Wednesday, April 30, 2008

The best $65 I have EVER spent!

So most of you know that on Sunday, I somehow deleted all of my pictures and videos off of my computer. I could not recover them - they were gone. I am not kidding, I seriously wept. I nearly puked. I said really bad words. Then, I wept some more. Brad knows someone that is a computer genius, so he called him - at 11:30 at night. So he worked on it all night, and couldn't recover anything. He graciously took it to a computer place for me, where it has been since Monday. I have been biting my nails for the last 48+ hours hoping and praying that they were able to recover something off of my hard drive. I called on Monday afternoon, it wasn't ready. I called twice on Tuesday, it wasn't ready. I called this morning, and you guessed it, it wasn't ready. But low and behold, it was ready 30 minutes to closing this afternoon! And you all will be happy to know that 99% of the pictures and videos have been restored! It is for real a miracle! When I picked it up, I just about french kissed the guy who did it. I paused for a moment and looked at his wife beater t-shirt, his tattoos and weird piercings, and his obvious lack of a recent bath, and decided a "THANK YOU" would do.

So I am back! I love you laptop. You are my best friend!

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Jackson's "almost" sleepover...

On Wednesday night last week, this kid came up to me and asked if Jackson could spend the night with him. I chuckled and told him oooohhhh no, my boy doesn't spend the night away from his moma. I then said (lesson learned here, btw), "maybe you can spend the night with us one night instead." He got so excited and asked his mom if he could spend the night this Friday night, as in two days away. His mom said, "sure honey, if Michele doesn't mind." GAH. So what do I say here? "Crap no kid. I wasn't serious." No, I can't say that, so I agreed. Well, we went to the playground to play for a while. The whole time he (the kid) wanted to know when we were leaving or what we were having for dinner. So after about an hour, I had enough and we left. We got home and all was good. Being the rockin mom that I am, I had sodas, chips, candy and popcorn for them. I also set up the tent in the den for them to sleep in. I know, I know - it sounds like a jacktacular sleepover right? They really were having a good time. Jackson was in heaven! Well, bedtime rolls around and this kid starts about he is homesick. Big shock there. So he calls his dad to come and get him.

Of course Jackson is traumatized. Why did he want to leave? What happened? Is he mad at me? Poor little guy.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Oh no she didn't!

So little Miss Priss comes into the kitchen this morning to ask for more fruit loops. I told her no, we would have lunch soon. She decided it was a good idea to demand more, "I WANT MORE FRUIT LOOPS!" I looked at her like she had lost her mind and told her she was not allowed to speak to me that way. She then threw the bowl on the floor and kicked it across the kitchen. GASP! I think my eyes about popped out of my head. I told her to pick the bowl up, put it away and go to her room. She sat down on the kitchen floor. After I threatened to beat her, she got up, put the bowl away, and stomped off (with flip flops on which made it even more dramatic, like it needed help). She went to her room, where I can still hear her yelling, "mommmmmmmmmaaaaa". Sigh. It is only 10am.

***Edited to add*** She comes out of her room, I kid you not, with a rosary on and talking about Jesus. Maybe He appeared to her while she was in there and told her if she kept acting like that, her mommy may send her to live with Him.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Ah..Spring is in the air!

What a glorious weekend we have had! The weather has been great! My kids are behaving (don't they always??) and things are good! Brad and I worked out in the yard ALL day Friday and most of the day Saturday. We planted tons plants, we pimped up our pool area, and we cleaned up.

I know you might never guess this about me, but I think I have a green thumb. I planted lantana (lavender and yellow), a hydrangea, calladiums, carolina jasmine (on my new trellis, might I add), lobelia, and replanted some azalea. I also planted some tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini in my new topsy turvy planters. I am stoked! I can't to see the fruits of my labor, literally!

My kiddies had the best time outside with us too. I have finally found a place that will keep Jameson still. Turns out, he doesn't really like grass. He will sit wherever I put him for a while. Jackson and Julianna loved playing outside on the swing set and in the sand box. They even planted their own flowers in hand painted (by them!) planters. I wonder how long it will take their little sunflowers to grow from seeds to big full bloom flowers? Forever I am sure. It doesn't help that Jackson has checked on it about eleventy bajillion times wondering why it isn't growing.

So if any of you come to visit us in a month or so, I am sure you will see all of our nice flowers.

Another thing to report on. Over Easter weekend Jackson met this little boy at Burger King. His name is Jaden. He was born in January 2003 just like Jack. Anyway, they really hit it off and we have been meeting him weekly for play dates. I really like his mom and Brad really likes his dad. It is awesome for Jack to FINALLY have a friend here. Another blessing with them is they homeschool too! We are totally excited to have met them! They actually have a little girl that is 2, but Julianna is a full year older than her, so they haven't really hit it off yet. However, Julianna is having a great time with the boys. And they are including her with their games. So good times are had by all!

Well, that is my update for now.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

This little light of mine...

A couple of weeks ago in school, we talked about ways we could show others Jesus' light shining in us. We discussed how we, as Christians, could show other others that Jesus lives in our hearts. Jackson said by being kind to your brother and sister, obeying mommy and daddy, being nice to your friends, you know that sort of thing. I really wanted to show him ways that would require him to take a leap of faith. I suggested we bake cookies and deliver them to our neighbors. He thought that this was a great idea and proceeded to ask me everyday when we were taking our neighbors the cookies.

I want to add that we moved into this neighborhood last August. We have never met any of our neighbors. I have to be honest, after our last "pee off the deck" neighbors, I was (am?) perfectly content on keeping to myself and them doing the same. So by doing this little exercise not only are my children learning a huge lesson, but their teacher is as well.

Well, life got busy, we went to Florida and we never baked the cookies. So, I decided that today was the day. So we baked our cookies and got them all ready to deliver. Brad ended up taking them. They were both so very excited to be doing this. So they went to the house across the street and to the house directly next door. brad said both neighbors were so kind and were so appreciative. Turns out actually, the family next door have a little boy that is seven. They are not normally home during the day, but the little boy had his tonsils removed yesterday. So they were home.

I just want to say how proud I am of my babies. I just think about how they had no hang ups about taking food to people they didn't know and telling them about Jesus' light shining. They were glad to do it. They wanted to do it - they begged to do it. Oh how I wish I could have the faith of a child. I learned something from my kids today - I learned that it is ok to face the unknown and trust that Jesus' will take care of everything. I learned that I can be excited to meet new people and anxious to tell them about Jesus'.

I hope our small gesture blessed our neighbors somehow. I hope that we broke the ice to new friendships. I hope that we opened the door to telling them more about our Savior. Who knows, maybe we planted a seed today that might not otherwise have been planted. Only He knows if what we did had any kind of impact, but we did what we thought was right. We acted on faith.



PS - you know I had to document it on film!!!

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Sigh.

Well, our vacation is over. It was hot. It was crowded. It was a blast. We really had a great time. We did 7 straight days of theme parks. My kids were troopers! They loved every minute of it. All three of them!

I gotta tell ya though, I saw some major train wrecks. I was tempted to take pictures of all the idiots and share them with you all. I saw some doosies. I decided to spare you from the torment that I had to experience. I have however, compile some very important info for those of you planning a trip:

1. It is never acceptible to wear a bathing suit to a theme park. You can wear bathing suits to water parks, but not theme parks.

2. I understand that it is hot, we are all hot. However, you must wear a bra. Yes, the girls will sweat, and I am sorry. There is no reason to punish everyone else there by making them see your girls flopping in the wind. Boobs were made to be contained.

3. What I originally wrote was too mean for even me, so here is a nicer version. If you are overweight, please do not dress inappropriately. If you MUST dress like you are a supermodel that weighs 90 pounds, please tan the rolls first. There is nothing worse than white exposed fat. We all could afford to shed some pounds, that isn't the issue. The issue is forcing the free world to look at the pounds you need to lose with out clothes covering them. Even worse than that is forcing the free world to look at the pounds that have never seen the sun.

4. Get out of the way. Unless you are a celebrity, you do not get to have the park to yourself. MOVE. Do not stop in the middle of the walkway to take care of whatever you are taking care of. Make your way out of the path of others. If you don't you will get run over by strollers, wheelchairs and people walking. If you do get run over, do not catch an attitude with the person who ran you over. It is your own stupid fault.

5. If you are a teenager, try to be less annoying please. You really aren't as cool or as cute as you think you are. The rest of the world thinks you are an idiot.

6. For the love of all that is holy WALK. Do not walk like you are dead, do not drag your feet, just WALK for gosh shakes. While you may not have any kind of agenda, the rest of us do.

7. If you are a grown up without little kids, do not ride the kiddie rides. Because you feel the need to experience the "big thrill" that the rides offer, you make the actual little kids wait in line 30 minutes for a 60 second ride. If you had little kids you would realize this is not fun. There are big kid rides, ride those.

Ok, I could go on, but those are my most important tips. Consider yourself armed with very valuable information.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

This time tomorrow, I will officially be on vacation!

WOO HOO!! I am so excited. A little mouse, a little swimming, a little superheros, and a whole lotta family! A perfect vacation in my eyes.

Honestly, do you know what I am looking forward to the most??? My husband and my babies. I am so excited to be with them 24 hours a day for 9 days! I don't often get to just BE with them. I really can't wait. I can't wait to put Jameson in the sling and just hold him for as long as he will let me. I can't wait to ride eleventy bajillion rides with my Jackson and see his face when he looks up and sees Spiderman! I can't wait to be at the Magic Kingdom with MY little princess and try on crowns with her and have breakfast with her and Sleeping Beauty, Mulan, Snow White, Belle and Jasmine. I can't wait to go on a date with my husband (while my inlaws babysit) and get to do grown up things at the parks like hold hands instead of a stroller while we walk.

So that is what I am most excited about. That is why I love going to Disney so much -because we are together having fun. And just being together is my absolute FAVORITE thing! So see ya when I get back!