Cyber Monday

I got a great deal today on a present for one of my family!

I love great deals!

I am so UBER EXCITED!

I love finding good deals on things people will really like for Christmas!

I love my family!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today we spent the day at home and at Grandma's.

We ate lots of yummy food, and yummy pie made from pumpkins that I had picked myself from the pumpkin patch!

We laughed at cried as we played UNO! The kids, me, Aunt Wendy, and the Grandparents had lots of fun being competetive with one another.

We got our game plan together for buying Christmas presents and starting shopping tomorrow as we decide which crowds to brave and how early to brave them.

I am thankful for the opportunity to be with family. The blessing of a full table, full bellies and leftovers! I am thankful for the home I have to live in, the shelter over our heads and the furnace that helps to keep us warm. I am thankful for my eccentric mother who decided to do something new and exciting to decorate her kitchen for the upcoming Christmas season and my fabulous father who goes along with her craziness and my sister who makes us all laugh so much.

I am thankful for my children, who keep me on my toes, fill my life with joy and stress me out from time to time.

I am thankful for my husband, who loves me and works hard for his family.

I am thankful for my Salvation and the gift of the Savior who died on the cross to take away my sins. I am thankful that my children are learning to know God, I am thankful for the sweet prayers they say and the decisions that they are making at a young age.

I am THANKFUL this Thanksgiving! Thank you God for all the blessings of this life!

Starting a New Chapter

Wow...I can't believe we have started this new phase of life.

We have begun the time of Extra-Curricular Activities. Janea not only is a member of the Student Council at her school she is also joining the newspaper club. She will be staying after school on Thursday afternoons to work on the school newspaper. She will then be taking the late bus home on those days.

I can't believe that my baby girl is so mature and able to be doing all these things. It's remarkable to me how rapidly you go from one phase to another. I'm proud of her and nervous for her at the same time.

Life will really speed up when Jaron is able to do clubs and activities.!! I think I will relish the extra home time I have with him!

Big Words

This weekend the whole family was full of big words.

Some examples of the words we were using with each other:

Desecrate--Jaron used this to talk about the Wii game he was playing with Dan.

Chagrin--me to Dan in car

Exasperated--Janea when referring to her little brother and his constant demanding.

I am so thankful that we are able to use big words with one another but I can also say honestly that when the kids use words we don't typically hear them them use it makes me feel like I am going to bust a gut laughing!

High Speed Weekend

This weekend will be packed full of activities and such.

I'm excited and nervous about all we have to do!

I am so THANKFUL that next week is a Short Week....Only 2 working days! WAHOO!

So I am off to Choir Practice, then home to grab the kids to go shop for a baby gift for a friend, then off to a baby shower, then home...then groceries, laundry, cleaning, and then BED!

The kids are glad for a short week, and so are Dan and I. It will be good to have some quality family time coming up. We need it.

Thanksgiving Feasting

Tonight was the Thanksgiving feast at my school.

It was such a blessing to get to spend time with the school family and enjoy a Thanksgiving meal. I got to eat Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, chinese noodles, chinese others stuff, pasta salad, and rolls. Then I got a piece of pumpkin pie...I love fall! I love getting to be thankful.

Today I am thankful for my job...my great boss who so gets me and all my quirks...including my big mouth...my co-teachers, my class and all the fun that we have as a school family.

I also love that my children can go and hang out with my school family at any time.

SO THANKFUL!

I give up

Men, I just don't always understand them.

I am having a Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus kind of day.

I LOVE my husband with all my heart but there are times I just don't get him.

I give up...God understands him....God tells me to love him....God created me to be his helpmate and I will help him....but I don't think I will ever COMPLETELY Understand him.

WW III

We have World War III going on tonight.

Usually my children get along great but tonight they are trying to kill one another.

Oh how I wish Dan were home tonight...

Thankfulness

Here are 15 things I am thankful for as it is the 15th day of November.

1. My Savior Jesus Christ

2. My husband

3. My darling sweet daughter

4. My wonderful son

5. A nice warm cozy house

6. A car to get me where I need to go

7. Food, more food than we can eat in a week

8. A job where I can work with kids

9. My awesome class

10. My great parents

11. My super sister

12. My awesome church

13. Music

14. Washing Machines and Dryer so I don't have to go to the Laundry Mat

15. My dishwasher...so much faster and efficient!

I am thankful for so many things, things I haven't even listed but I am trying to be thankful everyday!~ Thank you Lord for all the blessings you bestow upon me!

That's my Girl!

Jaron is wanting to put up Christmas stuff. He so wants to set up the tree and decorate.

Well, this momma doesn't put up Christmas stuff until THANKSGIVING is Over...so we will wait until the end of the month and then put up our Christmas decorations.

Jaron goes to Janea and says..."Hey, you wanna put up Christmas Stuff?"

She replies" Are you kidding...it's not even Thanksgiving yet!"

That's my girl! I love it!

Top 5 for Friday

It's been awhile since I made a Top 5 so here goes for today!

1. The weather has been gorgeous all week. Not too hot or too cold. May be a good evening to go to the park.

2. FRIDAY!!! My favorite day of the week!

3. No homework tonight for the kiddos...we all get a night off!

4. Dan is home! Yee-haw for the whole family being home together!

5. Can stay up later know I can sleep in in the morning...wahoo!

Just Because

Dan called me tonight on his break...Just because!

It makes me happy!

Working Mom Blues

There is more that I would like to do today around the house.

It's already 8:20pm, the kids are in bed, homework is done, we went to McDonalds night for school, got stuff for our Operation Christmas Child boxes and for leader appreciation night tomorrow. There is household stuff I want to do...organizing and sorting, fixing and such.

That will have to wait for another day. We had other priorities and I have to be at work early tomorrow so I can't be up all night long fixing things. It's the working mom blues, something always has to be put aside for something else.

On a plus note, I have been able to maintain the neatness of my kitchen over the last few days and that is a good step in the right direction for better household habits! Gotta keep myself on track!

Can you Hear me Now???

Ever feel like you have to repeat everything you say?

Ever feel like the person on the other end isn't really hearing you?

I am there right now with the 4 year olds in my class. Sometimes I think they have no ears! I have been repeating myself all day so much that I feel like a broken record.

I think we do that to God sometimes. We are the four year old who is half listening or not listening at all to what He has to say. I am so thankful that God has infinite patience and love and doesn't feel the way I feel with my class sometimes. He is always ready to listen to me even if I am not always ready to listen to Him!

I am striving to listen and hear what God has to say to me today! How about you?

So much Better!

I am feeling so much better!

My kitchen is the cleanest it has been in a month...it's nice and clean, I can cook in it, I can wash dishes, and I can move around without tripping! What a nice feeling a nice clean kitchen is!

My stress level is much reduced and I got to reconnect with Dan last night. We went on a date while the kids when to Grandma's house! We went to Famous Dave's( so yummy!) and then we went to Barnes and Nobles to wander around the bookstore. I got 2 new books, picked up a present for Janea for Christmas and Dan got a book he had been wanting for awhile!

Today's jobs are to finish straightening up the house, get the laundry and grocery shopping done and get ready for the week ahead!

Life is good!

Off to a Good Start!

This morning is off to a good start. I am up, got my morning caffiene and got to have a chat with one of my best friends who is serving as a Missionary in the Phillippines! It was so good to talk with her!

Now I am off to clean my house, do a little bit of shopping and then I get to have a date tonight with my man!

It's going to be a good day!

Teaching is Hard

If you are reading this thank a teacher.

If you can add numbers together, thank a teacher.

If you can create a sentence and spell words, thank a teacher.

If you can figure out how to solve a problem, thank a teacher.

Teaching is a hard job. Teaching is a fun job. Teaching is a challenge at times. Teaching is a joy at times.

Teaching is more than just being good with kids. Teaching is being able to explain something so that another person can effectively understand it.

Teaching is my career and I love it...but it's a HARD JOB! It's not for wimps, it's not easy and I am super grateful for all my teachers and all the Hard work that they poured into me to make me the teacher that I am!

Something Crazy and Fun

My pirate name is:

Captain Bess Cash

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. You're musical, and you've got a certain style if not flair. You'll do just fine. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
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Where did my baby go?

I can't believe how old my kids are. They are 9 years old and 7 years old. They are more responsible than they have ever been and still irresponsible as well.

Janea is on Student Council at her school this year. That's so grown up sounding. She's a member of STUCO. That makes her old. I still can't get over how she is in 4th grade! That's unbelieveable to me, she used to be in diapers and talking to Dora on the TV. Now she's into Disney Channel and more mature shows.

Jaron is growing up as well. He is in first grade and works on his homework when told and completes his work in a timely fashion with few complaints. In my mind he should still be in Preschool. He shouldn't be able to do 2nd grade math but he can! He's growing up so fast too.

I'm missing my babies, and yet I don't ever want to give birth to another baby. I am glad to be out of diapers and waking up in the middle of the night to meet a small one's needs. I like getting to sleep in on Saturdays and let my kids go play outside without having to watch their every step! So I guess it's a good thing that they are growing up and maturing. If they were to stay a baby forever I would be just as worried and stressed just about different things. I like my big kids!

Whew...where did October go?

I can't believe it's November already! This year is flying by and with school in session it seems to be going even faster than normal!

We had a great weekend. We went to the park on Saturday to take family pictures. It's literally been since Janea was a baby that we have set aside time to take a true family picture. We have had pictures for church websites and one's taken by ourselves and other family people but not ones where we really thought about it all.

One of my AWANA leaders is a Calvary student and wonderful photographer and she was willing to go with us to an area park and take some great shots of all of us. I am so pleased with the results and will be posting some of the pictures really soon.

Before we got pictures done I wanted to make sure that we would all coordinate together. As I was pulling clothing out of the closests and laying them next to one another I was getting more and more frustrated. Nothing coordinated really well and it would look terrible together. Dan was so sweet and told me to go and get Janea a new shirt to coordinate and look for a piece for Jaron as well. So I rushed out to buy her something appropriate and ended up getting both kids and myself something to coordinate with the shirt I had picked out for Dan. I think the end result really works and I am pleased. Plus, I got a new sweater out of the deal...score one for me!

Since we don't really do Halloween, the kids just hung out at home Saturday night...and Jaron was in bed before 8...I was a little worried since it was time change weekend, but he slept good until about the normal time the next morning...he was definitely all recharged and raring to go on Sunday! All in all it was a great weekend full of lots of quality family time.

I am so pleased!