) but that's not for him to decide (God is in control), I'm just so proud of him to actually follow his childhood dream of one day fighting in a fire! Even if he does not become a firefighter or if he decides its not for him, I am still SO SO SO impressed by his willingness to step out of his "comfort" zone.. He's the bomb! This training is INTENSE and NOT for the weaklings, hes is so tough AND brave, I knew he had it in him, and I'm enjoying this adventure with him!

Isn't he cute!!

VALENTINES DAY!!

2009-02-18T00:15:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share a little bit about our Valentines day;

It started on Wednesday with our home school co-op group, they had a little party for the kids. They had lots of fun just playing and passing out there cards, AND I had fun chatting and eating the yummy food and tea.

Thursday Olivia had a little party for our kids and couple of neighborhood friends, they ate, made valentine cards and decorated cookies AND played! HOPEFULLY I will get the pictures to post SOON (ATTENTION OLIVIA)!!!

Saturday was going to be a busy day of running around, so I woke up EARLY made the boys heart shaped pancakes and set out there cards and gifts! We ran around all day, and had planned on a valentine lunch with the boys but the restaurant was closed so we ended up at Taco bell (per little Paul's request, 2ND choice:)) Big Paul was not home until way later in the evening (hes doing the fire academy on weekends), so finally with Preston at Peachy's (with my mom and Jordan) and little Paul at Olivia's, Paul and I went and did some shopping ALONE, then to a QUIET dinner ALONE (did I mention ALONE?!!!!) What a nice WEEK/day!

Here is the picture of my new table addition

Eating his pancakes

Preston showing his heart pancake!

Decorating cookies

Just normal..

2009-02-06T23:09:00.001-08:00

For my family and I we have our "meals" (dinner, and any other meal we are home ) together, ALWAYS! There MIGHT be an exception (SOMETIMES) like little Paul is done with his meal before us (or Preston is bugging) and we excuse them early (because Paul and I want to sit and talk alone, while the boys go and play in the other room), but MOST of the time we eat TOGETHER at the table IN the dining room! Sometimes it can get loud (yes we do only have two kids with us at the table:)), but it is what we do and that is just normal for us. We don't sit in front of the TV to eat dinner or find ourselves doing "other" things while we eat, we are sitting together, talking and eating. I'm not saying that we NEVER have taken our dinner over to the living room to watch a movie or show, but its just NOT "our" normal. I enjoy this time together and so does my family. I bring most of all the dinner to the table (drinks, napkins, food, condiments, forks-you get the picture), this way HOPEFULLY we don't have to "get up" to much during eating time, that could be SO distracting.

I added a new table to my dining room yesterday, not sure if it looks right, but its a nice addition to my dining room so that I could bring ALL the food stuff over to the area where we are and NOW we can have more room where we are eating on. I will eventually post a picture sometime soon, so tell me what you think;)

Scenario: After having a bath, TRYING to dress a VERY cranky Preston;

Mom: "Preston are you hungry?"

Preston: Smacking his lips together like he does when he is hungry.

Mom: "Okay we are almost done getting dressed, now when I'm done we are going to eat NUMMYS JUST WAIT!"

Preston: WHINE WHINE, SMACKING LIPS

Mom: "Okay I'm done (setting him down off the bed) NOW lets go eat dinner!"

Preston: Walking down the hall passing the living room AND the kitchen, straight over to the dining room and opens his high chair tray and tries to climb up, WHINING and smacking his lips together!

That's just OUR normal, even he knows it AND hes only 16months!

A four year old

2009-02-05T22:40:00.000-08:00

The other day at little Paul's Karate class, I was sitting with a mom and chatting (like we all always do). We were just talking about regular stuff and when she mentioned that her little boy was born in 2004, well instantly I felt a hole in my stomach. While looking over to her little boy playing with all the kids and little Paul holding his hand. I listened to her talk about him and all I could do was think, "Phillip would have been four"! I cant even believe that this past November 11Th Phillip would have turned four years old..... I could not help but think of him, would he be out there (on the Karate floor) with Paul laughing and playing around, or would he be sitting with me watching his big brother during Karate class? Or would he had stayed home that day with Dad and played with his baby brother Preston? All of these things go through my mind and it makes me miss him even MORE:( FOUR years old!

Lake San Antonio

2009-01-29T20:38:00.000-08:00

We decided to take a drive out to the lake to look at the scenery (we like scenic drives). It was really cold out, but really clear and gorgeous. B.Paul used to work there for a couple of years, so he "showed" us around. It was so relaxing out there, although I know its not that quiet in the summer, but for now its such a nice place just to spend an afternoon. I could not believe when we got home that we had been gone for over four hours! Little Paul was not to happy when we told him that he could not swim in the water because it was WAY to cold:) He does not like to be cold, so that changed his mind up real quick. I guess since we were driving in the car and we had the heater on and it was nice and sunny, he thought it was warm out or something, funny!

They have a really neat LITTLE museum out there that big Paul took little Paul through to see all of the animals and birds, he really liked that.

We had a nice relaxing day!

We have a picture like the this one of Big Paul on the same bench, so he wanted one of Little Paul

We saw so many deer, they are so cute!

This is what they saw in the museum:

Mountain Lion YIKES!

A bat, kind of cute:)

A Bob cat, MEOW:)

Movies!

2009-01-24T00:25:00.000-08:00

We dont go to the movies much these days, its just too costly, so I would just rather wait until I could buy the movie (for the price for all us to go). But for Christmas we recieved a booklet with "movie bucks" (from our landlords)! We also recieved two free passes with $5 for treats (from our bank for opening a savings account, thanks to our friend), AND I joined the mailing list for our theatre online with both our email addresses so we got two free coupons for popcorn!

Last weekend Paul, the kids and I went with our "movie bucks" ($20) and one of our free popcorn coupons and only spent $6 ($1 more to cover what the "bucks" did not, and $5 for little Paul's' "kid box", which had his OWN popcorn/candy/drink). We saw the movie "Bedtime stories" with Adam Sandler (we like him), the movie was not the best in my opinion; it was really funny, but not a winner. I DON'T recommend it.

So today it was just Little Paul and I (we call it our little date:), Peachy watched Preston, and B.Paul was at home with a "honey-do list". We went with our two movie passes, coupon for free popcorn (for me) and his $5 coupon for him (he got the "kids box" again). We watched "Hotel for dogs", this was a REALLY good REALLY good:) movie! It was so cute/funny, we laughed SO hard (and I even cried a little too). I definitely recommend this movie, its has a great story, its silly and just cute!
I'm so happy that we got to go to the movies TWO times and came out paying almost NOTHING! How fun is that!?!

(Ignore the brief commercial)

Home school is so much FUN!

2009-01-22T21:16:00.001-08:00

Why would I want to send little Paul to school? Not even a chance! Its starts out when our kids are just babies, I don't want to miss out on ANY part of there childhood, that is why I don't SEND my kids to daycare, preschool OR school! We have days where it is a challenge to get in our flow of school work (with Preston wanting to have my attention), but it NEVER is a reason to send little Paul to school. Yes it is a challenge sometimes, but a good challenge, a REWARDING challenge! "I" am his teacher, "I" get to teach him and its SO MUCH FUN!

I am extremely protective of my children, I WONT say overprotective (there is NO such thing). I want AND will be there like a HAWK watching them and protecting them. Sometimes I think about what it would be like if my child was MORE socialized (in a regular school setting where I can't oversee what he is doing), AHH the horror! Its hard enough to have to deal with the attitudes of my own children, but to deal with "other" attitudes, bad mouths, and all that other "fun" stuff! So nice, NOT! NO I'm not a prude, just protective!

So this post was to share some fun photos of two of our days we had this week! Big Paul has been home this week from work, so he has "joined" our school as a "teachers Aide" LOL! He is a fun teacher though, little Paul is enjoying it (and so am I).

So many crabs to see!

What a day to be out, so gorgeous!

LOOK it squirts water!

Preston loves to throw rocks

Dad made a volcano today, see it in the sink!!??

MISSING!!!

2009-01-21T23:56:00.000-08:00

Where have I been? What have I been doing that I could not stop and write about it? Just been so busy lately, a GOOD busy, a FUN busy:)

BUT I really NEED to start writing more, I don't want to forget the events in our life....

So Christmas has passed, New years, my birthday and no blogs about it *sigh*, where to start?!

So soon I will start blogging again!!!

I have received lots of nice "blog awards", but I have not posted about them, and I'm not sure if I will have the time to post about each one, but I am happy I got them:) Its fun!

Thanks!

My boys, Im proud!

2008-12-23T15:54:00.000-08:00

I am allowed to brag about my boys, right?!!!:)

Here is Preston, he is SO smart

And here is little Paul in his Christmas program! He also recited scripture verses (from memory) for the church....

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sharing one of our BUSY days!

2008-12-16T00:25:00.000-08:00

Saturday the 13Th was a very busy day (well one of our MANY crazy but fun days), first thing in the morning we headed down to Santa Ynez for Isaiah's soccer game (his team won the championship for Paso leagues)! The game was at 11am, it took us (my mom, little Paul, Preston, b.Paul and I) about an 1 1/2 hours to get there, it was FREEZING cold but we survived!:) He did really good, and of course it was so intense (we are crazy "soccer fans", I have been wanting to blog about both my nephews ~Kyler and Isaiah~ and there REALLY REALLY fun soccer games, but I have not had the time, but they both did so good, and it was a blast watching them).... Mom, me and Preston, Little Paul, Jordan, Peachy and her mom in-law "Grandma Dianne"

(Isaiah in the middle)

After the game we headed back

up to Avila beach where a friend of ours was having a party for her daughters FIRST birthday! It was so cold, but the kids had fun hitting the pinata and playing around. They got way to much candy and we ate way to much really yummy cake.

The Granny's eating and chatting

Then after we went home for a few minutes to change into even WARMER clothes for the Victorian Vine street showcase! We had a fun time helping out our church and also was able to see Jordan preform in one of her THREE performances... Little Paul's favorite part was scrooge, he wanted to stay and watch him all night! He was so excited when Scrooge came down and walked right up to him and asked him "WHAT are you looking at?" He laughed..
A busy busy day, but ALWAYS so much fun!

Preston and me, NOT freezing because we are next to a very warm heater!

Jordan

Prestons fight with the stocking holder!

2008-12-08T23:06:00.001-08:00

This is what happened to Preston AFTER he tried to get one of the stockings that was hanging on top of the entertainment center. He knew what he wanted, so he proceeded to open the doors and reached for the tip of the stocking until it fell on his head.. The holder is a metal piece with a hook for your stocking, its really heavy weighted down with a very solid metal weight. I saw it happening in slow motion, I was NOT fast enough:( It landed on his head, which only got a scratch THANK GOD, but his eye was the worst part, it cut open, like a flap that I held together to stop bleeding (but not before I looked to see how deep it was, and it freaked me out), but it really did not bleed to much and after only a couple of minutes of crying it stopped bleeding. I have come to a good routine every time he gets really hurt (which is a lot), I give him a Popsicle to suck on so he can stop crying! It worked so that he did not cause pressure on his eye, and it almost immediately fused together, isn't that cool?!! Thank you God!

BUT it looks bad (but he is still smiling/posing for the camera)

Little Paul cried, he said he HATES when his brother gets hurt:( Not many minutes after Preston got the stocking holder attack, he was running with his ball and tripped and went face first into the Entertainment center cabinet, THEN he was playing and running from Big Paul and slipped over a blanket on the floor and smacked his face on the HARD tile floor (those both falls barely caused any pain for him.. I'm telling you hes a TANK, hes everywhere banging into things and trying to get all crazy on you!) Hes funny!! Hes always climbing on stuff, we REALLY have to watch his EVERY move.. When you turn around for only a second, there he is INTO something.. HE thinks hes a BIG boy, playing with the "boys" and wrestling, you have to watch out when you are laying down HE ATTACKS!

Here he is up on the rocking horse, he climbs on all my himself and rocks all crazy back and forth!

part 3

2008-12-03T00:26:00.000-08:00

For part 1 click here

We saw his pediatrician several times, he wanted to go back in to see a set of specialist that came up here in the past (they were from Children's Hospital in L.A.). We set up a couple of appointments, when they finally decided to see him down at there regular office where they would do a round of tests on him (one was a scope down his throat, and another was a biopsy of his intestine/colon).

The appointment went as planned he had the tests done as a outpatient (so we did not have to stay over in the hospital), he had anesthesia and woke up from it in a VERY bad mood. The first set of specialist instantly ruled out some things with us while we were in the meeting room, then the other specialist came in to tell me that his colon was so impacted that she was really not to happy with it, and that the next best thing was to go and do a colostomy bag, so that the colon could be drained properly. Also I had to start doing another tube routine(irrigation's) several times a day. She said we could set up the time for surgery and then we would find out the results then too.

Not to happy, but sort of relieved that possibly this would be the right road for him to function normal.

After a couple of weeks we got word back that the results were not good, it showed that he had no cells in part of his colon, this meant it was dead in this area. They said it was a disease that he was born with, I don't think that it was a result of the disease, I believe it was from the birth defect on his intestine being blocked (WAY to long of a story to explain;)

Well then that was the plan, we set down to have this surgery! AGAIN my mom, Paul, little Paul and I went to be with Phillip as he was operated on once again. This time was a LOT harder then the other times, he was older MORE aware of what was going on:( TO much to explain, without going into TO much here, he was not to eat anything for WAY to long, it was hard on him. He was given a sedative to take him in the operating room, so he was like a drunk kid! That made it a little easier to let him go when he was ready to go in, it was hard to "give" him up to them.... I had to ONCE again put my trust in the hands of MANY Doctors. The surgery took several hours, we paced and waited and finally we were paged and it was time to go in. Phillip was sleeping , but I can tell that he had been crying, his eyes were so puffy and red. I remember hearing him SCREAMING from where I was waiting at the door for what seemed like FOREVER (see the parents can not go in when they are wheeled into recovery, you can see them pass by, then they go in and you have to wait until they get them "settled"). So when we got to him, he was settled on pain meds and sound a sleep. Paul and I sat in recovery for a few hours, while my mom and Paul did there thing:) This always gave us time to talk and reflect on all that was happening. Finally after a while Phillips saturation's were normal and he was waking up so we were moved to a regular room. NOW I had to sit in a wheel chair holding him (which was fine, because by this time he had FULLY woke up and wanted to be held and was upset), WE were wheeled down to our room, but when we got to our room, WHAT a surprise, we were sharing it with THREE other patients (we have never shared before). Not only was it hard to be there, BUT we were there with all of these people, it was crazy. The area where we were at was a lot of rooms and in the center was a huge family area with lots of stuff for kids. So it was nice for little Paul to go and play video games and meet other kids too. Phillip really recovered FAST, he was up and ready to eat in a couple of days, BUT he could not eat until he passed some stuff through the stoma AND it had to measure up:) FINALLY after a day or so more he did "go" and we of course we were thrilled!! We had fun once he was feeling better, we would take him on wagon rides through the hospital, and out by the garden area, AND even to McDonald's (IN the hospital). The hardest part was SLEEPING there, I mean ALL night something was going on in our room AND on the roof (helicopter landing area, RIGHT above us), AND in the hospital! It was crazy, the poor little boy next to us had been hit by a car, and he was real bad because he would cry ALL night long. Then a boy across from us had been hit by a car too, so they had to run test on him, it seemed like all night. We had several different roommates throughout our stay, we stayed the longest, so we met some people and shared horror stories:) But the worst one was this little boy who literally had to be strapped to the bed and caged in his bed with this weird cage thing that they set up so EARLY in the morning (and it was loud). That poor boy, I still think of these kids on a occasion. At this time is when I came to a realization that Little Paul was experiencing some really different stuff at this time in his life, all these children SO sick or hurt, I told him that he was most likely going to grow up and become a Doctor (he agreed).

(being silly before surgery, blowing kisses)

(after colostomy surgery)

(hugs for brother)

(his cracker,wanting to share even though he had not had ANY "food" in days!!)

Right before we left the hospital the nurses schooled me on how to take care of this NEW thing, it was really a challenge for sure. After being showed what to do, they had me do it right there with all of them watching me, WOW and I did it PERFECT YES YEA!! We got to go home:)

At home it was really a disaster, REALLY a disaster... While Phillip was doing excellent (you would have never known he had just had surgery), his sore area was NOT doing good at all, it was VERY scary! I had came to realize that the incisions around the stoma had OPENED, YIKES what a huge pie like cut out.. OH GOD was I freaked out, I was so scared (BUT he was NOT in pain or even acting like anything was wrong). I called down to the hospital, they helped me over the phone and REFUSED to let me go to ANY hospital here. They explained that this type of thing is NOT abnormal, and it could be fixed and it was not to serious (THANK GOD).. They did not want me to go in around here, because they were sure the medical people would not take care of him properly. So my mom and I stood up ALL night long (on a Saturday night) and took the steps that the surgeons explained to me OVER the phone. It was one CRAZY night of screaming at each other (and Phillip screaming too), but WE DID IT.. WE got it taped up with butterfly bandages and cleaned it and got a bag to stick over it (this might be hard to understand, its to much to explain though). THANK MY GOD! We were in church that Sunday and he did great, "it" did great. We were happy that we did not take him to the ER (they would have most likely RE-done the stitching and possibly the stoma area=ANOTHER surgery).

After ONLY a few days, this thing healed up WONDERFULLY (we did have to repeat EACH step after every bag change though, WE WERE PROS by this time). Phillip was doing so great with his little bag:) He was a poopin' king! We had several DISGUSTING but funny stories with this little bag though. One day while in bed (WARNING) he was REALLY REALLY TOO quiet, well guess what, he ripped it off and GUESS what (well you know) it was EVERY WHERE!! After this incident, little Paul was no longer allowed in the crib to play with Phillip (at the morning time when he woke up that was there routine) until I checked EVERYTHING was properly attached!

Although the colostomy was working great and he was functioning great, there was one problem, his lower part of his colon that they stapled off (to be removed at a later time) was fully impacted with poop. They had wanted me to do the irrigation's to make it come out, but to no success, we had to go in for yet another out patient procedure.. SERIOUSLY what a MESS it was! They put him under again, and when he woke up, WOW look out (he was pissed off)! Not only was he mad, he was a filthy little boy, it was like they took him in and let "IT" all out of him, and DID NOT clean my boy up (well by MY standards). SO here I am IN the recovery, pushing ALL nurses around to clean him and make him smell pretty for our four hour drive home, all along he was SCREAMING! They must have thought I was nuts (but you all know my OCD)!

After all was done, he was left alone for about two months, wow, what a time! Phillip started to grow up more and more, changing and becoming a toddler so fast. He actually was standing by this time, holding on to things to pull himself up (his therapist were so proud of this, as I was too). He was signing words, "please, more, me, give it to me". This was all a GREAT thing for him, everyone was so impressed by him.. I was so proud and happy! I was also so happy that he was "going" on his own, even if it was in a bag, he was better...
Now we had to plan for the second and final step to the process to fix him for good, this was the "Pull-through" surgery, where they pull down the normal/healthy part of the colon and they now cut away the damaged bottom part and reconnect the healthy with his rectum area. This was a huge part of the surgery and the hardest part.
We were schooled on what it was going to be like and what we needed to do, and what we needed to have (such as creams for rash when he starts GOING a lot).

The surgery was on November 1st 2006, (10 days before his 2ND birthday). They planned for us to be down there for only about 4-6 days, we were glad to know that he could celebrate his birthday then!

(Here he is getting all cleaned up from the nasty prep)

(prepping for surgery, with the yucky stuff in his nose, he had to sit for over 3 hours)

(not happy trying to recover from pull-through surgery)

AGAIN my mom, Paul, Little Paul and I headed down to Children's Hospital, where we started a really awful preparation for the surgery: First he could have NOTHING to eat starting from when we got there at about 4pm in the evening, they gave him an IV (NIGHTMARE), then they put this tube down his nose/throat that would feed him a NASTY medicine that was to clean him out completely RESULTS= POOP EVERYWHERE, we had TRASH bag attached to his colostomy bag, it was so crazy! I AGAIN took over and showered him (when the mess part was over, about three hours later). He had to have ALL night clean outs (irrigation's) in the stoma to be sure there was nothing left in the area. The doctors came in bright and early that next morning to prep him for surgery, do the exam and run blood and such. They noticed that his lower part of the colon (the one that was damaged/dead and stapled off from the last surgery) was hard as if there was a "stool ball" (that's what they call it), I told them that he had just gone in a while back to have the clean out done as an in patient procedure, they still said it felt hard, so this led to the Surgeon coming to check him (who agreed with them, but said it would be okay for them to proceed). So off to the LONG surgery (it ended up being like 5 hours instead of the short 2-3 hours that they told us it would be), Phillips lower damaged colon was still SO impacted (the HARD "stool ball" that they felt) even after they did the clean out procedure, so they had to cut open a rather large area to remove it:( SO FRUSTRATING! I felt so sad for him, he came out so so so upset and in pain, not sleeping at all! They tried to get him settled BEFORE I came in, but I did NOT wait, I pushed through the "private" doors (like one of those movie scenes:) FIRST of all I AGAIN saw him as they wheeled him into recovery, AND he was so upset when he went in, I could not wait... They did NOT settle him, I did! I just laid myself next to him and held him in the bed, and he finally went to sleep. After a few hours we went into our room, and AGAIN we had to share, but ONLY with one other patient (and it was not to bad, he was gone a lot). This recovery WAS NOT the same as before, he was so sick and in pain. They explained that since his rather large incision, it would be a long recovery, AND he had a cough..SO he would cough and SCREAM and cough and scream (we had to do a suction thing on him after a few hours of this, he just finally would not cough anymore from being so exhausted and in pain). After only a few days, he POOPED all by himself:) BUT he still was not himself, he refused to eat/drink or even be held:( He was really weak, pale AND sick. They told me that he would start to feel better once his incision was healed up, that he was just in pain that was why he was not himself. We took him off morphine and started him on Tylenol, which seemed okay, but he was just so crabby and sad. They decided to send him home since he already was doing what he needed... Off we went home to a NIGHTMARE! He was just so sick and in pain! For a couple of days I tried to keep him happy, but it was not working, he was not eating OR "going".. We took him in and found out that he needed an antibiotic for an infection, they also told me that he was really anemic and that he would possibly need a blood transfusion? They sent me home trusting I would keep in contact with them, and do all I could at home. I did, I pumped him with iron (naturally), and I tried everything I could to get him back to his HAPPY ole' self! It was a success, after a LONG few weeks of him COMPLETELY NOT himself, just really really scary stuff, he was BACK, not completely but WAY better then before!! He was wanting us to hold him again, wanting to play with Paul, and WANTING to eat AND he was "going"!! YEAH!!! We were thrilled as can be, so was the Surgeons and Doctors! He got to celebrate Christmas with us, not feeling PERFECTLY better, but he was on the road to being healthy again. We were so happy to have him feeling good enough to enjoy his toys:) (since at his b.day he was NOT in to it at all). Over the next few weeks we were all so happy to see him doing his regular rolling around and getting up to sit and play, signing for what he wanted and playing and laughing again.. BUT sadly this did not last to long, only about approximately four weeks or so.. then on January 5Th 2007 we headed up to Standford Medical for clinic check up that we were invited to (it had just opened up for children with Down Syndrome), he did well almost all the way up, but he puked at the restaurant right before we got to the clinic (I just thought he was car sick?). The appointment went great, they were SO impressed by him, and at how much he was SO advanced for a child with DS his age. They did question his weight and wanted blood work done (thinking he looked a little unhealthy), I explained that he had just had surgery months ago and he had some infection that was hard on his little body. They understood and told us to just keep up what we were doing and that they were so thrilled and happy with him, he really won them with his personality (shaking there hand, and being all cute).

On our way home he was not doing good, he was really acting sick (puking). He did eat a little, but was still crabby and sick. When we got home he wanted to go to bed, and seemed like he just had the flu (since puking was not a sign with the other infection), so I put him down in his bed and he just slept for a little bit but then just kept on waking to get sick. I eventually brought him in our other room and laid on the floor with him all night. He woke up off and on through the night (which is normal for a flu), and by the EARLY morning he had stopped getting sick and actually started wanting drinks and some toys.. Paul and Little Paul came in and "took over" so I could go sleep. L.Paul and Phillip played a little on the floor, but big Paul said Phillip seemed to weak to want to play a whole lot... With out going into to much detail, after only a couple of hours he just went to "sleep" on the floor...... This was January 6Th at approximately 10am is when God took him from me, I will never understand WHY, and I will always WONDER WHY:( I have been MAD, SAD, SICK, Pissed OFF, FRUSTRATED, GUILTY, feeling like I can NOT go on, disgusted, ALMOST losing my mind, and ALL the above (that you could imagine)... NOTHING can prepare you for this EVER, NO previous deaths in my family have EVER compared to losing my son, I cant even began to explain how I feel, ONLY if you have lost your child would YOU EVER began to understand! I would love to hold him again, touch him again, I MISS HIM SO MUCH!! Everyday I remember little things about him, and I have to be strong and go on with my day... The hardest at times is when Little Paul tells me how he cant wait until he is an angel, "I miss him mom, I want him here with me and Preston, we are ALL brothers".....................

Thank you for all that have been praying for me, I do have the strength of GOD, that is WHY I have the strength! THANK YOU GOD for your arms for me AND for Phillip................

My "little Dragons"!

2008-11-22T23:18:00.000-08:00

On Thursday Little Paul and Jordan moved UP a belt in there Karate class "Little Dragons"!!!

They were SO proud of themselves (so were we), they/we should be, they do the best job there! They listen so well, they participate, they behave and are so serious about it. Its so funny watching and listening to them in class; they are two funny kids!

GOOD job Jordan and Paul,

we are so proud of you and your accomplishment!

What we did...

2008-11-18T23:41:00.000-08:00

This is the DOOR to the NICU from the waiting room (this was my "World")

Phillips birthday on November 11Th...

Paul took the day off from work and we headed down to Santa Barbra! We went to the Cottage Hospital where Phillip was born and where we spent the first few weeks of his life. We had a FUN time walking and reminiscing! We had lunch in the cafeteria (like we did MANY times in the past), we hung out in the waiting room connected to the NI CU, we talked about "those" days, and shared memories with Little Paul. The best part would have to be seeing his little hand print on the wall (when Phillip was a few months old we were invited back to the hospital to do the hand print and have little reunion with some nurses and Doctors), so this was very special to me, to see his HAND. We walked over to see the little place we stood at while Phillip was in the hospital, we walked over to the Doctors offices, and we let balloons go for him!

This is "Paul's Window", he used to look out of this at the "outside world" many many hours in the NICU waiting room! (He wanted this picture taken:)

Here is one of the cottages that we stood in, we were only allowed to stay a three day maximum, then we would have to leave for a night and try and re-check in if it was available (it gave other families a chance to). We actually only had to leave a couple of times, that's when we stayed at a hotel or came home for a night (which was hard). We only payed $25 a night here, and of course a hotel was a lot more down in SB, but God always provided for us! This was our little home; It was like a studio on the inside, but NO cooking area:( but my dad brought us a mini fridge, and Paul's cousins brought us a microwave (so we could warm up left-overs, little Paul's milk, and POPCORN:) I remember sweeping the floors, doing laundry, and moping!! That's SO ME:)

The day was just perfect....

Phillips journey part 2

2008-11-11T23:37:00.000-08:00

For part one click here

Sorry for all the spaces, I dont know WHY its like this?

Now after I went in to see him, I saw all the stuff he was hooked up too, and I wanted to hold him, but I was scared too. They told me I would not be able to hold him until the next day because they had a pic line through his belly button (so they did not have to keep picking him for the blood work that they needed and also for the surgery) and it could get tugged on and that would be real bad. He was just to cute, he was so small, but he was alert, he looked at me and just starred at me and all I could do was cry....

All the nurses were so kind to me in there, they would bring over a box of tissue and rub my back:) It was like I had all these "new" friends. That night I had to leave him there, that was so hard, I felt so empty:(

Then next day they informed me that he would be having his surgery to correct the blocked intestine, and after I would be able to see him AND hold him for the first time!!! The surgery went really fast and I was there at the NICU door waiting on them so I could hold him, and I did that evening! I cried a lot, just looking at his little face all taped up with tubes, I was scared!

After a couple of days I was released out of the hospital and I was so sad, I wanted to still be down the hall from him, but I knew I could not stay there forever, I had to go and stay at my little "cottage". Over the next three weeks it was a real adventure for my little family, we would (Paul and I ) take turns going in to see Phillip (one of us would stay out with L.Paul since he was considered to young to go in). It was so hard not to stay in there all day and night, but I wanted to be with Little Paul too:( He would cry when I went in, and I would cry when I left Phillip:( I would have to go and pump (my milk) every couple of hours in a little room they had for moms in the NICU, this was a little hard to schedule, but I did it. I would set my alarm at night so that I could pump then also. Big Paul would deliver it over to the hospital every morning when we got up! It was real nice when family and friends would come visit us, this was a nice time for Paul and I to go in together and just talk and be with Phillip together.

Phillips surgery was a success to UN-block the intestine, but there was still a problem (with out getting to detailed) the colon was all stretched out due to an large amount of amniotic fluid not properly flushed through his system. AND he had yet to go #2, so this was not good! He was not being fed yet, he was on a IV around the clock but no milk yet. I had created quite the store for him with all my milk! They were worried what was wrong with him, and why he would not go, but one night he went:) WE were so THRILLED!! Then they started feeding him my milk little by little, and he did well (I even was able to nurse him after one of his bottle feedings, BUT he just slept while latched on). They did confirm that he had a few large holes in his heart that would need correcting later on in his life, but nothing to serious to correct now (THANK GOD). The hole in his heart did effect his eating, he would fall to sleep all most instantly after his bottle, and nursing was way so hard with him having the heart condition, they told me that I could try sometimes, but they did not want me to put to much strain on him to eat (he would sweat a lot and literally pass out). So after he got down enough feedings each day they were considering sending him home, BUT on some conditions, I would have to insert a rather long/large tube in him everyday to be sure he let out gas and #2. I did not care, I was ready to go home with him NO MATTER WHAT I had to do! Yeah we were so happy! Oh yea and when we were going home, they finally came in with blood results that he had Down Syndrome:) LOL

The trip home (two hours) was fun! I loved to see him in the back seat in his car seat, he was so small! Little Paul held Phillips hand almost the whole way home!

Life at home was so fun with the boys together! Little Paul loved his brother, he would "read" to him, bring him a toy:) I loved it.. Every day I had my routine with Phillip, I had to give him 3 medications for his heart, and I would have to do the tube thing. He was doing great, but still had the problem with the heart. The colon was a mystery, since everyday it would fill up with so much air, and he never would pass it unless I helped him. We went to all of his check-ups and still knew he would need to get his heart fixed and deal with the colon. At about 4 months they (Doctors) decided they could not wait anymore to do the open heart surgery to repair his holes, he was not gaining weight anymore. He was almost 5 months and he was only barely 9 pounds, and his feedings were taking longer and longer with him passing out. So they scheduled his heart surgery for exactly one day after he turned 5 months, on April 12 (my moms b.day).

We (my mom, little Paul, big Paul and I) went down to Cedars Sinai Hospital in Beverly Hills to meet up with the surgeons and walk through everything that they would do. He had all the tests, blood was the worst though:(
His surgery took WAY to long, really it did, they could not find his veins due to him being so small. It was over 6 hours long. After that he was in recovery in the PI CU, it was really hard to see him like this.. He started to wake up after only a few hours (and this was great they told me), we talked to him, and he started to cry (but he had a breathing tube in, so only his eyes cried), this is when I lost it... I had to leave because they were going to take some of the tubing out and we were not watching. I got to go back in and just be with him, we could not hold him yet AGAIN:( Later the next day he started to wake up a lot, so they decided he could start eating. I took him in my arms and held him for a long time, but I noticed something was really weird, while he was eating this liquid stuff started draining out of his chest tube? I asked the nurse what it was, she just said it was normal (okay I thought, it was mixed with blood at times, and they would drain it, and then it would appear AGAIN right before it mixed with the blood, so they kept on telling me it was just the normal blood drain?) NO I thought, so the next day when the Doctors came in to do there rounds, they told me that they were happy with his recovery and that they were planning on moving him to a regular room (I was happy for that, since we would be together again with Little Paul in the room with Phillip too, Little Paul was not allowed in the PICU). I thought Id better mention to the Doctor what I had been seeing when I was feeding him the last night and that day, I explained to him, and he was concerned! He ordered an x-ray to confirm what he thought it might be, AND YES it was what he had feared.. He explained to me that it was a sort of thing that happened during the surgery, that his digestive ducts where the fats are digested were pierced! Now they stopped his feedings all together (poor kid) and he stayed an extra few days in the PICU. Finally over the weekend they ordered a special formula, so he was eating again after a few days, and he was happy and the ducts were all healed up (PRAISE GOD;) After a ten day stay, we were on our way home!!!

YES!! He was recovering wonderfully!! He gained so much weight, so fast, and was healthy! BUT the colon started to act up again and worse, I could not release air fast enough, so the Doctor ordered for a surgery in the next couple of weeks. Well this did not go as planned, Phillip got fluid in his lungs from the heart surgery (they say its from the anesthesia), so he was to sick from the heart surgery. It was cancelled and to be re-scheduled for a later time when he was better. After a month or so his colon started to cooperate again with the tubes and laxatives. We put off surgery for later down the road!

Phillip was doing so good, we started him on physical therapy, speech therapy, early interventionist, and all of this was done in my house! We had so much fun with him and his therapists, they become my friends, I loved them.

Phillip was a typical kid:) doing all the "kid stuff", we just had to take extra time for him and "help" him along! I loved doing everything for him, it was my job, and little Paul was my helper!

Our days were getting worse with his colon, everyday it got worse and worse. He was not functioning normal at all. He was now almost two years old and eating solid food and it was very hard for me to get him to GO, laxative, natural stuff, and all the above was not working! Doctor apt. after Doctor apt. and the same outcome, SURGERY! So we decided it was time to go in and have tests done on his colon, and see what we needed to do................

TO be continued.

Story of his journey here!

2008-11-10T23:08:00.000-08:00

I thought since this is his birthday that I would share about his major events in his life, not only for all my readers to know of him, but also for me to write out our journey (so I have them down on paper). This is not going to be a one post thing:) It will be more like 3 or 4 depending how much detail and how much time I have to write at the time!

Well it all starts out sometime in January of 2004 when we decided that little Paul needed a sibling:) He was 16 months old! I found out I was pregnant sometime in March (I cant remember exactly when), it started out like a regular pregnancy, feeling tired then really nauseous. At around five months or so I decided to go to the Doctor for my first check up, this time they scheduled the routine ultra sound apt. since it was already about that time. I remember thinking in just a few days I would know who we were having, a boy OR girl!! I had been feeling a little better with the nausea, but another thing started happening that I could not explain at the time, it was a sort of suffocating feeling, or shortness of breath that I had not had with my other pregnancy. I just wrote if off as normal stuff (but it was getting worse). Anyways we went in for the ultra sound, it was a great time for Little Paul (so I thought), well he cried almost the whole time because he thought they were hurting me:) POOR KID! The appointment went sort of long, but then I did not think anything of it. I was happy to find out that we were having another little boy, well not everyone was to thrilled (Paul's parents wanted him to be a girl, but we were thrilled to have a brother for Lil.Paul).
After that ultra sound I did not attend my next OB appointment that was within the next couple weeks, I felt fine (other then the breathing) and I was not into going in. Well about FOUR weeks AFTER my ultra sound my OB office called me to say that I NEEDED to come to see my OB and talk about the ultra sound. To me I thought they were just being lame because I missed my apt. and thought they were just using the ultra sound as an excuse (since it had been like a month later). The lady sounded serious enough for me to go in, she said they just got some readings that were most likely a mistake IE. the baby was not cooperating, so I most likely will have to have another ultra sound. So within the next couple of days, I went in... Now by this time I was nervous, a little tense, so my blood pressure was a little high and the nurse asked WHY, if I was under any extra stress these days?? Huh, duh! Well needless to say no one wrote anything in my chart about the results being questionable. So here I am explaining why I'm there and what I need to do. Finally another lady came in and confirmed that she had an order for me to go in to a specialist for another scan. Now this time I remember feeling sort of sick to my stomach, wondering what on earth was going on, could it be a mistake? So they told me that possibly there was some readings that showed extra amounts of fluid by his head area (that could explain the breathing for me), and that they could not get a good measurement of his head, and that was it, nothing to worry about.
My next journey was to the office of the specialist, I remember seeing a lot of pregnant moms in there with kids that were handicapped and or sick. I was thinking that this would NOT be me, this was my last appointment here just to clear things up. The lady came in and started talking to me about options with this pregnancy, I was confused, she started doing the scan and started telling me that he had a lot of signs for Down Syndrome, he had a birth defect in his stomach, he would need surgery short after birth, I could not deliver at our local hospital, I would have to have repeat scans to keep checking his progress, they needed to check his heart with another specialist, he had fluid around his brain, I had an abnormally amounts of amniotic fluid, red flags are all over this report! I was SHOCKED, I remember looking at Paul and Little Paul and thinking, NO this is crazy, NO WAY!! I was so scared, I acted like it was fine (you all know me:) I held it together while talking with the genetics counselor, then the surgery coordinator's, the delivery coordinator's, and the heart specialist (which he could not find anything wrong with his heart, but told me it could show up later and it could be serious). I scheduled all the appropriate appointments and walked to the car in one piece:) Then on the 30 minute drive home was silent, not talking at all, until I lost it!! I can not believe it, is all that I could keep saying! I remember coming home and calling my family, then Serena and telling them to just pray and NOT talk negative to me, I did not need to hear fear or negativity.
The next few months were PACKED with appointments with Doctors all over the place. We went down to Santa Barbra to meet my new OB, Phillips surgeon (and talk about the procedure that would be done to fix his blocked intestine) Cardiologist (just in case he had a heart condition), and the NICU team at the Hospital.. We always traveled together, never leaving little Paul home (I could not do it, NEVER). My new OB scheduled a induction two weeks before my due date, and I was fine with that;P
We prepared for Phillip like a normal family would, it was fun preparing little Paul for his new brother, we were so excited despite of all the scary things that were ahead...........
Finally it was the day, my mom came down with us so she could be there and take care of Little Paul too. We had a little "Cottage" prepared for our stay through the hospital, and that would be "home" for the next 3 weeks! I was checked in the hospital, induced and proceeded with my delivery almost exactly like little Paul came, FAST!! And I remember them scared that it was happening so fast, I did warn them:) The nurse got on the phone and called down the NICU team and my OB, but he did not make it (his office was across the street), so another Doctor came in off the floor (he was doing rounds). I remember the nurse bringing me a consent form to sign asking me to allow a team of students in while I delivered (and I did allow it, I was dying here, I could care less)! Phillip was born only after maybe three pushes, and I was calm this time around (that's what big Paul says) Phillip came out I looked at him and saw his little puffy face (purple I might add), and his little flat nose and slanted eyes (and immediately I knew). I was so happy to have him here, all I did is cry and ask if he was okay and if he was going to make it. I was so scared, I only got to see him for a few seconds, and they took him:( They said that I could come see him later... This was at about nine in the evening when he was born and I did not get to go SEE him until after midnight, and I could NOT even hold him.. Just look at him:( Little Paul asked questions, but he could NOT see him.

Phillip Jeremiah
5pounds 2 ounces and NO length (they did not measure him)

To be continued.................. Hopefully with added pictures:)

My first award!!!!!!!!!!

2008-10-31T00:25:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Daja @ In other words I have my very first blog award, "YAY ME"!!!!! So now I have to answer some questions and "award" some other blog friends.

1. Do you have the same friends since childhood?

I do, I have a number of friends that I still stay in contact with, we don't get together as often as I would like but we still chat now and then. And when we do get together its like no time has past, I love it when we go down memory lane:)

2. What do you value most about your friends?

Companionship and a way to just be myself, talk and have fun!

3. Are your friends your sounding boards? Yes!

4. What is your favorite activity to share with your friends?

Just hanging out together and being able to just talk and laugh and share with each other.

Okay so I'm not going to pick five to award but I do have a couple!

Martiel over at Martiels ponder
Martiel is one of my friends from my childhood, I think we met when we were like 7 or 8, we have at times lost contact but have since re-connected thanks to the wonderful world of Internet:) Martiels is a really "down to earth breath of fresh air", I love reading about her life, she is just so special! Hey Martiel remember the "house dress" and remember when Mrs.Ford use to pick us up for Sunday school in her BIG ole' car!?? Oh and do you remember the club house?!! I really do miss those days!!!

Jessica over at Mom to 8
Jessica is a new online friend, we met through a group that shares the same devastating experience of losing a child (for her it has been not only one but two children). Jessica is such a huge blessing to me, she is such a strong woman (going through the death of her children and also having her son premature with a list of hard trials with him) she is a wonderful mother! I love to see pictures and hear stories about her family, she has a lot to share from experience...

I've been tagged!!!!!!!

2008-10-29T22:59:00.000-07:00

I have been tagged for a "meme" by Dorothy over at Daffodil Dreams! So here it is, I will try and THINK up some really RANDOM stuff, so beware:)

1. I sleep with my bathroom light on AND the hall bathroom light on, I don't like to sleep in the dark!

2. I take 8+ vitamins/supplements a day, this is my updated amount since going BACK to our Homeopath Dr. on Tuesday. I'm on my way to better health (not that I'm sick, but just trying to keep on the right path).

3. I lay down with my kids and sing to them and stay in bed with them UNTIL they are a sleep EVERY night! I have been doing this since Little Paul was a baby (with the exception of a few trials of the "cry out" method, NEVER again though!). They are only little for a short time!

4. I don't care to cook (although I do it on a regular basis), in fact I would LOVE it if I had a chef as a "live in" helper. I dream of that, I really do! I really enjoy going "out" for dinner or other meals (NOT fast food); When asked "whats for dinner"? How fun would it be to say "Reservations" when EVER I wanted:)

5. My left earring hole is ALWAYS infected, my left side of my neck is tweaked AND ALL due to talking on the phone TO MUCH, really its that bad! I could carry some long conversations.

6. I could live off of "appetizer type" food, salads and sweets, does this make sense? I don't go crazy over the typical meals, IE. I love to go to party's that have LOTS of little appetizers, mini sandwiches, quiches, and YUMMY desserts, rather then a big meal... Its hard to explain;)

7. Now last but not least, I'm a "picker", I like to pick EVERYTHING (just NOT my nose LOL), I pick my feet (I know that is gross), I pick my lips, I pick my skin on the side of my nails and other stuff I cant think of right now!

I'm not tagging anyone, so if you are reading this and you HAVE NOT done it, DO IT:) PLEASE!

Pioneer Day parade!

2008-10-22T00:11:00.001-07:00

(cheese)

(Little Paul is such a good brother, hes letting Preston know about everything thats going on.)

A fun time at the parade, a little TOO long for me (and eventually Little Paul and Preston too) BUT b.Paul could have stood there FOREVER:)

We did not go and stand in line for the beans, not that much in to having chile beans, so the parade is all we did!
(Preston is TRYING to "get away")

(can you see the foot?)

Corn Maze!

2008-10-17T00:25:00.000-07:00

We had a really nice time on a Field trip last week at the corn maze in Atascadero...

It was really cold that day (which was fine by me). When we arrived EARLY we were greeted by the CUTEST/SWEETEST dog in the world. Mind you that I'M a little scared of dogs, and here is this rather large dog running up to my car door when I arrive (we were the only one there, before anyone), so NO help if needed:) but this dog was so NICE, not just average "NICE" but really really nice, she just stood right by me and sort of "greeted" me. She licked my hand a little and did NOT jump on me, she even let Preston pull her ears and nose!

So we bundled up with coats and hats and headed for the first stop; a donkey, little Paul fed him carrots (this donkey was SO fat, it was crazy looking, not normal) then off to the goats (which were also VERY sweet) we fed them for a long time, I could not leave them alone, they were so cute! I stood there and just kept petting this certain one that seemed to like Preston:) ALL the while we had our little (large) dog Friend following us;) After the animals we headed for the corn maze, NOW I was NOT looking forward to this, I don't like mazes much, so as we got closer I saw this area just covered in corn, NOT cleared very well for a regular type maze that I have seen/done before.. I was so scared:) I went in with all the families, all the while FREAKING out because I felt like a BIG spider or ANY bug was about to attack me!! Well I finally gave up after ONLY about a few minutes, I felt bad:( I told Paul that I was just freaking out and did NOT like it, he was sort of sad, but understood me:) WE headed out (which was NOT easy to turn around in there), BUT there were these two WONDERFUL girls that were more then happy to take little Paul back in! They took him a NUMBER of times, he was THRILLED, and so was I:) WOW what a great time, THANKS TO THE GIRLS!! God always takes care of me;)

After the maze, little Paul picked out a pumpkin in the patch! We had a really nice day!

Thanks again Sarah and Melissa:)

Here are some Pictures!

2008-10-10T23:43:00.001-07:00

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The video of Prestons b.day is long, and at the end is two shots of him walking and its really funny!!!!!!!!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

WAY behind!

2008-10-09T21:06:00.000-07:00

Well so much for wanting to "journal" my days through blogging! Oh well I MUST start somewhere, although I keep putting if off, I usually have lots to write about, but I guess I just get lazy:(
Lets see where should I start...??? Lets see, We went camping for Big Paul's b.day (in Aug), we went to Morro Bay; it was a lot of fun, we played at the beach and talked and laughed ALL night (I did not sleep really AT ALL due to SNORING boys in the next tent over, and some random man COUGHING all night long).. Though we did meet some really nice people who were from Germany, they joined us for a campfire and the older man enjoyed s'mores for the FIRST time, and he loved it:)
Then for Little Paul's b.day (on September 17) we went camping again, originally he wanted to go camping in the WOODS but we tried, WE REALLY did (but the cabins for me were all booked;), so instead we went back to the beach in Morro Bay, AGAIN another really fun fun weekend (and I did get sleep this time, because I remembered my "noise maker")!
Prestons first b.day was a really good time too, I will have to post all the pictures another time! But it was really a great time, I had so much help that it was a really easy deal for me! My mom made all of the Chile, salsa and a Macaroni salad , Peachy made the Pasta salad, Olivia made the fruit bowl, and Rita (m-in-law) made a Macaroni salad and had the cake made for me. Since we had it at the State Park "day-use" it was a easy to do party:)
So lately I have been extremely busy, but all good, homeschooling little Paul (first grade), and its a challenge with a one year old Preston who THINKS its ALL about him. Little Paul is really advanced with his school work so its sort of nice right now, its all a little bit of a review for him these first couple of months (its a nice break). We joined a home school group and a co-op, we have had some fun days getting to know all the new families and going on outings (will have to blog about it later). Little Paul is taking Karate (Little Dragons) two times a week, he really likes it a lot, today he lead a round of warm-ups at class and counted to ten in Japanese! On our way home he was too excited to TEACH ME something new!
Preston is WAY to grown up these days, he is walking ALL over the place, hes just a big boy:( I want him to stay a baby, but that's not happening with him! HE thinks hes like Little Paul, he plays EXACTLY like him, its a crack up to watch. He growls when he sees scary things, and loves to play "chasing games"!He loves to scramble up all the toys in the room (this is SO LITTLE PAUL) and take a toy and act like its a monster and crash into everything around him and growl and get all crazy.. Whats the saying "Monkey see, Monkey do", that's these boys for ya'.
So much to share, but I will have to continue later....:)
I will leave with a couple of cute things...

We were at "Cold Stone" ice-cream the other day, Little Paul saw a sign on the wall that said "Make a wish foundation",
Little Paul: What does that sign mean Mom, "make a wish" why?
Mom: Well lets see, its hard to explain Paul, maybe later.
Little Paul: NO now mom, I want to know what that means?!
Mom: Okay Paul, lets see hmmmm; lets say YOU were really sick and you were going to die and you knew it and so did I and I told you.... what would YOU WANT to do, ANYTHING you would want....?
Little Paul: OH I get it, of course! I WOULD want to PRAY:)
Mom: LOL NO but that is good! BUT say you could GO ANYWHERE you want, where would you go?! FUN FUN!
(a VERY serious) Little Paul: Well OF course HEAVEN!
Mom: LOL Oh Paul, Yes that's good, BUT say you could go ANYWHERE on earth really really fun, ANYWHERE you wanted to go, cause remember you are going to die and your sick?
Little Paul: OH NOW I get it, well of course, COSTCO, we would get ALL the samples and spend LOTS of money!!
Mom: Paul!!!!!!! YOU ARE SO FUNNY!

Okay so the other night while praying Little Paul was FULL of questions, this is not abnormal for him (he talks A LOT, and WANTS to know everything), so I was talking really quickly and answering some questions (and still trying to pray, lol) He was asking about a little friend he has and how that evening while we were all outside, and they were playing, she had lied to me a couple of times about various things. He asked me if she is a Christian WHY does she keep on lying to me like that, I had to TRY and explain that she is NOT a Christian (shes Jehovah Witness), but any how, that we all make mistakes and sin and all of that (he understood what I was saying since we have gone over ALL of this before)... BUT for some reason he just kept on, like he did not get it. I told him she is NOT a Christian, even though she says she is ( I was trying so hard to explain this, but its hard), so anyways he tells me AFTER ALL this explaining,
"OH I get it, so even though she says shes a Christian, she still can lie and eat her boogers and nasty stuff like that, because she is NOT a Christian like me!?"
AHHHHHH WHY ME:)

Save the date!

2008-09-10T22:57:00.000-07:00

Preston will be one next month! Yikes I don't believe it:( I am planning his party, and I want to share with all of you so you can possibly save the date; Oct. 4Th @ around 3:00 (details to come)... SO if you are reading this, and WANT to come:) and I don't have your address, consider yourself invited, because I'm sure everyone is just so excited to celebrate with him;) send me your address!

Remembering

2008-09-04T09:59:00.001-07:00

In a recent conversation a few weeks back I was told "I did not want to talk about him to you, I did not want to MAKE you sad."

Well when Phillip first passed away, I read some articles about grief and such, this was one of the things they tell you to get ready for; People not wanting to talk about your child, THINKING they are sparing you grief (HUH that's funny), AND to be ready for people (not close to you) to stop talking about the person and slowly forgetting about the pain. I know to some this makes NO sense to you at all, but its a world I live in that most of you do not know (it is explained well here )So with that said, my world is hard and is about to go through another HARDEST part of the year... While everyone around is welcoming Fall, then Winter months, I have to "put on" my happy face and feel my pain stronger all over again! Starting in September and it lasts all the way until January, to much to explain, I'm not always speaking about this openly, but for now this is what I want to do...... So that's it, bare with me!!:)

Remembering

Go ahead and mention my child,

the one that DIED, you know.

Don't worry about hurting me further.

The depth of my pain doesn't show.

Don't worry about making me cry,

I'm already crying inside.

Help me to heal by releasing

the tears that I try to hide.

I'm hurt when you just keep silent,

pretending he didn't exist.

Id rather you mention my child,

knowing that he has been missed.

You ask me how I'm doing.

I say, "Pretty good", or "Fine",

But healing is something ONGOING....

I feel it will take a lifetime.

Elizabeth Dent

The Child's First Grief

"Oh, call my brother back to me,

I cannot play alone;

The summer comes with flower and bee,

Where is my brother gone?

The flowers run wild, the flowers we loved

Around our meadow and trees;

Our bush is drooping with its load,

Oh, call him back to me"!

"He wouldn't hear thy voice, dear child,

He cannot come to thee .

His face that once like summer smiled

On earth no more you ll see.

A roses brief bright life of cheer,

Such unto him is given.

Go, thou must play alone, my dear,

Thy brother is in heaven."

"But he has left his birds and flowers,

And must I call in vain?

And through the long, long, summer hours,

Will he not come again?

And by the brook, and in the glade,

Are all our wanderings o'er?

Oh, while my brother with me played

Would I have loved him more!"

Felicia D. Hemens

(change sister to brother)

Thorns and flowers

2008-08-30T23:41:00.000-07:00

Thankful For The Thorns

Sandra felt as low as the heels of her Birkenstocks when she pulled open the florist shop door, against a November gust of wind. Her life had been as sweet as a spring breeze and then, in the fourth month of her second pregnancy, a 'minor' automobile accident stole her joy. This was Thanksgiving week and the time she should have delivered their infant son. She grieved over their loss. Troubles had multiplied. Her husband's company 'threatened' to transfer his job to a new location.Her sister had called to say that she could not come for her long awaited holiday visit. What's worse, Sandra's friend suggested that Sandra's grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to empathize with others who suffer. 'She has no idea what I'm feeling,' thought Sandra with a shudder. 'Thanksgiving? Thankful for what?' she wondered. 'For a careless driver whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear-ended her? For an airbag that saved her life, but took her child's?''Good afternoon, can I help you?' Sandra was startled by the approach of the shop clerk.'I.... I need an arrangement, ' stammered Sandra.'For Thanksgiving? Do you want the beautiful but ordinary, or would you like to challenge the day with a customer favorite I call the 'Thanksgiving Special'? I'm convinced that flowers tell stories,' she continued. 'Are you looking for something that conveys 'gratitude' this Thanksgiving? ''Not exactly!' Sandra blurted out. 'In the last five months, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong.' Sandra regretted her outburst, and was surprised when the clerk said, 'I have the perfect arrangement for you.'Then the bell on the door rang, and the clerk greeted the new customer, 'Hi, Barbara... let me get your order.' She excused herself and walked back to a small workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of greenery, bows, and what appeared to be long-stemmed thorny roses. Except the ends of the rose stems were neatly snipped: there were no flowers.'Do you want these in a box?' asked the clerk. Sandra watched for the customer's response. Was this a joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers! She waited for laughter, but neither woman laughed. 'Yes, please,' Barbara replied with an appreciative smile. 'You'd think after three years of getting the special, I wouldn't be so moved by its significance, but I can feel it right here, all over again.' She said, as she gently tapped her chest.Sandra stammered, 'Ah, that lady just left with, uh.... she left with no flowers!''That's right, said the clerk. 'I cut off the flowers. That's the 'Special'. I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet.''Oh, come on! You can't tell me someone is willing to pay for that!' exclaimed Sandra.'Barbara came into the shop three years ago, feeling much as you do, today,' explained the clerk. 'She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had just lost her father to cancer; the family business was failing; her son had gotten into drugs; and she was facing major surgery.''That same year I had lost my husband,' continued the clerk. 'For the first time in my life, I had to spend the holidays alone. I had no children, no husband, no family nearby, and too much debt to allow any travel.''So what did you do?' asked Sandra.'I learned to be thankful for thorns,' answered the clerk quietly. 'I've always thanked God for the good things in my life and I NEVER questioned Him why those GOOD things happened to me, but when the bad stuff hit, I cried out, 'WHY? WHY Me?!' It took time for me to learn that the dark times are important to our faith! I have always enjoyed the 'flowers' of my life, but it took the thorns to show me the beauty of God's comfort! You know, the Bible says that God comforts us when we're afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to comfort others.'Sandra sucked in her breath, as she thought about the thought that her friend had tried to tell her. 'I guess the truth is, I don't want comfort. I've lost a baby and I'm angry with God.'Just then someone else walked in the shop. 'Hey, Phil!' the clerk greeted the balding, rotund man. 'My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving arrangement. .. twelve thorny, long-stemmed stems!' laughed Phil as the clerk handed him a tissue wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator.'Those are for your wife?' asked Sandra incredulously. 'Do you mind telling me why she wants a bouquet that looks like that?''No... I'm glad you asked,' Phil replied. 'Four years ago, my wife and I nearly divorced. After forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the Lord's grace and guidance, we trudged through problem after problem. The Lord rescued our marriage. Jenny, here (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of rose stems to remind her of what she had learned from 'thorny' times. That was good enough for me. I took home some of those stems. My wife and I decided to label each one for a specific 'problem' and give thanks for what that problem taught us.' As Phil paid the clerk, he said to Sandra, 'I highly recommend the Special!''I don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life.' Sandra said to the clerk. 'It's all too... fresh.''Well,' the clerk replied carefully, 'my experience has shown me that the thorns make the roses more precious. We treasure God's providential care more during trouble than at any other time. Remember that it was a crown of thorns that Jesus wore so we might know His love. Don't resent the thorns.'Tears rolled down Sandra's cheeks. For the first time since the accident, she loosened her grip on her resentment. 'I'll take those twelve long-stemmed thorns, please,' she managed to choke out.'I hoped you would,' said the clerk gently. 'I'll have them ready in a minute.''Thank you. What do I owe you?''Nothing. Nothing but a promise to allow God to heal your heart. The first year's arrangement is always on me.' The clerk smiled and handed a card to Sandra. 'I'll attach this card to your arrangement, but maybe you would like to read it first.'It read:My God, I have never thanked You for my thorns. I have thanked You a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me the glory of the cross I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have climbed closer to You along the path of pain. Show me that, through my tears, the colors of Your rainbow look much more brilliant.'Praise Him for the roses; thank Him for the thorns.~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~Author Unknown

2008-08-18T15:26:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To the WORLDS BEST father, husband and friend!!

Thank you for everything you do for ME and our family! You are an excellent provider,you are strong, you are loving and my "bestest friend" ever :) I love you!!!!!

Please DO NOT see this Movie, "Tropic Thunder"

2008-08-14T22:32:00.000-07:00

Please take a moment to go and check out this blog and sign the petition AGAINST the movie "Tropic Thunder". This is very important to me, let me know by leaving me a comment IF you did it!!! THANKS!

(the petition is down toward the end of the page on the blog)

http://mosaicmoments.today.com/

Contest @ mom4life.com

2008-08-08T01:02:00.000-07:00

Baby Light & Clip Lighted Safety Nail Clipper - Weekly Giveaway
This week we are giving away a Baby Light & Clip Lighted Safety Nail Clipper
Retail Value $10.99

I love this website, they have the neatest stuff. I have done multiple orders from them and have loved everything I have received!

Check them out!

Whats wrong with this?

2008-08-05T00:47:00.000-07:00

Healthy eating by crew

SO irritating to me; we went to a street fair over in Morro Bay on Sunday, they had lots of fun stuff, one thing we enjoyed was this little booth of veggies and fruit that were baked rather then "dried", which was really different but very good... So of course we were sold on it and purchased some "baked" goods from them! I came home with some really yummy strawberries, the kids loved them, we ate them on our way home and really could not stop eating them:) Well later on I decided to turn the container over to read the "nutritional" facts on them, WELL low and behold there it was "RED 40" ARRRRRRRRRUHHHH!! HOW STUPID!!!!!!! How sad for me, I was already thinking "yummy, here is a very tasty treat for us to snack on, different from the average dried fruit" AND NOW it is full of color!

ANYWAYS, I feel like sending an email to these people and telling them some info. that they seem to be lacking! There is my rant, I'm done:)

Monterey trip....

2008-07-08T23:25:00.000-07:00

On Jun.28Th we went over to Monterey, we left early that morning and headed up; our first stop was in Salinas @ NASTY DISGUSTING McDonald's (thinking quick breakfast, and the first that we saw)... YUCK, it was horrible!! Next we got to Paul's testing site (he was taking an exam for the State), we got there early so we had time to walk around and use the bathroom; I did Little Paul's hair in there, I'm not kidding, they had hairspray/gel/lotion, that was really cool to me!!
So my original plan was to go to Lindsey and Steve's house and wait (visit) until Paul got done, well we decided that it was a little tricky finding the place and I did not want to get lost, so they came and met me there and we just hung out in the car/parking lot of this place until he got done about an hour and 40 minutes later.. Really it was not that bad, Preston took a nap and little Paul had a snack and played/ran around/jumped on oak ants and watched the dears run through the parking lot (we were in a State Park). After he got out we headed over to the Aquarium, before we went in we had lunch at a DISGUSTING place, we thought it would be good! NOT it was horrible (YES I'm picky, but not that bad, this was sick).. I'm realizing that Monterey is not all that for food, and that its not like Morro Bay (comparing both beach towns and have lots of tourists), because MOSTLY all the restaurant's in MB are pretty good, OR you can find something that suits you, BUT ALL of our food that we got at this place was NOT AT ALL GOOD!!! Well then off to the Aquarium, we had a lot of fun, they had lots of new exhibits. Preston really enjoyed it too, he even stamped pages of a book, played dress-up and played in the water! Little Paul liked it too, of course! We had a ton of fun, Steve and Lindsey are such good Friends, they really love our kids and our kids just love them! I cant wait until we go back...

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

"My" UGLY shoes "life"!

2008-06-22T01:40:00.000-07:00

A little poem I found and it just made me "sigh" in relief; here is "me"! Someone sat down and wrote out "my" feelings......... Thanks to that person!

A Pair of Shoes
I am wearing a pair of shoes. They are ugly shoes.Uncomfortable shoes.I hate my shoes.
Each day I wear them, and each day I wish I had another pair.
Some days my shoes hurt so bad that I do not think I can take another step.
Yet, I continue to wear them.
I get funny looks wearing these shoes.
I can tell in others eyes that they are glad they are my shoes and not theirs.
They never talk about my shoes.
To learn how awful my shoes are might make them uncomfortable.
To truly understand these shoes you must walk in them.
But, once you put them on, you can never take them off.
I now realize that I am not the only one who wears these shoes.
There are many pairs in this world.
Some women ache daily as they try and walk in them.
Some have learned how to walk in them so they don't hurt quite as much.
Some have worn the shoes so long that days will go by before they think about how much they hurt.
No woman deserves to wear these shoes.
Yet, because of these shoes I am a stronger woman.
These shoes have given me the strength to face anything.
They have made me who I am.
I will forever walk in the shoes of a woman who has lost a child.

Author unknown

Thanks for the picture Sarah:)

June 08 trying to update:)

2008-06-18T23:46:00.000-07:00

Here is some pictures of some events for June 08;

We went to a winery over on Hwy.46 east, the kids got to plant there own sunflower and take them home with us. There was lots of fun things to look at and do there, it was a really nice time.

We also celebrated with Paul's cousin for his graduation, his party was in Morro bay at the state park; While we were there, there was a group of Older couples (in the park volunteering) and they had some really fun stuff for the kids to do: milking a cow, washing clothes (the ole' way) and some fun games. He had a blast participating!

We celebrated Kyler's 8th b.day @ my sister Peachy's house!

And some Pictures of the boys we took at Sears:)

I had to sort of sum up the early events of June in one blog post, for some reason I have not had time to post much?

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

TOO BE CONTINUED...................................................

Homeschooling!!

2008-06-18T23:17:00.000-07:00

I HOPE this works, this video is hilarious...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apaxo6WJm-g

Two pulled teeth!

2008-05-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

Little Paul has lost his first TWO teeth! Yesterday I told him that he NEEDED to get the bottom teeth out (they were loose, and another one was growing behind one of them). Well he was such a brave little boy, he actually let me hold his head down on my lap and tie a thread (blue one that he picked out), and literally YANK them out, one by one! The first one flipped out and went down my shirt, we laughed and then went on to the next one, I tugged and tugged and FINALLY ripped it out. We SCREAMED, hugged and laughed! We jumped up and down and danced, and ran to look in the bathroom mirror! The gum bled a little bit, but he was okay with it. That night we put the teeth under his pillow, and in the morning there was FIVE dollar bill there for him;)

Tonight at church he was so excited to share about how I pulled out his teeth (during praise reports). He was so funny because he said "I got a dollar bill with a five on it"! TOO CUTE! So Pastor Gabe gave him a dollar, then followed by another dollar from our church friend "Doc". Later it was time for offering and he got excited and told me that he wanted to give some of his OWN money! Another church Friend Re'Re' was happy to see him do this, so she gave him ANOTHER dollar! Yay for Little Paul!!!!!

I have to confess that I did shed a little tear:( MY Little Paul is getting TOO big, WAHHHH:(

Normal..........

2008-05-20T23:16:00.000-07:00

How can anyone not WANT to nurse there baby? Its one thing (which I had to go through) when your child can not nurse for medical reasons but to NOT choose to?? I mean come on this is whats NORMAL for our babies, we should NOT choose to NOT do it?
What else frustrates me? VACCINES! I'm NOT DOING IT!! End of story! WHY, because its just NOT NORMAL!
Here's something I read tonight;

The longer you breastfeed, the more your child will benefit. Breastfeeding prevents infections and the complications of childhood illness. Breastfed babies are immunized; children who are injected with viruses and bacteria are vaccinated. An endorsed campaign by the government to increase Americans' breastfeeding rate would prevent more childhood diseases -and deaths- than all of the vaccination programs currently endorsed.
-----Dr. Susan Markel, MD, is a Board Certified Pediatrician, and Attachment Parenting Advisor. She is also the author of, "Ask The Doctor," in partnership with ERGObaby. If you have additional questions, please feel free to visit her website at http://www.AttachmentParentingDoctor.com and request a private consultation