Music Monday

This is a very fun song. Not to make light of the recent flooding in parts of the country, but I have heard a lot of Noah references in the last few days & they made me think of this song.

Look what I've got in my yard!!!

My tulips have started to bloom!!!! Currently there are three that have actually opened, but within a few days there should be quite a few!!!

I also bought 5 daffodils at Walmart on Friday. I LOVE daffodils and was really sad not to have any in my yard this year.

Blitz it Friday

Wow, it has been a hectic day. I had planned to spend an hour on my livingroom today & get all the carpet in the livingroom, diningroom & hallway vacuumed, but instead I ended up running around doing errands. I did spend half an hour folding clothes last night, but since it barely put a dent in the mountain I'm not counting it as a blitz.

My Blitz for today was the hour that I spent in the grocery store. Our grocery store is a Kroger Marketplace, it is HUGE & sells everything from produce to toys & furniture. Being focused while shopping in this store is a MUST. I went in with a plan and was actually able to stick to it. I bought milk, bread, cheese, strawberries, juice, eggs, cereal, everything I needed for tonight's dinner & a few snacks and managed to keep the bill under $100.

Go to Organized Everyday to see more Blitz it Friday.

7 Quick Takes Friday

--1--

It's been quite a week!!! Happy Ultimate Blog Party Everybody!!! I've had my Ultimate Blog Party post up since Friday and it is so neat getting to meet so many other bloggers. On Tuesday, I finally tackled my Ultimate Blog Party Food post. The kids and I really enjoyed making and eating all the party food. I also finally got some favorite recipes written down & posted.

--2--

Baby Daughter has had a rough week. Sunday, she woke up with a fever and a very gunky nose. As soon as that cleared up she was hit with the stomach bug. The stomach bug has visited most of the rest of us now too, so hopefully we are DONE with sickness for a while. Baby Daughter is also becoming quite a climber, she has always really liked butter. This week, she pushed a chair up to the counter & smeared two full sticks of butter all over herself...her hair is STILL greasy.

--3--

Spring has officially arrived....with LOTS of rain. One of my tulips is almost ready to bloom...it's RED. Hopefully by next week I'll have a picture of it for you.

--4--

Good news for our 2nd son...he is starting a new job at Red Robin!!! The restaurant isn't quite finished yet, but he starts training next week. We are all very happy for him & since we absolutely LOVED Red Robin the few times we ate there in California, we are planning to eat there as soon after they open as we can manage. April 28th is opening day.

--5--

Hubby is scheduled to have surgery on one of his legs on April 7th. We are relieved that the Dr's have finally decided on a treatment, but Hubby gets more and more nervous every day. They will be operating on the other leg at the end of April. Prayers for successful surgery would be greatly appreciated.

--6--

It's almost baseball season. Hubby& I are really into the Angel's!! They are doing awesome in the preseason. We've had our hopes dashed many times over the years, but we have high hopes for this season! Go Angel's!!!

--7--

I'll be doing the Blitz it Friday again later today. My friend Kirsty is participating in an interesting carnival tomorrow, but I don't have the willpower to unplug my computer for the whole day. Looking around the Ultimate Blog Party I found something new that I'll start participating in on Monday.

Stop by Conversion Diary to participate in 7 Quick Takes Friday.

Things I LOVE Thursday....Dishwasher Soap

I would die without a dishwasher! Washing dishes by hand has never been my thing. I am one of those people who leaves the BIG stuff for a 2nd load rather than washing it by hand. I use my dishwasher to clean plastic toys, knick knacks, just about anything that will fit in it & won't be ruined. But this isn't really about the dishwasher, our rented house has a less than stellar model. What I LOVE this week is my Electrasol powdered dishwasher soap.

When they first came out with the cute little cubes of dishwasher soap & then the cute little gel packs, I was a total fan. I convinced myself that the kids could run the dishwasher without wasting the soap, then reality hit, the kids almost NEVER actually run the dishwasher and those convenient little individual packets (or cubes) are EXPENSIVE. Plus, I could only use them in the dishwasher. A few months ago, I switched back to the powdered form. A BIG box only lasts about 2 weeks for me, but that is because I use it to presoak pans, to get stains out of plasticware, to clean the kitchen sinks & counters and a bunch of other kitchen cleaning projects that it probably wasn't intended for. It is GREAT at cleaning just about any greasy mess that is too stubborn for my old standby vinegar. I have tried other brands by Electrasol is definitely my favorite.....it isn't as expensive as some brands and it works much better than the store brand.

Head over to Diaper Diaries to see what everyone else LOVES this week. Click here to go to my Ultimate Blog Party post and here to see my Ultimate Blog Party Food post.

Tackle it Tuesday--My Food Post for the Ultimate Blog Party

I've been having a GREAT time looking at everyone's Ultimate Blog Party sites. This is my first year participating & I set an ambitious goal for myself. I decided a few weeks ago that I wanted to create a party post for this blog & for my food blog. The post for my regular blog was not terribly difficult, but for my Food blog, I wanted to make & take pictures of all my favorite party foods and write out the recipes. A few of the recipes were things that I have gotten from other people or from product packaging, so those were easy. The ones that were the most difficult were the recipes that are stored in my head (or in my Mother's head).

Over the weekend, my kids & I made and took pictures of most of the food. I sat at the computer for HOURS writing down recipes & then tweaking them to be "just right". Next I had to lay out the actual Ultimate Blog Party Post. The editing screen in blogger is NOT my friend, but I finally got it all done and all the links in. This morning, I put the final touches on, took the last couple pictures & finally published it!!!

Check out 5 minutes for Mom to see what everyone else has Tackled this week.

Music Monday

This is my all time favorite band. If I could only listen to music from one band for the rest of my life, this would be the band. Hubby & I have seen them in concert more times than I can remember.

The 2009 Ultimate Blog Party

Hi!!! This is my very first major Blog Carnival....I am sooooo EXCITED!!!

Thanks for stopping by. I am still fairly new to blogging. I started in September 2008 mainly because I was enjoying reading friends blogs and wanted to participate in all the fun weekly carnivals. I try to participate weekly in Music Monday (something a friend started, I think, that doesn't have any official linky) Tackle it Tuesday, Works for Me Wednesday, Things I LOVE Thursday & 7 Quick Takes Friday. This week I also started participating in Blitz it Friday, it is a cleaning motivator & just what I need!!! I haven't found anything to participate in on Saturday or Sunday yet, but if you know of something I would LOVE to hear about it. Some of my friends also participate in picture based carnivals during the week, but I haven't gotten organized enough for that yet.

I also have a Food blog and participate in Menu Plan Monday, Tasty Tuesday & Tempt my Tummy Tuesday. I haven't been doing as well on keeping up with that blog as I had hoped, but next week I will have a special PARTY post and menu. I'm also looking for more food carnivals to participate in.

Check out all the fun at the Ultimate Blog Party Headquarters.

Blitz it Friday--One hour of non-stop action!

This is something NEW I found this week!!! The Blitz is a motivational tool for getting things done around the house.

I've been really struggling to get my house back in shape. Today, I will be spending an hour in my kitchen working on getting it cleaned up. I'm setting the timer and will work the whole time, no computer breaks, no answering the phone.

No pictures, but here is what I got done:

1. Loaded the dishwasher
2. put in a load of laundry
3. swept the kitchen floor
4. fixed a shelf in the kitchen cabinet that lost a support
5. put all my spices back in the cabinet on the fixed shelf
6. Scheduled 2 surgeries for Hubby
7. changed a diaper
8. moved the clothes to the dryer
9. put a load of towels in the washer
10. sorted and put away clean diapers and wipes

I hadn't planned to answer the phone, but the Dr's office called to schedule Hubby's leg surgery, so I had to talk to them. He will be having surgery on April 9th and April 30th. This was also on my to get done list for today, so it wasn't cheating. I didn't sit down for the phone call and was able to get the spices back into the cabinet while getting the appointments scheduled.

Check out Organized Everyday to join or just to see what others are Blitzing this week.

7 Quick Takes Friday

--1--

This post about food addiction & listening to God, hit close to home for me this week. I've been thinking about cutting out processed foods. I am not the type of person who really does "diets" I am not concerned about my weight, I prefer to stay the same rather than yo yo back & forth. BUT, I know it would be better for me to eat less processed food and more fresh fruits and veggies. I am also realizing that I don't spend nearly enough time in quiet contemplation. I would really like to get into a routine of having my breakfast outside on our deck before the babies wake up. I always feel closer to God when I can be outside enjoying nature.

--2--

I have found a new weekly carnival to participate in!!! It is called Blitz it Friday. I am going to spend a solid hour on Friday getting stuff DONE around my house and then I will post pictures of what I got accomplished in that hour. My house is still in really bad shape from when I was so sick, I really needed this motivation.

--3--

Today is the first day of the Ultimate Blog Party 2009!! My friend Kirsty is hosting a give away. Many other people are hosting giveaways. I would LOVE to be able to host a giveaway, but that is one those blogging things I have not yet figured out. I am however planning to participate in the Party both here & on my *F*O*O*D* blog.

--4--

My friend Missy has declared it to be officially almost Spring!!! She even had pictures up this week to prove it. Here is my little bit of proof of Spring.

I have two of these in my yard!!! The tulip plants are up, but so far no flowers, I'm thinking they are holding out for Easter.

--5--

Last week I made dinner for a family from church who has a new baby. On Wednesday, I made dinner for my oldest daughter's former teacher. The teacher has been on disability since after Christmas because of blood clots in her legs that have left her bedridden. On Thursday, I had an orientation session to work in our church's food pantry. The office at our church takes phone calls from people in need of food. Volunteers deliver a bag of groceries to each person's home. The morning staff accepted too many requests and at the end of the day, there were three orders left with nobody to deliver them. The two ladies working the phones and I each took one to deliver. My bag was for a family of 6, living in a single wide trailer in a very dismal looking part of town. It took me a while to find the right place because I am not familiar with the area. After I had dropped off the food, I found myself reflecting on my three different recent experiences that all involved providing food to families. The first family is going through a joyous, but stressful adjustment to a new family member, our church family is providing meals to help make their lives a little easier. The second family is going through a very tough time because the wife/mother who would normally take care of all meals is incapacitated, several families who either have children in the class she was teacher of this year or from previous years have come together to provide meals for their family. I don't know much about the third family, the man I gave the food to appeared elderly, I didn't see any of the other family members, but I have to assume that they are having a rough time in our horrible economy. I'm thankful that our church participates in an interfaith food program that uses volunteers to deliver food to those who have no transportation to get to a food bank when they have no food to feed their families. I've felt drawn to participate in all of these programs.

--6--

The middle kids have been home all week for Spring Break. They are bored and unhappy because we didn't do anything FUN during their break. We've started them both on daily allergy medicines in hopes of getting the runny noses and watery eyes under control. The 8 yr old lost her voice for a few days, but that seems to have been an allergy symptom too, her voice has returned. The two youngest are mostly over their colds...finally. We've had a resurgence of biting at home. Baby Daughter tried to bite her Daddy twice this week when he picked her up while she was throwing a fit. She has also bitten two of her siblings. She was running a low fever most of the week, but other than that I'm completely at a loss to explain this new round of biting. I guess it is a good thing that I plan to keep her with me at church from here on out. We didn't go last Sunday because everyone had colds and there was no Sunday school due to the 1st weekend of Spring break.

--7--

We had several days of RAIN this week interspersed with BEAUTIFUL sunny days. The temperature is dropping again today, but then we will go into a nice warming trend. I'm hoping to get a lot of cleaning and organizing done in the coming week. I still want to rearrange the furniture in my bedroom. I've had paint and wallpaper to redo my kitchen for over a year and I've finally decided what color to paint our hall bathroom, so I need to get the cleaning done to be able to move on to the redecorating.

Things I LOVE Thursday....The Backyardigans

I think I am as addicted to this show as my two youngest kids. I LOVE the music, I LOVE the storylines. It is just such a fun show. I've always been a fan of children's TV. We don't have cable, so we have bought quite a few of the episodes on DVD & anytime we have a little extra money, the Backyardigans DVDs are the ones I check the prices on first. I would LOVE to own every episode!


I think my favorite thing about the show is that it introduces kids to so many different music styles. All of my kids get sucked in when we put on a new episode. Some people may think I use the TV as a babysitter, but in reality, I sit and watch (and sing) right along with the kids. My 21 month old's favorite is the Tale of the Mighty Knights. As soon as the intro music starts she knows that it is "knights". You haven't seen precious until you see a baby sing "We're knights, That's right" at the top of her lungs.



Check out Diaper Diaries to share something you LOVE or just to see what everyone else is sharing this week.

Works for me Wednesday---Storage in the Laundry Room

My family has way too much STUFF!! I am always on the look out for better ways to store our stuff. Recently, I bought a couple of 4 foot long Closet Maid Utility Shelves. I put them up on the wall in my laundry room. My original plan was to just use them for hanging wet clothes that I didn't want to put in the dryer. I am doing that, but I've also found that it is a GREAT place to hang things that I'm thinking about putting away until next season. Currently all the kids winter coats & snow pants are hanging there...we live in Tennessee & it seems like winter should be long gone, but if I dare put that stuff away before the first of April we will get another snowfall. By hanging the almost out of season stuff in the laundry room, it gets it out of the kids bedrooms and it makes it easy for me to throw it into a Rubbermaid tote when I am SURE that its season has passed.

This is a storage solution that has worked for me even better than I expected it to!!! To see what's working for everyone else visit We are THAT family.

Whew!! Those shamrocks were giving me a headache

This is just a temporary background, I want something for Easter or at least Spring. I'll be looking around & will probably change again in the next few days.

Tackle it Tuesday--Spring Cleaning with the kids

Happy St Patrick's Day everybody!!! It's Spring Break here. We are going to spend our morning doing a bit of Spring Cleaning. My four youngest kids will all be helping.

Today's goals...

1.Get all the dirty clothes out of the bedrooms and into the laundry room
2.Remove all bedding from all the beds, air the blankets and put the sheets in the laundry room
3.Put new sheets on all the beds
4.Eat our Tasty Tuesday cupcakes as a reward when we are all done!!!

Check out 5 minutes for Mom to see what everyone else is Tackling this week!!!

Music Monday

The kids are on Spring Break this week, so they helped me pick this. We all LOVE Bare Naked Ladies, next to Rush, they are our favorite Canadian band. This song really speaks to us, because planning what we would do with the money if we ever win the lottery is one of our favorite fantasies.

Please indulge me for a few days on this background

I'm not really into decorating & celebrating for EVERY holiday, but I saw this St Patrick's Day background & just had to put it up. It is such a fun holiday & since the kids are on Spring break this week I'm planning to do some fun St Patrick's Day stuff with them.

I know the background makes it difficult to read my text & I promise to change it first thing on Wednesday!

Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!(Isn't this just the CUTEST Summer dress?

Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!

7 Quick Takes Friday

--1--

I think that things have been worked out with our church situation with Baby Daughter. This is such a relief!!!

--2--

The middle kids had a choir concert at church on Sunday that was FANTASTIC!!! I am so impressed with the choir program they are part of. They love it and they are learning so much. On Thursday, all 400 or so 3rd graders at my kids school put on a concert. My 8 yr old also received a medal & goody bag for her participation in the PTA literature contest, she was soooo excited.

--3--

We seem to have started the next round of illness. The babies are both coughing & sneezing...the 3 yr old puked her dinner tonight. The 10 yr old went to the clinic at school Wednesday with a fever & sore throat, he stayed home from school Thursday & Friday. They are out of school all next week for Spring break.

--4--

My tackle for Tuesday was to try to conquer the Laundry Mountain of clean clothes in my bedroom. I got it all sorted into baskets. I got all the towels sorted, folded & put away!! I got all of the kids clothes sorted into individual baskets & started on sorting out the too small clothes. I got all of my 10 yr old son's clothes folded & he put them away. This took me hours & hours. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten anything but diapers & pajamas put away for the two youngest & none of the 8 yr old's stuff has gotten put away. I'm still working on it.....doesn't look like my room will be getting rearranged next Tuesday, but hopefully before Spring break is over.

--5--

The four youngest kids received Christmas gift cards from an Aunt in California this week. They were very surprised & excited. We all went to Walmart on Friday. Baby Daughter got a Chou Chou baby doll, it talks, she is thrilled. The doll was originally $39, but was on clearance for $17. The 3 yr old was disappointed that the store only had one Chou Chou doll, but she found two DVDs she wanted & then had enough left for 3 coloring books and a new pack of washable crayons. The 8 yr old got a hair highlighting kit. She can make blue, pink, silver or white streaks of color in her hair. The color washes out, so it is the perfect toy for Spring break. She also got a pack of replacement pens & stencils for her Doodle Bears and a bottle of very pretty pearly pink nail polish. The 10 yr old found an accessory pack for his Nintendo DS and a bunch of cool trading cards. They are very pleased with the things they picked. Now we need to take some pictures & send Thank you cards to their Aunt.

--6--

We are planning to do Spring cleaning next week while the kids are on Spring Break. Hopefully the warm weather will return so the kids can get some time outside as well. If the weather cooperates, maybe we will spend at least one day at the park. It's going to be a busy week, no matter what kind of weather we end up with.

--7--

I started writing this on Thursday night. I worked on it on Friday & here I am finishing it on Saturday afternoon. I'm not sure if I can still link it up or not. It doesn't seem like much has gotten done, but I've felt REALLY busy the last few days.

Update on the Church situation

Last Friday, I was feeling very conflicted about our Church. On Saturday, I came up with a plan & decided that I wasn't going to be forced into feeling we didn't belong somewhere that we all LOVE. On Sunday, I tried out the plan & not only did it work, but I felt really good about it.

Today, I met with Fr. Howard and the director of the nursery. I highly respect both of them and I know that they are not happy about the way this situation has ballooned. They have been talking and trying to come up with a plan that they felt would work, but at the beginning of the meeting I told them about what I had done last Sunday & that I felt it had worked out well. I also told them that I was willing to just not have Baby Daughter in the nursery for the rest of this cycle. This means that she might go back to being in the nursery during church in the Fall, but until then, she will stay with me wherever I am on Sunday mornings. I was assured that this should not effect our ability to participate in Vacation Bible School.

They both understand that this is a difficult developmental phase that she is going through right now and I think they were relieved that I had come up with a plan that seems like it will be a positive solution for everyone involved.....including Baby Daughter. There is one family who's child was bitten by Baby Daughter at the beginning of December who is very concerned about their child being around Baby Daughter & it was suggested that I consider writing an apology to them about the incident from early December. I'm not sure yet what I would say in such a note, but I am thinking about it.

Tackle it Tuesday--Conquering the Laundry Mountain

Today, there are no pictures, sorry. I have an antique couch in the sitting area of my bedroom & it is currently buried in clean clothes. I don't normally have any trouble getting the clothes sorted, washed & dried, the trouble comes in when it's time to FOLD & especially put those clothes away. We went about 3 weeks while I was sick without anyone putting away any clothes...everyone has just been hunting through the clothes on the couch looking for what they want. Now the weather has warmed up & on top of the winter clothes we also have some warmer weather things that have gotten mixed in. It is a TOTAL disaster!!!

I've spent the morning, finding all the laundry baskets & picking up the clothes that fell off the couch onto the floor. My babies just had a picnic lunch on the deck & are hopefully going to take a nap. While they are sleeping, I'm going to see how much stuff I can get folded. Wish me LUCK!!!

Next week I am hoping to rearrange the furniture in my bedroom, but this has to get done first.

I'm loving this weather

The temperature was in the upper 70's here today!!! I just love this kind of weather. Honestly, if there was a way to keep it this temperature all year long I would be soooo happy!! Still no signs of any daffodils in my yard, so I guess I really don't have any. I need to remember to buy some daffodil bulbs in the Fall & plant them for next year. I do have a crocus in my flowerbed!!! The leaves have all sprouted for the tulips, so it shouldn't be too long until they are in bloom too.

The kids had a blast playing outside today, I really need to get out there & get all the winter debris cleared up. Maybe the babies & I will do that tomorrow.

It's Sunday....

It has been a beautiful day!!! I had a really hard time getting up this morning & we were about 20 minutes late for Sunday school, but LOTS of other people were late too, so I didn't feel too bad about it. Baby Daughter did wonderfully in the level 1 atrium with me. We dropped the 3 yr old off at the nursery afterward, then went to the car & got her drink & some snacks. I really don't like resorting to bribery, especially with such a young child, but it worked. She ate 4 little packets of fruit snacks during the service...I had 6 just in case. She drank her juice, she colored on the visitors cards with one of the pencils from the pew. She sang along (sort of) & I think she generally enjoyed the service. During the Eucharist I was very conscience of the fact that I was happy & not feeling stressed about having her there.....I think giving that stress up to God really helped me today. I didn't go get the 3 yr old after the Peace like I normally would, but when I picked her up after church she wasn't unhappy about missing communion.

Tonight the middle kids had a choir concert at church. There are only 12 or so kids in the choir. They sing with the adult choir. Tonight there was also a full orchestra. The entire performance was in Latin & it was very much like a symphony performance that would cost $50 a person to attend, but it was FREE. The kids did fabulous!!! Actually, everyone did fabulous, but I was most impressed with the kids because they are all so young. The music itself was so beautiful. Afterward there was a reception in the Parish Hall. The food was yummy & it was really nice to mingle & listen to how impressed everyone was with our church's lovely choir.

I spent the day at church today

Today was my monthly Catechesis of the Good Shepherd training. The middle kids also had a rehearsal at church this morning with the orchestra for their concert tomorrow evening. I was supposed to be there at 9 and they needed to be there by 9:30....we made it by about 9:05. I left the two youngest at home with my Mom.

I absolutely LOVE this training & the program itself is so uplifting. I'm still frustrated about the nursery situation with Baby Daughter, but I've come up with my own plan because I can not let somebody drive my family away from this church where we all feel so connected. I have a few theories about who is behind this, but there is no way I can prove it & even if I could, they have more power than I do, so working around the situation & just NOT using the nursery seems to be the best alternative. I will go to talk with the priest about the situation on Wednesday, but until then I've decided I need to just give this up to God & not allow it to keep me from my church obligations or from my children participating in their church activities & obligations.

I received a Get Well card from a group of very caring people from church today. They bought me a grocery store gift card because we declined to have people bring us meals during my recovery from the pneumonia. I am so touched by their generosity. It also made me feel like there are quite a few people who are GLAD that my family attends this church & that they care about us.

I took the kids home at lunch and then went back to finish up my session. Fortunately Baby Daughter was so thrilled to see her favorite brother & sister she didn't get too upset when I had to go back to finish my class. We finished around 2:30 & then on the drive home I saw tons & tons of daffodils in bloom!! I LOVE daffodils!!! I'm a bit disappointed that there aren't any in my yard....I thought for sure we had some, but maybe that was a different house. We have moved a lot in the last few years. I haven't checked the backyard yet, but there are definitely none in the front yard. I'm thinking about starting another blog to work on my Catechesis training materials. I have to write up lesson plans (album pages) for all the level 1 presentations to the kids & I'm thinking it might work really well to have them on a blog. I'm going to search around to see if there are any blogs out there dealing with Catechesis training, if anybody knows of any please let me know.

Tonight is the awful Spring time change. I don't get enough sleep as it is, losing an hour is soooo unfair. Then tomorrow we will have Catechesis and church in the morning. We'll come home to have some lunch & hopefully a nap, then we have to be back at church by 4:15 for the middle kids to get in their choir robes & prepare for their 5 pm concert. Hubby will be coming straight from work to see the concert. Our oldest & his family are supposed to be coming too. The kids are very excited about the concert. I need to figure out something to put in the crockpot in the morning so dinner will be ready when we get home.

I'm feeling very conflicted

I have definitely been feeling the pull to get more involved in church & to get my kids involved. The conflict is that Baby Daughter has had aggression issues in the nursery. It was actually late November the last time she had a problem. In December, I kept her out of the nursery & took her with me. The few times we were able to go in January, my 8 yr old stayed in the nursery with her during the Sunday school hour & I took her to church with me (or sat in the van & waited for church to be over when she wasn't able to sit through church). We were too sick to go to church all of February. Last Sunday, the 8 yr old stayed with her again during Sunday school & because she hasn't bitten anyone in MONTHS or had any other aggression problems, I went ahead & left her in the nursery during church. I was able to enjoy the service & when I picked her up after the Peace, I was very happy to hear she had done FINE.

On Wednesday, she was in the nursery during the class that I attended & did GREAT. But today, I got a phone call telling me that she is not allowed to be in the nursery anymore until we come up with some kind of plan. It seems that there are families who feel that she is a danger to their children. She is not welcome in the nursery, which translates to me being unable to assist in the level 1 children's program during Sunday school and me not being able to attend church. There is no way she will sit quietly for the entire service & I am not up to enduring the angry stares of the childless & the old people who don't remember what it is like to have an unhappy toddler. I have a meeting scheduled with the priest to discuss all of this on Wednesday. I can't stop crying & don't want to cry during my meeting with him.

I LOVE this church, but I am feeling like it is time to start looking for someplace that we fit in better. My middle kids LOVE being in the choir, my 3 yr old loves her Sunday school program and I've looked forward to getting to attend Catechesis training for years. This is the only church in our area that is currently using this Sunday school program & I think it is so beneficial for the kids, but at the same time I don't feel like Baby Daughter being treated like a leper FOREVER because she went through a biting phase is good for any of us. I don't have anyone to leave her with on Sundays and I want her to have the benefit of being involved in church activities too.

7 Quick Takes Friday

--1--

On Wednesday I drove to North Carolina (about 2 hrs away) to see two of my sisters. The youngest lives there & I've been meaning to go for a visit for a long time. The other one lives in Pennsylvania, she drove down for a visit, so it was the perfect time for me to go see them both. We sat in my youngest sister's livingroom for about 4 hrs and just talked....it was really nice.

--2--

Also on Wednesday, I started a class at church. It is called Fully Alive Now. I've started an online journal about the class & may share some of the things I learn on here at some point. Spiritual growth seems to be the goal of the class & I've really been feeling a need in my life lately to grow in that direction.

--3--

March came in like a LION here....we had lots of unwanted snow during church on Sunday, fortunately it didn't stick. The temps have been pretty cold most of the week, but thankfully yesterday was much warmer & the next few days are supposed to be even warmer. I'm sooooo ready for the kids to be able to go outside to play!!!

--4--

I found a very thought provoking blog while looking through links this week. I've been drawn to religious blogs recently and am following some from my own religion as well as some that focus on other forms of Christianity. This post about Lent and this one about Passover and this one about the significance of the Resurrection all struck a cord with me. My church does observe Lent and Ash Wednesday, but other than the class I am taking right now, I feel a bit out of the loop. I have never fasted & it is something that I have been thinking about starting. I feel like I am in a time of growth for myself. In the past, I have relied heavily on my faith in bad times, but not so much during good times, I want to change that.

--5--

I'm finally feeling well enough that I've been trying to make a dent in the MESS in my house. This week I found the computer desks, the kitchen table & the kitchen counters. The warmer weather always puts me in the mood to Spring Clean.....tulips & daffodils in my yard would really help, but so far they haven't shown up.

--6--

Concert season is beginning. On Sunday evening, the 10 yr old & the 8 yr old have a very special choir concert at church. Next Thursday the entire 3rd grade is putting on a musical performance at the school....the 8 yr old is getting very anxious. The orchestra concert isn't for another month or so, but the 10 yr old is practicing his viola at least an hour every night in anticipation of it, he will also be singing in the choir that night.

--7--

I haven't been doing much cooking at all since before my hospital stay, I've finally gone grocery shopping & made something new & very yummy for dinner last night. I'm scheduled to take dinner to a family from church with a new baby next week & I think I'm going to make this new recipe. I'll take pictures & blog about it on my Food blog early next week. It's an enchilada casserole, I'll be making it with chicken for the family, the one we had last night was cheese, olives & Ortega chilies.

Things I LOVE Thursday....Bargain Shopping

I have always LOVED to shop. This past Saturday, I hit the clearance sales at Kohl's. Wow, there were some GREAT bargains. My two youngest daughters both wear a 3T and my granddaughter is quickly growing into 2T's, so I was thrilled to find tons & tons of adorable Oshkosh in their sizes. I started out putting anything I liked that was under $5 in my cart. Then I weeded down to only the things I REALLY liked, then had to weed again to only things that were less than $3. Each of the girls got an Oshkosh fleece jacket. My girls got 2 pairs of footed jammies, 4 pairs of leggings/pants & 8 long sleeve shirts. Granddaughter got a dress for next Christmas, a fleece pullover & an adorable cat sweatshirt. Quite a few of things I bought were 90% off. I'm seriously thinking about going back without any kids today, it's Hubby's day off. At these prices I really should stock up on some 4T's.....somebody is sure to be that size next winter.

Works for me Wednesday---Revisiting my sock solution

For this weeks Works for Me Wednesday the theme is reposting our favorite tips from the past.....I'm copying & pasting and will add a bit to the end.

I want to start out by saying that I did not come up with this solution. I actually read about it on a message board and was soooo stunned and amazed that I had to try it myself. This is such an amazing, but simple thing that I immediately shared it with Hubby too & even he was amazed and thought it was the absolute best idea he had ever heard.

Socks have never been my favorite thing, but when we only had boys, my solution was to buy one brand of all the same white socks, that way if one got lost it was never missed and when the sock supply was dwindling I would simply buy a new package to add to the population. Then, we had a girl. Our life has never been the same since adding girls to our family. Girl socks are just soooo CUTE. I can not imagine putting the same exact white socks on my girls everyday, I just had to do the cute prints & the lace & all the frills. However, along with that cuteness came the keeping them matched up & not loosing the mates dilemma.

A few months ago, the sock discussion came up on a message board I frequent. One mom had this fabulous idea, she bought each of her girls (she has 8) their own net lingerie bag. The bag was hung on a hook in the kids rooms and each time they take off a pair of socks or tights they go directly in the bag!!! When it's wash day, the bag goes into the dirty cloths hamper and the socks are washed & dried inside the bag, no more lost socks, no more sorting each girls socks & it's easy to match them all up to put away because you've only got 6 or 8 pairs each at most.

This bag works GREAT for my 8 yr old, we hung it on a hook that is too high for her little sisters to reach. All her socks & tights for a week fit nicely into it with plenty of room to move around while washing and drying. It works so well, I'm considering getting her another one for her undies and camisoles. The little girls share the same size socks and tights, so they also share one bag. Their bag is a standard mesh bag with a zipper closure, I keep it in my room because that is where I store all of their clothes. This has worked so well I'm planning to buy my 10 yr old son a bag too.

Update: I found a great zippered lingerie bag at Walmart for my 10 yr old son, it was less than $5...it is made by Tide. It was on the laundry supplies isle with the hampers, clothes baskets & hangers. We keep it in the top of his hamper in his room, he takes it out to put his socks in, puts his dirty clothes in his hamper, then puts the sock bag back on top. I had to remind him over & over & over for a couple weeks to get him into the habit of putting his socks in it, but it is now working GREAT, so this idea does work for both boys & girls!!!!

Check out everyone else's favorite Works for Me Wednesday articles at We are THAT family.com

My Super Hero

My friend Cakes saw this on our friend Jenni's blog...I missed it when Jenni did it. It looked like soooo much fun I just had to give it a try.

Go HERE if you'd like to give it a try.

Tackle it Tuesday--Piles of clutter--Updated

There are certain places in my house that seem to accumulate clutter....piles & piles & piles of it. It is the sort of thing that starts gradually, but then suddenly snowballs to the point of threatening to become an avalanche. The computer desks, the kitchen counters & then when it is really out of control the kitchen table.

This particular round of clutter has been slowly building since just after Christmas. I managed to get my counters cleared off in early February, but other than that I have mostly been avoiding dealing with the clutter....then I got sick & all he** broke loose. While I was in the hospital, Hubby put all the incoming mail in a pile on the table and the kids put all their school papers on the table, after 4 days that was a total avalanche waiting to happen. Of course it has taken me over two weeks since getting home to actually have the energy to DEAL with cleaning.

I've got some very embarrassing BEFORE pictures to show now & I'll update in the afternoon with my progress pictures.

Update: I was able to get the computer desk, the kitchen table & one of the counters completely cleaned off....It looks sooooo much better!!! I'll spend some more time on it tomorrow & get the rest of the kitchen counters done.

Marriage Monday

A little background.....Hubby and I are currently both 42. We started dating in high school a month before I turned 16. He graduated a year before I did and sometime during my final year of high school we decided that we were going to eventually get married. He never formally proposed, that I remember. We set several tentative wedding dates, we looked at dresses, we picked people to be bridesmaids and groomsmen, we looked at invitations and we bought the rings. We went to pre-marriage counseling and answered all the questions with the answer we thought was expected, but the priest from our church would not marry us because we had decided to get an apartment and live together.

We settled into a routine and kept putting off the actual wedding, thinking that if we waited we would have the money to throw a BIG party & have a fancy wedding. In December of 1986, everything changed....we found out we were expecting our first baby. On New Years Day 1987 we were married by a military chaplain in the recreation room of our apartment complex. It was a simple wedding, with simple decorations. I wore a tea length party dress (creme) from JC Penny. Hubby wore his Army dress uniform. The very first lesson we learned about marriage was that it is about commitment and NOT about the dress, the presents or any of the other material things that seemed important while planning the big day.

I came from a broken home and the ONE thing that I always wanted for my own children was to give them a solid family. I vowed on that day and again on the day that our first child was born that I would do whatever it took to love my husband unconditionally. It had been my experience that when couples have allowed their love to be conditional on the other person fulfilling some arbitrary requirements, the relationship suffers. In this age of female empowerment, there are many people who have told me that I am being old fashioned and should enforce certain requirements on my husband, that I should DEMAND that he do his 50% in everything. This is not the way our relationship works. There are some things that I always do, there are some things that he almost always does and together they make our marriage work.

For us, a 50/50 marriage would mean that each of us was only doing half of what we were capable of. Over the years, I have learned that judging what I think his motives are in any given situation is a recipe for disaster. I support his decisions, he supports my decisions and together we are doing the best job we can. It has not been easy, we have both worked very hard for the happiness we have today. Looking back there were at least 3 REALLY bad years, times when many people would have called it quits and gotten a divorce. We are now 8 years past the worst of those times. I am very thankful that we put in the hard work that was required to save our marriage.

Some of the Christian principles that I work the hardest to observe in my daily life are unconditional love, being non-judgemental and turning to the Lord for strength in tough times.

Click HERE to see the other contributions to Marriage Monday.

100th Post

Wow, it seems like I've barely been blogging for long at all & here we are at my 100th post!!!

Today is March 1st!!! We got snow while at church this morning. It was the first time I had been able to go to church in over a month and was so uplifting.

Baby Daughter's 2nd Birthday is only a little over 2 months away. She is getting soooo BIG. She was very well behaved in the nursery today & had lots of fun playing with her friends. Hopefully her mean phase is over now.

Marriage Monday....coming tomorrow

Last week I came across this and decided I would put myself out there & participate. Here is the blurb I saw on a random blog I happened to clink the link to from one of last weeks blog carnivals......

Would you like to share your experiences in marriage with other Christian women? Our community of Marriage Monday bloggers is a diverse group of joyful, Godly women. We're young, old, seasoned, and newlywed. And we’d love to hear from you! You're invited to join us for Marriage Monday on March 2, 2009.

The Glory of Christian Marriage

Jennifer at A Pair of Bartletts will be our guest hostess this coming Monday. Our topic is, "The Glory of Christian Marriage."Fire up your keyboard and tell us why you feel marriage is part of God’s marvelous design. What have you discovered that you want to shout from the rooftops? Or, tell us how you handled a conflict that turned out to be unexpected blessing in your relationship. Give us the real skinny about marriage as God envisions it.Then, be sure to stop by Jennifer's blog and leave your permalink in Mister Linky. Afterward, take some time to sprinkle your comments around the Marriage Monday blogosphere.

Tune in tomorrow to see what I've learned from 22 1/2 yrs of marriage.